The Heart Doesn't Lie

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Seed, Gundam Seed Destiny or any of the characters in this story, except Jet and Ari.

Note: This chapter is about the bonfire/party so there will be alcohol consumption.

Chapter 13 (Bonfire pt.1)

Kira stood in front of Athrun's door waiting for Athrun to answer. It was Friday night, the night of the bonfire. Somehow they had managed to keep him from finding out what was going on. That was quite an accomplishment considering their parties were usually known all over the school beforehand. Athrun answered the door wearing faded jeans and a dark red and white button-up shirt, nothing fancy. That was good since they would be outside in the ocean air next to a fire for awhile. Kira's attire was similar to Athrun's except his shirt was beige and laced up instead of buttoning.

"You ready to go?" Kira asked Athrun.

"Yes, I'm ready. I don't need to bring anything do I? I don't know where you are taking me, so I don't know if I should bring anything." Athrun asked.

"Nope nothing at all." Kira answered.

They drove with the radio on, not to loud so they could talk. Athrun watched out the window as the scenery passed by wondering where Kira was taking him. He could not ask that had been part of the agreement between them.

"I was planning on coming over tomorrow to start on your computer. That is if you don't have any plans." Kira said breaking the silence between them.

"No, I don't. That would be fine." Athrun told him.

"Then tomorrow it is. I'll be there around ten." Kira stated.

"Okay that sounds good. I'll even fix lunch for you." Athrun said.

The two drove the rest of the way talking about what Athrun should fix for lunch the next day. Kira had eaten Athrun's food before and knew he was a good cook. Athrun also did not stick simply to easy dishes like Kira did.

Soon they arrived at the entrance to the private beach. Athrun recognized it because it belonged to Kira's family and he had been there several times before. As children they had spent a lot of time on the beach, but their parents did not feel they were safe at the public beaches so they would come here instead usually with Kira's nanny.

"The beach? Were you planning a romantic night at the beach for the two of us Kira? Do you have a blanket and picnic basket full of food, maybe some wine, waiting for us?" Athrun asked, teasing Kira. He knew Kira had brought one of his previous girlfriends here before for just that reason. It had happened before he was actually going out with her. He had still been in the process of trying to win her over. It had worked to, the following Monday when they came to school they were a couple. The relationship had only lasted about a month. Turned out the girl liked Kira for his money and wanted him to spend a lot on her, so he broke up with her.

Kira blushed, surprised at Athrun's words, even though he knew Athrun was teasing him. He still had not been expecting it. Then he laughed.

"Athrun it was suppose to be a surprise. Why did you have to ruin it by guessing." Kira, playing along, looked over at him and pouted.

Athrun smiled at Kira's pout, "I am so sorry. Forget I said that and I promise I will act surprised."

"It's too late, I can't forget you said that. There are somethings you can't take back. And I was going to confess my undying love for you tonight too." Kira said, pouting more.

The two looked at each other wide eyed and Kira quickly looked away blushing. They had only been joking, but Kira felt maybe he had taken it too far with that last statement. Athrun remain quiet not really knowing what to say. He knew it had been a joke but for some reason it seemed to make both of them a little uncomfortable.

Kira was happy to leave the awkwardness of the car when they arrived at their destination. Several people were already there when they arrived. They had planned it that way so that by time Athrun arrived almost everything would be ready. If not he would try to help out and this was his birthday, so they did not want him to have to help.

Miguel, Heine, Yzak and Dearka were in the process of pulling out ice chest and boxes of food from the cars. Shinn, Jet, and Cagalli were working on getting the fire going good. Milly and Lacus were setting up blankets for everyone to sit on.

Athrun was surprised. He didn't know they were having a get together tonight. He looked over at Kira, who seemed to be trying to determine where his help was most needed at. He must have decided he was not needed anywhere because he stayed with Athrun.

"Kira, what is this? No one told me we were getting together tonight. Why didn't anyone tell me?" Athrun was a little upset he had not know about this. He felt like he had been left out. They normally all worked together to plan their parties or what ever else they were planning on doing as a group. This party had been planned entirely without him.

"If we told you then that would ruin the surprise." Lacus said coming over to where the two of them were. "This is a surprise party after all."

"A surprise party for who?" Athrun asked not catching on.

Lacus smiled at him, "For you, of course. It was your birthday this past week. So we all got together and planned this."

