It's Not Like It's Love, chapter 3

[Crystaltear]

It's Not Like It's Love
Chapter 3
A prequel to "My Favorite Mistake"
By Crystaltear
Rated: PG-13
Warnings: language, reference to drugs.
Notes: *Yay* I finally got the chapter where Duo and Hilde meet up. Not exactly the most romantic beginning, as you'll see, but I don't think you'll be disappointed with what's in the future. Also, for my dedicated 1xR fans, chapter one of the sequel to "My Favorite Mistake", though still unnamed, will be out later this week. I know I've kept you guys waiting long enough, but the sequel is not as light-hearted as 'Mistake', and covers some angsty problems that are much more serious than Heero and Relena's financial burden. The main subject of the sequel is something that I must research in order to write as accurately as I can, so chapters for that will be a little longer coming than you are used to from me. But I promise it will be good! So, have I gotten you curious yet? ^_^


The familiar aroma of weed was almost welcoming to Duo as he entered the club on the crowded Saturday night. It was the first night he had been out in two weeks thanks to the "new and improved" Heero's sudden rule that he wasn't permitted to go out after work on school nights. Duo scowled for reminding himself of the changes he'd been subjected to since Heero decided to finally become responsible.

He was glad that Heero was better now, make no mistake of that. His brother seemed clear of all substances now save for the beer he only touched lightly on days off. In addition, having an alarm in the morning to wake him and entertainment from the t.v. was wonderful. However, like all other things, these gifts came with a price. Trowa and Wufei had been at the apartment constantly over the short span of time, and though Duo had no problem with either, having them in his face all the time was beginning to unravel his sanity. He liked his privacy, and up to that point Heero had as well.

Heero was the second drawback in the arrangement. It started on the first week point of the new situation. Wufei was over as usual, Trowa missing due to the time he was spending with his "partner", some rich pretty boy named Quatre that Heero had gone to school with. Duo had been in the living room watching television, his new favorite pastime on free days, when he heard his name mentioned in the conversation between Heero and Wufei in the kitchen. He immediately tried to eavesdrop on what they were talking about, but their tones were so hushed that he couldn't pick up anything beyond mumbling.

As soon as Wufei had left for the night, Duo confronted Heero intending to find out why he was being discussed. However, Heero brushed his questioning aside and then proceeded to floor his younger brother by informing him he was no longer allowed to be out at all hours of the night. He was to be home promptly after work on weekdays and wasn't permitted out on weekends past two AM. The final blow was dealt when Heero said that Duo was no longer allowed to bring girls home, and that getting a hotel would be out of the question, so he should forget the idea. Then he left to go read, leaving Duo to simmer in his anger.

Duo had been pretty pissed off for a few days, but the anger dispersed when Saturday finally came around and he was free to go out for a decent amount of time. The over-protective act the Heero had acquired irritated him, but there wasn't a whole lot to be done about it. Heero may have only been a year and a half older, but he was still in charge of Duo's welfare. Besides, he wouldn't leave if he was able to; as much as a hardass as Heero pretended to be, Duo knew that as Heero's only real relative left, he was needed there. And the same applied for Duo. So, that left him no choice but to get accustomed to the order that had suddenly been arranged in his life. But one thing continued to bother him: why was Heero suddenly watching his actions and plans like a hawk? He didn't have any problems to be wary of.

Leaving his thoughts behind, Duo focused back on the mass of people rocking to the blaring club music. His eyes lingered on a couple of the girls he saw within the crowd, and his groin tingled in response. Yes, it had been way too long since he had gotten any satisfaction, and that was a goal Duo intended on fulfilling that night. He wasn't sure where he was going to bring the girl unless he was going to find one that offered her place, but he would figure it out later. The important thing was he needed sex, and he was going to get it that night before he combusted. And, he noted as he glanced at his watch, he needed to find someone soon since he was on a time limit.

The minutes ticked by all too quickly, time being wasted on acquaintances who cornered him for awhile to ask where he's been and then filled him in on the recent gossip he didn't give a damn about. He also found that a good majority of the girls there that night either didn't appeal to him, were taken, or he had been with them before, though it was more often the former. He wondered what was the matter with him that night; he was never really that picky with his women, yet his was on that night. He was about to call quits and move on to the other club he wandered into, when he spotted someone he thought was worth a second look. He walked to her area casually, careful not to attract her attention just yet.

"Oh hell-o" he whispered to himself in satisfaction.

