"Heero's Dog"

Written By: Kaeru Shisho

Disclaimer: I don't own any part of Gundam Wing or its characters, nor do I make any monetary profit off this story.

Rating: NC 17

Warnings: AU, male/male pairings, language

Pairings: 1x2, 3x4,

Summary: Heero chooses a dog for stress relief and gets everything but, and then he meets Duo. This is about relationships more than dogs, but the title stuck. And he does get a dog.

A/N: My thanks go to Waterlily for the excellent editing and support. The story is told from the point of view of Heero, Trowa, and at times Wufei. Thank you for reading.

" Heero's Dog"

Chapter 5

Heero and Quatre stood on either side of the picture window, staring. The party hummed in the background, a combination of murmured voices, clinking glasses, and light jazz. Heero was carefully steering clear of the main living room where the party was in full swing and peppered with Merquise and Darling people, 'persons of disinterest' he wished to avoid. He found it far better to glower forlornly into the night and brood over the 'persons of interest' who were in short supply.

"He's not coming," Heero announced, not that he believed it. He just wanted to hear his friend argue the other way.

"He might not. He didn't say he would, did he? We are practically strangers to him, Heero," Quatre explained, not taking the tack Heero wanted him to.

"I thought he said he'd come."

"Well, then, it's only late by your standards."

"And yours." Heero knew his friend liked promptness as much as he did. "He's barely within the acceptable parameters of—"

"Oh, Heero. It's just a party. He's just fashionably late -."

"Shh!" Heero cut him off when he saw figures in the mottled lighting. "Fuck."

"What is it, Heero?"

"Remember how I said that I never followed up on Duo because I thought he had a boyfriend?"

"Who might have just been a friend meeting him at the dock? Yes."

"And carried his bags and brought his dog along, so obviously he'd been taking care of Duo's 'love sponge.' Well, he's brought him along."

"Where? Are you sure that's them?"

"I think... yes, it's Duo."

"Duo and... who's that with him? Could it be-? I could have sworn I saw Trowa, but that makes no sense."

"Who? No, that's the same guy I told you I saw pick him up at the dock."

"Duo seems... upset."

"He's waving his arms, trying to get away." Heero tore his eyes away from the scene and headed to the entryway. "I should go help him."

"I don't think so. The other man, the one you call his boyfriend, is annoyed, but Duo's not fighting him. See they've stopped."

"Are they coming in?" Heero asked teetering between flinging open the door and patiently waiting.

"Looks like it."

Heero nearly ripped the door off its hinge he yanked on it so hard. And then his heart stopped. The pair stood arm in arm, or, more accurately, the shorter Chinese man was gripping Duo by the arm. The disappointment Heero felt was so strong it was painful.

Quatre appeared with a smile blossoming over his face. "Hi, I'm Quatre!"

What was he supposed to do? Heero greeted Duo with a stern expression and a hesitant manner. "So, you brought your... boyfriend."

"Who?" Duo even checked over his shoulder as if he expected boyfriends sprouting up all around.

"He means me, you dolt!" Wufei shouted.

Duo looked horrified, almost as much as Wufei. Both men pushed apart so fast the vacuum created nearly sucked Heero in.

"No!"

"Not at all!" Wufei extended a hand. "I'm Chang Wufei and I am just his friend."

Heero smiled warmly, the wave of depression slipping away on a tide of certainty. "I'm Heero. Nice to finally meet you."

(*)

Wufei greeted the host, "Thank you for including me in your invitation," and Duo's friend, Heero, "Nice to make your acquaintance," and felt that the warmth in Heero's eyes, which appeared bonded to Duo, communicated sufficient devotion and caring to meet Wufei's standards. Duo, he felt, was in good hands. Now, it was time for Duo to snap out of whatever funk Trowa had put him in! No, Wufei himself had never suffered a breakup, but he was certain that if he should ever do so, he wouldn't moon about. He was made of sterner stuff than that, and so should his friend, Duo.

