by Neon Fantasy
Disclaimer: None of the Gundam Wing characters used in this story belong to me. They rightfully belong to Bandai, Sunrise, Sotsu Agency plus other associating parties.
Chapter 7
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" --- " - Speaking
' --- ' - Thinking
It was Friday; Relena had stayed in bed for three days because of her stomach. She had a massive black/purple/blue coloured bruise on her belly now, and it still hurt but at least she was able to go out and about without feeling about ready to cry out in pain. The bell to end school had sounded already but she had to pick up her things before leaving. She had a lot of homework to catch up on because of her absence; like it wasn?t hard enough trying to keep up with the current work. While she had been bed ridden, she had been doing a lot of thinking and had come to a decision about what she should do about Quatre. She hadn?t been able to sleep properly at nights because of that fight. Things were bad enough for her as it is, she didn't want to drag anyone down with her. But as her mind was drifting on these thoughts she suddenly felt her shoulder being tapped on, turning around she noticed that it was Dorothy. Relena had her books in her hands as she turned to face Dorothy and when she recognized it was her Relena got so surprised that she dropped all her exercise books and text book on the ground. Dorothy looked at the ground to where all her things had been dropped and just looked back at her like she was the most stupidest person in the world.
"Hello, Relena, a bit clumsy today aren't we?" Dorothy said smirking at her.
Relena didn't say anything as she got down on her knees to pick up her books. She didn't want to sit herself down on the dirty floor but since their school uniform consisted of a short skirt, bending over or kneeling on the floor was a little hard to do without showing off anything.
Dorothy watched as Relena began organizing all her books back up again, from exercise books, to text books, to loose sheets of paper. Looking at down at her watch she was starting to lose her patience with Relena, 'Geez, how long does she want to take picking up books?' She watched as Relena tried to put things back in their rightful order, causing Dorothy to tap her foot on the floor, 'If I wait around anymore I'm going to be late.' Swinging her bag over to her side she opened it up and reached for a stack of sheets which were put in her school folder.
Relena couldn't believe how much she had to do. Just looking at all the loose sheets, she was going to agonize over what she had to do. It didn't help being dumb either, but like everything else, that was her fault.
When she finally got everything back in their rightful order a shower of papers started falling around her. Looking up at Dorothy in question she noticed her putting her bag back on properly as she just said, "Deliver these to his majesty will you? He has been demanding these." And with that she started jogging away, leaving Relena looking over the sheets everywhere around her.
Looking down at them as she gathered them all up she noticed that it had Quatre's name on them. 'Why did she give me these for? She would be able to give these to him easily.' Looking over his sheets she couldn't believe how much Quatre had missed out on already and it was only three days worth too. Well, she had to admit that she wasn't busy or anything, so it would only be right if she went to drop these off to him, maybe she could use this opportunity to apologize to him. She had been kicking herself over it ever since the fight. She felt terrible; Quatre had really good friends, true ones which liked him for who he was. And now, because of her, he has lost everything. She wanted to keep her distance from him for many reasons, and this was one of them. Even with Duo, he didn't deserve the treatment he went through either. He had good reasons to hate her, and it was partially her fault for the reason why he hated her anyway. Placing it in between one of her books so that they didn't get damaged she swung her bag over her shoulder, causing her to stumble back a little because of the heavy load.
As she started making her way out the school grounds she started thinking things through with what she would say to Quatre when she approached him. With this all happening, the best thing she could do for Quatre would be to tell him to just leave her alone, he could still mend things up with Duo and the others and that's what she wanted. She would thank him for what he had done for her but as gently as she can, she will tell him to not talk to her anymore. 'This is for the best. This is for the best,' but as she thought this through her mind, she felt sharp pains in her chest. Putting her hand over her chest where her heart sat she started wondering what that was all about.
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Relena was so thankful when she had finally reached Quatre's home, the heavy weight of her books and text books in her bag, plus Quatre's work was beginning to strain her back as she walked. Stopping at the end of the gate she lowered her bag to the ground and pressed the door bell. After a few moments the intercom which was attached to the gate with the door bell sounded, "Yes, who is it?"
Recognizing the voice she figured that it was their butler, "Um, yes hello, my name is Relena Darlian. I just wanted to drop off some work for Quatre."
"Ah, Relena, it has been a while since your last visit, please come in," Peter said as the front gate unlocked itself.
Picking up her bag again, Relena walked up to the large gates and walked through them, closing the gate behind her when she was inside. During the time when she was on talking grounds with Dorothy she had only visited this place a couple of times ever since she started at their school. She could remember Dorothy hardly ever liked people coming to her home, for some strange reason. If Relena had a home like this she would love to show it off to everyone she knew. 'No, what am I thinking? I DID have a home like this, and as nice as it was, it wasn't like that on the inside.' As she walked up the steps to the front door she saw Peter standing there waiting for her. 'Maybe that's why she doesn't like people coming, there might be issues going on inside her home that she doesn?t want people knowing about.'
"Good afternoon Relena how was school?" Peter asked her kindly as he closed the door behind her.
