Chapter 3 – Someone to Save You (Between Episodes 8 & 9)

o/ Patience… Took you for everything… /o

Sunlight streaming in the window slowly roused Duo, and stretching sleepily, he rolled over and cracked open an eyelid.

Damn.

The red numbers on the alarm clock read 7:47 and he had exactly thirteen minutes before he was going to miss the bus. Sighing, he threw off the blankets, glancing over at Heero's empty and perfectly made bed with annoyance.

Even with the trip today, he still couldn't be bothered to even wake me up before leaving!

The last three weeks had been quite possibly the best and worst time he'd ever had in his life. Slipping on his white button-down shirt and searching the pile of mess at the foot of his bed for his tie, he marveled at how easily a street rat like himself had been able to blend into a prep school full of rich kids. He was having the time of his life attending classes, playing basketball and eating so much in the dining hall that he frequently made himself a little ill.

On the other hand, his roommate had been more frustrating than ever.

Duo had woken the morning after they'd fallen asleep together in Heero's bed to find him already gone with no note or explanation. After getting horribly lost on the large campus, he'd barely made it to his first class on time and hadn't gotten to eat breakfast. Not that today is going to be any different…

In public, Heero acted as if they barely knew each other, which he supposed was better for keeping their mission secret. He could deal with that, mostly, but even in private, Heero refused to talk about anything of any substance. He also acted as if nothing had happened between them, giving off such a cold vibe that Duo hadn't been able to bring himself to say anything either. If he didn't know better, he would have thought that maybe he'd just imagined the entire thing.

But that's impossible with the way my mind insists on replaying it in my dreams every fucking night.

Slipping his shoes on, he dashed out the door and headed to the main entrance of the school where his marine science class was meeting for their field trip to the local aquarium. He was actually excited about the trip, having discovered a deep fascination with the ocean in the last few weeks. Duo could almost forget he was a Gundam pilot except for the fact that he still went to check Deathscythe for new messages at least twice a day, bothered deeply by the complete radio silence since the disastrous mission at the New Edwards base.

"Maxwell! Thank you for gracing us with your presence!" Duo's teacher eyed him sternly, but the second he flashed her a grin, she gave up the idea of trying to lecture him for being late. Several girls standing nearby giggled and he winked at them. "Straighten yourself up and go meet your field trip partner." She turned to face the rest of the group as he hastily tied his tie. "It's important to stick with your partner so that no one gets lost or left behind. Go ahead and board the bus."

"Ah, wait…" he called after his teacher. "I don't know—"

"Maxwell." Heero's clipped tone just behind him made Duo jump and he turned to face his roommate with a smirk, despite how much he really wanted to connect his fist with Heero's face for leaving him behind.

"Good morning, Heero! So kind of you to make sure I didn't miss the field trip."

"Let's go."

Duo almost asked him what he meant, but then realized they were the last two standing outside the bus and groaned inwardly at Fate's cruel sense of humor. He was sure that Heero was even less amused than he was about being stuck together for the day. Ah well, wiser to make the best of it! Maybe we'll exchange more than two sentences today! "Right," he finally answered, following Heero up the stairs and into the bus. "I call window!"

Inside the bus, most of the seats were already taken, but at the very back a group of girls called out to them loudly. "Duo! Duo! We saved you a seat, Duo!"

Grinning and waving, Duo pushed his way past Heero, almost knocking him into one of the already occupied seats. "Thanks, ladies!" he called back, sliding into the very last seat on the bus and flipping his braid over his shoulder. There were six girls from their class, two in the seat in front of him, two across and two diagonal. He almost wished he hadn't claimed the window seat, but sticking Heero right in the middle of this would probably be quite entertaining. Besides, I can still flirt with all of them from over his shoulder!

Heero took his time making his way to the back of the bus, rebuilding his composure after having Duo squeeze past him in the confines of the bus. He tried not to focus on the fact that he was bothered, and took to glaring at Duo's swarming fan girls instead as he slid into the open space next to the braided pilot. As the bus began to pull out of the school parking lot, Heero made a valiant attempt to ignore his surroundings and especially to ignore Duo, whose fault he was sure this was somehow. It was his idea to sign up for this stupid marine science class. Why didn't I take something else?

"Hello, Duo's partner!" the girl directly across from them smiled at him.

Duo had to bite his lip hard to keep from laughing at her choice of words, but took the opportunity to torment him further. "Ladies, this is my roommate, Heero Yuy." He sat high with one knee on the seat and his other foot on the floor and leaned an arm casually on Heero's shoulder to gesture. "Heero, this is Victoria, Melanie, Grace, Linda, Rhiannon and Alana."

