Friendship? - Part 2 by Maaya
Standard disclaimers apply

Duo POV

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The first thing I did when I came outside the room was to run into something slightly smaller than me. Of course, I ran fast enough to make us both fall on the grey floor in un-graceful heaps. Yeah, it's my lucky day.

For a moment of confusion, I just lay on the floor without moving - the kiss still fresh in my memory. I felt as if I would throw up, and I knew I was still red in my face. Jesus fucking Christ! Why can't I stay out of trouble?

Slowly, as I stood up again, I became aware of who I had bumped into. It was Quatre, Quatre Raberba Winner. We smiled dazedly to each other, and I realized that he must have waited for me outside the door. I looked around, but couldn't see Wufei anywhere. He must have gone to the next class. I was flattered. Sure.

"I'm sorry." I said to Quatre, and tried to sound cool. I don't know if it worked, but he looked at me with concerned eyes.

"Are you okay, Duo?"

"Sure, why do you ask?"

He shook his head, the blond hair became slightly ruffled, and he looked at me with apologizing eyes, "It was nothing, I must have been mistaken."

'The kiss the kiss the kiss the kiss the kiss.' A voice said in a cold monotone inside my head and it continued, even when I tried to ignore it. "Yeah, you probably did."

I wanted to get away from this room as soon as possible, so I grabbed my blonde team-mate's arm and dragged him after me. I caught him by surprise, and he actually yelped. How cute. After rounding a corner, I relaxed let go of him. He looked at me with wide eyes, but I just shrugged and smiled a wan smile towards him. "Hey Quat, what our next class, do we have the same schedule?" I used my best defense - my voice, and it seemed to make him think about other things than my behavior. He smiled at the nickname, or at least, he didn't seem to mind.

If there was one thing you had to say about Quatre; there was the fact that he was very easy to talk with. Soon, he seemed to have forgotten everything about my strange behavior, and we chatted about this and that. He wasn't very snobby or self-conscious as many rich people can be, but instead very kind and polite. At first, you could get the impression that he was innocent and in- experienced and in a way, it was true. It was visible that he had grown up in a good home; where he got as many toys as he wanted, and could eat as much as he could, but it was also obvious (at least for me) that he was a gundam-pilot - a killer. He was dark somehow, just like me. It felt nice to know that I wasn't alone in that sense anymore.

He also told me about himself, he has 29 sisters and he's the youngest one in the family too! Poor guy - no wonder he ran away from home to become a terrorist and fight in a gundam with enough weapons to destroy earth *and* the colonies at the same time..

After he had told me that, I could sense that he was curious about me. I just shrugged and explained something about L2. I avoided the part about growing up on the streets though. People seem to assume a lot of things about me when they realize that I grew up as a filthy stealing street-rat. Luckily, we arrived to the next class we had (art - finally something I'm good at) and we had to stop talking. I, for one, was grateful.

We had something called 'free time' in the class. It wasn't exactly what it sounded like, but it was close enough - it meant that we could draw whatever we wanted. Apparently, this kind of practice was unusual, because the class cheered when they heard this statement. Most of the class didn't do anything though, just talked with each other. Sue me, but I *like* to draw, so I took a paper and pencil, sat down by my desk (beside Quatre) and waited for my muse to appear.

I noted that Quatre did the same thing, and his brows furrowed in concentration when he immediately started drawing. I swear, that guy is just too cute for his own good!

I started with my drawing and listened to the other students gossiping and occasionally, I spoke with Quatre or someone else who sat close by me.

A face appeared on my paper, a face belonging to a boy my age. I leaned back in my chair and studied the face. I recognized it, I knew I did, but I couldn't remember from where.

My blonde friend (because I hoped that he was my friend now) saw that I seemed to be finished and he leaned towards me to see what I had sketched. He blinked and looked at me with curious eyes "Why Heero?" he asked.

I studied the picture even closer, and with a critical eye. "That's not Heero." I said after a while and Quatre shrugged, still with a strange expression in his almost cherubic face.

The boy in the picture certainly looked like the guy I met yesterday called Heero, but there was a *big* difference. The picture-boy smiled.

I know, I know, why was that such a big difference? Well, Heero didn't seem to be the type who smiled, the short moment I had met him had been enough for me to tell that. He had so cold, emotionless eyes and an uncaring expression in his face. Somehow, he fascinated me but still, he scared me.

