Theme song is Close to the Sun by Guano Apes

Edited by Hall1990

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam SEED/Destiny

AN: Yeah, feel free to shoot me. Just remember that if I die – this story won't be finished!

Murphy's Law

Chapter 21: So beautiful, before the fall

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It would be nice to say that the black Impala was breaking all the traffic rules and speeding into the setting sun and future promise of pleasure but… big, fat nope. The coolest car on this planet was stuck in the middle of a traffic jam.

Athrun wasn't really bothered; he was a patient man after all. He just kept drumming his fingers on the steering wheel and humming with the growling vocalist, noting with a hint of satisfaction that all cars kept some distance from the Impala. Not death metal fans, probably.

Suckers.

But the music was not loud enough to drown out Cagalli's burst of laughter. She put her head on the backrest, with her eyes shut and mouth wide open, making some strange noises that reminded Athrun of a suffocating vacuum cleaner. When she finally stopped laughing, she paused the music, removed pink earplugs from her ears and pointed at a book she was reading.

"Athrun, I need to read something to you. Listen – "

"Torolf," Hilda moaned, her lush teats straining with desire. "I need you." Torolfs coarse abs pulsing softly in the moonlight, stood silently. Hilda looked at him expectantly.
"Oh, sorry," she added. "Torolf, I need you – sexually." (1)

Cagalli ended dramatically and burst out laughing again, this time tears running down her face.

"Why are you reading this shit?" Athrun asked and shifted his sunglasses.

"To write a super trashing and sarcastic opinion on Goodreads, duh." Then she looked at him and he knew he was in trouble. "Say, Blueberry. Why we don't dirty talk like that?" Cagalli asked seductively with gleaming eyes.

"Erm, because I can't force my abs to pulse softy?"

Cagalli chuckled. "Good one!" Then she put back her earplugs, played the music and returned to her book. She used his medical examination (all clear!) as a bookmark.

Athrun sighed softly.

They haven't flirted because she would simply die from laughter at his pathetic attempt to flirt, that's it.

Suddenly, Cagalli stole his glasses and put them on her nose. She grinned sweetly when he glared at her and returned to her book. Athrun rolled his eyes but then smirked a little.

They were so different. He was music, she was literature and yet, they were simply a perfect combination.

Flay was staring speechlessly at the picture on the screen.

For the last few days Mir was teasing on her twitter account "a picture that will break Internet". Today the time has come.

Flay was staring at the picture for the last five minutes, almost unblinking. She was looking at two naked chests… Ok, ONE naked chest. One naked and very wet chest. God must have hated her, because Mu Freaking La Flaga had a damned six pack.

"Ok, Allster…" She saved the picture. "You're totally…" Flay opened Photoshop. "Not…" She cropped Mu from it. "Obsessed." She saved it and put it as the wallpaper on her cell phone. "Yup."

She nodded and banged her head on the table.

"Fuck. I'm obsessed."

"A cabin? More like a damned castle." Athrun whistled, leaning on the Impala's door.

"You think?" Cagalli took out two big bags from the trunk and looked at the wooden house with furrowed brows. "It looks quite ordinary too me."

Athrun said nothing. Just stared at the single-story, spacious polished cabin that was literally sparkling in the setting sun glow. This place was at least two times bigger than his house. And ten time more luxurious.

"There is no fountain?" He asked innocently, when she took out a third bag from the Impala.

"Ha, ha, ha." Cagalli rolled her eyes, fished out keys from her pocket and gave him one. "Here, you can park in the garage. Then take these two bags inside." She hung the third bag on her shoulder.

Athrun slowly raised a brow. "We are going to spend a weekend here, and you need three bags of clothes?" He seriously didn't expect that.

"It's food, you dumbass. I told Mana I needed to spend some time alone and learn Math, so she prepared homemade dishes." Cagalli pointed the two bags on the ground and Athrun wondered how much she ate while learning.

"And this one?" He looked at the smaller bag hanging from her shoulder.

"Not your fucking business." She growled and headed to the cabin. "Move your ass, I'm hungry."

"Yes, ma'am." He sighed and tried to lift the bags. "Ugh!" They were heavy as hell. They would have to really, really make some effort to burn the calories.

