A/N: First of all, wooooooow… I bet a lot of you forgot about this or thought it died from my lack of updating! Hmmm seven months…. Has it really been that long? o.o; Looks like I went through a seven MONTH tribulation… Hahahaa… Well you see, I had an unfortunate mishap with the floppy drive that held ALL my fanfics… Basically, everything was erased and gone forever after I almost had this chapter completed, so I almost lost the will to attempt to re-do it. But, I figured the only way I could move on in this to get to the better stuff (wink wink) would be to suck it up and re-write it. So, after seven months, here's chapter 3! (or 4, whatever you want to call it…) And at a whopping 10 ½ pages. I worked really hard to bring this one back to life, so I really hope it was worth it!

Gah, anyways, on with the fic. I think you've all waited long enough as it is… Oh! And thank you everyone for all your wonderful reviews! You're the reason I decided to revive this afterall :D

Chapter 3: Realizations

Reaching for the shampoo, Athrun flipped the cap open and immediately noticed a heavy fruity scent. His face cringed slightly, looking around to see if anything else was available. Nothing came into sight and he sighed, regretfully pouring the pink-colored liquid into his palms and lathering it into his navy hair. After a few seconds the entire bathroom was filled with the citrus-smelling shampoo, giving the boy a light-headed feeling, but surprisingly soothing to the senses as well.

While he washed his hair, his mind began to drift off. Reoccurring thoughts of the day played in his head, mainly the events with Kira. He especially remembered the time when Kira fell on top of him in the water, partly because he nearly drowned but mostly because of the strange feelings his best friend gave him at feeling his body on his… Immediately he shook his head from the thought and tried to think of something else. Everything he saw anymore made him think of Kira, even the bar of soap on the shower ledge.

He sighed frustratingly and finished washing up. After turning off the water and stepping out of the shower, he grabbed a fluffy white towel from the brass rack and tied one around his waist and grabbed a second to dry his hair with. Walking over to the mirror he wiped it clear of fog and noticed an embarrassing pink blush on his cheeks. While it was most likely from the heat of the water, he didn't doubt that it was influenced by thoughts of his best friend either. After bending over in front of the mirror and ruffling his hair with the towel until it would stop dripping, he dried the rest of his body off before dressing in his bed attire.

Walking out of the steamy bathroom, Athrun glanced at Kira who had been casually reading a magazine he brought along with him. Kira noticed his friend enter the room and turned his head, setting the magazine down on the nightstand. "There was nothing on TV," the brunette stated. Athrun smiled and padded over to the bed to have a seat next to his best friend. Kira tilted his head and sat up, moving his face close to Athrun's. Athrun immediately felt his face heat up as his nerves sparked, until Kira stopped only to smell his fragrant hair. The brunette laughed. "Why does your hair smell like fruit?" Kira asked. Athrun lowered his head in embarrassment. "It was the only thing there…" he replied. "It smells nice on you though…" Kira said, giving his friend a smile and a wink.

Athrun returned a bewildered stare at his best friend, feeling a deeper blush creep to his cheeks. Kira laughed in response, getting up to head for the shower. Athrun stayed put on the bed, staring blankly at his feet. "What the hell was that about…?" the blunette pondered. It wasn't normal for Kira to behave so… flirtasiously, if that was the word. He shook his head and concluded that Kira was probably just being his regular teasing self. He laid back and shoved a pillow over his face, as if to knock some common sense into his head. His feelings for Kira were starting to get weirder by the minute. The question of his sexuality also came about, realizing that he'd never really been with many girls in his past. He and Cagalli had almost become a couple at one point, but they soon realized that they were better friends than lovers.

Athrun turned on his side and heaved a sigh, lowering the pillow below his chin and embracing it. Now that he thought of it, Kira was the only person he really ever depended on and longed to see again since their childhood together. The day they had to part was one of the most tragic memories of his past, and ever since they had been away from each other, he would go through photos of them together and remember the times they had. Every day he would pray he would get the chance to see Kira once again, and that he would never change or forget about their friendship. That moment finally came just days ago, and now that they were together, Athrun never wanted to be away from Kira ever again in fear of losing him forever. Kira gives him a sense of security and warmth, knowing that he will always be all right just to have his best friend at his side.

