Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ The Definition of Love ❯ Chapter 3 ( Chapter 4 )

The Definition of Love

Chapter 3

 

 

 

Duo's hand was wonderfully warm in his and seemed to spread to his face. Heero was glad that they were both facing the toaster and their backs were to their mother so she couldn't see their linked hands or Heero's flush face.

`Brothers don't hold hands,' a voice inside Heero's head jeered. The voice sounded annoyingly like his mother's. He ignored it. It was fine. Duo liked holding hands, it didn't have to mean anything.

That warmth made Heero feel good inside, like a calming tide. Yet, he still felt his anger at his mother trying to breach the surface. Eliza had no right to call Duo a slut. Duo was beautiful and Eliza was clearly jealous and annoyed by that fact, but she was still their mother and it had been quite a while since she had acted that way. The toast popped up and Duo's hand left his. It left a sort of hollow ache in Heero's gut. He watched the younger boy slather butter and grape jelly on the toast and sit down at the table while their mother remained standing at the counter reading her paper. Heero dug out a box of cereal from one of the cupboards, poured skim milk into the bowl and sat the table with Duo. Eliza hated skim milk but it was the only milk Duo would drink. Heero preferred soy milk, but skim was better than whole or two percent. Their father had also loved skim milk and they had gotten used to it. It was terrible watching their mother try to gulp it down like it was some sort of poison.

“Mom, can you hand me the funnies?” Duo called, his mouth full of toast. Heero snorted in amusement. Only his little brother could make such disregard for manners seem cute. Eliza ignored him, continuing to peruse something of interest in the paper. Heero sighed heavily and stood, marching over to the woman and grabbed the paper from her.

“What are you doing?!” She shrieked. Heero nearly froze in memory, but he shook it off and grabbed a slim section from the paper. He thrust the rest of the paper back at her. She narrowed her eyes at him.

“How dare you?” She hissed. Heero glared back at her, his ice meeting her stony fire.

“He just asked for the comics. You never read them,” he reminded her. As he walked back to the table, her eyes followed him. He handed the comics to Duo, who blushed.

“Heero, thank you. But you didn't have to do that.”

“Yes, I did,” Heero said, smiling, “she's just being a tit,” he whispered, “now read your comics and finish eating.”

Duo seemed to perk up, though Heero kept an eye on Eliza for him. She returned to her newspaper, but her eyes also continued to flicker towards Heero every now and then. Duo finished reading and ate his toast quickly, his and Heero's companionable silence was pleasant compared to the icy chill that their mother seemed to create with her own silence. Duo grabbed both of their dishes before Heero could protest and cleaned them at the sink.

“Go get your coat,” Heero said. Duo smiled at him and ran off cheerfully, looking much like an exuberant puppy. Heero stood and pushed in their chairs. He suddenly felt Eliza's presence next to him and she grabbed his arm in a bruising grip.

“Don't you ever talk back to me again, do you understand, Heero?” She hissed in his ear and grabbed his hair tightly. He felt her own silky, dark brown hair on his neck. Heero wrenched his arm away from her and took a step back, feeling of few strands of his hair tug loose but not caring.

“I have to go to school. It wouldn't do for me to be late my first day.”

Heero walked out of the kitchen to join Duo and Eliza returned to her paper.

 

Duo looked up from tying his shoelace as Heero stormed out of the kitchen.

“You ok?” He asked. Heero nodded. Duo stood and handed Heero his sneakers. As Heero took them from him, he stared at a red mark on his older brother's arm.

“Heero, what's that?”

Heero looked into Duo's wide violet eyes and smiled.

“It's nothing,” he assured him, ruffling his hair. Duo's nose scrunched up cutely.

“Don't do that,” the shorter boy attempted to soothe his hair even as his brother dragged him out the door.

