Track 3: About A Girl

After wrapping up a long, but very fun day of jamming with her new band-mates, Relena felt incredible. They had played numerous songs from her now adopted catalog. They mostly played the ones that Relena had already taught herself. There were some songs that she still needed to learn, but if she had to play a full set somewhere, she had more than enough Jezebel songs under her belt. She never performed in front of a legit crowd before, and she would have to fight off some initial stage fright, but Relena knew what she was getting into.

She would have to get herself mentally prepared for whenever Dorothy came with the news that they had their first performance booked. Though she got the feeling that Dorothy wouldn't make that happen until she felt completely ready for it. However, Relena thought that may be sooner than later. She may not have performed in front of a sizeable live audience, but she did just play in front of the members of a punk band that she held in high regard. In some way, that may have been a bigger challenge than playing in a room in front of a bunch of strangers.

Thank goodness everything worked out. Hilde was impressed with her, Dorothy already had all the confidence in the world in her and the members of Do You Remember? who weren't named Heero Yuy had given her a huge thumbs up. As she was a fan of their work, Relena knew that they were also fans of her new band. So to get their approval was a huge deal for her. It truly made her a happy little fangirl.

She just wished that THE guy from that band had also given his cosign. She may be in a band now, but she was still a music fan at heart. Getting his 'okay' would have done wonders for her confidence.

Oh well.

Now she was outside in front of Peacemillion, hanging out with Dorothy, Hilde and the rest of the boys.

Minus Heero Yuy.

"Wait… you let Quatre hear some of the album!?" Dorothy shrieked at the news she had just received accidentally through Duo.

"Whoops." Duo chuckled. Heero knew that Dorothy would flip and Duo seemed to have forgotten that.

"I thought Heero was all top secret about it!" Dorothy's hands were placed firmly on her hips, wanting her answers now. "Was he just lying to me?"

"Well, don't get too upset." Trowa stepped in. "He's only heard two tracks and that's only because he was the one playing them."

"He's on the record, too!?" The shock to Dorothy kept coming. She looked over to Hilde. "Did you know this?" The short haired girl shook her head and shrugged.

"Duo didn't tell me anything, which is surprising since he just let the cat out of the bag." She gave her hopeless boyfriend a humorous look of disappointment.

"Don't tell Heero I said anything, got it Dotty?" Duo begged the platinum blonde.

"Oh, I'm telling. Especially after that name you just used." Dorothy slapped away the hands of Duo who tried to pull her into a hug again. "Get away from me."

"Shit." Duo sighed.

"And what exactly is Quatre doing on the album anyway?" The irritated Dorothy continued to prod for more Zen Arcade related info.

"Heero asked him to come play some piano on the record." Wufei explained. "It's these short interludes that, if put together, are barely over a minute and a half long. Nothing crazy, just two tracks."

"Well that's still two more tracks than I've heard." Dorothy huffed. Relena watched this interaction feeling out of the loop. She knew Heero had been secretive about the recording of this new album, but she didn't recognize the name Quatre.

"Wait, so who's this Quatre person?" Relena decided to join in the conversation.

"Son of Zayeed Winner, the founder of G-Team Records, your new label." Trowa answered. "Good friend of ours."

"Oh, yeah I recognize that name. Didn't know there was a son." Relena knew about the founding of the company, though she didn't know much else about Zayeed's personal life. She was more interested in the community the label fostered.

"Yeah, he's the only son with a ton of sisters. Feel bad for him." Wufei snickered at his comment.

"That slippery little… Damn Quatre." Now Dorothy felt like everyone was conspiring against her, even though Hilde was just as clueless as her. "And I spoke to him a couple days ago, too. Oh, I'll get him."

"You mean in bed?" Duo grinned before having to duck a slap attempt at his face. "Whoa!"

"You deserved that one, babe." Hilde admonished her braided man.

"No, he didn't. What he deserved was for me to connect with his face!" Dorothy seethed, going for another attempt, only for Duo to evade her second attack again.

"It was a joke!" Duo defended, throwing his hands up. "We know you want you some Quatre, no use hiding it from us."

"Shut up!" Dorothy went for another strike, her face burning in the process. Relena laughed at the scene they were making. Was Dorothy interested in someone? She found that interesting. She would have to tease her friend about it later.

A cool breeze blew and Relena felt a light chill crawl up her body, causing her to shiver. It was then that she realized she forgot to grab her jacket before leaving the studio. "Damn. My phone is in there, too." She turned to re-enter the building, quickly rushing down the long hall to approach the closet that was just outside the room she had played in not that long ago. Duo had put her jacket there and like an idiot she forgot to retrieve it.

Relena grabbed it and just before she put it on, her ears picked up on something; she noticed that the door to that room was half open. What she heard was emanating from inside and It was the sound of a guitar being strummed. Her curiosity got the better of her, so she decided to take a peek.

