Disclaimer: okay, let me get this straight – I can't even afford to buy Christmas presents for my family, how could I possibly own such an enormous company like Square-Enix? I ask you?! So…obviously, I don't own Square nor do I own their characters…I own only the story line and a few of the characters (ie Louise and Michael belongs to mariedel…I think that's it.) on with the story!
Chapter 12-Reasonable Doubt
"Why?" As she asked that, she saw lights turn into the drive way. "Shit." She glanced hastily at Seifer then back at the door. What the hell do I do with him?! Quickly calming herself, she pushed herself off the bench and started for her bedroom. "Seifer, come with me." She exited the kitchen, Seifer close behind, and told him to go into her room. "Stay there until I come and get you, and for God sakes don't make any noise and don't you dare touch anything." Closing the door, she rushed to the TV room and asked Irvine in a panicked fashion. "You didn't bring your car did you?"
"Nope, Seffie picked me up."
Thank God! "Sweet. Alright, just let me do all the talking."
Turning on her heal, she started walking slowly back towards the kitchen, awaiting Rinoa's entrance. As she was about to turn into the kitchen, Rinoa opened the door hastily. "Quisty, who's car is that outside? I've never seen it before."
"Oh, that's Irvine's," she replied nonchalantly. "It's a courtesy car while they get his fixed…something about the steering wheel or something." Please be gullible, just this once!
"Oh, okay," Rinoa sighed. "I thought it was someone else."
"Like who?"
"Dunno exactly," she frowned. "I'm really tired, I think I'll hit the sack early."
"Hey wait a minute, how come you aren't at your parent's house?"
"They had a dinner party and they conveniently forgot to tell me beforehand, so I arrived there and found a note on the kitchen table."
"Oh, okay then. Did you eat anything?"
"Yeah, I had a burger coming back here." Rinoa rubbed her head slightly as if to emphasise the fact that she was tired.
"Alright then, you sure you're okay?"
"I'm fine…I'll tell you tomorrow, I just really wanna sleep now."
"Okay, good night then," she said as she continued into the kitchen.
"'Night." And with that, Rinoa closed the door to her bedroom.
Quistis waited about ten minutes before tiptoeing and pressing her ear against Rin's bedroom door. Sighing, she went next door into her own bedroom. "Seifer?" she whispered.
"Yeah?" he replied just as quietly, as he got up off her bed.
"Sorry bout that, Rin's home early cos her parents are out."
"Convenient."
"Alright, so why are you so determined to get Squall and Rin together?" her tone not lifting one decibel.
"Let's just say, I know what Squall wants, and its not what he has right now."
"Do you mean to say, that he doesn't want to be with Louise?"
"Don't tell Rinoa or anything, Squall's gotta be the one to do that, we're just gonna help destiny along a little bit…you know, kinda push them both in that direction."
"Wait, is Squall gonna call off the engagement?"
"It's not official or anything, but he was thinking about it. So, I just need to know for sure before he gets himself into something worse…does Rinoa love Squall?"
"You bet she does."
"So what do you say, will you help me? I can't really do anything like persuading Rinoa of the bonafide obvious, so you and your friend will have to do that. Can I ask you to do that?"
Quistis bit her lip as she smiled. "How do I know that you're doing this for better and not worse…can I really trust you?"
"Listen, I just want my friends to be happy. Besides," he added as he stepped forward towards her, "I know you want to trust me."
"And how do you know that?"
"Because you're smiling, and about to blush."
Shit! He can read me like a book! Don't worry…its dark…good. "Whatever. Fine, I'll help you. You should really go soon though…"
"Listen," he stepped even closer as he coyly looked at the ground. "Are you going to the competition this Friday?"
Quistis bit her lip nervously. "Umm, well yeah I guess I am. Why?"
"I'll see you there, then," he replied as he slowly walked past her and opened the door, checking whether the coast was clear. Hearing the sound of the television, Seifer followed it and entered what must've been the living room. "Irvine, dude, we should go before I get into shit with Rin."
"Alrighty then," he acquiesced as he pecked Selphie's cheek and removed his arm from around her shoulders. "Nice excuse you pulled about Seifer's car," he said as he saw Quistis behind Seifer.
"Yeah, thanks," she nodded. Walking to the front door, she opened it for them.
Irvine promptly exited, putting his hat on, while Seifer lingered, leaning against the threshold.
"So, I'll see you on Friday?"
"Yeah you will," she replied with a hint of a smile. "You really should go now."
"Right, so I'll talk to you soon, hopefully. Bye." That said, Seifer turned and exited, walking slowly down the little path to the driveway.
"Bye," Quistis whispered as she closed the door, biting her lip as she smiled a bit more.
"Someone's been bitten by the love bug," a voice chimed from the living room.
"Shuttup, Rin might hear you."
"Doubt it, we have sound proof walls specially put in so that 'we could still sleep at night despite the noise we each made in our own rooms'…remember? It was your idea, silly," Selphie said, still sitting on the couch watching TV.
