The next day Squall groaned as his roommate tried to wake him up. "Squall Leonhart! If you don't get up you'll make us late!" Shouted Cloud very near Squall's ear.
Squall rolled over and brought his cover up over his head. "You go on ahead then."
"Oh no! You won't get if I leave."
Squall smirked knowing that Cloud was right. He could feel Cloud trying to pull his cover off of him, but Squall held on tightly. The cover went slack. Squall tensed, instinct telling him that Cloud was up to something. He suddenly felt cold fingers trying to tickle his stomach. Squall's eyes widened and he shot up to the other side of the bed from Cloud's icy fingers. Unfortunately for Squall the other side of the bed was the bottom of it and he was moving quickly, which ended up with the brunette on the floor. Cloud burst out laughing at his best friend and roommate.
"This is all you fault, Strife."
"Mine?" Cloud said in-between laughs. "You're the one that fell off the bed, Leonhart." He said coping the brunette's use of family names. Cloud tried to calm down the laughter.
"It's still your fault." Squall said standing up and buffing himself down. "You have cold fingers." Squall grumbled.
"If you hurry up then they could be warmer. I don't want to be last in the line. " Cloud said as he picked something up from Squall's desk.
"Huh?" Squall watched as he rubbed sleep out of his eyes.
"Coffee?" Cloud smiled holding up and mug of steaming black coffee.
Squall took the mug and sniffed the aroma. "Ah coffee." The brunette smiled and took a sip. "Thanks."
Cloud nodded. "Thought you'd need it to wake you up, and put you in a better mood. Now get dressed and grab your guitar. We've got an audition to go to."
Squall nodded as he sipped his coffee. It was then he noticed that Cloud was already dressed and ready to leave the house. The blonde even had his drumsticks sticking out of his deep jean pockets.
Squall glanced at the clock in his room and spat out his coffee. "Cloud! It's 7:30! In the morning!" Squall shouted unbelieving.
"Yeah?" Cloud asked confused.
"The auditions aren't till this afternoon." Squall complained, wishing he hadn't taken a drink of the coffee because now he couldn't go back to sleep.
"Please Squall, stay awake." Cloud pleaded, siding up to Squall with his baby blue eyes. "I couldn't sleep at all and I was bored being awake myself. Please stay awake."
Squall sighed. "Okay then." He said giving into Cloud's pleading look. "But only if we don't leave really early and have to stay outside for hours."
Cloud nodded. "Alright. We can do that." Cloud took off his jacket and shoes. "So what do you want to do?"
Later on that same day at a more reasonable hour of the day, Cloud and Squall had left their apartment. They were standing in the queue for the auditions in Hollow Bastion. The pair was very near the front and it wasn't long until Squall was asked in. He strolled in confidently. He took out his guitar and plugged it in to an amp.
"Name, number and what instruments." Sephiroth said bored. Squall raised an eyebrow thinking it was oblivious.
"Squall Leonhart, number 52. Either the guitar or bass." Squall replied and noticed that the silver haired man, looked bored out of his mind, whereas his female beside him looked bright and slightly dangerous.
"Play the guitar first." Tia said with a smile. Squall nodded and started his song. He had picked one where he could show off as much as possible. With auditions you could be a brilliant guitarist but if you didn't pick the right song, you lost out.
When Squall had finished playing both instruments he looked to the two 'judges'. It seemed a smile had came across Sephiroth's face. "You've got a call back. See you on Friday." He said. Squall nodded and backed up.
"How'd you do?" Cloud asked as soon as the door started to open. Squall smiled.
"I got a call back."
"Oh wow." Cloud hugged his best friend. "That's amazing." Cloud was asked in.
Cloud breathed out a shaky breath. Squall put his hand on his friends shoulder. "You'll be great." He said with a reassuring smile. Cloud nodded and walked in. He stood in front of the two judges and squirmed a little under Sephiroth's intense gaze.
"Name, number and instrument." Tia asked.
"Cloud Strife. Number 53 and the drums." He said pulling out his drumsticks from his pocket. Tia nodded to him and Cloud walked to the drums. He took a deep breath before he counted himself in and started to the song in his mind.
He was so nervous he had been sure that he skipped a few beats. When he was finished he awaited their decision. Tia and Sephiroth were whispering at each other harshly and it made Cloud even more nervous. What if he wasn't in?
The pair looked back to Cloud. He noticed Tia didn't look too happy. "You're in." Sephiroth said proudly.
"Really?" Cloud said disbelieving. "Thank you so much." He said as he quickly ran out. He ran straight to Squall and hugged his friend. "I'm in!" He announced loudly.
"I knew you'd get in." Squall said with a blush at the surprise hug and at the fact that Cloud wasn't letting him go. "Well done."
Cloud moved back with a grin. "Now to celebrate. How about two milkshakes from Cosmo's? On me." Cloud said happily as they headed out.
"As long as you're paying, sure." Squall smiled and walked a little behind Cloud. He was really relieved that Cloud had got in too. He wasn't sure if he would have kept on with it if Cloud weren't there.
