Author's Note: Now that I'm actually getting somewhere in this story, I'm HOPING I can get chapters out sooner. Not sure though. It depends on school. Anyways, on with the show! Long chapter, methinks 'twill be.
Okay, peoples, I REPOSTED chapter fifteen on sometime on Thursday, so you might want to go take a look at that. I didn't change much. Just a little with the "shower scene" and then some at the end.
And I just REPOSTED this chapter because I woke up in the middle of the night and wanted to lengthen the ending of it. :::sigh::: Cursed muse!
And all of you should be very thankful to the Vulpes Lapis because she guilts me into getting off my lazy butt to write. Or, really, since I have to sit down to write, I guess she guilts me into sitting down on my lazy butt to write. Now if I could only guilt HER into writing....
–Disclaimer: If I had the rights KH, I would somehow figure out how to bring video game characters to life (or just find the guy who modeled for Squall) and keep that godly man locked up in my room.
Chapter Sixteen: Maelstrom of Emotions
Shocked, indigo eyes flew open and stared at the half-lidded stormy blue eyes in front of them. That is, until the soft caress of his lips upon hers lulled her into melting into the kiss and her eyes slowly closed. All that Yuffie could think about at this moment was the feel of Squall's lips on hers, all other thoughts and doubts pushed into the back recesses of her mind.
As Squall leaned closer, Yuffie felt herself sink into the cushions behind her, pushing herself into the corner of the couch with both of his arms still entrapping her there. But that didn't matter. All that mattered was this moment in time, which had seemed to slow to an almost stop as soon as his lips had touched hers.
Lungs burning for oxygen, Squall finally released her mouth, moving his face away just enough to allow them to breath, but close enough for their breaths to mingle. Yuffie's eyes still closed, Squall noticed as the lids began to flutter slightly as she opened them, only to stare at him in shock and confusion. Bringing his hand that rested on the back of the couch over, he gently cupped her cheek and stroked the flesh with his thumb.
Yuffie's mind was racing, both from confusion and the breathless kiss she had just been given. Her heart was doing a good job of keeping up with her racing mind, feeling like it was trying to jump out of her chest as it thumped loudly and quickly. She still couldn't believe it. Squall had kissed her. Squall had kissed her! And just when that thought managed to make its way through the muddled mess that was her mind, she noticed he was leaning in again.
Reacting on instinct, Yuffie dodged his mouth and ducked underneath the arm that still blocked her escape. And before Squall had a chance to stop her, she was running out of the living room and down the hall to her room, shutting the door as much as her paranoia would allow her. She leaned against the wall and slowly sunk to the floor, her hand flying to her mouth and gently touching her lips with two fingers.
She still couldn't believe Squall had just kissed her; her mind seemed to refuse to wrap around that thought. He couldn't possibly have meant anything by that kiss. Sure, he could be nice and sweet to her sometimes, but, other times, he was cold and seemingly pushed her away, especially within the past few days. Yesterday evening was a prime example of his cold attitude.
Wanting to do something to help with dinner even though her culinary skills were essentially nonexistent, Yuffie had gone into the kitchen to ask Squall what she could do to help. However, she had inadvertently forgotten her scarf with the brass disc and had, thus, made no noise when she entered the kitchen. Squall hadn't even known she was there until he noticed her out of the corner of his eye looking over his shoulder at the vegetables he had been slicing.
The shock of suddenly seeing her there right beside him caused the knife in Squall's hand to slip and slice his thumb. He quickly shoved the thumb into his mouth to staunch the blood as he made his way to the water faucet where he could rinse the wound, glaring at Yuffie out of the corner of his eye. Apologizing, Yuffie reached into the running water to pull his hand out and see how much damage he had down. That was when he had coldly ordered her out of the kitchen.
And, now, the day after that event, Yuffie was sitting on the floor and leaning against her bedroom wall, confused as to why Squall would kiss her after acting so cold to her. Over and over the scene in the kitchen replayed itself in her mind, the way his voice had gone hard when he had hissed 'get out of the kitchen, Yuffie.' Yet, just a few days before that, on her birthday, he was so sweet to her when he gave her that jacket and took her out to dinner.
