Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ One Step Forward, Two Steps Back ❯ The First Person ( Chapter 13 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Wufei heard the doorbell ring thirteen times between the time he actually heard it and when he finally got to the door. Who on earth needed to see a member of his family that much, he did not know but, for that many rings, it had better be an emergency.
When Wufei opened the door and saw Meiran, to say that he was surprised was an awfully large understatement. Then Meiran practically tackled Wufei into the wall and the situation seemed to jump up into an entirely differently level.
“How does Dorothy Catalonia manage to find out about us?” Meiran hissed as she lashed out with a hard shove to Wufei’s shoulder. “I didn’t think that I had to inform you that I wanted to keep this relationship on the down low.”
Wufei had his breath knocked out of him when Meiran had tackled him but he managed to suck enough air back into his lungs to reply with one simple word. “What?”
“Don’t play stupid! Dorothy just phoned me to congratulate me on my wonderful job of snatching the teacher’s pet. She always said that I was incredibly brave to let him kiss me on my front porch,” Meiran said, enraged. “How could she know that kind of high accurate information, Wufei? How could Dorothy know that kind of information about what is going on between us without you telling her or, at the very least, telling someone who did?”
“I only told Heero and there is no way that he would ever say anything to her.”
“You also said that Heero would never give up Duo for Relena either but that you seem to have been wrong about that as well.”
“What are you talking about now? Don’t make up stories about my friends just to make your own stories work out.”
“My sister saw Heero and Duo fighting in the middle of the street this afternoon. Duo’s knees were bloody so she figured that they had been fighting about something serious and it turned into a physical fight. Apparently, as soon as the fight was over, Heero rushed back to his own house where Relena was waiting –what a surprise- for him. Does that sound like someone who hates Relena and would never give Duo up for her? Huh?”“Heero wouldn’t do that! He hates that pink floozy as much as either of us do,” Wufei stated firmly, his conviction unrelenting.
“Yeah well, apparently, your judgement of character isn’t something to be proud of. Obviously he doesn’t hate her if he’s going out with her. I thought you were someone who realized that people tend to only go out with people they at least think that they like,” Meiran replied as she pushed away from the wall, and Wufei. “So perhaps you should phone him and tell him that our relationship is over because he can’t keep his big, fat mouth shut.”
“Meiran,” Wufei called as he rushed after her and managed to grab her hand before she completely disappeared out of the door. He dragged her back in and closed the door behind her. “I think that we need to talk about this a little bit more before you just stomp away. Why does this bother you so much? Who cares if Dorothy knows? Unless, of course, you’re ashamed of me why should it matter at all?”
“Because I wasn’t sure if I actually like you yet, it matters,” Meiran snapped and then twisted her arm out of Wufei’s grip. “And if those stupid girls need to know at all, I would have preferred that it came from our mouths than from your stupid friend’s.”
“Meiran-“
“Don’t! 221; Meiran exclaimed. “I know that it’s not your fault that Heero told Dorothy but I am still angry that you told him in the first place. You had no right to tell anyone about what happened between us until we were ready to tell them together.”
“Why couldn’t I? I thought that I was telling Heero in confidence. I didn’t know that he was going to go and blab. Wouldn’t you tell someone close to you because you just felt like you needed to? I didn’t plan on leaking it to the general public or anything.”
“I guess so,” Meiran said as she rested her forehead against Wufei’s and sighed. “I just felt betrayed when Dorothy told me that she knew.”
“Why?”
“Dorothy has been waiting for as long as I’ve known her for something to spread around about me. She will use this relationship of ours to her full benefit which really won’t be all that hard. She could say anything about what goes on between the two of us and the rest of the student body would just eat it up,” explained Meiran as she leaned into Wufei’s strong arms which were now encircling her. “I’ve worked so hard to keep her from finding something about me that was even remotely vulnerable so that she wouldn’t be able to manipulate me like she does everyone else. Now, when I finally do something that could be considered letting down my guard, your friend has to go and tell her before I’m ready for her.”
“I’m sorry.”
“No, it’s not your fault. I should have told you my fears earlier and then we wouldn’t be having this conversation,” Meiran replied and sighed. “I’m just going to have to be ready for all of the gossip that will be going around about us on Monday morning.”
“Unless you give them something juicier to talk about,” Wufei replied, pulling away from Meiran slightly to show her his wide smile.
