Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VIII…trust me. I also do not own "Just For". Nickelback does…trust me.

A/N: Words cannot express how sorry I am that I haven't updated in so long. I've been terribly busy between my job and school. But now school is out and I'm ready to deliver you the quality fan fiction you deserve. So here goes nothing.

Here's the song:

I want to take his eyes out

Just for looking at you

Yes I do

And I want to take his hands off

Just for touching you

Yes I do

And I want to rip his heart out

Just for hurting you

And I want to break his mind down

Yes I do, yes I do, yes I do

And I want to make him regret

Life since the day he met you

Yes I do

And I want to make him take back

All that he took from you

Yes I do

And I want to rip his heart out

Just for hurting you

And I want to break his mind down

Yes I do, yes I do, yes I do, yes I do, yes I do

And I want to rip his heart out

Just for hurting you

And I want to break his mind down

Yes I do, yes I don, yes I do, yes I do

- "Just For" by Nickelback

Selphie had officially discovered the greatest feeling in the world. And that feeling was waking up in Zell's arms. She could feel the heat radiating off of him even through her clothing. Even though the previous night had been one of the worst nights of her life, she had had the best sleep in years. She felt so comfortable. Zell's arms were around her waist from behind and his head was buried in the crook of her neck. She could feel his chest rising and falling and she could feel his breathe on her skin. It was enough to make her tingle.

But it was also enough to leave Selphie in a very confused state. What were these new found feelings for Zell? She couldn't jump to conclusions about anything considering the events of the previous night. But then again, hadn't these strange feelings started to stir before she caught Irvine cheating on her?

Selphie was forced out of her thoughts when she felt Zell stir behind her. She turned her head to see a very groggy Zell staring back at her. He smiled at her.

"G'morning," he said in a hoarse voice.

"Good morning," Selphie said, giggling at the sight of Zell's enormous cowlick.

"How are you feeling?" Zell asked seriously.

"I feel surprisingly good," she replied.

"Good," Zell said with a grin. Then he looked down and noticed their spooning position. He turned six shades of red and quickly removed himself from Selphie. She immediately missed his warmth.

"Sorry," he said apologetically, "I guess I must have latched on to you in my sleep."

"It's okay," Selphie replied, looking down shyly as she turned in the bed to face Zell.

"Um…I don't quite know how to say this…but…thank you for being there for me last night," she said timidly.

"You don't need to thank me, Selphie. I would do anything for you, and it is my pleasure to be there to help you in any way possible. I only wish I could make your pain go away," he said sincerely.

"I don't think you're too far off from accomplishing that," Selphie said as tears started to come to her eyes.

"Please don't cry, Sef. I can't bare to see you sad," Zell said.

"I'm not sad, Zell. What you said made me really happy," Selphie said as a tear fell down her cheek.

Zell reached out a shy hand towards her cheek. His hand trembled as it gently touched the side of her face to wipe her tears away. Selphie closed her eyes at his touch. Then she felt something shocking. Zell had stopped using his fingers to clear away her tears. He had replaced them with his lips.

Selphie's eyes flew open at the sensation of Zell's lips on her cheek. She jerked her head back. Both she and Zell had looks of pure fear on their faces.

Selphie searched Zell's eyes. There was so much in those blue, glistening orbs. She was lost in the plethora of emotions that lay there. All coherent thought ceased when Zell slowly began to lean forward. Selphie slowly closed her eyes and shuddered with anticipation of what was to come. She gently parted her lips and they moved closer and closer until…

KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!

The jerked apart and Selphie went flying off the bed and onto the floor. Zell practically leapt to his feet.

"Are you okay!?" he asked Selphie.

"Yeah, I'm fine, but see whose at the door," she replied.

"Who is it?" Zell shouted at the door.

"It's Rinoa," came the muffled reply.

"Be right there," he said.

Zell made his way to the door and opened it just enough to stick his head through.

"What's up?" he asked.

"I was wondering if you'd seen Selphie. I went by her room to see if she wanted to have breakfast with me and she wasn't there," Rinoa said.

"I'm in here!" Selphie shouted from inside the room

Zell opened the door all the way to reveal Selphie standing in the middle of the room. Zell stepped aside to allow Rinoa into the room

"Oh, there you are! I've been looking all over for you. What are you doing in Zell's room this early in the morning?" she asked Selphie.

"Well, uh…I sort of spent the night here," Selphie replied.

"Why?" Rinoa asked stealing an inquisitive glance at Zell.

"Well, last night I caught Irvine in his room kissing another girl, so I came here," she said quietly.

"He was cheating on you!? That low-life bastard!" Rinoa said angrily.

