Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Gone Round ❯ Two ( Chapter 2 )

Two

"Heero?"

Quatre looked up to Matty, who had a very serious expression on his face—almost scared, actually. He couldn't find it in himself to be worried though, not with Blake in the door with a grin on his face...and there was something false about the fear.

"Hm?" Heero asked, looking up to him and blinking.

Matty licked his lips nervously, sitting down in the chair next to Heero. Quatre couldn't see his face, and wondered what was going on.

Blake closed the door behind himself.

"I..." Matty half glanced toward Quatre. "I think I might be pregnant."

Heero's reaction was to blink as he considered the younger man, then focused back on the computer. "When do you want to get married?"

Blake started snickering.

"Right now!" Matty cooed, throwing himself into Heero's arms. "I was so worried you'd be upset...let's get married right now!"

"Hm...can it wait?" Heero asked as Quatre covered his face with his hands. "I want to finish this game of spider."

Matty guffawed, pulling back to look at Heero.

Heero started laughing, leaning over to kiss him. "I'm sure it will be a beautiful baby."

Matty started basically giggling, pressing his face into Heero's neck.

"Some days," Heero noted to Quatre, "I wonder about my choices."

Matty bit his throat.

"Aaand others," Heero pulled back to grin down at the guy, "I wish everyone would just get out of the room."

Matty started laughing again, pushing away from Heero to smack his shoulder—and get his ass slapped in return.

"Are you really playing spider?" Quatre demanded, glowering at the other man as Matty and Blake moved to the fridge, laughing about the joke.

"Uh...what?" Heero blinked up at Quatre, then grinned and shook his head. "No, actually, I'm reading an email from Une about how psychotic she's finding Hanager to be. Sorry...I didn't mean to zone out on you."

"That's fine," Quatre noted, pulling his laptop toward him and popping it open. If Heero had an email from the woman, he probably would, too. If he had too much other crap from other people, he could just play solitaire himself. Hopefully, the next time, he wouldn't forget he had the machine. "Mm," he muttered, clicking into his email program. "If you really want a few minutes for you and..." he glanced at Matty, who noticed the attention and gave him an interested look. Quatre grinned, looking back to Heero who had fully focused on him. "The officer's showers tend to be empty through the day."

Heero grinned wickedly at him, looking around toward Matty a moment, then focused back on the laptop. "I'll think about it."

- -

Duo considered the man in front of him a long moment, then looked back to the guy next to him. They were both trying to talk him into reining Quatre in. They'd both noticed he had some sway over the former-blond, even if they didn't realize they were lovers, and they were trying to talk really fast so Duo would get them their way with the guy.

Evidently, having to wait to be interviewed didn't sit well with them. They both had very important positions on the base.

"Did you know," he muttered, sitting down on the table he was standing near—the people waiting to be interviewed could fully wander the room. "Did you know," he repeated, "that this speech was so successful," he indicated the screen, where the recording of his speech was playing, "that we caught all the men associated with the rebels in 25?"

They both fell quiet, blinking at him.

"And did you know, that all of officers on 25 were dealt with one day, and the next we dealt with the other soldiers? That was two days of the largest military base being out of commission. Two days. Can you believe it? And it didn't fall apart."

The men glared at him.

"The officers and the soldiers were much less petulant, though," he added, sliding off the table. "I don't want to hear from either of you again or you'll spend the rest of the day in solitary confinement. I don't have time to deal with babies, and I sure as hell am not going to babysit your asses so you can complain that you're bored."

They stared at him in disbelief.

"The proper response," he hissed at them, "is yes sir, soldiers."

"Sir," the said quickly in unison, saluting him, then starting to back away.

Duo watched them go, then rolled his eyes and looked around the room.

Trowa chuckled darkly, moving up from the front of the room where he'd set the speech's volume up a few more notches. "Magnificently handled."

"The officers of this base are full of themselves," Duo informed him, still looking the various soldiers over. "The soldiers are awesome, but somehow, the officers got a chip on their shoulder."

