|
"Keep In Time"Written By: Dentelle_noir Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing AC or the
characters. They belong to Bandai, Sotsu and associated parties. This
is a work of fiction and written for fun, not profit Rating: R Warnings: AU, sap, angst, fluff Pairings: 3x4. Summary: A suspicious accident leaves Trowa without
a skating partner, sentencing him to a year without competition. Quatre
is an injured dancer, trying to find a way to live without his joy.
Together, they make new rules and find a new path. "Keep In Time" Chapter 21 The trip back to Quatre’s house after the party wasn’t too exciting, but getting Heero inside and put to bed had been exhausting. It had taken Trowa nearly twenty minutes to manoeuvre the rubber-legged Heero out of the jeep, into the house, and up the stairs because Heero kept stubbornly insisting on doing it himself. If he had just let Trowa carry him, he would have been upstairs in moments! But Heero was stubborn. Trowa had to admit, he respected that about him. He tucked Heero into the guest-room bed, making sure the garbage pail Quatre had found was near him and a cold cloth was on his head, and then he sighed. He wanted to be mad at Heero, but he couldn’t. He hadn’t done anything that Trowa wouldn’t have done if the situation had been reversed. It wasn’t Heero’s fault that Quatre was nearly hurt. But Quatre really had been nearly-hurt. If Trowa had been there, at the party, he could have driven them out of there. They would have had backup. He would have been there to help. But he hadn’t been there. Because he himself was being stubborn about the situation. If he was being honest with himself, he could admit that his hatred of Heero Yuy really stemmed from jealousy. He used to train with the intent to beat Heero Yuy, to do better than him, to show him that Dimitri was a better coach and Trowa was a better skater, despite not having the best gear, or rink, or thousand-dollar skates. He had always managed to keep his jealousy to a slow growing resentment that simmered just below the surface, and he had been able to mold that jealously into a competitive rivalry that worked to keep him sharp. But when he saw Yuy with his lover, it had been too much. He flew off the handle. He let his temper control him. And because of it, Quatre could have been hurt. And Trowa could have lost the best thing that ever happened to him. As it was, he had no idea where he stood in regards to Quatre. The uncertainty was killing him. Trowa couldn’t handle much more emotional limbo! He had to step up and break the ice if he wanted to get over it. Quatre had made it clear that he wanted Trowa, but not at the expense of his family. And Trowa respected him more for that. He moved out of the spare room and towards Quatre’s room. He knew he would be there; he nearly always was. Trowa wasn’t surprised to see him sitting on his bed. He had changed into a pair of soft PJ pants and a light cotton tank top, but his bed was still made. He was hugging a pillow to his chest, looking far away in the direction of his computer screen as it cycled through pictures of happy times, but Trowa wasn’t even sure if he was seeing the pictures at all. He looked so sad, it broke Trowa’s heart. Trowa walked into the room without knocking and took a seat at the computer chair, sitting backwards in it so he could rest his arms on the back and put his chin on it, “I tucked Heero into bed, and made sure there was a bucket for him. He looks way better now. I bet he got all the crap out of his system, and there’s nothing to worry about.” He tried to reassure him. Quatre smiled softly, sadly, “Thank you, Trowa. I know you hate him. But it really does mean a lot to me that you helped. You can go home now.” Seriously? Did Quatre think he was going to give up that easily? Not if Trowa had anything to do with it. “I’m not going anywhere. I finally have you again, for a little while at least. Stop being so stubborn. You’re just as bad as Yuy! You MUST be related,” he teased lightly, trying to elicit a little smile. It worked like a charm, and Quatre smiled softly, laughing just a little as he nodded, “Yep. My father said that I got my stubbornness from Heero, and Heero’s parents think that he got his stubbornness from me. Naturally, neither my father nor Heero’s parents are willing to change their minds on the subject. They’re both quite stubborn.” Trowa chuckled, smiling himself, relaxing a little. Quatre, too, settled a bit, putting his pillow down and facing towards Trowa, his hands idly playing with the hem of his PJ pants, “It was quite a love story, if you would believe it. My mother’s sister… She met Hikaru Yuy at a costume ball. Just like Romeo and Juliet without the tragedy, you know? Except it was good business for those two families to merge; the Yuy family is very influential in Japan, and my mother’s family has always been old money. But they really were head over heels for each other. And still are.” Quatre smiled, looked towards the other room where Heero was sleeping, and continued on, “Heero was born not long after the marriage, and he’s always been part of Winner family functions. He’s always been there for me. He was born only a few months before