A/N: Well, it's been a long, hard road, my love, but we've almost made it through this fanfic of epic proportions. Thank you for your patience and your interest, I hope you've enjoyed this as much as I have! If so, by all means feel free to drop me a review!
'Will you just go see him? Please?'
Yazoo hugged himself, at odds once more. Tifa had been so insistent, practically begging him. Though he'd only been back for two days, he'd already managed to find a place in the loving and exuberant woman's affections. She and Loz got on like a house on fire, surprisingly enough—a fire fed by Loz's unfailing interest in alcohol and all its various combinations. He was shaping up to be quite the bartender, and Tifa didn't mind his muscle around one bit.
The wind tugged at his loose shirt—a tee-shirt Tifa had loaned him. He had nothing of his own. Even his jeans and shoes belonged to Cloud, who promised to get them all settled, though he'd done little more than lock himself away with Kadaj. Yazoo could hardly blame them, they were in love and reunited, what could be better than that?
He wouldn't even be roaming the cold, gloomy streets if Tifa hadn't managed to get to him
"He's changed," she'd sadly said, her chocolate-brown eyes heavy with sorrow. "He drinks all of the time…he doesn't want to see anyone or talk to anyone, he's even been forced to stay away from work until he pulls himself together. He's not Reno anymore…and I think it's because he misses you…"
Yazoo had tried to explain to her exactly why it couldn't be him, unless Reno was just that sickened by what Yazoo had led him to do. She had listened with an open mind, saying she'd assumed as much from what her fiancé had said, and then she'd proceeded to prick at his conscience until he'd taken to the streets just to escape.
He guessed that he could find Reno and give the man a chance to clock him one. Reno may have tried to kill him, but he surely had his reasons and Yazoo needed no explanations—who was he, after all, but an embarrassment? A lover who never should have been? Surely seeing him again would only evoke more of that vile disgust he'd already seen so much of…
Sighing, Yazoo glanced around and caught a flash of red ahead of him. No one else had that vivid shade of hair, surely.
Cautiously, he crept up, watching from afar, using the bustling crowd to hide himself.
Reno paused ahead of him, turning as he did so, his face lifted to read the shop sign.
Yazoo bit his lip, feeling his heart ache to see Reno's fox-face so gaunt and drawn. He looked like he hadn't slept in days, dark circles leaving shadows beneath the unhealthy, feverish glitter of those big blue eyes. His suit hung from his lanky frame, looking too heavy and harsh for him to hold up. He looked like absolute hell.
And Yazoo wanted desperately to hold him, despite everything.
He moved forward, hesitating with indecision when Reno went inside. Torn between staying and going, Yazoo managed to be in mid-decision when Reno emerged from the coffee shop, cup in hand and cigarette dangling from his lip.
He glanced up, his shadowed blue eyes fixing on Yazoo's own jade ones.
"Reno…" he helplessly said, suddenly afraid, not sure if he could bear the rejection again, his arms crossing protectively over his chest.
Reno's mouth dropped open, his lax hand releasing the cup of coffee.
Before either cigarette or cup could hit the ground, he was dragging Yazoo into his embrace, burying his face in the crook of Yazoo's neck, his arms so tight they squeezed the breath out of him.
"Reno," he breathed, wrapping his arms around that slender, too-thin body, breathing in the cigarette and alcohol smell of him like it was the most delicious scent ever made. "Reno, I…"
"Shut up, lady," Reno sharply said, his hold tightening. He pulled back to look down into Yazoo's face and the grin that tugged at his lips was one hundred percent Reno, if only a little worn at the edges from pain and loss. His voice shook a little when he teased, "Where've you been, beautiful? I've been waiting half a year, yo."
"Idiot," Yazoo laughed, unexpectedly moved to cup that sharp little fox face.
Reno laughed—startled, absolutely joyful, belly deep laughter that brought tears to his shining blue eyes. He cradled Yazoo to his chest and kissed him with utter abandon, hungry and afraid and desperate to confirm with his senses that Yazoo was alive, that he was here.
Yazoo kissed him back, breathless with it, panting a little when Reno drew back with that familiar, cocky grin plastered on his face.
"People are staring," Yazoo told him, still worried, still unsure just what had pushed Reno so far from him.
"Let 'em, they're just jealous 'cause I got the hottest girlfriend around," Reno quipped, his own breathing none too steady, his hold on Yazoo only tightening.
"I'm not a girl, idiot," Yazoo fondly said, relief flooding over him. "Everyone else knows that."
"I don't care what they know," Reno said, eyes dancing in delight. "What do I care, so long as I get to go home with the hottie, yo?"
"You're incorrigible," Yazoo laughed, leaning up to kiss him again, ignoring the blatant stares. Perhaps Edge didn't often see two grown men making up in public. Teasingly, he whispered in Reno's ear, "Open your mouth again and I'll stick my cock in it. No kidding."
Reno pulled back a bit, his sparkling, gleeful eyes full of mischief, and—very deliberately—he opened his mouth.
"Your place," Yazoo said, slapping him lightly until he grinned.
"My place it is, yo," Reno said, arms still around his waist as he steered Yazoo down the street, grinning so widely he had even more the look of a wily fox.
"Fox face," Yazoo sighed, leaning against him as they walked, more happy than he could ever recall being.
"Housewife," Reno retorted.
"I beg your pardon?" Yazoo said, startled.
Reno laughed and said, "You'll be begging something—don't think I forgot about those handcuffs. We're heading straight for the shower, yo!"
Yazoo laughed, pleased and amazed at the change in his lover.
"Do you love me, baby?" Reno asked, pausing at the stoop of his apartment to pull Yazoo into his embrace.
"Idiot," Yazoo sighed, kissing his beautiful mouth. "Of course I do."
"That's my girl," Reno said, unlocking the door.
"I'm not a girl!" was Yazoo's exasperated, laughing reply.
"Whatever you say, woman," Reno told him, grinning and holding the door open for him. "Ladies first."
Groaning in amused annoyance, Yazoo entered the apartment, only to pause and turn when Reno called, "Hey, lady."
He lifted a brow in inquiry, and returned Reno's infectious grin when the lanky, red-headed man said, "I love you, too."
