The arms were still around her when she woke up. Tifa was sure he would've gone to work especially since it was, she glanced at the clock, 10 am! Tifa was surprised she had slept that long, and he had as well. Tifa rolled around in his vice grip to face him. Rufus was still sleeping. She couldn't believe it. He looked so peaceful and sweet. Tifa could draw on his face or leave his side or well no she couldn't do anything of those things. All of the above options would lead her to her grave faster.
Though she doubted her would kill her for getting out of bed before he did, she wouldn't put it past him to do so. Tifa rolled back around. She didn't want to look at him anymore. Tifa waited silently and listened to his breathing. She could feel his chest moving up and down against her back. Tifa tried to move away and out of his arms. It was no use, even when he was sleeping his grip was extremely strong. Even the push ups she'd been doing didn't help her in her fight against him.
Tifa just gave up and closed her eyes again. She was stuck in bed and because of her surroundings she hated being there. If this was her room in Seventh Heaven she would've enjoyed the time to sleep but this was not a vacation for her.
Finally Rufus started to move. He loosen his grip on her monetarily, Tifa rolled away a bit but was pulled back. She guessed he had remembered that he was still holding onto her after he was more awake. She heard him chuckled and Tifa gritted her teeth at the sound, it was so creepy.
"Where do you think your going?" Rufus asked and hugged her closer to him.
"No where apparently" Tifa said in a spoiled tone. Her head remained on her pillow and she looked straight ahead. She almost smirked as she remembered the tone of Rufus' voice. Even the rich and powerful boy who seemed to think he was a God sounded sleepy after just waking up. Tifa stiffened as he began trailing kisses down her neck. She once again wanted to get out of his arms.
Rufus ran his hand inside her silk pyjama top and touched her stomach. Tifa clenched her teeth and wait for him to stop. She was more then aware that fighting back would not help. Rufus grinned at her discomfort. Nothing like tormenting her in the morning to start off his day well. Rufus turned her to face him. Tifa looked of to the side.
He stopped running his hand up and down her side and used it to turn her face towards him. Tifa still had the burse on her cheek and she hoped he would not touch it. Rufus leaned towards her so their faces were only inches apart.
"Better leave me alone" Tifa warned.
"Or you'll do what?" Rufus leaning over her and Tifa shrunk back into her pillow. Their noses were barely touching and Rufus moved her hands above her head and held them here.
"I'll bite" Tifa nipped his nose causing him to smirk gently. Tifa was starting to become nervous since he had her arms above her head. The next thing he did came as a totally shock. Rufus leaned down and kissed her. Tifa's eyes widened and she wasn't sure what he was trying to do. He had never kissed her before. Tifa's best guess was he was still playing the same game, he was just trying to make her nervous and scared.
Tifa fought back the only way she knew how. She relaxed and closed her eyes and deepened the kiss. It was Rufus' turn to get nervous. She was learning too quickly. He couldn't believe the girl was trying to beat him at his own game. There was no way she was going to win.
Rufus slipped his tongue into her mouth. Tifa was more determined then ever, he'd gotten the best of her every single time. This time he'd be the one to say he gave up. Tifa managed to get one of her arms out of his grasp. She reached up and ran her fingers through her hair. She was surprised it was so soft. His hair always appeared to be filled with gel and hard but it wasn't at the moment. Tifa moved her other hand away as well and ran both hands down his chest.
Rufus was going to get her for that. He moved his hand down and under her shirt. He held her sides gently and stroked his hands up and down them. Using his fingers like rakes he ran them up her back. Tifa shivered under his touch and he knew he was getting the upper hand once again.
She was going to get even with him. She rolled over, taking him with her until she was on top. Tifa broke their kiss and started kissing her way down his neck. Tifa felt his hands tremble and she knew she had won. He now knew how she felt. Rufus rolled her onto her back once again and looked down at her.
"That's enough" He snapped. Tifa smirked in victory. "Don't look so proud." Tifa didn't care that he looked like he wanted to murder her, she had won and that was final. Rufus got out of bed and stomped into the bathroom. Tifa giggled to herself. She thought it would take a lot more then that to get him to crack but she had discovered that if he was not fully in control of the situation he lost.
Anticipating the revenge for her actions would be no fun but Tifa didn't mind. Her one victory was enough for her. She sat up and swung her legs over the bed. Tifa stretched out her arms and sighed. Now what she was going to do? She would be bored for the rest of the day.
Tifa looked up as the bathroom door shot open. Tifa tired not to smile, Rufus was still furious. He marched over to her and pulled her up. Tifa wasn't scared of him anymore, she knew he could do almost nothing to scare her anymore.
"Never try anything like that again" Rufus snapped, Tifa blinked. It wasn't that big of a deal but Rufus was furious at her. When ever he touched her or scared her he had felt nothing but this time she had made his body react to her and that was what was making him so mad. He did not want to feel for her.
