Okay! Just to let everyone know who is about to read this: I have met some deaf people who are self concious of the way they talk and some who you wouldn't even know were deaf! :) Cloud is very self concious of the way he talks due to a previous relationship so he doesn't like to do it anymore. This is not a stereo typed story about people who are deaf! Just a story about one man whom I do NOT own is deaf. So no one take offense to this please! It's just a fiction story. And I am using American Sign Language if that needs to be cleared up. I really hope the first part of this fic is okay. I'm hopefully going to make it into two parts. Also since my editor is very busy I tried to fix most typos, most likely didn't get them all though. But I wanted this uploaded before school starts. :)
Now for some clarifications:
"Regular speech"
"Signing"
"Writing"
'Thinking'
"This is both regular speech and sign language mixed in a sentence." (I think that's all of them...?)
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Final Fantasy or Kingdom Hearts or the characters! I'm just writing this for fun, a.k.a. why it's called a FANFICTION!
Read and Review. :) no flames please.
Leon was going to work like every other human being on the planet on this godforsaken Monday morning; though his plans were a bit changed from the start. The first thing to go wrong was his alarm clock…it didn't go off, putting him a good hour or two off of his schedule. Calling his boss and telling him what happened he flung on his button up shirt and black work pants just in time to get his left shoe on as he hopped outside to get into his car. But that was just part one of his horrible morning. The next tragedy that struck was that when he got into the driveway, there was no car. It was in the shop since yesterday morning because his breaks were messing up. 'Of all the days to be late!' He had a big proposal to present to the head of the company today that could possibly give him a promotion!
He started to run down the street, trying to keep his cool as he almost ran over a mail box and a squirrel. Once at the side of the street leading into the city he leaned on his knees panting. 'Coffee, I need coffee.' For what was a businessman without his daily dose of survival in a cup? Looking around frantically he spotted a neon lit open sign, right under the words "Gainsborough's Coffee Shop and Bakery". He made a bee line straight for the entrance, a relieved sigh escaping his lips as the sweet smell of hazel nut mixed with the overwhelming aroma of dried coffee beans flooded his nasal passages, and if he paid close enough attention, the sweet sugary fragrance of the baked pastries concealed in the glass case sneaked in as well. "Thank God."
Leon strode up slowly to the counter, taking his time as he was now in his comfort zone of coffee. Every day was better after a good cup. As he walked up to the counter he tapped the glass of the case that was holding the pasties, trying to get the attention of the man who had his back to him from behind the counter. The man didn't turn around.
"Ahem", he coughed to the person. When he still didn't acknowledge him he started doing an annoying swaying motion on the balls of his feet. 'Who the hell is this guy? Geez. Today has been shitty enough as it is; he can at least act like I'm here…' he glared at the back of the man's white polo shirt.
"Hey, blondie!" he made his voice a bit louder, "I would like some service! My day has been shitty enough as it is!" He yelled, voicing his thoughts. Then he moved his eyes up and glared at the back of the man's blonde spiky head. 'The nerve of this guy! Now I'm going to be really late!' Leon huffed some more. 'Just stay cool Leon.' He sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "Sir, I would really like some service. I swear I will be quick, then you can go back to doing whatever it is that is obviously more important that serving a customer."
The man still didn't turn around, he only moved up his arm to reach in a cabinet so he could grab some more flour.
Leon's eye twitched.
"Sir! Damnit I want some coffee!" he banged on the glass. He looked down on the surface of the counter for something to get the man's attention. 'This will have to do…' He groaned and picked up a banana nut muffin from a basket on the side with a sign saying 1.25 munny each. Well he would pay for the muffin later. He threw the muffin up in his hand once, then twice, trying to get a good aim at the guy's spiky blonde head. Swinging his arm back he thrust the muffin toward his target, a satisfying 'smack' as the plastic wrapping landed square in the middle of the back of the guy's head.
Once the object pelted its intended target, the man spun around, hand on his heart as he was breathing heavily, looking back at his attacker.
Leon almost immediately regretted hitting this man; he was beautiful, probably a couple years younger than him. The once scared man's eyes turned into anger as he looked at the muffin on the ground that he worked so hard to bake.
