A/N: Chapter Two! :D First, I'd like to say that this seems to be an unusually long chapter for me. But I was on such a roll that I didn't want to quit at the time. So, I bring you chapter two in its full, unedited version. I also bring you some lovely slash in this chapter! At last! D But fear not, as stated earlier it's not going to be anything too terribly racy (aww. Yes, I know. XD)..O.o;

Dedication: I don't get a chance to do this often, but I just felt that I HAD TO. Because the words made me feel real darn good this morning. XDD -- So I dedicate Chapter 02 of this 'fic to Kane and RVD 4eva! Thank you SO MUCH for that review!

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"Where I Belong" -- Chapter Two: It's Not Alright..

The halls were deserted. Not surprisingly, as the tardy bells had rung and the majority of the student body had long since filed into their respective classrooms. Occasionally the hollow pattering of hurried footsteps could be heard as some cadet would go shooting down the corridor -- already late, but not wanting to make things worse if they could avoid it.

At this Irvine smiled, recalling days in Galbadia where he'd find himself stealing away into areas less traveled, most often with one companion or another, where the time allotted for the commute between classes was quickly spent doing .. whatever.

The cadets knew he had some authority, and so slowed to a walk as they nervously shuffled past before breaking into a run again when they were certain he wasn't watching. But today, Irvine wasn't patrolling the halls looking for rule breakers. He had only one thing, one person on his mind.

Moving past the Cafeteria, Irvine was surprised not to hear Zell's raucous laughter reverberating off the walls as usual. And he found this rather odd. He'd already been to the Quad and it still remained as it had the night before. No Selphie was present to bark out orders at volunteers and unwilling detention-servers as they meticulously took apart her illustrious decorations piece-by-piece. Again .. odd.

Jogging towards the lift, Irvine finally gave up his search of the lower levels. When people went missing all at once there was only one other possible location. One spot in all of Balamb Garden where people managed to disappear to for whole hours. And damn, did he feel sorry for Squall today..

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The lift's doors opened with a smooth whirr, and Irvine stepped out neatly. He could already hear voices coming from around the corner, and he shook his head in disapproving amusement.

"Someone decide t'throw a party and not invite the life of it..?" he laughed, coming around the bend and spying Quistis and Zell in the hallway.

"Oof. You too? Today's been bad, busiest we've seen in awhile.." Quistis frowned, removing her librarian-type glasses and cleaning them with the hem of her shirt.

Zell, who never seemed to keep his weight permanently on both feet, was apparently boxing with his own shadow, bobbing and weaving to avoid swings invisible to all but him. "Hell yeah. Monsters must be humpin' on each other like rabbits.." he said with some difficulty as he continued to move.

All humor left Irvine's expression though as he looked hard at Quistis. "How is he..?" he asked, removing his hat for a moment to smooth down the hair on top of his head.

"Stressed. That's for sure. But I've never seen anyone take it so well. Other people would've lashed out at someone by now. Xu's running around in there like a madwoman, Selphie's having a meltdown, and Rinoa's mouth has been running nonstop for the past forty-five minutes.." Quistis replaced her glasses, leaning up against the wall behind her again.

Using a firm but gentle nudge, Irvine managed to slide Zell out of the doorway, pushing open the door with his other hand. For a split second the office fell silent as he entered, three pairs of eyes rising up to meet his own. The fourth, the steely-grey ones that had haunted Irvine since last night stayed firmly planted on the document laid out on his desk. Those unruly bangs of his had fallen forward over them again, one side slightly rumpled as Squall propped his head up on one elbow. Striding right past the girls,
Irvine leaned forward and rested both palms on the paper strewn desk, simply observing for a few seconds.
"Hey you. Y'could use a break, hm?"

No reply came for a few moments, but slowly those eyes tore themselves away from the paper. For a moment he became an image of childish innocence, glancing up at Irvine from that low angle with wide eyes that shined slightly thanks to the overhead lighting. But soon the rest of Squall's head rose, and the familiar stony-glare-of-maturity reasserted itself on the Commander's face.
"More than you know, Kinneas," he growled, shooting a sidelong glance at Rinoa, who shifted cheerily in her seat. With a sigh, Squall arranged the papers that lay in front of him and set them aside as he rose from his seat, drawing the attention of all in the room again.

