Prequel to Star Light
+ By Julie
+ rated NC-17 for explicit sexual scenes
+ yaoi content. Male/male having sex, getting each other off
+ Parings: Squall/Seifer
+ Disclaimer: I do own Zell but its just a cute toy chicken. Otherwise, I don't own any of the characters or anything else... *le sigh*
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+ Chapter 3: In an' Out +~***~
Tuesday afternoon the bell rang and the teenagers stood from their desks. They quickly packed their leather binders, cell phones, laptop computers, and other belongs into their backpacks, heading out of the room.
Squall stood slow and slowly followed the same routine as the rest of his fellow classmates. And once his leather side-bag was packed, he walked to the door, following the last of the crowd down the hallway and out of the school building.
3:36 pm now, still a half an hour before Seifer would arrive. Squall decided not to wait out front for Seifer, not near the parking lot. Most of the students would still be pilling themselves into their 200,000 Gil cars. Some would choose to speak with Squall, attempting to get the quiet brunette to go to some sort of party, event, or other social occasion.
Squall would, of course, easily be able to turn them down. Except he didn't see the reason in getting trapped in the web of boring conversations when he could just walk through the library for a while.
Laguna sat in his office, looking at the date on his daily desk-top calendar. The date and the writing below it burned into Laguna's mind, pounding it with a fist. And he found himself lost, unable to concentrate on the papers he was supposed to be reading.
Tuesday, September 19th
The first day... I will always remember.
Finally able to peal his eyes from the square paper, Laguna turned his head away. Resting his left elbow on the desk, Laguna covered his eyes with his hand, barely able to breath.
It wasn't that he hadn't remembered the date this morning. He always remembered. It never left him. Like a pain in his side, he was forever cursed with the memory.
Though he never dream of wishing the memory away.
This morning, Laguna felt a wave of pain ripple through his body. But he'd gotten up and forced himself forward. He had to get up for his children. Even if they were getting older now.
Ellone had smiled this morning, but Laguna was easily able to see the sadness in the girl's eyes. His daughter's eyes. The misery and fear, desperation for answers. But Laguna had none. And he was only able to offer a hug and a morning kiss on his daughter's cheek. She was 18 years old, but still so young. So much a child, and Laguna knew how much Ellone missed those days in the past.
Laguna missed those times too. And he felt empty without the other half of his soul. His wife.
This morning Squall wasn't any different. He was still stoic, icy, withdrawn. Still cold to the touch, and unyielding to any attention. Even in those eyes of Laguna's only son, there was no sadness. No misery. No pain. Not that there was joy, either.
Of course Squall wasn't happy. But he wasn't sad either. Though Laguna knew Squall realized exactly what day it was. There just wasn't anything left inside the boy to allow Squall to be sad. He was empty, far more so then Laguna.
Laguna had hugged Squall, kissing his son on the cheek then on the lips - in a chaste manner. And Ellone had offered a sad smile to her brother, but Squall simply left for school with no sign he was even human.
"Sir?" Kiros' voice interrupted Laguna's moment of woe.
The President of Esthar looked up from the palm of his hand, meeting his best friend and right-hand-man's eyes.
"Kiros?" Laguna replied, trying not to show that he'd been thinking about his dead wife.
Kiros cross the office, smiling sadly. "Want to take the afternoon off, Laguna?"
Laguna shook his head, replying "I don't want to go home. Here I at least have work to distract me." Signing, Laguna moved to pick up a pen and begin to read of the documents he was supposed to be signing.
"How about a snack somewhere?" Kiros asked, putting his hand on Laguna's shoulder. "Get out of the office for a while."
Laguna smiled, putting his pen down. "Yeah! Sure, Kiros. Sounds much more relaxing then paper work"
Kiros smiled, stepping back for Laguna to stand up. Then he followed behind the President, leaving the office and heading down to the kitchen area of the Royal Office Hall.
