Chapter Two
Squall stormed into the cafeteria, his gray eyes blazing with fury. Said eyes fell on the figure he was looking for; he was sitting at a table, laughing loudly with a group of friends. The brunette walked over and stopped in front of Seifer. The table fell silent.
Seifer looked up at Squall innocently. "Hey, Sweetheart, so nice of you to join us. Grab a chair and have a seat."
Squall glared. "Who the fuck do you think you are?" His voice was a low rumble.
Seifer pretended to think for a few moments. "Well, I don't "think," I know I am Seifer Almasy. Why ever do you ask?"
Squall lost whatever patience he had left, and in one split second, he had Seifer up against a nearby wall. Seifer was taller than Squall, but his height didn't matter. He wanted to kick Seifer's ass, and Seifer was not intimidating, not to Squall. "You can't keep doing that to him," he growled, just inches from Seifer's face.
"Doing what to whom?"
He knew damn who Squall was talking about. "Stop with your fucking games, Seifer." He pushed him farther against the wall.
By now, the whole cafeteria's attention was focused on the conflict that was Seifer and Squall. Even a carefree Zell Dincht had stopped dead in his tracks on his way to get a hotdog when he saw the current scene. He opened his mouth and closed it again, not knowing what to say. His blue eyes were wide with shock… And fear. He shook his head, not wanting to believe it was really happening. "No…"
However, Squall could neither hear nor see Zell, and he continued to pin Seifer to the wall.
Seifer, who had seen Zell come into the cafeteria, tore his eyes from Squall, long enough to make eye contact with Zell, and smirk. He gave his attention back to Squall. "Ya know, Squall, you shouldn't be a hero for someone who's told you not to."
Squall narrowed his eyes, trying to figure out what Seifer meant by that. His mind replayed the instant when Seifer had looked over his shoulder, and something clicked. Squall winced and let go of Seifer. He turned around just in time to see Zell run from the cafeteria.
Seifer clicked his tongue and brushed past Squall to sit back down at his table. "Stop trying to save everyone, Squally."
Squall heard, but he was leaving, jogging after Zell.
*
He wasn't in his dorm. He wasn't in Seifer's. He wasn't in the Training Center. He wasn't in the library. He wasn't in the infirmary. Squall mentally checked off all the places he had tried and remembered that there was still the quad. He was there a few moments later, but except for the Garden Festival Committee, the place was deserted. Sighing, Squall turned to leave.
"Squall?" a shaky voice called out.
Squall turned to the sound of the voice. No one was there.
"I'm over here, Squall," an almost amused voice said.
His eyes scanned the area, and they finally landed on a familiar figure, sitting curled up at the base of a tree. It was Zell, and Squall wanted to kick himself for not seeing him before. He had his legs pulled up to his chest, and his arms were wrapped around his legs. Squall went over and sat beside him. "Zell…"
Zell turned and looked at Squall evenly. His eyes were wet; he had been crying. "You weren't supposed to do that."
"I… had to. He can't do that to you, Zell. It's not right."
"I trusted you," Zell went on. He turned away and rested his chin on his knee. "I mean, now it's going to be worse for me. He's going to cut deeper. He's going to fuck harder. He's going to hit more severely." Zell shook his head and closed his eyes. He didn't want to think about all that right now. "Why did you have to get involved?"
Squall didn't know what to say. Honestly, he got involved because he cared. Squall didn't normally care about people, but now… He cared about Zell. Ever since the war with Ultimecia and all that they had been through. He had grown attached to Zell. He wanted to look out for him and make sure he was okay. Zell was his best friend. The things that Seifer was doing to him shouldn't have been happening. Squall cared, and he wanted those things to stop. He had to get involved, because if he didn't, Seifer would probably end up killing Zell. Squall couldn't let that happen. He loved Zell. And it was his job to look out for him. He didn't know why it was his job; he just accepted and went along with it.
"Never mind," Zell said bitterly. "Just forget it. Forget about me, Squall. Stop trying to save me."
Squall had a brief flashback of when he had heard Seifer tell him to stop trying to save everyone. He quickly shook it away. "Zell, I can't do that."
"Things would be a lot better for me if you would just stay out of it." Zell's voice was cold and harsh, and Squall realized that he had never heard Zell sound so pleading.
"You need to get out of that relationship," Squall insisted. "It's not healthy.
"Have you ever thought that I might be happy with Seifer?" Zell snapped suddenly. "Have you ever thought of that? No, you haven't. You make me out to be a damsel in distress, but I'm not. I'm happy where I am. It may not be healthy, but I'm happy. If you really care, you'd let me be happy. So just stay the fuck out of my business."
Squall was speechless. Zell was lying; he was not happy with his current situation. How could anyone be happy living like that? Zell had to be miserable, and Squall knew he was. He couldn't hide that. Squall knew. He could see it in Zell's eyes. He wasn't happy, and if he kept taking shit from Seifer, he'd never be happy. Zell didn't deserve that kind of life. Zell deserved to be happy. He had every right to be happy. But Seifer was keeping him away from that happiness. It was a fact that angered Squall to the point where he would kill Seifer to make Zell happy.
The silence was raking on Zell's nerves. He shifted uneasily. "Squall, thanks for your help, but just forget it, okay?" He stood, wiping his rear. Zell looked down at Squall sadly. "Just forget it. Now, I gotta go face him before he hunts me down." He walked away.
Squall could only stay seated, watching Zell leave. His only regret was that he couldn't do as Zell wished and "just forget it." Squall knew he couldn't do that. The ugly truth was going to haunt him until he did something about it. And he would do anything in his power to stop Seifer.