First Date
Author's note: I do not own Gundam Wing. I wish I did, but sadly I don't. So please don't bug me about using the charas.
Before you read: I just want to warn you that I am a hopeless romantic; and I mean like true emo kid hopeless! I cried in the weeding singer, yes the wedding singer. This story has some sweet sappy parts but nothing anything more the PG. Also there is no yaoi and pairings between 1xR 2xH and um… 1x2 but not yaoi, you will get it when you read.
Pronunciation: Mel-Anna is pronounced Mel- (ah)nna (soft a)
Part One: Dangerous Beginnings
Fifteen-year-old Mel strolled to the pizza parlor with her friend Clint. Mel was short for Mel-Anna, the name her parents gave her and called her, they were about the only people who still did. It was Thursday afternoon sometime in late spring. Mel found herself slipping away after school more and more lately.
She would rather be with her friends then at home with her father. Honestly! How did her parents stay together? The phrase opposites attract barely scratched the surface. Yet they hardly fought or anything. Her mother was always away on business leaving her with her psychotic father.
Her father was the main reason that Mel was staying out more and more lately. He was one of those people who can draw from situations and make conclusions, surprisingly accurate conclusions at that. Mel thought that he had to be a spy or something, nothing got away from him.
Today was like most days, after school her friends and she would go down to the pizza place, or the ice cream shop, or the movie theater, and hang out. Today though, it was just Clint and she. They were going off alone a lot more often. Clint was perfect in Mel's eyes. He was charming, funny, and caring. He didn't care that Mel-Anna's mother was the Vise Foreign Minister or that she was the richest girl at school. Mel looked up to the older more immature guy. She envied his freedom.
They had been friends since Clint moved to the colony a few moths ago, and nothing else. Today that was going to change. They were sitting at their usual table splitting a large pepperoni pizza, meaning that she had three pieces leaving the other nine for Clint.
"Wanna go out to dinner or somethin' on Saturday?" He asked after devouring his last piece.
She knew that her father wouldn't approve. Clint was two years older and drove an incredible raised truck. Her father would slam the door in his face after one look at his head. The pierced ear and tongue and lime green mop would detour any father. "Alright." She said without a second thought.
"I'll pick you up at seven."
As Clint drove Mel home she decided it would be best not to tell her father. Her mother was home for the weekend, Mel decided not to tell her anything either. She would simply tell her mother that she was going out with friends on Saturday night. When Clint came she would slip out before her parents even heard the doorbell ring.
"Good evening mother, father." She said as she walked past them in the family room. She started walking up the stairs. Once her parents couldn't see her she started to run. The 'in use' button on the cordless phone holder lit up the instant her door closed.
Relena looked up from the speech she was editing, "She's in a good mood today."
"Yeah." Heero said in a suspicious tone. He stood without another word and went into his office. Heero closed the door behind him. He didn't bother locking it, over the years his family learned that a closed door meant don't enter. He went straight for the file cabinet in the far corner. He knelt in front of it and opened the bottom drawer.
Inside the cabinet was what looked like a cassette player. The tape looped it's way around from one spool to the other. He flipped a switch. Suddenly the once silent cassette came to life.
"Can you believe it? He asked me out!" Mel's voice said excitedly.
"I know it's so exciting!" Heero recognized the voice of Mel- Anna's friend Addy.
"I can't wait. Saturday seems so far away."
Heero squeezed his hand into a tight fist, tight enough to make his knuckles crack. He suppressed the erg to storm upstairs and rip the phone out of his daughter's hands.
"And a junior as well. Not even someone like Miss Perfect Paliano has a boyfriend who's a junior."
Heero couldn't take it anymore. He closed the cabinet and hastily walked out of the office. So as not to arouse the suspicion of Relena he walked as quietly as humanly possible up the stairs and down the hall to Mel's room. He flung her door open, startling Mel, "A junior huh?"
"Addy? Yeah. Bye." She pushed the off button on the phone.
She stood from her place on the floor and faced her father, "I don't see why not a junior." She didn't even bother with how he knew. He had his ways; it wasn't worth playing the 'you ask I don't say' game with him.
