Author's Notes – Hehe. I thought that the last chapter wasn't so interesting so it was nice to hear some very positive comments about it. Thanks a bunch you guys!
Ahem, on to some serious matters now. In case if you're curious, the longest fic in the VIII fandom is 426,201 words. Egads, I have my work cut out for me if I wanted to claim that top spot.
Oh well, I don't know unless if I try, but I'm preeetty sure I won't get there with this fic unless if I find something cool to stuff in here on top of what I have planned. Anyone up for ten chapters of Rinoa having weird dreams that adds nothing to do with the story whatsoever?
...No? Okay then. I'll settle for whatever I can scrap then. :D
Fun fact - I went on site to calculate how many days since I posted the prologue to this and between the start to last chapter, it's been 627 days (not counting the 13th since it was an hour past midnight) or a 1 year, 8 months and 19 days. This averages out to 324.4 words per day during that span of time.
Second fun fact - I am a huge nerd. (...Which should be blatantly obvious by now. XD)
-—-—--—-—--—-—--—-—-
Chapter XLIV – Story Telling
-
For every piece to fall in place,
Forever gone without a trace,
Your horizon takes its shape,
No turning back, don't turn that page.
-Foo Fighters, Long Road To Ruin.
-
Her eyes were lazily watching the birdie go back and forth over the net, ping-ponging incessantly but never paying full attention. Her mind was where the real action was, the thoughts ricocheting off the inside of her skull, some good at placing well-aimed shots and winning points, others not as much. She was keeping tabs on that match; that was one of the few things she knew with certainty. Everything else was a mess with all sorts of odds, ends and fragmented notions littering her brain.
If only things were as simple as hitting a birdie over a net.
Rinoa secretly sighed while admiring his form from the sidelines where a couple of seats were set up for the random stragglers, such as herself, and for the players who needed a rest or who were waiting for a court to open up.
'Would it possibly help to organize a list of all the thoughts bugging me right now to attack one at a time?' she mused, 'Might as well, it couldn't hurt.'
With the notepad she brought for the purpose of jotting down anything she thought of for the excuse she had to make for what Ivy misunderstood, she went to work immediately. That is, after she took a thorough look around the area for others.
-—-
1. Something stupid I probably shouldn't have done.
2. Something smart I probably should have done.
3. How do I put a positive spin on going out with someone who potentially 'put something in my oven?'
4. ...I suck at making lists.
5. Why did I write 'put something in my oven?'
6. Better yet, why did I bother doing this?
7. Why can't I shake the feeling that someone's going to look over this?
8. ...And that the person will wonder if I'm a total nutbar.
9. Squall, I know that you're looking over my shoulder so you can stop it right now.
10. I'm serious, stop it. It's not for you to—
11. What's this list for?
12. It's for the things I'm thinking about right now so I can sort this all out in my confused little brain. Thanks for stealing my pen and notepad by the way.
13. You're welcome.
14. Meany.
15. Last time I checked, 'meany' wasn't a real word or a proper insult for that matter.
16. I'll make up whatever insult I want to since it's my notepad. Wait...why are we writing in this instead of talking to each other?
17. Because it's more interesting to anticipate what the other person could write next instead of just talking.
18. Your shirt is almost see-through from this angle. ;D
19. Real mature Rinoa.
20. What? I'm just proving your theory. Besides, it's only natural that your shirt's gotten see-through with sweat since it looks like it's a really thin shirt.
21. Why don't I take the shirt off if you seem so preoccupied with it?
22. ...I can't tell if you're being sarcastic there. You're gonna need to clarify that so I can write something obscene just to annoy you because you won't quit being a kleptomaniac.
23. I wasn't aware that you knew the word 'kleptomaniac.'
24. You're this close from getting tickled you double-meany. This close.
25. If you're tempted to tickle me, you might as well do it somewhere else because practice is done for me.
26. (o.O;)...?!
