A/N: OMG I AM SO SO SO SO SO SO SORRY I TOOK SO LONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I know what you're all thinking, "Holy crap! The b*tch updated!!" And I really am sorry that I haven't until now. But see, I have a legit excuse. I've been looking for a beta, and I finally found one! The lovely and wonderful Heart of Friendship!!!! I'm so glad she agreed to take this monster on. I'm not a single mother anymore!! LOL
And then I finished this, and the DOCUMENT GOT ACCIDENTALLY DELETED. *dies a little* I had a panic attack. But I rewrote it, and here it is!! Sorry it took so long, hope you can forgive me! I'm not happy with this one. I really don't like it. But I had to rewrite the whole thing from memory (which isn't that good to begin with) so I guess I just have to deal with it.
OH! And before I forget, I never explained the song lyrics at the beginning of each chapter! For those of you who haven't seen the play, it's a song cycle, so the whole story is told through songs sung back and forth between Cathy and Jamie (read: Yuffie and Vincent). So each chapter here is titled as the songs - in order - for each character. And the lyrics are bits of the song that I liked and that fit well. The first one, however, I obviously changed it to read Vincent instead of Jamie, for creative purposes. Now I'm going to shut up, since you don't want to listen to me ramble. Thanks so much for reading, it means the world to me!!!
Moving too Fast (Vincent)
I'm feeling panicked and rushed and hurried
I'm feeling outmaneuvered and outclassed
But I'm so happy I can't get worried
About this singular impression
I've got a singular impression things are moving too fast
"Are you serious?" I exclaimed into the mouthpiece of my cell phone.
When the woman on the other end confirmed that yes, she was serious, I shouted in joy, dropping the phone and grabbing Yuffie, who sitting on the couch, and spun her around. She exclaimed wordlessly, slapping her hands at me in protest to my manhandling, but I was too excited to put her down. So I kissed her, which shut her up for a moment.
"What happened?" She asked breathlessly when I put her down.
"Lucrecia called. The Shinra Times bought my first chapter!" I shouted, hugging her again.
"What does that mean?" She asked, confused.
"The first chapter of the novel I'm working on is getting published in the paper, Yuff! This is huge! I don't even have to rewrite anything; they're taking it as is!"
"How much are they paying you?" Yuffie asked, hugging me back before carefully pulling herself out of my grip.
I reached down and grabbed the phone. "Lucrecia, are you still there? Oh, good. Sorry about that."
Yuffie snorted, then wrapped her arms around me as I talked to my editor.
"So, what are they paying me?"
I waited a second, and her answer made me drop the phone again. Yuffie grabbed it before it hit the ground a second time, living up to her nickname of "The Great Ninja Yuffie."
"Lucrecia? Hey, sorry about that. I'll have Vinny call you back when he's breathing normally, okay?" She giggled. "Okay, talk to you later."
She snapped my phone closed and looked at me. "You okay?"
I grabbed her and kissed her again. She resisted for a quick second, but then melted into my embrace. When we came up for air, she quirked her eyebrow as if to say, "Well?"
"20,000 gil," I said, and her eyes widened.
"Leviathan!" Yuffie gasped, hugging me again.
I laughed and nodded, and we smiled at one another. Moments like this made it hard for me to try and slow down. Life was going so freaking great right now. I had a woman I loved, one who was beautiful and spunky and quirky and just wonderful. I had a killer agent, who wouldn't take no for an answer and knew the perfect places to plug her newest author, and the perfect people to mention me to.
My apartment had sold quickly, and this new bonus came at the perfect time. Yuffie had already offered her place to me, and now with our combined incomes, mine getting higher and higher with each month; we could buy a bigger apartment next month.
We'd been dating around seven months, and I was head over heels for this girl. She practically lived at my place, and I at hers. Everything was rushed in our relationship, but she didn't seem to mind. My career had soared as soon as I met her; I called her my muse. Yuffie, meanwhile, had kind of taken a break from acting, getting disheartened at the lack of callbacks she had gotten. I was trying to get her back in the game, knowing how much she loved it, but she wasn't ready yet. I figured that I'd get to her soon enough; she just needed time.
Time. Time!
"That's it!" I shouted, letting go of Yuffie and running to my office.
