So its been a while eh? Yeah I just randomly lose and gain my inspiration here and there, well heres the story, read and review kay? :)
Btw this chappie was supposed to be posted for Christmas and it was suppose to be a long special chapter. But since I forgot to do that, we'll do a Christmas in May sort of thing with the chapter being 3x as long as all the other ones.
Enjoy!
Two days passed by and it was now time to exchange gifts. Everyone was hanging out in the heart of the apartment, it was a mess but no one minded. They just relaxed and enjoyed the fact that it was finally winter break.
"So I say that before anyone gets a little too drunk, we hurry up and exchange gifts then finish the rest of our evening!" Luna started; she had a glass of "punch" in her hand and took a sip of it every now and then. Everyone gradually moved to the couches and gathered around.
"So I think I'll start!" Lacus began, she was dressed in a short pink dress, taking note of Cagalli's remark earlier, and she wore a violet scarf with it. "My gift is for.. Stella.. Who clearly isn't here! Oh my..!"
"That's alright Lacus, I'll give it to her when I see her." Shinn extended his arm and held the present with care. "I'll make sure that she thanks you for it as well."
"Thank you so much, Shinn..! You might as well go next!" Lacus smiled kindly, Shinn blushed a bit before pulling out his present.
"W-Well.. Mines for uh, Rey." He said nervously, oh how he hated how karma worked sometimes. Well at least he didn't have Lunamaria, which would have taken awkward to a whole new level. His present was carefully wrapped in crimson and gold wrapping paper.
Shinn handed Rey the small wrapped box that Rey immediately opened, revealing chocolates.
"Sorry.. I know its not much but.. Their your favorite, right?" Shinn asked, avoiding eye contact. Rey half smiled and thanked Shinn for it.
"Oooh! Me next!" Meyrin excitedly shouted, she was dressed in plain jeans and a green t-shirt that read 'bite me'. "Athrun its for you!" she threw him a very small velvet box.
"O-Oh?" Athrun mumbled, caught a little off guard. He opened the box to reveal a very small pendant. The words engraved in it were tiny, but the meaning behind it was far from it.
Hope will find you in the darkest of places.
"M-Meyrin! T-This is.." Athrun was at a loss for words, of course he knew what the girl was referring to, but he didn't understand why she chose to make it such a big deal. "Thank you."
"No problem!" Meyrin smiled shyly, tugging at her pigtail every now and then.
"And just how much did you spend on that, young lady?" Lunamaria interjected with her hands on her hips, ruining the special moment.
"Umm.. sixty dollars.."
"Meyrin! We agreed that the limit was forty!" Luna shouted at her younger sister, everyone covered his or her ears at the older Hawke sister's voice.
"Hey its alright, I went a little overboard for my gift as well.." Athrun began.. "Cagalli, this is for you. I know I haven't been the greatest of a boyfriend lately and I'm sorry. Along with this gift I will tell you my explanation for why I've been acting so weird lately. I can't hide it anymore."
"Uhh Athrun? Shouldn't you do this kind of thing in private?" Kira asked, Athrun shook his head.
"No. I think its best if all of you hear, especially you Meer." With the mention of her name, Meer snapped out of her daydream and faced the bluenette.
"Me? What for?"
"Just listen."
Flashback to before AsuCaga happened
Athrun finally arrived home from a long day of school ready to shower and quickly fall asleep so he can go through it all again tomorrow. A certain blonde kept him sane and looking forward to going to school everyday.
"Athrun? May I have a word?" Patrick Zala asked his son from the living room. The vast emptiness of their house was almost too much to bear, no one knew how the two men put up with it.
"Yes of course father, what's up?" Athrun asked casually.
"Normally I would never ask this of you but since your mothers death.. anyways, you'll be turning eighteen in a couple of months and that makes you a legal adult."
"Yes."
"Also that means you will be taking over the company."
"Yes."
"Athrun, we need to find you a fiancée."
"Y-What?" Athrun asked, clearly mortified.
"You will take over the company, get married and produce an heir before you are twenty one." Patrick said coldly, "I already have it all arranged.
"W-What?"
"I chose someone from your high school, someone you are familiar with."
