AN: So here's another Final Fantasy III story for all you fans out there. Even though you're not so many ;_; Where are you all?

Once again, this story has been betad by picklgirl :D

The title is namned after a song by Bob Dylan and the chapter titles as well because he's just awesome! And they really go well with the story.

Of course I don't own Dylan and his songs or FFIII.

It Hurts Me Too

Chapter 1. Tell Me That It Isn't True

The school bell rang and the students of Crystal High started to pack away their books. The teacher hurriedly reminded his students of tomorrow's homework, but the chatting of the class drowned his voice, he sighed. There are around twenty students in this class, but this story focuses on only four of them. Those students are Luneth, Arc, Refia and Ingus. They were best friends and had been so for years.

"Hey, Luneth, how about going to the movies tonight?" Ingus, the teen with the short golden blonde hair and the ocean blue eyes, asked his friend while he put some books into his backpack.

When he didn't get a reply he turned only to find the desk next to him empty. He quickly looked towards the door and thought he saw the silver ponytail of his friend disappearing out in the hallway.

"He left already," sighed a girl with orange blonde hair as she placed a hand on his shoulder. This was Refia, she was the only girl in the group but she didn't mind, she was very keen about her friends. And that's why she always spoke her mind. "You have to tell him." She stated as she walked out of the classroom with Ingus and Arc.

"I agree, you can't keep it to yourself forever." Arc, the boy with short brown hair, cut in.

"How can I confess my feelings to him when he already has a girlfriend?" Ingus sounded almost devastated, he had struggled with his feelings for his best friend for a long time, but on the day he had decided to confess…

Two months earlier.

It was a cloudy morning, not the most romantic day for a confession, but Ingus had made up his mind and this was the day. As usual, the four friends met up to go to school together and Luneth seemed more happy than usual, which gave Ingus more confidence. If Luneth was this happy maybe he wouldn't get mad at Ingus for confessing his love.

"Luneth," Ingus started. "I have to tell you something."

Refia and Arc, who both already figured out Ingus' huge crush on Luneth, snickered a little. Ingus turned to them with a serious look.

"I have to tell you guys something too!"Luneth impatient voice interrupted them

"Okay, you can start," the blonde boy smiled. He figured it might be best to tell Luneth when they were alone. He realized that he was a little too shy or maybe embarrassed to do this in front of a crowd, even if it only was his other two best friends.

"Alright, you can never guess what happened to me last night!"

"You said you would tell us, not that we had to guess," Arc began sarcastically.

"Just guess!" Luneth exclaimed eagerly.

"You got your favorite dinner?" Refia tried.

"No."

"What could it be if not food?" teased Ingus with a grin on his face.

"I'm serious here!"

With the grin still on his face the blonde teen put his arms up in a sign of surrender. "Okay, okay, let me think… New CD player?"

"Nope."

"He hasn't gotten any gifts, I would've noticed." Declared Arc, who lived with Luneth, they were brothers after all.

"Favorite band coming to town?" Refia tried again, but if this wasn't correct she would give up and force it out of him.

"Wrong again."

"Okay, I'm done guessing, you have to tell us!" said the girl almost dangerously.

"Alright," Luneth sounded a little disappointed that they couldn't guess right but finally he could give them the good news. "I got a girlfriend!" his smile was as bright as ever and the happiness really shone through his eyes.

The three friends just stopped in their tracks staring at him unbelievably. Arc wondered how he could have missed that. Refia felt sorry for Ingus. And Ingus, his whole world just fell apart. The feeling of a knife piercing through his heart hit him when his brain managed to register the word "girlfriend."

Luneth just looked at them, still with that smile on his face and they knew he demanded a better reaction than this. Refia snapped out of it first and hugged him.

"That's so sweet!" She squealed and released the hug. "Who is she?"

"When did you have time to meet a girlfriend?" Arc's was still a little suspicious, but said it with a smile.

Ingus was quiet; he didn't know what to say, what could he say? He couldn't find the words, and that was not only because his brain had shut down nor because of the lump in his throat. One of those lumps that forms when you are on the verge of crying. Ingus didn't cry, he "knew" better.

Luneth didn't seem to take any notice of that now though; instead he answered the questions his friends were asking. "You know Aria Benett, in the class under us?"

"Yeah?" Arc and Refia nodded.

"It's her. Apparently she helps out in her father's café and that's where I met her. I was doing my homework and when she came with my order we started talking and before we knew it we were in love."

"And when was this?" Arc couldn't accept that fact that he, the smartest one in the group, had missed the fact that his brother now has a girlfriend.

"Yesterday." Luneth replied with a dreamy look.

"Yesterday?" His brother exclaimed. At least that explains why he never noticed.

"Love at first sight, huh?" Refia playfully nudged the lover boy in the ribs.

"Well," He blushed a little and scratched the back of his neck. "I suppose."

This is where Luneth finally took noticed of the petrified Ingus. "What's wrong?" he asked the blonde worriedly and took a step closer.

Ingus quickly averted his eyes and looked to the ground before returning his gaze to Luneth with his usual smirk. "I just can't believe you got a girlfriend before me?" he teased and gave the silver haired boy a light shove.

"Well, believe it!" he sounded so proud and happy that it cut Ingus heart in two.

Even worse, Ingus knew he had to be happy for his friend. This Aria could probably make him happier than Ingus ever could, and Luneth would never fall for a guy. Their time as friends had proven that Luneth was hopeless when it came to girls, he could barely pass one without giving them a wink or flash one of his bright, handsome smiles. Oh, how Ingus wished they were meant for him. Just one time at least.

"So, what was it you were going to tell?" Luneth's face had such a bright smile and his purple eyes were filled with curiosity when he looked at his blonde friend.

