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"Before Now"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: Angst, language, sex, angst Pairings: 1x2x3 Summary: Two stories of friendship,
love and loss told fourteen years apart. "Before Now" Chapter Nine Before One hour. Just sixty minutes and then freedom from what Heero could only describe as hell. If he had ever wondered if he could fit in with his classmates this proved, beyond a doubt, that he could not. Relena's annual Halloween parties had been a night of torture for as long as Heero could remember- in fact one of his earliest memories was of his mother dropping him off at Relena's in the ladybug costume she had made him because, at the age of three, he had been obsessed with ladybugs. All of the other boys had been dressed as superheroes or monsters, the girls as princesses or fairies, and Heero had been laughed at, had been pushed around and had his snacks stolen. The Halloween parties in all the years since hadn't been much of an improvement, but after Heero's mother died he hadn't bothered to put any effort into his costumes- he had always worn whatever she made him and suffered through the insults of the other kids because her smiles were worth it. But after her death he put as little effort as possible into his costumes- two years ago he had just worn all black and when Relena had asked what he was supposed to be he had made up something on the spot, claiming he was dressed like a ninja. This year, however, things were different. Duo had dragged both Trowa and Heero to the mall a few weeks ago and insisted they get real Halloween costumes for the party. Trowa had gone with them to the mall, but refused to attend the party or get a costume for himself. That didn't stop him from commenting on every costume Duo and Heero tried on- and it hadn't saved him from Duo forcing him to try on a Robin Hood costume. In the end, Heero had reluctantly agreed to wear the Harry Potter costume that both Duo and Trowa had decided would be perfect for him. Duo had gone the more traditional route of a vampire costume - complete with false fanged teeth and a cape that he practiced swirling around in for at least twenty minutes before Trowa distracted him with the suggestion of going to the mall arcade before they caught the next bus home. It had been fun, trying on the costumes and seeing Trowa smirk and hearing Duo laugh. Heero wished that Trowa had given in and agreed to go to Relena's party with them, but he could understand why he didn't want to. If Heero could have avoided the party without Odin questioning him and calling him anti social he would have passed. As it was, he was incredibly grateful that Duo would be there suffering with him. He was even more grateful that he and Duo plans to go over to Trowa's house after making an appearance at Relena's party and spend the rest of the night watching scary movies. Heero still couldn't quite believe that Odin had agreed to it - but Helen Maxwell had cornered him at the grocery store and somehow convinced Odin that Heero spending the night at Trowa's house not only made sense but would be a good thing. Heero had been afraid to bring it up or remind Odin of the plans until the morning of Halloween. Odin had scowled, but nodded and admonished Heero to be on his best behavior and to not be late for school the next day. So now, Heero was standing in a corner in a crowded room in Relena's house scowling at anyone who even tried to talk to him. Relena had been delighted with his costume - she had dressed up as Hermione Granger, teasing her hair out to frightening disarray - and declared them a perfect couple. Duo had, thankfully, pulled Heero away from her and steered him towards a table laden with soda and candy, muttering something about Relena clearly not reading the books because Harry and Draco were the perfect couple, which made Heero arch an eyebrow at him and Duo had blushed, shrugged and shoved a plastic cup of soda into his hand. They had managed to stay on the sidelines of the party, really only talking to Quatre and Wufei when they showed up, but then a girl with shockingly purple hair, solid black clothes and bright red lipstick had walked over, grabbed Duo's hand and dragged him away, Duo laughing and smirking at Heero over his shoulder as he disappeared into the crowd. That had been almost an hour ago. Heero had been counting, checking his watch every few minutes because Duo had promised that after one hour they could leave. With only two minutes left on the hour, Heero went in search of Duo. He had no idea who the purple haired girl was - maybe she was Hilde, who Duo had mentioned last week as the pyromaniac girl he had been partnered with in Honors Chemistry - but he couldn't help but feel annoyed that Duo had vanished with her for nearly an hour and left Heero to fend off Relena on his own. He found them only after Zechs, Relena's older brother who looked even more miserable than Heero felt but had apparently been suckered into chaperoning his younger sister's party, suggested he check the back deck. It was cold enough outside that Heero wondered just why Duo would even be out there, but when he stepped out onto the deck he spotted Duo and Hilde immediately. Duo was seated in a deck chair and Hilde was on his lap, Duo's hands on her hips and his mouth latched onto hers. Heero stared for a long, incredibly uncomfortable minute before they broke contact and he could hear them both suck in deep, uneven breaths. He cleared his throat and Hilde freaked out, jumping off of Duo and almost