Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Orphan Stage ❯ Stage Break ( Chapter 10 )

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Gundam Wing Characters, blah blah blah

Pairings: 1x2, 3+4, 5+?

Warning: Yaoi, angst. yaoi yaoi ummm yeah.

Summary: Duo Maxwell is put into a protection program after his father gets out of jail and goes missing. Duo finds himself in a situation where he can finally find his brother that was adopted ten years ago.

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Stage Break

"I'm sorry." As I said those words… those words that concluded that I would actually leave, Heero's face went blank. Emotionless, his barrier from pain, took over and he pulled out of my arms with an empty expression on his face. I think that was Heero's way of dealing with things, to shut them out and act like he didn't care. He was looking at me with his cold eyes again, the eyes that I had learned to hate so much… anger started to well inside of me. I felt my arms starting to shake trying to suppress the rage caused from his actions. Only a moment more and it burst free.

My hand shot out and slapped him hard on the cheek. A red mark appeared from my sting and he looked to me with wide scared eyes. Scared because I was looking at him furiously. My voice was harsh as I said the words that were circling in my mind. "Don't shut me out! Stop hiding from me! If you need to cry, cry! Don't hold it in with all your other problems!" My strict voice turned to pleading and I brushed my hand over the angry mark on his cheek, causing him to wince slightly. "Please Heero… don't hide from me." I repeated softly.

Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. I think I was getting to him. It's not like I wanted him to cry… it's just that he had been holding all of his emotions in for too long. Sometimes you just need to let go. Need to trust someone other than yourself. After all he has been through… after all his pain… he has had no one. And I wanted to do everything I could to soothe him, if only he would let me.

"Duo…" His shoulders started to shake again, kinda like the day he ran away from me…. the day he became frightened that I would leave. His dark blue eyes opened to look at me and I had to hold back the gasp that escaped as his face twisted to show his misery. His arms reached out to cling to me and I gladly embraced him. Trying to soothe, to stop the shaking, trying to make him feel the way I had when he was there for me, safe, warm… all those I wanted to give to him.

I don't know when I started feeling like this towards the once cold hearted boy, who had such a hard time showing his feelings. The boy who always seemed to catch me when I fell into my pits of depression. But after he kissed me, he showed me his feelings through a simple touch… my body went through something almost like a shiver of excitement and I felt my heart flutter inside my chest, I felt loved. Something I had been longing for without realizing it at first.

But how would I be able to tell him that I cared about him so deeply? With me leaving… I wouldn't be able to explore more into these new feelings. They can not grow… only fade, right? I didn't want that! I didn't want to stop my feelings for him just because of distance. But… would he forget about me if I left? Would he find someone else… like Relena to take comfort in?

What exactly are his feelings for me? Does he see me as I do him? Or is it just because we are similar in both having tough childhoods? Gah! He's standing here… holding me like I am going to disappear any minute and I am contemplating whether he 'really' likes me or if it is just a phase! I really need to stop thinking so much.

My mouth opened to speak but all I could do was whimper slightly when feeling Heero's rapid breath. He was hurting inside… he was hurting because of me.

"H-Heero…" My voice was just a whisper and I held my head close to his ear as I spoke. "Heero talk to me." I wanted him to tell me what he was feeling… why he was sad… all the things that were building up inside of him. I needed to help him, otherwise I might never feel alright leaving. Not that I would feel good leaving anyway.

"Duo… I… I need you here. I want you to stay." His eyes looked up to me, pleading with me wordlessly. How could I answer him? He knew I had to leave when things got rough… 'I' knew I had to leave.

I said the only thing I could… in hopes that he would stop looking at me like a lost child, scared that I will disappear and never come back. "When this is all over… I'm gonna come back here, I promise."

Leaning forward, I pressed my lips lightly to his. Only a feather touch, barely noticeable, waiting to see if he would respond back. Heero leaned forward, pushing our lips together tightly, causing my eyes to drift shut in delight of the simple delicate kiss. My hand came instinctively up to wrap in his hair, pulling him closer as our mouths opened to explore.

I shivered again as our kiss deepened, making me fluster with need. I never wanted to stop but the call for air pulled us apart. My wobbly head leaned on his shoulder as I took deep breaths. I could feel my heart pounding loudly inside of my chest, or maybe it was Heero's heart I was hearing. Whatever the sound was it was comforting. Like a gentle beat that confirms we were still here, still alive and together.

Wordlessly, Heero picked me up and carried me to his bed, pulling the covers over me before climbing in beside me. His arms wrapped around me and his head fell to my chest, using me as a pillow. I couldn't help but smile as I felt him move close to me, making no space between us. His eyes drifted up to me and he smiled. It was so rare to see him actually smiling like that, out of happiness, the feelings I made him feel.

