by Hex
Disclaimer: No I don't own them. I wish.
Special note: When I originally started this fic I had one goal in mind. I wanted to make Trowa a lifeguard. I had never read a fic where Trowa was a lifeguard and I felt that was a true injustice within the fandom. I mean doesn't Trowa's body just scream to be put in red swim trunks and have the silver whistle around his neck? OK maybe it's just me....... Hey! Neri, Raletha and Anne agree with me. It's so good not to be alone.^_^
Duo fidgeted as he leaned against a pole trying to find a comfortable position that looked sexy enough. He was trying to patiently wait in front of the campus store for Heero and Wufei. He knew he was early. Duo resisted the urge to bite his fingernails as he rearranged himself once again. He hoped Heero wouldn't notice how nervous he was. Heero and Wufei were coming over to his house for a little birthday celebration. Well, more importantly Heero was. Duo had thought Heero was sexy ever since he had sat beside him in Stats. Heero turned out to be the epitome of what Duo wanted in a partner once Duo had become friends with him. The problem was he had no idea if Heero was gay. The guy didn't seem to notice anyone, male or female. They just seemed to be outside his line of vision in that sense. This wasn't going to stop Duo from trying though. He was glad Wufei would be there and disappointed too. Wufei was a good guy and funny - if only a little biting in his sarcasm. He was painfully straight too. Duo wondered vaguely what Wufei would do when he found out that the guy he had been spending his spares with since regular classes had started three months ago was a raging fag but decided to ignore the thought. Deal with that when it comes to it.
"You're early." A nasally voice said from behind him. Duo eeped and nearly jumped out of his skin. He spun to face the source of that voice. It was Heero. Hot Damn. Heero was wearing a pair of tight blue jeans and a dark green v-neck shirt. It showed the triangular shape of his body perfectly. Heero's dark brown hair was, as usual, messy but it always seemed to fall over his cobalt eyes in the exact same way. Sexysexysexysexysexysexysexysexy! That was all Duo could think.
"Did you wait long?" Wufei asked from just off to Heero's right. It seemed he couldn't help sounding mildly bored almost all the time.
"Nah!" Duo said airily after recovering from seeing Heero. "Just got here myself." Duo grinned unabashedly looking towards Wufei and he felt his eyebrows go up to his hairline. Well, shit. Duo couldn't help thinking as he stared at Heero's and Wufei's companion. It was Quatre dream love, the lifeguard from the beach this summer.
"This is Trowa. He's a friend of ours from high school." Wufei said. "Trowa this is Duo." He stated with his usual dry tone.
"I know." Came the blasé reply.
"How?" Heero asked.
"We met this summer at the beach." Trowa replied.
"Well I guess that just goes to show that it's a small world after all." Duo said and bounced up and down a little.
"Is it all right if I come along?" Trowa asked softly.
"Sure!" Duo nearly cried. Maybe he could get some information on the guy for Quatre. Man Quatre is going to be too pissed about missing tonight. Serves him right for not finding a way to ditch out on that damned dinner party anyway!
"Let's go." Heero snapped. Duo blinked. Heero was most often pretty terse but that seemed more so than normal. Hopefully he wouldn't be like that all night this would make the situation a lot harder for Duo.
Damn! Don't be pissy!! I'm already nervous! I'll feel even more self-conscious. Then I'll trip all over the place or something pathetic like that.
"All righty. Follow me." Duo chimed and led the guys outdoors to his car. An 89 Toyota Corolla[1] that had seen better days but hey, it ran and until he finished his real car it would do. The November air was chilly and Duo shivered as he unlocked the doors. "Damn. I think I'm going to buy a new winter coat with my birthday money."
"Happy birthday by the way." Wufei said as he climbed into the back seat tossing his backpack at his feet. Trowa's and Heero both climbed into the car with Trowa sharing the back with Wufei and Heero settling into shotgun. Duo couldn't keep the smile off his face from how that worked out.