He could tell right away that she had either ended up there on a fluke, or was there for a different purpose than to have a good time; she looked a little out of place. Though dressed casually in a black skirt and simple white blouse, she didn't hold herself like the other girls in the club--she wasn't calling for attention like a floozy. Glancing around at the other single guys in the area, it also seemed that she wasn't looking for a partner either, he could tell by their dejected looks and glares in her direction. Which to him meant he would have to try twice as hard to claim this girl.

He analyzed her for a few minutes to try and find an opening for conversation, and found that she seemed to be glancing around in search of someone. Taking that as his opening, Duo strolled over to her purposefully.
"Hey, is there--"

"No, I'm not interested, I'm not looking for a good time, and you can skip the lame pick-up lines because I've heard them all from your buddies."

Duo took a step back and blinked, re-evaluating the situation. She was a feisty one, that was for sure, and he could see that she didn't take any bull. The determination within him to hook this one girl increased tenfold by the challenge she was dishing out. "Ouch, I'm hurt. But I was just going to ask if I could help you out. It looked as though you were searching for someone," he replied coolly.

She looked apologetically at him, but if she had said she was sorry, he had missed it. He was too entranced by her large cornflower blue eyes. He had noticed them briefly before, but in the dim light of the moving strobe and up close, they sparkled. He was disappointed when she turned her face away to glance into the crowd again and he was deprived of the beauty of her blue orbs.

"I'm looking for my cousin, Kimberly. I've been looking after her she's in town, and I don't like the idea of her coming to these sort of places. So when I find her, I'm going to drag her ass out of her," she finally spoke.

"Ah, so I was right in assuming that you don't belong here. You look a bit out of place, no offense," he told her. He began to study her profile while waiting, hoping that she would continue conversing with him. She was very petite, with a slim frame and a good five to six inches shorter than himself. As he noted before, she dressed well, a more sophisticated sense of style and aura than the other girls in the room, and her short black hair was pulled back in two simple gold clips to keep the curls that framed her face out of her eyes. Somehow she seemed somewhat familiar to Duo, though he swore he's never met her before; he would never be able to forget a face like that.

"No offense taken." She looked back over to him and smiled, and his heart all but stopped beating. "I'm a bit too old to be in this place anyway."
'Older woman,' Duo thought, his grin reaching its full potential. He was practically floating. Here he was talking to this older, beautiful, seemingly smart woman, and besides the rocky start, the conversation was going great. He was going to have one hell of a great night.
"So you're an older woman, eh?"

"Yeah."

"How Old?"

"Nineteen."

"Oh c'mon, that's not that old. The age limit here is eighteen, so you aren't that unwelcome here."

She smirked. "Maybe so. However, there are more ways to determine age than simply the number of years they have lived. In some aspects, I am much too old to be standing in a place like this."

"I see." He really didn't, but he could tell the comment was reference to something that lay much deeper in her soul than he would ever dig. So he let the comment's meaning stay hidden, and then decided that he would see if she would inquire about himself. It would be the determining factor of whether he had interested her even the slightest.

"What did you say your name was?"

Duo had to hold back the urge to laugh in each guy's face she had brushed aside the night. He swelled with pride at having caught the attention of the most unattainable woman in the room. "I didn't. But it's Duo. Duo Maxwell."

He wished for nothing more than to have been able to retract his previous statement. The sour look that she threw his way, just short of being a glare, after he had mentioned his name made him very uneasy.

"Oh yeah, I've heard about you," she revealed a moment later, her voice taking on a steely tone. It was apparent that she knew of him; the question was what it was she heard and how much truth there was to it. Despite the feeling of annoyance that was suddenly radiating off of her, he continued on, trying to make light of what she mentioned.

"Only good things I hope," he countered and smiled at her to find some assurance. She didn't smile back. However, she did reply.

"That depends on what your definition of good is."

She didn't give her own opinion on the matter. Instead she decided to ignore his presence, even though he was still within two feet of her. When he didn't get her unspoken clue, she voiced her sudden dislike for his proximity.

"Why are you still here? I have nothing more to say to you."

"Well I'd like to know why you can go from having a decent conversation with me to sneering at me. And I did plan on helping you find your cousin."

"Oh, I bet you do want to help!" She blew up at him suddenly. He placed his hands in front of him to put distance between them; he was sure that she was on the verge of hitting him. Why, he still had no idea.

Suddenly, the woman's attention flew away from Duo as she eyed something, or rather someone, behind him. "Kimberly! Get over here!" All eyes were on them now thanks to the outburst that had been heard on the half of the room they were on, and Duo was thankful that now the girl's cousin would be getting the brunt of her anger and not him. However, his relief was short-lived, since he was hugged tightly from behind from someone.

