Chapter 6 - Looking Up

"Quatre!" Duo's voice sneaks into my consciousness.

"What is it Duo?" I drawl sleepily.

"Do you know where my ring is?"

He has got to be kidding. There is no way he does not remember what he did with it. I sigh. "You threw it at Heero when you broke up with him this afternoon."

He starts to tremble. "You mean that wasn't a dream?"

A dream? How could he have thought that was a dream? "No Duo. Not a dream." I say as patiently as I can.

He slumps a little bit on the bed and is quiet for a moment. "Do you think he believed me?" In his eyes I see that he hopes that Heero didn't.

I shift, getting onto my knees. "Knowing how drunk you were, I don't think he did. Especially since he did take your ring and put it on his finger with his own. That doesn't strike me as something one would do after breaking up with someone."

Duo nods mutely and slides off the bed. "Did I accuse him of having an affair?" He doesn't look at me.

"Yes, several times in fact. You even went as far to say that he was having an affair with Zechs and Wufei."

He groans pathetically. "Did I say it to his face?"

I shrug and slide out of the bed as well. "I don't know Duo, most of the conversation took place with the door closed. I only know about the ring and the breaking up part because that took place in the living room."

"I really fucked up didn't I?"

"No. Heero fucked up. You just over-reacted and didn't talk to him about it before jumping to conclusions."

Duo groans again and shuffles out of the room. Well, that wasn't the response I was expecting. Weary, I rub my eyes with my palms a little too vigorously and pad after Duo. As my eyes begin to focus, I startle when I see Sally standing in my living room. "I think I am done having visitors today." I half-heartedly glare at the doctor. "How'd you get in doc?"

Her pale bright blue eyes shine with amusement as she looks me over. "Looks like you had one hell of a night."

"I don't want to talk about it." I run my hand through my hair in attempt to tame it. "You didn't answer my question Sal."

She chuckles. "Trowa let me in on his way out. Said something about needing a shower." Then she looks at me as if something awesome happened last night.

"No Sal, don't even think about it. I'm not in the mood." I glance about the room looking for Duo. "Where's Duo?"

"I'm assuming he's the one in the bathroom, unless you had someone else over."

"No. Just Duo and Trowa. Heero stopped by; that didn't go well, and I told him to go home."

She nods then shakes her head, her expression changing to more serious. "No, I wouldn't have thought it would."

"What are you doing here Sally? You definitely didn't come for a social call." I try to not sound tired and annoyed, but fail miserably.

"You are correct, my dear Quatre. I am actually on my way to the hospital to meet my date, and say hello to Lady."

The smile that begins to form at the mention of a date changes as I hear that Lady is in the hospital. I look at Sally with confusion and worry and she laughs lightly. "Is she ok?"

Sally cocks her head to the side. "You don't know. I could have sworn…" She lapses into thought and then looks at me as if she's had a revelation. "Oh yes. We discussed it when Zechs got back from dropping off Heero. Lady and Treize are now the proud parents of twin girls. Let me tell you how excited Treize is." The last bit drips with sarcasm.

"That must be why he looked so nervous yesterday." I muse to myself.

She shrugs. "More than likely."

Duo decides to walk out of the bathroom at this very moment. It looks like he has just gotten out of the shower and is standing there in the clothes that he arrived in last night, his long hair is plaited tightly and slung over his shoulder.

"Hey Sal." Duo says shyly, and I know he is waiting for her to unleash some choice words upon him for drinking and driving.

The doctor walks over and wraps her arms around him. "How are you doing?"

He wraps his arms around her in return, and I see the wrinkles on her shirt where he squeezes her tightly. "Pounding headache, and I have no clue what waits for me at home."

"Pounding headache is your own damn fault Maxwell. And probably what waits for you at home is a very worried Heero." She pulls back from him and looks into his eyes.

"Quatre says that I broke up with 'Ro and threw my ring at him." She raises a honey colored brow to me for confirmation.

