Disclaimer : Sunrise

"Alex, is that you?"

Immediately, the one who was called turned to the direction of that voice. There, he saw Lacus and her new husband walking toward where he was sitting with Cagalli.

Why is she here? Alex thought, balling his fist, irritated. Great, just when he was finally able to find some distraction to not thinking about her, and the devil herself appeared.

"I didn't expect to see you here," she said as she walked to his table, her husband following behind her.

"You as well. Why are you here?" Alex tried to be as friendly as he could. It was getting a bit difficult after her marriage, all he could muster were ill thoughts caused by his own, one-sided heart break.

"We are staying here for the next week at the Harlton Hotel nearby," she said, glancing at her husband for a second, "for our honeymoon," she finished with a delightful smile on her face.

Oh. Oh, of course.

Of course they were here on honeymoon, and of course she just had to rub it in his face about her blissful marriage, without caring about his feelings at all. Wait, no, she didn't even know anything at all about his feelings.

Trying to look anywhere but her, Alex's eyes landed on the person across him, who was looking at him with an apologetic face. After all he had said to her about his own love life last night, and their conversation earlier on the way, Cagalli must have recognized this woman as the Lacus Clyne who had been on his mind these past few days.

And then, something just snapped in his mind.

Why did he insist on sending her home here? He thought bitterly. If he had just stayed at his house, he would not have to see Lacus here.

Alex admitted that he still had a lingering feelings for Lacus, but at the same time, he hated her for giving him a false hope, that he was able to live a peaceful life here just like everybody else; to get a decent job, fall in love, get married and live happily together forever. Since the time he tried to get away and move on from his past, Lacus was the one who had been his light, the one who showed him that he could start something new for himself, and have the life that he had always wanted. No matter what she did, Alex would always forgive her, even if it was something that could hurt him.

And now, for once, Alex wanted to break out of it. He was tired of always being the one who got the shorter end of the stick, always covering for her, always forgiving her, always worshipping her.

For once, he wanted to do something about it.

"Oh, is this your friend?" Lacus suddenly asked when she was finally aware that Alex was sitting with someone.

"Eh? Ah… I'm…" Cagalli stammered. They just met today; she was not even his friend. How should she answer? She thought as she stared worriedly at Alex, seeking for help.

And to her surprise, he answered with the most incorrigible thing she could think in the situation, "This is Cagalli. She's someone I'm currently seeing," Alex said as he grasped her hand, while still staring at Lacus with a megawatt smile. Cagalli was not able to stop her own eyes from bulging out. This guy just rejected her this morning, and now he claimed that she was his?

The way he squeezed her hand was like saying, 'just go with it.'

"Oh, really? Wow, you never told me about her," Lacus said, like it was something unheard of. Yeah, Alex thought bitterly, because he would always act as if he worshipped her and only her, which he did, so there was no way he was seeing any other person, let alone telling her about it.

"Yeah, well. I guess we never had a chance to talk about significant others. I didn't even know about Kira until you announce your engagement," he responded, trying to hide the venom inside.

"Well, it was an arranged one," Lacus pouted. "But Kira was the best I could ever hope for a husband," she gazed adoringly to her husband.

And I was not? After all the things I did for you? Alex wanted to spit out, but held his tongue. Instead, he continued, "You look so happy with him. I guess I did right following your step."

"Oh, she is…"

"Well, as unbelievable as it is, I knew her from a mixer party, actually," Alex said sheepishly. "When you announced your marriage, I was thinking maybe it's time for me to settle down too, so I just tried to join one, and I knew her from there."

"Oh… I see…" was all Lacus could let out as her face turned into a concerned face. Seeing that face, something came to Alex's mind. Unconsciously, he let out a smirk, but quickly concealed it.

"Lacus," they heard Kira opened his mouth, "Maybe we should go back now. We're sorry for interrupting your date," he added, looking at both Alex and Cagalli.

Lacus nodded at him and turned to Alex for a while, "Then we'll be going. I guess I'll see you next week, Alex," she smiled and waved at him, and nodded hesitantly at Cagalli, before walking away from the couple.

When they were both out of their sight, Cagalli hissed, "Alex, do you know that hotel they're staying? I'm working there, what if I met them by accident? What was that anyway? Surely you can think of any better excuse than that?"

Alex, who was already forming his own plan, only stared after the couple, ignoring Cagalli's words.

"And what in the world were you trying to do?" Cagalli continued, ignoring Alex's silent treatment. "You want to make her jealous? Though I think the chance is low, even if she was jealous, then what would you do? She's married to someone else already. After that, are you expecting her to just walk out of her marriage and fly to your arms? Seeing her with that husband of hers, I don't think so, Mister."

"Yes, she won't. But then, she won't be with him either," he said. "Say, did your offer for the marriage still open? I'd like to take up on it."

Cagalli's jaw dropped, while staring wide open at Alex. For a while, she was stunned and couldn't muster any response to his words. Was this how he must have felt when she asked him the question before? "You are joking, right? Just this morning you said that it was a crime and it can probably get you behind the bars..."

"That was for you actually," he muttered in a low voice.