Seifer stepped out of his truck, cigarette in hand. He sneered at the private school, slightly disgusted with its perfection. The buildings were crisp and new, the landscaping beautiful in his deep green grass and bright flowers.
Draigh's School of Honors.
Standing there in front of the school, looking around at the 200,000 Gil cars, Seifer felt himself falter at exactly what he was doing here. Yeah, Squall was seriously hot. And the guy had agreed to go out with him. But maybe Victor had been correct in saying Seifer was aiming a little to fucking high. But... when did Seifer ever aim low? He was planning on making Blood Kiss the most successful band in the entire of Esthar. Fuck, Gaia even!
Yet, perhaps dating Squall was a little out of Seifer's reach right now?
Seeing the looks the teens around the parking lot were giving him, Seifer sighed. He leaned against the bed-end of his truck, taking a deep drag of his cigarette.
Would that Squall Leonhart boy even show up? Yes, he'd drooled over Seifer the other night. But this could also just be some stupid rich-kid joke.
Glancing down to his watch, Seifer put his cigarette to his lips again. 4:03 pm.
He caught sight of what he was wearing: baggy dark-blue jeans, semi-tight blue shirt that had Burned written on it, Nike shoes, and his new suede, cream-colored trench coat.
Nice looking, but not nearly coat-and-tie.
Looking up, Seifer saw some of the students talking and glancing over at him. Not like it wasn't obvious what they were thinking: What the fuck is some low-life kid doing at our school?!
He was two seconds from going and sitting in his car, turning his too-loud music back on to wait for Squall - or even leave. But then he caught sight of the brunette boy, remembering exactly why he'd even bothered calling to make the date.
Even from far away, Seifer could see how sexy the brunette was.
Pushing off from his truck, Seifer took another drag from his cigarette, waiting for Squall to cross the parking lot.
Once Squall was a few feet away, Seifer threw his cigarette to the ground, crushing it with his heel.
"Hey, sweetheart," Seifer said, smiling.
This close, Seifer could see Squall's clothing. Not sexy leather pants and tight shirt, like the other night. Instead he was wearing a school uniform that was black dress-pants and a white shirt. But Squall also wore a leather jacket, a non-standard issue leather side-bad hanging against his right hip. The bag was older, with "Squall" in white threat sewn into the flap. Seifer had caught sight of the Draigh's School of Honors crest on the upper left portion of the shirt from behind the leather jacket when Squall stopped. Doc Martin boots, with black leather gloves ending the ensemble.
Squall looked at Seifer, his grey-blue eyes blank.
"Shy?" Seifer asked since Squall hadn't made any sign he would speak, heading to open the passenger-door.
Squall stepped into the truck without replying, not even looking at Seifer again.
Closing the door, Seifer moved around to the driver's side, holding himself back from glaring at Squall. Seifer had to tell himself to give the rich-kid a chance, that Squall was probably just nervous.
Starting the engine, the booming music started up. Though Seifer notice Squall didn't jump or seem startled from the sound. The brunette boy simply sat there, eyes slowly looking around the passenger side of the truck.
Seifer smiled at that as he moved to turn down the music.
Pulling out of the parking space, Seifer spoke. "So, where do you want to go for dinner?"
Squall turned to look at Seifer, eyes still ever blank.
The car pulled forward as Seifer glanced over and raised his eyebrows at Squall. "Oh? You wanted to skip that step and just have sex?"
Squall's blank expression faltered, turning to a very small and slight surprised look before forming to the stoic mask again.
Seifer smirked at Squall, then looked away to check for cars before pulling out of the parking lot. "Well?" he asked, distracted with driving.
Silence from Squall continued, forcing Seifer to wait for more conversation - which he, himself, would supply.
"Dinner... or my place, sweetheart?" Seifer asked, looking back over to Squall.
Squall's eyes didn't move from where they rest on his lap, looking at the leather side-bag.
