Stuck On You

By: General Quistis (generalquistis@yahoo.com)

Disclaimer: I don't own the Squaresoft characters… I own my brain, this story plot and myself. I don't own anything… I don't even own the world, okay?

Author's note: I know that this is such a very unusual pairing: Scarlet+Reeve….. but I'm writing this for my two friends with the same alias. Heck, they love each other… -.-' And thanks to the persuasion of my friend Tifa (a.k.a. ShinRa Bleeding Beauty), I regained strength to continue this… she even offered to help. Muchisimas gracias, mi amiga. =)

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SEVEN: Sick n Lovin' It! Kya~h!

            Three weeks of silent treatment from Scarlet did not really drive him to the brink of insanity but sometimes, to just fight to urge to talk to her, he just started talking to the wall.

Unfortunately, he got so worried when he realized that Scarlet never joined him for any meal in the last twenty-one days that they were together inside the ShinRa Mansion.

So he just decided to talk to her, "Scarlet," he began.

She just looked up at him as she remained lying down on the sofa in the living room. She had this tired look on her face and she looked very pale… not to mention, he noticed that she has shed a few pounds.

"Are you turning into an anorexic or something?" he demanded from her as he crossed his arms across his chest.

She didn't answer, but in her mind, she was thinking, "It's your fault, you insensitive fool!"

He knelt down beside the sofa where she lay and just stared at her with a blank look on his face. "Are you just going to remain that way until you turn into a skeleton in front of President Rufus and Miss Tifa's eyes?" he asked.

Still no answer.

"Scarlet," he began with a stern tone and a stiff look on his face.

"Uh-oh… he's angry… I can feel the tension… Kyah…" she thought silently as she stiffened. For some reason, ever since they got stuck inside the mansion, she felt somewhat afraid of him… like he was some kind of dangerous animal or something… though upon reflecting on the past, she found him very vulnerable and very sensitive and easily harmed… but now, she couldn't do anything. "Stupid Scarlet… stupid, stupid, stupid! KYAH! Don't tell me you've turned into some weak girl and you're letting this ass dominate your life? He should be the one sleeping on this stupid sofa and starving to death!" she could hear her own conscience scolding her, mocking her, but she didn't bother to listen. She just shrugged at Reeve. "Kyah," she uttered. "And what's with those eyebags again? He looks like a haggard now… does he ever sleep?!" she thought silently. She was losing energy to nag him and scream at him… and it worried him so much because he thought that there must really be something wrong with her whenever she's so quiet and not doing anything…

"You want to eat something, Scarlet?" he asked gently, this time, his eyes reflected too much worry.

"Oh great, this guy's really worried about me? How nice…" she thought sarcastically as she continued to stare at him.

Silence.

She closed her eyes.

He snapped.

He just picked her up, carrying her up in his arms…therefore, making her open her eyes and they were wide in awe as she started to scream in sudden panic and shock. "KYAH!!!!! What the hell are you doing to me!? Put me down, you hairy man!"

He headed for the stairs with her. "Oh no, Scarlet. If you're going to sleep, I'll just let you have the bed. I'm sorry if I had to put you through these things… but I can't let my conscience nag me for the next many days that we'll be remaining here!" he admitted without shame as he headed upstairs.

"Kyah! Put me down, you stupid Urban Development dork!" she screamed angrily.

"Oh good, you're talking already! Maybe I could relax now and finally I can stop worrying about you and then I can finally get some sleep!" he told her as he rushed to his bedroom and dropped her on the bed.

She bounced a little because of its softness but she was staring up at him in awe and disbelief. "You… you're worried about me?" she asked.

He froze and moved away. "I didn't say anything," he muttered under his breath before leaving the room and shutting the door.

She suddenly felt her heart racing. "Reeve… you're suddenly worried about this so-called whore?" she thought to herself.

A few moments later, Reeve came in again, this time carrying a tray with a microwave dinner, a bowl of salad and a glass of water on it. "Now, eat this or I'll personally see to it that all of this slides down your throat," he said, handing her the tray.

She looked at her meal, then at Reeve. "Kyah… that was fast! How come you're suddenly babysitting me?"

"Because President Rufus will kill me if I kill you. Now, please eat that stuff…"

"Kyah…" she didn't really know what to say. She just watched quietly as Reeve began to scoop up some mashed potatoes with the spoon and directed it to her mouth. She just opened her mouth to eat it if it would mean that Reeve would stop bothering her.

"That's a good girl." He said with a gentle smile on his face as if he was talking to a child.