Everything was a chaotic mess in her mind with what appeared like no way to sort anything out. The one thing she did know was that even though the kiss had confused her, she enjoyed it. And that only served to increase her confusion.
In the living room, Squall still sat in the same position on the sofa, his eyes trained on the hallway Yuffie had just ran down, as though he were expecting her to return. He knew she wouldn't; he had read the shock clearly enough in her eyes to know that much. And he couldn't blame her for being shocked at his actions since he was in still in shock as well.
When he had come over to help her with the study guide, he had no intention whatsoever of kissing her. But the way she had looked concentrating on the book and then looking up at him with wide eyes, he found himself unable to stop himself from kissing her. He had almost done so the night before, when she was examining the slice on his thumb, apology written all over her features. It was all he could do to order her out of the kitchen before stooping down to kiss her.
So, he should have been prepared for what would happen when he was sitting that close to her on the sofa. Knowing that he was in love with her, he should have known that being that close would only make him lose his self-control.
But, it was too late for all the 'should have's' and Squall slowly arose from the sofa, looking longingly down the hall as though he would like to follow Yuffie. Shaking his head, he decided that might not be such a good idea right now and, instead, he returned to his laptop computer to turn it off for the night.
Slowly making his way down the hall to his room, he lingered for a few minutes at her door, wondering if he should try and explain things to her. The door was open just a fraction of an inch, the most closed it had been since she had arrived and that made him decide that she wanted to be alone to overcome her fears to shut it even that much more than usual. So, rubbing his forehead, Squall continued past her doorway to his room, trying to push the doubts of his actions out of his head.
It didn't help that he could still feel her lips on his and the sweet, yet spicy taste of her still lingered there as well.
- - - - - - - - - -
A rogue shaft of sunlight made its way through the gray clouds lining the November sky and shot through the window to fall upon Yuffie's face, causing her to scrunch her nose and roll over. Her eyes fluttered open as she slowly awoke, a smile coming across her as she remembered what she thought was a dream. That is, she thought Squall kissing her was a dream until she realized she was still sleeping in the clothes she had worn the night before. Her confusion at the kiss had stayed with her until she had gone to bed, making her forget to even change into her pajamas.
As soon as she realized that the kiss was not, in fact, a dream, she shot straight up in bed as her eyes darted around the room, as though they were expecting Squall to be there in her room. But, no. She was completely alone in the room with the exception of the two black and white balls of fur at her feet, one of which was slowly uncurling and arching its back as it stretched.
Demi finished her stretch and climbed to her feet, tail switching slightly in the air as she made her way up the bed and to Yuffie. Distractedly, Yuffie reached a hand out to pet the cat while her mind was still thinking about the night before. The insistent 'meow' under her hand, though, was enough to bring her back to the present and focus more on the demanding cat who was now purring loudly.
It didn't take long for the cat to become satisfied and leap off the bed, trotting out the partially open bedroom door. Yuffie followed the cat's example, climbing off the bed and rustling through her dresser and closet for clothes to wear. Her sweatshirt, blue jeans, and undergarments bundled in her arms, she left her room and headed toward the bathroom to take her morning shower. She stopped at the bathroom door, however, and stared in bewilderment at the bathtub.
The tub was half full of water and sitting in that water was a frozen turkey, still in its packaging. Yuffie blinked a few times to make sure she wasn't seeing things before slowly backing out of the bathroom. She gave the turkey a parting glance as she headed towards the front of the apartment to get some answers from Squall as to why exactly a turkey was sitting in the bathtub.
She found him in the kitchen, sitting at the counter to eat his bowl of cereal and read the paper. He only gave her a quick glance before returning his gaze to the newspaper in front of him. "You're up early," Squall muttered as he turned the page and folded the newspaper backwards at the crease.