"Make yourselves at home," Quatre said politely as his cell phone was ringing in his hand.

"Go on. Answer that!" Wufei ordered his host. His tolerance for indecisiveness was very low. It made him snappish, as did Duo's listlessness.

"Oh! Yes. Of course. Please excuse me," Quatre murmured as turned away to take his call.

Wufei led Duo inside, the man clearly bothered by the run-in with Trowa outside and wishing he'd talked Duo out of showing up at the party with the big lout in the first place. Why did Duo do stupid things that could only complicate his life? Couldn't he see that he'd already put too many years into a relationship that was doomed from the start?

"Move inside so I can breathe!" he hissed in Duo's ear.

He'd tried to make Duo's personal life his business and nearly took it too far—friendship bonds were only so strong, and Duo's ties to Trowa were not only resilient, but elastic. For some reason Duo had wanted to give Trowa one more chance—was it a test? Had he suspected something? Or was Duo the injudicious, senseless man he thought he was, when it came to love?

"Get ahold of yourself, Maxwell! Introduce us properly."

Did he want to know, really want to know, what was going on inside his friend's screwy head? Wufei let out a resigned sigh. Duo was wearing his lost look, which was a little better than his turn-tail-and-run look. Stunned but not about to turn around and walk back out.

"Wufei's a student—" Duo began dutifully.

"A graduate student and scholar of Ancient Chinese history and poetry,
Wufei filled in.

"And Heero's a Preventer's agent," Duo concluded.

"Show the... (hot, eager)... agent... your shiny, new cellphone, why don't you?" Wufei suggested, moderating his tone to be a tad less brusque.

So, what had happened out there in the parking lot, he wondered? He wasn't sure if Trowa had broken up with Duo, not from what Duo had reported... at the top of his voice. One of the things Wufei didn't like about Trowa was his customary evasiveness when it came to facing issues. From what Duo had told him of the conversation, he had avoided the clearly vocalized, finality of "we're through!" He wished he'd driven faster so as to have overheard their fight from the beginning rather than Duo's retelling of it.

All he could hope for was that Duo would take his advice and fill the aching hole in his heart, the one which had been there for months, and quickly replace Trowa with a better fit.

Duo was showing Heero his new phone; a good start.

Wufei kept his smile tight and small. He was, he knew, a good judge of character, and there was Heero, a Preventer's Agent, reportedly Courageous; Rock-Solid; Dependable. He moved a step closer to overhear what they were saying.

"Let me add my number," Heero asked.

"Sure, but leave your ID as a number, not a name, okay?"

"All right." Heero agreed without a complaint or argument.

Yes. Good. He was accommodating Duo's often quixotic quirks. Wufei nodded his approval. Yes. He'd do nicely.

Having seen his friend through his breakup, hopefully that was all of it, and having met Heero, a fine, upstanding Preventer agent who could ground Duo when he became a bit too dreamy, Wufei decided it was time to focus on his own love life.

Wufei scanned the room through the wedge between Heero and Quatre's shoulders, freezing when his eyes lit upon the familiar visage of Zechs Merquise, the Broken Hero. Sitting at a low table forced his mile-long legs to stick out into the pathway. He had a drink in his hand. Wufei followed the news closely, reading deeply and researching all military actions. He did it as a hobby, an interest, because he studied Ancient Chinese literature in college. Zechs, he knew, had given up a soft life of a rich young man, leaving "poetry" classes at the college to attend military school instead. That had led to a lack-luster career which ended abruptly, and recently, when he received injuries in a skirmish off the coast. He was given a hero's welcome at home, along with a colonel's pension, but from all accounts was mostly seen drowning his sorrows in whiskey.

The man needed a distraction, some fussing, maybe even a companion, like a dog... like him.

"Well, there's a challenge!" Wufei whispered. He straightened his Mandarin collar and touched Duo's sleeve to get his attention. "I'll be over there."

