*...* internal thought
----- flashback
**** identifies a break in scenes
[1,2,3,4,...] author notes at the bottom of fic
Author's note: ah, at last we get to the explanation for the past... err, at least part of what happened... -_-;
A Class Act Part 9a
The Truth Revealed
[present time]
"Yes. Tell me what happened all those years ago, Duo."
Such a simple sentence, yet the significance and importance it carried both lifted old weight from the lawyer's shoulders as well as added a new burden. It was time to pay the piper, to reveal to his ex-boyfriend how and why he betrayed him 10 years ago and hope that Heero could forgive him. The hope that he could recapture the bright future that had once slipped through his grasp was the major motivation behind the sudden courage he found himself feeling.
Duo quickly glanced at the crowded deck, for one moment wishing that everyone would fall overboard and leave the boat deserted. Growling under his breath, he deliberated his position carefully while Heero waited with a neutral expression.
Finally coming to a decision Duo grabbed Heero's wrist, gently extracted the half-empty wine glass from the loose grip and set it down, then proceeded to drag the shorter man away from the deck and railing towards the center of the boat. He muttered under his breath, his words almost inaudible to his ex-boyfriend, "I won't air out my dirty laundry before these people. We're going someplace private."
Ignoring the heightened whispers surrounding them, he continued to stalk towards the lower level doors, dragging his half-unwilling companion with him. Heero's thoughts briefly touched upon the idea of resisting Duo's steel iron pull, but he quickly dismissed it and resigned himself to following the other man.
Duo practically wrenched open one of the outer doors, pulled Heero through it, and then closed the door behind them. Continuing to drag Heero behind him, he stalked along the corridor randomly opening and closing cabin doors with his free hand until he found one that was sufficiently empty. Releasing Heero's wrist, he gently pushed the unresisting Japanese before him and into the empty cabin. As Heero turned around in the shadowy room, Duo calmly closed the door and locked it, flipping the overhead lights on almost simultaneously.
"There," the braided lawyer said with a hint of satisfaction, "you can't run away until I'm through with my explanation."
Heero merely raised one eyebrow as he crossed his arms over his chest, trying to hide the growing frustration building within. "I told you I was willing to listen and I haven't changed my mind in the past five seconds. I just can't wait to hear your reasons," he bit out.
Duo shrugged and smiled wanly, "You can't blame me for being a bit cautious, Heero. I've waited for this opportunity for 10 years and I'll be damned if I let you run away from me again!"
Heero felt an uncharacteristic burst of anger at Duo's words, not stopping for a moment to wonder whether he was simply releasing pent up frustration or if he really was feeling ghost remnants of old anger. "I'm not the one who betrayed my boyfriend with another person, nor am I the one who tried to hide it! It was bad enough that you betrayed me, Duo, but did I have to hear about it from everyone else first?!"
------
[10 years ago - late spring]
He tried to ignore the sense of misgiving and foreboding that had firmly lodged itself in the pit of his stomach. Tried to ignore the whispers and giggles half-hidden behind raised hands. He wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but he swore he saw more than the usual amount of derision and pitiable scorn in the eyes turned his way, mixed with malicious humor and snobbery.
Feeling a moment of insecurity, Heero glanced over himself quickly, making sure he hadn't forgotten to dress properly today or something equally as humiliating. After a once over he was assured he hadn't, in fact he'd dressed pretty carefully today. Since being with Duo, he had started to take more care with his appearance since the other boy was constantly telling him how attractive he was and that Duo wanted everyone else to know it too.
Confident that his uniform wasn't lacking, Heero continued to walk through the hall towards his locker. Although his outward facade was his usual impassive calm, his fingers unconsciously tightened themselves around his book bag's handle strap; the whitening knuckles the only outward sign of the turmoil churning within. To his credit, Heero maintained his calm composure despite the increasing amounts of snide whispers and sideways glances being tossed his way.
