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"Love Thy Neighbor"Written By: ExecutiveShrimp Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing, it belongs
to Bandai, Sotsu and associated parties. Written for pleasure not
profit. Rating: NC 17 Warnings: AU, angst, fluff, citrus Pairings: 2x1 Summary: Duo's life gets turned upside down when
the house next to his is sold. The new neighbor exposes Duo to a lot
of new feelings but Duo's strict, religious upbringing makes him resist
them. He stubbornly denies that what he is feeling could be love. "Love Thy Neighbor" Three Still very much caught up in a surprised stupor, Duo trailed his footsteps straight through the front lawn as he followed Heero to the house. Using the stepladder in the absence of the front porch, he climbed inside the old house. Inside it smelled of dust and paint stripper. The hallway was narrow and dark but opened up on three sides to bright, airy rooms. Straight ahead was the oversized kitchen, with the back door that was covered by an old curtain. To the right was a den, the windows of it facing Duo's own house, and an office. To the left was a spacious living room and beyond that a formal dining room. Against the wall was a cot with a thin mattress and thick blankets and some personal affects scattered around. He paused momentarily to peek, but as Heero's hollow footsteps got further away he boxed up his curiosity and went after Heero, to the kitchen, passing by a staircase with rotten and mostly broken steps. The old kitchen cabinets were still there, dirty and askew. But a small breakfast area to the right had been cleaned up and there was a small, plastic table with two fold-out chairs and in the corner a brand new, small refrigerator that filled the space with a dull hum. The silence had lasted for far too long, well into the uncomfortable, so even though he really didn't feel like having a conversation - really not having anything of meaning to say after his uneasy monologue of before - he knew he had to say something. He decided on the obvious: "You have a lot of work ahead of you." Just mere steps away from the refrigerator, Heero turned around to flash Duo that impressive smile of his. "Yeah," he concurred. "I love it." "Really?" Duo replied with the proper amount of disbelief as he eyed the peeling wallpaper and stained tiles with disgust. In many places the dry-walling was cracked and he had noticed earlier that the ceiling in the hallway had been torn away. Both the living room and the den were covered in a dirty, horrible, grey carpet and mismatched floral wallpaper that probably wasn't always that peculiar shade of brown. The staircase was a disaster and upstairs had just looked like a black hole. Everything was covered in dust and cobwebs hugged all corners and window frames. The back yard was completely overgrown by ominous looking dens and tall weeds and the grass had turned a dead brown. The outside of the house was covered with rotten paneling. None of this struck Duo as something even remotely fun. Heero got two bottles of beer out of the refrigerator and opened them before handing one to Duo. "You can sit down, if you want," Heero said, clearly amused by Duo's awkwardness. He promptly took a seat in one of the two chairs and with his foot he pushed out the other chair, inviting Duo to join him. With a soft, surrendering sigh, Duo sat down, holding the cold beer in his lap, rubbing his thumb up and down the condensed glass. Too embarrassed to look directly at Heero, he scanned the room once more. He confessed to Heero that living and dealing with these kind of situations didn't exactly match with his idea of a good time. Heero shrugged, never losing that smile. He looked around the room himself and noted: "For some people, it is hard to see how great something can be, if it isn't already." Duo found that to be uncomfortably philosophical. "I just love it, you know?" Heero continued wistfully. "To take something that people don't see the beauty of and show them it has always been beautiful, even when they couldn't see it. This house is amazing, people are just unimaginative, that's all." "But you're not?" "I like to think so. I like to think that I have vision. That I see things the way they are and the way they could be," he placed the bottle against his smirking lips and tilted it back for a drink. Duo took a large swig himself, gripping his hand tightly around the bottle, afraid that he might drop it because of the condensation and his sweaty palms. "So, where did you learn to do all this construction work?" "I learned it on the job. I started with a small, easy project and worked my way up from there. All the way up to a 'mess' like this." With a frown Duo wondered: "What kind of projects?" "This will be the ninth house that I will reconstruct." This surprised Duo, causing him to draw up his eyebrows to convey as much. "Really?" Heero chuckled at Duo's shock. "Yeah, I'm what they call a 'flipper'. I buy rundown properties for a low price, live in them while I fix them up - for cheap because most things I do myself - and then I sell them for a preposterous profit." He grinned at Duo. "Really, it's insane." "Wow. So you do this non-stop? You don't have a house of your own? I mean: one that you didn't buy only to resell again." "Nope." "That