me, so our parents used to have play dates with us together, we got our first bicycles at the same time, we were forced to attend the same picnics and functions and fundraisers. Heero argued for me to join ballet, and I used to help him practice lifts for his skating. He was there when my mother died. I was there when he came out of the closet. He was there when I broke my toes and had to hear that I wouldn’t be able to dance again.” Quatre’s tone turned serious, and he looked straight at Trowa, “I like you, Trowa. A lot. Probably more than just ‘like’ but I’m sorry. I’m not giving up my best friends just to be with you. Or dancing just to skate with you. I love dancing. I have to be true to myself. I am a dancer. And my friends, my real friends, know that. I can’t give up dancing. Or my friends.” After a few moments, Trowa finally spoke, meaning every word, “I never should have asked you to,” He began, licking his lips and weighing his words carefully. “I was wrong. And jealous. And upset. And I never should have acted like that. I let my temper fly, and behaved like a spoiled diva. Actually, I behaved like Cathy would have. And because of it, I very nearly lost you. And I never want you to give up dance. It is who you are, and I never want you to change. You’re the best thing that’s happened to me in years, Quatre. I don’t want to lose you.” Quatre looked like he was on the brink of tears, and he began to reach for the pillow again to hold it for comfort. Instead, Trowa stood from the chair and walked over to the bed, sitting down beside Quatre, “Are we okay now, baby?” He reached out and touched Quatre’s hand. Quatre took up the offer immediately, entwining their fingers and holding Trowa’s hand tightly. But he was still upset and crying just a little, “Trowa… We’re far from okay.” Trowa felt his heart drop into his stomach, but he squeezed Quatre’s hand reassuringly. He wasn’t going anywhere. They had to work through this. He refused to leave until they did, damn it! He wasn’t going to let Quatre go without a fight. Sensing that, Quatre turned towards him, curling up against his chest and putting his head on Trowa’s shoulder, letting his tears fall there until he settled down enough to talk. Trowa just held him, slowly rocking as he hummed gently. It worked like a charm, and Quatre melted against him, taking a few short, calming breaths. “Trowa… I want to be with you. But even if we both apologize for the fight at the rink and the misunderstandings after, in the end… Heero is still my cousin. Relena is still my friend. Duo will always be my best friend. And you are still rivals with Team Lowe. Your sister poisoned him tonight, Trowa! You have nothing to do with her now, but what are you going to do when Cathy’s cast comes off? What about your skating career? Or my dancing career? We can’t just say ‘sorry’ and then all this shit will magically go away and we live happily ever after!” Trowa thought about that, quietly holding Quatre as he considered it all. He had good points. All of them. And there wasn’t some magic answer to it all. Quatre began to run his fingers through Trowa’s hair absently, almost as if he knew Trowa needed the little extra support. And he did. He needed to choose where his loyalties lay and deal with the consequences. No one could make the decision for him. The thought was a frightening one for him. Hell, when he first met Quatre he didn’t even buy his own clothes, let alone make life decisions! He had been content to just coast along and wait for Cathy or someone else to tell him what to do. But that wasn’t enough for Quatre. Quatre wasn’t going to make decisions for him. Ever since he met Quatre his world had been turned upside down. But he had learned from him. Learned about his sister, learned about friendship and love, but most of all he had learned about being true to himself. Quatre had taught him how to go after what he loved and to take shit from no one. When Trowa opened his mouth, he knew exactly what to say. “Heero is my rival, but that doesn’t make him my enemy. He cares about you about as much as I do, so I guess I’m going to learn to trust him.” Quatre smiled brightly, his eyes lighting up and he snuggled against him, kissing his neck. But Trowa wasn’t done. He had started taking control of his life and he wasn’t about to stop, “Listen. This thing with us? It means so much more than getting along with other skaters. It means that I’m done with Cathy. Done listening to her, done doing things for her, and certainly done skating with her, cast or no cast. I know who my real friends are now, and I know who is really looking out for my best interests. On Monday, I know who I’ll trust, and I know who I’ll want to eat lunch with. I know who I want to skate with. I know who I LOVE. And that’s you. You’re the only one I want to be with.” Trowa leaned back, bringing Quatre with him, laying the two of them down in the bed as he watched Quatre’s face. He was looking at him with a sort of proud affection, and he followed Trowa down to the bed easily, snuggling up beside him and pressing his lips against Trowa’s softly. Then he slid his hand up into his hair and deepened the kiss. Trowa slid closer to him, pressing their bodies