Chapter 3 - Dinner
"Hey Quat, wake up!" A very familiar voice cuts through my dream fogged mind.
"Mmmm, no." I drawl attempting to hold onto sleep state.
"Trowa's outside." Ok, that gets me up. I open my eyes and look into Hilde's blue eyes.
"I don't believe you."
She shrugs nonchalantly. "Fine, don't believe me. I don't care. You're still coming to dinner with us tonight."
Grumbling, I sit up and look at her. "I'm not in the mood for being around cute couples."
She puts her hand on her hip and stands there defiantly. "Oh, come on. Luce is still abroad, so I'm as good as single. Sally is going to be there too, and she isn't dating right now."
A frustrated growl escapes my lips as I run my fingers through my hair. "Yeah, but I'm the only single guy."
She leans on my bed with one hand and with her other one she trails a finger slowly from sternum to belly button. "You wanna be my date?"
My eyes go wide as she touches me, and I jump out of bed. "Hilde!" There were plenty of other things I wanted to say, but none of them come out.
"Get dressed. I don't think the restaurant will be too pleased with you showing up in boxers."
I try to give her my nastiest look, which I'll admit isn't all that nasty since I'm not actually mad at her. "I'm not going."
"I invited Trowa." She mentions casually.
"Sure you did." I storm out of my bedroom, make it half way into the living room before I realize that the door is open, and Trowa is standing on the threshold, frozen. "Fuck." I mutter under my breath, as I realize Hilde was telling the truth.
"Uh… Hi." He looks a little embarrassed, but not half as embarrassed as I feel right now. I'm standing in my living room, my front door wide open, the cute guy with the gorgeous green eyes and the soft looking hair is looking at me, and all I'm wearing is a pair of blue and green tartan boxers. I'm pretty in shape, but all of the sudden I feel horribly self-conscious standing there in my underwear.
"Ah… I'll… shit… Excuse me." I turn quickly and walk back into my bedroom where Hilde is still standing looking highly amused. "Get out please." The words come out like a hiss.
"You should have believed me. I can't help it that you didn't." She smirks and walks out of my room, considerately closing the door as she does so.
"Oh fuck." I run my hands through my hair. This is bad. "Allah, I walked out there in my underwear." I groan miserably and grab a clean pair of dark wash, straight leg, fitted jeans and fitted navy polo. I am going to be eating Italian so makes sense to dress in dark colors.
After dressing, I frown as the mirror reflects back a pathetic picture. My hair is all over the place and, for some reason, I feel that the outfit I had chosen looks queerer on me than usual. "Fuck." I mutter under my breath. I don't know why this bothers me all the sudden. I am gay. Proud and out. So why, all of the sudden, are the clothes that I wear all the time bothering me? Was it because of Trowa? I didn't see how it could be because of him. I met him at the GLBT meeting. I'm a fucking officer, there is probably very little doubt in his mind that a rainbow follows me everywhere I go.
There is a knock on my door, and I spin around and stare at it like it is about to bite me. Hilde sticks her head in after a few moments. "What are you still doing in your room? You're already dressed."
"Do I look gayer than usual?"
Her eyes go wide. "What the hell Quatre? You look like you always look. Now get that cute ass of yours to the bathroom and brush your teeth and hair and do what whatever else you have to do. We have to get going." She's grinning at me, and I know my insecurities are unfounded. With a sigh I follow her out of my room and go to the bathroom.
Quickly, I wash my face and run my wet hands through my hair in attempt to tame it a bit, knowing that I can't pull off the 'I just rolled out of bed' look that Heero can. After brushing everything I need to brush, I use the facilities, wash my hands, and go to join the others.
Hilde and Trowa are talking quietly at the door to the apartment, and I take a deep breath before proceeding over to them. There is no doubt that Hilde knows I am approaching, despite her back being towards me. Her body language and the feeling emanating off of her was pure amusement and at my expense.
Trowa on the other hand is watching me out from under those long bangs of his. His body language is neutral and he is giving off a jumble of emotions that I can't separate and interpret, which frustrates me because all I want to know is where I stand.
