Author's Note: Okay, I'm starting the chapter now, but I really have no clue as to when it'll be finished. I might even put off posting it until Monday. Anyways, I have some reviewers to answer.
Note to Aoi-butterfly: Yes, I know that right now it seems as though Squall is only interested in Yuffie's outer beauty, but that will change later. I mean, nine times out of ten, lust comes before love. So, just bear with me for now please. Thanks for the review.
Note to l.a.: Yes, my cat Spaz (Sydney's basis) has a button fetish. As a matter of fact, as I write this, he's sitting in my lap and sucking on a button. He also likes to suck on blankets.
Note to Ezri-Candy: Yeah, I had fun writing that chapter with all the nice Squall imagery. :::sigh::: But, you know all about my Squall-obsession.
[Disclaimer: I own Sydney and Demi. I think that's about it. Well, I own a few random characters that I throw in as I see fit, but they're hardly in here. I wish that I owned Squall...]
Chapter Ten: Implications
Friday afternoon rolled around and by four o'clock that evening, Yuffie was exhausted. While Leon walked through the doorway of his apartment, she merely stumbled in behind him. Working at The Rustic Oven all week had taken its toll upon her. Even though it hadn't been that busy of a week, she was still adjusting to the whole waitress thing. She threw herself down on the sofa and closed her eyes, thinking back to Monday morning when Leon had awakened her that morning with the news that she would be going back to work that day.
At first, she had panicked, her grip on the blanket as she lay in bed tightening until her knuckles turned white. Remembering what had happened on Saturday, her first day, she found her breath beginning to come in short gasps. And just as she was about to tell him that she couldn't go back there, that she would break down if she had to, he had apparently noticed her near anxiety attack and sat on the edge of her bed.
He had slowly explained to her that it was his fault that she had had so much trouble on her first day there since it was Saturday, the busiest day of the week for his restaurant. Very calmly, he informed her that for most of the week, the main business of The Rustic Oven was simply a buffet style dinner, where the only thing the waiters and waitresses had to do was mainly take orders for drinks. Well, that and the occasional dinner order when a customer would rather not eat the buffet.
Finally, Yuffie had decided to give it another try and hesitantly returned to the restaurant with him that morning. She was still half-afraid that she would find that he had been lying to her about it just to get her to agree to come back. But, she found that he was, indeed, telling the truth. And she made it through that first day of the week without spilling anything on anybody.
The rest of the week had gone smoothly as well, but on Friday morning, Leon had told her that she would only be working until around two o'clock since it started to become busier after that with all the Friday night dates. And, true to his word, at two o'clock precisely, Leon had called her off the floor and had one of the others take over the few tables she still had. But, surprisingly, instead of just sending her home in a cab, he had taken the rest of the day off as well, claiming that they needed to stop for groceries anyways.
So, now at around four o'clock, she was sitting on the couch while Leon put away the groceries in the kitchen. She turned her head to the side and stared at him, feeling a sudden wave of gratitude wash over her. Not only did this man take her in off the streets and give her a job, but he was also making sure this job didn't stress her out too much.
Before she knew what she was doing, she was in the kitchen and standing in front of Leon with a small smile on her face. "Squa- er, I mean, Leon, I just wanted to say thank you for making me go back to work this week," she said nervously, moving from foot to foot while she looked down at the floor. She slowly raised her eyes and stepped forward, wrapping her arms around him in a light hug.
Leon stood there shocked for a moment, feeling her small body pressed up against his and her arms around his waist. It took nearly a full minute before he lifted his arms and placed them around her, hugging her back. It had been so long since he had actually hugged someone, actually wanted to hug someone. But, here he was, standing in his kitchen with this girl holding onto him. "You're welcome," he murmured as he slowly drew away from her, dropping his arms back to his sides.
Together, they finished putting away the groceries, nearly tripping over the cats as Sydney chased Demi through the kitchen, across the living room, and then down the hall. "I don't see how she puts up with him," Yuffie muttered as she pulled open the bag of potato chips she was supposed to be putting away and began munching on them.
"That's because you haven't known them for as long as I have," Leon replied as he took the chips away from her and closed the bag, much to her disappointment. "And they'll make up later. They always do." He sighed and gave in when Yuffie grabbed the bag of chips back from him. "And how much can you eat?!"
"I dunno... I just eat until I'm not hungry anymore," she muttered around a mouthful of chips as she carried the bag into the living room and sat back down on the sofa. Grabbing the remote she began flipping through the channels, about to settle on a cartoon when Leon stopped her as she passed by CNN. She let out a soft groan then tossed the remote over to him, trying to watch the news and not fall asleep at the same time.
