Seraph_Heartilly: Hello everyone! Finally I've had the time to work on my stories XD so I was glad to finally write the end to this chapter. I've noticed that I've been getting waaay more hits and adds than reviews. Yeah kind of a bummer. Anyway thank you all for reading this story and for sending me those very lovelyful reviews that make me happy. Okay, so now I present to your chapter 6! The question now is if Rinoa will be brave enough to finally tell Squall the secret of her identity….

A small gasp escaped from Rinoa's lips. All doubt was cleared about who this man was.

"S-Seifer?"

Her voice was hardly above a whisper.

Seifer stepped fully into the light.

"I knew that I'd seen you somewhere before," he continued. " That day before the concert. It's obvious that Squall didn't know who you really are."

Rinoa swallowed. This had been one of her greatest fears. Seifer knew, and he was going to tell Squall. Squall would never want to see her again. But she needed him, more than he even knew. She had to convince the guitarist not to reveal her secret to his band mate.

"Seifer, please, I can explain-"

"Explain what?" he demanded. "That you lied to my best friend?"

"Please, just listen-"

"Didn't you think that he had the right to know that he was becoming close to someone who actually is the general's daughter? There's people that would try to bring him down if they knew he was going out with you. It takes a certain type of social class to even be deemed 'worthy' of being with someone like you."

"I…" The hot tears rolled down her cheeks.

"You were just being selfish Rinoa."

Rinoa looked down to her feet. She didn't realize how terrible she was. The way Seifer explained things, made her feel like a monster. She'd never thought that Squall would be made to suffer by others simply for being with her.

"Look," Seifer said. "If you don't set this all right tomorrow by telling him the truth, I will. There's going to be no more lying to him. You just have to decide who you want to tell him, me or you."

With that being said, he left, leaving Rinoa feeling forlorn.

She sat and rested her back against the gravestone, her thoughts wracked with despair.

"Mom, I'm going to need help with this one…" she whispered.

Daylight had broken through the sky. Seifer rolled over on the couch, awoken by Squall knocking over what had been his and Zell's magnificent beer can castle.

"Ahem." Seifer growled at Squall.

Squall crossed his arms and gave a ten out of ten death glare.

"It's not my fault you guys are idiots." He dramatically looked around at the cans on the floor in exasperation.

Seifer snickered.

"Whatever…" Squall muttered under his breath.

The lead singer went over to the fridge and took out a carton of orange juice. He popped the lid and drank straight out of the carton.

Seifer jolted up.

"Hey man, your not the only one who drinks that! Seriously, don't you care about sanitation?"

Squall put the carton back before giving Seifer an evil grin.

Just then Zell came running down the hall into the room, doing his ridiculous Zell run where he puts his hands at his back pockets.

"You guys have better not touched my morning hot dogs, or the orange juice, ya hear?!" he yelled.

"Whatever." Squall said.

Seifer just raised an eyebrow. No one in their right mind would take one of Zells breakfast dogs. Sure Seifer could pound Zell's ass in a fight, but taking a hit from a drummer who was also a martial artist sure wasn't his idea of fun.

Zell took out the orange juice carton, took of the lid, and chugged away.

Seifer looked to Squall and they couldn't keep from snickering.

Zell noticed and quickly spat out the orange drink.

"I have no idea what you guys did to this, and I don't wanna know!"

He grabbed one of his 'morning hotdogs' and ran off to go and practice his drums.

Seifer looked to Squall who was still smiling.

For Squall that was sort of unusual. He seemed happier lately.

He wondered if it was because of…

"Got anything planned for today?" Seifer asked.

Squall shook his head.

"Not really, but I was hoping to go and hang out with Rinoa."

"Rinoa, huh?" Seifer said. "You're starting to feel serous about her aren't you?"

Squall folded his arms and did the 'Squall scowl' looking away from Seifer.

"…Whatever."

Seifer laughed making the Squall scowl turn fiercer.

Squall walked down the hall back to his room.

The blonde remained in his seat, contemplating things.

Even though to others it'd have the opposite conclusion, the way Squall acted all defensive about how he felt towards Rinoa made Seifer realize just how much he must like her. It seemed like she was all he looked forward to.

He was almost beginning to wish that Squall wouldn't have to know who Rinoa truly was. But as his best friend, it was his duty to let Squall know that he was being deceived. He'd give Rinoa the benefit of revealing it herself, but he was prepared to come forward if she didn't have the guts.

Today was the day.

Rinoa took a deep breath. Somehow she'd have to rally up all her courage and tell Squall everything. All night hordes of worries had been plaguing her mind and the daylight hadn't bid any of them leave. Squall, as amazing as he was, didn't seem like someone who trusted in people very easily. She knew this would hurt him. She just hoped that he cared for her enough to stick around afterwards. There didn't seem to be any particularly good way to tell him, so she had finally decided to do it straight forward and simple, and just leave him to decide how to take it.

She wanted to look nice for him today and had went through the pain-staking effort of concealing her ugly bruise with the help of some lifesaving makeup. Her hair was put up in a wispy bun with some loose strands of hair framing her face. She was wearing one of her favorite shirts, a tight fitted navy blue halter top and dark denim jeans. She dialed a number into the phone and put it up to her ear, slipping on some high-heeled boots with her other hand.

The other end of the phone rang a couple times before a smooth voice answered,

"Hello?"

"Hey Squall."

"Hi Rinoa. How are you?"

"I'm fine…Actually I was kind of wondering if you wouldn't mind hanging out today."

