A major headache greeted Lacus first thing the next morning as she started to wake up. 'What happened?' she asked herself as she groaned while opening her eyes to stare at the familiar ceiling of Kira's bedroom. 'Why am I here? Why do I have such a headache? I don't remember drinking anything last night at the…' she started thinking before shooting straight up, "The party!" she said and instantly regretted it as pain struck her forehead.
The yelling stirred Kira from his sleep. He groggily pushed himself up from the bed and starred at Lacus. "Glad to see that you're ok. Why would you go and drink like that?" he asked as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.
"I didn't drink though… at least I don't think I drank," she said as she strained her memory to try and remember everything she did that night to figure out what happened. This however only made her hangover become even worse.
'Knowing her, she probably drank some punch not knowing that it was spiked,' Kira thought with a sigh. "That should be the least of your concerns. While you were drunk, Eric tried to take advantage of you," Kira explained and watched as Lacus's eyes widened in panic as she likely remembered bits and pieces of what happened.
"He did?! Oh no! He took advantage of me?!" Lacus said in a panic before the hangover returned and she cringed and clutched her head. "How could this have happened when I tried to hard to stay away from him?!" Lacus said in despair of what she thought happened.
"No!" Kira said taking Lacus in a tight embrace. "I assure you that he didn't do anything. When I heard where you were I immediately came over and managed to put a stop to it before it even started," Kira said as he held her tightly to him.
"Really?" Lacus asked with a smile. "Thank you. You were always the one who was there for me the most. Like a knight in shining armor," she said as she nestled her head in Kira's muscular chest.
Kira then remembered what had happened when he had successfully put a stop to the attempted rape. He couldn't help the blush that sprung to his face at how she had so drunkenly come on to him. 'I better not tell her that little detail,' he thought trying to shake off the blush.
"Is something wrong Kira? Your face is so red. Do you have a fever?" Lacus asked when she looked up at Kira's face while he was blushing. She immediately grabbed Kira's head and brought it down so that their foreheads were touching.
Kira's heart suddenly skipped a beat when he saw how close they were. It was nearly as close as the night before when Lacus tried to kiss him. 'Put such thoughts out of your head!' he screamed at himself as Lacus pulled away.
"You don't seem to have a fever," Lacus said while pulling away. She started to rub her aching head which was still hurting her quite a bit. "As long as you're not sick," Lacus said with a smile before lying down.
"I might not be but you are," Kira said and Lacus shook her head vehemently in denial but this just hurt her as she crunched over clutching her head. "Geez, how much of that punch did you drink exactly?" Kira asked while sighing.
Lacus thought back as far as she could to figure out just how much she had drank that night. "I didn't have much, only a few cups," Lacus said as the pain in her head continued to throb.
"You're such a light weight," Kira said before taking notice of some objects on his night stand. "Here," Kira said grabbing some aspirin and water that was likely placed there by his mother after he fell asleep the night before.
"Oh, thank you, thank you so much," Lacus said never having been happy to see water and aspirin. She threw the medicine in her mouth and chugged down the water so greedily as if her life depended on it.
"Take it easy, it's not going anywhere," Kira couldn't help but chuckle as Lacus finished up the glass in one go and then set it down. "You'd think that it was the only glass of water in the world," he said as he stood up and grabbed a clean towel. "Take a shower, that should really help your hangover," he said before he threw the towel on top of her head.
"Thanks," Lacus said lifting the towel up so that she could see again which was just in time to see him leave the room so that she could get ready. She then got up, grabbed some of the spare clothes that she left there and headed to the shower.
When Kira reached the kitchen he saw that his mother was already laying out breakfast for all of them. "This certainly looks good. Talk about timing," he said out loud which his mother just smiled at as she took a seat as well.
"Lacus taking a shower right now?" Caridad asked and Kira just nodded as he stuffed his face with pancakes. "How bad is the hangover?" she asked in a serious tone with worry also laced into her words.
Kira stopped his eating and quickly swallowed the food before he finally answered her. "She tried to be strong despite it but I could tell that it was really hurting her," Kira responded before taking a sip of orange juice. "Thanks for having the aspirin ready. Sure that will really help Lacus," he continued to which his mother only smiled.
