Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Waiting for You ❯ Part III: Friendship ( Chapter 3 )

Well, let's see, there might be a little mild ooc on Wufei's part in this one. But not too bad, I think. In this chapter, Quatre does Algebra, Relena is a brat, Heero is grumpy(as if that's news to anyone), and Wufei decides to use a certain blue-eyed pacifist for target practice. . . and if I tell you anymore I'm gonna ruin the story. Read on! And remember, there's that little nifty shifty review button at the bottom of the page….

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"Waiting for you"

by: Banshee Puppet

Part III: Friendship

Wufei wasn't really sure what he'd gotten himself into, but he knew it was (at the very least) an excuse for Relena to hang around. He wasn't sure how he felt about that-bad if she continued to slap him all the time, he decided. But at the same time, he had to admit that he liked her, a little. So, she was his friend; that wasn't so bad. He'd just have to get used to it was all.

`Strange day, but, not so bad, all in all,' he thought with a small smile as he opened the door, only to be nearly attacked by Duo with a thermometer in one hand and his other on Wufei's forehead.

"What the hell is this?" Wufei asked, startled, as he found, not one, but all four of his fellow pilots in his room. It was four o'clock in the afternoon, the room was ALWAYS empty by four.

"He feels normal?" Duo said as Wufei shoved him away, looking a bit irate.

"ow, and he shoves normal too," Duo whined.

Next thing he knows, Heero is practically on top of him, inspectinvely glaring at him. He jumps a bit. "Damnit Yuy, are you TRYING to give me a heart attack? …Winner, you're the logical, well, most logical, one-so, what is all this?" Wufei asked in exasperation.

"Well," Quatre said sheepishly. "You see….you've een acting weird lately Wufei. We thought you might be sick or something. It's mot as if you'd tell any of us if you were…we were worried."

"So what? I have a life and suddenly I need an intervention?" A Chinese curse escapes his lips and he says, "you're going to give me a stroke if you keep this up. Just do us all a favor and leave me the hell alone!" he bitched as he just barely escaped the room and slammed the door behind him.

"With friends like you four who needs enemies? Seriously," Wufei complained as he headed down the hall.

`Guess I'll go for a walk,' he thought, putting his key back into his pocket. `…a long walk.'

"……."

"Looks like he's back to normal," Trowa said after the shock of Wufei's outburst and escape wore off.

Duo, predictably, started laughing hysterically.

"Shut up…idiot," Heero teased, unable to hide a small smirk.

"I love you too baby," Duo said with a wide grin.

"See Quatre, worried over nothing," Trowa said.

"I…guess you're right," Quatre answered hesitantly.

`The day started so well,' Relena thought. `I saw them together at lunch and I was fine, so what happened?' she thought as she sobbed . She didn't even know how long she'd been standing out here in the rain crying her eyes out like some sort of dummy. She was soaked straight through to the bone, she knew that, and it was cold-she could feel herself shivering. The problem was, she didn't care.

`I thought I could be strong, I really did,' she thought. `But seeing them like that…no denying it now.'

It had been the last period of the day and the teacher asked Relean to get a box of pencils from the supply closet down the hall.

She had expected to find the pencils. What she hadn't expected to find was Duo and Heero making out with matching hard-ons, and Heero's hand shoved down Duo's pants no less.

"Relena!" they'd said, almost simultaneously. Heero looked like a kid with his hand stuck in the cookie jar. `Okay, bad analogy,' Relena thought.

"I…need a box of pencils," she'd said, to which Duo quickly obliged saying, mostly to himself, "well, this is a little awkward."

"Relena, I…."Heero had tried to say.

"It's alright Heero. You don't have to say anything. I already knew. I guess I've known for a while, really. You shouldn't worry so much. Just…do what makes you happy."

"It's alright Heero. You don't have to say anything. I already knew. I guess I've known for a while, really. You shouldn't worry so much. Just…do what makes you happy."

Yeah, she'd been strong to their faces. She was proud of herself, of how long she'd managed to hold it together for. But now she was falling apart, all alone out under this cherry tree. All alone. Empty. With no sense of a possible future, a life without him. Was this how Wufei had felt? Did he still feel like this? If so, he was stronger than he gave himself credit for…

Wufei had been walking aimlessly through the halls for about an hour when he passed the big windows and the arch that you could see the cherry tree and the main entrance to the campus through.

