Disclaimer: I do not own FF8. It is the property of SQUARESOFT.
Chapter 12: I'd Do Anything
"Squall, just stay on your freaking side." Rinoa shifted slightly to the edge of the bed.
Squall squirmed, "You didn't seem to mind me so close last night!"
"I was sleeping!" She hissed back, "Now I'm awake and it's pissing me off."
"Yeah, well I was asleep too. I woke up and you were the one practically on top of me." He countered.
"I didn't do it purposely… You were the one who linked your arms around me."
"And that didn't seem to bother you too much either."
"Because I didn't notice." Rinoa replied, her jaw clenching in aggravation.
Squall stayed silent for a moment and shifted nearer to Rinoa. This causing her to shove him to his side and smash his head in his pillow, temporarily suffocating him.
"Stay there!!" She ordered while drowning him in the soft cushion.
When his face surfaced he grabbed her wrists playfully and whispered in her ear, "Don't you dare mess with the best!"
***
Seifer lay on his back on the top bunk. He listened carefully for any sounds that may interrupt the peacefulness of the chalet. He could only hear the quiet breathing of his roommates and the snoring coming from the living room. Then suddenly, from the room right next to his, a loud thumping noise was heard, followed by a very loud, "That hurt, you asshole!"
Shifting his right eyebrow higher than the left, he jumped off the bunk bed and decided to investigate. His companions had obviously heard the same thing that he had for they were all awake and out of the covers a few seconds later.
Zell's snoring had stopped and he was now sitting on the couch, ears alert.
Seifer simply walked by him, into Squall and Rinoa's room and flicked on the lights. Squall was looming over the edge of the bed triumphantly.
"Ohh yeah! Guess who's sleeping on the floor tonight?" And with that he chucked down a pillow at Rinoa.
"I'm going to kill you!" She screamed back at him, leaped on the bed and wrestled him, face first, back into his own pillow.
"Woohoo!" Selphie yelped and went back into her room to grab all the pillows she could find.
"Pillow fight!" Quistis declared as Selphie came back with the pillows and handed one to Quistis.
"Oh good god, no!" Rinoa had the time to say just before a pillow was flung at her face.
Seifer grinned sardonically and picked up his own pillow, joining in as well. He swung at Quistis and hit her right in the head.
Squall, who had recovered from his first attacker, had equipped himself with a deadly… erm… Harmless pillow. Irvine, who's pillow was under Selphie's control (She had chosen to have double the attack power), grabbed Zell's pillow and yelled out like a 'warrior' rushing onto the battle field.
"Dude, my pillow!" Zell yelled out in vain.
For fifteen minutes straight, all Zell could hear was muffled shouts, smacking pillow noises as they hit the innocent victims' head and lots of feet stamping on the floor. Finally, the doorbell rang and he went to answer it.
"Is everything okay in there?" The concerned neighboring vacationer asked.
With pillow feathers fluttering out of the room in the background, Zell simply replied, "Oh yeah… I'm actually a scientist. Right now I'm testing the effects of the drug 'Speed' on rabid monkeys."
***
"Oh, how about this one!" Quistis grinned, "There was this one urban legend that talks about a girl who came back from a long night of partying and deciding that her roommate was asleep, she didn't turn on the lights.
"And in the morning she woke up, her roommate was dead and there was blood on the mirror saying 'Good thing you didn't turn on the lights.'"
Squall finished dully, "Everyone's heard that one."
Quistis simply stuck his tongue out at him, "You ruined it!"
"Quistis, that isn't true." Zell stated.
She grimaced, "Of course it is!"
"Well I have one!" Selphie piped up.
The group was sitting on Rinoa and Squall's bed, exchanging 'scary' stories. Quistis and Selphie were the ones doing the exchange for Rinoa was slightly wavering back and forth between the awake and sleeping world. Squall was leaning against the headboard, partially listening. Seifer and Irvine had fallen asleep and Zell was taking all this in, trying to prove them wrong (Not admitting that they were scaring the crap out of him).
"There was this couple who were having car problems!" She began, "So the boyfriend went out to get help and the girl stayed in the car. After a few minutes she heard scraping noises and then a little later on a police officer escorted out of the car and told her not to look back."
"But she did and saw her boyfriend's corpse hanging from a tree branch, scraping the roof of the car."
Rinoa mumbled audibly, "These aren't scary."
"You two are ruining them!" Selphie and Quistis shrieked, waking up Seifer and Irvine with a start.
Rinoa looked at them irritatingly, "When I want your stupid stories, I'll slap you in the back of the head and wake up the peg-legged hamster that runs your wheel of thought!"
