Significant Other.

   Sally settled back into her comfy, overstuffed armchair and watched her roomate pace ceaselessly back and forth in front of the hearth, where a fire blazed.  The firelight glinted goldly in his dark hair and eyes, and gave his caramel skin a buttery golden glow.

   He looked good, she thought.  Really good.  He wasn't her usual type, but even she had to admit that.

   "Valentine's Day, huh.  They should call it Singles Awareness Day."

   Wufei had been complaining for several days now.  She, with Relena's help, was throwing a huge Valentine's Day party, with a "friendly suggestion" to bring a date.  Wufei had found that Valentine's Day had a tendency to make him miserably aware of his bachelorhood.  Thus, he had been complaining.  A lot.

   She gritted her teeth and stared at the ceiling.  She really wanted to volunteer herself as a date, but she didn't.  She knew better.

   It hadn't been long ago when she had figured out hat she had an almost teenage crush on him.  Relena had been going through her own romantic troubles, being in love with Heero but semi-going out with Duo.  Knowing that Relena had been good friends with both men before getting involved with them had woken her out of her own denial over Wufei.  She had been good friends with him too, for over a year now.

   But as things stood now, she had no clue how he felt about her.  Relena thought that he liked her, but Sally wasn't sure.  She had told only one other friend, Noin, and she wasn't sure about anything anymore.

   Abruptly she stood up.  "I need to go to work.  I'll be back later, okay?"

   He halted and looked at her with surprise.  "But it's almost ten o'clock."

   "All the better," she said easily.  "There's always some emergency this late, and almost no one is there for the late shift."

   He hesitated, conflict on his face.  "I'd drive you there, but…"

   "It's okay," she assured him.  She knew how touchy he was about being forced to go on temporary leave over a fight about the honor of men in the modern day.  A fight that had resulted in the other man being carried on a stretcher into Sallie's operating room.  Lady Une had even banned him from setting foot on Preventer grounds.  "I can drive myself."

   "I don't like you driving at night," he said, worried. Sally smiled tightly and wished that he were worried about her for some other reason besides friendly concern.

   "Don't worry, Chang.  I'll be fine."  He still looked worried, so she teased, "I'll see you at work next Monday. Be keepin' you outta trouble."

   Wufei scowled at her, but it gave her an opportunity to escape, laughing. The laughter died as soon as the door shut behind her, and she disappeared into the night.

   Sally curled up in her armchair, enjoying the flames in the hearth but hating the coldness within.  Relena came up behind her and gave her a comforting hug, then sat down in the chair across form her.  "What's the matter?"

   "Just a stupid, pointless crush on a good friend," she grumbled.  "Nothing compared to your problems."

   "About that…" Relena trailed off.  "Um, I was talking to Heero and he, um, sort of expressed an interest. But Duo's pissed now, thinking that I led him on."

   "Hate tot ell you this, but you sorta did," Sally said.  "But let's not talk about that.  Romance sucks.  Let's talk about something else."

   "Like what?"

   "Anything else."

  "He's ignoring me," Sally complained to Relena.  "How is it that we can live in the same house and he's able to not say a single word to me all week?"

   "It's probably nothing," Relena comforted.  "Hilde told me that he's not been himself this week."

   Wufei had, for some unknown reason, started to treat Hilde like a little sister.  She reciprocated by thinking of him as a surrogate big brother, despite their closeness in age.

   "Maybe," Sally said.  "Or maybe not.  We'll see Friday, won't we?"

   Sally, Dorothy, Dorothy's current flirtation (Quatre) Relena, and Duo were all clustered around a table, laughing and talking and eating their ice cream.  Catherine arrived soon after the first five, and chairs were shuffled closer together to make room for her.  Relena, on Sally's left, was tired and using her friend as a pillow while Duo rubbed Sally's shoulders.  Relena only moved long enough for Sally and Duo to switch seats so that Sally could return the favor.  Dorothy and Quatre were flirting, and Catherine was attempting to pester Quatre into asking Dorothy out.

   It was then that Wufei arrived. Everybody gave a chorus of hellos, and made room for him.

   He settled in next to Sally and muttered, "I have no idea why I am here at an ice cream social, of all things."

   Inwardly jumping with joy that he was finally talking to her again, outwardly Sally kept a straight face and patted his shoulder sympathetically.  "To make it better, it's gonna rain."

   He made a face, and then asked, "Where's Heero?"

   "I dunno.  Serving ice cream, I think."

   Wufei gave a crack of laughter at he image of Heero serving ice cream, then cast an irritated glance at the sky.  It had begun to rain.

