I'm admittedly disappointed with the review turn out. Okay, so it hasn't even been quite a week, but still! A lot of thought went into what is written so far, and we need a lot more incentive to finish this fic.

This chapter was written by me and me only. All the other writers should be thankful that I'm takin this bullet for them XD

Beware of clichés and innuendo. Then again, I think people should warn you of that when you're walking down the street.

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Compared to pestering a former enemy with innuendos and being thrown out of a bar onto a crowded street, the rest of Reno's night seemed pretty uneventful. Feeling like he had accomplished enough for one evening, he returned to the inn where he was staying. No really, he was serious about being on vacation. Then again, he was serious about not having a job as well. Right… he was going to have to do something about that. Surely he'd have an idea in the morning.

Despite his finest efforts and an inordinate amount of sleep, Reno still didn't have any plans of action to collect some income. This was a daily occurrence of course—waking up at noon in a hotel with no job and no machination to get one. Reno shrugged. No use breaking tradition. The rest of the day was usually spent wandering around town, pretending to seek employment and spending what money he'd saved from when he did have a job on food and… other areas of interest—like the bar from yesterday. Speaking of which, he was going to have to find a new place to go. Damn shame Tifa's place isn't open yet…

Reno laughed to himself as he started down the street. He'd definitely be going back there. But… maybe he'd save that for some other time. Showing up at her door again might leave him with a thoroughly kicked ass, and he liked his ass the way it was, thanks.

No, no… that would be an adventure for another day. Today Reno was going to pretend he was making an attempt to get his life back on track by looking for a house.

Normally, aimlessly strolling around was a poor way to find a place to live, but Reno did have a slight idea of what he was looking for. An old friend of his from Midgar, Johnny, told him he'd be selling his house. Reno was supposed to go check it out but he'd gotten… well, sidetracked. Truth be told, the address Johnny gave him had become utterly lost to Reno—both in memory and the fact that the paper he wrote it on had gone through the wash. Oh well. There could only be so many places for sale in Costa del Sol, right?

Right. A brief walk led Reno to a house near the harbor with a "FOR SALE" sign in the window. Nice place. The sign in the window was the only indication he needed to inform him this was the house he was looking for, and the unlocked door was enough permission to let himself in and look around.

Sure enough, the house was fairly empty, devoid of people as well as furniture, as one may expect from a house on the market. Reno stopped in the middle of the foyer, looking around with his hands in his pockets. What the hell was Johnny thinking? I don't need a house this freakin' big. Why would I pay for a basement?

Reno had spotted a door leading to the cellar. It was held open with a wooden wedge on the floor, but that didn't phase Reno at all as he stepped inside. However, the large crates of alcohol managed to catch his attention. Well, that's a little weird.

Stepping closer to get a better look, he noticed the boxes had labels on them, addressed to one Tifa Lockheart. What? Reno was utterly confused, but the focus of his puzzlement shifted when he heard footsteps upstairs.

Realtor maybe? Or maybe a certain person had come by to get her mail.

OoOoOoOoO

Tifa awoke that morning with thoughts of last night far behind her. She had always been a patient, forgiving woman and, despite being annoying, Reno was no exception when it came to that.

Today would be to busy of a day to be dwelling on prior, trivial events. Her bar would be opening soon, and all the supplies she ordered and kept in her house had to be moved. Sure, she had enough in stock to make the shelves look full and to fix something for a certain red-head which, come to think of it, he never drank. However, the bulk of the goods were in the wrong place.

Fortunately she'd been keeping in shape—those boxes were damn heavy.

The monotony began at sun-up, and hadn't gotten any more exciting since then—grab a crate from home, bring to it to the bar, and repeat. A short while after AM became PM, the man at the materia stall called her over on her way by.

"I've got a note here for you," he said once Tifa was within earshot. "It's from Johnny. He said he's sorry he couldn't talk to you himself."

Interested, Tifa took the note and read it.

"Dear Tifa,

I know I told you I was moving, but I never got the chance to tell you we already found a house. I moved out to Kalm with the wife. Gotta look after my parents in Midgar too.

