Sweet Nothings
Summary: Squinoa. Squall and Rinoa couldn't get over their differences when they were going out, so why do Quistis and Zell think that a pair of handcuffs can solve everything? Possible lemon content. Full of cheese and fluff.
Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy. Square soft does. Please don't sue.
Chapter 1: Oh! Kamikaze
This is the moment that you know, that you told her that you loved her but you don't...
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Nearing the dead of night, the sound of pen carvings could still be heard coming from the Commander's office. The brown-haired man continually stared at his document. Looking through all the fine print as he made sure that there wasn't any word unturned. Through the last few months doing paperwork was so much a part of his life that it became one of his basic needs. He sighed deeply as he cracked one of knuckles to release some tension as he continued to scurry down everything that needed to be corrected. Unlike himself, papers could be perfected.
Outside his door, the blond martial artist stood smiling smugly to himself, as he poured a white crystallised powder into a styrofoam cup then stirred it around until it was clearly dissolved. Mischievous thoughts ran through his mind as held the steaming cup, as he knew that this move would, if effective, surely incur a life sentence over his head. He breathed in a deeply before he knocked on the door.
"What?" Came the mumbled reply from behind the painful neat desk piled with endless stacks of papers. The Commander briefly looked up with his steely gaze to see his ever-exuberant co-worker with some sort of beverage. He looked back down, seeing as it wasn't important and continued to scramble words down. "Do something or leave," he said with a monotone, which basically meant 'get out now or I'll kill you.' The Commander was never the type for small talk.
Zell rubbed the back of his neck feeling the heat of Squall's wrath, "I just thought you needed some coffee." Squall didn't even bother to navigate where Zell placed it on his table. He just gave a small grunt of acknowledgment and resumed in reading while Zell walked out quietly.
The martial artist wiped the sweat off his forehead and tried to catch his breath. After Rinoa and Squall broke up, being in the vicinity with Squall made the victim swelter in fear. Squall threw himself into work, taking double the amount of missions he would regularly do in a month and accepted every document that Headmaster Cid handed to him without objection. However, through his dedication to work, side effects did follow. His unpredictable mood changes and fits of anger were all released on the colleagues around him, and the more they tried to help, the more he pushed them away. Zell closed his eyes momentarily while going down the lift as he realised that he just committed one of the most deadly crimes imaginable. However, he laughed it off.
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Squall dropped his pen on the table as his thoughts started to wonder elsewhere.
Erg! Why can't I bloody concentrate...?
He rubbed his eyes and yawned. He looked back at his document as he watched the small words merge into each other with his tired eyes. He grabbed the coffee on the table and drained it quickly without question. He closed his eyes briefly and shook his head, but the fatigue didn't shake. That was piss' weak. I'll this finish later. He shut the file and turned off the lights in the room. He made his way down the elevator and slowly walked back to his dorm. While walking back, he heard girly screams coming from one of the dorms, but he ignored it.
"Idiots," he muttered to himself as opened his door. As weary and exhausted as he was, he managed to muster just enough energy to strip every single piece of clothing off until he was left with his boxers as then plummeted on his bed. And with that, he was out like a log. It wasn't unusual for Squall to knock himself out every night, but what was strange about tonight was that it wasn't self-inflicted.
However on the other side of Garden...
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A quick knock on the door awoke the young teacher as she slowly raised her weary head. The young woman with midnight locks opened the door tiredly as she rubbed her eyes. "Yes?" she asked as she looked at her best friend. The blonde standing opposite to her had a mug of hot cocoa in one hand and a pair of red heels in the other. The sleepy woman stretched her arms as she ushered her friend inside her room. A cold breeze danced across her room as she took down her robe from her coat rack and draped it over herself. When she finally sat down, she noticed that her friend seemed to have been crying. "What's wrong Quistis?"
She sniffled and then wiped her tears. "MAGNET IS DEAD!"
Rinoa screamed in shock as she looked at Quistis's once sexy ruby heels. It was codenamed 'magnet' as they were convinced that those pair of shoes could draw in any man. Now, their prize possession was broken. Rinoa hugged Quistis. "NO! We can fix it! Can't we?"
Quistis shook her head as she continued to sniffle. "I-I," was all Quistis could muster out before balling her eyes out again. She sat on Rinoa's bed grabbing some tissues out of the fluffy blue box.
