The harsh cry of the alarm pulled Zell from his deep sleep with a start. It had been a long time since he'd ever needed an alarm and he didn't like needing it now.
It was a little after five in the evening when he finally got out of bed and dressed. He headed down the stairs to start some coffee before heading out on his run. He was going to start slow. He knew there was no way he'd be able to go the ten miles he was able to in Balamb. Deling City was a higher altitude, in the evening it was still hot out, so it made running that much more difficult. He committed himself to only do three miles for the time being.
He felt sluggish as he hit the street, he hadn't counted on feeling that slow. He attributed it to the heat and lack of breeze in the city. Balamb was always breezy, even on the hottest days, the breeze was cool. He would just have to get used to the heat.
He was halfway through his run, and he had to take a break. His lungs felt like they were on fire and had to take a seat on the bench outside a nearby park.
Zell was impressed Irvine found a house in such a nice part of town. Deling City real estate wasn't cheap, but Irvine was able to get a great deal for his place.
When his lungs stopped burning he went back to his run and returned to Irvine's place. He did his usual pushups and sit-ups and went to shower. When he finished, he went and got a cup of coffee.
Zell had enjoyed his few minutes of peace before Irving came stumbling down the steps. When he did, Zell already had breakfast made. It was a weird feeling making breakfast food in the evening.
"Zell, has anyone ever told you, you'd make an amazing housewife?" Irvine laughed as he fell into one of the dining room chairs.
"It's possible," Zell admitted sheepishly.
"If you were a woman I'd marry you," Irvine said shoving bacon into his mouth.
"If I were a woman, I wouldn't be the least bit interested in you," Zell replied.
"That's fair," Irvine shrugged.
They ate in silence save for Irvine's loud chewing. It made Zell slightly nauseated watching his sloppiness. It made it easy to see why he and Selphie were no longer together. Selene must not have eaten with him often enough to be grossed out.
"Hey," Zell said getting Irvine's attention, "do you have any board games?"
"I might," Irvine answered, mouth full of food. "Check the hall closet."
Zell nodded and took the opportunity not to see Irvine eat anymore.
Zell searched the closet and found nothing but children's games. He didn't know what he expected, Irvine did have children, and these were likely meant to keep them out of his hair while they were visiting. There was a chess set at least, Zell wasn't very good at chess, but it was better than hungry, hungry hippos.
"What do you need a game for?" Irvine called from the dining room.
"Do you have any idea how boring it is sitting at that security desk all night?" Zell answered walking back into the room.
"Don't you have a vet sitting with you all night?" Irvine chuckled.
"Yeah, but she was working on stuff and not all that talkative," Zell replied.
"She?" Irvine said with a suggestive tone. "Is she hot?"
"It was Aliesie," Zell answered.
"So that's a yes then," Irvine chuckled.
Zell rolled his eyes and headed to the kitchen to clean up after breakfast. He was dressed for work and ready to go he just had to wait on Irvine.
When he was finally ready, they were off to work. Zell got his gear and headed for the security desk, making sure to avoid Jeffery. He didn't want to be hit with a rock again.
The desk was unoccupied this time, so Zell just took his seat and pulled up the security feed. The emptiness of the room combined with the low light level was slightly unsettling. He wasn't afraid of being alone in the dark, but he was in a hospital for large wild animals. There was a chance, however small it was, that one of them escaped and was prowling the halls. He did have his tranquilizer gun, but he wasn't comfortable with his aim. Not only that but most of the time tranquilizers did nothing but irritate the animal till they fell asleep which didn't happen immediately.
A few hours passed, and Aliesie still hadn't arrived at the desk. She'd at least checked in over the radio, so he knew a tiger wasn't eating her. Zell couldn't explain why he was even worrying. She was an adult doing her job, as was he, he was just bored and wanted someone to talk with.
He needed to take a break, he was starving and felt like he was going to pass out from staring at the monitors for so long. He picked up his radio to inform his team he'd be away from the desk for a few minutes and went looking for an employee lounge that hopefully had some coffee.
His prayer for coffee was answered the farther down the hall he got, and the intoxicating aroma hit his nostrils.
"Oh, fuck yes," he muttered on his way into the lounge.
He quickly grabbed a cup and filled it.
"It's pretty good coffee."
Zell jumped at the female voice behind him. He turned and was face to face with Aliesie dressed in light blue scrubs and a white lab coat like the night before.
"Hey," he said awkwardly.
"You're in between me and coffee," she said trying to get him to move.
"Oh, sorry," he said stepping aside. "So where have you been?" he asked checking out the vending machine.
"Working," she answered. "I don't sit at the security desk every night, just on Monday when I need to do paperwork."
