Arguably, Zell and Selphie were Squall's first friends—ignoring the whole using GFs erasing memories of him and the others at the orphanage mess.

Ignoring Quistis and that asshole Seifer, these two were the only other people that had talked to him of their own free will and made an effort to break past his exterior. If it hadn't been for SeeDs, they would have never met. It was strange to think about.

Squall was unsure if it was because he had genuinely preferred to be alone anymore. He had friends now; Riona, Irving, Quistis and of course Zell and Selphie. It felt wonderful being surrounded by people who cared for him, even if they could be pretty annoying. Why had he chosen to be alone before when having friends—or a family—felt so right? He belonged now.

It was strange to look back on those old days.

He had wanted to be cool, no shit. But, talking to people was overly difficult for him; it was embarrassing. Words were either caught in his throat and he would choke on them, or they wouldn't stop spewing out of his mouth like vomit the more and more he spoke. Opening up to people was terrifying, what if they made fun of him? What if they told other people about his secrets and thoughts?

"Squall!"

It was easier to just stay quiet and never talk about himself.

Seifer probably would have had a hay day with the things that Squall felt and thought about—

"Squall~!"

Suddenly he had felt the impact of weight being thrown onto his back and arms tightly wrapping around his neck. Stars danced and swirled in the corners of his vision, it was like barely dodging a Demi spell. It was still enough to knock the breath out of him. His head felt light and like he was swimming through thick molasses as the weight shifted to the front of him.

"Selphie! Watch out!" Zell's voice could be heard, though it was wavering as the stars in Squall's eyes morphed into black clouds. "You know how he gets when he's hit while he's thinking like that!"

If Squall could roll his eyes right now, he would have. He doubted that the blonde had forgotten that it was him that landed him in the Infirmary for slamming a playful punch in the back.

"Oopsie daisies~!" Selphie chirped as she slowly slid her arms away from Squall's neck, though it was already too late.

He was out.

"How often are you two going to put him in here? You literally just threw him in here last week—I bet those bruises of his barely began to heal."

The sound of Dr. Kadowaki lecturing someone in the other side of the room jostled Squall out of unconsciousness. His eyelids fluttered open before closing again, the fluorescent lighting still pouring into his eyes. He still felt a bit woozy and there was a dull ache in his back.

"But that was an accident, Doc!"

"Yeah! And Squall can usually take a whole lot worse!"

Oh, lovely. Even if it was just him that wound up eating shit, he had still managed to bring Selphie and Zell into the mess.

Groaning, he forced himself upwards. Swirling colours began to creep into the very corners of Squall's vision, he forced them away by blinking a few times. He could still hear the three arguing—well, more like Kadowaki giving the others an earful while they tried unsuccessfully to defend themselves.

"I'm fine—Ghh!"

He didn't even get to finish his sentence before he heard a sharp squeal and the clunking of Selphie's boots a second before she threw herself onto him once again.

"SELPHIE!"

The sun had felt nice on Squall's face, but fuck if it didn't make him feel like he was baking under the thick black leather that he wore. Even if Selphie's skin was significantly cooler—her free hand occasionally cupping the side of his warm face and her thighs against the back of his neck—he had still felt like he was cooking.

"I guess it is true," Zell sighed before jamming half of his hotdog into his mouth. "If you do think too hard... You'll hurt yourself."

Even if his words were horribly muffled by the food jammed unceremoniously into his maw, Zell received a harsh look from Squall. The brunet narrowed his eyes; it was almost as if he had summoned Shiva and used Diamond Dust on Zell's ass.

Squall sighed, rolling his head back to its former position on Selphie's lap, and closed his eyes.

"I'm pretty sure that that's only in your case, and I didn't hurt myself. You two ganged up on me."

Selphie let out a whine, nearly dropping her croquette onto Squall's face while she tried to defend herself. "B-but we said we were sorry! Both times! I even bought you lunch!"

"I know... I know."

"You've taken worse things though—hell even in training against low level monsters, let alone that whole Ultimecia thing... Why do you get so winded from us goofin' around?"

"..." Squall sucked in a deep breath. He didn't want to say it, what he was thinking about.

Several beats had passed before Selphie decided to break the silence.

"I bet it was something dirty~! And he gets so into that it surprises him when we interrupt~!"

Zell snorted, choking on the rest of his hot dog. He sputtered before swallowing what hadn't gone shooting out of his mouth then let out a loud laugh. Selphie quickly joined in, her laughter half-sounding like the tinkling of glass and the guffawing of a bird. Zell's sounding like thunder crashing before fading into deafening silence despite his face going lobster red and his face looking like he was in pain.

The air was filled with laughter, though Squall's was missing. He was too busy steaming and trying to will himself out of existence.

"Well. You know how he is in bed, all crazy 'n' stuff. He probably thinks about that sorta thing a lot."

Images of what they had all done in the past—both distant and recently—flashed into Squall's mind. Now he had felt hot, like he was right in front of a fire. And it wasn't because of the sunlight or his embarrassment.

"...I was thinking about us. You two. Not in that way." He spat out, shooting himself upright again and scooting away from the both of them.

"Ohhh~?"

Squall's face heated up, especially when Selphie crawled over to him and pressed up flush against his side. Her arms snaked around his as she rested her head onto his shoulder, he could practically feel her lips curling into a cheshire grin. God, steam was probably coming out of his ears.

"...L-like... How you two were probably my only friends for awhile. And how it's all weird to think about before I met you—wellIguessIknewZellbutIthoughthewasannoyingbutnevermindthat. How I was all alone before. N-now I can't imagine being like that anymore..."

Why was this all spilling out?!

"How... How I don't have to pretend around you two. Anymore. How I can... how I can just talk to you. How nice it is to be around you and how even just thinking about you guys when I'm by myself... It's nice, okay? I-I can't say it. I can't put it into words."

Now Zell was sitting right next to him as well, his arm slinging around his shoulders.

Squall was sandwiched right in between them.

"I... Icareaboutyoualotokay."

Squall felt Selphie's arms relax around his, one hand slowly moving downwards and searching for his hand. Her delicate fingers lacing around his gloved ones as she leant in to press a kiss to the corner of Squall's mouth.

Zell pulled him closer; the blonde's forehead resting against the side of Squall's face before he had pressed a kiss to his cheek.

"We like you too, man."

end