When he got the muffin and moved it on the counter he started making different hand motions that Leon didn't understand.
"Look dude, I just want some coffee." He could get passed his good looks to still be angry at the lack of service.
The blonde man looked appalled and moved his hands in another motion before sticking up his middle finger. Well Leon knew what that meant. "What the hell? Excuse me?" Leon called over the counter as the blonde man walked into the back, talking to a girl with long brunette hair. Leon tried to look into the back through the window in the door. The girl was talking while also moving her hands while the other man looked exasperated and moving around his hands violently. Then it hit him. Leon smacked his head and leant on the glass, covering his face with both hands. He faintly heard the door open and footsteps walk over to him, "Wow, I am such an asshole." He groaned.
"So I've heard." A smooth but commanding voice announced in front of him.
Leon looked up dejectedly at the petite brunette woman that came out from the back with the blonde man beside her.
Leon looked from both her and the blonde, "Look miss, I'm so sorry. I didn't know, I swear. I just-" But he was interrupted as the blonde stepped forward and signed some more right in front of Leon's face, trying to make his point clear.
"He doesn't want your pity, sir." She translated.
Leon sighed and looked at her sleek name tag right above her left breast on her apron, "Look Miss Aerith, I really didn't know."
"And we know that." She sighed, turning to the man, "You know he's sorry, right?"She both spoke and signed.
"I don't fucking care Aerith!" He made harsh hand gestures.
Letting out a defeated sigh she motioned for him to go back to work and not to worry about it. "He was just scared…probably."
"Oh…" Now that Leon thought about it he could understand why that would have been scary. He probably would have had a heart attack if he was busy doing his work, mind completely elsewhere, and all of a sudden having something thrown with a lot of force at the back of his head.
"And he doesn't like people pitying him just because he can't hear." She turned around to see that Cloud had gone back to making the dough, though he was being a bit more forceful than what was necessary as he pounded it into the counter.
"I-it wasn't pity. It was just an apology."
"I know that, but he doesn't." She shook her head, "I'm sorry sir, but what may I get for you? I promise this will never happen again. I just had to run back and grab more supplies from the cabinet and left him up here alone. Normally he's fine dealing with customers, but he was busy baking and was probably zoned out."
"Oh, it's quite alright." He took a look at the man again who turned his head and glared before going back to pounding in the dough.
"Just your basic coffee please."
"Coming right up, sir."
After he received his coffee he was half way out the door when he turned back, "Um, Miss Aerith?"
"Yes?"
"How do you say I'm sorry in sign language?"
She let out a soft chuckle, bringing one of her hands up to the middle of her chest and moving it in a circular motion. He repeated it back and she smiled a nod of approval. He smirked back, taking one last look at the man he had to make a proper apology to. The man went through the back door throwing a towel over his shoulder. 'Maybe today isn't going to be so bad after all.'
0000
He returned bright and early the next morning to apologize, that way he would have time to spare before going to work. The more he thought about the past events of the previous day the more determined he was, even to go so far as looking up some online sign language tutorials. As he stood in front of the coffee shop door he reviewed some signs in his head before waltzing into the shop, a quaint jingle resonating from the bells as the door opened and closed. The girl from before, Aerith, was wiping the counter clean as she got ready for the day, "Oh, hello again sir. Just a moment and we will be ready." She smiled sweetly.
He gave a quick nod. He wasn't interested in coffee right now; the object occupying his thoughts was over at a side table looking out at the empty streets. He was resting his chin on the palm of his hand, just watching the town, and as Leon got closer, he noticed that he had ear buds in his ears.
'But I thought he couldn't hear.' Leon squinted in confusion but soon shrugged it off. He had an apology to make. Taking in a deep breath he walked around the table, not wanting to scare him again. He let out a nervous cough as he scooted back the chair and sat down across from him as the other man didn't even acknowledge his presence.
Leon hesitantly tapped the man's shoulder, and took notice of the thin nametag pinned on the top left of his apron. 'Cloud…?' He didn't want to chuckle at the name though. His birth name wasn't exactly normal either. Though once he said it in his head it started to suit him, 'It's kind of pretty.' He smirked to himself.
