6. Drowning It Down

Rinoa was waiting at the door to the ladies' room after having checked its vacancy, when Squall came in the hallway. He stopped at the first door near the beginning of the hallway with a "private" placard on it, the business office, and gestured toward it with a nod of his head to Rinoa before opening it.

He stepped in and Rinoa followed into the dark office. He closed the door softly, taking a last glance outside to ensure that no one noticed and flipped a switch, the bright overhead light blaring on, illuminating the small colorless room. There was nothing but a nearly bare wooden desk in the middle, and a small dark gray safe in the corner, adorned with a silver mechanism in the middle.

Their gazes met and she advanced towards him as he leaned against the desk. They got close, very close, their lips mere inches apart, and their eyes still locked on one another through her glasses. She leaned in, knowing that Squall wouldn't make a move unless she did, and got close enough to touch his lips with her own, but barely making any contact...

And then she stopped.

Jax doesn't deserve this.

The energy in the room was deflated as her conscience caught up with her.

Squall knew exactly what happened, too.

Rinoa backed away, her eyes still on his for several moments. She took a breath to speak, but nothing came out. She simply didn't know what to say, and her eyes dropped to the floor.

"It's okay, Rinoa," Squall said, softly. "I know. And I'm sorry."

She shook her head. "No, don't be sorry. I'm just glad that we caught ourselves in time."

Squall wasn't about to correct her that she was the one who caught herself. He'd known full well what was about to happen, and the consequences involved, and he wasn't about to stop it, but he also wasn't going to push her if she didn't want it.

He was sorry, though. Sorry for the whole situation. He wanted her and he couldn't have her. She was involved with someone else.

Your friend, idiot, his mind reminded him. He sighed heavily. He knew it was a mistake.

Rinoa raised her eyes and looked at him again. "Fuck... I hope this doesn't... I still want to be friends with you, Squall."

He thought for a several seconds and then he nodded, somberly. "Me too."

"Do you think we can-...?"

"Yeah," he interrupted. "We can forget about this. I'm... I'm sorry."

A small smile reached Rinoa's lips, relieved at his words. "Thank you."

He gave a little smile of his own and replied. "No problem. Look, maybe you should get out of here right now. I just... I just think we need to cool off a little."

Rinoa nodded, swallowing hard. "Yeah. Jax and I will see you later."

Squall cringed a little at the mention of his friend's name as she opened the door and left. He sat there for several minutes more, his mind trying to make sense of everything that he was feeling.

He was obviously sexually frustrated, but that was really the least of it. It was bothering him more and more that she was with him, more than it really should have. It bothered him that she had gained a conscious about being with him right at that moment. But then again, it also bothered him that he wanted her to cheat on Jax with him. He really didn't want to do that to Jax, even as shitty as the guy had been, historically. And he had been a real shit head. A druggie, a drunk, just an all around low-life... Stop it, Squall.

But he wanted her so badly, overwhelmingly so, and it went beyond a sexual relationship. He simply enjoyed her company, and they related and got along so well. And he respected her more, even if a little begrudgingly so, for stopping herself before she did something she'd regret. He really didn't want to be the one responsible for the deterioration of her relationship, and ultimately her self-confidence. Getting involved with her was wrong. Wasn't it?

"Fuck," Squall groaned aloud, running his hands down his face in sheer frustration. Hissing out a breath, he got the cigarettes he'd put back into his pocket and lit one up, pulling on it hard.

The worst part of it was that he had no intention of severing the friendship they'd begun, even though he knew that he should, because he knew that this was going to happen again. He was absolutely certain it would. And he knew that he, again, wouldn't stop it.

He stalked to the door, the half-smoked cigarette still smoldering between his fingers as he yanked it open and slammed it shut, thundering back to the bar, absently grumbling curses at Jax every step of the way.

He went straight for a bottle of Patron and poured himself a shot, carelessly spilling some of the clear tequila on the counter, and downed it, unconcerned if anyone saw him, then poured another and threw it back just as quickly.

"Squall?" Selphie's small voice said behind him, having watched him since he'd returned from what she assumed was the restroom. "Are you all right?"

"Yup," he replied simply, his cheerful tone contradicting his body language as he returned the bottle to the shelf rather aggressively. "I'm fine."

Selphie raised her eyebrows and gawked at him for a few more moments, then shrugged. "All right."

He wasn't worried about Selphie ratting him out to the owner. She'd had plenty a drinking binge on the job as well, usually as a result of when she and her boyfriend were arguing, which was fairly often. It worked out since her boyfriend also happened to be the owner, and Selphie had no qualms with taking advantage of the booze for herself and her co-worker, and a few of their friends, here and there.

