A/N: I apologize for how late this chapter is! I meant to get it in by the 6th, but I just couldn't get it done in time. And then on the morning of the 7th I had to leave for a trip, and just got back on the 21st. I'll try to make more frequent updates, but... I don't know. We'll see how it goes. I had a blast though! And was able to get some ideas for the next chapter - it'll be up soon! I hope. Haha... anyway, thank you everyone who reads this story, even though I'm not very dependable at all as a writer/updater. Thanks to everyone who reviewed as well! They've totally boosted my interest in writing this story. Of the reviews I got, there was really only 1 I had to answer, so...
Lil Doro: Aww... I'm glad you like it! I love your story as well. Too bad it's ending so soon. I can just tell as all the loose ends are tying up now. ( I can't really say anything about Zell... just that he'll drop by here and there as the story develops. But he's not that major... or maybe he will be? I don't know... I'm writing and plotting and all that good stuff as I go along right now (to tell you the truth - I don't even know how the story's going to end yet!). If you want to know a secret (or rather... another secret), the title of each chapter I make up at the end of writing. Haha... I never know what's going on in my stories. Don't ask me what happens next. I don't know! ;; We'll just have to see what happens. :)
Rainy Days - Chapter 8 - So Much For Paradise...
The trip there took basically the entire day. We left that morning probably around 8, and arrived at the place at at least 5 that evening. We stopped at only a few places - once or twice to get gas, and once more to eat lunch. When we got there our limbs and joints (not not to mention butts) were sore from sitting for so long. Although upon seeing the house that we were going to be living in for a week, I began to think it was worth the trip.
"Seifer! I thought you said beach house!" Selphie exclaimed.
"This is my beach house," he replied as if it was stupid to think that he lived anywhere else. "You people look like you've never seen a house before."
Irvine whistled as he took out the keys and climbed out of the car. "Little cowgirl's right there man... this place ain't a house. It's like a mansion!"
"We definitely need to move all of you out of the city and into houses... apartments have brainwashed you all," Seifer mumbled shaking his head. "It's not that big."
"It's a beach front hotel!"
"It is not!"
The click of the trunk lock broke the tension quickly. Seifer turned his head to the car where Squall was beginning to unload.
"I don't know about you guys, but I want to get in there and sleep," he said. Everyone murmured in agreement and quickly shook their heads and grabbed their own bags. Irvine tossed Squall the keys and followed Seifer up to the door.
"Need some help?" I asked him, holding on to my own bag.
He smiled at me, holding on to two bags in one hand and turning the key in the other. "I got it; don't worry."
He bent down and grabbed another bag (I blushed in shame when I realized that of the 3 bags he was carrying, 2 of them were mine, and I was holding another one of my own as well) and followed everyone else to the door.
The inside was beautiful as well, with a high ceiling and lightly polished wooden floors. The kitchen was wide, and so was the living room, and the walls were all windows. A staircase along the side led upstairs, where there were 4 doors.
"You so lied," I said softly. "It's totally a mansion."
Seifer rolled his eyes and threw the keys in his hand on to a small table against the wall. He then led us upstairs and pointed out each room.
"Guest room," he said, pointing to the first door. "Guys can sleep there. This one's the bathroom, and other guest room for the girls to sleep in." He knocked on each door as he listed them, causing them to swing open.
"Last one's master bedroom - mine. And Quisty's," a small "oof" escaped his lips as Quistis suddenly slapped his back. Whatever happened after that, none of us knew. We were already in the bedrooms that were appointed to us.
"Alright! Bouncy beds!" Selphie cheered as she bounced up and down on her bed. I laughed and fell on to another one on the other side of the room.
"Mmm... they're definitely comfy," I said, wrapping the blankets around me. A knock came at the door and I dropped them. We both stood up and walked over to our bags as though we were hiding something. It turned out to be just Quistis though.
"Don't think I can stay with you guys in here..." she said softly.
"What?" Selphie exclaimed. "Don't like that big bully Seifer bully you into anything! You can stay with us if you want! I like sleeping on the floor!"
