A/N: Hai guise! Huge apologies on the lateness of this! I made this chappie a tad longer to make up for it! Thanks to everyone for the encouraging feedback on the last two chapters :D
"You've gotta be kidding…"
Irvine sighed after looking over the text-message he had received from Squall.
"Need to talk… Meet at my office after hours,"it read.
Irvine contemplated ignoring the message, but he had cooled off considerably since their fight and thought it was a high time to discuss the situation. He typed up a quick confirmation, pressing the send button before he could change his mind. He thought it odd that Squall would want to meet at his workplace rather than at his home, although it was probably for the better. This would be the first time speaking to the brunet since taking his daughter to live with him.
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The chimes of bells echoed throughout Twilight, signaling the end of the school-day and the beginning of the weekend for students. Teens flocked the late afternoon streets, and among them, Sora spotted his blonde friend whose year-round tan never seemed to fade.
"Tidus!"
"Hey, Sora! I've been looking everywhere for you! I've got something for ya." Tidus sprinted over to his friend, handing the brunet boy a card as soon as reached him. "Here."
"What's this?" Sora skimmed over the pumpkin-decorated card. "A Halloween party!? I'm so there! Can I bring a friend?"
"Sure! And your brother's invited, too."
"Cool! I'll let him know. But… why are you having your party a week before Halloween?"
"'Cause, a lot of people have their parties Halloween night. And I'm going trick-or-treating on Halloween… duh! Aren't you?"
"Maybe… but don't you think we're getting too old for that?"
"Too old? Nah. Who's too old for free candy?!"
Sora grinned, agreeing with his friend's carefree attitude.
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After his brief encounter with Tidus, Sora went off on his own, deciding it had gotten too chilly for outdoor ball games with his friend. He searched for his younger brother, hoping they might walk home together for a change. In fact, he and Roxas rarely ever did anything together anymore, much less so during the school day. Sora was feeling sort of nostalgic and decided to give it a shot.
"Roxas!" Sora called when he finally found his brother.
As Sora approached him, Roxas gave his older brother a questioning look. "Hey… Sora?"
"Check this out!" Sora presented Roxas with the invitation he had received earlier.
"Oh great, you're invited to a Halloween party. Good for you," Roxas deadpanned, shoving the card back in Sora's hand.
"Hey! Not just me… You're invited too… If you wanna go."
"To a party with all your friends? I think I'll pass."
Sora shrugged it off casually. "Suit yourself. I'm definitely bringing Riku along! D'you wanna walk home together?"
"No, you go ahead."
"Aw, why not?"
"I'm not going home yet… I'm meeting up with someone."
"Augh… Roxas! Don't tell me you're gonna see that guy again?"
"What guy?"
"Come on, don't play dumb…"
"You're right… I can't play dumb… It just comes so much more naturally to you."
"Shut up. I know what I saw you doing in his car the other day."
"His name is Axel… and so what if I am gonna see him again? Do you have a problem with that?"
"No… I don't have a problem with it… It isn't about that… It's just… you… What's going on with you? You've been all weird and distant for the longest time now. Now you're seeing this guy who's way too old for you."
"So? What do you care?"
"Wha–? What do you mean, what do I care? Of course I care… You're my little brother! Roxas… I don't want to see you get hurt."
"Oh please… Spare me the phony concern. You're just jealous that I have a boyfriend and you're still fawning over a guy who'll never even give you a sideways glance."
"You idiot, this has nothing to do with me!" Sora tried hard to comprehend his normally sensible brother's ridiculous accusation. "What would possess you to think that I'd be jealous? And what's that about a boyfriend? You're kidding, right… I mean, what guy in his right mind would want to date a kid like you?"
"Are you saying I'm too stupid to have a relationship with an older guy?"
"No, I'm not saying that at all. Roxas! Ugh!" Sora threw up his hands in frustration. "You can't honestly be that naïve. There's only one reason he's interested in you and you know it!"
Just as Sora finished speaking, a car horn honked behind them.
"That's my ride." Roxas waved back at the redhead waiting for him in his flashy car, turning back to his older brother, who was cross-armed with a disapproving look on his face.
Sora softened his tone hoping his brother would change his mind.
"Roxas… listen to me... I know you're smarter than this… You know what a guy like him wants. You can't give that up to him."
"Well… maybe, I've already given it to him… And maybe… it's because I wanted it, too." Roxas shrugged casually, leaving Sora dumbfounded as he sprinted towards Axel's car. "Later, bro."
If Sora hadn't been in such shock at learning his thirteen-year-old brother was quite possibly having sex, with a much older man at that, he would've struck him and tackled him down right then and there to try to knock some sense into him. Of course, that wouldn't have worked in any case.
Sora eventually recovered from his speechless state, coming up with an idea he thought might be able to stop Roxas from making any more mistakes.
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Irvine knocked on the doorframe of the small office in the high school gymnasium.
Squall looked up, locking eyes with the man he that had caused him so much grief in the past month.
"You know… you could have given me better directions to your office… I was having a flashback to my first year of high school… uggh."