"You have a bad day?" Trowa asked curiously.

"The house isn't done yet," Duo hissed back, meeting his eyes. "One little thing after the other, and it's about to make me quit."

"You know you'd get bored without the job," Trowa reminded him, looking the room over. "Don't focus too much on quitting, because you'll go stir-crazy if you don't have something to challenge yourself with."

Duo sighed, leaning against the table again and shaking his head. "This isn't challenging, this is shoddy workmanship. Vic thinks it's because I was gone so long throughout the building."

"Vic realizes where you were, doesn't he?" Trowa protested. "What was going on?"

"Oh yes, he gives me the full leave of military duty...just reminds me it's my own fault."

Trowa tsked.

"Oh yeah, there's a reason I'm thinking about quitting. If the start-up fees weren't so atrocious, I'd start my own company."

"Who's Victor's biggest rival?"

Duo looked up to his friend, who had wickedly glowing eyes. He had to grin back as he considered the options...and how to suggest it to Vic himself to make the man shut his damned mouth.

It had some definite possibilities.

- -

Wufei nodded at the clerk, reading down the sheet of paper as the guy spoke. The official version of Quatre's orders had been typed up and printed out, and they wanted all the Brigadier Generals on the base to sign it—though Wufei got the impression they wanted the orders countermanded so the base could get back to normal.

He, however, agreed with Quatre on this one.

"And civilians aren't supposed to be eavesdropping," the man snapped at Jinli.

"Civilians?" Jinli asked levelly. "Do you have any idea who I am?"

"Brigadier Chang?"

Wufei turned to look at a vaguely familiar man who had a folder in his hands. He looked between them nervously a moment, then offered the stack to Wufei. "You ordered us to get his...his...card made up," the guy explained.

Oh! The ones he'd threatened at the gate.

He nodded.

"It was necessary to...to...do as you suggested," the man added, looking down as he glanced at Jinli. "Was that...everything?"

"Yes, thank you," Wufei returned, setting the file on top of the sheet he'd been reading. "Let me sign off on this...Jin, you have to sign, too."

Jinli blinked at him and the packet a moment...the focused on the words that headed the thing.

Espousal Record.

Jinli smacked a hand to his face.

Wufei snickered happily, signing his name in the required spot and dating it, then slid it around and looked to Jin.

"I hate you," he informed Wufei seriously...and signed his name, too.

Wufei grinned slightly, filling out the rest of the information he needed to, then noted that there was a sheet for Jin, too. He slid that over.

"I...need to access this computer," the guard noted to the clerk seriously. "Now."

The man saluted and logged off the machine. The guard slid over the top of the counter as Jinli filled out his sheet, and logged onto his own account. After a moment, he took the papers Wufei offered him and scanned the barcode on the thing at the bottom. His fingers flew across the keyboard, and after a few moments, he turned to look at Jin...who slid the sheet to him almost thoughtfully.

"There...we...go," the man muttered, typing more. "Get me a badge," he instructed the clerk.

The guy looked annoyed briefly, then muttered something that sounded like ‘yes sir', and disappeared.

"Okay...I'm no genius," Jinli muttered, leaning forward, "but I could swear his nametag has more pretties on it than yours."

The guy stared at him in amazement a moment, then grinned and moved his arm—he had a band around it with a series of stars sewn into it. "My position gives me the rank to command...even the Brigadier Chang," he nodded his head respectfully to Wufei. "I'm charged with keeping the base in order and safe, so I have a few...the word that comes to mind is privileges...but that's not exactly the word I'd pick to describe it." He grinned slightly at Wufei. "Disobeying me can get you landed with treason charges—keep that in mind...and you should probably teach him the system, Brigadier."

"I should," Wufei agreed casually, starting to look though the forms in the folder.

"Here, sir," the clerk muttered, passing him a badge.

"Thank you," the man returned, taking it and scanning it. After a moment, he pressed another key, and the printer next to him started up. "It's a shame all the stands don't have card printers," he noted. "But then again, I've never used this machine before and the likelihood of me doing it again is slim..." he started clicking through things quickly and typing one handed.