The boy in my picture had soft eyes and a smile that tugged his lip upwards. He actually reminded me more of Quatre than of Heero.

I had noticed that when Quatre smiled, the smile was often sad, not as sunny as you might think. It was probably because he was a gundam-pilot. We're not allowed to be happy, it seems. That's part of the reason to why I always pretended being happy. It's because I *want* to be happy - I'm really trying to be happy! "That's not Heero." I repeated.

Quatre considered what I had said and looked sadly at me, but suddenly he seemed to remember something. He leaned even closer towards me and whispered in my ear. "We have a meeting after school in your room." I noted that his voice sounded huskier when he was whispering, and I almost shivered when his breath tickled my ear. I shook it off though.

He didn't have to explain who 'we' were; it was very evident that it was the pilots - I mean, who else?

I nodded to show him that I had heard him and he leaned back again, to continue with his picture.

As the class ended, I secretly folded my picture and put it in my pocket. Somehow, I had come to like it.

*******

As the classes had ended for the day, I climbed up the eight flights of stairs to mine and Wufei's room to attend the meeting. I was in a rather bad mood, mostly because it had become apparent that I was placed in advanced classes in every subject I had. As I said, I was in a *very* bad mood, mostly because the only subjects I did well in was art and English.

When I passed the sixth floor, I went past a group of giggling girls, and they threw longing stares towards me. Usually, I would flirt a little before continuing, but now I went past them without even glancing at them. Actually, I think I scared them off. Bad Duo.

When I finally reached the eighth floor, I was exhausted. I don't know why, I'm usually in a good form, but today I felt..drained.

As I made my way (or rather dragged myself) towards my room, I realized that the key wasn't in my pocket. Great. I must have forgotten it when I hurried to class this morning. Once again, great.

I stared at the (grey) door and in the small space between the door and the wall; I could see that the door was locked. So, Wufei wasn't back yet, and none of the other guys either. I sighed and took one of my small tools out of my braid and made sure no one could see me before I began picking the lock. It was surprisingly easy, but then again, the school probably didn't spend all that much money on the room-security.

I opened the door with a satisfied grin plastered in my face, but it faded quite quickly when I saw that the room was occupied already. Wufei, Trowa, Quatre and Heero stared at me in surprise from where they sat on the two beds in the room. I slid the tool into my pocket and smiled sheepishly, scratching my head. "Hi guys."

"Maxwell! How did you get in?" It was Wufei who spoke, but before I had a chance to answer, Heero spoke up.

"Quatre, did you lock the door?"

An affirmative nod. Geeze, can't these guys hold their horses for a while?

"Hey, wait a sec! I picked the lock, all right?" I sighed as they all looked at me and I continued. "Anyway, what is this meeting about?" I sat down on my bed, beside Quatre who sat beside Trowa. Wufei and Heero sat on Wu's bed. Wait! Did I say 'Wu'? Heh, wonder if he'd like to be called that?

"We were discussing our gundams' special abilities." Trowa said in his calm voice.

"Sure, whatever." I tried to keep a cool and relaxed fa�ade. Suddenly I remembered something I wanted to ask them and I spoke up again. "Who put me in advanced classes anyway?"

Wufei and Heero looked at me like I had grown another head or something and I laughed nervously. "Uhh, I'm not all that good, 'kay?"

Heero snorted, but I wasn't sure why. "I made our schedules. I assumed that all gundam-pilots could handle the advanced school-work." Damn, that stung! I felt how I blushed, *again*. Why do I keep doing that?

"Well, sorry for being an airhead." I said with a grin, and I tried not to show how it had hurt. Quatre looked at me with concerned eyes again, like he'd done outside the math-class. Is that guy a mind-reader or what?

I sighed once again and shrugged. "Well, I'll change it, okay? Just drop it."

Heero ignored me and turned towards Quatre. "You said you had financial wealth?"

Quatre actually seemed nervous about the question; he fiddled with his sleeves and looked everywhere but at us. "Yes. I'm disowned from the Winner-family but I left with a lot of money. I also have connections with an underground-organization called 'The Maganuacs, and.." He seemed unwilling to continue. "I am told that I am an excellent strategist and I also have what some scientist call an 'uchuu no kokoro', or Space Heart."