Looking at the clock on the microwave, Yuffie realized with a shock that he was right. It was not even eight o'clock, yet she was already up and she didn't even have to work today since it was Thanksgiving. "I couldn't sleep with the sun shining in my face," she admitted truthfully as she remembered that ray of light hitting her face that morning.
"What sun?" Squall mumbled, pointing out the front window with his spoon. He was right. There was no sun out there, only dark gray clouds as far as the eye could see, making it seem like a typically dismal November morning.
"There was some sun earlier," Yuffie insisted, setting her pile of clothes down on the counter only to have Squall look at them with a raised eyebrow. "And why is there a turkey in the bathtub?"
Sighing, Squall arose from the stool and carried his now empty cereal bowl over to the sink where he rinsed it out and left it sitting on the stainless steel surface. "Because I forgot to move it from the freezer to the refrigerator a couple of days ago to let it thaw and it thaws out faster in water," he explained as he turned around to face her, already seeing the question in her face that she was about to ask. "And I couldn't put it in the kitchen sink because I need the sink today."
"Oh... well, can I use your shower this morning then?" Yuffie asked quietly, barely able to meet his gaze as he stared at her. As she waited for his answer, she couldn't help but notice that he seemed to have forgotten the kiss from the night before. He was acting like he always did; at least, like 'Cold Squall' always did, giving short and to the point answers with no real emotion behind his words.
Squall ran a hand through his hair as he sat back down at the counter, picking up the newspaper as he did so. He finally gave her a curt nod and watched as she scurried out of the room, nearly forgetting her bundle of clothes on the counter, and down the hall to his bathroom. He hadn't meant to be so short with her, but the memory of the kiss and her reaction to it prevented him from doing more. Since she apparently didn't reciprocate his feelings, he decided it would be best to act as though it had never happened.
At the other end of the apartment, Yuffie was just walking into Squall's bathroom, her senses overcome by everything Squall. There was a small pile of his clothing laying by the door, his razor setting haphazardly on the sink ledge, and the whole room was permeated with the smell of his aftershave. Yuffie rummaged through the medicine cabinet until she found that bottle and twisted the lid off, taking a whiff of it as soon as she did so. Her eyes closed in for a moment before she realized what she was doing and quickly put the lid back on the bottle and shoved it back onto the shelf.
Shaking her head and wondering at her actions, Yuffie shut the bathroom door nearly all the way shut then pushed the trash can against it to keep it from opening any further. It was something she had quickly learned to do to keep Squall's cats from pushing the door open all the way while she was bathing. Her paranoia still bothered her, but she felt she was getting somewhere with it now that she knew it was caused by her father beating her mother while she was locked in her room.
As she climbed into the shower and adjusted the water temperature to hot pinpricks, the kiss drifted back into Yuffie's mind and she realized that it had never actually left her mind to begin with, but had been sitting there the whole time and waiting for a chance to confuse her once more. It was all still there, the gentle touch of his lips, the way he leaned into her, the way he looked at her afterwards... everything was still there. And then there was this morning when he had barely acknowledged her until she asked about the turkey, and even then, he was kind of cold and short with her.
That only added to the chaos in her mind. If the kiss had meant something to him last night, wouldn't he have acted differently this morning? And if it meant nothing to him, then how were they going to continue with this living arrangement. "We have to talk about it," Yuffie muttered to herself, rinsing his shampoo (she had forgotten her own) out of her hair. So, quickly finishing her shower, she threw some clothes on and headed back towards the front of the apartment, not even bothering to towel dry her hair which was dripping water down her back and onto the carpet.
In the kitchen, Yuffie found Squall rummaging through the cabinets with a pad of paper in his hand while he wrote some things down on it. "Squall?" she called tentatively as she stepped off of the carpet and onto the tiled floor of the kitchen. He didn't seem to have heard her as he continued to push things around in the cabinet. "Squall?" Yuffie tried again, a little louder and a little closer to him this time, but he still ignored her. "Squall!" she finally shouted, grabbing him by the shoulder and making him face her. "We need to–."
