(Author's Note: I know I know...incredibly cheesy right? Well I don't know about you, but I like cheese..lol...im making no sense but whatever. If you like it..then I LOVE YOU MAN!!...if you don't like it, then you belong to the 90% of humans who find the ranting fanfics of a lonely teenage girl incredibly dull. This is my first fic so I'm just experimenting k?)

*Disclaimer* What do ya know? Between now and the last chapter...I still don't own anything!

~*Chapter 2*~

Rendezvous

"The truth is rarely pure and never simple"

-Oscar Wilde

*One year later*

Rinoa waited outside the conference room door picking at her nails in boredom as she waited for the meeting to end. She still had half an hour of her lunch break left before she had to return to class. She had already wasted 20 minutes leaning against this stupid wall in this stupid hallway for him to get out of his stupid meeting. It wasn't easy being a SeeD candidate and to pursue this obsession of hers. Between classes and waiting around like this for short, secret rendezvous she hardly had anytime for herself. `But he's worth it!' she thought happily, smiling behind her hand so as not to give away her thoughts to the other students who passed her by with quizzical looks on their faces.

Finally, she began to hear the scraping of chairs and rustling of papers as Cid, the headmaster, dismissed his elite SeeDs from the tedious task of listening to him for three hours in a row blabbing on and on about pointless things such as the `budget' and `world peace'. Who cared?!

Flattening herself against the wall, Rinoa waited as the first 5 people made their way out of the conference room, all of them oblivious to her presence as they yawned and stretched, grateful to be free of such horrid torture. Selphie, the director of internal affairs, Irvine, weapons export specialist, Quistis, assistant headmistress, Zell, combat instructor and finally, Cid himself, smiling happily as he always does after a productive day of hard work, the only one of them who seemed to have retained his senses. Rinoa forgot about him, and before she had a chance to scurry around the corner or at least position herself to look as though she were just passing by, she was caught.

"Ms. Heartily!" exclaimed headmaster Cid exuberantly, striding over to the young girl. "What brings you here? Shouldn't you be in class?" Rinoa peered over the headmaster's shoulder to see Squall inside, in the midst of packing his notebooks, staring at her in fear, desperately mouthing instructions which she could not decipher.

"I uh..." she muttered, trying to find an excuse, while discreetly stealing glances at Squall who was now doing a charades type dance in a lame attempt to explain to her his plan. Rinoa stifled a laugh as she turned back to Cid. "I came to see you?"

The headmaster peered at her strangely. "Me? Whatever for my dear Miss. Heartily?"

"Please sir," she said, taking a step closer him "call me Rinoa"

In the conference room Squall sighed and rolled his eyes, forgetting that she was the most successful charmer in all of Garden.

"Okay...Rinoa," the headmaster blushed "what is it you wanted to see me for?"

This, she wasn't prepared for, for she had absolutely NO reason to see the headmaster, real or fake. "You know what?" she said with mock embarrassment "I have been here so long I have forgotten...oh well it mustn't of been THAT important if I forgot now is it?"

Cid shrugged "Well if you do remember, you know where ill be" Rinoa nodded, thanked him for allowing such a simple girl to waste his precious time, walked him to the elevator, then instantly returned to the conference room, closing the door behind her. Squall, at the sound of the lock being shut, looked up from his packing to check who his visitor was.

"Oh!" he exclaimed with fake enthusiasm. "Ms. Heartily, what a pleasant surprise"

"Commander Squall, I do hope you do not mind my intrusion." She said, apprehensively making her way closer to him. "But I believe you stole something of mine Mr. Leonhart."

"Really?" he asked, looking concerned as she finally made her way to stand in front of him. "Whatever could it be?"

Blushing, Rinoa gently placed her arms around his neck. "My heart." She answered, leaning in.

"I'm sorry Ms. Heartily, but I don't believe that was on my list of possessions" In reply she kissed him lightly on the lips, wanting to get to the real reason she went through all this trouble to come here.

"I hope you didn't have to wait long" he said, pulling her closer too him.

"It was horrible Squall! Two hours I was out there! You owe me bigtime!"