She quietly snuck herself in and saw Heero Yuy with his back to her sitting on a chair, acoustic guitar in his possession. She had almost forgotten he was still here. They hadn't spoken to each other since he spitefully told her that she could play whatever she wanted. She wondered what he was doing, or if he planned on leaving soon. She figured he would be mad if he found her standing there, watching him. She was already on his bad side already. No need to dig a deeper hole.

She went to leave, but before that happened she heard Heero's guitar produce more sound. He was playing chords to a song that she knew. It was a song that belonged to neither him or her band, but she recognized it.

He kept playing and Relena nodded along, knowing when the singing was about to begin and Heero's voice made its presence known.

I need an easy friend

I do with an ear to lend

I do think you fit this shoe

I do but you have a clue

He got to the chorus which was Relena's favorite part of that song. As quietly as she could, she hummed along to it.

I'll take advantage while

You hang me out to dry

But I can't see you every night

Free…

I do…

It was interesting to hear Heero's voice strain to get a higher pitch. He was more of a baritone and when his voice got loud on a song, it was because he was yelling and barking into the microphone. Typical punk stuff. But he did well here. He had clearly played this song many times before. There was an obvious passion in his voice that was infectious. His own albums had that as well. His screams were filled with an almost animalistic fury that she hadn't heard from any other front-man before. Heero had a presence unlike any other. Even here, when he was just doing more straight forward singing. She wondered if his new stuff would see him do that more. Relena wanted to hear it whenever it was released.

I'm standing in your line

I do hope you have the time

I do pick a number too

I do keep a date with you

Now Relena heard herself softly singing along with Heero, as if his voice was somehow asking her to join.

I'll take advantage while

You hang me out to dry

But I can't see you every night

Free…

I do…

As Heero began picking at the strings for the solo section of the song, Relena's hands tapped along with it. She forgot she had her jacket and didn't realize her phone was slowly slipping out of the pocket it was in. The jacket kept moving until eventually her phone fell out, crashing onto the floor.

"Dammit." She bent down to pick up her phone and looked up to see Heero's narrowed eyes slice through her as he looked over his shoulder. His stare rattled her and now she felt embarrassed. He was probably wondering if she was watching him all of this time, which she kinda was but…

"Umm, sorry… I forgot my jacket." She gave him an awkward smile. He said nothing. If his eyes had the ability to make her explode on the spot, she was pretty sure he would use it on her, because Heero's glare remained focused with clear animosity aimed towards her. "I, uh, wasn't staring at you or anything. I was just… you were playing so well and…" She found it hard to communicate. His face clearly translating that he didn't want her there. His forehead was creased, and his eyes remained zeroed in on her. His silence only made her feel worse. Seconds passed and it felt like forever, furthering the tension in the atmosphere. His blue eyes were filled with absolute disdain. She had to get out of here.

"I… I'm gonna head out now. Sorry again, I just really like that song and…" She sighed, now she started to sound like an idiot. "Oh forget it, I'll just go."

"She always hated that song." Heero finally spoke, stopping Relena dead in her tracks as she attempted to leave. She looked at him and saw his vision was now focused on the ceiling.

"Huh?" Was he talking to her? Relena wasn't sure if she should press on or just leave as she had originally planned.

"She said… it was something about his voice that she didn't like." Heero continued. Relena still had no clue as to whether she should respond or not. He wasn't just holding a conversation with himself, was he? Maybe she'll just roll the dice, she concluded. Not like things could get any worse.

"Heero?"

He turned back to her, his eyes now slightly softened. He analyzed her again, this time with less spite in his stare but still with a hint of distrust. "You like that song, huh?"

Relena nervously swallowed before responding. "Yeah, I do. My older brother… Milliardo played it for me when I was young. He gave me the CD and I would listen to it all day and night. It was my favorite song off that album and I would sing it to myself a lot." She smiled at the memory that the feeling of nostalgia conjured up. A lot of her early musical memories included her brother. Her head tilted downward and Heero could tell she was having her own little moment. "It's such a simple but brilliant song. I almost wished I had written it." She chuckled and started to feel a bit silly. "Sorry." She looked back up, her blue eyes glowing at him.

Heero felt uncomfortable matching gazes with her all of a sudden. He stripped his look away from her. He swallowed a lump in his throat and quietly growled at himself. "What was that all about?" He whispered to himself. He ran a hand through his bangs and sighed. "Damn it!" He tried to compose himself.

"Heero, is everything okay?" Relena noticed he looked a little distressed all of a sudden.

He put the guitar on the floor and stood up. "It's nothing. C'mon, let's head out. Howard is gonna come and lock up soon." Heero marched over to grab his Flying V that he had already put back in its case. He walked over and passed Relena.

"Right." She took his lead and closed the door as they exited the room.

