Breakfast for Four

by Granate, 2007


Disclaimer: Don't own, not making any money!




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Heero pressed start on the coffee maker and stretched his arms out behind him, squinting a little at the pull on his shoulders.  He let go after a moment and released the breath he'd been holding.  He rolled his shoulders as he went over to open the blinds on the kitchen window.  Sunlight poured in, though at an unfamiliar angle because it was much later in the morning than he would normally rise.  It was good to be home after almost a week away.  It had been an exhausting week and an exhausting night.  The five hour drive yesterday evening had only been the beginning.  Every muscle felt like a dull ache, but the enormous smile on his face was a clear indication that things had worked out exactly the way he wanted.

He heard footsteps behind him and didn't turn around, imagining the arms that were about to encircle his waist.  

"Heero?"

He spun around at the unexpected voice.  "Wu Fei?" he asked in surprise.  His grin disappeared.  "What are you doing here?"

"I do live here, in case you've forgotten," Wu Fei reminded him with a yawn as he padded to the fridge.  "I should ask what you're doing here, since you are supposed to be on a training assignment until three o'clock tomorrow," he pointed out.

"And I thought you were supposed to be on your way to the colonies yesterday," Heero replied, not giving away any indication of his growing unease.  Their most recent assignments were supposed to overlap, they weren't supposed to see each other again until next weekend.  Not that Heero didn't enjoy their living arrangement, but he had been perhaps a little eager to make use of an empty house.  Heero shifted against the counter, wondering if his housemate had noticed the extra pair of shoes by the door.

Wu Fei retrieved the half-and-half, lightly kicked the fridge door shut, and came over by the coffee maker.  "I…" he was about to explain, but something on the counter derailed his train of thought.  "Heero," he said, turning, "two mugs?"

Long seconds of silence passed as Heero looked at the mugs and then back to Wu Fei.  "Must be a habit," he said as smoothly as he could.

Wu Fei just snorted a little and reached into the cupboard for the sugar.  "Anyway, I pushed my departure back a couple of days.  I'll be leaving tomorrow," he said.

"Any particular reason?" Heero asked.  

Wu Fei didn't say anything for a moment.  "I decided I wanted to go to Noin's party after all," he finally said.

"Oh, that was last night," Heero remembered suddenly.  "I'd forgotten all about it."

"Yeah, you ruined your good excuse by coming home early," Wu Fei snorted.  "But don't worry, I won't rat on you.  Besides, Duo didn't show up either.  She's going to be much more annoyed with him since he said he'd be there and he can actually be counted on to go to social things.  Unlike you."

"You are not much better than I am," Heero replied flatly, "you were all but begging to come with me so you could have a good excuse, too."

"I did no such thing," Wu Fei prickled.  

"So you found your own good excuse and then decided to go to the party after all."

"The assignment is nothing urgent, just a routine inspection," Wu Fei shrugged.

"Still, putting off work to go to a party?  That doesn't sound like something you'd do," Heero observed.

"Do I have to be predictable all the time?" Wu Fei sighed.  "How about you?  How did you get out of one of Prev's dreaded training exercises early?"

"The training was joke," Heero scoffed.  "I didn't learn anything I didn't already know so I left after the session yesterday.  No need to stay for the rest, which would mostly have been wrap-up anyway."

Wu Fei sunk into a chair, giving him an incredulous look.  "So you left a Preventers training program?  You just… walked out?  Because you felt like it?" he surmised, waving a hand in the air dismissively.

There had been another important factor in his decision to leave, one that was still asleep in his bed at the moment, but Heero didn't feel like explaining that to Wu Fei just now.  "The whole thing was bullshit," he shrugged.

"But don't you need forms and signatures saying you completed the training?" Wu Fei asked.

"I got them," Heero said nonchalantly.

"Wait a minute, how did you get them?" Wu Fei asked.

"I found the program leader and I told him to sign my forms.  He did.  I left," Heero explained simply.