I was happy that I wasn't the only one who seemed clueless. Even Heero seemed slightly confused. "Space..Heart?" he asked.

"Yes. It's an ability that makes me feel other people's stronger emotions, usually shock, extreme anger and very strong love, etc." Quatre's voice seemed to take a bitter tone as he spoke, but none of us asked about it.

We left that subject and talked about each others abilities. Wufei was smart, a bookworm, and he also mastered many forms of martial arts, as well as kendo and different Chinese sword-styles. Trowa was a good actor and he would probably act as a spy several times. He was also a very good pilot who kept calm, no matter what.

Heero. I'm not really sure about Heero. He could use all known weapons, it seemed, and he had extremely good stamina and strength. Actually, he said he could bend steel. Impressive.

Then there was me, the last one. I explained that I was a stealth-master, a thief. I had the ability to hide quickly, and could also sneak past security easily. My voice got a little cocky when I old them about the nickname G had come up with: Shinigami.

They seemed a little surprised about my abilities. "Stealth?" Quatre asked, shocked.

"A thief." Wufei said, with not a little amount of disgust in his voice. Jesus, had I done something to piss him off? He seemed to hate me.

"Yup, and a break in-expert!" I grinned at them all, enjoying their moment of surprise. "Surprised you, didn't I?"

That's about everything we talked about that evening. Quatre excused himself and disappeared from the room. Trowa and Heero also went away, and they left me together with Wufei. I felt uncomfortable in his presence, mostly because he seems to dislike me. Since I didn't have anything else to do, I unpacked my duffel-bag. It wasn't all that much; some changes of clothes (everything was black), some drawings I made when I stayed with Howard, the laptop that G gave me before I went to earth, and a very old free-style I found at Howard's.

When I was finished, I sat down on my bed again. Wufei sat by the desk and wrote something, probably homework. I felt bored. VERY bored.

We both jumped as a knock was heard on our door. Wufei scowled. "We're not allowed to be out this late." he said, and I looked at my watch. It was nine o'clock. Anyway, I jumped up from the bed and opened the door. I found Marcus standing outside, together with some other guys.

I blinked at them in surprise. "What do you want?"

Marcus shrugged. "Just asking if you want to follow us to nearest town. I know a good place were you can get alcohol cheap."

As I wondered how they knew where my room was, I heard Wufei snort behind me. Guess he don't appreciate a good drink now and then.

I nodded to the guys and grabbed a jacket (black of course) before going outside.

Wufei snorted again before I closed the door.

*******

I was giddy from the drinks when I climbed up the stairs to my room. The door was locked, and I only had a little trouble picking it, mostly because I saw two locks instead of one. After a moment, the door swung open and I saw that Wufei was still sitting by the desk, now reading something. I wondered if he had sat there all the time. The clock was past twelve now.

My Chinese friend looked up when he saw me, and frowned at my wide grin. I couldn't help but giggle at that expression he had, it could actually look kind of funny. He wasn't as glad as I was though.

"Where have you been?" he demanded and it made me giggle again. He almost sounded worried, but I guessed it was the alcohol that made it seem that way. He frowned again. "You're drunk."

"See, you *can* be smart if you want." I exclaimed, but he missed the humor and frowned for a third time. I idly wondered if that wrinkle on his forehead was permanent. I didn't ask though, just threw my jacket on the floor (or rather, on my bag which stood on the floor).

Wufei looked down on his book again and said, without looking up. "Go to bed."

I shrugged as an answer, but I knew that he couldn't see me anyway. I went into the bathroom, brushed my teeth, and then stripped down to my black boxers and white tank top - the attire I usually sleep in.

I went into the room again and threw myself onto the bed and crept under the covers. I settled into a comfortable position and waited for the sleep to come and claim me. Unfortunately, the claiming never came. Usually after drinking, I fall asleep immediately so I thought this was a little strange.

I lay there for a while and I listened as Wufei brushed his teeth before going to bed. You could hear the muffled sounds of him when he gargled, and for some reason I found the mental picture I got funny.

He switched the lights off before going to bed, and I found myself staring up at the ceiling. Okay, I couldn't actually *see* the ceiling, so therefore I couldn't know it *was* there, but that was a ridiculous thought. I *knew* the ceiling was there..oh God, I'm rambling. I was suddenly very cold, and I took a few shuddering breaths to calm myself down. I was..scared.

