"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Squall snarled, echoing Quistis's earlier fury. He stood above the other man, fists still clenched. His steely blue eyes smoldered and he could feel the cords in his throat tense and jerk as he fought for control.
Irvine rubbed his jaw that had roughly met Squall's fist. "Fuck…" he muttered, his eyes watering, but Squall knew that it was not because he was in pain. "I fucked up."
"That part is obvious." Squall spoke through gritted teeth and watched as Irvine slowly managed to pull himself into a sitting position. "The fuck were you thinking? What about Selphie? Who the fuck was that?"
"I fucked up," Irvine said again, his gaze not even aimed at Squall. His eyes were large and hollow, distant and distraught, as if he were in the midst of the realization of what he had done. "Fuckin' shit…I fucked up."
"Outside," Squall ordered. "Now."
When Irvine didn't move as quickly as Squall liked, the cowboy was yanked to his feet and dragged outside, where he was then slammed against the side of the bus. "Ok! Stop hitting me!" Irvine cried, desperately trying to keep Squall at arm's length.
Squall pulled away and immediately grabbed his cigarettes. He sucked in a deep breath to calm himself down and then lit up. He and Irvine had exchanged blows before in the past, but for the life of them they couldn't remember what it was over. They both chalked it up to the fact that they were drunk, Irvine was probably getting mouthy, and the rest was history.
"I've no valid excuse," Irvine said, his voice low as he ran shaking fingers through his hair to loosen the ponytail. "We were all at the billiard and we all got challenged by another table. She was part of that table…we got to talking and drinking…and…" Irvine let out a breath that sounded to Squall like it was dripping with disgust.
"You fuck her?"
A scowl curved into Irvine's face and Squall could see the disgust now. The shame and self-loathing twisted in his features and his eyes began to water again. "No," he whispered. "But I wanted to. She reminded me of Selphie."
Squall frowned a bit. He didn't take much notice of the girl, only noticed that she was a brunette. "Alright," was all he said.
"She's a kindergartner teacher, bubbly, hyper…" Irvine made another grimace. "I think I even called her Selphie."
"Are you still drunk?"
"Very," Irvine said with a sardonic laugh. "I don't think she even noticed I said it…" He shook his head and rubbed his palm against his eye. "When I heard voices outside I…it's like I realized what was happening."
"You're a fucking idiot." Squall exhaled the smoke through his teeth and turned his head towards the hotel. "Just the other night you were telling me that you had no intention of throwing away you're relationship and here you are shacking up with some broad because she 'reminds' you of Selphie?"
"I know," Irvine muttered, his complexion suddenly turning waxy and pale. "I'm shit. I'm lower than shit."
Though Squall couldn't agree more, he could see that Irvine was beating himself up over it more than Squall's wrath ever could. For the moment, it seemed that the conversation had run its course. "You look like you're gonna hurl."
Irvine slowly swallowed and made a repulsed expression. "I think I am."
"Do it in the hotel room, then," Squall said. "I finally got the smell of vomit out of the bus." He reached forward and gripped Irvine around the back of his shirt collar and led him back towards the building.
When they reached the hotel room Squall saw that Quistis was laying across Hans, reaching for his phone.
"No, seriously, you can't post that," she said.
"What? Why not? You can't tell that it's Fujin!" he laughed, managing to keep the phone away from her flailing hand.
"But you can tell that it's Squall!" she protested. "He's looking right at the damn camera!"
Hans lifted his head and saw Squall staring at them, his jaw set and his fists looking like they were ready for another swing. He looked back and forth between Squall and Quistis. "Oh…something here I'm missing?"
Irvine made a gagging noise deep in his throat and shoved Squall out of the way. "You and me both, brother," he managed to utter out before making a stumbling dash for the bathroom.
"Hurry up and get it all out of your system. We have a show tomorrow night and we can't have you puking all over the crowd." Squall sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "How much did that shithead have to drink?"
"A lot," Hans answered. "More than I've ever seen him drink before." He waved his phone in the air. "Now, why can't I post this picture? It's harmless, right? I mean, yeah, Fujin's got her arms wrapped around your neck but you can't tell you were making out…" When Squall didn't respond, Hans's eyebrows raised into his forehead. "Ah…you've got someone back home, don't you?"
