A/N: I guess I've just lost my edge; few people seem to enjoy this story. At this point I'm just writing it for myself then – and the few of you reading. This chapter is rated M for sexual content and language.

Chapter 14:

Tifa sat in the grand dining room of The Golden Chocobo. The room was one of the fanciest she had ever been in, with marble tiles and columns and a fountain in the middle of the room with a brass chocobo statue at the top. The base of the fountain was stone, with streams of water pouring out from a second tier into the larger pool beneath.

Tifa sat across from Rude at their table next to this fountain and she could see the mosaic tile floor beneath the cool, clear water dotted with gil thrown in by wishful patrons. The murmur of fleeting conversations hung heavy in the air as Tifa picked at her salad. It was good – probably one of the best salads she ever had – but Rude had barely said two words to her since he picked her up from in front of her bar.

She had tried to initiate conversation multiple times, but he would only respond in one-word answers or, at most, a full sentence. Favorite thing to do after work? Drink. Favorite thing about being a Turk? Can't answer. Where'd you grow up? Midgar. Where in Midgar? Slums. Favorite movie? Don't watch 'em. She was getting aggravated.

She had thought once he was away from Reno he would open up and let her in, but he didn't. She already knew there couldn't be a second date.

"Toothpaste, wood polish, a couple new dish rags," Tifa had started making a grocery list in her head to try to pass the time. She mentally kicked herself for running completely out of toothpaste before buying a new tube.

Cloud wasn't the most talkative person, but when it was just the two of them he would often make jokes about the people around them or engage her in a conversation about ridiculous theories relating to monsters they had fought on their previous trials. For example, they spent one afternoon debating Hojo's title of "professor." Gast was a doctor, but Hojo was always referred to as a professor. Did he not have a Ph.D.? Where did he teach? What did he teach? Was there a generation of Hojo acolytes out there continuing his creepy legacy? The questions went on. They never did decide on any answers.

They could laugh and flirt easily, but Tifa supposed that came from the comfort they had in each other's presence from a lifetime of friendship.

"So, that thing in Nibelheim…" she tried again. Rude made no indication that he had even heard her.

"I can't talk about that, sorry," he said.

"What can you talk about, Rude?" she was getting frustrated at this point. There had to be more to him than grunts or silence.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, talk to me," she said, exasperated. "You asked me out for a date but you've hardly said anything."

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay," she sighed. "I just want to know the real you, outside of the Turks. You have to have things you want to talk about."

"I, heh," Rude began. "I really don't talk. Reno does the talking, I do the fighting."

"That makes sense for work, but when you're not on assignment, what do you guys talk about?"

"You've seen how it is at the bar."

"That's seriously your relationship? He picks up women while you silently stare into your drink?" Tifa supposed it made sense.

There were probably chatty girls who would love to have a man who simply listened all the time and went along with whatever they wanted, but Tifa needed something else. She needed to be challenged, to have discussions, and to be sure the person she was with was interested in her. A man sitting in silence just wasn't enough, even if she knew he liked her.

"Well, no," Rude said.

Tifa reached across the table to grab his hands for emphasis.

"Then tell me what's in that bald head of yours," she said, squeezing his hands.

Rude was definitely thrown by her action. He had never felt her touch; how soft and warm her hands were. Even though she was a fighter, her skin was smooth and silky to the touch, as if she had never used her hands before. He wanted to savor the moment, but knew he needed to start talking soon to keep her from getting too bored.

"I'm not bald," he said reflexively. "I shave my head."

"Hey, there's something," Tifa seemed pleased with his admission. "Why do you shave your head?"

"Because I'm going bald."

It wasn't some big joke, but the way Rude said it made Tifa laugh. He wasn't bald, he just shaved his head because he was bald. It was just simple enough to tickle her. The sound of her laugh made him actually smile a little.

"Okay, I guess it's little comments like that that make you a good match for Reno."

"I can be quite delightful," Rude said, losing any emotion he may have just had. His statement made Tifa laugh even harder.

