Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Brought Into Focus ❯ Chapter 1 ( Chapter 1 )

The thread that binds us is the color Black. It's blacker than pitch, blacker than night, blacker than the darkness itself. -Noir

 

Chapter 1

 

Beep beep beep

 

Heero groaned at the sound of his alarm clock going off. He shrugged off his covers and pressed the off switch on the small black box. A wistful expression fell across his face as he glanced at the calendar. June 16th. The day everyone had been planning for and looking forward to for a month now. Trowa and Quatre's wedding.

 

Heero carefully kept his sigh inside of him and went downstairs for breakfast. As he walked passed Duo's door, he knocked twice, just as he did every morning. It was Duo's signal to wake up and get ready for work, or in this case, the wedding.

 

Entering the kitchen, Heero quickly made some toast for himself and a pair of scrambled eggs for Duo. He set both dishes on their table along with a bottle of ketchup for Duo's eggs. Just another ordinary day in the roommates' apartment. They went through the same routine day after day, and it drove Heero crazy. When Quatre had first suggested that the two live together, Heero knew that he had kept hopes that the two would begin a relationship, something which would have sat quite well with Heero. However, nothing had changed between the two. Naturally introverted, Heero didn't dare make the first move. As for Duo, he seemed so oblivious sometimes that Heero often wondered how he had managed to survive the war.

 

A minute later, Shinigami himself bounced into the small kitchen, and quickly began to lace his eggs with the bright red ketchup. “'Sup, Hee-man?” he said cheerily.

 

“You're rather lively for this early in the morning.”

 

Duo looked at him with wide eyes and said, “Aw, come on now, you say that as if I'm usually not a morning person!”

 

Without looking up from his toast, Heero calmly said, “You normally drag yourself in here and complain about everything from your breakfast to the weather to the birds singing outside.”

 

Duo broke into an uninsulted grin and replied, “Well, today I have something to look forward to! Man, Cat and Tro are finally tyin' the knot. I could sing, I'm so excited!”

 

“Try to wait until the ceremony for that.” Duo had been asked to sing a song at the reception afterwards. It was the part of the evening that Heero was most looking forward to. Although he heard Duo's voice often, he never got tired of listening.

 

“Oh, Duo, before I forget,” Duo looked up from his eggs, a bit of ketchup on his nose. “I need to talk to you about something later. Don't go wandering away after the ceremony, okay?” Duo blinked a couple times before nodding.

 

They were ready and dressed in their suits within an hour after finishing breakfast. Duo sprinted past Heero to the front door, calling over his shoulder, “I'll drive!”

 

They got to the church early, and went to greet the two grooms. It was to be a small ceremony; all five of the former gundam pilots would be in attendance, plus Iria Winner and Catherine Bloom.

 

Trowa and Quatre were dressed in matching white tuxes, but Trowa wore a green tie and Quatre a blue one. They all exchanged greetings and wishes of good luck, and by 11:00 they were ready to start.

 

<^><^><^><^>

 

Heero stood with his arms crossed as he leaned lightly against a wall in the back of the room. The ceremony had been nice, but brief. He was now watching as the guests enjoyed themselves at the wedding's reception. He had not yet found the time to talk to Duo. It was making him nervous, antsy, even, which was odd for him. Soon, Duo would have to sing, and then Heero wouldn't be able to pull him away for the rest of the night. He closed his eyes and tapped his foot nervously as he waited.

 

Suddenly he almost lost his balance as something knocked into him. Heero quickly opened his eyes and discovered a pair of violet ones blinking owlishly up at him. “Duo?”

 

“Heh, sorry Heero, I tripped. I came over `cause you said you needed to talk to me about something, right?”

 

“Hai,” Heero responded, and motioned for Duo to follow him onto the roof of the old church.

 

Once they reached the top, Duo ran to the railing that marked the edge of the roof and leaned over it. The church was perched on top of a high hill that angled sharply down, giving a spectacular view of the city. “It's a nice night, huh, Heero?”

 

“Hai.”

 

Duo turned and smiled at him. “Okay, so why are you so serious? We're at a wedding, man! It's supposed to be joy all around!”

 

Heero sighed and leaned against the banister next to him. “Yes, I know. I'm sorry that I chose this day to talk about it, but I decided last night that I shouldn't wait any longer. I think that…” Heero paused, and took a moment to convince himself that this was what was best. “I think that maybe, we should consider getting separate apartments.”

 

Duo's eyes widened, and then darkened before he looked down to hide behind his bangs. “Oh… I… oh. But I thought that… I mean, we're best friends, aren't we? Did I do something wrong?”

 

Heero looked out at the city below them, determined to avoid Duo's eyes. “No. It's just that…” he trailed off as he finished the sentence in his mind. It's just that it's killing me to be so near to you when I can' t have you.

 

“What made you decide this?”

 

Heero hesitated, and then decided not to answer. He couldn't, not without driving Duo away. He was close to positive that Duo would leave him if he ever confessed. “You don't need to worry. I'm sure that Quatre can help you find someplace to live, or you can even live in our apartment, and I'll leave. Whatever solves the problem.”

 

“But what if that's not the problem, Heero?” Heero turned as he felt Duo lean forward to rest his head on his shoulder. “What if I need you to be there?”

 

“Duo?”

 

“Don't leave me. Everyone leaves, and Heero, I really need to be able to see you and be near you. I need you to wake me up and set out the ketchup for my eggs and… I thought you knew how I felt, Heero! You can't just leave me!” Duo clenched the jacket of Heero's suit and continued to hide his face.

 

“Duo, you're not making sense. Look at me.” Duo shook his head no. With a sigh, Heero grasped the smaller boy's shoulders and pulled him away. With one hand he pushed his bangs away from his eyes and was surprised to see the beginnings of tears clouding them. “Duo… I'm not trying to drive you away. We'll still see each other every day at work. Don't you think that it will be better that way?”

 

“No, Heero, I don't. I…” he faltered. “I just… want you to be near me, always. I'm… I love you, Heero. And you're killing me by pushing me away.”

 

Heero froze. Duo looked up and waited for him to respond. All Heero could do was blink. He would never have expected that. He fought to think of something to say, but all his words were jumbled up, making him speechless. He could only watch as Duo stepped back and leaned heavily against the banister, a small sob escaping his lips. And he could only watch as the old banister crumbled under his weight, and Duo's slender body fell back, shock in his eyes, and tumbled from the roof.