A/N: WOW. We got some MAJOR responses back on that last chapter, lol. Seems some people had some interesting things to say about Seifer. Which is really good and I'm glad that I didn't add this first part onto the end of that last one. Anyways, this starts up immediately where we left off last week, and I hope you all enjoy it. Back to pretty short chapters again, but no big deal. Enjoy:D

Seifer

Slamming the kitchen door shut behind me, I was glad to see Penelo had gone and I was now sharing this space only with Zack and Aerith. Crossing my arms, I glared at them, leading Zack to pull away from his soon to be wife, about to take off and let Aerith handle me on her own.

"No!" I growled, "You wanna marry her? Gonna have to put up with me, tough guy, now both of you, sit your asses down!"

Aerith took Zack's hand, giving him a quick nod, "We better do as he says when he's using that tone. See the vein in his forehead?" Sitting both of themselves down at the bar, she send a knowing look my way, "It's a mean one."

"Har, har, Aerith. This is no joke!" I marched over to them, clamping my hands down on the bar so I could stare intently at the both of them. Inhaling sharply, I straightened and crossed my arms again before saying, "You can't get married, it messes up my perfectly awesome relationship with Hayner."

Zack snorted, "Is he serious?"

Aerith wrinkled her nose, '"Dead serious."

A frown on Zack's part, amusement killed and then, "Oh..."

"Why is my marrying Zack messing with your relationship?" Aerith asked.

I puffed out some air, "Everything is fine as it is right now!" I declared, "Nothing is complicated, I'm happy, he's happy, but now that you'd getting married? You'll stop working the moment Zack moves in, Penelo won't need a babysitter anymore, therefore, Hayner's job becomes pointless and he'll have to leave Ireland and go back to Miami."

"Unless you ask him to stay..." Zack pointed out.

I growled, "Yeah, but I want to try and avoid that."

"Why?" Aerith exclaimed.

"Because!" Right, now I had to give the reason for it to make sense... "It's not that I don't want a serious relationship with him, it's just that I don't know if he wants that. I mean, there's the age difference and the fact that we're both in such different places in our lives. I'm a farmer who's trying to offer a stable life to his daughter. I'm never going to move away from here or give him the adventures he's surely seeking. I can't ask him to give up his youth and dreams just so he can have a relationship with me. Because that's what it is, guys, if I ask him to stay? I'm asking him to settle down at age twenty." Groaning, I let myself sit down on the floor, leading Zack and Aerith to lean over the bar and look down at me from up there. "It'd be really unfair of me to do that..." I muttered.

"What if that is what he wants?" Aerith offered.

"We've only been together for... a month." I reminded, "Your marriage is forcing us to move a whole lot faster than I think both he and I are ready for."

Zack grinned at me then, "Tough for you, mate."

I glared, "Seriously? That's all you're gonna do after I just allowed you to marry my ex wife?" Aerith scoffed. "Oh shush, woman, I may be gay, but that won't take away the fact that you got your ex husband and future husband in the same room right now."

"Get out!" Aerith shouted, jumping off the barstool to round said bar and pull me onto my feet, "Get out of my house, go home, and then think real hard about your situation." I opened my mouth but she just started shoving me towards the exit, a small smile on her face. "WITHOUT trying to stop me from marrying Zack as a solution to your problem! Find another way!"

"Fine!" I shouted, turning so I could give her a quick kiss on the cheek before storming out of her house, frustrated beyond repair.

Hayner - the following day

I really needed to stop sighing like a girl, but I suppose after glancing around at the room I'd called home for the past few months, I couldn't really help it. After Aerith's news last night, followed by that, well, interesting conversation with Seifer, I'd gone through my meager belongings, trying to decide what would need to go in order for me to move.

So far, I figured I could get rid of what few extra clothes I had, and sadly, the bunch of books I'd found at the church thrift store that were currently piled next to my bed. My Xbox I could probably keep, but it would be a good idea to get rid of all the games that I'd already beaten. Ugh. I hated moving. At least I still have a few weeks.