Quistis glanced at Squall over her shoulder and made an apologetic face.
"Kind of," Squall said. "Yeah."
"Got it," Hans said, looking back to the screen and hitting the button 'discard post.' "Sorry man, didn't know." Then his lips twisted in thought and he gave Squall a scrutinizing look.
"No one knows," Squall said. "We haven't made anything official between us, but if she gets the slightest inclination that I could be fucking around my chances with her could drop."
Hans nodded and put his phone away. "Yeah, I don't want to deal with the wrath of a Leonhart if I ruin his chances with someone he's got his eye on."
"Thank you." Squall was about to turn away but then paused, shooting a heated glare to Hans. "And we were not making out."
Sunday night
"How'd your show go last night?" Rinoa asked, speaking over her shoulder as she scooped some ice cream out of the carton. "Did you play at another theatre?"
Squall shook his head and blew out a stream of smoke. He and Rinoa were video-chatting again, but this time he had to use his cell phone. At the moment, he and Quistis were shacked up in the smoking room they had booked and he had his phone plugged in and leaning against wall while standing upright on the desk.
"Not like a theatre with seats only. It's kinda like Tonberry's down in West Galbadia—there's the main floor with the stage and areas you can sit surrounding the main floor, and then there's an upstairs that offers tables and a bar."
"Ooh, that sounds nice." Rinoa polished her bowl of ice cream with a quick spurt of canned whipped cream and turned back around to face the laptop she'd had set up on her kitchen counter. She was about to spoon some ice cream into her mouth when she broke into laughter. Quistis was standing behind Squall with her arms up overhead and dancing like a monkey. "That's a good look for you!" giggled Rinoa. "You should do it on stage at your next show."
Quistis chuckled and reached over and mussed with Squall's hair. "Well, our next show is tomorrow night, I'll do it just for you and Selphie! I'm sure someone will take a video of it and post it online."
Rinoa laughed and watched as Quistis continued to mess with Squall's hair as she spoke, all the while his expression was completely stoic and unmoving. "Well, we'll have to check for any videos the day after. Since it's Selphie's birthday tomorrow, I'm taking her out!"
"Tell her that me dancing and looking like an ass on stage is my birthday present for her!" cried Quistis.
Squall's expression changed then. His eyes widened a fraction and his lips tightened. "Shit," he whispered. "I forgot that tomorrow's her birthday."
"Well, it's not your job to have her birthday memorized—that belongs to Irvine," Rinoa said with a shrug.
Again, Squall made an expression that Rinoa couldn't quite place, but she reasoned it up to the fact that Quistis was now playing with his ears. "What do you guys plan to do?" he asked.
Rinoa shrugged her shoulders and spooned some more ice cream into her mouth. "No idea," she admitted. "We might go to Moogle World, I think she mentioned she had season passes."
"That'd be fun," Squall agreed. "You should do that. Make sure she has a blast."
"That's the plan! Hey, when you guys get back we should all go together!" Rinoa clapped her hands together and Quistis did a little excited dance.
"I whole-heartedly agree with that idea," the blonde announced. "I can't remember the last time I went to Moogle World." Suddenly her mouth opened into an excited howl. "We have to all get those matching Moogle ears. You know? With those cute fluffy ears and the pom pom?"
Rinoa giggled, trying to imagine Squall sporting a headband where a poofy red pom pom dangled from a wiry antennae. "Oh, please, please make that happen!" she squealed, laughing even more when Squall's expression shifted to near horrified.
"No."
The two girls burst out into fits of laughter.
"I'm sure Rinoa would make it worth your while…" Quistis sang, giving Squall's cheek a quick little pinch. Sending a wink through the camera, she waved Rinoa off and headed towards the door. "I'm gonna grab something from the diner next door, you want anything?"
"Uh…maybe just a burger," Squall said. "Not that hungry."
"You got it. See you later, Rinoa!"
"Bye!"
When they were alone, Rinoa had finished her ice cream and placed her dishes into the sink. She picked up her laptop and moved the conversation into her room, setting the laptop on her comforter so she could lay on her stomach. "So…Mr. Leonhart," she asked, flashing a smile as she tried to mimic a reporter. "Your very first tour is coming to an end, how do you feel?"
