Love at Angels’

Rinny Leonheart

A request from Angel Wing Rinoa777, my first request fic to be exact, which means that it will contain multiple chapters, and multiple lemons if you guys are lucky enough! LOL!

Summary: Squall Leonheart is a normal student at Deling University. His attitude towards others is nothing but cold and unwelcoming. His two best friends Seifer and Irvine decide to take him out for his nineteenth birthday to cheer him up. And not just anywhere. They take him to Deling’s famous strip club Angels’ where he sees a true angel who shouldn’t even be stripping. He goes everyday just so he can see her and begins to fall for her deeply… Squinoa with a little Seiftis and Selvine.

Forgive the delay in many of my updates. I’ve been working and recently met someone at my new activity- Modern Jive Dancing. As you can see I’ve been busy. And just recently I had to deal with an act of plagiarism on my best known fic No Matter What. All should be sorted now but forgive me for not updating sooner.

I don’t own Final Fantasy VIII or any of the brand names used in this fic. Angels’ and the BubbleGum Bath Foam are my own creations.

Mild nudity warning for this chapter.

Last Chapter

“We really need to cheer him up man.” Seifer appeared next to Irvine with napkins in his hand. “How long is he gonna mope over this?” he groaned.

“I have no idea, but you’re right.” Irvine responded as he cleared up the rest of the coffee from the table. “We need to find him a girl, or better yet…” he trailed off, a smirk on his face. Seifer looked at him, the same grin upon his fresh features.

“Are you thinking, what I’m thinking?” Seifer asked. The grin on Irvine's face grew bigger.

“Angels’.” He said simply. “We’ll take him to Angels’.”

Chapter Three

23rd August SQUALL’S BIRTHDAY!!

Later that day…

Squall was walking around Deling, trying to calm down. He had ended up near the dorms by now. He turned a corner and walked into the local convenience store for some fags. He’d smoked the last four of one packet and fifteen from another he’d had on him in the past eight hours since he’d stormed out of the café. He passed the rails of magazines and snacks, deciding on a sausage roll and a packet of McCoy’s Flame Grilled Steak crisps. He brought them to the till and stood next to a dark-haired girl who was making her own purchases.

“Anything else?” the assistant asked after scanning the two items through her till.

“Twenty Lambert and Butler silver,” he grunted.

“We ran out early this morning love.” The assistant said apologetically. “All we have are the new Superkings or the Lights.”

“Superkings? When did those come out?” Squall questioned as he looked at the display over the counter. True enough; the store was out of the Kingsize regular strength cigarettes he normally bought. It doesn’t help that almost all of the university students smoked that brand.

“They came out yesterday, love.” The assistant explained.

“Go on then. I’ll take forty.”

“Thirty L & B Superkings silver please, and a can of petrol fluid.” The dark-haired girl asked and began packing her own groceries hurriedly. Squall couldn’t help but be nosy and saw her shove three girly magazines into her bag along with several large chocolate bars. He raised an eyebrow in disgust and kept quiet. The girl paid with a 50 Gil note and rushed past him and was out of the door as the shop assistant called out to her.

“You’ve forgotten your change!”

“I’ll get it to her,” Squall volunteered. “I know her from campus,” he lied. The assistant handed him the change of 30 Gil as he paid for his shopping and ran after the girl.

“Hey! You there!” he shouted. The girl was running across the quiet suburban road and stopped as she heard someone calling her.

“What do you…?” she shouted as she turned around. She gasped in horror. Squall froze.

“YOU!?” they both shouted at the same time. It was the girl he’d knocked over a few days earlier at the accommodation listing day.

Squall walked over to her and looked at her carefully. He could tell it was her, even though her hair was no longer in its thick plait, but flowing around her shoulders. He never forgot a face like hers. The glasses were gone, allowing her heart-shaped face to look fuller. She looked rather cute without the glasses and the plait. Her eyes were brown in colour; they reminded him of melted chocolate mixed with swirls of caramel. They suddenly narrowed as she frowned at him.

“What the hell do you want?” she asked snappily, breaking him out of his trance. Squall thrust something into her hand. She stared at the three ten Gil notes in her hand.

“Simple thanks would have been nice. You left this in the shop,” Squall said and walked off round the corner. He heard hurried footsteps behind him and turned to find the girl a couple of feet behind him.

“Are you stalking me? I gave you your money, now piss off! I have somewhere to go.” Squall snapped at her and tried walking off again. This time he felt a hand on his shoulder and swung round. The girl was standing behind him, her head lowered in shame.

