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Whispered Screams	By : AngryAngel Category: Final Fantasy VIII > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 6957 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VIII, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 17
- 18
A/N: This is the newest chapter that I
have not posted anywhere else yet � including fanfiction.net, which is down
right now. I will upload it there as soon as their service is back up. Until
then I wanted to at least make it available on here.

.
.

The misty
air was shouldering the cool sting of a quickly approaching fall when a dark
haired boy quietly eased off the seat of his jet black motorcycle. The leather
of his riding gloves felt stiff against his skin, but the ivory skinned
brunette cherished the familiarity of the sensation rather than he despised it.
Sighing from behind barely parted lips, he removed his helmet and shook the
long tresses of smooth brown hair out of his face, before he stoically screened
his surroundings out of unreadable, cold blue-grey eyes.

All around
the now motionless figure, the Deling City High parking lot was steadily
crowding with students and their own chosen means of transportation - namely
cars, trucks and a few, far-in-between motorcycles. Squall Leonhart watched
them scurrying around for a little while, occasionally distracted by the pain
palpitating in his left shoulder, which was worsened by the weight of the
bookbag strapped to his back. Reluctantly shifting in his position, he debated
whether he should join the steady stream of teenagers filing into the school
building or hang around his bike for a few, meaningless minutes longer.

The
decision was taken off his hands when he noticed the blurred silhouette of a
person slipping into his field of vision, just out of the corner of his eyes.
He turned his head slightly to see who it was, but when a strong hand was
suddenly placed on his shoulder, the stranger�s identity had become all too
clear, anyway; there was only one person in the world who was courageous (or
foolish) enough to touch him without warning, let alone this early in the
morning.

��Sup,
sunshine.�

Half
turning around, Squall was met with the blaring whiteness of Seifer Almasy�s
'good morning' grin and a compromising wink out of charming, emerald green
eyes. This initial impression of blinding brightness was only accentuated by a
fashionable, canary yellow hoodie that Seifer was donning � in addition to a
pair of squeaky blue shorts, obscenely colorful sneakers and the jock�s ever so
stylish, slicked back honey blonde hair.

�... Ugh. Great, there went my
fucking eyesight.�

Squall
squinted weakly and thumbed through his mind for a suitable reply to his
opposite�s cocky greeting. He had
believed himself mentally prepared for this encounter, but in the end, the only
retort he could come up with was a very skeptic, �...�Sunshine�?�

Impossible
as it might�ve seemed, Seifer�s smirk only increased in diameter. Squall worried
that the blonde�s face might fall off from the strain, but then he reconsidered
and decided that watching Seifer�s jaw hitting the pavement just might be a
worthwhile sight.

�Yeah,
like... ya know, my lil flower... my, uh, twinkling ray of light,� Seifer
chuckled, his left hand still on his friend�s right, unspoiled shoulder.
�Something perversely poetic along those lines, anyway.�

�... Try
calling me your �lil flower� just
once and find yourself in a coma that you�ll never wake up from, weirdo,�
Squall snarled acidly, but despite his overt display of annoyance, he continued
to permit the blonde�s touch.

�Oi, still
as grouchy as ever, huh, ice princess?� Seifer taunted, though not sounding
reproachful in the least. If Squall really wished to be his usual, petulant
self, then by all means, it suited him just fine; Seifer still thought that the
moody brunette was the cutest damned thing in the world.

The
blonde�s cheerful face, however, hardened almost unnoticeably when his mind
suddenly decided to dive into the memory of his and Squall�s last encounter,
which had taken place at the brunette's home. It had been an intensely
emotional and complicated meeting, to put it mildly. Leaving Squall behind on
that depressing afternoon had been difficult, but both of them needed some time
to unwind and lick their wounds. Less than 24 hours had passed since their
awkward parting that day, but they were already flinging each other crap as if
nothing out of the ordinary had ever happened between them.

As if
their lives hadn�t been completely
lodged out of place.

Seifer
did, however, notice a few changes that had befallen his younger classmate
since the day before; the pure frigidity in Squall�s eyes had mostly been
crushed, and was replaced with a subtle insinuation of coyness. Of course, the
slender brunette was sickly pale as always, and he had apparently decided that
the fresh bruises that wrought like a helix of indigo and scarlet around his
skinny arms had to be hidden from view. The painful looking marks were now
safely covered beneath the long, narrow sleeves of the black shirt that
protruded beyond the cuffs of his jacket, divulging nothing of Squall�s
anguish.

Despite
his healing injuries, Squall looked distinctly more collected than he had
cowering at the bottom of the staircase in his home; he had been downright miserable
then. Seifer didn�t exactly foresee him openly laying out his feelings like
that again any time soon, but he was fine with that, too. The two of them had
seen very intimate snapshots of each other�s souls that day and discovered
things that they both generally preferred to keep invisible to the public; in a
sense, that emotional striptease had heralded a turn of the tides, and very few
things between them were the same as they had been.

Seifer
could tell by the soft, pensive glow bleeding through the residue of coldness
in the brunette�s eyes that Squall�s thoughts right then weren�t so much
different from his own. Smiling, he squeezed the shorter boy�s shoulder in a
slow, affectionate manner, before he retracted his hand and guided it to the
strap of his backpack.

�Fuck,
almost 7:45 already,� he drawled
lazily. �Let�s go, I guess.�

Squall�s
unsure gaze followed him as he eased past the black Honda and stepped up on the
sidewalk, where he paused and briefly looked back.

�What�s
up?� Seifer asked lightly. �Come on, let�s get going.�

The
brunette�s disoriented expression suggested that his mind was someplace
entirely different and not trapped in the reality of this overcrowded parking
lot. He was holding his motorcycle helmet limply by his side, and although he
looked gorgeous in his black boots, dark blue jeans and leather jacket that
clung to his slim figure, there was also that despondent, strained aura that
seemed to be a permanent part of him. With much effort, Seifer prevented his
smirk from slipping at the sight, although deep down, he wanted to scream.

�If I could do more than just put
my hand on your shoulder to reassure you that everything�s alright, kitten, I would, trust me. I just can�t. Not
here, anyway.�

Squall
would never admit to needing physical affection just as badly as every other
damn human being on the planet, but Seifer could easily figure out as much on
his own. It was obvious that Squall truly was as scared of him as he had said.
In spite of the blonde�s good intentions, he might�ve had all right to be
afraid - Seifer didn�t know, because he hadn�t unraveled that much about the
boy�s life and past just yet. He figured that maybe the brunette really had been dumped or had his heart broken,
or maybe the reason for his petulance was something entirely different; it was
so hard to tell.

In any
case... when it came to Squall, Seifer was no longer just a narcissistic
playboy who didn�t give a flying fuck about anyone but himself - he was ready
to devote all of his attention to one person alone, and to provide the brunette
with whatever it was that he needed or desired.

Something
in Squall�s mind seemed to lock into place at last, because he suddenly jerked
out of his catatonic stupor and joined Seifer on the narrow, concrete sidewalk,
avoiding other students as they pushed by. The brunette�s long, dark bangs
seemed to fall more messily into his finely cut face than usual, but Seifer
decided that perhaps he was simply studying Squall more meticulously than he�d
normally allow himself to.

�Hey, I practically told him I was
in love with him... I suppose there really isn�t any need to play it cool in
front of him anymore. He knows, or
at least he should...�

�Love�...
he still couldn�t fully believe that he had actually blurted out that formerly
so dreaded word. Numerous lovers and flings from his past would�ve happily
cuffed and beat him into submission to force that overrated term out of his
reluctant mouth, but not Squall Leonhart - the attractive brunette could toss
his switches entirely without the aid of weapons, shackles or scary
psychedelics.

�I hate to say it, but right now
he�s comin� up on top. Worst of all, it�s my fuckin� fault to begin with. I
just couldn�t keep my fuckin' mouth
shut, could I?�

In the
end, however, Seifer didn�t feel nearly as bitter as he might�ve sounded inside
his head. Everything he'd told Squall had been perfectly true, and while his
revelations had of course put the blonde into a much more vulnerable position,
they had also made him stronger and braver in many countless, valuable aspects.

Aside from
that, his once so boring life had suddenly become a whole lot more exciting.

�Well, he certainly puts an
interesting twist to getting up and goin� to school in the morning, that�s for
damn sure. I mean, hell, I was actually looking
forward to it! Uh, to seeing him, that is. Not class, of course. Seriously,
though... the things I�m willing to put up with...!�

While the
blonde was revering in silence, Squall was studying him warily from his
unfavorable position that was about five inches below Seifer�s eye level. He
was somewhat surprised to find the blonde in such high spirits - grinning and
looking like he didn�t have one care in the world.

The older
youth�s disposition had definitely changed for the better since their last
encounter.

The day
before, after Seifer had caved and screamed his soul out at him at his house,
the typically nonchalant blonde hadn�t laughed or at least smiled even once. Instead, he had fallen into a bizarre state of
remorse and hugged him on the stairs like there was going to be no tomorrow
(... in fact, Squall�s ribs protested fervently at the mere memory of that
ironclad embrace).

But then,
after all that, Seifer had somehow reclaimed the custody over his emotions and
pulled himself and Squall into a standing position... if only to make all the
right promises bound to be broken.

