So, I got back from Ottawa Tues night and have had tons of fun fixing my sleeping schedule (not). So this chapter is a bit later then I wanted to be, sorry! But as an added bonus of waiting so long for it, it's extra long! Haha. This is the 2nd last chapter. ONE more after this. So without anymore delays, here it is!

PS. as Fate Camiswhil so nicely pointed out last chapter, it is PTSD (Post-traumatic stress disorder). I got a little to eager with the backspace.

Torment

Chapter Ten

Athrun sighed as he twisted the key in it's lock. The outside weather was truly terrible today. In the span it took him to arrive home, it had went from a sunny cloudless day to a pouring rain. Although it was typical for fall, he hated the complete change in the matter of minutes. The front door creaked as he pushed it open, walking into the entrance way as he did so. He immediately noticed the empty study, the blonde must of been out herself. Then again with the rain she was probably upstairs, not wanting to go out in the poor weather. He found it odd she wasn't burying herself in work to preoccupy herself. The rain was still a threatening presence for Cagalli. It was like a crowbar trying to pry loose everything she tried so hard to keep control of. Tossing his shoes to the side, he made his way towards the basement door. The sudden loud creak behind him revealing the whereabouts of the blonde.

"No hi?" he said casually as he made his way down the stairs, expecting her to follow after. She'd always stayed close whenever it rained, it was as if he was an umbrella to her. He didn't mind it though, her presence gave him as much of piece of mind as he did to her. Although in all honesty he was coming to like the blonde quiet alot.

"Where were you?" she said curiously, following a few footsteps behind him.

"Job interview" he stated boredly. Placing his bag on the bed before disappearing to the bathroom to grab himself a towel to dry off.

"Did you get the job?" Cagalli said, a light hint of interest hiding behind her question. He entered the room to find the blonde leaning against the doorway, watching him intently.

"Yea, hired on the spot. I start in a week though" Athrun said, closely watching the blonde. Something didn't seem right here. She had one arm hidden behind her back, different from the usual arms crossed over her chest. He could always spot the smallest of changes in her behaviour. "What happened?"

"What do you mean?" she said, almost instantly averting her eyes from his own. She was definitely up to something.

"If I didn't know any better, you're hiding something" he said, slowly closing the distance between the two of them. The blonde took a defensive step back, pursing her lips at the statement. "You're hand?" It was just like a small kid trying to hide the truth from their parents, it was rather adorable. She withdrew her arm, holding it up for him to see. He'd guessed right. Athrun sighed at the discovery, her hand was bleeding. "How did this happen?"

"I may have fallen with a glass in my hand" the blonde said as she continued to stare down at the floor, her features showing nothing but shame. He ran a hand through his hair, brushing it from his face. He should've known this was bound to happen. It was a side effect of the rain, an intoxicating trance almost. She was slowly becoming increasingly more clumsy, clouded by the many thoughts the rain provoked. Up until this point it was just relatively minor injuries, scrapes and bruises from walking into things. This was the first time that blood had been drawn. She was really beginning to worry about him.

"Let me have a closer look at it" he said, pointing over towards the lamp. The blonde sighed as she made her way over to the bed, flopping down on it. She wasn't too happy about the situation either. He examined it closely as she held it under the light.

"You shouldn't need stitches, but you still have glass in it" Athrun said as he walked back into the bathroom before quickly returning with a small first aid kit. Cagalli was now laying on her back, staring at the ceiling deep in thought as he approached her.

"Your hand" he said, taking a seat beside her. She sighed once again, she didn't like being so helpless. She couldn't bring herself to tell Kira, he'd simply just make a big deal out it. Sure he was her brother, but there was no need to worry him. Luckily she had Athrun. He fumbled with the box as he tried to find the pair of tweezers, one hand obviously wasn't too productive as the other one gently held her own hand in place.

"They're in a black case" she said, as if to read his mind. Within seconds he found them, quickly extracting them . The blonde could see him carefully work out of the corner of her eyes from where she laid. Athrun was quite the guy, far different from when she first met him. He had a good brain on him. Not so much a people person much like herself, although he was always there if you needed him. "Ow!"

"Sorry, it was a bit deeper then I thought" he said softly, quickly applying some gauze to stop the bleeding. She frowned at the situation once again. Just the though of having nothing was enough to make her crumble like paper. She remembered he too had once been in the exact same place aswell. Although his senses had already returned, while hers were still trying to escape the all-consuming fog. The light hum of rain could be heard outside as it continued to pound away at the sides of the house. "What wrong?" the blue haired man said, noticing the change of expression. Always so quick to pick up on the slightest of change.

