Chapter 4 – Two AM
The scream of release that escapes my lips wakes me up. I grimace and look at my phone. Two oh eight. "Fuck." I sit up and become keenly aware of the wetness around me, sweat on the sheets and the product of one of the most intense wet dreams I've ever had in my boxers. I run my hand through my hair and get up, rip the sheets off my bed and pad over to the bathroom to clean up.
I switch on the bathroom light and start the shower, keeping it lukewarm. My face contorts in disgust as I quickly divest myself of my soiled boxers, toss them into the hamper, and step into the warm spray. Mechanically, I grab the soap and wash the evidence of my dream down the drain.
Though the water and soap relax my body, it does nothing to help my mental state and the dream begins to surface with more clarity. I could feel the ghost of touches that were never there to begin with and the look of passion in green eyes. "Oh shit." The realization that the eyes belong to Trowa both worries me and turns me on. I try to ignore the tightness in my groin and fail miserably as my will collapses, and I quickly bring myself to completion. Frustration and self-loathing cloud my mind, as I lean against the cool tile, trying to regain my composure.
I don't know how long I spend in the shower, hoping that the spray would wash away the intense feelings for the green eyed stranger that has somehow worked himself into my life. I turn off the shower, grab my towel, dry off, and wrap it around my waist. When I arrive back in my room, I grab a pair of pajama bottoms and slide them on, tossing the towel into the pile of soiled linens and put some deodorant on.
The lights in the rest of the apartment seem unnecessary as the lights from outside stream in through the windows. "I need a smoke." I mutter to myself and tread into the kitchen, open the refrigerator and pull out a zip lock baggy containing a pack of cloves. Despite the fact that I rarely smoke, the need, at this moment, is overwhelming. I snag the cheap lighter off the top of the fridge and the baggie and walk over to my sliding glass door and subsequently the balcony.
The August night is hot, humid, and not much different than the shower I just got out of. The heat doesn't bother me, being from the deserts of L3, but the humidity is the killer. Luckily, in two to three weeks, as fall approaches, it should start to get nice again. I pull a black wrapped, sweet smelling clove cigarette out of the box, and I lean on the wrought iron railing overlooking the courtyard and light up. I take a long drag and, as I exhale, I rest my head on the railing wallowing in my own patheticness.
Normally, I would be watching the people still up at this hour because I take a certain amount of joy in trying to figure out what has kept them up so late, but not tonight. Tonight I could care less. To my right I hear the sound of a glass door slide open, but I don't bother turning to see, not my business.
"Quatre?" I perk up as I hear my name being called.
"Hum?" The voice came from the same vicinity where the door had opened. I squint for a moment trying to get a better look, until I realize that it is Trowa's outline in the darkness of the balcony. "Hey Trowa."
He doesn't say anything, instead he swiftly moves across the two balconies that separate our apartments, gracefully vaulting over the foot or so gaps between them. He stands next to me, his head tilted to the side with an unreadable expression. "You smoke?" It doesn't really sound accusatory, so I hope that he's not put off by it.
"Not really. Only when life gets more intense than usual." I take another drag. "At least I don't drown in a bottle." I offer him a wistful smile.
"Good point." He agrees and leans on the railing with me.
"Want one?" I motion behind me to the small table where I had put the cloves and lighter.
"Sure." The green-eyed god shrugs and grabs a clove and the lighter. After a brief argument with the child safe crap-lighter, he has it lit. We stand together in rather comfortable silence smoking, but after a few minutes he turns to look at me. "You ok?"
His question catches me off guard. "Yeah. I just had a weird dream and woke up in a cold sweat." At least it wasn't a complete a lie.
An understanding smile caresses his lips. "I hate those, even when they are really good dreams." Trowa says with a cheeky grin, which leaves little doubt that he understood completely.
