Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, I do not own the places. I don't own anything related to FFVIII, all I own is the plot.
- Epilogue -
"Squall, come on...You don't need to lock yourself in your room. She's almost gone...Cid called her father and he's having her picked up. The van is already outside! Are you sure you don't want to say goodbye?"
He groaned. He didn't want to. All he wanted to do was to sit in his room, and feel lonely. But he couldn't just ignore Selphie, who was knocking on his door. He rubbed his face, stood up and opened the door. Selphie seemed surprised he had opened it.
"...So you do want to say goodbye." She said with an almost satisfied tone of voice.
"Not really." He said indifferently.
"But Squall...It's not her fault she did all of those things. She wasn't herself."
'Poor Selphie' he thought.
He hadn't told her more than she had needed to know. Just that it had been Rinoa who had started the fire in the Quad and that she had also killed Angelo. She didn't know anything about the affair with Irvine and Squall wasn't planning on telling her either.
"Selphie, it's just a little bit more complicated than that, and a lot more personal. There's more to it. Rinoa and I hadn't been that steady for a while anyway...We hadn't been getting on as well as we used to." He said finaly.
Selphie shrugged. "Well, I saw doctor Kadowaki outside. She was talking to someone who came with the van. They're taking Rinoa to her father's in Deling. I heard her father say they were going to hire someone to keep an eye on her."
She took Squall's hand.
"Come on. At least walk me to the entrance."
Squall followed her dutifully. But once they had reached the gates to the grounds outside, he halted.
"I think I'd rather stay here, Selphie. I don't think it'll help if I see her. It won't do any good."
"Well...okay, if you're sure." She said quietly.
She had hoped that seeing Rinoa again would have perhaps made them part more pleasently. Perhaps it would have made them happy again. That was all she wanted, for her friends to be happy again.
She let go of his hand. "I'll be right back, it won't take long."
She walked through the gates, disappointed that she hadn't been able to persuade him to come with her. Squall leaned against a wall and looked at the floor. He didn't bother to look up when he heard more footsteps, recognising Quistis and Zell from the corner of his eye.
They hadn't notcied him and hurried out the gates quickly. He guessed they wanted to say goodbye to Rinoa too. Just when he started to wonder whether Irvine was coming to say goodbye too, he saw him walking towards the gates from the other side of the hall.
Somehow Squall suddenly found himself striding forward as well. It didn't seem right to him that Irvine was going to say goodbye to his lover in front of his girlfriend. He passed Irvine, turned around sharply and stopped right in front of him.
"Hey Irvine, where are you going?" he said loudly.
Irvine stopped dead in his tracks. Obviously he hadn't realised it had been Squall walking by.
"...I'm going to say goodbye to Rinoa, why?"
"Don't you think you should be going to do something else?"
"Like what?"
"Like telling Selphie the truth!" Squall said harshly. "She deserves that much, doesn't she?"
"Why don't you stay out of this, huh Squall." Irvine sneered back. "This is none of your business."
"I'm making it mine. I had to take Selphie to the infirmary yesterday because of you. You know what they used on her? The rape kit. Because of you, Irvine! Because you used her!"
"That's absolutely none of your business! What Selphie and I do together is private!"
"Not anymore. It lost it's privacy when she knocked on my door with tear-stained cheeks! And that's how she reacted without knowing about Rinoa!"
"Exactly!" Irvine bellowed. "That's bad enough as it is! So why should I hurt her more? I don't want to break her heart! Why should I tell her!"
His words echoed through the hall. Squall was quiet, knowing he had said everything he could have said to try and persuade Irvine. Irvine closed his eyes, but for another reason than Squall might have expected.
'Hyne, no.' He thought.
He had spotted a yellow dress somewhere behind Squall. He ran his hand over his head, swiping off his hat. Squall turned his head over his shoulder, following Irvine's gaze. He quickly looked at Irvine again when he saw Selphie behind him. He tightened his fists. This was exactly what he hadn't wanted to happen. He hadn't wanted Selphie to find out this way.