Quistis gaped, "That is so mean! My operating hamster is not peg-legged!"
"Yeah, Rinoa. That was mean. Quistis' brain-operating hamster is not peg-legged."
Squall agreed, "It's no-legged."
Seifer, Irvine, Selphie and Rinoa all erupted into fits of laughter as Quistis fumed at the ears. Zell looked confusedly about the room, "I don't get it… What's so funny?"
***
"Selphie, your cooking sucks!" Zell complained, "I asked for a hotdog… Not eggs. Hot… Dog…" He articulated his last few words.
Seifer spat out his bacon, "This food isn't worth the scrapings off a pig's ass!"
"That's where it came from, Seifer. From your ancestor's ass!" Quistis fumed, "Men are such fuckers!"
"You say one lousy thing about the food and I'll slit your throat!" Rinoa warned, holding a butter knife to Squall's throat before he could open his mouth.
Squall gasped, "The cook is an assassin!" Feeling no uneasiness at the butter knife against his Adam's apple.
"Zell, you don't eat hotdogs for breakfast!" Selphie screeched.
"Sure you do…" Irvine protested, "You drink beer for breakfast too… What the fuck do you call this?" He sniffed the glass disdainfully, "Milk?"
"Rinoa, your food is fine." Squall said, trying to ease away the knife, "I love your food. I'd eat it everyday! Mmm …" He chewed exaggeratedly, "Good!"
Rinoa's smacked her forehead in annoyance, "If brains were electricity, you wouldn't have enough power to run the dynamo in a fire-fly's ass!"
***
"A karaoke bar? No thanks. Let's go back to the chalet."
"Stop being boring! It'll be fun!" Quistis grinned, "I never said you had to sing."
"But you hear crappy people crappily singing along to crappy songs and that sounds crappy enough to me!" Rinoa protested.
"Well, you can always go up to the microphone if you want!" Selphie grinned as well.
Rinoa chuckled silently, "I don't think so."
"You girls are so slow! Come on, we're going inside!" Irvine called from up ahead and entered the edifice labeled with a red neon sign 'Karaoke Bar'.
***
She watched intently as the performer on stage actually played a guitar with a fair amount of know-how. She didn't know people could actually be talented in these dingy bars. Well… You learn something new everyday.
"Beer…?" Squall offered.
She shook her head and waved away the bottle, "I don't drink."
"Ok." He nodded his understanding, "Say, what's so amazing about that guy anyways?"
"What guy?" She arched an eyebrow at him.
He pouted in a child-like way, "The guy you've been staring at… On stage."
"Nothing's amazing about him except the fact that he can actually play guitar." She explained, rolling her eyes at his jealousy.
He snorted, "I can play guitar too, you know?"
"Sure you can." She smiled wryly.
"I can. I'll prove it to you." He went and smacked Seifer's shoulder and whispered something into his ear.
In turn, Seifer patted Irvine on the back and Irvine got the attention of Zell. Finally the conference of the four guys ended and they returned to the ladies.
"How much you guys wanna bet we're gunna blow the roof off of this place?" Seifer grinned.
"With your musical talent? Ha." Quistis mocked.
Selphie bounced, "Irvine, hunny, you can't sing…not even if your life depended on it."
"Come on, girls! If you think we have no musical talent then why don't you bet?" Zell confronted.
"Fine." Quistis agreed, "I will pay the drinks for all of you if you don't make fools out of yourselves on stage."
"And I'll treat you guys at the all-you-can-eat rotisserie!" Selphie offered.
"Rinoa?" Seifer asked.
"Wait, she won't bet money." Squall said and looked at Rinoa, "If I rock at what I do… You kiss me."
Quistis and Selphie made a loud 'Oooh'ing noise. "Why does he have to embarrass me like this?" Rinoa thought, "No way. What do I get if I win?"
"I'll give you your initial bed back." Selphie offered.
"There you go." Squall grinned his thanks to Selphie.
"Fine… It's on." Rinoa prayed to the gods that this wasn't so risky after all.
***
Zell banged the drums; Irvine played the keyboard; Seifer did his thing on the bass and Squall on the electric guitar. They did look a little odd and professional for this sort of bar but who isn't a little cracked up north?
They all started playing (surprisingly good) like a normal band would. First thing that shocked the girls was that they were actually playing well. No out of beat, no screeching of the guitars, no wronged keys. The next thing that shocked them all was when Squall opened his mouth.
He could sing… On tune… And well.
"Another
day is going by
I'm thinking about you all the time
But you're out there
And I'm here waiting
And I wrote this letter in my head
'Cuz so many thing were left unsaid
But now you're gone
And I can't think straight
This could be the one last chance
To make you understand
I'd do anything
Just to hold you in my arms
To try to make you laugh
Somehow I can't put you in the past
I'd do anything
Just to fall asleep with you
Will you remember me?