"How'd you do it" Cagalli said, using the uninjured hand to brush the stray hairs from her face. He tilted his head slightly in confusion at the vague question. "I mean, what made you change your mind all of a sudden back 'there'" He paused for a moment while he tried to understand what she was getting at.

"Oh, uh...I'm not too sure myself to be honest" he said, glancing down at her. The question kind of took him off guard, she wasn't usually this personal. "It just kind of happened. I'm sorry I can't really answer that too well"

"Go figure" she said with a loud exhale. It was one of those things that if it happened, it happened. Could be years at this rate. He could understand the frustration behind the question. Atleast she was smart enough to challenge the emotions, while he merely submitted to everything. Loosing himself in the whirl of emotion. A small chuckle escaped from him as he looked away in utter embarrassment.

"Sorry, I just wasn't expecting the question" Athrun said, once again resuming his work. Although he could see from his peripherals that she was still glaring. "Almost done" he promised as he continued to remove the small shards. The blonde face flushed red with embarrassment, it was kind of unlike her she had to admit. Then again he slipped too. That was the first time he smiled since she'd met him. Small subtle change were slowly happening, and they were slowly becoming more noticible. She pursed her lips at the thought. It would be best to stay quiet for now.

By the time Athrun dressed the wound the blonde was sound asleep. The lullaby of rain being incredibly intoxicating. He sighed in contentedness as he packed away the remains of the first aid kit. She looked so peaceful in her slumber. So free of the overshadowing past. Clicking the light off, he headed upstairs. Leaving Cagalli to sleep. Slowly he could really feel himself become more and more attached to her by the day. He sighed at the thought, he really liked her. Although she was dealing with more then enough at the moment. There was no need to complicate things for her any further.

XXX

Weeks passed by incredibly fast for Athrun as he slowly eased himself back into work. It started off easy enough in eight hour shifts but after his months probation, he got the full workload. Averaging 80 hours a week. Usually on shifts lasting as long as 36hours. It was pretty brutal to say the least, but it was a change that he welcomed. Sighing, he flopped down on his bed. Sleep would be great right about now. He was coming up on almost a full two days without sleep. The following 24hours were to himself and his bed. Closing his eyes, he let his mind drift. He wondered what the blonde had been up to the previous few days, hopefully all was well.

A loud thud was heard on the floor above him. He opened his eyes, staring at the ceiling above him. It was as if to see through it to see what happened. The blonde must of taken a tumble. The mere thought worried him. Although she was slowly getting better with the clumsiness over the last few weeks, there was still the occasional mishap. He looked over the clock, glowing in the rooms darkness.

4:53AM

His eye twitched at the new information. What was the blonde even doing up at this hour. It was probably best to go check on her. It would make for a good excuse to get caught up with her in the least. He slowly pushed himself upright, groggily swinging his legs over the side of the bed. Taking a moment to rub the tiredness from his eyes.

Another loud thud and a bone rattling shatter of glass was heard, followed by another softer thud shortly after. It honestly sounded like all hell was breaking loose upstairs. A surge of panic hit him, adrenaline instantly waking up every tired muscle. Before he knew it, he was on his feet, jumping the stairs four at a time. That didn't sound like someone falling at all. Something wasn't right.

"Cagalli!" he called, as he reached top of the stairs. The house was now eerily quiet, only adding to his anxiety. Shattered glass was scattered all over the kitchen floor, but the blonde was nowhere to be seen. There was not a sound to be heard aside from footsteps as he made his way room to room. "Cagalli!"

His call-out once again went unanswered, and it was obvious that there wasn't anyone on this level of the house. Making his way up the second flight of stairs he tried his luck once again. "Cagalli!" It was once again met with silence. He quickly checked the few remaining rooms. It was like she'd disappeared off the face of the earth. Darker thoughts loomed in the background of his mind. Did someone take her? They couldn't of possibly came back to tie up the loose end. It'd been months now, it seemed so unlikely. Yet the possibility was looking to be more and more likely as he checked the last remaining rooms. His heart throbbed against the inside of his chest, unable to manage itself in all the chaos. A small shadow could be seen coming from the bathroom. He slowed down his steps, cautiously approaching. Why wasn't she answering?

"Athrun, is that you?" came the blondes voice, as he reached the bathroom door. The sudden relief felt like it knocked all the air from his lungs. Although the panic subside it was soon replace with anger. No doubt the lack of sleep making him cranky.