Squall took a deep breath, took one last drag on his cigarette, then stubbed it out in a nearby ashtray and returned to work.

Jax check his watch before he slipped his key into the door of the hotel room he shared with Rinoa. 9:24 p.m. Not too late.

He opened the door and peered around, the dark room, figuring that Rinoa must be out at the bar. He began to step back out, intending to go meet with her, when he heard a creak on the bed. Suddenly, a light from the lamp on the nightstand flared, and he saw Rinoa on the bed, her arm settling back down beside her from the lamp.

"Jax," she said, tonelessly, blinking her eyes to adjust to the light as she looked over at him.

"Hey, Rinny," he said, stepping back in and closing the door. He looked her over, seeing that she was still fully clothed in a pair of pinstripe pants and a white shirt, her glasses and shoes still on. "What are you doing here in the dark?"

She produced a smile and shrugged. "Nothing, just enjoying the quiet."

He nodded, not entirely understanding, but shrugged it off. "So let's go, huh?"

"To- to the bar?" she stammered, fighting a wince as she did so.

"Yeah, to the bar," he said, incredulously, turning back and opening the door. "Come on."

"Uh... Jax..." she trailed, fumbling for something clever to say to get out of seeing Squall again so soon. It had only been about two or three hours since their 'incident', and she had no idea just what kind of disaster this could turn into. She sighed, deciding that she didn't want to make Jax suspicious, since her brain wasn't functioning well enough to think of something good, fast. "Okay."

She stood up and straightened herself out a little, silently hoping that Squall would be cooled off enough by now, and followed Jax out the door, her mind racing with every possible scenario that could ensue, and planning escape routes.

They walked down the street together, hand in hand, Jax blathering about his job, something about all their scrambled systems, and how he already had a ton of work ahead of him, but she wasn't really listening.

Her stomach was doing flip-flops all over the place, getting worse with each step they took towards the Wooden Nickel. By the time they arrived, she was fighting to maintain her composure and took a an unsteady breath, hoping that Jax wasn't noticing just how nervous she was. Luckily, she could still hear him yammering on about the job, and though she felt a twinge of guilt for not listening, she was relieved that he wasn't paying any attention to her behavior.

Jax opened the door and they stepped in, their eyes immediately settling on Squall, who was occupied with a customer. They walked to the bar and took a seat, Rinoa ending up in the very seat she'd taken earlier, much to her chagrin.

Squall saw two people approach the bar out of the corner of his eye, and he turned to look as he ended his conversation with the customer before him.

Oh shit, he thought, his eyes settling on Rinoa, whose gaze was directed right at him, and then on Jax, who gave him a smile and a nod as they made eye contact.

He was still reeling from the encounter they'd had earlier, and though he'd calmed down, mostly at the result of the alcohol he'd been ingesting here and there, he found himself unsettled once again. Knowing that the slightest act of discomfort may give them away, given Jax' generally suspicious nature, he put a smile on his face and strode over to them.

"Hey guys," he greeted cordially.

"Hey," Jax replied, shifting in his seat.

"Hi, Squall," Rinoa greeted back, just as smoothly as Squall.

"What's up? What can I get ya?" Squall said, his eyes shifting from her to Jax, pleased with her delivery.

Though in the back of her mind she knew it might not be a good idea, alcohol was sounding really good right then.

"Cape Cod," Rinoa said, adding in a low voice, "a lot of vodka."

Squall couldn't help but chuckle at the order, immediately remembering that she'd asked for a lot of ice in the same tone earlier. And he knew the reason for the extra ingredients for both times.

Rinoa felt a smile on her lips as well, pleased to see that Squall was loosened up a little, and at the fact that he'd picked up on the request.

Jax finally got comfortable in his seat, oblivious to the little exchange, and looked up. "Uh... get me a Chivas."

Squall nodded, then spoke again, unable to resist. "Screaming orgasms are on special tonight, just so you know..."

Rinoa desperately fought laughter, amused by the underlying joke between the two of them, and relieved that they'd gone back to the comfort they'd had before, complete with the subtle flirtation.

Jax was completely oblivious as he just shook his head and mumbled, "Yuck, no thanks."

Rinoa let her eyes wander over Squall momentarily as he prepared their drinks, but stopped herself as she realized she was heading down the exact same path she had earlier, and went in search of something more interesting to look at. Yeah, right, Rinoa... something more interesting than Squall? Hmph.

A/N: Yeah, I know, ending the chapter rather abruptly, but hey, this chapter was driving me nuts... I needed to get it the hell outta my sight. :)

I got a lot of reviews (woohoo!), so I just wanted to say thanks!