"I'm taking a break. Selphie, you have all day to yell at me, alright? Save it. Xu, hold everything until I return. Rinoa .. don't bother." His voice was stern, and no one dared question his order. Rinoa sank back into her chair as if in defeat, and Selphie's beet red face lightened to a flushed pink blush. Xu nodded quickly and disappeared into a side room. That done, Squall gestured to the taller man, and Irvine let him lead the way.

Looking once more at the room, Irvine watched Rinoa as her balled fists forced wrinkles into the knit fabric of her blue duster. Everyone seemed edgy today, but her most of all. Probably because of how she'd just been carelessly tossed aside. But that's Squall under stress for you. Irvine saw Rinoa as a very pretty woman, but never could understand what he saw in her. Eh. That's a question he'd leave to ponder another day .. he had more important matters at hand now..

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"So where're we headed?" Irvine finally asked, as he followed Squall into the lift and watched him roughly push the button for the first level.
"I'm headed for my room. Where you're going is your business.." he replied harshly, staring straight ahead. Not at all like the person he was last night, all flustered and losing his composure. No .. Squall was well into the territory of 'work mode' this afternoon.

"I see. You .. uh .. don't mind if I tag along, do you? No where else t'go really. Seeing as the gang's all upstairs 'n everything.." Irvine asks cautiously, hands fumbling about nervously in his pockets. That bit Quistis had mentioned about him taking the stress well and not mangling someone might very well wear off at any second -- and Irvine didn't want to be standing at ground zero when that went down.

"Whatever.." came the smooth reply, and Irvine noticed that it sounded less angry. Given clearance, he followed Squall out of the elevator, listening to the sound of their boots thumping against the floor and the various buckles and metal dangling from Squall's attire jingling -- a rather merry sound, contradicting the scowl on his face.

"So.." Irvine began, in a poor attempt to try and drum up some conversation. "Going to get the ol' Lionheart? Blow off some steam by maiming some Grats? I've got Exeter .. wouldn't mind being your training bud--"

"No." Squall interrupted, still moving forward at a good clip.

"..Then what?" He didn't know why he pressed the question further .. seeing as Squall wasn't really the chatty type, but a curious part of him couldn't resist.

"Need a drink," came the answer.

..What else could Squall say? The truth. That strange urgency to retard his hyperactive thought process had been increasingly bothersome in its demands. And though he hated the fact that he had Irvine of all people with him -- likely the cause of some of the problems that were leading him to this method of escapism -- he's more than certain that Irvine knew the good one drink can do for someone.

"Ooh. Well. That's surprising.." he trails off, stopping as they arrived.

Squall glanced up at him with a look somewhere between annoyed and amused, but all sexy, and Irvine had to work to suppress a foolish grin. "Oh?" he asked, swiping a plastic key card to open the lock with a cheery ding. The door slid open and Squall disappeared inside.

"Sure," Irvine replied as he too stepped inside the apartment, hand reaching back to tap a key on the inside pad, and the door slid back closed again with the same confirming beep -- though Squall was too busy rummaging through the cabinet at the moment to notice. "..I always pictured you being one of those black coffee types."

"Hn. Well. Some people aren't always what they seem.." Irvine managed a smirk at Squall's words, but soon a nagging feeling overcame.

Sitting down at the edge of the bed, Irvine rested his elbows on his knees, leaning forward as he tried to piece together what he had to say. He had to do it now, for fear of not getting another chance like this. He was good with words, a charmer by nature .. but this was different then simply trying to sweet-talk the pants off some girl in a bar. No, this involved emotions. Matters of the heart. This is not an area where Irvine Kinneas felt comfortable having to speak on. Especially with his best friend. His very male best friend..

Feeling a tap on his shoulder, he nearly jumped a foot .. but realized that it's only Squall's offering of a glass of the fine Galbadian whiskey -- a very favorite of Irvine's. A substance he'd used many a time to get what he wanted. Sure, there was always that part of him that felt guilty for taking advantage of his inebriated partners .. but they did seem
to be thoroughly enjoying themselves. So no harm done, right?

