Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained

Warnings: AU, Yaoi, one-shot; Pairings: LeonxCloud; Genres: Romance; Rating: T for Yaoi and some innuendo.

15-year-old Cloud Strife sat alone in the far corner of the cafeteria, stuffing his food into his mouth, even though he was too distracted to notice what he was eating. His blue eyes were focused, almost reverently, on a dark-haired young man a few tables over.

Leon Lionheart was God's gift to high school, at least in the opinion of the entire female population of the school, including many teachers. Heck, Cloud was even sure he wasn't the only guy whose eyes were focused on Leon at that moment: he could even see Sephiroth, jock extraordinaire, sneaking glances at Leon out of the corner of his eye.

"Leon again, eh?" Cloud heard a voice say quietly next to him. He turned to see his best friend Sora sitting down, having just gotten his lunch in line.

Cloud nodded, and looked down at the cafeteria food. It seemed to be a green blob, decorated with yellow blobs, with dessert being a red blob. "Ugh. Glad I brought my lunch today," Cloud added.

"If you like him, you should talk to him," Sora advised. "Nothing ventured, nothing gained."

Cloud sighed. "That's the same thing my mom says when I won't eat broccoli."

"Nice piece of broccoli," Sora pointed out.

"Yeah... yeah, you're right!" Cloud exclaimed. "If I want that broccoli, I have to go get it before someone else does!" His confidence wavered a split-second later, and he added, "...Well, maybe later."

"No, Cloud," Sora commanded. "Now."

"At least after school."

Sora sighed. "Fine. After school. But when I call you tonight you had better have eaten that broccoli or died trying, or so help me I'll-"

Cloud began banging his head on the table repeatedly, interrupting Sora's death speech. "What have I gotten myself into?" he moaned.

"...Class dismissed," the teacher announced. Cloud took a deep breath: this was his last chance today. Normally Cloud would hide out in the library for a while until the masses of students had dispersed, but today he had something more important to do.

A few minutes later, Cloud walked down the sidewalk, going faster than might be wise in order to catch up to Leon. He caught sight of Leon a short distance ahead, picked up his speed, and when he got within about two yards of Leon, he tripped spectacularly and fell on his face.

"Wha?" Leon turned around, concerned, and looked down to see Cloud lying on the ground. "Are you okay?" He held out his hand to help Cloud up.

"Ugh..." Cloud sat up weakly, then groped for Leon's hand and pulled himself up. "I'm OK, just a couple bruises." He tried to hobble forward a little but stumbled, clutching Leon's leather jacket to stop from falling over again.

"Here, I'll help," Leon said, putting a hand around Cloud's waist to support him. Shut up, hormones! Cloud shouted mentally.

"What are you doing here?" Leon asked. "I've never seen you walking home before."

"Eh, I usually just hang out in the library for a while," Cloud answered, speaking in an irregularly controlled voice to stop it from cracking. "But today I had to come home earlier, I have something to do."

Leon muttered a grunt of understanding, and they walked on in silence for some time. Finally, Cloud couldn't take it anymore. "Say, Leon... do you have a girlfriend?"

"No," Leon responded, not turning his head toward Cloud.

"...Do you have a boyfriend?"

Leon turned toward Cloud, his brow raised in skepticism.

"Just wondering," Cloud stammered, embarassed. "One of my friends told me to ask you..."

"And why?"

"B- because... I- uh..." Cloud stammered. Leon stopped walking, and turned toward Cloud, his brow again raised. Cloud took a deep breath, gathered up all his courage, and leaned over to press his lips against Leon's.

He was surprised to find that Leon did not pull back. Although that's probably just the shock, Cloud thought to himself. But then he noticed that Leon's hands were caressing his hair, Leon's lips pushing back at his own.

They simultaneously pulled back to breathe, and Cloud's heart filled with joy at the sight of Leon's sincere smile.

END

Yep, my first oneshot Although if this becomes quite popular it's possible thatI may write a part two. It's unlikely, but possible.