Author's Note: While I could keep toying with them indefinitely (insert cruel chuckle), I truly feel Heero and Duo have been through enough, and it's time for a little resolution.
Duo's POV
The Wedding Planner Part 62
On the Beach
It was Saturday evening, less than two days until my flight to L2; the realtor had told me there was someone seriously interested in the house, and that we'd probably have an offer any day. So she was coming over Monday morning for me to sign the paperwork so she could act on my behalf as the sales agent.
You'd think I'd have been happy about that--but I wasn't. In fact, I wasn't happy about much of anything. I felt like a lost soul as I wandered through the stacks of boxes in the hallway, checking labels and quelling the urge to drag them back into their respective rooms and unpack them.
I'd made my choice, and I had to stick with it. My threats to Quatre hadn't been idle ones. If I stayed on Earth pining for Heero, it was liable to kill me. At the very least, I'd end up drunk, depressed, and probably out clubbing and sleeping around again. Neither Solo nor Alex would have wanted that for me. I didn't think Heero would either, for that matter. And honestly, neither did I. But I knew my track record and the likelihood I'd backslide into old, familiar habits.
I went back up to my room to pack the last of my stuff--clothes and personal items I didn't want to put in the moving van when it came on Monday morning. And I resisted the urge to cry over each item I tucked away into my suitcase, realizing that as lonely as I'd been in the cottage, it was still my dream house. And it felt like I was leaving everything I loved behind.
Well no shit. I was. I was leaving the ocean, the mountains, Quatre and Trowa, Hilde and Jacques...all the places and people that had come to matter to me. I was even leaving Solo and Alex...and it hurt like hell. But I still didn't see that I had any alternative. I couldn't be so close to Heero and not have him; it would just eat away at my soul until there was nothing left. I had to get away before I heard the news that he'd found some other guy to spend his life with, and it destroyed me.
It wasn't until I started clearing off my bureau that I came across the list. Yeah, I'd forgotten about it, too. But as I picked up a scrap of napkin to toss in the trash, I caught a glimpse of Heero's handwriting and realized what it was.
And I found myself sitting on my bed, holding that stupid little piece of paper and reading the list of things Heero had written about me. Beautiful...sexy...charming... impetuous...daring...fascinating...clever...and one I hadn't noticed the first time around...perfect.
I raised an eyebrow at that. I'd called him perfect, and laughed at the very thought that anyone could think I was. And he'd been perfect; the night we spent together was still the most breathtaking one I'd ever experienced. Maybe it had been his inexperience that made it so special. I dunno. I just know every gasp and moan had made me positively ache with desire. And I still knew there would never be anyone I'd feel that way about again.
I could sleep with a million guys and never find another Heero Yuy. And that made my future look horribly long and bleak.
Flopping down on my bed, I reread the list, blinking back tears. And then I picked up the phone, thinking that maybe I should just call one last time...to at least say goodbye before I left.
I must have dialed his number ten times...and then I hung up each time before it rang. I didn't know what to say, or where to start. I didn't know what he wanted any more. In spite of the article revealing his break-up with Relena, I wasn't sure he was still interested in me. After all, he hadn't called or written or tried to contact me at all since the restraining order was lifted. Didn't that prove that he was finished with me?
He'd probably given Wufei hell for talking to me in the first place, let alone convincing me to get rid of the restraining order. That probably wasn't something Heero was looking for. In fact, I wasn't even sure he'd come back from Japan yet. Maybe he was settling back in with his parents and trying to be the good son they wanted.
Sometimes I fucking hate my imagination.
I fell asleep at some point, listening to the soft swish of the waves and the whisper of wind among the dunes for what would probably be the final time. I was supposed to spend my last night on Earth with Quatre and Trowa, and I suspected they wouldn't let me out of their sight any sooner than they had to.
~*~
I woke to a slightly misty morning, hearing the faint cries of seagulls and wondering why that small sound had roused me from my restless sleep. Usually I could lounge in bed until noon without half trying.
There was a thump outside somewhere, and I got curious, pushing myself up off the bed and padding over to the window to look out. But the scrubby grove of trees obstructed my view to the right, and all I could see was a blank stretch of sand to my left.
Sighing, I went to the bathroom to freshen up, and then stumbled sleepily down the stairs to make coffee. I didn't even bother to fix my braid, which was a bit sloppy and loose, and all I was wearing were my cutoff jeans and tee shirt I'd fallen asleep in the night before. There was no point in changing when I expected to spend most of the day finishing my packing.
I was pouring my first cup of coffee, when I heard another thump, a bit louder then the first had been, and I frowned, slipping on my sandals and walking to the back door with my cup in hand. I pulled it open and peered out, seeing nothing amiss, until I noticed a newspaper rolled up on the top step.
