…
“Don’t ever scare me like that again.” Heero bent down, picked up his bags, and stepped into the now empty crosswalk, glaring straight ahead at the “walk” signal.
I’ve got a dream to take you over
Exploding like a supernova
I’m gonna crash into your world
And that’s no lie…
Ch. 1 – Violet
Duo hurried to catch
up. He was a little stunned, both by his close call, and by Heero’s reaction.
The two boys sparred
sometimes at the gym, or wherever, it was good exercise, and more fun than
lifting weights or running laps (which Heero tended to do as well). It also
seemed like half the time they argued they came to blows, or close, often with
Heero threatening to kill Duo, though he’d never caused any serious damage.
But, in all the time they had known each other, Duo had never actually been slapped by Heero. They’d almost been “how-dare-you” slaps, more a warning than
a serious threat. Duo knew from experience that Heero could knock him flat if
he felt like it – not that he didn’t pack a good punch himself, but he just
wasn’t in the same league as Heero when it came to fisticuffs (he’d always
enjoyed watching Heero and Fei, the martial artist, kick the crap out of each
other).
Come to think of it,
not counting his work on stage, Duo didn’t think he’d ever been slapped by another guy; by girls, definitely, Hilde had certainly
smacked him a time or two when he’d irritated or scared her, but by guys? His
grand total of being slapped across the face for real by a guy was currently at
two, and he didn’t think Heero was in a mood to discuss it. come to think of
it, Heero’d been in a bad mood since Relena had broken up with him…
Or had Heero broken
up with Relena? Duo suddenly wasn’t sure, he’d just assumed that Relena had ended
it. After all, Heero’d put up with the girl for nearly four years, what was the
point in getting fed up at such a late –
Thump.
Duo’d walked straight
into Heero’s back. The Japanese boy had stopped at another intersection.
Heero whirled. “Watch
where you’re going, baka!” he was glaring.
“Sorry,” Duo
muttered. He was really spacing today. What was with him? For a
split second, he’d caught the scent of cinnamon again, and hopped that Heero
would grab him as he had earlier. Then maybe he could get some answers.
Heero’d been
incredibly drunk the night of the Prom, and Duo had noticed the other boy had
drunk a considerably smaller amount on all future occasions. But, once, Duo’d
managed to make Heero remarkably furious (he couldn’t remember how), and somehow
in the course of the fight that had followed, Heero had pinned Duo in a corner
and had been very close – he’d smelled cinnamon then, too, Duo suddenly
remembered – and Duo could have sworn the other boy had been only a heartbeat
away from kissing him again. Quatre and Trowa had come in, and pried Heero off,
joking about anger management for Heero and gags for Duo… Maybe if Duo could
get Heero mad again? The short-haired boy was tense already, it probably
wouldn’t take much.
May as well dive right
in.
“Heero?”
“Hn?” Heero was
fumbling for his key to the apartment building.
“Why’d you slap me?”
“What?” Heero opened
the door and held it for Duo.
“When I almost
crossed the street,” Duo prompted. “You slapped me.”
“You deserved it,”
Heero answered shortly, hitting the elevator button.
“But you slapped me,” Duo persisted. “Guys don’t slap other guys. That’s, like, cat
fighting, or something.”
“What’s your point, Maxwell?” Heero hit the button again.
“Just that it’s kinda
girly for a guy to slap another guy across the face.”
“I’ll slap you again
if you don’t shut up,” Heero growled. “Damn thing!” he punched the button a
third time, and the elevator door slid open.
“Maybe we should get
Q to get this thing checked,” Duo remarked cheerfully as they piled in with all
their bags.
“It’s older than I
am,” the blue-eyed boy grunted, and hit the buttons for seven and eight.
The door creaked
shut, and the elevator began its slow, fitful ascent.
The old lift wasn’t
very large and, despite the several double-fist-sized regulation air vents, it
was hot and a little stuffy. Both boys dumped their bags of the floor, causing
the whole compartment to shudder and slow to a crawl, so they could divest
themselves of the autumn jackets they’d worn outside.
