Chapter 6: Surprise
"Do you think this one is too revealing?"
Relena watched as Dorothy modeled a tight fitting, low cut, short skirted black dress in front of a body length mirror in Relena's room. She gave her friend a funny smile before nodding. "Yes, I do."
"Hmm…" Dorothy viewed herself in a couple different angles before putting her hands on her hips and smirking. "You're right. I pick this one." Relena chuckled, she saw that coming. "Quatre won't be able to take his eyes off me." Relena could already see a red faced Quatre struggling to keep his cool around his girlfriend at the party.
Relena sat on a loveseat she had in her room, legs tucked underneath her. The king sized bed she owned had dresses covering it. They got to try all of them on before they chose their fit for tomorrow. Relena had her much more modest blue colored, ankle length dress that she settled on spread out next to her. It wasn't too flashy but that's how Relena preferred it. She liked the look, It fit well and was comfortable. She didn't need much else, nor did she have a boyfriend that she wanted to tease like Dorothy.
Satisfied with her look, Dorothy made space to take her seat on the bed. "Excited, Miss Relena?"
Relena gave her friend a weak smile. "I guess so."
"You guess so? Uh oh, are we well dear?" Dorothy asked, her forked eyebrows raising.
"Oh you know, the usual." Relena shrugged.
"You haven't heard from your father recently?"
"We actually spoke early in the week, he still didn't know for sure if he could make it." Relena sighed, recalling her quick conversation with her father through the phone. She readied herself for disappointment, but it was still hard to take.
"Ah, I see." Dorothy nodded. "Well let's cross our fingers and hope for the best, dear. Maybe he'll surprise us and show up when you least expect it."
"I think at this point that's the only thing I could hope for." Relena let out a dry chuckle.
"Either way, we will all be there, making sure you have fun regardless of his presence." Dorothy grinned at her morose friend, trying her best to cheer her up. "If you want, I can try and sneak in a little wine, what do you say?" the platinum blonde winked.
Relena shook her head and smirked. "Trying to get me in trouble?"
"Well i'm the one risking trouble, you know Quatre wants no part of any alcoholic drink." Dorothy said, referring to her boyfriend's religion. "Poor man, he'll be sober while having to deal with a drunken Dorothy Catalonia for the rest of his life. Oh, dearest Quatre…" Relena laughed at the platinum blonde, already feeling more sympathy for Dorothy's significant other. "You would do well to have someone who wouldn't mind scraping you off the floor after getting hammered." Relena rolled her eyes, 'Here we go again' the honey blonde thought.
"I don't get hammered." Relena shot back.
"But you could still use a man." Dorothy returned.
"Dorothy…" Relena sighed, resting her head back.
"Do you think Heero Yuy will show up?" Dorothy looked up, wondering out loud. She was hoping to get a little more out of her friend in regards to the strange new student. Dorothy saw how she acted when Heero was the subject, so she knew she had to have some fun with this.
'Heero…' His name echoed in Relena's head. "I doubt it. Remember, he threw my invitation away."
"Your party is the talk of the entire school. I'm sure he knows the details. Maybe he'll make a surprise visit." Dorothy looked over at Relena, winking devilishly at her. "He'll come in, sweep you off your feet and take you home for the night where you both can share this incredibly comfortable bed together. Such a beautiful thought, no?"
Relena's eyes widened at what her friend was implying. "Dorothy!" The platinum blonde laughed. Relena blushed and shook her head. "I don't even think we're at a point where we can even be called friends. I doubt he's gonna show up."
"Well you're the closest he has to a friend at school. At least he acknowledges your existence." Dorothy tapped her finger on her chin. "But you're probably right. He does have that antisocial personality that's gonna be hard to crack through. You've got your work cut out for you, Miss Relena."
"I'm not trying to crack through anything." Relena explained, now laying sideways with her head on the armrest. "I would like to be his friend, sure. But I also don't want to come off like I'm forcing it, either."
"Did it ever occur to you that maybe a man like him would appreciate a little more aggression? He doesn't strike me as the kind of guy who goes for weak women, Miss Relena. At least I don't think so." Dorothy didn't know anything about him, she was simply going off of his behavior.
"It's not about getting him to 'go for me'. This is just about being friends." Relena rolled her eyes as she explained. "I don't have any other motives." Relena then looked at her hand, remembering how tough his skin felt on her much softer flesh. It caused her body to shiver and then the image of his eyes digging into her own played back in her head. She felt her face begin to warm up again.
