AN: Hey guys! Here's the new chapter finally. As always, I hope you like it.
Also, I'd like to give a big thanks to you reviewers for sharing your thoughts on the story with me! I really appreciate this and it's quite motivating to get some sort of feedback and support :)
Aaand now ... enjoy!
Chapter Four
"You what?", Lightning asked Vanille who could only smile happily.
"It's right, Claire! She has a date with Fang!", Serah exclaimed cheerfully. Lightning was completely dumbstruck at the news. She really hadn't anticipated that.
"That's ... unexpected", was all she could say. She didn't want to ruin their good mood and especially Vanille's happy attitude but she was more than just a little concerned.
"Don't worry, Light! I haven't forgotten about what you told me. I'll be careful, promise", Vanille tried to assure Lightning whose frown disappeared and was replaced with a hint of a soft smile.
She nodded in approval before she got up from her couch. "Okay, Vanille. I'll have to accept that", Lightning said, seeming a little more at ease now, even though everyone in the room knew that she would keep her concerns probably for as long as Fang hadn't convinced her herself that she wasn't only playing some game with Vanille.
"So, you said your date is tonight?", Light asked from the kitchen where she had gone to get herself another cup of tea.
"Yep", Vanille answered enthusiastically and fidgeted in her seat as if it would shrug off her nervousness about the date.
"Okay. I'll be at home tonight, so once you need to be picked up, give me a call, okay?", Lightning asked in a caring tone before sitting down again with her cup in her hands.
Vanille nodded. "Hey, won't you tell Snow about this, by the way?", Serah suddenly asked Vanille with a light poke to her shoulder.
Lightning arched an eyebrow at this but kept quiet to let Vanille answer the question herself. "Ehm yeah, I think I could tell him, he'll most likely learn it from Lebreau anyway", Vanille shrugged her shoulders.
"And once Snow and his NORA guys know it, all of Bodhum will learn about it", Lightning piped up. And she had a point, Snow and his friends weren't really known for their ability to keep secrets.
"Mhh... You're right about that. And I have a feeling Fang wouldn't appreciate this...", Vanille said, thoughtful. "What do you say, Serah?"
Serah leaned back in the couch. "I guess Lightning is right. I had totally forgotten how ... talkative Snow can be. But what about Lebreau? You won't be able to hide it from her when you guys meet at her bar", Serah said, frowning in an attempt to find a solution to their problem.
"Anybody got an idea?", she asked.
There was a short silence as everyone seemed to be in thought. Suddenly, Lightning's face lightened up a bit as she came up with the perfect idea to shut Lebreau up. "I think I've got a solution for you", she finally said.
Both Vanille and Serah looked up at Lightning with hopeful gazes as the policewoman briefly explained what she had in mind.
"Well, it's simple. I'll just go and 'remind' Lebreau about something I've deliberately ignored some months ago because your boyfriend-", she gave Serah a quick glare before continuing, "-practically begged me to do his friend this favour. It was nothing major, just something that would've cost her some money she didn't have at the time.", Lightning explained before taking a short sip from her cup.
"So if I go and remind her that she owes me one for that and that I've kept enough evidence to still be able to prove this little ... offence in case she should fail to keep her mouth shut...", Lightning said with a sly smirk.
"-Then I guess she will comply without any resistance.", she concluded and clasped her hands in content before another thing came to her mind and her facial expression changed to dead serious within barely a moment.
"And if that isn't enough, I'll make Snow pay in case someone can't keep their mouth shut", Lightning said with such a calmness it was frightening.
"Oookay!", Serah said with a mix of self-consciousness and confusion evident on her face.
Vanille, however, seemed oblivious to Serah's distress as she happily thanked Light for her help and soon, the impending death sentence for Snow if anyone at Lebreau's dared talking about Fang and Vanille was forgotten and they spent a relaxed afternoon together before Vanille and Serah went upstairs to get Vanille all dressed up for her date with Fang.