27. Get your mind out of the gutter. That's not what I meant.
28. Haha. I know, I know. You want to leave now?
29. Yeah. Wait for me here. I need to change.
-—-
After she had read that last message, Rinoa covered her mouth from the spontaneous and potentially-combustive giggles threatening to escape the confines of her mouth. This had all been so weird and yet so entertaining at the same time. It was a wonder no one had caught him passing that notepad back and forth like that. Still, she was very thankful for that brief act of randomness on his part. It made the whole issue of his distant behaviour at third period all the more easier to interpret as being intermittent and not continual. It didn't help with the fact that she still had to find a way to make it understandable to have slept with him before going out but some victories came faster than others. Just like those seen on a badminton court.
When he left however, her mind went straight to work on that quandary again.
'Ok,' she started to think, 'she doesn't know when it happened, just that it did at some point. Ok. So that gives me a little leeway there. Hm. The party wasn't held too far away from his house so he could have...walked by late at night for no apparent reason after I went outside?'
'No, that doesn't make sense.'
'Ok, so maybe it'll have to be before the party. Maybe a week or two before, I took a walk and ended up going past his house. He happened to be setting something up for Halloween and was having trouble because it was a two-man operation. Maybe I asked if he needed help and when he turned around I recognized him then.'
'Good. But where do I go with this?'
'Maybe Raine comes out and brings him more things and before he can object to my help, she asks who I am and he says that I'm from school and that my name's Rinoa. Then maybe there's big misunderstanding and she thinks that I'm an acquaintance or friend because he actually knew my name?'
'Yeah, that sounds like I'm on the right track here. ...Not to mention, it kind of sounds realistic. Er...never mind— gotta keep thinking.'
She safely stowed her notebook and pen away into her backpack.
'Hm...maybe I try to excuse myself and Raine says that I shouldn't leave on her account and maybe Squall groans or slaps his forehead at that point. Raine gets annoyed and he clarifies that I'm not his friend or anything, just an assignment partner and...wait, how is this going to lead to him doing me and explaining this whole mess?'
'Hyne, I'm going nuts. I ended up doing a believable role-play when I should have been figuring out an excuse. ...I think I need psychological help.'
Ironically enough, Squall chose that moment to come back to tap her on the shoulder. She immediately swivelled her upper body to face him. Okay, so maybe 'psychological help' was a far cry from making this ironic but....
'Never mind,' Rinoa's brain dismissed, '-you're only going to confuse yourself with that.'
She looked up at him with a grimace. "You do not want to know what I thinking of."
He gave her a skeptical look. "I doubt that you mean that considering you just said it aloud instead of keeping it to yourself."
"...Yeah, you're right." she sheepishly admitted. "I'll tell you on the way to your house."
-—-—--—-—--—-—--—-—-
"...I don't know if I should be impressed or worried after hearing that." he commented as he turned onto another street. They were about 10 minutes away from his house. "Sounds like something I'd do."
"Yeah, but that whole thing goes nowhere though. It's useless unless this is supposed to be a story that quickly jumps from girl annoys boy to boy likes girl and then to boy does girl."
"People aren't supposed to make sense." he pointed out. "Nor is everything perfectly rational."
"True, but how can I make this lie fit into our relationship and not change too much? It's not like you're a womanizer that I converted or something."
"I have no idea unless if you want to imply that we went about this backwards somehow. I don't think you want to go the 'we were extremely drunk' route."
"Yeah, that would be bad." she lightly-chuckled before reprising her former timbre. "...Actually. I think I have an idea."
"Hm?"
"I'll tell her that we got to know each other before by that decorating thing, on top of bumping into you outside of school in general, follow up with the truth about why this happened and say that this relationship started because you made a point of...I don't know, I don't want to say comforting because that would require knowing but maybe I could say that..."
"—that I was just there?" he interjected. Surprisingly enough, it filled the blank she had nicely.
"Yeah, that sounds about right." she added. "And maybe you liked me because there was something there that you couldn't quite explain. Sound okay so far?"
"Sure. ...Having me like you for some vague and unexplained reason on my part will probably make it seem more realistic." he said semi-self-depreciatingly.
Ignoring the whole self-depreciating aspect of his reply, Rinoa continued. "Alright then. So could it be safe to say that it wouldn't be too much of a stretch if I looked nervous because I was worried that my past would catch up with me since this was starting between us?"
"...I think you got your excuse Rinoa. But...I think it would be better if you found a way to make it my fault for this. Whatever your reason must have been for what happened...I can't imagine it being something you could casually rattle off."
