Dedication: To the wonderful Shinimigami who helped me come up with this plot, even though her idea was drastically different, this was a spawn of it.

Warnings: AU, sappy, sweet, a test on my new writing ability and inspiration (haha!), cute, simple, and 1+2+1.

Disclaimer: If I owned Gundam Wing, I wouldn't get freaked out by Corporate coming down for an inspection.

The Dock
by Izora Jade

The day was stressful. Registration. Teachers and students bouncing all over the place like a million rubber balls let lose from the second story in a mall causing chaos on the first floor because no one knew what they were doing.

At least he didn't have to deal with it anymore. For that he was grateful.

No sooner had he set down his book-bag than the phone rang. He saw Quatre's number on the caller ID and picked it up immediately.

"Hey Quatre!" he greeted as his friend returned the same enthusiasm. "What's up?"

"I can't believe I completely forgot to tell you, but in the last minute I set you up on a blind date for tonight!"

Duo was horrified by the news and was left absolutely speechless. Sure, he hadn't been on a date for months, but tonight?! He was totally unprepared, not to mention he really wanted to leave his options open for someone else to take advantage of....

"Damn, Quatre, how can you forget something like that?!"

Quatre giggled a little on the other line and Duo could tell that he was embarrassed by his mistake. "Well, I think that you'll really like this guy, and I can't call it off now, so...."

"I tell you what Quatre, if I could reach through the phone and strangle you, I would! I had best like him a damned lot and this had better be the best date of my life because I am so not ready for it!"

"Well, I told him to meet you at the Dock at six, so it's not like you have no time...."

"Six?! I have two hours to get ready for this? That's it? I have to prep myself for the ultimate rejection in two hours?" Duo was outraged. At least it was near his house so he didn't have to walk far. That was one good thing Quatre had worked into the plan.

"He'll be carrying a white rose, so that you know it's him, because I know that you like them."

Duo didn't have the heart to tell Quatre that his favorite color was yellow, not white, he sure felt like it!

"Well, damn, Quatre. I've got to go and get ready for this...thing!"

"Okay! I expect all the details tomorrow!"

"Oh, you'll get them shoved down your throat when I get a hold of you!" Duo threatened and heard Quatre laugh as he threw the phone into the cradle.

Sometimes Quatre seemed like such a smart guy, and sometimes he seemed like a fucking idiot.

Heero pulled into his driveway and got out of his car, as he did every day.

Then he got on his computer and checked his e-mail, as he did every day.

He always believed in having a set schedule to do things in, because if you didn't, then you really got less done in the time you were in a quandary over what to do next. Efficiency was a good thing.

He opened his e-mail from Trowa first, as it held the most importance to him.

To say he was shocked would have been an understatement.

It would also have been an understatement to say that he was pissed off.

Heero --

I know that it's rather short notice and unexpected, but Quatre and I have set you up on a date at six tonight. Bring a white rose, as that was what we told him to look for. We told him that you'd meet him at the Dock. We think you'll enjoy.

-- Trowa

Heero promptly returned:

Since when are you a damned match maker? I thought you understood that I wasn't looking anyway and wasn't interested at all. I guess the part about 'not wanting to date' somehow didn't click in your mind, but I don't know how much more clearly I would have to make it. You'll regret this tomorrow. I want you to know that the only reason I'm going is so that this jerk doesn't wait for hours and I'm going to tell him immediately what my view on the entire situation is and I really don't care if it 'breaks his heart' or not. Final.

Heero

He really didn't want to date. One couldn't find any form of love in high school. Sure, they were seniors, but even if he did want to pursue a relationship with a person that was honestly interested in him, they would probably be going to different colleges anyway.

In truth, he didn't think that anyone would ever want to date him, and made sure he had a safe distance between him and everyone else. He couldn't really show them the kind of affection they were looking for and no one would want to take the time to let him open up. He'd been burned one too many times in the past just to open up to someone at the turn of a dime. It was a wonder Duo knew him as well as he did. Then again, Duo was genuinely interested.

The whole idea of a blind date turned him off anyway. You get hooked up with someone you've never seen and know nothing about to sit over an awkward dinner and never talk to one another again. Great fun! No. Bullshit was what it was.

Not to mention this totally threw off the rest of his schedule for tonight.

Damn Trowa.

Trowa checked his e-mail, with Quatre reading over his shoulder.

"Oh, what a great idea this was, my Quatre!" Trowa grinned. "You have it set up so perfectly!"

Quatre beamed with delight. They had to tell them after school so that Heero and Duo wouldn't get a chance to talk to each other before school let out.

