Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Gone Round ❯ Four ( Chapter 4 )

Four

"Morning," Trowa greeted Matty happily as he cooked at the stove, smiling at him. "Coffee's on," he added, indicating the machine. "You hungry?"

Matty blinked at him—though, really, it was more at the hickies along his throat. It took him a moment to resolve why that had his attention. "Uh...where's Blake?"

"He hasn't gotten up yet," Trowa returned, nonplussed. "Are you hungry?"

"Sure," Matty muttered, moving around to gather himself a cup. He hesitated after pouring, though, studying the thing.

"Sugar and creamer are over here," Trowa noted, indicating the end of the counter to his right. "I was going to put it by the pot, but got distracted—something about the eggs burning."

Matty smiled slightly at that, moving to mix his cup the rest of the way. "Uh...um...how did you sleep?"

Trowa guffawed at that, starting to laugh a little. "I think I had a solid hour in there somewhere."

Matty stared at him.

Trowa laughed wickedly, focusing back on the food. "I'm starving...you?"

"I'm hungry," he agreed quietly, glancing toward Trowa's room uncertainly.

"No, how'd you sleep?"

"Good, actually..."

"Good, it's hard to find the balance between noise and stereo."

Matty laughed a little at that, moving to sit down at the couch and stare at the tv. The news was playing quietly, and the house was silent.

"Good morning," Wufei muttered, moving into the area and stopping to look at Trowa. He stared at him a long moment, then went to the coffee pot.

"You sleep okay?" Trowa asked, glancing back at him. "You want food?"

"I don't have time for it—me and Jin were working on his resume and crap last night, so...I didn't get enough sleep."

Trowa gave him a concerned look.

"Uh...no, Trowa, you didn't keep me awake."

Trowa grinned at that.

Wufei grinned back and left the apartment without saying more...he was running late, Trowa hadn't really been watching the time, though.

"Who in the hell were you fucking last night?" Duo demanded, moving into the kitchen to poor his coffee. "And how the hell did you get out of the house to pick anyone up?"

Trowa met his eyes wordlessly as Duo moved around to mix up the creamer and sugar...and overfill his cup as Blake moved from Trowa's room, rubbing at his eyes.

Matty started laughing. "Duo! Duo!"

"Shit!" Duo stopped pouring the creamer and stepped back, looking around three or four times before realizing Trowa was offering him the hand-towel. He started cleaning up his mess, then gave that up and looked to Trowa...before moving around the island to poke his head into Trowa's room.

"What are you doing?" Blake asked him curiously, then looked to Matty, who was still laughing as Trowa dumped the ruined coffee into the sink.

"Holy shit, did you have fun?" Duo demanded, turning to look at Blake. "Did you pass out from lack of oxygen?"

Blake started laughing embarrassedly at that.

"Leave him alone," Trowa admonished, grabbing the coffee pot. He gave Blake a concerned look. "You okay?"

"Sore," Blake noted dryly to Matty...who fell over on the couch, he was laughing so hard.

Duo smacked his hand to his face, covering his eyes as he thought quickly. He had no idea how to react to the situation, considering Blake's level of self-esteem. He also didn't want to embarrass Trowa away from the curiosity. On top of all that, Matty's laughter suggested he wasn't going to live down overfilling his cup.

Trowa set the refilled cup back near the creamer and gave Duo a look—it was a very pointed look. There was a promise of death in those eyes, just not how to provoke it.

Duo moved to finish mixing up his cup, glancing sidelong at Trowa.

"Later," Trowa muttered in Spanish.

"I didn't pass out," Blake added quietly to Matty, who was starting to calm. "But I think I swooned a few times."

Trowa started laughing himself, nearly spitting out his mouthful of coffee onto the food he was making as Matty started laughing even harder. A moment later, Blake had joined in.

Duo focused on Trowa with a slightly raised eyebrow, then snatched the spoon from him.

Trowa was put off a moment, not expecting the action, then shook his head and moved over to kiss Blake's ear...which completely distracted Blake from the laughter. When he stopped, he noted that Blake was still waiting, licking his lips...

Well, that was an easy turn on, wasn't it?

Matty started laughing again, covering his face with his hands.

"Are you okay?" Trowa demanded, grinning down at the younger man. "Really?"

"I'm fine," Matty agreed, still laughing. "I'm perfectly fine."

- -

"Wong Jinli?"