Dinner actually ended up being rather pleasant. Tifa didn't end up feeling that way about Rude, but she had at least come to see him in a different light. He was funny, in a deadpan sort of way. He didn't have a lot to say, but he could crack her up with the way he phrased his answers.

Oh, and the food at the restaurant was just as good as Tifa remembered. The menu had changed since she had been there a year ago, but the sorghum-glazed dual horn short rib was equally as delicious, and the blueberry lavender mini cheesecakes molded in the shape of a moogle's face were quite charming.

Despite the food and the agreeable conversation, Tifa ended up depressing herself as the night went on. In retrospect, suggesting The Golden Chocobo was a bad idea, given her previous experience with Cloud. They laughed and flirted the entire time. Back then, it was so easy for her to be with Cloud. His headaches hadn't started, and his nightmares weren't so severe. By the end of her date with Rude, Tifa was realizing she had chosen the restaurant to try and recreate one of her happiest moments.

Rude dropped Tifa off in front of her bar feeling pretty good about the date, but not good enough to move in for a kiss. He thought he had broken new ground with the woman he had admired from afar for the past several years but worried he just hadn't said enough to captivate someone like her. Perhaps they were just too different. He wasn't used to women actually wanting to have a discussion, usually they just talked his ear off. But of course the woman he was interested in wasn't like that, and he just wasn't that much of a conversationalist, even if he had managed to make her laugh a few times.

It was raining pretty hard when he stopped his car in front of Seventh Heaven even though the weather station hadn't mentioned any precipitation. With his windshield wipers on full blast, he had to raise his voice for Tifa to hear him over the storm outside.

"I wish I had more to say," he told her, looking into her eyes through the sunglasses he was wearing even though it was night.

"It's okay," she assured him. "I had a lovely time."

She leaned over the center console and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.

"See you at the bar soon?" she asked before she opened her car door.

Rude nodded his head and grunted in his usual fashion. Tifa felt relieved that things might be able to go back to normal after what was a mediocre date.

Tifa rushed to her front door, which was thankfully set back under the floor above to allow her cover from the rain, but immediately threw her head back and groaned.

"Toothpaste!" she yelled out loud as if she were scolding her own home.

She checked the time on her phone – four minutes until the nearby general store closed. She could make it if she ran right now but she had no umbrella. Unlocking her door and going inside to find her umbrella would probably mean the store would close, and she was not about to go to bed without proper dental hygiene.

Fuck it, she'd just run for it. She bolted from her doorway and down the street, entering the store with one minute to spare. She had fortunately decided to forgo heels that night in favor of some stylish black leather ankle boots with a slight chunky heel. She had considered heels, but she felt it was safer to be ready to fight. Going into the date, she thought there was a decent chance that Rude had been faking his feelings for her to play some kind of long-con. Can never really trust those Turks.

The cashier at the general store glared at her, pissed that she would have to deal with a customer after closing time. Tifa quickly found the items she needed (might as well pick up the rest of what she needed while she was already here instead of making another trip in the morning) and paid for them, leaving the store just two minutes after closing time and quickly running home.

By the time she reached her home a second time she was soaked to the bone. Her hair stuck to her face, continuing to drip down her body even after she was under the cover of her doorway and her clothes clung to her skin. She had worn a white and black form-fitting dress to dinner. It was reminiscent of her usual look, but a bit fancier for the restaurant in question. Not that anyone would have questioned Tifa Lockhart's style choices.

She fumbled with her keys and they slipped from her hands. When she bent over to pick them up she heard that annoyingly familiar voice that always came too close for comfort.

"Wrong night to wear white, eh?"

Tifa spun around toward the direction of the voice with her fists raised, poised to strike. In her haste to turn on her stalker, she hadn't actually listened to what he said, instead preparing for a potential fight. Of course, it was Reno again. He just kept showing up when she was alone and on edge.

At the sight of him, she flung her arms toward her sides, the way a child would when stomping their foot, only without the stomp.

