Sweet November
Part 9
Heero woke up to an empty bed and several rays of sunlight
streaming threw the apartment. He opened his eyes slowly, ridding
them of sleep, and searched the apartment for his lover. Tossing the
covers off his body, and stepped out of bed and padded into the
kitchen. A small piece of yellow paper on the table caught Heero's
attention, and he picked it up.
~Heero
I couldn't sleep, went for a walk with Trowa. Be back later
Duo~
Heero crumpled the paper into a small ball and tossed it into
the garbage can. In the middle of the table, Duo had left him a small
muffin and some strawberries. Smiling at Duo's thoughtfulness he
grabbed the muffin and took a bite into it. He sat lazily in a chair,
flipping one leg onto the table, and leaning back in the chair. Just
as he Heero was getting comfortable, there was a small knock on the
door, to polite and gentle to be Duo. Heero slithered out of the
chair and opened the door, revealing Mariemaya's head of bright coral
hair. The child was dressed in a pair of purple leggings with a black
skirt over them. She had on a brown zip up sweater and blue tank top
underneath. Her small hands were done up in 'jewelry' which was
constructed from various colors of pipe cleaners.
"Ohh hi Marie, how are you?" Heero stooped down so that he
could talk to the child face to face.
Mariemaya bit her lip and swayed back and forth on her heels.
"Umm I'm ok, I suppose. Hey where's Duo?" Mariemaya's eyes darted
across the apartment.
"Ohh I'm sorry, he went out for a walk, I don't know when he
is coming back."
Mariemaya tugged at the bottom of her shirt and blinked up at
Heero. "Well, I was looking for you any way."
"Ohh, is something wrong?" Heero moved his arm to let her
into the apartment but she didn't budge."
"Yea, well you
see…….everyyearatmyschoolwehaveaparentdayandsincemymothercan'tcomeifig
uredyoucould!" Mariemaya closed her eyes tight and stood their
waiting.
"All I understood from that was 'well you see…..', lets try
that again, but this time breathe."
"Ok, well every year at my school we have a parent day where
all the kids bring their parents, and since my mother can't come I
figured you could, that is, if you don't mind." Mariemaya paused and
looked back up at Heero, giving him a toothy grin. "Please?"
"Well Marie, I would be honored to be you 'parent' at Parent Day. Are
you sure you can't fine anyone 'cooler'?"
"Gee are you kidding! You're the coolest Heero!" Mariemaya
was beaming. "Remember, it is this coming Monday! So don't forget
about me." Mariemaya turned to leave, Heero following her down the
steps.
"I would never forget. Don't worry." Heero ruffled the girls
hair gently.
"Arigato Heero!" Mariemaya bounced down the stairs on onto
the sidewalk. "Hey Heero, did you know how much the largest bowl of
spaghetti weighed?"
"No Marie, I don't." Heero laughed at the child's sudden
question.
"Over 600 pounds!" She quickly yelled as she crossed the
street.
"Boy Mariemaya, you really are something." Heero put a hand
to his head and ran it though his tangle locks. He smiled as he
walked back up to the apartment and took a seat at the table again.
Juliet came slipping across the floor, claws clicking, ears
flapping, and sat down at his feet. Heero patted his lap, indicating
for the small puppy to jump up, and she did so, curling into a small
ball on his lap and resting her muzzle on his abdomen. Heero
scratched her head and then searched the apartment for Romeo. He was
absolutely no where to be found. Taking the now confused dog into his
arms, he searched the apartment, searching for Romeo's hiding space.
However all his searches were fruitless and he could not find
Juliet's brother. Just as the Japanese man was about to open the
door, it opened for him, revealing Duo. Duo's eyes looked tired yet
his face looked happy enough. He was dressed in a long blue shirt
that hung to mid-thigh, it was old and faded, yet Duo still looked
wonderful in it. He wore an old ripped pair of blue jeans, had a blue
scarf around his neck, and his black fishnet sweater around his
waist.
"Morning." Duo kissed Heero on the cheek as he walked past
him.
"Um Duo…..Romeo is missing, I was just going to look for him."
"No, he's not missing." Duo took Juliet from Heero and
nuzzled her. "I gave him to a nice old woman."
Heero had a look of disbelief on his face. "You what? You
loved that dog."
"Yes I know, that is exactly why I had to give him away.
Can't keep a dog for more than 3 months, that is the rule anyways. So
I didn't want do get to attached. Besides, now he has a good home."
"Well at least we still have Juliet."
Duo bit his lip and then answered Heero. "Well we have her
for a few more minutes."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Well a man is coming by Trowa's to pick her up. I promised
him that he could have her."
Heero put a hand to his head. "I will never understand you."
"That is the beauty of ME!" Duo gave a big toothy smile.
