What's up what's uppppp?

So yeah. I told myself I wasn't going to do anymore legit multichapter fics, but... my friends and I got into an in-depth discussion in which we decided Lelouch is a drug addict, and well... here we are. Blame them.

I like to think of this as a series of vignettes that are all connected, but each could also stand on its own. Think, UK Skins. Except, in New York, because I live there and it's easy to write about.I guess I should also mention the school in this is based on my university. If you can guess it, you're awesome and we should be friends.

I realize the chapters are long, but I promise they're worth it. So yeah, that being said, feel free to put this on alert! I'll definitely update.

I'd also like to thank my dear friend and technical advisor, the CC to my Lelouch. She's fabulous!

Anyway... um... enjoy? If I think of more to say I'll do so in later chapters. Damn this thing is long LOL.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Code Geass and the only profit from this is my own amusement. Believe me, you'd know if I owned Code Geass. Oh you'd know. I also have no rights to the song Ghosts n Stuff by Deadmau5, I just like it. ALSO don't start smoking or using or drinking because Lelouch and his friends make it look cool.

MTA: NEW YORK CITY TRANSIT

INURED PERSON

ON JANUARY 12, 2021 A HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT WAS KILED BY A 5 TRAIN AT APPROXIMATELY 4:05 AM.

IF YOU HAVE INFORMATION, PLEASE-

"If this were a TV show or movie that person's ghost would start haunting this train station and killing people."

"No no, other people would start dying mysteriously in the same way, and then we'd find out it was all part of some epic conspiracy."

"If this were an anime we'd have been complaining about how weird or boring this town is in the scene before this, and then we'd see this and the plot would start to move. Wow we suck, don't we?"

"You suck, you started this conversation."

"Tch, fuck you. Come on, we're in everyone's way."

Without giving the poster, or the unfortunate high school student, a second thought, two college students ascended the stairs from the train platform up to the main station. It was crowded with morning commuters all rushing to make their transfers to other trains. The two waded their way through the crowd, dodging potential collisions. The sounds of people talking loudly to each other, muttering angrily to themselves and humming quietly to the music on their MP3 players pressed against them. Neither of the spoke until they pushed through the turnstiles, climbed the stairs on the other side and exited the station.

Union Square looked bright and cheerful in the blaze of wintery sunlight, even though it was freezing. One of the students, a pretty young woman with pink hair and sharp, blue eyes, inhaled deeply. The cool air felt good after being underground in the unnatural heat of the subway. Looking around, she noticed artists and political activists setting up stalls to sell their wares. 'You've got to give them credit,' she thought, 'sitting out here for so long…' She heard the click of a lighter and turned to see her friend lighting a cigarette. "Classy," she said disdainfully. He grinned and took a long drag.

"All day," he replied, smirking. "Let's go, we have class in twenty minutes." They headed out of Union Square along 14th St., still dodging commuters and occasionally spotting people they knew.

"Where's CC?" The young woman suddenly asked. Her friend took another long drag before answering.

"Home, she doesn't have classes on Mondays."

"…Bitch."

Across town another college student was leaving his apartment, pulling on the door to make sure it was locked. He walked down the five flights of stairs to the first floor: his apartment building had no elevator, but he liked it better that way. He walked out the front door of his building and headed west along 10th St. toward 2nd Avenue. It was rather a long walk, but, like his walk up building, he liked it better that way. He was nervous, but excited; today was his first day at his new school. He checked his phone. He had plenty of time, but sped up anyway. The crisp winter air felt good on his eager face.

"Finish your cancer so we can go inside, it's cold!" The girl with pink hair demanded of her friend.

"All right, all right." He inhaled deeply from the now stunted cigarette, threw it on the ground and stepped on it.

"HEY!" A voice echoed loudly from behind them and they turned sharply. Two young women were running up to them, one, the blonde who had called out to them, was waving. "How was your break?" She asked them with a wink.

"Eh, it was," replied the boy, brushing his black hair out of his eyes.

"Hmmmm," the blonde nodded in agreement. "Are you coming to my party tonight?" Everyone laughed.

"It's the first day of the semester and you're having a party? Really Milly?" Milly flashed them a peace sign.