I suddenly realize that I don't have my wallet and keys, and sweep them up off the table coffee table next to me. "Ok, ready to go." I look at Hilde. "You driving or am I?"
She shrugs. "Don't care." She turns and looks at Trowa. "You wanna come with us? Or follow behind?"
He doesn't say anything for a moment, but I can see that he's thinking about it. "Would it be a problem if I came with you guys? I haven't gotten all the stuff unpacked and I can't see out of my back window. Makes me uncomfortable to drive."
"No problems." Hilde smiles at Trowa and turns to me. "We could take the Range Rover? More room and four doors."
I shrug. "Ok. After you guys." They both walk out of the door, and I pull the keys to the Rover off the key rack by the door and stuff them into my pocket. I take the other set of keys and follow the other two out, pausing to lock the door.
We make our way quietly down to the garage and walk to where my vehicles are parked. My SUV is parked between my BMW and Mini in the far corner of the garage and when I get into range, I use the remote to unlock the doors.
"Sandrock?" Trowa asks me quietly as the lights flicker.
I smile at him. "For some reason we all have names for our vehicles. One of mine is called Sandrock."
"One of them?" He looks at me shocked, and I forget that not everyone knows that I am Quatre Winner of Winner Enterprises.
A blush burns on my cheeks. "Ah, yeah. I'm the heir to Winner Enterprises. Luckily, my father is in no rush to hand the company over."
"You won't catch him complaining though." Hilde chimes in.
"No?" Trowa smiles and looks at me.
"I'm not quite ready to live and breathe corporations." I shrug. "Though, I'm not sure I'll ever be ready. My family is full of traditionalists and I've already put myself at odds with them to begin with, I don't know how much more I want to push it."
He nods and remains quiet, looking a little uncomfortable.
"Trowa, I'll let you have shot gun." Hilde smiles at him and heads to the driver's side back seat.
He looks a little relieved. "You sure? I'm the guest here. I can sit in the back."
"Don't worry about it. You're taller than I am, so sit in the front." I mentally cringe. Under normal circumstances, Hilde would have already claimed the front seat for herself, but my guess is that because I've shown some interest in Trowa, she's trying to get us closer.
"Ok." He slides into the passenger's seat after I am in and seated. "Would you mind stopping at a bank so I can pull some money out? I don't have enough to cover dinner."
Hilde laughs from the back seat and leans forward so her head is between the two front seats. "Don't worry about it. One of the blonds always pays."
Trowa looks at me side-ways. "It's true. Zechs and I take turns paying for dinner when we all go out." Way to flaunt your wealth Winner. I groan mentally, this isn't going well at all.
"You sure?" He looks uncertain. "I can pay you back for my part of the bill."
I look into those beautiful green eyes of his and smile shyly. "Really it's ok. Anyway, the place we are going is fairly inexpensive, but has wonderful food. They like us there because we aren't messy and tip extremely well."
"That, and they're allowed to say that the crown Prince and Princess of the Sanc Kingdom eat there regularly." Hilde titters from the back.
"Really?" Trowa twists and looks at her.
"Yeah. Zechs Marquise. The Undergrad Dean of Students is actually Milliardo Peacecraft and his sister, Relena, is a student here as well. She goes by Peacecraft because she likes the attention, but Milliardo goes by Zechs because he likes working in academia." I watch her explain and grin at the look of shock on Trowa's face.
"Buckle up, Hilde." I warn her as I turn the car on, forgetting that the last music I was listening to was Tori Amos and rather loudly at that. It isn't the most manly of music to listen to so I jump and rush to turn it off.
Hilde's laughing in the back and Trowa smiles at me. "I like Tori. You don't have to turn it off."
A nervous laugh leaves my lips as I switch the music back on but at a reasonable volume. I put the car in reverse and back out of my spot, throw it into drive, and leave the garage. We do not talk on the way there, rather we, comfortably I think, listen to the music.
