Rinoa watched as the palace came into view ahead of them. Squall had been very quiet throughout the journey back, and Rinoa wondered whether she had done something to upset him. But before she could voice her question, he was already slowing the car. Rinoa saw her own vehicle parked on the gravel drive outside of the large garage, and wondered how Squall had managed that little feat of magic; she hadn't seen him make any calls.
"How did my car get there?" Rinoa asked. Squall suppressed a smile.
"While you were looking over the score sheets, I arranged for someone to collect it," Squall said as he turned off the engine and got out into a mass of awaiting servants. After sending them all away, Squall walked around to Rinoa's side of the car and opened the door for her.
"Oh, um, thank you," Rinoa said, blushing. She normally didn't let Squall do that, but she'd been distracted for a moment and hadn't been able to stop him.
"Well, I guess we better see what my, oh-so-sensible father is up to. The place is still standing at least," Squall said, making Rinoa roll her eyes.
"Anybody would think you didn't like him," Rinoa said sarcastically. Squall smirked.
"Well, that certainly would be an understatement," Squall replied, smiling to show he wasn't being serious. Rinoa sighed; she should have known he'd have some sort of comeback. Sarcasm was always Squall's favourite game.
It had been a long time since she'd been invited into Squall's home like this, and wasn't quiet sure how she would be welcomed. It had been alright at the ball; everyone was busy and hadn't seemed to notice her, at least if they did, they hadn't shown it. But today she would have to talk to them. She dreaded answering the questions about her and Squall.
***
Laguna was in his meeting room, which consisted of a large table and a machine that projected pictures up on the wall. His talk seemed to be in full swing as Squall and Rinoa entered, and instantly Rinoa felt the heat rise up into her cheeks as it all went silent.
"I apologise, Sir. I've interrupted your meeting," Squall said, not looking at all sorry. Rinoa glanced at all the men sat around the table. She was aware of many pairs of eyes on her face and other various parts of her body.
"Not at all; it was almost over anyway," Laguna said, smiling at Rinoa in a friendly way. Rinoa couldn't help but smile back, although standing there she felt anything but happy. "Anyway, thank you gentlemen for your time. I shall escort you to the door," he said as the men stood and started shaking hands with one another and heading for the exit. As Laguna followed them, he quietly mentioned for Squall to remain there and wait for him.
Squall raised an eyebrow as his father left. What had all that been about?
As they waited, Squall suddenly started to become nervous. At first he couldn't understand why. He'd been with Rinoa nearly all day, but not once had he stopped to consider how he felt about seeing her again. Now that they were alone, Squall couldn't stop looking at her. Slowly he took her hand in his and, sitting down, pulled her down to sit on his lap.
"Squall!" Rinoa said, surprised.
"It's the first time we've been alone today," Squall said, looking at her intensely. Rinoa blushed at her own weakness.
"We won't be along for long," she replied, her voice sounding slightly husky. "Your father will be back in a minute."
Rinoa was sure that if you could curse with facial expression, Squall had just done it.
"Oh well, I guess we'll just have to hang on until later."
Rinoa knew that he was only joking, but the frightening thing was that, she wasn't sure she'd able to 'hang on' as he phrased it. Something told her that she just wanted to kiss him now and not stop. But from the look on Squall's face, it seemed he had the same idea as well.
Leaning forward, Squall managed to graze Rinoa's bottom lip with his own before the door handle clicked. Suddenly, as if she'd been stung, Rinoa leapt away, and started walking towards the window before Laguna ambled in. She turned and smiled at him as if nothing had happened.
"It's nice to see you again Rinoa," he said, looking rather nervous.
"Thank you," Rinoa replied, blushing under Squall's heavy stare.
"Erm, Squall, I...err, need to talk to you," Laguna said after a short silence.
"Yeah, whatever," Squall said, still not looking away from Rinoa. This time his eyes had found her eyes.
"In...in private," Laguna said, now looking really uncomfortable. Squall tore his eyes away from Rinoa reluctantly.
"Ok," he said, standing up. Rinoa smiled at him weakly. This little chat was obviously going to be about her.
Squall was determined to be difficult. If this was about him and Rinoa, Laguna wasn't going to get any answers.
Laguna lead Squall into a large sitting room.
"Squall, I have some news," Laguna said as soon as they were both seated. Squall looked puzzled; clearly his father was dreading telling him it whatever it was.
"Ok," Squall said, slightly worried at what was about to follow; it didn't appear that the news was good.
"Well, erm, I'll just come out and say it... You see...um...well...."
"While we're still alive, preferably," Squall said, not making Laguna any less confident. The fact was that Laguna usually didn't get this nervous when telling Squall something bad. Squall found it kind of unnerving; damn, the man was even making him feel jumpy.
"Me and Gloria, we, err, we're getting married."
"WHAT?" Squall shouted, jumping up.
********
Rinoa watched the two men walk out of the room and sat down on the chair she and Squall had just previously been occupying. It was certain that she wasn't wanted here. Even now that she thought back, Laguna's smile had seemed a little forced.
