Bittersweet – Chapter IV

A/N: Thanks for all the positive feedback, everyone. I've managed to finish my summer work early (for now) meaning I could turn my attention back to this chapter. However, a 3 day Memorial Day weekend is upon us...I'll see when I get around to an outline/writing the next chapter. Enjoy, and yet again, I don't own anything.

As Hope and Light went about setting the table in the dining room, and there were a few times where their hands almost met—driving Hope crazy. He was really wishing she didn't notice any of his awkward behaviors, whether it be the stuttering, sweat, or his worst enemy of all, his almost near constant blushing. However, despite this thought, another one had invaded Hope's mind. He really wished that their hands would at least brush up once while setting out the plates and utensils. And a desire even deeper than that was that he could hold her hand, and interweave their fingers…

"Setting the table involves actually putting those on it."

"Huh…?"

Hope looked down and realized he was holding a majority of the forks in his hands, and had stopped halfway to the table. His detested antagonist in life, the mighty blush, returned to conquer his face. Damn daydreams, he had thought. After recovering, they had finished in a comfortable silence. Hope and Light heard a simmering sound come from kitchen, closely followed the by delectable smell of meat.

"Serah's pretty good, so I think you'll like it," said Lightning, taking a seat at the table. She seemed to want to kill time by staying in the dining room, and chatting with him, he thought…

"She learn from you? From what I remember, you did pretty well for someone who had to make due on Pulse of all places."

"Thanks…But yeah, she did, only she somehow took what she learned and took it much further."

Their brief moment was interrupted by a rather loud, husky voice: "I'm HOOOOOOOOOMMMMEEEEE!"

Snow had arrived. Hope saw Lightning shake her head. She then motioned with her finger for him to come closer. "Oh God!" he thought…She motioned for him to come to her! His imagination filled in the gaps, and soon enough, time had slowed down and that was a suggestive motion she had made just for him…"Way to go, Hope," he had thought. He made his way over, and she came close to whisper into his ear. Her lips were so close to his face….

"In case you were wondering, he's still a giant, dumb, gluttonous oaf. That much hasn't changed. Not even a little bit."

Her comment had caught him off guard, and he tried to stifle his laughter. He turned his head towards her and saw a mischievous look in her eye, and a small smirk on her face— obviously as a result of her comment. He then realized his face was directly in front of hers, and oh-so-close for comfort. Thank goodness he was starting to get used to realizing how awkward he could be, for he snapped out of his daze, and moved away from Lighting, outside of her long sought after personal space. It was good timing too, for as soon as he had moved, Snow and Serah made their way from the kitchen to the dining room. What a picture that would've been…One he would've liked to frame and keep forever. "That was a really lame thought…" he said to himself.

"Lookie here! This is a treat! Sis AND the kid!" exclaimed the boisterous Snow. It had been a while since he had last seen his future sister-in-law and an extraordinarily long time since he had seen Hope. He immediately made his way over to gawk at Hope's height—not as tall as him, but in a while, he would be there. He then took his hand and pulled him into a "man hug" as Snow called it.

In a short amount of time, the food was on the table. Snow and Serah sat next to each other, while Hope occupied the seat next to Lightning. The conversation was filled to the brim with laughter and old, inside jokes (Mostly from the men). Hope had recounted the past couple years for Snow; he seemed to be doing that a lot lately. Thankfully this was the last person he would have to catch up with. Serah and Light popped in occasionally with their own comments or questions.

They all began to talk about the wedding, and it was as if a switch was flipped on in Snow. His eyes got all "romantic-y" and he rested his hand on Serah's. Her eyes started to get all "romantic-y" as well. They both said how happy they were to be getting married to each other, and to be honest, A LOT of marriage mumbo jumbo. Hope felt very out of place. He tried looking down at his now empty plate, for it felt like he was intruding. He glanced over to Light and saw her arms crossed in front of her chest, and her eyes closed, low groan escaping from her mouth.

"Let's save some of this for your own private time…" said an almost as embarrassed Light.

"Alright, alright…But, hey, since we were talking about love and all…What about you, Hope?"

"Uh….Er…What do you mean?"

Snow teasingly grinned. "You have a special little lady in your life? Any cute girls at your school?"

Hope took a long gulp. He was getting nervous again. The perspiration was slowly beginning to leave his pores, but he was determined to will it back in. "Er…"

"You're awfully brash, Snow. But that's to be expected from you," Lightning interjected in a cool tone. Her voice didn't seem to change to reflect inquiry or interest. She seemed to interject for Hope's sake.

"Oh, he is…But you still haven't answered, Hope" said Serah, with a smile and twinkle in her eye.

Damn it, Serah, he thought for the second time again today. "Um…No…I don't…."

"Hey, hey…Don't get embarrassed or anything, kid! I was just teasing. You'll find that special girl one day. Or guy. I don't judge, you know," said Snow with another teasing grin. Hope could only shake his head in disbelief. But he had admitted to himself, that was pretty good.

