Author's Note: First off want to say, as always, sorry about the long wait. I got caught up in yet another story. (In the "M" section called "Addiction" some of you have already checked it out but thought I would shove a plug in here for it. I think it's awesome). Also there was a delay in posting it too because of website problems... Anyway, well this is it folks. The very last chapter. I was going to extend it but my beta was like, just end it don't drag it out, or something like that. On another note, thank you all for the reviews and what not. I do appreciate each and every one of them. Again thanks to Jesse Static for her awesome beta-ing. (Check out her new fic, it's amazing). And once again thanks again you guys.

Chapter 6

When Rinoa entered the hotel the next morning, a familiar figure sat perched in the crowded reception area. She let out a long sigh and walked over to him. Half a smile crept onto his face when he noticed her.

"Are you stalking me?" she demanded placing her hands on her hips. The smile on his face grew as he stood to look her in the eyes.

"I haven't seen you in weeks," he countered in his defense. She knew he was right and turned pink as she suddenly became aware of the people staring.

"Yeah, well," she stammered moving her arms to cross her chest.

"Mhm," he smiled triumphantly. "Anyway, how are you?"

"Fine," she replied, dropping her arms.

"And with the other thing?" he asked quieter, leaning in closer to her.

"Everything is just fine, Squall," she assured, looking over his shoulder to the clock. She needed to get to work.

"Good. Uh, listen I uh-" he began scratching the back of his head and dug his toes into the ground. Rinoa couldn't help but giggle at his pose, so cute and innocent looking.

"Yes?" she asked leaning toward him expectantly.

"I, well… what I mean to say is... God, this shouldn't be so hard," he said with a slight chuckle. "I'm sorry about the other day."

"Oh." She tried to hide this disappointment in her voice. It was nice he apologized but she was hoping for something else. "Don't worry about it. It's over and done with," she said touching his arm before turning to leave.

"Wait," he called. She stopped and turned to him. "Where're you going?" he asked dumbly. His face scrunched in realization after the words left his mouth.

"I work here, remember?"

"Yeah, right. Uh- hey listen," he said walking over to her, wiping the sweat from his hands. "Whatta doing tomorrow night?"

"I'm busy, why?"

"Oh." Rinoa saw his face fall. "I just wanted to see if you wanted to go out with me, but never mind." Squall smiled tragically at her before turning and walking away.

"Wait," she called, causing him to stop. "I'm free next week."

He turned around to face her. "So what I am supposed to wait around for you 'til you call for me?"

Rinoa let out a sigh, she didn't have time for this, she had to get to work. She walked over to him.

"Fine. Will you come to my place on Sunday? I'll make you dinner," she offered.

"I'll buy you dinner," he replied. Rinoa didn't look like the type of girl that could successfully boil water, let alone make a whole meal. Sure, he was in love with her, but there was only some much one could take.

"Fine," she said throwing her hands up in defeat. "Forget it."

"No, no." He grabbed her arm before she could walk away. "Hey com'on don't be like that. I would love to."

She smiled victoriously. "One o'clock then."

"Alright," Squall confirmed. "I'll see you then." On that note, Squall and Rinoa turned from one another and walked away. Rinoa gasped with realization and ran to the front door to catch Squall before he would disappear in to the crowd of early morning commuters.

"Squall," she called, catching his attention. "You don't know where I live."

"West Twenty-Fourth," he replied. "Oops," his mind added. Rinoa's face contorted with confusion but the sidewalk sea swallowed him up before she had a chance to push the matter.

"Way to look like a stalker, Squall," mocked his inner voice.

--

Rinoa frantically moved about her tiny apartment. Squall was due to arrive any minute, although he was late, like she predicted. She entered the kitchen and pulled her dress down to cover more of her legs. She could have sworn it was longer before when she bought it. It wasn't like she was beginning to show much yet.

"Oh well," she thought moving to the stove and lifting a lid off a pan on the stove, filling the room with a flash of steam. She quickly gave the red contents a stir and returned the lid.

Next, she moved to the mirror that hung on the back of the front door across from the stove. It was here that she noticed she was now showing more cleavage than she intended. She pulled the dress up, revealing more leg.

