Disclaimer: The Final Fantasy VII compilation does not belong to me. I do not own the characters, story, places etc. They are all the property, copyright and trademark of Square-Enix. I place no ownership/claim on them by using them in this work of fan fiction.

Warning: Explicit Content

Chapter Twelve: The Mess We Make

Yuffie had been drifting in and out of sleep for what felt like hours and yet also like no time at all, when she heard the door go along with a light murmuring of chatter. She didn't want to move, her bed was too warm and she was so close to the sweet lull of sleep, she just wanted to surrender and be pulled back under. That hope was soon dashed however when she heard her bedroom door open, followed by a stream of harsh synthetic light, blocked only partially by the outline of a familiar form that lent against the door frame.

Groaning into the pillow, the young brunette rubbed her eyes, shooting a half-asleep glare at the disturbing presense.

She didn't have to look to hear the smirk on his lips, "Did he wear you out that much?"

She tried to peer at him as she shielded her eyes from the glare, her voice soft and groggy, "What time is it?"

"Late." He gave a little shrug, as he watched her, "Or early, I suppose."

Feeling some cold air drift in from the living room, the young brunette pulled the covers closer, her brow furrowing, "Rufus said you were going to be back earlier."

"Were you worried?" That smirk was still clear in his voice, as he slowly stepped into the room, pushing the door closed behind him.

"You wish…" Her tone was too soft and not nearly convincing enough. She blamed her sleepiness for that.

He lowered himself onto the mattress and pulled the covers away from her, his eyes darkening as they slid over her, a small hum of appreciation sounding from his lips, "I've been thinking about this all day, girly…"

Lulled by the deep rumble of his voice, Yuffie fell back down against the pillow with a small thump, "You're such a perv."

The red head chuckled as he got closer, bringing his lips down to her throat and trailing feather-light kisses up her neck and across her jaw. He brushed his lips against her own with a hint of satisfaction, "You're one to talk…"

The young brunette's nose wrinkled slightly as she picked up on the strong scent of alcohol lingering on his breath, her hand reaching to crumple in the fabric of his shirt as she gently pushed against him, "Have you been drinking?"

He merely shrugged as his hand made it's way down her side and across her hip, his fingers twisting in the delicate fabric of her pants.

She tried to stifle the moan that was trying to escape her mouth, as she felt his fingers slide between her legs, "I thought- I thought you were doing re-con?"

Reno shrugged again, lowering his mouth to her t-shirt and grazing his teeth over the outline of her nipple, "Yeah, but sometimes you have to do a bit of socialising when you're trying to get information out of people."

Her senses fought against her as the pleasure became overwhelmed by the uncomfortable feeling that clenched her stomach. Socialising? What did that mean? As his form brushed so close against her, she couldn't help but pick up on another scent. It was light and masked under smoke and booze, but it was there; the light scent of perfume.

She squirmed beneath him as she fought between the heat of his fingers and the uneasiness she felt rising inside her, "You smell funny." She choked out a moan as her head pushed back into the pillow, "Who were you socialising with?"

Another shrug, "What's it to you?"

"Just curious." She waited for his response, but he remained quiet. Her brow furrowed as she felt her stomach tighten once more and the hand that was tangled in his shirt began to push against his chest more firmly than before, "You know, I don't think I'm in the mood Turk."

He all but laughed into the skin of her neck as he slid a finger inside her, her back arching into him, "You sure? Because you certainly feel like you are."

Yuffie hesitated for a moment before shaking her head and wriggling out from under him, her eyes avoiding his as he suddenly backed up, putting his hands up in a confused surrender.

"Woah girly, what's wrong? Did I do something to upset you, or-?"

She all but barked at him as she tried to pull the cover closer, "Upset me?! Get over yourself. You couldn't if you tried!"

His brow arched slowly, his voice lowering with a hint of genuine concern, "Seriously, what's up?"

Yuffie's eyes concentrated on the cover in her hands as she quirked her brow, her voice far too sarcastic in tone to be convincing, "Nothing."

A few moments passed as the red head watched her, his eyes narrowing as he tried to figure out what was going on. All of a sudden, an amused smirk pulled at his lips, "Oh I get it, you're jealous…"

The hint of laughter in his voice made her cheeks burn, "I'm absolutely no such thing!"

She threw the cover over her head and practically dived underneath it, burrowing into the depths of her mattress in an attempt to hide what she worried was so clearly plastered all over her face. Jealous? She couldn't be. Jealous of what? Some woman he'd been with? He'd probably been with hundreds of the dumb bimbos just this month. He was a Turk for crying out loud. It was practically second nature to them. What they were doing was proof of that after all. What right did she even have to be jealous? The two of them were just messing around, right? It was meant to be a way to pass the time. A bit of harmless fun. Nothing more, nothing less.

