Author's Note:My first FFVII fanfic! And my return to fanfic after a long absence. I was going to write Reno and Vincent slash, but this seemed like more fun. And if there are typos, I'm sorry. But it's nearly impossible to beat all the typos out of my work. They multiply. This is going to get kinda sad later, but it's currently pretty fluffy, and I promise a happy ending.

This is intended to begin immediately after the final scene of FFVII: Advent Children.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the following characters.

A Place to Lay My Head

Chapter One:

Cloud huddled down in a corner next to his blanket and lantern. It had been hours since he had beaten Sephiroth, nearly died, and magically appeared in a pool of water in the middle of his living space, and he had only just managed to break away from the crowds that had invaded his home. All he had wanted was a chance to sit down. He looked down with chagrin at his torn and sodden clothes. With all the people milling about, it didn't look like he was going to have a chance to change anytime soon either.

"I'm gratefully, Aeris, I really am," he muttered under his breath. "But could you have found a solution that didn't involve driving me to hypothermia." He sighed and shook his head at his own foolishness. This world was crazy, and he had learned to just take events as they came and not worry about the logic behind them. He closed his eyes, resting his head against the stone wall of the church, and tried his damnedest to go to sleep.

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Reno scanned the crowd, trying to located Cloud among the press of people. Were Cloud's friends stupid, that they didn't realize he'd need peace and quiet and rest after a fight like that,more than a bunch of strangers pestering him? Probably not. But Reno did. Not to mention… He quickly squelched the guilty feeling that rose in his chest when he thought about his attraction to Cloud. He wasn't doing this for any personal gain, he assured himself, though not in quite the same words. He was doing this for Cloud. It was entirely selfless, yep. And if Cloud happened to take an interest in him… Well, he'd cross that bridge when they came to it.

He finally found the bedraggled figure he was looking for tucked away behind one of the pillars that had once supported the church roof.

"What do we have here?" Cloud cracked one eye open as a familiar figure crouched down beside him.

"Reno…" He whispered. He had meant the name to come out forcefully, as a warning to the taller man to leave him alone, but suddenly, a whisper was all he had strength for. A magical healing doesn't change the fact that coming within a hair's breadth of death was exhausting.

"Yeah. It's me." Reno frowned, noticing the Goosebumps along Cloud's bare arms. He slipped out of his suit jacket. "I wanted to make you an offer. You sure ain't going to get any rest around here anytime soon." Reno looked over his shoulder at the children splashing in the pool and Cloud followed his gaze. "So I wanted to let you know you can crash at my place for a while, if you want."

Cloud was still staring at the crowds. "Tifa…" Tifa would put him up, he thought. It would certainly be better than staying with the ill mannered turk. Although…Reno had his amusing moments, and he was currently being kind.

"Looks like Tifa's a little busy to me." Cloud nodded. Tifa was still currently swamped by Marlene and Denzel. And god would he do anything to not be sitting here on the hard ground freezing his ass off any longer.

"All… all right," he said. Show me the way."

Reno smiled, wrapping an arm around Cloud's waist and pulling him to his feet. He slung his jacket around Cloud's shoulders.

Cloud huddled under the black fabric, pulling it tightly around him. "Thank you…"

"No problem, all the better to get you out of here un-noticed, right?"

Cloud felt a sudden pang of nervousness. Did Reno have an alternate agenda? If he wanted to get Cloud away from the rest of his friends unnoticed…was Cloud allowing himself to be abducted? Stop that, he chided himself. At this point I don't care.

Reno lead him out a side door. "My motor bike is just over ….Oh shit!" Reno was just in time to catch Cloud before he hit the ground, removing several layers of skin from his knee as he went down to one knee in the rough gravel to catch him. He looked down at the young man in his arms. Cloud was unconscious, his head lolling backwards over in Reno's arm. In the brighter sunlight, Reno could clearly see the dark circles under Cloud's eyes. "Huh," Reno said to no one in particular as he maneuvered both of them onto his bike. "I guess you really do need the rest."