My stomach growled and I realized that I had completely forgotten to eat last night, too shell-shocked from all the revelations to remember dinner. Breakfast first this morning then. Grabbing my keys and wallet automatically, I exited my room via the garden and jogged through the trees towards the kitchen. Opening the door, I was surprised to see Aerith in there. I figured she'd have eaten by now. It was almost mid-morning.

"Er, Good morning, Aerith." I smiled her way, suddenly grateful that she'd always been so nice to me and for giving me a chance to au pair.

"Hi sweetie." She murmured absently, reading the last bit of her book's page before closing it, pushing it away from her across the bar and then giving me a smile. "Can you come sit with me for a moment? We need to talk about the changes that are going to occur once Zack and I are married."

Gulping instinctively, I grabbed a cup and poured some coffee, then went to sit next to her. I put on my best interested and accepting face as I prepared myself for what I'd known was coming since last night. "Sure. Go ahead."

"So," She reached over, tucking one of my hairs behind my ear. It was a little weird how touchy she was, but she'd done this since the beginning, so I'd gotten used to it by now.

"As I'm sure you already figured out on your own, I won't need to work anymore now that Zack is coming to live here, meaning Penelo won't be in need of an au-pair any longer, as, well, what kind of mother would I be if I were to extend your contract and dump her on you while I'm here all the time?"

She smiled softly at me, "Believe me when I say this, Hayner, you are a blessing and I'm so happy you came here when I needed it. You made my life, and that of Penelo's, so much smoother by doing your job so well." And then she sighed, taking one of my hands, "It pains me to end our contract, it really does, and while I see no way around it, I do want to help you."

Her smile turned bright then, "If you want to stay in Ireland? I will help you find a job and an apartment. I have some connections in London, Paris and Amsterdam as well, which means you have options."

"Uh, thank you, very much. I've really enjoyed working for you as well." I could...stay in Ireland. Now, why hadn't I really thought about that last night when I was freaking out about being kicked out of the country? There were tons of places to work here, and here Aerith was offering to help me get settled on my own in a country that I was actually happy living in. I felt the first genuine smile since hearing the marriage news break across my face. "And as for your offer of help, I'd actually really love that. Ireland has definitely become a second home to me. Thank you very much."

She pulled me into a hug, "Ugh, you're so cute." And then she pulled away again, looking down at her engagement ring just for the hell of things, leading her to let out a giddy kind of squeal. "I'm so happy I get to get married to a wonderful man who wants to take care of me and my daughter, that my daughter likes him and that my ex husband-" She cut herself off, wrinkling her nose, "Well, he'll always remain a bit of an ass, but, I know he's happy for me as well. And!" She exclaimed, looking at me again, "Now my karma level will remain intact since I'm doing a good deed helping you out. Which I want. It's not just to make myself feel better." She assured, "I'd hate to see you leave. Penelo would miss you terribly and if I can keep you at a close enough of a distance for her to be able to visit you?" She sighed contently, "Ah, isn't life just wonderful?"

It felt easy to smile now, and despite the severe ache I still felt regarding Seifer, he wasn't the only one that I'd grown attached to. "I would definitely miss the little scamp, that's for sure. I've had a lot of fun with her." I could always count on Penelo to make me smile.

Aerith nodded along happily, but then frowned, pinning her eyes on me. "Did Seifer do anything rash?" Blinking at her, she groaned, "He did, didn't he? He probably said something that hurt you, or angered you, or-" She shook her head, "Did he freak out on you? He must have because after going to say goodbye to you, he stormed into the kitchen and demanded Zack and I don't marry so it wouldn't screw up the relationship he has with you." Okay, awkward, while Seifer and I didn't hide our relationship, I'd never actually spoken about it to Aerith directly. She was his ex-wife and I was her au-pair. Talking about it was just beyond weird. "Hayner!" She snapped her fingers in front of my face, "Focus. What did he do?"