"Of course! To lament the end of our winter break and begin hating this semester too!" The girl with pink hair sighed heavily.

"Sure," replied the boy, apparently easily convinced. "Who else is going?"

"I-I'm going!" The other young woman suddenly spoke from behind Milly's back.

"Shirley's going," Milly continued, nodding to her, "you're going, Kallen's going," Milly stared her right in her sharp blue eyes as if daring her to refuse, "everyone's going! And feel free to bring dates!" Milly's eyes darted to Shirley, but Kallen interjected.

"Ugh let's go, we have class." Milly pouted her lips.

"Sure sure. Where's CC?" She asked the boy.

"Home, she doesn't have classes today."

"I hate her! But now she has no excuse no to come to my party!"

Twenty minutes later the other boy had made it to school. He pushed through a crowd of people smoking in front of the building and, after looking around for a few seconds, spotted the elevators. Students were already clustered around them, chatting excitedly and waving to friends. He consulted the schedule he'd put into his phone. Room 407. He looked up again to see one of the elevators had arrived. He also noticed a tall, slender boy waving good-bye to a girl with pink hair. He turned slightly so his face was visible: he had black hair, fine features, pale skin and intense purple eyes. He looked thoroughly bored by all of this, he thought. Realizing the elevator was closing, he ran over and slipped inside just in time. Someone had already pressed the 4 button. The boy was now gazing disinterestedly at his phone. He had curiously long fingers…

The elevator reached the fourth floor and, being the last person to enter the elevator, he was the first to leave it. He quickly located room 407 and found himself in a lecture hall already full of students. As he was looking around for a seat he noticed the dark haired boy from the elevator had strode past him and headed for a seat in the back row. The seat next to him was open, and he immediately moved to take it. The boy was staring blankly at his phone again, but looked up as he sat down and, without him noticing, gave him a quick once-over. Satisfied, he asked, "Are you here for the Socialism in the Twenty-first Century lecture?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I am."

"Good, I'm in the right place then."

"Oh, well I wouldn't be so sure, I just transferred here," he replied with an apologetic smile, holding his hands up.

"Really? From where?"

"Temple University, in Tokyo." Purple eyes widened for a second and then narrowed in obvious intrigue.

"Really? Why-" Suddenly a woman in her mid-thirties entered the room and slammed the door loudly behind her. She grinned.

"Now I've got your attention!" She walked brusquely down the aisle up to the stage in front of the room, where a computer and projector screen were mounted. "Sorry I'm late, the 1 train was slow, of course. Anyway," she cleared her throat. "Is everyone here for Socialism in the Twenty-first Century?" There was a collective murmur of "yes" and "mmhmm" and "yup" from the crowd. "Excellent. I'm going to take role today, just so I have some idea who was here, but the rest of the semester I really don't care, just keep in mind without class notes you won't do well on the exams, so…" Everyone laughed, except the boy next to him.

"Is she serious?"

"Yes definitely. I love this professor, she doesn't fuck around."

"I see…" She began calling people's names, and every student stood up to make him or herself known. Finally,

"Kururugi, Suzaku, am I saying that right?" She asked. He stood up, the eager look back on his face.

"Yes, perfectly," he said with an appreciative smile. Several women in the audience eyed Suzaku with interest, until,

"Lamperouge, Lelouch?" The dark haired boy stood up.

"I see you," she said with a smile, and he sat down. Suzaku noticed women eyeing Lelouch too, but didn't have time to dwell on this.

"So why'd you transfer here?" Lelouch asked him quietly so as not to disturb role call. Suzaku shrugged.

"I wanted something new, and I love New York. I used to come here with my father when I was younger. He's a diplomat, so I went everywhere as a kid, oh, I'm sorry have I said too much?" Suzaku suddenly felt awkward, but it didn't last long.

"No, no, not at all. A diplomat, that's cool. It sounds like my dad except, you know, interesting… You're from Tokyo originally?" Relieved, Suzaku replied,

"I was born there, but I've lived all over Japan."

