Breaking Free
Summary – (Sequel to Locked Inside) Squall's finally gotten rid of his past demons, but there's one that still remains – the part of him that can't ignore how people judge him. When a predicament occurs and the he's the center of attention, the judgement of others intensifies and Rinoa fears the worst for Squall… and their relationship.
Disclaimer – I do not own anything from Final Fantasy 8, and this disclaimer will apply to any future chapters as well.
Author's Note – Hello again, surprised to see me writing so soon? It's okay if you are, I am too.
Well, since many of you who've read my last story couldn't wait to read something else of mine, I've decided to step up to the challenge and I'm going to do my best to deliver, and what better way than to making a sequel to Locked Inside? Now, I admit that I was planning to make a humorous fic next, but I wasn't sure how you'd guys react to that, so I decided to continue on this plot. (If you wanted to know what I was going to do, just e-mail me – my address is in my profile.)
Before I go on, I'm going to answer the question that's probably floating around your heads already, and here it is:
-No, they're not going to be stuck in another building together, and if I did that, all you'd be reading about would be about how they can't keep their hands off each other. I know that it isn't very Squall-like, but you got the main idea, right?
Okay, now that it's been all cleared, I'd better get on with the story. But I'd like to mention that for all of you people who haven't read Locked Inside, you'll have to read it in order to follow with this one. Sorry!
…Anyways, here you go!
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Chapter I – Temporary Innocence
After being freed from his inner angst at last, and managing to finally clearly convey the words that he yearned to say for the longest period of time, the infamous anti-social Squall Leonhart now felt as if he was built anew. He no longer had his former infinite air of coldness surrounding him continuously, the scowl he'd adopted as a neutral facial expression had softened, and most importantly, the adolescent didn't feel no where near as burdened as he previously been. No more carrying the charges of hidden emotions, no bottled-up feelings, and he now had someone to make him feel loved and content. Those particular feelings for Squall sensed almost foreign at first, seeing as he hadn't experienced them for what felt like ages to him. But it didn't take very long to get re-accustomed to the two enriching sensations, however.
"Well, Squall, I should really be going…" Rinoa, the sole person responsible for his mental alteration, stated somewhat sombrely. However the other teenager wasn't ready to let her leave, not now at least.
'I don't want you to leave, I… really need someone here. I can't be alone right away, please stay, just a bit longer…'
Although he didn't repeat what he had thought, his actions spoke louder than words as he pulled her hand towards him when she turned to leave.
"Squall, you know I can't stay, your father might be here any minute - It's nearly seven. But, if it's possible, I'd like to do something with you tomorrow." She explained dolefully.
"…Actually my father won't be home until the next day." With that information being shared innocently, the previously dark mood had uplifted into more of a humourous one.
"I didn't know you were that antsy to 'do it'." Rinoa playfully interpreted, using her fingers as quotation marks to emphasize the last part.
Although now he realized that what he said could be taken in more than one way, Squall was a little startled and slightly ticked off by her comments. He briefly wondered why all girls assume the worst if guys ask them to stay overnight, but regardless, he couldn't resist the hilarity in the warped context seeing as he was restraining a bit of a smirk.
A split second after that however, Squall's thoughts turned to a few weeks prior, notably on how much he's changed compared to almost a fortnight ago when he refused to accept that he needed to rely on others, even though it was indeed a losing battle inside his head.
'No, I'm fine by myself now. I have all the skills I need to survive. I'm not a child anymore.'
'That's a lie. I don't know anything. I'm confused.'
'I don't want to depend on anyone. How can I do that?'
'Someone tell me...'
'Someone? So I'll end up depending on others after all.'
'I guess… I didn't turn out as self-reliant as I wanted to be… Even though it seems like I've lost that fight, I'll make sure that I don't become too reliant on Rinoa or anybody for that matter in case if… something happens. I don't want my life to be dictated by others in how it turns out. Maybe having the strength to handle possible situations like this might make me stronger rather than simply sheltering myself…Then again, it might make me weaker instead…'
"What are you thinking about?" Rinoa inquired sweetly, nearly in a sing-song tone of voice. This knocked Squall out of his reverie rather effectively. No adequate response came fast enough as he was struggling to find some way to say something coherent to her.
