Well, I don't know what time it is where you are, but I still have twenty minutes left until midnight. It's still Friday and I kept my promise.

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Chapter 3

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"You can't just lie there, you need to start working on you next album, we have to take advantage of the media attention while we have it." Marty ranted.

Wufei made a disinterested noise to show that he was listening. Whenever a car passed outside, it made shadows dance across his ceiling. It looked like long ghost, stretching out as far as they would go as they chased someone around in a ring dance only to start all over again when another car passed.

"You've had a lot of stress around you lately, I can understand that." The man combed his hair over and over again in a jerky, nervous gesture. "But this has been going on for months now! We have to start producing something or we are going to get behind schedule."

Wufei didn't respond, he just stared. Marty started pacing back and forth in front of the bed. "This is not like you, you always have songs waiting. You need to get that spark back, get out, get laid. Hell, call someone up from outside the hotel and get a tumble. Anything!"

Wufei grunted. It almost bothered him that his manager didn't know him well enough to know that he did not use sex like a rechargeable battery. One would think that after working together for almost ten years, he would realize that Wufei never had sex with his fans or anyone else that Marty would know off.

Marty snapped his fingers like he had just gotten the greatest idea possible. "Maybe we could send you off to one of those celebrity spas?"

Wufei wished that he had a few darts that he could throw at the ceiling. He wondered if he would be able to hit one of the fleeting shadows or if it would just fall back down without even getting stuck. He wondered it room service would get him some if he asked.

"You would come back as a new man, full of inspiration and ready to take on anything." The stylish man went on enthusiastically.

Wufei took aim with an imaginary arrow and throw it at one of the bigger 'ghosts'.

"That would get you back on top, wouldn't it?"

Wufei slowly shook his head. He didn't particularly want to get back on top, he didn't really want to do anything.

"There are a lot of people counting on you." Marty pressed on, trying to use the guilt card. It would usually work, but Wufei really could not find any sympathy in his numb mind.

Marty seemed to sense this and went on. "If we want to get the album done before Christmas we need to get moving. Do you even realize how much money we would lose if all those teenage girls can't put it on Santa's shopping list?"

Wufei couldn't care less about the money. He could honestly not care about anything. He was washed out, stretched beyond his breaking point.

In a way, it wasn't even about Duo. This had been building up long before Duo made an appearance in his life. Duo had just managed to keep him floating for a bit longer. But no more, now Duo was the stone that held him stuck to the bottom of the ocean.

"Get a hold of yourself or I will have you sent to that spa with the druggies. I don't know what's gotten in to you but this is not the time. We are slipping out of the media's attention. If we release the album too late it will appear like a comeback and only old people have comebacks. You are not getting any younger, but we need to hold off that image for a while longer. The teen fans are still our number one source and if they start thinking that you are old…" Marty trailed off, waiting for a reaction.

He didn't get one.

"Oh for gods sake Chang, I will not have you ending your career lying flat on your back!"

Wufei tipped his head towards his manager, for the first time feeling something like anger grow in his chest. He was so sick of this evil circle. He knew that there were only one way to break it, but he dreaded to do it. He gathered all the courage he could find, fixing the image of Duo's bright, teasing smile in front of his eyes.

"Marty ."

The sleek man stopped his pacing, looking at him hopefully.

"Get out, you'll get your album."

Marty glared at him, obviously not happy about his rudeness. The man turned on his heal, marching away with his head held high.

As the door slammed behind him, Wufei reached out to grab a hold of the unused pad lying next to his bed. If they wanted an album that got them media attention, he was going to give them one.

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"What the fuck is this?!" Marty slapped the lyric notes down on the mixer table in front of him. Wufei barely spared the other man a glance through the glass as he adjusted the microphone stand.

"I do believe it's my latest song."

"It's about a fucking GUY!" His manager screamed, looking ready to rip his own hair out or maybe he would go for Wufei's.

"I'm very aware of that Marty, if you have a problem with that I suggest you quit and go sniffing after the underage wannabes." Wufei replied calmly as he picked up his guitar. The musicians were looking uncomfortable, clearly not wanting to be in the middle of the argument. Wufei was feeling more sorry for the technicians who were trapped in the recording studio with Marty.

"Oh don't you dare." The man hissed, pointing a threatening finger at him. It would have been more intimidating if he had been standing in the same room. "I made you, I got you here and I'm not going to let you throw it all away because you decided to come out off the closet at the TOP OF YOUR CAREER!"

Wufei refused to flinch at the loud outburst. "That is not your decision. In our contract it clearly states that I'm in full control of my artistic process. Not you, not my fans and not the record company. I'm in control."