"What the fuck--?"
I walked out onto the porch, bending to pick up the newspaper, and wondering how it got there. And then, as I unrolled it, a bunch of white flowers fell out, and I paused in confusion. "What the hell--?" The stems were tied into a bouquet with a dark blue silk ribbon. I picked them up and looked around for whoever might have left them.
Then my eyes lit upon the waves rolling up onto the beach, and I froze. Someone was standing in about a foot of water, pants rolled up to his knees, and dark hair ruffled by a soft breeze. He was holding a handful of wildflowers.
I rubbed my eyes, sure I was dreaming. My cup of coffee fell from nerveless fingers as I stepped off the porch and started walking down the beach. When I got to the water's edge, I stopped, feeling the chilly waves lapping at my toes.
"Heero?" He looked more relaxed than I'd ever seen him, and I realized he was wearing jeans. "What are you doing here?"
He shrugged slightly, giving a small, shy smile. "Why don't you come out here and find out?" he suggested. I noticed he shifted minutely, and I realized quite suddenly that he was terribly, painfully unsure of himself, even though he hid it behind a calm, relaxed veneer.
I looked down at the water, and then kicked off my sandals and stepped into the waves, walking out to stand facing Heero. He held out the flowers, and I raised an eyebrow. "You came all the way out here to bring me flowers?"
"And this." He held out his other hand, which was closed around a small object.
Feeling the beginnings of panic, I took a step back, searching his eyes for a clue. "We're standing in water, 'Ro...you want to come in for coffee?"
He shook his head, still holding out that damned hand with whatever was clutched in the white-knuckled grip.
"Heero, please..."
"Take it," he urged, his voice taut with apprehension.
I shook my head. "You don't want to--"
"To what? Marry you?" he asked, eyes blazing with intensity. "Yes, I do." He took both of the bouquets, tossing them up onto the beach, and then literally forced my hand open, stuffing in a small velvet box, before folding my fingers around it and keeping his hands clasped over mine.
"But--"
"No! I don't want to hear any 'buts,' Duo. I don't want to hear how your fiancés both died and you somehow think it's because of you. And I don't want to hear how it's your fault Relena and I didn't work out, because it's not." He closed his hands over mine, pulling me closer. "I don't want you to tell me I'll lose my parents' respect, or my social standing, or clients at my job--none of that matters without you. I don't want you to try to tell me I'll be giving up too much to be with you. All I want to hear from you is 'yes.'"
I looked up into the Prussian blue eyes, and felt my resolve weakening. "God, Heero--"
"Yes. Just say it!" he ordered, frowning in concentration, as if by willing it so, he could make me say what he wanted to hear. "Please..."
I looked down at the clear, foamy water swirling around our ankles. "Yes," I whispered.
I heard a small, strangled sound, and looked up to see his eyes brimming with tears.
"'Ro?"
He shook his head, swallowing to regain control. "I was afraid you wouldn't," he confessed, his hands trembling as he opened the velvet box and took out two rings. Without giving me another chance to protest, he placed one on my left ring finger, and handed me the other.
My hands were shaking just as badly, as I slipped the ring onto his left hand. And then his arms were around me, and his face was buried against my neck, his breath warm and comforting.
"God, I love you," he whispered hoarsely. "I thought I ruined everything."
"No, that's my job," I replied with a shaky laugh, wrapping my arms so tightly around him that it's a wonder he could still breathe.
"You couldn't ruin anything," he said firmly. "You're my heart and soul. Without you, I'd be lost. I was lost...until I met you."
"Maybe I was too," I admitted, realizing that in spite of going through the motions for all those years, I'd never felt as complete and at peace as I did right at that moment. Even what I'd felt for Solo and Alex paled in comparison to what Heero made me feel. Not that it cheapened those loves that came before; on the contrary, it made them all the more precious, for teaching me...for giving me something to compare...so I could recognize how powerful this love really was. I buried my face in Heero's thick hair, breathing deeply the sun-warmed scent of his shampoo and of him. "Love you, 'Ro," I murmured softly.
I knew he heard me, because his arms tightened fractionally. "I'll never let you go. Ever."
"Promise?"
"On my life."
"Mm--same here."
At that moment, a particularly energetic wave slapped the back of my calves, splashing cold foam up onto the backs of my thighs. I yelped in surprise, jumping slightly, and Heero began backing us out of the water.
"Had enough ocean for today?" he asked, nuzzling my neck and then allowing his lips to trace the line of my jaw.
When he reached my mouth, and pressed his lips to it, I smiled into the kiss. "You ever have sex on the beach, 'Ro?"
"The drink, or actual sex?" he asked teasingly.