together and melted into the kiss, taking control of it and using tongue, teeth, and lips to make Quatre’s breath hitch and his hands tighten in his hair. “I missed you,” Trowa whispered between kisses, slowly pushing Quatre to his back on the bed. Quatre barely knew how to react to this more dominant, aggressive Trowa, but he was loving every moment. He tangled his legs around Trowa’s and urged him on for more, panting a hungry “Missed you too,” as he yanked at Trowa’s shirt to get it off. Trowa pulled off of Quatre just long enough to take it off, tossing it somewhere on the bed as he stared at Quatre. Trowa’s eyes were wolf-like, hungry and intense, and Quatre’s cock twitched in appreciation. He panted, watching Trowa hungrily back, waiting to see what his lover would surprise him with next. “Say you’ll take me back.” Trowa demanded, pinning Quatre to the bed with his body weight and tugging Quatre’s tank top off, tossing it to the floor and then attacking his neck and chest with hot, desperate kisses. Quatre arched up into him , gasping in surprise and pleasure, his whole body on fire for Trowa’s touches, going wild for this new aggression in his lover and soaking up every moment. “Yes!” Quatre groaned, flicking his hips up against Trowa’s stomach for more. But Trowa wasn’t taking that as an answer. He yanked Quatre’s jeans open and slid his hand down, making his lover scream in pleasure. And then he stopped. He waited, just holding him, and asked again, quiet but incessant, “Say it. Say you’ll take me back. We’ll be together again.” Quatre was shaking all over, complete putty in Trowa’s hands, and he would have said anything to get him to continue. He couldn’t have disagreed even if he wanted. But he didn’t want to disagree. “God Trowa, you know I want to be with you! You’re still my boyfriend as far as I’m concerned, and I’m head over heels for you. FUCK, do that again!” he growled in frustration, thrusting upwards into Trowa’s hands for more, finally getting the friction he desired. Trowa grinned, and leant forward to steal hungry kisses from his neck, all the way up to his lips, and captured his mouth in a hungry, passionate kiss as he stroked him hard and fast, knowing how Quatre liked to be touched and using everything he knew to make him go wild under him. With all of the attention, it was no surprised that Quatre could barely do anything but hold onto Trowa’s shoulders and ride out the pleasure, writhing beneath him and moaning louder and lustier with each stroke. He could barely hold out, though, and Trowa was making him go wild! He came far too soon with a shattering scream, coating Trowa’s hand and his stomach with his essence as he rode out his climax, chanting Trowa’s name like a mantra, clinging to his lover as the aftershocks of pleasure tingled through him like a live wire. “Wow.” Quatre gasped, finding his voice again, panting into Trowa’s neck as they relaxed on the bed, “If I knew I’d get that sort of treatment every time I agreed to date you, I’d break up with you way more often.” “Oh YEAH?!” Trowa grinned, taking up the challenge. He laughed as he nipped at Quatre’s neck, biting teasingly, and then he began to suck, working to make a nice big hickey in retaliation. Quatre squirmed out of his grip, smacking his arm in protest before rubbing the sting out. “You better not have left a mark that Iria can see, Trowa, or I swear to GOD I’m going to murder you!” He didn’t look frightened; actually, Trowa looked pretty damn proud of himself and snuggled closer to Quatre, kissing him properly to silence his protests. He ran his fingers through Quatre’s hair, watching him affectionately, “I meant it, Quatre. What I said earlier… I know who I love, and that’s you. I love you, Quatre.” Quatre inhaled sharply, blinking back tears as he looked into Trowa’s eyes. Slowly, though, he began to smile. Soft and hesitant at first, the smile slowly grew larger and larger until he was beaming in happiness. Then he launched himself at Trowa, hugging him tightly and peppering his face with kisses, nearly crushing him with his hug. “I love you too, Trowa. I love you too.” Trowa hugged him back, a grin on his own face as he kissed Quatre back just as feverishly, then he slowly relaxed into a soft, passionate kiss, breaking off just to gaze into his eyes and snuggle on the bed with him, smiling like a loon. Quatre moved to snuggle closer, wanting to be as close to Trowa as he could. That’s when he felt a poke in his hip. Looking down, he was surprised to see Trowa’s cock still jutting out, hard as a rock and weeping from neglect. Trowa blushed hotly, looking down too, “Um... sorry…” Laughing merrily, Quatre pushed forward and captured Trowa’s lips, and then wrapped his hand around his cock and worked to get him off for the first time that night- The first of many. After so long apart, they could barely get enough of each other, and fooled around until both of them were too exhausted to move. They didn’t even hear Heero getting up to puke, or Iria coming home from working nights, or even Heero waking up and walking in to check on them. They were dead to the world, sound asleep and curled around each other so tightly that nothing could get between them. Ever.