A nostalgic smile pulled at his lips, closing his eyes and hugging the pillow tighter to his warmed body. His mind roamed freely over events from their childhood, sifting through to the most memorable ones…

:Flashback:

"Kira! Come back!" a small blue-haired boy yelled, running clumsily after his friend in the rain. "Kira! It's too wet! Come back over here!" he said, stopping in the middle of the grass as he watched Kira jump in the muddy puddles, soiling his clothes and body. Athrun crossed his arms and sighed. Kira turned around laughing and began running at Athrun, jumping on him and tackling him to the ground. "Kira! You're getting my clothes all wet and dirty!" the blunette protested, shoving his friend off his chest. "You're no fun," Kira pouted, sitting on his knees and jutting his lower lip out. Athrun got up and pushed his wet hair out of his face, looking at Kira. Suddenly Kira stood up and quickly pressed his lips to Athrun's, before running away from him again and shouting, "Try and catch me!"

Athrun stood with wide eyes, unable to comprehend what just happened…

:End flashback:

"That's right… Kira stole my first…" Athrun blinked twice. "But we were just children. It didn't mean anything, did it? We took baths together and stuff…"

Suddenly the bathroom door opened, snapping Athrun from his daze. And there was Kira, dressed in only a small towel that hung dangerously low on his waist, his skin freshly flecked with beads of water.

"Uhhh, I forgot my clothes," said the brunette, smiling nervously and walking to his drawer to pick out some shorts, a lightweight shirt, and a pair of boxers. As Kira stood back up, the knot of his towel became loose and Athrun blushed a vibrant shade of red before his friend quickly tied the towel securely back into place. Saying nothing else, Kira headed back for the bathroom before giving his friend a quick glance through the side of his bangs and disappearing behind the bathroom door.

Athrun could hear the thrumming of blood in his ears, with his heart beating feverishly against his chest. Could it really be that he was feeling hot for his best friend? He curled his body tighter up with the pillow in his arms, and now because of the towel incident, images of Kira half-naked plagued his mind.

Kira came back out of the bathroom, this time fully dressed, wearing a pair of light blue shorts and a baggy black T-shirt. Kira smiled at his friend and plopped himself beside the blunette, laying on his back and sighing contently.

"You were right about that shampoo, Athrun," he said. "I started to get a headache after a while…"

Athrun chuckled faintly in response. "Maybe we should get some new shampoo while we're here," he added.

"Yeah," Kira replied. He turned his head to the blunette, who was still clutching his pillow protectively. "I don't think it's going to be leaving you any time soon," the brunette humored.

Athrun blushed and placed the pillow back under his head. "I was just… cold…" he said.

"Oh. Maybe we should share our warmth then," Kira said, scooting closer to Athrun.

"W-wha—" Athrun was cut off as Kira suddenly wrapped his arms tightly around his torso. Immediately he felt a hot blush rise to his earlobes, his body squirming uncomfortably. "Kira, what are you doing!"

"Aww come on! We used to do this all the time when we were younger," Kira said, snuggling closer to his friend with a smile.

"But we're not eight anymore Kira…" said Athrun, trapped in his friend's grasp.

Kira sighed, his breath unconsciously hitting the back of Athrun's neck, sending shivers down the younger boy's spine. "Can't I just hold you like this for a while? I've missed you so much…"

Athrun's eyes softened and he remained still, being touched by Kira's words. "I've missed you too, Kira…" Who cares if they were embracing in bed? As bad as that sounded, but they were best friends that hadn't seen each other in what seemed like an eternity.

The rhythm of Kira's breathing and heartbeat began to lull Athrun to sleep, his green eyes fluttering shut and breath becoming steadier. They fell asleep in each other's arms for the first time since childhood that night…

The bright sunrays of the new morning peering through the curtains had awoken Kira, who sighed and rubbed his eyes groggily. A smile pulled at his lips at seeing his best friend right beside him, still in his arms like the way they had fallen asleep the night before. Sitting up, he lazily played with Athrun's navy blue locks in his fingers, which had a very alluring texture. His pale skin glowed brilliantly in the morning light, and Kira had the strangest urge to touch his skin as well. Kira gently pushed Athrun's hair behind his ear and carefully laid his fingertips on the warm flesh, stroking it softly. His skin felt absolutely perfect, just as it looked.

It was until he noticed Athrun beginning to wake up did he withdraw his hand, blushing slightly. The blunette blinked his eyes and stretched with a groan, flipping on his back to look up at Kira. He couldn't help but smile at the warm and inviting image of his best friend.

"Good morning, sleepy head," Kira joked, ruffling Athrun's hair.

Athrun laughed, scrunching his nose in a sinfully cute way. "How long have you been awake?" he asked.

"Just a couple of minutes," Kira replied. After several seconds of silence, Kira received another strange urge. Tilting his head to the side, Kira wondered if Athrun was still as ticklish as he was when they were little…. "Hey Athrun," Kira said, causing Athrun to turn his head.