Heh!

All that Aisha wanted to do, after she had kicked Lena and her husband out of the house to the swimming pool, was to sit with her detoxing green tea, watch 345 episodes of Sinful Desires and see how Manuela beat the crap out of that lying and cheating ass, Jose.

One thing that she didn't expect (or want) was a doorbell in the middle of the episode. She growled, took sleeping Moth from her knees and stood up.

"If it's a Jehovah's Witness, I'm calling Adam." She muttered grumpily and opened the door.

Once again, she was surprised.

"He's not at home." She blurted out after a few, stunned moments of silence.

"I know, I want to talk to you." Said Patrick Zala, without looking her in the eyes.

Like he always did.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, wearing only his boxers, Athrun Zala was wondering if falling on his knees and begging would be an unacceptable blow to his male ego. He was seriously considering the idea.

After a big, big lunch, the time for burning calories had finally come. He was prepared in 5 minutes. On the other hand, Cagalli entered the bathroom, shut the door and refused to come out until finishing her preparations.

That was a fucking hour ago.

"Cagalli." He started patiently, mentally patting himself on the back because there was no sound of desperation in his voice. "Can you come out?"

"I don't think it's a good idea." She answered flatly after few seconds.

"Why?"

"You're going to laugh."

"I'm not."

"Yes, you are."

Athrun hid his face in his hands. "I promise, I won't laugh." This time his voice trembled with desperation.

There was a moment of silence. "Ugh, I don't really feel comfortable right now."

The blue head moaned. Ok, fuck his pride.

"Cagalli, I beg you, please come out."

Silence.

"Alright. But if you laugh, you're sleeping on the couch." She growled and finally, FINALLY, he heard the doors creak.

Athrun sighed and stood up. What the hell was suddenly wrong with this woman? If she thought her clothes made her look fat or something he swore to God, he was going to… he was going to… do something! Didn't she know she looked great in everything, even in a freaking baggy T-shirt and he would…

He immediately forgot what he wanted to do when the doors opened and his wild cat came out. And his jaw felt down to his knees.

She was wearing a black, lace corset, black garters and fishnet stockings.

"I think my boobs look strange now, don't you think?" She said with furrowed brows. She put both hands on her breasts and squeezed them a little.

Athrun was unable to think at that moment, he just swallowed hardly. He stared at her like at Venus, who just came out from the sea in her all beauty and glory.

Cagalli looked at him and, of course, totally wrongly interpreted his facial expression.

"Oh God, I knew it was a bad idea! Sorry, give me a minute and I - "She almost closed the door.

Athrun, whose brain had finally unfroze, howled, almost forced the door, caught her, scooped her into his arms and threw her to the bed.

He didn't let her out of it for a long, long time.

After all, a man's patience had limits.

Athrun Zala was not a cuddling person. He also didn't like when people were invading his personal space (Lena and Moth were excluded).

But lying with his head on her stomach and her slim hand slowly caressing his hair… Damn, he could get used to this.

But of course nothing lasts forever.

"So." Cagalli started cheerfully and he cringed internally. "Any idea why Kira has changed his behavior and acts almost normal, around you for the last few days?"

"You tell me." He sighed. "Grandpa, refused to say a thing about your meeting. He only said I should beat the crap out of any pretty boy that sticks to your side."

Cagalli chuckled. The meeting with Adam Zala was glorious. The way the old man was sweet for her and grumpy for Kira was awesome. It was the first time she witnessed Kira's charm fail. He sat silently, almost trembling and responding only with monosyllables.

"Maybe he wants to be friends with you again?" She scraped his nape and he purred into her stomach.

"Or maybe it's a part of an evil plan to get into your pants." He sighed.

"Oh… You're not worried, mister?"

"Nope. I veni, vidi, vici you after all (2)." Athrun said sincerely. "But should I?" He added after few heart beats.

"After today? No, I don't think so."

"I believe you." He said simply, without thinking.

Her hand stopped for a moment.

"Smooth, Zala, smooth." Cagalli said and he heard warmth in her voice. "So, what we should talk about now? Hmm."

Call him a psychic, but Athrun had a bad feeling about it.