"Why do you keep following me?" she hissed.

It was really starting to get annoying. It was like he was stalking her, always appearing out of nowhere with some snarky comment.

Reno tried to keep his eyes on Tifa's face, but they kept wandering south. He found her angry expression downright cute in the moment even as his maleness dictated he look elsewhere.

"Because, I…" he couldn't finish the sentence. "I'm sorry, I can't concentrate when you have your headlights on me." He didn't even try to hide his amusement.

"Excuse me?" Tifa asked, placing her hands on her hips.

Reno took one last look at her chest and the thin white material that was clutching her breasts. It was clear she hadn't worn a bra with this particular ensemble, and he could see the pink forms of her nipples underneath. She was flashing him without her knowledge, something that caused heat to pool in his loins. He of course wanted to see them without the coverage of a wet dress – and in a scenario where he could freely touch and suck on them – but this was a nice step forward.

He leaned against the front wall of her bar with one ankle crossed over the foot bearing his weight and removed a rumpled pack of cigarettes, his eyes now avoiding her. He removed the last one in the pack, which had been spotted with rain drops (but he couldn't just throw it away) and placed it between his lips. She continued to stare at him questioningly as he reached into his pocket and pulled out his lighter. Without any consideration for how much time he was taking, he brought the lighter up to the tip of the cigarette and lit it, watching as the tobacco burned into an orange nub sticking out from the paper that had once concealed it. He took one long drag of the cigarette and exhaled out the side of his mouth to avoid blowing smoke in Tifa's pretty face.

As she watched him take his time with the cigarette, she noticed that he was soaking wet as well. His once lively red hair now hung limply toward his ears, his bangs soggy against his face. His suit was wrinkled and clinging to his thin frame, the collar of his white dress shirt looking even more disheveled than usual. He certainly looked pathetic, though Tifa imagined she must look similar.

Reno removed the cigarette from his lips using his index and middle fingers and brought it to his side. At this point, Tifa considered just entering her home and not entertaining whatever game he was currently playing, but it was at that moment he looked into her eyes again. He then eyed her chest quickly, but intentionally, and returned his gaze to her eyes. She caught on to what he was indicating and looked down, horrified to find that she could indeed see her own nipples through her dress.

Mortified – by Reno, once again – she immediately hugged her arms around her chest and turned away from him, crying "oh my God," as she did so.

Reno knew he should have kept his big mouth shut, but he did so love to see her embarrassed.

"You're a jerk!" she said with her upper body turned away from him toward her door as she again fumbled with the lock.

"I know, but if I were you I wouldn't be making such accusations after what you did to Rude tonight," Reno said smugly, continuing to lean against the wall of Seventh Heaven.

Tifa whipped around to face him once again – arms covering her chest – to shoot him an indignant look.

"What do you mean?" she asked. "I wanted to go out with him."

Reno brought his right forearm to rest on the wall next to him in order to prop himself up and moved closer to Tifa.

"No, you didn't," he said, inhaling the cigarette once again and speaking as he did so. "You just wanted to get my attention." He exhaled.

"That's some ego you got there," she responded with a roll of her eyes.

"He's not your type. You like the thrill of the chase Lockhart," he was right next to her now, his eyes drilling into her own with some kind of feral grin. "You want a lost soul you can turn around."

"That's not true," Tifa insisted. Reno was not convinced.

"He's not dangerous enough for you," the Turk said, now inches from her face.

"He's a Turk."

"You know what I mean. You know he likes you. There's no ambiguity there, and that bores you," Reno said, searching her eyes for that glint of acknowledgement to prove he was right.

There it was.

"There's no ambiguity with Cloud," Tifa shot back. "I know he loves me."

Reno scoffed loudly. Somehow, the conversation always ended up being about that blonde headcase.

"He tell you that?"

"Many times," Tifa was defiant now.

"Recently?"

Tifa hung her head. She had walked into that one. Truthfully, she had made the declaration to convince herself that it was true, when each day brought her closer and closer to thinking otherwise.