"And—What? Over ...? Oh, there! Yeah, um, I may not be staying long, so... Oh, doesn't matter, I'll find a way home. Go mix it up."

"If you need to leave, remember, my services are always at your disposal." Wufei's expression was serious and he held Duo's arm until the other man acknowledged the truth of his words and nodded.

Relieved of his duties for the moment left Wufei free to meet and greet his target. He smiled while thinking of poems the fallen hero might like and walked directly into the path of those long legs.

"Oh, pardon me!"

"Oh, no, my fault entirely, I shouldn't have been blocking the path. Are you all right?"

"Yes, perfectly."

"A little dizzy, perhaps?"

Wufei could be a little dizzy. "Well—"

"Come sit here beside me. Tell me about yourself. I don't think we've met. I'm Zechs Merquise."

"I am Chang Wufei. It's a pleasure."

"Yes it is, and it's all mine."

(*)

If he'd dreaded facing Duo with his feelings, it paled in comparison when it came to making the call to Quatre. He didn't want to lose Duo's friendship, but a parting of the ways was inevitable. Compromising his entire future with Quatre? That was serious stupid. He had to think long and hard about what he was about to do and say. Being honest with Quatre meant telling him that while dating him he'd been living with Duo.

In principle, it sounded worse than it had been, he thought. He and Duo weren't actually under the same roof and hadn't been for a month or more, and even then, very little of the last six months had they been close. Some sex, but not much of that. So, they'd been splitting up for more than half a year—which was why Heero had attracted him at first. He wasn't a player! He didn't sleep around! Not that he'd had the opportunity to test his ability to turn multiple partners down—he felt lucky to have one guy at a time. What he knew he wanted to get across was that once he'd met Quatre, he knew he needn't look any further. The bad part was that he'd kept Duo hanging and had Heero in the background, but he was putting that past him. He was coming clean, exposing his innermost feelings to Quatre's scrutiny, and trusting for the best outcome.

He parked in front of a strip mall market and called Quatre.

"Trowa!"

"Hi, it's me."

"Where-? Are you here, outside, now?"

"No. Not at the party. Not now."

"Now I'm confused."

"I'm driving around."

"You are? Were you here? I thought I saw you outside. Why didn't you come in? I know about you and Heero; you already explained that, and I'm perfectly comfortable with all that. And he's moving on nicely."

"That's... good to hear." Trowa was almost happy for Heero to have gotten over him so fast.

"So what is the problem?"

"It's more complicated than- I don't want this to be a phone conversation."

"Make it one."

The steely edge to Quatre's voice reminded Trowa that the sweet face covered a tough, shrewd mind. His voice wavered at first. "I, ah, haven't been entirely honest with you. I had a boyfriend."

"I've had one too—"

"I had one when I met you."

"Oh."

"He'd be at the party." Trowa didn't expect him to go ballistic like Duo, but he didn't expect silent acceptance. "Quatre?"

"I'm still on the line. You say 'had'? It's over?"

"Yes... and no."

"I see."

But Trowa knew he couldn't understand, because he hadn't explained anything yet. "I—"

Quatre cut him off. "—see." The chill in his voice enough to stifle any man's ardor. "This should be dealt with face-to-face."

"Like I said—"

"Then come over. We can go to my room for privacy."

Trowa groaned. "Oh, if I could do that with a clear conscience."

"I don't understand the problem, Trowa. Either you are interested or not."

"I need to talk to someone first. I'll call you... give me an hour."

"Take all the time you need. You know where I live."

(*)

Heero turned his full attention onto Duo and noticed Duo's usual, amused veneer was missing. "Here's your phone back. I like the color and the feel of it."

"Uh, thanks." Duo pocketed the cell and tore at a hangnail.

"Satellite receiver?"

"Yeah."

