*...* internal thought
----- flashback
**** identifies a break in scenes
[1,2,3,4,...] author notes at the bottom of fic
A Class Act Part 7
Birds Of A Feather
[present time]
Duo was fit to be tied.
His face was set in a brooding expression, thunderclouds of gloom threatening to gather over his head. Normally quite capable of talking up a storm, he had been uncharacteristically silent throughout the evening meal, which J, his associates, and his guests were taking at a local restaurant. Luckily no one, with the exception of the shrewd Hilde who had managed to snag a seat at his left, noticed the death grip he had on his silverware. If anyone else happened to catch it, they were prudently refraining from commenting.
Or they were just plain ignoring him, like the current object of his attention.
Duo's eyes were staring at Heero, who had grabbed a seat as far away from the lawyer as possible, when they had all arrived at the restaurant. Unfortunately for Heero, but luckily for Duo, the buffet length table had filled very quickly and Heero had only managed to seat himself a handful of seats away. Conveniently, his seat was in Duo's direct line of sight, so if any of his classmates were still clueless about what held Duo's interest, then he could bluster his way around an easy excuse.
Heero had been ignoring his pointed looks and stares for the better part of the evening, the Japanese man bestowing his attention on those in his immediate vicinity. Duo was miffed and slightly baffled. Surely Heero had gotten his note...
"Not to your taste, Duo?"
Duo blinked for a moment, reigning his thoughts in and focusing on the speaker. "What?" he said, intelligently to the woman sitting on his left.
One of Hilde's elegantly plucked eyebrows rose as she gestured to his rather full plate and the unfortunate chicken breast that he had been stabbing with his knife. "I think it's already dead, Duo," she deadpanned. "Is something wrong with it?"
"No, no," he reassured hastily, even as he cut off another slice of his chicken piccata and lifted it to his mouth. "It's fine," he mumbled, barely tasting it. Momentarily appeased, Hilde once more turned to address Relena who was sitting at her left, talking business as usual.
Actually, the chicken tasted like sawdust to the lawyer, but it wasn't the food's fault. As he chewed, he glanced once more over in Heero's direction. Swallowing his mouthful, he took a sip from his water glass and mulled over his current obstacle. Clearly he couldn't make a move until he knew what was bugging Heero, but the other man just wouldn't let him maneuver them into some private time alone.
In addition to some time alone, mostly to make up for skipping out on their beach rendezvous, Duo also had some questions he wanted Heero to answer.
Like what he had done all day while Duo had been stuck in a stuffy conference room.
Where he had gone.
And who he had been with.
Duo narrowed his eyes thoughtfully as he watched Heero and Wufei sitting side by side at the table. Unable to catch their entire conversation, just snatches of phrases here and there, he could only guess at their newly erected level of comradie. Duo's mouth thinned into a suspicious frown as an idea began to form in his imagination. He had a twinge of suspicion about who Heero had spent the day with.
Dorothy, who was on Duo's right, had been watching the braided man watch the Japanese man all evening. Her eyes narrowing into sly slits, she casually commented as she speared her asparagus, "It looks like Heero and Wufei are getting along famously, doesn't it? Such a sweet boy, that Wufei."
Duo almost choked on his bite of rice before he remembered to swallow and then croaked out, "Sweet? Wufei?"
Dorothy merely smiled cattily as she munched on her tender vegetables. Swallowing delicately, she continued, "Yes, he really mellowed out after marrying. But that was so sad about his wife."
Duo took another sip of his water as he murmured his wordless agreement, his eyes never moving from where Heero and Wufei were laughing about something.
*And now for the kill,* Dorothy thought. Taking a sip of her red wine, she fluttered her lashes for a moment before sighing wistfully, "Wouldn't it be wonderful if Wufei found some nice boy or girl and settled down again?"
Although he said nothing, Dorothy could tell her remark hit a barb with the lawyer as his hand tensed around his glass. Content with the mischief she had just roused, Dorothy moved her attention to the classmate on her right, leaving Duo to stew in his own imagination for awhile. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught Hilde's disapproving frown, aimed at her, and the blonde bombshell merely smirked as she slightly raised her wineglass in a mock toast.
The exchange went unnoticed by Duo, who was still occupied with trying to bore a chasm between Heero and Wufei with his gaze alone. Although a rational part of his analytical mind reasoned out that Dorothy was trying to cause mischief, a tiny, ugly streak of jealousy shot through him. It whispered its suspicions to him in a nasty whisper, uncharitable in its tone.