It is about a ten minute drive there, and we pull into the parking lot the same time that Duo and Heero do. They usually aren't late for our dinners and I decide I don't want to know what caused them to lose track of the time. I pull in next to them and Hilde starts to chuckle. "I wonder what they were doing?"
"I don't want to know." I grumble getting annoyed.
"Heh, Whatever Q, I'm going to go give them a hard time." Hilde grins and slips from the car.
"Who are they?" Trowa looks at me.
"Our friends Heero Yuy and Duo Maxwell."
"Duo, the one from the meeting? The one with the long hair? Right?"
I nod. "And Heero was the one sitting next to him at the meeting."
His brow furls. "They're together?"
"Yup, almost six years now." I try hard to keep the disgust out of my voice. Not that I am disgusted by them, I'm just grumpy at the world right now, and all I really want it is to fall in love and get fucked senseless, in whatever order, I don't care at the moment.
"Really? He acts more like he's with you than with the other guy." He states rather keenly.
"I've been friends with Duo since elementary school; we've been through a lot together over the years. I guess that makes it look like we're more than just good friends."
Trowa nods and I look past him and out his window. Duo's black Mazda 3 with red racing strips is still running, and I can see it vibrating with whatever music he has chosen to drive too. The music abruptly stops and Heero gets out of the driver's seat. Well, that was unexpected, he doesn't usually drive Duo's car, let alone listens to Duo's music.
There is a slightly annoyed look on his face but he's still smiling, that is until he sees Trowa sitting in the passenger's side and his smile quickly disappears and replaced by his mask of indifference. I groan mentally, things just keep getting worse.
I slide out of the car as Heero clears the area between the two vehicles and I nod for Trowa to do the same. I make sure the doors are locked and I walk around and meet my guest on the other side of the car. Heero scowls at me, shoves his hands into his pockets and walks past everyone, including Duo, into the restaurant.
"What the fuck Heero?" I hear my friend with the long chestnut hair hiss, as Heero walks by him without so much as a word or a glance. Then I hear his steel toed boot bounce off rubber and I know he's kicking his tire.
I look at Trowa and shrug. "Hopefully this isn't indicative of how the night is going to go."
Hilde looks between Duo and I with a frown. She quickly decides to hurry Trowa inside to look at the menu and leave us outside in case Duo wants to vent.
"I thought you guys were late because you were otherwise engaged." I cringe at the wise-ass tone.
"Fuck Quat. I wish. He's been all sorts of distant this past week, and he's been completely unavailable since his fucking talk with Zechs and Wu this morning. It's fucking pissing me off." He kicks his tire again. "It's like he's acting stupid macho all the sudden. And when we got home after the meeting, he fucking disappears and doesn't tell me where he's going and doesn't get home until we have to leave. Hence the reason we're late." He growls, deep and guttural.
"I'm sorry." The words leave my mouth automatically, but I am sorry. Sorry that I was jealous of them at that moment.
"Eh." He shrugs. "I knew being with 'Ro wasn't always going to be easy, I just hope he gets his shit together soon, because this is making me crazy." Duo is quiet for a moment and then his frown flips into a smile and the bouncy happy Duo is reappears. "So what is going on? I see that you brought your new boyfriend to dinner."
"See that's the problem Duo." I run my fingers through my hair. "I don't even know if he swings our way."
He chuckles and there is a warm gleam in those exotic eyes of his. "I'm not gonna say that it is definite, but I am pretty sure he does, but might not be certain of it himself. Q, I was watching him watch you and watch you he did. Kinda like the way Heero watches me when he thinks I'm not paying attention. But it is a look Trowa doesn't know he's doing, whereas 'Ro's is completely conscious. It is lusty, longing and possessive all wrapped up in an intense gaze."
"That can't possibly be true." I reply back with defiance in my voice.
"Uh huh." He chides me with a knowing grin. "Remember how Wu would look at Zechs before he realized that he liked him."
"Come on Duo, 'Fei gave Zechs a lot of looks and I can't recall one that made me think that he liked him in any way." Of all the people I know who have found their way out of their closet, Wufei's was the rockiest. It is a good thing that Zechs is a patient man or else I don't think they would have ever gotten or stayed together.