"You trust me, I should too. So, how about talking about Maya?"

Athrun slowly opened his eyes. "I prefer to admire the view of your beautiful naked breasts." He said sincerely, looking at the two precious things that were centimeters away from his face.

Cagalli chuckled. "Ok, we don't have to."

The blue head sighed in relief and closed his eyes again.

"We don't have to, but if we won't I might get the wrong impression that something is there and it could create some trust issues in my head." She said cheerfully and scarily all at the same time. Cagalli was THAT good.

Athrun opened his eyes and looked at her face, hidden behind her breasts. Her facial expression was smug as hell. Fuck. He just walked into a trap.

"What about Ahmed?" He blurted out his last resort. "Shouldn't I feel threatened?"

"Glad you asked!" She beamed and he blinked confused. "What do you want to know? Oh, Ahmed, sweet boy, my first big love, right after Johnny Depp!" She blabbered happily. "I lost my virginity to him. The sex was maybe not that great, we were inexperienced kids after all, but he gave my first orga –"

"Ok, ok, ok! I surrender!" Athrun growled and raised his body. Then he crashed himself on her side and she faced him, with a devilish smile.

"You're an awful human being, you know that?" He sighed and put a lock of blonde hair behind her ear.

"Guilty." She grinned.

Athrun furrowed his brows, thinking hard. Something with her felt… off. The "special treatment" he got from her an hour before. The way she dressed. He wasn't complaining; he was FAR from it, but… It was not exactly how he imagined this weekend and she wasn't acting like her usual self. And now, she wanted to talk about Maya… Wait.

"Do you feel jealous or something?" He chuckled, because it was a ridiculous idea.

"Hmm." Her finger tapped her lips. "She is your first. Also kinda cute, she likes the same awful music you like. And you have a history. Oh, and she kissed your damned cheek at the concert. Gosh, why I should feel threatened?" Cagalli smiled. Like a tigress ready to eat her pray.

Athrun, very wisely, stopped chuckling. "It's seriously over."

"So you should have no problem talking about it." Another murderous grin.

"Let me guess – if not, the couch looks really comfortable?"

"Damned straight!"

Athrun sighed. He couldn't complain because partially he put himself in that mess.

"Do you remember me, from the beginning of freshman year?"

Cagalli squeezed her eyes. "You started wearing your military jacket, that was too big for you, and you always looked like you wanted to beat shit out of the people."

"That time my… father wanted to pretend he cared. He wanted to send me to some super boarding school, but when I refused, he started paying for karate classes, then Chinese language, then some other things. Like it could compensate that he didn't give a shit about me."

"You hated it." Cagalli said flatly.

"I did. But I had to attend them, or he would take me from Aisha and send to that damned boarding school. I needed to attend them, but I was behaving really badly, so they just kicked me out of everything." Athrun smirked, but sighed right after. "But it didn't change the fact I was constantly angry that time. I was like a small nuclear bomb, ready to blow everything around me. I got into fights; I wasted myself with strange people. And then, one morning…"

He was woken up by a headache. Then the stomachache and thirst had come. His ribs throbbed. He felt like he ate a dead dog or something, because the taste in his mouth was horrible. And he was cold… because he had no shirt. How the hell did that happen? And he was stiff as hell. Because…

Athrun slowly opened his eyes. He was shirtless, lying on a… pavement in some dirty alley. It looked like the party didn't end too well for him.

He groaned and turned over to his back. He blinked, because three heads were hovering above him.

"Looks like the sleeping beauty finally woke up." The orange haired head said cheerfully, and for Athrun's hangover, it was too loud.

"Nah, he is a modern Cinderella, he has no shoes." The black haired girl said happily and it was seriously too fucking loud.

Athrun slowly sat and looked at his feet. Indeed, his shoes were missing in action. Was he bothered? Not really – his socks were still there.

Maybe because his hangover was too horrible and all he wanted was to throw up, so after he did, he was dragged without protests by Heine, Maya and a silent guy named Sting to some club. They gave him a T-shirt, they borrowed him shoes and bought a few sandwiches that he was eating in some super speed. But then he realized his wallet was missing too and he could not repay it.

He almost chocked on the last bite of the sandwich and felt how his neck rapidly reddened.

