Notes: The arc begins between one and two years after Endless Waltz. Duo POV in this story.
Life With Heero Arc Part 10
Shaken Faith
Duo slammed the door and stomped out of the house. He needed to get away from Heero till he calmed down. Of all the incredibly stupid things to argue over. Cleaning the lint filter on the dryer. 'Okay, so he thinks it should be cleaned after you take a load out. I happen to clean it when I put a load in. Big deal! Even if he did happen to do a load after me, it would take a lot more than just two loads worth of lint to cause a fire. He can be so totally anal about that kind of thing! I hate it when he gets... like... that... Hold it, did I say that to him? Shit, I did... I've certainly said it to him before and it's never bothered him... But that was before Relena's little temper tantrum did a number on him...'
Spinning on his heel, Duo literally ran back to the house. Racing in, he threw quick glances in each room as he went, bounding up the stairs to check the bedrooms. 'Aw fuck.' "Dammit, Heero, where the hell do you think you're going?" he demanded, knocking the duffel off the bed and yanking Heero around to face him.
Heero tried to duck his face away but Duo caught a glimpse of the bright sheen on his cheek. "You said..."
"What did I say, Heero? Word for word, buddy."
"You said you hated..."
Exasperated, Duo repeated it for him, "I said, 'Dammit, Heero, I hate it when you get like this!' Meaning when you get all uptight over something so totally minor and unimportant. I did not say that I hated you. How many times have you said that you hate the way I forget to clean out the shower drain when I'm done? Huh? Do you mean that you hate me when you say that? Or do you hate my behaviour?"
"I... your behaviour..."
Yanking Heero into a tight hug, Duo muttered fiercely into his ear, "I do not hate you. You are my best friend. You drive me absolutely positively fuckin' insane sometimes, but that doesn't change the fact that I care about you and want you to stay with me as long as you're willing to. If we have an argument, I will most likely go storming out of the house and go for a nice long walk so that I have time to cool down before I say something I'll regret. When that happens, I expect you to damn well be here when I get back. 'Cause if I have to go chasin' over half the Earth Sphere looking for you, I'm gonna be so fuckin' pissed by the time I catch up to you that I'll just knock you out and drag you back home without even giving you a chance to explain why the hell you did something so fuckin' stupid! Got that?!"
"Got it," Heero answered in a choked voice. His arms slowly came up to hug Duo back and he pressed his damp face against Duo's shoulder.
"Good. And I will try to remember to clean the lint filter when I take out a load, but I've been doin' it the other way since the first time I ever used a dryer, so I can't promise you I'll remember. Just try and remember to check before you do a load if you think the lint's gonna be a problem, okay?"
"Okay."
***
Standing under the shower a short time later, Duo leaned his forehead against the wall. 'God, that was close. He had almost half his stuff packed.' Slamming his fist against the tile, he thought, 'Dammit, Duo, you're gonna have to keep a shorter leash on that damn temper of yours! So much for my blithe assumption that Relena hadn't shaken Heero's faith in all of his friends.'
TBC...
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