Title: School Tales (Senior Year #42) The Other Side of the Coin
Pairings: 1x2x1, 3x4, 5xD, (1+5+2 in this chapter)
Warnings: AU, Duo POV, angst, humor, sap, fluff, shounen-ai/yaoi,
Rating: R (for language)

Chapter 42:

The Other Side of the Coin:

“We’ve got to tell the cops you know,” Wufei says over the sound of his CD player on full blast. I have no idea why he feels he has to turn it up that loud. It’s not as if his parents can hear us anyway. Ah, by the way, I had changed my mind at the last minute and decided to convene in Wufei’s place. It would throw off our ‘scent’ and make it more difficult for the murderers to find us.

His room is pretty neat and almost as big as Heero’s living room/bedroom combined. I did mention his parents were loaded, right? His dad is the Dean of a prestigious university while his mom owns a fashion line of her own. His CD collection is impressive, and I’ve been eyeing them for the past few minutes wondering which one to swipe with(out) his knowledge.

“Are you listening to me?” he snaps impatiently. “We’ve got to—

“Yeah, yeah, tell the police,” I mutter, picking up a CD with an obscure rock band on its cover. Hmm, they look interesting. “Wouldn’t Detective Parker love to see my face again?”

“How can you both be so calm about this?” Wufei asks incredulously. He looks to me and Heero – who by the way is sprawled across Wufei’s bed with an arm over his eyes. I don’t know if he’s dozed off or not. The guy’s been quiet since we arrived. “That was a goddamn murder we just witnessed!”

“It’s none of our business anyway,” I begin slowly. “Besides, they’ll begin to question us and wonder what we were doing there in the first place.”

“And that’s more important than the safety of your friend? We’ve got to let the cops know so the Greek doesn’t go hunting after Sid. You said so yourself,” Wufei says with disgust in his tone. He rises to his feet and snatches the CD from me, pinning a fierce glare on my upturned visage. “Duo—

“All right, all right! We’ll go, goddamn it.” I rise to my feet and nudge Heero gently. “Wake up sunshine. We’re going to the cops.”

No motion.

“Oy, Heero!” I nudge him harder with my knee, but all he does is grumble and turn to his side, a light snore showing that he’s completely gone. “I don’t believe this guy. He’s fast asleep!”

“Let’s go then. You and me,” Wufei invites, reaching for his keys. “I’ll just let my parents know we’re going to get some things…”

“At almost ten at night?” I raise a brow in skepticism. “They’re not going to buy it, you know. Besides, we told them we’d be sleeping over.”

He had the grace to flush.

“See why you should get your own place soon?” I tease, sitting back on the floor and crossing my legs Indian style. “We can always call. Parker gave me his private line.”

He sits beside me and places his head in his hands, a low moan escaping his lips. I notice he’s still trembling and almost feel sorry for dragging him into this nightmare I call my life. I really don’t know how I get myself tangled up in these things, but the last thing I want to do is get my friends involved. Heero’s already suffering the brunt of it and–

“You’re amazing, you know?” he suddenly says, causing my hand – which had been reaching for the cordless device – to still in midair. I watch him warily as he lifts his head a little, a small and almost distant smile on his features.

“You can look danger in the face and not even flinch…well, not literally, but after what happened with Jimmy in the trailer, and now this…it’s a miracle you aren’t going insane. I know I would.”

I say nothing, although I’m feeling quite uncomfortable with the praise. However, he’s wrong. Everyone’s wrong. I’m not that brave or that super human. I’ve just grown up not really living a sheltered or cultured life. I’ve grown up in places where death and darkness are the norm. I’ve grown up in environments where the nights were long and cold, empty and bleak as I longed for someone to show an iota of love and care for me. Perhaps my mind has established a defense mechanism to tolerate such things, and I can brush them off easily – at least to them it seems like it. They don’t know of the dreams that haunt me each night. Of the many images that filter through my mind like a sieve, shifting out the good ones from the bad. I think it’s my happy memories with Heero which all but saves me from insanity. For when I find myself sinking into the depths of despair, remembering a word or a smile or even a scowl from him, reminds me of my humanity again.