sounds so... nomadic... so detached..." Duo commented with a frown, he wasn't sure yet how he felt about that. "I guess. It's not something that I plan on doing forever. But for now I'm having fun with it and I don't feel like I need anything else in my life for now." He briefly turned his face away, but when he looked back, the smile was strong again. "What do your friends think about this? Or... your boyfriend?" "My friends come to visit me, actually, some of them live quite close to here... and I don't have a boyfriend..." "Oh..." What was he supposed to say? He realized it had been stupid to ask him that, to steer the conversation in that direction. Yet, for some intangible reason, he had been curious. Heero sighed and leaned in, drawing Duo's gaze to him. "Duo, I'm not looking for a relationship. And if you're straight, I respect that. I promise I won't try anything with you." He finished by renewing his smile. The topic made Duo only feel more uncomfortable, but he supposed Heero meant well and if he would keep that promise, that might make him feel more at ease in the long run. Although he feared that whether or not Heero 'tried anything' would be irrelevant, just the way he was innocently smiling at him was... magnetic. He simply replied: "Thanks." To quickly change the subject, he inquired how long Heero had been doing the 'flipping'. Heero thought briefly, maybe counting the years in his head. "Almost five years." Duo focused on Heero's face. The new neighbor couldn't be much older than twenty-five, meaning that he would have started his lifestyle at quite an early age. "How old are you?" The question more or less blurted out. "Twenty-five," Heero answered playfully challenging. Good guess, Duo complimented himself. "How old are you?" He shot back with a grin. The answer suddenly caused Duo embarrassment and he was reluctant to tell Heero. For some reason, Heero made Duo wish he was younger, maybe because he was jealous of the free life the young man had conquered for himself and how much he was able to enjoy that. Duo had only asserted his freedom a few years ago, when he finally worked up the courage to change his life, but he had never gotten much enjoyment out of it. A second chance at life would be so nice. Rather than answering him, Duo just asked another question, sincerely interested. "What made you start doing this at twenty? How does a twenty-year-old have the funds and drive to begin something like this?" Heero allowed him to avoid answering his earlier question. His smile faded and his eyes dulled to a sadness, but with calm acceptance. "When I was nineteen both my parents died. Wrapped their car around a tree. My dad was killed on impact. My mom was rushed to the hospital but the only thing that kept her alive was life-support. She never gained consciousness. Probably for the best. She died of massive organ failure a few days later." He shrugged, obviously trying to brush of his emotions. Duo was impressed and touched by how candid Heero was. It was a bravery he had never known, not in others around him and not within himself. He knew what the loss of parents felt like and he briefly wondered if he should share his own story, as a way to return the favor of Heero's openness, but he decided very quickly that he wasn't brave enough for that. "I don't precisely know what drove me to start doing this, but my dad left me all their savings. I needed to do something with that money and I needed to do something with myself, keep myself busy. So I dropped out of business school and started doing this." He chuckled and added: "Man, if my dad wasn't already dead by then, that sure would have done it." "Wow," Duo breathed and he took a slow and thoughtful sip from his beer. Heero smiled at him kindly. "I just thought I'd tell you something real. And something not-gay." Again, the best response seemed to be: "Thank you." After a scraped of his throat, he added, in an attempt to be comforting: "I'm sure your parents are proud of you." "From up in Heaven?" Heero sounded a bit skeptical. Duo shrugged, not really feeling like getting into a religious debate, especially since their convictions were so opposite. Heero looked down at his beer, with his thumb he pensively circled the opening. "I don't think so..." He said softly. Duo prepared himself for a useless discussion, one he had had more than he cared to remember with WuFei. But Heero's words leveled Duo's defensiveness. Rather than arguing that he did not believe in heaven - and possibly neither did his parents - he said: "My parents were very accepting of my sexuality, ever since I told them. I've had some... nasty people come up to me since their death and tell me that God punished them for accepting me for the sinner that I am." Duo didn't know what to say, he was stricken with a sadness that he knew intimately. At the same time, he felt nauseated, the thought that someone would say such cruel things to a young man who had lost his parents so suddenly and tragically was heartwrenching. Heero grimaced and then suddenly looked up at him again. "Damnit, now I have made my not-gay story gay," he joked bitterly. He scraped his throat and seemed to need a moment to get a handle on his emotions. Duo wasn't amused by the attempted joke, he felt sorry for him; in the expressive