That was disappointing. Zell brought the chess set for nothing and was doomed to spend the rest of the night bored.
"So, what do you want to do this weekend?" he asked.
"What do you mean?"
"We're gonna hang out this weekend remember?" he laughed.
"You were serious about that?" she asked shocked.
"Why wouldn't I be?" the SeeD answered, "I could use some time away from Irvine."
"I can't afford to take time off right now," she sighed.
A distressed look crossed his face. Though, he didn't quite know why it bothered him that Aliesie was blowing him off. The more he thought about what she said, the angrier he became.
"It's always just work with you, isn't it?" he snapped, slamming his mug down on the nearby table and storming out.
"Huh?" he heard her response as he headed out the door but didn't bother to answer. He simply returned to his duty.
Hours later he was still angry, but not at Aliesie. He was angry at himself for reacting the way he did.
It wasn't as if she made concrete plans to hang out with him or that she'd even really agreed to it to begin with. 'Whatever' was all she said on the matter. He should have known that whatever really means maybe.
She did just move for the third time. Zell knew from experience that moving wasn't a cheap endeavor and to have to do it three times had to amass a certain amount of debt. Most likely she truly couldn't afford to take time off till she paid it.
The question remained; why had he reacted that way?
It was a question he couldn't seem to answer no matter how much he thought about it. And Zell thought about it till it gave him a headache.
When it was time to leave, he crashed as soon as he hit the pillow.
The rest of the week was a lot of the same. Zell would get up, go for his run, shower, make breakfast, clean up then go to work and be bored out of his mind till it was time to go home. He hadn't seen Aliesie since he snapped in the break room. The longer time went on, the worse he felt about it, he needed a chance to apologize, but he wasn't likely to get it. He didn't have access to the part of the hospital where she worked.
When Saturday came around again, he was off. He wasn't too sure what to do with himself. At home, he had a routine for every day of the week, Saturday's were his days to clean the whole house. Irvine's house was already clean. There was nothing for Zell to do.
"You look lost," Irvine said as he entered the kitchen.
"I don't know what to do with myself," Zell sighed.
"Come see Selene's show with me tonight," Irvine offered.
That wasn't the worst idea Irvine ever had. Zell did need something to do.
"Sure," he agreed.
At least it was something, and it was better than sitting at home bored. He got enough of that at work.
The bar she sang at was much nicer than the dive Irvine liked to frequent. It was well within Irvine's standards though, all they played was country western, and almost everyone in it was dressed as a cowboy/girl.
Irvine led Zell to a table toward the middle of the room and draped his coat over one of the chairs before heading off to the bar. Zell just sat down; he didn't want to drink after what happen the last time.
"This place a little too hoity-toity for me but damn do they have good whiskey," Irvine chuckled handing Zell a glass.
"I wasn't planning on drinking," Zell groaned.
"Then don't drink it," the sniper replied.
Zell rolled his eyes and focused on the empty stage, "when does Selene go on?"
"Not sure," Irvine answered taking a drink, "but you can ask her yourself," he added gesturing to the stage door.
Selene made her way over to them with a smile. Her red hair hung loosely around her face and covered the spaghetti straps of her white tank top, and knee high cowboy boots covered the bottom portion of her torn, light blue, denim jeans.
"You guys made it!" she said cheerfully taking a seat on Irvine's lap.
"Did you think I would miss it?" Irvine asked kissing her cheek.
"When do you go on?" Zell asked, hoping to end the awkward situation he found himself in.
"I go on second in the lineup," She answered cheerfully.
She reminded Zell a little of Selphie, but much less intense. Of course, she could have been just as intense as Selphie; this was only his second time meeting Selene after all and the first time talking to her.
"Aliesie said you two were roommates in college," Zell wasn't very comfortable being the third wheel, so he tried to keep up the conversation to keep them from making it awkward.
"Yup," she answered, "all four years of undergrad."
"What did you study?" he asked but assumed it was likely music.
"Psychology," she answered.
Zell's shocked expression made her laugh.
"Seriously?" he asked.
"Yeah, I'm working on my Ph.D. right now," she smiled.
"Wow, that's…unexpected," Zell replied.
"Why? Aliesie was pre-med and pre-vet in undergrad," she explained.
"Well, yeah but I figured you would have been a music major," Zell said.
"That would have been a recipe for disaster! Could you imagine what finals would have been like?" she laughed.
That hadn't occurred to him. The more Selene explained it, the more it made sense. A music major rooming with a science major was a terrible idea; one would be diligently studying notes or books while the other practices an instrument. It would be torture for the science major.
