A/N: Hello, thank you for the kind reviews, I'm glad you are enjoying it thus far! =)


The strong and seductive aroma of coffee greeted him like a lover. He could feel his lips turn up into a small and lazy smile. Slowly he opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was Rinoa's face. The sun was bright, glowing through her cream colored curtains so that it bordered the back of her head like a warm halo. She had her fingers outstretched, as if to poke him, but she was paused in her actions as she was looking at her phone. Apparently what she saw was not held in her highest regard as she twisted her lips into an unimpressed pout. She turned away from the phone and looked down at him. She smiled when she saw that he was starting to wake up. "Good morning sunshine."

He chuckled, a thick and throaty sound, and rubbed his eyes with his palms. "Morning angel," he said lowly. Clearing his throat, he sat up fully. "Huh?" he asked when he noticed that Rinoa was arching an eyebrow at him in suspicion.

"Angel, huh?" she said, her lips pursed.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I thought we had moved onto the nickname bit," he responded, referring to her 'sunshine' comment.

Rinoa made a noise of indifference and picked up the mug she had set up for him. "Your coffee, sir, black as death and tastes just how it sounds."

"Thanks." As he sipped he fumbled for his phone. His brows furrowed as he looked at the time. 9:06. Are you fucking kidding me? he grumbled. Usually Saturday was his day to sleep in and he was never up and out of bed before twelve if he could help it. He took another look at Rinoa and took note of her put together appearance. She had already showered—he could smell the tangy and inviting scent of her soap—had already dressed, and already had some makeup on. Her hair was still damp, the top half sectioned off with a clip. "Not to be an ungrateful houseguest, but…"

Rinoa was looking at her phone again. She turned her attention back to Squall. "Hmm? Oh!" She sent him a dazzling yet very guilt-infused smile. "Yeah, sorry for the early awakening…but my dad's on his way here."

That sent a wave of alarm through Squall. "Wait…what?"

"Well not like now. He called me like forty minutes ago and asked to take me out to brunch. He said he'd be here a little after ten." She looked over to her phone. "I figured that'd give you enough time to enjoy some coffee before I kicked your ass out."

Squall nodded. "Thanks for giving me ample time."

"Sure. It's just since I don't have my car yet he's coming here to pick me up and we're going to get my car later. He hasn't seen the place all spruced up yet so I know he's going to want to come in. And…" She gestured to him. "Well, quite frankly if he sees you he's just going to be asking a lot of questions that have no answers."

Squall held up his hand and slowly stood to his feet as he continually rubbed his eyes. "No, no, I get it."

Rinoa wet her lips as she watched him stand. The movement was so casual, so lazy, so without meaning yet the small groans that escaped from him as he stretched elicited such feelings from her. For a brief moment she caught the sight of blood red underwear peeking over the tops of his low slung dark jeans. Pervert, she mentally chided herself. "You don't need to rush out," she insisted. "Please wake up first. Like I said, driving tired is equal to driving drunk."

He returned her comments with a slow grin. "Fifteen minutes and I'll be out of your hair." He turned towards the hallway for a moment and looked back over to her. "Bathroom?" He wasn't sure if the layout of her apartment was set up so that the bathroom was in her room or completely separate.

Rinoa nodded and pointed down the hallway. "Door on the left."

"Thanks."

She watched him walk off and shook her head. He was so talkative last night, now he was back to his quick little sentences and one word questions or responses. Apparently the only way to get him to talk was to get him drunk. Her phone beeped and she looked at the screen.

F.C: How does The Phoenix Diner sound for brunch?

Rinoa twisted her lips. Caraway had been texting her different locations for the past twenty minutes. She had hesitated over each one. After a few moments of going onto the restaurant's menu through her phone, she thought it would be alright.

R.H: Yeah that sounds good. See you in a few?

F.C: Have to fill up the car first. Should be there around 10:15 the latest.

R.H: Okie dokie.

Just a little over an hour. Even though she knew her apartment was spotless since she had just moved in, she still needed time to go through it to make sure it would be considered up to par. Even though she rebelled against her father and didn't care much for his opinion, he was still her father. She still lived by his rules (albeit bent and with all the found loopholes) and still wanted to please him.

