This is slightly late… like a few hours. Sorry sorry sorry, I had trouble uploading. BUT! I still did get it in within the day! So, read on!

Cagalli sighed and removed her apron, wiping her forehead off with a wet towel. Another day, Another couple bucks. As much as she liked this job, it was really starting to take it's toll on her. She helped carry a few more plates back into the kitchen, then grabbed her stuff and with a quick wave to everyone, left the cafe.

"I wonder how much longer I can hold out like this..." she frowned.

Athrun strolled through the now familiar hallways, and stopped just at the end, where two large double doors stood open, welcoming him into a large auditorium. he knocked lightly on one of the open doors with his right hand, ore out of courtesy than anything and looked around, before a familiar pink head of hair popped out from backstage and gave him a quick wave, then hopped down a few stairs.

"Hey Athrun, sorry I'm not totally ready yet. Umm you can ahead to Kira's if you like..." she smiled meekly. "There's just one or two things... the soundboard's acting up a bit, and the lighting from 16 to 19 isn't working. So I'm just going to hang around here until those get into working order and uh...Ath-Athrun?"

Lacus stopped talking as Athrun walked straight past her and picked up her bag. Turning to meet her surprised face, he grinned a bit.

"Sorry Lacus, but Kira would have my head if i showed up without you. let's get going. you can handle this stuff later. This is just your first day."

Lacus smiled knowingly. "All right... But then tomorrow either you or Kira has to come and help me figure this out." she insisted, walking out of the door.

"Lacus, for the love of-... you JUST got the part. Do you even know all your lines?"

"I memorized them for my audition." She shrugged.

"ALL of them!"

"Mmhmm."

Athrun shook his head in disbelief. Lacus truly never failed to amaze him. How she could accomplish so much with such facile would always remain a mystery to him, but for her it just came naturally. She was the school's main actress, his childhood friend, and just recently, became his best friend's girlfriend. Of course with his beat friend's busy schedule, and on top of that, being out of the country for a hell of a lot time, Athrun had somehow ended up becoming Lacus' chauffeur as of late as well.

Not that he minded. he rather enjoyed lacus' company. She was pleasant and easy to be around, a good conversationalist and also a fantastic listener. The only problem was when…

"So Athrun, meet anyone today?"

That.

It appeared that both he and Kira had this funny idea in their heads, that it was time for him to have a relationship. And though they didn't set him up with anyone, and preferred he "find his own way" to love... the fact that he couldn't have an exchange of words without some reference to his bachelorhood was... becoming rather...

Annoying.

ESPECIALLY because he hadn't found anyone.

And didn't want to. Sort of.

Kira called him a hopeless romantic. Lacus thought he was shy. In reality it was a bit of both. He kept waiting for an instant click, chemistry at first glance. Then again if that if happened he would have no idea what to do.

"Well? Athrun, we're almost there. If you don't spit it out, you're going to have to face Kira grilling you too."

The poor bachelor let out a helpless sigh. It was inevitable.

"So Athrun? How was your day?"

He suddenly smiled, thinking of a certain blonde waitress that had helped him prepare for this question.

"Heh, great. I got a free bagel."

Lacus raised a confused eyebrow. "You got a what?"

"I got a free bagel." he chuckled amusedly to himself.

"Athrun, that's not what I mean... I was asking if you have any female contact today."

He shrugged. "I know, I know Lacus. Lighten up. I was just saying what I was supposed to."

Lacus sat back in her chair and crossed her arms. "Okay Athrun, explain."

"This waitress at this cafe asked me how my day was. When I told her it was normal, she gave me a free bagel so that if anyone else asked me I could say 'Great! I got a free bagel!"

"Mmhmm I see. What did she look like?" Lacus smiled, looking out the window to hide her smile, eyes studying his face which and strangely lit up.

"Hmm let's see... Blonde hair up to her shoulder, amber eyes, probably about 5'4" wearing a green apron over blue jeans and a white shirt." He replied, eyebrows furrowed trying to dig up the memory.

"And uh. Athrun?"

"Yeah?"

"Why do you remember her in such detail?"