“You’ve been awfully
tense, lately, Hee-chan,” Duo commented as they passed the third floor
apartment.
“Don’t call me that,”
Heero growled.
Fourth floor.
“Do I really remind
you that much of Relena, Hee-chan?”
Jackpot.
Heero grabbed Duo
savagely by the front of his shirt. “Stop calling me that,” he hissed.
Fifth floor.
The shorter boy tried
ineffectually to brush off the hand fisted in his shirt front. Maybe the plan to tick Heero off wasn’t so
good after all, but maybe just a little… “Come on, Hee-chan, lighten up.”
“I said stop calling me that!” Heero roared, lifting Duo bodily into the
air and slamming him forcefully into the wall.
The rickety elevator
shuddered again, screeched, and stopped. The lights snapped off. The tiny emergency
light cast a dim glow over the small compartment.
“Violet,” Heero
whispered, all the anger gone from his face; he didn’t seem to notice the
stopped elevator or the lights. “They’re violet.” He was staring into Duo’s
face, which was even with his, for once, due to the fact that Duo was being
pinned to the wall several inches above the ground.
“Heero? You okay?” Definitely a bad plan… though they were so close… close enough to
kiss. Duo abruptly realized he wanted Heero to kiss him very badly. But due to
Heero’s grip he was finding it hard to breathe – not that he wanted to breathe
in Heero’s face, what if his breath was bad? – and the elevator had definitely
just broken down halfway between the sixth and seventh floors. Plus Heero was
zoned out. Overall, BAD PLAN!
“Heero?” Duo tried
again, carefully not breathing on the boy holding him against the wall.
“Huh?” Heero blinked
and looked around.
“The elevat – umf!”
Heero dropped the
smaller boy to the ground.
“Ow!”
“Gomen,” Heero took a few hasty steps backwards, and ran into the opposite
wall. He looked strangely unsettled. “The elevator?” he asked.
Duo glared up at the
Japanese boy from his position on the floor. “You broke it,” he said. “And no
one’s home to hear us yell for help.”
“No one’s…”
“Wufei’s at Meiran’s,
and Quatre and Tro are at a concert. We’re stuck ‘til someone gets home and
sees the emergency light on in the lobby.”
Heero swore under his
breath and sank to the floor.
Silence reigned.
“Lord and butter it’s
hot in here,” Duo muttered after a while. “Mind if I take my shoes off?”
Heero scowled, but
shook his head, so Duo yanked off his shoes and socks. A moment later, Heero
followed suit. Thankfully, there was no accompanying unpleasant odor.
“You really have been
awfully tense lately, Heero,” Duo said a little later, figuring it was as good
a time as any to broach the subject, after all, Heero couldn’t storm off, and
if he killed Duo, he’d be stuck in a hot elevator with a corpse for an unknown
period of time.
“What business is it
of yours?”
“You used to talk to
me,” Duo pointed out, feeling a little hurt, even though he hadn’t really
expected much of an answer.
“We were friends.”
We were friends? Duo had a sick
feeling in his stomach. “Aren’t we friends anymore?”
Heero didn’t answer.
The silence felt like
a fist.
“So that’s why you
hate being around me so much lately.” It all made sense, now. And here he’d
been thinking they might have had something, that maybe Heero didn’t known how
to loosen up, and that’s why he’d only kissed Duo when he’d been trashed. What
a fool he’d been. “Do you hate me, too?” he didn’t really want to know. “Was it
something I did?”
“What do you think?”
Shit. “But I didn’t do anything!” Duo was
practically wailing.
“Shut up.” Heero
looked exasperated. “Of course you didn’t do anything. You never do anything.”
What?
“Well, guess what,
Maxwell, maybe it’s your turn to do something.”
Your turn. It’s your
turn. The words echoed. Stupid, Duo, that’s stupid. He doesn’t even want
to be friends anymore.
The heat in the lift
was really bad. Heero had unbuttoned his shirt, and now he shrugged out of it.