I chuckle and drop the butt of my clove into a small glass bottle I tend to keep as an ashtray and reach to pull out another one. As I do so, though, I hear my phone ringing. People don't tend to call me at two-something in the morning so I quickly look at Trowa, worry now plastered on my face and bolt inside for my phone. "Be right back." I say over my shoulder.
The name on the screen tells me it is Hilde calling. "Hey? What's going on?" I try to hide the worry in my voice.
"Is Duo there?" She asks me and I can tell she's fretting too.
"No. Why? He's not home?"
"No. I don't think he went home after dinner. He just left me a message, but I was asleep and didn't catch it before it went to voicemail. Then by the time I listened to it and got outside, all that was there was an empty bottle of rum on the sidewalk. I'm thinking he's on his way over there, and I've got a horrible feeling that he may have had most of the bottle."
"Did you try calling him?" I run my free hand through my hair.
"Yes, but he didn't pick up."
"Fuck. This isn't good." I restate the obvious and walk back onto the balcony where Trowa still stands.
Seconds later my guest motions towards the road and points to the car moving its way down it with music blasting. "I think I recall that music from earlier."
"Hilde, he's here. I gotta go." I close the phone before she can respond and shove it at Trowa. "Do me a favor please?" I look at him, begging with my eyes and he nods. "Sally's number is in there. Can you call her and let her know we think that Duo may have consumed a bottle of rum and is now here. See if she has any suggestions. I'll be right back."
I do not wait for him to reply and run to take care of my best friend. Bolting through my apartment and out the front door, I make it to the stairs and down to ground level, as the black Mazda stalls out in the lot, taking over two spaces. A small part of me is fairly impressed that he managed to make it to a parking space at all, the other part of me wants to ring his neck for being anywhere near a car.
I make it to his driver's side door and see that he is wrestling with his seat belt. At least he was coherent enough to put it on. He languidly pushes the door open, and I step out of the way.
"Hey Q." He drawls drunkenly and I can smell the hard liquor immediately.
"Oh, Duo." I reach to help him out and after a bit of finagling, he practically pours out of the car. I help him to his feet and get him to the curb so he is out of the way. Once he safely sitting on the sidewalk, I hop into his car and park it properly in a spot, lower the windows to air and stash his CDs and stereo faceplate in the trunk.
As I make my way back to Duo, I make sure his car is locked and reach out to offer him a hand up. His head lolls to the side and he looks up at me with a sad lop-sided smile. But the traces of tears still dart his cheeks and it is obvious that he is trying to hide behind the smile. "Come on, let's get upstairs."
"Ok." He slurs and grabs onto me for support. The stairs turn out to be a horrid idea, but in my mind, the elevator at the other end of the building was way too far away to ask him to walk.
When we finally manage to make it up to my floor, I see Trowa is standing in the hallway waiting for me. Duo looks at him and then to me. "Oh God, I am sorry Q. I didn't mean to interrupt anything." He looks like he is about to start crying again.
"We were just having a smoke outside and talking. It's ok." Trowa moves to aid me with Duo and gets his arm around my friend's waist and helps me the rest of the way. "Bathroom." I say, he nods and we walk in that direction.
We sit Duo down in front of the toilet and I fetch a few towels out of the linen closet for him. "Stay there. I'll get you some water." Trowa follows me out of the bathroom and I begin to flip on lights.
I turn to him when we enter the kitchen. "You don't have to stay."
He shakes his head and looks me over. "I don't mind staying." His tone is something akin to tender.
My stomach does happy flip-flops as I smile and fight the urge to grab him and wrap my arms around him. "I'm happy that you want to stay, but this could get messy. Heero is a little odd when it comes to Duo and their relationship." Allah, Heero's timing couldn't have been worse.
Trowa eyes me. "How odd?"
I take my time to formulate how to best describe it. "Heero likes to keep a very clear line between personal and private, and he is more than a little wary of strangers. I can't guarantee he's going to be kind to you if he finds out you were here with me."
He smiles and chuckles softly. "If you want me to stay, I'll take my chances with Heero."
