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"The Wedding Planner"Written By: Snowdragonct Disclaimer: Don't own any part of Gundam Wing or the characters, more's the pity. This is for fun...no profit involved. Warnings: AU, yaoi, some OOC, angst, potential lemon(s), sickening sappy fluff Pairings: to be announced, or it’d be too easy (but you know who I like) A/N: This idea hit me while I was driving somewhere, and I needed to start it before the inspiration faded. But it will take second place to Boot Camp and the sequel to Boot Camp, so I can’t promise regular or frequent updates. It’s probably totally predictable FLUFF, so you have been warned. And I’m trying out the world of first-person here, with point of view shifting between Heero and Duo (maybe others…not sure yet). Rating: NC 17 Summary: Heero isn't thrilled when Relena hires
someone to plan their wedding, but once he meets the young man, he's
downright unhappy. Duo Maxwell is friendly, good looking, and spending
way too much time with Relena...Heero's jealousy knows no bounds.
"The Wedding Planner"
Chapter Thirty Four: Reassurances Duo’s Point of View I hung up the phone, resisting the urge to bang it against my head. What the fuck was I thinking, flirting with Heero Yuy? The straight guy. The straight, engaged guy whose wedding I was planning. And there I was, telling him I was still in bed—alone; grousing about the fact that he’d talked me out of a night of hot sex. The only way I could’ve been more obvious was if I’d suggested he owed me one. God, did that thought conjure up some nice images…those deep blue eyes staring into mine as he leaned over me, our bodies entwined...the sound of the surf in the background and the salty smell of the sea mingling with the sweat of two impassioned bodies. Fuck. I could either jerk myself off in bed and have to change the sheets, or drag my ass into the shower to finish what my wayward thoughts had started. I wanted him so badly! With a groan, I threw off the covers and headed for the bathroom, eager to release the pent up tension that was making it so hard to walk. Maybe it was the previous night’s unfulfilled foreplay with Milliardo, or maybe it was just the length of time I’d gone without…but it seemed like I was barely under the spray of hot water and stroking myself, when I came, with a gasp of relief…and an image of Heero’s intense blue eyes, cloudy with passion, staring into mine. This just could not end well.
The phone rang, and I pulled my attention from my morbid thoughts, and my hands from the pile of wedding brochures spread out on my kitchen table. It was Relena. Shit, damn, and motherfuck! “Maxwell,” I answered, surprised I didn’t blurt out the news that I’d just masturbated to the image of her fiancé. Oh, it was on the tip of my tongue. “Hi, Duo,” came a very subdued voice. “It’s me, Relena.” “Yeah, that’s what the caller i.d. said,” I joked, reaching to pour a cup of coffee before it had quite finished brewing. I needed the caffeine really badly—and quickly. “Oh, of course.” She gave a nervous little giggle, and then got serious again. “Um, about yesterday Duo…” “Milliardo stopped by last night and explained it,” I told her quickly. “He did?” There was a pause, and the tone of her voice brightened. “So, everything’s okay—between you two? I didn’t mess things up?” “Mill’s a nice guy, Relena. And I appreciate that you wanted to set us up,” I said carefully. “But I’m not really looking for a relationship right now.” “You aren’t?” she asked in surprise. “But Duo—you—you must get lonely. Don’t you want to find a great guy to be with?” Yeah—mind loaning me your fiancé for the rest of my life? I gave a strangled sort of laugh. “No, ‘Lena. I had my chance—twice. I’m just not up to another heartbreak like those, y’know?” “I’m—sorry,” she said, as if it was a bit of an effort. “I had no idea you were so—. I mean, you seemed to like flirting so much—I just thought you were more serious about it.” “Old habits,” I shrugged. “Oh.” She absorbed that for a moment, and then sighed. “Well, anyway. I am sorry about having the valet disable your car. It was very childish, as both my brother and Heero pointed out to me—loudly.” I had to chuckle at her rueful tone. “Yeah, they both apologized on your behalf.” “Heero did? When?” Oh shit. “Uh, he called while Milliardo was here,” I stammered. “Figures,” she said with a hint of annoyance in her voice. “He’d hardly talk to me last night. And when he did—.” She paused, and I heard a little catch in her voice. “What did you tell him about the night I was drunk, Duo?” Whoa—where was this coming from? I was still stirring sugar and cream into my coffee; it was way too early for quick thinking. “He kind of cornered me, ‘Lena. I just said you might’ve made a little bit of a pass at me…nothing much.” “Oh.” I couldn’t tell if that was relief in her voice. Then she gave a little rueful laugh. “He’s always been very good at poker,” she commented