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Chapter Two – Bad Luck

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After the initial shock had worn off, Cagalli went into Shinn's messy kitchen to make a cup of hot coffee. As she was looking for some packets of instant coffee, she caught sight of the clock hanging on the wall. No wonder Shinn got mad at her. It was 2:34 in the morning.

She worked mechanically, her mind dealing with other things.

'Well, I guess I overreacted. Shinn told me after all, when he got in this university, that Athrun Zala was studying here as well."

Reach for coffee mug. Put water.

'And he mentioned quite a few times that they stayed at the same building.'

Heat in microwave oven. Hmmm…Power? Ten. Time? Three minutes.

'I'll just stay as far away from him as possible. I guess that's acceptable. I mean, it's possible we won't cross paths anyway. It's a huge building. I'll come out as little as possible, then. And he could be living at the topmost floor, for all I care!'

Get spoon. Get sugar. Get milk – lots of milk.

'Wait a minute…I think that's impossible…seeing as Shinn lives on the topmost floor…and if Athrun lives on the topmost floor, too…Oh, what the heck! Scratch that! I meant, 'and he could be living at the bottommost floor, for all I care!' There! That's better!'

Beep. Beep. Beep. Take out mug from microwave. Place in tab –

"OW!"

Cagalli deposited the coffee mug harshly on the countertop. She waved her hands up and down to get rid of the heat. After that, she looked at red, raw skin. Well, they weren't severe burns…but they still hurt like hell!

"Damn…that guy is just bad luck…" she muttered as she ran her hand under the tap.

Shinn had told her that Athrun Zala had changed dramatically over the years (but still cute…). The snobby and haughty attitude was long gone (but the cuteness was still there…); Athrun was now kind, understanding, and well-loved (and still cute…). Shinn had used more praise-worthy words (Aww…who was she kidding! Athrun was and is cute! End of story! Well…not exactly), but she really did not give a damn.

For her, Athrun Zala would always be that (cute) little snobby snot who couldn't stand having anyone near his personal breathing space.

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Later that morning, at precisely seven o'clock a.m., Shinn got another rude wake-up call courtesy of his moody cousin.

"Cagalli!" Shinn whined. "Why don't you just go home if you're gonna treat me like a goddamn hotline? I think I liked it better when you were here… We're talking more than usual, you know that?"

Cagalli rolled her eyes. She knew that her cousin couldn't see it, but it was by pure instinct. She swore inwardly to pummel Shinn's butt when she got out of that mess. "You should've warned me that your supplies were running low!"

Some grumbling and muttered curses were heard from Shinn's line. "What supplies are you talking about?"

"I meant food, you dimwit! Food! There's no canned stuff or even instant noodles! Don't tell me that coffee is all you have!" Cagalli asked exasperatedly. She closed – more like slammed – the cupboard furiously. Imagine! For the first time in her life, she actually woke up very early in the morning and there was no food – at all – in the table, much worse, on the cupboard. She inwardly berated herself for not noticing it when she made coffee hours ago.

Shinn let out a huff of frustration. "Look, Cagalli. I don't stock up on food – canned food or noodles – for that matter. I live off on pizza and take-out. You should've said goodbye to Mana's home-cooked meals when you decided to hide!"

"Pizza…?" Cagalli echoed weakly.

"Yes. Pizza. And speaking of pizza, I think I forgot to throw away one. I left it on the balcony. Phew… I guess it's rotting now, huh?" Cagalli could practically see Shinn smirking at her.

"Argh!" This time it was Cagalli who cut the conversation short. Shinn was extremely annoying and arrogant even when they're miles apart!

She collapsed on the bed, buried her head in the pillows and screamed. It was all her father's fault! If only Kira wasn't away on that stupid smart-ass convention, she wouldn't have to ask for Shinn's help! So… it was also Kira's fault!

It was everyone's fault!

She hadn't eaten since yesterday and her stomach was demanding for some food. The coffee that she drank hours ago couldn't even be considered as food. She sighed resignedly. She had better pull herself together if she didn't want to suffer death by starvation.

She stood up, grabbed her coat, keys and wallet and got out off Shinn's messy apartment.

The whole building was quiet. Well, what did she expect? It was spring break after all, and normal students would be back at their parents' houses, lazing off and being the bums that they were. She got into the empty elevator and pressed the button for the ground floor.

She looked up at the row of numbers above the door, waiting for the 'G' light to flash. The elevator stopped at the second floor and for a brief bizarre moment, she envisioned Athrun stepping inside the elevator and recognizing her like in those cheap chick flicks.