"Don't worry, I understand," she cooed as she comforted her. "I see you already made comfort food."
Quistis gave a small nod as she held back her tears. "I already made heaps back at my place, this one is for you," she said. Rinoa willingly accepted the mug of cocoa, without question. "We are going to have to arrange a funeral for 'magnet.'"
Rinoa gave a solemn nod, "Of course. I'll start the arrangements tomorrow." Suddenly a vibrating noise was heard as they both looked at each other suspiciously.
"It's my cell, alright!?" Quistis defended as she took it out of her pocket. "You are so perverted, Rinoa." Rinoa giggled as Quistis flipped it open to read a message. She flipped it back and tucked it back into her breast pocket without changing her facial expression.
"What was it?" Rinoa asked curiously as she began to take a sip of her cocoa.
Quistis yawned and quick-wittedly conjured up a lie; "Just work. I asked Irvine to fill out some forms about rifle safety...nothing important."
Rinoa was convinced, but then again, Rinoa was renowned for her trust.
"Mmm... This is good," she complimented as she finished the drink, "You got to tell me how you make this someday." Quistis gave her a wink.
"Sure," she said with a wink, "It's a Trepe recipe." They both knew that it was Quistis' recipe. Since they knew that everyone in the gang except for Squall and Rinoa were orphans, they continually used their made up last names as a source of amusement.
Rinoa laughed as she tied up her hair; "It's a date." She began to yawn as Quistis clearly saw how her eyelids started to droop down. "Aww jeez, I'm tired as...must have been that early start this morning."
Quistis gave a seldom-unsure grin. "I'll show myself out."
The sorceress gave a tired nod as she tucked back into her bed as rested peacefully.
Quistis opened the door and instead of walking out, she let the blonde martial artist in, as she giggled softly. "Let's get this show on the road now, shall we?"
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Squall woke up with a splitting headache like he had too much to drink the night before, however, he learnt that harsh lesson a long time ago. He groaned as the sunlight teased his eyelids and subconsciously placed his own pillow over his face and turned over. However as he tried to turn over, he was restricted. He peered in his cloudy state to see a human blob next to him. Suddenly his eyes snapped open as he recognised her face.
"Rinoa?!' he called as she merely gave a grunt, obviously reluctant to depart from her slumber. Squall nudged her shoulder as she opened her brown orbs glancing at her once valued knight.
"SQUALL?!" she yelled as tried to step out of the bed. However she fumbled and clumsily tripped over. "Owie..." she winced as she rubbed her forehead. She looked up from the floor for just a second when Squall came crashing down on her.
"What the hell!?" he cursed as he tried to stand but couldn't as his arm seemed to be attached to Rinoa. They both stood up at the same time dusting themselves off, "Wait, we didn't... y'know," he said with a nose twitch. A rare quirk that Squall had during awkward moments.
Rinoa looked at her clothes and the state that they were in. "I don't think so," she said with an unsure tone.
The sliding door opened as Quistis and Zell stepped in their awkward situation. "Good morning."
Rinoa sat down on Squall's bed slowly as she massaged her temples.
"It's just a dream, it's just a dream, it's just a dream..." she repeated to herself as she glanced at Squall in his boxers. Squall looked over at Quistis and Zell who seem to understanding the situation more than he did.
"What did you do?" he asked angrily. Quistis smiled as she held his right hand and Rinoa's left. She tapped on the invisible bond between them to unveil a magically enhanced cuff with a small electrical bond between them.
Zell gave a nod. "It's an Odine handcuff, alright. Strongest there is. Should keep Rinoa from tearing down Garden. Plus materials, like clothes, can go past momentarily." Squall was about to interrupt Zell however Quistis stopped him.
"Feeling a bit nauseated Squall?" Squall narrowed his eyes as he gave a small grunt as a response. "Well, I told Zell to go light on the Rohypnol. Look at Rinoa, she's fine." Rinoa's eyes widened as she tried to recollect her thoughts from last night but she couldn't. Quistis cleared her throat, "So, you two are probably thinking, 'Why are we both handcuffed together?' I'll tell you why," she cleared her throat using her authoritative voice. "The commander here has been as strict as a Roman ruler ever since you guys broke up." Squall muttered something under his breath that Rinoa could only imagine had the most colourful profanity enriched in it. "And Rinoa, stop trying to act happy in front of us. We know you're not. You're one of us."