She made a face at him and swallowed. "I can feed myself, you know?" she asked.

"No, no, no, Scarlet. Let Mister Reeve hold the spoon for you. You are still weak." He insisted with a wink.

"Well then stop talking to me like I'm a little girl!" she snapped impatiently before Reeve shoved a spoonful of buttered vegetables into her mouth.

"Just eat, Scarlet. And stop talking; you might choke." He commanded.

She shut her mouth and just chewed while she uneasily lowered her gaze to her hands. She couldn't bear to look at Reeve because of his kindness and concern. "Darn it… why him?" she thought silently as she felt herself blushing.

He smiled. "See? The color is returning to your face. You were very pale a while ago… I must admit you had me very worried back there," he said as he got the bowl of salad and began to scoop up some lettuce and tomatoes with the fork.

"Really?" she asked as she touched her face.

"Well yeah," he replied, feeling a little embarrassed. He knew that they never really got along, but he couldn't believe that he was telling her personal stuff… like his feelings.

Her eyes grew wide when she realized that all her make-up had faded off. She had been lying on that couch for too long, she didn't even consider taking care of her beauty. "Ugh! Shit! The make-up is gone!" she muttered miserably.

He stared at her. "So that's why you look different," he said, finally realizing that Scarlet looked… better.

He smiled. "…and younger," he thought silently. "Like she's only a little bit older than Elena…" he thought silently as he chuckled lightly. "No, don't despair about that, Scarlet. You're better off without it." He said reassuringly.

"Hmf, what do you know about make-up?" she snapped impatiently as she crossed her arms across her chest.

"Well for sure you look younger without it," he said.

Her frown disappeared as she stared up at him in awe. "Is that an insult?" she asked, wanting to be sure.

He frowned at her. "No, it isn't, Scarlet, it's like you've been into a complete makeover… and guess what, you look more beautiful that way!" he replied casually. Can't she at least trust him even for a little bit?

She fell silent as she studied his face. "Kyah… well then maybe it's high time for your own make-over too!" she said with a sly smile. She had this nasty feeling that she wanted to insult him as she reached out for his face, startling him that he almost dropped everything on her. She touched his face gently, tracing her fingers along his goatee and his mustache. "You look like a goat with these! Kyahahahahahahahaha! Maybe you should shave them so that your charms will improve and maybe you'll look like an innocent sheep!" she mocked.

He raised an eyebrow at her but to her surprise, he did not push her hand away. Feeling embarrassed, she just withdrew her hand from him.

He smiled calmly at her. "Thank you for the suggestion, Scarlet." He said gently before proceeding to feed her.

She just kept quiet. "Gee… he seems calm already. No use teasing or annoying him. Maybe I should just quit it with pestering him. The poor guy might snap and end up killing me… Kyah…" she thought silently as she opened her mouth to take in a spoonful of mashed potatoes.

As she ate quietly, he kept on babbling about different kinds of stuff like the things going on in ShinRa HQ before they got stuck together, Rufus's engagement to Tifa, the upcoming wedding on the next month and all other kinds of stuff. He even mentioned things about his family, most especially his parents and how he admired their simplicity. He also mentioned stuff about himself; what his interests are and what he hated the most.

"What was your childhood like?" she blurted out the question. She couldn't believe that she suddenly became so interested in his life… and that she could somewhat relate to him in a weird way that she herself could not even understand.

He smiled surprisingly at her, not expecting that she was really listening to him. He took a deep breath before speaking up again. "It was fun. I got to play a lot of games with all the other kids in the neighborhood. I also played games with my parents. My mom would usually play hide and seek with me… or take me swimming in Costa del Sol. My dad would even take me fishing with him or take me to ice cream after school… well… remembering all these… I miss them…" he said with a sad smile on his face as he lowered his gaze to her hands.

She just looked into his eyes, reading the sadness in them, but she didn't say anything.

Reeve looked up at her again. "What about you?" he asked.

"Huh?" she asked, raising her eyebrows at him.

"What was your childhood like?" he asked.

She bit her lower lip. "I'd rather not talk about it," she said.

"C'mon, that's unfair." He snapped.

She shook her head. "Well… it just makes me sad because it was happy… then I entered ShinRa and everything became horrible… for my reputation, at least…" she said.

He put down everything on the bedside table and leaned forward to her, scanning her eyes. "Do you wanna talk about it and tell me everything?" he asked.

She just stared ridiculously at him.

"C'mon, Scarlet! Let me be your private psychologist for a while. Besides, there's nothing more to do here, right?" he asked.

