Blood, Sweat and Tears Part 24
"Sold out!? For the whole regular season!?" Zechs shouted. Howard and Trent's jaws dropped as the team reeled from the announcement. "I've never seen the stadium full before!"
Dorothy chuckled deeply and shrugged, "Well, it has been quite some time since that has happened. And we have confirmed that eighty percent of the ticket holders are coming from all around to see first hand just how this whole drama brought on by the recent interviews plays out.
"That revenue coming in will be a tremendous help to Pittsburg. To be honest, I was expecting a few sold out games, but not the whole season." Chuckling deeply, she added, "And I never would have expected such a thing before the season even started."
Slowly scanning the wide eyes of her team, Dorothy advised, "So I just wanted to deliver the wonderful news in person. And to celebrate, there will be a party at my house tomorrow night after practice that I hope that you will all attend."
Warm smiles spread all around her in response.
Nodding firmly, the team owner wished kindly, "Have a good practice, gentlemen." That said, she turned and quietly left the locker room.
In little more than a breath, Wufei blinked in shock, "Sold out." Shaking his head, he snickered, "I sure hope nobody gets performance anxiety."
Not one face in the room gave off the least bit of nervousness in knowing so many eyes would be on them. On the contrary, there was only excitement and anticipation to show everyone what they could do.
If there had been any doubts as to whether or not this would be a good season before, there was not a one amongst the team now.
Grinning widely, Zechs spoke up, "You heard the lady. Let's go." With whoops and cries, the Wolverines rose to their feet and stormed out of the room for the field.
Throughout the practice, the team looked up to the empty stands and imagined what they would look like packed with cheering, screaming spectators.
* * * * * *
After two days of watching and studying Heero and Duo work on the running back's catching, Darren was able to identify the problem. His green eyes widened in realization from where he was perched, watching his teammates make try after try without rest.
Cursing and growling deeply following another failed attempt, the braided athlete picked up the fallen football after another failed attempt. "Son of a bitch," he hissed. "We only have one more week before the preseason and I still can't keep a hold of this thing."
Heero sighed deeply in his own frustration as he opened his hands to accept the ball being tossed back to him. Being the one who's job was only to throw or hand off the ball, he was at a loss of what to suggest. Even his reassurances were starting to sound the same after these weeks of this one-on-one practicing.
Quickly wheeling up to his friends, Darren shouted, "You're thinking too much!" Laughing, he spread his arms open and cried excitedly, "That's your problem! It was the same issue I had when I first started as a wide receiver in high school!"
Both Heero and Duo blinked at him in shock and confusion. "Is it really that simple?" the quarterback wondered aloud. Looking to his housemate, he asked, "What is going through your head when the ball's coming to you?"
Duo scratched the back of his braided head and sighed, "Oh, different things... 'I hope he didn't throw that thing too hard,' 'My hands better be where they need to be,' 'What if I can't get a good grip'..." Violet eyes widening in the new revelation as his voice trailed off at the end of his thought, he yelled, "Oh shit!"
Cheering, Darren threw his fists in the air and whooped, "I knew it! I could tell because you face changed every time you looked back for the throw, like you were concentrating too hard." He looked over to the stunned quarterback and explained in a reassuring tone, "Only someone who catches the ball on a regular basis would have been able to pick up on that. It's one of our early plagues that we have to get over as receivers."
A bit relieved that the simple fix was not something he should have noted himself, Heero nodded firmly with an inward sigh of relief.
Gazing up to the running back, Darren gave him a hardened look and ordered, "Whatever it takes, get your head clear before the ball's thrown. Just let your instincts kick in and take care of the rest."
"Got it," the American nodded while wringing out his brown tank-top.
As the wide receiver wheeled back out of the way, Heero and Duo got into the positions once more. The quarterback moved back a couple steps with the ball raised as he would if the ball were snapped to him as his teammate sprang past him a couple yards.
Turning, the braided football player watched as the ball was hurled to him and forced himself to just focus on his target. His arms seemed to move on their own, reaching out and gripping the ball easily. When they continued to hold on without so much as a slip, he shrieked out in excitement.
Before allowing himself to celebrate too long, Duo suggested a few more rounds to see if it stuck. The next ten passes were caught with the same effortlessness as the first. On the last throw, he raised his arm and hurled the ball to the ground with a screamed, "Yes!"
