How will everyone react to Squall and Rinoa's news? Will Seifer seek his revenge or will their secret be safe?

Chapter 3

Affection and Attention

"Rinoa… you just have to understand one thing…" She looked up at him inquisitively, her arms still tightly wrapped around his neck.

"What's that?"
"I… I may have just been able to tell you how I feel but… I'm not so good with the whole 'showing affection' thing so please go easy on me for a while… especially in public."
"Don't worry." Rinoa laughed. "I'm not going to make you snog me in front of everybody. The most I'd ever do is hold your hand and a quick peck on the cheek. I won't tell Selphie yet if you don't want me to…"

"No, tell Selphie, that bit's fine. It's just… I'm new to this whole thing and I need… a bit of time to adjust." Rinoa smiled warmly, she could still feel his lips pressing against hers.

"Well, I won't make you hold my hand then, I'll wait for you to do it so you don't feel rushed." Rinoa felt a rush of affection for Squall. He reached down and kissed her.

"We need to go back to Selphie, don't we?" Rinoa moaned.

"Uuuh, yeah but I like being alone with you." She laughed. Squall smiled quickly.

"Well you can be alone with me all you want tonight." He smiled.

"Really?" Rinoa's eyes sparked with excitement.

"Yes, come on, we should go before she gets suspicious." Squall kissed her one last time and then slipped out of her arms. Opening the door, Squall shooed Rinoa out of the door. She smiled and fell into step beside him. The urge to hold his floating hand almost consumed Rinoa but for Squall's sake, she suppressed it and instead played with the ribbon on her arm. Squall kept stealing glances at her, each time he turned back and smiled. People they passed turned to look, obviously sensing something between the two. They stepped back outside, seeing that Selphie had moved and was now talking to a guy with long, brown hair tied up in a ponytail and his scalp covered with a cowboy hat. Rinoa smiled, she knew better than to disrupt her friend when she was talking to guys…unless it was really important. Rinoa looked up at Squall.

"Do you know where Zell is? Selphie won't want to be disturbed." Squall looked around.

"No idea. But uhh- do you know her?" Rinoa looked at where Squall's eyes were narrowed. A young woman with short brown hair was stood watching them.

"No… and I'm guessing you don't either."

"I don't like the way she's looking at us… let's go back inside." Rinoa nodded and followed Squall back into the building, they went into the library.

Sitting in the leather seat, they both took out books to read until it was time to go and get their dinner. If they'd had homework, that would have been what they'd spent the time doing but as it was, Rinoa just satisfied herself by sneaking glances at Squall concentrating and occasionally taking the book off Squall to slide it to the other side of the table. The first time, mild annoyance and surprise dashed across his face, the other two times, he smiled and gently took the book back.

Rinoa tucked her hair behind her ears and concentrated on the book she was reading, well aware that Squall kept looking at her.
"What are you reading?" He asked quietly, his eyes on her page. Rinoa blushed, it was a romance novel… a reading hobby that she hadn't let any of her other boyfriends in on.

"Um…" He sensed her embarrassment and taking her initiative, stole the book from her. Rinoa's hand swiped, trying to take the book back from him. Smirking, Squall stood so the book was out of her reach and he started to read the page.

Rinoa cringed as she realised what page he had started to read. It was where the romance started to get… really intimate. Squall's eyes widened and he looked up at Rinoa, his face completely perplexed.

"Rinny! Who would have thought?" He stuck his tongue out and pulled further away from her reaching fingers. "'He stuck his tongue in her ear and she moaned as his fingers clasped around her neck, dominating her.'" Rinoa stood up, her face turning red. "'She purred as he ran his finger down her torso, stopping just at the hem of her tiny mini-skirt.' Rinny, I'm shocked." Squall laughed. Rinoa was suddenly very glad they'd decided to sit in a more private area of the library – they were the only ones in sight.

Squall leaned stepped towards her and leaned over, forcing Rinoa to sink back into the seat. His face was barely an inch away from hers.
"Does this stuff actually work then?" His eyes flashed with laughter and mischief. Burning with embarrassment, Rinoa took the book from his loosened hands and put it back on the shelf, covering its location quickly by pressing her back to the bookcase. Rinoa left Squall without an answer, too aware of the redness of her face.

"Sorry." Squall muttered, putting his book on the table and pressing against her in a hug. Giggling, Rinoa slunk her arms around his shoulders.

"Thought you were new to the whole 'affection' thing?" She laughed, knowing how he'd react to her teasing.

"Shush, there's nobody here." Rinoa looked around, her eyes meeting no other people.