The elevator doors opened and she waited for the passenger to come in. Her heart was pounding in uncanny anticipation…

…which was quickly replaced by aggravation when a big, fat, smelly, and sweaty man entered. She pressed herself in the elevator wall to keep as far away as possible to the stinking pot of belly.

It was a good thing that they were only a floor away. She didn't think she could stand the stink any longer. The elevator doors opened once again and Cagalli let the man exit first. First-class apartment, her ass! Any place with a stinky man in it can't be considered first class!

(And she had to remind that old woman that first-class apartments had new and modern elevators – the automatic kind! Not some rickety-old pulley that looked like it might break any minute! But that's a different story altogether.)

She quickly made her way out of the building to inhale some fresh air.

At seven a.m., the streets were still empty. The morning air was crisp and cool and the sun was shining very brightly. A small smile graced her features as she walked towards a random direction. 'I guess I should thank Shinn for this 'vacation'…'

She was quite sure that Shinn told her something about a McDonald's store nearby…

She inwardly groaned at the thought. She ate fast food, just not on a daily basis. And by the way things were going, the only thing that she would be gaining from this situation would be a couple of pounds (…of fat).

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The thing about not having anything to do was that it made you think about things that you wouldn't normally think about. She had envisioned her great escape to be exciting and adrenaline-pumping…not extremely boring!

But it was…It really, truly was.

She had turned off her phone an hour ago because Mana, their housekeeper, had called her up. She didn't answer her cell phone, of course. That would've been idiotic. Mana was more than their housekeeper, practically speaking. She was almost like family. A very worried family member, it seemed.

She didn't want to talk to Mana just yet. Mana would just force her into a guilt-trip and before she knew it, she might be marching back into their house. Kira and their father would be back tomorrow or – if Mana told them about her little 'trip' – later today.

There was nothing worth watching on the T.V. and the radio was busted. Shinn, the bum, didn't have a telephone or a computer. Shinn was not exactly a book-person and frankly, so was she. She didn't want to go out, in fear of crossing paths with the Athrun-person. So she settled on the next best thing (the last thing, it seemed).

She stared at the ceiling.

Correction. She had been staring at the ceiling since freakin' nine in the morning! And guess what time it was? 11:19 a.m.

Well, sure, it was just under two hours…but do you know the saying about how time slows down when you're doing absolutely nothing? Her situation was applicable!

Cagalli grabbed the pillow beside her, covered her face with it and screamed herself senseless. After she had run out of breath and her throat had gone dry, she stopped.

'That felt…' she groaned. 'That felt worse!'

She read from somewhere that that was supposed to make you feel better. Well, judging from the raspy feeling in her throat, it was anything -but- true.

'Just goes to show that you can't trust anyone but yourself!'

She resumed ceiling-gazing.

'Hmmm… the paint job is bad. Sucky choice of color, too. Wonder who picked it… Must be that damn she-beast downstairs. If I didn't know better, I'd say she just turned this apartment into an all-boys one in the hopes of finally finding someone dense and thick enough to marry her! Well, if I'm lucky and Athrun is unlucky, they'd end up together!' she snickered at the thought of Athrun and that black-haired she-devil procreating…

…but then quickly shuddered at the grossness of it all.

Ah… the silly things that one's mind makes up in the face of boredom.

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Cagalli groaned sleepily and cracked an eye open to look at the digital clock on top of the bedside table. She had fallen asleep sometime during her ceiling-gazing. It was 12:36 in the morning. She sighed and closed her eyes, hoping to go back to sleep.

But after a few minutes, opened them again.

She fluffed up her pillows, tossed and turned, rolled to the other side of the bed, counted imaginary sheep, but to no avail. She muttered a few, well-chosen curses under her breath and kicked her blankets aside. One thing was for certain, she wasn't going back to sleep any time soon. She sat up and furiously threw a pillow in a random direction. It was all Shinn's fault that his apartment was so boring!

"Well, if I can't sleep, then Shinn may not sleep as well!" she thundered. She reached for her phone and dialed Shinn's number. After a few rings, Shinn answered it and Cagalli was surprised to hear that her cousin sounded like he was expecting the call.

"Cagalli! What are you doing?"

Cagalli snorted and rolled her eyes. "What does it look and sound like I'm doing? I'm talking to you, idiot!"

"Well, sorry for asking!" Shinn retorted sarcastically. "I've been calling you since this afternoon but your phone was turned off."