Suddenly, I felt sick at my stomach. Very sick. A sudden memory of a warm, wet tongue invading my mouth came to me and I knew that I had to get out of the bed and to the bathroom, quick.

My bare feet thumped lightly against the carpet and I stumbled over my own bed in my sudden haste. Sprinting out in the bathroom, I fell to my knees in front of the toilet and emptied my stomach in it. When I was done, I was sweating, yet shivering because of the cold, and I rubbed my arms in a try to make the gooseflesh go away. I really hoped that Wufei was still asleep, and if he wasn't he had common sense enough not to interfere. My God..if he was awake he'd probably think that he had been teamed with an alcoholic.

Damn.

I just sat there, in front of the toilet for a while before I picked myself together enough to stand up and flush the toilet.

Just when I did that, the memory came again - a tongue tasting my saliva.. I didn't have anything left in my stomach, but I heaved over the toilet for a couple of minutes before I managed to walk out in the room again. It was completely black in there after I had switched the lights off in the bathroom, and I couldn't see a damn thing; so I just stood there for a while, trying to orient myself.

I could hear Wufei's calm breaths from his own bed, but I couldn't hear if he was awake or sleeping, to do that you need to know the person in question. I know some people that can breath quite fast when they're sleeping, and it makes it impossible to tell if they are actually sleeping or not.

I managed to get to the bed without breaking anything (meaning neither me nor something else) and I slipped under my covers again. Still, I couldn't relax completely. I sighed - this was gonna be a loooong night.

*******

Well, I was right but I didn't know if I should be happy about it or not. Wait, I take that back - I was NOT happy about it. I stumbled down the corridors with my eyes red and puffy from lack of sleep. From what I had seen in the mirror, I looked like I had been crying all night long. Joy.

Anyway, Wufei had taken pity on me and woke me up so I could get to my classes in time. I wasn't sure if I liked that pity, because it *could* mean that he had heard me last night. I counted and came to the conclusion that I got exactly three hours of sleep, and of course I had to wake up with a *bad* hangover.

I guessed that my schedule hadn't been changed yet, so I went to the same classes that I had yesterday. I thought about skipping the math-class, I did *not* want to meet Mr Foo..uhh..Sanjou-sensei. Actually, the thought made me feel sick again. In the cafeteria, I saw one of Marcus friends, another English guy called Peter. It made me feel slightly better when I saw that he looked about as bad as I did, well, if you didn't count the bloodshot eyes of mine of course. He had probably gone to sleep a lot earlier than I had, but he seemed to have the same kind of hangover.

"It's a pain, isn't it?" I asked him, and the only answer I got was a grunt. He rolled his eyes though.

"Duo?"

Damn, I recognized that voice, a slightly feminine tone, it was clear that his voice hadn't started breaking yet. I didn't want to turn around and show him my new, temporary *look*, but I knew that I had to. Slowly, I did so and I heard Quatre gasp in surprise. A gasp that really made my mood drop a couple of degrees. I knew that I looked horrible, damn it - but I really didn't need everyone to tell me that, intentional or not.

"Duo, what have you done? Are you feeling sick?"

I grunted in the same manner that good old Peter had done only second ago. Feeling sick? Yeah, I am. "I'm okay Quatre, just a hangover."

"A hang..over?" He repeated, but he made it sound like a question. A question I felt like I had to answer.

"You know, after drinking a lot you get this sick feeling and headache and..." My voice trailed off.

"How on earth did you find alcohol here?"

I shrugged and decided not to answer, and Quatre was smart enough not to push the subject any further. I went to get some coffee, but in the moment I saw the black-brownish liquid, I knew that I wouldn't be able to drink it. I took the cup with me anyway, and sat down beside Quatre.

Luckily, none of us were morning-persons, so the conversations were very few and short. I spent most of the breakfast staring at my soon cold coffee. I managed to take some sips, not much, but enough to make me feel at least a little more awake than earlier. Hopefully, the bags under my eyes would disappear soon too. Hopefully.

I saw Heero and Trowa sit and eat their breakfast a couple of tables from us.

Heero..