I nod to her, confirming what Duo had said is correct. She sighs, smiles sadly at me and looks back at Duo. "You need to go home and talk to him."

"I think I accused him of having an affair with Mill and Wu." He whispers so low I can barely hear him.

Again, Sally looks at me and I nod again. She closes her eyes as if formulating what she is going to say next. "Duo. Trust me when I tell you he's not having an affair with Mill, Wufei or anyone else."

"Quatre said that too." His voice is just slightly louder. "Do you know what is going on?"

"Yes, I made Zechs tell me last night, because I wanted to know why I was being woken up at three in the morning after working to one. And though I know, I'm not saying anything."

"Fuck, why can't anyone tell me what the fuck is going on?" Duo throws his hands in the air, barely missing hitting Sally as he does so.

The honey haired blonde grabs his chin and makes him look her in the eyes. "Because Duo; it is not our place to tell you, it's Heero's."

"Is it good or bad?" Duo tries to finagle more information out of her.

"Duo, stop! Go home, act like the adults you are and work this out with your boyfriend. You guys have been together too long to let this misunderstanding destroy your relationship." I feel a presence by my side and smile knowing Trowa has returned.

"If it is a fucking misunderstanding then why was he acting so suspicious?" Due snaps.

"How the hell should I know Duo? You know him best, so if you don't know, how is anyone else supposed to? Go home and ask him yourself instead of acting like a child and hiding from your problems. You can't hide here forever. Quatre has a life too. And it sure as hell isn't dedicated to taking care of everyone when they have relationship problems. I don't want to get another call telling me that you've been driving around in the middle of the night drunk. I know you know better than that." Sally chastises him and strikes an intimidating pose, resting her hand on her hip.

"I know, I know." He hugs her again. "Thanks Sal."

She hugs him back. "You're welcome." She kisses him on the cheek. "Now go home to that sexy, gorgeous boyfriend of yours and kiss and make-up."

He gives her a half-hearted smile. "I'm hoping it goes that well."

"It will." Sally assures our friend and turns to me. "I'll see you later Quatre." She gives me a discrete wink, and I feel my face flush at the unsaid comment. "A pleasure to see you again Trowa. Hopefully, there will be a next time." She nods to him, and I watch his reaction out of the corner of my eye.

"It was a pleasure as well." He smiles gently and offers a small bow.

She looks at me with a happy, knowing grin as if to say, 'Ooooh! I like him.' "All right gentlemen, I will be off. Have a good remainder of the night. And Duo, remain calm." She gives him a stern, but not overly serious, look.

"I'll try." He mutters and shuffles his feet a bit. She laughs softly and leaves my apartment. Duo waits until Sally is gone and looks at me with sad violet eyes. "Where did you put my keys Q? I should be getting home."

Hum, where the hell did I put them? I look around my apartment and see them hanging on the rack by the door with my other keys. I don't remember putting them there. "By the door. I opened the windows because it didn't smell so good, and I put valuables into the trunk."

Duo blushes slightly. "Thanks Quatre. I didn't mean to be an asshole."

I laugh. "Thank me by going home and fixing things with Heero."

He offers me a large grin, and I know he is trying to prepare himself for whatever conversation he and Heero are going to have. "Aye, Aye Sir." He mock salutes me and grabs his keys as he trots out of the door, shutting it as he does so.

I stare at the door for a bit and then take a few steps to the couch, sink into it and look over my shoulder to Trowa with a smile. "You want anything to eat. I'm starving."

He walks over to the couch and sits down next to me. "Sure."

"You craving anything?"

He shrugs noncommittally. "Nothing particularly. What's good around here?"

"I was thinking either Chinese or Pizza."

"Chinese sounds good. Haven't had it in a while."

For some reason my energy seems to be renewing itself, and I jump to my feet. "Excellent. Let me get a menu." Grabbing a menu off of the refrigerator, I return to the sofa and non-to-gracefully flop back down. He watches me with a quirk of a smile on his lips, and I all the sudden really want to know what he is thinking. "Here. Everything is really good." I hand the menu over to him and he begins to look it over.

