Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Growing Up Girl ❯ Chapter 12

My scream caused Quatre to nearly run the car off the road. He screamed right along with me before telling me to calm down. He pulled the car off the road, turned it off, and we just sat there.

I don't think either of us knew what was going on, then. I had gone beyond coherent thought. All I knew was that there was a male in front of me. He had his shirt off. I saw masculinity, like an entity, all around him. I was beyond scared of it.

He must have realized. He put his shirt back on.

We sat in silence. I stared out the windshield, watching cars drive by, their headlights shining in. He eventually cleared his throat. I did my best to cover myself up with my arms and what was left of my shirt. "Are you okay?"

I could barely raise my voice above a whisper. In my mind, I knew that Quatre wouldn't hurt me. There was nothing to be afraid of, from him. But my body was telling me differently. I was as far away from him as I could get. I would have happily climbed into the backseat to get further away, were I not afraid to move. "Why did you help me?"

"I couldn't just stand there, Duo. Christ." He looked at me as if I were crazy. I stiffened.

"What if something happens to Heero?" I had no idea what his friends were capable of. I felt myself worrying over his safety. And what about Trowa and Wufei? I wasn't worried about them. More than anything, I was angry. I was feeling more angry than I'd ever felt in my life. It was boiling inside of me. I'd been angry for so long at the world for not accepting me, not making things easy for me in any way. And the anger was starting to overflow.

Quatre saw it when I looked at him. "I was more worried about getting you out of there," he said. And then, moments later, "would you like to go back?"

I sat staring out the window again, wondering. I was worried about Heero. But I didn't want to go back to that place. "No." I made Quatre switch seats with me and I drove to a convenience store. It was nearly twelve o'clock at night, by that time. The store was closed. It was in a bad neighborhood. I didn't have it in me to be afraid. Fear had been beaten out of me.

I decided to call Heero and see how things were going. I realized I didn't know his phone number, or even his last name, so that I could look him up. I didn't even know if he had a phone at his house. I stood there staring blankly at the plastic receiver in my hand as the dial tone buzzed impatiently at me. I got angry again.

I was going through a lot of emotions. I couldn't control myself anymore. I started beating the phone against the side of the booth, making dents in the plastic casing. I beat a hole into it. The dial tone still buzzed. I pulled on the phone cord before hitting it some more. Pieces of the phone broke off. Wires hung out all over the place. I ripped the cord out of it and threw the phone to the ground. It shattered. I screamed and started kicking and punching things, trying to tear up the machine even more.

I didn't stop until I felt Quatre's hand on my shoulder. I didn't want him touching me. He may not have been threatening in the least, but I didn't want to touch him. I pulled away and slumped down on the curb, trying not to cry and feeling angry.

Quatre picked up the other phone and called Heero. I watched him become worried. "What did you guys do to him?"

His eyebrows lowered. He looked angry. I heard people laughing. Five feet away, and I heard people on the other end laughing. Then I heard a voice and recognized it as Trowa's. He must have been screaming for me to hear him. I hadn't known Trowa would ever scream. He was always so calm when I saw him. He said something about a hospital.

A few seconds later, Quatre hung up and started running to the car. He yelled at me to follow him. As soon as my door was closed, we sped off. An oncoming car had to swerve to get out of the way as we pulled onto the street, heading back towards Heero's place. I realized how panicked Quatre was and I stared at him, confused. "What's going on?"

"Heero's roommates beat the shit out of him. They won't let Trowa or Wufei take him to the hospital."

I started panicking, too. "Is he alright? What did they do?"

"I don't know yet. I don't know." He was yelling. His hands, gripping the steering wheel, were white-knuckled. My car was going a speed I didn't know it was capable of going. I heard the engine scream in protest. Right then, I didn't care if it blew up, just as long as we got to Heero's house.

I remembered I had some clothes in the back of my car, from a trip to the Laundromat. I climbed into the back seat and dug around in the basket until I found a t-shirt and a pair of jeans. I took off the ripped blouse, not even caring that I was exposing myself right behind Quatre, and he could just look in the rearview mirror to see me. I put on the shirt and the jeans and tossed the ripped clothes into the front seat. He was watching the road intently. I did the same, leaning forward from the back seat.