�

� Flashback �

�Hey... How are you feeling?�

�... Fine.�

�Don�t lie to me. I told you - I
fuckin� hate it.�

�... I guess... I�m... I don�t
know. I feel... weird. I just don�t
know, okay...�

�Is your shoulder alright?�

�Yeah.�

�You sure?�

�Yeah. It doesn�t hurt anymore.�

�You want me to stick around until
your parents come home?�

�No. It�s alright. I�ll be fine. I
just... I think I�m gonna lay down for a while or something.�

�Right. I understand.�

�Hey, I... I�m not saying that I...
that I want you to get lost or anything, like I did the other day, but��

�Shhh. I know. Just take it easy.�

�I�m sorry. I didn�t...�

�You�ve got nothing to be sorry
for, Squall. Not a damn thing.�

�But you��

�Listen to me, kitten... I�m not
going to tell you that I didn�t mean what I said back there, because I did. I
meant every fuckin� word of it, although I admit that I shouldn�t have been
such a dick about it. See... like I said before, being around you can be a lil scary,
�cause I swear, you�re the most unpredictable guy I�ve ever met in my life. Then again, I guess I only find it scary
�cause I care about you. I mean, I... I really meant what I said... when I...
when I told you that I was... that I... uh...�

�...�

�Look... regardless of what I said,
I�m not asking anything from you. I don�t expect you to feel the way I feel,
I�m not that retarded. If you want me to stay the fuck away from you, I�ll do
that, alright? That�s your call. Is that what you want...?�

�... No. It�s not.�

�Okay. I�m glad you ain�t givin� me
the boot, I really am... and... and I promise I won�t yell at you like that
again. I know it was unfair and I�m sorry. I really am.�

�...�

�Well... okay... Anyway, I think
that�s all I have to say for now. So, I guess... I�ll see ya in school
tomorrow. Take a nap, you�ll feel better. Call me if ya need anything else.�

�... Okay...�

�Alright, see ya later, Squall.�

�... Wait.�

�Hm? What�s up?�

�Promise you won�t...�

�What?�

�...�

�Promise that I �won�t� what?�

�... Never mind.�

�... Hey. I know you�re scared. You don�t have to pretend that you aren�t. I�m
scared shitless, too, so it�s nothing to be embarrassed over, alright? I really
do like you, I wasn�t messing with
your mind. I�m not trying to fuck you over. I promise, okay?�

�...�

�Well... like I said, give me a
call if you need anything. I�ll have my phone on me. I don�t care what time it
is, just give me a ring if you need me.�

�Thanks...�

�It�s nothing. See ya at school,
Squall.�

�Yeah... See ya.�

� Flashback
End �

�

�... You
really aren�t listening, are you?�

Swaying
unevenly as he sealed the memory of the day before within the walls of his mind
once more, Squall forced himself to focus. Apparently, Seifer had walked a few
feet ahead and stopped to turn around when Squall hadn�t followed. The blonde
jock was still smiling, though less intently now, as if yesterday�s
complications were catching up with him at last.

�Somethin'
the matter or what?� Seifer asked him with a downplayed note of concern.

Squall
thought this a rather needless and provocatively stupid question, but he
decided to answer it anyway, even if his reply didn�t turn out to be any less
shallow.

�No.
Nothing.�

The
blonde�s jade green eyes were narrowed slightly and clinging to his frame,
eliciting in Squall the suspicion that Seifer wasn�t nearly as oblivious as he
pretended to be.

�Of course he�s not. He was there,
after all. How the hell could he not
be aware of how awkward this is? I feel like shit. I don�t even know what to
say to him!�

�You were
thinking about yesterday,� Seifer suddenly said quietly.

It wasn�t
a question.

Squall
furrowed his brows, trying to figure out how Seifer could be so damn demure about it. The brunette himself
had never had such a hard time devoting his attention span to something other
than a memory, and he felt anger welling up inside him at the thought of being
the only one in this �relationship� who was a pathetic pile of emotional
debris. A part of his chest contracted while he glared daggers at Seifer out of
sharp, moonstone grey eyes, digging for a reaction of any kind - whether
positive or negative, he didn�t even care anymore.

�Ah well,
whatever. Come on, let�s get going already, slowpoke,�
the blonde suddenly ordered bracingly. �There�s something I�ve gotta take care
of before class starts, so hurry it up.�

For a very
brief moment, Squall thought that there was a strange, significant undertone to
Seifer�s low, husky, �let-me-bed-you-right-fucking-now� voice. The blonde�s
nonchalant expression, however, didn�t falter one bit, causing Squall to
rectify his earlier impression and decide that he had to be hearing things.
Sporting a suitably irritated grimace, he hoisted his black backpack further
onto his shoulders, summoned his last bits of failing courage and set out to
follow Seifer towards the school building, not really knowing what to expect.

They
walked quietly by each other�s side, which did nothing to soothe Squall�s
agitated nerves. He could�ve sworn that he saw a couple other students looking
at them, probably asking themselves if Seifer was completely out of his mind;
how could he be walking right next to
the ice princess without turning into a big, blistering frost boil or getting
flat out dismembered, limb by limb? After all, Squall Leonhart was flaunting
his infamous nickname for very obvious reasons and his wayward temper had never
suggested that putting murder anywhere past him would be a very clever idea.

�Screw them.�

Frowning,
Squall lowered his head and crushed his lips to an aggressive line,
deliberately ignoring his environment while he submerged one balled up, gloved
hand into the pocket of his coat, the other still cradling his helmet. He could
see Seifer whenever he chanced a quick glimpse to his right, and the blonde�s
outline provided enough guidance for him to part his way safely through the
crowd without having to look up once to avoid a collision.

�Hey, are you
workin' today?�

Squall darted
a fleeting look to the side, realizing with rising frustration that although
Seifer was talking to him, he was looking
at anyone but him.

�... Screw him, too. He is fucking with me - he always has
been. It�s not like I didn�t know any better, either. Goddammit.�

�Yep,� he
clipped huffily, sounding perfectly callous without even having to try.

�After
school...?�

Again, the
brunette could distinguish a certain multi-facetted, elusive note to Seifer�s
carefully balanced inflection. His pride refused to let him reward the blonde
with another glance, but his voice softened when he shifted his grasp around
his helmet and finally replied, �Yeah. After school.�

�I see.�

Irritated
by Seifer�s worthless reply and reluctance to savor him with just one goddamn
look, Squall allowed his vindictive mood to darken yet another notch, and by
the time they had reached the inside of the school building, the brunette was
positively sulking. With a few jerky movements that didn�t exactly hide his distress, he yanked off his
gloves and stuffed them into his pockets, while reluctantly tailing after
Seifer through the corridors, glaring violently at anyone who was stupid enough
to meet his eye.

�Where the hell is he going? And
what�s it to me, anyway...? Asshole.
Why does he have to be so dense? I
fucking hate him...�

Of course,
�hate� wasn�t quite in the same spectrum of sentiments that Squall truly harbored towards the blonde, but
he was feeling cranky and acknowledging that he actually liked Seifer simply didn�t suit him right then. He hadn�t gotten
much sleep that night, and being forced to stomach Kato�s presence, after the
abusive man had eventually returned home in the company of Raine and Ellone,
had been nothing short of mental torture. Sure, Kato hadn�t made true to his
threat to drum his �lesson� any further into Squall for the time being, but at
that point, it had made little difference, anyway.

Kato�s
time would come eventually. It always did.

Squall had
spent all of that evening concealing that his shoulder was still imbued with
the aftershock pain of a relocated joint and that his pale skin was littered
with bruises - and the former had proved to be somewhat of a struggle. At one
point, a clueless Ellone had actually tugged on his left arm quite fiercely
because she had wanted him to play chase with her, and he had almost lashed out
at her in blind anger, it'd hurt that goddamn much. Fortunately, he had been
able to control the impulse and his family had bought into his fa�ade as they
always did, because Squall had a high tolerance for pain, a brilliantly
creative mindset and years of experience on his side.

He could
fool anyone.

Stalking
down a hallway that was gradually emptying as students filed into their
respective classrooms, Squall felt oddly reassured by that powerful, yet
self-destructive idea; knowing that he possessed the ability to trick people
into believing whatever he wished instilled the dark haired teenager with
something like a rush - a delusional feeling that he was invincible, no matter
how many scars he might one day take to his grave.

What he
didn�t understand, however, was that the ever shaky ground beneath his feet was
finally caving in completely, and he still hadn�t learned how to fly away from
it all.

He
probably never would.

�Here we
are.�

Jarred
from his transfixed state by the blonde�s abrupt and rather pleased sounding
announcement, Squall slowly looked up. When realization struck him and he
discovered where Seifer had led him during his stupor, his mood instantly
ascended new levels of foulness.

�What...?�

�Is this some kind of sick joke?�

While his
pulse beat a much flatter rhythm against his skin now, Squall stared at the
door of the lavatory he so often sought out when the nausea quaking in his
stomach became too much for him to bear; a twisted blend of the muscle cramps
caused by his stepfather�s onslaughts, as well as a general lack of food, sleep
and blood would frequently put him in that state of near-regurgitation when
only sheer willpower prevented him from throwing up wherever he so happened to
be standing, and this was the remote boy's lavatory he�d visit whenever he just
couldn�t take it anymore.

It
certainly wasn�t the kind of place he wished to be confronted with when his
sanity was already falling to pieces.