"Hey, I just wanted to apologize for being a jerk." He tried to say slowly, just incase Cloud decided to look at him, and it didn't help that he suddenly became very self conscious of his sign language abilities, which was slim to none since he only studied basic stuff just the night before.
Cloud rolled his eyes when he saw Leon's mouth moving. Leon narrowed his eyes as the other man still refused to admit that he was there. He tried talking again, only to get a quick heated glare in return before those beautiful blue eyes went straight back to paying attention to the roads.
Leon let out a sigh and covered his face with his hand, 'Just suck it up Leon.' He tried to do it slowly and hardly noticeable at first, just repeating the sign for 'sorry' over and over again. He stayed like that for about two minutes.
Cloud saw the tiny motion from the corner of his eyes and refused a guilty groan that wanted to escape. 'He's trying really hard, isn't he?' Letting out a defeated sigh, he turned his body around to face the man whose face was beat red at having to do something so foreign to him. He was pouting and looking rather stupid, Cloud had to fight back a laugh. "It's okay." He signed.
Once Leon registered that Cloud's hands moved he looked back up at him, "What?"
'Finally some sort of response…'
Cloud sighed with a smirk as he grabbed a napkin from the box on the table and pulled out a pen from the pocket in his apron, "I said it was okay."
"Oh." Leon let out a shaky breath, "Good, I was starting to think that I would never make amends, and then I'd have that guilt thing going on forever and-" he was stopped by Cloud waving the napkin in front of his face.
Leon paused as Cloud took it and wrote, "I can only understand about 25% of what you are saying when you talk so fast like that."
"Oh…sorry." He chuckled and made the sign again and Cloud nodded with a small smile on his face. "It's okay." He signed again, and this time Leon caught it and understood.
Leon bit his lip as he took the napkin and grabbed his own pen from his pocket, "My name is Leon." He wrote down and also tried to sign it, but he must have done something wrong because Cloud let out a breathy chuckle. He demonstrated with his own name as well as writing it down on the napkin. "My name is Cloud."
Leon redid his name again, moving his fingers in the right way that Cloud did, though hesitantly, but Cloud gave an approving nod just the same. "It's nice to meet you Leon."
"Yeah, you too Cloud." He bit the end of his pen as he thought of something more to say as to not end their conversation. Then he looked back at Cloud again and saw the ear buds, "Why do you have those in your ears?"
Cloud raised his eyebrows and looked down at the white cord that was connected to the ear buds and responded, "It makes people leave me alone who don't know I'm deaf. They think I'm listening to music and that's why I can't hear them. Then they walk off and leave me alone." He let out a smirk, "But obviously you didn't get the hint."
Leon scoffed and playfully rolled his eyes, "Well I really wanted to talk to you and say sorry."
"I'm surprised that you took that much effort. Even trying to learn how to introduce yourself."
"Well I tried, and I kind of want to learn more." He looked sheepishly off to the side, a slight blush adorning his cheeks as Cloud read it and wrote down, "Aerith can teach you."
Leon sighed, 'Not the response I was hoping for.' "But I hardly know her."
Cloud laughed silently and shook his head, "You hardly know me."
Leon grunted as he took out another napkin, "I hit you with a muffin. I think that means we are pretty well acquainted."
Cloud glared at the reminder of being scared half to death by that incident the day before. "I worked hard baking those."
"Oh, you bake?"
"Are you an idiot? You saw me preparing the dough yesterday."
Leon took on a more innocent expression, "I was just curious. Would you mind making me some baked goods?" He mentally scolded himself. He didn't want to be talking about pastries! He wanted to learn sign language so he could spend time with the other man and learn how to communicate with him properly!
Cloud let out another sigh, Leon seemed to make him do that a lot, "Well whenever I teach you sign language I will bring you something; a present for your hard work."
Leon leaned in the back of his chair relieved, which didn't go unnoticed by Cloud. He let out a smile, "When? Where?"
Leon couldn't write fast enough, "My apartment, #87 in the Garden complex. Cross roads of Sunset Ave. and Twilight Blvd. And whenever you can."
Cloud looked over the directions, mapping them out in his head before another question popped up in his mind. "Why are you so interested in learning sign language anyway?"
Leon had to pause and think for a minute to come up with an answer that didn't sound strange and reveal his true intentions. Finally he came up with something, "I think we could become good friends."
