To Heal a Broken Heart

Chapter Twenty - Arrivals

Disclaimer: I do not own FF7, its characters, settings, etc. It all belongs to Square Enix. These words, however, are mine.

The kiss seemed to suddenly spark a lot more than previously felt by both parties -- and they certainly were aware of it. Rufus seemed to take pleasure in watching her squirm under his gaze now and used it all to his advantage. It was the best way he could deal with it all without letting it get the best of him. Tifa couldn't help but feel like avoiding him; it was an unexpected move and it pushed her past her limit in terms of relationships at the moment. Cloud was enough. However, she made no move to stop from participating in Rufus' banter.

The other members of the household, as much of one that it was, noticed the change immediately.

Especially their newest arrival.

"What's up 'tween you and this little Jackass Jr.?" Barret asked, a glint in his eyes that told her quite simply that he planned to get to the bottom of the whole story. Tifa masked it all as best as she could -- she didn't want him to know and she certainly didn't want anyone else knowing through him, either. Smiling, she twirled the straw in her drink as they sat together, alone, in the kitchen.

"Nothing, there's nothing. I just needed a place to stay and Elena was nice enough to let me in here."

He didn't look as though he believed her and she didn't blame him. If she were him, she'd be telling her how much of a liar she was. But, alas, he let it go for the moment.

"How's Marlene been? Causing any trouble?" He asked, smiling faintly. She smiled back at him.

"She's been great." This morning there had been a knock at the door and Marlene had flown down the stairs, almost as though she knew and was expecting whoever it was on the other side. And she had been -- there had been no look of surprise in her eyes. It had been a while since she'd gotten to see her father, as he was so busy trying to get things moving in Corel. Once it was all finished, he was going to be taking Marlene back home and despite her attachment to both Tifa and Denzel, she was waiting for the day with an eager patience.

Now, Tifa on the other hand had been surprised to see him.

'Couldn't be because you have had your mind on another certain somebody...?' She thought idly, losing herself in the implications of the words. Rufus Shinra -- the last person she'd expected to feel something for, but she could no longer deny that she felt something. The kiss they'd shared had set it in motion and ignited a sudden passion between the two of them and it was becoming increasingly hard to ignore.

Similar to the way she couldn't ignore him -- in her thoughts, whenever she saw him around the inn...

He was there. She was living with him.

They were growing closer, even though everything in her told her it would be a bad idea to get involved with someone like him. The way he worked could be disastrous to her state of mind, after everything she'd already had to deal with. Would she be willing to take the step into a new relationship where she could possibly be hurt as much as Cloud had hurt her? It was something she thought of everyday and something she could never come up with an answer for.

'Getting a little ahead of yourself, there.' She thought. 'You don't think for Rufus!'

"The brat phoned me earlier. She thinks there's a little more goin' on then she knows..." Barret continued, striking up the topic once more.

Tifa stood from her seat at the table and put her now empty glass in the sink. "Come on Barret, no. Nothing's going on." She turned to face him, only to find the extremely skeptical look on his face. "Really!" She laughed.

"Jus'... I don't want you gettin' hurt again. Cloud's done a number on you and you don't deserve nothin' like that."

Tifa smiled sadly. "Yeah, I know Barret. And I appreciate your concern, but I'm really fine. And even if something were going on--" Barret raised an eyebrow. "Which there isn't..." She added, hammering the point home, or so she hoped. "I would be careful. I would."

Barret sighed, reluctantly accepting her words. Standing, he joined her by the sink and added his own empty glass to the growing pile -- something Tifa figured she should probably get to -- and stayed to relay one last message to her. "Look, Teef. You're like another daughter to me and I can bet Cid would say the same. If anythin' starts goin' wrong, you're welcome to come to Corel or anyone else's place. We don't mind and we don't see ya often enough."

"I'm sorry about that." Tifa said, twirling a lock of her hair. "I should've made more of an effort to get out there, but with Cloud gone I just... I was just trying to hang on to something I never had in the first place, I guess."

"Yeah, well. Nobody blames you. We know what Cloud can be like an'... Just be careful." He eyed her intently before turning and leaving her alone in the room with her head full of thoughts.

Rufus, bored with himself and his lack of anything to do, walked through the hallway slowly. Though he didn't dare admit it out loud, he knew he was hoping to run into Tifa -- she was just too easy and too fun to tease. Ever since their last climatic run-in together, she'd been cautious around him and he found, much to his delight, she couldn't help but to squirm under his gaze. It seemed petty, but to him it was just another added bonus. Quarrelling with Lockheart has always been fun.

Now it was just beyond entertaining.

Ahead of him, he saw one of her friends, the larger man Barret, walk out from the kitchen and into the hallway and then turn to walk in the direction Rufus was coming from.

