Chapter VII – Confusion.

"So, this is the new decking huh? Very nice… Henceforth known as the poop deck!" Zack had a hold of a card with two pictures of a puppy on some decking outside a house, the first just sitting there, and the second of the puppy walking off and leaving its, well, leavings behind. Cloud joined in Zack's laughter as he looked at the card over his shoulder. "I had a dog that did that once back home." Zack said, placing the card back on the shelf and selecting another.

Cloud read the next one; "How do you make a cat flap? Toss him off a cliff!" The pair of them started laughing again and began to work their way a little further down the aisle.

"Hey, do you know what a Shih Tzu is? Yeah, a zoo with no animals."

"They mean the dog breed, right?"

"Yeah, but it's not as funny if I have to explain it to you, haha." Zack said, nudging Cloud with his shoulder.

He was hoping that he was doing a good job at cheering Cloud up. His friend had looked as if he'd had his worst nightmare realised when Saïx had appeared and started making fun of him in that burger bar. Zack hated the thought that the blue haired bully had managed to make Cloud feel bad about himself, and in those few minutes whilst they were sat with them, wanted nothing more than to punch him for it. He wasn't sure where this protective urge had come from, but nonetheless wanted to make sure that Cloud's time in Midgar was as pleasant as it possibly could be.

"I knew that." Cloud said, laughing again. "I was just making sure."

"'Course you were." Zack teased, grinning at his friend. They browsed for a little while longer, never straying too far from the comedy section before Zack checked his watch and discovered the time.

"Hey Zack, look at this one," Cloud said, holding up a card with an old woman wearing an estranged expression pictured on the front. "Getting older is shit. Deal with it." Zack snorted.

"I should send that to Angeal for his birthday." He said, gently taking the card from Cloud's hands and flipping it over to see the price. "I'm sure he'll see the funny side…" Cloud laughed again, presumably imagining what might happen to Zack if he were to actually give his uncle the card. "We've got to get going in a minute by the way," He added, nodding his head in the direction of the shop entrance as he leant over Cloud to grab an envelope. They headed toward the queue. "Film's starting in t-minus ten minutes."

"Okay," Cloud said. At least he seems a little bit more comfortable now. Zack thought as he handed the man at the counter the right amount of GIL. He turned to face his friend and flash him one of his trademark 'don't worry, be happy' grins before walking toward the door. Cloud followed him, walking a little faster so that they could be side by side.

"What do you think the film will be like?" He asked, watching Cloud's face carefully.

"Ummm…" The blonde haired teen paused for a moment, looking all about him as if the answer was going to jump out of one of the shops at him. "I don't know really," He said eventually, shrugging his shoulders. "You chose it." He grinned.

Zack laughed again before shaking his head. "I should warn you, I have excellent taste in films." He said, raising an eyebrow. When he saw that Cloud was looking a bit sceptical, he added. "It should be amazing. My movie sense has never led to me a lame one yet." Cloud looked as though he was working hard not to laugh at him, which was a good sign, because if he was focusing on how silly Zack was acting, he wasn't thinking about his run in with a certain blue haired freak. The thought made Zack all the more determined to make Cloud completely distracted from what had happened earlier. "It's my secret power."

Cloud couldn't keep from laughing any longer when he clocked the serious look that was plastered to his friend's face. Zack smiled. If Cloud kept on looking as amused as he did right now, then surely Zack was on the right track in his mission to cheer his friend up. He also couldn't help but appreciate how Cloud's smile lit up his face in such a cute way… but that was a thought that he tried to block pretty quickly.

"You're such a goof, Zack." Cloud said, rolling his eyes.

"Ahh, but if I'm a goof then at least I'm doing a good job at entertaining you, am I correct?" He asked, putting on his best innocent grin.

Cloud brought his hand up to his face and scratched his temple, as if he were thinking. "Hmm, I suppose you have a point there." He concluded, his shoulder bumping into Zack's.

