Mmm, oh well. It was supposed to be a good day, but then… that happened. Long story short, Cloud sat dejectedly on one of the stools in Tifa's bar. On the seat next to him, an equally dejected Reno. Tifa was closing up the bar, hurrying out the regulars in order to check on her friends. She'd known something was wrong when Cloud slumped in early that morning with a red slap mark on his cheek, and something else was wrong when Reno followed suit a few hours later. But neither man would talk.

Finally, Cloud let out a sigh. "Thanks for letting me stay here Tifa, I'll be going now." He got off the stool, brilliant blue eyes angled at the ground.

"Me too." Reno muttered, getting up as well and running a hand through crimson locks.

"Oh no you don't. You stayed in my bar all day, now you two owe me an explanation." Tifa crossed her arms, frowning.

Cloud and Reno sighed together, both men's shoulder's slumping. "I forgot-" they spoke at the same time, then stopped and tried again.

"I forgot Rude's birthday, and he found me with Yazoo." Reno murmured, looking anywhere but at Tifa. "I went out to get a present, but Yazoo distracted me and I completely forgot about the party."

Cloud blushed. "Yesterday was Kadaj's and my anniversary. Except I got so caught up in trying to plan something with Zack that I lost track of time, and Kadaj found me asleep with my head on Zack's leg…" A hand was shoved through blonde hair. He'd done nothing! He'd just wanted to make sure that his and Kadaj's first anniversary was perfect…

The Day Before…

Cloud slowly slipped out of Kadaj's arms, planting a quick kiss on his lover's forehead. "I'll be back soon my kitten." He knew Kadaj only let him call him that, but it was fine. As quietly as he could, Cloud crept out of the apartment the two of them shared.

A few floors down was Zack's apartment, and that was where Cloud went. He knocked on the door, looking around before entering quickly. "Took you long enough, chocobo head." Zack ruffled Cloud's hair affectionately.

"Had to wait until Kadaj went to sleep. Any progress on our surprise?"

"No, I don't know Kadaj as well as you do."

Cloud sighed and sat down. "Let's get to work then."

The two would spend the rest of the day putting together Cloud's surprise for Kadaj until Cloud got tired. The nearest object was Zack's leg, so that had become Cloud's pillow. Unfortunately, that had been the time that Kadaj had discovered where Cloud was and entered unannounced…

Cloud had woken to a stinging slap, and a murderous look in his kitten's eyes. Kadaj looked like he was going to kill him, and Cloud had had to flee to the one place Kadaj hated, Tifa's bar…

Back To The Present

And now, here he was explaining himself, wondering if it was safe back home just yet. Not likely, considering how violent Kadaj was… oh well. He probably didn't have a home anymore.

"Hey, Cloud." Reno started, then stopped. "Got a preposition for ya. I'll go back and try to patch things up with Rude if you'll go try to patch things up with Kadaj. We'll let each other know how things go. Sound good?" Reno tilted his head, brushing his hair back from his face.

"Now or never, I guess." Cloud sighed, walking around Tifa to exit the building. Reno would follow, headed in the opposite direction. Tifa could only hope that everything would be alright as she slipped behind the bar and started to clean the glasses.

Reno slipped into his home, unable to see Rude at all. There was no trace of Rude, or anything that meant that Rude had forgiven him yet. Reno sighed, walking into the kitchen and rummaging in the fridge. He pulled out a bunch of things, fixings for steak and potatoes au gratin. Rude's favorite food. As he fixed the potatoes, he heard Rude's quiet footsteps.

"Reno, what's this?" Rude wrapped his arms around Reno's waist from behind.

"Me trying to say sorry." Reno flashed a quick smile, only to have his lips claimed in a kiss.

"Shhh. You missed the party. But we can still have our own, just the two of us." Rude let Reno finish putting the food on and in the oven before he tugged him backwards, to their bedroom.

Cloud silently slipped into his and Kadaj's home, wary. He wasn't attacked right away, which was good at least. Cloud was allowed to venture several steps into the house before he met his kitten's playful gaze.

"So my birdy came back at last. I've been waiting." Kadaj moved forward, grinning enough to frighten Cloud. He pinned Cloud against the wall, "Mine." there was a lot more than just a hint of possessiveness in the simple word.

"Kadaj, I-"

"Shut up. You aren't forgiven yet." Kadaj crushed Cloud's lips with his own, dragging his birdy off to their room.

After hours locked in their bedroom, Cloud found himself sleeping on the couch. Kadaj had kicked him to the couch after their time, saying he still wasn't forgiven. Cloud slept badly, worried sick.

That Morning

"Wake up Cloud." Kadaj touched his shoulder, shaking his birdy awake.

Cloud groaned, opening his eyes. "I'm up."

"You do know that I knew you weren't cheating right?" Kadaj smirked. "That was my present to you birdy, hours with only me…"