To Trust A Cop

Beta: working on it
Warning: emotional distress
Notes: Sometimes when I read your reviews I get teary eyed. I’m really happy that I manage to write something that is enjoyed by so many people.
Anyhow.
Next chapter and read the warning. Not much more to say I’m afraid...


31

The apartment building was silent. It usually was at this time of the night even though it was a Saturday night. Wait. It should be early Sunday. Squall scowled since he was too tired to snort at himself. The last steps up the stair felt impossible to walk, somehow he still managed.

One week back on track and he was close to exhausted. It felt like his head had been stuck in an iron-vice the whole evening and night. How had he gotten used to that club again? With loud music, beer and perfume stench air and bodies that literally stood on top of you?

Squall was happy to find his door locked. The apartment was dark and silent part from the snoring. The youth as silently as possibly took off his boots, jacket and backpack. Entering the kitchen the silence ripped apart as he stumbled at some unidentified object. Cursing softly and carefully making his way to the sink, the brunet had to wonder at the idiocy of laying things in door entrances.

Seifer had probably brought half as much things to his apartment as Nida had, but they weren’t spread all over the place. Squall frowned as he swallowed a headache pill and gallons of water. He had seen the cop a couple times, never without half a confrontation between the two men. It was getting frustrating. Not to say exhausting.

He couldn’t understand the complete and absolute… hatred the cop had towards Nida. To have to get between them and simultaneously try to prepare for the test was draining him on strength faster than he thought possible. Where had his ability to icily ignored the rest of the world if he so wished? Hyne, he was probably getting sick.

The brunet dragged himself into the other room and undressed on the way. He sighed heavily as he saw Nida sprawled over most of the bed. He decided he was too tired to care and just pushed a little at the other to get some semblance of room.

*****

Morning came way too fast and with a headache worth killing. How could you get such an ungodly headache without a drop of alcohol to deserve it? Squall took a pillow and put it over his head to drown out light and sound. Almost he could regain sleep. Until his head started spinning again. He flung it aside instead and stretched weary limbs.

“Good morning.”

Squall sat up and stared dumbly at Nida. The older man was newly shaved and his hair wet and trimmed. He had borrowed some of Squall’s clothes and sat cross legged at the floor surrounded by paper. He looked… like when Squall had seen him that first time.

Before drugs, before too much hardship, before he had stopped caring about his looks. When he smiled in greeting, Squall got this strange tug in the pit of his stomach.

“Morning,” he murmured and made his way out of bed.

Nida jumped to his feet.

“I got a job!” he exclaimed as if he had been waiting to tell it and was practically imploding from excitement.

“Oh?”

Squall arched an eyebrow and looked for some change of clothes.

“Yeah, at the mall. I’m unpacking stuff and refilling the store and stuff like that.”

Nida was practically bouncing where he stood. Squall only nodded blearily. One less headache.

“Good,” he said as an afterthought.

He thought the other was due for a little encouragement. He found a couple trousers and a shirt and a towel. A cold shower should clear his head. A hand caught the bathroom door before he managed to close it. Squall arched a questioning eyebrow at the other who ginned and leaned in.

“Want to celebrate? I could join you in there?” he suggested with a purr.

Squall just gave a half hearted glare before yanking the door closed. Fuck. What had triggered that? He hadn’t done anything but reject the man. Right? He didn’t need this. Not when Nida apparently had started taking an interest in his own looks again. Not when the old boyfriend had shaved and cut his hair and just looked like That again.

Like that what had caught Squall from the beginning. That kind of boyishness that wasn’t very masculine and not so threatening. The youth sunk down at the bathroom floor. He didn’t need this. Nida was bad news and he knew it all too well.

A cold shower didn’t help much. It only made him cold and miserable and he left it feeling dreadful. Nida was in the kitchen doing breakfast. How he remembered that Squall held a liking for hot chocolate and light food at the morning, he didn’t know. The youth hadn’t thought much registered with the addict.

