"So he was just giving me my stuff back," Rinoa completed her explanation as they reached the door of her apartment. The explanation of what had happened at the speedway had had to be postponed until after the race, Squall had spent the entirety of the time in the pit area.
"Well it was still weird," Squall stated, not willing to budge on the matter. "He had no reason to ask to meet you alone and I don't trust him."
"Squall," Rinoa sighed as she unlocked her door. "It's not like we'll ever even see him again," she stated, moving into her kitchen. "Do you want something to drink?" she asked as she opened the fridge and grabbed a soda. When he didn't respond Rinoa turned to look at the still open door.
"Squall?" she asked as she poked her head out the door. "What are you looking at Squall?" He seemed to be transfixed by an open door a few apartments down the hall.
Rolling her eyes, Rinoa took his arm and shook him. "Hey Squall," she whispered in his ear as she stood on her toes. He jumped in surprise and looked down at her quickly.
"Whatcha looking at?" she repeated. His jaw moved up and down as he attempted to speak but no words came out.
Still stammering unintelligibly, his gaze was drawn almost automatically to look back at the doorway down the hall. Rinoa followed his eyes and saw a girl coming out of the apartment.
Frowning in thought she tugged on Squall's arm to get his attention. "Do you know her or something?"
As Rinoa spoke, the other girl's attention was drawn to the pair. The newcomer's green eyes widened in surprise and a hand went to cover her mouth as she caught sight of Squall. Seeming to come to a decision, the new girl began to walk down the hall towards them.
"Selphie," Squall whispered as he leaned closer to Rinoa. Her jaw dropped in surprise as she looked over Squall's shoulder to get a better look at the approaching girl.
"That's her?" she asked, looking back up at him. He nodded and Rinoa frowned.
As Squall heard Selphie's approach behind them he took a quick step closer to Rinoa as he leaned down and whispered quickly in her ear. "Please don't slap me," he breathed. She only had time for a second of confusion before his lips met hers and all the breath rushed out of her body as her eyes slid closed.
Feeling her knees weakening as he opened his mouth and deepened the kiss, Rinoa leaned back against the wall, her arms going around Squall's neck to keep him close. He obliged her, gently resting his hands on her hips as he stepped in even closer, pressing her to the wall.
After what felt like a small eternity to the couple, he gently broke the kiss and leaned his forehead against hers as they tried to catch their breath.
"Okay?" he asked in a whisper, silently praying that she wasn't going to slap him for kissing her like that.
"Perfect," she breathed, her eyes still closed as she smiled.
The sound of a throat clearing behind them caused Rinoa to groan as Squall pulled back from her and turned to face the intruder.
"Selphie," he greeted, his eyes cold and his voice frosty.
"Hi, Squall," the girl responded slowly, her green eyes traveling between Squall and Rinoa silently.
"This is my girlfriend Rinoa," Squall introduced, almost glaring at the girl that is standing in front of them, seemingly still in shock at seeing Squall.
Rinoa stepped forward to stand beside Squall, extending her hand to shake as she did so.
"It's nice to meet you," she said politely, a frown on her face.
"Squall and I used to date," Selphie stated suddenly, staring almost defiantly at Rinoa without shaking her hand.
Rinoa opened her mouth to respond but Squall beat her to it. "You call that dating?" he asked angrily. "You were using me; the whole time. You have the nerve to call what you did to me dating?" he shot, his blue eyes staring at her accusingly.
Selphie's green eyes widened in surprise and she gaped at him. "What are you talking about?" she screeched, standing on her toes to get in his face.
"You were cheating on me from the very first day we started going out. I cared about you Selphie. And you were just using me," Squall shouted, his fists clenched by his sides. Rinoa swallowed thickly and grabbed Squall's arm.
"Squall, it's okay," she said quietly, trying to calm him down. He whipped around to face her, his eyes startlingly hard for a few seconds as he stared down at her. Her hand continued to hold the sleeve of his leather jacket while her other hand moved up to gently touch his cheek. At her touch, his eyes softened noticeably and he exhaled slowly.
Rinoa stepped closer to him and wrapped her arm around his waist while using her hold on his jacket sleeve to pull his arm around her shoulders. He didn't object and she squeezed his side reassuringly as he turned his head to face Selphie again.
"I don't know what you remember from our past and I don't care. I'm with Rinoa now. I would appreciate it if you would leave us alone," he said, his voice as cold as his icy blue eyes.
With that, they turned and walked into Rinoa's apartment, his arm still snugly around her shoulders.
Rinoa closed the door behind them, ignoring the shell-shocked Selphie standing on the other side, still gaping at the spot where Squall had stood.
"Are you okay?" she asked quietly as she walked over to the table where Squall was sitting with his head in his hands. Rinoa knelt down in front of his knees and put her hands on his legs, letting him know that she was there.
"Are you mad at me?" he asked, his voice muffled by the hands that he still held in front of his face.
She couldn't help but frown in confusion as she replied. "Why would I be mad? It wasn't your fault."
"Wasn't my fault?" he interrupted, lifting his head to look at her. "Are you serious? Of course it was my fault."
"You couldn't have known that she was moving in here. I'll admit that it wasn't exactly the best time we could have run into her but now its over with," Rinoa objected, shaking her head.
"You mean Selphie?" he asked, obviously confused. She nodded, just as confused as he was.
"Isn't that what you meant?" she asked.
"I was talking about kissing you," he said, his voice lowering to almost a whisper as an uncharacteristic blush spread across his face.
