Disclaimer: The GW characters do not belong to me.

Note: Many thanks to the wonderful Kaeru Shisho, for another year of shared stories and unending support (not to mention talking horses, painted bottles and sexy cowboys!).

Happy Christmas to everyone!

Chapter 2:

These are the things I got for Christmas. Calendars from my local garage and drycleaners, thanking me for my custom during the year. A little pile of gifts that I hadn't got around to opening, feeling vaguely guilty that I didn't deserve them since I hadn't bought anything in return. A full day's overtime at treble pay.

A kiss from Chang Wufei.

He'd kissed me. That was what people did at Christmas. For the last couple of weeks, people had been carrying bunches of mistletoe around to wave over the heads of anyone they fancied. A few daring souls had even planted a smacker on Une's lips.

Ugh.

Serious nightmare fodder.

It was just another one of those traditions that I didn't understand but didn't really seem to mean anything at all.

If I'd allowed myself to believe it had meant more than that, for a few seconds, in my head, then that was my fault.

Nobody else's.

There were too many things that I just wasn't allowed to think about. OK, I'd think about nothing else once I got home. I'd probably spend the rest of my life reliving that brief moment of being embraced by the two of them, but not on the drive to their house, in their car.

This was ….not the best time to think about the aching sweetness of Wufei's mouth moving over mine, of Heero's lean body pressed against me.

Dangerous thoughts, Duo.

Just another hopeless fantasy because that sort of thing only happened in porn movies.

After the kiss, I'd somehow ended up bundled in my coat, and walking out of the building between the two of them. There were plenty of other people coming and going in the building as the early shift finished. I'd left HQ with them plenty of times before so it shouldn't have been a big deal.

It was.

I wimped out of the conversation entirely by sliding into the backseat of the car, looking out of the window and listening to them bicker about the quickest way home.

Their house had a nice wreath on the door, and lights on the tree in the front garden. More Christmas stuff inside; cards everywhere and a huge tree. The one they'd invited me along to buy, but I'd made some excuse.

I probably should have made more excuses not to come this time as well.

Wufei shed his hideous sweater once he was through the door; underneath he had a tight black t-shirt. Gulp. Heero was supposed to be the one I was interested in; God, I was fickle.

There was an odd little moment in the hall where we just looked at each other, and then Heero grinned at me. 'If you'd like to change out of uniform, you can borrow something of ours. You know where everything is.'

I grabbed the escape clause and legged it upstairs. I'd been in their room before because when they'd first moved in, I'd helped them to redecorate. It was all dark chocolate and cream. Very masculine and elegant and, naturally, immaculately tidy.

It was still a room that people lived in though. On each of the bedside tables there were books and a little jumble of possessions. There were candles on the dresser, and a few framed photographs. I was in two of them; a group shot of the five of us from the war, and one of just me with Wufei and Heero. We were all dressed up, so it had probably been some function or other. There were some black and white prints of Paris hanging above the bed, and a couple of calligraphy scrolls.

They had the lamps I'd given them as a housewarming present on each side of the bed. They were nothing special; just long tubes of raw linen in a burnt orange colour, but they'd looked good lit up in the shop. They looked right in my friends' bedroom too, the colour matching the duvet set I'd persuaded them to buy; swirls of orange on a background of dark brown. It was nice to imagine them glowing at night, while my friends read or talked, and then turning them out and moving into each other's arms.

Or maybe they liked the lights on so they could see each other?

Feeling a bit uncomfortable, even though they'd told me to do it, I rummaged a bit through their closet and found sweat pants and a t-shirt, and then couldn't work out what to do with my own clothes. I couldn't just leave them lying on the floor, and it seemed a bit cheeky to chuck them in the laundry hamper. In the end, I settled for rolling them up into as small as pile as possible, and hid them behind the bathroom door.

Then I made sure I hadn't inadvertently created any excess mess, making a mental note that I needed to clean up my own room at some point. In other people's houses, you could actually see the floor. I could even do a bit of painting or whatever; I hated the pistachio-green colour of my walls, but I'd never quite got around to doing anything about them.

They were both in the kitchen when I ran downstairs, Wufei chopping vegetables and Heero stirring something in a pot. My offer to help was laughed off; instead I got a glass of wine and was told to sit down and relax.

There were a couple of new photos on their fridge that were presumably from the Preventers' Christmas party. Some party invitations for New Year. A shopping list in Heero's neat writing, with a few things that Wufei had added. In one corner, a little yellow post it note.

Gone for a run. Back at 7. H. xx.

I sighed, taking another sip of my wine, reading the note again. A little slice of their lives together. I could imagine Wufei cooking dinner and waiting for the sound of the front door opening, ready to greet his partner with a kiss.

God, if Heero had ever written me something like that, I'd have kept it tucked away in my wallet. They didn't just have sex, those two. They had a life together.

And I was really going to have to stop obsessing about the two of them.

Given what Christmas-philes they'd become, I'd fully expected the full turkey banquet, but Heero told me, sounding almost ashamed of the fact, that neither of them really liked turkey all that much. I couldn't care less. I bought turkey slices sometimes, if they were on sale at the supermarket, and they were OK but not that amazing.