The girls chorused their greetings at Heero politely before barraging Duo with questions.

"Duo, have you decided what attraction you want to visit first?"

"How did you manage not to get in trouble for being so late?"

"Do you want to sit with us at lunch?"

Duo laughed a little, lifting a hand to scratch the back of his head. "I, ah… haven't decided what to do yet. I have to confer with my partner, after all." He squeezed Heero's shoulder lightly. "But I'm sure we can at least promise to join you for lunch, right, Heero? After all, I completely missed breakfast and am starving."

Heero snorted, not at all surprised by Duo's complaint. If there was one thing he had learned about his roommate in their last few weeks together, it was that Duo had an intense love for food and never turned down the opportunity to eat himself ill. Wordlessly, Heero reached into his daypack and tossed Duo an apple he had swiped from the dining hall earlier that morning. So I don't have to hear him whine all morning. Heero assured himself, and was pleased to notice his momentary distraction had gotten him out of promising to meet the girls for lunch later.

Catching the apple with his free hand, Duo was momentarily startled by the gesture. How much sense does it make that he let me almost miss the bus, but was thoughtful enough to bring me an apple? Does that mean he had faith in me to show up? Maybe there is some hope after all. But… hope for what? Disliking the dramatic turn his thoughts were taking, Duo shook himself a little. "Thanks," he finally replied, hoping that neither Heero nor the group of girls noticed that he had been thrown off a bit.

When Heero didn't say anything, Duo shrugged and bit into the apple, enjoying the crunchy sweetness. He caught the juice running down his chin with one finger, licking it off slowly. Sliding down into his seat, he listened to the girls chat.

"…so I'm planning the use the photographs I take at the aquarium for my art project."

"What, is it supposed to be nature photos or something?"

"No, no. not at all. It's a people-study. We're supposed to compare photos of people taken when they're posing and when they're not paying attention. So I hope you don't mind if I use all of you as subjects."

"I'm terribly photogenic," Duo joked as he stood up to crack open the window. Tossing the core of the apple out of it, he let the breeze ruffle his bangs as he posed teasingly for the girls. They dissolved into a fit of giggles for a few minutes, but then the topic turned to discussing the various exhibits and activities awaiting them at the Aquarium. It was decided that the group's first activity would be an early morning feeding of the larger animals – sharks, dolphins and small whales.

Duo strolled along after the group of girls with his hands in his pockets, humming cheerfully under his breath. He wasn't really sure why, but Heero's gesture on the bus had put him in a better mood, a mischievous mood. Why have I just been letting this go for the last three weeks? Has he just been waiting for me to make some sort of move again? Talk about mixed signals. Maybe he's been as wound up as I am about what happened at New Edwards, what happened between us… and the lack of any word from home.

Honestly, Duo was glad to leave the frustration of the radio silence behind him for a day, knowing he couldn't check in with Deathscythe until they returned. Why torture himself with thoughts of the unknown future when he could just simply enjoy the day for what it was – his very first field trip to his very first aquarium.

o/ Apathy in disguise
Crept on you like a spy
Hurt you in ways
You can't describe o/

Heero trudged silently behind the large group as he was most content to remain near the back, ignored for the better part of the day. Unfortunately, he had no choice but to follow Duo who was following (or being followed?) by the gaggle of girls, seeing as they were partners for the day. To Heero it felt like just another normal school day trailing after the braided idiot to make sure he didn't blow their cover - the only difference was the scenery.

The idea of going to the aquarium hadn't been overly thrilling to Heero at first, but he had to admit that he was impressed once he'd stepped inside. It wasn't at all like he'd imagined it, which annoyed him and yet piqued his interest all the same. The ceiling high tanks looked as though they held hundreds of different species of fish and went on as far as the eye could see. Heero found himself with barely enough time to look around and attempt to take it all in as he was swept quickly from the entrance at one end to the exit at the other.

Their group headed outside around the back to the outdoor viewing tanks where the crowd was much thinner than indoors. Heero followed everyone to the edge of a petting pool where he sidled a few feet away from the group to peer over the edge. He'd expected sand dollars or star fish or the like, but was surprised to instead see a wide array of smaller sharks and rays. He vaguely recalled the girls having mentioned wanting to see these animals, but the idea of touching one seemed weird. Heero looked around at some of the families and younger children at the pool's edge who seemed a bit too eager to stick their hands in the water and suddenly felt very silly. It was a fish, it wasn't going to hurt him.