"I need you to go down to the corner grocery for me," Squall interrupted, pushing the pad of paper into her hands which had a considerably long list of groceries upon it. "I forgot some things that I'll need for dinner tonight." He grabbed his wallet sitting on the counter and pulled out a few bills, silently calculating about how much the groceries would cost before handing her the money. "That should cover it."
Confused, Yuffie looked down at the list with furrowed brows, wondering why he needed so much stuff. "But, Squall, it's Thanksgiving. Are you sure the store is going to be open?" she asked quietly, deciding that now might not be such a good time to broach the subject of the kiss since he seemed kind of harried at the moment with dinner preparations.
"The store will be open until noon. He doesn't like to miss the last minute shoppers," Squall muttered distractedly as he started looking through the cabinet again, as though he might have missed something. "But he will be busy, so you might want to hurry."
Yuffie nodded mutely, pocketing both the money and the list before going to the closet for her jacket. That was when she remembered her wet hair and dashed back to the bathroom to hastily dry it with the hair dryer. She knew that wet hair and cold air was just asking for Fate to stick you with a nasty cold or flu, the last thing she wanted right now.
It didn't take long for her short hair to dry and she was soon out the door, not realizing that Squall was watching her as she left. Sighing, he sat down at the kitchen table and buried his face in his hands. Her whole trip to the grocery store was a farce; there was nothing on that list that he absolutely needed today. He just needed her out of the house because being alone with her was almost too much. And he knew she wanted to talk about the kiss, he could read it in her eyes. He just wasn't ready for that yet. So, he walked across the room and picked up the phone.
- - - - - - - - - -
Two hours later, Yuffie stumbled out of the elevator at her floor and struggled down the hall with three paper sacks of groceries. "You so owe me for this, Squall," she muttered to herself as she fought with the bags and attempted to open the apartment door. But she just couldn't get the door knob to cooperate with her hand while still holding onto the bags. She settled instead for kicking the bottom of the door.
A moment later, the door was wrenched open and Yuffie strode in without even looking at who opened it. "Squall, don't you ever send me to that hell hole on a holiday again!" she growled in a dangerous voice, then turned to glare at him only to realize that it was Aerith who had opened the door.
"Should I pass the message on to Leon or do you want to tell him yourself?" the florist chortled as she shut the apartment door and took one of the bags from the teenager. She was already heading into the kitchen with the bag before Yuffie got over her embarrassment of mistaking Aerith for Squall.
"Sorry 'bout that, Aerith. I just wasn't expecting you over here so soon," Yuffie apologized, following the woman into the kitchen and placing her two remaining bags on the counter. She noticed Squall coming from the living room to put away the groceries, but she stood in front of him and pointed a finger in his face. "And, you! Don't ever send–."
"I heard you the first time," Squall interrupted as he brushed past her, already reaching inside the bags and pulling out various items.
Fuming that he had just brushed her off like that, Yuffie marched over to the other side of the counter and glared at him. "And I'll have you know, a little old lady hit me over the head when I tried to grab the last can of cranberry sauce," she seethed, placing her hands on the counter to brace herself as she leaned forward. "So, needless to say, I didn't get any cranberry sauce."
"That's alright. I have one can already," Squall mumbled, not noticing that Yuffie's eyes were narrowing into dangerous slits as he said that. He did notice, however, that Aerith was slowly backing away from them and heading towards the relative safety of the living room where Cloud lay sprawled out on the sofa, watching the football game.
"I... You... But.... You already have a can of cranberry sauce, yet you still sent me out there to be beaned in the head by old ladies?!" Yuffie snarled, feeling her right eye begin to twitch as she glowered at the man in front of her.
"I had to be sure there was enough for everyone," he explained calmly, turning his back to her to put away the groceries.
A frustrated half growl, half scream escaped Yuffie's throat as she beat her head on the counter top. "Squall, there are only four people here. How much cranberry sauce do you think we're going to eat?"
"Knowing you and your stomach, twenty cans wouldn't be enough." His back still turned to her, Squall didn't notice as she threw her hands in the air in exasperation and left the kitchen. He could, however, hear her footsteps as she angrily stomped into the living room.