Squall
wasn�t aware of Seifer�s ignorance concerning the significance of this room,
even if he probably should�ve been - after all, how was Seifer supposed to know
of his distress? To the blonde, this was merely one of the spots where he had
encountered Squall - one that had stricken him as fairly isolated due to its
somewhat inconvenient location. And right now, isolation was precisely what
Seifer was in search of.

�Yeah,
yeah, I know, only chicks go to the bathroom together, but I really gotta go,�
the blonde declared with a cool smirk and quite more loudly than was necessary.
�C�mon.�

Squall was
bristling visibly when the older teen pulled the restroom door wide open and
tried to usher him inside. The brunette didn�t like the fierce determination
glowering in Seifer�s eyes, but he didn�t think that putting up a fight and
causing a scene in the middle of the hallway was quite an option, either. Thus,
while carefully steering clear of any physical contact with the blonde, Squall
finally squeezed past Seifer and disappeared inside the small, cubicle shaped
lavatory.

The
bathroom was empty from what he could see at first glance; there were no feet
protruding past the bottom of the two toilet stalls, and nobody was washing
their hands in the lonely sink. The sound of students chattering outside
finally died down when Seifer walked into the room after him and let the heavy,
metal door swing shut with a dull thud.

Biting
down on his lips, Squall stood a little ways away from the sink and mirror,
staring fixatedly upon the grey, patterned linoleum that covered the floor. The
walls around him were half painted in a beige color, half streaked with matte
white tiles; they were clean, but bland in look and feel, and worst of all,
they had stood silent vigil to his darkest, weakest moments far too many times.

�I don�t want to be here. I can�t stand it. This is too much, I�ve gotta
get out of here...�

Just as
the brunette was about to give in to that poignant flight impulse, he finally noted
the presence of a much taller and larger frame looming not too far from his
own. Albeit being perfectly aware of who the person shadowing him was, Squall
whirled around instinctively, his hand clamped around his helmet as if he had
every intention to use it as a weapon.

His body
froze, however, when his panicked gaze clashed with Seifer�s face. Despite his
rash movement, the blonde hadn�t retreated from him or moved aside to avoid a
collision. On the contrary, Seifer actually took a step forward, then another,
until he was almost touching Squall once more. It was then, when Seifer was
forced to lower his head to look down upon him due to their gap in heights,
that Squall ultimately realized the change in the blonde�s posture and
expression.

The unmoved,
slightly conceited look that had dominated Seifer�s face only minutes earlier
had been swapped for something entirely different.

�... You
really need to stop doing this to yourself, Squall.�

The
potential meaning behind that sorrowfully spoken order caused Squall to let out
a panicked sound somewhere between a gasp and a yelp.

..:: �Stop doing this to yourself.�
::..

�What�s he saying? Stop doing what? Wait a minute... no. No, he can�t
know, there�s no way. He can�t possibly
know why I usually come in here! He can�t.
He didn�t see anything last time. He has no fucking clue! But... then why is he
looking at me like that? This is bad...�

Squall
laced as much fake confidence and coolness into his tone as he could muster
when he smiled twitchingly and mumbled, �Huh? The hell? What are you talking a��

When his
back unexpectedly connected with the tiled wall behind him, Squall was actually
so surprised that he dropped his helmet with a clatter. He hadn�t realized that
his backpack had slid off his shoulder and he'd slowly edged away from Seifer,
probably due to the fact that the blonde had taken small, unobtrusive steps to
follow him and not let him out of reach. A frown was wrinkling Seifer�s
features when he extended both arms and firmly stemmed them against the wall to
the right and left of Squall�s face, thus restricting the startled brunette�s
movement.

Whether he
liked it or not, Squall had to admit that the blonde looked honestly concerned,
gazing at him like that out of unguarded eyes and tilting his head down in
order for them to be as physically close as possible. At that moment, the
danger of the situation and their openly insinuating pose didn�t even strike
him.

�I�m
talking about the way you just completely
shut down whenever anything upsets you,� Seifer explained calmly, smothering
Squall�s throaty, threatening growl with the unyielding strength in his voice.
�C�mon, you think I can�t tell when your emotions are goin� apeshit all over
the fuckin� place like they are right now?�

Squall was
squirming angrily in response, but there was no slipping past Seifer�s arms; he
was trapped like a beast in a cage, unable to move more than a few, trivial
inches.

�Bastard,
what the fu�� he snarled, but found the rest of his sentence cut off.

�Calm down
and let me fuckin� finish.�

Despite
the stern, commanding edge to his tone, Seifer was smiling kindly. Squall let
out a muffled snort of indignation, but eventually, he allowed his panic and
the urge to punch Seifer into a coma to slowly subside and digress into
something a little more bearable. Of course, the brunette still looked horribly
annoyed as he flattened himself against the wall, his backpack resting by his
left leg and his helmet laying abandoned somewhere to the right.

�Look,�
Seifer murmured, now inclining his head further until his cheekbones brushed
the soft wisps of hair that swept down along the shallow dip of Squall's
temple. �Nothing has changed since yesterday, okay? Not a goddamn thing. I like
you, remember? I just wasn�t sure how much overt friendliness you�d be okay
with, considering this is school and
shit. I wanted to play it safe, alright, that�s all there is to it. I didn�t
mean to mess with your head or anything. I know
that�s what you were thinking.�

Squall
screwed up his face and clenched his hands by his sides, still helplessly
sandwiched between Seifer�s torso and the wall behind him. The blonde�s breath
tickled his throat right where his pulse fluttered beneath his skin, but he
found that the sensation wasn�t quite as bothersome as it should have been.
Apparently, Seifer�s ingeniously chosen words of reassurance hadn�t failed
their purpose; the tightly laced lump in the left side of Squall�s chest was
disintegrating and his heart settled for a more peaceful rhythm when he came to
understand that just maybe, Seifer had honestly meant every word he had said.

�Whatever...�
the brunette finally sighed, the word arrogant in itself, its only purpose to
mislead Seifer in the same way that Squall had felt mislead. �Just shut up already...
Where are you getting all this stupid psychobabble bullshit from, anyway...?�

He was
surprised when Seifer provided him with no verbal response but gently took his
pale right hand into his own and directed it to his chest, where he wordlessly
placed it over his heart. Still saying nothing, Seifer simply contented himself
with staring down upon the perplexed brunette, his gaze filled with an
intensity that nearly dropped Squall to his knees. Gulping, the brunette
concentrated on the stoic, drum-like beating of life that was resonating
through the thick cotton of Seifer�s shirt beneath his palm, and that
peacefully intimate sensation finally forced him to surrender to the delicate
emotions that he had been trying so hard to deny.

�You
suck...� he whispered, his voice merely the husk of a sound as he rested his
head against Seifer�s collarbone, clearly admitting defeat when his lips were
upturned by a tiny smile he attempted to repress.

Grinning
happily into the mess of dark brown, cinnamon fragranced hair that he was
nuzzling, Seifer wrapped his arms around the small of Squall�s waist, not at
all discouraged by the reluctant limpness of the younger boy�s body and the way
that the brunette�s hand dropped down from his chest and back to his side. Truthfully,
Seifer really wanted to kiss the stubborn guy right now, but he was aware that
they were running out of time before the beginning of class. Once he�d have a
taste of the scrumptious dark haired boy's lips, it�d be decidedly difficult to
simply stop there and venture on to a long, boring math lecture.

Fortunately
(or less so), Squall suddenly altered the enticing angle at which he had been
resting his head and turned it sideways, away from Seifer. Sighing, the
seventeen year old cast a quick, unfocused gaze at nothing in particular,
searching simply for something besides
his classmate�s affection to funnel his attention to, when he suddenly cringed
in Seifer�s arms.

His blue
eyes had clashed with their identical twins the very instant that his aimless
glare had roved over the large, square mirror above the lavatory sink. Stunned,
he stared at his reflection for several long seconds as if he had never laid
sight on it before. Of course he was used to seeing his own mirror image
glowering back at him - eyes cold as frost, skin white as snow and filigree
features that he had hated ever since he could remember - but for some reason,
this was totally different from anything he had ever seen before.

He saw
himself with Seifer - two very
different bodies melted together in an embarrassingly intimate embrace of the
kind that only lovers should share. He could even see bits of Seifer�s handsome
features, green eyes closed blissfully and his sun-bronzed face just glowing
with serenity. For a moment, Squall truly believed that he was either looking
upon a perfectly painted picture or a fleeting snapshot of one of his more
pleasant, though no less haunting
dreams.

Either way,
the scene was far too sweet to be real.

The
feeling of Seifer�s thumbs rubbing idly over his hip bones, however, was very real; the blonde�s musky scent was
real, too. The feeling of his skin was real, his breath pouring like mist down
his neck was real, and although this made for a nice array of sensations
indeed, Squall was also finally struck by the likely danger of their current
position.

�Stop it,�
the brunette groaned as he turned away from their reflection, banishing it from
his mind. �Someone�s gonna come in...�

�No, they
won�t,� Seifer replied cannily and Squall could feel the blonde producing a
grin against his cheek. �I locked the door.�

Twitching,
the brunette made a rough sound low in his throat that could�ve easily been
interpreted as skeptic laughter and was in fact just that.

�Whatever,�
he snorted derisively. �You can�t lock
that door, stu-�

But he
broke off when his gaze traveled past the sloped pinnacle of Seifer�s shoulder
and towards that particular bathroom door. For some reason, he had never
noticed the small, iron padlock that could easily be flipped around to fasten
the entryway shut. Why on earth the school officials would allow such a mechanism on the main door of the boy's lavatory was
absolutely beyond his pragmatic
understanding; as far as Squall was concerned, teenagers couldn�t be trusted
any further than your ordinary, chainsaw wielding mass murderer.