The warmth of his body next to mine was soothing, and I found myself getting tired. Heero probably was just as exhausted for his eyes were closing slowly as the silent minutes dragged on.

I could stay like this, with him, forever. I knew it wouldn't last, but for right now, I just wanted to enjoy the feeling of cuddling up next to him. My hand drifted to caress through his hair, eyes shutting I petted him until darkness claimed me.

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The sun would have woken me up on the nice Sunday morning it was… but Heero's room didn't have windows, so instead the nice little lamp, he had left on the night before, awoke me from my nice slumber. I couldn't tell what time it was, so I ended up falling out of bed in attempt to look at Heero's computer clock. Well, I didn't really fall out alone. Heero was wrapped in the blanket with me and I ended up pushing him off the bed and falling on top of him. The hard floor meeting his back with a loud 'thud'.

He gave a big 'oof' of exhaled air, before glaring at me for waking him up. "Morning Heeeeero!" I chirped while attempting to pull my body out of the warm cocoon we were wrapped in.

Heero obviously had other plans and he clasped his arms around me, pulling me in for a quick peck on the lips. He was smiling again as he held onto my waist, preventing me from moving. I tried to glare at him, but my mouth was stretched so wide into a smile that it wouldn't work. How could I act mad when feeling this good in the morning? And usually I wasn't a morning person, guess we went to bed pretty early last night… hmmm… about that clock…

"Heero… what time is it?" I asked, maybe he had a watch on, who knows?

He glanced over at the computer that had a weird screen saver of… dancing monkey's? What the? "Computer. Time." Heero said loudly.

"Ninth hour. Five past." The computer chimed in a weird female voice. I just stared at the screen saver blankly. Did the computer just talk? Weird!

"What's with the girly voice?" I asked, looking at a smirking Heero, obviously amused at my confusion.

"That's actually my voice." He said, in that serious 'I'm not kidding' tone.

My eyes widened and I stared at the white box in disbelief. "That's not your voice! Unless you can make voice impressions." The thought of Heero doing an impression of a some girl was too funny and I giggled slightly, climbing out of Heero's now loose grip.

"Baka… I copied my voice onto the computer before changing it. I could even make my voice sound old if I wanted to." His answer had me grinning from ear to ear thinking of all the fun stuff he could do with his computer.

"So… if you were a girl… that's what your voice would sound like?" I sat down on his computer chair, looking up to see Heero rolling his eyes at me.

"I would not have been a girl, that is not possible."

"I said 'If'" My arms crossed and I was finally able to glare at him without cracking a smile.

"It still isn't possible… I would not be me if it was a girl." He said, pushing past me to do something on the computer. He was leaning over me since I was sitting in his chair so I decided I'd be nice and make things easy on him…

"Show me." I said while grabbing his hand, pulling him to sit on my lap. He seemed a little startled at first, but soon leaned back against me and continued to open some random programs. My face moved forward and I nuzzled the side of his neck causing him to gasp and shiver as I breathed in his scent. He smelled so good and I was satisfied just sitting there, eyes closed, chin resting on his shoulder as he worked.

We stayed at his house, playing on his computer until about noon, I would know since I had made his computer speak the time at least twenty or so times. I was supposed to meet Quatre in an hour so we decided that we had better get started… I wasn't all that sure if I could find the restaurant we were to meet at without getting lost.

We passed by Relena's pink mailbox, causing me to stop and stare at it in question. I remembered that I was suppose to do something with her… but what was it? Wasn't I going over to her house for something? Gah… I guess it wasn't important if I had forgotten it.

The bus trip went by pretty fast, Heero kept looking at me, lips curled up slightly as I pointed to random pointless things outside the window. Yup, everything was back to normal… well they were a little better than normal. Yes, yes… much better.

We ended up finding the small restaurant only a block down the street from where I lived. Quatre was waiting for us already sitting at a table. His eyebrow shot up as he saw Heero was with me, but he didn't question it. All he asked was if Heero knew about us… well he should have already figured that one out since Heero had witnessed our first 'actual' meeting in the freezing cold locker room.

I sat across from him with Heero to my side. It was really easy with Quatre, he was just as talkative as I was. Currently he was telling me how he and Trowa ended up together. I had been really curious to know, and when I brought it up for the second time Quatre had turned into a red tomato again. Turns out, Quatre met Trowa at an art fair… where he accidentally spilled paint all over Trowa's work.

By the time he was finished with his story I was rolling on the floor laughing only making Quatre glare at me. Heero seemed to be still trying to get used to the idea that me and Quatre being related. He hadn't really talked the whole time, but listened with a small look of amusement.

Trowa had apparently laughed instead of getting angry at him for ruining his work. I was a little confused when Quatre was explaining that… Trowa's laugh being so weird and all. Its hard to tell he is laughing sometimes. Anyway, the rest of the story included banged boy and blondy here seeing each other at school. They had hung out and… he would tell me any of the gushy details!

