"Three for Joy"

Written By: Waterliliylf

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing. All rights remain with Bandai, Sotsu and associated parties. No profit being made here.

Rating: R

Warnings: Romance, angst, sap, friendship

Pairings: 5x4 and (possible) 1x2. Copious references to past 3x4.

Summary: As far as Wufei is concerned, he and Quatre are a perfect example oftwo's company, so when Trowa moves back to Sanq will three be a crowd, or justpossibly, a joy to embrace?

Author's Note: Writing this story truly has been a joint effort. The original idea came from Standingontherooftops (as compensation for having broken her brain in a previous story) and she also suggested the personalities and pairings and gave huge amounts of positive feedback as it progressed. Kaeru Shisho gave me most of the plot, as well as many, many suggestions, edited many, many times, and then persuaded me it wasn't long enough so the whole process had to start again. All of this wonderful support meant that I was free to get on with the really fun business of actually writing and had massive amounts of fun.

Dedication: This story is affectionately dedicated to both the ladies mentioned above, without whom it would have been finished in half the time.

"Three for Joy"

Chapter 14:

It was achingly awkward, having a third body in bed with them. He'd forgotten how it had been like that with Quat, at the start, when they'd finally, tentatively crossed the line from friends to lovers; when they still weren't sure what was permissible between them.

They were all very polite during breakfast, Quatre brightly thanking Trowa several times and then complimenting his cooking, and Trowa praising how well appointed their kitchen was, and Wufei asking for more honey to spread on his toast, please.

That was it, a few stilted words flung into the awful, awkward silence, over the clanking of spoons and the crunching of toast.

This was never going to work.

Never.

It was insane. They hadn't talked about how any of it might work; about whether or not Trowa was going to move in permanently, or if this meant he'd be spending most of his time in Sanque now.

They hadn't talked about anything. Would Trowa want his own bedroom, or would he expect to share theirs? Would he want them to find a different house; one the three of them had chosen? Wufei hoped not; he and Quatre had spent years creating a home where they both felt comfortable. Trowa seemed to like it too, so maybe he would be happy to stay there.

He didn't know how the … physical part of it would work, either. Would they take turns sleeping with Quatre, on the basis of some sort of rota? No, Trowa had implied – more than implied, really – very much otherwise. If Wufei were to be totally honest, he wanted that too, wanted that intimacy with Trowa as well . Would it be all three of them together then? He didn't even know if that sort of thing would be possible. Was that what Quat would want?

How could they do anything like that when sharing a simple breakfast made them all act like strangers?

''Fei?' Quat asked softly, and Wufei snapped back to the present. Trowa had tidied the breakfast things away, while he'd been lost in his own thoughts, and the tray was on the floor, carefully out of the way.

Trowa himself was sitting on the opposite side of the bed, as far away from them as he could get.

'Right.' Quatre said briskly. 'This won't do at all. Now, we could have a long conversation about our feelings, in the hope of making this slightly less awkward, or you two could just kiss each other. That might work.'

Trowa looked perfectly miserable, curled against the headboard, like he didn't belong, didn't have any hope of belonging. 'Quat,' he said finally, quietly. 'Maybe we should just…talk about this a bit.'

Quatre sat up straight, looking as close to commanding as it was possible for a small, naked blond with tousled hair. 'Oh, you two are driving me insane! This is ridiculous! Just kiss him or I swear I'm going straight back to work!'

Trowa quirked one eyebrow at Wufei, who suddenly found a faint grin stretching himself.

Quat was right, he thought suddenly; they were being absurd. They'd all been – intimate with each other, to some extent.

'I know you've been out of the loop a bit the past few years, Trowa, but it's really better just to go along with him, when he gets like this. Unless you don't want to kiss me?'

He held out one hand, and Trowa scrambled across the bed to join him. It was possibly the most prim and proper kiss in the entire universe; just the faintest touch of Trowa's lips. It wasn't at all unpleasant, that light, warm pressure. Not unpleasant at all. He and Quatre had kissed like that, once. It was lovely, having Trowa's mouth move gently on his.