Squall emerged from the hallway and Rinoa lifted her head. "You hungry? I can make you a bagel or something," she offered, already walking into the kitchen. While she waited for his response she made a cup of coffee for herself.

He simply shook his head and scooped up his coffee. "It's all good. I'll pick something up on my way home."

"Do you live far?"

"About twenty minutes." He threw his head back and greedily chugged the rest of his mug. Almost immediately he regretted it. His throat burned and he thickly swallowed the pained grunt that wanted to rise up through his vocal chords. It wasn't his proudest moment, but he wanted to hurry up and get out of there. The sooner he left the sooner he could crawl into his own bed and hopefully pass out again. He figured it would probably be a lost cause, but it never hurt to try. Squall approached the kitchen and reached past Rinoa to place his mug into the sink. "Thanks again for letting me crash here," he began. "You really didn't have to do that."

Rinoa was about to turn towards him to speak when he suddenly ducked out of the kitchen, promptly giving her his back. Her brow arched in confusion but she brushed it off. "Anytime," she said.

Squall was already heading towards the door. He patted himself down: keys, wallet, phone, cigarettes…check. He nodded and looked back over to Rinoa who was still standing by the sink. "Later," he gave a slight salute to her and turned the doorknob.

"Walk safe," she called out to him.


Squall was already out the door. He rubbed his eyes with his knuckles and winced at the sharp sunlight that glared down at him. With a sigh he placed a cigarette between his lips, bent his head to light it, and made his way down the steps.

His lips twitched as he thought about Rinoa standing by the sink. He was standing close enough to her that he could smell her shampoo—it was something sweet and almost citrusy—he could tell that her soap was chosen specifically to complement it, but mostly, he was able to see down her shirt. A short laugh caught in his throat and he quickly exhaled.

Nearly twenty-six and yet still peeking at cleavage like a twelve year old, he mentally berated himself. That was the thing about breasts, no matter the age, men will always look. Rinoa's were small but he deduced that they would definitely be a nice and plush handful. Her cleavage was not a straight line some women, instead her breasts had a slight valley between them and he had even noticed a small beauty mark right above her left breast. When he saw that her head was turning he had to quickly spin away from her.

Before long he came to his Jeep. He unlocked the door and slid behind the wheel. Did he really spend that whole ten minute walk analyzing the shape and size of Rinoa's breasts? Yes. Yes he did. He was a man; he liked tits.

After turning the keys into the ignition Squall rubbed his fingers all over his face as he tried to wake up. The sun was too bright, the air felt too warm…was it really only April? He pulled his sunglasses from his center console and looked up at the soft top of his Jeep. He reached up and pulled the latches and slid the levers into place so the front half of the soft top was folded back, allowing in the air. He loved his Jeep. He bought the two-door Jeep Wrangler specifically for the soft top. After all, it was almost like an unspoken rule that when living not too far from the coast it would be wise to own a vehicle where the top could come down. He didn't go to the beach as much as he had used to like when he lived in Balamb, he twisted his lips as he thought that he should rectify that. While he thought about it, he plugged his phone into the cable of his car to charge.

With a groan he stretched his arms behind him. Glancing behind him to check the traffic, he slid on his sunglasses and pulled his car into drive. Home, he thought. Home and then hopefully a nap.

That wishful thinking, however, was short-lived. His phone started ringing. With the phone still plugged into the car, the voice came through the stereo speakers when he answered.

"Hey," Irvine said. "Head over to my place so we can discuss the upcoming show."

"It's fucking nine-thirty!" Squall protested.

"It is?" A small pause. "Oh. Shit."

Squall sighed but figured he might as well head over, he was already up anyway. "Fine. Why are you up so early?"

"Selphie just left a few minutes ago. She's teaching a class at ten."

Squall nodded. Whenever Selphie would leave Irvine's house in the morning he never was able to go back to sleep after she left. Despite his many denials, he would follow her around the apartment like a little loyal puppy following and adoring her every move. He would make coffee with her, drink coffee with her, make her breakfast, walk her to her car…and then when she would be gone it was like he didn't know what to do with the rest of his day. "Alright, I'm on my way. I'm gonna stop at the gas station, you want anything?"

"Nah, I'm good. See you soon."