She chose the orange skirt and the white shirt she had bought this afternoon and even put on a little amount of make-up - something she did only on special occasions - and finally decided to wear her favourite sandals. It was warm enough that she could go without a coat so her outfit for the evening was complete.
Serah wished her the best of luck and reassured her again how stunning she looked and how she was sure Vanille would totally have a great date before the redhead left the house together with Lightning who had agreed to drive her to the bar.
They drove in a comfortable silence and when they reached the bar, Lightning urged her to be careful once more before wishing her a great evening and reminding her to call her once she wanted to be picked up again. Vanille thanked her before leaving the car and walking towards the entrance of the bar with a chaotic mix of nervousness and excitement in her fast-beating heart.
"So, where are you meeting her tonight?", Sazh asked Fang as she sat down on her bed again beside him.
She had just told him all about her day and how she had found Vanille and asked her out, and even though she had tried to appear calm and relaxed about the whole thing, she had found herself hectically moving around the entire hotel room while wildly gesturing with her hands as she told Sazh everything.
Of course, this had made it quite easy for the forty year old man to discover how excited she really felt about the whole thing.
"I suggested Lebreau's. It looked nice when we walked by the other day", Fang answered while tipping her foot on the ground erratically.
"Oh yeah, I remember", Sazh nodded. "So, you've told me everything that happened today, but you've not with one word mentioned how you feel about all of this", he started with a calm voice and a smile on his lips.
Sure, he had found that out already - even a blind person would've seen Fang's nervousness - but indeed the brunette had avoided verbalising her feelings, and he had a hunch that this was because she had trouble coping with them.
Fang stared at the ground for a brief moment. How I feel about it? As if he doesn't know already, she thought while raising her head again to look in Sazh's brown eyes.
She sighed loudly. This was something she had avoided mentioning to him for a reason. It wasn't easy to talk about her feelings, it had never been. Especially not feelings that she was afraid of, feelings that seemed to turn her entire world upside down.
"Well...", she started and folded her hands in her lap. "I guess I don't really know, it's all so confusing and frightening, and I-"
"Fang, what does your heart say?", Sazh interrupted his band colleague. He smiled understandingly and put his hand on her shoulder.
"What?" Yes, she had told herself she wanted to see her again to find out if it was what her heart wanted, and she had felt great about it right after her encounter with Vanille but that was before she had reached the hotel and the doubts and fears had made her question the whole thing once again.
Now, there was only confusion and uncertainty left, it seemed. And she just didn't know anymore what her heart wanted.
"I ... don't really know, Sazh", she started and looked over to him with the same confusion in her eyes that she currently felt.
"From what you've told me, I got the impression it all felt quite good after you met her in the city, ain't that right?", he asked and received a short nod from Fang as response.
"So where's the problem? What changed ya mind?", he continued.
Fang shook her head, "Just because it felt nice it doesn't mean that it's right, that it's what my heart wants", she said, frowning and her hands balled into fists for a split second before she relaxed again.
Sazh chuckled a bit. "I think I get what ya mean"
There was a short silence of a few seconds as Sazh thought about how he could phrase what he wanted to say and Fang was once again deep into her thoughts about right and wrong.
"But ya know, we all have doubts about the things we do every once in a while, it's normal", he finally spoke up again.
"Especially when we are about to experience somethin' that's new to us", he said calmly and patted her on the back before getting up from the bed.
"You know, it's perfectly okay to have some worries and fears about it, this doesn't automatically make it wrong", he said, now standing before Fang who was still sitting on the bed and staring up at him.
"So why don't ya just go there tonight and see what happens?", he said and offered her a hand to get up which she took and pulled herself up from the bed.
"Just remember to do whatever feels good and right for you, these things that make you feel all warm and cosy in your chest area, ya know?", he said with a hearty smile and a wink.
"Okay, I'll try that, thanks Sazh", Fang answered with a smile of her own and accompanied him to the door.
