Two Hundred Sixty Miles, Gundam Wing
Title: Two Hundred Sixty Miles
Fandom: Gundam Wing
Characters/pairing: Heero Yuy, Duo Maxwell
Warnings: AU
Notes: Based on the line "I drove all night" from Jim Croce's "I Have to Say I Love You in a Song", this was written per merith's request after correctly guessing the song in the MP3 meme. As I've discovered from the first round of stagesoflove, my drabbles seem to morph into ficlets.
Even after an attempt at cleaning the windshield, the bug guts were still there, smeared in little arcs instead of isolated blobs. Heero's hands were shaking from all the No Doz he'd popped at the rest area but he was still struggling to keep his eyes open. He nearly passed his exit and cut over two lanes of traffic to avoid having to continue along the interstate and backtrack. He wasn't sure he'd make it if he had to do that.
It had been a completely spontaneous decision; Duo hadn't been in when he'd called but his roommate had, and he'd jokingly said "we're having a party; stop by if you want." Heero had hung up the phone and debated on calling back later. If they were entertaining, he'd be pulling Duo away from his guests, and it was difficult to have a conversation with loud noises in the background.
He'd only planned to run out to pick up ramen, but once he was behind the wheel of his car he drove right past the store and headed north on the freeway.
It was only two hundred sixty miles; it should have taken him five hours, and at eight o'clock it had seemed like a good idea. He'd not counted on the detour and halfway there he'd realized he was almost out of gas. He spent a good portion of his time at the rest area crawling around the floor of his car, looking under seats and in the ashtray for spare change. He'd heaved a sigh of relief when he found a ten in the glove compartment that he'd thrown in there at the beginning of the semester, in case of emergency.
It had been eleven by then, and he'd put five gallons in the tank, annoying the cashier with the fist full of change he'd used to pay for the caffeine pills, the Pepsi, and the bag of chips. He was paying for it now, too, because his stomach was starting to clench and he prayed that he'd find a gas station soon.
By the time he pulled into the parking lot outside the row of university owned apartments , he could feel his heart beating rapidly and knew he was too wired on caffeine to sleep at all. He wondered if eating something might help quell the jittery feeling he had and he pushed open his door, rubbing at his eyes and wishing he'd had the money to pick up some Visine at the gas station. He ran a hand through his hair. He knew he probably looked like he'd just crawled out of bed and he was suddenly embarrassed, but it was now two in the morning and it was too late to do anything now but suck it up and knock on the door.
At least the trembling in his hands didn't affect his ability to do that.
Duo was the one who answered, and any concerns Heero had about showing up unannounced disappeared the moment Duo's look of stunned surprise turned into an expression of delight, just before Duo's arms went around him to enfold him in a bear hug.
"Don't let go," Heero laughed hoarsely. "I might fall."
Duo squeezed him tighter. "No you won't," he whispered fiercely in his ear. "I won't let you."