Chapter X – Confrontation.

Wednesday morning seemed to take forever to finish, and Zack wasn't really the patient type when it came to being the owner a grumbling stomach. As soon as the bell went signifying the end to his third lesson, he was up and out of his chair, and swiftly on his way to the canteen with only one thought in his mind. Food!

He walked quickly along the corridors, only slowing down when it looked as if he was going to crash into or plough over some of the younger kids. As he pushed past them he did occasionally yell sorry over his shoulder (he wasn't that rude after all). As he moved, he cursed whomever had designed the school for the corridor system leading to the canteen as it had never seemed so annoying or inappropriately constructed.

Eventually he burst through the doors and marched straight into the lunch queue, fishing his wallet out of his back pocket as he did so. He mechanically went through the motions of selecting his lunch, paying for it and then proceeding to sit at the table Aerith and Roxas were occupying. He mumbled something that sounded to the others like a 'hello' before he started gulping down the pie that was today's special.

"Jeez Zack, are you even chewing that?" Roxas asked, a bemused expression on his face. Zack glanced at the blond, raising his hand to cover his mouth.

"Ah leetul bith." He said though a mouthful of food. He had meant to say 'a little bit' but it soon became obvious that he hadn't been as clear as he first thought. He gulped down his mouthful before correcting himself. "A little bit." He said, grinning.

Once he'd finished his lunch, he sat back in his chair, hands resting comfortably across his stomach. A few more of his friends had drifted over to the tables surrounding them in the time he had taken to eat but he hadn't managed to locate the one friend he was most eager to see. Where was Cloud? It wasn't like him to miss lunch. It was, however, like him to get lost on his way to the canteen, but Zack reasoned that he hadn't had a problem finding it before. He frowned slightly, wondering where his little chocobo had got to.

"I've been thinking," Aerith piped up after a few moments of watching Zack stare vacantly at the canteen doors. "Oi," She said, poking him when he didn't respond.

"Mmhmmm?" He quizzed, turning to look at her. Cloud would probably appear when he wasn't watching the door like some lion waiting for its prey to come into view. It was usually the case.

"I've been thinking-"

"You already said that."

"Yes, and I was restarting my sentence in case you missed what I was saying." She huffed, rolling her eyes. "Anyway! I was thinking of how much our group of friends resembles an Amoeba."

"What?" Zack spluttered, laughing. He had a vague idea of what an Amoeba was from Science lessons of yester-year but couldn't figure out where Aerith's thought process had gone to liken their friends to some kind of cell.

"An Amoeba." She repeated with a smug grin. Zack tried to suppress the urge to laugh at her again.

"Go on, where are you going with this one?"

"Well, we're a gang, right? We were studying single celled organisms in Science earlier – don't ask." She paused, making sure she still had the black haired man's attention. "So, why are we like an Amoeba I hear you ask? We're like a large amorphous mass, to the onlooker, we haven't much apparent use, sometimes we make you sick and occasionally we break into smaller cells that act like the parent." Zack raised his eyebrows questioningly.

"Aerith?"

"Yeah?"

"Shut up."

Aerith rolled her eyes back at him before returning her attention to the slice of cake in front of her. "You know I'm onto something." She said wryly.

"Maybe, but that has got to be the most random thing I've heard all day." Zack said, shifting his weight slightly in his chair. "Hey, you had Science with Cloud earlier, right?" He asked, hoping he sounded casual and not like some worried mother.

"Yeah, why?" She answered, popping a bit of cake into her mouth.

"Did he say anything about where he was going to spend lunch today?"

Aerith shook her head, confirming that she didn't know where Cloud had got to. "Nope, not a thing. But you know… this is my Amoeba theory in action! He's made his own little cell and is probably doing what we'd normally be doing at lunch right now."

"What, talking about our likeliness to a… what did you call it? Animalistic mass?" Zack laughed.

"Amorphous." She corrected. "Yes, I already got Cloud to agree with me on it."

"Figures…" Zack said with a grin, turning his attention back to the door. Where had Cloud got to? The bell had gone a good twenty minutes ago. It wasn't like him to not show up. After another five minutes, Zack started gathering together his things, declaring he was going to look for the lost boy.

