Roy peeked his head through the window, slowly letting his eyes roam over the room. The walls were covered in pictures from the Twilight Saga, old candy wrappers, Student of the Month awards, sketches, family pictures, and a dog calendar; this was undoubtedly a girls room. The door was shut and the fan was on. This was the only solution to a hot summer's night when a family couldn't afford air conditioning, and the girl he was out to look for belonged to such a family.
In the corner of the room, the girl sat on her bed, where she silently read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows with her legs crossed. As far as he could tell, she had yet to notice him. Slowly he crept over the window fan one leg at a time. In a failed attempt to enter the room silently, he stepped on the corner of a VHS tape and came crashing down into a basket of clean clothes that she hadn't bothered to put away yet.
Riza glanced up from her book slowly, then returned to the pages.
"Why are you in my room? Again? You know you aren't supposed to be in here."
Roy picked a sock from above his head and tossed it back into the basket while he stood. Wiping his jeans off as if they had just been covered in dirt, he looked her way before he spoke to her.
"To get away from my parents. I'm grounded," he sighed in defeat, stepping towards her bed. It was tall enough that he only had to lower himself a few inches in order to sit on its edge.
"It's not like we are friends," she lowered her book and lifted her gaze to him. "When did I ever give off the impression that I was your 'go-to-girl' whenever you were in trouble?"
"I'm hurt," he feigned, pushing his hand against his chest as if in pain. "That hurts, Riza, right here." He pointed to his heart.
"Gag me with a spoon."
"Oh, come on, Riza. I knew you didn't like me, but this is brutal."
"Suck it up, Buster. You know how much I like or dislike you has nothing to do with it. I mean, honestly, how would you like it if I started creeping through your window every other night?" Riza saved her place in the book and shut it, moving it to lay on the nightstand next to her bed.
"I would never shut the window if I had pretty girls coming into my room at night," he stated, a small smirk forming on the side of his lips. "Wait- Buster?"
At his 'pretty girls' comment, she picked the book back up and hit him on the side of his head. Then, as she set her book back on the nightstand, she answered him.
"Remember in sixth grade when you told Jean and I about your parents almost naming you Buster?" she asked, straightening her back so she was sitting up straight instead of slouching on the wall.
"Oh, that's right. Rover, too," he said, and she laughed.
"Yeah, I remember you said that too." Riza wrapped her arms around her legs and pulled her knees to her chest.
"Good thing they named me Roy," he said, mindlessly staring at the various posters she had pinned to her walls.
"Why is that such a good thing?"
"It's funny when you call me Buster. It wouldn't be if it was my actual name," he said, glancing back at her.
Riza was silent, pulling her eyes away from his. There'd been a time when she liked him a little more than a friend, but in her mind that time was in the past. She had long since convinced herself that she didn't know him well enough to even be his friend, much less.. more. Gracia knew him and Maes better than anyone. Why should she interfere with a relationship like that?
A few weeks prior to this occasion, Roy and Maes were being accused of picking on Kain, and from what she was able to tell, they were always on the defensive side. Kain just had a way of speaking softly enough that nobody heard him but those around him. Roy and Maes were loud with their comebacks, so it always seemed like they were attacking Kain.
When a teacher was scolding them, Riza yelled in defense and explained what was happening. The teacher didn't necessarily believe her, but she at least dropped the subject. After that, Roy and Maes began to talk to her like they'd been friends for some time, even though she didn't feel that way. She'd only been aiming to defend the accused.
Ever since, Roy had been climbing over the bushes to get into her room just to see her. He'd been intrigued by her. Any girl who would put her good reputation with the teacher on the line just for him was a girl worth spending time with.
He was a trouble maker, simple as that. Even though he'd been on defense against Kain, he still had plenty of good comebacks. He liked to argue his points with the teachers and test everyone's patience. However, he was top of the game, three math levels ahead and top of the class in Honors English. Despite all these annoying attributes to his character, Roy was still a likable boy. Riza wasn't sure why she liked it when he was there, but she did.
"What are you thinking about?"
Riza was startled out of her thoughts by his question, again meeting his eyes.
"Nothing," she answered him frankly. He wasn't convinced, but didn't question her further. It wasn't his place. Riza paused, then asked, "Why do you come here so often?"
Roy didn't want to answer truthfully. Wouldn't that sound great? 'I think your pretty cool and I like you a lot.' How dumb would he sound? So he avoided the question, and asked her another.
"Why did you defend me and Maes?"
She didn't want him to ask her that. Of all the things.. What was she supposed to say? 'I think your pretty cool and I like you a lot.' How dumb would she sound? So she avoided the question, and asked another.
"Why didn't you answer my question?"
"Why didn't you answer my question?"
Riza bit her lip in frustration, hugging her knees tighter to her chest.
"Do you think, perhaps, that they share the same answer?"
Roy thought about that for a moment. He inched closer to her, running over the possibilities.
"Then what is the answer?"
"It's what we feel we needed to do," she said, although it sounded more like a question. Roy was silent for a moment, then nodded his head.
"That's it," he agreed, suddenly feeling awkward. She stared at him blankly as he then looked at her, shaking his head twice.
"No."
"No?" she asked, letting go of her legs as she moved into a position that would let her crawl towards him on the bed.
"No."
"What do you mean, 'no'?" she moved closer to him, sitting on the bedside next to him.
"That's not the answer," he said, looking towards her. "Is it?"
Riza hesitantly met his eyes. "No, it's not."
They were both silent for a few minutes. Riza broke it.
"Roy, you should go home-" but he cut her off.
"I'm staying here. There's no way I'm going back tonight. They'll kill me," he shuddered. Riza rolled her eyes, returning where she once sat on the bed away from him.
"Well, they'll kill me too if they catch you here," she said, not bothering to get under her covers.
"They won't catch me here, trust me. Of all places, why would they check here? You're the only one who even knows I come," he said, following her. She stopped, glaring at him.
"You aren't sleeping on my bed, Buster!" she pushed him away, but skinny as he was, he still managed to sit himself next to her.
"Yeah, I am," he stated. Riza shot him a glare, but soon after relaxed. She didn't usually hold grudges. He sneaked an arm around her shoulders.
"We could sleep like this," he taunted, chuckling slightly at his joke as he began to slide his arm away. He stopped breathing for a moment as she tugged it back, holding it in place.
"Yeah, we could," she murmured, half asleep.
Roy looked at her strangely, and not because he was uncomfortable. More because he didn't know if she had been uncomfortable. But he decided in the end, that it didn't matter. He had a pretty girl in his arms. Why ruin the moment?