Squall smirked and leaned back against the chair, the cigarette dangling from his lips as he spoke. "I feel good," he answered. "It feels good being on tour and playing music. Never thought it would come this far but…fuck, it just feels right."
Rinoa grinned, absolutely in awe with how happy Squall looked, even if he kept his features muted. Even though his movements and body language weren't as animated as Quistis's, Rinoa could see the excitement in his eyes and could hear the smile in his voice. "You are so cute," she murmured. "So in love with your passion…and you're making it work!"
"I'm just honored to be playing music for those who actually want to hear it," Squall chuckled.
"If someone didn't want to hear the music you play I would question their sanity," Rinoa said.
July 16th, Monday night
After the show, Squall was leaning against the van. He and one of the tour staff had just finished loading up his drum kit. "Thanks," he said to the staff member who was signaling that he was heading back in to grab some more equipment.
Irvine approached the van with one of Zell's amps in his arms. "Good show," he said.
Squall nodded. "Yeah," he concurred. "The crowd was really energetic tonight. I think they especially liked Quistis's dance."
Irvine chuckled. "Yeah…that was fucking random."
"Quistis says that it was her birthday present for Selphie."
Irvine's face suddenly fell, He loaded the amp into the van and carefully slid it further in to make room for more. "She's texting me when she gets home from Moogle World with Rinoa," he said lowly. "I'm calling her after that." He swallowed and lifted his gaze to meet Squall's. "And telling her everything."
Squall grimaced. "On her birthday? Really?"
Irvine mirrored Squall's distaste for the timing but he shrugged and untied his ponytail, dragging his fingers through his coppery hair. "I've put it off long enough, haven't I? I can't keep lying to her like this." He pulled out his phone and scrolled through his messages to pull up a photo that Selphie had sent him. "She had Rinoa buy her one of those Ms. Moogle's Cakes."
Squall leaned over and looked at the picture. It was a close up of a mini cake completely covered with fruit on the top and smothered in fluffy cream. Behind the cake, all that could be seen of Selphie was her wide and open mouth, ready to go in for the kill.
"What exactly are you going to tell her?"
"The truth. I love her, I will always love her. I fucked up, got drunk, and almost fucked a girl I met in a bar because I was so scared and overwhelmed with the thought that our relationship was failing."
No one else in the band knew the whole story about what was going on between the couple. Sure, Quistis and Zell had the feeling that there was trouble brewing in paradise, but they didn't know about Irvine's indiscretion. After all, Squall was not one to gossip about matters that did not pertain to him. He gave Irvine the benefit of the doubt and trusted that he himself would come clean—to Selphie—when the time was right. Though he didn't particularly agree with Irvine in telling her on her birthday, he couldn't argue with the fact that the cowboy had to tell her sooner rather than later.
"Think you guys will be able to work past this?" he asked.
Irvine was quiet for a moment, his throat working as he chewed on his lip and inside of his cheek. "I don't know," he whispered finally. "I really don't. I'm going to beg for forgiveness, make promises that I fully intend to keep, but…" He held up his hands. "I don't know if it'll be enough for her. Fuck, I don't know if it'd even be enough for me if the roles were reversed."
His phone vibrated and he swallowed when he saw that it was Selphie texting him saying that she had just gotten home. "She's home already," he said, his voice cracking.
"Djin Theory should be going on soon," Squall said, looking at the time on his phone. "So their bus should be empty. Go use that."
"But the rest of our equipment…"
Squall shook his head and snapped his fingers, pointing in the direction of Djin Theory's tour bus. "This is more important. Go handle your shit. I've got this."
The next night.
Rinoa looked down at the woman whose head was nestled in her lap. When Selphie came knocking on her door a little after nine o' clock, she knew that something wasn't right. Just by the sound of the knock alone Rinoa knew something was wrong. Selphie's knock was usually a quick little rat-a-tat-tat but this time…it was slow and quiet. A wave of dread washed over Rinoa when she opened the door and found the brunette with raw eyes and still in her pajamas.
Now, it was close to midnight, Selphie had stopped bawling but the skin beneath her eyes was still moistened with tears that still managed to seep out.
