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"Wish Upon a Star "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: sap, angst, fluff, AU Pairings: 3x4 Summary: When you wish upon a star, it makes no difference who you are, unless you're the heir to the Winner business empire. So when you do find a means of escape, how long can you hold on to the fantasy, and the man of your dreams, before reality takes over? Note: this one comes with a built-in warning for 6x2 fans. Sorry, but you may find certain parts of this chapter offensive….
"Wish Upon a Star " All Change: Oh, for God's sake, Duo thought viciously. It was one of those days where every damn thing insisted on going wrong. Trowa had probably chosen the worst week in the whole bloody year to take off in a snit. Middie had college exams, and Cathy was up to her eyes in schoolwork, and Howard had gone on holiday with his bowling team, so Hilde was running the diner and couldn't help out at Wish. For the past three days, he'd been doing everything in the bookshop and he was ready to drop. Zechs had insisted on taking him out the previous night, saying Duo needed a break. It had been a really sweet gesture but by the time they'd driven an hour along the coast to the restaurant Zechs had insisted he'd love, Duo, who'd been up since five stocktaking, had been half asleep. They'd agreed not to mention Trowa and Quatre during dinner, but after they'd admired the quaint little restaurant with its antique furnishings and log fires, and discussed every item on the menu, it didn't leave a lot of talk about. They'd listened politely to each other's account of the day, but Duo wasn't really interested in hearing about a fashion photo shoot, and Zechs didn't really care about the bookshop. Of course, they'd ended up back at Zechs', and in bed, and Duo had overslept and spent the rest of the day madly trying to play catch up with customers and suppliers and stupid idiots who couldn't work out why a kids' bookshop didn't sell the latest John Grisham. Idiots. One of those days when you really didn't want to be in close contact with the public. One young woman, two screaming toddlers in tow, had returned a bag of books and insisted on a full refund, despite the fact that they'd obviously been read. He'd given her the money in the end, just to get her and the brats out of the place. He was tired, and desperately worried about Trowa and Cat, and missing Heero. He'd finally, finally made it to 6pm, and hung up the 'Closed' sign, and was checking the day's takings when the 'phone rang. Cat, of course. He'd been calling pretty much every couple of hours, just in case Trowa had been in touch. Tonight wasn't any different, because there was nothing Duo could tell him. Trowa hadn't called and wasn't picking up his phone. Shit. Why did the hell did life have to be so damn complicated? Tro and Cat had been perfect together, and now it was all messed up, with Cat back home, and miserable as hell, and Tro out God-knows-where in the wilderness all alone because that was what he did when he had a problem. OK, Cat had screwed up big-time, and he could understand Trowa's reaction, but taking off in a huff, without even letting Cat try to explain and apologise was just insane, in Duo's opinion. And now there was some asshole knocking on the door, which was displaying a very obvious Closed sign, and making Duo mess up his accounts. Asshole. Except it wasn't. It was Zechs. 'What's wrong, sweet? You're looking rather more frazzled than usual.' 'Nothing really. I just had a hellish day,' Duo muttered, letting Zechs wrap him in those long arms. It felt unbelievably good. Zechs looked amazing too, all dressed up in a tuxedo; a bit like a very stylish vampire actually. 'My poor Duo,' Zechs crooned. 'Never mind, it's all over now, and I have a surprise for you.' 'For me?' Duo pulled back and looked up at him. 'Really?' 'For you,' Zechs affirmed, taking a small envelope out of his coat pocket. 'You mentioned last night that you'd never been to an opera, and Aida is playing at the Opera House, so I got us tickets.' 'Wow. That's amazing! Thank you.' Duo took out the two tickets and frowned. 'Zechs, these are for tonight.' 'I know.' Zechs kissed the top of his head. 'Don't worry; we have plenty of time. It doesn't start until nine. I can drive you straight home to get ready. We should have time for something to eat first. You see? I do remember that you like to be fed.' Oh, hell. What the hell was he supposed to do? Conjure a tux out of thin air? 'That's really, really nice of you,' Duo said carefully, 'but like I said, I've had the worst day ever. I had about three hours sleep last night, as you know perfectly well, and I've been alone in the shop all day and I haven't even had a proper lunch. I'd probably fall asleep on you.' Those blue eyes gleamed mischievously. 'Oh, I think I could keep you awake. I've reserved a private box for us.' 'Look, I'm sorry. It's just tonight's really bad for me. I was planning on going straight home and crashing on the couch.' Duo took a deep breath. 