Chapter 38: Lyin' Eyes

You can't hide

Your lyin' eyes

And your smile

Has been disguised

I thought by now

You'd realise

There ain't no way

To hide your lyin' eyes

Lyin' Eyes – The Eagles

Aeris stared at him.

"You want to talk?"

"Yes."

"Talk about what exactly? Because we have so much to talk about. How about beating up my dad at my birthday party? No? Well, let's talk about how you were cheating on my mother before I was even born. What you don't want to talk about that either? Well, how about these enormous bills and how you're going to pay for them?" She spat at him.

Eric rubbed his head.

"Who have you been talking to?"

"It doesn't matter. Just answer me. Why did you come here?"

"It's your birthday, I wanted to-"

"No! No more lies! Why did you come here?" Aeris demanded. Eric didn't reply. She threw the letters onto the desk.

"Well, let me fill you in. You came to the hotel in Wutai because you were curious I suppose. And then I started selling records. The money started coming in. And you're in a hell of a lot of debt. So you came to see me for my birthday, but then planned to take my money. I don't know how, or if that's everything but I'm guessing that's the gist of it. How am I doing so far?"

Eric wiped his eyes and Aeris ground her teeth.

"Did you come to me for money?" she asked quietly.

"…I would have paid you back. I swear."

She stared at him. He didn't reply. Aeris unclipped the charm bracelet from her wrist and threw it at him.

"Aeris, please!"

"I don't want to have anything to do with you."

"You're my daughter!"

"No. I'm not. I only have one father and his name is Matthew Gast. So screw you."

Without another word she marched from the room. Eric stared after her and then kicked the wall in anger. The charm bracelet lay at his feet but he didn't pick it up.

Aeris kicked a can that was lying on the ground and sank onto a bench, clutching her head. She had to find Vincent and find out why he had been meeting with Eric. The Café. He might be there. She picked herself up and headed for Barret's.

Barret was wiping tables when she arrived.

"Hey Aeris."

"Has Vincent been in here?"

"No. Is everything OK?"

"Not really. I'll tell you later, I've got to talk to Vincent."

Before he could speak, she had left. Tifa and Cloud were coming down the path. They waved to her but she just asked,

"Have you seen Vincent?"

"Yeah, about ten minutes ago. He was going to the apartment." Tifa said. Aeris set off quickly, leaving them bewildered. Then they followed her frantic pacing.

Vincent was just unlocking the door to the apartment when Aeris got to him. He smiled at her.

"Hey. How did it go with Matthew?"

"Why did you meet Eric today?" She demanded. He stared at her.

"How did you know about that?" He asked quietly. She groaned angrily.

"What does it matter? I heard the message he left on the phone. Why did you meet him? What did you give him in the park?"

"You were spying on me?"

Neither of them noticed Cloud and Tifa appear around the corner and stop to watch. Aeris ground her teeth and said in forcedly calm voice,

"Why were you meeting him?"

"Aeris, it doesn't matter."

"Yes, it does! Tell me!" Vincent looked down at her. She held his gaze. He sighed.

"I was giving him money."

Aeris stared at him. Cloud cleared his throat and they both jumped. Vincent said,

"I need to talk to Aeris alone."

"OK…we'll be in the café." Tifa said. Vincent unlocked the door to the apartment and they went in. Aeris turned to him immediately.

"You gave him money?"

"Yes. When I went out yesterday, to let you and your mother talk, I saw Eric. He was meeting with some businessmen. He saw that I had seen him and I got it out of him that he was in serious debt. I knew that was why he wanted to keep in contact so I gave him money and told him to leave. I know I didn't have a right, but I know Eric better than you."

Aeris didn't know what to say. She wasn't sure whether she should be thankful or angry. She settled for confused.

"I don't get it… you paid Eric to get out of my life?"

"Yes. He was going to leave straight away."

"I went to see him at the hotel. I found a load of letters about his debts. You can't have paid him that much."

"No. I gave him enough to get out of town and started towards paying off his debts."

Aeris rubbed her head and sank down onto the sofa. Her head was starting to ache.

"Vincent, you shouldn't have done that. You should have just let me handle it."

Vincent sat down next to her.

"I know. I just didn't want you to get hurt. And I knew he would hurt you."

"I can't handle this, Vincent. I can't handle all these lies in my life. People sneaking around behind my back, people lying about my life, lying to me. It doesn't matter if you wanted to protect me or not. This was something that I needed to sort out by myself." Aeris said, tiredly. Vincent reached for her but she stood up, massaging her temples. Vincent watched her pace.