It's too bad we weren't living near each other for that long. It would have been fun to be neighbors again, just like old times. My new address is written on the bottom. Hopefully we'll see each other soon.

-- Johnny.

Tifa frowned. So Johnny's gone already? I got so caught up with the things I had to do, I never was able to say goodbye. Oh well, at least we won't lose touch. She looked back up at the man and thanked him before heading home to get more supplies.

She found her door slightly ajar, but that didn't surprise her—she'd probably left it open. It wasn't exactly easy OR convenient to close a door when trying to transport a large box. Tifa sighed as she ambled towards the basement. Could today GET any more boring? She was about to sigh again but it was cut off by her own sudden outburst upon entering the cellar.

"What are you doing in my house?"

OoOoOoOoO

Stupidly, Reno found himself asking the same question. What AM I doing in her house? Wait a minute—that's not even the point! This is HER house?

He voiced his thoughts. "What do you mean YOUR house?"

Tifa was exasperated. "What do you think I mean? It's my house. I bought it with my money," she said, fully prepared to tell him off.

"Okay, okay it's your house. I get it. Enough with the pronouns already!"

Of course, Tifa hadn't expected Reno to say he was sorry for barging into her house, but the fact that he didn't still infuriated her.

"Listen Reno," she started as she walked towards him, pausing slightly as her foot bumped into something on the floor. She kicked it out of her way and kept going. "You came into my house UN-INVITED. I have every right to call the pol—"

She stopped dead when she heard a loud "SLAM!" No way… no WAY… I can't be THAT stupid!

Tifa spun around to find that the basement door had closed behind her. "Oh no…"

She breathed, looking increasingly horrified. It must've been the piece of wood I walked into… it was holding the door open. Hindsight was truly useless.

"You IDIOT!" she yelled at Reno. "This is YOUR fault!"

He raised his hands in defense. "What did I do now?" he demanded, seeming annoyed. Coming in her house seemed to pale in comparison to whatever she was raving over at the moment.

Tifa fumed silently, now at a loss for words. If he hadn't made me so mad I could have paid more attention! She supposed blaming Reno for her carelessness didn't change what had happened, but it sure made her feel better.

"Don't you get it!" Tifa suddenly found her voice. By the look on his face he definitely didn't get it. She continued. "We're locked in now! This door won't open from the inside…" she said, rage fading away as she realized how bleak the situation was. Locked in a basement with Reno… oh GOODY.

"Right, okay, so, we're locked in. Now… how is this my fault exactly?" Reno asked with sarcasm.

She gave him a dirty look and sat down on a stack of crates in the corner, arms crossed. Better get comfortable…

Reno shrugged at her lack of a reply, and helped himself to a bottle from a nearby box.

Tifa watched him from the corner of her eye. "Do you plan on paying for that?"

Reno took a sip. "No way. You owe me one, remember?"

She snorted. "I thought I owed you sex on the beach."

He grinned at her. "Oh don't think I've forgotten about that. But you obviously can't give me proper compensation until we get out of here."

Tifa groaned and leaned against the wall. This is HELL.

Reno took a crate opposite her. "Aww, now don't be like that. This could be fun!" She glared. "No really! I mean, we're surrounded by liquor, you have the pleasure of my company…" More glaring. He continued anyway. "And I, for one, am thoroughly enjoying the view."

Tifa had to break her silent streak to point out the fact that he wasn't making any sense. "Reno, we're in a basement. Do you see any windows?"

He looked around the room. "Well no…" His eyes fell back on her. "But when you wear a shirt like that, I don't exactly need windows to get a good view."

She was more embarrassed than angry at his comment. Lucky for him too—he was sure a remark like that called for some serious bruising. Tifa's face turned red and she pulled her knees to her chest, avoiding his eyes.

It apparently wasn't the first time her choice of clothing resulted in such observations. When Reno considered that, he even felt a little bad. He almost felt like apologizing.

Almost. Showing regret wasn't something he chose to do often, unless the situation really called for it. He didn't think this was one of those times. He watched her shiver from the damp air of the cellar, still quiet and still not looking at him. The silence grew uncomfortable and he broke it abruptly.

"Here," he said, removing his blue jacket and offering it to her so she could cover up. "Save me from myself."