Wu Fei sat back with a wry laugh.  "Yuy, only you could intimidate your way out of one of Prev's pointless training programs," he commented.

Heero didn't think he'd been that intimidating.  But on the other hand, he really had wanted to get the hell out of there.  The coffee finished and Heero filled the two mugs and brought them over to the table instead of to the bedroom, where he'd intended to bring them.  He thought it would be suspicious if he disappeared into his bedroom now so he sat down across from Wu Fei.  If he kept Wu Fei occupied, perhaps he wouldn't notice someone sneaking out.

~

For the first time in her life, Relena Darlian woke up naked in a strange bed.  She clutched the covers at her chest and propped herself up on one elbow.  She knew where she was, of course, she remembered last night perfectly.  It had been dark when she'd arrived here so she took her first chance to get a look around.  The colors of the room were neutral, peaceful.  There were strips of cloth hung with gracefully painted characters, the ancient Eastern kind from before Earth Sphere Standard Language had been instituted.  There was no metal or clutter in the room, it was natural, traditional, and masculine.  Just like him.

She flopped back onto the pillows and yanked the covers over her face, trying to clear such silly thoughts from her head.  She didn't know why she felt so girlish and shy suddenly.  She'd been anything but girlish and shy last night.  Otherwise, she wouldn't be here right now, a little hung over and wondering where her underwear was.  She felt like she should be embarrassed, but the smell of coffee kept any negative thoughts at bay.  She got out of bed to look for her clothes, but spotted a bathrobe left for her on the foot of the bed.  She smiled as she put it on.

Relena swung the bedroom door open and froze.  She could see Wu Fei sitting in the kitchen, but there, pouring coffee with his back to the hallway, was Heero.  She immediately backed up and shut the door again.  She took a deep breath to keep from panicking.  She was long over her crush on Heero but that wasn't the issue here - the issue was that he was supposed to be gone!  She couldn't go out there in front of him!  Like this!  After last night!  Oh god, if he'd been home last night, what if he'd heard something!  Relena covered her face with her hands and stifled a groan.  

This was bad.  The entire situation was bad.  She'd been impulsive and stupid.  She untied the robe and threw it on the bed, disgusted with herself.  Relena Darlian wasn't supposed to go home from parties with guys!  She'd just been so happy to see Wu Fei there.  Everyone said he would be out of town and have to miss the party, but there he was.  She'd never felt so giddy just to see someone.  She hadn't been drunk enough to not know what she was doing, that much was certain, but she'd had enough to be a little braver.  To kiss him.  To come home with him.  She groaned to herself again.  What was he going to think of her now?  She frantically padded around the room, gathering her clothes.  She hopped around, trying to get into her lace panties, and fastened the matching bra before locating her handbag by the door.  She crouched next to it and rummaged for her phone, thanking every god she could remember the name of that she hadn't ditched her bag in the living room.  

She tucked a lock of her tangled blonde hair behind her ear as she impatiently waited for her driver to pick up his phone.  He finally did and, embarrassingly, she didn't know Wu Fei's address so she told him to look it up and be there as soon as humanly possible.  She stood up and finished dressing in under a minute.  Now all she had to do was find a way out of here.

~

Wu Fei rubbed the pad of his thumb up and down the handle of his coffee mug.  Heero certainly was biding his time.  There was no way his light-sleeping roommate hadn't heard him and Relena come in last night.  In fact, Wu Fei felt he should be glad Heero hadn't been waiting to ambush the "intruders" in the hallway, gun in hand and the safety off.  He must have heard them, so why wouldn't he just say something about it already?  

Being that he hadn't said anything yet, there was a slim possibility that he didn't know she was in the house.  In that case, what Wu Fei needed to do was get in there and warn her.  He needed to get Heero out of the house somehow, give her a chance to escape.  Regardless of anything else, he would at least like the chance to say good morning to her, but instead of kissing Relena good morning, he was trapped at the kitchen table sipping coffee with his much, much less attractive roommate.  

