chapter 2

Zell muttered something under his breath, sitting on the beach. Selphie and Irvine were playing, splashing around with water. He sighed and looked at Squall who was sitting a few feet away from them. He was writing something in the sand, not looking up when Selphie splashed him with water.

"Zell, come play!" Selphie beamed, running towards Zell.

The blonde boy pouted and shook his head. "I don't wanna..." He told her and looked back at the house, he wanted to see Seifer and make sure he was all right. Seifer hadn't talked to them for two days and he was getting really worried.

Selphie grabbed a handfull of sand and threw it against Zell. "No fun!"

Zell's eyes started to water and he got up quickly, running away. "Stupid Selphie!" He yelled, hoping she would hear him and feel bad for what she had done. It wasn't nice to throw sand, Matron had told them. He stopped when he saw Seifer walking towards the large flower field. The blonde ran after him, wondering what Seifer was doing.

Seifer kicked at some flowers, cursing them. He hated Matron right now, she had wanted him to go outside and play. He didn't want to play, was she to stupid to understand that! When he heard Zell's voice he groaned and acted like he hadn't heard the smaller blonde and kept walking.

"You aren't suppose to come here, Matron will be mad!" Zell tried, looking at Seifer. He did a step forwards, feeling the large flowers brush against his legs, making him giggle because they tickled slightly.

Seifer turned his head, looking at Zell. "Go away Zell, don't bother me..."

"But Matron-"

Seifer turned around, glaring at the boy. "Matron this, Matron that...I don't care what Matron tells you." He yelled. "Don't you get it little pest, I just wanne be alone!" He continued, drawing out the last word hoping Zell would understand. He turned around and started walking again. He stopped when he felt small arms wrap around his waist, pulling him agaist a small body.

Zell leaned his head against Seifer's back, trying to keep the other boy from walking away again. "But Seifer, I want to be your friend."

Seifer blinked a couple of times, he placed his own hands over Zell's covering them completly. He smiled for a second, wondering why Zell was going through to much trouble just for him.

"We all want to be your friends..." Zell whispered against Seifer's back.

The taller blonde started laughing before tightening his grip on Zell's hands.

"Ah, Seifer, you are hurting me." Zell said, trying to pull his hands back from the grip, tears spilling from his eyes.

Seifer shook his head and pushed Zell on the ground. He turned around and faced Zell, kneeling in front of the smaller boy. "Cry baby." The blonde muttered and punched Zell in the face, leaving the smaller boy with a bleeding lower lip. The blood trickled down his shivering lip and chin. "See what happens when you annoy me."

Zell's small pink tongue darted over his lip, tasting the copper blood. He pushed himself up, sniffling. Zell reached out to Seifer but his hand was pushed away. "Seifer..." Zell whispered softly before turning around and running away quickly.

Seifer watched the boy leave and crossed his arms. "Stupid child..." He muttered, letting himself fall to the ground. The blonde lay down, looking up at the clear sky and let out a sigh. "Why do you even try, it's not worth the trouble..."

Quistis looked up from her drawing and smiled when she saw Selphie walking towards her slowly. Selphie sat down across from her, looking around. "Yes Selphie?"

Selphie looked at her and raised a brow. "Huh?"

"I know you want something." Quistis said, placing her pencil on the table. "You usually act innocent when you did something wrong."

The brunette pouted and tipped her head to the side, looking at Quistis. "I did nothing wrong." She defended herself, and for once she was being honest. "I just want to help Zell." She told Quistis, looking away. "I like him and I want him to be happy."

Quistis giggled when she saw Selphie's cheeks turn red. "Selphie is in love! Selphie is in love!" She said in a giggling voice, trying to hide her smile behind her pale hands.

Selphie jumped up and shook her head. "No! I don't love Zell!"

Quistis grinned. "Oh yes you do!"

"Don't act so child-like!" Selphie grumbled, placing her hands on her hips.

Quistis raised a brow, picking up her pencil again. "I am a child." She told Selphie and continued drawing.

"Nu-uh," Selphie beamed. "You are a young grown-up." She said before running from Quistis.

The blonde glared at Selphie's back. "I am not a grown-up!" The older girl screamed and quickly ran after Selphie, the chair falling. She ran past Matron who quickly stepped back.

Matron looked around the kitchen and shook her head. "Kids." She mused, walking over to the chair she reached for it but stopped when she noticed crying coming from the bedroom. She opened the door to the shared bedroom of the children and frowned when she saw Zell lying on his bed, crying. "Zell what's wrong?"

Zell turned to look at her.

"What happened?" Matron asked, walking over to him and looking at his lip. It was covered in dried blood. She opened his mouth and saw that his whole mouth was covered in blood.

"Seifer punched me." Zell said, closing his mouth. "And then it was bleeding."

Matron looked at the small puddle of blood that covered Zell's bed. "Your teeth went through your lip." She told him and helped him up from the bed. "Let's wash your mouth, all right?"

Zell nodded, holding Matron's hand tightly.

Selphie ran across the beach, jumping over Squall's castle that the boy was making. Quistis just ran over it, making Squall glare at her. "I am not a grown-up!" Quistis yelled again.

The brunette looked over her shoulder, tripping over her own feet. Selphie pushed herself up, coughing. She made a face, feeling the sand in her mouth, then she felt Quistis' hand push her down again.

"I'm not a grown-up." Quistis said and let her go.

Selphie turned around and looked up at Quistis. "And I'm not in love with Zell." She told her.

Quistis smiled and helped her up. "Ok..." She gave Selphie a sideways glance. "Then you love Seifer!" She said before running off.

The brunette's mouth hung open, sand falling out of her hair. "I am not in love with Seifer!" She yelled and started to run after Quistis again. "Take it back!"

Squall glared at the two, covering his remainings of his castle.

Author's note: Please review !!
Midgetgem: Sorry, I only do yaoi
Unknown reviewer: ...sigh
Unity-song:Thank you
Tynne: Thanks !!!
Discl.: Final Fantasy VIII doesn't belong to me
Warnings: Yaoi
Pairings: Seifer/Zell