A/N: Thank you everyone who bothered to R&R ! It's nice to know that people read this story.

Chapter Three

Gippal woke up with a smile on his lips.

He didn't have to go to work since he had just decided that he'd take a vacation, he was still in bed, and what made it all perfect was that he had Baralai snuggled up against his side. If it was up to him, he wasn't going to get up at all... He slid his arm about the sleeping Bevellian's waist and buried his nose against his neck. He'd just spend the whole day in bed with his boyfriend, no matter who tried to break into his apartment and drag him out or rob him. Gippal frowned. He never locked his door for the night, so anyone who wanted in, could also come in.

Oh well. It wasn’t like there was anything worth stealing in his apartment.

But suddenly, there was this feeling that he had forgotten something... Something was trying to make itself known in the back of his head, something important...

Oh, right. Nooj and Paine were at the inn, and they were probably going to visit them once they had woken up. “Goddammit,” Gippal mumbled and hugged Baralai closer. It wasn’t that he didn’t... appreciate Nooj and Paine’s company, but he would rather spend his rare freetime with Baralai, now that they were reunited.

A frown pulled at Gippal’s features, his heart feeling heavy. Had it been almost two years, already? It seemed like it had been only a few weeks since he had left Bevelle... Only a few weeks since he had said ‘I love you’ to another person, for the first time after his family had been killed. Gippal sighed into Baralai’s neck. Even though he had visited Bikanel quite a few times because of the excavation site there, but he hadn’t had the guts to go and visit his family. Maybe Baralai would go with him? Maybe, if he had the Bevellian by his side, he would finally gather his courage and be able to face the self-made gravestone of his family.

Watching Baralai sleep, Gippal suddenly felt sad. “Fuck, I’m such an idiot,” he whispered as he brushed a strand of silver hair behind the Bevellian’s ear, pressing a kiss to his cheek.

“Stop that, you're tickling me...” Baralai mumbled sleepily and tried to pull away from the Al Bhed, who held him even more tightly. “And what are you swearing for?”

“I-I, uh...” Gippal hesitated, as he hadn’t been expecting Baralai to be awake, “I just realized that Paine and Nooj are here too.”

“Yeah, so they are,” confirmed Baralai, turning so that he could look at the alarm clock on his bedside table. Of course, there was no bedside table and no alarm clock. He was in Djose. Baralai turned to look at the Al Bhed next to him. “Aren't you supposed to be at work?”

Gippal grinned. “Nope, I just decided that I'm on a vacation!”

“You can't do that,” Baralai told him, frowning at the devious little grin on his lips.

“Why not? You did so too when you came here,” the Al Bhed pointed out.

Baralai huffed and slapped Gippal's hand off when it started to wander down his hip. “That's completely different. I told the people at the temple that I was going to be absent for a while, and then I got someone to take care of my job.”

“Tch, I need no one to take care of my job, ‘cause no one could do it. No one's better than me.”

Baralai rolled his eyes and gripped Gippal's wrists, prying the wandering hands off him so that he could sit up on the bed. “Well then, if you're so good, go to work.”

“Why, someone would think that you want to get rid of me,” Gippal grinned again and pulled Baralai back down with him. “Just five more minutes, okay?”

“Your five minutes is usually my half an hour...” Baralai sighed in defeat and allowed Gippal to hug him to his chest rather possessively. “Besides, I need to clean up this rathole of yours.” Gippal merely shook his head as he held Baralai close.

They lay there in silence, the five minutes soon expanding to fifteen, and in the end, to forty-five minutes. Baralai had almost fallen back asleep when there was a knock on the door, reminding him that it actually was morning already and they were supposed to get up. He sighed and sat up on the bed, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. He couldn't help smiling as Gippal whined in discomfort, reaching out to pull him back down. “I'm going to go open the door, Gippal,” he said, getting only incoherent mumbling as a response. He shook his head and dressed quickly before going to open the door.

“Finally, almost thought you were still sleeping,” Paine said as pushed past him and into the apartment, Nooj right behind her.

“Uh... good morning to you two, too, why don't you come in?” Baralai frowned a little, closing the door after his two friends. He walked after them to the living room and they were immediately shooting questions at him.

Paine took a hold of Baralai's shoulder and turned him to face her. “Where's Gippal?”

“Uh, sleeping in the bedroom...”

“And where did you sleep? He didn't make you sleep on the couch, did he?”

“Um, no, uh...”

“You mean you slept in the same bed?” Paine's eyes widened and she glanced at Nooj before lowering her tone. “He didn't do anything inappropriate, did he?”

“Paine!” Baralai exclaimed in embarrassment and glanced towards the bedroom door. “What are you talking about?”

“Did he?”

“N-no!”