He also needed to break it to her that, whether she liked it or not, last night made her his girlfriend so she may as well get used to the idea.  All right, so that wasn't exactly how the conversation was going to go (there would probably be more groveling on his part in the reality version), but hopefully the result would be the same.  Regardless of whether she accepted him or not, he did need to clarify his feelings.  Treating a woman he cared for and respected like a one-night stand was shameful, but treating the woman he just might be falling in love with like a one-night stand was downright unforgivable.

~

Duo woke to the smell of coffee and smiled as he burrowed deeper under the covers of Heero's bed.  Heero would probably bring the coffee in when it was ready, so there was no rush to get up.  Besides, it was the first time he had gotten to spend a morning with Heero, so he was going to enjoy it to the fullest.  Especially the part about pulling Heero back into bed.  That was going to be, hands down, the best part.  A relaxed morning was a luxury they hadn't experienced yet in their two weeks of… what were they doing?  They weren't dating; there hadn't been any kind of outing anyone would consider a 'date' yet.  Seeing each other?  Well, they were certainly seeing a lot of each other - naked and from all angles - but that wasn't the right term either.  'Fucking' would be the right word to describe the actual physical activity they participated in for most of the time they were together, but Duo had had fuck buddies before and it wasn't like any of those arrangements either.  

Though this coupling defied conventional description, Duo could scarcely be happier.  He thought that things were progressing in the direction he wanted them to.  If he knew one thing about Heero Yuy it was that Heero wasn't the type of guy to do things lightly.  His general tactic was to ignore anyone who showed interest in him and that certainly wasn't the case here.  Hell, he was getting phone calls saying 'be at my house in three hours!' as Heero raced home from skipping out on Prev training exercises.  That had to be worth something.  And more than mere booty calls, there were definitely feelings between them, Duo had played the field enough to know that.  Heero may not be good with words but he was damn good with his body.

Duo rolled onto Heero's side of the bed and snatched his pillow.  He absently wondered if Heero kept to one side when he was alone, or if he slept in the middle.  Then he wondered what Heero would think if he came in and found Duo hugging his pillow.

"Well, if the coffee weren't taking so long…" he muttered to himself as he pushed up on his hands.  He got out of bed and stretched his back with a yawn.  He went to the door, but stopped his hand on the doorknob when he heard a voice other than Heero's.  He pressed his ear to the door and listened.  Wu Fei.

"Aw, fucking hell" Duo swore under his breath.  All prospects of a peaceful morning in bed with Heero went down the toilet.  So did his chances of coffee.  Not even coffee was enough to lure him out there to face Wu Fei.  Chang was a close friend, but Duo was loathe to try and explain what he was doing here.  Plus, he didn't even know what Heero thought about outing themselves.

He figured Heero had remained out there in the kitchen to distract Wu Fei and give him a chance to escape and Duo wasn't about to waste the courtesy.  He began the hunt for his clothes, quickly locating his shirt on the bureau and his jeans on the floor by the bed.  He gave up after two minutes on the search for his underwear.  He threw on the shirt and carefully zipped up the jeans.  He paused to wind his hair into a quick braid, and then picked up his socks only to realize that his boots where on the mat at the entry.  God damn it, he thought, throwing his socks back on the floor, just when he'd let Heero train him to take his shoes off at the door.  Well, bare feet would be more stealthy anyway, he consoled himself.

As for escape routes, the bathroom fire escape came immediately to mind.  Heero and Wu Fei shared a second story apartment, so the climb down would not be difficult.  Their bedrooms were separated by a hallway and the bathroom.  He could easily slip down the hall into the bathroom without being noticed, and he did just that.  

The pair of obviously female legs sticking out of the bathroom window might have been the shock of his life - until he caught site of the face that peeked around, equally stunned to see him.

~

Heero tried not to react when he heard a scuffling sound coming from the direction of the bathroom.  Duo could normally be counted on to be more clandestine than that, but it appeared he was using the bathroom fire escape like Heero figured he would.  He glanced at Wu Fei, who, surprisingly, seemed not to have noticed the noise.

