Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ It Couldn't Be True ❯ Perceiving ( Chapter 25 )

Disclaimer: Their not mine but I sure wouldn't mind having two sexy men with me all the time. *grins evilly*

Title: It Couldn't Be True

Pairing: Seifer x Squall
Warning: Yaoi, Lemon, Angst, Language, more can be added...
Rating: NC-17
Reviews: Most Definitely! Please leave as many as you like!!!

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It Couldn't Be True

Perceiving

Squall's eyes opened slowly as he took in his surroundings. He was in his bedroom and it was dark. Wasn't it day when he… what did happen? He questioned himself.

He pushed himself up with his elbow and brought forward his right hand to wipe the blurriness from his eyes.

'Seifer was showering last...'

His blue eyes suspiciously searched for his bathroom door. The wooden door was closed and there was a light illuminating the bottom. Before he knew it, his body was walking slowly towards it, wondering why the man inside was not out yet. He couldn't figure it out for the life of him.

Squall reached out a hand to the golden knob and paused as a feeling of dread washed over him, stopping him from breathing. His eyes widened in surprise and he took a hold of the handle and twisted it quickly. When the door opened, the image was not what he expected.

'Oh, God no.'

Blood was on the floor and on the sink. It was a smeared with hand prints and he turned pale at the overwhelming sight.

"Seifer…" His voice barely carried out the name but he continued to walk inside and it all abruptly changed.

There the blond man was standing and Squall was shocked, his heart beating a million miles per minute. What was happening?

"I never want to see you again." The voice was so different. Hurt and malice laced heavily through his tone and Squall couldn't figure it out. Why? His voice wouldn't work with him no matter how much he tried then. "Don't give me that fucking look! You, you said everything would be okay! You said that things would change and what fucking changed for me? Huh, HUH? What changed? It's your entire fault! I can't stay here another fucking second." The man glared at the shorter man, who was deeply confused by those words but also feeling the weight and meaning that shoved their way into his heart.

"Seifer…" He managed but the blond man growled.

"Fuck you!" Squall shook his head.

"No, what happened? What's going on? Why are you so mad? Is it…" His mind stopped him to remember what had occurred earlier, how he saw him lying on the ground, unconscious and battered. "The fight? Rui?" Seifer let out a cry that Squall found himself reaching out to comfort, to console and let Seifer know he was there to help but a strong hand smacked his attempt away.

"NO! YOU SAID YOU WOULD COME AND PROTECT ME AND I CALLED YOU! You never…came. They…they" The voice was hoarse and could no longer express what was needed to say.

Squall was trying to piece it all together. 'They? But it was only one? Could it have been a setup?' Then it hit him. 'Is it possible for only one person to be able to bruise Seifer up so badly? It's not! There had to be more people…'

Squall grabbed the man's wrist and horrid images flashed before his eyes. Arguing, fighting, punching and grunting along with laughter and… moaning? There was suddenly four shadows hovering above one man, who was being restrained but before he could see anymore, the image changed to someone getting brutally raped.

He shook his head quickly, trying to get rid of the unwanted images. The sounds of skin slapping harshly against wet skin, the sobbing of a pleading voice begging them to stop. It made his stomach queasy and ready to vomit.

'What the fuck is going on?' His mind panicked.

Seifer's face was before him again and he started to walk away from Squall.

"No! Wait, Seifer!" Squall ran towards him but when his hand made contact with the muscular back, again, the sick image of someone raping another man flashed through his head. The hands that gripped the hips so tightly…arms being restraint… blood coating the skin of the rapist and the helpless victim.

"STOP!" He closed his eyes as he heard his name being cried out in a desperate plea for help and green eyes dully stared at him before disappearing and all went black.

"SEIFER!!!" Squall shot up in bed, sweat dripping down his forehead and hands clenched tightly in the bed sheets. The man was not aware of where he was.

His bedroom again…but he just woke up and…

Squall looked at the bathroom door to see exactly what he saw before and his heart was beating frantically. The thumping was heard in his ears and he could not swallow the large lump that formed in his throat or the way that his stomach wanted to release the contents that was inside it.

He had to see. This couldn't be another dream. It was a lie, just a dream that was tricking his mind. Seifer couldn't be gone…not dead, nothing. He was here and okay and Squall was taking care of him like he said he would…that he said to himself.

His body moved on its own accord, walking shakily to the bathroom door and he grabbed for the handle, feeling the sensations of deja vu, only to find that this time it was locked. His heart stopped and the heavy pain made him cringe.

