Reality's Fantasy

By DragonMage

Notes: This is for Engima. *grin* Why? 'Cause he's the best and I figured he needs a thank you gift for the excellent Gifts books/arcs/whatever that he's been working so wonderfully on. *V*

This is also my first long-fic for this pairing. *grins and hopes she does okay*

"Ceux qui ont apparié notre vie à un songe ont en de la raison...Nous veillens dormants et veillants dormons."

(Those who have compared our life to a dream were right...We sleeping wake, and waking sleep.)

---Michel Eyquem de Montaigne, Essays, bk II [1580], ch. 12

Chapter 1

Rrrriiiing!!

Thump!

Rrrriiiing!!

Whap!

Rrrriiiing!!

"Damnit, where is that fucking clock?!" Chang Wufei exploded from underneath the covers of his bed and slapped his damn alarm clock off the little nightstand. The clock bounced across the room and came to its death against the bookcase. It tried 'ring' a few more times before finally falling dead. Wufei shook his fist at it before he fell against his covers and sighed, his tired body refusing to cooperate with him at the moment to stay awake. He was almost at the edge of sleep again when a horribly familiar voice jerked him back.

"WUFEI!! Get your ASS out of bed! You're gonna be LATE for class!!"

"Shut up, Meiran!" the irate Chinese boy shot back at his twin sister. "I'm up!"

"No, you're awake! There's a difference between that and being UP!"

"Aw, hell, just go away!" Wufei groaned and buried his face in his pillow. He knew he had to get up but he really didn't want to. He was so tired and he had three tests today. He had studied for them but it's just the idea of walking into class with your teacher smiling evilly at you, telling you to take out a pencil and then passing out those damn ScanTrons and test papers. And then there was that teacher's aid in period four who just gave him the *creeps*.

<Ah, well, at least I get to see Trowa!> At the thought of his beautiful boyfriend, Wufei immediately perked up. He smiled and unburied himself from his blankets and pillows and slid out of bed. Trowa always made him happy, no matter what. When he was around, when he was in his thoughts, when he was in his dreams...Aaah, the dreams with Trowa in them were *always* very nice. <It's just too bad Trowa believes in waiting until we're older before we take things to a more physical level.>

Wufei sighed ruefully as he got into the shower and washed quickly before getting out, brushing his teeth and changing to a emerald green shirt and light khakis. He pulled on his dark brown boots and brushed his hair out, then tying it back in his customary ponytail. A few wisps of hair fell loose and framed his face. He grabbed his white backpack and text books before heading downstairs where his sister, Chang Meiran, was on the phone--he looked at the clock, 7:15am!--and making breakfast at the same time.

"Morning, brother," Meiran threw his way before she continued ranting about how she utterly despised their new soccer coach to another tomboy on the other line. His sister was a prime example why he didn't like women. They were impossible to deal with! Give him a guy *anyday*.

"It's early, Meiran and you're already prepared to bring death to your teachers. Don't you ever take a break?" Wufei asked dryly as he poured some milk into his bowl of cornflakes. His sister had a reputation as a teacher harasser. She never lets *any* teacher rest unless she got her way. She usually did though. She had one nasty glare, and the aura she built around herself just screamed 'violent woman, beware!'.

"Why take a break when you're on a roll?" Meiran asked, smirking.

"You've been on a roll since we were in middle school," Wufei said around a mouthful of cereal.

"Ugh, close your mouth! I really don't want to see mushy cornflakes," Meiran said, wrinkling her nose in disgust. She turned her attention to the phone. "No, I wasn't talking to you," she told her friend. "Yeah, it's always my brother." Pause. "No I don't think he's cute! Eeew! Besides, he's gay." Snicker. "You won't believe how many times I've heard that it's 'just tragic to the female race'." Rolls eyes. "I really don't see what you see in my brother. He's a brat."

Wufei smirked and finished off his breakfast. He grabbed his stuff and planted a kiss on Meiran's cheek just to annoy her. "See you later, sister." He was out the door before Meiran could throw her spatula at him.

He walked over to his white Mustang out in the front of the house and got into the driver's seat. He threw his things into the back seat and started the car. Then he was pulling out onto the street, heading for Trowa's house. The poor guy's car was in the shop and he had no ride to school. Naturally, Wufei was more than happy to help his boyfriend out.

