A/N: Thank you for the reviews! Getting reviews like that always make my day. Even though is poo and reset the counter. xx It now says I have only 3 hits. So sad. Anyway, I'm also, I'm glad to hear that you guys liked the last chapter and the narration in it! It all derives from the never-depressing conversations that I always have. It's good to know we bring humor to other peoples' lives. xD Haha. So thank you for all the reviews - I hope you continue to enjoy the story! It's okay to criticize. Really, it is.

Rainy Days - Chapter 12 - Standard disclaimers apply

PS - rating for this chapter may go up to a T, depending on your maturity level. I don't think anyone that immature reads this anyway, but just in case.

I ran to Squall's as fast as I could. We lived on opposite ends of the city - I lived in the heart of the city and he lived out by the suburbs. Even though it was nearing 10 o'clock, I had caught the last bus to the train station, rode a nearly empty cart on the train - and everything still seemed unreasonably slow. The buses seemed to take forever to load, and seemed to stop at every stop sign and stop light. The train, though practically empty, seemed slower than its usual speed. And even though it was already dark to begin with, it seemed to get darker by the time I got to his apartment. The rain that was originally like a mist when I left the house turned into a shower by the time I had arrived at the first train station, and poured by the time I reached Squall's apartment. Everything in the world seemed to want to slow me down.

Or maybe it was just my panic, and sudden urge to see him.

I rang his doorbell at least five times within the three seconds I stood in front of his door, and knocked on the door a couple of times. I probably bothered his neighbors more than anything.

When he finally got the door open, he had a slight scowl on his face.

"Rin, you know I'm home. You didn't have to-" he stopped mid-sentence, his mouth dropping into a worried frown. He sighed and pulled me into the living room. He walked to a closet and pulled out some towels and blankets.

"You only had to ring the doorbell once," he said as he helped me dry off. "I would've heard it."

I closed my eyes as he wiped off my face and pulled a blanket over my shoulders. I shrugged. "Sorry," I said softly.

"It's okay," he said, wiping my wet bangs from my eyes. "Don't worry about it."

He smiled gently at me, and I smiled back, pulling him into a hug. He scooted over and sat down next to me.

"Do you want to change into some of my clothes?" he asked. "They'll be big on you, but you'll be dry at least."

I smiled, but shook my head. "It's alright. I think I'll be okay."

I sat down on a towel so that I wouldn't get his couch wet, and turned on the TV. We watched it for a while as I dried off. He waited patiently for me to say something about why I came over at 10 o'clock at night. He didn't push me or anything; he just sat there with me the entire time.

Finally, after finishing up some late-night show on TV, I turned it off. It was 12:30. I sat up and pulled my legs up on the couch comfortably.

"Dry yet?" he asked, tugging at my hair and sleeves.

I chuckled. "A bit," I shrugged. "Don't worry about it. I'm always wet. You know that."

"Yeah," he winced. "You're insane."

"Yeah, but you love me," I said jokingly, punching his arm. "And there's nothing you can do about it."

We laughed, hitting each other with pillows and defending with blankets. It didn't last very long though, as I let out a sneeze. Squall stopped immediately, dropping his couch pillows and feeling my forehead.

"I'm fine!" I waved him off. "I didn't come all the way down here to have you take care of me."

He frowned, keeping his eyes on me.

"I came down here to take care of you," I said softly, dropping my eyes. I didn't know what I was planning to do to tell him. But I wasn't planning on telling him while he was still worried.

"What's wrong with me?" he asked, bending down to see my eyes. There was no more laughter or sarcasm.

"There's nothing wrong with you," I shook my head. "I don't think." I took his hands in mine, placing one by my cheek and the other interlocking fingers with my own. "I love you, Squall. I really do."

He tilted his head, the worried expression growing evermore. Confusion also sat in his eyes, as he had no idea what was going on. It was obvious it was bad though. Squall and I always cared for each other. We always knew it too. But we never used words like, 'I love you' freely. They were always special words that were used only during special occasions. They were used jokingly at times, but they were really only used seriously at times like when one of us was leaving for a long period of time, or for a special anniversary between just the two of us... or when something was wrong. It was basically a big hint to the both of us that there was really something that we seriously needed to discuss.

"Do you remember that phone call I got?" I asked him, moving his hands down. Both of our hands sat by my lap, fingers intertwined. My eyes flickered from the hands to his eyes and back down again.

"Which one?"

"The creepy one..."

He straightened. "The psycho one?"

