A/N:
T_T I know. I suck. I suck a whole lot. try not to kill me? please? I'll be perfectly honest, I kind of forgot about this whole story, but I've been getting a lot of notifications of people really wanting me to update, so I updated :D
I'm sorry. So sorry. :(
disclaimer: nope, even since that month and half that I didn't update, I somehow didn't manage to earn the rights to FF13. I'll keep trying.
"Of course, Hope comes to the rescue. Best medic we have!" Snow patted him on the back and then offered Lightning his hand, "You okay there, sis?"
She flashed him a rather harsh glare, "Yeah…perfect." Her voice was soaked in sarcasm.
So was his, "Must have been some pretty tricky cake you were eating there."
Lightning took his hand to help her up, but instead dragged Snow down to the floor, "Watch yourself, Snow." She stood up casually and brushed herself off, "Don't want any slip ups."
Snow smirked a bit and then repositioned himself on the floor. Hope offered him his hand since Lightning seemed less than willing, "Here Snow."
"Thanks Hope. That one seems a little temperamental." Snow pointed over to Light who was a little behind them now, half apologizing to Serah for making her husband fall on his face. "Some people just don't like the truth."
Hope's green eyes widened, more in confusion than anything else. "Eh?"
"Don't mind him." Lightning came back over, blue eyes still glaring at her brother in law. "The idiot has to stop getting so many head injuries." Her sudden look caught him off balance. "Where's your stuff?"
"It's still in the entrance way…" A sudden fear hit him. Does she want me to leave? "But, Light, I think I am going to stay the weekend…"
"I know." Lightning waved to the crowd of people behind them. "Let's go."
"…Go?" The word was caught in his throat, making him sound like he was still on his way through puberty. Not what I needed. "Where are we going?" His mind raced. Night time stroll on the beach? Romantic restaurant? Movies? Your-
"My house."
He felt his cheeks burn and knew the red flush was coming. He directed his head downwards, "Right now?"
"Yeah…bye guys." Lightning turned from him and gave a slight wave.
"Leaving already, Claire?" Serah walked over to them, baby still in hand.
"Yeah…it's getting late."
Snow sniffed, "It's only 9:30."
"Yeah, late. Hope's probably tired already, right?"
The teenager found himself wanting to scream at that. Should I just whip out my ID and show her? Hope wasn't a kid anymore. Heck, he didn't even have a real bedtime when he was fourteen. "Nah, I'm used to stay up really late. But if you're tired, Light, I get it. You must get sleepier when you're old."
Lightning's eyes immediately tensed.
Oh crap.
Hope didn't want to look at her, but looking at Serah wasn't any better. Her mouth was making that 'oh-Eden-I-can't-believe-you-just-said-that' look, and he was pretty sure Snow was surprised Hope was still standing. So was he.
He was even more surprised that Lightning didn't say anything, didn't say as much as a 'let's go' or 'you're sleeping on the street'. It was only when she was halfway out the door that she turned around, took his duffel bag and stomped out.
Like it wasn't hard enough… Hope tried not to look too upset, but, really, he was torn. How could he have said that to her? How the hell did he think that was a good thing to say at all?
Sazh patted his shoulder, "I hate to say it Hope but…"
"I know." He shook his head, silver hair covering most of his face. "I'm an idiot."
He was glad he never took off his shoes. It made the sprint out the door that much faster.
"Wait!" Hope ran down the sidewalk, streetlights flashing at his speed. "Hold up!" How does she walk so fast? "Light!"
She stopped at that, almost instinctively. Hope thought he could see her shake her head. But she answered him nevertheless, without turning around. "What?"
Hope slowed his pace to a jog and finally stopped as he maneuvered himself in front of her. She backed away a bit when he touched her shoulders, but he didn't let his grip loosen. "That was a stupid thing to say."
She shrugged him off, not before pushing his duffel bag into his chest. "No it wasn't."
What? He expected her to bite his head off, not this. "Wait, what?"
"It wasn't." Lightning kept walking forward, a slower pace this time.