He drove until he reached the edge of the 'rich neighborhood' he and his sister lived in before taking a turn and heading for the more middle class neighborhood. He drove until the familiar white and red house appeared in his line of vision. He pulled up in front of the Barton home and honked his horn.

Inside, Trowa Barton was trying to shove as much food into his mouth as possible, to his sister's disapproval.

"If you ate faster, Trowa, you wouldn't have to do that," Catherine Barton said, frowning as she washed the morning's dishes.

"Yeah, well--" Trowa swallowed hard and gulped down his milk "--I get distracted." He wiped his mouth and grabbed his backpack and folders. "Bye, Cat. I'll see you tonight." He planted a kiss on his sister's cheek and was half way out when Catherine's voice called him back. He turned around and brushed his bangs out of his eyes for a moment, they fell back though, naturally. "What?"

"Where are you going?" Catherine asked, frowning and looking all too sisterly.

"I'm going to be hanging out with Wufei, Heero, and Duo at the movies after studying at the library," Trowa told her. "Don't worry! I have money." He knew his sister disapproved of him hanging out after school, wasting time instead of getting a job or worrying about college. That was why he decided a fast retreat was an order.

"Trowa--"

"Bye, Cat!" Trowa slammed the door shut and ran down the brick path to where Wufei was waiting in his car. The Latin teen practically threw himself into the passenger seat. He slung his things into the back seat before turning to Wufei and commanding him to, "Go!"

Wufei snickered and started up the engine. He was half way down the street by the time Catherine was out the door, yelling at Trowa to wait.

They laughed the whole way down Oak Street before they finally had to stop briefly at stop sign, then going on when the streets were cleared.

"Cat was going to put you on house arrest again?" Wufei asked casually as he made a turn and headed down Commonwealth.

"Yeah. She thinks I should be applying for scholarships or getting a job so I can pay for college," Trowa said, shaking his head.

"You should though," Wufei said, looking at Trowa from the corner of his eye. "It's important."

"I know, I know. But we're only juniors. Give me a break."

Wufei rolled his eyes. "Whatever. What movie do you want to see today?"

"Anything. You know we never watch it anyway. It's just a waste of six bucks," Trowa stated, smiling mischievously.

Wufei laughed. "All right. I'll leave the decision making to the others then."

"Good idea."

They continued to talk about nonsense until Wufei pulled into the student parking lot. They got out and grabbed their things from the backseat before heading up the steps into Theodore Roosevelt High School.

The hallways were filled with people getting to class, lounging in front of their lockers with friends or waiting for the doors to their class rooms to open so they could go in. A skater rolled past them on his board, looking bored and careful not to run into any poor unsuspecting student with one load too many of books. There was someone screaming at the end of the hallway. Something about giving girls a right to wearing halter tops without harassment from the narcs.

Overall, it was a normal day at RHS.

"Will you sign this petition?" a dark skinned girl suddenly appeared in front of them with a clipboard and several pieces of papers with signations on them clipped to it.

"What's it for?" Trowa asked, trying to read the paper.

"It's to give teachers a raise in their salaries," the girl replied. "Please sign it. We think that the teachers really deserve this raise. After all, we're not the easiest students to deal with."

Trowa looked over at Wufei who shrugged. They each pulled out a pen and signed their names.

"Thanks!" the girl chirped before rushing off to catch another passing student and asking them to sign the petition.

Wufei and Trowa were only half way down the hallway when another person--this time a guy--popped up and asked them to sign *another* petition.

"What is this for?" Wufei asked this time.

"It's to give students an open campus lunch," the boy replied.

"Sounds good," Wufei said, grinning. He signed it. Trowa followed.

"Is it me, or is there more petitions going around this year?" Trowa asked his boyfriend as they reached their lockers with only one incident. A girl had been running too fast and slammed right into Trowa. Unfortunately, Trowa was made like a brick wall and the girl had ended up on the floor on her rump. She was fine though, after brushing off the dirt, and rushing down the hall at the same speed she had gone at before she ran--literally--into Trowa. Wufei hadn't been able to resist a 'meep-meep' while the girl disappeared down the hall and around the corner.

"There are more petitions going around this year," Wufei confirmed as he twirled his lock and popped open his locker. He stuffed his books in there and grabbed his Trigonometry book. "I think it's Duo's fault though. I don't know *what* Heero was thinking when he decided to start dating a protester like Maxwell. He's the worst rebel in the school."