"Yeah," I nodded, sighing. "Did I ever tell you that they stopped? I figured, 'Alright, the crazy guy finally found someone else's number to call!' Life was nice without those weird calls." I chucked bitterly. "But then we got into that fight a couple days ago..."

Squall looked away. "About that-"

"Don't be sorry," I told him. "Really. I think we needed it. It's not healthy to be perfect."

He smiled and nodded. I could tell he was still confused about what I was talking about.

"Life was a bit weird.."

"Weird?" he asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Yeah, weird," I laughed a bit at my choice of wording. "There was the whole... avoiding you thing..."

He raised his eyebrows again and mumbled, "Comforting..." under his breath, but said nothing else.

"And then... you know how you get that creeped out feeling when someone's watching you? It kind of prickles the hair on the back of your neck?" I asked. He nodded. "I walked around town for the entire day today with that feeling. It was weird... and when I got home, it stopped. But a few hours later, someone called and..."

"... and it was the psycho, right?" he asked softly. "He followed you, didn't he?"

"I think so..." My fingers held tight to his and my eyes never left him.

Squall shook his head. "I can't believe..."

"That's... not the whole story," I cut in.

"There's more?"

I nodded. "There's more." I took a deep breath. "He... gave me... a... okay, I don't know how to say this, so I guess I'll call it a threat-"

"He threatened you? What the hell!"

"Well..." I paused, not entirely sure how to say it kindly. "Not really..."

"What do you mean-"

"You," I said softly, but sternly. "He threatened... you. Which in a way, also threatens me."

Squall froze. He closed his eyes and shook his head. "He threatened me? Because I'm your boyfriend?"

"Yeah," I whispered. "Because I love you. When he said something about tonight and you and... I couldn't just ignore that!"

Squall scratched his head, eyebrows furrowed.

"Our lives are crazy, aren't they?"

He shrugged. "Maybe we're supposed to live like soaps once in a while."

I laughed, nodding. "Maybe..."

As my laughter died, the dark mood returned. I tried to keep my smile up as long as I could, but it didn't last for more than 30 seconds. I watched as he ran his thumb over my hands. He slowly pulled me into a hug, kissing me gently.

"I'm sorry it has to be now."

"That's life."

I tried to crack a bit of a smile, but it fell almost immediately. All of my thoughts piled together. It was like a movie or drama... stalkers were the last thing I had ever thought I'd encounter in life. Money problems, rocky dead ends with no home... maybe. Stalkers... definitely not.

"You spending the night then?" he asked.

"What?" I snapped out of my daydream - or dream, depending on how you looked at it. "... yeah, if that's okay with you."

"Yeah," he nodded. "It's fine." He bent down and buried his head in my neck, kissing me and leading us to his bedroom. I kissed him back deeply, hoping that coming over would help change whatever fate was intended for him.

We slept in the next day, missing out on at least half the day.

"Morning sunshine," Squall whispered as I turned over in bed.

I let out a moan. "What time is it?"

"Late," he laughed. "I don't know. The sun's up though."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"Damn," I started to sit up, pulling the covers with me. "It's cold..."

"It's winter," he said blatantly, sitting up with me and wrapping his arms around my waist. "Did you expect it to be warm?"

"First of all," I said, poking his chest like a drunk women, "It is not winter - it's the dead of autumn. Winter is not for another two weeks. And second of all..."

I poked him again. He rolled out of bed to get dressed. I fell over on to the bed, not wanting to move on my own.

"Don't you have a heater in this building?"

"Yeah, but it sucks."

"Great."

He threw a sweater at my head as I got up to follow him out of the room. I put it on, shivering at the touch of the cold, wooden floors.

"What do you want for breakfast?" he asked.

I shrugged. "I don't know. I can cook if yo-"

"You?" he turned, looking at me as if I was insane. "Rin, no offense, but you're not the best cook."

"So?" My arms were crossed to keep myself warm. "Why can't I practice?"

He shook his head, chuckling. "Cereal it is..."

"I can cook better than-"

"I'm just kidding," he said, opening the doors of several cupboards. "You'll have a full meal. Maybe." He started mixing things together. I sat down by the counter and leaned my neck over to observe.

"How is it you can cook, and I can't?"

"Skill."

I glared at him. "Thanks, Squall."

He smiled a bit and returned to focusing on the food, pouring milk into the bowl.

"I lived through the night," he said calmly.

I nodded. "Yeah, I noticed."

"I thought you'd be happier about it," he continued, pouring some pancake batter on a hot pan.

