Chapter Twelve

After going through Rinoa's entire wardrobe, both Quistis and Selphie had been amazed by how much of her clothing could be saved. The majority of her jeans were able to be kept, but the majority of her tops were thrown into a pile on the floor, a pile they had mentally labelled do not keep. They had all been bright cheerful colours, which the two girls had found quite disturbing. It seemed that both girls owned an unlimited amount of clothes, hence they had given her some of theirs until Rinoa could get her wardrobe up to scratch.

Rinoa glanced at herself in the bathroom mirror, pulling at the bottom of the top the girls had chosen for her. They had given her a black long sleeve v-neck on which showed off a bit of cleavage, something she wasn't used to doing. She had always worn tops that hid her boobs, as she had never been confident enough to show them off because of their small size. Looking at herself in the mirror, she noticed that they now looked a bit bigger, she didn't know whether it was the top just making them look bigger or if it was something else, but didn't dwell on the fact.

On the bottom half of her body she was wearing a pair of dark blue denim jeans that hugged her figure quite nicely. On her feet were a pair of Black converse, the only thing that she could claim as being her own.

Stepping out of the bathroom, she made her way back into her room, spinning on the spot as she showed off her new outfit.

"Now that is sexy," Quistis said with approval.

"Damn, Rinny, I didn't realize how much of a rack you had," Selphie commented, wolf whistling.

"Come here," Quistis commanded, holding up a makeup container and brush.

Rinoa obediently obeyed, sitting on the bed in front of Quistis so she could apply her makeup.

As she picked up the eyeliner brush, Quistis looked over Rinoa's face, noticing how beautiful the girl actually was. She had a natural beauty about her, with soft features and a natural splendour making her look gorgeous without having to resort to using makeup. Quistis knew from experience that Rinoa could look even better with a little makeup, and that was what she planned to do.

"So tell me," Rinoa remarked as Quistis started applying the eyeliner, "How did all of you meet?"

Quistis glanced briefly at Selphie, getting a nod to proceed with an answer. It wasn't often that someone would ask about the origin of their friendship, and they were selective on who they gave that information to. Just from hanging out with Rinoa over the last few days, Quistis could tell that she was trustworthy and most likely wouldn't go around telling everyone after finding out.

"Well I moved here when I was seven, I met Squall, Zell and Seifer on my first day of school. Seifer had moved here the year before me and Squall and Zell the year before that. Irvine moved here with his mum from Galbadia when he was ten and as you know Selphie moved here two years ago," Quistis explained.

"Yeah, I was actually wondering about that," Rinoa commented, pausing for a second before continuing, "How long have Squall and Zell known each other? I've noticed that they seem very close, almost like brothers."

Quistis looked over at Selphie, asking with her eyes if she should tell Rinoa. She knew the subject was a touchy one with the boys, and it never got talked about. They had never actually had anyone ask about it before and Quistis was unsure how they should go about it.

"Should I tell her?"

"Yeah, may as well, she'll no doubt find out eventually," Selphie replied.

"Okay," Quistis said, turning back to Rinoa, "What we tell you now doesn't leave this room. It's not common knowledge outside of our group and it's best kept that way. Got it?"

"Yeah, okay."

"Alright then," Quistis said, taking a deep breath before continuing, "Squall and Zell were both born in Winhill, their dads served in the Galbadian Army together and their mums co-owned a bar, so their was no doubt that the two of them would end up as friends. When they were three, the boys dads were transferred to Timber as part of the the Embassy Protection Team, where they served for two years until a serious incident happened."

"Something happened in Timber didn't it?" Rinoa asked. She had heard bits and pieces about a revolt in Timber when she was younger. Nobody in Galbadia liked talking about it and the government had banned talking about it full stop. She had even tried getting information out of her dad when he was still alive, but that had been like trying to draw blood from a stone.

"Yeah," Quistis replied as a single tear rolled down her cheek. She could remember when she had first found out about it when she had met the two boys, it had upset her back then and it still upset her to think about it now.

"Do you want me to continue?" Selphie asked, placing an arm around Quistis's shoulders.

"Please," Quistis replied, wiping the teat away from her face.

"Okay," Selphie said, turning to face Rinoa, "When the boys were five, the embassy was stormed by a mass mob of armed citizens, who were sick and tired of being occupied and dictated by a foreign government. All of the diplomats and civilian staff were evacuated safely, but the majority of the troops stationed at the embassy had been killed in the fighting, the boys dads included. The resistance groups had been absolutely brutal in their treatment of the bodies of the dead soldiers, some of their bodies had even been stripped and dragged through the streets as war trophies."

Rinoa's eyes went wide as she brought a hand up to her mouth, absolutely shocked by what she had just heard.

"Oh my god, that's so sad."

"Yeah, it is," Selphie replied, wiping a stray tear from her face.

"So what happened next? obviously they didn't stay in Timber."

