Cloud

BEEP! *stopped*

Already up alarm, fuck you very much.

Haha, see the twist I did there? Instead of thank you I said fuck you? Haha...

Ah, never mind.

I turned on the radio, and it was playing my all time favorite song, "Walking on a Dream" by Empire of the Sun. I jumped up in joy, and started dancing and singing along. I danced downstairs and opened my now-full fridge. Let's see, a bagel sounds nice.

Is it real now?

When two people become one?

I can feel it now

When two people become one...

The doorbell rang and I rushed towards the door, still bobbing to the beat. "Hello?" I asked once I opened it. I sighed. It was my extremely perverted landlord.

My landlord was nice and all, but he was extremely perverted and also happened to be gay. I've also come to the conclusion that he has a very fond interest in me, seeing how he always finds an excuse to stop by my apartment at least one every couple of weeks just to stare at my assets. Or just my ass.

"Mr. Vexen! Hey...how's it going?" I asked a tad bit dryly. I rested one hand on my hip, and the other on the door.

Mr. Vexen grinned and stared at my lips. "Amazing now that I was able to catch you. I wanted to let you know that this month the payment is due three days earlier than usual."

"I know, Mr. Vexen. I got the message in the mail... three times."

"Just wanted to remind you, is all." He grinned even more, his eyes trailing lower and lower on me. Remind me to never answer the door with only a baggy jersey on when it's Mr. Vexen at the door.