*It looks as if the 'sweet boy' is working on just that, doesn't it?*
Duo's mood turned darker as he took another stab of his chicken, fiercely wishing this dinner was over and done with so he could corner Heero alone.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The reunion guests milled around outside of the restaurant, their tummies full and their mood exuberant. Well, most of them.
Duo's hands were jammed into the pockets of his trousers as he stalked down the stairs that led from the restaurant's entrance to the street below. Dinner had been less than satisfying for him, though he did his best to hide it from his classmates. But still, the mischievous insinuations of Dorothy ate at his mind while he squirmed under Hilde's disapproving frown.
He really had no cares where Hilde was concerned, indeed her opinion was one of the least important things on the planet to him. However, she had managed to perfectly copy that thin, slightly irked frown his mother often wore when she was displeased by the current turn of events. He had been the recipient of that frown many times during high school.
Heero was standing at the foot of the stairs, talking pleasantly with J and G, reminiscing about the past. The renewed rapport between the three men reminded Duo of the past, when Heero had been one of J's star pupils and he had helped Duo pass chemistry in the spring of his sophomore year. It had been the start of a great friendship and more later on, but not without some grief from his classmates in the beginning.
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[about 12 years ago, during the boys' sophomore year - roughly late spring]
Duo Maxwell looked up from his lunch tray of cafeteria mystery meat and gravy as Quatre quietly walked up to the table with a bright smile, his bag lunch in hand. Duo called out a hearty greeting as he picked up his plastic white fork and began to prod the suspicious meat.
Quatre gracefully slid into a seat next to Duo and smiled at Hilde who sat across from the braid-bearing sophomore. Hilde gave a gracious nod and continued to nibble on her carrot sticks, every now and then giving Duo's lunch a disdainful sneer.
"Honestly Duo, I don't know how you manage to stay so healthy eating garbage like that."
Duo shrugged and mumbled around a mouthful of meat, "I stay active and work out. What can I say?" Duo swallowed his mouthful of meat, decided it was better off on the tray, and pulled his side order of fries closer.
Relena, sitting at Hilde's side, giggled and said, "And it shows so well, Duo."
Duo nodded faintly and gave the slightly vapid blonde a weak grin. Hilde gave Relena a frown as she giggled again, before turning her dark gaze on the handsome boy sitting across from her.
In a nonchalant tone of voice, Hilde spoke, "You know, Duo, Daddy's giving a barbecue this weekend at home. A lot of the people from the firm are going to be there, including clients. I know we can't officially begin to network into the firm until we're seniors, but I was thinking -"
Duo cut her off immediately with the excuse, "Can't Hilde, I'm busy."
Hilde's shocked expression gave away her startlement at Duo's abrupt interruption, before her discipline took over and her face settled into a neutral mask. "Your parents are attending, why aren't you? What could possibly have you so busy that you'd skip Daddy's cookout?"
*A lot of things,* he thought uncharitably. Duo fought the urge to roll his eyes as he tried to formulate an answer that would placate the shorthaired girl and prevent her from asking anymore questions. "Look, as much as I love spending time with your parents and mine, I have some researching to do this weekend."
An arched eyebrow and a, "Research? For what?" was her reply.
Duo sighed as he contemplated his choices. Make something up that she might continue to hound him about, or tell her the truth and see if she believed it. He decided to go for the middle ground.
"I have my chemistry report to work on."
"I thought you were finished with that," Hilde said, her eyes narrowing dangerously.
Duo was about to retort back at her when Quatre came to his rescue. "Lay off of him, Hilde. You know what a taskmaster Professor G is. He finally relented and allowed everyone a chance to earn extra credit with another report before finals next week."
Duo nodded before adding, "Yeah, and if I want my grades to stay high enough to stay on varsity, I gotta take everything I can get."
"Have to take," corrected Relena as she applied her pink lipstick via a gold, shiny compact.
"Whatever," Duo muttered.
"Oh!" Hilde said, her tone sympathetic and understanding. "Well, do you need any help, Duo? I don't have G for chemistry, but I did get Professor S and he's almost as demanding. I have a good B in science." Her dark eyes practically shone with her enthusiasm.
Duo restrained from wincing at the prospect of spending an entire weekend alone with Hilde before he quickly said, "No, that's all right, Hilde. You enjoy your father's cookout. I have to meet with my tutor this weekend anyway."
The dark-haired girl blinked in surprise before she asked, "Tutor? Who did you get to tutor you?"
"That is the question on all of our minds, Hilde dear," came a silky smooth voice over Duo's shoulder.
Everyone turned to the speaker and found themselves face to face with Alex Mueller and his jock friends, complete with a bunch of cheerleader hangons. Duo greeted them warmly, especially since they were all fellow athletes and stars of the school. He gave a bunch of them hi-fives before settling back in his seat.
