Sorry this chapter took so long to post. Life should send warnings when it's about to get topsy-turvy, eh?

Wufei settled onto the grass, crossing his legs beneath him as he closed his eyes. An hour of martial arts practice had him physically and mentally prepared for mediation. A light breeze cooled off his skin, also capturing a few stray hairs and sending them ticking across Wufei's cheek. Smoothing them back with a flash of annoyance, he remembered why his hair never seemed to stay tied back anymore. Every opportunity Trowa saw, the French man stole away the hair band and proceeded to play with the onyx strands. Not the he minded, really.

Exhaling slowly though his mouth, Wufei attempted to clear his mind again. He matched his breathing to the rhythm of his slowed heartbeat, relaxing while keeping his body in perfect position. The morning sun was warm against his bare torso and before he realized the image was invading his meditations, he suddenly visualized Trowa's long body wrapped around his in bed, as it was that morning when he woke. Trowa's head was cradled against his shoulder, his lips parted slightly in sweet sleep after a night of terrorizing dreams which had sent him into the Chinese man's room before the dawn broke.

Wufei sighed at the recent memory, laying his hand on his shoulder where Trowa's had lain. He regretted detangling their legs, pushing Trowa gently back down onto the sheets as he rose from bed, leaving him there bathed in golden light from the window as he left the room for his exercise routines. It had been nice waking up with someone. More than nice. Especially since that someone was Trowa.

Giving up, Wufei stretched out on the ground, opening his eyes to the baby blue cloudless sky. It was the same sky as yesterday's, encasing the baseball stadium and reflected in the hood of Quatre's car in his driveway. Admitting to himself that he was intensely jealous knowing the blond and his pretend boyfriend were in the house alone together, as also admitted to himself that he no longer wanted anything to remain pretend.

He was in love and it was consuming him.

Wondering if Trowa had gotten up yet, he brushed the grass off his pants and walked towards the house, taking in the enchanting fragrances of the garden as he passed. The closer he got to the door, the more a nasty scent intruded on the natural smells of the earth. A nasty scent which reminded him an awful lot like smoke. Bursting inside, he ran to the kitchen just in time to see Trowa leaning over a flaming frying pan with a spatula raised in the air. Shaken out of shock at Wufei's presence, he dropped the utensil and jumped away from the stove. "You could help, you know!"

Wufei patted out the small fire with a dishrag from the sink, laughing as he did so. Being able to witness Trowa being anything other than elegant had to make him smile, despite the putrid smell seeping into his nostrils and the black circle now on his ceiling. Those emerald eyes were quite endearing wide and stunned. Placing the rag next to the smoking pan, he cupped Trowa's cheek, leaving sooty smudges. "Next time, let's go to a diner, alright?"

The older man pouted, wiping off his face. "I thought it would be a kind gesture to make you breakfast after you let me sleep with you."

"Thank-you, but I don't like bacon."

"It's not bacon."

Disposing of the charred substance in the trash, Wufei didn't dare ask what it was supposed to be. "You got your sister's cooking skills."

"Catherine cooks just fine, Fei. She approves of you, by the way. You're the only other pilot that didn't try to kill me or encourage me to fight. Of course, if she knew the way you comment about her soup, she might change her mind."

Wufei pulled out the instant oatmeal from the cabinet, preparing two bowls. "She didn't approve of your crush on Quatre?"

"Actually, she was the only person to warn me about Quatre's heterosexuality right after I regained my memory."

"Did you know you loved him while your memory was gone?"

Taking the bowls, waiting for Wufei to stir some cinnamon and cream in both, Trowa sat down at the table with a groan. "I knew I was in love with one of you. Something in my…heart, I guess…told me you all were important to my life. But as to who had my previous romantic interests, I was unsure. Quatre was very protective over me, but I remembered flashes of time spent with you and Heero, and Duo was the first to find me. Not that it mattered. The war was more important."

Wufei took his seat beside his friend, setting down two glasses of orange juice. "Agreed."

"Of course. You didn't date Sally until after the Barton problem. Three months, two weeks, and five days after."

"You memory works fine now, apparently."

Trowa shrugged. "Apparently. How was the game you saw with Duo this week?"

"I did not understand the finer points of the activity, but the atmosphere was pleasant. Removing Maxwell from the group did make him easier to handle and we did hold several conversations without the presence of practical jokes."

"You see? Listening to my sage advice does pay off."

"This coming from the one who nearly burned down the house."

"Heh. I'm sorry." Trowa stretched out his legs in his embarrassment, accidentally brushing against Wufei underneath the table, causing the latter to wonder just how many fires Trowa planned to start. Edging away to curb his reaction, he cleared his throat.

