The Wedding Date Part 18
When Heero returned to the ballroom after his garden chat with Relena and a quick, fruitless jaunt to the kitchen and bathrooms, he headed straight for Duo's table, assuming he must have returned there by this time, and wanting to tell him about Relena's little bombshell. She'd given him the go-ahead to tell his "soulmate," as she put it, because she was planning on a formal announcement within the next few days; she was just waiting for her fiancé to return from a trip.
But the braided man was nowhere in sight. Instead, Quatre and Trowa were taking a break from dancing and nibbling on a second helping of wedding cake.
"Let me guess --" Trowa spoke up, just as Heero opened his mouth. "Where's Duo?" He smirked devilishly. "That seems to be your favorite line since we got here."
Quatre looked up in surprise. "Isn't Duo with you?"
"Obviously not."
"Where've you been for so long?" Trowa asked.
"Relena wanted to talk, so she dragged me off for a little privacy," Heero said with a smirk.
"Oh. Tough luck," Quatre said with a wince.
"Actually, no, it wasn't," Heero contradicted him. "She wanted to let me know she got over her crush and just wants us to be friends."
"Really?" Quatre's eyebrows rose to his hairline.
"Really."
"And you're -- okay with that?" Trowa asked.
"I'm terrific," Heero grinned back, scanning the room for Duo once again. "Where else might Duo have gone?" he wondered aloud.
"You checked the restroom?" Quatre asked.
"Of course. That's where you sent me. He wasn't there or in the kitchen."
Quatre frowned slightly. "Well, that's odd. Wherever he did go, he should've been back long since."
"D'you suppose he really did get lost?" Trowa asked.
Two sets of snide looks shot his way. "Not funny."
"What?" he said with a blank look. "I wasn't making a joke before. It's a big palace!"
"Maybe you should check your room," Quatre suggested. "He might have gone to change shirts."
"Oh, I'll bet that's it!" Trowa agreed.
"I'll try there next," Heero told them. "If he comes back to the table, make him stay put, hm?"
"We'll sit on him if we have to," Trowa smirked.
"Just ask him to wait for me," came a grumbled response. Then Heero headed towards the main foyer and the stairway leading to the upper levels, where the guest rooms were located.
As he crossed the dance floor, he gave it a quick visual sweep, wondering if Duo might have been coaxed into a waltz or two. He decided if he found him there, he'd cut in, and treat him to one himself.
God, resolving things with Relena had him feeling almost giddy with relief -- and generous because of it.
"Heero, dear," Dorothy said, slipping up and grabbing his arm. "Whyever aren't you dancing with Relena?"
He tugged his arm free. "Because she's not my date," he said flatly.
"Maybe she should be," came the catty response. "Your other one seems to have forgotten who he came with."
"Huh?"
"Your braided wonder slipped off with Alex a little while ago," Dorothy crooned. "But you know, considering his line of work, that's not surprising --"
"His -- what?"
"Line of work, dear," Dorothy said, waving to Relena and beckoning her to join them.
"What do you know about his line of work?" Heero demanded.
Dorothy gave him a truly patronizing look. "Everyone knows, dear," she said in a voice dripping with sympathy. "I'm just appalled that you thought you had to bring a prostitute along to make it look like you'd gotten over Relena. And a male one, at that." She waved a hand airily. "Fortunately, you didn't fool anyone -- least of all Relena. It's so sweet that the two of you can finally be together."
"Wait. What? A prostitute?" Heero blurted, disregarding the shocked glances that turned their way. "Duo's not a prostitute."
"Oh, I know, they call them escorts," Dorothy said breezily. "What a lovely euphemism."
"He is an escort," Heero said icily, barely sparing Relena a glance as she arrived at Dorothy's side. "A professional one. And no, he doesn't sleep with clients. He escorts them to formal functions as a friend and companion -- nothing more!"
"Really?" came a skeptical response. "Then the maid didn't see you two sharing a bed -- and a bit more --?"
Heero glared viciously at her. "What Duo does for work has nothing to do with our relationship. Why shouldn't my boyfriend share my bed?"
"Boyfriend?" Dorothy scoffed. "You mean hired hand, don't you?" She smirked at her suggestive play on words. "Or were you a couple before you came here?"
"Dorothy!" came Relena's shocked voice.
Heero raised a hand. "No, it's all right," he said coldly. "As a matter of fact, we weren't a couple before -- not that it's any business of Dorothy's. Duo was simply my escort to the wedding, for reasons I will not go into. But during our stay here, we got to know each other better, and I, at least, came to the realization that I do want to pursue a relationship. A personal one. So anyone who dares to think I paid Duo for sex, had better reevaluate their stance -- right -- fucking -- now!"
Dorothy looked dismayed, her gaze shifting from Heero to Relena and back. "But you want Relena!" she insisted. "You have to want Relena!"
"Why on Earth would he have to do that?" Relena asked with a smirk. "I don't want him."
