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"After Happily Ever After "Written By: Clara Barton Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing. The following
is an intellectual exercise with no intention of profit. That said,
these characterizations, words, and situations are mine. Please ask
before reprinting. Rating: NC 17 Warnings: Language, angst (I mean, duh), sex Pairings: 3x4, 2x3, 1x4 Summary: What happens when Happily Ever After turns out to be the worst thing that ever happened to you? A story about second chances, love and friendship. And Quatre Winner. A/N: This is not my fault. I didn't want to write.
I absolutely do NOT want to write a fic with Quatre Winner as the
main character but… I have to. "After Happily Ever After "
I've decided to do a difficult thing, and that is to let some of my unfinished WIPs go. Unfortunately, this is one of them. This isn't about a "why didn't people review this more?" This is about my unfortunate tendency to start ideas, to plot them out in my head, and then find myself drawn to a new idea. I still have this problem but I'm working on it, and I'm trying to only work on fics that I can commit to finishing. So, I've gone back and updated every fic that I am officially abandoning and calling it complete as well as adding in a final chapter - this chapter. So here are some thoughts on where it was headed: outline Prologue: Heero's POV Sitting in a church with Duo at a wedding, a wedding between people they don't even KNOW and Duo jumps up and asks one of the grooms to run away with him - to spend the rest of their lives together and blah blah blah and Heero sees the other groom, the gorgeous blonde one and watches his face turn devastated and ashen. It's like one of those stupid romantic comedies, with the grand romantic gesture and the hero and heroine run off together. Fade to black. Cue music. Credits roll. But this wasn't a movie. This was real life and a real person was standing alone at the altar, looking at the wide open doors where the love of his life had just run away with another man. Chapter 1 is one year later. Quatre's POV. He runs a bookstore and writes gay porn under a pseudonym. From a wealthy family but doesn't like to use his father's money or influence or any of that. packing up to go on vacation. sees a gorgeous brunette walk into the store and pick up a few romance novels. Including one of Quatre's. Embarresses the hell out of himself, with help from Relena, who works there, and thinks he will never see him again. Chapter 2 Heero's POV It didn't hit him until the next day that he knew the cute blonde - well, he didn't know him. But he had seen him before, on the day of his wedding. Or what should have been his wedding. Heero debates whether or not he should call, if this could even work out - then again, what's the harm? Quatre was cute and going on a date with him didn't mean Heero would be asking Duo and Trowa along to double date. Chapter 3 Quatre's POV The date. It goes well. Way, way WAY too well to be real. Chapter 4 Heero's POV He's invited Quatre over for dinner. Their seventh date, if he includes the lunch, the coffee, the movie and dinner last night as well as their three dinner dates. Quatre sees the collection of romance novels and Heero expects to be teased about them, but Quatre doesn't tease him. They eat, they start making out on the couch and move things towards the bedroom and as they through the hall Quatre sees it - the photograph of Duo, Trowa and Heero on vacation that summer. Chapter 5 Quatre's POV This must be what it feels like to see a ghost. Like a physical blow or a bucket of ice water or - He felt sudden fury wash over him, but then realized - Heero didn't know. Heero hadn't been on the guest list. He wasn't one of Quatre's invites or one of Trowa's. Heero didn't know that Quatre had been stood up at the altar when the two men in the photograph with him had run off together. "Shit," Heero cursed and reached for the photograph, he turned it over, hiding the tanned, smiling faces. Quatre turned to him, saw the furrow of Heero's dark brows. Okay. Or he did know. "I'm sorry," Heero said. Quatre arched an eyebrow. "What are you sorry for?" "For not remembering to put that away before you came over. I knew I forgot to do something I - I'm sorry." He was starting to feel curiously distant, disconnected from this entire scene - as though he was watching it from above, as though it was a movie or a manuscript he was writing. "Were you there? That day?" Heero reluctantly nodded. "Duo - I was his date for the wedding." "Duo?" Quatre gestured at the photograph. "That's his name?" Heero frowned. "Yes. Duo Maxwell." Quatre remembered that name. Trowa had added it to the last