"Fine" Tifa agreed but only because she was so satisfied with her win. With that he left her and went off to work. Tifa skipped into the bathroom and took a shower. This time she didn't try to scrub the life out of her skin she didn't mind that he had kissed her. She just wished her body hadn't reacted to it as much. She didn't want him to know he was effecting her that way.
It had been two weeks since their last confrontation. The month was half way through and Tifa thought about the end. Rufus did not love her, she was sure of that and so she turned her thoughts to her demise. Barret had not come for her yet, sometimes when she heard shooting or commotion in the streets of sector one her heart filled with hope a little. But that soon died away when no one came to her rescue. Tifa had tried her best to keep out of Rufus' way. He still insisted on sleeping with her in his arms but other than that she had little contact with him.
They rarely spoke. This bothered Tifa a little, though she did not love him she had grown fond of his company and at times he could make some amusing comments. Maybe it was because she was lonely that she found his company so appealing. Reno and Elena did speak with her sometimes but they were never around when she needed them the most since their work kept them away from ShinRa most of the time. Tifa would sometimes look over at Rufus. He would always sit quietly and read the newspaper or watch television. She wondered what he was thinking, if only to give her comfort that she was not be killed after the remaining two weeks passed.
On Rufus' side it was a different story. Everyday he had spent near Tifa was a struggle. He did not want to his father to know that he was starting to care for her since this would only mean that his father would win and Rufus did not want this. Rufus enjoyed the nights they spent together and how her body felt in his arms. It frustrated him that she could fluster him so much. Every morning was like waking up next to an angel, she always smelled good and sometimes she would smile at him through her sleepy eyes.
Rufus hated her. He hated the control she was gaining over him. He was always in control of his life and he was not use to someone else getting the better of him. He was sure that his father would keep her here and that Rufus would be forced to marry her. This idea was not unappealing but some aspects of it were. Tifa did not seem to love him and as he grew to care for her more the thought of making her miserable was not a pleasant one. And then there was always the looming victory of his father's match making. Rufus had thought about talking to her about their feelings for one another, if only to calm her from her worry of being killed. Sometimes he could heard her sigh deeply in worry and his upset him.
But he did not wish to be rejected by her so he remained quiet.
Tifa walked out of one of ShinRa's smaller gyms. She had been training here for a while now and was getting stronger. She was surprised her had been able to break into ShinRa almost a month ago when she had been no where near as strong as she was now. She headed back to her room to take a shower and change. Tifa stepped into her room and shut the door. She looked around, Rufus did not appear to be here. She had not told him that she had been working out and so far she had managed to avoid him.
Tifa entered the shower and turned on the hot water. She felt refreshed as the water washed over her whole body. Tifa washed her hair and stepped out of the shower. She dried herself off and dressed in clean clothing. When she entered her room again she checked for Rufus again but he was no where to be found. Out of boredom she walked out into the hall way and looked many floors down to the first floor of the ShinRa building. Tifa look the elevator down. She stood by the door and looked out. It was just at this very moment that she had realized she had not thought of running out the door for a very long time. She reflected on her thoughts, and realized that she did not want to disappoint Rufus by doing so.
Tifa walked down to the prisons where she had spent so many cold nights. There was not too many other prisoners at the moment. All of a sudden there was a loud crash and Tifa whirled around. She saw the wall behind her being knocked down and as the dust clear the figure of a large man emerged.
"Barret!?" Tifa exclaimed as her friend jumped over the rumble and spotted her.
"Tifa!" Barret rushed over to her and hugged her, lifting her off the ground. "I'm so glad you're still alive! We tired so many times to get past security but every time we tried ShinRa had put up some new defense!" Tifa smiled at the irony, then Barret added "Are you okay?"
"I'm just fine, I wasn't at first but things are better now" Tifa said, she told Barret about everything, leaving out any details about her and Rufus.
"I'm glad to hear you weren't tortured or something" Barret sighed and Tifa looked away. Tortured? A little but all in all her stay at ShinRa wasn't so bad. "let go before they catch us." Tifa froze, she had to leave, she knew it, but a part of her did not want to.
"Okay" Tifa said because she had to. Barret and Tifa jumped through the hole in the wall, Jessie and Biggs were waiting for them outside.
"Tifa!" Jessie exclaimed.
"Hello" Tifa smiled at her. Jessie apologized for Tifa's time at ShinRa on her account but Tifa insisted she was not mad or upset about it. The group started running down the allies away from ShinRa. By this time guards had been alerted and the group was being chased.
Tifa and Barret got separated from Jessie and Biggs but Tifa saw them slip down into the underground where the ShinRa soldiers would not catch them. She and Barret ran down a long alley. The alley split into two sections at the end. Tifa looked behind her, there were three guards running behind them. Tifa could hear the commotion around her and she thought that there would be others up ahead.