"Err…urm, I was just…thinking about one of the things …that had happened when we were locked in… That's all."
"Squall, you have a lot to learn about being a boyfriend…" She continued light-heartedly, enlightening him furthermore. "…and about how to actually have some proper human contact."
The only part that seemed to strike hard in the pensive adolescent's mind in the overly-amusing drabble was the part him being considered as a 'boyfriend'. The notion never really came across before, but it changed certain patterns of thought automatically once he heard it spoken aloud. The particular thing that mainly came through was the idea of, 'Now, I have to start acting in her better interests, setting aside certain principles for this relationship to work… and make an effort to go that extra mile in some cases. …Goodbye privacy.'
"…Well, I'm learning.."
"On a different note, where am I going to sleep later tonight? I hope that it'll be your mess of a room."
Before answering, the sceptical male teenager made a brief, but poignant mental note on the subject, 'First you accuse me of wanting to sleep with you, and the next minute you're hoping that you'll hop in bed with me? Make up your mind! I swear; you'll make me go loopy some day Rinoa…'
"Actually… I don't have a 'mess of a room', given that it's rather clean. But it won't concern you because you'll be sleeping on the bathroom floor."
"Ouch…" The girl in front of him squeaked. "Making jokes must not be something you're used to because that just came off as mean…"
Squall stood there transfixed, thinking about what he'd recently said in guilt… until she reassured him that she'd only been kidding. Then, she promptly asked for a second time where she'd be sleeping; still hoping that'd it would be in his room. He already knew that she'd be disappointed with the answer he'd originally thought of, and what he was about to say next.
"You'll be sleeping on the guest bed in the spare room. I have… no extra place for you in my room anywhere." Not one to give up, the raven-haired girl started to try to convince him to reconsider.
"Are you sure that's the reason? Because I've seen your bed and it's not that small." Rinoa noted, trying to sway his idea. But Squall was one step ahead and indeed had a valid reason to counter this outside from the continuous thought of,
'This is going too fast for me…way too fast…'
"I move in my sleep." He justified plainly.
"That wouldn't be much of a problem." She teased suggestively, although Squall knew at that moment that she wasn't being very serious. So he decided to take out the ultimate counteracting response to quell the joking once and for all.
"…and from I've been told, I also tend to kick people in my sleep as well." He added, rather smugly.
"Oh, I see your point now."
'Checkmate.'
After their brief discussion for Rinoa's sleeping arrangements had concluded, the aforementioned girl took the conversation into a new topic - at least this one was more easily resolved.
"So then, what am I going to wear for my pyjamas?"
Squall unmistakably broke into a smile after hearing that remark.
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Later that night, around a little after midnight, both teenagers had finally decided to go and crash into their respective beds. Seeing as they- or rather Squall wasn't sure what time Laguna was going to come home the next day, he figured that it would be wise if they didn't stay up too late. Regardless, there were only so many movies that they could have watched together before it became monotonous. Even though he was tired, Squall couldn't seem to rest his eyes just yet; things kept floating around in his brain although there really wasn't anything important to think about – Rinoa's sleeping attire issue was resolved already.
'Was I being too harsh about refusing to let her in here? Probably not… I'm not completely ready to do something like that and besides, I know for a fact that I do kick people in my sleep.' He pondered while switching his black leather pants for his regular navy-blue cotton pyjama bottoms, and when we was about to take off the shirt he'd been wearing, something nagged at the back of his head.
'-Better put on something a night shirt or something, who knows what she'll do while I'm asleep… Hyne, what's wrong with me? It's almost like I want her to do something while I'm asleep… Just to be safe, I'd better put on the white short-sleeve undershirt… It's a little cold in here anyways.'
