April 7, A.C. 210

Brussels, Belgium

The morning of Relena's 30th birthday, she boarded a flight back to Brussels, with Quatre accompanying her. She didn't have any celebrations planned, other than the dinner she'd hosted at the Peacecraft castle the night before. She had taken the day off of work, preparing for a business trip to the colonies later in the week; she was also trying to arrange her schedule to meet up with her adoptive mother, Mareen, who had been unable to attend Relena's birthday dinner in Sanc. And when she did see her mother, Relena was planning to share the news of her engagement. She tried to picture herself showing off the ring, proclaiming, "I'm engaged!" But the image and the words rang hollow in Relena's mind.

She would be happier, she knew, if she were in love.

But love, she had learned, was fleeting. She loved Heero, but he'd never appeared to return her feelings. If he did love her, he'd never said it. But then, last night happened... Relena's mind whirred as she and Quatre exited their plane and began walking across the tarmac at the Brussels Interstellar Airport. She was still trying to make sense of Heero's abrupt appearance in Sanc. He had shown up and all but proclaimed his feelings for her, but he still hadn't said those three little words. Part of Relena was still angry at him for waiting so long to do something; the other part of her was more angry at herself for going behind his back and agreeing to marrying Quatre. Someone she didn't even love. She knew, of course, she wasn't being fair to Heero; just a week ago, she'd kicked him out of her hotel room and didn't give him a chance to even consider her own proposal before she gave up and got engaged to someone else. She'd felt hurt and rejected, and knew it had been a kneejerk reaction on her part. But then she had tried to reason with Heero in Sanc, and he'd bolted. Relena had never seen him so distraught and enraged, all at once.

She sighed as she and Quatre collected their luggage and trudged through the airport. She caught his sidelong glance out of the corner of her eye and knew he could sense her strain. But what was she supposed to do? Call Heero and apologize, and try to work things out? Should all of the effort really fall on her? She wanted to voice her questions out loud, even ask Quatre's opinion, as her friend. But Relena had to remind herself that Quatre wasn't just her friend, any more. He was her fiancé.

The realization slammed into her with enough force to knock her off her feet. Did she even know what she was getting into? How far should she - could she - take this before the situation would implode? Relena unconsciously twisted her new engagement ring around her finger as she and Quatre walked through the glass doors of the airport and stepped into the spring sunshine. A black limousine was waiting out front to take them to Relena's town house on the outskirts of the city. It was strange and surreal, suddenly doing all of these things together. Could they really spend forever this way, in a pleasant but passionless relationship?

Relena could still feel Quatre's gaze on her as they settled into the backseat and their driver sped away from the airport. She didn't sense any urgency or pressure from him but still felt the need to reassure him, somehow. She turned her face toward his and tried to think of something to say, but he was the first to break the silence.

"You've been awfully quiet," Quatre said with a smile. He reached over and gave Relena's hand a squeeze. "Still worried about Heero, I imagine."

Relena released a breath she didn't know she'd been holding. She squeezed Quatre's hand back and smiled.

"A little," she admitted. "I just don't know what to say to him, now. He... sort of put his feelings out there." Relena paused, biting her lower lip. "It just… irritates me that it took him so long." She held up her left hand, her ring facing Quatre. "And now this is happening, and-"

"Relena." Quatre interrupted her gently, his green eyes blazing. "I'm sorry, but please, listen. I'm not under any illusion that you're madly in love with me. I understand how you feel about Heero." Relena's own eyes burned as she took in Quatre's words. "And I'm fully aware you only agreed to this because you were tired of waiting for him to make a move. So I'd understand if you wanted to walk away from this whole thing and pretend as if it never happened." He gave a careless shrug, but the emotion in his eyes gave him away. "I just want you to know that he's not the only man who has feelings for you. I mean, of course you know that." He tipped his head down. "You've had plenty of suitors over the years, I know. All I'm trying to say is…"

Quatre slowly raised his eyes to meet hers, and Relena's heart dropped, seeing the sincerity there. "I care about you, Relena. I always have. Maybe we don't have some epic romance to boast about, but I know I could be a good husband to you. I'd give you anything you ever wanted." Quatre's voice wavered slightly. "Arranged marriages work well for a reason. It's how my family has done things, for centuries." He clasped Relena's hand more tightly before letting it go. "I really think we could make this work, Relena. Without all of the unnecessary heartache. But it's up to you. I don't want to push you any further."

Relena let the weight of Quatre's words sink in as she sat staring at him. "Oh, Quatre," she sighed after a beat, smiling self-consciously. "I think I may be rendered speechless, and that doesn't happen to me a lot." He laughed and bobbed his head.

"I'm sorry. I kind of went off on a tangent…"

"That's perfectly all right." Relena waved a hand. "You've just… given me a lot to think about." Quatre had asked her out so many times over the years and she had always demurred, partly wanting to preserve their friendship, partly because she was always waiting on Heero. But now… choosing between the two former Gundam pilots - one dangerously handsome, the other unabashedly kind - was going to be much harder than she thought. That is, if she even still had a choice...

Quatre seemed to have a knack for reading her mind. "Why don't you call Heero and see where you stand? Then you can decide what you want to do. I'll support you, either way."