Rinoa was shocked when Selphie told her about the phone call with Irvine. Her heart bled for the girl. Though Rinoa didn't have much experience when it came to long-distance relationships (or long-term relationships, for that matter), she did understand the animosity that brewed within them. Going from seeing a person you care so much about nearly every day to hardly ever at all…something was bound to happen. It was terrible, so unfortunate, but it was one of those things that tended to occur.
Even still, she was angry at Irvine for making her friend cry, for breaking her heart, but she couldn't bring herself to hate the cowboy. He was human, after all, and humans have needs. Though he swore up and down from Heaven to Hell that he did not have sex with this unnamed woman, he did admit that he wanted to. Rinoa wasn't entirely sure she believed Irvine on that but Selphie seemed to. However, now she couldn't trust him.
"I knew that the distance was becoming a problem," Selphie had whispered. "But I didn't think that it was that severe…"
She told Rinoa that their talk went on for hours, well into the night to the point where she thought her phone would catch on fire from its prolonged usage.
It was decided that the two would go their separate ways, but Irvine begged to see Selphie when he returned to Galbadia. Selphie said that she didn't want to see him…that she couldn't see him, but deep down she knew that she wanted to see him more than anything. In the end, pride won and she let him go, telling him to live his dream.
"I'm not about to live on a tour bus. Living your dream would require you to leave often for long periods of time and I'm not going to get in the way of your dream because I can't trust you when you're not right beside me. Maybe later on down the road I could live with it, but right now? I can't. I just can't," she had told him.
"I feel like an idiot," Selphie said to Rinoa.
"Why?"
"Because I love him and I do feel like we could make this work but…I just can't bring myself to say yes."
Rinoa ran her fingers through Selphie's hair and gently massaged her scalp. "Honestly? I think you guys need to sit down face to face and talk about it." When Selphie started to protest, Rinoa gave the brunette's ear a quick tug. "No. Seriously. When he gets back into town you guys need to have a serious talk. I understand that right now the last thing you want to do is see him—because you probably want to knee him right in the balls, and hey, I don't blame you—but seriously, be grown up about it. He made a mistake, a huge mistake! But he's owning up to it and wants to be with you because he loves you. I understand if you can never forgive him but…still, I think you guys need to really take a step back for now and then have a long talk when he gets back."
Selphie groaned and rolled over so she was looking upright at Rinoa. "You think so?" she asked quietly. "Is that what you'd do?"
"Me? No. You know me, I'd set fire to his pubes and send Caraway on him." When Selphie cracked a smile and rolled her eyes, Rinoa grinned and wrapped her arms around her. "But I'm terrible with relationships! I honestly can't remember the last time I had a serious boyfriend." She made a face as she thought for a moment. "Or if I've even had someone to call a serious boyfriend. Every single one of them was just some guy I was 'seeing' for a few months or so. I didn't have what you and Irvine have."
"I don't know if I can do it," Selphie murmured. "I know how I get. I know that even though I have no intention to go on the road with him, I won't be able to trust him when he's out of town. And he has to go out of town if he's going to be in a successful band! I can't get in the way of that. I think it's just better this way."
Rinoa leaned in and gave a kiss to Selphie's forehead. "If that's how you really feel," she whispered. "I am behind you, one hundred percent."
The next morning Selphie left fairly early, wanting to go to the gym to keep her mind occupied before having to go to work. Rinoa texted Squall good morning, knowing that he'd be awake since he was three hours ahead.
S.L: You're up early.
R.H: Selphie just left.
S.L: Ah.
R.H: Yeah.
They decided to continue their conversation on video-chat through their phones. Rinoa liked that even though they didn't talk often or on a daily schedule, Squall was very open to the suggestion of video-chat. She had also noticed that he definitely became more enthusiastic about using the feature on his phone after their first session where she was wearing her new corset.
Rinoa rested her phone against the side of one of her speakers and she sat down in her computer chair. "Crazy, huh?" she murmured, thinking about Irvine and Selphie. She still couldn't believe it and even though she was disgusted by Irvine's actions, she still had a job to do. She clicked opened a few folders and skimmed through the photographs of Absolute Lore she had planned to edit for her portfolio today.