"Thanks!" Duo chirped. 'Life is good' rang in his mind as he took a sidelong glance at Heero. "We'll go to my house and stop in for a bit. My mom made me promise to come by before I went anywhere." Duo stated rolling his eyes dramatically.
"That's all right. You can open your presents there." Heero stated.
"Huh?" Duo sputtered.
"Your presents, you can open them there so we don't have to drag them around." Heero stated flatly.
"You got me presents?" Duo asked.
"Of course. Why wouldn't we? Are you implying we're cheap bastards?" Wufei demanded
"NO! I just...." Duo began.
"You weren't expecting it." Trowa finished for him.
"Yeah. Pretty much." Duo stated. He definitely couldn't wipe the grin off his face now. He desperately wanted to know what Heero got him.
The drive went by quickly as Zeppelin barely blared from the speakers and the four began to chat about courses and University in general. Trowa, Duo quickly discovered, was in architecture and was pretty quiet but definetely nice. Duo pulled the car up into the driveway of the three bedroom house that was his home. They all piled out of the car and trudged their way up the unshoveled steps. Duo fished out his keys and let the party inside.
"Hello!" Duo called as he stepped into the house.
"Hi Sweetie. Happy birthday." A woman's voice called back. There was a high pitched squeal that followed.
"Uh brace yourselves for the holy terror." Duo said as the boys crowded into the entrance of the house.
"Hhhiiiii!" A high voice drew out. A baby [2] ran towards them. She had big blue eyes and golden blonde hair.
"Hi baby cakes. Where's my hug?" Duo said as he went into a squat.
"Djuoh! UP!" The baby promptly threw herself into his arms, put her head on his shoulder and stuck her thumb in her mouth. Duo straightened and grinned at the other three.
"Take off you stuff and hang it on the pegs by the door. We can go downstairs and closet ourselves in." Duo stated.
"Well hello." A woman with sandy brown hair and amethyst eyes said as she walked to the boys from around the corner.
"Hello." Wufei replied and bowed slightly. The woman's lips curved slightly. "It's a pleasure to meet you ma'am." She then smiled broadly and smacked Duo upside the head.
"Why aren't your manners like that? Oh, and it's Irene dear." She demanded.
"Because you never taught me any!" Duo retorted, sticking out his tongue.
"No, you were probably just sleeping through the lessons." Heero stated.
"Hey you're supposed to be on my side you know, with the apparent child abuse and all." Duo cried.
"You deserve it." Wufei stated flatly.
"Man you guys are supposed to be my friends. What a crock." Duo muttered.
"They obviously know you well enough." Irene stated "I'm glad he has friends that keep him in line. If it weren't for Quatre curbing him all these years I'm sure I 'd be entirely all gray by now."
"Quatre?" Heero asked.
"Oh you haven't introduced them to Quatre yet?" Irene said, eyes going wide.
"Well no. He's been busy a lot lately mom. It's not my fault." Duo said pouting.
"That poor boy. I don't know why he does that to himself." Irene said sighing as she took the baby from her son.
"Mommy, no more!" The baby stated loudly and squirmed.
"Do you want down Janey?" Duo asked
"Daw-uhn." Janey replied.
"Grab you're stuff guys Let's go into the dungeon, I mean basement." Duo said and led them down the stairs flicking on lights as he went. "There's only like two windows down here so it's always dark."
"I didn't know you had a baby sister." Wufei said.
"I have a baby monster there's a difference." Duo replied. "I'm kidding. She's cute and funny and when her diapers dirty I can give her to my mom. It's a good deal. I guess I don't talk about her much, but when my mom first had her I wouldn't shut up about her so I'm over compensating for it."
"You never shut up anyway." Heero retorted
"Hey aren't you supposed to be nice to the birthday boy? Oh welcome to my parlor. Duo said, smiling mischievously as he plopped down on a couch in the basement rec. room. The room was cheerful with hideously bright red carpet and plywood walls. There were two old couches lining the walls and an old recliner. The money that had been saved on decor had obviously been spent on the 57" TV and the surround sound entertainment system that went with it [3].