“I’m sorry I snapped at you,” she began. “T-thanks for giving me my change. Not many people would do that.” She looked up at him and gave him a small smile. Squall felt his own mouth curve into a smile.

“It was no problem-” He was cut off by his mobile ringing. “Hang on a sec, would ya?” he said as he flipped his phone open and put it to his ear.

“S’up? Hi Quisty. Yeah I’m fine now. What’s that? They’re taking me where tonight!? You’re kidding! Please tell me you’re joking about that? Oh Hyne!” he groaned in exasperation.

The girl watched him talking on his phone, taking in what she could from the side of the conversation she was on. The guy didn’t seem happy about something.

“Why there of all places!? Did you try talking them out of it? Oh thanks, you’re a big help Quisty!” he replied sarcastically and snapped his phone shut.

“Of all fucking places to take me!” he growled, forgetting that the girl was still next to him. He turned to see her looking at him wide-eyed, as if in shock. His face flushed scarlet and he began stammering.

“L-look, I, uh, I gotta go now. Nice bumping into you again. Maybe we’ll see each other again. Bye!”

And with that he ran down the street, leaving her speechless.

“I can’t believe I just lost it like that!” he scolded himself. “That girl doesn’t know me and I blurted out what was going on in my head! I totally forgot she was there and I… agggh!”

He turned the corner to see Seifer and Irvine putting boxes into a small removal van.

“You guys are so fucking dead!” he roared as he sprinted across the road towards them. Irvine looked up, feigning innocence.

“Why? What’d we do?” Seifer asked the flustered brunette.

“It’s not what you’ve done, it’s what you’re planning to do!” Squall bellowed at the taller blonde. “You think that taking me to a strip-club is gonna make me feel better?!”

“Strip-club? What strip-club?” Seifer asked, trying to act naive.

“Angels’, you twit! You know, the one you guys went to EVERY fucking weekend in first year!?” Squall shouted, causing students who were also moving into or out of the dorms to stop and stare. He swung round on his heels and glared at them.

“You gotta fucking problem?!” he hissed at them. Many shook their heads and went on their way as quickly as possible. He turned back to Seifer and Irvine, to catch them running back to their rooms.

“Oh no you don’t!” Squall yelled and ran after them. He caught up with them shortly. He knew they’d hidden in Irvine's wardrobe. Squall flung the doors open, only to have Irvine grab one of his arms and Seifer, the other. They threw him to the floor and pinned him down.

“Look man, it’s for your own good.” Seifer began explaining. “We won’t let you go until you agree to come with us!”

Deling City Slum District 3:23pm

The streets were littered with beer cans and crisp packets and only one person was walking through them. Disguised in a cloak and carrying a small bag, they knocked on a door of what looked like a warehouse. A small opening appeared near the top of the door and a man’s face peered through it.

“Yer early,” he remarked as he opened a catch from his side of the door. “Rehearsal don’t start fer another hour. Fer a newbie, ye sure are dedicated to yer job.” He commented as the person brushed past quickly. Once the door closed they flung their cloak off.

“I keep telling you I’m not new here! I’ve been working here for a year and I’m only dedicated so I can earn my money for the second year of university, Fisher!” Rinoa replied haughtily, pulling her hair back into a pony-tail.

“Ye ain’t been here fer as long as I have; ye’ll always be a newbie to me.” He replied. Rinoa snorted.

“Where’s Sel? Is she here yet?” she asked as she pulled one of the girly magazines she’d bought earlier from her bag. She walked over to a nearby bench and flipped it open.

“Ain’t here yet, but as I said, yer an hour early fer rehearsal.” Fisher pointed out to her as he locked the door again. “Whatcha readin’?” he asked, walking over to her. “Take a Break? Didn’t think ya’d buy anything like that, ya always got yer nose in them surgery books.”

Rinoa sighed deeply. “It’s none of your business what I read. The only business you have with me is as my boss and bodyguard!”

Fisher was definitely built well for the job of protecting people. At seven foot three and equipped with serious muscles, he was perfect as a bouncer. Anyone who caused trouble would have Fisher to deal with, and that was never a pleasant experience. Rinoa heard rumours that he used to protect presidents and royalty. Rumour had it he murdered someone and had to change his identity. But for whatever reason, he had been the manager and head bouncer of Angels’ for ten years.

Rinoa sighed to herself as she read an article in her magazine. She empathized with this woman who had written in. She was an only child, came from a rich family but refused to have everything given to her and wanted to earn her way through life. The only job this poor girl could get was working in a brothel as a prostitute.