"Really?" Dorothy gave the girl a skeptical look. "You're giving a little too much thought to someone who you claim you just want to be friends with. This is the kind of thinking someone has for somebody they'd like to get to know a little more intimately."
"Well, I guess that's what makes me such a good friend." Relena smirked at girl with the unique eyebrows.
"That's true, I'll give you that, Miss Relena." Dorothy nodded. "Which means you'll make an incredible lover."
Relena's face flushed more and she threw a pillow at her friend. "Stop!"
Dorothy swatted it away and could only laugh.
The weekend had arrived and night time came and blanketed the city. Heero walked towards the tall project housing building that Hilde lived in. He had been here many times before. He knew people and customers that lived in this area. Walking into the lobby of the rundown building he saw a group of people huddled over a dice game. Large bills were on the ground and money was changing hands. And across from that group was a table where guys were playing cards. Heero recognized them as well.
"Hey Heero. Want in on this game?"
"What's happening, man!"
Heero walked up to the table, greeting them all, especially the two running the game. Alex and Mueller. The table had bottles of booze, cards, some drug paraphernalia and guns. They had a reputation for being rowdy guys and this scene only helped solidify that reputation. "I'm good." Heero shook his head.
"Heading to that party upstairs?" Alex asked. "Elevators broke. Gonna have to take the stairs."
Heero shrugged. That didn't bother him.
"Hah, pay me you assholes!" Mueller got up and celebrated his winning hand. Everyone else groaned and begrudgingly gave up the cash. Heero watched for a few more seconds before taking his leave and headed up the stairs.
After about 5 minutes of stair climbing, he could already hear Duo out in the hallways. He finally caught up and saw him and Hilde hanging out with a large group of people scattered throughout the hall. The braided teen had an arm draped over her shoulders with a cup of alcohol in his free hand.
"Hey buddy, glad you could make it." Heero nodded at them, greeting others as he made his way towards the couple.
"Hilde, Duo." Heero nodded at them.
"Hi Heero, so how's school been?" the short haired girl asked.
Heero simply shrugged. "It's been fine. You been alright?"
"Oh yeah, been good. Just trying my best to keep this ass from getting in trouble." the girl explained, smiling up at the man who held her close.
"I've been on my best behavior, I swear." Duo leaned down to kiss her cheek.
"Yeah, today anyway. You better promise not to get too shit faced tonight." Hilde warned him.
"I got you." Duo released her. "Me and Heero are heading up. We'll be back." Hilde nodded and Duo left her with a kiss on the lips and took off with his friend. "Wufei is up there." Duo explained as they headed further up.
The entire top half of the building was being used for a party. Music was blasting everywhere and everyone was hanging out in the decrepit and damaged hallways. Heero and Duo got to their destination: The building rooftop. A few people were there and they saw Wufei leaning by one of the corners of the roof.
Their friend nodded at them. "What's up?"
Heero nodded. "Nothing much."
"School going good?" Wufei asked, dapping Heero up.
"It's going." Heero confirmed. "You?"
"Same old thing. Minding my own business and getting the day over with as fast as possible." Wufei explained. "Nothing changes over there. You know that."
Heero and Duo nodded, very much in agreement with that statement. "The streets have been getting a little hot lately. Especially after they scraped Trant's body off the pavement."
"Yeah, definitely noticed that. Heard from Alex and Mueller that they had to reign it in a bit. Cop cars have been flying down the streets and harrassing people a lot more than usual recently." Duo mentioned, recalling people getting randomly pulled over and other friends of his getting randomly patted down. "I'm sure even Treize would be a little cautious in making moves." he continued, referring to the city's kingpin.
"That guy has too much power, it's obscene." Wufei shook his head. "He has enough influence to keep himself out of trouble. We all know he's got cops on the payroll." Duo and Heero nodded, knowing how far Treize's reach went.
"Yeah, that's true." Duo added, then looked at Heero. "Watch you back, bud. We ain't trying to see you get got, you know what I'm saying?"
"Hn." Heero wasn't trying to see that either. He had felt the temperature on the streets rise recently, so he knew he had to be careful. Last thing he wanted was to either get locked up or get caught up in some stupid street war. He had something going on right now, he just had to proceed with caution. This wasn't his first day on the block. Taking care of business was his specialty and he had been pretty damn good at it so far, even if he wasn't exactly proud to admit that.