"If you're getting a Ph.D. in psychology then why are doing this?" he asked, refereeing to singing in a country western bar.
"I can't have a hobby?" she laughed.
She had a point; it never occurred that she had other career goals. Not that Zell knew anything about Selene in the first place.
"I'm surprised Aliesie didn't ride with you guys," Selene said.
"I thought she had to work?" Zell interjected.
"She was going to, but she said she'd come see my show," Selene shrugged.
Was that the reason she blew him off? Selene was her friend, and Zell was only an acquaintance, it made sense Aliesie would choose her over him.
It didn't make him feel much better though.
"So, what are we doing after the show?" Zell asked changing the subject.
"I figured we could all go out to eat or something," Irvine answered.
"Aliesie's here!" Selene announced excitedly waving her friend over to them.
Zell looked over toward the door as did Irvine and saw Aliesie in a knee length black dress with matching heels. Her hair hung loose, but she had it pulled over one shoulder. Zell had to admit, she looked incredible.
"What took you so long?" Selene asked giving Aliesie a hug.
"I'm here now, isn't that what matters?" Aliesie answered.
Selene rolled her eyes and sat back on Irvine's lap. Aliesie took a seat across from Zell and gave him and awkward smile.
"Hey," he said quietly.
"Hey," she replied.
Irvine's glance shifted back and forth between Zell and Aliesie like he was suspicious of something.
"Why are you two acting weird?" he asked taking another sip of his drink.
"Huh?" Zell replied.
"You two act like you had a one night stand," Irvine laughed.
"Dude, I'm married," Zell snapped.
"So? Soccer has a goalie, but that doesn't mean you can't score," Irvine shrugged.
Zell was the only one not surprised by his statement, Selene gave him a sharp slap on his chest and Aliesie got up to leave.
"I'm going to the bar," she groaned.
Selene followed Aliesie to the bar leaving Zell and Irvine alone.
"So, did you guys sleep together?" Irvine asked.
"Of course not!" Zell scoffed.
"Then why are you acting so weird around each other?" Irvine demanded.
"We were gonna hang out this weekend, but she blew me off," Zell sighed.
"So?"
"I kinda overreacted," Zell shrugged.
"How so?" Irvine asked.
"I got mad when she said she had to work and I may have broken a coffee mug," Zell answered.
He felt foolish thinking about it. Aliesie probably thought he was crazy; he would have if the roles were reversed.
"That's kinda fucked up man," Irvine said shaking his head.
"I know," Zell groaned burying his face in his hands.
"Why would you do that?" Irvine laughed.
"I don't know," Zell answered slamming his head on the table.
"She probably thinks you're gonna be her new stalker," Irvine said.
Zell was willing to believe that, he'd made a complete fool of himself and now he didn't know how to fix it. He was afraid that if he tried to simply apologize, he would somehow make things worse.
"I'm such an idiot," Zell sighed.
"Dude, why are you making such a big deal about it? It's not like you want to date her or something, right?"
"Of course not," Zell scoffed.
"Then just go tell her you're sorry," Irvine gestured to the bar.
Why was he making a big deal about it? He wanted to be friends with her, that was all, and he was making himself seem like a lunatic. He didn't even know why he was acting the way he was. It's not like they'd never spent time together before. He'd spent a few days with her when Laguna invited everyone to the presidential palace years ago. They would have likely become great friends back then if it weren't for him having to return to Balamb. Why was it so difficult this time?
Why was he making such a mess of things? Why was he so desperate for her approval? It didn't make any sense, she wasn't his wife, and she was barely his friend so why did it matter?
"I'm gonna head backstage with Selene," Irvine said snapping Zell out of his thoughts. "Try not to make yourself seem crazy this time."
Zell nodded and glanced over at Aliesie at the bar and decided an apology was better than nothing. So he slowly made his way over to her.
"Hey, again," he said sheepishly.
"Hi," she replied, surprised by his presence next to her.
"I owe you an apology for the other day," he sighed. "I don't know why I reacted the way I did and I would completely understand if you didn't want to see me again after that."
"You apologize a lot," she said flatly.
She wasn't wrong about that. He'd apologized to her multiple times every time he'd seen her so far.
"I guess you're right," he said.
"Why?"
That was a good question, one that he was ill-equipped to answer. So, he just shrugged his shoulders.
"You don't need to apologize," she smiled, "granted, your reaction was a little crazy."
"I won't disagree with that," he laughed. "I don't think my reaction had anything to do with you though, honestly," he admitted.
"What was it about then?" Aliesie asked.
"Fuck if I know," he muttered.
"At least you're honest," she chuckled taking a sip of her drink.
"Can I ask you something?"
"What?"
