AN: Herez bez the next chapterzzz! Haha. I'm on a "zz-ing" fest with my sister! XD

Thanks for all the reviews! They really encourage me to keep writing! Well, typing. :)

Disclaimer: I do not own anything that deals with "Mobile Suit Gundam SEED/Destiny." All rights are reserved to Sunrise.

Flashback: Everyone walked to the door where Cagalli grabbed the keys to Athrun's car.

"Where are you going?" Kira asked, annoyed.

"I'm dropping him off, how do you expect him to get home if I don't?" Cagalli replied.

"Walk?" Kira responded, raising an eyebrow.

Cagalli rolled her eyes and walked out the door and said, "I'll be back soon."

Chapter 11

"Lemme drive," Athrun said, following Cagalli down the path to his car.

"Fine," Cagalli said. She wasn't in the mood to fight right now. She just wanted to get rid of Athrun, come back, and go to sleep. She swerved around the car, while unlocking the car, and opened the passenger side door. She climbed in and closed the door, dropping the keys on the center console.

Athrun climbed into the driver's seat and picked up the keys. He shoved them into the ignition and started the car. He put the car into drive and drove off down the street.

Soon they were on the familiar highway back to Athrun's apartment. He hadn't bothered with the GPS system considering he's back and forth to Kira's house a few times already. He had memorized the way.

A few minutes later, he turned the radio on to drown out the eerie silence that had been looming around them since they left. Something just didn't feel right and he wasn't sure what it was. He glanced at Cagalli to find her staring out the window with her head casually placed on her hand as her elbow was on the door. He returned his attention back to the road. By this time, he had caught the chorus of the song playing on the radio.

"I cried out with no reply And I can't feel You by my side

So I'll hold tight to what I know

You're here and I'm never alone"

The song sounded strange to him. It was like it was trying to tell him something. Or so he thought. The melody had just kept replaying in his head long after the song was over. He would have missed his exit if Cagalli didn't say anything seconds before the turn-off.

"What the hell was that?! Pay attention to the road instead of daydreaming you idiot!" Cagalli yelled angrily at him.

"Sorry," he mumbled as he rounded the turn on the road coming off from the highway. He stopped at the red light at the end of the road. Sighing, he flung his head down onto the steering wheel, bashing it a few times to rid himself of the nagging thoughts from moments before. Although he didn't notice, Cagalli was staring at him like he was an even bigger idiot now. She didn't bother asking anything and acted like she didn't notice.

"It's like...Gah! I don't even know!" Athrun screamed in his mind. The chorus from that song really irked him. It was like there was some stupid hidden meaning and he just couldn't figure it out at all.

"The light, moron," Cagalli said, smacking his shoulder lightly.

He lifted his head up and stepped on the gas pedal lightly to start the car rolling again. Soon, the car was up to speed again and they were only a few blocks away from his place. The thoughts of that song continue to nag him beyond belief. If it weren't for Cagalli being in the car, he would have vented his frustrations by speeding along like a maniac. But he kept his cool for the next few blocks until he rounded into the parking garage.

"Don't bother turning it off," she mumbled as she climbed out of the passenger seat.

Athrun didn't hear her though. He leaned forward onto the steering wheel again and just stayed there. No bashing of the head, no punching of the fists. He just laid there. He didn't even heard when Cagalli opened his door and stood there, staring at him again.

"Care to remove yourself from the chair so I can go?" she said rather rudely.

It was then that he noticed that she had even moved at all and that he was even home. Unbuckling the seatbelt, he stared at her for a moment before turning to face her completely.

"Don't go," he mumbled loud enough for her to hear.

"What?" she replied, acting like she didn't hear what he said. She took notice of how distressed and worried his features were. "Is there something wrong with him or something?" she thought.

"Don't go," he mumbled even louder. "Just...don't go."

"I have to go, now please move from the seat," she replied. She didn't understand why he wouldn't let her go so easily. Okay, maybe she understood somewhat, but she didn't understand why he looked like he did now.

"Please, just stay for tonight and you can go during broad daylight," he mumbled again.