"Oh yeah, I forgot about that," the blonde woman replied, her back still against the closed front door.
"So you're not denying that you like him, are you?"
"What? I haven't known him long enough to make any judgements."
"Yeah whatever, I might not be able to see you but I can tell at this moment that your back is leaning against the door and you're biting your lip even though you can't help yourself from smiling."
"Not anymore," Quistis quipped as she entered the living room.
"Then you admit that you were?" Selphie question, getting rather excited.
Quistis merely smiled. "Goodnight Selphie." She turned on her heel and went to her room, getting ready to shower. Turning on the light, she glanced at her desk where a piece of paper sat. Frowning, she quickly picked it up ready to throw it in the bin when she noticed the unfamiliar scrawl. Concluding that it was a phone number she went on to read the words beneath it, a smile, once again, breaking out onto her face.
Call me some time. I'd really like to get to know you better,
- Seifer.
Glancing at the phone, Quistis concluded that Seifer had only just left and probably wasn't even home yet, having had to take Irvine home as well, wherever his 'home' was. Sighing, she picked up her novel to pass some time and got comfortable on her bed, her eyes resting on the phone on her bedside table every few seconds. After about an hour, Quistis once again stared at the phone, then at the clock beside it. 8:37. Tempted as she was to pick up the phone and dial his number, she resigned to showering first so that her hair, she justified with herself, could dry properly before she slept for once.
Sitting, once again, on her bed, she ran a hand nervously through her wet hand while the other held the piece of paper that Seifer had written on. Biting her lip once again, she slowly reached out to the phone. Quickly dialling the number, she anxiously glanced at the door half expecting Selphie to come in and disrupt her confidence which, though very little, was all that kept her from returning the handset to its cradle.
After three rings, someone answered. "Hello?"
"Hi, uh, Seifer? Its Quistis…"
- - -
Rinoa rubbed furiously at her eyes. God I'm so tired. Resting her head in her hands she sighed, remembering why she lacked in sleep. She'd stayed up most of the night replaying her last encounter with Squall over and over until she was sure every detail was correct. But most of all, she payed extra attention to his eyes, his ever steady, beautiful eyes. Even after five years, Rinoa noticed that they still looked at her the same way, with so much longing and…love present. But was it really love…?
Sighing shakily, she continued to replay the night before when Squall had sat where she was now. Their closeness before reality took over, the feeling of his breath against her lips. Most of all, her conscience continued to torment her decisions. Why did you pull away, you know you wanted to kiss him. One last kiss couldn't have hurt. Are you that sure you don't want Squall in your life?
A hand being placed on her shoulder shook her out of her reverie.
"Rinoa, are you okay?" Louise's soft voice chimed. "You've seemed pretty out of it today."
Wouldn't you like to know why… "I didn't have the best night last night."
"I can tell, listen do you want me to go now?"
"No it's alright, really it is. Its just," she thought up a good excuse, "You know those sleeps where you don't feel like you're asleep but you find yourself waking up anyway?"
"Yeah, I get that sometimes. How you're not completely out of this world, you're still kinda of awake but not?"
"Exactly!" she exclaimed, going along with the scenario.
"I know exactly what you mean." Louise bit her lip before continuing. "So Rin, what d'ya think of Squall?"
Rinoa's brow frowned instantly. That was blunt. "Umm…what do you mean?"
"Like, just in general. What do you think of him as a person? You don't hate him or anything, 'cause, like, you've only met him a couple of times, right?"
Couple of times…um, yeah sure…if you say so. "Yeah I guess. He seems like a really nice person," she replied hesitantly. What the hell do I say to that?! Oh well…better carry on the conversation…I can't believe I'm about to say this… "So how did you guys meet anyway?"
It was Louise's turn to frown. "Oh, gee, you know I've never had to tell this story to anyone. I mean, most of our friends had been there from the beginning so I wasn't really ever asked about our relationship. Well," she shrugged, "We first met at his Aunty's birthday party three years ago, she was at that party on Friday. Anyway, my family and I had just moved in next door to her, and she thought it'd be nice if we came. So we went, and she introduced Squall to me, and we just kinda hit it off really well."
I still can't believe I'm doing this…Rinoa swallowed hard as she asked her next question. "How long have you two been engaged then?"
"About six months now. Yeah, it was my birthday party. This is another story I've never had to tell, everyone was literally there watching. It was just after I'd blown out the candles, he was beside me," Louise started to smile, "And he just kneeled down. It was kinda really unexpected, but I was hardly going to reject him right in front of everyone…not that I was going to of course…" A slight frown appeared, but disappeared as quickly as it had surfaced. Come to think of it…we've never really said 'I love you' to each other.
Rinoa glanced at her quizzically. "Are you alright?"
She smiled uncertainly in return. "Yeah, I just got caught up in my thoughts." Am I doing what's right?
Louise looked away slightly. Do I love Squall? Am I…in love…with Squall?
