The noise was deafening in the small high school stadium that afternoon. The crowd that had been patiently awaiting the end of the ceremony now bombarded the grassy football field. Crying parents met smiling sons and daughters, young siblings weaved in and out of chairs, and teachers congratulated everyone they crossed paths with. The new graduates were gathering into groups planning on how to celebrate for the rest of the afternoon. Everyone clung to each other in their last few moments together before their lives were forever changed. All, that is, except one. Down the field and through the halls of East Union High School raced Duo Maxwell. Age: seventeen. Hair: rich chestnut brown. Eyes: violet. Occupation: ex-high school student/ realism artist. Special Skill: …“Itai”…getting his three-foot braid that was trailing behind him in the afternoon breeze stuck around a fence pole. After much swearing…and there was much and it was creative…Duo freed his braid from its metal captor and continued his haste out of the school’s stadium. Damn traitorous braid. He slammed through the doors to the school’s gym and went straight for the locker room knowing full well that he would have complete privacy. Or did he? Little did he know that a young man with a pair of striking cobalt blue eyes had followed his entire escape.
Duo flung his shoulder bag that he had been carrying down onto one of the benches and immediately began to rip off the damn uncomfortable graduation gown and the even more uncomfortable suit he wore underneath. The damn things were only good for making you look stupid and feel ten times hotter in the afternoon sun. High school…the happiest years of your life. What a crock of shit, all high school had done for him was make him lose any faith he may have had in humanity. He kind of hoped all the televangelists were right and the apocalypse was coming so he wouldn’t ever have to find out what the world would be like ran by this bunch of idiots. If it weren’t for the fact that bible thumpers everywhere had been predicting the end of the world about every ten years for centuries that is.
“Fucking morons. Getting all emotional like they don’t have three more damn months of summer to get a last quick fuck in.” He roughly threw the sweaty garments aside and yanked out the baggy black jeans, a T-shirt that said “Violate The Dead” and his oversized zip-up Slipknot hoodie that he had stuffed into his bag that morning. Not bothering to fold anything, hey it was just going to end up in pile of dirty laundry…hopefully his own, he crammed his outfit from the ceremony including cap and gown into the black shoulder bag but not before he switched his cramped, painful dress shoes for a pair of well-worn Chucks. He grabbed his faded worn out jeans, he had pre-looped the belt, and started yanking them on as quickly as he could. Men who wore suits everyday were either some seriously fucked up masochists that actually got off on feeling suffocated or just plain stupid and didn’t need oxygen because all their brain cells were dead anyway. Duo considered his classmates for a second and decided on the latter.
“You’re in a hurry.” The cold nasally voice behind him made Duo drop his pants, but he regained his senses and yanked them back up as fast as he could. He was afraid to turn around and confirm who had followed him. He didn’t want to believe it was Heero, it couldn’t be Heero, the last face he wanted to see right now would be Heero’s. He turned around slowly and was met with the sight of… none other than Heero Yuy himself. ‘Of course,’ Duo thought, ‘the only person in the world who can ruin this for me and he just has to show his face…handsome though it may be.’ Damn his traitorous thoughts. The dark haired young man was leaning against the lockers with his eyes closed, he looked relaxed as if they hung out like this everyday. Well as relaxed as a tight ass like Heero Yuy could look anyway. If you stuck a quarter in Heero’s ass his cheeks would squeeze a booger out of George Washington’s nose.
“Well, that’s ‘cause I’m in a hurry.” Duo responded tersely and grabbed his black T-shirt pulling it down hard over his head and missing the quick glance Heero gave him before closing his eyes again. He finished dressing quickly then sat down on the bench, grabbing his Chuck Taylors and jamming his feet into them with a little more force than what was necessary. Okay a lot more force…they were damn uncomfortable. He looked down and saw that he had shoved them on the wrong feet. ‘Well shit’ he tried to slip them off quietly in order to not draw Heero’s attention to his stupidity, which happened to be the boy’s favorite topic of joke…and he had plenty of examples. Duo had managed to get the right one off just fine but the left one he had stuck on there damn good. He gave one powerful yank and sent it flying into the lockers in front of him where it clanked loudly then hit the locker room floor with a heavy thud. It had been a war between man and shoe and shoe had totally kicked man’s ass. Damn traitorous shoes.