"What?! No! I have to get home. Now move!" she yelled, grabbing his arm and tugging. He barely even moved, it was as if she was incredibly weak.

"Cagalli, I can't let you go right now," he started, "It's...just not safe."

"What are you talking about?! My god, just let me go!" she yelled again, letting him go.

"I just have this hunch," he mumbled for the millionth time, or so it seemed. He stepped out of the car and stood in front of her. Firmly grasping her shoulders, he stared into her eyes to get her to believe him even just a bit.

"Stop Athrun. I'll be fine. I'm going now," was all she said before pushing him out of the way and climbing into the car and slamming the door shut.

"Cagalli!" he yelled, frowning. He just had to choose the stubborn one to fall in love with.

She didn't bother responding to him as she put the car into reverse and backed out of the spot Athrun had parked in a few minutes ago. Again, the car was put into drive and off it went.

Athrun jogged out to the middle of the parking lot and watched as the car came to a stop at the road. A frown was still evident on his features.

Cagalli watched in the rearview mirror as he jogged out into the middle of the parking lot. She could clearly see that cute little frown she had fallen in love with only weeks ago. Sighing, she stopped at the stop sign and stared at the big boob of a vampire she had been trying to avoid.

"I guess he deserves a few words from me," she thought. "After this, I won't see him again. I'll ignore him like I did before and act like he's not there at night. Eventually he'll move on."

She placed the car in par and unbuckled her seatbelt. Opening the door, she climbed out and stood there next to the open door. She looked at him and noticed that he was questioning her. Closing her eyes, she gestured him to come over.

Athrun walked over and stood in front of her, wondering why she had gotten out. Was she actually reconsidering staying?

"What are you doing?" he asked quietly.

"Athrun, stop. I've already told you that this could never and will never work out between us," she said, getting straight to the point. She knew he was trying to hold on as best as he could. He wasn't ready to let go and it was obvious.

Her statement was like a sock filled with rocks to the face. Though, this time, the blow was twice as hard since it had actually come from her mouth instead of a lousy piece of freakin' paper, or so he referred to it as now.

"It will work," he whispered. "I'll make it work."

She could sense the unsure tone in his voice and how in denial he really was. She let a little breath of air escape her mouth before continuing her viewpoint.

"You're in denial. It could never work. I'm sorry," she whispered back, closing her eyes for a few brief seconds before opening them again. When she did open them again, she found Athrun's eyes boring into hers. She could have swore she saw a bit of loneliness, and of course worry, flash through his eyes before it disappeared. Looking away, she climbed back into the car and closed the door behind herself. She didn't even think as she opened the window and gestured him to come a little closer. This time when she laid her eyes on him, his face showed no emotion whatsoever. It was nothing but emptiness staring back at her.

"Don't worry. You'll find someone who could live like you do one day," she whispered. She watched as he shifted his eyes to look at something else. He was still in denial, she concluded. She closed her eyes again before opening them.

Slowly, she reached out and placed both of her hands on either side of his head. She pulled him towards her and gingerly placed a kiss on his forehead. She lingered for a few moments before taking her lips off his cold, yet somehow warm, forehead.

"Goodbye," she whispered after she placed her forehead on his for a few minutes. Slowly, she released him and retreated back into the car. Without looking at him, she closed the window and placed the car into drive. She took off the down road and Athrun thought that was the last time he would ever see her like this again.

It had been hours after Cagalli had left him and he just couldn't do anything without his thoughts wandering. The words she said earlier haunted him just as much as those lyrics did before. She had literally ended whatever they were before they had even started. What angered him was the fact that she didn't even bother giving them a try before she said it could never work out the way they wanted it to.

He was standing out on the balcony, staring at the city lights and beyond. The soft night breeze blew through his hair midnight blue hair, quietly lifting his strands up and then placing them back down as if they were the most gentlest thing in the world.

As his thoughts strayed again, his mind began to wander back to the lyrics. What had they meant and why did they seem to stick out to him unlike a lot of other songs? Something was happening or was going to happen and he could feel it.

His thinking session was interrupted when he felt his cell phone vibrate in his pocket. It seemed it lived throughout the night or it was just about to die.