The cowboy accepted the glass with a nod of thanks, and then went back to his pondering. Not aware that his silent companion was also in the process of mulling over something. Squall emptied his glass quickly, wincing at the sensations it caused, and stood up. Irvine simply watched him quietly as he turned and approached, stopping only when the leather of his pants brushed the other man's knees. "Irvine," Squall whispered, voice somehow steady but his eyes alive and churning with unexpressed emotion that was just DYING to be let free. The Galbadian simply sat and blinked confusedly, managing to take the liquor all at once just as
Squall began his descent.

All at once their lips met and Irvine could feel his friend's arms roaming over his back, one pulling him closer and the other tangling itself in his long auburn hair. He welcomed the kiss, eagerly, savoring the taste of the alcohol mixed with the unique flavor of Squall's warm lips. Irvine sought to explore that hot, unfamiliar realm but was met halfway by Squall's equally greedy tongue.

Irvine let himself fall back, tugging Squall down with him and holding him in place with strong arms. Squall lifted his chest up off of Irvine's, still maintaining their contact even as he wished to pull away for a moment and lavish attention on other areas. Each time he'd try to move away his attempt would be foiled as Irvine would gently, playfully catch his lower lip -- drawing him into a deeper, even better kiss than the last. The cowboy heard a soft moan as he began to draw Squall into his charms, the sensations he could cause by a kiss alone enough to prevent the other from pulling away. Irvine ever-so-slightly would gently rock his hips, eliciting further groans of pleasure from his partner. They were so into it so quickly, but neither resisted. Not even as Squall's lightly trembling hands began to undo the buttons of Irvine's shirt.

No, nothing it seemed would be able to deter them from what seemed to be the inevitable..

That is, until that cheery ding again rang out and the door slid open, followed by a wail that could rival the death-howl of any number of monsters. The shrill noise was more than enough to stop the action, and Squall turned to peer at the door through lust-clouded eyes.

There stood Rinoa, the bag she'd been carrying dangling precariously from the hand that hung loosely at her side. The other hand covered her mouth as her chin visibly shuddered. Her large brown eyes already overflowing with tears, her face had been transformed into a red, damp mess in a matter of seconds as she witnessed the love of her life eagerly running his hands over the chest of a man she'd come to trust like a brother.

"I-Irvine. How .. how could you do this to me..? And .. you, Squall.. Ugh!" she managed to choke out weakly, before turning and storming out of the room. The Galbadian's turquoise eyes, now filled with worry turned back to Squall -- who still hovered inches from his face.

"It's okay. Forget her .. it's alright.." Squall whispered, his voice wavering slightly. He paused to brush a bit of hair away from Irvine's forehead, eyes revealing the most Irvine had ever seen him show .. and he almost gave into Squall's pleas.

"No. No, it's not alright. There's going to be hell to pay for this, you know that..?" Irvine pulled himself out from under Squall and out of his grasp, closing up his shirt and retrieving his hat. "Not .. t'say I didn't enjoy it, you understand.." he added with a wink, before the mood could completely sour.

But Squall had already descended into said sour mood. He felt hurt. Deprived. He was miserable -- mad at Rinoa. Mad at himself. Just generally mad at the world. Those barriers that had melted in a flash in the face of his lust flew back up remarkably quick. The fires of emotion that continued to smolder in his eyes were hidden behind their usual emotionless mask. The remnants of a smile erasing itself from his face, replaced by the slightest of frowns that was so a part of his exterior nature that it had already appeared before he could even think of fixing it that way.

"Whatever.." he said, standing quickly and moving for the door. Rinoa's outburst had sobered him up real quick, one reason he managed to get so pissed off again so quickly.

("Damn her! Always wrecking my life. I think it's time for her to go..")

"See y'later..?" Irvine called just as Squall crossed the threshold. He was answered by a look so fierce he could find no other meaning behind it other than anger. No subtle 'sure'. Not even a 'maybe'. Just total, unrestrained 'I-hate-everyone'-type anger. And then he was off, the sound of his boots and that merry little jingle lost as another bell signaled the release of the noisy cadets from their classrooms.

Placing his hat on his head and smoothing his ruffled ponytail, he exited the room and let the door slide closed with a click.

"Oh .. Hyne. What the hell have I gotten myself into?"
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As usual, please R&R and lemme know how I'm doing. I'm new to the whole "romance scene" thing, you must understand. XD
--neurosis/rigel