Finally reaching his locker, he quickly ran through the combination and opened the door, taking temporary refuge from the stares of his peers by concentrating on collecting the books he would need for his first few periods. As he methodically replaced books he had taken home the night before with ones he would now need, he couldn't help but overhear the voices of his classmates closest to him.
"... janitor's son is back in the ditch where he belongs..."
"... only a matter of time..."
"... knew Duo wasn't serious about him..."
"... she's so much of a better match..."
"... breeding and social class far exceed his..."
Heero gritted his teeth, his eyes closing for a few seconds as he fought the growing tide of irritation and panic threatening to rise up. The few words he managed to overhear were enough to cause his already precarious confidence to shake, although he wasn't entirely sure why he was suddenly feeling so vulnerable and alarmed. All he was sure of was that his internal alarms, the little whispers inside of his own head that had been somewhat quelled for the past few years, had suddenly flared up once more, this time on full alert.
Taking a few deep breaths to collect himself, Heero closed the flap on his book bag and shut his locker door. He turned to head off to his first class, only to come to an abrupt stop as he found himself suddenly confronted with a smirking Dorothy and a smug faced Hilde.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't the janitor's son," Dorothy said, her tone snide.
Used to the flak he received from the popular kids at school, Heero didn't blink once as he replied, "Yes, I suppose I am. What about it?"
Dorothy leaned in closer to him, obviously acting as the little leader of the clique. "I wouldn't be so smug if I were you, Heero Yuy. You've enjoyed the ride pretending to be one of us for far too long, but now it seems as if your fantasy has run its course."
Heero restrained himself from rolling his eyes in Dorothy's face, his face neutral as he replied, "Same old song, Dorothy. If you don't have anything new to insult me with today, please let me pass. I don't want to be late for homeroom."
"Always trying to be the perfect student, eh Heero? Well, you might be able to fool the faculty of this school, but you're not capable of fooling Duo anymore. He's finally come to his senses about where trash like you belongs and how lucky he is to have someone like Hilde in his life."
Expression wary, although he tried his best to hide it from the trio before him and the rest of his peers who were avidly watching their interaction, Heero gave his head a slight shake of confusion. "What are you talking about, Dorothy? Duo's with me, not Hilde."
"Oh, is he? You might want to ask him again because I think his feelings have taken a turn for the better over the weekend. He and Hilde had quite an interlude Saturday night at the Sank Country Club, a very... intimate... interlude. Dorothy let the word hang in the air, one eyebrow arched in a suggestive manner.
Heero shook his head again as he replied, "What on earth are you talking about, Dorothy? Duo spent the weekend with his family, he told me he was last week."
For the first time since that morning, Hilde spoke up, her tone sly and smug at the same time. "Well, I suppose that could be the truth since our fathers consider us all one big happy family anyway. We spent the weekend socializing with a few of our fathers' clients and partners, including a party at the country club Saturday night. One thing led to another that night, but I think it was only fate reasserting itself in Duo's life."
"I don't get it," Heero said confused, his gaze switching from girl to girl. "What are you talking about?"
"Sex," Dorothy said bluntly. "Hilde and Duo slept with each other Saturday night."
Heero felt the world fall from beneath his feet, shock and disbelief at Dorothy's words ripping through his system with lightning speed. "W-what?"
Hilde chuckled softly even as she shrugged her shoulders. "I always wanted to wait until we were married, but Duo was so-o-o-o persuasive that night. After all, we had just spent most of the weekend together, in the world where we both belong, and I guess he finally saw the light, so to speak. Everyone in school knows what we did and now so do you."
Heero's eyes were wide, his face pale as the color fled from his skin. Suddenly all the innuendoes, the whispers, and the glances made sense now. Fighting the rising panic and pain rising in his gorge, he clenched his eyes shut tightly and gave his head a furious shake. "You're both lying! I-I don't beli-"
"Oh, don't take our word for it, Heero. Why don't go ahead and ask Duo yourself? Ask him if it's true. He's right there," Dorothy said as she pointed behind Heero.
