Around This Life chapter 2

[Litia-sama]

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing. I just love to write. A lot.

Around This Life

Chapter Two

For a few moments, my mouth merely opened and closed in astonishment. I wanted to say something, but I didn?t know what and I had too many questions.

Where had she found this man? Why did she call him my fianc?? Why was he looking at me like that?

As my mouth continued to open and close again and again in shock, mother said something into Mr. Barton?s ear and hurried off upstairs. I found my eyes locked onto his moments after she disappeared. Well, at least the one eye I could see. His bangs covered half his face and gave him this sort of secretive look, especially with his eyes seeming to hold such depth. It sent a whole other kind of shock through me.

All at once, I was nervous. ?Have you?come a long way?Mr. Barton??

At his reply, I noticed for the first time what his voice was like. I couldn?t describe it to myself then, but I later found a word for it.

Tranquil. ?It?s not necessary to know how far I?ve come, but that I?m here,? he replied.

I wondered if I had just met a man of real wisdom.

?All the same, I still wish to know,? I said. At my words his face seemed to lose its expression.

?Let?s just say, I prefer where I am to where I was.?

Even though I was unsure of his meaning, I felt myself starting to blush. I wondered if he saw and scolded myself for caring.

?Relena!? I heard Mother call to me from the base of the stairs. She walked over to me and hissed in my ear, ?Go up to your room and change. Make yourself presentable for our guest. He will be here for three weeks.? She turned to walk away but stopped, whispering over her shoulder, ?To answer your unspoken question, he?s your fianc? because his father and I have come to an agreement. Marriage between you is the best solution for all of us and I expect you to accept that as a proper Lady. If you choose to be defiant, you choose to be alone.? With that, she turned and went into the kitchen.

I looked back at Mr. Barton, hoping for an answer. He merely stared at me, and I wondered if I should apologize for our situation. As soon as I realized what was happening, I walked quickly over to the stairs and hurried up to my room. I felt Mr. Barton?s eyes on me the whole time.

It made me feel as though I wore no clothes, or even skin.

When I reached my room I closed the door and locked it, hoping to calm myself. I guess I thought that, maybe, if I locked the door, I could keep what had just happened from being real. I also thought that I could keep Mr. Barton and all thoughts of him out of my head and away from me.

I didn?t like the way he made me feel, just with a simple look. Only Duo was supposed to make me feel like that, and Duo never made me feel like that.

As I was walking over to my closet I noticed a dress lying on my bed. My mother?s favorite dress of mine. The one that made me look how I despised feeling.

Proper.

I frowned at the dress and went to my closet, picking out my favorite dress to wear when Mother had company. As I was taking the dress off its hanger I realized what had just happened.

?He?s your fianc?.?

The dress fell from my hands and landed on the floor with a soft ?flump? as my hands rose to cover my gaping mouth. Oh God. What had she done?

?Duo!

I gasped and looked around. A phone. I needed a phone. Phone, phone, phone. Now!

I went to the nightstand by my bed and reached for the phone. My aim was off and I missed, knocking the phone to the floor. I dropped to my knees beside it and picked it up, listening for the dial tone. When I heard it I dialed Duo?s number as best I could because my eyes were blurry.

As I listened to the ringing on the other end of the line, I watched a tear fall from my face to the floor.

I heard a noise and then, ?Hello??

?Duo!? I cried, glad to hear his voice and desperate for his comfort.

He sounded so worried and asked, ?What?s wrong??

I told him of my meeting with Mr. Barton and my mother?s proclamation.

I heard him yell, ?Son of a bi-!? but didn?t hear the end of it as something crashed. He must have thrown a glass, or something equally breakable.

I sobbed and asked, ?Duo??

A moment later he said, ?Yeah??

?What do we do??

There was a long pause before, ?Go through with it.?

I didn?t understand. ?What-?

?Go through with it,? he repeated, ?Spend the three weeks with the guy and then tell your mother you don?t want him.?

I watched another tear plummet to the floor. ?But I don?t want to spend three weeks with him. I want to spend three weeks with you. I want to spend every week with you.?

I heard him take a deep breath and then sigh, ?Look, just calm down. All right? It?ll be ok. Just calm down.?

The tone of his voice soothed me. This was one of the few times when there wasn?t laughter in his voice.

?But-? I stopped, not sure how to word my question, ?What do I tell him?about you??

?Don?t tell him anything about me,? he said, sounding nonchalant and confident again. His confidence reassured me.

?And what about Mother?? I asked.

?You tell her that you?re fed up with me. That you?ve seen that light and realized I?m not good enough for you-?

?No!? I interrupted. I couldn?t believe he was saying that.

?Releeeenaaa~,? he asked, in that playful ?you better behave? voice he used when making fun of Mother. ?Do you want this to woooork??

I couldn?t help but smile at his behavior. ?Yes,? I said, wiping away a few leftover tears.

?Then that?s how you make it work,? he assured me.

?Are you sure?? I asked.

?Sure I?m sure.?

I smiled again. ?I don?t like it,? I reminded him.

?I know,? he replied.

I waited a moment to listen to his breathing before I finally said, ?I should go,? and ended the call with a heartfelt ?I love you.? I sat with the phone in my hand until it made that noise that means you forgot to hang up. I set the phone back on the hook and stood up.

Three weeks. It was only three weeks. And it?s not like a little thing like time could come between Duo and me.

Remembering the way Mr. Barton had stared at me, I put the dress I?d taken out back in the closet and picked up the one Mother had put out. I stared at it and decided it wasn?t half bad. It was light blue, went down to my ankles and hugged my body. Oh, how she loved to show off my figure to all those ?potentials?. The straps were spaghetti thin, but I remembered there was a small jacket that went with the dress that covered my shoulders.