'Lovely', he thought.

Even since this character had joined them at the Inn, Rufus had been receiving nothing but scathing glares from every corner of his living quarters. 'And isn't that just it. My living quarters.' He'd played around with the thought of kicking him out after the first day but decided not to.

You just don't want to upset Lockheart, a voice in his head taunted.

He denied the thought before it even had the chance to run its course through his mind.

This particular occasion of sharing heated looks seemed to be even more intense than usual and while Rufus didn't let it show, he was, for once in his life, a little bit intimidated by the man. He looked ready to unleash bloody hell.

"Bloody hell indeed." Rufus muttered under his breath once Barret had passed him and rounded the corner. He continued on his way and walked through the kitchen doorway to find Tifa where he figured she'd be. He'd tried, several times actually, to tell her she needn't bother with anything she deemed 'housework' but she'd once again decided to pretend the words hadn't ever left his mouth.

"Have I done something wrong?" Rufus asked, walking towards her.

Tifa turned her body to look at him and raised her eyebrows in question. "Sorry?"

"Your friend."

"Did he say something to you?" She asked, pulling her soapy hands out of the dish water and drying them with the towel. She crossed her arms across her chest and looked at him guiltily, not giving him a chance to answer. "I'm really sorry if he's said or done anything. He's just very... Protective of me."

"I can see that. I'm being glared at like there's no tomorrow."

She frowned. "I'll talk to him about it later." Silently, she went back to work at cleaning the piles of dishes. Rufus rolled his eyes.

"I told you you didn't need to do this."

"Are you here for something in particular?" She asked, clearly ignoring him.

"Unbelievable." He muttered, snatching up the dish towel and taking the dishes from her hand and the sink.

She smiled lightly, though he couldn't see it. 'He's sweet, sometimes.' And she tensed. She didn't just think it. She didn't.

"Something wrong?" He asked, moving closer and smirking knowingly. She scowled in response and splashed water at him.

"That's something we like to call immaturity." He said, but she could see he was having a hard time concealing his building smile.

"Yeah, right. That's why you're trying so hard not to smile." She giggled. "Besides, it only makes you look more ridiculous. Maybe you'll finally realize it." Eyeing the small piece of hair that bothered her so much, she dipped her hand in the water again. "You know--" She started.

"Yes, I do know everything. Thank you."

"And you say I'm immature!" She exclaimed, taking his arm lightly and turning him to face her. She moved closer, close enough that she could feel his breath on her cheek and lifted her arm to tackle that annoying little piece of hair with her wet hand. Putting it in place out of his face, she stepped back and sighed. It was only then she noticed how he was looking at her and what she'd just done. A furious blush spread across her cheeks and she huffed. "What? It was bothering me..." She turned back to the sink.

Rufus, grinning, asked, "what else bothers you, I wonder?"

She sent him a look that he should shut up and leave her be, but of course she was rewarded with something entirely different. He could feel him behind her before his arms came to rest on the counter on either side of her. She turned around quickly, caught unaware, ready to push him away, but he was so close to her and she was instantly caught up in the moment. He was watching her, a small smile gracing his lips and she knew he was teasing her -- but she couldn't deny the sudden hypersensitivity of her skin and her legs seeming to turn to jelly, all in a single second or being within his arms.

"Rufus...?" She whispered, not thinking. And then it clicked.

"Yes?"

"You know..." She said seductively, running her hands over the hardened muscles under his shirt, up to his shoulders until she was entwining her arms around his neck and lifting herself up onto her toes. Lightly, she caught his lips with her own and she breathed in his scent, intensifying their proximity and making it harder to concentrate. "We could always take this somewhere more..." She continued, running kisses down his neck. "Private?" She finished, pressing herself flush against him.

He was watching her closely, every move she made and for a second she wondered if maybe...?

But then he was pushing her up against the counter and there was nothing but the feel of his hands, roaming over her sides and cupping her face gently and the taste of his lips eagerly taking hers for his own.

Taking control, she pushed him backwards until the back of his legs met with one of the kitchen chairs and he let himself fall into it, taking Tifa with him. She went without a fuss and nearly let herself go entirely. Straddling his hips, she felt his hand beginning to snake under her shirt and she allowed him that little taste before she pulled back and had both of his hands clasped in hers.

"Tifa?" Someone called from the doorway -- Barret. He looked upon the scene with wide, disbelieving eyes. Tifa stood slowly, disentangling herself from the shocked Rufus and cupping his cheek, making him look up at her.

"Glad to know I've still got it down." She purred, smiling sweetly at him before walking out of the kitchen, shooting Barret a look of triumph that made the older man understand what had just transpired.

Rufus' shock turned into an expression that would have mirrored Barret's had there not been a spark of amusement glinting in his eyes.