Trowa woke first, but Quatre wasn’t far behind, stretching out beside his boyfriend and then looking up at him with bright, shining eyes, “Hey handsome.” “Hey yourself,” Trowa purred as he stretched his neck, and snuggled closer to his lover, kissing his neck, his ears, and down his collarbone as his hands began to slide against his flesh under the blankets, sliding inwards towards his cock. Only then did Quatre notice that his bedroom door was wide open. Why would he do that? “HEERO!” Suddenly Quatre remembered that he had wanted to be able to listen for sounds of distress. And he didn’t even know if Heero had woken yet! Quatre had fallen asleep after he and Trowa fooled around, and he hadn’t woken at all to check on him in hours. Quatre jumped up out of bed and ran towards the guest bedroom, his half-on PJ pants slipping from his hips as he moved. But the guest room was empty now, the bed was made, and Iria’s bedroom door was closed. She must have come home without Quatre waking. Quatre went off to check on the state of the bathroom, worried for the mess, and left his yawning boyfriend to his own devices. Trowa walked out of the room at a much more sedate pace, catching a kiss at the back of Quatre’s neck as he padded by, moving downstairs and fixing his jeans. His shirt, though, was long lost amongst Quatre’s bedding and he wasn’t quite awake enough to go and look for it. He made his way to the kitchen and automatically began to look for cereal. It was just after 7am, and the night had been very, very long. It was no surprise that he wasn’t quite awake yet. Usually a shower helped him wake up, but Quatre had been in there, and he didn’t really have anything to change into if he did have a shower. And what was the point of showering if he was going to put dirty clothes back on anyway? After stumbling around a little, he found a box of Corn Flakes. Success! His next mission was to find the milk. He opened the fridge... But it wasn’t there… Where was the milk? It was way too early to be problem solving! A grunt alerted him to another presence in the kitchen, and there sat Heero Yuy at the kitchen island with a bowl of Mini-Wheats cereal in front of him, and the milk beside him. He was dressed- or rather, undressed- similarly to Trowa, wearing his jeans and no shirt, hair mussed and eyes sleepily glazed from a late night and early morning. There was a time, not too long ago, that finding Heero Yuy at the breakfast table would have been the stuff of Trowa’s nightmares, but now? He just padded over to the table with the box of cereal and a bowl. He nicked a spoon on his way and straddled one of the bar-style stools in the kitchen and began to shake the flakes into the bowl. Heero pushed the milk towards him, and Trowa accepted it easily, pouring it over his cereal and digging in happily. “You and Quatre made up, then?” Heero asked first, still eating his own bowl of cereal. “I heard moans all night.” “Yep,” Trowa responded slowly, munching, smiling a little thinking about it. Heero lifted a brow, then grunted, accepting the fact that Trowa was fooling around with his best friend. If the sounds coming from the bedroom hadn’t been enough, the love bites and marks dotting Trowa’s bare chest would have given it away anyway. But he accepted it. He had to. Quatre had been so sad when Trowa wasn’t around. “You done being pissed at me?” Heero asked. After a few moments of quiet, Trowa looked at Heero, “You care about Quatre, just like I do. We need to get along, or he’ll be mad. Plus, I know your team had nothing to do with Cathy’s injury. I don’t really have any valid reason to hate you anymore.” A few moments passed as Heero processed that, and then nodded, “Nope. It was just an accident.” Heero replied. Trowa shrugged, but didn’t correct him. He stirred his flakes and took a bite, “Quatre was worried about you last night. You were pretty wrecked.” “Thanks for helping. Quatre couldn’t have done it on his own. He’s not strong enough to haul my ass around,” Heero said quietly and slowly fished for the last mini-wheat in the sea of milk. He looked like he was steering a toy boat, or just avoiding the topic by dunking the mini shredded wheat into the milk and watching it pop back up. After a few moments of distraction, Heero looked up and locked eyes with Trowa, “You’re… a good guy, Trowa.” Trowa was surprised, and he looked up at Heero over the breakfast table. He didn’t really deserve that praise, “I haven’t been acting like it lately. I was a brat at the party. I shouldn’t have made him choose.” “We sorta did the same thing to him, though, in not so many words. Relena, Duo and I…We were instantly hostile to you, and we weren’t willing to let our guards down, either. He was really pissed at us about it too, but we came to a bit of a standstill on it. I never did apologize. I didn’t like that he was with you. You’re my rival, you know?” Heero admitted, “But he missed you a lot. I sorta… had to get over it. I love my cousin. You being