A/N: Holy shit this has hit over 2000 views! I'm happy to hear you all liked the last chapter ;) Again, thank you for all the new reviews/favorites/alerts. xoxoxox
"There you are!"
Rinoa glanced up and saw Selphie racing up to her with Irvine not too far behind. "Here I be!" she responded.
"I told you to wait outside the bathroom for me!" Selphie scolded. "I was worried about your drunk ass, you bitch!"
Rinoa's eyes widened as she remembered that she was waiting outside of the bathroom before Squall came and whisked her away. "Oh, shit…sorry! I'm so sorry." She gave Selphie a guilty smile. "Do you still love me?"
Selphie scrunched her nose into a very disapproving look. "I suppose," she sighed. She turned towards Squall and smacked his bicep. "You!" she shouted, pointing her finger straight into his face.
"What?" he returned, lighting himself a cigarette.
"Do me a favor and keep a lookout for her! She has a tendency to wander off when she's drunk."
Rinoa scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Oh for crying out loud…I did that one time!"
Selphie ignored her and continued talking to Squall, bending over so that she was in between them. "A bunch of us went to the boulevard for one of our classmate's birthday, and this bitch got drunk and decided that she wanted to go shopping in the middle of the night when nothing was open! It took me like two hours to find her and when I did find her she was singing karaoke with one of the street vendors."
Squall grinned at the story and glanced behind Selphie to see Rinoa opening and closing her hand to mimic the brunette. "Sounds like a blast," he said.
"I'll have you know that Antonio loved my rendition of Queen's Fat Bottomed Girls," Rinoa snapped, kicking her feet beneath the water. "He was in complete awe with my performance and couldn't look away."
"Only because he was staring at your tits the whole time," Selphie countered with a sly grin.
Rinoa stuck her tongue out at her. "Whatever," she muttered.
"I didn't know you sang?" Irvine asked from behind her.
Rinoa laughed. "Oh…I don't," she said. "But that night I so thought I could!" She turned around to face him and immediately balked when she saw that he was removing his clothes. "What are you doing?" she asked in horror.
"A dip sounds great!" he said, tugging the shirt over his head and then immediately shucking his jeans so that he stood clad in only a pair of dark green boxers. "Heads up!" That was the only warning he gave before jumping into the pool and sending a wave towards the three at the edge.
"Shit!" Selphie cried, scrambling backwards to get away from the splash.
Already accepting their fate, Squall and Rinoa remained. With a sigh Squall moved his cigarettes behind his back to offer them some protection. Rinoa only covered her face. As the water splashed over them, Rinoa made a noise of fright at the coldness of it. "Fucking shit Irvine!" she yelled.
"Pool party!" came an excited yell behind them.
Squall glanced over his shoulder and his eyes widened at the sight of Zell running across the yard, his hands clumsily fumbling for his belt. "Shit," he muttered, retracting his legs from the pool. His cigarettes forgotten, he leaned in and scooped an arm beneath Rinoa's legs while the other circled around her waist, pulling them both away from the splash zone as Zell and a few other people had now plummeted into the water.
He set her down onto the grass and watched as the pool was suddenly filled with semi-clothed drunken fools. His lips formed a scowl as he looked over at the now drenched cigarette packet. Oh well… he thought, looking to his left and seeing Rinoa brush at her soaked jeans and cropped top.
She sighed and looked up at Squall, her lower lip protruding into an adorable pout. Her hair clung to her cheeks and beads of water trickled deliciously over her collarbones. "I'm wet," she said sadly, her hands running over her hair to wring out any water.
"Still?" Squall shot her a look that sent a powerful, thunderous wave across her flesh. He caught sight of her widening eyes and grinned.
Rinoa elbowed him in the ribs and made a face at him. "You be quiet," she muttered.
Rinoa opened her eyes and was welcomed with the sun's light piercing straight through the blinds of the living room. She scrunched her nose at the annoying light and turned over onto her side.
Instantly she was greeted with an arm slinging over her body and pulling her in tight through the waist. The long fingers clenched tightly into Rinoa's top, frisking the fabric before pinching the zipper at the top hem. Rinoa turned her head when the zipper started to get tugged downwards.
