Bet You My Heart

written by: KawaiiKaoru

rating: PG-13

summary: After her heart is broken, Selphie makes a bet with Zell and Quistis. A small mistake makes her wonder if she wants to win or lose.

Thanks for reviewing! -snicker- Yes, this is going to be a Squall/Selphie. Mad Childe Dru >> Seifer will definately play a part in this story. He's my favorite character! What kind of FF8 author would I be to leave him out?

-== ** Chapter 1: CAPTURE ** ==-

Squall walked calmly down the halls of Balamb Garden. He was searching around for Rinoa. He hadn't seen her much lately, and he wanted to know if tomorrow, or maybe the day after was better for a date. Sudden things in Timber or with her father had been popping up a lot recently. Rinoa had to cancel three of their dates. Squall missed her. Rinoa was so great for him...

He vaguely remembered the days before the second Sorceress war, when he was afraid of emotions. Then, he considered them a hindrance- like a very bad itch that you can't scratch. They were a thorn in his side. But when Rinoa came, he suddenly had a whole new respect for the tingly feeling he got in his stomach when he was near her. He dare not let it show, but he was enjoying being in love. Rinoa was so utterly sweet and just beautiful. She allowed him to open up, and he couldn't thank her more for that.

Shwoooom! Slam!

A yellowish blur rushed out of a classroom and smack into the wall. It stopped itself and whizzed by Squall, paying him no mind.

Selphie.

He continued walking down the halls, fingertips tapping his sides gently. Rinoa's dorm- #183A, just across. Squall examined the brass numbers and letters a moment before knocking. There was a slight scuffle, and suddenly the door swung open. A raven-haired girl decked in black shorts, a black shirt and a blue duster pounced on him and gave him a big hug. She pulled away just enough so that she could look at him.

"Hey!" she greeted cheerily.

"Rinoa. How was Timber? Did Nida get you-"

"Timber was beautiful, Nida treated me well and I'm fine. You worry too much about me."

"..." Squall scowled.

Rinoa sighed, "There you go again. You're so moody." She gave him a light kiss on the nose. "I love you."

The sincere look in her eye and the three words forced a smile on Squall's face. Rinoa smiled, too.

There's that smile again...Her eyes smile.

"I love you, too."

"Zone and Watts send their regards," Rinoa said, letting go of Squall's waist, "They said to tell you that you're doing a great job."

Squall asked, "...of what?"

"Of taking care of me," Rinoa laughed. She closed the door to her dorm and continued, "Let's go get something to eat."

Squall nodded, suggesting, "Hotdogs? The cafeteria is probably empty around this time."

"Sure. Let's go!"

-- ** --

Selphie ran up to the 2F Classroom, zooming by Squall on the way, and sat down at the study panel. She opened up her webpage editor and checked for any Comments. Camara, a student in one of her classes, said that someone left a Comment about joining the Garden Festival Committee. Of course, Selphie bolted to check her Comments.

Checking.
Checking..
Checking...
Checking....

[One(1) new comment] Read?

Anonymous: You're so naive. Irvine's such a player, and you can't even see it!

Selphie's jaw dropped, and anger bubbled up inside of her. She began typing a furious reply. After a minute of speedy typing, Selphie looked up, quite pleased with her lengthy reply. A small frown crossed her normally smiling face and she erased the reply. It wasn't in her to be so rude. But how dare this person try to break Irvine and I up? I knew he would be wanted, but that's so terrible! People these days...

She settled on this:

SuperDuperMegaHyperST: You smell funny. You wanna say something to me, say it to my face! Booyaka! :P

She planted her chin in her hand and her elbow fell onto the desk. Sighing, Selphie clicked off the computer. Irvine hadn't been around too much lately. He'd been training so hard...She really wished he would take just a moment's time to spend with her. Though she wouldn't let it show, Selphie really missed Irvine and it was making her sad.