"In your dreams," she muttered.

"C'mon, if you don't let it all out, it's gonna keep on bothering you until you go crazy! That's really going to be bad because people are going to talk about you more and more and more and you'll go crazy even more and more and more and…"

"Alright, alright, alright! Enough with that more and more and more stuff of yours." She snapped impatiently as she pounded on the bed.

He smiled at her, but before she could start, he mentioned it for her already, "Don't worry, Scarlet, I promise that everything will just be between me and you." He told her.

She stared unbelievably at him before looking away. "Well… what do you want to know about me?" she asked.

"Everything that's bothering you. C'mon, I know you feel bad about several things that's why you're acting the way you do most of the time in front of people… and you end up hurting even the nicest of those people, like, for example, Miss Tifa." He said.

She bit her lower lip before sighing heavily as she lowered her gaze onto the sheets underneath her. "I don't know what hit me… I know that I was once this happy young lady who loved and appreciated everyone, until I got a little work in ShinRa to earn some cash. What I've learned when I stepped into the corporate world: that it's a shark tank and it's like survival of the fittest. Rufus's dad was the President back then. It was so annoying being the only woman in the workplace…" she began. Reeve nodded his head, letting her know that he was really listening.

She blinked twice before looking up at him and proceeded, "… he told me that if I want to survive living in that shark tank, I have to be one of the toughest sharks. So I started to change myself so that people won't step on me. I was forced to kill people… you know, working like a Turk? And eventually, I got used to being the mean nasty girl… until I ended up stepping on other people and hating them for not reason at all…" she trailed off as she lowered her gaze to her hands. She realized that she was softening up and that her tears were filling in her eyes already.

Reeve frowned slightly as he noticed her crying.

"I… enough already… I feel sick…" she said softly as she bowed down her head and wiped her tears away. He touched her forehead and felt a fever coming. "Oh dear… now look what you've done to yourself for not eating for several days." He scolded.

"Kyah… I don't think that being anorexic can give you fevers," she said jokingly.

"Haha, very funny, Scarlet. Now, just lay down and rest." He said as he guided her head onto the pillow, but couldn't help noticing the fact that she was still weeping. He sat down on the bed beside her and bent down slightly to get a better view of her face and wiped her tears away with the back of his hand. "Now stop crying. You wouldn't wanna get all snotty and end up having a hard time breathing," he said.

She nodded like a good girl as she smiled gently at him.

He smiled at her. "Is this woman Scarlet or another woman? Gee… maybe there are ghosts in this house and she got possessed…" he thought silently.

They stared at each other's faces for several more minutes before he suddenly lowered his head closer to her face until she felt his lips on hers for gentle but sweet kiss.

Surprised at herself, Scarlet found herself disappointed when she realized that it ended too soon; yet she was wide-eyed as she stared back unbelievably at him.

He smiled sweetly at her. "You want to tell me something, Scarlet?" he asked.

She just stared back at him and said a hoarse "Kyah…"

He chuckled lightly before he moved away from her, picked up the tray of food and left the room without saying anything else, but as he walked down the hallway, he had this disgusted look on his face. "WHAT THE HELL DID I JUST DO?!?!?" his inner self was screaming at him.

Scarlet was still blushing. Now her name matched the color of her face…

"I think I'm going to die of scarlet fever… kyah…" she thought miserably as she covered her whole body with the blanket, hoping that he wouldn't show his face to her ever again, but in her heart, she wanted to see him.

***

            Reeve got up from the couch after glancing at the clock that read "11:00 pm". "Better check on Scarlet if she's already dead. Hah…" he muttered. He stopped in his tracks. "That's such a nasty thing to say…" he said to himself as he smacked himself with his hand.

With that, he rushed upstairs and went to the room where he had left Scarlet. Thinking she was already asleep, he switched off the lights and was about to leave, but he stopped when he heard her shift.

He turned back to her with a serious look on his face before he decided to approach her again. She was looking up at him with a tired look on her face. "You okay, Scarlet?" he asked with a concerned tone.

She reached out her hand to him and he immediately took it without hesitation, squeezing it gently as he sat down beside her on the bed.

She did not say anything; she just sat up and took him in her arms and kissed him passionately.

To his own surprise, Reeve found himself returning her kisses.

With that, no other words were spoken between them the whole night…

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Author's note: KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! @o@ I feel so ashamed writing this….. -.-' I can hear Scarlet telling me, "You're a shame to humankind!" kyah….. ;_; *hides behind Seifer*