New fic! (Applause) And I have no clue what it's gonna be about, so bear with me. I don't own FFXII or its characters…sadly. Sorry if people are out of character, cause they will be. Reviewing is polite! Balthier/Vaan, Vaan/Basch misunderstanding. May not be a happily ever after type of story. Rated M for cursing, MalexMale content, and basic fanfiction smut. Was listening to Mr. Brightside by the Killers when writing this so the title and chapter titles are from that song. Enjoy!

And I'm Doing Just Fine

Chapter One: Choking On Your Alibi

Balthier's eyes narrowed angrily as he glanced at the clock. Vaan was supposed to have met him there two hours ago, and the pirate couldn't believe he'd sat there waiting on him even that long. He took another sip of Madhu, letting the thick brown liquor slowly burn his throat all the way down. The door of the Sandsea opened for the hundredth time since he'd been sitting there, and his hopes rose in his chest when he saw a glimpse of blonde hair, but it was only Penelo. He motioned her over, if anyone knew where Vaan was it would be her.

"Hey Balthier!" she bubbled gleefully, "Wow you look pissed…"

"Where is Vaan," he demanded, not even bothering to attempt to hide the anger that was bubbling to the surface.

"Umm…"

"Penelo," he warned sternly, "Where. The. Fuck. Is HE?"

The girl sighed, obviously torn between her loyalty to Vaan and her fear of the angry, drunken pirate, "I…I saw him at the inn a few hours ago…"

Balthier stared at her warily, "What are you not telling me?"

"Nothing…" she stammered, obviously lying, "I just saw him at the inn…you know…alone."

She realized her mistake when she saw Balthier's eyes widen, his fist curling so tightly around his glass of Madhu that she heard it begin to crack, "Bal…Balthier…Just calm down. It's not like that…they're just…"

Balthier cut her off midsentence, "Who?" he demanded with a snarl, "Who was he with? You better tell me Penelo!"

She gulped, "He went into Basch's room…But it's not like that! There's nothing going on between…."

She didn't get to finish before the pirate rose angrily from the table and stormed out of the Sandsea, slamming the door behind him.

Balthier was so angry he was shaking. He was seeing red, and he knew there was a chance he was literally going to kill Basch once he reached the inn. Once he got to the inn he went to his own room, reaching under his pillow and retrieving his Altair. He was shaking so badly that it took him twice as long to load it as it normally did.

"Won't he wonder where you are?" asked Basch, a little uncomfortable with Vaan's plan.

"Well, yeah, but it'll be sooo worth it when I give him this," said Vaan excitedly.

"You really love him don't you?" said Basch with a smile.

"More than anything."

"Well he is gonna love this earring."

"I was gonna get a regular ring but he already has so many. Did you have any trouble getting the inscription on it?"

"No," said Basch, "It was pretty simple." He thumbed the earring he'd gotten earlier at Vaan's request, To the pirate who stole my heart, always, Vaan, read the inscription on the large earring that almost mirrored the ones the pirate wore now, just a little more fancy.

"Do you think he knows your planning something for his birthday?" asked Basch.

"He's clueless," giggled Vaan, "He doesn't suspect a thing."

Balthier took his time making his way down the hall to Basch's room, and paused when he reached the door and listened.

"He's clueless," he heard Vaan say; "He doesn't suspect a thing."

That was all he needed to hear. He ignored the sharp pain in his heart, and kicked in the door with every ounce of strength he had.

Vaan and Basch were so taken aback by the sudden attack that Basch made the unfortunate choice of shoving Vaan behind him in an effort to shield the boy from whoever was invading the room. Of course to Balthier this looked like Vaan had been in the other man's arms when he entered, and was suddenly thrust away in an attempt to hide what was going on.

"Well I didn't want to believe it," sneered the pirate.

"Balthier? What are you…" began Vaan, taking a confused step toward his lover.

"Just shut up," Balthier warned, "Just don't say a fucking thing."

"Balthier," said Basch softly in an effort to calm the shaking man, "Calm down…Now I don't know what's going on here but…"

He was interrupted when Balthier aimed the Altair at his chest, "You really should consider keeping your fucking mouth shut captain Basch," he growled, ignoring the tears that were building in his eyes, "Because it wouldn't take a lot to make me pull this trigger."

Basch slowly raised his hands a little, but didn't say anything else.

"After everything we've been through," Balthier said through clenched teeth, not daring to look at Vaan for fear of losing control, "how could you do this to me?"

"Balthier, it's not like that," pleaded Vaan, desperate to make the older man see the truth.

The pirate kept his eyes on Basch, and the blonde could see in those cloudy brown orbs that something had snapped completely. As if Balthier wasn't even the same man anymore. He glanced at the shaking had that held the gun, which was still pointed at his chest, "Balthier, I swear to you, this is a misunderstanding," he said in the most sincere voice he had, "Don't risk losing everything over something so stupid."

The pirate managed a weak smile, "You've already taken the only thing I care about," he whispered, and pulled the trigger.

To be continued…

Hope you enjoyed. Review if you want to see chapter 2: Count Your Fading Scars.