After mentally debating with himself for a little while, Squall had finally gotten himself ready to go to bed. When he was under the faded-black covers, it was in a matter of a moment or two until he fell dead to the world in silent slumber.
Meanwhile, Rinoa was experiencing the opposite problem – she couldn't fall asleep no matter how hard she tried.
"Argh… This is getting very annoying, very fast. Why can't I sleep? I'm not the type to get restless like this and it's never happened before… I just wish that Squall would have let me in, I wouldn't have minded if he'd make me sleep on the floor but making up that he kicks people in his sleep was kind of weird – I've heard of moving while being asleep but never kicking…and why wouldn't he let me be with him? After all, I am his girlfriend. Maybe I can make him change his mind; I really don't want to be alone tonight…" She whispered very quietly to herself as if it were a nearly inaudible soliloquy.
Before she decided to tip-toe to Squall's room located on the spare room's left-hand side, she carefully took in account the present time.
"Hmm… 12:36, he might still be up…" She murmured to herself in the large guest room. "Better knock either way…I wonder what he wears to bed. Ooh, I hope that it's just PJ bottoms…"
Taking each step as if the floor was a mine field and if any noise was considered a death trap, Rinoa sneaked out of the now-vacant guest room almost as if she were a skilled ninja. The only things that prevented her from attaining such class of stealthy proficiency was due to the door's unavoidable loud creaking when she attempted to open it slowly, and not to mention the occasional swishing of her makeshift, greatly oversized nightwear – Squall's out grown gym clothes.
At least it was very comfortable to wear.
Rapping at his door lightly, the fair-skinned female heard no indicator of welcoming or even refusal from the male dwelling within. Figuring that he was either ignoring her or possibly asleep already, she risked opening the door very noiselessly and cautiously. The latter was indeed the case as she didn't hear him move and when no pillows were flung in her general direction. After assuring that the situation was genuine, Rinoa inched closer to take the time to gaze upon the only visible part poking through the covers of her sleeping boyfriend's figure – his face.
"This is going to bug me if I don't do this now…" She incoherently mumbled to herself as her curiosity got the best of her.
The darkness confounded her senses a little as she used her digits to pull the covers slightly lower to answer her internal question. Rinoa flinched slightly and let go of the cover when his rhythmic breathing deepened while he turned over on his side; thankfully it was the opposing side, not facing the uninvited entrant. When she tried a little later, as soon as his position stabilized, her heart stopped momentarily as he reverted abruptly onto his backside again, and then quickly completed the movement by rolling onto his other side. A split second ensued and another brusque motion caused her to hold her breath once more, as he unconsciously put his head face-first into his pillow, followed with his arms securing it there on both contrasting edges of the fluffy apparatus.
"At least he wasn't lying about moving in his sleep…" The traumatized interloper thought aloud at whisper-level.
Convinced that he wasn't going to stir in the meantime, she attempted once more. She drew her dainty fingers to pluck away the sheets in the twilight's darkness until she assumed she had enough pulled away to see anything significant.
Although her vision was profusely marred by the lack of lighting, she was not prepared to risk turning on a lamp and being discovered in his supposedly-solitary quarters. As compensation for the deficiency, she intently focused her eyes furthermore, now used for tracing the outline, contours and distinguish the hues of his upper body. The result she received for wasn't a pleasing one; he'd been wearing a shirt to cover most of what she sought to see.
"Drat!" She exclaimed disappointedly, failing to restrain herself like the other times. The realization that all of her effort poured into an unnoticeable search had been for naught was enough to blind the need for discreetness and silence.
Oblivious to Rinoa, Squall had woken up when she'd shifted his blankets a bit on her third try, and had heard that last remark expelled from her. Putting two and two together wasn't hard at all and the actual hard thing was not to secretly smirk about it. Luckily she didn't see the broad smile plastered on his face, as that same face was primarily submerged into his cushion. This only lasted for a short while; until he resumed sleeping three seconds later.