`Huh?' Someone was out there. `Is that…RELENA! It is!' He ran to the archway. `How long has she been out there?!'

"RELENA!" he called.

Hearing her name, she turned, still pretty dazed from the final downfall of her hoped-for future.

He ran out to her. He looked worried again, she noticed. She didn't like that expression one bit on him.

"Come inside. You'll get sick," he told her, and that's all it took for her to start sobbing again. So he wrapped his arms around her and held her against him. It felt awkward, but, what else could he do? She needed this.

"Shhh. It isn't the end of the world, you know," he informed her quietly.

"…I don't know what I'm doing," Relena told him between sobs. "I only ever imagined one life for myself. It was going to be me and Heero-without that I'm lost. The future just up and left me stranded somewhere in the middle of the road. Wufei, what am I doing here?"

"Is that all?" Wufei teased gently. "The future will find us again when it's ready to, Relena. In the meanwhile, let's just take things one day at a time."

"…"

"Hey, we've still got each other, right?" he asked.

Another sniffle stopped her tears as she looked up at him, surprised at the way he was able to comfort her like this and she accepted it-and him-without question, how easy it was to do so.

"Wufei."

"We're friends, remember Relena? I promised, didn't I?"

"Yeah, you did."

"Alright, so let's get you back to your room and into something dry before you get sick, okay? I'll walk you there."

"This is another one I owe you," Relena whispered.

"Who's counting?" he said dismissively. "From now on, let's just take care of each other."

"This is my roommate, Nadia," Relena told Wufei upon entering the room. "Nadia, this is Wufei, a good friend of mine."

"Pleased to meet you," Wufei said.

"Likewise," Nadia answered. "You two get stuck in that rain or something?" the auburn-haired girl asked.

"Yes, something like that," Wufei answered before turning to Relena and saying, "Now go put something dry on before you catch pneumonia."

"…I think I'll take a hot shower. Do you mind?"

"Not at all. Go right ahead."

Nadia's phone rand. "Hello? Sure. On my way. It's gross out, so meet me at the side gate. Yeah. Bye."

"I'm going home for the weekend, Relena, so I'll see you Sunday night. You two behave now. Cya!"

"She isn't around much, it seems," Relena said as she pulled a pair of faded blue sweat pants out of her dresser.

"…Wufei, will you still be here when I get out?"

"Unless you want me to go."

"Don't go," Relena told him, handing him the sweatpants and a large white t-shirt that read, "give life, donate blood" on the front and had some the place and date written on the back.

"Huh?"

"You're all wet too, you know," Relena smiled weakly.

"These should fit you. We'll put everything in a dryer when I get out of the shower."

"Alright. So go on already."

`He really surprised me today,' Relena thought as the hot water and the steamy bathroom began to soak the chill out of her bones. `I didn't think he'd take our newfound friendship so seriously, but I guess Wufei isn't the type of guy to do things halfway. Fiercely loyal, about certain things, I guess. I'm going to have to think up something special to do for him-not to mention a good excuse for doing it.'

She finished her shower and dried off, began to get dressed, thinking, `Wufei, you really are a pretty decent person, but don't worry, you're secret's safe with me.'

She combed out her hair and looked in the mirror at her beautiful sweats. "Well, I must really trust you to let you see me in this godawful get-up," she said to her reflection, exiting the bathroom then, and saying with a smile, "all better!"

"mn. You look like you're feeling better too," Wufei said as he stood up.

Seeing him in sweats and an old t-shirt made Relena laugh.

"What?!?" he asked, suddenly looking offended.

"I'm sorry Wufei. It's just that I've only ever seen you in one uniform or another. You look just like a normal guy now. The black and red school uniform suits you, but I like this look too. You seem more relaxed."

"It's just clothing. As long as it's comfortable I don't much care about it," he said matter-of-factly.

"And yet, you always look so stylish," Relena teased as she put his uniform in a basket of wet clothing.

"You're such a brat," he told her, to which she stuck out her tongue and answered with, "Yep, that's why we get along. Now, laundry room. Come."

She made everything sound so simple.

It was late when Wufei finally went back to his own room, and he was in good spirits, looking forward to a good night's sleep. He'd surprised himself today with Relena, and it was a pleasant surprise. He didn't feel as if he had to be anything special for her. The more time he spent with the girl, the more he found that she was an easy person to be around.

