Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Coming Home ❯ Chapter 8

I was expecting to be lectured. I stared at the table and waited for Wufei's angry words. Wufei cleared his throat, but I wouldn't look up.

He cupped my chin with a hand and forced me to meet his gaze. I almost flinched in anticipation of his glare, but his gaze was soft. "I just want to hear your side of the story, okay?" He let go of my chin and nodded to me encouragingly. I didn't have anything to lose at this point, did I? So I started at the beginning …

"You remember Hilde, right? She's been going to the same university as me." Wufei nodded his head; he did remember Hilde. "Hilde was just a friend - a friend with benefits, as we used to say. We slept together sometimes, but we had an understanding. I didn't love her, and she didn't love me." I looked at Wufei and was relieved to see no condemnation on his face. Not yet, anyway.

"That went on all of first semester. And then during second semester, she told me that she was pregnant. She wanted me to marry her. But I didn't love her, and she'd known that from the start …" my voice trailed off as I got caught up remembering, before I came back to myself abruptly.

"I said I'd help support the baby, but I could not marry her. And she went ballistic. Spread rumors. I think she was trying to pressure me into marrying her. I talked to her best friend, and she felt pretty bad about it but there was nothing she could do. The friend kind of thought Hilde had stopped taking her birth control pills. I guess Hilde really wanted this." My voice trailed off.

Wufei was silent for a long time. Finally, he sighed and said "I was furious at you, you know. All I could think about was your disregard for your own potential and future. Your actions seemed so irresponsible to me." I looked down at my hands miserably.

Wufei, should I have -?" Just like I had done so many times in the past, I was asking him for guidance.

What would he tell me? I should have been more careful, I should have somehow foreseen this so that I could prevent it, I should have married her when it happened?

"This is a difficult situation." Wufei stopped. "It's sometimes hard for me to remember that you and I are very different people." He stopped again, and then continued.

"I can't pretend to know what is completely right or wrong here. It's regrettable. But you were honest. And a marriage without love … no, I would not wish that for you." He sounded pensive for a moment, and I wondered if he was remembering his own marriage. "I am proud that you offered to help support the child. I am certain that friendship and respect will develop between you and Hilde over time. The child will not lack for a love, between the two of you. And you will be a good father, Duo."

A flood of relief washed through me at his words. "And you're not mad at me?" I asked.

"Yes I am," he scolded. "You should have told me sooner."

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I just didn't want you to be disappointed in me," I admitted in a small voice. I talked big, but I had always looked up to Wufei and admired him. I could handle anger, sarcasm, and scorn … but not a look of disappointment in his eyes. I was afraid to meet his gaze. Even after he said my name once, I kept looking at my hands on the table. I heard him snort. And suddenly, he moved back his chair and wrapped both arms around me and hugged me as hard as he could.

"Duo," he said, "I could never be disappointed in you. In your actions sometimes, yes, and in the situation, but not in you as a person." And I couldn't help it, even though I wanted to. I started bawling like a kid. He just held me and patted my shoulder.

Wufei waited until my sniffling subsided, and asked, "Better?" He waited for my nod.

"Now that we've got that taken care of," he said, "what's going on with you and Heero?"