Stuck In Second Gear

Chapter 13

The One Where Zell Finds Out (At Last)

While both Quistis and Seifer knew that a long conversation had to take place, they let sleep overtake them. The talk could happen in the morning. Despite Seifer's huge bed, they found themselves tangled together in a small corner of it, unwilling to be apart.

Sometime in the middle of the night, they seemingly awoke at the same time and reached for each other again. Seifer took his time, savoring every drop of the woman beneath him. In the dark of the room, they had only their hands and lips to guide them, and there was both a safety and vulnerability in the process.

After, as Seifer lay on Quistis, unwilling to move, and fully sated in a way he couldn't describe, he whispered into the darkness. It was directed at her, but also placing it out in the world, said in a way he had never said it before. Like, it was the most important thing he had ever done in his life.

"I love you, Quistis."

He felt her sharp intake of breath, and ignored the slight dampness of her cheeks, letting the dark hide them. Her arms trailed from his back to tangle in his hair, a soft kiss placed on his lips.

"I love you too, Seifer."

With that peace, sleep overtook them again.

That was, until Quistis shot up in bed, knocking Seifer in the jaw with the back of her head in the process.

"Oh no! Muffin!"

Before Seifer could curse any more about the fact that he had woken up with a headbutt, Quistis was out of his arms and scrambling around the room, looking for her clothing.

Rubbing his jaw gingerly, he slowly registered what was going on, and it felt eerily familiar. "What the fuck, Quistis!"

Anger was setting in. And not because of the pain in his teeth. She was going to pull this…again? After claiming she was all in last night? That was pretty low. He didn't think even Quistis capable of being that cold. Seifer wasn't even sure what to say. He was so sure everything was going to work out.

As Quistis was trying to hook on her bra she glanced at him quizzically. As if confused by his irritation. Why she would look confused was beyond him, he was pretty sure he had made himself clear last night.

Sure, he was amazing at sex, he could understand why she would seek him out, but—

A look of dawning realization spread across her face and she flashed him a dazzling smile before abandoning her bra and rushing over to the bed. Cupping his face in her hands she forced him to look at her. "I have a cat."

The fuck? What kind of explanation—

"Well, she's more of a kitten, really. Her name is Muffin. I left her alone, and I want to make sure she's okay, and she needs to be fed."

The gears in Seifer's brain were starting to put together what was going on and he felt the anger fly out of him, breathing a deep sigh of relief. Gently removing Quistis' hands from his face, he pulled the covers off himself and stood in all his glory. "Well, I'll come with you."

"Huh?"

"I want to see your place anyway. Just let me brush my teeth. You have coffee, right?" Seifer asked, tugging on a pair of boxers and jogging shorts.

Quistis was silent, an unreadable expression on her face.

"That's…is that a problem?" Seifer's words were mumbled from the toothbrush sticking out of the side of his mouth.

She shook her head rapidly, the bright smile returning to her face again. The best reward Seifer ever got. "No. Quite the opposite, actually. Let's go."

The meeting between Seifer and Muffin was an interesting affair. It went something like this:

Muffin was sitting peacefully on Quistis' loveseat, waiting for her breakfast when Seifer and Quistis entered her apartment.

After a ginger hop off the seat and a trot up to the pair walking in, Muffin immediately started weaving in and out of Quistis' legs, meowing cutely, wanting breakfast.

"What the hell is that?!" Seifer pointed in abject horror at the white fluffball mewling and going on its hind legs towards Quistis.

Quistis was rummaging through a drawer for the kitten chow when she looked at Seifer as if he had sprouted a second head. "It's a kitten, Seifer."

"Why is it doing that? Why is it rubbing me? Oh my Hyne, is it going to scratch me? Why is it looking at me like that?"

Quistis poured the chow in the bowl and set it down for Muffin, along with some fresh water. "Don't tell me…have you never been around a cat before?"

"Of course!" Seifer puffed out his chest bravely and started to stroll around the apartment, taking note of the décor, seemingly trying to distract everyone in the room, kitten included, from the fact that he had acted like a terrified child at its mere presence.

"Hey, I like your place, and thank Hyne you don't have all those stupid signs on the walls, like 'live life,' or giant letters that say 'KITCHEN' in the kitchen. Like, no shit it's a fucking kitchen," he said earnestly, though also clearly trying to downplay the entire scenario that had just occurred.