"And he isn't even wearing leather."

"I have a feeling he would if he wasn't against wearing animal skins and fur," Wufei stated dryly.

"A regular Ace Ventura," Trowa commented cheerfully.

"Isn't that Duo's favorite movies?" Wufei asked, doubled over laughing.

"And what is so funny here that we go Wu-bear laughing this hard?" a wonderfully cheerful voice pipped up behind the currently bent over Wufei.

"Hello, Duo," Trowa greeted, smiling. "Heero."

Heero Yuy nodded in response and looked down at Wufei who was slightly pink from laughter. His eyes went lower. "Nice ass."

"Hey! No looking!" Trowa admonished.

"At least he's not touching!" Duo Maxwell chirped. He threw Heero a Look before brightening up. Today he was wearing a bright Hawaiian print shirt over a tight white muscle shirt and black pants with combat boots. His long hair was pulled back in the usual braid and a pair of sunglasses rested on top of his head. He looked like any other high school student with a few quirks in his system.

"No touching, right, Heero?" Wufei said slyly, raising an eyebrow suggestively.

"Hmph! No dallying like that, Wufei," Duo said, wagging a finger in front of the Chinese boy's nose.

"You're so American," Wufei drawled but stopped flirting with Heero. All of them knew Wufei and Heero had been a couple before Duo transferred to RHS in sophomore year. There were some rumors that the two still had a 'thing' going on and sometimes that made Duo nervous, who only knew Wufei for a year but had taken immediately to his boyfriend's ex-boyfriend after they got over the awkward stuff. Trowa wasn't as worried though. He had known Wufei since they were in kindergarten and loved him since they were in middle school. Of course the Chinese boy didn't notice until *after* he broke up with Heero Yuy, but that didn't matter. And Trowa knew Wufei enough to know that he was a very devoted person.

"Naturally! I am!" Duo smiled and flashed a V-sign. "Come on, Fei, we better get to Trig. You know how Mr. Wright is like when we're late." He grabbed the Chinese boy's arm and started dragging him down the hall.

"You're the one who always stops to buy snacks and ends up kicking the machine when it won't give up the goods..." was Wufei's distant reply as the two moved down the hall and disappeared out of the double doors.

Trowa chuckled and shook his head turned to Heero. "Those two are just a pair, aren't they?"

"Yes, they are," Heero agreed, nodding. "But I'm glad they get along. It was nerve-wracking when they first met. I thought Duo was going to end up disliking Wufei because he was my ex and Wufei would just give him the cold-shoulder."

"And that's why it's a good thing Duo's so cheerful and Wufei doesn't care."

"Thank the gods," Heero murmured.

Trowa smiled and shook his head. "Come on, let's go. *We* don't want to be late for class, either."

"Hn." Heero nodded and followed the taller teen up the stairs of the building where their first period class was. They walked into Mr. Walker's class and took their seats in the back, where most of the silent or anti-social kids sat. The rest were in the front. It wasn't that Trowa or Heero were anti-social. They just didn't like to talk to other people outside of their little group. They had all known each other since kindergarten, except Duo, and had created this little tight-nit 'family'. They didn't like inviting other people into it.

Heero was an orphan who had been adopted by a German/Russian/French family when he was about three years old. He had used the Khushrenada name up until recently when he decided that he preferred to use his Japanese name as a tribute to his deceased family. He had found out that they were murdered by the Yakuza when he was still an infant in Japan. His mother had died protecting him with her body. He had a sister but she had been killed as well. The Khushrenada's had been perfectly fine with the name change and understood Heero's reasons. Heero's older brother, Treize, had been the one who took him down to City Hall to get it legally changed. [1]

Trowa had been living with a circus family until he turned five and his sister--and legal guardian--figured he needed to have a stable home, a permanent school and some real, normal friends instead of always hopping all over the world with the circus. Their parents had died in a car accident when he was just one and his sister, who had already been working with the circus, came and took posession of him instead of dropping him in an ophanage, thank the gods. Later they had moved into the city they were living in right now and have been living in it for eleven years, almost. Sometimes Trowa was positive Catherine missed circus life but he couldn't be sure. What he *was* sure of was getting out of Catherine's hair when he turned eighteen so she could go and do her own thing instead of supporting her little brother.