"Do you mind if I ask you a question?"

"Does it pertain to my lack of cooking finesse?"

"No."

"Go ahead."

"How can you be afraid of heights and hold a job as an acrobat?

"Wondered when you'd get around to that. My first captain in the mercenaries trained his soldiers in areas which directly involved their phobias—heights, darkness, closed spaces, whatever."

"That seems rather cruel."

"He had his reasons. For one, he didn't want us to get complacent. If you are competent enough to survive a few years as a merc, sometimes you forget you can die. Facing our irrational fears was a great reminder of our mortality. Secondly, he showed us just how ridiculous those fears were in the face of war. Hard to be afraid of falling when you're being shot at."

Noticing the sudden flicker of sadness across his friend's face, Wufei laid his hand across Trowa's on the table. Never before had he felt sorry for any of his comrades despite all their troubled pasts, for he believed trials to be the fire which either purifies or destroys the spirit depending on the strength of the individual. The ex-gundam pilots were not weak, and that included Trowa Barton. But the rush of sympathy which prompted him to run his thumb across the slender man's knuckles would not be denied. "You deserved a better childhood."

Trowa choked back a sardonic laugh, retrieving his hand and pushing his chair back to stand. "I was a ruthless killer. I deserved what I got. Do you want more to drink?"

Refusing to be brushed off, Wufei stood as well, his dark eyes stubborn. "You're a good person, whether you accept the fact or not."

"You wouldn't say that if you knew what I've done to you."

Surprised but unrelenting, Wufei held his ground even as Trowa tried to brush by him to escape the kitchen. He grabbed a handful of turtleneck, balancing his weight on his straightened leg while keeping the other bent so he wouldn't be toppled over. "Tell me and I will decide how my opinion sways."

Trowa tried to jerk away, failing when he heard the thread in his shirt threaten to rip. "You'll throw me out."

"You have my word that I will at least help you find another place to live."

"So comforting." Knowing Wufei would now never let him go with a complete explanation, Trowa accepted the game was over. He silently vowed to exact his revenge on Quatre for prompting him into this. "You know how yesterday I said I didn't deserve anyone because I've been lying?"

"You feel guilty for deceiving Quatre although you love him."

Trowa tried to pry off Wufei's fingers to no avail, worried how quickly they could form a fist. "Well, I do feel guilty for deceiving my crush, but it's not Quatre. In fact, this was all Quatre's idea. Granted, I didn't have to go along, but I would have done anything." Unable to avoid Wufei's confused gaze, he winced. "I'm sorry."

"I don't understand. Who were you attempting to make jealous, if not Quatre?"

"I wasn't trying to make anyone jealous! I was trying to make you fall in love with me!" Deciding his dignity was more important than his turtleneck, Trowa pulled backwards, causing the material to shred apart. Since Wufei was currently blocking the most natural exit, he slid across the counter and started to run outside.

In the second it took for Trowa to slide over, Wufei's brain took the time to process this new bit of information. All of their 'performances' in front of their friends flashed like lightening through his mind, all the times Trowa touched him or flirted with him. Before Trowa could make it through the door, Wufei had him tackled to the floor, struggling beneath him to get away. "Let us clear this up."

"Get off!"

"I thought you wanted to hear my opinion."

Trowa frowned at the cold tile beneath him, feeling sick to his stomach. His voice came out in a whisper as his throat closed up in a desperate attempt not to cry. "Don't, Wufei. Please. I'm so sorry I lied to you and tricked you. But living here with you, eating meals with you, waking up next to…just being with you as been wonderful. I couldn't make myself stop, and I'm sorry."

Wufei lowered his lips onto Trowa's neck, hearing the other man gasp as he nipped gently at the soft skin. "You done?"

"Y-yeah."

"If I understand correctly, you loved me enough to attempt a fool's scheme, hazard our friendship for a chance to be more, and risk the trust of our comrades?"

Noticing Wufei had relaxed his grip, Trowa turned over, studying the handsome face above him instead of the floor. As his instincts told him to take the chance to flee before Wufei released his fury, his body still shivered from the feel of Wufei's kiss on his neck, and his heart pounded with hopeful anticipation. "Yes."

"You did all that and you still expected me to be angry?"

"You're…you're not?"

Wufei reached behind him to pull out his hair band as he balanced on one hand. Trowa nearly moaned as the silky hair fell across his face and bare chest, a sensation he'd only dreamed of before. "No, I'm not mad, Trowa."

"Then…how do you feel?"

"Like I'm in love." Wufei arched down so his lips were a mere centimeter away from Trowa's. "Guess your plan worked." Smiling for a moment at Trowa's second gasp of the night, Wufei closed the distance between them.