Summary : 3 years after Ultimecia, and 2 years after Rinoa leaves Squall to pursue her music career, Squall settles into a daily routine of SeeD commander duties and Garden classes. His daily routine is disrupted when a loud and carefree female transfer student from Trabia enters his and the rest of the orphanage gang's lives. Rikku is wild, crass, and brash, and not to mention blonde, the complete opposite of Rinoa, but Squall finds himself being drawn to her.

Story so far: At Rikku's birthday party setup by Selphie and the others, Irvine pulls her away to hand her a gift from Squall, who was still avoiding her. Rikku opens it to find crystallized blizzard spells turned into a pair of earrings, remembering that she once mentioned to Squall that she hadn't seen one yet. Rikku gathers her resolve to tell Squall her feelings again, and Irvine sets them up. After talking it out and being honest with each other, the two are finally dating! Although, Rikku asks Squall to keep their new relationship a secret and Squall reluctantly agrees.

(A/N: Where I'm from, the legal drinking age is 18, but for story purposes, I'm going to adopt western laws, so the legal drinking age in Balamb is 21, so yes, Squall has been partying despite being just 20 in my fic, bad, bad Squall! Ages in my fic are as follows, arranged from the eldest to the youngest: Irvine – 21, Quistis – 21, Seifer – 21, Rinoa – 21, Zell – 21, Selphie, 21, Squall 20, Hailey – 20, Rikku - 19. I know Quistis is older than Irvine, but I made him older, so as to act as an older brother figure to the rest. )

Chapter 21: First Fight

"How did your exams go?" asked Irvine, as he took a bite of his sandwich. The Cafeteria grew more crowded as more Cadets and SeeDs came in. It was the end of Exam week and everyone was in high spirits enjoying the Cafeteria's ever popular food.

Rikku took a napkin from Squall as she wiped ketchup off her cheek. "It was fine." She answered Irvine, as she turned her attention to Squall. "But it could've gone better if a certain someone had let me copy off his paper!"she glared at him.

Squall who sat beside her shrugged her off. "You wouldn't have had problems with the exam if you had studied the night before, like you said you would." Said Squall as he nonchalantly took a bite from his sandwich.

Rikku slammed her hand on the table, startling Irvine a bit. "I did! I studied! Hailey can attest to that, Right Hail?" said Rikku as she turned to her childhood friend Hailey, who sat in front of them, next to Irvine.

Rikku's childhood friend Hailey laughed. "Well, in her defense, she really did study... She just fell asleep like ten minutes later..." Rikku glared at her.

"Well you could've woke me up!" she said.

"You were snoring loudly and you looked tired so I didn't have the heart to wake you." She said. Irvine started laughing as well and the usually stoic Squall grinned. After the laughter died down, they continued eating. Irvine couldn't help but notice the slight difference in the way Rikku and Squall acted around each other. To other people, it may only seem like two friends hanging out and making fun of each other, but he noticed the small glances Squall gave her, and the smiles Rikku gave him in turn. Irvine knew that the two were no longer just friends. He was just waiting for the two of them to admit it to him.

"Oh by the way..." Rikku started. "Squall and I are... well you know..." said Rikku, slightly embarrassed as she muttered the last part softly.

"What was that?" asked Hailey. Hailey knew what she was about to say, but she just wanted to tease her about it.

"Uhmm... we're..." Rikku struggled to finish her sentence, her cheeks a tint of red.

"Together." Squall finished for her, and RIkku dropped her head lower in embarrassment.

Hailey squealed. Ecstatic to hear the good news she had been waiting to hear. "Finally!" she reached over the table and grabbed Rikku's hands in glee.

"We did it, Hailey!" said Irvine as he joined in on the excitement and He and Hailey exchanged high-fives.

"Shh! Not so loud!" said Rikku as she held up a finger to her lips to silence them.

"What? Why? This calls for a celebration!" said Irvine as he stood up in excitement.

Squall reached out and tugged Irvine's arm and sighed. "She wants to keep it a secret, for a while at least."

"Huh? Why?" asked Hailey. As she spoke in a lower tone.

"Well, you know... Squall is kinda a big deal here, and I don't want them to give me special treatment or something because I'm his girlfriend..."

Irvine laughed lightly "You think you'd get special treatment? Need I remind you of the Squallies?" said Irvine.