Class was underway when a tentative knock on the door had everyone looking up curiously. The door swung open slightly and a golden head appeared before the rest of the body entered the class. The teen standing there looked pretty young although he had to be at least sixteen in order to be in the class. He was milky pale, topped by short golden hair that fell into his eyes, and he didn't seem very tall. In fact, Wufei could easily be three inches taller than him, and Wufei was one of the shortest people Trowa or Heero knew! The newcomer was dressed in a white shirt with a light brown vest and pale khakis that resembled what Wufei was wearing today with dark brown loafers. He had a leather backpack on one shoulder and a program card in the other. The class watched as he walked shyly over to the teacher and handed him the card. The teacher glanced at it, signed it, and wrote down the boy's name in the roll call book.

"Class, welcome Quatre Raberba Winner to this school. He's new and just came from England. Be nice," Mr. Jacobs added ominously. He waved vaguely. "Find a seat."

Trowa looked over to his right. It was the only seat left. Apparently Quatre noticed that too and headed over to where the two boys were sitting. He slid in the seat and silently dropped his backpack on the floor. He turned to Trowa and smiled. Trowa nodded in return. Heero snorted and continued taking notes from Mr. Jacobs' lecture.

"Excuse me," the blonde boy whispered after a moment. Trowa was surprised to find no accent. <Didn't Jacobs say he came from England?>

"What?" Trowa asked softly, looking over at the boy.

"Do you think I could share books with you? I don't understand half of what Mr. Jacobs is saying," Quatre whispered.

"Sure." Trowa scooted his chair over a bit and shoved his book into the middle. Then he turned his attention back to the lecture, his hand never stopping to write unless the information was unimportant.

Quatre smiled slightly as he worked from both the book and the teacher's lecture. He stole a look over at Trowa. <He's really nice. Doesn't seem to talk much though. But then that might be because it's a lecture.> He looked down at his paper and continued writing. <I hope I can make friends here. Father said it was better for me if I went to school in America. Instead of the usual boarding schools he sends me here, to a small town where everyone probably knows everyone. What chance do I have at socializing with these people?> He knew his father had sent him to America to get rid of him. They never had a good relationship to begin with and it got progressively worse after Quatre's mother died from a brain tumor.

He had finished two pages of notes when the bell rang.

"Remember, test on Friday! Open notes!" Mr. Jacobs shouted after the kids who were rushing out of class.

Quatre quickly packed up his things and thanked Trowa before pulling out a map and walking out of the class. He needed to move quickly so he had enough time to find his way around the school. He knew he was going to get lost but at least he could try and not be *too* late for class. He was standing outside of the classroom, squinting at his map when a girl popped up beside him. He started but smiled warmly at her.

"Hey, my name's Relena Dorlian," the girl said warmly, holding out her hand. Quatre reached out and shook it.

"Quatre. It's nice to meet you," he said sincerely.

Relena nodded. Then her expression turned a bit conspiratorial. She looked around a bit, as if making sure there were certain people around, before she turned back to Quatre with an utterly serious expression that only seemed a bit malicious. "Hey, you're new and all so I guess I might as well warn you before you get into any trouble."

Quatre frowned. "What's wrong?"

"You know that guy you were talking to?" Relena asked.

"Yes.."

"His name is Trowa Barton and that Japanese guy sitting on the other side of him is Heero Yuy. They're gay and if I were you I'd be careful around them. You don't know what they might do if you get too...friendly with them," Relena said, her expression disgusted and almost hateful.

Quatre was shocked and sickened. He couldn't believe the nerve of this girl telling him that he should be careful to get 'too friendly' around those two. What their life styles were, were their own private business. He was disgusted that this girl would say these things about those two. What had they done to her?

"I really don't know what you're problem is with those two, but that's rude and you shouldn't be saying things like that," Quatre said forcefully before he turned and walked away from her. He didn't want to be around her for a minute longer! The nerve!

"You'll regret it!" Relena shouted after him. "You'll see!"

<What a bitch!> Quatre thought, furious for the two guys who were being targeted by Relena. He turned the corner of the hall and pulled out his map again, still annoyed but up to forgetting it. <Hmm...My next class is on the third floor. Well, another flight of stairs it is.> He folded up the map and slid it into his pocket before he took the stairs, trying not to get pushed off to the side as he fought throgh the crowd.