Throwing herself onto the couch across from Cloud, Yuffie sighed loudly and crossed her arms over her chest. She had been planning on cornering Squall into talking about last night, but couldn't now that they had company, company that she hadn't expected until much later in the day. "I bet he did it on purpose," she mumbled under her breath as she rolled her eyes.
"Did what on purpose?" Aerith asked innocently from Cloud's side, wincing as her husband cheered loudly when his team scored a touchdown.
"Hm?" Yuffie asked distractedly, her mind still on Squall before she realized that Aerith had heard her. "Oh... I just bet he... uh... sent me to get cranberry sauce on purpose." Another roar from both the crowd on TV and the blonde in the living room was enough to make Yuffie glare at the man. "And why are we watching football, of all things?"
Cloud didn't even hear her question, his eyes trained on the television screen in front of him until a hand was waved in front of his face. "Hello? Earth to Cloud. Anyone home?" Yuffie teased, now standing in front of him and obscuring his vision. Aerith was demurely covering her mouth as she giggled at her husband trying to look around Yuffie's body to see the screen, only to have the teenager move in front of his vision once more.
"Hey, this is America's favorite pastime," Cloud insisted, his voice sounding just a little bit whiny as he tried to continue watching the game.
"I thought baseball was America's favorite pastime," Yuffie teased, moving to block his vision once more. Really, she was surprised how quickly she and Cloud had become close friends, considering that they had only known each other for little more than three weeks. She felt closer to him than she did even Aerith, but, perhaps, that was because he still had that boyish immaturity about him whereas Aerith was utterly mature most of the time. He was kind of like the big brother she never had. Yes, that was the best to describe him, Yuffie decided.
"Baseball may be most of America's favorite pastime, but football is this American's favorite pastime," the blonde insisted, reaching out an arm and gently shoving Yuffie out of the way. His team was running down the field for a touchdown and he jumped up, pumping his arms in the air. "GO! GO! GO! YES!"
Aerith winced and gingerly rubbed her ears as though her husband's overly enthusiastic reaction to the touchdown had hurt her ears. "I think I'm going to go see if Leon needs help in the kitchen," she muttered as she climbed to her feet.
"Yeah, I think I will, too," Yuffie said, raising an eyebrow to stare at Cloud as he continued to jump around and cheer. Making her way into the kitchen, she found Squall shaking a wooden spoon at Aerith and ordering the florist out of the kitchen.
"But, Leon, it's not fair that you have to do all the cooking," the green-eyed brunette insisted, trying to grab the spoon away from him. "I can help."
Pulling the spoon back away from Aerith's grasp, Squall shook his head. "No, Aerith. I've seen what you do to mashed potatoes. Do you really think I want that to happen to Thanksgiving dinner?" he demanded, smirking at her as he tried not to laugh.
"Please, Leon. Don't let her cook!" Cloud hollered from the living room.
"One more word out of you, Cloud Strife, and you won't see me cooking for you again!" Aerith called back before Squall could answer.
"Is that a threat or a promise?" the blonde chided, not knowing that his wife was angrily huffing into the living at that moment.
The whole time, Yuffie had been leaning against the counter and listening to the friendly banter between the three of them. A loud thump followed by Cloud's 'ow' floated into the kitchen, causing the teenager to stifle a giggle. Rubbing her forehead, she looked over at Squall was busy cutting sweet potatoes into cubes. "So, do you need any help in the kitchen or not?" she asked once she had finally mustered her courage up to talk to him.
He gave her a look, raising a lone eyebrow and tapping his knife against the cutting board. "Yuffie, I own a restaurant. I've cooked more food for more people than this more than once in my lifetime. I think I can handle it," he told her before going back to the task at hand.
Holding up her hands defensively, she took a few steps backwards. "I was just asking. I mean, I know I can't do much, but I just wanted to make sure you didn't need any help," Yuffie mumbled, turning to leave the kitchen since he was being so unsocial.