A shred of hope sprang up inside of Athrun. Could it be Cagalli? Yes! Of course, her father also owned one of the top companies in the country!
"Meer Campbell is her name."
"WHAT?" Everyone shouted throughout the room.
"Athrun! That was between you and me! How could you tell everyone?" Meer shouted, "you know your fathers going to throw a fit!"
"For a long time I've pondered over this. Whether I should even listen to my father anymore." Athrun paused, "he wants to live his life through me, and I let him do it for so long."
"Athrun." Kira started, "its better to have made the decision later rather than never."
"Kira's right! Your life is yours to live, no one has the right to take that from you, not even your father." Lacus said very gently, she always knew what to say.
"Thanks guys." Athrun half smiled, but this kind moment was interrupted to soon with a scream from Meer.
"So you mean to say you're breaking off our engagement?" She cried, almost hysterically. "How could you? Your father knows best and what he says is good for you, don't you realize that?"
"I'm sorry Meer, but if I chose to marry you, I would be going against everything I believe in. Besides we aren't right for each other, I'm sure there's someone out there for you, I'm just not so sure its me." Athrun said gently, walking over to Meer. "You understand, don't you?"
"Understand? How do you expect me to understand? Athrun, I LOVE YOU!" Meer screamed, "and if you're to stupid to realize that.. well then.. to hell with all of you!" She screamed once more and threw her secret Santa present at Meyrin and ran out the door.
"Well that was dramatic.." Flay muttered to herself, "so can we continue this, because I have places to be you know!" she snuck a quick glance at Kira, who in return, didn't notice her. This was new.
Meyrin picked up the small envelope that Meer threw at her and read the words on the top, which addressed the envelope to her and opened it.
"I think this was her gift to Me.." Meyrin said.
"Yeah well she had a odd way of giving it to you." Luna added, breaking the ice in the room. Everyone chuckled and laughed and resumed chatting again.
"Whoa! She's rich!" Meyrin gasped as she pulled out a fifty-dollar bill from the envelope.
"Not that I'm complaining but did anyone stay under the limit at all?" Lunamaria interjected once again, everyone sweat dropped.
"Hey Athrun? Weren't you supposed to give Cagalli your gift?" Kira asked Athrun, who quickly nodded and turned to give his blonde princess his gift but saw that she was nowhere in sight.
"W-Wha? Where'd she go?" Athrun asked, everyone exchanged looks and shrugs. "Did anyone see her leave?"
"Oh please, the poor girl left long ago after you delivered your ever so important little speech. Besides you were to busy consoling Meer to notice!" Flay smirked sadistically, "to be honest I'm still wondering why I'm hanging around this loser joint." She reached into her purse and grabbed a twenty and threw it at Kira, "merry Christmas!" and left the building.
"Bitch." Luna muttered, "well Athrun! What are you still doing here? Go find Cagalli already and bring her back!" Athrun was way ahead of her and had already left the apartment, "well that clearly made me look like a fool.. anyways my present was for Flay, but since she ran off I think I'll keep it."
"What was it?" Lacus asked.
"A evening dress, I got it on sale at Sirens for five!"
"You really despise her don't you?" Meyrin asked, sighing a little bit.
"Yup!"
Everyone laughed in amusement and once again continued the chitchatting.
"Well since no one else is going, I'll go next." Kira began, "Lacus, this is for you. It's nothing special, but I uh.. thought I'd get it for you anyways." He blushed a faint pink.
"Aww Kira! I'm sure it's wonderful!" Lacus chirped, she reached inside the gift bag and pulled out what Kira had inside. "Oh my.."
"Talk about fancy!" Shinn shouted, Kira blushed an even darker shade and turned away from the smiling Lacus.
"Oh Kira.. this is really sweet, but I'm afraid that you've mixed up the holidays.. isn't this sort of gift more appropriate for Valentine's day?" Lacus asked very sweetly.
"Y-Yeah I guess!" Kira placed a hand behind his head, "b-but there's a meaning behind these roses, Lacus.." he paused yet again, "you see for the past couple of months.. you've been there for me like no one ever has been before. I know I've been mixed up a lot with Flay and everything and I realize now that you deserve better and you don't have to say yes b-but..well.. do you want to be my girlfriend? I mean.. consider it!" He nervously looked away.