"Whatever, you're just refusing to see it because you're grumpy that he kept calling you in the middle of the night freaking out." I roll my eyes dramatically and he smiles and pulls me into a hug. "Q, don't be in a rush. And don't be jealous of Heero and me either. We're still working a lot of shit out."
I hug him back, forgetting that we're still standing by his car in front of the restaurant. "But you're in love."
"Horribly." He gives me a squeeze. "Come on, let's get inside before our boys think that we're having an affair in the parking lot and start a fight." He kisses me on the crown of my head.
"I just…" I start before Duo cuts me off.
"Patience. Remember Heero and I hated each other when we first met. It happens when you least expect it." He lets go of me and steps back. "Come on lets go eat. We'll make his royal highness pay tonight."
"I think it is my turn tonight, though." I murmur.
"Shut up Q and come inside." Duo tells me with a smirk to show that he is joking.
"I'd rather go home." I say quietly.
"I know." He leans in close and talks loud enough for only me to hear. "But there is a cute boy in there who probably only came to dinner tonight because of you. So go in there and show him how wonderful you are. Being depressed isn't going to get you anywhere."
I cannot help but smile. "Ok." He grins, spins me round so I am standing in front of him and pushes me gently towards the door. "Oi, I don't need any help. I know where the door is."
"Just making sure you don't turn around."
"I'm not going to turn around." At this point the glass door is looming over me. I sigh, push the gloom from my mind and smile. Hopefully, it doesn't look too fake. We work our way back to the annex room that we book for dinner every Wednesday night, and I notice several pairs of eyes looking at us as we enter.
The usual suspects are all there around a large circular table. There is an empty seat between Heero and Hilde and then one between Trowa and Sally. I laugh in my head at the thinly veiled attempt to put me together with Trowa, but I smile non-the-less and take my seat next to him. I watch Duo sit down next to Heero and lean in to give his boyfriend a kiss. Heero dodges the kiss and darts his eyes to Trowa and then back to Duo as if telling him that since a stranger sits at the table, they are not allowed to act like they normally do.
"Fine. I don't care." Duo growls and grabs his keys from the table. "Fuck you too Yuy." With that I watch my friend quickly storm off—braid swinging violently—to the parking lot. He jumps into his car, turns it on and jacks the music loud enough for us to hear inside and tears out of parking lot. I can feel the pain and hurt radiating from him, and I want nothing more than to stand up and punch Heero, but as all eyes turn to the current source of my ire, I know this is not the time or place to express my displeasure with him.
"Sally would you be able to bring me home? I believe I am on your way." Heero looks to Sally and asks calmly, as if his boyfriend had not just stormed out of the restaurant.
The doctor has a look on her face that is a cross between amusement and anger. "Yes, I'll give you a ride home, on the stipulation that you tell me what that was about. You can tell me in the car, I don't care, but to get home you have to tell me or you will be walking there."
We all look to Heero expectantly and he nods in consent. She shakes her head, picks up her menu and starts to peruse as if nothing had happened. Zechs stands, kisses Wufei and grabs Heero by the arm. "Come with me now." The blond Prince hisses angrily. Heero stands rather rag doll like and gets hustled out of the room by our friend.
I look over at Trowa helplessly. "I'm sorry about all this. Wednesday is usually a calm and fun night; I'm not sure where the drama came from." I look at Wufei as he snorts a bitter laugh. "I take it you know?"
"Yes, and before you ask, no, I am not telling you what is going on. That is for Heero and Duo to tell you." He takes a sip of water.
"But Duo doesn't know what is going on. He told me as much earlier." I am beginning to get frustrated.
"No, but he will. And then it will be up to either of them to let you in on it." I slam my elbows on the table and bury my head in my hands.
Sally slides a menu towards me. "Don't worry about it and figure out what you want to eat." I snatch the menu from the table and try to decide what seems appetizing.
Ten minutes later, I've still not decided on what I want to eat and keep flipping back and forth between three choices. "'Fei, can I have the keys? I'm going to bring Heero home and then I'll be back. Can you order my usual?" I glance up and see Zechs standing next to Wufei, Heero firmly in the blond's grasp.