falling on her ass before Duo caught her and helped her stand up. "Hey, Heero buddy," Duo said, standing himself and running a hand through his bangs. His lips were red and swollen and Heero wondered why he couldn't look away from Duo's mouth. He felt his own face grow red when Hilde cleared her throat. He instantly felt like an idiot and he was furious with himself. He felt like a pervert and a third wheel and he needed to leave. "I'm go to Trowa's house. It's been an hour." He paused. "I'll tell him you're busy." "What? No. I'm not busy. I mean -" Duo gave Hilde an awkward glance. "I mean we had plans and I promised we would hang out tonight so..." Hilde shrugged one shoulder. "If you want to get out of here I can go with you," she said. "No." Heero snapped. He didn't know why, but the thought of Hilde crashing their night was even worse than the thought of staying at this party any longer. Hilde looked hurt and Duo shocked. "Um..." Duo started to talk. "Are you coming or not?" Heero demanded. Duo looked between Hilde and Heero and Heero felt his stomach twist. He knew already that Duo wasn't going to come - Duo was abandoning him. Abandoning him and Trowa and really, Heero should have seen it coming. He should have seen it coming from the very first moment Duo forced him to talk to him, to like him and - "Yeah, of course I'm coming," Duo said. "Jeez man." He smirked at Hilde. "I'll call you later?" She nodded, glared at Heero, and walked back inside. Heero felt cold and miserable and stupid. "Heero -" Duo sounded apologetic and it made Heero feel even worse. "Let's just go," he said and he hoped Duo didn't realize how relieved he was that Duo had chosen him over Hilde. Now The nurse at the front desk arched an eyebrow when Heero walked in. "Twice in one week?" He asked Heero. "Odin will be thrilled to see you again." "He won't even realize this is the second time," Heero pointed out. "He might," the nurse countered while Heero signed in. "He's outside today - on the south lawn." Heero nodded and went in search of his step father. The nursing home was nice - expensive enough that Odin's pension and savings didn't quite cover the costs and Heero had to contribute money towards Odin's care - but no matter how nice it was, it didn't seem to meet with Odin's approval. Each time Heero visited him, Odin always had something to complain about - whether it be the blankets on his bed, the temperature of the bathroom, the sound of the air conditioning, the lack of salt in the food - complaints seemed to be the sole focus of Odin's attention these days. Early on, three years ago when Heero had first moved Odin to the home, he had been alarmed by Odin's complaints and considered moving him to a different facility until he had spoken with the director of the nursing home and the children of some of the other patients. The home was every bit as nice as the price tag that came with it. Odin just found issue with everything. That, at least, was something Heero was used to. He had grown used to everything else - had grown accustomed to listening to Odin tell him the same thing several times, had learned not to try to correct Odin when he assumed Heero was someone else, and he had even managed to keep his face blank when Odin spoke about Heero, about his childhood or his mother. Heero found Odin sitting on a bench overlooking the south lawn, as the staff called it. "Hey." Heero said as he sat down beside Odin. Odin looked over at him and frowned. "It's not Thursday." Heero nodded and he had to smile. Odin was lucid. That was good. "No, it's Saturday, but I needed to talk to you about something." "You and Relena are going to get married." "No," Heero sighed. Odin had been asking him about that for years - whenever he was lucid he seemed obsessed with Heero and Relena getting married. "No, we aren't. In fact, she's moving out and I'm going to sell the house." Odin stared at him. "What did you do?" Heero clenched his jaw. Odin was right to ask that - because it was Heero's fault. Heero had done everything wrong but he couldn't say that to Odin. He couldn't just come out and tell him that what he had done was realize he was still in love with two men he had known for fourteen years. That what he had done was cheat on Relena for years, made Trowa miserable for years, made himself miserable for years. "You signed the house over to me before we moved you here. But I wanted to let you know that I'm selling it. It's not... I don't want to live there by myself." "Fix things with Relena," Odin said, his voice the same commanding tone Heero had heard so often over the years. "No. I can't. And -" "This is because of that damn boy, isn't it?" "What?" "Is he bothering you again? I can get Zechs to fix it. He was supposed to take care of this." "Odin, what are you talking about?" It was clear Odin was no longer lucid, but Heero wasn't able to follow whatever memory Odin seemed to be lost in. "Go get Zechs. Zechs is going to take care of this and make sure that little faggot stays away from Heero. Smart mouthed little liar - he thinks I don't know what he is, what he's trying to do with Heero. But I know. He's going to drag Heero down with him and ruin his life if I don't fix this. Get Zechs. Zechs will make sure he stays away." "Odin - who are you talking about?" "That brat Maxwell adopted. He's been trying to ruin Heero's life since the day they met. But my son is not a faggot and I am not going to let that kid do this to him. Zechs is going to show him exactly what we think of his kind. Just get Zechs." ~ * ~ Chapter 10 |