"I'm jealous." Suzaku shrugged and began to respond when-

"All right that's everyone! So… socialism!" The lecture passed quickly, the material was interesting and Lelouch and Suzaku would exchange amused looks every time their professor made a rude comment about political ideology with which she didn't agree. As soon as class began, it seemed, she was telling them their readings for the following class would be posted online as soon as possible and to get out of the hall. Lelouch and Suzaku stood up and slowly collected their things.

"Do you have class after this?" Lelouch asked.

"Yeah, um," Suzaku consulted his phone again. "Foucault and Biopower."

"I took that class last year," Lelouch replied approvingly.

"Was it good?" Suzaku asked curiously.

"So good." They both smiled at each other for a second. "Did you declare a major yet?"

"That's good. Yeah, I'm a philosophy major." Lelouch suddenly eyed him suspiciously and withdrew from him slightly. Worried he'd done something wrong, Suzaku's eyes widened.

"You're not going to turn out to be a pretentious asshole, right?" Lelouch asked jokingly. Suzaku laughed.

"Nah, don't worry. I think the material is interesting, and there's a lot to be said for it, but most people don't think so, so I only say what it is if you want me to." Although Lelouch had clearly been joking, his face seemed to snap into approval.

"Maybe you could, sometime." A sudden warmth seemed to be rising between them and they smiled at each other again. To avoid any tension more so than getting to their next classes on time, they walked out of their back row and out the door of their lecture hall toward the elevators. "Listen," Lelouch asked suddenly, and Suzaku turned. "Do you want to come to a party tonight?"

"Really?" Suzaku asked, slightly taken aback.

"Yeah, my friend Milly's having a 'fuck this semester' party, and she said to bring people. Do you want to go?" Surprised, but pleased, Suzaku nodded.

"I'd love to, thank you." Lelouch smiled in a satisfied sort of way.

"Cool, give me your phone number and I'll text you times and addresses and such."

"Sure." Lelouch added a NEW CONTACT to his phone and handed it to Suzaku, who put his name and number in the phone and returned it. "Um, I've got to get to class, I guess."

"Yeah, me too, I'll text you." The warmth was back.

"See you later!" Suzaku headed down another hallway and Lelouch pressed the down button for the elevator. He still had a few minutes for cigarette before class, so he got off the elevator and headed towards the doors, when-

"LELOUCH."

"Oh Jesus…" He suddenly felt something massive collide with the side of his body, nearly knocking him over.

"What the fuck, you sexy motherfucker, how have I not seen you yet today?"

"You saw me this morning, Mao, you were just too fucked up to remember."

"Oh…" Seeming satisfied, Mao let go of Lelouch and surveyed him. "Where are you going?"

"To smoke, come with me."

"Yeah yeah yeah." They walked outside to the front of the school building and lit up, trying to avoid their fellow students. "Where's CC?" Asked Mao eagerly.

"Probably sleeping, she doesn't have classes today." Mao took a long drag from his cigarette, looking thoroughly disappointed. Lelouch nodded sympathetically and changed the subject. "Are you going to Milly's party?" Mao grinned broadly.

"Of course, and I'm bringing supplies."

"Oh?"

"I went glass shopping over the weekend, I got a new piece, thing is fucking three feet high!" Lelouch smirked.

"How did you get that past dorm security?" Mao laughed contemptuously.

"I had some art student carry it inside his giant art supply bag, you know the ones they carry on their backs that are fucking huge?" Lelouch nodded, disbelief all over his face. "I smoked him up later to say thank you."

"You're ridiculous," Lelouch said, shaking his head and laughing. "Do you know what time the party's supposed to start?" Mao inhaled and blew smoke rings before replying.

"It's supposed to start at like, 8. I'm not showing up until 10." Without responding Lelouch took his phone out of his pocket with his free hand.

NEW MESSAGE

SUZAKU

Hey it's Lelouch, the party starts at like, 9, my friend lives on 77th and Madison, take the 6 to 77th St. See you there.

Lelouch hesitated a minute before pressing SEND for some reason. "Who are you texting?" Mao demanded.

"Hmm? Someone from class. Anyway," Lelouch finished his cigarette and carelessly discarded the butt as he'd done that morning. "I have to go to class, I'll see you later."