He wasn't really sure where to look first, but decided that the toilets wouldn't be a bad bet – if only to make use of them himself. Once through the door, he noticed someone leaning against the radiator at the back of the room. He felt his brow slide down automatically in a frown upon noticing Saïx and decided to use the toilet rather than the urinal. When he emerged from the cubicle, the blue haired bully was stood right in front of the door, an unpleasant smirk playing across his already pinched looking features.

"Oh hey Saïx," Zack said, flashing him a grin. He looked at the other two cubicles attached to the wall. "Are there really no other toilets available for you to go deposit your verbal crap in?"

"I'm sure I don't know what you mean." He said, trying to look innocent – in Zack's opinion he was failing miserably.

"I'm sure you do, blue." Zack retorted. "Now if you don't mind," He said, pushing past him and making his way to the sinks.

"Watch what you're doing, puppy." Saïx said, his voice almost a growl.

"Sure you're not the canine here? I'm not the one growling." Zack said, walking over to the hand dryer only to find the other teenager following him.

Saïx laughed, or at least that was what Zack assumed the noise coming from his mouth was. "I had something to tell you. Something which I know will interest you."

"Saïx, I don't know who told you what I liked and disliked, but I'm pretty sure that nothing you have to say to me will interest me in the slightest."

"I wouldn't be too sure about that." Saïx said, leaning nonchalantly against the dryer. His creepy gold eyes met Zack's. "I'm pretty sure you're interested in that little Cloud friend of yours…" He trailed off, pushing himself away from the dryer and making his way toward the door. Zack froze, wiped his hands on his blazer then turned and walked after the other.

"Alright you've got my attention. What have you done to him?"

"Oh, nothing. But you might want to find him and ask him a few things…"

"Like what? What shit have you been using to torture him with this time? What have you done Saïx?"

"I think he's got something he wants to tell you, that's all."

Zack's eyes narrowed. It wasn't often that he came across someone who really, really wound him up. It was unfortunate that Saïx was one of those people who just knew exactly what to say to make him want to punch him into the ground. Zack heaved a sigh, glaring at Saïx. "If I find out you've been bullying him again-"

"Me? Bully him? Oh, I think you've got the wrong guy." Saïx said coolly, smirking again at Zack. Zack resisted his want to pull a few karate moves on the kid.

"Really now? So that guy who's been seen acting like a total jerk to my friend? He was a doppelganger or something?"

Saïx began to laugh, waving at Zack as he walked off down the corridor. "Why don't you go ask him?"

His departing words made Zack even more intent to find Cloud.

Zack didn't have any luck finding Cloud at lunch time, so he became really anxious in his two afternoon lessons for the time to go quickly. He wanted to make sure Cloud was okay, and make sure that Saïx hadn't been doing anything else to him. Unfortunately, he didn't have any lessons with Cloud that afternoon, so he had to wait until the end of the day to even get a chance to talk to him.

He wasn't sure if his worry was because of a general concern for his friend, or if it was that urge to protect him which seemed to have arose from those… feelings he had figured out he had for Cloud. Either way, he just wanted to make sure that he was okay.

After what seemed like a torturous amount of time, the bell finally rang for the end of the lesson and Zack was up and out of the classroom like a greyhound, making a b-line for the entrance. He loitered at the bottom of the steps, watching the doors for any signs of the spikey haired blond he so longed to see. Aerith found him first, saying that she and Tifa were going to go shopping. Zack wished them both a nice trip and watched for a few moments as they made their way toward town. When he turned his attention back to the front steps, he saw a rather nervous looking Cloud emerge from the school buildings.

"Cloud!" He called, jogging back up the steps toward his friend and slinging an arm around his neck without thinking much more about it. He noticed Cloud's face flush red and – despite taking a moment to appreciate how cute he looked – Zack hastily removed it, guessing that he didn't want him to do that.

"Hey." Cloud said, his cheeks still pink.

"Hey." Zack replied, grinning. He began to walk down the steps. "I, uh… I missed you at lunch today." He said, cursing himself for how weird that had come out sounding. "Where'd you disappear to?"

"I-I…" Cloud stammered, looking to the floor. He seemed really shy about something. Zack felt something near his gut tighten. Cloud looked really uncomfortable, and he realised he wanted to do anything he could to make sure that he didn't feel that way for any longer than he had to.

"I know," He said, aiming a grin in his friend's direction. "Let's go to the park. We can discuss things better there." Cloud nodded his agreement, if a little reluctantly. On the way, Zack tried his best to make conversation but for the most part the blond was silent, like he had a lot on his mind that was stopping him from fully hearing Zack's speech.