“Made you breakfast. I’ve already eaten and been up for a while. Got the job today, I was out when you slept. Thanks for the keys by the way,” he grinned as he placed the cup on the table.

Squall just nodded. He had relented and given out his spare keys since it was just inconvenient to have the other live with him without a own set of keys. He needed to do groceries and he needed to paint and he needed to study. The sheer amount of time it would take made him tired.

“What are you doing today?” the older man asked happily.

“Groceries and study. I should paint some too…” Squall added lowly.

“Hey, I could go buy some food? Just tell me what.”

And give you money for it, Squall added silently. But it would be nice to stay home the whole day.

“Sure,” he agreed.

It was a huge business getting the dark haired man out of the apartment. He needed to do that and this and apparently it took an hour to prepare to go and buy some food. Once alone, Squall breathed a sigh of relief and felt unnoticed tension drain away.

For almost an hour he was alone to draw in silence. He realised it had been way too long since he last had been able to draw in such peace and solitude. Squall stepped away from the painting and scrutinized it. Quistis had told him that everything he made up to the test and the meeting with her after it would be saved and brought to her. No pressure, she wanted to see how he did in general.

At least that was what she had said. She wanted to see sketches and half finished pieces, not just finished stuff. Squall nodded to himself and deemed it was enough for that day. The oil had to dry anyway. The door bell called and Squall sighed.

He guessed who it was, had expected the cop to come around the past days. Their last meetings hadn’t been going so well. Mostly because… well, Squall was awfully defensive these days and the cop just didn’t relent. He kept nagging about Nida and having them both in the same room was like walking down in acid. Maybe not so dramatic, but the whole air around the blond was so aggressive that it made Squall instinctually defensive.

Opening the door Squall felt his gut clench uncomfortably.

“Good day mr Leonhart,” the landlord smirked.

Squall inclined his head. He was behind a little but it shouldn’t require a meeting quite yet.

“I wanted to remind you…”

“About the rent, I know. I’ve paid you already.”

He couldn’t quite keep the growl from his voice.

“That was last months rent. I mean this month,” he smiled oily.

Squall gritted his teeth. Of course it was natural to pay the rent a month ahead, he just had a hard time keeping up when falling behind which had been a problem for years.

“You’ll get this month rent and the next when I get my next salary,” Squall explained for what felt for deaf ears.

“Yes and I have to tell you rent has gone up.”

Squall stared at the oily man as if it would make the words more clear.

“What?”

“The rent has gone up,” the landlord smiled and started to twine his hands.

Squall’s knuckles went white around the doorframe.

“You can’t do that, there’s a contract…”

“For one person. What I’ve seen there’s a lot of persons running in and out of this apartment,” the bastard smiled.

Something started to whistle in Squall’s ears. His heart was banging harshly in his chest.

“They are friends,” he managed between clenched teeth.

The oily man eyed him and moved just slightly backwards.

“They spend an awful amount of time here. I have nothing against prostitution, but if you’re going to use your apartment for your… meetings, I will have to take a higher rent,” he smirked obviously enjoying his sense of control.

Red edges were covering in on his sight. His chest felt too small for the amount of breath that was gushing in. His fist was flying faster than he could think through. The flaring pain from the centre of his knuckles snapped him back to reality. It didn’t lessen the rage.

The man’s head snapped back and he staggered a couple steps. Squall followed up without thinking. He put a fist in the man’s stomach and another in his face before he could stop himself. The pathetic man was lying by the wall opposite the apartment and nurturing a probably broken nose. He was whimpering and moaning incoherently things while Squall stood trying to regain his temper.

The pain from his fists helped. He used that and clenched them as hard as he could. Nails bit into the palm of his hands and blood was drawn. The brunet turned away from his landlord and into the apartment again, figuring distance was the only thing safe.

“Fuck you! I’ll fucking throw you to the street!”