Rikku gulped. The Squallies, especially the diehard ones, were bullies. "Oh yeah... them too... Why the hell do you have a fan club anyway? What's so good about you?" she turned to Squall.

"I did not ask them to create that idiotic club." Squall said. He had talked about it with the Headmaster, but the headmaster said that the club wasn't doing anything out of the ordinary, and was no harm to the Garden.

"...and not to mention your stalker, Jenna. Not that I'm afraid of her. I mean, I can take her right? " Rikku asked them. Irvine and Hailey exchanged looks.

"Uh... sure?" said Irvine. Jenna, a rank B SeeD completely crazy over Squall ever since he took charge of the Garden to fight Galbiadia.

Rikku slammed her hand on the table. "What? You don't think I can?!"

"She is a rank B SeeD after all, and she's been a SeeD longer than you have been." Said Irvine. It was just over three months ago that Rikku became a SeeD.

Rikku looked at Irvine as if he had said something scandalous. "Seriously? You don't think I can take her?" she stood up and towered over Irvine.

"Well... Jenna is ridiculously obsessed with Squall so, when she goes on full Squallie Limit Break mode, I think you'd have a hard time." Irvine joked. Hailey started laughing along with him.

Rikku shook her head. "Nu-uh! I think I can take her! What do you think Squall?"

Squall stopped in the middle of drinking his soda. He stared at Rikku for a few seconds before he answered. "...sure."

Rikku punched him on the arm, and not lightly. "Hey! There was a pause!"

"I was thinking of what to say..." Squall smiled.

"The hell are you still thinking about it? You're my boyfriend now and you're supposed to say 'Of Course you can take her'!" Rikku scolded, but not loud enough for the nearby tables to hear.

"I thought couples are supposed to be honest with each other." Said Squall.

Rikku paused for a second before she rebutted. "Uhh.. true... But appease me a little, ya?" she muttered. Squall smiled at her as Irvine and Hailey laughed at the short exchange between the new couple.

"What's so funny?" said Zell, who without them noticing, walked up to their table. A few steps behind him followed Selphie both were dressed casually.

"Hi guys! What were you laughing about?" Asked Selphie as she moved closer to her boyfriend Irvine.

Squall, Rikku, Hailey and Irvine glanced at each other. Hailey was quick to answer the petite SeeD.

"Oh we were laughing about how Rikku did poorly on her last exam..." said Hailey. Rikku sighed in relief and made a mental note to thank her best friend later for thinking fast.

"Yeah, so bad. She had to play eenie meenie on the multiple choice part." Irvine added. Squall gave Irvine a look of appreciation. Zell and Selphie seemed to buy their story as they too, and started exchanging stories of their exams.

"Oh yeah, forgot to tell you guys. " said Zell right after he ate his second hotdog.. "We're gonna go out tonight to celebrate Shizuka's birthday!"

"Was that today? " Rikku asked.

"Yeah! I sent a group email like, two weeks ago! " said Selphie.

"Sefie, no one reads emails anymore!" said Rikku. Selphie laughed.

"Check your GM then, I sent it to our group chat!" said Selphie. Rikku then took out her phone and did in fact see Selphie's group message. (A/N: GM is short for 'Garden Messenger', it's like facebook's messenger app.)

"So it's in that new club in town?" asked Rikku. Selphie nodded.

"Yup! Apparently, Squall here is friends with the owner, so he got us VIP passes! See y'all later, 'kay?" as they all agreed. Selphie stood up from her seat. "C'mon Irvy, you're driving!" Selphie dragged Irvine with her as the cowboy waved goodbye to the rest of them.

"Hail, you coming too right?" asked RIkku.

"I just have to pick up some things in town, I'll follow right after. " said Hailey. Squall and Rikku also moved to leave, but Selphie came hurrying back.

"Oh yeah, Rikku!" Selphie called as she went back to their table. "Bring Daniel too, okay? "

"Uh... he's away on a mission." she answered nervously, and instantaneously, she felt Squall's piercing stare.

"Oh, I see. Laters then!" said Selphie as she joined Irvine again and headed out the cafeteria.

Rikku looked up at Squall, he had his usual stoic face on, but based on experience, the 'devoid of emotion' look on his face was the scariest.