"I don't drink," I reminded him. "So it'd have to be the other."
"You'll get sand in your hair," he pointed out.
By now we were on dry land, still slowly making our way up towards my cottage, arms still wrapped around each other, and lips teasing and nibbling--warring for control.
"Not just in the hair," I told him, giving a brief, coarse laugh. "You win, 'Ro. We'll take this inside...for now. But next time we'll bring out a blanket, and I'm gonna show you what it feels like to have the sun on your back and the wind across your skin while you make love to the music of the waves."
He shuddered at the imagery, moaning into the kiss. "Fuck, Duo!" he breathed against my lips. "You keep talking like that an' I'll come before we even get to the porch."
Wow. All he had to do was say the word "come" and I almost did. "Jesus fucking Christ," I muttered, literally dragging him the next few steps up onto the porch.
Then I found myself swept up in his arms, and I looked into laughing blue eyes. "What're you doing?" I demanded.
"Carrying you over the threshold," he told me, planting a teasing kiss on the end of my nose.
"I've been living here for weeks, 'Ro."
"But I haven't." He looked a little uncertain then. "Do you want me to?"
"It wouldn't be home without you," I told him. "It hasn't been."
His arms tightened, and he carried me inside as if I weighed less than a feather, kicking the door shut behind us, and heading straight up the stairs to the loft. I forgot he'd been in the house before when he bought it.
He made his way unerringly to the bedroom, tossing me onto the messy pile of blankets I'd kicked aside that morning. And he crawled on hands and knees so he was over me, looking down adoringly at my face. "Did I ever tell you how beautiful you are?"
"Only as many times as I told you you're perfect," I countered, reaching up to run my fingers through the thick, dark hair. God, I loved that hair! Not to mention the guy attached to it.
He bent to kiss me, so slowly and thoroughly that it made me squirm with desire.
And then he lifted his lips from mine, and gently ran a thumb across my cheek, before leaning to place the softest of kisses next to my nose. After that, he continued raining delicate little kisses around each eye, and along my cheekbones. It was as if he'd memorized every bruise on my face that day on the beach when he'd given me the house. He kissed each spot so gently and tenderly it felt like the caress of a butterfly wing.
Damn! Was I poetic or what? Heero seemed to bring out the "romantic" in me.
He also brought out the lust, and long before he seemed to tire of caressing my face, I needed more, and I rolled so that I was above him, kissing him hungrily. "Enough foreplay!" I hissed in a heated whisper. "I want you. Now!"
He merely smiled lazily, letting his gaze roam over my face. "You've got me forever," he whispered huskily. "What's your hurry?" He pulled the tie from my hair, loosening the messy braid and then he ran a hand up my arm, trailing goose bumps in its wake. "I want to make this last as long as possible."
Then he very patiently rolled me onto my back and resumed his kisses, slowly peeling the tee shirt off over my head so he could move from my face and neck down my torso. I was too busy trembling with desire to pay attention to him tossing his shirt away, too. And I barely noticed when he stripped off my jeans and his, adding them to the pile on the floor.
But when his lips found their way far enough down so they were teasing my achingly hard erection, I sure as hell noticed that. "Oh, God--'Ro!" My fingers clenched helplessly in his hair as he ran a tongue over the tip and then swallowed me whole. I arched up off the bed with a guttural cry, absolutely losing myself in the incredible sensation. I swear, he was perfect at everything he did.
His hands held my hips in place as he licked and teased and drove me completely wild, stopping just short of letting me come.
"Where--how'd you learn--?" I gasped, squirming as he stopped his ministrations.
"You," he said simply. "Taught me everything I know." A perfectly devilish smirk curled those luscious, wet lips. "Well...and the internet might've filled in a few blanks."
"Bastard," I moaned, wriggling my hips against the firm, but gentle grip. "How 'bout finishing what you started?"
"All day," he breathed, leaning down to kiss my stomach and chest. "We've got all day--and then a lifetime. You did marry me you know. Making it legal will just be a formality."
I grinned. "Guess that lowers the odds of you becoming the third fiancé I bury, eh?"
"Eliminates them altogether," he insisted. "Now--that's enough talk. We aren't here to think--we're here to feel."
My hand slipped down between his legs, stroking the hardness it found. "Yeah, well, I'd like to feel this--in a very particular place."
"Soon," he promised with a smirk, echoing the things I'd said to him the first time we made love. Damn him and that flawless memory of his!
And damn him for dragging out every touch and every kiss until I was almost screaming with need...quivering at the first gentle finger he pushed inside me...gasping and writhing by the time he worked his way up to two and then three...and giving a long moan of ecstasy when he replaced the teasing fingers with his hard length what seemed like hours later.