"Why do you think I turned it off?" Cagalli demanded rhetorically. "I turned it off because Mana called me up!"

"I already know that," Shinn sighed exasperatedly. "Guess who tried to call you as well? Your dad and Kira. They're here, Cagalli. And they're worried sick."

"Let them worry," Cagalli replied with morose satisfaction. "What the hell were they expecting? That I'd accept that marriage lying down with a smile on my face? Over my dead body!"

"Er…that did not sound right. For one, you lying down with a smile on your face could almost account for a dead body," Shinn corrected her dryly. "Come on, Cagalli! When are you planning to go back? Whenever your dad shoots me that penetrating gaze of his and whenever Kira gives me that disappointed glare, I feel like I'm about to crack!" he whined. "They know that -I- know something, Cagalli. I can feel it in my gut."

Cagalli rolled her eyes once more. "Well, your gut is wrong!" she yelled at the phone. She always thought that Shinn got some kind of satisfaction at disobeying her father's wishes, but here he was, practically begging her to go home because he was being stared at! How dumb a reason was -that-? "If you breathe a word of where I'm staying, I'll –"

"You'll what?" Shinn interrupted. From the tone of her cousin's voice, it seemed like he wasn't about to pass an opportunity to push Cagalli's buttons. "Make me ring-bearer at your wedding?"

"Don't remind me," Cagalli hissed threateningly. She wasn't going to get married to some strange jerk. She took several calming breaths before speaking again, remembering something Shinn had mentioned earlier. "You told me Kira was there?"

"Yes, and he didn't look very peachy." His cousin sighed resignedly. "And speaking of your wedding, here's another bad news, Cagalli. I've seen your soon-to-be-husband and let's just say you're better off staying single forever. Not even I, your worst enemy, would bear to let you marry such an obnoxious jerk!"

Cagalli collapsed on her bed and fought the urge to tear her hair out – for the nth time that day. "If he's so bad, why the hell does my dad still want him for me?" she demanded through clenched teeth.

"Maybe he's being brainwashed!" Shinn answered sarcastically. He snorted. "How in the blue hell should I know what runs through your dad's freak mind?"

"Hey! I'm the only one allowed to insult him in this situation!" Cagalli warned gloomily. "Any more bad news?" She had no idea calling Shinn would depress her even more.

"Just one more," Shinn informed her, voice incredibly calm.

Cagalli groaned. It had to be big, considering that Shinn saved it for last. She gripped her phone in anger, subconsciously surprised that it was still intact after all the abuse that she had subjected it to. 'Hmmm… I guess phones nowadays are Cagalli-proof.'

"Athrun knows you're there," Shinn said nonchalantly, as if he was talking about something trivial like the weather.

Cagalli's mouth dropped open and her eyes went wide in shock. Then her vision turned red. "You told him, you bastard!" she yelled accusingly. "I told you specifically that no living soul was supposed to know about this!"

"And you also told me when I made friends with him that he had no soul," Shinn muttered dryly. "I didn't tell him, idiot," he snarled. "You were the one thick enough to leave the lights on! He saw that the lights were on from the window and he called me up to ask if I was there. You expect me to lie more?"

Cagalli opened her mouth, closed it, opened it again and closed it yet again.

There. Were. No. Words!

"AAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" she screamed in frustration. And for more effect, she threw her phone across the room where it landed – thankfully for the poor phone – on one of Shinn's strewn clothes.

"What perfect timing for you to develop some conscience, Shinn," she said through gritted teeth. She sat still for a few moments, her only movement the heavy breathing of her lungs. She was seething in anger! She counted slowly from one to ten to calm her nerves.

Afterwards, she saw her phone lying in what looked like one of Shinn's boxers ('Ugh…'). She stood up to pick it up. Her hands were only several centimeters away from her cell phone and the disgusting piece of clothing when she heard soft knocking coming from the front door.

Cagalli froze.

Then, feeling the adrenaline pumping through her veins, she rushed to the front door and took a peek through the peephole. She almost groaned aloud when she saw Athrun's slightly smiling face.

Her mind raced. 'What do I do? What do I do? What do I do! Wait. I could always pretend that I'm asleep. That could work!'

She silently crept away from the door.

Athrun knocked again, this time more loudly. Then, Cagalli heard his muffled voice through the door. "Cagalli? I know you're there."

'Uh-huh. I wonder how,' Cagalli thought dryly, thinking about Shinn's confession.

"Erm… it's kinda weird talking to a door, but I know you're awake. Er…" he trailed off uncertainly.