I glance at his sleeping figure, a small smile forming as he turns again to burrow himself deeper into the comforts of Wufei’s blanket. It’s been a trying day for him anyway—

“I envy you two sometimes,” Wufei says quietly and that jerks me out of my thoughts. I look at him, flushing with embarrassment at the look in his eyes. He smiles and shrugs. “Don’t worry. I don’t plan to pull another stunt like I did last time. I just…”

His words trail off and he falls to his back, placing his hands behind his head before nodding towards the phone. “Go on and call. The sooner we get this over with, the better.”

__

At the end of my conversation with Parker, I feel like I’ve aged a million years. He wanted to send a squad car to bring all three of us to the station so as to get a detailed report of the events. I dreaded the fiasco it would cause, imagining Wufei’s parents staring at Heero and me in disapproval. The first night their son decides to bring friends over is the night that he gets arrested. That didn’t look too good.

Somehow and with Wufei’s help, we managed to talk him out of it by promising to show up at the station first thing tomorrow morning. He insisted on having a cop around the premises to guard us. Who knows? The Greek and his cohort might have gotten a look at Wufei’s license plate. Shit. We had forgotten all about that.

But everything seems settled for now. We’ll meet Parker in the morning and hopefully Sid will be okay with the cops stationed in the hospital as bodyguards.

“You sure you don’t want Heero and me to sleep on the futon?” I ask again, eyeing Wufei as he lays out the soft bedding on the floor. He’s already changed into his sleepwear. “We don’t mind really.”

“It’s cool,” he says, smiling as he shakes out a pillow. “He’s still dead to the world anyway. No way are we going to budge him to begin with. I know you’ll want to be with him.”

I bite my lower lip as he turns away to make a show of arranging his pillow, and I take a deep breath, knowing its best we get this out in the open and deal with it once and for all.

“You still love Heero, don’t you?” I ask quietly. He stiffens for a second, but refuses to look at me.

“As a friend and nothing more,” he replies with a shrug. “I’m with Dorothy now.”

“Not by choice,” I mutter. “Look—

“No, you look,” he says tightly, turning around to stare at me square in the eyes. You know what else? He really does have amazing black eyes. Just staring into them for a long time can make you feel woozy…in a good way. And now that he’s let his hair down from that perpetual ponytail, he looks even more.

Shit! Get a grip, Duo! This isn’t the time to be thinking about how good he looks; besides he looks pissed with you at the moment!

“…with Heero is over, okay? I never made a move to begin with, he didn’t know and I was too late. End of story.”

“Okay, okay.” I hold up my hands in mock surrender and shift away a little, giving him room to straighten out his bed. “I just…”

“Just what?” he snaps.

“Nothing.”

I lower my gaze and begin to peel out of my shirt, knowing I’d have to undress Heero as well. No way was I going to allow him to sleep in his day clothes.

“Do you need me to leave the room?” Wufei asks in a voice that sounds kinda…husky.

Something mischievous clicks within me, and I shake my head not really looking at him. “What’s the big deal? We’re all guys here, hmm?”

I fold my shirt neatly and place it on a chair, rising to pull down the zipper of my pants.

“Got a spare pair of pjs?” I ask, noticing that he’s doing a good job of staring pointedly at the TV screen.

“In the third drawer,” he replies automatically. He coughs and shifts restlessly. I think I see his cheeks are flushed with color. Oh, I can be so wicked.

Humming softly to myself, I pick out a pair of silk black ones – nice – and shuck out of my jeans before slipping into them. They feel great against my skin and I have to whistle in appreciation.

“I’ll never want to take these off,” I say with a laugh as I move towards the bed to take off Heero’s shoes. “You’re so lucky to be loaded.”

“Look who’s talking. You’re going to be running a Fortune 500 company when you graduate high school, dumb ass.”

I flush in memory. Geez, it’s sometimes easy to forget that I’m actually that wealthy now. It seems like the events of the past must have happened to someone else. I don’t feel any different from the Duo who stumbled into Fujisaki on a whim. I don’t feel…rich. In fact—

“Oooofff! Heero…mmmphff!” Our lips meeting wasn’t planned, but sometimes Heero has this tendency to perform ‘special attack kisses’ whenever he knows I’m distracted or he pretends to be asleep. This is one of those times. Unfortunately, he seems to have forgotten we’re not in our apartment and dear God, his tongue is making me so damn weak.

“Want you…” he mutters thickly against my lips when he finally releases me. His arms are wrapped around my neck, and my face feels as hot as a steam engine. I know Wufei must have seen this and I try my best to snap Heero out of his daze.

