A/N: Aloe! And how is everyone on this mighty fine day? Oh, look! A surprise for you! A new chapter! Please read it and review!

Chapter 3: The Long Road Ahead

Take a left. Take a right. Wait for the red light to change. Wait some more for a couple pedestrians. Take another right. Take another left. Get onto the highway. Get off at the exit. Pull onto another highway. Take another exit. Take some more lefts and rights. Drive past the tall buildings. Go down a street. Up to the tall glass building with the Harker & Smith sign atop, illuminated with neon lights- the "Writer's Signal" as it is commonly known as.

Rinoa lateral parked in front of the building, looking up the building for a sign of life. Somewhere near the fourteenth floor, an office light was still on. Excellent, Rinoa thought, He's there.

Looking back to her son in the back seat, she unbuckled her seat belt, opened her door and went to the back seat to retrieve Alex. She closed the car door and grabbed his small hand, guiding him to the double glass doors.

Looking into the dark lobby of the publishing house, a thought occurred to Rinoa: if her suspicions were correct, the sight would traumatize her young son. His hero would fall from grace and she'd be left with a shattered young child who still had yet to mature.

She did not want to take the chance but something told her that risks are supposed to be taken. The classic angel and the devil appeared on her shoulders, arguing with one another regarding which course of action to take. One told her that Alex's life was still ahead of him and that he did not need to see what was going on up there. The other told her that she needed to calm her own thoughts, stating that if she were to see it with her own two eyes, she would know for sure, not to mention that, f needed be, she could always walk into Squall's office before Alex.

'Damn those two voices,' Rinoa thought, 'they always bring up such good points.' Looking down at her son, Rinoa knew that they needed to go up there. She brought forth a shaky hand and tugged the cold metal.


The months that followed her flee from home were not as smooth as one could hope for. Her best friend, Ariel, had a mother and a father. She was an only child, the sacred jewel of her inner family. Her mother, Grace, never really liked Rinoa all that much. Her father, Arnold, was never around after Rinoa sought refuge in Ariel's house. Ariel, on the other hand, was ecstatic that Rinoa was living with them.

In Grace's mind, Rinoa was an intruder in the house, unwelcome by everyone, except her daughter. In her mind, Rinoa was an out-of-control girl who lacked morals. She did not value anything that they had done for her nor the love of her very own mother. To Grace, Rinoa was an ungrateful brat. Grace would never get the chance to hear Rinoa's sincere apology made ten years later.

Arnold had become a sudden mystery. No one really knew what Arnold did between the hours after work and before he got home at ten o'clock. Before Rinoa arrived, Arnold was home by six o'clock and ate with his beloved wife and daughter. In the wee hours of the morning, at about five thirty, Arnold would leave the house for work. Before Rinoa arrived, he left the house at seven thirty. Where was he going? What was he doing? He was always aloof whenever Rinoa was over for dinner before she ran away from home.

The day Rinoa arrived on Ariel's doorstep, begging for a place to stay, Ariel answered the door. She was delighted to see that her friend was alive and not emitting horrible bodily odors. She was disappointed that Rinoa was leaning towards the Kate Moss side of physique but it would change in time.

"Ariel, help me. I need a place to stay." Rinoa begged.

"Um, sure. You can stay here if you want. I'll get my mom to make up the guest room for you and you can stay in there for as long as you want. Come in." Ariel ushered Rinoa in the house, told her to drop her belongings on the floor of the entry way and take a seat on the couch.

"Mom, Rinoa's gonna stay with us for a while, okay?" Ariel told her mother.

The look on Grace's face did not betray her; her muscles stayed perfectly intact in the plastered smile that was constantly on her face and her eyes veiled the inner turmoil in her mind. She did not want this politician's brat to stay in her house but she did not want to disappoint her daughter. Ariel meant the world to her and disappointing Ariel meant falling the girl as a mother.

"Sure, sweetheart. I'll go make up the guest room." Grace smile as she calmly strolled up the stairs to the second floor, heading in the general direction of the guest room.

"Now that that has been taken care of, care to tell what happened in camp Caraway?" Ariel asked her friend. She used the pet name for Rinoa's house to indicate that she did not have to tell her all the nitty-gritty details.

"My dad and I got into a fight about my mother. That's all." Rinoa said halfheartedly. She did not want to go into detail hoped that Ariel would understand that.

"Oh. I take it that the fur flew." Ariel left it at that before changing the subject. "Do you still want to go to Steve's party? We don't have to if you don't want to. We could stay in and watch movies if you want."

Rinoa sighed. A fight with her dad never really meant much to her. "No, I want to go to the party."

"Alright. I'm gonna go get ready to go. Gimme a few minutes, k?" Ariel chirped as she ran up the stairs, two steps at a time.

"Rinoa, your room is ready." Grace called from the top of the stairs.

Rinoa took her cue and retrieved her stuff from the entryway and hauled them up the stairs. She smiled at Grace and gave her a sincere thank you before she began to fill the drawers with clothes and stuff. She organized the clothes, promising herself that she would make an effort to keep the room clean to save Mrs. Morgan the trouble of cleaning her room as well as Ariel's.

When she finished unpacking, Rinoa sat on the corner of the double bed in the center of the nicely furnished room. She sat there thinking that things would get better, that one day her father would acknowledge her status as his daughter and not that of his deceased wife's daughter. She desperately hoped that one day, things would be better, that Ariel's mother would not despise her so and all would be well in her life once more.

That night, against Grace's wishes, Ariel and Rinoa went to Steve Miller's party. They met up with the rest of their friends and had the time of their lives. They had each taken a couple hit of acid, downed three times the regulation blood-alcohol level and jumped off the balcony into the pool below. They had passed out at Steve's house, waking there the next day with a severe hangover. It was not the best way for Rinoa to win over Grace's trust.