“And what juicier information is there for me to come up with? There’s nothing out there. Dorothy found the perfect time to start spreading rumours about me.”
“I’m sure that I can come up with something,” Wufei said.
For the next twenty minutes or so, the two of them talked and the longer they did so, the bigger Meiran’s smile got.
“I have to admit Wufei,” she said as they finally wrapped up all of the details, “this is one of the best plans that I’ve ever heard of.”
“Thank you,” Wufei replied with a small hug. “I think that this will fix all of our problems.”
Just then, the doorbell rang and Wufei rolled his eyes and got up from their spot in the living room and headed towards the door. When he saw Heero Yuy there, he made a move to slam the door.
However, the door did not close because someone’s foot was blocking the way.
“Yes, Yuy is a jerk but that’s not what this is about,” Barton said as he stepped forward and replaced his foot with his hand. “Quatre’s in trouble and we need your help to get him out of it.”
“What’s wrong?” Meiran asked as she came up behind Wufei. Her expression turned sour when she saw Heero. “What do you want?”
Heero sighed. “I didn’t tell Relena that you two were together. My dad did. Apparently the chauffer told him that my ‘boyfriend’ had a girlfriend now and my dad decided that he needed to relate the information to Relena.”
"Fine, I will forgive you this time but that doesn't explain why you're here," Meiran said as she glanced from Heero to Trowa. "You two look a little tense, what's wrong?"
"Quatre's in trouble," Trowa repeated for Meiran's benefit. "I went to check on Quatre because he hasn't been at school since . . ." Trowa awkwardly kicked the ground.
"Since Quatre kissed Trowa and so Trowa was worried that Quatre was just avoiding him," Heero said, finishing Trowa's sentence for him. "We can go into the details at a later time."
Meiran laughed. "Men always have to brag about their conquests." When Trowa shot an angry look at her, she stopped abruptedly. "Sorry. Anyway, you went to check on him and . . ."
"Well, I went to check on Quatre and I heard something coming from the basement window. I got a little closer and I heard Quatre's father talking to him." Trowa's shoulders slumped as he continued on. "Apparently Quatre is getting beaten by his father because he is gay. I am sure that someone saw Quatre and I kiss which is why that this is happening to him."
"I am sure that it is something else," Meiran said comfortingly but Wufei could hear the doubt in her voice as she spoke.
"I know that is what happened. That's why we need to go and help him."
"I'll help you," Wufei said softly. "Let me go and grab my jacket."
Trowa nodded and Wufei went to the closet, grabbed his jacket, slipped on his shoes and then turned towards Meiran. She was studying his face closely as she watched him put on his jacket.
"You could get hurt," Meiran stated finally.
"I know."
"But I"m not going to stop you. I respect your loyalty to your friends."
"Thank you.""But take care of yourself. I don't want to have to visit you in the hospital. Imagine what Dorothy would have to say about that," Meiran said with a small smile as she stepped forward to give Wufei a kiss for good luck.
"I will do my best to make sure that nothing happens to any of us," Wufei replied with a smile of his own, trying to reassure Meiran and convince her that he wasn't worried. It didn't work for she seemed to get even more worried with every passing moment.
"I'll put our plan into gear while you're gone," Meiran promised. "I'll be here waiting when you get back."
With that, knowing that there was nothing more that he could say to Meiran, Wufei headed back to the door. Heero and Trowa stood in the exact same positions that they had been in when Wufei had left. Sharing a look with each other, Wufei knew that they were all aware that there was a high chance that they were going to get hurt and none of them may come out of that mansion once they go in. However, Wufei also knew that they were all willing to give it up for Quatre.
"All right, lets go," Wufei said and they silently headed down the stairs in unison, heading for an uncertain future.

"Duo, your father and I have been discussing your behaviour since you got involved with that Heero boy," Duo's adopted mother said as she entered Duo's room that night. "I thought that he was a decent young man but it seems apparent that we were wrong. Your behaviour has been spiralling down recently and we believe that this is a direct result of his influence on you. You are very dear to us and we don't want anything to happen to you because of someone like him. However, we will not make you switch schools or change your classes unless you want to. Also, we can't make you leave him. We just want you to know that we feel that he's not helping you or making you feel very good. You're old enough to make these decisions for yourself though and so, while I can tell you what my standpoint is on the subject, I can't make you adopt it as your own." She sat down on Duo's bed and smiled. "We've asked around and we've learned that he's a very neglected child which is, of course, not his fault. However, Duo, you can't possibly hope to fix him yourself. He needs other people and it's not up to you to help him out by yourself."
