A/n: Sorry i've taken so long to update, but this chapter is a little longer so hopefully, that'll make up for it. Few more chapters left to this story, by the way.

'Good friends are like stars . . . You don't always see them, but you know they are always there.'

The heavy, oak doors, engraved with the Balamb Garden signature, had already opened up, letting crowds of students flow into the main hall. Many of the people made comments as they entered, mainly about how fantastic the decorations looked. Selphie smiled to herself upon overhearing two young girls talking about what a 'good job the festival committee had done'. After walking into the middle of the hall with Irvine closely behind her, the crowd had started to filter out, some going off to talk in groups, some hovering around the buffet and others already making moves on the dance floor. Standing still, Selphie looked around her taking in the sight of the ballroom, despite the fact that she had worked on making it look like it was for the past few weeks.

All the silver ribbons were still in place; some in their huge bows and others streaming about the room. The white feather decorations hanging from their black ribbon looked more vibrant than ever in the dim lighting chosen for the event. Silver glitter adorned the floor in places, occasionally catching the light and sending out little bursts of illumination. It looked rather likes a star-filled sky at night, only the wrong way about; on the ground instead of up in the heavens. Gold and black balloons had been tied to the satin banners, along with some rolling around on the floor, mingling with the glitter. At the front of the hall was a live band on a small temporary stage, with a female singer and various musicians around her. A tap on Selphies right shoulder made her stop examining the hall, and turn around suddenly, coming face to face with a grinning Zell.

"Hey! You look great. And you've done a great job in here as well!"

"Thanks. I ordered loads of hotdogs so they don't run out on you."

At this point, Irvine joined in the conversation.

"Hey man, where's the library gir- I mean, Anna."

Zell gave a mock frown, before answering, "She's over by the punch bowl. And, man, she looks hott with a double T!"

"Why are you over here then?"

Selphie gave Irvine a nudge in the ribs for causing the confused look which now graced Zells face.

"Zell, go over to her. If she looks gorgeous, then tell her."

"But Sefff," the blonde whined, "I'll get embarrassed."

"Well, that doesn't matter. Most girls would find that cute. Don't worry."

Selphie grabbed her friend by the shoulders before he could complain and gave him a slight push in the direction where Anna stood in a long, deep purple dress, looking as lovely as Zell stated.

No wonder he's nervous around her.

Once the hyperactive blonde had gone, Selphie turned to face Irvine, who promptly took hold of her small hand and asked if she wanted anything to eat or drink. She shook her head from side to side, sending tendrils of soft chesnut hair flying before coming to a rest in a frame around her face. Irvine smiled and pulled her close to him, swapping holding hands for slinging one solid arm around her shoulder. Selphie looked up at him, not saying a word, but returning the smile he had given. Reaching up, she touched one hand to the necklace on her chest, partly to make sure it hadn't fallen off and partly to remind herself that Irvine had given it to her out of a gesture of love.

"Sef, do you wanna go sit down for a bit, or mingle . . . or dance? Whatever you want."

Why is he treating me so fragile?

"Let's go speak to people. Where did Rinoa go?"

"I saw her draggin' Squall off into the courtyard balcony thing, probably to-,"

Selphie cut Irvine off with a small shriek of 'oh-my-God'. Looking down to her, he noticed she had a wry smile gracing her delicate features, and her line of sight was cast across the room. Following it, Irvine saw what the little brunette was so enthralled by. It appeared to be Quistis, who was hanging onto Seifer Almasy's arm.

"Whoa, what's our subdued lil' instructor doin' with a big brute like him?"

"I bet I can give you one answer to that."

"Minx."

Selphie winked at Irvine, before skipping over to where Quistis stood, which was over by the second, silver lined table full of finger foods. She motioned for the cowboy to follow her with a swish of one arm, and then turned to the petite blonde in front of her.

"Quisty!"

"Hello Selphie, you look fantastic."

"Thanks. So do you, absolutely gorgeous!"

