DFFC 8+8 - Lost

"Face it, Dad. You're lost."

Laguna looked over at the sullen-faced brunette in the passenger seat.

"No, I'm not."
"Yes you are."

Squall was not the kind of person to lose his cool easily, but right now, he was very close to snapping. When his father had offered him a lift in the morning to school, he accepted the offer readily - it meant he could get there early, and best of all, he wouldn't have to endure the morning rush hour. But now, he was sorely regretting the decision - Laguna was not the best person when it came to getting to places, particularly with unfamiliar locations, and unfortunately, his campus was one of those. He looked at his watch and let out an irritated noise. He was now quite late, and had already missed a good portion of his first lesson.

"Aha! Here's the road." Laguna said cheerily, turning to Squall. "Don't look so annoyed, not like you'll get into trouble."

That was the last straw. Squall found himself uncharacteristically losing his temper.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean? I'm over an hour late and I've missed more than half of my class!" He glared at his father. "If I didn't sit in this car I would be on time and not insanely late!"

Laguna blinked. "I didn't realise the route -"

"I asked you if you knew how to go, and you said you did, and don't worry!" Squall snapped, cutting Laguna off. "You're so useless, always getting lost and wasting my time in getting you out of wherever you got yourself stuck. I can't believe how dumb you are."

Squall immediately regretted the words the moment they left his mouth, but it was too late.

Laguna made as if to say something, but decided against it. An awkward silence filled the car as they drove down the road towards the school.

When the vehicle came to a stop, Squall hastily opened the door. Laguna reassumed his usual cheerful tone of voice. "So do you want me to pick you up later since I'm free?" "Don't bother, you'll just get lost and take forever again." Squall clambered out of the car and slammed the door with great force; he caught a glimpse of Laguna's crestfallen face. He quickly turned and made his way into school before anything else happened.

*

When walking down the school corridor, one does not expect much to happen. Vaan certainly did not expect to smack into Squall at the turning in the hallway.

"Ow!"
"Oh my God I'm so- Vaan!"
"Eh, Nyanhart? Why are you so late?" Vaan looked at the paper-strewn floor. "Ah man. I need a new binder, this one keeps popping open."

Squall bent down to help Vaan in picking up his notes. "Long story short, Dad got us lost," he said. "How come you aren't in class?" "It was canceled last minute; you have no idea how much Tidus was cursing and swearing when we got to lab," Vaan replied, trying to close the metal rings of the binder. "Typical Tidus," Squall said. "He hates waking up in the morning - so where's everyone now?" "Chilling at the lounge." Vaan let out an exasperated sound. "I give up - thing won't close." He looked at Squall's face. "Something eating you, Nyan?"

Squall sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"Eh...yeah. I kind of sort of lost my temper at my dad."
"That sucks. Did he do anything?"
"Nah. You know what he's like."
"Hm. Anyway...let's go find the others, bet they want to go have lunch already."

Squall expected Vaan to say more, but he didn't - Vaan could be a bit naive at times, but he wasn't ignorant when it came to others' feelings. The Dalmascan looked at Squall again. "If it's bothering you that much, you should go talk to Boko." Squall blinked. Damn, Vaan was good.

*

The first thing Squall did when he got home was to find the chocobo. Narrowly avoiding tripping over an excited Myu, he found Cloud in his room.

"Hey Cloud, are you busy?"
"Okay, what did you do this time?"
"Eh?"
"You never ask if I'm busy unless you screwed up something. So 'fess up."

Cloud rested his chin on his hands, looking pointedly at Squall over the top of his laptop.

Squall shifted uncomfortably.

"So?"
"Uhm...I think I pissed Dad off."
"What did you do?"
"He gave me a ride to school this morning and got lost...so I ended up really late."
"And then you lost your temper at him."
"...Yeah."
"So call him and say sorry."

Squall looked incredulous. Cloud would've laughed at the boy's expression if not for the fact that it would incur a resounding smack from the brunette.

"Are you out of your mind? Dad probably hates me right now."
"No, I'm perfectly in it. Just call him. Seriously."
"But -"
"He's your father, you dummy. He won't hate you for something like that." Cloud gave him a small smile. "Now stop being such a retard and go call him."

*

It was with trepidation that Squall pressed the 'Call' button - it quickly vanished when he heard the dial tone of Laguna's phone. He did a mental eyeroll and resolved to ask what on earth it was.

"Hello?"
"Hi, Dad."
"Heeeey, how was school?"
"Uhm...it was fine. Listen, Dad, about this morning..."
"Oh - that. Uh. That was my bad, son."
"No, no - I mean...I'm sorry I yelled at you."
"Eh...that's okay -"
"I...thought you were gonna hate me or something after that."

There was a pause. Squall could imagine Laguna scratching his head as he was apt to do when he was nervous or thinking.

"Squall - if I hated you over something as minor as that, I'd be one incredibly petty person. It'd be pretty hard to make me hate you, anyway - you're my only son." He paused again. "It sounds really cheesy, but I love you."

Squall laughed. "Love you too, Dad. Even if you're a dork."

"So...do you still want a lift tomorrow morning?"
"Er, actually, I think I'll pass on that. I don't want to be late again."
"Aw."