As the group of girls laughed and dared each other to touch the creatures, Duo stepped away from them and up beside Heero to gaze down into the tank. The only fish he'd ever really seen were dead ones on his plate, so it was fascinating to watch them swim around. Duo had always been told that sharks and crabs and sting rays were dangerous things, so he wasn't sure why all the children were so excited to touch them. There was no way he was sticking his hand in that pool, not that he'd be quick to reveal it. Noticing two large crabs attached to each other in an oddly provocative way, he elbowed Heero and snickered. "They look friendly," he said as he pointed.

Heero was snapped out his thoughts by the sound of Duo's voice much closer than he expected it. He turned to regard the braided boy only to realize Duo was trying to show him something. The two horseshoe crabs were indeed hooked quite intimately together and Heero snorted at Duo's sense of humor as he thoughtlessly poked at the crabs to see if they would part. The shell felt rough and slightly slime coated under his finger and the crabs quickly scuttled out of Heero's reach still very much attached. Withdrawing his hand from the pool, Heero shook water droplets at Duo. "Mm, try less friendly and more slimy." Heero made as though he was going to wipe his hand on Duo's shirt.

Duo jumped back, an expression of distaste crossing his features. "Eewww…" he shivered a little, as timid as most of the girls were about touching the sea creatures. "Don't come anywhere near me with that slime!" Even though he had no desire to touch the crabs or tiny sharks, he didn't totally back away. He had missed Heero's wry sense of humor in the past few weeks and was glad to see him coming out of his shell a little once again.

Heero didn't advance on the other boy; he simply raised an eyebrow at Duo's girlish behavior. "Fine, suit yourself," he remarked, turning back to regard the other creatures in the pool. A group of tiger sharks swam near the edge and he stroked at them idly while he spoke again, "Why you're so afraid of a fish is beyond me. They're actually not that slimy either if that's what you're worried about." Heero couldn't resist throwing a teasing smirk and splash of water in Duo's direction. "I know you haven't seen one before - I haven't either - but isn't that why we're here? Don't tell me you're going to act like a girl about it after I've had to endure hearing about this trip for the last week."

On the inside, Duo was feeling just a touch gleeful. Not only was that teasing the most Heero had spoken to him in the last three weeks, but he'd also given away that he had at least been listening to all of Duo's idle chatter even if he hadn't been responding to any of it. But that doesn't mean I should attempt to bring up that night. He's just starting to loosen up again. Baby steps, Duo, baby steps.

"I'm not afraid of a fish," he retorted stubbornly, shaking his head so sharply that it whipped his braid back and forth. "I just… don't want to touch any?" He took a step back towards Heero, watching as the other boy let one of the sharks drift underneath two fingers, just as calm and collected as could be. "They might… bite my fingers off?" He knew that he sounded silly, but giving Heero further opportunity to tease him was the quickest way he could think of to keep him talking. He stuck one hand tentatively forward to just barely brush the surface of the water before yanking it away again with a nervous chuckle.

Heero snorted, amused by Duo's completely irrational ideas. "I wouldn't flatter yourself, you probably don't taste all that great." Heero's attempt at humor backfired on him as memories of that night suddenly popped unwanted into his head and his body stilled its movements. He could easily recall the unique flavor that could only be described as Duo - and how much he had enjoyed it. Heat rose in his cheeks and Heero awkwardly glanced from Duo to the sharks as he added, "To a shark that is." Feeling distinctly uncomfortable displaying such embarrassment in a public setting, Heero did what he did best and shut up, choosing instead to speak through his actions. While Duo was still trying to piece together exactly what his comment had meant, Heero grabbed the braided boy's left hand and thrust it into the shark pool.

Duo's first impulse was to yank his hand away again, but Heero's grip was too strong and he held Duo's hand underwater until the slightly slimy skin of the small shark passed under his fingertips. It was hard to say whether it was the sharks or the sudden close proximity of the other pilot that quickened his pulse. Heero's expression seemed to say "It wasn't that bad, was it?" as he met the other pilot's eyes, but before he could say anything, the flash of a camera startled them both.

"Oh, don't stop, you two!" one of the girls scolded them as Heero let go of Duo's hand and they both took a step back. "That was so natural and cute! Exactly what I need for my project!"

"Startled me…" Duo said a bit sheepishly, glancing quickly at Heero as he scratched the back of his head, but the other pilot was looking down into the water again. He turned to the blonde, Melanie, and smiled. "Do you want us to…"

"No, no, that's not the point!"