~

"You… definitely just saw my underwear," Relena swallowed when Duo got her back in the bathroom and seated safely on the tub ledge.  Seeing him had been such a shock, she had nearly fallen out the window.  She would have, if he hadn't caught her legs and hauled her back in.  

"Yeah.  Lace.  Sexy," Duo grinned.  He wouldn't have thought a girl who had just been caught sneaking out of a guy's apartment through the bathroom window would be able to blush like that.  He silently closed the bathroom door and sat down on the toilet lid opposite her.  "Have you ever noticed how alarmingly clean this place is?  I mean, Jesus," Duo shook his head.

"Duo what are you doing here?" Relena asked, still trying to catch her breath.

"Uh, visiting Heero?" he said, hoping that would be enough explanation.

"I thought he was supposed to be out of town!" she groaned.  "Oh, we must have woken you up last night, I'm so sorry!"

"Woken me up?" Duo repeated.

"When we came in last night?  If you were on the couch, then…"

Duo wondered if it was better to let her keep her misconceptions, but she was too sharp for that.

"You… weren't on the couch," she realized.

"No," he said succinctly.  It pretty much spoke for itself.  So did the silence in the room after that.

"Oh," she chirped.  "Oh.  Oh, I never realized that…"

"Heero is into guys?" Duo provided helpfully.  Just about everyone was aware that he dated either way, so he figured it was the part about Heero giving her trouble.  

"Well, yes, that's one way to say it," she said helplessly.

"Yeah, me either until a couple weeks ago," Duo chuckled.  

"I also didn't know you two were seeing each other," she added.

Duo rested his elbows on his knees.  "It's not official or anything," he explained.  "Hence, sneaking out the bathroom window.  Can I safely assume the same for you, Ms. Darlian?" he teased.  Her face turned pink again and Duo grinned.  Relena Darlian was, by necessity of her job, one of the most composed people he'd ever met so it was fun to see her acting like a girl.  

"No - I - " she began and then buried her face in her hands.  "Oh, Duo, I think I've made a big mistake!" she whimpered.

"You don't like him?" Duo asked.  That was odd.  He'd always thought Wu Fei and Relena were pretty close friends, especially in the last year.

"No, that's not it at all," she sighed.  "I like him, Duo.  I really, really, really like him!  What have I done?" she moaned, words muffled by her hands.

Duo laughed.  He couldn't help it, this was too funny.  She had absolutely no idea about how young people were supposed to behave.  He'd gotten to know her better over the six years since the wars but they didn't normally talk so personally.  He might have felt closer to her during the wars if he'd known back then that she was really just as confused, insecure, and maladjusted as any of the Gundam Pilots.

"Don't laugh!" she hissed, flustered.  "It's serious!  I went home with him after a party!  Do you know how bad that looks?  A girl has to think of these things, you know!"

"Lena, sweetheart," Duo said fondly, "you have nothing to worry about.  You didn't do anything wrong.  I guarantee you, that man is thanking his lucky stars for last night and wracking his brain trying to think of ways to trick you into being his girlfriend."

"Do you think so?" she asked earnestly.

"It's a Duo Guarantee," he winked.  "There's only a couple places in the Earth Sphere where a Duo Guarantee would be considered no good but Heero's bathroom ain't one of 'em."

She gave him a funny look but chuckled a little.  "Well, someone needs to tell him that he won't have to trick me," she said.  "I'll tell him myself - and soon.  I'm really no good at this sneaking around thing!"

"Takes practice is all," Duo shrugged with a guilty smile.

"Speaking of sneaking around," she said, pinning him with a look like she knew she was about to get the upper hand, "how long have you and Heero been not seeing each other?"

"Not long," he replied.  "Did you hear about that case I was working on, tracking some mafia ring?  And the car I was using was left in front of Prev HQ all burnt to hell?"  

