A/N: Ah...how I missed writing...Square owns. BTW: If I happen to make spelling mistakes, it's because I do not have Microsoft Word so I don't have an automatic spellchecker. I'm really trying to make sure that everything is spelled correctly and that the grammar is corect as well, if I make a mistake then just let me know in a very polite manner. Score so far on CONTEST:LOVE - Squall/Quistis: 7 votes. Zell/Selphie: 3 votes. Irvine/Quistis: 1 vote. Seifer/Quistis: 11 votes. Zell/Quistis: 0 votes. Irvine/Selphie: 1 vote. Squall/Selphie: 0 votes. Seifer/Selphie: 0 votes. Laguna/Selphie: 1 vote. Laguna/Quistis: 3 votes.

I have had numerous emails requesting Squall/Seifer. I do not intend to do yaoi for this contest. Please note that the contest name is CONTEST:LOVE. There will be a CONTEST:YAOI and a CONTEST:HATE and numbers of others. Please, just be patient. I will fill the criteria of what everyone likes.

This means thoughts...

Chapter Nine

Quistis closed the doors to the room and walked over to the bed. She sat down and held her hands in her head. The pounding inside her head didn't help one bit. She laid back against hte pillows, watching the doors open and Squall walk in. He closed the doors behind him. "Irvine got dragged to have a few drinks with the Priestesses." Quistis nodded her head as Squall walked over to the bed. He sat down on the edge, his face twisted in a strange knot.

"Care to tell me what you're thinking?" Quistis asked. She was hoping to be able to let a few thoughts roam through her mind. She sighed as Squall just sat there, unmoving like a bump on a log. "Well if that's the case..."

"Why would Rinoa lie to us?"

"Huh?" Quistis asked. She was used to Squall being cold and cryptic. She was used to him telling her off whenever she tried to budge him to let out his thoughts.

"She said she didn't know how her uncle died. The doctor said that she was the first to know. You don't think Rinoa has anything to do with this, do you?"

Quistis blinked. She sat up straight in the bed and put herself into the position to sit on the edge next to Squall. "She might."

ooooooooooooo

Irvine smiled politely as Miyoko handed him another drink. "Drink up! How often are you going to be able to get free booze like this?"

Irvine politely shook his head. "I can't. I promised Priestess Masako."

Miyoko frowned, as did a number of the other Priestesses. "Can't even have one?" Miyoko pressed the drink to his face, hoping that he'd take at least a sip.

Irvine sniffed the drink nonchalantly and proceeded in pushing away her arm. "I'm sorry. My answer is no." He looked at the wine glass. It didn't smell like wine, that's for sure. Irvine suddenly remembered what Squall had said. Garai had smelled of rum. Irvine frowned. Who would drink rum from a wine glass? Someone who's trying to poison you, that's who!

Irvine stood up and began to walk away until Miyoko grabbed his arm. "Where are you going?" she called out. Her big eyes pleaded with him to stay. If it was any other time, Irvine would have stayed and done many a things to her. Yet, he was waiting for Quistis.

"I'm going to go to the bathroom."

ooooooooooooooooo

With that, he stood up and walked off to the bathroom.

Quistis rubbed the back of her head and paced back and forth in the room. Squall was still seated on the bed and he watched Quistis like a hawk. Quistis was too worked up in her thoughts to even feel his eyes bore on her. Rinoa...Douglas...Victoria...Seifer...there's the four main. I have one day to figure this junk out...Laguna's life is in danger!

"Did you hear me?" Squall called out. He had been talking for sometime as Quistis paced. She stopped and looked at him.

"What? I'm sorry. Lost in my thoughts..."

Squall sighed. "I said, why don't you sit down before you cause the rug to have a permanent indentation."

Quistis smiled softly and sat down on the bed. She looked over at Squall, just now realizing he was looking at her. "What?" she immediately asked.

"Nothing. You just look..." He paused, still staring at her. Quistis looked into his gray eyes and blinked. What exactly did she look like? He shook his head and broke away from the intense gaze that was going. "Nothing."

"No, say it. You started the sentence, you finish it," Quistis demanded in a silent voice. She was still struck with the intensity that he was looking at her.

He slowly eyed her, a fire burning in his eyes. "Beautiful." Her eyes widened. "I'm sorry!" he said as he stood up, immediately embarassed.

"No, it's ok," Quistis said, still sitting on the bed. A soft rose hue grew to her cheeks.

