Chapter 3

11 Days

The shouts from downstairs told Cloud it was going to start soon. The screams, crashes of a plate or two being knocked to the ground or thrown at a wall in agitation, and possibly the occasional crunch of a foot stomping atop another.

Commencing down in the kitchen was; The Breakfast Wars.

It was the weekend and the only thing weekends were good for instead of being a bum and eating everything in sight, was catching up on some sweet, precious sleep. But not with the kids and Zack in the household.

Cloud groaned groggily and rolled over in bed as he wiped away some stray drool. He stared at the clock whose mocking red digits seemingly shouted 'Good Morning, sucker!', read 7:33.

Not even Genesis was up this early. And the redhead always wanted a head start at his own war against germs, by disinfecting every inch of his apartment. He was such a freak with his apron and rubber gloves pulled on.

Cloud started to keep track of the time on the clock after it reached 7:34. This was going to be interesting.

"Denzel!" Marlene shrieked as she stomped her foot. She had just skipped down the stairs, the morning being perfect. When she saw Denzel in the kitchen, however, her morning took a turn for the worse.

The boy turned to look at her dumbly as he licked his pancake mix-coated finger guiltily, caught in the act. "Huh?"

Marlene stomped over, not caring that she was probably going to wake up the whole sleep-deprived household. And city.

If his life wasn't being threatened, Denzel would have thought she looked cuter than usual when she was mad.

"You know making the pancake mix is my thing!" She yelled. She's been the pancake provider of the household ever since she was eight and helped Aerith -who was helpless- in the kitchen. Her thing was NOT going to be taken away by some boy who couldn't do anything right, even if he was her boyfriend.

He shrugged. "You were still sleeping so I figured I'd do it." He answered sincerely. "And lower your voice! Tifa worked late last night."

She imitated the pose Tifa would make when she was getting agitated; fists rested on hips while her leg was stretched out. Though, Marlene didn't look so threatening in her vivid rainbow covered pajamas. Denzel laughed to himself, trying to be quiet about it. She just pouted ever more slightly and glared menacingly.

Denzel reached into a cabinet and took out a bottle of cinnamon and added a dash to the batter. Marlene's mouth hung open in disbelief.

"You... did not... just do that." Marlene said slowly as she pointed to the offending bottle of spice. The voice that came out of the young teen scared Denzel. It didn't sound like her at all.

Denzel didn't know what to say. "Uh. . ."

"I don't like cinnamon!" She exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air. "That's it, I don't want pancakes. I'm not hungry anymore." She said in a disgusted monotone.

Denzel shrugged. "Can you set up the table then?"

Just then, a peppy Zack came down the stairs and rounded the corner, landing smack in the middle of World War Three. He was curious to see what the young couple was already arguing over, the shouts being the siren call that brought him down into the kitchen in the first place.

Typically, he wasn't allowed in the kitchen since he was banned. But the rules could be bent a little since it sounded like someone was going to get bludgeoned to death with the mixing bowl that started the whole disagreement.

"Kiddos, you're not even married yet and you're already having a squabble?" Zack asked in disbelief. The ravenette was a hypocrite though, since he would practically have a heart attack when Aerith took the remote from him to watch, 'The Real Housewives of Edge'. The show that made Zack's brain gooey. He still couldn't get that ferocious cat fight out of his mind. Edge housewives were feisty.

Marlene's face reddened in embarrassment. "M-Marriage?"

Denzel chuckled nervously at the statement. "You and Aerith fight sometimes, too." He pointed out.

The boy got him there. "Well," the ravenette started to retaliate, "we don't kill each other over- what is it exactly you're screaming about this early in the morning?" He realized he had no idea what was going on. The kitchen seemed normal and far from blown up.

Marlene pointed a finger at Denzel. "Mister lazy butt decides today of all days to prepare the pancake mix for Tifa, something only I do." She accused. "THEN, he decides to add cinnamon into it. Something he knows I hate!"

Zack 'ooh-ed' as if to say, 'Ouch, Denzel. You really screwed up now.'

"How was I supposed to know?" Denzel protested. The two started to argue again.

Zack separated the young couple. "Hey, hey, HEY!" He shouted. Marlene glared at him for interfering.

"Who are you? Fat Albert?" She asked smartly. Even Denzel had to chuckle a bit at that.

The man scoffed. "Oh yeah?" he ran a hand through his hair, a few fallen strands of it coming out to rest on his palm.

"This is how we're going to settle this little dispute." He announced. He dropped his hair in the batter and before either of them could stop him, he mixed it in thoroughly.