"Oh Kira.." Lacus' eyes began to get a little watery, "of course. Yes." She happily smiled and placed a hand on his shoulder, "this is the best gift that I have ever gotten and I am so happy that it is from you."
"Lacus.." He grabbed her hand from his shoulder and placed it in between his, "I'll do whatever it takes to make you happy, I promise."
"Awwww!" Meyrin and Luna smiled happily, "that was so sweet!"
"Yeah.. more like awkward." Shinn muttered quietly so no one could hear him.
"Cagalli! Where are you?" Athrun shouted, he had pretty much been to all the places he thought Cagalli would be, this was the last. "I thought I knew her, but I guess I didn't."
"Athrun, this is so cliché" A voice whispered behind him, he flinched as he was caught off guard a bit.
"Cagalli! I've been looking for you everywhere! Don't you know how cold it is, where have you been?" Athrun shouted, immediately taking off his jacket and placing it on the blonde princess.
"…" She didn't answer.
"I'm sorry about Meer! I should have told you sooner.." He mumbled, "Please forgive me."
"Athrun, I'm not mad." Cagalli finally said, taking a seat on the grassy hill that they had previously been standing on.
"Then why did you leave?" He asked a little harshly, but nonetheless took a seat beside her.
"I'm just surprised that you would keep something as big as that from me..! I mean I am your girlfriend, aren't I?" Cagalli raised her voice a bit, she looked up at the starry night and her eyes twinkled a bit.
"I know! I already told you, I'm sorry! I just needed some time to think, you know?" Athrun placed his hand on hers.
"I just feel so stupid, ugh!" Cagalli yelled, "all this time, Meer has been making moves on you and I've just been stupidly letting her! I should have guessed it was something along the lines of this, considering how nice you were to her!"
"I had to be nice to her! You have no idea what my father-"
"Well excuse me for not knowing!" Cagalli shouted, standing up in the process, Athrun followed her movement. "Maybe if you told me, I would have known!"
"What the hell, Cagalli! You tell me you're not mad, yet you're screaming at me anyways! How many times do I have to explain myself, for it to make sense to you?" Athrun shouted back.
"Okay, maybe I am angry! How can you expect me not to be? Maybe if you paid a little more attention to me rather than Meer a-"
"You're still going on about that? I don't love Meer, I never have and I never will!"
For the first time in her life, Cagalli was at a loss for her words, she breathed in and out very deeply and finally turned away.
"I need some space, Athrun." She said very calmly, removing his jacket off her shoulders and turning around to give it to him.
"…you're breaking up with me."
"No!" Cagalli shouted, "I just.. I need some time to think."
"With everything that's been going on, I almost forgot about your present, Lunamaria!" Rey said and handed Lunamaria a medium sized box. "I'm sorry. I didn't have any time to wrap it."
"Rey.. its really sweet but.. I'm allergic to coconut." Luna bit her lip in guilt, "I'm sorry, I thought you knew.."
Rey smacked his forehead, "Lunamaria, I'm sorry! I did know, it just slipped my mind. I promise I'll make it up to you by, buying you another gift!"
"Hey! You don't have to do that! Just consider the gift I bought for Flay, as the gift to me from you!" She winked at him, he chuckled a little bit and they resumed their conversation.
Shinn stared at them from afar, had it been a year ago the three of them probably would have been sitting there laughing together.
"Sis! I need some help cleaning up in here!" Meyrin called from the kitchen, Lunamaria sighed but left the living room so that only Shinn and Rey were left there. Kira and Lacus had gone home a little while ago, after Athrun and Cagalli had left.
"Rey, look.." Shinn started, "I've been thinking.."
"Hold that thought Shinn, excuse me." Rey said before getting up and making his way over to the washroom.
With Rey gone, that left Shinn alone in the tiny living room, he'd been here many times before, but it just felt weird now.
"Hey, Rey! We need some help in here, get your lazy ass off the couch and come help us!" Luna shouted from the kitchen.