"No no!" Quistis put her hands out. "I'm okay... really. I... um, kind of ... want to..."
She was looking down at her feet and her cheeks were a light shade of pink. I laughed and suddenly understood.
"It's fine Quisty. Don't be naughty at night now!" I shook my finger while laughing.
Her head shot up and her eyes were wide like saucers - I fell over laughing when I saw her face. She blushed even harder and quickly turned around and left the room. Selphie and I continued laughing, but then she walked back in again.
"Oh, by the way - we're cooking for the boys tonight."
I froze. "Me? Cooking? Are you serious?" I burn pop tarts!
"Yeah, unfortunately..." she didn't sound very excited either. She handed me a list. "Here's stuff to buy. Can you and Irvine run down to the grocery and buy it for us, Rin?"
"What? Why me?"
"It's not likely you'll help us that much in cooking," Quistis said. "Selphie'll probably help more. You can just do your share by buying the stuff for us. Irvine's waiting downstairs."
I grumbled and trudged myself down the stairs. "Fine..."
"Who knew picking out vegetables was so difficult?" Irvine asked, holding up two cucumbers. "What's the difference?"
"This one's better," I grabbed the one in his right hand, put it in the bag I was holding with 2 other cucumbers, placed it in the cart and moved on. I could see him drop his mouth slightly out of the corner of my eye before scowling and following me.
"Still don't get it..." he jingled.
"I don't care..." I replied back in the same manner. I grabbed a bag of celery and put it in the cart. "What else is on the list Irvine?"
"Tomatoes, cucumbers, green onions, five billion more things, blah blah blah... congratulations Rin, you've finished the vegetables!"
"Oh hurrah..." I rolled my eyes and snatched the list out of his hand. He yelped and nearly dived at me, but I stepped back and he missed. He crossed his arm and followed me as I pulled the cart along to other parts of the super market. "We got the meat... we got the vegetables... we got the fruits... god, trust Quistis to be this organized. Who sorts their grocery list?"
"Quisty apparently."
"Yeah, no kidding..." I flipped through it final time. "Hey, you want some cake? I'm feeling something sweet tonight."
He smiled and nodded along. "That's my girl!"
I punched his arm and clicked my tongue, and had him push the cart after me as I walked into the bakery section. "What do you think we should get? It should be something all of us like... there's 6 of us after all..." I said to myself. I didn't really give him time to reply and just kept talking to myself. "Selphie loves everything sweet, so cakes with that much frosting would totally make her happy. But Quistis hates ultra sweet cakes... Squall and Seifer are exactly alike..." I laughed, and kept walking along. "They don't like all that frosting like Selphie, but I think they like things that are swee-- oh! Sorry-"
I bumped into someone and looked up apologizing with a sheepish smile. The smile dropped though when I saw who it was. "Oh you've got to be kidding me..." I breathed softly.
He smiled shyly at me. "Hey Rin."
I buried my face in my hands and took a deep breath. Zell, Zell, Zell... what the hell are you doing here?
"Hey Rin, how about this cake?" Irvine asked, trying to break the ice. "Fits everyone nicely, yeah?"
"Sure..." I mumbled, my face still in my hands. "Let's go. They're waiting for us, aren't they? Us girls still need to cook."
I walked off and Irvine followed after a few quick words with Zell. I stopped and waited for him a good couple feet away.
"You're overreacting Rin," Irvine murmured as he brushed past me. He walked to the check out lines. I looked behind me and noticed for the first time a girl by Zell's side.
He's got a new girl now - some brunette who's really shy. Never met her though. Irvine's voice echoed in my ear.
The girl pointed to a cake with cartoon characters on it and laughed. Zell laughed along and picked up another cake near it and they walked on.
Oops... Irvine was right. Nice move there Rin...
"Rin! You coming or what?" Irvine called from the line. The cashier was already ringing up our stuff. I shook my head and ran up to him.
"Yeah, I'm coming! Sorry..." I said, and took one last look back at them.