But Wufei was a little surprised to see Quatre both in their room and still awake at this hour, on a Friday no less.

"You're home late," Quatre said.

"No Trowa tonight?" Wufei returned.

"Wufei, I wanted to apologize…"

"For what? Being concerned? Don't. I should be grateful-I'm not-but I should be. Stupid reason to abandon your boyfriend on a Friday night though."

"Trowa abandoned me…or more specifically, my homework."

"I see."

"Wufei…I hate to bother you, but…how are you at Algebra?"

"Hmph. What's the problem?"

"EVERYTHING!!!"

"Well, now that we've got THAT all cleared up…" Wufei teased. He couldn't help it if he was in a good mood, could he?

"There are too many letters and not enough numbers," Quatre complained as Wufei pulled his chair over to Quatre's cluttered desk. This could take a while.

"I was fine with x, and then she had to go adding y and z! There should be a "one letter at a time" rule," the blond complained hopelessly. No wonder Trowa had abandoned him for the night.

"Well, there is. Just not in the way you mean," Wufei told him.

The desperate look on Quatre's face pulled a small grin out of Wufei again. He was giving Wufei that `this is hopeless' expression, and coming from someone who'd come out on top of as many hopeless situations as they had, it seemed a little funny.

"Don't worry," Wufei said. "I'll explain…"

"WUFEI!" Quatre screeched as his roommate opened the door, and pounced on the black-haired boy, grinning like a fool, and sending them both tumbling into the hallway to the obvious amusement of some of their fellow students on the way to their own rooms.

"Unh. Okay, why the Duo impression?" Wufei asked, mentally deciding that Quatre was not allowed anywhere in the vicinity of sugar for at least a week, since he was very obviously on overload, which needed to be stopped, pretty much now.

Quatre, sugarless, and the happiest he'd been in a while, pulled a wrinkled piece of paper out of his pocket and, shoving it giddily into Wufei's face, said, "You're my new hero Wufei! I passed my test!"

"I was going to thank you as well," Trowa commented from the open doorway. "But now I'm a little jealous."

That was all it took for Quatre to get up and bound at the other pilot, saying, "aw, now don't be like that. You know I still love you best Trowa!"

On days like this, it was easy to forget they weren't all just normal kids going to school. It was easy to forget the war when your roommate was going on about how proud of his 78 in algebra he was, and your roommate's boyfriend was thanking you for saving his sanity. The days had been good to them lately.

"Do you want to watch a movie with us Wufei?" Quatre asked. "We can go to Trowa's room if not…"

"No, that's fine, put it in. I'll make tea."

"Ooo! And get the French cookies out too!" Quatre said happily.

"They're called madelains," Trowa corrected.

"I don't care," Quatre giggled. "They're yummy."

Almost as soon as Wufei disappeared into the kitchen, there was a knock on the door.

"I'll get it!" Quatre said as he bounded towards the door, opening it and saying, "Seventy-eight!…uh…oh, hi Relena. What's up?"

"Hi Quatre. Is Wufei here?"

"Yeah. In the kitchenette. Come on in."

"Wufei! Relena's here to see you," Quatre said, sounding a little perplexed.

"Oh! Be right there!" Wufei called back as he put the whistle down on the teapot.

"Hello Relena. What is it?" he asked as he entered the main room.

"Happy Birthday!" she beamed, holding out a small box with blue balloon wrapping paper on it and a little streamer ribbon on one corner.

"It's your birthday, Wufei?"

Quatre asked, offended at not being told.

"Uh, yeah, sort of," Wufei said. "But, Relena, how did you know…"

"I'm pretty recourceful when I want to be," Relena said. "Now, seeing as you're Wufei and you probably haven't the faintest idea what to do with a birthday present, I'll give you a hint-you open it," she teased.

Wufei felt awkward holding the little one foot square box. Equal amounts of curiosity and paranoia pulled at him as he wondered what could POSSIBLY be inside.

He chuckled when he saw it, a little brown teddy bear wearing a white kung fu uniform and holding a yellow rose and a small brown case in its arms. He wasn't about to say it aloud, but it was probably the cutest thing he'd ever seen. Leave it to Relena to find something this adorable and this useless.