"Yes?" Jin asked curiously, moving down the hall as he rubbed his eyes. He hadn't been awake long.

"Good morning, this is Richard Steward from Jonjim Testing..."

Jin's heart quickened as he moved into the living room. Matty and Blake were sitting on the couch with their heads together, and Trowa was doing dishes in the kitchen—and from Blake's clothes, he'd really stayed the night.

Didn't that figure?

"I...yes, I sent my application in last night," he forced his mind back to the more important matter.

"And from the time-stamp on this, you must be tired," the man laughed a bit. "But...well, I appreciated your listings and all, but I'm just sort of confused, because when I tossed your name into the search...it says you're espoused to um...Brigadier General Chang Wufei."

Jinli froze as Trowa looked to him sharply.

"But your application states that you're single. I wanted to address the matter first-thing, and make sure you know that our industry does not take sexual orientation into account when hiring. Actually, that Brigadier General listing is pretty impressive. It lends credence to your full resume...so...were you worried about our hiring practices?"

Trowa had a hand to his mouth, his eyes sparkling.

"Um...no," Jin returned blankly. "I just..."

"I'll stop you there," the man said happily. "I don't actually need to know why you did it, but I do want to let you know that the listings in the search are taken into account. When there is differing information from a resume, we print that out as well. When you come in for your interview, you can let the interviewer know if you want the information taken into consideration—and let me tell you, being espoused of a high-ranking military officer doesn't hurt your chances in the slightest. Do you know when you'd be able to start, if we hired you? Your application says you're free any days. Is there a time you'd prefer to work?"

"I prefer sleeping in a bit," Jin admitted.

"Nine-thirty-ish?" the man asked happily. "We only stay open until four, but..."

"That would...work," Jin muttered uncertainly.

"Wonderful," the man said happily. "I'll start setting up your training dates. Did you want to come in this morning or this afternoon...for your...interview," the word was amused.

"You're not just hiring me because of Wufei, are you?" Jin demanded sharply.

"I won't lie; potential government funding has an appeal...but no. It says here that you worked in Raiment Testing up on 25...for a year. Raiment has a good training program...which means that you should have at least the basis of what we're doing here."

Jin made a noise, uncertain. He hadn't thought to add in that year of working, but Wufei had said it couldn't hurt, and when they found this job he'd had an 'I told you so' aire.

"So...would you like to come in this morning?"

"I need to shower and eat," Jin noted quietly. "I can come in after that."

"So...an hour," the man noted thoughtfully. "That should give you plenty of time to find the facility."

"I...will be accompanied by soldiers," Jin noted as Trowa raised his eyebrows. "That won't be a problem will it?"

"Of course not," the man reassured him. "I'll mark that down...and...see you in an hour."

"Thank you," Jinli muttered, closing his phone.

"Soldiers?" Trowa asked. "You don't mean me, do you?"

"No, I'm going to get Wufei to get me...a couple."

"Why?"

"Because he's a little too interested in getting me there fast," Jin snapped. "He wanted to accommodate me, and that suggests to me he wants me there."

"Maybe he wants to hire you," Trowa noted pointedly.

"And maybe you want me to kick your ass," Jinli snapped back, moving into the lowered area. He'd already hit the autodial.

"What's up?" Wufei asked curiously.

"Two things—I just got a call from Jonjim..."

"Already? That's awesome..."

"He was asking me why I didn't mark that we were espoused."

Wufei hesitated. "Why would he know that?"

"Exactly," Jin agreed. "And he was trying to get me there fast."

"So he wants to hire you?" Wufei asked hesitantly.

"Maybe...I'm sort of worried, though. Is there a way to get a couple soldiers to go with me?"

"Uh...Trowa's there, isn't he? I'm at work, so it's harder to go pick you up a few good men."

Jin made a noise at him.

"Okay, so I'm not funny today," Wufei noted happily. "Duly noted. I'm serious, though...Trowa and Quatre are there, one of them should be able to do it. Actually, you probably could on your own."

"I'm not playing into your paranoia," Trowa noted happily, going back to what he was doing. "I'll only play into Matty's."

Jinli glowered at him, moving toward the hall. "Matt?"

"Yeah?" Matty asked, moving around to look at him with interest.

"With that tag of yours...from base," Jin realized he didn't have his on hand. "What do you do to get your way?"

"Show it to someone with a pretty rank tag and tell them what I want," Matty grinned at him. "Why?"