"What do you mean?"

"I said those things so you'll back out from it, from me," his face changed into a look that Cagalli couldn't read. Cagalli was taken aback, for a while, his face showed a distant, detached expression, void of feelings. His blue orbs, which always looked so kind since the first time Cagalli saw them, were now cold just like ice, it unconsciously made her shivered.

But then it was quickly masked within a blink she almost thought it was all in her mind and not real. But the difference of both the expressions were so clear she almost couldn't believe he was the same person who so kindly offered his help for her. Before she could ask him about it, Alex added, "Didn't I say to you that you have to be careful with a stranger? That person could be a criminal or a psycho…"

Cagalli sucked a quick breath. The words he said to her, she didn't expect for him to repeat the warning, on himself. "So you are saying you are one of those two?" she dared to ask, trying to mask her wariness.

"Oh, I don't know. What do you think? Which one I am, I wonder?" He questioned her again, casually leaning back on his chair and gazed at her from above with a somewhat cocky, crooked grin, just like a cheshire cat. "Or do you think I could be both?"

"I don't think you are a bad guy, though," despite a nagging feeling inside her, she denied his words. He had done nothing but being kind to her, but she knew his cold expression was real.

"Nice to know then," he grinned, a friendly one; he was back to the usual Alex, any trace of coldness gone. "What makes you think that?"

"I had my fair share of knowing people's personality. I'm rarely wrong," she answered almost confidently.

"Rarely," Alex nodded, as if pointing out that she was not a hundred percent accurate, and Cagalli knew it. "So if I ask you to marry me just so I can get my 'revenge' on Lacus, would you do it?"

"You want to get married just for revenge?" Cagalli stared at him in disbelief. "Whatever happened to the risk? You said yourself it was too risky."

"Not when you know a guy who knows a guy who knows another guy," Alex said in a light manner, casually picking up his almost-cold coffee.

Cagalli was starting to doubt her own words of knowing people's personality. "And you are okay with that? Using that kind of connection?"

"I have used it once actually. It won't hurt to try using it just once more, if necessary." He paused. "Do you cook and clean?" The gears on his brain were moving quickly, calculating something.

"I can do cleaning, but not that good at cooking, can manage though," she answered sheepishly.

"Not bad, I'll do the cooking sometimes, and you do the cleaning, what would you say?"

Just as Cagalli was giving up the idea of obtaining her green card via marriage, now that every person who rejected her just offered her something that could be beneficial for her. This was just too good to be true, and it scared her a little bit. Anything that went smoothly—well maybe not that smooth—were actually scaring her, like the calm before the storm. "Are you… really sure about this?"

"Only for a couple years, right? And with my connection you might actually be able to get your green card in less than 2 years."

The offer was tempting. But hearing his earlier warning that he might be a psycho or a criminal was bothering her. "Umm… Can I… have some time?"

Alex scoffed, "You were so eager to marry me this morning."

"Then you shouldn't be saying anything about being a criminal or a psycho!"

"Well, I did say I used a connection for something, do you think that makes me a criminal?"

"Depends on what you did, I think?" Cagalli ended her sentences with a tone that sounded like she was asking what exactly his 'crime' was. But Alex just smiled at her and shook his head. "I'm not telling you that."

Cagalli sighed, "I would appreciate it if you give me some time to think. And maybe you need it too. I don't want you to regret marrying me just because you want revenge on your unrequited love."

"Fine by me. I'm not in a rush or anything. Building the tension for Lacus seems like a good idea too," Alex shrugged his shoulders, while Cagalli shook her head in disbelief. "Finish your breakfast—"

"Technically, it's brunch."

"Whatever," Alex brushed it off impatiently. "Finish them so I can take you back to your home."

"You live here?" Alex opened his door and clasped it shut, followed by Cagalli. They were in a residential area a few meters away from the main street. Alex was insisting on dropping Cagalli right in front of her place, even though Cagalli told him over and over that the road to her place was so narrow she doubted Alex's car could make it. And true to her words, Alex was sweating bullets when he realized how narrow it was, already thinking about how on earth was he going to go back to the main road.

"I'm staying with a friend, who is kind enough to offer me her place. I have to take what I can get. You know that saying, beggars can't be chooser. Don't start complaining," closing the door, Cagalli looked at Alex who was circling the front of the car to stand beside her. "Thank you for taking me home. I'm sorry for taking your time and causing you inconvenience like this," she said as she gave him a deep bow. "I'll contact you later when I've made my decision. See you." She walked away from him, not waiting for his answer, but somehow could still feel his eyes staring at her back.

"Cagalli," Alex called her after a while, stopping her just as Cagalli was about to close the small front fence. From behind it, Cagalli cocked her head to the side, wondering what else he would need. This was the first time he actually call her by her name, not the usual Miss or just you–outside of him introducing her to Lacus.

Walking forward Alex extended his hand, "Lend me your phone," Alex said, standing just before the fence.

"You already gave me your number," Cagalli said confused, but did as she was told and handed him her old model phone.