'Cuz I know
I won't forget you
Together
we broke all the rules
Dreaming of dropping out of school
And leave this place
To never come back
So now maybe after all these years
If you miss me have no fear
I'll be here
I'll be waiting
This could be the one last chance to make you understand
And I just can't let you leave me once again
I close my eyes
And all I see is you
I close my eyes
I try to sleep
I can't forget you
Nanana Nanana
And I'd do anything for you
I'd do anything
To fall asleep with you
I'd do anything
There's nothing I won't do
I'd do anything
To fall asleep with you
I'd do anything
'Cuz I know
I won't forget you."
His eyes were on Rinoa… And only Rinoa. Besides the fact that Seifer had joined in on the chorus he was mostly singing on his own… And he had proved his point.
The three girls only gaped at the astonishing performance of the four young gentlemen that they thought they had known.
"Are you kidding? With me paying the drinks they'll die of intoxication!" Quistis slapped her forehead.
Selphie was teary eyed, "How am I suppose to afford their meals at an all-you-can-eat?"
Rinoa preferred not putting in her input.
***
"So?" Seifer wheezed, "Did we rule or what?"
"There's got to be a catch! There is no way you actually sung that!" Quistis protested.
"I can't afford that many t-bones!" Selphie yelped.
"Oh just pay up front!" The four guys grinned and awaited their almighty rewards.
"First… Rinoa!" Quistis said.
"What?" She shrieked, "No… Not here."
"Where else, sweetie?" Quistis asked, trying to retain the amusement in her voice. "Besides, I wanna see this."
Rinoa shifted the weight on her right foot to her left nervously. Then quickly she went up to Squall and kissed him quickly on the lips. "There."
"Are you kidding me? That sucked!" Selphie complained.
"That was really cheap!" Quistis grumbled.
"I demand a full-fledge kiss." Squall protested.
"And I'm going outside." Rinoa hissed.
"I'm going with you!" Squall followed her. "To claim my rightful prize!"
"Ok… This really sucks. We got to see zilch!" Selphie crossed her arms in disappointment, watching the couple go.
Irvine grabbed Selphie by the waist, "Aw, leave 'em be. Besides… I want to take a certain pretty lady dancing." She giggled as he led her onto the dance floor.
"Wow… Ok…" Seifer concluded, "That was weird."
"I'm going to get a beer." Zell stated and moved away from Seifer and Quistis, completely forgetting that Quistis was supposed to pay for the drinks.
"Well… I think that we have semi-accomplished our mission." Quistis stated proudly.
"I think so too." Seifer grinned and then, as if a magnetized force was between them, he leaned in and kissed her.
***
"What's your problem? We had a deal, didn't we? Oh you're so cheap!" He struggled to keep up with her.
"Dammit, you are so stupid, Squall!" She finally stopped some meters away from the bar.
"How am I stupid?" He scowled, "I'm saying you're cheap…"
"I'm not cheap! I gave you what you wanted."
"Right… You did." He agreed, "And I must say that was the most pathetic version of what I wanted."
Rinoa gaped, "Fuck you."
"Give me a break. My mom used to kiss me like that after she tucked me in at night… When I was eight!"
"Well, what can I tell you?" Rinoa hissed back.
"I wanted something more along the lines of this." He pulled her to him by her waist, bent down and kissed her exactly the way he had wanted to be kissed.
Extra Disclaimer: I do not own the band Simple Plan, neither do I own the song 'I'd Do Anything'. Long live the musical world of which I fish out my inspirations.
Sammy-Chan: Wooo, chapter 12. I am so proud! I decided to answer my fellow reviews this time!
Rinoica: Thanks for your support! I really hope you'll continue to like my fics because you're a nice reviewer! ^.^
fadfdf: Thanks for the reviews Love y'all!
tinu-viel: I hope you'll continue to love it! ^.^
townberry: You like? Cool! I'm glad you're saying I'm improving! ^.^
Angelprinczess29: A drug? Uh-oh … ha ha … jokes, I'm glad you like it!
Mary: Tee hee … I did give you more 'bedroom action'. *Cough*Pillow fight*Cough* Sorry … but I'll never go THAT far.
The Angel of the Lion: YEAH! Frankly, I wouldn't do that to guys either but boy would I love to try. We think alike, ha ha ha!
Lunar-girl: Thank you very much for all your support!
Mariko: I like that you like my writing ^.^
Ink: Glad you like it!
So yeah, read and review everybody! Love you all!!