Chapter 14 - Ride On

Rinoa walked out into the dark and cold parking lot, trying to handle the balloons that were straining against the multicolored ribbons she held in her hand. A gust of wind blew and chilled her, while some wisps of hair danced across her face. She switched the bundle from one hand to another to push away her hair.

A balloon wiggled free and flew away. She looked up and saw it quickly disappearing into the dark night sky. Another few moments and she wouldn't even be able to see it. She wished she could disappear that quickly and easily, just fly up into the boundless stars.

Rinoa sighed. "That's not good for the environment. I hope it doesn't eventually," she paused while in thought, "choke a dolphin or something." Squall opened the passenger door for her, and she climbed into his car.

"Dolphins are smart," Squall responded. "They'll be fine."

The turtles better watch out though, Squall added silently to himself as he shut the door.

Squall put on his jacket and slid into the driver's seat. He made sure they were both belted in before he started the ignition. He couldn't see Rinoa's face because the bundle of balloons had come loose and were freely mingling inside his car. He pushed some away with his hand and they bounced noisily against the ceiling. The ribbons hung between them like a flimsy curtain.

"Where am I taking you?" he asked.

"Anywhere, but here," Rinoa responded.

"Not going to be Selphie's roommate then?" he asked as he pulled out of the parking lot, not really sure which direction he should even head. It was still early in the evening, and it was a nice night if you didn't mind the cold. Squall had never minded the cold as much as other people. Maybe he could head towards the ocean for a joyride while Rinoa calmed herself.

"Definitely not tonight," she said clearly repulsed. "Selphie can be a roommate with GAH..." she had opened her mouth to say Gladio's name, but then stuttered and shut it quickly. "With that g-guy," she tried to correct herself.

She was about to say his name, Squall thought. But then a sudden shock took him. She hadn't started to say Angelo. She had started to say another name. Another alarm went off in his head. Selphie didn't recognize the intruder at all. And didn't this all start when Squall heard her gushing over a photo of a guy named Angelo all those weeks ago? If Selphie didn't recognize him, then he wasn't Angelo.

Then who was he?

All Squall really knew was that Rinoa definitely knew him and she seemed very uncomfortable with him. But why did he keep showing up around Rinoa? Why didn't Rinoa acknowledge that she knew him? Was she in danger?

As Squall cruised along the Rinauld Coast Highway, he could see the white capped waves near the beach. The methodical rhythm could make it seem like time stood still, if you let it. The car cruised on, bright headlights illuminating the smooth pavement before them. Rinoa made no attempts to tell him where he should take her. She looked out the window at the ocean, lost in her own private thoughts.

Squall wished she'd share them with him.

She leaned her head against the window and sighed.

"Do you know that guy?" Squall finally ventured to ask, trying to keep emotion out of his voice.

"No," Rinoa responded immediately while sitting up. She started chewing her bottom lip and looked at her nails attentively. He could hear her take a gulp.

Her body language told him that she was lying to him. It also told him that she was bad at lying.

Squall wondered why she was lying to him. Was she scared for her safety? It had to be something along those lines because he didn't want to believe she was a liar. He'd already put her on an imaginary pedestal and it'd hurt him to know she was a liar. If she was telling a lie, it had to be for a good reason. Should he call her out on it? He could help her if she was in trouble.

Or maybe he should just leave it alone. She was a near stranger, and she could do what she liked with anybody she liked. Yes, he should leave it alone.

"I saw you with him at the park," Squall said before he could stop himself.

She stopped fiddling with her fingers and stared straight ahead. He could hear her take a deep breath.

"It's none of your business who I," Rinoa started. She crossed her arms over herself. She didn't like the idea that he'd been watching her without her knowledge. She knew she had been in a public park, and Balamb wasn't a big place, but still. It was unsettling. Were all men like Caraway? She wrapped her hand around the shoulder strap of her seatbelt and gave it an agonizing squeeze. She just wanted to break free.

Squall glanced at her out of the side of his vision. She was squirming in his car. He felt like he'd pushed her too much. He didn't want to be another guy who was causing her distress. He didn't want to be like not-Angelo, whatever his name was.