"What?"

Without warning, Kira pounced on Athrun, lifting his shirt up his stomach and tickling his sides.

"Ki—Kira! N—Hahahaa!" Athrun laughed, becoming helpless and sensitive in Kira's clutches. It appeared Kira had still remembered his number one weakness. "Kira! No! Haha! S—Stop!" Athrun desperately attempted to plead, as beads of tears began to build up in the corners of his eyes.

Kira laughed along with Athrun, tickling him with more force and causing his friend to writhe helplessly, laughing harder. "Kira, Kira! Ahhhhh! Stop!"

Suddenly knocking came from their hotel door causing both boys to freeze in place and fall silent. Athrun realized how suggestive their position looked and blushed heatedly, quickly wriggling out from underneath Kira, smoothing out his hair and clothes. "Umm… I'll get it," he said, quickly heading for the door.

An extra happy pink-haired girl was at the door, smiling innocently at the slightly disheveled blunette. "Umm, what is it?" he asked.

"Oh, Cagalli just sent me over to wake you two up." She stood on her toes and looked past Athrun's shoulder. "But it looks like that's already been done," she added with a giggle. Athrun blushed and quickly tried to change the subject.

"So… Why did she want us up? Are we going somewhere today?" he asked.

"Well actually, I was wanting to have us all go on an exciting shopping adventure today!" She giggled once more, clapping her hands together. "She said that if I wanted to go so bad then I had to come wake you up myself… But that's okay. I wanted to get an early start," she added.

Athrun sighed, rubbing his eyes. "Well when do you want us to be ready?"

"Oh, as soon as possible. Cagalli and I are going down to the lobby in about 15 minutes. So meet us down there when you're ready, okay?"

"Sure…" Athrun replied.

"Okay! We'll see you then!" Lacus smiled back and happily went off to return to her room.

Shutting the door, Athrun looked back at Kira who had moved into a sitting position on the bed. "So what's the deal?" Kira asked.

"Well, they want us to get dressed and meet them in the lobby in about 15 minutes. I guess we'd better get going or they'll end up harassing us later," said Athrun, smiling humorously.

Kira laughed and ran his hands through his messy brown hair.

-About 15 minutes later-

"Well it's been fifteen minutes and I don't see them anywhere. They were the ones who wanted to do this so shouldn't they be the ones to get here first?" Kira proclaimed, slightly irritated.

Athrun couldn't help but laugh at this side of Kira. He was kind of cute when angry… "Don't worry about it Kira. They shouldn't be much longer…"

Kira huffed and crossed his arms, glancing at his friend and then the elevator doors. Just then the doors opened, and out came Lacus and Cagalli. Lacus took a quick look around and spotted Kira and Athrun, waving and running over to them. Cagalli followed the pink-haired girl closely behind and slung her arm around Kira's neck. "What's up guys?"

Annoyed, Kira pushed her arm off him. "What took you guys so long? Weren't you supposed to get here first?"

"Oh…" Cagalli smiled nervously, secretly glaring at Lacus. "Lacus couldn't decide what to wear…"

Everyone looked towards Lacus and she blushed, laughing nervously also. "Well that's what we're going shopping for, right?"

Cagalli rolled her eyes. "Well let's get going then. I wanna go early before the stores get too crowded."

And their day of shopping consisted of hours in only one store at a time and a very picky Lacus who could never decide what to buy and had to make numerous laps around the stores, analyzing every article of clothing in the building closely and carefully. It got to a point where they had to keep telling her which ones to pick and make up excuses to get out of the store and to save the pink-haired one less uncertainty. She ended up buying about ten or more outfits, Cagalli with a few shirts and cargo pants, and Kira and Athrun with nothing at all so far.

"Well I think we're done, but Kira and Athrun haven't bought anything yet…" said Lacus.

"Well that's because most of the stores we've been to are girl stores," Kira replied.

Cagalli glanced at her watch and grinned. "Well most of the stores here are open for about fifteen more minutes. We have enough time to run you two into some shops…"

"Yeah! Let's hurry then!" said Lacus, grabbing the boys' hands and dragging them behind her.

They traveled the outlet mall together with little time left and in search of a nice stylish men's clothing store. After a few more minutes Lacus stopped in front of a place called "Hybrid" and smiled brightly, pushing the boys inside and following behind them. "We're coming in too to make sure you buy something," she said.

"Why do we need to buy something?" asked Kira.