At a normal party, Rinoa would not have done half of those things. However, it was not a normal party. It was the first party after her mother's death. It was the celebration of her moving on.

A couple weeks later, Rinoa had decided that laying low that weekend would score her some points with Mrs. Morgan… Mr. Morgan was never around anymore so she did not know on which ground she stood with him.

Rinoa's grades improved as she made the effort towards her studies. She wrote all of her papers, submitted her literary essay on To Kill A Mocking Bird and aced her tests. Her reputation as a hard partier soon faded, dismissed as a one day show.

The second month of Rinoa's stay was more pleasant for Grace. She had the idea that Rinoa had changed from that first week she was there. It took a month but for her to notice but the signs of change were there. She was beginning to accept her as one of Ariel's key friends, ignoring that they had been friends since their toddler years.

It was the third month that things began to go awry. Ariel and Rinoa had returned home from school in a jovial mood on a Thursday afternoon. The side door to the garage was open, a peculiar sight since no one was ever in there. Picked by their curiosity, they entered the garage to find Mr. Morgan inside, lifting weights. It was a curious sight since it had been three weeks since Ariel last saw her father during the hours of daylight.

"Dad!" Ariel cried, "What're you doing home?"

Ariel had caught Mr. Morgan off guard but caught the barbell before it crashed into his chest. Rinoa felt awkward around Mr. Morgan. The garage was his temple and she felt like she was an intruder. It appeared to Rinoa that the garage was never cleaned periodically as there was dust that covered the workbench behind the workout bench. What intrigued her the most was the picture of her in a frame on the desk. Silently, she hoped that neither Ariel nor Grace would notice it.

It became clear to Rinoa then that Mr. Morgan desired her. She did not plan to act upon it since he was her best friend's father. Rinoa excused herself, stating simply that she needed to use the washroom.

She went to the bathroom but did not return to the garage. Instead, she went to the guest room and quietly unpacked the contents of her schoolbag and began to do her homework.

The next day, Rinoa picked up a copy of the local newspaper to look for an apartment. The atmosphere in Ariel's home had become too odd for her. She needed to leave.

That night, in the wake of a flashlight, Rinoa circled potential apartments that could suit her needs. In the week to follow, she went out on a series of interviews before she obtained an apartment close to the heart of the city.

The day before they graduated, the day after Rinoa was supposed to move into her apartment, Mr. Morgan's body was found in the garage. There was blood mixing with the dust on the floor and workbench, his eyes were closed. Mrs. Morgan cried for days to follow and Ariel was stunned beyond belief. Rinoa did not want to be around for the days to follow but she did not want to leave her friend in a time where her presence would be needed.

It was determined the day after graduation that Mr. Morgan was clutching her photograph to chest. Mrs. Morgan had lost all sense with the passing of her husband. She was further upset when she had read her deceased husband's journal and his attachment to Rinoa's picture. The descriptions of his lust were beyond normal, implying that Rinoa had something to offer that Grace simply did not. Grace lost her composure as she kicked Rinoa out of the house, against Ariel's wishes.

Rinoa had quietly left the house that day, picking up her already packed bags from her room and called for a taxi to pick her up.

College would be a good change for Rinoa.


The door did not give way to her pull. Rinoa reached into a coat pocket and pulled out her keys. She found the key to publishing house and turned it until the lock opened. She pulled the door once more and ushered Alex into the building. She bade him to stay still as she disabled the alarm. She punched in the code and proceeded with Alex through the second set of glass doors. She pushed the up button and waited for the elevator to come down.

"Mommy, why do the lights come on and off?" Alex asked her. His curiosity never failed to make him look cute.

"Well, the light comes on when the elevator reaches that floor… See the six just lit up…. And they go off when the elevator passes it… See, the six went out." She answered her son.

The elevator dinged, the doors slid open and they entered. Rinoa pushed the twenty-one. Alex danced to the elevator music, a natural tiny dancer. He was excited to see his father today. He squeaked happily when the elevator door opened and ran out before his mother could stop him,

Horror consumed Rinoa's mind, imagining the worst possible situation. Her husband mounted on top of a strange girl with the other behind him… Being dominated… Who knew? If he were avoiding her, distancing himself from her, who knew what kind of kinky and X-rated stuff he were into?

She took a moment to calm herself, prepare for the worst only to lay eyes upon the room at the end of the hall and her son at the door.

"Mommy, daddy's not here. Where is he?" Alex called to his mother innocently.

The quiet of the building, the hum of fluorescent lights and the blackness of Squall's office filled her senses. The smell of Mister Clean reached her nose and she cringed a bit. They must have left. Rinoa thought.

"Come on Alex," Rinoa called to her son, "If daddy's not there, then there's no point in sticking around, right?"

At that moment, Rinoa's cellular phone rang once more.

"Hey, beautiful! Where are you?" Squall's voice asked her.

"Squall, you shouldn't call her… We might get caught!" The chirpy girl yelled at him in the background.

"Will you cut it out? I think we were caught a long time ago!" Squall's muffled voice came through the receiver.

"Squall, just, go home. We'll talk there." Rinoa hung up. Tears started to form around her eyes. The blurred vision of Squall's office met her eyes before the elevator doors closed.

Alex saw his mother begin to cry and hugged her dearly, a little mama's boy. "Don't cry mommy, you're beautiful. Crying makes people look ugly."

A/N: I think I just made myself cry... or maybe it's the dust. Anyway, I wouldn't call more than a couple chapters left. Review! … Please?