Surprised, I blurted it out. "We broke up." I didn't mention that it had been more him than me at the time, figuring that the blame could rest on both our shoulders.

She blinked. "No you didn't."

I raised an eyebrow, not backing down despite the fact that she was my boss. "Um, yeah we did. There was a very definite finality to the way he said, 'Miami will be glad to have you back'. And then with the walking away abruptly, I got the message."

She shook her head, "Yes, see, you didn't break up. Seifer is weird like that, believe me, you'll get the hang of it in a year or two." She promised. "He came into the kitchen, saying Zack and I couldn't get married because it was messing with your relationship. Said that you guys were happy the way things were right now and that my marrying Zack was forcing him and you to move much faster than you are ready for."

She shrugged, flipping her hair back over her shoulder. "He doesn't want to lose you, but as you've only been together for a month, neither does he feel ready to make any life changing decisions concerning your relationship status. And, if he were to tell you to stay, he feels he'd be asking you to settle down, which-"

She winced, "Well, he kind of would be because his situation sort of forces that." She puffed out some air, jumping off her barstool to start pacing. "How does he live in his own head?" She complained, rubbing her temple, "That man is exasperatingly complicated and tiring. Anyway," Leaning onto the bar, she took my hands in hers. "He cares for you, Hayner, and he certainly doesn't want to lose you."

"I don't know, Aerith. That really wasn't the way it sounded coming from him." I was very skeptical about this. He didn't want to lose me? That was all well and good, but either way, I was not going to be living ten minutes away from him in a month. And I sort of got the vibe that he hadn't left this town in a long while.

"Jesus Christ, you're just as stubborn as he is." She growled. "You want him? Yes or no answers, Hayner, come on! Quick!"

"Yes?"

"Great! You-" Her energy flowed out of her as she frowned at me. "This would have gone a lot better if I'd written my questions out. Also, I didn't expect you to actually listen to me." Reaching back, she braided her hair together, looking concentrated, "Okay, well, just know that what he said? Even if it seemed final? He really doesn't want you to go back to Miami. Just give him some time to cool down, and then talk to him." She nodded at herself, "Yes, talk to him. Tell him that although things are changing, you still want to be with him."

I couldn't really do anything else but nod along with her, already debating if I'd actually be able to talk to Seifer without wanting to smack him for leaving me hanging yesterday. Glancing at Aerith now that she'd paused long enough to take a breath, I wondered if I should really follow her advice. I sighed. I suppose it couldn't hurt. The worst that could happen would be that Seifer really did break up with me and then I'd be no worse off than I thought I was at the moment.

"Okay, I'll talk to him. It shouldn't be that hard. Unless he goes back to avoiding me again." I'd kick his ass for sure if that happened.

Seifer - Two days later

Wincing, I quickly pulled my fingers back, sucking them into my mouth, hoping my saliva would lessen the burning sensation that had occurred when they'd connected with the hot metal of the lantern planted into the wall beside Aerith's front door. Usually I could snatch it fast enough as to not burn my fingers, but apparently she'd changed the location of the spare key.

Frowning, I stepped off the welcome mat, kicking it up with my boot to see if she'd hidden it under there, my frown deepening as I still had no key to open the large front door blocking my way in. Great. I didn't want to ring the doorbell. Waking Penelo in the middle of the night made her grumpy the next morning, and me being the cause of that? I wouldn't hear the end of it on Aerith's part. But I really needed to talk to Hayner.

Tilting my head back, I scratched my neck, sighing and then shrugging as I really had no other choice but to break into my ex wife's home to talk to my daughter's babysitter, who I also happened to be sleeping with. A guy I wanted to continue sleeping with for a long while ahead and he needed to hear that.