 

*****

 

Arcadia, Illinois was a small town that was on the edge of Lake Michigan, but was not considered to be dead or a `hick' town, they just liked their privacy, but they were very connected with the outside world. Arcadia High School, thankfully, was not far from the Maxwell-Yuy's new house, so Heero and Duo could walk to school instead of relying on their mother for a ride. It would be… more relaxing. It was autumn and it was already getting cold. Coming from Colorado, Heero knew that winter farther north was going to be a new experience, but so far it wasn't too cold. New Pottersville had been slightly larger than Arcadia, but Heero preferred this new town. He hoped that the people here were less gossipy shits than what they were used to. He watched with a small smile as Duo took in all of the sights and he knew right away what his little brother was seeing. There were trees everywhere and very few factories or smoke clouding the sky. There were shops advertising fishing instead of the newest rap artist and there wasn't a fluorescent light in sight. Things were looking up already. This wasn't to say that they hated their old town, but there was definitely something charming and warm about Arcadia. Duo took in everything with happy air of a child with a new toy. He was glad that at least someone their tiny family was glad for the change.

“So, what classes are you taking again?” Duo asked as they walked. Even so early in the morning, the sun shone brightly through the clouds and Heero knew that it was going to be a beautiful day. Maybe he could get Duo to play soccer with him after school.

“Algebra 1, European History, Economics, Home Economics, Gym, Drawing and Painting, and Literature,” Heero said with a depressed air. He was looking forward to Economics and Algebra, but everything else either bored him or filled him with dread. He had already taken Algebra, European History, and several literature classes in his last high school, so taking basic classes was just going to be repetitive and annoying. He didn't mind taking Algebra over again, he enjoyed math, he like how structured it was and how there was only one correct answer. In math, unlike in his life, there were no shades of grey. Either an answer was wrong or it was right. In math, no one got hurt and no one had to wonder if their decisions would cause decay or destruction. He doubted that European History would teach him anything new and he didn't care for literature. He was terrible at cooking at sewing and anything that involved art. That was Duo's specialty, not his. Gym might be fun, though. They were both fairly good at sports, but because Duo wasn't all that imposing looking, he got ganged up a lot.

“Neat, I got Home Economics, Gym, and Drawing and Painting with you! I also got Asian History, Chorus, Pre Algebra, Social Psychology, and Creative Writing. Sounds fun, well, except for Pre Algebra, ugh.”

Heero smirked. Duo hated math. He kept trying to find different ways of doing things when there was only one way and he couldn't remember all the little rules like Heero could. Heero turned to jibe at him about taking Home Economics when he noticed that Duo was no longer beside him. Heero spun around, panicked. No one else was on this street, so no one could have grabbed him, right?

Duo was there, a few feet behind him, frozen in place, his eyes wide in fear. Heero followed his gaze and saw and dog approaching them, or rather, approaching Duo. It was a ragged thing, a mutt and clearly a stray. The tawny dogs tail wagged furiously as it walked up to Duo, who started to shake the closer that it got to him.

“Heero?” Duo whispered, terrified.

“It's ok, Duo,” Heero said softly, more not to spook his brother than the dog. Duo shuddered, lost deep in a memory.

“How do you know?” Duo rasped. Heero felt a small burst of disappointment spark in his chest. His little brother had never questioned him before. Still, he smiled at him. Duo was a teenager now and he had every right to question his judgment just as he did for their mother, but it still hurt. He knew that he would miss that childlike admiration that Duo had had. But, then Duo's wide eyes fell on him and Heero realized that that admiration had never gone away. He trusted Heero more than his own mother and he needed him to say why he shouldn't be afraid, not because he didn't trust Heero, but because he knew that Heero would have all the answers. Power like that was overwhelming and it made Heero wonder if Duo would ever outgrow this hero worship he had for him.

“Because he's wagging his tail. He's just happy to see you,” Heero crouched down and whistled, “here, boy, good doggy.”

The dog's tawny ears perked up and he trotted over to Heero, who petted him. Still, Duo stayed frozen, but Heero didn't blame him after what had happened the last time a large dog had come up to him. With a firm pat, the stray dog was finally satisfied and trotted off. As soon as the mutt was out of sight, Duo flung himself into Heero's arms.

“It's ok, it's gone,” Heero assured him. Duo shook a little, but he seemed to be getting himself under control again.

“I'm so sorry,” Duo murmured, “'s so stupid. I know I shouldn't be afraid of a dumb dog, but I was so scared…”

“It's alright, it's not stupid,” Heero watched with pride as Duo pulled himself together as though it had never happened, though he felt an acute sense of loss when he untangled himself from his embrace.