"Um, it's been... ok I guess," she answered. There was no way she was going to tell anyone about what had been happening this week. But she would have thought that he would have known because of Quatre. Being sent home, being punched in the face, how did he get away with that without any questions asked?
Peter was no fool though, he could see just by looking at Quatre when he returned home was that he had gotten into a fight. If the mark on his face wasn't a big enough hint, getting a phone call from the principal plus having him sent home early did basically speak for itself. He had no idea on what it was about though, it was not his place to ask of such things and Quatre had not said anything about it so he wasn't about to pry into his private affairs.
"That's good, well, shall I escort you to Mr. Quatre than?" Peter asked as he started walking away from Relena.
"Um I don't want to disturb him or anything; I just wanted to drop off his work that's all." Relena had no idea why she was saying what she was. Didn't she want to apologize? Didn't she have to set things straight with him? She was starting to get second thoughts about it now. She really didn't want to cut things off between them; ever since she had met him he had always been so good to her. Deep down she hoped to become good friends with Quatre. Since he didn't judge her by what others thought of her, she felt scared at one stage because she never knew of people as kind as him. She didn't feel worthy of being friends with him but at the same time she liked the attention.
"I'm sure Mr. Quatre would like it best if you talked to him personally, he could do with a friendly face," Peter said as he started heading off once more.
Relena watched as Peter started heading off without her. Could she really say what she thinks is best for Quatre? On many other occasions he had always been able to change her mind on things, as if he knew that she wasn't being honest with him. 'No, after what has happened, I'm sure Quatre would feel the same. I bet he would regret the day he met me.' Sighing to herself she slowly started following after Peter.
As he headed down one of the hallways of the Winner mansion, Peter stopped beside a door where Quatre was. As she was still making her way over to him he stood close to the door and got out his keys. Picking out the right one he unlocked the door with a little click and quietly opened it. When Relena finally made it up to him he smiled at her and opened the door wider for her, "Mr. Quatre is in here Relena, please go inside."
Looking at him in hesitation he smiled and nodded his head to her, insisting on her to go in. When she finally walked into the room, Peter quietly closed the door behind her and widely grinned to himself.
At that moment one of the maids was making her cleaning rounds down that area, before she walked past the hallway Peter called out to her, "Clare, could you come here for a moment please?"
Looking over at him she smiled and made her way over to him, "Yes? Is there a problem?"
"Oh no, nothing major, I was just wondering if you could go get something to serve Quatre and his guest."
"Certainly," and with that, she started making her way to the kitchen.
Peter just grinned at her and looked back at the door again, he was trying his hardest not to laugh, 'Mr. Quatre is going to be surprised.' Whistling to himself as he started walking away from the door he was beginning to wonder if forcing her in there was such a good idea, Quatre might not like the idea of someone waltzing in there without asking for permission first, 'No, Quatre is a gentleman, she will be alright.'
Relena felt about ready to run out when she heard the door close behind her, her heart was racing for some strange reason. 'Am I really that terrified about facing him?'
As she started looking around she noticed it to be some sort of recreation room. There was a pool table, a little bar at the corner of the room, dart board, a pinball machine, a big wide screen television set with large surround sound speakers, a large stereo, a DVD player, basically everything she would expect such a rich family to have, it wouldn't surprise her if they had cable as well. 'Hm, the only thing it needs now is a gym,' she thought sarcastically to herself.
As she walked more into the room she noticed another doorway leading out to another room. As she waltzed her way into the room as though it were her own she suddenly regretted not calling out for Quatre like she should have. Staring at him wide eyed she noticed that he was doing a bit of bench pressing in what looked to be a gym. She was wondering where that would be, a mansion just wouldn't be complete without one, but she wasn't expecting to find it like this. She wanted to signal to him that she was here but she seemed to have lot her voice, ?That would be right.? Staring at him she watched as he lifted the weights up and down, causing the muscles in his arms and chest to flex as he did so. He seemed to be doing it with such ease but looking at his expression showed how much he was focusing on the weights and looked to be tiring out. By looking at the sweat which was running down his forehead and down his chest, she figured that must have been in here for a while. Looking from his face to his torso she couldn't believe how much muscle he had. She had to admit that he wasn't as built up like Heero, Trowa or Wufei but she had to admit that he wasn't too far off from it. With him running a company she never suspected that he was some fitness freak as well, how could he make the time for such things? Where did he get the energy to do all of that?
She had no idea how long she had been watching him; she couldn?t help but feel drawn to him at the moment. Watching him in such a state, she was starting to get the urge to just go over there and wipe him clean of his sweat, to bring her hands up and feel the strength of his arms and chest within her own grasp, ?Relena snap out of it! Do you realize what you are thinking!?? She wanted to turn around and leave before he caught her but the effort involved in doing so was a little too hard to do at the moment, not that she was even trying. As she paid close attention to his body movements she noticed him push the weights up once more before putting them back on the rack behind him. After doing so he let his arms dangle to the ground as he breathed in and out deep breaths of exhaustion. Taking note of every movement he was making she watched as his chest slowly rose up and down with the breaths he was taking in. He still hadn?t noticed her yet, much to Relena?s relief. Since he was finished she figured that she had better tell him that she was here now, but that was another failed attempt.
