|
"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 Fifty Two: Honesty Duo’s Point of View It was probably a good thing Mill’s arm was firmly around my waist, or I might’ve been tempted to run back inside and throw myself at Heero’s feet, begging him to run away with me. Yeah, I can imagine how that would’ve looked to Relena. Milliardo opened the door and I slid into the Rolls Royce, reaching for my seatbelt and sighing heavily as he went around and got in the driver’s side. He started up the car, sliding a glance at me out of the corner of his eye. “So what did Yuy have to say out on the terrace, hm?” I managed a wan smile. “He said I talk too much,” I replied glibly. “Really.” We pulled out of the driveway, and I stared blankly out the window, feeling like I’d ripped my heart out and left it back there on that fucking terrace. “We’re not far from my place on the shore,” Milliardo continued, his eyes firmly fixed on the road. “Would you like to see it?” See “it?” And what “it,” exactly are you referring to? I fiddled with the sleeve of my jacket. “Milliardo—.” “I know.” “You know what?” “You’re not available.” He smiled wryly. “I’m not entirely unobservant, you know.” “Mill—.” “Would you like to stop someplace for coffee?” he asked suddenly. “There’s a lovely place on the way back to your apartment.” “Is that your tactful way of making sure I don’t invite you in for a cup of coffee and try to take advantage of you?” I teased rather weakly. “It’s my way of ensuring that you don’t feel obligated to invite me in for coffee.” We rode in silence for a few minutes, and then Milliardo pulled the Rolls into the parking lot of a small, charming-looking coffee shop. I didn’t bother to argue; I had no fight left in me. So, dressed in formal wear, tuxedoes and all, we went into the quiet shop and got our coffee, taking it to a corner booth, away from the stares of the two teenagers working behind the counter. “I think we’re overdressed,” I pointed out, settling onto the vinyl-covered chair. “They’re staring.” “More likely they’ve never seen a gay couple before.” I gave a wry snort. “Around here? There’ve got to be plenty.” “Well, perhaps none quite so dazzlingly handsome,” he suggested with a conspiratorial smile. I almost managed a laugh, wishing I’d met Milliardo some other way and that I’d never met Heero at all. Then, maybe, I could have been happy with the suave, elegant art dealer. “You are y’know,” I said quietly. “I’m what?” “Dazzlingly handsome.” He blushed and looked away, his lips quirking in a wry smile. “If only that were enough.” He fixed me with a steady look from his piercing blue eyes. “But there’s still someone else, isn’t there?” “I’m afraid there always will be,” I admitted wearily. “Trouble is—he’ll never belong to me—so I’m just pining over a pipe dream.” “If he doesn’t realize how fortunate he is—he’s a fool.” “So’m I.” “For what? Pining over an engaged man?” I looked up so sharply there’s no way I could have hidden my expression. “Yes,” he said gently. “It’s quite obvious—at least to me. But then, I’ve been watching Heero for a long time.” He gave a rather wan smile. “I was hoping he’d wake up to the fact that he’s attracted to men in time to give me a chance. But apparently, it took you to bring that out in him.” I could feel the heat on my cheeks and I looked down, fiddling with my teaspoon. “I’m not gonna come between him and Relena,” I said flatly, surprised at how ragged my voice sounded. “You already have,” Milliardo pointed out. “And it’s not your fault.” He placed a hand over one of mine. “Why are you blaming yourself for their broken relationship? It was never right in the first place. But even Heero didn’t realize that until he laid eyes on you. Doesn’t that make you think perhaps it was meant to be?” “If it was meant to be, we’d have met before he proposed to Relena,” I said bitterly. “We’ve got the fucking worst timing ever…I planned his wedding.” He snorted, picking up his cup and taking a long drink of steaming coffee. “Your timing’s fine, Duo. He hasn’t tied the knot yet—and from what I heard tonight, he has no intention of doing so.” “He might after our little chat on the terrace,” I pointed out. “Ah.” Milliardo looked for a moment like he might ask for specifics of the conversation. But then he gave me a frank, questioning look. “Does he know how you feel about him?” I nodded, studying the swirls of cream in my coffee so I didn’t have to look into those shrewd eyes. It was damned hard to lie to Milliardo when he was looking straight at me. “Does he feel the same about you?” I really wasn’t sure how much to tell Mill. He seemed sympathetic enough—but it was one thing to admit an unrequited love for Heero, and another to tell him Heero had professed his love for me. “I’m not going to run to Relena you know,” he said, picking up my train of thought with uncanny accuracy. “I’d have to admit I propositioned her fiancé as well.” I looked up at him in disbelief. “You did? When?” A slow smile crept across his handsome face. “The day you told us to go fuck each other.” I couldn’t help it. I laughed aloud…a genuine, heartfelt laugh that brought a delighted smile to Milliardo’s lips. Then I took a long sip of my coffee, feeling like a weight had lifted from my chest. “Tell me what happened,” I begged. He did. He told me all about their little conversation in the hallway, and how he’d