He pulled it out of his pocket and looked at it. The number seemed to be unknown to him. Although he doesn't usually answer unknown calls, this one stuck out to him. Flipping open the phone, he pressed the button to put the call through.

"This is Athrun-," he began but was cut off.

"Where the hell is my sister?!" he heard being screamed into the phone.

"Excuse me?" he asked, trying not to yell back.

"WHERE'S CAGALLI?!" he voice yelled at him again. He recognized it as Kira's, but how had he gotten his number? Maybe from Cagalli? He had snuck him number into her phone while she wasn't watching. But how could he? Cagalli...wasn't...there... And that's when what Kira said hit him.

"What do you mean she's not there?!" Athrun responded, trying to hide the fact he was now frantic.

"She hasn't come home yet. Where the hell is she?! IF YOU TOUCHED HER!" Kira said before the phone was grabbed from him.

"Athrun? It's Lacus. I'm sorry about Kira, it's just Cagalli hasn't come home yet and it's almost morning. We had stayed up waiting for her. We had also tried calling her cell phone but there was no answer," Lacus said a little worried. "You wouldn't happen to know where she is, do you?"

"I don't know where she is. She left here hours ago. Honestly, I tried to convince her to stay until the sun came up, but she wouldn't listen," Athrun mumbled into the phone. He was right, something was going to happen and it did.

"Oh goodness," Lacus replied.

He heard Lacus talk to Kira and then shouts come from Kira about calling the police and the military and everything in between and he wouldn't stop until he found his sister.

"Lacus?" Athrun began. "How did you get my number?"

"Well, Kira searched the internet until he found it. He called a few other numbers before this. He wouldn't stop even when I told him to," Lacus replied.

Just then, he heard his door burst open and then next moment he was being shoved up again the wall. When he finally realized what had happened, he came face to face with a very angry Kira.

"WHERE IS SHE?!" Kira yelled in his face.

"Kira!" Lacus screamed, running out onto the balcony after him. "Hurting Athrun won't solve anything!"

Athrun stared at Kira, trying to restrain himself from pummeling the guy. He had to keep reminding himself that he was Cagalli's brother and kicking his ass just wouldn't go down very well with her.

"He's lying, Lacus! You and I both saw that stupid car she's been driving around down there! She has got to be here!" Kira yelled, though only looking at Athrun.

"My car's here? That can't be. I saw her leave with it," Athrun replied, trying to hide the shock on his face.

"Don't act like you don't know!" Kira yelled again, tightening his grip on Athrun's collar.

"Then how do you suppose I act like I know when I really don't?" Athrun responded. Kira was beginning to get on his nerves even more. If he wasn't someone precious to Cagalli, he might have tossed Kira over the balcony by now.

"Kira, let Athrun go and see for himself," Lacus said softly. "Give him a chance."

Kira shifted his attention from Athrun to Lacus and back. If Athrun knew anything about Cagalli, he wasn't about to let him get away that easily; that was, until he felt a hand clamp down on his shoulder.

"Fine," he muttered and let go of Athrun, for now. He backed up to give the other guy some room.

After being let go, Athrun pushed himself off the wall and dashed out of the apartment towards the elevator with Lacus and Kira trailing behind. All three boarded the elevator. It seemed like hours were passing as the elevator slowly made it's way down the shaft. Athrun was tapping his foot impatiently while Kira glared the hell out of him.

The lift stopped and a ding was heard. Before the doors could fully open, Athrun pushed himself through ran into the parking lot. He skidded to a stop when he laid his eyes on something he was hoping he wasn't going to see. His eyes widened in shock.

They had been right after all. There his car sat, gleaming in the light of the parking garage. He ran over to the car, he wasn't ready to believe that it was just idly sitting there without a driver.

"Maybe she came back and decided to sleep in the car!" Athrun thought, getting his hopes up. And then those shattered, along with his heart, as he found the car completely empty. No one in the driver's seat or the passenger side seat. No one in the middle seating. No one in the back. It was void of any sort of human life.