blue eyes of his neighbor he could see a familiar pain. "I don't mind. For what it's worth, it sounds like your parents were wonderful people. I don't pretend to know how God works, but I assume he will not have punished them for their kindness." Heero smiled again, brightly and warmly, it was mesmerizing. "Thanks." It seemed afterward Heero was as eager for small talk as Duo was, to alleviate the heavy atmosphere between them. They mostly discussed Heero's plans for the renovation. He spoke with devotion and enthusiasm and Duo found himself following Heero's elegant, long-fingered hands as he gestured around himself, getting caught up in the topic. Duo was having a moderately good time, although still weighted by what he had said outside, by Heero's truck, what Heero had told him about his parents and the overall newness of talking to him - to anyone really - so freely. Heero was very easy to talk to and interesting to look at. His face was always focused, like everything he did and everything he talked about he was so passionate about that it deserved his undivided attention. He had the same expression whenever Duo briefly had something to say, like everything Duo said mattered, was of actual importance. Still, when Duo took the last sip from his beer, he felt compelled to end the social event, already being overwhelmed by everything he had experienced so far. Not forcing anything, Heero walked him back to the front door without judgment and he remained standing in the doorway as Duo walked back to his own house. He could feel the intense gaze on his back. When he reached his front porch he turned and offered the neighbor a halfhearted wave. Heero returned it with a smile and then closed his door, probably to resume work. He stood on his porch, absentminded as he tried to sort through his thoughts. Suddenly he became aware that although Heero was no longer around, he could still feel eyes staring at him. With a very real sense of dread he turned around and he felt his veins swell as his heart made a powerful beat when he spotted two figures across the street, staring at him in wonder. Relena and Terry were standing over the rose bushes that separated their yards, each on their own side, wearing aprons and matching gardening gloves. It was almost as if he could hear their gossipy, judgmental thoughts. What struck him the most, even more so than the embarrassment and worry of what they may have been thinking, was the guilt. Guilt that Heero must be feeling like that all the time: watched and judged and talked about behind his back. He formed his most convincing smile and waved at the women. Terry waved back, albeit a little cautiously. Relena's lips were already moving with softly spoken words. Whatever she said, when she was done, Terry raised her eyebrows and looked sideways at her with a frown. He used to feel safe in this neighborhood, with a due sense of privacy. But standing on his front porch under the watchful eyes of the two ladies, Duo didn't feel particularly at ease. He opened his door and hurried inside, firmly shutting it behind him. His thoughts sped up like a runaway train as he desperately wondered what the two women would be saying at that very moment, while he was standing in his hallway, his hand still on the lock. He didn't want anybody to read too much into his newfound kindness towards the new neighbor. He was just being a good man, as Heero pointed out he had neglected to be one until recently. He didn't want nasty rumors to spread. Those were relentless and potentially devastating. He went through the grind of the continuation of the day as usual, whilst trying to distract himself from unwelcome thoughts and feelings. He couldn't ignore the sounds of his neighbor, working to strip the rotten paneling off the side of the house. With each crack he had to refrain himself from wincing. It sounded like his resolve breaking, resolve that had kept him going, had kept him protected, from others as well as himself. He walked out of the office - of which the window provided only view of the driveway, front yard and front of the old house - and moved to his kitchen, nestled in the back of the house, overlooking the entire side, back porch and most of the garden. He made a sandwich, which - judging by the hour - social norms would term as 'dinner'. As he prepared and ate it, his eyes kept finding the window. The sun was on the retreat, sinking closer and closer to the horizon, its rays turning a warm orange. Heero was high up on a ladder, propped up against the side of the house. With a crowbar and strong, jerking moves of his bare arms, he ripped the panels off one by one. When he raised his arms above his head to reach higher panels, his shirt would ride up, exposing the small of his back that had a gleam of sweat on the golden skin. Duo stuffed his mouth with the last, large bite from his sandwich and scurried back into his office, decisively drawing the thick curtains. To keep up appearances - that he was, for a fact, a writer - he picked up his empty notebook and his 'lucky pen'. It was useless though. There were no words, let alone sentences. There was no story. When he closed his eyes, there was only Heero. After staring at his face for thirty minutes as he politely slowly made his way through a bottle of beer, the