The Ironic Things in Life
Disclaimer: Don't own it...not yet anyways!
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"Zell…?"
Zell Dincht spun around, terrified out of his mind.
Quistis Trepe was standing a couple of metres away from him, squinting in the darkness.
"Uh…hey, Quisty…"
"What were you doing in Rinoa's room…?"
Zell hurriedly hid the camera behind his back.
"N-nothing…"
"And what's that in your hand…?"
"It's nothing…"
Zell took a step backwards, as Quistis held her hand out for the item.
"Zell Dincht, hand it over immediately," she said, switching to her teacher mode.
Zell Dincht reluctantly handed the digital camera over to Quistis.
Quistis raised an eyebrow.
"What on earth were you doing in Rinoa's room at this time of night with a camera?"
Zell racked his brains for a passable excuse.
"Um…um, you know S-Sef's birthday….I, well was taking photos for a m-memorabilia…thing…"
Quistis smiled.
"Zell, that is so sweet of you. I'm sure Selphie will love that. Do you want to take my photo too?"
Zell stared at Quistis, a little out of shock and maybe surprise, and took his camera back from her.
Quistis fluffed up her hair.
"Ok, how do I look?"
"Perfect," Zell replied, snapping a quick photo of the blonde.
-----
"Are you gonna buy out the whole fucking department store?" Seifer Almasy directed to Irvine.
Irvine glared at the good looking blonde through a little gap in the pile of items in his hands.
"I don't think you're in a position to be mouthing off, Almasy," Irvine retorted, trying to look pointedly at Seifer's right arm which was in a cast.
Seifer sneered and glanced around at Squall.
"What about you, Queenie? Gonna buy a nice little apology present for Rinoa…?"
"…." was Squall's reply.
"Hey Squall, you reckon Sef will like this?" Irvine asked, holding up a box of chocolate coated liquorice sticks.
".…"
Seifer walked over to a display of bunny lingerie.
"Hey Kinneas, you reckon Selphie angel toes will see the sentimental value in this...?"
Irvine only growled, trying not to let Seifer provoke him.
Squall moved away from the both of them and made his way towards the escalator to go upstairs.
"…you'll look gorgeous in it, Sef…"
"…yeah, Selphie…"
Squall quickly glanced up to see a blonde, brunette and black haired girl coming down the escalator past him.
"…not trying to impress anyone…"
"…awe, Sef…"
Squall instantly knew that the brunette was Selphie Tilmitt and he recognised the blonde as Quistis Trepe. The black haired girl was none other than Rinoa Heartilly.
He knew that he shouldn't be staring, but once again he couldn't help himself. The three girls were too busy chattering to take notice of him, and for a moment Squall thought that he was saved.
Just as Rinoa and Squall's escalator met in mid way, Rinoa looked up. Squall's slate coloured eyes became fused with her ebony ones and neither of them were able to look away.
"…Rinoa…?" Quistis asked.
Squall quickly turned around and climbed off the escalator as it reached the top. He wanted to get away from her.
Squall quickly pushed past a group of people and made his way to the back of the store where the wedding displays were. He studied the black tuxedo complimented with a black bow tie and fingered the velvet lining.
When he was younger, he would accompany his mum to her wedding costume designing studio. After her death, he had avoided going near wedding displays as much as possible, afraid that he would be reminded of his mother. Now he wasn't sure why he was so drawn to the black tuxedo.
"Oh my god, is it really you…?" an excited voice asked.
Squall whirled around to find a small crowd standing around him.
"Squall Leonhart…?"
"Oh my god! Can I get your autograph? Please!"
Squall backed away from the group of women, regretting the fact that he had left the safety of Irvine and Seifer.
Pushing past them, he ran back the way he had come, hoping that they wouldn't be able to keep up.
-----
"Please Sef, I'm really sorry," Irvine said, as Selphie, Quistis and Rinoa stood around him and Seifer.
"Have you left him?" Selphie questioned, looking over at Seifer.
Seifer snickered and rolled his eyes at the naivety of the woman.
"Baby, I'm clean!" Irvine exclaimed, dropping all the unpaid packages on the floor and taking Selphie into his arms.
Disrupted by the noise, a stuck up salesperson made her way over to Irvine.
"Excuse me sir, but you'll have to pay for all the damaged items. I'd estimate the cost to come to around about 37, 000 Gil," she said.
Irvine stared at her in shock and took off his hat.
"Did you know that I almost became the star of a Laguna Loire movie?"
The salesperson crossed her arms and looked unimpressed.
"Good for you sir, now if you could just pay for the items…."
Seifer looked up towards the escalator, and did a double take.
"Kinneas, run!" he cried, pushing Irvine towards the nearest exit.
"What? Why?" Irvine asked, as the stronger man shoved him out of the store.
"Irvine!"
Quistis and Rinoa simply stared as Squall Leonhart tripped past them, in a flurry for no apparent reason.
"It's him!" Selphie exclaimed excitedly.
Quistis however had turned back towards the escalator, her eyes wide.
"Goodness…."
