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017 Think
"You know, I've never seen you drive a car before." She told him as they were walking along the obscure auto shop district in a small part of Edge. Tifa insisted that she come with him to buy replacement parts for Fenrir even though he adamantly refused. 'You wouldn't like it there' he said repetitively. But here they were.
"I have Fenrir," Cloud answered simply. "I think that's enough."
"I think we should buy a car," Tifa said, ignoring his comment about Fenrir. It surprised Cloud a little.
"A… car…?" he asked, perplexed. "Tifa, why would you want a car?"
"Well, if we have a car," she pondered loudly. "Both of us can drive it, and it's more low-key than your bike AND safer too. Wouldn't you agree?"
"I'm comfortable with my bike."
"Please Cloud? Let's get a car!" she insisted.
"No."
"Please?" she tugged on his arm.
"I don't think so." He kept walking but let her keep her arm on his.
"Okay, just test drive one car, then if you still don't approve of the idea, I'll stop with the whole car ordeal." She offered.
Cloud looked down at her with an eyebrow raised. She had this overzealous expression on which he found a little funny. He thought about how she looked like the little 9 year old girl back in Nibelheim. Cloud laughed to himself. Now, how could I deny her? He thought.
"Fine." He agreed hesitantly. Tifa clapped her hands in anticipation and led Cloud to the nearest car dealer in the district.
"Okay, sir, you have 20 minutes for the test drive." The man in charge said as Cloud and Tifa got into the driver and passenger seats respectively.
Cloud nodded then sped off.
It's a lot more complicated than driving Fenrir, Cloud thought. There's a gear shift, air-conditioning buttons, windshield wipers… It's going to take a lot more thinking to get used to driving a car.
As Cloud was getting used to the feel of a steering wheel, he suddenly felt a hand collapse on top of his hand that was maneuvering the gear shift.
He looked through his peripheral vision and saw Tifa staring out the window. Even if her face was averted from his view, it was obvious she was smiling widely. Cloud knew she was happy that he agreed to what she wanted.
She started brushing her thumb along his hand and Cloud suddenly felt lightheaded.
It had been the first weeks of their official relationship. He wasn't quite used to Tifa's sudden touches and caresses, but he was getting along well. Whenever she did though, they still came as startling, but pleasant, surprises for Cloud.
Damn it, I can't think straight with her doing that, he thought distractedly.
He couldn't stop looking at her from second to second. She wasn't aware, as she kept her eyes fixated on the urban scenery outside, and he was thankful for that. If Tifa saw that he wasn't keeping his eyes on the road, she'd surely scold him.
Cloud only paid his attention to driving when he needed to take sharp turns, but other than that, his eyes just wouldn't stop landing on Tifa. Damn it, he scolded himself.
Tifa enjoyed the feeling of riding in a car with Cloud. It's as if she had her teenage dream come true. She loved the feeling of enjoying each other's company even without saying anything. She kept her hand on his as she continued to think about how happy she felt at that moment; for others, that would seem a bit shallow but for her, that was enough.
It was then when the car came to an abrupt halt when she snapped out of her daydream. She immediately turned to face Cloud who had both his hands buried in his face.
"Cloud!" Tifa exclaimed worriedly. "What's wrong?!"
He kept his hands on his face. No response.
She bit her lip and saw that he stopped the car in a parking lot of one of the stores that closed down a year ago. She couldn't understand, what's wrong with Cloud? Is he having one of those bad flashbacks again?
"Cloud…?" she started gently, reaching out to take his hands away from his face. But just before she was able to, he already took them away, revealing a rather unreadable expression. Tifa was even more worried at this.
"We can't get a car." He said flatly.
"Well, okay, is that it?" she asked thoughtfully. "If you don't want it—"
"No, I want it," he interrupted. "But I can't drive with you sitting there beside me, Tifa."
Her eyes widened. "What?" she was a little taken aback.
"No, I mean," Cloud said, finding the right words to say what he wanted to say. He was never a man of words, so times like these were always big struggles for him. He looked at her, and she had her arms crossed and her lips pouted. Why do I get myself into situations like this…? He thought helplessly.
"How do I say this…" he thought loudly. She waited for him and didn't say anything.
"You… distract me," he started. Tifa's eyes widened even more at this. Cloud immediately gave her a look that says 'it's-nothing-like-that!'
He collected his thoughts the continued. "When you're with me, I can't think." He paused and looked at Tifa with uncertainty. "I can't think about keeping my eyes on the road. I can't think about switching gears… Damn, I can't even think about stepping on the brakes if people started crossing the street."
Tifa's expression immediately changed. She uncrossed her arms and turned her body facing his.
"Tifa, I," he struggled to find the words. "When you're with me, I just can't think of anything other than you."
The corners of her lips were suddenly moving upwards.
"So, if you really want a car, you drive, not me." He finished. Cloud felt tired – it was only once in a blue moon that he says something that long, and it wasn't even that long. He felt the need to sigh as well.
He averted his gaze to the window to his left, but Tifa managed to make him look straight into her eyes by placing her hand on one side of his face. She was smiling now.
"Cloud, you're funny," she said lightly, chuckling a little. Cloud help up a hand over hers that was on his face. He kissed her palm and looked at her.
"But if you really want a car, we'll get it." He told her sincerely.
She shook her head. "I don't want you thinking of me as a distraction," she joked. "Besides, you already have enough distractions as it is."
Cloud nodded sheepishly at her and started to rev up the engine again when Tifa broke him off.
"Wait! Get out of the car!" she said hastily.
Cloud looked at her strangely, and she was laughing. What now… he thought.
"You didn't think I'm letting you drive and risk the both of us going to jail for running over civilians, did you?" she asked half-seriously, half-joking. Cloud nodded in understanding and laughed a little as well.
They switched seats with her driving this time.
The ride back was much more pleasant for Cloud – at least now he could look at her without having to worry about gear shifts and sharp turns.
He kept a hand on Tifa's lap as she drove, and she smiled.
"You're distracting yourself again." She laughed.
He kissed her softly when they reached a stoplight.
Maybe I want to be distracted.
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