"Believe me, lovely, you don't want me to choose," Seifer said, letting his eyes devour Squall's face a second longer before looking back to the road.
"Well... dinner?" Squall finally said, his eyes watching Seifer now.
Seifer glanced to Squall quickly, smirking. "Good choice, sweetheart. So where?"
Squall found himself being forced to think again. It had been difficult enough to choose between dinner and sex. And the only reason dinner won was because Squall had a feeling Seifer had been joking about having sex.
After a period of silence Squall finally came up with a restaurant. "In an' Out?"
Seifer frowned over to Squall. "That's... fast food."
Squall nodded once, not even thinking to bother with a verbal reply.
"I have money. Don't you want to go to Eden or some place?" Seifer asked.
"Been there," Squall said softly, eyes still burning into Seifer. Though Squall's expression stayed blank, he was giving his attention to Seifer.
"And you've never been to an In an' Out?" Seifer asked surprised, looking back to the road to change lanes.
Squall shook his head, keeping his eyes locked on Seifer.
"All right then, sweetheart," Seifer said. "We'll go there then."
Squall turned away, looking down to the leather side-bag in his lap again. His fingers lightly traced over the old, white thread that spelled out his first name.
Squall sat in the truck, eyes looking over the area outside. It was a lot different from Upper-Side Esthar. Very different.
It didn't bother Squall, he was simply just looking at the new surroundings, forgetting that he could now get out of the stopped car.
Seifer had just parked in the In an' Out parking lot, turning off the car. Squall was supposed to get out, but he just sat there.
The streets were darker, even though the day-light was the same. And trash scattered the area. The building wasn't new or crisp, looking like it needed a new coat of paint badly. And the people that scattered the area weren't friendly looking. Most of the cars were older, but not trashy. Seifer's truck was in wonderful condition, not one single dent on the body.
It was just a poorer area. And Squall had actually never been down here before. It never concerned or interested him.
The passenger door open, but Squall didn't jump. He simply turned to his right, seeing Seifer standing, waiting.
"This okay?" Seifer asked, watching Squall, but actually didn't expect a reply from the brunette. In the trip over here, Seifer had found out Squall didn't speak much.
Squall unbuckled his seat belt slowly, then turned to get down from the 4x4's height.
"You can leave that," Seifer said, pointing to the leather side-bag Squall still wore over this shoulders.
Looking down to the bag, Squall stared a moment before pulling it off and setting it slowly in the passenger seat. He then stepped back, allowing Seifer to shut the door.
Heading over to the sidewalk in front of the fast-food restaurant, Squall's eyes had focused back into an unconcerned, blank expression.
Stepping up onto the sidewalk, Squall softly asked Seifer. "Bathroom?"
Seifer stopped, pointing to around the corner. "Head there. Should be the second door."
Squall looked in the direction Seifer had pointed out, pausing at the sight of the area - not very inviting. Before he could step forward, Seifer spoke.
"You want me to come with you?" Seifer asked.
Squall turned to look at Seifer.
Seifer smiled, shaking his head. "I won't look or anything. Just don't want you to be scared, sweetheart, that's all."
Squall's expression didn't change.
Seifer raised an eyebrow, still smirking.
Squall slowly turned from Seifer, ignoring or perhaps not noticing the flirting.
Seifer nodded, walking to the doors of the restaurant and pushing them, stepping inside.
"Seifer!" a female voice greeted quickly.
"Sei!" Thoran's voice followed after.
Seifer turned to his left, seeing Thoran along with a couple other people Seifer knew from school.
Thoran frowned at Seifer, not getting up. "Thought you had a date."
Seifer walked over to his friends, nodding. "Date's here."
"Where?" Thoran asked, looking past Seifer.
"Powdering his nose," Seifer replied.
Thoran laughed softly.
"Seriously?!" Megan asked, eyes wide.
Seifer turned to look at her. He laughed, shaking his head. "No. He doesn't wear make-up."
"Oh," Megan replied.