"Last month," she said, turning her head to look toward the street.

"When he left you?"

"He's coming back."

"He tell you that?"

"No, but I just know…" she was fighting back tears now.

"Has he even called since he left?"

"No, something happened to his phone," she looked back up into Reno's eyes, forcing that determined look once again.

"And that's the only phone in the world?" Reno took another drag from his cigarette. "He couldn't stop into a town and borrow a PHS just to check in? I mean, if I really wanted to be with a girl, I'd…" he stopped short, realizing he had just given himself away.

It was Tifa's turn to smile.

"…Wait in the pouring rain for her to return from her date with his best friend?" Tifa said, now appearing to be the smug one. Reno's expression didn't change. Instead, he just exhaled smoke slowly and deliberately, as if he hadn't even heard what she said.

"Oh this? Nah, I was just in the neighborhood…" he sounded cool, but Tifa had this self-satisfied smile on her face and kept nodding her head in amusement. "… and figured I'd give you a heart attack, yo."

"Mmhmm," Tifa smiled.

Oh, he had been caught. He had been caught red-handed.

"I think you were jealous," she teased.

Again, Reno's body language gave no indication that he was listening. He took another long drag from the cigarette.

"And you going out with Rude? That wasn't some way to get back at me for Nibelheim?" Reno's voice was cool and low, almost disinterested.

"And what about you with that girl the other night?" Tifa accused.

Reno's eyes lit up and he grinned from ear to ear, flicking the butt of his cigarette off the front entrance. Now she had been caught. That other girl was the perfect lay to needle Tifa's jealousy. Tifa saw the almost menacing look in his eyes – that same look he had given her in the basement of the Shinra mansion – and backed up against her front door. She needed to get away from him with that look in his eyes – and quick. She kept one arm across her chest but moved her other hand to reach for the doorknob.

Reno kept her pace; close enough for her to feel the heat from his body on the arm that was still covering her breasts. Without another word and without any tenderness, he grabbed her face in his hands and kissed her hard, forcing his tongue into her mouth before she even had time to retaliate.

As he did so he pressed her into the door, which flew open due to her accidentally gripping and twisting the doorknob when he grabbed her. They fell back into the entrance of her bar, Reno landing on top of Tifa and pinning her to the ground. A rush of wind and rain followed them in, making them each shiver before closing the door as it left her establishment.

Reno continued to kiss her even as she half-heartedly struggled underneath him. He knew she could kick him in the groin at any moment or shove him off, but she didn't. They could hear the door slam behind them as the wind left the building as quickly as it had come.

Tifa knew she was getting caught up in Reno's… charms? That wasn't the right word. More like antagonistic flirting, but she had developed a full-fledged crush – no, infatuation – with him nonetheless. The way he took her, with no gentleness or care, thrilled her as she felt heat building in her lower abdomen.

"What about that girl?" Tifa asked, pulling her lips from Reno's.

He sat back on his heels, still straddling her, and laughed.

"That really did bother you, huh?" he asked, before leaning down and nipping at her neck. After a few quick kisses and a little sucking, he released her, hovering his lips over her collarbone, before saying, "I don't even know her name."

Tifa stretched her neck to the side to give him better access and moaned in approval at what he had said. The poor girl, caught in the crosshairs of their game, yet Tifa couldn't help but feel accomplished that she had, once again, been able to pry a man away from the woman she thought was so beautiful and captivating. Okay, granted she only ended up with Cloud because Aeris died – or, that's why she thought he chose her – but still.

Feeling confident, Reno reached one of his hands down to Tifa's breast, giving it a rough squeeze – he had always wanted to do that – before taking a more tender approach and gently rubbing her nipple with his thumb.

She writhed underneath him, knowing that this was so wrong. She had just gotten back from a date with Reno's best friend, and here they were on the floor of the bar where she served him drinks. But Reno was right, Rude wasn't dangerous in the way she needed him to be. Reno, however, couldn't be seen as more than a roll in the hay.

