Christmas Surprise
Quatre was worried about Trowa. It was hard to put his finger on exactly why, but he was. Trowa had been acting… suspicious. Yes, that was the only word to describe how he'd been acting. He had been spending too much time away from the safehouse, and had refused to comment on it when he returned. That just wasn't like him at all. Then when he did return he spent all his time checking on his gundams. Quatre was worried Trowa was avoiding him, but why? Was he seeing someone else? It was that girl, what was her name, Catherine? That had to be it. Or maybe it was Noin, or Sally, or even Dorothy! Quatre felt his chest tighten up and bit his lip, determined not to cry. He shouldn't worry so, but he couldn't help it. He loved that odd haired pilot, Allah save his soul, but he did. There was nothing to do about it though, he was too afraid of rejection to dare tell the emerald-eyed pilot how he felt. So all that was left to do was pretend nothing was wrong. He heaved a big sigh as he watched fat snowflakes drift down to coat the ground in a blanket of white.
"Oi, Q! You're going to be late for lunch!"
At least Duo didn't seem troubled by anything.
"I'm not really hungry."
"Aww, please? I made it myself." Duo looked at the little blond with big purple eyes.
"Oh, alright. I guess." Quatre managed a weak smile, even if he felt down, there was no reason to drag the talkative Deathscythe pilot down with him. Though he privately though to himself that Duo's cooking was rarely anything to smile about.
"Good." Duo grabbed him by the hand and all but dragged him downstairs.
Heero was already at the table, working his way through a bowl of… something with his usual efficiency. He acknowledged their entrance with a glance up, then went back to eating.
Duo scooped him out a bowl of the strange looking mess and set it down at a place at the table, sticking in a spoon.
"There you go!"
Quatre eyed it like you might eye a Tupperware container that you'd forgotten exactly how long it's been in there. What is it? What was it? What has it evolved into? And is it safe to have in an unshielded container?
Well Heero wasn't dead yet, so he ventured to take a bite, eyes widening.
It was actually good. He smiled and started eating it with a little more enthusiasm.
"See? Food makes everything better."
Quatre nodded, refusing to let any emotion show on his face, even though his insides had clenched at the tiny reminder. Stupid stupid stupid! Getting all worked up over something he couldn't control.
He looked around; trying to find something to distract him then noticed something odd.
"Where's Wufei?"
"He's been gone a while. Maybe he went with Trowa to.. where ever."
Quatre did some quick mental recall. He hadn't though about it before, but Wufei had been gone a lot as well… As often as Trowa in fact. No, it couldn't be! The two of them? Impossible! But still… he left his throat tightening up and excused himself to go to the bathroom, lock the door, and stand under the hot water just letting the tears and muffled sobs come.
It was Christmas Eve Night and Quatre was miserable. There was a good chance they might have to leave this safehouse so they didn't dare put up any Christmas decorations, Trowa and Wufei were still disappearing for long periods of time with no explanation, and to top it all off he had caught a cold.
All in all it was just a rotten situation, Quatre thought, sniffing his stopped up nose and giving a dry little cough. At least his throat had stopped hurting like it had all day yesterday. Just another reason to avoid the rest of the pilots, no sense in all of them getting sick.
Even now he had no clue where Trowa and Wufei were, probably in a hotel somewhere he thought bitterly, rolling over and closing his eyes. He tried to ignore the fact that whichever side of his face was down, that side of his nose would immediately become blocked and make it even harder to breathe. Finally sleep mercifully overtook him.
Christmas morning came, just like every other freakin' morning, blindingly bright from reflected snow.
Quatre debated on just staying in bed, but it was too bright, and he was too awake to go back to sleep so he dragged himself out of bed. He noticed the unusual quiet and frowned, usually at least Duo was up by now, bustling around, turning on the TV, getting in fights with Heero or Wufei… but the house was deadly silent.
He started looking around, suddenly unnerved, wanting to find at least one of the others. No one could be found, the kitchen was empty, so was the living room, and all the bedrooms. He began to panic, surely if there had been a mission someone would have woken him up, right? Only one way to know for sure. He quickly pulled on a pair of boots and put on a coat, then hurried to the nearby warehouse where they kept the gundams. If the others had left on a mission, they would most likely have taken their gundams. He pushed open the door and gasped.
Sandrock was…. Decorated! The sitting gundam had been covered in greenery and lights, tinsel and ornaments, all kinds of Christmas things, turning the mobile suit into a gigantic Christmas tree. He noticed that Deathscythe had undergone similar treatment.
"Merry Christmas, Quatre" Trowa said softly. Quatre turned to look at him, eyes brimming with tears. But this time they weren't tears of pain.
"You did this... all of this for me?" He whispered softly.
"He sure did! Wufei helped some, and did my gundam for me, isn't it wonderful?" Duo answered for the quiet pilot from where he was wrapped up tightly in Wufei's arms.
Heero just watched, a hint of a smile on his lips, glad that his beloved Wing had not been subjected to decorating.
"I.. I don't know what to say…" Quatre said softly, overwhelmed.
Trowa just stepped forward, taking him into his arms. Quatre buried his face against Trowa chest and sniffed. Then sniffed again, then had to pull back a little and turn his face to cough. He left Trowa's cool fingers on his forehead.
"You're sick, you should be in bed." Trowa said firmly, and before Quatre could protest he had been lifted up to be held securely. He surrendered, snuggling closer to Trowa. His heart was still beating fast with joy, Trowa cared about him! And he obviously wasn't with Wufei, not the way the Chinese pilot was acting towards the braided one.
Trowa carried him all the way back to the safehouse and into his room, setting him down on the bed and pinning a towel over the window to shut out the light.
"Thank you Trowa" Quatre hesitated a moment, then greatly daring he leaned over and gave Trowa a soft kiss. "I think I love you…"
"I love you too, Quatre… my angel, my little Christmas angel." Trowa said, very softly.
The others gave them their privacy. Wufei tried to talk Duo out of making chicken soup, no need to burn down the kitchen for Christmas. Heero, the ever practical one, began un-decorating the gundams.
All in all, it was a very nice Christmas surprise for everyone.
As always, if you want to complain about how horribly I suck at writing, send all critisizm to TrowaNeko@yahoo.com