Duo’s breath hitched
at the sight. He’d seen Heero without a shirt before, but had always
automatically made himself ignore it; Heero was his friend, and straight, so
there was no point ogling the perfect tan skin, or the beautifully sculpted
chest and arms… but now… Still no
point, Duo reminded himself. He’s still straight, and now you’re not even
friends, remember? To distract himself,
he pulled off his own shirt, which was sticking to him unpleasantly. Then he
risked another glance at Heero.
The slender boy was
glaring fixedly at the wall.
“Does this have to do
with Relena?” Duo wondered, then bit his traitorous tongue when he realized
he’d said it out loud.
“What?”
“Is it somehow my
fault she dumped your sorry ass?” Way
to stop pissing him off, Maxwell. Guess it doesn’t matter anymore, though…
“First of all,” Heero
was on his feet, skin glistening with sweat in the dim light, “Relena did not
‘dump my sorry ass.’ We got in a fight, as we’ve done before, and will again,
I’m sure. I decided I’d had enough, and I told her so. She was less than
thrilled, and decided she wanted to make up. I told her to go to hell.”
Duo hadn’t realized
he’d stood up. A tiny piece of his mind cheered that Heero had finally told the
blonde off. “Betcha never slammed her against elevator walls,” the words slipped
from his mouth before he realized he’d even thought them. He could have swallowed
his tongue. What is wrong with me?
“She doesn’t try to hit me, either,” Heero snapped. “Nor does she
irritate me to the point where I want to strangle her to death as often as you
do.”
“I don’t hit you!”
Duo exclaimed indignantly.
“I said try.” The glint in Heero’s eyes was almost feral.
Duo grunted, I’ll show him try, and lunged, swinging his fist.
Heero avoided the
swing easily, and, catching Duo off-balance, flipped the smaller boy onto his
back, shaking the elevator in the process.
Duo’s head spun, and
throbbed where it had hit the floor. He briefly closed his eyes against the
dizziness, blinking several times to clear his vision. When he could see, he
almost wished he couldn’t.
Heero was pinning him
to the ground, holding his wrists firmly to the floor above his head, and
glaring viciously down at him.
“Are you going to
kill me, then?” Duo asked helplessly, almost expecting an affirmative, half
hoping for one. Heero obviously hated him now, had threatened death often
enough even when they were friends, and now there was nothing to hold him back,
was there? So was there really any point in trying anymore?
But then,
miraculously, Heero’s expression changed. He looked almost… confused?
That can’t be right.
“No,” Heero shook his
head. “I’m not going to kill you. I’d never kill you.” His voice was soft, as
if he were talking to himself. “Violet,” he said for the second time that
afternoon, staring intently at Duo. “They’re violet.”
“What’s violet?” Duo
breathed, amazed at both the strange huskiness to Heero’s whisper, and the look
of confused wonderment on his face.
“Your eyes,” came the
soft, heart-stopping reply.
Duo just stared,
forgetting his aching head and the slight pain in his tightly gripped wrists,
forgetting the heat and the sweat dripping down his body, forgetting he was
pinned to the floor, forgetting that Heero’s weight on top of him was starting
to get heavy. All he saw were Heero’s blue eyes looking into his own. His gaze
shifted to Heero’s mouth, mere inches above his own.
They’d been in a
similar position last time… It’s
your turn.
Please, God, this could
be my only chance… let it work.
Duo stretched his
neck as far as he could, and pressed his lips firmly against Heero’s, eyes
fluttering shut just as Heero’s went wide.
He pulled back a
moment later, opening his eyes and looking up at the stronger boy who was still
pinning him to the ground.
Heero dragged his own
eyes open. “What was that?”
“It was my turn,” Duo
explained in a whisper, hoping his gamble hadn’t failed miserably, hoping he
wasn’t about to be knocked into the middle of the following week, which was
what any self-respecting straight man would do to a guy who’d kissed him full
on the mouth. “You told me that I had to kiss you next time. So I did.” No more wondering. No more hiding. I guess
Hilde was right about me, at least, for better or worse.
Heero was staring at
him strangely.
Duo gave him a weak
grin. “Tag, you’re it?”
Heero stared at him a
moment longer, then started to chuckle, then to laugh. He still hadn’t moved or
loosened his grip on Duo’s wrists.
“What’s so funny?”
