For my dear heart.
"It's not the end of your life, Leonhart."
"She left me!" Squall turned to face him, eyes more full of emotion than Seifer had ever seen them, even more than on his wedding day. Seifer remembered how happy Squall had been then. How sad he had been. How radiant Rinoa had looked. How utterly heartbreakingly beautiful Squall had been in his eyes.
He tried not to feel glad about the divorce.
"It's divorce, not your funeral." He took a step closer, cupping Squall's cheek, holding him still and looking into his eyes. "There will be other people who want you, other people willing to marry you, other people who knew Rinoa was no good for you. Just wait. And be patient."
"But..."
Damn it. This wasn't the strong young man who had stood so sure of himself at his wedding. He'd softened. Well, Seifer would just have to put some of that old metal back into Squall's soul, wouldn't he?
"You're thirty years old, not eighty!" he snapped. "Rinoa has left you, well, so fucking what? I was twenty-two when you married her and it broke my fucking heart, alright? But I knew that life would go on."
"...You love Rinoa?" Squall asked, brow furrowed a little in confusion.
"No!" Seifer closed his eyes, fighting the urge to smack some sense into Squall. "No, you idiot. I love you, have loved you since I was five fucking years old, never forgot you, you forgot me. You've broken my heart more times than I can count already and I've just moved on and that's what you need to do."
Well. Not so much moved on. Since he still loved Squall and was still hanging around hoping. But he'd put that on the side. Sort of. Even though having Squall so close to him was making his heart beat with a painful hope. But he'd moved on enough so that he could live and function normally. Except when Squall was moving closer to him and his mouth went dry and his heart was in his throat but at the same time feeling like it was going to beat right out of his chest.
"You love me?" Squall asked, incredulous.
"Fuck, don't look so surprised. Yeah, I'm gay, so fucking what?"
Seifer almost found himself believing in a god when Squall took his face in his hands, leaned up, and kissed him deeply. Then he remembered that this was probably just a rebound from Rinoa, and he pulled away, pushing gently at Squall's shoulders.
"Squall..."
Squall looked up at him, and his throat tightened. There was a long moment of silence while Squall struggled for words, and then he sounded like a little defenceless boy again. "Will you be patient with me?"
Seifer laughed softly, leaning forward to take Squall into his arms and press his face into his dark hair. "I've been patient with you for twenty-five years."