He let his eyes drift closed, feeling Trowa's hand settle at his hip. Oh, he could do this. He'd never thought it would be like this, not with Trowa, not this gentle to-and-fro. Nothing like when they'd been fifteen; nothing like the frantic kiss they'd shared a few days ago.

Experimentally, he flicked his tongue out, sliding it over Trowa's bottom lip, and then nipped lightly.

Trowa made an answering sound, somewhere deep in his chest, and Wufei abruptly found himself flat on the mattress. The kisses stopped being gentle somewhere around then. He had Trowa on top of him, pinning him down, and Trowa's tongue ravishing his mouth.

When Trowa finally lifted his mouth, the two of them were tangled together and Quatre, was watching them, flushed and very unmistakably aroused.

'Enjoy the show, angel?' Trowa asked, quizzically.

'It was very…entertaining, yes.'

'Not feeling too left out?'

Quatre shook his head. 'No. You two, you're beautiful together. I wish you could see yourselves.'

'Mirrored ceilings, that's what you want,' Trowa said promptly.

'Horribly tacky,' Quat objected.

'Fun, though. For you, 'specially. When did you develop that voyeuristic streak?'

'I do not have a – anything like that! I just like looking at you two.'

'I think that's what he said,' Wufei chipped in helpfully, privately acknowledging that he shared that particular trait. It would be incredible, watching the other two.

'Stop ganging up on me! It's not fair; two against one.' Quatre stuck his nose in the air. 'I know you both love me. Even when you neglect me shamefully.'

Trowa grinned and reached out, pulling Quatre to lie beside them. 'Come here, you.'

And then it was the three of them, together.

He knew how Quatre fit into his embrace, the way he loved to burrow into the crook of Wufei's arm, resting his head on Wufei's chest. This time, there was Trowa as well. He had Tro's long legs tangled with his, and one of Trowa's arms flung around them both. It was nice, seeing that dark head so close to Quat's. It felt right, not awkward at all, the silence more companionable than uncomfortable.

'How is this going to work?' he asked suddenly, because he was only one who seemed to be thinking any of it through.

Quatre just kissed his shoulder. 'Fei, it's all right. Let's not do this now. It will all sort itself out. I thought we agreed we weren't going to over-think all of us. Can't we just be happy that we have each other without worrying over all the silly little details?'

'Hush, little one,' Trowa said unexpectedly. 'He's quite right. There are things we need to talk about.' He gave Quat a gentle kiss on the forehead and lifted his head to look at Wufei. 'What exactly do you want to know, love?'

Love.

That again.

Gods, Trowa probably thought they'd spend the rest of their lives having sex, in every combination possible and Quat was acting like everything was suddenly, magically perfect.

He was scared, Wufei realised suddenly. Quat was scattering kisses over his skin, but refusing to look at him. Scared that this precious little fantasy was just an illusion, and wouldn't stand up to any sort of questions, to reality.

Wufei gritted his teeth. 'All of it. I don't know. Logistics. Are you going to live here with us? Does that mean you won't travel any more? What about your job? And the – the physical part. I don't know how any of it is going to work out.'

'OK.' Trowa propped himself up one elbow. 'I would love to live with you guys. Or I can find my own place and just stay over a lot. Maybe that to start with? Work-wise, I'm going to be in Sanque a fair bit. Yeah, I'll still have to do some travel. I've got good staff on L3 but I'll still want to check on stuff every so often. You can come with me, or not, if you're free. Maybe try to co-ordinate with Quat's business trips. That's if you want; it's probably not such a bad thing to spend a bit of time apart now and then. You guys won't want me around all the time. Don't want to get sick of each other. How does that sound?'

'All right, I think,' Wufei said cautiously. It was something of a relief that he and Quatre would still have time to themselves, just the two of them. Of course, the corollary would be that Quatre and Trowa would be together, sometimes, but that was bearable. Unlike Quat, he liked being alone, on occasion. It meant he'd have time to focus on assignments, and meditation, without needing to worry about Quat missing him.

And sometimes, it would be just him and Trowa.

That would be – interesting.

