Notes: This has been a work in progress for as long as I can remember... The title sucks, the plots sucks, the character personalities suck! I swear I didn't mean to butcher anyone's character but it went too far and this is what's left (and to think these are some of my favorite characters ever...). On another note though, Aerith's ring tone changed about a million times. Other than that, enjoy the fic? Or try to, past the stupidity of it all... -_-
Some Things Are Better Left Unsaid
"Ugh." Aerith slid her phone open, before closing it and repeating the whole action over. Of all the things she could have been doing on a Friday night -interacting with people, hooking up with someone, or reading at home- and here she was sitting on the couch by herself, not having fun. She watched her wallpaper picture rotate as the display changed -though it was an old picture of a half naked Zack in board shorts- it still turned out to be less entertaining than just playing with her cell phone itself.
The couched then dipped slightly as someone took a seat next to her. Oh, great, she thought, closing her phone and quickly shoving it into her pocket. What was she doing here anyways?
Zack had already left the reunion with some of his old friends, leaving Aerith with a warning, "If you haven't had fun with someone that you didn't know by the time I get back then I'll disown you." She didn't think he was serious, because half of the time he was always joking. This time around, however, he had been completely sober when he said it, so she doubted that he'd been trying to be funny.
"Are you just going to ignore me, then?"
Aerith turned to the recent addition of the couch. There was a brunette sitting there, staring closely at her as though there was something wrong with her face. Was there something wrong with her face? She hadn't put on much make up, but that couldn't be the problem.
"Um, no" she told him, deciding that it'd be easier to just respond normally. She focused her attention on a group of people across the room that happened to be socializing. God, she really wanted to talk to someone, why wasn't she taking this chance right in front of her?
"So why aren't you watching the game, huh?" he asked her, turning his whole body to face her, his eyes, a very intense blue, watching her carefully. Aerith silently pleaded to herself that he wasn't scrutinizing her every movement, not that she was making many, or thinking he knew her from somewhere before.
Aerith played with her phone in her pocket once more, trying to keep the red off of her face. It wasn't every night you had someone staring at you like you were the main exhibit in a museum. "Maybe, because…um—"
He interrupted her then.
"It's Blitzball Friday! High school teams, all in it to win it!" Excitement laced his voice and he didn't seem like he was asking for an explanation.
Eying him carefully, she noticed his hair for the first time, it was brown and spiked. Did he wear it like that purposely to annoy her? There was no way he could know Cloud, right? "Well, I don't really watch high school blitzball…" she answered timidly. There was nothing wrong with high school blitzball, she just didn't have much time to watch it.
Momentary silence.
She didn't want to look up and see what had gone wrong.
"You don't?" the guy asked in disbelief. His eyes were wider now, making them deeper and god, he really looked kind of like Cloud at that moment.
"No, actually. I go to Radiant Garden University, so I only watch college Blitzball on Saturdays," Aerith stated in a matter-of-factly way, because she really didn't watch it enough to know teams or anything. She most definitely did not want this kid to think she was out of school for good and he was a kid, but only because he'd mentioned high school blitzball. That automatically meant you were still in high school, right?
"Oh…" He went quiet again. She hoped it was only for awhile, she was actually enjoying this conversation. It meant that she didn't have to sit here alone and be bored to death anymore. "Well, that means you graduated recently, right?" he questioned, looking up again.
Aerith sighed inwardly. Maybe he liked his women older? "Yeah…I'm really just waiting for my parents to…" she trailed off, praying she was giving a good impression of herself.
"And what about the NBL??" His voice quickly followed hers, asking his question as soon as she had responded.
"The what?" Aerith asked, thoroughly confused. He'd caught her by surprise with his quickly executed inquiry. She paused and looked away again. The house seemed to have gotten fuller while she had been on the couch with this guy, but Zack still hadn't returned yet.
The brunette's mouth hung open in surprise as if Aerith had said she didn't like smiling and having fun. "… National Blitzball League," he mumbled, turning away to look anywhere else but at her. He was plainly embarrassed for her. Who hasn't heard of the NBL?