"Because I'm not going to this interview today alone."

"Oh," he blinked. "Yeah...I suggest you ask for Patel. He knows what he's doing and we know for a fact he's on our side."

"Thanks," Jin muttered, smiling briefly at him. He moved back down the hall, rubbing at his face.

He had an hour to get showered and food, then he had to get a couple soldiers from base, and get to the...crap, he hadn't even looked where that damn place was.

He had a feeling he was in for a long morning.

- -

"So, I'm going to the base," Quatre informed Trowa pointedly, not looking around. "I...me. By myself...alone."

Trowa looked up from his laptop to give Quatre a very long look.

"Are you...with me?" Quatre demanded.

"No, you're going by yourself...you...no on else...alone. I'm not with you."

Quatre tsked.

"Quatre?" Blake darted down the hall, rubbing at his eyes. "I need a ride home—I could take the bus, but..."

"Right," Quatre agreed, indicating the door and turning. "Matty?"

"Yeah?" Matty moved from the bathroom with the toothbrush in his mouth.

Quatre blinked. "Oh, did you want to come with me?"

Matty disappeared to spit. "Where are you going?"

"Just to base...well, and dropping Blake off."

"Oh...I wasn't...uh..."

"No, it's fine," Quatre reassured him quickly. "Trowa's here."

"You're leaving me with Trowa?" Matty asked skeptically.

Trowa guffawed.

"He got laid last night," Quatre noted dryly, looking around to Blake. Blake grinned a little vacantly at him and moved into the hall. "I think you'll be fine."

Matty snickered. "I'm telling Heero you did it. When he decides to kick your ass..."

Quatre snorted at him.

"You're going to base?" Jinli demanded, darting from his room. He was wearing a pair of slacks and a nice shirt. His hair was fixed and his shoes were shiny. He had his base-tag around his neck, and wallet in his hands.

Quatre blinked.

"Duo's lending me his car," Jin explained quickly, patting his pocket. "He took his bike...but I wanted to get a couple soldiers from base and I'm running late...already."

"For what?" Quatre asked blankly. He'd heard Jin showering beforehand, and then Matty had hopped in. He himself had just used the shower in the old apartment.

"I have...an interview," Jin blinked at him. "The guy called this morning, and..."

"How do you have Duo's car, then?" Trowa asked blankly. "He left before you decided to wake up."

"He took his bike today," Quatre explained. "I imagine you called him?"

Jin nodded, looking around nervously a moment.

"So why do you need to go to the base?" Quatre added curiously. "I'm not following something here."

"The guy was a little too eager to get me the job."

"He might just want to hire you," Trowa noted pointedly. "He could...like your resume...and the little note that you're espoused of Chang Wufei."

"Why would he know that?" Quatre asked blankly.

"Quatre?" Blake asked from the hall, appearing again.

"Oh, right...I'm going, if you're following me, I'm leaving now—sorry, Blake. I'm gonna get Jin some guys and then I'll take you home."

"You could get me some guys," Blake said happily.

Quatre started laughing, and Jin followed him out the door.

"He really just left without saying anything to me," Trowa noted in mild dismay. "And was saying shit to Quatre."

"You're special," Matty called from down the hall.

Trowa snickered, moving to mix himself up another cup of coffee. For some reason he couldn't bring himself to care...and it was a little reassuring to hear it. Matty moved into the kitchen as he left it, and he slowed at the bottom of the stairs to take a drink from his cup...and froze entirely at the sensation along the nape of his neck as Matty ran his fingers up into Trowa's hair—light fingertips—and grabbed a handful.

"Matty," he said brightly, standing very still. "You wanted my attention?"

Matty snorted at him and yanked.

Trowa lowered himself backward obligingly to look up at the younger man. He wasn't sure if the grip hurt or felt damn interesting, but all it'd take to switch to simple pain was Matty closing his fingers.

"How in the hell do you know how to fuck like that?"

"Practice?" Trowa asked uncertainly, focusing on his cup carefully.

The grip tightened—but he'd been wrong. That was an interesting sort of pain. "I meant with males."

"Ow...ow...okay!" Trowa wanted to laugh. He'd never seen Matty that demanding before, and there was definitely no denying him. He could see why Heero was so enthralled by him.

Matty let him go.

Trowa stepped away quickly, rubbing at the hair that had been yanked as he moved to set his cup on the little table. The pain didn't really recede, though, and Matty crossed his arms. "If you lived with Duo this long, you'd know, too! I mean...if you were straight..."