After a few minutes of the news, Leon looked over at his roommate, who was simply staring off into space and mindlessly eating her chips. He watched as she got up suddenly and walked over to his bookcase, running her finger along the book spines but not taking anything down. She sighed loudly then plopped back down on the sofa, grabbing that morning's paper which had been carelessly tossed onto the coffee table when he had finished with it. Spending a few minutes flipping through it, she laid it back down and leaned against the arm of the sofa, her hands folded atop her stomach and her eyes closed. "Restless, are we?" he chided as she jerked herself onto her side and stared at the TV.
"No, I'm just bo–," she stopped short, cutting her words off as she realized what she was about to say, that she was bored. But she wondered if perhaps it would be seen as ingratitude if she did say that she was bored. Would he think her constantly needing entertainment? "No, I'm fine," she finally said as she tried to find interest in the anchorman's dry voice or the various weather patterns of the area that the weatherman was explaining.
"Yuffie, it's okay if you're bored," Leon told her when he realized what she had really wanted to say. He tossed the remote back over to her, getting up as he did so and grabbing a random book from the bookcase. "You don't have to lie about not being bored. I know that there's not much to do around here. I even get bored here sometimes."
For a few minutes, both of them sat there in silence while Yuffie flipped endlessly through the channels. But, when she started through them for the third time and still hadn't found anything to watch, Leon put his book down and left the apartment, crossing the hall to Aerith's. He knocked lightly on her door, then waited patiently for her to answer it. When she didn't answer, he knocked again, louder this time. Just when he had given up and was about to leave, the door swung open, revealing an annoyed looking Aerith with the phone in one hand and her other hand covering the mouthpiece.
"What?" she asked in exasperation, surprising Leon by her tone of voice. In all the years he had known her, it was very rare that she would be anything but sweet and kind. He had never seen this side of her.
"Uh... Yuffie's bored and I was wondering what I should do about it..." he stammered, finding himself at a loss for words when faced with this Aerith.
Groaning, Aerith threw back her head and rubbed her forehead with the hand that had been covering the mouthpiece. "Leon, I am in the middle of a very dirty phone call with my husband. Please do not interrupt me," she muttered, bringing her head back around to stare at him. "Look... I don't know. Take her to the movies or something!"
Before Leon had a chance to say anything, Aerith had slammed the door in his face while he simply stood there in shock. Not only was she being rude to Leon, but she was also having a dirty phone conversation with her husband? This was completely out of character for the Aerith that Leon knew and the poor man was at a complete loss for words.
He wordlessly entered his own apartment, shutting the door and leaning against it for a moment before pushing off it and walking over to the couch. Placing his hands on the back of it, he leaned over it to stare down at Yuffie, who was lying on her side and watching a cooking show. To him, she still looked tremendously bored. Sighing, he decided that perhaps Aerith had the right idea. "Come on," he finally said, getting her immediate attention. "Let's get out of here."
"Where are we going?" Yuffie asked as she sat up and stared at him, running a hand through her short hair to help with the loose tangles.
Leon picked up the paper, flipping it to the movie section and began reading the different movies and times to himself. "I thought we'd go see a movie or something," he muttered, his brows furrowed as he glanced once more at the movies listed. "That is, if it's okay with you..."
"Yeah, I'd love to go... I mean, I haven't been to one since Beauty and the Beast came out," she explained, reaching down to pick up the sneakers she had discarded earlier and pull them onto her feet. She felt Leon staring at her, so she turned around and gave him a questioning glance. "What?"
"Yuffie, Beauty and the Beast came out about ten or eleven years ago," he said in disbelief, slowly setting the newspaper down upon the back of the couch as he continued to stare at her.
She nodded, going back to putting her shoes on and tying the laces. "Yeah, I know. I think that was foster family number three...," she paused, dropping her foot to the floor and putting her finger on her mouth while she thought about it. "Or was it number four? No, it was number three because it was the Rosenbaum's and their two oldest daughters took me... Yeah, that's right."
Slowly shaking his head while she continued to ruminate on whether it was foster family three or four, Leon picked up the paper and glanced back down at the movie times again. "So, what kind of movie do you want to see?" he inquired, raising an eyebrow as he looked back down at her.
"Whatever you want to see," she replied, standing up and starting back towards her bedroom to run a brush through her hair, but she stopped at the hall entrance. "I mean, this was your idea after all and I have no clue what's playing and stuff... So, just pick whatever you want to see. I'm not picky about it."