Mueller plopped down next to Duo, stealing a limp fry from his tray. Popping it into his mouth, he grinned at Relena and said, "Hey babe, how's it going?"
Relena giggled, flattered by an upperclassman's show of attention, and fluttered her eyelashes provocatively. "Hello Alex," she said, her voice coy yet demure.
"Hey!" came the indignant squawk from Relena's steady boyfriend. Alex grinned at Solo as the fit blond sat down next to Relena and threw a possessive arm around her slim shoulders. "Find your own girlfriend, Alex. This one's taken!"
Alex shrugged and said, "No prob, Solo. There are plenty of girls in this school who are dying to go out with me. I was just playing."
Relena gave a playful giggle before devoting her complete attention to her boyfriend. Duo watched with a raised eyebrow as the two swapped spit for several moments before turning to Quatre. The two friends rolled their eyes, long since familiar with the exchange.
Alex, bored with watching Solo and Relena, switched his attention back to Duo after giving Hilde a saucy wink. "So, Maxwell, do tell. Curious minds want to know. What beautiful brain is tutoring our favorite sports star through the terrors of chemistry?"
Duo, wishing he could delete this entire conversation, muttered, "No one you would know."
Alex, smelling some juicy tidbit, prodded some more. "Aw, c'mon. She, or he, has to be a dish if you're so reluctant to talk about her or him. Hmm, maybe you aren't studying chemistry as much as, say... anatomy?"
Duo clamped his mouth shut, refusing to fall into Alex's game, but he did so needlessly. Hilde came to his defense and said in a scathing tone, "Not every boy has his mind in his pants and on one subject, Alex."
Alex rolled his eyes as he said, "Oh, give me a break, Hilde. He's 16 years old and every 16 year old boy has one thing on his mind."
Alex and Hilde began their staring contest, Alex's expression playful and mock serious, Hilde's contemptuous. Duo watched them staring at each other for a few minutes before politely coughing into his hand. The sudden noise startled the two back into reality. Unfortunately for Duo, it also took Alex back to the subject at hand.
"So spill, Maxwell. You know I'm not leaving you alone until you tell me."
Duo frowned at Alex, noticing the others staring avidly out of the corner of his vision. Studying the faces before him, he heaved a sigh of surrender and said, "I'm being tutored by Heero Yuy."
Alex's face dropped down in shock, an expression that was unfortunately mirrored on his other friends' faces. Even Relena and Solo had stopped sucking each other's face to stare at Duo in disbelief.
If Duo hadn't been so annoyed by their reaction, he would have made a quip at their 'fish' faces, but as it was he was not pleased and crossed his arms in front of his chest defensively. Idly, he wondered who would be first to speak.
Appropriately enough, it was Hilde.
"You're... you're being tutored... by the janitor's son?!"
Duo's expression turned thunderous as he said, "Yeah, so?"
Alex suddenly broke out into raucous laughter as he reached over to slap Duo on the back. "Man, Maxwell, you almost had me going there for a minute! Ha ha, what a jokester you are!"
The others broke out into nervous laughter as they waited for Duo's response, unsure of the situation. They didn't have long to wait.
"It's not a joke, Alex," he said quietly. "Heero really is tutoring me, and doing quite a good job of it."
Alex sputtered as he protested, "B-but what could that... Jap possibly know about chemistry? His father cleans this school for Christ's sake! He probably doesn't know anything beyond bleach and pine sol!"
His mouth in a thin line, Duo supported his tutor with, "He knows enough to be in AP Physics and maintain his 4.0 grade average. Besides, a person's intelligence is not defined by his race or his parent's line of work."
The others didn't know what to make of this. Here was the most popular kid in school, the one everyone knew would make it big in the world, defending and championing one of the least popular boys in the school. As far as anyone in the school knew, Heero Yuy came from nowhere. His family name wasn't known for anything, his father was in charge of cleaning the school every day!
The jocks and cheerleaders looked at each other nervously, then at the silently fuming Duo. Finally, Hilde spoke up, her voice quiet and measured, holding just the tiniest bit of censorship in it. "Well, I'm fine with Heero tutoring you since he's helping you maintain your grade point average in chem, Duo. But make sure he stays just that. After all, people like us don't associate with... janitor's sons."
Duo got an incredulous look on his face before he argued in disgust. "God Hilde, that is such a snobbish thing to say! I didn't ask for your opinion or approval with this and I don't want them. And don't tell me what to do or who to associate with. You're not my father."