"I did hear about that," she frowned at him.  "They'd put a witness's body in the driver's seat before lighting it on fire or something, right?  God, everyone thought you were dead for about four hours there!"

"Yeah," Duo grumbled, "every agent in Prev was running in little circles waiting to find out if the dental records matched and meanwhile I was stranded in the Northside slums because those sons of bitches stole my car.  Ever tried to hail a cab in Northside?"  

Relena looked perplexed.  "Do any cabs even go to Northside?  And would you get in one that did?" she wrinkled her nose.

"Exactly," Duo nodded.  "And of course my fucking phone was in the car.  That four hour 'gap' was because I had to walk back to headquarters!  And of course all of HQ was in a frenzy and it was a real shit storm by the time I got there.  When I finally reported in, the director hauled me into her office to scream my head off.  That's how she shows her love, you know."

"Naturally," Relena laughed, knowing the woman quite well herself.  

"Right, so I'm being royally bitched out and Heero barges into the office in the middle of her rant, completely ignores her, comes over to me and shakes me by the shoulders like he means to kill me.  He was shouting at me worse than Une!  I think 'you fucking idiot!' factored in more than a few times," Duo recalled with a laugh.  He didn't even remember what Heero had been shouting besides cursing him out, he had just been sitting there, bewildered by the look on Heero's face.  

Relena smiled and rubbed her nose to hide it.

"I mean, I never knew he liked me that much, you know?" Duo asked, looking over at her.  "When I think about it, I'd have to say he does his best to distance himself from me.  Yeah, we're buddies and all, but he chose Trowa as his partner, and we tried to live together a couple years ago but he could only stand it for a month before he decided it wasn't working and moved out."

"You've liked him for a long time," Relena surmised, letting the smile show.  "I didn't realize that, Duo."

He nodded.  "Yeah, a really long time.  But I never thought he felt any special way about me, so I never gave it any serious thought.  But apparently Heero flipped his shit when he heard I was dead.  I've heard some pretty scary stories about what was coming out of his mouth and the kind of firepower he was pulling out of his locker in the PREV headquarters basement.  Anyway, once I realized there was a slim chance I might actually have a shot with him, things just kind of escalated," Duo finished.  

Actually the truth was, they'd both ended up with double shifts for poor behavior and while they were working late, Heero had made a confession that was abrupt and heartfelt yet somehow still gruff, and so classically Heero that Duo had jumped him right there in his office at ten o'clock at night.  And things had escalated from THERE.  Relena really didn't need to know that, however.

Relena was straightening her skirt and looking like she was analyzing and thinking of a polite way to say something.

"Duo I don't mean to sound condescending to either of you, but be careful with him?  Please?" she finally said.

"I am," Duo promised her.  "I know he's never been in any sort of relationship before, so I'm letting him set a pace he's comfortable with."  Apparently, Heero saw nothing wrong with rushing head long into things, which really shouldn't surprise Duo in the least if he stopped to think about it, but he was too busy having incredible, mind-blowing, toe-curling sex to give it much thought.  Relena really didn't need to know that either.

"I guess it might make some sense that his preferences should be… atypical," she said, nodding.  "I would have never thought, but… well, I was so obviously interested in him," she said, looking hurt.  "Did he not think he could tell me?  I suppose we are not that close of friends."

"D-don't feel bad!" Duo sputtered.  "No one knew.  I don't think he even understood it himself for a long time.  You're not the only one he's been oblivious to.  Hell, after all the attention he gets from the female cadets, I was beginning to think there was something wrong with him!  Don't feel bad that he never noticed you!"  

She nodded.

"Besides, you're over him, right?  You've got Chang wrapped around your little finger!" Duo grinned at her.

"Oh yes, I've been over it for a long time, it's just a matter of closure.  Even knowing that he's interested in you helps there be closure.  I do hate loose ends, you know," she replied.

"Well, I'll be happy to tie up that loose end for you!" Duo said proudly.