Lightning picked up her hand and ruffled Hope's hair. "Don't pay attention to him…He's the idiot, remember? You're a good kid. You'll find someone," she had said.

"Thanks, Light…" Hope said, inwardly disappointed that she had called him a kid too. "If only she knew…If only she knew what was going on inside of me…" he had thought to himself. The tone of the conversation had abruptly changed and seemed to come to a halt. Hope looked down at this watch to check the time—a little after ten.

"Hey, its getting late…I should probably get going," Hope had told the others.

"Me too. Dinner's over. Serah, I'll see you tomorrow. Still some things to take care of, right?"

"Yes. Around 10 or so?"

"That's fine."

Snow and Serah led Light and Hope to the door. The two sisters embraced quickly, and then Light had lightly punched Snow on the shoulder. Serah gave Hope a hug, and then Snow took his hand to shake it. They all said their goodbyes, and thanked their guests for dinner. As Hope was reaching for the door knob, Snow yelled out:

"Hey, wait! What're you doing tomorrow, Hope?"

He held his chin for a second. "To be honest, hadn't really thought about it or planned this weekend out, besides Sunday." It was true. His mind was focused solely on the woman beside him.

"Me and the guys are going out tomorrow night! Not a bachelor's party, just a guy's night out. Come on buddy, I know you want in!" he had said with a large grin.

"Sure, I guess."

"Alright! Just be at the café around 10."

"Please, keep him safe," Serah had said.

"No prob, babe! Did you forget that I was a hero?"

"No, Snow, I was talking to Hope. Hope, please keep Snow safe," she had said with a smile.

Hope laughed lightly, and he saw Light trying to contain a smile. "I can play hero now. Don't worry about it, Serah."

Light and Hope then proceeded to step out the door, Serah and Snow again saying goodbye and goodnight. "Well, Light, I guess I'll see—" Hope had tried to say.

"Need a lift? I can take you to your hotel. I've got a velocycle for civilian use…Comes with the rank."

"S-Sure."

They hopped onto Light's bike. Hope was hoping he wouldn't get nervous, yet again. To achieve this, he didn't' hold on to her, content with keeping his hands to himself. It was a surefire plan that worked until a little after she had taken the bike to the skies. Light said "Hold on to me."

Hope had to do a double take. Did he hear the right thing? He pictured her saying those words again, only under a much different context…When he snapped out of it, he had placed his hands on her sides. He scooted a little further back, away from her too. It was definitely awkward, to say the least. However, Light took the velocycle down to the ground after a few seconds of driving. Looking over her shoulder, and reaching to grab his hands, she pulled him MUCH closer, and wrapped his arms around her midsection.

"Safer this way." It was all she had said before taking off again.

Hope was sure that if he let go, he would plummet to his death, and the embarrassment he felt would all be over with. "Its about 100 feet or so…Far too much to survive from this height…" he had mumbled to himself. After settling down and getting over this initial fear and embarrassment, Hope began to enjoy himself. She felt warm. And he could feel a bit of her toned muscle through her clothes….His chest had rested on her back, and he began to wonder if she could feel his heart beating. He was sure it was beating like crazy at one point, but by now, he had calmed down. This felt comfortable. This felt right. He reluctantly told her which hotel he was staying at; he would've feigned amnesia or confusion at her inquiry, but he knew she wouldn't have bought it. After riding the sky with Lightning for a while, they had reached his hotel.

"You could've stayed with one of us for the weekend. At least you know now for next time."

Was she already thinking about his next visit to Bodhum, whenever that would be…? A smile found its way to his face at the thought of this.

"Thanks, Light. I'll see you around then."

"Yeah, shortly. By the way…Didn't get a chance to tell you before, but you've really grown into your own person. You've changed, but you're still you at the heart of things. Don't let Snow's words about getting a girlfriend get to you, I could tell how awkward and embarrassed you were."

Hope's cheeks burned, and the sweat starting coming in small drops…She knew him all too well.

"I'm proud of you. And I'm glad you're here." Her tone was unwavering. It spoke multitudes to hear that from her. That's just one of numerous things he liked about her—she was genuine in all that she ever did.

"Thanks, Light…" he said sheepishly.

She flashed him a rare smile—but this time, unlike what she usually did when around others, she didn't try to hide it or hold it back. She let it out, in all of its gorgeous, gorgeous glory…. and said "G'night, Hope."

"G'night, Light."

She nodded her head towards him, then took the velocycle up into the sky. As she raced off, her cape flapped in the wind behind her. It was quite the picturesque scene. He kept looking at her ever shrinking figure in the night sky. He couldn't get her words off his mind. Or that beautiful smile. She's proud of me. She's happy I am here. She even said I had grown! And she didn't hold anything back just then!

She's stunning.

A/N: Chapter 4 is done. Shorter than the last, but I'm comfortable with this length (That's what she said…!)

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