"Oh…" she whispered, running her hand through her hair, the curly brown strands were growing limp even though she'd only been sitting there with her hoodie on. So that's what Cloud was always talking about? Blitzball? "…right," she added on, unsure if the NBL was supposed to be a sacred thing.
The guy slapped his hands on his jeans. "Please. Don't tell me you've never heard of the NBL! If you watch college ball then you have to watch NBL!" He was grinning wide and Aerith seriously thought that his face would split on the sides any second now.
"Well…you see…" she started slowly, trying to think of an explanation while inadvertently building suspension. "I kind of only got started on college ball because my boyfriend watched it all of the time, like after we…" She struggled to finish her sentence but she couldn't find the right words and it would be horrible if she accidentally said something like 'after we had sex' because that would surely break the kid's heart. "…had our dates. Yeah, dates."
Feeling a bit jumpy and somewhat accomplished now, she scolded herself. What were you thinking Aerith? Cloud's your ex! Not your current boyfriend, obviously. Hopefully she'd actually think of an answer before just diving into a story next time.
"Oh! Oh right!!" he said solemnly, scratching the back of his head warily. He was trying hard not to let his eyes drift back to her. "You have a boyfriend…sorry."
Oh, great. On top of her being outright impulsive, she was also heartless. Feeling guilty, she tried to respond, "…um." How was she going to fix this?
"No, no! Don't worry about it," she was saying, pressing his palms into the cushions on either side of his body in preparation to stand. "I'll just go find Kairi or—"
"Wait, I didn't mean to say that!" Now it was her turn to interrupt because he'd been doing all the interrupting so far. "Uh, what I meant to say was 'ex' boyfriend." Those blue eyes were giving her a look of puzzlement. It was unnerving but she returned her eyes to his, matching his gaze. "We haven't dated for a long time, like four or five months…" Her explanation may have sounded lame, but it was the truth. Really, she'd been settling for substantial bed activities since Cloud broke up with her, and when she really looked at the facts, no one could possibly measure up to that enigmatic blonde. "So yeah, I'm not dating anyone, really…" She wanted this new guy to believe her because hello, she was telling the ultimate truth here, and when she finally realized that Zack could not count as a current boyfriend because he was too much of an older brother, she focused her attention back to the kid.
"See Sora? Riku was wrong and you were right!" The brunette told himself with relief in his voice.
He was talking to himself.... This guy (Sora?) was talking to himself! "Uh…so that's your name?" Aerith questioned softly, nervously wringing her hands together.
"Huh?" The brunette looked up. His lips were slightly parted and his hair was sort of tousled, causing Aerith to breathe in sharply. Maybe Sora wasn't in high school and that might just be the reason she found him so attractively unattainable at that moment, right?
"Yeah, uh yes. Wait a sec…" He stood and began digging through his pockets while Aerith just kind of studied him.
He wasn't really all that tall, just a bit taller than her, and now that she was actually seeing him, she could see that his skin was darker than Cloud's, but not that much darker. Funny how she didn't notice that before.
"Okay, so if I'm correct then you are…" He fell back into the couch, his phone in hand. His fingers moved quickly over the touch screen and Aerith grew slightly jealous that he could afford a phone like that, but then again his parents could have bought it for him, well only if he were in high school. "…Aerith."
Wow. Okay, that was freaky. "And that's my name! Uh…how?" she asked timidly, because quite frankly, she wanted to know how he knew her name, considering that they'd only just met.
Sora had his mouth halfway open with a reply when his phone went off, blasting something that sounded a little like... Taylor Swift... which caused him to jump. Fumbling with the phone, he finally shut it off. "Um…I kind of have to take this call…" he said in reluctance, getting to his feet again. "I'll be right back, okay?" Aerith nodded him off and watched as he left the room hurriedly.
Sighing, Aerith ran her hand through her hair again. So maybe he did have a girlfriend, because why else would it be necessary to take that girly ring-toned call? Whatever Aerith, get a hold of yourself. Her phone decided to go off then and interrupt her thoughts with a text message, vibrating urgently in her pocket. "What? What?" she asked the device, pulling it out to see who it was.