Wait, what? No way was she going to give that up tonight, to Reno. He wanted the chase and he'd have to work harder for his prize, since Tifa still assumed that's all he wanted. For her part, she was still biding her time for Cloud to come back. Saying she kissed Reno would go over much better than saying she fucked him.

She sat up to begin her process to get away from him. He still had his knees on either side of her hips, pressing himself against her. She could feel his erection through his dress pants. Stopping this hotness was going to be difficult, and she worried he might be enraged at her, but it had to be done.

When she sat up he ripped the thin fabric of her dress apart at her chest, causing her breasts to spill out over what remained of her clothing.

"Reno!" she yelled, blushing heavily.

She tried to cover herself again but this time he grabbed her upper arms and forced them back so he could see her as he had only dreamed of seeing her before.

He took his time inspecting her naked upper body, from the shape and size of each breast, to the aroused pink nipples pointing straight forward just begging to be sucked. She was a sight to behold, that was for sure. He hadn't seen breasts so large, on such a petite woman, that hadn't been put there by a surgeon. This was definitely worth the wait and even better than he imagined. All that time watching her bounce around when she fought him; his imaginations of her fighting him topless. It had all just gotten much more real.

"Niiiice," he said, his eyes leering.

She struggled against him, but he held firm, inhaling and exhaling in approval of the beauty that now sat beneath him, exposed. Even though she had intended to stop where this was going, she felt an intense heat in her nether region. She had never admitted this to anyone, but being embarrassed really turned her on. The look on Cloud's face when he first saw her breasts – it was exhilarating, even though she was embarrassed of Sephiroth's scar. And now Reno had that same look…

He let go of one of her arms to trace the line of her scar. Her pupils dilated as she realized he would have no idea why she had such a disfigurement and she suddenly tensed up and tried to cover herself with her free arm.

"Not so fast," Reno said, swatting her arm away. He continued to stare at her chest, hungry. "How'd you get this?"

Tifa started breathing heavier than she had while he was working her up. He had seen what few others had seen, touched what only Cloud had touched (well, they were the only two she had allowed to touch her there), and now he was asking questions. She suddenly became very self-conscious.

"Sephiroth…I was 15…he..." she stammered, looking away from him and shutting her eyes tight.

Reno noticed her distress and stopped touching the scar. He moved his free hand up to her face and turned her to meet his gaze, which was warmer than she had ever seen it before.

"Hey, no biggie," he said. "We all got scars, yo."

In one fluid motion he opened his shirt, but no buttons flew off. He twisted to the side to show her his visible rib cage – not to mention sculpted abdominal muscles – and a deep scar on his side.

"Got this one from the man myself," he said.

It was like he hadn't even planned to show off his body. He wasn't flexing for her or giving her a chance to take it in. He turned to his other side, which contained four long, thick lines of scars.

"And this was from a damn gagighandi outside Gongaga when we were waiting for your fine ass to show up," he continued, as if he were just showing her points on a map.

He twisted again to bring his left shoulder forward, where Tifa could see the end of what looked like a pretty massive scar that ran down his entire back.

"Oh, and this one was from your boyfriend at the top of the pillar," he said with some degree of malice.

By now Tifa had tried to hold back giggling but failed. His little demonstration set her mind at ease about her own disfiguring scar. Come to think of it, Cloud had a scar similar to hers from where Sephiroth stabbed him through the chest. The fact that Reno had brought up Cloud and Sector 7 almost didn't phase her, which certainly was a surprise.

"I could watch you laugh while topless all day," he wryly.

Tifa again covered herself with one arm and smacked him in the shoulder with her free hand.

"Oh, don't be shy now," he said as he placed a hand on her sternum and forced his fingers up under her arm to reach her breast.

"Reno…" she said softly. She needed to stop this. She couldn't let it go any further. It had already gone too far. Now she'd have to explain to Cloud that Reno had seen and touched her breasts. That was certainly worse than saying Reno merely kissed her. By comparison she couldn't imagine it going over any better than if she did have sex with the red-haired Turk.