"Just look at your wardrobe! Trust me, we're doing you a favor," commented the blonde. Kira scoffed at her in response and Cagalli laughed at her brother mockingly.

"Let's just get this over with. I don't want to be stuck when the place closes," said Athrun.

Lacus nodded and began to search the store, picking out various shirts and pants and handing them to Kira and Athrun. She happened to walk by an organized glass case of different kinds of men's underwear and couldn't help but take a quick peek. She began bubbling with giggles when she found a particular garment and held it up to Kira. "Hey Kira, what do you think of this?" She held up a black, leather thong and continued laughing.

"Lacus!" A blushing Athrun turned Lacus away from Kira and told her to put it back immediately.

Cagalli and even Kira, though he was blushing slightly, began to laugh also.

"Uhh, let's just hurry. We're running out of time," stated Athrun, who was still trying to hide his red cheeks.

"Okay, okay. Let's just pick out a few more things and then you can go try them on." Cagalli helped Lacus find more clothes for the boys and pushed them towards the changing rooms.

"Are you sure we're going to have enough time to try ALL of this on?" asked Kira, trying to balance the pile of clothes he was holding.

"Oh, of course! Just go," Lacus said, shoving them inside.

"Have fun!" Cagalli remarked jokingly.

As Kira and Athrun stepped into the dressing room entrance, they began looking for open stalls and unfortunately only one open stall was in sight.

"Umm… There's only one available Kira…" Athrun commented nervously.

Kira glanced at his watch. "And we've only got about seven minutes left…"

Athrun looked back to the exit. "We can't escape from them either…"

Kira shrugged and suddenly grabbed Athrun's hand, causing him to blush once again. "Oh well, let's just share this one and get it over with."

Athrun went in with Kira and gulped dryly. He could feel his face flushed up to his ears as they entered the stall together and shut the door. Kira had immediately started stripping in order to finish trying on all the clothes Lacus and Cagalli picked out for him. As Kira undressed, he accidentally bumped and brushed against Athrun doing so, causing the blunette to become even more flushed.

"Umm, Sorry Athrun…" Kira commented when he nudged Athrun in the ribs by accident. "D-don't worry about it Kira," Athrun replied. Athrun secretly watched Kira's half-naked form as the brunette dressed into the other outfits. He watched his toned muscles flex on his shoulders and back as Kira moved about. "I've got to stop doing this… I don't want Kira thinking I'm a perv…" Athrun thought, beginning to take off his own clothes. Both boys happened to bend in the same direction, causing their forearms to brush against one another. They glanced at each other briefly before quickly going back to changing.

Kira turned back to Athrun. "What do you think?" he asked, dressed in a formal black, collared shirt with quarter-length sleeves and some nicely fit faded jeans. "Ummm, it looks good on you…" Athrun replied, trying as best he could to hide the growing blush on his face. Kira smiled and then went back to trying on the rest of his clothing. Athrun turned away from Kira to change his pants and out of nerves, he accidentally slipped when he tried to pull them off his ankles and fell backwards into Kira, the older boy catching him in his arms. "Are you okay?" Kira asked, chuckling afterwards. Athrun's face felt like it was on fire. For a moment he couldn't even find the guts to speak, but pulled away from Kira, grabbing a new pair of pants and quickly pulling them on while trying not to fall again. "I'm fine, I just… Lost balance…" he said meekly.

The boys finally finished trying on all their clothes with a couple minutes to spare. They changed back into their regular clothes and exited the dressing rooms with the new clothes piled up messily in their arms.

"Done?" Cagalli asked.

Kira nodded in response and Lacus smiled, gathering Kira's clothes from his arms. "Let's go hurry up and pay then we can leave," she said.

Athrun sighed in relief, exhausted from the long day. Once they finished paying for their clothes, they left the outlet mall with various sizes and shapes of shopping bags, Lacus with the most, and began on their way to their hotel a few blocks away. On their way back Lacus did most of the talking as usual, as the other three played the "smile and nod" game. Occasionally Cagalli would poke fun at her brother, who would retaliate with a few comebacks. Athrun found the siblings' quarreling rather tiresome… Which made him feel even more exhausted.

Finally, Athrun felt relief wash over him when he was back in the comfort of their room. He sighed and dropped his bags by the closet, heading over to the very inviting bed. He let himself fall lazily onto the soft mattress face-first and smiled, grabbing for a pillow and snuggling closely to it. Behind him, he heard the laughter of his best friend.