"I don't care about your..." Squall started and then he stopped. He didn't actually want to say lie. That was too close to calling her a liar. And that wasn't the point. "I care about," he started again, but then soon stopped. Squall was about to say 'you,' but he couldn't say that either. "I'm worried." His hands gripped the steering wheel harder while he watched the road in front of him. "If you're in some kind of trouble, there are organizations to help people." He paused. "People who are in domestic situations." He was becoming more and more uncomfortable. "Abuse."

Rinoa turned herself abruptly in her seat and leaned towards him. The shoulder belt strained against her. "I'm not a victim."

"I didn't say you were," Squall said. "I just..."

"I'm not in a 'domestic situation' either." Rinoa snorted and wondered what exactly he meant by that.

Squall was glad to hear that, but he had a lot of unanswered questions. Questions he wasn't allowed to ask. What was it to him who Rinoa met up with? Why should he be concerned with what she did outside of work? They were just coworkers.

"I just want to make sure you're safe," Squall said. He figured that was an appropriate thing to say. He could show some general and appropriate concern.

"Why does everybody assume I'm not safe?!" Rinoa said with force, causing Squall's shoulders to tense.

Oops, wrong thing to say. She was getting worked up. She slammed herself back into her seat and looked up at the ceiling with a strangled sigh. Balloons bounced around some more.

Because I've seen you repeatedly followed by a giant lunking tattooed meathead who looks like he could bench my car, Squall thought internally. And you look uncomfortable and are hiding something.

"I'm not living wildly, and partying it up," Rinoa continued. "I have a steady job in a safe neighborhood. I lock my doors. I have Angelo, my big and well trained dog to protect me. I've covered all my bases."

Squall's ears immediately heard what she said, but it took his brain at least five seconds to properly process it. Five long seconds of lag time.

He gripped the steering wheel. ANGELO IS THE DOG! Squall screamed internally. ANGELO IS THE DOG!

"So you don't have to be my dad or my mom," she continued, unaware of Squall's inner thoughts.

Her longtime companion is a dog. I've been jealous of a dog. He could have laughed. I'm a moron. He nearly smiled with relief. He was happy to be a moron if it meant that Rinoa wasn't attached to that giant guy. How did he think a guy like that would be her longtime companion? She clearly couldn't stand him. Rinoa wouldn't ever date a huge jerk of a guy like that. Rinoa had higher standards. She wouldn't be swayed by a tall muscular guy just because he was confident. Rinoa Heartilly wouldn't ever do that. Never.

"I'm not your mom," Squall whispered, trying to keep up with whatever she was saying.

THE DOG! It echoed through his head. How could he have been so stupid to think Angelo was that big meathead?

Wait! Then who WAS that guy? Squall thought. And what is his relationship to Rinoa?

"You know what? Just pull over the car," Rinoa demanded. "I want out."

"Wait, what?" Squall said suddenly, his head turning away from the road to look at Rinoa. Her teeth were clenched together in frustration. They kept coasting along the darkened highway like they were hurtling through space.

"Now!" Rinoa yelled with force, in a tone that defied argument. She stomped her foot on an imaginary passenger side brake.

Squall pulled onto the shoulder of the highway, instantly obeying her command. He pulled off to the side of the road as far as he could go. He didn't know what she was doing. Did she think she was going to walk all the way home right now? They were in the middle of nowhere by the beach. It was dark and cold. And once again, she hadn't brought a jacket tonight, or maybe she'd left it at Selphie's place.

Rinoa started exiting the car before Squall had even rolled to a complete stop. She stormed out and hopped over the metal guardrail and dropped down into the grass and sand on the other side with a thud. She marched towards the dark ocean.

Squall's heart lurched in his chest. He hurried out of his car and vaulted over the guardrail to catch up with her. It was a good thing he exercised so much. He landed lightly and kept his balance on the soft and sandy surface.

"Wait!" he called with his hand out. He didn't know what she was doing. He had to stop her.

She stopped abruptly and turned to glare at him.

"I'm sorry," he supplied, palms outward. His eyes widened in desperation.