Squall hung up. Barely even a heartbeat later his phone rang again. "Yes?" Squall asked.

"Hold the fuck up," Irvine muttered, and Squall could practically visualize the knitting frown of Irvine's eyebrows. "What are you doing up? It's Saturday."

Shit. It was common knowledge within the whole group that Saturday was Squall's only day to sleep in and that he took it very seriously, and he was not about to tell Irvine that he had crashed at Rinoa's place. "Hungover," he answered.

"Ah. Don't get the gas station coffee," Irvine said. "I'll make a new pot."

Silently Squall thanked whatever god made Irvine not the brightest star that he could have been. "Thanks."


When Squall arrived at Irvine's apartment he hastily took hold of the steaming mug the cowboy had held out for him. "Thank you," he managed to utter before bringing the mug to his lips and throwing his head back.

"Anytime," Irvine said. He opened up his laptop and motioned for Squall to look at something. "Cid wants to video chat with us in a minute."

Squall lowered the half-empty mug and arched a brow. "Cid? Uh…isn't he on vacation?"

"Yeah but Quistis mentioned the photograph that Rinoa put up to Edea yesterday so…"

Squall nodded. "Got it." Word traveled fast. Edea had been the old bar manager at The Red Scorpion and she and Quistis hit it off very well. The two had a very close relationship, not quite mother-daughter but more than an older sister and younger sister bond. And since Edea was married to Cid, Absolute Lore's manager, they shared everything.

The bathroom door opened and Zell suddenly emerged from the hallway.

"What are you doing here?"

Zell shrugged and gestured towards Irvine. "I was finishing my run when Irvine called me to see if I could come over for some video chat with Cid. Since I was only around the corner it didn't take me long."

"Yeah, now we're just waiting for Quistis," added Irvine. "She should be here in a few minutes."

Squall grimaced. Apparently he was the only one who relished sleeping in. While he enjoyed going to the gym with Zell and partaking in cross country running from time to time, he never could get into running first thing in the morning.

Twenty minutes later Quistis knocked on the door. Zell let her in and commented on her large and dark sunglasses. "Shut up," she grumbled. Immediately she zeroed in on the percolating coffee machine and searched for the largest mug.

A beep came from Irvine's laptop and he turned on the video conference call. "Hey Cid," he said.

"Hey kiddos!" The man on the screen had shaggy grey-streaked brown hair that cupped around his ears. His eyes were bright and crinkled as he produced a wide smile. A small hint of a sunburn bloomed just beneath his wide-rimmed glasses. "How is my favorite band doing?"

"We're great but why the hell did you wanna talk to us so goddamn early?" Quistis demanded, slumping her body over the countertop as she filled the video screen. Her sunglasses remained on her face and she angrily pointed at the camera. "Edea!" she shouted. "I hate your husband—hate him!"

A silky chuckle came from the other side and soon the man on the screen was joined by a woman with long black hair that fell past her waist. She smiled and blew a kiss into the webcam. "But we love you children so much!"

Irvine playfully shoved Quistis aside so she fell into Squall. "Go put her on the couch or something," he said.

Quistis growled and harmlessly swiped her nails at Irvine's shoulder. "No," she muttered while Squall practically threw her over his shoulder. "I hate mornings," she grumbled. "I hate Irvine's couch too, who the fuck knows what has gone on on this icky thing."

"Too bad," Squall said, dropping her onto the leather despite her protests. He came back over to the laptop and stared straight into the webcam. "Quistis is out of order right now, she's slightly indisposed."

Edea chuckled again, a throaty and rumbling sound. "It's those Friday nights," she said. "The Red Scorpion is brutal."

"So what'd you want to talk to us about?" Zell asked as he had his head shoved into Irvine's refrigerator.

"Well, Quistis mentioned that you guys hired a photographer," Edea began.

"Yes!" Cid joined. "We looked at that teaser photograph she put up—very talented!"

"Is she going to put up the rest of the photos she took?"

Irvine nodded at Edea. "Yeah she just needs to edit them."

Edea tapped her fingertips together and smiled at the man beside her. "Oh, how wonderful."

Cid nodded widely. "Yes, yes it is! So, kiddos, your next show is coming up in one week. Have you got your set list ready?"

