Quistis was keeping a careful eye on Rinoa as they wandered around the concourse surrounding the speedway before the race. She knew her best friend well enough to know that, if she could, the brunette would sneak off to meet the strange man just to prove to Quistis that she could take care of herself.
Quistis had told Squall about what was going on and the brunette was also watching his girlfriend anxiously. Living in Balamb his whole life had left him with wariness towards people in large cities like Deling. He most definitely didn't like strange cowboys who wanted to meet his girlfriend at the speedway by herself.
Rinoa was pretending that she couldn't tell that both Squall and Quistis were keeping a close eye on her. She and Sally were chatting idly as they weaved their way through the crowds toward the box they were sitting in. Zell, Squall, and Quistis were in front of them, leading the way knowledgably.
Seifer had been racing since they were in high school so the group was well known at the speedway and walked confidently through the crowded concourse. They got to their ordinary box, greeting the track's owner as he walked past the door.
"Seifer's found a new bike I see," he commented idly as he watched the blonde checking over the bike out the large window that dominated one entire wall of the room. Squall nodded and excused himself.
"Speaking of that, I should probably get down there and get started," the mechanic spoke as he waved to his friends and moved to head down to the pit area. The rest of the group waved and the track owner used the young man's exit to excuse himself.
Glancing at her watch, Rinoa noticed that it was almost time for her to meet the cowboy to get her wallet and ring back. She was edging toward the door when Quistis cleared her throat.
"Going somewhere?" the blonde was leaning casually against the large window. Zell was standing beside her, laughing behind his hand as he saw the sheepish look on the guilty brunette's face.
"Oh yeah, I was going to go grab something to drink," Rinoa explained quickly.
"I think I'll go with you. I'm kind of thirsty, myself." Quistis responded, elbowing Zell and making him jump.
"Oh yeah, me too," he spoke up.
Rinoa rolled her eyes and Quistis smirked as she moved away from the wall and out the door.
"Come on Rin, just let us go with you. What could it hurt?" the blonde asked as she pulled Rinoa out the door. Rinoa sighed and shook her head.
"Let's go," she said with a rueful smile. Quistis and Zell were careful to stay on either side of the grinning brunette as they walked back towards the concession stands.
As they got in line Squall joined them, sliding his arm comfortably around Rinoa's shoulders. A loud laugh behind them caused him to tense instantly, his arm stiffening across her shoulder. A horrified glance over his shoulder confirmed his fears and he groaned.
Laguna was behind them, his arm around a woman with long black hair that was tied back in a pony tail. As Squall turned away Laguna spotted him and exclaimed loudly. He began waving excitedly, the woman joining him when she spotted her foster son.
Squall groaned angrily and his teeth gritted as he turned away from his foster parents. Rinoa grimaced as his hand tightened on her shoulder, squeezing her painfully. She pinched his side to get his attention and he loosened his grip quickly as he saw what he was unconsciously doing.
"Sorry about that Rin," he said quietly, leaning his forehead down to hers in apology. She smiled and shrugged.
"It's okay."
An eager tapping on her shoulder caused her to look reluctantly backwards. Behind her stood a woman she had never met but it was obvious to her from the look on Squall's face that he knew the older woman.
"Hello," the woman greeted Rinoa politely, extending her hand to shake. Rinoa took it and smiled.
"I'm Rinoa," she offered.
"I'm Raine, Squall's mother," Laguna's wife replied.
"It's nice to meet you."
Behind Rinoa Squall was still gritting his teeth, glaring over his mother and girlfriend's shoulders to where his 'father' was standing in line, bouncing on his toes in excitement. Squall rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to the conversation in front of him.
"…and how long have you and Squall known each other?" Raine asked.
"Well…it's been…" Rinoa started to answer.
"It's been two months," Squall interrupted, his blue gaze cold as he looked down at his mother.
"TWO MONTHS!" Raine yelled. "It's been TWO MONTHS and you haven't told me or Ellone!"
Squall moved forward, prepared as always to argue with his mother. Unconsciously, he used his grip on Rinoa's shoulders to move her behind him.
"I didn't tell you because it's none of your business. If you wanted to know so bad, maybe it would have helped me know that if you had showed even the slightest bit of interest in my life up until now," Squall shot back.
"Well, if you hadn't pushed us all away maybe I would have gotten the chance," his foster mother responded. Quistis and Zell, trying to diffuse the tension that was boiling, moved to stand between them. Quistis greeted Raine, moving her back from Squall while Zell gently pushed Squall forward into the still moving concession line.
Neither pair noticed that Rinoa had slipped away during the arguing.
