Afraid To Love Chapter 3

[WingZero2118]

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing and Co. They belong to Bandai and Sunrise. This story is for entertainment purposes only. I am not making a profit from it.



Afraid to Love

Written by: WingZero2118

Chapter Three



Finally Relena?s plane touched down at the airfield on the far side of Quatre?s estate.

Back inside the palace a plan that had been hatched by Quatre was being put into action. All of the workers were to ignore the doorbell and to make sure that Heero was the one who finally answered the door. This was all easier said than done, for Heero kept trying to disappear off onto the grounds some where to lose himself in thought without having to explain any of it to his friends.

Quatre finally made up the excuse that he needed his men to do some extensive grounds work in preparation for the rest of his guests that would be arriving in the next couple of weeks, and asked Heero if he wouldn?t mind staying inside for awhile in case there were any early arrivals. Heero bought the story and said he would.

While this was taking place inside, a few a Quatre?s men were helping to unload Relena?s luggage from the plane and onto a carrier to take it into the palace though one of the underground passages to keep Heero from getting suspicious.

As Heero relaxed in the one of the vast sitting rooms, Relena made her way up to the house. She was nervous, but also overjoyed at the thought of seeing Heero again at last. When she reached the front door, she hesitated for a moment, then rang the doorbell. Heero jumped at the sound emitted from the chimes. Then realizing it was just the doorbell, he went to see who could be showing up at this time. Looking through the eye whole on the door, he practically fell over at the sight. His heart jumped and lodged itself in his throat.

?It?s RELENA! What is she doing here? I can?t see her looking like this!? Heero had been out exploring all morning before Quatre had been able to get him to stay back and listen for the door.

?I don?t believe it! Quatre set me up! He knew that she would be coming and that?s why he asked me to stay back! That sneaky little son of a gun!? But the realization in the matter was that Heero had no choice but to open the door. He turned the lock and slowly opened the door.

"Can I help you?" Heero asked, pretending that he didn?t know that Relena was standing there.

"Heero, it?s me, Relena," she said in a soft tone.

"Oh my God! Relena! What are you doing here?" Heero said.

"I was just about to ask you the same thing. I never expected you to be here, let alone answer the door," Relena replied.

They stood there for a while in silence, neither one knowing what to say. Finally Heero started to laugh which made Relena a bit confused.

"Why are you laughing Heero?" she asked.

"I just realized that I never even invited you in yet and that we?ve been standing out here for half an hour already," he answered. "I just found that rather funny. So, why don?t you come in, and we?ll continue this in the sitting room."

Relena then laughed at the idea that she had been standing there for that amount of time just staring at Heero without even saying any thing. "That sounds wonderful Heero," she said.

Heero picked up the few bags she had carried with her and brought them inside. He left them by the door for Quatre?s men to take to Relena?s room later and then led Relena into the sitting room.

"It?s been a long time since I last saw you Heero," Relena stated. "How have you been doing?"

"I?ve been alright," he replied, knowing that this was a complete lie, for he had been far from alright. With the dreams and the lack of sleep he had been a mess ever since he left her that day almost two years ago.

Something about the way that Heero had said this to her made Relena believe otherwise but she didn?t say anything just yet. They talked for about another hour or so and then as the conversation was beginning to come to and end Heero said something that completely shocked Relena.

"Relena, I have something that I need to tell you." Heero started.

But he was never able to finish that thought for at that very moment Quatre, Trowa, and Catherine entered the room.

"I see that you two have wasted no time in getting caught up," Quatre said as he walked across the room to where Heero and Relena were seated. "It?s so nice to finally see you again Relena. How have you been?"

"I?ve been well Quatre, thank you, it?s nice to see you again, too." she replied. "So Trowa, I hear that you and Catherine finally got married. Congratulations."

"Thank you Relena," said Trowa. "We would have invited you to the wedding but it was a bit spontaneous and we?ve just been so busy that I haven?t had the time to send a letter to everyone to tell them about it."

"That?s quite all right Trowa. I?m just glad to see that you?re happy." Relena glanced over at Heero as she said this but turned away quickly as his eyes met hers.

Quatre finally broke the awkward silence that had come over the room at that point. "Why don?t we all go grab a bite to eat," he said. "I don?t know about the rest of you but I?m starving. We can continue our conversation in the dinning room."

"That sounds like a wonderful idea Quatre," agreed Heero all too easily. And with that he got up and headed for the dinning room.

?Why did Quatre have to show up at that exact moment? The longer this gets put off the harder it will be to finally do it. I don?t know how much longer I can stand this pressure.?

All through dinner Heero remained silent. The others tried to get him to join in their conversation but he didn?t seem interested.

"Heero what?s wrong?" Relena asked. "You haven?t said a word all night. Is something the matter?"

"No I?m fine," he replied flatly. "I just don?t have much to say I guess."

But the others knew that wasn?t the case. Heero was avoiding talking all together for some reason, but they didn?t know why.

Then suddenly, without warning, Heero got up to leave. "If you don?t mind, I think I?ll turn in for the evening," Heero said reluctantly. "I?m still not as caught up on sleep as I?d like to be." With that he left them and headed for his room.

Relena got up and headed after him and was about to be followed by Trowa and Catherine when Quatre stopped them.

"They need to be left alone for now," he said. "I believe that we may have interrupted something important earlier and now would be a good time for them to continue."