“Did who what?” Gippal entered the living room, trying to smooth his hair back to its place. He looked from Paine to Nooj, blinking a couple of times at their cold expressions. “Uh, whatever... I'm off to work,” he said and after stealing a quick kiss from Baralai he walked to the door. He knew when he wasn’t needed – he’d ask Baralai about the cold treatment when they were alone.

Baralai frowned. Just a minute, no, forty-five minutes ago Gippal had been so reluctant to leave, insisting that he was on a ‘vacation’... “Wait, when are you coming back?”

Gippal grinned. “Oh I'll be just around the corner, so don't worry, you'll still get your daily dosage of my company,” he made a face at Baralai who rolled his eyes. “Guess I'll be back by lunchtime to drag you outta here to eat, ‘kay?”

“Yeah, sure,” Baralai smiled and waved to Gippal when he left after saying good-bye to Nooj and Paine. Neither of them answered, though. Baralai sighed and turned to his two friends. “Okay, so what now?”

“He's hiding something...” Paine mumbled and Nooj nodded his quiet agreement.

Baralai groaned and walked to the kitchen to get a glass of water. “For Yevon's sake, not this again...”

“You can see it too, can't you?”

“Just shut up about it already! Why are you so against him all of a sudden?” Baralai returned to the living room with a glass of water and a frown on his face. He didn't like this at all... his friends were turning against each other. “Why can't you just drop it? Can't you see that I'm happy with him?” He shook his head and pointed to the door. “Now out, I'm going to start cleaning this place up and you're in my way.”

Paine and Nooj glanced to each other and then after a while of silence apologized quietly. “But you know...” Paine began hesitantly. “We don't mean to meddle or anything...” She said, looking down at her feet. “We're just afraid that you'll get hurt again.”

Baralai sighed. “I know, but I’ll be fine. Besides, if there's something going on, it's between me and Gippal, okay? I appreciate the fact that you want to protect me from every single bad thing in the world, but no matter how hard you try, you can't be there for me always. I need to grow up by myself,” he smiled a little and hugged Paine, who gave a slight reluctant nod.

“You're right. But still, if you ever have a feeling that Gippal needs some ass-kicking, don't hesitate to tell me, all right?”

Baralai laughed and pushed Paine away playfully. “Alright, alright, I'll keep that in mind,” he smiled and turned to look at Nooj. “Please try to be nice to him, okay? For me...?”

The novelist nodded. “All right, then, I suppose.”

“Good,” Baralai breathed in relief and then pushed Nooj towards the door. “Now then, get out, I really need to clean up in here!” he ushered his friends out of the apartment, and after saying good-bye, closed the door after them.

He looked around in the small apartment with a grimace. “It’s not that bad, Baralai...” he told himself as he picked up some dirty clothes from the floor. “Really, it’s not...” He took a deep breath and knelt down to be able to look under the couch. His eyebrow twitched and he stood up, banging his forehead against the nearest wall.

Yes, it was bad, and he had volunteered to clean it up.

Gippal sighed as he entered the temple. He was sure that both Nooj and Paine hated him by now, and he could only hope that it didn't affect Baralai, too. Ahh, if only Baralai had come alone!

Okay, so now he was being selfish, of course he'd bring his best friends with him. No, they were his friends, too, it wasn't like he had anything against Paine and Nooj, but he had a feeling that they were trying to break him and Baralai up. He could only wonder...

He greeted a few technicians on his way to the left-hand chamber in the temple and slumped onto the narrow bed once he was there. “I'm. So. Stupid!” he groaned and rolled over to his other side, fishing for a cushion which he then put over his head. Might as well suffocate or something.

“Gippal?” He heard a female Al Bhed voice and shook his head.

“Zicd mayja sa ymuha...” he mumbled and held the cushion more tightly. Stupid people, they should know by now what he was like when he was pissed off. Definitely not the most social person...

“Gippal?” Well this one didn't sound like an Al Bhed. He lifted the cushion to be able to look at the person who entered the room. Paine. The silver-haired girl walked to him and sat onto the edge of the bed. “Working hard, huh?”

Gippal merely grunted as a response. He wasn't in a mood to hear a lecture, not now, not ever, whatever the subject was.

“I heard there's a beach near here,” Paine said with a small smile. “Remember, when you were in Bevelle, we used to spend a lot of time at the beach?”

Gippal nodded. How could he forget? Those had been the happiest days of his life... “Want me to take you there?” Gippal asked and turned to look at Paine, who seemed amused at how long it had taken from him to understand her point.

“We—ll, since you don't seem to be working...” Paine grinned and hauled Gippal up from the bed. “Come on, let's go already! Nooj went back to the inn and I suppose Baralai's in your apartment, it's not healthy to be inside when it's nice weather like this!"