The Chinese man looks at his boyfriend, amusement dancing in his dark eyes and stands up. "Drive safe." They share a quick kiss, and he hands his keys over to Zechs, who then turns around and hauls Heero outside to where Wufei's motorcycle is parked.
Trowa smiles and puts his hand on my shoulder. "Not your fault." His voice is gentle as he speaks. "Things happen that we can't control." His hand still rests on my shoulder and it feels like my heart skips a few beats with the innocent touch.
"Why don't you guys go somewhere else tonight? I can't see that this is going to be a fun place to be right now. Wufei and I will wait for Zechs, who will more than likely be a little grumpy when he returns. No sense in you three not having a good time. Sally suggests diplomatically. "I would suggest making your escape while you can so you can salvage the remainder of the evening."
I look between Hilde and Trowa.
"Might as well. Diner?" Hilde offers as an alternate.
"I'm ok with that, they have good food." I look to Trowa who shrugs.
"I'm new to the area, so I'm up for experiencing the local cuisine." He says with a gentle smile that makes me melt. Allah, I really wish I know which side of the fence he's on.
"Thanks Sal. We'll talk to you later." Hilde speaks for us all and stands up looking at Trowa and myself expectantly. "You got the keys Q."
I feel my cheeks flush and stand up. "I do, don't I?" I say with a small smile.
The three of us walk quietly back to my Rover and when I unlock the doors we all climb in, Hilde once again claiming the back seat. When everyone is buckled in, I pull out of the parking lot, noticing that Duo had managed to leave tire tracks in his quick escape from dinner. We are in the car for no more than five minutes, when we pull into the parking lot of a diner lit with neon blue lights.
"The Blue Mist?" Trowa asks eyeing the overly blue building.
"Yup, we've been coming here since high school. I suggest the mozzarella sticks, they are about as close to perfect as you can get, if you like that sort of thing." Hilde suggests before I can say anything.
I laugh quietly and grin at both of them already feeling the effects of being away from the drama at the group dinner. As we enter I see my favorite waitress, Bette and she beams at me. "The usual Quatre?" She asks as she hustles us to my usual booth.
"Yes, please. Oh and Bette, this is Trowa, he's new in town and will be joining us tonight."
Bette smiles pleasantly at Trowa. "Welcome Trowa, I'm Bette and if you need anything just ask." She looks at Hilde. "The same for you as well dear?"
"Wouldn't think of doing anything else." Hilde's eyes twinkle as she slides into the booth. I follow and Trowa next to me.
"What about you dear?" The waitress asks Trowa.
He looks at me confusion showing in his green eyes. "What is the usual?" He sounds unsure of himself and I cannot help but chuckle a little.
"Milkshakes. I get a black and white and Hilde gets a strawberry one. Dinner is on me since we invited you out. Feel free to order anything you want, Hilde does."
She nuzzles up to me. "Hey, I'm not going to argue if you say you're treating. And you bet your cute ass I am going to take advantage of it." She leans in front of me and winks at Trowa, causing Bette to laugh.
"So what will it be dear?"
Trowa smiles slightly. I'll go for a chocolate milkshake." Then he looks over at me. "If that is ok?"
I nudge him gently with my shoulder. "I think I mentioned that you are welcome to anything." I watch his cheeks flush slightly, and he looks at me from behind his bangs. Allah, I should have sat on the other side of Hilde. This isn't going to do anything for me save for making me do something stupid.
"Alright then. One black and white, one strawberry, and one chocolate milkshake. I'll go get those and come back for your food order."
"Thanks, Bette." I offer her the winning Winner smile, and she grins back happily as she turns in the direction of the milkshake machine. Bette is one of those diner waitresses who you either love or hate. To most of the customers she has this gruff demeanor, but to us, she the most wonderful person in the world. Most of the time, if it is slow, I ask her to join us at the table and sit around and chat. She's not all that old, probably in her mid-forties and loves her job. She says it is the good people like me and my friends that make her want come to work every day. I give her a lot of credit; I don't think I could do what she does day in and day out.
