"Let's go get ice cream."

Marlene looked up from her drawing. Cloud was standing rather awkwardly at the doorframe, dressed in casual clothes with wallet in hand. His eyes shifted around the room to survey the mess left behind with strewn clothes, toys and books. She shared it with Denzel, so it wasn't a surprise.

She looked back down at her work as if to consider the prospect before slowly standing to pack up the crayons. Her eyes were still pinned to the table and she made sure to take her time collecting the crayons, facing them the right way in the tin, arranging them carefully by color order…

"So..?" He mumbled questionably after strained silence and she snapped shut the faded metal box. The unfinished picture was tacked neatly on the wall before she gave a small nod and strode towards him. Her eyes darted anywhere but his own and she gingerly accepted his outstretched hand.

"Have fun!" Tifa waved them off from behind the bar counter as they left the house, but Marlene wasn't looking to catch it.

Cloud was tinkering with the bike as she stood beside it. It was a warm day and it was propped outside the front door instead of the garage for practical purposes. She was glad, as she couldn't imagine standing in a stuffy oven of a room as he tended to it.

"Marlene," he said softly as he swung his leg over to sit on the seat, "..have you ever ridden with me before?"

She climbed onto the seat after him. "Yes," she said, a slight sting to her voice, "you rode me to school once."

He nodded awkwardly and, after making sure she was secure, started accelerating before anything else was said. Marlene suddenly clasped her arms around his torso when the bike started moving and she tried to drown out the awful roar of the engine. She hated that noise.

They glided down the street, swerving between pedestrians and cars, curving around street corners, skidding on pavement edges.

She only noticed they stopped when Cloud started getting off the bike and carefully pealed herself from his back, blushing in the realisation that she had buried her face in his shirt the whole time.

He helped her hop off and they made their way to the end of the queue which seemed to have stalled in a long snake. The quaint shop was especially popular in times of hot weather, much to the chagrin of Marlene who's appetite had grown during their short ride. Admittedly her mood had calmed too, and she didn't feel quite as angry at him as she did before.

But whenever she thought back to it, to the pain of the way he missed school events - and not some, but EVERY single one with little to no explanation. And when he'd promise to do something, just the two of them, and then mutter an apology at the last minute; or the awkward moment when her friend would come over and ask 'Who's that?' and she would find herself tongue-tied. When he showed up at practically the end of her birthday party out of breath because of some 'important' delivery, it was the last straw. Marlene was heartbroken, and Tifa was furious.

She was snapped away from her thoughts when Cloud knelt down to her level. The queue dissolved gradually, and they were already halfway through. The sun painted the buildings in orange and glowed like fire in the horizon. It was getting late.

"Hey, Marlene..," He looked like he was going to say something important, but then he quickly asked, "what's your favourite flavour?"

She pondered the question for a while. Cloud already had his answer. "Mine's chocolate. Never liked strawberry though, and mint chocolate chip …" He trailed off and she took the chance.

"Ew. Mint is gross." Her face wrinkled in disgust and he couldn't help but laugh. "Vanilla is nice though, although Daddy hates it and says it tastes like...really bad stuff." She quickly avoided the use of a profanity.

Cloud chuckled again. "Tifa loves it…but I think toffee is her favourite. Remember the time we bought that tub at the supermarket?"

"And she ate all of it in one day?" She finished excitedly and beamed up at him with a smile that challenged the sun. They found themselves at the front of the queue and ordered with concealed grins. "One chocolate, please.", she said to the cashier.

"And one vanilla. In a cone." Cloud took her hand and they strolled to a nearby table with their ice cream. She felt better. Maybe he was getting better too….Tifa had always tried to explain the hardship Cloud was going through that caused him to stall in close interactions, but she never really understood until now when he was trying his best to reach out to her.

When they arrived home, Tifa felt her heart melt when Marlene hugged him shyly with a quiet 'thank you' before scurrying up the stairs.