"Tie up?" she blinked at him, eyes widening.

"H-hey!" he croaked.  "I didn't mean it like that!  You pervert!"

"I'm the pervert?  You said it!" she accused.

"You thought it first!" he shot back and she dissolved into giggles.  "My car should be here soon, would you like a ride home?" she offered when her giggles had quelled.

"Yeah, let's get out of here," Duo agreed as he got up.  She stood in the bathtub under the window and Duo picked her up by her legs to help her get her upper body out the window.  "So do I get to make a speech at the wedding?" he grinned.

"No one said anything about marriage!" she hissed back at him.  She bent one leg to get a knee out the window and accidentally struck Duo in the shoulder with her other heel.

"Ow!" he winced, stumbling back.

"Oh, Duo, are you ok?!" she gasped and tried to turn back.  She squeaked as she lost her balance again.

~

There was another crash from the bathroom, this time too loud for Wu Fei to pretend he didn't hear it.  "I'll go see what that was," he offered, standing.

"No, I'll go," Heero said, already on his feet.

"No, no, I'll take care of it," Wu Fei insisted, catching up with him at the door.

"It's really ok, you can finish your coffee," Heero said, trying to block Wu Fei as he went through the kitchen doorway.

"It's probably nothing, I got it," Wu Fei said, hurrying past him down the hall.

"Wait, Wu Fei!" Heero dashed ahead to catch him but they both reached the bathroom at the same time.

What they found in the bathroom was something neither of them expected.  Or, more accurately, what each of them expected was only half of the story.  Duo Maxwell was on his back in the bathtub, one bare foot over the side of the tub, and Relena Darlian was rather haphazardly and quite indecently seated on him.  Both looked pained and were rubbing their heads.

"Well," Wu Fei broke the silence, "this explains the steel-toed boots by the door."  He gave Heero a look.

"And why you decided to go the party," Heero replied, giving the look right back.

"And why you never showed up," Wu Fei added, now giving Duo a look as he helped Relena up.

"And why you couldn't live with him," Relena said to Heero as she pointed at Duo.

"And… well, shit, I don't have one," Duo said, throwing his hands up.  "Who wants to go out to breakfast?" he asked as he took Heero's offered hand and let the other man pull him out of the bathtub.

"That's right, the car's on its way," Relena joined in, "why don't you two get dressed and we can get some breakfast?"

Wu Fei and Heero looked at each other and shrugged.  "Breakfast sounds good," Wu Fei said.

"I know a great place," Duo told them as everyone exited the tiny bathroom.  He followed Heero into his room and shut the door behind them.  Before Heero could so much as look in the direction of the closet, Duo grabbed him by the elbow and pulled him into a kiss.  Heero didn't seem quite ready for Duo's tongue down his throat but he quickly, and eagerly, adjusted.

"Good morning," Duo said when he broke the kiss.  

"Not exactly how we imagined it," Heero said regretfully as he tried to smooth Duo's hair down a bit.

"At least Wu Fei seems to be taking it well," Duo offered.

"He is not really in any position to complain," Heero reminded him before he moved to the dresser.  "I just can't believe I didn't wake up when they came in."

"Guess I musta tuckered you out pretty good," Duo suggested.

Heero just snorted as he opened the top drawer of his dresser.

"Hey, Relena suggested I tie you up," Duo grinned.

"WHAT?" Heero asked sharply, turning around.

"Ok, she didn't, but can I?"

Heero shook his head in disbelief and turned back to his dresser.

"I didn't hear a 'no,'" Duo noted astutely from behind him.

Heero still didn't say no, he just reached up, pulled something off a shelf, and threw it over his shoulder at Duo.

"Hey, I was looking for these!" Duo exclaimed happily when he caught his wadded-up boxer shorts in one hand.

Heero was busy selecting his own underwear.  "How did they get up there?" he wondered without looking up.