Squall brushed it off, motioning Irvine to enter his tiny room in the gym and locked the door behind him.
"Sit down," he said, pointing the cowboy towards a swiveling office chair, the only seat in the room.
Irvine did as he was told, slightly baffled by the total lack of emotion in the other man's demeanor. He had come in prepared for the worst, but so far it seemed to be the opposite of what he had anticipated.
Squall shifted over a stack of student evaluation papers on his desk to clear a space, taking a seat on it facing Irvine, or rather, looking down on him.
Irvine felt a flutter in his stomach (and perhaps elsewhere on his body) looking upon his ex-boyfriend's body. He had a perfect view of those long legs he had missed caressing as Squall crossed them in his snuggly worn leather pants. Irvine quickly averted his gaze before the brunet noticed, looking for something else to fix his eyes on, when he noticed an ashtray in a corner of the desk.
"You're smoking again?"
Squall shrugged it off, "You know how it is… old habits die hard, or whatever. I try not to at home… For Denzel and the boys."
"Oh yeah? How is Denzel?"
"He's good… We've been managing, despite everything."
"Oh, good," Irvine said, leading into an uncomfortable silence. Squall had been the one to invite him over to talk, yet, he didn't seem to be interested in talking. He hadn't even asked about their daughter. Irvine thought for sure Squall would be bombarding him with questions about her.
"You know, Cissy's been great…" he started, breaking the silence. "I mean, it took her some time to adjust to the new house, but she's been having a ball with her grandma. They spent a lot of time together, with me relocating and finishing up the deal on my shop. I got a really nice chunk of change out of it, too. It's freed up my time so I can really focus on raising her… I'll have to work on the ranch sometimes, too, but… I'll always be around."
"Sounds like you've really got it all figured out…"
"Yeah… well, I'd planned this out for some time now… Except… before, it wasn't so rushed… and my plan included you…"
"Irvine… I didn't really ask you to come all this way to talk."
The cowboy was once again confused by the brunet. "What?"
He watched Squall as he uncrossed his legs, sliding off the desk to straddle his lap.
Squall loosely put his arms around his ex-boyfriend's neck, leaning forward to place gentle kisses on his cheek.
"I know… no matter what I say…" he started, in between kisses, "You won't change your mind about keeping our daughter with you."
Irvine was on sensory overload, as the brunet's kisses trailed down lower from his jawline to his neck, each nip becoming rougher and needier.
"NO. No… What are you doing?" Irvine pushed the brunet away as he stood up and straightened up, knocking the chair backwards in the process. "You're so fucking twisted you know that? Just constantly playing with my emotions."
"Emotions? That was never part of the deal… You said so yourself… I'm just the whore you knocked up, remember that?"
"And there it is… gods… I knew coming here would be a mistake. Here I was thinking we might actually have a normal adult conversation to put all that behind us. You're still just as worked up about everything now as you were then."
"Did you really expect me to get over something like that so easily?"
"Leon, I only said that because I wanted you to hurt as badly as you hurt me. Forgive me for being upset and lashing out, but I had just as much a right to be as you did… I still love you… so much Leon. I don't want… a meaningless romp in your office… I want you… I want all of you."
"Fine. You can have me… whenever you want… free of charge. You don't even have to let me see my daughter. I just want you to fuck me right now."
"You're not serious."
"Dead serious. I know you, Irvine… you want this as badly as I do. You thought I wouldn't notice you looking at me when you came in here? When I gave you a nice view and you tried your best to look anywhere but my body?"
Irvine knew it was true, but he still stood his ground. He didn't want to be defeated. "You're insane."
"Maybe. But I wouldn't be doing this if you didn't want it, too… I can see it in your eyes, Irvine… You thought about it before it even came up. Were you picturing me sprawled naked on this desk, completely at your mercy? Or maybe, pinned against that door with my legs wrapped around you?"
Irvine felt himself mentally suffocating, wishing the brunet wasn't right.
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"Cloud… where are you? Please pick up your phone."
Sora had dialed his older brother on his cell phone, hoping his call wouldn't go unnoticed but as soon as it stopped ringing the recorded message began to speak.
Sora decided to leave his brother a message, "Hey Cloud… I'm at school. Roxas just left and… I'm worried he might be getting himself into trouble. I'm gonna go see if I can catch Squall before he leaves his office. Call me back when you get this."
Sora sighed, putting his phone away in his pocket, and headed back inside the school towards the gymnasium.
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Sora approached the small office room, knocking on the door quickly.
Finding the door closed shut was unusual, although Sora didn't give it too much thought being in his current state of preoccupation.
When no answer came, Sora tried knocking again and then turning the doorknob, but found it locked. He could tell the light was on through the small window's blind, and assumed Squall was in there, perhaps focusing on whatever task the self-defense instructor could have.
"Squall? Are you in there? It's Sora… I need to talk to you."
Sora turned his ear to listen in, finally hearing muffled sounds from inside the room.
"Squall?"
"Sora whatever it is, it's gonna have to wait. I'm in the middle of something," came the brunet's voice from inside the room.