Getting him self into sitting position he stretched his arms up over his head for a few moments before turning his back to her. Leaning over to reach for his bottle of water Relena found a new fascination over his back. She went wide eyed when she got the chance to see how defined his back was. Ofcourse it wasn't half as good as his front but it was still a great view to look at, 'RELENA! What are you doing! He's going to kill you when he finds you there! TURN AWAY NOW!' Brushing off that nagging voice in her head she figured that maybe she had better listen to her logic and leave while his back was turned. But what he did next totally threw that idea out of her head. She watched as Quatre leaned his back a bit to take a sip of water but then started pouring water over his face, causing long streaks of water to run down his face and down his sweaty back, making him look all the more irresistible. 'Geez it's getting hot in here,' Relena thought as she started fanning her face with her hands, she could feel her cheeks burning.
Since she was so focused on marveling over Quatre she was suddenly interrupted by a sudden knock at the door. Jumping at the sound of it, she turned her gaze over to the door, wondering if maybe she should answer it. But then the overwhelming shock came over her when she realized that she wasn?t the only one here, ?Oh no.? Did she dare turn back around to see Quatre? Slowly turning her head back to Quatre she noticed that he indeed heard the door knock but his attention was fully on her.
"M-Miss Relena!" Quatre staggered to say as he quickly he went back to his bench press to pick up the dark blue tank top he had taken off earlier and quickly slipped it on. Blushing at the embarrassment of being caught in such a state he mumbled, "I-I wasn't expecting any company."
Relena couldn?t help but blush herself, she felt so guilty now, "Oh, Quatre I'm so sorry I-"
Before she could finish, the person, which was at the door decided to welcome them selves in since no one was making the effort to answer it. Poking her head into the room Clare got the attention of both Quatre and Relena looking at her, although their faces were shaded in deep shades of red. ?Now I see why Peter was grinning so much when he called me over.? Smiling sheepishly at them she said, "Um, sorry to disturb you Mr. Quatre but I brought you the food you asked for." Placing the tray of tea and biscuits she was holding onto the table by the television, she added, "Sorry that it took so long," Bowing to them, she excused herself and almost cracked up laughing as she closed the door behind her.
When she left, Quatre just looked at the door quizzically then turned his gaze to the food Clare brought in, 'I don't remember asking for food.' Shrugging it off, he figured that having a bit of food wouldn?t do him any harm. Turning his gaze back to Relena he felt his cheeks redden again, "Um, would you like something to eat? There seems to be enough for two."
Relena couldn?t look at him, her cheeks were still burning furiously over the incident of watching him work out, and looking at him wasn?t going to help calm her down. "Oh no, I just came here to drop off these for you," Relena quickly said as she opened up her bag to get Quatre's school work out.
Rummaging through her things she started to panic when it was getting to the stage where she forgot where she put his things. Blushing even more at her stupidity she dropped the bag to the ground and started to go through it more thoroughly.
Quatre patiently waited for what ever it was she was trying to get, but what puzzled him was how she actually got in here. He thought that he closed the door after him as he came into the room, and now he can't even recall asking for tea. 'I think the exercise is starting to have a bad effect on your memory Quatre.'
'Where in the hell is it!?' Relena screamed in her head, it was bad enough that she was caught drooling over Quatre, the last thing she needs right now is to lose his work. She started throwing her books out of her bag now, knowing her; it's probably all at the bottom of the bag.
As she looked through it Quatre looked down at her books in curiosity. Picking up her exercise books he started skimming through her work, he had wanted to look at how she had been doing at school. Looking at the marks she had received from the teacher he was ashamed to admit that Duo was right, Relena was struggling with everything. He didn't look over them for very long since Relena might not like the idea of him looking through her things but looking down at her she looked about ready to go on a killing spree for what ever she had just lost.
Looking through her books once more he noticed a stack of papers in-between a black note book. Opening it up he noticed his name written on them, he wasn't dumb so he figured that these were what she had been looking for. But as he removed the sheets from the book he went into shock with what the contents of the book actually held. One page had some sort of poem in it, which was all about death, wanting to be released from pain, feeling better by making one self bleed. He only skimmed through a few lines but couldn?t bear to read anymore. If that wasn't bad enough he looked at the page beside it, causing his mouth to hang wide open. The figure in the centre looked to be female but her head was held low so you couldn't see their face and her long hair covered her as well. Above her looked to be some sort of ghost, it looked to be making its way out of her body and was hanging above her but looked to be scaring her, it was smiling wickedly at her. There was a spot light over her with a black back ground and she had swords and spears shoved through her as though they were thrown at her. Blood was running down her bare body and trailed down to the ground where it surrounded her. Looking closely at the black background Quatre noticed there to be several pictures of people drawn within it. They looked to be laughing at her pain. Their clapping hands looked to be as if they were at the circus, cheering on some sort of magic show, when really, it wasn't. A few people had spears in their hands as well, looking about ready to strike her with them. He had to admit that the drawing was very well drawn, what he wouldn't give to produce art like this but, it was so depressing. Looking briefly over Relena he had a feeling that the girl in her drawing was indeed her, the way she pictures herself and everything around her. But what made her want to wish for death? The picture seemed to relate to the poem but by the looks of it too. The more he seemed to learn about Relena, the more things kept getting more and more confusing, yet it made him even more worried over her.