It was from Zack! She didn't unlock her phone to read it just yet though, opting instead to listen to the ring tone and sing along. "Hold my hand to keep me steady, just to be quiet with you~" When her phone buzzed again, she unlocked it and hurriedly opened the first message.
omfg this guy is osm! i can't believe u aren't-
Well that was confusing. Aerith was pretty sure Zack was straight and she knew he'd only gone out to party with his old friends from a couple of years ago…maybe that included a few girls as well?
Shaking her head, Aerith opened the second message. The smile that came with it was almost instant. It was a picture of Zack. He was grinning and he…had his arm around a buxom girl with long, dark hair. What a killjoy. She scrolled down to read the message that followed the picture.
I met Cloud's gf down here. Txt him 4 me?
"Hey! I'm back!"
Aerith almost fell off of the couch when Sora announced his return. She tried her best to regain her composure, bright red staining her cheeks. "Uh yeah. That was just Namine, my sis, 'cause she needed some…help…" Trailing off, the brunette looked up and blushed as well. It was obviously something too embarrassing to say aloud.
Sora sat back down on the couch, setting his phone down next to him. Taking this moment of pause between them, Aerith quickly replied to Zack's message with a 'sure np' and slid her phone shut. She'd text Cloud later, if she even remembered. She was pretty confident she'd forget to though.
"So, where were we?" Sora asked smoothly, moving closer to her with each syllable.
"I…you…you," she stuttered a bit before shutting her mouth. He gave her a questioning look, it reminded her so much of the older blonde and when Cloud had looked at her like that, she'd never been able to talk straight, but Sora wasn't Cloud. Her response was a little shaky, but a reply nonetheless. "My name."
"Oh! Right. So, I have this friend yeah, and he wanted to know if I had anything planned tonight so I said 'No, why?' and you know what he said?" Sora looked to her expectantly, his blush completely faded. Aerith shook her head and waited for him to continue. "He told me that he was invited to this high school reunion, but he wasn't up for it."
Okay, not enough information here.
"What does all of this have to do with me?" Aerith questioned, watching the way Sora's hands moved as he messed with his phone. They slipped over the screen as though he couldn't control them or use the phone very well, which was deceiving because he actually could, she'd seen it. It only confirmed that he was…anxious? Nervous, more like it.
"I'm getting there," he told her, grinning. "Okay. So, he didn't want to go to the reunion thing so I told him I'd go and see who showed up, since all my friends attended this high school. I was transferred senior year, so I didn't get the invite myself." His explanation was growing lengthier and Aerith really hoped it wasn't much longer. "So he emailed me this picture of this like, really gorgeous girl and captioned it with her name, telling me 'Make sure you say hi to her for me' and since this girl is to die for," he paused and looked up at her. The atmosphere became denser in that moment and Aerith grew a little uncomfortable. "I told him 'Sure, no prob man" and then I came here."
Sora unlocked his phone and searched through it, swiftly and clumsily, until he arrived to his files. "Um…" He held the phone out to her and she just stared at it for a second before taking it.
Holding her breath, Aerith ran her thumb across the screen, and that's when the picture showed. It was a picture of her from last spring, the one where she was wearing that thin, pink summer dress. She had been dating Cloud back then and he had told her not to pose, to just tend to her flowers and pretend to be unaware of the camera phone. When she figured out how to scroll down and finally did, she saw that her name was definitely typed in there, last name included.
"Oh my god," she whispered, accidentally dropping the phone into her lap.
Half a second later, Aerith looked down at it and they both reached for it. Sora's hand brushed against her thigh as he grasped the phone and she drew her own hand back quickly, averting her gaze to the television for the first time that night. The blush that rose on both of their cheeks was hot and burning.
It would have been an understatement to say that Aerith was shocked, because she was more than just shocked. A better way to describe how she was feeling at that moment was very surprised, highly confused, and unbelievably turned on. And it wasn't fair one bit.