Thankfully, he had nothing but positive things to say about her apartment, minus complaining about the plethora of throw pillows, which according to Seifer, served absolutely zero purpose.

Quistis stared at him dumbfounded. "You're afraid of cats. Diablos' ghost…" She tried to hide her laughter behind her hand. "Of all the things…" It was impossible not to laugh. She was reduced to tears, with Muffin pausing the assault on her chow to stare at her.

"I am not! I just—"

He was.

For the record, their second meeting was better, about a week later when Seifer fell asleep on Quistis' bed while waiting for her to get ready for dinner. Muffin, naturally, being a cat, thought the center of Seifer's chest was a perfect nap place as well, and he awoke to find her purring on his chest. Terrified to move, Seifer allowed this to take place for the next three hours, missing dinner. After that, Muffin seemed to decide that Seifer's lap or shoulder was her favorite place to be.

Two weeks after that, Seifer brought Muffin a stick with a feather on it that he saw at the pet store, and decided to "train her to be a cold-blooded killer, like she was meant to be."

A month later, he brought her treats, because Quistis "didn't buy the ones she really liked."

Eventually, Muffin went from being "her" cat to "their" cat, and Seifer had an array of nicknames for her spanning from "my cute little fluffball," to "daddy's angel", or just, "sweet baby". It was especially strange in public, when he would refer to Muffin with these names and Quistis had to assure people that he was talking about their cat, and not her.

After the first disastrous meeting with Muffin, Quistis changed into fresh clothes and they headed back to Seifer's apartment to have "the talk." Seifer claimed having the talk at his apartment was because he needed to get things from his place, but Quistis suspected it was actually due to his complete terror of a kitten.

As often happened, they found themselves in Seifer's bathtub. A place that Quistis admittedly had missed. Being that it was somewhat how the entire thing started, it seemed an appropriate site for their reconciliation. Quistis leaned a manicured toe to nudge a little more hot water into the bath as she nuzzled into Seifer's chest behind her.

She had finished telling him about her work for Caraway, how she had negotiated making desserts for the coffee shop, as well as where she bought the various items for her apartment. Seifer, for his part, hadn't really been doing anything but studying for his bar exam in their time apart, which he was set to take the following week.

Once topics involving friends and work had been thoroughly exhausted, there was nowhere for the conversation to go but the looming issue of their relationship.

"So…how do we do this?" Quistis voice was far meeker than Seifer was used to hearing. Betraying the fact that while she certainly wanted to do this, she was as clueless as he was as to how to go about doing it. Did they jump back in where they left off? Charge forward? Send out a massive announcement?

He reassuringly encircled his arms around her, pulling her closer to his body, if that were even possible. "Well, pretty sure we've got the whole fucking thing down pretty well."

He was certain Quistis was rolling her eyes. "Seifer—"

"Okay, okay. Most of your friends already know what's going on, so I don't think its going to be much of a shock to them. If that's what you're worried about."

She shook her head. Hiding their relationship had long ago become a non-issue. "Except Zell."

"That should be fun. Look, you tell me. How do you want this to work? Can I kiss you whenever I want now?"

Seifer had always been an affectionate and physical lover, both in private and public. Left unchecked, he was sure to be all over her. She didn't mind, in fact, she relished it. No more secrecy would be a welcome relief.

A soft chuckle escaped her and she leaned back to put a kiss on his jaw. "Within reason, yeah. I think what I want is us dating, like any normal couple. You pick me up and take me out."

"I can do that."

"You come with me when I have to go to fancy events for General Caraway. And you act proper."

Seifer grumbled but muttered something that sounded like agreement interspersed with some cursing.

"Can we go kill shit together?"

"Sounds fun, actually. Zell should come too."

More grumbling by Seifer.

Honestly, nothing sounded that different than what they had been doing for the months they had been together before. Minus the fact that they were now in the same city. Dates, killing things, sex. All sounded fine to Seifer, more than fine.

Though, while the exterior of what they were doing sounded exactly the same, somehow, they both knew the interior had shifted. This was it. This was endgame. Neither necessarily knew the timeline, but they knew there would never be anyone else.