"Yuffie..." Squall began, about to say something about the night before, but then stopped mid-sentence and changed his mind. "Just keep Aerith out of the kitchen."
"Now, that I can do." She gave him a bright grin and left the room, grabbing a deck of cards out from beneath the TV stand and dragging Aerith over to the dining room table for a game of spades.
Hours later, after the smell of roasting turkey filled the apartment and made Yuffie's mouth water, not helped much by the fact that she had skipped breakfast and had only an apple for lunch, Squall asked Aerith to set the table, ending the heated game between the two women. So, while the florist was arranging napkins and plates on the table, Yuffie meandered into the living room and was disgusted to find Cloud was watching the replay of the game on a sports channel.
"Cloud," she whined, giving his name a few more syllables than it originally had. "You've already watched the game. Can't I watch something now?" She knew she was practically begging, but she hoped that pleading would work on the blonde. "Please?"
"Just a minute," he muttered distractedly, his eyes practically glued to the TV screen and the remote control in his hand. At the sight of the remote, an almost evil glint came into Yuffie's eyes and she launched herself at the blonde, grabbing the remote while he was still dazed and changed the channel.
She ended up sitting in his lap, holding the remote up over her head and out of his reach since he was sitting below her. "So much for football, huh, Cloud?" she crowed as she flipped through the channels until she found a cartoon she liked.
Cloud simply groaned and threw his head against the back of the couch, making no move to remove the girl from his lap. Like Yuffie, he had begun to consider her as almost like a younger sister. "Do we have to watch Johnny Bravo?" he grumbled, trying not to watch the cartoon, but finding his eyes drawn to it anyways.
"Yes. I like Johnny Bravo."
In the kitchen, Squall glared at the two and rolled his eyes. "They're such children," he muttered under his breath, not knowing that Aerith was behind him.
"What's wrong with that?" the florist asked confusedly, moving to stand beside him and watch Yuffie and Cloud fight over the remote once more.
"Just... well, just look at them. She's sitting in his lap and they're fighting over a remote. Doesn't that seem a bit childish to you?" Squall said finally, his eyes still on the two in the living room and not on the food he very nearly burned on the stove before he realized he had forgotten about it.
Aerith shook her head, causing her braid to sway back and forth as she smiled knowingly at Squall. "Leon, if I didn't know better, I would say you were jealous," she teased, never dreaming that he would take her seriously.
"Jealous? Jealous of what? Two children playing in the living room?" he scoffed, looking over his shoulder as he heard Yuffie squeal when Cloud grabbed the remote from her. He knew Aerith was right; he was jealous of the fact that Yuffie was sitting in the blonde's lap and not his own. He just didn't want to admit to his jealousy, neither to himself nor anyone else.
Laughing, Aerith left him alone in the kitchen while she continued to set the table.
Back in the living room, Yuffie finally managed to wrestle the remote back from Cloud once more, this time putting the TV on the channel of her choice and tossing the remote onto the couch across the room. That way, she decided, Cloud couldn't grab it again as long as she sat on him. "You know, you make a really comfy chair," she told the blonde, turning to smirk at him.
"I'm glad you're comfortable since I'm not. Your bony butt keeps digging into my legs," Cloud grumbled disdainfully, trying to make another grab for the remote when he heard Aerith call them to dinner. He waited patiently for Yuffie to remove herself from him for a few moments only to find out that she didn't seem to be planning on moving herself. "Get up!"
"Nope. You're gonna have to carry me since you insulted my butt," the teenager declared, thinking the blonde would just push her off and make her walk. She was surprised when he actually gave in to her demand and stood up with her back against his chest and his arms under her knees, keeping her legs drawn up to her chest.
They made it to the dining room like that, with Yuffie giggling like a maniac and Cloud acting like her light weight was weighing him down and he pretended to nearly drop her a few times. Finally, he carried her to her chair and dropped her unceremoniously into it, causing the teenager to give him a mock glare. "Gee, Aerith. was he carrying you like this over the threshold?" she teased, her eyes having a playful glint to them.