"Indeed. And what does that have to do with anything?" Rinoa winked, her voice sinking into a seductive growl.

"Well, I did have this one idea…" Rinoa gazed into Squall's eyes, unsure of what she found there. Squall's gaze was mysterious, hinting at something more…

He leant down and kissed her gently on her cheek. Rinoa tried to turn her head to intercept him with her lips but he was adamant about his lips' destination. Giggling lightly, Rinoa enjoyed Squall's attentions, until she heard footsteps approaching. Squall heard it too because he jumped back, releasing her. Trying to keep her breath even, Rinoa turned to touch the books behind her, looking busy.

"Well!" It was Zell; Rinoa wheeled around to see him standing, his attention snapping between her and Squall. "You two look very… suspicious." Rinoa's eyes slid to Squall who was leaning against a bookcase with his legs slightly open and panting.
"I'm not surprised, Zell. You just scared the hell out of us."

"What were you doing for me to surprise you so much?"
"Reading, it was nice and quiet until you came and disrupted us." Zell's eyebrow rose. Rinoa stood silently, watching the exchange, fascinated.

"Wassup, Rin? Cat got your tongue?" Zell asked, rounding on her.

"Nothing, Zell. I'm recovering from the shock of you appearing while we were quiet."
"Yeah… right." Zell slid up to Squall, who had resumed his stoic stance, and elbowed him in the ribs. "Ya asked her yet?" It was whispered, meant for only Squall to hear but Rinoa heard it too, clear as day. The books behind her caught Rinoa's attention as she listened to their 'secret' conversation.

"Asked who what?"
"Don't play stupid. You asked Rinoa to go out with you yet?"
"Don't be stupid, Zell." A pang of hurt sliced through Rinoa's heart but she pushed it aside.

"Why not?"
"Because, Zell."

"You've been misty-eyed since you met her and now you won't even talk to her? What's wrong in your head?"
"I don't know what you're talking about." Rinoa's heart was starting to hurt with each word of Squall's dismissal of her; she could no longer just brush it off.

"P-lease, dude. Just ask her already, it's clear you're crushing over her. Badly."
"Shut up, Zell." Rinoa couldn't bear to hear anymore, she put the book she'd been looking at back on the shelf. Failing miserably at blinking the tears away, Rinoa turned and walked out of the private area, out of the library and out of the quad door. She finally understood what it meant to want to be alone.

"Bravo, Zell." Squall snapped, rounding on the blonde boy.
"What'd I do?"

"She obviously heard you. Psh…" Squall exhaled heavily, turning away and swallowing his anger. "I'm going to find her." Walking as quick as his considerably long legs would allow, Squall followed the direction Rinoa had left in. He'd seen tears in her eyes, was she crying? What had Zell said to distress her that much? Where would she go?

Instantly, he thought of her dorm. Pounding hurriedly down the corridors, Squall found Rinoa's room and knocked on the door politely. There was no answer and he heard nothing when he pressed his ear against her door. Evidently she hadn't come here. Where else could she be then? The Quad? She'd been walking there earlier, maybe she was now too.

Nobody stopped him as he walked purposefully, searching every face for Rinoa and looking down each corridor as he passed it. There was no one in the quad, it was silent due to the lessons being held over school and the committee's impending meeting.

"Rinoa!" Squall called, seeing if she was hiding somewhere. No response. Turning back, Squall thought through the rooms that Rinoa was likely to know. It occurred to him that she may be upstairs, on the second floor on the balcony that jutted out from the school. Hurrying to the lift, Squall hoped to find her there before the bell sounded for dinner time.

Sure enough, Rinoa's hair whipped in the strong breeze.
"Rinoa." Squall breathed, knowing she couldn't hear him over the tempest raging in her ears. Instead, he decided to walk up to her and wrap her into a hug. As his arms snaked around her waist, he felt her hair start to buffer his face. Taking a deep breath through his nose, Squall savoured her scent and pulled her gently closer. She didn't resist, she leant backwards into the comfort of his body.

"What's wrong?" He questioned carefully, rubbing his nose against the arch of her ear.

"It's nothing…" Her voice was slightly choked, she had been crying… at least a little bit.

"It is, now, please tell me?"
"It's just… going from prize to being back into the shadows, it's a bit of a transition. I mean, I was with Seifer for a year… it's a long time and I got used to being used to make him look better."
"I won't do that."
"I know. It's just… you're so different."
"Isn't that a good thing?"
"Yes. I'm sorry Squall. Your little bout with Zell just woke me up to see how different being with you is going to be."
"I didn't mean to dismiss you, it's just Zell gets so annoying when he has fresh material…"
"I know. I'll get Selphie to try to talk to him or something."