The two headed down the hallway, no one saying anything. Things still felt a little tense but it wasn't as uncomfortable as before. Relena followed behind him with Heero stealing an occasional glance behind him. His eyes still looked on her questioningly. There was still stuff about her he didn't know. Was she really fit to be the front-woman of that band? He would begrudgingly admit to himself that she could play… and sing. He would have to wait and see if that translated to good original music. This girl had a lot to prove to him. If she was going to take her place in the all female trio, then she was going to have to prove that she belonged. Not like his opinion mattered, he couldn't kick her out of the band or anything.

But he would still judge her. He would not allow Sylvia's legacy to be tarnished.

Heero noticed that she had stopped following him. He turned and saw her looking up at the tagged up wall in the hallway. "Hey, c'mon." This was annoying, he thought.

She blinked at him before returning her attention to the wall. "Did you do this? Or was it Duo?" She was obviously talking about the spray painted name of the band with their initials. Heero shook his head, she was wasting time. Whatever, he would answer her dumb question.

"It was Duo." He flatly replied, hoping she would start moving again already.

"When did he do this?" Her eyes still focused on the graffiti.

Heero sighed. "Not that long after we first started." It was an idiotic move on Duo's part, he remembered.

"What made him do it?" She was probably annoying him, she thought, but she still wanted to know.

Heero moved closer to her and studied his friend's artwork. He recalled the day that he did it. "He said something about how we were gonna leave some kind of mark on this place, and maybe on music in general." They hadn't proved anything then and if Heero was being honest, they still haven't. Maybe Zen Arcade would change that.

"And you guys hadn't recorded anything yet, right?" Relena looked at him, watching him stare, curious about his thoughts.

Heero nodded. "I'm surprised Howard even let us do it. We hadn't done anything at that point."

"Maybe he saw something in you guys then that you weren't aware of." She watched him shrug.

"Hn."

"Well considering how things have gone so far, I would say you guys succeeded in justifying your names being up there." Relena flashed him a smile. He had a band that he could be proud of and Howard must've seen something in Heero that made him feel like he would go on to create something special. Heero had that aura about him, she noted.

"I don't know about that." Heero shook his head.

"Oh?" Did he not agree?

"There's still things I have to prove to myself before I feel comfortable having that up there." Heero hoped that he was working on that now.

Relena picked up on that. "Is that what this new album is about for you?"

Heero felt a little embarrassed to admit it, but he nodded. "Yeah, I guess."

"Are you guys getting closer to finishing it?"

"I think so." Heero nodded. He put in more work on that album and he was starting to get to a point where he was feeling satisfied. Maybe he was a lot closer to the finish line than he thought. Maybe just one last push and that would be all he needed. He felt like that would have to be it anyway, he was running out of money. That was the only reason he ok'd the release of Land Speed Record, a live album of performance recordings. It gave him some extra cash to work on Zen Arcade.

"Well whenever you guys are done, I would love to hear it. I'm sure with all the work you put in, it won't be anything less than astounding." He looked down at her and received too warm of a smile for his liking. His eyes narrowed and he had to wonder how she could even look at him like that with how he treated her from the beginning.

"Hn." Moving away, he focused his attention to something else on the wall. "You do your best, too."

"Huh?" She wasn't expecting that out of Heero. She saw him study the names of the original three members of her band. Only one name was different from the current line up. She saw Heero very lightly run a hand over her name. There was something in the way he did it that made her feel bad for him. Dorothy and the rest of the band may have had it with his post break up angst, but she felt like she could understand. These kinds of things were hard for some people. Some could get over it and others needed more time. Heero probably fit into that latter group. He may have had a stoic demeanor in a lot of ways, but that didn't mean there wasn't some kind of sensitivity that was there.

"You might as well put your name up. You're a part of this world now." Heero told her, pulling his hand back, balling it into a fist.

Relena shook her head. "No, I hope things work out, and I feel like they will, but I'm not sure I have Duo's level of confidence in me to predict the future. When it feels right, I'll do it."

His eyes scrutinized the woman. She gave off a strange kindness with how she spoke. He wasn't used to that in the world of blast beats and mosh pits. She stuck out, yet she was doing all she could to prove that she belonged. Much like Dorothy, he figured she didn't come from this, but wanted to be involved in it.

And much like her friend with the forked eyebrows, he got the feeling there was nothing but a genuine love for it that dictated her actions. As reluctant as he was to accept her, he could at least see something in Relena that Dorothy had told him about. He was spending too much time on this. Heero sighed and nodded.

"Very well. Let's go." Heero began moving towards the front door to Peacemillion.

'Maybe now we're getting somewhere.' Relena thought with a smile, watching him walk away. She chased after him, hearing Dorothy yelling for them to hurry up.

A very interesting first day of being in a band, Relena thought. She had a feeling her life would take a turn for the interesting from here on out.

AN: Thank you for reading. Love you all.

Nirvana - "About a Girl"