Even though he wouldn't see this if his eyes were focused on the road, Rinoa had a bittersweet smile for him. "...You don't have to protect me this time." she softly told him. "It's...fine. It was bound to come out at some point."
"That 'some point' doesn't have to be now." he said, reiterating his point. "I know that you can buy yourself enough time until you're actually ready."
Rinoa sighed. "Alright...what if..." She racked her brains high and low before thinking of anything half-coherent came to mind. "What if...at that party, I went outside for some fresh air, spotting you walk by. I said hi and asked you if you had been invited to the party. You said, 'No, why would I have been? I'm not exactly the type to be asked,' and then I jump you for no apparent reason?"
"...I'd swear you were on acid." he deadpanned.
"Sorry. I was just trying to lighten the mood. I can't think of anything past asking you a question in the scenario."
"...Continue by informally inviting me, I'll refuse your invitation and then you keep on pestering me until I somehow end up following you somewhere else for some reason I can't pin down."
Rinoa chuckled. "Alright, that sounds like something I can do. So maybe the idea can be that I informally invite you to a party I didn't want to be at and when you say no, I'll say, 'That's okay, I wasn't in the mood to stay at the party anyway,' and actually start walking home since it's not too far. Now, how would you react to that back then if I wasn't a total stranger to you?"
"I'd tell you that you're an idiot for trying to walk home alone in the dark."
"Good, good. I can work with that. Ok, so afterwards, I turn around and say, 'well, I don't want to be in there and I don't need my ride home because I'm not drunk, so what do you suggest I do then?' and then you sigh and reluctantly say that 'if it'll stop you from doing something incredibly stupid, I'll stay with you outside until your ride's ready to bring you home.' I give you a weird look and you say that you're only doing this so that you won't have any guilt in case if something does happen if I were to walk home. I end up really appreciating it although I wonder about this side of you I've never seen before. So in an attempt to understand you better, we go to some park nearby and I ask you some random questions and you only give me short answers in hopes that it'll shut me up."
"...That sounds very accurate." he commented after stopping at a red light in the last intersection before getting to his house.
"And maybe I ask if you had any girlfriends and I notice that you involuntarily tense after I said that so I apologize by saying, 'I'm sorry if I hit any buttons. I had a jerk of an ex-boyfriend so I know what it's like to be reminded of something you don't want to be reminded of.' And maybe you reply with, 'It's not that,' to try to correct me without being specific and it doesn't work because I try guessing why. We can pretend that the truth is that she moved away so when I try asking if she moved away, you reluctantly nod."
"...And I assume that a conversation somehow develops and leads to the other event?"
"...If you think that'll work, sure."
"I don't know. How will the aftermath affect things?"
"Well, after we could both realize that it was a mistake and try to pretend that it never happened but that it doesn't work because maybe we realized that there was something there even before the lapse in judgement. Then...what I explained for the other scenario could work."
"No...It doesn't sound right."
"Alright, that's fine then. Do you have any ideas then?"
"Maybe the relationship in this instance starts because I felt confused and guilty about what I'd just done to you so I decided to go out with you privately so we could both save face and to help ignore the reality that it was just a one night stand."
"So the argument could be just the result of everything imploding because of that, using a silly argument as an excuse to break it off?"
"Sounds reasonable. What would be the reason for getting back together then?"
"Hm...I could say that the distance helped put things in perspective for us. Maybe once you were away from me for those couple of weeks in Esthar, you were able to realize that there was something there and that it wasn't just because of the guilt related to that one night and I realized that, I knew that I deserved someone better than someone who was just after one thing and despite being confused of where we stood before, I knew that you weren't ever going to ever do that to me. And after seeing you like that all miserable, sick and still in need of help in Lit after the break, a tiny part of me also realized that maybe you needed me too."
He turned right onto his street and made another quick right into his driveway. Once he put the gear into park and cut the engine, he turned to look at her.
"I think you have your novel."
Rinoa smiled. "Hey...what turned it from an excuse to a novel?" she light-heartedly asked.
"Because excuses don't run over five minutes." he answered. "People usually stop listening by then."
"Alright, alright. Maybe it is a novel." she conceded. "So...are you ready for this dinner?"