The case, he discovered, held a pair of new glasses.

"I got your prescription from Sally, so I know it's right," Relena said. "Now you can throw away the ones I broke. And they aren't as dorky as the old ones; they'll look good on you."

"You're a piece of work," he told her. "You shouldn't do things like this."

"Oh shh! Put `em on and stop complaining. You want to be able to see for a change, don't you?"

"I see fine."

"And now you'll see better," Relena said, sticking out her tongue as he put the oval-framed glasses on.

`They really do suit him,' Trowa noticed. `She chose well.'

`Relena is the friend Wufei's been spending all of his time with?' Quatre mused. `That's so weird!'

"You're such a brat," Wufei told her as he put the bear on the corner of his desk. "Do you want some tea? I got a mug for you to use, finally."

"Really? Then I definitely want some, if I get my own mug and everything."

"I'll be back," he said with a small sigh and a minute shaking of his head.

"We were about to watch a movie," Quatre told her. "Wanna stay and watch it with us?"

"That would be great, thanks. What movie?"

Trowa looked at the label and said, "Dragonheart…if this old thing still works, that is."

"Oh! Old movies are the best!" Relena said happily as Wufei reentered, giving Trowa and Quatre their tea and dropping the cookies in Quatre's lap before saying, "I don't really think you need any more sugar, but there are your cookies anyway," and going back into the small kitchenette to get the other two mugs that he left there.

He smiled at the mug he'd purchased for her, remembering how he'd stumbled across it by pure accident two days before. One side with a smiley with it's tongue sticking out and the other side reading "BRAT" in big pink lettering.

"Here," he said, handing it to her. "It has your name on it, so I thought it was appropriate."

"Really?" she asked. Turning the mug around and seeing "brat" written on the other side, she slapped his arm.

"Jerk!" she told him.

"Are we finished now children?" Trowa asked, watching the display in disbelief. Wufei and Relena behaved around each other in a manner that would imply that they had grown up together. Best friends, obviously. Something more? Maybe with time. They made each other happier, that much was obvious, and he hoped they would continue to do so, for both of their sakes.

"Just about," Wufei answered as he sat down on his bed and chucked a pillow at the back of Relena's head.

Relena adjusted herself on the floor with it, lying down on her stomack and said, "you aren't getting it back now."

"Alright, we're all settled, so let's watch the movie now," Quatre said as he burrowed a little deeper into Trowa's shoulder…

"…you're kidding!" Duo asked in disbelief over lunch the next day.

"It was like being surrounded by three year olds," Trowa commented.

"When Relena fell asleep, Wufei started launching paper missiles at her head," Quatre said, giggling. "I asked what he was doing and he told me, "target practice". I thought Relena was gonna kill him, but she just threw them right back, saying it was "retaliation" and he made a comment about how she was supposed to be a pacifist. At least now I understand how printer paper ended up on our bathroom floor. I was really curious."

"It doesn't sound like Wufei at all," Duo said. "Or proper Miss Relena either! Man, I would've loved to have been there to see it though!" he laughed. "I think I'll stick with my alien theory though."

When Heero didn't even bother to call him an idiot or slap him, Duo realized he was distracted.

"Heero?"

Heero just pointed. Sure enough Wufei was on the cafeteria line with Relena and the pair appeared to be having a great time with the meal selection, fighting over whether or not Wufei should have a cupcake it seemed, Relena of the opinion that he should, and Wufei of the opinion that he most definitely should not, as they took turns putting it on and taking it off of his tray all the way down the line. When Wufei finally won by offering it to the person behind them on line, who seemed to be enjoying the spectacle as much as they were, but accepted the cupcake greatfully anyway, Relena slapped the Chinese pilot's arm and called him a jerk.

"Hiya Relena, Wufei!" Duo chirped as they began past the table.

"Hello!" Relena returned with almost equal enthusiasm.

"Huh? Oh, afternoon Maxwell," Wufei said, and got slapped again.

"Hey!" he protested.

"What did we agree about that, hmm?"

Wufei sighed. "Afternoon DUO. Are you happy now, your royal pain in my highness?"

"Yep! Much better!" Relena said with a grin. "Now come on. Let's eat outside. It's nice today."

"Brat," Wufei informed her. "Why do I tolerate you anyway? It's just one grievance after another."

