Author's Note: Time for some cute little teenagers. Set while they are still on Radiant Garden, and probably 16-17. -Ashe

Squall was probably bright red when he came back to their table. Cloud was chuckling like a bastard and he gave him a glare that should have cut through stone as he slid into the booth across from him. It was just the two of them this afternoon, which had led to Squall finally working up the guts to go ask Rinoa out. Cloud hadn't said a thing about it yet, but he seemed to find this all very amusing.

"And what did the princess have to say?" Cloud remarked dryly.

Squall glared and took a long drink of his soda. "She said yes."

Cloud quirked an eyebrow, and his mirth seemed to disappear. Squall didn't notice, too tied up in the storm of his own emotions. He'd had a crush on Rinoa for almost a year, but he'd never actually considered asking her out until a month ago. It had taken the shy teen that long to come up with how to do it.

Cloud shook his head. "You make me sick."

That snapped Squall out of his happy little bubble. "Excuse me?"

"You make me sick.." Cloud replied again. "Pining after her like this." But he didn't say anything else, and turned back to the plate of fries in front of him. Squall's temper had been piqued, though, and even if he wasn't a confrontational person, this was Cloud, his best friend, and he'd never been hesitant to rip Cloud a new one. And vice versa.

"Are you jealous?" Squall commented. He meant it in a way that suggested that Cloud was pining after Tifa from a distance and would never had the balls to approach her.

"No!" Cloud replied, perhaps too quickly.

"Prove it." Squall replied coldly. Cloud was definitely put off by that answer, startled. He looked a little terrified for a moment before he responded.

"How?"

"Go ask Tifa out." Squall replied. Cloud looked confused.

"Why would I do that?"

Squall rolled his eyes. "Because everyone knows that you're pining after her."

Cloud hesitated and shrugged. "I don't." was his answer. He gave Squall a very strange look before he shoved his plate away and slid out of the booth. "See you later, Leonhart." his good bye was quiet, distracted. Squall was a little confused, but didn't say anything as Cloud left.

- - -

Cloud stood on the cliff overlooking the city, lost in his own thought. Squall would be with Rinoa. They'd make a perfect couple, adorable and all that garbage. Convenient that Squall was so oblivious to emotion that he'd never noticed that Tifa wasn't the one he was pining after.

He'd never tell Squall, because he was sure his best friend was straight. That would only make things painfully awkward. And he couldn't deal with Squall abandoning him over this. It wasn't worth it.

But dammit, did he have to pick such a stupid bitch? Rinoa was too damned perfect. Apprentice sorceress, darling of everyone around her, training to be guardian of the royal family themselves? He couldn't compare to that, even if he had a chance in hell.

It wasn't as if he had a chance anyway, he supposed.

He was shocked when he heard a fall of rocks, heralding the entrance of Squall. He turned and gave his best friend a very strange look.

"What do you want?"

"I don't know what went wrong there... but I'm sorry." Squall replied. He never apologized, except to Cloud. Cloud shrugged, though.

"No big deal." he lied. Squall nodded and took that at face value. Cloud turned away for a few minutes. Silence reigned.

"I can't prove it."

"What?"

Cloud glanced at him. "You told me to prove it. I can't."

"Oh. Don't worry about it."

Cloud nodded and they both stood on that cliff overlooking the town for quite some time, in silence.