Of Friends and Lovers

The Reason
Chapter 2

Irvine sighed; he was tired, tired and sore. He mentally cursed Squall for being so rough with him. When he awoke this morning and looked in the mirror he saw large handprint bruises on his thighs and several love bites dotted him chest and stomach. Not to mention his ass hurt like hell.

"Hey Irvy." Alexander sat down next to the older man and placed his hand on one jean covered thigh. "You look so fuckin' hot right now." Irvine glared slightly at the teen but chose to ignore him. He didn't understand how Alexander could think that at the moment. Irvine had been in no mood for dressing to impress and since it was Saturday and there for not a school day he could dress more casually. He had on his most comfortable blue jeans and a violet colored turtle neck. His hair was tied into a loose knot just below his shoulders and was still damp from the shower. He wore his glasses, his black cowboy hat, and his favorite pair of blue flip-flops. He thought he looked like crap but apparently Alexander thought differently as his hand was currently inching closer to Irvine’s crotch.

"Alexander, hands off." Alexander cast a lazy glance at the new arrival while Irvine kept his gaze set on the table just above his coffee cup. He really felt like crap.

"Come on Squall, man. It's not like he's yours or anything." Irvine tensed and Squalls hands clenched into fists. Zell standing behind Squall noticed this but said nothing. "Besides I didn't hear him complaining about my touch." Alexander continued squeezing Irvine's crotch lightly, Irvine winced.

"Alexander." Squall said again in a warning tone.

"What? It's not like you can expel me or anything."

"You should go now Alexander." Irvine's voice broke in before Squall had a chance to threaten the boy in any way. Alexander looked at his teacher and smiled.

"Sure, see you later babe." Irvine winced again as Alexander leaned in and gave him a quick peck on the lips. Alexander walked off giving Squall a look as he did. Zell sat down opposite Irvine and tugged Squalls sleeve until he sat as well. Irvine felt Squall's hot gaze fix on him but refused to lift his eyes from the table.

"What the fuck was that Irvine?" Squall demanded loud enough for half the people in the cafeteria to turn and stare. "Why the hell didn't you do something about him?" Irvine shrugged slightly, still not looking up at either his friends.

"Hey Irv, you okay man?" Zell asked genuinely concerned and placed a gloved hand on Irvine's. Irvine looked at Zell quickly and immediately felt guilty. Zell cared so much about him, thought of him as his best friend and what did Irvine do? He went and slept with Zell's boyfriend. The man Zell was madly in love with. And even when Irvine thought about it like that, thought about how much it would hurt Zell if he knew, for some unknown reason Irvine couldn't find it in himself to end their little affair. Okay maybe not completely unknown reason but Irvine wasn't about to admit the real reason, not to himself and definitely not to Squall. Cause he'd only end up heartbroken. Irvine forced a smile to his face but couldn't look Zell in the eye.

"I'm fine. Just a little tired is all." Irvine looked down at his coffee cup again and cursed himself. He had just seen Squall lean into Zell and place soft kisses along the short blonde’s throat and jaw glaring at him all the while. Bastard. 'I will not cry. I will not cry. I will not cry.' Irvine repeated to himself trying so hard to push the feelings of betrayal away. 'Squall isn't mine, he never was, and he never will be. He belongs to Zell. He loves Zell. Not me. He doesn't love me. And I don't love him.... I don't.... I don't love Squall...' Irvine suppressed a sob and stood, his chair sliding back with a slight squeak. "I'm gonna go lie down." Irvine more or less whispered before practically running away to the sanctuary of his dorm room.

Once safely inside Irvine lent heavily against the door and let the tears fall freely. He bit down on his lower lip to stop from sobbing and banged his head against the cold door behind him. 'So stupid. So, so fuckin' stupid. How could you go and fall for him, Irvine? So dumb. All he wants from you is your body. That's all he wants. Nothing more.' The nasty little voice in Irvine’s head beat at him telling him again and again how useless he was. What a bad person he was. And Irvine remained silent. The voice was right. What kind of person sleeps with their best friend’s boyfriend? A bad person. A person who deserves to be harasses by an obsessive teenager. A person who deserved to never be loved by the one person they wanted more than anything. A person who deserves to die. Irvine sobbed and collapsed to his knees in front of the door, crying a river and making no attempt to stop their flow. Irvine sat like that for some time. Not really caring about time. After a while he finally cried himself out and just laid on the floor staring off into space, finally drifting off to sleep right there on the cold hard ground.

Irvine awoke at around 9pm when the door was opened and hit him hard in the side. Irvine rolled so that he could see who is was opening his door but all he could see was blond hair.

"Irvine? What the fuck are you doing sleeping on the fuckin' floor, cowboy?" A harsh masculine voice demanded. Irvine took a moment to place the voice and then groaned. He’d forgotten about Seifer.

"Seifer? What are you doing breaking into my room?"

"Hey, I ain't breakin' in! Squall said you're supposed to "baby-sit" me so I gotta share a room with you. Now would you get the fuck off the floor or do I gotta hit you with the door again?" Irvine reluctantly got up and staggered slightly on his feet before tripping over his rug and falling forward. Irvine closed his eyes preparing himself for impact but instead of hitting hard ground he found his cheek landing on a very soft, very muscular chest with strong arms wrapped securely around his waist. He looked up and directly into worried green eyes just inches from his own violet ones. "You okay?" Irvine just stared for a minute, not quite sure how he had ended up in Seifer’s arms and with Seifer's face so close. "Shit Irvine have you been cryin'?" Irvine didn't answer, he just continued to stare. 'Squall was right.' He thought, 'He has changed.'

"Since when does Seifer Almsay help others?" Irvine whispered, still a bit shocked. Seifer blinked and then smiled a little crookedly.

"Well, there are so few genuinely gorgeous faces in the world I couldn't possibly stand by and let yours get ruined." Seifer stated leaning in a bit closer to the now blushing cowboy. Seifer chuckled as his proximity turned Irvine an even deeper shade of red. "My, my. Is Irvine getting a bit embarrassed? Are you afraid I'll try to kiss you or something?" Irvine felt the older man's breath ghost over his lips and his eyes grew impossibly wide.

"That would not be a wise idea, Seifer." A monotone voice calmly stated from just behind them. Ivrine turned his head to look at his quite angry looking lover who was currently glaring daggers at both him and Seifer. Seifer quickly let go of Irvine with a mumbled apology went off to put away his things in the empty bedroom.

"Squall, I..." Irvine tried to defend himself and the position he was just found in but Squall cut him off.

"Zell, is away on a mission. He won’t be back until tomorrow evening. You'll spend the night in my room."

"Squall, I don't think..." Irvine tried again.

"Now Irvine!" Squall growled walking out the door with a very nervous Irvine at his heels. Neither of them noticed the confused jade green eyes that watched them go.

~TBC~