That made me remembers the picture I had made earlier and realized that it was still in my pocket. I felt for it under the table and yes, the pants were stiff where the paper lay in my pocket. I looked up at the other boy and for a second our eyes met. I looked away and decided that my 'breakfast' was finished.

I stood up, left my still almost full coffee-cup on the table and began walking away - out of the cafeteria. I heard as Quatre stood up too, (his chair scraped against the floor) and then I heard his footsteps quickly coming after me. What could I do? I turned around and waited for him to catch up on me.

He hadn't run far enough to pant, so he just smiled and looked mildly confused. "Duo? Is something wrong?"

I didn't answer, only looked at Heero's and Trowa's table. The sat there and ate, Heero with a plateful of oatmeal and Trowa with a plate with bacon and eggs. They didn't speak with each other, but that wasn't a big surprise. Quatre followed my glance and sighed. "They're scary, aren't they?" he said.

I shrugged. "Yeah."

"They just won't speak."

"I know."

"I'm curious."

I looked at him in confusion. "Curious? How do you mean?"

He shrugged. "They aren't normal, look at them." He looked at the stone- boys again with dark eyes. "I can't figure them out." The last words came out as a sigh, a sad and hopeless sigh. I was just happy that someone felt the same way that I did, and I hope I managed to keep a smile from growing on my lips. It wasn't all that hard though, because I realized that I had math in twenty minutes. I made a quick plan in my head.

Step one - Get away from Quatre. Step two - Sneak out of the school. Step three..well.. - Hide, I guess. Maybe find a bar or just go shopping. Don't really know, but anything is better than Mr. Fool.. I mean Sanjou-sensei. I have to start call him Sanjou-sensei. I don't know why, but it felt wrong to call him Fool. Not because he *wasn't*, but as I said, I don't know why.

Anyway, back to step one - How to get away from Quatre. A fast lie would be the best option, but since I try to avoid lying as much as possible, it seemed better to say something that was or would become true.

I turned my head and looked at him. "Hey, Quatre?" I put up a miserable look. "I'm feeling like shit and my head is killing me." That wasn't a lie. "I think I'll go back to the dorms to pick up some painkillers, okay?"

My blonde friend looked taken back, but he didn't object as I went towards the dorms. "Well, you're *looking* better, at least." Was the only thing he said.

I shrugged and rounded a corner.

"Want me to follow?" he asked.

"Nah, I'm okay."

I rounded another corner and went out of his sight. Finally safe. Now I only hoped that Wufei wasn't in our room. That would make things..complicated, since I had planned to climb out of the window. The window-rout was, in a way, safer than going through the whole school, mostly because I didn't want to risk meeting any of the gundam-pilots.

Luckily, no one was in the room, so I just searched until I found some nice pills that were also called painkillers. I told Quatre that I would get some painkillers, so I got some painkillers, dammit! No one can accuse me for lying.

I thought about changing my clothes, but I decided not to, even if my own black clothes were a lot more comfortable than the school-uniform. I stuck my freestyle in my pocket before opening the small window.

I looked out and realized that it was a kinda long fall to the ground. Joy, but I had forgotten that I was on the eight floor. Slightly nervous, I managed to crawl out of the window and found myself standing on a thin stone-verge, staring down. It wasn't windy today, and I was happy about that because I had a hard time trying to make myself to let go from the window- frame. Wind would probably make it all worse.

Don't get me wrong, I'm usually not afraid of heights; but the latest 24 hours had been crappy, not to speak about my headache. Needless to say, the pills hadn't shown any kind of effect yet.

As I stood there, I was suddenly hit by a thought. I could almost see myself standing there and I realized how desperate I probably was. If anyone saw me, they'd probably think that I was trying to kill myself. Jesus, why did I ever think that climbing out of the window would be the best choice? Well, I can at least blame it on the alcohol.

I climbed inside again, ran out of the door and down the stairs, as fast as I could. I didn't see anyone so I ran out of the main-entrance, planning to get away from here.

Of course, I had to bump into someone, again. I seem to do that a lot lately.

This time though, none of us fell and I could immediately see who I had run into. Unfortunately, I knew the guy. It was Wufei.

Great.

He blinked at me, and I guessed that he was more dazed than me, because he didn't seem to recognize me at first. When he finally did, he seemed to grow angry, then confused. At last, his face showed both emotions. Again, great.

