See warnings in first part!!
JUST ONE THING – PART 4
Pushing open the door of the restaurant, Trowa had to force his mouth closed. From the outside, it had appeared to be in disrepair and on the verge of being condemned. He had been trying to figure out the joke when they had stepped inside, and for a moment he had wanted to go back out and see if the outer façade had been some sort of mirage or trick in his mind.
A total contrast to the outer walls, the interior was neat and clean, dimly lit by the lights that hung over each table, but not dark. There was no bar at all, but rather several tables dotted around the large space, each bearing a vase of flowers and candles that gave it a warm and romantic atmosphere.
Hearing soft laughter, he looked to Duo and found his companion smiling. “It’s called Hole in the Wall,” he reminded gently while gesturing with one hand. “Not quite what you expected, right?”
“From outside I thought it was a grease pit,” he admitted, not feeling awkward about his assumption. “It’s nice,” he stated, letting his eyes roam the dining area again. “You’re right. It’s perfect.”
There was no way to believe Duo’s expression wasn’t pleased by his words but before he could say anything a tall man with dark hair came out of nowhere and picked Duo up, spinning him in a circle before setting him down again, holding onto his shoulders in a gesture that was obviously familiar. Trowa’s first reaction was the desire to protect the actor from the assailant, but his secondary reaction was possessive and totally unlike him. Ready to step forward and put himself between the two men, he barely caught the way Duo’s eyes widened when they fell on him.
Apparently sensing a confrontation, Duo moved to Trowa and placed a hand on his arm. The third man saw the touch, brown eyes narrowing on the spot where Duo’s hand remained on Trowa. “Solo, this is Trowa. Trowa, this is my brother, Solo.”
Reserving judgment, Trowa held out a hand, not surprised or insulted when he had to wait several seconds before the other man grasped it to shake firmly. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“Same goes, I guess.” Solo’s eyes took on a glint, “Trowa must be a pretty popular name these days, huh?”
“Not that I’m aware of. I’ve never met another,” he replied, aware of where the questions were heading.
“You can’t be Trowa Barton, the writer?”
“I am.”
The man’s entire demeanor altered from suspicious to excited. “This is so cool. I’ve read all your books. I usually borrow them from this guy, but he always steals them back from me. I didn’t realize you two knew each other. When did ya’ll meet?” Unlike Duo, Solo’s voice had more of a pronounced southern drawl to it.
Ignoring the way Duo’s hand tightened on his arm, Trowa calmly replied, “This morning. We had breakfast together.”
“This morning?”
Trowa grinned at the expected reaction, nodding slightly. “I guarantee you that I have no intention of using Duo to further my reputation, not professionally or personally. What I do intend is extremely personal and none of your business, or anyone else’s other than Duo and myself.”
Solo gaped at him for a moment, then grinned as he clapped Trowa on the back hard enough to knock him a step forward. Tilting his head down, he regarded his brother, “You need to keep this one. You won’t be able to wrap him around your finger and have him eager to please you. I think you’ve finally met your match.” Shaking his head at something he didn’t share, Solo grabbed Trowa by the arm and led them to a small table in the corner of the room, well away from other diners. “Ya’ll sit down and relax a bit. I’ll take good care of ya both.”
Solo walked away from the table with large strides, the moves graceful for someone so tall. Trowa rarely had to look up at someone, and had discovered it to be slightly disconcerting. Turning to the actor, he found himself being watched very closely and grew worried that he had done something wrong. “I apologize if I overstepped my boundaries, Duo. It wasn’t my intention.”
Shaking his head, Duo offered a smile, “I’m just surprised that you knew exactly how to act to get Solo to back off. Most people are intimidated by him.”
“This is hard to believe, but I usually know how to deal with people. I think it’s because I’m observant. I have to be for my work.” Hoping Duo would allow the contact, he reached across the table to lay his hand over Duo’s, thrilled when the long-haired man immediately shifted so he could thread their fingers together. “You make me nervous, Duo. Very nervous. You scare the hell out of me.”
“I scare you? How?” The other man seemed to be intrigued by the idea, leaning over and propping his chin on his free hand.
“I’m afraid that whatever you’re willing to give me won’t be enough. I don’t know how to deal with this. I don’t have that much experience with relationships, or feeling this way.”