"Aww...I'm sorry." He kissed her again, this time more deeply. "But you're lying, I saw you through the glass 20 minutes ago" he pointed at the door, on the side of which where two strips of frosted, translucent glass, through which one could faintly see the outlines of people passing back and forth in the hallway.

Rinoa sighed a sigh of being caught. "I'm sorry Commander," she said innocently, removing her arms from his shoulders. "I guess ill just leave you alone then."

"Oh no you don't" he said, grabbing her hand and pulling her into a tight embrace. Rinoa laughed giddily, impressed by his forwardness.

"Then lets stop this chatter and get down to business."

It happened in a flash, and they were off! Lips pressed together in a passionate, almost animal embrace as they groped one another furiously, never knowing when they would get another chance. Hands explored whatever they could reach and tongues danced feverishly with one another. God Rinoa missed this. Since his promotion and the renewal of Galbadian hostilities it was getting harder and harder to sneak around since Cid and the others were constantly by his side. And she didn't dare stop by his dorm for it was on the elite 4^th floor where her presence would surely be reported. And Squall hanging around the lowly student dorms would cause a wave of rumors as well. It was a hopelessly complicated relationship, one that Rinoa would surely fight for. `He's worth it' she reminded herself, smiling as he lifted her onto the table and climbed on top of her, their lips never parting.

Rinoa encouraged him completely. Praying that this time they didn't get interrupted as usual. They had long since passed the time when they were ready to bring their relationship to the next level. But if it took so long to plan a meeting for a couple of kisses, imagine the difficulty in arranging a night together. But, maybe today was the day. True, on top of a conference room table in her school no less was not exactly what she imagined for their first time together, but she knew better to complain. If possible, their kiss became more passionate, more desperate was perhaps the better term as they quickened their pace, grinding against one another, trying to get closer than physically possible.

In their haste to get past the first layer of clothing books, lamps, pens and whatever else happened to be on the table all went crashing to the floor, but they ignored it, too caught up in each other, oblivious to the racket they were making. They didn't even notice the door being unlocked and a figure make her was inside.

"Squall I forgot...oh my." Came a small voice from the doorway. Rinoa and Squall quickly parted and looked up at their visitor. It was Selphie no doubt, with an expression of half shock half amusement playing over her pretty features. The conference room was a mess. Four of the nine chairs that surrounded the table were knocked over, the floor was littered with stationery of all kinds, pieces of paper were gracefully flying across the scene having just been scattered and in the center of it all, limbs entangled, shirts undone and on top of each other no less was the couple themselves. Selphie couldn't help but giggle.

Even though he was pretty sure Selphie already knew about them, Squall still looked around for an excuse for their actions. His gaze fell upon a pen, the only thing remaining on the table. "I found your pen Ms. Heartily" Squall improvised, picking up the writing utensil that lay just above her head while quickly removing himself from her.

"Why thank you Commander Leonhart" she said, trying to catch her breath as she accepted the pen formally and curtsied. Squall stiffly bowed in reply then began to stride away as though their encounter had been nothing more than a casual afternoon tea.

Selphie was still snickering when Squall reached the doorway, shaking her head in disbelief. "And what's so funny?" He asked sternly, still a little pissed that they had been interrupted yet again.

"First of all lover boy, I suggest you wipe off the lipstick before you go out there" Squall brought his fingers to his lips and indeed did feel Rinoa's fruity yet waxy lip gloss. Scowling he turned his back and began wiping it off. "And secondly, do you guys really think I'm that gullible? Cause that hurts ya know."

Rinoa loved Selphie with all her heart but as she said before, she would do anything to protect her relationship with Squall, even if that meant threatening. "Selphie... If you tell anyone I'll..."

"Aww come on...we all know about you guys"

The look of shock on the couple's face was enough to get her giggling again. Squall gave her a questioning glare. "You do?...but..but how?"

"Well first of all, you are way to formal to each other. I mean Squall's a commander not a god! I suggest that you treat him like a distant friend or something. And Rinoa's not a humble servant either. And of course there's the whole `discomfort' thing going on when you two are close. You could prolly cut the sexual tension with a knife." At this the couple blushed, avoiding each other's eyes at all cost, and making their friend snicker yet again. "Your secret's safe with me" she assured them going over to hug Rinoa before heading back to the doorway. "I'll give guys a few more minutes." She was about to shut the door when one last thought occurred to her. "Oh and another word of advice..." She said with a evil smile spreading across her face. "Try to be less noisy k?" With that, she shut the door, leaving the two alone again.

