Incoming Message Part 4
Heero woke up feeling more relaxed than he had in years. He glanced to his right and felt his lips quirk into a small smile as he remembered the previous night. After stating that the walls in the apartment were too thin, Duo had simply nodded and then burst into tears. Heero had taken the better part of an hour to calm Duo down. Duo had collapsed at that point due to exhaustion and stress. After seeing the mattress Duo slept on, Heero was amazed that the American had managed to sleep at all.
Still... Duo looked much more peaceful curled up against him. And Heero welcomed the warmth. One of his arms was wrapped securely around Duo's waist. 'How much, koi?' Heero felt a prickling behind his eyes as he lifted his hand to caress Duo's cheek. 'How much time have we lost because of your fear and my pride?' He pressed a kiss against Duo's temple, chuckling as Duo lifted his face in sleep. 'I wonder if he knows how tempting he is in the morning.' With that, he carefully brushed his lips against Duo's... a whisper of a touch meant to soothe.
It was Duo who deepened what would have been a delicate kiss. When Heero moved to pull away, Duo whimpered and pressed closer.
Heero knew the exact instant Duo woke up, and held him securely. He met Duo's worried eyes and caressed his cheek a second time. "Daijobu, koibito." He was ready for the tears this time, and rubbed soothing circles on Duo's back as slender arms hugged Heero tightly. "Shhh! Shhh, Duo! The war is over, and I won't leave you. I'd even quit the Preventers to give you added security, so don't cry."
Duo shook his head against Heero's chest. "No... you don't hafta quit the Preventers, Hee-chan. You'd get bored with nothing to do." He sniffled and snuggled closer. "I just... I'm just so relieved. All this time that you were with Relena, besides staying away longer on missions, you never gave any indication that you weren't happy with her."
Heero snorted. "She was always a pain, Duo, and she always will be a pain. I'll bet you any amount of money that she's telling Lady Une to fire you or to relocate you onto Mars."
Duo grinned at Heero. "Let her try. Une won't give me the boot unless Relena gives her a VALID reason why I should be fired. I doubt Relena would have one. You, me, Trowa, Quatre and Wufei are the best agents Une has."
"Her dream team. It's almost funny to think we were on opposite sides during the war." He kissed the top of Duo's head. "Now... we are moving into a nice apartment closer to HQ." He looked around. "And we are going to get some new furniture! I'm amazed you haven't been stabbed to death by that mass of wires you call a mattress."
Duo shrugged. "I guess I got used to it. It was better than sleeping on the streets. I was on the streets for about a month before I got this place. I couldn't shake the feeling that... that I was only a street rat and that I didn't deserve any better."
Heero pulled Duo closer and rubbed the young man's back. "You DO, though. You DO deserve better. I'm going to make sure you get everything you have ever wanted."
"Hmmmm... I have you. Anything after that is just icing on the cake."
Heero chuckled and kissed his soon to be lover.
*****
Duo was biting his lip while the Real Estate person talked to Heero. Heero had talked about an apartment... this was a house! True it was a rental home with an option to purchase at the end of the lease, but it was still a house. A two-story three bedroom two bathroom house. A house with a lovely lawn and a fence. What had nabbed their attention, though, was the beautiful water garden in the back that had a pond that could double as a swimming pool. There was a privacy fence hidden behind the trees and shrubs.
Heero approached Duo and smiled. "Should we sign the lease?" Heero watched Duo's eyes. He could tell his koibito was warring with himself on the issue. He smiled in reassurance as Duo looked at him fearfully. 'My poor orphan... so terrified of buying things because they might be taken away. You don't have to be afraid, Duo. I'm here now.'
Duo smiled and nodded. "Yeah. This place is perfect." He let Heero take his hand.
Heero led Duo to the counter area of the kitchen and read through the lease... explaining the jargon to Duo whenever he saw confusion. All in all, it was a standard form. Heero still read through it to make sure that no one could just toss them out. He was satisfied after the second reading and signed his name. He almost laughed as Duo signed without reading.
Duo grinned at Heero. "Hey... you're the whiz, Heero. If you'll sign it, it must be safe."
Heero quirked a grin and handed the woman a few money orders that totaled to the amount of the security and first month's rent.*
"There... here are the keys. There's a folder over here that has the welcome packet. The walkthrough sheet has to be in the office before it closes on Wednesday." She pulled a cardholder out of the pocket of her shorts. "If any problems arise, give me a call. My cell number is listed at the bottom. Please don't call my cell unless it's an emergency."
Duo grinned at the woman. While Heero looked through the folder. "Sorry we bugged you on a weekend!"
The woman laughed warmly. "Please don't apologize. This is how I make my living."
Heero blinked at the list of phone numbers. "Your office lists delivery places?"
The woman shook her head. "No, but I do. SOPs state that we give the tenant the phone numbers of the various companies to get utilities and the phones turned on. I just add a few embellishments." She winked. "Hopefully so you'll remember me when you two are ready to buy a house."
Duo laughed as he walked the woman to the door. Once the car was out of the driveway, he turned to Heero. "Well... what now?"
"First thing's first... I'll call to have the utilities turned on then we go out and get the bare necessities." He grinned at Duo. "Like a bed."