Selphie thought it was funny that some people assumed being cheery all the time was just a 'mask' of hers. Nope, Selphie was just a truly happy person. She took life one step at a time and always managed to see the brighter side. Still, with Irvine being gone so often- let's just say she was finding small breaks in her eternal happiness here and there. She and Irvine were so close now, their childhood bond had not faded one bit, it only grew.

She smiled as the image of Irvine in a SeeD uniform flashed in her head. Selphie hopped off her seat and decided to go search for volunteers. The Garden Festival was quite a way off, but it was good to be prepared ahead of time.

The sliding door buzzed open before Selphie got to it, and the elegant form of Quistis entered the room. Quistis greeted Selphie with a quick hug and a warm smile.

"Selphie, I was just looking for you," Quistis claimed, "New mission. Nothing big."

"Really? Finally! Some excitement! Woo-hoo!" Selphie exclaimed, fist shooting into the air.

Quistis sighed, "I hardly think you'll find it exciting. We're just taking a few files to Dollet. Supposedly top secret, but I bet it's just a few student information files."

"Bummer. Just me?" Selphie questioned.

Quistis shook her head. "Nope. I'll be going with you. Squall and Zell, too."

"Hey, awesome! But why so many for such a small mission?"

The blonde shrugged. "No earthly idea. Cid says the files are really important. I still think-"

Just then, the door slid open and Zell entered with Squall. Squall was holding a thick file, looking a bit ticked.

"Hey guys!" Selphie greeted with a wave.

Zell flashed her that big smile and Squall merely nodded. Selphie rolled her eyes at Squall's coldness. Squall gestured for them to get going, and the group left the classroom.

"Gee, do you have a hot date or something?" Selphie teased.

Squall offered a rare smile, replying, "Yeah."

"Oh. Rinoa's back?" Quistis asked as they walked into the elevator. Squall nodded and pressed the first floor button.

Zell shadow boxed. "Man, this sucks. They've been sending us on the lamest missions! What's this- deliver secret files to the Dollet Dukedom? It's a job for lower ranked SeeDs! Not us!"

"What are you afraid of, Chicken-wuss?" Selphie poked Zell in the ribs.

Zell scowled. "Hey! For the last time: don't call me that! And I'm not afraid, I'm just bored."

The elevator doors pulled apart, and Squall led them to the training center. They hopped into the crowded transport vehicle. Zell sniffed.

"Smells like soggy bread-"

"Soggy bread?" Quistis tilted her head.

"Yeah. Soggy bread!"

Selphie giggled and Quistis rolled her eyes. Squall punched a few keys on the control panel. He led them out of Garden manually, but set an Auto-Drive mechanism to Balamb. The SeeD emblem blinked on the panel, and buzzed a few times. They rode for a good twenty minutes when the image of Xu appeared on the screen. No one was paying attention to the monitor, so she cleared her voice very loudly.

"I told you already, soggy bread doesn't smell- Xu!" Quistis exclaimed when she noticed Xu's face on the panel.

"Working hard?" Xu teased.

Zell rolled his eyes. "Please. This mission sucks."

"Then I'm sure you'll be happy to hear that you can return to Garden."

"What?" Squall asked.

Xu replied, "Come back. We've got other SeeDs to do the job."

"We're halfway to Balamb, Xu. Why go back now?" Quistis questioned.

"Because your rank is too high! It'll cost us less if we send lower ranked SeeDs."

"Then why didn't you send lower ranked SeeDs in the first place?" Zell asked, frustrated.

"There weren't any. Six just returned from a mission. Get back here, that's an order!" Xu's face disappeared and was replaced by the SeeD emblem. Squall punched a few keys and turned the car around. They began riding back to Garden.

"We're not getting paid for this then, huh?" Selphie asked.

Squall sighed as he shook his head.

-- ** --

A slightly angry Squall walked down the steps of the elevator. He had just returned the files to Cid, who in turn gave them to six rookie SeeDs. He couldn't believe that they called him back from a mission because they didn't want to pay him the money for it. It was insane. He had to miss lunch with Rinoa because of the damn mission...From behind, someone leapt on him, nearly causing him to fall over.

"Hey!" Selphie shouted in his ear, "Wanna train? I'll go easy on you, promise."