"I can: you're a freshman. And you aren't aloud to date!"
Relena looked up from her speech. She heard Heero's raised voice. The 'in use' light on the phone was no longer lit up. This couldn't be good. Leaving her speech on the couch she walked quickly up the stairs.
"Why aren't I aloud to date?" Mel replied as Relena reached the top of the stairs.
"Because you're too young."
"No because you think that I'm too young."
"Heero, could I speak with you?" Relena interrupted from behind him.
"We'll continue this later." Heero told Mel. He followed Relena out of her room.
Relena led Heero down the hall to their room. After Heero was in she closed the door.
"I thought I told you to take the tap off the phone." She said from the doorway.
Heero remained silent.
Relena put her hands on her hips, "Why are you being so hard on her?"
"Because she isn't old enough."
"You aren't making any sense."
"Huh?" He asked with a questioning look. It made perfect sense to him.
"When we were her age you were piloting advanced mobile suits and I was queen of the world. We owe it too her to trust her."
"He's a junior."
"So?" Relena walked over to Heero. She took a hold of his hand. "She has your instincts and my reasoning skills. She will be fine." Her turquoise eyes looked into his.
Heero sighed. He hated when she was right. He squeezed her hand, "We better hope she has your reasoning skills."
Relena smiled. She stood on her toes and gave him a sweet kiss. "Now let me do the talking."
Mel yawned as we walked drowsily down the hall Saturday morning. She was surprised to see a garment bag on the top of the stairs. She could hear her parents speaking inside their master suit.
She knocked on the open door, "May I come in?" She asked.
Her mother was rushing around in a flurry. She stopped in front of the door, "Mel-Anna, I'm glad you're awaka. Come in. we need to have a word with you." She rushed back into the bedroom.
Mel entered the room. When she passed though the sitting room that connected the bedroom to the large walk in closets and expansive bath she had a better view of the situation. Her father was leaning up against the back wall. One foot was bent backwards, leaning against the wall with his back. A small suitcase lay open on the bed.
"Where are you going mother?"
Relena stopped putting her toiletries in the bag. She faced her daughter; "There is a crisis in the L-5 cluster. I've been called over to help end the situation."
"You will be back before tonight right?"
Relena walked over to Mel, "I'm sorry dear. I won't be back until tomorrow morning."
Mel's eyes seemed to darken, "But…" She said quietly.
Relena put her hand on her shoulder, "Don't worry about tonight, I've been speaking to your father about that very thing. He knows to be nice."
"You can't actually expect father to be nice to Clint." Mel whispered.
Heero heard this, "It's not like I'm going to shoot the boy."
Relena glanced back at him. She hated how he threw around the idea of shooting people.
"I know but…" Mel trailed off, searching for the best way to say what she had to say, "I thought that you would be here."
"You don't need me, you will be just fine." She kissed Mel's forehead, "I must hurry now, I can't miss my shuttle."
When the doorbell rang that night, Mel's shoes were still nowhere to be found. She dashed around her room trying to find them as quickly as possible. Her plan to rush out of the house before her father got so much as a glance at Clint wasn't going to work now. She just had to hope that her father wouldn't turn on Clint, and that her shoes weren't lost for good.
Heero opened the door. He eyed Clint with a dark stare.
Clint tried his best to make a good impression. He trusted out his hand, "You must be Mel's dad, I'm Clint. It's nice to meet you."
Heero glanced down at his hand. His cold stare quickly returned to the boy's face. Heero pushed a button on the intercom. "Mel-Anna, your date's here."
"Give me a minute." Mel's voice said though the speaker.
Clint hesitated; Heero still hadn't taken his hand. He lowered it slowly. If being polite wasn't going to work he might as well get to the point. "Sir I know what you are going to say so let me save your breath. I know that you have a gun and a shovel and that no one will miss me."
Heero's lips cracked slightly in what may be considered a smile. "No I wasn't going to say that."
Clint smiled, "That's good to-"
Heero cut him off, "I don't need a gun. I could kill you with my bare hands in more ways then you can imagine. And if anyone does miss you I will erase your name from existence."