"That we do," assured Zell.

"Great!" Cid looked down for a moment as he scanned some piece of notebook paper. "Now…where did I…?" he muttered to himself.

Edea watched his movements. She frowned and pointed a finger at the piece of paper. "Didn't you write it on the other one?"

"No, no, I'm sure I wrote it on this one…"

The two began a quiet fit of bickering while they tried to figure out what was written on which paper. The three young men on the other side just silently sighed as they waited for the two to figure themselves out. Squall tapped his fingers rhythmically along the countertop.

"Squall, stop it—you'll just get me more flustered!" Cid mumbled. "Ah!" He found what he was looking for and held up the paper in victory. "Alright, so, what I wanted to talk to you kiddos about is that there is going to be a summer tour with a few bands you have played with in the past."

Quistis popped her head up from the couch. "You'll have to be a bit more specific," she called. "We've played with quite a bit during the last two years."

Cid nodded. "Yes, yes, I know….the tour list isn't finalized yet, but I recognized a few names on there. But, more importantly, the tour would start in June and run into the end of August."

"How many shows?" asked Squall.

"Uh…let's see, twenty-four."

Zell thought for a moment. "I take it there's a lot of traveling involved."

"Yes, you'll be looping around the country."

Irvine nodded. "I'm all for it. Two months away? Doable."

"Great! I wanted to run it by you guys before I check all the numbers and budgets to make sure that we can tour." Cid tucked away his notes and waved at the screen. "Edea and I will be back in time for your show at Strange Vision next Saturday."

"I want to meet this girl!" Edea said abruptly, practically shoving her husband aside. "Quistis tells me that she is just lovely."

Squall began to edge towards the 'end call' button. "You'll meet her soon enough," he said. "Now enjoy your damn cruise!" He pressed the button and closed Irvine's laptop. He looked over to his bandmates. "Our first tour?"

Zell couldn't contain his excitement. "Man…that would be fucking awesome!"

"Don't get too excited," said Irvine. "We need to find out who we're touring with and if we can even afford to tour. We haven't made that much money in the last year." He raised his hands to the sounds of Quistis and Zell whining. "Now, I'm not trying to be a killjoy, I'm just trying to be realistic. I mean…" His grin widened and he let out an enthusiastic breath. "This sounds amazing and I hope it works out. Fuck, can you imagine?"

"He's got a point," Squall agreed. "Plus, we have to let our work know."


A few hours later Rinoa was behind the wheel of her own car. She snuggled her rear into the driver's seat and happily buckled herself in. Oh how she missed her car. She reached forward and fumbled with all the settings and controls until it was customized to her fit. She was about to drive off when she heard her phone beep. She scooped up the contraption and smiled when she saw that it was Selphie.

S.T: Hey! I'm going on lunch in like forty minutes, wanna meet up?

R.H: Sure! I'm over by the Galadian Auto Mall. I had to pick up my car.

S.T: Perfect! My work isn't too far from there.

R.H: Yay! Be there soon!


Rinoa and Selphie went to a small deli that was around the corner from the school that Selphie worked at. Rinoa was listening to Selphie talk about the class she was just assisting. "So, it's for all ages?" Rinoa asked.

"Well, in the mornings it's mostly senior citizens," Selphie answered. "From ten to one-thirty it's mostly older groups and then the young ones, like ages nine to fourteen, come in after three-thirty."

"Oh! Well that sounds like fun."

Selphie laughed. "Yeah, most of the kids are great. Though you do get a few boys that try to get away with sculpting a penis into everything."

Rinoa nearly spat out her water. "Oh…boys and their dicks."

"Yeah, so you said you were at brunch with your dad? How did that go?"

Rinoa shrugged. "Not too bad, I guess." She glanced down at the tattooed feathers along the backs of her arms. "He's not too crazy about the ink, I can tell you that much." She sent Selphie a devil-may-care grin.

"Oh, he'll get over it!" Selphie giggled.

The waitress approached them and took their orders. "Oh, and can I get a coffee please? With an extra shot of espresso?" Rinoa begged.

Selphie arched a brow. "Everything ok?"