Suzaku had felt his phone go off in his pocket a good twenty minutes before he could answer it. Even though he'd seen other students texting, he didn't want to be rude, but it was frustrating. He was sure it was Lelouch with information about the party this evening, but why he was so sure, not to mention hopeful, he wasn't sure. His professor was going over the syllabus, but seemed to get distracted by every assigned reading, until there was a knock at the door.

"Come in!" He called. A woman in her thirties entered the room, followed by a younger woman with long green braids. Quick as a flash, Suzaku pulled his phone out of his pocket and flipped it open.

Hey it's Lelouch, the party starts at like, 9, my friend lives on 77th and Madison, take the 6 to 77th St. See you there.

Suzaku smiled.

"Sorry to bother you," the older woman said, "Do you still have my Medical Ethics textbook?"

After saving the contact information, Suzaku responded, taking special care with his reply.

Sounds good, I'll see you later!

"Oh yeah, it's in my office."

Suzaku put his phone back in his pocket, suddenly excited.

"Is your office unlocked?" The woman asked, raising an eyebrow. Suzaku's professor smiled back at her.

"Of course."

"Good. Let's go, Nina." She waved, taking special care to wiggle her fingers, before motioning to the girl with green braids and exiting. Suzaku watched his professor curiously for a few seconds (he was still staring at the door) until he seemed to suddenly remember he was teaching a class.

"Right, so the next week we're going to look at Hacking…"

Lelouch's professor had handed his class the syllabus and then told them to leave, so after only a half hour of class he was headed home. It was mid-afternoon, but the sunlight was cold. Cold, but oddly bright, he thought, as he reached into his school bag for his phone and flipped it open.

TEXT MESSAGE

SUZAKU

Sounds good, I'll see you later!

Deciding not to reply, even though he felt like he should, Lelouch shoved his hands into the pockets of his coat and strode up 6th avenue. Why was everyone walking so slowly? Didn't they realize he had to get his pages and pages of readings done, and then get ready, before this party? Suddenly feeling agitated he sighed audibly and sped up to get around a large group of people taking up the entire sidewalk. His right hand inside his coat pocket was still gripping his phone, just in case it went off, even though he had no hopes it would. He should have just sent a reply text… or would that not have made sense? What else was there to say? Why is this so bothersome? Was a new friend really so hard to swallow?

Out of nowhere, it seemed, Lelouch reached his apartment building. Shaking himself out of his endless thought loop he entered the lobby and took the elevator to the top floor. After avoiding the eyes of an older man with whom he shared the floor, Lelouch entered his apartment and was immediately greeted by the smell of pizza.

"CC!" He called.

"Mmmm," came the reply from his bedroom. Rolling his eyes in a vaguely affectionate sort of way, he took off his coat, hung in on one of the hooks by the door and entered his bedroom. CC was lying on her front in Lelouch's bed, wearing what looked like one of his button downs. She looked up at him when she heard him enter the room, chewing on the bite of pizza she'd just taken. "How was class?" She asked, swallowing and taking another bite.

"Fine," replied Lelouch, suddenly realizing his phone was still in his hand. He looked at it hopefully, but there were no new messages. Feeling slightly let down he kicked off his shoes, sat down at his desk and turned on his computer. "Did you hear about Milly's party?"

"Of course, Mao texted me about it. Do you want some pizza?"

"No thank you. We'll head to Milly's for around 8:30?" CC sat up and leaned forward, pizza still in hand.

"Since when do you care about being on time to Milly's parties?" She asked.

"Since I invited someone and want to be there when he arrives," Lelouch replied without looking at her. He had opened his school's home page to download the assignments he had to do for next class. CC eyed him curiously.

"Oh? Someone from school?"

"Yeah, from my socialism lecture." Lelouch tapped his mouse impatiently on his desk, waiting for the webpage to load.

"What's he like?" CC had finished her slice of pizza and had started on another.

"He's…" The readings had finally loaded, which was lucky, as printing them gave Lelouch time to think about what to say. "Well I only met him for an hour and forty minutes, but he's… articulate, and kind of awkward, but he's interesting. He's from Tokyo," he added, as an afterthought.