"I'm sorry."

"I know. I know… I have to go."

"Go? Go where?" Vincent asked, standing up.

"I don't know! Anywhere. I have one-on-one soon anyway. I missed it last week because of a meeting."

"I'll meet you afterwards."

"No, I think I'm gonna go to my room. I've got work to do anyway." Aeris said. She picked up her bag and left. Vincent stared at the closed door for several minutes after it had closed. Then he sat back down again and held his head in his hands.

"Hello Aeris. Ready to get started?" Shera asked. Aeris nodded and sat down silently. Shera eyed her.

"Something wrong?"

"No. Maybe. Nothing important."

"It's life-changingly drastic, isn't it?"

"So much so that you wouldn't believe. But it has nothing to do with music, so you don't need to worry."

"Well… let's carry on then. How are you doing in saxophone?"

"I've been practising with my new one, but it's not the same as my old one. I think I need to practise more."

Shera made a note and said,

"OK… we'll work on that in class tomorrow. For now we'll work on the piano."

Halfway through the lesson Shera jumped up and dashed out. Aeris stared at the door and darted after her. Unable to find her teacher, she returned to the music room. Shera came back after a few minutes.

"Sorry about that."

"Is everything OK?" Aeris asked in concern. Shera nodded and laughed.

"Yes, it's fine. The baby is pressing against my bladder. Not the most pleasant of experiences." Aeris pulled a face.

"Lovely. How far along are you now?"

"Four and a half months. Halfway there."

"Wow. Can you tell if it's a boy or a girl yet?"

"We don't want to know. We're going to decide when he or she's born." Shera said proudly. Aeris smiled.

"Any weird cravings?"

"Only one. A strange desire to eat popcorn. Unfortunately that doesn't fill my daily vitamins and mineral intake so Professor Highwind has been limiting me."

They both laughed and Shera said,

"Let's wrap it up for today. I'll see you in class tomorrow."

"OK, see you then." Aeris said, pulling her bag onto her shoulder.

As she left the building, she bumped into James, dropping several sheets of paper. He bent to help her pick them up.

"Thanks." She muttered. He smiled.

"How are you doing?"

"Fine. I've got to go."

"Wait, Aeris."

"No. I'm busy." She walked away quickly. James stared after her and then headed into the building.

Aeris threw herself onto her bed and groaned into the pillow. This was probably the worst day in existence. The door opened.

"Hey Aeris." Tifa said. Aeris didn't move. Tifa poked her.

"Hey… you OK?"

"No."

"Tell me about it."

So she did. Tifa listened in silence.

"Boy. When you have a bad day you really go for it."

"I don't know what to do, Tifa. I'm so fed up. My father, who I thought was dead, was using me for money, which boyfriend secretly gave him behind my back. This being the same father who cheated on my mother and ran away before I was born, after using my mother's to pay for his debts back then."

Tifa stared at her.

"Your life is a daytime soap opera."

"Thanks Tifa. Big help."

"Aeris, I think you just need to sleep on it. Come on, we are going to relax and eat disgusting amounts of chocolate and ice-cream. I'll call Yuffie; we'll have a girl's night in."

"Not everything can be cured by chocolate, Tifa."

"Nope, but it sure helps." Tifa smiled. Aeris couldn't help it.

"OK. Girl's night in. But not too late, I've got class tomorrow and a meeting at the company."

"Not a problem, we'll have you in bed in ten. We'll just have to have some quality snacking time between now and then."

Not even a night of chocolate could make Aeris feel better. Yuffie chucked her a cookie and said,

"Spill. Stop moping."

"I'm not moping. I was just thinking… what am I going to say to Vincent when I see him? I think I upset him."

"Just suck up tomorrow. He'll forgive you."

"He was trying to look after me."

"So what's the problem?" Yuffie asked. Aeris rolled onto her back and stared up at the ceiling.

"The problem is… I want to look after myself. I want to sort out my own problems and stop depending on everybody else."

"Did you tell Vincent that?"

"Well, no…"

"Aeris, he's not psychic. You've gotta give him a hint." Tifa said. Aeris smiled.

"I guess so. I'll go see him tomorrow. I'd better get some sleep now though. We've music first thing in the morning and I've got a meeting tomorrow afternoon."

(A/N: Oh dear, all is not well in Aeris Town. I'm not sure this chapter turned out very well. I'm feeling a little bleurgh right now and I think it shows. I'll try to up my standards for the next chapter. As usual, please review and be honest. You have an opinion, please share it so we can work together in order to improve this fic!)