Sora thought he sounded off, but pressed on anyway, "Squall, it's about Roxas… It's kind of important."
Inside the office, Squall was a sweaty, heaving mess, sandwiched between the door and Irvine's body, who despite his protests to stop for a moment, kept thrusting his hips forward.
"Can you fucking stop for two seconds," Squall whispered to him rather loudly. He tried to sound as normal as possible as he shouted to Sora. "I'm almost done… I'll be out in a few minutes," he said, although it came through quite breathlessly.
"Are you… okay?" Sora said softly, immediately startled when he heard him shout louder.
"Wait for me outside!"
Sora walked off, wondering if the brunet was ticked off over something.
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Back outside, Sora sat at the steps of the school's main entrance as he waited for the brunet when he saw a familiar shape approaching him through the school campus. "Cloud!" he stood up and sprinted over to his older brother to greet him.
"Hey Sora… I was on my way home when I got your message… What's going on? Where's Roxas?"
"That's just the thing… I don't know where he is…"
They heard the heavy door of the school's main entrance open and shut, Squall appearing on the front steps. He looked as if he'd run a lap or two around the school.
"Cloud? What're you doing here?"
Cloud quirked an eyebrow at the brunet, surveying him as he approached them in his lightly perspired state; his hair was tousled and his cheeks were faintly flushed.
"You look hot," Cloud stated flatly, ignoring the brunet's question.
Squall thought he saw a glimmer of lust in his boyfriend's eyes as they scanned over his body.
"I was doing some training exercises." Then he remembered he owed Sora an explanation as well. "Right before I remembered, I had to finish putting my student evaluations into the system… today's the deadline."
"I just meant… you look good… Anyway, I got done with work early… Sora left me a voicemail about Roxas so I came by to see him."
"Oh… yeah, what's going on Sora?" Squall asked.
Sora had been thinking long and hard about what he should tell them, and how he should say it. "Well… I'm just worried about him…"
"You didn't call our attention just because you're worried."
"No, you're right… okay… Cloud… You're not gonna like this, like, at all…"
Roxas's voice came through in Sora's mind, 'you better not mention any of this to Cloud, or I swear you'll be sorry.'
"A couple weeks ago I saw Roxas in your friend's car…"
"Who's car?"
"Axel's… They were kissing…"
Cloud took a mental step backward. "What?"
"I think Roxas has been seeing him, ever since that day he brought him home. Axel picked him up today… just a little while ago ."
"Son of bitch..." Cloud muttered under his breath.
"Do you know where they could have gone, Sora?" Squall asked, not as obviously upset as his boyfriend.
Sora shook his head, "No idea… Sorry…"
"I have an idea… Squall… you go ahead and grab Denzel from aftercare and take Sora with you. I'm gonna face this cradle-robbing son of bitch and give him a piece of my mind."
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Cloud only had one lead to go on; it was a slim chance but he needed to give it a try anyway. He revved his motorcycle, cutting through narrow alleyways to get to his destination.
He had heard his youngest brother mention it in passing, but it seemed so odd that it stuck with him; sea-salt ice cream. It was something he hadn't heard since he was a teenager himself, when he lived in Hollow Bastion, and recently, on one of his delivery rounds in Twilight Town, it popped up again.
'The ice cream parlor that sells sea-salt ice cream.'
Cloud slowed his bike as he approached the shop, scoping the area for any sign of his brother.
What he found was nothing out of the ordinary, just teenagers hanging out in groups or on dates.
"Shit… this was my only chance…"
Discouraged, Cloud readied his bike to leave the area; that is until his he spotted flaming red hair in the distance heading up station heights.
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"Come on, Axel, get it together… we're not even half-way there and you're already getting tired. I think eating all this sea-salt ice cream is slowing you down."
Roxas grabbed onto his boyfriend's hand, playfully dragging him uphill to Station Plaza.
"Give me a break Roxas… I'm just a little worn down from working late all week."
"Yeah? Working on those naps? Or maybe you couldn't stop thinking about me and it kept you up all night?"
"Hmm… a little of both I guess," Axel said, pulling Roxas towards himself, giving the teen a kiss.
Roxas reluctantly pulled away, "Hn… not here… someone might see us…"
"You're right… let's keep moving. I'll race you…"
"You're on. Go!"
Their race continued until they reached the very top of the clock tower, both hot and panting and trying to catch their breath.
"I won!" Roxas shouted.
"Like hell you did, I sat down first."
"Haha! You wish. You fell over when I pushed the door open and crawled to the ledge, that doesn't count."
"Well, okay, but it was a close one!"
"Alright I'll give you that…" Roxas finally caught his breath and sighed, looking into Axel's emerald eyes. "I've been looking forward to this all week… You're the best part of it, you know?"
Axel shook his head. "I don't deserve you."
"That couldn't be further from the truth." Roxas closed his eyes, initiating a gentle kiss that quickly became more passionate as he was pinned down, the clothing covering his body becoming rippled and tugged to expose more skin. He felt one of Axel's hands snake its way down into his pants, fondling and caressing him in places he didn't know he liked to be touched.