We got to his house in record time. Quatre didn't even really bother to park the car. I jumped out the back door while we were still moving. I ran to the door and started banging on it. Quatre was right behind me. Wufei opened the door. He looked distraught. I pushed past him. "Where is he?"

"You shouldn't have come here. You should have just called an ambulance or the police or something!"

Quatre grabbed the front of his shirt and slammed him against the wall. "Where the hell is he, Wufei?"

Trowa, sitting on the couch, stood up. "He's in his room."

I immediately ran down the hall and shoved the door open so hard that I just knew the doorknob had made a hole in the wall. The room was dark. I went to turn on the lamp and kicked something. Then I realized it was Heero. "Oh my God!" I started crying right there and knelt down, trying to sit him up. I put his head in my lap and brushed his hair back. My hand felt wet. I heard him grunt from pain.

Quatre rushed into the room. I told him to turn on the light. When he did, I had to look away. Heero looked like he'd been run over by a truck, his face was so badly beaten. There was a pool of blood on the carpet where he'd been laying. It had soaked into it, leaving a dark stain.

"Jesus H. Christ."

Trowa hovered at the door, looking helpless. One of Heero's roommates came up behind him and shoved him out of the way. I realized Trowa was trying to restrain himself and not fight. Was it because they were outnumbered? He had bruises on his face and there was a lot of blood on his shirt.

"The faggot returns to take care of his boyfriend." I glared at him. He was tall, with black hair and dark eyes. He had a beer in his hand. He was completely drunk and swaying where he stood. Despite the marks on his face, he didn't seem to be in any pain. I hoped that Heero had been the one to make those marks.

He started to walk towards me. Quatre stood up and stood between us. "We're taking Heero to the hospital. Right now."

The man shrugged, looking as if he didn't care. "You'll have to get past everyone else. You do realize that, right?"

Quatre shoved him into the wall. "He's your goddamn friend! How can you do this?"

"We're not going to risk going to jail over beating up a faggot like him!"

More people started to gather around the door. Wufei shoved through them and stood beside Trowa.

I glared at all of them, even Quatre. I wasn't going to just sit there and take all of this. Not anymore. I may have been a woman, but I could still be strong, I realized. I stood up and pulled Heero to his feet. He started to wake up. He looked very disoriented and leaned on me. He was heavy. I struggled to keep him upright.

Wufei went to his other side and put Heero's arm around his shoulder, helping me to support him. "I'm sorry, Duo."

"Fuck you." I started to push through everyone. I realized they weren't all Heero's roommates. They must have brought the party here. It was probably the crowning event of the evening, beating up Heero. I was disgusted with people, just then.

"Are you just gonna let 'em go?" I heard people rustling around behind us as we went down the hall, towards the living room and eventually the front door.

Something smashed into the back of my head and I fell down, wondering what had happened. It felt like my eyes had exploded. I couldn't open them, but I was seeing red. I didn't cry out. I didn't have the presence of mind to use my voice.

I heard rather than saw the fight. There was a hand on my shoulder, probably Quatre's. And then it was gone, just like that. People were yelling. I heard punches hitting home. A bone cracked. Someone was slammed against the wall.

When I finally was able to open my eyes-it seemed like forever, but it couldn't have been more than a few seconds-I saw Heero on his feet, still fighting. He threw a weak punch, missed, and was hit hard in the jaw. He fell up against the wall. One of them grabbed Heero's hair and started slamming his head against the wood. It left a dent.

I stood up on weak knees. I grabbed a beer bottle, of all things. It was like a bar fight. I broke it over his head. Heero slumped down to his knees, hand to his forehead. Things started to calm down. People stared at me.

I realized I had a weapon.