"I'm sure Duo thinks I'm a complete idiot for telling his 'blind date' to bring a white rose when his favorite color is yellow."

"Well, that's just part of your genius. He'll realize that in time. Heero would certainly know if you told him yellow, because it's such an unusual color for a rose."

"My thoughts exactly, Trowa, my thoughts exactly...."

"Now let's just hope we guessed right."

Quatre smiled and kissed Trowa's cheek. "Somehow I feel that we did."

Duo stood by the Dock, feeling like a mockery of himself. He wore his normal UFO pants and black tank, but he had tried to clean up a little and look at least presentable. Yet he couldn't get the glare off of his face.

This was going to be awful. He could feel it.

He stared at all the shops that made-up the Dock. Cotton candy, ice cream, paddle boats, a Ferris wheel. All stupid lovey-dovey make-out activities. Let-us-now-hold-hands-and-stare-out-into-the-infinate-ocean-all-dramatic-like-and-look-Jack-I'm-flying non-sense.

His scowl deepened.

Maybe, if he looked scary enough, the guy would say that he just came out to tell him he had a massive report to write on genetics and the way RNA and DNA re-coded itself when you re-stored memories in your brain and that it would take him hours to finish.

Or perhaps he could say that...?

"Duo?"

Duo suddenly looked up and practically backed himself into the pole he leaned against in shock.

"Heero?" he asked, staring at his best friend, holding, low-and-behold, a white rose.

'Gods, this is perfect! I love you Quatre, I love you Quatre! But wait! Doooom! What if he doesn't like me back and doesn't want to go on a date with me?' Duo's mind reeled with possibilities.

"Am I...?"

"Are you...?"

"I guess...."

"I was told to look for a white rose, even though I prefer yellow," Duo spoke softly.

"Yellow would have been too obvious...." Heero returned.

They stood there awkwardly for quite some time.

"I guess...."

"Do you want something to eat?" Heero asked quietly.

"Waffle House?" Duo inquired, perking up.

Heero raised an eyebrow to the request. "Again?"

"I'm sorry, but you know I just can't resist hash-browns scattered, covered, and topped!"

So they sat at Waffle House. The car ride there was really silent and really disconcerting.

Was it a date, or wasn't it a date?

They ordered their shitty poor-white-kid food and Duo began talking much too loud.

"All these little freshman trying to do registration for the first time were all like freaky and they were all freaking out and stuff trying to get people to sign their little forms, not realizing that you only need your core classes signed and that you can --"

"Duo." Heero obviously saw right though that, so after a few minutes of humiliating babble, he decided to relieve him of his misery and just ask. "Is this or is this not a date?"

Duo's cheeks reddened briefly, embarrassed by how blunt he was.

"I'm nervous enough for it to be one," Duo admitted crumpling up the straw paper and un-crumpling it, folding it into an accordion. Duo wanted it to be a date, hell ya!, but Heero.... He didn't know Heero's opinion. He knew Heero would rather be single right now, not worry about love and lust and all the problems that came along with it. He knew that Heero would rather not have to deal with the pain that any relationship was sure to bring. He knew that it would be really hard on Heero to do something like that, now, after all he'd been through with ass-hole parents and adoption agencies.

How could he ask that of Heero?

"But on the other hand, I want you to do what you want to do," Duo told him, honestly. He hoped that Heero could tell that he meant it when he said it. He wasn't expecting anything from such a relationship, and he knew that his crush was stupid and unreasonable. When he got to college and met new people, it would be nice to have Heero around as a friend, but he was going to want to take advantage of his opportunities. Right?

"Duo, I --" he faltered. "I don't know how to say everything I'm thinking."

Duo was quite for a few moments before telling him that he'd try to understand.

Their food was brought to them and they ate in silence.

"Sometimes I want to do things that I won't know the outcome of, but I want to protect myself. In order to protect myself, I have to know the outcome," Heero spoke after collecting his thoughts.

Duo was hurt by his words. Not hurt personally, but hurt for him. It was really no wonder he had this outlook on life, but it was depressing all the same.

"Sometimes you've got to do things that have no definite outcome. That's part of the adventure."

"Some adventure," Heero growled.

"Yeah, I feel the same way, you know that."

"But Duo, I think that I want it to be a date. I think it might be...nice."

Duo's heart skipped a beat and he just sat there for a few dazed and drooling seconds hanging in the wonderful dimension called bliss.

"I know that things will change when we go to college, I want you to be prepared for that," Duo spoke up, thinking that maybe if he warned Heero of the situations ahead, it would ease his fears.

"Yeah, I thought about that too."

"And slow would probably be good."

Heero nodded.