"Maybe I put it in one of my text books," Relena said out loud as she started going through them. When she spoke up it caused Quatre to jump a little, expecting her to see that he was going through her book. He dared not go any further then what he just saw; it was enough to make him cry, not to mention sick.
Putting the book underneath all the others he quickly put his papers in-between her business studies book.
"Oh, your business studies book looks to be pretty big Miss Relena, have you been doing extra work?" Quatre asked, playing along with his act as he kneeled down beside her.
Looking at him in question, Quatre passed the book to her. As she opened it up, Quatre took this opportunity to put the other books down with her text books just to not make her paranoid over the fact that he held such a personal book within his grasp.
"Ah, Quatre, this is what I had to give you," Relena said as she removed his work sheets. As she passed them to him she added, "I heard you had been wanting these, I hope they are all there."
Accepting them from her he looked over them briefly and said, "I thank you for these Miss Relena, but I don't remember asking for them though."
"Huh? Didn't you ask Dorothy to get them for you?"
Jerking his head up at her he gasped, "Ask Dorothy!? She would skin me alive if I asked her for such a favour. If there is anything I usually need it's really up to me to get it myself, I couldn't ask people to do such things for me."
Looking over at him with a blank expression over her face he smiled at her and said, "Well shall we have something to eat now? The tea will be getting cold soon."
"But, I-"
"Please Miss Relena; I want you to stay for a while for a while."
As he got up from the ground, Relena watched him but wasn't expecting to suddenly have him offer his hand to her. Looking at it briefly before looking up at him again he added, "You went through all the trouble of giving me my school work, so let this be my way of saying thank you." She wanted to protest saying that it was Dorothy who got all his work but decided against it, she would just be wasting her breath anyway since he didn?t believe her story.
As Relena put her hand within his she suddenly felt a jolt of electricity run down her spine by his touch. 'Where did that come from?' Even as he helped off the ground she started picturing him the way she saw him while he worked out, flexing his muscles and that water running down him. Blushing again she cursed herself for letting such memories flood into her mind again.
"Are you alright Miss Relena?" Quatre asked her, a bit concerned over the fact that her face was all red, ?Have you got a fever or something??
Snapping out of her thoughts she looked at him briefly but noticed that she still had her hand within his. Flushing even more she quickly pulled her hand away from his and nodded saying, "I'm fine thank you."
He wasn't convinced but decided to drop it since she seemed to look reasonably uncomfortable at the moment. She wasn't the only one, he couldn't believe how careless he was for not locking the door behind him and what was even worse was that he just had to take off his top too. It was not a usual thing for him to let people see him half naked like that, ?That was what the tank top was for you fool, your suppose to wear it while you work out.?
Wanting to settle his nerves over that little incident he decided to go serve them both some tea. Trying to remain as calm as he could he sat himself down on the couch and got each of them cups. Relena sat on the other side from where Quatre was and forced herself not to look at him, although she couldn?t help but watch him from the corner of her eye.
As he finished pouring Relena some tea, he carefully put it on a saucer and passed it to her. She accepted it from him and nodded her thanks as she quickly took a mouth full of it, ?Maybe this will settle my nerves.? But what didn't occur to her at that moment that tea was usually served in hot water, so since she took a mouth full of liquid the heat from it was beginning to burn in her mouth like acid. She couldn't help but suddenly choke at how hot it was, causing her cough up a bit and allow half of it to spray out from her mouth. Gulping the rest of it down she quickly put her free hand over her mouth to cover up all the tea which went all over her mouth before Quatre could see.
He had just finished pouring himself some tea before he heard her cough. Turning to her he noticed her with her hand over her mouth. Getting a little worried he asked, "Are you alright Miss Relena? Is there something wrong with the tea?"
'Could you make yourself look anymore stupider than what you already are,' Relena cursed to her self. If things weren?t bad enough she just had to be careless and make a mess of herself.
Shaking her head in response she noticed that he was still staring at her. She had a feeling that he was staring at her hand by her mouth, but how could she pull it away without showing Quatre how much of a grot she is.
Walking over behind the bar, Quatre figured that maybe she needed some tissues or something. Passing them to her when he returned to the couch she mumbled, "Um, thank you," as she took them from him, wiping her mouth of the liquid al over her. Quatre just smiled and decided to sit beside her, causing Relena to watch every move he made in the process.