"Dumb ass," Lauren muttered, picking at her fries.
"Fuck you! Seifer said!" Megan snapped.
"Why'd you bring him here?" Thoran asked, picking up his soda.
"He didn't want to go to a fancy place," Seifer said, shrugging.
"Oh... fucking... hell," Teresa said slowly, eyes locked on something behind where Seifer stood.
Seifer turned to see Squall had just walked into the restaurant. The brunette's eyes slowly hovered around the room before turning to Seifer's direction.
"Damn," Megan said, smirking at Squall.
"No way!" Teresa replied. "I saw him first."
Thoran just smiled at the three girls.
Squall slowly walked to Seifer, ignoring everyone around him.
"Sweetheart," Seifer said when Squall reached the blonde.
Squall's blank expression hovered over Seifer's face before looking down to the table of four teens.
"That is your date?!" Megan said in a disgusted tone. She was just jealous of Seifer, though. Not disgusted by homosexuality.
"Yes," Seifer replied. He then moved to take Squall's wrist. "And since this is a date, we're sitting somewhere else."
"Aw!" Teresa said, eyes wide.
Seifer smirked at her then nodded to Thoran before turning away, taking Squall with him.
"Where's Squall?" Ellone asked her father.
Laguna looked up from the kitchen table where he'd been reading the newspaper. "What?"
Ellone raised her eyebrows. "It's 7:30 and I just checked his room to see if he was going to eat tonight. He's not there."
Laguna frowned, looking over to Vern - the butler standing by in the kitchen.
"You seen Squall?" Laguna asked the man.
Vern shook his head. "I'm sorry, sir. Haven't seen Master Leonhart since he left for school this morning."
Laguna folded the newspaper, his frown deepening. "He didn't come home from school?"
"I don't know, sir," Vern replied. "I'll check with his limo driver."
Laguna nodded in agreement, watching Vern walk out of the kitchen.
"...You... think anything?" Ellone asked, looking worried.
Laguna sighed, looking up to his daughter. "I don't know. Its unlike Squall to do anything... He acted normal this morning."
Ellone's worried look grew, taking a seat at the kitchen table near her father.
A moment later Vern entered the room, looking professional. "Master Leonhart requested the driver disregard the afternoon duty of retrieving him from school."
Laguna frowned deeply. "So Squall stayed at school?"
"I am unsure," Vern replied. "That is all Master Leonhart said to the driver."
Laguna turned to Ellone, looking to the girl for explanation.
Ellone shrugged. "I don't know."
Laguna sighed, reaching into his belt and pulling out his cell phone. He then dialed his son's cell number. Waiting 5 rings, Laguna grumbled, pressing the [end] button. Then he dialed the number to Draigh's School of Honors.
Minutes later, Laguna pressed the [end] button off again, eyes wide in worry.
"What?!" Ellone asked, watching her father intently.
Laguna looked to his daughter a moment before speaking. "Some students reported Squall got into a strange truck with some other kid and left. That was about 4 o'clock."
"Another kid?" Ellone asked.
Laguna nodded. "No someone from the school. And the truck was an older Dodge Ram pick-up. No one knew who the guy was."
Ellone just started at her father, dumbstruck that her brother would just get into some stranger's car.
Laguna dialed the number to his son's cell phone again, hoping for Squall to pick up.
Squall watched Seifer pick at the fries, wondering to himself if this would be the last time he'd ever see the blonde. Squall's conversation ability had been weak to say the least. Words didn't come, and Squall found himself distracted or forgetting to use a verbal reply.
Seifer smiled and laughed, his gorgeous bluish eyes amused with Squall. But Squall could tell Seifer was disappointed. Not that Squall cared, but spending his time this way, with Seifer, was more interesting then spending it alone in his room. He preferred sitting there across from Seifer to his room where he always felt alone. Abandoned.
Squall didn't find the time he spent alone productive. Not that he minded it, but now he realized there was something he'd rather do. And that was spending time with Seifer.
