Yes, I am aware this is horribly late. It's unedited, unfortunately, because that I couldn't have my Beta edit her own story, now can I? It'd be rude for her. Anyways, the gist of it is, if you see any mistakes, kindly tell me? I don't you guys cringing from bad grammar.

Just to clarify, in my story, Cloud is completely unable to hold liquor. He has very low tolerance for it.

Disclaimer: I do not, or will ever, own FFVII. So, there, SquareEnix.


Love At First Drink

Chapter 2

I woke up the following morning by a rather loud cellphone ring and a very close and personal good morning from the floor.

Groaning and cursing at the same time, I rubbed my head while my hand shot out to find the offending item that caused my already hellish hangover to worsen. I picked it up without looking to see who it was, "Mfn...'Ello?"

My voice was gruff, and I cleared my throat as the person answered, "Good morning, Cloud. I thought you might still be sleeping, but Yuffie was getting antsy, and you know what she's like when she's hungover." I heard a crash in the background, and I chuckled despite the pain. Yes, I did know what she was like. Violent and easily ticked off, she was a force to be reckoned with after a night of drinking.

"Mnn...Are you guys already there?" I scratched my cheek as I wobbled my way to the bathroom to get something to take for my head.

"Yeah," away from the speaker, "Yuffie! Stop it! We'll get you coffee as soon as Cloud gets here!" A wail and a crash was heard.

"I should get my ass over there right now, right?"

"You state the obvious," Aeris said dryly, "Now get over here before Yuffie gets us kicked out of Edge!"

The phone clicked, and the line went dead.

I hurriedly got dressed and grabbed my wallet on the way out the door. Aeris wasn't joking when she said that they would be kicked out of Edge if I didn't hurry. Yuffie nearly got us kicked out of Costa del Sol when she rampaged after she found out that her favorite ice cream shop closed down. She might've been young, but she was a helluva fighter.

I made my way through the streets of Edge without bothering to check where I was going. I didn't need to.

My head was pounding without a valid reason; I had all of three drinks. That shouldn't have caused the nauseousness in my stomach or the piercing headache I was nursing. Obviously, my tolerance for alcohol was little to none.

I didn't much pay attention to the sites around me; they were of little importance. Edge had never held much interest to me. Growing up in a countryside town made me hate the noise and bustle of big cities.

Which is exactly why you spent four years of your life in one. Yeah, that made sense.

Well, it had to be a good sign if my hungover-brain was capable of sarcasm.

I stopped when I heard the tell-tale signs of something wooden splitting and lots of yells and cheering. Sighing, I raced into the cafe, ready for anything.

Obviously, I wasn't ready, because what I saw left me baffled.

Yuffie was standing on booth table, shaking and glaring at everyone. The customers all had either fled the building or were pressed against the farthest wall away from her. The employees looked terrified and utterly confused. There was a splintered pile of wood a few feet away from where I was, and Aeris was standing over it, muttering about something. The door dinged! at me when I let it slide close. Suddenly, everyone was staring at me, even Yuffie in her hungover-as-hell mind recognized me, and hope flashed across her face. She jumped down, dusted herself off, and stepped over the pile of splinters and said calmly and evenly, "Coffee?"

I walked over to the worker who was still standing behind the check-out counter, "Can we get..." I stopped, realizing I didn't know who the hell wanted what.

Aeris rattled off everyone's order, surprising me with the detail to each one. I never would have remembered it even without the hangover I had. But, Aeris being Aeris, had remembered perfectly.

The girl spluttered for a few seconds as we stared at her innocently, then she eventually gave up and went off to get out drinks. I asked a worker to get Yuffie something she could use to clean up the mess she'd made. The workers didn't really know what to do with us—obviously, they'd never had a run-in with a Yuffie clone—so they just kind of faded away into the background. The customers who were still in the cafe went back to their tables slowly. Conversation buzzed in the air, making the eerie silence go away.

When the blonde came back with our drinks, I noticed for the first time that it was just Aeris, Yuffie, and I. Where was the rest of them?

Before I even opened my mouth, the door jingled. I turned my head and watched as Tifa and the rest walked in. Tifa had her head turned towards Barrett, and she was laughing with him about something. Vincent was walking in on her other side, and he had a small smile on his face. Zack and Cid trailed in behind them, looking amused.

"Over here!" Yuffie yelled, then winced. I winced right along with her.

They sat down together, each grabbing their drinks and gulping mouthfuls of it.

Tifa was the first to open her eyes again after the bliss of coffee made its way down her throat, "Does anyone have a hangover as bad as mines?"

A few snickers rang out while I answered, "Yeah, pretty much."

She theatrically groaned and slid down in her seat, and we all laughed. We talked for about an hour before we got up to leave.

We decided to meet up later tonight, let everyone's hangover ease a little. (And to make sure Yuffie wouldn't get into more trouble, Zack had stated bluntly, earning him a good kick in the shin.)

While I made my way out the door, I heard my name being called. I stopped and turned back, seeing Tifa jog towards me. I waited until she caught up.

We both began walking down the sidewalk, neither talking. I stuck my hand in my pockets, waiting for her to say something. She looked liked she was trying to get up the courage to talk, but didn't know how. I prompted her, "Was there something you needed, Tifa?"

"Uh, yeah." She chewed on her bottom lip, and started again, "I know this is weird and sudden and stuff, but, um, would you like to...er, grab a bite to eat?" Her face flushed. It was the first time I'd ever seen Tifa so...unconfident. It was kind of cute.

I forgot for the moment that I didn't think I could eat a bite of anything without being sick. "Okay, Lockhart, where to?"


Meh. A very cocky Cloud at the end.

So...review to make the bunnies happy?

-Leelz