Something Furry Part 9
"And if you don't like it, you don't have to wear it..." The bracelet dropped free of its wrapping and into Duo's hand.
His heart stopped.
He tried to open his lips, wanting to tell Heero that of course he was going to wear it, but his voice wouldn't come- it was swamped by relief.
Heero isn't going to send me away!
Behind the relief was the sheer joy.
He loves me!
Duo's fingers tightened around the bracelet. He hadn't dared hope- not after nights of having Heero come up with every excuse why he couldn't go to bed when Duo did, of having Heero avoid his touch, do anything to put distance between them...
"Duo?" Heero sounded worried.
Of course he is! Duo scolded himself and flung his arms around Heero, holding on as tight as he could.
"Of course I'm going to wear it!" He forced the words out past the lump in his throat. "I love you too!"
And in that moment, his world turned upside down. Heero froze in his embrace, his breath a sharp hiss of surprise against Duo's ear.
Idiot! He didn't know what the bracelet meant! It's a Pride thing, not a human thing! He was just trying to give you a gift! You overstepped yourself again...
Cursing himself, he moved to pull away- only to be caught by his mate, pulled back into a tight embrace.
"I'm sorry!" He said against Heero's shoulder. "I'm sorry! I didn't think- of course you wouldn't know what this sort of gift means to the Pride! How could you know? I just... I was so happy... I didn't think... I'm sorry!" He swallowed hard, cursing at himself silently. "Please don't send me away..." It was his greatest fear after what happened with Luel's mates...
"Duo!" Heero pulled back just enough to meet his eyes. "I told you- I would never send you back to the Pride-"
"But you might send me somewhere else- with the fae, or Sally or Wufei..." Duo saw the surprise in his mate's expression and knew he'd guessed correctly. "Please don't! I know I messed up, but I can do better-"
"You didn't mess up," Heero cut him off gently. "I-"
"But- that thing with Luel... I shouldn't have thought that you were going to hurt Nell and Fyan... I just..."
"Duo, I'm not upset about that. How would you know I'd disobey your grandmother? No one else does, right? And I told you it was okay-"
"It wasn't okay! Afterwards you started pushing me away! Why would you do that if you weren't mad at me?" Duo bit his lip. He shouldn't be saying these things to his mate.
Heero sighed, cuddling Duo closer. "I'm sorry," he said softly against Duo's hair. "I truly am." His fingers brushed over Duo's face, wiping away the dampness Duo hadn't realized was there. "I never meant to hurt you like this. I wasn't mad! I just... I didn't want you to feel like you were stuck with me- like Luel's mates. It's so bad for them and yet they don't want to leave. I wanted you to feel like you had a choice-"
"I had a choice-" Duo protested.
"From a file. That's not the same as living with me. I don't want you feeling like you can't leave if you want to-"
"I don't want to," Duo tightened his grip a little. "Please don't make me." Taking a deep breath, he continued, knowing he was pushing the bounds, but not caring: "Fyan and Nell could've left- I know you could've helped them. They know it too. But they love Luel. They stayed because they love him. Just like I want to stay because I love you."
Please believe me! He added silently. Please...
Heero was quiet, his cheek still resting against Duo's head. Duo wondered what he was thinking. Had he been hoping Duo would want to leave?
He bit his lip. "Do you... do you want me to go? Do you feel like you're stuck with me?" Duo wanted to look up into Heero's face, catch his expression- but at the same time, he didn't want to see what he was afraid was there...
Something coiled around his arm and he looked down just as Heero fastened the bracelet on his wrist. Duo's breath caught in his throat.
"I want you to stay," Heero said softly. "But if you ever want to go-"
Duo didn't let him finish. He lifted his head up, caught Heero's lips with his. Heero's lips opened, drawing Duo into a deeper kiss. Greatly daring, relief and joy returning, Duo pulled him down onto the sofa cushions, not breaking the kiss, hoping that Heero wouldn't pull away, wouldn't find some reason to stop...
The phone rang.
But Heero didn't stop.
"Let voicemail get it," he muttered against Duo's lips as if he thought Duo was going to leap up to answer it. Duo nearly laughed in relief, sliding his fingers under the edge of Heero's shirt, tugged on the waistband of his jeans.
"Bed-" his mate started and lifted up a little. Duo didn't let him go.
"Here."
"Not as comfortable-"
"I don't care." He tugged again.
"Here," Heero agreed and let Duo pull him down again.
~*~
Heero squinted up at the ceiling. Duo was curled up beside him on the cushions they'd scattered over the floor, breathing evenly, one arm thrown possessively over Heero's chest. The bracelet glinted on his wrist and Heero made a mental note to have a little chat with Sally. She could've warned him!
Then again, if she had, he never would've given the thing to Duo in the first place- and he wouldn't have known just how badly he'd been hurting his mate. He'd never thought- never allowed himself to think that Duo would be hurt... In reality, though he'd told himself he was doing it for Duo, he'd been pushing Duo away to protect himself.
Sighing, he leaned over and brushed a kiss over Duo's forehead, promising his sleeping mate that he'd try to be less of an idiot in the future. Carefully sliding away, he got to his feet, wondering if Duo would want breakfast when he woke up. Lunch, he corrected himself, glancing at the clock.
The blinking message light on the phone caught his eye and he went to lift the receiver, expecting a message from Sally or Wufei about the party. He pressed the button and swallowed a curse as the voice started speaking.
"Yuy, this is Une. I have another little job for you. Please call me back..."
TBC...
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