Jinli was actually pretty impressed to watch him do it, because he was typing with his left hand across the full keyboard. He blinked as Wufei slid something to him and looked down...at the folder. "What...is this?"

"The information about espousal," the soldier returned, glancing back at him. "There..." he clicked something else and logged off the screen. He turned, then, taking the scissors...and starting to cut out the information tag. When he'd finished that part, he dug out a pen from one of his pockets and wrote along the bottom edge...and signed it. "And we're done," he added, sliding the paper into the plastic holder and sliding it across to Jinli. "Congratulations."

"Uh...thanks," Jin returned.

The man grinned at him and moved around behind, disappearing briefly into the room. He appeared a moment later, exiting from a door to the left of the window, and smiled at Wufei. A moment later, he was gone.

"That was...efficient," Jin noted blankly.

"They don't normally have me sign that much stuff," Wufei noted, looking back to the thing he'd been reading before. He signed under Quatre's name, then looked up to the clerk.

"You're...espoused?" the clerk asked them blankly. "I'm...so sorry," he added to Jin specifically. "I was rude before...please forgive me, sir."

Jin nodded his head, blinking.

Wufei smirked. "So I'll get Yuy and Barton to come read this and sign off on it," he noted. "I don't know if there are any others of my rank on the base, so...have a good day."

"Thank you," the man noted sourly—he'd just read where Wufei had signed.

Wufei smiled at him, then turned and led the way down the hall.

"He totally did a three-sixty on us," Jin noted quietly.

"He did," Wufei agreed. "People treat Matt like that, huh?"

"Yeah, huh?" Jin rolled his eyes. "I cannot believe we're marked as espoused."

"I know...I'm going to have to get a new tag before the end of the day, I'm sure. Hey...scan that here," he indicated a vending machine.

Jinli gave him a perplexed look, then scanned the thing. It took the machine a moment to think about it, then it said to make his selection.

Wufei hit the button for a bottle of cola, twice. It was one of the nicer machines, where a door opened and you reached in for the bottle. Wufei grabbed the first, then the second, passing the one to Jin as the machine thanked Jinli for his business.

"What the hell?" Jin asked blankly.

"Perk of the espoused to a Brigadier General," Wufei explained, flicking his collar slightly. "I can do it, too. I don't usually, but...hey, we're espoused." He started laughing and toasted Jin with the bottle. "We need to go find Heero or Trowa."

"Right," Jin noted, rolling his eyes, then lifted the folder he'd been given. "This is thick."

"I know...it's got all sorts of weird pamphlets in it," Wufei returned. "I think it's the stuff you can do for me on base. Matty got one when he first got his tag," he indicated Jin's. "He and Heero were laughing as the flipped through it. Matt ended up getting a couple pairs of military grade pants and some boots and stuff...it probably just lists what you can get where, and what you can do."

"I guess...let's go ditch it in...our...locker."

Wufei laughed delightedly at that, and started toward the area.

- -

Matt jumped hard when the door to the officer's showers opened, staring wide-eyed at it as...Wufei entered the room.

"We have the timing," Jinli noted sardonically as Heero moved up behind and looked out at them with interest.

"Timing?" Matty asked, relaxing and pulling his pants back on. "What are you talking about?"

"When I first got here," Wufei explained, "Duo and Quatre had just finished showering. Can't you idiots wait until you're home to try and breed?"

Matty guffawed.

"Oh, probably," Heero noted happily, combing his hair as Matty pulled his shirt on. "But what fun is that?"

Wufei gave him a look.

"What is that?" Matty asked Jinli curiously, sitting to start pulling on his shoes and socks.

"The guy who gave me the badge gave it to me," Jin explained, showing them his. "I'm just putting it away."

Wufei and Jin disappeared, and Matty looked nervously to Heero.

They hadn't made a big deal out of it, because situationaly it had been necessary, but they were legally espoused.

The pair had to know that...didn't they?