"Get to the point and get me out of this!" Squall snapped.
Zell stepped in as Quistis sat down. "You and Rinoa are meant to be for each other and when you guys realise that, we'll get rid of the cuffs."
"WHAT?!" HIM!" "HER!" Squall and Rinoa yelled in unison. "You can't be serious!?"
Zell and Quistis look at each then smirked. "We are."
Squall stood up, dragging Rinoa with him as he snared down at them. "Get me out of these, you idiots. I have loads of paperwork to do and the Garden depends on me in get-"
"No can do," Zell said simply. "I don't know where the keys are."
Rinoa looked towards Quistis. "Well?"
She shook her head. "Right now, they are about here," she said as she pointed towards Zell stomach.
Zell jumped. "Wha?"
Quistis cleared her throat. "While I was trying to find a way to hide the key, Zell was eating a mass mound of hotdogs and well, the rest is what we say is history."
Squall searched underneath his bed to whip out his gunblade then targeted towards Zell's stomach, "Don't move." However Quistis flicked his sword away with her whip.
"Squall, that's breaching Code 398, Section 4. Threatening a SeeD without proper instruction."
Squall waved his arm out in objection. "Screw the rules! I'd rather be stuck in jail the rest of my life than to be stuck with her!" He retained his gunblade again and sharply jabbed it at Zell as he jumped back. "Come back here, you wuss."
"Squall!" Rinoa objected as she wrestled the gunblade from him. She looked over at Quistis and asked, "So besides trying to kill Zell, there's no way we can get out of this?"
Quistis gave a sharp nod. "Unfortunately for you guys, it will take about 3 days to get that key out of Zell, and even with that, we don't know if it will be in good condition to open the cuffs. Plus we can't get a blacksmith to make another key as only the true key is able to open this magically bound bond." Rinoa frowned as she handed Squall his gunblade back.
"Go for it."
"WAIT WAIT WAIT!!" Zell pleaded with tears in his eyes. "It's just three days! Let me live! Mercy! MERCY!!!" He cried as he grabbed onto Squall's foot, sobbing mercilessly.
Squall looked at Rinoa as the both exchanged glances. "So how do we work around this?" asked Rinoa pointing towards the handcuff.
"Three days of leave for Squall. We have people that will take care of the paper work. For Rinoa we prepared three days of teachers' leave." Squall and Rinoa both gave a reluctant nod as Quistis and Zell quickly walked out with their lives.
"You think that this will actually work?" Zell asked.
Quistis shrugged her shoulders, "Who knows? But if they want to get out of those cuffs, they are going to have to make it work."
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Squall collapsed back onto his bed as he stared at the ceiling, gathering his thoughts. He lifted his right arm to see that the chain was still on and attached to his ex-girlfriend. Is it so easy to call Rinoa his ex-girlfriend? What they had and shared wasn't so simple to call it a 'relationship.' He was her knight, a SeeD and her best friend. To simply call her an ex girlfriend would be a lie. She was so much more than that to him and he knew that Quistis and Zell were right. He needed her as much as she needed him and the sooner that he would find that out, the sooner they would realise the true key to what bound them together.
"So what do we do now?" he asked with a sigh. The woman next to him looked into his eyes as she bent over with a sad look.
"It's just three days. Think of it as a holiday," she said in a joyous tone that didn't break Squall's melancholy.
He simply rolled his eyes as he figured that was a typical response coming from her. "You think everything is a holiday."
"Oh shut up, Squall. I think I preferred you when you were mute," she snapped at his sarcastic overtone.
"I preferred you when you were in a coma," he muttered back.
Rinoa folded her arms, pulling him up. "Go to hell, Squall."
He narrowed his eyes. "I'm already there."
They both sat on his bed in silent angst. Rinoa clenched her fist as she tried to shake her fury away, "You're so impossible!" she yelled breaking the silence. Squall simply ignored her as he rubbed his temples.
"I'm going to the bathroom," he said as he pulled Rinoa up and dragged her across the floor, "You can either walk or get carpet burn." Rinoa pouted as she stood up on her own feet and walked towards his bathroom. Squall walked over in his bathroom and passed her a wooden chair as he began to lower his boxer shorts.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Rinoa yelled as she covered her eyes.
Squall watched her squirm as he raised his boxers. "I'm taking a shower. You'll just have to wait here. Don't worry; I'll put the curtain up so nothing will attack you."