When he finally touched the landing, he gratefully moved off to the more deserted section of the hallway and started counting classroom numbers. He was down to 316 when he saw that tall boy again--<Trowa Barton>--talking with a Chinese boy with long hair pulled back in a ponytail. They were laughing about something and Quatre had to appreciate Trowa was pretty handsome when he smiled. Then the blonde boy was in for a shock as he watched Trowa bend over and kiss the Chinese boy deeply on the lips.

Blushing slightly, Quatre looked away and continued counting down the classroom numbers. He was embarassed the find that the class he was in next was exactly where Trowa and the Chinese boy were kissing in front of.

He quickly edged around them and slipped into class. He walked over to the teacher who was already preparing some papers on her desk and handed her the program card. He couldn't help but steal a glance over his shoulder though, just as Trowa and the Chinese boy were seperating. Trowa murmured something and the boy murmured something in return. He smiled before leaning in, kissing Trowa on the cheek. His next words were audible though.

"Get to class! You're going to be late if you stay here."

"I can ditch," Trowa stated.

"No, go!" the Chinese boy chuckled and pushed Trowa in the direction of his class. "Or I'll get Heero to go after you!"

"Fine, fine. One more kiss though," Trowa begged. His boyfriend smiled and shook his head before giving him another kiss. "Mm...Another?"

"Go!"

Trowa laughed and did as he was told, but not before promising to see the Chinese boy at lunch.

Quatre looked back around before the Chinese teen could catch him and took his program card back from the teacher.

"You can sit in the seat beside the third window, right behind Wufei," the teacher said, pointing at where the Chinese boy was already seated, his backpack lying limply on the desk.

Quatre nodded and did as he was told. He sat there for a moment, staring at the back of the Chinese boy's head as Wufei unpacked a few things before pulling out a book and reading it. <He's Trowa's boyfriend,> was the single thought that went through his head as he sat there. Then, <Cool.>

It was around then class began and Quatre had no more time to focus on Wufei as the teacher began to lecture about society's problems.

<What did I do to get this class?>

~*~

"Aren't you going to eat?" Trowa asked as he scooted over for Wufei at the lunch tables outside in the quad. Duo and Heero were already seated, eating from each other's trays.

"I have homework I forgot to do this morning," Wufei said, shaking his head as he pulled out his folders. "I can't believe it! I never forget..." [2]

"Aw, one missing homework assignment in two years. It's not going to kill you," Trowa said dryly as he placed his bag of fries in front of Wufei. "Eat."

"But--"

"Eat."

"Push, push, push," Wufei muttered as he shoved some fries into his mouth. Then he picked up his pencil and started working on his math homework, muttering numbers and equations to himself as he worked.

"So, who's up to the Noventa party tomorrow night?" Duo asked, leaning back comfortably in his chair, so far back Trowa was wondered how long he could stay like that before falling backwards.

Wufei raised his head and pushed back some hair from his eyes. "I don't know...Every time we go to one of those parties, we end up getting drunk and grounded. I don't think my parents will be happy if this happens again. It would be the eighth time."

"Aw, come on," Duo cajoled. "It'll be fun. Of all people we know Sylvia Noventa throws the best parties!"

Heero nodded in agreement. "That's true. And she doesn't throw one often..."

"Why not, Wufei?" Trowa asked, tilting his head to the side a bit as he regarded his some-what studious boyfriend. Well, studious compared to the rest of them. Wufei was probably the only one who really worried about his grade--even if he was a straight-A student who had a real chance for the valedictorian award and had no reason to *really* worry. Trowa wondered, sometimes, how Wufei got involved with them. Even as a five-year-old he had been serious about his academic performance. But Trowa wasn't regretting the day he had met Wufei in the playground, reading a book.

"Because...because..."

Duo laughed. "You have no reason whatsoever to turn down a night of fun! We can lay off on the beer and just have fun, all right?"

"If there's no beer..."

"There won't be," Duo assured with a wicked smile.

Wufei sighed. "I don't trust that smile. Honestly, I don't want to get into any more trouble. My parent's had a hard enough time accepting the fact that I have a boyfriend and then dealing with my boyfriend and my best friends' tendancy to get drunk when we go out is going to overload their systems."

"Didn't you say your parents are out of town or something?" Heero asked, looking curious.

Wufei glared. He knew exactly what Heero was thinking. If parents don't know, parents don't have to grill you ass about it. He sighed, defeated. "Fine. We'll go."

