Words: 1065

Disclaimer: They belong to Square Enix and the plot belongs to FOX.

She turned and saw his face lingering over her, his blue eyes staring back at her as she smiled at him and he turned around, leaving her bedroom. There was something in his face, he looked somewhat perturbed and she couldn't quite tell what it was but if she dared think he looked… almost sad?

Hours had passed and she woke up once more, this time walking to the kitchen with a little skip on her feet. She placed her elbows on the table and rested her chin on one of her hands, reaching for an apple with the next one, smiling as Zell came and sat down with her.

"What's with the chipper mood?" Zell asked her as he reached for an orange out of the basket and Irvine sat down next to him, fixing his shirt.

Rinoa beamed at them and laid her eyes back on Zell, "Zell, you were wrong all along, sometimes you have to fall back to realize what you have right in front of your eyes," She said, "I realized that last night while I talked to Squall, and I want to let him know that he doesn't have to settle. He shouldn't have to go back to Xu just because it's what he feels familiar with."

Irvine and Zell looked at each other, the red head glaring at Rinoa and cutting her off before she continued talking, "Well, I'm sure he'd love to hear that, Rinoa. Why don't you go tell him? I think he has something to tell you as well."

"Irvine!" Zell shouted and hit him in the back of the head as the redhead glared at him and growled.

Rinoa shook her head at the interaction between her roommates, "Where is he?"

"He's in the bathroom." Irvine muttered as he scratched the back of his head with a pout on his face.

Rinoa put down the apple on top of a napkin and made her way to the bathroom, finding Squall in front of the mirror fixing his hair, his bare back exposed to her as tiny droplets of water ran down from the back of his neck and parted ways, shooting into multiple directions and ending on the towel that was wrapped around his waist.

She felt her mouth go dry and she took a deep breath, swallowing and licking her lips. "Hey, Squall!" She greeted him as he turned on his heel and smiled at her, an empty and shallow smile, she could tell.

"How's your foot?" He asked her as he pointed at it with his chin, quirking an eyebrow at her.

"It's good, thanks for the help," She muttered blushing, "There's something I want to tell you." She said as she heard her echo her words.

"Go ahead," he told her. "I'm all ears," He placed his hands on the sink and rested his lower back against it, crossing his feet.

Rinoa cleared her throat and looked at him, she wiped her bangs to the side and made eye contact, her brown eyes staring back into icy pools of blue, "Squall, I've probably said this to you about a thousand times before, but I believe you shouldn't settle." She cut herself off, waiting for some sort of reaction but she got nothing, so she proceeded, "Squall, I think you're amazing! You're a great friend and even though you're always complaining about little things you listen to the things I have to say as much as they might annoy you. And you're selling yourself short if you decide that being with Xu is the greatest thing for you. It isn't. And I believe in you… And I think you deserve all the happiness in the world and not settle for something just because it's familiar." She finished as he smiled at her and pushed himself off the sink, taking a step towards her.

He stood in front of her, holding a hand to her head and blocking his face as he looked away, the same shit eating smile he had before was still plastered on his face and that was all Rinoa could see as he ruffled her hair, "Thank you for those words, but it's kind of late." He finished walking away from her as he heard the voice of a woman calling out for his name.

"Squall?" She stood in the middle of the gigantic bathroom as he stood by the door and she witnessed as two arms snaked around his neck, bringing his face down to meet her forehead.

"Oh, hey Rinoa! Almost didn't see you there," She heard her chipper and obnoxious voice and she could swear she was seeing red.

"Hey, Xu?" Rinoa looked back at Squall who apparently was too busy to look at her, "Squall?" She called his name, all to no avail as the other brunette jumped in between them two.

"Did you tell her the news, Squall? I bet she's gonna feel lonely. I can't blame her, though, those other two are idiots," She giggled as Rinoa tilted her head to one side and quirked her eyebrow questioningly.

"What news?"

Xu looked back at Squall, then back to Rinoa and smiled, "We'll be moving together tomorrow!" She grinned.

Rinoa could've sworn that someone had stabbed her right through the heart, she felt a heaviness and suddenly she found it hard to breathe. She moved a hand to her chest and verified that her heart was indeed still beating as she still couldn't seem to comprehend what was happening. She found herself wishing that this was nothing more than one of Squall's distasteful jokes and that Zell or Irvine would come in running and telling her she'd been pranked.

"Xu!" Squall called out on the lithe brunette, "I was about to tell her…" He looked at Rinoa and noticed the hurt that there was on her eyes and immediately looked away from her, "Let's go." He finished walking out of the bathroom as Xu nodded and turned about on her feet as she waved good bye to Rinoa and proceeded to follow Squall down the hall.

And there she stood, in looming silence and she couldn't do anything. She couldn't even bring herself to talk as everything sunk in and she just wanted to be swallowed by the earth. Yeah, today was the first day Rinoa had truly felt like she wanted to disappear.

A/N: Life has been frantic to the point in which it makes me want to scream off the top of a mountain, but I'm back. I will try to update soon, most likely around Christmas time. Now is when things start getting interesting! See you soon, loves! And Cheles Noir, thank you for always taking your time to read and review! Every time I update I look forward to your reviews and those of the other readers that take their time to do so. You guys make writing worth it. :) Happy Holidays!