suggested that Heero wanted me for himself, only to get punched in the face. I don’t know why I found it so reassuring that Heero had been interested in me that long ago. I remembered our Chinese takeout meal, and how I’d left rather hastily when I realized how strong my feelings were towards Heero. And then I recalled the day with Milliardo—Heero’s blatant hostility towards his brother-in-law to be. “That was all about me?” I asked in wonder. “I’m sure of it,” Milliardo insisted. “As I told you, I’ve watched him for a long time. It was quite obvious to me that he was jealous of my interest in you.” He gave me a knowing look from those intense eyes. “Tell me it wasn’t him on the phone that night.” I could feel the blush on my cheeks and hid it behind my coffee cup, taking a sip. “It was,” I finally admitted. “You had no idea he wanted anything more than friendship, and yet you turned down an admittedly good-looking gay man just because he asked you to.” I nodded reluctantly. “So you were in love with him even then.” “I-I guess I was.” “And you still are.” I leaned back in my seat, closing my eyes. “God, how stupid am I, Mill? How the hell did I fall in love with a guy I thought was straight? And why can’t I stop loving him when it’s obvious he’ll never be free?” “Why do you say that?” I fixed him with a stern glare. “He can’t dump the queen of the social and diplomatic world for his gay wedding planner, Mill. It would ruin him. He’d lose his parents, friends, and maybe even his job.” “And gain you,” shrugged the blonde, giving me a cheeky smirk. “Fair enough.” “It’s not funny,” I chided. “The scandal would be—huge.” I looked out the window at the lights in the parking lot. “Not to mention what could happen to Quatre’s business if his best wedding planner broke up the union of the century to steal the groom for himself.” Milliardo laughed heartily. “You’re pathetic!” he exclaimed, leaning forward and placing his elbows on the table so he could stare me down. “Fuck the scandal! It’s not the first and it won’t be the last. And fuck Relena while you’re at it! She’s never appreciated him to begin with, and she won’t curl up and die if she loses him.” My jaw almost hit the table as I gaped at Milliardo. I couldn’t fathom how he could condone my stealing his sister’s fiancé. “But—but—.” “But nothing!” He pushed back from the table, picking up his cup and finishing it in a gulp. “I should drive you back there right now and make you kiss him in front of every guest at that party, Maxwell…expose you both for the idiots you are!” “There’s no need for—.” He pulled me to my feet, pushing my cup into my hands. “Finish,” he ordered firmly. I obediently drank the rest of my coffee, watching him over the rim—sure he was clinically insane. Then I set it down. “What are you going to do?” I asked warily. He shook his head. “Fear not. I won’t drag you back to publicly declare your love for him. But I will take you home, see you safely to your door, collect a very heated, yet meaningless kiss, and drive back to my cold, lonely house on the sea. Then I’ll keep calling and harassing you to be a man and take him away from Relena, until you do so.” He took my arm in his, escorting me out past the kids who were gawking even more openly by that time. But as he opened the door and ushered me into the car, I looked up with the warmest smile I had. “It won’t be meaningless,” I promised, since that was all I could promise him. He smiled back, though there was a wistful expression on his face. “Yuy’s the fucking luckiest bastard I’ve ever met,” he sighed. Then he went around and got in his side, starting up the car and heading for the highway. True to his word, he drove me home, walked me to my door, kissed the living daylights out of me, and told me not to worry about him—he wouldn’t be as stupid as me and waste his time pining over someone he couldn’t have. Then he cocked an eyebrow in a rakish gesture. “But if I hear another word about Yuy and Relena getting married…if you actually let that happen…I will pursue you to the ends of the Earth and sweep you off your feet. Because then I’ll know you really don’t love him.” I was still standing leaning in my doorway moments after he left, dreamily staring at the place he’d disappeared, and thinking that as sweet and charming as he was, he couldn’t hold a candle to Heero. And frankly, I didn’t worry about Milliardo. I was quite sure he’d find someone he fancied just as much as me, and that whoever it was would be a very lucky sonofabitch indeed. After a few minutes, I finally pulled myself back together and walked inside, tossing my dress jacket onto the arm of the couch and loosening my tie as I headed for the kitchen. I put a pot of water on for tea, and hit the button on the answering machine as I passed it. And then I stood transfixed by the sound of Heero’s voice, while he apologized for the whole messed-up evening. Fuck. He had to go and say “please,” didn’t he? I drew a sleeve across my face to dry my eyes, frustrated at how easily the pain in his voice brought me to tears. Yeah, I’d talk to him when he got back. I didn’t know what I’d say—or even what we still had to talk about. But I couldn’t refuse his desperate plea. And not just because I knew Milliardo would hound me to death if I didn’t at least try to fix things, but because I really did love Heero. And he’d said he loved me. Hadn’t he?