I stared, the statement not entirely clicking in my mind. The fact that he knew exactly what he was doing without looking up anything put me in complete awe. "It's not fair... why can't I cook?"

"Maybe it's in your genes," he shrugged.

"Liar." I stuck my tongue at him when he turned to put the bowl by the sink behind him.

He only shrugged on reply. I sighed and put my head on the counter. There was a silence as he flipped the pancakes over.

"It's not that I'm not relieved about it," I said quietly as his words finally sunk in.

He looked up at me. "About what?"

"The whole... you living through the night thing. I'm quite happy, really... it's just..." I drifted off. What was it?

"Is there something else you haven't told me?"

"No!" I exclaimed. I told him pretty much everything I knew. "I just... don't feel like it's over. The guy stalked me, Squall. For months for all we know. I mean, the calls started coming in not too long after you came here. How long has it been? You've been here for at least a semester now. How does it just... stop like that?"

He flipped all of the pancakes once more, and put them on plates, putting them over on the small table nearby.

"I don't know," he said truthfully. I walked over and sat down next to him, leaning my head on him again. He kissed me at the top of my head and handed me a fork. "Don't worry about it."

I poked at the pancakes and frowned.

"You suck."

"Just eat."

By the late afternoon (or early evening...), I figured that Squall would be okay on his own, so I decided to go home - not after making him promise to stay inside for the rest of the day, and to watch his back for a while. I had borrowed his shorts and shirt over the night, so my clothes had dried. He insisted that I at least still wear one of his shirts though, in case my shirt was still damp. I rolled my eyes at the idea, but wore it anyway, tying the shirt so it wasn't so big on me.

"You look cute in my clothes," he said as I put on my shoes at the door.

I smiled and pinched his nose, giggling. "Flirt."

He shrugged and kissed my cheek. He had insisted on taking me home in his car, but I insisted that he stayed home. He eventually gave in, though he wasn't very happy with it. As I went home, the strange feeling of being watched was gone. But at the back of my mind, something was still irritating me... and it wouldn't go away.

Naturally, the weekend too soon. We all had to go back to classes as Monday rolled around once again. I was tempted to tell Squall to fake being sick so he didn't have to leave his room, but I soon realized how stupid it sounded. Not only did it make me sound beyond paranoid, but no one would see him anyway, so what would be the point of making him stay inside? The thought was just... stupid.

At the end of the day, I sat with Quistis and Selphie at our usual table at the cafe. We were always early because the guys were... well, guys. Waiting for them made me feel almost sick though, worry poured through my body. I twisted and twirled my napkin so much that it was no longer distinguishable.

"Rinny, I think you're done," Selphie said, putting her hand over the napkins and shaking her head. "I don't know what you're so worked up about. I mean, I know about the whole... stalker dude thing, but I just saw Squall this morning in history. He's fine."

"That was this morning, Selphie," I said attempting to sound stern. My voice was (needlessly) shaky. I nodded towards the clock hanging on the wall. "Key word: morning. It's five now - it's been hours! Something could've happened between then and now."

"You do realize the chances of that, right?" Quistis said in her most practical tone. "Rinoa, you're over-reacting."

"Am I?"

"Yeah, really," Selphie said with a smile. "The guys see him all day. If anything, Irvy probably helped take care of him."

I sighed. But I was still worried. Was it so wrong? Maybe...

Luckily, seconds later Irvine and Seifer walked in with Squall right there between them, laughing and hooting. A weight was instantly lifted from my shoulders.

"See, I told you you had nothing to worry about," Selphie smiled, patting my shoulder.

The guys were still laughing as they sat down. All three calmed down in just a few moments though and leaved over to kiss us a hello in some form or another, seemingly forgetting their earlier conversation.

"And how are our beautiful ladies today?" Irvine asked in his flirty voice. He pressed his face against Selphie's cheek. "Hmm? Good?"

She giggled like a little girl and nodded.

"Well..." she'd usually say, trying to sound cool. She never pulled it off very well though, even though she had done it every day for the past thousands of years (figuratively speaking of course). "You know, the usual." Irvine would them smile and kiss her, and they'd get all giggly as the rest of us rolled our eyes.

However, this time her answer ended up being, "Oh you know... Quistis is remodeling her room, I had to go help find her perfect shade of blue and Rinoa's being paranoid."

At the mention of me, my head snapped up and my eyes bulged. Thanks Selphie...