"Tired much?" Kira asked, setting his bags down and starting to take off his clothes. Athrun was too tired to even reply as his eyelids felt so heavy he could barely keep them open. Suddenly he felt an extra weight set on the mattress that was his friend in nothing but his boxers. Snapping his half-lidded eyes wide open, Athrun blushed and sat upright, glancing at Kira nervously.

"What's wrong?" Kira asked, lying on his back with his hands drawn behind his head.

Athrun tried to remain calm and hide his embarrassment. "Oh, it's nothing. I just get jumpy when I fight sleep…" he lied. When he was trying to fight sleep, a foghorn wouldn't even phase him. It was just Kira… He seemed to posses a special ability that could throw all of Athrun's senses out of whack at any time.

"Umm, you don't mind me sleeping like this do you? I feel more comfortable this way," Kira said.

"No, it's no big deal. We're best friends, it's not like we haven't done this before…" Athrun replied, feeling slightly more embarrassed having sounded a bit too straightforward. Kira smiled and sighed, looking towards the flashing green digits on the clock beside him. "It's only 10. Do you want to watch some TV or something?" Kira stated.

"You can if you want, I think I'll just lay here and try to relax a little," Athrun replied.

Kira turned his head and laughed. "Aren't you going to change first?"

Athrun looked down his own body, which was still dressed in the attire he wore for the entire day. "Oh… I guess I should then," Athrun responded, chuckling lightly. He got up off the mattress and pulled off his shirt, deciding that there was really no need to be changing in the bathroom with just Kira around. "Right… Just Kira…" He grabbed a fresh nightshirt and put it on, changing his pants last and replacing them with some loose-fitting shorts. He looked around the floor and saw all their clothes from the week scattered on the floor, deciding it was probably time to start cleaning up a little. He walked around the room and grabbed various shirts and pants, both his and Kira's and dumped them into the hamper to be washed later on.

After clearing the floor of dirty clothes, he returned to his side of the bed and slipped underneath the covers, making himself comfortable and sighing contently. He felt his eyelids slowly flutter shut as the idea of sleep tempted his mind. Kira turned off the TV after several minutes later and turned the lights off. "Good night Athrun…"

By this time, Athrun was already too engulfed by sleep to even hear Kira speaking.

A pair of emerald green eyes became unveiled in the dark room when something caused him to awaken from his sleep. Athrun had no idea what time it was now or how long he'd been asleep for, but he thought he'd felt something grab him. After a few minutes of nothing, he concluded that he probably just had a bad dream and it was all in his head. He closed his eyes again and tried to fall back asleep, until he felt a body press against his back. Athrun gasped lightly and opened his eyes wide. He tried to scoot away from Kira, but an arm wrapped around his body and pulled him back.

Athrun heard Kira mumble something incoherent under his breath and decided his friend must have been having a dream. He held still to see if Kira would stop or turn over, but the older boy remained clasped around the blunette. This time Kira's arm moved, but not off of Athrun. Instead, his hand moved down Athrun's body and clutched at his shirt while Kira mumbled something again which Athrun couldn't make out.

The blunette gulped. What was Kira dreaming?

"Ath… nn…" Kira moved against Athrun again, making more noises than before. Athrun felt blood rush up to his face and ears when Kira's hand went up his shirt and brushed against his skin, causing Athrun to make an odd squeak. By now, Athrun's heart was beating fast and loudly in his ears and his breathing was quickening also.

Kira's hand moved further south and landed on Athrun's crotch, groping it lazily. Athrun exhaled loudly and when Kira's hand and arm withdrew, he hurriedly scampered off the bed and found his way to the bathroom, opening the door and locking himself inside after turning on the light by the shower so it wouldn't wake Kira. He let himself slide down the wall and land on the floor on his bum, panting heavily.

"Kira… He just… But…" Athrun's mind was racing through thoughts which dizzied him. He let his head fall back against the wall and placed a hand over his forehead, which felt hot. "I must be dreaming… This all seems too unreal to comprehend…" Athrun looked down and noticed a bulge in his shorts. "This isn't happening… What if Kira finds me like this?" Athrun sighed and tried to let himself calm down. "A dream. Kira was just having a dream." After his mind cooled down more, there was still heat concentrating in his southern region. Athrun bit his lip.

"How can you do this to me…"

A/N: Ta-da! I actually did it! So? Was my re-attempt a complete failure? Was Kira really dreaming of Athrun? Are Athrun's feelings for Kira finally official? Will Rei stop asking you questions? All your questions will be answered with a simple review! Well, maybe not ALL your questions… If you're wondering about the meaning of life I can't help you there… Wait, I know the meaning of life! To read and write wonderful fanfiction! (Okay maybe that's a bit exaggerating…)