Chapter 5: The tickets.
5 weeks later...
Zack used Barret's old key to let himself into the bar.
He was on a stealth mission. A mission to fix that broken barstool before Tifa caught him in the act. She'd told him she was gonna fix it herself, but it was such an eyesore that he had to do something about it.
It was Saturday morning, and he figured she was still sleeping in after a late Friday night. He made sure to put down his tool bag quietly. As he sat down on the floor and began fiddling with the screws, he thought about the last five weeks.
Although he'd convinced Tifa to let him be her friend, being her friend wasn't easy either. It meant biting back his sleazy lines, and looking elsewhere for sex. And while it was convenient to hook up with Lily for the sex, Lily had gotten all jealous and forbid him to come to the bar.
So he'd broken up with Lily. He felt bad about it, but he'd told her from the start he wasn't serious.
And he'd ended up here, a screwed-up cross between a handyman and a monk, cursing a certain woman's mule-headedness.
/Dammit, Tifa, would it kill you to admit you need help, or need... me?
/Shit! The front door. Someone with a key. Tifa?
***************************************
"Hey." His cheerful greeting made her look up from her bursting groceries bags.
"Hi!" She exclaimed, surprised to see him there. He was sitting in the middle of the bar, working on a broken barstool, a ridiculous complement of tools sprawled about him. His grin was so joyful it just warmed her from head to toe. But... there was still a disquieting feeling to her heart.
/Didn't I tell him to leave that alone? I can fix that myself, tomorrow. I still have Barret's old tool set.
/Why is he here?
/I mean, of course I'm happy to see him. And I was going to find him later today...
Her mind dropped its meanderings, because a navel orange had abruptly smashed into her face. It had rolled into Zack's work area when one of her grocery bags had ruptured, and he'd playfully thrown it back at her. But he didn't expect it to land squarely on her cute little nose. He was laughing uproariously.
/What could have distracted you, heh, Tifa? Fantasizing about me again?
/Gosh, I almost said that out loud. She would've beat the crap out of me...
"What happened to those legendary reflexes, I wonder," he mocked affectionately.
She refused to squander words of indignation on him. Instead, she bent down to retrieve the orange, and with a wicked smile, hurled it straight into his gut.
Apparently she'd miscalculated the force of her throw, because the orange had exploded on impact, and was now oozing its sweet, sticky juices all over his shirt.
"Oww..." he doubled over dramatically, and collapsed on the floor. "... and this was my best shirt too..."
That earned him a suspicious stare.
"Did I add insult to injury?"
"That's right. You owe me big, Lockheart."
She grinned maliciously, holding a plastic bag full of potatoes and onions.
"Want me to pay up?"
"Hey, don't kick a man when he's down... What kind of woman are you..." He shook his head, a disapproving frown upon his face.
When she gave him a steely stare, and he saw she wasn't moved by his plight, he shifted tactics.
/This always works on her, heh heh...
/Hey, that's low... you... you can't do that to me... her mind cried in alarm as he assumed a pose of dejected suffering.
Somehow, that patently fake expression of his always managed to melt her resolve into a thin, clear sap. Defeated, she dropped her ammunition and went to kneel at his side.
His hurt evaporated the moment she came to him, her smile rueful, her eyes warm and soft. She assessed the damage to his shirt as her hand gently stroke the side of his face.
"Don't worry. It'll come out in the wash. You can leave it in the back later, I'll take care of it."
/What? You don't want me to take it off now?
/God, I'd like to play with you, Tifa... but... I don't want to get thrown out. Your fists will probably hurt... but... it'll be worth it...
/Dammit... I just don't want you to stop trusting me... Will it ruin everything if I just kiss you right now?
"Hey, where are you?" She nudged him with one elbow, trying to shake that disturbingly glazed look off his face.
"On the floor, in your lap, I think." He grinned widely.
"In your dreams, buddy. Go and clean yourself up." Mercifully she hadn't dropped him on his head.
"You're a hard woman, Tifa..."
She gathered her remaining groceries and strode off in a huff.
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She'd brought him a sweatshirt, and he'd changed into that. He suspected it was Cloud's shirt, but he didn't want to ask her.
He resumed his repairs on the barstool, only a bit disappointed that she'd remained in the kitchen instead of returning out front.
/I wonder if she's making stew...
But he didn't have long to wonder, because she was soon sitting down beside him.
"Hey, can I talk to you a minute?"
"Sure." Something about her voice made him drop what he was doing and turn to her, his eyes suddenly concerned.
"I... I have something to tell you."
"What is it?"
"You've been here a lot... the last couple of weeks."
"Yeah... So?"
"Zack... you're a good friend, and you've helped me so much. But..." she continued awkwardly "...it can't be good for your social life to be stuck here with me all the time."
He was sorely tempted to tease her, to invite her to take care of his needs, but he couldn't-- he had a bad feeling about where this was going.