Irvine smiled and kissed her cheek, but they didn't get all giggly like they usually did. Apparently, he had caught it. Everyone else seemed quiet too. Evidently, they had caught on as well, despite the fact that she had said it so fast and casually. If you were multitasking and weren't paying attention, you wouldn't have caught it. It sounded just like 'Rinoa got a new skirt,' but it was 'Rinoa' paranoid' instead.

"Rinoa, you're not back on that call, are you?" Squall asked. "It's been a couple of days, I doubt they were being serious."

I groaned in frustration. No one else seemed to be taking the threat like I was. It made me worry that I was thinking too much into it; perhaps I was sizing it up to be bigger than it really was.

"No," I half lied. "I think I'm done with that now."

I forced a small smile at everyone and took a big gulp out of my mug. They were all so quiet. I heard Squall sighing from beside me, probably looking everyone in the eyes telling them to drop it. I put my mug down and sat up tall again, smiling as genuinely as possible as I changed the topic.

"So Quisty," I started. "When did you decide to remodel and why wasn't I made aware of it?"

"This weekend," she said, flipping through a furniture magazine that seemed to appear out of nowhere. Seifer had probably hidden it in his back pocket or something though. It wasn't as though we were all paying attention. "I tried calling you, but you never picked up. Where were you?"

"Why didn't you just leave a message?" I asked her.

"I hate leaving messages, you know that," she said as she flipped her hair out of her face. "I got Selphie to call a few times too, and you still didn't pick up. Combined, we must've called over a dozen times."

"But I was home yesterday," I said, scratching my head. "Did you call?"

"Yeah," Selphie cut in. "I think I called at least 6 times. I gave up after that though."

I paused, thinking. Why hadn't I heard the phone? "What time did you call me?"

"Some time in the afternoon. Why?"

I thought for a moment more before smiling and laughing at myself. "Oh, I was at Squall's this weekend. That's probably why."

"This entire weekend?" Quistis asked in shock. "I swear I called you at like nine, and you still didn-"

"Was it Saturday night?" I asked, almost not wanting to say anything. "After you gave me your whole speech that afternoon?"

"Yes."

"Yeah, I spent the night there," I said sheepishly. "Sorry about that..."

"Why don't you carry around your cell phone like normal people?"

"I forgot it?" I didn't even know where my cell phone was at the moment. I switched my purses around often, so it was in one of them. I'd probably have to call myself to find it.

She rolled her eyes in a very Quistis-like manner. Probably something she learned from Seifer though.

"So," Seifer cut in with a cough. "Did Squall here get some... ahem, action this weekend?" he asked, wagging his eyebrows.

He and Irvine burst out laughing together while Squall only smiled cryptically. My jaw dropped as I realized what they were talking about. I stiffened and smacked Squall as fast and hard, and as many times as I possibly could.

"What did you tell them?" I asked, smacking him by the word. He only laughed and looked at me, half in disbelief, half in humor.

"I didn't say anything!" he exclaimed. "Really! Not a word!"

I opened my mouth to retort, but Seifer cut me off.

"Yeah, but actions speak louder than words!" he exclaimed, he and Irvine doubling over in laughter once again.

My jaw dropped even more if it was possible, and I smacked Squall again for the umpteenth time.

"What did you do!"

"Nothing!"

"Is this a confession?" Irvine laughed, sticking his head in. "Did Rinoa go over just for some special something?"

"No!" I half-yelled back. I was held back by the fact that we were in a public place. "It's not like we sat there and planned it or something, it just-" I cut myself off. I put my elbows on the table and hid behind my hands. "I can't believe I'm even having this conversation!"

I heard Selphie and Quistis striking and scorning Irvine and Seifer.

"Irvy! Stop being such a pervert!"

"It's their private lives! You're not supposed to butt in, you idiot!"

All three boys had guilty, yet amused, grins on their faces.

There was a silence. Suddenly, one of the guys (otherwise known as Seifer) cracked up.

"Was it good?" There was a smack. My arm shot out, blocking Squall.

"Don't answer that," I said sternly.

"I can't believe you talk about our sex life with your friends," I said in disbelief as I wiped rain water from my eyes. Squall was walking me home an hour later. People were staring as we continued our insane debate (if you could it that). Apparently it wasn't as big of a deal for the three tough guys.

"Why not?" he asked as though it was something they talked about every day.

"Why not? Why not?" I nearly shrieked. "Squall, those things are private for a reason!"

"Rinoa, we're men," he continued as though it was the most obvious thing in the whole world. "Talking about the latest fashion trends and how to find a deal on new Gucci shoes isn't exactly something we're good at."

I rubbed my temples with one hand while trying to figure out which key was which with my other. "So you talk about your sex life instead? I mean, come on now Squall..."

