Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing, and am making no money off of this fic.

AN: Written for the April 26th Cocktail Party prompt: "Wine is the answer. What was the question?"

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Confession by luvsanime02

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"I mean, what am I supposed to say to that?" Noin demands. She gulps down some more of her drink.

Sally shrugs. "Wine is the answer," she says, draining her glass and reaching for the bottle. "What was the question?"

Noin snorts. "It wasn't even a question," she laments, holding out her own glass for a refill. This may or may not be their second bottle of wine tonight just between the two of them. They may or may not have spent the past hour going through the first bottle. "He just gave me an ultimatum, basically."

Disguised as a question, of course. One of those 'this is what we both want, of course' things, when really, it's just him who wants it.

Sally sighs. "So break up with him," she says, like she's been saying all night, all week, all month, all year.

Noin doesn't reply to that, which is actually more hopeful than her immediately denying the suggestion. Still. Surely, she's not actually thinking about moving?

"I hate this," Noin mutters.

Sally shakes her head. "You're not actually going to quit your job just because he wants you to, are you?" she asks, dreading the answer.

Noin is her best friend. She's smart and tough and independent and fierce. But the minute she met Zechs Merquise, Noin has done anything that he wants. Sally's rarely ever been so caught off-guard before than by how much of a doormat Noin turns into around the man. It's sickening.

Not that Zechs is purposely manipulative or abusive. Sally would have done something a long time ago if that was the case. If anything, Zechs is just incredibly arrogant, and a lot of the time it doesn't even seem to occur to him that things could go a different way than how he wants them to.

He still annoys the hell out of Sally. This latest issue is only the tip of the iceberg.

"I don't know," Noin finally answers, her voice soft. "He's leaving, Sally. No matter what I do. This is important to him. And… I don't want him to leave me behind."

Sally bites back her first ten responses, counts down from thirty in her head, drinks some more wine, and then lets out a deep, irritated sigh. "You love your job," she says bluntly. "You've worked there for ten years, helped to build that place from the ground-up, have seniority there, and-"

"I know all of that!" Noin yells. Just as quickly as her anger comes, though, it leaves her in a rush, and she slumps over on the couch until she's leaning against Sally. "I know that," she says quieter. "But I can't- I can't just let him go alone."

"I don't see why not," Sally replies. "He's the one who wants to leave, not you." She hesitates. "Have you thought about trying a long-distance relationship for a while?" she asks. Sally doesn't want Noin to date Zechs, but it's pretty clear that her friend doesn't want to give up on their relationship.

Noin lets out a frustrated noise. "That's not the problem," she replies. "I'm not breaking up with Zechs, no matter what, Sally," Noin says, and she sounds so matter-of-fact that Sally groans internally. "I just don't want to be away from him."

That seems awfully final to Sally, and she swallows down her fear. She's afraid that Noin has already made her decision, and just doesn't want to admit it to either herself or Sally yet. Sally pours them both some more wine, and wonders how many bottles it will take in order for her to forget this deep feeling of dread in her chest.