Cloud's POV:
It was now almost two months into the school year. It had been four weeks since Squall and Seifer had admitted to each other. Their relationship proved to be mainly hugs and kisses and at first, Quistis and I both thought that Seifer would become impatient and do something stupid though thankfully our fears were baseless and he went as slowly as Squall wanted, though they had begun sharing a bed.
They both stayed over at my place last night, as had Quistis and Selphie. Staying in a five bedroom house when you were the only person was somewhat lonely, so it became increasingly common for them all, especially Squall and Seifer to stay at mine. Of course the two of them shared a room (and thus a bed) whenever they stayed but nothing ever became of it.
The room I gave them was the room farthest away from mine (I didn't want to hear them if they felt the urge to do anything) though it proved mostly unnecessary. As usual, I was the first awake and began making waffles for breakfast. Quistis emerged first out of all my guests (and like me was already dressed for the day) and began offering to help me make breakfast. Selphie was still fast asleep and so were the two lovebirds.
Turned out Quistis was quite handy in the kitchen so I was glad when everything was finished much faster than it normally was. After setting the table, we both ran upstairs to wake the others. She took Selphie and I took Squall and Seifer. I opened the door and burst out laughing when I saw them since they were in one of the most awkward positions I'd ever seen. Squall was draped diagonally on Seifer, with his head resting on Seifer's elbow and Seifer seemed to have one leg over Squall's thigh.
Seifer groggily looked at me and attempted a glare which was marred by a yawn and Squall smiled at me sheepishly. I heard Selphie yell something I didn't quite understand from down the hallway, followed by Quissy's laughter. I heard them stumble downstairs and smiled once more at the two boys still tangled together on the bed and closed the door behind me.
Trusting that the two of them would get out of bed and make themselves presentable, I walked back down the stairs to be met with Quissy and a rather sleepy and tousle haired Selphie yawning enthusiastically at the table, still wearing her grey Chocobo pyjamas and Chicobo slippers. We waited for the others to make their way down before eating breakfast and thankfully it was all still hot by the time everyone was assembled.
Selphie, Squall and Seifer showered after breakfast and we began walking to school. Wakka still had not done anything to Squall or myself for my rudeness that day, though I didn't expect I'd be out of the woods that easily. I was still keeping an eye on him and the Turks had been rather keen on keeping an eye out for me as well. I kept thinking to myself – I'm really going to have to thank them one day – though Rufus always tried to decline anything I'd offered.
We walked through the school gates, offered the usual pleasantries to my friends on the baseball teams and continued through the admin block. Quistis paused for a minute as two guys I'd never seen before walked through the office door. I gave her a questioning look though she said that she must have been seeing things and continued on.
Garden this morning was fairly nice. The dew still shimmered on the grass and the flowers were beginning to bloom, just like something else.
Quistis' POV:
Walking past the school office, I caught sight of two boys out of the corner of my eyes. Was that just Roxas and Axel??? I questioned myself. Can't be. The logical side won out and I noticed Cloud smiling at me questioningly. "It's nothing, just seeing things is all" I answered the question he'd not asked and we continued toward Garden.
I loved this place. I was genuinely happy here and although I missed Fujin, I still had a lot of fun being with my new friends. Balamb was a really nice place. From my usual spot against the wall, I noticed my brother kissing his boyfriend while Selphie and Cloud spoke about today's lessons. Like always, I was part of the whole, yet separated from the others, but even still I was happy. These were the best friends (Fujin aside) I'd ever had.
I still felt that seeing Roxas and Axel (even if it were a figment of my imagination) was somewhat of a shadow of things to come. Call it woman's intuition.
Seifer's POV:
Last night had been almost too good to be true. Squall had kissed me to sleep and I'd woken up, with him draped across me, our hips locked together by his weight. I loved every second of intimacy I'd ever had with him. I cherished every moment we spent together like that. The old me would smirk and laugh at the thought that I could feel this way and my old friends would laugh and torment me to know that I was so happy being with "a fag" as they'd put it.
Being at Garden this morning with the people I trusted most here meant that I could continue my "Public Displays of Affection's" as Selphie jokingly called them and not worry too much. The others were already used to them and for the most part ignored them. Squall was getting heavily into our "session" this morning but I was a little distracted by the look on Quissy's face. Pulling away from and apologising to Squall, I made to talk to her but the bell rang.
I shook my head as Squall gave me another kiss before dashing to catch up to Cloud and Selphie. "What's up?" I asked her and she only shook her head in response saying "If I'm right, you'll find out soon enough" a bit cryptic even for her but I didn't press her for anything else.
Double English was first up today (being Monday – meant I got to flirt with Squall in P.E. hehe I had something to look forward too) and we all took our usual seats. We hadn't gotten far into the lesson when there was a knock on the door. Mrs Kramer stood up and opened the door. When I saw who walked through. My insides burst.
Roxas and Axel; my two closest friends from Galbadia. What on earth were they doing here?! I knew that they were hated and pretty much tormented at school when Rydia did her thing, but since I was everyone's number one target they were kinda overlooked. I never expected to see them here and judging by the looks on their faces when they spotted me, nor did they.