'I don't think I'd be great company for you. Isn't there somebody else you could ask?' 'Don't be silly.' Zechs took the tickets back and ripped them neatly across. 'All I want is to spend some time with you. Will you have dinner with me? We'll go anywhere you like. Or come home and have I'll Pagan cook us something. All you need is an hour in the Jacuzzi and a massage, and I promise, you'll forget every detail of your horrendous day.' That was tempting. Very. But if he went back to Zechs', he knew perfectly well what would happen, and he honestly wasn't in the mood. And Zechs never seemed to be out of it. 'I'm sorry. I need an early night.' Surprisingly, Zechs accepted that. 'All right. Let me drive you home.' He grinned. 'Perhaps you might even invite me in?' 'Zechs, have you listened to a single word I've said to you? It's nice that you want to do all this stuff for me, but seriously, I just want to go home and order a pizza or something and watch some TV and go to bed.' The blond looked as if Duo had suddenly started speaking whatever it was they spoke in Outer Mongolia or somewhere. 'Truly? You're turning me down in favour of your remote control and fast food?' 'It's not like that.' Duo grinned suddenly, suppressing an urge to tell Zechs to get over himself. 'Well, it sort of is. But Merlin's on, and there's a great Italian restaurant in my street that delivers.' 'You could invite me in. I'll be very good,' Zechs coaxed, standing back for Duo to set the alarm and lock up. 'I'll just sit and watch you and I won't make a sound.' 'That sounds sort of creepy.' It was just weird, to be honest, imagining Zechs in his apartment. Apart from anything, he'd hardly fit in the small living room, with those long legs. 'Can I ask you a question?' Duo wondered abruptly, as he slid into the passenger seat of Zechs' gorgeous car. 'Why do you never let me drive?' 'I never knew you wanted to.' Duo shook his head. 'Come on, Zechs! My mouth waters every time I'm near your car. Your butler probably has to clean up a little pile of saliva every morning.' Zechs smiled obligingly, but his eyes were very serious. 'I'm sorry; I don't let anyone drive my cars, or ride my horses. I suppose I'm rather possessive with the things I most treasure.' His free hand slid over Duo's and squeezed. 'Like my partners. But if you wanted a car, you should have told me. I'm sure we can come to some arrangement.' 'I don't want a car,' Duo said bluntly. 'Damn, I'm probably going to hate myself in the morning for saying this!' 'For saying you don't want a car?' Zechs laughed lightly. 'The offer still stands. You're my boyfriend, and I very much like spoiling you.' 'That's not what I meant. Here's the thing; I think we're both looking for different stuff in a relationship. I want to be with someone who's happy to share stuff with me. Not just cars and things, but actual thoughts and feelings and all that. I can count the number of times I felt you were really being honest with me, instead of just trying to schmooze me.' 'We've only been out a few times,' the blond sounded a little uncertain. 'Isn't it rather soon to be talking so seriously about all this?' 'I don't think so. We've spent tonnes of time together lately, and I still don't know anything more about you, really, than I could have read in some trashy magazine. Seriously, you never actually talk about yourself; do you know that? And that's a damn shame, because when you forget to put on the act, you're a really great guy.' 'I don't normally have people complain about me like this.' 'Yeah, but you normally only date shallow types like models and actors, don't you?' Duo found he was suddenly smiling. This was the right thing to do; time to stop trying to fit into Zechs' world and get his feet back on the ground. 'I'm sorry, but I don't think this is what either of us really wants.' 'Are you actually breaking up with me?' Zechs demanded, sounding incredulous more than anything. 'Yep,' Duo said cheerfully. 'Zechs, I'm sorry, but it isn't working. Come on, be honest. Look at last night; we spent about an hour reading the menu so we wouldn't have to talk to each other. It shouldn't be like that.' 'Maybe we just need to know each other a little better?' 'Can you stop the car for a sec?' Zechs obligingly did. 'Look at me.' Duo reached up and swept those long, pale bangs away from his forehead, suppressing an evil little moment of wondering what Heero's hair would feel like. 'Let. It. Go. It's not going to work. And I bet if I'd slept with you that first night, you'd have lost interest. I'd just be another notch on your bedpost and I don't want to be that.' 'I don't think you would have been.' Zechs leaned over and kissed him on the cheek, perfectly chaste. 'I'm not taking this as the last word, you know. I'm going to try to get you back.' Duo rolled his eyes. Oh, great. Now he was taking the whole thing as some sort of personal challenge. Well, it was better than him being heartbroken and tearfully begging Duo to take him back, but still. 'God, has no-one ever taught you what the word no means? N.O.' It was entirely possible that Zechs didn't know what it meant, he thought suddenly. If you were that gorgeous and talented and rich, no probably wasn't a word you heard very often. 