"...whatever." He paused and stopped walking, turning back to Quistis. "Wait...you're not yelling at me?"

Quistis turned her head, her blonde hair weaving in front of her face. "Why would I?" she asked shyly. She was never like this around guys. Why, oh why does it have to be Squall that I get nervous and embarassed around? she thought immediately as she felt her hair come down.

Squall walked over to her and pushed the blonde locks out of her face. His hand immediately grabbed her chin and forced her to look at him. Everything was in slow motion. His gray eyes flickered with a soft blue. She blinked and breathed softly as he leaned in, still holding her chin. He paused, centimeters away from her lips. He breathed out, "Do...you mind...if I kiss you?"

She simply shook her head, closing her sapphire eyes as she felt his soft lips press against her own. His hand moved from her chin to her neck, rubbing it softly and gently. Some of her blonde hair was still entwined with his fingers. His eyes shut as he went into a deeper kiss. He lifted her head up some, forcing her to move slowly up to a standing position. She wrapped her arms around his broad neck, holding onto the kiss that he was giving her. His other hand immediately flew to her waist, holding her close to him.

There was nothing sexual about this kiss, Squall noticed immediately. Quistis held onto his neck still, a salty tear drop slipping out of the inside of her eye. She felt the hot tear slide down and she immediately moved away, turning her head away from Squall, quickly wiping the tear away. "I...," she had begun.

"I'm sorry. I...shouldn't have done that," he whispered out, moving his once silky hair entwined hair to his neck. He slowly felt a soft cramp in his left leg. What the...? Oh...oh no, he thought. His face dropped.

Quistis turned to look at him and noticed his cramped leg. The lips that had touched the lips of the man she always wanted started to curl up into a smile. "Don't tell me..."

"Don't you start!" he immediately fired back at her. She pulled her lips into her mouth, preventing her from laughing. "Don't you dare laugh, Quistis..."

She couldn't hold it in. The laugh blew out of her mouth. Squall had never seen her laugh so hard ever. She was polite, poised, proper. She hid her mouth as she silently chuckled. He rolled his eyes as he slowly started to tap his thigh. "Haha...you're just like your father!" she called out as the laughter came out.

"Ok, ha-ha...laugh it up."

And she did. She held onto her stomach as she fell to the ground on her knees. Tears slowly poured out of her eyes and she quickly wiped them away with her free hand. She paused and breathed in, looking up at him punching his leg. The laughter came out harder now, her face red as a cherry. "I can't believe...your leg is cramped!"

He rolled his eyes and limped around in a circle. He looked down at Quistis, who was now lying on the ground on her back. "It's not that funny!" She kept laughing. "Stop!" he said in a slight defensive, slightly more amused, voice. "Enough!" He began to laugh himself. He dropped to the ground, his cramped leg stretch out. Quistis slowly crawled over to him, pulling him into a laughing hug. Squall started to laugh harder now, realizing the comedy in it all. He wrapped his arm around her, holding her close to his chest as she laughed.

After about ten minutes, the twosome stopped laughing. Squall still held onto Quistis and Quistis was still hugging Squall. Squall turned and looked down at her. She, in turn looked back at him. "So..."

Squall gave her a half smile. "I...um. About that..."

She smiled and shook her head. "It's ok. It's a common nervous tick in a lot of people..."

Squall let out a soft laugh. "No...about the...kiss."

"Oh." Her face started to turn that rose red again.

"Are you blushing?" Quistis pulled away from Squall. She stood up and walked over to the bed. "Your blushing!" He stood up, wrapping his arms around her from behind. "Don't worry, Quisty!" he rubbed in her face. He had a huge smile plastered on his face. He quickly turned her around, forcing her to look at him. "It's just a nervous tick..."

She immediately smacked him in the chest. He pulled her closer into a hug and continued to hold her as she started to chuckle. "Stop!" she chuckled out in an embarassed tone.

The moment she let her guard down by saying that, he kissed her again. It wasn't a long kiss, just a soft peck. Her eyes looked up into his. She noted that they were now a soft blue with a speck of grey. She smiled and pulled away. He grabbed her hand and pulled her back to him, deepening the previous kiss.

There was a loud knock on the door. Quistis pushed Squall off of her and charged for the bathroom and slammed the door shut. Squall rolled his eyes and edged his way to his gunblade. "Who is it?" he called out.

"It's Irvine! I can't find my keycard!"