�What the
hell?� he snapped, now pressing his forearms against Seifer�s chest to push him
away. �You can�t do that, asshole!�

The blonde
raised his shoulders lazily and merely continued to run his fanned-out fingers
along Squall�s lean midriff, sliding them into the back of the waistband of the
brunette�s jeans ever so slightly. The denim fabric was slack to his touch,
allowing his hands ample room to maneuver. Worried, Seifer wondered for a
moment whether Squall Leonhart really ate and weighed enough; he certainly
didn�t feel like it.

�I can and I did,� the blonde finally replied distractedly, while manually
summoning all of his willpower to keep his fingers from exploring too far down
Squall�s pants.

�Are you mental or what?� the younger boy lashed
out at him, his tone becoming high-pitched, throbbing with sudden anger as he
tried to ricochet back. �They�re gonna think we�re in here doing drugs or some crazy shit like that!
Goddammit! Get off me already!�

�Calm
down,� the blonde soothed, now tracing the arch of Squall�s spine with his
fingertips; to Seifer�s amusement, his touch didn�t even seem to register with
the pissy brat. �I just wanted a few minutes alone with you, that�s all. No
need to freak the hell out. Nobody's even tried
to get in yet.�

�Shut up,
and I�m not fucking freaking out!�
Squall spat, the barely constrained hysteria in his voice belying the words.
�Let me go! We�ve got class!�

To the
brunette�s sincere amazement, Seifer actually appeared to comply with his
order; the blonde slowly withdrew his hands from his torso, if only to let them
travel languidly to Squall�s face instead. With a cocked middle and index
finger, Seifer brushed away the long, silky bangs that always cascaded into Squall�s
grey eyes and gently smoothed them behind his ears. The dark haired boy was
staring up at him blankly now, his fury suddenly as unimportant as the bolted
door. Silently, Squall cursed Seifer and the magnetic, irresistible gaze out of
those damned hauntingly green eyes that had him rendered totally immobile.

�His face is so close... I can
smell his aftershave... and I can... almost...�

Squall
thought he knew exactly what was coming next and already found himself
shuddering in anticipation, but he was surprised yet again when Seifer merely
tilted his head down to him and pressed his soft lips to Squall�s forehead,
while his strong hands cupped either side of the brunette�s jaw, cradling it
gently.

�W-what...�

The
unexpectedly innocent kiss lingered on for a brief moment, distributing sudden
surges of warmth and content through every fiber of Squall�s averse body.
Although the contact was quite chaste, the brunette found himself savoring it
as much as any skillfully performed French kiss of Seifer�s, even if the
enjoyment it induced was of an entirely different kind; this wasn�t like sparks
of white-hot pleasure racing up and down his spine, striking his nerves like
high voltage lightning - it was more like the sensation of tender, petal-winged
butterflies delicately fluttering around in his stomach, pacifying the rage in
his heart.

Finally,
Seifer distanced his face inches from the younger boy�s, smiling in a slow,
cryptic sort of way at the passionate radiance in Squall�s eyes that blatantly
betrayed the brunette�s common pretense of being nothing but an emotionless
sociopath.

�I know
we�ve got class,� Seifer cooed gently, squinting one eye in a playful wink
before easing away completely. �Well, let�s go then, grumpy butt.�

Still
leaning limply and slack-jawed against the wall, a dumbfounded Squall was
trying to figure out whether Seifer had either gone completely round the bend or was simply getting a kick out of
teasing him like this. The heated expression on his angularly cut face and the
not-so-subliminal message in his fiery green eyes had suggested raw, carnal sex right then and there against one of
the toilet stalls, but the ensuing gesture had been as sweet and loving as one
could ever expect from an eighteen year old high school kid.

�I... just don�t get him at all.
He�s like a fucking angel and pervert, all rolled into one. It�s fucking killing me.�

Unconsciously
touching his forehead where Seifer had kissed him, Squall didn�t manage to pull
out of his stupor until Seifer bent down before him and picked his black helmet
off the floor.

�You
dropped this,� the blonde said, handing it to him with a suggestive purr.

�I-I know
that,� Squall hissed furiously, his face suddenly turning hot as his
embarrassment caught up with him. Frowning, he yanked the helmet out of
Seifer�s offering hand and quickly lowered himself to the ground to pick up his
backpack and hoist it upon his shoulder.

�Ready?�
Seifer asked, fully aware that his amused, taunting inflection was driving
Squall up the wall.

�Aww, c�mon, he�s so fuckin� cute,
how could I not tease him? It�d be
such a waste.�

He saw
that Squall was eyeing him warily as he rose back to full height, irritably
tugging on the hems of his black sleeves.
These were excessively long � obviously a cover-up for Squall�s wounds �
and Seifer pondered whether the brunette was wearing his wristbands underneath
them.

�That�d be way too
uncomfortable...�

Then
again, it wasn�t like Squall had much of a choice in the first place; his scars
were straight out obvious despite the
pallor of his skin and his fairly fresh cuts from only days ago even more so.

�He still hasn�t told me why he cuts himself,� Seifer thought inwardly, a scowl
now draped over his radiant complexion like a shadow. �I mean, he said he does it to stop hurting or something, but that
doesn�t make a whole lot of sense. What�s really going on? I have like, no
clue. Knowing him, he probably thinks this is none of my business, anyway.
Tche. Like I care. I�ll make it my
fuckin� business! I�m not going to just stand by and watch him fuck himself up
any more! No fuckin� way!�

Squall
noticed the fierce determination blazing like a forest fire across the glossy
emerald surface of Seifer�s eyes, not entirely certain how much he liked it.
Everything about Seifer seemed so polarized and excessive, really; his
diligence, though mostly admirable, almost bordered to fanaticism. Then again,
perhaps it simply took an extremist like Seifer to handle a difficult
personality like Squall�s.

�... Jeez, whatever. Seifer�s just
a big, mule-headed moron. It�s not like he deserves a medal for putting up with me, anyhow.�

Delivering
a half-hearted shove to Seifer�s side, Squall strode past the blonde and
quickly unlocked the door. The older boy was hot on his trail, snickering
something that sounded vaguely like �you hit like a little girl,� but Squall
was too eager to get out of this bathroom to take the blonde�s bait. With a
coolly bored sigh, he pushed the door ajar and passed through, resisting the
urge to let it fall shut in Seifer�s face as punishment for being such a cocky
prick.

The
hallway before them had emptied completely, suggesting that they had already
missed the sound of the bell. Squall, who Seifer figured had probably never
been late to a lecture in his entire life,
looked a tad bit unnerved, but too proud to say anything.

�How typical,� the blonde contemplated mockingly. �He�s like a human hyperbole - too proud,
too stubborn, too cool, too sensitive, too serious...�

Seifer
threw the brunette an explicit sideways glance that ultimately caused his sneer
to slip.

�... Too fuckin� hot. Blah. I�m tellin� ya, this is
punishment for all the hearts I�ve broken ever since I was eight. ... Seven.
Six and a half. Whatever! I�m serious, some Frankenstein asshole up there
picked the most heartless soul he could find, chose some disturbing neuroses to
match, planted it all in one fine ass, irresistible body and named it Seifer�s
Eternal Suffering - aka Squall Leonhart. I swear, I�m doomed. Someone better be
pitying me right now...�

With a
mourning sigh on his lips, Seifer cast another probing look at his silent
companion. Judging by Squall�s deadpan profile, the dark haired teen had no
idea how much his personality and looks were (and had been) on the older boy�s
mind. Seifer assumed that he was probably thinking about art, lions or
impossibly difficult math equations right now, infinitely clueless about his
stimulating effect on the blonde.

�Oh well, I guess things aren�t
looking too bad... it�s gotten better, anyway. We had a really bad start, after all. I didn�t hate him or anything... but
it certainly felt that way at times. He annoyed the piss outta me! Then again,
it only took him like six days to get me to admit that I�m fuckin� hooked on his shit. And him? The little fucker hasn�t given
away a damn thing! ... Nah, I guess I�m being unfair. He really has been
getting better. He�s pretty cute, actually. Even if he doesn�t say it, I can
tell he�s into me, at least a lil bit. He might be a good piece of work alright,
but I�ll get him to submit to my irresistible
charm one way or another.�

�What the
hell are you grinning about?� Seifer�s �good piece of work� suddenly bit tartly
as they ascended a set of stairs and strode down the last hallway before their
classroom. �We�re late, in case you
didn�t notice.�

�So?�
Seifer argued blithely.

��So� I hate being late, asshole,� Squall
answered, rolling his eyes.

The blonde
shrugged innocently. �It�s your fault for being so grouchy, ya know.�

�I didn�t
tell you to drag me to some stupid bathroom!�
Squall snapped back, but quickly sealed his lips when he realized that some of
the other classroom doors that lined the hallway stood wide open.

�I just
wanted to give you a proper greeting,� the taller youth leered. �You can�t tell
me that you don�t feel much better
now after getting a bit of mornin' lovin�.�

Squall
snorted a contemptuous negative and mimicked a grossed out shudder, but the
embarrassed spark in his eyes and flushing cheeks betrayed him in the end.
Seifer, who seemed to regard every moment he wasn�t teasing Squall as a moment wasted, leaned over to him as
they were walking and draped one arm heavily across the brunette�s shoulder.