"Glad to hear that she's alright. I was so worried when Athrun called and told me what happened," Caridad spoke up as she took a sip of water. "By the way, I already lectured those two until their ears were ready to fall off so take it a bit easy on them," Caridad continued since she knew exactly what her son was obviously planning for the day.
"Can't promise anything like that," Kira said since he was gonna make sure that they got it in their heads. He knew they were merely thinking of Lacus's happiness but to him what they did was far too reckless.
"I swear, you really are overly protective of Lacus. Are you sure that you really only see her as another sister?" Caridad teased since Kira had always been like that. To her, it was more like a lover protecting the ones they loved than a brother protecting their sister.
"Not that again," Kira growled swearing that no one would be satisfied until he said it was true. 'It's not that… right?' he suddenly found himself questioning. Images of the previous night flashed through his mind as he thought about it.
***Flashback***
Lacus stared intently at Kira's face it was as if she was looking at something she had never noticed before. "You know, you really are very handsome Kira," she said honestly words that she didn't want to before.
Lacus's words made Kira blush. "Don't say stuff like that Lacus. You're drunk. You don't know what you're talking about," Kira said as he tried to stand up again only to be pulled back down.
"No, I've always thought that," Lacus said with a small grin as she stared at him. "I didn't like him touching me but I don't think I'd mind it if you did," she said as she started to lean up towards the greatly startled Kira to try and kiss him.
Kira had no clue what to do as she was getting closer and closer. A part of him was telling him to pull away and put a stop to this. That they were best friends and that they shouldn't be doing that. Then there was another part of him that was screaming to let her. That it was something he actually wanted. He didn't know why though.
Lacus was only an inch away from his lips when she suddenly stopped and her head fell onto Kira's shoulder. "Lacus? Lacus?" Kira called out wondering why she stopped. He gently lifted her off of his shoulder and saw that she had fallen asleep. "I don't believe it," he grumbled feeling somewhat disappointed.
***End Flashback***
'Could Lacus actually… no that's impossible. She was drunk; she obviously didn't know what she was talking about,' he thought as he tried to get rid of the images in his head. He was failing though and it only made him remember it more.
'What about you,' Kira mind taunted the already frustrated youth. 'When she called you handsome, you know you felt happy to hear that. When she fell asleep before kissing you, you know that you felt disappointed. You wanted it, you wanted her. You don't want anyone else to have her which is why you're really so protective,' the voice in his mind continued to taunt.
Caridad couldn't help but feel amused as she watched her son struggling with himself. 'Funny thing about building up such a dam around your feelings, I see them growing so much every day that sooner or later the dam won't be enough to stop those feelings that are really in your heart. You pass your feelings off as a brother to avoid the hurt that would likely happen if you lose the friendship that you hold so dearly,' she thought giving her reluctant son such a soft glance.
"I swear to you that there is nothing like that going on," Kira said what he usually said almost every day lately. "Besides, let's just say that I did. It's not like Lacus has such feelings," Kira said already growing frustrated with the conversation.
'I bet that's the thing he uses to keep his feelings in control,' Caridad thought with a smirk. "Then what would you do if she really did?" she questioned and chuckled a little at the flustered look that cross her son's face.
"If she did…" Kira quietly muttered as the words, 'you really are very handsome Kira,' and 'I've always thought that,' flashed through his mind once more. "Well she does! So drop it!" Kira growled out as the light sounds of the water from the bathroom came to a stop.
Kira immediately stood up and tried to make a dash from the room to end the conversation. 'I swear. If I have this conversation one more time I will…' Kira thought as a growl managed to escape from his mouth.
'I think I'm starting to see water start to spill over the top of that dam,' Caridad thought with glee since several times during their conversation she could clearly see cracks forming in Kira's resolve.
A few minutes later Caridad saw Lacus come walking into the room. "Well I must say that you don't look as bad as I thought you would be," she said giving the young lady a gentle smile. "How are you feeling?" she questioned as the younger woman sat down.
"Better than when I woke up," Lacus said even though the hangover was still hurting quite a bit. "And a bit scared at what almost happened last night," Lacus added on with a sigh at what Kira mentioned to her.
"So he told you?" Caridad questioned to which Lacus just nodded her head. "Kira was in such a panic when he was looking for you according to Athrun. As if he didn't mind giving up the façade as long as you were safe," Caridad said to the downtrodden lady.
