"You want another job?"

Cloud drummed his fingers against the bar counter awkwardly, avoiding Tifa's incredulous gaze on him as he kept his eyes on the iced water pitcher, who was his best friend whenever he wanted to look somewhere else and not at someone's eyes.

Noticing his odd habit of just staring at the pitcher from time to time, Tifa messed with him and took it within her hold. Now, he had nothing else to look at anymore. "Care to explain?"

"I'm getting paid by Elmyra today," he uncomfortably announced. Then, he said nothing else. Tifa waited for him to explore some more on what he meant by that, but when she realized that that was all he was going to let on, she quirked a brow up.

"And?"

He looked up at her and pegged her to answer it for herself with his eyes. Because of their deep understanding of each other, these silent looks of communication were usually enough to get the message, but Tifa wasn't on the same wavelength today as she continued to give him a morbid look. "Cloud, for heaven's sake, just say it."

"It's weird," he finally admitted. "Getting paid by Aerith's mom doesn't settle well for me. So, I want another job. A stable one would be nice, but I don't mind merc jobs—just get me out of this bodyguarding business."

The lightbulb finally lit up above Tifa's head as she realized what he was getting so bothered about, and a small grin stretched across her face as she leaned her elbows onto the counter.

"Feels weird getting paid by your lover's mother just by spending time with her?"

She hit the bullseye as Cloud stopped drumming his fingers and licked his lips nervously.

"We're not just spending time," he tried to deny. "I'm actually still on post to guard her every time she goes to sell her flowers, but—yeah—okay, do you think you can find me a job?" When he found himself trying to explain to Tifa how indeed weird it was to get paid by his… lover's—he still found it hard to refer to Aerith as such officially—mother just to be by her side, he was reminded of how inarticulate he was with words again, so he just gave up. "No rush though. It's a request—not a demand."

"Okay, I'll see what's out there," Tifa chuckled. When she was about to ask him if he had any sort of preference, his phone vibrated.

"Time to go," he sighed even though he was supposed to be happy for payday. "I'll see you later, Tifa."

"Bye."

Tifa watched sadly as Cloud's back disappeared through the doors of her bar, never turning to look back as he eagerly—or, for today, dreadfully—headed over to Sector 5. Tifa slowly inhaled to let it all out before she smiled to herself. She wasn't going to lie to herself—it was a bit hard to swallow the fact that Cloud and Aerith were a thing now, even if they never announced it. It was pretty obvious that something had changed between them once they had returned to the ballroom after their time alone, but Tifa made sure not to let it affect her or, rather, show in her actions.

"Nope, nope, let's not go there, Tifa," she encouraged herself as she gave herself a firm and determined nod of her head. She was going to stay supportive, no matter what, because she was happy for them—truly. "Time to chat up some customers today for Cloud's new job!"

~.~.~

"Thank you for being diligent and making sure she doesn't get into trouble."

Cloud nearly winced outwardly when he took the bag of gil Elmyra handed over to him. Never did he ever thought he would be unhappy at receiving money for dutifully performing his job, but being with Aerith gave him many new, different, experiences.

Getting paid by her mom was not one he would've wanted to add into the collection, though.

"Where's Aerith?" he asked, and he instantly wished his voice had sounded more business-like because now, he somehow seemed to enter a territory that he did not want to explore so soon.

"She's upstairs," Elmyra answered, mildly cautious at his sudden inquiry of her daughter instead of his exit out the door. "Are you guys going somewhere?"

Before Cloud could muster up some sort of half-assed excuse because they had not planned to go anywhere—he was just here to pick up his pay—Aerith clambered down the stairs, a happy smile adorned on her face as she saw the sight of Cloud and her mother.

"Nice, you're here!"

It was obvious that Aerith was coming to his rescue as she pulled him out of the uncomfortable situation. "I'm planning to go eat lunch at Sector 1 today."

"Is that so?" said Elmyra. "Well, go on along then. Don't tire your bodyguard this often though just for your food cravings."

"Yes, yes. See you later, Mom!" Aerith gave her mother a kiss on the cheek before she made her exit. Cloud gave Elmyra a small nod before he quickly followed behind Aerith and escaped the observant gaze of her oddly scary mother.

When he was outside a good distance away from her normally welcoming home, Cloud released the breath he didn't realize he was holding and sighed at the bag of money in his hands.

Noticing the conflicted look he gave it, Aerith giggled as she popped her face right under his line of sight. "Not happy with your pay this month?"

"That's not it," he grumbled as he hooked it onto one of his belts. "Not too fond of receiving money just to, uh," Cloud stiffly rolled his shoulder, not wanting to just say it out loud. "Yeah."

