Disclaimer: All places, characters are not mine, nothing here is mine, everything belongs to Squaresoft.

Double Take

Chapter 4

By Purple Penguin

Seifer folded out the couch into a bed he had made it comfy using a few pillows, a blanket and a couple of sheets. Squall sat in the armchair watching it all happen but not quite understanding.

“There.” The blonde stood up, happy with his work. He lay down over the blanket to test it. “I’ll sleep here tonight okay?” He asked the brunette.

Squall frowned. “Why? What’s wrong with the bed?”

“Nothing. That’s where you’re going to sleep.”

“You’re not sleeping with me? Why not? Something wrong?”

He sat up to face the brunette. “Nothing’s wrong. It’s ...just....” He couldn’t think of a reason. He did love Squall, he liked sleeping beside him but until they knew what was wrong was him he really shouldn’t. He hated the others for giving him the responsibility of looking after Squall when they knew how he felt about the brunette.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea.” He caught sight of the hurt and disappointment in the brunette’s eyes. “Just for tonight.” He added.

He hoped the others would know what happened by then or they’d found somewhere else for Squall to stay. He leaned back in his chair/bed to watch the rest of the movie that he’d put on for Squall’s benefit. It had taken him ages to get the brunette to sit still and stay in his chair alone, but the film helped.

The blonde started to relax; he leaned back in his chair with his eyes closed. He heard Squall get up again to wander off but he didn’t bother to open his eyes until he felt a head on his chest and a pair of arms wrapped around him.

He looked down at Squall who had his eyes closed, his legs curled up on the sofa and his arms and head resting on Seifer.

The blonde sighed as he watched the brunette he looked so peaceful, happy and beautiful, but then Squall was always beautiful. Seifer ignored his brain, which was telling him to push the younger man away and stay away from him until he went back to Zell. He loved Squall and he so wanted the brunette to love him back, now it looked like Squall did love him. The only thing Seifer didn’t like about the old Squall was his problem with emotions. This new improved version didn’t mind who saw his smiles or his tears and Seifer wanted to keep him.

Maybe it would be worse this way for the blonde, Squall was everything he’d ever wanted what if he got too attached to him again and then he went back to Zell? That would kill Seifer?

The blonde raised a hand to stroke the back of the brunette’s head, he chuckled when Squall started to purr lightly and he nuzzled back into the hand. Maybe this Squall was a cat in disguise.

The brunette looked up at the blonde who was laughing at him. “What?”

“You’re adorable.”

The smiled faded, he hadn’t meant to say that, but Squall didn’t seem to mind. He smiled and leaned up to kiss Seifer. The blonde’s eyes went wide in shock. The kiss seemed innocent, gently so Seifer went along with it. It had been so long; he forgot how good it felt to kiss the brunette.

Squall lay with his eyes closed and his head on his lover’s chest, it wasn’t long before he was asleep.

Seifer half dozed, half watched the film until the end. As the end credits went up he noticed for the first time that Squall was asleep on his chest. He quickly turned off the TV before the noisy adverts would come on and wake the younger man up.

He picked up the brunette in his arms and headed for the bedroom. He pulled off the sweatshirt that he’d given Squall and pulled back the covers, placing Squall on the mattress then covered him with blankets.

“Night Squall.” He whispered as he bent down to kiss him goodnight, before he headed back to the sofa.

Seifer pulled back his blanket and tried to get comfy on the lumpy couch, he fidgeted around for ages thinking he should get a new sofa when sleep eventually caught up with him, and he fell asleep in the place where Squall was sitting. The nice Squall smell comforted him and helped him sleep.

The brunette awoke two hours after Seifer had put him in his bed. He reached out for his lover, but he was alone. He sat up feeling confused, he remembered going to sleep with Seifer on the couch so where was he now? Squall looked around recognizing his lover’s bedroom. The blonde must have put him here when the film had ended.

The brunette shivered, he had woken up feeling cold and alone, he had shared a bed for five years he was used to it so he didn’t like sleeping alone, it didn’t feel right. It made him feel empty.

The pillows smelled of him but they didn’t provide the human warmth that he needed. Squall got out of bed and wrapped his arms around himself as protection from the cold night air and headed out to the living room. He could hear his lover’s light breathing, as it was the only sound in the room. He crept up and knelt to look in his lover’s face. Seifer was sleeping peacefully; he looked so young and innocent in his sleep.

Squall carefully pulled the blanket back and slipped in beside the man he loved, he curled up half beside and half on top of Seifer and buried his face into the crook of Seifer’s neck. The blonde’s arms unconsciously wrapped around him.

“I love you.” The brunette whispered before he drifted off to sleep.

Morning in Winhill.

Zell awoke with a start when a loud noise of something heavy hitting the floor disturbed his sleep. He looked to his right to see that Squall had rolled right off the end of the bed. He had learned a while ago when they were just friends that Squall moved around a lot in his sleep. A few months ago Selphie had locked Squall out of his room to redecorate, Zell had said he could stay with him. He regretted it when he woke up to find Squall lying on top of him; it’s hard to hide your attraction for a friend when they’re sleeping on top of you. The brunette was too heavy to move so Zell had to wake him, he had never seen Squall so embarrassed.

The brunette had not been happy when he when back to his room to find all traces of grey gone, in it’s place were baby pink walls with red hearts on.

Zell leaned over to see if the fall had woken the brunette but Squall still slept soundly. The phone rang suddenly; Zell lunged for it before it woke Squall.

“Hello?” He whispered.

“Zell, did I wake you?”

“Quistis? No I was already up. Is something wrong?”

“It’s about Squall.... um...”

“What is it? He’s not coming home early if that’s what you want.”

“He’s there? Now? With you?”

“Yeah, he just fell out of bed. Why?”

There was a long pause. “Are you sure?”

The blonde frowned. “What do you mean am I sure? Do you want me to wake him up?”

“No, that’s okay. My mistake. Bye.” She hung up before he could speak.

He stared at the phone. What the hell was that about?

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