“Where are you going?” Heero asked and it was really hard to tell if he actually wanted to know or if he was just being obnoxious. Duo of course assumed the latter because he knew Heero’s sense of humor better than anyone and he knew what Heero found most hilarious was how easily people were frustrated. And Duo had always played right into Heero’s hands. It used to be a mutual game for them, but today it just felt…well… frustrating. He grabbed his shoe, happy that today Heero was making the oh-so wise choice of keeping his sarcastic mouth shut about it.
“Wherever the hell I want, it ain’t your business.” Duo shoved his other foot into its shoe and tied the laces a little tighter than comfortable. At least they were on the right feet…he knew he should have paid closer attention to that episode of Sesame Street, but nooo he was too busy perfecting his technique of snot bubbling. And although snot bubbles had come in handy later in life, he supposed that putting his shoes on the right feet had proved an equally important skill. Duo’s special skill number two: grossing out fellow preschoolers with snot bubbles then stealing one of their animal crackers. Duo got up with the full intention of just leaving the gym with Heero standing there, unfortunately Heero had conveniently decided to do his locker leaning right in his path. The handsome Asian teen cracked one eye open to look at his agitated companion but just as quickly shut it again.
“Are you leaving right now?” Heero asked calmly ignoring the imitation of his evil glare that Duo was giving him. Duo was furious now, the guy hadn’t spoken to him in two years and now he wanted to play twenty questions. Well damn it, he just wasn’t in the mood for tedious abstract games right now.
“As soon as you get the fuck out of my way Yuy.” Duo grabbed his shoulder bag and stomped toward Heero until he was an inch from the guy. He would give the dark haired boy ten seconds before he shoved him aside like yesterday’s garbage…that he really should take out and stop shoving it aside, but that was beside the point. He wanted to leave this damn school and this damn town behind. For a while Heero acted like he had no clue that Duo had gotten so close, then he slowly opened his eyes and pinned Duo with that icy glare. Duo had forgotten how that stare could freeze blood, and he had forgotten how good Heero smelled. Damn maybe getting in the kid’s face wasn’t one of Duo’s brightest ideas. Not that he had many bight ideas, inspiration seemed to dodge around the corners whenever he came by while lethargy followed him like a shadow, but at least this bad idea wouldn’t land him in a hospital…he hoped.
“Good.” Heero said coldly. Duo looked hurt for a moment, then he just looked pissed off. He couldn’t believe that Heero would hunt him down just to tell him how happy he was that the braided artist was leaving. Sure they damn near hated each other now, but it hadn’t always been that way they used to be an inseparable team. Duo had never been able to forget those days and had always had a soft spot in his heart for the Asian teen even though he would never admit to it. They hadn’t spoke in so long but he didn’t think that Heero could be that cruel to him no matter what had happened in the past.
“Then I’m going with you.” Heero said with a sense of finality. Duo paused for a second to run their short conversation over in his mind. Yeah, there had definitely been some miscommunication in there somewhere. Heero was looking for a way to escape? He hadn’t meant that he was glad that Duo would be leaving? Was that why he had been interrogating him? Did Heero want to leave town as badly as he did?
“What?” Duo asked but angrily. He refused to let Heero get the upper hand in this. He may not understand Heero’s reasons but that didn’t change the fact that the boy had ditched him two years ago for a bunch of ass-smacking jocks. Damn traitorous Heero.
“Like hell you are.” And with that Duo pushed his former best friend aside and stormed out of the changing room. He was stopped, however, just a few seconds later in the gym by Heero’s hand on his shoulder. The familiar strength of that touch was painful for Duo and his heart pinched just a little. Damn traitorous soft spot.
“I’m going with you.” Heero pronounced each word in that ‘you have no choice’ tone and he had that look on his face. Duo knew that look all too well. It was that look that had landed Duo in ballet lessons in the seventh grade…yeah that had been Heero’s pinnacle of practical joking. Damn humiliating but he was still proud that he could pirouette better than anyone in the class. Wow… and he hadn’t known he was gay until last year. No matter what he said he knew Heero Yuy was getting in that car with him. But that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to put up a fight. If it there was one thing he was good at…besides pirouettes…it was arguing until the other person got tired and just gave up. Duo’s other special skill: not knowing when to shut the fuck up.