"Just to what, hm? Spend time with me?" Aerith teased, leading the familiar way through her sector. At this point, everyone in Sector 5 already knew who he was since it was hard not to with his infamous spiky hair and gigantic sword. He even received greetings from the kids whenever he passed by them since they admired how cool he was with the weapon attached behind his back—the kids around here sure were fearless.

"That and because your mom doesn't seem to fond of me all of a sudden," answered Cloud.

Once they were out of Sector 5 and away from familiar faces, Aerith slipped her arm around his and attached herself closely to his side, sighing in contentment as she laid against his shoulder for a second before bringing her head back up to walk straightly.

"You're just imagining it," she assured as they walked through the field empty of monsters. This was their detour to the train station without anybody seeing them. "She's just overprotective of me, even though I'm a full-grown adult now, but I don't mind. She has had too many close experiences with Shinra during the time she kept me hidden away from them, so she's pretty scarred. Don't blame her?"

"Wasn't blaming her for anything," said Cloud as he kept his senses sharp for any surprise spawn of monsters. "That's understandable. I'm just more bothered with how I'm just getting paid to be with you." He then thought about it before he said it—there was no harm. "I talked to Tifa today. Asked her if she could find me another job."

"Oh?" Aerith twisted her body so that she could face him while they walked. "And?"

"She said she'll see."

Aerith let the silence sink in as she hummed, temporarily receding into her thoughts for a moment before she gave him an encouraging smile. "Take your time. Don't feel too guilty, hm? We're pretty well off since the P.S. committee gave us, er, compensation, for everything Shinra has done to me as the last Cetra around here as an apology, so don't worry if you think you're just leeching off on us."

"That doesn't make me feel better about it," he sighed. "I'm surprised that you don't feel guilty."

"Of course, I am. It's just that, well," Aerith snuggled against his side more as she let out a happy laugh, "It's only during these moments when you're bodyguarding me that we can spend time together like this, so let me live a little bit, hm?"

Cloud unfortunately had to agree with her; despite his reluctance to receive money for just seeing Aerith, bodyguarding was the only excuse they had to meet each other. It wasn't as if he could just knock on Elmyra's door and take Aerith away on a date or anything—he needed to dig his grave first before he could ever do something as daring as that.

However, keeping their relationship a secret from Elmyra had been a huge elephant in the room since the celebration a week ago, and it took only one week to realize that they couldn't just continue like this without their moral conscience just eating away at them.

"It'll be fine. I'm sorry for insisting to… keep it a secret," Aerith glumly apologized. "Elmyra needs time to warm up to you or else she's going to freak. But it'll be fine! She already knows that you're kind of part of my social circle now and everything—sooner or later, she has to get used to seeing your face around even after the bodyguarding ordeal is done with. Why don't you join us for dinner sometime?"

"Right, like it's totally normal to invite your bodyguard for some dinner," Cloud sardonically replied, wondering what kind of logic Aerith was currently working on. "But I'll take your word for it—I'll try to find another job soon before I 'warm up' to Elmyra." She snickered at his always-snappy attitude before she did a little hop and kissed him on the cheek, immediately feeling his muscled arm tense up at her surprise attack.

"Do your friends know about us?" asked Aerith curiously.

"I didn't say anything, but I'm sure I don't need to," Cloud muttered irritably. Aerith didn't understand why he said it like that, but unbeknownst to her, his friends had been bugging him way more than they ever had in their lifetimes ever since their visit to topside together. Jessie had given him so many eyebrow wiggles during the week whenever Aerith came over to Sector 7. She conspired with Biggs and Wedge, and Cloud wouldn't have known about the theories they were making up about their relationship if he hadn't accidentally walked in on their conversation about how he would've had to "get a personality change in order for him to get the girl." He even saw gil coins get passed between the three of them while their mischievous looks targeted at him, and he wondered if they even made an effort to keep their schemes a secret. While Barret had stayed out of the young talk, Cloud never felt anything cringier than when he spotted the man's discreet winks towards his direction every time he saw him and Aerith together. As for Tifa, he might as well be see-through for her.

"Should I ask?" Aerith mused as she saw his grimace forming just from thinking about his friends.

He shook his head before he let out an exasperated sigh. "Don't. I think you're better off not knowing. Ignorance is bliss."

When they reached the end of their detour, their alone time was coming to a finish as well. However, before they emerged from the trail and into the public space once more where the train station laid, the two of them did what they always did whenever they reached the end.

Silently, Cloud backed Aerith against the fence, hands cradling her elbows as he brought his body closer to hers. Aerith held onto his shoulders and tilted her head to the side expectantly before he kissed her, away from the eyes that was just a turn of a corner away.