Reclining back, it is my turn to watch him. He's changed into a pair of jeans and a black, deliciously form-fitting t-shirt, that shows off the fit body hidden beneath it just enough to make you oh so curious about what exactly it hides. But before those musings take me places I shouldn't go, I tell my hormones to shut up and behave in a civilized fashion.

"Oh, by the way." He turns to me suddenly and holds out his hand. "I know we sort of did this yesterday at the meeting, but I was a little overwhelmed so I want to do it properly." He grins. "Hi. I'm Trowa Barton, junior, majoring in civil engineering and minoring in sociology, which if I remember correctly is one of your majors."

I grasp his hand in a firm shake and feel it would be awkward to reintroduce myself. "You remember correctly." I cannot help but grin like an idiot. "Thank you again for all the help with Duo. I'm not really sure what I can do to repay the gesture."

Trowa chuckles softly. "Really, you don't have to repay me at all." I give him the look that means I'm not going to take that as the answer. "But dinner works." He adds hastily.

Then I remember something. He had mentioned yesterday that he hadn't finished unpacking his car. That might be a good idea and then we could spend time together. "Do you need help unpacking?" It comes out a little over-eager, and I grimace in my mind.

He regards me for a moment. "I don't have that much more to do, but I do need to go out shopping and pick up some stuff." His green eyes sparkle as he chuckles silently. "And I am definitely not opposed to the company or the help getting around town."

Why can't I read him? It seems like he was flirting right now, but… arg. "Sounds like a plan. Start tomorrow morning after running?"

"How about after running, we go shopping so we can relax a little bit and then empty the car?"

"We should stop for breakfast first. We'll be hungry. I know a great little bagel place or there is a pancake place in town, if you are feeling up for a bigger breakfast."

Trowa starts laughing. "Let's think about breakfast in the morning. It is time to be thinking about Chinese food." He grins at me as I turn bright red replaying my slightly overly enthusiastic offerings in my head.

"Sorry." I whisper and stare at the floor.

"Why? There isn't anything wrong with being excited about life." I look up from the floor and attempt to not get lost in those bright emerald eyes.

"Maybe I am over-reacting to counter the dramatics of yesterday and today."

"Maybe." He responds cryptically and points to something on the menu. "How's the beef and broccoli?"

You had to ask about one of the dishes I don't eat. "Ah, I actually don't eat mammals. I can tell you about the chicken dishes though."

It was his turn to turn red. "I'm sorry."

"You couldn't have known. Had eggs, toast and potatoes for dinner last night. Not exactly the most revealing of foods. At least you know I'm not a vegan. But I will warn you that if you decided to stick around, which I hope you do, that Relena and her girlfriend Dorothy are obnoxious vegetarians. Not exactly vegans, but a pain in the ass to go out with." I am hoping I don't sound as pathetically hopeful as I think I sound. I guess it is a plus that he isn't making for the door right now.

Trowa chuckles warmly. "Thanks for the warning." He gives me a wink. "I went to school with some militant vegans back in the States. Bring the vegetarians on; they can't be worse than the vegans." He says and I see his eyes glittering with repressed laughter. "So how is the General Tso's?"

"Good if you like a decent level of spice." I look over at the menu as I tell him this.

"Hum. Then I think I will try the General Tso's Chicken. You want to get an order of chicken fried rice and spring rolls to share?" He looks to me and waits for my answer.

"I'm game for that. Anything else?" I ask as I stand and fetch my phone.

"Nope, that's it." He states simply with a gentle smile.

I nod and dial the number. Time to practice my Chinese, which luckily isn't so bad since Wufei is a rather good teacher. I get the girl who normally answers the phone, her Common is very good, but I know she'd rather speak Chinese when she can. I smile and place the order with her, asking it to be delivered and she gives me a time of roughly thirty minutes. I tell her to take their time and we hang up. Trowa is looking at me like I have five heads. I return the look with a questioning one of my own.