Heero approved. He kept his eyes riveted to the phone, the hand, then lips and teeth gnawing at the nail, and felt a stirring and longing to feel those lips pressed against his own. Without thinking, he gave his own lips a quick lick.

Duo blinked and released the nail, a look of naked need in his eyes. And then it was gone, replaced by a sudden sorrow.

Heero's voice came out husky. "You'll need that for communications at sea."

"Could be," Duo whispered. He cleared his throat a little before adding, "I-I have something like that in the ship, but this will be handier."

At the edge of his vision, Heero noticed Quatre coming over and he wasn't smiling either. He leaned into Duo's space. "What's wrong?" Heero asked, his voice hushed still.

"Oh, nothing much. Not to tell about, but... ah... I guess it's really not all that enormous on the big-picture scale."

"Has something happened to your ship?" Heero wondered.

"No, nothing that bad, but close. Aw, shit. I am probably about to blow everything good I've got going with you, but I gotta be honest. I mean, I just met you, and hardly know you, but I can't stop thinking about you. Crazy, right? I know I'm right. Problem is- and you know there'd be something wrong or I'd be all over you like sand at the beach-"

Heero nodded slowly knowing some reaction was expected of him, but he was nearly knocked for a loop by what he'd just told him- Duo couldn't stop thinking about him!

He was reminded of something said by a girl he'd once dated. It had, in fact, ended their dating. She'd had long blond hair and swung it over a shoulder and with a giggle told him his kisses were like "a rainbow, birdsong, and sparkling dewdrops." She had to be crazy or silly to think such drivel, and he didn't like either, so he'd walked away. Later, he guessed she'd been painting a scenario of the highest, romantic kind, but it had been lost on him. Until now.

He heard warbling melodies, a kaleidoscope of colors, and, he might add, felt heated anticipation for better things to some.

He chuckled at his wild imagination, but when he looked at Duo, the man was studying him and nervously brushing the tip of his braid across his jeans... his thigh... and looking uncomfortable.

"Um, you know how sand just seems to stick everywhere?" Duo asked, further explaining what he'd said, Heero guessed.

"It can be annoying."

The tiny smile drooped as Duo seemed to accept that. "Annoying. Right."

But that wasn't what Heero thought it would be like with Duo stuck to him! He had to correct that! "But you are not sand. You'd be... nice."

"Oh, okay. Yeah. I would be. So-, shit this is hard so let me just spit it out, okay? ... Um... a few years ago I met this cool dude you've met, name of Trowa-."

Heero's eyebrows shot up. "Trowa Barton?"

"Yeah, the dog-man. Your dog-guy."

Heero had the bad feeling he knew where the conversation was going. Trowa had a certain allure and masculine attraction. Quatre had felt it, he'd felt it, why not Duo, too?

"I met him around... dog stuff in common... getting together and then I was a late starter to college, which he sorta encouraged... pushed me into. I needed money, like I told you before, and got into operating the research boats, which led to a work-study program and a few classes each semester... Um, geez, I haven't stopped talking for like... ten minutes, have I?"

"Only a minute."

"God... Stop me!"

"No, I'm interested; go on."

"I warned ya." Duo grinned, but only for a fraction of a second. "I started spending more and more time on the ship, which wouldn'ta been so bad if my, ah, boyfriend joined me, but... Trowa doesn't like the water."

"I do," Heero smiled sympathetically.

"You do? That's great."

"So tell me more—oh, wait. Quatre is coming over."

"S'okay with me," Duo said graciously, but without his customary vibrant enthusiasm.

"Well, not with me." Heero shot Duo a private smile. "I'll fend him off. He's just nosy and knows I want you to myself." He did not want Quatre to get wind of Trowa having another boyfriend, especially that that boyfriend was Duo. Not now or here.

Heero gestured for his friend to go way. He was annoyed when Quatre ignored his obvious signals and cozied right up beside Duo.

"I hear you are a friend of Trowa's," Quatre started right in.