Since they didn't really have any private space anywhere, they resorted to kissing each other in the monster trail where no one dared traverse upon. While he was uneasy to keep his eyes closed since a monster could've just popped up any time, he dared to take the risk just so that he could have this short, intimate moment with her. As for Aerith, she was happy to oblige.

When Cloud pulled back just by a bit so that he could switch sides, Aerith turned her head away so that he would miss. His mouth landed on her cheek instead, so he retracted his head and shot her a quizzical look. In return, she simply gave him a smile, and he could already spot the odd gleam in it from a mile away.

"What?" he questioned, a bit nervous. It already took him more effort than necessary just to initiate a kiss with her, so when she played these types of games with him, he got a lot more conscious about his actions.

Noticing his uneasiness, Aerith reached up and patted the side of his head, affectionately smoothing out his hair. While he liked all of her subtle touches, he couldn't help but feel like he was some sort of puppy to her right now.

Then, she asked him a very difficult question, one he preferred not to answer.

"Cloud, have you ever been in a relationship before?"

Nearly choking on his saliva, he swallowed down the sudden urge to cough as he stared at her. Already knowing how he just gave himself away with the small fumble—not that he was going to lie or anything—he slowly shook his head.

"No."

"Am I your first?"

"… Yes," then he frowned before she could ask even more sensitive questions, "But why are you asking?"

"Nothing," she said in a sing-song voice, but this caused his eyes to drown her in skepticism. "Just something that has been on my mind, but it's nothing major and very fleeting."

"You rejected a kiss from me," he blatantly stated. For some reason, he didn't have any embarrassment from saying that. "Gonna fill me in anytime soon?"

Aerith hummed under her breath as she studied his facial features. Her hand moved from his head so that it could rest against the side of his face, and he automatically pressed his cheek against it. Just when he thought they were returning to the mood, she asked him another difficult, difficult question. This time, he really didn't want to answer it.

"I was just wondering, if this is your first relationship, then why are you so good at kissing, hm?" she tilted her head to the side curiously. Cloud couldn't tell if he was treading dangerous waters with the way she looked at him so innocently, but knowing how he had fucked up many times before because he was dumb enough to fall for it, he made sure he planned his words carefully—very, very carefully.

"Uh," he trailed.

That is, if he had any to even say.

"Yes?" she smiled, awaiting his answer. When she saw his mildly intimidated expression, she laughed and patted his cheek. "C'mon, I'm not going to be a jealous lover or anything. It's a genuine question. We're both adults now, aren't we? Just curiosity."

Seeing how she genuinely aimed to only satiate her curiosity, Cloud steeled himself before he answered her question.

"I've never been in a relationship with anyone, but that, uh, doesn't mean I haven't… done stuff." Cloud couldn't believe he was admitting this to her so early on in their relationship, but nothing beat being truthful. "But it's been two years since then, so I haven't seen anyone until I met you. Plus, it was just one person, so I wasn't… sleeping around."

"Two years?" Aerith hadn't expected it to be that long, but Cloud didn't know that fact surprised her as he gave her a disconcerting frown.

"What?"

"No, nothing, I just thought that you were recently… active before you met me," Aerith embarrassingly admitted, earning an incredulous look from him.

"What made you think that?"

"I mean, you and Tifa seemed—" Aerith shut her mouth. She hadn't meant to actually say her name because she knew it wasn't really any of her business to just pull out names out on the dinner platter, but it was too late as Cloud's mako eyes widened.

"How'd you—"

"Cloud, it's obvious there's history between you two," Aerith interrupted before he finished. "I've always known." This caused him to look away. "But that's fine! Now that I have a better sense of what went on between you two, my curiosity is successfully quenched. Thanks."

When she spotted the guilty look on his face, Aerith honestly didn't know why he had it.

"Sorry," he apologized.

It was her turn to frown. "Um, why are you apologizing?"

He then turned his eyes back to look at her, not expecting the calmness in her voice. Wasn't she supposed to be angry right now or something? She blinked at him, and she did her cute little head tilt again.

"I'm sorry—about my past relations with Tifa," he said. "Sorry if it makes you uncomfortable." He then looked away for some reason, even though he had no reason to feel ashamed, but the more he spoke, the more scared he got at the idea of driving Aerith away again, so he swallowed all his pride and prepared what he had to say next. "But my relationship with you is different, Aerith. I promise. You're—"

"Hey, Cloud, look at me, silly," Aerith took both her hands and clasped his face between them, forcing him to look up at her. Her gaze was soft, and it made him feel like a silly teenager again as she laughed so gently and caressed his cheeks so soothingly. "I told you—I'm not some crazy, jealous lover. I really was just curious, relax. Don't say sorry to me about this stuff."