"No, the Galbadian government got word that resistance groups were hunting down and killing any Galbadian's that were still in Timber and evacuated every civilian and what soldiers were left as soon as they could. Both of their mums made a pact to stay together and watch out for each other, and they both decided to leave Galbadia to start a fresh, hence they ended up here in Balamb," Selphie explained.

"Wow, no wonder they're close," Rinoa commented.

"Yeah, They've been there for each other ever since they started school, and there friendship is still strong, as you've seen."

Rinoa nodded, and was about to ask something else when there was a knock on her door.

"Come in," she called out to whoever was on the other side.

The door swung open, revealing Squall leaning against the door frame, a small look of surprise on his face for a few seconds before he coughed, his face returning to its usual serious look.

"What's up?" Selphie asked, the smile on her face indicating that she had noticed the surprised look on his face.

"The boys just sent me over to see how long you guys were going to be, and also to ask if you wanted any alcohol. The guys have somehow managed to go through the majority of the alcohol I had stashed for tonight and now we need more."

"Ouch, I bet that's messy," Quistis remarked.

"Nah, they actually aren't that drunk, considering the amount of booze they've had."

"Okay, well we actually just finished, so we'll go get the guys and start heading up into the hills. You need any cash? Quistis asked, reaching for her handbag.

"Nah, I've got it," Squall replied, shooing her away from her bag.

"Righto, we'll see ya in a bit then," Quistis replied as she got onto her feet and started gathering her stuff.

Squall turned to leave without another word, but was stopped by Rinoa.

"Hey, do you think I could come for the ride? I don't know how much room there'll be with the others so I thought maybe I could go with you?" Rinoa asked, pushing herself off the bed.

"Yeah sure," Squall replied, ignoring the smirks coming from Selphie and Quistis as he turned and exited the room.

"You guys don't mind if I go with him do you?" Rinoa asked, turning to face the two girls.

"Not at all, go for it. We'll see you up there," both girls replied in unison.

Smiling, Rinoa grabbed her handbag off of her bed, not seeing the looks the two girls were giving each other as she her room, making her way downstairs to where Squall was waiting.

She found him standing outside in the front yard, cigarette hanging out of his mouth as he waited for her.

"Please tell me you're not going to do that in the car."

"My car, my rules," Squall remarked as he took another drag before making his way over to his car.

"Figured you'd say that," Rinoa replied as she followed him.

Smoke filled the car as Squall unlocked it and got in, exhaling smoke as he sat in the drivers seat. This caused Rinoa to cough and splutter as she got in, waving her arms in front of her face as she tried to clear the smoke from around her.

"Ah, to hell with it, I can have another one later," Squall mumbled as he threw the half smoked cancer stick onto the road as he pulled out of the driveway, buckling his seat belt up as he took off down the road.


"So where about's is an underage teen supposed to buy alcohol in this town?" Rinoa asked as they made their way through the CBD, heading towards the eastern beach side suburbs.

"There's a bottle shop near the airport that we normally go to. The owner has no qualms about selling alcohol to minors."

"Wouldn't the cops catch onto it?"

"Nah, this place doesn't have as many cops as other places the same size, and they tend to leave the pubs and bottle shops alone unless they really need to enter them."

Rinoa simply nodded, figuring that it made sense. Balamb seemed like a quiet, docile sort of place. It seemed that the only time anything really happened was when Squall and his friends were up to something.

Soon they were pulling up in front of a run down looking place with a sign above the door saying cheapest beer in town. Squall applied the handbrake and shut the engine off before turning to her.

"You want anything?"

"Your offering to buy me drinks?" Rinoa questioned, amazed that he would actually consider what she wanted after only knowing her for a few days.

"I only offer once."

"Midori Illusions please."

"Okay," Squall replied as he got out of the car, making his way into the shop.

He exited a few minutes later, a trolley laden with alcohol, everything from bourbon and cola to the illusions she had asked for. Quickly placing the large amount of alcohol into the boot, he returned the trolley inside before returning to the car.

"I didn't think you'd buy me so much," Rinoa commented as he buckled himself in and started the engine.

"It's not all for you, Selphie likes them too," Squall replied as he backed out of the parking space and took off down the road.

"Phew, for a moment there I thought I'd have to drink all of them tonight. That would've been messy," Rinoa chuckled.

"Nah, we wouldn't be that mean to ya."

Half an hour later they were making their way into the hills behind the city. As they made their way up, Rinoa looked out the window, amazed at the spectacular view of the city. She could see the city from one end to the other, it was a view that she could look at all day if given the chance.

Soon they pulled off the road onto a reasonably sized patch of dirt, where she noticed Irvine's ute and Quistis's car parked on the other side. Pulling up beside Quistis's car, Rinoa and Squall both exited the car, making their way around the back, transferring all of the booze onto the ground before Squall shut the boot, pushing a button on his key ring to lock his car, the beeping of the alarm system turning on sounding awfully loud in the surrounding darkness.