To top it off, hadn't she just been on a 'date' with his damn Boss. How pathetic was she, that she'd even entertain the idea that the thought of the Turk touching anyone else could hurt her in the slightest. After all they owed each other nothing.

"Girly?"

His voice was soft through the heaviness of the duvet, but she just couldn't stop herself. Her mind was swirling with too many thoughts and all of them were making her mad. Emotional outbursts had always been a problem of hers and right now she was so angry at herself for feeling anything at all, that all she wanted to do was make someone feel the same way and who better than the stupid Turk who she was actively trying to deny was the cause in the first place.

Her voice was louder than normal as she refused to budge from underneath the covers, her tone taking on a haughty smugness, "I'm just annoyed because you ruined a nice dream I was having."

Although she couldn't see him, she could hear the way his voice darkened, "Oh really?"

Pushing through the apprehension she felt with a confidence she didn't deserve, Yuffie increased the biting edge to her words, "Yes and it certainly wasn't about you. You know what, you were right, Rufus DID tire me out. He really knows how to show a girl a good time, unlike you!"

She could practically feel the blood thumping in her ears as she waited and as the adrenaline in her system dissipated with every passing second, she realised too late what a fool she was making of herself. After a moment of silence, the sound of his voice barely made it to her ears. It was so low, it was almost frightening.

"Whatever."

She felt the mattress shift as he lifted his weight from it, his footsteps light against the floor before the room echoed as the door opened and slammed closed behind him with a force that made her flinch.

Suddenly her room felt too dark and too quiet and as she stared into the abyss of her own making, her throat tightened and she had to will herself not to cry.

How long had she been laying there now? Minutes? Hours? It felt like she hadn't moved an inch since he'd left as every part of her strained for any sound that might give her a reason to move, but there hadn't even been a peep. How could he be so quiet? She was sure he hadn't left. She'd have heard the front door. So what was he doing? Slowly and with an almost painful amount of nerves, the young brunette slid out from her covers and made her way to her door. She pressed her ear to the wood as softly as she could and listened.

Nothing…

Carefully wrapping her hand around the door knob, she began to turn it a centimetre at a time as she couldn't quite convince herself to move any faster. As it clicked open, she peeked out from the behind the door with just the smallest amount of her form that she could, not wanting to draw attention to herself. Her gaze started to drift across the darkness of the room in search of him, but she didn't need to wait for long before her eyes found him sat on the windowsill, leaning his arm out as smoke trailed from the cigarette between his fingers.

Feeling as though her heart was too loud in her chest, the young brunette had to use all her courage to force herself to take the handful of steps across the room, before coming to a halt in front of him. He didn't turn to look at her, instead bringing the cigarette to his lips and inhaling deeply, holding the smoke in his mouth for a moment before releasing it into the night air in a slow, steady steam. There was something about him in that moment that made her want to run.

Gathering her nerves, she crossed her arms over her chest in an almost protective gesture, whilst her toes curled against the wood below her feet, "I'm…" Her voice came out as almost a whisper, as she struggled to form the sound in her throat, "I…I shouldn't have…" She chanced a glance up to his face, but quickly found her cheeks growing pink with embarrassment when she noticed he still wasn't paying her any attention at all, instead his eyes gazed out the window almost in boredom.

Feeling a overwhelming sense of humiliation, she flung her hands down to her sides, as they clenched into fists, "You know, I don't know why I bothered coming out here! I might be a jerk, but so are you! Stupid Turk!"

As she turned on her heel and made to stomp back to her room, she felt his hand wrap around her wrist and jerk her back with a slight twinge of her arm.

Yuffie twisted in his grasp, "Let go!"

"No." His voice was perfectly steady, as he only loosened his grip slightly, but didn't remove his hand, instead pulling her even closer towards him until she was practically in his lap.

He threw his cigarette butt out of the window with his free hand and slid it closed, before standing and rather unceremoniously gathering her in his arms, earning a squeak from the young brunette who proceeded to flail in his grasp.

"What are you doing?! Put me down!"

"No." Once again, his words rang out with no discernible emotion as he carried her back to her bedroom, before plonking her down on her mattress. She looked at him with a fearful confusion, as if she expected him to just walk straight out of the room again, but those fears were unfounded as he simply stared at her, the look in his eyes an unreadable mix of emotions.

He seemed to question himself for a moment, as his hand reached out ever so slowly, before it brushed against the hair that framed her face. She felt her breath hitch in her throat as the look in his eyes suddenly changed, now glinting with a familiar warmth, whilst a soft smirk played at the corner of his lips.

"You're only meant to dream about me, girly."