She glared venomously at the innocent door. 'You know what's weirder? Why are you even talking to me – er – the door when we've ignored each other for the most of our childhood days?'

He continued talking. "I kinda heard you scream. I live on the unit directly below yours – er – Shinn's. I just want to know if everything's okay in there."

'Well, that's one more thing that Shinn conveniently forgot to tell me! But I'm fine! Fine! Just peachy. You know, the usual, I'm getting married to some jerk and all that crap…Plus, having Shinn as a relative,' she thought sarcastically.

Another knock; this time, slightly withdrawn. "Uh…it's, um, Athrun. You remember? From elementary school?"

Cagalli rolled her eyes. 'Do I remember you? DO I! How could I forget you and your holier-than-thou attitude!' she felt her anger level steadily rising. Blame it on PMS, her boredom, her desperation, but whatever! Before she knew what she was doing, she had marched up in front of the door and violently pulled it open.

Athrun, who was caught in mid-knock, froze in surprise for awhile but quickly regained his composure. He broke into a wide smile. "Cagalli! Hey! We haven't seen each other in years!" and then, she was engulfed in a warm, friendly hug.

Cagalli was frozen in shock.

Athrun Zala -hugged- her!

-Athrun Zala- hugged her!

ATHRUN ZALA. HUGGED. HER.

A part of her mind noted how…-nice- he smelled. Her eyes widened at the sudden, unwelcome thought. 'Get a grip, Cagalli!' she inwardly scolded herself, 'this is -Athrun Zala- you're smelling here!' She immediately felt awkward and she pulled away in what she hoped was a not-so-rough way. She half-expected him to take offense but he was laughing when she pulled away.

"I think I should've introduced myself first before I did that!" he said mirthfully. "Oh, don't look at me like that." He had, apparently, mistaken her confusion for the 'I-don't-think-I-know-you' kind. "It's Athrun – Athrun Zala. Remember? From elementary school?"

Cagalli pretended to think hard. "Hmmm… let me think." She tapped her fingers on her chin for effect. Then, her face broke into a mocking smile. "Yes, I do remember you! The one who wanted to move to Mars or Pluto."

She expected Athrun to blush or even to appear embarrassed at her sarcastic reply, but again, he took no offense and his smile did not even falter. "If I remember correctly, you were the one who suggested that," he laughed good-naturedly. "I know what you're thinking but you won't bait me so easily."

Cagalli snorted. "I don't know what you're talking about," she denied stubbornly. But of course, she knew. Shinn's words echoed in her brain, 'He's such a good-guy… He helped me and talked to that professor that was making my life hell.' She pushed the thought away. Why the hell should she believe Shinn's words?

Athrun gave her a smile and then bowed. "How would you like to see how much I've changed over a cup of coffee?"

Her eyes widened in disbelief. What was up with him! "Are you nuts? It's almost one in the morning!" she exclaimed incredulously.

He raised an eyebrow. "So? You were the one screaming and throwing things at one in the morning. Plus, Shinn told me through an SMS message that you can't sleep. That makes two of us." He groaned. "I've got a killer test tomorrow – my only chance at passing that ridiculous subject and I can't concentrate without coffee."

Cagalli shook her head heatedly. "I want to sleep. Unlike you, I'm not here to take an exam or whatever," she grumbled. Then, as an after-thought, "And I don't want coffee."

Athrun shrugged. "You don't have to drink coffee. You can drink milk." He then proceeded to smile invitingly and openly at her.

Cagalli pondered on it for a moment. One part of her – the sane part, presumably – was telling her to -politely- decline the offer and go back to moping in Shinn's room. But the other half told her to accept Athrun's offer and oblige him. After all, it wasn't everyday that you see an old schoolmate. Sure she hated him, but she figured how immature it would look like to hold a grudge.

Maybe it was PMS, boredom, or her current situation, but Cagalli found herself agreeing.

"Okay," she finally answered. "But it's your treat," she concluded, as she stepped back into the apartment to grab her keys and other necessities.

Athrun's only reply was a smile.

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Author's Note: A BIG THANK YOU TO THOSE WHO REVIEWED: Maryam Khanoom, HimeHikari, Genny-chan, Craze-Izumi, Anon, Lalalu, Star-Moon-Angel, purple1, asga, The Angel's Princess, tha lil' angel, i.inspire, MXC - the show- rocks my socks.

And an even bigger THANK YOU to my bestfriend/critic/beta-reader: Lee.

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Well, so finally they meet! REVIEW, okay? And tell me what you think, because your opinion matters.