"You speak Chinese?"

A soft laugh escapes my lips before I can stop it. "Not fluently. But enough to get me by. Wufei's been teaching me. I do, however speak Arabic and English fluently and enough Japanese to be able to deal with Heero when he reverts back to his native language. Duo is also fluent in Japanese, but he pretends he isn't to keep up the guise that they aren't dating."

Trowa just shakes his head. "That is so odd. I don't think I could do that."

My brow furls a little. "Do what?" I know full well what he is talking about, but I want to hear it from him.

"Pretend I am not with someone I'm madly in love with." He muses distantly. "Now, this could be me, and tell me if I am wrong, since I am new to the school and just met everyone yesterday." I keep forgetting that it was only yesterday that this all began and he tumbled right into my life. "But I feel safe in saying that Duo is a rather passionate person."

He looks to me for confirmation. I nod yes and silently bid him to continue, enjoying his dissection of my little group. "I think I would be proud of the person that was that in love with me, that passionate about me. And I don't think I could just pretend that that feeling wasn't there while surrounded by strangers." He shrugs and looks at me with this worried look in his eyes as if to ask 'did I go too far?'

"I don't think I could either, for whatever reason. But I think it is starting to get to them too. I, for one, am glad that it happened now and not a week from now, when classes are in session."

He chuckles. "Ah, very good point."

We continue to chat about school, while waiting for the food to arrive, but we really don't talk about anything in depth. When the food arrives, I go down to get it and pay and tip the driver nicely, thanking him for the service. Once upstairs, I ask Trowa if he wants to veg out in front of the television for a while and maybe watch a movie. He tells me he is game for a movie and I point over to the bookcase full of DVDs and tell him to pick one to watch. He grins at me and goes over to peruse.

While Trowa picks a movie I grab plates and utensils, both chopsticks and flatware just in case. I ask if he wants anything to drink, and he says that water will be fine, so I grab two bottles out of the fridge and head back to the couch and place everything on the coffee table.

At the same time, Trowa pulls a movie off the shelf and shows it to me. Blazing Saddles. I giggle and tell him it is perfect and he looks all proud of himself for choosing wisely. I take the movie and put it in the player and switch the TV on. We sit on the couch and break out the food while the DVD gets to the menu. Trowa grabs the other set of chopsticks, and I smile to myself, happy to see that he knows how to use them. Another point on a tally I didn't realize I was keeping.

We watch and eat in relative silence, making a few comments here and there about the movie we have obviously watched too many times, but not enough that it isn't funny anymore. When the food is completely gone, and I mean completely gone, we sit back, our shoulders barely touching and watch the remainder of the movie together.

As the credits roll, he picks up the two fortune cookies and holds them out in front of him and tells me to choose. I pick the one in his right hand and we both open ours. "Change is going to happen in your life, so go with the flow!" I grin at this and read it aloud so he can hear it too. He too grins and reads his to me. "Our perception and attitude toward any situation will determine the outcome." Well maybe there is hope for me after all.

Trowa helps me clean up dinner and we say our evening good nights. For some reason, on the spur of the moment, I hug him. I feel his body tense for a moment, unsure of what to do and then I feel a soft chuckle rumble in his chest, and he hugs me back.

"You're welcome Quatre." He answer my silent thanks, and I pull away blushing furiously.

"Someday, tell me why you stayed with me, a stranger, and helped with my wreck of a friend."

"Because. You weren't a stranger anymore." He answers cryptically and wishes me good night before heading out of my apartment to his own. I find myself unable to look away from him until he is no longer in visual range and only then do I close my door and get ready for bed, despite the fact that I had slept most of the day.

As I climb into bed, the sun is still in the sky, though making its way west, but I didn't care about anything at all. Anything, save for a warm and gentle soul with bright, beautiful green eyes. The thought lulls me to sleep quickly, a stupid grin plastered to my face as I fall asleep in my bed, which smells so wonderfully like Trowa.