   Sally, wearing only a tank top, shivered as the drops struck her bare skin.  Wufei, without warning, pulled her into his lap and put his arms around her.  She gave a startled yip! Of surprise, then relaxed against him.

   And that's where she stayed for the better part of an hour.

   By the time she left- Relena in tow, she was going to spend the night- Duo was sulking, Catherine had talked Quatre into asking Dorothy out so Dorothy was on Cloud 9, Wufei had mellowed out of his irritation, and Sally was on Cloud nine with Dorothy because she'd spend the evening in his arms.  Things were great.

   That's why it was so much worse when things went so wrong.

   "Your hair is the finest of silks," Wufei said grandly. Sally laughed and took a shot from the small glass on the scarred table in front of her.

   "Good one, Chang. Hmmm, lemme think for a sec. Here, I've got one." She paused for dramatic effect. "Your eyes are as bottomless as the sea at midnight."

   "Also a good one," Wufei said, taking a shot. "How did we get into a duel of compliments, I wonder?" His words were slightly slurred from the alcohol he'd imbibed.

   "No fuckin' clue," Sally said cheerfully. "But I do know that it's your turn again, Chang."

   He thought, his eyes going slightly unfocused. "Can't think of one," he muttered. "Too much to drink." He stared at her, his eyes narrowing, and his expression abruptly brightened. "Got one!"

   When he showed no sign of imparting whatever had crossed his mind, Sally sighed impatiently and reached clumsily across the table to whack him on the back of his head. "Then spit it out, moron!"

   He took a deep breath and said, with the grave tones of a reverend reading a eulogy, "Your lips are as full and smooth as a rosebud on the verge of blooming."

   Sally's heart sped up, and her tongue, loosened by alcohol, said something she normally never would have allowed herself to even think. "Kiss 'em and you'll see if they really are."

   Wufei stared at her, his obsidian eyes sober. "Sally, do you have a crush on me?"

   If her heart had been running fast before, now it kicked into marathon speed. "What makes you think that?"

   "I dunno. Do you?"

   Afraid of how to answer, she went with an evasive non-answer. "You'll just have to figure it out for yourself, now won't you?"

   Then she got up and left the room.

   The next day, at lunch, Sally sat next to Wufei, as usual, joking around and teasing Dorothy and Hilde for all they were worth about their guys, or lack thereof, since Hilde wasn't seeing anybody and Dorothy had just broken up with Quatre after going out with him for all of three days. Dorothy was not known for her ability to hold on to men.

   The bell rang, summoning them back to work, and everyone hugged everyone else in goodbye. Before Sally could make her way back to her cubicle, though, Wufei stopped her and said, "I figured out the answer to the question."

   Sally didn't event try to pretend she didn't know what he was talking about. "And what is it?"

   "No," he said. "Am I right?"

   She mumbled something and escaped to her work, grateful that she didn't really have to answer, because she really didn't want to lie to her friend.

   "So, was I right?"
   Sally had just walked in the door, and was hit with the question first thing. She just stared at him, daring him to figure it out on his own, and went to hang up her jacket, and his too, since it was crumpled on the floor. He was so neat at work; no one would have guessed what a slob he was at home. She herself had been unpleasantly surprised, since he was a neat freak and this ended up cleaning up all his stuff.
   "Tell me," he commanded as she opened the closet door. Sally took a deep breath, and while her head was still in the closet, she said, "No, you weren't right."
   Silence from his side of the room. Gathering her courage and dignity around her, she slowly emerged from the closet. He had cocked his head and was staring at the fire laid in the grill, and knew very well that she was looking at him expectantly, but he made no response. She sighed- so much for her hopes that he liked her back- and settled down into her own chair to stare at the fire and brood.
   Ten minutes later, he spoke. "You realize that I have a massive crush on you, don't you?"
   Her heart tried to do a tap dance right out of her throat. "No, I hadn't, but I know now," she said. "And you know that I have one on you."
   "Yeah, I had figured that out."
   Silence for a few moments as she tried to adjust to this sudden shift to a new world, one where he actually liked her the same way she liked him. She had dreamed about this, yes, but hadn't actually expected this to happen.
   It was her that finally voiced what they were both thinking. "Where does this leave us now?"
   "I'm not really sure."
   She cocked her head, looked at him. "Maybe we should just take it slow."
   "Isn't that supposed to be my line?" he joked, but he nodded. "Yeah, that would be better."
   She smiled and went over to him, sitting in his lap. "So, we're…"
   "Friends with benefits," he finished. " That okay?"
   "Just fine, she said, and kissed him."