Moving over to the window located beside the front door, I used the edge of it to climb up, groaning as lifting myself onto the rood ledge was a lot harder than I'd imagined it to be. It had been a lot easier ten years ago when I'd been trying to get to Aerith. Chuckling at that, I couldn't quite believe I found myself in this situation again, at age thirty. Once on the flat roof, I tip toed my way across, and then moved over to the wall where a garden bench was nestled close against it, allowing me to lessen the drop down to the ground. Once I was crossing the garden to go to Hayner's rooms, I realized that I may want to talk to Aerith about the security of her house at some point.

Trying the doorknob, I was glad to find out that he at least locked it, but was then less pleased to know that he'd left his bedroom window open just a bit, letting a cool breeze enter through there. Well, not entirely unpleased, since that would allow me to sneak inside. Pushing the window up, I climbed my way through, but before I crossed the hallway to make my way into his bedroom, I took off my boots, knowing how anal he was about clean floors. I was breaking into his private space, the least I could do was oblige him on his crazy and lose the muddy shoes.

Once I stepped into the bedroom area of his rooms, I smiled as he was laying the wrong way, spread out across the bed, his hair tousled, blanket thrown haphazardly over his ass and thighs, his feet sticking out of the bed, and although he denied this relatively stubbornly when awake, there was that cute snore of his.

Walking over to where his head was, I crouched down, placing a kiss against his forehead. "Hayner," I whispered, "Wake up."

"Tha' fuck?" Came a mumbled reply, followed by him rolling over, the snore returning. Smirking, I rolled my eyes and then sat onto the edge of the bed, placing my hand on his back. Now, I could either repeat myself, or... It's not like breaking into the house had been the mature thing to do, so it made no sense for me to stop myself from doing the following, just because an adult wasn't expected to condone such behavior.

Happy with that logical assessment, I leaned in, pressing my mouth against his neck, wetting the skin with my tongue before starting to suck on it gently. Since that didn't get much of a reaction out of him, I let my hand on his back travel it's way down, not even teasing him into things as I palmed his ass cheek firmly.

"What the fuck?" Suddenly, I was thrown off of him as he scrambled backwards, slamming his head on wall. I could almost hear his heart racing. "Dude...this had better be some sort of weird dream or something." I could see him glance to the right where his alarm clock was sitting on a table. "It's the middle of the night!"

Letting myself flop back on the bed, I groaned, "Yeah, I know, epiphanies don't exactly follow politically correct hours, waiting for the morning, most likely after nine, just to be polite."

"How did you get in here?"

"I climbed over the roof, went into the garden and-" Sitting up, I glared at him, "While I really need to point out to Aerith that her house security is lacking, you shouldn't leave your window open. No point in locking your door then."

My eyes were completely adjusted to the dim light, and I saw his jaw clench. "In the real world, there aren't people climbing over garden walls to climb in through my windows. I think you'll find that you breaking in here to be completely your fault." He crossed his arms over his chest and for lack of a better word, pouted.

I flopped back onto the bed, "Dude, I was trying to be romantic and shit." Right? "Just, can you stop being angry with me? I did come here to tell you things that should make up for my parting comment Friday late afternoon."

He sighed. "I'm not angry. But seriously, Seifer. You scared the ever living shit outta me." While he didn't exactly snuggle up to me, Hayner moved so he was laying next to me and turned so he could look me in the eye as best he could.

I chuckled, sticking my arm underneath his neck so I could pull him against my side. "While that wasn't my intention, it was kind of fun to see you jump and bang your head like that." He smacked me. "Oh come on! You laughed at me when I ran into that lamp post the other day. We're even now."

Turning to my side, I inched my face close to his. "When you told me about the reality of things? Their marriage making it so your contract wouldn't be renewed?" I swallowed, "Look, I don't want to end our relationship, Hayner, but neither do I want us to make a fast moving decision just because we find ourselves in a situation that sort of shoves us in that direction."

