Disclaimer: GW and all things
associated belong to Sunrise & the Sotsu Agency.
Notes: Lilias was the patient
beta-reader and deserves many thanks.
CHAPTER FIVE: Halloween
The week went by quickly. Midterms were easy enough, though Trowa
seemed to be having problems with a particular German novel and Duo was sighted
stomping up and down the hallway chanting, "Argon! How the hell could I
forget to write argon?"
Wufei seemed to love his new frat parties and charity functions. We rarely saw him, and when we did he was
almost always with a fellow Ozzie or with Sally Po. ("She's practically a member of the Omega Zetas," Duo
had commented once.) Heero was absent
almost as often, usually over in Dekim Hall--the sole girls-only dorm on
campus, where Relena lived.
"You'd think that a guy
would realize that he's going to be here for four years, so he shouldn't tie
himself down to one girl at the beginning of his first quarter," Duo said
Friday afternoon while we were sitting on the lawn. The weather was remarkably warm for the end of October. We'd planned a quick Frisbee game, but Heero
hadn't bothered to show up. I wondered
if Duo was jealous of the time Heero spent away from home, or angry because he
didn't have a girlfriend, too.
"There's nothing wrong
with dating someone as soon as you know you click," I said defensively.
Duo arched an eyebrow. "So that's why you've spent so much
time swimming with Catalonia this week.
You two are an item now?"
I flushed. "Hardly. She's not really my type."
Trowa, approaching from the
dorm, laughed. "You can say that
again." I flushed at his knowing
gaze. "I think Dorothy's a little
too much woman for Quatre to handle."
I wanted to reply with
something clever, but I was caught off-guard when Cathrine drew near.
"This is my sister,
Cathy," Trowa said, smiling broadly.
It was the first time I'd ever seen him smile quite like that.
Cathrine was lovely. She was tall and thin, like Trowa, but had
large blue eyes that made her look childlike.
Despite the warm weather, she was wearing baggy jeans and a long-sleeved
shirt that extended beyond her wrists, halfway down her hands. It reminded me of that conversation Trowa
and I had shared the first night on campus.
"It's nice to meet you
all," she greeted with a smile.
"I've heard a lot about you—Trowa's always emailing me and telling
me what's going on."
"I'm Duo." Had he moved faster to stand and shake her
hand, I would've thought he was pouncing on her.
She grinned. "So you're the one with the bunny
slippers."
He smiled proudly. "And not ashamed to admit it!"
"I'm Quatre," I said,
rising to my feet. I wondered what
tidbits Trowa had shared about me.
Cathrine glanced at Trowa. "Your roommate?" He nodded and she turned back to me. "I'm sorry—it's just that, well, I
always imagined you looking different.
Trowa usually go—" She
blushed slightly, obviously uncomfortable with her own words. "Trowa talks about you a lot. I felt like I knew you personally, but I
expected you to look more, er, Arabic, for one thing."
"I get that a lot. I come from a family with a lot of
interracial marriages and the like.
Some of my sisters look more like me, so apparently blond hair and blue
eyes run in the genes somewhere."
"Cathrine's here for the
Halloween party tonight," Trowa said, changing the subject. "I guess I forgot to mention it to
anyone. I don't want her driving home
late at night, but I'm not sure where she should stay. Are there any nice hotels near campus?"
Duo sneered. "We should ask Heero and Relena. Well, those hotels might not be so
nice."
I kicked him gently. "I can ask Dorothy if she knows
anything. Or we could always try
smuggling Cathrine into our room. She
could have my bed."
Duo, recovering from his bout
of Heero-envy, came up with an idea.
"I know a girl with an apartment off-campus," he told
Cathrine. "She has a spare room and
I'm sure she'd love to have you stay there.