Lacus heart skipped a beat at the mention of how worried Kira was about her. 'Why has my heart been like this lately?' she questioned as she took her time to eat the pancakes laid out before her. "He's always tried to protect me and worry about me like that ever since we were children. That little boy who threw himself at the much larger bullies as they picked on me for my hair color," Lacus said although the last sentence was much quieter.
'I see, I figured that that was the reason. She tries to only see him as the boy she once knew, not the man that he is now,' she thought seeing that ne a little easier to manage than Kira's reason. "He's not that little boy anymore Lacus. He's grown up now," she simply said as she poured Lacus some orange juice.
Lacus's face seemed to almost steam like a tea kettle at the mention of Kira having grown up since it only brought back images of the accident from the other morning. 'I was already aware of that,' Lacus thought trying to calm herself down.
Caridad couldn't help but notice that Lacus really seemed troubled with her obviously confused feelings. 'I see the dam cracking,' she thought with an inner grin. "Listen, I called the school and told them that you'd be taking the day off. You're obviously not in any shape to go today," she said since the responsibility was given to them during the times Siegel Clyne was out of town.
"Thank you," Lacus said while rubbing her head trying to get rid of her still lingering hangover. 'Last time I ever drink,' she thought while slowly finishing up the meal that was set out before her.
*****
Everything was just as Kira feared as he walked through the halls of the school. Things hadn't gotten better for Lacus, they had only gotten worse. New rumors were going around about stuff she had done at the party.
"I heard she got drunk and had an orgy with at least five different guys at the party last night," the voice of a girl to Kira's right said to another as he passed by the two of them.
Kira clenched his fist and resisted the urge to tell them off. It pissed him off how they were talking about a subject they knew nothing about and doing so with such laughter in their voice. 'What bitches,' he thought bitterly as he kept walking and hearing very similar things.
The one good thing that Kira saw though was Eric. Normally it was the opposite but the look of discomfort still left from the kick Cagalli gave him. 'Nothing better than to see that man in so much pain. Cagalli saved a lot of girls the pain for today,' he thought trying his best to hold back his laughter.
Then came the two Kira was most anxious to see. Kira then look a deep breathe, pulled both arms back, and then he smashed the back of both of their heads as hard as he could manage sending the two of them reeling.
Cagalli wasn't sure what hit her as she stumbled forward. She caught her fall and then immediately twirled around. "Alright! Whoever did that is de…" she said but froze when she saw that it was her brother and that he was glaring at her. 'Alright, he's pissed… and his eyes look like those of a demon's,' she thought actually feeling nervous about her normally kind brother.
"H-hi there baby brother," Cagalli said with a nervous gulp and swore that he glared even harder. "Um… big brother?" she said and gulped again when his expression didn't change. "Alright! It was wrong, alright? We shouldn't have done it!" she yelled out getting confused looks from those around them who too kept their distances from the obviously angry Kira.
"I wonder what that's all about. Those two are always arguing but this time Kira seems especially angry," a guy said as he watched. To him it was like a train wreck, he knew he shouldn't watch but he just couldn't take his eyes away.
"Maybe he's angry at her for ruining the party last night by bringing that horrible Clyne," the guys girlfriend said standing right next to him. "I heard Eric tried to stop her and got hurt doing so," she continued not realizing that they could be heard.
Kira felt ready to snap hearing the girl's words. 'So that's how he's trying to pass it off. Trying to turn himself from a sinner to martyr,' he thought feeling like going to look from him and give him another kick to the balls. "Cagalli," he spoke out before he turned and left the area.
Without even having to be told, Cagalli nodded her head. "On it," she said as a devious cackle was released from her mouth. She was going to humiliate him in front of everyone by admitting to it. She didn't care if she got suspended. She knew she'd need to bend the truth since no one was likely to believe her otherwise.
As if on cue, the man in question came into view telling outrageous stories as to what happened to him. "Hey Eric!" Cagalli called out getting both his attention and everyone else in the hallway. "Be sure to ice you balls. If you ever come onto me again, I'll do even worse next time!" she lied and got great pleasure in the laughter that people were getting out of it since many didn't believe his story anyways since he was as far from a saint as they came.
Eric's face turned bright red from the humiliation. "Why you little bitch! You know that isn't how it happened. I would never go after someone as ugly as you!" he screamed getting right in her face faster than anyone could even notice.
