MINNA-SAN! Sorry for the late update! GOMEN! But man...school has been crazy and my computer had to break down so it took me a long time to get things together. It's break - and well, I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! Late Merry Christmas to you all!! I finally got a new computer with a functioning internet service - so I hope I can update my stories faster. (Can you believe that all my files were erased off the old computer?? Sheesh....)

OK, enough rambling...no wait...one more thing. THANK YOU FOR THE REVIEWS EVERYONE!!! I got over 200!!! WHOOHOO - throws a party OK, I am really done now. Hope you enjoy this one.

Losing Control / 18

"What the fuck did you just say?"

Seifer asked through his clenched teeth, eyeing Rinoa with an uncharacteristical expression of bewilderment and anger.

"You heard me. If you don't go out with me, who knows what Jake could do to Squally?"

The tall man knew he had to play his cards right - a wrong move result in some serious damage. The blonde narrowed his eyes as Rinoa replied casually, her arms crossed, her lips stretched into a malicious grin. She had a 'try me' look in her eyes as she looked triumphantly right into Seifer's jade orbs.

"You wouldn't dare."

"Oh, I would. I always get whatever I want, no matter what it takes."

Seifer could not believe how spoiled the girl was.

"Do you honestly think that forcing me to go out with you is going to make me like you or something?" challenged Seifer, trying to find a way out of the situation without hurting Squall by finding a weakness.

"Don't worry about it. You'll fall for me." Rinoa chirped, her eyes serious.

Seifer almost rolled his eyes at the girl's incredible narcism. He couldn't believe she was so confident about everything - being confident was one thing, but to Seifer, she seemed almost pitifully lacking in intelligence. "What makes you think that'll ever happen?"

"It will."

Squall hung his head low and stared at the cold floor underneath him, feeling an overwhelming foreign emotion enveloping him. A part of him wanted to be free from the gunpoint placed firmly on his back, but a part of him wanted Seifer to say 'no' to Rinoa. He knews that was a selfish thought, but he couldn't care less. He silently waited and waited, the painful silence ringing in his ears.

"I think Mr. Almasy here needs some help deciding."

As soon as she finished her sentence, there was a sharp gun shot, followed immediately by a piercing scream.

"Shit!" Seifer snapped around and saw Squall on the floor, his face contorted in pain, dark blood seeping out of his right arm. Jake was standing next to the brunette, looking damn proud of himself. Rinoa eyed Squall and them turned her attention back to Seifer.

"Do you need more time to think?"

Seifer couldn't even get a word out of his mouth, his face almost white from anger. His fists were clenched tightly, his nails digging into his palms.

Squall let out a quiet groan, feeling his blood trickling down his arm. He knew pain, but this was beyond what he had experienced before.

"Let him go first."

Seifer managed to breathe out before he almost lost control over himself.

"That wouldn't be fair now, would it?"

"Let.him.go."

"Jake."

Seifer panicked. A sudden realization just hit him across the head that it was a wrong move to make. Before he could utter another sound, another bullet was fired, this time, into Squall's left leg. Another scream filled the air as Seifer could only watch Squall shaking in pain.

"I TOLD YOU TO LEAVE HIM THE FUCK ALONE!"

"It's YOUR fault Squall's like this! If you did really care about him, you wouldn't have let him get shot TWICE!"

Mr. Almasy, for once, was lost for words. As much as he hated himself to admit it, Rinoa was right about it. It was his fault that Squall was going through all this - when he thought about him, all he has done was hurt Squall. Seifer and Rinoa both narrowed their eyes at each other.

"Fine, I'll go out with you. Let him go."

"Kiss me."

Seifer blinked a few times and then stared at Rinoa as if she had grown another head. Squall, by now, was ignoring the pain and watching Rinoa in shock.

"Squall doesn't go anywhere unless you kiss me. Right here, right now. And I want Squall to watch everything."

"...Why are you doing this?"

Seifer's voice came out barely above a whisper.

"I want a proof that you're mine."

Squall visibly flinched at the last word, drawing a low chuckle from Jake.

Blue-gray and jade met, and for a moment, the two men couldn't breathe. Squall's eyes wavered as he stared into those deep jade eyes...and suddenly, he couldn't take anymore.

Squall felt as if his heart was being torn apart...again. What could he have possibly done to deserve all this? Were they just not meant to be?

The past memories of Seifer and him together passed before him as he closed his eyes. He remembered how Seifer had seen his pain and cared when no one else in the world did - how they spent time in the amusement park together, how he felt love for the first time in his life...but now everything seemed so far way, only distant memories in the past...

Seifer drew out a shaky breath and closed his eyes, feeling Rinoa inching towards him. Even with his eyes closed, he could feel Squall watching him tensely.

Squall wanted to move his eyes away from the two, but to his dismay, he couldn't turn away from them. Their lips met, leaving Squall to feel as if someone was stabbing his heart with a dagger. The brunette closed his eyes, trying to push his tears away.

"Now, let Squall go."

"I think I'll keep him for a bit longer."

"Don't fuck with me..." Seifer growled, his jade eyes flashing dangerously. Rinoa swallowed visibly, but remained stubborn with her arms across her chest.

" Well –"

Before Rinoa could even move onto her second word, there was a loud crashing noise towards the door. A few gun shots fired and the door came crashing down off its hinge. Everyone's focus turned to the exit.

And Seifer smirked.

There, in the doorway, were tens of men all clad in black, each of them bearing guns. It didn't take too long for Rinoa to realize that this wasn't a part of her master plan.

Squall blinked, his vision slowly getting foggy from the severe blood loss he was experiencing. He was confused - he had absolutely no idea what was going on.

"Took you guys a while."

The tall blonde was the first to break the silence. And a second later, Squall collapsed to the floor, unconscious.

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Hope you enjoyed that one! Boy...mine's turning more fiction like each chapter...sigh Well, review please (I'm hungry for reviews)

Oh, and this arc is coming to an end soon....BUT FEAR NOT for Arc 2 will come out - puhahahaha

Oh, and HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!! two - thousand - five, BABY!