"Yosh! Here drink it, dumbass, or you'll kill yourself." Maya passed him her beer that he drunk, gulping loudly.

He set the empty glass aside and felt his embarrassment slowly turn into anger. How dare they kidnap him from that alley; Lure him to some grim club; Force food in him, knowing he can't pay them back. And now he was in debt. And he hated it.

He glared at them with well deserved hate. But the bartender dropped a tray, the sound hit his poor ears and he groaned, massaging his throbbing head.

Heine smirked a little. "I know you. I saw yesterday how you were fighting with some punks. You can throw some nice punches."

Athrun, the rebel he was at that time, said nothing just glared at Heine.

"He could be a metalhead; he just needs to grow his hair a little more." Maya ruffled his blue locks and laughed when he growled and tried to avoid her hand.

"Stop touching me."

"Oh, good attitude. You fit to our gang, you just need a tattoo."

Wait… Gang? Tattoo?

He slowly looked around, realization knocking his poor head. They were sitting in a dim almost empty club. Some dudes were sitting on the bar, talking to a big tattooed bartender. Some guys were playing pool… They looked like bikers, clothed in black leather jackets with some red logo on the backs and…

Athrun sobered up in a second. They were sitting in the Aegis Club. The main gathering place for the members of the infamous Red Coats biker gang… So these three weirdos were…

Ok, idiot. Play it cool and evacuate your ass as fast as possible.

"Heh, you realized you're screwed." Heine flashed a predatory smile. "Too late, dude. You ate our food, you drank our beer, you are our blood brother now."

Athrun blinked. And then threw up under the table.

"Yikes. And now you threw up on our soil." Maya said and moved away a little. "Definitely you are one of us now."

"Fuck off." Athrun moaned from under the table and threw up again.

"Not until you clean your mess, pal." Heine said cheerfully.

They gave him a mop and he cleaned the floor with clenched teeth, because the motherfrackers were commenting his every move.

"You left some of your DNA under the chair."

"And here. You look cute with that mop, by the way."

He ended cleaning the whole freaking floor, but it felt like paying them back for the food, so it wasn't that bad. Minus the part when the bikers commented they didn't know a new cleaning lady was hired.

"You can keep the shoes!" Heine shouted after him, when Athrun finally finished his humiliation and was heading to the exit.

Athrun said nothing, just showed them his middle finger.

"Come here on Saturday, nice metal band is playing a gig!" Athrun heard before he shut the door behind him.

Saturday. Good joke. Aisha was going to give him a lifelong grounding after this shit.

"What?" Heine asked when the kid disappeared behind the door. "What's with that look?"

Maya smirked. "Seriously, Heine? You adopted another lost puppy to our dysfunctional family?"

"I know nothing about lost puppies." He said with seriousness. "But I recognize a lost kid when I see one."

"Seriously? They're part of Red Coats? No wonder Kira was warning me about you!"

"First of all, Heine and his friends are not a part of the gang. Neither am I. They just stick around the club and are friends with them. Secondly, Red Coats may look scary but they're big teddy bears… Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Nothing. I just recall all the headlines from newspapers about them."

"Hey! The press just looks for cheap sensations! Besides, Red Coats do a lot of good stuff."

"Like?"

"They help as volunteers in the nursing home for veterans. And help in the animal shelter…"

"And beat the crap out of drug dealers."

"It's not a bad thing?"

"Well, no. What about the monthly, bloody fights with Blue Cosmos gang?"

"Erm, Blue Cosmos are racist assholes?"

"Still, they destroy half of the quarter during those battles… At least nobody died so far.'

"…"

"Seriously? God! Maybe we should change the topic. You didn't go to the concert."

"Of course I did. Aisha almost screamed my head off when I showed myself at home and gave me a lifelong grounding but I snuck out through the window."

"But why? You didn't like them."

"Hmm. Good question."

He came to the concert. And then he came again. And again. And suddenly he became a regular guest in Aegis. Why?

Maybe because they didn't judge him, no matter what shit he did. Maybe because they treated him like their equal, even when he was younger than them. Maybe because they allowed him to just sit with them, without saying a word or dragging him to conversations. Maybe because they introduced him to the new world, where he could be simply angry and didn't feel bad about it. The world where he didn't have to start fights, drown his sorrow and anger in alcohol or drugs.

