Friendship Comes First

The hospital room was cast in darkness as Squall Leonhart rested on the couch beside the bed. The whole group was crowded into Seifer's small room. Zell was snoring softly in the chair previously occupied by Quistis at the bedside. Quistis herself was curled up beside Seifer on the bed. Her continual worry and crying had worn her out and Seifer had easily coaxed her into lying down beside him. Rinoa was resting on the other end of the couch from Squall. Everyone but Squall had succumbed to the desire to sleep and all of them were dozing peacefully.

Squall was lost in his own little world. It was a habit he had gotten into as a teenager. At school he was alright because he had his friends to keep him company. At home however, he had always kept to himself. He had loved his step-sister Ellone but since she was older than him they hadn't gotten very close. He and his step-mother had always gotten along well but Raine had always tended to favor Ellone in everything so Squall was left out. And Laguna, Squall had never gotten along with Laguna. The man was a buffoon but miraculously was a politician. The two hardly ever saw each other since Laguna was always traveling and when he was around his mere presence annoyed Squall so Squall tended to avoid his step-father. He had spent so much time dodging his family while he was a teenager he had gotten into the habit of going off on his own to think.

The silence of the hospital room provided him with all the time he needed and the fact that everyone else was sleeping gave him the solitude he required.

However, everyone was not asleep as Squall assumed. The girl sharing the couch with him was awake but content to let Squall wander his mind uninterrupted. She satisfied her curiosity about him and his thoughts by watching his expressionless face and formulating her own theories about the manner of thoughts populating his head.

Nothing disturbed the serenity. All was calm. The only noises were the quiet breaths of the teenagers in the room and the hushed hum of the machinery. Squall sat in silent contemplation of …whatever. Rinoa sat in silent contemplation of Squall. Outside it began to rain. A quiet rumble of thunder made Squall look up from his thoughts. He noticed Rinoa staring at him and she blushed. He just tilted his head a little to the side. Relieved he wasn't getting angry she shifted her gaze to her hands held clenched in her lap.

"Aren't you tired?" Squall asked quietly.

Rinoa looked back up and shook her head.

"I've always been able to stay up late. It doesn't bother me. I do some of my best writing in the middle of the night."

The thunder rumbled louder and Rinoa shuddered involuntarily.

"What's wrong? Don't like thunderstorms?"

She couldn't answer, she was shaking too bad. Squall scooted down the couch to where she was sitting. He slid his shoulder between her back and the sofa and pulled her back to lean against his chest. Her trembling turned into full blown sobs which she muffled in Squall's t-shirt. His arms wrapped around her gently and he rocked back and forth slowly, attempting to soothe her.

When she had calmed down enough to speak she quietly whispered, "Sorry."

Squall just waved it off.

"Do you want to talk?" he asked her, looking concerned. Squall was surprising himself. This was totally unlike him. He wasn't normally this open with someone he barely knew. But, somehow, he trusted this girl. He knew that she needed someone to talk to and decided that if she could be open and honest with him, the least he could do would be to extend the same courtesy to her.

"My mother…" Rinoa began slowly, "She used to read me stories when I was little to help me fall asleep when it was storming. It was the only thing that could calm me down enough to sleep. I'm terrified of storms and ever since she died I haven't been able to sleep when it is storming."

Squall didn't say anything in response. He just continued to rock her. Silence filled the room again.

Then Squall's voice whispered near her ear.

"A long time ago there was an orphanage by the sea. In this orphanage lived six kids. They lived with a kindly old couple. All the kids there were the best of friends. They lived in their lighthouse with the old couple for several years. Gradually, though, they all got adopted and were separated. After a few years they began to forget their childhood home and friends. When they grew up only one of them had any memories of their house by the sea or the people that had lived there with them," Squall's breath warmed the back of her neck as he whispered the story.

"The kids were reunited when they grew up but just the one of them could remember that they had known each other. Fate had thrown them back together so that they could defeat a sorceress. Only the one child could remember that the woman they were supposed to fight was the kindly woman who had raised them in their lighthouse by the sea. The boy managed to get the others to remember and together they saved their foster mother from destruction."

Squall looked down at the woman lying in his arms. Her head was nestled between his shoulder and neck and her eyes were closed. She had fallen asleep. He smiled gently down at her and closed his own eyes as he leaned his head on the armrest of the sofa.

When Quistis woke the next morning a nurse was entering the room to check on Seifer. The nurse smiled gently at the scene before her. Seifer had his arms wrapped around Quistis and he had pulled her as close to his chest as the bandages would allow. Zell was sitting in the chair with his feet hanging over one armrest while his head leaned on the other. However, the scene that the nurse found the cutest was the sight that was presented on the couch. Squall lay on his back stretched out on the sofa. Rinoa had somehow worked her way to the other side of Squall and was between his body and the back of the couch. Her head rested on his chest and his right arm had wound itself around her shoulders.