obtusely. “Huh?” “Oh—he tricked me into telling him a bit more than you did,” she sighed. “He acted like he knew everything. So I mentioned that I kissed you.” “Are you trying to get me killed?” I asked weakly, taking a long swig of coffee, and realizing it was still a little too hot as it burned its way down my throat. But it did wonders to wake me up. “He’s mad at me, Duo. Not you,” she assured me. Well that sounded right, considering the conversation I’d just had with Heero. Mmmm...the conversation I had while still in bed. Now if only it had been in person, rather than over a stupid cell phone. Bad Duo! “Actually, he’s really, really mad at me,” she said, her voice quavering a bit. “You okay, ‘Lena?” I could tell from the slight hiccup that she was close to tears. “I—don’t know,” she confessed. “He was just so angry—and jealous—.” Fuck! She was trying to get me killed. Making Heero Yuy jealous was like lighting a stick of dynamite and standing there blithely holding it. But again, he hadn’t seemed angry on the phone that morning. In fact, if I didn’t know better, I’d have thought my flirting got to him a bit. He kind of moaned there at the end, when I said something about the shower—and from any other guy, or rather any gay guy—I would have thought it was a reaction to the thought of me naked. In his case, it was probably just annoyance with my flirting. “Jealous?” I asked carefully, hoping Heero wasn’t just biding his time and waiting until he got back from his trip to snuff me and toss my body in the ocean. Was that what he’d meant when he said we needed to talk? Was I about to get the riot act read to me again? But—no! I was the one who’d called when Relena got drunk. Heero knew I wanted nothing to do with her advances. And he’d been fine on the phone that morning. “He’s not jealous of you, Duo,” Relena assured me, as if sensing my trepidation. “It’s just—we’ve had some rocky places in our relationship. And he’s not very sure of me sometimes.” She sniffled a little. “It’s my own fault, I guess. I’m just—afraid—.” “—of what?” “That he doesn’t love me any more…that he’ll change his mind.” Her voice was seriously choked up by that time. “Aw, ‘Lena, no,” I said soothingly. “Don’t think like that. He’s crazy about you.” “He said that?” came the hopeful inquiry. I tried to recall a time he’d said anything about his feelings for Relena—and came up empty. But his actions and gestures certainly showed that he cared. “He doesn’t have to say it,” I told her. “It shows in the way he treats you. Remember how much he hated my flirting with you? And how he kept making sure to sit between us? He’s so damned possessive of you, it’s sickening.” She gave a skeptical snort. “So we’re back to that? He’s jealous of what he perceives as a trespass on his property,” she said, echoing her words from when she was drunk. “No—that’s not all it is,” I insisted. “You should have seen how quickly he came when you were sick. He was really worried about you. You, Relena. Not your ‘business arrangement,’ or someone he thought of as property. You.” Fuck! There was that familiar twist of jealousy in my gut as I recalled the way he’d brushed the hair from her face as she lay passed out on the couch…and the long, intimate kiss they’d shared on the steps of the estate the day before. Here I was, trying to buoy up the spirits of a woman I envied with every fiber of my being. She sniffed and then spoke with a hint of a hopeful smile in her voice. “You really think so?” “I do.” And that was the truth. I did. In spite of the times I’d seen Heero irritated with his fiancée, I had no doubt that he loved her deeply. Why else would he have proposed to her? It couldn’t have been a business arrangement to him; he wasn’t wired that way. And he sure wouldn’t be so possessive of someone he only considered a partner of convenience. “You may not think he’s very romantic, Relena. But trust me; he has his own way of showing how much he cares about you. You just have to look for it a little harder.” There was a long silence, and then a sigh. “You’re so sweet, Duo. How d’you always seem to know the right things to say?” Because I learned from the best. Alex and Solo had both been so expressive in their love that I’d never had to question it. Every touch…every glance…spoke volumes of how much they loved me. And there was that yearning again, to have someone that caring back in my life. “I just—pay attention,” I told Relena. “Part of the job, y’know—to sense if a client likes or dislikes something.” “I just wish I could do that with Heero,” she said rather hopelessly. “He’s so hard to read…so reserved. Cold.” Cold? I hadn’t thought of Heero as “cold” since our first couple of meetings. As soon as we got past the icy reception he gave me, I’d seen a depth of personality that was nothing less than compelling. “Well, maybe you just have to warm him up,” I teased gently, trying to restrain the rampant thoughts that accompanied my words. God, I’d love