"..."

"Don't be a party pooper. Come on. I know you were going to go train anyway, so I'll accompany you. How about it?"

He knew she wouldn't let up if he declined. So he nodded his head, but curtly asked Selphie to get off of him.

"I've got to stop by my room and pick up my nunchakus. I didn't think I should take them on the mission, since the transport is so cramped. Had plenty of GFs to make up for it, though!" Selphie exclaimed, tugging him in the direction of her dorm. She picked up her pace, practically dragging Squall through the halls.

-- ** --

"I'll be just a minute," Selphie promised as she walked into her dorm. Squall looked up and down the empty hall, and then at Rinoa's dorm just across from Selphie's. He considered knocking, but decided against it. He figured Rinoa would be at lunch anyway.

There was a giggle, and Squall wondered what Selphie could be doing that was making her laugh. There was another giggle, and then another. Coming from Rinoa's room. She was there! The melodic sound of her laugh swept away any doubts and Squall knocked firmly on the door.

"Just a minute!" her voice called, still filled with mirth. Scuffles could be heard.

The electric door slid open to reveal a black haired woman in a white robe pinned against the wall by a tall man in boxers and a cowboy hat. They were kissing. With their tongues. Nope, this certainly wasn't a friendly kiss. Squall stood frozen, staring at the scene before him. Dozens of scattered thoughts traveled through his mind. What was merely a moment seemed like an eternity to Squall, as he watched Rinoa kiss an oh-too-familiar cowboy. A whisper from behind him brought him back to his senses.

"Oh my gosh..." Selphie whispered. Squall half turned, and watched Selphie's weapon fall to the ground with a loud clang. She was standing in the doorway, eyes on Irvine and Rinoa in the opposite doorway. The noise startled the kissing couple, and they realized who their audience was. Irvine grabbed his cowboy hat.

"Oh- shit! Selphie, it's not- I was-"

"You were what, Irvine?!" Selphie shouted suddenly. Rinoa paled, and she ran further into her dorm, presumably to get dressed. Selphie continued yelling at Irvine, paying no mind to Rinoa or Squall. "You were going to tell me? When? On our date on Tuesday? At Balamb yesterday? Oh- wait! You were too busy for either of those. Oooooooh.....!" Squall had never seen Selphie so...so angry. The only time she had ever vaguely looked this way was when she found out that Trabia Garden was to be bombed. And even then, she didn't look like she was about to burst like she did now. Squall stepped back, almost positive that Selphie would blow.

Selphie dropped her arms, and the anger was gone away from her face. She looked down at the floor.

"Sefie, I-"

"Don't call me that, Irvine," Selphie said, a blank expression on her face. "Just...just don't call me that."

Rinoa re-entered the frame of the doorway. She looked at Squall, eyes pleading for him to say something. Selphie looked at Rinoa for a moment. She sighed, knelt down to pick up her nunchakus, and then she left. Irvine cursed and disappeared into Rinoa's dorm. Rinoa walked out and reached for Squall. He took a step back.

"No," he said flatly, "No."

Those two words made Rinoa understand that she would not be forgiven easily. She looked to the ground. Her eyes still transfixed on the tile, Rinoa explained, "Squall...I wish you could understand that it's not...it's not as slutty as it looks. There's more to the story, if you'll only listen-"

"I don't think I need to hear anymore." Squall opened his mouth, but decided against speaking. He waved his hand in dismissal and walked slowly down the hall. He took one look back. Rinoa was standing there, looking whiter than he had ever seen her. She looked to her dorm, and back to him. She walked slowly back into her room, and the door buzzed shut.

== END CHAPTER 1: CAPTURE ==

Oh hey, I think this is going to be a trilogy. I don't want to portray Rinoa or Irvine as bad, because they aren't bad. I meant to have this chapter out with the prologue, but I didn't write it fast enough, and I didn't want to rush it either. I WAS going to elaborate on the suspicions but I decided not to, since the story is supposed to be based on Selphie's bet. PLEASE REVIEW!