"Tokyo… Kallen might get jealous." Lelouch rolled his eyes. "You went to visit her mother before class this morning, right?"

"Yeah, she's doing better. Kallen doesn't cry when we go there anymore." Lelouch printed out another reading and collected it from the printer under his desk. CC watched him curiously.

"Going with her to visit her mother is… uncharacteristically nice of you." Lelouch turned, smiling.

"Why? I can give a shit if I want to." He printed out a last reading, and CC shook her head. After collecting his massive stack of work he stood up and walked over to his bed. "Now could you get the hell out of my room? I have 150 pages of reading to do before this party." CC gave him a reproachful look but stood up, pizza box in hand, and headed for the door. Lelouch sat down on his bed and fell backwards, holding the readings above his head. "Can you bring me my school bag?" He called to CC as she turned the corner.

"You can't do anything yourself, can you?" She replied loudly from the other room. After a few seconds she appeared in the doorway, threw his school bag across the room and slammed the door. The bag had smashed into the wall above Lelouch's bed and fell on top of it. After making sure his pens and cigarettes were okay, Lelouch lit up and began to read.

8:21

Good, Suzaku thought, he still had time. He threw his phone onto his bed, which startled his cat, who had been sleeping contentedly on the shirt he'd been planning to wear. "Arthur!" He said exasperatedly. He scooped up Arthur and threw him out of the room, but received a sharp bite on the arm in retaliation. "Ow!" Suzaku examined the bite to make sure it wasn't bleeding and pulled the shirt over his head. He surveyed himself in the mirror for a few seconds, suddenly feeling self-conscious. Was he dressed too casually? Would he not fit in? He'd only known Lelouch for an hour and forty minutes, after all, could they really have gotten along as well as it seemed in class? Was Lelouch feeling as nervous about seeing him at this party as Suzaku was about seeing him?

Suzaku sighed heavily and shook his hair out of his eyes. He smiled at his reflection. He'd do fine. If anything, he and Lelouch could discuss philosophy all night… He suddenly felt himself blushing. Realizing he'd be late if he didn't hurry up, Suzaku shoved his wallet, keys and cellphone into his pockets, pulled on his winter coat and shoes and headed out the door.

The street outside was busy. Couples going to dinner, people returning from work late, young people heading towards St. Mark's Place… Even though it was only a Monday night, everyone was going somewhere. Suzaku followed those young people towards St. Mark's place, picked up the 6 train at Astor Place and rode it uptown to 77th street. He emerged from the station on Lexington Avenue in front of a massive hospital and headed west towards Madison. Suddenly realizing he had no idea which specific building on 77th and Madison Lelouch had meant, or the apartment number, he pulled his phone out of his pocket.

Hey, I just got to 77th, what's the number or the building and apartment? Thanks!

The reply came almost immediately.

Oh wow, sorry, that information would have helped, huh? 2 E 77th st, apartment 6F.

Suzaku snapped his phone closed with a smile. Had he been waiting for a text and that's why the reply was so quick? Or maybe he was just being considerate? "Ugh!" Suzaku said allowed, shaking himself out of his rumination. He walked even faster now, excited. He found the building, got buzzed up, found the apartment, took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

Lelouch jumped up immediately when he heard the knock and chose to ignore Kallen's snide "Don't run now, I don't want you collapsing!" from the other side of the room. He also took a deep breath before opening the door.

"Hi!" Suzaku said cheerfully, relieved to find himself face to face with Lelouch and not someone he didn't know.

"Hi," Lelouch replied, his face seeming to soften. "Come in, sorry I didn't send you the address, I'm such an asshole." He stepped back, allowing Suzaku to enter. "Here, give me your coat."

"Oh no, don't worry about it," replied Suzaku, handing Lelouch his coat. Lelouch hung it up in a closet next to the door and led Suzaku into the apartment. Several people looked up as he entered the room, including the girl with pink hair Suzaku had seen with Lelouch that morning. She eyed Suzaku curiously as they approached, and then stood up and looked at Lelouch, clearly hoping to be introduced.

"This is Kallen," Lelouch said, gesturing at her. "Kallen, this is Suzaku, we're in the socialism lecture together." Kallen smiled and waved.