Rinoa nodded and ran her fingers through her hair. "Yeah, just didn't get much sleep last night and then Caraway called me at like the butt-crack of dawn. So I'm like drained." Even after she and Squall had said goodnight to each other, Rinoa was not able to fall asleep immediately. She had lain in bed with her blankets twisted around her like a ribbon as she tossed and turned to try and get comfortable. She hadn't even asked how he had slept during the night.

"Why couldn't you sleep?" Selphie asked over the rim of her glass.

"Well…" Rinoa grimaced as she mentally argued with herself on whether or not she should tell Selphie the story of last night. It was a harmless night, after all, nothing happened, but she did let a stranger sleep on her couch. And it didn't matter how gorgeous said stranger was, she still knew nothing about him other than he was a drummer who like to drink, smoke cigarettes, and avoid commitment titles. Oh, but he did like Tim Curry movies, so that was a plus. "I had an unexpected visitor."

The waitress came back with their sandwiches and Rinoa's coffee, to which she happily sucked down. Selphie narrowed her eyes but quietly chewed on her sandwich while she waited for Rinoa to continue. An unexpected visitor could have so many meanings. It could range from an animal to her period to…a man? "Rinoa!" Selphie hissed, snagging the other woman's attention. "What happened?"

Rinoa set down her mug and sighed. "I ran into Squall outside that bar around the corner from my apartment."

Selphie dropped her sandwich and her eyes shot open. "You didn't!"

"Didn't what?" Rinoa winced and tried to lean back further against the back of her chair. "Holy shit please don't give me that look, it's scary. I don't like it. Bring back happy-faced-Selphie, I like her way more."

Selphie tapped a finger on the table as she tried to form her thoughts into comprehensible words. "You and Squall…? Did you guys…?"

Rinoa arched a brow as she tried to follow Selphie's scattered thoughts. "Did we…? Oh! No! Nooooo, no, no, no," she urged. "No, not at all. He was just really drunk and I made him some coffee and he crashed at my place. I kicked him out early this morning because Caraway was on his way over to come get me."

That brought Selphie to a round of gleeful laughter. She could just imagine Rinoa trying to wake up Squall. Selphie had witnessed Irvine attempt that feat a small number of times. It was like poking a sleeping wolf with a stick. "Wow, so how was hanging out with Squall last night?"

"Eh." Rinoa simply shrugged. "I mean, it's not like I have much to go on. I only hung out with him at the studio and then at The Red Scorpion. This was really the only time I hung out with him one on one." She pursed her lips as she thought about last night. "He's definitely more talkative when he's drunk. He barely spoke this morning."

Selphie chuckled and covered her mouth while she chewed. "Oh yeah, he's really not a morning person. I mean, he's a man of very few words to begin with, but during the morning? Good luck trying to get a conversation going." She swallowed a few sips of her water. "What'd you guys talk about when he was drunk?"

"Mostly about why he got drunk. That girl at the bar who came to our table?"

Selphie paused for a moment as she thought back. "Oh yeah, the brunette…Kendall?"

"Kendra. Yeah, I guess they had a thing and it got messy and then they haven't spoken for a while but then I guess she was texting him earlier yesterday."

"Ew, fun stuff."

Rinoa sighed. "Yeah, that was it mostly. Then we watched Clue."

"Ohmygod," Selphie whispered. "I fucking love that movie. Pure genius."

"Right?"

Selphie chewed for a moment and waited for Rinoa to finish her own meal. "So nothing happened?"

Rinoa brushed the crumbs from her mouth and tilted her head. "What would have happened?" she asked.

"Oh…I don't know," Selphie shrugged. "A handsome guy on your couch…?"

Rinoa released a laugh and reached for the remnants of her coffee. "Yes, my love, I did have a handsome guy on my couch, that is not brand new information." She shook her head and sighed. "Oh, Selphie, what am I going to do with you?"

"What?" Selphie squealed. "Squall is hot. You cannot deny that."

Rinoa lowered her mug. "Selphie! You are a taken woman!"

"Yeah but I'm not a blind woman," she disputed. "You think that just because Irvine holds my heart means that I'm not going to notice the opposite sex? Like at all? Come on, you really think Irvine has stopped noticing any of Absolute Lore's groupies?" Selphie pursed her lips as she thought. "Or boobies?"