Leon watched as she ran down the hall, trying to decide if it would be better to take her to the horror movie or the romantic comedy showing. But, considering the way his thoughts had been going concerning the teenager lately, he finally decided that it would be best to not see anything with romantic undertones.
Just as he picked a movie and showing, Yuffie walked back into the room, obviously ready to go as she looked like she was only waiting for him. "Is The Others alright with you?" he asked, wanting to make sure it would be okay with her.
"I told you, whatever you want to see is fine with me," she told him as she bent over and picked up the cat wandering around her feet. "And, Demi, I expect you to keep Sydney in line while we're gone, okay? Don't let him boss you around anymore. You deserve better than that," she whispered to the cat, rubbing her behind her ears and receiving loud purrs in reply. She sat the cat back down on the floor, looking up at Leon as she did so. "So, are you ready to go?"
He nodded and grabbed his jacket, but stopped when he realized that Yuffie didn't have one of her own. So, he handed her his black leather jacket, this one with long sleeves, and pulled out an older blue jean jacket for himself. "While we're out, we're going to get you a coat and jacket," he told her as he pulled his on.
"You don't–," Yuffie started to protest, giving up when she saw the stern look on his face that left no room for argument. "I'm fine without one, you know. Just a couple of sweatshirts and I'll be plenty warm."
Sighing, Leon opened the apartment door and ushered her out, making sure to lock the door behind them. "Yuffie, a couple of sweatshirts aren't going to be fine when it gets to be the dead of winter," he muttered as he ran a hand through his hair.
"I just hate that you're spending so much money on me when I'm not really doing anything in return," she mumbled as she followed him to the parking garage. "I mean, you won't even let me pay you for room and board now that I'm actually getting a paycheck."
Leon stopped walking and turned to look at her, placing his hands on her shoulders as he did so. "Would you feel better if I started giving you a list of chores or something to do around the apartment?" he asked seriously as he stared into her indigo eyes.
"Actually, yeah, I would. I would actually feel like I'm good for something and not just a worthless street rat," she answered in all honesty as it was the way she had felt for most of her life, even before she ran away from her last foster family. From almost as far back as she could remember, she always had this sense of worthlessness about her, as if she could do nothing right.
"Yuffie, you aren't worthless," Leon sighed, taking his hands off her shoulders before they pulled her to him in an embrace... something he had been fighting all week long. "You just haven't found your place yet."
Looking down at the floor, the teenager struggled with her words for a moment before she looked back up to Leon. "Um... could you help me find my place?" she asked nervously, her eyes moving from his to look at the wall.
"Yes, Yuffie. I'll help you find your place," he whispered, wondering for the umpteenth time why he was committing so much time and energy to helping this girl.
The movie theater The Others was showing in happened to be located within the same mall that Aerith had taken Yuffie the week before. They arrived with plenty of time to buy her coat and jacket before the movie would start, which they had already done. And, now, Leon was standing in front of a store window as he waited for Yuffie, who had told him in no uncertain terms that if she didn't find a restroom soon, her bladder would explode.
The window he was looking into belonged to a small eccentric type store, one of those places that you could find the strangest things from anything to everything. He looked down at his watch, wondering what was taking Yuffie so long when she was just suddenly standing there beside him, having, once again, made no noise when she approached him. And, per usual, Leon jumped in surprise. "That's it!" he exclaimed, grabbing her arm and dragging her into the store. "We're getting you something to wear so you'll make noise when you walk."
At first, Yuffie had thought he was angry with her, but then she noticed the small smile on his face and realized that he wasn't after all. "Honestly, I don't do it on purpose," she explained, pulling out of his grasp to look around the store, eyes widening at all the various knick-knacks, throw pillows, and scarves, among other things.
"I know you don't and that's why we're getting you this," he told her, holding up a green scarf with small brass disks sewed around the edge. He gently shook it, making the disks bump into each other and make a soft tinkling noise. "See? You won't be able to sneak up on me anymore."
Yuffie reached out and carefully took it from his hands, folding it into a triangle and then wrapping it around her waist to see if it was big enough. "Yeah, this will work," she muttered to herself, unwrapping it from around her and handing it back to Leon.
Walking to the back of the store, they handed the scarf to the cashier, who kept glancing back and forth between Yuffie and Leon. After ringing up the purchase, he started to put it into a bag, but was stopped when Leon told him not to and handed it to Yuffie after pulling the tag off of it. "Here, put it on so you can't sneak up on my anymore tonight, either," he insisted as he counted out the cash for their purchase.
Just as they were leaving the store and had reached the exit, the voice of the cashier floated to their ears and stopped Leon in his tracks. "I swear, these pimps keep hooking younger and younger ones!" the middle-aged cashier had muttered, believing that they were too far away to hear him.