The feeding was just about to begin now, so the entire group gathered around the edge of the pool and listened quietly to the aquarium staff as they talked about the different things each species liked to eat. Duo couldn't help but steal more glances at Heero instead of paying attention, but the other seemed determined not to meet his eyes again. He assumed that the innuendo behind the earlier remark was probably accidental, but he didn't have the opportunity to tease him about it, because as soon as the feeding was over, the girls were pulling him back inside towards another exhibit.

Heero walked several paces behind Duo and the girls, content to quietly follow them around as they took pictures of the colorful fish and read aloud from the information panels attached to the front of each tank. It was obvious that Duo was trying to catch his eye, trying to draw him into the experience, but he stubbornly remained aloof and as far away from the camera as he could.

We shouldn't be drawing attention to ourselves… He could tell himself that was the reason why he'd kept Duo at arm's length for the past three weeks, but it probably wasn't the whole truth. That accidental night had been easy to shove from his mind at first, but the longer the radio silence went on, the harder it was to stay focused on his suddenly non-existent mission. Images and ponderings kept sneaking into his thoughts and it was starting to seriously annoy him.

Heero stopped to study one of the tanks a little more carefully, watching the black-tipped reef shark dart back and forth. The girls were absorbed in another presentation by one of the aquarium divers and Heero was so lost in his own thoughts that he only registered Duo's presence a moment before a hand reached out to touch his arm lightly.

"We're going to head to lunch after this," the braided boy started cheerfully, and though Heero could see in their reflections in the glass of the tank that Duo was giving him a probing look, he made no attempt to actually meet his eyes.

Duo had to bite back a sigh at Heero's nod, but he had no chance to poke at his fellow pilot further as the flash of a camera startled them again. Heero glared with daggers at Duo for just a moment as if it was his fault that Melanie seemed to have decided that the two boys were her favorite subject.

"Sorry," Duo mouthed to Heero before jogging after the girls as they headed to the cafeteria.

By the time they'd reached the end of the lunch line, Heero had decided that letting Duo come along on this undercover was one of the most aggravating decisions he'd ever made. "What do you mean, you don't have any money?" he said in exasperation as Duo searching his pockets began to hold up the entire line waiting to pay for their lunch. "Didn't you read the field trip form where it said we had to provide our own lunches?"

"I was kind of in a hurry this morning," he retorted, looking apologetically from his lunch to the cashier. "I guess I can't pay…"

"I've got it," Heero muttered, elbowing Duo out of the way so that he could pay for both of their lunches and get out of the line as quickly as possible.

"Thanks, partner!" Duo whistled cheerfully as he picked up his tray and headed across the room to the tables the girls had saved. One of the girls tried to sit down across from Heero, but Duo decided he'd spare his partner the torture and dropped his tray down across from Heero before she could. "Gotta sit with my partner, girls," he slid into the seat across from him. As everyone started to eat and chat, he pulled a large, wrapped cookie from his pocket.

"I thought you didn't have any money on you," Heero asked him as he carefully cut his sandwich in two.

Leaning across the table with a hint of mischief, Duo tilted his head and grinned cheekily. "I don't."

Heero raised an eyebrow, asking wordlessly a question he was pretty sure he knew the answer to already.

"Gotta make sure the skills don't get rusty," Duo shrugged casually, unwrapping the stolen cookie and taking a large bite, ignoring the sandwich in front of him.

"Are you trying to blow your own cover by stealing food? We have plenty of money--"

"Master thieves never get caught." He slapped a hand down on the table for emphasis, knocking the rest of the cookie onto the floor. Heero resisted the urge to cringe when Duo scooped it up, sniffed it once, and took another large bite. Heero hoped it wasn't as obvious to everyone around them that Duo lacked a certain amount of common sense when it came to proper manners. The other pilot didn't even seem to be aware that his behavior was abnormal by most peoples' standards.

"Don't draw attention to yourself."

Rolling his eyes, Duo crunched the cookie even more loudly. "Lighten up, 'Ro." Even as he said these words and acted as if he hadn't a care in the world, Duo was observing Heero and confirming what had been on his mind all morning. "You're as bothered as I am." When Heero remained silent, he continued. "About the lack of word."

