Cloud sat on the barstool, downing yet another bottle of hard-core vodka. It had been this way for months, since Zack died. Tifa had tried fruitlessly to reason with him.

'There's nothing you could have done, you were drugged. And even if you weren't, you would have died too.'

'I wish I had!' Cloud took his bottle and slammed the door.


He felt the wind through his blonde hair as he rode farther and farther away from the slums. No one really knew about his secret place. A little old abandonded shack alongside a dead end road, hidden well by brambles and trees. Cloud didn't use to drink. Not untill now. But in his 'alone time', he had put a small store of Vodka and bitter rum inside his little shelter. Cloud was ashamed of being so addicted to his achohol. You gotta do what cha gotta do. He'd think to himself. But it never really comforted him. His only comfort nowadays was the burning Vodka down his throat, charring his insides.

He had been this way since Zack's death. Drinking to forget, he guzzled a six pack every day. At first, he only wanted to forget Zack's dying, but he knew Denzel hated him, and Tifa, and probably every one else on this god-forsaken planet. Drowning himself in pity, he'd let Denzel alone, and never knew about his problems with school. One day, Denzel had walked in with a black eye and bloody nose, oblivious to Cloud, who sat watching him come through the door with glazed eyes.

'How was your day?' Cloud asked, voice rough from the achohol. Denzel looked at Cloud, but he didn't see his striking blue eyes, just clouded glass.


'Sorry, Reno, I haven't seen Cloud since about two thirty.' Tifa answered Reno at the door.

"Well, were is he?'

'I don't know. He left a while ago.'

'Okay.' Reno jumped into his mustang and sped off, searching for Cloud. Looking along an old dirt road, he spotted Cloud stumbling out of the thorn bushes, obviously drunk. Cloud tried to get on his motorcycle, but he began to retch, and he fell, passed out.


'Yo, I'm the one that's supposed to pass out drunk.' Cloud looked up to see what looked like a man with a red porcupine on his head. Reno. Cloud closed his eyes again, not wanting to deal with the slightly-very annoying red head. 'C'mon, yo, Denzel's waiting for you downstairs.'

'Gimme a minute.' Cloud groaned. What would Denzel think of him now?

Cloud trudged downstairs, hair ruffled from sleep. Denzel wouldn't look at him, but Marlene rushed up to him and wrapped him in a hug.

'I'm glad your not sick anymore, Cloud.' Cloud awkwardly patted her back, and she let go. He sat at the table beside Denzel. He wouldn't meet Cloud's eye. 'Maybe I'll give you a ride on Fenrir later.' Cloud offered.

'If your not drunk.' Denzel muttered. Cloud pretended he didn't hear.

'Can I get a beer?' Reno asked, usual smile playing his lips. Tifa's back stiffened. Cloud tried to hold his composture, but his will gave in. 'One for me too.' Tifa almost threw Reno's bottle at Cloud's head, but got one for him as well. Reno shot Tifa a guilty look, and Denzel walked out, slamming the door behind him.


Cloud gulped down his seventh bottle of ale. Even Reno had stopped before him, at his third.

'Ima go 'or a ride.' Cloud muttered, stumbling towars the door. 'But you're drunk, yo! You're gonna get yourself killed!' Reno protested.

Cloud opened the door, just as Denzel sped in, knocking the usually agile Cloud over. He noted Cloud's glazed eyes, and stopped dead.

'You drunk bastard!' Denzel shouted. 'Enough, Denzel!' Tifa yelled in return.

'I'm not drunk. I'm djust fiine, shee? Cloud tried to stand up, but he leaned all his weight on the wall.

Denzel shook his head in disgust and stormed up to his room. Cloud passed out.


The first thing Cloud heard when he woke up was the muffled voices of Reno and Tifa arguing. Cloud snuck downstairs as quietly as his stumbling feet would allow, which wasn't very quiet, but no one heard him over the shouts.

'He's not going to get any better here!' Reno yelled

'Like he will at your place! You are drunk basicly everyday!'Tifa argued

'Your running a bar, for crying out loud! How do think that's gonna help him?'

'Cloud's stronger than you think!' Tifa tried persuading Reno not to Take Cloud away, but she knew it was a lost cause.

'If you won't do it for Cloud, do it for Denzel. What do you think it's like watching his role model stumble home every day?Never knowing when he'll lash out? Cause thats gonna do him a whole lotta good! Look at me! I'm a drunkard who relies on some bald guy to put up with me and pay my bills!'

Tifa stared at Reno in shock. Is that what his life had been like? She always thought the scars on his face had been an accident, or from a battle. Now she wondered if her theory was correct. Tifa sat at a barstool, defeated. 'Take him.'


Cloud sat in the backseat of Reno's mustang, trashcan between his knees.

'Are we the-'

Cloud's question was cut off by him retching.

'Almost. did I ever tell you about the 50th floor?' Reno asked, a small smile playing on his lips.

By then, they were at Reno's apartment building.

'Nice place.' Cloud commented, looking over the walls bathed in white, then his eyes fell on a pair of undergarments on the floor. Cloud shook his head.

'Don't judge, yo.'

Reno led Cloud to room with hardwood floors and beige paint. 'Bathroom's over there.' Reno pointed out, pointing towards a door on the right side.

'And while you're here, you won't get a drop of any Vodka, rum, beer, ale, OR wine.'

'What about wine coolers?

Reno shook his head. Cloud let out a groan.

'B-but...you get to fair.' Said Cloud, sounding like a for year old.

'Life isn't fair.'


Cloud couldn't sleep. It was his first night without an achohol-indused sleep. And the grunts and moans coming from the other room didn't help, either. Cloud shifted into a more comfortable position. Reno's gotta have a beer around. Cloud got up and left his room, only to find a drunken (naked) woman step out of the room next to him. Cloud sheilded his eyes, but she stepped closer.

'Reno didn't tell me he had a roommate. A pretty shexy one too. C'mon, baby, lemme shee dose eyes.' Cloud slowly opened his eyes. Drunk or not, he despreatley needed love right now.

She smiled and stroked his cheek, and he grabbed her hand and led her to his room.


Cloud groaned. He didn't quite remember what happened the night before. He then felt someone shift next to him. I didn't...oh shit. Tifa's going to kill me.!But we aren't even in a realationship, though...right?

"Mmmmmmmm' The woman next to him groaned as she shifted and pulled Cloud closer to her. Cloud tilted his head and pressed his lips next to hers.

Cloud broke away. 'You should probably go, before Reno wakes up.'

"Yeah...He was fun too.' She gathered her clothes and left, and Cloud fell asleep.