minute wedding invitations - the distant cousins Quatre had forgotten. Trowa had shrugged when Quatre asked who he was, said he was a friend. "How do you know... Duo?" Heero sighed. "We went to medical school together." That brought Quatre crashing back to reality. "He's a doctor." Heero nodded. "A surgeon." Quatre closed his eyes. Not just a doctor, but a surgeon. "What kind?" "Cardio-thoracic. He specializes in pediatric - " "You have got to be shitting me." Quatre snapped his eyes open and glared at Heero. "He's a heart surgeon for children?" Heero reluctantly nodded. "Are you going to tell me he's part of Big Brothers and donates to Greenpeace and coaches a Little League team on the weekends too?" Heero sighed and crossed his arms over his chest. "As far as I know he doesn't coach a Little League team. He's never been much of a baseball fan." Quatre stared at him in shock. Trowa had left him for a heart surgeon. A guy who fixed hearts for little kids and volunteered and cared about the environment and - and looked like Duo did. Quatre had seen the photograph, had seen Duo's bare chest and tan, muscled frame. The tattoos. Hell, Quatre had seen him in a suit on the day of the wedding, standing up and squeezing down a row of seats before standing in the aisle and pouring his heart out to Trowa and everyone assembled. Duo Maxwell was gorgeous and brilliant and a fucking saint. And he had taken Quatre's fiance away from him. On the day of his wedding. "You two are friends." Heero nodded reluctantly. "He's... my best friend." Quatre swallowed hard. "Did you... did you remember me when we met?" "Not the first day - not when Relena gave me your phone number. I didn't remember you until later. I'm sorry," he said again. It was strange. Quatre got the impression that Heero did not apologize very frequently, but he couldn't seem to help doing it now. Chapter 6 Heero POV Waiting to see if Quatre will call him, or answer his calls, feeling like an asshole and a moron and a hopeless romantic. He has dinner with Duo and Trowa, who tell Heero they are engaged. Chapter 7 Quatre POV Relena whining about Quatre being a moron. Quatre determined to just never, ever, EVER go on a date again. And then Heero comes back into the bookstore and tries to apologize again and Relena not too subtly shoves Quatre into him and they kiss again. Chapter 8 Heero POV Dinner out and Heero drives Quatre home and Quatre invites him in. They have sex, it's amazing. He falls asleep and when he wakes up Quatre is in the living room, typing away on his computer with a pair of headphones on. He doesn't hear Heero come up behind him and Heero doesn't really MEAN to read the screen but he does and then he can't stop reading as he realizes just WHAT he is reading. Quatre then turns to see him and has a minor freakout. Chapter 9 Quatre POV Quatre had expected Heero to make fun of him or at least tease him, but instead, Heero apologizes for reading over his shoulder but tells him that he writes really well. That his writing reminds Heero of San Rock, his favorite writer. So Quatre confesses - he IS San Rock. Chapter 10 Heero POV Quatre emails him little porn snippets that Heero reads at work, actually uses to masturbate to - and of course Duo catches him in the act and suggests that he really, really needs to get a boyfriend. He volunteers to set Heero up with someone but Heero declines. Duo persists and Heero finally tells him that he already has a boyfriend. Duo insists on meeting him. He invites Heero and his new boyfriend out for drinks with him and Trowa on Friday. Chapter 11 Quatre POV Heero hadn't wanted to go - he had had five different excuses already planned but Quatre told him no. Sooner or later, he would have to see Trowa again. Sooner, alone, would have been better. Well, if he was honest with himself, never would have been better. So they go. Trowa and Duo recognize him, of course. It is the most awkward twenty minutes of their lives. Heero takes Quatre home and they have sex, really, really good sex and Quatre tries to forget about the way Duo and Trowa looked at each other, silently communicating and so completely unified into one person that it hurt to see, to know that Trowa had really found his soulmate. Chapter 12 Heero POV Argument with Duo about Quatre. Then Heero has dinner with Quatre and his favorite sister, Iria Chapter 13 Quatre POV At work. Talking to Relena. Wondering if Heero liked the most recent porn installment. Trowa walks into the bookstore. They talk. Chapter 14 Heero POV Valentines Day. Not Heero's favorite time of the year. As much as he is a closet romantic, that's where he has ALWAYS kept his romantic inclinations. He decides, though, that Quatre is worth the risk and goes all