Athrun's eyes widened and he looked at her quickly. "NO! NO NO NO! That's not it! She was interesting, that's all. I mean, it's nothing like that!"

Lacus smiled deviously and nodded. "Uh huh... I'll tell Kira and see what he thinks."

"Lacus! You wouldn't!" Athrun protested.

"Hm here we are now! At Kira's place. I'll call him and tell him to come down." Lacus smiled, whipping out her cell phone. Athrun sunk in his chair, and hit his head against the dashboard a few times.

"You're going to be home late?" Kira repeated, tripping over several boxes. His new "roommate" has just moved in, and hadn't gotten around to unpacking.

"Yeah..."Cagalli sighed. "The subway is completely packed; I just can't fit in... I mean, the cafe's so far from home anyways...It's ridiculoud. Hey…Hey Kira?"

"Y-yeah?" He replied, stumbling over the last obstacle and plopping down onto the couch.

"You don't sound so good... Everything okay?" She asked, eyebrows raised in concern.

Kira smiled. "Yeah, I'm fine. Oh, hold on. Call on the other line." He said, quickly switching over. "Hello?"

"Kira, it's Lacus. We're downstairs already."

"Mm, okay coming. Sorry I'm just talking to my sister on the other line..."

"Sister? I didn't know you had a sister."

" I'll explain later. Hold on." He said hurriedly, switching to the other line. "Cagalli, I have to let you go now. But uh, when you get home, the fridge has literally nothing…I'm not kidding you. So get something to eat on the way back. I'm so sorry about this though. I'll introduce you to Lacus soon, I promise."

" Kira, calm down. It's fine. You better get going."

"Mm okay. Bye." He nodded, quickly hanging up, grabbing his jacket and sprinting out the door. As soon as he got outside, he found Lacus waiting by the door and Athrun still seated in the car. Lacus quickly gave him a hug and Athrun nodded and waved a bit. Kira grinned back and hopped into Athrun's car.

"Welcome back Kira!" Lacus chirped. "You have no idea how good it is to see you again! Did you have fun there?"

"Four months of non-stop work and no one to relax and unload with. Oh yes, it was LOADS of fun. In regards to missing me… it's not like we didn't video conference EVERY DAY."

"But still!" Lacus insisted. She paused for a second. "Being an exchange student for a while sounded really great. I would have gone, but there was the play, and I couldn't leave... How's your French now?"

"Pas mal. Mais Je pense que mon accent n'est pas assez bon." (Translation: Not bad. But I think that my accent isn't good enough)

Athrun laughed. "It sounds fine to me. Good to see you again though man."

"Yeah... Hey thanks for taking care of Lacus while I was gone. There was one other thing I wanted you to take care of, but I felt bad enough leaving all that stuff with you already."

"Hm? One more thing? You've gotta be kidding me Kira. What else could you possibly have NOT had me do?" Athrun cried incredulously. While Kira was doing the exchange trip for the past few months, Athrun had been bestowed with the honor of taking care of everything Kira had, from dusting his apartment to watching over Lacus, to feeding his goldfish (which tragically died from overfeeding within 2 weeks of Kira leaving… the one in there is actually a replacement) Leaving poor Athrun exhausted at the end of every day.

Kira sighed, "Believe me I could have asked for more… A lot more."

"Like what?" Athrun frowned, eyes narrowing as he studied Kira's face through the front mirror.

"...Take care of my sister?" Kira replied meekly. Athrun's eyes widened.

"You have a SISTER? Since when?"

"Since birth. We're twins, but she's been studying abroad with my aunt. I assure you her French is much better than mine." He grinned.

"I'm sure she's a wonderful person." Lacus smiled. "But you never told us or anything… and we've never met her…"

"I keep in touch with her pretty closely. She moved back here about 2 months ago, but I was still doing the exchange program. I thought of getting Athrun to show her around, but she insisted that she could take care of herself." Kira sighed.

Athrun frowned. "It wouldn't have been a problem..."

"She's got this independence thing… I guess being abroad for your life does that to you. When she got here she stayed at a hotel until she found an apartment, then got a job and everything. But she's moving in with me now that I'm back... hence my trouble navigating my apartment. The massive boxes make for quite a maze."