She giggled when he took one of her hands and moved it over to his mouth, kissing the inside of it as he listened to her encouraging words. "I respect whatever relationship you had and have with Tifa because I know she's important to you, so you should respect it too—don't apologize for having it. I'll get mad for real."

"Sorry," he murmured into her hand. The vibrations he made against her skin made her tingle. She nodded at him approvingly.

"Good. Thank you for being honest with me, Cloud. I really appreciate it." Aerith half-whispered. "You're really are cute. But now you've gotten me wondering again—I'm what?"

"Hm?"

"Finish what you were going to say. 'My relationship with you is different. I promise. You're—'?" she quoted, her mischievous smile coming back at full blast as Cloud began to feel the embarrassment again.

"Stop," he complained, but he nonetheless dropped her hand so that he could pull her in for a hug. She instantly hugged him back, squeezing tightly as she rocked them back and forth a little bit.

"Okay, I will. Sorry, I was a bit mean though, wasn't I?" she laughed into his shirt. "Your reactions are adorable. I can't help but tease you when I see the perfect opportunity—just tell me when it gets too much, hm?"

"It's fine," he said. "It's my fault anyway."

"What is?"

"That I'm not that good with words."

Aerith's heart nearly burst at how soft Cloud Strife really was deep within that hard, stone-cold wall of his, and she squealed into his shoulder as she jumped up and down from excitement in his arms. Cloud, who had no idea what kind of thoughts were making her act like this, simply accepted the fact that there were going to be times where he just wouldn't be able to read her mind, but that was okay—it came with the package, and he didn't mind the mystery too much.

Just when the two of them pulled apart to have another kiss, the sound of the next train snapped them out of it.

"Shit," Cloud cursed as he distanced himself and began to walk towards the station, pace increasing exponentially. "I'm not waiting another thirty minutes for the train to come by. Let's go."

Aerith laughed at his impatience before she broke into a run, caught up to him, and pulled him by the hand.

"Why are you walking? We gotta run!"

Cloud quickly followed her lead before smiling a little bit to himself.

Together, the two of them ran towards the open doors of the train from afar, but honestly, Cloud didn't really care if they missed it. It would just mean he had another thirty minutes with her in the monster trail. Certainty, Aerith wouldn't mind that either.

Being truthful really was the way to go.

Hey guys! As you can see, super short chapter (relative to the other chapters in this fic cause I swear this is like the normal length for other fics xDDD) Uh, all fluff! It's short because, well, as much as I like writing fluff, we gotta be real here-long chapters are for drama-and a lot of you both on FF and AO3 voiced how y'all don't want any bombs yet SOOOO HERE YOU GOOOOO. Hopefully it's okay, you guys seem to like my romance, so hopefully this didn't disappoint. Like I said last chapter, we're at the final stretch (?) so stick around and see this to completion! Thank you for the support, I see you some of you guys roaming around on my other fics as well (an angsty one and another not so wholesome one) so i'll say thanks for those people here! I hope my writing hasn't fallen off yet since things are cooling down a bit in this fic hehe

Once again love the reviews, both short and long. It's great, it motivates me, and it keeps the chapters coming. But yeah, I'll make it final-this won't be an M-fic but idk stay tuned for my future fics cause who knows what crazy things will go on my mind LOL (but I'm more on the wholesome side of fanfic so hehehe).

Also, some of you have asked for my twitter-yes, I have one! I recently made one cause LOL I KEPT STALKING WITHOUT AN ACC AT ALL THE BOOTIFUL CLERITH STUFF (but not gonna lie I'm scared of posting cloti stuff cause I like their stuff too and I don't want a rake stabbed through my chest by hardcore clerith fans, been interested in writing cloti too in the future so pls don't call me a traitor) so I'm like damn it i'll just make one. yes, i'm beginning to post little excerpts of my work on there, so if you're interested: (a) cresciejo

Er side note on typos: agai reread, and I EVEN READ IT OUT LOUD FOR MY ROOMMATE TO HEAR cause I don't wanna miss anything, but ffs I guess I still miss some and ughhhh i'm sorry about that if you guys spot any of it, proofreading skills are so bad (I even turn in assignments with a typo here and there too so pFFT there goes a point or two) SO I APOLOGIZE AGAIN IF YOU GUYS CATCH ANY XDDDD

And some of you have reached out and struck conversations with me-pls anyone who wants to chat with me about clerith and anything with life rn in quarantine, feel free. We all need something to do during this odd time period, and what better with some company. (I DONT MESSAGE WELL ON THIS FF SERVER FOR OBVIOUS REASONS THATS WHY I DONT RESPOND TO SOME REVIEWS EVEN IF I WANT TO) so yes, do reach out on twitter or discord or something and I'd love to make new friends on this ship!

Hope you enjoyed this small, small chapter :)