“Heero…” I whisper harshly. “Stop…mmmm…oh Jesus, not there…”

He’s grabbed my cock through the pjs.

“Heero…”

“Ahem! Maybe I should just move to the guest room,” Wufei says in a strangled voice and tries to leave, but with some effort, I manage to pull away from Heero and grab his ankle to hold him prisoner.

“Duo?” Heero says in a groggy voice as he sits up with a hand to his head. “What are you…doing…?”

He stops as he becomes more aware of his surroundings. It’s fun to watch the color creep up his face and he slaps a hand over his mouth, realizing what he must have done.

“Oh shit, Wufei,” he begins, trying to stumble to his feet. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t…I forgot…aah!”

In his haste (and still half-dazed state) he stumbles over my feet, which in turn makes me lose my grip on Wufei, which in turn has the Chinese boy free wheeling backwards and landing on us in a painful heap. We remain like that for a moment, before I break out in giggles at how ridiculous the situation is. Wufei tries to scowl and scramble off me, but I refuse to let him go, my arms wrapping around his waist and holding him against me and Heero. His blush is incredibly cute and Heero’s smile lets me know that he doesn’t mind that much either.

“We’re just a bunch of morons, aren’t we?” I finally say between giggles.

“Don’t put me in the same category as you, Duo,” Wufei grumbles, not looking at me but at the TV again. But I can feel his rapid heartbeat against mine, knowing that he’s not as oblivious to what’s happening amongst us.

“Hey, Wufei,” Heero says quietly.

“What is it?” comes the slightly impatient yet breathless reply.

I don’t know who’s more shocked at the sudden soft kiss exchanged between them. Me or Wufei. He looks stunned at Heero’s bold move, and I’m in the middle, blinking like a window shutter gone bad.

“Thanks,” Heero says simply and rises to his feet with a soft grunt. “Gotta use the bathroom,” he announces and leaves without another word.

The silence after his departure is so thick; a knife would have a hard time cutting through it. Wufei pulls away from me, a trembling hand to his lips and a thoughtful look on his features. Great. Just great. If he’s still in love with Heero then this is going to make him even more hopelessly in love with—

“Kiss me, Duo,” he suddenly says.

“Huh?!”

He pins me with a gaze hot enough to melt steel and I think I literally shiver on the futon. “I mean it. I just want to…to see…”

“To see what?” I ask in a near squeak, glancing towards the bathroom as if hoping that Heero would come out to rescue me from this. Funny thing is, I want to kiss Wufei too. It isn’t fair that Heero gets to do it – however chaste it might have seemed – and besides, I’ve always been curious.

“You want to, don’t you? Admit it.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Liar.” He moves quickly, like a cat on the prowl and presses his lips against mine. I was expecting a bruising or punishing kiss, perhaps one to remind me of just how dominating he can be if he set his mind to it, but to my surprise it is gentle, warm and oh so sweet. A vast difference from Heero’s taste, but scorching all the same.

He pulls away slowly, licking away the thin trail of saliva between our lips. He smiles or perhaps it’s a smirk, my mind is not really focused on much right now, and soon burrows beneath the safety of his blanket, turning away from me.

“Thanks,” he says in a muffled voice. “My curiosity’s been satisfied now. I think I can finally let you two go.”

What the…?! Why you son of a bitch! I form a fist behind his head as if to punch him, not understanding why our little intimate moment has been nothing more than a test to him, or why it should bother me anyway.

“Yeah, whatever,” I mumble and move to the bed, settling in just as Heero steps out dressed in a pair of Wufei’s pjs as well. I’m about to ask him how he knows where to find them, when I remember that they had been the best of friends before I showed up. It’s only natural that Heero would know the in and outs of Wufei’s abode.

“Why the sigh?” he whispers as he slips in beside me to wrap an arm around my waist.

The volume of the TV has been lowered, it being the only light in the room now. It forms a rather soothing glow in the gloom and I snuggle closer to Heero, basking in his warmth as I listen attentively for Wufei’s even breathing. I hope he’s fallen asleep…although I doubt it.

“Why did you kiss Wufei?” I ask in as low a voice as I can manage.

“It was a thank you kiss,” he replies with a light shrug as if it’s no big deal. “After all, he helped us out this evening and let us stay over tonight.”

“So? You could have shaken his hand or something.”

“What’s the big deal, Duo?” His brows furrow at my incessant questioning. “It didn’t mean anything.”