The attire that Quistis had on was none-too-formal and not at all the kind of dress one would expect an Instructor to wear at a 'Garden party'. She had on a tight dress, which reached down to her knees and was of the blackest, softest velvet. The top half of the dress had an extreme plunge neckline that hung in a cowl fashion all the way down to just above her belly button, leaving a panel of bare skin in the middle. Quistis' hair was done in a similar up do as usual, with but a few strands of gold framing her face. Black kitten heels rested upon her small feet, toenails adorned with red nail varnish, complimenting her dress. As Irvine sauntered across to the girls (and a very annoyed looking Seifer), he couldn't help but wonder how Quistis kept the dress shut in the middle. So, being as outspoken as he was, he asked.

At first, the Blonde Instructor gave Irvine an odd look and turned to Selphie, saying in a light hearted way, "I think you should stitch Irvine's mouth up, Selph."

The sharpshooter grinned and ran a hand through his tamed auburn locks.

"But really, what if a sudden gust of freak wind should come along . . . wouldn't that be a tad embarrassin'?"

Selphie elbowed Irvine in the side, not giving much of an impact.

"It's called boob-tape you idiot! You stick it to the side of them, along with the fabric of the dress, keeping it securely in place."

"Ohh . . . what a weird invention."

Whilst Irvine was still pondering over what Selphie had said, she leaned closer to Quistis, wanting to confirm that their lovable blonde girl had indeed arrived with Seifer Almasy.

"Yes, he's my . . . Date . . . for the night."

"Your date! Are you nuts?"

Quistis looked slightly annoyed at Selphies response, and pursed out her full, pink lips.

"No, I'm not 'nuts'. Some of us just know Seifer better than others."

"Yeah, but he's a lecherous bastard. He'll be leering down your dress all night, hoping to get a sneak preview."

"Look, I had to come with someone! Plus, what makes Irvine any better?"

Selphie glanced sideways at the mentioned man, who was waving at random acquaintances, a soft smile upon his attractive face. Two girls walked past giggling like juniors, twirling their hair around their fingers and sending flirtatious looks in Irvine's direction. Selphie watched carefully for his reaction, and where a wink would usually come into play, he simply stood and ignored the silly girls.

"Irvine's different now . . . anyway; your date's looking pretty annoyed."

Quistis sent her gaze around the large, beautifully adorned ballroom until she spotted Seifer leaning against a wall, a glower on his face, but looking all the more handsome to her. When the large blonde spotted her looking at him, the scowl on his square set features turned into a teasing smirk and he beckoned her over by wiggling his index finger.

"I better go . . ." Quistis said, trying to sound reluctant, but in all honesty, she couldn't wait to go and join the man she'd spent most of her childhood with. Giving Selphie a peck on the cheek and waving Irvine goodbye, she walked over to meet with Seifer.

However, as Quistis was a few yards away from the gunbladist, a girl with long blonde hair, dressed in a pink gown went up to him and took his arm. Seifer did nothing but glanced down upon her as she spoke, in what looked like a hushed, bitchy manner.

Quistis recognized the girl as one of her lesser cared for students, one of the princesses who she had no time for. A cog clicked in her brain, as she also realized that this was the very same girl who had been bullying Selphie and corrupting her relationship with Irvine. She narrowed her cerulean eyes at the competition ahead but kept on walking, adding an extra wiggle to her hips, mainly to catch Seifers attention. It worked. He looked up from the Chihuahua-like blonde and scanned his jade eyes over Quistis' frame.

Good boy Seifer, keeeep looking . . . That cow's not getting her claws into anything of mine.

Acting as cool and unbothered as possible, she greeted Celia with a snide smile.

"Why, hello. Didn't anyone tell you it wasn't fancy dress, Celia?"

Hearing Quistis' voice; Celia let go of her prey and held back a dirty glare. Instead, she tried to think of a way to counter-act the cocky remark she had been given.

"I don't think Instructors should date their students, Miss Trepe." Before Quistis opened her mouth to shoot the bitchy blonde down, she had gone, vanished into the crowd of happy students. She had to think twice about whether or not to go after her, hunt her down. Although hot-headedness was not usually her area, Celia had fired something up in her that wouldn't seem to cool. That was until Seifer took her hand.