�No
worries,� he purred close to Squall�s ear, grinning like a Cheshire cat, �I�m
saving the good smooches for later
today. Just you, me and some, uh... French
lessons, if you know what I mean. In fact, I�ll make you cry my name in all the languages of the world!�

Looking
nauseated, Squall tried to sneak out of the blonde�s smothering embrace by
issuing a feral snarl and delivering a few well-placed elbow jabs to Seifer�s
chest, but his struggles stilled immediately when he realized that during their
playful physical banter, the ornery teen had steered them straight into their
math class, which was already in full session.

They stood
dumbfounded in the doorway, Seifer�s arm still curled around Squall�s narrow
shoulders while a classroom of twenty or so fellow students gaped at them as if
they were the eighth wonder of the world. Even their puzzled teacher, Edea
Kramer, lifted a perfectly plugged ebony brow at the sight of her most antisocial student hanging in a boyish
sort of half-hug provided by the latest handsome jock addition of the D.C. High
senior class - the same jock, in fact, that Squall had exchanged fierce insults
with only one week ago.

�Well I'll be... isn�t this a
surprise now. And here I was thinking that those two sitting next to each other
might constitute a problem...�

Edea had
already figured that the two teenagers would either end up becoming mortal
enemies or the best of friends, at least judging by the intensely passionate way that they had instantly
interacted with each other. Right now, it seemed as if the boys were heading
for the latter of those two options, and this certainly caused her
philanthropic teacher�s heart to soar.

Back at
the doorway, the reality of nearly two dozen pairs of eyes ogling them finally
hit Squall in its entirety and he hastily shrugged Seifer�s arm off, hissing
�Let go, dumbass!� out of the corner of his mouth while straightening out his
motorcycle jacket.

He looked
like he just wanted to turn tail and never come back again.

Seifer,
however, merely showed off a wide, roguish smirk that stretched from one ear to
the other, before lazily raising his right hand in greeting.

�Hey,
people! Wassup?�

Squall
felt the burning desire to either hide his reddened face in shame or smack
Seifer hard across his own, but he managed to bite down both of those urges and
instead tried something like a wry, apologetic smile in the direction of their
teacher.

�Sorry,�
he grimaced, ignoring the snickers of some of his classmates in the background.
�We, erh...�

�It�s my
fault we�re late,� Seifer interrupted him with a casual inflection and an
expression of fashionable haughtiness, as if to emphasize that he was ever so
cool and had only put his arm around Squall for cheap pastime�s sake. For the
brunette�s sake, however, he was hoping fiercely that the scenario hadn�t
looked too awkward to anyone - not bearing in mind the small detail, of course,
that everyone in the room thought him a complete basket case for voluntarily
putting his arm anywhere near the creepy ice princess.

�Yes, so I
see,� Edea replied with a tiny smile, slowly twirling a red erase board marker
in her long, slender fingers. �Well, hurry up and sit down then. I�d like to
continue.�

�Sure
thing,� Seifer agreed graciously and strode off towards the back of the room, a
visibly mortified brunette in tow.

When they
trudged past Rinoa Heartilly�s desk, Squall found himself momentarily fazed by
the openly acidic look dragging on the girl�s delicate features as she watched
them passing by. The brunette boy hadn�t forgotten about Seifer�s escapade with
her at the playground on Friday night, but he was clueless as to whether the
blonde had spoken to her at all since that night. Frankly, he couldn�t see why Seifer would have avoided her;
needless to say, Rinoa was one of the most popular girls in school. Squall
witnessed other guys fawning over her on a day-to-day basis and, much to his
irritation, he always heard the jocks animatedly discussing her �assets� in the
locker room. Perhaps Seifer was different, most likely he wasn�t, but in either case, Squall couldn�t imagine Rinoa giving up
so easily on obtaining yet another
trophy for her ever-growing collection of strikingly hot boyfriends.

�Whatever. It�s none of my business
what she does with him or vice versa,� the brunette huffed inwardly as he tore his gaze from
Rinoa�s figure and continued on to his seat.
�I don�t fucking care.�

Frowning,
Squall semi-consciously placed his helmet on the window sill next to his desk
and eased out of his leather jacket to drape it over the back of his chair.
Trying to make as little sound as possible, he sank into the hard plastic seat
and scraped the metal chair legs over the linoleum, eyes fixed upon the front
of the classroom. He noticed the quirky cowboy with the long ponytail, Irvine
Kinneas, turning in his seat to throw him several outlandish glances, but he
decided to ignore the blatant look-over; the auburn haired teen had never
precisely struck him for his subtlety anyway, but rather the lack thereof.

�He was at the playground too,
wasn�t he...? Him, Rinoa and that other chick, Michelle, or whatever her name
is. Yeah, I remember now... they were talking to Seifer after he fell off the
jungle gym. I guess they must be friends or whatever, since I�ve seen them
hanging around each other quite a few times. Kinneas was with him at Ward�s,
too, come to think of it. Hmph. I wonder if Seifer really didn�t tell them
anything about what happened at the playground... I suppose he never claimed that he didn�t. I just sort of
assumed he�d be decent enough not to. What a dumb idea...�

A strange
kind of queasiness was suddenly lurching in his stomach, but he forced himself
to breathe slowly and consciously. He told himself over and over again that it
was alright; Seifer hadn�t paraded around gossiping about his cutting habits -
why the hell would he? After all, it
wasn�t that exciting of a topic and the blonde had (so far) proved to be quite
trustworthy.

Perching
his chin on his right elbow, Squall subtly turned his head to cast a quick
glimpse at his desk neighbor. He had sort of expected to find Seifer looking at
him, but to his astonishment, the eighteen year old was bowed low over his
table, scribbling something in his notebook.

�He's taking notes? You�ve gotta be shitting me. No fucking way!�

It
certainly did appear that way, because Seifer would periodically glance up at
the board in front of the class, then redirect his attention back to his paper.
Squall simply stared at the blonde in disbelief, one of his eyebrows lifting
further towards his hairline.

�Who would�ve thought... that guy
is full of surprises.�

Shrugging
softly, Squall decided to follow Seifer�s example and retrieved his notebook
and a pen from his backpack. Setting those utensils down before himself, he
stifled a tired yawn and trained his half-shuttered eyes towards his teacher,
when suddenly...

�... Ow...!�

Only
somewhat managing to suppress a startled yelp, Squall jumped in his chair and
cast a baffled look to the side. Something that had suspiciously felt like a
paper ball had struck his right temple, and he didn�t have to guess long on who
was to blame for the onslaught.

Seifer,
the culprit, winked at him with his right index finger folded flush against his
pursed lips. Just as Squall wanted to yell �Don�t tell me to be quiet, dipshit, you just threw something at
me!�, he noticed the blonde pointing slyly at something under his desk.
Growling, the brunette shifted his attention to the floor, finding the wadded
up piece of paper that Seifer had obviously used as ammunition.

�Dumbass, what the fuck was that all about? What a retard. How old
is he, five?�

Mouthing a
few silent insults at the blonde, Squall reluctantly bent down to fish the
stupid paper ball out from underneath his table. Up front, Edea was still going
on about some mathematical tangent; apparently, she hadn�t noticed Seifer
launching stuff from one desk to another.

�Too bad. Watching him get an ass
chewing might�ve been semi-entertaining,� Squall mused to himself as he absentmindedly
unfolded the piece of paper and glinted at it as if it was nothing but a
nuisance to him.

Apparently,
Seifer hadn�t been taking notes after all, because there was a message
scribbled across the paper in a very sloppy handwriting that Squall recognized
immediately from his task of correcting the blonde�s homework at the spring the
week before. Parts of the message had been crossed out, then re-written, and it
took the brunette a moment to decipher the few legible words he could actually
unearth.

�

�Sup Sunshine -

How�s the air over there? Class is
fuckin� BORING as shit. I need
another vacation. Anyway, wanna come to the Alclad with me on Friday after
school?

�

Frowning
irritably, Squall turned to a still grinning Seifer and wordlessly shook his
head as he folded the note into a neat little square and stuffed it into his
pocket. He didn�t know why Seifer would ask him on a trip to the Alclad Mountains,
but he most certainly had no
intention of going. He was planning on working that day, and spending too much
time in Seifer�s company sounded like a bad idea to begin with.

The blonde
was eyeing him suspiciously, his brows knitted together when he realized that
his invitation had been shot down, before his face suddenly lit up and he
resumed hovering over his notebook, obviously to prepare another note of some
kind.

�Oh jeez, what�s he up to now...?�

This time
around, Squall managed to intercept Seifer�s throw. He caught the second paper
ball nonchalantly in his hand before it could have struck his head again or,
worse, landed on someone else�s desk. The girl in front of him turned very
slightly to see what they were up to, but Squall demonstratively paid her no
attention. Edea, apparently, was still unaware of their actions, and at this
rate, the brunette preferred to just keep it that way.

�This is like fucking kindergarten.
The last thing I need is for her to read the notes out loud in front of
everyone or some crap like that.�

He
carefully un-wadded the second message and read it with newly aroused
annoyance.

�

Why not? Scared of heights, huh?

Figures.

�

Again,
Squall shook his head at Seifer, if more violently now and with distinct
dislike brooding on the surface of his piercing blue eyes.