out - expensive chocolates, roses, dinner reservations at a fancy restaurant. Quatre has an allergic reaction to the chocolates and they have to go to the emergency room. . Chapter 15 Quatre POV The world was a cruel, terribly unfair place. Duo Maxwell was on call that night. Has volunteered to work, in fact, so that Heero could take the night off, and also because he hadn't worked in trauma for years and why not. So of COURSE he was the doctor who saw Quatre, who saved his life, who turned out to have a really fucking good sense of humor and felt like an asshole for ruining Quatre's life. Chapter 16 Heero POV Duo invites him and Quatre for a weekend in the mountains. Apparently Trowa is an outdoorsman and Quatre is too Chapter 17 Quatre POV Weekend adventure. Turns out... Quatre really gets along with Duo and Trowa seems really happy, and Heero... Heero kisses him under the stars and tells Quatre he's the luckiest man on earth Chapter 18 Heero POV - Epilogue Duo's wedding day, trying to calm his nerves, then standing on the altar with Quatre, Trowa's best man, and he wonders if it's too soon to propose. When he gives the first Best Man toast, he talks about how great Duo is. How insane he thought he was to stand up at Trowa's wedding and ask him to run away - how incredibly grateful Heero is that Duo was such an unbelievable asshole, because it gave Heero the chance to meet the love of his life, the most amazing man he had ever met, and would Quatre marry him. Whole big romantic end thing and everyone gets a happily ever after. -o- After Happily Ever After Chapter Six This must be what it felt like to see a ghost. Like a physical blow or a bucket of ice water or - He felt sudden fury wash over him, but then realized - Heero didn't know. Heero hadn't been on the guest list. He wasn't one of Quatre's invites or one of Trowa's. Heero didn't know that Quatre had been stood up at the altar when the two men in the photograph with him had run off together. "Shit," Heero cursed and reached for the photograph, he turned it over, hiding the tanned, smiling faces. Quatre turned to him, saw the furrow of Heero's dark brows. Okay. Or he did know. "I'm sorry," Heero said. Quatre arched an eyebrow. "What are you sorry for?" "For not remembering to put that away before you came over. I knew I forgot to do something I - I'm sorry." He was starting to feel curiously distant, disconnected from this entire scene - as though he was watching it from above, as though it was a movie or a manuscript he was writing. "Were you there? That day?" Heero reluctantly nodded. "Duo - I was his date for the wedding." "Duo?" Quatre gestured at the photograph. "That's his name?" Heero frowned. "Yes. Duo Maxwell." Quatre remembered that name. Trowa had added it to the last minute wedding invitations - the distant cousins Quatre had forgotten. Trowa had shrugged when Quatre asked who he was, said he was a friend. "How do you know... Duo?" Heero sighed. "We went to school together - high school, college, medical school." That brought Quatre crashing back to reality. "He's a doctor." Heero nodded. "A surgeon." Quatre closed his eyes. Not just a doctor, but a surgeon. "What kind?" "Pediatric - " "You have got to be shitting me." Quatre snapped his eyes open and glared at Heero. "He saves little kids lives?" Heero reluctantly nodded. "Are you going to tell me he's part of Big Brothers and donates to Greenpeace and coaches a Little League team on the weekends too?" Heero sighed and crossed his arms over his chest. "As far as I know he doesn't coach a Little League team. He's never been much of a baseball fan." Quatre stared at him in shock. Trowa had left him for a surgeon. A guy who fixed little kids and volunteered and cared about the environment and - and who looked like a model. Quatre had seen the photograph, had seen Duo's bare chest and tan, his tattoos and muscled frame. Hell, Quatre had seen him in a suit on the day of the wedding, standing up and squeezing down a row of seats before standing in the aisle and pouring his heart out to Trowa and everyone assembled. Duo Maxwell was gorgeous and brilliant and a fucking saint. And he had taken Quatre's fiance away from him. On the day of his wedding. "You two are friends." Heero nodded reluctantly. "He's... my best friend." Quatre swallowed hard. "Did you... did you remember me when we met?" "Not the first day - not when Relena gave me your phone number. I didn't remember you until later. I'm sorry," he said again. It was strange. Quatre got the impression that Heero did not apologize very frequently, but he couldn't seem to help doing it now. "Was this all some joke?" Quatre wondered, wondered what Trowa and Duo thought about all of this and he felt his anger