It's Not Like It's Love, chapter 11

[Crystaltear]

It's Not Like It's Love

By Crystaltear

Chapter Eleven

Warnings: References to sexual situations, nasty bitches abound. Oh, and language.

Sunday

Heero's free time was slowly being consumed with Catherine and her scheme involving her mother. By the end of Wednesday night, Heero was confident that he knew each detail Catherine had concocted into his life as though it were really part of his own. When the two of them met on Friday as scheduled, he felt as though he could recite it backwards.

Nervousness over the part he was going to play didn't even set in until the front door to Mrs. Milford's home was opened, and Heero felt as though the cold eyes staring at him looked right down to his soul. Gazing back into Mrs. Milford's scrutinizing stare, he thought that perhaps they should have gone over every little detail for at least a month. It seemed as though Catherine's mother had every intention of wringing him dry of personal information, and she hadn't even spoken yet.

She took in his attire quickly, right down to his shoes, and he saw her wrinkle her nose slightly at her first glance of his hair. Heero could sense Catherine's heated gaze on him; she had practically pleaded for him to do something with his hair. She had even suggested shaving it as a last resort, but he made it very clear that there were limits even he would not go past.

Catherine's mother welcomed them in as soon as she had finished her quick inventory and announced that dinner would be on the table promptly. Heero assumed that while eating the questioning would be minimal, so he had just begun to ease his nerves when the first assault came.

"So your name is Hero?" Mrs. Milford asked, to which Heero nodded.

"That's a rather odd name. Your parents must have expected a lot from you."

"It's of Japanese origin."

"Ah, I see. I thought I saw a bit of slant there. Which one of your parents was Japanese?"

"My mother," Heero replied calmly; much more calmly than he felt at the moment. He had never before had such a powerful urge to strike a woman.

"Must have been hard for them," she continued on, seemingly oblivious to the insult she was creating. "People don't usually look kindly upon people of different races intermixing; don't agree with it myself really. But to each their own, I suppose."

It took only a moment for Heero to realize that he was not the only one facing a harsh judgment. Glancing over at Catherine, he saw her eyes gave away nothing despite being downcast, but she could not hide the clenching of her jaw from his view. He wondered how many times Catherine had endured this trial; it was obvious that she had yet to succeed. It was the first, and would be the last, time that Heero felt any pity towards the woman who played him like a puppet.

The rest of the interrogation went rather smoothly; Heero had even managed to hold his tongue when Mrs. Milford had remarked that he wouldn't make a lot of money becoming a teacher. It was followed by a reprimand to Catherine, telling her that she had been on the right track when she was dating the young man with the medical internship, it was just too bad that he had an "awful appearance."

"Catherine has always had a fetish for the needy," was the statement that ended that portion of the conversation. It was also the last thing that Heero listened to.

By the end of the night, Heero felt both mentally and physically drained. The woman had managed to not only pick apart the life that Catherine had carefully fabricated, but his own personal life as well. He was thrilled when it was time for farewells, and he swore he would never allow himself to be in the presence of such a vile woman ever again.

The drive away from Mrs. Milford's house was a silent one; Heero didn't begin to focus on his surroundings until they had been driving for twenty minutes. "Where are we going now?" he inquired in a dull tone. They were going in the completely opposite direction of his home; the only place he wanted to be at the moment.

"My place," Catherine replied quietly. "I'm sorry about her, you know. She does that every single time, so don't take it personally."

"Nobody's ever good enough." she added in a whisper, then seemed to gain her composure once again. She looked over at him briefly and smiled lightly.

"I'll make it up to you, I swear I will," she promised.

They arrived at Catherine's shortly after, and Heero felt too run down to argue with her about wanting to go home. So he allowed her to lead him inside without resistance and without a word.

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"What do you mean, 'it's not going to work'?!" Duo snarled across the table, oblivious to the stares he was receiving from some of the bowlers. "We had an agreement!"

The boy sitting across from him, Sean, took a sip of his soda and shrugged. "The situation changed; I don't have the money to pay for monthly rent and utilities. I'm sorry man."

"You seem to have no problems with paying for all that shit you smoke," Duo bit back as slammed his own soda down on the table. He had been relying on Sean to move in and pay for half of the bills for the house once Heero had moved out. He wasn't particularly close to Sean, or anybody for that matter, but he was the most responsible of all the people he knew besides his brother. Well, save for one, but he knew that she would have no part in helping him out like that. He didn't want her helping him out like that.

"Don't get all cocky, Maxwell. I said I'm sorry, and that's all I can do for you." Sean replied defensively, and Duo knew that it was his final decision and there would be no persuading him otherwise.

Duo looked away, deciding to watch the group they were with bowl. He knew that if he kept his gaze on Sean, his temper would get the best of him, and the last thing he needed was to get into another fight. "That's easy for you to say. Sorry isn't going to help me pay the bills for this damn place I'm stuck with by myself now."

"I still don't see why you won't go with your brother. Chance of a lifetime to get out of this hellhole, Maxwell; I don't see why you want to keep hold of it."

'It's the only thing that's always been there,' Duo thought bitterly. He didn't share his thoughts with his friend, the one that was supposed to be moving in with him, and stood up to leave the bowling alley.

"We had a deal," he muttered as he spared his friend one last glance and begin to walk away.

Sean had thought he was out of hearing range, but he heard his response loud and clear and, deep down, he agreed whole-heartedly.

"Your whole life is deals, Duo. When are you going to wake the fuck up?"

Not wanting to go home to an empty house just yet, Duo wandered the streets of the business district for hours. He had fiddled with the idea of paying Hilde a visit, but decided it was not wise to push it when things had been civil and improving between them. So instead, he continued walking, simply gazing into the shops. When he found one that was open he would step in for a couple of minutes, but there wasn't anything in them that he needed or could even afford at that time. Everything was paid for concerning the prom which was right around the corner, so he really wouldn't have any concerns until Heero moved out and he would be left with the all the bills. He tried to ignore that train of thought for a while, but then gave in; it was too big of a concern for him to just wait around to see what would happen. He would need a couple ideas for a plan of action; as much as he didn't like or want to admit it, it was looking as though he would need to be making a compromise.

The question was, what was he willing to give up?

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Heero managed to stumble into his front door before Duo made it home that night. He was tired from the long day, but he felt sick more than anything else. Catherine had dragged him back to her place after the never-ending torture that her mother had dealt him. He was then subject to Catherine's own form of torture, which was worse than any verbal annoyance her mother could dish out: the woman was a complete nympho!

Sex, especially with a woman who threw herself at him as Catherine had, was Duo's forte, not Heero's. He had slept with a few girls in the past for a good time, but he never got a hell of a lot of satisfaction out of it.

But even those few times were mildly pleasant and hadn't seemed so...dirty. There was nothing but the feeling of disgust and the sting of all the deep scratches and bite marks she had left all over his body. He longed to wash the wretchedness away, and in no time at all was tossing his wrinkled clothes away as he made his way to the bathroom. He shed the last of his wrinkled clothing onto the cool tile floor, and turned the shower on. He was grabbing for a towel when he caught sight of his reflection in the mirror. He took in the long and aching crimson scratches, the bruises and bite marks that were the same color of the dark circles under his eyes, his stinging, swollen lips, and his overly disarrayed hair. He swallowed to prevent the groan of despair from escaping his mouth, and felt the bile rising when her taste lingered heavily in his saliva.

It was too much.

Unable to hold back any longer, he lunged forward and gripped the edge of the sink as the first wave of nausea hit.

TBC.