Rinoa gave a solid laugh. "Was that Squall Leonhart trying to crack a joke?"
Squall ignored her comment as he jumped in his shower and carried his opaque curtain around so that Rinoa felt more comfortable. She sat looking around his bathroom turned around as she saw him place his boxers on the railings. Rinoa bit her lip as she was almost tempted to peek, but her conscience told her better. It's nothing that I haven't seen before anyway. As Squall began to shower, Rinoa looked around his bathroom waiting patiently. No new paint colour, the same old white tiles, same old type of toothbrush. Nothing had changed. She could smell a sweet, candy-like fragrance coming from behind the curtain as she smiled to herself, instantly recognising Squall's shampoo. He turned off the tap as he peeked over the curtain, "Pass me the towel."
Rinoa reached over to the rack to find his towel missing. "It's not here," she replied to the steaming man. Squall mentally smacked his forehead.
"I had it washed; it should be under the sink." Both Squall and Rinoa knew what that meant. As the shower and the sink were quite a distance apart, it meant that Squall would have to get out of the shower. "Ok, just keep looking forward, I'll be right behind." Rinoa agreed as she took in deep breath in the thick air and slowly walked towards his sink and bent over to grab the towel and stood.
"AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!" Rinoa screamed as she shut her eyes. Squall rolled his eyes as he took the towel from Rinoa's hands, dried himself and wrapped it around his waist. One thing that Rinoa didn't pick up on was that since they broke up, Squall bought an anti-fog mirror.
"Have you no shame?!" Rinoa moved her fingers slightly to peek at Squall to see that he was somewhat decent. Her hands fell from her face as she was caught staring at Squall's perfectly chiselled body. She felt numb until she felt drool fall onto her hand. Squall dried his hair with another towel leaving it in a scruffy nature that made him look more rugged.
"Rinoa," Squall called, making her snap out of her little daydream. "My face is here," he pointed.
"Shut up, Leonhart."
Squall shrugged his shoulders as he changed his boxers and threw a pair of jeans on underneath his towel. Then threw on white beater with a collared black shirt on top. "Do you need to shower?"
Rinoa looked wry. "I shower at night, but I have to change. Could we go to my dorm so I can pack or something?"
Squall gave her a blank look as he followed dogmatically. Rinoa felt awkward walking down from his dorm to hers as he was dressed and she was still in her chocobo short shorts and pink tank top. A couple of female students lifted their eyebrows as Squall and Rinoa walked past looking like they were holding hands. That was before a pack of testosterone filled boys chanted disgusting catcalls as she walked past, but when they saw Squall give them the death stare they stood in silence. "This is so embarrassing," Rinoa whispered to herself as she quickly walked in front of Squall and turned into her room.
Rinoa sat down in her own bed as she placed her face in her hands. She wasn't too sure what she was feeling. Violated, angry, pathetic... it was a mix between them. Some girls would be flattered with that attention but not Rinoa. She saw no point in attracting responses like that. Unlike some people, she had dignity. It wasn't her fault that she was shackled to Squall and that she was caught barely wearing anything. She was a teacher, but she considered in resigning after that incident. Tears streamed from her eyes as she sat silently to herself sobbing. Squall sat beside her silently, as he didn't have a choice. Rinoa didn't care that Squall was sitting by her side watching her, she actually felt slightly glad that he was there. He didn't have to do anything, just having his presence there did enough. Unlike the other times he wasn't there. One thing about being a sorceress is that you're unable to get hurt physically... no matter how hard you try.
Squall moved his right arm around Rinoa and over her head as he wrapped his arms around her as she sobbed quietly on his chest. "You don't have to," she whimpered as she continued to battle with her emotions. Somehow, she felt that Squall knew what she was going through. It could be the knight and sorceress connection or just simply something else beyond their own knowledge.
He gave a small wry smile. "Well, I didn't know what else to do. This seemed to work when we were going out, so I thought I'd give it a try." Rinoa managed to smile with his brute honesty. There was always something comforting about his hugs. They were better than any hug anyone else could give. She felt so homely and safe in his arms, a great feeling that she missed.
After a moment, Rinoa dried her eyes as she stood up from Squall's lap. "I'm alright now."