"So..." Squall started, and she braced herself for the confrontation "...you haven't broken up with him?"

"I think I'll leave you two to talk." Said Hailey as she hurriedly left the two, not wanting to see the inevitable argument about to take place.

Rikku made a quick check of the cafeteria, it was still crowded. "How about we talk about it as we walk back to the dorms?" said Rikku as she stood up and started walking, Squall followed suit.

"You haven't answered my question." Said Squall, his tone deep and commanding.

Rikku started fiddling with the ends of her hair as she struggled to reply. The cat's out of the bag anyway, so she might as well be honest with him.

"Well... I haven't quite gotten around to doing it..." she told him as she started walking faster. Squall managed to keep up with her without making it seem like he was running after her.

"Why not?"

"He's kinda away on a mission, he won't be back until next week."

"Why didn't you call him then?" said Squall. He still maintained his composure. They were around still in plain view of the crowd near the entrance to the dorms.

"I actually have no idea of how to break up with someone." She answered him truthfully.

Squall was surprised to hear this, but still it was not a decent excuse. "Just tell him the truth."

"And risk him telling others about us?"

"I don't care. Break up with him. " he told her.

Rikku sighed as she picked up her pace. "I'll tell him when he gets back."

"Now." Said Squall. His voice louder this time. A few heads turned to look at the two. They stopped arguing and continued on to the dorm's east wing, where Rikku's room was located. When they got to the corridor, Rikku was glad to see that it was empty and she continued walking. When she got to her door, she turned to Squall.

"Look, Daniel's a good guy. He deserves a formal breakup. I'll do it later." Said Rikku. Squall's stoic face changed, he was mad now.

"Do it now." He told her. Rikku was a bit taken aback, she'd seen Squall get angry a couple of times before, but this was different. They were together now. But she wouldn't just let him win this argument, she wasn't in the wrong, at least, she thinks she wasn't.

"Like I said, I'll do it later!" she retorted. She took out her key card and opened the door, and slammed it on his face.

The night club 'Puzzles', despite just opening two months ago, was already the talk of the town. Most of its patrons were either students from the nearby Balamb University, and Cadets and SeeDs from Balamb Garden. Saturday nights were the busiest. The place was packed. Luckily, because of Squall's connections with the bar owner, they didn't have to wait long for a table. Zell, Shizuka and Selphie didn't waste time as they went to the dance floor, dragging an unusually quiet Rikku with them. Quistis and Seifer were at their table, talking to each other and enjoying each other's company. Squall and Irvine were at the bar, drinking. Irvine noticed the look of irritation on Squall, and how his gaze would wander towards Rikku's direction and he would sigh. Rikku, he also noticed, was the same.

"Ah... I get it." Said Irvine.

"Huh?" Squall asked.

"You and Rikku had a fight or something?"

Squall almost always forgets that Irvine was very intuitive, but it still catches him off guard sometimes.

"Yes." He replied honestly.

"Wanna talk about it?" said Irvine.

Squall took a long sip from his beer before he told Irvine what happened.

"I see... well you have a point in getting angry at her, but I think you should cut her some slack." Said Irvine.

"Why? She's the one at fault here." Squall said, and Irvine noticed a slight pout on his usually stoic face.

Irvine laughed to himself then nodded. "Yeah, but still, Rikku is Rikku. You know that she's not the typical girl. If I had to guess, you may be her first boyfriend."

"Second." Squall corrected him.

"Yeah, but she only dated Daniel to get you jealous anyway. But the point here is, she probably has no idea on how to break up with someone..." said Irvine.

Squall had to agree with him. Although Rikku never mentioned having dated anyone before him, she seemed very inexperienced in relationships. She was telling him the truth when she said she didn't know how to breakup with someone. "So... What should I do?" Squall asked. Irvine smiled. "What?"

"I can't believe that the Great SeeD commander is asking me for love advice." Irvine chuckled, but continued. "Well Squall, seeing as you are the older one, you should be more understanding. Let her go about it in her own way. She clearly likes you, so she's going to do it for sure anyway. Just give her time to do it." Irvine told him. Rikku, despite her easy-going attitude had very little experience in matters of the heart, and though Squall was older, he was no better than her.