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Reno's apartment was in one of the better parts of town. Working for Shinra did have it's perks, and a good salary was one of them. Reno smirked when he thought of what Cloud's friends would think of the amount he spent simply dying his hair. Although…Cloud's hairspray bill had to be almost as large. He opened the door, and carried Cloud into the single bedroom. "You so owe me when you wake up," he muttered as he realized that he was going to have to sleep on the couch. Cloud stirred, just a little. "Tifa…"

"I'm so under appreciated." Reno gathered himself a spare set of blankets and crashed on the couch.

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Reno leaned against the counter in his small kitchen, sipping a cup of coffee. It had been three days since he had carried Cloud home with him, and Cloud had yet to awaken. He phone rang, startling him out of his reverie. "Dammit!" Reno hissed as hot coffee sloshed over his hand. He pulled the cell phone out of his pocket. "What?"

Unfortunately for Reno, it was Tifa on the other end of the line. "Reno? Is that you?" Reno turned and dumped the offending coffee down the drain. "Yeah. What do you want?"

"Cloud's been missing for a couple of days."

"So?"

"So we're worried that something terrible has happened to him! Have you seen him?"

Reno could see into the bedroom where Cloud was still safely tucked into his bed. "Maybe I have, maybe I haven't."

He heard the pause as the meek mannered Tifa debated whether or not to push him on his answer. "Well, all right… If you see him, you call me, all right."

"Heh."

"Reno."

"All right, all right! If I hear anything from Cloud, I'll call you!"

"Thank you, Reno." He closed the phone with sense of relief. He hadn't decided whether or not to lie to Tifa, but he'd only promised to respond if he had heard from Cloud, and Cloud didn't look like he was saying anything anytime soon. So at the moment, he was off the hook.

However, he was still responsible for the unconscious hero. And it had occurred to him when he awoke this morning that Cloud hadn't had anything to eat or drink. He pulled out a can of chicken soup and heated on the stove before ladling it into a mug. He carefully tested the temperature. "It's like having a damned baby."

He scooted into the bedroom. Setting the mug on the nightstand, he shook Cloud's shoulder. "Cloud. Cloud, c'mon, you have to wake up now." The hero moaned softly. "CLOUD!" Reno shouted into the man's ear as loudly as he could. But still Cloud did not open his eyes.

Reno sat down next to Cloud, propped up against the headboard. He was hoping that the moans meant the Cloud was conscious enough to swallow the soup. If he was unlucky, he might end up drowning his ward. He pulled Cloud into his arms, holding the blonde's head against his shoulder. He retrieved the mug and tipped some of the soup into Cloud's mouth. The broth dripped down Cloud's chin. Reno grabbed a napkin and mopped up the mess. "Cloud, baby. You have to eat something." And once again, he held the cup to Cloud's lips. This time, Cloud drank. But still his eyes didn't open. "Well, it's something, at least." Reno went back to the kitchen to clean up.

An hour later found Reno pulling on his jacket and tying back his red hair. "Cloud, baby," He announced to the room. "I have to go to work. I've already taken two days off, and not showing up on pay day is well, stupid." The prone figure didn't respond. "Well, if someone tried to break in, Freyr will protect you, I suppose."

And somewhere in the back of his mind, Cloud wondered, Who the hell is Freyr?

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Cloud felt a heavy weight settle on his chest. He struggled halfheartedly against it, but it didn't budge. And then…someone was licking his face. Ohmygod, was Reno…? His blue eyes flew open. His heart slowed it's panicked beating when he found himself staring into the furry face of a giant husky. "I suppose you're Freyr, then," he muttered. The dog barked, and licked his face again. Cloud shuddered. Gathering his strength, he shoved the husky off the bed. Pain shot through his shoulder that had been pierced by Sephiroth's sword during their battle, and across his chest where he had taken the shot that Yazoo had fired. He collapsed back against the pillows, dizzy with the pain. "Reno!" he called as loud as he could, as he could only assume that this was Reno's apartment. "Reno!"