When Cloud read that, his eyebrows rose and he smirked at Leon, "Me too."
00000000
Leon was checking his hair in the mirror for the fifth time in twenty minutes to make sure that he looked presentable for his guest. He leaned his hands on the sink, bracing his upper body. His grey eyes met their reflection and he shook his head, 'God, I'm acting so stupid.' "Urg." He grunted and ran the palms of his hands along his face. Ever since that conversation with Cloud a couple days ago Leon hasn't been able to sleep properly. He was even more than excited when they exchanged numbers and Cloud texted him two days later saying that he would be off on Saturday and that he could teach him then.
He glanced over at the neon numbers that were lit up in his room on his night stand, '8:35 a.m…..only 5 more minutes. And I'm still in my pajamas.' Rocking back and forth on his heels he nodded his head confidently before letting out a pitiful sigh. He hasn't felt this way since his first date with Rinoa. He was looking in his closet for something to replace his white cotton wife beater and dark green plaid pajama pants with before Cloud arrived.
'Ding Dong'
"Shit! He's early…" he groaned. Running in a quick circle before finally making up his mind to go downstairs and actually open up the door to let Cloud in, he tried to calm down. After taking in a couple breaths and wiping his hands on his pants to remove any signs of nervousness he put on his usual mask and opened up the door…so much for getting rid of any signs of nervousness. He lost his words in his throat as Cloud was standing there patiently on his porch. 'Did he try to look that good?' he wanted to whimper, and almost did so once he took into consideration that Cloud wouldn't be able to hear it but decided against it.
"Hello" Cloud signed. When Leon didn't do anything he looked behind him, seeing if something was interesting that was making Leon unresponsive.
"Oh no no no no no." Leon shook his head and touched Cloud's shoulder, turning the blonde man around. "Come in." he gestured. Cloud gave a curt nod and walked in, turning around and handing Leon a grocery sack with a plastic container in it.
"What's that?" He looked at the bag, moving his hands to hold up the bottom.
Cloud waited until Leon looked at him again, "Brownies." His hands moved too fast for Leon to understand, but he looked into the Tupperware and that answered his question. "Can we share them?"
Cloud just shrugged in indifference.
Leon brought them over to the table, placing the brownies next to the countless sheets of blank papers and two pens ready to go for his lesson.
"So, where should we start?" Leon asked, taking a seat and opening the tub of brownies.
Cloud grabbed a piece of paper and a pen, "Let's start out with the basics, and what you already know."
"Well I know the alphabet. And 'sorry', 'hello' and 'my name is Leon.'
Cloud let out a grunt of amusement in the back of his throat when he remembered how Leon messed up introducing himself.
Leon's head jerked to the side. That was the first noise that Cloud has made in front of him, granted that they only met a couple days ago. Leon wished he could lock that sound away in his memory bank so he could hear it whenever he pleased.
"That's a good start. I guess I could start teaching you some numbers today."
"Well I have all day. So if you want to teach me more, then you are more than welcome to." Leon held his breath for a response.
"I'm off till five. After that I have to pick up my little brothers from soccer practice."
Leon raised an eyebrow, "You have brothers?"
"Yes. Actually I could teach you that today too; how to sign family members."
"That sounds great."
For the rest of the day Leon was being taught sign language. Sometimes he messed up, and sometimes he got them right. It was a double edged sword. If he messed up then Cloud would touch his hands and move them in the right motion, but if he signed correctly then Cloud would let a small smile escape. He was actually surprised at how much he was learning about the other man. Cloud was still in college studying to be a teacher for deaf children, he was twenty-two years old, and he had two younger twin brothers named Roxas and Ventus who were fifteen. "We only learned the basics today, but the next time I visit I'll try to make conversation so you can become confident using sign language."
Leon hid a blush as his eyes narrowed off to the side, "How did you know I wasn't confident?"
"Because, when you came in to apologize the other day that was the puniest 'sorry' sign that I have ever seen."
Leon faked being hurt at the words written down on the paper before smirking. "When will you come over again?"
"Well, I'm off for a couple hours during the week that I'm not working, going to school or picking up Roxas and Ventus from practice."
"I don't want to take up your time."