When they started walking down the tree lined path which signalled the beginning of the park, Zack felt like grabbing ahold of Cloud's hand and leading him to their little spot by the lake. He weighed up what Cloud's reaction might have been and, remembering the way which he had blushed when he had his arm around his neck earlier, decided against it. Saïx must have said something to him again. He must have made him conscious of something which was really bothering him. And that meant that Saïx was really bothering Zack.

He plopped himself down on the bench and waited for Cloud to do the same, but the blond dawdled, still standing. He looked unsure of what to do with himself, and sheepishly rubbed at his arm. Zack rolled his eyes before grabbing Cloud's hand and pulling him toward the bench. His angle was a little bit off though, because instead of pulling Cloud onto the bench, he had pulled him slightly onto his lap. There was a part of him that was really pleased about this because it meant that Cloud was resting against him but then he felt the blond jerk away and shuffle toward the vacant part of the bench. Zack bit his lip. What was wrong?

"Sorry about that," He said, sheepishly scratching the back of his neck. Cloud just smiled briefly and went back to staring at the lake. "So," Zack said, looking out onto the water too. "What's the matter with you?" He expected one of Cloud's usual responses, one where the blond would nervously chuckle and tell him that there wasn't anything that he needed to worry about. But this time no such response came. Zack twisted himself on the bench so that he was looking directly at Cloud and pulled up his legs so he was sat cross-legged. He surveyed Cloud for a moment before speaking again. "The silence speaks volumes you know."

Something flickered in Cloud's eyes and Zack felt bad for saying anything. He chewed his lip again, trying to think of something else to say to make it better.

"You can tell me anything," He started cautiously, as if tasting the words to see how they went together in a sentence. "I'm not going to make fun of you or anything like that." He paused, then grinned. "Whatever you need to say won't leave this bench, okay?" He asked eagerly, grinning at Cloud.

Cloud sighed before lifting his head up slightly and looking at Zack. The faintest of smiles touched his face before leaving it again, almost as though it was never there.

"Cloud?" He asked uncertainly, reaching out a hand to touch his shoulder. He meant it comfortingly, but Cloud flinched away slightly. Now Zack was worried. What on earth had that bastard been saying – or doing for that matter to make Cloud so quiet and jumpy?

"I'm sorry," Cloud said, nervously clutching at his bag and rising slowly to his feet. "I can't do this. I'm sorry." He turned and started to run away, leaving Zack sitting on the bench alone for the merest second before he sprang up and followed him.

"Cloud, what the hell man?" He asked, catching Cloud up and running alongside him. The blond's face was screwed up as though he was trying hard not to cry. The sight of it was enough to make Zack do what he did next. Jogging in front of Cloud he opened out his arms, letting Cloud lurch into him with a soft thud sound. He wrapped his arms around him, pulling the smaller man closer to him. "Hey, hey…" He soothed, feeling Cloud shake against him. "You're scaring me here. Have I done something wrong?" He asked, leaning back a bit to get a glimpse at Cloud's face. He looked shocked, the screwed up look of a few moments earlier gone.

They stood for a while, Zack refusing to let go of Cloud. Neither of them said anything. After a few minutes had passed, Zack felt Cloud's shoulders start to shake. When he looked at the blond he noticed that he was silently crying. He felt a little awkward but guided the now obliging Cloud back to the bench and sat him down, pulling him close again.

"Hey," He said, tucking Cloud's head under his chin. There was a really selfish part of him that was enjoying every second of Cloud's closeness, but he couldn't bring himself to care about that. All that mattered was making Cloud feel better, and that was exactly what he was going to do. "Cloud, what's the matter?"

It took a while, but the blond eventually found his voice. It started as a mumble uttered against Zack's chest, but eventually grew loud enough for Zack to understand. He sat there patiently holding him as Cloud offloaded his problems.

After the talk with Axel at dinner time, Cloud had felt as though he was doing something wrong. It had felt wonderful to have admitted to someone that he thought he was experiencing feelings for Zack, but at the same time it made him worry about who Axel might tell. Rationally, he knew that Axel wouldn't dare tell a soul, but he still worried about his words getting out and falling on the ears of the school. Rumours like that spread like wildfire, and often destroyed a person's reputation in the process. He'd spent the afternoon feeling uneasy, a fact only made worse by yet another run-in with Saïx just after the bell for the end of school had rung.