Something in me snapped. I could practically hear it when it happened. It sounded like a huge branch breaking free from a tree. I ran up to one of Heero's roommates or his roommates' friends. I had no idea who anyone was, by that time. Without even thinking about it, I stabbed him with the jagged edges of the broken bottle. Blood covered my hand in a split-second. He fell to the ground, holding his stomach. I started kicking him. I didn't stop until someone jumped on me, sending us both to the floor. People piled on top of us. More punches were thrown. The man on top of me was being pulled away. I scratched at his face so hard that one of my fingernails bent backwards. I followed him as he was pulled away. I kicked him in the groin and he doubled over. I interlocked my fingers and brought down both of my fists on top of his head.

Still not thinking clearly, I ran up to Heero and grabbed his arm. I pulled him to his feet with strength I didn't know I had. He leaned against me even more than he had before. I practically dragged him to the front door, then outside, then into my car. Quatre was following after us. One of them grabbed on to his arm and tried to keep him from running. His shirt sleeve ripped off as he pulled free. He climbed into the back seat.

I couldn't leave yet. Not yet. Despite my anger and Trowa and Wufei, I couldn't leave them there. I sat in the car and watched the open door expectantly. Heero was curled up in the passenger seat, holding his head, eyes closed.

"What the hell are you waiting for, Duo?" Quatre was panicking. He wanted to leave. Now.

"We can't just leave them in there!"

Heero raised his head and stared at me. Quatre's jaw fell.

"...after all that?"

After a moment, Quatre kicked open the car door so hard I thought it would break. He went over to the side of the house. I wondered what he was doing.

He appeared a second later, a tire iron in his hand. He went back inside.

I realized then that we couldn't take Heero to the hospital. His roommates didn't want to go to jail over this. Neither did I. I had stabbed someone. The thought washed over me like winter. My body went numb. Heero tried to wipe off some of the blood on his face. He sniffed, then rolled down the window and spit outside. He was probably spitting up blood from his bleeding nose. I looked at him. He looked pathetic. I'm sure I didn't look much better.

"Why did you come back here?"

His voice sounded so weak and strained I felt I might cry, just hearing it. I put my hand on his knee and leaned closer. "You protected me a lot. It's my turn." I tried to smile. I tried to make things seem like they would be okay. I wondered if they would.

My head was throbbing painfully. My vision was blurred. I couldn't see him very well, but I think he may have smiled, just a bit.

The car door was thrown open again and Quatre climbed inside, shouting at me to go. I didn't even wait for him to close the door before I took off. "Where are they?"

Quatre turned around to look behind us. "They're in Trowa's car. They're going to follow us to your place."

I looked at him in the rearview mirror. "My place? But Heero is-"

"We can't go to the hospital, Duo!" Quatre turned back around and leaned up between the seats to yell in my ear. Heero and I both winced at the sound. "Thanks to your superwoman attitude, we can't go to the police, either! Do you realize what will happen if anyone finds out about this? You stabbed him, Duo! I beat somebody in the head with a tire iron. I may have killed him!"

Quatre was really freaking out. I was swerving all over the road. I didn't have anything to say. Silence poured over the car. I was thankful for it. I was having enough of a hard time trying to keep my vision from dying on me without worrying about more pain from Quatre's yelling.

"Are you okay?"

Quatre stared at me, arms crossed over his chest. He looked shaken over the whole ordeal, but I didn't see much more than a swollen area on his cheek, where he was punched. "I'm fine. I've just never been in a fight like that." He turned on Heero and nearly hissed, "what kind of people do you hang out with when we're not around?"

Heero had passed out. I felt my chest clench up. "What's wrong with him!?"

Quatre reached over the seat and felt his pulse. "He just passed out, Duo. Calm down. Watch out!"

I swerved back into my lane, nearly avoiding the oncoming car. My heart was in my throat. I concentrated on the road. After a while, we were at my place. Quatre and Trowa struggled to get Heero up the narrow stairs. Wufei and I tagged along behind them.

Once we were inside, I told them to set Heero down on the couch and ran to the bathroom for my pathetic excuse for a first aid kit. I didn't tend to get many injuries. All I had were band-aids, alcohol pads, and antibacterial cream.

I knelt down on the floor next to Heero. He was breathing deeply, his mouth hanging open. The lights in the living room were bright, and I got a good look at his face. I knew I would never want to see something like that again. I knew I was the cause of it, too. I started to cry again. Quatre pushed me aside and took the first aid kit from me.