Without giving her even a chance to react, he closed the distance between them and captured her lips in his own. Part of her still wanted to push him away. To shout and rage at him. To blame him for making her feel so stupid, but the other part of her that craved the sense of contentment she felt from the warmth of his body was so much stronger.

She all but surrendered to him, as she opened her lips and let his tongue freely explore her mouth with an intensity that threatened to steal her breath away. He pulled away for a second, looking into her eyes again as if searching for something there. Whatever it was, he seemed to be satisfied with what he found there, as his hands curled around the hem of her t-shirt, before lifting it over her head. As her form fell backwards against the bed, he lowered his mouth to her chest and began kissing a trail down the valley between her breasts. When he reached her navel, his tongue darted out and dipped into her belly button.

Yuffie squealed, "Hey! That's gross!"

The red head shot her another smirk, before bringing his hands to the top of her pants and slowly pulling them down her legs, before throwing them somewhere behind him. He grasped at her hips as he shifted her further onto the bed. His eyes lazily rolled over her body, enjoying the blush that practically glowed on her cheeks as she squirmed below him.

As he looked at her, a small pout formed on her lips, "It's rude to stare, remember?"

A low chuckle sounded in his throat as his hands went to his belt as he loosened his trousers, before kicking them away and pulling his shirt over his head without undoing the few buttons he actually bothered to use on a daily basis. The red head brought his lips to her neck, as his fingers brushed against her thigh, before slipping between them. She couldn't stop the moan that sounded from her lips, as she felt his fingers slide into her with ease. Another chuckled sounded from the Turk as he removed his fingers, looking at how they glistened with a self-satisfaction.

"Guess I must be a pretty good kisser."

The young woman's eyes widened as a wave of embarrassment crashed over her, "Gawd, you're so full of sh-"

She was all but was forced to swallow her words when he suddenly thrust himself into her, his hips clashing against her own as he seemed intend on proving some point.

His voice sounded oh so gently in her ears, "You were saying?"

Yuffie decided she didn't want to stare at his smirk anymore and instead pulled his lips to meet her own, the kiss soon turning messy and desperate as her legs wrapped around him. Her hands slid around his neck before tangling in his hair, tugging firmly every now and then as she enjoyed the way his fingers pushed into her waist when she did. As his thrusts became more chaotic and she felt him begin to lose what control he had, she raked her nails across his back, making sure to put enough pressure behind them to make his own form yield against her touch. He wasn't the only one who knew how to play dirty.

His body stiffened for a few moments and a soft, deep growl rumbled from his lips. As he came back from his release, he practically collapsed on top of her and as he caught his breath, he rested his forehead against her own, an impressed but exhausted smirk pulling at his lips.

"That wasn't fair."

She gave him a playful smile, their eyes locking for a little longer than necessary. She felt something fleeting pull in her chest. Not willing to allow the feeling to grow, the young brunette shifted out from under him and grabbed the duvet, throwing it over the two of them and snuggling down, her back to him, but not so far away as to insinuate displeasure at his company.

After a moment, she felt his chest meld against her back and his hand snake over her hip, his warm breath on her neck lulling her into a comforting veil of darkness.

It was the smell that woke her. It was a nice smell. Warm and sweet and somehow fluffy. How something could smell fluffy, she didn't know, but it did indeed smell that way. Her stomach rumbled as if instinctively. Feeling now not only curious but hungry too, Yuffie crawled out from under the duvet and tentatively made her way to the living room. As she entered, she almost immediately had to do a double take as her gaze met with the back of the Turk as he stood in the kitchenette. Shaking her head as if to make sure she was still awake, she drew closer, her confusion only growing as she did.

Once she was practically beside him, she spoke up, her voice heavily suspicious, "You're…cooking."

His voice rumbled with amusement as he turned his head in her direction, "Your observation skills are incredible."

She folded her arms over her chest, her hip resting against the side of the counter-top, "Turks cook?"

A small chuckle sounded from his throat, "We are know to on occasion, yeah."

He stopped hovering over the oven top for a moment as he began rummaging around the cupboards, before bringing out two plates and some watched with fascination as he rather haphazardly piled what looked to be far too pancakey-looking pancakes onto the plates.

"Now I couldn't find any real syrup, but…" The red head turned and picked up a slightly crushed bottle of amber coloured liquid from the side, "…there was this syrup flavoured crap in the back of the cupboard and it's pretty much 90% sugar so it's probably fine."

He gave her a smile as he thrust one of the plates into her hands, before carrying his own and the 'syrup' over to the sofa. She watched him with a rather funny expression, glancing down at her own plate and then back to him as her brain struggled to process it all.