"Quistis! Knock it off!" she yelled, slapping away the hand that still fumbled for her zipper.
"What? Huh?" Quistis withdrew her hand and rubbed at her eyes, smearing what was left of her intricate eyeliner. "What's wrong?" she asked sitting up. "What happened?"
Rinoa gave Quistis a light flick to the forehead as she rolled onto her back. "You were trying to undress me in your sleep!" she said, pointing an accusatory finger her way.
At the sudden outburst a few heads rose. Squall pushed himself up onto his arms and rubbed his eyes. "What the hell?" he muttered, turning his head to see the two women on the couch. Instantly an eyebrow rose when he witnessed Quistis practically flop herself on top of Rinoa.
"I can't help it!" cried the blonde, burying her face into Rinoa's hair. "I'm in love with you, Rinoa!"
Rinoa threw back her head and squealed with laughter. "And I love you too but get off of me!"
Quistis snickered and sat up, her thighs still straddling Rinoa's hips. Despite the intimate position she opened her mouth into a wide yawn and prettily patted her fingers over her lips. "In a minute," she murmured. "I'm not awake yet."
Rinoa laughed and shook her head, staring with admiration and envy at Quistis's ability to look so stunning despite the raggedly smeared mascara around her eyes and a smudge of red lipstick around her mouth. Rinoa didn't even want to know what she looked like at that instant.
Suddenly arms wrapped around Quistis's middle and easily lifted her off of Rinoa, leaving both of the women breathless at the abrupt action. Rinoa raised herself onto her elbows and stared in awe at Zell, who now had Quistis primitively slung over his shoulder like some Neanderthal. She had seen him carry Quistis with such ease before at the beach, but it was still an odd sight to see since they were the same height.
"Ok, ok!" Quistis cried. "I'll be good, I promise—now put me down!"
Zell plopped her onto the kitchen counter and moved towards the coffee station that was nestled in the corner of the kitchen. "How did you sleep, Rinoa? You know, before little Miss Grabby over here molested you?" He kept his movements calm and undisturbed, even when the dish towel Quistis threw at him smacked against his head.
With a throaty laugh Rinoa sat up and massaged the back of her neck. "I slept pretty well, actually," she said.
Quistis groaned and held her forehead in her hands. "Ow…too much noise," she grumbled.
"Looks like the hangover part is kicking in," commented Squall, standing to his feet. He joined Zell in the kitchen and brought Quistis a steaming mug. "Drink up," he ordered.
"You're not the boss of me," she snapped. She took a quick sip and turned to face Rinoa. "Did I make you uncomfortable? I'm sorry, I really wasn't trying to undress you."
Rinoa shook her head and made her way into the kitchen. "Of course not," she said, wrapping her arms around Quistis's shoulders. "For a split moment I forgot we decided to share the couch and was wondering whose arm was on me."
Quistis gently laughed so as not to move her head too much. "And here I thought you'd be safer sharing a couch with me than one of the boys."
"I guess I'm just so irresistible," Rinoa said with a wink. She gave Zell a smile when he handed her a full mug. "Speaking of sleeping out here…Zell, why weren't you in your room?"
Zell made a face and looked over to Squall. "Because apparently it got commandeered last night," he muttered solemnly.
Rinoa frowned. "By who?" She was incredulous, how could Zell be kicked out of his own room? "It's your house!"
"Yeah…Selphie can be a bit…persuasive," Zell sighed.
"Selphie…?" Rinoa's eyes widened. "They took over your room? They have their own place!"
"Well…they don't live together yet, actually," Zell corrected. "Plus both of them were pretty drunk after the whole pool fiasco, so I didn't expect them to drive anywhere. Plus I guess the bathroom was occupied."
Rinoa frowned. "Bathroom?" What, were they all teenagers again? Trying to sneak around certain areas of the house to have some 'alone time' with their partners? They were grown ass adults with their own places… Rinoa suddenly pressed her lips together as she realized she was also criticizing her own actions from the previous night. Do as I say, not as I do… she thought.