"Then my deduction was right!" Zack exclaimed, making a kind of proud face before pointing into the distance as the cinema came into view. "Almost there." He said, changing his pace slightly so that Cloud had to scurry to keep up. "Are you going to get some ice cream? 'Cause I really fancy some Ben & Jerry's right now…" He asked, bringing one of his hands to rest on his stomach, as if feigning that he hadn't been fed.

"What kind of ice cream is a Ben & Jerry's?" Cloud asked. Zack looked at him with mock-shock.

"You've never had a Ben & Jerry's ice cream? Oh man, you haven't lived." He said, grinning widely at Cloud. "Ben & Jerry's is a brand, and they have lots of ice cream flavours."

"Oh…" Cloud muttered, pulling a face. Zack suddenly felt guilty – he'd made him feel stupid again hadn't he?

"Sorry." He said, sounding rather cryptic.

"W-what for?" Cloud asked, obviously confused.

"I did it again didn't I? Made you feel stupid." Cloud was still looking at him as if he'd just announced that he had been born on mars, so Zack decided to try and explain himself some more. "I don't mean to make you feel like you don't know anything." He said, holding up a hand when it looked like Cloud was about to chip in with something. "Lemme say this." He said, smiling gently. "I forget sometimes that you're still new, you don't know everything there is to know about this city yet, and it's gonna take a while until you do." Cloud's expression was somewhere between 'what are you talking about Zack?' and 'that's so sweet of him' – Zack couldn't figure out which was going through Cloud's head. (Or for that matter which he would prefer Cloud to be thinking.) "I know exactly how you feel though, I was new here too, once. You'll pick it up pretty quick. And in the meantime, I'll make sure to try not to make you feel silly for not knowing stuff."

"Zack, I don't mind." Cloud said, his hand touching Zack's arm ever-so-lightly. "I was just going to ask what happened to popcorn."

"Oh…" Zack said, moving the arm that Cloud had touched so that he could rub sheepishly at the back of his head. The spot where his fingers had rested felt warm and tingly. "Well, that was stupid of me." A soft smile spread across Cloud's face as he peeked shyly out from under his fringe.

"So, what did happen to popcorn?" He asked, the smile turning into a grin. Zack felt happy that it was he who had been able to make that serene expression appear on Cloud's face and it suddenly occurred to him that he wanted to be the person to keep Cloud looking that happy; a reason for him to smile. Zack couldn't tell if a slight blush had tinted his cheeks at the thought.

"Well you can get popcorn if you want," He said, his playful grin carefully in place. "I know! We can get a sharer deal and get popcorn and drinks to share."

"What about your ice cream though?" Cloud asked.

"I can get that too. I'll just have to eat it quickly so that it doesn't melt." He grinned, looking ahead of them at the cinema building. They were only a few feet away from it now. "I'm good at eating ice cream at an unbelievable pace, you know." Cloud looked at him funny but Zack wasn't paying too much attention because he'd noticed a certain blue haired male flashing them both a glare as he and his two cronies wandered off back up the hill. Zack frowned, watching them go. If they even dare come back and say anything to Cloud…

"Uh, Zack?"

Zack's attention snapped back to the smaller blond, looking interestedly at him. "Yeah?"

"What was that weird look for just then?"

"Oh, that was nothing. Don't worry about it." He said, glancing back in the direction he'd spotted Saïx and his gang. Thankfully, none of them were in sight.

They walked the rest of the way to the cinema in silence, Zack looking out for any signs of a problem and Cloud seemingly deep in thought. Zack led Cloud over to the snack stalls and told him what he needed to ask for before wandering over to the Ben & Jerry's counter and asking for a four scoop pot. He was finished in the queue faster than poor Cloud was, so he decided to take a seat in one of the bright green spinny chairs the cinema company had provided for their customers comfort along with coffee tables. He slumped into the seat, sliding his wallet back into his pocket and watching Cloud. He was fumbling over paying the girl at the counter, clearly, even from this distance, growing more and more flustered with the more time that passed.