The blue haired bully hadn't really said anything new to him, but the words that he had used had struck home harder than they usually did. It was as though admitting to Axel what Saïx was accusing him of caused the words to sound truer than they ever had before. Something which unsettled Cloud. He knows. He thought. He knows and that's why he's singled me out. He knows I like Zack. He knows and he's using it against me.

One thing in particular that the arrogant teenager had said to him had hurt particularly badly. Saïx seemed to have sensed that Cloud had told someone. "I know I'm right, faggot." He'd said, smirking down at Cloud, pushing him into a wall. "I know what kind of thoughts you've been having about that puppy friend of yours. I wonder what Zack will think when I tell him that you want to take him from behind?"

Cloud had shaken his head, trying to free himself of the memory. He hated the extent to which Saïx had gotten to him. Absolutely hated it. And now he was dreading what Zack would think of him.

The pair were walking toward the park; Zack chattering mainly to himself as Cloud walked alongside him. When they got to their bench he had dawdled, and Zack had pulled Cloud down onto the bench, accidentally pulling Cloud against him. Cloud's breath hitched in his chest. He really wanted to stay there just leaning on Zack but knew that he couldn't. If Saïx saw them, he'd had a field day. Zack asked him again what was the matter but Cloud found that all his words had gone. He couldn't possibly tell Zack the real reason, could he?

No, of course not.

He'd tried to run. He didn't want to face it at the moment, let alone face Zack. He felt like he wasn't worthy to, like Zack wouldn't want him. He was surprised when Zack had ran after him. And he was even more surprised when he ran into Zack's open arms, especially when they had closed around him and pulled him close. As much as he had enjoyed it, the warmth of Zack's body and the closeness, he panicked. He didn't know who was watching. I can't do this. He'd thought, tears prickling at his eyes. I can't do this. Zack had said that he was scaring him… oh what would he say if he knew the truth?

And now he found himself cradled to Zack's side, his friend's arms encircling him again as if he was trying to protect him from any further harm. Cloud appreciated it, more than he could ever admit out loud.

Eventually he found his voice, and shakily started to tell Zack his story.

"I'm so stupid." He whispered. "I don't deserve you."

"Don't be silly, I want to help. You couldn't get rid of me if you tried."

Cloud sighed, his nose touching Zack's collar bone. He tried to memorise everything about this scene, Zack's head perched on his own; the rumble of his voice as he talked and the comforting warmth that seemed to seep from him. He wasn't sure how long this would last when he started speaking. Thanks to the talk with Axel though he was a little more assured by what Zack holding him this way could mean – after all, straight guys didn't usually cuddle with their friends on park benches now, did they?

"It's Saïx." He said, feeling Zack's arms tense around him. He carried on, still afraid of what reaction his words might evoke in Zack. "He's been saying a lot of things to me recently. And there's a part of me…" He trailed off, really not wanting to continue.

"A part of you what?" Zack asked, squeezing him closer.

"A part of me… that's…" He sighed, taking in a big breath to help him with the next sentence. "T-that's beginning to believe that some of the things he's been saying might be true."

"How so?"

"I… I'm sorry Zack, I can't talk about it."

"I won't push you." He said pulling away slightly to look at Cloud. Their eyes met and Zack's twinkled at him, a soft smile playing about his mouth. "But know that if you need anything I'm here, okay?" He asked. Cloud allowed himself to smile, pulling away from Zack's arms. He really wanted to just curl up against him again, but the moment had gone. He'd probably only end up freaking Zack out if he did.

"Thank you, Zack." He said, smiling.

Author's Note.

/Disclaimer/

Character to Square Enix and Disney~

I apologise for the wait on this chapter, life got busy again.

I quite like this one, I think it's mainly 'cause the bulk of it was in Zack's POV, even if it's short. Doh! D:

And yes, FLUFF! I hope you liked that bit ;D

I know it seems a little weird that Cloud might cry but he was having a really bad day xD

Anyway, thanks, as always to everyone who's reviewed, favourite'd, subscribed and read this fic, it makes me happy knowing people are following it :'D And as usual, drop me a review if you think it's going well. *hugs*

See you in the next Author's Note! XD