"You can't do this, it will ruin you!" Marty wailed desperately.

Wufei shrugged, trying to look calmer then he was. He didn't want to destroy his career, but at the same time, he could not go on like before. He could not pretend to be someone he wasn't, not anymore.

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One year later.

With tired groan, Wufei fell head first onto his hotel bed. He was still wearing his stage clothes. They were tight, uncomfortable and they smelled, but he was just too tired to care.

Outing himself had in a strange way been both the best and the worst decision he had ever made.

While he had lost a large part of his fans, he had gained another big audience, one that really -listened- to his music, not just sang along in the refrain.

One the other hand, the rumors about him had grown wilder and wilder since he released his seventh and most controversial album. It had taken the music world by storm. All the radio stations that wanted to be on the front line kept playing his songs like mad. He had gotten a ridiculous amount of good reviews for the album, not even Barkly from 'Sound Wave Magazine,' who usually hated everything he did had said a single bad word about it. It was insane.

The album had only been out for two months and it had already sold more than any of his old albums. He had been on almost every night show on TV, every music channel had wanted him and gay lifestyle magazines had fought like wild dogs to get the first interview with him. It had been a hectic, draining time and Wufei wanted nothing more than to sleep. He had another concert the day after tomorrow and he had to get up early to catch the plane that was going to take him to the other side of the world.

The sharp signal off the hotel telephone cut through the air. He groaned in reluctance from where he was lying face down on his bed. He didn't want to answer it, but he did it anyway. Damn his good upbringing.

"Hello." He mumbled, half into the phone, half into the madras.

"This is the reception, I'm sorry for bothering you, but your taxi is here."

Wufei blinked in surprise, a weak flame of hope flaring up in his chest. "Taxi?"

"Yes, the driver was… quite insistent. Should I send him away?"

"No!" Wufei throw himself to his feet, almost pulling the phone along to the floor. "Tell him I'm coming."

"Yes sir, he's waiting out back. I would suggest that you don't take the main elevator, we have quite a large flock of wolfs outside today."

"Thank you." He breathed.

"You're welcome, have a nice day sir."

Wufei mumbled a quick thank you before hanging up. Throwing on clean, non-sparkling clothes he ran towards the stairs. He almost bumped into Trowa outside the door. The other man gave him a knowing look. "Ah." He said simply before stepping out of his way. As he hurried along, Wufei had a stray thought. Just how much of his life did Trowa really knew about? He decided not to worry about it, he had more important things on his mind. The stairs ended in the basement; from there you could take a left and go up the stairs at the end of a dark hallway. That would take you straight up into the personal's break room and from there on to the back door. He opened it.

And there it was. Duo's black taxi was almost one with the shadows surrounding it.

Wufei stepped forward and carefully opened the door. "Hi." He said almost shyly as he got in and closed it behind him.

Duo didn't respond, he just turned the key and started to drive.

The silence in the car was almost deafening. It took him a second to figure out why that felt so wrong, then he looked over at the brand new looking radio.

"I got the radio fixed." Duo said stiffly.

Wufei fidget. "Oh."

"It think that threatening to quit if they didn't helped a lot."

Wufei closed his eyes as if trying to hide.

The cab was quiet for a moment before Duo spoke up in a shallow tone. "I bought your album."

Wufei looked up, mouth open in surprise. "You did? But you hate-"

"Yeah, well I still do." He cut him off gruffly. "But what was I supposed to do when you named it 'that' of all things?"

'When Metaphors Are Not Enough' had not only taken the music world by storm, it had taken Wufei off his feet as well. It had been the first time he had felt free to really say what he wanted to say. Wufei had never been so pleased with his own work as when he listened trough the entire album for the first time. He had used all his experience and all his contacts to really give this album all he had. Not to mention, that as the case with most artists, your work was always the best when you were heartbroken.

Duo tightened his grip on the steering weal. "Did you mean it?"

"The songs? Yes."

Duo was quiet for a second, shadows playing over his face as he drove. "Couldn't you just have asked me out?"

Wufei shrugged in embarrassment, not knowing what to say.

They drove past the entrance of his hotel where people were lining the streets in hope of getting a look at Dragon. Signs and banderols were sticking up from the crowed with everything from marriage proposals and love declarations to offers to carry his children. Wufei absently noted that there were quite a lot more males then before he came out.

"Hey Wufei."

Wufei looked over at the other man. "Yeah?"

Duo glanced over at him with a barely there smile. "Want to grab a cup of coffee or something?"

Wufei grinned so hard it felt like his face was going to split. "I'd love to."