"Not...really. I have a faint suspicion that someone's going to pull out baby photos."
"Aw."
"No, it's not an 'aw' moment. They took 7 albums worth of photos that went until I was 4 years old. I hate cameras because of it."
"...Wow, really? That must have been a lot of money to have it all developed, especially if they did the same for your sister."
"She had her fair share of photos but they didn't go nowhere near as overboard for her."
Rinoa gave him a weird look. "That...doesn't make sense. Isn't it usually the other way around?"
"I was told that some of the shots taken were for my grandfather in the hospital. Doubles were made for the albums."
"Oh wow. So they took that many extra photos to fill up that many albums?"
"Mostly." he nonchalantly mentioned.
When he finally took the key out of the engine, he looked over to see her mildly-confused expression.
"...Does that mean there's another reason then?" she asked.
He rubbed his eyes with his one hand. "...I'm their only biological child. My parents were told that they couldn't have children so they adopted my sister and you can probably assume the rest."
"So I guess it makes you...the opposite of my situation then."
"More-or-less." he shrugged. "But...you can use that word if you want. I won't get offended."
"Actually, I wasn't going to. But it's kind weird to know that we're both...unexpected in one way or another."
"...Well, it's not information that I'd normally volunteer."
"Same here." she agreed. "So, should we go in?"
He nodded just before opening the door, getting out and opening the back seat door on his side to get his things. She did the same, though she took her own knapsack from the other back door. Taking in the cold February air, she walked over to the other side, meeting up with him at the door. Their shared apprehensive glances rewarded with nothing after Squall opened the door; no one seemed to be home. The lights were all dimmed and, as they walked down the corridor, there weren't any signs of life to be heard of. The closest thing seemed to indicate any kind of human presence was the fact that the cutlery, dishes and glasses were set on the table in the dining room. Even then, was a weak indication at best.
As they walked further down the desolate hallway, the scent of some kind of roast wafted into Rinoa's nostrils. Squall must have smelled it too because he immediately veered into the kitchen. Interestingly enough, it was the only lit room in the entire main floor.
All of a sudden, they both stopped dead in their tracks.
The stove was off and there were peeled and mostly-cooked potatoes scattered about the floor near the kitchen sink, water puddles everywhere. A pot, which presumably belonged to the potatoes, was in the kitchen sink and ones on the stove seemed to be purposely moved from the currently turned-off burners. Squall carefully tip-toed around the potatoes and water puddles to open the stove door. Once it was opened, he took one good look before turning towards her.
"...The roast hasn't burned."
Rinoa carefully moved closer to see it for herself. "...It looks like it's been perfectly cooked. Squall, you might want to check your phone for messages."
After closing the door, Squall fished his phone from his pockets and flipped it open. Something must have been there because he put it to his ear a few seconds later. A minute had passed before he pocketed the phone again.
"My dad accidentally got in the way while my mom was bringing the potatoes over to drain the water in the sink. The hot water spilled all over him and the pot fell on his one foot so he slipped and hit his head hard. They're in the emergency room and my mom apologizes for having to cancel like this. She said that we could help ourselves to the roast in the oven and the vegetables in the pots on the stove."
Rinoa blinked. "Don't take this the wrong way but...is it just me or does that sound really similar to the thing that happened to us?"
"......It does." he hesitantly agreed.
"So...um, did you want me to stay?"
He gave her a weird look. "You...didn't have to ask that. It's not like I was going to kick you out because my parents aren't here."
"I know. It's just that...I wasn't sure if you might have been uncomfortable with just me in your house, especially when your parents had a spill like what happened to us. It could have reminded you of that...other day."
"...No, it doesn't bother me in the slightest. Coincidences like that don't mean anything." The he went for the jugular. "...Are you a little uncomfortable here?"
Rinoa paused for a second. "...A little. But I think it's just because I feel like I'm trespassing in your house right now because most of the lights are off."
"...You don't have to make up some kind of excuse for me Rinoa." he plainly replied, cutting through her fabrication. "If this is making you uncomfortable, I can take you home."
"No, no. I'll stay." she dismissed, mentally trying to convince herself that history won't repeat. "It'll be nice to not have anyone else around."