Noticing her still frozen form, the red head called over to her with no hint of uneasiness, "They'll get cold if you don't eat them soon."

She tried to say something but found her mind was empty of any coherent thought. After a moment more, she seemed to accept this strange scenario and slowly made her way to join him on the sofa.

He held out the bottle to her, "Syrup?"

She took it without a word, pouring far too much over her breakfast in a daze, before shoving a forkful into her mouth.

Reno watched her out of the corner of his eye as she chewed, waiting until she took another bite before smirking confidently, "Not bad, right?"

Yuffie nodded as her eyes clouded over in thought, "Yeah, they're really good…" Her eyes narrowed as they focused in on his, "Too good. It's suspicious."

The red head sighed with a mixture of amusement and frustration, "Girly, can't I do something nice and you just be happy about it?"

There was a moment of silence before her brow quirked up, "No."

A chuckle sounded from his throat as he shook his head, before attempting to change the subject, "So, what do you want to do? It's your day off, right? Do you want to go somewhere? Probably can't go too far out or go anywhere too public, but I'm sure you can come up with something."

Realising he was right and she did have a free day, the young brunette hung her head back against the sofa, little fish noises sounding from her mouth as she tried to think. For a moment, the idea of going to see Tifa popped into her mind. She had only seen her once whilst she'd been in Edge, and that was almost a week ago now. She was bound to have seen all the press articles and the like and she knew that the barmaid would want to check she was doing okay. She was always so worried, so protective. Part of Yuffie craved that feeling. Craved the council she could give her. Her brow suddenly furrowed as another thought crossed her mind. If she saw her she'd have to lie. After all she was considering Rufus Shinra as a marriage candidate, whilst sleeping with a Turk in her down time. It wasn't something she could tell her, or anyone for that matter because deep down she knew just how disappointed they would be in her. She couldn't bear that.

Lifting her head back up and taking another bite of her breakfast, Yuffie tried to keep her voice as airy as possible, "Can we just stay here?"

Reno matched her tone, though his eyes narrowed a fraction, "Sure."

Knowing that he was confused by her rather bland suggestion, she gave a little shrug, "I'm just tired…" Her eyes flickered over to the TV that hung against the wall, "Maybe we can just watch movies or something?"

He watched her for a moment, before relenting, "Okay, whatever you want girly."

A few minutes passed in an easy quietness before the red head spoke again. Purposefully keeping his eyes on his plate, his voice sounded distinctly detached.

"So," He took a mouthful of pancakes before continuing, "Where did the Boss end up taking you anyway?"

She quirked her eyebrow at him, "You really want to talk about that?"

He shrugged, "Why not?"

Yuffie looked at him with a sense of apprehension, "Well it's just that…you don't usually like-."

The red head interrupted her with another shrug, "I'm just curious what the Boss considers a date."

She observed him for a moment as she tired to make sense of the strange feeling that was radiating from him, but she found herself at a lose. Eventually a soft sigh sounded from her lips, " We went to some Materia Facility-"

"What?!" He fought hard not to choke on his last bite of pancake, "He must be out of his mind to let you in there." He shoved the plate onto the arm of the sofa before turning back to her with a smirk, "Come on then, what did you take?"

Yuffie straightened up slightly, as if insulted, "Nothing!"

Reno gave a slow nod, his brow arching comically, "Sure…"

"It's true!" The young brunette gathered the last bite of her pancakes in her mouth, as an unimpressed scowl darkened her features, whilst the Turk continued to watch her with more than a pinch of skepticism.

The afternoon had grown overcast and grey as they'd settled on the sofa, Yuffie huddling under an array of blankets she'd insisted were necessary for a proper movie day, but had refused to share with the Turk, on the grounds that she didn't trust him to behave himself. It was something that he had found mightily amusing and much to her annoyance, had seemed to take it as a challenge. If she had made it a challenge though, it clearly hadn't been hard enough as they were now practically shoulder to shoulder, his hand tucked underneath the blankets as he chanced the occasional touch of her thigh. They had been watching in relative silence for quite a while when the red head chose to speak.

"You know, I didn't fuck anyone else last night."

His words took a moment to register in her ears as she was forced to tear her eyes away from the movie she'd been engrossed in only a moment before, "I'm sorry?"

He looked at her, "You heard me."

Yuffie swallowed, her chest tightening as she tried with all her might to not betray any emotion in her voice, "Okay, but I really don't know why you're telling me this."

She did know. That was the problem, but she really couldn't bring herself to consider such things. Whatever was between them was meant to be for fun, after all.

"Girly-"

Yuffie cut him off, swinging her leg over to straddle him, as her mouth melded against his own in a desperate bid to silence whatever he'd planned on saying. She was not ready to bear that mess, not now. Not ever.