"Heero knows the game too well. I'm not too worried about him." Wufei smirked, knowing how seriously Heero handled his business.
"Still doesn't mean you can relax, you never know what could happen out here. Shit is crazy, man." Duo said, sipping his cup and loving the taste. "Getting low, I gotta grab some more. Y'all want in on this?" the braided teen asked his friends.
Wufei waved him off and Heero shook his head, neither really in the mood to drink.
"Alright then, more for your boy." he chuckled. "Hilde babe… I might have to go back on that promise."
They continued hanging out on the rooftop of the building. More people came to chill and eventually Heero separated himself from the group for a second. He leaned over the five foot tall brick wall that bordered the roof. He took in the scenery. The city lights, the night sky, the full moon. He closed his eyes for a second, savoring the cool breeze.
A week of school in the books, Heero thought. His mind started to drift away.
It had been an interesting week. He felt a little like a fish out of water there, but he did appreciate how he could find alone time in that school. Nobody knew him and because of his general demeanor, few bothered to approach him. He had gotten a little more attention than he wanted when he tossed Relena's invitation, but people were still mostly cautious around him. He figured that if it weren't for Relena giving the cosign by treating him and taking him to the nurse's office, that unwanted attention might have gotten worse.
Relena.
There she went again, rudely invading his thought process. He sighed at this. Why was he even thinking about her right now? Then he remembered, today was her birthday party. He had gotten an invitation… and he threw it away in front of her. But considering how things turned out after his first day at St. Gabriel, he figured he was still invited. Not that he wanted to go, Heero thought. He didn't belong there and Relena was the only person he had an actual meaningful encounter with. He knew no one else except that green eyed enforcer of hers.
'Relena.' his head went again. There was no reason for him to be there. None at all, he told himself.
However… there was still a nagging feeling about the whole thing that bothered Heero. He didn't think he needed to be there, but considering how she treated his wound and kept some of that unnecessary school heat off of him, he did feel like he owed her something. It bothered him to be in debt to her. He wanted to shake that feeling away. The blue eyed teen needed to do something about it. Yeah, that was it, Heero thought. He just needed to pay Relena back for what she did for him. Then he would be fine, he said trying to convince himself.
Thoughts raced through his mind about how he could go about doing that. After a few moments of thinking he came up with something. It was weird, but it was all he could think of. He wasn't good at this, but he had to do something.
He dug his phone out of his pocket and ordered a ride. He had to go and tell Duo he was stepping out for a bit.
The spacious country club was packed with students of St. Gabriel Academy. It was a mixture of the older adults who kept themselves mostly around the bar area, segregated from the younger crowd that infested the dancefloor. The lights were kept dark enough and the lights flashed at a rapid pace. That was where Relena and Dorothy were spending time, dancing to the rhythm blasting from the speakers.
There was a second floor. It was something of a VIP area for people close to the birthday girl. It was up there that two well dressed male students close to Relena were overlooking the scene.
"She seems happy." Quatre noted, standing by his best friend who was leaning over.
"So far so good." Trowa noted, keeping his eye on Relena. "How's Dorothy?"
"Oh you know, she's in her element right now. Having fun and acting as Relena's right hand." Quatre watched as his girlfriend danced along happily with all of her friends. He smiled down at her, glad to see she was having fun.
"Yeah, that's Dorothy. You've got your hands full with her." Trowa smirked at his boy.
"I'm just trying to keep up." Quatre chuckled, knowing Trowa was more than correct. They continued to watch before something popped up in Quatre's head. "Heero Yuy. He's not gonna show is he?"
Trowa shrugged, thinking it over. "Hmm, he might."
Quatre looked questioningly at Trowa. "What makes you say that?"
Trowa recalled something he remembered from yesterday. He was there watching Heero deciding to keep the invitation he found on the floor. With what he knew of the new student, he wouldn't choose to keep that invitation for nothing. "Just have a feeling."
Quatre shrugged. "Alright then." He then moved closer to lean next to Trowa. "Well, now that we're on the subject, I have something to admit."
Trowa turned to raise an eyebrow at him. "Huh?"
"Well… I did some research." Quatre sighed, eyes focused on Dorothy. "I feel a little guilty, but Relena is our friend. I just did it to make sure this Heero guy was on the up and up."