Strangely, it was a comforting thought to Seifer, rather than one that should have made him run in fear. Instead, it brought him a peace that he realized he had been searching for, for a very long time.

That was, until their peaceful moment was interrupted by a frantic pounding on the front door that could only be done by one person.

Zell Dincht.

"Fuck all…" Seifer muttered under his breath. "Maybe he'll just go away."

"Dude!"

"Every fucking time." Seifer mentally started counting in his head to try and calm down.

"Dude! It's an emergency, man, I crashed my bike and need to clean up a little, just need a first aid kit, man, c'mon! I know you're home!"

The moment broken, Seifer grumbled and tugged on his robe. "I hardly think this is the best way for him to find out about us. Being as we're both naked, and all," he winked at Quistis. "I'll deal with Chicken-wuss. You try to enjoy the bath."

Quistis seemed more than happy with that idea.

Voices travelled from the hallway as Quistis closed her eyes and tried to focus on the bathtub. Seifer was right, Zell finding her naked in his bath was potentially going to lead to Seifer getting punched in the face. And despite what Seifer publicly claimed about Zell, he would be the first to begrudgingly admit that the guy threw a devastating punch. Zell was protective of Quistis, viewed her like family, and without time for an explanation, Zell would jump to bad conclusions and bad outcomes would ensue.

"Shit, man. What's with the robe?"

"I was taking a bath."

"A bubble bath? Dude—" Zell sounded chastising.

"They're relaxing, Chicken-wuss. Now hurry the fuck up."

"You don't have to be such an asshole, man—" Zell paused, and there were some shuffling sounds. "Oh crap, you have company."

Seifer didn't respond and Quistis held her breath. Maybe she should just come clean here and now. She heard some noises near the bedroom and ducked her head under the bubbles, making herself hidden.

Realizing this was crazy, she resurfaced in time to hear things starting to unwind.

"Wait a second. Those glasses and shoes are…" The sound of a chair scuffing the floor had Quistis jumping out of the bath and grabbing and tugging a towel around herself. Seifer would be balking at the amount of water she was dripping onto the floor.

"The fuck, man. Quistis? Quistis? How could you? My best friend and someone who's like…my sister. My sister! Not cool!"

"I'm not your best friend. And she ain't your sister."

Well, that response certainly wasn't going to help. Quistis sighed and got to the living room in time to prevent what was about to be a fist fight.

Zell's face was red with fury. He had apparently bandaged up one of his arms with Seifer's first aid kit, various gauze and tape, as well as scissors scattered on the kitchen island. "My best friend and my sister, dude."

"I'm not your best—"

Quistis held up a hand. "Seifer, stop. This isn't helping. You guys are friends, and yes, I'm like a sister to him, so—"

Seifer made moves to protest, but one look at Quistis silenced him.

Quistis intervening seemed to at least save Seifer's face from Zell's fist, but the brawler still looked absolutely livid, so instead he turned to Quistis. "You don't understand, Q. He's all caught up on some twinkie—"

"A twinkie? The fuck?" Seifer stepped forward towards Quistis, but she held up a hand, keeping their distance.

Water was dripping onto the floor from where Quistis was desperately clutching a towel around herself with one hand as she tried to reason with Zell. "A twinkie?"

"Yeah, some chick, Quis. He's not over her and just using you here. You don't know what he's like… but he's all in love with some girl and you're just going to get hurt, and—"

Poor sweet Zell. He still hadn't put it together.

"It's me, Zell. I'm the twinkie!" Quistis declared.

"What?"

Quistis allowed Seifer to wrap his arms around her, and he leaned down to kiss the top of the soapy mess that was currently her hair.

"She's right, Dincht. She's the one I've been all…whatever. And we're back together now for good, so you can calm the fuck down and get out so we can continue our make-up session."

A smile spread across Zell's face and he moved to envelope both of them in a hug, only barely stopped by the death-glare Seifer was giving him.

"You mean…my best friend and my sister?"

"I am not your best friend. We're hardly friends!"

"Seifer, that really isn't helping—"

They were both in Zell's arms before anyone could stop it. Dirt and caked blood from his bandaged arm was staining Seifer's pristine robe, with Quistis wildly grasping at the towel that was barely keeping her modest so as to not give Zell a show, and water now soaking into Seifer's wood floors.