The bell resounded throughout the Garden.

"Let's go to get some dinner." Rinoa beamed, wiping the last traces of tears away from her face and kissing Squall lightly on the cheek.
"Rin?"
"Yeah?"
"Wanna come to my dorm after dinner?" Her eyes widened with surprise.
"I'd love to."

It was only when they were halfway back to the elevator that Squall finally managed to swallow his nervousness and catch Rinoa's tempting dangling hand. She jumped in surprise, not expecting his warm hand to take her cooler hand.

"You sure? You don't have to. I want you to be comfortable."
"I am comfortable." He sighed, pulling her a bit closer so that her scent tantalized his nostrils. Rinoa smiled a gentle curve on her lips which aroused his own grin.

About ten minutes later, they were walking into the cafeteria, when Zell's eyes met theirs', his mouth dropped open and he nudged Selphie. Rinoa felt the blush creep across her cheeks as she took her food and, releasing Squall's hand regretfully, walked up to take the seat at Selphie's side. Biting back her grin, Rinoa forced herself to eat the food as Squall sat opposite them, next to Zell and directly across from Rinoa.

"Wow." Zell breathed. Squall looked up, Rinoa stared at her mashed potato.

"What?"

"You two. You do realise that everyone in the cafeteria was staring at you, don't you?"
"What's your point?"
"I thought you said it was ridiculous." Zell whispered too loudly again.

"Zell, you really need to understand the concept of whispering." Rinoa laughed, looking into the shocked teen's eyes. He took the humour lightly and on the chin, he laughed along with Selphie and threw a grin at Squall before attacking his hotdog with full force. "Seffie?" Rinoa called, Selphie looked up from her plate.

"Yeah?"
"Who was that guy you were talking to before dinner?"
"What guy?"
"When we left you, we came back and you were talking to some cowboy-style dude."
"Dude! You don't know Irvine?" Zell almost exclaimed.
"Zell, I've been here a week. Cut me some slack. No, who is he?"
"Like, one of the most popular guys in the entire Garden."
"He isn't…" Rinoa caught Selphie's downcast gaze. "…the guy you like is he?" She whispered, sure that Squall and Zell couldn't hear her.

"Maybe." Selphie muttered equally quietly.

"You should…" The doors swung open and in strode Seifer. Yelping, Rinoa turned back to her plate as if stung. She could feel his eyes boring into the back of her head.

"Jealous ex at 6 o'clock." Selphie warned Squall and Zell. Zell's eyebrows shot up to meet his electric hair while Squall acted completely unfazed, not even looking up from his food.

Rinoa felt Squall's knee brush purposefully against hers. She looked up to see him giving her a comforting smile – not completely obvious but a gesture she appreciated all the same. "What you three up to tonight?" Zell asked, striking up conversation to draw their attention away from Seifer's appearance.

"Homework." Selphie groaned. Rinoa held her tongue, well aware that Seifer was probably still watching her. "Rinny, what about you?"
"…"

"What's wrong?" Selphie asked, her brow creased in concern.

A hand landed hard on Rinoa's shoulder, almost making her buckle under the weight. "Yeah, Rin, whatcha doing tonight?" She didn't need to turn around to see it was Seifer. Did he still think she wanted to be around him?

"Seifer. Go away!" Zell snarled, even halting his assault on his hotdog in order to emphasise his point.

"No. Now answer my question."

"Seifer, what makes you think I want you to know what I'm doing tonight?"
"Because I'm gonna come see you, babe." Rinoa saw Squall's eyes darken with anger.

"What part of 'I'm not your girlfriend anymore' don't you understand?"

"I know you're just playing, sweetheart. So, I'll come to you after I've finished dinner."
"No, Seifer. Don't bother. I won't be in." Rinoa pushed his wretched hand of her and stood up, abandoning her food for the second day in a row. Squall saw what Rinoa was doing and followed suit, picking up his bag and leaving his food. "I'll see you later, Seffie." Rinoa walked away, pushing her chair in slightly before storming out of the room.

Footsteps hurried behind her and an arm wrapped around her shoulder. Thinking it was Seifer, Rinoa pushed it straight back off.

"Sorry." Squall muttered and the footsteps stopped.

"Oh, no. I'm the one who's sorry. I thought you were…"
Rinoa stopped to look at Squall. His eyes shone with understanding. They walked silently together, he didn't try to put his arm around her again and Rinoa bit her lip in resentment.