"Yeah. Irvine's a fucking idiot," Squall said, leaning to the side and grabbing his coffee.
Rinoa nodded and absently started browsing the internet, seeing what she had already uploaded of Absolute Lore. She came across an amazing shot of Irvine, one hand on his mic stand, holding it at arm's length from his body, his face turned away so that his studly profile was the focus of the shot. Rinoa chuckled when she reread his comment: Only you would make a shot of only half my face look so damn good. Pure talent, this woman has it!
She smiled faintly. Even if he was a cheater, he still was a sweetheart.
"How long is the drive to your next show?" Rinoa asked Squall.
Squall let out a soft groan as he cracked his neck. "Not too far. We'll probably shove off later today and spend tomorrow in town. We haven't figured out what we're doing yet."
Rinoa nodded as she listened to Squall talk about the road trip towards Esthar that was coming up. She clicked on Irvine's profile and inattentively perused his tagged photos. She saw a few from previous shows, pictures taken by some of the tour staff and other band members. One of them was of him and Quistis, posed in front of a well-known statue in front of a busy metro-link. Quistis looked as if she were intently studying the sculpture, her fingers poised and pinching her chin as if she were deep in thought. Irvine, on the other hand, appeared to be in the middle of a very extravagant dance move.
Then she saw a recently added photo, this one added the other night, the fourteenth, and it was tagged by Hans. It looked to be taken right after their show on Saturday, a noticeable sheen of sweat was still visible against Hans's skin. His arm was wrapped around Irvine's shoulders, and the cowboy was looking into the camera with the faintest smile that Rinoa had ever seen him display. To Hans's left was Squall, who was simply giving his infamous glare towards the camera.
"What's wrong?" Squall asked.
"Huh?"
"You're frowning at something."
"Oh." Rinoa glanced back towards her phone and sent Squall a smile. "I was just looking at this picture of you and Irvine that Hans put up the other night…" She squinted as she stared harder at the photo. "Is…is that a bruise on Irvine's face?" She tapped her chin to mirror the position of the marking she saw on Irvine.
Squall ran his tongue over his teeth. "Yep."
"Did he get in a fight?"
"No."
Rinoa's brows furrowed even further as she tried to understand. She turned and saw Squall inspecting the knuckles of his right hand. "Wait…you punched Irvine?"
He didn't say anything, only sighed and brought his coffee thermos to his lips.
Realization dawned on her when she looked at the date of the photograph. "You knew," Rinoa whispered.
It wasn't a question.
Squall swallowed the rest of his coffee and set the thermos onto the ground. "Yeah," he said. "I knew."
Rinoa pressed her lips together and exhaled through her nose, hurt by his admission. The date showed that he knew what Irvine had done, had known even when they had spoken the day before Selphie's birthday. "Why didn't you tell me?" she breathed.
He simply stared at her through the screen, his blue eyes steely and cold. His jaw was set, not tightly, but grim enough where Rinoa could tell that he thought that she would either know his answer already or he just didn't have one for her.
"It's not really your business, is it?" he finally said.
Rinoa scoffed, perturbed by the terse comment. "Excuse you?"
"Irvine fucked up. The first person who should have been alerted of it is Selphie, not you; and the person she should have heard it from first is Irvine. Again, not you. If I had told you then you would have immediately said something to Selphie."
While she easily followed his logic, she didn't appreciate the attitude within his words. She watched as Squall pulled out a cigarette and lit up, his head turning as he glanced around his surroundings. "How do you know, then?" Rinoa asked.
Squall exhaled the smoke with an annoyed sigh. "I…interrupted them."
"Did they…?"
"No," Squall said firmly. "Not that it makes the situation any better, but…no, they didn't."
Rinoa heard a knock and watched Squall get up from his seat and head towards the door to his hotel room. She heard a brief, muffled conversation, and soon Squall returned with Zell behind him.
"Hey Rinoa!" the blonde said, leaning in so that his face filled her phone's screen.
"Hi!" she laughed. "How's it going?"
Zell shrugged and kept the beaming smile on his face. "It's been crazy, can't believe the tour is almost over!"