Kira and Lacus were standing by behind the car as Athrun was frantically searching. Kira was still fuming of course. He still thought Athrun was faking the whole "Cagalli isn't here" thing.

Athrun rounded back around from the other side of the car to stare in the driver side window. He had noticed something out of the ordinary and went to check it out. When he looked closer, he found it was a note.

"A NOTE! Please, dear god, let it be from her," he thought as he pulled on the door handle. Of course, the stupid thing was locked. But what he failed to notice was a pair of keys sticking out of the lock as he continued pulling at the locked door.

Twitching, he let go of the handle and looked around for something he could smash the window in with. He thought for a moment until he realized he had some sort of crowbar somewhere in his garage.

Athrun charged over to his garage, leaving Kira and Lacus to stare at him and wonder what the hell he was doing. He punched in the number code for his door to open. As it was lifting, he didn't bother waiting as he slipped under and turned the light on to search for the object. Finding the object, he picked it up and ran back to his car.

"Athrun? What are you doing with that?" Lacus asked, but he didn't seem to hear her.

He positioned himself so he could produce a nice, heavy blow to smash the window in without hitting multiple times. As he began lifting the crowbar in the air, a screech was heard from his right.

"Athrun! What are you doing?! Aren't those the keys there?!" Lacus yelled.

Kira was starting to slowly believe that Athrun really had no idea what the hell was happening or he was just a really, really good actor.

Athrun looked down with his crowbar still in the air. Lacus was right. The one thing he needed all along was sitting there in the lock, practically laughing at him. He was about to vandalize his own car yet his keys had been there the whole time! He twitched again as he stared at those darned keys. How could he have not noticed those before?

Taking a deep breath, he casually trotted over to a cement wall that stood up to his waist. He lifted the crowbar into the air again and began striking the concrete as hard as he could. After letting out most of his frustrations on the poor concrete wall, he dropped the object and walked back to his car. He looked at Kira and Lacus before opening the door with the keys he now loathed.

Opening the door, he shoved the keys into his pocket and yanked the note off the steering wheel. He could instantly tell it wasn't Cagalli's writing. He had studied the note she gave him almost every night because he kept thought he was dreaming every time the words came to his mind.

He began reading, not bothering to look at Kira and Lacus as they made their way over, wondering what it was Athrun had found in the car.

"Athrun Baby

I'm sure you've already noticed that your little blonde bit-, opps, I mean, what was her name? Ah, yes, Cagalli, is missing already. I'm sure you remember when I told you about how I'd step over anyone to get to you, dear, and that's exactly what I'm doing.

You should have left her when you had the chance, Athrun. Oh well, though. I'm sure this one will be the most exciting killing I've ever done!

I'll cut you a deal though.

If you want this little blondie to live, then you need to leave her and come back to me and pledge your love for me. You also have to marry me right in front of her eyes. There's nothing like breaking a sad, pathetic human's heart.

Meet me at 3:00 a.m. tonight at your lovely hotel here in town (your suite, of course) if you want her to live.

Love,

Meer (Zala)

P.S.- I'm sure you're wondering about your car. I had cleaned it and brought back to you. It stenched like human."

If Athrun wasn't pale enough, he was surely as pale as a ghost now. Meer was going to kill Cagalli and/or he was to marry her. She was definitely right about the fact that she was going step over anyone and anything.

Kira had watched, along with Lacus, as Athrun grew paler by the second. Not caring if Athrun was done looking at the sheet, he grabbed it out of his hands scanned over it. He now knew what had made Athrun so pale. Some chick named Meer was trying to kill his sister and for what? For Athrun of all people.

Lacus was leaning over Kira's shoulder the whole time, reading along with him. She never thought this would have happened. Who really was Athrun and why was this girl so obsessed with him? Lacus knew that Cagalli was hiding something very important about this man she claimed to love. She had an idea on what he really was.

Athrun hadn't moved at all. He couldn't believe this was happening to him. He knew he should have left her when she had tried to.

"If only I knew this was going to happen," Athrun thought. "I have to save her no matter what. This is my fault." With that, he yanked the note from Kira's grasp, closed his car down, and charged inside the building.