Tche.
�Scared of heights?� Seifer didn�t know a thing.

Then
again, perhaps that was simply a given, considering that the blonde was blessed
with the IQ of a goat.

�Scared of heights... whatever.
Dumbass. I don�t care if lobotomies have gone out of style, there�s gotta be a
fucking ice pick out there that has Seifer�s name on it.�

To the
brunette�s sincere bewilderment, Seifer was grinning at him now, his face
framed by fine, short tresses of crop-colored hair. Feeling his skin flushing
for no apparent reason, Squall quickly made the note disappear in his pocket
once more, while Seifer silently worked on creating his third masterpiece.

When a
visibly reluctant Squall ultimately received his next and last message, it
turned out to be rather short in length, but far more irritating in nature than
the other two that had preceded it.

�

Prove it, princess.

�

Although
Squall technically knew better than to fall for a cheap challenge like that,
his pride very much told him differently. He was not afraid of heights, thank you very much - he�d climbed the
tallest, scariest trees in the park by his mother�s old apartment as soon as
he�d been able to walk on his own chubby little legs, and he had the scars to
prove it, too. As for mountains... he figured that he knew Alclad far better than his stupid, pig-headed
classmate ever would. There were some
very windy and twisting roads up there that Squall loved to race up and down
with his motorcycle, but he pretty much doubted that Seifer�s truck would be
able to keep up.

�Alright then, have it your way.
We�ll see just who is scared of what
here...�

Sneering,
Squall clutched one of his pens and jotted down a response on the heavily
creased note that he chucked back at the blonde so forcefully that it almost
landed at the other end of the room. Fortunately, Seifer�s catching skills got
their moment in the limelight, too; with a stifled gasp, the blonde snatched
the small paper ball out of the air and flattened it across his desk, looking
curious as he read Squall�s ballsy reply.

�

Fine. I�ll come with you, prick.
Can you fuck off now?

�

With a
satisfied grin etched on his face and an unsettling spark in his eyes, the
blonde shifted in his chair and gave Squall a perky nod. The brunette himself
looked pretty bored, as if Seifer was just an annoying brat he was forced to
watch over and keep out of trouble or something along those lines. Fine, so
they were going to Alclad together - whatever. Squall snorted cynically to
himself. Perhaps the trip would be more fun than his typical waiting duties at
�Ward�s�, and most likely so, but either way, he�d show Seifer once and for all
that he was no one to be messed with
lightly.

�Scared of heights my ass...�

Heeding
the eighteen year old with a last long, snide glare, Squall finally
straightened up and turned inwards again, his eyes fixed upon the front of the
classroom without really seeing anything. Seifer noticed this, of course; he
could tell that Squall�s mind was somewhere far away, but how in the world the
brunette managed to rake in Edea�s mathematical blabber anyway was absolutely beyond the blonde�s comprehension.

�He�s an academic wonder, I tell ya. Smart to boot and
he�s not even tryin�... It�s really
fuckin� unfair.�

Letting
out a sigh, Seifer studied the blank, college ruled notebook before him and the
ballpoint pen in his hand.

�Ah... fuck. I suppose I might as
well...�

�Man, that
was fuckin� long as hell! God!�

Rolling
his eyes, Squall watched how Seifer was stretching heartily in his chair,
almost tipping it over backwards. Admittedly, the math lecture had been very
boring indeed, but Seifer was in no position to complain - after all, he had
fallen asleep halfway through the length of the lesson. Squall figured that if
he hadn�t kicked Seifer awake after the bell had already sounded, the blonde
would most likely still be snoozing
soundly and never notice a thing.

�You�re
lucky you don�t snore,� Squall declared scathingly as he stood in front of his
desk, shoving his books into his backpack. �I was sort of hoping you�d get
caught.�

�I figured
as much,� Seifer snickered back. �That�s just like you, ya lil sadist punk.�

The
brunette snorted a laugh. �What? You thought I was gonna watch out for you or somethin'?�

�Nope,
�cause that would�ve been the nice
thing to do. I know you�d rather see me get into trouble.�

�...
Whatever. Be thankful that I woke you up at all.�

While he
gathered his belongings and shrugged into his jacket, Squall wondered for a
moment whether any part of their verbal banter let on the fact that Seifer had
hugged and kissed him less than two hours ago in the boy's lavatory.
Realistically, they probably didn�t even sound like friends, but then again,
their spectacular arm-in-arm entrance would�ve suggested otherwise.

�That was so dumb. What the hell
was he thinking, anyway?�

Looking
up, Squall suddenly caught a glance of Rinoa standing motionless next to her desk,
her brown eyes fixed on Seifer in a psychotic kind of way. She had never struck
him as the type of girl who would obsess over one single guy when she could
have twenty, but her outlandish
expression certainly belied that impression.

�I wonder...�

The
brunette studied her unsurely from behind his choppy bangs, while pretending to
be looking for something in his bag. Seifer had finally removed his ass from
the chair and was packing up noisily on Squall�s right.

Rinoa was still staring.

Finally,
the dark haired girl whipped around, sighing loudly in frustration as she
knocked her shoulder into Irvine,
who had been weaving his way towards the back of the room. The cowboy looked
mildly confused over the rough physical contact and had to pause momentarily to
adjust the tilt of his Stetson, before he continued his approach to Seifer�s
and Squall�s tables. Seifer, apparently, had witnessed the scene, too, because
he let out an unkind chuckle.

�Man, who
the hell rained on her little Barbie
parade, anyway?�

�Eh, I
think you did, mate,� Irvine declared with a
good-natured smile as he stopped short between the two boys. ��Sup, Seifer?
Hey, Squall.�

Squall
opted not to say anything at all and instead flirted with the idea of bolting
to the door while he still could. Whenever he saw Irvine, he wanted to shove a large, obtrusive
object down the cowboy�s throat just to keep him from opening his stupid mouth.
Perhaps the auburn haired teen wasn�t a bad
person per se, but he more than made up for that lack in character flaws
with annoyance.

�I�ve lost enough brain cells on
Seifer, and now here he comes. I�m
fucking outta here.�

�What do
you mean, I rained on her parade?�
Seifer asked incredulously, closing the zipper of his rucksack.

The cowboy
shrugged.

�Well, she
kinda has a crush on ya or something, dude.�

Squall
couldn�t decide whether his brain was already down for the count or if he was
simply too interested in this conversation to march off and take his leave.
Either way, he continued to feign flipping through the books and notepads in
his bag, though he actually chanced a look at Seifer this time, who was
frowning haughtily at the spot where Rinoa had stood only seconds before.

�She�ll
get over it,� the blonde grunted carelessly, not entirely willing to delve any
deeper into the topic when Squall was in earshot. The last thing on his agenda
was to upset the brunette again, especially over something as meaningless as a
night out at the club with the class bimbo.

�Well,
see... I was wondering... �cause a buddy of mine said he saw you driving around
town with a dark haired chick on Saturday,� Irvine commented, quite cannily even. �I take
it that wasn�t Rinoa, then, huh?�

�Like hell it was.�

Squall
cringed visibly when Seifer suddenly flipped his thumb to the left to point it
rather unambiguously in his direction.

�Besides,
that wasn�t a chick to begin with,�
Seifer lilted, a lazy smirk playing on his lips as he jabbed his finger towards
Squall repeatedly. �It was Mr. Icy Balls over there.�

�Wha- really?� Irvine blinked, looking from Seifer to Squall
with a curious air as he pushed his Stetson back just slightly for better
purchase.

�Why don�t
you put a fuckin' cork in it, Almasy,� Squall hissed, now jamming his books
back into the bag. �Jackass.�

�Aww. See,
he�s always so nice to me,� Seifer
joked.

�Fuck off
and die.�

The
brunette blew against the rogue strands of hair falling into his face, looking
irritable. He neither liked the way Irvine
was watching him now, nor how Seifer was still laughing as if this matter was
actually amusing. At this rate, Seifer would probably be parading around and
sharing details of how he had had his tongue down Squall�s throat before long.

�I�ll kill him. I swear to God, his
ass will be dismembered and thrown in a garbage bag if he tells anyone.�

Meanwhile,
Irvine was
trying to make sense of Seifer�s words and Squall�s scowl. He did find that the
brunette was talking a lot more than he usually would, although his speech
consisted of little more than angered growls and bitchy insults. Then again,
Squall had always been a bit odd,
even before he had gone all icicle on everyone � even on those who may have
once called themselves his �friends'. Puberty certainly hadn�t enhanced his personality, that much was
for sure.

�He wasn't too bad before... some
years ago, anyway. He was always nice when all the other kids made fun of my
mom... I think he even defended me a
couple times. He always was pretty
decent. If he hadn�t turned into such a dipshit, I�m sure we�d still be friends.
He does seem to be getting along with Seifer, considering they waltzed in here
all buddy-buddy and what not. That was certainly, eh, different. I wonder if they have something goin' on...�

�What
about Michelle, anyway?� Seifer derailed the cowboy�s train of thought, who
looked slightly dumbfounded at the question.

�Wha-?
Her? Oh. Eh. Naw. She�s really kinda boring,� Irvine explained, noting with surprise how
Squall was suddenly sneering at him in a disturbingly pleased fashion. Of
course, the brunette boy was sort of
like friends with Selphie... he�d naturally get a kick out of hearing how Irvine�s sidelong flings
were nipped in the bud. �I like to rope my girls in, ya know. If there�s no
challenge involved, then it just ain�t any fun. Besides, the crazy broad called
me like fifteen fucking times on
Saturday! Talk about desperate, dude.
I almost had her number blocked!�

�I told ya
to wait until Selphie gives it up. Once a girl thinks you�re willing to change
for her, she�s jelly in your hands.�

�Yeah,
yeah, I know,� said Irvine,
his voice trailing off miserably.