"It happens," Squall said with a shrug. "Although I think the bathroom was occupied because someone was puking, not fucking."
"Who?" Rinoa asked. She must have passed out by that time.
Zell scratched his head as he thought back. "I think it was one of Seifer's crew…don't remember which one. I mean, I don't mind people getting it on in the house—people got to get their rocks off somewhere—just as long as they don't break anything or are loud or disturb my Ma."
"Can I just say that I adore your Ma?" Rinoa said, pouring the cream and sugar into her mug. "She is amazing."
Zell smiled proudly and the tops of his ears reddened a bit at the compliment. "Yeah…she really has that effect on people."
Squall handed Quistis some aspirin and dutifully watched her swallow the pills. "Yep."
Rinoa looked over to Squall. "You two are pretty close huh?" she asked.
"Zell and I have known each other the longest. And, like you heard last night, I was here a lot growing up."
"And Zell was at your house a lot as well, I'd assume!" Rinoa said with a grin. After a silence that only lasted a fraction of a second, she caught the looks exchanged between the two men. Or not… she thought, her skin crawling with apprehension. Dammit, what'd I say now?
Squall simply shook his head. "Nah, I didn't have much of a home for Zell to come to, so I was here a lot."
"…but I thought you said you lived with your older sister?" She winced, she didn't know much about Squall's personal family history—it was something they hadn't really talked about. With each passing second she was realizing that she really didn't know him at all…she had only learned his last name the night before! And here Squall knew about her alcoholic father, a secret she never told anyone (other than Selphie). Rinoa hadn't even mentioned it to her previous lovers. The dawning thought made her determined to find out more about him. She wanted to know more about him—maybe not everything just yet—but she wanted to know what went on in his life, what made him so passionate about drumming, his relationship with his sister…she wanted to know about Squall.
Squall's eyes lowered to Rinoa's fingers as he watched her stir the spoon inside her coffee. "My sister didn't get full custody of me until I was about twelve," he told her. "Before that I was moved from foster home to foster home."
Rinoa made a little pained whine within her throat, her eyes growing large as she imagined a young Squall constantly having to move from family to family, all the while holding onto his precious little stuffed lion.
"Yeah, luckily most of the foster homes were in the same county," Zell said. "So, even though we may not have been in the same school, he was able to come over a lot. Ma kinda made a point to make sure she knew where he was so that he had someone constant in his life." Zell brought the coffee pot over and topped off Quistis's mug. "Most of the families were cool," he went on. "That last one though…man that shit was fucked up—" He was suddenly stopped when Squall kicked him behind the counter.
Zell let out a short cry and was about to send a menacing look Squall's way, but when he saw the glare in Squall's eyes, all thought process ceased. With a quick nod, Zell shut his mouth and turned away to return the coffee pot to its station.
Rinoa glanced back and forth between Zell and Squall. Some boundary had clearly been overstepped or was dangerously close to being overstepped.
It was Quistis who broke the awkward silence that began to hover between them. "Zellll…" she groaned. "You have to take me home."
"And me?" Rinoa asked meekly. "Selphie drove me here and…if she's a little indisposed I'd rather not wait around."
Squall softly growled, pinching the bridge of his nose as he frowned. "Me too. Same situation with Irvine."
Zell nodded and disappeared into the living room to grab his car keys. "I'm ready whenever you are."
"Can we get pancakes?" Quistis begged.
Rinoa laughed and then grabbed a paper towel, dabbing it lightly under the kitchen sink. "You might want to clean up your face first," she said softly, holding Quistis's chin in one hand while trying to clean off the smeared makeup.
As the four of them sat down for the pancakes Quistis so politely demanded, Squall chugged down another cup of black coffee. Across from him sat Rinoa, who was busying herself with braiding Quistis's long hair.
"I've been thinking about dying it," Quistis was saying as she stirred her coffee. "Maybe adding some pink streaks to it or something."
"That'd be pretty," Rinoa said. "It'd be way easier for you since it'd just be depositing color. It's more of a pain with naturally dark hair because you'd have to bleach it to a certain shade of blonde and then add the color."