"Guys…this is awesome!"

Zell's warm approval and general happiness settled over them, and Quistis and Seifer exchanged the smallest of smiles.

Because it was. Awesome.

Seifer passed the bar with flying colors, and started his official work at the law firm. This meant working nearly eighty to sometimes hundred-hour weeks, but every second he wasn't working, he spent with Quistis. Their dates were sometimes limited to him working at home while she read comfortably bedside him, or baked in the kitchen with Fujin. But, he took her out every opportunity he had, and true to his promise, showed up to every official event she had to attend for the Galbadian military.

And he sure cleaned up nice. Secretly, he probably knew that when he was in a tux or suit, it absolutely did it for Quistis. And the reward when they got home was well worth the schmoozing and dull finger foods.

They split their time nearly equally between their places, sleeping with each other almost every night. Even if their time spent together meant Seifer dragging himself from the office late at night and crashing into bed and curling up next to her. Seifer had even purchased a collection of cat toys and a litter box for his apartment for when Muffin came over as well.

Every once and a while they went out on double dates with friends, "Xujin", or Chantelle and Zell. Thankfully, they no longer had to worry about paparazzi photos, after a photographer took a photo that could only be deemed "not safe for work" of Chantelle and Zell. The photo was mostly of her, from when they were at a private beach. Zell took the publication of this photo personally, and felt the need to defend his woman's honor.

Pissing off the world's best boxer was apparently a really bad idea. This scared the daylights out of any and all photographers and they stopped taking any unwelcomed shots. Graciously, Chantelle would offer posed ones when requested, and no charges were ever pressed against Zell.

Xu turned out to be Seifer's current chess-playing partner. They would often do this while Fujin baked with Quistis. The game was interrupted by Muffin knocking pieces over on occasion, in an act of passive-aggressiveness that only cats could bestow.

Three months after Quistis and Seifer made it official, a few days after Rinoa and Squall's first wedding anniversary, Zell and Chantelle announced their engagement.

A few months later, instead of a large wedding, they had a small ceremony on Balamb beach, with only Seifer and Quistis, Rinoa, Squall, and newborn baby Julia, Ma, and Chantelle's father in attendance.

Lucky to get the entire weekend off, they both found themselves in a decent sized bedroom on a one-hundred fifty-meter private yacht. The newlyweds had decided to charter it back to Deling City to drop off their friends, before sailing for a while for their honeymoon.

Three days with a private chef, stewardess service, all you can eat and drink, water toys, a hot tub, and a private bedroom. All with friends nearby.

Maybe it was the fact that their friends had just got married, or the romantic location, the sunset on the ocean, or maybe because it was just finally time, but Quistis finally brought up a subject neither of them had broached since their break up.

"This whole weekend has got me thinking…"

Seifer was doing amazing things to her back as she stared out the large picture window onto the sun setting on the ocean, his fingers digging into her flesh in a delicious way. "About what?"

She peered up at him out of the corner of her eye. He was content, a smile on his face, unabashedly naked, and the light of the dying sun was catching the golden hues of his hair and making his eyes shine. He looked like a damn god.

"Well, we are at each other's places all the time…maybe its time I—"

She hesitated. Not because she thought he would say no, but rather that it seemed wrong for her to ask to move into his apartment. She really liked her apartment, but it was too small for both of them to live there. Especially given how much work Seifer did at home.

"No." Seifer said simply.

That was certainly not the response she was expecting. "What?"

"No. You like your place and you'll always just feel like you're living in mine. Not like its ours."

She was flabbergasted. Was he really saying no to this? She thought the timing was perfect.

"I've got a better idea. Nuts and Bolts, you know, Fujin and Raijin's construction company, just got the contract on that big brick building across the place from Zell and Chantelle. Kind of has that old pre-war charm thing you like so much."

Quistis turned around onto her back to look up at Seifer, nude herself, but making no moves to cover herself. He had clearly been thinking about this for a while, but had waited for her to bring it up. Seifer was far more considerate than anyone would guess, and he still managed to surprise her, letting her set the pace of their relationship.

