-F o u r More Days –
Soundtrack: Break Apart Her Heart; Good Charlotte
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Part of me wanted someone to stand up and tell me I was making a mistake. The other part of me wanted someone to stand up and tell me I wasn't.
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"Yunie, it was so damn awkward."
"Well, did you expect him to confess his love to you or something?"
"I don't know-I-maybe?" Yuna gave Rikku a look that told her she was crazy.
"Ugh! What do I do? He isn't speaking to me and it's driving me crazy. He's pulling that tough guy shit and being all 'aloof, alone, and alarming' but I can see past it! I know what he's like-and I know he's trying hard not to talk to me. I wish he just would, he's making this harder than it needs to be," Rikku took a deep breath. "I miss him."
Yuna frowned delicately. "He has to talk to you eventually."
"Well…yeah?" The two girls looked at each other carefully.
"Oh, Yuna. What do I do?"
"You need to talk to him, soon," she replied.
"So…like…tomorrow?"
"Maybe not that soon. Like…a week?"
"Nuh uh! Too long. I give him…"
"Uh, Rikku-"
"Four days. That's all he gets, and then I'm hunting him down for interrogations!" Rikku pumped her fist into the air. Yuna let a giggle loose and put a hand over her mouth.
"Sorry, you should see yourself. You're so worked up!" Rikku smiled but her face melted into distress.
"Yeah, with good reason. He kissed me and now he's being…an ass," Rikku's eyes widened. "I hate when he gets all…assy."
"Assy? Nice," Yuna commented dryly.
"Oh, whatever! Not like you would know, I'm sure Tidus is never an ass!" Yuna smiled.
"Nope. But Tidus does have his stupid moments. We had to stop at the gas station the other day to fill my car and we're standing outside, right? He's in the middle of retelling part of a blitzball game and I walk inside to pay, but he keeps talking. I didn't notice at first because I thought he would just, like…trail off or something and kind of reminisce by himself, but he kept going, and I'm in there for a solid two minutes and when I get back out he's still going, and getting into it. I cracked up and he turned and gave me the funniest look." Rikku smiled at her story. Yeah, Tidus would.
She yawned and stretched out on her bed. Yuna popped a chip into her mouth and flipped the channel.
"I just want him to be straightforward, you know? Say what he means and stuff?"
"I know."
"Men are so complicated," Rikku sighed.
If Rikku was to be honest with herself, she was beginning to get furious. She really liked Gippal. She knew he really liked her. They started out as kids fooling around in detention but now…now what were they? After what happened at the diner Rikku thought he wouldn't pull anything like this, but she was beginning to think differently. Was kissing her all he was after? And now that he reached his goal, was she useless to him? She wanted answers to her questions, and more, but he wouldn't speak up.
There were bits of guilt inside of her, too. It was his fault for goading her into proving she could act, but it was her fault for making him want her.
She was angry, but couldn't help but feeling guilty.
--
That was it. She had given him four days and she couldn't take any more. Rikku had tried to give Gippal a chance to come and explain to her, but he wouldn't even look at her. What else could she do…? She hadn't gotten detention once that week for fear of being stuck awkwardly with him again. He was making her cautious.
School had ended about an hour before and Rikku had stopped at home to drop her stuff off before heading out to find Gippal. She recalled where he lived after she dropped him off one time.
Once she pulled into his driveway she sat for a moment, contemplating. Maybe by hunting him down, storming his house, she was putting Gippal into a position that she really shouldn't. Yeah, he deserved it, but what would she do if someone…she didn't need to think about it. She would be very angry if someone did what she was about to.
Her patience was running thin. She ran her fingers over the steering wheel and let them fall into her lap.
Rikku had kissed boys before. There was one time at a summer camp when her cabin and the boys cabin next door were playing spin the bottle, late at night, and Rikku got to kiss the very attractive-but not as attractive as Gippal-junior counselor. It was a sloppy kiss. He had a big mouth and Rikku never saw him the same again after that night.
But her kiss with Gippal…it was soft, sweet, everything a kiss was supposed to be. Wasn't it? She had thought so.
Rikku frowned and glared at his house. Was she overreacting? He just kissed her. People kissed all the time.
But…what if she lo-
Well, no. What ifs didn't help any situation. Rikku knew how she felt, knew what she thought, and knew what she was going to do. She was going to demand an answer, and she was going to get one, dammit.
She got out of the car and slammed the door. Anger coursed through her body and left hot trails in her veins that ignited every body part. She could feel her eyes practically glowing with fury and her legs were burning and carrying her up to the door faster than she thought possible. She ripped open the door and stomped into his house. The quiet guitar music from the basement led her to find him laying on the couch and staring at the ceiling. One look at her and he shot off the couch like it was made of hot coals. She clenched and unclenched her fists and advanced towards him.
"What the hell, Gippal!" He took a step towards her. "I have been waiting for you to talk to me for days now! DAYS! You were the one that kissed me, and I may have kissed back, but you started it." She poked him in the shoulder, hard. "What's so hard about explaining it to me, huh? WHAT? I've been stressing over this, wondering what I did to you, wondering if I'm a trophy-"
"Rikku, no-"
"No! Stop! Let me finish, Gippal. I've been wondering if everything you said at the diner was a lie, if everything that I believed you weren't has been lurking beneath the surface and waiting to jump out at me. I mean, what the hell am I supposed to think when you pull that kind of shit and then don't talk to me? What was I supposed to do?" Rikku took a deep breath. "You can't just kiss me and then abandon me. I'm not going to be another stupid-ass girl who moves away and recreates herself just to get over you. I'm not going to be another Vanessa, okay? I refuse."
She breathed heavily. Gippal stared at her with unreadable eyes.
"If you think I'm going to sit down and take this kind of crap from a guy like you, you are wrong. I thought you were different, but I guess I was wrong." She put her hands on her hips and shook her head. "You know where to find me…" She began to walk away, leaving him motionless in the basement with his thoughts.
"…But don't bother."