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Epilogue.

The reporter took a second to check her make up in a small pocket mirror before the cameraman signaled that they were about to start. She quickly dropped it into her suit jacket before lifting the microphone towards her mouth.

"Welcome back, we are here at the annual music awards where the stars arriving to take part of this amazing show."

She looked out over the red carpet where a steady stream of more or less famous celebrities were passing. "And here we have Summer G, the hot upcoming singer." The camera zoomed in on a skinny blond girl in a tight, red dress. "Summer! A word please."

The girl who looked not a day over fifteen stopped in a stiff pose in front of the camera. "Yes?"

"Hi, Tina Welling from Music World, how does it feel to be nominated for song of the year?" The reporter asked, holding the microphone out.

"It's so cool, when I heard it, I was just like -no- way and my friend as like 'way, the TV just said so.' I just freaked." The girl shared happily, smiling stiffly into the camera.

"That I can understand, especially since you are competing against some of the big names like Arina and Dragon." The reporter smiled innocently, like she hadn't just led the conversation there. "Speaking of the Dragon. It's rumored that you are being taken on by Dragons former manager, Marty Sullivan, what can you tell us about this?"

"Well, I was singing at this beauty contest, because that was like my thing for the talent show part of it." The blond twirled a piece of hair around her finger while leaning on her hip, most likely in a move to look sexy. "And he like totally liked it and introduced me to this music guy who's going to make the music I'm going to be singing to."

Tina pulled the microphone back before the girl could continue. "Would this be Tim Deveron? The producer of 2Much4Y and Bad Dog?"

"Um." The girl gave her an empty look.

"Ah, nothing you can talk about, right?" The reporter asked, clearly trying to make the teen look like less of an idiot. She didn't wait for a responds because by the look of it, she wasn't getting one. "So how is it to work with Marty Sullivan?"

The blond smiled happily. "Marty is just so smart, he like, know all the stuff you need to know to make songs."

"That's great." The reporter smiled stiffly, trying to sound enthusiastic. "Thank you, Summer. " She turned to look further down the aisle. "And look, arriving right now we have Dragon and his much talked about boyfriend, Duo Maxwell. Let's see if we can get a word with him." She said in excitement, totally dismissing the newly rising star standing next to her.

The camera zoomed in on a happily smiling man dressed in an elegant tuxedo.

"Mr. Maxwell! Mr. Maxwell, a word please?!"

The man turned towards the waving reporter, making the tight braid hanging down his back swing.

He walked over to the side of the carpet where the camera team waited.

"Mr Maxwell, Tina Welling from Music World. What do you think about Dragons latest award winning album?" She asked, holding out the microphone in front of him.

Duo smiled happily. "The same thing as I thought about the album before that, and the one before that. It sucks ass."

The reporter blinked in shock and the camera dipped slightly as the cameraman almost lost his grip.

"Y- you don't like it?" She stuttered like she couldn't believe what he was saying.

"I hate it." Duo confirmed with an easy smile.

"But it's about you!" She exclaimed, forgetting her role as a calm, charming reporter.

Duo wrinkled his nose in distaste. "That makes it even worse, but what are you going to do when your boyfriend is a sappy pop singer."

The reporter tried to stutter out another question but Duo was already moving along towards his lover who was waiting for him.

"You're not going to sing at this award show are you?" Duo asked as he caught up to him. "I forgot my ear plugs."

When the Dragon shook his head with a smile, the other man happily linked their arms and together they walked down the red carpet.

The End.

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Ah, so that was it. A bit short but... oh well. Now if it wouldn't be too much to ask for, could you please tell me what you thought about this little story of mine? Please? It's my birthday tomorrow and to hear your opinion would be the perfect birthday present :D

(I made up all the artists in the fiction in exception of Marilyn Manson. I just read his and Neil Strauss's book 'The Long Hard Road Out of Hell' and was far too amused by his reasoning over what a straight man did or did not do, to not put it in the fiction. So yes, Manson does give out blowjobs. I recommend reading the book, it's really good.)