“No you’re not Yuy. I’ve been saving up for this for a year. You can just go to Hawaii for your senior trip with the rest of the jocks and cheerleaders.” Duo missed the darkened expression that passed over Heero’s face he was too busy standing his ground. He refused to let the boy just walk back into his life and start barking orders. Damn it this trip was his present to himself. He had been through a lot of shit and despite it all he had still managed to save up enough money to buy himself a car at fifteen and had graduated on Honor Roll and now he felt that he had earned the right to take this little vacation. He wanted, no he needed to get away from it all and that included Heero fucking Yuy.
“We have to leave now. I don’t want them trying to find me.” Duo couldn’t believe his ears, was Heero even listening to him? So most people tuned him out after a while but still… Duo froze for a moment, Heero was looking at him and there had been a storm of emotion swirling in those deep blue depths even though that handsome face showed nothing on the surface. Desperation, guilt, and hope, it had been so long since Heero had looked at him with anything but what Duo had thought was hate in his eyes. For once Duo Maxwell had nothing to say, in that one moment he couldn’t think of a single fucking response. And now his damn brain was on loop. ‘Here we go loopty loo’…damn that one episode of Barney he had watched. Now he was traumatized for life and couldn’t stop singing that song in his head. ‘That’s ‘cuz you’re a fucking moron.’ ‘Shut up…Duo.’ ‘You shut up Duo.’ See traumatized…he really needed to stop arguing with himself. He pushed aside the deliberation of his sanity and did the only thing he could think to do, he just walked away like Heero had done to him two years ago. Hey fair was fair.
He walked out of the gym making sure that everyone was still preoccupied with party planning and teary goodbyes. He had barely walked out the gym doors when he felt Heero walking up beside him. ‘Ah Christ Chex’ the kid was going to freaking follow him now, did he just assume Duo would do whatever he said? Well it wasn’t like that, he didn’t depend on anyone anymore. Heero had always been the strong independent one in the past, but Duo had grown a lot in their time apart and he wasn’t going to be weak just because the dark haired boy suddenly deemed him fit to talk to again. Okay so he had grown to be a lot more cynical and weary, but he didn’t really give a fuck. Along with his new harsh outlook on life came the understanding, no matter how jaded it may seem, that the only one you can count on in life is yourself.
“Go home Yuy. I’m leaving right now and I don’t know nor do I care what you want.” Duo headed straight for the parking lot careful to make sure he didn’t get into the line of sight of any of the fresh graduates on the field. Most people were still huddled in the center, but it looked like a few were almost ready to leave. Heero kept pace with him the whole way with steady determined footsteps.
“I’ll pay for your gas.” That cold monotone was right behind him again. Damn that kid moved fast when he wanted to, but Duo was pissed as all hell now and not easily impressed. Did Heero honestly think he could just be bought off? And to top it off, was that all Duo was worth to him now, measly gas money?
“No thanks, I’ve got it covered.” Duo ground out harshly. Right now he just wasn’t up to the task of deciphering the truth behind Heero’s statements. The boy had always had the uncanny ability to say the most blunt and easily misconstrued things ever since they were young. Duo just wanted to get away from his old best friend and the heartache the memories of him brought. Scars that he had thought to be closed were opening and bleeding all over again like they were fresh wounds. If he didn’t get away soon Duo was sure he was going to lose it... and he had precious little sanity left to lose. Heero grabbed the braided boy’s shoulders and turned him around so they were facing each other. He lifted Duo’s chin and forced the boy’s violet eyes to meet his and held him there with an intense stare as if he were trying to will the boy to help him.
“Please Duo.” It had been a long time since Duo had heard his name coming from those lips and the last time he had it had sounded so much more strained than it did now, but there was still pain in that one word and that tore Duo apart. It was so startling that he actually considered just letting Heero come along with him. The boy certainly looked like he was suffering. Maybe Heero needed to get away from it all too. Damn, how did Heero always win, always. He didn’t respond for a long time, it was killing his pride that he had put up such a big fight and lost but he could not turn Heero away with that look in his eyes.
“You so owe me Yuy.” Heero almost smiled at the longhaired boy. It was more a softening of the harsh lines of his face and ice in his eyes, but it was the closest thing to a smile Duo had seen on the boy’s face in a long time. Maybe Heero had been suffering these past years just like Duo had, but then why had he kept his distance until now? He couldn’t even remember why they stopped being friends. Just one day they weren’t anymore and all Duo could remember were fuzzy details of that damn party and Heero calling his name. But the next thing he knew Heero had walked away from him, it had left him so cold inside and ever since then he hated the blue-eyed boy for it.