“On we go, then?” Heero asked. Duo nodded.

 

*****

 

Heero sighed deeply as they collected their schedules and combinations to their lockers. Arcadia High was exactly like New Pottersville High. Sure, there were some differences. For example, instead of green, white, and blue, Arcadia's school colors where gold, red, and black and instead of some dumb looking fish, they had a magnificent hawk for a school mascot. Instead of two floors, the school only had one and the lockers where a nice, neutral grey instead of the hideous interchanging colors that tried to match the school's flag that Pottersville had had. Also, this school had its own library and there wasn't a single piece of graffiti on the outside of the school. However, despite these little differences, in Heero's eye, it was all the same. As he led Duo to their lockers, he ignored the other students that were good enough to show up twenty minutes before the bell rang. He wasn't unfriendly; he just didn't see the need to seek anyone out. If he happened to make friends, that would be fine, but he wasn't desperate for it. Unlike in his old high school, the lockers were assigned by last name, not randomly, so his and Duo's lockers were right next to each other. Duo stuck close to him, watching him closely as though he wasn't exactly sure what to do.

Thankfully, their first class was one that they had together, gym, and Heero hoped that it would lessen his nervousness. There were already a bunch of people there sitting on the bleachers. This gym was fairly small and didn't have a weight room or any gymnastics equipment, which was just fine with Heero. He wondered if this class would be different than at his last school. There the subjects had been divided by gender and class. It would be a while before class started, but the class already seemed mixed with girls and boys and various ages, so he didn't think that the classes were divided by grades. Duo found a seat next to some young blonde boy and another very tall boy with startling green eyes. They had moved right before school started, so Heero had hoped that they wouldn't attract too much attention, but a few minutes after they had sat down, some blue eyed girl walked up to Heero with a soft smile and an excited, blushing expression.

“Hi, I haven't seen you around before!” She chirped. Heero felt his defenses fall as she reached out a hand to shake his. He accepted it. Her hand was soft and small and she brushed back her dark brown hair as it fell over her shoulder. He barely noticed when Duo looked at her with an odd expression.

“We just moved here,” Heero said, nodding his head in Duo's direction. Duo smiled weakly at her but didn't shake her hand and she didn't offer it. The girl put a hand to her mouth is surprise.

“Oh, are you two twins?” She squeaked in excitement. Heero blushed.

“No, he's younger than me. It's a long story.”

The blonde's smile widened and she placed a hand lightly on his arm.

“Well, my name's Relena Peacecraft. Welcome to Arcadia,” she said sweetly, looking up at Heero through half lidded eyes. Heero smiled back at her. So, she was flirting with him, huh? Well, she was kind of pretty in an innocent sort of way.

“Heero Yuy-Maxwell and this is my brother, Duo.”

Duo nodded to her, though she didn't look his way, just kept staring at Heero. Heero didn't mind. Duo's voice faded into the background as he started to talk to the blonde next to him. Relena started up her own conversation about where the best places to eat were and how great their movie theater was. All the while that she spoke, Heero kept his ears on her and his eyes on his brother and the strange expression on his face that he had never seen there before. He caught how Duo looked over at him even as he chatted with the blonde, but he couldn't figure out why he was doing it.

 

*****

 

It was like that for the rest of the day. When they were in class together, Duo would look over at him, then look away quickly, a strange look on his face. He hated that look, but he couldn't figure out what was wrong with him or how to fix it. So, when Algebra came around and Duo left him for a different class, Heero couldn't get him out of his mind. What did it matter anyway? If there was something wrong, Duo would tell him eventually. He always did. But it still bothered him. He sat across from a Chinese boy who was looking intently at some book. He didn't look like a freshman…

“Hey, is this Algebra?” Heero asked. The boy looked up at him with stern brown eyes.

“Excuse me?” He said in a haughty tone that said clearly that he couldn't believe that Heero had the gall to speak to him.

“I said, `is this Algebra?'” Heero said again, refusing to back down under that stare. His mother's glares were more potent and he had never backed down from her. The Chinese boy snorted in amusement.