Hope followed, "Light, you're not…"
"I am though." Her hair was wild, covering her pale shoulders completely. Hope wasn't exactly sure what was going on. He had never seen her like this... never truly… Is she sad? "I'm twenty five, Hope."
He wanted to laugh, but knew that wouldn't be called for. "That's not old."
"Ye…" She turned for the rebuttal, but for some reason stopped herself. Her fragility seemed to last only an instant, and now, she was back to herself: strong, almost impenetrable. "Let's just keep going."
"You can sleep here." She tossed his duffel bag on the floor aimlessly and walked further in the room, removing some pillows from the big bed. "This used to be Serah's room, so sorry for the color scheme."
"That's okay." Hope moved into the room, a little sad that Lightning was already turning to leave. I guess she's still a little mad. This wasn't the way he wanted things to go at all. You're supposed to get her to love you, Hope, not have her despise your existence. He shook his head, "Hey Light."
"What, Hope?" Her words were slow and so icy sounding. Hope wanted to just turn around and leave her, but he knew that wouldn't help his cause in the slightest.
"Thank you."
She shrugged, "I couldn't let you sleep on the street."
"No, no…not for staying here…although that was really nice of you…I meant, for everything. For everything that happened four years ago. I don't think I ever really told you..."
"Hope!" Her raised voice cut him off sharply. Lightning coughed seeing his surprised expression. "It's really okay. I did what I could for you. Get some rest okay? I'll be right next door if you need me."
She shouldn't have told him that. Hope locked the door after Lightning left, and painfully tried to convince himself that she was not lying on a bed less than 3 yards away from him.
She never did need an alarm. Her brain was like clockwork, effortlessly waking her up at the exact time she had planned. Lightning glanced at the clock on her wall. 9:30. Perfect. There would be just enough time to take a shower, get dressed, eat breakfast, and meet Serah and the others on the boardwalk by 10:30.
Lightning felt uneasy twisting herself out of bed. She rubbed the crust under her eyelids harshly and scratched her hair, trying to figure out why she felt so…so…funny.
Then it hit her.
Her dream.
Oh Eden. I didn't. Her reflection embarrassed her. She couldn't believe she was blushing, not at that. Lightning fanned her face and started pacing, pacing, like she was a teenager all over again. Do you know who isa teenager? HE IS. There is no way, Lightning. No possible way you could ever. ..
The sound of a faucet running threw her. A part of her, and she really had absolutely no idea where that part came from, wanted to go in there.
And apparently, that part of her was really strong, because she found herself in front of the bathroom door, her hand already touching the cold, silver doorknob. What are you doing Lightning?
The shower water was still running, and she half thought, what could be the harm in entering? She did need her toothbrush after all. Before her thoughts could even object, Lightning's hand was already turning the knob. Just a quick grab for the toothbrush. That's it. And then…
"LIGHT!"
"HOPE?"
She immediately covered her eyes, glancing to see that Hope was not in the shower. "What are you doing out of the shower?"
"I don't know? Getting shampoo? What are you doing in the bathroom if you knew I was in the shower?" There was this weird sense of curiosity in his voice. It reminded her of what he had said yesterday….of what she should have been avoiding.
"I…I…I'm just getting my toothbrush." She felt around blindly for the object, making Hope laugh a little.
"You can uncover your eyes, Light."
She refused his offer and continued her search.
"It's really okay."
Lightning slowly peeled her fingers from her eyelids, cursing silently when she saw Hope was, like she had seen before, not clothed. He was, on the bright side, wearing a towel, but that still didn't cover the upper half of the body. She simply tried to ignore it and continued for her toothbrush.
"You look flushed."
She didn't amuse him with a smile. "It must be the water. It's hot."
Hope smirked. She didn't like it. "Here's your toothbrush." He grabbed the object, right on the counter, and she swiped it greedily.
"Thanks…I'll be…"
"Light!" He smiled at how fast she turned, "You forgot toothpaste."
A/N:
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