"We'll have to throw a welcome home party when you guys get back. You guys come back on a what...Tuesday?" She ran her finger over the miniature calendar on her desk until she landed on the day they'd be back. "You said three day drive, right?"
"Something like that," Squall called.
"You leave Esthar on Saturday so…ok you'd be back on a Wednesday. We can figure something out for that Friday?" Rinoa proposed.
Zell nodded and stepped aside so Squall could lean in.
"Sounds good. Hey, so we're gonna start packing up."
"Ok." Rinoa blew Squall a kiss and waved goodbye to Zell. "Drive safe guys."
"Always. I'll talk to you later, Rinoa."
"Bye." Rinoa lightly tapped the 'end call' button and watched as Squall's face faded from the screen, only to be replaced with a photograph of a cartoon T-rex looking forlornly at his drum kit. Beneath the cartoon read the caption: Worst drummer ever.
Suddenly, her computer chimed with a notification that she received a new e-mail directed to her business account. Rinoa set the phone aside and clicked on the icon. Her eyes widened when she saw the name of the sender.
Later that day Rinoa met up with Selphie at the art studio where she worked. "Knock, knock," Rinoa called, poking her head into the studio. "How's it going?"
"Hey you!" Selphie smiled, still sitting at one of the pottery wheels. "Come on in. Wanna learn how to shape a vase?"
Rinoa laughed and walked over, her nose crinkling as she watched Selphie's nimble hands plop down a slab of clay onto the stationary plate. "Yeesh, I dunno. I took ceramics back in high school…the wheel was not my friend. I was more so talented in the pinch pot area."
Selphie grinned and gently pressed her foot onto the pedal, setting the wheel plate into motion.
"You'll lock up won't you, Selphie?"
She turned and nodded her head to the older woman who was packing up her messenger bag. "Will do, thanks for letting me stay later, Regina."
"Anytime kiddo, have a good night!"
"I um…got an e-mail from Fujin," said Rinoa when they were alone.
Selphie glanced up from her pottery wheel, her hands still carefully molding the clay. "Oh yeah? How's she doing?"
Rinoa shrugged. "Don't know. She was mostly talking business."
"Business?"
"Yeah, remember how she said she wanted to talk to their producer to hire me?"
"Oh!" Selphie nodded and turned her eyes back to the clay in her hands. "Right…she wanted to see if they could get you hired to photograph the tour? Or…what's left of it anyway." She made a face as she thought. "Don't they only have like…two shows left? Or is it three?"
"Three. The twentieth, the twenty-fourth, and the last is the twenty-seventh."
"Right." She clenched her jaw and gently glided her palms over the clay, shaping it into a round and wide bowl. "So? Did you get hired?"
Rinoa sighed and sat back. "That's the thing. There's not enough in their budget to hire two photographers like they originally wanted—so it'd just be me—and they can only afford me to photograph one night…which wouldn't be a problem except…"
Selphie stole a quick look. Her bowl was now shaping into the curving bottom of a vase. "Except what?"
"They can't afford the expense of a plane ticket and a hotel room. Personally, the hotel room part doesn't concern me…" Because I'd most likely find some way to sneak into Squall's van or bus or room or whatever he's sleeping in that night, she thought to herself. "…but I just looked at a last minute flight from Deling to Esthar to get me there the last two nights of the tour and good lord!" Her brows rose up to nearly meet her hairline and her brown eyes widened. "The prices fucking skyrocketed. It's inhumane! It's hardly even worth it at this point. What I'd pay to get out there and what I'd be getting paid…I'd just about break even! And that's not even including food!"
As Selphie listened to Rinoa speak, she took her foot off of the pedal. The spinning wheel stopped and Selphie's vase became a lopsided, wavy, hunk of clay. She let out a snort of a giggle at the sight and looked over to Rinoa. "Maybe I'll just make an ashtray," she laughed.
Rinoa covered her mouth and chuckled at the sight. "It will be the most beautiful ashtray," she said. "Sorry, did I break your concentration?"
"Oh, not at all! But as you were talking it got me to thinking." Selphie stood to her feet and scooped up a nearby rag, cleaning off her hands. "I bought this as a birthday present for myself," she said, her voice softening. "And…well, since I won't be getting any use of it…" She reached into her totebag and pulled out a single sheet of paper. "Here."