"Yeah, yeah, sure. That wasn't what you were saying during your cheesy pick up lines last night. My god, I was just so embarrassed to be around you," Cagalli responded picking up another wave of laughter.
Eric resisted the urge to slap Cagalli in the face for her accusations. "You know, I will take great pleasure in dealing with you once I finally break that bitch of a friend of yours," he hissed at her in a voice so low that no one besides her and Athrun could hear what he was saying.
"Bring it on. Maybe you'd like a taste of that kick again. I'm sure everyone would find that hilarious," Cagalli hissed back and got a chuckle at him when he flinched at the thought of being kicked again when his nuts were still sore.
Cagalli deemed it a great victory when he just dropped it and turned to leave. "That felt good," she said with a triumphant grin as Athrun watched her a little wearily. "Maybe I should've kicked him anyways," she pondered.
"That was… quite scary Cagalli," Athrun spoke up when he was sure that everything subsided. "Don't forget that that you are like a guard to Lacus in school. If you get suspended for doing that then his harassment of her will only get worse," he tried to reason.
"I'm aware. That's why I won't do anything to him in school," Cagalli responded though Athrun noticed a wicked glint in her eyes telling him that she had other plans. She was stopped from any more planning though by the sound of the bell ringing. "Guess I will have to save it till later," she said before taking off and leaving Athrun behind.
*****
Eric growled as he left the school about half way through the day since he was tired of how everyone seemed to laugh at him for what Cagalli said. "Stupid bitch. How dare she make a fool of me like that!" he growled kicking a trashcan.
He was sure that everything would be gone in a day or two but it didn't stop the fact that he had been humiliated. "I knew it had to be one of Lacus's friends who had done it. There is no one in this world who would ever lay a hand against me besides them," he spoke while cracking his knuckles menacingly.
"That doesn't explain who knocked me out in the first place though. She's likely to kick a man when he's down but she likely doesn't have the sheer strength to throw me like that bastard who interrupted me did," he pondered trying to remember anything from last night.
Everything was like a blur to him since it happened so quickly. The only memory he did have was a quick flash of brown hair before he lost consciousness. He awoke only a few minutes later but by that time Lacus and her friends were already long gone.
"Who could've knocked me out though? I only remember that he had brown hair but that doesn't help since half the people at the party had brown hair. I'm not aware of anyone close enough to her with that hair color either. Athrun has blue hair so that marks him off plus one of my friends said that although he carried her out, both him and Cagalli were both in another area of the house looking for her at the time I remember it happening," he thought since he looked at the clock to find out how much time he was likely to have.
"Shit, this is worthless. It happened too fast to remember any other details," he growled kicking a rock as hard as he could with his hands shoved into his pockets. "I'll definitely find out though and be sure to get him back his said with a wicked grin.
"I was so close though. Why did that guy have to ruin it? She was in my grasp. I almost had her!" he growled while his hands clenched tightly into fists at his side. "Why is everything always ruining my work?!" he yelled.
He remembered when it had all started. At the time she was a new student and also quite popular amongst the students for her kind disposition. He knew right from the start that her body was untouched and that really made him want her so badly.
The biggest problem was that she didn't have any interest in going out with him even once. He asked her out time and time again but she always refused which pissed him off. Many of his friends really poked fun of him saying that he, the ultimate playboy, couldn't get a single girl to even go on a date with him.
One day though he was surprised when she actually agreed. He knew that it was just because she was tired of him asking her but he knew that one date would be all it would take to get her into bed to have that ripe virgin body all to himself.
Things didn't go as planned. He pulled every move that had always worked for him with the dozens of girls he had slept with but she was unfazed. He couldn't even get a single smile or single sign of interest from her in several hours.
When his flirting didn't work he tried to be physical hoping that like maybe the one or two women that made it that far, that her body would be honest and she would give him but that pissed her off far more than he'd ever seen.
She insulted him, trampled on his pride and made it clear that she would never sleep with him, and that was in front of so many other people. It was the first time in his life that he had ever been so humiliated.
That however didn't stop him as he continued his attempts over the next few days. However, she was proving true to her words as he was repelled at every turn. It had become a matter of pride for him the more he failed. His family was not one who gave into defeat. They used each and every means possible to obtain their goals whether it was considered dirty or illegal.
