"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 Four:

For someone with no more than the usual complement of limbs, Quatre Winner could do a very good impression of an octopus latching onto something. He didn't do it very often, just when he was feeling a little insecure about something.

Wufei tended to forget, sometimes, that his partner had abandonment issues of his own.

He didn't think Quatre was asleep; his breathing was too perfectly regular.

'All right, baby?'

'Mmm.' Quatre didn't open his eyes, just tucked his head more deeply into Wufei's shoulder.

'Good.' Wufei kissed the top of his head, lips pressing against the soft, fair hair, wondering how it was humanly possible to feel this amount of love. Wondering what he, Chang Wufei, had done to deserve it.

He couldn't see his watch; Quatre had their arms too entangled, but it was bright enough. Probably around eight or nine. The sort of lazy Sunday morning that they didn't get to have very often.

Of course, they'd both been awake earlier, just as the sky was starting to change colour. They'd made love; slow and sweetly drawn out and perfect, and shared a leisurely shower, and then Quatre had mentioned something about checking his emails and had to be hauled back to bed.

They hadn't made love that second time, Wufei thought with just a twinge of guilt. They'd very definitely fucked, and it had been glorious.

Afterwards, Quatre hadn't complained about wet spots, or general messiness. He'd just wreathed himself around Wufei and clung to him.

Well, to be totally honest, he wasn't feeling all that much guilt. Quatre had definitely enjoyed it, after the first squeaks of surprise. He'd been wonderfully pliant, in fact, letting Wufei take charge.

Totally glorious, it had been, Wufei thought, body stirring a little at the memory and at the feel of Quatre pressed against him. Then his stomach rumbled, reminding him of other appetites that needed to be filled. Breakfast first, and then, if Quatre was still in this mood, they'd go for the hat trick.

A lazy Sunday morning that wasn't turning out to be all that lazy.

'Quat?' he murmured. 'Breakfast?'

'Oh, please.'

'You'll have to let go of me if you want food, you know.'

'I know.' Quatre didn't move though, except for his mouth curving into a little smile.

'Scrambled eggs?' Wufei tempted. 'Toast? Coffee?'

'Ooh,' the blond moaned longingly at the prospect of caffeine. 'Coffee. Yes.'

'Coffee it is.' Wufei bent his head, delivered a thorough kiss, which distracted his amorous blond octopus for long enough to escape the amorous blond tentacles.

Quatre, sprawled back on the pillows, managed a very impressive pout for someone who'd been half asleep a few seconds before. 'You're mean. I was comfortable like that.'

'I'll be back in two minutes,' Wufei promised. 'Bearing coffee. What would you like? That Jamaican roast?'

'Yes, please.' Quatre snuggled into a pillow. 'And food?'

'Absolutely.'

'You're happy,' Quatre said quietly.

'Absolutely,' Wufei said again, meaning it, turning to search for clothes and catching sight of himself in the mirror. He certainly looked happy; he would have been embarrassed for anyone but Quatre to see the huge, soppy smile. But Quatre had never been able to read his emotions; a fact that the little blond found variously frustrating or intriguing or hugely comfortable.

It was good that he could just look at Wufei, this morning, and see the depths of happiness he was feeling.

'You could just go downstairs like that,' Quatre commented, propping himself up on one elbow and watching him.

'And cook naked?' He made a face. 'I don't think so.'

The blond laughed. 'Well, not if you're frying obviously. Although you could wear just an apron.'

'I will if you will,' Wufei challenged, knowing he was perfectly safe. They came from similarly conservative backgrounds where nudity had been a major taboo. It had taken a couple of months before they'd been comfortable enough to leave the light on, to see each other naked.

He'd sometimes wondered if Quatre had been like that with Trowa.

All that modesty was a bit silly, really, he supposed, pulling on a t-shirt and tracksuit bottoms. There was no one else in the house, and Quatre had certainly seen him naked enough times. He bent to give Quatre a quick kiss, which turned into a much more comprehensive kiss when Quat wound both arms around his neck and tried to pull him back into bed.