"So, what exactly are you saying? You want to be with me, but you don't want to commit to anything long term? What should we do then?" His voice was quiet, and I couldn't tell what he was thinking.

I quickly framed his face, kissing his lips, "No, no! I do want to commit, I just, we've only been together for a month. Hayner, while I know I don't want to break up with you, I just-" Groaning in frustration, I kissed him again, "I like you, so much, and what we have means a whole great deal to me, but I like to take things step by step, I don't want to rush. I've rushed with Aerith, made a whole lot of big life changing decisions because the situation we were in forced us to do that. I don't want to force anything, Hayner."

He nodded slowly. "I get it. There is potential here and by not rushing things, we stand a better chance of surviving. But here's a question for you. Say I can't find work and everything I need here, what will you do then?"

Pulling away, I gave him my back to stare at, "That's an incredibly evil question." Sighing, I ran my hands through my hair, "I don't know. When I say I don't want to end things between us, I really mean that, so if you really can't find anything?" I puffed out some air, "Then, well, I will ask you to stay, with me, in my house, and take things a little faster than I want them to go." Licking my lips, I grabbed a pillow and hugged it for the hell of things, "I wish I could offer to go with you, but you know I can't. Penelo is here, and I'll always be where Penelo is."

"What if I'm close? How far is too far away Seifer? I'm not trying to be evil here, or torture you, but what if I find something in Dublin? Are you saying that you'll never leave here to come see me? I'm not asking you to choose me over your daughter, but-" He let out a sound of exasperation. "I need some sort of wiggle room. Either I'm here or I'm out there. Is there no compromise?"

"Dublin?" My voice dumbfounded, "You're not going back to Miami?"

"I fucking hate Miami." He sounded angry. "When have I ever said I was going back there? Do I talk about it a lot? Say I'm homesick? I grew up there, end of story. It's not my home. Ireland is my home."

My eyebrows shot up in slight annoyance, followed by me turning back around, sitting up so I could look at him, "You never talk about anything, Hayner, and I don't read minds, so I'm sorry if I couldn't have foretold that. I didn't know you hated Miami and that Ireland had become your home." Sounding angry myself now, I continued, "If you actually talked to me, I might not be so clueless right now and make the wrong assumptions, but every time I ask you anything, you always tell me you either don't feel like talking about it, or just avoid the question, skipping it entirely."

He groaned. "Fine, I suppose you're right. I'm not like you guys here. I don't really like sharing about my past. It's just not something I'm used to thinking about let alone talking about." Leaning back on the bed, his hands crossed behind his head as he stared at the ceiling, he let out a sigh and patted the area next to him, inviting me to lie back down.

"It's not a question of being like us around here, I realize the folks share a lot and are open, but you are particularly closed up. I would know since I wasn't always from Ennis." I muttered, still a bit frustrated with him, but lying down next to him anyway.

He chuckled weakly. "No, you're from Cali and the west coast. You're a whole other kind of weird." Clearing his throat, he took a deep breath, putting his one hand in mine and lacing our fingers together. "I was born in Miami, pretty normal. I remember a lot of sunny days as a kid, and telling stories to the tourists about alligators in the sewers. But then again, I also remember the fighting. Mom yelling about Dad never being around and how he avoided us; then Dad yelling that he was working three jobs to keep our heads above water, while all she did was spend the money on gambling. Let's just say I avoided the house as often as I could."

His voice was soft, hardly any emotion was getting through, but his hand was slowly gripping mine. "I ran around the neighborhood with a bunch of kids my age, getting into the normal trouble and everything. Before I knew it, I'd completely missed the splitting up of my parents, only coming home to find all of Dad's stuff gone and Mom suddenly having two of our rooms rented to college students." He paused. "It was weird, but after that, everything sort of blurs together. Almost as if I was unnoticed by everyone around me. Half the time, my room was being used by various kids, stopping by and needing a place to crash. As soon as I could get a job, I did. Then I was around even less. Saw my dad twice a year for Christmas and birthdays, but it was as though we were three separate adults living separate lives and not a kid and two parents. Well, I graduated, spent some time in college, before the idea of traveling jumped into my mind. Next thing I knew, I was in England wondering around Bristol looking for work. As an international, I had an easier time of getting a work Visa for other places. And then the career guy recommended Ireland as English was spoken here, and I could move right away. And here I am. Haven't spoken or heard from my mom and dad in about three years, and I haven't been back to the States in almost two." He stopped abruptly and his grip was looser around my fingers.

