By myself but not Alone
I'm on the outside.
Disclaimer: I don't own final fantasy 8, and that goes for my last chapter too. (I forgot…)
Cheers to the people who reviewed my story.
Squall's eyes shot open and he sat up with a scream at the back of his throat. Sweat poured down his skin and he was panting like crazy.
He shook his head and started rubbing his left eye. Squall let his hand drop down beside him and he glanced idly over at his clock.
His eyes opened wide and he jumped out of bed, carrying half his blankets with him. He ran towards his bathroom, picking up random pieces of his SeeD uniform off the floor as he went.
Minutes later he emerged from the bathroom with his SeeD uniform faultless while running a wet hand through his shaggy hair. He took a quick look at himself in the mirror, silently cursing himself for being so vain. He couldn't help it, he just felt like looking presentably tonight. It was a strange concept for him for usually his main thoughts were on matters more important than how he looked.
He rubbed one last piece of sleep out of his eyes and made his way towards the door. Playing with the cuffs of his sleeve.
'Oh fuck!' he thought before he opened his door, 'I've gotta make a speech!'
Rinoa looked at herself in the mirror, examining every part of her. She sucked in her stomach a bit and bit her bottom lip. Then her eyes moved south and her mouth opened wide at what she saw.
'My ass looks hell fat in this…'
She wore an ivory white halter neck type dress with a lace overskirt. It went down to about her mid thigh and although she thought it might be a bit risky she wasn't going to let there 'dress code' stop her from wearing what she wanting. Not that she thought this would seem radical, from today she'd seen people wearing much less.
She slipped her feet in a pair of strappy heels and sighed. Realizing that no matter how much she bitched about it, her ass wasn't going to get any smaller.
She twisted the door knob and found a very anxious looking SeeD standing outside her door.
"Your Rinoa…" he said as he glanced down at the name written down on his hand, "right?"
"Yeah." Rinoa replied.
"I was told that I had to accompany you to tonight's concert just incase you got lost." The boy stated.
Rinoa smiled at him, he was the guy from the elevator, the one with the tattoo. He was wearing the gold trimmed SeeD uniform like many of the people there were probably wearing.
"I thought this was a concert?" Rinoa asked as she started walking down the hallway.
"It is." The boy replied.
"Well why are you wearing your uniform?" Rinoa enquired.
He shrugged his shoulders; he scuffed his feet for a bit. Momentarily thinking about how uncomfortable the boots he wore were.
"We wear them for the first half of the night. Something about formalities at the start, then if we choose we can go to our dorms and change. Most of the time everyone just stays in their uniform though." He explained.
"Why don't you guys get changed?" Rinoa asked.
"Most of the time everyone's having a good time and doesn't bother." He concluded.
"By the way, whats your name?" Rinoa enquired, forgetting to ask before.
"Zell Dincht." He said it like the name should ring a bell, and it did for a couple of seconds.
It sounded so familiar but she couldn't place where she'd heard it. She thought hard about it but nowhere in her mind could she uncover where she knew this boy from.
"How do I know you?" Rinoa asked, finally giving up on remembering.
"Just a very public mission… but I suspected you would've heard about us… I mean me… cause your mum had stuff to do with that Galbadia guy." Zell stuttered out.
Soon they found themselves outside the Quad. Rinoa could already hear the music coming from inside and there was quite a lot of noise echoing through the deserted corridors of Garden.
Rinoa looked at Zell for a second and he smiled back reassuringly, feeling her discomfort.
They made there way inside and Rinoa was soon in awe of what Selphie had created.
The lights flashed in the darkness against the dancers in the middle, it was nothing like she'd expected. It was even more of a shock after Zell's talk about formalities and whatnot.
"Whoa!" Rinoa exclaimed.
Zell lightly grabbed her elbow and led her towards a group of people standing beside a wall. Rinoa immediately recognized Selphie and Irvine. Selphie stood in her SeeD uniform, as did most of the other people there, Irvine didn't wear one though.
She had her back to Irvine while he rested his head on her shoulder, encircling her in his long arms.