"Eh…" Sora tried hard to breath, he really did. Hi, this is Sora's brain speaking. I'm sorry but breathing calmly is not an option at the moment, would you like to try again later? His hand was still resting against Aerith's thigh, clutched around his phone, and there was no doubt in his mind she was thinking the same thing as him. Especially not when he was close enough to lean over her and maybe if he breathed in just right, that's right. She was wearing perfume and god was he going crazy?
He struggled with his inner self, but only because he didn't know how to express himself. I was just getting my phone, that's all. Just my phone. My hand is in her lap, but I have my phone. God her skin looks so soft right now. Pull your hand back Sora. Wow look at those lips. Wait no, don't! God my hand is still in her lap. Mayday, mayday! Riku what do I do? What the fuck do I do?!
Sora still hadn't made a move to pull back and Aerith wasn't even looking at him. Her eyes had drifted and were fixed on the lamp cord across the room to prevent herself from freaking out visibly. It was gold with a gold fringe and it hung straight down and it didn't help that the voices of everyone else in the room created a soft white noise.
Suddenly, Aerith couldn't concentrate on anything but her own thoughts, and that wasn't working out so well either. He's not in high school, no way it's impossible. Why hasn't he moved his hand yet? He smells just like Cloud. Sora. I swear to god, do not move your hand unless you're moving it further up. What do I do? What do I do? Think Aerith, What would Zack do in a situation like this? Wait no! He'd take advantage, don't think like Zack! Think like Cloud. No no!! Don't think like him! Stop thinking Aerith!
Aerith tried not to flinch when he finally pulled his hand back, she really did. Nothing ever works like it's supposed to, does it?
"Uh…sorry." Sora was attempting to form an apology but he couldn't concentrate being as close to Aerith as he was now. He could practically see her breathing, he was that close.
"It's okay.... I think," Aerith mumbled, tucking flyaway hairs behind her ears. There was no way she'd be able to inconspicuously maneuver herself away from Sora; not that she wanted to, but she really couldn't think when she could feel the warmth radiating from him, and he was incredibly warm.
"Well! It looks like someone's having some fun!!"
Aerith quickly scrambled to her feet at Zack's voice. She moved a little too fast and threw her arms out to regain her balance, unintentionally grabbing Zack's broad shoulders and falling against him. "Hey! Take it easy," the dark haired man told her, a smile growing into his expression.
Aerith's blush deepened and she ever so slightly tightened her grip. Unintentionally, of course.
"What? You miss me or something?" Zack asked with a grin as wide as his face. "Sorry babe! Had to get out with the guys, you know. Have a little fun, drink a little." He laughed as Aerith grew brighter. "Come on Aer, I'm just jokin'." Aerith nodded, keeping her eyes trained to the floor. "So…have you texted Cloud yet?"
Sora had been sitting contently on the couch, phone out and being fiddled with. He had been trying to go unnoticed but something kept him planted on the couch and in plain sight and of course he had to ruin it by speaking up. "Cloud?"
Zack turned then and finally acknowledged Sora, chuckling at some faraway inside joke. "So you're into minors now, huh?" The question was directed towards Aerith, but -of course- she wouldn't answer him because there was no way Sora was a minor, so he settled for replying to Sora. "Yeah, Cloud. Tall with spiky blonde shit that grows out his scalp and defies gravity. Completely Cloud."
"Strife, right?" the brunette asked calmly, as though he'd been interrogated by someone as seemingly intimidating as Zack before. When Zack nodded in approval, he continued. "I know his brother, Roxas. We're roommates."
Aerith quickly tried to sidestep, knowing what was coming. Zack pulled her into a hug and whooped. "Yes! You picked a good one Aer! How many suckers in here know our boy Cloud? Not many!!" Once again, he turned to the younger male and held out a hand. "So what's your name kid?"
"Uhh, i'm Sora" Sora reached out and took the greeting hand, shaking it as well as he could before flexing his fingers so Zack would let go. God, that guy's grip is firm. Please don't kill me.