Hilde's face paled and she looked taken aback at Duo's harsh tones. She never believed that he would speak to her thusly, therefore she was unprepared for it. As she watched Duo get up from his seat and pick up his tray to leave, her eyes narrowed. Something was going on between Duo and Heero, and she was determined to find out what.
Meanwhile, Duo was addressing the others sitting at the table. "Look, I know Heero doesn't run around with our crowd, but he's a cool guy. If you would just give him a chance, you'd see what I was talking about." As he gazed at their dubious looks, his eyes narrowed into violet flints as he warned, "But you don't have to. However, if I hear of any of you razing him, I want it known now I won't put up with it. He's really helping me out and I won't stand for you guys giving him grief."
Alex and the other jocks looked like they were ready to rebel, but after an intense staredown, they averted their gazes and gave small nods of understanding. Satisfied with that, and unnoticing that Hilde did not agree with the others, he said, "Well, it's been fun guys, but I got to head off to class. Coming Quatre?"
The blond, who had remained silent ever since Alex had arrived, nodded his agreement and gathered his trash. Although a close friend of Duo's, and an acquaintance of Hilde's and Relena's, the sole male heir to the Winner Foundation did not like the jocks, especially Alex Mueller. He preferred to avoid him at all costs. The quiet boy never exactly said why, but Duo had heard rumors surround Alex's older brother and one of Quatre's 29 sisters.
Picking up his varsity jacket in his free hand, he nodded to everyone and headed out of the cafeteria, making a quick stop at the tray belt. Alex and the others at the table sat watching him leave, their gazes quiet and introspective for once.
As soon as he was gone, Alex turned to Hilde and asked, "What did you make of that?" His face was uncharacteristically solemn, his tone serious.
Hilde's eyes were narrowed into cat-like slits, her generous mouth twisted into an unladylike frown. "As long as Heero remains just his tutor, I won't do anything. But if that... that..." Hilde seemed to be at a loss for words to describe Heero Yuy.
Alex cocked his head to the side and supplied wryly, "Janitor's son?"
Hilde's eyes zoomed into Alex and held him captive. "Precisely," she bit out. "If he dares to step over the line..."
Hilde let her threat remain hanging, but Alex and the others knew what she meant to say. No one crossed Hilde Schbeiker and went unscathed.
In her mind, Hilde promised, *Duo is mine, he just hasn't realized that we were meant to be together. But once he does, I'll make sure we never associate with people like the Yuy family.*
Relena looked at everyone, including her boyfriend Solo, before piping up with, "I don't see what's so bad about Heero. He's actually a nice boy, if a bit shy. And he's quite a gentleman."
Solo growled and said, "And what am I? Chopped liver?"
Relena giggled and tweaked Solo's nose. "No, you're a gentleman too, Solo."
Hilde looked over at Relena with a faint air of condescension. "It's a matter of status quo, Relena. And it's our job to make sure everyone knows his or her place in life."
----------------------
[present time]
Duo was shaken from his reverie of the past by J's voice talking to him. Blinking himself back into awareness, he snatched the last bit of the elderly man's speech before a set of keys was shoved into his hand. "Everyone else has already caught a ride back to the house. Why don't you drive my car back along with Heero. G and I have to pick up a few things for the house and then we'll head back in G's van."
Duo looked at the keys, to Heero's less than pleased face, back to J's craftily innocent one. The idea made sense, after looking around at the empty sidewalk. All the other reunion guests were gone, including Hilde since she had still been talking Relena's ear off, which was a slight relief. They had all car-pooled to the restaurant, and Duo had been planning on catching a ride back with someone since he hadn't driven.
Just then, Duo realized that J and G were giving him a perfect opportunity to be alone with Heero. J's house was on the outskirts of the town, the restaurant they had been at on the opposite side. The drive back would take at least half an hour if he cut through Sank, more than that if he took the scenic route home.
Flipping the keys into the air and then catching them, he agreed, "Sure, I'll drive Heero and myself back, unless Heero wants to drive?"
Heero looked at J's car and shook his head, "Uh uh, you have to drive, Duo. I never learned to drive a stick." [1]
Surprised, Duo shrugged and then waved to J and G who pulled out in G's red van. Turning to J's small, black convertible, he unlocked the doors and gestured to Heero. After they closed their doors and buckled their seat belts, Duo gunned the engine, pleased at the purr it made. Slipping the car into first, he pulled out of the parking lot into the semi-busy street.
Changing gears smoothly, he looked over at Heero for a split second before saying, "You don't know how to drive a stick shift, Heero? What about all those lessons I gave you in my old jeep?"