Tifa eyed Reno and the jacket skeptically. There must be some ulterior motive here. It was sad that an ultimately kind gesture seemed threatening when coming from him. She mentally shrugged. He was being nice—no need to turn it into something potentially dangerous.

She took the jacket and put it on hesitantly. "…Thanks," she said, once again refusing to meet his eyes. Reno just responded with a flippant wave of his hand. His brief chivalrous act was clearly done with reluctance.

The silence resumed. Once again, he was the one to speak.

"You want some?" he offered, motioning to the bottle in his hand. She shook her head. Reno was perplexed. Sure, it was a bit bold of him to be offering alcohol she'd purchased and paid for. But what sensible person turns down a free drink?

"What," he challenged, "Can't handle your liquor?" Tifa just sighed in frustration.

"I just have no urge to drink," she stated simply, looking quite willing to let the conversation die, but adding clarification before he could ask the inevitable 'Why not?' "After seeing dozens of complete idiots drink themselves stupid everyday, I don't feel much of a need to go do the same myself," she explained.

Reno briefly wondered if the "complete idiots" bit was an indirect shot at him, but thought better of saying anything. He'd look pretty paranoid if he pulled THAT one outta thin air. He just nodded slowly.

There was something about being in a basement that made everything a whole lot quieter. It was starting to border on unbearably awkward.

Tifa had been going out of her way to avoid any interaction with Reno, but curiosity took over.

"So um…" he looked up from his vacant staring at the concrete floor to meet her eyes when she talked. "How long are you staying here? I, um, mean in Costa, not in my… house…" she faltered as nervousness set in. She was a little discouraged when all Reno did to answer her was shrug. Well this is going nowhere fast…

"…So where's the rest of your motley crew?"

Tifa rolled her eyes. "I told you that already."

"Not exactly. What about Cloud?" Reno stared at her intensely, knowing she'd have to cave sometime.

She huffed in annoyance. "I told you about him too, so stop asking," she pulled his jacket around her more tightly, shying from the cold.

"Nuh-uh. I'm gonna keep asking 'til you tell me what I wanna know," he leaned forward still staring her down.

The thought of Reno asking her "What about Cloud? What about Cloud? What about Cloud?" for however long they were to be down there was enough to make Tifa more willing to answer.

"Alright… what do you want to know?"

Bingo. "I wanna know about you and Cloud."

"… Me and Cloud?"

"You and Cloud."

"…Oh…"

Reno raised an eyebrow when she didn't say anything after a few moments. "Well?"

She fidgeted. "I-I'm not really sure what you're asking…"

Oh come on it's not that difficult of a question! "Don't pretend you don't know what I'm talking about. Did you and Cloud ever get together? You know, ever share a bottle of vodka and things got a little out of ha—"

"Okay, so I know what you're talking about," Her eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Why do you care anyway?"

He grinned. "Does it matter?" Her look said it did. He gave. "I just think it's… I mean, the guy's an idiot," he ignored the gaze of death she was giving him. "You're really too good for him when you think about it, you know?" Reno really had a few more comments on Cloud, but it seemed that wasn't the best way to go.

Tifa blinked. Where in the world did THAT come from?

He didn't like the way she was looking at him incredulously, but he meant what he said. "I've seen it enough times to know. A guy that clueless doesn't deserve the attention of a woman who will fawn over him no matter how much he ignores her," Reno was kind of rambling now, and he wondered if he was giving the impression of trying to comfort her.

…Not that it would be the end of the world if he were nice, but still. "Don't worry, he'll come around," he assured her.

Tifa just donned a chagrined smile and nodded. Reno didn't really know HALF of what had gone on in the past while, but there was no point in trying to explain that to him. He probably didn't care enough to know, and she wasn't certain she wanted him to have that information either.

"Thanks," she tried not to look like there was more to it than that.

Reno nodded too. "Don't mention it," he said casually. Seriously…

She considered taking offense to the fact that he thought things still hadn't changed between her and Cloud. Does he think I'd just let things go on the way they were? That wasn't to say that things had improved. They'd changed, but certainly not in your average fairy tale way.

"…So you're living here then?"