"Sazh?", she asked him as he stood in the doorframe. There was something else on her mind that she needed to address. "Yeah?"
"Don't tell the others about this just yet, yeah? I don't want anyone to know about this as long as I'm not sure where this'll end up myself"
"You got my word", he only said with a nod before leaving for his hotel room. He would just have to lie a bit should the others want to know where Fang had gone for the evening. But that he would do for the young woman that he liked to look upon as some kind of daughter.
Hours later, Fang had dressed up and made her way to the bar which was, luckily, not so far from the hotel so that she had decided to walk the way there.
She had taken longer than usual to pick her clothes for this evening.
Normally, she often wore her favourite black leather pants and a matching leather jacket with a shirt under it plus some boots. Alternatively, she went for a similar outfit with jeans instead of leather.
She also owned a few more 'girly' things like skirts but she only rarely wore them in private but never on stage or whenever she was in public. So people in general only knew her with her typical leather or jeans outfits.
She had briefly toyed with the idea to wear her girly clothes for the date with Vanille but had cast away the idea eventually. She wanted to go there just the way Vanille knew her, and so she picked her jeans jacket, jeans pants and a black top to wear under the jacket and combined these with a pair of sneakers.
After some minutes of walking through the city of Bodhum, Fang finally neared the bar. She cast a quick glance at her phone to see that she was ten minutes early before she put it in her pocket again and walked around the corner so that she could see the bar a few metres down the street.
And she noticed only now that with every step she got closer to the building her nervousness increased. Sure, she had already been nervous to some degree all afternoon before but it had been bearable. Right now, however, she felt like she could explode from all the pressure inside her that made her chest feel so tight and yet so strangely good.
She had reached the entrance now and there seemed to be a lot going on in the small bar that had "Lebreau's" written in bold pink glowing letters above the door. She dismissed the two bodyguards that had accompanied her to the bar for her safety and opened the heavy wooden door with shaky hands to go inside.
It was quite crowded inside and her nose immediately picked up the smoky air as she made her way through the crowd to find a free place somewhere to sit down.
Lady Luck once again today seemed to be on her side as she spotted a free corner booth not far from her. She sat down and ordered a gin tonic when a waiter came to her table and then waited for Vanille to arrive.
It didn't take the girl long to find Fang and when she got to the table she greeted the brunette with a shy "Hey" before she sat down across from her.
"Hey", Fang smiled and took a quick glance at the girl's clothes as she sat down.
"You're really wearin' the skirt, huh", she remarked as she saw the familiar orange garment on the girl.
Vanille blushed a little. "Yeah, you said you liked it, so ...", she said while nervously tipping on the table with her fingers.
Fang smiled when she noticed Vanille's obvious embarrassment. "I do like it, you look great", she finally said charmingly, hoping to make the girl feel more comfortable.
And she hadn't lied, either. Vanille did look great. Not only her skirt, she also wore a white shirt with quite a low neckline that drew Fang's attention immediately to her pretty breasts.
"Thank you. You look great too", Vanille replied still awfully nervously and Fang forced her gaze up to her face again. No starin' now, you're dating Vanille and not her breasts, Fang reprimanded herself inwardly when a young woman with short dark hair and quite a tantalising dress approached their table.
"Hey Vanille, how you doin'?", the woman exclaimed happily.
Vanille smiled. "Hey Lebreau, nice to see you!", the redhead said with a bubbly voice. Ah, the bar owner, Fang realised as the woman turned to her suddenly.
"And you must be Fang, yeah? Of course you are, I know you!", Lebreau exclaimed in pure excitement before Vanille poked her in the side so hard Fang was sure it must've hurt.
"Ouch!", it escaped the brunette and her face contorted in both confusion about the action and pain before it suddenly lightened up in understanding as she seemed to remember why Vanille had poked her.
"Yeah I know, I know, Lightning talked to me. I will shut up, promise", she said apologetically to both Fang and Vanille before resuming her happy attitude once again. "So, what can I get you, Vanille?", she asked.