He watched as they walked, watched as Rinoa pushed his arm off and as he tagged along behind her. Yes, Seifer saw everything and he found it quite funny until Squall pulled Rinoa by the hand into a hug. They stopped walking and Seifer's brow creased. He saw Squall lean down and brush a lock of hair out of Rinoa's eyes. And Seifer saw as Squall leaned closer… too close and caught Rinoa's lips in his own. Seifer's fingers clenched, seeing that his girlfriend was being kissed by another person.

Squall held Rinoa tightly, comforting her with his kiss and opening his mouth slightly so he could caress Rinoa's bottom lip, making her moan into his mouth and kindling his own moan. Regretfully, Squall pulled away and took Rinoa's hand into his own. She giggled playfully as Squall guided her along to the dorms.

"You still wanna come over tonight?"
"I can't think of anything I'd want to do more." Rinoa winked as they walked to Squall's dorm together, hand in hand and not meeting anyone on their way.

Squall's door opened and closed behind them and for the second time that day, Rinoa marvelled over how simplistic the room was. Holding her hands on top of her head, Rinoa spun herself around to view all the walls and the books on his shelves. Of course, all study books and plenty of them. Warm arms wrapped around Rinoa's waist and she sank into Squall's embrace.

"Mmmm… you smell so nice." Squall marvelled, his voice low and seductive.

"Th-thanks." Rinoa squeaked back.

"What did you have in mind for tonight?"
"I-I don't know."
"Okay then." Squall kissed her bared neck and moved away from her to sit on the end of his bed. "Join me?" Rinoa sat with her head inclined slightly right.

The silence wasn't awkward but Rinoa felt something missing. Her hand slipped down from its previous position on her opposing shoulder. Oh… that's right - contact was missing. Silently, Rinoa slipped just behind Squall. Moving stealth-fully, Rinoa wrapped her legs around Squall and pulled herself closer so that her chest was pressed hard against his scarred back.

Squall's head gingerly held her thigh in place. She could feel it through the contact. His pulse. Racing and leaping as his mind comprehended the situation.

Don't get hard. Don't get hard. Sure, she probably wouldn't be able to tell but what if she changed position and sat on his lap? That would definitely give it away.

Seriously, they weren't even doing anything but her thigh felt oh, so warm in his hand and he couldn't ignore his pulse racing at the images his mind were conjuring. He'd never been crude – had only been horny once or twice and always with a good reason. But Rinoa. Rinoa shot hot, liquid desire through his brain and straight to his groin without even trying.

"You okay, Squall?"

"I'm just fine." Trying to quell the animal inside of me. "You?"

"I'm good." Her voice lowered into a seductive growl. She kissed his neck which surprised and pleased him and she repeated the action, getting more into what she was doing.

"Mmmmm, Rinoa." Squall murmured without thinking.

"What is it?" He couldn't control himself any longer, Squall wheeled around 180ᵒ to face her and crushed his lips onto hers, getting hard the second that she kissed back. She couldn't feel it yet but he wanted her to – he wanted her to feel how she caused his blood to boil and pleasure to jolt his aching groin.

"Squall!" Rinoa gasped as he pushed her into a lying position, the animal inside him taking over. As he lay down upon her, he could feel his pulsing erection digging into her thigh. Rinoa moaned softly with pleasure as their lips, and now their tongues, reunited in their dance.

He felt her hands slide up the back of his shirt and growled deep into her mouth as she dug her nails into his flesh and dragged them along the skin, making his pants even tighter with desire.

"You're so…hard!" Rinoa sighed, bathed in pleasure, in between his kisses.

Looking into her eyes, Squall tore his lips away from hers and attached them firmly to her neck, suckling and nipping, creating a trail of faint love bites. Rinoa gasped and moaned with every creation as he covered one shoulder, he moved back to her lips with a crashing crescendo. After ittering her other shoulder, Squall moved his hand up her tp to touch her stiff nipples.

That's when Squall snapped back into himself and jumped off her, Rinoa moaned with the loss of contact and pouted at him.

"We shouldn't…"
"Why not?"
"You wouldn't with Seifer and… it's too soon." Rinoa looked bewildered.

"I was completely capable of stopping you if I had wanted but I didn't. I want you… need you." Squall sat at the bottom of the bed again, not saying anything.

"Hmph! Fine, if you won't do it…" Rinoa stood and started towards the door. Squall panicked, thinking she was going to leave and find someone else to satisfy her. However, Rinoa just opened the bathroom door and went inside without closing the door behind her.

Curious, Squall looked to see what she was doing and stopped still when he saw her taking her duster off. She proceeded to remove her corset, tank top and shorts, leaving her in matching black, lacy pants and bra, revealing her toned stomach, luxurious thighs and ample breasts to him.