Squall stood up and placed his free hand in his pocket as there seemed to be awkwardness in the air. Rinoa bit her lip as she started walking towards her wardrobe to find something to wear. Unlike Squall, Rinoa's room was considerably smaller and she had to share her bathroom with Selphie. Rinoa grabbed a dress and tried opening the bathroom but to no avail.
"She must have locked it," She sighed as she turned to Squall. "Just stand there with your eyes closed."
Squall's eyes widened as he placed his free hand over his eyes as Rinoa got dressed. Even though he wasn't with Rinoa anymore, he did respect her and didn't flinch once to take a peek.
"How noble of you," she said as she tightened her wide brown belt with her tropical summer dress on.
"Did you expect me to do anything more?" Squall said with a smirk on his face.
"Well, I guess not," She teased. "I guess you didn't see the tattoo huh?"
Squall widened his eyes. "Wait, that's not possible. You're immune."
Rinoa smiled and giggled as she watched Squall scratch his head. "Well, I'm immune to life threatening things, tattoos aren't. But it doesn't matter... its not like you're going to see it or anything."
"Is that a challenge?" Squall asked questioningly, his pride slightly bruised.
Rinoa patted Squall on the side of his face. "Don't worry Squall, I would be an idiot to challenge you."
She zipped up her red suitcase as she lunged it towards the door. Squall rolled his eyes as his chivalric nature kicked in and took Rinoa's suitcase off her hands. They decided to walk the long way round where there were less chance of other students and SeeD cadets spotting them. They reached Squall's room and Squall placed Rinoa's belongings in a corner.
"Let's go get some breakfast."
"Uh, more like lunch," he noted as he pointed towards the time.
Rinoa looked at the clocked alarmed. "It's already one pm?! What time did we wake up?"
Squall rubbed the back of his neck. "I'd say about midday."
Rinoa sat on Squall's bed as she thought to herself quietly, then she looked up at Squall. "Are we going out to the Cafeteria? C-Can we not?"
Squall frowned. "I guess we can always take my car and go into town." Rinoa seemed satisfied with that option. Squall walked over to his drawers to pick up his wallet and keys. "It's not in great condition. I haven't used it in a while."
Rinoa shrugged her shoulder. "Whatever it takes. I would walk to Balamb if I had to."
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Rinoa found herself sitting and facing in front of Squall in his European scooter. "You said you had a car," she yelled as they swerved past a couple of walking students.
"I lied," he replied back. He never left his eyes off the road not only for safety reasons, but he didn't turn around because he hid away the small smirk on his face due to Rinoa's distress.
She smacked him on the back. "You do know that I'm wearing a dress right?!" She yelled as she held Squall's hand with one hand and the other wrapped around his back. "I'm no Marilyn Munroe!"
Squall chuckled silently as they arrived in town. Squall parked his vehicle near the wharf as he helped Rinoa to jump off. She mumbled something under breath as she straightened her dress. Squall tapped the handcuffs to activate its invisibility mechanism. "I guess we have to hold hands or something because it will look suss."
Rinoa agreed and slowly laced her fingers with his. He always had good hands because he was a gunblade specialist. "Ready?" He replied back with a sharp nod as the walked through the town.
Most of the locals recognised Squall and Rinoa as the gang was rewarded in their efforts to liberate Balamb from Galbadia clutches during Sorceress Edea's reign. Little children walked up to Rinoa and Squall asking for her autograph. Rinoa shrugged her shoulders and accepted and Squall had no choice but to oblige. One of the little girls thanked the couple for their autograph and ran back to her mother.
"Mummy, why do they keep holding hands? Isn't the Commander afraid of cooties?" the little girl asked her mother.
The mother laughed as she looked at the couple, "The Commander isn't afraid of cooties. He's a strong man that isn't afraid of anything. And that's the same as sorceress Rinoa. The reason that they are holding hands is that they care a lot for each other. Just like when I hold you hand across the road, it's so that I can take care of you."
The little girl gave an enthusiastic nod. "I get it, mum. They must care each other a lot; they haven't let each other go since they got here! The Commander must think there are lots of roads in Balamb."
The mother laughed as she rubbed her daughter's hair. "I guess you're right honey."
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The couple walked into one of the many restaurants in Balamb. They were greeted by the hostess who looked quite surprised to see Squall and Rinoa walk in. "Commander, Sorceress Rinoa, welcome to the Breeze, this way please." She escorted the couple to one of the booths at the back of the restaurant, which were lit up solely by candles. Squall held Rinoa's chair back as he seated her first before himself. It was slightly tricky, as Squall had to walk around to his right so that their arms wouldn't tangle. After ordering, they were left alone for a moment.