"Yeah yeah yeah. I love you too Wufei, now let's go. See ya later boys."

"If I didn't know better, I'd think they were married," Duo chuckled. "Who d'you think would wear the pants in THAT family?"

"Relena, definitely!" Quatre giggled.

"You think so?" Trowa asked a little skeptically, more to hear the blonde's reply than out of any need for debate.

"Uhhuh. But you wouldn't be allowed to say anything about it in front of Wufei, if you wanted to live," Quatre said with a grin.

Noticing Heero's far off expression, Duo inquired, "something bothering you Heero?"

"I'm sorry, Duo. I have work on the brain…something I want to look into," he said as he stood. "Forgive me?"

"Yeah, sure. Always. I'll see you later?"

"Count on it," Heero returned, giving Duo a kiss right then and there, eliciting a small gasp from the long-haired boy. Pleasantly surprised' seemed to be a term fitting of Duo's mental state. Seeing the shock on his lover's face, Heero explained, "once in a while, Relena says something useful. I'll see you tonight."

Once Heero left, Quatre and Trowa looked at Duo quizzically (or, to be more precise, Quatre looked at Duo in complete astonishment, and Trowa quirked his head slightly and just sort of stared at Duo…so, yeah, quizzically it is). Public displays were so out of character for Heero; they couldn't contain their curiosity, but Duo didn't know what to tell them until he remembered Relena stumbling across the two boys in the closet.

"Well see…she um…said he should do what makes him happy so…wh-whatever the case, she took it well."

A massive fumble on Duo's part and he knew it as well as anyone, but it was all, a little embarrassing. After all, how do you tell two of your best friends that the woman who's in love with your boyfriend walked in on you when you were about ten seconds shy of cuming all over yourself thanks to aforementioned boyfriend's nimble fingers? Duo figured he'd handled dancing around the subject pretty well, all things considered.

Heero, on the other hand, was feeling rather guilty, and angry about feeling guilty on top of it. Kissing Duo in public like that had felt good, liberating, actually, but he felt like he'd betrayed the other boy by saying he wanted to get some work done. In truth, all he could think was, `if he hurts her, I'll kill him.'

Even if he didn't love Relena, that didn't stop him from caring about her in that over-protective, slightly older brother kind of way. It didn't make much sense to him either, but if nothing else, he knew that he had a great deal of respect for the blonde girl (thought there were times when her behavior just screamed Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder-he figured he wasn't really one to talk.).

So, he was concerned. He HAD met Chang Wufei, after all, and even Perfect Solider Heero Yuy had to admit that the Chinese pilot had about as much tact and grace as an electric guitar playing death metal. And there was also the more mysogynistic side of pilot 05 that had reared its ugly head on more than one occasion. They claimed to be just friends; but as Heero watched them under the cherry tree, he wondered if something more was going on that neither realized.

It was the way that Relena put her hand on Wufei's forearm gently and leaned in a bit closer than was necessary as she spoke, the way Wufei didn't pull away and, probably unconsciously, leaned slightly into her breath. `Just friends,' Heero thought. `Yeah right.'

Fact was, as the weeks passed, though Wufei was only slightly more bearable to the other pilots, he was rarely alone. He'd leave the room in the morning, come back late in the evening, and when confronted about the strange behavior, his explanations almost always began with the phrase, "Relena and I…"

Quatre noticed that Relena's `brat' mug had found a permanent home in their little dish drain and though the rose had long since wilted and been discarded, Wufei's bear had become a permanent fixture on the corner of his desk and held his glasses for him whenever they weren't on his face, which was more often than not, but then, Wufei rarely wore his old glasses either.

His time with "the stalker" was something that Wufei was not permitted to live down. When the pair decided one Friday night to go to a play that Wufei had been interested in seeing, and Wufei was getting ready, Duo(the room seemed to be ever more frequently populated since teasing Wufei relentlessly had apparently become the favorite pass-time of the other pilots) asked, "like a date?" with his usual giddy humor and manic grin, the one Wufei long ago dubbed "so wide it must be painful."

"Like two friends going to a play, Maxwell," Wufei returned abruptly.

"What did we agree about that!?!" Duo imitated the blonde girl giddily, knowing Relena had made Wufei promise to start calling his friends by their first names.