Another knife to the heart. "Oh…I forgot already," he dismissed the question with a wave of his hand while his heart screamed of crushed dreams.

But that was two months ago.

Refia looked at Ingus with worry as they continued down the school hallway. "But this is killing you."

"I can handle it," he tried to sound confident but a sigh from his lips betrayed him. "But I wouldn't mind if he could spend just a little more time with us."

"Are you jealous of Aria?" Arc's soft brown eyes looked at him shockingly, while opening the door that led out of the school building.

"I don't know, maybe?" It wasn't fair of him, he knew that. With all his broken heart he wanted to be happy for Luneth but he couldn't get rid of that aching feeling that was dwelling in his chest.

"But you know he wants to spend as much time with Aria as he can," Refia spoke carefully.

"I know," there came another sigh from the broken hearted boy. "I just wish…wish he could take us with him sometime."

"I know what you mean," the girl agreed. "He shouldn't go through this by himself."

Arc looked at them with a concerned expression. "Maybe we should talk to him?"

Now that was an idea Refia liked. She wondered why she hadn't come up with it herself. "That's something we should've done a long time ago."

"Better late than never?" A weak smile formed upon Arc's freckled face.

"True!" she nodded. "Let's invite him over to dinner at my place tomorrow and talk to him."

The two boys agreed as they thought it was a splendid idea after all and hopefully Luneth would agree to come if he was offered food.

In the meantime.

Luneth angrily cursed the elevator for not going fast enough. "I'm in a hurry, damn it!" He pushed the button for the floor he was going to once again in an attempt to make the elevator understand that he was serious.

The elevator didn't seem to be aware of the situation as it continued it its own pace until reaching the correct floor with a pinging sound. The doors didn't open fast enough either, but when they did Luneth rushed out and continued through a lit corridors with white walls. There were rows of doors on both sides of the hallway, only once in a while interrupted by a painting in calm colors. Luneth had a theory that it was to keep the people who stayed here calm and peaceful; this was a respectable hospital after all.

Reaching the door that was his destination, he slowed down, taking a deep breath to hide his small exhaustion from running. When he opened the door, he did so carefully and walked in with calm steps.

The room he walked into was quite small and only had place for a bed, a small table with two chairs and a bedside table near the bed. A vase with fresh flowers stood on the bedside table, Luneth had brought them the day before and it were white carnations, her favorite, and it had a meaning somewhere along the lines of pure love and innocence. There was an even smaller bathroom connected to the room. The walls were painted in a soft kind of white and the window was dressed with matte, green curtains.

"Aria?" he spoke softly as he came closer to the bed where a girl with long, fair hair was laying with her eyes closed. Her features were soft and to Luneth she looked like an angel. She was his angel. "Are you awake?"

He pulled a chair in front of the bed and sat down on it, after giving her a gentle kiss on the forehead. The girl, Aria, slowly opened her eyes and the second they saw Luneth, a smile spread on her pale face. He took her hand in his, her hand was cold and he squeezed it lightly in an attempt to bring some heath to it.

"How are you feeling?" he asked even though he already knew she would give him a reassuring answer, even if that was not the truth.

"Better now when you are here," she squeezed his hand back.

He smiled, happy that she could be so strong and positive in the condition she was in. "Are they taking good care of you?"

"Of course," she said with confidence, when suddenly a rough cough interrupted her and kept her busy for another minute. Luneth was used to this by now, the first time he had panicked and called for all the nurses who could hear him, but now he knew it was better to just wait until it was over. The best thing he could do in the meantime was holding her hand or gently rub her back. It made her feel safer.

"But," Aria started as the cough seemed to give up. "I need to tell you something."

"What is it, sweetie?" He stroke some hair from her forehead and stared into her clear, light blue eyes.

With a weak smile she started talking. "You know, this disease is quite serious?"

"Yes?" Luneth replied, wondering where this was going.

"Actually, I don't have much time left." She immediately looked away; she didn't want to see his reaction.

First there wasn't much of a reaction, as Luneth didn't move a muscle. He wanted to shoot up from his seat and scream what the hell she was talking about, but he knew that would scare her. Instead he chose a more mature way of dealing with it.

"What do you mean?" his purple eyes examined her firmly, trying to get a clue about what she was thinking.

"You know what I mean," she was still looking away. "I'm…I'm going to die."

"What?" That was as long as he could keep up the mature act, he stood up from his seat rapidly and the chair almost tipped over in the process. "What are you talking about? You said the doctors could cure you. You've been fighting this for weeks, you can't give up!" His voice was slightly cracking up and it was something he wasn't familiar with, actually he wasn't familiar with any of this.

"I know, I lied." Aria's voice was quiet but determined. She didn't like it anymore than he did, but she had accepted her fate.

"Why? Why in the world did you lie, Aria?"

"Because I didn't want this to happen." She finally looked at him, only for a while though.

"And you thought I wouldn't find out eventually?"

"No, I just wanted you to stay happy for as long as possible."

Luneth sat down on the chair again, pretending to calm down while his inner voice was screaming; he looked at her and realized that he couldn't be mad at her for lying. She was always thinking of others before her.

"So…when?" he lowered his voice to keep up his new calm appearance.

"Any day now," she looked at him with sorrow in her eyes. "I wish I could have been with you more, Luneth. I've had the best two month in my life and it's all thanks to you." She leaned closer to give him a kiss which he returned gently.

"For me too. What would I do without you, Aria?" Luneth did a really good job at holding his tears back.

"You will be fine," she stated with a smile, and placed her hand on his chest where his heart would be. "I will always be with you here."

Luneth placed his own hand on top of hers. "I know, but I need all of you. I love you!"

"And I love you too, Luneth."

They shared another kiss.

To be continued

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