Zell leaned back in his chair and rubbed his eyes. "Man, what a night huh?" he said to Squall. "Nothing beats playing a show with a crowd like that."
Quistis nodded. "It's so great when the crowd gets really pumped!"
Rinoa giggled, methodically weaving strands of Quistis's hair. "I noticed! It's like you guys feed off of the crowd's energy and they feed off of yours…it's like this giant, pulsating wave of energy bouncing throughout the entire venue."
"Nothing quite like it," Squall added. "It's the best feeling."
Zell let out a deep laugh and slapped his thigh. "It's orgasmic!" he guffawed.
Rinoa looked up from her working fingers with a tiny grin. "Is that so? Better than sex, huh?" she asked, her eyes drifting over to Squall for the briefest moment before lowering back to Quistis's hair.
Squall ran his tongue over his teeth before opening his mouth. "Depends on the girl," he said thickly, his lips curving into a smirk when he noticed the faint blush that crept upon Rinoa's cheeks.
His mind wandered back to when he had her against the wall inside the garage. He tried not to think about it too much, since now that the alcohol was out of his system his dick would take it as a hint that it was time to play, but he couldn't help but think back to her breathy gasps and the way her hips rolled against him as his fingers maneuvered beneath her panties.
Last night he only had a small taste of her—he wanted more, much more.
Suddenly he was brought back to the present when the waitress set down his ordered plate of a cheese omelette filled with sausage and peppers. "Thanks," he said when the waitress topped off his mug.
"Man, you are drinking way too much coffee," Zell commented as he started to dig into his large stack of buttermilk pancakes. "Your fingers are starting to shake."
Rinoa laughed and poured the syrup over her French toast. "I think he's trying to get all the alcohol out of his system from last night."
"Yeah, I found your damn bottle of Jameson—you finished that whole thing?" Zell shook his head in mock exasperation. "And why the hell did you leave it in front of the garage? You know you're supposed to put all the empty bottles in the kitchen."
Squall shrugged and cut into his omelette. "Got distracted," was all he said. When he saw that Quistis and Zell were busy engorging themselves with their own orders of pancakes, he looked up at Rinoa and gently nudged her foot with his boot. Now you're getting me in trouble, he thought to her.
She scrunched her nose at him and returned a soft kick.
As they piled back into Zell's truck, Rinoa joined Squall in the back of the cab. She fumbled for her purse and looked through her camera as Zell started driving. When Squall leaned over to look at the screen, she nudged him away with her shoulder. "You can't see them yet!" she said.
"Why?"
"Because I haven't even looked at them yet," she answered.
"So?"
Rinoa shut off her camera and placed it back into her bag. "Battery's getting low anyway," she said, sticking her tongue out at him.
"Whatever." Squall leaned back against the headrest. He was about to close his eyes when his phone started going off. His brows lowered a bit when he saw Cid's name flash across the screen. "Yes, Mr. Manager?" he answered.
"I tried getting hold of Irvine but he's not answering, are you all awake?" Cid asked.
"Irvine's busy with Selphie. The rest of us just finished breakfast and we're dropping off Rinoa." He frowned at the hurriedness that was laced within Cid's voice. "Is everything alright?"
Cid chuckled. "It's better than alright. Last night there apparently really was a producer at the show. He works for Siren Records and is already working with a band that you have played with in the past."
Squall pulled the phone away from his ear and put Cid on speaker so they all could converse. "What band was that?"
"Djin Theory."
Quistis turned her head and looked at the phone in Squall's palm. "Oh yeah! We played with them last holiday…aren't they on tour right now?" She looked up at Rinoa and grinned. "You'd love them, Rinoa, they have a female singer who is amazing."
"That's the thing!" Cid said excitedly. "The producer from Siren Records—his name is Kiros Seagill—had heard about Absolute Lore from Djin Theory and was told to check you guys out. He liked what he saw and heard and contacted me barely even an hour ago to arrange a meeting with you all!"
Zell's jaw dropped and he nearly ran a red light. He slammed his foot on the break and winced when everyone was jerked forward at the sudden stop. "Sorry! Wow, that is great!" he said to Cid. "What time are we meeting him?"