"Out of all the girls here, you're the best dressed, most gorgeous one I've ever seen," Irvine let Selphie's feather soft hair fall back into place, after pushing it aside to whisper in her ear. The brunette teenager sat with her auburn haired date on the sidelines of the hall, where simple wooden chairs had been set up for those who wished to be seated. This suited the two just fine for the time being, both happily content with leaning into each other and exchanging heartfelt words. Although only having been at the ball for the short time of an hour, things seemed to be running smoothly and no-one was running amuck. Everybody around looked dazzling and appeared to be having the times of their lives dancing to the catchy little number that the live band was currently giving out. Selphie gave herself a mental pat on the back for picking out such a good local band. After all, they catered for a wide range of musical tastes, but for the night, they mostly kept to Piano backed songs and acoustic rock. Occasionally, they would slip in slow ballad songs and classical pieces in which you could just appreciate the musician's talents without the need for vocals.

One song ended, but the music immediately started up again, this time with a very slow, romantic sounding tune. Not one to ever miss an opportunity, Irvine took hold of Selphies small hand and pulled her to her feet. Without saying a word, she cast him a solitary glance and let him pull her gently into the middle of the ballroom, weaving through the couples who had already gathered to dance. Irvine held her tightly to him, placing his arms around Selphies tiny waist, giving her a tender squeeze as she reached her arms up to fasten them at the back of his neck. Together, held in each others embrace, they swayed calmly to the beautiful melody that was echoing throughout the hall. Selphie lay her head down against the chest of the man who was holding her so closely. Being like this with him made her forget the way things had been; the nasty words that had been exchanged, and, above all, the pain that she had felt inside her heart. Now, in this ballroom, dancing in the arms of the person she loved under the dim lighting, their togetherness was all that mattered. It was then that Selphie realized she felt so strongly about Irvine, not only in her mind, but in her soul too.

Do I love him?

She didn't care to voice the answer, because she knew that, whatever it was she felt wasn't going away anytime soon. Snuggling her head against Irvine, she could feel the warmth radiating from his body. The scent of freshly-laundered clothes tipped with subtle cologne filled her senses. She felt Irvine bring his hand up from its place on her hip and vaguely wondered what he was doing until he ran it through her hair in a feather light touch. Selphie lifted her head to see his amethyst eyes looking down at her, with that familiar glint of mischief hidden behind them. Before she had time to drown in them, he lowered his head and caught her soft, pink lips in a lingering kiss that made her toes curl. After lifting his head back up, Selphie let out the faintest of sighs and went back to the way she was on his chest. Looking out into the sea of other dancing couples, he spotted one that stood out, because the girl of the pair was glaring at Selphie with malicious intent.

Celia clung on to tall, dark student who was a few years her senior. She wasn't paying any attention to him at all; though he appeared to be flattered to be dancing with her. Her eyes were fixated on Selphie for a few moments more. Even though she was on the other side of the ballroom, Irvine tightened his hold on the brunette girl in his arms, feeling protective over her. Selphie noticed and looked up at him. She followed his gaze and saw who he was looking at so intensely with no particular emotion visible upon his features. As soon as Celia noticed the both of them looking, she blew a kiss and winked, obviously directed at Irvine. Selphie turned away, a sensation of sickness coming in waves over her being.

Don't be stupid. You know there's nothing going on anymore . . .

Without really registering what she was doing, Selphie placed both of her hands on Irvine's chest and pushed herself away from him. At this, he finally tore his eyes away from across the ballroom and looked down at the girl struggling to get out of his grip.

"Hey, hey . . . Woah. Sefie, whats wrong?"

She looked up at him with big, forest green eyes, and Irvine immediately felt a little stupid for asking her a question with such a blatant answer. He watched Selphie shake her head gently, before leaning up to give him a quick kiss on the lips.

"It's nothing. I'm fine."

"Good," he whispered in her ear, "Because I love you."

Selphie stopped trying to push the previous love-cheat away, instead opting for wrapping her small arms around his waist and squeezing him tightly. When she heard him cough slightly, she let go and glanced up at him with wide, concerned eyes.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean-,"

"Nah, I'm alright. You got some strength in you, missy."