Maybe, thought Rinoa, my life isn’t as bad as that. Stripping in front of perverted men to work your way through university is a lot more glamorous than selling your body to them. But the only thing that saddens me is the fact that stripping is the only job I was suited for.

She thought back to the previous summer where all she had got were blisters on her feet from going from one place to another for interviews. Each place had told her she was unsuited for the position, even working in retail. If Rinoa hadn’t been so proud, she would have asked her father for help getting a job. His contacts were enough to get her the job she wanted, but she wouldn’t give up until she met Selphie Tillmit, another freshman at the time. Selphie had divulged the secret of her job stripping for men.

“It’s a degrading job but the pay is reasonable.” Selphie had told her. “And if you’re lucky enough, you can get up to 300 Gil a night in tips.”

Rinoa had been to a prestigious dance school as a child and by using her skills as a dancer, she had been given a job. It was hard work, along with her classes at the medical centre and the enormous amounts of coursework and essays, and several packets of Pro Plus and Red Bull; she managed to stay focused for her night shifts at Angels’. Her sophomore year was gonna be a tough one, but she’d manage. Nothing could go wrong for her this year.

Back to Squall, Irvine and Seifer

Squall’s struggle with his friends had resulted in defeat. He had no choice but to agree to going. He had given them two conditions though. One, they wouldn’t pair him up with some random stranger. And two, they would pay for all the booze he’d need to get through the night.

They climbed into the van after finishing their packing and drove off with the directions to their home for the year. After twenty minutes of getting lost and having to turn around to find their way, they stopped outside a standard-sized semi-detached house. Irvine slapped his forehead in realisation.

“We’re only five minutes drive away from Angels’! This is gonna be a great year!”

Squall sighed. “Just promise me this is the only time I’m gonna be going to this place. I have no intention of drooling at half naked women every night like you guys.”

Seifer slapped Squall on the back. “Man, you need to relax and enjoy university life! When are you gonna have this chance again?”

Squall thought about being really defiant but decided it wasn’t worth the argument. They stared at the house in awe. It was theirs for a whole year.

“Pretty small for five people.” Irvine commented. “Let’s hope there’s enough room for all that stuff that girl’s probably bringing with her.”

Seifer’s smiling face dropped as suddenly as a fly being smacked down with a swatter. “Damnit! I totally forgot we were sharing with a girl! Having to share with Dincht was bad enough. We won’t be able to walk around in the nude with a girl in the house! She’s probably never even seen a naked man before in her life!” he sniggered.

“Wouldn’t know what to do with us right?” Irvine smirked. Squall didn’t join in. He was appalled at the way they talked about their female roommate and they hadn’t even met her yet. He climbed out of the van with two suitcases and walked to the front of the house. Placing one on the step he pulled out his key, and just as he was putting it into the lock the door burst open.

“Hey guys! So glad we’re all gonna be living together huh?!”

Squall had almost fallen down the step he was standing on. Zell Dincht was a very hyper young man. He was literally bouncing up and down in the doorway. Squall regained his composure.

“Mind letting me through?” he asked rudely. He wasn’t in the mood for this, not after the day he had and the night he was going to have. Zell jumped past him and ran to the van.

“Need some help?” he asked in a friendly manner. Irvine looked at Seifer who raised his eyebrows at him. Irvine smiled at Zell.

“Sure you can. Grab that box over there, would ya?”

Zell picked up the box and walked up the path with Seifer and Irvine in suit. Squall was walking around the bottom part of the house. There was a fairly big kitchen, living room and spare room. There was also a closet under the stairs, which looked like there was more than one upper level in the house. He hadn’t really noticed a second floor. The house only looked like a two-story accommodation. He walked up the stairs onto the landing. There was definitely another level. He looked around the level he was on. In total there were three bedrooms, two toilets and two bathrooms. That sure made things easier.

One of the doors had a martial arts poster stuck to it. Zell had obviously claimed this room. The other two were reasonably sized, but Squall was more interested in the next floor. He climbed up the additional stairs. There was another floor with two rooms. It was weird though. The ceiling slanted at the ends of the floor. This was probably the loft space that had been converted for student housing. He looked into one of the rooms. The space was gigantic. It was already furnished which was somewhat of a relief. The window was on the slanted part of the roof overlooking the front of the house. With some readjustment, he could get this room looking just the way he wanted it.