Joining in with shouts of his own, Heero ran forward and all but tackled Duo to the ground in a bear hug. Darren whooped and hollered as he wheeled back into the scene. Turning to face his instructor, the running back bent at the waist to give him a one-armed hug. As he caught his breath, he a very relieved and sincere, "Thank you."
Gently patting his back, Darren grinned, "No thanks needed. Just glad I could help." His smile turned into a smug smirk as he commented, "I just wish that I could see Treize's face when he sees that you can catch now."
He raised a finger and warned, "Just don't get discouraged the next time you do miss. Not every pass will be as easy to hold onto when there are defenders trying to stop you. Even Wufei and I never made every catch."
"Right," Duo smiled.
Moments later, Darren's wife made her way around the bend to collect him. Only then did Heero and Duo notice that the sun was already setting. After waving their friend off, neither one of them was ready to call it a night yet and went on to continue their drill. Once again, every catch was made even with the change ups that the quarterback threw into the mix.
The sunlight was nearly gone by the time the pair had worn themselves out. Running around and shouting out, Duo did several back flips before tackling his housemate to the ground. Heero laughed and rolled onto his back. "I can't believe this! I can catch!" the running back exclaimed as he rolled onto his own back.
Closing his eyes, Duo sighed deeply and soaked in the feel and small of the freshly cut grass beneath him. All around, the chirp of crickets filled the air along with the soft sparkle of fireflies. Millions of stars twinkled in the darkening heavens with a half moon glowing brighter by the second.
There had been... very few other times when he had felt so at peace.
He turned his head to find the quarterback watching him with a warm smile, their faces inches away from each other.
Instantly, their chuckles died and their breaths hitched at the close proximity. Maybe it was the adrenaline. Maybe it was the heat. Or it may have been the sheer relief of having worked through a challenge together...
Whatever the reason, before either of them knew it, their eyes were closed and their lips were touching in a soft kiss.
Gasping sharply when he realized what was happening, Heero sat up in an instant, crying, "I'm sorry!" Without looking back at his teammate, he crawled up to his feet and ran into the house before the running back could react.
Slowly sitting up, Duo blinked his wide, violet eyes and touched his fingers to his lips. His heart pounding in his chest, he breathed, "W-what the hell just happened?"
The sound of the back patio door slamming closed brought everything back in a rush.
* * * * * *
Dinner that evening was an uncomfortable affair.
Lady Une and Quatre eyed their unusually quiet friends. Neither Heero nor Duo looked up across the table to look at each other once as they rushed through their meals. Warily looking at each other, the maid and agent shared a silent conversation of worry.
After seeing how far the two had come along in their friendship, it was troublesome to see that they were clearly ill at ease with each other once again...
...though there was clearly something different about this.
After all but inhaling his food, Duo rose from his seat and pecked Lady Une on the cheek. "Wonderful meal as always, darlin'," he winked before making a quick escape from the dining room. The moment that he left, Quatre excused himself and followed close behind.
Sighing deeply, Heero's shoulders sagged as he dry-washed his face with his hands. Lady Une folded her hands together on the table and frowned deeply, "What happened?"
Roughly swallowing, the quarterback lowered his arms and stared at the empty spot that Duo had occupied. "I kissed him," he answered in little more than a breath. Gasping sharply, the maid's eyes widened. Slowly turning his head to meet her gaze, he asked brokenly, "Are you disgusted of me?"
"Oh, Heero," Lady Une whispered as she quickly rounded the table to sit beside him. Taking one of his hands in hers, she gently brushed back his bangs and smiled sadly, "I had hoped that you would know me better. I could never be disgusted of you." The relief in those cobalt eyes made her heartache that he had been so worried about what she thought of him.
Biting her lip, her eyes shimmered with small tears as she breathed, "I know that I'm not old enough to be your mother. And I would never want to replace that wonderful woman. But, I consider you like a son to me. Whatever you do, or whatever you become I will always be proud of you. I just want you to be happy." The heartache grew when small tears filled those cobalt eyes watching her.
With a deep breath, then young woman inquired, "You have feelings for Duo, then?"
Heero nodded, "Yes." His brow creasing, he shook his head, "No." Sighing deeply, he frowned, "I don't know. I-I know that I'm attracted to him, but I don't know how much further my feelings go beyond that."