'I get it, you know,' Trowa said quietly, watching him. 'You two…I in no way want to mess you up. You've been together for years. Of course, there'll be times when you just want to spend time together. I'll probably be on L3 at least one week out of every month. Plus, I want to look at expanding into the rest of Europe in a couple of years. I promise, I won't be under your feet all the time.' He gave them a wicked little grin. 'Unless that's where you actually want me, of course.'

'We do want you here,' Quatre said quickly. 'Don't we, 'Fei? It's ridiculous, you talking about moving out.'

'Quat.' Wufei tilted the blond's chin. 'Stop for a sec, OK? Trowa's right. This is probably not going to be easy at the start. We'll all have to adjust a little. It's better if we have some time apart, every so often. We don't need to live in each other's pockets. If Trowa wants to have his own place, even for a while, then that's fine.'

'But I want him to stay here with the two us!' He pouted up at Wufei, huge blue eyes pleading. 'It doesn't make any sense, him finding an apartment, when he's going to be here most of the time anyway.'

'Well, maybe it's not what he wants,' Wufei countered. 'Maybe he'll want to get away from a certain pushy blond sometimes, and have a bit of his own space.'

'I am not pushy,' Quatre gasped, affronted, and they both burst out laughing at him.

'Oh, sweetheart, you invented pushy,' Trowa told him. 'Now, stop it. I know I can stay here whenever I like. Let's leave it at that for now.'

Quatre glared at him. 'Am I allowed to have any say whatsoever in all of this?'

Wufei tipped his chin up and kissed him. 'No, actually. You can do what you're told for a change.'

Quatre pulled away from him, sitting up. 'Huh. I'm not sure if I like having the pair of you bossing me around.'

'You used to like being bossed around in bed sometimes,' Trowa teased, and grinned as Quatre's pale skin flushed crimson. 'Has that changed? God, you're sexy when you blush like that.'

'He's always sexy,' Wufei put in, drawing Quat down beside him. It was unexpectedly fun, this teasing.

'Yeah.' Trowa looked at him over Quatre's head. 'Anything else you wanted to talk about, 'Fei?'

'Do we tell people? I mean, Heero and Duo know, but do we tell anyone else?'

'I might tell Cathy sometime. She'll figure it out soon enough by herself even if I don't.'

They both looked at Quatre.

'I don't know about my sisters.' He had his head firmly tucked against Trowa's chest. 'I – do you think I should? I'm not sure how they'd react. Some of them aren't really all that keen about me being gay, even,' he finished forlornly.

'Hey,' Trowa said quietly, running one hand over Quat's hair. 'You don't have to do anything you don't want, OK? Maybe just let things happen and see if they work it out for themselves. It's nobody's business but ours, anyway.'

'I suppose. But…' He lifted his head, looking at both of them. 'I don't want you to think I'm ashamed or anything. It's just…'

'We know,' Wufei reassured him. 'It's difficult. And it's different for us. Tro's right. It's nobody else's business.'

Not in an ideal world, anyway. In the real world, their world, Quatre was a highly visible figure, the head of one of the largest global corporations. He was news, and at some point people would find out.

Even when he and Quat had just been friends, there had been plenty of media speculation. It was inevitable that some journalist would notice that Quatre's ex seemed to be around all the time and draw conclusions. No point dwelling on it; Quatre didn't seem too bothered anyway, and they'd deal with it when it happened.

He swallowed. 'I did wonder about the …physical?' he managed.

'Oh, babe, that's the fun stuff.' Trowa's smile was blinding and then he looked at Wufei's face. 'OK. Something we need to talk about then. I don't know how you two want to work this. If you want to take it slowly at the start, that's fine. But, someday, I'd like us all to be together. You know?'

Wufei shook his head. 'I don't, actually. What's going to happen? I – I have no idea how any of this works. Three people. Not just the sexual part, but all of it. The whole relationship. How much time we spend with each other. Everything.'

'I think you're maybe letting yourself get hung up on this, just a little bit,' Trowa said gently. 'We're all adults, right? I'm not going to be offended if you and Quat want to go off by yourselves every now and then, or if you end up spending more time with him than me sometimes. We all have pretty demanding jobs anyway; Quat and I both have to travel, and you have your university course. We're not always going to be here, the three of us. We're all grown up, 'Fei. We like different things.' He grinned suddenly. 'It's not like we actually need to have a spreadsheet to keep time of how much time we spend together. I think maybe a few ground-rules, though.' He tugged at a lock of Quat's hair. 'One of which is that certain blond people with workaholic tendencies are restricted to how many hours they actually spend working. I know you guys talked about it last night, and I totally agree with what Wufei said.'