"You can't answer?" he said, coming off rather upset.

"I didn't hear anything" she called from the other side of the door. The tap running loudly in the background. He sighed, just a scare. "Why are you so mad" It was obvious in the tone of voice. Athrun stayed silent, hiding behind the opposite side of the door in the darkness. That disappeared when the blonde opened the door, looking at him curiously. He'd panic at the thought of her disappearance. He cared so much for her. It was obvious that he was really beginning to fall for her. Calming down after this wasn't all too easy either. He was really upset at the needless worry.

"Yes you are" she said, taking another step forward so that mere inches was all the at separated them. She looked into his eyes, she knew something was up. The closeness created a growing tension between the two of them. Athrun looked back into her eyes, between everything that had happen he simply just wanted to hold her and never let her go. Never wanting to lose her. It didn't take much for him to worry about her. She was precious and he really didn't want to lose her. There were feelings, and he could do little to suppress them. Without thinking he leaned down, placing a single chaste kiss on her forehead. In the matter of half a second the bathroom door slammed shut, leaving him in the darkness of the hallway. It took him a second to take in just what happened. Just what did he do? He raised a hand to knock on the door, before pulling it back. How could he possibly explain any of this? His head pounded at the situation, he might have just destroyed the one good thing he had going for him.

"Shit" he murmured. Maybe it would best to actually think before doing anything further. He sighed again, deciding it would be best to retreat before he could do anymore damage. Retreating down the stairs, he stuck on his shoes. Fresh air would be great to clear his mind, sleep would be impossible in his current state. He closed the door softly behind him not wanting to draw any attention to himself. Hiding was the only thing he wanted to do.

The cool night air was an instant refresher for his tired self. It was still incredibly dark out. Although you could see the horizon glowing along the edges, it wasn't too long till sunrise. Athrun made his way down the street, pondering his thoughts as he went. He couldn't understand why he behaved that way. It was tempting to almost go back to work to sleep, he was scared to see the fallout of his actions.

She could kick him to curb, but it wasn't that thought that bothered him the most. He had lost the chance at ever learning more about the blonde, her mysterious behaviours. Her endless well of strength and decisiveness that were ever so slowly drawing him in. The loss opportunity stung in his chest. What he'd do just to be around her again, it seemed so impossible. Why couldn't he just of been patient? He just jumped from friendship to god know where in a single instant without thinking. There were so many better ways he could of gone about it.

Looking around him, he found himself standing in a small park. He made his way over to nearest bench, deciding to hide there until he could come up with the next plan of action. Things could never be simple. He tugged on the ends of his hair in frustration. Why? Why? Why? What the hell was he thinking. It all seemed so irrational of him, so unlike him. The lack of sleep must have been getting to him.

A loud crack of thunder rumbled above, as if to roar in anger at him. A moment later rain started to pour in buckets, drenching everything seconds. He sighed, nothing wanted to go right for him today.

"Perfect" he said, looking up up at the sky as if to glare it into submission. The weather only furthered him in his self pity. Another loud sigh, what to do now. He'd end up sick if he stayed out to long. Maybe he could sneak back in and grab his things and head off to work. He was such a coward, but he wanted to salvage what he could. So he'd deal with the situation after a good nights rest.

He slowly made his way back to the house, drenched to the bone as rain continued to pour mercilessly. His eyes were drawn to a large dark mass on top of stairs, that definitely wasn't there when he'd left earlier. Maybe some garbage got kicked up in the wind and landed there. Upon closer inspection it was someone oppose to something. Reaching the stop of the stairs he looked down at the blonde. He frowned at the sight, she was just as soaked as he was, her eyes seemingly lost behind a veil of confusion. Was she waiting for him? She laid motionlessly still in his presence.

"I-I'm so sor-"

"I'm crazy" she said softly, barely audible over the hum of rain. He raised an eyebrow, the blonde was so strange and yet so intriguing at same time. Though it made little sense to why she was out in such terrible weather.

"You should go inside" Athrun said, avoiding going into too much of a conversation with her. Space would be the best thing for both of them. Or so he thought.

"I thought I was just imagining things so I stayed quiet, but it's simply crazy" Cagalli said, now looking straight up at Athrun. She was expressionless, he couldn't tell what she was thinking. Angry. Sad. Happy. There was no telling. Just where was she going with this? Another loud clash of thunder rumbled overhead, as a single strike of lightning tore the sky in two. "I'm falling for my kidnapper. It's crazy. I can't even trust myself to do right thing and yet I trust you" she said softly, carefully choosing her words one by one. "I'm so broken. I can hardly make my own decisions and I don't even know if what I'm thinking right now is even coherent in all the confusion. I don't know what to do..."