I let silence drag out through the room, knowing that I couldn't just answer anything for the sake of answering. If he hadn't told me, it's because he wanted to put it in the past and move on. I wasn't sorry I'd pushed him to talk to me though; I'd needed him to open up. While the past is allowed to stay in the past, to build a future you need to take a quick scan over the past to know what way to move forward. At least, that was my opinion on the matter.

Sighing, I lifted his hand to my mouth, pressing my lips against his knuckles, "To realize your parents don't act like your parents can't be easy. Can't say how that feels exactly, mine are pretty cool. I'm sorry you had to grow up so fast."

I felt him shrug and let out a breath. "Not a super big deal, but you can see how it's just easier to keep things to myself. Nobody has ever really cared before and you just get out of the habit of talking about it. Next thing you know, you haven't talked about it for years and then why bring it up? I suppose I didn't think that it was that important." He sounded sheepish.

Moving so I could straddle his waist, I framed his face, leaning in so I could press a soft but deep kiss against his lips. "You are important to me, Hayner, don't ever think otherwise. I want to know you, inside and out, but I can only do that if you let me in. Not just your past, but in general. So far I've told you what I want out of our relationship, but you still haven't told me what you want with it."

"Well, that depends on your answer about the Dublin thing. I'm still waiting on that." A smirk was playing on his lips, which was the closest I'd seen to having a smile on his face all night.

Smiling, I brushed the hair out of his face, "It's definitely more manageable than Miami."

"Then hell yeah I want us to stay together. I've...never had the sort of relationship where I'd be willing to make any sort of distance work, but I'm not going to give you up after all the work I put into this." His arm snaked around my neck as his face lifted off the bed enough for our lips to brush against each other.

Chuckling, I pulled back, "You're doing that move again, the one you know I can't resist. You'll get me all riled up, and then I'll have to drive home with a severe case of blue balls because you know as well as I that I won't want to do any funny business under my ex wife's roof."

He flopped backwards on the bed, one eye open and a big grin on his face. "I just wanted a kiss. I'm still dead tired, you crazy pervert stalker who breaks into people's rooms in the middle of the night. Get out before I tattle on you."

"Get out?" I repeated, "I climbed over a roof and broke into a room for you, just to be able tell you how very much I want to keep pounding yo ass. I'm not getting nothing at all?" I whined, "Can't you ignore your exhaustion and come back to the farm with me?"

He shook his head sadly. "I work tomorrow morning. It's the middle of the week and I've got to take Penelo to school or I'd be over there in a heartbeat, you know that." Biting his bottom lip, he peered up at me. "Can't you just spend the night? We'll just go to sleep; I was serious about being tired."

Groaning, I rolled my eyes and moved his body as to have him lay the right way in the bed before settling down beside him. "You're making me look very bad by being so responsible and good and shit."

He sighed. "Nope, just tired is all. You can be irresponsible tomorrow by sleeping in while I take Penelo to school. Happy?"

"You really are tired if you don't get that I am being irresponsible already." Smirking, I wiggled out of my pants, ripping off my shirt before throwing the blanket across mine and Hayner's body properly. "Try not to shove me out of the bed like you do, while trying to settle in the wrong direction of the bed again." His only answer was sticking his tongue out and blowing me a raspberry.

A/N: See? Everything turned out in the end, ya know? Except this isn't the end...and things may or may not turn out...*shifty eyes*