Rinoa observed her hand as it seemed to fit in perfectly with Squall's. A faint indent was left on his fourth finger after years wearing his ring, Griever, which she still had in close possession. She opened her mouth to say something, but she stopped. She couldn't understand why it was so hard to talk to him. She had been talking to him all day, but there was a difference between figuring out how to manoeuvre around and just idle chitchat. He stared at his plate, but his mind was elsewhere. A familiar Squall trait.
"Well, well, well," Someone familiar called as a couple approached them. "Didn't know you guys were back together. It's all over Garden," said the man in the cowboy hat.
Squall looked up at his colleague with his bubbly girlfriend. "Irvine, Selphie," he replied in a monotone. Then he tapped the invisible bond between them to unveil the electric bond. "Quistis and Zell's idea."
Irvine burst out laughing as he spotted the handcuff. "Are you serious?! I wish I'd thought of that!" Selphie smacked Irvine in the stomach to hush him.
"I apologise on his behalf," Selphie said sympathetically. "I mean it must be hard on you two since you, well... basically hate each other."
Rinoa was lost. Sure she hated him after what happened, but the definition of hate meant that she still cared. "It's not that bad," Rinoa replied as she spotted the waiter approaching.
Irvine laughed and smacked Squall in the back as a manly gesture. "Hah, I bet that's a lie, ain't it Squall?"
"Whatever," was all that Squall replied with as Selphie and Irvine left to their own table. Squall tapped the handcuffs again to make them disappear as the waiter came closer. However, when the waiter placed their meals down, they both seemed to have lost their appetite. Through all the commotion, they had forgotten that they were meant to be at each other's throats. Squall poked at his meal, but he wasn't interested. He looked away to his left to gather his thoughts as he tried to identify what emotion he was feeling. He admitted that being nice to Rinoa, so far, wasn't the hell that he expected.
Rinoa battled with her emotions too as she realised that her hand was still holding on to Squall's. Sure, they are meant to detest each other, but she knew that she could never do that to him. She played with her peas as the waiter approached them.
"Is there something wrong with the meal?" She asked the couple.
"No, nothing at all," the couple said in unison. They finally looked at each other, not too sure what to say.
Squall coughed lightly to break the mood as he said, "Well we might as well eat. Shame to waste it." Rinoa agreed as she picked up her fork with her chained-hand pulling Squall forward.
"Shit. Sorry."
Squall shrugged it off as he moved his chair adjacent to hers so that both of them could dine properly. Sure, people in the restaurant did raise questions as they pointed towards them, but they didn't care. They both knew that it couldn't be helped. They knew the truth and that was all that mattered.
Squall finished his meal first as usual leaving Rinoa to feel slightly guilty while chewing on her rice. However Squall didn't look like he was bothered by it. He sat there silently as he refilled both their wineglasses. When Rinoa finish her meal, Squall moved back to his proper place as the waiter came back with the receipt. Squall placed his credit card with the chequebook and handed it back to the waiter.
"Uh, thanks for the meal," Rinoa managed to say as she finished her wine.
Squall gave a half smile. "Don't worry, I charged it on Zell's card."
They both laughed as the waiter came back with his card and receipt. "Thank you for dining with us. Hope to see you back soon." Rinoa thanked them as she walked out with Squall. The sky had darkened as lanterns only lighted up the sleepy town of Balamb.
"Do you want to rent a movie or anything?" Squall asked as they walked around town. Rinoa smiled, but shook her head.
"I think the wine's gone straight to my head."
Squall snorted as he readjusted his hand with Rinoa. "We'll get some groceries then head back." Rinoa sleepily agreed as they walked into a store to pick up some supplies. After that Squall carried the bags back towards his scooter and placed them near his feet as he held Rinoa in front of him. She rested her head upon his chest as he drove back to Garden slowly. He knew that his alcohol consumption was over the limit and if he were caught, it wouldn't have been the first time. He was let off with a warning last time purely because he's the Commander of Balamb, but he knew that if he were caught again, he wouldn't be so lucky.
He drove past some police officers that pointed at handheld multanova towards Squall scooter. The female officer looked over towards her partner. "How was that one?"
"It's under," the head officer replied. "And that was the Commander."