"Hmm… If he's sleeping, I doubt that he'd mind me staying here…you can't object when you're asleep anyways… Regardless, I worked too hard not to leave here empty-handed…" The determined teen reasoned.
After such a thought, she prudently placed herself on the unused portion of his bed and calmly tugged the discoloured covers over her body; her dark brown eyes briefly took in the sight of him before they faced the ceiling, with her back parallel to the mattress. She also captured another sense to take in; the unique personal scent of his slumbering body resting next to hers. Nothing bad, it was simply like something else that she could now associate to him. At that point in time, she'd hoped that she would never go on without presence of his cologne occupying space in her lungs ever again.
"So this is what it's like to be in love…" She said to herself under her breath. "I just wish that he'd be awake right now…I really would have liked him to keep me from feeling a little lonely at this moment...oh well."
Inadvertently, she got what was asked for – far sooner than she ever expected.
"Ooopf!"
Squall had unwittingly kicked Rinoa out of the bed in his sleep, causing her to clatter onto the floor.
"-Huh… Wha?" He grumbled groggily after bolting upright from the beneath the covers, not fully realizing what he'd done just yet.
"Oww…"
"…Rinoa? -What are you doing on my floor…" He asked sleepily.
"…You..kicked…me out of…bed." The recently-ejected girl recalled dejectedly. Squall managed to get a small chuckle out of this.
'I figured that she come crawling in to sleep here, I'm only surprised that she didn't try pleading with me before that last movie was over. Whatever…'
"…I warned you."
"I thought you were joking about kicking people in your sleep as an excuse." Rinoa rationalized while rubbing the fall-induced sore portion of her back.
"-Nope. The one time I had to share a bed for a school trip I managed to do the same thing to someone else. …They didn't believe me then neither." Squall recollected, with a devilish grin included at the ending remark.
"Well, would it be much of a problem if I just stayed here then?"
"Umm…I'm not so sure about that…err… nevermind. -I'll… let you stay, but I should warn you, there's still be a chance that I might kick you off again." He got up from the bed and circled around its' perimeter in order to give her his hand to help her up. Rinoa accepted the chivalrous offer and let him aid her back on to her feet.
"That's fine, I can take the risk." She responded boldly, giving off a mischievous look back into his own complex gaze.
During the course of the night, not once was Rinoa catapulted off the warm, soft mattress by mishap, but on the other hand, was securely held close by the one she adored. She was pretty certain that he wasn't asleep when this occurred.
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The next morning, Squall found himself alone in his bed, and there was a lot of evidence to support that theory. First of all, the side he hadn't been sleeping on had telltale signs that its' previous resident had left, via the crumpled sheets and paper napkin effect (when you hop out of bed by moving the sheets and it looks like a folded napkin). Second of all, there was a neatly folded note addressed to him on top of that same mass of covers, and third of all… well… lets just say she wasn't there. Assuming that the note provided the details of where she was, he opened it and swiftly read its' script.
Sorry for leaving you Squall; I was getting too impatient waiting for you to wake up. You know how it is when you're at someone else's house and you wake up at the crack of dawn? Actually… it was more like 9:30 for me. Anyways, I'll be downstairs eating some cereal or watching TV – depending on when you wake up. I can't wait to see you downstairs.
Love, Rinoa
Upon reading the letter, he promptly glanced towards his alarm clock to see how long he'd stood her up for.
'10:23! -I'd better get down there fast and make sure that I can get her out of here before he comes back. I should change first, I can't do anything in this, and it'd look a thousand times more inappropriate.'
After swapping his clothing in haste, Squall dashed down the stairs until he stopped right before the base of the landing when he saw Rinoa and his father's confounded figure present in the doorway.
'I'm doomed…I just know it… At least I can thank Hyne that neither one of us is in our pyjamas, even though this grey hooded sweatshirt wasn't exactly the best of choices...'
"Oh, why hello there Rinoa. What brings you here this morning?" Laguna obliviously asked very cheerfully, that alone unintentionally gave the impression that he thought nothing of her being there. On the other hand, Rinoa didn't have an inkling to what she would have to make up to avoid telling him the truth.