Smiling, the petite girl took hold of his hand and led him off the dance floor and out onto the balcony. She was hoping there would be no-one out there, the crowds were getting to her and she wanted to spend some time alone with her 'date'. Upon reaching the small, open air veranda, decorated with various flowers and potted plants, her hopes were shot down. There already seemed to be a couple. She stifled a laugh and elbowed Irvine gently, who was pushing against her from behind, urging her to go ahead. In front of Selphie, a few yards away, Zell appeared to be making out some-what feverishly with the library girl, Anna.

"Maybe we should leave them alone, Irvine," Selphie whispered, finding it decidedly odd watching one of her close friends get intimate with someone.

"No way, let's embarrass him!"

Before Selphie could object, Irvine crept up closer to Zell. Deepening his voice to do his best impression of Seifer, he leant close to his friend and whispered, "Chicken wuss."

The spiky haired blonde jumped half way out of his skin before pulling away from his date and turning around to find a laughing cowboy behind him. Zell was visibly embarrassed, a cute little flush crawling its way onto his cheeks.

"Irvine! You dick!"

"Man, that was funny!"

Selphie planted a slap on the laughing teen's arm, in which he responded to by placing several kisses on her face, as Zell introduced them to his date.

"Sorry, they're not the sanest of people."

The pretty, dark haired girl simply smiled and clutched tighter to the blondes arm. She caught Selphies eyes, making her remember back to that night in the club, where Anna had walked in on her with a razor to her wrist. Of course, the shy-natured girl clinging onto her best friends arm wasn't one to judge others, but Selphie felt embarrassed all the same, and managed to excuse herself.

"Irvine, I'm just going to get a drink. Do you want one?"

"Sure, bring me out some of that strawberry punch. Maybe someone's spiked it by now."

Selphie tutted and caught the odd, mischievous look that him and Zell exchanged, before walking back into the hall. Feeling much less scrutinized, she made her way over to where the decorated buffet tables stood, sending flashes of smile to those who gave her theirs. Happiness seemed to filter throughout the large hall and radiate off the faces of everyone. All the laughs and grins of students having fun around Selphie made the world seem just that much more of a better place.

Smiling to herself, the small brunette picked up the white, plastic ladle that lay in one of the large, glass punch bowls. She spooned around the fruit that had been placed in there for effect and flavour, and transferred a fair amount of the red liquid into one of the two waiting Styrofoam cups. As Selphie was about to start pouring out the other one, for herself, she could sense someone standing behind her. It wasn't Irvine. This was someone cold and cruel, who didn't care for the emotions of others. Almost before the person standing uncomfortably close to her began to speak, Selphie knew immediately who it was. Celia.

Selphie could feel her heart rate rising and struggled to stay calm, telling herself that the blonde threat behind her couldn't touch her anymore; that the control she had over her once had ended.

"He doesn't love you, Selphie Tilmitt."

Despite the simplicity of the sentence uttered, the amount of spite and hatred poured into those words made the young brunette shudder inwardly. Her first reaction was to ignore Celia, but the burning sensation of those sharp blue eyes glaring into her became unbearable. Selphie fought the urge to clear her throat before she mustered up the courage to face her enemy and speak.

" . . . What?"

That was all that came out; a simple four letter word was all she could force up through her contracting throat muscles, which had closed up in protest. Celia crossed her arms over her chest and gave Selphie a withering look, the glossed up lips of her mouth hanging open in what appeared to be disgust. Selphie fingered the chain and locket around her neck, feeling a twinge of comfort when feeling the engraved words on the back. Words that had come from the heart. The blonde in front of her still stood with her arms folded over her chest, so much of which was showing it became distasteful, the pink puff of a dress only adding to it.

"What're you looking at, freak?"

"A bargain bin Barbie."

Did I say that out loud? The enraged look on Celia's pointy little features gave her all the answers needed. Selphie had thought her response in her head, but somehow her brain failed her and pushed the words up and out through her mouth before it was too late. Selphie felt panicky and was trying for the entire world not to let it show. Her hands were sweating and her heart was hammering away behind her ribcage so much so that she thought it might pop out and land in a rather ungainly splat upon the floor. The images it summoned up in her head weren't altogether pleasant, but imagining the look of disbelief and horror on Celia's face made Selphie stifle a nervous giggle.