"Rinny, whadda ya think?" Selphie enquired holding up her glass to emphasize the fact that she was talking about the Quad.
"Its amazing Selphie!" Rinoa gasped.
"I see you two already know each other." Zell said as he gave Irvine a nod.
Rinoa spotted the nod and thought about it for awhile. It wasn't exactly the most interesting thing to think about but it kept her mind off the turmoil her life was in the moment.
'Why cant guys just say hi like normal people?'
"Well Rinoa, this is Quistis..." Zell stated pointing at one of the more stunning women Rinoa had seen in her short existence.
"Hi." Rinoa waved.
The girl smiled back and went back to her conversation with some dark haired girl.
"The girl she's talking to is Xu…"
Rinoa was met with the same response as Quistis had given her.
"This is Squall, but I think you two are already acquainted."
Rinoa received a lingering glance from Squall, she smiled at him and he turned away.
She felt an arm wrap around her shoulder and turned to see her muse staring down at her. she couldn't help but go all dopey eyed.
"And my name is Seifer."
"I do believe we've met." Rinoa breathed.
"Care to dance?" Seifer enquired, not taking his eyes away from Rinoa for a second.
"I'd love to…"
"Oh my god, this isn't happening!" Quistis exclaimed.
Quistis stood from her previously sitting position and stared at the leaving couple.
"Squall, do something!" Quistis yelled.
"What the hell do you want me to do about it?" Squall replied.
"The general's daughter is dancing with SEIFER ALMASY! It's your duty as commander to do something." Quistis retorted.
"Fine, fine, fine." Squall sighed.
"That's the spirit Squally! Go get 'em" Selphie called after him.
Squall made his way towards the stage, taking short looks at Rinoa and Seifer as he did so. Making sure all hands were in the right places and whatnot. Not that he'd know, its not like he danced or anything but he knew what was proper conduct and what wasn't.
His stares became more and more persistent as he got closer to the stage, at one point he nearly bumped into a couple dancing. He couldn't help it; he just felt an urge to stare at them… at her.
He felt as though he'd seen her somewhere before, that somehow in his past he knew her. He couldn't deny that she was beautiful and felt that anyone like her would probably leave a lasting impression. Not feeling like dwelling on these thoughts any longer he made his way up the stairs that led to the stage.
The music died down and he stood, quite nervously, in front of nearly every familiar face he knew, and quite a few faces he didn't know.
"Shhhh! It's Squall!" he heard someone yell out above the noise.
He tapped the microphone and in true Squall luck it let out an ear piercing sound that sounding like someone was driving nails through your ear drums.
"Heh, now that I've got your attention." Squall said uncomfortably. "I'd like to thank you all for showing up tonight. Uhhh… ummm… and a special thanks to Selphie Tilmitt and her team for making tonight possibly. I don't think that I should have to remind you about…" 'God damn whats the word!' "Proper conduct. You represent the Garden so don't let outsiders get a misrepresentation of what this place is like. And have an enjoyable night." With that Squall left the stage quickly.
He'd stared at the back wall the entire time, knowing that this speech wasn't as awe-inspiring as his usual speeches. What more do they expect though. He heard applause start to rumble the Quad and sighed in relief, it can't have sounded as bad to them as it did in his head.
"Good one Squall." Irvine chuckled.
"Shut up Irvine!" Squall snapped as he down his glass of wine.
He screwed up his face at the foul tasting mixture; he'd always been more of a bourbon fan.
"Where's all the alcohol Selphie." Squall growled, finally having enough of the alcohol that Garden had supplied.
"Alcohol… I don't know what you're talking about Squall." Selphie replied innocently.
"Cut the crap Selphie. That cadet over there is holding a beer can; I don't believe that Garden supplied beer." Squall retorted.
Selphie rolled her eyes and lifted up the white cloth that was cloaked over the table, revealing an assortment of alcohols, something for everyone.
Squall had no doubt in his mind that Selphie wasn't the only one who was supplying tonight. It was well known that every second table usually had something under it.
Squall grabbed a bottle of Jim Beam and raised it to Selphie. Finally taking his leave of the group he took his bottle and went out to the balcony. Deciding that drinking alone tonight would be more fun than staying in there.