"So," Aerith interrupted, dragging out the 'o' and pushing hard on Zack's shoulder. He wasn't budging and she was using her full strength, sad isn't it? "If you're done scaring Sora here, I'd like you to leave…go hang out with uh…Cloud's girlfriend or something."
"Aww, but I'm not done yet!" Zack joked. "You're not even embarrassed." His eyes told her that his seriousness had indeed gone out the window. He held her hand aside, as if she really could do damage to him, but perhaps this was just a precaution so he himself wouldn't be slapped and humiliated.
"Yes, i'm totally mortified right now because of you. Please let me suffer alone with Sora now," Aerith pleaded, attempting to free her hand from its confinements. More than anything, she wanted Sora to be holding it and not Zack, even though she clearly knew Zack longer.
Zack blinked twice before releasing Aerith and letting another laugh loose. "That's who this is?!"
A very worried Aerith stopped being angry and stared at Zack as though he'd just grown another head. Was he joking? No, wait. Did he know him? "Um…yes Zack. We've already established that," she explained. Maybe Zack had too much to drink, he wasn't usually so forgetful. Besides, wasn't he supposed to know the best friend of the younger brother of his own best friend? Okay, well, maybe not, because he and Cloud had always been preoccupied with lifting weights or whatever; it was what guys did when they hung out on the weekends. Shirtless with sweat dripping off of them and- what was she thinking?! She was supposed to be disgusted by that. She blushed harder and just groaned inwardly, knowing she couldn't stop it.
"Oh! Oh, that's right. Oops." Zack shook his head and laughed some more. "So that means you graduated with Aerith, right?"
"Right," Sora confirmed, shifting uncomfortably on the couch. He hadn't really moved since the phone incident.
Hmm, so he is in college. Aerith sighed in relief, already feeling her cheeks cooling down. Sora's being in college was just perfect! Aside from the fact that he had—oh wait, no. The fact that he had graduated from a different high school was better for her, because then Cloud wouldn't really pay attention since he wasn't directly friends with Sora. This was fantastic! Well, except for the part about her not remembering him from junior year. Was he the short kid that hung out with…what was his name, Ryan? Riku? Wait, no. Maybe he was just out of sight all the time…Why didn't Cloud just ask Roxas to come tonight and not Sora? He probably doesn't even know Sora that well, maybe he was just trying to get in touch with me. Wouldn't he call me if he needed to talk to me? I should just ask Sora.
Aerith looked up before wincing because, geez, didn't Zack ever leave her alone when she asked him to? "Uh…um. Zack?" She glanced at him before changing over to Sora. He was looking over at her with those gorgeous blue eyes of his and well, he wasn't staring at her because something's wrong, right?
"Well, I, uh…I guess I should…go, or—" Zack looked back and forth between the two brunettes, trying to sort what was happening. Maybe she really likes him? Maybe this is more real than Cloud?
There was an awkward silence and Zack didn't want to break it because he wasn't that intruding, right? He watched as Aerith and Sora stared at each other; Aerith licked her lips like she always did and Sora was distracting himself with the zipper of his jacket. They kinda look like school girls with major crushes…weird. "Okay then! I think you two are getting along just fine here…so I think I'm just gonna…" He turned away and began scanning the room for Tifa; because she was probably wondering where Cloud was even though she should've known that he didn't come, he did tell her that earlier and maybe she was over in the kitchen getting a drink?
Before he walked away, Zack turned back to Aerith. "So, uh…" He raised his eyebrows in Sora's direction, keeping his eyes trained on Aerith's, "Did you have any fun like I said?"
"W-what?!" Aerith quickly looked over to Sora, who gave a small wave and sheepish grin, before whipping back to face Zack.
"Um," Sora tried to catch Aerith's attention but he didn't want to speak too loudly, in case Zack finally realized he was a weak target and could be taken down easily, so he kind of just raised his hand instead. "You know what? I'll be right back, I'm just gonna go and…" He backed out of the room and was gone, never completing his statement to let them know where he was actually going.