But at the same time, Duo added, "and dinner, don't forget dinner!" Quatre chimed in with a giggle, earning a glare from Wufei which Trowa translated by saying, "I believe that would be the "I know where you sleep" glare, Love. Better watch out."

"I'm not worried! My Trowa will protect me!" he said, unphased.

"And who's going to protect me, hm?" Trowa asked suppressing a small smile as he gave Quatre's shoulders a slight squeeze.

"I will," Heero chimed in, earning a raised eyebrow from both Duo and Quatre. As for Wufei, he was too busy digging his shoes out of his closet to pay the antics much mind.

He was still only half-dressed, thanks to plentiful distractions, his hair still down from the recent shower, and he mostly just wished his fellow pilots would go away. He liked them a lot better when they were obsessing over one another and leaving him in peace.

But Heero continued, "I don't really think Duo needs encouragement, but anyone who hurts my friends is in for it." He said it in jest, with a tone of humor that sounded abut as forced as Trowa's or, he suspected, his own. All the same, it sent a twitch up Wufei's spine. It wasn't the first time Heero had said something like this to him, and the last time the Japanese boy had been deadly serious.

It had been the day they'd run into the other pilots in the cafeteria. Wufei's last class of the day ended at 4 p.m. and Heero was waiting for him outside of the classroom.

"Yuy?" he'd asked.

"If you hurt her, I'll kill you," Heero had said.

"Don't worry Yuy. Relena's my friend. I have no intention of doing anything even remotely resembling what you did to her…and don't think for a second that I'm not still pissed as hell at you over it."

That had stung; he could see it in Heero's eyes, but the guy deserved it as far as Wufei was concerned. If he wasn't in love with her, he should have said so and let her move on with her life. But apparently Heero didn't want her AND didn't want anyone else to have her either. And even if Wufei wasn't interested in Relena in a less-than-platonic way, Heero was convinced otherwise. The end result was still the same-over the past month the tension between the two boys had been tangible, hard to miss.

Now, pulling on his elastic too hard as he thought of it, the band snapped on Wufei's fingers, leaving a thin red line in it's wake.

"Shit!" he cursed, aggrevatedly tossing it in the garbage and searching his drawers for another, without success. Annoyed about his broken elastic now, he realized, for tonight at least, he'd have to tolerate wearing his hair down, and after pulling a brush through the long silky strands, he let them tumble around his shoulders and pulled a light blue silk shirt from his closet. He only had five minutes before Relena would get here.

`Hate dressing up,' he thought as he fastened the buckle of his belt and sat down to put his shoes on. Almost done, there was a knock on the door.

"Be right there!" he called as he tied his laces.

"Sorry for making you wait. I had four very annoying things distracting me," he told her as he opened the door.

With her hair pulled up off of her neck and the wine red dress she was wearing, Relena looked stunning, and Wufei couldn't help but notice. But he didn't have the time to think about the fact that he was thinking about how beautiful his best friend was because the first words out of her mouth were, "your hair!"

"My elastic snapped. I'll deal with it. Ready?"

Relena nodded and the two left, but out of the corner of her eye Relena kept stealing glimpses of Wufei. He had the most beautiful hair she had ever seen, like satin, and it was all she could do to not reach out and touch it. The little girl in her that had never fully grown up just wanted to play with that hair, and part of her had to admit-Wufei looked good. The silk shirt fell on him just right and displayed in the evening breeze muscles that were normally concealed beneath polyester or cotton, and that hair, she couldn't get over his hair. If it was up to her, an elastic band would never suffer that hair again.

As they rode into the city, Relena realized suddenly that Wufei was one of the most beautiful men she'd ever seen, and she wondered why she'd never noticed before-too obsessed with Heero, she figured. And when she finally realized that she was checking out her best friend, she tried to force the thoughts from her mind. They were friends, after all, nothing more. But it was okay to think her friend was beautiful, wasn't it? Sure it was.

But as they discussed the play over dinner and she realized how intelligent and cultured the Chinese Pilot actually was under the gruff exterior, she found herself thinking, `if he keeps this up, I can fall for him, hard.' She chose to ignore the little voice in her head when it said that. She wouldn't give up her friendship with Wufei for anything; it was too special to her. She liked what they had, didn't need anything else. And besides, she was pretty sure that once he had his usual clothes back on, his hair tied back into that dramatic ponytail, he'd return to being just Wufei. And Wufei was convinced that no matter how smart, beautiful, strong, and well…sexy, Relena turned out to be, deep down, she was still just Relena, his friend, the brat.