Startled at how calmly he said this, they just stared at him for a minuet, but then agreed quietly. Out in the hall, Relena ran after Heero.

"Heero, what?s the matter? Why won?t you talk to me?"

"Nothing is wrong. I?m fine really," he answered.

"Then why won?t you talk to me?" Relena questioned. "You said that there was something you wanted to tell me, so now that you have the chance why don?t you."

"Oh, that!" Heero said with a laugh. "It was nothing really. Just forget that I brought it up ok?"

"If it was really nothing then why won?t you tell me?!" Relena looked as if she was about to cry. Then she just turned and walked away.

?Dammit! Why can?t I just tell her how I feel?! Why am I so afraid to let myself fall in love? There can?t be any truth in those dreams, can there? No, I don?t believe it. I won?t believe it.?

Heero didn?t sleep well that night. He kept replaying the day?s events over and over again in his head. Even though these thoughts tormented him through the night he was saved from having another nightmare about Relena.

Tired from his restless night of sleep, or lack thereof, Heero groggily walked down to the dinning room for an early breakfast. Hoping that no one else was there, Heero stopped at the door listen for other people. Hearing no one inside, he walked in and headed towards the kitchen. Unknown to Heero, Relena was already there helping the kitchen staff get breakfast ready.

Walking into the kitchen, Heero greeted the cooks in his usual way by ordering his breakfast.

"Ok guys, I?ll want two eggs over easy, three slices of bacon, two pieces of toast golden brown and lightly buttered, and a bowl of raisin bran. Don?t worry about the milk and juice, I?ll get it myself." He said all this as he walked to the fridge and got out some milk and juice.

"And you think that we?re just going to stop what we?re making now and start on your order?"

Heero practically dropped his milk and juice at the sound of this voice. It was forceful in tone, yet highly sarcastic at the same time. "Good morning Relena. I didn?t see you when I walked in," Heero said, placing the milk, juice, and a couple of glasses on the counter. "I thought I was the only one who got up this early. Didn?t you sleep well?"

"No I didn?t sleep well at all," she said in a soft almost distant voice. "Thank you for asking." She smiled at him from over the counter.

"Don?t mention it," he replied. "Here let me help you with that." Heero walked around the counter to where Relena was now struggling to lift the mixer up onto the counter from its cabinet.

"I can manage it just fine by myself thank you," she said defiantly back to him, as she struggled with the mixer. Pretending not to have heard the comment Heero reached down to help her.

"Why are you doing this?" she questioned.

"Doing what?" he asked back.

"Why are you changing the way you act towards me all of a sudden? When we first met, you wanted to kill me because I knew the truth about your identity. You finally gave up on that, but you still refused to talk to me or be nice to me. Now you?re going out of your way to be nice to me. What?s going on with you Heero?"

Heero was stunned by these words. She had noticed all this and yet he had never admitted these changes to himself, or thought about them for that matter, before now. So she still cared about him after all he had done to her in the past. Even after he abandoned his only friends for almost two whole years, she still loved him.

"Yeah, well I?ve changed a bit over the past two years," he finally answered. "I finally realized that the people I had deemed myself to stained by the blood I had shed to associate with, had been my only friends in my entire life." He smiled at Relena as they stood there holding the mixer between them. "Relena I??."

But he never got to finish his thought, for at that moment Quatre walked into the kitchen. "What are you two doing in the kitchen at this hour?" he asked with a yawn.

"If you must know I was helping the kitchen staff prepare breakfast," Relena answered with a hint of defiance and sarcasm. "Heero just came in a few minutes ago to get his breakfast and decided to stay and help out as well."

"Thank you for helping out but my staff really can take care of it themselves," Quatre stated.

"I know they can but I haven?t been in a kitchen in years, and I really want to help out if that?s ok with you?" Relena said back.

"Well I guess it would be nice to have a woman?s touch in the kitchen for awhile. If you really want to you can help out. But as for you Heero, come with me I have something I want to talk to you about."

Reluctantly Heero followed Quatre out of the kitchen, though the dining room and out into the hall.

"How are you holding up Heero?" Quatre asked.

"What kind of question is that?" he replied.

"I just wanted to know how you were doing that?s all," Quatre said quietly.

"Well I was doing just fine until you walked into the kitchen," Heero said agitatedly.

"Oh my god! I?m so sorry Heero. I had no idea that I walked in on something private like that. You go right back in there and get this finished."

"I can?t do it now. I lost the strength and courage I had built up when you walked through that door."

"I?m so sorry Heero. I promise that I?ll look to see who?s in a room before I enter it from now on."

"Thanks Quatre. I really would appreciate that." Quatre smiled at Heero who returned the smile although it was slightly smaller.

[Eienvine]

Quatre, you moron! Someone needs to tie that boy up and throw him in a closet until Heero has gotten around to telling Relena. Hmph. Anyway, I'm loving the story! Keep up the good work!

[miz_lou]

Heero jumped at the sound emitted from the chimes.

I really like that line for some reason ^.^

And Quatre! >< TWICE! ...*grumbles* It's a good thing he's the one who set up this whole little waltz between the two, otherwise, he might get hurt

So, when's Heero going to tell [finally] her? *pokes* hmm?
He is certainly getting a little bolder. I'd be so much more afraid to say anything with people going in and out of the kitchen...more likely to be walked in on *cough*QUATRE*cough* ^^