“Not to Wufei it didn’t,” I whisper back vehemently. “He still has feelings for you, dummy.”

“No, he doesn’t. He’s with Dorothy now.”

“Yeah, but only because we forced them to be together.”

“What are you talking about? They were perfect for each other! You saw how they clicked.”

“Don’t you get it? Gah.” I fall back to the pillows in exasperation. He releases me and flops on his back as well. I can already feel the cold gulf between us even though we’re barely inches apart.

“I kissed him too,” I finally say, feeling him stiffen beside me. “Actually he kissed me.”

“What?”

“Yeah.”

“Why?”

“He wanted to see…I dunno…he said he was finally over us with that.”

“Ah.”

We fall silent again, staring at the ceiling while the TV makes soft music in the background and the topic of our discussion is blissfully unaware…or is he?

“Did you like it?”

I blink. “What?”

“Did you like the kiss?”

Should I lie? What would be the point anyway? “It was okay.”

“Just okay?”

“What? You need a goddamn play by play of it now?”

He makes that (sometimes)annoying sound of impatience. I match it with a roll of my eyes. “All right, it was fantastic. Amazing. The best kiss ever.”

“Better than mine?”

I sit up and glare at him. “Are you being serious?”

He meets my gaze, not flinching, those dark eyes filled with some unreadable emotion. “Yes, I am.”

“No, it wasn’t. Happy now, you jealous son-of-a-bitch?”

He grins and I jab his elbow playfully, lying down beside him again with a soft sigh. “He still loves you, Heero and he always will. You guys had something before I showed up…and if I hadn’t…”

“Enough of that, Duo,” he whispers, pulling me closer to him with a light squeeze of reassurance. “We’ve already crossed that bridge, and I’m sorry I kissed him tonight. If I had known it was going to cause this much insecurity—

“I’m not insecure,” I mumble against his chest even though I know I am – at least a little part of me still is. “I know you love me. Right?”

“You know I do. Do you doubt me now?”

“No. Just making sure.”

“Fuck you, Duo.”

“Right back at you, Heero.”

His soft chuckle eases me into the sleep I desperately need. Tomorrow is going to be another long day – one I already longed to be over with.

__

“You didn’t forget our date today, did you, baby?!”

I hold the phone away from my ear, wincing at my mom’s loud and accusatory tone. How could I have forgotten about the ‘family’ afternoon today? It was a chance for Saito, Kamui, my mom and I to act like one big happy household. I eyed my surroundings, wondering if I ought to tell her I would be running late because I was stuck at the police station. Yeah, I can just picture my mom storming through those doors and demanding for some explanation or two. It was definitely going to be a pain in the ass.

“I should be at the park with Heero in about an hour, mom. No problem.”

“Are you sure? And what’s all that noise behind you? Where are you?”

“Uum….at the store! Heero’s working today and I just wanted to remind him about lunch with you.”

“Is that a police siren in the background, Duo? Duo?!”

“Bye mom!”

I hang up and switch off the cell phone, running down the flight of stairs to where Wufei and Heero are engaged in a conversation. Surprisingly, we had all woken up this morning in relatively good spirits. None of the awkward tension of the night before was felt, and I really have the feeling that Wufei is clear about his feelings when it comes to Heero and I. Mrs. Chang’s breakfast of steamed sandwich, rice and vegetable rolls and jasmine tea was heavenly, but no matter how many times I tried to bribe her to become my new mom, she only flushed and waved her hands about like a teenage girl. Wufei’s dad had already left for work by the time we got downstairs. Talk about a workaholic.

“All done?” Wufei asks as he notices me. I nod and reach for my helmet, knowing Heero and I would have to go back to the apartment, change and head to the park as fast as we could.

“Yeah, but my mom’s flipping out now.” I straddle the bike, waiting for Heero as I smile at Wufei. “Thanks…for everything.”

“No problem. Parker says he’ll contact us when they’ve apprehended the Greek and his buddies.” He shoves his hands into the pocket of his slacks and sighs. “I hope it’s soon. I’m not going to be able to sleep a wink until he’s behind bars.”

“They’ll catch him,” Heero mumbles within his helmet, making himself comfy behind me. “Thanks again, Wufei. We’ll catch you in school on Monday.”

“Ditto that,” comes the quick reply as I rev up the engine and all but peel out of the parking lot. On second thoughts, I might want to slow down. The last thing I need is to get a speeding ticket in a police station.