All he needed was to head bang and scream his anger with the crowd of people, who felt the same as him.

He was not alone with his shit. And it was awesome.

"Sounds pretty nice."

"Yeah."

"So, what happened?"

"I fucked up."

"How?"

"I, ugh, came between Maya and Heine."

"No! They were lovers?!"

"Worse."

"Huh?"

"Siblings."

He was a teenager, ok? And teenagers have their teenage problems. With hormones, for example.

Maya was hot. She was simply beautiful, with her long black hair, full lips, great ass and body. It didn't help that she loved skinny jeans and really tight shirts. The way she wet her lips, tossed her hair, clumsily forget her stuff everywhere, she was simply… perfect.

And Athrun had two eyes you know. And a teenage body full of hormones and typical desires.

Wet dreams? Check. Fanaticizing? Check. Ogling form time to time? Check. But it didn't hurt anyone, right? Plus, she seriously treated him like, ugh, a younger brother. And with her attitude of having a new, very handsome and cool boyfriend every month, he didn't have a chance. So he didn't even try.

But well, shit likes to happen.

Valentine's Day. It was his mom death anniversary and he found a bouquet of fresh lilies on her grave. From his father.

And he just lost it.

Last thing he remembered was drinking in Aegis. At some point, Maya appeared, crying about another big, bad breakup. Two broken hearts and alcohol don't mix well. After, you probably wake up, with your naked limbs tangled with another person, with a headache, blurry memories and massive pangs of guilt.

And crying girl at your side, begging you not to tell Heine.

"That doesn't sound too good."

"Yup."

"So…"

"I don't want to hear it."

"Some BDSM?"

"No! You are a pervert, you know that?"

"But you were on the bottom?"

"…"

"Ha! I knew it!"

"God. Can we continue?"

They didn't tell Heine, because he was an overprotective brother.

Maya and Heine were from a broken family, and lived with their mother since their childhood. Living in a screwed up neighborhood, with similar abandoned kids, created a savior complex in Heine's head. He truly was the big brother and liked to gather lost puppies around him. But the most important person in his life was his little sister.

Who was not so little anymore and had a lot of adult problems of her own, but he failed to recognize it. She was his little sister who had a bad taste in man and was choosing only assholes (true). He was her older brother, the most important man in her life and she didn't want to disappoint him. Yet, she kept doing that with her poor choices and failures. Losing jobs, constantly changing her study fields, boyfriends, crushing her plans, nervous breakdowns - the list went on.

At first sight, Maya was a ray of sunshine. Always smiling, always in good spirits, always helping. But, as usual, people like that were hiding their demons deep inside.

But Athrun didn't get that. He was… distracted by her attention. And boobs. Because after their secret hook up, she started to spend more time with him. Touching him. Even kissing. Dating. And Heine was ok with that. More or less of course.

So, a personal heaven for Athrun?

Nope.

He realized it after few weeks. Small things that grew to bigger problems. She was clingy. She demanded his full attention. She had nervous breakdowns in one day mixed with super optimistic attitude on another. She cried a lot and after behaved like nothing happened.

He tried to understand. He tried to help, comfort her and support her. He liked to think he was a mature, experienced person but in reality… Athrun was an immature twerp at the time. And he had no fucking idea what was going on.

Worse thing was, her behavior was starting to affect him, slowly depressing and frustrating him. He felt like he was worsening her state.

So, he did the only thing he thought was good for both of them.

"You broke up with her."

"Yes."

"I guess it didn't go to well?"

"No. We were in Aegis. She started crying, I tried to comfort her but it didn't work, so I just left her there with some of her friends and went to another club. I think they got wasted."

"You think?"

"Some time after, Heine found me."

"He was pissed off?"

"Murderous. We started fighting and ugh, he said few things."

"Like?"

"Typical things. Like I was a bastard and motherfucker, and I should stay the hell away from them or he would kill me."

"Pretty harsh… He seriously overreacted; you just broke up with her, for fuck's sake!"