It was oddly relaxing for Squall. Not in the way other people relax. Squall, though still unable to be a true conversationalist, found himself interested in talking with Seifer. Or at least listening to Seifer speak.
Sitting there at the table, Squall had picked at a half-decent burger and some fries. He'd drank the thick milkshake, and was in a place he didn't know. But he didn't find himself wishing the situation away.
And now, with the way Seifer was picking at the last of his fries, Squall felt he'd disappointed Seifer. And it wasn't Seifer's feelings that concerned Squall, it was just that Squall preferred Seifer to anyone he'd ever met. And he realized he chose Seifer over anything else that could take up Squall's time.
Seifer looked up, realizing Squall was staring at him. "What?" Seifer was bored and tired of the date. And he was disappointed. When Squall spoke, Seifer was actually interested and wanted more. He liked being the date during those moments, but Squall drifted constantly, leaving Seifer to force Squall back.
Seifer couldn't help but wonder if Squall had a mental condition or something. But the image of Squall upsetting all those girls off at the party Friday night also played a role in Seifer's ability to withstand the date. Squall hadn't tried to scare Seifer off yet, which meant something - right?
"Sorry," Squall said softly, his voice honest.
"For what?" Seifer asked, moving his hands from his long-cold fries.
"I've... never been... haven't dated... before," Squall forced himself to say, using the same tone.
Seifer half-smirked, but it wasn't harsh amusement. Just slight. "Seriously?"
Squall nodded. Then he tried to continue. "I... don't... ..." There was a word for it. All Squall had to do what remember what it was, then say it.
"Don't what?" Seifer asked, disappointed tone returning because it looked like Squall was drifting again.
Squall met Seifer's eyes, forcing his mask to break into a very small sneer of sadness. "...Talk?" he said, though it hadn't been the word he wanted.
"Why not?" Seifer asked, realizing that Squall was trying.
Squall just stared at Seifer, having no answer. He crossed his arms loosely against the edge of the table. He needed to say something to make Seifer interested. "Make for a lousy date," he whispered, knowing it was the truth.
Seifer smiled the soft-amused smirk again. "You're not lousy. Just quiet, sweetheart. Very quiet." Seifer laughed once.
"You had..." Squall started, then attempted to think of an emotional word that would be correct for what Seifer felt. "...a horrible," the word was good enough. "evening."
Seifer shook his head. "Wasn't that bad. You're enjoyable when you look at me. Instead of out the window," he motioned to the darkening sky outside.
"Take me home," Squall whispered, looking away from Seifer again.
"Don't want to hang out anymore?" Seifer asked.
"Won't... torture you," Squall replied, using up the vast of his vocabulary to push the conversation.
"It's not torture," Seifer insisted, trying to get Squall to look at him again. "You make me laugh."
Squall brought his gaze back up, wondering to himself how it had been possible to entertain Seifer since he'd never attempted a joke or anything of that sort.
Seifer smiled at the expression of confusion on Squall's face. Apparently the boy had forgotten to keep the stoic mask up.
"C'mon," Seifer said, nodding to the door of the fast-food joint. "I'll take you home."
They stood up, leaving their trays on the table as they walked to the door.
Out at the car, Seifer barely opened the passenger door when the phone in Squall's side-bag started ringing. Squall picked the bag up and slid into the seat before reaching inside to pick up the phone. Seifer carefully shut the door, making sure he didn't slam it on Squall or any of the brunette's belongings.
Squall paused, waiting for someone to speak into the phone, then he remembered he had to speak first. "...Hi?"
"Squall!" his father's voice said, all too excitedly. "I've been worried! Where are you?!"
Squall didn't answer. He actually didn't have an answer because he wasn't sure where he was. All he knew what that he was by one of the many In an' Out fast food chain places somewhere in Old-Town Esthar.
"Squall?" Laguna said desperately.