Cloud bit his lip as he was trying to grin, "It's fine, really I don't mind. I'm going to school to learn how to teach deaf children. So this is like extra credit."
"So I'm like a child? You're such a jerk." Leon teased but Cloud didn't know that.
Cloud paused a bit, thinking hard as to what to write down next, "Sorry. I didn't mean it. It's kind of hard to express feelings through writing for me. I was joking. I actually really enjoyed hanging out with you today and would like to do it again. Next time I'll bring cup cakes or something."
Leon huffed and smiled at Cloud, "Yeah. I'd like that."
With a swift nod and turn of his head Cloud was already grabbing his things, "You can keep the tub the brownies came in. I'll just pick it up next time I'm over."
Leon pursed his lips and swayed back and forth, "What?"
"Man, I can't wait till you learn how to sign." He grinned. He just pointed to the tub that once held brownies in it on the table and waved his hand off in a downward motion. Leon seemed to get the hint. "Ah, okay. Bye Cloud. Drive safe."
Cloud's eyes went wide and his eyebrows moved together slightly at the other man's express of concern for him to be safe. "Thank you."
000000000
"Hey Cloud!" Ventus ran up and waved to him, "Sorry I'm late but Terra wanted to-"
"Gross!" Cloud slapped his hand to his face to prevent the sight of his brother. "Oh please, Cloud! Seriously? It's not like I'm Roxas!" He laughed at his brother's red face.
Slowly removing his hand he rolled his eyes,"Well speaking of him where is Roxas?" Cloud sighed annoyed.
"He's grabbing his stuff; he should be coming out soon."
Cloud gave a gruff nod and grunted in the back of his throat. The two brothers waited for another three minutes with Roxas still nowhere to be seen. Ventus looked up then down, then all around and shifted on his feet. He nudged Cloud, "So, how were the lessons today? Did he mess up a lot?"
Cloud scoffed and smirked, "Yeah he did, but once he got the hang of it everything went okay. I don't need to bring up how long it took for you to learn sign language."
Ventus' face turned red, "Yeah, let's not bring that up." He nervously chuckled as he remembered the time when he accidently told his brother "Fuck you" instead of "Thank you." He didn't sign for weeks because he was afraid he might mess up again.
"Seriously Ventus, where is Roxas?"
He peered back over to the field and saw his twin far in the distance behind the bleachers with none other than the senior Axel. "Just give him a couple more minutes, Cloud. You know how he likes to take his time."
Cloud let out a frustrated growl and leaned back up against his car. "So Cloud, what's this Leon guy like anyway?" Ventus asked trying to buy some time for his brother. If he wasn't the more responsible one of the two then he would hopefully be doing the same thing with Terra. But being the 'good' twin, he was on time and ready for his brother as always. "He's weird. It was as if sometimes he was messing up on purpose, which was very immature for someone who wants to really learn sign language. He should have been trying his hardest to concentrate and learn."
Ventus looked back from his older brother to his twin who was finally grabbing his stuff and heading over towards them. "Roxas! Come on! We have been here for forever!" he yelled, then he turned back to Cloud, "Well I don't know Cloud. Some people are just jerks like that." Cloud chuckled and moved back upright once his other younger brother came into view, effectively dropping the Leon subject.
"Hehe, uh sorry Cloud. I was-"
"Making out with Axel, I know. Ventus tried to cover it up for you though."
"WHAT?" both boys screeched, "You weren't supposed to let him find out!"
"Well if you were here on time then none of this would ever happen!"
Cloud glared at both of them, turning around their shoulders so they would pay attention to him, "I'm your brother, I know these things. Now get in the car and let's go."
Roxas glared at Cloud's back as he got in the car, "Just for that I hope your car smells like sweat for the next year." Roxas signed to Cloud from the backseat, making sure he rubbed his body all over the back of the car.
"Roxas, quit being disgusting and sit properly. I have to get home to plan out my next lesson of sign language to teach Leon."
Roxas huffed as he put on his seatbelt, finally giving in. "One of these days Cloud. One of these days." Cloud just rolled his eyes playfully as he saw what Roxas signed. 'Hmph, I wonder if Leon ever had to put up with little brats like them.' He shook his head; that was for the next lesson.