Instead there were crab cakes to start, and then some sort of shellfish stew, and a platter of exotic fruit salad.

It was nice.

We talked about Sally's kids, and Wufei's trip to Thailand the previous month, and the new laptop Heero had bought and nothing remotely personal.

Then again, why would we have?

After I'd insisted on helping with washing up and putting away leftovers, Heero took out some old black and white movies he'd bought on the internet, and switched on the TV.

Plonked awkwardly on one end of their couch, I stared at the screen and thought resolutely about how lucky I was. I had two good friends who were kindly allowing me to share their lives on this special day.

Instead of having to go home to an achingly empty apartment, I had company and a bright fire and the murmur of voices commenting on the film, or gently teasing each other.

I was incredibly lucky.

According to people I'd overheard at work, I was doing the Christmas tradition of vegging out in front of an open fire after binging on enough rich food to support a third world country. Yay, me. Following traditions and everything. The next step was apparently to doze off and I thought maybe it wouldn't hurt just to close my eyes for one second.

When I woke up it was dark, with just the glow of the TV and the fire. No Wufei. But I'd somehow moved in my sleep and was lying against Heero's shoulder.

'God, Heero! I'm so sorry!'

He just chuckled and slid an arm around me so I couldn't pull away.

'Don't be silly.' We were so close that I could feel his breath over my skin when he spoke. Dangerously close.

Of course I should have jerked away. I should. But I was still half-asleep, and it felt so good to lie against him like that that I just couldn't.

'Good movie?' I asked, suddenly realising that thought the images on screen were still flickering, the sound had been turned down to a low background hum.

'Mmmm.' He sounded pretty much as drowsy as I felt, and I suddenly realised he'd been asleep too. 'Don't know. I dropped off soon after you did. I'm not used to eating such a big meal in the middle of the day. Or drinking wine.'

'Me neither.' Well, it was as good an excuse as any. That criminally ugly sweater felt deliciously soft under my cheek, and the fingers attached to the arm that was around my waist were lightly stroking my stomach. God, I could have died like that and gone out happy. 'Sorry. I'm not much of a guest, am I? Falling asleep like that?'

'You're a lovely guest. And you can fall asleep like this any time you want.'

'Um. Where's Wufei?'

'Making tea.'

'Oh.'

More food. They really did eat a lot. I remembered when Heero Yuy had considered that eating more than one protein bar at a time was pure gluttony. And he'd probably chewed bullets for roughage.

'It's just a light snack,' he assured me, laughing at my expression.

'OK. I'll probably head home after that.'

'Why?'

'Well, because it's where I live. Look, I know you asked me to stay the night and all, but it's probably better if I go back. I don't want to impose any more on you two. I mean, you've been really nice to me and I didn't even bring a bottle of wine or a pot plant or anything and…'

'Wufei,' Heero interrupted, and I suddenly realised his boyfriend was standing in the doorway, holding a laden tray. 'He wants to go home.'

Wufei walked over to us, setting the tray carefully on the floor. 'You two look very comfortable together. Why does he want to leave?'

'Apparently because he didn't bring us a pot plant.' Heero sounded vaguely amused.

'Ah. Just as well. That plant Sally gave us lasted less than a week, remember? Because someone forgot to water it.'

'It was ugly,' Heero said a little defensively. 'And there are two of us in this house.'

'I thought it was nice. I was away on assignment! It had instructions. And a little bottle of liquid plant food.'

I couldn't help grinning at this; they were such an old married couple sometimes. I wondered if they bickered like this over whose turn it was to mow the lawn, or empty the dishwasher. I'd always imagined them having strict rotas for chores but maybe not.

'Look, guys, can you stop talking about plants?'

Heero stopped in the middle of saying that he'd never officially accepted responsibility for the plant in the first place, and smiled at me. 'Of course. 'Fei, we're not doing a very good job of convincing him to stay.'

Wufei just laughed, dropping to sit beside me so I was bracketed between two warm bodies, and then looked at me with the weirdest expression, a blend of appraisal and predatory and hope.

'Kissing him seemed to be quite effective earlier. We could try that again.'

With Wufei, it had been a slow, delicate dance across stepping stones; a subtle exploration of unchartered waters. Heero Yuy does not do subtle, never has. It's all about achieving the mission goals.

He just dived straight in, heedless of currents or hidden rocks and it was devastating.

I'd dreamed of Heero kissing me since I was fifteen years old.

This time, in reality I was kissing him back.

'Stop,' I managed to pant it out, with every nerve ending in my body screaming for more. 'Heero. Please.'

He did, instantly. 'What's the matter?'

I sat bolt upright, straightening my borrowed clothes which had somehow got a bit messed up, pulling the t-shirt down as far as possible. I didn't even try to hide the bitterness in my voice. 'I think I get it now. You've been together what? Three years? Honeymoon's over, maybe you want to spice things up a little bit? Is that it?'

'You truly think that's what we want from you?' Wufei couldn't have looked more insulted if I'd impugned the honour of every Chang ever born.