“Are you a freshman?” He asked, his voice condescending and annoyed. Heero narrowed his eyes at him.

“Yes, I am, so?”

“So, if you weren't, you wouldn't be talking to me,” the Chinese boy said matter of factly.

“I'm Heero Yuy and I just moved here, so am I in the right class or not?” Heero snapped. The other boy smirked.

“I know who you are. One of my friends has talked to your brother. You're in the right class. You're last school must have thought that you belonged here because of this is a junior class. I should know. I'm only a sophomore, but they thought I belonged here, too. Chang Wufei,” the Chinese boy stretched out his hand. Heero took it with wide eyes. He had been expecting some sort of altercation between him and the strange boy, not a handshake. It wasn't in his past experiences that freshman and sophomores mingled well. He shook his hand anyway.

“Say,” Wufei leaned in and whispered, “you got a pencil? Some senior juvenile stole mine. We lower classman got to look out for each other.”

Heero smirked and dug a pencil from his pocket.

“Yeah, I guess we do.”

 

*****

 

As Heero got his stuff from his locker, he was startled and quite a bit concerned to find that he couldn't find his brother anywhere. He sighed and left the school. Maybe Duo was waiting outside. As he walked across the field, he finally saw the long haired boy waiting for him on the street back to their house, talking once more to the short blonde from gym. Whatever they were talking about, they were both very animate. Heero gritted his teeth and felt jealousy spread through his chest. Duo had spoken more with that boy today than him. So, what? Duo had every right to make new friends, it didn't mean anything. So why was he taking it so personally?

“Heero!” He heard Relena call to him and turned around. He smiled at her.

“Hey, Relena.”

She was breathing hard as though she had had to run to catch up with him.

“What are you doing Friday?” She asked nervously. It was kind of cute how she avoided his eyes by looking at the ground. He shrugged.

“Nothing, really. I've already unpacked and I don't have that much homework.”

“Would… would you like to go to the movies with me?” She blurted it out suddenly, almost yelling in her bluntness, still looking at the ground. He tilted her head up to look at her in her crystal blue eyes.

“I would love to go to the movies with you, Relena,” Heero said and he leaned down and kissed her lightly on the lips. Looking back, he had no idea why he did it. It was a sort of impulse and when his lips pressed to hers, he felt a strange sort nervousness fluttering around in his stomach. Was this attraction? Real attraction? Or something else? When they moved away, Relena's eyes were still closed and she had a sweet little smile on her face.

“I'll call you then, ok?” Heero said. Relena's face blushed prettily like a doll.

“I'll be looking forward to your call,” she said sultrily, walking off to a car that was parked back towards the school, her hips swaying. Heero smirked, and then ran off towards his brother, who was now waiting for him alone, that strange look on his face as he watched him approach.

 

*****

 

“What's wrong?” Heero asked Duo after they had been walking in total silence for five minutes. The silence was not comfortable, there seemed to be an air of tension surrounding them.

“Nothing's wrong,” Duo said, refusing to look at Heero, his eyes looking at the ground in a defensive gesture that was quite cute, though a little bit different than Relena's. Heero grabbed Duo's arm and he stopped walking, but Duo still refused to look at him.

“Duo, you know you can talk to me about anything, right? If there's something bothering you, I'll listen. You're my little brother.”

Duo looked up then and his violet eyes were filled with some indescribable emotion that made Heero's chest hurt. He wanted to hug him, but he wasn't sure what Duo would do. He seemed raw for some reason.

“Do you honestly mean that?” Duo asked. Heero smiled and ruffled his hair. Duo seemed afraid to fix it.

“Of course I do.”

“Even if I have to share you with someone else?” Duo asked, his voice so low that Heero almost missed it. Heero stared at him in shock.

“Is that what this is about?” He asked fiercely. Duo squirmed under his gaze.

“You kissed her,” Duo hissed accusingly, his tone filled with pain. He gasped as Heero pulled him into a tight hug.

“Silly,” he murmured in Duo's ear, “no matter what, you will always be the number one in my life. No woman can change that.”

Duo backed off of Heero's embrace.

“You promise?”

Heero curled his pinky around Duo's.

“I promise, you dummy.”

 

 

End Chapter 3