I nod, unable to keep the goofy smile from my lips. "Ok." Then I pause. "Would you mind stashing the wine and liquor at your place until Duo leaves? I don't want to even give him the opportunity to climb into another one bottle."
"Sure. Where do you keep everything?"
"In the bottom cabinet, closest to the fridge." I point in the general direction.
"I'll be right back. Have to go open my front door." He gives me a small smile. "Seeing as I didn't come over in the most traditional manner." Then, just as he turns, his eyes trail over my body, and for the first time since he arrived at my balcony, I am cognizant of the fact that I did not bother to put a shirt on when I got out of the shower.
My face flushes, and I know I am beet red, and I do not doubt that the rest of me is following suit. He smiles again and looks me up and down once more before returning to his apartment through my sliding glass door.
When I see Trowa disappear over the rail, I head back to the kitchen, fill a plastic cup halfway with water, return to Duo, and kneel next to him. He looks at me pathetically from underneath a blanket of sweat drenched bangs as I hand him the water. He tentatively grasps the cup and I hold onto it until I am sure he's got a good hold.
"So?" Hopefully, a little prompt will get him to open up.
"So what?" He replies grumpily and takes a sip of water.
"Well, for starters, why were you driving intoxicated? You could have killed yourself or someone else and I doubt that Zechs or Treize could get you out of trouble if you had gotten caught"
"It seemed like a good idea at the time. But…" He pauses getting distracted by something or nothing. I am not sure as it seems like the alcohol is still clouding his mind pretty thoroughly.
"But?" I prompt again.
"But I didn't want to go home." He takes another sip of water.
"Because of Heero?" He nods. "Why Duo?"
"Because he's having a fucking affair." Well, that wasn't what I was expecting him to say.
"What makes you say that?" I smooth back his bangs, so I can see his face clearly.
"You saw how he was acting. He's all snuggly with the golden Prince and Chang and has been blowing me off all day." He practically snarls when he mentions Zechs and Wufei.
I watch as his violet eyes fill with held back tears and take a moment to collect my thoughts, trying to figure out the best way to help the situation without knowing what exactly Heero was up to. "I seriously doubt that Heero was having an affair with Wufei and Zechs. I mean can you seriously see Wu agreeing to share Zechs, because I sure as hell can't."
Duo snorts bitterly. "Things change." I wince as the tears start to fall down his cheeks. "Fuck Q, what am I going to do?"
I gather Duo in my arms and hold him as he cries. Trowa stands outside the door a ways and motions that he's finished his task and sits in the shadows not far from me. His presence there is comforting and provides the support I need to be strong for Duo.
"I doubt things have changed that much, so I'm pretty sure it is something else."
He looks up and me with a sniff and wipes the tears from my bare skin. "Like what Quatre? In all the years we've been dating, he still refuses to acknowledge me as his partner in public. But he had no problem getting close to mister tall, blond and sexy? That's bullshit Quat and you know it."
"I wish I had an answer Duo, but I don't."
Duo wraps his arms around me and hugs me tightly. "I love him so much Q. I don't know what I would do without him."
"I think you would be heartbroken for a while and then eventually get over it. But Duo, I really, truly believe that he isn't having an affair. I've known you and Heero for years, and I can't imagine Heero ever cheating on you."
He doesn't say anything but starts to cry harder. "Are you feeling okay enough to lie down in a bed? Or do you want me to set up the couch?"
"Stay with me." He whispers.
"Ok." I wiggle out of his grasp and walk out of the bathroom for a moment. Trowa rises as I near him. A long sigh escapes my lips. "I'm going to sleep in the guest room with Duo, at least until he falls asleep, the idea of him getting sick in my bed doesn't sit well with me." I force a smile. "I'll make my bed if you want to crash." That may have come out a little hopeful sounding, but at the moment I am so weary that it is hard to tell.
He nods with a gentle smile. "I'll stay."