There was nothing but silence between them after that, Quatre offered her biscuits every once in a while but didn't exchange any words to her. Both of them had no idea what to say to each other. Both of them had a lot going in their minds but the silence between them was getting really awkward as well.
'I guess I better say what I came to do,' Relena thought. Sighing to herself, she decided that she better be out with it, she had been stalling long enough. But as she said his name she was surprised to hear him say her name at the same time. Looking at each other Quatre said, "I'm sorry, you go first."
"Oh no, it wasn't anything important. What were you going to say?"
"Um, I had wanted to say this to you since Tuesday. I um, need to apologize to you about me stalking out of your house like I did."
Relena was stunned when he said that, she had wanted to talk about that as well, not to mention talk about the fight as well. Keeping silent she patiently waited for him to continue.
Looking down at the contents of his cup, Quatre started again, "I really do want to help you Miss Relena, and I wanted to keep my word to you. But I couldn't bring myself to lie to your mother about it. I-I told her the truth by saying that I wanted to tutor you. She seemed pleased about it but, I couldn't help but feel that I betrayed you at the same time."
Turning his gaze to hers he sadly said, "It was rude of me to just leave like that. I wanted to apologize to you at school, I was so angry with myself and it didn't help by seeing Duo treating you in such a matter either. Especially when he was accusing you of things which weren't true, I reacted in such a harsh way to it. Duo was just concerned about me, so what do I do, I punch him for it." Lowering his head to the ground in shame he softly said, "I've made such a mess of everything."
"No Quatre, it was wrong of me to ask you to lie to my mother. In a way I'm glad you didn't lie, such things shouldn't be kept secret. She had a right to know, as much as I wouldn't have wanted her to. And you can still mend things up with Duo, I'm sure that once you apologize to him he will forgive you,? lowering her gaze from him she added, ?As long as you don't associate with me anymore, your friendship will always be strong."
Quatre's eyes widened at her statement and looked back at her again, "Miss Relena, don't you like me talking to you?"
Jerking her head to him she said, "What! No I don't mean it like that. I really appreciate the way you always talk to me; it's just that, with the history between me and Duo..." Realising what she was about to say she turned her gaze away from his, she said too much.
Quatre kept watching her in curiosity about that remark until he noticed her standing up from the couch.
Turning her back on him she continued, "Please understand that Duo has reasons for hating me. That's why, for your friendship, you shouldn't talk to me anymore. I can't stand by and watch you be brought down to my level any longer. For your benefit Quatre, just, keep your distance from me." There, she said what she came to say; now it was a matter of walking out and leaving it at that. Putting everything back in her bag she lifted it to her shoulder with some difficulty and started heading for the door. She had no right to stay any longer, she couldn't even bring herself look at Quatre since she knew that if she did she would want to take back what she said.
As she reached the door she turned the handle and only got the door open by only a few inches before it was suddenly slammed closed.
Quatre was by her side and had his hand on the door so she couldn't leave. Waiting for her to react in some way, all she did was keep her eyes on the door handle.
"Miss Relena..." Quatre said as he put his hand over hers, trying to get her to listen to him.
The touch of his hand over hers started making her heart beat rapidly. Not wanting him to get to her she closed her eyes and said, "Quatre, it's for the best. I don't want you to suddenly be hated by everyone."
He couldn?t help but smile sadly at that remark, ?Your worried about me.? Removing her hand from the door knob he turned her to face him, she still had her head down low and eyes remained closed as she faced him. Still having hold of her hand in his left he used his right to tilt her head up to his so he could get a clear look at her face, "Miss Relena, look at me."
No, was her first reaction, she could tell what he was about to do. Once she opened her eyes he would some how read her thoughts and tell her that she was wrong and that he didn't see anything wrong with her blah blah blah. She was not going to fool for it this time; she had to do this for his benefit. Couldn't he see that? 'Why does he have to be so nice?'
Relena stood her ground, she did not move nor did she open her eyes. She could tell that he was waiting for her to listen to him but maybe if she stayed like this he would give up and let her go. As she waited for that moment to come she suddenly felt her self pressed against him. Flashing her eyes open she found herself within Quatre's embrace, causing her heart to skip a beat in the process.
Leaning his head down to her ear he whispered, "I appreciate you being so worried about my popularity status at school, but really, it doesn?t concern me if whether I?m either liked or hated by the whole school."
His hot breath against her ear sent shivers down her spine, 'What ever you do don't look in his eyes, don't look in his eyes,' she chanted to herself. Bringing his head back up to face hers again he brought both of his hands up to her cheeks and bought her head up to look at him. "Popularity means nothing to me, what matters to me is my friends." She couldn?t help but blush at him words and found herself being drawn into his blue/green eyes, 'Oh no. Not again.'
"Nothing matters to me but the people I care about. Do you really want me to leave you alone?" He asked as he searched her eyes for her reaction to that. '
Yes, I do. I want you to stop being near me,' she said in her mind but answered, "No," causing tears to swell up in her eye lids.
"I know I haven?t been a very good friend to you lately but I really want to make it up to you. Can I still help you with your studies?"