"So when did he first kiss you?" I had asked.

Quatre blushed and looked down.

"Where did you go on your first date?"

Blush… look down.

"What's he talk to you about? Does he tell you your beautiful and have great eyes?" I teased, seeing his uneasy state.

Burning red, shoulders starting to slump towards the table in embarrassment.

"So have you had s-?"

Quatre ducked under the table and yelled. "Duo! Stop it!"

I laughed loudly while clutching Heero's shoulder. He just snorted and took my hand off, placing it in his under the table. His eyes showed his amusement as he watched me tease my little cute brother. He seemed to be in a better mood, probably because we were out, keeping our minds occupied on other things. I guess I spaced out while staring into Heero's eyes because the next thing I heard was Quatre clearing his throat.

My cheeks grew a little hot as I looked over to him, a little embarrassed for being caught. His light eyebrows were raised slightly and he was grinning wickedly at me. "So… what's with you and Heero?" He asked, smile growing wide as my face grew as bright as his had been moments before.

A quick glance in Heero's direction told me that he was fine, he didn't even seem to be bothered by Quatre's teasing. I smiled before changing the subject… I shouldn't have been embarrassed, after all, Heero wasn't. I guess I was just still too new to this whole thing.

Sure, I've dated before… but they've all been girls, and Heero wasn't at all like them. I was serious about Heero… which was a first for me… I actually cared what he thought, cared what he was feeling. Wanted him to be happy… isn't that what good relationships are suppose to be like? Non selfish. Make sacrifices. There was so much that I didn't know, and I was a little scared but at the same time excited about my future… that is, if I had one at all with Heero.

My thoughts drifted to me having to leave, it made me feel a little depressed for a moment, before I was brought back to reality by Quatre's sweet voice. He was so happy… and I was going to leave soon. Should I tell him… I have to, but I don't want to make him sad. I don't want to hurt him. Mentally I sighed, thinking of how I should go about saying this.

He was talking animatedly now, about one of his sisters and there big mean cat. Arms waving back and forth as he described how the cat had jumped on some ladies head. His eyes brightened with his laughter, and I couldn't help but feel down.

I was going to miss him. It had only been a couple days since we finally were able to talk to each other… only a week and a half since I had first seen him.

I only hoped that Hall would be found so I could come back here quickly. I could only pray to the god I didn't know if I believed in. Pray that everything would turn out alright. Though I was probably asking too much.

We ended up talking for a good two hours before Quatre said he had to go. I knew I had to tell him, but I still didn't know how. Why did words always fail me in situations like this. I could talk about pointless stuff for hours, but I could figure out how to say one simple 'goodbye, I'm leaving.'

Squeezing Heero's hand tightly, I found my voice. "Quatre…" I took a deep breath, finding the courage from Heero's presence, I said, "I… am moving." He dropped the napkin he was using and stared at me in disbelief. "I don't know when I'll be going… but I cant stay here any longer."

"Why?! Duo where will you go? What do you mean you cant stay here any longer?" His voice shook slightly and his eyes filled with worry. I knew this was going to be hard.

"I… I'm sorry." It seemed like I was apologizing a lot today, and it wasn't even my fault!

"Why?" He asked again… hands clutched tightly into little fists on the table top.

He probably knew what I was going to say, but I guess he was hoping I would actually tell him something, anything. I only disappointed him as I said, "I cant tell you."

"Where are you going? Your going to come back aren't you?" He pleaded.

"I'm definitely coming back… I just don't know when." I know he was probably feeling confused as hell… heh, just like Heero was feeling when I wouldn't tell him anything. But there was nothing I could do… I didn't want to tell him… it would scare him. I would confess when the whole ordeal is gone and done with. If that ever happens.

Quatre left soon after that, with a shaky goodbye and a long hug. I told him I might be in school tomorrow, which made him brighten up a little. I wanted at least one more school day in this town… to be able to say goodbye properly to everyone.

Hilde would probably be pissed if she didn't get to see me off. *Sigh*… this was going to be hard.

"So what should we do now?" I asked Heero as we walked along the streets with no destination in mind. He just shrugged while kicking a rock into the busy street.

He seemed to be deep in thought, and as the minutes grew I could tell that he was not happy. His eyes were downcast as we walked through the streets to my apartment. I didn't have to ask what was wrong, I already knew… and I wished I could change it.

As we stepped into my dark apartment, the first thing I noticed was the note sitting on the kitchen counter. I kinda just stared at it for a minute, trying to get up the courage to actually read it. I knew it was from Kemp, I just didn't know what was going to be said in it… good or bad.

Walking over to it, I quickly grabbed the piece of paper and read it before Heero would notice. It would be bad if he found out something before me… he likes to run away. Agh, well so do I, don't we make the greatest pair?