"So... I got you something." She gave him an embarrassed smile, and then pressed something into his hand. Something paper. His hand closed over hers for a moment, a few seconds longer than was necessary for her to hand over the...
Tickets.
He looked down at his hands. They were tickets. Two tickets to the Gold Saucer.
"Go and have fun with Lily, please," she urged. "I love having you around, but... you don't have to... take care of me so much." The briefest shy smile lit her face before she was all seriousness again. "I can balance the books. And it may not look like it, but I can fix chairs as well as break them." She gave him a warm, encouraging smile, and he felt a sharp pain stab his chest.
/You want me to take Lily to the Gold Saucer...
"Don't you think you've been neglecting her a little," she kidded him, her eyes still warm and smiling. He'd searched her face for any hint of jealousy, but could only come up with something a bit like wistfulness.
Well, it was sweet of her to do this, but... he couldn't take Lily. He didn't want to disappoint her, but he had to tell her. Better than dodging the subject of why he still hadn't taken Lily for weeks.
/What the hell. I've made up my mind. I was just waiting to tell you.
"Actually, Tifa..."
"Yeah?" She turned her gaze to him, concerned and attentive.
"I'm not with Lily anymore."
"W-what?"
"I broke up with her last week."
"Oh... That's why you've been hanging out here..." She nodded sympathetically. "It must've been hard for you..." But then a thought occurred to her. "... or... do you have someone new?"
"No! There isn't anyone new. There won't be."
Her eyes widened in surprise.
"Tifa... I broke up with Lily because she didn't want me to come here. I want to be here. I want to be with you."
For once his poker face slipped, revealing his suddenly naked fear. He was desperately searching her face for a sign that she'd heard what he said, and didn't want to run away.
But she was still shell-shocked, speechless. He swallowed hard, and continued on.
"I want to be with you. I don't care if it's as a friend. I don't care what you want to call it."
"But..." She'd finally managed a single word. It wasn't the one he'd hoped to hear, but he'd expected this...
"But what? You still love Cloud? You think I don't know that? I'm not thrilled about it, but... it doesn't mean we can't have fun together."
He moved a bit closer to her, his hand caressing her hair. "We don't have to do anything you don't want to. I don't care what we do. I mean, I do... but... just being with you... is enough. Just don't... make me leave you."
It was the first time she'd ever heard his voice break, and it was rending her heart.
It broke her paralysis, and she threw her arms around him, held him tight, her eyes squeezed shut. She could feel his heart racing as she pressed her face against his chest, tears spilling on his sweatshirt. His arms held her so tightly she couldn't breathe, but she didn't dare pull back, afraid he might take that as rejection.
Just a few seconds later, though, he loosened his arms with a muffled "sorry." He brought his hands up to trap her face beneath his gaze, and bit his lip nervously as he watched her.
She didn't trust her voice, but she couldn't keep him waiting. "Of course... I want you to... stay with me," she stammered. That was all she could say before he'd crushed her to him again.
This time she pulled back a little, smiling, and they stayed in each other's arms for a moment.
But then she abruptly looked up. "I want to be with you, too... but...what about... sex?"
He grinned at her tomato-red face, wishing she weren't so damn shy, but proud that she spoke so plainly.
"What about it?" He asked, feeling guilty for prolonging her unease as his hand delicately wiped at the remaining tear tracks on her cheeks.
"Do you... want me?" She asked hesitantly.
Though she shouldn't have been surprised, Tifa gasped as Zack drew her close for a kiss. She relaxed quickly, though, her eyes falling closed, her lips parting readily at the gentle insistence of his lips. He kissed her with such fervent hunger that she was left throbbing with need. Trembling with fear.
/Oh God... I... can't... not yet...
She'd heard his answer, but she'd also heard her own. A shattering need, backing down against a plea for just a little more time.
"I... I don't think... I'm ready... for sex... yet."
"It's ok," he answered quickly, his voice a little ragged.
"No, it's not," she replied, straining to lock gaze with him. "I... can't give you what you need..."
He looked at her troubled, knitted brow, and hurried to take the burden off her hands.
"Look, I'm not asking you to have my children already," his joke sounded forced, but his eyes were twinkling, and she smiled, grateful for his kindness and perspective.
"Let's just take this one step at a time, ok? I just wanted to drop the bullshit of dating Lily or some other girl. Other than sex, it was just a waste of time -- I was thinking about you all the time. And as for us..."
"I'll be honest with you. If you don't want me...yet... It's ok. I can wait. Not forever," he gave her a lopsided grin, "...but I can wait. You're worth it." His hand drifted from her cheek into her hair, and he let the chocolate strands slip between his fingers as his hand caressed the length of her hair.
"Don't feel pressured to say something you don't mean. I know you can't... forget Cloud just like that. But maybe if we just spend time together, you'll be able to make some good memories with me too."
She nodded, tears brimming in her eyes, as he took her in his arms again.
