Seriously, this has been done for a while *ignores glares* but I wanted to make absolutely sure that the last scene was juuuuust right.
Enjoy.Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing. I just love to write. A lot.
Around This Life
Chapter 5
My escape from Mr. Barton happened as soon as we arrived home. I thanked him for taking me out to dinner and excused myself to my room, fighting the urge to run as I ascended the stairs.
Like the night before, his eyes followed me the whole way.
I could feel it.
Also like the night before, I locked the door as soon as it was closed. I still didn?t understand why it was necessary to do this, but it was. It was just as necessary as defying Mr. Barton outside the video store, and defying my mother at dinner the previous evening. These things were becoming increasingly unpleasant to think about, and I desperately wanted to escape from them.
And then I heard it. A whistle.
I glanced in the direction it had come from and realized that I hadn?t turned on the light. I didn?t really need the light, because I knew who it was, but I flipped it on anyway. He was standing by my closet, dangling my watch in front of his eyes and glaring at it in a humorous way.
?You know, when you set a time on your watch, it should be accurate.?
The tone of his voice was the tone my mother used when I came home too late. I immediately caught on.
?I?m sorry. I was held up at dinner.?
He looked over at me and I smiled, predicting the laughter that was soon to come. ?You went to dinner?? He squinted at me, once again mocking my mother?s critical ways. ?And I suppose you expect me to believe that that?s why you were late??
It was hard to keep myself from giggling, but I wanted to continue playing. This was a common game between us. ?I don?t expect you to believe anything, but I?m telling the truth.?
He squinted even more, emphasizing the way Mother?s eyes nearly closed when she was extremely upset. It was hard to tell whether she was still looking at you or not, which is what made it so funny when Duo did an impression of her.
?So that?s the truth, huh? You went to dinner, had a horrible time, and expect me to just come here and cheer you up??
Before I burst into laughter, I was determined to get out, ?That?s right,? and then I caved. We laughed all the way to each other?s arms, where he embraced me as tightly as he could and finally allowed me to feel safe.
I was reluctant to be released from that protective hold. ?You know, that thing with the watch was pretty sneaky,? he said into my ear, ?but the time you set was half an hour ago.?
Suddenly, I realized how long he must have waiting, and felt a rush of guilt upon remembering where I?d been. And with who.
?I?m so sorry,? I responded, absently, as my thoughts were momentarily somewhere else. ?I didn?t realize it had taken so long.?
His hands sifted through my hair, causing it to fall down around my shoulders. After being held tightly in a bun all day, the release caused me to sigh. I closed my eyes. The feathery touch of my hair on my skin made me shiver.
The way Mr. Barton made me shiver.
My eyes snapped open. I shook my head to clear away all thoughts of anyone other than Duo, and attacked myself for being so ridiculous.
There is no shiver from Mr. Barton, I said in my mind. There will never be a shiver from Mr. Barton.
I shivered again.
?Cold?? Duo asked. I nodded, choosing to avoid the truth. So very like me. ?How can you be cold on a night like this?? He asked, retrieving a jacket from my closet and bringing it over for me to put on. He wasn?t wearing a jacket, or I?m sure he would have given it to me.
He had before. That?s how we?d met.
Duo and I first met three years before Mr. Barton?s arrival. It had been raining, and I had been standing outside on the sidewalk to avoid Mother and her friends. It was during one of her visits to the ?Gossip Mongers.? They had been discussing my faults, both in appearance and in manners. Duo?s jacket falling around my shoulders was my only comfort.
His first words to me were, ?Finally, a girl who?s not afraid to stand out in the rain.? He took me to our waterfall for the first time the next week.
?You?re so very sweet to me,? I murmured, ?I?m not sure I deserve it.?
He pulled the jacket tight around me and playfully bumped our noses together. ?If anyone deserves sweetness, it?s you,? I smiled as he leaned down for what I thought would be a kiss, but was really just him nibbling on my cheek. ?You?re as sweet as candy.?
I laughed outright and heard a knock on my door.
We both stood completely still.
?Miss Relena, you?re mother has arrived home and is announcing that she expects you downstairs,? Peagen?s voice drifted in through the door. A few seconds later he added, ?You had better hurry, or she?ll lost what?s left of her temper.?
Duo and I grinned at each other as we imagined my mother?s current distress. God forbid my tardiness ever be known to one of her precious guests.
?You?d better go,? Duo sighed. Reluctance was written all over his face.
I stood on my toes and gave him a gentle kiss. ?Come back tomorrow,? I whispered, ?Same time.?
He nodded and headed toward my window, his frequent entry and exit point when desiring to see me after Mother?s designated visiting hours. Before climbing out the window, he gave me one last smile, and then he was gone.
I took a deep breath and went to my closet to change for what promised to be a long night.
* * *
My second evening in Mr. Barton?s company wasn?t expected to be much different from the first, on my part. I think Duo might have known what was to happen, but neither he nor I had been willing to accept it.
We should have known it wouldn?t take long. Mother never did.
?Relena!? Mother cooed as I descended the stairs. ?I have wonderful news for you!?