"Anyway, Trowa has a new collar for her, would you go down and give
him Juliet for me? Please?" Duo nuzzled Juliet for one last time and
handing him off to Heero.
"Do you enjoy torturing me?" Heero headed towards the door.
"I live for it!" Duo waited until Heero had left the
apartment before dashing to his room. He fiddled with a small key on
his key ring and jammed it in the lock of a wall cabinet. He pulled
out a bottle of pills and drowned several of them in one gulp. He
quickly hid the pill bottle from sight and hunched over in his chair.
Small twinges of pain, getting consecutively larger, ran through his
body, pulsing into his head and limbs. He let out a little cry and
tried to curl into a ball. He shuttered, causing his body to fall off
the chair and land harshly on the wood floor. That was exactly when
Heero reentered the room.
"Duo what happened?" Heero dashed over to the shuddering heap
on the floor. Duo's small frame sat up and he crawled onto his knees."
"Nothing, I'm fine." Duo hugged his frame and tried to stand,
collapsing back into the chair.
"Your face is beet red, and your crying! Something happened."
Heero tried to touch his lover but Duo just ducked out of reach.
"I miss Juliet, that's all." Duo's eyes were sunken in, and
his coloration was pale, save the blush that spread across his cheeks.
"Well I can still get her if you want. I am sure she is still
at Trowa's."
"NO! Leave her, she has to go with them." Duo let out a
little yelp of pain and grabbed his head.
"I don't understand what is going on." Heero backed away from
Duo, his eyes catching on the locked wall cabinet. " What are you
hiding from me?"
"Nothing, I swear. I just miss the dogs." Duo's voice was
shaky as he stood up, wobbling a bit.
"Then why do you need a lock on this cabinet? What are you
hiding in there." Heero's voice grew more angry as he fiddled with
the cabinet lock. "You don't need a lock to hide 'nothing'" Heero was
now screaming and his hands worked furiously at the lock.
"No don't, please!" Duo latched onto Heero's arms in a
pathetic attempt to stop him from opening the cabinet.
"All your secrets, all your rules! What are you afraid of!"
Heero punched the cabinet, loosening the door a bit.
"HEERO! NO!" Duo gave one last weak attempt to unlatch Heero,
but it was fruitless. So instead he pulled the small key out of his
pocket and jammed it into the keyhole. He flung the door open and
revealed the bottles of pills to Heero for the first time. Heero's
jaw dropped, there were more pills in that cabinet than he could
imagine. It was filled to the brim with them, loose pills, small
bottles, large bottles, liquids.
Duo's eyes widened with rage, small tears trekking out from
the corners as he shoved himself in front of the pills. "IS THIS WHAT
YOU WANTED TO SEE!" His voice was angry and loud as he store Heero
down. "IS THIS WHAT YOU WANTED TO KNOW? ARE YOU HAPPY NOW!" Duo
grabbed a fist full of bottles and hurled them directly at Heero's
head. "YOU WANNA SEE MY PILLS? WANNA MAKE ME SICKER! HERE!" Duo
hurled more pills at Heero's head, the bottles spilling onto the
floor with small clicks. "This is what I was hiding Heero. I'm
dying!" Duo closed his eyes and let the tear roll over his cheeks. He
heard Heero saying something to him, calling his name, but it all
didn't matter anymore. Heero found out his secret, it was over
anyway. Duo brushed his hand through the cabinet, sending the
remaining bottles to the floor. "You weren't supposed to find out
this way Heero."
"Duo! HOW COULD YOU HIDE THIS FROM ME!" Heero screamed right
back at the shivering braided man. He knew he shouldn't yell, that he
was being shallow, but he didn't care. The only thing that mattered
in his mind was that he was angry at the present moment.
"After all that time I taught you nothing." Duo stumbled to
try and get out of the bathroom. He feel to his knees and tried to
crawl his way out. His body suddenly lurched forward as he vomited
onto the clean white tiles. Duo grabbed his stomach as he did so, his
eyes wide and empty. Heero was still screaming in his ears as he gave
one last effort to crawl out of the room.
Heero saw his fragile lover fall to the floor and he stopped
yelling. He leapt over to where Duo fell and crouched down near him.
"Duo, are you listening?" Heero shook his shoulders. Duo didn't show
any sign of life as Heero shook him. "Duo?" He shook him again.
"Duo!?" Heero rolled him over and Duo feel limply into his arms. His
face looked as if it had been bruised, and his head lolled back
unnaturally. Heero's eyes widened a bit as he gathered his lover into
his arms and raised him. Heero turned to the door way and saw Trowa
standing there.
"Ohh good god, not again!" Trowa ran towards Heero. "Don't
just stand there, we need to get him to a hospital."
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