0000
Leon was lying down on his bed, stomach first, just staring at his phone. He wanted to text Cloud but he didn't want to be a bother to him. 'He probably has homework or something.' He moaned into the pillow. Ever since he left the dating scene after what happened between him and Rinoa he has never felt this way before. Sure Cloud was cute, beautiful even, but just something about him made him special. Maybe it was the fact that he was deaf. It gave him a certain aura that he carried and turned him into the person he was today. 'Screw it.'
He grabbed his phone and texted Cloud.
To: Cloud
From: Leon
I had a great time. You are the best teacher so far that I have had ever since middle school. When do you want to teach me again?
It was almost thirty minutes later before he got an answer; he couldn't open his phone fast enough.
To: Leon
From: Cloud
It was fun, and thanks. I'm free on Monday from 7-8 p.m. or you could just come into the bakery when you have time and reach me there. I'll find time to teach you. Don't worry.
To: Cloud
From: Leon
That sounds fantastic.
0000
Over the course of the next four months, Leon and Cloud had grown extremely close. They held regular sessions at Leon's house, and sometimes Leon would pop in before work to get some conversation going. And it was over this course of time that Leon really found out his feelings for Cloud. At first he remembered it being just a crush, a huge crush, but a crush nonetheless. But now that they spent time together he found out that he really enjoyed the other man's company. He even met Roxas and Ventus a couple times. They were nice kids, even though Ventus kept on going on and on about how Leon looked like his boyfriend, Terra, in some ways. But other than that they were pretty okay. And another thing that he liked about Cloud from the start was that he never asked about his scar. He let the question be nonexistent. Normally that's the first question people ask him. How did you get that scar? But Cloud wasn't normal. He was just…Cloud. Sometimes they would go out to the park just to hang out or Cloud would come over to Leon's place because he needed help with his homework. And Leon really loved it whenever they would play videogames. Cloud was so competitive that he would make grunts and sighs when he was trying to beat Leon in a game, and he cherished those sounds.
Leon sighed as he looked over at the table. There were no sheets of blank paper adorning the top of the wood and no pens in sight. He had come along pretty far in his lessons, even so much as to stop trying to mess up just so Cloud would touch him. But despite being great friends with Cloud he wanted to become more. He was willing to practically learn a new language for this guy after all.
Leon calmed his nerves as he saw Cloud drive up on his motorcycle into the drive way. This meeting would be different. He was going to ask him how to say those three words, even though he knew them by heart because he practiced with them so many times. He knew he wouldn't mess up on them.
He opened up his door before Cloud even made it to the porch, just leaning up against the frame.
"Hello Leon. How are you?"
"I'm doing well, how about you?"
Cloud walked up, putting one foot up on the step that led to the porch. "I'm fine." He smiled as he looked back in the house passed Leon, "So are you going to let me in?"
"Oh uh…" He looked back inside, getting knots in his chest as he knew what he was going to confess tonight, "Yes, sorry. Come on."
Cloud rolled his eyes as he walked in, turning his head to the side to get a better look at Leon's backsid-the furniture.
Sitting down on the couch cushions Leon signed "So how are your classes coming along?"
Cloud let out a sarcastic sigh and shook his head, "They are fine, though now that it's getting closer to the end of the year they are becoming a lot tougher."
"Mmm" Leon nodded and watched as Cloud took his seat next to him, lounging comfortably back on the couch.
"So what did you want to learn today?" Cloud signed.
"Do our meetings always have to be about learning something? Can't we just hang out?" he folded his arms over his chest as he too laid back on the couch, his right leg barely touching Cloud's left elevated one.
"Alright, fine. What do you want to talk about?" He smirked as he rested his head on the back cushion of the couch.
"Do all of our conversations have to be planned out?" Leon tsked, becoming slightly annoyed that this wasn't going anywhere like it normally did.
His response was a simple, "No."
Leon smirked and leaned back some more, getting comfortable and slightly more nervous. Cloud took notice to the crease in his brow, "Leon, what's wrong?"
He just smiled and shook his head waving it off. "It's nothing, Cloud."
"Then why do you look nervous about something? Are you sick? Do I need to leave?"
"No!"