Trowa and Wufei hovered in a corner by the window. Trowa was holding his stomach, the blood stain on his shirt getting bigger. I could have yelled at them. I could have gotten angry and blamed this whole incident on them and made them feel worse. Something in me wouldn't allow it, though. Even if I would have liked it.

Trowa noticed I was staring at them; glaring, really. "We didn't mean for this to happen."

"Well, it did happen." I was trying not to yell, but I couldn't keep the anger out of my voice.

"We had no idea... I mean, I thought they were his friends. It shouldn't have escalated to this."

"That's what happens when a bunch of homophobic assholes get drunk together!"

Trowa winced and looked away. Wufei spoke up. "We don't have anything against you, Duo. Honestly. It's just hard for us, is all. Heero's our friend, and we see him dating someone who isn't even a gi-"

I pointed at him. "Don't fucking say it. I'll kick you out on the street right now."

There was silence. They looked away and wouldn't look back. I picked up some alcohol pads and a few band-aids and tossed them over. I was most worried about Trowa. He took off his shirt and inspected his stomach. There was a large gash on his side. "How did that happen?"

"Did you see the mailbox when you drove up?"

I tried to remember. I hadn't paid any attention to it, to be honest. Who would? "No. Why?"

"It's gone. I broke it."

"You fell on it?"

He nodded and started dabbing it with an alcohol pad, hissing in pain. I realized that it wasn't very bad-at least, not life-threatening. Most of the blood had probably been from other people.

"What happened after we left?" Wufei and Trowa looked at each other. Neither of them seemed to want to talk. They silently cleaned their scratches and scrapes. Wufei stuck an alcohol pad on a cut below his eye and held it there, wincing. "Someone damn well better tell me what happened."

Trowa looked wretched. "They all jumped on him. There wasn't really anything we could do."

"You just stood there and watched?" I stood up. I was ready to run to my kitchen and grab a knife and just kill them, right there in my apartment. Then I realized what was thinking and scared myself into sobriety. I was far from a murderer. I was just angry, with bloodlust clouding my thinking.

"For a while," Wufei mumbled.

"We eventually jumped in, but God... we didn't think it would go that far. We thought they'd just rough him up a bit, then leave him alone."

"And he started the fight, too. He's the one who threw the first punch."

"We were angry at him, too. He betrayed us. He kept a big secret from us and-"

"That doesn't matter!" They jumped and became silent. I nearly hissed at them, I was so furious. "Idiots! Damn idiots! Secret or not, he's your friend!" I slowly calmed down, or maybe I just became too frustrated to keep going. I sat down on the floor and pulled at my hair. "Someone just explain it to me. Explain to me why you wouldn't help him. And don't give me any of that 'he kept a secret' bullshit."

Quatre glanced back at me before continuing his work on Heero. "You can't understand it, Duo. You're not a guy."

"I can certainly try. I'd probably understand it better than most girls would."

He sighed and sat back. Heero slept peacefully, even if he wasn't really sleeping. He had two band-aids on his face: one on each cheek. "Men... tend to be homophobic. You already know that. Friends or not, if you help out someone who everyone thinks is gay, you're automatically lumped in to their category."

I stared at him in disbelief. "You mean they refused to help him because they didn't want those assholes thinking they were gay?!"

Quatre shrugged pathetically. He couldn't deny the statement, but he also wouldn't defend it. We both knew that. "Some of them are even gay, and in denial."

We both glanced over at them. Wufei distanced himself from Trowa, who didn't seem to care. "That's a stereotype, Quatre."

I sighed and stood up before walking to the kitchen to get some aspirin. I passed them around. Everyone needed them. Then I brought out a blanket and a pillow and put them on the floor, next to the couch Heero was on. I laid down and closed my eyes. "You guys can have the bed. I'm staying out here with him. There are extra blankets in the closet if you're too homophobic to sleep in the same bed."

They didn't protest until they were in the bedroom. They started arguing over who would get the bed. I pulled the blanket over my head. It was going to be a long night.