"I think we'll meet for a late dinner, say…around eight o' clock?" A small noise in the background distracted Cid for a moment. "How about we all meet at Diablo's Steakhouse?"
Quistis tapped Zell's shoulder to signal that the light had turned green. "Sounds great, Cid," she told him. "We'll be there!"
"I'll pass the message on to Irvine," said Squall. "We'll see you at eight." He hung up and slid the phone back into his pants. He raised his brows to Quistis who was giving him a wide and brimming grin. "Excited?" he calmly asked.
"Aren't you?" she shrieked, reaching through the front seats and lightly punching his shoulder. "Siren Records? That's a huge company—especially for rock music!" A giddy and girlish squeal came from her lips and she clapped her hands. "Holy fucking shit…is this really happening?"
"This is fucking surreal," Zell murmured. "I just can't believe it! We've done how many shows in the last two years where we've been told that a producer or scout was there—and whether it was a lie or they didn't like us, who knows?—but the one night that we didn't believe it and BAM! Look what happened!"
Rinoa grinned at the excitement that filled the truck. "It just goes to show that you never know who's going to show up!" She turned to Squall and grasped his bicep. "Show some emotion dammit!" she laughed. "Aren't you excited?"
He softly chuckled and placed his hand over hers. "I think I'm in shock," he said quietly. "Last night was pretty spectacular, so hearing this today is…pretty overwhelming."
"Well, get over it!" Zell demanded. "Fuck—call Irvine! He can get his dick wet with Selphie any other time, we have an important meeting to get to!"
Quistis smacked his shoulder. "It's not even twelve!" she shouted. "We don't have to be at Diablo's for another eight hours, don't be crude."
Ignoring her, Zell looked at Rinoa in the rearview mirror. "Which street do I turn on again?"
She gave him detailed directions and soon Zell was pulling into her apartment complex. She talked him through the winding side streets of the complex until they reached her building. Her eyes narrowed when she noticed two men in uniform walking up her staircase.
"What the hell is this?" she whispered, her brows crinkling as she frowned.
Zell and Quistis grew quiet and watched as the men made their way to Rinoa's door and knocked. Zell parked his truck beside a large black SUV and turned in his seat to look at Rinoa with concern. "Do you know them?" he asked.
Rinoa shrugged. "They're too far away for me to tell. And I can't see what kind of uniform that is…"
"It's military," said Squall, reaching for the door handle. "I'll walk you to your door." He exited the truck and held out his hand for her to slide across the seats.
Rinoa paled at Squall's clarification that the uniforms were indeed military. That was her first thought as well, but she wasn't entirely sure since the men were too far. She placed her hand in his and hopped out of the truck. "Thanks for the ride," she said to Zell quietly before shutting the door.
She walked ahead of Squall to her staircase, feeling the eyes from the truck start training towards her as she reached the middle of the stairs. With Squall dutifully behind her, she lifted her chin to the uniformed men. "Can I help you, gentlemen?"
One of the men turned, and Rinoa felt like she recognized him. The uniform was dark and striking, the medals pinned along the lapels of his jacket caught the sun's light, and the cap on his head was sharp and proper. The insignia on his bicep was similar to the one her father wore. He was tall, had a strong and square jaw, and was looking at her with tired and aged eyes that spoke of ghastly sights he should not have seen. He had eyes like her father's. Instantly she swallowed.
"Rinoa Caraway?" the man asked.
Her gut tightened and she would have teetered backwards if it weren't for Squall placing a supportive hand to the small of her back. His voice was so stern and forward that she hadn't even thought to correct him. "Yes?" she managed to utter out. Thoughts of worst case scenarios raced through her brain, stabbing needles of anxiety throughout her body.
"I am Lieutenant General Martine and this is First Lieutenant Dobe," he said, gesturing to the other man at the door. Martine gave Rinoa a stark look and took a breath. "I will get to the point, Miss Caraway, your father is in the hospital."
This time Rinoa did take a step backwards on instinct, her foot sliding off the step. Squall snaked an arm around her waist and held her spine steady against his body, his cheek pressing into her shoulder.