"Um-"
"She's here to …practice for our new S.D class - we passed the exam when the teacher-" Squall's sped up fabrication was cut off by his father. Fortunately, he wasn't interrupting him for questioning his speedy yarn of events.
"-I know Squall. I heard it from the vice principal when he was giving the details about how you got into that fight. Now I can understand why you guys wanted to practice, but why so early?" This time it was the other teenager's turn to spin a tale in the false story of events.
"My father was going to be out of town early in the afternoon, so he dropped me off earlier so that I could get more time to practice."
"I see then. I'm just going to organize some of these new documents in my office. If any of you guys need me, just holler." He said right before retreating. After he was out of an earshot, Squall murmured something while he went back upstairs.
"…Don't worry, I won't need to."
"Squall, that was mean." Rinoa jokingly chided, while ascending the stairs with him.
"…What? I won't…I never do." He replied honestly when he turned his upper body slightly to face her.
"Nevermind… C'mon, let's go and do some 'practicing'." She added sarcastically.
"With what… imaginary weapons?"
"No… with realistic pillows."
"…Wouldn't that make him suspicious?"
"Squall, you've got to learn how to have fun, and besides… if either of us hears him come up, we just stop."
"I think I'd rather do my homework…"
"Okay…But can I throw pillows at you?"
"Hmm…Just once, I really need this done."
"Make it three and you have a deal."
"…Fine.."
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An hour later, Squall somehow managed to finish the remainder of his homework. Rinoa, in an act of kindness, didn't pelt any pillows at him, but rather guided him on the little details he'd still been stuck on. In another sense, she helped him indirectly by remaining silent while doodling something on a plain piece of paper and pen she found, and also left to go to the bathroom on the ground floor later on. Needless to point out, that aided the soundless atmosphere as well. However, by the time he was done, she still wasn't up yet. Five minutes passed before he decided to simply meet her somewhere downstairs, seeing as he felt like having a bit of lunch now, and had taken an assumption that she probably did too.
"Hey Squall, sorry I took so long. Are you done with all of your other stuff?" She apologized as soon as she spotted him passing Laguna's office.
"Yeah…" He replied monosyllabically, feeling slightly under pressure as he noticed his father on the other side of the corridor giving him a very peculiar look.
"…Why are you looking at me like that?" He demanded brusquely, switching the person he was addressing from Rinoa to his father.
"Oh, it's just nothing…" He responded coyly, brushing him and his tone off as he went back to his office once more.
'Okay, that was weird…'
Once he was far enough from his father's office door to not risk being overheard, he asked his companion if she had any idea why he was acting like that, and when she contested that she had no clue to any of this, they had lunch together.
However, during roughly the two or three times that Laguna had been alongside them momentarily, while they'd been in kitchen and dining room areas, he kept on giving his son a very specific odd look, and each time Squall couldn't seem to figure out why, because every time he asked him he chorused the line, 'Oh, it's just nothing…' give or take a few minor variations.
Assuming that he was getting very annoyed at his father's antics and that she was partly to blame, Rinoa mercifully commissioned Squall to take her home, faintly mentioning something about 'not burdening her father by making him come pick her up before a very important meeting'.
Her chauffeur was secretly thankful for the excuse to desert his mental patient of a parent, and left right then and there.
However, home was not where she wanted to head towards.
"Rinoa, you'll have to tell me where to go because I don't know where you happen to live." Squall clarified as he was inside the car before starting the ignition.
"That's okay, because I really don't want to go home now anyways."
'She doesn't want to go home? Didn't she just say the complete opposite inside the house?'
"…In case if you're wondering, I only said that because I could tell that you were getting tired of your dad's stares in the house. I used this to get you away from him by getting you out of the house." She explained in an unnaturally lifeless tone, which was common for Squall himself, but not for her.
"Thanks…" He replied systematically, failing to fill the void in their dismal conversation.