He didn't really want to get drunk, not since last time. Alcohol brought out a different person in Squall, not the usual detached Squall that everyone was used to. Which is why people tried to make him drink as often as possible.
It seemed as though drinking was something that he was doing more and more nowadays. It could've been because most of his… associates had turned into quite the alcoholics. It could've been because of his stressful job. But Squall had his own theory on it. It was because if he was drunk he didn't have to remember. He didn't have to think about all he'd done with his life, he didn't have to worry about the state of the world; he didn't even care about the state of himself if he'd been drinking.
'Bottoms up…'
Two hours and fifty six minutes later…
Rinoa didn't realize that tonight was going to be so much fun. She now understood what Zell had meant when he had told her that everyone was usually having too much fun to get change. More like everyone was too drunk to bother getting changed. One thing about these mercenaries… they can really drink.
"C'mon pretty lady, have a seat." Irvine said to Selphie before nearly falling off his own.
Selphie took the hat off Irvine's head and placed it on her own. She made her fingers to replica a gun and pointed them at Irvine.
"Them's dancing words!" Selphie said as she grabbed Irvine by the hand and led him towards the dance floor.
Rinoa laughed at them on the dance floor, it appeared that Irvine was more of a dirty dancer. And Selphie was more of a hop around and mosh with other dancers.
"Aren't they just the cutest couple… I want them to be so happy." Quistis slurred.
She was leaned up against Zell who was playing with her long blonde hair.
"Yeah," a voice said from behind them.
They all turned to see a wide eyed Squall behind them. Holding up his empty bottle of Jim Beam with a triumphant look on his face. He looked as though he'd concurred the world.
"Squall!" Zell cheered.
Quistis clapped her hands while Rinoa just went back to staring at Selphie and Irvine. Not realizing what a momentous occasion this was.
"No one came out to drink with me! So I drank by myself, then some chick came out and she was all like 'Yo there, do you wanna go to the secret area?' and I was like 'what the fuck!'" Squall rambled.
Rinoa was shocked at the interested looks on Zell and Quistis's faces. Like whatever this guy had to say was the most important thing in the world.
"So I thought 'HEY!' I'll go drink with my buddies!"
"You sound a bit pissed, bro." Zell stated.
"A bit? A BIT! I'm fucked Zell." Squall said as he sat down on the seat, smacking the table with his hand to emphasize his point.
"Maybe you should slow down a bit Squall." Quistis suggested, her big sister habits coming into play.
RINOA'S POV
Oh my god, this guy is a bit fucked. He seems like a completely different person, I might have to ask Selphie about it in the morning… mid afternoon maybe.
I don't know, how do SeeD's handle hangovers? Do SeeD's get hangovers?
Selphie's coming over; I know this not because I'm psychic but because I can hear her voice echoing over the Quad.
"Squall, y'know I never did congratulate you on your speech. It was deliciouso!" Selphie chirped as she sat down on one of the remaining seats.
I notice that Squall merely nodded, he's not quite as exuberant as he was before. I soon realize why.
Normal POV
Rinoa felt gloved hands on her shoulders; she twisted her head and looked up to see Seifer. Choosing to act as cool as she could she just smiled and went back to talking to whoever she'd been talking to previously. But all conversation that may have been before had stopped.
"What do you want?" Selphie enquired, stretching out the 'you' melodramatically.
Seifer tsked at her, like her comment meant nothing and stared at Squall for a couple of seconds.
Squall stared back, obviously not going to back down to this stare-athon.
"Evening Squall." Seifer said calmly.
Squall nodded and his eyes lingered down to where Seifer's hands were. Rinoa thought she understood what Seifer's gesture meant; he was marking his territory in some sort of way.
Rinoa was shocked at how quickly the teenagers could turn serious. It was like no matter what state they were in they were always on edge.
'The life of a SeeD…' Rinoa thought, suddenly feeling very fortunate to just be a civilian.
Rinoa suddenly felt really out of place, Selphie was staring at her with her mouth slightly open, her eyes trying to tell Rinoa something that Rinoa just couldn't pick up.