"When you get done here," Wufei gestured at them as Jinli left the room again, "go to the information booth. They want you to sign for or against Quatre's actions today. I think I'm gonna make one last pass around the base, then head home. Later."

"Wait, Wufei!" Matty called...but the door closed behind the man.

"Do you want to get married?" Heero asked curiously, sitting himself and pulling on his shirt. "More than just claiming you're pregnant?"

"I know a pregnant girl," Matty offered. "I can get you a pregnancy test."

"Gross," Heero gave him a mildly offended look.

Matty grinned and kissed him, then went back to his shoes. "I dunno...we haven't even been together a year. Right now it seems like a happily ever after, but I'm pretty sure at least once a month I'm surprised at something with you. I haven't even started real school—my mom always said to live in your youth...and I'm only nineteen. I don't think I'm ready to be married...no matter how much I love you now."

Heero smiled at that and kissed him again, then focused on his own shoes. "I'm not the fastest to pick up on things," he said quietly. "I don't know for sure how much you mean stuff yet...so don't expect me to understand subtle hints too fast...and...and I don't see my life without you."

Matty smiled at him, kissing him again, then rose to his feet. "I'm getting out of here before we get you in trouble...and I meant it earlier when I kept trying to put you off, dammit."

Heero sniggered and kissed him again, standing to follow him as he tried to pull away. He didn't step, but Matty was laughing as he did, grinning at Heero almost accusingly, then turned and bounced from the shower area. He gave Heero a coy look over his shoulder...and disappeared.

Heero laughed to himself, focusing back on dressing—really, that would get done much faster without Matty in the room.

Wait...Matty was alone in the hall.

He'd pulled both his shoes on, and was grateful they were slides as he darted toward the door.

Matty stepped back into the room before he could clear the shower area, staring with wide-eyes at Heero.

"What?" Heero demanded, moving toward the door and dropping his shirt and jacket as he reached for his weapon. "Did you see..."

"I just...realized...I was alone," Matty returned, moving into Heero's arms. Before Heero could more than agree to that, Matty was crying. He pulled the guy tightly to his chest, pressing his lips to the guy's head. "I hate this," he choked, clinging. "I hate it...I'm scared to be alone..."

Heero held him tighter, trying to think of what Taofa might say to the words...or Duo...or Quatre...even Trowa. He couldn't work his mind through the notion. "It's...it's okay..." he muttered. The words sounded weak to him.

"I can't do anything when I'm grabbed," Matty went on. "I'm scared to be alone...Quatre left me in the apartment, and I could hear people down in the old one...and was too terrified to leave the room! When a new soldier enters the area I freeze until I see the blue mark, and if they don't have it, I go to the ones who do...I...I...I'm just so tired of being weak..."

"You're not weak," Heero protested quickly. "You're not..."

"You don't even know what I'm talking about," Matty snapped, pulling away to glower up at him and wipe at his eyes. "You had whole armies cowering in front of you by yourself by the time you were my age...you'd won two wars by the time you were my age..."

"But...Matty...I..." Heero floundered, not sure what else to say.

"Get dressed," Matty snapped, leaning down to pick up his shirt and jacket. "Hurry up...I want to get out of here and go home...I'll go with Wufei if you're not ready yet."

"No...I can go," Heero said quickly. "If...if you want me to."

Matty focused on him, deflating slightly, then smiled. It was a sad smile, but he looked tired. He turned to their locker, opening it and starting to dig out their things.

Heero sighed slightly, pulling the shirt and coat on. He buttoned up the shirt, but didn't bother to tuck it in or button the coat. He accepted his things from the younger man, then turned and held the door open for him.

"Why...don't we...go to my dad's for supper?" Matty asked quietly. "Maybe...stay at that house."

"Anything you want," Heero reassured him, perking up at the suggestion. Taofa would know what to do, and Heero could ask him about it for future reference...

"Did I ever tell you about my mom?" Matty asked, turning to smile slightly at him. "She was...funny."