He placed his cases on the king-sized bed. It had clearly been refurnished over the past month. There were no tell-tale signs of previous tenants like graffiti and ripped wallpaper. He saw a key on the desk and picked it up. There was a tag hanging from the chain. ‘Bedroom No 4 key’ was written on it. He pocketed the key. This was now his room. The room next door was locked. He’d wanted to take a look in there. It was obvious that the female roommate had chosen this one.

He walked downstairs to the kitchen. Seifer, Irvine and Zell were sitting at the kitchen table waiting for him.

“Squall, wanna cuppa tea or something?” Irvine offered as he stood up. He walked over to the kettle, picked it up and dragged it over to the sink to fill it. Squall shrugged.

“Whatever.”

Zell and Seifer were sitting in an awkward silence. Zell was eyeing Seifer nervously. Seifer was leaning back in his chair playing with his phone. Irvine headed for the fridge for some milk and noticed a letter stuck to the door with a magnet. He yanked it off the fridge and began opening it.

“Hey Zell, is this from the chick we’re living with?”

Zell looked up and stood from the table. “What is it?” he asked.

“It’s a note addressed to all of us guys.”

Squall walked over to the table and sat down. “What’s it say?”

Irvine cleared his throat and began to read.

“Hi guys. Sorry I’m not here to greet you all properly. Hopefully there will be a time to make formal introductions possible. There’s a letter on the counter for each of you from the university accommodation board regarding rules etc. It’s all the basic boring stuff. Anyway hope to see you at some point!”

The letter contained nothing else and at the bottom of the page was an engraving of a pair of wings.

“She sounds nice.” Zell commented. Seifer snorted.

“You think everyone’s nice Chicken Wuss. Living with us is gonna show you how wrong you are on making assumptions about people.”

Zell gritted his teeth at the taller blonde and sucked in a breath. “Well maybe your theory on people is wrong!” he hissed. “I try to see the good in people and hope for the best. Oh, what am I explaining this to you for anyway? I’ve made my mind up about you anyway. If you’ll excuse me, I’ll be unpacking in my room.”

He pushed his chair back under the table and walked out of the kitchen. Seifer turned to his best friends for some reassurance. Both of them had their arms folded.

“You can’t possibly agree with him on that, can you?” he protested. Squall rolled his eyes. Seifer always made sure his assumptions were right, no matter what they were about.

“Whatever Seifer.” He told him. “Anyway I’ve got my room sorted out. You guys are on the first floor. I’m living in the attic from now on.”

Irvine said nothing and Seifer walked out of the room to get the rest of the boxes from the van.

Two hours later Squall looked over his new domain. He’d pushed the bed next to the window, the wardrobe next to the door, the chest of drawers next to his bed and the desk into the corner with the most plug sockets. His computer was sitting on the desk, ready to be plugged in. His wardrobe wasn’t filled yet, he’d left the major unpacking for later. He flopped onto his bed. Right now he was exhausted. How in Hyne’s name was he going to manage going out tonight?

He heard a knock on his door. “Who is it?” he groaned. Seifer’s head popped out from behind the door.

“You gonna be getting ready soon? Quistis is meeting us at The Wendigo in an hour for your birthday meal.”

Squall groaned again. Why couldn’t his nineteenth birthday be less bothersome? It wasn’t an important one like his eighteenth or twenty first, so why try and make the start of just another year of his boring life exciting? Angels’ was gonna be a complete waste of time. All Squall wanted to do was chill out in his room all night, maybe watch some new DVDs he’d bought, or play Tekken Tag Tournament on his Playstation 2.

“Squall?”

“I’m getting ready now, ok!” Squall shouted at Seifer, climbing off his bed in a huff. He grabbed his towel, shampoo and shaving kit from one of the boxes he hadn’t unpacked. Seifer smirked at his friend. He had no idea what was in store after this meal.

He walked into the largest bathroom and shut the door behind him. He turned around to see toiletry items on a shelf near the bath. He picked up a bottle and read the label. The purple bottle had ‘BubbleGum Bath Foam’ written in bright pink bubble letters. Squall twisted the lid off the bottle and sniffed the contents. He couldn’t smell anything at all and the bottle was full.

“Must be cheap stuff. It doesn’t smell like anything at all.” He decided and put the bottle back where he found it.

Twenty minutes later Squall emerged from the shower in an even fouler mood. He didn’t want to go out tonight but he had no choice. As stubborn as he was, he wouldn’t show his friends up and not go to his birthday dinner.