"It's fine, there's no need to rush" Athrun said gently, her response wasn't one he expected. "I'm really sorry though. I'm probably not helping. I didn't mean too, I wasn't thinking..." he stuttered, he wasn't too sure what to say. There was so much running though his head. Another growl of thunder roared overhead. "We should go inside"

"You apologise alot" she said, once again ignoring what he was saying. He frowned, she wasn't addressing him at all now. "I'm not mad you know..." As if to address his thoughts.

"It's fine. There's time, no need to rush" he said softly. Maybe things weren't so bad after-all. He could wait, it could be salvaged as long as he had patience. Which shouldn't be a problem. A huge weight felt like it'd been lifted off his shoulders. He still had a chance, a home. Someone. "Cmon, lets get out of the rain" holding out a hand for her. She looked at it for a moment, before reaching to grab it. In one graceful movement he pulled her to her feet. He could see her watch him from the corner of his eye, almost as if she was evaluating him.

"Stop apologising so much" she said frowning, it was apparent that it bothered her. Out of everything that had happened in the last few hours, it was that what she was most upset about. She walked past him swinging open the door before pausing for a brief moment. He tilted his head in confusion, what else did she have to say?

"Your hand" she said, jerking her head in the direction. He had yet to let go.

"Oh... Sor-.." he caught himself before he said it. Immediately releasing her hand, his returning limply to his side.

"Oh and Athrun" she said pausing once again. "I appreciate it, everything really. Thank you" A small smile accompanied her words. Without another word she was gone, leaving him amongst the pouring rain as everything she said sunk in. He couldn't help but laugh. After everything that had happened it ended completely different from how he imagined. The blonde once again surprised him, just as unpredictable as ever. He was intrigued by her in so many ways and it was that mystique that continued to draw him in. He ran a hand through his hair, slicking it back out of his face. All he had to do was wait.

XXX

Another month passed and Athrun found himself being ever so tormented by the growing feelings. Even though he worked 80hour weeks, it did little to ease the growing uneasiness. It was becoming torturous to him now, waiting was becoming increasing harder by the day. It wouldn't be so hard if he didn't have to see her in his every spare moment outside of work.

He sighed at the dilemma. Even after a 36hour shift he laid wide awake as his brain continued to whirl in uncontemptment. There had to be a way to make it stop. Who would have known being patient was so difficult. As much as she was slowly recovering, he would wait for her to make the first move. Anything else seem to be overly forceful on his part. He looked up at the ceiling upon hearing the light thud of footsteps above him. Cagalli must of just gotten home. She was out earlier when he returned home. He rolled over on his side, glancing at the clock. 7:36PM.

His stomach growled as he rolled back over on the bed. Maybe some food would help ease his chaotic state of his mind. Rhythmatic thumps were heard as the blonde came downstairs. He could see through the open door as she juggled the basket of dirty clothes and detergents at the end of the hallway.

"Your still up?" she called from where she stood, noticing that the light was still on.

"Yeup" he said, disappointment very apparent in his tone. Oh how he would like to hide in crevasse of slumberland. He was constantly tired. His brain never seemed to calm down enough to get a good nights rest. Even when he could sleep, it never seem to be enough.

"I was thinking of ordering out, you hungry?" she said as she slammed the washer door shut. Athrun pulled himself upright, weighing the option. It was so odd, it was like they were roomates. Torturous, inescapable of everything. The friendzone as they called it, truly a terrible thing. His mouth dropped as a sudden thought hit him. Maybe he could ease the feelings, and give her some of the space without burdening her.

"Actually, I want to talk to you" he said, jumping to his feet.

"What is it?" she said, now leaning against the doorway watching him intently. She was interested in what he had to say.

"I'm moving out"

There it is! So much easier to write when you have so much thinking time (long flights ftw). Speaking of which, one of the flights was in the middle of the night and it was f-king amazing. The clouds get really iridescent so they glow, and the sky is dark with like thousands of stars. So it felt like you were just gliding over water in some magical place. It was really something, totally something I didn't see before (blame city life, har har).

BUTTT back to the story. BA-BA-BA-DUNNN... /dramatic music. Crushing all your hopes.

Until the next chapter, peace! (Might be a bit longer then the usual two days as I got school work to get caught up on. But you never know. Will be out by Wednes at the latest)