(Sorry for any/all the spelling mistakes. I'm dead tired right now)

onyxpetals - I got you some MOAR! :D I hope you liked it and don't feel like strangling me any more ;) love2bug63670 - Why thank you :) Hopefully you survived the wait. Sen – LOL! Thank you. I'm sure that Wufei would have started running from you if you went all fan girl on him :) There probably was a lot of SadDragon!Songs, not to mention LovesickDragon!songs on that album. Duo didn't stand a chance because who wouldn't be flattered by dedicated love songs? ... even if you hated love songs in general. Unfortunately, I can't write song lyrics so we will never know. Rei- Well I guess I was a bit mean to our little dragon, but surly I made up for it and hopefully people only throw soft things at their computer :) Thank you for your lovely review, it made me all warm and happy. Shogi - When you said that he should have just taken him home, I just had this alternative ending flashing through my mind where Duo went kind of crazy. Duo, sick of all the Dragons stupid songs, kidnaps Wufei and locks him in his apartment to stop him from making more of them. There they have a lot of sweaty man sex until Wufei agrees to be his housewife/sextoy. The end ... maybe I should write a pwp version of this? Lol Cristalake - aww, sorry, didn't mean to make you sad. Here, have a happy ending, hopefully it will make you feel better. Lapis Rane - I like your reasoning so of course there had to be more. :) Darkrevenge - It might sound strange, but I was about as surprised as Wufei when Duo exploded. I had this long monolog planned for Wufei where he complained about Marty and some woman who was stalking him then BAM Duo slams the break. The thing is that when I write, I write stuff in shorter parts that I then fit together as I go. So I had already written Duo's blow up part when I started writing Wufei's vacation start. Then I left for work and when I got back and started reading through everything I had written, those two parts ended up next to each other and I read it together. So yes, I was just as shocked as Wufei XD Mnmonroe - Why thank you :) Welcome onboard and I hope you enjoyed the fluffy ending :) Shiori-Haku - Awww, why thank you :D And lots of love for you too for rewieving :) Windwraith – The rest of the boys didn't get much screen time. Bummer. I'll try to get them more involved in my next story. Pinky swear! Kanashii Kopper – Well in my head, Duo went into his sister's room to tell her to stop singing the same Dragon song over and over again only. He stops short when his eyes falls on her new, glossy poster that's hanging over her bed. On it, a man dressed in tight black jeans and an unbuttoned shirt is leaning against a door frame. He has a cocky smile on his lips and his long, black hair is hanging freely around his face. Duo's jaw drops and he points desperately at the poster while giving out a noise that sounded something like "ghu!" Hilde then happily introduces her brother to the wonder that is THE DRAGON. Duo freaks out and leaves. Then he gets angry, then he freaks out before the anger takes over again… I do believe it went something like that, yes. TenshiNanashi – Trowa is a bit freaky as a character because you just never know what he's thinking. And there were no depressing songs! Yay! I'm not all that fond of depressing songs and I sure as hell can't write them. Happy? ;) Cyne – Yes, poor Wuffers, but I think he feels better now. Don't you? :) Romanec – LOL! I wonder if you were up late this time too. It all depends on where you are. I usually post in the afternoon on Fridays but since I had the evening shift at work today, that wasn't an option. I wonder when you got to read this. I'm a bit curious :) I'm glad you liked the chapter and all their talks. I hope you liked the end too :) Psycho Supernova – Why thank you. I'm happy that the cuteness is still going strong. It was probably better that Duo found out from a wall. A TV would have played his songs and then Duo probably would have destroyed it. I don't think his mother would have liked that. StandingOnTheRooftops – No, no unhappy endings for me. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I wrote one. Especially to my favorite boys. Unthinkable! I hope you liked the ending :) Peaceful Angel - Yeah, I think you're right. Wufei probably vents his frustration that way. Especially since Wufei can't be described as narcistic in any way. At least not in this fiction. Wufei really should have told him, yes. But the question is if Duo still would have been angry. Hm. Maybe. Blah Blah - LOL! This IS the beta read version XD The original would most likely give you a mental break down. Princess Cythera – Thank you! Such pretty words, they make me all happy and fluffy. No sad ending! Yay! Happy ending for everyone! Mrs. Passionate -Of course it worked out. If it didn't then I would most likely not be able to sleep. Ever again. I'm a totally sucker for happy endings :D Bfly-Ronaldita - No, Duo really can't stand the mushy stuff and he sure wouldn't stand for any hair climbing. bad, bad things would happen to anyone who dared to try. Ronin 101 – Thank you :) Hm, Trowa didn't get to really do anything unfortunately. I kind of wish that I had given his the chance to do something. The original plan was that he was the one who got them together but I just couldn't make it work without making it seem like Trowa had superpowers... but one the other hand... that would have been kind of cool. Hmmm. I'll just save that thought for later. Kidishcaresh - LOL! No, Wufei might not have a sword in this story but that does not make it safe to huggle him... but I would greatly enjoy watching you try :D Ah hael - Well that just rocks! XD Thank you zer0one_oz - Awwww, why thank you. You say the sweetest things :)