"What a dilemma," she thought. She looked down at her chest and noticed her necklace was missing. She moved to her bedroom, pulling her dress down to cover her legs. When she returned to the mirror, she was dawning the necklace that held her mother's engagement ring. She hoped that this would take the focus off of her breasts. Then again, Squall was a guy, she noted. She would be lucky if he even noticed there was a necklace.

--

It was unusually hot that Sunday as Squall, dressed in his best, climbed up the five flights of stairs to Rinoa's door. Of all the apartment buildings in Deling, she had to live in the one without a functioning elevator. He was a former SeeD, for God sakes, and he was winded. How in hell did she manage to do it everyday after being on her feet for six hours? And in heels no less. He made a mental note to ask her.

He stood before her door catching his breath and adjusting his coat. Squall looked down at the small bouquet of flowers in his hand, which he noticed was shaking.

"What the- this is ridiculous," he thought lifting his other hand, also quivering. He reached up to ring the bell, but couldn't quite do it. "Get it together, Squall," he thought running his free hand through his hair turning from the door. "You can do this, it's only Rinoa. Only Rinoa? Okay shut up just knock on the door." Squall adjusted his coat once more before quickly rapping at the door.

--

A knock on the door broke Rinoa from her thoughts. She opened the door to a slightly winded Squall. She couldn't help but giggle slightly at his red face, she herself barely made it up those stairs in one piece everyday, but with him it was somehow funny.

"Hi," he greeted with a soft smile.

"Welcome," she replied moving from the door allowing him in. "May I take your coat?" she asked. Squall removed his long black coat, slowly so as to not spoil the flowers. Rinoa took the garment from him and went to put it on her bed.

Squall stood in the entryway looking over the place.

"Nice place," he commented taking it all in.

"Thank you," she replied, reentering the room. Squall got a good look at her then. He swore he felt the floor with his lower jaw. His eyes slowly looked her up and down.

"You look beautiful," he said with a whistle.

"Thank you," she said again with a blushed and looked down at the floor. She noticed the flowers in his hand; he noticed her noticing the flowers.

"Oh these are for you," he said quickly thrusting the yellow flowers at her. She smiled and took them.

"They are lovely, Squall. Thank you," she told him, bringing them to her nose. Squall shifted nervously as she moved to put the flowers in water.

"God, look at me. I feel like a fourteen year old boy on a first, first date. Even then I wasn't this nervous," he noted wiping the sweat off of his hands. Rinoa smiled up at him and grabbed his hands reassuringly.

"For what it's worth, you are hiding it quite well."

"You're so gorgeous," he said softly leaning in to kiss her. But she pulled away at the last possible minute.

"Would you like a drink?" she asked moving to the tiny TV tray in the corner of the room, covered in full, assorted alcohol bottles.

"Sure," he sighed with frustration.

"What can I get you?" she asked.

"Quite a selection you got there," he commented moving over to her.

"Far be it for me to deny anyone, just because I can't. What can I get you?"

"Scotch please," he requested taking a seat on the couch in the sitting and dining room portion.

"Um, water, tonic or soda?" she asked unsure.

"Scotch and tonic? Sounds good," he said standing. She grabbed the tonic and began unscrewing the top. "Uh, barkeep?" he said, causing her to stop. "Gin and tonic, Vodka and tonic, yes. Scotch and tonic, no." She looked at the bar confused. "Water," he answered her unasked question.

"Right," she said, picking up the water and pouring some into the glass already containing his brown alcohol. "I'll learn my drinks, eventually," she told him, taking the drink to Squall who sat back down on the couch. He smiled his thanks and took a sip, it was surprisingly good.

Rinoa walked back into the kitchen and began stirring the food.

"Ya know this dinner thing is sort of a test run for me. The guy I am dating now is a sort of gourmet." Squall choked on his drink slightly. Guy she's dating? But she was his, he thought possessively. She walked back into the room.

"It should be ready in a minute," she commented. Squall smiled, he set the drink on the coffee table and grabbed her hand, pulling her into his lap. Rinoa giggled and looked into his eyes. "What are you doing?" she asked.

"Something I've been wanting to do for a while," he said softly, placing his lips over hers. He was slightly surprised to find her kissing back. For someone with a boyfriend, she didn't seem to have any problem kissing him. What was even more surprising was the feel of her tongue against his lips. Squall leaned back, so now she was lying on the couch with him. Boldly, Squall slowly ran his hand up her leg and under her dress. She pulled away quickly.