"Duo! What a surprise! You haven't been here in awhile, and I thought you were gone for good."

He turned his head to identify the glomper and he visibly paled. Attached to his back was the nameless girl from the last time he had come to the club, the night before everything around him was altered. And from the look her was receiving from the older woman, he put the pieces together and realized just why the object of his lust that night had become so detached upon haring his name.

"This is your cousin?"

"Yeah, she is." She stopped glaring at him for a brief moment to look disapprovingly at her younger cousin. "Kimberly, get in the car, now."

Surprisingly, the girl gave no argument, she simply smiled and waved Duo a goodbye, and then headed toward the exit. The numerous sets of eyes that had been watching the entire confrontation turned back to what they were doing, believing the ordeal to be over. However, for Duo, it was far from over.

"Don't you ever lay a hand on my cousin ever again!" She seethed, looking very intimidating despite her small frame. She began to huff away, but Duo lightly tugged on her arm to stall her.

"Wait, I..." In one of the few moments of his teenage years, he couldn't find the right words to say to this girl. "Could I see you sometime?"

"No! I thought I made that clear before, I'm not like that. And I can assure you that even if I was, it certainly would not be with you."

The color drained from Duo's face for the second time that night. Did she just say that to him? He hadn't expected anything different, but the mere idea that he had been turned down was a blow to his gut. "What did you say your name was?"

"I didn't. But it's Hilde. Hilde Schbeiker," she replied, obviously mocking his earlier introduction of himself. And before he could inquire about anything else, she removed his hand from her arm and marched out the door.


----------


The front door was slammed so roughly that the few items that hung on the wall shook in fear. "That fucking bitch! How dare she! Who does she think she is anyway? She isn't even that pretty, and flat to boot!"

Heero looked up at his ranting brother in only mild interest. "Got turned down?"

"No!" Duo denied heatedly. "She told me that she doesn't do one-niters."

"So you *did* get turned down."

Duo sighed and flipped the kitchen chair around with the back forward, and sat down. "Yeah, I guess I did."

"Let me guess, that would be your first denial?" Heero smirked as Duo merely glared at him, giving his answer. "I wouldn't let it get to you," Heero advised, and then drifted into a more serious matter. "I'm glad you came home early. There's something I need to talk to you about."

"Adding more rules to keep me out of trouble?"

"Don't be a smartass. No, this is different. We're still coming up a bit short with the money. I'm going to try to find another alternative, but for now I need you to make another call to the Maxwells."

"Oh give me a break. I had to beg and plead with them for the money just the other day, and I only got a hundred and fifty out of them."

"Another hundred fifty would be helpful. Come on Duo, I'm not asking you to sell your soul here, just try and get a little more from them."

Duo signed and picked up the phone from its cradle to give the Maxwells another call. "I'd prefer selling my soul. Talking to that woman is like pulling teeth--oh hey Aunt Alexis, it's Duo. Yeah, yeah, everything's fine here. Yes, the money was helpful, thanks. Matter of fact, that's what I was calling you about..."

While Duo handles the call, Heero crossed off his aunt and uncle as an option for future income on the list he had made up. If they were sympathetic enough to give them...no, Duo rather, one hundred and fifty dollars more, they were being gracious. He knew they would not be offering anymore than that. The phone was placed back in its cradle, and Heero looked to Duo to see what they had managed to pry out of their aunt, if anything at all.

"A hundred. And it's only a loan."

"Dammit." Heero looked back down at his list. After a moment of consideration, he crossed off both the water and the electric bills. The hundred would cover those for that month, but they were still short for the rent.

'Or the food,' Heero thought grimly, eyeing the list a final time to examine for some sort of loop hole that would allow him to avoid sacrificing their stomachs. But there was nothing else, and the rent needed to be paid.

"There has got to be an easier way to get through this," Duo uttered, voicing Heero's parallel thoughts...and hopes.


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That night Heero's mind was too active in the thought process to allow him sleep. There was no chance of them giving up all the new things they had attained over the last few weeks, but they were running out of options and time. Both of them had school which dismissed all ideas of either of them getting a second job, and they had no one else to rely on for financial support. He wished that he had thought ahead before handing over the alcohol and drugs he had to a couple of his friends; the profit he would have made off of it would have been helpful.

"Dammit," he cursed for the final time the night, his frustration and exhaustion making him angry, and then he got up from under the covers and prepared for work.

[PeRiDoTs13]

man, poor heero. he's trying so hard, and i feel so bad 4 him. i wish he could find a solution dat didn't mean basically selling his soul 2 the devil (aka catherine). damn.