Though he didn't respond verbally to the nickname or the accusation, Heero shoved his chair back from the table so hard that it squeaked. Standing abruptly, he lifted his tray and carried it to the garbage before exiting the cafeteria. Duo stared mournfully at the half of his sandwich that he hadn't had the chance to eat yet and quickly wrapped the remains up to shove in his pocket. Offering a quick promise to meet the girls at another exhibit later, he took off after Heero, just catching a glimpse of his back as he disappeared across the hall into the exhibit about ocean waves and tides.

o/ All right
Sit down and spill your heart
Lets start from the very start
Cause I can see by your eyes
You're wasted
Your energy comes and goes
You're taking your time, you know
Nothing can change what happened, you know /o

Due to the fact that it was lunchtime, the exhibit was mostly deserted and Duo easily spotted Heero standing with arms crossed in front of one of the noisy audio exhibits narrating a wall's length history of great storms. "Do nicknames bother you that much?."

"Are you trying to get us caught?" Heero hissed at him, his voice barely audible over the exhibit.

"Not at all," Duo retorted, leaning casually against the wall beside him. "I just thought that maybe you wanted to talk about it."

"I don't."

"I mean, I know I've been goin' crazy these last few weeks, with no word from home at all… you have to have wondered at least once if we're ever gonna to hear from them again."

"We are."

Duo made a noise of exasperation. It was hard to tell if Heero simply believed another mission would come or if he was just trying to end this conversation as quickly as possible. Either way, Duo was getting really sick of feeling ignored and avoided. "But what if we don't?" he pressed.

"Then we continue with the mission we already have, the over-arching mission." Heero didn't want to say more, because he still wasn't sure how much their over-arching missions were even the same. He had no confirmation other than his own instincts that these other pilots were meant to be allies, after all. And even if they were, he'd always been more comfortable on his own.

Duo barely gave Heero time to finish his sentence before he was moving away from the wall to stand in front of him, trying to meet Heero's eyes again as he demanded. "Then we should work together to figure out what we're going to do next if we don't hear from them!" He was using "them" lightly, because after Heero's statement about the over-arching mission, so similar to what he'd been told, he was nearly convinced that they just might be working for the same exact person. He wished that Heero would trust him enough that they could sit down and share the details and figure it out together. Weren't they a stronger force working together? "Not that I don't want to be optimistic, but it's been almost a month--"

"You're impatient." Heero's tone was calm and cool.

That comment finally pushed Duo over the edge and his eyes narrowed to an unusual glare. "I'm not impatient – you just don't listen to a fucking word I say! You don't wanna work with me at all!" He would have shoved Heero if he hadn't already been up against the wall, because that insult had finally unleashed three weeks of bottled emotion. Words spilled out before he could think about what he was saying. "You avoiding me has nothing to do with blowing our cover and everything to do with what happened the night we first got here!

The last thing Heero needed was someone that was going to get in the way of the mission. He thought, in the last three weeks, that Duo understood that… that it wasn't necessary to have some giant drama over what had happened that night when they had other things to focus on. He shouldn't, couldn't, didn't want to think about why he had given in to those impulses. Of course, he had probably brought this current mess on himself by refusing to even have a real conversation with Duo since then, but it was a little late for that now. I don't regret what happened, but… I need for him to understand that it can't ever get in the way of the mission. There was a long moment of silence between them before Heero finally answered him. "That night has nothing to do with it. I only have a problem with you when you act like this."

"Like this? Like what? How do you have any idea how I'm gonna act if you haven't even given me a chance! You don't wanna give me a chance because of what happened that night! Why don't you just tell me that you regret kissing some L2 trash and we can move on already!" The words poured out until Duo was breathing hard, his hands on Heero's shoulders as if he was barely restraining the urge to shake him violently. He didn't even care if Heero did regret it; he just wanted the truth so that they could go back to the easy camaraderie they'd shared when they'd first arrived here.

Heero reached up to try and pry Duo's hand off of his shoulder, unsure of what to say. He had not seen the other boy even close to this angry in the time they'd known each other and the indigo eyes had gone so dark they appeared almost black. "I already told you… whether or not I regret it has nothing to do with…with…"

"Liar!" The word was a hiss right before Duo closed the minute space between them. It was not a gentle kiss, but a demand for acknowledgement. He pressed his entire body against Heero's and bit sharply at the other pilot's bottom lip. There was a heartbeat where Heero didn't respond, but then he curled a hand around the back of Duo's neck and returned the kiss, tongues fighting for dominance.