'I don't know what to think! OK? Yeah, I can be your friend. It's great spending time with you guys, but that's it.'

'When you're not here, we miss you,' Heero cut in softly. 'We've hardly seen you at all the past couple of months.'

'Yeah, well,' I gave my braid a sharp tug. 'I told you why.'

'It doesn't have to be like that.'

'It is. You guys are a couple. You're happy. God, you're perfect together.'

'Oh, Duo.' Heero lay back against the couch cushions, pulling me with him. 'It's not about us lacking anything. We are happy together, but it just feels wrong when you're not here.'

'As what? The third wheel?'

'Third wheels add stability and balance and strength,' Wufei murmured, kissing the top of my head gently. It felt right, having his lips there, like he'd done it a thousand times before, like it was a gesture of affection between lovers.

'People don't do things like that,' I said finally.

'And since when have any of us cared what people do?' Heero asked me. 'Duo, ever since you came back to Earth, you've been a part of us. You helped us move into this house; you helped us choose the paints and redecorate; you even helped us to tame the jungle outside.'

I couldn't help grinning at that, remembering the three of us taking on some truly vicious rose bushes. Maybe that was why Treize had liked the damn things so much; they were lethal. 'That was fun.'

'It was fun because of you,' Wufei said, quite unexpectedly. 'For us, they were just jobs to be done as efficiently as possible. Missions,' he added, with a little sidelong smirk at his partner. 'But you made up all those ridiculous stories about roses plotting world domination, and made friends with the people at the DIY stores, and got so much advice from them, and bought those spray-painting guns. We have missed you very much, Duo, since you stopped being a part of our lives.'

'We thought, perhaps, that you felt the same way.' Heero sounded very hesitant, for him.

'I've missed you both like hell,' I confessed, resting my head on his shoulder. It had been a conscious, very deliberate decision that I'd made some time around Halloween, that I was going to stop being the odd man out in their relationship.

A new guy at work had made some comment I'd happened to overhear, about Heero being my boyfriend. Someone else had put him straight, but he'd been surprised that we weren't a couple, since we seemed to spend so much time together. But if people were gossiping about us like that, then Wufei and Heero were bound to hear eventually.

It had been nice, sometimes, when I was out with one of them, to pretend we were more than just friends.

Way too nice.

So I'd pulled back from both of them, keeping a very definite distance.

'We thought we'd done something to offend you,' Heero said quietly. 'When you started making it rather obvious that you didn't want to be around us.'

'God, no. I just didn't want to mess things up; I didn't want to come between you guys, ever. I don't.'

'And look at you now,' Wufei said quietly. 'Between us. And neither of us is complaining.'

'Not in the least,' Heero added.

'Um, nor me,' I said stiffly. God, it was heaven, being between them both. 'But I don't get any of this. What exactly do you want?'

They exchanged amused glances over my head. 'He really can be incredibly slow,' Wufei said. 'Maxwell, we want you. We want your friendship back; we want you to spend time with us, we want you back in our lives.'

'We want more than friendship,' Heero added, making everything clear.

Wufei smirked. 'Heero, he's not that dense, I hope. Although we could have a great deal of pleasure convincing him of what exactly we do want.'

'He is actually right here, you know.' Shit, I'd almost swallowed my tongue when he'd said pleasure in that tone, lingering over the anticipation of it.

'Mmm. We've noticed.'

'Oh, good.' I was trying for sarcasm, didn't quite make it. This was real, not some crazy product of my insane imagination. Heero and Wufei…wanting me in their world. 'How...is this going to work?' I asked in a small voice.

Heero shrugged; a gesture he's picked up from me but that never looks right on him.

Wufei just raised his eyebrows. 'However we want it to. Duo, this is us.'

'What you mean, you haven't researched this subject exhaustively, complied a spreadsheet presentation, and written a thesis in three different languages? Seriously?'

'Actually, no,' Heero told me very seriously, and then one corner of his lip quirked. 'There is very little information available on the subject. We'll be making it up as we go along. That's your speciality rather than ours.'

'Um, am I dreaming all this?'

'Positively not.' Wufei gave my arm a little pinch and then bent his head to kiss the mark. 'Did that feel like a dream?'

'I have some pretty odd dreams.'

'Not a dream,' Heero took my chin in one hand, making me look at him. 'Very, very real. May I?'

'It's a bit late to start asking for permission, no? But yeah, go ahead.'

These are the things I got for Christmas. Calendars from my local garage and drycleaners, thanking me for my custom during the year. A little pile of gifts that I hadn't got around to opening, feeling vaguely guilty that I didn't deserve them since I hadn't bought anything in return. A full day's overtime at treble time.

A kiss from Chang Wufei.

More than one, with quite a few from Heero Yuy thrown in for good measure.

A space between them in their bed. A key to their front door, quite formally presented the next morning while we were having breakfast, although it was probably late enough at that point to be lunch.

There really isn't much point in getting up early when you're sandwiched between two gorgeous guys intent on keeping you in bed for as long as possible.

These are the important things that I got.

Hope and possibility and the universe righting itself around the three of us.