Wow, 25 chapters and you people aren't even getting bored yet? lol

Cleaning up was pretty hard, but the job was soon done and Cloud and Aerith finished their house. It had taken them almost a whole week, but they pulled through.

Aerith was still acting strange. She took all the photos with her and Leon, seemingly 'couplish', and she got rid of them before Cloud could see. Cid, Yuffie and Leon were getting restless, especially Yuffie. She pushed Aerith to tell Cloud the truth, but Aerith still didn't think it to be the right time.

It was just after noon; Aerith had invited Yuffie over for lunch before they had to get back to work in an hour. Yuffie sat at the dining table as Aerith poured her some tea.

"It's been almost a week, you know," Yuffie muttered quietly, in case Cloud was around. "And it doesn't seem like you're getting close to telling him." Aerith's hand reached for the teapot, but froze. She let out a sigh to calm herself.

"I said I'll tell him," she told her wearily. She grabbed the pot and poured the tea into Yuffie's cup, slamming it down in front of her. Yuffie winced. Aerith closed her eyes and sighed again, seeming extremely tired. "I'm sorry, honey. I'm just… I think I'm losing my mind over this." She coughed a few times and sat down, rubbing her face with one hand. Yuffie rested her chin on her hand, watching the older girl. She picked up her cup and stared at it.

"You do realize," she said. "If he finds out for himself, after all this time…" She grew silent and drank her tea. She didn't need to finish her sentence, Aerith already knew. Before anything else could happen, Yuffie's cell phone rang. She set down her tea and opened it.

"Hello? … Yeah… Okay… I'll be right there… Okay, okay… Bye, Cid…" She put her phone away and stood up. She looked back at Aerith. "Cid says we've gotta clear up outside the castle. It'll be hard work, but the community's paying us." She grinned widely. "I'm gonna go home now and get some stuff ready. He says we'll come over and pick you guys up in about half an hour. "Aerith nodded. Yuffie gazed at her concernedly. "Don't forget to think about what I said." She gave a quick wave and ran out. Aerith picked up the cups and turned to the sink behind her. She got a shock when she saw Cloud standing there watching her, almost dropping the cups.

"Eep!" she exclaimed. "Don't ever do that again!" Cloud was watching her suspiciously. A chill ran down her spine. "How much of that did you hear?" Cloud walked over to hand and took the cups. He placed them in the sink and took Aerith by the hand.

"I heard enough," he muttered as he led her towards their room. Aerith began to panic. What did he hear? How much did he hear?

Cloud stopped as soon as they were inside. He turned and closed the door quietly, standing with his back to Aerith for a moment.

Aerith waited, almost breathlessly, waiting anxiously to see what he was about to do. Was he going to be angry? She suddenly noticed that the blinds were shut. It was quite dark in the room.

Without warning, Cloud grabbed Aerith and pressed her onto the door, kissing her passionately. Aerith was more than surprised.

"What are you doing, Cloud?" she said when she pushed him away for air. He looked deep into her eyes, caressing her cheek lovingly.

"It's been a while since we've had this place to ourselves," he whispered. "Maybe we should have a little break while we can." Aerith giggled as he started kissing her neck.

"Cloud…" she said breathlessly. "They… they'll be here in half an hour…" She tried to push him off, though unsuccessfully. She was rather enjoying it herself.

"That's a pretty long time if you think about it," Cloud remarked. He gazed into her emerald pools, smiling peacefully. "Come on," he said softly. "I might be leaving again soon, I wanna spend some time with my girl." Aerith looked at him sadly for a moment, but then smiled. She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him down to her and kissed him. She felt as he pulled the ribbon out, allowing her hair to flow down her back. He lifted her off her feet, their lips never parting, and he laid her down onto the bed. He released her at last as he sat up to remove his jacket. Aerith opened her eyes again a little, looking up at him with a smile. As soon as Cloud finished, he bent down again to her lips, slowly unbuttoning her dress.

"Hey, Leon!" Cid shouted. "Be careful with that!" Leon tried to pull out a large board from the truck. He let out a yell of pain as it sliced the side of his arm. He collapsed onto the ground, tired and sweaty, having worked the whole night and day. Yuffie ran over to him.

"Leon!" She gasped as she saw his arm. She pulled him to his feet. "That's it, you need that healed." Leon pulled out of her grip.

"I'm fine," he said monotonically. He touched his arm and winced at the pain. Yuffie noticed. She glanced at her watch.

