Chapter 11

A Late Night Visitor

Rinoa was in Squall's bathroom, taking a shower. She got out and dried herself off. Then she realized she didn't have any other clothes to wear. She wrapped her towel tightly around and cracked the door open. She could see Squall sitting at his desk doing homework. "Excuse me…Squall…" Rinoa said.

Squall looked away from his paper, at the door. He quickly turned back, not expecting to see her in a towel. "Uh…yeah? What?" He asked quickly.

"I need some new clothes. Could I borrow something?" Rinoa asked him with a little laugh. She felt embarrassed opening the door and asking him this. She also felt a little self conscious.

Squall stood up and walked over to his closet. He grabbed a white shirt and some black shorts. "Here." He handed her the clothes without looking at her.

"Thanks!" Rinoa closed the bathroom door and pulled the white shirt on. Then she slipped into the shorts. She gazed at herself in the mirror. The shorts on Squall were probably a perfect fit. On her they went almost all the way down to her feet like pants. "This is attractive." Rinoa thought to herself as she laughed. She liked the shirt. It was just like the one he always wore. It even smelled like his cologne. Rinoa breathed in as she held the shirt up to her face.

A few minutes later she walked out of the bathroom, her hair still a little damp. "So…what do you think?" She waited for Squall to turn around. When he did he gave a small chuckle. "What's so funny?" She asked him with a stern look on her face.

"Nothing…" He said, looking away quickly. Rinoa rolled her eyes. "I know the shorts are pants on me! You don't have to make a joke out of it!" She said a little annoyed.

"Whatever…" Rinoa gave up. She walked over to his bed and sat down against the headboard.

"What are you doing?" She asked him, looking over towards his desk.

"Homework…"

"Hmm…cool." The room was silent. The only sound was Squall's pencil moving across his paper. Rinoa stood up off his bed and stood over his shoulder.

"Is something wrong?" Squall asked her, looking up.

"Oh, no. Of course not. I was just curious." He was silent. "Hey, I'm gonna go get a late night snack. Wanna come?"

"It's against the rules to go out past curfew…You'll get in trouble if you're caught."

Rinoa smiled. "That's why I'm going to be sneaky. I'm hungry and when I'm hungry, I'll do whatever it takes!" Squall raised his eyebrow and then went back to writing on his paper.

"Just…be careful." Rinoa looked at him a little surprised. "Knock on the door three times so I know it's you."

"I promise I will!" She ran over to him and wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him. Squall sat there staring at his paper, tense, and not sure if he should hug her back or not. Then she ran out the door.

She made her way quietly through the hallways until she got closer to the cafeteria. A teacher was walking down the path that led to the cafeteria and heading straight for Rinoa! She jumped and hid behind a large column. The teacher slowly walked by. "I'm getting to old and tired to be monitoring halls at night…I'm going to go to bed." She yawned and then walked off around the corner.

Rinoa jumped out from behind the column and continued to run. At last, she reached her destination. "Food!" She thought to herself. She grabbed a glass of milk and chocolate chip cookie. She decided to eat there instead of heading back to the room. She figured Squall wouldn't want cookie crumbs on his floor.

Squall leaned against the back of his chair. "I can't concentrate on my homework…" He thought to himself. He put his hands to his head, when he heard his door click. It slid open, light appearing on the walls. There were footsteps and then the door shut. "Nobody has a key to my room…it was stolen from Rinoa! Rinoa was going to knock on the door three times so I would know it was her! That means…" He turned his head around to face the door.

Standing there was a girl with the same familiar blonde hair that flowed behind her. It was Crystal. She had a short night gown on and a robe over it. "Hello Squall…" She said as she walked towards him. Squall stood up and backed away nervously. "Is something wrong? I thought you would be happy to see me since we didn't have lunch together…"

Squall glared at her. "You broke into Rinoa's room! How dare you!" Crystal smiled.

"So what if I did…she's a pest anyways. You should move on to better things…" Squall had his back against his wall, just staring angrily at her. Crystal continued to walk closer to him. She stopped when she was a few inches in front of his face, staring deep into his eyes. He stared back.

Rinoa ran down the hallway, back to Squall's room. When she reached his door, she saw it was ajar. "That's strange." She thought to herself. She put it behind her and walked in. "Hey Squall, I'm back from the…." Her voice trailed off at the end. Her eyes opened wide. She could feel tears beginning to fall down her face. "No…how could you?" There was Squall, against the wall. Crystal was almost touching her lips to his. She turned around and smiled.

"Poor little girl, she's gonna cry!" She began laughing. Rinoa turned around and ran out the door, down the hallway.

"Rinoa!" Squall yelled. He pushed Crystal to the floor and ran towards his door. He stopped and turned back around. "Don't you ever think about coming near me again! And NEVER touch Rinoa! If you ever do, you will be sorry you ever met me!" Crystal glared up at him from the floor. Squall's spare room key had fallen out of her robe pocket and onto the floor. Squall reached down and took it before she could. "Thanks for this!" He said. Then he ran off in pursuit of Rinoa.

He ran out into the main building in front of the information desk. "Where did she go?" He wondered. All was silent as he made his was through every room. He was walking past the library when he heard sniffles. He quietly opened the door and walked inside. He peeked around a bookcase and saw Rinoa sitting on the ground her head on her knees. Rinoa lifted her head at the sound of footsteps.

"Go away you jerk!" She cried between sobs. Squall bent down. She looked up again. "I can't believe you!" She yelled.

"Rinoa! Let me explain!" He tried to reason with her. "It's not what it looked like!"

"You said you would open the door ONLY if it was me! Not anyone else!"

"I didn't let her in!" He said. Rinoa lifted her head.

"You didn't?"

"No…I was doing my homework when my door opened. She was the one who ruined your room and stole the key! She came onto me and then you opened the door right at the moment I was about to push her away and out of my room…"

"Really?" She asked, her voice straining to stop her cries.

"Would I ever lie to you?" He smiled and pulled her hair away from her face. Rinoa looked into his eyes. He was doing that smirk she loved so much. It made him look even more attractive than he normally did. She knew how honest he was. She knew she could trust him. "Come on…let's get back to the dorms." He picked her up off the ground and carried her all the way back. Rinoa just leaned against his chest, holding her arms around the back of his neck, and closed her eyes.

When they reached the room he made sure he locked his door so no one could get in again for a late night visit. Then he pulled his spare key out of his pocket and placed it in Rinoa's hand. Rinoa smiled up at him. "I think I'll stay up for a little bit longer…" She said.

"Are you sure? I'll sleep in my chair again if you want the bed…" Squall scratched his head nervously.

"No it's okay. I can sleep in a chair for one night." She walked over and sat at his desk. Squall climbed into his bed and was asleep fifteen minutes later. Rinoa looked over at his sleeping figure in the dark. "He looks so cute when he's sleeping. You wouldn't believe that his personality is cold and heartless at times when he's awake." She smiled. I guess I better get some sleep, too.

She began to lean back in his chair. "How does he sleep in this thing? It hurts my back! Now I know how he felt when I stole his bed from him that night I had that dream. Sorry Squall…" Rinoa thought to herself. "Unless…" Her thoughts trailed off. She snuck a little smirk. She walked over to the bed and lifted the covers. She slowly slid in next to Squall, careful not to wake him up. She didn't move for a few minutes afraid any action, would disturb his peaceful slumber.

"I can't believe I'm doing this!" She thought to herself. She turned over on her right side and placed her head on his chest. "He's so warm." She thought. Then she felt movement on her back. Squall's hand had wrapped around her shoulders in his sleep. She suppressed a smile. Within ten minutes she was out…