"Quat—"Heero growled and hip-checked him, but there was no getting his determined friend to move off.

"You heard right. More until recently."

"Trowa and I-" Quatre started to say something but then fluttered his hand instead.

Heero waited for him to say more. He had every right to be surprised. Trowa'd been dating him at the same time, and now he'd just learned he'd been living with Duo all along. But Quatre remained quiet, passive even.

"Yes," Heero said. "Duo was explaining that he and Trowa are... together."

"Were together, were being the operative word here. We haven't agreed about much for a long while at all. I've been staying with 'Fei."

"He prefers to be called Wufei," Heero corrected him with a shy smile. "When I called to give him directions to the party, I was corrected."

"Heh, I'll bet, which is why I call him what I want—that's what nicknames are about and he's such a stick-in-the-mud. He's full of dating advice, but has never, that I know of, gone out for anything more than a study group with anyone. Aaaand... is another topic all together and for a different time. My point being that all-in-all he's been a great bud to have who'll give me rides when I don't have a car and who'll take care of Sky in a pinch."

"Why did you not leave your dog with Trowa?" Quatre, who'd been standing quietly throughout this conversation, suddenly jumped in. "He seems the logical choice."

Heero could tell he was pressing Duo for information about his relationship, not that he was surprised or wasn't curious to learn more himself. He was torn between not wanting to know anything that would keep him from pursuing Duo and wanting to know every single damn fact so he could find some reason to arrest Trowa and put him away for a very, very long time.

Not really. No. Well, just a little.

"Quatre, this really isn't our business—"Heero attempted to say.

"But I want you to know," Duo said, "that, well, mostly, I felt I'd be putting him out or have to apologize for going away again or... it just avoided another fight with 'Tro. Things haven't been good; we haven't been tight for a long time." And for what seemed to be just an afterthought, Duo added, "Plus, 'Fei... he's especially... lonely, I think."

Quatre stepped in again. "Sorry, Duo, if this is too personal just tell me, but... Where do you see things going with Trowa?"

"Nowhere. Absolutely no-fucking-place. We aren't even nice to each other most of the time, but we know what we've had and lost and you get in a groove and it's hard to mobilize. It takes energy and mine's been elsewhere."

Heero thought about what he was saying. It sounded to him as if the relationship had reached a dead end and that Duo was just, "Treading water," he said.

"Yep. like that, but I was thinking more of quicksand—once you're in, it takes effort to get out."

"Inertia," Quatre said, "can be deadly."

"Anyway, I just wanted to tell you," Duo said catching Heero's eye, "That I'd been kinda putting you off before and that's why and that I'm not anymore."

Heero hadn't noticed being "put off", but then he'd been busy with Trowa and learning to deal with little Wing. "That's okay." He kept his voice low. He was thinking how much he looked forward to being pursued by Duo from now on and how he could put that.

"My observation has been that people about to break up are irritable with one another," Quatre pointed out. "You get in that horrid place- wanting or needing the friendship, but unable to sustain the niceties required to frost over the cracks."

"You're taking this well," Heero told him.

Quatre looked him straight in the eye. "I received a foreshadowing. From Trowa himself. Just a moment ago."

That information was remarkable to Duo, Heero observed. From Duo's wide-eyed look of alarm, it occurred to Heero that Duo hadn't known that Trowa was seeing Quatre or that Quatre had any interest in Trowa.

"Oh, shit-tacula!"

"What wrong, Duo?" Heero asked. What more could be wrong? He wasn't sure he wanted to know.

"'There's someone else', he said that. Someone here at the party!" Duo turned to Heero and grabbed his arm. "I thought he meant I'd found someone else! You! That he was accusing me of cheating on him with you! But he meant that he'd found someone else." Now Duo was staring at Quatre. "You?"