Slowly nodding her head she answered, "Yes." There she goes again, contradicting herself. She really, really needed to find out how he could do this to her.
Quatre smiled in relief as he lowered his hands from her cheeks, after seeing that picture in her book he couldn't afford to leave her out of his sights. He was scared for her safety, with the way she was so negative about things he couldn't afford to leave her in such a way. Quatre couldn't get that image from her book out of his head; he didn't want her thinking in such a way. It was so depressing yet so scary. He cared too much to allow such a thing to happen, if it did he would never forgive himself. But her answers to him just now, even though there was truth in them, she sounded as though she as only saying what he wanted to hear.
"Can we start tomorrow? I'm sure your parents must be wondering where you are. With the amount of books in your bag, we might have a fair bit that we have to go through so shall we start at eleven?"
Nodding to him in response she turned and went for the door again. She felt so ashamed of herself, why did she have to be so weak!? She can't say no to Quatre, it's a proven fact. He had Duo and the others to stand by him though, they were true friends. She couldn't consider herself his friend and it made her wonder why he would give up all his friends just for her. She was so pitiful, using him for her own benefit and yet she isn?t doing anything to stop it.
When she opened the door again she suddenly heard him say, "Let me take you home."
"No, I will walk. But thank you anyway."
"I'm afraid I can't do that," he replied back, much to Relena's surprise.
"You will break you back with the amount of books you have in that bag." He had noticed the way she seemed to struggle with it on her back and thinking about the distance she would have walked to get to his house, he couldn't make her go through that process all over again.
Taking the bag from her he swung it over his shoulder and winked at her, "Shall we go then?" Before she could say a word he was already out the door. There, it happened again, he got his own way again. But she had to admit that she didn?t want to lug that bag of hers home like that but she didn?t want him to go out of his way for her either. Not being able to do anything about it since he had her bag, she quickly headed out to follow him.
Dorothy was just by the gates of their mansion before she noticed Quatre's car heading out, not caring about where he would be off to or anything she drove within the gates and parked her car in the drive way. Reaching over for her bag which was on the front passenger seat she dragged out with her and closed the door, locking it up as she headed to the front door. Peter was by the door when she approached and said, "Oh, your friend Relena was here just now. You just missed her."
Shrugging it off she walked past him and started heading up the stairs to her room, she knew that Relena would have stopped by. Opening her bedroom door she threw her bag onto the ground and threw herself onto her bed. As she laid there, doing nothing in particular she started thinking about Relena's visit. She figured that might have been the reason why Quatre was leaving, to drop her off home. 'You better have sorted things out while you were here.' Looking over at her clock she noticed that she would have to get ready for fencing practice soon, 'Dammit, I'm too tired for that today.' Laying there for a few more moments she battled with herself on whether or not she should go, but being as dedicated as she was she got off the bed and headed to her wardrobe to get her fencing outfit out.
As Quatre pulled up to Relena's house he parked the car and brought his hands off the steering wheel. Relena looked over at him in question but he kept his focus facing forward. Not knowing what to do she assumed that this was her queue to leave, opening the car door she suddenly heard him say, "Don?t have any regrets about my decision Miss Relena, it was my decision to make and I don?t want you blaming yourself over it."
Looking back over at him she wondered if whether or not she heard him right. He turned his gaze to hers when he noticed her looking at him, "I don?t have any regrets so you shouldn?t either."
Relena had no idea how she was to react; did she just hear that right? How did he seem to know how she was feeling? This was getting to be too much for her, thinking that she had gone through enough of this weirdness for one day she got out of the car and swung her bag over her back. Walking back to the house she heard Quatre beep at her a couple of times, turning her gaze to him he waved to her before leaving her street. Sighing to herself she had no idea how long she could keep this up, if only Quatre knew about her past then he wouldn?t be so nice to her. ?Once he finds out though?? She couldn?t even determine what might actually happen; with Quatre you couldn?t determine such things. But she knew that the longer she put it off the deeper this will affect both him and her.
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As Relena entered her accounting class she looked around and noticed Duo wasn't back yet, she figured that he could still be suspended but she was a bit worried over the injuries he went through. Quatre had a bit of a bruise on his cheek when she saw him on Friday but over the weekend it was beginning to become very faint, she wouldn't be surprised if it was completely gone by now. Sitting in the front row of the classroom things started cooling down about the fight last week, much to her relief. But once Wufei and Duo come back from their suspension things will probably start up all over again.
Quatre entered the classroom at that moment and noticed Relena sitting at the front again. He smiled and started heading over to her but didn't get far when Sylvia suddenly dashed towards him, wrapping her arms around his neck.
"Hi Quatre! I missed you, I'm so glad that your ok," bringing her hands down to the top of his shoulders she gave him one of her brightest smiles and said, "You know, since Duo and you are in a fight and everything, that would mean you have no one to sit with today huh? He is still suspended after all so come sit with over here with me."
Smiling at her he brought his hands up to hers and pulled them off his shoulders saying, "Thank you for the offer but I won't be sitting alone."
