Valentine's Day
"Come on Zell," Selphie groaned, "You're too heavy. I can't carry you all the way." She told a drunken Zell, urging him to try to walk.
"I'm not heavy, I'm muscular…" Zell pouted
Selphie giggled, "Yeah, sure." And she poked him in his abdomen
"Ow…are we there yet?" he moaned
"Almost, I'm just gonna bring you to my dorm, I'm too tired to drag you all the way to yours." She answered
"Sure, sure…are we there yet?"
"You just asked me that you dummy!"
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The pair managed to stumble into Selphie's dorm, "You know Selphie, you smell nice."
Zell said
"Why thank you, now go on the bed and sleep." She instructed
"But I don't wanna sleep, I wanna go play…" Zell whined
"Quit being a baby, if you go to bed now, I'll give you a hotdog tomorrow." Selphie insisted
"I don't wanna hotdog…"
"What do you want then?"
"You?"
"What?!"
"You don't know how long I've had a crush on you…I want a hotdog now…" Zell flopped on the bed and drifted off to sleep
Selphie sighed, 'It was probably the alcohol, Zell doesn't like me…' she took off Zell's shoes, changed and went to sleep on the couch.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Zell groaned and rubbed his eyes, his head was throbbing, he slowly opened one eye, "Quistis! What are you doing in…" he surveyed the room, "Selphie's room?"
She smiled, "Happy Valentine's Day. Selphie had to run an errand, so she told me to watch over you, she got you some coffee too." Quistis handed Zell a cup.
"Thanks," Zell mumbled, "What am I doing in her room in the first place?"
"Well, last night we had a Valentine's Day party remember?" he nodded so Quistis continued, "You got drunk and Selphie offered to take you back, but I guess she just decided to bring you to her dorm."
"Oh…I didn't do anything stupid did I?" Zell asked
"Um, she didn't say anything this morning so, I don't think so. You should go back to your room and take a bath, you look like a wreck."
"That's not a very nice thing to say." Zell sulked and she smiled, "I'm just gonna wash my face here ok?"
"Sure, but I have a class now, Selphie gave me her extra key, so you lock her door when you're done, alright?"
"Yeah, yeah." Zell staggered to the bathroom and turned on the tap, he took a handful of water and splashed it on his face. Once he heard Quistis slip out and the door close he thought, 'Why don't I just take a bath here? Selphie won't mind."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The door opened and Selphie walked in carrying a load of bags, "Hmm, I guess Quisty and Zell left, that's good, I don't know what I would say if I had to face him…" she said thoughtfully and placed the bags on the floor.
"Is that the water running? Oh no, now there's no noise, I guess I was just hearing things, But I thought I heard singing…" She made her way over across the room and started making the bed.
She didn't hear the bathroom door open and when she looked up she was staring at a shirtless Zell. "Eek!" she yelped as she tripped over one of Zell's running shoes.
"Huh? Oh Selphie! Are you alright?" Zell asked as he hurried to her side. Selphie held her breath seeing as Zell was so close to her, and she couldn't seem to tear her eyes away from Zell's chest, "You were right, you are muscular." She whispered
"Um, Selph, what are you talking about?" Selphie snapped back into reality
"Oh, um, nothing." She stammered
"Alright then, um, sorry for scaring you, I didn't know you were going to be back so early." Zell said sheepishly
"It's alright, I'm ok."
"Ok, well, thanks for taking care of me last night, and lending me your bed…uh, where did you sleep then?" Zell asked
"Oh, on the couch."
"On the couch? Aw, I'm sorry Selph, you should've put me on the couch instead."
"No, it's alright, the couch was pretty comfy, really."
Zell cupped Selphie's face and tilted her head up as if to examine her, "Selphie, it looks like you hardly slept last night!" he exclaimed
Selphie tried hard not to think about Zell's hands on her face, they were so soft and smooth without his gloves on, "I'm ok, really." If there was one reason she didn't sleep well last night, it was because she was thinking about what Zell told her, and not because of the couch.
"Ok, I'll take your word for it." Zell sighed, he let go of Selphie's face and started to put the rest of his clothes on, unaware of Selphie's dismay behind his back
"Um Selph?" Zell asked when he finished tying his shoe.
"Yes?"
"I didn't say or do anything stupid last night, did I?"
"Oh…um, I'll have to think about that." Selphie said quickly
"Alright, I should get out or your way now, thanks again." He smiled and gave her a hug
Selphie returned the gesture and smiled weakly, "Anytime."
"I'll see you later, and Happy Valentine's Day." Zell waved and left
"Bye…what am I going to do?" Selphie sighed
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Irvine looked at the small brunette hiding behind a plant, he scratched his head trying to figure out what Selphie was doing. After awhile he sighed, giving up, and walked over to her and tapped her on the shoulder, "Uh, Seffie?"
"Oh geez! You scared me Irvy!" Selphie exclaimed jumping up
"Sorry, I got you some flowers for Valentines."
She took the flowers, "Thanks Irvy."
"What were you doing? Playing Hide-n-Seek?"