Rinoa glanced up at Squall's face and some of her hot anger melted away in the chilliness of the evening. His pale smooth skin was halfway hidden by the shadows of his hair and she was startled by how handsome he seemed in the moonlight. Right now he looked younger than he appeared during the workweek. He seemed out of context here on the beach, but it highlighted things in him that she didn't notice at the office under those harsh florescent lights. Her eyes softened at him, then she turned her face towards the rolling and relentless ocean waves as they crashed onto the shore.

"For what?" she asked.

Huh? Squall thought to himself.

Squall honestly didn't know what he'd be sorry for. It had seemed the sort of thing he should say to make her stop walking into the cold dark ocean, or whatever she was doing.

"I'm sorry. I didn't intend to upset you." He ran both hands through his hair, roughing up the top and then raking it back towards the nape of his neck. "Please don't feel like you have to walk all the way home on my account."

She let out a laugh. She hadn't planned on doing that. Actually she hadn't planned on doing anything at all when she jumped out of Squall's car. She wasn't the best at making plans, a lifetime of following other people's plans for her hadn't given her room to exercise that skill. Nowadays, she usually improvised as she went along. She'd just been overwhelmed with frustration.

"I just needed some fresh air. Needed to clear my head," she said as she took another sideways peek at Squall. She smiled at the disheveled state of his hair and the look of consternation on his face. It was a cute look and it suited him. "Can I have a few moments out here to just breathe, if you don't mind?"

"Sure," Squall answered, relieved that she wasn't going to insist on walking along a cold highway at night. His heart had been racing again. He needed to calm down too.

She turned to smile at him briefly before turning back towards the ocean. While she stood in shared silence with Squall, he noticed that she was starting to shiver. Her arms were wrapped around herself tightly, and she dug her feet down into the sand. He stood in his warm fur lined jacket and felt like a cad. He should do something.

"I'll be back in a second," Squall said as he turned towards his car. He turned back towards her and gave her a direct look. "Don't do anything."

Rinoa looked at him as he walked away. He went to his car and started rooting around in his trunk. When he came back he handed her a large rolled up gray blanket. It wasn't the softest blanket, but it was most likely warm. A very utilitarian choice.

"You keep blankets in your car?" she asked. "Do you take girls out to deserted stretches of beach often?"

Squall's eyebrows lifted in shock. Then he narrowed his eyes at her sharply. "First off, you were the one who made me pull over here. Secondly, it's always a good idea to have a few emergency supplies in the trunk."

Rinoa smiled at his response. Why was he so much fun to rile up? "What sort of emergency?" she asked while tipping her head to the side.

"If your car breaks down," he offered seriously. "You wouldn't want to be stuck in a cold car for any length of time while waiting for assistance to arrive."

"Oh, I get it," she said. He nodded at her in agreement, but then she continued. "An emergency backseat snuggle to keep warm, after your car has 'broken down' while taking an unsuspecting girl home," she said while doing air quotes with one hand. She smiled and balanced the blanket roll in her other hand.

Squall stared at her for a moment in disbelief, not liking the teasing. One moment she was genuinely angry and now she was trying to playful provoke him while pretending to be cute about it. It was irritating. He was just trying to help her not freeze to death.

He took a deep inhale of air and then his arm shot out to retake his blanket. Rinoa was shocked at the sudden movement. She instinctively held on, her fingers digging into the scratchy material. He furrowed his brows and gave it another pull, but she pulled back. They looked each other in the eyes.

"Let go of my emergency blanket," Squall said.

"No, I'm cold."

"That's not my fault. Next time plan ahead."

"But I'm cold now."

That wasn't the best argument, but her eyes sparkled at him and her mouth twitched to the side as she said it. She licked and bit her lip, waiting for another response from him. Squall had to admit to himself that she looked mischievously cute, but was she making fun of him? He noticed their hands were practically touching as they each held onto the blanket roll.

Wait, was she flirting with him?

Squall let go. She stumbled backwards in the sand with the blanket becoming unrolled around her.

