Authors Note: He everyone sorry for the delay yada yada here is the second chapter!

2. Talk

'Irvine.' Denise called angrily as she entered the hotel room. There was mascara running down her face and it was obvious that she had been crying.

Irvine stared back at her, knowing that he was going to have to apologise. She was breathing heavily in her anger and looking at him with disgust.

'You left me.' She said. 'Why?'

'I felt sick, sorry.' Irvine mumbled. 'I really just needed to get away from the smell of food.'

She stared at him for a few seconds. Irvine could see, with her piercing stare that she was looking past the lie.

'What really happened Irvine?' She asked, tears running down her face. 'We both know you weren't sick.'

'I just didn't feel…'

'No.' Denise interrupted. 'You weren't sick. Stop lying to me and tell me the truth for once.'

'Look.' Irvine said sternly. 'I wasn't well. I need some rest now so I won't be sick tomorrow.'

'Well, you weren't sick when I went to the bathroom.' Denise yelled.

'I was actually.' Irvine lied. 'I just didn't tell you because I didn't want to ruin your night.'

'Too late for that.' She spat.

She stared at him for a few seconds, as though trying to analyse him.

'I'm going to get another room, I can't sleep with a liar.' She said after a while. 'Call me when you feel like telling me the truth.'

'I already have.' He sighed.

She walked out, leaving Irvine there alone, finally. He walked over to the king-sized bed, happy not to be sharing it with her. He undressed quickly and climbed in under the red, velvet covers.

I should end it with her soon, he thought as he fell into a deep sleep.

The morning sunlight flickered in through the crack in the curtains giving the room a gentle light. Irvine groaned heavily at the prospect of getting up and facing Denise. He lay in his bed for a few moments longer and finally stretched before getting up. He got dressed quickly and walked out to the small, dingy reception area.

'You don't know where the woman that came with me went last night?' He asked the receptionist lazily.

'She rented out another room.' The receptionist said with a polite smile. 'She went out early this morning though, didn't say where she was going.'

'Probably gone back home.' Irvine sighed to himself.

'She said she'd be back tonight.' The receptionist said after a moment.

'Where the hell is she then?' Irvine muttered.

The receptionist looked at him blankly in response. Irvine walked out of the hotel, unsatisfied.

Stupid receptionist, he thought angrily. He felt that he needed to find Denise to tell her it was over, otherwise it would hang over his head for too long.

He strode down the docks of Fisherman's Horizon, listening to the seagulls and feeling the gentle breeze on his face. The hot sun beat down on his neck, irritating him.

I hate this place, he thought. It reminds me too much of Selphie.

The moment he thought of Selphie, he felt as though there was a giant knot in his stomach. He couldn't believe she was taken. He would just have to accept it. He lit a cigarette as he walked and headed to the end of the pier.

'Irvine.' A high pitched voice called from behind him.

He spun around to see a smiling Selphie running towards him.

'Hey.' He said, frowning slightly.

'Hey.' She panted. 'I wanted to talk to you.'

''Bout what?' Irvine asked, he looked into her eyes and couldn't help but feel a strong attraction to her. He looked away immediately.

'Is there something wrong?' She asked, seeing how awkward he felt.

'No… it's nothin'.' Irvine muttered under his breath. 'What you wanna talk to me about?'

'Nothing in particular.' Selphie said with a giggle. 'How've you been?'

'Great, my life has been so good lately.' Irvine lied.

'That's really good news,' she said excitedly. 'I can't believe we're both here together again.'

Irvine looked at the girl, it felt as though she was teasing him. Why couldn't he just grab her and take her away with him.

They walked together towards the end of the pier and sat down.

'What's Denise like?' Selphie asked. 'Where'd you meet her? There are so many questions I want to ask!'

