The siren call of the braid in the middle row

Update dedicated to Kryst Sutures who gave me a lovely review :)

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Chapter 7

From the moment that the ugly cat had cleared the path for communication between Adonis and him, they had been getting closer and closer to each other. They would sit next to each other on the study sessions and they would walk home together since Duo lived just a few streets away from him. Duo had even joined him in the back rows once. But only once. After sitting three hours in the cold he refused to -ever- sit there again. Instead he made Wufei sit with the rest of the group further down.

There were still times when he would feel uncomfortable and like he didn't fit in. Times that he didn't know what to say or do. Times that made him long for the days where he could go for a week without talking to anyone except Mrs. Stevens and his cat. But being close to Duo made it all worth it. To say that Wufei had never been happier was an understatement. It felt good open up to Duo and to talk to him about everything and nothing. He just had this way of making you feel like you were the center of the universe as soon as those eyes turn towards you. Or maybe Wufei was the only one that felt that way? How ever it was, it made him want to follow him around everywhere. Made him feel like a fifteen year old who wanted to carry his crush's books from one class to the other. Like he would do anything to be with him.

He played with the thought of asking him out. He was actually pretty sure that Duo was gay. That blond girl (who's name he still didn't know)had said something about having to leave early because her boyfriend had done something (Wufei hadn't been paying attention to their conversation because Duo's hairband had slipped of the end of his braid, forcing him to re-do a part of it) and Sarah had said something in the line of 'Oh, you don't have to explain, everyone who has ever had a boyfriend knows what you're talking about' and then Duo had given her this little half laugh. Like he was agreeing with her... or maybe not. Wufei was fully aware of the fact that he might be reading a bit too much into it.

But even if Duo was gay he wouldn't date him anyway so the whole thing was more or less pointless. Wufei reasoned that he really should be grateful that he could be close to him at all. Duo was a really nice guy, who would probably feel guilty if he found out that Wufei was in love with him. He really didn't want Duo's pity. No, he would rather love him from a distance without him knowing about it. That was the way that unrequited love should be.

And it really was love, not some shallow crush based on appearance like it had been in the beginning. Wufei had been given the chance to get to know 'Adonis' only to find that Duo was so much more then any of his fantasies could ever get even close to. There was just so much life in him that the poor Asian could hardly take his eyes of him. Wufei had to make really sure that he didn't let his eyes linger on Duo for too long. Which was easier said than done.

He was doing the best he could at the moment not to let his eyes get stuck on Duo's ass. The ass, that was sticking out in the air as the owner of said ass was trying to reach the last packet of some kind of exclusive ice cream. They were on a mission to buy snacks for the rest of the group and by the look of the shopping list, they were going to be there for awhile. Wufei breathed out a sigh of relief as Duo straightened up again.

“So what’s next on the list Wufei?” He was about to answer when a very familiar voice spoke from behind him “Mr. Gilmore?”

'Oh god, not now, please not now.' But his prayers went unheard when he turned around and came face to face with a smiling old woman wearing a bright orange and yellow winter overall with a turquoise knitted hat on her head.

“Oh, good evening Mrs. Wilson.” Wufei said with a fake smile. 'Gilmore?' he saw Duo mouth in question next to him.

“How are you, Wofei?”

“I'm good Mrs. Wilson, how are you?”

“Oh, never better. Not that anyone believes me when I tell them that. Johanna has been nagging me all week that I should slow down just because I took another dive down the stairs. I'll slow down when I'm dead. I keep telling her, I'm eighty-five, not a hundred and five. But she doesn't listen. But that’s the way grandchildren work. Speaking of which, I haven't seen you around at your grandmother's in a while now. I hope you haven't forgotten about her.”

Wufei managed a smile. “Of course not, my grandmother is very hard to forget.”

“She told me that she was going to a spa. That must be heavenly. Letting someone pamper you must feel fantastic. But I really wonder about some of those methods. I have a hard time understanding how sitting in mud is good for you... Is this your girlfriend Wofei?”

His eyes followed her wrinkled finger that was pointing... straight at Duo.

Wufei could feel cold sweat running down his back. “No, this is a friend of mine from the university. Mrs. Wilson, this is Duo Maxwell, Duo this is Mrs. Wilson, a friend of my grandmother.”

“It's very nice to meet you Mrs. Wilson.” Duo said with a bright smile.

“Oh, it's very nice to meet you miss. Now why haven't you snatched this one up yet?” She asked and patted a mortified Wufei on the butt.

Duo's coughed in an attempt to hide his laughter. “It must be a terrible oversight on my part, Mrs. Wilson.”

“Oh it has to be. This one is just the sweetest thing imaginable. Always polite and ready to give a helping hand. Let me tell you, that back when I was going to turn eighty this little honeybun came over every day after school to help me bake cookies for my guests. Everyone just loved his wonderful cupcakes. I remember when he was younger and he used to run around in this big red cardigan that I had and pretended that he was Little Red Riding Hood. He had a basket with lemonade and cookies that he would treat everyone from when they came over. It was just adorable. I had to knit myself a new cardigan because he would look so sad when I took it back." She said and petted Wufei's cheek with a smile. "How is you own knitting going Mr. Gilmore?”

Wufei sighed and accepted that he was not walking away from here with any dignity left. “It's going fine. The gloves are done and I'm working on a scarf right now.”

Mrs. Wilson nodded. “Oh, that's good. You let me know if you need any help.”