"Yes! This'll be great!!" Duo cheered. "I love seeing you get drunk, Fei!"

Wufei threw his pencil at him.

~*~

"Horror!"

"Drag racing!"

"I say comedy..."

"Why not watch an intellectual piece?"

"Not another one of your documentaries..."

"What is wrong with that?" Wufei demanded, arms akimbo as he glared at Duo. The other teenager was sticking out his tongue, looking disgusted.

"I do not want to watch another ape go ape-shit over another ape, Fei," Duo said, shaking his head.

Wufei rolled his eyes. "That was the Discovery Channel!"

"Same thing!"

"Is not!"

"Why don't we watch that new gang movie?" Heero suggested diplomatically. "It has almost everything we want, minus the horror and the documentary."

"Aww," Duo protested. "You're just siding with Trowa and yourself."

"I think it's perfect," Trowa commented, smiling slightly.

Wufei laughed lightly and leaned against Trowa a bit. "I suppose I'll agree with Heero and Trowa. I read the reviews for that movie. It's pretty good."

Duo sighed, defeated. "Fine. We'll watch the gang movie. But I'm not happy!"

"We'll buy anything you want from the concession stand," Heero offered, hoping to placate his boyfriend.

"Honest?" Duo asked, perking up.

"I hope you brought a lot of money, Heero..." Trowa remarked.

Duo threw him a look but seemed decidedly more happy. He latched on to Heero, grinning the whole time as they walked to the lines to buy the tickets while Wufei and Trowa stood off to the side.

"I don't think Heero stands a chance with Duo," Wufei murmured with a soft smle on his lips. "I think...they'll be married before they're out of college--or even high school if Duo's really convincing."

"That bad, huh?" Trowa asked as he slid an arm around Wufei's waist and held him close. Heero glanced over at them from the line and smiled. They weren't afraid of public affection since the entire town knew each other and everyone knew what everyone was doing, practically. It didn't seem to bother anyone anymore or raise any gossip. A lot of people still didn't accept them but they did tolerate them enough so they were left unharassed.

Although Trowa did remember the times Wufei and Heero got into a fight because they couldn't keep their temper. They won, naturally. Wufei had a black belt in martial arts and Heero did some boxing and jujitsu. Trowa himself had to pull out one of his knives once in a while, and because of that, was relatively left alone. Duo could scare anyone away just by giving them a dirty look that promised death. And if he was attacked he knew how to street fight and carried a stiletto.

They all knew that they were a bit too cautious but for some unknown reason, they had always had an intense desire to carry a weapon to protect themselves. They didn't actually start carrying weapons until Heero was attacked after school one day while walking home. Trowa had been walking to the market when that happened and managed to injure three of the boys before the police showed up. They're parents weren't happy, to say the least, but they didn't get into trouble since they didn't start the fight. After that they all started carrying *something* that would protect them if that ever happened again.

"And we have the tickets!" Duo appeared with them and grinned. "Come on, let's go see some guys kick each other's butts."

"Damn well easier than having our own kicked," Heero agreed, chuckling. Trowa could see that Heero had had the same line of thought as he did.

"We have never had our butts kicked," Duo said, shaking his head. "*We* were always the ones that were doing the kicking." Duo had only been harassed once and he had made sure the other guy had been too scared to do it again. The American, for all his apperances of being cheerful and defenseless, was incredibly well-able. No one could claim he couldn't hold up his own in a fight.

"Whatever. Let's go watch the movie," Trowa said, grabbing his ticket and moving for the theatre entrance. Heero snorted and did the same.

Duo rolled his eyes and handed Wufei his ticket. "I swear those two can be brothers. They act the same, they have the same sense of humor and they're both incredibly reasonable."

"Sometimes I'm convinced they are."

"Really?"

"Heero *is* adopted."

"I think you might be right..." Duo looked over at Wufei and grinned. "Do you think we can get them to take a DNA test?"

"I have a feeling the answer is no," Wufei said, shaking his head as he and Duo followed their boyfriends into the theatre.

"They are no fun," Duo said, sighing as he handed his ticket over to be torn in half. "Sometimes I wonder why I even got with Heero. He's impossible!"

"Maybe we just have bad taste," Wufei offered helpfully.

Duo wrinkled his nose and then laughed. "Not that bad! They both have very nice asses."

Wufei nodded in agreement as he took his torn ticket back. "Yes, they do."