"Nothing's happened. Honest! Coffee, dinner, some vet care, I-I'm quite taken by him, but Duo, I wouldn't destroy what you have just to be with him. I'm so sorry if I-!"

"There's nothing for you to apologize for. You did me a favor, probably." Duo huffed in frustration, blowing his bangs out of his eyes. "I think I need to go now."

Heero wanted to see Duo again and was afraid if he let Duo walk away, the man might be gone forever from his life. "Thinking about him all the time" might not be so good if the thinking linked his name with creating a rift with his current boyfriend. "I can take you home," he offered.

And for a second, he thought Duo might say yes. Weighing whatever pros and cons in his head, the man ran his braid through his fingers, wavering. And then he shook his head to the negative. "Thanks, but no. I need to think. Alone for a bit. I'll call you, though."

"Please do that? Just give me a sign that you're okay," Heero asked.

With a curt nod, Duo agreed and then turned away.

As he watched the retreating back garlanded with the long, swinging braid, Heero wondered if it wasn't ill-advised to just stand there while Duo walked out of his sight. It might be out of his life. He'd promised to call, but Heero didn't know him well enough to trust that promise. It would be a test, then. He had no right to ask for more and no reason to expect less.

He wasn't a Preventers agent for nothing, though, so Heero trailed him down the hall, half way to the main living room where most of the party-goers were eating and talking. That made sense. Wufei would be there, probably, and Duo said he often shared rides.

Just then Quatre caught up to Duo, stepping between them and blocking his view. "Just a moment, please?"

What was Quatre up to? Heero rushed over to break them up, but instead of mowing down a cluster of young ladies, he waited patiently for them to pass. One of them waved her fingers and mouthed "Hi".

Relena. Relena had sealed his fate to be a gay man. She was an okay friend, but there was no flame, not even a smoldering ember, between them to fire up a love affair.

He slipped into a side room, and then leaned out just far enough so he could listen in on their conversation, hoping he hadn't missed anything important. Eavesdropping? No, detecting. Good Preventers agents knew the difference.

"Are we gonna have to have a fight or something?" Duo asked.

Quatre chuckled. "I certainly hope not!"

"Okay. So... what?"

"I wanted you to know that my friend, Heero, is very... taken with you. I'm worried about him. Give him the opportunity to get to know you?"

"'Ro? Ah, sure."

Quatre held up a hand. "Please? Do you know if you will try one more time to patch things up with Trowa?"

"No. I mean, it's not gonna happen."

"If I had a man worth fighting for, I would."

"I would too, but this match is over. He is yours to -"

"Straighten out." Quatre's smile had a sinister bent to it.

"Now, I gotta go."

"One more thing. If after you've thought things over, and you know you want to move on, all I ask it that you make it clear to Trowa. Send him a clear message he can't misread."

"Is that all? Right. Clear message. Gotcha. I won't leave him drifting about. Picture this, 'Tro and me on a raft—wreck'em. That obvious enough even for him, you think?"

For all his joking, Heero couldn't hear the joviality in it. He hadn't known Duo for long, but he recognized the anger building in his clipped words.

"I-I was thinking more along the line of a farewell picture and message with a note of finality attached, after you end things, just to make things doubly clear, you see." Quatre stopped wringing his hands and tucked them behind his back, where Heero could see him cross his fingers.

"Oh, Quatre...no-" Heero moaned under his breath. Quatre, he felt, had gone way too far sticking his nose into Duo's business. "You'll need all the luck you can get once you win Trowa. Don't waste it worrying about Duo." What he saw was the tension across Duo's shoulder and the smile that turned positively evil. "On the other hand, maybe you should worry about Duo, my friend."

And Quatre must have noticed, too, backing away and wishing him well. Pressing a hand to his forehead meant his friend was to staving off a headache, Heero guessed.

Heero decided to retreat into the side room, but not until he spied Wufei seated beside Zechs Merquise—that playboy. What an odd match those two made! He mused on the wealthy socialite dating the very private poet Duo had described, while watching Wufei hand Duo his car keys. He was close enough to hear Duo's raised voice and catch the tail end of his threat to Zechs, "—or else!"

