The Art of Tying Ties

Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions
Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten
 Unwritten, Natasha Bedingfield

"Zack! Zaaack!"

Loud footsteps were heard outside in the hallway, and there was a sudden banging at my door. The voice called again.

"Zack! Open the door!"

The door didn't budge. I was otherwise… occupied.

"Zack… if you don't stop making out and open this door right now, I'll… I'll…"

I stood, ignoring her whimpers, and opened the door, dressed only in Levi's and a grin.

"Okay, okay, Cloud. Don't get your panties in a bunch."

The spiky haired blonde didn't honor me with a reply and started to push past me into the room.

"Ah, you don't want to do that, she's not…"

The blonde froze.

"…decent."

Cloud waited for a few seconds, then turned on his heels and calmly walked out of the room again with a deep blush coloring his cheeks. I grinned again. I loved it when he blushed.

"Told you…" I muttered in a sing-song voice, taking great pleasure in watching my friend embarrassed.

"Why were you two on my bed?" He asked finally in a strangled voice.

I tsked. "That's not technically your bed… it's the couch that you sleep on when you're too lazy to go to your own dorm. And, we weren't doing anything. Yet." Cloud snorted.

"So… what did I do to deserve this wonderful visit?" I finally questioned, hooking my thumbs in the belt loops of my jeans and settling against the doorframe. I noticed he was dressed up formally in a loose striped dress shirt and black slacks.

Cloud's eyes widened as he suddenly remembered, and he dashed forward to grab my wrist. "Zack! Don't tell me you forgot! Well, obviously you did, or else you wouldn't be kissing some girl on my bed, since you do that every week, different girl, I might add, but still-"

I interrupted. "Cloud. What did I forget?"

Cloud blinked, and then blushed a little. Ah, gotta love that blush. It just made his whole face sorta… light up.

"Seph's speech is tonight! It's starting at 7!" He glanced at his watch in dismay. "Uhm, started at 7."

I stared at him for a split second, and then, cursing, ducked back into the room, dragging Cloud with me. The blonde caught a brief glimpse of the girl I was making out with staring at us, her now fully dressed, and he tried to give her a reassuring smile, that I was not always dragging random guys into my dorm room during make out sessions (although I often did), but it probably looked like a grimace to her, I was pulling Spike so fast.

Tearing through my closet, I cursed and dumped out all my drawers.

"Cloud, come help me look for a tie," I pleaded, slipping on a dress shirt and hurriedly buttoning it.

Cloud acquiesced and bent down to search through the piles of socks and underwear spilt all over the floor. The girl, who for the life of me I couldn't remember the name of, looked like she was going to cry. "Zack, what're you-"

"Catie, I'm kinda late for-"

"My name's Carrie!"

I tried to look stricken. "Oh, sorry. I'm just confused right now," I could hear Cloud calling me a liar on his head, "and I am really late for my friend's speech-"

This time Carrie did burst into tears.

"You bastard! Late, my ass!"

She fumbled around in the seat cushions, and pulled out a bright red bra. "Don't try and explain, Zachary! Unless you want to admit to crossdressing, I'm not listening to any excuses!" She threw the bra at me, and it hit me squarely in the nose. Man, what do they put in bras these days? Iron?

Cloud bit back a snicker. Carrie turned her tear-stained face towards him. "Why don't I leave you here with your pretty blonde girlfriend, here, Zack, if you're so late? I hope I never see you again."

With that, she shoved her feet into a pair of Birkenstocks by the door and left, sniffling.

Cloud blinked a little, looking bewildered. "What? What pretty blonde girlfriend?"

He glanced around the room, as if trying to see a blonde girl step out of the shadows and wave.

I chuckled. I couldn't help it. "She meant you, Spike," I said lightly, before dissolving into full fledged giggles. I don't know; it was just funny.

Cloud blushed and glared. "What're you laughing about?" He asked, sounding hurt.

I just shrugged, still grasped with mirth. "I dunno… your face, I guess. Sorry." It was true. His expression had been a mix of shock, disbelief, and anger.

I grinned, and I saw Cloud relax a little. Ha! You couldn't stay mad at Zachary for long; it's not humanly possible. Well, except for Sephiroth. He's an exception to many of society's rules.

"Now help me look for that tie. And anyway, Casey wasn't too good at kissing, either." I added as an afterthought.

"Carrie," Cloud corrected me gently. "Aha!"

He held up a slightly stained, slightly creased silk tie that he had plucked up from under the bed.

My face lit up. "I've been looking for that tie since June!" I exclaimed. Ever since I let that Millard Flemings two hallways down borrow that tie for his dinner date, I hadn't seen it. Snatching it from Cloud with a small 'thanks,' I started looping it around my neck. Five minutes later, I realized the futility of trying to tie a tie by myself. I guess there are just some things that you have to be born with a natural knack for. I guess tie tying wasn't one of mine.

"You want help?" Cloud offered, who was sitting back on his feet and knees, watching with amusement dancing in his eyes.

I nodded with a growl, pouting and letting my hands drop limply to my sides. Cloud peered curiously at the tie. "Uhm, Zack? How did you get this knot-"

His breath caught as he looked up at me, as I was having fun trying to count how many spikes were on his head. I felt him tense a little as he met my eyes. What, did I have something on my face? I suddenly felt very self-conscious.

"Your eyes look like jello." I said simply, and Cloud's mouth opened and closed before finally snapping shut.

"…the hell?"

Well, Zackary, way to break the moment.

I stared down at Cloud's face, which was extremely close to mine, fingers still lightly grasping the tie hopelessly knotted around my neck.

Well, I guess it was true. His eyes did look like jello. But they also looked like the sky, and the sea. I forced a laugh.

"So, you get that knot out or what?"

He blushed and looked down at the tie again, brows furrowed in concentration. Did he even know how many times he'd blushed in the past ten minutes?

Finally, with a sound of triumph, he held up an unknotted silk tie, with a huge grin on his face. "Ha!"

I couldn't help but grin back. "Thanks, Cloud. Now… if you could just put it on for me."

He did so, looping it around and across, nimble fingers quickly pulling it tight and backing away. "There," he said.

After a moment of silence, he said, "so how did you forget about the speech if you're Seph's roommate?"

I looked guiltily down at the floor. Truth was, he had come home while I was fooling around with Catie, and reminded me that he had a speech. It went in one ear and out the other.

"Uhm, he went straight from classes to the Hall. He didn't come back at all," I lied through my teeth. Damn, Spike could always tell when I was lying…

He just smiled that knowing grin. "So he wore a suit to classes, just so he wouldn't have to come back to the dorm and see you and Carrie making out?"

I pouted. "Spike! Okay, fine," I threw up my hands in defeat. "Okay, well, I wasn't listening to him. Happy? Now I think we should really go. It's been almost fifteen minutes."

Cloud was silent for a moment, before leaning forward and pressing his lips softly against mine. My eyes widened for a second, before I closed them.

"Come on," I heard his voice whisper in my ear. "We should get going, unless you want Seph to kick both our asses."

AN – Well, my first slash fic… so let me know :D

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy VII, although I finally got an MP3 player bounces Too bad I wanted an iPod. ( Gotta QUESTION? email me. D I'll email you back. P