Disclaimer: Final Fantasy VIII and all its characters belong to SquareSoft.

A/N: I hope I'm speaking on the behalf of all Squinoa fans whenever they see another 'Rinoa leaves Squall fic because he won't verbally acknowledge his love' in how much I detest those fanfics. I'm sorry, but I really don't like them. They don't really make sense, personally. This is a fic I had made on a thought that ran away from me. I think this would be a much more realistic portrayal than those fics. This is what I truly believe would happen if Rinoa was fed up with Squall not being expressionistic about his feelings. For some mysterious reason, Squall can never say those words. She just leaves after that. And here's a different side to the story.

Silenced by remote_mine

Rinoa had had it. Why won't Squall admit that he loves me?! Can't he just say those three words?! She had come down to one last decision. If he wouldn't say that he loves her, she would leave him and walk out of his life. Permanently. And she wouldn't run back to him again. She walked out of her room and into his office, where he was working on yet another pile of SeeD reports.

"Squall." Rinoa looked at him with pleading eyes, hoping that she would get his attention. She didn't. She sighed, pushed against his swivel chair and made him face her. She noted the mood on his face. It wasn't a good one.

"What is it?" Another sigh of frustration came from Rinoa, as she realized that he had no idea what he was doing to her.

"I'm leaving." She had said it. Now it was his choice, what their future would be.

"Please, Rinoa. Don't leave. What do you want from me?" Hope returned to her as she noted his anguished look and realized that he really wanted her to stay.

"Tell me you love me." Her hope was washed away at the expression on Squall's face, and she knew that he couldn't say those three simple words.

A bitter laugh coming from Squall surprised her. She stared with shock at Squall, wondering how he could laugh at a time like this. He stopped laughing and suddenly looked dead serious. "Rinoa, the question is 'Do you love me?'"

Still startled, she had no reply. And suddenly, his meaning was crystal-clear. Isn't knowing enough? Does love really need to be spoken by mere words? Don't actions speak louder than words? She stared straight back into his eyes and said, "Yes. Squall Leonhart, I love you."

A small smile crept onto Squall's face as he finally knew that she was never going to leave him. "For what it's worth, I love you, Rinoa."