What had happened earlier was clearly still bothering Cloud. He wondered for what must have been the hundredth time what was going on in that blond, spikey head of his. The moments Cloud spent frowning and not speaking were enough of an indicator that he was still upset, which made Zack feel as though he was failing his friend a little for not completely distracting him from the thoughts that were plaguing him. Zack wondered if Cloud would eventually come out with what was bothering him, but he was fast learning that sharing his inner-most emotions wasn't really Cloud's thing.

He leaned back in the spinny chair and stuck the ice cream spoon in his mouth, letting it linger in there longer than was necessary to deposit the ice cream into his mouth. He sighed – he'd made it his own personal goal for the day to make sure that Cloud forgot all about their run in with the schools resident bullies, but it seemed that this task might be a little harder than he first thought. He pushed the spoon from side to side in his mouth with his tongue, looking blankly ahead of him.

"Zack, I got the popcorn!" A small voice piped up, breaking through his thoughts. Zack lifted his head up to face Cloud properly and withdrew the spoon from his mouth so that he could give him a smile.

"Ready for the film then?" He asked brightly, rising to his feet and grabbing ahold of the two drinks balanced precariously in the smaller blonds arms.

"Yep." Came Cloud's response, followed by a few stuttered words about how he could have carried the drinks too, it wasn't a problem. Zack turned to Cloud at this and fixed him with a look. He was going to make him take it easy for the rest of the day.

"Dude, it's fine. You concentrate on the popcorn. We don't want to lose any of it to the floor, do we?" He asked, grinning cheekily at his friend. Cloud blushed a little and looked toward the two drinks now clutched in Zack's hands, and the little tub of ice cream balanced between his chest and arm.

"But now you can't get your ticket out…" He mumbled in protest but Zack just chuckled.

"There's a small desk over by where they check the tickets," He indicated by nodding his head in its general direction. "You can put the popcorn down on there, get your ticket out, then get mine for me, how's that?"

He watched as Cloud's blond eyebrows slid closer to each other in a frown for a moment before he reluctantly agreed.

"Okay."

"Good Cloud." He grinned widely. "I'd ruffle your hair there for effect but I'd probably spill Coke on you. Which isn't a good thing 'cause it gets sticky after a while. Anyway, let's go my little chocobo!" Much to his satisfaction, he saw Cloud trying to suppress a grin but failing. Pink seemed to be tainting his cheeks again. He's so easy to make blush… Zack thought fondly before turning to head toward the entrance to the screens.

Cloud followed obediently again, placing their popcorn down on the little desk and producing his ticket at the demand of the ticket-collector. When the guy asked for Zack's, Cloud turned to his friend with a 'well, what do you want me to do?' expression. Zack smiled.

"Wallets in my pocket," He said, twisting his right hip in Cloud's direction. Cloud shuffled a little closer and cautiously slid his hand into Zack's jeans pocket. Zack smiled cheerfully at the ticket-collector as Cloud fumbled trying to ease the wallet from his pocket. Every time he felt Cloud's hand brush against his leg he felt his stomach somersaulting in the more delightful way. Eventually Cloud managed to free the slip of material from Zack's pants and also produced his ticked for the clerk. The guy let them in, only muttering a bored;

"It's screen five, okay…"

Zack walked past him and realised that Cloud was rushing to keep up with him. Was he acting that eager?

"Zack, w… what should I do with your wallet now?" He asked, blushing and not meeting the dark haired teen's eyes.

Zack grinned at him. "Keep hold of it for now," He said casually. "I won't ask you to put your hand in my pants twice on our first date." Cloud's shocked face snapped upwards and Zack winked playfully at him. Cloud blushed furiously and promptly stared at the floor as they walked toward the door of screen five. Zack frowned for a moment before deciding that it was probably best to apologise. "I'm kidding, don't worry!" He assured him, wondering to himself just how much he was kidding about that joke. This is kind of like a first date… He realised by Cloud's reaction that it might not have been the right time to throw that kind of banter into a conversation. It occurred to him in that moment that his words – although meant only playfully – might have reminded Cloud of Saïx's taunts and he felt a stab of regret for not thinking them through before speaking them. Cloud was still staring at the floor, his blush deepening if that were even possible. Crap. Well done Zack. Make him feel uncomfortable why don't you? Stupid.

