I really don't like how this one turned out. -shrug- I hope this story isn't too cliche but it probably is.
The room Cloud and Leon shared had two beds in it and every night, they each slept in one. When the time came to retire for the evening, they would head for their room, bidding Sora and Riku good night, and close themselves in. They had sex the first two nights and after would separate to sleep alone.
Cloud stared at the wall closest to him as he lay in bed and debated getting out of it. Last night they had not done anything together. They had gone to bed and Cloud had simply stripped down and crawled into bed, back towards Leon. He felt the other man study him for a moment before climbing into his own bed.
He wondered if Leon had slept as poorly as he had.
Sitting up and letting the sheet fall around his waist, he ran a hand through his messy spikes of hair. He glanced to the left and noticed Leon's empty bed. It was neatly made up and if he had not heard for himself Leon going to bed last night, he would have assumed no one had slept there last night.
He got out of bed and dressed, not bothering to make up his own bed. He left the room and headed down to the small kitchen area that hotel guests had free access to. He had no clue what time it was but there would be something to eat in there.
He walked in and the first thing he heard was Sora's loud greeting of 'good morning'. He muttered something that he hoped passed as a reply as he shuffled past the youth to check out the contents of the refrigerator. After getting himself some juice, he downed the glass of it and turned back toward Sora.
"Riku and Leon went out with Vincent," Sora informed him, tilting his body on the high stool he was sitting on. "So no mysterious disappearing today."
"For now," Cloud mumbled.
Frowning, Sora straightened out his body. "Wow, Riku's right."
"Right about what?"
"You really are in love with Leon," the teenager declared.
Cloud stared at him. "I'm not…"
Sora gave him a pointed look and he found himself shutting up. "It doesn't matter what you think, Cloud. You and Leon can both protest as much as you want but the rest of us aren't stupid or blind to what's really going on between the two of you."
"……."
"Now," Sora was smiling again. "I have decided that I'm gonna help you figure out what Leon's been sneaking off to do everyday."
"That isn't necessary," Cloud waved the offer off curtly. "He can do whatever he wants when he wants. Just stay out of it."
"But-"
Mako-enhanced eyes fixed upon the teenager. "I said stay out of it, Sora."
The spiky brunet frowned deeply. "I only want you to be happy, Cloud."
Sighing, Cloud angled his head slightly. "I know; that's all everyone says they want but you just… don't understand."
"Then help us understand!" Sora slapped both hands against the countertop. "You and Leon are just both so… inwardly fixed! Everyone hoped that when the two of you got together, you'd be able to open up to one another but that's not happening. If anything, you at least are just withdrawing further into yourself."
Cloud closed his eyes briefly before muttering, "I hoped for that, too."
"What?"
Before Cloud had the chance to simply walk away from the question as he intended, Riku appeared in the kitchen. He smiled as he walked over to Sora and rubbed at the younger teen's back affectionately. Cloud was not at all surprised that Leon was not with him.
"Bout time you got up, Cloud," the silvered teen noted easily, placing a quick kiss to the corner of Sora's mouth.
"How'd it go with Vincent?" The blond deflected, turning back to the fridge.
"Fine. Leon's getting some really good ideas from what Reeve's done with the waterway," Riku angled his head and gave Cloud an odd look. "You know, apparently Leon used to spend a lot of time training back there."
Cloud half-turned, interested despite of his attempt to tell himself he was not. "Did he?"
"Oh, yeah!" Sora softly exclaimed. "I forgot about that! I bet that's been where he's been disappearing to."
Cloud supposed it was a possibility. Unfortunately, this just presented more questions and further annoyance with the other man. If Leon wanted to go train at his old haunt that was fine but why was he wandering off by himself to do it? He and Cloud had been working together for months now and both freely admitted they got a lot more out of the workouts having a partner.
…And the usual aftermath of those sessions…
"He was still there when we left him," Riku noted casually, fingers playing against the back of Sora's neck. "It didn't look like he was leaving anytime soon."
Cloud narrowed his eyes over his shoulder at the younger man who merely gave him that almost disinterested look. Sora was quickly turning into a limp puddle under Riku's ministrations. Cloud silently sighed and decided he needed to get out of here like now.
With only a nod to Riku, who smirked a bit back, Cloud left the kitchen area and then the hotel itself. He spent the next hour wandering, just as he had the day before. He was fairly certain that if he continued with this pattern, he would know the layout of Traverse Town at least as well as Leon in two more days.
On his way back toward the hotel, he decided to come around from the opposite direction. As he walked along a shallow pool of running water, he noted that the grate at the end where it disappeared into a high wall was open. Considering this was only large open source of water he had seen in town, he had to assume it was part of the waterworks.
He stopped walking approximately five yards out from it. Staring at the raised metal, he found it somehow taunting him to go in. Somehow, he was certain that Leon would not be in there but the need to be certain was quickly over ruling that belief.
With an angry breath at himself for being so… he did not know what, he moved toward it. This had to stop. He did not want to be attached to Leon; that was not what he had been after when they had started this affair of theirs. He knew that Leon was not looking for any sort of relationship either. His continued actions these past few days reinforced that fact.
Cloud was about to step into the water when he felt more than heard someone come up from behind him. He knew exactly who it was and was uncertain if he was relieved or not. "Hey, Vincent."
"Leon is no longer there," The raven-haired man stated softly.
Cloud faced the other man, expression carefully neutral. He did not bother denying nor confirming Vincent's assumption that he was searching for his wayward lover. Actually, he did not know if Vincent actually knew there was anything going on between them but assumed he did. Even if the former Turk was not horribly observant, it was not likely Sora had kept his mouth shut about it.
Vincent turned and began walking away. "Leon has been going to the Second District Alley."
The blond swordsman looked after his friend curiously. Why was Vincent telling him this? Everyone else has been pushing him to ask Leon where he was going and now Vincent was here just flat out telling him. It did not make sense.
"You aren't the only one around here holding onto secret emotions, Cloud," quietly commented the tall, pale man. "You and Leon are cut from the same cloth."
He disappeared around the hotel and Cloud just lingered there for a moment. What the hell was going on? He was used to people trying to help him, usually Aerith and Tifa, but he did not need help. He was just going through some weird, unreasonable attachment phase that if he just ignored for long enough would go away.
He shook his head at himself and headed off in the opposite direction. Obviously, he was not fooling anyone. He had gone beyond casual affair with Leon and into a realm he really did not want to label.
He could not lie to even himself anymore.