Frowning, Rinoa took the paper from Selphie. As her eyes scanned over the words, her jaw tightened and she swallowed. "Oh, Selphie," she whispered. In her hands she held an itinerary for a flight scheduled to leave for Esthar on the twenty-fifth and returning on the twenty-eighth as well as a three night stay at one of the hotels. Rinoa looked over to Selphie, who was crossing her arms over her breasts and trying to casually shrug. "You ok?"
The petite brunette chewed on her lips for a moment, her eyes downcast towards the floor. "I was gonna surprise him," she whispered. "When he called the other day and was like, 'I need to tell you something' I said, 'Oh! I need to tell you something too, but you go first!'"
"Sweetie, I…I can't take this." Rinoa held out the paper for Selphie to take back, but the tiny brunette just shook her head and backed away.
"No, no." Selphie took a deep breath and kept her arms crossed. "Please, take it. It'd only go to waste and there's no point in attempting to get a refund now. It was one of those package deals."
Rinoa looked at the paper dangling between her fingers. "At least let me pay for it."
"No."
"It was your birthday present!" Rinoa protested.
Selphie scrunched her face, puffing up her cheeks like an adorable and annoyed puffer fish. "Ok…so how about for my birthday present someone get some use out of my birthday present! Come on, Rinoa…please? Take the damn tickets, take the job, and get your little butt to Esthar!"
Even though Rinoa was practically dancing with excitement on the inside, she was still quite hesitant to jump at the chance. "Are you sure? I mean…you took the time off right? You could still go? Maybe smack Irvine upside the head a little?"
Selphie broke into a giggle. "You can do that for me. I did take the time off but I already told Regina to cancel it. I'm already scheduled and booked for work. So, like I said, the tickets will go to waste—someone has to use them! It might as well be you."
"Selphie…"
"Stop!" she cried, nearing the brink of hysteric laughter. "You are going to Esthar, young lady!" she ordered, pointing a very determined finger at Rinoa.
"I'm older than you!"
"And your point is? You are taking this job! You are taking these tickets…" She emphasized her words by marching up to Rinoa, snatching the itinerary from her grasp and neatly folding it to nestle in Rinoa's purse. "…you are going to Esthar to photograph the last show of this amazing tour. And…you are going to fuck Squall."
Rinoa's head snapped up, her eyes nearly bulging from her sockets. "Um. What?"
"In fact, I'm going to text him and demand that he stay in the hotel with you," Selphie continued, walking back to her pottery wheel and completely ignoring the dumbfounded expression on Rinoa's face. "Ooh! You want me to text him and tell him to stack up on condoms? I'm sure he doesn't have any since you're not there."
"Wait. What?"
"Hey!" Selphie spun on her heels and excitedly clapped her hands together. "Forget the ashtray—let's go shopping for some sexy lingerie!"
Before Rinoa knew it, she was being dragged into Selphie's yellow bug and the two were heading off towards the large and prestigious shopping outlet of Deling. Rinoa couldn't help but stare lovingly at Selphie as she drove and chatted on about whether Rinoa should wear crotchless panties or do the whole 'trenchcoat and nothing underneath' schtick.
Here was a woman who had just had her heart torn in two, and now she was doing everything she could within her power to make sure that her friend was on her way to a prosperous job as well as the handsome drummer she'd had set her sights on.
Rinoa quietly smiled to herself as she listened to Selphie continue on. She was going to Esthar. She was going to Esthar to photograph the end of a brilliant tour and work with such talented musicians. All thanks to this spunky, energetic little fireball sitting beside her.
"Selphie?"
Selphie paused and glanced over to Rinoa. "Yeah?"
"I fucking love you."
Selphie grinned widely and gave Rinoa an endearing squeeze to the knee. "I love you too."
Rinoa was going to Esthar. And she was going to smack that damn cowboy so hard upside his head.
And fuck Squall, she thought to herself. Definitely fuck Squall.
A/N: Hello my readers! Can I just say that your reviews literally made me laugh and squeal out loud? And I'm an asshole for eliciting such strong emotions from you guys! Haha!
Thank you again for all the reviews, they really make my day!
xoxoxox