“And here I am, thinking you're a vampire with that pale skin of yours,” Gippal mumbled, but followed after the girl anyway. “Hey, uh, you go get Nooj, I'll take care of Lai, ‘kay? Let's meet at the end of the bridge.”

“Deal, but I’ll get suspicious if fetching him takes longer than five minutes.”

Gippal grinned and then started to walk towards his apartment. This was a better idea than just lie around in the temple pretending to do something – he'd even get to see Baralai half-naked! Ohh yes, definitely a better idea... “Lai!” He called as he entered his apartment. “We're going to the beach, c'mon!”

“Beach? There's a beach in Djose?” asked Baralai as he emerged from the bedroom, rubbing his eyes tiredly. “Just when I was just about to fall back asleep...”

“What? You're the one who forced me out of bed and once I'm out of the house you're sleeping again!?” Gippal faked shock, and after recovering from it, he took Baralai's hand and led him outside. “Come on, you can clean up later. Actually, you shouldn't do it at all, it's my apartment after all and I should do the cleaning.”

“Yes, I'm glad you realized that. Have you looked under your couch lately?”

“Okay, okay, so maybe I'm not the tidiest guy on this planet, but hey, who's perfect?” The Al Bhed shrugged, pulling Baralai closer by his waist. “Except you, of course.”

Baralai rolled his eyes but allowed Gippal to start dragging him out of the apartment, sighing in defeat. “Alright then, but I'm going just to sit there, just so that you know.”

“You're boring, but whatever,” Gippal shrugged his shoulders and closed the door after them.

Baralai was feeling a little uneasy. Or well, ‘a little’ was an understatement. In Bevelle, he wouldn't probably even care, he was the Praetor of the Temple after all and everyone knew him, and maybe he should be used to being stared at by now, but... he hated it, it always made him all... fidgety. He had asked Gippal if he was sure it was all right to walk hand in hand in public, but the blond had simply laughed and told him that no one would care. Why, it sure seemed like everyone cared...

“Lai, c'mon already!” Gippal shouted to him from the water. The Bevellian shook his head slightly, making the Al Bhed frown. “Man you're so damn bor—AHH!”

Baralai laughed as Paine jumped onto Gippal's back with a mighty ‘Ha-HAA!’, managing to knock the Al Bhed over and so they tumbled into the water.

“Kids,” Nooj chuckled.

“Yeah... I guess they’ve never really grown up,” Baralai smiled, turning to his right as he caught movement from the corner of his eye. There was a blonde Al Bhed girl, wearing... almost nothing, he noticed with a slight blush, and she was staring at Gippal and Paine murderously. Oh for Yevon's sake, so they were on a beach, but... well Paine's swimsuit was decent! Hey, wait... He turned to look to the two ‘kids’ in the water. Why was the girl looking at them like that?

“Gippal, E lyh'd pameaja oui vunkud E fyc lusehk pylg dutyo!” The girl shouted to Gippal, and the blond man's head snapped up. He seemed to even pale a little. Gippal swore in Al Bhed and began to drag Paine to the shore with him.

Baralai watched this with interest. Who was that girl? She didn't seem familiar, not that he had met many Al Bheds anyway... But the way this girl was glaring at Paine unnerved him, it was like she was going to take out a weapon and attack her any second now.

Gippal grinned a little sheepishly to the girl as they approached her. “Cunno...”

The blonde girl rolled her eyes and turned to look at Paine with a sour expression. “Kenmvneaht?”

“What!? Never!” Gippal exclaimed in horror. He and Paine... Oh hell, what a frightening thought! He glanced at Nooj briefly, noticing him looking at the girl with some interest, while Baralai... didn’t look so happy.

“Oh? Then who is she?” the girl now spoke in Spiran, and quite well actually. One could easily tell she was a little upset.

“This...” Gippal swung an arm around Paine's shoulders. “...is my friend, Paine. And over there...” He nodded towards the two others. “...are Lai and Nooj, let's go introduce you.”

Paine rolled her eyes, but followed after Gippal and the strange girl anyway. She had to laugh a little as Gippal flopped down next to Lai and hugged him possessively.

“This is my baby, not the Horror Girl...” He shuddered again at the thought. “And oh, don't mind Nooj, he's a little antisocial. Guys, meet Rikku, my best friend.” The three Bevellians greeted Rikku, if you can count Nooj's ‘hmph’ as a greeting.

Baralai didn't miss the glare directed at him, but decided not to say anything about it. He was feeling awkward enough already. “Gippal, let go of me,” he ordered, but the Al Bhed did nothing to comply.

“Oh come on, Lai, don't be shy!”

“I'm not shy, you're just... clingy.”

Gippal shrugged and let go of his boyfriend. “Oh well... so, who wants to swim?”