By her seemingly pleasant voice, I knew that either a) Mr. Barton was around, or b) the Gossip Mongers had come over.
To my dismay, it was both.
I plastered on a fake smile and asked, ?Oh? What?s that??
For a moment she looked surprised at my cheery attitude, but soon must have satisfied herself in thinking that I would not cause trouble for her guests. Yet.
?I have told Mrs. Tansin and the others of your engagement, and I am pleased to say that they are delighted by the news.? She took a moment to make the scene dramatic. ?They have agreed to throw you an engagement party.?
The fact that I had to maintain a false smile during the following applause was bad enough, but Mother?s triumphant expression wasn?t making my mood any better. In fact, in addition to bottling up the insane desire to throw something at her guests, I was instantly aware that Mr. Barton?s eyes were on me as well, and all things associated with my current frustrations were made worse.
I could just imagine him laughing inwardly at me.
Lifting my skirt a little, I carefully made my way down the rest of the stairs and brightened on seeing Mother?s reaction to my dress. She hadn?t noticed it before, but I was wearing her least favorite dress of mine. One she had commonly voiced wanting to burn so I could no longer wear it.
The dress I?d wanted to wear the night before. So as to ruin her plans of impressing Mr. Barton.
My favorite ?company? dress.
The yellow one.
Now, when I say yellow, I don?t just mean, ?yellow?. I mean, ?bright-as-the-sun, burns-your-eyes? yellow. There were two relatively thick straps that went over my shoulders, and the rest of the dress just fell to the floor however it wanted to. It was tight around my bust and waist, but that was it.
Had it been red, or maybe black, Mother would have loved it. But, it was yellow, and Mother hated it with such passion that she would often send me back up to my room for the evening if her company hadn?t already seen me. The sheer agony on her face always made my anxiety well worth it.
Such was the case this evening.
The reserved and somewhat disgusted faces of Mother?s guests quickly tried to strike up conversation with each other to save their friend from her embarrassment. Victorious, I gave my mother a genuine smile and walked toward the sitting room to wait for dinner to be served. I felt confident that Mother and her friends would not disturb me, for to do so would mean seeing me in my awful dress again.
I didn?t think about Mr. Barton.
?That?s quite a show you put on,? he said, and as usual I started when he spoke.
?I thought we were through with this, Mr. Barton,? I said, as I turned to face him. I felt my throat tighten upon sight of him.
I?d forgotten how good he looked in all black.
Handsome! I said handsome. Handsomehandsomehandsome, dammit!
?I thought you were through with pretending to be something you?re not,? he shot back at me, and all at once my stomach was in knots.
Why did a complete stranger have to know me better than I did?
?Why do you keep saying such things, Mr. Bar-?
?Trowa.?
I blinked at him, somewhat stricken.
?I told you before,? he said gently, ?My name is Trowa.?
This new approach by him left me speechless. I hadn?t heard such a soft tone from him until that moment.
I think that?s?when it started. Or at least, when I started to notice.
My mouth opened and closed in an attempt to say something, yet again. When I failed I simply looked away.
?Please say it.?
My head jerked back around and my eyes were fixed, as I knew they would be, on his own. His eyes?his serene, mysterious eyes were haunting me. I thought I wanted them to go away.
It seems a part of me didn?t.
?My name,? he said again, ?Please say it, at least once, so I know that I?m not wrong.?
I was transfixed. Something I was not about to admit. ?Not wrong about what??
He walked towards me, slowly and almost cautiously. I could not deny my curiosity for this man and his secrets much longer.
Something I was also not about to admit.
?Not wrong about you,? he said, stopping with only a foot between us. All of my senses were suddenly more aware of him, and in a way I?d never known before. In the back of my mind, an image of Duo?s face came and went, climbing out of my bedroom window. Now Mr. Barton stood before me, in a way that his presence could not be ignored.
Part of me screamed for Duo to come back through the window, and another part of me quietly said the name, ?Trowa.?
A long silence passed between us, and at length I heard him say, ?Thank you.?
As I watched him walk away, a fear began to gnaw at me. It started in the pit of my stomach and worked its way up, twisting my insides into a painfully tangled mess of emotion and guilt.
It hadn?t occurred to me until then that all this might end up hurting Mr. Barton. I hadn?t even given a thought to what his feelings might be before and after I ultimately refuse to accept the engagement. Had I considered it, I would not have gone through with Duo?s plan. Perhaps Mr. Barton might have been saved a bit of trouble if I had been more thoughtful. Or, perhaps this was much more serious and real than Duo and I had been willing to admit.
I had no idea what to do. All I knew was that from then on, all my decisions would eventually lead to someone?s pain.
I greatly feared that it would be Trowa.
/////There will be no fruit throwing, name calling, hair pulling, doggie-poo-on-the-porch-burning or STEALING PEZ FROM the author for at LEAST three days, so I can get away. *runs*/////
~Litia
NO! *shushes Beck* YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO CATCH ON THAT QUICKLY!
Woo Wee~~~~ This is a pleasant surprise~~!! The long wait has been worth it!