The door handle clicked once more and she found herself looking straight at Ellone.
"I thought I saw you and Squall come in," she said, stepping into the room. Rinoa smiled nervously. She wasn't sure what Ellone wanted, maybe she'd come to tell Rinoa to stop playing her brother, or something.
"Yes. He...took me bowling," Rinoa said, looking at her hands and refusing to look back up.
"Oh," Ellone said, taking a seat next to Rinoa. "I missed you. I don't have any real friends around here, and I had no one to gossip my news to," she said smiling uncertainly.
"What sort of news?" Rinoa asked, careful not to sound too nosey.
"Since the ball, I've, um, been seeing Zell," she replied, blushing. Rinoa laughed, more for the sake that Ellone wasn't mad at her than anything else. Ellone frowned. "You think it's funny?" she asked, almost upset. Rinoa stopped smiling immediately.
"No, of course I don't," Rinoa said, reaching for Ellone's hand. "I think it's great news!" Rinoa added honestly. Ellone smiled.
"The only thing is, I don't know how to tell Squall. I mean, Hyne knows he gonna get a shock today," Ellone mumbled. Rinoa was about to ask what she had meant, but she was suddenly distracted by the shouting down the hall.
"What the?" Rinoa exclaimed following Ellone out of the room.
*********
"What do you mean married? You've only known her, what, a couple of months!" Squall said, looking at Laguna with pure horror written all over his face.
"Squall, just because I haven't paraded her around in front of you, does not mean I haven't..."Laguna began, but was cut short.
"Oh, Hyne, I just don't wanna know," Squall said, feeling sick. Laguna frowned and watched Squall pace the room; he'd known this wasn't going to be easy.
Just as Squall was about to speak again, Ellone and Rinoa burst into the room.
"What's happening? Has one of you died?" Ellone asked, walking to the centre of the room as Rinoa hovered by the door. Her tone changed slightly to a sarcastic one as she added, "I hope it's Squall."
Squall looked at her, lost for words at the comment. But it quickly turned to anger. He bet Ellone had been told the news first, and was probably all in favour of them becoming one happy family. Squall scowled and headed towards Rinoa with a forcefulness that almost made her afraid; he grabbed her hand savagely and pulled her out of the room.
"Ouch, Squall, what are you doing?" Rinoa gasped as he pulled her along towards his room. Rinoa's eyes widened as she was pushed inside and ended up on the floor. Squall slammed the door behind them and walked out on the balcony.
Rinoa rubbed her wrist. Squall was obviously angry at something, and she sincerely hoped she wasn't going to be on the receiving end of this anger. But from her long career of studying Squall, she was certain that everything he did had a motive, and if he'd brought her up here, then he must have wanted to speak to her.
After pulling herself up from where she'd fallen, Rinoa carefully walked out onto the balcony. She was determined not to be the one who started the conversation. Squall had a lot on his mind, and it was bound to come out sooner or later in the form of a snide remark or comment. However, she was surprised.
"Sorry."
"Hum, what?" Rinoa asked, feeling embarrassed that she hadn't been listening. Squall turned to look at her.
"I'm sorry for making you fall. I sometimes forget that you're smaller than me."
Rinoa smirked, maybe this was the time to lighten the mood.
"Well, it's a good job I'm not a guy, or you would have gotten a punch in the face for that comment," Rinoa said, wondering how long it would take Squall to work out that she hadn't been talking about height. He smiled. One second. Not bad, although she wasn't sure that it was something to be proud of.
"I've got some news."
"Oh, not you and all!" Rinoa exclaimed before she could stop herself. Squall looked at her sharply.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"Oh, um nothing, you carry on."
"My father's getting married," he stated.
"Oh, that's great!" Rinoa said happily. But from the look on Squall's face, he certainly wasn't seeing it that way. "Err, isn't it? I mean, err...your dad deserves to have someone...right?" Rinoa trailed off, worried.
"I guess," Squall said quietly. Rinoa nearly fell over in shock. Maybe she was getting good at this calming people down thing. "It's just that so many things have been happening lately, and this sort of came as the last straw," Squall admitted. Rinoa remained silent. Was Squall actually talking about himself for once?
"Carry on," Rinoa prompted softy as Squall looked as though he was clamming up once again.
"No, it's ok."
"Squall, if you can't tell me, then who else is there?" Rinoa said, knowing fully well that there were many people that would sit and listen to him if he let them.
"It's just that I feel I'm the only one holding this country together. You saw what happened when I went away. I wasn't even away that long, and it all started falling apart! Laguna tries, but he's really just there to address the public. It's me who's always running around making back-ally treaties with everyone. And yet no one notices and it...it just pisses me off, ok?" Squall said, feeling stupid for blurting everything out without any warning. Rinoa smiled at him reassuringly.