features had become imprinted on his retina, the way you could still see the brightness of the sun after you've looked directly at it, when you've closed your eyes. This was not good, Duo recognized. Later in the week, he deemed enough time had passed to justify a visit to the bookstore. He grabbed his bag and before he left the house he tucked his own book into it, determined to return it to the store, to get it out of his house so the sheer thought of it being there couldn't disturb and mock him. It was like having a report card with an A+ average being stuck to the fridge, after you've just received your umpteenth F. Instead of the former glory being a comfort, it was a mockery: you will never live up to expectations, ever again. And everyone will always be disappointed in you, no matter how hard you try, because they will always compare you to that unattainable moment of excellence - that turned out to be nothing more than a fluke. He stepped outside and instantly noticed Heero's red truck was missing, because every time he went outside, the first thing he did was turn his head to right to look at the house. He had successfully convinced himself that he only did this to monitor the progress of the renovation. Sadly, he was all too aware that conviction did not exclude the possibility of deceit. But he did not allow his thoughts to wander down that lane. He got into his car and drove to the bookstore. He couldn't deny a mild sense of pride at the opportunity to inform his preachy friend that he had been most kind to the new neighbor, in spite of warring beliefs and lifestyles. The bell rang as he pushed the door open and as always his wheelchair-bound friend emerged from between the low bookshelves. "If it isn't my best customer," WuFei commented dryly. "Well, you know how fast I read." He casually started strolling through the aisles, though not particularly paying attention to the titles or the authors. "I do know. That is why I'm surprised it took you this long. It's been over a week, have you been hiding from me?" WuFei had an annoyingly smug smirk on his face. "No..." Duo amended: "Initially, maybe, but now I have no reason to." "Really, feeling confident you can withstand the wrath of my justice?" WuFei rolled after him as Duo kept crisscrossing through the store. "I had a drink with Heero the other day," Duo informed him casually. WuFei's momentary silence pleased him, as did the unbridled surprise in his voice. "Really?" "Sure did." "Please don't tell me you gave him the preach." Duo turned around to scowl at him. "I did not." "Good." "That is why I brought this." Duo brought his shoulder bag around and zipped it open and pulled out the book with his own name on it in embarrassingly large print. "I've learned my lesson." "I highly doubt it. Keep it." "I really don't want it." He stubbornly put it in an empty space on a shelf. WuFei sighed, exacerbated and took the book and placed it in his lap before following Duo to the front of the store. He put the book upright on a display in the window. "Who knows," he mused, "maybe we'll sell the last copies." "It stands better luck in the marked-down bin." With a heavy sigh Duo seated himself in one of the chairs. "It's a good book, Duo," the Chinese man dutifully reminded him. "Well, I blew the chance of it ever having a sequel. My life may have been repressed and horrible before I turned it upside down, at least it was good material. How am I supposed to write another book when the majority of my experiences take place between the picket fence of my front lawn and the hedge of my backyard and they don't get much more exciting than the very brief coiling of my gut as I ask the really important question of life: Did I turn off the coffee machine?" WuFei chuckled but Duo's words, though intended to amuse him, were nothing but cold hard truth. "I'm serious, sometimes I go check if it's off two or three separate times, just to have something to do." "Well, life is about fulfilling needs and desires. If you have everything, what purpose is there left?" Duo frowned. "But do I really have everything? I don't think I do." WuFei smirked. "I'm glad you said it. You, my friend," he leaned in and patted my knee, "need a life. You could start by making some new friends," he said suggestively. Duo glared at him. "You mean Heero? That's not such a good idea." "Why not? Isn't having drink one of the critical precursors to being friends? The way the cruel torture of animals in youth or teens is one of the precursors to psychopathy?" "You encourage me to make friends by drawing comparisons between that and animal cruelty and psychopaths?" Duo shook his head. "No. I realize now that I should have been nice and welcoming from the start and I have no reason not to continue my positive attitude towards this new neighbor. But becoming friends is too much, no matter how much you and him desire it. No, I'm just going to lay the basis for a few months of polite nods and fleeting greetings and the occasional exchange of produce and then it is best that when Heero moves, he is completely and irreversibly out of my life." Wufei threw his hands up in frustration. "Don't you see how telling it is how much you want to keep people like him at an arm's length?" Duo pointed at him angrily. "Don't start this discussion