Glancing back over her shoulder guiltily, Rinoa muttered an apology as she slipped through the crowd away from the concession stand. She looked quickly at her watch as she walked towards the information stand where she was meeting the cowboy. She would only be a few minutes late. She just hoped he had waited. With this thought in mind she began to jog towards her destination.
Irvine sighed as he stood leaning against the information stand. The girl was late. He was bored. Just as he was about to walk off, Caraway appeared from the crowd.
"Where do you think you're going?" he asked, pulling the cowboy back to the booth.
"I was just gonna go look for her," Irvine tried to explain.
"You are not to move from this spot," the general ordered in a hiss. The tall cowboy spotted his target jogging towards him and he grabbed the old soldier's shoulder.
"What are you…" he started to demand.
"She's coming," Irvine said quickly, pushing the general back toward the crowd. He got the hint and disappeared into the concourse.
"Was that…?" Rinoa started to ask as she halted in front of the smirking cowboy.
"Pardon?" he asked politely, leaning down a little bit to hear her better in the loud room.
"Oh, I just thought I saw someone I recognized but it couldn't possibly be him," she replied, still looking in the direction Caraway had disappeared.
Squall and Raine's argument was in full swing when Quistis finally noticed that Rinoa was gone. Shooting a frightened look at Zell, she grabbed Squall's arm and tugged, breaking his attention away from his seething foster mother.
"Squall, Rinoa's not here," she said, trying to keep him from freaking out.
"What do you mean, she's not here?" he asked, his voice rising in panic. "Where is she?" he demanded.
"I don't know," she replied helplessly.
"Do you know where she was supposed to meet that guy?" he asked, almost frantic.
She squinted, trying to concentrate and remember. Squall impatiently shook her and she glared at him.
"I won't if you don't quit shaking me," she said and his hands were instantly off of her arms.
"If I remember correctly, she said they were supposed to meet at the information desk," she said, barely getting her sentence out before Squall was bolting away.
When the distracted brunette didn't look towards him again, he cleared his throat quietly beside her ear. Jumping in surprise, she was shocked by his proximity and stepped backwards quickly.
"Sorry ma'am. I didn't mean to scare you," he apologized quickly, stepping back as well.
"Do you have my things?" she asked, changing the subject. This strange cowboy was beginning to freak her out. She decided that the sooner she got back to Squall and the others, the better.
He nodded and fished the wallet and the chain and ring out of his deep pockets. She extended her hand and he deposited them quickly. She immediately slipped the wallet back into her pocket and expertly clasped the chain around her neck. Her fingers went almost automatically to the ring that now rested on her chest.
"Thank you," she said quickly with a nod and turned to head back to her friends.
His hand on her elbow stopped her in her tracks. Looking back at him over her shoulder, she raised an eyebrow in question.
"Was there something else?" she asked, starting to get nervous.
"Let me walk you back to your friends. It's not safe for a young woman like you to be walking in this crowd by yourself," he offered, his voice silky and soft while his honey eyes were pleading with her to agree.
"That's very chivalrous but I can take care of myself," she declared, pulling her elbow out of his hand firmly as she wrenched her eyes off him.
Just then, Squall broke out of the crowd and skidded to a halt beside Rinoa. She looked up at him, relieved and hugged his arm quickly.
"What's going on Rinoa?" he asked her quietly, not taking his eyes off the surprised looking cowboy.
"Nothing. He gave me my stuff back and I was just leaving to come meet you," she replied as his arm wrapped around her waist.
Irvine nodded to Squall and received a tiny nod in response.
"It was good to meet both of you," the cowboy said, extending his hand to shake Squall's. The other man didn't even move. After a moment of silence, Irvine pulled his hand back. "As fun as this is, I have to be going now," he drawled, trying to hide his uncertainty about the whole situation. Shooting a backward glance over his shoulder, he moved away from the pair into the confusion of the crowd.
A loud bell began ringing over the loudspeaker, signifying the beginning of the race. Rinoa looked up at Squall, hoping to explain but the loud noise prevented her from doing it. Sighing, he took her hand and began leading her back towards their box.
They had a lot to talk about.
AN: Wow! I bet you all think I died...I'm sorry for the enormous wait - this is the worse one I believe. All I can say to excuse myself is that real life sometimes interferes with my writing...I'm not gonna go and list all of the numerous things that have been going on in my life, just trust me that it was incredibly time consuming and I apologize and pray that any of the seven of ya'll that we're reading still want to... :-) The next updates shouldn't be too long in coming - I'm even hoping to update Ballroom Dancing soon - Also might add some chapters to my Harry Potter fic if some of you FF8 fans are into HP.