'I did promise to try,' Quatre offered. 'But I am the CEO and…'

'And you have an amazing team of employees, most of whom you hired personally, and you are going to stop micro-managing everything,' Trowa said promptly. 'I know what you're like, sweetheart. You'll be sneaking off to the office every chance you get if we let you. Still, there are two of us, and between us, we should be able to keep you in line. If nothing else, we can give you some pretty damn good incentives to spend more time at home. Right, 'Fei?'

'Quite right.'

'So that's sorted.' Trowa looked over at Wufei. 'And you, Mr. Chang, are going to stop doubting that we both desperately want to be with you. Right?'

'Right,' Wufei said obediently. It was easy enough to say, with Quat nestled against him, mouthing kisses over bared skin, and Trowa looking at him like…like that.

'Good,' Trowa approved. 'Now, the sex thing. I'm pretty flexible, in every sense of the word. Whatever you guys want, I'm probably up for it. Once it's not actual pain, and I don't think you're into that either.'

Wufei's blush was almost painful. 'I think … I am open to most things.'

The blush only intensified as Trowa raised one eyebrow and flicked him a wolfish little smile, but he kept on.

'Certainly not pain or anything like that. But… yes. Anyway. Quat definitely needs to stop working so hard. Trowa, I don't know. I will try, very hard, not to …to doubt you. But this is all very new, very strange.'

'I know it is, 'Fei. For me too. All of us, I guess. But I want to be here, with both of you. And I did tell you just what I'd do to you if you spouted any more crap about us only keeping you around out of charity.'

Quatre looked up at him suddenly, stricken. 'You really thought that?'

'I don't know.' Wufei winced at the hurt in those blue eyes. 'I was upset and Trowa and I were arguing, and…'

He suddenly had Quatre wreathed around him. 'If you still feel like that, if you feel anything like that, we can't do this. We can't.'

'It's all right,' Wufei said a little unsteadily. 'Really. That's not how I feel any more. I want this as well. It was all just a bit of a shock, that's all.'

'Clueless, the pair of you,' Trowa muttered. 'God, I wonder sometimes how you ever actually managed to get together. Or did Duo just lock the pair of you in a cupboard and throw away the key?'

Quatre's chin went up. 'For your information, we had a perfectly lovely courtship. And it's time I got to say what I want, surely.'

'Here we go.' Trowa grinned at Wufei. 'Hope you don't have anything planned for the next two weeks.'

'I don't want those sorts of snide remarks, for a start,' Quatre snapped. 'Right. I want Wufei to stop working so hard as well. It's wonderful that you've left Preventers, but that doesn't mean you get to spend all your time at the university. What you said last night, about travelling with me sometimes, I would like that very much. And, like Trowa said, I don't want you feeling left out, ever. I love you. I never, never want you to worry about how much. I mean that.'

'I know,' Wufei said quietly. Impossible to doubt it with those glowing blue eyes gazing into his, into his soul. Whatever happened, he and Quatre had this bedrock of love and trust and commitment. They'd be all right. And nothing so far seemed unacceptable. He enjoyed having Trowa around; he wasn't ready to leap into some sort of three-way orgy, but they could take things slowly and this- this lying together and talking – wasn't at all unpleasant.

He could do this.

'Right.' Quatre smiled at him. 'Well, good. Trowa,…'

'I know.' Trowa shifted closer, taking Quat into his arms. 'I screwed up the last time. Seriously. I hurt you.'

'I would rather you didn't do that again. And it wasn't just you. I could have gone after you; we could have tried to work something out.'

Wufei just held his breath, watching them, wondering if they'd ever talked about this before, feeling like he shouldn't be sharing this very private moment.

Trowa had Quatre wrapped in his arms, murmuring something in his ear, too low for Wufei to hear. There was one sharp, sour prickle of jealousy; was this how it was going to feel whenever he saw them together?