Rising, he paced around the table and thought aloud, "I still don't know anything about him, other than what little he's shared with me and our friends." The frustration in his voice grew as he thrust his arms in the air and laughed, "How the hell can I know what I really feel for someone who admittedly keeps secrets from me? He obviously doesn't trust me enough if he's not willing to share them with me."
The maid tilted her head slightly and shrugged, "Well, I wouldn't say that the trust is not there if he admitted to you that he is hiding things in the first place. You don't know his reasons for holding back." She chewed on the inside of her lip before stating, "Besides, it's not as though you have a lot of ground to stand on when it comes to opening up."
His back to his friend in mid-pace, Heero froze at that. "I'm sorry," Lady Une told him, "But you cannot argue that one. And you have your own reasons for bottling your feelings."
Slowly sliding back into his chair, the quarterback nodded and whispered, "You're right."
Biting her lip, his friend pressed, "So, who initiated the kiss to begin with? Maybe that would shed some light on something here."
The team captain chuckled bitterly, "I'm not even sure. I've been trying to figure that out, myself, and I can't say for sure who moved first. We were just laying outside and the next minute, we were kissing..." His voice faded off at the end. "Then I ran away before I could get a reaction," he admitted regrettably.
Running a hand through his hair, he frowned deeply, "I'm so damned confused right now I don't know what end is up. Ever since Quatre told me that Duo wasn't seeing anyone, my thoughts and feelings for him have been one big mess."
Another smile tugged Lady Une's lips as she whispered, "That sounds like a lot more than just an attraction to me, Heero."
Heero swallowed roughly at that.
* * * * * *
Meanwhile...
Upstairs, Duo threw the door to his room open and fell into his bed face-first with a frustrated growl. Just as the door was swinging back closed, Quatre stopped it short and stepped inside. Throwing the light switch on, he closed the door gently before sitting himself in the computer desk's chair.
"So what happened between the two of you?" the agent asked softly after a long and heavy silence.
Sighing deeply, the running back pushed himself up into a sitting position to face his friend, legs crossed underneath. "We kissed," he answered with a deep frown.
Eyes widening, Quatre exclaimed, "You're shitting me!?" Silently, he was thankful that he was sitting when that lovely bit of news came out, lest he have landed on the floor otherwise. "Well, which one of you started it!?" he cried.
Duo opened his mouth to answer, then stopped and thought a moment. "I'm not really sure," he finally stated. "And it was just this innocent thing that couldn't have lasted more than a few seconds." A defeated look marred his face as he said, "Then he ran off without even looking back."
The agent's frown saddened at his friend's loss. Before he could say anything in support, Duo rose to his feet and started pacing. "Anyway, it doesn't really matter who started the kiss," he commented, waving his hands in the air. "The point is that it happened! And he clearly doesn't want anything to do with me on those terms."
"You don't know that," Quatre insisted. "Heero's dealing with a lot right now, on top of possibly just realizing that he might be attracted to you." Folding his arms, he smirked, "You know, a few weeks ago, he was talking about Hilde assuming she was your girlfriend based on one of the pictures he found in your room."
Instantly, the running back froze and spun to look to him with wide eyes. His grin growing, the agent continued, "When I essentially told him that you were not seeing anyone, he had this look of relief on his face. This must be the first time that he's been dealing with feelings like this towards another person and he just needs time to sort it out."
Biting his lip, Duo thought aloud softly, "I don't know what would be more difficult... If he finds out that he doesn't want something, or if he does. There's the being crushed with the first and with the second..." He lowered his braided head.
With a deep sigh, Quatre finished for him, "Then that means you'll have to let him in on the things that you're keeping from him. No real relationship can really work if you can't trust him enough with everything." The football played nodded shallowly without looking back up.
Slowly rising from the chair, the Arab walked up to his friend and placed his hands on either shoulder. "Whatever happens," he vowed quietly, "you know that I'll always be here to help in any way that I can."
Clearing away the lump that formed in his throat, Duo met his gaze and whispered brokenly, "Thanks, Quat. That... means the world to me."
A warm smile graced Quatre's face as he squeezed his client's shoulders once more before releasing them. "I know it'll be hard, but just give Heero time," he suggested. "He'll come around when he's ready."
"Yea," the running back replied softly. Patting his friend's back, Quatre headed out of the room to offer some privacy.
Duo fell back onto his bed with a groan and closed his eyes, knowing that sleep was going to avert him that night. Sighing deeply, he frowned, "Just when I thought things couldn't get more complicated. "
TBC...
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