The Wedding Date Part 4
"I'm not gay!" Heero said sharply.
Duo raised his hands in a placating gesture. "Not sayin' you are, man! But Relena doesn't know that, does she?" A slight frown creased his forehead. "I mean, ya didn't sleep with her back in high school, did ya?"
"No!" Heero blurted in horror. "Gods, no!"
"Then what's the big deal?" Duo asked with a shrug. "We show up together. You tell her you never liked her because you were into guys all along. And she gives up on you now and forever." He smiled sweetly. "Sounds to me like a plan!"
"No!"
"Why not?"
"Because I don't want everyone I knew back here in Sanc thinking I'm gay."
"Oh." Duo's expression changed just fractionally, but by now Heero knew him well enough to see the shift.
"Not that there's anything wrong with being gay," he added quickly. "I've got nothing against gay people."
Duo nodded, but there was a chilly gleam in the dark eyes. "That's real big of you," he drawled rather snidely.
"I didn't mean it like that."
"How did you mean it?"
"I just meant -- that if I were gay, it'd be fine. But I don't want to mislead everyone --"
"Oh -- you mean like pretending you have a steady girlfriend when you don't?" Duo shot back.
"That's not the same. It's not outside the realm of possibility that I could have a steady girlfriend," Heero pointed out.
"Then why don't you?"
Heero paused, taken aback by the blunt question. "I -- I don't know. I -- my job doesn't allow much time for dating -- and I just haven't found the right girl, I guess."
"I see." Duo's lids dropped to half-mast, and he looked up from under his lashes. "You don't think it might be that you just haven't found the right guy?"
"No!"
"Did you ever even try?"
"No!" Heero resisted the urge to punch a wall.
"Then how do you know it's outside the realm of possibility that maybe you're gay?"
"Jesus Christ, I don't know why we're even having this conversation," Heero snarled.
"Because it's necessary," Duo pointed out. "I need a place to stay for the weekend, and going with you seems to be the only option, unless I want to sleep on a bench in an airport."
"We can find you something else."
"You heard the girl at the information kiosk; every hotel in the city is booked up full."
"Then we'll look outside the city. There's no way in Hell I can pretend to be with you -- I couldn't fool anyone."
Duo threw his hands up in the air. "Am I that fuckin' repulsive?" he demanded of the world at large. "I mean, would it just kill you to share a fuckin' room with me?"
"Lower your voice," Heero warned, darting a look around at the busy terminal.
"You bring me all the way to Sanc and then wanna just dump me in an airport?" Duo persisted, waving his arms for effect.
Now they were drawing attention and stares from passersby.
Heero grabbed one of Duo's arms, pulling him towards a quieter area. "Would you please quiet down? Damn it, Duo -- this wasn't my idea! Why can't you understand how awkward it'd be for me?"
"What about me?" Duo demanded.
"What about you?"
"Y'think I enjoy the idea of posing as your boyfriend?"
"But you're gay!"
"When did I say that?" Duo countered. "I was supposed to be escorting a woman, Yuy."
Heero paused, wondering if he'd misread the other man all along. "You're not gay?"
"I didn't say that, either," Duo pointed out. "And the point is, if you can't tell for sure, what makes you think anyone else could? About me or you. I'm tellin' ya, it's the perfect solution."
"Pretending to be gay is not an option. I told you, I couldn't pull it off."
"Why not? Are you that bad an actor?"
Heero gave him a narrow look. "Don't you think folks would find it strange that my 'lover' and I don't kiss or hold hands in public?"
Duo reached out and caught Heero's hand in his, smiling cheekily. "Like this? How hard is holding hands?"
Blue eyes narrowed into slits. "And the kissing? Seriously, Duo, what serious couple never kisses in front of anyone?"
"So kiss me. I won't slug ya," Duo offered.
Heero grimaced.
"So you do find me repulsive!"
"No!" Heero growled in his throat. "Stop twisting my words around. It's not that I find you, personally, repulsive. It's the thought of kissing a -- a guy."
"Don't knock it unless you've tried it."
Heero froze, looking at the challenging gleam in the indigo eyes.
"One kiss," Duo said quietly, in all seriousness. "If you wanna puke afterwards, I'll believe we can't pull off the act. But if you don't -- you admit maybe there is a reason you haven't found the right girl yet."
"I'm not going to --"
"One kiss. And I spend the weekend here at the airport if you lose your lunch."
Heero wanted to snarl in frustration; but then, realizing he had a chance to be rid of the aggravating escort for good, he nodded.
Duo grinned in triumph, edging closer. "Right here, Yuy? Or d'you want some place more private?"
Heero glanced around at the thinning crowd. "How about the men's room? And make it quick; I've got a limo to catch."
"Like I've never heard that line before --" came an amused response.
Duo led the way into the nearest lavatory, glancing around to be sure they were alone. Then he turned a cheeky smirk to Heero. "Alone at last," he teased, running a finger lightly down the front of Heero's shirt.
"Let's just get this over with." Heero stepped in and without further preamble, pressed his lips to Duo's.
But the instant he did, Duo's hand snaked up around his neck, fingers curling deliciously into the unruly hair at the nape and sliding caressingly upwards. At the same time, the lips under his parted, allowing Heero to deepen the kiss -- although he'd have sworn he had no such intentions at the onset.
Jesus -- did all escorts learn to kiss like this?
Heero found that he'd forgotten the gender of the person in his arms, sliding one around a slender waist even as his tongue explored the hot, eager mouth under his. It wasn't until a soft moan escaped Duo's throat and he felt a hard groin press against his own arousal that sanity reasserted itself and Heero pulled back sharply, gasping for breath and drawing the back of a hand across his mouth.
"Fuck!" he blurted, horrified at how much he'd enjoyed the kiss.
Duo was standing with eyes half-closed, looking a little shell-shocked himself.
After a moment or two, the escort straightened, turning his back to Heero and turning on the water in the sink, reaching to splash some on his face.
"You're right," he said in a strangely subdued voice as he reached for a paper towel. "There's no way we could pull off the act."
"What do you mean?"
Duo glared up into the mirror, droplets of water still trickling down his face. "I mean, you win!" he snapped. "I'll figure out somewhere to stay. You go enjoy your goddamned wedding and make sure you meet me here Monday for our flight back to the States." He pushed away from the sink, wiping his face and tossing the paper towel into the trash.
"Duo --"
He was almost to the door, but stopped at the stricken sound of Heero's voice. "What?" he asked without turning around.
"It wasn't -- nauseating," Heero admitted, shoving his hands into his pockets to hide their unsteadiness.
"Maybe not to you," came a sarcastic drawl. "See ya Monday, Yuy."
Heero stood staring at the mirror for a full minute after he heard the door open and close. Then he followed Duo's example, splashing cold water on his face to clear his head, before heading out the door.
TBC...
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