Aerith didn't even noticed he was gone until Zack grabbed her chin and forced her to take a look at the once inhabited spot. This only caused her to cry out indignantly, breaking out of his grasp, and pushing him backwards, away from the couch. "You are so unbelievable. I can't even fathom why I didn't just tell you to…to fuck off or something! God!"
"Come on, Aerith! It's not like I meant for him to hear, he just—" Zack struggled to get out a sentence because that first part was just a phrase, not even a fragment of a sentence and why couldn't he have a say in what happened, including a full fucking sentence?
"No! And I doubt you're just gonna let this go and not tell Cloud so why don't I just call him myself? Better yet, I'll get his girlfriend to help explain everything too! Just, what the hell?! Oh my god. I was this close, this close to scamming and then you walk in all 'Hey! What's up?' like you're my boyfriend which you aren't. Even if you're so hot all the time and even if you were the last man on the Planet I wouldn't be dating you!" Aerith was clearly angry with herself and she still hadn't stopped ranting. She pounded her fist into his chest, probably hoping it'd do some kind of damage, but of course it didn't.
Zack grabbed her hands, trying to keep her from hitting him but she just broke out of his grip and continued her streak.
"You have no idea how boring this stupid little two year reunion is without Cloud being here and us necking in the back and…" Sora stepped back into the room before deeming it "still dangerous" and leaving again for his one protection. "…all I had to do was get Sora to go back into the bedroom with me and maybe we could—fuck…" She stopped and quickly covered her mouth with her hands as her face lit up with an insane shade of crimson. She hadn't really just said all of that, right? Not with Zack as the main audience and whoever else was in the room that could've overheard their argument, right?
"Uhh…Aer?" Zack questioned, one of his hands hovering over her shoulder, ready to restrain her if she started to chew him out again; he didn't want to place it there just yet 'cause who knew? She might just bite my head off next time.
"Zack, oh my god, Zack."
Aerith fell against him and he rushed to get her to the couch before she really fell unconscious. "How many fingers do you see? Come on, how many?" He barked the words out as if he was giving orders to a squad of lowly grunts, which was actually pretty funny because he was currently climbing the ranks of SOLDIER and ordering grunts around was a daily thing.
"Zack!" She swatted his hand away before replying, "I didn't hit my head, you idiot."
"Sorry! Geez, I was just trying to help," he admitted, a small grin on his face.
Aerith sighed, still wondering where Sora had gone. "I didn't really say all of that stuff, did I? Like about having more fun with Cloud, or you being hot, or-or—" She took a deep breath before asking what she really wanted to know. "Sora didn't hear any of that…did he?"
"Well, uh. I don't think so…" Zack trailed off just as Sora walked into the room and took a seat next to Aerith. "Whoa, man! Sorry uh…for you know…" He stood up quickly, pulling his phone out. "I'm just gonna go find Tifa now, okay? Later Aer!" And just like that, he was gone.
Sora patted the pockets of his jeans, as if he was making sure he had his phone, before letting his hands limply fall onto his lap. "So," he cleared his throat, bringing a hand up to rub the nape of his neck. "I was thinking and…maybe you—well, if you aren't busy or anything…" Aerith had to fight to keep herself planted where she was as Sora chewed his lower lip to bits while in thought, because who was to say that she wouldn't have jumped him at the moment and forced a kiss on him? No one, right? Right. "If you aren't planning on getting a…uh—bed partner anytime soon…"
"Sora," Aerith said his name with an edge of impatience, setting her hand on Sora's leg, precariously close to his knee and moving a little closer to him.
"Oh, right. Well, I heard about this um…fuck," Sora cursed in a low voice before grabbing Aerith's chin and pressing his lips to hers.
Aerith's eyes had widened at the action before she realized that it was just a kiss from an extremely well-mannered guy and oh! She slightly opened her mouth as his thumb nudged against the corner of her lips. There was a quiet moment of just Aerith's gasps and Sora's short breaths as they continued kissing and god, this felt entirely fantastic and Aerith was wishing it wouldn't stop; but Sora swiftly pulled back and wiped at his mouth with the back of his fisted hand. "W-what?"