Quistis had her eyes narrowed at Seifer, glaring at him with one of the more bone shattering glares Rinoa had seen in her existence.
Zell shared the same glare at Quistis, but his seemed to be rooted down deeper. Like he was suppressing something.
Irvine wasn't staring at anyone; he just gazed uncomfortably at the ground.
What got Rinoa was the calm look on Squall's face, he had this whole 'I don't care that you're here even though everyone else does' and Rinoa could tell that this annoyed Seifer to know end.
'I guess Squall gets some sort of sick satisfaction from pissing everyone off.' Rinoa thought as she gawked at Squall.
Finally feeling as though her presence was no longer wanted, for about the fifth time today, Rinoa stood.
"Well, I better go." Rinoa said politely.
"I'll walk you." Seifer suggested.
"No, I'll be fine." Rinoa replied quickly, not wanting to upset the few people that she'd actually met.
"Well I better go as well." Quistis said as she looked down at the watch on her wrist that wasn't there.
"Uhhh… yeah me to cause ummm… nah fuck it, I'm off." Selphie laughed.
She bent down and gave Irvine a sloppy kiss that made nearly everyone cringe, and then linked arms with both Quistis and Rinoa. They then made there way out of the Quad.
Seifer watched them go before turning back to the group of boys with a smirk on his face.
"I see you boys wasted no time in getting in the good books of Rinoa." Seifer said nonchalantly.
"What about you, Mr Touchy-Feely!" Zell exclaimed.
Seifer smirked and made a clicking sound with his mouth. He picked a bit of dirt out from underneath his nails and turned back to the men with a smile on his face this time.
"Don't worry ladies; I have no plans of getting into Miss Heartilly's panties."
And with that he turned and left, joining his "posse" once again.
"I'm warning you now Rinoa, I wouldn't advise getting involved with Seifer." Quistis said as they made there way towards the dormitories.
Rinoa started to turn a different way, her room being on the 2nd floor.
"Where are you going?" Selphie asked, surprise written over her face.
"My rooms this way." Rinoa replied.
"Well I guess I better make this short then. Seifer's gotten into a bit of trouble over the years, his latest exploits being by far the worst." Quistis said, but she was cut in by Selphie.
"Like, really bad."
"Thank you Selphie." Quistis snapped, "I-"
"Listen, I know you guys think that you're protecting me, and I have no doubt in my mind that if I was just another girl that you wouldn't care. But I've known Seifer for years. He'd never hurt me."
"Open your eyes Rinoa." Selphie exclaimed.
Rinoa shook her head and made her way towards her room.
"Well that went well." Quistis sighed as she threw her bag on a sofa in the common room.
"I know, but maybe if-"
"If nothing Selphie, she's already decided her course of action, let's just hope that Seifer hasn't decided on his."
Selphie stared at Quistis for a couple of seconds, thoughts running through her head that she would've thought irrational a couple of months ago, but now she wasn't so sure.
"You like him, don't you?" Selphie giggled.
"What! That's preposterous."
"No its not!" Selphie defended.
"Selphie," Quistis sighed, "he tried to kill everyone I've ever cared about. Would you like him?"
Selphie rolled her eyes and sat down on the sofa, barely missing Quistis's bag. She couldn't deny the fact that the alcohol in her system was still at work.
"Well, he is cute y'know."
Quistis threw her hands in the air and stormed off to her room.
"You so like him." Selphie muttered.
I know I know, Squall's sposta see Rinoa as some sort of Greek goddess or something at the concert. But Squall's just not like that! I don't actually know why I made Squall get pissed; it's just that he has to loosen up at some point.
In the original chapter I had Seifer and everyone get in a big brawl, but I thought that was a bit fucked up. I'm not terribly proud of this chapter, but hopefully I'll have another one up by tomorrow that'll be better.
There's a bit too much talking in this chapter for my liking, I usually like to keep it really descriptive but you can only write about someone nodding there head so many times!
I'm stoked at all my reviewers! Keep it up people!
Sorry if this chapter isn't quite as long as the last one but you can't expect me to keep that sort of length up all the time.
Read and Review.