Cooking was not one of my fortes. But they insisted I help out a little anyway, and taught me how to not burn the eggs when frying it.
Selphie went out and set the table when we first started out, while Quistis attempted to get me to knead bread correctly. We ended up with flour all over ourselves.
"Rin, knead harder. It won't blend correctly or taste right if you just poke at it," she instructed, sprinkling a little bit more flour on my dough.
I sighed and bent over. "Arghhh... why is it so hard to cook! Thank Hyne for take out and fast food," I whined, thinking of the many times in my dorm I had Chinese take out and a soda.
She smiled and tried to comfort me. But Seifer just had to walk in and grab something out of the fridge. I glared at him the entire time.
"Well, you girls look gorgeous," he joked. He walked over and kissed a frowning Quistis's forehead. She leaned her head on his shoulder though (her way of a hug I assumed, since our hands were all covered in flour) and dropped her mean act. He leaned down and whispered in her ear. She faked a wince and slapped his chest with the back of her hand.
"Get out of here!" she said with a laugh, trying to be forceful at the same time. "Go drink beers or whatever you guys do! You can't see the food or the girls until we finish."
He held his arms out wide like asking "What'd I do!" and smiled widely. "Have fun teaching Rin to cook then," he laughed, and flew out the door.
I stared at him in shock. "Meanie!" I screamed after him, my cheeks turning a slight pink color. Quistis and I both burst out laughing after this, getting even more flour on ourselves.
"Well, you two have a healthy relationship," I mused, dusting the flour off my arms and shoulders. She just shrugged.
"If you call tormenting each other all the time a relationship, sure."
I raised my eyebrow. Don't think I didn't see that sweet little forehead kiss Quisty... She sighed and snapped out of what seemed like a short day dream. It was probably long in Quistis's world though.
"Okay, we need to hurry up and finish," she quickly recomposed herself. "We need more than just bread for dinner. And the bread still needs to rise."
I nodded and worked harder. When we put the bread away and brought out the vegetables to cut up, Selphie came back in and took charge of those. Quistis worked on the meats. They stuck me on washing the fruits since it was the "safest thing for me to do." The most dangerous thing was cutting up the huge watermelon, but I got that accomplished and was pretty damn proud of myself.
Dinner went by smoothly that night. The occasional 'let's-pick-on-Rinoa's-cooking' moments came up here and there as expected, but who could blame them? Seifer constantly pretended to be cautious of everything, asking Quistis who made the dish every time he picked up the spoon.
"Rin didn't make this, did she?" he'd ask. "It's not poisonous, is it?"
That always resulted with a slap on the arm from Quistis and a kick under the table from me. By the end of dinner, I was sure I gave him at least 3 bruises on his left shin.
"Serves you right," I said with a smirk. "Don't insult a woman."
I stuck out my tongue as he put his coat on. Irvine and Selphie were no where to be found - I think they were somewhere on the beach, but we never really found out (they came back safely that night; that was all that mattered). Seifer and Quistis were heading into town to grab a couple needed supplies - breakfast for the next morning, food supplies for the week, toilet articles, the works. Whatever else we needed to survive the next week at the house.
Quistis came up behind me and put on her shoes. "Don't forget to take that extra key with you if you guys leave," she said. "It's on the hook in the kitchen."
I nodded. "I know."
"And don't forget to-"
"Quisty, you're going to be gone for... what? Half an hour? An hour? And you're grocery shopping. What are you worried about?" I asked her with a laugh. She was a bit ridiculous and fussy at times.
She clicked her tongue and pretended to hit me with her purse. "I'm just making sure this beautiful house stays safe," she said with a grin. I nodded and snorted sarcastically, and closed the door as they left.
"Just the two of us," Squall sighed behind me. "Left to clean up the house."
He walked back into the kitchen with me only a couple steps behind him. "Awww... does Squally not know how to wash the dishes?" I teased.
He pouted in his own little way and pretended to be shot. I threw a towel in his face with a giggle. "Don't try the puppy look on me. It doesn't work - I invented it!"