with me again!" "How can I not?! It is so frustrating!" Duo shook his head, frustrated, unable to meet his friend's eyes. "I thought we had agreed not to try to convince one another anymore of our own beliefs." "Duo, I'm not trying to convince you to believe whether or not some higher entity exists and if there was or wasn't a Jesus and a guy that parted the freaking Red Sea," WuFei paused to take a deep breath. "I'm trying to get you to believe in your own identity and that no one who matters is going to think less of you when you finally accept the truth!" "No, not the truth," Duo rose to his feet and warningly looked down at WuFei. "Your interpretation of the truth. I gotta go," he said out of breath and then he stormed out of the store. "Duo," WuFei called after him pleadingly, "wait a second, come on!" WuFei was the only one who could get under his skin like that. WuFei always argumentatively claimed that was because he had a tendency to confront Duo with even the most unwelcome truth. However, Duo's standard response to that was that WuFei just had the tendency to be a thick-headed jackass. Admittedly, that was a case of the pot calling the kettle black. The only way Duo could deal with it was remove himself from the situation. They had attempted for this conversation to proceed in a civil, non-judgmental manner before, but had never succeeded. It was hard not to take offense when your best friend continuously expressed his belief that you were gay, when you, yourself, adamantly believed this to be untrue. The way WuFei always brought it up gave the impression that he thought the whole situation was clear-cut and uncomplicated, but it just wasn't. That he didn't acknowledge that was both frustrating and hurtful. Muttering under his breath Duo drove straight back. Adding to his annoyance was the realization, halfway home, that he hadn't even purchased a new book to keep himself occupied. With sharp, angry movements he turned the wheel and steered his car into his dead-end street. It was a Saturday and weather-wise it was an exceptionally beautiful day and most residents were outside, working in their gardens. Men mowed lawns and washed cars. Women tended to delicate flowers and washed the windows. His direct neighbors were no different. He pulled into his driveway and as soon as he got out of his vehicle, one of them called his name to draw his attention. Duo followed the voice and his gaze found Bryce, casually holding the water hose as he washed soap bubbles off his shiny sedan. The impish, nerdy-looking man waved him over. Reluctantly, he walked past the old house, suppressing the urge to look around for the new neighbor, having noticed - instantly - the return of the red truck, and approached Bryce. "Hi there, neighbor!" Bryce greeted with his usual enthusiasm. "Hello." Duo couldn't muster the energy to be anything more than fundamentally polite. His voice was flat and his face probably betrayed his disinterest as his mind was still occupied with the brief but confrontational discussion with his oldest friend. "I hear you've been making new friends," he commented glibly. Unconsciously he cast a glance towards the source of this information. Duo followed his look and spotted Terry arguing with Michael, who seemed to have accidentally run his lawnmower over some of her flowers. Surprisingly, her conjoined twin - joined at their nosy personalities - Relena was nowhere to be seen. "Good news travels fast," Duo remarked sarcastically. "Well, I hope you're not getting too attached!" Bryce said with a grin. "Why? Is he leaving?" He stole a glance at the house. He didn't see Heero anywhere and for some reason it bugged him that Heero would not always be there for him to see. That was a very strange realization, but he tucked it away and hoped to forget about it. "If it's up to us he soon will be." Duo looked back at his neighbor with a deep frown. "What do you mean?" Bryce shrugged and moved the spray of the hose to rinse the glossy, silver rims. "It was only a matter of time. The Neighborhood Association is meeting tonight and from what I've heard, we all agree that he has to go." Duo nearly choked on his own tongue as he fought to contain his shocked and displeased reaction. It was successful, his "excuse me?" came out very mild. "Yes, we agreed it was the only logical course of action. Political beliefs like Heero's and his lifestyle have no place in a decent neighborhood like this. You know how it goes, if the vote is unanimous amongst the present members, we put in a request at city hall to force him to sell and move away from the neighborhood. Thanks to Tom's influences it's been successful almost every time." Duo felt that his face was pale but he hoped Bryce wouldn't think too much of it. "Besides," he added with a chuckle, "who would want to live in a neighborhood where no one wants you? The only time our request went unheeded, the old hag moved out voluntarily. Man, she had a lot of cats... it was just unsanitary," he mused absentmindedly. "When and where is the meeting?" Duo innocently inquired. Bryce blinked at him, momentarily stunned but then his face broke into that silly smile again. "You really want to join us? It would be the first time." He raised his hand and patted Duo's shoulders. "This is great though, it's good for