Standing beside Leon, Yuffie felt him visibly stiffen, and just as he was about to turn and re-enter the store, she stopped him by gingerly putting a hand on his arm. "Squall, just ignore him. I'm used to being called a lot worse than that," she whispered, gently pulling him back into the mall.
"But he just implied that you're–," Leon started but was interrupted by Yuffie.
"Yes, Squall, I know what he was just implying and I'm telling you, I'm used to it. I've heard it for years now. It's okay," she reassured, her hand still on his arm as she tugged him in the direction she believed the movie theater to be. "Let's just go see the movie."
Sighing, Leon gave in to her and allowed himself to be pulled away from the store. After a minute or two, he finally realized that she had called him 'Squall' instead of 'Leon' and he briefly wondered if he should correct her. But, he decided that since the moment had passed, he would let her slip-up stand this time. "Alright," he finally muttered.
They continued to walk the length of the mall, coming across the movie theater at the very end and immediately got into line. Looking around, Leon noticed all the couples that apparently on dates as they had their arms around each other and stealing kisses while they waited to buy their tickets. He suddenly became very aware of the fact that Yuffie's hand was still holding onto his arm and he very carefully pulled it out of her grasp, using that hand to pull his wallet out so she wouldn't be offended.
The line moved quickly and it wasn't long before Leon had purchased their ticket, drinks, and a large bucket of popcorn that Yuffie had insisted on and then led her through the complex to the theater their movie was showing in. Seeing that there were few people in the theater to see this particular movie as it had been out for awhile, they had their choice of seats and Leon allowed Yuffie to chose since this was a relatively new experience for her. She chose the back row as it was close to the door. Wanting to be near an exit in case she had to make a break for it was a hard habit for her to break.
After sitting down, Leon, out of habit, put his arm around the back of Yuffie's chair, being careful to keep it on the chair and not on her. The previews passed quickly and the movie soon started, the popcorn already being half gone as Yuffie had been constantly munching on it since he had bought it. Leon, himself, had only taken a few bites of it.
It wasn't long before the first scary scene of the movie began, and Yuffie, unused to the tension that came with these movies, instinctually hid her head in Leon's chest and griped his jacket. "Tell me when it's over," she muttered as she took another peek at the screen and then quickly hid her eyes once more.
Trying not to laugh, Leon brought his arm down from the back of her seat and gently lowered it onto her back, squeezing her shoulder reassuringly. "I didn't think you'd get scared so easily," he whispered jokingly as he lowered his head closer to her ear, not wanting his voice to carry over to the few other movie-goers in the theater.
Yuffie peeked out from his jacket long enough to give him a mock glare and take a glance at the movie screen. "Yeah, well I'm not used to this stuff, you know," she muttered, hiding her head once more. But, she noticed that the feel of his arm on her back seemed to have helped calm her down, making her feel strangely relaxed.
"Okay, it's over," Leon whispered after the scene had finished and it moved on to the next part of the movie. Yet, even after she had removed her head from his chest and was sitting against the back of her seat once more, he kept his arm around her and was still giving her shoulder small squeezes occasionally.
As the movie progressed and the scary scenes multiplied, Yuffie found herself hiding her head more and more often in Leon's chest. Finally, she succumbed to the temptation and left her head resting against it, only having to turn it slightly when she was scared. But, with his arm still resting around her, she became scared less easier and really didn't need to hide her head as often. She just wanted to keep her head there and, since he didn't seem to be objecting, she did leave it there.
The movie ended and the credits rolled past, but Yuffie and Leon were still sitting there, her head still resting on his chest and his arm still around her. But, when the ushers came in to clean up the mess left behind, she lifted her head and stood up, stretching as she did so. "Thank you, Squall. It's been so long since I've actually seen a movie and I really had a lot of fun," she told him as she waited for him to get up as well.
"Leon," he corrected automatically, knowing even as he did so, it was useless. He started towards the exit, then stopped and turned to her. "You want to get a hamburger or something before we head back?"
Forgetting about the huge bucket of popcorn she had just finished off, Yuffie nodded enthusiastically. "I'd love to!" she exclaimed, bounding up the aisle and beating him to the door. "I am absolutely starved!"
Leon followed her out of the theater, wondering the whole time how anyone as tiny as her could eat so much food in such a short period of time. "How did I know you were going to say that?" he muttered sarcastically as he they headed back into the mall and towards the parking lot exit.
Author's Note: Okay, here it is. Hope you like it. Review for me please? And, yes, I know. The Others came out a few years ago, but just pretend it's a recent movie.