"Maxwell, what are you doing here? We have a class in," he looked at his watch, "three minutes."

Surprise, surprise, but I didn't know what to say. It felt..odd to just gape like a fish, and I probably looked like an idiot too. Somehow, I guessed that my team-mate wouldn't be happy to hear the truth that I was on my way to skip the class he talked about. I decided to keep quiet, which actually wasn't all that hard for once.

Unfortunately, he seemed to realize the truth by himself, and his eyes narrowed. "You were going to skip, weren't you?"

Well, what could I do, lie? Don't think so. I just shrugged, and his face reddened in something that I assumed, was anger. I guess he's something of a scholar that hates truants. My luck.

The answer seemed to piss him off even more. "It's none of my business, but.."

"What's going on?"

It was Heero. Who would be the next? Quatre? Trowa? We could start a private meeting here on the yard.

Wufei nodded in my direction. "Maxwell's going to skip the class." His tone was accusing and angry, and I found myself blush. I wanted to shout scandalmonger, like I used to do when I lived at the church, but it was too childish. I really loved that word when I was younger though, but it took time to learn how to pronounce it right. I used to say 'shanda'monger' until I was seven. Helen always said that it was sooo cute, and I didn't like being 'cute'.

It hurt me a little that Heero didn't seem surprised at all, but I grinned disarmingly anyway, in a try to make his heart melt. Not that it worked or anything.

Heero glared at me as if I had suggested that he should smile more often. "Why?" He growled.

I shrugged again and began fiddling with my braid as I wished that I was unaffected of his glares, like I acted to be.

"I'll follow you to class." That remark made me stiffen, both in surprise and a private amount of fear.

"Why?"

"I'm going that way."

I suppressed the sudden urge to hit Heero, because he'd probably kill me, or send me to the hospital. Hmm, the idea wasn't bad, because then I'd miss class. I considered the idea for a minute when we went inside again, but I decided against it. The risk that I would die a horrible death was too big.

We went through the halls and my thoughts had a hard time making sense. I didn't want to see Sanjou-sensei again. I really didn't.

To be honest, I was scared.

We arrived to the door, just as the teacher came and unlocked the door and let the students inside. I tried to swallow a lump in my throat, but the effort made me feel sick. I wanted to run away, but I knew I couldn't, not with Heero standing behind me. Quatre, who had been waiting together with the other students, looked at me, slightly concerned.

Mr. Foo..Sanjou-sensei looked at me as I entered, and I shivered. He looked angry but I could see a tiny glint of amusement in his black eyes. What a jerk!

My fear got stronger, and the urge to run away grew together with it. I forced myself to sit down beside Marcus, who was occupied with trying to saw a rubber in two with his ruler. He didn't seem to notice me.

The lesson felt *very* long, and Mr. Fool seemed to cast glances towards me all the time; I just wanted to disappear. When the torture finally ended, I tried to run out of the door. Unfortunately, I felt a tug at my braid and I held back a surprised yelp.

"I want to talk with you, Mr. Maxwell." I heard Sanjou-sensei's voice say behind me. Since my braid still seemed to be in his hand, I had to stay, and I felt my fear growing stronger again. The students passed me, either grinning or looking concerned. I wanted to scream for help, but I didn't. Everything just seemed to private and embarrassing, and I didn't want the others to know that pilot 02 of Deathscythe couldn't deck a mere teacher.

Sanjou-sensei leaned towards the door, closed it and locked. He put the key in his pocket. Trapped.

My mind raced, I couldn't floor him, because I'd probably get expelled. I couldn't just hit him once, because I wouldn't have time to take the key before he recovered.

Before I had time to do *anything*, he let go of my braid and grabbed my wrists in a unyielding grip, and before my self-defense instincts made me kick him again, I was leaning my back against the wall beside the door, and one of his knees were firmly set between my legs. When I wiggled in attempts to get free, it pressed harder, almost painfully hard, against my crotch.

"You're pretty." He whispered again, just like he had yesterday and his breath tickled my ear. I shivered as he bit my ear lobe.

Suddenly, I found myself being turned around and pressed against the wall again, with one of his hands on my back. I managed to turn my head to the left so my chin wouldn't be crushed against the hard wall. Another hand found its way down my back and tugged at the waistband of my pants.