Athrun was shocked. How had they managed to keep this a secret from him? Dearka, for one is bad at keeping secrets. His feelings of being left out quickly went away. They had done this for him. Once again Athrun was reminded how great his friends are. He was happy.

Athrun smiled at Lacus, "I should say thank you then, so thank you. You too, Kira.."

"I'm sorry for taking advantage of the fact you need me to look at your computer. I was afraid that with everything going on you wouldn't agree to go with me. It seemed like a sure way to make sure you did." Kira said, looking guilty.

"No, It's alright. I'm not mad about that. I didn't have a problem agreeing to the condition because I trust you and know you would not take me anywhere bad." Athrun said, smiling at Kira.

Kira was happy to hear he wasn't mad about it.

Nicol and Mia arrived a few minutes later. Followed shortly by Rusty and Luna. Nicol and Rusty walked over to greet Athrun, while Mia and Luna stood off to the side talking to one another.

"So what did you think of our birthday surprise?" Rusty asked Athrun.

"It's great. I had no idea any of you were planning something."

"That was the idea." Nicol said.

"How were you able to keep it from spreading around school? In the past whenever we have a party everyone talks about it non stop."

"Not everyone knows about this party. We made it invite only, and all the people who were invited were told not to talk about it." Rusty answered.

"I see, so this party won't have as many people as normal?"

"No. Are you disappointed?" Nicol asked afraid Athrun would have preferred a bigger party.

"Not at all. I like the thought that this will be a smaller party. It seems more personal that way, and I can celebrate my birthday with my friends instead of a lot of people I hardly know." He told them smiling.

"We're glad you like it. Make sure you have a good time." Rusty said.

"I will. Hey, are those two your dates?" Athrun asked pointing at Mia and Luna.

Rusty smiled, "Yeah, they are. Sting should be here soon. He is bringing Fllay."

"Really? I didn't know he was going out with Fllay. Am I getting left out of everything?" Athrun felt like there was so much he had missed lately.

"I'll try to fill you in later." Rusty told him.

X x x

"Are you going to talk to him, or just stare at him all night?" Jet asked Shinn, who he had caught watching Athrun.

"You said you would not say anything like that here." Shinn reminded him.

"I said something, but only to you. No one else heard it." Jet pointed out. "Seriously Shinn, you spend so much time watching him. You need to talk to him and get it over with. You are never going to be happy this way."

"You act like if I talk to him then he will just accept it and then we can be happy together. That is not going to happen, he won't accept it. He won't accept it and he will hate me. Just lay off of it will you." Shinn said starting to get angry. He did not want to get angry tonight, so he walked away from Jet.

Jet watched him walk away, "Stranger things have happened. You won't know if you don't try."

x x x

Fllay and Sting had just arrived. They both walked off to greet their friends. Fllay was happy to see Mia there as well, she had not know she was coming.

"Mia, you're here. I'm so happy, who did you come with? Was it Athrun?" Fllay asked her looking hopeful that her friend had managed to hook up with the guy she likes.

"I came with Nicol." Mia said.

"Nicol? Well, he is nice and you both like music. That's good." Fllay said.

Fllay looked around, "Wow there really isn't a lot of people here. Their group is here and a few others and that is all."

"They did say it was a private party. I don't think they wanted a lot of people here tonight. We got lucky." Luna said.

"Luna, are you going to be alright? Shinn is here." Fllay asked her friend, concerned.

"So is Kira. How about you?" Luna asked in return.

The three of them looked at each other and smiled. They were going to be alright.

X x x

"Hello, Yzak." came a female voice from behind him. Yzak and Dearka turned around to see who was talking.

Dearka looked confused he did not know the girl standing in front of them.

"Yzak, you know her?"

"Ari? I did not expect to see you here." Yzak said, ignoring Dearka.

"Kira invited me. We are working on a drama project together, and he told me about this party." Ari told him.

"Oh." Before Yzak could say anything else Cagalli started yelling at everyone that they were ready to start eating.

Everyone started heading over to the blankets that the food had been set up on. Since this was a bonfire they would be roasting hot dogs. Everyone grabbed what they needed and took off towards the fire.

After they finished eating they sat around in groups talking and laughing. As the night went on and the alcohol was disappearing they started separating into smaller groups and moving a little further from the hot fire.

Dearka caught Milly by herself and pulled her off toward the water.

"Are you having a good time?" He asked her.

Milly smiled, "Yes I am. Are you?"

"I am. Want to go for a walk down the beach a little ways, not too far."