When they got to screen five, Zack turned around to face Cloud, who was still trailing behind him a bit, nibbling occasionally on a piece of popcorn. Cloud hadn't noticed Zack's abrupt halt and ploughed straight into his chest, causing Zack to let out a little 'oof' sound. Cloud's head snapped up to look at the taller teen, his eyes widening as he took a step away and started apologising profusely, looking anywhere but at Zack. Zack balanced one of the drinks in the crook of his arm alongside his ice cream and reached out his now free hand toward Cloud's face. Gently placing the side of his index finger under Cloud's chin like he had earlier in the burger bar, he slowly lifted up the blue-eyed gaze to meet his own. Unlike last time, Cloud didn't try to jerk his head away, so Zack left his hand settled where it was under his friends chin. Acting on what he was going to insist was impulse if anyone asked him later, he absent-mindedly started stroked Cloud's chin with his thumb, stopping when he realised that that might have been weird for Cloud.

"Hey." He said gently.

"Hey yourself." Cloud replied in a hushed whisper that made Zack's face split into one of his patented half smiles.

"I'm sorry for that date comment just then." He said, watching Cloud's face for signs of a reaction. "It was a bit out of order of me, and I didn't mean anything by it. I have a feeling it stung you more because of what Saïx was saying before." Cloud's face dropped and Zack felt a stab of guilt.

"It's fine…"

"No, it's not." He said determinedly. "I promised to cheer you up and make you forget all about that dickwad and so far I've just made you feel worse."

"But Zack-" Cloud started.

"No buts." He said, shaking his head. "I'm sorry. You're cool, Cloud, and you shouldn't have to feel like you're not. I don't mean anything if I tease you, I just don't always think things through before I say them, that's all." He frowned, not able to shake the feeling that he'd failed his friend.

"Zack, it's okay." Cloud said, shifting the popcorn onto one arm and taking Zack by surprise when he gently used his free hand to grab Zack's from under his chin. He held onto it as he finished what he wanted to say. "I don't mind your teasing. I'm prone to… errr, shall we say worrying?" Zack's face softened and he squeezed Cloud's fingers as best he could from the way that Cloud was holding onto him.

"D'ya want me to stop being soppy now so we can go watch the film?" He asked with a grin, not dropping Cloud's hand from his own.

"It would be nice…" Cloud said, laughing at the sheepish look that had spread across Zack's face. Zack eventually grinned and turned to the door and pushed it open, gently pulling the spikey haired teen in after him.

They settled themselves down on the back row of seats in the cinema, right in the corner. Zack's reasoning had been that it would be cosy and that they wouldn't have to worry about getting neck ache from staring up at the screen. Once they'd arranged their belongings in a reasonable manner; drinks in the holders on the arm rests of their seats, popcorn on Cloud's lap and ice cream under Zack's nose whilst he quickly ate it, they relaxed, ready to enjoy the film.

"How haven't you got a brain-freeze yet?" Cloud asked, staring at Zack with amazement as the dark haired young man plonked the now empty pot onto the floor. Zack grinned smugly, leaning back in his seat and stretching.

"Just a talent of mine, I guess…" He said, his voice interrupted by a yawn that seemed to erupt from him. He kicked his trainers off and pulled his legs up so he was sat cross-legged on the seat. Cloud eyed him suspiciously. Wasn't that the kind of behaviour that got people kicked out of places like this? Zack opened one eye lazily, and said. "Go on, make yourself comfortable, no one's going to notice."

Hesitantly, Cloud bent down to untie the laces in his trainers before taking them off. Oh Gaia, what happens if my feet smell?

"Say what, sorry?" Zack asked, looking more awake now and gazing softly at Cloud.

"I, uh," He trailed off. Good thing it was dark in here. Zack wouldn't have been able to see the blush that conquered his face for the far too many-eth time today. "…What if my feet smell?" He hissed.

"You had a shower earlier right?"

"What?"

"You're wearing clean socks?"