Excluded?

It was how he'd felt during the war; when those two were together, they were utterly oblivious to anyone else.

There probably would be times, he acknowledged, trying to be realistic. They'd had that time together during the war; a time he hadn't been a part of. But he'd had Quatre to himself for years, and there would be times when Trowa felt exactly the same. Harder for him, almost, being the interloper in an established relationship, regardless of his past history with Quatre, with Wufei himself.

It was just something they'd have to get used to.

Oh, Gods. This wasn't going to be easy, not in any way. Quatre might be trying to pretend everything was fine, the way he did, and Trowa was just impossible, and no, it wasn't going to be at all easy.

Maybe it would be worth it though.

What was it Duo had said? About how fortunate he was to have found not one, but two, people who loved him? He would focus on that, not on doubts and uncertainties.

He loved them both too. They could be happy together, the three of them.

'Fei?' Quatre was looking at him, all concern. 'What is it?'

Wufei gave him a reassuring smile, moving closer. 'Nothing. You two are very beautiful together.'

Trowa grinned. 'Like I said, we need a mirror on this ceiling. That would be seriously hot.'

'No, thank you,' Quatre said primly.

'You never used to be that much of a prude,' Trowa teased. 'So, since we were on the subject of the whole sex thing, any little fantasies you want to share?'

'A couple, yes,' Quatre said, matter of fact, and grinned at their faces. 'Well, someone has to be in charge of the logistics.'

Trowa groaned deeply. 'You've got all kinds of diagrams, haven't you? Probably bar charts and graphs and God knows what. What else?'

'I've may have done a small amount of research,' Quatre admitted, snuggling against Trowa and pulling Wufei to join them. 'This is one of my fantasies; all of us together like this. Both of you holding me. I've wanted this so much.'

'And obviously we live to give you whatever your little heart desires,' Trowa said, serious in spite of the joking words.

'So you should.' Quatre gave him a quick kiss, and turned in his arms to face Wufei. 'All right, my love?'

'Very much so.' He meant it. Here they were, the three of them curled together, and it felt amazingly good. It always did, with Quat, of course, but he could very easily get used to having Trowa there too.

To having one of Trowa's legs pressed against his, and to seeing that gentle little smile whenever he liked. He could very easily get used to kissing Trowa whenever he liked…

He had Quat curled against him, blond head resting on the crook of his shoulder. It was easy to lean slightly towards Trowa, and Trowa met him half way. He reached up, brushing that long swathe of hair back off Tro's face, something he'd always wanted to do; something he could do now, whenever he wanted.

Trowa's expression, for once, was free of the habitual challenge or light mockery or that infuriating lack of expression masking whatever he really felt. Just that gentle little smile on his lips and a shadow of uncertainty in his green eyes.

'It's all right,' Wufei said gently, not quite sure which of them he was reassuring. The kiss was a little hesitant at the start, a soft touch of flesh on flesh. He was very conscious of Quat curled against his chest, one hand holding his. Then he let his tongue slide out to touch Trowa's mouth and his lips parted.

They'd kissed during the war; two desperate teenage boys who'd found themselves alive after a day of death and destruction. There had been desire and passion, but nothing much else.

There'd been those few kisses in the past week, each to some extent a battle, both of them too conflicted for it to be anything else.

This, though…Trowa had his head cradled in amazingly gentle hands, and there was such kindness and affection and caring that it stole his breath. That was what he'd wanted, always, watching Trowa with Quatre. That regard, so based on love.

It would be all right. It would.

'Well,' Quatre said, voice slightly muffled. 'I think now I'm feeling a little left out. Have you entirely forgotten my existence, both of you?'

Wufei felt Trowa's lips, under his, curve into a smile. He pulled back a little and saw the mischief dancing in those dark green eyes.

'Oh, dear. We can't have that, can we?'

'We wouldn't want him getting an inferiority complex, no,' Trowa agreed, an unholy little smile on his lips. 'I think we should take very definite steps to prevent that happening, don't you?'

Quatre managed to give one small squeak, before Trowa pounced on him. He didn't get to say anything for quite a while after that. None of them did. Kisses were far more effective than words, sometimes.

~ * ~

 

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