"No…" He raised his hands and started pounding on the door. "SEIFER!? SEIFER, OPEN THE DOOR! Oh, God, PLEASE!" The consistent pounding was causing his hand to turn red but he didn't feel it as he thought of rushing the door and knocking it down to open it.

He backed away and rushed forward, only to have the door open slightly and he tried to stop but the momentum kept him going and he ran into the tall blond, who stumbled back with Squall in his chest. Both men grunted and fell back against the sink.

The brunet looked up unbelieving at the man he was worried about, seeing the glare of utter bewilderment in the deep green eyes. Squall found his hands gripping the other's clothing but he couldn't believe it. He looked down… no blood but he found that Seifer was wearing his oversized robe.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?!" Squall flinched upon hearing the cold voice.

"I… I thought that… you" The man was having trouble finding his words to complete the sentence. "You're hurt..."

Seifer was baffled at the sight and extension of emotion swimming through those blue eyes.

"What are you talking about? Yeah, I got the shit beat out of me. Everyone in the damn Garden knows that!" But that didn't sit well with Squall as he shook his head.

"No, you were hurt… who else was involved?" Seifer didn't know what to say. He knew? How? He didn't tell but what if…

"Shut up, Squall. It's none of your fucking business." He was going to push the man away when Squall shouted.

"DON'T LEAVE! Please." Squall cried out loudly. "Tell me what happened. You can't go and you have to tell me, please…" Squall was staring intently into surprised green eyes. "Don't shut me out, not like this. Let me help you like you helped me… like you said you would. We're in this together and I promised not to… I said . . ." Seifer couldn't look into his eyes any longer as the man was stumbling and trying to say what he knew he wanted to say.

"Fuck!" He cussed to the air. Seifer pushed him away and walked hurriedly into the living room where his green duffle bag was sitting by the door. He yanked it up and shoved it on the table harshly as he gathered some clothes to change in. He was also taking this opportunity to think, something that he really didn't want to do at the moment. What did it matter? It just doesn't matter anymore, does it?

When he turned around he saw Squall emerging slowly from the bedroom with clothes hanging from the hand on his right side.

He forgot to grab them and a horrified expression came about his features when Squall brought his hands to the front of him. Seifer glanced up to a face of despair that he never had seen grace the brunet's features… Squall then let out a small whimper.

'Don't do this... Don't do it...'

"Seifer." The voice that came from Squall was not his usual stoic tone. The voice was deep, strong, demanding and pained. "What is this? Why are your clothes - why do they have blood on them…Why do your boxers have blood on them?! Why? What the fuck happened? Did they do this to you? Did..."

Squall stopped at seeing the unusual display the blond was showing. That second Seifer wasn't the man that he fought with such determination and his over-confident ego but resembled a scared little boy as he was cowering backwards, breathing harshly.

"Seifer..."

The brunet took a step forward only to have the man jump at the sudden movement. The shock registered in his blue eyes but he continued on forward, watching the man push himself against the wall to gain distance between them.

"It's okay, Seifer. I'm not going to hurt you. I would never do something like that to you. I..." His mind was starting to realize what everything meant, what actually happened and his thoughts were flickering through the different images. "I'm here for you, you know that?" Squall was only but an arms length away when Seifer sneered at him with clearly forced bitterness.

"Fuck off Leonhart."

"Seifer..."

"Leave me alone. You know nothing!"

"I know enough to piece every fucking detail together! It wasn't only one person but several! Not only did they beat you up but they-"

"Shut the fuck UP!" Seifer roared as he surged forward and pushed his rival back painfully, only to have Squall stumble back into his leather couch. "They! There is no THEY!" But he was breaking down and the man collapsed to his knees.

"Seifer?" Squall asked with wide and concerned eyes, taking a tiny step forward.

"Squall... I... it...hurt" The broad shoulders of Seifer were beginning to tremble and Squall slowly lowered himself to his knees as he crept his way over to the blond. He was closer to the man and red, watery eyes suddenly glanced up into his own. "Couldn't fight... too weak... no voice" But that was all he heard when Seifer collapsed forward, falling onto the brunet in a sobbing heap.

Squall was surprised but he knew that he was going to take care of this and the people responsible were not going to get away.

His heart broke at the crumbled and dejected sight of his rival... a man he cared for. He couldn't help the tears that made their way past his tightly shut eyelids as he held the man and rocked back and forward on his knees. Why did this have to happen to him? Why now? Why was it that they had to get punished like this?

Unspeakable rage surged through him and all he wanted to do was take Griever and kill the enemy, like he was so use to doing in the past. It was different now as he just couldn't go around killing anyone and everyone who even so glanced at himself or Seifer - his friends - the wrong way. How was this going to be resolved?