If they had known that a simple play could change everything, they might not have gone.

And dinner didn't help either. Relena laughed her way to the restroom after Wufei said, "so help me, if that guy calls us the `charming young couple' one more time, I will not be held accountable for my actions." Not that Wufei or Relena really understood why it bothered him so much, but fact is, it did. And the fact that their waiter kept looking at his friend's cleavage was doing nothing to sweeten his mood.

"Hey, we're here to have fun, remember? Just relax Wufei. It's fine, really, I'm used to it," Relena assured him.

"…but, Relena, you shouldn't have to be," he replied, and his voice and expression were so genuine, she couldn't help but give him a sweet smile.

"There are just some things a girl has to deal with, Wufei. It's the way the world is, I suppose," she shrugged. "Guys are just like that…well, a lot of guys are, anyway. You seem pretty immune," she teased, "but then again, all your guy friends are gay."

"It just isn't right," Wufei said as he shook his head. "I'm sorry if I'm ruining your evening, Relena."

"Not at all. Hey, let's dance! It'll give your temper a chance to cool off, you hothead."

"I AM NOT…!" Wufei had begun to say, but when Relena cocked her head and gave him a look, he shut up rather quickly.

Maybe he WAS a LITTLE hot-under-the-collar…a little.

Dancing with Relena calmed him somewhat miraculously. She smelled really nice, something he had noticed vaguely before, but now he couldn't seem to escape the scent of her. And she was beautiful, easily the most beautiful woman in the place. And HE was dancing with her, he thought with some pride. `Stop that!' he scolded himself. `This is Relena. Relena who called me a liar and chased me down the hall. Relena who slapped he. Relena with the `brat' mug. Relena who loves old movies and sugar cookies. Relena with the too-blue eyes. Relena who likes chamomile tea and old movies and teases me relentlessly and bought me a teddy bear for my birthday and…Relena who went to all that effort to find out when my birthday was in the first place. Relena who smells like lilies and I want to kiss. No. Not that last one. Relena, my best friend, who I want to kiss…No. No. I don't. Relena who…'

"You should wear your hair down more often. It's a good look for you. All the girls at school would be all over you if they saw you tonight. You're a pretty handsome guy when you let yourself be, you know, Wufei."

`What am I saying?!? He's going to think I…'

`Relena who likes my hair and thinks I'm handsome and I…stop that! Chang Wufei, what's your problem? Are you going to start going gaga over every beautiful girl you see now? No, just this one. Relena. I want to kiss Relena. Shutup Shutup Shutup!'<br>

Seeing a pained expression cross Wufei's face, Relena stopped dancing and asked "Wufei?"

"I don't care about that," he told her a little distantly.

"Right. Silly me. I guess you don't have time for it. Or…Wufei, is it because of Meiran?"

"NO. No. It used to be, but…" `there's someone else now…no!' "it isn't anymore. My life doesn't have room for that sort of thing right now. Besides, I'd have to keep too many secrets. It wouldn't be fair to either party involved."

`Either party involved, like he's trying to distance himself from the subject. Wufei.' Relena sighed mentally. "It's just so sad is all," she said. "I mean, you're all alone, really."

"Not really. I have the other guys, whether I want them or not. And you, of course," Wufei said. She just looked so sad he HAD to say something.

"Yeah!" Relena said, grinning at him. "You'll always have me. Don't you dare forget that!"

"Never…"

"…"

The silence was awkward at best, and a bit too intimate for either's liking, so Wufei broke it after a few minutes.

"It's late. We should go back."

"You're right. This was fun though. We should do it again sometime."

"Yes. We should."

"You're in late," Nadia commented as Relena walked in. She was up doing her homework.

"Yeah, I was off-campus for the evening."

"Ah. So you finally went out with that guy you like!" Nadia said, smiling her itching-for-the-gossip smile.

"Guy I like?"

"Yeah, you know, whatshisname, the Chinaman."

"Wufei?" Relena asked with a perplexed expression.

"Yeah! That's it! Wufei, the wet cutie. So, good date?"

"No, Nadia, Wufei and I are just friends," Relena clarified.