"Um…kinda." Selphie looked around quickly and then seeing a glimpse of blonde hair she shrieked and jumped back behind the plant
"Um, what's wrong Seffie? It's only Seifer…" Irvine bent down and tried to coax Selphie out, "Is that who you're playing with?"
Selphie sighed, "I'm not playing Hide-n-Seek, Irvine. I'm…avoiding someone."
"Who? Why?"
"I'm not telling." She said stubbornly
"Ok, ok, geez, you're not very fun, Selph."
"Selph? Don't call me that Irvine, only one person calls me that." She said sadly, "Stick with Seffie."
"Alright, whatever you want. But I don't see the reason to hide behind the plant."
"Well, he might see me!" Selphie hissed
"He, eh?" Irvine said thoughtfully
"Yes! I think I'll go to the library…eek!" Selphie screamed and ran off seeing another blonde.
"Huh?" Irvine turned around and saw Quistis walking by, "Hmm…"
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"You're right, she does seem jumpy." Zell agreed. He was eating lunch with Irvine and Squall, and Irvine was telling them about his strange encounter with Selphie.
"Well, anyways, I got some clues from her, and I think we can figure out who she's avoiding. Ok, it's a guy, but she screamed when she saw Seifer and Quistis, so, what do those two have in common that she might've mistaken?" Irvine asked
"Um…they both have blonde hair!" Zell shouted
"Hey, that's right!" Irvine exclaimed, "So the guy's blonde, uh, but there was something else, she was pretty upset when I called her "Selph", so who else calls her that?"
"Uh, I don't know anyone else other than me that calls her that." Zell stated
Squall rolled his eyes, "She's avoiding you, Zell."
"What? Why?"
"I'm not sure…but from what you guys are telling me, I think it's you."
"Aw, man, you guys don't think it's cuz of something I did last night do ya?"
"Maybe, but like you said, she didn't say anything about it." Squall replied
"I gotta find her and straighten things out." Zell hopped off the table
"She said she was going to the library." Irvine told him
"Ok, later." Zell called out and left the cafeteria
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"So he said he liked you?" Rinoa asked
"Mmhmm." Selphie nodded
"And then he said he wanted a hotdog?!" Rinoa laughed
"Rinoa! I have a real problem here!" she yelled
"Ok, ok, I'm sorry, but you gotta admit it's pretty funny. Why are you avoiding him?"
"Because! I…I dunno, I'm not sure if he really likes me, or if it was just the alcohol…" she pouted miserably
"Selphie, do you like Zell?"
"…maybe." Her voice soft and timid, but Rinoa could still hear it
"Aww! That's so cute!"
"Rin! Stop kidding around!"
"Alright, but, if you do like him, then you should talk to him and get thing cleared."
"But what if he doesn't feel the same way?"
"Well, if you ask me, I think Zell has a thing for ya." Rinoa smiled brightly, "Come on, Selphie, go talk to him."
"Thanks Rinoa, I owe you so much." Selphie hugged her friend
"No prob, just let me be the first to know when the wedding's going to be."
"Rinoa!"
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
'Ok, just talk to Zell, it's not that hard, I'm ready-' not looking where she was walking, Selphie train of thought was broken when she bumped into someone. "Oh, I'm sorry-" 'Ok, then again, I could be wrong, I am so not ready!' she was about to turn and run but the hurt look on Zell's face made her stop. "What's wrong Zell?"
"Why are you avoiding me?" Zell asked quietly
"Oh Zell…I'm sorry."
"Was it something I did the night before?"
"No…"
"Was it something I said?"
"Maybe…"
"Come on Selphie, you can tell me anything."
"Ok, ok…lastnightyousaidyouhadacrushonme, there I said it." Selphie said quickly
"Wait…what did you say? I said I had a crush on- oh…" Zell began to blush, "I'm sorry Selph, you can just forget I said anything at all…I wasn't planning on you knowing…"
"Zell, I wasn't finished…I think I like you too." Selphie smiled
"R-really? You're serious?"
"Mmhmm."
Zell grinned, "So, what made you decide to like me? Was it my stunning good looks? Or my boyish charms?"
Selphie giggled, "Nope, it's when I head you sing in the shower."
"You heard me sing?"
"Just a little, but it was good." Selphie laughed
"Of course, I've been told I have the voice of an angel." He joked, "Um, I got you a V-day card…"
"Aw, thanks, that's sweet." She smiled
"Yea…so, what do you want to do now?"
"Well…you'll never guess what I saw when I was hiding behind the plant…"
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"So where do you think they are?" Rinoa asked
"Not sure, but I hoped they got everything sorted out." Quistis replied
"They could be in a room getting it on." Irvine smirked
"Yea, wouldn't you like to see that?" Squall sighed
"Hey, look, what that behind the plant?" Rinoa cried. They found Zell and Selphie huddled against each other and fast asleep.
"Aw, that's so cute." Quistis whispered
"What are they doing behind the plant?" Squall asked
"Probably getting it- Ow! What'd you hit me for Rinoa?" Irvine whined
"Quiet you dummy, let's go and let them sleep." Rinoa shushed. As they left a smile appeared on both Zell and Selphie's face.
"Happy Valentine's Day Selph." Zell whispered.
"Happy Valentine's Day Zell." Selphie whispered back.