Heart-Shaped Balloon

Heart-Shaped
Balloon

by Michalyn

Warnings:
13+5, 1+2, sap

“I don’t see what all the fuss
is about.”

Frowning, Wufei watched as Duo handed
Heero a gaudy, heart-shaped balloon and the normally stoic youth flushed shyly.

“Pathetic.”

Duo shot him a sharp look. “Come
on, Wu, don’t be such a spoilsport. It’s Valentine’s Day for
Christ’s sake. Spirit of celebration, happiness love?” He raised an
eyebrow.

“Hmph! If one only remembers to celebrate
his love when he is told to, what is the point?”

Duo shrugged. “I guess I just don’t
see it that way. I like Valentine’s Day and it has nothing to do with ‘doing
what I’m told’. It’s fun having another excuse to show they guy
I love why I always want to be with him.”

Heero nodded. “I used to think as
you did, Chang.” He struggled to find an explanation and failed. Heero\'s
eyes were warm and bright as he looked to Duo, “Perhaps it is only something
you can understand, when … when you know … love?” He smiled tremulously
at his lover and Duo squeezed his hand, eyes burning.

“Exactly.”

Wufei snorted, pricked by the reminder
of his loneliness. “Whatever. I’ll leave you two to love. I’m
heading back to my apartment.”

The night was around him, dark and welcoming
and Wufei wanted nothing more than to lose himself in it. The large, pale moon,
slid behind a scudding mass of cloud and a chill seemed to find its way through
his clothes. He shivered. There was an ache in his chest and Wufei did not know
why. He only knew that he felt tired, like he had not laid his head against
a soft place in a very long time. When he blinked, there was a strange stinging
behind his eyes.

A gust of wind whipped under his collar,
and bending his head against the breeze, Wufei pulled his coat tighter about
him. Ahead, a lonely balloon, rather like Heero’s bobbed across the street.
Separated from whomever it had been gifted to, it wandered searchingly through
the night. Directionless, partner-less….

Wufei hunched his shoulders and lengthened
his stride. It was past time he got home.

“Whoa …easy there...” A
hand on his shoulder steadied him and for a moment Wufei found himself pressed
against a broad chest and his ear pressed against a strong, sure, heartbeat.
The scent of aftershave tickled his nose – fresh and clean and faintly
spiced with the warmth of man. He flushed.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to run
you over like that.”

“Not at all,” The man smiled
and the corners of his eyes crinkled becomingly. His mouth was wide and full,
and his short hair was luminous in the moonlight. “Where are you in such
a hurry to, on a beautiful night like this?”

Wufei\'s smile was rueful, “Nowhere
… home.”

“Where a lover awaits?”

“No,” He laughed almost bitterly.
“I’ve never been one much for Valentine’s Day.”

“A shame,” a long-fingered palm
was extended to him. “I’m Treize.”

There was something soft and inexplicable
in the stranger’s blue eyes that made Wufei’s heart race. He trembled.
“Wufei.”

“Are you cold?” Treize’s
arm was suddenly about him, pulling him closer, huddling them together beneath
the older man’s short jacket. Wufei would have objected to his boldness,
but the movement was too tender -- the look in Treize’s eyes too bright.

He pressed a little closer. “No,”
Wufei murmured, “not anymore.”

“Good.” Treize smiled down at
him and the arm about his waist tightened. “You said you were heading home?”

“Yes,” Wufei watched as their
strides fell in step. “It’s just nearby....”

End