"Yeah. Uhhuh. Keep telling yourself that."

`Is Nadia right? Am I attracted to Wufei?' Relena wondered as she absent-mindedly pulled the clips out of her hair.

"Have fun?" Quatre asked as Wufei walked in, looking pretty distracted.

"Uhhuh," Wufei mumbled whilst pulling at the top button of his shirt. His head hurt so much from thinking that he was ready for bed.

"Oh, here!" Quatre said as he shot an elastic in Wufei's direction. "A present from Duo."

"Oh. Thanks."

"Something bothering you, Wufei?" Quatre asked. "You seem distracted."

"No. Nothing. I'm just tired Quatre."

"You're lying, but it's okay. If you change your mind and want to talk about whatever-ya know, sports, the weather, your conflicted feelings regarding Relena, I'm right here."<

`Conflicted feelings regarding Relena? Way to drop a hint. Am I that obvious?'

"Goodnight Winner."

"Goodnight Wufei."

It was difficult coming to terms with the fact that her feelings for Wufei hadn't changed with is wardrobe. The warm smile, the thoughtful frown, those dark, lonely eyes-she couldn't remember life without them suddenly, and didn't want to. But she decided, to keep their friendship safe, it would be her little secret.

"You seem distracted," she said as they sat on the front steps of the school.

"Perhaps a bit. Just thinking about…you know, things."

"Work."

"Yes."

Actually, he was thinking about "work" and Relena. She already knew all of his secrets, but he would do nothing in regards to his love for her. To be near her like this, he'd decided, as often as possible, was enough. It would have to be.

And then the inevitable day came when Wufei got a call that would send him halfway across the globe on a mission.

~Knock. Knock.~

"Wufei? What's up?" Relena asked when she found him at her door at ten p.m. on a Friday night, not all-too-common for him. Then she saw the duffel on his shoulder and her heart jumped into her throat.

"I wanted to tell you that I'll be leaving now," Wufei said flatly, making deliberate effort to keep emotion out of his voice and doing quite well of it, though his eyes betrayed him, "rather than simply disappearing without a trace."

"You…have work to do," Relena stated, just as flatly, but on her voice, the tone only gave the impression that she had been struck by something suddenly.

"Yes."

"Please be careful."

"I always am. Well, I suppose that was it, really. Relena, goodb…"

Relena did the most impulsive thing she could fathom. Quickly, she grabbed his wrist before he could turn to go and kissed his cheek quickly before pulling back away from him.

"Come back soon," she said. "I…I'll be here waiting for you to come back, so you'd better hurry."

Wufei, stunned, dropped his bag. His heart ached as she spoke, but no words would form in his mind long enough for him to speak. He knew only that she didn't want him to say goodbye, wanted him to return, and that she had kissed him; he could still feel the warmth of her lips lingering on his flushed cheek.

Noticing his stunned confusion, Relena spoke again. "I'm telling you, Wufei, that I'll be right here, waiting for you, no matter how long it…"

Now it was Wufei's turn to be impulsive, something that didn't come all to naturally to him. He was pretty sure that Relena didn't love him the way that he loved her, but he still, quickly, pulled her into his arms, one hand with slender fingers tangled in her hair, which was soft in the way that freshly cleaned sheets are soft, and kissed her. It was a needy kiss, filled with passion and longing, and Relena realized that the thing he longed for, was her-for her to return his love. Of course she would kiss him back, of course she would rest her hands on his strong shoulders and let her eyes fall closed, trusting him completely.

After a long few moments, he pulled away, picked up his bag and said, "I'm sorry Relena." It was a whisper really. "I shouldn't have. Please forgive me."

And he turned, and he left.

"Oh Wufei," she whispered, running her fingers gently over swollen lips, still moist with the taste of him, his smell still lingering in the air all around her. "There's nothing to forgive. As long as you come back to me, there's nothing to forgive at all."

-------------

aw, smoochies. Anywhoo, there are two more chappies, but I haven't typed them up yet, so they'll take a little longer for me to post. And if I don't keep updating "Brothers After All" I think I'm going to start getting hate mail. Okay, not really but, eesh. . . Sophie is gonna kick my ass if I don't finish that story! Uh, so yeah, . . . I write pretty fast though, so I guess another maybe week or two before the next chap is up on this story. I'm anticipating being done with the other story by then.