If she wanted proper, I?d giver her proper.

* * *

I walked down the stairs, focusing on each step. For some reason, the thought of being near Mr. Barton again sent chills up and down my spine and made me want to run back to my room and hide. Yet at the same time?

I walked toward the kitchen and steadied my breathing. Why was I so nervous? It was just dinner. It wasn?t as if I was about to face my impending doom.

I walked into the kitchen and immediately locked eyes with Mother. I felt myself wanting to focus on her instead of Mr. Barton, as though I were afraid to look at him.

She looked me up and down, eyed the jacket and frowned. ?What kept you??

I remembered my conversation with Duo. ?I just needed to fix something.?

She stared at me, looking for any signs of a lie. I stared back, defiantly, until she said, ?Well then, let us begin.?

I walked around the table and took the seat next to Mother. She?d seated Mr. Barton directly across from me. As we began to serve ourselves, I felt him staring at the side of my face and turned my head to face him. My eyes met his again and I felt another surge of shock pass through me. I couldn?t tear my eyes from him.

It was as if he had reached out and held my head in place so I couldn?t look away.

I noticed for the first time that he was wearing a business suit, and wondered at his age. By the looks of his face he couldn?t be more than twenty-five, but he seemed younger. His half-covered face probably held many secrets, and a part of me was interested in knowing what they were.

?I told Mr. Barton of your many accomplishments, Relena,? Mother?s voice broke into my thoughts. For once, I was relieved to hear her speak.

?Oh?? I asked, somehow managing to break away from Mr. Barton?s gaze and look at her.

?Yes,? she said, taking a sip of wine. ?As a matter of fact, I was just telling him about how well you?ve been playing the harp lately.?

I glanced back at Mr. Barton and had the distinct feeling that he hadn?t taken his eyes off me since I entered the room. I wasn?t sure what that meant to me, if it meant anything at all, and turned my eyes back to Mother.

?I?m sure you must have exaggerated my talent. Lately I?ve been off focus while playing and it sounds terrible.?

?Nonsense!? Mother exclaimed, turning her head toward Mr. Barton. That meant I had to as well. ?Relena is the only one of her peers to play the harps. It requires an incredible amount of time and practice-?

?And patience,? Mr. Barton cut in. His eyes were still locked onto mine. I felt increasingly uncomfortable.

Mother took a moment to get over the shock of being interrupted, then said, ?Yes, patience is an enormous part of playing any musical instrument to its full potential. And Relena is full of patience.?

I was surprised at her. She must have decided that marrying me off to this man was more important than her pride. If she was willing to swallow her pride, my chances of getting rid of this man were going to be slim to none.

I would have to be careful.

?I wouldn?t say that I?m patient so much as stubborn, would you, Mother??

Her head whipped around and she glared at me so hard it was difficult to keep from laughing. She turned and sputtered an apology to Mr. Barton, saying that I was simply tired, and he nodded in response. I expected him to say something, anything, but he didn?t. He merely kept staring at me. I could feel it even when I wasn?t looking at him.

It felt like he was staring right through me.

* * *

After we?d finished dessert, I told Mother I was retiring and said a quick ?Goodnight? to Mr. Barton. Mother stopped me at the bottom of the stairs and whispered into my ear, ?Any word of Maxwell to your fianc?, and you will regret it. Do you hear me?? I nodded my understanding and ran up to my room, anxious to get away from her, and anxious to get away from Mr. Barton.

I changed into my favorite white sleeping gown and crawled between my satin sheets. The feel of the material against my skin soothed and helped me calm my still racing heart.

What was it about Mr. Barton that made me feel so unguarded? So exposed?

As I drifted off to sleep, I kept remembering the way his eyes locked onto mine every time I looked at him, and the way I felt when they did. It was like something inside me was waking up, and all I wanted was for it to go away.

I didn?t know how I was going to survive three weeks of this man without Duo.

[silversong]

Oh, I love the tension. And the conundrum Relena is in. Thank you!

~Silversong

[wicked]

*would whistle if she knew how so she settles for making a whistle-esque soung instead* I ask and you deliver. Chapter 2 is now up and I agree with Silver. Oooooh the tension! You realize you've just made me want more don't you? ^_^ Yes yes must have more.

~Wicked

P.S. I honestly think that if Trowa kept staring at me, I'd just be one big fat tomato face who stuttered if I talked and when I did it'd be utter nonesense.

[ice princess]

Good Lord, this story is great. I can imagine being in Relena's shoes. This story feels very real to me, because I've been in love with two men in my life. One was the very picture of Duo incarnate, and the other....well let's just say all he had to do was look at me and he knew everything about me. Wow...this almost hurts to read it's so good and so personal. But I still love this story!!! Please keep it up!!!!

~ice princess

[Beck]

Man that would creep me out if I had someone constantly staring at me, regardless if he was hot or not. I liked the conversation Rel had with Duo on the phone, so I'm really anxious to see how this is going to turn out. And I still don't like her mother

[Kanya Barton]

Great! The tension and the other emotions are portrayed wonderfully in this story. I can't wait to see what happens!

[darky]

It?s official, I hate her mother. In this chapter she is extra bitchy.

I can?t believe I hadn?t noticed this story before. This is sooo good, the emotions are so strong you can feel them. And I tell you, right now I?m feeling helpless. Poor Relena, why does things like this always happen to her? We writers are cruel to toy with her like this. Nah! It?s fun

Anyways, great story and I?m off to read the next chapter.


Darky