He soon remarked upon that whenever she talked about her father or on the topic of going home, it always managed to drain the life from her. Figuring that it would be best to comply with her wishes, he started suggesting ideas.
"Well… would you like to go to the movies or something else? I'm sure that I have at least a fair amount of money in these pockets."
"Did you plan on this?" She inquired, giving off a perplexed look the same time.
"No…I must have left it in there by accident, I only put this on because it was the quickest thing I could find."
"Oh, okay. Well then, to the movies it is!" Rinoa energetically announced with no traces of her previous sullenness.
'I'm glad that you're happy Rinoa. It's the least I can do for you for saving my sanity…in more ways than one.' The cerulean-eyed adolescent thought warmly before concentrating on the road in front of him.
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Roughly a quarter of an hour later, they finally arrived in the insides of the cinema's interior. Almost immediately, Squall and Rinoa could smell the wafting scent of the artificially butter-flavoured popcorn lingering through the entrance, and practically everywhere they walked through in the complex. The reason they were wandering so much in the vicinity was because each and every movie available during this time seemed to be either sold-out or filled with scores of people waiting to buy their tickets.
"You've got to be kidding me! There's not even one line-up where it isn't packed up to the hills!" Rinoa angrily fumed. To her, the situation gave the impression that it was the international 'lets-swamp-the-movie-theatre' day today, and with that being thought, she wasn't very pleased about it. Meanwhile, Squall seemed to have an entirely different reaction to the masses as his companion had.
'There's so many people here… I never knew it could be this crowded… But why am I feeling so panicky? I'm not claustrophobic…No, I just need to get out of here, something in here is making me edgy- I'm almost sure of it.'
"Rinoa, it's no use, it'll be too late to see anything worthwhile. Let's go, I know of another place we can go to." He persuaded straightforwardly, convincing her effortlessly. They both made it to the doors without any problems - considering the amount people in the contained area and Squall's increasingly speedy pace. Neither of them really understood why he was going so fast, not even Squall himself knew the answer to this particular quandary.
Once they escaped the stuffiness of the complex and into the fresh, crisp outdoor air, the pair was genuinely glad to be gone from the building. Although the unidentified location to where they were supposedly going to go next was now ultimately starting to become an engrossing notion to the one being left out in the shadows, the person who lacked in terms of knowing what and where this destination was. That said someone was now at the point where she couldn't go any longer without knowing as her patience waned. So she went and asked the all-knowing male in question a question.
"So… Where's this place we're going to? I'm dying to find out." The newly-impatient inquirer obviously…inquired right before getting in the passenger's seat of information-withholder's light blue automobile.
"I'm not saying anything; you'll see when we get there." He said strictly, leaving no room for discussion as he shut the door to the driver's seat.
While Squall was driving out of the parking lot, Rinoa simply gazed out of the car window. Since he drove pretty conservatively and cautiously unlike his father Laguna, or quite possibly anyone else she'd been in a car with, she saw no need to be extra vigilant of the road in front of them, like she inadvertently was with slightly riskier drivers.
Although she knew that it was an extremely weird habit, the element of tension and danger that this quirk brought out often made car trips pass a little faster from the fun provided whenever a minor setback actually did flare up. But seeing as nothing could possibly happen with him at the wheel, it became horrendously dull very quickly and she ended up falling asleep against the glass fairly rapidly. She only woke up later when Squall had poked her, signifying that they were finally there. Rinoa instantly regretted sleeping in such a fashion once she was fully awake; she had the world's worst (and painful) kink in her neck for about a good …10 minutes while they were walking along the Balamb harbour docks.
"…What flavour do you want?" Squall enquired, accidentally adding a little bit of a demanding tone in his voice.
"What are you talking about I don't see where you're seeing a menu…" Rinoa replied, already thoroughly bewildered.
'Hyne, I forgot to mention what I'm talking about! Way to go Leonhart, you take your girlfriend on a pseudo-date for ten minutes and she's already confused… Some genius you are.'