"Okay thank you have a good day!" I dismissed very quickly, and I shut the door. He's so creepy.

~~~~Cleon~~~~

The sound of my car's engine revving as I drove into the parking lot and pulled up into a reserved spot for a worker always got me giddy. I still have to get use to hearing that. I turned off the radio and stepped out, locking the door behind me.

"Morning, Cloud!" Aqua called out to me. I smiled and waved to her. She gasped and walked over to me. "What is this? A brand new sports car? Since when?" She extended her hand out and stroked the hood of the car, grinning at the feel.

"Ever since the bae got me it!" I answered.

She turned to me, shocked. "Are you serious? Your boyfriend got you it?"

"No, I'm kidding," I laughed. "My best friend got it for me. I don't even have a boyfriend."

"Yet, my good man. Yet," Aqua teased. We both laughed and entered the building, punching in our times. "How ya doing, Larxene? Long night?" Aqua asked her. According to the news going around, Larxene was engaged, so she had a lot going on in her life lately.

Larxene lightly laughed. "Yeah, but I know it'll be worth it in the end."

Had my usual coffee with Aqua. We discussed her date with Terra. Apparently it went smooth and she actually grew an interest in him. Terra happened to be a romantic man who had the same keen likes and dislikes as Aqua. Hope everything goes well with them. She needs some love to boost up her life these days.

And then. The dreaded call-in from my office.

"Mr. Strife?" Larxene asked from the receiver. I picked it up.

"Yes?" I asked.

"The boss would like to speak with you in his office."

"Tell him I'll be there soon."

"He said he knew you would say that and would like to see you now."

"..."

"You called me in, sir?" I asked, waltzing in the boss's door and taking a seat I have lately become too accustomed with. Rolling around on a spiraling chair was a familiar redhead who was loudly smacking on gum(and he seemed to be loudly smacking on it on purpose). Axel stopped spinning, took a glance at me, and then kept spinning. No rude remark or an annoyed face. Just a blank glance.

Good. Guess he got the memo that I'm done taking his bullshit.

You go Cloud. It's your birthday.

Not really.

I need a life.

Squall stopped pacing the room, sat down on his desk, and flashed a fake smile. "Axel?"

Axel stopped and raised his eyebrows at him, acknowledging that he was listening.

"You mind?" Squall asked sheepishly. He pointed to the door.

Axel rolled his eyes. "Oh, of course. My dearest apologies to the girly who fucks coffee. See you in a bit, yea?"

"Axel..." Squall warned, his voice giving a hint that now was not the time for dry jokes. I groaned, my cheeks tinting primrose. He never really did forget about that, did he. I should be more shocked to think that he would.

Hey wait did he just call me girly?

"Hey! I am not-"

But the door shut too soon, way before he could hear me finish my complaint. I groaned even louder and huffed, crossing my arms and turning to Squall.

"Excuse his behavior. Over the years he's grown a harsh attitude about life in general ever since those kids were so mean to him."

Suddenly my curiosity peaked. "Mean?"

"Oh yeah," Squall said, surprised that I wasn't aware. "You see, he was a bit of a loner. Well.. he still is. And his style wasn't helping either. Because he was so different from the rest, they would always pick on him, from elementary all the way to high school. I'm surprised he has the willpower to finish college."

College is a more open environment where barely anyone knows you.

All of a sudden the guilt stabbed me as I tried to look back and see how harsh I acted toward Axel. His social barrier, his weird looks he would give to us when we came to talk to him, me calling him names... I felt horrible. Outside he may not seem affected but inside he might be hurting even more because of me.

"You mean to tell me that even since elementary school, kids bullied him?"

"Of course! He was insanely fond of the color red. He wore worn out red Converse every day when he was in a school full of rich white people. They would call him a 'dumb bloke' and stuff like that, but I still to this day have no clue what they mean. And when he moved to America in 9th grade, believe me, we didn't have to ask him to learn the American dialect. Doesn't mean his Aussie accent doesn't come out every once in a while."

"Enough about Axel. What did you call me for?" I asked, tired of the guilt balling up in my stomach.

Squall sighed. "I wanted to know the answer to our little deal we had."

Oh right. You mean the one where I was blackmailed to be your bitch or get fired? Yeah, pretty tough decision.

I'm being sarcastic, folks.

Sheesh, tough crowd.

"Right..." I mumbled, starting to bite my bottom lip in minor frustration. I forgot to really think about that on my day off.

Squall's eyes wandered down to my lips, the lower one which was now being gnawed off. He smirked. "Your lips are probably so full and pink because they're always being chewed on."

I stopped and stared at him. Right. I shouldn't really do such an "irresistible" habit in front of him. I really have to break that anyway.

"Before I agree on this, do you mind if I get to know a little more about the person who'll be ordering me around?" He gave me a strange look. I cleared my throat and started to clarify. "I mean.. I feel like this is heavily one-sided, you know? I need to know the person I'm dealing with. After all, you will be controlling my body."

He slowly nodded. "So out with it then."

"Let's start with the basics." I leaned back in my chair. "How old are you?"

"29."

I could have sworn he looked like he just turned 25. Then again people say I look 16 and that angers me a lot. Especially when I'm trying to get a quick beer.

I slowly nodded. "What's your full name?"

"Squall Sky Leonhart."

"Sky? So pretty... You have a nickname I can call you?"

"Squall Leonhart."

"...have a better one?"

"Boss."

This isn't going anywhere.

"I heard Axel calls you Leon."

"Axel is my brother."

I sighed. "So uh... any reason why you only have really gorgeous people working here?"

He stopped and stared at me with wide eyes. I looked around, a bit nervous. Did I say something forbidden or something? I don't understand. He then looked down and had on a confused look. "You're the first person to ask me that..."

I raised my eyebrows. A point for me for having guts.

He closed his eyes. "Unfortunately that's an answer too personal for me to answer."