"No, he's gotten considerably better at that over the years," Aerith admitted as she pulled her chair out and sat down, Cloud soon following suit and sitting down next to her.
"That was better?!" Yuffie asked in disbelief, not noticing that since Cloud and Aerith were sitting beside each other on one side of the table, that Squall would be sitting next to her. That is, she didn't notice until Squall sat down and accidentally bumped his arm against hers. The touch was too much and she felt her face begin to flush, but she managed to get control of it and force it back down. No one else seemed to notice.
"Sorry," Squall murmured quietly, scooting his chair a little further away so he wouldn't brush against her, accidentally or purposively as the scent of her in this close proximity was intoxicating his senses. But, his accidental bumping into her as he sat down was just a prelude to things to come.
Throughout dinner, both Yuffie and Squall would find themselves brushing hands as they passed bowls, bumping arms as she leaned over towards him to grab something, and even hitting heads once when she dropped her napkin between them and they both went to retrieve it at the same time. Neither noticed that across from them, Cloud and Aerith were trying not to laugh loud enough to alert their attention.
After dinner and a few hours of playing cards once they were able to drag Cloud away from the TV and any replays of the earlier football game, Aerith and her husband finally said their goodbyes and made their way across the hall and into their apartment. Squall wasted no time looking at the clock to discover that it was after nine o'clock and muttered something about a shower, leaving Yuffie alone in the living room when she had just thought that would finally be able to corner him into talking about the kiss.
Sprawling out on the sofa and deciding she would have to wait until Squall emerged from the shower to talk to him, Yuffie turned the TV back on and flipped aimlessly through the channels for a few minutes, but was unable to find anything decent to watch. The only thing she could think of now that she was alone in the apartment once more with just Squall was what had occurred just last night on the same couch she was now sitting on.
"We really need to talk," she muttered to herself, rising from the sofa and creeping down the hall to his bedroom. She slipped into the room and listened to the sounds of running water in his bathroom before deciding that it was safe. Slowly, she twisted the door knob and stealthily crept into the small bathroom, knowing that he most likely wouldn't hear her since he rarely heard her if she wasn't wearing her special scarf. She chanced a peek at the shower door, both glad that it was of frosted glass that prevented her from seeing anything and slightly disappointed.
Forcing that thought out of her head, she looked up at the mirror and noticed it was just right; the steam had fogged the glass completely and made it perfect for writing her message. So, taking one finger, she quickly wrote 'we need to talk' upon the mirror and then left the bathroom just as quietly as she had entered. Proud of her self, she returned to the living room and waited.
She didn't have to wait long before Squall came into the living room and she looked expectantly at him, but he simply ignored her and went into the kitchen for a glass of water. But, she saw him start towards the living room after that and decided that now they were going to talk. Only, he once again didn't acknowledge her, simply walking past the couch to grab his book that was sitting on the table next to the chair.
Noticing that he was about to leave the room, Yuffie stopped him right as he began to walk back past her. "Squall, didn't you get my message?" she asked quietly, not looking up at him but instead examining the carpeting of the floor.
"What message?" Squall inquired innocently, knowing full well what message she was talking about. He had been surprised to step out of the shower and find that written on his mirror, yet he was still not ready to talk about it.
"The message I put on your bathroom mirror," Yuffie explained, blushing slightly as she inadvertently admitted to purposively walking in on him while he showered.
"The mirror defogged?" he said, hoping she would buy his lie.
When he didn't reprimand her for entering his bathroom and when she heard that almost questioning tone to his voice as he said that, she realized that he was lying. "Liar!" Yuffie insisted, standing up and pointing once more in his face like she had done earlier. "If you hadn't have seen that message in the mirror, you would have yelled at me for doing it. So you must have seen it. Now sit down!"
As soon as she had started pointing that finger in his face, Squall had tried to push past her. But she was too quick for him. Noticing that he was trying to leave, she reached out a foot and tripped him, causing him to fall backwards onto the arm of the sofa and successfully bruise his tail bone in the process. He grunted but tried not to let on that she had hurt him, instead only staring at her and crossing his arms over his chest. "Okay, let's talk," he conceded as he moved from the sofa arm and onto the cushions.