I'll stay there, too, if you're uncomfortable. Heck—so will Trowa. Or we
can have Hilde stay in my room, since Heero probably won't come back
tonight. I'll arrange everything. I'll call her right now. She's a great girl—we sort of had a thing
going last year, which would probably explain why I don't have the same
roommate this year, since she was his girlfriend, and it all got—" Duo looked around blankly, a blush tingeing
his cheeks. "I'm doing it again,
aren't I? Rambling
uncontrollably?" He ran inside to
make the call.
***
"Seriously Trowa, you and
Cathrine can stay here," Hilde said as she showed us around her
apartment. "It's plenty big enough
since I still haven't found a new roommate." She was cute and nice. I
often wondered why she and Duo weren't still together; he always talked about
her fondly. I thought maybe Duo was the
adventure-seeker who was only interested in girls who were dating other
guys. But then, if that was the case,
it didn't explain why he'd spent the afternoon ogling Cathrine.
"I don't want to bother
you just because I haven't found a hotel yet," Cathrine said, putting her
hand on the smaller girl's shoulder.
"Really, you don't have to go to such extremes."
"Here's an idea,"
Hilde suggested, biting her lip ever so lightly as she met Cathrine's
eyes. "How about I throw a
kick-ass after-party and everyone stays here all night? We sleep where we fall."
Cathrine laughed prettily. "Sounds like a good plan!"
They were flirting, I
realized. So that's why the Duo-Hilde
relationship hadn't panned out.
Duo stretched. "See?
I knew my Hildy-girl could work things out!"
"Who else should we
invite?" Hilde asked. "I
haven't really hung out with you much this year, Duo. I'm guessing you'll want Heero and his girlfriend to come. Lord knows you talk about them enough,"
she added under her breath. I stifled a
laugh.
"And we need Wufei and
Dorothy Catalonia," Trowa included.
"Catalonia?" Hilde
asked, eyes wide. "I was under the
impression that she was a real bit—"
"Not really," I
interrupted. "Not once you get to
know her. She's just a brusque
person."
"Wufei will bring Sally,
most likely," Duo told Hilde softly.
"Is that okay?"
Hilde's body stiffened visibly. "Whatever she wants is fine with
me," she said, her voice declaring otherwise.
I had a feeling it was going to
be an interesting evening, no matter who showed up.
***
The best thing about the
college was its size. It wasn't a large
university, and with a fourth of the college students being part of the
conservatory of music, there was always someone I recognized at any given
activity. Hilde's party was the night
of the traditional Halloween hayride, which wasn't even on Halloween. But to the students of Sanq Liberal Arts
College it was a night of free food, dancing, and lots of opportunities to meet
potential dates.
As always, Trowa and Duo
insisted that I go. We roasted
marshmallows over a small fire, bobbed for apples, and walked through a haunted
frat house or two. Cathrine's presence
made it more enjoyable—it was nice to have someone who would prevent the usual
lecherous conversations between those two.
And she was genuinely sweet.
The hayride was as cheesy as
anything else we did that evening, but Trowa took the opportunity to gather
several phone numbers; I heard a few lewd promises from Sylvia Noventa as
well. (Not that I was particularly
paying attention.) Cathrine latched
onto me, telling me stories of her childhood with Trowa and asking me all sorts
of questions about my past. Halfway
through the evening, her questions became more personal, and I began to wonder
how much she had guessed about me.
Maybe I was just being paranoid, and she was more curious about the
things Trowa did than a tally of how many hours we spent together during the
week.
Duo found Hilde and we met up
with Heero and Relena before going over to Hilde's apartment. The party "officially" began after
the Halloween event was over, but we were ready to escape.
"Can we please get out of
here?" Duo begged, clutching Hilde's hand.
She laughed. "Too tame for you, hon?"
I rolled my eyes. Everything was too tame for Duo Maxwell, who
liked to think of himself as the sexual king of Sanq. Too bad Trowa was giving him a run for his money.
"So," I asked,
"are you sure it isn't too much trouble for us all to stay over with
you?"