"I'll take a Sex on the Beach please", the redhead said without thinking twice, it was her favourite drink after all. Lebreau left the table with a short nod to get her the drink.
Fang, apparently having recovered from a good part of her nervousness, found herself smiling devilishly as an impish thought crossed her mind. "Well, if you want sex on the beach, you could've just asked me, sweetheart", she said with a wink.
She got exactly the reaction she had aimed for as Vanille blushed furiously before her. "I- ehm...", she started nervously while rubbing her hands in a desperate attempt to regain her composure.
Fang couldn't help but laugh heartily at this cute reaction. "Sorry, sometimes I just can't keep my cheeky mouth shut", she apologised.
After a few moments, Vanille seemed to relax slowly which gave Fang the opportunity to start a conversation.
"So, what was that with Lebreau about?", she asked curiously and leaned forward a bit with her hands firmly planted on the table.
Vanille found herself smiling again, the embarrassment forgotten.
"Ah well, Lebreau isn't exactly a reliable person when it comes to keeping secrets and I figured you didn't want all of Bodhum knowing tomorrow about you meeting here with me tonight, so I made a few ... arrangements that ensure her silence", Vanille explained with a hint of a devious smile on her face for merely a second before resuming her normal cute smile again.
"Ah, I see", Fang nodded. "Yeah I actually hoped not to read about this in the papers tomorrow, so yeah ... great idea you got there", she added approvingly. Vanille's smile immediately widened a good bit at Fang's thankful reaction.
Meanwhile Lebreau returned with Vanille's drink and wished them a good evening before quickly disappearing again.
"So you and your friend are fans of my band, yeah?", Fang asked after a short silence.
Vanille nodded her head quickly and you could feel the excitement glowing in her eyes as she started talking enthusiastically. "Yep! Serah and I've discovered your band only a few months ago and we became huge fans of you guys and your music!", she exclaimed.
Fang felt flattered, hearing the pretty girl in front of her talk about her band like that. She was used to having really huge fans so actually that was nothing new but it was something different with someone you had a crush on, even if you still had trouble fully admitting the crush to yourself.
And Fang found herself opening up more to the girl, just like some sort of barrier was slowly and piece by piece crumbling inside her as Vanille went on telling her about what she liked about the band, what her favourite songs were and many more things.
Vanille also noticed herself becoming increasingly relaxed in Fang's presence, or maybe it was just the alcohol? Anyway, she used her newfound boldness to change the topic to get to know more about Fang.
"So what about you, Fang? Tell me something about you!", the little girl asked with a happy tone in her voice.
Fang made a thinking face for a brief second before she was interrupted by a waiter coming by asking if they wanted another drink at which both ordered something.
When the waiter disappeared, Fang focused her attention on Vanille again. "About me, yeah? Well in short, I am an orphan from Oerba where I grew up. I left the city after high school and travelled a lot before I ended up in the band eventually.", she told Vanille.
"But you've probably read all this in some interview already, haven't ya?", Fang asked with a lazy smirk and Vanille nodded grinningly.
"Yeah, but I have to admit there isn't really much more about my life I could tell you that you don't already know.", Fang said, shrugging her shoulders.
"I guess most things about me you have to discover yourself by gettin' to know me better", she added with a smirk.
"So why don't ya tell me some things about you?", the guitarist suggested before taking a sip from her drink.
Again, Vanille nodded before a smile crept upon her features. She found her life quite boring actually but Fang, obviously, didn't know that so she would tell her about it.
"Mh...", she started, unsure how to begin. "First of all, I think there are some things we have in common, actually.", she smiled as she received a confused look from Fang at the implication.
"Well, I'm an orphan as well and I was born in Oerba, too. But my parents and I moved to Bodhum when I was just a small child ... and shortly after, they died", Vanille explained with a bit of a sad tone to her voice at the end.