"What?" Matty demanded.

Trowa glowered briefly at him, dropping into the chair. "Duo's an asshole. If he decided he wanted to annoy me, he annoyed me. He tells me all sorts of shit I don't want to hear when he feels like it...and even more specific details when it was a bad lay...I've heard."

Matty moved down the stairs, considering him skeptically.

"What?" Trowa asked nervously, shifting backwards slightly. He didn't trust the guy not to grab his hair again.

"Blake told me everything, you realize?" he asked, sitting in the second chair. "From the wall," he indicated the thing that was behind him, "to when you woke up this morning."

Trowa grinned slightly at him, picking his cup up again. "So what?"

"So what?" Matty demanded. "I don't know if it's occurred to you yet, seeing as he's been here nearly daily for the last few weeks, but he's looking for a boyfriend."

Trowa looked to the laptop, not wanting to discuss that.

"So what the fuck were you doing? How is that fair to him?"

"He was just asking Quatre to pick him up some guys," Trowa retorted, gesturing at the door. "He left without saying anything to me...so don't even start that preaching nonsense!"

Matty shifted forward in his seat.

Trowa shifted back, ready to move. He was realizing even more how shortsighted it had been of Quatre to leave them alone together. Heero would just love it if he ended up hurting the guy, and that's where this would end up going if Matty grabbed him again.

"I'm not even sure what happened!" he shot at the youth. "We were just dancing...and..." he glanced toward the wall as he thought back. Blake had been testing him, and he had been daring the other on.

"And when you woke up?" Matty asked dryly.

Trowa snickered, meeting his eyes. "And what?" he asked, sipping from his cup. "At that point, he'd already been in my bed all night. Hardly time to quibble."

Matty narrowed his eyes.

"I'll talk to him, all right?" Trowa demanded. "I think things went just as fast for him as for me, and neither of us have gotten laid in the last two or three months anyway, so...I don't think he's horribly upset."

The other made an amused noise, standing and stepping toward Trowa, considering his eyes. He leaned down after a moment, yanking at Trowa's hair again—Trowa decided not to move away. "You do that," Matty suggested in his ear in a dangerous tone. "And you better damn well make sure he's on your side."

"Or what?" Trowa growled at him.

"Or I'll make your life hell," Matty whispered back sweetly, mouthing his earlobe. "And I know all sorts of interesting ways to do that."

"And what makes you think I'll let you do that?" Trowa snapped.

"Oh...I have a feeling you won't do much," Matty returned, pulling away. "You talk big and you can act big...but you don't really want to upset me, do you?" he gave Trowa an innocent sort of look that was oddly sincere. "Or Li," Matty started away.

"What does Li have to do with anything?" Trowa demanded blankly.

Matty cast him an amused look, then moved to the main living area, pulling out his phone.

- -

"So that's this area," Richard noted, indicating the space as the moved from the room. "There's one more room I can show you and...the soldiers," he smiled at Patel and the second man, "before you sign contracts saying you won't sell our secrets. We also have medical testing facilities, I noted on your application you had an interest in that field, too. We can put you in any section you really want to try, but overall we'll want you to run through most of them. A few of our guys left over the last few months, so we're trying to fill the gaps. Finding your application this morning was accompanied by a chorus of angels."

Jin blinked at the guy in confusion.

Did he really just want to hire him? Really?

"So how about you? You been with Brigadier Chang long?"

"I don't see why that matters," Jin noted dryly.

"Sorry," the man returned, grinning at him. "I told you already...the term 'Brigadier General' just sort of impresses me. I never thought I'd get to meet one, let alone a war hero...not that I'm trying to impose on you, of course."

"Of course," Jin noted dryly. "We aren't really..."

"I just figure you'll have him come with you to the work picnic," the man said quickly, looking a little nervous. "I don't mean...I understand...I..." he closed his eyes and took a slow breath. "I'm an idiot."

Jin made an amused noise. "Or a fanboy?"

The man laughed at that, grinning slightly at him.

"So...I could have sworn you said something about an interview," Jin added. "What happened to that?"

"The angels sang?" the man asked curiously. "I can't just say you're hired...I have to go through the motions. After we get here," he indicated another section of the building they were approaching, "there's a panel set up to sign off on the forms after you say hello...but we have to talk to you first. Are these a fixture?" he indicated the soldiers.