He peeked out again in time to hear Zechs' cultured voice and shuddered, his body recalling what his mind had tried to erase of the past. Was this his night to reflect on past romances? Make that past failed romances.

And that wasn't even counting his youthful fling with Quatre. That hadn't failed exactly. It had evolved.

"—yes, I promise to bring him home, but not too soon."

Duo turned to head his way up the hall again. Heero ducked back into the room. He felt the wind of Duo's passing him, passion in his eyes and cheeks pinked from his emotional encounters, and what came to mind was, "God he's hot!"

When the front door slammed shut, he came out into the hall and walked toward the main room. His eyes landed on Wufei, still seated on the couch beside Zechs. The Chinese man beckoned him to join them, and since he was curious about this friend of Duo's, who was in no way competition for his heart, Heero "rafted" over. He loved how Duo had altered his own choice of words. Rafts drifting on the river. Boating on the lake. Ships navigating the sea.

A raised eyebrow should do for a greeting, he decided, endeavoring not to get caught in a staring contest with Zechs. Those penetrating grey eyes could unnerve him; they did once. With a shake of his head, Heero attempted to convey a message to the older man: No, Zechs, I wouldn't tell anyone about the one night stand we had.

Zechs seemed to comprehend and sat back, semi-relaxed. "Good evening, Heero."

"Zechs."

"You know each other, I presume?" Wufei said, jaw clenching.

"Through Quatre."

"Through Winner."

Wufei smiled. "I see, you are in agreement over that. Actually, I'd like a word with Heero. Alone."

"Fine with me," Heero said, wondering how many private conversations he would have to endure this night when the only one he wanted appeared over. Should he just try following Duo home? No, came the immediate answer from the logical part of his brain.

Zechs removed his arm from around the shorter man's shoulders. "Should I be worried? No? Don't be long, or I'll have to come after you."

"I won't be long. Promise."

Heero's curiosity piqued at the entire scene. Zechs seemed interested in Wufei and maybe even a little afraid Heero could be a threat to his claim over him. Could it be possible that Zechs saw him as competition? Ha! Warmth spread from deep within his gut and he felt strengthened by that, and decided to take charge of the conversation from the start. "Wufei, if it's about Duo, I don't have much to say."

"Stand down, agent," Wufei whispered. His smile was conspiratorial. "I'm giving you a pep talk."

Unable to hold back his surprise, Heero gasped and stuttered. "A...a...a what?"

"Duo Maxwell. He's single and he's very... fond of you. More than that. I'd say crazy about you. What's more, you seem just the correct type for him."

All Heero honed in on was the "fond of you" part. Could that be true? Duo had said he couldn't stop thinking about him, but crazy about him? That was like being in love, wasn't it? Close to it? In any case, it was unimaginatively too good to be true, and only Duo could confirm that statement. "You shouldn't be telling me that."

"I'm not breaking any confidences." Wufei smiled. "Well, not exactly." Their eyes shared a good, hard stare. "I only mean well and want the best for him and I'm not one to beat around the bush. However, don't tell him I told you any of this, of course."

"I wouldn't," Heero said. "And you're wrong; he's not single, exactly. He just told me about Trowa. And as much as I wish I had a boyfriend like him- actually, him- as long as a boyfriend is around, I won't make him choose."

"He told you that? Oh, pish posh! He and Trowa have been over for months, but neither wanted to admit it. Go ahead, romance him a little!"

And add another failure to his list? No thank you. He wasn't about to push Duo. "I won't say any more. Good night," Heero said and turned away to locate Quatre, give him some excuse for leaving, and then go stew someplace while waiting for Duo to call him. If he called him.

"I can't stop thinking about you, too," Heero whispered.

TBC

Chapter 6

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