Chapter Twelve: I Had Me a Girl

I had me a girl

Like cigarette smoke

She came and she went

I slipped through his hands

To my backdoor man

Under his chin

– The Civil Wars, "I Had Me a Girl"

"I'm going over there."

"Like hell you are."

Heero glared down at the phone in his hand in disbelief, Relena's screams still ringing in his ears. "She's out of her mind."

"Dude, she's just having a tantrum. I'm tellin' you, showin' up there now is just gonna make things worse."

Heero glared over at Duo, who was currently in the kitchen helping himself to a carton of the Chinese food he'd brought over as part of his "well-being check."

Heero shook his head to the side. "I doubt things could get any worse."

Duo shrugged both shoulders before popping a piece of orange-glazed chicken into his mouth. "Then it's your funeral," he said between bites.

Heero ignored him and tapped out a new message on his phone. He knew Relena probably wouldn't answer him, but he needed to make sure she was okay. He was worried she might have driven herself into a panic.

He began to pace back and forth between the kitchen and living room while Duo continued stuffing his face. But Heero couldn't be bothered to eat anything at a time like this.

"Dude, you're gonna wear a hole in the floor."

Heero just glowered in his friend's direction. "I'm going."

Duo sighed and set down the carton he was holding, gripping the sides of the kitchen counter. "Welp, I think it's a terrible idea, although I can't say I blame you. I'd at least throw on a kevlar, if I were you."

Heero looked blankly at Duo before ambling over to the couch, where he'd left his jacket. "I'm just going to check on her. Stay here as long as you want."

"Don't mind if I do," Duo said as he cracked open a fresh can of beer. "I was planning to crash, anyway, since I did come all the way from space just to check on your sorry ass."

Heero rolled his eyes as he shrugged on his jacket. "As you can see, I'm fine."

Duo huffed. "Yeah, looks like you're doin' real swell."

Heero didn't bother responding to that as he made his way toward the door. "Don't wait up."

"Right." Duo snorted behind his beer can. "Good luck, buck-o. Call me if you need backup!"

Heero rolled his eyes again and exited the apartment. Like he'd need backup to deal with his five-foot-nothing wife.

Then again, he had no idea what he was walking into…

Relena made it to the restaurant just in time.

She was a little breathless and disheveled, but she'd managed to coax her hair back into place and fix her ruined makeup before dressing and heading out for the night. With any luck, her dining companion wouldn't be able to tell that she'd waged her own personal battle just to look presentable.

She'd had to summon all of her energy to pull herself back together, but Relena favored action over sitting around and continuing to wallow. She was better than that.

She was stronger than that.

Relena kept her head held high as the maître d' led her over to the ornate gold and marble bar of the restaurant, where Paul was seated with a collins glass half-full of amber liquid. Their eyes met as Relena crossed the room, and Paul broke into a grin.

She smiled and extended a hand in greeting, but no sooner had she reached Paul than he leaned over and pressed a light kiss to her cheek. Relena returned the gesture, which was customary, although his sudden closeness threw her a bit.

Paul stepped back and gave her an appreciative once-over. "You look lovely."

"Thank you." Relena had chosen, quite at the last minute, a crepe burgundy dress with matching velvet pumps. She'd left her coordinating trench at the coat check, and was a little chilly in the restaurant, but then it was still early March. Relena hoped their table would be situated in a warmer spot than the bar.

Paul was wearing another one of his tweed blazers, this one in gray, with pants that almost matched. Relena found his off-kilter fashion sense endearing. Even at the gala, he couldn't be bothered to wear black tie. She wondered what it must be like to care so little about what others thought of one's appearance. Not that Paul had a bad appearance; not at all. He was quite handsome, in his way; he just looked as though he would be much more comfortable in a library than a swanky downtown restaurant. And even though Relena liked to get all dressed up, she also liked knowing that Paul prioritized loftier things.

"Well, our table should be ready," Paul said, gesturing toward the center of the restaurant. "Shall we?"

Relena nodded and smiled, letting Paul lead the way. His hand grazed the small of her back as they moved together, and she bristled. She wasn't sure why she was so on edge. Paul wasn't a stranger; not really. And they'd already danced together once. So why was she so prickly every time he touched her, even slightly? She had to chalk it up to damage from her earlier call with Heero.

Damage from Heero, in general.

Relena forced herself to focus on her present company. Luckily, Paul was an excellent conversationalist. They made pleasant chit-chat as the waiter came and took their order. To her surprise, Paul ordered for the both of them, but only after asking Relena if she had any food allergies or restrictions. She shook her head "no" and let him select the house special, the house wine, everything. Part of her was impressed with his take-charge attitude; the other part of her was slightly disappointed. Half the fun of eating out was trying something completely different from Heero, so they could share and–

She couldn't believe she'd let her thoughts take her there. Again. Relena gritted her teeth and resolved to put Heero Yuy far from her mind for the rest of the night.

Which, as it turns out, was not so difficult. But only because, not long into her meal, Relena began to feel an acute pang in her stomach.

Maybe she'd waited too long to eat, and had devoured her meal too quickly. She sipped her water slowly, hoping the pain would vanish on its own. But moments later, the cramping intensified. Paul gave her an odd look.

"Relena?" He paused with his fork mid-air. "Are you all right? You look a bit green…"

Relena smiled and pushed up from her seat, a little too abruptly to be casual. "I'm fine. I just need some air."

Paul lowered his fork and made as if to stand. "Would you like some company?"

Relena swayed slightly on her feet, gripping her chair before she could be too obvious. "Oh, no, that's all right. I'm just going to freshen up in the powder room."

And by that, she meant hurl her guts out.

Relena made the most graceful dash she could manage to the nearest ladies' room, which was still too far away in her moment of need. She passed the men's room on the way, which figured. Why were the women's bathrooms always located past the men's? She could make a million arguments for why women needed more convenient access than men, from periods to makeup and wardrobe emergencies, to changing diapers and potty-training little ones, for starters.

But she didn't have time to ruminate on such annoyances. Not when her latest meal was churning around in her stomach, ready to make a reappearance at the worst possible second.

Relena all but flew through the restroom door and into the nearest stall, and did her best to neatly gather her hair over her shoulder before she bent over the toilet and retched until her throat burned and her chest ached.

A/N: Happy Tuesday! I don't usually do a double post like this, but I felt the need after reading some of your VERY vocal feedback on the last chapter, which I really appreciate! You guys seriously rock. Now I wish I could promise things are gonna get better, but... this IS a drama, so... batten down the hatches, y'all... I'm actually really excited about some of the upcoming scenes. I hope you'll enjoy them despite all the angst. There are a few lighthearted moments coming up, too, so don't despair! And you know, you can always hope because this IS Heero and Relena, after all, and I like to believe, even in my drama-stirring little heart, that as long as they're both still breathing, they will always find their way back to one another, somehow... so hang on, please!

Also, I was inspired by ViciousBluesummers to go back and add chapter titles to this story :) I always like having them for multi-chapter fics. Hope you enjoy!

We're ending this chapter on another little cliffhanger, so of course I have to ask: what do you think is gonna happen? :P

Hugs!

- RFP