wash away, replaced with sadness and loneliness. "No," Heero reached out but Quatre stepped back, just out of his reach. "This isn't some joke, Quatre." "Then why are you - why are you even interested in me?" Quatre had to ask. Heero had seen - had seen him get left at the altar for his best friend. "Why the hell wouldn't I be?" Heero countered, his eyebrows drawn together in a scowl. -o- 6 Heero POV Waiting to see if Quatre will call him, or answer his calls, feeling like an asshole and a moron and a hopeless romantic. He has dinner with Duo and Trowa, who tell Heero they are engaged. -o- Relena whining about Quatre being a moron. Quatre determined to just never, ever, EVER go on a date again. And then Heero comes back into the bookstore and tries to apologize again and Relena not too subtly shoves Quatre into him and they kiss again. -o- Dinner out and Heero drives Quatre home and Quatre invites him in. They have sex, it's amazing. He falls asleep and when he wakes up Quatre is in the living room, typing away on his computer with a pair of headphones on. He doesn't hear Heero come up behind him and Heero doesn't really MEAN to read the screen but he does and then he can't stop reading as he realizes just WHAT he is reading. Quatre then turns to see him and has a minor freakout. -o- Quatre had expected Heero to make fun of him or at least tease him, but instead, Heero apologizes for reading over his shoulder but tells him that he writes really well. That his writing reminds Heero of San Rock, his favorite writer. So Quatre confesses - he IS San Rock. -o- Heero POV Quatre emails him little porn snippets that Heero reads at work, actually uses to masturbate to - and of course Duo catches him in the act and suggests that he really, really needs to get a boyfriend. He volunteers to set Heero up with someone but Heero declines. Duo persists and Heero finally tells him that he already has a boyfriend. Duo insists on meeting him. He invites Heero and his new boyfriend out for drinks with him and Trowa on Friday. -o- Quatre POV Heero hadn't wanted to go - he had had five different excuses already planned but Quatre told him no. Sooner or later, he would have to see Trowa again. Sooner, alone, would have been better. Well, if he was honest with himself, never would have been better. So they go. Trowa and Duo recognize him, of course. It is the most awkward twenty minutes of their lives. Heero takes Quatre home and they have sex, really, really good sex and Quatre tries to forget about the way Duo and Trowa looked at each other, silently communicating and so completely unified into one person that it hurt to see, to know that Trowa had really found his soulmate. -o- Argument with Duo about Quatre. Then Heero has dinner with Quatre and his favorite sister, Iria -o- Quatre POV At work. Talking to Relena. Wondering if Heero liked the most recent porn installment. Trowa walks into the bookstore. They talk. -o- Heero POV Valentines Day. Not Heero's favorite time of the year. As much as he is a closet romantic, that's where he has ALWAYS kept his romantic inclinations. He decides, though, that Quatre is worth the risk and goes all out - expensive chocolates, roses, dinner reservations at a fancy restaurant. Quatre has an allergic reaction to the chocolates and they have to go to the emergency room. -o- Quatre POV The world was a cruel, terribly unfair place. Duo Maxwell was on call that night. Has volunteered to work, in fact, so that Heero could take the night off, and also because he hadn't worked in trauma for years and why not. So of COURSE he was the doctor who saw Quatre, who saved his life, who turned out to have a really fucking good sense of humor and felt like an asshole for ruining Quatre's life. -o- Heero POV Duo invites him and Quatre for a weekend in the mountains. Apparently Trowa is an outdoorsman and Quatre is too -o- Quatre POV Weekend adventure. Turns out... Quatre really gets along with Duo and Trowa seems really happy, and Heero... Heero kisses him under the stars and tells Quatre he's the luckiest man on earth -o- Heero POV - Epilogue Duo's wedding day, trying to calm his nerves, then standing on the altar with Quatre, Trowa's best man, and he wonders if it's too soon to propose. When he gives the first Best Man toast, he talks about how great Duo is. How insane he thought he was to stand up at Trowa's wedding and ask him to run away - how incredibly grateful Heero is that Duo was such an unbelievable asshole, because it gave Heero the chance to meet the love of his life, the most amazing man he had ever met, and would Quatre marry him. Whole big romantic end thing and everyone gets a happily ever after. ~ * ~
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