Squall slammed the door shut and locked it. His head was starting to spin. He had ice in the refrigerator. His knuckles were starting to swell. Fuck. What had he done?

He would get evicted for sure. The magnitude of his actions caught up and made him sick. Made all strength leave him and have him sink down at the floor. Hyne, what the fuck had he done to deserve this? He was trying damn it! He was trying so fucking hard.

The door bell suddenly called again and a little of the rage returned. If he was going to be kicked out he was going to tell that slimy bastard exactly what he thought. And maybe remodel that ugly hide some more. The brunet yanked open the door and had to tilt his head back since it wasn’t the landlord.

A blond eyebrow arched in amused question. Almasy tilted his head somewhat and narrowed his eyes.

“Hello, expecting someone else?” he smirked.

Squall wanted to smash his fist into the wall until the hurt made his brain function, but instead he just turned on his heel back inside the kitchen again. Couldn’t the fates give him one fucking micro second to gather himself? Just one moment to sort out his thoughts and make up a decent plan for things? Did one thing after another have to be thrown at him?

He more felt than heard the presence of the cop standing in the kitchen entrance. Squall thought of turning around and telling the blond to just get the fuck out, but found he couldn’t.

“I’m not in a mood. Get out,” he said sharply instead.

“Woha, hold it. What have I done now except come visiting?” the cop defended himself.

Squall took the ice to his knuckles again.

“Just get out, I don’t have time,” he repeated.

The energy was leaving him again. He had no desire for sex and no energy for another argument over an ex boyfriend and possible addict living with him.

“Hey! At least look at me,” Seifer growled indignantly.

“Just get the fuck out! What didn’t you understand?” Squall shouted back and turned.

The warning in green eyes didn’t calm him in the least.

“I don’t take shit like that without deserving it,” the cop warned.

Squall could care less. All shit had started the moment he meet the bastard.

“It’s your fault, so you deserve it!” he shouted angrily.

Squall turned around and pressed the palm of his hand against his forehead hard. It felt like his brain was swelling behind his cranium and it wasn’t pleasant.

“What, exactly?” Seifer demanded testily.

Squall wanted to snap back but found his voice unsteady. His throat was starting to cramp up.

“Just go,” he asked as loudly as he dared to.

He was cracking and it wasn’t something he wanted to show the cop. So silly. He hadn’t cried for… years and years and that had been because of a harsh beating. There was no reason to cave down to something so stupid when there wasn’t even bodily harm made. A hand squeezed his shoulder and Squall angrily shrugged it off.

“Go away.”

He could hear the croak in his own voice. The palm pressing against his forehead instead hid his eyes. Closing his eyes was a mistake as it made a tear run down.

“Look at me Squall,” the blond asked softly.

“Fuck off!” the brunet bit off.

Hands were on his shoulders again and Squall lashed out. He desperately latched onto the tiny flare of anger and hit the cop again when the man didn’t release him. It was like trying to fight quicksand. The more he struggled, the harder he got stuck.

He was forced around and pushing or hitting didn’t help. Seifer only trapped him in a tight embrace and let him squirm and struggle. In the end, Squall just didn’t have the strength. Instead he opted to get as heavy as possible in a hope the cop would relent in believing he had given up.

It didn’t help either. Not when his sight got blurred by tears he denied and his body started trembling in restrain. It got even worse when a large warm, hand stroked his back in that comforting manner. He didn’t need comfort! He wasn’t some silly girl! Seifer urged his head under the cop’s jaw. Shelter.

Squall gave in and clenched his hands hard in the soft fabric of the sued jacket. Grinding teeth and clenching hands might stave the silly urge. It didn’t really help, so he buried his face against the soft hollow of the blond’s throat instead. It muffled his crying when he couldn’t fight it any longer.

Once he stopped caring, the tears came freely and his body stopped struggling. It was like going with the flow. Easy. Relieving. It eased his headache for a moment. It took away all thoughts for a moment. Time didn’t exist.