"No, you're not," she said sternly. She took him by the arm. "It's time to go get Cloud and Aerith." Leon looked away. "Oh come on, it's time to face up to her. You can't keep hiding like this." She led him outside. "She'll be able to fix you up."

Cloud and Aerith's house wasn't too far away. Leon was still extremely uncomfortable; he hadn't spoken with Aerith at all since their break-up. He wondered if she had told Cloud yet. It still hurt him to think about her, and he knew what could happen if Cloud found out for himself.

He was so tired, working long nights and days without resting. Maybe he thought working off his worries would work, but all it did was swallow him even more deeply into depression. He let out an exhausted sigh.

"We're here," Yuffie said. She let go of him and went to the door. She knocked on it. "Hello? Guys, it's time to get back to work." No answer. She knocked again.

Still no answer.

Yuffie frowned a little and reached for the doorknob. The door wasn't locked so she let herself in. Leon followed her.

"Hello?" Yuffie shouted, looking around. "Anyone home?" It seemed deserted. Yuffie's phone began ringing again. A message from Cid was left. She rolled her eyes at it and turned to Leon. "Look, just get those two outta here, okay? That's all you have to do. I gotta go now." Leon nodded silently. Yuffie gave him a pat on the shoulder and hurried off.

Leon started wondering around the seemingly empty house. He had a bad feeling, and he just couldn't shake it off. He went to the kitchen. There was a medical first aid kit there. He took it out and started wrapping his arm with some bandages. It didn't ease the pain, but at least it helped to stop the bleeding. Suddenly, he heard a noise coming from the bedroom. He frowned slightly. He put the aid kit back in the cupboard and slowly approached the door.

"Aerith?" he muttered cautiously. "Cloud?" He reached for the doorknob and turned it. He opened the door and flicked on the lights.

His eyes widened and his mouth parted as his whole world shattered in front of him. The pain in his heart exploded and he fell back onto the door.

The couple quickly pulled apart, covering themselves with the blanket. It was a long awkward moment. Leon looked away, turning bright red, shocked beyond reason.

"I… I'm sorry," he choked. "Cid… he… he told me to… to get you guys… and… and… I… I'm just sorry. I'm sorry." He turned away and ran out. Cloud was left confused and embarrassed at this. Aerith continued to watch the door, feeling extremely guilty. Leon caught them, and she knew how that must have affected him.

"Oh God…" Cloud sighed, rubbing his face roughly. He turned back to Aerith. "Hey, what's wrong?" He raised his hand to push a hair out of her face. Aerith pushed him off. She wasn't smiling anymore.

"We shouldn't…" she muttered. She got up and put her dress back on. Cloud watched her, a little confused. He stood up and got dressed.

"Something I should know?" he asked. Aerith felt a surge through her veins, almost to the point of making her double over. She managed a meek attempt at a smile to avoid the glowing guilt in her emerald eyes.

"We have to get back to work," she said quietly. "That's all." Her hands trembled a little as she finished buttoning up her dress. She took the ribbon off the side table and started tying up her hair. Cloud slipped on his jacket, but didn't zip it up. He went over to Aerith and took her by the shoulders.

"Tell me what's wrong," he said softly. "If there's anything you need to say, anything, just tell me." Aerith's smile failed as she stared into his eyes.

His eyes, his truthful eyes. They pierced at her. They caused her heart to become faint, images of hurt and horror flashing before her eyes as she imagined what would happen if he simply knew she had been lying to him all this time. She wanted to tell him, she did. It was the smart, brave and sensible thing to do, even at this point…

Aerith ran her hands down his bare chest, and shook her head.

"It's nothing," she lied.

… But she was a fool.

Leon sliced the trees around him into shreds. He had run into the forest after the shock. He had cleared about an acre purely out of anger and humiliation. Despite the painful untreated wound on his arm, he continued to slice with the Gunblade, not caring what the damage was. He was so angry, he was so hurt. The woman he loved was in the arms of another man, and it almost killed him to see. He stabbed the Gunblade into a tree trunk, making it stuck. He tried and tried to release it, but he was too tired. He let go and collapsed onto his knees, wiping the sweat from his forehead, breathing heavily. He hated himself so much for seeing what he did. He looked down at his hands. This was going too far. It had to stop.

One way or another, Aerith was going to tell Cloud about their engagement tonight. Leon couldn't act like he never loved her anymore.

It just had to stop.