"Cool," she said. "What's up?"

"Not much," Suzaku replied, also smiling. "So is this your place?" Kallen laughed.

"Oh no, I live on York avenue with my father, our place isn't nearly this nice."

"Is this the guest I've been hearing about?" Came Milly's voice loudly from behind them. They all turned and saw Milly, CC and Shirley. Lelouch sighed in annoyance as he saw them looking Suzaku up and down.

"Yes," he replied curtly. "This is Suzaku, my friend from class. Suzaku this is Milly, CC and Shirley."

"Hello," Suzaku said, waving to each of them. He noticed the girl called Shirley seemed thoroughly relieved about something.

"Welcome!" Milly said warmly, taking his hand and shaking it. "I'm glad you could make it, it's nice to have someone new come to my parties. Anyway, make yourself comfortable, I'm sure we'll get to know each other!" She winked and departed, leaving them all in a circle.

"Do you want a drink?" Lelouch asked Suzaku, suddenly noticing everyone else had a solo cup or beer in her hand.

"Sure," Suzaku replied, "thanks."

"What would you like?" Suzaku shook his head and shrugged.

"I'll drink anything, surprise me." Nodding approvingly Lelouch left for the kitchen.

"You'll fit right in!" Kallen said, grinning. Suzaku laughed.

"I guess so!"

"So where are you from?" Shirley asked eagerly.

"Tokyo, originally. I just transferred here."

"You're Japanese?" Kallen asked, interested. "Me too! Well, half, my dad's British. I love Tokyo though, all my mother's family is still there."

"That's awesome," Suzaku replied. "Where are you guys from?" He asked CC and Shirley.

"New York," they replied in unison, making Shirley laugh.

"I got you a screw driver, I hope that's okay." Lelouch reappeared with drinks.

"Yeah that's perfect, thank you." They exchanged a look, both of them seeming to forget there were other people around for a second. Kallen and CC watched them interestedly, until a loud knock on the door broke the moment.

"I'll get it!" Shirley walked over and opened the door. "Hi, Rivalz," she said cheerfully, letting him in and shutting the door. A boy with blue hair and a tired expression on his face entered the apartment.

"Sorry I'm late, I had to come straight from work," he said, waving at people he knew.

"That explains the outfit," Lelouch said, raising his drink to him.

"Yeah yeah yeah, we don't all have trust funds," Rivalz replied, sticking his tongue out. He was dressed in a black polo shirt, black pants and a bright green apron. "I'm going to change before Milly sees me," he said, suddenly much more serious, and sprinted from the room, making everyone laugh. A door slammed somewhere and Milly entered the room again, carrying a drink for someone.

"Who was that?" She asked.

"Rivalz," replied Shirley, smiling sheepishly. "He didn't want you to see him in his work uniform." Milly's face contracted into an expression somewhere between affection, exasperation and amusement.

"I see him at work all the time, he's ridiculous…" She said, more to herself than to Shirley, but then seemed to snap out of it when there was another knock on the door. She opened it and led two people into the room. One was Mao, the other was a small girl with dark hair, carrying a massive art supply bag on her back. Lelouch pressed his first two fingers between his eyes in disbelief.

"What's up, bitches!" Mao asked loudly. "This is my new friend who helped me get my piece out of the dorm this evening. I'm going to go get her high as shit, would anyone like to join us?" Several cries of "fuck yeah!" were heard from around the room. CC suddenly whirled around and went over to Mao. "Where the hell were you this morning?" He demanded.

"Nowhere. Are we doing this or what? You've been talking about your new glass all weekend…"

"Yes yes yes. Lelouch! Come smoke with us!" Lelouch, who had just lit a cigarette, shook his head.

"Nah I'm good for tonight."

"You suck. All right come on. MILLY!" Mao yelled as he left the room. Lelouch took a long drag and laughed as he exhaled.

"…and that was Mao," said Kallen despairingly.

"He seems… fun?" Suzaku offered. Both Kallen and Lelouch laughed.

"He's awesome, he just does way too many drugs," Kallen said. "Oh I see someone from my class on homelessness, I'll see you guys later!" She left to go talk to someone in another room, leaving Lelouch and Suzaku alone.