"We know you're talking about us back there! Get over here and let's go watch that movie," Heero shouted over at them. Trowa was smirking, his emerald eyes sparkling in amusement.

"You just wanna grope me in the dark!" Duo shot back, laughing. Many people turned and gave them disapproving looks. Wufei raised an eyebrow, challenging them to say anything. They turned away. Wufei smiled. Having a reputation was fun sometimes.

Heero walked over and grabbed Duo around the waist and started dragging him towards the doors leading to the movie showing. He was saying something under his breath, something that caused Duo to blush brightly before grinning impishly and leaning against Heero.

"I have a feeling," Wufei began, his voice barely hiding his amusement, "that they're not going to be watching the movie tonight."

"Well, that's a waste of six dollars," Trowa deadpanned.

Wufei looked up at his boyfriend and smirked before dragging him after their friends.

~*~

"'Night, love," Wufei murmured as he leaned over and kissed Trowa softly on the lips. "Don't get into too much trouble with your sister."

"I won't," Trowa promised as he deepened into the kiss, a hand reaching up to cup the back of Wufei's head, bringing him closer. He smiled as he pulled away. "Tonight was fun."

"Yeah, until Duo got pissed off at that guy that kept on saying 'Did you see that?' and threw popcorn over his head," Wufei said, laughing softly.

"Duo's impossible."

"But he's a nice addition to our little family, isn't he?" Wufei asked, resting his head on Trowa's shoulder.

"Yes, he is." Trowa kissed Wufei on the forehead before he grabbed his backpack and popped open the door. "I got to go if I don't want Catherine on my back about coming in too late."

"One more kiss?" Wufei asked, smiling.

"Sure." Trowa pulled him over and kissed him hard until they ran out of hair. Then he gave his boyfriend another peck on the lips. He slid out of the car and waved before jobbing up to the front door. He was about to pull out his keys when the door swung open and Catherine was standing there.

"Where have you been?" she demanded, looking furious in her tank top and jean shorts. Her curly, reddish-brown hair was pulled back in a half ponytail, leaving the rest to brush her shoulders.

Trowa wondered if Wufei was still there. He risked a glance over his shoulder and saw his boyfriend was gone. <Damn. There went my escape.>

"Well??"

"I told you, I was at the movies," he said as he pushed past Catherine and stepped into the house. He toed off his shoes near the door and started down the hall to his bedroom in their one-floor house.

"How long was the movie? Why are you home so late? You had me worried sick, Trowa!" Catherine exclaimed after him. "I don't know what to do with you!"

Trowa turned around, his expression revealing nothing. "Catherine, I love you and I am grateful for what you're doing for me. But I've grown up, Cat, and I can take care of myself. Don't worry too much about me. Once I turn eighteen, I'll be out of here and you won't have to worry about me anymore."

"Do you think that's what I want?" Catherine walked over to him and stared in the eye. "I don't want you to think I don't want you, Trowa. I do! You're my brother and I love you too. And I wish you'd listen to me. I feel...as if I'm doing something wrong when you don't listen to me. Am I bad guardian?"

"You're the best a guy can ask for Catherine," Trowa told her sincerely. "But I'm growing up. Sometimes I need to do things on my own without worrying about you worrying about me."

"I can't. You're my baby brother. I want you to be safe and at home. Not out with your friends until one o'clock in the morning!"

"I'm not going to stop spending time with my friends, Cat. I'm sorry. I need to be with them." Trowa turned around and walked down the hall until he reached his room.

"What's so important about them that you have to do this?" Catherine asked, shaking her head.

"Because they mean a lot to me." Then Trowa opened the door and slipped into his room, closing the door behind him and locking it.

<I know they mean a lot to you, Trowa. But every time you stay our late or come home with a hang over, I feel as if I'm failing our parents. I'm supposed to take care of you, make sure you grow up right and have a good life ahead of you. But I can't do that when you won't listen to me! When you won't obey the rules.> Catherine sighed and ran her fingers through her hair, exhausted. She turned and went to finish up the bills before going to bed.

~*Owari Chapter 1*~

Sooo...What do you think so far? I've never really done a school fic before. *laughs* Oy...

[1] Heh. I know this is strange, but I couldn't help it for some reason...*laughs*

[2] This is me a great deal of the time...*sweatdrop*

Started: August 2, 2001