Heero nodded, his heart quickening slightly. Matty never talked about his mom...not more than to say what had happened to her, or repeat things she'd suggested.

"We can go to the information thing," Matty noted quietly, starting down a hall Heero didn't know. "But...she was the one who always said to go for what you want. If you want it, it's worth having, so take it."

Heero grinned at that, remembering the first week they'd been together.

"It's always funny to me, because when I'm with you...I feel safe, and...not embarrassed...but then you try and tell your friends shit I've done and it just makes me die inside."

Heero smiled at that, not sure how to respond again.

"I don't understand why it matters," Matty added quietly, looking to the floor. "Because I'm quite willing to throw you on the bed as soon as you walk in the room...but when I think you'll tell someone that..."

"It's fun," Heero noted happily. "It's funny when I'm just expecting you to be playing a game or something...and suddenly I'm on my back. I can definitely think of worse greetings."

Matty laughed, moving under his arm. "My mom liked to say to do what you want and worry about the details later...or let dad do it. Dad would have kittens because she'd just go buy some expensive thing for me or Li...or buy a bunch of movies...we didn't really have a lot of money, but once in a while she'd do it, and my dad would point out how little good it would be if we had a killer laptop and no electricity to run it...or to run the dvd player or tv...all that sort of things. My mom always noted it would work out and he needed to stop stressing so badly..." He wiped at his eyes.

"I can see that," Heero muttered. "Do you miss that?"

"Dad does it," Matty noted quietly. "After she died...if there was something that caught our attention, he'd go out and buy it for us as soon as he had the money to. It's not quite the same as mom, but we have a bit of...he...he has debt...from the funeral."

Heero closed his eyes.

"And the car...and the house...and the credit cards." Matty shook his head. "I wanted a car, so he lent me the money—that's why I started working at Casto...that and to get some money for college."

"You want to go?" Heero asked with interest.

"Eventually," Matty agreed with a sigh. "I haven't gotten a whole lot saved up..."

"No," Heero muttered. "Do you want to go."

Matty stopped, looking up at him.

"I'll make you a deal," Heero said quietly, studying his face as he started tucking his shirt in. "If you can get your bachelor's without stopping or giving up...I'll pay for it."

"I don't want you to..."

"I said if you do it without stopping," Heero cut him off. "I had friends who tried college, and most of them gave it up as a bad job. It's not easy, and what I'm offering you is the same sort of loan you could get through the government. You have to pay me back what you used if you give up."

Matty stared at him.

"Whether or not...we stay together," Heero added quietly, looking away briefly.

"Why?" Matty demanded. "Why would you offer me that?"

"Because I want anything you want," Heero returned, starting to walk away. "And if I can make it happen, I will make it happen."

"And how can you say that even if we break up, you'll still pay," Matty protested, moving to catch up with him.

"Contractual agreement," Heero shrugged. "I'll fund you as long as your GPA stays above a three point."

Matty stopped again, thinking fast.

"Call your dad," Heero suggested as they slowed at an intersection. He looked up, seeing Wufei and Jinli down a side hall, talking to a man. He gestured at them. "Call your dad, and I'll go take care of the order nonsense Wufei mentioned."

Matty watched him walk away, then turned quickly toward Wufei. Wufei gave him a concerned and alarmed look, but Matty indicated the hall Heero had disappeared down, pulling out his phone. He leaned against the wall within Wufei's line of sight as he hit the autodial. He had a moment of noticing his sparkling blue phone, and had to smile as he set the thing to his ear and slid down.

"No, you can't borrow my car," Taofa informed him. "Don't even ask, I won't have your boyfriend sexin' you up in the back seat."

Matty guffawed.

"And don't even start that cry...hello?"

"Holy shit, is Li exploring?" Matty demanded.

Taofa coughed. "I have your...the ringtone...but...uh...hi, Matty."

Matty laughed again, rubbing at his eyes. "I was thinking me and Heero could come over for dinner tonight...stay in my old room?"

"You're not having your boyfriend sex you up in my house either," Taofa noted pointedly.