"Not really," Jin returned. "Sort of a random affectation."

The guy grinned at that, then the soldiers.

"So you're really just going to hire me," Jin added after a moment.

"Oh, there's nothing more pleasant than pissing off the guys at Raiment," Richard reassured him happily. "So the combination of them having trained you and your educational array covering most of our bases...well," he grinned. "You're really a prime candidate. The fact that we got several holes poked through our...ranks...if you will, just means we're trying to pretend we aren't desperate."

Jinli grinned at that. "Flattering."

The man laughed happily, then gestured them through a door. "Normally we don't allow other people in the room—but the really big firearms the soldiers are holding make us think we can make an exception."

Jin laughed again at that, grinning at Patel. The guy grinned back, but they kept their vigil.

So...Trowa'd been right. That sucked...and he'd have to admit it too...

Oh well. He had a job.

- -

"You slept with Blake?"

Trowa jumped at Lifon's voice, turning to stare at her as she moved down into the sunken area...with Matty standing behind her at the door with a wicked light in his eyes.

"Did you have fun?" the girl demanded, moving forward to yank at the collar of his shirt. She started giggling as she saw the marks, then met his eyes. "You're so mean!"

"What?" Trowa demanded, still not getting beyond the wicked look in Matty's eyes. "How am I mean?"

"Blake wants a boyfriend...and you've never seemed into guys before..."

Trowa glanced at Matty again, who was moving somewhat cockily down the stairs. "Oh, I don't know...there have been a few points where I wouldn't mind a roll with your brother."

Lifon guffawed at that, her mo uth rounding into a cute little o of disbelief.

Trowa started laughing, because he'd cracked Matty's little cocky smile. "What are you doing here, anyway? You're not out of school yet."

"We're going to lunch," she noted in confusion, turning to look at Matty. "Aren't we?"

"Yes, we are," Matty agreed happily. "Ready, Tro? We need to get downtown so we can get her back to school on time."

Trowa stared at the teen a long moment, then sighed and pushed away from the table, closing down his music program.

"You didn't know?" Li demanded, turning back to Matty. "You didn't tell him? You are an ass..."

"Sorry, I'm still reeling from him fucking my best friend last night."

Lifon started giggling wickedly, smiling at Trowa before turning to bounce toward the door. "I was thinking we could go hit this place that's sort of closer to the school...it's cute, and I wanted to try it, but its one of those places that dad will be an ass about. I was telling him about it and he started acting all excited," she glanced back at them. "And then when I asked if we could go, because he was all excited, he told me heeeell no."

Matty started snickering.

Trowa moved level with him as the doors opened for the elevator.

"This is what my sister has to do with it," Matty whispered happily to him.

"You don't want to play this game with me," Trowa warned him as the girl chittered on happily. "You really don't want to challenge me like this."

"We'll see," Matty reassured him happily, then nodded at Li...and that really was all the encouragement she needed.

- -

Heero slammed into the lockers hard, the weight against his back suggesting someone wanted him there. He'd have been upset, but the only people who could both sneak up on him and manhandle him lived in his house.

"How big of fight will we get in if I put your boyfriend in his place?" Trowa hissed in his ear.

"What?" Heero demanded, trying to turn. Trowa's leg moved and pinned him forward. "Hey..."

"I'm not just letting you up," Trowa snapped. "How big a fucking fight will it be?"

"How bad you plan to upset him?" Heero snapped back. He knew he should just relax, because Tro would let him go when he was done talking—actually, if he were relaxed, Trowa would probably do it that much faster, but he was really pinned.

"He decided," Trowa hissed, grabbing the hair at the nape of Heero's neck, "that my reaction to this is in his favor..."

"Yeah...yeah...he does that," Heero agreed, not fighting that at all. He could have dislodged Matty if he wanted to, but he was starting to think he needed to go through the sparring matches with his brethren. He had no idea who was strongest anymore.

"I'm not liking how he's trying to manipulate me, and without knowing how far I can push you, I can't back him down...and I'm going to back him down. That's your warning. Talk to him before I end up hurting him—and tell him to quit telling shit to Lifon."

Heero blinked, startled at the vehemence in that simple statement.

"We took her to lunch," Trowa said in a mock happy tone. "Then we picked her up from school, and evidently somewhere in there she started talking details with Blake, because she was all over asking me if I could do this or that to her...not the most pleasant of conversations, don't you think?"