For those reasons, as well as my own self-indulgent desire to hear his voice, I answered the phone the following Friday when I saw Heero’s number on the caller i.d. “Maxwell here.” “Duo? It’s me, Heero. Um—could I speak to Relena?” “Relena?” Why the hell was Heero calling my cell phone to reach Relena? “Yeah—she said you two would be out all day today. But she must have her cell phone turned off. I keep getting voice mail.” I was floored. Relena had told Heero she was with me today? Well, why the hell would she do that? We had no plans for the foreseeable future—the wedding prep was done and she had the final package in her hands by this time. “Where are you?” I asked, stalling for time to figure out what was going on. “The airport,” came the impatient response. “I got in early.” “Uh—‘Ro—.” I fumbled for words, afraid to blurt out the truth without knowing what the fallout might be. “Can I have her call you back? Kinda busy right now.” “Sure, Duo.” God, he sounded tired. “Are you okay?” I asked, before I could stop myself. “Not really,” he said flatly. “I—have a lot on my mind.” “No shit.” There was a long pause, and I heard him sigh so deeply I had to close my eyes and swallow hard to keep from blurting out that that I loved him and didn’t care if he was fucking married to Relena—I’d share my bed with him any time. “Duo?” “I’ll have her call,” I said quickly. “Bye, ‘Ro.” I hung up before he could stop me, and headed for the Jaguar, intent on going out to the estate to find out exactly what game Relena was playing.
“Goddamnit, Relena!” I blurted before I could restrain myself. “You fucking bitch!” She whirled around, her face scarlet and eyes wide. “Duo? This—it isn’t what you think!” I put my hands on my hips, raising an eyebrow skeptically. “You expect me to believe that shit?” I’d been on the receiving end of her advances, and I knew it was exactly what it looked like. The guy took a step towards me, his face dark with anger. “Who the hell are you? What business is it of yours what Relena does?” he demanded. “I’m just her fucking wedding planner!” I shot back coldly. “And, correct me if I’m wrong, but you don’t look much like her fiancé.” He glanced at Relena with a flicker of amusement mixed with his anger. “So this is the queer, eh?” I stepped closer, just itching for a fight. “What if I am?” I snarled. “I’ll still kick your fucking ass clear into next week!” The guy swung as Relena let out a panicked shriek, and I ducked and landed a solid and satisfying punch to his stomach. However, since the guy was pretty much built like a linebacker, he shook it off and then tackled me around the waist, bringing us both down to the ground. “Duo! Geoffrey! No!” Relena squealed, darting in and grabbing futilely at one of his arms as he was trying to pin me down so he could belt me in the face. Shit, man! Not the face. Hey—I hadn’t wasted my money on those weekly workouts. I had the presence of mind to knee the bastard in the groin—hard. And that sure as hell brought tears to his eyes, as well as gave me a chance to roll clear and regain my feet. Don’t think I didn’t immensely enjoy watching him scramble painfully up and stand hunched over glaring at me. “Relena, if you want your fucking wedding planner alive, you better get him the hell out of here!” he snarled. I laughed aloud at that. “Alive?” I taunted. “I’m not the one who just got his nuts punted up through his nose.” I’ve always had a gift for bringing out the worst in people who want to hurt me, and Geoffrey was no exception. With an incoherent cry of rage, he launched himself at me again, and I danced aside and drew back a fist to cold cock the sonofabitch. Just then, Relena apparently decided to rescue her paramour from her pissed-off wedding planner—and she walked smack into my fist—taking a hard, if glancing blow to the cheekbone. She went down like a sack of feed. “Aw—shit—‘Lena!” I pulled away from her angry boyfriend, and tried to see how badly hurt she was, but he caught my arm, yanking me back and all but tossing me into the wall beside the French doors. He was advancing to finish the job while I was still trying to catch the breath that had been knocked out of me, when Relena’s voice finally got through. “Goddamnit, Geoffrey! Leave him alone!” she yelled, cupping a hand to her face and stumbling to her feet. “Just—leave!” Amazingly the big ox listened to her, halting his approach and turning to walk back over to her. He slid an arm around her waist, but she pushed him back, glaring up at him. “Go