you to be involved in the wellbeing of the neighborhood. Of course you must also feel strongly about the subject." "Yes, very strongly," Duo replied ambiguously. "Well you are more than welcome to join us. Relena is hosting. The meeting starts at eight." "I'll be there." He started to walk back to his house. "Great! But uh, don't tell him," Bryce added in a hushed tone. "Don't worry, I have no intention of doing so." He didn't. He didn't see the use of informing Heero of this conspiracy, that would be unnecessarily hurtful. With a heavy feeling in his gut he locked himself in his house and waited impatiently for time to pass, all the while getting increasingly nervous. But he was determined. Determined to be a good man and make up for his previous shortcomings. When the time came he changed into something a little bit more presentable and made his way across the street. He ran into Bryce and Brooke - cradling their young child in her arms - on the pathway up to Relena's house and Bryce patted his shoulder in a brotherly way. "Are you okay? You look a little tense," he observed. Duo shrugged. "Fine." "Look, I understand your reservations, I have them too. It's not a very nice thing to do, but just think of it this way: he would be much happier somewhere else anyway." "Well," Duo cautiously started, "if we make him sell the house, he probably won't get a return on his investment, mid-renovation the house will likely sell for less than he paid for it." "That's his problem," Bryce stated and then rang the bell. Relena opened the door with a big, welcoming smile. "Hey you guys! Duo, I'm glad you will be joining us! Brooke... your baby girl looks more beautiful everyday and so do you!" She leaned in to kiss the other woman and admire the baby, then she led us into the house. In the living room many of the residents of the neighborhood had gathered, the women were seated on the couches and chairs, leaning forward, towards each other as they conversed. The men had claimed their territory by the fireplace, drinks in hand, simultaneously bursting into hearty laughter. Duo joined them and was offered a drink, but he refused, knowing full well that what he was about to do would not earn him any friends or favors. The mingling continued till well past eight, when the meeting was supposed to start. Duo had a hard time focusing on the bland conversation that evolved around business, the stock exchange and - inevitably - sports. Eventually, Relena called: "Everyone, please gather around." Everyone formed a large circle around Relena who had taken position in the center of the living room, Carlton at her side. "It's great to see so many of you came. Obviously this is a very important issue in our neighborhood. The point that we will be addressing today, is our new neighbor, who moved into the house across the street a few weeks ago. Of course everyone is allowed their own opinion, but Mister Yuy is so shameless about broadcasting his beliefs and lifestyle that it has caused us all serious concern. Now, Mister Yuy has no intention to become a permanent resident, his objective is only to renovate the house and then sell it for a profit," she said this with a grimace as if this was a despicable act. "Mister Yuy clearly has no attachment to this neighborhood, his presence is only a harmful threat to the quiet and peaceful atmosphere. Therefore, I would like for us all to vote. If we unanimously agree that this neighborhood will be better off without Mister Yuy, Tom" she gestured to the chubby, bald man in the crowd, "will put in a request at city hall to force Mister Yuy to sell and relocate. Would anyone like to further discuss this issue before we vote?" Heads shook 'no'. "Alrighty," Relena clasped her hands together, loving being in control and at the center of everyone's attention. "Now the rules are simple: you vote by raising your hand. You can also choose not to vote. And it has to be unanimous. But that shouldn't be a problem," she chuckled. "Everyone in favor of forcing Mister Yuy to sell and move out, please vote now by raising your hand." Promptly, everyone's right hand was thrust towards the ceiling. The only one to withhold from voting was Carlton, stoically standing beside his wife. Relena let out another chuckle, sounding like an evil queen from fairy tales. "Okay then, I think that settles it, but just to be official: everyone who would like to vote against this motion, raise your hand." With a smile Relena looked around the room, expecting to see no hands go up. Most residents sat quietly, others had already picked up the conversation that had been interrupted by the voting. With a quickened heart rate, furiously tucking away last-second doubts, he took a deep breath and then slowly raised his hand, sweaty palm open. Relena's gaze almost missed him, passing him by only to quickly settle back on him. With disgust and shock her eyes trailed up his arm and glared at his hand, high above his head. An impatient, fake smile appeared on her pretty face. "Duo," she hissed, drawing the attention of the others to him, "this is an official voting, not an appropriate time to joke, don't you agree?" Duo lowered his hand, confident that he had made his point. "I'm not joking. This is my vote. I vote against this motion." He scanned the room with nervous