Chapter 2: A Dance beneath the Moonlight
Disclaimer: FF8 characters are not mine. People who do not like shounen-ai/ yaoi please press the back button now.
Edit: I did some revisions so that the conversations are no longer confusing.
The room was filled with the cheerful voices of the Balamb students talking about their classes and the usual pure nonsense that early morning. The line for the cafeteria's special hotdogs was long as usual and the sweet aroma of hotdogs being cooked filled the air. yawn "I think this today is gonna be a really interesting day." The sleepy yet optimistic man with long auburn hair mused. Quistis, Zell, Selphie and Irvine were discussing their plan for their depressed leader. After spending the entire morning with the gang, Selphie was getting really worried about having her subordinates decorate the ballroom without her. "Are we done here? I'm sorry for rushing things here. I still have to supervise the preparations in the ballroom you see. I am after all in charge of Garden affairs such as the Garden Ball" The tall pale cowboy placed a hand on the tensed girl's head as he assured her "Stop worrying. We're done for now." Irvine and the gang had gone over the plans so many times that morning but the young ex-instructor was still not convinced that their plan would work. Quistis asked "Irvine, are you sure this is going to work? Knowing Squall, I don't think…" Acting cool as usual, Irvine mused "It'll work." Zell scratched his spiked blonde hair as he asked asked "Don't you think the effectiveness of the plan would depend on Squall himself?" The mastermind and well-known playboy contemplated for a moment before saying "I'll make it work." Irvine's last remark surprised everyone not because of the utter vagueness of the answer but the steel determination in the cowboy's eyes.
"Yo Squall!" The crimson colored haired man exclaimed. Tonight was Irvine's first ball at the Balamb Garden and like all of the other SeeDs that night, he was also obliged to wear the formal SeeD uniform, leaving his signature cowboy hat on. "He looks good." Squall said to himslef. In disbelief of what he just thought, snapped out of his contemplating form and said "I'm here. You can stop bothering me now." The cowboy's eyes glistened with delight at the unknowing leader. "This is going to be fun." The cowboy thought mischievously. "There, there Squall. You shouldn't spoil this night. The fun has just begun after all. Now for the surprise" The taller man had a huge grin on his face that made the other man uneasy. Irvine gave the signal and a horde of girls appeared before the two men. Feeling triumphant, the playboy said with glee "You've been moping for way too long. It's time for you to live a little." The sniper motioned for the girls to do their thing. The cowboy always had the girls' attention and he flirted with most if not all of them. Although the well-known playboy never had a serious relationship with any of the women in Balamb Garden, the girls would do absolutely anything just to get him to go out with them.
The ever so nervous Zell was pacing about in a corner with the other members of the gang. "I doubt Squall is gonna stand this." Out of breath from running around the ballroom making sure the event went well, she said "Ohhh. This has to work. Squall will smile again." Quistis intended to remain silent but she couldn't help it as she argued "I honestly thought this plan is stupid considering it came from that playboy but we don't have much of a choice at the moment. We'll just have to trust Irvine on this."
As the night progressed, the cowboy was getting worried. He asked all the girls he knew that night to help him cheer up their leader in exchange for a date that he promised them. "This is bad. Out of all the girls I asked to talk to Squall tonight, none of them had caught his fancy plus I owe a lot of girls a date now. Damn." The wielder of the gunblade has been ignoring the endless hordes of females before him. He couldn't take it anymore. He had to get away. Squall ran to the secluded balcony at the end of the ballroom. The girls were too surprised to go after him. "What's wrong with him?" They chorused.
The young leader began to drown in his thoughts once more when he heard a familiar voice. "Hey handsome. You're the best looking guy here. Would you like to dance?" His heart broke. "Rinoa…" The young woman with dark hair had a big smile on her pretty face. She had a short white dress on that night and her pale skin glowed in the bright moonlight. "Com'on Squall. Is this how you greet a friend?" A Friend? Squall thought. Rinoa continued "I know we haven't seen each other for a while but that doesn't mean we can't have dance together right?" Squall turned away and remained quiet. "You're still hurting from the last time are you? I told you that it wasn't you. It's me. You don't have to be all depressed now. It's a beautiful night. You should enjoy life." The young woman spoke as if she did not have any care in the world. The hurting man was not sure whether the woman was trying to cheer him up or hurt him even more by talking about their past. Rinoa reached out her hand to caress the young man's face when the man finally spoke "Don't." That's all Squall could say. It took a lot from him to say that one word. He couldn't take it anymore. He was at his breaking point. The past months he spent being depressed at his past relationship with the woman before him made him think that nothing could hurt more but he was mistaken. The brunette man was shaking and Rinoa had noticed. The woman in white was about to envelope the man with her embrace when a silhouette of a man appeared.
Irvine had been eavesdropping from the entrance to the balcony where the two conversed. "I believe Squall and I agreed to dance together tonight." The cowboy said cockily as he fixed his hat. Rinoa was speechless at that remark. "Is this true Squall?" The Garden's leader simply turned away from the woman's stare. "I believe your date is waiting for you." The cowboy continued "Nida is quite a lucky guy." Rinoa glared at the man with auburn hair. She wanted to say something but decided to leave. When the young woman walked past the taller man, the sniper whispered "Don't give him false hopes."
Irvine walked up to Squall, quite unsure what to say or do. "Squall…" The shorter man stared straight into the cowboy's eyes and ran into the ballroom. The man with auburn hair followed the other man and caught his arm. The gunblade master tried to break free. The taller man was forced to wrap his arms around the other man to keep him still. Squall's eyes were moist from the tears he tried to hold back. People began to stare at the scene before them. "Why now?" the playboy screamed in his head. Irvine panicked and tried to think of explanation to give the crowd that moment. The ballroom music was too loud for him to think clearly. "That's it!" Without a second to spare he led Squall to the middle of the dance floor and began to dance with the brunette. Irvine was a good dancer and Squall was not in the position to argue so he simply just let the cowboy lead him through the dance. People stared and murmured at what the two men did. Irvine was a bit embarrassed at what they were doing but when he caught a glimpse of Rinoa's envious expression, he felt strangely pleased.
"Damn. I thought we were done for back there." The cowboy mused as he and the brunette walked towards the dorms. Irvine walked Squall up to the door of the leader's room. The taller man just wanted to make sure Squall would not do anything desperate. The man with auburn hair put a hand on the back of his head and said "Hey, I'm sorry about the girls. I really thought that plan would work." Squall did not respond. Seeing that the other man was not in the mood to talk he bowed his head, a simple gesture to say good night. He was about to leave when he felt arms wrap around his waist from behind. Squall buried his face in between the taller man's shoulder blades and asked "Why?" Irvine simply chuckled at this and covered his face with his hat.
Author's Notes: I made a few changes and boy did that give me a headache. LoL. Comments and reviews are appreciated. Thanks for reading:D