Duo demanded, more confident now that he wasn’t about to meet his Maker.
“You are,” Heero
replied, and stopped laughing. Suddenly, he looked almost shy. “You never… I
didn’t want to push… and Hilde… but then she left… I waited… didn’t have the
courage to just… with anyone else, but not…”
“Heero?” Duo was
totally confused.
“…Why I never drank
much anymore…” Heero tried to explain. “Didn’t want… if you didn’t want… but I hoped…”
“You’re not mad?” was
all Duo could manage to ask, cutting Heero off.
“No!” it was almost
choked out.
“I thought you hated
me…”
“Never…”
“You always get so
angry…”
“Easier to get angry
than…”
“You said we weren’t
friends anymore…”
“I didn’t, you did…”
“Kiss me?”
Heero bent down and
very gently did as he was bidden, carefully coaxing Duo’s lips apart.
Duo responded,
eagerly welcoming Heero’s exploration of his mouth, and the kiss quickly deepened,
becoming passionate.
Duo was suddenly very
aware that neither of them was wearing a shirt, and that Heero, who was still
pinning him down, was straddling his hips. Experimentally, almost hesitantly,
he shifted against the other boy. Heero moaned into his mouth and pressed
closer still, bringing their bodies even more fully into contact as he ravaged
the younger boy’s mouth.
This was nothing like the first time Heero’d kissed him. This was amazing, incredible –
Duo couldn’t find an appropriate word, didn’t even care that he couldn’t – it
was like this wonderful force that was Heero had crashed into his mind and
exploded, taking him over completely. And it no longer mattered that they were
stuck in a tiny, hot elevator. All that mattered was that they were there with
each other, and Heero was kissing him fiercely and…
Suddenly, Heero
pulled back. His face was flushed and he was breathing hard, almost panting.
Duo stared up at him
for several long moments, panic starting to rise when Heero said nothing. “Is
something wrong?” ‘Is something
wrong?’ How stupid is that? Of course something’s wrong, you idiot!
“Duo,” Heero paused,
chewing softly on one already bee-stung lip.
Duo’s heart clenched,
preparing for what, he didn’t know.
“Duo, are you sure you
want this?” it came out in an uncharacteristic rush. “I wanted to kiss you the
moment I first saw you, all those years ago, but I told myself ‘no, that’s not
right, you’re both guys,’ so we were friends. Then you were with Hilde, and I
was with Lena, and then so much happened so fast, and I was so confused, but…”
Heero paused and took a breath, almost as if trying to slow down, but then he
was off again. “And then we had Junior Prom, and I never would have dared, but
I’d been drinking, and I wasn’t really thinking about what might happen, so I
took a chance, but then you pushed me away, so I didn’t wanna push you again,
and I swore to myself that I never would, unless you wanted…” he took another
breath, “And a few times I almost cracked, when I got so close to you, but I
just couldn’t, and now…” he trailed off, looking very
unsure of himself.
“I was scared,” Duo
admitted after what seemed like a very long silence, suddenly understanding
that all this time that he’d been obsessing over Heero, and trying not to,
Heero’d been doing the exact same thing over him. And now Heero was
worried that he’d made a mistake that he wouldn’t be able to fix. “Prom night,
all this time… I’m scared now, but I do want this.” He wanted to reach up and
smooth Heero’s messy hair away from his eyes, but still couldn’t move his arms.
“I want this,” he said again.
Heero’s entire face
lit up, his eyes sparkling like sapphires in the half-light of the emergency
lamps. He pressed another light, gentle kiss to Duo’s lips. “I want this, Duo.
I want it more than… more than…”
“Ice cream?” Duo
volunteered, then mentally kicked himself for such a stupid comment ruining the
moment.
Heero, however,
chuckled, and the vibrations in his chest sent a thrill through Duo, they were pressed
so close together. “Way more than ice cream.” He leaned in for another kiss,
but Duo pulled back slightly.
A flicker of worry
passed over Heero’s face.
“Uh, Heero?”
“Yes?”
“Uh,” Duo hesitated,
not really wanting to say it, but it had to be said…
TBC