10

Zack Fair was a mess.

He had never been in love before, and the one time he truly falls for a girl – she up and leaves him. But he could hardly be mad. Perhaps he pushed her away. Perhaps she had never felt anything for him.

Aerith hadn't been at rehearsal for days, leaving Tifa in her place. Each time Zack would swoop in to kiss her, he would gain a dirty look from Cloud. But he couldn't ever go through with it; his lips would hover a few centimeters above hers, and that was that. Genesis loved it; he said it was some sort of "guilt that hindered his ability to kiss his Love", and so, she was given the position instead.

"Well that's complete shit." Kunsel had his head propped up on his arms as he lay on the grass. "She just walked out on you? Women, man. I don't get 'em. Not at all."

"Maybe she's in love with somebody else."

"You're Zack Fair. You walk by a girl and their panties drop. Isn't that…what you used to say?" He sat himself up so he could look the other man in the eye. "What happened to you?"

The ebony haired male averted the other's eyes; his gaze fell on Cloud and Tifa, in the distance. He could have so easily blamed them for his misfortune; weren't they the ones who had urged him to tell Aerith his feelings? But, he harbored no ill will. "All of the other girls…I never felt anything. They were a number, or a bet, or for fun. I feel bad for doing it, now, but her…"

"I get it. But I think she loves you, too."

"You can't just say that, Kun. You don't even know. I don't love her."

He shrugged. "If she didn't feel anything at all for you, she'd still be here. She'd be at the rehearsals, she'd be in class, she'd hang around. You should talk to her."

"I can't talk to her! You're crazy."

"Oh, so now you choose to act like a low-self-esteem idiot? Just go phone her or something. Catch her on her way home. Goddess in high heaven, you're such a twerp. Months ago, you would have walked right up to that girl and gotten all up in her face."

"What if she was just playing me? Like, what if she was messing around just to get me back for all the crap I've done." Zack began to ramble; he plucked a blade of grass and toyed with it. "What if this was all just a set up to ruin me, huh? What then? Kun—?"

The blond man had begun to chuckle under his breath, though gradually the laughter grew louder; his breath hitched and he wiped a tear from his eye. "You think she went to all of that trouble just to fuck you over? Man if she wanted to do that she could have just scratched your car. You know, instead of showing her tits to you, right?"

"—HEY." He brandished his fist angrily, making Kunsel roll over and bury his head into the grass. "Don't say crap like that, man. I don't want you to think about her naked, or imagine her naked, or talk about her naked – or even look at her. Okay?"

"Ah, the threats of love."

"Not love."

"You know every guy on the team says that they've…had their way with her. It isn't like I'm the only one imagining sweet, innocent Aerith Gainsborough lying on my bed buck naked." That sentiment earned him a punch to his shoulder, although Zack had restrained himself from doing any further damage. "But really, I don't think that she'd go as far as sleeping with you just to get you back. Virgin Aerith, remember? Tim said he wanted to take her to prom just so he could 'be the first man in' or something."

"Don't talk about Tim. Ever."

"Ohhh yeah – why'd you punch his lights out, anyway? I know the guy's a creep, but he didn't do anything to you did h—"

"Tim raped Aerith, so I beat him up. I would have killed him if it weren't for her, actually. And, well, morals…" He closed his eyes, letting out a deep sigh. "So yeah, I kind of hate him."

The blond sat up and stared at him, eyes wide in shock. "Holy shit. Why didn't she say anything? Why didn't you say anything? This happened months ago and no one even knew!"

"Because…you know that the government doesn't care about the people in the slums. Apparently, everybody living above the plate has the same mindset: they're animals, so treat them as such. Besides, she didn't want anybody to know."

"That girl is messed up."

An intense glare from Zack's side, and Kunsel raised his hands defensively. "In the sexy kind of way, I mean."