He leaned down and started to trail kisses along her collar bone. "We can get a good deal on the top floor. Even have a patio up there…" The kisses moved across her breasts and up toward her throat, pausing on her pulse point. "You can make the place however you want. I only have one request…"

We. A place that was neither hers nor his. But theirs. Purchased together. A rather big commitment, but Quistis felt zero hesitation.

She hummed happily, enjoying the constant attention Seifer always seemed to give her skin. "Oh yeah?"

"Well, you know I can't live without a big bathtub. I want one even better than my current place."

She laughed and tugged him up so she could meet his lips with her own. "I think that sounds reasonable."

He was nudging her hips open with his own, the sun now replaced with the moon in the sky beyond them. While Seifer was nearly god-like in the dusk, he was perfect in the moonlight. She loved this man.

"Of course Muffin can stay with me, and I suppose I can let you stay too while they are finishing the place…it'll probably take six months or so."

Her answer was caught on her lips as he entered her swiftly, moving in languid, perfect strokes.

As they lay in bed afterwards, Seifer running his hands lazily through her hair, she could sense him falling asleep. But, there was still something that had been bothering her for more than a year. Something she needed to know before they purchased an entire home together.

"Seifer…"

"Mmm, what is it?"

"I have to know."

He pulled her closer to his body, reaching down to tug on her hip to hoist her leg over his own. "You know I love you, babe."

She paused, and the hand that was rubbing up and down her leg paused as well.

"Quis?"

"How did you pay for the down payment on your apartment?"

"Really?" Seifer sighed, pulling back and leaning over the edge of the bed, reaching for his discarded boxers, sitting up and tugging them on with slight irritation.

Quistis propped her chin on her hand and watched him, giving him her best puppy-dog eyes. "Come on, please?"

A throw pillow was tossed at her. "Stop it with the face. I'll tell you, if you promise not to say anything. It was all legal, I promise."

Pulling the covers back, Seifer slid under them, opening his arms for Quistis to join him. She did readily, settling her head on the space above his heart, listening to it and the rumble of his chest as he spoke in his deep baritone.

"I borrowed money from Caraway." Seifer finally said, after a long silence.

"What?" Quistis began to pull back, but Seifer kept her in a firm grip, tugging on her shoulder. "There's no way he would lend you the money needed for—"

"Shh…calm down. He only lent me five thousand gil. He did it as a huge favor after the trial, after I testified for Rinoa. I promised I would pay him back in a week and I did."

"But…"

Seifer shushed her again, running his hand along her bare arm. "I placed a sports bet with all the money in Esthar. The odds were 25:1. So, in winning that bet, I had enough money for the down payment."

Quistis did sit up at this, leaning up on her arms so she could stare at Seifer's face, not believing what she was hearing. "A sports bet? That's a pretty big risk, knowing you owed money to the head of the Galbadian military! He could have had you killed!"

He gave a nonchalant shrug. "I knew I would win."

"What was the bet?"

A grin spread across his face and Seifer held out a pinky. "Promise you won't tell?"

She rolled her eyes, but offered her pinky in return. "Promise."

"It was Zell's first fight. Odds makers had no idea who he was, and he was heavily bet against."

Laugher filled the room. That had been nearly five years ago, long before Zell and Seifer even became friends. Of all the ways to make money…

"Does he know?"

Seifer shook his head, closing his eyes as he settled down. "Nah. And he never will. He would never let me live it down. Our secret. You're the only one who knows. Well, other than Caraway losing five thousand gil for a week."

It took nearly six months, but they did move into the new building. Seifer had insisted that Quistis get everything she wanted in the construction, down to the exact metal of the hardware in the bathrooms.

The living room spanned two stories, with windows from floor to ceiling with rounded tops. The top fifth of the windows were made up of stained glass that created a rainbow effect along the wood floors when the light was right. The glass doors to the patio opened across the entire wall, allowing indoor-outdoor living and fresh air to breeze through at any time. They had a large wooden patio, large enough for a small vegetable garden and flowers. A table with seating for ten and even a hammock where Quistis liked to read. Seifer turned out to be extremely adept at gardening, to everyone's surprise, including him. He had also taken to growing flowers, and was particularly fussy about his Dolletian roses.

Raijin, Zell, and Seifer had designed and built an elaborate play area for Muffin on the patio as well.