__

“Duo senpai! Heero senpai!”

Kamui’s enthusiastic greeting has me wishing lightning would strike and take him out completely. Does he have to be so goddamn loud? Now the families around the park are wondering who these senpais are, and Kamui isn’t helping by running towards us with excitement.

His blond hair seems to be growing longer, and those green eyes are as bright as a kid’s in a candy store. He’s dressed in a black long sleeve t-shirt with the words ‘Soul’ written in white upon it, and a pair of black jeans (the expensive kind too). Heero and I are dressed in almost the same way, except for the short sleeved shirt Heero has placed over the long one. It is getting chillier after all.

“We thought you weren’t going to make it,” Kamui gushes as he leads us towards our designated location for the day. I can see my mom looking as hot as ever in a pair of jeans that seems molded to her body and a light red sweater. Her hair’s in a braid like mine, and short of her chest, one would almost consider us twins from a distance. However, it’s Saito that’s taken me (and Heero apparently since he’s still gawking in disbelief) by surprise. Gone is the power suits we are so used to seeing him in. Now dressed in a pair of casual slacks and dress shirt, he looks like any other ‘Dad’ or ‘Father’ besides, he looks much younger for some reason. Maybe it’s the smile or the fact that he was laughing over something with my mom. I hate to admit that they look good together as a couple. Damn it all.

“Hi boys!” My mom greets as she waves towards us. She’s laying out a spread fit to feed a small army, while Saito sets up the portable outdoor grill. He waves a little and gives us a small nod of acknowledgement which we reciprocate as politely as we can. One must not forget that he’s the Education Minister. I’m sure his secret service type bodyguards are watching us from some undisclosed location.

“Oh dear, looks like I forgot the coolers in the car. Heero, Kamui, would you help me get them? I’ll join you.”

I realize what she’s doing, but before I can stop her, she winks, blows me a kiss and leaves Saito and I alone. We might have patched things up in the hospital room, but I still feel a bit uncomfortable knowing this guy is going to be my new dad…of sorts.

“Nice grill,” I finally compliment and it is nice actually. It looks like stainless steel – the industrial kind.

“Thanks,” he replies and sets it ablaze. He motions for me to pass him some of the burger patties, which he places on the grill in a way that bordered on professionalism. He must have noticed my look because he laughs and blushes a little. “I used to love doing this. But…work…you know.”

“Yeah,” I mutter, my mouth already salivating at the delicious aroma wafting from his cooking. “Can I…eh…help?”

He looks surprised at my request, but willingly hands me the skewer and spatula. He gives me a few directions on how to turn it (I almost make a botch of things) but I get the hang of it soon enough.

“This is cool!” I finally gush as I stare at my first grilled burger. Sure the edges look a bit charred, but what the hell, it was my first attempt at grilling and I had passed!

“You’ll be a top chef yet!” he replies and we both burst out laughing, only to stop at the sound as if amazed at how good it felt. I lower my gaze and cough slightly, noticing that he too has turned away.

“Thank you,” he finally says quietly.

“Huh? What for?”

“For coming…and giving us a chance.”

I blush even harder, refusing to look at him as I focus on the cooking food. “I told you it was cool,” I mumble. I can hear mom and the others returning. “Just…be good to my mom, okay? That’s all I ask.”

He places a hand on my shoulder, and although my first instinct is to shrug it off, I welcome the touch – the touch of a man who could have been my real father. A stubborn lump rises in my throat and I take a deep breath, hoping the others would assume that the shimmering tears in my eyes were from the smoke.

“Oh, those smell delicious!” My mom squeals in delight, walking up and standing between us with a wide smile and yet a hopeful look in her eyes. Saito and I share a quick look and that seems to be enough for her. Her laughter makes me pleased, and I can almost forget the darker chapters of our lives.

Today at least, we can pretend to be a real family. Saito can be my fussing dad, who insists on making sure the burgers don’t burn to a crisp. My mom can be as fussy as she wants, making sure that her family is happy. Kamui can play the role of my little brother, and talk a mile-a-minute, wanting to share his stories about everything and anything with me. And Heero can be my soul mate, laughing at my side for as long as I want him to.

For the first time in a long while, it’s an absolutely picture prefect day. Blue skies. Good food. And Family. Life has never felt any better.

~End Period Forty-Two~