The female officer shrugged it off. "So what, just because he killed some bad people doesn't mean that he should get any special treatment."
The head officer remained silent. He was there when Squall was caught for 'drink driving' and like his partner, he thought that he didn't deserve any special treatment. He was about to arrest him until Cid Kramer called to stop it; Cid always had a way with words. "Even good guys need a break now and again," the officer mumbled to himself as he watched Squall ride back to Garden.
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The couple arrived back in Garden where it was surprisingly silent. Squall knew that all junior-class men had a curfew and should be in their dorms, hence there wasn't any noise coming from the centre of Garden. Rinoa rested her head on his shoulder as they walked back to his dorm. Squall opened his door and placed the groceries in the fridge as Rinoa stood waiting patiently. Squall close the fridge door as Rinoa tapped his shoulder. "Hmm?" he asked.
"Do you mind if I have a bath?" she asked as she untied her hair.
"Uh, I-it's okay with me," he replied nervously. "I'll just bring something to read."
Rinoa smiled as she unzipped her luggage bag to take her towel and pyjamas out. Squall walked over to his side drawer to bring out an old book that he never got around in finishing; Shelley's Frankenstein.
Rinoa untied her belt and let it rest upon the floor as she turned on the taps. Squall didn't bother to pull up a chair as he took his bookmark out and started reading. Rinoa turned off the taps and started to undress. She threw her dress and under garments on the floor as she slowly hopped in. Squall faced his back to her as he sat down on the tiles and continued to read. "Why don't you just rent out the movie?" Rinoa asked as she began to scrub her arms.
Squall took in a gulp as he kept his eyes on the book. "Contrary to belief, Frankenstein isn't the monster, but the scientist. The movie doesn't do it justice."
"Oh, ok," Rinoa replied as wetted her hair. Unlike Squall, Rinoa didn't bother to drag the curtain around. She knew two things, that she was too lazy too and that Squall would be too gentlemanly to do anything inappropriate. "I'm nearly finished," she said as she slowly rose from the bubbly water and stepped out gracefully. Squall had to stand as he passed her towel over, but placed it over her to cover his vision. "Thanks, she replied as she dried her feet on his mat. They walked over to the door where Squall stood outside while Rinoa dried herself, got dressed and blow-dried her raven locks.
She stepped out with a long silk purple nightie on with a cotton-brushed jacket patterned with PuPu. Squall looked at her with a sigh as she walked over to his bed. He scratched his head, as Rinoa was about to grab a pillow. "Are you sure you don't want me to sleep on the floor?"
Rinoa rolled her eyes; "All we're doing is sleeping. I'm sure my clothes will still be intact when I wake up." Squall shrugged his shoulders with a small smirk on his face that he couldn't hide. Rinoa looked at him with a surprised look as she hit him over the shoulder with the pillow.
"That's very sneaky of you, Leonhart. Not Commander-like at all."
He smiled as he turned off the lights and hopped into bed. "Oh, there are a lot of things that I have done that haven't been Commander-like."
Rinoa laughed as she buried her head further into her pillow. She had to face Squall as the handcuffs only granted them this position. She could feel his breath rest upon her neck as he closed his steely-blue eyes. A smile crept upon her face as she also closed her eyes for much needed rest. She tried not to physically touch Squall's body underneath the blanket they shared, but it was unavoidable at times when she tried to get comfortable.
"Night Squall," she softly whispered.
Even though it felt so familiar, they knew that any sort of reconciliation wasn't on the cards. They had to hold their emotions to themselves and just survive another two days. It wasn't easy as they had imagined, but what surprised them more was that it wasn't as painful.
If the emotional barrier that they fabricated were to falter, even by the slightest bit, who knows boundaries they would cross...?
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A/N: Ola amigos! Well, it's my second attempt at a 'rom-com' so don't slaughter me just yet! My goodness this was a long chapter...hope you didn't fall asleep halfway. I would like to thank my gorgeous and absolutely brilliant beta-reader, Rikke Leonhart. If I were a model, she would be my Photoshop artist. That's right; she makes my chapters look pretty. Lol. Thanks heaps Rikke. (Told you there would be another bad metaphor.) Anyway, I hope this chapter brought a smile to your face, at least once. If so, please review. If not, tell me why? Lol. Love you guys that read my work, words can't express my gratitude.
Till next time.
Leonhartilly