'You can have coffee or you can have me,' Wufei murmured, not resisting very much.

'But I want you and coffee,' Quatre protested. 'Tell me again, why did we decide not to have a live-in housekeeper?'

Wufei thought about it. 'So we can have the privacy to walk around the house naked if we like.'

'Have you ever wanted to do anything like that?'

'Not particularly.'

Quatre's chances of actually getting coffee were dwindling by the second, the way he was nibbling along Wufei's collar bone.

'Last chance, Quat. Me or breakfast?'

'You. Obviously. Oh!' He flushed as his stomach rumbled.

Wufei sighed dramatically. 'I see. I always knew you only stayed with me because I feed you.'

'Well, that and a few other things,' the little blond smiled winningly at him. 'The sooner you go, the sooner you can get back.'

'Still the strategic genius,' Wufei grinned at him. 'You know, I can't actually go anywhere with you hanging off me like that.'

Laughing, Quatre leaned in to give him a sloppy, enthusiastic kiss and then flopped back on his pillow.

Wufei walked out the door half-regretting they'd didn't have staff at the weekend, unless they were entertaining or had people staying. At times like this, it would have been nice just to ring a bell and have a tray delivered to their room.

The thought didn't last long though, not once he walked into the kitchen. He liked cooking; a discovery that had come as something of a surprise. It had been considered woman's work on L5. During the war, though, he'd had to fend for himself and found he'd enjoyed it, and afterwards, when he'd had his own apartment, he'd enjoyed experimenting with new recipes and the dazzling array of ingredients available on Earth.

And their kitchen was superb. Most of the house – a falling-down 18th century townhouse when they'd bought it– had been carefully renovated to keep the period character before they moved in, two years previously. It had taken them almost three months to find a house they both loved, wanting their first home to be perfect. They'd been a couple for two years at that point; the first year mostly long distance with Wufei still working as a field agent and Quat shuttling between Earth and L4 every other week, before he'd officially moved back to Sanque. They'd spent nights - sometimes days at a time – at each other's homes, and gone on holiday together, but their second anniversary had seemed like a good time to move in together, properly.

It had taken almost twelve months and cost a fortune to get it just right; sourcing antiques and fabrics and paint colours from the correct period. The kitchen, though, had been totally remodelled and modernised on the advice of their very talented, very temperamental chef. It was Marcel's undisputed territory when he was working, but Wufei liked to cook at least when he had time.

Not that he was going to do much this morning; a quick brunch. If Duo and Heero were free in the evening, they might like to come for dinner. And Trowa, he supposed, cracking eggs and whisking them into a bowl. They couldn't very well not ask Trowa, who'd just moved to Sanque and didn't really have any other friends here.

Damn.

He could cope with Trowa coming out with them occasionally, or even coming to their house for meals. He didn't want Trowa living there, flirting and making innuendos and commenting on their sex life and generally being Trowa.

He didn't want Trowa spending that much time with Quatre.

Still, Trowa hadn't seemed too keen on the idea either. He apparently still had some vestiges of propriety; enough not to move in with the man whose heart he'd broken, and his new lover.

The doorbell chimed as he was slicing mushrooms.

People didn't call unannounced on Sunday mornings. Not unless something was wrong.

Something was.

Trowa Barton was standing on the door step, surrounded by luggage. That old rucksack he'd had during the war, and a surprisingly smart set of suitcases, monogrammed with his initials and a laptop bag and his flute.

'Hey.' Trowa was grinning at him when the door opened. 'Sorry. Didn't wake you, did I? I thought you guys got up at the crack of dawn every day.'

'Not every day.' Wufei stepped aside to let him haul his bags inside. 'But we were awake. Ah, what are you doing?'

Trowa's eyes widened. 'You invited me to move in.'

'Quatre did,' Wufei corrected at once. He'd felt a flare of annoyance at his partner for issuing the invitation, but it was the sort of thing Quat did. Both Heero and Duo had lived with them at different times, and Trowa had been a fairly frequent visitor over the past couple of years. 'I thought you said you didn't want to.'

