Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Seed and Gundam Seed Destiny.

A/N: Wooh, a glimpse of Pandora's box! Because I'm still in a slump with A Terrible Beauty. And since there was a growing amount of AxCxY/CxY going on, you could say this is a response fic. Come on fellow Cagalli-fans we should be a little fair, giving, and not hog all the good guys for one gal (no matter how great she is) lol, or so here's an idea. :p

I apologize for fail grammar.

When It Happens


Flay Allster kept her smile in place, digging deep for patience as she returned to join Athrun Zala, blue-haired undeniably good-looking guy, who was still bent on the exact wooden bench, alone, and in front of the local arcade store where she had left him.

Actually, if truth mattered, most women found the idea of leaving studs such as Athrun Zala by himself to be a crime to the point that after leaving his side for only a few minutes, Flay had spotted a few ladies already glancing his way, checking him out, and were ready to make a move on the poor guy until she showed up again, foiling their chance.

The women scowled at the sight of her; Flay ignored them.

"They're still at it?" Flay heaved a sigh at Athrun, then stared toward the arcade where Yzak Joule and Cagalli Athha were fiercely competing in the rail shooter game called Amusement Park of the Dead with either stubbornly refusing to accept defeat from the other no matter how many times the game reloaded.

To his credit, "yeah..." Athrun managed a smile, in spite being woefully aware how Yzak, the guy who asked Flay out in the first place, and Cagalli, Athrun's love interest, had shooed away both original companions from their battle and eventually forgotten all about them.

"Here," Flay said, sitting next to Athrun.

Athrun casted Flay a significant look as she set a juice and a sandwich, which she had bought from the convenience store, between his intertwined fingers, two eyebrows raised in a silence echo of his surprise.

"Thank you," he said.

"No problem." She smiled shortly before eyeing at Yzak and Cagalli again with dismay. "So how long have they been at it now?"

"About an hour and twenty minutes..." Athrun mumbled under his breath, unwrapping the BLT and taking a bite.

"I just don't get it. How did this even happen?" Flay leaned on the backrest of their seat, trying hard not sound too distraught at the sight of her crush, friend, date: Yzak exhilarating spending the day with another girl. Athrun's darling to be exact. "How did a couple of refined, gorgeous beings like you and I end up being ignored like this?"

Wishing he knew the answers himself, Athrun grunted in silent agreement. "Honestly, I have no idea..." He said.

"Moreover, how did the two of us fall for a couple of brash, impulsive, hotheads like Yzak and Cagalli!" Flay continued, feeling and sounding more and more irritable. "Argh, who's dumb idea was it to go on a double date anyway?"

Awkward silence came up while Athrun hesitated to say.

"Umm... that would be my dumb idea..." Athrun said finally, slumping even lower with regret as he admitted it.

"Yours?" Flay warned, her eyes narrowing. So it was this guy's fault.

"Yeah... sorry..." Athrun exhaled in a lower voice. "You see, it's because— the thing is— Cagalli isn't exactly aware that this is a double date..." He sighed; Flay was listening. "To be perfectly honest, Cagalli said she wasn't comfortable dating me so, normally, we'd just casually hangout together with Kira and Lacus. Lacus has been very kind and understanding of my situation of course while Kira, being my best friend, was accommodating enough. But Cagalli and Kira has been acting too chummy recently, so much so that I can't help but feel rejected, betrayed, and jealous. What's worse, because of it, I've been forced to spend more and more time with Lacus that she formidably kept insisting that we have a heart-to-heart. So this is where Yzak comes in..."

Flay tipped her head still listening as Athrun continued.

"I figured that if Cagalli were to meet Yzak and were to see how different he treats women, she'd realize how much of a keeper I really am." Athrun confessed.

Flay flinched in reaction. "Uh-huh." No matter how you looked at it, Athrun had underhandedly meant that he was the better man than Yzak and she didn't like it. Yzak may be reckless, foolishly honest, and stubborn, but that was... somehow he can never ignore people in trouble. Although he acts indifferent, the truth was that he cares. That's how he was and why she liked him.

"They're really hitting it off, aren't they?" Athrun frowned, disheartened by the realization that despite the strict competition, Yzak and Cagalli had began smiling and laughing, and enjoying each other's company.

For an instant, Flay could not comprehend what she was seeing either.

Something had definitely gone wrong here.

"And to think I had to bribe him into agreeing to this..." Athrun added, seething.

"What did you bribe Yzak with?" Flay asked. She still haven't completely forgiven him though.

Athrun's eyes lit up when she had asked that. "It's, uh, here," he said, reaching into his pocket and taking out his smartphone. "I think it'd be better to show you." He flipped through the gallery eagerly.

Flay moved closer to glance over his shoulder, watching photo after photo of ridiculously geeky miniatures of giant robots and warships and other armored fighting vehicles go by.

MBF-02

GAT-X102

ZGMF-X09A

"Wow," Flay commented. "It's scary how many of those stupid robots I actually recognize thanks to Yzak."

A certified mecha geek like his friend, Athrun chuckle at this. "What can I say? Yzak's a good influence," he said, glancing up at Flay with a smile. His eyes connected and then held with hers.

And here their smiles faded.

The two of them stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity, though it was probably only about three seconds. Flay felt frozen in place, unable to move or blink.

The busy, noisy store surrounding them faded away and all she could comprehend was how close Athrun was— the curve of his cheek, the scent of his shampoo, the tendrils of blue hair around his temples moving gently in the breeze. He was looking at her intently, his searching emerald green eyes seeming to stare straight through her soul.

And for the first time, she realized how greatly similar they were, realized how severely attractive he was that he could easily assault her senses making her feel weird and fuzzy inside, and realized how tempting it was to reach for him and kiss him until both of their problems went away...

Her gaze dropped to his sexy lips.

Athrun shook his head, unable to tear his eyes away from her.

"Anyway," Athrun said, his face crimson and voice husky. "I, uh, we shouldn't... double date again... I, uh, mean, lousy idea."

In turn, Flay felt a wave of embarrassment swept over her as well and scooted away from Athrun as quick she could. Eyes studiously trained on the ground, Flay tucked a strand of long red hair behind her ear. "Yeah... I mean yes. You're right... lousy idea."

**End


A/N: If there's Cagalli x Athrun/Kira/Yzak and Lacus x Athrun/Kira/Yzak then there should be Flay x Athrun/Kira/Yzak. Hehehe. Maybe we should add Shinn in here too...

Anyways, Happy New Year!