Squall nodded and finished the rest of his beer. He looked for Rikku on the dance floor, and she didn't look like she was enjoying herself. She was dancing with Zell and Rikku but she clearly looked pissed about something. He decided to take Irvine's advice. Squall moved to the dance floor. While Rikku was dancing, he caught her hand from behind and Rikku turned to face him, startled that he was there. Selphie, Shizuka and Zell didn't seem to notice him due to the crowd. Squall held her hand and dragged her away from the floor. Squall led her outside the bar, through an empty alley. Rikku looked away from him, looking more upset than angry.

"I'm sorry." He said, still holding her hand. Rikku looked up at him and saw in his eyes that he was indeed sorry.

Rikku sighed, and held Squall's hands tighter. "Me too." She said. "I should have done it weeks ago, but things were a little hectic... and I wanted to at least tell Daniel in person since I owe him that much. And he's such a nice guy..." she told him her honest feelings.

Though Squall felt slightly jealous when Rikku complimented Daniel, he chose to ignore it. "I know. I should have just let you go about it on your own way. Sorry I made such a big deal out of it."He said quietly.

Rikku beamed at him. "Did we just have our first fight?"

Squall nodded. "The first of many more to come." He said. Rikku giggled softly. Squall pulled her closer and hugged her. Rikku wrapped her arms around him, realizing that she missed him despite their fight lasting just a few hours. Squall pulls away and leans down to kiss her, Rikku parting her lips in response, when he hears footsteps nearing them. Rikku hears it too as she quickly pulls away from him.

A group of teenagers storm out angrily from the club's backdoor, mumbling something about being thrown out because of their fake ID's.

"You said those ID's would work!"

"It worked for me before! It's because you ordered that stupid iced tea that they caught on to us and... Rikku?" one of the girls asked.

"Donna? What are you doing here?" asked Rikku. The girl Donna, wore thick makeup, a short, revealing dress and matching stilettos. She obviously looked really young despite her attire.

Donna looked at Rikku, and then at Squall who was behind her. "I should be asking you that too! You're not old enough to drink either! And why is the Commander here with you? Are you like, being scolded? Donna's friends eyed Squall from head to toe and started giggling.

"Err... yeah! Hehe. Squ-Commander Leonhart here saw me about to order a beer and to save me the embarrassment, he pulled me here to scold me." Rikku lied through her teeth. She wasn't very good at the lying thing, Squall noted.

"Commander, you're not old enough to drink either right?" asked Donna.

"I wasn't drinking, I was just hanging out with my friends." Said Squall, lying to the girl as well. He then wondered why he had to explain himself to this girl, who was apparently a Cadet.

"Yeah right, I saw you holding a beer earlier!" said one of Donna's friends.

Squall was about to say something when Rikku cut him off. "Look Donna, here's what were gonna do. You were obviously caught by Squall, err -Commander loiting around a club trying to buy beer beyond your curfew. And in turn, you saw the Commander drinking beer despite him still being underage. He's willing to let you go if you agree not to tell anyone you saw him drinking. Deal?"

"Really, Commander? You won't tell my Instructor?" asked Donna.

Squall didn't even know which class she belonged to,, but decided to go along with Rikku. "I won't tell anyone if you promise to keep your word."

"Okay then, Deal!" said Donna. Rikku extended her hand and shook the younger girl's hand. Donna and group her friends then turned to leave.

"Good. Off you go then! Stay in school!" Rikku waved at them as they left the club. Rikku sighed deeply after they were gone. "Man! That was close!" she said.

Squall patted her on the shoulder. "Your negotiation skills are getting better. But you still need to work on your lying skills."

"...and you're turning 21 soon, Can't you wait to drink until then?" Rikku teased.

Squall smiled at her, and making sure no one was in sight, kissed her quickly on the cheek. "Who was that girl anyway?"

"Donna is Daniel's younger sister." Said Rikku. Squall nodded. Hearing her say Daniel's name again still ticked him off, but he would leave it to her to deal with it. He took her hand in his and led her back inside the club. Squall tried to remember a time in his past relationship where he managed to fix an argument in such a short time. There was none.

A/n: I know, its been a year! Been so busy with my new job, then bought a ps4... I hope I still have readers out there! Not making any promises, but I'll try to update in a month! Let me know what you think!

Next Chapter: Rikku and Squall go on their first official date!