A/N-ah…how'd this chapter turn out? I had a lot of trouble writing this one for some reason. Perhaps the fact that I'm on six weeks holidays has something to do with it. I'm literally a vegetable! My brain has stopped functioning properly! I swear it has! And because I'm on holidays, I'm going over seas soon so I don't know when I'll be able to update, hopefully before I go, but if not, you all know why! ^.^ So, how was this chapter? Please, please review…as always, feedback is greatly appreciated.
remote mine-once again! the first reviewer! Hahaha, well you know I would let you read the next five or so chapters, but they haven't been written yet, only in my head, so unless you have some device to extract information from brains, I'm sorry that you have to wait ^.^…look on the bright side though! Surprises are usually good, aren't they?! Thanks for the review! And it was a pleasure to beta-read your fic!
Etherealist-nope, there's definitely a Queifer side to this story! I'm glad you detected it! thanks so much fro the review!
Noacat-um, yes, very sad that someone will get hurt…*shifty eyes* there wasn't too much wackiness in hiding him, Quistis is a pretty quick thinker and doesn't get roused too easily, so I hope that came across clearly. Thanks so much for the review and I'll update as soon as I can!
Angelprinczess29-yeah, I wonder how Louise will take it myself…hmm, I'll give it more thought lol! Everyone seems to be loving Seifer in this…odd, but okay! ^.^ thanks so much for the review and do update your own fic soon, pretty please?
Ther Ever Smiling-hahaha, true about Adam Brody, though I quite enjoyed the film. Anyhoo, sorry about no Seifer ass kicking, but he has to stay alive to the end! So thanks so much for the review, I'll update as soon as I can and try not to be too much of a pain in the mean time okay? Alrighty, thanks again!
Tai+Lisa = Squall+Rinoa-longer chapters? I'll have to look into that, as it is I'm actually trying to stretch out this fic for as long as possible until I start writing my new fic, but that's a little beside the point. So, thanks ever so muchly for the review, I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
BerlinBrownEyes-I'll be as nice as I can to Louise, just for you ;)…no, I have a little more in store for Louise, so don't worry your pretty little head about her, ok? Good. And yes, this most definitely is going to be a Seiftis as well, though predominantly a Squinoa. Thanks for the review, mate!
Wind Chime Bells-when Rin sees Seifer? Nup, didn't happen, sorry to say, as I said to someone else, he has to stay alive and Rin seeing him wouldn't exactly guarantee that. So anyway, thanks for the review all the same and I'm glad last chapter cleared up everything for you ^.^
Emina-I love Louise, she's based loosely on my best friend so of course I love her! hahaha, yes, Return to Me was quite an achievement for me, seeing as it was my first ever fic and I'm so happy that it was received so happily among the ff.net community ^.^ thanks for the review, Emina!
Black Demon567-wow! *blushes* thanks so much for you compliments! I hope this update was quick enough and that this chapter was sufficient. Thanks again!
Billie the Kid-my dear, my dear, do please be patient and try not to become crazy, I'll never forgive myself if I drive anyone insane with the exception of my friends and family, but yeah. Thanks for reviewing hahaha, what's it like to be in a padded room? I've always wanted to know.
SabreHero-that was a cliffy? Oh yeah it was! ^.^ hahaha sorry bout that, but you do understand why I did it, don't you? It wasn't all that interesting an outcome anyway, come to think of it, but each to their own! Thanks for the review! And thanks so much for your compliments! First AU fic that's interested you eh? *blushes* wow!
baka_shinji_01-wow! That was an extremely odd time to read a fic…don't you sleep? Hahaha, don't worry, I don't sumtimes either, I'm writing these responses at 12:33am, so that's gotta be saying sumthing eh? Anyhoo, I'll try to get you those cookies soon, I haven't cooked in a while ;)
wcigtdniw-Ah Sir John, I must say, I've never had a review quite like that and to tell you the truth, I absolutely love your reviews! No joke! I look forward to your reviews the most probably because they make me laugh the most. Whilst reading this one, I think I laughed so much my brother was giving me very odd looks, insisting that I show him what was so funny. I didn't of course, but thanks so much for brightening up my days so much! ^.^ my formal was ok, though the music was a big let down, but what ya gonna do? Oh well…to tell u the truth *looks around* I do have a bit of a crush on Squall…I find his character in ff8 quite intriguing, but shh! Don't tell anyone! Free copies of ffx-2 eh? I'M SO THERE! Omg! I can't wait to get my own copy! But it hasn't come out here yet, oh wells…thanks so much again! ^.^
!~*moonlight chick~*!-hehehe how ya been, dude? Studying heaps I presume…oh wells, I hope this chapter was a bit of a little reward, even if it wasn't all that you hoped it would be. Anyhoo, good luck with everything! I wish you all the best for your exams and thankyou once again for your continual support and reviews ^.^ I sure hope I don't let you down in anyway!
CTHKSI-Quistis and Seifer eh? DONE! Hahaha, thanks for the review, mate! ^.^
Please don't forget you review, it would mean so much to me. And since I won't be updating within the week, I'll say this now…
MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERYONE!
Best wishes and a safe holiday,
3 e.t.