She could barely remember her parents as she had been only four years old when they had died in an accident but that didn't mean that she didn't still miss them sometimes, even though she had found a new family in Serah and Lightning and maybe also Snow in the future.
Fang saw the sadness emerging in Vanille's eyes and she felt for her. Who could better understand the feelings of an orphan than someone who had endured the same fate?
Fang smiled thoughtfully at her and it seemed like her hand moved out of its own accord as she placed it on Vanille's to comfort the girl.
She immediately felt like she'd done something terribly wrong, though, as she saw how Vanille's eyes shot to their hands in an instant, surprise evident on her face.
"I- sorry", Fang said apologetically and withdrew her hand quickly. "I just wanted to comfort you, I'm quite familiar with these feelings and know how much it can hurt you", she explained herself, hoping that the girl would accept this.
"Actually, I didn't mind ... I was just surprised, that's all", Vanille shyly said with a soft smile on her lips. Honestly, if she were more forward about this, she would directly ask Fang to put her hand back on hers. But being the person she was, she felt like she was too shy for that.
"Okay, then I'm relieved I didn't screw anything up with that", Fang said, smirking. She wasn't sure if it was okay to put her hand back again just like that, though, so she kept it firmly placed beside her glass for now.
"You know... I- ... I mean ...", Vanille stammered, trying to get out her wish now as she saw that Fang didn't make a move.
Fang arched her eyebrows. "Yes?", she asked the girl before her.
Just ask, she won't kill you., Vanille spurred herself on. "I wanted to say that I also wouldn't mind if you put your hand back on mine again", she forced out of herself.
Fang didn't hesitate one second and did as she was told, smiling.
"So, now that that's settled ... where were we?", she said nonchalantly and gave a soft squeeze to the smaller hand underneath hers.
Vanille blushed a little at the gesture but then quickly went on telling Fang about herself.
"You know, there actually isn't much more to tell. I grew up in an orphanage here in Bodhum and went to high school where I met Serah who is now my best friend. I've been living with her and her sister Lightning for some years now, too, and they've become a new family for me over the years, you know", she explained happily, remembering all those years and all the situations when Serah had been there to comfort her.
"I see", Fang nodded in understanding. "I guess it's a good thing that ya found a new family for yourself", she started before averting her gaze from the girl's shortly as she continued.
"I have always felt quite homeless over the years, and I somewhat still do, even though I know that the band tries to be some sort of family for me but part of me doesn't quite fully let them, you see", she tried to explain her situation, her eyes now searching for Vanille's again who watched her intently.
"Oh, why's that?", the redhead wanted to know.
"I don't quite know", Fang shrugged her shoulders. "But I guess I've always had a habit of keeping people at a distance, there's always been some sort of barrier that kept everyone away from my innermost parts", she told the girl, wondering how she barely knew her and yet felt comfortable with telling her about all of this. It just felt right.
"I think I understand what you mean, I've often felt the same when I was younger but I feel that it has improved a lot over the years thanks to Serah who has been there for me a lot", Vanille smiled.
"Why don't ya tell me a bit about your friend and her sister and everything?", Fang suggested interestedly and leaned forward a bit in her seat.
Vanille nodded and began telling Fang about her friendship with Serah, how they had met at high school and became close and how she'd eventually ended up in the Farron household.
Of course, Vanille didn't forget to mention Lightning and how it was definitely not always so easy living with the woman. Both laughed heartily when Vanille described in great detail the situations when they had almost driven Lightning insane with their love for Fighting Fate.
It got even a bit funnier when she went on about the 'difficult' relationship between Lightning and Snow because the man happened to be on the endless list of Serah's boyfriends that Lightning did not approve of.
Though she was sure, Vanille added with an evil grin, that the boyfriend Lightning would approve of did not even exist - at least not in this world.
Finally, the girl talked about her literature studies which she worked on with great enthusiasm together with Serah who studied the same.
When she had told the guitarist everything important and interesting she could think of, she took a sip from her third drink this evening and smiled. "Yeah, this is my life, basically. Not the most exciting thing in the world, I know", she said with a shrug.