"Your friends seem nice," Suzaku said, looking over at Milly and Shirley, who were deep in conversation.

"Yeah they're all right," Lelouch said, taking a drag from his cigarette. "I hope it's not awkward, considering you didn't know anyone else."

"No not at all, but even if it were I could just talk to you, right?"

"Right…" They exchanged another look, this one lasting a while longer. "So," Lelouch broke the silence and Suzaku took another sip of his drink. "Did you do the readings for Socialism in the 21st Century yet?"

"Yeah, they were pieces I'd never read before, that was refreshing."

"Me too," Lelouch said in agreement, ashing into a vase of flowers on the table next to the couch. "How was Foucault and Bio-"

"Do I still smell like coffee?" Rivalz had appeared next to Lelouch, looking flustered. Lelouch sniffed the air.

"No, but even if you did the entire apartment's about to smell like weed anyway, why?"

"Just making sure. I don't know you, I'm Rivalz," he said, suddenly noticing Suzaku.

"Suzaku, nice to meet you."

"You too! I hope I wasn't interrupting…" Lelouch looked at Suzaku for a second before replying.

"It's okay, how was work?" In response Rivalz took a huge gulp of the drink in his hand. Lelouch nodded.

"Rivalz works at Starbucks," Lelouch said to Suzaku, who had been looking confused but nodded in understanding.

"Fucking terrible, I'm trying to wipe the memory from my mind." He took another long drink. From another room a door banged open and a familiar smell began to saturate the apartment. Mao, CC and several other people emerged in a cloud of smoke, looking content.

"Did you guys hot box the bathroom again?" Kallen called over to them, looking annoyed.

"Yes," replied CC. "Milly is it okay if I order pizza?"

"Sure!" Milly replied, and then noticed Rivalz. The two also seemed to exchange a look.

"Who are you, I don't know you," said Mao from Lelouch's left.

"Hi Mao, it's nice to see you too," said Lelouch, putting out his cigarette in the vase of flowers and taking a sip of his drink.

"Suzaku, nice to meet you."

"You too!" Mao replied, wringing Suzaku's hand. "Anyway can we turn the music up? This is fucking dumb!"

One hour and a multitude of drinks later the party was in full swing. The lights had been dimmed, the music was loud and everyone was dancing in the living room, except for those who had snuck off to quieter parts of the apartment. Lelouch and Suzaku were stuck in the middle, drinks in hand and dancing. Shirley was backing up on Lelouch, who seemed thoroughly uninterested but was moving to the music anyway and Suzaku was twirling Kallen around with the hand not holding his drink. He pulled her in closer to him and she moved her hips slowly against him. Lelouch finished the last half of his drink in one gulp, threw the cup over his shoulder and reached across Shirley and Kallen to tap Suzaku on the shoulder. He looked up, and their eyes met. Lelouch pulled on the collar of his shirt and mouthed "let's go somewhere quiet!" Suzaku nodded, said something to Kallen and led Lelouch away from the mass of people dancing.

They walked through the dining room, into a small room that looked like an office. Suzaku closed the door and turned to Lelouch, looking concerned. "I'm sorry, I should have known, you and Kallen, I was dancing with her, I'm-"

"What…?" Lelouch asked, perplexed.

"She's your girlfriend… right? I shouldn't have been dancing with her!" Lelouch laughed threw his head back.

"No no no! She's just a good friend, no… You didn't do anything wrong!" Suzaku sighed in relief and leaned back against the door.

"Okay good! Then, why did we come in here?" Suzaku's eyes were soft, and there was a flush in his cheeks. Lelouch wasn't sure if it was from dancing, drinking, or… something else. He had a feeling he was blushing too as he tried to come up with an answer that would make sense. He wasn't really sure why he'd dragged him here, but…

"I feel bad, I invited you here and haven't really gotten to talk to you, just us, you know…" He wasn't really sure where he was going with that excuse but Suzaku grinned and threw his arms out on either side of him.

"Then talk to me, ask me anything!" Lelouch's eyes were softening too, and he took a step closer to Suzaku.