Alright, if Baralai had been feeling awkward a while ago, he couldn't describe what he was feeling at that very moment. Nooj had decided to go back to the inn – he said he had suddenly got an inspiration for his new book, but Baralai had a feeling that he was just bored – and Paine and Gippal were once again playing in the sea. So... that left him and Rikku sitting on the shore. “Umm...” Baralai was unsure what to talk about with the Al Bhed girl, but the uneasy silence was killing him. “I suppose you don't really like me, huh?” he asked with a slight smile.

“Difficult to say, we have known each other only for a few hours,” Rikku shrugged. “But I guess I'm just jealous.”

“Jealous?” Baralai frowned, but then he remembered the look this girl had shot Paine and him. “Of... Gippal?”

Rikku shrugged again. “He never pays any attention to me anymore, always chasing after girls.,” she mumbled. “But I guess that’s changed, for now. How long have you been together?”

Baralai thought about the question for a while before answering. What was he going to tell Rikku, when he barely knew the answer himself? “Well... officially only for about a day, but...” he mumbled quietly, not really sure if he wanted Rikku to hear that. Then he raised his voice, smiling. “Almost two years.”

Rikku seemed genuinely surprised. She couldn't find her voice to ask if she had heard right, and before she could do that, Gippal and Paine came back, the latter looking rather sour.

“What happened?” Baralai asked, welcoming the chaste kiss Gippal gave him after sitting down next to him.

“Naw, Paine's just a sore loser,” Gippal shrugged and lay down onto the sand, crossing his arms under his head. “Phew, I'm beat.”

“Ra cyet oui ryja paah dukadran vun dfu oaync,” Rikku said to Gippal, who chose to ignore it and stood up.

“So, maybe we should go back already. I'm kinda tired...”

Paine frowned and turned to look at Baralai, meeting his equally confused eyes. She made a note for herself to talk with this girl later.

“C'mon Lai,” Gippal smiled and slid his arm around Baralai's waist. “We could go eat something, I'm starving.”

“I thought you were tired,” Baralai lifted his eyebrow.

“Hey, I'm never too tired to eat!”

With the boys gone, Paine stopped Rikku, who was about to follow them. “I need to talk with you.”

“Umm... about what?” Rikku smiled a little sheepishly. The red-eyed girl was giving her the creeps... Seriously... Who on Spira had eyes like that!?

“About Gippal,” Paine said and started walking. “Come on.”

Another half an hour later, Gippal had gone back to work, and Baralai back to his apartment to continue what he had barely started before he had been dragged off to the beach.

So, after eating something that he wasn't sure he wanted to know what it had been, Baralai had decided to start cleaning up again. Gippal had gone to work, finally, and he hadn't caught a glimpse of Paine or Nooj after they had left the beach. Oh well, at least he had something to do...

He had started from the kitchen. He couldn't stand dirty kitchens, it was disgusting, the same with bathrooms. And... every other room, too. So, maybe Baralai was a neat-freak, but what was even more obvious than that was the fact that Gippal's apartment was a total mess. But not for long, if it was up to him!

He had already cleaned the kitchen thoroughly, the bathroom was drying since he had just washed the floor and at the moment he was in the living room, which also served as Gippal's study. He bet his head that the place hadn't been cleaned since the Al Bhed had moved in... He huffed and continued to pile the contents of the drawers onto the table. Gippal wouldn't mind if he ordered them... hopefully. His papers back in Bevelle were always in perfect order so that he could find what he needed in a second, he couldn't understand how—wait...

He took a white envelope into his hand, staring at it for a while. It was addressed to Gippal, which was obvious, but the handwriting looked so much like... Nah, just a coincidence. He put the envelope onto the table with the others – he wasn’t going to read the Al Bhed’s mail! – and continued to order the papers by date.

Pursing his lips, he glanced at the envelope a couple of times before his curiosity got the better of him and he took the letters from the table. Three of them had been opened, he noticed, and... all of them had been stamped in Bevelle. Even the dates matched. No, a mere coincidence, it had to be! But... who did Gippal know in Bevelle besides him and the others...? He opened one of the letters and read.

"Dear Gippal,

How are things in Djose? We're all so worried about you, why haven't you written in such a long time? Please Gippal, please contact me and tell me you're all right! I haven't been able to sleep for days, I'm so worried. I understand that you're busy, but—"

The rest of the text was blurred by the tears in his eyes. How... how could this be...? Could it be that Paine and Noon had been right, had Gippal lied to him after all? But why?

The letters dropped onto the floor from his hands as Baralai fell to his knees and started to cry.

tbc...

Al Bhed translations:

Gippal: Just leave me alone.
Rikku: Gippal, I can't believe you forgot I was coming back today!
Gippal: Sorry...
Rikku: Girlfriend?
Rikku: He said you have been together for two years.