He didn't know. All Squall could do now was hold Seifer, feel the abused man's tears soak into his shirt and clutch onto him like he would die without him.

In a sense, that's what his dream seemed to convey. Squall could not leave this man's side or he would hurt himself. He could not leave his side or others will hurt him... but he had no way of knowing. Seifer said he would be back in no time flat... and that's when those fuckers did this.

Squall let loose some more of his own tears. Seifer was raped and it was all a ploy, a damn setup because of what Seifer couldn't control during the war. It wasn't his fault and he didn't ask to be brainwashed. He didn't ask to kill people, who had family and friends. Seifer did not fucking ASK to fight against him or others so this war could loom over his head the rest of his life. He was a victim all his nineteen years, when will life give him a chance to just be happy and carefree?

'Never. Seifer will never be able to live the life without hatred, without people looking down upon him for what he did, even if it's years in the future.'

Squall sat there for what seemed like hours holding his childhood friend, partner, rival...and if ever...more than that.

The crying man's sobs and trembling body stilled, probably ten to fifteen minutes ago he concluded, but he did not plan on moving anywhere. He heard the soft, evened out breathing of what sounded like sleeping.

Squall ran his fingers through his natural soft hair. It was a rarity to see such a sight and he loved...yes, he loved feeling the locks glide across the palm of his hand and also the smooth skin of his face and neck.

Seifer was letting himself go. He dropped his guard, hoping that Squall would protect him... but he failed him. Somewhere deep inside of the brunet knew that it was not his fault but he just could not help the feeling, knowing that Seifer probably did call for help and no one was there to help him. It was heartbreaking and he was damn well determined to straighten everything tomorrow after Seifer was safely tucked away in his bed.

Bed.

That sounded very good to him right now, but he couldn't do anything about it. He was still weak and he hated to admit it. There was a huge possible chance that Squall would have been able to lift Seifer and carry him to his room if he was in his healthy state but telling from the distance to his bedroom door, he wouldn't make it halfway in his weakened body.

Blue eyes roamed over the six-foot figure, huddled against him and he didn't want to wake the slumbering man. Squall opted to get more comfortable as he leaned backwards, lifting one leg to stretch it out and leaning in the other direction to get his opposite leg out. He finally settled back against the couch with the blond man curled up on his chest and his legs on either side of him.

Squall couldn't tear his eyes away from the tired face, tracing his fingertips lightly over the abrasion on his right cheek and further more, the robe was gapping open and he could see more damage done to the unusually pale bronzed skin. He stopped his caressing as Seifer took in a deep breath and let it out shakily. Squall's blue eyes studied him for a long time before Seifer's eyes slowly opened, seeing undoubtedly his chest and whatever was across the room in his line of sight. Seifer closed them again not knowing that he was being gazed upon.

Squall noticed that his eyes only opened again when he felt Squall shift slightly and those green eyes hesitantly found his own as they just sat there staring at each other for a moment that turned into a minute and finally Seifer pushed himself up. Squall followed, never breaking the contact that they had and he found himself sitting, hunched forward over the blond, who was watching him quietly.

Squall was studying the other man and Seifer was growing slightly uncomfortable under the scrutiny of those deep blue orbs.

"Squall-" He began but was silenced by a finger against his lips and he was then glad that Squall had shut him up. Squall stood up and took a hold of his hand, helping him slowly to his feet.

Exhaustion fell heavily upon Seifer and he knew that Squall had to be tired too so he didn't protest when Squall led them back into his bedroom or when he pushed him gently onto his soft bed, tucking him under the warm, thick comforter. Squall walked over to the other side of the bed and climbed in, scooting very close to Seifer, making the other man rigid beneath the covers. A tiny gasping sound made it to the brunet's ears.

"Shhh" Squall chided, staring straight into scared emerald eyes. "I'm here," he said as he softly wrapped his arms around Seifer's shoulders, drawing him nearer to rest his head on his chest. "I'm not going anywhere. No one can hurt you here. You're safe with me. I won't let anything else happen to you. I promise you that because I care so much about you as a friend and..." Squall gulped in nervousness but continued. "And as more. Rest, please."

Seifer stared but Squall saw the relief pass in those eyes and how he felt that he could trust Squall as he nodded, closed his eyes and timidly wrapped his own arms around the slender man.

~~*~~

AN: Please please review! Tell me if you like it and the direction I'm taking it. But I have a feeling that you all want a lemon, lol, since there hasn't been one in a while…well, a teaser nonetheless. You can look forward to something like that in the next chapter. ^^