"Alright. If it's what you want, I'll clean this mess up and tell you when I have everything at the table." he said. "You can wait wherever."
"Actually..." A thought had just occurred to her. "If it's alright with you, I'll try to call Ivy about today's mix-up to get it out of the way before I forget the scenario we made up."
He nodded. "You can use my room if you want some privacy. I'll have everything ready on the table so you can just go to the dining room when you're done."
"Okay, thanks."
-—-—--—-—--—-—--—-—-
'Come on...pick up...pick up...'
Click.
"Hello?"
'Oh thank Hyne...'
"Hi Ivy, it's Rinoa. Do you have some time on your hands to talk for a while?"
"Supper's already done so I have plenty of time. Could you just wait a moment while I go to my room?"
"Yeah, it's no problem."
"Alright."
Rinoa could hear the sound of her footsteps up a stairway along with some breathing on her end. She heard a somewhat noisy 'thunk' sound when Ivy began to speak again.
"Sorry for the wait. I'm so out of shape now that it's not funny. In any case, feel free to tell me whatever is on your mind."
"Alright." She took one last deep breath, readying herself for the performance of a lifetime. "You know what happened today when I was telling you guys about Squall and I?"
"Yes?"
"Well...I need to clear up a few things."
"Go ahead, I'm listening."
"Okay, but promise me you won't tell Adrienne, alright? I'm not trying to exclude her but...this is kind of hard to say so if she's not asking any questions, I'd like to keep things simple."
"Sure."
"Alright, the thing is that...Squall does have something to do with that scare, but it's not what you think so just bear with me because I have to explain a lot of things. Before anything happened, I found out where he lived because I was walking around my neighbourhood and I saw someone having trouble trying to put up Halloween decorations. I asked the person if they needed help before I realized it was him. I was expecting a definite no from him but his mom came out with more stuff and asked who I was so he never got the chance to shoo me away. He told her that I was from school and she accidentally thought that I was a friend because he actually knew my name."
Rinoa took another breath.
"I even tried excusing myself because I could tell that he was not amused but his mom was saying things like, 'Oh you don't have to leave on my account, you can stay if you'd like.' But the funniest part was that when he actually tried clarifying things with his mom, his dad came out and asked who I was so his mom told him so I was practically stuck there by then. I felt so bad for Squall because it was painfully obvious that he was so out of place with me around."
When Ivy hadn't commented on that when she'd expected her to, she used the moment to collect her thoughts since she'd gone a little further into detail than what she'd thought of earlier.
"But after that, we sort of got to know each other a little by little because I kept on bumping into him in and outside of school. When it kept on happening, I noticed that he didn't mind it as much as time went on, like he got used to it or something. Anyway, I ended up bumping into him again outside at that Halloween party."
"I had no idea that he was invited. I didn't see him while I was there."
"No, he wasn't, actually. I had to go outside to get some air after watching Nat puke her guts out in the toilet after you left and I saw him walking by so I said hi. When he turned around and I asked if he'd been invited to the party, he said something like, 'No, why would I be?' I was really bored by then so I more-or-less unofficially invited him."
"...And I take it that he said no?"
Rinoa secretly sighed in relief, glad that it Ivy was finally making comments and asking questions she could answer. It felt odd just going on and on like she had before.
"Yeah, he said no. But the weirdest thing was that when I said that it was okay and started walking home because I knew that I'd have to wait forever for Lucy to bring the rest of us all home, I outright heard him say that I was an idiot if I was trying to walk home alone in the dark."
"Well...it's sort of understandable Rinoa. And the fact that we were all wearing kind of revealing costumes probably wouldn't have helped you any."
"I understand why but, at the time, I was just surprised that he cared, you know?"
"Sure."
"Anyway, I told him that I didn't want to be at the party anymore and the whole problem with waiting for Lucy to drive me back and asked him what he'd suggest I do. He sighed after and said, and I quote, 'if it'll stop you from doing something incredibly stupid, I'll stay with you outside until your ride's ready to bring you home.' Obviously, I was shocked enough by that that I started to wonder about what he was really like so when we ended up at the nearby park, I think I bombarded him in random questions just to get to know him better."
"...Did he answer any of them?"