A large group of girls struggled past, chasing after the terrified brunette male.
Rinoa was still trying to digest everything, and barely acknowledged the girls pushing past her.
"Come on!" Selphie cried, hurrying after Squall.
"Selphie, no…" Rinoa tried to protest, but was pushed along with the other girls as Selphie raced along.
-----
"Get the car!" Seifer yelled, as he saw Squall running towards them.
"It's too far, they'll catch us by then," Irvine said.
"I swear Leonhart, I'm never going with you anywhere again,' Seifer snapped, as Squall reached them.
"…."
"Stop a cab! Hurry!" Irvine shouted.
"You stop a cab, Kinneas! You're his fucking personal assistant!"
"You're his bloody body guard!" Irvine countered.
Squall buried his head in his hands and wished that he could fire both of them on the spot. They drove him insane.
"Ok Squall, come over here," Seifer motioned, removing his trench coat.
Squall moved closer to Seifer, who covered his head with the coat.
"Let's go across the street and try to stop a cab," Irvine suggested.
Seifer wrapped his arm around Squall, and the three men hurried across the road.
"SHIT!" Irvine cried, "Who called the freaking paparazzi?"
Seifer groaned and pushed Squall behind him.
"Squall, do you think the release of your movie will affect your fame as Laguna Loire's son in any way?" a woman asked, pushing a mike somewhere near Seifer's broad shoulder.
"Back off, lady!" Seifer roared, covering Squall up as much as he could.
The woman whispered something to her cameraman, pointed at someone in the crowd and smirked.
-----
"Irvy!" Selphie exclaimed, launching herself onto the 6 foot man.
"Hey, Sef," Irvine responded, handing Selphie her 14 presents.
Selphie clasped her chest.
"Wow, Irvy! Are they for me?"
Seifer pushed past the two of them as he entered the apartment.
"No, they're for the buck toothed gopher that's standing exactly where you are," he muttered.
Irvine gave Seifer a dark look and then continued to fawn over Selphie.
Squall made a silent entrance as usual and regretted coming along. He hated crowds.
Over in the corner, Rinoa noticed both Seifer and Squall.
"He came!"
"Who?" Quistis asked.
"Squall! How dare he come here!"
Quistis shrugged.
"Well, Sef invited him. Oh look, there's that Seifer guy we saw at the store yesterday."
Rinoa focused her eyes onto the pleasing appearance of the extremely attractive male.
"I feel so weird. I never knew he was actually still Squall's friend, and there I was spilling my guts about how much I hated Squall."
"It's alright; I don't suppose he's the kind of guy to really care about things like that."
Rinoa nodded in agreement, and watched as Seifer made his way towards them.
"Hi, bunnies," he said.
"Hi, Seifer," Rinoa replied, a slight flush creeping up her neck.
Quistis nodded in response.
"Seifer, I was wondering if I could talk to you about something," Rinoa said nervously, adjusting her bracelet.
Seifer nodded to show her that he was listening.
Rinoa fidgeted nervously.
"Um…in private…"
Seifer looked at her confused, but followed her through the crowd. He suddenly paused before they reached the balcony. Seifer stared at the spiky haired male standing a few metres away from him, his eyes widening in surprise.
"Hey, who is that guy?" he asked Rinoa.
Rinoa followed his gaze and smiled.
"That's our flatmate, Zell Dincht."
Seifer furrowed his eyebrows.
"How long has he been living with you?"
Rinoa tilted her head to the side thoughtfully.
"Hmm…it's been exactly 5 weeks."
Seifer muttered something underneath his breath which sounded very close to, "That cheeky little bastard."
Rinoa studied him curiously.
"Is something wrong, Seifer?"
Seifer awoke from his daze and shook his head.
"No, everything's fine. Let's go outside now."
The two of them walked the rest of the way to the balcony, where a gentle breeze was currently blowing.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Rinoa asked rhetorically, referring to the view.
Seifer silently watched her, his mind elsewhere as Rinoa slowly turned to look up at him. Her stomach was jumping around and she was starting to feel sick.
"So, don't you want to know why I asked to talk to you?"
"Sure."
Rinoa took a deep breath and cleared her throat. She hoped that Seifer would appreciate the fact that she was making the first move.
"Um…er, well….Seifer Almasy…I love you."
Seifer wrinkled his brow.
"What?"
"I love you," Rinoa said much more clearly this time.
She looked into Seifer's bright green eyes, waiting for him to declare his love for her. She waited and waited but the response never came.
"Seifer…?" she prompted, something tugging at her heart.
Seifer looked away and shrugged his wide shoulders.
"Rinoa, I thought we were friends."
Rinoa looked away as her eyes welled up with tears.
"We are," she whispered.
"Then why do we need all this commitment between us. I've never looked at you in that way. How could you mistake my sympathy for love?"
"Sympathy…" she said, unable to stop the flood of tears from falling down her pale face.
"Yes, sympathy. I'm sorry if you got the wrong idea, but I'm not interested in you. You're really not my type…."
Rinoa's eyes glazed over and her temper rose to the surface.