No one responded. Slowly the pain faded and Cloud began to take stock of his surroundings. The room was nice. Light grey walls with white moldings, white gauzy curtains, ivory wall to wall carpeting. The furniture was utilitarian in brushed chrome, but the mattress was very nice. Of course, Cloud would have found any mattress very nice, having spent the last two years sleeping on the floor of a slowly crumbling church. For a moment, he regretted loosing the peace and solitude of his sanctuary. No doubt it was quickly becoming some sort of pilgrimage shrine. He shook his head to clear it. It wasn't like there was anything he could do about that. His throat was sore. He sat up in bed with the intention of getting up and finding himself something to drink. The bed clothes fell back and Cloud realized that he had a problem. The clothes he was wearing…didn't belong to him.

Instead of his normal black sweater and trousers, he was wearing a white t-shirt and a pair of black silk pajama pants, which were several inches too long for him. That meant that Reno had been the one who had removed his clothing, that Reno had seen him… Cloud turned bright red and buried his face in his hands. "Oh no…"

"Something wrong?"

Cloud jumped, again pulling on his fresh scars. Reno was standing in the door to bedroom, jacket slung over one shoulder. Cloud remembered the wonderful warmth of having that jacket wrapped around his shoulders, and the strength of Reno's arms. His blush deepened.

"You changed my clothes?" he asked.

"Yeah," Reno said, "Couldn't have you sleeping in those filthy old things you were wearing. Don't worry," the turk winked, "I didn't peak."

Cloud knew he was lying.

Reno spoke to break the uncomfortable silence. "I…uh… I brought you flowers."

"You…what?" Cloud's mind registered the bouquet of pinkish flowers dangling from Reno's free hand. Alstroemeria, his mind supplied the name from somewhere in the recesses of his memory. He had probably learned it from Aeris, but he had suppressed many of his memories of her to avoid the pain. "Um…Thank you?"

"Hey, you think you're up to making a phone call? If they don't hear from you soon, those friends of yours are going to show up and break down my door."

Cloud nodded. "Yeah. I'm up to that."

Cloud lowered himself stiffly into a chair at Reno's kitchen table. He borrowed the turk's phone while Reno rummaged about in the kitchen. Tifa answered the phone on the first ring.

"Strife delivery service…"

Cloud cut her off. "It's me."

"Cloud! Where are you? Are you all right? We've been worried."

Cloud ran a hand through his spiky hair. Reno smiled in amusement as it popped right back up in his spikes. After three days in bed, Cloud didn't look the slightest bit mussed. "I'm fine, Tifa. I just need a few more days to rest, that's all. Then I'll come back."

"Are you sure? Marlene and Denzel are looking for you. You're not with Reno, are you? He's the only one we called who wouldn't give us a straight answer." The speaker on the phone was set loud enough for Reno to hear the conversation. He chuckled, both at Tifa's annoyance at his refusal to answer her, and at the suggestion that there should be straight about him.

"Yeah. I'm at Reno's place." His voice challenged Tifa to make a fuss about it. She didn't. He'd always been able to wrap Tifa around his finger.

"Be careful, Cloud."

He smiled. The girl still cared about him. "I'll be fine, Tifa. I'll be home in a few days." He hung up, and slid the phone back in Reno's direction. In exchange, Reno slid a bowl in front of him.

"I'm supposed to put up with you for a few more days, huh?"

Cloud looked into the bowl. It was miso, dark, salty, and with hunks of tofu floating in it. His sipped. "This…is good. You can cook?" Reno leaned back in his chair, chewing a bite of his own meal, a reheated hamburger. "Yeah. I can cook. You wanna make something of it?"

Cloud shook his head.