"A walk would be nice." she told him.

They walked in silence for a little while. Neither one knowing what to say. The breeze felt good on their faces and the water was near their feet.

"I love the beach." Milly said breaking the silence. "I love the way it sounds and the way it smells."

"It is really nice here." Dearka said. "Cagalli and you are best friends, do you get to come here often?"

"I've been here a few times. Only during the day though. It's nice then too, getting to swim without all the people that are on the public beaches. I wish I had my own little private beach. I want a house that has one."

"Just walk out your back door a little ways and you're on the beach. That would be great." Dearka said.

They continued to walk down the beach having casual conversations. Just enjoying the night air and each others company.

X x x

Ari and Yzak sat away from the rest of the group. Yzak had found out from Kira that Ari had told him she would like to talk to Yzak again and that was why he had invited her. Yzak did not mind he had enjoyed his talk with her before.

They sat there making small talk until Yzak went quiet. His eyes were on Milly and Dearka walking off together towards the beach. He knew that they had not gotten together, Milly had said she wanted to be friends. Watching them Yzak felt that ache in his chest again. He still did not understand it, why it hurt him to see the two of them together.

"Are you okay?" Ari asked.

Yzak looked at her briefly saying he was and looked back towards the other two.

"Do you like her?" Ari asked.

"What? Do I like her? Where did that come from?" He asked her confused.

"You are watching those two and you look sad and maybe a little angry. I wondered if the reason for that is that you like that girl."

"No I don't like her." He snapped at her.

"Then do you like him?" She asked, not affected by him snapping at her.

Yzak looked down at the ground. He was speechless. Was that it? Was that the reason he got mad when Dearka and Milly spent time together? The reason he had gotten mad at Milly when Dearka had flirted with her before? The reason he can't stand to be around her lately? Because he knows Dearka likes her.

Yzak sat there not saying anything for a long time. The more he thought about it the more it made sense. It had never been Milly he liked, but Dearka. He did not like Dearka paying that kind of attention to other people.

Ari sat beside Yzak watching him and the couple he had been watching. She figured as quiet as Yzak had been since she had asked that question she must have been right. She would sit here next to him until he moved, so he would not be alone. And if he wanted to talk then she would be here.

X x x

Cagalli and Miguel walked over to the waters edge. They sat down just out of the reach of the water coming up on the beach.

"I think, out of all the parties we have had this is probably the best." Cagalli said looking out over the water.

"You think so. And what makes it the best?" Miguel asked her.

"There is not too many people, it's not to loud, we can actually move around without bumping into other people. I guess I just like the smaller scale of this. I can enjoy the night with the people that I am closest too."

"I see your point. Maybe we should have more parties like this. We don't have to come to the beach every time. We could just meet up at someone's house and hang out. We hardly ever do that as a whole group." Miguel said.

"You're right we don't. That would be nice. Yzak always just ends up getting in fights with someone who managed to make him mad at our big parties. Then he complains that he hates when we have those." Cagalli said.

"Then he says something like, 'Why do we need all those idiots here anyway. They're not our friends, so why should we let them hang out with us.'" Miguel said laughing slightly.

"Yeah, then Lacus always tells him to be nice and the more the merrier type thing." Cagalli added laughing herself.

"But is it really merrier? Something always get destroyed, and not by Sting. Where ever we have it is completely trashed, and we end up cleaning the mess up by ourselves. People end up getting sick all over the place. If you think about it then it just seems like a headache waiting to happen."

"True, true. If we have more fun this way what is the point in having those big parties anymore?" Cagalli stated.

"Maybe we shouldn't. I guess the only reason we had them before was to try to hook up with new people. Rusty and Dearka usually came out of those things with a new girl. But if we all have someone we like now then we don't need to try to hook up with new people." Miguel said, shifting his gaze out over the water.

Cagalli looked over at him and smiled. "Yeah, that's right."

x x x

"That's right. Together right now." the voice said over the phone.

The owner of the voice stayed quiet as the person on the other end talked.

"They are getting closer, closer than the other one." The voice told the other.

"I understand." With that the phone call was ended.

TBC

I don't believe it an odd numbered chapter with no angry eyes person. In case you had not noticed angry eyes person appears in all the odd numbered chapters. I had planned on angry eyes showing up here to, but there was more I wanted to do with the bonfire. So I could not fit it in yet. Will probably appear next chapter.

Please r&r it keeps me going.