Duo raised his eyebrows but said nothing as a bottle of wine was brought to the table, almost instantly followed by a plate of calamari. Trowa was very aware of how Duo’s hand tightened on his, then loosened but didn’t pull away as waiters came and went. Chewing a bite of squid, Duo suggested, “We could just get through tonight then never see each other again.”
“Is that what you want?” Trowa asked, though his food had lodged in his throat – he refused to believe that it was stark fear that made it hard to swallow or breath. “After tonight do you want to forget we ever met?”
Regarding him with serious eyes, Duo slowly shook his head, “I don’t think I could forget you, Trowa.”
“But do you wish you could?”
“I don’t know. I’ve never felt like this about someone I barely know. Hell, I’ve never felt like this about anyone at all.” Violet eyes stared at the flicker of candlelight for several seconds, then finally moved back to Trowa’s. “You know that this could change both of our lives.”
Nerves captured Trowa and he took a long drink of wine to steady himself. It was in that moment that he realized that he was terribly frightened that Duo wouldn’t want to change anything about his life. The thought scared the hell out of him. “We could just spend some time together while I’m in New Orleans and see what happens after that.”
“Is that what you want to do?” Duo’s eyes seemed very large to Trowa.
“We can start there and see how it goes. After all, we might realize that we can’t stand each other,” he joked, ignoring the part of his heart that screamed in raw agony.
Solo reappeared with a multitude of plates laden with food. Trowa couldn’t help but notice that Duo never gave a reply about what he wanted, but let it go for the time being as they dug into the food. While they ate, they both shared information about themselves and related stories about their lives.
When they were interrupted by fans eager for autographs, they took the interruptions with grace, sometimes teasing each other about a fan. If anyone noticed their clasped hands on the table, no one mentioned it, though there was one rather pointed question about Duo’s engagement to Relena, to which he replied was a rumor and in no way true.
Once dinner was over and their pleasure conveyed to Solo about the quality of the food, Duo took Trowa to several places that weren’t in any vacation guide. Trowa was having such a good time that he forgot about his next novel and just enjoyed himself as he was taken to an old ruin in the bayou and then to a garden hidden behind a catholic church that had been opened for decades. Walking through a cemetery that had been neglected for years they discovered a mausoleum that was cracked, the words on the outside faded with age and unable to read.
It was well past midnight when they found themselves walking along the water. Mardi Gras was in full swing but they were barely able to hear the sounds of the party-goers from that distance. Finding a seat, Duo pulled Trowa to it, sitting down and letting his head fall back to gaze up at the sky. “Have you ever seen something so beautiful?”
“No, I haven’t,” was Trowa’s reply, his own eyes never wavering from Duo, who was oblivious of the scrutiny.
Sighing, Duo let his head rest on Trowa’s shoulder, looking out over the water. “When I was young I had dreams about flying through space. I told everyone that one day I was going to live among the stars.”
“You do, in a way,” reminded Trowa gently, enjoying the soft laugh from Duo. For a moment, Trowa was content to stay as they were, one of Duo’s hands in his, using the other to play with the hair on the back of Duo’s neck, long fingers brushing the skin he found there occasionally. “How did you start acting?”
“It was an accident. Hilde’s dad was a director and I went with him to the studio all the time to spend some time with him. One day one of the actor’s was being an ass, so he asked if I would stand in so they could get the camera angles set. I agreed, of course, and he found out that I knew all the lines. The actor that had been hired came back from his trailer and found me in his place, doing his job better than he could. He had a fit, and my stepdad fired him and bought out his contract. After that, he filmed the whole thing with me as the co-star. He even re-shot the scenes that had been completed already. Next thing I know, I’m getting calls for auditions. Since I felt like I owed Charlie, I went to the readings and got every part I tried out for. Next thing I know, I’m getting scripts instead of casting calls and could take my choice of roles.”
Falling silent, Duo shifted, placing his legs over Trowa’s and curling into Trowa’s body, then stilling again with a soft sigh. After a long moment, Trowa’s innate curiosity got the best of him. “Why did you feel like you owed your stepfather anything?”
He could feel more than hear the sigh, then the shrug, “He took me, Solo, and my mom in because we were living on the street. Said he saw potential in all of us. After a while, he and mom got married, even though she had a drug problem that she never managed to beat. When she died a few years later of an overdose, he could have kicked me and Sol out. He didn’t. He always wanted Hilde to be an actress, but she was happier when she was with the animals than in the studio. I guess I wanted to give him something back for everything he did for us. If it hadn’t been for Charlie, there’s no telling what would have happened to us.”