The diner turns out to be an excellent idea, and Hilde, Trowa and I take pleasure in the warm atmosphere and good food, while thoroughly enjoying the lack of drama. We talk about school things, nothing too probing. I answer his questions to the best of my ability. I can tell he's trying to figure me out. Wealth tends to be rather off-putting for those who don't have it, and the good people suffer because they think that they are being users if they befriend those that have. I can tell that it bothers him slightly. He dances around the issue and speaks very little, but I can tell he's absorbing everything and very little makes it past his watchful, enticing, emerald eyes.
When we have eaten our fill, I suggest we go home to relax, which causes Hilde to frown, while Trowa remains neutral.
"I don't want to go home." She whines.
"You said yes, silly woman." I chide her and Trowa looks at us confused.
"Hilde is rooming with three other girls. Zechs' little sister Relena and her girlfriend Dorothy as well as our token straight girl Catherine." Hilde hits my upper arm as I explain.
"Sally's straight." She adds.
"But Sally is one of the university's on-call doctors and not a student."
"You mean the woman who told us to go somewhere else for dinner is a doctor?" Trowa appears shocked and Hilde and I nod. "She looks so young."
"That's because she is. She's just graduated and wanted to do something more than just work at the hospital."
"Ah. You guys have friends in high places."
I smile. "It actually just happened that way. Odd circumstances brought us all together and we've been friends ever since. Despite high places, they are all pretty down to earth, which is nice."
He nods his head and appears to be in thought. I glance at my watch and noticing it is past midnight, I decide it is finally time to head home. I stand up and shimmy out of the booth, the other two follow suit, and before walking away from the table I leave a twenty for the tip.
With a wave, I flag Bette down and she hands me the bill. "Have a good one dears." She turns to Trowa. "It was a pleasure to meet you Trowa. I hope you enjoyed yourself."
I watch him out of the corner of my eye, and he genuinely smiles and speaks quietly. "I did. Everything was excellent. Thank you."
She nods approvingly and gives me a wink before walking away. I walk the few steps to the register and an even surlier woman rings me up, I pay and we leave.
The ride back to the apartment is a quiet one, mostly because we're full and bed sounds like a wonderful idea at the moment. I drop Hilde off in front of her dorm and finish driving to the apartments with Trowa. "Am I right in assuming that you are staying here?"
His face flushes. "Yes. I happened to have been walking down the hall to the vending machines when Hilde stopped me." He tells me as we get out of the car.
I grin. "Well if you ever need anything, feel free to come and visit. I'd say we're all able to assist, but it seems like Duo and Heero are occupied with something else for the time being."
He looks at me like he wants to say something, but hesitates and I smile sadly. "You could also be so put off by our behavior that you never want to hang out with us anymore. If that is the case, I won't take it personally."
He shakes his head. "It isn't that. I'm very grateful for the company. I just don't want my presence to cause undue strife with your friends."
I feel a smile develop at the sincerity of his words. "If you are worried about Duo and Heero, don't be. They usually work things out fairly quickly when they get over themselves and realize that whoever is really wrong, is wrong." I shake my head and shrug. "But it isn't you. The timing is just off."
He nods his head in understanding. "Thank you Quatre. I enjoyed dinner and thank you for treating. I appreciate it."
I feel my cheeks flush. "It is alright really. I really don't mind. And thanks for joining us."
He offers me a fleeting, happy grin before turning and waving to me over his shoulder as he walks out of the garage and disappears around a corner. I climb the outside stairs to my second floor apartment, reflecting on the evening chaos and I smile happily to myself. Despite the Heero/Duo drama, Trowa had been there at dinner, and for some reason, that made everything ok.
I reach to flip on the light as I enter my apartment and my hand falls short. Exhaustion smacks me upside the head before I can even flip the light on. I lock the door, though I cannot seem to remember doing so and shuffle to my room, strip to my boxers and collapse on my bed and burrow under the covers. Sleep claims me immediately.