He put on some clean boxers and a pair of faded blue jeans. He opened his suitcases and searched for a shirt to iron. He pulled out a few and looked them over. He had a dark blue denim effect one, a faded green one, a black one and a dark red one. He laid them out on his bed and set up his ironing board and iron. He closed his eyes and blindly reached for a shirt. He grabbed one and opened his eyes. His sightless choice had given him his denim effect shirt. He smiled. He’d wanted to wear this shirt anyway. He only wanted to get some amusement out of his choice. Not that the other shirts weren’t nice, the chosen shirt hadn’t been worn yet. Even in his predicament, wearing this shirt would make him feel slightly better.

He ironed it the way his mother had taught him, seams first, then the collar and finally the sleeves. He looked around for a white t-shirt to go under it; unfortunately, the only one he could find was dirty. He sighed. Looks like he’ll have to wear just the shirt.

He brushed his hair into a different style from his trademark ‘bangs in the face’ look. He swept his bangs above his head, spiking them up with gel. It didn’t look too bad and he threw on his shirt and buttoned it up, save for the two top buttons.

Meanwhile Seifer was in the kitchen on his phone.

“… That’s why we want to do this. You still do ‘specials’ don’t you? The occasion? A birthday. Yeah, can we get the best you have? Brilliant! We’ll be there about ten o’clock. The number is gonna be five people, we’ll need three of your best. The birthday boy’s name? Squall Leonheart. That’s great, thanks for doing this at such short notice. Yeah, I’ll pay on the door. The name’s Almasy. See you then. Bye.”

He hung up and grinned at Irvine who was just walking back into the kitchen. Irvine smirked back.

“It’s done then?”

“Oh, is it ever! Puberty Boy is gonna have the best night of his life!”

Back at Angels’ Fisher was just putting down the phone. He looked at the notes he’d just written down and smirked.

“They want the best, do they? There’s only one person who could pull this job off.”

He walked out of the office and headed to the main stage. A group of thirty girls who were stripping to music stopped their performance. A small girl, wearing only knee-high boots and a microscopic thong switched the CD player off.

“Cheers Selphie,” he said and turned to the half naked group. None of them tried covering themselves up for Fisher, he always saw them like this and they felt comfortable in their state of undress around him. But then again, strangers saw them like that so they felt comfortable anyway.

“Now then girls, get dressed and go home. Ye’ve all done really well so I’m letting ya go early, but remember to be back ‘ere fer eight fer final rehearsal.”

Everyone began gathering up her clothes and proceeded towards the changing area behind the stage. Fisher’s voice rang out like a bell.

“Rin! I need a word with ya when ye’re changed. I’ll be in the office.”

Rinoa sighed. It didn’t sound good. Selphie slung an arm around her shoulders. Rinoa felt her bare breasts against her back. They were sticky with sweat and felt spongy on her bare shoulders.

“Why does he wanna see you? It doesn’t sound like he’s happy.”

Rinoa shrugged Selphie’s arm from her shoulders and walked off. “I don’t know why. Maybe he’s firing me or something.”

Selphie stared after the raven-haired girl with sympathy. Life wasn’t fair on her and things sounded like they were getting worse.

Rinoa entered the office five minutes later. Fisher was sitting behind the desk, a large cigar dangling from his mouth, typing at his computer. Rinoa cleared her throat loudly and Fisher’s head shot up. He smiled at her and beckoned her to sit down.

“Mind if I smoke?” he asked her as she dragged a chair in front of his desk. She shook her head.

“As long as I can smoke too.” She replied, pulling a packet from her jacket pocket. She lit a cigarette and lolled back in her chair. Fisher began talking slowly.

“Rinoa, ya’ve been here for a year, correct? And in that year ya have managed to increase profits by forty-five percent, thus giving everyone ‘ere a 20 Gil an hour raise. Let me get straight to the point, yer an asset to this place. To lose ya would almost ruin this company. I feel that ya deserve more than to be a showgirl, and I am offering ya a private show every week. Ya can choose two girls to work with and ya will receive forty percent of the takings from the bookin’ to start with. I’ll give ya til Christmas to see how successful it’ll be, but it seems unnecessary.”

Rinoa sat up straight. “Are you serious? I get my own private show and I get extra money from doing it? What’s made you come up with this idea?”

Fisher leaned back in his chair. “I just took a bookin’ fer tonight and the guy on the phone said he wanted the best we ‘ave. And yer the perfect candidate. I figured ya wouldn’t mind if it meant more money. Whaddya say Rin? Will ya do it?”

Rinoa jumped from the chair in delight. “Of course I will!”

Fisher grinned at her. “Now then, just fill this form in and ya can go home.”