"Why are you laughing? I look much better than you, weird bitch!"

The laughing had since stopped as soon as Selphie saw none other than one of the blonde's cohorts coming towards them. Amber sauntered up to the buffet table they were currently standing by, tossed her silken black hair and settled behind Selphie, almost closing her in.

"Look who it is Celia. The little organizer herself . . . And doesn't she look dazzling . . . it'd be a shame if someone spilt something on that dress . . ."

Picking up on Amber's evil intentions, Selphie took a step back, landing one of her heels on top of something, which, by the squeal let out, she presumed to be Celia's foot. The brunette span around to apologise instinctively, but as she did so, the Styrofoam cup of red, strawberry liquid she held in her hand slipped out and managed to spill down the front of Celia's pink dress. Another high pitched squeal was let out, which much resembled the noise a pig might make if poked. Only a quarter of the room noticed and turned to face the direction where the din had come from. It was the students closest to them who took interest, the rest were too absorbed in the music and the bliss of the night to care.

"You freak! This dress was specifically made for me by the regions top designer!"

As Amber fussed about her friend and mopped her front with napkins, consoling her, Celia's head shot up and her eyes fixated on Selphie with the most evil, fierce stare she had ever seen.

"Selphie Tilmitt, you are the most stupid, ugliest, plain freak in the world! Everyone hates you! I hate you! And most of all, IRVINE hates you . . ."

Selphie tried not to let the emotions she was feeling show upon her face, but she must've failed, because Celia's eyes lit up with a wicked glint. Whenever the blonde mentioned anything to do with Irvine, it went straight to the sorest part in the brunette's heart and struck it hard.

"No, he doesn't," Selphie breathed out in a small voice, "He loves me."

An amused expression graced Celia's tanned cat like features, before she got annoyed with Amber making the stain on her front worse and ordered her away. Amber skulked off into the girls toilets looking like a scolded puppy. Training her spiteful eye back on Selphie, Celia began to talk.

"So, you think he loves you, do you? Did he tell you that, or is it something your fucked up psyche told you?"

The young brunette wringed her delicate fingers together in nervousness.

"He told me."

"Riiiight. I suppose he bought you that chain around your neck that you keep fiddling with?"

"Yes . . ."

The bitchy blonde lowered her eyes to the silver resting snuggly in between Selphies collar bone and put on a fake tone of voice.

"Oh how sweet! You're not fooled by that are you? He's only trying to get you into bed. Although one wonders why, seeing as you're a rather scrawny girl, with a plain ol' face. Quoting directly from the ladies man himself, may I add?"

Don't listen to her, she's lying. She's a lying cow.

"I mean, look at you. You're, like, one foot off the ground, your way too hyperactive for your own good and you have that whole self-harm business going on. What's up with that?"

Get lost, I hate you. You're nothing but a bitch.

"And let's not forget the botched up suicide attempt. Are you so dumb that you couldn't even kill yourself? You're one big living failure . . ."

Celia stopped and gave Selphie a cocky look, raising one finely plucked eyebrow up before lowering it and pouting her red lips.

"Irvine fucking hates you. It's a joke that he even said he loved you. You're so goddamn ugly, I'm surprised he can be within ten feet of you, let alone kiss you. Face it; once he's got you into bed, you're just gonna be another girl on his long list . . ."

The young brunette felt something in her that hadn't come into the light for a long time. Instead of feeling vulnerable or self pitying, she could feel red hot anger rising up slowly in herself. However, Celia carried on with the insults, digging in every sensitive area she could with her sharp claws.

"Anyway, Irvine's said those three little words to me too. Of course, the first time was in the throes of a sexual act, but who can blame him, anyone would want me on the end of their-,"

"Shut the hell up!"

Celia looked a bit taken back at the prospect of her victim shouting out and interrupting her, whilst she was in the middle of trying to take them out with her cruel words. Selphies outburst had attracted the attention of a few fellow students once again and they looked on in curiosity whilst half-heartedly carrying on with whatever it was they had been doing beforehand.