'I suppose she's nice, friendly, loving.' Irvine muttered, he hated thinking about her, the only reason he had actually gotten with her was because he thought that he would eventually grow to love her, but now he knew that he never would. 'I met her at Timber, a year ago.' He continued. 'She was hangin' out alone, I decided to talk to her.' He remembered well where he had first seen Denise, she had been sitting there, in the bar, looking as though she was going to cry. He remembered how lonely she had looked and how sorry he had felt for her. How he had wanted to help her, that wanting had quickly vanished.

Irvine threw the cigarette butt out into the ocean and watched it vanish among the choppy white waves.

'How 'bout you, when'd you meet your husband.' He asked looking out into the distance.

'You mean Gefred, oh we met in Balamb. He was one of the first people I saw when I got back there. I fell and he helped me up, we got talking and hear we are now on our honeymoon.' She laughed as she spoke.

Irvine focused his vision on the horizon, making every effort to keep away from her eyes. They were too much for him, he couldn't meet them.

'So why'd you do it?' She asked eventually. She was no longer laughing and sounded completely serious.

'Do what?' Irvine asked, confused.

'Why'd you go, why'd you leave us all without notice?' She said.

Irvine thought for a moment, he couldn't tell her the truth on her honeymoon. The real reason he had left was because he knew he would have tried something he would have regretted later had he stayed. He remembered vividly how he had wanted Selphie so badly and how he would have done anything to get her, even if it was by force. It had scared him, he didn't want to hurt Selphie. He left soon afterwards, wanting to leave her on her own, where she would be safe.

'I had business to take care of.' He said eventually.

'Couldn't you have told us before leaving, you just took off.' Selphie sighed.

There had been no way he could have confronted Selphie for the last time at that time. He would have just broken down into tears.

'It was urgent, I couldn't come back afterwards either.' He muttered.

'But you didn't even make any effort to contact us.' Selphie complained.

'I know.' Irvine said, looking her in the eye at last. 'I just couldn't, okay.'

'But why?' Selphie asked.

'I'd really rather not talk about it, if that's alright with you.' Irvine said finally. 'I can't explain the reason. There is one though.'

'I believe you.' Selphie said. 'I just wanted to know is all.'

Irvine pulled out another cigarette and lit it, feeling calmer immediately.

'Want one?' He asked Selphie.

'No,' She said immediately. 'Do you know how bad they are for you?'

'I know.' He replied. 'I'm addicted though.'

'Hope that's not the cigarette that kills you.' She said to him.

He took the cigarette out of his mouth and stubbed it out on the wooden pier.

'Happy?' He said.

'Yep.'

'Let's walk to the centre of town.' Selphie suggested. 'To the mayors house.'

'Okay.' Irvine said in response.

They got up slowly and started to walk over the old wood in the direction of the mayor's house.

'I wonder does that Mayor still hate violence.' Selphie said.

'I think he was killed.' Irvine stated. 'They have a new Mayor, the old one apparently was killed by a Galbadian soldier when he wouldn't let him pass to Esthar.'

'He should have been more careful.' Selphie said. 'I knew he would meet his end.'

'Yeah.' Irvine agreed.

They walked on in silence for a few moments and Irvine stared at his feet.

Why am I having this awkward silence with Selphie, he thought angrily to himself. She probably thinks I'm such a weirdo.

'So where do you live now?' Selphie asked eventually.

'In Timber.' He said shortly.

'We live in Balamb, I love it there.' Selphie explained. 'Actually we live where Zell and his mother used to live. They went away somewhere where no one would recognise them after we came back.'

'He didn't want to be famous, did he?' Irvine mumbled.

'No, we were all so busy then and we started having fights. Zell left after Squall told him he hated him. I didn't really want to be famous either but I dealt with it. Thank God everyone finally has left us alone.'

'That must have hurt!'

'Yeah, Squall and Rinoa are living next door to me, they got married and have a child now.'

'That's wonderful.'

'Yeah, I know, you've missed so much.' Selphie sighed.