"Hey, I'm not the one who threw them," Duo reminded him, washing his hands of all blame.  Since he was comfy as he was, and really, really hoping to get naked with Heero again as soon as possible, he just folded his shorts up and dropped them onto the bed.  

For the time being, he sat down on the bed and watched Heero get dressed, thinking that there was no where in the Earth Sphere he'd rather be.  Sitting here watching Heero undress might have been the only thing better.  "You know," he said, eyes following Heero as he slid his drawstring PJ pants off, pulled on a pair of shorts, and stepped into his jeans, "I saw Relena's underwear today, and for the record, I'd like to say that I would take you in lace panties over her in lace panties any day."

Heero's face contorted into something between revulsion and confusion.  "Was that a compliment?" he asked just before pulling a teeshirt over his head.

"Of course!"

"Bondage, panties… are you that bored of the sex already?" Heero deadpanned, turning to face Duo.

"Absolutely not!" Duo shook his head emphatically.  "Just getting that out there, that's all."

"Ready to go?" Heero asked.

"Oh wait, my socks," Duo remembered and leaned over to snatch them off the floor.  "Heero, can I ask you something?" he asked as he put them on.

"If it's about panties, the answer is no," Heero replied dryly.
 
Duo chuckled.  Somehow, this was more embarrassing to ask for than panties.  "Will you officially be my boyfriend?"

Heero gave him a look of mild surprise that twisted into the kind of incredulous look that made Duo <i>really</i> regret asking.  "What kind of question is that?" Heero asked.  "I am already your boyfriend."

"You are?" Duo asked.

"Yes, of course," Heero said as he came over to the bed.  

"Since when?"

"Since the first night we spent together," Heero answered.

Duo decided not point out that last night was the first time they'd actually spent an entire night together because he thought it was cute that even someone as frank and indelicate as Heero spoke euphemistically about sex.

"Oh," he swallowed.

"Was I mistaken?" Heero asked, coming closer.

"No no!" Duo said quickly.  Apparently, he'd been the one who was mistaken.  

"Good," Heero said simply and leaned down to kiss him.

Duo kissed back and then suddenly asked, "Why couldn't you live with me?"

Heero stood back and a troubled look clouded his face.  "I did not understand it well at the time," he tried to explain, running a hand through his tousled hair.  "I felt uncomfortable and anxious around you sometimes when we were alone together.  Most often, you looked relaxed and happy, and I knew I should be feeling that way too, but I didn't.  I could not quite comprehend why, I just wanted to escape the situation."  Heero sighed and continued, "If I had simply forced myself to think about it for any length of time, I probably would have figured out it was because I liked you."   

"So was Relena right, then?  You couldn't live with me because you liked me?" Duo asked.

Heero sighed again, "It's the same reason I couldn't be partners with you.  When it comes to you, I - I always handle things badly."  He fiddled with the hem of his teeshirt.  "I'm sure you heard what happened when news broke about your car..." he trailed off.

"Yeah, I did," Duo said, grinning.  "And I heard Prev confiscated like half of the firearms you pulled out of your basement locker because they were against regulation."

"Only three of them.  I had permits for the rest," Heero corrected.  Duo laughed and shook his head.  

Heero dropped his arms to his sides and looked at Duo apologetically.  "I feel stupid for not doing something about it before," he said, and quickly added, "my feelings for you, not the lack of permits."

Duo laughed again and stood up.  "So you can't keep your cool around me, huh?" he asked with a sly grin.  Heero shook his head as Duo advanced.  Duo kissed him again, slow and with generous amounts of tongue.  "I'd be mighty disappointed if you could," Duo drawled when he broke the kiss.  

"Can we continue this at your house after breakfast?" Heero asked, barely managing to tear his hands from Duo's waist.

"I like the way you think, Yuy," Duo agreed.

"Ready to go then?" Heero asked as he slung an arm comfortably around Duo's shoulders and steered him towards the door.  "We can even use the front door this time," he remarked with a smirk.

Duo gave him another grin, adding, "Sure, just let me get my shoes!"









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