Disclaimers and warnings in first part
“How’s it going with your new roommate?”
Duo sighed heavily, setting down the invoice he had been working his way through. They were using a new supplier and he wanted to make certain there were no mistakes. “He isn’t a roommate. Trowa’s a guest in my home.”
Dressed in form fitting jeans and a halter top that bared her flat stomach, Morgan leaned against the counter, giving him a knowing look. “If I were you, I’d change my mind on that. Your guest is hot.”
“He’s an old friend I haven’t seen in years. It makes more sense that he stay with me instead of the hotel. You know the service there sucks. It has nothing to do with the fact that he’s hot.” He wasn’t going to admit that he had lay awake for the last two nights, constantly thinking of the other man in a bedroom right beside his own.
“Oh, then I guess it doesn’t matter that you’re in love with him, either.”
After choking on his own saliva, he glared at the woman that worked for him as a sales-person and accountant. “Where did you get that idea?”
The ditzy blonde act was gone in a heartbeat as Morgan watched him with compassionate blue eyes. “I started working here right after you opened, Duo. I’ve seen you with some of the guys you’ve dated. You’ve never looked at any of them the way you look at Trowa, when he’s not looking at you, of course. It’s amazing how you never seem to look at each other at the same time.”
He had learned long ago not to underestimate Morgan, whose brain was as honed as her beauty. Resting his elbows on the papers he had been checking, he asked her, “Have you ever loved someone even though you knew it could never work?”
“I’ve never been that lucky.”
“Lucky? What’s lucky about it?”
Patting his shoulder, she smiled, “You’re looking at this the wrong way. Instead of assuming it wouldn’t work, you should try to change those things so you have a chance. If I could find someone that looked at me the way Trowa does you, I’d want a shot at whatever happiness I could have. Having that joy for any amount of time is better than always being alone, Duo.”
Stunned by the sadness in her voice, he stared as she went to a customer, laughing and flirting with the young man until his eyes were full of stars. Forcing his attention back to the invoice, Duo tried to concentrate, eventually giving up. When Morgan led the customer to the register, he noted the poor guy had at least three hundred credits worth of toys.
Leaning over, he whispered into her ear, “Barracuda.”
“A sucker born every minute, boss,” she laughed, batting her lashes at her new friend.
“You mind closing up without me?”
“Nope; you look a little tired. Go home, take a dose of ass….pirin, and don’t call me with the details.”
Seeing the humor in her eyes, he snorted, “Slut.”
“Prude.”
“Bitch.”
“Back at you, darling,” she blew him a kiss as he walked out the door, spirits lifted by the banter.
He was immediately picked off his feet, enveloped in a huge hug and swung in enough circles to make him dizzy. Already aware of who it was, Duo was grinning broadly when he was set on his feet, clutching to one huge arm as the ground stopped spinning. Before he could say a word, he was kissed soundly on the mouth.
An instant later, he was jerked backward. Hearing a growl of pure rage, he moved on instinct, placing himself between the huge man and Trowa. His first feeling at seeing Trowa’s narrowed eyes was shock. His second thought was that it would be funny under other circumstances. Without looking away from the irate man, he questioned the man behind him, “Papa bear, been to see the cubs yet?”
“Sure have, Baby Bear. Little Kia’s sleeping, so Hil told me to let you know I was back. You gonna introduce us before your friend bites me?”
“Trowa, this is Kieran, Hilde’s husband. Papa Bear, meet Trowa.”
All the fight abruptly went out of Trowa as he gaped, “You’re Kieran?”
“Yup; not what you expected, huh? Nobody thought Hil would go for a grizzly spacer like me, but she did, lucky for me.”
“Good thing she looked at your inner beauty or you’d be SOL,” the braided man teased with a grin as he turned to regard one of his closest friends.
“SOL?”
“Shit outta luck.”
“If she only looked at inner beauty, what excuse did she have for you? You’re all looks but no brains.”
