Disclaimers and warnings in first part
Later came that evening as they boarded a plane for the Cinq kingdom. Although it was possible to drive to the war-torn kingdom, it was much faster to fly; given a choice of a fifteen hour drive with Zechs or a two-hour flight, Duo would always pick the flight, for more than one reason.
Not only would he be saved from a continuous fifteen hour interrogation, he also got to fly, something he missed greatly. The last time he had been able to take the small private plane up, he had been with Trowa, months before he had realized how he felt for the green-eyed man. Had he been in love with Trowa even then?
“Alright, we’re away from anything that could cause danger and anyone that could hear us. Tell me why you cut off all contact with Trowa.”
“You make it sound more dramatic than it really is.” With no way to distract the other man, Duo sighed, “I don’t want to do something stupid to make him hate me. I’ll get back with him to hang out once I get myself under control. All I can do is hope he won’t be mad at me later.”
“He isn’t mad at you, not that I can tell, but he did seem very confused by why you won’t speak to him at all,” Zechs admitted, giving a shrug when Duo looked at him. “I was curious, so I asked him what was going on when you didn’t come for dinner.”
“He didn’t seem mad?”
“On the contrary, he smiled when I asked him.”
“What did he say?”
“That he was waiting for you to call him and that you needed some time to sort out a few things. What did he mean by that?”
“I really don’t know.” Duo wished he did know. “I think he knows why I can’t hang out with him right now; he seemed to understand. Actually, he seemed to be amused by the idea.”
“That’s…interesting,” Zechs murmured. After a minute he frowned, “I assume you’ve started accepting dates with the dating service again? That’s why you haven’t been to dinner with the rest of us.”
“There have been a few that sounded interesting, but no, I haven’t accepted any dates,” Duo confessed.
“You’ve gone from dating everyone, to dating Trowa, to dating no one at all.”
“I wasn’t dating Trowa.”
“Really? I could have sworn that’s what it was called when you spend all your free time with someone you like being around and share interests with.”
“It was having fun with a friend.” Checking his altimeter, Duo tried to sort out his thoughts, failing miserably. “Your advice was to limit my time with Trowa and I did that in the best way I could think of. What’s your advice now, o’ wise one?”
“Date somebody else, anybody else, for a while. See if the things you feel for Trowa fade after some time goes by.”
“What if they don’t?”
“Suck it up, take a risk, and tell him how you feel. You never know what could happen.”
“You make it sound so damn easy.”
“I know it’s not. It’s scary to admit things like that with the potential to leave you very hurt, but in your position, I’d rather know if there could be anything there.”
Duo fell silent for a time, unable to achieve the usual euphoria flying gave him. He landed on the newly restored tarmac and piloted to his landing bay before nodding, “I’ll start accepting dates again and see what happens.”
“I do have one other piece of advice, Duo. Start coming to dinner with us again. Everyone misses you.”
Once again taking the blonde’s advice, Duo accepted the next date request from Dates Anonymous. It was odd to be out with someone that wasn’t Trowa, made doubly strange that his date was a woman. It didn’t take long after the date began that he was looking for a way out of it, not just because the woman was nothing like Trowa, but because she was more than a little eccentric.
The next night, he took a deep breath as he opened the door for Zechs, looking around to note the positions of Quatre’s security team. He thought he was doing fine until he spotted Trowa at the table, steps faltering until Zechs gave him a gentle nudge, “He’ll be happy to see you.”
Another two steps and he had to swallow hard when green eyes pinned him from halfway across the restaurant. Resolute, he forced his feet to move, giving a strained smile when Trowa gestured slightly at the empty chair beside him.
Sliding into the seat, Duo greeted the other men with a genuine smile, realizing how much he had missed the ritual meeting with them. He was quickly pulled into the conversation, giving his opinion about Heero’s upcoming birthday and about the case Wufei had been working on.
He was already finished with his hamburger when Trowa leaned toward him, speaking quietly, “I heard you had a date last night.”
Since Trowa had remained silent for the majority of the evening, Duo had to take a moment to remind himself how to breathe; he had forgotten how low and enticing the green-eyed man’s voice was. “Umm, how did you know that?”
Trowa’s lips turned up at the corners, making Duo miss the full smiles he had gotten used to even as he noticed how sexy the smirk was, “You told Zechs, who told Wufei, who told Heero, who told Quatre, who told me. Quatre seemed very surprised that you were going out.”
“I wonder why,” Duo said dully, not having to wonder at all. He should have realized that anything he told Zechs was going to be repeated within the group. He just had to hope no one had informed Trowa of his feelings. When the other man lifted an eyebrow in silent question, he nodded, “Yeah, I had a date.”
“How did it go?”
“I didn’t get her number or anything. After the meal we went separate ways and I didn’t look back to see which way she went.”
“That bad? What was wrong with her?”
Luckily, Duo had a reason other than the fact that she hadn’t been Trowa. “She was obsessed with the colonies, but she’s never left earth before. Through the entire meal she asked questions about what it was like to be on a colony.”
“Jasmine,” Trowa nodded slowly. “I had the unfortunate privilege of going out with her last week. Your description of her is too kind. She’s a complete nut. At the end of the night I told her if she wanted to know more about the colonies, she should visit them herself rather than antagonize everyone she meets with foolish questions.”
Although Duo had assumed Trowa would go out with others, he didn’t expect the pain that lanced through him, “Have you met anyone worth knowing yet?”
“No. I’ve only gone out twice, Duo. It was better than staying at home and staring at the phone, waiting for you to call.”
Startled, Duo glanced around the table to make certain none of the others were listening to them. “I was afraid you might be mad at me.”
“I’m not mad at all. I understand why you think you need to do this, far better than you know.”
Baffled by the comment and rattled by the conversation, Duo excused himself early, pleading a headache and needing rest. He wasn’t so confused that he didn’t think to look at the man that had, at all costs, come to mean the world to him. “Do you have a ride home?”
“I’m taking Quatre and Heero home tonight, but thanks for the offer.” Duo was starting to stand when Trowa touched his arm lightly, “Call me soon, Duo. I’m getting tired of waiting.”