Sylvia looked about the room and noted that Hilde, Mariemaia, Alex or Mueller weren?t in the class so who could he possible sit with which was better company then her? Walking past her he walked up behind Relena and tapped her on the shoulder. Turning her gaze to meet Quatre's he smiled at her and asked, "May I sit with you?"
Not saying anything to him she thought that maybe Quatre would get the picture, instead he seated himself beside her anyway, much to her dismay.
Sylvia stared wide eyed at Quatre and fully glared at Relena. Stomping off to sit next to Dorothy she roughly sat in her seat and continued to glare at Relena, "How dare he pick her over me! What's so good about her anyway? She doesn't even talk to him so why would he care about her!?"
Dorothy kept silent, the last thing she really wanted to hear at the moment were her sulks over her brother.
"Ah I know, since Quatre is such a nice guy, I bet he was beginning to feel sorry for her huh? Since she sits alone and everything," looking over to Dorothy she noticed that Dorothy wasn't even paying attention to her. Tugging at her school jacket she continued, "I'm right aren?t I? Your brother is just being considerate huh?"
"Like I really care, now let go off my jacket," Dorothy said as she tugged her arm away from her.
"Geez, you?re in a fowl mood already, well I know I'm right, after all I am far more beautiful than what she is."
What Dorothy wouldn't give to have a gun or something handy at the moment. Sylvia had a tendency to babble on about anything and nothing just for the attention. And what was worse was that neither Meiran nor Midii where around to listen to her so Dorothy was the one who had to go through this torture. At least with Wufei, he would tell her out straight if she was bothering him or not. What Dorothy wouldn't give to be able to do that. Sylvia was like the ring leader to their group so what ever she says goes. 'This is going to be a LONG accounting lesson,' Dorothy sighed to herself.
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After the short break it was time for business studies. Trowa was on his way to class and noticed Quatre heading in the same direction as him. Quatre caught sight of him and smiled, "Hi Trowa, how are you?"
"Fine," Trowa answered as he kept walking to class, not once acknowledging that Quatre was beside him.
"How is Wufei? Have you spoken to him?" Quatre asked as he kept walking beside him.
Trowa wasn't expecting a question like that, keeping his gaze forward he answered, "I haven't heard from him."
"Oh ok," Quatre sadly said back, "I'm really sorry about getting all of you involved in that. I know that it doesn't make a difference now, but I promise to not do something like that again. Things can be sorted out without resorting to violence."
Trowa looked over at him with confusion, both he, Wufei and Heero got involved on their own free will. The fight was between Duo and Quatre so why was he apologizing? Although, he was not expecting Quatre to be one to start fights like that. He had taken notice of him when ever he was around and thought of him being a pretty nice and honest person, even though they never talked since they were in different groups, he just got that impression of him.
Relena was at her locker at this time, trying to get her business studies work so she could get to class. Getting what she needed she locked the door to her locker and turned to leave for class but bumped into someone.
"Sorry I-" Looking up at the person who she bumped into she noticed that it was Heero, "Oh Heero, it?s you."
Heero raised an eyebrow and thought, ?Yeah nice to see you too.?
Walking past him she began walking to business studies. He remained by her side since they were both in the same class. Watching her from the corner of his eye he couldn?t help but sadden at the fact that she wasn?t the Relena he knew. She use to be so happy and cheerful, but now she acted as though she were like an emotionless robot, just living through the motions and nothing more. He would have thought that his efforts of helping her might bring her back to normal again, obviously it didn?t seem to be working though.
As they entered the classroom Relena noticed Quatre was sitting in a seat beside hers. She sighed in frustration over the fact that he just won?t leave her alone now. She had to admit though; the tutoring they went through over the weekend really helped her out. She didn?t think it could get done but in a way, it didn?t take as long as she thought it would. He went through things with her thoroughly and slowly so that she would understand and even if she didn't the first time he would go through it with her again. He was so patient with her and to her surprise she actually understood his teachings and was picking things up quicker then expected, which she didn't think was possible for her lack of learning.
Going over to her seat Quatre greeted her as she sat down beside him. Heero on the other hand did not like having Quatre sitting by her and was about to go up to him until he was stopped by Trowa.
"Leave them alone Heero," Trowa said as he motioned Heero over to their seats to the back.
It was difficult but he did eventually get Heero to sit down, but even then he still looked about ready to kill someone, not needing three guesses to find out who.
"He wasn't the one who hurt her Heero, why do hold such a grudge against him?"
"He means to hurt her again, can't you see it? This is just all a cover up; in the end she is going to get hurt. I don't want that to happen."
"So you persist on isolating her from everyone so that she won't be hurt again. Tell me something Heero, did your method work?"
Heero didn't answer; Trowa had a point there but still stood by his beliefs. Crossing his arms over his chest he replied, "It's for her own safety."