"Wait, wait. I want to make it clear that what happened before with us can't happen again," she said standing up.

"What? Why?"

"Because I didn't care about you then. But I care about you, I like you now," she said walking into the kitchen again. Squall smacked the heel of his hand against his forehead. He stood up angrily.

"So this boyfriend of yours, this gourmet, do you like him? Or do you not care about him the way you used to not care about me?" he asked. Rinoa stormed back into the room and pushed him to the door and opened it.

"Get out," she screeched. "I may not like Zell as much as I like you but I sure as hell can learn to. And he may not do crazy things to show his love for me, but I don't see you jumping off a building for me."

"You're crazy," Squall yelled.

"Well, you're dead," she screamed pushing him out of her apartment.

"Rin," he called as slammed the door in his face. "I'm sorry," he said pounding on the door. But it was no use. He could hear her softly crying on the other side.

--

A lone figure stood atop the roof of the building that faced the Deling City Hotel. He surveyed the people on the ground below. Scared onlookers watched him from below, as cops and firemen frantically ran around, backing people away from the area.

"Don't jump," called a police officer with a bull horn. "There is so much to live for, young man." His pleas where mixed with the fainter sounds of other people in the crowd, daring him to jump. Idiots, they had the wrong idea about him. He wasn't going to jump. Although if she said no, the prospect was good. But that wouldn't be fair to her.

--

Rinoa watched as the crowd gathered outside the front door. Was there a parade she wasn't aware of, she wondered. She spotted Zone shuffle in away from the growing crowd.

"What's going on out there?" Rinoa asked.

"Some nut is on top of the building across the street," Zone said casually.

"Ohmigosh," Rinoa said going to the door, trying to see who it was. She pushed open the door and entered the crowd to get a better look. Rinoa always had a morbid fascination with these things. She squinted trying to make out the man. That looked an awful lot like-

"Squall," she whispered to herself. Quickly, she pushed through the crowd trying to get the front. The closer she got, the more undeniable it became that it was in fact Squall.

"Hey back behind the tape," a police man shouted at Rinoa as she passed under the tape.

"I know that man," she explained.

"Wait here," the cop told her and went over to talk to the guy she assumed was in charge. After a short exchange of words and a point in Rinoa's direction, both men returned over to Rinoa.

"Can you describe your relationship with our jumper here?" asked the man in charge.

"Well, I, it's complicated." She saw the man was in no mood for games. "We're kinda. He's. I'm carrying his child," she explained.

"Do you think you can talk some sense into him? He won't talk to us."

"I-I-I dunno. I guess I could try," she replied. The man led her over to the top of the crowd, where Squall could see her.

"What's his name?" the cop asked, picking a mega phone off the hood of a car.

"Squall Leonhart."

"Squall," he called through the megaphone. "We have-" he looked to Rinoa for a name.

"Rinoa."

"Rinoa here and she wants to talk to you," he called up to Squall. "Here you go, sweetheart," he said to Rinoa handing her the megaphone.

"Squall, what are you doing up there?" she asked.

"Something crazy," he yelled down. "That's what you wanted isn't it?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Something crazy, like in the movies. To prove my love," he yelled at her.

"Why?" she asked, deep down she knew the answer but wanted him to say it.

"I'd rather be married to you than dead, but if you say no, I can just," he said putting a foot out over the edge. Rinoa, as well as the rest of the crowd let out a scream.

"No don't," she called.

"Then you'll marry me?" he asked, putting his foot back on the ledge.

"That's not fair, Squall."

Squall let out a sigh, "Fine," before bending down. "Rinoa Heartilly, I am deeply in love with you and have been for sometime. I want to spend the rest of my life with you and raise that baby with you. Will you marry me?"

The crowd let out a collective, "awe." The tears were welling up in her eyes. What the hell was she supposed to do? This was so unfair. She knew she loved him but did he really-

"I know I screwed up the last time, but I mean it this time, SeeD's honor," he added.

"If I say yes, will you come down?"

"Only if you mean it."

"Okay," she said softly.

"What?" he asked.

"Yes," she yelled without the megaphone. Squall stood on the ledge looking at her, not moving. The crowd waited with baited breath and let out a collective sigh as he stepped down.

He stepped out of the building; Rinoa immediately ran over and jumped on him. Squall held her close and brushed his lips against hers as the crowd cheered.