“I will.”

“That’s a good boy.” She turned to Duo “Now, I hope you'll take care of this. God knows nothing will ever happen if you're waiting for him to make any moves. Good girl.” She said happily when she saw Duo smile and nod his head.

“You two have a nice day now. It was nice to meet you miss Maxwell. Goodbye.”

They both watched as the old women made her way towards the checkout.

Wufei turned to look at Duo who seemed to be holding his breath. Or more likely, holding his laughter inside as he waited for Mrs. Wilson to get out of hearing.

The Chinese man rubbed a hand over his eyes. “Her hearing is about as bad as her eyesight, I think it's safe for you to laugh now.”

And that he did. He laughed so hard that he had to lean against the freezer while tears made their way down his cheeks. And even though Wufei was embarrassed he couldn't help but think about how much he really liked the way Duo laughed. He could barely make out some disjointed words that he managed to choke out. It sounded like 'miss' and 'girlfriend' with something that could be translated to 'marmalade' but he wasn't sure.

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Later as they were leaving the store, Duo turned towards him. “Ok, I have to ask. Gilmore?! I thought your name was Chang.”

Wufei sighed. “It is. My full name is Wufei Gilmore-Chang. Gilmore is from my mother’s side but my mother thought it was important that I was named with my father’s last name... even if I would never meet him.” At Duo's questioning look he just said 'One night stand' as a explanation. “Anyway, Wufei Gilmore-Chang is a bit too long for my taste and Wufei Gilmore... seriously doesn't sound quite right.”

You could tell by Duo's amused snort that he agreed with him.

“So how come you have a Chinese first name?”

This time it was Wufei's turn to snort. “As far as I know, it's not a very good Chinese name. It's more of a nonsense name. My mom picked out two words that she thought looked nice out of a Chinese dictionary. The words have different meanings depending on how you pronounce them, but wu and fei means five and fly.”

Duo snickered. “You're named five?”

“Like you're one to talk.” He shot back, surprising himself with his own boldness.

“That's exactly my point. I never meet another person, outside of my family, who was named after a number.” Duo was quiet for a second. “So your mother... she just closed her eyes and pointed at a word?” He asked in a curious voice.

Wufei shrugged his shoulder. “My grandmother said that she kind of looked at the words like they were pretty pictures and choose the ones that she thought looked nicest. So therefore five-fly.”

“Five-fly huh. Wuuuu fei. Wufei, Wu-feeeiii.” Duo smiled down at him and Wufei couldn't help but smile back. He had always hated his name. Hardly anyone pronounced it right and he didn't know how many people who had asked him if he spoke English when they saw his name tag at work. But with Duo smiling and rolling it around in his mouth, he found that maybe it wasn't that bad.

The braided man shifted the shopping bag from one hand to the other. “And here I though my parents were unimaginative. No offense.”

Wufei just waved his hand to show that none was taken. Duo continued. “I mean, my older brother is named Solo, my little brother is named Tres and my little sister is named Quadraginta.”

Wufei stumbled and stared at him with his mouth hanging open. ”Quadraginta?”

Duo laughed. ”Yeah, I got of kind of easy with 'Duo' didn't I? No one ever called her that though. Not if they want to live. Most just calls her Gin or Quatra. Or in my case, Q-bean. I just got the minion title.”

The shorter man smiled. “Yeah, there it's a bit of a Bond feeling over it.”

“Not to mention the Austin Powers movie. God! Solo made fun of me for weeks when ever one of those movies came out.”

“Number two?” Wufei couldn't help but snicker.

“Yeah, 'get me the laser sharks number two' and 'You want to wear the daddy pants?' for weeks! I thought I was going to lose my mind!”

Wufei laughed. “Well, there is a down side with everything.”

Duo rolled his eyes. “You can say that again. So whats the down side of 'Wufei'?”

'What isn't the down side of it' He thought bitterly before answering. “Well, no one ever pronounce it right. I was pretty impressed that you got it right by the way.”

Duo smiled proudly. “Thanks... There is just one thing that I'm wondering about. If you can't speak Chinese, and if I'm right, you don't know anyone who speaks Chinese ether.” He waited for Wufei to confirm and at his nod he continued. “So how do you know what the right Chinese pronunciation sounds like?”

If it had been anyone else, Wufei would never have answered that question. But on the other hand, he would never have told anyone else the story behind his name in the first place. But for some reason it didn't matter if he was making a fool of himself in front of Duo. He didn't mind that he was sharing things that had been more or less the ban of his existents.

It didn't make any sense. Weren't you supposed to be nervous and uncomfortable around the one you had fallen head over heals in love with? But Duo just made him feel relaxed and happy. Like he could do and say anything and Duo would just laugh. Only that he would laugh with him, not at him.

It was a very liberating felling for someone who did not have that many people to confide in. Well, he had Ellen, but they didn't really interact outside of work. He had his grandmother but that was just... no. She still saw him as a ten year old. But now there was Duo. Bright and happy Duo who was so... free. Who made Wufei feel free. He wanted to spend every second of every day just trying to make him happy. He wanted to know Duo, wanted to know everything there was to know about him. And if he wasn't heads over heals in love with him before, the smile he was being given now would have been enough to do so and that was also why he told him the truth when he answered Duo's question.

“Chinese restaurant.” He mumbled in embarrassment but Duo's happy laugh made it all worth it.

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