Laughing at the insult, Duo gave the big man a half-hearted punch. Light grey eyes looked down at him, surrounded by shaggy dark-blonde hair before glancing at Trowa. Following the gaze, Duo began laughing so hard he grasped his stomach, deciding the baffled look on Trowa’s face was priceless. Regaining control of himself, he shook his head, “We lived in the same room for a year, Trowa. It was either insult each other or kill each other.”
“Papa Bear and Baby Bear?”
“Man, look at us,” Kieran hooked an arm around Duo’s neck and pulled them together. “We worked side by side as engineers, so people started calling us that because of our differences in size. It really didn’t help when Duo grew a beard.”
“That didn’t take long for me to get tired of; those things are damn itchy,” Duo rubbed his smooth chin. “You headin’ home?”
“I’m gonna pick up some dinner from the diner. It’ll be nice for Hilde not to have to cook for once. Wanna go with?”
The braided man looked at Trowa, who seemed just as confused as before. “We don’t have any other plans, so why not?”
On the short walk to the diner, Duo and Kieran chatted about a number of things while Trowa walked silently beside them. Duo was able to catch up on the happenings on the Second Home, the ship Howard ran, and let Kieran in on all the amusing occurrences of the town they lived in. When they ordered, the green-eyed man was subdued, and Trowa remained quiet on the way home, softly telling Kieran goodbye before they separated to different sides of the street.
Inside the house, Duo put the hot food containers on the table and faced the other man, hands on his hips, “What’s the deal? You haven’t been this quiet since you came barging into my life again day before yesterday. Why the sudden silent treatment?”
“Listening to the two of you, I realized I really don’t know anything about what you’ve been doing for the last six years. I guess…I assumed you’ve been miserable without me, but you weren’t. You made new friends, did new things, and saw new places…all without me.”
“So did you. Starting a new life was inevitable, Trowa.”
Sitting down at the table, Trowa seemed sad and defeated. He stared at the wood as he spoke softly, “I went new places, but usually volunteered to work while we were at port so others could be off. I met people, but never let anyone get close. The new life I had was dull and lifeless, because you weren’t there. I felt like there was always something missing, Duo. Leaving you was the worst mistake I ever made.” Shaking his head, Trowa lifted it to meet Duo’s eyes. “It was the worst mistake for me, but it was the best thing for you, wasn’t it? You wouldn’t have done all of those things, met all of those people if I hadn’t left.”
“If you had stayed, or come back like you were supposed to, maybe we would have had a chance to meet those people together or see those places together. Don’t you dare say leaving was the best thing you could have done for me,” Duo slammed his hands on the table angrily. “I was so depressed I almost killed myself. Does that surprise you?” he demanded when Trowa jerked in shock. “It shouldn’t. You were all I had and you disappeared. I had to move on or I would have eaten the bullet I had saved for that purpose. The only thing that kept me from doing it was Hilde.”
Slumping against the counter, Duo clenched his eyes shut as he felt the despair of being left alone. The clatter of a chair was the only warning he had before Trowa’s arms were around him, offering support in a way he never would have done before. Duo fought against the hold before giving in, clenching the tall man’s shirt in his hands as he sobbed, head buried in Trowa’s chest.
“What the hell did you do this time?” Kieran’s voice boomed around the kitchen, a meaty fist plowing into the tall man’s side. “Stay away from him.”
As Trowa sprawled against the opposite wall, Duo rushed forward, covering the other man’s body with his own and getting a painful punch in the ribs that had him hissing in pain. “Kieran, stop! He didn’t do anything,” he screamed as the next blow hit his head as he shifted to protect his former lover.
Fighting to remain conscious, Duo whimpered as he realized the enraged punches had ceased. “Good hell, you hit hard,” he breathed as he slumped on top of Trowa, green eyes staring at him in shock, then concern.
“Duo, I’m so sorry. Are you okay?” Kieran was picking him up, but he was unable to get his limbs to work and sagged like a ragdoll.
“We need to take him to the hospital,” Trowa’s tone was more worried than Duo had ever heard.
Feeling the sensation of being carried, Duo was strangely detached, trying to speak when he felt himself being set in a car. When a hand clasped his, familiar as his own, he gave up the fight and let the blackness overwhelm him, feeling safe.