He let out and slight grumble and began wiping up the table as I did the dishes. We finished within 20 minutes though, and still had plenty of time.
"Now what?" I asked as we sat by the kitchen counter. We looked around. There wasn't anything left to do... the house was already clean (typical Seifer - he may not be considerate at times, but he was a neat freak. That was one of the few things he and Quistis always had in common besides being smart blondes). We already unpacked, ate... Squall already took his nap.
Squall leaned his head forward and on to the counter in thought. "We could walk out to the beach..."
"But it's dark..." I whined. The beach was too romantic for two friends alone. Way too romantic. "Let's watch TV."
I hopped up and walked to the couch instead, aiming my hand for the remote. I missed though, and lost my balance a bit, falling (not so) gracefully towards the couches. Squall grabbed my arm and pulled me up just in time though.
"Aww... my knight," I smirked. He followed the suit and snatched the remote out of my hands. "Hey!"
"I'm bigger, I win," he laughed on the couch. He turned in the TV and flipped through the channels. He paused for a minute, so I dived and took my chance! We tumbled around on the sofa, fighting over the remote for a couple of seconds before we heard the door slam and Selphie screeching. We both got up and ran to the door wondering what was wrong. When we got there, we saw Irvine and Selphie twisting this clothes that were drenched. Squall hurried up the stairs to get them something to clean themselves up with.
"What happened?" I asked them. It looked almost like they were playing in the water without their swim suits, but they didn't appear very happy.
"It's pouring out there!" Selphie whined. "We were having fun too, weren't we Irvy?"
He let out a small "Hnn.." in agreement, but was trying to shake the sand off his hat.
"I know you love the rain though, Rin," Selphie said to me. "It's not cold out - you might as well go enjoy yourself. Just don't go near the beach sand."
I peered out the window in thought. Maybe I will...
Squall handed each Irvine and Selphie a towel to wipe themselves off with. As they finished up, I began putting my shoes on.
"I'm going to take a shower..." Selphie yawned out, slowly making her way up the stairs.
"'Kay... got it..." I mumbled, standing up straight.
"I'm going to bed..." Irvine followed.
"Night then!" I waved, and turned out the door.
"Hey... where're you going?" Squall called after me.
"Out. Don't worry - I'll be fine," I said, turning around as the rain water washed over me. I laughed and twirled around. "It's not like I'm going very far."
I saw him hesitate in the door way before following me out. I smirked, but kept twirling around, letting the drops hit me fast.
"Rin, you'll catch a cold..." he insisted.
"And so will you!" I giggled and pointed. "Go inside. Seriously. I'll be okay."
He looked at me doubtfully and didn't move. I moved around the front of the house, and he followed. I shrugged it off though, and continued having my fun. When I looked back at him, I saw a small smile on his face.
"What?" I asked, stopping my rain dance.
"Nothing," he said with a shrug. The smile was still on his face though. I titled my head and smiled back. He stared at me right in the eyes and gave me shivers in the warm rain.
I wrapped my arms around myself and walked over to him. "Come on..." I said, taking his arm. "Let's go back." I dragged him behind me as we walked back to the house. "I'm used to this kind of stuff - but you definitely aren't, mister."
He laughed at me when I scrunched up my nose. "Have I ever told you you're the most childish person I've met?"
"Yeah, often actually..." I said lightly, making him laugh again. I punched his arm and continued up the steps to the front door of the house. "Looks like Quistis and Seifer are home..."
We saw two blonde figures sitting in the front seats of a car as it pulled into the drive way behind us. Quistis came out first with an umbrella in one hand and a bag of groceries in the other.
"So much for a paradise beach hotel..." she mumbled. She looked up and called to us. "Squall! Rin! You wanna help us out?"
We ran back down the steps and grabbed as many bags as we possibly could filled with food and supplies that were to help us live out in the beach front hotel-like-house for a week. I wondered though, how much of the beach we would actually see following this rainy night?