“So we can leave now?” It seemed that Heero was actually in an even bigger hurry to get out of that small town than Duo, if that were possible. They walked the rest of the way to Duo’s beat up old ford in silence. But when they got to the car and Duo unlocked the door for Heero, for some reason the braided boy just couldn’t stand the penetrating stillness of the air.
“Do we need to drop by your house so you can get your stuff.” Duo asked to fill up the silence and stop all the questions that plagued his mind when things got quiet. He was trying to sound like he was reluctant to have Heero around. He was still bitter and to tell the truth it just felt strange to him to have Heero at his side again. And the weirdest part was for a second when it had been quiet it had all felt totally right, like no argument had ever happened between them and they had always been best friends. Ever since they had turned thirteen they had planned their big senior trip together, just the two of them from one coast to the other and back again. Stopping wherever they wanted and doing whatever they happened to find to do. No plans, no rules, just two lifelong friends livin’ it up before their paths diverged and their futures became a blur. Duo had lost all hope of that ever happening a long time ago, but here Heero was almost sitting in his passenger seat like the plan had never changed.
Heero paused, all of a sudden it had felt like they had just jumped back in time to sophomore year when Duo would drive them to his house, despite the fact that the boy didn’t have his license yet, and they would hang out for hours everyday just doing nothing. Those were some of the best times of his life. But when he finally sat down in the seat something was wrong, something was different and it was ruining his illusion. Duo climbed in next to him in the driver’s seat and slammed the door shut. “Shit” he swore and Heero had to work very hard to not make a sarcastic comment when he saw Duo open the door again and drag the now squashed braid out. Duo stared at it like he could burst it into flames if he concentrated hard enough. Damn that traitorous braid…again. ‘So it is true,’ Duo thought, ‘the world really hates me and I thought that was just a divertive way of saying someone’s an idiot…did I just call myself an idiot. Great even my subconscious is against me.’ He revved the engine to life with the same fluid motions that Heero remembered so well.
“You can fix the seat if you want. Quatre was the last person in it and he’s got shorter legs than you.” So that’s what was different, in the past there had never been a time when Heero had gotten in the seat and he hadn’t been the last one in it. After all the two had practically lived together and they had gone everywhere with each other up until what Heero referred to as ‘the incident.’ He remembered Quatre, the blonde had hung out with them quite a bit along with Trowa, Wufei and occasionally the girls, Hirde and Catherine. They were something of a group but everyone knew that Heero and Duo were inseparable. It was like they were part of the group but they were also their own special group that had just the two of them. After the incident he had thought of Quatre as a replacement friend. Even though he knew that wasn’t fair of him to do, and that it was just jealousy rearing its ugly head but he couldn’t help it. And lately Wufei had been getting too close to the braided boy ever since his boyfriend, who was very much older than the jet black ponytail wearing teen, had moved back to the East Coast to start his business and the distance was creating a strain.
“Hn.” Heero put his dwellings on the past out of his mind and grabbed the lever on the side of the seat sliding it back until everything was just as he remembered it. He felt very serene once everything clicked into place, and all his doubts about forcing himself back into Duo’s life passed with a deep relaxing breath. They made the entire drive to Heero’s house in complete silence. Heero didn’t even need to speak to give directions, Duo knew the way by heart. They pulled into Heero’s driveway and the dark haired boy immediately jumped out saying he’d only be a minute. Duo didn’t even have time to respond before Heero was already jogging across his Velcro lawn. Duo caught himself staring at his old best friend’s strong form and naturally graceful stride. He may not remember why they had stopped being friends in the first place but he sure as hell knew why they could never be friends again. Because being turned on by your best friend’s body would probably make tackle football and one-on-one basketball games just a little difficult. He knew Heero was straight as Archie Bunker and practically dating the head cheerleader, but he couldn’t deny that the guy was attractive, and Duo knew deep down in Heero was a personality that few got to see but was definitely the sexiest part of the boy. It was the sense of humor that had always got Duo. Few understood Heero’s intelligent wit, wit that was drier than the afternoon martini at the housewives club, but if you did you loved him for it. And if you didn’t get it, which most didn’t, then you probably thought he was just a right son-of-a-bitch. ‘Which he could be sometimes…most of the time.’ Duo thought sarcastically as he waited for the boy’s return.