"We took care of that already," Matty noted dryly. "But that's not why I called you."

"I'd certainly hope not, I don't care about your..."

"No!" Matty wiped more at his eyes. "No...you...you're so special. No...I..." he licked his lips. "Heero asked me to marry him."

Dead silence.

"But I said not yet!" Matty added quickly, wishing he'd thought out what to say beforehand. "I...he said...but..."

"Are you okay?" Taofa demanded. "And aren't you stupidly in love with him? How could you turn him down if he asked..."

"It wasn't a real sort of proposal," Matty protested—the word definitely caught Wufei's attention. "It was...asking if I wanted to...not if I would...but that's not even..."

Taofa sighed. "Then why did you say it if it wasn't what you were calling me for? Holy shit, someone wants to marry you."

"Hey!" Matty protested.

Taofa snickered. "I'm sorry...it's just...wow. Really? It wasn't while you were..." he cleared his throat. "It wasn't something like that, was it?"

"No," Matty returned dryly. "Near enough...but no. I told him I was pregnant earlier so he asked me when I wanted to get married."

Taofa didn't comment, uncertain.

"I told him now and he said he wanted to finish his game of solitaire...it was later when he got serious."

Taofa groaned.

Matty laughed a little, Quatre's reaction to his comments more prominent than Heero's. "No...but...Dad? He offered to pay my college."

Taofa fell silent again.

"He...he told me that he'd make me a contract...a legal one...that said as long as my GPA stayed above three points, he'd fund me, even if we broke up. He said...he wouldn't make me pay him back if I got my bachelor's...but if I quit school...he'd have me do it then."

Wufei was watching him, he realized, not breaking conversation, but watching him. He shifted slightly so his face was less obvious, not entirely sure what he thought.

That offer had been a bomb on a quiet Sunday...entirely unexpected and fully out of left field.

"And what did you tell him?" Taofa asked in a slightly choked voice.

"I didn't know what to say," Matty returned. "He said he wanted anything I wanted...and..."

"How the fuck did you find Romeo?" Taofa demanded, almost annoyed. "You find yourself a military hero and he saves your ass from a colony..."

"That he'd told me not to go to anyway," Matty agreed quietly, thinking back to the conversation. That had been before he'd realized that Max was the one and...well, not only...but the prominent Heero Yuy.

"And...he takes his friends to save you..." Taofa trailed off quietly. "Tox?" he said quietly.

Matty blinked—no one had called him that since...his mother had been alive.

"Tox," Taofa repeated, "I want you to listen to me, and I want you to promise me something. For whatever reason..."

"Dad..." Matty started.

"No, listen," Taofa ordered. "For whatever reason, that man dotes on you...his whole world seems to revolve around you right now, and while I know you're just having fun...he asked you to marry him. I don't care how he phrased it, but he asked you to marry him."

Matty lowered his head to study the floor as he messed with his new shoes.

"He loves you," Taofa repeated. "So if you decide to leave him, you had better not be a dick to him. I always thought it was nonsense of you to be living with him already, but they bought you pax...and...and I don't even know what all..."

Matty studied the shoes, struck again with how absolutely random it had been for Quatre to tell him to grab the damn box because he obviously wanted them. ...that wasn't all, though. There had been clothes, and money...games...and food. Every night, Wufei made sure there was something he specifically knew Matty would like in what he made. Every morning Quatre would let him wake up on his own and wait for him to be ready to go do whatever he wanted to...and Duo.

Duo explaining the finer points of Heero's thought processes...Duo pointing out why Heero'd done something...why the others had...

And then Trowa...Trowa attacking the soldier on 27 because they guy had upset him...Trowa smiling up at him from standing over Ranger...Trowa smirking at him as he handed Lifon the very phone she'd dreamed of for weeks...

"I know you're young," Taofa muttered quietly. "And I know you're capricious...and I think he does too. I don't think he wants to pin you down or pen you in at all...and that offer he just made you? That is a phenomenal thing...and his addition of a contract and...and..."