Clint's jaw dropped. He couldn't believe that these words were coming out of the mouth of sweet Mel's father. "I…um." Clint cleared his throat, "wow that was a new one."
"We have some time." Heero turned his back to Clint, "I want to show you something."
Not wanting to offend, or worst, anger the man Clint followed obediently. If there was one thing he learned it was: the only way to a girl was though her father. He felt as if he had just ran into the Great Wall of China.
They walked though the grand foyer and into the downstairs sitting room. They passed though to the backyard.
Clint looked around the backyard in awe as they walked though. It had everything from a large pool to the tennis court. The backyard also housed a stable, a green house, and a firing range.
Clint couldn't help but notice that they were walking straight for the firing range. His throat tightened. Beads of cold sweat glistened on his forehead. He started to shake when he was Heero draw a handgun from his waistband.
"You wouldn't believe how long it took me to convince Mel- Anna's mother to let me put this in." Heero cocked the gun, "Damn pacifist beliefs. Who need them anyways?"
"Yeah. Right." Clint said nervously.
"Have a quarter?" Heero asked. He walked away until he was about ten feet away from Clint.
"Um, yeah." Clint dug a quarter out of the pocket of his black dickie pants.
"Hold it between your fingers so I can see it."
Clint held the quarter between his thumb and index finger. He held it out to the side of him and winced. He wasn't sure yet what he was doing, but he had a pretty good idea.
Heero aimed the firearm, "Stand still." He warned right before firing the gun.
The quarter was hit. It was propelled back, though the air. It landed a few yards away.
Clint stared at his shaking hand. He looked it over. There wasn't so much as a scratch. He looked up at Heero. "Great shot!" he exclaimed.
"Go get the quarter."
Clint turned around and searched for the quarter. He couldn't believe what he found. There was a whole right thought the center of the quarter. Before Clint could say anything Heero spoke up. Clint didn't even notice that Heero had come up behind him. It wasn't until he heard his voice in front of him did he realize he had moved.
"If you so much as lay a hand on my daughter. Think of this quarter as your head. Understand?"
"Ye-yes sir."
Heero walked away, leaving Clint to stare at the quarter. He turned around and called back to him, "Come on, we don't want to keep Mel-Anna waiting."
Heero and Clint re-entered the foyer just in time to see Mel descend the stairs.
The turquoise color of the dress matched her eyes perfectly, making them seem even larger and expressive. Her summer dress fit her curves perfectly before it flared out a bit, so that the skirt section flowed as she walked. The dress came down to her knees. The top part was modest enough for almost any father. The capped sleeves only framed her small shoulders. The top was square cut, high enough to leave guys to use their imagination.
She wore her hair down. The brown tresses cascaded down her back. They danced when her feet hit another step, bouncing happily with every move.
Her white-strapped sandals clicked lightly when they hit the marble floor of the foyer as she walked over to Clint. Her shoes had finally been found hiding behind the hamper. It still escaped Mel how they got there, but that didn't matter right now.
Clint was smiling for the first time since he had entered the mansion. His smile was big, and dopey, easily taking up half of his face. His blue eyes glistened with happiness. Seeing her almost mad him forget about the center-less quarter in his pocket.
Mel's white shoes were right next to Clint's converses. The color of her dress complimented his white and black tropical print shirt. It was the only shirt like that he owned, and one he never wore to school. The shirt was kept tucked away in the back of his closet, taken out only on special occasions. The fact that he wore it on a first date said a lot about the girl he was dating. Actually, come to think of it, that was the first time he ever worn the shirt on a first date.
"Have her home by ten." Heero said.
Clint's smile sagged a bit, that was going to be close. He feared her father too much to say something though.
Mel saw his change in expression, "Eleven."
"Ten."
"Ten-thirty."
"Ten."
"Father, please. You can't expect the movie to get out and for us to get back up to the house by ten."
"If you aren't back by ten-fifteen I will personally come a pick you up."
Clint noticed how Heero's hand moved dangerously close to his hidden side arm. "I think we should listen to your father." We whispered to Mel.