He didn’t have to wait long before Heero was dragging out two suitcases and a backpack across the perfect lawn. Duo got out of the car and helped the blue-eyed boy load his stuff into the trunk of the Ford. He was such a gentlemen…Ha. He threw Heero’s duffle bag to the back of the trunk, next to his own luggage, and shoved the guy’s suitcase on top of it. He then carefully placed the boy’s backpack into the backseat since Heero said he had packed lunch and a bunch of junk food in it. Duo’s most frequently indulged in deadly sin was gluttony…okay so he was a junk food junkie. That’s right he was addicted like it free base crack cocaine including seizure-inducing withdrawals. Hey that was his story and he was sticking to it like sweet cream cheese frosting to a cinnamon bun.
“Geez that didn’t take long. Were you all packed for Hawaii and backed out at the last moment. You and your girlfriend have a fight and I was your last resort?” Duo said with a little more bitterness in his voice than he had planned. He didn’t want Heero to know that he was getting to him. Then Heero would win the game, Heero always won and Duo was damn tired of it. This time if one of them was going to start the argument it would be Heero. He just had to keep his cool, though that was easier said than done with someone as frustrating and frustratingly sexy as Heero Yuy sitting next to him. They both climbed back into the car at the same time, but Heero closed his door and was ready to go first. Well that wasn’t that unusual, when they had been best friends they had enjoyed turning almost everything into a competition. Guess old habits die hard even for Heero Yuy.
“No.” Was the ever-monotone response from his new travel partner. “Just counting on you.” Heero said with a little emotion in his voice that Duo couldn’t place, but it caused him to stop what he was doing and give his companion an incredulous stare. While he briefly admired the man’s profile he noticed a pink blur approaching his car at breakneck speed. For a second he wondered if they put side air bags in cars in 1971, but it was too late to debate the safety modifications of his car since the pink monster was already there and banging on his window, oh no wait it was human…maybe.
“Alright, alright. Heero roll down your window.” Duo said, but his travel companion didn’t move an inch. Heero didn’t even look over to the squealing head cheerleader that was so stuck to the window she looked like a splattered bright pink bug. They broke the mold when they made this girl…scratch that they used one of the defective molds from the back.
“No, just drive.” Duo quirked an eyebrow at his friend’s colder than usual tone. He had always been the only one who could pick up on the subtleties of Heero’s personality. The head cheerleader seemed to be yelling about how Heero had never booked his flight to Hawaii and how angry she was that he was ruining their chance to be alone without parents. How ridiculous and immature, was all that Duo could think about the blonde bimbo’s ranting. If her biggest worry in life was whether or not she boinked her boyfriend, (‘Yeah that’s right I said boink what’re you gonna do about it punk?’ ‘Try and force some brains into that cotton fluff filling your head’…damn he needed to stop fighting with himself, or at least he needed to stop responding to his threats against himself) anyway that girl was going to have a harsh wakeup when she had to try and make it in the real world. Heero kept waiting for the car to move and when that didn’t happen he finally cracked his eyes open that he had closed to tune out the high pitched squeal of the pink menace. He looked over at his longhaired travel mate to find the boy frozen in shock and staring like he had been hypnotized by the whiny blonde that had suctioned herself to his car window.
“I didn’t know people that annoying actually existed.” Duo couldn’t stop himself from staring as the blonde pressed herself harder against his window and continued screeching and knocking on the glass-plane like not getting to screw Heero was going to be the end of her life. “How the hell did she find you, is she a freakin’ professional stalker or what?” Duo wasn’t sure, but he could have sworn that in the midst of the high-pitched ranting he heard Heero snort with amusement.
“Duo…” Heero’s calm accented voice drew the boy out of the mindless stupor that the pink-coated blonde’s grating voice had put him in. Duo’s violet eyes drifted away from the obscene display in front of him and over to his attractive travel companion. There he went again thinking naughty thoughts about his very straight ex best friend. Damn traitorous subconscious…id…hormones…whoever the fuck was in control of the lower hardware.
“Drive Duo.” And the boy gunned the engine and sped out of the driveway, leaving the blonde demon in pink pumps shaking with anger and choking on his dust.