"He told me to call you," Matty muttered, wiping at his eyes again. "He said I should call and talk to you about it..."

Taofa snorted slightly. "Of course he did...what an asshole."

"What?" Matty asked blankly.

"He set it all up nicely so you can take his offer. He organized things out in a logical fashion and gave you the key to helping you decide...and he's not right there, is he? He hasn't been there since you called me."

"He went to look at some papers in the main office," Matty agreed. "I'm down the hall from Wufei."

Taofa laughed, sounding amused, pleased, and exasperated at the same time. "What an asshole," he repeated, laughing even more. "Clever fucking asshole...holy shit, Matty...he asked you to marry him."

Matty started laughing himself, wiping at the tears streaming down his cheeks.

"You okay?" Wufei asked, squatting down in front of him.

Matty looked up at him a moment, then around to Jin, who was giving him a concerned look. The other man was nowhere to be seen.

"Matty?" Wufei asked. "You want me to take you home? Did Heero piss you off?"

Taofa started laughing even more.

Matty grinned at him a moment, wiping at the tears still on his face, then jumped at Wufei. The Chinese man wasn't only knocked off balance, but startled. He landed on his rear, ready to give a consoling hug...and realized it wasn't that at all.

He looked to Jinli uncertainly.

"You're all assholes," Matty informed him, pushing away and raising the phone to his ear. "Dad? Me and Heero will be leaving in the next five minutes, probably. Have you had dinner?"

"I assume you'll be making it for me...just call your sister and let her know you're coming. It wouldn't due for you to find her and that little boyfriend of hers on the couch half-dressed. Then you'd have to tell on her, and she'd get in trouble."

Matty snorted at that. Taofa knew full-well that he would not get his little sister in trouble.

"And you better do just that if you ever do find it before she's eighteen," Taofa added pointedly. "Or I'll kick your ass."

The line went dead.

"Are you okay?" Wufei asked uncertainly. "Why the tears?" he wiped at Matty's face with his thumb.

"I...he didn't exactly say it, but...Heero sort of asked me to marry him," Matty studied Wufei a moment. "And...you heard me about the college thing."

"Heero's a simple man," Wufei agreed. "You make him happy, and there's a damn lot he's capable of doing to keep you happy, too. So what's the verdict? You going to marry him?"

"I'm...I'm nineteen," Matty muttered, looking down.

"Up we go," Wufei muttered, grabbing his forearm and hauling him up as he stood himself. "So how about the college thing?"

"We're going to my dad's...we'll all talk about it then."

"Nice shoes," Jinli noted, kicking at them. "I don't recall seeing those around at all."

". . . why is your phone sparkly?" Wufei asked blankly.

Matty looked between the two males, then grinned at them and extended his foot to show the shoe better. "Quatre was tired of being in the shoe store," he noted. "And...come on," he added, showing them the back of the phone properly. "It matches his car."

Wufei scratched at the back of his neck, considering Matty's expression a moment—Jin had covered his face with his hand—Wufei nodded, though. "It does...that's neat."

Matty grinned at him, both pleased and amused by that. He turned, smiling as Heero turned down the hall.

"You didn't make it very far," Heero noted, extending his arms. Matty flew into them, hugging him tightly.

"We were sidetracked," Wufei agreed. "You guys leaving, too?"

Heero nodded.

"We need to be sure the others know before we just ditch," Jinli pointed out.

"Uh...can you let them know for me?" Heero asked. "We're sort of having a...um...evening."

"From screwing in the shower to crying in the hall," Wufei agreed, rolling his eyes. "Come on, Jin...later, Heero."

Heero grinned after him, starting for the front of the building.

He wanted to get back to the apartment and change before they headed to Taofa's...and maybe call into work.

It would be nice to spend a day with Matty and not worry about anything. They didn't have a whole lot of time left before the rebels fixed Wing Gundam...he wanted to enjoy every minute of it.

He didn't want to die, leaving things undone with Matty...and even though he didn't plan on dying...it was worse if it was unexpected.