The moment had long since been ruined and by some unspoken agreement they began to clean up the conference room which looked as though a tornado had hit it. For ten minutes they stayed silent, each fearing what the other had to say as they gathered various documents and stationery.

Unable to take it much longer, it was Rinoa, of course, who spoke first. "Squall..?" she said hesitantly, he tilted his head a little in acknowledgment of her voice, but nothing more as he continued to stack papers. "Squall can't we..."

"No" he interrupted before she even had a chance to finish, already knowing what she was going to ask.

"But Squall, they already know! There's no point in keeping this up anymore"

"It's not them I'm worried about" he replied blandly, as if he didn't even care. This brought Rinoa's eyes to water. She loved him, that she was sure of and she would risk anything for their love...but why wouldn't he do the same? Was his precious Garden and his stupid job really more important?

Squall took her silence as a definite sign that he had done something wrong and sure enough, Rinoa had begun to whimper as she tried to hide her hurt and blink away the tears that threatened to spill by facing the wall. *Why do I put up with this? * she wondered, staring at a sculpture in the corner of the room. *I could be having a more romantic relationship with a vibrator! * She stood there for a while, refusing to speak until she regained her composure.

"I'm just sick of it Squall" she said to him, playing with the two rings on her necklace as she talked. "I'm sick of the secrets, the lies, everything. I've put up with it for a year now and..." She took a deep gulp of air before she could finish "I don't see why you don't want to tell everyone about us"

"It's just," he put the papers down and fidgeted uncomfortably with his key chain "I don't like it either Rinoa. But there's...complications."

"Like what?" she asked him, still refusing to turn around until she knew the whole truth.

Squall began to fidget more, he knew the answer he had would upset her, but he had to say something. "Well first of all there's the fact that I'm a commanding officer here and you're just a student. The faculty wouldn't really jump for joy if I announced our relationship. They expect me and Quistis to get togethe... " Rinoa accidentally allowed a loud sob to escape her lips when she heard this, interrupting and pressuring him to get to the point. "But I don't care about that really!" He insisted

"So I'm not good enough for you," Rinoa looked down at her necklace, slipping her finger in the ring of Griever that hung on the chain, the ring that he had given her. "I understand."

"Rinoa I don't care what they think!"

Slipping her finger out of the ring, Rinoa turned to face him. "Then you still haven't answered my question have you? Why don't you want people to know about us?" If possible, Squall looked even more nervous as he looked everywhere except her eyes, knowing that once he did, he was doomed. "Tell me!" she insisted, forcing him to look at her. "Please?"

Squall began scratching the back of his neck timidly, a habit he had when he was scared. Which was never in battle, always with her when having these conversations about their future.

"You're not gonna like it" he warned, hoping this would scare her off. But of course it only strengthened her determination for the truth. With a sigh he was forced to tell her the exact opposite of what she wanted to hear. "I...I can't tell you." As expected, her eyes welled up, her shoulders sagged and she turned back to the wall, as if its comfort was more soothing than his was.

At this, Squall felt a strong pang in his heart, but ignored it for her sake as he apprehensively made his way toward his girlfriend, wrapping his arms around her waist in a hug from behind, his chin resting on her shoulder. She didn't resist, but merely pretended he wasn't there. The sweet scent of her hair filled his senses with pleasure as his tenderly kissed her earlobe. "I'm sorry" he whispered, stroking her face gently with his knuckles, his lips travelling slowly down her neck.

She shuddered in his arms, reminding herself of how good it felt to be touched. Yet again she surrendered to lust, leaning into him, enjoying the warmth of his embrace and forgetting all previous woes. *Much better than a vibrator * she convinced herself, allowing a small sigh escape her lips as her sucked slightly on the tender flesh of her shoulder. *He's just trying to make me forget about what we were talking about * she reminded herself *but he's not gonna make it. *

"Squall?" she started once more, turning around in his arms so that she could face him, their lips dangerously close to performing an encore of before. But Rinoa knew what she was doing. "Do you love me?" she asked, letting her tongue sweep slowly over his bottom lip so that he didn't dare make the wrong reply.