Rinoa hastily scribbled in the details for the form and prepared to leave. Fisher called out to her as she reached the door.

“Oh, and Rin? Can ya wear yer mask tonight? Its fer some birthday lad and the guy who rung said he wanted ya to do a special lap-dance fer him. I’ll give ya the rest of the details later on, ok?”

Rinoa nodded and walked out of the door. Masks were used rarely at Angels’, mainly for when there was a lot of contact with a customer. It was a precaution Fisher had insisted upon for the safety of his girls. He didn’t want them to get hassled when they weren’t working. A devastating incident three years ago had made him enforce the rule of masks.

Rinoa walked out of the club with a bounce in her step. She’d briefed Selphie in on what happened and the small girl was as jumpy as ever about it. Rinoa asked her to join in tonight on the fun and talked to another girl about it who agreed to help her too. She headed towards the club’s car park. Shifting some keys in her hand she turned off the alarm on her metallic blue Suzuki motorbike. She unlocked the seat and took out a matching blue helmet. She shoved her bags into the compartment and slid on some gloves from inside the helmet. She straddled the motorbike and strapped down her helmet. She put the keys in the ignition and drove off.

Back at the house

“Squall! Get your ass down here now! Quistis will kill us if we’re late!” Seifer bellowed up the stairs. Irvine tapped him on the shoulder.

“Who else besides you, me and Squall are going to Angels’ tonight? Who else did you invite?”

Seifer smiled. “I invited Raijin and Dincht.” Irvine gave Seifer a funny look.

“You invited Zell? I thought you didn’t like him.”

Seifer shrugged. “I decided to give him a chance to prove himself.”

“Prove himself? What are you planning Seifer? Wasn’t setting Squall up enough?”

Seifer’s smile grew even bigger. “Seeing Puberty Boy squirm isn’t gonna be the only highlight of our evening, my friend. Just wait and see.” He said as Squall walked down the stairs.

“’Bout time! Let’s go!”

It wasn’t long before Rinoa reached the house she’d moved into several hours earlier. She hadn’t met any of her housemates and hoped that it would be a possibility when she got in. All of the lights were out and she frowned. No one was home. She smiled realizing that she’d have all the privacy she could want with no one there.

She unlocked the front door and headed towards the kitchen. The note was gone from the fridge and the letters from the counter had vanished too. The guys must have taken them to their rooms. She opened the fridge and grabbed a can of Rio from a shelf. She’d stuck a label with her name on her shelf, and the guy’s surnames on the other shelves except for the bottom shelf which she had labelled ‘Raw Meat’. The fridge wasn’t massive but the shelves were big enough to put a week’s chilled groceries on for one person each. She’d also labelled the cupboard she was using for her ambient groceries and washing tablets.

Cracking the can open she took a long gulp of the sweet fruity liquid. It was her favourite drink as a child. She had searched all over Deling for stockists and was relieved to find a Costco warehouse in the area. She signed up for membership the previous summer and had been doing her shopping there ever since. She saved lots more money than she had thought in the past year. Her annual budget for food came to seventy Gil a week, including toiletries, cigarettes and beer. But shopping at Costco had saved her fifteen Gil a week meaning she could spend what was saved at the end of the month on some nice new clothes.

She switched on the light as she reached her room. The other bedroom door was shut. Looks like one of the guys had taken residence next to her. She hoped he wasn’t loud and played rock music and such whilst she was studying.

She closed her door and looked around her room. There were lots of things that needed doing but she’d leave it until her day off on Saturday. Her laptop was on charge so she picked it up to check the battery. Not full yet, but plenty of power to check her emails. She logged on and entered her email and password.

‘You have 3 new messages’ the screen blared at her. She clicked the inbox button and scanned the list of messages. There was one from her father, one from her internet provider and the final one was from some random website called ‘MyOffers’. She deleted the one from her internet provider and the MyOffers one. They were junk to her as far as she was concerned. She opened the one from her father.

Rinoa, it’s been months since I heard from you. Is university going well? I hope you can make it home for the rest of the summer if you’re not too busy with work. How is that going by the way? You never did get round to telling me what it is that you’re doing. I wish that you’d used the grant money saved for you instead of working. You’d have more free time to study and come home.

That was pretty much to the email and Rinoa rolled her eyes. He wasn’t concerned in the slightest. If he found out what she was doing to put herself through university, he’d drag her back home. She wanted to tell him to piss off and stay out of her life, but thought better about it. She sent him a short reply thanking him for his concern and that she was sorry she couldn’t come and visit him. She sent it as quickly as she wrote it.