"This is a dumb question, but… you can speak Japanese, right?" Suzaku took a step toward Lelouch.

"Not dumb at all, people ask me that all the time, even though I'm from Tokyo, am Japanese, yeah…" Lelouch laughed out loud again.

"Then prove it, say something that's not like, 'hello, my name is' or whatever. That's too easy!" They were looking at each other intensely again, and the warmth from this morning seemed to be burning from between them. It could have just been the alcohol, but somehow, it didn't seem that way. Suzaku seemed to be thinking.

"Kirei-na me," he said softly.

"What does that mean?" Lelouch asked, just as softly.

"You have beautiful eyes," Suzaku said, looking right into them. Lelouch bit his lip.

"Say something else…" Without thinking, Suzaku said,

"Kisu shite-mo ii?" They were now almost nose to nose. "A kiss, do-" Without thinking, Lelouch took this sides of Suzaku's face in his hands and brought their lips together. Suzaku exhaled sharply into Lelouch's lips and wrapped his arms around his waist, pulling him closer. His head seemed to swim as he tasted cigarettes and alcohol, the warmth that was burning between them had exploded, and all they could think about was more. Lelouch wrapped his arms around Suzaku's neck and groaned desperately into Suzaku's mouth. Suzaku held Lelouch tightly, thrusting his hands up underneath his shirt and raking his fingers up and down the smooth skin on his back. Lelouch let go of their kiss, breathing hard, and then went right back for more, kissing Suzaku deeply, one of his hands in his hair.

Suzaku groaned quietly, lifted Lelouch up and pressed him, hard, up against the door. Startled, Lelouch cried out and Suzaku began placing intense kisses on his neck. Lelouch sighed heavily and wrapped his legs around Suzaku's waist, grinding their hips together in a passionate and desperate friction. Suzaku's fingers dug into Lelouch's sides as he made his way up to his ear. "Taman nee," he exhaled into Lelouch's ear. Lelouch groaned, pulled on Suzaku's hair and kissed him again. He had no idea what he was saying, but didn't care. Everything sounded good. Everything felt amazing. The music was pounding against the door, and they moved their hips almost in time, Lelouch's grip on Suzaku's hair tensing and releasing with the movement. Suzaku-

The music stopped. Suzaku let go of their kiss and the both listened, breathing hard.

"Sorry everyone!" Came Millie's voice from the living room. "Our neighbors aren't happy with the noise, we've got to clear out! Thank you for coming though, I'll let you know when the next one happens!" There was a collective groan and a few expletives from the other room. Lelouch and Suzaku looked at each other, suddenly feeling awkward, but not ready to stop.

"Um… could you put me down?" Lelouch asked after a few seconds.

"Oh, uh, yeah." Lelouch unwrapped his legs from Suzaku's waist and Suzaku let him down.

"I… um… that was nice." Lelouch had a sheepish look on his face and a blossoming bruise on his neck.

"Yeah, it was," Suzaku replied, also looking sheepish. "I, I don't want things to be awkward! Like, between us now. I, I really like you, Lelouch." Lelouch looked slightly taken aback, but pleased.

"I… I like you too. Maybe, we could… do something? Somtime? Am I saying this right?" He seemed to sway on the spot.

"Yeah, I'll text you." Lelouch nodded.

"Sure." They both smiled at each other. "Come on, let's get our stuff, school tomorrow."

"Oh shit you're right!"

"I know!" They exited the room and hurried toward the door where people were still collecting their things. CC was waiting for Lelouch with his coat in her hand. He took it from her without saying anything, and they left the apartment. Immediately Lelouch lit a cigarette, trying to calm down. They didn't say anything until they were a block away from the building.

"Where did you go?" CC asked, curiously. "I didn't see you for like, twenty minutes, what were you doing?" Lelouch took a last, long drag from his cigarette, threw the butt on the ground and started trying to hail a cab. He didn't feel like dealing with the train this late at night.

"Discussing philosophy."

What do you think? I hope you stick with it!

Anyway, there's more to come soon! I'm psyched, are you? (Probably not.)

Nah, that's fine, don't review me. I'll just geass you into reviewing me anyway!