He looked back at Heero, "Ten-fifteen is perfect sir."
Heero nodded.
"It was nice meeting you." Clint lied as Mel grabbed his hand and pulled him for the door.
Clint was more then happy to be away from her father. He was still afraid to breath though. He knew that Heero could be watching them right now. He pressed the unlock button on his keys. The lights flashed once and there was a little 'bwoop' sound. He climbed up, opened the passenger's door, and jumped back down.
Mel had been in his truck before. She knew the drill.
Clint put his arms around her slender waist and lifted her over and around his head so that she was on his shoulders. She used the rear- view mirror to balance herself. She stepped up on to the stepping platform that was parallel to his shoulders.
Clint resisted his thoughts of looking up. He kept his eyes fixed straight ahead. He fleet the weights on his shoulders lessen as Mel stepped on to the platform. When both feet were on the platform Clint ran around to the driver's side. He didn't even notice Heero, who had ducked beneath the truck while he was getting Mel in.
Inside the truck Clint was finally relaxed. "Your dad's…"
"Scary?" Mel finished for him.
"Yeah, he totally freaked me out."
Mel sighed, "What did you do to you?"
Clint reached his hand into his pocket and pulled out the quarter. He handed it to Mel.
"Wow the quarter trick."
"You mean he's done that to other people."
"He use to do it to me all the time, only when my mother was away on business of course. When I was younger I thought it was funny."
"You actually liked when he did that?"
"I was only a kid. It's not like he was going to hit me."
"How do you know that?"
"He never has hit anybody."
"So he just does this to people for fun?"
"Oh no. The only time I saw him do it to someone outside of the family was to one of my mother's old boyfriends from high school. That poor guy ran out of the house so fast."
"Oh great. Now I know where I stand." Clint said.
Mel heard the fear in his voice, "Don't worry about him. He may be crazy and act like a secret agent, but it's not like he's going to kill you."
Clint gave a little laugh, "Yeah, right." Clint said in a very unconvinced tone.
Author's note: I do not own Gundam Wing. I wish I did, but sadly I don't. So please don't bug me about using the charas.
Before you read: I just want to warn you that I am a hopeless romantic; and I mean like true emo kid hopeless! I cried in the weeding singer, yes the wedding singer. This story has some sweet sappy parts but nothing anything more the PG. Also there is no yaoi and pairings between 1xR 2xH and um… 1x2 but not yaoi, you will get it when you read.
Pronunciation: Mel-Anna is pronounced Mel- (ah)nna (soft a)
Part One: Dangerous Beginnings
Fifteen-year-old Mel strolled to the pizza parlor with her friend Clint. Mel was short for Mel-Anna, the name her parents gave her and called her, they were about the only people who still did. It was Thursday afternoon sometime in late spring. Mel found herself slipping away after school more and more lately.
She would rather be with her friends then at home with her father. Honestly! How did her parents stay together? The phrase opposites attract barely scratched the surface. Yet they hardly fought or anything. Her mother was always away on business leaving her with her psychotic father.
Her father was the main reason that Mel was staying out more and more lately. He was one of those people who can draw from situations and make conclusions, surprisingly accurate conclusions at that. Mel thought that he had to be a spy or something, nothing got away from him.
Today was like most days, after school her friends and she would go down to the pizza place, or the ice cream shop, or the movie theater, and hang out. Today though, it was just Clint and she. They were going off alone a lot more often. Clint was perfect in Mel's eyes. He was charming, funny, and caring. He didn't care that Mel-Anna's mother was the Vise Foreign Minister or that she was the richest girl at school. Mel looked up to the older more immature guy. She envied his freedom.
They had been friends since Clint moved to the colony a few moths ago, and nothing else. Today that was going to change. They were sitting at their usual table splitting a large pepperoni pizza, meaning that she had three pieces leaving the other nine for Clint.
"Wanna go out to dinner or somethin' on Saturday?" He asked after devouring his last piece.