'Well, I thought about it a bit more.' Trowa paused, one hand on his rucksack. 'And then Quatre was very persuasive at dinner last night. I assumed he'd talked to you about it? If it's a problem for you, I can go back to the hotel. I'm sure they still have my room free.'

'You're here now,' Wufei said gruffly. 'It's fine. I just wasn't expecting you so early.'

'Yeah, the thing is, my schedule for this week is crazy. This was the only day I had a bit of free time. So, where d'you want me to dump all this stuff?'

'Come into the kitchen first. I'm making breakfast. Would you like coffee?'

'Tea's fine. I don't want to be a bother.'

'I'm making coffee for Quatre. It's no trouble.'

'Wow.' Trowa sat at the table, nursing a coffee mug, watching him drizzle truffle oil on to the eggs. 'I know Quat cooks, but I never thought of you as being all domesticated.'

'I'm not. I just cook a little bit.'

Wufei put the bottle of oil on the table. 'So. Ground rules.'

'Of course.' Trowa sat up a little straighter, alert, attentive, ever-so-slightly mocking. 'Do I have a curfew? Or chores?'

'You don't hurt him,' Wufei said bluntly. 'Trowa, I'm serious. He's happy. He's over you.'

Trowa arched an eyebrow at him. 'You know, your life would be a hell of a lot easier if you'd accept that I was the teenage fling, and you're the love of his life. Don't you trust him?'

'Of course I do!'

'Right. So I'm the one you're not sure of.'

'You broke his heart, Barton. You weren't there to see what he was like.'

Wufei swallowed. Quatre hadn't just been heart-broken; everything about him had been broken. He'd tried. After he'd been released from hospital, he'd tried so hard, devoting himself to WEI and his sisters and his voluntary work and supporting Relena's fledgling government rising from the ruins of Sanque.

But he'd been utterly bewildered by a world without Trowa.

The first time Wufei kissed him, he'd been crying. After Trowa had left, he and Heero and Duo had taken turns to be in the hospital room with him. Because Wufei hadn't known him very well back then, and because Quatre hadn't much wanted to talk to anyone, he'd usually brought a book with him, and read out loud.

He had a couple of books with him; precious, priceless books from L5 that had miraculously survived everything. He hadn't even been reading poetry or anything emotional, just a technical history of how L5 had been constructed. He'd been reading slowly, translating into English as he went, and suddenly noticed the blond was crying.

He'd taken Quatre in his arms and had kissed him before he even realised what he was doing. It had been fumblingly awkward, as if neither of them had ever kissed anyone before. They'd got it right fairly fast though, and then he'd kissed Quatre's cheeks, still wet with tears, and sworn he'd never hurt him, would never leave.

Months later, they'd had one of their incredibly rare arguments when Wufei found out that Quatre – not yet his boyfriend, quite – was back in touch with Trowa. He'd been vaguely aware that Duo, and Heero, occasionally, still talked to Trowa and decided it wasn't any of his business.

Quatre, though, was his business. Very much so.

Quatre had let him yell and then said, very quietly, that Trowa was lost and lonely and that they all knew what that felt like.

Years later, with Trowa Barton sitting at his kitchen table, Wufei wondered if that was still true. He wasn't lonely any more. He had a place in the universe, and a home, and someone to love, who loved him back.

Trowa had nothing, really.

'It wasn't just me,' Trowa said finally. 'It was a tonne of other stuff. He was coping with his father's death, and his sisters, and all the Zero stuff. I was just the catalyst.'

'Then you should have been there for him,' Wufei said sternly. 'You were the person he loved and you left. You should have been there to support him.'

'I know.' He was cradling his cup in both hands, gazing down at it. 'It wouldn't have worked, 'Fei. I had this stupid fantasy during the war, that maybe he could come and live with me at the circus. He said his father'd disowned him, so I thought if he had nowhere else to go, he'd come with me. Then, when it was all over, those damn sisters of his were pressuring him to go back to L4, to take over at WEI.'