To Seifer's chagrin, their couch was covered in colorful throw pillows which he tolerated. Quistis had saved his beloved leather chair, facing the entertainment center from his old apartment. Connected to the living room was a dining area with a circular mahogany table that could be extended when they had guests. A brilliant crystal chandelier, surprisingly feminine, was above it, hanging all the way from the second story ceiling.

The kitchen was almost as large as the living room. A large island in the middle with a deep farm sink. The finest quartz countertops in an off-white/grey. The cupboards were white and pristine with metal hardware in a curved pattern. Quistis had a double convection oven and a gas stove top with six burners. Seifer had insisted on sparing no expense in the kitchen, as "it was part of her job and all", but Quistis knew he just wanted her to be happy.

There was a guest bedroom in the lower level, as well as Seifer's office, where he had built-in bookcases and a huge antique wooden desk that Quistis found for him. He spent more time in there than he would have liked.

Up a spiral staircase was a loft area with a small sitting room. This led to the master bedroom and walk-in closet. While they used Seifer's bed, Quistis had spiced it up with a quilt from Fisherman's Horizon as well as some more pillows. They also had her loveseat at the foot of the bed and some unique artwork she found in Dollet.

The bathroom was even grander than Seifer's old one. The bathtub was larger, on clawfoot with a curved lip at the top. The platinum hardware poured into the middle and had a detachable spray nozzle. The new bathtub also boasted spray jets, turning it into a de facto jacuzzi. They also had a large two-person shower, that Seifer often insisted that they use together, because, why else would anyone have a two-person shower. Two sinks, and a vanity in between them for Quistis completed the bathroom.

It was a home. A home with room to grow.

After a rather extensive argument between Zell and Seifer about pivoting while getting the couch into the new apartment, they were finally on the last boxes.

Seifer dumped them unceremoniously on the floor and dusted his hands on his pants.

"You know? I changed my mind with this whole moving thing."

Quistis looked up from where she was unloading kitchen boxes, her glasses perched on her nose. "What?"

"It's not good enough anymore."

She paused, putting her hands on her hips. "Seifer, we both just spent a ton of money on this. You already put your old place on the market and have offers, and it's the only way we are paying for half of the—"

He shook his head. "Something isn't right. Something's missing," he muttered, walking over to where she was in the kitchen.

Quistis' eyebrow twitched. Was this some bizarre cold feet? They had been living together for six months, but in his apartment. This place was different. It was theirs, they had both paid for it.

"You know, maybe you should look in that box for what's missing?" He gestured to the box of kitchen supplies she had been unpacking.

"Huh?" Quistis looked down, blinking in surprise.

Seifer reached into the box, pushing aside a few wrapped glasses until he pulled out a velvet box and laid it on the counter in front of her. "I think we should get married."

Quistis was sure her heart actually stopped. Seifer had never hinted at all that he was even thinking about marriage. He seemed perfectly content with the way things were. Hands shaking, she tried to reach for the box. At some point her heart re-started and it was pounding loudly in her ears. She was in cover-alls, covered in dust, hair unwashed and in a ponytail, glasses on, and there was a velvet box sitting in front of her.

"Are you going to open it?" Seifer's voice was starting to betray concern.

She tried to speak, but her mouth was dry, and she mutely somehow managed to open the box. Nestled inside was the most beautiful ring she had ever seen. A large rectangular emerald. Absolutely flawless, surrounded by small diamonds to make it stand out even more. Surprisingly simple, yet incredibly elegant. Timeless.

"Do you like it?" The concern in his voice was now obvious, and bordering on alarm.

"Zell made it…well, Chantelle brought me to some super hoity-toity shop where they only sell gemstones. Did you even know that was a thing? Then I had to get the platinum for the band, and—"

Seifer was now starting to babble, which meant he was downright panicked.

Quistis vaguely realized she hadn't said anything in quite a while.

"Yes!" She finally shouted. Loudly. Startling both of them.

Smiles spread across both their faces, which led to laughter. Seifer plucked the ring out of the box and clumsily shoved it on Quistis' finger, their actions inhibited by the fact that they were both giggling like idiots. Idiots in love.

Life was finally moving forward. And she had never been happier.

A/N: I cannot believe I ended with this ridiculous amount of fluff. Thank you to colobonema for being my beta on this story! I am not done with Seiftis, I will be posting a new story soon. :)