Rinoa blushed as well, lowering her eyes to stare at as unidentifiable spot on the floor somewhere between his knees.
"Is that a yes?" he asked, nervous. Her head shot up and she shook her head quickly, anxious to reassure him.
"No Squall. I'm not mad about that," she said, her cheeks turning red as she looked up at him. His blue eyes still looked anxious so she grabbed his arm and used it to pull herself up, sliding in under his arm to sit on his lap.
Seemingly of their own accord, his arms tightened around her, pulling her closer. She slid her left arm around his shoulders and her fingers slipped into his hair. Leaning her forehead against his temple put her mouth very close to his ear. He jumped slightly when she whispered lowly into his ear, her lips brushing the shell of his ear as she spoke.
"Now why would you think that I would get mad at you for kissing me like that?" she asked, smirking a little as she saw his Adam's apple bob in his throat as he swallowed. "Hmmm?" she prompted.
"Selphie used to," he answered almost without thinking, he was more focused on the feeling of her breath on his ear.
When Rinoa pulled back he realized what he had said and turned his head to face his scowling girlfriend.
"I'm not Selphie, Squall," Rinoa stated seriously.
"I know that Rin. I do. I didn't mean to compare the two of you. There is no comparison," he said quickly, his arm tightening around her again, keeping her from getting away.
Satisfied, Rinoa slowly smiled at him, grinning whenever he let out a sigh of relief.
"Oh Squall, I love you," she said lightly, seeming to not notice what she had said as she leaned toward him and kissed him.
All of the breath left his body in an instant and he froze. Slowly he realized that he honestly didn't know if she had noticed or would remember what she had said. What surprised him was the wave of sadness that washed over him at the thought that she might not have meant it. Squall stopped thinking whenever he felt Rinoa deepen the kiss, his arms pulling her as close as they could to his chest.
It was this scene which Quistis, Seifer, Zell, and Sally walked into the apartment to witness.
As Quistis gasped and Sally's eyes widened, Seifer and Zell grinned widely. The boys let out wolf whistles as Quistis yelled, "Rinoa Julia Heartily, you get off of him right now!"
Surprised, Squall and Rinoa jerked their heads away from each other, although Rinoa did not remove herself from her seat on Squall's lap.
"Hi guys," Rinoa greeted their friends, trying to seem casual, despite the fact that her face was bright red. "What's going on?"
"Well, we all just came in to see you two making out like a couple of teenagers," Quistis said, overcoming her shock enough to smirk a little at her friends' discomfort.
"Um, Quistis, they are a couple of teenagers," Zell interjected, looking confused. The rest of the group laughed and Sally hugged Zell's arm as he scratched his head, still confused.
"And that's what you get for not knocking," Rinoa added, grinning at her best friend. Quistis rolled her eyes and moved to sit across the table from the seated pair.
"Hey," Seifer whined as Quistis sat down before he could slide into the chair underneath her. "How come Squall gets to have a beautiful girl in his lap and I don't?" he asked, mock pouting.
"You snooze, you lose," Quistis replied, smirking up at her boyfriend. A mischievous grin came to his lips and her smirk melted away as she recognized the look.
"Seifer…no," she said, trying to push him away with one hand. She couldn't stop him and before she could blink, Seifer was sitting in her lap, grinning and looking pleased with himself.
"Ooof," Quistis groaned as she tried to push his large frame off of her.
He just mimed folding his hands behind his head and leaning back, yawning as he did so.
"You should have let me be on the bottom," he said, smirking.
"There are other chairs," she shot back, still attempting to push him off.
Seifer just grinned. "I know there are but I happen to like my seat," he said, wiggling a little to get more comfortable. "Besides," he added with a wink and an even wider grin, "You know how I like to be on top."
Quistis' jaw dropped and she stared at him, seemingly in shock. Squall, Rinoa, Sally, and Zell were all staring as well, waiting for the explosion.
"Seifer," she hissed, her blue eyes narrowing as a blush crossed her face. "I cannot believe that you said that," she said, still almost growling.
Seifer was still just grinning at her. "What can I say? Romance was in the air," he said, shooting a wink at the gaping Squall and Rinoa.
"Oh, and speaking of romance, you'll never guess who has moved in down the hall," Squall said hastily, trying to change the subject.
Quistis turned her attention away from Seifer and looked across the table at the suddenly serious looking Squall and Rinoa.
"Who?" she asked them, frowning.
"Selphie," Squall said, scowling.
"You saw her?" Seifer asked, forgetting about teasing Quistis.
"Yeah, we ran into her when we were coming into the apartment," Rinoa answered, her fingers absentmindedly playing with Squall's hair.
"And what happened?" Quistis asked quietly, glancing between the two.
Squall sighed and quickly retold the story of the encounter in the hallway.
"And then we came back in here and talked a little and then started kissing," Rinoa finished.
"Yes, we saw that part," Quistis said, amused.
"You saw us talking?" Squall asked, anxiously.
Quistis shook her head slowly. "No, when we came in you two were already kissing."
Squall looked relieved and Quistis frowned.
"Why does it matter if we saw ya'll talking?" she asked.
"No reason," Squall insisted, his eyes silently pleading with her not to push the issue.
Quistis nodded slightly and let it drop. But he owed her an explanation and she meant to get it.
AN:Thanks for all the reviews! Hope you like this chapter! The next chapter of SC should be up soon...I hope.