"Well…" Rinoa had to shrug at that. "What guy can ignore boobs?"


It was a little after three when Irvine received a phone call from Selphie. She had just finished up setting up the tables for the incoming next class and she was able to take a quick break. "Hey, you wanna hear something funny?" she began.

Irvine paused and narrowed his eyes. This sounded like a trick. "Uh…maybe?"

"So I was just talking to Rinoa earlier…"

Irvine hated it when she dragged out her sentences and left big gaping pauses between her sentences. It was like she was doing to give him a chance to interject with his own information. When it came to gossip, Selphie was normally the first one to hear it, but somehow she acted like Irvine would know something long before she would. "Uh huh…" he said, waiting for her to continue.

"She told me that she picked up Squall from a bar last night?"

Irvine turned to look at Squall who was outside on the patio smoking. "Huh?" Irvine knew that Squall had been drinking last night, Squall had told him so this morning. However…

"Yeah," Selphie continued. "Apparently he was really drunk and had to stay at her place."

Irvine silently groaned and immediately began to rub his temple to soothe the headache he knew was coming. "Oh really," he muttered. That's why he was up so damn early, he deduced. That motherfucker. "What did he do that I have to make him apologize for?"

Selphie laughed. "Honestly I don't think he did anything. I just thought it was funny that of all the drunk asses Rinoa had to run into last night it had to be our very own Squall."

"Uh-huh…" The slider glass door opened and Irvine saw Squall re-enter the apartment. "Babe, let me call you back. Oh wait—are you coming back over later? I might have some news for you."

"News? I love news!"

"Awesome, we'll talk later." He hung up and waited for Squall to lean against the counter. Irvine spun around in his chair to face the other man, his expression suddenly turning grim. "Dude." He kicked out a foot so it thudded against Squall's calf. "You spent the night at Rinoa's?" he asked, completely ignoring the grunt of pain that came from the other man.

"What the—how did—?" Then Squall realized Irvine had been on the phone with Selphie. Women, he thought angrily. "Nothing happened!" he growled, massaging his assaulted calf. "Fuck, when the hell are you going to get rid of those steel-toed boots?"

Irvine's eyes instantly flared into a warning and he pointed a finger at Squall. "I fucking swear…you do realize that if you fuck anything up with this girl I will never hear the end of it from Selphie?"

Squall sighed. "I think you should be more concerned with your own relationship."

Irvine frowned. "What? There's nothing wrong with my relationship."

"Exactly," Squall snarled. "You should be focused on keeping it that way." Now that his calf was no longer throbbing from Irvine's attack, Squall leaned back into his chair. "Look, I had a few drinks at Motley's and she happened to walk by me when I was outside. She offered to make me coffee at her place to sober me up."

"And?" Irvine pressed, his eyes narrowing as he tried to pick up any hints of innuendos within Squall's words.

Squall simply blinked at him for a moment, annoyed at the accusation. "And we watched Clue," he said tersely. "She slept in her own room and I slept on the couch. Nothing happened."

Irvine crossed his arms and stared even harder. "You're telling me that you spent the night on the couch while the beautiful, single, fine-ass woman slept in her bed?"

"The fuck? First you get pissed because you don't want me sleeping with her and then you start questioning why I didn't? Sorry to disappoint you Irvine, but the topic never came up." His shoulders dropped in annoyance when he noticed that the cowboy's relentless glare would not cease. "Seriously, drop it."

Irvine himself wasn't even sure how he was able to smother the menacing chuckle that tried to escape from him, but seeing the infamously stone-faced Squall Leonhart become all agitated and flustered over the subject of a girl was simply a sight to behold. "Hey, I mean I wouldn't blame you, she is banging. Did you see her ass in those leggings when we went to the Scorpion?" Irvine let out a theatric whistle.

Yes, yes I did… Before he could stop himself, Squall slowly nodded in agreement to Irvine's comment. It was only two nods before he realized his movements. He stilled. A glance out of the corner of his eyes told him that Irvine had been watching him like a hawk. The provoking smirk on the cowboy's face was evidence enough that the cowboy had set Squall up with that comment.

Squall's lips pressed together as he repressed the urge to violently wipe that smug grin off Irvine's face.

Shit…