"Yes, but what's that-"

"Then you're fine." Zack smiled brightly, watching Cloud with an amused expression on his face. Cloud felt his bottom lip jut out in a pout. "Go on Cloud," Zack urged. "Put your feet up. I'll take the blame if we get caught." Sighing, Cloud pulled his feet up underneath him on the seat. The lights dimmed and the screen in front of them began to glow. Zack turned to face Cloud with his usual grin in place.

"It's starting~!" He said in a sing-song voice. Cloud couldn't help but smile back.

Despite being told that you were supposed to relax and enjoy the film, Cloud had a sort of nervous energy buzzing through him as he watched the adverts come up on the screen. Something was telling him that he knew this strange feeling was to do with the way Zack had been acting earlier. He was so confused. Casual touches and making him put his hand into his jeans pocket to retrieve his wallet? If Cloud didn't know any better – which he didn't really, he was going off knowledge gained through watching the TV and movies – he might go as far as to say that Zack was… interested in him.

That was ridiculous though… wasn't it?

But what reason would the infamous Zack Fair have to be interested in him, in that way? He was just plain old Cloud. Zack could, Cloud assumed, quite easily get any girl he wanted. So if the black haired teen sat on his right actually was interested him him… No, it just didn't add up.

He wondered if the way Zack treated him was how he treated his other male friends too. But then, in the week he'd be hanging out with Zack and his friends, he'd never seen Zack act with them the way he did with Cloud.

Cloud couldn't let himself believe that Zack might actually be interested in him. That'd be a foolish move, and naïve too, not to mention stupid. This was probably just how Zack treated people to make them feel comfortable. He would probably disown him and turn him away if he knew what Cloud was currently thinking. He was sure that he liked Zack, yes, but how much of that feeling was acceptable and how much of it was inappropriate, almost crush-like feelings was a mystery to him. He was guessing that what he was feeling for the attractive messy haired teen sat next to him was more than what he was supposed to. Which just made everything that Saïx had picked up on earlier true. Cloud heaved a sigh. Saïx was going to be a problem, he could tell.

He wasn't gay. He was certain of that. It couldn't be true, because if it was it would mean endless taunting from Saïx – something Cloud was more than keen to avoid.

Zack is a friend. He thought. Albeit a rather handsome and kind friend… And really funny. And I like the way his eyes really light up when he grins. And how his nose wrinkles a little bit. It's beautif- no. NO. What if he can read minds, Cloud? You're screwed if he could see any of this. He hadn't really noticed that he wasn't looking at the film until he realised he was thinking about how, dare he think it, beautiful Zack looked when he was grinning. Because right next to him was a grinning Zack, who was paying attention to the adverts unlike Cloud.

Cloud felt his cheeks burn. This wasn't normal. He shouldn't be thinking about a friend in this way. This was how he had reacted to the girl he used to like back home.

No, that couldn't be right…

He couldn't have… a crush on Zack? His stomach responded by squeezing hard, making Cloud feel nervously sick. He chanced a look at Zack, who was looking at him. His heart seemed to skip several beats. He knew he wasn't paying attention to the screen, didn't he?

"Mind if I swipe some popcorn from you?" He asked with one of his brilliant grins. Cloud shook his head, offering the box to Zack. He felt his heartbeat speed up slightly without his permission as Zack leaned in closer to grab some popcorn. Their arms were touching and every time Zack or he moved a little bit, something like a fizz of electricity seemed to spurt across Cloud's skin. The small contact between the two of them was making it impossible for Cloud to concentrate fully on the movie, which had started now. Zack's attention was focused on the screen thankfully, and Cloud hoped that was where it would stay. He peeked nervously at his friend from under his fringe. In the dim light, Zack's skin looked pale and his eyes seemed to glow a brighter sea blue/green than usual. He really is rather attractive…

Cloud sighed. He was at the top of a slippery slope. These kind of thoughts would make people hate him, he didn't need an expert to tell him that. But the thing was, he was sure he was straight. He liked girls. He knew he did because he'd had crushes on them before. It seemed that Zack was something else altogether… He was everything Cloud found attractive, and the fact that they'd instantly 'clicked' just seemed to reinforce the idea that Cloud was into him. The way Zack acted with him though… was this feeling that was scaring Cloud so much maybe mutual? Was Zack thinking similar things about him..? There was a small part of him that really hoped so.