The blonde regained her composure and got ready to open her mouth again, no doubt to fire yet another round of nasty vocabulary, but in the time it took her to even breathe in any air to do so, Selphie spoke (or rather shouted) again.

"No, just listen for once! You're always going on about how much you hate me, well, have you ever stopped to think about how many people hate YOU?"

"No-one hates me," Celia replied coolly with a flick of her long, blonde hair.

"You just keep on believing that, but when people turn around and decide they don't want you bullshitting all over them anymore, you'll be left all on your own with nothing!"

"Yeah sure thing, self-harmer Tilmitt. That'll be the case with you when Irvine comes crawling back to my bed . . ."

"You bitch!"

Selphie lunged out at Celia. She couldn't seem to stop herself, let alone find the link between her brain and her actions. There was so much anger in her that had been pent up for far too long over the singular blonde standing an arms length away. Finally, the young brunette had reached boiling point and could contain herself no longer.

Her hand connected with the left side of Celia's face, leaving a small red mark. Over the soft music that was currently playing, a few gasps could be heard. It took Celia a few moments to react, but when she did, it came in the form of her grabbing both sides of Selphies arms and trying to wrestle her to the ground. By this time, a small crowd had gathered, some looking on in concern and others getting excited, letting out whoops of encouragement.

The chesnut haired girl appeared to be somewhere in between a daze and reality. In her mind, she was experiencing all the times that Celia had induced pain and feelings of despair due to her taunting. Flashbacks were speeding their way through her head, leaving her dizzy with images of blood. All the times she took that silver razor to herself, all the times that she had been tormented by Celia and her crew, all the times she had seen the man she loved with each of them . . Everything that had happened in the past few months had decided to surface now.

Selphie felt like a completely different person as she lashed out, pulled hair and scratched whilst hurling words at the blonde she was straddling.

"I hate you! You think you can just steal other people's guys? Well you can't, you slut!"

Celia had covered her face with her arms, but still threw insults back none the less.

"You freak! Get off me!"

"NO, I'm going to hurt you as much as you hurt me!"

It was at this point that Quistis struggled her way through the ever growing crowd, with Irvine rushing along behind her. The instructor pulled Selphie off of Celia, despite the fact that she was still hissing and kicking like an out of control kitten. It wasn't because she didn't want Celia to get hurt, she would've liked nothing more than to see the bitchy girl get beaten senseless; it was because her younger brunette friend was getting herself into quite a state. Quistis hugged the girl to her chest before placing her in Irvine's open arms, whilst she went to deal with Celia, who was still on the floor rubbing her scratched up cheek. The band had stopped playing briefly, but someone from the festival committee told them to carry on with a flick of their wrist. They began playing a rather upbeat song, obviously sensing that some people might need cheering up after all the commotion that had gone on.

Whilst Quistis and others who had helped with the preparation of the night focused on getting things back in order, Irvine guided Selphie into a corner where the dimmed light didn't quite hit. It wasn't until she snuggled herself into his strong chest and inhaled that she noticed she was crying, not out of sadness, but because of the intensity of everything.

"You're a right little wildcat, aren't ya?"

" . . . I didn't mean to start a fight . . . it just happened."

"That sounds like something Zell would say. Sefie, I wouldn't have cared one bit if you'd beaten her to a bloody pulp, because y'know what?"

Selphie wiped her eyes and looked up into those staring down at her tenderly.

"What?"

"I love you just the way you are. Little hellion or not."

"Yo, Selphie, that was awesome!"

This little comment had come from Zell, who had unnoticeably walked up behind them, followed by Rinoa, Quistis and Squall.

The raven-haired girl was the first to step closer and wrap her arms around the cuddling couple, closely followed by Quistis and Zell, and eventually Squall, who looked rather uncomfortable about this public display of affection, but did it anyway, because they were all friends. It was that moment, encased in all of her companion's arms, it was then that Selphie realized that she would always have people who loved her, even if they weren't always around to tell her so. Finally parting from the warm envelope of a hug that had been created, they all floated back into the main hall together to carry on with the night, laughing and enjoying each others company, seeming closer than ever before.