She grabbed her fluffy blue dressing gown, a book and her portable ashtray. She was going to take a long hot bath to relax her tense muscles.

She walked into the bathroom and locked the door. She set her things on the floor and ran the hot water into the bath. She grabbed a purple bottle from her shelf and poured it into the bath. A delicious smell rose from the hot steamy water. Rinoa climbed into the tub and switched the tap off. She reached for her razor and shaving foam and placed them next to her book. She’d use them later.

Squall looked drearily out of the restaurant window. Everyone was trying to cheer him up but he ignored them. He didn’t want to be here any more than he wanted to go to Angels’. He had no choice. Every person sitting at this table (excluding his parents and elder sister who were in Esthar, but had sent him a card and 500 Gil for a present wishing him well and to do with it as he saw fit.) loved him so much and they wanted him to enjoy his birthday. The lights suddenly dimmed and a glowing light was seen out of the corner of his eyes. He groaned in exasperation. His friends had arranged a birthday cake and singing waiters.

“Hyne help me!” he muttered under his breath as the cake was set down in front of him.

“Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday dear Squall! Happy Birthday to you!”

He looked at the cake sat down in front of him. It was a plain white cake with HAPPY BIRTHDAY SQUALL in black letter icing. There wasn’t much else to it really besides two big number candles, a number one and a number nine directly above the icing letters.

“Come on Squall!” Quistis cried out joyfully. “Blow out the candles and make a wish!”

He closed his eyes and made his wish. He took a deep breath and blew out the candles. Everyone cheered loudly, pouring themselves more glasses of wine and beer. Squall lifted his glass to everyone and drank his beer.

I wish for my life to change for the better. I wish I could find someone true and pure. I want someone exciting enough to make me smile again without trying.

He finished his drink and signalled to a passing waiter.

“Can I get another two of these? And a shot of Sambuca too.” He asked. If he was going to continue with the evening, he may as well take advantage of the free booze.

Forty minutes later, Rinoa climbed out of the bath and towelled herself dry. Hanging her towel back over the radiator, she grabbed her dressing gown and threw it on. She bent down to pick up her things and placed them back on the shelf. She left her book on the shelf and walked out of the room.

When she got back to her room she closed the door and headed towards her suitcase. She needed to choose something to wear for tonight. After twenty minutes of careful thought, she decided on her favourite outfit and threw it into a small bag. She jumped into a pair of jeans, shoved her feet into a pair of tight protective leather boots and put on a pale pink t-shirt. She looked into her shoe boxes and pulled out a pair of electric blue stilettos. She shoved them into the bag, along with a various selection of makeup items and grabbed her motorbike jacket before leaving the room and locking the door behind her.

She walked down the stairs and went back into the kitchen to make something to eat. She opened her cupboard and pulled a packet of Beef Supernoodles out along with a small tin of hotdog sausages. She waltzed over to the fridge and pulled out a red onion, red pepper and an orange pepper. She switched the hob on and brought out a saucepan and a small frying pan. She melted some butter in the frying pan and poured water over the noodles. Chopping up the peppers and onion she waited for the noodles to soften then added them to the sizzling pan. She sliced up the hotdog sausages and added them to the noodles along with the beef seasoning sachet. The peppers and onions burned slightly before she added them to the noodle pan. (A/N: This is my favourite meal of all time! It’s cheap and requires little effort, try it and see if you like it!)

Stirring the contents she reflected on the conversation she’d had with Fisher earlier. She was happy, but she wished that she could be normal like everyone else. None of the girls she worked with had a normal lifestyle. But the students she shared classes with had normal student jobs, boyfriends and girlfriends; they went to see their families regularly. Rinoa had never had a boyfriend and, not that the list of offers wasn’t there; she didn’t have time for a romantic life of her own. Deep down she was jealous and if she wasn’t so stubborn and actually accepted the living cost grant her father had for her, she could have had all of what her fellow students had- a life of her own and maybe someone who loved her for who she was inside, not what she looked like.

She poured the contents of the pan into a large bowl and put the pans into the sink and washed them. She then grabbed a spoon and a fork and sat down to eat. After a few minutes she wrapped the bowl in Clingfilm and put it into the microwave for later. She left another note on the fridge so the guys didn’t throw her food away. She grabbed her things and left the house. Tonight was going to be very busy!

She put her things under the seat of her motorbike and started the engine. Taking a glance at the house she put on her helmet and drove off down the still-light streets of Deling.