"He...did. But they were only short answers so I think he was just feeding my curiosity in hopes of getting me to shut up."
Rinoa heard a couple of laughs in the background. "That sounds like him, alright."
"...Yeah, but I finally ended up getting a longer answer from him when I hit a button."
"...You got him angry?"
"No, I got him silent and tense."
"Um...could you explain more? I don't quite follow."
"Yeah, I was getting to that. The thing was that I asked if he had any girlfriends as a joke, and I noticed that he was really uneasy after that. When he stopped saying anything at all I knew that something must have been bothering him because I could relate to the behaviour from past messy break-ups. But when I tried apologizing by telling him that, he just said, 'It's not that,' I couldn't shake the feeling that it was bothering him a lot more than just a bad ex."
"So I assume you figured out what it was?"
"Yeah, I don't know how I managed to pull it out of him but, I found out that he was forced to break up with a long-time girlfriend because she moved too far away for it to still work out. But..."
"...I don't like the sound of that 'but' Rinoa."
"...It just hit harder than I ever thought it would. I ended up telling him all about my last jerk of a boyfriend, spilling my heart out and everything. I don't know what it was, but, the similar problems, the same kind of loneliness we'd endured...we just clicked. And...because of that, one thing lead to another. I guess, you could say that although his situation was a lot more heart-wrenching and sad, I was the needier of the two of us. I tried to fill an emotional void in the worst possible way and ended up using his vulnerability in the process even though he tried stopping what was happening. None of it was his fault and I mean that now and when I'd said it earlier today."
"...I...had no idea you had problems like that before. You seemed so content to fit in with all of us."
"I was but...some things I just couldn't fix with friendship. Parts of me were still really unhappy with the things in my past and I tried hiding those parts the best I could."
"I don't mean to sound rude but...what you two have now, is it all a just a facade?"
"To be honest, it used to be, back when we kept it to ourselves. Squall...I think he asked me out privately for us both to save face and to escape the fact we'd had a one-night stand together. For awhile, the ruse was working and things were going well, but then I started feeling sick and I started worrying that I was pregnant from the incident. Even though I tried keeping a strong face, everything was crumbling and I think it was imploding with him too."
"So it didn't change after finding out that you weren't pregnant?"
"Ivy?"
"...Yeah?"
"I...have a bit of a confession to make."
"...Did you lie about the doctor telling you that you weren't pregnant?"
"No, wouldn't have lied about something like that to you. I...omitted some information because I...wasn't ready to tell anyone at the time and I didn't want you to think about it because of the situation you were in then."
The line went silent for a good minute and a half. Rinoa thought she heard some crying on the other end.
"Ivy? ...Are you still there?"
"Yes...I am." Rinoa heard her clear her throat. "...The doctor...he told you you'd suffered a miscarriage, didn't he?"
Even though she was all alone in this room at the moment and talking on the phone no less, she looked away as the water welled in the corner of her eyes.
"...He did."
"My God Rinoa...you went through all that without telling anyone? I can't even begin to imagine how hard that must have been to carry that weight on your shoulders." There was a short pause on her end. "Oh Hyne...and then I started that thing about Ethan kicking at Alexis's birthday with that stupid phrase about you not being able to relate! ...I'm so, so sorry. You don't how infinitely bad I feel like right now."
"It's alright Ivy, I know that it was just a coincidence, and besides, I've heard worse stuff from Nat."
"Hyne...that's right, the rumour about you fooling around with Squall... Rinoa, I don't know how you've endured all this and haven't self-destructed by now."
"You'd have to thank Squall for that one." she said, this being the first entirely truthful sentence this whole conversation. "Oh wait, I suppose I should continue where I left off so you're not so confused by that last sentence there."
"It's fine Rinoa."
"Alright, the day the winter break started was the day where everything finally came tumbling down. There was just no reason to continue it anymore so when we had a small argument about the history project since we couldn't get a hold of Seifer for his part of the project, we somehow dragged our relationship into it. The argument was really silly, but I think at that point we were just looking for an excuse to break it off and that's exactly what ended up happening. Nat and the others set me up with Tyler and things just happened like I described them to you earlier today. But..."
"...Things weren't as simple for you and Squall getting back together?"