�... Oi,
Squall, where ya goin�?�

The quiet
brunette had attempted to sneak by Irvine
and somehow disappear out of sight, but he stopped short when he realized that
he had attracted Seifer�s attention despite his efforts. Sighing, he turned
around and glared at the blonde from over his shoulder.

�Gym
class,� he declared coolly, clutching his arms in front of his chest.

�Let�s go
together, then,� Seifer decided adamantly, and much to Squall�s dismay.

�I have to
get my gym bag from the parking lot,� the brunette bristled.

�So do I.�

For a
moment, Squall wondered whether he could pass off throwing his helmet at the
blonde as an accident. What the hell was wrong
with that guy, anyway? They weren�t fucking Siamese
twins or anything, so why was the annoying blonde practically attached to
his hip all of a sudden?

..:: �I like you, remember?� ::..

..:: �I like you.� ::..

..:: �I like you.� ::..

..:: �I like you.� ::..

..:: �Like you, like you, like you,
like-� ::..

�Ugh, shut up! I got it, alright! Goddammit.�

Wincing in
silent despair, he gave in to the cajoling voices in his head and made no
second attempt at leaving Seifer in the dust. Instead, he waited semi-patiently
while the blonde hoisted his backpack upon his shoulders and trotted down the
aisle between the chairs and tables to follow him.

Irvine, of course, was hot on their
trail.

�Great, now I get to deal with the
demented cowboy, too. What on earth have I gotten myself into...?�

�Oh heeey,
by the way, you guys got dates for the ball yet?�

�... Oh god. Why can�t that fucking
nutjob ever keep his stupid mouth shut?�

�The
�ball�? Huh? What ball are you talking about?� Seifer asked blankly as they
filed out of the classroom and slowly trudged down the hallway, all three of
them side by side with a very reluctant Squall on the left and a cheerful
blonde in the middle.

�Homecoming,
man,� Irvine
exclaimed gleefully. �It�s Friday, two weeks from now. Ya didn�t see the announcement
on the school billboard?�

�Nope...
must�ve missed it,� Seifer replied slowly, suddenly sounding pensive. Squall
wasn�t sure how much he liked that changed inflection in the blonde�s tone; it
usually meant that the guy�s brain was concocting some new kind of catastrophe
that Squall definitely had no desire
to be part of.

�Of course he�s gonna want to go to
the stupid dance... he�s a fricken jock
after all. They flock to each other like flies to fucking road kill, it�s not
even like they need a special occasion. Tche. Whatever. I don�t give a fuck.
He�ll probably take Rinoa or some other annoying halfwit. Suits me just fine,
anyway. Him and the cowboy can take each
other for all I care!�

No matter
how indifferent or cold-blooded Squall tried to seem on the outside, deep down
he really didn�t want Seifer to go out with anyone. Acknowledging this,
however, was still too difficult for him; he had grown oddly attached to the
blonde in an extremely short amount
of time, and he considered it categorically unsafe to get too emotionally involved too fast. He wished he could force his
heart to isolate itself against these feelings, to simply not care as much, but
the damned thing no longer listened to his commands and had instead developed
an agenda of its own. Seifer was tearing down walls that had taken Squall
nearly seven years to maintain, and
apparently, some part of the brunette was thoroughly pleased over this sudden
twist in his life.

The rest
of him, of course, wasn�t.

�So,
Squall... you goin' with anyone?� Irvine
lilted.

Squall
slowly turned his head at the cheerful question and chose to regard Irvine with an icy glare
that was as long and cold as a Siberian winter�s night. That single look
rendered a vocal reply completely redundant, and the cowboy (to Squall�s mild
surprise) apparently got the hint, because he paled a shade or two, let out an
awkward laugh and quickly changed the topic of their conversation.

�Eh, yeah,
uh... woo, that was a long class, wasn�t it? One down, three more to go. Hehe...
uhm... yeah... Oh, here we are! You�ve got gym class now, right? I, eh, guess I
better get to choir then,� he muttered, waving at them when they had reached
the top of the stairwell that writhed down to the ground floor. �See ya,
fellas.�

�Later,
Irv,� Seifer replied neutrally as he watched the cowboy take off towards the
other end of the hallway.

Meanwhile,
his antisocial brunette friend was already jogging down the stairs, seemingly
determined to increase the distance between himself and Seifer. The blonde, of
course, wasn�t shaken off quite so easily, as Squall found out for himself when
he felt Seifer prodding him into the side playfully.

�You
tryin' to run away from me or somethin'?� Seifer asked unnecessarily.

�I�m
getting my gym bag.�

�Yeah, but
that�s no reason to take off in a full blown sprint,� the blonde chided. �See, I�m still panting from tryin' to
catch up with ya! Keep fucking around like this and I�ll have a fuckin� heart
attack and you�ll be the one having
to do CPR.�

�Not in
this lifetime, perv.�

�What? You
wouldn�t do CPR on me? So you�d just let sweet little adorable me die a long,
slow, agonizing death?�

The
brunette bared his teeth and hissed, �No, if you keep pestering me I�ll get a
gun and ease your parting...�

Clutching
his heart, Seifer heaved a mock sob and threw himself halfway on Squall�s
shoulder, who gasped and almost buckled beneath the weight.

�Man, you�re heartless,� the blonde wept
theatrically, though his fiendish smirk more than gave him away. Squall,
groaning laboriously, tried and failed to shove Seifer away and into a random
group of students that they passed in the hallway. Forced to wobble along and
ignore the curious looks that they received, the brunette was relieved when
they reached the door and Seifer graciously removed himself from his shoulder.

�Quit
hangin' all over me,� Squall snarled as he slammed one of the swinging door
panels open and strode off towards the parking lot. �You pest.�

�Why?�

�Everyone�s
staring at us like this is a goddamn freak
show!�

�So? Let
�em stare their fuckin� eyeballs out.
I don�t give a shit.�

While they
were walking down the winding concrete path, Seifer realized that he was at
least faintly surprised over his own foolhardy attitude and flirty behavior
that, in due time, was calculated to start the wheels of the rumor mill. At his
old school, he had harbored no interest in engaging in any kind of PDA with his
lovers, whether they were male, female or anything in between. Physical contact
that didn�t involve him getting his
rocks off had always been more of a chore, anyway; unless it was for the sake
of a good bump and grind, he had never been the touchy-feely type of guy who
always needed to grope and kiss his significant other.

Then
again, when had his �others� ever been �significant�
in the first place?

Looking to
his right at Squall�s perfect profile silhouetted against the cloud-dusted sky,
it was suddenly clear to him that his view on relationships was not the same as
it once had been - not with this guy, anyway. Seifer couldn�t suppress those
strong surges of affection that came over him whenever he thought of the
brunette - moreover, he really didn�t want
to suppress them. He wanted to kiss Squall, taste him, feel him, hold him
close... grab him and fuck his sanity into sweet oblivion. Yeah, alright - that
particular urge was there and as strong as it always had been. Still, this was
no longer merely about satisfying that primal instinct of his; for the first
time, the blonde felt like he would break
apart if Squall was suddenly erased from his life - if he couldn�t see him,
talk to him and touch him anymore.

Perhaps
'Irvine the babe-slayer' had been right in one aspect - things didn�t really
get exciting in the romance department until there was a true challenge involved,
and Squall sure was a challenge if
Seifer had ever seen one.

�How long
are you working today?� he asked, giving the subject of his musings a cute
smile when the brunette turned to him as they were walking.

�Until
six.�

�Mind if I
stop by?�

Squall�s
stride slowed at that question and he lowered his head in uncertainty, before
refocusing his view on his bike that was somewhere straight ahead of them. So this was why Seifer had asked about his
work schedule earlier this morning... Because he wanted to come by to see him?
Somehow, that thought hadn�t even occurred to him before. It was strange that
the blonde would ask his permission, since he usually seemed to do whatever he
pleased without bothering with anyone
else�s feelings.

�You don�t
want to see me, eh?� Seifer sighed, feigning hurt. �That�s cool. I understand.�

�No,
that�s... not really it...�

Despite
his earlier annoyance over the blonde�s immature behavior, Squall still
couldn�t deny that he was smitten by the way Seifer seemed to care for him so
genuinely. Typically, the eighteen year old football player acted the part of
an arrogant asshole, but he certainly had his sweet moments - especially when
he was alone with Squall.

�So you
don�t mind?� the blonde gently probed further.

�I don�t
care...� Squall grunted, his forcibly frigid tone not entirely convincing. �Do
whatever you want.�

Seifer
smiled unconsciously at that reply. In the course of the past week, he had
learned that Squall would never explicitly
agree to anything - thus, the fact that he didn�t disagree with the idea of the blonde visiting him at work was as
much consent as the emerald-eyed youth would realistically be able to coax out
of him.

In any
case, he was thoroughly satisfied.