Punching a series of numbers on her phone, Cagalli could hear something vibrating in his pants pocket. Alex pushed another button and the vibrating sound stopped, and then handed the phone back to Cagalli. "I didn't have yours, and I need it just in case. If we are going to live together, it's only natural to let you know."

"I haven't decided yet," Cagalli reminded him.

"I can help you with the green card, and you need it. I know you'll come to me again," he said, feeling like he was holding the trump card.

"We'll see about that," she turned again without any parting words to him, only to be stopped by him again. "What now?" she asked, feeling irritated a bit.

"Are you living on the first floor?"

"My friend is so, so am I," she answered, reminding him again that the apartment was not hers only.

Alex nodded in understanding. "Before we seal the deal, if you haven't realized it, the rooms in my house are on the second floor, so you'll need the stairs, if you are okay with it."

Cagalli froze. She was not going to hide it, but she didn't expect him to approach the subject like this either. People usually would ask her first why there was something a little bit off about her, and then ask for more details. But Alex talked to her as if he knew already what she got. Was this what he was looking at before, when she walked from his car to the gate? "How did you know?" she asked, curious as to how he found out and what his theory was.

"You always take your seat so carefully and are fairly slow on your walk, at times it looks a bit off when you walk too, like dragging your right foot. In the car and the cafe, you shift your left leg casually, but the right one was almost always still. It might be just a leg problem, but I actually have seen someone like you before. And when you hit me in the back," Cagalli's face reddened with embarrassment. "It just felt different, so… I guess that's a prosthetic?" he ended it questioning tone, afraid of saying something inappropriate.

"I'm sorry about that, again," Cagalli's face was still red, but seeing that he seemed to be chill about it, both about her bumping into his back and his attitude about her leg, she decided to just be open. Besides, there was a high chance that she would actually take his offer, what was the point in lying? She never lied about her leg anyway. "I've been living with this prosthetic for about one short year, so I'm still not used to this leg. And this one is the cheapest one I could get; even so it cost a fortune, so forgive me if I can't keep up with you."

So he was right, Alex thought. She must have lost her leg at war, which means she had lived very close to the conflicted area. She had been so close to losing her own life, and she might be lucky she only lost a limb.

"And since this one is cheap, I don't think it will last long, so I need to save what I could get for a new one, and hopefully a better one. But with my current status, the payment won't be enough, and I'm afraid it will break first before I can get a new leg. So… I'm really hopeful to get a green card so I can get a better life, with better leg."

Indeed, now Alex could understand more her wish to be away from her own country, for wanting to start a new life and her need for a green card. Losing something after you've lived with it for years was nothing easy. The better the prosthetic, the more natural she could walk, and live her new life.

"So, yeah. This is me. Do you have no problem living with someone like me? I'm afraid I'll be a hindrance to you with this leg. I'm okay with the stairs though, I can manage, just might take a little bit more time to move around."

Well, even though they would stay together didn't mean they would see each other much. He was busy with work, and before she could get her green card, Cagalli must be working odd jobs for herself, so she would be out a lot too. This new addition to his life shouldn't be much of a bother, should it?

"I'm looking forward to living together with you then, Cagalli."

As he was sure Cagalli got to her apartment safely, Alex walked back to his car. Cagalli already told her the way back to the main street, but seeing the narrow road in front of him, he was afraid something might happen to his baby—his car.

Before he started the engine, Alex reached to the glove compartment beside him, and pulled out a small bottle of eyedrop. His eyes felt so dry he couldn't wait to go back home and relax a bit. Thank goodness his hangover didn't last long.

After applying a few drops on each side, Alex stared at the rear view mirror, blinking his eyelids to even out the solutions in his eyes. Staring at the blue orbs of his own, his minds were brought back to the conversation he had with Cagalli earlier.

Running his hands to his dark mane, Alex sighed again. How could he so easily slipped into his old self? Even if Cagalli agreed to stay with him, he didn't have any intention to reveal his past. It was just what it was, a past that he didn't have to revisit.

Turning the key in the ignition, Alex slowly traded his way through the small roads, while still thinking about the things that had happened today. Taking a deep breath as he was back to the main road, he sped toward the highway. Just like what he had thought earlier, they wouldn't have to care about each other that much. She only needed to know what she needed to know about him, and so was he. He wouldn't put his hands on something that he didn't have to know or care.

Forget the past, focus on the future.

AN: Sorry for the wait, or if the chapter disappointed you all. Especially the reason he ended up wanting to marry her. This is what happened when you just randomly pick a theme for a story. But well, the story must go on.

Another disclaimer, I'm not on prosthetic nor know anyone who wear one. The portrayal in this story purely based on the stories I read online. I apologize beforehand if it is not the right portrayal or offending to those who actually live with prosthetic.

FOREWARNING for you who chose to stay:

As you might have noticed, I added Crime tag to the genre. So you might expect heavy scenes involving crime act, including murder, blood and other things. I might change the rating to M as the story progress since I don't want to expose something that a teen shouldn't be reading, or it might be a trigger to someone sensitive to these kind of things.

This might be my craziest story ever, so please ignore any inaccurate facts popping here and there.

If you chose to stay with this story, then I'll see you next chapter, I guess.

Cheers