I didn't know what to do, and I choked back a dry sob of pure fear. A memory of seeing a little girl being raped, at the time when I was still living on the streets together with Solo, flashed in front of my eyes and I desperately tried not to panic. How bad could it actually be? I asked myself, but it didn't reassure me much. The girl had screamed and screamed, until she couldn't do that anymore. The man killed her when he was done.

Suddenly, in the corner of my eye, I saw the doorknob shake slightly, as if someone tried to open the door. I didn't dare to hope, but even when I tried not to, a small glint of the annoying emotion woke my body up again, and my brain seemed to be able to think clearly again. I didn't realize until now that I had sunk into a dazed state of fear.

A big hand managed to slide under my waistband and I tried to wiggle myself free again. The hand only pressed harder against my back.

Suddenly, I heard a loud crash, and I saw as the door opened, the lock broken. At first, Mr. Fool didn't seem to react; he just stood there, with me pressed against the wall and with a hand in my pants. It wasn't before when Heero stalked into the room, followed by Quatre, as he let go of me, and I felt my legs give away and I sunk down on the grey floor.

The poor idiot didn't seem to know what to do, and he just stood there for a minute, staring at Heero in shock, before he walked out of the door, without a word. I stared after him from my spot on the floor.

When he was out of sight, I heard Quatre whimper and I looked at him instead. He looked.. horrible. His eyes were wide in shock and terror, and he shook where he was standing. I wondered why he was so upset, *he* wasn't the one who had been victim of a rape-attempt.

Rape-attempt.

I felt so very sick, and I desperately held back as I felt as if I was going to puke. My muscles tightened in the effort, but I succeeded.

They didn't seem to know what to do, so I tried to stand up on my wobbly legs. Heero realized what I was trying to do, and he slid an arm around my back to steady me. Quatre still looked shocked, but he followed us as we made our way out of the room. No one had seen what had happened with the door, so we just went away as fast as we could before anyone would come.

None of us spoke, and my fear had been replaced by shock and embarrassment. My cheeks grew red and once again, I felt that I wanted to hide somewhere. I don't think I could, though.

We came to a door, and Quatre unlocked it. When we went inside, I realized that it had to be Quatre's dorm-room, because it was only one bed inside. Heero let go of me, and I slid down on it, happy to be allowed to sit. Quatre sat down beside me and he grabbed my arm. I could see that he was still, upset, as upset as I felt.

"Oh Duo, you were so scared!" He said loudly, and he sounded very scared himself. I was amazed that he cared so much since we had only met each other a couple of days ago. Well, I was amazed until I realized what he had said.

"I was scared?" I asked in confusion and couldn't for my life understand what he meant. Heero was leaning against the door and watched as we spoke. After a while, I managed to get them to tell the whole story.

Quatre had waited outside the door as he did yesterday, when he felt my fear in his own chest. I was reminded of his 'Space heart'. He had tried to open the door and had found it locked. He had found Heero, who managed to break the lock and open the door. Easy as that. Sure.

I didn't know what to do when their story was finished. We sat (and Heero stood) in silence for a while before Quatre spoke up again. "Uhh, Duo? We have a class soon." He sounded embarrassed for some reason that I couldn't figure out.

Class. I didn't want to go to class yet. Actually, I was still scared. Heero seemed to realize what I was thinking, because he spoke up.

"I think Duo should stay here for a while."

I looked at him in surprise, but Quatre just nodded and went out again, leaving Heero and me alone. It became quiet again as neither of us seemed to know what to say. Heero broke it after a while though. "You should..rest." He said and also sounded oddly embarrassed and unsure.

I nodded and lay down on Quatre's bed, but as Heero moved to open the door, I was hit by fear again and I said in a small voice. "Can you stay for a while?"

He looked surprised, but nodded in agreement as he sat down in a chair. "Just sleep." He said, sounding slightly unsure as he said this. I realized that he was unused to soothe people, he sounded strange. "It's okay."

I closed my eyes, and strange enough, I fell asleep almost immediately.

*******

The End - Sequel is in progress

*******

Well, that's it! I know that rape-attempt, school-setting and all that is way over-used, but it's my fic right? I can do what I want. Personally, I think that Duo became way too weak, but I couldn't do anything about that, sorry! It just turned out that way. And do you want to know something? Feedback is a wonderful thing ^_^

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