A/N: Update time! Thanks for the reviews guys!

'New Friends'

SATURDAY NIGHT

23:12

Squall lifted the bottle to his lips again and finished the content. Setting it back on the bar behind him, he tried to spot Seifer in the sea of busy people. He had left the hotel in a bad mood tonight, mainly because he'd been demoted to the back of the bathroom queue. Although, after claiming the bathroom, Squall didn't know why he had bothered. Selphie had made the place into a sauna and he had to spend the first ten minutes with the window open trying to de-steam the mirror.

As if knowing that Squall had finished his drink, Seifer appeared to his right.

"Your round," he said setting his pint glass down next to Squall's bottle.

"Same again?" Squall asked trying to catch the attention of the barman. There was little point in arguing; it always seemed to be his round. He wondered if he should order something for Selphie.

Just as he was about to order, Seifer nudged him hard in the ribs. The sudden pain stopped all thoughts and he turned to demand what the hell Seifer thought he was doing.

"No way, it's that chick. The one we met last night," Seifer said staring over the heads of the people on the dancefloor. Squall followed his eye line and spotted the dark-haired girl, behind her two others followed.

Immediately he sensed that the man behind her was a magic user. He couldn't say the same for the blonde woman, as she seemed strictly human. His gazed returned to the girl who had introduced herself as Rinoa. Her skin seemed a little too white in the dark, almost a little too flawless. That was a trademark stamp of a soul that had got a little too close to the paranormal, if ever he saw one. He suddenly realised that he had been too quick to dismiss this girl from his thoughts, and too reliant on Selphie's assessment: that she was just human.

"She's not attracting any Bleaks tonight," Seifer said before noticing that Squall seemed to be lost in his own thoughts. "She's attracting something else though…"

It took a while before Squall realised what Seifer meant. He frowned and looked away.

"Shut up," he demanded, knowing that his reaction was juvenile. He saw Seifer smirk.

"She's too sweet looking for me," Seifer said as if Rinoa would care for his opinion. Squall raised an eyebrow. "Now her, the blonde one… "

Squall rolled his eyes. He hoped that 'the blonde one' could handle idiotic men.

Selphie approached them with a nervous smile. She looked like a wild animal, cornered without an escape. She didn't know how Squall and Seifer would react to her leading strangers to meet them. Squall always insisted in keeping themselves to themselves, but this was different. These people knew about the Bleaks, which meant that they were all on the same team. Any help would benefit them, because at the moment they weren't getting very far on their own.

"Hey, um… you remember Rinoa, right?" Selphie asked. "These are her friends, Quistis and Zell. They er… want to talk about the Bleaks."

Rinoa looked at Squall but couldn't hold his gaze for more than a few seconds. His eyes were too questioning and his gaze too piercing. She wondered what he was looking for. She couldn't answer him if she didn't know the questions. Besides, she was the one interested in them, not the other way around… right?

"We're not working tonight," Squall said bluntly.

"Uh, did you hear what I said?" Selphie asked. How could Squall be so cool all the time? "The Bleaks…"

"Aint here tonight," Seifer finished for her. Pushing her out of the way he held his hand out for Quistis to shake. "Hi, I'm Seifer, can I buy you a drink?"

Quistis shot a surpised look at Rinoa.

"I, uh… sure, OK," she replied clearly flustered.

Rinoa couldn't believe that she'd just lost one of her number. They hadn't come here to start dating. Next Zell would run off with Selphie and she'd be left standing at the bar with Squall. The idea of being alone with him scared her so much, that she decided immediately that if it happened she'd be ordering a few shots.

She heard Quistis laugh as she was handed something brightly coloured in a bottle. A pang of jealousy shot through her, coupled with a feeling of self-consciousness, as Squall continued to stare at her.

"Zell hunts Bleaks as well Squall," Selphie said. She hoped that Squall wouldn't send them away, since she was bored of being the only girl in the group.