eyes, noting the disdain and the deep frowns. "Duo..." Relena tried to remain nice, but venom stained her tone of voice. "You know the vote needs to be unanimous." "Yes, I do. I believe that was decided in the very first meeting, a decision that was made irreversible." She practically fumed. "We didn't expect it to ever be an issue, as we thought we could trust each other," she hissed. "You've been trying to dance around this rule ever since by only inviting those people you expect to agree with your point and then whatever you decide on is enforced without the other residents ever knowing anything about the issue and what has been done about it." Relena scoffed at the accusation, even though everyone in the room knew it was the truth. "I'm not betraying you," Duo addressed to everyone. "I'm making the right decision on behalf of all of you. Trust me. Heero - sorry, Mister Yuy - is only going to be here for a few months anyway and then the house will be nicely fixed up for someone to buy whom you will approve of and he will be gone." Seeing the present residents respond to this logic, he continued: "If we make him leave, the house will probably take forever to sell, being mid-renovation, if at all. Hasn't it been a thorn in everyone's eye all this time? If we let him fix it up, it will look good, no longer drag down the appeal of the street, and it will probably sell like that," he snapped his fingers to make his point and felt relief wash over him as heads started to nod in agreement. This was a necessary part of his defense as otherwise Relena would just call another meeting and not invite him. For logistical reasons not everyone's vote was required, only thirty residents had to be present and vote unanimously for a decision to be enforced. Seeing as most neighbors had shown up and he had managed to convince a good amount of them to vote against in the future, the motion was settled. Voices in the crowd started up again as people nodded their heads and vocally expressed their agreement. "Fine," Relena growled. She turned to the rest of the group and summed up: "The vote is not unanimous. Mister Yuy can stay." Duo wasn't really sure why he had taken such a big risk to stand up for Heero, but he felt good about it, he knew he had done the right thing. Feeling decidedly unwelcome, Duo made a quick exit. He still had the jitters but he felt good about standing up for what he knew was right. The reasoning that he had offered at the meeting was not untrue, but also wasn't the entire truth. More importantly, he just didn't want Heero to have to suffer through being voted off and all the consequences that came with it. And also - maybe - he would miss him. Duo shook his head and stopped that train of thought. Despite what happened at the meeting, Heero would be leaving anyway, he shouldn't get too attached to the new neighbor. He realized that what he did that night made him as much of a good man as it made him a troubled. Unjust as it was, it had been the perfect opportunity to remove Heero and everything he had been feeling about Heero, from his life. Yet it never even occurred to him to go along with the vote for that sake. He wondered how much of that decision was actually influenced by a desire to the right thing and what portion of it was influenced by all kinds of wrong things he had been suppressing all this time. "Duo." Duo turned around on his porch at the deep voice that called his name. He spotted Carlton standing just by the first step. He sighed and started apologetically: "I didn't mean to cause you trouble with your wife-" "Are you kidding me?" Carlton interrupted. "That was awesome! She is still cursing, it's hilarious." Even though he and Carlton got along well, the positive reaction still surprised him. He expected the man - in spite of everything - to take his wife's side on the matter. "You're welcome?" He offered hesitantly. "I was just wondering if we're still on for next week. Figured I should check with you because you didn't mention it." He fumbled with his keys, remembering the painful discussion he had with WuFei. "WuFei and I sort of had a fight." Carlton shrugged. "You guys fight all the time. Look, if you don't patch up things before next Saturday, let me know, but until then I'm going to assume we're still on." "That's fine." "Goodnight, man." Carlton waved halfheartedly and then went back to his furious wife, who was impatiently waiting for him in the doorway of their perfect American home. "Goodnight." He turned back to his front door to unlock it, but froze as he caught a glimpse of a silhouette in the lit up window of the neighboring house. He squinted his eyes and recognized Heero. Heero raised his hand in a wave. Duo waved back but then quickly disappeared into his hallway. He wondered if Heero knew what had transpired that evening. Obviously all the activity at the house across the street must have drawn his attention. He wasn't sure what he worried about most. That Heero would find out that the other neighbors wanted to kick him off the block, or that Heero would find out he single-handedly prevented it. He didn't want Heero to have any reason to break the promise he had made him earlier. That would only make the new neighbor... even more irresistible.
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