He was drained beyond exhaustion once the persistent tears drained up. The headache was back but it was that cotton feeling. Heavy and pulsing that only eased if you closed your eyes. And he was tired. Keeping his eyes open seemed quite useless as it only hurt and served no purpose anyway.

He was content just standing there since time had stopped bothering him. He didn’t care about anything. Squall didn’t have the strength for it. The warm hands helped.

“Come on, lets take this horizontal,” Seifer urged.

“’on’t want to,” Squall answered muffled.

“Yes you do, come on,” the cop urged.

The blond was stronger and it was more a question about leading than dragging. Squall went along in a dazed state. He had no wish to think, no wish to reflect. When prompted to, he curled up on the bed around one of his two pillows. The cover was thrown over him and he wanted to complain about the heat that would build up, but there was no energy for that either.

Heavy warmth settled by his back and dipped the bed. Gentle fingers splayed over his face and urged his eyes closed. Somewhere deep in his brain he protested the handling since he wasn’t a child. But it felt so good to be lying down again and it felt good with the gentle hand in his hair and the secured weight at the edge of the bed. So he sort of let go and drifted.

*****

He guessed he should have seen it coming. The kid had been under tremendous pressure the last month or so. Seifer eyed the still sleeping curled form. He blew the smoke out the window and disinterestedly watched the people walking by down on the street.

He guessed he was one of the reasons for the pressure. He hadn’t exactly been reasonable the last weeks. Seifer just couldn’t help it. Knowing that junky and otherwise fishy character was sleeping in the same apartment, the same bed, as his…

He stopped that thought since he had told himself he shouldn’t go there.

He wondered what had made the brunet jump the landlord, because Seifer had no doubt in his mind that Squall had kicked ass. What with the slimy man bleeding from what looked like a broken nose and Squall’s slightly swollen knuckles. The blond wasn’t going to jump to conclusions just yet, but he could guess.

He flicked he cigarette down on the street below and closed the window. Slowly he made his way to the bedside and sat down. In sleep Squall looked at peace. Though there were deep bruises under his eyes and he was paler than usually. Seifer shifted the brown strands to better see the beautiful face.

This was becoming dangerous. He realised it now. It had been growing for a while. Wonder if the kid realised it too? Seifer frowned and removed his hand to not disturb the youth.

The door-lock rattled and the cop was at his feet in seconds narrowing his eyes. He placed himself in the beginning of the hallway, close to the kitchen entrance, one arm resting on the wall and ankle crossing the other. A casual and not so intimidating stance.

After long rattling moments the door opened and the little street rat pushed it open. He was carrying grocery bags and Seifer shortly wondered where the money came from. If Squall had provided them or not.

“Squall!?” the little rat called before fully looking up from the floor and the bags.

When he did, he froze. Seifer shifted to stand straight and crossed his arms over his chest. Mostly because he needed to control himself. There was a long moment of silence where the criminal tried to form some kind of sentence and desperately looked at everything else than Seifer.

“Hi,” the man said tentatively.

“You’re still here?” Seifer growled.

This… Nida character opened and closed his mouth a couple times.

“Yeah… but I’m like… not staying so long. Is… Squall here?” he pressed out.

“He’s sleeping. You’re getting in or out?” Seifer asked testily.

The door was quickly closed and then the man stood there like some freaking suspect with his pants down. Seifer made an incoherent growling sound and returned to the largest part of the apartment.

The man unpacked the groceries as quiet as he could, Seifer guessed. The cop placed himself by the window but looked at the brunet instead. He needed to set his priorities straight, otherwise this would end badly.

Nida came into the room and eyed the sleeping brunet. Seifer dared him to get closer than that.

“Is he alright? What happened?” the man asked silently.

Seifer straightened and stalked closer. The pathetic addict stumbled backwards.

“Why don’t you take a stroll?” he suggested.

“Yeah, sure. It’s nice outside,” the man gave a squashy smile.