She nodded. "Yeah, I just bought this place. I haven't even taken the sign down outside."

He looked around. "It's a nice house," he commented, reflecting on his initial reaction.

"Isn't it?" she said, beaming.

Tifa had brightened up considerably—talking about her new home did that to her. She seemed to forget to be angry at Reno for being in her house. Now that she thought about it, he probably didn't know anyone was living there. The open door and the "for sale" sign must have been misleading.

"And my bar's going to open soon! Once I get all my stuff sorted out and everything. I'm really excited!" she grinned at him again, and he smiled back.

Reno's smile was genuine. It was fun making her angry, but it could be a little boring when everything he said would just put her in a sour state. Strangely, he found Tifa a lot more pleasant when she wasn't moody or pissed off.

"I'll have to stop by sometime," he said, knowing full well he was already planning to. He was surprised when she didn't look against the idea.

"Oh that'd be great! I'd love to have as much business as possible," she finished still looking happy, then remembering that she was trapped in her own basement, sitting on her own supplies. She frowned.

She was really anxious to get everything in her bar moving; get her life back on track. But now she was locked in a basement, and her progress was seriously hindered.

"Ya think we'll get out of here?" Reno asked.

Tifa just shook her head in uncertainty. "I don't know. We'll get out eventually, for sure, but who knows when? The only other person who would think to stop by is Butch, the man who owns the materia stall by the inn. He's somewhat of a realtor around here," she said.

Reno looked amused. "That guy? You mean the one that looks like a potato?"

She laughed. "Yes, that's him. Maybe with some luck he'll come by to check on me or something…"

Reno found that he didn't want to be let out too soon. Being stuck alone in a basement with Tifa definitely held certain appeal…

She also was astonished to discover that she'd manage to be in the same room with him for more than five minutes without wanting to kill him. Maybe he was growing on her? No… the only way Reno grows on people is in more of a parasitic nature.

They didn't talk for a moment, but then their eyes met and he grinned. He looked like he was about to say something, but then they both heard a noise upstairs.

"What was that?" he asked.

"I have no idea…" she said, then nearly fell over when the door unexpectedly swung open. 'Potato-man' –also known as Butch—was on the other side.

"Tifa," he started, heading towards her. "I forgot to give you this key for the basement door," he said, handing it to her. "Damn thing'll lock you in if you aren't careful!"

She could have screamed at the irony. No one spoke and the man looked at her and Reno.

Oh man… he thinks Reno and I were… DOING something. She could see that plainly on his face. Their expressions of surprise and embarrassment when he came in probably did look suspicious.

"Anyway… I've got to get back to my stand," and he left.

Tifa just shook her head and anticipated Reno leaving after him.

Suddenly she felt Reno behind her, his hands on her shoulders and his face barely an inch from hers. She stiffened.

"What are you doing?" her words tumbled forth a bit more quickly and apprehensively than she intended.

Reno laughed darkly and Tifa was all too aware of how close his mouth was to her ear. "I was trying to take this back," he pulled his jacket off of her.

She barely moved. "…Oh…"

He put his jacket on and smirked at how uncomfortable she looked. He stood at her side and placed his hand on her shoulder. "C'mon, lighten up!"

She cast a glare at him through the corners of her eye, waiting for him to leave so she could go back to what she was doing. He continued smirking.

"Well babe, it's been fun," he said, removing his hand with intent to head towards the door.

No sooner than Tifa had felt his hand leave her shoulder, she felt it give her a brief slap on fabric of her mini-skirt. Not painfully, but enough to make her jump. She was shocked and angered beyond all rational thought, and by the time she had composed herself enough to react, he had already exited her house.

Ugh, I'll KILL him!

OoOoOoOoO

Needless to say, Reno was pretty pleased with himself. He wasn't entirely sure what made him do it… other than the, well, obvious reason. Maybe he got a kick out of embarrassing her.

He strolled back to the inn, reveling in his achievement. But he suddenly swore aloud once he realized. God Dammit, she avoided my question again! He must've gotten distracted…

Nah… that couldn't be it.

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There it is folks. Chapter 2. How's it going so far? Everyone would be happy to hear about it. Reviews are much appreciated.