For You

Aerith could get up quite easily in the mornings but that did not mean she liked to be awoken, especially when she was in the middle of a good dream. However, she could forgive when the cause was soft, butterfly kisses against her neck, which she knew was weak spot all too well.

"Aerith, you're going to be late for work if you don't get up," a male voice whispered, nuzzling his nose against her skin. She groaned and attempted to bury her face in her pillow. Now that she was awake, she could feel just how cold the room really was.

"Cloud," she moaned softly as he moved his arms away from her and got out of bed. Realising she didn't have a choice, she grudgingly rolled out from beneath the covers and made her way to the bathroom for a warm shower before starting her day.

"Do you not have work today?" she asked as she bit into her apple, her other hand arranging the flowers in their baskets. He shook his head and muttered that he had the day off. She glanced at him as if expecting him to say something else but he was engrossed in his newspaper. With a sigh that highlighted her slight disappointment, she slipped the basket onto her arm and exited the house.

As soon as he heard the door close, Cloud folded the paper up and stood up. Running a hand through his hair, he just stood still for a moment as he thought of what needed to be done.

Firstly, he would clean the house, he decided, so that when she got home, she would not have to worry about any dishes, dusting, vacuuming, or any other housework. So he made his way to the closet where all the cleaning appliances were kept, and dug them all out. He decided to start with the dusting, since logically he could then vacuum it all up instead of hoovering first and then getting dust everywhere.

Being a male, many would have expected Cloud to do a terrible job of dusting, or any other housework, but Cloud wasn't exactly the stereotypical male. In fact, he was doing a rather good job if he said so himself. He had moved everything, making sure to get under all the ornaments and other nick-naks, leaving no surface untouched. It was going well.

That was, until he broke the china teaset that was on the mantelpiece as he had been distracted by the football scores that had just been given out on the television. After cursing out all the swear words he knew, he bent down and picked the fragments up, careful not to cut himself.

"Glue," he muttered, placing the pieces on the table and searching the cupboards until he found the object he was looking for. Carefully, he applied the glue to the broken pieces and fixed them back together, setting them onto newspaper to dry. He decided that he should do the vacuuming and stood up to make his way to the closet.

Except, a piece of newspaper went with him. Cloud blinked, shaking his arm a bit in an attempt to get it off. No such luck. Sighing, he had no choice but to rip it off, muttering about glue as random bits of paper stuck to his sleeve.

The hoovering went better than dusting though, and Cloud soon cheered up. He thought about Aerith's reaction when she came home and saw what he had done for her. Perhaps, if she was really impressed he might get a little "treat". A goofy smile made it's way onto his face as he thought out the sex scene in his head.

Now Cloud had never heard of the fact that women can multi-task and men can't. Therefore, he never realised that the moment his mind turned to "important" male thoughts, everything else would have to wait. Unfortunately, with the vacuum running, that was not possible.

He gave a yelp as he realised that the flowers in Aerith's favourite crystal vase had just been swallowed by the nozzle. Quickly, he ran and switched off the appliance at the plug before he opened up the back of the hoover, taking out the dust bag.

After a moment of digging through the dirt, he eventually grabbed hold of the plants. He grimanced as he saw how crumpled they were and how much dust they had. Unable to think of anything else to do, he blew on the petals and attempted to fix them before placing them back. He stepped back and tilted his head to the side. They looked like they were clinging to the edge of the vase for dear life. The blonde shrugged.

"Maybe she won't notice," he sighed, rubbing the back of his neck.

He nodded to himself as if confirming the thought before he made his way upstairs and back into the bedroom. Carefully, he stripped the bed and put the sheets in a pile before emptying the clothes basket in the corner, putting the dirty washing with the sheets before picking up the whole bundle and making his way back down the stairs and into the kitchen. Determined not to get this wrong, he sorted through the whites and the darks before putting the darks in and set the dial after pouring some powder in the drawer.

Now that the washing was sorted, he decided to get started on the dinner, going to the cupboard above the cooker and taking the ingredients that he had bought earlier in the week. He had decided to make Aerith her favourite meal; roast chicken with all the trimmings.

After the chicken had been put in the oven, the laundry was done and Cloud changed the load so that the whites would be washed. Deciding that everything that needed to be done had been seen to, the blonde made his way through to the living room and settled down in front of the television to check the football game.

At half time, he got up and checked on the meal, which seemed to be going fine. He turned on the potatoes before he turned to the washing machine, which had just finished the load. Grabbing the basket to put the clothes in, he opened the door and began pulling out the clothes.

Except they were pink.

"What the hell?" the blonde cried, holding up a pair of his boxers and blinking in shock. He was sure he had put the whites in. He had double checked!

Then a red sock fell from inside one of his shirts

With a sigh, he threw the clothes in the basket and carried them through to the living room, placing it by the ironing board. He had originally planned to do the ironing too but after everything that had happened, he decided that burning down the house was not something he could easily talk himself out of.

"I'm home!"

Cloud jumped at the call of his girlfriend and immediately walked into the corridor to watch her slip of her shoes and hang up her jacket. He smiled warmly and put his hands in his pockets, wondering if she would notice. And she did.

"What happened to my teaset?" she asked, frowning at the ornament on the mantelpiece. Her gaze fell upon her crystal vase. "And the flowers!"

"Oh damn you did notice." Cloud began, rubbing his neck when she glared in reply. Clearing his throat, he started again. "I wanted to surprise you by doing the housework for you."

Her expression softened. "You did the housework?"

He nodded and scratched his head. "I kinda broke your teaset, killed your flowers and turned half our clothes pink but other than that, I think I did okay."

Aerith laughed when she finally noticed the pair of pink boxers hanging on the end of the laundry basket and gently shook her head. "It's the thought that counts," she said with a shrug, taking his hand and leading him back into the kitchen. She noticed the oven on and quickly took over.

"I think I better do this, otherwise we'll starve," she joked. Cloud moved to wrap his arms around her waist.

"I love you," he whispered in her ear, making her shiver. She smiled and leaned into his embrace.

"I love you too," she replied, kissing his cheek. "Happy Valentines Day."

She felt Cloud nod against her neck before he moved away. She heard him move a little before it stopped but she didn't think anything of it until she dished the meal out and turned to place it on the table. Cloud was down on one-knee.

"Aerith, will you marry me?"

Slowly she set the plates down and gazed into his eyes. "Will you do the housework again?" she asked. The blonde frowned.

"Uh...no," he replied in confusion. Aerith smiled.

"Then yes I will marry you," she answered running forward to hug him.