If Duo had been paying attention to Heero's face, he would have noticed the slight blush that coloured his cheeks. Heero answered him with, "If you remember correctly, Duo, we never actually got around to teaching me how to drive a stick shift on those lesson days."
It was Duo's turn to blush as he remembered. They had always started out with the intention of teaching Heero to drive his jeep, but Duo had always taken them to some abandoned car lot or around a deserted lake to teach him the basics without endangering any bystanders. One thing always led to another and the driving lessons would turn into inventive make out sessions... as inventive as Duo could be while adhering to Heero's pants-on rule, that is.
"I remember," he said gently, his gaze focused on the traffic around him. As he shifted gears down to stop for a changing light, he looked at Heero for a long moment before saying, "Listen, I didn't want to break our date today, but sometimes things just happen."
Heero raised an eyebrow as he answered, "I thought it wasn't a date."
Duo sighed as he said, "You are angry. I knew it. Would you just hear me out for a second?"
Both men were startled as a horn blew from behind them, jolting Duo back to driving. The light had changed and he hadn't realized it. Heero turned his attention out his window to watch the passing buildings as he said, "I really don't feel like getting into this right now. I think you should pay attention to your driving."
Duo's voice held a note of sarcasm as he retorted, "Correction, you really don't feel like getting into this at all, period. You have no intention of hearing me out, isn't that right? No use for explanations."
Heero argued, "What's the point -"
"As far as you're concerned, you've been wronged and nothing can excuse it, isn't that right?" Duo has to shake the feeling of déjà vu that suddenly overcame him.
Heero snorted as he said, "Oh, you're very good, Duo. Very good at twisting things about. Do you do this in the courtroom too? Make the victim out as the guilty party?"
Duo spared Heero a glance before answering, "Is that how you see yourself? As a victim?"
Heero didn't say anything, merely glared for a moment before resolutely turning his attention out the window. The two men rode in silence for long moments, both too full of pride to capitulate the point.
As he continued to drive, Duo's grip on the steering wheel got tighter and tighter. He had meant to get Heero alone, find out what was bugging him, and make it up to him for missing their beach trip. But all he had managed to do was get them embroiled in another heated argument, raising old wounds.
He sighed, knowing that he was going to have to make the next step, else Heero would probably disappear again for another ten years. He pulled into an empty parking lot, slipped the car into neutral and pulled up the parking brake.
"Look," he said quietly, "I really wanted to go to the beach with you, I was looking forward to it. It didn't work out, and for that I'm sorry, but I would think as a business owner you would understand about emergencies."
For a pregnant pause, Duo thought Heero was going to continue to ignore him, and got ready to drive the rest of the way to J's house in silence, but Heero surprised him. The Japanese man gently said, "It wasn't that... that I understood. It was the fact that you didn't tell me in person. All you had to do was knock on my door, but instead you left a note."
"That bothered you?" Duo asked, his tone slightly incredulous.
Heero turned to face him as he said calmly, "It felt like an afterthought. Like I didn't matter."
"Heero," Duo murmured, picking up the unresisting hand of the other man. Lightly stroking the long, slender fingers, he continued. "I got a call at 4:00 a.m. An important case was threatening to blow up in our faces, witnesses balking and new evidence showing up. Hilde and I had to bolt out of the house right then. I didn't want to wake you. Should I have pounded on your door at four in the morning?"
Heero looked sheepish as he murmured, "Only if you wanted to see how mad I truly can get."
"I figured you would find my note in plenty of time to join the others on the garden tour."
"I didn't find the note until everyone had already left, mostly because I stayed up in my room until then."
"So what did you do all day?" Duo asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.
"I went to the beach with Wufei."
Wufei. Duo tensed at the name and his mouth curled down into a frown. However, this went unnoticed by Heero, who was still staring at the hand Duo was gently kneading in his own.
Jealousy streaked through Duo's heart and mind before he sternly told himself to drop it. Heero had the right to salvage his ruined day, and the last thing Duo wanted was to project himself as a jealous suitor. A suitor, yes, jealous, no.
"Let me make it up to you, Heero. Give me another chance," he whispered pleadingly.
Heero was unnervingly quiet for a long time, his eyes still focused on the hand Duo was holding. Finally, like some gift from the gods, Heero raised his Prussian blue eyes to Duo's violet ones and he murmured, "The others are going to a baseball game tomorrow night. I suppose we could stay behind and order a pizza and a movie instead."
Duo grinned and said, "Great! It's a date then."
His grin got even bigger when Heero didn't argue with him.
TBC...
[1] Just bare with me, okay? In this fic, Heero doesn't know how to drive a stick shift...
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