I waved at them from my seat, which seemed to go noticed by most of the class (considering I sat at the back, I thought it was quite the achievement) and the look on Squalls face seemed to darken when Roxas smiled and returned the wave. Axel smiled as they walked towards their new seats (on the opposite side of the classroom). I noticed that Squall seemed somewhat annoyed by the greeting I'd given to what must appear to be two complete strangers.
I smiled at him and leant towards him to explain though I didn't get far before a small ball of paper hit my head which made him make a small "tsk" noise and turn away. I looked at Cloud who looked slightly concerned and shrugged his shoulders. I nodded at him before I picked up the ball and attempted to flatten it again. "Long time no see – how are ya?" was written in what I recognised as Axel's scrawl.
I smiled at him and gave him a brief thumbs up but Mrs Kramer chose that moment to look at me. Giving me the usual short speech about paying attention which caused most of the class to make snide giggles and comments, I had the decency to look mildly apologetic which made Roxas snort derisively.
Soon after, another ball of paper hit me, this time in Roxas' writing: "Since when do you look sorry for causing a disturbance and being the centre of popularity?" I smirked at him and mouthed – "I'll explain later". I looked at Squall but he was determinedly avoiding my gaze. What was up with that?
Squall's POV:
Who the hell were these guys? Why was Seifer waving at them? I asked these questions though the answers escaped me at present. One thing I knew for certain was that I was jealous… really jealous. I was so jealous that I could hardly bear to look at him for the rest of the lesson, though I kept shooting furtive glances at him.
I saw out of the corner of my eye that a ball of paper hit him on the head, the grin on his face when Mrs Kramer remonstrated him did nothing to ease my jealousy either. I spent the rest of the class in an icy silence. Cloud looked at me every now and then but I was too busy being annoyed to return the gesture.
At this rate, I was going to have an anxiety attack again and be sick… Since the beginning of the school year, I'd already had five, once the first day back and the other four at home, waking up from nightmares of Alex… I really need to learn how to deal with that, in the mean time - get ready for number six I told myself. I was lost in thought and didn't hear the bell ring so I jumped when I felt Seifer's hand on my shoulder.
"Hey, what's up? You don't look so good" he said. He sounded concerned though the new guys were obviously waiting for him. He saw where I was looking and smiled "Oh I'll introduce…" he never got any farther than that. I bolted out of my seat to the door, vaguely registering as Seifer called out "wait" and almost (pity I didn't manage to do it properly) bowled Rinoa over as she walked towards Math.
I knew skipping class again wouldn't be good. I knew that I was starting to make a rather bad habit out of it since a certain blonde and I used to take a detour to Garden and spend the length of a class assaulting each other's mouths with our tongues... Garden was definitely out in any case, that'd be the first place he'd look. I ran to the only other place that had offered me solace.
In the rear wing of the library was a small store room that I used to hide out in before we discovered Garden. Seifer wouldn't know of that so I ran the way to the library, dashed through the door and attempted to hide myself behind a few broken bookcases they stored in there. I sat down and caught my breath.
I was hyperventilating even though I shouldn't be after the short run, it was hardly strenuous compared to my other runs which meant that I really was beginning to panic. I felt the sheen of perspiration on my face and rubbed my forearms absent-mindedly in a vain attempt to calm myself down. I was clammy all over. I lay down and curled in a ball, tears of anger threatening to spill down my face.
That was how Cloud found me. He laid a placating hand on my shoulder and I recoiled at the sudden heat that had burnt my cold, clammy skin. "Squall, I'm here if you want me. If you want me to leave, I'll head back to class though…" the uncertainty in his voice stabbed at me. "Stay" was all I managed in response and he sat down next to me, wrapping an arm around me and holding me close.
My breathing was slowly returning to normal though the tears I had been fighting back began to spill. "Who were they?!" I managed to choke out between anguished sobs. "They are friends of his from Galbadia, they moved here too." Cloud said, his voice calming me more than anything, though the words he'd said sent more jealous anger coursing through me.
Unbidden, I thought to myself great, his friends from Galbadia are here. He wont want you anymore and I shuddered at the thought of him leaving me. I was attached to him that was for sure and I liked being with him and the thought of him rejecting me for his former life stung.
"ARGH" I yelled in frustration and anguish. My throat tore from the noise issuing from my mouth before I leant in to Cloud, and cried. I wasn't worried about being sick anymore, at least, I wasn't worried of throwing up. I knew I was sick in another sense of the word. This wasn't normal behaviour by any standards.
Cloud sat patiently beside me. He had his arm around my waist and my head was resting on his shoulder. Before I knew what I'd done, I kissed his throat and I felt him tense up at this action though he didn't voice any objections. He didn't deserve to constantly be dealing with my insecurities.
"Sorry" I mumbled an apology. "It's alright. You know I'm here for you" the kindness in his words was palpable. "Cloud, thanks for everything…" I whispered to him. He sighed, the breath rustling my hair slightly. We stayed there for the rest of the lesson