Fang shook her head. "No, no, I actually think it's pretty exciting, if ya ask me. It was at least an interesting thing to listen to", she said with a soft smile.
Wondering how much time had passed she took a quick glance on her phone to see that it was already past midnight. "Mh, it's already quite late, I assume Lightning's waiting for ya at home, correct?", she smirked knowingly.
Vanille giggled. "Yep, she is. Actually, she wanted to pick me up again once I call her"
Fang chuckled. "Okay, doesn't surprise me. She seems quite the caring personality"
The brunette quickly asked for the bill and paid for them both while Vanille called Lightning before they went out into the still pleasantly warm night together.
Fang scratched her head as she noticed the nervousness she had managed to keep limited to a tolerable degree for most of the evening overwhelming her suddenly and she knew why. She had loved the time she had spent with Vanille but now, as the evening came to an end, she had to let her know just that and it felt like an incredibly difficult task right now.
Vanille seemed to feel the same as she stared at Fang uneasily. "I- ehm", the girl started, fidgeting with her purse.
Fang shook her head in an attempt to rid herself of the paralysing feeling and forced herself to make the first step and say something.
"I ... I really liked the evening with you, Vanille", she smiled to underline her statement.
Vanille nodded happily "Me too, really, and-", she was interrupted, however, by the loud sound of a car horn coming from the parking area beside them. They turned around only to see Lightning's car parking some metres away from them.
Fang smirked. "She's been fast", she remarked with a short glance to Lightning who was watching them intently. "Anyway, we better make it quick I guess", she suggested almost nonchalantly.
"I'd like to see you again, so would you give me your number?", the brunette then asked while fidgeting with the zipper of her opened jeans jacket. She relaxed more when she received the answer she had hoped for from Vanille who only nodded before giving her her number.
"You know, as I'm famous you'll surely understand that I can't give you my private number, at least not yet, okay?", Fang explained uneasily. Though she had a feeling that the girl wouldn't give her number away to others she had also learnt to be cautious and trust no one too easily, so she had to take that step. She hoped Vanille would understand.
"Okay, I understand", Vanille nodded.
Fang smiled. "Then I'll be in touch with ya, sweetie", she said, her smile still on her lips as her jade eyes glowed into the night.
They were once again disturbed, however, by the car horn. Fang chuckled. "Guess you shouldn't keep her waiting any longer"
"I guess so", Vanille replied with a giggle before waving her hand towards Lightning to let her know she'd only need another second.
It seemed like her body was acting out of its own accord as Fang almost suddenly leaned forward a bit and placed a soft kiss on Vanille's left cheek. "I'll be in touch", she repeated her earlier promise once more, her voice barely above a whisper.
Vanille blushed. She hadn't seen the kiss coming, and even though it was only a chaste one on her cheek, she felt electrified by it.
"G-good night, Fang and thanks for the evening", she stammered a bit.
"Good night, Vanille", Fang replied with a soft smile on her lips that was barely even there and a calmness to her voice that she was so unused to that it sounded almost foreign to herself.
Vanille shot her another warm smile before walking away towards Lightning's car. She waved again once she was inside before the older Farron drove off with her and Fang decided to call her chauffeur to be picked up.
Needless to say, Lightning was eager to know about Vanille's evening with Fang and so the girl spent the drive home telling her about it. She was well aware of the fact that Lightning did not only ask out of curiosity but also to find out if Fang had treated her well. After all, she had voiced her concerns about Vanille dating the rockstar on more than one occasion before.
But it seemed Vanille was successful in convincing Lightning that she'd had a great time and that Fang had been really charming and good to her. And so Lightning, seeming considerably more relaxed regarding Fang - at least for now - congratulated Vanille on her first date before they finally reached home and went to bed for a peaceful night's sleep.
AN: Please let me know how you liked the chapter :) Suggestions and criticism are welcome, as always!