"I'll be right back." I rush off to my room to throw my soiled linens into the hamper in my closet, pull out new ones and quickly make my bed. As I turn to leave my room, I see Trowa standing in my door way, silhouetted from the lights behind him. "I should call Heero and tell him I've got Duo." My voice waivers with uncertainty.
He nods. "I'm going to run back to my place and grab something to sleep in. I'll be right back."
I want to grab him and hug him for being so wonderful. I have no idea why a person who just met me this afternoon would be kind enough to help me with my love-sick, overly intoxicated friend, but I can't help but feel something towards him. Something I don't want to give a name too just yet. As I head back to the bathroom, I snag a pair of flannel bottoms for Duo to change into. "You think you can change without my help?"
He looks at me. "I should be able to." I hand him the pants. "I'll be right back." He nods and I walk out of the bathroom scanning the room for where Trowa had put my phone. Luckily, I do not have to search long because it is sitting on my dining room table.
I make the decision to call from the guest room with the door closed. The last thing I need is Duo breaking down further. I pull up Heero's number, hit send and wait.
"Duo?" Heero sounds panicky, and I cannot help but smile sadly.
"Did you bother to check your caller id before you picked up?" I try to chide him.
"Oh, Quatre." There is disappointment in his voice and gets quiet. "Is Duo there?"
I pause in answering, not sure if I want to give him the satisfaction of knowing where his boyfriend is. "Yes." I finally say.
"Is he ok?" His voice still quiet.
"Heero, he downed a bottle of rum and went out driving."
He let loose a string of curses in Japanese. "I'm going to come over and get him."
"No, you're not." I tell him firmly. "It would just make things messier than they already are. You can come by tomorrow after noon. He hasn't slept and is a wreck, and I haven't slept much either. Come by later, he'll be ok until then." I pause, and he does not say anything. "Heero, I really hope that all of this is worth it. That whatever you are up to, it is worth the emotional rollercoaster you are putting him through."
"I think it is." He says quietly. "I really hope it is." He adds hopefully.
"He thinks you're having an affair, Heero." Blunt and to the point. "You had better do whatever you are doing quickly, because you may not have a boyfriend if this keeps up."
"I know. I didn't think he would take it like he is." He mutters more to himself than me. "I'll be over after noon to bring him home"
"Ok. And I'm going to be sleeping with him in the guest bedroom to make sure he doesn't have trouble in the night. Just so you don't think we're having the affair."
"I wouldn't think that Quatre."
"Just making sure. The way things are going tonight, it is best that I tell you ahead of time."
"Thanks Quatre. I'll be over in the afternoon to get him."
"Good night Heero. I'll keep him safe."
"Good night." With that, I end the call and walk out of guest room to fetch Duo.
Trowa stands near the door and motions me over. "I talked to Sally. She said to watch him and if he looks worse than a developing hangover, call for an ambulance and then her and she'll meet us at the hospital."
I nod automatically. "Thanks for everything Trowa, I really appreciate it." He just smiles at me and I feel warm and tingly. "I'm going to get Duo and try to get some sleep."
" Let me know if you need anything." He gives me a small lopsided smile.
"Will do." I grin back and make my way to the bathroom to retrieve Duo who is leaning against the door frame in the pajama bottoms and his t-shirt, looking rather ill.
"Q, why don't you have a shirt on?" He asks groggily ,and I blush at the reminder to my lack of clothing.
"I wasn't expecting company." I shrug and offer a hand to him. Duo takes a few shaky steps and puts his hand on my shoulder for stabilization.
"Maybe I should call Heero." He muses as we walk.
"I already called him and told him you were here."
All Duo does is shake his head, and I lower him into bed. "I'll be right back." He nods wearily and curls up into a little ball on the edge of the bed. Trowa is still standing where he had been, and I tell him to get some sleep and I will too. He practically glides into my room, and I return to the guest bedroom, climb into the bed, pull the covers over Duo and myself and go to sleep.