Cloud jumped back at the startled response. "Okay, then what is it?"
Leon rolled his eyes and leaned forward, moving around to sit cross legged in front of the other man. "Cloud. I have something to tell you."
The blonde hesitantly nodded his head, relaxing slightly and leaning forward.
Leon bit his lip as Cloud looked at him so intently, "W-well Cloud, I um…I like someone."
Blonde brows rose slightly, "Okay. Do you need my advice?"
"Uh-um…" Leon was dumbstruck as what to say next. "Um…I um…shit, Cloud."
Cloud smiled and chuckled a bit, "She must be pretty amazing if you can't even describe her to me."
Leon put a hand to his face in frustration, "No Cloud, that's not it. You see, the person I like is deaf…and I was wondering if you could teach me how to say 'I love you'."
One of Cloud's brows rose, "Okay, I love you." He formed the one sign and also the words individually. "That's all it is." Leon's stomach churned in knots when Cloud signed 'I love you' to him even if it was just to teach him. He repeated the sign back to Cloud even though he already knew it was correct. Cloud smiled and nodded. "When are you going to tell her?" he leaned forward in interest.
Leon was rendered speechless when Cloud also sat cross legged and leaned forward, chin leaning on the palm of his hand. "I-I was kind of wanting to tell them today." He leaned forward slightly.
"Today? It's 9:00 at night. A little late don't you think?"
"Well it was the only time that you were available."
A nervous laugh escaped Cloud's lips, "And what does that mean?"
Leon took in a big breath and looked off to the side, then back to Cloud's eyes. "Cloud. I love you."
The blonde just slowly nodded again, "Yes, that's correct. You're doing it right."
"No, Cloud." Leon shook his head and leaned forward a couple inches. "I love you."
"Heh, I don't…" Cloud shook his head, darting his eyes from the space between them back up to Leon's eyes, "I don't understand."
Leon slowly took Cloud's face in between his hands noticing all too well how Cloud's face tensed up and the immediate pull backward from Cloud's head, but it wouldn't move. It was still securely held in Leon's soft grasp. His body went ridged when Leon's lips lightly covered his own. Chills ran all throughout his body, his head wanting to violently shake away, but a part of him wanted to stay where he was; in this kiss with Leon.
When Leon pulled back he was not expecting to see Cloud crying, mouth open and red cheeks, his head suddenly shaking from side to side. "No!" Cloud signed as he grabbed his things, hardly giving Leon enough time to register what just happened as he made his way to the door.
"Cloud, wait!" He yelled quickly running after him as Cloud darted outside, "Cloud, wait! Damnit!" He cursed, 'Of course he can't hear me!' "Cloud, stop!" Leon sped up his pace, knocking Cloud to the ground just shy of pushing over his motorcycle. "Cloud please stop." Leon pleaded, trying to dodge the multiple punches and kicks he was receiving, "Cloud!"
Cloud tried not to scream out as Leon caught him. He didn't want this! He didn't want anyone to love him again, he was afraid; terrified. He tried to calm down as he covered up his own face with his hands, trying to hide his crying eyes. "No Leon! I can't! Just stop!" when he was done signing he put his hands right back over his eyes again as he let out what were hopefully silent sobs. When Leon saw what Cloud signed his heart broke. He calmed down from the pursuit and slowly rubbed Cloud's arms, trying to bring down the hands that were covering up the face he loved.
"Please just stop." Cloud signed, hoping that all of this would just go away.
Leon waited for Cloud to calm down some, and gently pried away the hands covering Cloud's face. "Why?" Leon signed, shaking his head confused.
Cloud sniffled and coughed out a couple of sobs, "Because I can't take getting hurt again. Not like that." He coughed some more and hid his face again, pathetically turning over to the side wishing that he could just become invisible.
Leon tried shaking his head as he gathered Cloud's hands in his own, "Cloud…"
Cloud's head was turned to the side, eyes staring blindly out into the dead street. If anyone were to see their positions right now they might get the wrong idea by the way Leon was straddling him. "No, Cloud. Listen to me…" Leon couldn't really use sign language right now, afraid that if he did and let go of Cloud's hands that they would shoot straight back up to cover his eyes. He grabbed both in one hand, trying to move his arms out of the way as he bent down closer to Cloud's face, the back of his free hand slowly caressing Cloud's cheek and wiping away the streaks of tears. He brought his hand around the blonde's face, turning it toward his direction. "Cloud. I'm not going to hurt you."