He smiled, satisfied with himself. "There. Now go make another batter, without the cinnamon."

The young teens threw their heads back and simultaneously yelled out to the top of the stairs, "Cloud! The Puppy's shedding again!"

Cloud calculated the number of minutes it took for him to be called down. Exactly seven minutes. A new record.

After breakfast was served and eaten, Denzel trotted up the stairs and into his room. Stupid Mrs. Smith, giving him a project over the weekend. If he could get away with it, he'd place a tack on her chair.

Denzel laughed to himself. Everyone thought their science teacher stuffed the butt part of her pants with balloons because her backside was so ridiculous it wasn't even funny. The rumor would be true if her butt exploded as she sat in her chair!

Halfway into building his model of a molecule, someone knocked on the door. It burst open without say from Denzel. What if he were in the middle of getting dressed? Flashing Marlene would not have made a good impression!

"Heya Denzel!" She chirped, despite how bloodthirsty the girl was at breakfast.

He smiled a hello and continued to work on his project. Sometimes Marlene would come in his room and distract him from doing school work, which was a Godsend. Maybe she'd suggest they go to the park?

Marlene had felt almost guilty at her own selfishness during their little squabble, so she decided to come here and apologize. But Denzel seemed to forgotten it, so she wouldn't make the awkward effort.

Instead, another idea popped into her pink-bowed head.

Wouldn't now be the perfect time for Denzel to spill the beans about his thoughts on the dance? She grinned her sneaky Cheshire grin, inherited from Yuffie. Denzel was preoccupied with building something like a giant Styrofoam and wire lollipop, glazed with glue. It didn't look very appetizing.

She sat down crossed legged on the other side of the science structure. She tapped it with a dainty finger, careful not to break the crudely built thing that Denzel's grade counted on.

"Whatcha building...?" Marlene asked. Not to start a conversation, but because she truly didn't know what it was.

"Just a molecule thingy for The Butt." he answered with a chuckle as he slathered glue on a piece. Marlene giggled loudly, knowing who he was talking about.

Searching for what to say next, Marlene decided to finally drop a hint.

"Wouldn't it be strange if, I don't know, molecule thingies could...dance?" She fumbled. That had to be the worst, most ridiculous, attempt at a hint, ever. It was worse than Cid who would 'smoothly' tell Shera what he wanted for Christmas, when she already obviously knew by the pilot's horrible hinting skills.

He scrunched his eyebrows "If they could somehow dance, I think I'd be scared." he answered logically. If molecules could dance, they could probably take over Gaia, too.

Pinching her thigh scoldingly, Marlene bashed herself mentally for her horrible attempt.

But it wasn't the poor girls fault, it was the chestnut haired teen's for being extremely oblivious, just like a certain blonde swordsman.

"So, uh...What do you think about Matt and Sophie?" She asked randomly, and immediately regretted it. This was going to end with her babbling like an idiot, or lead into something that shouldn't be mentioned.

That was an odd question, Denzel thought. "They're our good friends?" What kinda of answer was she expecting? "Why, did something happen? Oh God, please don't tell me Sophie broke Matt's arm." Denzel sighed. If the girly-looking tomboy actually broke his best friend's arm, how would they be able to play video games together?

Snorting, Marlene shook her head no. That would be a very likely thing, since Sophie already sprained the boys wrist playing Mercy, but that's not what she had in mind.

"Hah, but what I mean is... don't you think they have a thing for one another?" She inquired.

Yep, the conversation has now led into territory that shouldn't even be looked at, forget about stomped all over.

Denzel stopped what he was doing and thought for a minute. "Yeah...Yeah, actually I think they do." he said in slight surprise. It's like the saying, if a girl picks on a boy it means she likes him. And Matt was randomly talking about Sophie the other week too. . .

"He should ask her to the Dance!" Marlene shouted a little too excitedly, and loudly. Well, if that wasn't subtle, then nothing was.

Flinching, Denzel shrugged nonchalantly, still not picking up on the signs. Did she have to kneel in front of him, lick his feet and beg to be asked to the Dance so it'd be SLIGHTLY noticeable?

"I don't think he'd ask her though, don't you?" Denzel responded.

Marlene had a mental freak out. Yes! She cried mentally, Yes, you can ask me to the Dance, stupid!

"Well, hopefully..." she mumbled to herself.

I really need to start typing the chapters up sooner, I really do. D: I'm so so sorry for the lateness! I hope this chapter was worth the wait though. Tell me what you thought in a review! :D

~Sabby-Sama