The string of apologies that ran from Sora's mouth was unexpected. "Shit, I'm so sorry. I was just…you know. I didn't mean to do that! I really shouldn't have, I just—"
"Sora! Calm down," Aerith commanded, holding two fingers against the brunette's lips. He promptly shut up before Aerith slapped a hand over her own mouth. "Oh my god, I shouldn't have touched you…uh, your face like that."
Sora let loose a laugh, not even trying to hold back laughter from what Aerith had previously thought to be a serious situation. "Well, considering that kiss, I don't think it was bad that you, that you touched my mouth. Geez, it's just a mouth. I only use it for talking, eating, and oh, kissing. Things like that, you know?" He grinned widely. His hand twitched where it rested against his leg.
"Oh," Aerith started, looking down at her own hands folded neatly in her lap. Sora's hand jumped again and she had to stifle her laughter before he noticed. "Oh, hmm." She grabbed his hand and held it. A smile crept over her face and she glanced up at Sora. "Is this okay? I mean—"
Sora let his other hand fold over hers. "It is, really. I kind of, just wanted to hold your hand, I guess," he told her, making sure to keep his voice down, lest she realize how excited he'd gotten over the fact that she'd actually grabbed his hand first.
Trying to keep some sort of inconspicuousness, Aerith relaxed her hands and averted her gaze away from Sora's entrapping blue eyes and yes she was still mesmerized by his eyes because who wouldn't be? They were incredibly striking and well, she'd have to stop thinking about them if she was going to get anywhere else. "I was thinking that…maybe," she looked back up at him and completely halted her thought process, drinking in his expression.
"Aerith?" He looked at her with a hint of worry over his features, letting her hand fall back into her lap as he let it go.
"No, it's nothing…I just, got... sidetracked." She nervously pulled a piece of hair back behind her ear before readjusting her position on the couch. No Aerith. You did not just want to press against Sora to see how toned he was and you most definitely did not even want to think about that bedroom down the hall because if you did then you'd be in huge trouble, but then again, five minutes back there wouldn't hurt, right? Right, so then maybe— no, no, no. Stay here in the open where you can't do anything or— "Sora?"
"Uh…" Sora pulled his hand back from Aerith's shoulder, giving another sheepish smile. "Sorry, you just look so tense and I thought that maybe a massage or something…would help?" Oh geez, Sora. Stop while you're ahead now? "That's okay with you, right?"
Aerith nodded before stopping mid-nod to think. Yes. Its okay for me, anything is okay but I don't want to seem too desperate. "Um, sure. I don't mind." She nodded again as she stood and scanned the room for Zack. "I'll be, er…you know. I'll be in the back, okay?" Sora nodded before she hurried away down the hall, trying to calm her nerves because god they were so shook up right now.
"Hey! Sora!!"
Shit, it's that one-person-guy she knows. Don't look down the hall, don't look down the hall. Sora looked over to see Zack at the front entrance of the living room. If he walked over to him and didn't look in the direction of the bedroom in the back, he might have a chance of survival, right?
"So, not that I've been listening in or anything, I haven't, but I noticed that you were about to follow Aerith down that hall back there. You know the one, right? It's riiight down," he gestured to where Aerith had just disappeared to, "there."
Not thinking, Sora glanced down the hall. Shit, I'm dead now.
"Now, I'm not trying to kill your vibe or anything, it's just that I've known Aerith a pretty long time now and…well. I don't really know what I'm trying to say. Be careful and don't put a hand on her or I'll murder you? Nah. Use a condom? Sure, that sounds more close to the touchy subject."
Sora cringed as Zack gave him a pat on the back; the guy obviously wasn't trying to kill him so he should just let it go and relax, but he can't. "Oh…okay thanks. Uh yeah, I don't think that we're—"
"Please! I know just what's gonna happen if I let you go, so just chill, alright? I'm cool with it and she's down there waiting, so why don't you just go now?" Giving his genuine thumbs up and smile, Zack pushed -more like shoved- Sora towards the general direction of the bedroom.