"I hear that in my head nonstop, yo," he said, bringing his forehead to rest against hers. "Reeee-no…" he mimicked her as best he could, though his own voice was raspy from cigarettes.

Maybe just a little longer.

She found his admission sweet, even if she did still have her suspicions about his intentions. He again moved his lips toward hers and brought one hand up to cradle her head while letting the other one explore her breasts, squeezing the tender flesh and rubbing her nipples with his thumb. And then his lips left her and began to travel south, first to her ear lobe, then to her jaw, then to her neck, shoulder, chest, and finally to her other breast, where he swirled the nub of her nipple with his tongue before nipping and sucking on it.

Tifa arched her chest into his face and gripped the back of his head with her fingers, nearly clawing at his tresses. Reno continued to tease her with his tongue and thumb as she moaned in approval. He even kissed the center of her scar as his lips passed between her breasts. After each breast was wet from his mouth he began to kiss the line between them, traveling south once more.

He stopped at her belly button to circulate his tongue within briefly, while his hands slipped down to the hem of her dress and began to slide it toward her hips.

"Reno…" Tifa said, putting her hands on his shoulders and gently pushing him up to stop his wandering tongue. When she got him up high enough to look into her eyes she said, obviously forcing the words, "we… I can't…"

That primal look returned to Reno's face. He had come this far; he was nearing the finish line of his pursuit. He didn't want to stop now, and he knew she didn't either.

"Yes, you can," he breathed as his hands continued to raise her dress.

Tifa sat up once again and covered her chest.

"I really, really can't tonight. It's too soon. I'm sorry." Her face was red, and she couldn't look him in the eye anymore.

"Seriously?" he asked.

Without meeting his gaze she nodded.

Reno knew what this meant. She was really good. She knew what he wanted and she was continuing to play the game; the little minx. She was going to make him work for this, and he was more than willing to take up the challenge.

She was just too damn fun.

"Alright, Lockhart," he said nonchalantly as he stood up.

He adjusted his pants before lending her a hand to help her up. She obliged without hesitation, standing before him with her dress raised enough to see the gap between her thighs – but not her panties – and still holding one arm across her large chest.

Leaving her like this was going to ache, but at least he had a good mental image until their next escapade. He spun around to leave the bar with his usual swagger but stopped at the door to twist back toward her.

"One more for the road?" he asked as he took a step back toward her, cupping her face in his hands and giving her one last deep, passionate kiss. As with their first kiss, this one was all passion, no tenderness.

She brought her hands up to rest on his neck as their tongues met. Her heart was fluttering at his need to be intimate with her one last time. That creeping suspicion that he actually had a sweet side came rising back up but was quickly pushed back down when he released her face to give both of her breasts a quick squeeze before pulling back from her.

"That'll do," he said, eyeing her up and down one last time while licking his lower lip. With a lazy salute he turned around and strolled out of her bar back into the downpour, leaving her standing in the middle of her business half naked in a ruined dress.

The excitement of the evening quickly turned into an extreme feeling of guilt and she rushed upstairs to shower. Scrub as hard as she could, she couldn't get the hot tinge of guilt from rising up her spine.

What she had just done was unforgivable. She had betrayed Cloud, AVALANCHE, and even Rude. Even if Cloud did come back, would he take her back knowing what she had just done? Would he forgive her? Or see her as a slut that turned to the enemy the minute his back was turned?

She sunk to the floor of her shower and started to cry as hot water tried to sear the sin from her body.

What had she done?

After her skin had turned red from the heat – and after she had stopped crying – she stepped out of the shower and pulled on a pair of pink cheeky underwear and a black camisole. She made it back to her bed before collapsing in the fetal position and crying once again until she fell asleep with the covers pulled up over her head as if to shield her from the world's accusations.

When she awoke she found a text message had been waiting for her all night.

"Mental images for DAYS :D" it said.

End notes: Hope you enjoyed some more sweet, sweet Reno action. There will definitely be more to come.