Selphie broke the silence with a nervous giggle.
"I'm almost afraid to ask." She said, trying to get her voice to sound as if she was making a joke.
"Selphie..." Irvine began, sounding hesitant and slow as he was thinking what he should say.
"No, Irvine." Squall said threateningly. "No more lies."
"What lies?" Selphie asked, now sounding genuinly nervous. "Irvine, what is he talking about?"
"Sweetheart, you know I love you, right? I love you so much and nothing can ever change that. You kow that, don't you babe? And you feel the same, don't you?"
She looked at Squall curiously. "What's going on? Squall, what do you kow that I don't?"
"Sweetheart, you love me too, don't you?" Irvine encouraged her.
She took a few more steps forward and stopped next to Squall "Well...I suppose I do...I mean, I'm angry about yesterday, I'm still mad at you for that. But-"
"Selphie, don't." Squall said suddenly. "He's going to make excuses, you know he will. But there's more that he's going to need to excuse than just yesterday."
She looked at him with unbelief. "What do you mean, more? Irvine, just say what you've got to say!"
Irvine took a deep breath and looked at Squall for help, but he averted his eyes.
"It doesn't meant that I don't care for you, because I do. But, you kow, caring...isn't always enough...and you...you couldn't always give me what I needed." He muttered. "So I felt a bit...I don't know what I felt...but I know Rinoa felt the same. She knew what I meant..."
"You're saying Rinoa understood you better than I did? So that's where that whole 'kid, not a woman' thing came from!" she said angrily, placing her hands on her hips.
"It's more than that, Selphie." Squall said, keeping his voice low.
Selphie looked at him, now with fear in her eyes. "You know about this too? Please tell me that this isn't want it sounds like. Please tell me that I got this all wrong!"
Squall shook his head, not looking at her. "I'm sorry." He whispered.
He placed a protective arm around her and hugged her tightly. He could feel she was beginning to shake but her held her so tight that it was barely visible. He didn't want Irvine to see Selphie like this.
She started to cry slowly and quietly and he could feel tears leaking through his shirt. Suddenly she stopped. She looked up at him with a determined, though tear-stained, face and wiped her cheeks dry.
"You don't have anything to be sorry about. You're just as much a victim in this." She said, surpressing sniffs.
"Selphie..." Irvine tried.
Her head snapped in his direction and she glared as vicously as she could muster.
"Don't talk to me. I don't have anything to say to you." She hissed.
"But-"
"Don't you think it's time you left, Irvine?" Squall interrupted, holding his head high in the air, suddenly knowing what he had to do.
"But I-"
"I think that would be a good idea." Selphie added.
"Wait, you can't just throw me out of here...This is my home, my school!"
"Not anymore, Kinneas. I's using my authority as a Commander to expell you without any delay." Squall said coldly. "Go back to Galbadia Garden or not, it's up to you. But you can pick your things up there."
Irvine tried to make some eyecontact with Selphie, but she just stared at him as coldy as Squall did. Squall placed a hand on her shoulder.
"You are no longer allowed to be on these premises, mister Kinneas. I will kindly ask you to leave. Come on, Selphie."
Selphie turned around and walked away. Squall followed her quickly without looking at Irvine again. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and she finaly allowed herself to cry. Irvine could see her shoulders shake and he heard she was trying to keep her sobs quiet.
His hand tightened to a fist and a single tear took shape in the corner of his eye. He forced this terrible feeling he felt inside away, not wanting to let it take over.
"Hey Squall!" he shouted bitterly. "You can't do this!"
Squall didn't respond.
"Come on, man! I live here! You can't do this!"
But when still no answer came, he turned around.
"Fine." He muttered bitterly.
He dried his eyes with his sleeve forcefully. Then he placed his hat back on his head, straightened his jacket and started to walk. It was the only thing he could do. This Garden was no longer his home, and he knew that he alone was to blame for it. It had been his own fault.
He didn't even bother to look back once he had reached the gate. And as it closed behind him, he knew that he would never set foot inside that school again.
The End