Seifer slid into the driver's seat, glancing over at Squall. "Everything okay?"
Squall nodded to Seifer before saying "What?" into the phone.
"Where are you?!" Laguna repeated.
"Why?" Squall replied as Seifer started the truck up.
"You've been gone most of the day! Who are you with? Why didn't you leave a message? Tell someone you'd be gone?" Laguna blurted out.
Squall sighed, moving the phone from his ear to check his missed calls. Only one call from his father just 10 minutes before this phone call started. Squall didn't even bother saying "bye" to his father. He just pressed the [end] button, after which he turned the phone off completely. So his father couldn't call back.
"Who was that?" Seifer asked, driving down the road towards Upper-Side.
"Daddy," Squall answered, putting his phone into his bag.
Seifer smiled. "Making sure you weren't getting raped?"
"He barely noticed," Squall started, eyes locked on Seifer. "... I was gone." Squall looked back to the road again, unconcerned with anything.
"At least he did," Seifer replied, moving his own attention to focus on the road ahead.
Squall blinked then turned to look at Seifer. Seifer knew Squall was watching him, but he didn't want to go into that horrible part of his life with the brunette anytime soon.
The drive to Squall's house consisted of a few broken conversations. Some of which, surprisingly, Squall himself attempted to start. He just wasn't good with words. Seifer soon found out, through a few questions and yes/no answers from Squall, that the brunette didn't have friends. Squall had related in not so many words that he lived with his father and sister, not bringing up his mother at all. And still through yes/no questions and answers, Squall told Seifer he'd never been out of Upper-side, but Old-Town didn't bother him.
Seifer's voice had been the leading force through the conversation. He talked about Blood Kiss a little, mostly about the gigs over the weekend he'd played. And the concert Friday night, which had been B.K.'s first big pay. Seifer also mentioned that he'd known Hazen and Thoran since the 7th grade, meet Gregory in the 8th, and Victor just joined B.K. - taking over from Seifer as lead singer - just a couple months ago. Seifer didn't enjoy being lead singer, so he was happy Victor joined B.K.
Nothing about Seifer's home life came up. Everything was about his social life, though his romantic relationships hadn't surfaced in the conversation either. Seifer didn't want Squall to know that his longest lasting relationship had been three weeks.
Once an hour passed, Squall gave Seifer directions to his house and the conversations died out.
Turning onto the street Squall lived off of, Seifer could only stare. The houses along the roads - actually the mansions along the road were bigger then apartment-complexes in Old-Town. Fuck, 5 times as big. And then as Squall pointed out for Seifer to pull up to the front gates that stood in front of the Palace, Seifer couldn't believe it.
He stopped his truck in front of the gates, frowning at the huge steal bars.
"Seifer," Squall said softly.
Seifer turned form his awe-struck gaze to meet Squall's eyes.
"I..." Eh, fucking conversations. They were hell. Words and sentences were too time consuming. So Squall gave up, saying in barely a whisper "Thank you," before turning to grab the handle and lead the car.
Seifer put his hand on Squall's left arm, stopping the brunette's movements.
Squall turned to look at Seifer once again, expression blank.
"You want to go out again?" Seifer asked.
Squall continued his expression, but his eyes changed.
Seifer nodded. "I know you're like that. It's okay."
Again, Squall kept his icy mask, his eyes moving.
"Besides... I like being around you, sweetheart," Seifer said.
Squall sat straight, waiting for Seifer to let go.
"Wait," Seifer said as he let go of Squall's arm. The blonde then got out of his truck and walked around the hood to open the door for Squall.
Squall slid out of the truck, bag strapped over his shoulder.
"I'll call you," Seifer said.
Squall nodded then stepped around Seifer, walking to the gate.
Seifer closed the passenger door and watched as Squall slid into the gate after entering an access code.
Breathing slowly, Seifer walked back to his side of the truck, wondering exactly who Squall was if he slept in the Palace - where the President of Esthar lived.