He paused.

"I wouldn't mind. Where do you want me to pick you up?"

Rinoa thought about it. If she spent all day with Squall then told him her secret and he got mad, it'd make it harder for her to take it when he didn't want to see her anymore. It'd be best to just meet him and tell him right away, then no one would hurt as much.

"Actually, I was thinking I'd go and meet you at your house."

"Rinoa, I don't think you should walk all the way over here by yourself." His voice sounded concerned.

Rinoa smiled.

"Don't worry, I'm a big girl. Besides, I'll take the bus."

Before he could protest she quickly told him she'd see him soon and hung up.

Luckily she was able to leave the house without having to confront Caraway about last night. He was off somewhere for business.

Soon she had gotten on the city bus, which took her to a street right next to Squalls. She'd remembered how to get to his home because the times that he drove her here and back she'd been making a mental map of it. One learns to do this often when you live in a sprawling monster of a city like Deling.

The whole while she walked to his house she couldn't keep from nervously clutching at the ring she always wore on a chain around her neck. It was her mother's wedding ring and it had always comforted her to feel the cool weight of it in her hand. Still it wasn't doing much to soothe her now.

She made it to the doorstep and hesitated to knock. She'd never imagined there'd be a time when she'd dread to see Squall.

"Quick and easy. Quick and easy." She chanted repeatedly to herself.

She shook her head. "Here I'm about to do one of the biggest things in my life and I'm resorting to the band-aid method."

Quickly she knocked on the door a couple times before she could chicken out and run back home.

Within a few moments the door opened and she was met by Squall. He was wearing jeans and a nice fitting band shirt that said Hellfire in sinister lettering. It made him look like a high school rock kid, but really just made him even cuter.

And to think I may never get to see 'this' again.

"Hello Squall." She smiled at his shirt then up at him.

I've been deceiving you since we've met, but please don't hate me.

He noticed what she was implying with her glances at his shirt and gave her a small crooked grin.

"What? It's one of my favorites." He opened the door wider and took a step back. "Come on in. It's safe, my 'roommates' are gone."

Rinoa stepped inside. She turned to Squall and caught him eying her. He realized it and his eyes looked a bit startled. He looked to the ground and folded his arms.

"So um…"

Rinoa giggled from behind her hand. He was so cute when he was nervous. Obviously he was now having some trouble thinking up a conversation starter.

Finally he said,

"Was everything alright with you and your dad when you got home yesterday?"

Rinoa groaned at having to remember last night. It was monumental in the 'suckyness' level.

"He wasn't too upset. He was still his jerky self, though."

She didn't care to elaborate on anymore of the evening's events. Squall most likely wouldn't respond well to the news about Gillespie. Also that tidbit of information might tip him off that she was of high social status. Oh yea, I was supposed to be telling him all about that whole little 'I'm the general's daughter' thing. I can't keep letting myself get sidetracked.

He walked closer to her till he stood right in front of her and he gently traced his fingers over her wounded cheek. His fingertips were a bit calloused from playing the guitar and it tickled a bit on her cheek. The sensation was delightful and made her close her eyes and smile.

"Nothing like 'that' happened. I'm pretty sure it will never happen again."

When she opened her eyes she saw that he was smiling at her.

"Can I show you something?" he asked quietly.

Rinoa nodded. "Yeah, sure, anything."

"Come with me to my room." He said and led her down the hallway.

She followed him. Her mind couldn't even contemplate on what the 'thing' was. All she could think about is what she had to tell him, and if it would or wouldn't break his heart. Maybe it won't be such a big deal as it seems. Perhaps it won't even matter to him.

She started to feel a bit more assured.

Yea, I bet everything will be fine. He'll probably even laugh at me for worrying about it so much.

"Go ahead and make yourself comfortable." He told her when they were inside the room.

She sat down on his bed and he picked up his acoustic guitar and sat down beside her.

"I want to play something for you."

Rinoa nodded and smiled.

"And well, so you know, it's new and stuff, so I still need to fix it up and everything. I also still haven't added the words since I'm not done writing them…"

Rinoa giggled.

"It's alright, Squall! You don't need to defend it from me. I'm sure I'll love it."

He frowned a little but didn't say anything. He propped the guitar on his leg and strummed the first notes.

A few minutes into it Rinoa found herself swaying gently to the beautiful melody. Unlike Squall's other fierce songs, this one was tender and lovely, yet somehow just as powerful as his other songs. She could imagine the potential of all the more passion he could add to this masterpiece using his voice.

Rinoa was nearly startled when he stopped.

"That's as far as I've gotten." He said.

Rinoa smiled and hugged one of his arms.

"That was…that was perhaps the most beautiful thing I've heard."

Squall smirked. "I think you're being generous."

Without using too much force she playfully hit him on the chest.

"What-ever! I love it and I'm not taking that back!"

He smiled and rested his head on the top of hers.

Rinoa knew that if she didn't tell him who she was now, she never could. It was one of those moments of no return because now it was dawning on her how she truly felt for him. This was going to hurt so much. Compared to losing him, losing everything she ever owned wouldn't be bad at all. If she didn't tell him now, she'd have to risk Seifer being the one to tell him, and that would hurt Squall even more. The last thing she wanted to do on earth was to hurt him.

"Squall, I-I, there's something I have to tell you."

"Hm?" he responded. Lightly raising his head to look at her.

"It's something important…"

"What is it?" he asked, sounding a bit concerned.

It's all or nothing now…

"Squall, I'm…I'm in love with you."