"Uh.. Rey's in the washroom.. I'll help though." Shinn said, standing in the doorway of the kitchen.
"Alright, can you go out on the veranda and turn off all the lights? I don't want to go out there in the middle of the night.." she said quickly, "you can leave if you want after that, or you can spend the night, its up to you."
"Uh yeah, sure." Shinn answered, "but I don't know where the light switches are.."
"Okay, just come with me then." Luna said before leading the way out to the veranda, it was below freezing because it was winter. "The switch is by the stairs, watch out for the ice."
"You want me to turn them off while you just stand there?" Shinn questioned.
"Yeah I have to hold the door open or it'll close by itself and we'll get locked out here."
"Okay.." Shinn carefully walked over to the switches, turning off the lights and turning around, only to be faced with darkness. "Luna! I can't see!"
"Shit! Just follow my voice…! Here I'll extend my hand out as far as I can!"
Shinn followed the sound of Lunamaria's voice and hurriedly walked over to her, "shit!" was all he had time to yell before he crashed on the veranda after slipping on some ice.
"Oh my god, Shinn!" Lunamaria shouted and ran over to him, "are you alright?"
Click!
Before Shinn had time to answer, the pair turned their heads to the source of the noise.
"Oh no..! The door!" Luna smacked her forehead, "we're stuck out here."
"Are you serious? Call Meyrin or Rey!" Shinn exclaimed, "How could you be so stupid for letting the door shut?"
"Excuse me! You're the one that had to go and slip on the ice! Besides I left my phone inside and Rey and Meyrin are both probably inside sleeping!" She shouted back, "This is just perfect, isn't it? It's below freezing and we're stuck out here until one of them wakes up and realizes we're not inside!"
"Don't you keep a spare key anywhere around the house? No of course you don't, you're such an idiot!"
"Its an apartment! Why would I keep a spare key?" Luna paused and took a seat on the cold floor of the veranda below her. "I'm just going to sit here and hope I don't die from the cold, I don't care about what you're going to do."
Shinn sighed and took a seat next to her, "couldn't we go down the stairs and enter through the front?"
"No, we would need a key through the front too." She took a deep breath, "look about everything-"
"I'm sorry." He muttered, "I shouldn't have slapped you that day, I get that. But you cant just judge Stella like that, you don't know her at all."
"Yeah me too, I know that." She paused, "I guess what threw me off was the fact that you threw away a many year friendship over a girl."
"I know, and I'm sorry."
"Wow, is Shinn Asuka apologizing to me?" Lunamaria smirked, "I never thought I'd see the day."
"Well you did, so you better appreciate it now!"
Before Lunamaria could further enjoy the moment, her sister's frantic cries snapped her out of her daze.
"Lunamaria!" Meyrin shouted from inside, "Luna! Where are you?"
Shinn and Luna both quickly ran to separate windows and banged on them until Meyrin noticed and let them inside.
"Thank god for heat." Luna whispered, "what are you doing up, Meyrin?"
"Sis! I don't know what happened to him!" Meyrin's eyes began getting watery and a couple of tears escaped, "h-he was just lying there.."
"Who? Meyrin, what happened?" Lunamaria asked, her expression was mixed with concern and fear.
"Rey." Meyrin whispered, at the mention of his name, both Luna and Shinn exchanged worried looks.
"What happened though?" Luna asked, grabbing Meyrin's shoulders gently.
"I don't know! I called an ambulance and they should be here-"
"Where is he?" Shinn cut her off, Meyrin pointed to the washroom and the trio bolted there, with Shinn leading the way.
The sight before them was too horrifying for words. Rey lay in a pool of blood on the ground, crimson red blood dripping out of his nose and both his ears. He was barely recognizable.
"Rey!"
And with the end of that chapter, the story has taken a dramatic turn.. lets just take a look at everything that went down.
1. Cagalli needs some space from Athrun for a while.
2. Kira and Lacus are officially dating.
3. Athrun revealed that he was supposed to have been engaged to Meer.
4. Shinn and Lunamaria finally made up.
5. Rey was found in a pool of blood.
hehehe .. review please :)