Kira looked up, fuming, at Athrun. He wasn't about to get away this easily. Some stupid obsessed fan-girl kidnapped his little sister. It was his fault his sister is gone! Before he could even get a head start, Lacus was already jogging ahead after Athrun.

Athrun was already in the elevator when Lacus came and pushed herself in before the door's closed. Just Kira's luck, he had missed the opportunity and was left running up the stairs to catch up.

"Athrun, tell me the truth. Who are you really?" Lacus began. She was going to corner him into answering her whether he wanted to or not.

He looked at her with his eyebrow raised. What had she meant? Was she thinking that he wasn't human? Of course, he wasn't, but that doesn't mean she has to find out that he wasn't.

"Tell me, are you a vampire?" Lacus asked a little too bluntly.

His eye's widened at her question. How could she have known? There was no way!

She figured she was correct when she noticed how Athrun's eyes had become wide and he didn't answer her.

"So I'm right, I presume?" she said.

"You are," he mumbled. "How did you know?"

"I have a friend who is as well. He uses the same excuse all the time to get away from people," Lacus smiled. "In fact, you might know him."

Just then, the door of the lift opened and revealed a slightly winded Kira waiting for them. Lacus smiled as she stepped out with Athrun behind her. He had pushed past them and ran into his apartment, not really caring about his front door. He had a trusted ally and he knew he could use this to some sort of advantage. She looked exactly like Meer!

"You two, follow me," Athrun said charging into the room he had reserved for Cagalli weeks ago.

As the two filed in the door, Athrun slammed it shut behind him and turned towards them.

"Does he know?" Athrun asked Lacus.

"No," she stated simply.

"Should we?" he replied.

"I don't see why not. He can be trusted," she said.

They both turned to a confused Kira. Although Kira turned his attention Lacus, Athrun began speaking, "Kira...You've heard of vampires, yes?"

"Your point?" Kira responded, raising an eyebrow. He turned his attention to Athrun.

"I'm one," was all he said in response to Kira. They didn't have time to start long explanations. They needed to start planning about what they were going to do. He knew he had to get Kira on his side before even trying to use Lacus in his plans.

"Am I supposed to be surprised?" Kira replied.

"You're not?" Lacus said, throwing herself into the conversation, orally.

"I already know that you have one as a friend. I'm not that oblivious, ya know," Kira responded.

"Well...Now that that's out of the way, we need to start planning," Athrun said, not really caring to hear about who they knew or what not. Cagalli was all that mattered right now.

"Planning?" Kira said, now looking at Athrun, his eyebrow raised again.

"We're going to trick that bitch and we're going to save Cagalli. There's no way I'm letting her die there," Athrun growled. Just talking about Meer made his blood boil.

Kira and Lacus nodded in agreement. Although they never met this Meer character, they could obviously tell she was nothing but bad news.

"Don't worry, Cagalli. I'm coming for you no matter what it takes," Athrun thought.

AN: I know it was kind of badly written. I guess school is already killing my brain after 8 days. Haha! I would have updated while I was off for Tropical Storm Fay, but I just got really lazy. I was bugged many times by my twin sister, but I didn't care what she said. Hehe!

At least it's not late this time. It's only been about two weeks. :)

Well, the next one should be up in the same amount of time or possibly this weekend since it's Labor Day on Monday and I'll need something to do. Just watch.

So! After a death threat from my twin sister, I finally put it up! And that's my story for the past two weeks! :D

Lyrics from "Never Alone" from BarlowGirl

Also! Just a random thing here.

DO ANY OF YOU GUYS WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENED BETWEEN MEER AND ATHRUN?! IF SO, TELL ME IN A REVIEW AND I'LL GLADLY ADD IT IN AS A CHAPTER OR IN A CHAPTER.

IF YOU DON'T WANT TO HEAR, THAT'S OKAY AS WELL. I JUST DON'T WANT TO LEAVE THOSE HANGING IF THEY WANT TO KNOW.

PLEASE TELL ME OR I WON'T DO SO.

IF YOU'RE ASKING ABOUT THE CAPS, I'M JUST TRYING TO GET YOUR ATTENTION!

:D