"I was completely shocked. I knew he was flirtatious, but I never thought he'd do this to me," Selphie explained.

"Yeah, I didn't think he'd do something like this either," Rinoa said more calmly. "Well, would you like to come have some breakfast with me anyway? Maybe it'll cheer you up."

"Sure," Selphie replied, "That sounds good. Do you wanna come, Zell?"

"Yeah, I'm starving," Zell said, smiling at Selphie.

They left the room and started off for the cafeteria. Selphie filled Zell's thoughts. Did he really almost kiss her? It all seemed like a blur. He wanted to kiss her so much. His heart had been racing anticipating the feeling of her lips on his. He couldn't believe he was thinking this. Selphie was supposed to be his best friend. He was not supposed to have romantic feelings for her. But the more Zell thought about it, the less he could fight it. She was just so perfect. And she had just proved how strong she was. Zell admired her more than anyone. But he still didn't know what to do next. To put it simply, he was confused.

They walked into the cafeteria when Selphie stopped suddenly. Zell looked over to see a look of pure pain cross her beautiful face. He followed Selphie's gaze to see Irvine laughing with some girl. He assumed it was the girl Irvine had been caught kissing the previous night. He couldn't believe the nerve of Irvine. Pure rage filled his heart and before he could even formulate a thought, he was running.

Zell ran as fast as he could. He dropped his right shoulder and threw it into Irvine's chest, knocking the breath out of the cowboy and throwing him against the wall.

"What's your deal, man!?" Irvine said, giving Zell a shove.

"You stupid son of a bitch!" Zell screamed as he launched his right fist into the side of Irvine's face.

Zell grabbed Irvine's collar and slammed his back against the wall repeatedly.

"How could you hurt her!? She loved you and you took it for granted you stupid asshole!" Zell screamed as he continued to throw Irvine hard against the wall. A thin stream of blood trickled down the side of Irvine's face.

Before Zell could continue his beating, someone grabbed his shirt from behind and yanked him off of Irvine. It was Squall who held Zell away from Irvine. Irvine reached a hand to the spot of blood on his face.

"What is wrong with you, Zell!?" Squall demanded, not knowing why Zell would have such an outburst.

"That bastard hurt my Selphie!" Zell replied, not calming down one bit and struggling to release himself from Squall's grasp.

Selphie couldn't believe what she was seeing. One minute she was feeling crushed at the sight of Irvine with the girl from the night before, the next she was seeing Zell beat the life out of Irvine. She was shocked, but on some level she was touched that he cared about her so much. Finally she saw Squall pull Zell off of Irvine and she chose this moment to pull out of her trance and run up to the scene.

"That bastard hurt my Selphie!" she heard Zell scream.

She leapt in front of Zell. She was a little afraid because she had never seen Zell this angry before. She swallowed her fear and reached a hand up to the side of Zell's face, giving him a soothing touch.

"It's okay, Zell. Calm down," she said in a caring voice.

Zell immediately came out of his berserk state at the feel of Selphie's touch and the sound of her voice. Seeing that he was calmer, Squall slowly released his hold on Zell.

"What the hell is your deal!?" Irvine asked in an angry voice.

"Selphie told me what you did!" Zell said, the anger returning to him. Selphie noticed this and reached out to take Zell's hand in hers. She gave it a gentle squeeze. Zell calmed down again.

"That's between me and Selphie," Irvine said, turning his gaze to Selphie. "Selphie, please talk to me. Let me explain myself. I love you."

"Somehow I find that very hard to believe," Selphie said, tears beginning to come to her eyes. It was Zell's turn to give Selphie's hand a comforting squeeze.

"Please, just come somewhere with me so we can talk," Irvine pleaded.

"Maybe, but you'll have to give me some time," she replied.

Irvine gave a defeated nod and walked off. Selphie breathed a sigh of relief. She was proud of herself for standing her ground.

Squall turned angrily to Zell.

"Zell, I don't give a damn about your personal issues! Assaulting another SeeD is unacceptable!" Squall shouted.

"I understand. I apologize," Zell said quietly.

"I don't want to punish you, but I can't have the junior cadets thinking this kind of behavior is tolerated. You'll spend the rest of the day on cleaning duty," Squall said in his best authoritative voice.

"Very well," Zell agreed.

Zell looked at Selphie and smiled.

"I'll talk to you later," he said to her.

"Okay," Selphie said, smiling back.

Zell walked out of the cafeteria and headed for the garage to wash all the Garden cars. In a way, getting stuck with cleaning duty wouldn't be so bad. He had a lot to think about, and Selphie would just be a major distraction.

A/N: Well, there's that chapter. I hope to have another one up very soon. Thanks for sticking with me!