'Is there somebody else?' Zechs asked sharply. Shit, he was far too damn perceptive. But everyone else in the universe seemed to think he had a thing for Heero, so why not Zechs? 'There's someone I sort of like, yeah,' he said finally. 'But I swear, that's not why I'm doing this. If I really liked you, I'd never have noticed this other guy. And it's not like I cheated on you or anything; he doesn't even know I like him. Zechs, I'm really, really sorry, OK?' He meant it, although Zechs probably wouldn't believe that either. But this was right. He'd been half-thinking about it for days. Zechs had treated him like a prince, but it hadn't seemed real, most of the time. It was like some shimmering fantasy that didn't really have anything to do with his real life. 'Oh, Duo.' Zechs abruptly released both their seatbelts and pulled him into a hug. 'Stop apologising. You sound like Quatre on one of his guilt trips. Are you quite sure this is what you want?' 'I think so. This probably sounds a bit daft, but it just doesn't feel right, the two of us.' 'Hmmm.' The blond ran one lingering hand down his back, resting on his hip bone. 'I think it feels rather perfect.' 'Yeah, OK,' Duo confessed. 'This bit is nice. But everything else…..honest, sometimes, I felt like I was putting on an act to fit into your world, and I hated that. It's just not me. All those parties you go, I was never comfortable at any of them. And I hated being photographed and all that.' 'All right. If your mind is quite made up, then that's it. But you are going to say goodbye to me properly.' The kiss – kisses – Duo had to acknowledge, were out of this world. God, maybe this was all a stupid mistake. No. It was right. He shouldn't be wondering, in the middle of having his mouth ravaged by a blond god, how Heero would kiss. 'Still no?' Zechs lifted a quizzical eyebrow at him, and then shrugged. 'All right. Let's take you home.' 'Thank you.' Duo looked out of the window, thinking, and then just said it. 'Zechs, can I ask you something? What's the story with you and 'Fei?' 'I'm not sure I understand.' That sort of icily aristocratic tone had probably made Zechs' ancestors irresistible targets for revolutionaries with guillotines and no doubt sent present-day models and minions scurrying for shelter. Well, Duo Maxwell was made of sterner stuff. 'It's not that complicated a question. Wufei. Chang. You know, Chinese guy who usually looks like a pissed off camel. Ring any bells? We met him at that party the other night, and for a second I wasn't sure if you two would challenge each other to a duel or jump each other. So what's the story?' 'Ah. We used to know each other.' Duo snorted. 'Yeah. I kind of got that. Know like in the biblical sense?' 'We saw each other briefly. He broke it off, and I'd really prefer not to discuss it.' 'Tough. Why'd you break up?' 'Duo! I much preferred you when you were my boyfriend. You were a lot less inquisitive.' 'Well, this is the real me.' Duo grinned impishly. 'See? This is how I behave with my friends. Um, we are still friends, right?' 'Of course we are. But I would prefer not to talk about Wufei.' 'OK. You know, I just broke up with you and you hardly batted an eyelid. I ask you a question about your ex and you nearly take my head off. Do you not think that means something? You miss him, right?' 'Very much.' 'Ever told him that?' Duo waggled his eyebrows. 'I bet he misses you. I've known him for years and there's never been anyone serious for him.' 'It doesn't matter. There were reasons why we broke up and they still exist.' 'Oh? What reasons? Like the fact that he doesn't approve of you frittering an amazing talent away taking magazine pictures that get forgotten in a few days?' He grinned at Zechs' expression. 'I know what he's like. The problem is that he's right a lot of the time, and you're pretty obviously not happy with your life.' 'I have everything anyone could ever want.' 'No, you don't, actually. Sure you've got money and you can buy pretty much everything you want, but you still live alone in that huge house, and sure, you date all those gorgeous guys but you obviously haven't found someone you want to share your life with.' 'For someone who's just dumped me, you're awfully concerned about my welfare.' 'Yeah, because I like you. Not because you're rich or famous or great in bed or because I want something. I just think you're a nice guy, well, the few times you've let me see the real you. And I like 'Fei and I think he's lonely as well, and I think you two could be good together. He'd keep you grounded, and he needs someone a bit frivolous to take him out and make him have fun sometimes, instead of trying to solve all the world's problems. Just call him, OK? Ask him out for a coffee or something.' 'Will it stop you nagging me?' There was a tiny smile curving one corner of his mouth, despite the exasperated tone. 'Maybe.' 'Fine then.' He made it sound long-suffering. 