"We tried to reach you last night," came in Dobe.
Rinoa blinked and quickly dug her phone from her purse. "The battery must have run out last night…" she murmured, her eyes skimming over the black surface. "What happened? Is he…?" Her throat closed up on her. She couldn't even pronounce the word—couldn't even think it.
"He's stable," answered Martine.
"What happened?" Rinoa repeated, the words practically snarling through her teeth.
Martine took a deep breath and his eyes flickered to Squall. "Perhaps we should move this conversation inside…"
Squall's grip around Rinoa's waist tightened, his fingers digging into her side. "That may be best…" he began.
She furiously shook her head. "No," she said sternly with her eyes directed on Martine. "You may know my father but I sure as hell don't know you. Whatever you have to say to me you can say it out here. I will not ask you again, Lieutenant General, what happened to my father?"
Astonishment washed over Martine's face, if only for a second. With the glowering scowl and heated stare, he could definitely tell whose daughter he was speaking to. While it was obvious she got her looks from her mother, her temperament was clearly blessed from her father. "Last night was our annual banquet for the new recruits," he started. "Your father was…celebrating."
Rinoa's shoulders drooped. She closed her eyes and listened as Martine continued.
"He appeared to be under control. He wasn't rowdy, wasn't slurring, nor was he falling over himself. When he and I shared a cab, the only symptom that seemed problematic was that he suffered confusion." Martine shook his head. "I should have gone inside with him…" he muttered beneath his breath. "It wasn't until around two a.m. did I receive the phone call. After he went inside he continued to drink…"
As Martine went on about Caraway's events from the night before, Rinoa felt her body slowly become numb. She knew what he was saying, understood his words, but they simply flew past her. Her father suffered from alcohol poisoning after more alcohol was in his stomach than anything else. His blood sugar level dropped low enough for him to have a seizure, causing him to fall and land headfirst onto the brick oven he'd had installed in the backyard.
Mr. Villicente, the next door neighbor, suffered from insomnia and happened to be outside smoking a cigar at the time. He witnessed the whole accident from his bedroom's balcony and rushed into Caraway's backyard, immediately calling an ambulance and Caraway's last number dialed—Martine's.
Rinoa swallowed as she listened. Suddenly she had a bitter taste in her mouth. Her tongue felt thick and heavy…she felt as if she were going to vomit. "What hospital is he in?" she asked softly.
"Lady Adel's Memorial Hospital," Dobe said. "In Galbadia. Room 512."
Rinoa nodded. "Ok," she whispered. "Thank you for telling me." She glanced towards her apartment door and pressed her lips together. "I'm going to change and then I will be on my way to see him."
Martine and Dobe tipped their hats to Rinoa and began to descend the steps. Dobe nodded at Squall in automatic politeness but then paused, recognition filling his face. "Commander Leonhart," he said.
Squall nodded in acknowledgement even though the title no longer held any meaning to him. "First Lieutenant Dobe," he replied.
Dobe's eyes traveled back to Rinoa for a breath before landing on Squall again. He gave the younger man a quick and civil smile before continuing his way down the steps.
Squall waited for the men to enter their vehicle before turning to Rinoa. "You ok?"
Rinoa simply blinked. "Yeah," she whispered before digging back into her purse for her keys. Once she had them in her clutch she walked up the remaining steps, not even noticing Squall's arm retracting from her waist. She unlocked the door and looked down at him still standing at the midway mark.
"Did you need someone to come with you?" he asked cautiously.
Rinoa smiled, her lashes lowering at the offer. While the thought was nice and sweet of him, it was unnecessary. It was too much to ask from him too soon. It was bad enough that she had to reveal her biggest secret to a man she hardly knew anything about, she was not about to have him accompany her to the hospital to see her father. I don't want to scare him off this soon, she thought. "Thanks, but I'm alright." She pushed open the door and waved him off. "Let me know how your meeting with Siren Records goes."
Taking the hint, Squall started to turn. "Text me later," he said. "Just so I know you got there."
"I will. Thank you." She stepped inside and quietly closed the door behind her. With the world outside completely shut off, she slid down to the ground and cried.