"Nice." Trowa stated as he hunched in front of it. "100 disc player, 6.1 speaker system, beautiful amp. This sub is pretty high end. This room is just set up for parties."
"Pretty much. I used to have a lot in high school." Duo replied "Time for presents!"
"You are such a kid." Heero grumbled.
"I know, but why would I want to grow up?" Duo asked.
"You should try to act your age Maxwell." Wufei stated.
"Is that ageism I hear Wufei?" Duo stated.
"What's that?" Trowa asked, mildly curious.
"Prejudice based on age." Duo replied. "You know like how some people won't hire seniors because they're old. Or Store clerks are rude to people because they're kids. That sort of thing. I'd prefer not to be defined by my age."
"You just want an excuse to act like a five year old. So you just made up a convoluted argument based on age bias to distract us." Wufei snorted.
"Yeah so, what's your point?" Duo questioned. Wufei just sighed.
"Here's your god damned present now shut up." Wufei replied as he shoved a package at the braided boy.
"Yeah!" Duo practically squealed and tore into the package.
"You're trying to ruin my GPA aren't you?" Duo queried as he pulled the last of the paper off of the gift. He held the latest Age of Empires game in his hands. A computer game he kept putting off buying because he knew that if he did he'd have to be forcibly removed from his computer.
"No. I'm just trying to make sure you don't beat me on the next Calculus test." Wufei said and let his lips curve upward in a self satisfied smirk.
"Bastard." Duo said but grinned and cradled the box to his chest. "So Heero what did you get me?" 'Vanilla lube?' Duo thought to himself hopefully.
"Open it." Heero replied handing it to Duo. Heero watched as Duo's eyes light up and his eyes twinkled. Heero always wondered what Duo was thinking when he looked like that. He knew Duo was up to no good and it meant trouble but there was something different about it this time. Heero had admitted to Wufei that he had, well, a crush on Duo for lack of a better term. Wufei had snickered and mocked him for not having figured out his own feelings sooner. Wufei was such a confident jackass some days. Wufei however, had been no help with the real issue. How to get Duo.
"Well how do I get him?" Heero asked
"Why are you asking the only 20 year old male virgin in existence?" Wufei snapped.
"Come on Wufei. That's not what I meant. I want a relationship, not a fuck." Heero retorted
"I don't know. I've never tried to pick up a guy. I'm straight. Then again I don't know how to pick up a girl either." Wufei sighed and stared at the book he was reading. "I think he likes you anyway. I'm pretty sure from the way he acts towards you compared to me. He never checks out girls either. I have noticed him giving guys a good once over though. So at least your chances are good that he might be interested."
Heero almost snorted. It seemed like Duo flirted with everything that was willing to pay attention to him. Duo was very misleading at times and it was really bothering Heero. He decided on giving Duo an unsubtle hint. He was going to plan on going to the movies and drag Duo along without Wufei. Something they had never done before. It had always been the three of them. Heero was going to try to get somewhere with Duo on his own or at least see if he could find out if he even had a chance. Heero hated being so indecisive. It wasn't like him. Trowa's had pointed that out to him when he had presented the problem to him.
"How do you go about getting together with someone?"
"You ask them out." Trowa stated.
"Thanks a lot" Heero replied.
"Look Heero. You want an easy answer and there isn't one. Things like this are always painful and awkward on both sides. You'll just have to suck it up and go for it." Trowa said firmly.
"Is this a hint Heero?" Duo asked as he held up the electronic organizer that he had unwrapped, breaking Heero's train of thought.
"This way you can program in when the assignments are due so you won't have to ask me all the time." Heero said and winced internally. 'Why do I always sound like an ass? Why can't I be easier going?'
"Well fine then." Duo stated sticking his tongue out at Heero. Ouch. That hit the mark.