"Barret! I think there are more around us. We should head up the roofs" Tifa yelled and Barret nodded. When they reached the next fire escaped of an apartment in the alley they each started to climb opposite sides of the building. The guards were close behind them but luckily Tifa and Barret had an easier time maneuvering around and up the railings of the fire escape. Tifa was on the roof of one building and Barret was on the roof of another.
"Tifa, look out!" Barret called and Tifa turned around. To her surprise she saw Rufus standing at the other side of the roof with his long shot gun in his hand. The helicopter that had quickly dropped him off was flying away. Tifa was scared, she could see the anger in his eyes.
Rufus glared at her, he saw her eyes pleading with him. She seems to be telling him that this was not entirely what it looked like. Rufus wished to speak with her alone. He looked over to where Barret was, the guards in the alley had climbed up to the top of roof. Many others had joined them and Barret was now surrounded by ten gaurds.
"Run!" Tifa shouted and her and Barret took off. Rufus chased after Tifa and the guards after Barret. Tifa tired to see which roofs Barret was jumping to in order to stay close to him. The guards started to shoot at Barret and Tifa turned to look at him. He was able to avoid the shots. Tifa heard Rufus fire his gun behind her and she jumped to avoid the shot. He shot at her!! Tifa glared at him.
Rufus charged at her and swung a punch which she ducked under and hopped back away from him. Barret had the guards that were after him under control and he looked over to see Tifa with her fists up and Rufus with his gun ready.
"Tifa!" Barret called.
"Just run Barret, I've got this" Tifa called and gave him a reassuring smile. With that she charged at Rufus and attempted to kick him off his feet but he jumped out of the way. Barret started to run across the roof tops again, confident that Tifa could handle herself.
Once Rufus could see Barret was out of sight he looked at Tifa. Tifa too looked back but much to her regret Rufus lunged at her and managed to punch her in the stomach. Tifa fell to her knees and coughed. She glared angrily at his feet. Tifa kicked her foot out and swept it around in a circle, knocking Rufus off his feet as well. Rufus lay on his back, propping himself up on his elbows he looked over at her. Tifa was crouching and panting and glaring at him.
"You shot at me" Tifa yelled at him.
"You ran away" Rufus snapped back.
"Barret came for me, I belong with them, and you know that" Tifa told him in a softer tone.
Rufus stood up and helped Tifa up. He looked down at her. She was right, even if he was able to keep her for longer, her friends would come for her eventually.
"I know" Rufus spoke after a while and Tifa looked at him, his eyes were caring and soft, then he said "I cared about you, you know." Tifa's eyes widened.
"I didn't know…" Tifa said the only words that came to her head and looked down at the ground. Rufus lifted her chin so she was forced to look at him.
"No you didn't know that every moment I was around you was horrible. Horrible because I could not hold you, horrible because I had to wake up next to you knowing you felt nothing and horrible because everywhere I went I though of you and I could still smell you on my skin" Rufus growled at her.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to cause you any pain Rufus. I have grown fond of you too" Tifa told him. Rufus was happy but he did not smile.
"I'm glad to hear that" Rufus attempted to convey his happiness to her. Tifa understood his gesture. He lend down and kissed her lips gently. Tifa closed her eyes and deepened the kiss. Rufus dropped his gun and snaked his arms around her waist while Tifa moved her hands up to run her fingers through his soft hair. Rufus slid his hand up her side and she moved her hands down his arms. She heard him groan deep in his throat. Then he pushed her away.
"Good bye Tifa" Rufus looked at her.
"Good bye Rufus" Tifa smiled softly at him. She jumped over a couple more roof tops and disappeared form his sight.
Rufus called Reno, "I lost her, come pick me up."
"Tifa? Tiiiiiifa?"
"Huh?" Tifa looked up to see Marlene looked at her from the other side of the counter. "I'm sorry Marlene, what is it?"
"When is daddy and Cloud coming home?" She asked. Tifa looked at her watch.
"It should be soon" Tifa told the girl and she bounced off to play. Tifa returned to cleaning dishes. She was once again lost in her thoughts. She wondered what Rufus was doing, she did think of him every once in a while. She was sure he thought of her. Tifa turned around when she heard the door open.
"Daddy!" Marlene cried and ran towards her father. Tifa smiled at Barret who smiled a greeting back at her. Tifa saw Cloud step out from behind the large man.
"Hello Tifa" Cloud greeted her warmly.
"Hello Cloud" Tifa smiled at him.
"How have you been? He asked.
"Well, pretty good, I got into some trouble but I had someone taking good care of me" She told him and cloud nodded.
"I heard about your run in with ShinRa" Cloud said.
"Yeah, I got a lot more than I bargained for" Tifa smiled to herself.