'You could have gone with him,' Wufei offered gently, wondering if Trowa had ever told Quatre any of this.

'No.' Trowa shook his head firmly. 'No, I couldn't. Come on, 'Fei. As far as his sisters were concerned, I was this terrorist, this perverted terrorist, who'd corrupted their baby brother. It was going to be hard enough for Quat to go back without having me in tow.'

'He would have managed.'

'He'd have tried,' Trowa corrected. 'And it would've destroyed him. You should understand if anyone does. You guys come from pretty similar societies. How would your parents have reacted if you'd brought home a boyfriend?'

'Not well.' Wufei swallowed at the thought of it, confessing to his family that the only son of his generation preferred boys. He couldn't have done it, ever.

'There you go. Now, were you joking when you mentioned breakfast?'

'Oh. Sorry.' Rather distractedly, he flicked on the gas under the eggs.

'Can I do anything?'

'I have to slice the bread for toast.' He gestured to the loaf, sitting plumply on the counter-top and handed Trowa a knife. 'He likes it cut very thin.'

'I know.'

They were both silent for a few minutes. It was oddly pleasant, domesticated.

'Look,' Trowa said eventually. 'I know you think I destroyed him and all that, but he had a choice. He could've come after me.'

'He didn't think you wanted him any more. He thought that was why you left.'

Trowa froze, a ragged crust of bread in one hand. 'Well. He hasn't done so badly for himself. And I'm fairly forgettable. Aren't I?'

They were still staring at each other when the door opened and Quatre came in.

His normally neat hair was every-which-way, and the love bite which Wufei had pressed into the side of his neck, low enough to be hidden by his shirt collar, was clearly visible over his pyjamas.

Trowa gave Wufei a little darting glance of surprised approval, and then grinned.

''Morning, Quat.'

'Good morning. How lovely to see you.' That was typical Quat; hide behind manners when he was unsure about something. He gave Wufei a quick kiss on the cheek, not quite meeting his eyes, before sitting down, across the table from Trowa.

'I didn't think you'd come quite so early.'

Trowa slid his eyes to Wufei, mocking lightly; Quatre, who never got double entendres in English, missed it entirely.

'Early checkout,' he informed Quatre blandly. 'Plus I wanted to get here before you guys made plans for the day. I didn't want to put you out or anything. I maybe should've rung first.'

'No, it's fine,' Quatre sounded a little hesitant. ''Fei, that smells delicious. Can I help at all?'

'It's OK.' Wufei forced a smile. 'Everything's ready, pretty much, so you're purely decorative this morning. You can do dinner.'

'Of course,' the blond said quickly. 'What would you like? Both of you?'

Talking about food got them through breakfast, and then Duo called to see if they wanted to meet up later and then they had to help haul Trowa's bags upstairs and check he had towels and toiletries and enough hangers in his wardrobe, and then they were alone in their own bedroom.

'I'm sorry,' Quatre said contritely, clearly on the cusp of one of his major guilt trips. 'I meant to tell you before he got here. It won't be for long; just a week or so. He's got a list of more apartments to look at tomorrow. And we're both away next week, so he can house-sit.'

'It's fine.' Wufei said it shortly, dismissively and then felt a little bit mean. He knew all about Quatre's obsession with helping people. It was one of the things he loved about him. But it wasn't as if Trowa had been sleeping rough on the streets; if that had been the case, Wufei would have been the first to offer him a bed. He'd had a perfectly nice room in a perfectly nice boutique hotel.

'Wufei, don't. I know, I should have asked you. I just said it without thinking, at the club, and then when we went to dinner, I felt so sorry for him, going back to that hotel by himself. He just seems so lonely sometimes and I thought you two have been getting on better lately, and I meant to tell you, but we were both half-asleep when we got home last night, and this morning we were a little, um, distracted.' His voice trailed off; he looked perfectly miserable.

It was impossible not to cross the few feet between them and hug him. 'Quat, it's fine. It was just a bit of a shock finding him on the doorstep first thing, that's all.'

~ * ~

Chapter 5

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