"Get lost! Go away! I never want to see you again!" she cried, pushing him as hard as she could.
Seifer looked fleetingly at her before he turned and walked back into the noise of the party. Rinoa cried out in anguish and gripped the railing of the balcony before she slid down onto the cold cement, sobbing her heart out.
-----
Squall glared at the drunken girl who was clinging onto him. He hated it when girls smothered him, especially when they were drunk.
"Look," he said, pushing her off him for the tenth time, "I don't think we used to go to school together."
"Of course we did, Nate," the girl slurred.
Squall rolled his eyes.
"And stop calling me Nate. That's not my name."
The girl looked appalled.
"Nate! When did you change your name?"
Squall sighed and pushed her off for the eleventh time.
"Look, I'm gonna go outside for a while and don't even think about following me."
Squall moved away from the cluster as the girl attached herself to some other guy.
"NATE, YOU DYED YOUR HAIR!"
Squall noticed the balcony, and headed towards it hoping that no one would be there. Unfortunately, a dark haired girl was sitting on the ground with her head buried in her lap.
At the sound of his footsteps, she looked up and Squall realised that it was Rinoa. For a moment, the two of them looked at eachother in silence before Rinoa spoke.
"So you've come to jeer at my misfortune."
"…."
"I hope you're enjoying seeing me like this. You've wanted nothing but to see me down trodden and depressed."
"…."
Rinoa shakily got to her feet.
"Since the day I met you, I've had nothing but bad luck, DO YOU KNOW THAT?"
Squall ran a hand through his hair and wished that he was somewhere else.
"Do you think that messing up your hair will fix up everything?" Rinoa demanded, "Well, guess what? I don't care that you're Squall Leonhart!"
"…."
"DON'T STAND THERE STARING AT ME…YOU!"
Squall sighed and pocketed his hands.
"What do you want me to do? Yell at you too, so that there isn't even any reason to try and work through this?"
Rinoa walked forward until she was inches within him. She could feel the heat radiating from his lean, tanned body and decided that taking a step back would be a bit more appropriate.
"IT IS YOUR FAULT! IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT! I HATE YOU SO MUCH THAT WORDS JUST CAN'T EXPLAIN IT!"
Squall was stung by her harsh words, but he tried to keep himself calm.
"I HATE EVERYTHING! I HATE MY LIFE!" Rinoa cried, a new wave of tears streaming down her face.
Squall stared at her in alarm.
"Hey, are you ok?" he asked, reaching out to touch her arm.
Rinoa stumbled back in disgust.
"Don't you dare touch me, you filth!"
This time Squall did feel hurt, and he decided that returning to the party would be the better option.
-----
Squall Leonhart was reduced to tears yesterday as a mob of crazed fans chased him through the Galbadian shopping district. Amongst his admirers, a hopeful Rinoa (surname unknown) was spotted eagerly trying to make her way to Leonhart. Though Leonhart will not admit it, Rinoa's shining eyes were enough to prove the pair's passion for eachother. The highly stuck up Leonhart has still not made a public apology to the devastated girl. Leonhart was unavailable for comments.
Squall calmly read the newspaper and then threw it aside. He was angered beyond anything but still managed to keep a collected exterior, which at this moment Irvine was admiring.
"Well, I told you that you still had to apologise to her," Irvine said.
Squall nodded.
"I'm ready to apologise to her."
Seifer and Irvine both stared at him, their mouths slightly open.
"Wait, did I hear right? Puberty boy's gonna apologise?"
Squall merely glanced in Seifer's direction before looking at Irvine again.
"That's great, Squall. Ok, I've gotta think of the right way to plan this out…"
"No, I want to do it myself…"
There was silence.
"Squall, do you even know how to apologise to a person…?" Seifer wondered.
Squall shot Seifer a look that would've chilled anyone to the bone. However, by now Seifer was well acquainted with Squall's 'death glare' and merely shrugged it off.
"Ya sure you can do this?" Irvine queried.
Squall nodded, and Seifer snickered on his way to pick up the mail. The uppermost letter was labelled to Squall with a 'Private & Confidential' seal on the front.
Seifer headed back to the other two and threw Squall's letter at his head.
"Who the hell is sending you private and confidential letters?"
"None of your business," Squall retorted, getting up and walking into his room before he locked the door.
He didn't want either Seifer or Irvine finding out who these letters were from or what they contained. If anyone did find out, he'd have a lot to answer for.
Sitting down on his bed, he ripped the envelope open as photo after photo tumbled out.
A/N: Thanks for the reviews guys! You guys are brilliantly fantastic! Hmm...what an interesting life Squall leads. This chapter was supposed to end differently with Seifer and Irvine but I thought ending it with Squall was a nice note. Well, now that Squall is ready to apologise to Rinoa dearie,I wonder who'll convince Rinoa to accept the apology...? Hmm...very, very interesting. :P
Isn't it sweet how Squall and Rinoa both like admiring wedding costumes...:)
Anyways, I love my reviewers. You guys rock! Please review if you haven't already done so. I'd appreciate it heaps. Thankies. :)