Author's Notes
Feh. I can't believe it's been over a year since I published this. Of course, it's also been over a year since I updated--I'm sorry, everyone! I don't really like this chapter, but I really don't think it'll get better than this, so please don't hold it against me. No flames, please.

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Getting ready for school the next day was awkward at best. Cagalli was too embarrassed to look at me, and the nerves from the upcoming argument between me and Athrun that I predicted made me fumble with my clothes, bookbag, and everything else. I had no appetite for breakfast, and Cagalli washed my soggy cereal down the garbage disposal before we began our trip to school.

She clutched her books to her chest, steadily watching her toes as we walked to the train station. We went to different schools—I to a public high school and she to a private, all-girls school. Her uniform was much more conservative than that of the girls' at my school, and the long skirt swished around her knees, making a whispery shivery sound. Her uniform looked much more together than mine did that morning.

The walk there and the train ride were spent in a tense, silent air. She fidgeted with her books, her hair, her nails, all of which were very unlike her. Something was bothering her, but I was mad at her and didn't much care. Finally, standing outside the train station where we went our separate ways, she reached out and grabbed my arm. "Kira? Talk to me."

I pulled my arm away from her coldly. "Why should I? Go away, Cagalli; you ruined everything."

"I'm sorry! I just—I'm jealous of you, I guess." She looked at the ground and kicked at a pebble.

"Jealous?" I swung around at her, incredulous. "What are you jealous of? You're not making sense!"

"I… I… I don't know." She sighed and turned to stare at the sakura trees that lined the streets. The fruits were blossoming, a beautiful pink bud. She reached out and plucked a flower from a branch and twisted it between her fingertips. "You two spend so much time together, and he trusts you so much. I just wish he'd trust me a little."

"That's because we're best friends!" I sighed and pushed my hair back from my eyes. We were going to be late if this kept up. Then it hit me. "Cagalli, you like Athrun, don't you?"

A cherry flush spread across her cheeks and nose, and she snorted. "No, of course not!" But then her eyes softened, and her face fell a little. "Is… is it that obvious?" she asked me softly. "If it is, then why doesn't he notice it? Why doesn't he notice me? Why is he in love with you?"

I sighed. "I don't know, Cagalli… I'm sorry…"

"Am I so repulsive? Are girls so repulsive to him that he turns to boys? To you? What's wrong with me?" A tear slipped down her cheek, and she dropped her books to cover her face with her hands. Cagalli, who almost never cries, especially not in public.

"No, Cagalli, it's not anything like that!" I didn't know what to do. I gathered her to me and hugged her softly. "He's just going through a rough time right now, sis. Everything will be okay, don't worry."

She pulled back and wiped her eyes. "I guess…" She laughed self-consciously. "I look like a mess, don't I?"

"A little."

Cagalli turned her wrist up and glanced at the delicate watch clasped around her wrist. "We'd better go, or we're both going to be late." She sniffled and wiped her eyes again before kneeling down to pick up her books. I helped her.

She turned to go, and I started walking down the street.

"And Kira?"

I turned to look at her.

"Thank you."

I nodded and turned back.

"You two will work things out," she told me. I didn't turn around, and the sounds of her footsteps echoed away as she ran down the street to her school.

I stood there for a moment. Will we, really?

As I expected, I was late to school. Sensei didn't yell too much, and I sat down about ten minutes after I walked into the classroom. The class started whispering almost immediately when I opened the door. I wondered what they were talking about as I pulled my textbooks out of my bag. I sighed when I realized I left my math book at home.

Break rolled around, and I stood to leave. Athrun and I are in different classes, so we only get to see one another during school during lunch and breaks. I moved to leave the room, but my friend Argyle Sai stopped me.

"What is it, Argyle-kun?" I asked. "I'm somewhat in a hurry…"

"Yamato-kun, did something happen?" He stopped in the doorway, preventing my leaving.

I flushed. "What are you talking about?"

"Your uniform's all messed up, your hair is a wreck, and you look like hell," Sai said bluntly. He crossed his arms over his chest. "You're not going anywhere until you tell us why you were late, and what's wrong."

I glanced away. "You wouldn't understand. Let me go, Argyle-kun."

A short pause during which we considered our positions and whether it was worthwhile to fight over. I guess he thought it wasn't, because he merely sighed and said, "At least let me fix your uniform for you."

"I can do it," I objected, but he was already fixing my hair. I blushed hotly and glared to the side as he adjusted the tie around my neck, retying the knot and pushing it up to my throat. He was unbuttoning my top and replacing the plastic discs into their matching slits when the door slid open.

"Kira, I need to speak—"

I turned around to see Athrun standing in the doorway. His eyes were wide and shocked as they cut into mine, his face was pale. Sai peeked around my body at Athrun with mild curiosity, and then went back to messing with my clothes. Athrun and I stared at one another in quiet shock for a moment, and then he stepped back and slid the door closed resolutely. I took a step towards the door, but it slid open again to reveal the next teacher. The bell rang, signaling the beginning of the next class.

Sai went back to his seat, but I moved to the door. Sensei looked at me.

"Yamato-kun, class has started. Please take your seat."

"I'm sorry, Sensei, I have to go." I slid the door open and turn to him, bowed low, and dashed from the room. I had to find Athrun and explain to him, about yesterday morning and about just now.

Athrun's class was just down the hall, but I nearly ran past it. When I asked to see him, however, the teacher said that Athrun had not come back after break.

"Is something wrong?" she asked me. "Is it an emergency?"

"Uh… no. Thank you, and sorry for bothering your class." I bowed to her as well, then stumbled from the room and back down the hall.