He called up a friend named Meer Campbell, whose face looked similar to Lacus that he was sure it could fool other. He threw a pink wig on her and took pictures of them having sex and plastered them all over the school, minus his face since he was sure the blame would be put on him otherwise and he didn't want to get kicked out before he could have what he felt he deserved.
The surprise on people faces brought joy to him. People became disillusioned by what had before been a pure and kind Lacus. It wasn't enough though as some found some reason to believe that it wasn't Lacus.
He didn't stop. He had Meer pose as Lacus and start sleeping around with many of the guys in the school. Many of whom were boyfriends of close friends of Lacus. He paid them off with a lot of money afterwards to just say that it was Lacus and they did.
In just a matter of a few days Lacus went from being one of the most popular girls in the school to merely being a whore who lost all of her friends by sleeping with so many girls boyfriends and just anyone with a dick that he could manage and then plastering pictures around the school. The teachers never found out who posted them so he never got into trouble but Lacus was forever ruined.
He felt that by taking everything from her that she'd be more open to doing what he wanted to just make it stop but she continued to surprise him with how resilient she was to the kind of pressure he was putting her under.
He chased off any who tried to get close to Lacus so that she wouldn't be ruined before he had her. There were who tried and failed but said that they did anyways to avoid being humiliated as the one that the slut wouldn't even sleep with. There were also those who Fllay and Meer seduced and then manipulated to lay the blame elsewhere. Any who tried to have a heart and tell the truth were shown otherwise by his friends. He would never let the truth get out. She would suffer until he got what he wanted.
"I can feel it though. It been a problem for the last few years but I can tell that she is breaking. It won't take much longer," he said with glee as he walked randomly around just wasting time instead of doing boring coursework.
At that moment he caught sight of something that really made his day. "Well, well, well, what do we have here? The all innocent Lacus Clyne is skipping school," he said out loud catching the woman's attention.
Lacus heard the all too familiar voice and cringed. She had just run to the grocery store to pick up some supplies since her hangover was finally gone. She never thought that she'd end up seeing him out here at this time of day.
"I'm sure the school would love to hear that the Lacus who is supposed to be sick is really just skipping classes. I'd be more than willing to keep it quiet though on one condition," he threatened with an evil glint in his eyes.
"I'd rather eat shit," Lacus swore which was extremely rare for her. "Besides, I'm out on emotional issues, not physical after what you tried to do to me last night!" Lacus growled out as she looked at Eric with much darker eyes than her usually light blue eyes. "I'm sure the school would just love to suspend you for ditching," she said as she continued walking as he followed.
"They've given up trying. They couldn't do anything if they tried because of my father," Eric replied cheekily while easily keeping up with her quick strides. "Come on Lacus. It will be fine. I know I can make it quite pleasurable to you," he continued to harass her with a smile.
"Well my boyfriend definitely won't appreciate that. He's quite possessive and also able to satisfy me in ways that no one will ever be able to," Lacus lied with the first thing that came to her mind hoping to throw him off enough to make a breakaway soon. In her mind she was hoping that him thinking he lost what he obviously wanted most in her would be enough to get him to leave her alone.
'Boyfriend…' the words echoed in his mind as they were said. He wasn't sure how that was possible since he had always chased away anyone who even seemed remotely interested and ruined her social life for that same reason. 'How could I have let this happen?!' he thought feeling rage grow inside of him.
"You could spread your useless propaganda about me all you'd like to him; he knows firsthand that none of it was true," Lacus continued though she started to realize maybe what she said wasn't going to turn out good as she noticed the look of rage building onto his features. She was right too when the next second she was sent flying to the ground as the back of his hand hit her hard across the face.
"Do you want to know what I've always planned for you Lacus?" Eric said eerily calm that it sent chills down Lacus's spine while he crawling on top of her while pinning her to the ground. "I planned to listen to you scream and cry as I took you. Then I planned to watch as my boys did the same. You know what? That still hasn't changed. The only difference is that you and your boyfriend are going to suffer worse as a result with your boyfriend being the first victim. Tell me do you love him enough to put him through that?" he questioned viciously.
'Love?' Lacus asked herself but knew there wasn't a point since she didn't actually have a boyfriend but then a picture of Kira suddenly flashed through her head. 'Why am I thinking about him?' she thought as confusion and fear wracked her body as Eric's demonic eyes stared down at her watching her expression to get his answer.