Duo blushed. He suspected Heero would want to more than cuddle that night, and he didn't mind at all. Quite the contrary, his heart soared at the prospect.
*****
They had managed to find a nearby furniture store and bought the bare necessities. Mainly a bed for the bedroom. The rest of the furnishings would be delivered in the morning but the bed was what Heero had been mostly concerned about. Right now, he was watching Duo sleep. 'You were used to the bed, but you never slept well on it, did you?' He tucked a strand of hair behind Duo's ear and smiled as Duo murmured something before snuggling deeper into the pillows.
Duo was curled up on his side and looked so young now that he was completely relaxed. Something that had never happened during the war.
Heero smiled as he carefully tucked a light blanket around Duo before standing up. It was so tempting to get into the bed and hold Duo close all night, but he guessed Duo would be getting hungry at the moment, so he decided to order some food.
He walked into the kitchen with a small smile on his face. He and Duo were living together. Sure, he had stayed with Duo a few days, but... Heero had been a guest at Duo's place. Now they were renting a nice house together and it made Heero feel... warm. Warm and filled like he'd never felt before. It was as if there had been a gnawing emptiness inside him. Heero vowed to write that down and leave it someplace for Duo to find.
Heero shook his head as he went through the menus. 'Hmmm... Chinese is good. We don't need any extra plates or anything for Chinese. We don't even need utensils.' He picked up the phone and ordered.
Duo shuffled into the kitchen as Heero hung up the phone. "Who was that?"
Heero smiled at how adorable Duo looked. His hair, still braided, looked sleep-mussed and he wasn't wearing a shirt. He looked like a child. Heero held one arm out for Duo and sighed when Duo hugged him. "I just ordered some Chinese take out for us. We have time. Come on... you look like you could use a soak. The last couple of days have been really stressful for you." Heero kissed Duo's forehead and smiled softly when Duo nodded. He kept his arm firmly around Duo as he led Duo to the bathroom.
*****
Heero felt a fond chuckle building up inside him as Duo dozed off in the tub from Heero's gentle massage. 'You were more tense than I guessed.' Heero kissed the skin between Duo's shoulderblades. "It's all right, now. You have me to look after you. There will be no reason for you to get so wound up ever again." He pulled the plug to drain the tub and lifted Duo out of the water. He had just tucked Duo back into bed when the doorbell rang.
Heero gladly accepted the bags of food and was very generous with the tip. That was another thing he was going to make sure of. He was going to make sure that Duo ate properly. A donut at breakfast, a quick sandwich at lunch, and whatever is quick and easy at dinner was not a healthy diet. Duo had long since passed the time of getting a growth spurt, but that didn't mean Duo had to settle for whatever he could get. Once the door was locked, Heero headed to the bedroom with the bags.
When he got in the room, he quickly set the containers on the floor near the bed and shook Duo gently. "Come on, koi. Dinner's here." He smiled as Duo blinked sleepily at him. Although he'd wanted to use the bed for more... pleasurable pastimes than sleep, he could see the exhaustion he'd missed before. The knowledge that Duo had been slowly burning out caused something to twist in his gut.
Duo didn't resist Heero's gentle tugs. He was too tired at the moment. Heero had been right, he had been stressed. For more than a couple of days. He'd been under a great deal of emotional strain ever since Relena had announced she and Heero were engaged. As soon as Heero sat next to him on the floor, Duo leaned over a little to rest up against Heero's solid body. He sighed softly as Heero wrapped an arm around Duo's shoulders.
Heero shook his head as Duo leaned against him and appeared to fall asleep yet again. Without preamble, he picked up a piece of sweet and sour chicken with the chopsticks and dipped it in the sauce. "Duo, open your mouth." When Duo complied, Heero placed the morsel inside Duo's mouth.
The rest of the food was eaten that way. Heero would feed something to Duo, and then eat some himself. Duo was a little more awake by the end of the meal and the smile on his face was not born from the need to appear happy. It was a soft and genuinely happy smile. Heero leaned forward and licked a drop of sauce from Duo's bottom lip. "Let's go to bed."
Duo nodded happily. They could clean up the empty containers in the morning. He stumbled into bed and snuggled up against Heero. "Love you. Always have... always will."
Heero tightened his arm around Duo. "You should have said something."
Duo shrugged a little. "Wasn't sure you liked boys in that way. As much as I love you, I love being alive even more."
Heero felt a wave of sadness overtake him. "Oh, Duo..." He buried his face in Duo's hair and held him as tightly as he dared. "I'm sorry I made you feel like you couldn't come to me, but the war..."
Duo nodded a little. "I know. I understand. You're here now. That's all that matters to me."
Heero stroked Duo's braid. "We'll have a nice long talk tomorrow over breakfast. We need to hash a lot out before we take any further steps in this relationship. I'm calling us both in tomorrow. There are no assignments due, and I'm caught up in my paperwork."
"M'kay!" Duo snuggled as close to Heero as he could before closing his eyes and succumbing, once again, to sleep.
TBC...
* - Tenants are not given the keys to the house unless there's a security deposit. Most offices ask for one month's rent and one month security.
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