Author's Note: As promised, here's another chapter! This one's got dialogue! =o It was written rather late at night due to a sudden attack of the elusive Inspiration, so I hope it's okay. Reviews are welcome!

Disclaimer: Final Fantasy and its characters are property of Square Enix, not me.

Chapter 4: Shower

Zack

It drove me crazy when Cloud took a shower.

Both of us usually ended up taking a shower late at night, thanks to missions where they tell you it'll be over by eight or something but then you wind up coming home at ungodly hours of the morning covered in dirt and monster blood and ready to drop dead from exhaustion. So basically we took turns taking a shower, ate something, and crashed. A simple routine. Well, it should be simple, but lately it wasn't. Not for me, anyway.

I'd already got cleaned up and flopped down on the couch with a sandwich while Cloud took his turn in the shower. That was the only thing I could focus on - the shower water running and its continuous whistle that we'd never bothered to try to fix.

And I wondered again. About stupid things. I'd been doing that a lot lately. I wondered what Cloud felt like when the hot water hit his back, if he sighed, whether he was the type of person who just stood there for a while with his eyes closed or if he reached for the shampoo bottle right away. I wondered if he noticed that crack in the wall that I noticed every time I took a shower, if he watched the water drain out for a while when he was done, if he ever doodled on the steamed-up mirror with the tip of his finger. But why should I give a damn about silly stuff like that?

"Hey."

I opened my eyes. Was I really so out of it that I closed my eyes? And finished my sandwich? Cloud's face was right above me, upside-down from my perspective lying down on the couch, one corner of his mouth turned up in a small smile. His hands were placed on the armrest on either side of my head. A few droplets of water fell from his hair and onto my face, but I didn't bother brushing it off.

"What?"

I guess my voice came out more serious than I meant it to, because he looked a little taken aback. "Sorry to wake you up, but that crack in the bathroom wall's been bothering me for forever. We really need to do something about it sometime."

I smiled a little, but it faded when I noticed some scars on his chest and along his collarbone. When did that happen? Maybe I just couldn't see them until I was this close to him. They weren't that bad or anything. But it bothered me, that he was getting hurt. It bothered me a lot. I guess I always knew it was happening - I mean, people like us are bound to get hurt - but seeing the scars really got under my skin. I felt like Cloud shouldn't get hurt. Like I should've prevented it.

"When did that happen?"

The words came out without me thinking about it, so quiet that even I barely heard them. I reached up and lazily traced the thin scar across his collarbone. His skin was still hot from the shower, burning against the coolness of my fingertip. He drew in a sharp breath. His fingers dug into the armrest.

It took a moment for him to answer me. "I'm clumsy. And I forget to keep my guard up."

It was so sad, the way he was looking at me, the tone of his voice. How could someone look so pained and attractive at the same time? My finger lingered at the top of the scar, at the ridge between his collarbone and his shoulder. I could still catch the smell of blood under all the artificial sweetness of shampoo and conditioner and shower gel. For a moment we didn't say anything. The air felt heavy. Like it was pressing in on us so hard that we couldn't even talk. My breath caught in my throat as a little of the water dripping from his hair trickled down my neck.

Then he hurriedly turned away, and I listened to his bare feet on the carpet as he headed into the bedroom. The light turned off after a few seconds. I covered my eyes with my arm, took a deep breath. Wondered what the hell was going on.

It really drove me crazy when Cloud took a shower.