Relena's eyes widened at his words. Then, slowly, she shook her head. "No, that wouldn't be fair to you, Quatre. I'm not going to string you along while I wait for Heero..."

Quatre held up a hand, smiling warmly. "I already told you, I understand. If this is what you have to do to decide what you want, I'd rather wait myself. Then, depending on what you decide, we can act accordingly."

Relena stared at Quatre unblinkingly for a moment. He made everything sound so simple.

"I don't know…" She said at last, frowning. "I'm pretty sure Heero's already given me an answer. He certainly didn't care to stick around last night and figure things out."

Quatre gave her another encouraging smile. "Well, if I know Heero, he probably just needs some time to sulk. But I'm sure he'll come back around, Relena. Something tells me he can't bring himself to stay away from you for long."

Relena sighed and nodded, knowing it was the truth. Heero could be gone for months, without so much as a word, and then he would show up on her doorstep as if he had just been there yesterday. And, of course, he always seemed perfectly content with picking up their relationship - or whatever it was - wherever they had left off.

Well, that wasn't good enough for Relena, now. But did Heero understand that? She couldn't help but suspect that he had only agreed to marriage to appease her, not because it was something he actually wanted. But she wasn't sure how to find that out without causing more problems for all of them. Relena stared out the window at the cityscape as it whizzed by, her heart and mind continuing to do battle.

"Call him," Quatre urged her gently, once again chiming in with her thoughts. "If I were you, I'd want to be sure."

Relena weighed Quatre's suggestion the whole ride home. She'd waited until she had unpacked her things in her bedroom to sit down with her phone. For a while she sat staring at the screen before finally forcing herself to dial Heero's number. Then she pressed the phone to her ear and waited while it rang, over and over. But he never answered, the call eventually going to voicemail. Relena was hesitant to leave a message, but at the last second decided she'd better say something.

"Heero," she said softly. "It's me… We need to talk. Please call when you can... Thank you." She paused, her mouth going dry. Did she really just say "thank you," like it was a business call? She sighed and tried again. "I'm sorry, I… just really need to speak with you. Please." Relena closed her eyes, trying to summon up more words, but the line beeped to indicate that her message had been recorded. She had the option to erase it and start over, but decided that was the best she could do, for now. If she tried again, she would only continue to sit there, stumbling over her words. She hoped Heero would get the message.

Relena's heart was heavy as she headed back downstairs. She found Quatre sitting on her living room couch, clacking away at his laptop.

"Any luck?" he asked, looking up briefly. Relena shook her head and settled beside him.

"I left him a message." She shrugged helplessly. "So. We'll see."

"I wouldn't worry." Quatre glanced up again, his gaze lingering on her face. "Maybe he's in a spot where he can't answer the phone right now. But he probably feels just as badly about everything as you do. I'm sure he'll call back soon."

Relena reached over and squeezed his shoulder. "You're a good friend, Quatre. I want to go on record as saying that I do not deserve you."

"You know that's not true," he said pointedly. "You're a wonderful person, Relena. One of the kindest people I know. And so is Heero. But, you know... if you find the two of you still can't see eye to eye…" He held her gaze for a beat before returning his attention to his screen. "Well. My offer still stands."

Relena pursed her lips, nodding slowly. "I appreciate that. More than you know." She tilted her head as she continued to watch him typing away. "But you deserve to be happy, too. Would an arranged marriage really be enough for you?"

"I already told you how I feel about that. So please, don't worry about me." Quatre looked back up at her and smiled before flipping his computer shut. "Well, I'm afraid I have to catch a flight to Dubai tonight to take care of some things before I head back to the colony. But I'll see you there later this week, right?"

Relena nodded. Her work would take her to L4 for a few days. "Let me know when you think you'll have some free time."

Quatre gave her an easy smile. "I can always move things around, if I have to. I'll want to see you and catch up. Maybe by then, you'll be able to tell me what's happening with Heero."

Relena felt all her muscles go tense. "Maybe." Quatre seemed to pick up on her stress immediately.

"Hey, I have time for a birthday lunch before I go." He stood up from the couch and held a hand out to her. "How about it?"

Relena smiled and nodded up at him, fighting against her inner turmoil as she took his hand and allowed him to raise her. "That would be lovely."

She wasn't sure which thought was making her sadder: the thought of Quatre leaving, or the fact that Heero hadn't answered her call. She felt restless and uneasy, needing to know, one way or the other, how Heero truly felt about her. Would he give her another chance? And if he did, would Quatre really understand?

She followed her dear friend out of the house, all the while wondering what might happen to their friendship, then.

A/N: Thank you to everyone who has left feedback on this story; as you can see, I take it very seriously! I hope you enjoyed this chapter and like where things are headed... As I told one reviewer, my idea was too make this story a little soap opera-esque, and so some of the emotion is a bit over-the-top, but I can guarantee that someone will get a happy ending... I mean, come on guys, you know I specialize in fluff, right? ;)

Thanks again for all the love! I hope to also post an update of Under the Roses, soon, so thanks for following that story as well!

Hugs!

- RFP