"Yeah. The time away from each other gave us both some time to think and to gain some perspective about things. For Squall, I think it was just a matter of separating himself from the guilt and confusion on what first happened to realize that there actually was something there. And being with Tyler for that short time made me realize that I deserved someone who wasn't only after one thing and that, despite being confused about everything, Squall was that someone and as backwards as his approach might have been, he already showed me that he wasn't that type of person. Even still, it was only when I saw him all miserable, sick and still in need of help in Lit after the break that I started to think of trying to start over on the hunch that maybe, just maybe, he needed me too."
"So you decided to give this another try when you were at his house like you'd mentioned before?"
"Yes, we did. Hyne, I can't even begin to describe how much nicer it is this time since we wanted to be with each other on our own terms, not because we felt like we had to the first time."
"I'm glad for you Rinoa. You deserve to be happy and I mean that. Oh-"
"What is it?"
"I think Ethan wanted to tell you the same too. He just kicked me hard."
Rinoa laughed. "I am so gonna spoil that little boy when he comes out. I swear he knows just how to tug at my heartstrings the right way with his coincidentally-timed kicks."
"I'm sure he'll love his Auntie Rinoa too."
"Aw, thank you."
"It's the least I can say after jumping to conclusions like I had."
"It's alright Ivy. No one knows a lot about Squall, so it's understandable to make an assumption or two."
"And it'll be the last time I'll find myself doing it. You need all the support you can get right now with Nat being the way she has."
"Yeah I know. But let's not talk about that now. I think we'll run up a phone bill the size of Galbadia if we do."
Rinoa heard a small laugh on the other end of the line. "That's true. Alright, see you in cooking class Rinoa."
"You too Ivy. Have a nice night."
"You too Rinoa."
Click.
And with that, she flopped back on his bed for a brief, cleansing moment. There had been one other statement in that conversation outside of owing Squall for not self-destructing, though the truth in the sentence had been meant in a different context.
"Yes, we did. Hyne, I can't even begin to describe how much nicer it is this time since we wanted to be with each other on our own terms, not because we felt like we had to the first time."
-—-—--—-—--—-—--—-—-
"...Please don't tell me you've been waiting for me to eat. It's been forty minutes." she chided. He shrugged.
"Cleaning took fifteen minutes, reheating the roast and vegetables took ten to fifteen minutes and finding the right platter and bowls for them were took awhile because I'm not the one who does this sort of thing in the house."
"Alright, alright. I'll pretend to believe you just so this doesn't go cold 'again'." she sarcastically replied while spooning some corn onto her plate, eventually sliding it closer to Squall so he could cut and put some of the roast onto it.
"How did it-" Cut. Cut. Cut. "-go-" Cut. Cut. "-with her? Is this all-" Cut. "-cleared up?"
"Yes it is. I adlibbed a little but it worked out in the end."
He put the piece onto her plate and began cutting a piece for himself. "What did you-" Cut. Cut. Cut. Cut. "-adlib?"
"Just the parts we didn't go too much into detail when we were working the story out. I...ended up telling her about my miscarriage and the part with our 'mistake'...I basically told her the truth where we hadn't specified. It was very...cathartic."
Just then, Squall missed the section of roast he was cutting and made a clanking noise when the carving knife hit the dish. They exchanged glances with one another soon after.
"...And I suppose you didn't know I knew the word cathartic?" she pre-emptively asked.
"No, I'm surprised you chose to tell her about what actually happened to you since the story gave you free licence to make everything up."
"It got me to the same end, so it's all that matters to me Squall. I even came to a conclusion of my own too."
He raised his brow after the second sentence. "...What's that supposed to mean?"
Looking in his direction, her heart started to race, thinking back to the entire conversation with Ivy, but she kept her emotions under control as she downplayed what she actually meant by 'conclusion'. "Let's just say...my conclusion was that I owe you a lot."
He looked away from her, concentrating on cutting the roast once again. "...Just stay healthy and we'll call it even."
She nodded and was happy to oblige and let her stomach tauten with food. She'd have to thank Raine the next time she'd see her.
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End of Chapter Comments - Hope that was fast enough. I'm going to bed. Night!
-Emerald-Latias
