The Claim Part 9a
Duo gasped, panic gripping his heart. Wufei. It was Wufei! He didn't think he would ever see him again. He didn't even have the time to think about how he would react if he met him again. And now the man who fathered his child was here.
What should he do?
The lifebearer pressed his left hand against the closed door, his right one gripped Shinigami's black fur desperately. If he was honest with himself, he had to admit that he still had feelings for the black-haired man. They were dampened by the events of the last couple of days, but they were still there. Wufei was his first, and that, Duo would never be able to forget him. But this memory was overshadowed by the fact that the Sire didn't want him. That even though Duo expected Wufei's child, Wufei would have let him die, along with their baby. And Duo couldn't help but think of the Wufei he loved and the one who refused to claim him and their child, as two different people.
It hurt to think about the Sire, and his betrayal. Duo wasn't ready to deal with this whole mess. He was still hurting too much because of his baby. He couldn't this confrontation on top of all the things that had happened already. Duo leaned his forehead on the rough surface of the door and closed his eyes.
"Go away," he said, his voice low and full of pain.
"Duo, please..." came the desperate plea from the other side of the door.
The lifebearer felt tears gather behind his eyelids, and he sniffed silently. His voice became even more quiet. "Go away, Wufei,"
There was a sigh from the other side of the door. Shinigami growled loudly, baring his teeth at the sound of feet shuffling. Wufei was quiet for a while but Duo knew that the Sire hadn't left, that he was still there, waiting for gods knew what.
"Duo, I need to talk to you. I need to explain..."
The rest of the words drowned in the roar that filled Duo's ears. He needed? HE needed? The sadness and desperation that seconds ago threatened to overwhelm the lifebearer's mind, turned to rage. Hot, red, unforgiving rage. The shell that protected his raw mind finally cracked and the emotions he had been trying to squash forced their way to the surface.
In a burst of motion fueled by the incredible fury tearing his heart and mind apart, Duo threw the door open to face the startled young man.
"You need? You need? It's all about you, isn't it? You didn't come here because you wanted to know if I'm even still breathing. You came because you felt guilty and wanted me to ease your conscience, smother you with sweet words of forgiveness," he screamed at Wufei, his hands balled in fists. "Well, you thought wrong. I won't forgive you. Ever. Because you don't deserve forgiveness for what you did!"
As if echoing Duo's words, Shinigami crouched low. The dog's hackles were up, and his teeth were bared. He growled deep in his throat, looking more like a wild wolf than a dog.
Wufei backed away a step at the sight but didn't run. He swallowed and tore his eyes away from the black beast to look back at Duo. There was a look of complete horror on his face. "D... Duo, your face..." he whispered and raised his hand, as if to touch the fading bruises on Duo's face.
Duo flinched, then knocked Wufei's hand to the side. Shinigami barked, saliva dripping from his mouth.
"Don't touch me ever again," the lifebearer warned the black haired man, his eyes ablaze with furious fire. "What did you expect after what my father did to me?" Duo ran his hand over the bruised cheeks. "Take a good look. This is the price I had to pay for your cowardice!"
Now it was Wufei's turn to flinch. He looked to away. "I'm sorry," he said quietly.
Duo's eyes narrowed, but he didn't say anything.
Encouraged by Duo's silence, Wufei raised his eyes to the man whose innocence he had stolen. "I... We need to talk. Can I come in?" he asked.
"No," Duo replied. "This isn't my house and I don't have any right to invite you in. If you want to talk, do it out here."
"I came to tell you how... how very very sorry I am about what happened. If I could take it back, the whole thing, I would have-"
"Take back what?" Duo interrupted him, his voice clipped. "The cowardly decision you've made? Or the baby? Or us?"
Wufei opened his mouth, then closed it again, and swallowed hard. "I don't know," he answered, his tone sincere. "Maybe everything. I still have feelings for you," he admitted. "If we'd gotten together before my father married me to Meiran..." he trailed off and looked away again.
Duo crossed his arms on his chest. "Ah, Meiran," he said, sarcastic. "Does he know you're here? That you went to visit your ex-lover?"
Wufei took in a sharp breath, then looked at Duo. "No, he doesn't know. And... please, don't tell him anything."
The dying fire in Duo's eyes was immediately ablaze again. The lifebearer dropped his arms, balling his hands in fists again, his bruised face flushed with anger.
"That's it, isn't it?" Duo snapped, forcing his voice to stay calm. "You're afraid that I will tell everything to Meiran to get back at you!" Wufei's flinch proved his suspicion right. "How could you?! How could you think so little of me?" His voice rose in volume, quivering with suppressed emotion.
Duo could easily identify the black feeling trying to worm its way into his heart. It was hatred. Some saying said that there was only a fine line between love and hatred and Duo feared that he had crossed the line and didn't even care. This man was his suffering personified. This was the man who could have stopped everything with one word. And he didn't do it. This was the man who had been ready to sacrifice his lover and his child for the sake of his family's damned honor. And in that moment, Duo realized he truly hated the man before him.
"I... I love Meiran," Wufei whispered, as if that explained everything.
"You love him?" Duo laughed bitterly. "Didn't you tell me the same when you took me in that clearing for the first time? Didn't you repeat it to me every time you got drunk and pulled my pants down? Didn't you complain about how much you hated him, when you were fucking me?" The lifebearer was screaming. "I believed you! I trusted you! Gods, I was a naive child that truly believed every damn word you fed me! I had a crush on you. And you used it against me!"
Wufei frowned, the guilty look in his eyes turning into anger. "Now wait a minute there," he jumped in. "Don't put it all on me. Two are necessary for that. I didn't rape you. You were willing to lie with me! I didn't hear you screaming for help when you spread your legs for me," he shouted, his temper rising.
The smack echoed through the clearing, startling them both.
Duo went from flushed to pale in the space of heartbeat. Wufei stood there, completely silent, his head still turned to one side. Shinigami was growling, waiting for the strange human to raise his hand. The dog was waiting for a reason to tear Wufei to shreds for upsetting his new human.
"Go," Duo forced out quietly and lowered his head, feeling the burning sensation in his eyes. "Go and don't come back ever again. You're not welcome here and you never will be."
Wufei turned his head back and looked at Duo's bowed head. The anger was gone from his eyes. "And the baby?" He was clearly reluctant but needing to know.
A flicker of the earlier rage passed through Duo's eyes as he lifted his head, but it was gone even before Wufei could notice it. The lifebearer looked the raven haired man directly in the eyes.
"There is no baby," he answered coldly.
Wufei blinked, frowning in confusion. "Wh... What?" he stammered.
"There is no baby. I lost it on the second day I was here. You don't need to worry about being compromised anymore," Duo assured him, his voice as ice-cold as his eyes.
Paling, Wufei swallowed painfully. "But... we... I didn't know... The Healer didn't say-"
"The Healer refused to come and help me, because I had been banned from the village. And no one is interested in rescuing an unclaimed whore," the lifebearer said, his voice bitter, but devoid of anger. "So you see, there is no reason for you to be here or come ever again. Your obligations towards me, even the ones you didn't bother to respect, are gone. They died with the baby. And if you ever felt something for me at all, you'll respect my wish to never see you again, Wufei Chang. Good bye," he said, his voice final, leaving no room for objections.
Duo turned around, calling Shinigami. The dog stubbornly growled at the shocked Sire as Duo closed the door quietly.
TBC...
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