'Anything to make you happy.' He pulled up outside Duo's building and leaned in to press one last kiss on his lips. 'Thank you. For everything. I mean that.' 'My pleasure.' The perfect gentleman to the very last, Zechs got out and opened the door for him. 'Oh, by the way, Duo? That man you like? I don't think you need to worry about him not liking you in return.' He blew Duo a kiss, and zoomed off. Well, hell. Looking up at his apartment window, Duo frowned to himself. He'd apparently left the lights on; he never did that. Shit. He hadn't been home in a couple of days; he'd wasted a tonne of energy. Heero was washing salad leaves at the sink in his kitchen. That was weirder still. 'Hi. Um, what are you doing here? I thought you were on L4.' 'I flew back this afternoon,' Heero gave him a little smile that mingled hope and uncertainty and something suspiciously akin to pleading. 'I hope you don't mind, but I did promise to update your computer and I didn't have time before I left. You gave me your spare key before I left, remember? And you told me to make myself at home.' Whoa. Serious down-the-rabbit-hole weirdness. 'Ah,' Duo asked carefully, 'you flew all the way back from L4 to install software on my pc?' 'Well, partly. I do have some clients to see also, since I left rather abruptly before.' 'Oh-kay.' Duo pulled himself up on to the counter top and stared at his unexpected guest. 'How's Cat? I was talking to him just before I left work. He sounded pretty miserable. I didn't think you'd leave him like that.' 'I'm flying back tomorrow.' 'Oh.' Well, of course he was. He had a job and a life and friends and they were all on the wrong side of the world. And it was entirely stupid of Duo to dare think anything else. 'Heero, you didn't have to cook for me. I can do that. I was just going to order a pizza.' 'Too late,' Heero pointed a hand at the oven. 'It should be ready in a about half an hour. Chicken and broccoli crumble; that's your favourite, right?' 'How do you know that?' Heero looked up from rinsing out a pot and grinned. 'I ran a statistical analysis of the contents of your kitchen cupboards and the contents of your recipe books and came up with that.' 'What?' 'OK, OK. Joke.' He burst out laughing. 'That night I went out with Trowa and Quatre we were talking about our favourite foods. Trowa mentioned yours. I can't believe you fell for that.' 'Ha ha,' Duo tried to sound a bit grouchy at being caught out, but how could you grumble at a gorgeous guy cooking your favourite meal after you'd had a horrible day? Even if it wasn't your proper reality. 'Are you all right? Can I get you a drink? I bought some wine.' 'Wine would be perfect.' Duo eyed Heero's ass as he bent down to get two glasses from the bottom shelf. Pretty perfect actually. No, bad thoughts, Duo. 'And yeah, I'm fine. Just had a not-great day.' Heero made sympathetic noises as he poured out two glasses. He wasn't all over Duo, fussing or prying though and that was nice. 'I broke up with Zechs.' 'What happened?' Heero's back was turned as he asked the question, peering into the oven and giving Duo another bird's eye view of that lovely backside. 'He wanted to take me to the opera and buy me a sports car.' 'How appalling.' His tone was a model of gravity but when he turned around there was a suspicious little twitch at one corner of his mouth. 'I'm glad you dumped him; you shouldn't have to put up with that sort of treatment.' 'You're on a roll, Yuy. Is it comedy night?' 'Duo, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be flippant. I'm really sorry.' 'Are you? Really?' Heero was the one to look away first. 'I don't know. I'm sorry if you're upset.' 'I'm not. Not really. It was all a bit – I guess I was sort of dazzled at the start. This gorgeous prince wanting to be with me, and take me to fancy places. I've always dreamed of being swept off my feet, you know, so it was like an amazing dream at the start. That I could have this whole other life. And then I guess I came to my senses and realised my feet had actually been pretty happy on the ground all along.' 'Hn. He is very attractive.' 'Yeah.' Duo took another slurp of wine. 'And tall.' 'Very tall,' Heero agreed, sliding up beside Duo and clinking glasses. 'I'm not.' 'Tall's kind of over-rated actually. I used to get a crick in my neck looking up at him. And kissing was awkward 'cause he had to bend down and I had to stand on my toes.' 'So,' Heero put down his glass and began to count on his fingers. 'You broke up with him because he wanted to buy you a car, take you to the opera, and he was too tall. Is there anything else I should know?' OK, he'd only had a couple of mouthfuls of wine; not remotely enough to have this sort of effect on him. Duo ran one finger down the stem of his glass. 'There were a few other things. He was always going all out to impress me; mentioning all these famous people he'd worked with, and all the places he wanted to take me too. It was sort of cool at first and then it just got boring. And he never really opened up about himself.' Heero nodded seriously. 'You want to be with someone who's willing to share, yes?' 