"Research, Quatre?" Trowa was curious now. What was his friend trying to tell him?
Quatre nodded. "I looked into him and found out where he lives. It's kind of surprising really."
"You found out his address? That's something, alright. That's not like you, Quatre."
"Yeah I know." Quatre hung his head low for a second before continuing to explain. "But it's good that I did, because now it makes sense as to why nobody in school knew who he was." Trowa watched his friend, wondering what he found out. "His address is located in the North Side of town. We're talking deep in the inner city."
Trowa tilted his head. "What are you saying?"
"I guess, and I'm not trying to sound like some typical snotty rich kid, what I'm saying is that where he's from, he shouldn't be able to afford to enroll in our school. He lives in a neighborhood with high levels of crime, and we're talking murder and drugs. I read that somebody died around his street earlier this week actually!"
"Whoa." Trowa was trying to process what his friend was telling him. "Hmm…" Trowa thought loudly. "So, Heero comes from a poor neighborhood. And somehow he's a schoolmate of ours. That definitely is surprising. I'm not even sure what to make of it."
Quatre nodded. "Same. How he managed to pay to go to St. Gabriel is a question I can't really answer. Unless he got some kind of loan from somewhere."
Trowa rubbed his chin. "Hard to say. Too bad he's not someone we can just ask."
"Yeah, not sure we'll get any answers from him ourselves." Quatre agreed.
"Yeah, we won't." Trowa responded. "But… maybe she could." Trowa said, his eyes spotting Relena, smiling and laughing as she danced with her group of friends. "I'm sure if anyone could get the full story, it's her."
"Hn…" Heero was getting annoyed. Standing in this particular store aisle made him feel weirdly out of place. He looked at the thing on the shelf that he was thinking of buying. He grabbed it off the shelf looked at it for a second before sighing. This was too strange for him to do, but he felt an obligation to do so at this point.
He walked up to the counter and pulled out his wallet to purchase the item. The girl ringing up his item smiled at him, giving him a knowing look. He frowned at her, wanting her to finish up already. "Want me to box this for you?" the girl asked.
"Uh… sure." Heero answered stiffly.
"For your girlfriend?" the girl giggled as she used wrapping paper to cover the box.
Heero's eyes widened and he gave her one of his signature cold hearted glares. "Can you finish up already?"
After ordering another ride off his phone, Heero hopped out of the car. He looked at the driver. "Give me some time, I'll make it worth your while." Heero dug into his pockets and tossed the driver a small stack of cash. The driver grinned and gave him a nod. He took the box and walked to the front of the building. This was the country club where Relena's party was taking place. If only there was a way he could get this present in there without getting seen, Heero thought. It was impossible, however, so he guessed he had to swallow his pride and enter this establishment. He closed his eyes and sighed.
He was about to take a step when he heard some voices behind him coming from the packed parking lot.
"They're about to open presents, hurry up dear!"
Heero turned to see an older couple walking up to the entrance. He didn't know them, but figured they were related to someone inside. When they got closer, they stopped in their tracks to look at the young man in front of them.
"Oh hello, are you here for the party?" the woman began. She noticed he wasn't dressed for the occasion, but he had to know her daughter to be standing out here with a box like that.
Heero studied them for a second before finding a response. "I… No, not really."
The older pair raised eyebrows at him. "Are you not a friend of our daughter Relena?"
'Her parents?' Heero was kind of taken aback to be standing in front of her family like this, but he tried not to show it. "Um, this. It's for Relena. I just came to drop it off. I'm a new classmate of hers." Heero offered the box to Relena's parents.
Relena's father, Michael Darlian, took the box and gave the young man an odd look. "Are you sure you dont want to go in and say 'hi' before leaving?"
"They're actually just about to start opening presents, you should come in." Mareen Darlian added.
Heero shook his head. "I'm sorry, I have somewhere important I have to be."
"Well, if you say so. We'll tell Relena you stopped by then." Her father smiled and nodded at him. "Thank you, young man."
Heero felt awkward talking to them, especially knowing who they were. He returned the nod and that's when his phone went off. He took it out of his jacket pocket and saw the name 'Otto'.
'Shit, my product.' Heero thought. He looked back up at the pair. "I have to take this. Um, have a good night." Heero answered his phone and walked towards the direction of his ride. He wasn't going in yet though. He had business to discuss and he didn't need some random driver hearing him.