My eyebrows furrowed in a feeling of guilt. I hated it when he asked me personal questions. What made me think I can ask him some? Oh wait, but I didn't really think the answer would be personal. Just... move on Cloud. Keep the conversation moving forward.

He opened his eyes, but kept looking down at the desk. "I'm sorry for making this become awkward for you. Just brings back... painful memories..."

And for some reason, God knows what, I leaned in and kissed his cheek.

Squall looked up and stared into my eyes, analyzing my critical thoughts, trying to see my true motive for the action I just did. I bit my bottom lip again and sat back down, trying to contemplate myself why I just did that. For some reason, I just felt like he needed that. A sign that there was someone out there who cared about him.

Wait... I care about him?

Squall got up very slowly, walked over to me, and leaned forward, resting his hands on the armrests of my chair. His face was right in front of mine. He gazed at me intently. I gulped. My heart-rate was pulsing fast. I could feel the hormones circulating my body as all I could think about was kissing those lips that were so close to me. And I had no clue why.

"You're doing that lip thing again," he mumbled oh-so-very quietly.

I continued to bite it and nodded.

"Didn't I warn you that gets people sexually frustrated?" he asked.

I tugged on one side of my bottom lip with my teeth and eventually released.

"Like me?" he asked, his voice extremely husky. The way it changed out of nowhere was extremely sexy.

I smiled evilly. "Oh really?"

And with that he lunged forward and slammed his lips down on mine, moving at a passionate pace. I grabbed his cheeks and opened my mouth, moaning as his tongue seeped into my mouth. One hand soon found its way to his hair, and gripped it tightly.

This kiss. I didn't want it to end.

But unfortunately it did.

And it was because of me.

I slowly pulled away from him, still holding his cheeks. I stared at him for a few moments. "What was that about?" I asked him, my voice overtaking that low and sexy thing it would do when I was turned on.

He moaned in want. "Cloud..."

Axel decided to walk in the room, tossing a Monster bottle up and down. "Yo. It's lunch break. I'm pretty sure Cloud wants to eat... you okay, mates?"

Both of us immediately separated and cleared our throats, attempting to dismiss the fact that we were in a very awkward position.

"Whatever you're thinking... it's... wrong," I bluntly stated, scratching my head at my poor excuse.

Axel raised an eyebrow. "Um... sure. You coming to eat or what? Or are you waiting for your coffee to come and hit you up?"

I groaned and stood up, marching past him. "If you bring that coffee thing up one more time-"

"You'll what? Spit at me? AH DAH YEW," Axel exclaimed, his accent accidentally coming out.

"I have some aluminum foil wrapping my sandwich. I'm not afraid to choke you with it," I retorted.

"Ooh, ahm so scared. The mate's gonna use hees all-uh-mini-yum shit on me," Axel spat back at me.

"Guys, please! Not in here," Squall mumbled, rubbing his head. In anger, I stomped outside and slammed the door shut. It immediately opened with Axel behind, a smirk on his face.

I pointed to him. "Don't you dare follow me!"

"Don't you want to know what I have to say?"

"NO."

"Funny, 'cause I'm pretty sure you don't want everyone to know about your little affair with Leon you've been having."

I stopped and widened my eyes. Fuck he just say?

His smirk increased, his teeth showing this time(which looked incredibly sexy might I add). "Yes. I did not hesitate."

I narrowed my eyes. "Explain."

He took a deep breath, his facial expression snapping to serious. "I overheard your little conversation you had with Leon two days ago. And then, out of curiosity... I listened to your conversation today and-"

"You listened to our conversation?!" I exclaimed, my face contorting to anger.

He remained calm. "I wasn't done, mate."

I huffed a breath of annoyance and remained quiet.

"At first I wanted to confront him about it, but then I realized something. If I did that, then he would assume that other people heard as well, and then he would fire you. And I actually don't really want that to happen-"

"Why? Don't you hate me?" I spat.

He flinched. "No... not really. You're actually one of my very few..." He stopped and looked down.

My face softened. I totally forgot about what Squall told me about him. And here I was treating him like shit again.

"Um... of course. Yeah, thanks for not telling," I mumbled, deciding not to tell him that I knew about his issues he use to have with his classmates.

He sighed. "I decided to come up with a deal."

I groaned. Another compromise?

He looked around, nervous. His face started to tinge pink. Was he... embarrassed?

"Yeah?" I asked, waiting for him to continue.

He took a deep breath. "I won't tell anybody about you and Leon if... you help me..."

"Help you what? You gotta continue. I'm not a mind reader... mate," I mocked.

"If you help me get Zack to go out with me!" Axel outburst. He winced, afraid to look at my expression. Only my expression wasn't bad. It was mixture between shock and joy. Does he seriously like Zack? Oh goodness... this is too adorable! Wait... Axel's gay too? Hmm. Whatever.

I smiled. "You like Zack?"

He slowly opened his eyes and sighed, rolling them. "Well... to put it in a blunt manner... he's extremely attractive and he's really nice and... I don't know. My heart always jumps a little whenever he smiles and..." Axel started to smile a little to himself.

I bit my bottom lip in pure joy. This was way too cute.

I grinned. "Okay Axel. That seems fair enough. And if I get Zack to go out with you... you have to promise to be my best friend."

He looked up at me and gave me a confused look.

"Yeah I said it. Best. Friends. As in hang out together. Share secrets. Buy each other birthday gifts and rant about first world problems." I winked.

He blinked repeatedly in pure shock. "Best... friends? But why-"

"I just want to be your best friend. Is that so hard to ask?"

He raised his eyebrows. "I never really had a best friend before."

"Yeah? Well you'll get two new ones. Me and your boyfriend Zack."

"He's not my-"

"He will be." I winked again, this time a grin being added.

Axel blushed. "Why... why are you being... nice to me?"

I shrugged. "You seem cool. And I want a new friend. Besides, I was always jealous of your hair." I flashed a friendly smile and turned around and started to walk away. From the corner of my eye I saw him smile, and I felt great inside. You know why?

Because inside I knew he was excited to know the true feeling of a best friend for once.