The blond only narrowed his eyes and stood staring while Nida put on shoes and jacket and left again. The door-lock rattled again and then it was quiet. Fucking leeching rat ass. Friends, sure, but how could the kid stand him? It made the blond thirsty for knowledge. Than unyielding thirst to know the story behind it all.

“You don’t have to be so mean to him,” a low murmured reprimand came from the bed.

Seifer walked over to the bed. Squall had shifted and was watching him under heavy eyelids. He wasn’t going to answer to that since he wasn’t going to back down. He tilted his head while eyeing the youth.

Slowly he walked over to the edge and sat down. Squall avoided his eyes and curled up tighter under the blanket. He seemed so wounded, laying like that. Maybe he was, wounded pride and all.

“You okay?” he murmured.

“Yeah.”

They were silent for a while. While studying he could see the gears turning in that pretty head. Maybe thinking about what had happened, the consequences of it. Maybe feeling embarrassed.

“Want to tell me what happened? I saw that landlord of yours,” he added to get the youth moving.

Blue-grey eyes widened slightly. But it helped, that little comment. It made Squall grudgingly talk. And he actually said more than Seifer had expected. How tiring the week had been, how hard it was with the math and languages and all the things he needed to know and mostly, that he had hit his landlord.

“Why?”

Squall looked sidewise at him.

“He raised the rent.”

Seifer had to force himself to keep breathing calmly. His heart rate was another matter, or flexing of muscles. Fucking snake. Someone should hang him up in his intestines.

“Isn’t there a contract?” he asked instead.

Surely Squall wasn’t stupid enough to live somewhere without a contract. He felt part dread as Squall’s cheeks got a red hint.

“It’s for one person. He thinks there’s too many people here,” Leonhart answered lowly.

Seifer had to actually think on that for a moment before his brain made contact. Squall got up and rubbed red rimmed eyes.

“I need a shower. I still got things to do today,” he said lowly.

Seifer could take a hint and it wasn’t exactly any atmosphere for something interesting.

“Want me to talk to him?” he said steadily without really thinking it through.

It earned him a frowning glare.

“No.”

Of course the kid wouldn’t want him to talk to the sleazy man. It probably wouldn’t have been much talking anyway. Hyne, he hated this place. Why couldn’t the brunet find something else? At least try to? Then Seifer would have legitimate reason to help him find it.

Squall gave him another reprimanding stare before the brunet rose from the bed and walked out in the kitchen. Seifer took a deep breath and rubbed a hand over his face when the brunet couldn’t see it. He hadn’t ever felt so compelled to help someone like he did Squall. Sure, he took his responsibility when it was due.

Like the chick he made pregnant who then wished it gone. No arguing there so he paid the bill for that one. Or that so called relationship he had had before. He let her have the apartment though it had been his to start with. But that was small stuff. This felt different. The blond rose and followed the youth into the kitchen. He handed the youth his card. Squall took it and narrowed his eyes at it as if he had just been handed a bag with poison. It made Seifer quirk his lips.

“Just call me if he makes more trouble,” he said and got another narrowing of eyes.

He smirked. So predictable. The youth obviously needed help, but when being offered he reacts with suspicion and defences.

“Whatever,” the brunet grunted and took a glass of water.

Seifer smirked at that. The youth was already on his way back. His body was visibly less tense than it had been in weeks. Though that could be because he was tired.

“Weren’t you leaving?” Squall muttered and leaned against the sink while nurturing the glass with water.

For a moment he studied the youth. What was so different with this guy that all the others had lacked? What made his interest stay?

“Sure you don’t want me to stay? That lecher won’t be back for awhile,” Seifer smirked.

Squall gave him a dark stare.

“Fine. But you know, two weeks are almost up,” he reminded.

“Whatever,” Squall growled.

Seifer chuckled as he turned to get on his shoes and take his jacket.


Author’s Note:
I’ve been told it’s a lovable chapter...
Hope more than my friend thinks so and you’ll all tell me what you think, right?