He pretended that everything was normal and stared back at the ocean. "Keep warm," he said, as if he hadn't just gotten into a juvenile tug-of-war with the girl he had a workplace crush on. Wait, not girl. She was a woman. A sometimes childish sort of young woman, but still a woman.

She smiled up at him, but he didn't turn his face towards her. She wrapped the blanket around herself, and it was bigger than it initially seemed. He must have rolled it very tight. She noticed it was big enough for two people. She looked over at Squall, but he kept his face turned away from her. After a moment's thought, she wrapped it around herself twice and snuggled in.

"Ocean's nice," she said while inhaling a lungful of salty air.

He let out a muffled sound in response.

"Yea," she said, "real nice." She breathed out audibly. "Fresh." She continued to breath in and out, savoring the night air in an exaggerated way. She hoped Squall would say something, but he didn't. She waited and waited, and then gave up hope of any sort of fun conversation with him after several long minutes of silence. Well, it was silence if you didn't count her loud breathing.

"Ah, much better, my head feels clearer. I'm sufficiently relaxed. Could you please take me home now?"

Squall nodded at her. "But you have to agree to one of my rules first."

Rinoa looked at him with her head tilting to the side, wondering what sort of rules he had. She figured he had a lot, but at least he was talking now.

"Don't jump out of my car again," he said.

"I'll try." She laughed. That sounded reasonable. "Sometimes I just get frustrated when people think they know me." She turned towards him. "When they don't." She added an unnatural amount of emphasis on the last word.

Squall was hurt, but didn't show it. Yes, he didn't know her. He didn't know much of anything about her other than she was attractive. But he still bristled at her comment that was directed towards him. His patience was wearing thin.

"You're right, I don't know you. Why would anybody come out to little Balamb from huge Galbadia for an entry level job in our little office?"

Rinoa turned to him and opened her mouth to speak, but she shut it.

"And why would a strange man be crossing your path so often?"

Her eyebrows drew together and she bit her lip. Was this guy an amateur detective or something? Why was he so curious about her life?

Rinoa wished she could just tell him the answers to his questions, but she feared sounding stupid. She really didn't want to stand on a windswept beach at night and tell her handsome coworker that the dark and mysterious man that was following her was her overgrown cousin. And she really didn't want to tell him that her cousin was being paid to keep an eye on her by General Caraway, her overprotective and controlling father. It sounded so stupid, and it made her feel so small. She'd rather have him wonder about her. He could make up an interesting backstory for her in his head. Anything would be better than the truth.

"There's a lot you don't know about me," she said, hoping it sounded mysterious. She raised her eyebrows in an attempt at a challenging stare.

He looked into her face without responding. The moonlight was making her face look even paler against her dark hair. Her nose was tipped pink with cold.

"But I'm not in an abusive domestic situation," she mumbled under her breath.

"I was just trying to look out for you."

"I don't need looking out for!" she responded, trying to sound like the adult she wanted to be.

"So if you just keep walking into the ocean at night, you want me to do nothing about it," he said it as a statement. He'd never let that happen, no matter what she said she wanted.

"I wouldn't do that," Rinoa said. Did he think she was crazy?

"I don't know what you'd do. Because as you said, I don't know you. But I saw you jump out of my car and march towards the ocean without much warning. Should I have stayed in my car and driven away?"

Rinoa thought to herself. She certainly didn't want him to just leave her there. She'd just wanted to clear her head. She supposed she'd done it in an unnecessarily dramatic way, and she'd assumed that he'd stay and indulge her. She hadn't thought he'd challenge her on it. He'd seemed so mild at work and at the party, at least usually. He seemed to turn into a different person when other people weren't around. He got talkative when they were one-on-one. He felt free to say what he felt. She liked this side of him, but she also didn't. She wasn't sure what to think.

"No. You should stay." She turned back towards the dark ocean. "It's nice to clear your head sometimes." She breathed. "But I don't need you to look out for me. I don't need to be rescued," Rinoa said. "You don't need to be..." she tried to think of a good word, but couldn't, "... a rescuer."

