by NightsDawne
Chapter 4: In This Sweet Surrender
He lay with his arms around her, gazing down into her sleeping face. She was the most beautiful thing in the world. He felt it must be a dream that she was lying next to him. Her lips were parted slightly, her face soft, almost the way he remembered her looking as a child when she'd sleep, her hands tucked under her cheek. He brushed her hair from her cheek softly and heard her whisper. His heart seemed to stop. He could have sworn it was his name on her lips.
"Do you want to come in?"
Irvine shifted a bit. Ordinarily it was an invitation he'd take, an invitation he'd taken from many women before. He could remember the look of fear in her eyes though when she thought all he wanted was to add her to that number. He'd walked her to her room not to take her to bed, but only because he wanted to spend every moment he could with her. "You sure?"
"Well, I asked." She gave him a bit of a smile as she opened the door, holding it for him. He returned the smile, ducking through the door, looking around in curiosity. It was orderly, a professional fighter's room, yet not without a feminine touch. Ruffled pastel pillows on the bed and chair, a poster of a ballerina's feet on toe points, a shelf filled with stuffed toys, dolls, knickknacks. She stepped in behind him and closed the door softly. "You don't have to stand in the corner, Irvine. Make yourself comfortable."
Irvine ran his hand over his hair. Well, he didn't have a hat to toss and he wasn't yet sure that taking off anything else wouldn't earn him a slap in the face. He walked across to sink down in the chair while she turned to her closet. He chewed the inside of his cheek and looked at the books on her desk. "I'm just going to change. I'll be back in a moment." He nodded as she stepped into the bathroom. At this point, were it any other woman, he'd be undressing her himself, then flopping back on her bed invitingly, but Quistis wasn't like any other woman. He'd fantasized about sleeping with her a hundred times, sometimes with other girls, but it was different now. The word love still hung in the air between them like a promise. Promises frightened him. He'd failed on so many, he'd always made it a point to never offer one when it came to romance. But he did love her. He swallowed, looking up as the bathroom door opened. Quistis smiled again as she hung her dress up, wearing a white robe, the front open just enough to expose the top of a peach lace camisole. She turned to face him, reaching up to pull out the pin that held her hair up, letting it fall around her shoulders in soft golden waves. "Something wrong?"
"Uh, no, course not. So, you're inta botany."
"I'll bet you say that to all the girls." Her tone was light, teasing as she walked over, running her fingers over the gold braiding on his jacket. "Are you sure you're comfortable like that? It's alright to take your jacket off, you know, you're not going to get graded down for being out of uniform."
He laughed softly at himself, reaching up to unbutton the double breasted jacket. "Just.. don't wanna make it seem like I'm assumin' anything." He looked down, having trouble with the metal buttons. Quistis's fingers slid over his own, running down the row of buttons slowly, easing them free. She looked up at his eyes as she slid the jacket back off of his shoulders. He pulled his arms free, leaning forward to brush a soft kiss to her forehead. "I get outa line, you just tell me."
"I would.. if I expected you to." She tilted her face to his, her lips against his as she unbuttoned his shirt, her soft fingertips cool against his skin as they followed the buttons down. He reached up to caress her hair, feeling it slip through his fingers like silk, catching the soft floral scent of her shampoo. He closed his eyes, folding his arms around her as she opened his shirt to lay her head against his bare chest. He was sure she could hear the pounding of his heart. The consumate lover, nervous as a virgin. He dropped his head down to kiss her hair, feeling a heaviness on his lashes, a tear trickle down his cheek. She kissed his skin lightly. "I love you, Irvine."
"I love you, too, Quisty. God, I love you." he whispered. He opened his eyes again as she stood, sliding the robe off, the camisole brushing against the soft cream of her hips. She held her hand down to him, her other hand putting a finger to his lips.
"No more talking." He let her lead him to the bed, offered no resistance as she gently pushed him back against the satin pillows. He pulled her against him, kissing her as deeply as he loved her, shaking as she returned it.
He bent down to kiss her closed eyes, tracing a finger lightly between her rounded breasts. She stirred, her foot sliding up the inside of his calf as her lashes fluttered, then opened her eyes to look up at him. The pink glow of sunrise danced across their bodies, lending a rose aura to her hair. She reached up to touch his jaw lightly. "You're still here."