"Nyah," Hilde
replied. "I like the company, and
I don't mind playing hostess. Besides—I
know that your rule-abiding RA would freak if he knew you had a girl in your
room."
Duo grinned lecherously. "Remember that time Otto pulled the
fire alarm last year? Zechs about had a
hissy fit when he saw you coming out of my room!"
"Has he always been like
that?" Heero asked.
"Yep," Relena replied.
We stared at her. "How do you know that?" Trowa
demanded.
She grinned. "Little-known secret, to keep my
profile low: Zechs is my half-brother."
We stopped in our tracks. She walked on ahead, continuing. "My mother was married to a soldier named
Merquise and had Zechs before she divorced him and married my father. Then, when I was seven, she divorced him and
took on a life of her own with her maiden name, Peacecraft."
"You've got to be
kidding," Duo scowled. He passed a
look to Heero. "You'd better not
screw this girl over—Zechs'll probably kill you."
"Don't worry," Relena
called over her shoulder. "We
weren't raised together, and neither of us really knows Mother well. We're more like cousins, actually."
***
Hilde's party was great. Maybe forty-something people crammed into
her tiny apartment was a bit much, but by two or three in the morning it
dwindled to the basic group—Trowa, Duo, Wufei, Heero, Relena, and me—as well as
Sally, Noin, Zechs, Hilde, and Cathrine.
We played mellow "make-out" music (Duo's words, not mine) and
sat around talking and drinking together.
Since Zechs was off-duty and getting attention from his girlfriend, he
was actually kind of fun, though I noticed that Heero was more aware of the guy
than usual. Maybe I really was
anti-social, as Duo professed, but I enjoyed the smaller group. I was more comfortable with this lot's
drinking and sharing than with the frat-house mood of the larger parties.
By four o'clock everyone was
asleep, having passed out where they fell, as Hilde had predicted. Noin was lying on the bathroom floor; Sally
and Cathrine were in front of the stereo (Sally occasionally mumbling song
lyrics in her sleep). Zechs and Wufei
had passed out at the kitchen table, surrounded by overturned shot
glasses. I don't know who had won their
most recent masculinity test, but I had a feeling there would be some kind of
rematch within the week. Hopefully
neither of them would contest that Noin had drunk them under the table. Heero was sitting on the couch, his slow
breathing the only evidence of his unconscious state. Relena had her head resting in his lap, while Duo sat on the
floor, leaning against the couch at her feet.
Hilde hadn't made it to her bedroom; she was in the corner, covered with
a colorful afghan. Trowa and I,
meanwhile, were on the floor in front of the coffee table.
His breathing was slow and his
face peaceful and unguarded, partially illuminated by the light from the
kitchen. I had to admit that I'd spent
plenty of minutes each morning sitting on the couch, watching him sleep across
the room—but it was nothing like lying a foot away from him, watching his eyes
move behind his lids. I wanted to kiss
him, right then and there.
The room was still. No one was awake. I wondered if it was really detestable to kiss a guy you'd been
secretly infatuated with when he wasn't awake to know it.
Yes. Definitely detestable.
I touched my hand to his cheek,
feeling his smooth skin beneath my calloused fingertips. "Do you know how attractive you
are?" I whispered. Of course he
did. "You may hate me for this,
but I really like you. I have since we
met. We just seem to...
click." I felt stupid and
sheepish, talking to a sleeping person and hoping no one was awake to hear me.
Trowa shifted, murmuring
softly. He was probably dreaming about
one of the pretty girls that had been hitting on him earlier. I continued the caress. I leaned closer to him, hovering over his
sleeping form. A small voice in my head
kept telling me to forget it and go to sleep—but I couldn't. I kissed him.
It was a little kiss, hardly
more than a peck. But it was enough to
know that I wanted more.
I pillowed my head on my arm
and closed my eyes, wondering if I'd dream about him—wondering if I'd dream at
all. My rapid pulse and whirling mind
said otherwise.
continued in Autumn: 06