About 45 minutes into the film – which was a lot easier to pay attention to once Cloud had casually shifted his arm away from where Zack's was leaning – Zack tapped Cloud on the shoulder. There was a playful looking glint in his eye as Cloud turned to face him, wondering what he wanted.

"Look at those two down there." He said, nodding in the direction of a couple two or three rows in front of them. Cloud was rather shocked to see that the girl had her hand pressed somewhere near her boyfriends crotch, and they both seemed to be enjoying a heated make-out session. Cloud's eyebrows shot up his forehead and he turned back to face Zack, who was grinning in an amused sort of manner.

"W-why are they doing that here?" He asked, rather taken aback. "Won't they get thrown out?"

"Nah," Zack replied. "It's why they're sat so far back in the cinema. It's so that if they got bored they could do that." Cloud felt his mouth drop open into a little 'o' shape. Zack chuckled. "Of course, not everyone does it, but the options there for them." He looked back at the couple who had withdrawn from each other due to some very disapproving looks being aimed at them from an older man and woman sat in front of them. Cloud let out an uncertain laugh.

"But they paid to watch the movie?" He said.

"Yeah, obviously they can't appreciate and awesome film when they see it." Zack said, leaning back in his seat and looking back at the screen. "Hey, imagine if this actually was what happened in the SOLDIER corps?" He laughed, looking at the SOLDIER 1st class who'd sprouted a wing and was blocking the protagonist's way after the mad scientist who'd just escaped. Cloud grinned back at him.

"I think some human rights charges would have been violated."

Zack smiled too. "Yep. But I have to say, having wings would be kind of cool. I've always wanted to fly…"

They didn't talk much for the rest of the film, and Cloud found that he had quite easily become absorbed into the storyline. The hero had ended up abandoned in an old mansion after escaping with his friend from one of the scientist's labs. They'd both been experimented on and had to rest up before making a move anywhere else.

Cloud jumped when he felt something warm and heavy land on his shoulder. He looked to his right and noticed that Zack – who had fallen asleep – was now snoozing on his shoulder. Cloud studied Zack's face for a second. He looks so peaceful, He thought. I can't wake him up. It didn't seem like long before the film finished – rather depressingly, Cloud thought – and the credits started rolling. As the lights went back up to help the audience see where they were going when they were leaving, Zack's head lolled a bit before shooting upright.

"Huh? Why's there title music?" He asked squinting around the now emptying cinema.

"Because it's the end of them film." Cloud said, grinning amusedly at his friend.

"But it can't be!" Zack protested. "Last I saw they were heading back to his friend's hometown…"

"Yeah, about thirty minutes ago!" Cloud laughed, watching Zack look about him with the most confused expression plastered across his face.

"Don't tell me I fell asleep?" He asked, looking horrified now.

"Yep." Cloud responded, noticing as he went to stand up a slightly damp feeling patch on his right arm. "And dribbled on me too, by the looks of things." He grinned at Zack who was now looking a little mortified.

"Oh my Gaia, I'm so sorry!" He exclaimed, clamping his hands over his mouth and squeezing his eyes shut. Cloud laughed.

"It's fine." He said. "You missed the saddest parts and all the action."

"Oh man." Zack groaned, finally meeting Cloud's gaze with his own. Cloud noticed he had a slight blush on his face. That made him happy, it was the first time he'd noticed that it wasn't him who was blushing. "I can't believe I drooled on you!" Cloud chuckled, waving a hand and brushing off the comment.

"It's fine." He said, smiling gently at Zack. "I don't mind, it's gonna dry anyway."

They decided to wait until the credits had finished rolling before gathering their stuff and wandering out of the cinema. Zack was still embarrassed about having gone to sleep on Cloud's shoulder and still pretty gutted about missing the ending of the film. Cloud was still somewhat amused that the normally care-free and cheerful Zack could worry about something so much. Cloud kept the popcorn box, just because they hadn't eaten all of its contents yet. They munched it on the way home.