He nodded, his loose hair brushing against hers. "I wouldn't leave ya, darlin'."
She slid her arms around his shoulders, smiling up at him. "I wouldn't let you. You still haven't answered my question."
"What question is that?"
"Why did you leave?" She pressed her cheek to his chest, refusing to let him turn away. He hugged her tightly, closing his eyes.
"... I found out Headmaster Cid's my father," he whispered, fighting back the flood of anger that always accompanied the thought.
Quistis bit her lip, the pain in Irvine's voice as shocking as the confession. Cid, kindly, gentle Cid with his auburn hair and eyes touched with violet, a father figure to hundreds of orphans over the years, his own son hundreds of miles away being raised by Martine. She felt the trembling in Irvine's shoulders and pulled him to her chest, stroking his hair, feeling the wet heat of his tears against her skin. It was her turn to comfort. She wouldn't let him go until he felt as safe as he made her feel.
Selphie nudged Seifer with her elbow. Seifer furrowed his brow as his coffee sloshed over his leg. "What, Selphie? Are you trying to burn me?"
"I knew it. Look!"
Seifer looked up at the couple walking into the cafeteria, hand in hand. Quistis was dressed in one of her usual two-piece suits, brown leggings hiding her legs beneath her skirt. Irvine was wearing his uniform pants, his shirt left casually unbuttoned to the middle of his chest. "Holy shit. He's gonna get his ass kicked by every male Trepie in the Garden."
"Oh hush, they're an adorable couple." Selphie unabashedly stood, waving both arms to get Rinoa and Squall's attention at the next table, then pointed, beaming. Rinoa turned, Squall furrowing his brow in masculine slowness before he looked over his shoulder, his spoon falling from his hand and splashing milk from his cereal onto the table.
Rinoa hugged Squall's arm. "Oh, they're together!"
Squall blinked. "... And he never went back to his room to change."
Rinoa grinned, laying her cheek on his shoulder. "You know what that means."
"Yeah. It means every male Trepie in the Garden is going to hate his guts."
Rinoa smacked his stomach with the back of her hand. "Don't you have any romance in you? The most popular boy and the most popular girl together?"
"It's Irvine, Rinoa. I'm just surprised Quistis went for it."
Rinoa pouted. "Men. You refuse to see true love when it's right in front of your face."
"What's Zell doing?"
Zell flipped over a chair to get to Quistis and Irvine, grabbing the cowboy by the arm. "BOOYA! Someone got lucky!"
Irvine looked down. "You gotta rip my arm off, Zell?" Quistis looked away, shaking her head.
"You two are together together or was it just a one night stand? Did he get you drunk, Quisty?"
Irvine shook himself loose from the martial artist, putting his arm around Quistis. "You ain't never heard of a thing called tact, have ya, Zell?"
"Oh, right!" Zell winked broadly, elbowing Irvine in the ribs and knocking him against Quistis. "Not in front of the lady. You'll tell us all about it later!" He gave Irvine a thumbs up before striding back to his table.
Irvine fought back a blush. "I wouldn't, Quisty. You know how Zell is." Quistis laughed, leaning against Irvine for support. "What?"
"I was just thinking we should have gone out for breakfast. Either that or gone to your room first. It's not like we're not advertising the fact."
Irvine smiled, kissing her forehead. "I ain't ashamed, are you?"
Quistis shook her head. "Not at all. Who cares what they think? I love you." She slid her arms around his waist. "Besides, I want to make sure everyone knows you're off the market."
"Irvine Kinneas, reformed ladies' man. Only one woman coulda accomplished that."
Quistis grinned and nibbled his jaw. "Let's eat, darling."
Irvine hugged her close. "Okay, but we're gonna get our own table, darlin'."
[Okay, I know some of you will protest about me keeping this one PG-13. Depending on comments I might make later stories a little more dicey, but this was about falling in love, so I kept it a little more modest. Thanks again to all my reviewers, and nope, of course it's not the end of the Cowboy saga, just the end of this little songfic. On to Deuces Are Wild, the Seifer/Selphie story, which will delve a lot more deeply into the blond bad boy. And yes, if I get any requests for it I'll do more Cid and Irvine as well, which will of course involve a lot of Squall and Laguna as well, so let me know.]