'Yes! And someone who can just be themselves around me, someone who can fit into my life. I could never imagine Zechs being here, cooking with me, or helping me out in the shop, or meeting my other friends.' He put his glass down, right beside Heero's, so they were touching. 'There was one other reason I had to break up with him.' 'Hn?' Duo laughed; amazing how much range of expression you could put into one little syllable. 'Yeah. There's this other guy I've met, and I really like him, and half the time when I was with Zechs I was imagining being with this other person, or wondering what he was doing. You see?' 'That must have been awkward,' Heero said neutrally. 'It was, pretty much. Heero, I'm not normally this…fickle. Honest. I guess I was kind of lonely when Tro hooked up with Cat and Zechs just turned up and no one like him had ever been interested in me before. I used to have this major crush on Trowa, and I knew he wasn't interested but there was always this thought in the back of my mind that maybe one day he'd look at me and realise he wanted to be with me and then he met Cat.' Heero looked down at his hands. 'I understand. I used to have a bit of a thing for Cat, actually. But he never saw me as anything but a friend.' 'It sucks, right?' Duo said quietly. 'Liking someone and them not liking you back. Not the way you want. That's my other problem, now. I'm not sure if this guy I likes actually likes me, or just thinks of me as a friend.' 'You could always ask him.' Heero was smiling; a beautiful smile that made him look totally different to his usual somewhat forbidding expression. 'But I think he would have to be an idiot not to want you.' 'I don't think you're an idiot, are you?' 'I'm supposed to be rather intelligent, actually.' 'Well, then?' Duo slid off the counter, slipping to stand between Heero's legs. 'Would you be remotely interested in being with an indecisive idiot who's only just realised who he wants? And I swear, I do want to be with you.' 'I already told you, I'm not an idiot.' 'I know. I'd just sort of like to hear you say it.' Heero slid both arms around his waist, pulling him closer. 'I want to be with you. I have since the first time I saw you. Wasn't it obvious? And I've been resenting one of my best friends because he got to see you first. Will that do?' 'That will do perfectly. I just never thought for a second that anything could happen. I mean, I did guess that you maybe liked me, but you live halfway across the universe, and I'm not into one-time flings.' 'Nor am I.' Heero kissed him, a delicate whisper of mouth to mouth. 'I don't have to live on L4, you know. I have clients all over the colonies and on Earth. Would you mind having a boyfriend who needs to travel rather a lot? I promise always to come home and you could come with me sometimes, if you liked.' 'I'd love that.' For the first time, Duo ran his fingers through Heero's hair. Nothing like Zechs' silken waterfall; it was rather coarse and messy and sexy as hell. 'Hey, can I ask you something? You're not really a gazillionaire like Cat, are you?' 'Definitely not. I'm nowhere in Cat's league. I do have a successful business, but I like to keep it on a small scale where I know all my customers, and I like being able to take time off to do other things. Is that acceptable?' Duo grinned. 'That depends. What are the other things, and do I get to do them with you?' 'It's a condition of being with me. You know, most of them already, I think. I like travelling and cooking and cycling and messing around with computers.' His eyes suddenly became even bluer and warmer. 'And…other types of messing around.' 'I like messing around too,' Duo affirmed, resting his cheek against Heero's. 'Can I please ask you something? I sort of rushed into things with Zechs and I'd rather take it slowly this time 'round? Is that OK?' 'I like slow.' Heero proceeded to slide his mouth over Duo's and give him an exquisitely, excruciatingly slow kiss. 'And I should possibly say that I don't have a huge amount of experience. Do you mind?' 'No! I don't either, not really. I mean, I have been with people, just not that many, and I always felt sort of clumsy beside Zechs, because he was really experienced, and he knew all sorts of tricks and stuff, and I didn't and…' 'Duo, I'm sorry, but I'd really rather you didn't talk about sex with your ex-boyfriend, who happens to be a close friend of mine.' 'Oh, God!' Duo blushed fierily. 'Sorry, Heero!' 'It's all right.' Heero cupped Duo's flaming face in both hands. 'For the record, I don't know any tricks either, but maybe we could learn some together?' The oven timer pinged, interrupting the moment and they both laughed. 'Dinner's ready. Can you get the plates if I get the food out of the oven?' This was how it would be, Duo realised suddenly. There wouldn't be all that high romance and adoration and pampering he'd had from Zechs. Heero would be his friend and his partner who'd support him and share his life and expect the same in return. And that was pretty damn much all he'd ever wished for. A wish come true.
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