Now that he actually wanted to talk, Yuffie found herself tongue-tied, forgetting all that she had carefully rehearsed that morning. Taking a deep breath, she calmed herself and sat down on the opposite end of the sofa from him. "You confuse me, y'know," she admitted, nervously twiddling her fingers in her lap. "I mean, one minute you can be so sweet and caring and then the next you're so cold and... and... what did that kiss mean?"
Squall was a little taken aback as her voice took on a strained note to it at the end, making him decide it was time to tell her the truth. "I... I think I'm in love with you," he stammered, watching as her eyes widened and blinked slowly a few times as she stared at him in shock. "But I'm not sure... I haven't felt that way in a long time," he quickly ammended.
A loud whoosh of air was released from her lungs as she continued to stare at him for a moment. "Well... how can you be sure?" Yuffie asked, leaning backwards until she was up against the arm of the sofa. If his kiss from the night before confused her, then his abrupt confession just now nearly made her go into shock. Out of all the excuses she had expected to hear from him, that was the last thing that she believed he would say.
"I would kiss you, but I'm afraid you would run away again," he admitted, raising an eyebrow and looking imploringly into her eyes. He was surprised when she started inching down the couch towards him; he had been expecting her to run to her room again.
Yuffie couldn't believe what she was about to do. But, after all, the man had just admitted to possibly being in love with her. Another part of her mind argued that if he was in love with her, why had he been acting so cold towards her? She shut that part of her mind down and decided she would question Squall about that later; there was something she needed to do right now.
So, scooting until she was just next to him on the couch, she shyly looked up at him, finding herself trembling just a bit. But, before she could chicken out, she slowly stretched her face up until she could reach him and placed a soft kiss on his lips. The touch of lips was like it was the night before, only better because she wasn't scared and confused this time.
What started as a chaste kiss soon deepened as Squall brought his arms around her and pulled her closer to him. He readjusted both himself and her mid-kiss until he was lying on the sofa with her across his chest. His mouth soon left hers and trailed a few kisses down her jawline, smiling against her skin when he heard the few noises she made. But, he stopped kissing her when he noticed that she was struggling with a yawn.
"You're yawning, Yuffie... am I boring?" he teased, moving his lips to kiss her short, ebony hair, finding himself becoming a little sleepy as well as the large dinner took effect.
"Don't blame yourself, Squall. Blame lack of sleep last night and the turkey," Yuffie muttered, trying to keep her eyes open. She really couldn't believe that she was falling asleep while Squall was kissing her. That was just inconceivable. But, the facts were there. Her eyes were drooping shut and yawns were coming more frequently even though she tried to stifle them.
Squall raised an eyebrow at her statement and looked curiously at her for a moment. "Lack of sleep?" he questioned, moving one hand to her lower back while the other gently stroked her upper back. "Why couldn't you sleep?"
Yuffie had the urge to roll her eyes, but kept it in check and simply lay her head down on his chest and closed her eyes. "Because I was confused, you idiot," she said fondly, making the last word not sound the least like an insult. "How do you expect a girl to re–." She was cut off mid-sentence by a yawn that she didn't know was coming.
Laughing softly, Squall repositioned them both once more so that he was lying on his side with his back against the sofa cushions and Yuffie was lying in front of him with her back against his chest. "Just go to sleep, Yuf," he whispered in her ear, kissing her cheek.
"Mm-kay," she muttered sleepily, eyes already closed and halfway asleep already. But, she was teetering on the edge of the couch and felt herself begin to fall. And just as she stuck an arm out to catch herself, she felt Squall's arm wrap around her waist and pull her closer, keeping her safe from falling on the floor.
It wasn't long after that when Squall slowly succumbed to the effects of too much turkey and fell asleep as well, his arm still around Yuffie and holding her tightly to his chest.
Author's Note: Finally finished that chapter. Whew! Thought it would never get done. Anyways, I am tired and I am going to post. Review for me please.