"Why did you tell me you had to work and then show up here?"
"Well, for the sake of honesty, I didn't think it would be appropriate for us to hang out alone," she sighed.
"What do you mean?" he laughed.
"You're married, don't you think it's a little weird to be hanging out with a single woman?" she challenged.
"I'd say under normal circumstances it would be," he replied.
"Are you saying these are abnormal circumstances?" she joked.
"Well, kinda, I mean we've met before, so it's not like were complete strangers, I'm friends with your older brother and your sister-in-law, and one of my best friends is dating your friend," he explained. "It only makes sense that we should be friends too."
She let out a soft chuckle before downing the rest of her drink and requesting another.
"If it would make you more comfortable though, how about we only hang out in group settings like this?" he offered.
She smiled in agreement and downed her second drink.
By the time Selene hit the stage Aliesie was sloshed. She was a giggly drunk and talkative the exact opposite of how she was normally. All through the first band she was dancing in her bar stool and making silly jokes that Zell would have expected from Laguna. The passion in which she delivered them made him laugh harder than the actual joke did.
When Selene hit the stage, Aliesie let out the loudest, highest cheer that Zell had ever heard and rushed up to the stage to cheer on her friend. Zell remained at the bar laughing.
"She's a fun drunk," Irvine chuckled as he slid over next to Zell.
"It makes me wonder what Squall is like drunk." Zell's statement made Irvine realize they had never seen Squall drunk.
Even at each of their bachelor parties, Squall was always the designated driver.
"We need to get him drunk," Irvine was determined to make it happen.
Zell rolled his eyes and took a sip of his glass of water.
"I take it you two made up?" Irvine asked nudging Zell.
"She didn't seem that upset about it," Zell confessed.
"I don't think a lot gets to her," Irvine shrugged, "at least not since Toby started stalking her."
"What's the deal with that?" Zell asked.
"No clue, I think she talks to Selene about it," Irvine shrugged.
"Selene doesn't say anything to you?"
"No, she calls it 'doctor/patient privilege.'"
"You sound bitter, maybe you should talk to Selene about your issues," Zell joked.
"I do," Zell was taken aback by that answer.
"Seriously?" he asked.
"Yeah," Irvine said with a serious tone, "it helps a lot, you might benefit from it."
"I think I'll pass," Zell scoffed.
"Dude, you flipped out on Aliesie the other day," Irvine laughed. "I think it would do you some good to talk to a professional."
"Isn't she still working on her Ph.D.?" Zell snapped back.
"She has a master's and is a licensed counselor," Irvine defended.
"Then what does she need a Ph.D. for?"
"She wants to do the research side of things," Irvine answered quicker than Zell expected. "It's harder to get papers published if you don't have a Ph.D."
Zell responded with a series of barely audible grunts.
"Just think about it, man," Irvine patted Zell on the back before heading up to the stage next to Aliesie.
When Selene finished her set, everyone gathered outside the bar. Aliesie and Irvine were both drunk, but Irvine was much better at staying vertical, even though he was leaning heavily on Selene.
Aliesie almost landed face first on the pavement till Zell caught her.
"You alright, darlin?" Irvine asked with a heavy drawl.
"I'm fiiiine," she slurred draping her arms over Zell's shoulders.
Zell practically had to carry her to her car. He put her gently in the backseat, and she flopped down and passed out.
"I'll get her home," Zell told Selene.
Selene nodded and gave him the address, and he was off.
Aliesie mumbled nonsense from the back seat; he assumed she was just sleeping till she popped up in the rear-view mirror and said: "Aren't you going to answer?"
"Answer what?" Zell laughed.
"Ugh, never mind," she groaned and flopped back down on the seat.
Zell rolled his eyes and continued driving.
Getting her out of the car was more challenging than getting her in. He tried getting her to stand on her own but she just went limp, he had no choice but to throw her over his shoulders. He prayed that no neighbors called the police because of it, it did look suspicious.
"Keys?" he whispered.
She shoved her purse in his hands in response.
He felt awkward digging through her bag; it was something his Ma told him never to do. He didn't even feel comfortable looking through his wife's bag.
Luckily, her keys were right on top of everything else in the bag.
He unlocked the door and was greeted by her two large dogs, excited that their master was home.
"Shoes off," Aliesie mumbled.
He assumed she was referring to him, so he kicked them off before setting her gently on the bottom of the staircase. He started to help her get her shoes off, but she pushed him away and did it herself. She was sobering up a little.
"Dogs need out," she sighed leaning against the banister. "Backyard," she gestured to the kitchen.
Zell headed to the sliding glass door and opened it. The dogs dashed out quickly, did their business and came right back inside.