Duo nodded and then felt tears spring into his eyes. He hurriedly looked away and brushed the stray drops away.
"Duo? What's wrong?" His adopted mother asked worriedly as she drew him closer to him and stroked his back reassuringly.
"Nothing," Duo said as he turned back to face her. "I want to thank you for trying so hard to be understanding but I don't think that you will have to worry about Heero and me anymore."
"Oh? Why is that?"
It took Duo a little over an hour to relate everything to his guardian and he had to be coaxed many times. Eventually, however, she knew everything: the way Heero had worked to slowly win Duo's trust; the kiss they had shared in front of Relena's house; the way Heero had tricked him into going on a date with him; the fact that Heero had told his mother that he was gay, and going out with Duo; the fight they had over the swimming incident; the betrayal Duo had felt when he went to apologize and found that Relena was there; and, finally, the way Duo had told Heero that he didn't want him anymore.
When the story was finally over, Duo's adopted mother sat against the way at the head of Duo's bed in silence. Duo was afraid that she was mad at him for the way that he had handled the situation. He wanted to run out of the room before she revealed her disappointment in him. He wanted to leave before she gave him the same look that his best friend from childhood had given him when he realized that Duo was happy about being adopted.
"It sounds like you handled the situation as well as you knew how to," his adopted mother finally said with a smile. "Heero sent a lot of mixed messages and it sounds like he doesn't really know what he wants from the relationship. You did a good job of dealing with him regardless and for that, I'm proud of you. I know that you've had a difficult childhood, even if you won't tell me all of the details, and you don't really know what is expected from you in a relationship but you did an exceptional job figuring it out as you went along."
"Really?"
"Really," she said as she moved forward to collect Duo in her arms. "Heero is the one who sounds confused, not you. You know what you want: him. Just because you don't know how to please him or how to tell him doesn't mean that you don't know what you want. Heero is very fickle with his actions, it would seem, and so it's hard to get a good clue from him. Perhaps he is not the right person for someone like you but that's your decision as I said before. It sounds like he wants to please his father more than he wants to please himself and that is his problem, not yours. It is disturbing to think that he is trying to fit into such a perverted vision of love but that is his choice and one day I'm sure he'll come to realize that it's a bad one."
"Do you think that he'll realize it soon enough that we can be together?" Duo asked, so quietly that it was almost like he hadn't said a word.
However his adopted mother had heard him and she smiled. "I think that he will, eventually, but you shouldn't wait around for him to get his head on straight just because he's the first person to realize that you were more than just a street rat."
"He wasn'tthe first person to realize that," Duo whispered.
"Oh?""You were," Duo said and then smiled, "mom."
Tears sprang to the woman's eyes and Duo knew that it was true. There was no one who recognized Duo's true potential until Miranda Maxwell had and he would be forever indebted to her for that. Even Duo hadn't realized it until she had stepped up to try and show him. She was just as much, if not more, of a mother as the woman who carried Duo for nine months had been.
"You know, if anyone has enough compassion and love to teach Heero what he's missing out on, it would have to be you," his mother told him softly with a smile.
"I think you're right and he's going to have figure out what he wants before I can help him though," Duo replied. "But I will wait for him and try to help him figure it out as soon as possible." Duo smiled. "Well, as long as he gives up Relena that is."
His mother laughed. "That's a good boy."
"Duo? Miranda?" His father, the word felt so foreign to him and yet it was true, came to the doorway and the tone of his voice instantly had Duo worried. "That Heero boy that Duo hangs out with at school is on the news."

A/N: To quickly reply to some of my reviewers, yes the poem that I use in between all of the scenes has already been completely written out (except for the last part of it because, well, Duo didn't want to cooperate and do what the original plan was...characters do grow quite well throughout stories...and thus I've changed a little bit but the majority has been written since the beginning of the fanfic. When this is done, I plan on posting the entire poem so you will all just have to wait for that.
I apologize that the gap between my posts are large but I am trying to slowly close them. I wrote this chapter while I was camping and am now posting it for you all. Hopefully the next chapter will be out by next week but I make no promises.
Enjoy and I'm glad you're still with me ^-^
~Kimpisces~