Squall looked at the half eaten piece of cake on his plate. He didn’t want any more of it. Not that it wasn’t delicious, three layers of chocolate sponge and fudge filling, but he couldn’t eat any more because he was full. He stared into his pint and mumbled to himself. He felt that everyone here was using his birthday as an excuse to go out, get plastered and ogle every person wearing skin-tight clothing. They weren’t paying much attention to him, just chatting amongst themselves. His presents were stacked next to him unopened. He’d thanked everyone for their gifts, but said he would open them later much to Xu’s and Quistis’ protests. Even Irvine and Seifer had bought him a present each. They were taking him to Angels’, buying him drinks and still got him a present. He had such good friends, but all he wanted was for the night to be over.

He felt someone shove at him and saw Irvine giving him a scary grin. Squall knew what it meant. It was time to go. Squall sighed. He knew backing out now was impossible, especially now that his friends were almost completely out of it. He couldn’t fight off two drunken gits on his own. He gave in before they even started talking, just nodded and stood up to leave with them. His presents and cake were being held onto by Quistis until the next morning. He was sure he’d be too hung-over to fetch them the next morning but thanked her with as much gratitude as he could muster before Seifer and Irvine dragged him from the restaurant.

“You’ll thank us for this when this night is over!” Seifer shouted joyfully as they staggered down the street. If Squall’s hands had been free he would have covered his eyes in humiliation. Both Seifer and Irvine knew how he was feeling, but the night was gonna get better for him. They weren’t doing this to be mean, they only wanted to help him enjoy his years as a teenager before they were over. And at the rate Squall was going, they would be over before he realised it if nothing was done now.

They walked down the streets in an almost eerie silence, but Seifer and Irvine had stupidly annoying grins plastered on their faces. The expression on Squall’s face was unreadable; a cross between discomfiture and panic. If they didn’t have hold of his arms he would have run away as fast as he could just to avoid the possible humiliation waiting for him at Angels’.

After what seemed like an eternity of walking Irvine and Seifer turned Squall around a corner. Squall stared up at the glowing neon sign above the building before them. His eyes diverted towards the doorway which, to his surprise, was empty. For a strip club he expected some sort of a crowd to be lined up outside, like you would a night club. Seifer knocked on the door and a small window slid open.

“Name?” a gruff voice asked. Seifer stood forward and introduced himself.

“Almasy party. Everything set up?”

The person behind the door smirked and undid the catch. The door opened and before them stood a giant.

“C’mon in lads, the girls are waitin’ fer ya.”

Squall was pushed forward through the door by Irvine as Seifer waltzed into the club. Squall turned his head desperately to the door to see it close and lock him inside. They followed the big guy through some double doors and found themselves surrounded by men waiting to enter the main part of the club.

“Pay in at the reception and one of the girls will show ya to yer room. Yer other two guests are already in the private room waitin’ fer ya. The girls will be comin’ out when yer all settled. Name’s Fisher, just gimme a holler if ye need me.”

Fisher walked back to the double doors and left Squall, Irvine and Seifer in the queue for entry.

“‘Other guests’?” Squall’s voice squeaked out. “Who else did you invite!?”

“Only Raijin and Zell, chill out.” Irvine said nonchalantly as Squall’s eyes bugged out in shock.

“As if dragging me here wasn’t enough, you had to invite people to see me get humiliated! What were you guys smoking when you came up with this idea!?”

Seifer moved his hand quickly over Squall’s ranting mouth to shut him up. It seemed girls weren’t the only ones who caused scenes in public. Squall ripped Seifer's hand from his mouth and gave him his best I’m-gonna-kill-you look. Seifer gave him a superior smirk and pushed him up the queue to the reception desk.

“Almasy party for the special.” He announced to the half-naked woman at the counter. She grinned at him.

“100 Gil please. Lily here will show you the way.” She indicated to the brunette standing next to her. Lily smiled at them and took Seifer by the arm. Irvine and Squall followed them up some stairs next to the reception. They reached a corridor and Lily pushed Seifer forward.

“Room’s at the end of the hall guys. There’s a mini bar in there so help yourselves, k?”

She retreated back down the corridor, leaving the young men alone. Squall felt like he was going to be sick. This day kept getting worse and worse, what more could happen?

Author’s Note: Hey guy’s great to see you’re still reading this fic. If any of you are confused at some things in here like the Rio drink or the BubbleGum Bath Foam, please be patient. Things will come into place very soon!

Until next time!

Rinny Leonheart