"Uhm, like I said she got drunk and when Heine came to Aegis…"

"Oh, she revealed you had sex. Still, he was too brutal…. What?"

"She was drunk and pissed off, so she might say she was drunk that time but I…"

"Oh for God's sake!"

Cagalli sat up and screamed. And then glared at Athrun who gulped.

"That bitch! She said she was drunk and you used her, didn't she?!"

"Erm, maybe?"

Cagalli screamed again.

"I'm going to tear her spine out!"

Athrun sighed. "Calm down. It's over."

"OVER? She accused you of doing something horrible! That two-faced bitch…!"

"She suffered from bipolar disorder; it was diagnosed some time after."

Cagalli blinked. "Good motive, still a bitch! It didn't give her a right to lie like that!" She glared at him suspiciously. "How do you know about it?"

"Maya visited me few weeks after and apologized."

"Oh, poor girl, let me guess – she was crying and feeling ashamed."

Athrun sat up. "Basically."

"Why are you cool about it? I don't get it! Agrgh!" She ruffled her hair in frustration.

"It's over, it's in the past, I moved forward."

"But she didn't reveal to Heine she lied about you, did she? And you didn't either?"

"No… Please, don't scream." He pleaded when she was ready to use her lungs again.

She shut her mouth and glared at him. "Did anyone ever say you suck at relationships?"

Athrun blinked. "You?" And growled inwardly because the sudden gleam in her eyes meant troubles and he really didn't like it. "If I kiss you now, you will bite my tongue off?"

Cagalli squeezed her eyes. "Maybe." She growled.

He took his chance.

And maybe he was a psychic, because indeed, the gleam in her eyes meant something.

It meant a plan. A very good plan. And maybe revenge. Just maybe.

But every thought vaporized from Cagalli's head when he pushed her down to the mattress and his hands roamed lazily down her body.

Lower and lower…

The plan could wait. Definitely.

AN:

(1) Taken from a REAL novel, people. Yes, someone published it. If you are curious (or a masochist): Sandra Hill, Rough and Ready.

(2) Veni, vidi, vici – Cesar said it after one of his quick victories. It means – I came, I saw, I conquered.

Ok, yes, I'm a horrible human being – SORRY. My muse has died but I think she is resurrected, so the next chap should appear earlier than later. I had like 5 ideas for the Heine x Maya x Athrun mess and I couldn't decide which is the best and blah. But well, I hope you liked it. Yes, the Athrun x Maya relationship is more messed up than I planned. Including an underage sex with a minor. I don't approve it, but things like that happen.

I think I like too much to make Athrun throw up in my fics… Whatever. In the next chap: AsuCaga weekend day 2, some talks about the past and Shinn-chan is going to have his moment. Or even two :P

Reviews!

May 18: Glad you liked it. No idea when you can get boyfriend like that – probably all are already taken :P I guess, Athrun doesn't want Lacus to mess with Kira because it would affect Cagalli too. Hmm, hope I didn't disappoint you with this chap :P

GloriousCreation: Damn, I need to write scene with Orga, Shani and Clotho in the toilet! Thanks for inspiration! :D Oh, more juicy things are coming for Shinn, maybe even something more than sniffing panties. I was waiting to write it for some time and I'm super excited :P Flay and Mu are my babies and I have some thing prepared for them. Heh, send me as long comment as you want – I love them *.* Thank you! Maybe Cagalli wasn't wet but ;) 2. Please, stop or I'll blush myself to death!

Thalmor: xD Yeah, I like to experiment with my writings and this was a result. I'm happy you liked it ;) Maybe unconsciously I put him in that outfit? My brain works like that (sucks to be me). Flay and Mu are my babies and I didn't plan them but here we are. RauxMurrue sounds interesting but won't happen. Maybe in another fic? ;) Thank you! It means a lot and I seriously love comments like that so keep sending them! Kisses and unicorns!

Oh la la: I love idiots, they're so useful ;) Heh, Athrun as the Romeo? The irony of life, when you becoming a character of your most hated book xD Poor Blueberry. But don't worry, he won't die here! ;) Thanks for the comment ^^

FPM: SORRY! But at least I finally updated! Hope you liked it!

Thanks for reading and commenting! Sorry for super long hiatus!