The blue eyes just leaked more tears as he relaxed his arms and let them go limp. Leon nodded his head and let go of his arms as Cloud brought them to rest on his chest. "Leon. I'm sorry." He shook his head again. "If you're only saying you love me to pity me than you can just forget it." He glared up at the brunette, only to be graced with one of the most sincere smiles Leon has ever given him, which made him confused. 'Why is he smiling?' Cloud shut his eyes for a moment, but they snapped open seconds later when he felt Leon envelop him in a secure hug. He was confused as he laid there on the cement driveway with Leon holding him, the stars of the night sky obscured by the lights of the neighborhood. He reluctantly moved his head closer to Leon when he felt vibrations coming from the other man. He tried to move up his body into a more comfortable position, making Leon let go just slightly and look at him.
"What did you say, Leon?" He looked at him, eyes scared and hurt.
"I said for you not to ever think that again. Please Cloud. Please don't think I'm saying this to you because of pity." There was nothing but shear purity in his eyes as he stared down at Cloud so intensely. Cloud could practically feel his emotions radiating off of him. "I don't joke about things like this Cloud. You mean too much to me to ever hurt you."
Cloud just looked up dumbfounded. He didn't even notice that most of his tears had dried up. "Come on back inside and we can talk about this. I don't want your past feelings and experiences to make your decisions for the future."
Cloud took in a breathy sigh and let it out as he raised one of his hands to touch Leon's face. He bit his lip as he lightly ran his fingers over the scar that ran in between Leon's stormy eyes. "I really do like you Leon." He signed hesitantly. "And…" He took in a couple breaths as he let out a small smile, "I trust you, and you have done nothing but been a great friend to me. I'm just scared."
A grateful sigh came from Leon as he let out a shaky chuckle. "Well you don't have to be scared anymore. And if you're not ready to talk about it then I can wait."
His smile widened slightly as brought his hand around to caress the bottom of Leon's chin. "You really want to date me?"
A chuckle escaped the older male, "Of course." Leon smiled down at him, lifting Cloud's chin with his thumb and forefinger. Cloud met him halfway there, which surprised him a little bit, but he gave in just the same. The kiss was soft and light, nothing like his kisses. It made Cloud want to grin into it as he was overcome with this strange feeling that he has never really felt before.
Leon pulled back when he felt Cloud's lips form into a bigger smile, with their noses touching as he gazed into those blue eyes.
"I think it's time we go inside." Leon both said and signed with one kiss to the corner of Cloud's mouth before he stood up.
Cloud grinned and nodded his head as he stared at Leon and took his hand to help him stand.
Once inside they sat on the couch, a lot closer this time with Cloud's head on Leon's shoulder as they watched some random TV show with the captions on. Occasionally Cloud would bring up what happened with him and a man named Sephiroth back when he was sixteen. How he just used him and his lack of hearing to his advantage by talking to his other lovers on the phone behind his back. Sephiroth didn't even take the time to even become slightly interested in learning sign language for Cloud. He would yell at him all he wanted to; sometimes physically attack him when Cloud didn't understand fully what he said and he would laugh at him every time Cloud tried to talk because it didn't sound perfect. That relationship is what caused Cloud to never talk to anybody unless he absolutely had to. It was a whole mess, and it really broke Cloud. He was so sensitive when it came to relationships and his heart.
"I won't ever do that to you Cloud. You know that." Leon looked at him intently, nothing but truth showing in his eyes. He placed a light kiss to his temple which made Cloud smile and blush, digging his face deeper into Leon's shoulder.
"I trust you." Cloud spoke hesitantly.
Grey eyes widened as did the smile spreading across his face. Cloud finally talked to him! And no matter what anyone had to say about how the words weren't spot on, to Leon, Cloud sounded perfect.
Okay, part one is ready! Now I have to start on part two. :) I hope you all enjoyed it! (no flames please.) And a big "Good Luck!" to all of the people reading this who are about to start school again! (or in school...just good luck. ^^) well Review please!