Relena's parents watched him walk, then gave each other questioning looks before shrugging and making their way inside. "Strange boy." Mr. Darlian noted. His wife chuckled as she looked back once more at him before following her husband in.
"Alright, everyone gather around!" Dorothy shouted as she had the music turned down. "We're gonna be opening presents!" Dorothy had set up the table where Relena was sitting, surrounded by the numerous items that had been bought for her. Opening stuff like this was never her favorite part of the party. As weird as it sounded, she didn't like all the attention. Yes, it was her party, but opening stuff in front of people felt like she was making too much of a spectacle of herself. Dorothy was putting in a lot of work getting everyone together though, and Quatre and Trowa were helping move things around for better seating. So she would make herself enjoy this moment. You only turn 17 once, she mentally noted.
Dorothy was about to start handing her presents to open when she saw Relena's parents enter the building. She smiled and looked back at her dear friend. "Miss Relena, some last minute guests."
Relena gave her friend a look before, seeing her father walking in with her mother. She gasped before getting up and rushing towards her dad who she had not seen in a while. "Father!" She crashed into him, holding him tightly. Her father kept himself from getting pushed back before smirking down at his little girl. He threw his free arm around her and pulled her into an embrace.
"Happy birthday Relena."
"Thank you for being here." She looked up at him, joy emanating from her face. "I was convinced you wouldn't come."
"I know, I'm tired of disappointing you so I did my absolute best to make it back in time. Sorry if I'm a little late." her father apologized while planting a kiss on his daughter's cheek.
She shook her head. "It's fine, as long as you're here."
This was the kind of scene that made Mareen Darlian incredibly happy. "Now, why don't we watch our daughter open her gifts, dear?"
Her father nodded and let go of his daughter. "I guess in that case we can start with this one." Her father handed her the box given to him by Heero.
"Oh, thank you Father." Relena smiled widely as she got ready to open the box, Dorothy walking right behind her wanting to see what Mr. Darlian got her. Trowa and Quatre watching from a distance.
"Yes, well, that's actually not from me. A classmate of yours was outside, he gave us this to give you." Relena's father explained.
Relena looked up at her father, giving him a strange look. "Huh, do you know who it was?"
Her father shook his head. "Shoot, I didn't even get his name. He didn't mention who he was did he, Mareen?"
Relena's mother shook her head. "No, he didn't say his name or anything, just that he was a new classmate of yours."
"What?" Relena's head snapped to look over at her mother. Eyes grew to the size of saucers. 'No… It couldn't be…' Relena couldn't think of anyone else who could fit that description. Was Heero actually here? And did he actually get her a gift? Her heart began to race and she felt her body feel that familiar sensation that she only felt when she was last around Heero.
"Yes, he couldn't stay, he said, but wanted us to give this to you." Her father added to his wife's explanation.
Relena looked to Dorothy. The girl gave her a shocked but amused look. Trowa and Quatre heard this and they both looked at each other, surprised at this turn of events. "Well, let's see what it is?" Dorothy suggested with a satisfied grin. Relena blinked a few times before shaking herself out of her own shock.
"Um, yeah… sure." Relena took a deep breath, finding it odd that she was about to open a gift from the person who threw her invitation out into the wind in their first meeting. Her heart continued to pound fast as she unwrapped and unboxed. Dorothy came right up next to Relena, very curious to see what it was.
Relena looked into the box and reached in, pulling out… a teddy bear with a red bow. She chuckled as she saw it. Thinking how out of character it was for Heero to get her something like this. But the more she held it, the more attached to it she became. This was a gift from Heero Yuy. That thought caused her heart to skip like a scratched record. She gave it a light hug, knowing that she would treasure this present. A genuinely happy smile graced her features. 'Thank you, Heero.' she thought blissfully to herself.
"Would have been nice if he could have stayed. I wonder if he's still out there." her father wondered.
Relena looked back up at her dad with a curious look. "What do you mean?"
"Well, he said he was taking off, but he got a call and didn't leave right away."
"Yes, he stood talking on the phone. Maybe he hasn't left yet." Her mother stated.
Relena looked to Dorothy, giving her a determined look. "Give me a second?"
"Take all the time you need, dear." The platinum blonde winked at her.
Relena nodded, sprinting to the front door of the country club, hoping he was still out there. Hoping she hadn't missed him. "Heero…" she whispered to herself.
AN: Hope you like it! See you in chapter 7!