She knew that her father wouldn't approve. Clint was two years older and drove an incredible raised truck. Her father would slam the door in his face after one look at his head. The pierced ear and tongue and lime green mop would detour any father. "Alright." She said without a second thought.
"I'll pick you up at seven."
As Clint drove Mel home she decided it would be best not to tell her father. Her mother was home for the weekend, Mel decided not to tell her anything either. She would simply tell her mother that she was going out with friends on Saturday night. When Clint came she would slip out before her parents even heard the doorbell ring.
"Good evening mother, father." She said as she walked past them in the family room. She started walking up the stairs. Once her parents couldn't see her she started to run. The 'in use' button on the cordless phone holder lit up the instant her door closed.
Relena looked up from the speech she was editing, "She's in a good mood today."
"Yeah." Heero said in a suspicious tone. He stood without another word and went into his office. Heero closed the door behind him. He didn't bother locking it, over the years his family learned that a closed door meant don't enter. He went straight for the file cabinet in the far corner. He knelt in front of it and opened the bottom drawer.
Inside the cabinet was what looked like a cassette player. The tape looped it's way around from one spool to the other. He flipped a switch. Suddenly the once silent cassette came to life.
"Can you believe it? He asked me out!" Mel's voice said excitedly.
"I know it's so exciting!" Heero recognized the voice of Mel- Anna's friend Addy.
"I can't wait. Saturday seems so far away."
Heero squeezed his hand into a tight fist, tight enough to make his knuckles crack. He suppressed the erg to storm upstairs and rip the phone out of his daughter's hands.
"And a junior as well. Not even someone like Miss Perfect Paliano has a boyfriend who's a junior."
Heero couldn't take it anymore. He closed the cabinet and hastily walked out of the office. So as not to arouse the suspicion of Relena he walked as quietly as humanly possible up the stairs and down the hall to Mel's room. He flung her door open, startling Mel, "A junior huh?"
"Addy? Yeah. Bye." She pushed the off button on the phone.
She stood from her place on the floor and faced her father, "I don't see why not a junior." She didn't even bother with how he knew. He had his ways; it wasn't worth playing the 'you ask I don't say' game with him.
"I can: you're a freshman. And you aren't aloud to date!"
Relena looked up from her speech. She heard Heero's raised voice. The 'in use' light on the phone was no longer lit up. This couldn't be good. Leaving her speech on the couch she walked quickly up the stairs.
"Why aren't I aloud to date?" Mel replied as Relena reached the top of the stairs.
"Because you're too young."
"No because you think that I'm too young."
"Heero, could I speak with you?" Relena interrupted from behind him.
"We'll continue this later." Heero told Mel. He followed Relena out of her room.
Relena led Heero down the hall to their room. After Heero was in she closed the door.
"I thought I told you to take the tap off the phone." She said from the doorway.
Heero remained silent.
Relena put her hands on her hips, "Why are you being so hard on her?"
"Because she isn't old enough."
"You aren't making any sense."
"Huh?" He asked with a questioning look. It made perfect sense to him.
"When we were her age you were piloting advanced mobile suits and I was queen of the world. We owe it too her to trust her."
"He's a junior."
"So?" Relena walked over to Heero. She took a hold of his hand. "She has your instincts and my reasoning skills. She will be fine." Her turquoise eyes looked into his.
Heero sighed. He hated when she was right. He squeezed her hand, "We better hope she has your reasoning skills."
Relena smiled. She stood on her toes and gave him a sweet kiss. "Now let me do the talking."
Mel yawned as we walked drowsily down the hall Saturday morning. She was surprised to see a garment bag on the top of the stairs. She could hear her parents speaking inside their master suit.
She knocked on the open door, "May I come in?" She asked.
Her mother was rushing around in a flurry. She stopped in front of the door, "Mel-Anna, I'm glad you're awaka. Come in. we need to have a word with you." She rushed back into the bedroom.
Mel entered the room. When she passed though the sitting room that connected the bedroom to the large walk in closets and expansive bath she had a better view of the situation. Her father was leaning up against the back wall. One foot was bent backwards, leaning against the wall with his back. A small suitcase lay open on the bed.