"We're at… err- Nevermind, let me redo this… You see that little canteen right there - right before the harbour docks?"
"Yes. It's the one with the green trim right?"
"Well… That's a little place I know that has the best ice cream in town. …Hardly anyone knows about it."
"…Hee…" Squall arched an eyebrow at her poorly subdued giggle.
'What's so funny? Did I slur something in my sentence or something?'
"Oh…I'm..sorry, it's just that… it's kind of funny that you would bring me somewhere like this -it's not that I'm not grateful… I love good ice cream too, but… it's almost stereotypical that you'd like something cold because… of the reputation you have with the others. I apologize if that came out wrong…but it's the only way I can explain it."
'I see… but what so wrong liking ice cream? Doesn't almost everyone like it? What difference does it make if you're a bit more introverted and have a reputation because of it? I know that they call me the 'ice prince' behind my back, but imagine if they were here… they'd have a flipping hay day. Meh, I really don't care…'
"Whatever…" Feeling slightly guilty about what she had just omitted, she decided to put it behind her and change the topic to alleviate his negative thoughts on the subject of his unorthodox personality traits.
"-What kind of flavours do they offer? Is it only the kinds that you can't buy in stores, or is it the basic vanilla, chocolate and strawberry?" This caught Squall off guard and out of his brooding too, so naturally, Rinoa had to wait a little while for an answer.
"…Erm- It's more or less just your basic types. Neapolitan, chocolate, strawberry, vanilla, butterscotch, cotton candy…" He listed off automatically, nearly giving a robot a run for its money for his severely mechanical response.
"Ha.. ha… Since when has cotton candy, butterscotch and neapolitan been a staple of ice cream in our society?" She debated light-heartedly, making Squall redden slightly. Never in his lifetime would he ever think of having to answer this sort of question.
"Because."
"…Because what?" She teased.
"Because I said so."
" 'Because I said so' is not a suitable response Squall."
"-All right… It's because I've never had ice cream anywhere else. So what'll you have?" Squall retorted in a concluding-slash-asking-her-a-question tone.
"…Okay, I'll have…the cotton candy. What are you going to have?" She replied, almost as if she were still a little child.
"I'm having the vanilla. Just wait here I'll-"
"-C'mon Squall, live dangerously! Pick neapolitan, I dare you!" Rinoa joshed, acting almost if she were inebriated. As far as the male teenager was concerned, his opinion was that she was drunk on life. –Or was that high on life? Right now, he really didn't care as he was almost laughing from the absurdity. The reasoning behind not laughing about this was that he felt like he had to be extra responsible for the both of them at times… and this was definitely one of those times.
When he came back after leaving for the stand a few minutes earlier, he returned with a fairly large cone in each hand. He then proceeded to promptly hand Rinoa her pastel coloured confection, and just as she was about to sit on a nearby bench to consume the dairy product, Squall directed her otherwise.
"Follow me, I know where there's a decent view of the bay not long from here." He denoted serenely.
"Sure."
During their miniscule trek, he led her through various passages, cobblestone streets, wooden piers, grassy knolls, but the sole thing which remained constant was that they were always traveling further and further away from their original position. After nearly three minutes, they were already at a range where the ice cream stand was no longer in their collective sights, and approximately another minute or two passed and they were now at their destination – a towering pristine cliff overlooking the entire marina. Squall had assumed that it was no more than a good view of the harbour and that Rinoa would think this way as well, but to her, it was much more.
"This is beautiful…" Rinoa gasped, nearly forgetting about the dessert in her grasp altogether. "…It's identical to one of the places that I've always dreamed about seeing. Now that I think about it, this is twice as exquisite and dazzling compared to the scenery from my dreams."
"…What were the other places?" Squall added inquisitively.