They
halted once they had reached Squall�s bike and the brunette retrieved his gym
bag, which he had strapped to the back of his seat. Seifer wondered momentarily
whether his younger friend wasn�t worried about anyone stealing his belongings
- but then again, his own workout stuff was laying on the flat bed of his
truck, easily accessible by anyone. Frankly, Seifer didn�t care whether his gym
clothes would get nicked or not; he happily welcomed any excuse to buy new
outfits, if only because he�d gotten bored with his old ones.

�You can
put your stuff in my truck, if you want,� he suggested when he noticed that
Squall was going to lug around both his heavy book bag and the workout attire
he had just picked up. �I mean, I�m guessing you don�t wanna leave all your
books out here, right? That�s just asking
for trouble.�

As
expected, the brunette shook his head.

�I�m
fine.�

�Your shit
looks heavy.�

�I can
handle it,� Squall snorted back, his voice edged with irritation.

�Why
�handle it� when you can leave it to me, princess? You just love makin� it hard on yourself, don�t
ya?�

The dark
haired boy opened his mouth to hiss another snappy remark, but a sudden jab of
pain in his left shoulder caused him to change his mind and remain silent.
Admittedly, the weight of both of his bags combined was indeed a bit too much for his sore joint, which was protesting
vehemently. Perhaps he should leave
his books in Seifer�s truck, but...

Sighing,
he sucked his bottom lip between the front row of his teeth and started
chewing, trying to relieve his anxiety with that near painful oral fixation. He
knew well enough why it was so difficult for him to accept the blonde�s help,
even regarding something as trivial as this, but he certainly didn�t know what to do about it. Squall
didn�t want to seem any weaker or more vulnerable than he already did,
especially around Seifer; the blonde always acted so fucking dominant and in control, as if he was
used to getting exactly what he wanted and knew just how to go about it if, for some reason, he didn�t. Seifer was hard
to resist and even harder to push away, and every girl in their class seemed to
be fucking crazy about his stupid
jock ass.

�I wonder who he�s going to take to
that fucking dance. I�m surprised none of the girls has asked him yet. They
don�t usually waste this much
time...�

�You look
like you took a square bite out of a lemon,� the subject of Squall�s
reflections suddenly chuckled. �What�re you thinking about, huh?�

Cringing,
Squall met the blonde�s brilliantly green gaze, which was sparking with
amusement. For a second, the brunette was seriously worried that Seifer could
read his thoughts, before he recalled that this was absolutely impossible.
Switching his gym bag from his left hand into his right, he fought down the
blush that threatened to tinge his cheeks and regarded Seifer with a cutting
gaze.

�None of
your business,� he clipped
defensively. �Where�s your stupid truck?�

Squall
tried to deny the fact that he had repeatedly pondered the Homecoming Dance and
whom Seifer was going to take along as his date. It was fucking embarrassing. These kinds of thoughts
were entirely inappropriate for a guy. Yeah, so he liked Seifer a tiny, miniscule little bit - what of it? They
weren�t dating or something ludicrous
like that, so what did it matter what
Seifer did, and with whom? The last thing Squall needed in his life was a
fucking boyfriend, and besides, he wasn�t gay or anything to begin with.

He didn�t
care.

And yet...
when Seifer led the way to his vehicle, Squall didn�t once question why he
willingly tagged along and kept closer to the blonde than he ever did to
anyone. It seemed natural all in itself; something he had never learned but knew how to do. Although he still didn�t
trust Seifer, precisely, he was
beyond the point where he sensed danger and betrayal behind everything the
blonde said or did. For now, Squall was willing to go with the flow and let
himself drift a little ways into the unknown, even if he�d never be able to
fully ignore the fear that constantly lurked in the back of his mind.

�Why does this shit have to be so complicated...? I don�t get it at all!
I don�t like him, but at the same time, I do. What�s wrong with me?�

Pushing
back that question, which had pretty much been eating away at him ever since he
had met the interesting blonde teen, he watched how Seifer retrieved his gym
bag from the flat bed of his flame red truck. The blonde then proceeded to
unlock his driver door and turned around to perform a demanding hand gesture in
Squall�s direction.

�Your
bag,� the eighteen year old ordered curtly, causing a disgruntled Squall to
thrust the heavy backpack and attached motorcycle helmet into his arms, which
instantly knocked the wind out of Seifer. �Ow! Hey, the fuck's in here, a dead body?!
Thanks for almost ripping my arm off there, Squall.�

�Anytime,�
Squall replied with a small, feral grin as he coolly smoothed his hair out of
his eyes.

Chuckling
despite his aching ribcage, Seifer stuffed both of their bags into his vehicle
and locked it once more. For some reason, this whole incident reminded him of
one time in middle school when a girl he had been �dating� had asked him to
carry her heavy books for her and he had straight out laughed in her face for
it. Needless to say, their little "relationship" hadn�t lasted very
long and the heartbroken girl had only spoken to him again to call him a �rude,
heartless baboon�.

�... I wonder what�s different from
back then. The fact that Squall would never ask me to carry his books for him or the fact that I�d willingly do it anyway? ... Both, I guess.
Everything�s as different with him as it possibly ever could be with anyone
else. Not that I�m complaining...�

Scratching
his neck with four long fingers, Seifer lazily approached his companion, who
had returned to the sidewalk and was waiting for him with a bored frown on his
pretty features. The sardonic grimace could have fooled many into believing
that Squall was either feeling very annoyed or very angry, but Seifer wasn�t so
easily tricked; in reality, his dark haired friend wasn�t any good at
pretending to be in a bad mood when he actually wasn�t.

�All set?�
the blonde asked while angling himself down to Squall just barely as he stepped
upon the elevated sidewalk.

The
younger boy nodded an affirmative and scooted two steps out of the way,
apparently worried that Seifer might kiss him or do something similarly
embarrassing. The blonde, however, did nothing of the like as he set off
towards the school building once more, although Squall, who was walking next to
him, would have been in perfect reach of his hands and lips had he done so much
as tried.

�If it wasn�t for all these losers
flatdicking around the parking lot... and those big ass classroom windows over
there... then I might just have gone for it. He�s lookin� kinda willing, if I might
say so myself. Oh well, postponed isn�t abandoned.�

�... I�m
hungry.�

Squall
rolled his eyes at the unexpected remark and watched how Seifer was patting his
belly rather sadly. Judging by the blonde�s shape and lean muscle mass, he
probably worked out at the gym quite often and required appropriate amounts of
food, but his whiny tone was just downright pathetic.

�It�s
almost lunchtime,� the younger grumbled as they filed into the building and
made their way to the locker rooms.

�I�ll be starved by then,� Seifer replied, his
typically growling voice ascending new levels of misery.

�Whatever.�

�Seriously,
Squall, I�m hungrier than a fat bitch in a buffet line!�

The pale
boy shot Seifer a look of pure disgust out of steel grey eyes, seeming rather
appalled by the blonde�s colorful comment. Seifer, who had noticed this,
grinned down at him.

�What?� he
asked smugly. �Never heard that one before?�

�No,�
Squall replied with a cold sneer raking over his lips as he adjusted the
position of his gym bag on his right shoulder. �Must be jock speak.�

�What�s that supposed to mean?�

�Figure it
out for yourself.�

�No,
seriously, tell me,� Seifer implored insistently. �I wanna know. Come on...
enlighten me.�

The
brunette sighed wearily in response, before he clutched his arms in front of
his chest and drew his brows together.

�I�m not
like you or your jock friends,� he pressed. �That�s what it means.�

�So? It
doesn�t matter if you�re like me, as
long as you like me, right?�

The weird
candor of that comment drove Squall�s poor head to spin. He most certainly wasn�t the same type of person as
Seifer, but perhaps that truly wasn�t that important; their differences pretty
much seemed to define their relationship and it actually wasn�t so bad.
Realistically, Squall was never going to find someone precisely akin to
himself, but that had never been his desire in the first place, anyway. For all
his annoying cockiness, impertinent demeanor and klutzy charm, Seifer actually was quite likable.

�I�m
right, ain�t I?� Seifer drawled impishly.

�You�re a
fucking idiot.�

Seifer
snickered at the catty retort, but refrained from saying anything further and,
consequently, digging his hole any deeper. Squall was so hauntingly beautiful
even when he was being a cranky, PMSing bitch - or pretending to be one, for
that matter - that his hotness factor had Seifer�s insolence rather quenched.
The morning had progressed surprisingly well, thus far, and the blonde wasn�t
about to push his luck. In return for Squall�s company on his little trip to
Alclad � and others that were to follow � Seifer was in fact perfectly willing to behave himself.

... Sort
of, anyway.

That
morning had marked the one week anniversary of their acquaintanceship, which
couldn�t be defined any more clearly than that by either one of them. Some
outsiders might regard them as friends, particularly on this day when they
almost seemed inseparable, but Seifer would never be satisfied with such a mere
platonic relationship between them - frankly, neither would Squall.

This
wasn�t their first meeting, but this day felt like the beginning of something infinitely
significant that neither of the boys could quite describe or explain, but that
they wanted all the same. They would
attempt to forget the ways in which they had hurt each other, and instead they
would focus on the feelings buried deep within their hearts that had once been
shut down for very different reasons. Seifer had never known love - he�d never
even scratched the surface - and Squall was forgetting how to live, but perhaps
together, they would be able to guide each other on their way.

Whether
they would succeed or not, only time could tell, but this was all they could do
in order to wipe the slate clean and free themselves from the shackles of a
dark future that, one week ago, had seemed inevitable.
- 17
- 18
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Whispered Screams