"You know the credit never really goes to anybody who does the hard work. Back when I was just reporting, my work was always being stolen and rewritten with somebody else's name on it, and it still hasn't stopped. Do you know who got paid for that interview I did the other night? My boss, that's who. I get a top story and he gets the money, Oh, sure I get a bonus, but that doesn't account for the fact someone else got the credit," Rinoa said, hoping she was making some sense to Squall. He looked interested at least, which was one thing. Maybe it was because they'd never really talked like this before. "Ok, I guess it wasn't really that great a report..."
"I thought it was good," Squall said, looking at her in a way Rinoa couldn't define.
"But you were at the ball, so how did you see it?" Rinoa asked, confused.
"I videoed it."
"But it was live, so how did you know it was on?"
"Did you think it was just by chance that we kept meeting up in absurd places?" Squall asked ,feeling somewhat happier by the thought of making annoyed, however wrong that might actually be.
"I haven't thought... You mean you've been following me?" Rinoa said, intrigued rather than annoyed.
"Well, in a way. I've been following your career. I've known exactly where you were doing at your interviews, and where you've been staying, and what you've been doing. In fact, your boss is such a good friend now that we even played pool one night."
"Squall!" Rinoa said, walking away from him aghast, but for some strange reason afterwards she laughed. "I know I should be angry, but I just don't feel like being annoyed right now. So watch your back Squall, because I'll get you when you least expect it!"
"Oh, no, I'm scared," Squall said sarcastically.
Rinoa stuck her tongue out at him from lack of better things to do. Squall smirked.
"Do that again," he ordered.
"No!" Rinoa screamed as Squall tried to grab her. Screaming again, Rinoa ran into the bedroom and accidentally-on-purpose fell on the bed. "Oh dear, look where I landed!" Rinoa said, raising an eyebrow and waggling it to make Squall smile.
"You're in a very dangerous position there, Miss Heartilly," Squall warned walking towards her.
"Oh, please don't be gentle!" Rinoa said, placing one hand on her forehead in a typical heroine pose.
Rinoa moved her legs over so that Squall could sit down next to her, but he caught them and held her fast on the bed. Rinoa tried to moved but found herself to be immobilized.
"Hey, what sort of a game is this? You're not playing fair!" Rinoa said, pouting in a childish way. Squall smiled.
"Well, you did say 'don't be gentle'."
Rinoa closed her eyes, sure that Squall was about to kiss her, but was brought back to the room when a beeping noise started to come from her bag. Squall groaned and let go of her.
"What the hell is that?" He asked, not bothering to hide the fact that he was annoyed. Rinoa blushed.
"It's my phone," she admitted, struggling off the bed and towards her bag on the floor. Quickly she pressed the answer button and held it to her ear. "Hello?.........Oh my god, Selphie! Is that you?"
Squall felt like smacking himself on the head and knocking himself unconscious. There was no way he was sitting through and female phone conversation.
"I'm gonna get something to eat. I'll be in the kitchen," he said looking at the clock. 7pm. Hopefully this phone call wouldn't last more than 3 hours.
Rinoa just looked at him vacantly, her concentration on the person on the other end of the phone. Squall rolled his eyes and walked out.
"Yeah, ok!" Rinoa called after him.
Halfway down the hall he bumped into Ellone.
"Aww, Squallie kicked out of his room?" she said in a patronizing voice. Squall threw her an evil look.
"Shut up."
"Hey Squall, where you going?" Ellone said, following him down the stairs.
"I'm going to get something to eat, or is that against the law now?" Squall said, feeling angry, but not really sure why. Nothing that happened today had been Ellone's fault.
"Well, I dunno, you wrote them," Ellone said, walking beside him.
"What?" Squall asked, embarrassed. For one second he's been in a world of his own. Ellone frowned.
"You rewrote the laws, remember! But anyway, you know it ain't that bad that dad is getting married, is it?"
"Drop it, Ellone," Squall warned.
"But Gloria is nice. You know she is," Ellone reasoned as they continued walking.
"It isn't that, ok? Just leave me alone," Squall hissed.
"Oh, I see."
"See what?" Squall asked, worried.
"You're broody."
"I'm what?"
"Broody. You don't want to see dad get married, because secretly you want to marry Rinoa." Ellone said, looking smug. Squall looked somewhat surprised. "Listen, Squall, if you wanna be with her so much, why don't you just ask the damn question and get it over with."
"You think I haven't asked her already?" Squall said, never remembering when he'd ever felt more annoyed. This totally came as a shock to Ellone. "Do you think I flew that helicopter all the way to Galbadia just to say 'hey, how ya doin', babe?'"
"She...she refused?" Ellone whispered, looking ill.
"Rinoa is too busy playing with her job," Squall said scornfully. "But that's just the bad side of falling for a career girl."
"Oh, Squall."
"Look, stop pestering me and do something else," Squall said, walking into the kitchen.
"Fine," Ellone called through the door. "But hands off my chocolate ice-cream!"
Squall smirked and headed straight for the ice-cream.
A/N: Thank you everyone who reviewed last time! I'd thank you all personally, but my brother is threatening me with death if I don't get off the computer.
Thanx for reading, and don't forget to review!!