"So what happened after I fell asleep then?" Zack asked as he walked Cloud in the direction of the park they had walked home through the previous night.

"Not much." Cloud said, then paused, realising Zack had probably missed one of the most crucial bits. "Okay, a lot." He said, laughing. Zack groaned again.

"I knew it!" He said, and laughed whilst Cloud told him about the SOLDIER 1st Class General who went AWOL and turned against everyone. Zack seemed to be hanging off his every word. They kept on walking along the path, avoiding the clump of trees that Zack had dragged him into yesterday and walking down the main footpath.

They found themselves in a rather companionable silence, and Cloud felt a sense peacefulness that he'd been trying to achieve since that run in with Saïx earlier wash over him. The sun was low in the sky, still shining brightly but casting its golden-orange light over everything. Cloud sighed happily, and slowed his pace a little so that he could take in all of his surroundings. He noticed a family clearing up a picnic to his left and down by the lake there was a dog and its owner playing catch. He came to a halt and watched them for a moment or two. Zack noticed he was minus a Cloud and turned around to look back for him. Cloud watched as the dog owner released the ball from his hand, and it whizzed up the hill… right towards Zack's head.

Cloud jumped forward dropping the popcorn box and pushing Zack out of the balls path. He felt proud as he did so, seeing the ball go past behind them, but Zack stumbled backwards and tripped, falling flat on his back with Cloud tumbling down on top of him.

"Woah, you okay?" Zack asked, looking up at Cloud with a concerned look upon his face. Cloud blinked a few times. How the hell did I get down here?

"Y-yeah." He muttered, blushing as he realised how near enough every inch of Zack was pressing against him. It made him feel suddenly really hot and uncomfortable, his skin tingling wherever he touched Zack. Zack smiled up at him, and Cloud tried to get up and off his friend as fast as he could. He stood up sheepishly and offered Zack a hand up, but the messy haired man refused, shaking his head. He leaned right back and thrust himself up, landing on his feet.

"Tah-dah!" He exclaimed, grinning. Cloud smiled shyly.

"Sorry about that…" He mumbled. "I didn't hurt you did I?" He asked, concern flashing across his face.

"Nah, I'm fine." Zack said with a grin. "You're as light as a feather."

"I doubt that." Cloud said, pouting slightly. "Sorry about the popcorn." Zack laughed, grabbing Cloud's wrist.

"It doesn't matter. Come on slowpoke." He said, setting off at a slow walk. "I promised your mum I'd get you back home for about half six and I intend to keep that promise! I don't want her to hate me when she's only just met me!"

Cloud grinned at him. He's such a goof. He thought to himself. "Okay Zack, impress my mother with your promptness." His hoped Zack couldn't feel how much his pulse had sped up from where he was holding his wrist.

"Don't worry chocobo-head, I intend to!" He said with a wink.

Author's Note;

/Disclaimer/

No one belongs to me, but if Squeenix was to offer me my own Zack I'm not saying I wouldn't say no… *le sigh*

Hey guys, I hope you're all doing well. I'm sorry for the wait inbetween chapters, but since school had started up I haven't had that much time for anything. But I decided to use this weekend to work on this chapter – it's just gone five pm where I am and I still haven't had breakfast~ - so I hope you like it :3

I actually really like how it came out this time to be honest. A bit of fluff, a bit of awkwardness... I'm still not too sure about how I'm doing Cloud's mental tirade about whether or not he should fancy Zack though, how do you think I'm doing?

If I write it right though there should be a bit of a twist in the next chapter that'll surprise you~ (hopefully I'll have it up for Valentine's Day, just because I don't have anything else to do on that day /forever alone/ x)

As usual any and all reviews are welcome, whether they be big or small :D And a big thank you to the people who reviewed last time (you're awesomeeeeeeee) and also the people who added this story to their favourites/story alert list, it's always nice to know you're interested in where this story is going :D

Now I'm off to celebrate Wales winning their rugby match against Ireland :3 Cymru am byth~

Thanks for reading! *hugs for all*