April 6, A.C. 210

Newport City, Sanc Kingdom

"This is unbelievable," Heero growled to the cab driver. "Can't you go any faster?"

"Sorry, sir. Standard commuter traffic."

"At this rate I'd get there faster if I walked," he grumbled, checking the time on his phone.

"You're welcome to," the driver sneered, glaring at him in the rearview mirror.

No matter what, it was clear he was going to be late to Relena's birthday dinner. Her birthday was the following day, but she was hosting a small, quiet dinner at her home the night before. He was determined to make it on time, although he'd planned to be there early, hoping to catch her before her guests arrived.

He had missed enough of her events over the years and knew that, at the very least, he owed it to her to be there. He never wanted to disappoint her again.

He also knew he was rapidly running out of time.

Relena held up her left hand, admiring the way her new ring glinted in the light. It was large enough to rival Dorothy's, but still elegant and tasteful, she thought. Quatre had selected, appropriately, a princess cut diamond in an elaborate filigree setting, all nestled on a dainty platinum band. It was certainly a ring befitting royalty. Then again, she shouldn't have been surprised that he would splurge. After all, he could afford it.

She sighed dreamily and returned to the task at hand, curling her hair for her dinner party. She was running late from work and had rushed home with just enough time to run her curling wand through her tresses, freshen up her makeup and change. The catering crew she'd hired had set her dining room table with her finest china, and had a gourmet meal and bottles of champagne on ice awaiting her carefully-selected guests. Tonight's dinner was mostly for her work colleagues.

And, of course, her new fiancé.

Relena checked the time on her wrist once more before glancing out her bedroom windows to see the sun slipping below the horizon. Her guests would be arriving any moment. One of her windows was opened just enough to let in the spring breeze. She turned her gaze back to her mirror as she finished curling her hair, but a rustling sound outside caught her attention.

"What is it?" she murmured anxiously, then laughed to herself. Of course, it was probably nothing. Just some birds, chipmunks, or maybe a squirrel… "Scaredy cat," she chided herself.

But then the window creaked with the sound of something, or someone, yanking it open. Relena spun away from her vanity, clutching at her chest.

Her shriek of "Who's there?" quickly devolved to "Heero?!" as he pried her window fully open and stepped inside. Incredibly, he was carrying a bouquet of what had to be at least two dozen red roses. Bits of leaves and branches clung to his hair and jacket, as he looked at her with a neutral expression, as if he hadn't just done something so rash as to climb a tree into her bedroom.

"Heero, what are you doing?!" she demanded. "You startled me!"

"I wanted to surprise you." He took a step closer and proffered the flowers. "Happy birthday."

Relena snatched them and all but flung them onto her bed. "You have some nerve," she seethed, jabbing a finger at his chest. He caught her outstretched hand and held it up before kissing it gently.

"I'm sorry," he said simply. "I didn't think you'd mind. I used to do stuff like this all the time."

"That was a long time ago." Relena pulled away and balled both hands at her hips, realizing she hadn't even had a chance to get dressed. She was only wearing the slip that was supposed to go underneath her dress. To her irritation, Heero had noticed as well. Undeterred, he moved forward and wrapped both arms around her waist, pulling her to his chest.

"You're still angry with me," he observed, quirking a brow.

"For starters," she glowered. "You can't just go and show up like this…"

Her words trailed off as Heero's lips met hers. Once they parted, she tried to sputter out another protest, but he didn't seem to be listening as he trailed more kisses along her neck. She closed her eyes, trying to fight the desire that ached in her chest.

"Stop it," she commanded, although she knew she sounded anything but convincing.

"Relena," he murmured, his lips against her throat, "please forgive me. I was an ass."

"You can say that again," she sighed.

"Fine. I was an ass." He raised his head and stood to his full height, lifting a hand to tip up her chin. His dark blue eyes swirled with emotion. "But I never meant to hurt you. I thought I was doing what you wanted. I will do anything you want, Relena. I… don't know much about marriage, but I'm willing to give it a shot, if you are."

Relena's eyes looked wide enough to bulge out of her head. "Heero! Are you serious?" Her hands flew to her mouth.

Heero's soft gaze hardened as his eyes fell on her left ring finger. Even he could tell that was new. "What is that?" he asked flatly.

Relena quickly brought her hands down to her sides. "I can explain…" she started.

"Is that some kind of family heirloom?" He frowned, taking her hand and inspecting the ring more closely. "It looks expensive." It dawned on Relena that Heero had no way of knowing who the ring was from; obviously, she hadn't told him. "Relena, I want to be able to get you what you want, but…" His eyes moved from her hand to her face, his frown deepening. "I'm afraid you may have to scale back your expectations."

Relena just stared at him, flabbergasted. "Heero," she said slowly. "This ring is not a family heirloom..."

"It's not?" He let go of her hand. "You bought one for yourself?" He'd heard of women buying their own diamonds, of course, but thought they tended to wear those kinds of rings on the opposite hand. But, then, he didn't know much about jewelry.

"Heero," Relena cut in. "I'm engaged."

He stared at her evenly without breaking his composure. "You're what?"

"Engaged," she repeated firmly.

His eyes narrowed as he folded his arms over his chest. "To who?"

"Quatre…"

"Quatre?" Heero echoed in disbelief. His friend's name stung his mind as it registered this new betrayal.

"Yes." Relena lowered her eyes. "He just asked me the other day, and…"

"I don't understand." Heero's brows knit together. "I thought you said you wanted to marry me?"

"I did," Relena said helplessly, "but you weren't interested."

"You didn't give me much time to consider it," he glowered.

"You've had years," she snapped. "I'm not some plaything for you, Heero."

"So you turn around and get engaged to someone else?" His eyes hardened. "In a matter of days?"

"Quatre and I made an agreement years ago that if we were both single at thirty, we would… marry each other," Relena explained, cringing at how silly the whole thing sounded out loud.

Heero edged forward, bearing down on her. "What about our agreement?"

"Our agreement to keep things open and flexible?" Relena rolled her eyes, newly irritated. "Meaning we can see other people without needing one another's permission."

"This is different," Heero snapped. "You got engaged to someone else without telling me."

"I was going to tell you…" Relena started.

"After I kissed you, right?" he growled. "Or were you going to let me fuck you, first?"

"Heero!" she gasped, her hands flying up to clutch her chest. "I will not let you speak to me that way." She bit her lip to ward off the tears that were welling up, sweeping her eyes away from him. "You hurt me," she said shakily.

"Yeah?" Heero's voice dropped, his eyes darkened. "Guess we're even, then." He turned abruptly and made for the window.

"Heero…"

He didn't look at her as he climbed through the opening and dropped swiftly to the ground. Relena raced to the window in time to see his retreating form escape the path of light from her window before slipping into the darkness.

A/N: Happy hump day! More drama for your reading pleasure. Thanks for keeping up with this; I hope you're continuing to enjoy this story! So who do you think Relena will choose? Leave a comment and let me know!

Love and kisses,

RFP