Author's Note: I don't write frequently, only when an idea strikes me. I hope you enjoy! Please review!


Beautiful

A light burst of laughter filled the bar. It was twenty minutes after closing and one customer remained, as usual. The slouchy, sneaky red-headed Turk had pushed open the door fifteen minutes earlier, pointedly ignoring the "closed" sign hanging in the window. He had a feeling she would make an exception for him- she always did. He liked coming at this time of night, anyway. All the drunks had already stumbled their way home, leaving Tifa Lockheart all to himself.

He loved making her laugh. He lived for it. To see her soft, yet jaded eyes come alive, even for a second, stirred something inside of him that he'd never care to admit.

"You're beautiful, Lockheart. You know that?"

She shot him a skeptical look and rolled her eyes.

"You're ridiculous, Reno. And drunk."

"I'm neither. And you are beautiful."

She let out an annoyed sigh and resumed cleaning up behind the bar.

"Reno, I'm really not."

He set his glass down on the counter.

"Why can't you just take a compliment?"

She spun around to face him, looking agitated, and suddenly he remembers that they've already had this conversation.

"I don't have any problem taking compliments, so long as they're true," she stated matter of factly as she walked around the bar and began stacking chairs. He kept his eyes on her, turning in his seat.

"There isn't a man who walks in here and doesn't think you're a knockout. It's not a crime to be hot, Lockheart. Embrace it."

"If they think I'm pretty, then that's their own problem because by definition, an opinion can't be wrong. But that still doesn't change the fact that I'm not. That's all there is to it."

Reno winced as one chair hit the table particularly hard. He rose from his seat, walking until he stood directly behind Tifa. She turned to face him with an expectant look on her face.

"What?" she asked, a definite edge to her voice now. 'What made you like this?,' he vaguely wondered.

"You're beautiful."

"No, Reno. I'm not."

He rested his hands on the table behind Tifa on either side, trapping her.

"Admit you're beautiful, or I'll have to kiss you and prove it."

He smirked, with that feralsneakyknowingcockyReno gleam in his eye.

"You can't be serious," she said, but with little conviction as he began to lean towards her.

"Reno, I - I really…" She leaned back as much as her torso would allow, grasping the edges of the table as he drew nearer. Their chests were touching now, she could feel his light breath on her face and he was moving closer still with half lidded eyes and he now was almost-

"I'm beautiful."

Her words were spoken in a low, rushed whisper and her face betrayed her own surprise.

Reno opened his eyes, grinning lazily.

"I know."

He kissed her anyway.