( T h e n e x t m o r n i n g. . . )

Ring-ring...ring-ring...ring-ring...

The sound went on endlessly. Quistis opened one eye, the sun seeping in through the window irritating her, not hardly as much as the phone which had been ringing for nearly half an hour now. She moaned, threw one of her arms out of bed, and reached for the phone, putting it to her ear she answered.

"What!?"

Pleasantaries could be forgotten at such an early hour.

"Whenever you speak, It feels as though someone throws knives at my crouch" his voice calmly answered. Seifer.

She could feel herself grinding her teeth. "Piss off Seifer. Seriously, I don't want to see you OR hear your pathetic voice. ever. again."

Before he had a chance to respond, she hung up and threw the phone as far as her right arm would enable her.

------

Rinoa groggily opened her eyes, everything still seemed a little blurry, and she felt fatigue hit her head like a frypan. She smiled slightly, enjoying the warmth sleep brings, closing her eyes, she snuggled, preparing to drift back into the realm of slumber once more.

Until she felt a warm pair of arms pull her closer...

She froze. Her eyes quickly widening. oh my god..

Looking around, she realized a few dozen beer bottles scattered around the floor. She tried hard to remember last night, but the only parts that came back involved Quistis...and Seifer. awkward.

She took a deep breath, and decided to summon whatever courage she had before turning over, to reveal a smooth naked chest.

It of course belonged to Squall.

She swallowed, and meekly looked up to see his cute face. He was still sleeping like a baby. He had the sweetest expression on his face. His breathing was soft and calm. His long messy hair fell all around his face, how tempting it was...she wished only to reach up and move it away from his eyes.

Her eyes drifted back to his chest, and she noticed his tattoo. A stern lion, metallic and cold looking, but with fiery eyes that revealed pride, strength and love.

Forgetting completely about the situation she was currently in, Rinoa gently reached over and traced the lion with the tip of her finger.

With her body and head still pressed against his, she silently realized just how good his arms felt around her. They were like two pieces of a puzzle that just seemed to somehow fit.

"Rin...are you awake..?" his voice startled her out of her trance like state.

She felt herself scream on the inside. oh my god, what the hell am I going to do? His arms disappeared from around her, moments later, the rest of him did aswell. She watched him pull his shirt back on, and stretch. "Um..thanks for last night, I really needed that" he smiled.

Feeling violated, even with her pink nightgown on, she pulled the bed sheets over herself and blushed hard. "Last night?" she repeated after him, confused.

He moved to the other side of the room, and began collecting the empty beer bottles. "You don't remember?" he chuckled. "You didn't drink much at all Rin." He headed toward the door, turning once more to face her with his gorgeous smile.

"I'll be going now, I'll put these in the bin on the way out" he said, signaling to the beer bottles.

She quickly shifted from her bed.

"Oh don't trouble yourself Rin, stay there.." he said lingering by the door way. He laughed quietly, quickly he walked over by her bed, gently fixing the covers over her, and planting a kiss on her cheek.

"See you tomorrow at school I guess" he finished before disappearing completely.

Rinoa was left there dumbfounded. What exactly was her thanking her for? What happened last night...?

She pulled the covers to her chin, and tried to remember as far back as she could into last night. The first thing that came to mind was the disturbing Seifer-Quistis incident. Rinoa groaned at the mental images, but it led her to ponder, how was she going to act around Quistis at school tomorrow? What about Seifer?

What about Squall!?

She reached for the phone on the bedstand, and decided she should ring Quistis and talk about everything...

------

Quistis rolled out of bed as the phone rang again.

This time is wasn't Seifer. Thank God. "Hey Rin" Quistis greeted her friend as she walked over to the bedroom mirror and started brushing through her long locks of bedhair.

"Quistis, what are you doing later today?"

"Hrm, nothing really, I think I'll just catch up homework, well...maybe. Why?" Quistis reached over for the eyeliner and started applying.

"Wanna meet up for coffee at the local diner? I hard a pretty hard night last night, and it would be great to talk about it"

Quistis swallowed. Last night had been a nightmare... The last thing she wanted to do was talk about what had happened. NO ONE was ever to find out what had happened between her and Seifer. No one. Ever. No way.

But a greasy breakfast and coffee sounded like the perfect cure for a hangover.

"Sure Rin, I'll meet you there in thirty minutes, sound okay?"

"Great. See you there."

------

Zell heard Squall's car pull up in the drive way.

He literally out the front door to greet his friend, who had been missing all night. "SQUALL! SQUALL!" he shouted, waving his arms infront of the car. "You're back!" he went on, as he opened the car door, to reveal a smirking Squall.

"Are you okay? Where were you! I was worried sick!" Zell pouted.

"I'm great!" Squall said, turning to his friend and grinning as he got out of the car and closed the door. "I had a great night" he finished.

"Man, I'm so glad you're alright" Zell said putting a hand on his best friends shoulder. Squall laughed as they walked through the front door.

"ZELL!" Squall exclaimed, "I have something really funny I need to tell you about, You're never going to believe this.." he smiled as he threw his still tired body onto the leather sofa.

Zell collected two beers from the fridge before joining his friend in the living room. "Yeah?" Zell snuffed as he tossed Squall a bottle.

"Well you'know Quistis and Seifer..."

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