Quistis sat up when the nurse moved to Seifer's bedside. The nurse had taken his hand to check his pulse and it gave Quistis a chance to escape. Normally, Seifer would pull her closer every time she tried to get up. Since the nurse was providing a distraction she seized her opportunity to get out of bed. She stretched up on her toes, popping her back, and noticed her friends on the couch together. She dropped back down onto her feet and gasped. The gasp woke Seifer who smirked and let out a short laugh. This awakened Zell who just started with a stunned look on his face.

Squall woke before Rinoa and tried not to move too much and awaken her. He was unaware that everyone else was already awake and watching the spectacle on the sofa. Despite his efforts Rinoa woke up and peered down at him.

"Thanks for last night," she murmured and pressed a gentle kiss on his cheek. He smiled a little and nodded.

"It was my pleasure."

A loud gasp tore the two from their solitude and both turned their heads to face their friends. Quistis' jaw had dropped open and she looked dazed. Seifer and Zell couldn't help smirking at Squall and winking. Rinoa flushed and rolled off the couch. Squall got quickly to his feet and scowled at his friends. Quistis snapped out of her trance and darted forward to grab Rinoa's hand. The blonde looked back at Squall before dragging Rinoa into the hallway.

"I'm sure this is a stupid question but what exactly happened between the two of you last night?"

Rinoa blushed and ducked her head.

"I had trouble sleeping and he helped me," she explained.

"Helped you how?" Quistis asked slowly.

Rinoa looked confused for a moment; her face cleared a minute later when she figured out the point Quistis was trying to get to.

"Quistis Trepe! Nothing happened. He just told me a story to help me fall asleep."

Quistis' jaw dropped open again.

"What's so wrong with that?" Rinoa asked in confusion.

"That is so unlike Squall. You must have some kind of effect on him," Quistis teased her friend.

Rinoa rolled her eyes and grinned.

"He's just a nice guy."

Quistis grinned and winked at her friend before returning to the hospital room.

After they left the hospital Squall gave Rinoa a ride back to their building. Squall had time for a quick shower before he had to leave and go to the garage. Even though it was Sunday he and Zell still had a lot of work to do.

The first thing he saw when he walked into the garage what the wreckage of Seifer's bike. The once shiny, perfect motorcycle was now twisted, dirty and useless. Squall decided to do what he could to save the bike but he feared there was no hope for his best friend's prized motorcycle. He would have to talk to Seifer about getting another one. But he resolved to do everything possible to restore the wreckage before bringing it up.

Zell had beaten Squall to the garage and was already hard at work. Squall saw his friend's red trainers poking out from under a shiny black Camaro. There was a pick-up truck on lifts next to it that was draining oil. Zell was trying to work on both vehicles at once. Squall cleared his throat as he walked over to his locker to stow his precious leather jacket. Zell poked his head out and grinned at his friend.

"So, you're finally here."

Squall nodded and moved to the pick-up.

"You took Rinoa home this morning didn't you?" Zell asked with an innocent look on his face.

Squall nodded silently and got to work.

"It doesn't take that long to get to your building. What took you so long to get here?" the blonde asked his friend.

"I had to take a shower," Squall answered, refusing to give Zell something to tease him about.

Zell scowled when Squall ducked under the truck and continued changing its oil.

"You're no fun, you know that?"

"That's not what Rinoa said," Squall shot back from where he was working.

Muffled cursing and a surprisingly loud crash came back in reply. It seemed Zell had forgotten that he was lying underneath a car in his shock at Squall's answer.

It was Squall's turn to curse when he heard a female voice ask, "What did I say?"

Squall quickly extricated himself from underneath the truck and hurried over to where his neighbor stood, waiting.

"Oh, nothing Rinoa. Don't worry about it. Me and Zell were just talking," he scrambled nervously.

Rinoa smirked at him and he swallowed hard but she just winked and said loudly, "Oh, you told him about this morning?"

There was another muffled crash from under the Camaro. Zell was gasping for breath when his blonde spikes came out from under the car. Rinoa began laughing and Squall smirked when they saw the astonished look on his friend's face. Zell, realizing he had been fooled, stuck his tongue out at the two teenagers standing above him. Zell pulled himself back under the car and got back to work as Squall and Rinoa continued to laugh.

"So, what are you doing here?" Squall asked Rinoa.

"Oh, my car is leaking coolant. Can you guys fix it?"

Squall nodded and pushed his hair out of his face.

"What kind of car is it?"

"Corvette," she answered as they walked outside.

He whistled in appreciation at the gleaming black machine in front of him.

"Damn, that's nice."

Rinoa giggled and grinned.

"Pull it in and I'll get to work," he said absently, never taking his eyes off the car. Rinoa noticed and rolled her eyes as she got in the car and started it up.

"Men," she murmured to herself as she saw the look of rapture on Zell's face.

AN: Please Review. (As I wrote on my bio I apologize for the slow updates but my mom died recently and I've been having a rough time.)