to warm him up. “When he gets back from his business trip, why don’t you make him take a day off to do something the two of you enjoy?” Again she snorted skeptically. “With our schedules? You’ve got to be kidding.” “Dammit, Relena, if you’re not going to try—.” “You don’t know how hard it is for us to find time to be together.” “He managed to make it to a lot of planning sessions.” “When he thought you were trying to seduce me,” she said wryly. “Well maybe I’ll just have to start flirting again and make him jealous,” I joked. “He knows you’re gay.” Her tone was a little lighter, and more teasing. “So I’ll convince him I’m bi.” “Are you?” Shit…she sounded almost hopeful. “Uh—probably not,” I told her. “Seeing as I’ve never, um, slept with a woman.” “Do—?” “No! I don’t want to give it a try,” I snapped impatiently. Did she never give up? There was a moment of silence that made me wonder if I’d misinterpreted what she was about to say. But her next words reassured me I hadn’t lost my telepathic abilities. “How’d you know I was going to say that?” she said with a giggle, and I knew she’d recovered from her melancholy mood. “Because you’re a bigger flirt than I am.” I swigged down the rest of my coffee, now that it was cool enough to not scorch my tonsils. “Listen, ‘Lena. I have a full week of appointments, so I should get to work. Just—don’t jump to conclusions about Heero. Some guys get pretty nervous when they’re making wedding plans. It’s a big step—that kind of commitment. It scares the living crap out of them, and they start to think and do some crazy stuff. You just have to be patient and reassuring.” She gave a deep sigh. “You really are a treasure, Duo. And I really am sorry, about the car and about the whole ‘L2’ thing. Honestly.” “I appreciate that.” Relena wasn’t the first person to show prejudice against the colony I came from, so I didn’t take it too much to heart. It wasn’t her fault she was brought up by snobs. And in view of her apology, I thought maybe she could eventually learn to overcome those ingrained attitudes. “You tell your boss I said you’re worth every penny he charges,” she added with a chuckle. “It’d be better coming from you,” I suggested. “He already thinks I’m way too cocky.” I got a laugh with that comment, and when I hung up the phone, I felt a mixture of relief and guilt. I was glad I could make Relena feel better about the fight she and Heero were having…but part of me wanted to wedge myself into that rift between them and pry him away from her. It made me feel a little sick, wanting to steal someone’s fiancé like that. Only the fact that I knew I didn’t have a chance made it bearable. Even if I indulged in a little flirting and the occasional fantasy, I knew I wasn’t going to take Heero away from Relena. It was kind of a relief knowing he was heterosexual—like Fate was saving me from myself and my baser urges. Of course, Fate owed me. She’d taken both of my fiancés in the worst possible way. It was only fair that she cover my ass this time. The phone rang again, interrupting my morbid thoughts, and I picked it up quickly after glancing at the caller i.d. “Hey, Quatre—how’s it going?” “Fine. How about you? How’d it go with Heero the other evening?” Oh yeah. I’d almost forgotten my mad dash out of The Circus, and the fact that I’d scolded Quatre for thinking there was anything between Heero and me beyond friendship. I chuckled a little. “Want all the down an’ dirty details?” I teased. He gave a little huff of frustration. “Did you have a nice dinner?” Clearly he wasn’t going to be baited. “Yes, we did. We hung out by Howard’s, had Chinese take out, and sundaes for dessert. We took a walk on the beach and talked awhile.” I decided to beat him to the punch by answering any and all questions in advance. “Then Relena called, and like a good little fiancé, he left to go spend time with his lady.” “I see.” “And yesterday, we went on a cake hunt. All of us,” I added helpfully. “We ended up at Jacques’ bakery.” “Mmmm. I haven’t had Jacques’ cooking in ages,” sighed my boss. “He gave me rum cake,” I gloated. “In fact, there might be a sliver left, if you’re nice to me.” “I’m always nice to you,” Quatre protested. “Well then, shall I bring your cake to the office, or are you in your car and on your way over here already?” “Actually I’ll be on the road all day,” he sighed. “How about bringing it to The Circus tonight?” “You and the hot bartender aren’t going to tease me about my dinner with Yuy, are you?” “Well—I can’t guarantee what Trowa might do. Did you have to say you never kiss and tell?” I chuckled at that, recalling my hasty parting words to Quatre’s lover. “Shit, Quatre. I was kidding. You know that. Trowa should too.” “Yeah, but that doesn’t mean he won’t mercilessly torment you for saying it in the first place.” Yeah. Sometimes I’m my own worst enemy. “Fair enough,” I sighed. “I guess I’ll see you later.” “Don’t forget the rum cake.” “God forbid.” tbc... |