"I didn't say anything about rescuing." Squall stared out at the ocean. He just didn't want to stand idly by when somebody was in trouble. "But if we are keeping track, I did give you my jacket before. Not quite a rescue, but I offered you some help. And I gave Zell the Heimlich Maneuver in the break room. That actually was a rescue. And I covered for you when Quistis questioned me about what happened in the break room before."

Rinoa turned towards him. Her eyes searched his face, but he gave away nothing by his expression. She couldn't think of what he was referencing. What happened between them in the break room?

Squall looked at Rinoa. He could tell she was trying to recall the incident he'd mentioned. He couldn't believe she'd forgotten it. Although he was more likely to remember hot coffee being splashed on his crotch than she would. He also couldn't forget Quistis chewing him out and making him take a sexual harassment training session because of it.

Rinoa leaned towards him. "What happened in the break room between us?" she asked in a whisper.

Squall turned and looked back over his shoulder. He checked to make his car was okay, but he also wanted to hide the look on his face. Sometimes he couldn't believe this person.

"You spilled hot coffee all over my..." he took a pause, "pants." He gestured towards himself.

Rinoa's eyes darted down towards his crotch. She'd forgotten about that!

"That was an accident!" she yelled, wanted to defend herself. Was he keeping a list of all her shortcomings?

"Some accidents happen by chance," he said while nodding his head. "Those sorts of accidents can happen to anybody." He was starting to feel bolder out here in the dark with her.

Rinoa was placated by his admission. He didn't hold it against her. It could have happened to anybody.

"And some accidents happen due to carelessness," Squall continued, apparently not done yet with his train of thought. "And those sorts of accidents happen in higher frequency around certain individuals."

Rinoa's face spun towards him. "Are you calling me a careless disaster magnet?"

Magnet? She was a magnet for something. He said nothing, but shrugged.

"And before we go further. Did you say you had to cover for me in front of Manager Trepe?" Rinoa asked.

"Yes."

Rinoa turned fully towards him and shifted her body weight. She awaited a further explanation. Squall was not forthcoming with details. She leaned forward and pushed on his arm, trying to prompt him to speak.

Squall kept his eyes on the ocean while he started to speak. "When Quistis walked in and saw me with my shirt half off, my clothes soaked, and you running out while flustered." What could Squall say. "It didn't look good. But I didn't want to say anything negative about a new hire, so I just let her assume whatever she wanted to. I ended up having to take a sexual harassment training session on my own time."

Rinoa blinked her eyes at him. This was news to her. She started to imagine the bizarre scenario between Squall and Quistis. And it was all because of a silly little break room mishap. And it was completely innocent too! It all seemed so funny and Rinoa started to shake with laughter.

Squall turned towards her. His eyebrows pulled together in frustration. "Why are you laughing?"

"What did she think I did to you?" she asked.

"She didn't think you did anything to me. She thought I'd done something to YOU!" Squall responded.

Rinoa laughed and a soft snort escaped her accidentally.

"And you covered for me? Even though you could have just given a simple explanation. Maybe you are Mr. Rescuer." She smiled at him. "You really like doing things the hard way don't you? But you know what Squall? I think you're a pretty good guy. Very trustworthy and noble. Discreet. Helpful."

Squall liked the sound of that. Mostly.

She turned towards him, her eyes flashing in all seriousness. "Can you help me get rid of Gladio?"

Squall looked into her face.

"Who?"

"I'll tell you on the ride back. Let's get going. This blanket is nice and all, but I'm not really dressed for staying out here so long," she explained.

Squall turned to hurry back to his car, eager to get more information. And even with his coat on, he'd been getting chilled too.

Their feet crunched through sand and dry grass at a quick pace. When they got back to the embankment he grabbed the metal guardrail and jumped up. Then he turned around and extended his hand to pull her up. She scrambled up with his help before hurrying to get inside his car. When they'd both fastened their seatbelts, Rinoa laid the blanket over her lap and started shivering.

"Hurry up and turn on the heat. I'm freezing," she told him. The dampness of the ocean breeze had soaked down into her bones. What had she been thinking marching towards the ocean like that?

Squall put his key in the ignition and turned.

Nothing.

The car wouldn't start.

End of Chapter 14