“You care for him a great deal.”
“I did, and still do. He died almost a year ago of a heart attack. We all tried to get him to slow down when he got older, but he wouldn’t listen to us. He was on the set of ‘Home Again’ when he collapsed.”
Recognizing the name as one of the movies that Duo had starred in, Trowa pulled the other man close. “You were there when it happened.”
“I think the worst part was that him dying barely halted production for four days before they were ready to start filming again. The only way I managed to finish was because I knew he would want me to.”
An idea was starting to form in Trowa’s mind, and he didn’t like it at all. “Duo, do you even like acting?”
The lengthy silence answered his question better than anything else could have. When Duo eventually gave a small shrug, he already knew the truth. “It’s okay, I guess. I don’t mind the roles, and I usually get really good ones. My manager knows me pretty well, but he leaves the final decisions to me. It’s hard work, and I like it for the most part.”
“But?” prompted Trowa softly.
“But I hate all the shit that goes with it,” said Duo tersely. “The fans are great, but I can’t stand having reporters in my face all the time. I don’t like all of the speculation and rumors about my personal life. I hate it when another actor says something about me and it’s taken as a fact.”
“You mean like Relena letting the world think the two of you are engaged?”
“Exactly.” Duo sat up and looked Trowa in the eyes, “You do know that if we go any further with…us…that your life will be splashed all over TV’s and magazines around the world.”
It was something that Trowa had already thought about. He had always managed to keep a low profile, even after becoming more popular, and he had coveted that relative anonymity. There had never been a reason good enough for him to give that up before. Now, however, as he looked at the violet depths solemnly watching him, he realized that there was something more important than his privacy. “I think I could be okay with that,” he said slowly. “What about you, though? If we decided to be…more, would it hurt you in any way?”
“I don’t know,” was the honest answer. “The truth is that I’m bisexual, and always have been. I haven’t been involved with many people, and most of my former affairs have been kept quiet, so it’s not anything that I’ve ever had to deal with before.” Duo laughed softly, “I can already see people’s reactions. Some will be disgusted, some will be thrilled, and others will want a chance to see if they can get me away from you. I don’t think my sexuality would hurt me in any way, career-wise. Most of the people that I have worked with view me as an actor, that’s it. Besides, I could retire right now and live well for the rest of my life on what I have already. Quatre suggested several stocks that I invested on years ago, and he’s never been wrong.”
Laughing, Trowa nodded, “He manages my entire stock portfolio for me. He says I’m terrible with money, and since he’s a genius at making it, I let him have free reign with it.”
“Maybe it’s to make up for him being such a lousy cook.”
They both laughed at the blonde’s lack of cooking skills, then fell into a comfortable silence, listening to the sounds of the night. Trowa felt more relaxed than he could ever recall being before and didn’t want the night to end. Apparently, Duo felt the same way for he said nothing and made no move to suggest that it was time to leave.
Nearly a half-hour passed before the long-haired man lifted from Trowa’s shoulder to ask, “Trowa, this thing between us? Do you want it to be more than just some stolen time while you’re on a working vacation?”
“Very much.”
Though he could scarcely see Duo in the darkness that had fallen over them, Trowa clearly saw the beautiful smile that he was gifted with. “That’s really good,” breathed Duo,” because I don’t want to go the rest of my life without knowing you’ll be there sometimes.”
Not wanting to ruin the mood by speaking of work schedules or permanence or how far apart their homes were, Trowa pulled Duo close for a kiss, not demanding but very thorough. When he pulled away, he smiled at the dazed expression that faced him. “I don’t want this to end, but it’s getting late. I should take you home.”
“I could stay with you,” suggested Duo, shaking his head at Trowa’s expression. “Home is almost an hour away, Trowa. That’s a long trip this late. Nothing has to happen tonight. I really want to go to sleep with you tonight.”
There was no way for him to disagree when Duo’s eyes were pleading. Against his better judgment and common sense, he finally nodded, making sure to specify, “No sex, Duo, not even a little. Just sleep.”
There were in the car and almost back to the hotel before Duo asked teasingly, “How do you have a little bit of sex? Is that even possible?”
Parking the car, Trowa let his head fall onto the steering wheel, “What have I gotten myself into?” he asked aloud, grinning as Duo’s laughter rolled across the garage.