"Rinoa - again, we're men."

"Guys are stupid," I said, opening the door. He followed me in and collapsed on the couch all the while turning on the TV and grabbing a magazine.

"We're not stupid; we're honest."

I rolled my eyes and looked around the kitchen for something to eat.

"Besides," he continued. "It's not like they don't do it either. And I don't talk about us often or anything."

"Good to know," I said with fake cheerfulness. "I'll have to remember to tell Quistis and Selphie later on..."

"What?" he asked, as I had mumbled the last bit to myself.

"Nothing," I said, smiling strangely again. "You're imagining things."

He glanced over at me with a sort of smile on his face - the kind that's not really there. When someone's really just looking at you, but they have this faint trace of a smile on their face. It looked absolutely adorable on Squall.

"You want me to cook tonight?" he asked me.

"No," I answered from the refrigerator. "I'm paying you back. If I have enough ingredients. I hope."

I turned to sort of dive into the fridge, digging through it hoping to find all my carrots and peas and whatnot. I found some ingredients - but I was still missing others. I bit my lip. I needed a cook book - fast. Just to see what I could make with what I had.

"You okay?" Squall asked. He had gotten up and was standing in the doorframe of the kitchen entrance.

"Yeah, I think so." I scratched my head. What was I going to do? I didn't want to order out...

"Do you want some help?" he asked.

"No... no, don't. Go watch a football game or whatever you guys do," I said with a laugh. He glanced over my shoulder to see what I was doing, but I pushed him out as soon as I could.

"Hey now," I said as I ushered him to the couch. "No peeking. You know what they say about seeing things early..."

He rolled his eyes. "That's only a bride. Food is an entirely different thing."

"Squall..." I whined. "Let me cook..."

"Only if you let me go buy stuff for you..." he said back in the same tone, mocking me.

I made a face, but didn't say anything about it. "What stuff?"

"Rin, there's no way you're going to making a meal out of what you have in there right now," he said, shaking his head.

"Oh yeah?" I challenged him.

"Yeah," he said, getting up. "Tell you what - I'll run down to the market right now, grab you some fish, meat, something that'll feed me-"

"You?"

"I'm a guy, I need meat." I laughed at his reply. He continued on with his list. "Chicken, whatever you women eat. I'll be back in half an hour. Give or take ten minutes."

"And what am I supposed to do?" I asked, crossing my arms. I tried to be stern, but I couldn't help but smile.

"You," he said, kissing my cheek. "Will hop in the shower, make yourself pretty and nice smelling for me, and will cook me my meal when I get back."

I smiled and gave in. "Alright... but you have half an hour. That's it. If you don't come back by then, I'm sending the SWAT team after you."

"Got it," he said as he put his coat and shoes on. He bent down and kissed me deeply. "I'll be back soon. Look pretty."

I smiled. "I'll try. Be careful!" I added as he left.

"What's the worse that can happen?"

"Squall!"

He turned and smiled at me, nodding and mouthing, 'don't worry!' before running down the staircase. I sighed and leaned against the doorframe. I had told him earlier that I was over the caller... but it still bothered me. And even though he was so confident about leaving and whatnot, I wasn't. I felt like something was wrong. I shrugged it off though.

I showered and powdered myself, just as he told me to do. I pulled out his favorite dress of mine - even if it was overly fancy for a home made dinner - and earrings that he bought me on our first anniversary. During my shower, I had apparently missed a few calls. It wasn't until nearly an hour after Squall left that I realized what I had missed.

A/N: How was it? Do let me know! The pretty purple review button is calling you. It really is. I really want to at least try to hit 10 reviews in a single chapter by the time this story is completed. The most I've gotten in a chapter is 9 reviews. So close! Can you help me reach my goal? Oh please, oh please, oh pleaseeee... xD

I hope you enjoyed the chapter! This chapter's long-ish (lately they all have been), but only because there's a lot of talking involved. It's completely filled with dialogue, but I figured, hey... why not? It's reaching near the end anyway. Normally I'd probably write a whole lot more about how school is poo and how I have little time for writing, but I can't. I have a research paper's outline and thesis due in 2 days (in which I haven't actually completed the research yet)! Must get going! Next planned update is sometime over Christmas/New Years break. I'm hoping to finish up the story in the next chapter, and possibly start a new story later on in the year. I've revised my profile - it now includes a list of ideas I have for a story (AKA weird dreams that I've had that I want to make into a story). Let me know if there's one you especially like or look forward to!