Rinoa bent down to pick up the box of illusions, stopping when she heard the very familiar sound of her ringtone going off. Sighing, she stood up straight as she reached into her pocket, looking at the screen as she pulled it out. She let out a small groan as she saw the number in the screen staring back at her, it was Matt's number, and she started racking her brain to why he would be calling her. She considered not answering it before her curiosity got the better of her. Looking at Squall, she mouthed an 'I'm sorry' at him before pushing the call button and putting the phone to her ear.

"Yes Matt, what do you want?" She asked, watching as Squall gave her a thumbs up before disappearing into the night, obviously wanting to give her some privacy.

"Jeez, is that all I get?"

"After what you did you should be counting yourself lucky that I'm even talking to you," Rinoa replied as she watched Squall disappear off into the darkness ahead of her.

"Oh, come on, I said I was sorry didn't I," Matt replied, sounding annoyed.

"That's not the point Matt, you betrayed my trust so why should I even believe that you're sorry?"

"Yeah well if you'd just given me what I wanted then we wouldn't be in this situation would we

"You know I could say the same about you not keeping your dick in your pants!" Rinoa spat.

"Well if you hadn't of moved away then maybe shit would've been different," Matt spat back.

"Oh, were gonna go down this road are we? You know I didn't have a choice in the matter! Anyway it wasn't like it was that far, it was only the other side of the city."

"What about the fact that your a frigid bitch!"

"Oh okay, so since I actually have morals compared to most girls that went to St Pats and didn't join the slut brigade your calling me frigid?" Rinoa questioned, Matt's words cutting deep into her soul. Everything he had said so far had slightly gnawed away at her very soul, but being blamed for their break up had cut deep.

"Yeah I am, It's not that hard to have sex you know. You just lie on ya back, spread your legs and bam, your getting screwed! You know with the track record Tish has for sleeping with anybody and everybody, I figured you'd be easy just like her."

"What are you saying?" Rinoa asked, shocked at what she had just heard, "Are you admitting to sleeping with Tish as well?"

"Yeah I am, It was quite a while ago but I figured since I'm on your shit list already, I figured another admission wouldn't hurt."

"I don't believe it," Rinoa admitted, absolutely shocked. She had never thought her best friend in the whole world would go behind her back and screw her boyfriend.

"Well you'd better get your head out of lala land because it happened, and I for one don't regret it. You know she does this thing with her..." Matt began before Rinoa mashed the call end button, not really wanting to hear the rest of what he had to say.

Leaning back against Squall's car, she totally forgot about the alarm as she slid down into a sitting position, the blaring sound of the alarm echoing through the darkness but she didn't care about it at the moment, not after what she had just been told. Placing her head in her hands as she felt her body start to shake, hiccuping loudly as a sob racked her body.

Rinoa could hear hurried footsteps coming towards her from the way Squall had gone, but didn't look up at whoever was coming in her direction. What she had just heard had hit her for six, shattered her confidence and ripped her heart into a hundred pieces. She didn't know whether it was true or not, but with Patricia's reputation, she suddenly found herself unable to put it past the girl.

She also knew that Matt could've been lying just to spite her, but the thought of Patricia screwing Matt behind her back still upset her immensely.

"Rinny, what's wrong?" Selphie asked from beside her as she felt a hand rest on her shoulder.

She had been so upset that she hadn't heard the sound of the alarm being turned off, or the fact that the footsteps had now stopped right in front of her.

She looked to her side to see that it was Selphie's hand resting on her shoulder. The petite girl giving her a warm reassuring smile as she squeezed her shoulder lightly.

"I...I...my best friend...my ex," Rinoa stammered as she struggled to get the words out between sobs.

She felt Sephie pull her into a hug, realizing that she didn't need to say anymore for her to understand what she had just found out. No doubt Squall had told her that she was on the phone.

Looking over Selphie's shoulder, she could see everyone else standing nearby, and suddenly felt quite embarrassed at being the center of attention. She knew they would've all come running because they would've thought the alarm going off meant someone was trying to steal one of their cars, but she couldn't help but hope that it was also because they were all worried about her as well.

Wiping her face, She let Selphie help her onto her feet, leaning back against Squall's car for support. She watched as Quistis approached her, wrapping her arms around her and pulling her close.

"It's okay Rin, we're all here for you if you need us," Quistis reassured her.

"Thank you," Rinoa squeaked.

"Okay, now that this situation is all sorted, how about we go back up to the nice warm fire, sink a few drinks and roast some marshmallows," Irvine suggested, most likely not meaning for it to sound as insensitive as it did.

"Yeah," Rinoa replied, nodding her head, "I could do with a drink after that."

Everyone chuckled and she felt Selphie wrap and arm around her shoulders, feeling another arm snake it's way around her waist. She looked towards the owner of the second arm to see Quistis smiling at her as both girls lead her through the dark up to where they had set up the fire.

Behind her she heard the boys say a few words between each other as Squall turned his alarm back on before following the girls up the hill.


A/N: Tough time for Rinny isn't it, poor girl. Had a hard time writing this chapter, especially the fight over the phone, still not sure whether it's right or not, but to hell with it. Anyway this part of the story is now done and dusted and we will be moving on from here. Anyway what did you guys think?