Heero whirled around to look and sure enough, Duo was only a handful of feet away from him, surrounded by his jock friends. The other boy's back was turned to him, but there was no mistaking the unique, trademark braid. The other athlete's were giving him brotherly punches on his arms and slapping his back as they uttered comments like, "You dawg!" and "You go man!"
From his vantage point, Heero couldn't discern the tone of the response his boyfriend was giving his teammates, nor was he sure that he even wanted to find out. Some previously hidden and nasty part of his imagination quickly conjured up an image of Duo and his charming grin overlaid with the cruel sneers of their classmates. As Heero's misgivings grew, so too did the pit in his stomach. Hoping that it was all a joke that his peers were playing on him, Heero started towards his boyfriend, Dorothy and Hilde forgotten behind him.
He must have unconsciously uttered some sort of distressed noise that was loud enough to carry through the busy halls, or perhaps Duo had some sort of sixth sense he'd forgotten to mention during the months of their relationship. Then again, it could have been the sudden smug sneers that graced his teammates faces that motivated Duo into turning around. Whatever it was, Heero was suddenly confronted with his boyfriend's face and the mixture of emotions running rampant over the gamin visage.
As his blue eyes locked with Duo's horrified violet ones, Heero suddenly knew. He knew that the whispers and Hilde's unwanted confession were all true. He knew that the one person he had let beneath his guards had betrayed him in almost the worst possible way. Despite his sudden insight, some naively hopeful part of Heero's shattering heart forced him to ask, "Duo... is it true? Please tell me it's not true."
As Duo's face fell into a mask of anguish and he stepped forward while raising one hand, Heero's own face crumpled and those horrible tears once again sprang into being. As he struggled to heroically hold the tears at bay, a distant part of Heero's consciousness noted that all conversation in the hallways had stopped and he and Duo were the center of attention. However, that wasn't one of his main concerns at the moment; he couldn't help it if everyone else had such dull and dreary lives that they had to pay attention to the potential drama unfolding before them.
"H-Heero, I-" stuttered Duo, as he haltingly approached his anguished boyfriend.
Heero shook his head, trying to dislodge the tears that were gathering in his eyes, refusing to allow the world to see his pain. His voice breaking as sorrow gathered in force, he whispered, "How could you? You're just like the rest of them."
Mindful of the growing crowd, Heero fled the scene and the source of his torment. Breaking through the small group of girls behind him, he faintly noted the smug smirk on Hilde's face. He no longer cared that classes were beginning soon, or that people were talking and whispering about him and the situation. All Heero knew was that he needed to run and hide away from the world that had once again rejected him; only this time it had been harsher in its cruelty.
Heero didn't know if Duo attempted to follow him or if he was even still pretending to be concerned. He didn't care. As far as Heero was concerned, Duo had played his role in the joke, played it very well indeed. The least his now ex-boyfriend could do was to let Heero escape unhindered.
As Heero now raced through the less populated halls, he felt the tears finally escape their home to race down his cheeks. A sob lodged low in his throat, threatening to explode at any moment. A high keening noise was faintly audible and Heero barely realized it was coming from him. As he ran further through the school, he finally recognized the door to the rarely used classroom of the east wing.
Bursting through the door, he immediately slammed the door shut and secured the lock. As he turned back around to face the room, he noted dimly that it was indeed empty and likely to remain so. He finally released the sob building up inside him, his frame shaking with the intensity of his emotions.
Sliding down the door to the floor, Heero leaned against the cool wood and allowed his head to rest back. Tears streamed down unchecked as his shoulders jerked with each new sob that racked his frame. His thoughts were incoherent now, jumbled together and swirling with pain.
He didn't understand what was happening, why it was happening; why something that had been so right was now so horribly wrong. Images of his classmates' jeering and laughing faces kept swimming through his mind, mixed with Duo's face and expression when his secret had been revealed.
Heero ignored the solemn bell signaling the beginning of class, barely hearing it through his pain. As the rest of his peers shuffled off to class still chuckling over the morning's "entertainment", Heero sat alone, letting the empty classroom bear silent witness to his immeasurable sorrow.
TBC...
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