"Where are you going mother?"
Relena stopped putting her toiletries in the bag. She faced her daughter; "There is a crisis in the L-5 cluster. I've been called over to help end the situation."
"You will be back before tonight right?"
Relena walked over to Mel, "I'm sorry dear. I won't be back until tomorrow morning."
Mel's eyes seemed to darken, "But…" She said quietly.
Relena put her hand on her shoulder, "Don't worry about tonight, I've been speaking to your father about that very thing. He knows to be nice."
"You can't actually expect father to be nice to Clint." Mel whispered.
Heero heard this, "It's not like I'm going to shoot the boy."
Relena glanced back at him. She hated how he threw around the idea of shooting people.
"I know but…" Mel trailed off, searching for the best way to say what she had to say, "I thought that you would be here."
"You don't need me, you will be just fine." She kissed Mel's forehead, "I must hurry now, I can't miss my shuttle."
When the doorbell rang that night, Mel's shoes were still nowhere to be found. She dashed around her room trying to find them as quickly as possible. Her plan to rush out of the house before her father got so much as a glance at Clint wasn't going to work now. She just had to hope that her father wouldn't turn on Clint, and that her shoes weren't lost for good.
Heero opened the door. He eyed Clint with a dark stare.
Clint tried his best to make a good impression. He trusted out his hand, "You must be Mel's dad, I'm Clint. It's nice to meet you."
Heero glanced down at his hand. His cold stare quickly returned to the boy's face. Heero pushed a button on the intercom. "Mel-Anna, your date's here."
"Give me a minute." Mel's voice said though the speaker.
Clint hesitated; Heero still hadn't taken his hand. He lowered it slowly. If being polite wasn't going to work he might as well get to the point. "Sir I know what you are going to say so let me save your breath. I know that you have a gun and a shovel and that no one will miss me."
Heero's lips cracked slightly in what may be considered a smile. "No I wasn't going to say that."
Clint smiled, "That's good to-"
Heero cut him off, "I don't need a gun. I could kill you with my bare hands in more ways then you can imagine. And if anyone does miss you I will erase your name from existence."
Clint's jaw dropped. He couldn't believe that these words were coming out of the mouth of sweet Mel's father. "I…um." Clint cleared his throat, "wow that was a new one."
"We have some time." Heero turned his back to Clint, "I want to show you something."
Not wanting to offend, or worst, anger the man Clint followed obediently. If there was one thing he learned it was: the only way to a girl was though her father. He felt as if he had just ran into the Great Wall of China.
They walked though the grand foyer and into the downstairs sitting room. They passed though to the backyard.
Clint looked around the backyard in awe as they walked though. It had everything from a large pool to the tennis court. The backyard also housed a stable, a green house, and a firing range.
Clint couldn't help but notice that they were walking straight for the firing range. His throat tightened. Beads of cold sweat glistened on his forehead. He started to shake when he was Heero draw a handgun from his waistband.
"You wouldn't believe how long it took me to convince Mel- Anna's mother to let me put this in." Heero cocked the gun, "Damn pacifist beliefs. Who need them anyways?"
"Yeah. Right." Clint said nervously.
"Have a quarter?" Heero asked. He walked away until he was about ten feet away from Clint.
"Um, yeah." Clint dug a quarter out of the pocket of his black dickie pants.
"Hold it between your fingers so I can see it."
Clint held the quarter between his thumb and index finger. He held it out to the side of him and winced. He wasn't sure yet what he was doing, but he had a pretty good idea.
Heero aimed the firearm, "Stand still." He warned right before firing the gun.
The quarter was hit. It was propelled back, though the air. It landed a few yards away.
Clint stared at his shaking hand. He looked it over. There wasn't so much as a scratch. He looked up at Heero. "Great shot!" he exclaimed.
"Go get the quarter."
Clint turned around and searched for the quarter. He couldn't believe what he found. There was a whole right thought the center of the quarter. Before Clint could say anything Heero spoke up. Clint didn't even notice that Heero had come up behind him. It wasn't until he heard his voice in front of him did he realize he had moved.