gone made him sad. So I sucked it up, got over it, and hoped for the best. But you aren’t as bad a guy as I thought you were. I never thought that you would show up to help me.” Trowa stirred his flakes again, feeling a little embarrassed at the attention, not really knowing what to say. So he went for the truth, “I would have helped anyone in that situation. If I knew them or not. Even you. Even if you hadn’t been with Quatre, I’d have helped you out. I couldn’t let someone go through that.” Heero smiled softly and finally ate the last of his breakfast, “I see that now. You’re different than I thought you were. I’ve never been happier to be proven wrong about someone.” “Honestly? I’m glad that I could help. I don’t want to even consider what Jeff and his idiot friends were up to. Cathy’s changed since her injury… It’s like I don’t even know her. Or I never really knew her before. She’s cruel now. I wouldn’t have left anyone at her mercy. And really, it worked out for me, because Quatre and I had a chance to talk, and now I have him back again.” Heero nodded slowly, looking Trowa up and down, “Yeah... You two are back together… but he’s not going to stop being my friend. We’ve been friends since childhood.” “Since footie pajamas.” A clear, soft voice entered the conversation. Quatre walked into the kitchen, watching the two skaters. A day ago, he thought that they hated each other, and now they seemed to be bonding. The whole scene reminded him of Duo and Heero’s first meeting. They had hated each other at first too, and then Quatre had to lock them together in the basement for them to work it out. Apparently for Trowa and Heero to work it out, mortal peril had to be involved. Whatever; At least it worked. “Where’s my cereal?” Trowa and Heero both lifted the boxes in front of them and Quatre wandered over to the table with his bowl and spoon in hand. He chose Heero’s Mini-Wheats, and then sat on Trowa’s side of the kitchen island. He poured the milk and began to play footsies with Trowa under the table. Heero smiled, watching the way Trowa practically glowed when Quatre was around. His eyes followed Quatre’s every move, and he smiled goofily when Quatre touched him under the table. The skater was like a love-sick puppy when Quatre was around! It would have been pathetic to watch if Heero hadn’t been happy to see Quatre being treated like a prince. Trowa was head over heels for him. How could Heero stay mad at the guy who loved his cousin so much? He needed to try and patch this Lowe/Barton rift up, for Quatre’s sake. “So, Trowa, what music are you going to skate to for the Gala?” Surprised, Trowa brought his attention away from Quatre’s feet and looked at Heero with a hint of confusion and a healthy dose of suspicion. Heero lifted a brow and tried to clarify, “…The Gala performance? It’s a tradition from our school. We put one on every year and all the skaters perform. Last year we were able to put a moving dance floor on the ice so we had dancers perform too. It was really popular, and we’re doing it again. It’s not a competition, meaning we allow words to the music and some of the more risky moves to be performed. There’s no one there to play skate-cop or anything. It’s just for fun. So, what music are you going to skate to?” “It’s invitational,” Trowa replied tightly. That was the nicest way he could think of to say ‘I’ve never been invited.’ He knew all about the Gala. It was an annual fundraiser for the private school’s athletic departments and he knew it was being held in another month at the Lowe Rink. The thought of participating had never even crossed his mind, and quite frankly, a few days ago the thought of participating would have turned his stomach in jealousy. It was well known to be a Lowe Rink event, after all. Heero thought, “Well… it’s always been open to all students of the private school, but, since it’s all one school now, you qualify. You should skate. It’s just a gala. Not a competition. No one’s going to score you or anything.” Trowa through about that for a moment… and he turned to look at Quatre. Quatre blinked, looking left, then right comically, “What? Is there something in my teeth? Why are you looking at me like that?” he asked warily. “Skate with me.” Trowa asked, watching Quatre intently, “We’re good together. Skate with me at the Gala. No one can stop us, because Gala’s don’t go by national figure skating rules.” Surprised, Quatre looked to Heero, then to Trowa, and then to Heero again, “Would we be allowed?” Heero looked little surprised to be put on the spot, but as he thought about it, he began to smile, “I’ll have to clear it with Relena, but I think that’d be great. I think you’d be good together.” Trowa grinned a little as he looked at Heero over the breakfast table, a little thrill of friendly competition tingling up his spine again. Him and Quatre against Heero Yuy and Relena, eh? Sounded like fun. “Oh. We are good. We’re very good together.” Trowa purred, smirking. "Scared, Yuy?"
|