I could hear her laugh behind me, used to my moods by now, and knowing I need to get this on paper before I forgot. She just headed into the kitchen to find something to eat, and I thanked Minerva for such an understanding and adorable girlfriend.
OoOoOoO
A few weeks later, we had moved in together, and Yuffie was teasing me about my vampire hours.
"You need to get some rest, Vinny!" She told me, making fried rice as she smiled at me, her voice stern but gentle. "I come home from Seventh Heaven at almost 3 AM every night, and you're still awake writing. It's not healthy, love."
I shook my head, putting away some new books I had bought that morning.
"I sleep during the day if I'm up late the night before, Yuff. Besides, I'm usually only up that late if I wake up with an idea."
"Uh-huh," She said, clearly not buying it.
But then she turned and smiled at me, clearly saying she didn't want to argue or fight with me, and I smiled back, hugging her as she cooked.
There was a knock at the door, and I opened it, revealing Cloud and Tifa, the former holding a bottle of wine, and the latter holding a tray of food, covered in foil.
"Hey guys!" I said, smiling at them and letting them in. Tifa kissed my cheek quickly, then hurried to help Yuffie finish dinner.
Cloud and I headed into the living room, knowing there wasn't enough room in the kitchen for all four of us to be in there at once. After setting up the T.V. to play music, he and I sat and talked for a few minutes.
"Vincent…are you sure you're okay with this?" He asked me, gesturing at the world in general.
I knew he meant moving in with Yuffie. It was weird for Cloud and Tifa to see us get so serious so soon. I mean, Cloud had dated Tifa since they were in high school, and they didn't move in together until they were 22.
Cloud and I had been friends since we were 13, so I knew he was just looking out for me. After all, for years and years, I had never been one to rush into things at all. I took my time, and I thought out a decision thoroughly before following through. But it just seemed like everything was falling into place perfectly. When I told him that, he nodded, but looked skeptical.
"I just don't want to miss out on something simply because I was afraid of moving things too quickly." I told him. "I'd never forgive myself if that happened. And while I do realize that things with Yuffie are moving much faster than is usually socially acceptable, it's not an issue for us. With my chapter getting published, the paper wanting more, and publishers calling, it seemed like a good move to try and increase a sense of stability. Although," I said, chuckling softly as we heard Yuffie fall in the kitchen and tell Tifa she was okay, "Yuffie isn't much in the way of stability."
Cloud laughed at that, watching as I smiled fondly at Yuffie, who was poking her head out of the kitchen to assure me that she was okay, she had just slipped on "a particularly malicious piece of ice who was trained to be an assassin of the white rose of Wutai."
Tifa laughed at her dramatics, while I nodded seriously and told her to be more careful, or I'd have to hire a bodyguard. Yuffie squealed at my comment, delighted I was playing along. Then she ran back into the kitchen to save the rice, and Cloud smiled at me softly.
"I see what you mean." He said. "So, you don't think it's a bad idea, then?"
I shrugged. "Oh, I do think it's a bad idea. I'm at that place in my life where something bad is bound to happen, if for nothing but the simple fact that I'm way too happy for this to last."
Cloud laughed. "If anyone deserves happiness, it's you and Yuffie, Vincent. I think Minerva will be merciful here."
"I hope so. I'm much too happy to get worried about something. My whole life is coming together, and I'm only 23. I expected all of this at least 10 years later, if not more. I'm blessed, Cloud, and I'm thankful."
"Then I'm happy for you. Just…be careful. The last thing I want to see is either one of you get hurt."
"I don't plan on hurting her. I never will." I promised solemnly, feeling a sense of foreboding and getting a chill down my spine.
Then Yuffie poked her head out of the kitchen and smiled at me, telling me that dinner was ready, and the creepy feeling was gone. I was with the woman I loved, and I was insanely happy. What could go wrong?
A/N: Oooohhhhh, foreshadowing......*does spooky noises and wiggles fingers like an idiot*
lol, sorry, couldn't resist. Well, hope you enjoyed this more than I did, because I'm still not happy with this chapter. So please review! I'm going to try to respond to each reviewer next time, and make it a point to do so every time I update. Thank you again for reading, it really does mean the world to me. I almost cried with happiness when I saw how many hits I've been getting. So thank you so much. I wish I could do more for you, my wonderful readers!
xoxoxoxo,
Meyx