"What?" Dorothy practically yelled.
"I. Don't. Want. Heero." Relena crossed her arms, staring her friend down.
"But you've always had such a crush on him --!"
"'Had,' being the operative word there," Relena chided. "I got over it long ago."
Dorothy looked quite horrified. "You never said so!" she accused.
"I didn't think I had to," Relena shrugged. "You might have noticed sometime around college graduation that I stopped doodling his name on my papers and sighing longingly." She raised a haughty eyebrow. "But apparently, you weren't paying attention."
"This isn't possible!" Dorothy asserted. "You and Heero are the perfect couple."
"I take exception to that," came another voice, cultured and smooth, as a handsome gentleman wearing a uniform stepped up beside Relena. "Seeing as she's my fiancée."
Relena whirled, her face lighting up. "Edward! You made it!" She threw her arms around his neck, and the tall soldier spun her in a circle before setting her down. Then she proceeded to kiss him senseless right there in front of everyone.
"Who's that?!" Dorothy screeched.
Heero gave a tight smile. "As he said, Relena's fiancé." He crossed his arms. "Now, if everyone's satisfied that Relena and I are not a couple -- nor will we ever be -- I have someone of my own to go find."
He swept off, leaving Relena to offer explanations to the gathering crowd, and headed for the exit, wondering if perhaps Duo had gone back to their room.
Silvia caught him as he started up the staircase in the foyer. "Heero! Wait!"
He spared an impatient glance over his shoulder. "For what?" he asked flatly. "I need to see Duo --" He wondered suddenly if Dorothy might have said something to offend his date, and that was why he'd gone missing.
"He's gone," Silvia blurted.
Heero stopped in his tracks, turning to fix a deadly glare on her. "Gone?"
She nodded.
"Why?" he demanded, realizing something was very wrong. "And how do you know that?"
"He saw you and Relena in the hallway," she said hurriedly. "Dorothy made sure of it. And she -- I -- we gave him cab fare."
"Cab fare? Why?" Heero demanded, stalking towards her.
She backed a few steps with a timid squeak. "We thought you and Relena were together --! That if you just had a moment alone, you'd work it all out!" She managed an accusing look of her own. "Why did you kiss her?"
"She told me about her engagement," Heero said in a voice as cold as ice. "I was congratulating her, and sharing a platonic hug, you small-minded bitch. And you and Dorothy apparently used that to scare Duo away!"
"W-we just were looking out for Relena --"
"Did it ever occur to you to ask if she wanted looking out for?" Heero snarled. "I suppose not." He shook his head, dismissing them all. "So he's gone where -- to the airport? I'll just intercept him there and explain it." He hoped Duo would listen to his explanation.
Silvia shook her head, drawing his attention back to her. "Heero -- I. I'm not sure he'll be there. Dorothy said something about Alex doing 'his part.' I don't know what she meant. But he's not here either."
Heero's breath caught in his throat. "Alex?"
He strode back into the ballroom and straight up to Milliardo and Wufei, pushing his way past a duke and duchess who'd been offering their congratulations.
"Mill -- I need a favor," he said urgently.
Milliardo raised an eyebrow, and then nodded a polite dismissal to the visiting dignitaries before ushering Heero aside. "What on Earth is the matter, Yuy?" he asked in an undertone. "I've never seen you like this."
"It's Duo," Heero said, his voice taut with worry. "Dorothy and Silvia set him up to think Relena and I had something going on between us, and he's taken off. I need to find him -- quickly."
Ice blue eyes searched his face. "You're really serious about him, aren't you?"
"Of course I am!" Heero nearly shouted.
"But I thought he was just your escort --"
Heero glared. "How is it that everyone at this goddamned wedding seems to know how Duo ended up with me?"
"Ah -- that would be my fault," came Wufei's timid voice.
All eyes turned to him.
"I overheard the conversation you and Maxwell had, Mill," Wufei admitted. "I was a bit jealous when I realized he was the one you'd mentioned dating in college -- 'the one that got away.' So -- I might have mentioned his line of work to Dorothy at breakfast the other day --"
Milliardo's eyes widened. "'Fei -- he wasn't the one that got away. He escorted me to a few silly social functions, and he was delightful company. I wasn't about to tell you I'd hired an escort back then. So I called him an ex-boyfriend. In reality, he was just a good friend. Nothing more." He touched his husband's blushing cheek gently. "You never had anything to be jealous of."
"No, but he'll have something to be afraid of, if anything's happened to Duo!" Heero swore. "I think Alex went after him."
"Surely he wouldn't --?"
Heero gave Milliardo a long, significant look that only the two of them understood.
"What do you need?" Milliardo asked.
"A car."
"You'll have it." Milliardo took charge like the military man he'd once been, sweeping through the reception and calling for his guards and attendants to search the grounds for Duo or Alex. He also summoned a valet to bring Heero a car and a map of the area between the palace and the airport, in case Duo was somewhere enroute.
TBC...
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