"Oh! Well, it'll take me ages to think of them all but…" She paused to gather her notions together into something plausible in speech. "…I think that there's one other place that I can really see in my mind's eye, all the others aren't complete enough to describe. Basically, it's an empty, vast green field with millions of flowers blooming everywhere. The blooms are in all of the colours you can think of, and there would be a clear blue cloudless sky and…the sun would shine too… It'd shine very brightly, and would warm you all up inside and… that pretty well sums up to what I had thought."
"…Hm."
"Pretty cliché, huh?"
"Not at all." Squall reassured. "…In fact, I've seen a place like that in the middle of Centra. I went there during one of my father's business trips that I got dragged into."
"Oh, but it must had been very beautiful to see, wasn't it?" She counter-questioned.
"I don't remember that much actually… I was only seven."
"But why didn't your father get someone to sit for you instead of bringing you if you didn't want to go?"
"I think… it had to do with the fact that I wasn't the most co-operating kid to babysit for."
"Oh…were you a little terror?" She teased, grinning ear-to-ear.
"No… I just wouldn't get out of my room unless if I had to."
"Now why does that not surprise me?" Rinoa humorously quipped.
"Go eat your ice cream." He moodily edged in to desperately abandon the subject… since he had nothing to retort with.
"Oops, I nearly forgot about it…" After licking the dripping side, she managed to fit one more thing in and it was:
"Mmm… you were right, this is good!"
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After finishing up, Squall and Rinoa decided to call it a day, although to Squall, it seemed like Rinoa would have rather faced an enraged Behemoth than to go home. He felt bad, but she had to return to her house at some point in time.
Walking back to the car, an awkward silence started to envelope them. No matter how much he tried to console her nerves, nothing worked and it was ten times worse inside the car. Regular sounds such as closing the doors and putting the keys in the ignition resonated as it were a death row inmate's last steps before his execution, and every breath taken and expelled established the slow crawling pace of the continuous seconds slipping away. To phrase it bluntly, one could say the perpetuating silence was enough to nearly kill a person.
Until the pressure of it all was broken by a forced dialogue intended to detract from the solemn mood.
Surprisingly, Squall was the one who cracked first.
"…Do you think your father will be angry at you?" He inquired while waiting for a green light to get to the main road.
"Why do you ask?"
"Well… because you weren't home all last night, this morning and most of the afternoon." He calmly reasoned while turning onto another side street.
"He…never cares where I go anyway. Besides, he's been on a business trip since last night – he won't know the difference regardless."
'Maybe I should stop and say something different to her. I think that I've hit too many buttons right now…'
"…Did you …enjoy yourself today?" He asked, albeit quite hesitantly - almost recoiling. Never in life had he asked someone about if they had a positive experience with him, bearing in mind that he'd never been one to care about that sort thing in the past. But that was before he had gotten to know her though.
"Yes- of course I had fun! But there's only one thing still missing that you didn't do." She interjected slyly.
Being thoroughly puzzled, he took the precaution of daring to ask a moment later when he had stopped the car into her driveway beforehand to be capable of giving her his full attention.
"…And what may that be?" He taunted, already half-guessing what she was about to say next.
"-You didn't kiss me goodbye!" She explained with much zeal, filling him in. Squall was totally off the mark in his previous inclination when she unloaded her response; he had assumed that she wanted to go out for supper or something else of that particular nature.
'This is awkward…What do I do? ..I can't seem to put myself to doing this sort of thing in public, I need a diversion..'
Luckily, one interruption came instantly in front of them, right then and there.
"Um… Rinoa, I don't think your father would like that very much.."
Being true to his word, when Rinoa turned forward and looked out from the car's front windshield, her father was indeed there; tapping his feet impatiently, arms crossed, and his expression thoroughly laced with expressions of annoyance.
"This…does not look good."
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End of Chapter Comments – Well, I hope you guys liked the start of this second story instalment. Sorry if it seems kind of plot-less right now… I'll warn you in advance that the story won't present itself until much later, so hang tight!
So in conclusion, as I've already said umm..one…two- 7 times, keep on reviewing with ideas, comments or anything you guys have to say!
Bye for now!