Irvine laughed at the thought of Squall with a child. He probably hated the poor thing.

'Are they still happy together?' He asked.

'Yeah, I think they are.' Selphie stuttered. 'I mean they don't fight too much and they are always together.'

'That's good. How's Quistis?'

'She isn't so good.' Selphie sighed. 'She started drinking after we became famous. She was depressed and felt she was on her own.'

'That's so sad.'

'I know, I feel sorry for her. She just left like you one day.' Selphie sighed. 'I have a feeling that she is gone, dead.'

'You think so?'

'Yeah, she sold all her stuff before she left, I think she spent the money on drink.'

'Oh.'

They walked down the long walkway towards the mayors house in silence. When they finally reached it, Selphie spun around to see him.

'Irvine, do you remember that night here.' She said with a smile.

'Of course, I remember how we played that song and how excited you had been.'

'It was perfect that night, wasn't it?'

'Yeah, I know.' He said, she was looking straight into his eyes and he felt like they were scanning him. They were so beautiful.

'I remember how I wanted to bring Rinoa and Squall together so badly.' She sighed. 'I also wanted to have the perfect night.'

Irvine couldn't control himself much longer. He started to lean in towards her for a kiss but she backed away quickly.

'Irvine, you know I'm married.' She said angrily.

'I know.' Irvine said, he felt like he was going bright red with embarrassment. 'I just… thought.'

She looked at him disappointedly.

'Oh, it's alright.' She said eventually. 'I know you are attracted to me and I was attracted to you.' She looked down. 'But I'm married now, you have to accept that and move on.'

'Sorry.' Irvine muttered. 'I should have controlled myself.'

'When you left us…' Selphie started. 'I was heartbroken because I had always wanted to be with you, I thought we trusted each other and could go anywhere together. Then you left. It felt like you betrayed me.'

'I had to go.' Irvine said.

'No note.. no nothing… I felt so alone.' Selphie sighed. 'I got over you eventually and I found someone else… sorry Irvine but you lost out.'

He looked at her in awe. She had once loved him but he had blown it. He felt so stupid.

'I want to be friends though.' Selphie said, looking up.

'I do too.' Irvine said with a smile. It killed him that he couldn't be anything more than a friend.

'You should come back with us to Balamb.' Selphie suggested.

Irvine thought for a minute.

'Yeah sure.'

'Bring Denise too.' Selphie suggested.

'No, she'll be too busy.'

'That's a pity, I wanted to get to know her.'

'You'll see her some other time.' Irvine lied.

'We're going back tomorrow.' She said. 'On the ferry, you should definitely come, everyone will be so glad to see you in Balamb.'

'I will come.' He said, he hoped that if he went back he would be able make Selphie fall in love with him again.

'Come meet with me in the restaurant at dinner tomorrow and we'll go afterwards, my husband won't mind so don't worry.'

'Are you sure?' Irvine asked, not really caring whether he pissed off Gefrid or not.

'Yeah, he won't mind.'

'I'll see you tomorrow then.' He said.

She pulled him into a tight, warm hug before turning and leaving. He smiled as he watched her go, she was brilliant.

He walked back to the hotel in silence. He was happy now.

I'll get back with her, he thought.

Authors Note: Thanks for reading it, now please review. I'm not sure when the next chapter will be up. I have also completely changed the story so it will only be a few chapters long. Sorry. Here is the thank you list:

QueenAdreena- Sorry for the mistakes of the last chapter, I went over it and corrected all of them I could find. Thanks for the review!

Lady Pyrefly- You'll have to wait and see whether I give them a happy ending or not. Thanks for telling me Selphie has green eyes, I changed it.

Druggo-frog- Glad you like the emotions Irvine is showing. Thanks for the review, I'm always happy to get positive feedback.

Selphie Kinneas- Thanks for saying I portray FH so well. I'm glad you liked my writing style. I hope you liked this chapter too!

Well until next time, please review!