"Well then just know that he's going to suffer far worse than you will," Eric responded with a sneer as he stood up and walked away to plan out what it was that he was going to do next.
Lacus was scared as she pulled herself off the ground. She was so scared that he'd just try to rape her right then and there and that she'd have no one to protect her this time since everyone was in school right then.
Quickly gathering her things, Lacus got up and made a quick dash in the direction of Kira's house. 'What have I done? I only made things worse with my lie. But he'll just be chasing ghosts since he thinks I have a boyfriend. He'll likely go after that person first,' she thought with hope that he would be too busy with that to worry about her.
*****
Kira walked through the door of his home after school glad that the day was finally over. "I'm home!" he called out expecting Lacus to come bounding at him but there was nothing. The house was rather quiet. "Hello?" Kira called out again as Cagalli and Athrun too walked into the house.
"That's strange, usually mom is at least home. I doubt Lacus would've gone home either," Cagalli said as they walked in the house but still didn't see anyone. "I wonder where they went," she said but was cut off when their mom finally turned up.
"I was beginning to wonder where everyone went," Kira said with a smile but dropped it when he saw the look on his mother's face. "What's wrong?" he asked feeling a deep sense of foreboding building up within him.
"Lacus was attacked by that boy again earlier today," Caridad said sadly as the three others in the room starting blasting her with questioned as to everything that happened. "I didn't know it would happen. I needed to pick up some stuff but was waiting on a call so I couldn't go. Lacus was feeling better so she went. He must've skipped school and they ran into each other. Lacus tried lying to him saying that she had a boyfriend now but he got angry and attacked her. Nothing happened but she's pretty shaken up," Caridad tried to explain to the best of her knowledge.
Kira seemed the most shaken up by the news than either Athrun or Cagalli. "Where is Lacus now?" he asked and only received a finger pointing towards the stairs. He didn't hesitate a second before dashing for the stairs. He just prayed that it wouldn't be too bad. It was hard enough holding himself back as it was.
"Lacus?!" Kira screamed dashing into his room to see her lying down on the bed. He could tell that she was awake. Her body was shaking in fear but she didn't make a single sound. Kira quietly walked over and sat on the bed next to her and placed a hand on her shoulder.
Before he could react, Lacus was up and had her arms wrapped tightly around him. "I was scared, I was so scared. No one was there. No one could've helped me," Lacus said loudly into his chest.
"I'm sorry Lacus. I'm sorry I couldn't be there for you," Kira said hugging her back as she started to cry into his chest. They just remained this way until Kira was sure that Lacus had calmed down after which they separated. "So how did this happen?" he asked her carefully.
"He did the usual stuff and I tried to get him to leave me alone once and for all by telling him I had a boyfriend and that we were already doing it," she said with a small blush at the mere idea. "He didn't like it at all. The look he had was so scary. I really thought he was going to rape me!" she said nursing her red cheek. "He even told me that after he was done with me that he planned to give me to his boys," she explained shuddering even more.
That was one thing Kira had every suspicion would've happened had Eric ever gotten his way. He'd seen some of the girls who Eric got his hands on. They always seemed so lifeless afterwards. He simply couldn't imagine Lacus ever going through something like that.
"So who exactly is this boyfriend?! Why haven't I ever heard of him?" Kira asked trying to lighten to atmosphere hoping that it would calm Lacus down a little. "I'm your best friend, how could you have never told me about this?" he asked pretending to pout.
This managed to elicit a small chuckle for Lacus. "Oh hush, you know it's a lie," she said but then the same image of Kira from before popped up into her mind. "What about you?" Lacus then said timid for a reason she couldn't explain. "Would you want to be it?" she continued quietly.
"Huh?" a confused Kira replied as he looked at her shocked. "Don't joke around, you've been hanging around Cagalli and mom too much," he said feeling rather nervous about the subject which was weird since he'd never felt like that before when such a subject was brought up.
"I guess so," Lacus said acting natural again. "Sorry about that, I'm not sure what came over me," she continued while laughing the whole question. 'Were you really joking?' a voice in her mind said which she shook off.
Although Kira said what he did, he was starting to wonder if maybe there was more to them. The memories of the night before and Lacus's words struck his mind. 'No, no, no, I'm just thinking too much," he said as they looked at one another and laughed. One that was odd and conveyed the odd feeling the two were starting to become aware of.