Trowa just shook his head at his reply, 'Admit that you?re just jealous Heero. You can't keep her by your side forever.' He knew better then to say that though, knowing Heero, he would pound him for such a remark. Not that Trowa couldn't stand up to him but he wasn't about to get into a senseless fight about it. If Heero wanted to keep believing that Relena was best being alone then fine, it had nothing to do with him. But like him, he is standing by his beliefs as well, believing that Quatre may just be what Relena needs to rekindle her spirit again.
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"Hey Mueller, what do you think I should get, hot chips or a hot dog?" Mariemaia asked as she kept glancing at her objects of desire.
"Why don't you try going for a healthy option for once and get a sandwich," he replied back to her.
"Nooo, I want something hot."
"Then get a toasted sandwich then."
"Ha ha, you?re so funny,? she sarcastically said. Pausing for a moment she suddenly announced, ?I think I will get chips."
"You know, I was being serious when I said that." She didn?t seem to hear him though.
When she paid for her food she just smiled at him and wrapped an arm around his.
"You?re going to get fat if you keep eating so much oily foods all the time," he said as they headed to their seats.
"But it tastes better."
Mueller just smiled and shook his head at her, 'She will never change.'
While making their way to their usual table Mariemaia caught sight of Quatre with Relena walking in. She watched them with curiosity as she sat herself down. Mueller just looked at her with confusion and asked, "What's with you?" Looking about the cafeteria quickly she noticed that Hilde wasn't here yet so she decided to use this opportunity to talk to Quatre. Rising up from the table she said, "I need to go speak to Quatre before Hilde gets here, keep a look out ok?"
Mueller just raised an eye brow at her and said, "She's not going to be happy if she catches you."
"I don't care, Quatre is still our friend," With that said she quickly made her way over to where Quatre and Relena were sitting.
As she walked up to their table she waved at them and said, "Hi there, mind if I sit down for a bit?"
When Quatre looked up to see her he gave her a bright smile and said, "Ah, Miss Mariemaia, it's good to see you again, please make yourself comfortable."
Sitting opposite from them she said, "I can't stay long but I couldn't help myself, I just had to talk to you again. I miss having you around Quatre."
"Haha, you don't know how happy that makes me feel. But um, is Duo alright?"
Turning serious by his question she sadly said, "Unfortunately not. He won't be back for a while since Wufei broke his nose."
Both Quatre's and Relena's eyes widened at that, "Oh god, nothing else was broke right?" Quatre asked.
"No, that was it, but he still has a few wounds and bruises from the fight. He's not looking too good at the moment, plus he is so moody. You would think he had his monthlies or something.?
Her joke wasn?t found amusing by Quatre and Relena, although she wasn?t expecting them to find it funny. After all, there was truth in her statement, he had been very moody.
"It's my fault, this is all my fault," Quatre sadly said as he lowered his gaze to his food.
"No it's my fault, this all began with me," Relena replied.
Mariemaia looked at the both of them and shook her head, "Don't keep kicking yourselves over it. What's happened has happened; it was an accident after all. But I think you should try talking to him though Quatre, he might feel better if you do."
"Yes I think I better, I was hoping that I would see him tomorrow but if he's in this sort of condition then I better go see him after school. I need to sort things out with him."
"He won?t forgive you, unless you stop talking to me,? Relena added.
"Please don't blame yourself over this Miss Relena. I?m sure that if I explain myself to him, maybe he will understand. If he doesn't then I guess our friendship meant nothing in the end. But if he cherishes our friendship just as much as I do then I'm sure we can work something out."
Suddenly Mariemaia felt something hot hit across her cheek, "Ow, what was that?" Looking down at the ground she noticed that it was a chip that went soaring towards her. Scanning the cafeteria for the culprit she noticed Mueller waving to her. She was about to get furious at him for that but when she saw him point over towards the doors she noticed Hilde and Alex had just entered.
"Oh, I better be going now Quatre, Hilde is here. Please sort things out with him when you can, I don't want to stop talking to you because of it," and with that she got up and sneaked her way back to their table.
When she had left Quatre started wondering how he should sort things out with Duo. He had no idea what to say, only to state his reasons for being so angry and tell him that it was an accident. He remembered Relena saying that he had his reasons for hating her, but what were they? Maybe if he told him the reason then maybe Quatre could get a better understanding on why he's like that towards her. For their friendship to be mended again, he would have to.
Relena was starting to get worried about the whole thing. The fight started with her asking Quatre to lie to her mother and now look at what it has caused. She knows that once Quatre talks to Duo then her friendship with him will have to be terminated. Quatre can't and won't pick her over five of his really close friends, he can't have both and by simple logic, she could guess who he would sacrifice.
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Author's Note: How was that?
I've noticed that there hasn't exactly been much of a development between Quatre and Relena so I tried adding a bit of a cute moment between them, although I don't think it worked 
. You will finally be able to hear a bit of Relena's past in the next chapter, well sort of. Its not exactly HER story if that makes sense, its an add on for you to understand why Duo hates her so much. Anyway, please be sure to review.Email: neon_fantasy@hotmail.com
I loved the added development in this chapter too. Keep up the good work, and I'll be looking forward to the next chapter!