Where'd he go? I thought as I skidded to a stop in the locker room. His shoes were missing. I kicked my slippers off and tossed them into my locker. I was still tying my shoelaces as I hopped awkwardly from the grounds.

I didn't know where he would go, where I would go. All I knew was that I would follow to the ends of the earth if he was there. I thought about where he'd go when he was hurt and confused, and the only place I could think of was my room. He'd go to me. But where would he go when he was running away from me?

I ran to the train station, but I didn't see him there. The conductor was looking at me suspiciously, and so I pretended to be examining the schedule. He walked away, and I breathed a sigh of relief. The last thing I needed was a nosy officer getting me in trouble when my friend needed me.

The train to my home wasn't crowded, and so I was forced to stay in my seat. Athrun wasn't in my compartment, but that didn't necessarily mean he wasn't on the train. I sighed and fidgeted—it was the first time I'd ever skipped school, and I felt edgy, like I was going to get in trouble. My uniform felt like a prison, and damn Sai for fixing it, anyway. Though it was a relatively short trip, the train ride seemed to drag on forever. I bit at my nails anxiously—what if Athrun really wasn't going to my house? What if he's on a train going a completely different way? What if he never left school grounds?

Trust in patterns, I told myself. You'll find him eventually.

My window was open, I saw as I came up the back steps. I didn't remember opening it, but then again, that morning had been difficult for me, and my memory of specific events was somewhat hazy. Who was to say that I hadn't opened it? In fact, now that I thought about it, I remembered opening it to allow a breeze—the room had seemed unbearably hot and stuffy that morning. I let myself into the house.

Everything was quiet, the air was cool. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. The soft whirr of the air conditioner in the background calmed my nerves, soothed my frazzled mind. I made my way up the staircase to my room and opened the door.

I was not alone in the room. Athrun was sitting on the far corner of my bed, sniffing and glaring at me. He wiped at his eyes, annoyed. "What are you doing here?"

"I live here," I answered quietly, not wanting to play that game. The curtains flapped loosely in the breeze let in by the window. I noticed his shoes lying abandoned on the floor beneath the window. His bookbag lay beside them, and his school jacket was tossed carelessly across my computer. I dropped my own bag in the doorway and sat down on the bed's edge.

He pulled his feet closer to him. "Stay away from me."

I stayed where I was, but moved so I could lean against the wall. "Athrun, I never meant to hurt you. If you believe anything, believe that."

"Why should I trust you?" He watched me with a cold gaze that pierced to my heart. "You told everybody!"

"I didn't tell anyone anything!" I held my hands out imploringly. "Why won't you believe me, Athrun-kun? Why don't you trust me any longer?"

"How did she know, if you didn't tell her?"

I sighed. "Cagalli cares for you; she pays very close attention to anything you do and everything about you. She was bound to notice eventually."

"What about you?"

His abrupt question threw me off. I looked up at him, startled. "What about me?"

"Your sister cares about me, what about you?"

"I… Of course I care about you, Athrun…" Where is he taking this?

Athrun moved up onto his knees and crawled towards me on the bed, never breaking eye contact. "How much do you care about me, Kira?"

"Um, Athrun? What are you doing?" The soft, seductive purr in his voice was arousing feelings I didn't think belonged in the current situation. What the hell just happened? Everything was moving so quickly!

"Why won't you answer my question?" He stopped just short of me, still on his hands and knees. "How much do you care about me? Because I care about you very… very… very much." His voice became a mere breath, a whisper, as he moved closer to me. His lips brushed mine very lightly, the caress of a feather.

A flush spread across my cheeks, but I could only sit there. The confrontation had taken a completely weird turn, and I had no idea what was going on any longer. Then before I knew what I was doing, I'd joined in and was kissing him with an urgency I didn't know existed.

This time he pulled back, surprised. He started at me with a wide-eyed shock, then slowly sat back on his heels. "We need to talk about this."

I nodded, a hot blush worming its way up to my hairline. I stared at the quilt beneath us and began tracing the patterns with a fingertip.

"Kira, look at me."

I didn't want to. But after what had happened last time, I knew I had to. I pulled my eyes up to see his.

He smiled briefly, then moved around so he was leaning against the wall beside me. "Why didn't you look at me yesterday? Were you ashamed?"

I shook my head. "I thought you'd hate me."

"Why? Because I kissed you? Kira, that makes no sense."

Well, when he said it, it sounded stupid. When I thought it, it made perfect sense. I shrugged.

"Now you ask a question," he said softly. "That's how this works."

"Oh." I thought for a moment. "Do you love me?"

"I already told you I do."

"Oh."

"This fight went in a totally weird direction, didn't it? I was so pissed off at you ten minutes ago, now I can't move away."

"Yeah."

He sighed and laid his head on my shoulder. "You don't want to talk, do you?"

"Not really."

He smiled somewhat. "Neither do I. So what should we do?"

"You're not mad at me anymore?"

"No. I never really was, I was just scared, I guess."

I wrapped my arms around his waist and pulled him toward me. "Then I want to hold you. Is that okay?"

Athrun laughed very softly and snuggled up to me. "That's more than okay. That's what I want, too." He took a deep, shuddering breath and pressed his face into my collar. "I really do love you, Kira. I know you didn't tell her. I was just so scared, and then you wouldn't look at me or speak to me…"

"You tried to eat me!" I laughed and hugged him. "You'd be scared, too!"

"As I recall," he retorted, pinching my ribs, "you were the one biting me."

I flushed. "Oh. Yeah, that was me."

He sat up straighter and looked me in the eye. "But I liked it."

"Oh?" My heart started to pound again. Surely he could hear it?

"Mm. And I like kissing you." As if to prove his point, he leaned in and pressed his lips firmly to mine. This time I wasn't afraid, and I kissed him back.