As my eyes scanned down to the last line, I felt myself slump in disappointment. Kemp wanted to leave on Tuesday, only one day to say goodbye, only one more day with Heero. The paper ripped nicely between my fingers and I dropped it into the trash can quickly. Heero narrowed his eyes slightly at seeing my weird behavior.

"What did it say?" He asked, walking up to me and putting a hand on my shoulder. I couldn't bring my eyes to look at him as I told him what was written in the note. He just sort of stood there for a while, trying to process what I had just said, before gathering me up in his arms. He just silently held me for what seemed like forever. His soft breath was blowing lightly on my hair and I closed my eyes tightly trying to savor the feel of his arms around me.

I could feel him starting to move now, and he pulled me over to sit on the sofa, drawing me tightly against his chest. I fell asleep… clinging to his arms, dreading the morning that was to come, and the last full day I would be able to stay here.

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Heero and I never separated the whole of the next morning, not until the bell rang at school signaling our first class. Even then, I was reluctant to leave, but he just smiled and pushed me through the door. I would have stayed home, there was really no point in going to school on my last day, but I wanted to say goodbye to everyone. So, I just suffered through the pointless classes waiting for lunch time, when I had decided I would break the news. Trowa was still looking at me threateningly, but not as bad as he did on Friday, which was a big improvement. I just smiled inside as I thought of what his reaction would be when I told him I was leaving. Would he be relieved, happy? I guess I would have to find out.

Well, I did find out… and it was nothing like I thought it would be, Trowa looked… sad. And a little guilty, like he was mad at himself for his behavior. I had sat down at the table at lunch, mulling over what I would say to them… and then I just decided that I would just outright say it! Heh, they were a tiny bit shocked.

"I'm leaving." I said, loudly enough so that everyone could here. Hilde dropped her fork and looked at me in question.

"Leaving?" She asked, eyebrow arched slightly in confusion.

"I'm moving… today is my last day." I stated, looking over to Heero to see his eyes downcast and concentrating on his food. There was a minute of silence… they were still probably trying to process this weird turn of events in their funny little skulls.

Hilde's eyes shot wide and she yelled, "WHAT?!" It took awhile to calm her down and make her believe that I was 'really' leaving. She seemed to think it was a joke or something. At first she was mad because of our whole bet thing… but she soon looked really sad, and her eyes got all big with tears as she looked at me.

"Duo… you cant leave… you're the only talk I got!" She said making me smile at her antics. "They don't talk! I'll be alone in the talking biz!" She whined.

Wufei took it much better than her… he said a formal goodbye and wished me luck. Then added to the side that he would miss me. Heh, even Wu can be nice sometimes. I teased him and told him that when I came to visit I would teach him what 'real' karate was. He just growled at me, but I could see the slight smirk on his face when he turned to go dump his food.

Trowa didn't say anything… he acted more on the lines of Heero. I wanted to talk to him, and straighten things out between us. We had been pretty close before the whole jealously thing kicked in. I decided that I would catch him after lunch, and maybe apologize.

Quatre showed up and looked worriedly at the depressed form of Trowa, but he didn't say anything. Just hugged me and told me he would miss me. Trowa didn't glare at me, but he did look up from his food when the blond embraced me.

Lunch ended too quickly for my liking and I was soon walking down the hall with Quatre, saying final goodbye's, and Trowa was straggling behind… a gloomy atmosphere about him.

"Quatre…" I whispered into his ear. "Can I talk to Trowa alone?" He looked at me funny but nodded his head and walked down the hallway, leaving me alone with the confused Trowa. He was looking at Quatre's retreating form, and back to me in uncertainty.

"Trowa." His green eyes looked up to me and then widened as I leaned in close to his ear. "Take care of my little brother." I whispered before skipping off down the hall. I glanced back one last time to see the shock replaced by a smile on Trowa's once grim face. I knew I could count on him… and I also knew that the only way to make him understand was to tell him the truth.

As I ran down the hall's heading for my class, I spotted Heero standing by his locker. He was just staring into it… lost in his own world. His eyes weren't even blinking. Weird. I walked quietly up behind him and wrapped my arms around his waist. Startling him from his daze.

"Ne… Heero, you alright?" I asked, looking up to him with my big violet eyes.

He smiled and kissed me on the lips before replying. "No… I wont be ok until you come back to me."

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Gya! Bwahahahahah! Yaya! Woohoo! Booo! Nooo! Erg! Argh! Don't worry don't worry… all things will be good again… just have to wait is all. Doesn't waiting suck? I'm sorry! I know it was evil of me to have Duo leave… but that's where my next good idea comes! But I cant tell you what it isssss….

Please Review and tell me what you thought, or ask questions, or tell me what really sucks about my story!

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