The sound of an approaching group of students quickly brought Heero back to his senses and he broke the kiss, shoving Duo away from him sharply. "This is what I mean," he muttered. "We're in a public place where anyone could see us and you're drawing unneeded attention. Are you even thinking about our mission? We're not really students, Maxwell! Have you forgotten that? If you can't screw your head on straight, then leave me alone and stay outta my way!" Unable to even look the other boy in the eye, he shoved past him and stalked out of the room as quickly as he could without drawing further attention.

o/ Back to the start now
I wont let you go this way now
Honesty is what you need
It sets you free
Like someone to save you
Let it go, but hurry now
There's undertow
And I don't want to lose you now /o

The quick slap of Heero's anger was like a gut punch to Duo, and as the other pilot disappeared, he leaned against the wall, sliding down, down, down until he was sitting on the floor. Drawing up his legs, he wrapped his arms around them and rested his chin on his knees with a sigh.

Well, that was nothing short of a disaster…maybe I should have punched him instead.

As emotional as Duo was, he prided himself on the fact that he was usually able to keep his cool in any situation. He didn't even realize how much he'd bottled up in the last three weeks until it was tumbling out of his mouth.

"He can blame me all he wants for not thinking about our mission," Duo mumbled to himself. "But he assumed I would let what happened between us get in the way of the mission without even giving me a chance. It's as if he dismissed the idea of me being rational about it before even asking me, so it was just easier to hit the off switch on me all together. I never intended to let it get in the way! All I was trying to do was get him to trust me and talk to me and…"

And then I ended up doing exactly what he was probably worried I would do…

"Fuck, I'm an idiot…" Duo muttered, getting to his feet. He contemplated going after Heero, but thought maybe it was better if they both blew off some steam first. After all, if Heero had been a little less stubborn or a little more trusting, Duo probably wouldn't have accused him of letting that night get in the way in the first place. So he ignores me because he's worried I'll let it get in the way and I harass him because I think he is letting it get in the way! "Fuck, we're both idiots."

The best option at this point, in Duo's opinion, wasn't even to try and tell Heero that, but to try and prove to him that whatever had happened – or would happen – that he would never allow anything to get in the way of their mission. If he could do that, then perhaps Heero would begin to trust him.

With a small bit of renewed hope, Duo wandered back in the direction of the cafeteria just in time to find his classmates exiting. He tagged along with them for the last hour, deflecting a few questions about Heero's disappearance, but he was glad when it was time to board the bus and return to school. For a split second, he thought Heero might have just taken off completely, but as he made his way to the back of the bus, he saw that his partner was already there. Eyes closed and head leaning lightly against the window, Heero appeared to be asleep. Whether he was or not, Duo decided that the first step was to give the other boy some space.

Once they arrived at school, Duo hadn't taken two steps away from the bus when several students behind him came tumbling down the steps of the bus and nearly knocked him over.

"So sorry, Duo," Alana squeaked, as she was the one who had crashed into him. "I think Melanie got the strap of her purse caught on the railing."

Several of the girls were being helped to their feet by classmates, but Melanie was running across the driveway in a panic – the folder she'd been keeping the day's Polaroid pictures in had been knocked from her arms and now the pictures were quickly being scattered by the windy afternoon. Duo had no choice but to join the girls and help her chase after them, laughing as they all ran in circles trying to snatch them up before the wind carried them off. By the time they were finished and Duo breathlessly turned in circles looking for Heero, the other boy was gone.

Duo wanted to go and look for him, to try and at least say something about their fight earlier, but the girls begged him to join them for dinner. Without a good reason to turn them down, he let himself be dragged off to a restaurant several blocks away. His mind wasn't really on the dinner, though, and his thoughts kept drifting back to the things Heero had said to him that afternoon. Even if he had already decided that it would not interfere with the mission, there was still the matter of their mutual… attraction – he had no idea what else to call it – to resolve in his mind. As he walked back to their dorm room, he rewound his mind back further in the fight to cringe at his crude comment about being L2 trash. Despite everything they'd said, Heero had kissed him back earlier that day.

Their room was dark and silent when Duo pushed the door open, making it obvious that Heero was not there, but all of his things were still in their places. Duo sincerely doubted that the other pilot would leave without his laptop unless it was an emergency, so he hoped he'd come back eventually. Flopping down on his bed, he folded his arms behind his head and kicked his shoes off.

He never did say if he regretted it or not…

Duo bit his lip and sighed, throwing an arm across his eyes. The world outside the window was dark gray, windy and starless, and morning seemed really far away.

o/ Look at your bright stars fade so
How much can you take? /o

Up Next: Chapter 4 – Violet (Episode 9)