"'Bout fuckin' time!" I groaned, savoring the sensation of being filled with that throbbing heat.
His face was beaded with sweat, his expression intent as he fought the urge to give in to his passion. But there was a smug smile on those perfect lips when I begged him to move...the fuckin' control freak.
"I love you, Duo," he said softly...with incredible tenderness...tenderness that literally shone from those deep blue eyes as he looked at me. Aw, damn--how d'you stay mad at a guy like that?
"Love you too, 'Ro. God, yes!" I gasped, as he finally pulled back and thrust again, giving me the motion and friction I craved. "Fuck!"
I didn't last long after that, building to a climax that had me clinging to him and screaming obscenities as he thrust one last time and I felt the heat of his release inside me.
He was fucking amazing...
...all day long.
~*~
I woke up to the afternoon sun slanting in the window, and found myself tangled in Heero's arms, his legs entwined with mine and one of his hands draped over my hip.
He was still asleep, his face soft and relaxed and a faint smile on his lips. God, he was incredible to look at, and I could've spent the rest of the afternoon doing just that. But I hadn't eaten breakfast that morning, and my stomach was grumbling a protest.
I reluctantly disentangled myself from his arms, slipped out of bed, and grabbed a pair of boxers, throwing them on and padding quietly out of the bedroom and down the stairs. I tossed my still-loose hair back over my shoulder, yawning and stretching as I reached the first floor. But just as I turned the corner for the kitchen, I heard a muffled sound and spun to see two very amused people sitting on the couch.
"How long have you been here?" I asked Quatre, blushing to the roots of my hair as they both stared knowingly at my messy appearance and the obvious marks on my neck and chest.
"Long enough to guess you won't be leaving for L2 tomorrow, will you?" he replied with a smirk.
"Um--no." I shifted uneasily, rubbing a hand self-consciously across my bare stomach, kind of wishing I'd put on more than just underwear before meandering downstairs to find some food. How much had they heard? Not that it mattered; they could see for themselves that I'd just spent the morning in bed...with someone. And I didn't delude myself into thinking they didn't know who.
"Good--we can help you unpack before dinner," Quatre said, standing up.
"You're early," I muttered, leading the way to the kitchen with him and Trowa close behind. I have to give them credit--they didn't even laugh.
"Just in time, actually," Quatre said with a smug lilt to his voice.
I looked over my shoulder as I opened the refrigerator and they settled at the table. "You told Yuy I was leaving?"
"Friday afternoon," admitted my sly blonde friend.
"He put all this together in one day?" I asked in surprise, turning with the orange juice carton in hand.
"All what?"
Sighing, I told Quatre and Trowa the highlights of my morning while I made sandwiches for them as well as for me and Heero.
I was putting the finishing touches on the last sandwich when I heard the patter of feet on the stairs and Heero's voice.
"Duo? Where'd you go--did I hear voices?" He came around the corner dressed (or undressed) almost exactly like I was, and stopped in his tracks, blushing adorably. "Oh. Uh, Quatre...Trowa..." He nodded a polite greeting, edging over so he was partially behind me, and then wrapping his arms around my waist and kissing the side of my neck.
"They came to help us unpack," I said with a smile, offering him a glass of juice, which he took and gulped down in a few big swallows.
Yeah, all-day sex can be thirsty work.
"I guess I should go put some clothes on," he suggested, regaining his composure and his sense of humor quickly.
I turned in his arms so I was facing him. "First ya gotta eat. I made sandwiches."
He leaned in to whisper in my ear what he'd really like to eat, and I whispered a promise for later.
"Want us to leave and come back?" Trowa asked bluntly, his green eyes giving me an amused look when I turned back around.
"Naw," I teased right back. "You're just as liable to catch us in bed any time you show up."
He laughed at that. "I might've guessed."
Heero pulled back, rubbing his chest a little self-consciously. "I should go put a shirt on at least."
"Nope." I shook my head, tugging him towards a chair at the table. "It's 'Eat Lunch Naked Day', and I'm stretching a point by letting our two guests keep all their clothes on."
He just shook his head hopelessly, settling into a chair and darting a brief glance at the others before picking up his sandwich.
We had a quick, late lunch, and then Heero and I actually did get dressed so we could spend the rest of the day unpacking boxes and trying to get hold of the moving company to tell them to forget about Monday's appointment.
Quatre had brought supplies for a cookout, which we had on the beach, bringing a perfect day to its perfect end. And when he and Trowa left, well after sunset, I ran upstairs and grabbed some blankets, candles, and a few necessary supplies, determined to show Heero what was so spectacular about sex on the beach.
And y'know what? He was perfect at that, too.
TBC...
Back to Snowdragonct's Fanfictions Page