Fed up of shouting over the music Squall pulled Selphie towards him and shouted into her ear instead.

"We'll talk to them tomorrow," Squall said. "Tonight I'm off duty."

Not that they could ever really be off duty, but since there were no Bleaks in the club tonight, they'd been given a lucky break. He hoped that Selphie would buzz off and let him get back to staring moodily into the crowd.

"Fine," Selphie said before repeating his words to Rinoa and Zell. There seemed little point in telling Quistis, since it seemed Seifer was making his move.

Rinoa tried a smile in Squall's direction but it only caused him to look away. Feeling stupid she leant on the bar and hoped that no one would speak to her for the rest of the night. Her alcoholic buzz had definitely just been destroyed. She frowned as she looked at the empty glasses on the bar and knew that she was pathetic.

Squall felt Rinoa's arm touch his own as she stood next to him. She was no longer looking at him, and the blush had disappeared from her skin. Vaguely he heard Zell asking Selphie about herself and knew that he wouldn't see her again for the rest of the night. Selphie never shut up talking, so she wouldn't pass up the opportunity to talk about herself. That left him and Rinoa.

"What are you drinking?" Squall asked. It was ridiculous to stand next to each other in silence. Rinoa looked at him, surprised.

The fear that some other guy would ask her the same question had been the prompt that Squall needed to make the effort. He didn't know why, but he did want to see her talking to someone else.

"Vodka lemonade, thanks," she replied.

Nodding, Squall was a lot more successful in being served than Rinoa had been all night. Putting a straw into her glass, she thanked him with a smile.

Again she heard Quistis laughing. She wished that she could say something witty, or anything that didn't make her sound like an idiot. It was an odd situation to be in. Stood next to someone she knew wasn't actually human.

"How old are you?" she asked.

"Depends. Technically I'm not a day over 19," Squall replied.

"Zell said that you and Seifer are warriors from another dimension and that you've been here for hundreds of years," Rinoa said. She was thankful for the confidence the alcohol was giving her. There was no way that she could have spoken to him one to one with out it.

Squall watched as she tilted her head to the side with her questions. He could see what Seifer had meant; Rinoa was sweet and clearly very innocent. Her manners and movements were almost childlike. She was the kind of girl guys like Seifer left alone. Choosing instead, girls that wouldn't shatter like glass when they walked away.

He knew that he was staring at her again. Looking away he tried to process her words. How could it be possible that someone knew about their secret? He had assumed that those who did were long dead now, leaving himself and Seifer forgotten. Perhaps fate had been kind for once. Delivering some answers in the form of three strangers.

SUNDAY MORNING

02:00

There was nothing quite like a night on the town to forge new friendships. Awkwardness soon gave way to hysterical laughter and claims of 'I like you' and ' you know what, you're my new best friend.' Rinoa couldn't quite remember what she had been talking about ten minutes ago, or even what she was saying now. All she knew was, every now and then she managed to receive smile from her new partner in everything paranormal.

Squall quickly came to realise, that with the more Rinoa drank, the less she required a response from him. She appeared to be quite happy to talk for the both of them and he found he didn't mind listening. Even if she was talking nonsense. Every now and then her contradictory remarks and sentences that made no sense caused him to smile. Something he wasn't very familiar with.

He looked over at Seifer, who in the space of a few hours had gone from trying to impress, to reluctant to let Quistis go, even for the bathroom. Selphie appeared to have found a kindred spirit in Zell when it came to awful dance moves. He wasn't sure if they even remembered they had only met a few hours ago.

"Your friend is nuts," Rinoa declared looking at Selphie.

"So is yours," Squall replied, watching Zell do a rendition of the funky chicken.

Rinoa snorted and slammed her drink down on the bar. Completely forgetting that time had passed, she was surprised when the lights came on and the music stopped. Rinoa felt a sinking feeling of disappointment that the night was over. It wasn't guaranteed that she'd ever see these people again.