"Why isn't she coming to dinner with us then?" Lacus asked.

"Not back from work yet. She works pretty far away... Oh here we are." Kira noted, as they pulled up towards their favorite restaurant. Athrun got out and handed the keys to the valet, then hurried to catch up to Kira and Lacus who were already a bit ahead.

Suddenly, Lacus slowed her step as Kira walked forward to confirm their reservations. Athrun raised an eyebrow curiously.

"Something wrong?"

"You'll notice how I didn't bring up the waitress?" The crafty woman hinted.

"Yes? Thanks by the way." Athrun replied.

"I won't mention it at dinner either. We'll keep this our little secret... on one condition."

"Anything" he pleaded. The last thing he needed now was Kira down his throat too.

"You said you met her at a café?"

Athrun gave a quick helpless nod.

"Go back tomorrow."

Athrun sighed, staring at the entrance to the café. And so here he was… Granted Lacus had kept her word and didn't bring it up, but today she was apparently going to call and ask for her name at the very least.

For a moment, Athrun considered not going in and just making up something when Lacus called… But something about staring at this café… made him want to go in.

"I probably just need coffee… I mean, I want coffee anyways…" He muttered to himself. Stepping forward, he pushed open the door and looked around. Spotting a familiar blonde head, he smiled inwardly and went to sit down at the same table as before.

Cagalli sighed, straightening her apron. The day was just starting and she was already feeling tired. Because she lived so far now, the time it took for her to commute over here made her have to wake up about an hour earlier…

And as one would assume, she was not a morning person.

Placing her tray on counter she leaned back for a moment and took a quick eye survey, checking to see if anyone needed anything, when a familiar blue head caught her attention.

"That guy…" She mumbled. Her instant reaction was surprise…. Then part of her wanted to march over and give him a piece of her mind, the other part wanted to ignore him.

Weighing her options, she sighed under the realization that her job wouldn't permit her to simply ignore him… for sake of professionalism. Her job. It's not like she wanted to approach him… she had to. Right?

She didn't want to talk to him… right?

And so while her brain argued with itself… her tired face began to lift…

Just a bit.

I think my writing is gradually getting worse. Ugh... Sorry guys. I'm hoping the whole explanation of Cagalli and Kira wasn't too confusing. It's boring, but had to be done. In any case, this chapter's a bit weird so feel free to blast me with bad reviews.

Now... about that waitress. Imagine my surprise when one of you actually got it. koali alolao, I have to admit that I almost had a heart attack when I read your review. Believe it or not, yes that waitress is me. "I" will probably appear... one... two more times max, just as another waitress working there to fill the space.

As for why I used myself, I did it mostly because I needed a character, didn't' want to use someone from the show for such a minor role, and couldn't' think of someone off the top of my head. Hence, I shoved myself in there.

This chapter is a bit longer than the last one, but still doesn't match up to some of the other stuff I've written. It was much longer before, but then during editing I think I ended up pulling out about a third of it… I'll try to make the next ones longer though.

Perhaps most surprising to me though was the amount of reviewers I got. That was absolutely awesome to see, and so I can't thank these guys enough:

Michiyo Hikari, clumsykelli, Cherry360, gseedlover, tkdl, Freyris, KiraFreedom, KaguyaEvenstar, daisukechibi, secretd, Riley Mayori, HimeHikari, Smoke-Angel, ANONYMOUS, chidori-san, 78, stuntsheep, RoGuE-WhItE-DrAgOn, MXCrocks, mariad, AXCandDXM4ever, ZGMF X-19A Infinite Justice, kura52, koali alolao, asga, The Angels' Princess, animemistress419, Torri-Chiobie, Living Arrow, Cagalli-01, psycogirl234, xMENCHUx

So, hope you enjoyed this chapter. And see that little "review" button right below this? If you would click that and write some form of comment, whether that be compliments or threats to my physical or mental well-being, I'd be very much obliged. Actually, let's try to keep the threats at a minimum… but if you've got nothing else to say, go ahead.

Thank you Readers and Reviewers!