home, Geoffrey. I’ll call you.” She reached up and kissed him lightly, softening the rebuke, and then she nodded her head towards the exit. He spared a glance back at me, where I was standing with my hands on my knees, gulping a much-needed breath of air, and I flipped him the finger, narrowing my eyes menacingly. “Goodbye, Geoffrey,” Relena said quickly, giving him a push to send him on his way. Then she turned to me with a mixture of emotions across her face. “Are you all right?” I straightened up, tossing my braid back over my shoulder. “I’m fine, ‘Lena,” I said curtly. “Which is more than I can say for your idiot boyfriend after Heero finds out about this.” She gave me a stricken look. “You wouldn’t tell him—?” I gaped at her. “Why the fuck not?!” I demanded. “Jesus, Relena! You’re cheating on him. The man has a right to know.” She walked over, and I felt a twinge of guilt when I saw the bruise darkening her delicate cheekbone. “Duo—please—you have to understand,” she begged, turning tear-filled sky blue eyes to me. “Heero’s gone so much. And even when he’s here, he’s so—reserved—so serious. There’s nothing passionate about him at all!” I wanted to tell her how wrong she was, recalling with a rush of heat his deliciously hungry kisses and the burning passion in his every touch. But she went on in a rush. “Geoffrey’s like you—warm, caring—he makes me laugh.” “He’s nothing like me!” I spat coldly. “I wouldn’t steal someone’s—.” I stopped cold at that, feeling like ice was running through my veins. “Fuck,” I muttered wearily, putting my hands over my face and trying to quell the sudden nausea. I felt Relena’s hand on my wrist, and then she was right in front of me, looking up into my face. “Please, Duo. I’ll do anything. Just, don’t tell Heero about this. He’s liable to do something crazy!” I have to admit, guilt was twisting my gut so badly I couldn’t say anything at that moment. Who was I to lay blame when I wanted her fiancé as much as she did? More, probably. Make that definitely. She pressed closer, wrapping her arms around my waist. “I mean it,” she insisted. “I’ll do anything for you.” And then damned if she wasn’t kissing me again—and a hell of a lot more passionately than she had when she was drunk! I was taken by surprise just long enough that she was able to back me into the wall and slide her tongue in my mouth. Fuck, but the girl was aggressive! “Goddamnit, Relena!” I gasped, pushing her back by both shoulders. “I told you, I’m fucking gay! What don’t you understand about that?” I drew a sleeve across my mouth, giving her an accusing glare. “Sex is sex, Duo,” she said in a surprisingly calm voice for a woman who was just promising me “anything” in exchange for my silence. “I’m sure I could make you enjoy it, if you gave me half a chance.” My jaw dropped. “You’re unbelievable, Relena.” I shook my head. “I have to get the fuck out of here.” I turned to go, but she grabbed my arm again. “Don’t walk away from me, Duo! This isn’t over!” “It sure as hell is!” I snarled, whirling to face her. “It’s completely over. I’m going to tell Heero you weren’t with me today—that you lied about it—and how I found you with your fucking boyfriend!” I jerked my arm free and headed around the house at a brisk walk, with Relena pattering along behind me. “If you do—!” she yelled angrily, her fury evident in the shrillness of her voice. “You’re fired, Duo! D’you hear me?” “That’s just fine with me!” I yelled back. “And I’ll send you the cleaning bill for the clothes your fucktoy just ruined!” I brushed off a torn sleeve, stalking around the corner to the driveway and nearly colliding with Walter, who was just coming up the walkway from his car. “Goddamnit!” I hissed, barely stopping in time. Relena made another grab for my arm and I shook her off, shoving her back roughly. “Duo! I’ll make sure you never work in this town again!” she swore. I turned around and laughed in her face. “How fucking clichéd! Go the fuck ahead, ‘Lena. I’ll make sure everyone knows what a slut you are!” Walter was staring open-mouthed as I brushed past him and headed for the Jag. As I started up the car, I glanced back to see Relena sobbing helplessly against the butler’s broad chest while he soothingly patted her back and glared daggers at me. Well, that went well…not. Ah, well. I guess it was time to go home, grab a shower, and then head for The Circus to tell Quatre how badly I’d just fucked up his business. Only it wasn’t my fault this time—really. God, I wished I’d never given up drinking…again. tbc... |