'Can I suck on that?' Heero thought to himself suppressing a wolfish grin. As an apology of course.
"You just like to bother him. Admit it." Wufei stated.
"Wellllllll.............. I'll admit no such thing because I don't want to get my ass kicked." Duo replied.
And what an ass.Heero couldn't stop himself from thinking.
"You won't even admit to your own wrong doings Maxwell you have a weak disposition." Wufei stated.
"Actually Chang," Duo drew out "I have a survivalists disposition."
"Duo!! There's someone at the door for you." Irene's voice broke through their "discussion".
"Be right back." Duo said, looking mildly confused. "Wonder who it is."
"Good job Heero." Wufei said quietly. "Could you be a bigger ass?"
"I'm not good at this all right." Heero hissed back.
"He's nervous." Trowa replied. "Duo's coming back shut up."
"Quatre got someone to drop off my present." Duo said holding up a large box. "It's kinda heavy. He's such a pain. He wasn't supposed to get me anything until I got him something for his birthday that was this summer. Grrrrrr...."
"Open it." Trowa's said gently and Duo tore into the box.
"I'm gonna fucking kill him." Duo growled as he pulled out the gift. It was black, leather and something Duo had wanted for two years. "Fucking roasted. No wonder he didn't give it to me in person. That bastard."
"What's wrong?" Wufei asked confused.
"Look at this!" Duo wailed as he stood and held up an ankle length, black leather coat. "Just look at it!"
"Yeah and?" Wufei asked.
"OK. You don't know Quatre but this is I'm sure real leather. It's definitely a designer name and it probably cost tons of money. Fuck I'm going over there!" Duo pretty well roared.
"Duo, uh, are you all right?" Wufei asked as Duo stormed up the stairs. The other three trailing behind trying to understand the situation.
"Fine. Get your coat on now." Duo ordered.
The other three followed suit, weary of angering Duo further. Having never seen the braided boy angry, it made Wufei and definitely Heero, very uneasy. They quickly got dressed and began driving. After a short span of time Wufei realized that they were in the extremely high-class end of town. The homes here weren't houses they were estates. Like the kind millionaires had. What in the hell were they doing here? Duo pulled up along side an obnoxiously large house and turned off the car. He glared at the steering wheel for a moment then spoke for the first time since they had left the house.
"Look Quatre and I have been friends for as long as I can remember. He... he does this kind of thing all the time." Duo said sighing.
"What kind of thing?" Heero asked gently.
"Well here I'll give you an example, for my eighteenth birthday you know what Quatre got me? Tickets to the Barbados for a week during spring break. His family has a house there that they use. So the two of us went with his older sister Iria." Duo said softly.
"I see." Heero replied. He was sure an answer was appropriate but he had no clue what else to say.
"I'm still going in there though. It would serve him right if I embarrass him tonight." Duo grumbled.
"Duo, I'm not sure that's such a good idea." Wufei stated. All four boys jumped at the tapping on the window. Duo rolled his down to see the source of the noise. The windows had fogged up during the course of their conversation.
"Hey Rashid. How's it hanging?" Duo smirked out the window.
"Why am I not surprised?" Rashid muttered.
"So you saw the present then?" Duo demanded
"Yes I did Duo, and he was really excited about finding the 'perfect coat' for you." Rashid replied.
"Yeah well I'm going to tear a piece out of him!" Duo declared.
"If you can restrain yourself you can see him." Rashid replied.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Duo muttered.
"Actually knowing Master Quatre he'll be happy to see you no matter how mad you are." Rashid said, letting his eyebrows raise just a little.
"You did that on purpose." Duo whined as the guilt at the prospect of his actually getting mad at Quatre without good reason swept over him. "I was all set up for a good tirade too!"
"If you can restrain yourself it's 7:30 and dinner is over you know where he'll be." Rashid replied.