"I realize that I've got to move on. Not necessarily forget, but move forward instead of looking backward all the time. It's not a good battle strategy."

Duo smiled inwardly at his crude and geeky, but adorable, explanations. Outwardly, he solemnly nodded.

"But it's also not good to forget the past, either. Sometimes you lose valuable lessons," Duo returned, adding on to his theory.

"Yeah. I guess... maybe I want an 'adventure', or at least a controlled one."

Duo outwardly laughed at this and Heero gave him a small grin in return.

"I can't say I blame you on that one! I like to have some form of control to go out of control on."

So the rest of the dinner went well and they talked more about looking forward and finding the future.

"Can we pull off here?" Duo asked when they reached the park mid-way between his house and the Waffle House.

Heero looked over at him with curiosity, but obeyed his wish.

"I want to show you something I know you will appreciate."

The sun was slowly setting away from the ocean, sending deep purples and fiery reds flirting across the sky.

Slowly they walked through the shrubbery, alone, but enjoying it. Heero had his hands in his pockets, quietly taking in the scenery. Duo watched him carefully, waiting for the right moment.

Finally, he couldn't hold out any longer and grabbed him by the arm, forcing him to run with him towards the hill they were quickly advancing upon.

He was sure Heero had thought he'd lost his mind when he knocked him to the ground and used the momentum to make them tumble roughly down the hill together.

Both of them lay on the grass at the bottom of the hill, out of breath and stunned.

Then, without much air left to support it, Duo began to giggle. It proved to be contagious and Heero had to join in.

"The look on your face was priceless!" he cried, pointing while gasping for air and simultaneously laughing his ass off.

"I didn't expect you were going to throw me down a hill!" Heero cried back in return, smiling wide out of authentic giddiness.

Duo liked the look.

"You know that I'm everything but expected!"

"Yeah, it's now been forcefully impounded into my head!"

They calmed down and caught their breath, staring up at the sky.

"See the stars?" Duo asked quietly, shifting his hand closer to Heero's.

"Yeah."

"I rarely ever get to see the stars.... No one really thinks about them. Everyone takes them for granted."

His fingertips nervously touched the side of Heero's hand.

"If they weren't there, you'd bet everyone would be pretty shocked, but no cares until they're gone, ya know?"

"Yeah...."

Slowly Heero turned over his hand so that his palm was facing upward, inviting Duo's into his.

"Sometimes I think people are like the stars...."

He slid his hand loosely into Heero's, and he could feel Heero's body tense up nervously.

"Some people you see every day of your life, and you take them for granted. You never realize that in an instant they could be gone and then it would be like a huge part of yourself was missing."

Heero relaxed and nodded his head in agreement.

"I want to try not to take people for granted like that anymore. People are so much more complicated than stars. There are so many things about a person that can make you happy, or sad, or any emotion at all, it doesn't matter, because they make you feel an emotion that might be irreplaceable if they were to leave."

Duo turned his head to look at Heero's profile, dazzled in moonbeams and starlight like delicate spider's web clinging in his hair, and in his eyes.

"Ya know?"

"Yeah."

"Maybe I think too much," Duo apologized.

"Maybe you do, but it's better than thinking too little," Heero returned.

Duo smiled. "Thanks."

Heero just nodded slightly.

"You don't have to thank me for the truth."

They decided not to worry anyone's parents and return home before nine o'clock, as blind dates always had the potential for death or rape.

Once more they stood there, awkward, not knowing what to do as Heero walked him to his door.

"Thanks Heero. I...." his voice trailed off when he realized that he didn't know what to say.

"It was nice."

"I hope it will continue to be 'nice'."

"I hope so, too."

Then Duo moved in to hug him, and Heero accepted the hug and held him close, feeling, for once, as if he was accepted, truly. As if someone did want to be around him, liked him for who he was.

He didn't want to become accustomed to the feeling, ever, but at the same time, he wanted to soak it in with all of himself.

Duo felt so natural in his arms.

Slowly then they parted, and Duo smiled at him.

"I'll see you tomorrow."

Heero smiled back.

"Yeah."

Then Duo disappeared behind the door.

Heero allowed himself to practically float to his car before ripping his cloud nine to shreds.

It was bad to get too deeply into the intoxicating feeling that a crush can give you, he knew that, but on the other hand, he liked it.

Here he was, dating (he could now say with conviction) the most compassionate person he knew, a person who wanted to get to know him, a person who knew more about him already than anyone else on the planet, and a person who was already accepted into the same college that he was.

He knew it was stupid, and so he tried to suppress the feeling.

Later he would bring it out, when it was safe.

Not now.

Not yet.

Patience is a virtue.