"I'll talk to him," Heero agreed, relaxing as he realized the intent of Trowa's annoyance. It was weird to think Trowa would get confrontational after getting laid, but if Li'd been poking at him...hadn't that been what led to him screwing Blake to begin with?

Trowa let him go, backing off out of immediate reach to sit on the first bench and run his hands through his hair. "I'm going to lose my mind," he noted tiredly. "Evidently what happened was the worst offense to Matty I could ever come up with, because as soon as Blake left he started his shit...and Quatre left him with me today..."

"What?" Heero snapped, rounding on Trowa. "Quatre left him with you?"

"Yes," Trowa agreed. "He was taking off around when Jin went for his interview, so they left together and took Blake home. Aside from fucking with me to warn me to...I don't even know...leave Blake alone? Whatever the hell he was doing...he left me alone. I'm just...it's been a damn long day."

"I'm sorry," Heero said quietly. "He's protective of his friends, and you know Blake is trying to find someone for more than a night."

"I know," Trowa snapped back. "I didn't mean to seduce him last night, it just sort of happened."

"What I saw was just sort of happening," Heero noted with a wicked grin, moving to sit up the bench from Trowa. "What the hell did happen? You were being all pissy listening to your music and Blake went to check you out...and the next thing I know, you have him pinned to the wall and moaning."

Trowa snickered, covering his face with his hands. "You heard that, huh?"

"It was once or twice," Heero agreed, shrugging. "Me and Matty decided to make ourselves scarce."

"Once or..." Trowa smirked at him, then rolled his eyes. "He told Matty everything," he noted dryly. "So you can talk to him about what happened. I got laid, how's that for you?"

"So after all these years," Heero noted happily, watching him head for the door, "you really did take in Duo's lessons...I assume, anyway, since Blake could still walk this morning."

Trowa started laughing and flipped him off, darting out of the room.

Heero snorted in amusement, and went back to getting ready.

- -

"She's trying to claim that you're just buying my affection," Lifon ranted to Trowa irritably, cuddling next to him on the stair he was sitting on. "I told her you're not, you're just Matty's friend, but she keeps pointing out that some twenty-two year old isn't just buying me stuff to buy me stuff..."

Trowa blinked down at her. She was just slightly too small to fit where she was at, and if Matty saw it, he was going to throw a fit...and she had really cute feet.

"I said you talked to my dad," she added, looking up to him with a vulnerable look in her eyes. "And I said you don't ever try anything...but..."

"They know your dad, don't they?" Trowa asked blankly. "He'd kick my ass if he even thought I was thinking shit about you..."

She smiled slightly at that, looking a little reassured.

He leaned over and kissed the top of her head. "We're not normal—any of us. I really am just buying a sixteen-year-old shit to buy her shit. I took you to a frickin' movie."

"I should start calling you my boyfriend," she giggled. "See how long it takes for dad to pay attention to it."

"Considering that I'm the nosy big brother," Matty noted happily, typing on his phone as he moved at them from the kitchen, "he'll know about this in about three seconds."

"Matty!" Lifon jumped up at him.

Trowa narrowed his eyes at the young man, considering his conversation with Heero before. He doubted Heero'd had that talk with him—either that or Matty was trying him. Either was plausible.

The pair started whispering to each other, and Trowa pulled out his phone. He pulled up Taofa's number and typed out a quick text, noting that Matty was sending him a picture that might look bad...with a note about her day.

Matty's phone buzzed, and the pair fell silent. Trowa turned to look at Matty curiously...and noticed the mildly outraged expression on his face.

"What?" Li demanded, taking the phone from him...and started giggling.

"What?" Trowa asked blankly.

"He said I could make worse choices."

Trowa snorted at that.

She giggled more, passing the phone back to Matty, then sighed and sat down beside Trowa, but up the step. "Ade thinks you took me to the movie so I'd forget about Dustin and just think about you."

"Did it work?" he asked dryly.

She gave him an exasperated look.

He grinned back innocently at her, then turned and gave Matty a wide-eyed annoyed look when she wasn't looking at him.

He had done it so she'd stop thinking about that boy; not so much the thinking about him part, but the other. At least she wasn't about to break into tears.

Matty sighed heavily, running a hand through his hair as he pocketed his phone. "Wanna watch a movie?"

"Which one?" Li returned, rising instantly. She touched Trowa's hair in passing, then followed her brother without a backwards look.