"Alrighty!" Duo said back to his usually self. "Come on." Duo jumped out of the car and the other three scrambled to follow. A quick swipe of a key card allowed them access through a side door. They ended up entering what looked like a garden. There was a drained pond and a lot of bare bushes and other plants. Duo led them around a winding path and past a vine-covered wall.
"Stay here for a sec." Duo whispered as he peered around the corner. "I'll call you guys in after."
As Duo crept past the wall Heero followed so he could see what Duo was doing. Duo stealthily moved up behind a blonde in a suit whose back was to them. Duo pounced on the unsuspecting victim who looked like he nearly jumped out of his skin. The blonde whipped around posed to defend himself but promptly grinned when he saw Duo. After Duo enjoyed his victory in terrifying the blonde a hand went to his hip and the other he used to wag his finger at the boy. The blonde blushed a little and ducked his head. Then spoke, smiling, probably in his defense. The blonde turned in the direction of a noise then grabbed Duo's wrist and ran towards the wall. They rounded the corner at a good clip and the blonde practically threw Duo into Heero.
"Shhhhhh.." He hissed clamping his hand over Duo's mouth. A young woman with long blonde hair came into view and the boy held his breath she looked around quickly then turned to go back the way she came. The boy let out an audible sigh.
"Moo enna fuff whum daufff." Duo said, trying to speak through the hand clamped over his mouth.
"Oh sorry." The blonde said, releasing Duo and his eyes widened. "Ummm Hello."
"What in the fuck was that?" Duo demanded
"That is who Elizabeth wants as a sister-in-law." Quatre replied, drawing his eyes away from the others. "I've been dodging both of them all night."
"She looked familiar. Who is she?" Duo asked.
"Dorothy Catalonia[4]." Quatre replied and shuddered.
"You mean the fork-eyebrowed bitch the stabbed you with the fencing sword when we were fifteen? Is Elizabeth nuts? Does she want you dead after you're married?" Duo exclaimed.
"I told you Elizabeth and I don't get along. I don't think she's been taking her medication." Quatre replied. He turned to smile at the other three blushing slightly. His eyes widened a little and he cleared his throat. He started to fidget with the hem of his suit coat.
"Oh uh yeah. This is Heero, Wufei and Trowa." Duo said gesturing to each in turn. "Guys this is Quatre."
"Hullo." Quatre said softly and held out his hand.
"Hi." Heero said taking the blonde's outstretched hand and shaking it. There was something familiar about him that Heero couldn't quite place. Quatre shook hands with the other two. Heero noticed he was having trouble meeting Trowa's eye but seemed unable to stop smiling.
"Umm Am I still in trouble? I mean it looks good on you." Quatre said turning liquid blue pools on Duo.
"I hate it when you do that! Stop it. And no you're not. You know it." Duo answered the blonde merely smiled happily. "But," Quatre's face fell a little. "You have to come on Friday then. No excuses."
"I'll do my best." Quatre replied.
"You're coming. Now go inside. Looking at you is making me cold." Duo said as the blonde shivered tucking his hands under his armpits.
"Call me later. I'll need the pick-me-up." Quatre said rolling his eyes.
"It was nice meeting you." Quatre said cheerily and waved as he rounded the corner to go back where he came from.
"So you guys wanna go for dinner now?" Duo asked as he led them back towards the side door.
"I understand that was Quatre but who is he? He looks really familiar." Wufei queried.
"I'll explain over dinner." Duo replied and led them out.
[1] Duo's car in no way, shape or form resembles my car. *cough* ^_^
[2] This baby in no way, shape or form resembles my little sister. *cough* ^_^
[3] This in no way, shape or form resembles my basement. *cough* ^_^
[4] OK I'm sorry Dorothy is a "villan" again. Really I am. This is the only appearance she makes so far and I admit to finding Dorothy amusing but I refuse to forgive her for stabbing my Quatre. Still mad. Never gonna let that grudge go.
And a *biiiiiig* hug for my beta. *Squeeze* ^_^ Luvs!
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