"Uh-huh" he managed to mutter while trying to kiss her, but she wouldn't let him.

"And would you do anything for me?"

"Uh-huh" He was getting impatient she could tell. It was a little funny what power women had at certain moments.

"Anything? Promise?" she repeated, making eye contact.

Squall didn't falter under her stern gaze, he looked directly into her eyes and said what she had waited to hear. "Anything, I promise."

"Good!' Rinoa removed herself from his arms and collected her blue duster that had somehow made its way to the floor during their previous little encounter and headed to the exit. "Then of course you'll tell everyone about us at the ball tomorrow night." Squall, realizing he had fallen into a trap, only had time to give her an angry glare before having the door slammed in his face.

Rinoa, smiling to herself at her success, began happily walking toward her dorm, whistling. She was halfway to the elevator before, as expected, she felt Squall grab her should and spin her around to face him. "Rinoa! I can't do that" he whispered to her, his eyes pleading "You know I want to, more than anything but I just can't"

"Why hello Commander Leonhart!" she greeted him loudly so that everyone in the corridor knew that they were having a conversation, sarcastically curtsying. "I'm afraid that a woman of so low status such as myself is not fit to be in the presence of someone so high and mighty."

"Rinoa, you know very well that's not what I mean..."

"Now if you'll excuse me, I believe I'm wanted by some of the maids to scrub the floor and feed the dogs. I will no longer be a hassel to you, if that is what you wish your highness. Why don't you go visit Qusitis?" She curtsied again before turning and walking away, Squall hot on her heels.

"Why can't you just trust me?" he demanded, fed up with her attitude.

"And why can't you trust me?" She picked up the pace, practically running now to the elevators that would take her to the student dorms where he would not dare venture if he was so keen on them not being discovered.

"It's top secret!"

"Top secret is it?...The reason we can't announce our relation ship is because its `top secret'? Excuse me for thinking you're full of shit Mr. Leonhart."

"I know how it sounds stupid but please just..."

"I can't do this anymore!" They were at the elevators now, and Rinoa pushed the down button desperately, wanting to get away from him. The doors opened instantly to an empty lift and she practically ran inside, praying for the doors to shut.

But Squall held them open, not letting her get away so easily. "What do you mean by that Rinoa?"

Rinoa kept her eyes at her feet, refusing to look at him. "I mean that is you can't get the guts to tell everyone then..." her lips began to tremble "then it's over Squall."

A pregnant pause followed...

Have you ever felt like your falling while you can feel your feet firmly planted on the ground? Someone tells you a few simply words and it makes you heart stop and jump in your throat. That's how Squall felt the moment he kissed Rinoa, the first time she said that she loved him and now it was happening all over again, though this time it was accompanied with a growing sense of dread. A feeling that confirmed that he was destined to be alone forever.

"Rinoa...please..." He choked out the words through waves of emotion that threatened to drown his voice with every passing syllable. He looked around the hallway to make sure they were alone before he said what he hoped would make her see sense. "I...I love you."

Rinoa looked up at him for a few seconds, staring into his beautiful stormy gray eyes, filled with grief at the thought of losing her. "Obviously not enough."

The doors closed agonizing slowly, or maybe it was just him, not wanting to break eye contact cause that would mean she was really gone. "See you tomorrow night," She whispered before the doors closed, the sounds echoing throughout the deserted halls almost exaggeratedly. It was almost comic how quickly his life lost its meaning, the moment the bell rang signifying that the elevator was gone to where he could not follow. Leaning his head against the doors, he desperately tried to regain his composure before going up to see the Shumi elder for their meeting. But it was impossible, all he could think of was Rinoa and how much he missed her after only 10 seconds of their breakup. `I'll talk to Cid' he told himself. `I'll ask him...no...ill MAKE him understand that I need her. He can't keep us apart forever.' With new motivation, Squall pressed the button to summon the elevator. Their daily report wasn't for another two hours but he couldn't wait for Cid's schedule with all that
was at stake. When the lift arrived, he wasted no time in making his way to Cid's office, where his entire existence would be determined.