"Can you get up on your own?" Zell asked.
"Let's find out," she giggled, staggering to her feet.
She slowly turned and headed up the stairs. Zell followed to make sure she didn't fall backward. She made her way to her bedroom and flopped face first on her bed.
Zell laughed, then rolled her to the far side, pulled back the covers and rolled her back so he could cover her. Both dogs jumped onto the bed and laid close to Aliesie.
"Goodnight," Zell whispered.
"Zell," Aliesie mumbled, "you're a good guy. Your wife is lucky to have you," with that, she was out.
He hadn't realized how badly he needed to hear something like that till he heard it. It was nice to feel appreciated.
He headed back downstairs and decided it was probably best to crash on her couch. Irvine and Selene were likely defiling Irvine's place, and he didn't want to hear that all night. Not only that, but he wanted to make sure Aliesie was okay. She'd said she was worried about being home alone at night.
He didn't get much sleep, and he woke up with aches all over. He remembered Aliesie's couch being more comfortable the last time. The sun was shining right on his face, and he pulled himself into a sitting position with a groan.
The dogs must have forgotten his presence as his groan caused them to bark and run down the stairs.
Zell was a little paranoid they would attack him since they were trained for security, but once they caught his scent, they relaxed.
"You guys want out?" he asked them. Both dogs got excited and ran to the door waiting for Zell to open the door.
Unlike the night before they took the time to enjoy the sunshine of the morning.
Zell felt his stomach grumble, he could have made himself some food but felt weird making himself that at home in someone else's kitchen. At Irvine's they had an agreement that Zell would do all the cooking in exchange for a free room. Zell insisted on it; he felt awkward just accepting his invitation to stay.
Coffee was doable. He found the coffee maker with ease, the grounds, on the other hand, were a little more difficult.
As it turned out she didn't have any, she did have beans and a grinder. Zell started grinding the beans when Aliesie appeared in the doorway. Her makeup smeared across her face and her comforter wrapped around her body.
"Good morning," Zell yelled over the grinder.
"I hate you right now," she mumbled climbing onto a barstool at the counter.
"Sorry," Zell laughed, turning the grinder off.
Aliesie's face fell and lost all color, for a moment, Zell thought she might throw up.
"D-did, did anything…happen last night?" she stammered.
Was she that drunk? Zell thought.
"You got pretty drunk at the bar last night," Zell laughed.
"We didn't… you know," she couldn't seem to bring herself to finish her thoughts.
"What are you talking about?" Zell asked, "are you asking if we slept together?"
Her face turned beet red as she pulled the blanket over her head.
"Did we?!" The comforter muffled her shriek.
Zell found her reaction slightly humorous mainly since he couldn't tell if she was upset about it or just embarrassed.
"No, we didn't," he chuckled, turning on the coffee maker. "I slept on your couch."
She slowly pulled the blanket off her head, her face still flushed.
"Why did you spend the night?" she whispered.
"It was late, and you said you didn't like being home alone at night," he shrugged. "Coffee mugs?"
Aliesie gestured to one of the cupboards and Zell retrieved a mug for each of them.
"So, you stayed?" she couldn't seem to wrap her mind around it.
"Yup," he smiled.
"Thanks, I guess," she muttered.
"You're welcome," he replied.
"So, uh, what are you going to do now?" she asked sheepishly.
"I dunno," Zell shrugged. "I might rent a movie on my way back to Irvine's."
"What movie?"
Zell narrowed his eyes, slightly confused, was she trying to make small talk?
He shrugged; "maybe 'Fists of Fury Five' it's a classic."
"Fists of Fury Five?" she asked with a disgusted look. "I think you have to update your definition of 'classic' that movie is terrible."
"What are you saying? It's the best in the franchise!" Zell said enthusiastically.
"No, it's the worst, 'Fists of Fury Three, Triple Fist' was the best in plot and character development. Not to mention the action scenes look real. Everything after was complete garbage," she explained.
Zell stared at her in disbelief; he'd never had someone challenge him on the quality of the series before. Most everyone just took his word for it, likely because no one else cared for the franchise like he did.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" she asked.
"Did we just become best friends?" he asked excitedly.
"Did we?"
"I'm going out to rent all eight movies, and we're going to have a marathon!" he said, quickly grabbing his coat and running out the door.
"What just happened?" she whispered.
I know what you're thinking, "two chapters in one week?! you haven't done that since you first started writing I'll Be Your Knight!"
It's shocking I know, but don't worry, I'm not a sorceress or anything. I just got a new laptop and I can finally write from my couch. Hopefully, I can keep up this streak. Anyway, let me know what you think of the chapter or just the story overall!