"If you so much as lay a hand on my daughter. Think of this quarter as your head. Understand?"
"Ye-yes sir."
Heero walked away, leaving Clint to stare at the quarter. He turned around and called back to him, "Come on, we don't want to keep Mel-Anna waiting."
Heero and Clint re-entered the foyer just in time to see Mel descend the stairs.
The turquoise color of the dress matched her eyes perfectly, making them seem even larger and expressive. Her summer dress fit her curves perfectly before it flared out a bit, so that the skirt section flowed as she walked. The dress came down to her knees. The top part was modest enough for almost any father. The capped sleeves only framed her small shoulders. The top was square cut, high enough to leave guys to use their imagination.
She wore her hair down. The brown tresses cascaded down her back. They danced when her feet hit another step, bouncing happily with every move.
Her white-strapped sandals clicked lightly when they hit the marble floor of the foyer as she walked over to Clint. Her shoes had finally been found hiding behind the hamper. It still escaped Mel how they got there, but that didn't matter right now.
Clint was smiling for the first time since he had entered the mansion. His smile was big, and dopey, easily taking up half of his face. His blue eyes glistened with happiness. Seeing her almost mad him forget about the center-less quarter in his pocket.
Mel's white shoes were right next to Clint's converses. The color of her dress complimented his white and black tropical print shirt. It was the only shirt like that he owned, and one he never wore to school. The shirt was kept tucked away in the back of his closet, taken out only on special occasions. The fact that he wore it on a first date said a lot about the girl he was dating. Actually, come to think of it, that was the first time he ever worn the shirt on a first date.
"Have her home by ten." Heero said.
Clint's smile sagged a bit, that was going to be close. He feared her father too much to say something though.
Mel saw his change in expression, "Eleven."
"Ten."
"Ten-thirty."
"Ten."
"Father, please. You can't expect the movie to get out and for us to get back up to the house by ten."
"If you aren't back by ten-fifteen I will personally come a pick you up."
Clint noticed how Heero's hand moved dangerously close to his hidden side arm. "I think we should listen to your father." We whispered to Mel.
He looked back at Heero, "Ten-fifteen is perfect sir."
Heero nodded.
"It was nice meeting you." Clint lied as Mel grabbed his hand and pulled him for the door.
Clint was more then happy to be away from her father. He was still afraid to breath though. He knew that Heero could be watching them right now. He pressed the unlock button on his keys. The lights flashed once and there was a little 'bwoop' sound. He climbed up, opened the passenger's door, and jumped back down.
Mel had been in his truck before. She knew the drill.
Clint put his arms around her slender waist and lifted her over and around his head so that she was on his shoulders. She used the rear- view mirror to balance herself. She stepped up on to the stepping platform that was parallel to his shoulders.
Clint resisted his thoughts of looking up. He kept his eyes fixed straight ahead. He fleet the weights on his shoulders lessen as Mel stepped on to the platform. When both feet were on the platform Clint ran around to the driver's side. He didn't even notice Heero, who had ducked beneath the truck while he was getting Mel in.
Inside the truck Clint was finally relaxed. "Your dad's…"
"Scary?" Mel finished for him.
"Yeah, he totally freaked me out."
Mel sighed, "What did you do to you?"
Clint reached his hand into his pocket and pulled out the quarter. He handed it to Mel.
"Wow the quarter trick."
"You mean he's done that to other people."
"He use to do it to me all the time, only when my mother was away on business of course. When I was younger I thought it was funny."
"You actually liked when he did that?"
"I was only a kid. It's not like he was going to hit me."
"How do you know that?"
"He never has hit anybody."
"So he just does this to people for fun?"
"Oh no. The only time I saw him do it to someone outside of the family was to one of my mother's old boyfriends from high school. That poor guy ran out of the house so fast."
"Oh great. Now I know where I stand." Clint said.
Mel heard the fear in his voice, "Don't worry about him. He may be crazy and act like a secret agent, but it's not like he's going to kill you."
Clint gave a little laugh, "Yeah, right." Clint said in a very unconvinced tone.