Chapter 55: Obvious

Can you hear it in my voice?

Was it something I let slip?

Does the whole world know?

Isn't it obvious?

I'm the one who's in control

Now I'm acting like a fool

Do my feelings show?

Is my face aglow?

Oh, isn't it obvious?

That I don't know what I'm doing anymore

I'm feeling like a little girl

Caught up in emotions

I'm out of control

Isn't it obvious?

Obvious – Christine Aguilera

Cloud was released from the hospital two days later, on Wednesday. Before he left Aeris went to see James. He was sat in bed reading a magazine. He smiled as she came in.

"Hey."

"Hi. How are you feeling?" She asked, sitting down.

"You mean apart from the hole in my stomach? Pretty good." He replied. "The doctors are letting me out in a couple of days."

"Had many visitors?"

"A couple from University and my Dad's been in." he replied.

"I'm sorry about this James." Aeris said.

"Don't worry about it. You didn't stab me."

Aeris sighed.

"I know. I just seem to have got everyone hurt lately."

"You didn't do it on purpose. And everything's worked out for the better." James pointed out. Aeris smiled just as a nurse came in.

"I'd better go. Cloud's checking out and I want to make sure he's OK."

"OK. I'll see you."

She nodded and left. Before she went to find Cloud and the others she went to see Eric Gainsborough. He was sitting up, struggling to eat his meal with one of his arms in a cast and the other holding needles. He looked surprised as she came in.

"Aeris."

"I just wanted to let you know that it's over. Palmer's been caught and Cloud's going to be OK."

"Thank god…" he closed his eyes.

"When are you coming out of hospital?" She asked.

"Another week or so. I'll have to come back for therapy though."

"When you come out of hospital… you stay away from my friends and family."

He looked up at her. She stared down at him with cold eyes.

"Aeris, I-"

"I mean it Eric. All of my friends were this close to being killed because of you. I don't want you to come near them or me ever again. If you do I will call the police. So don't you dare to try and contact us again. When you've finished with the hospital you leave Midgar and don't come back. Got it?"

Eric didn't reply. Eventually he just closed his eyes.

"I'm your father…" he murmured.

"No. I have a father. You're not him." Aeris told him.

"Don't do this Aeris."

"It's already done." She said quietly and left the room without another word.

They took Cloud to Barret's Café. There Barret had cooked a celebratory meal.

"We survived a brush with a psycho and we're all alive. I say that deserves a celebration." He said. Everyone looked at the large plates and grinned at each other.

Whilst they ate the telephone rang. Barret answered and looked over at Aeris.

"Aeris? It's your parents." Aeris wiped her mouth and went to the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hey, it's your Mom."

"Hi Mom. What's up?"

"Just checking up on you. Also, we wanted to invite everyone over on Saturday to say thanks for helping you. We can have a meal or something."

"That sounds great Mom! I'll ask them now."

She covered the mouthpiece of the phone and looked at the table.

"Hey, Mom wants you all to come over for a meal on Saturday."

"Sounds good. Is she… cooking?" Cloud asked delicately. Aeris grinned.

"Hey, Mom, they can come. Can I talk to Dad for a second?"

"Sure. Matthew, your daughter is on the phone."

A moment later her dad said,

"Hi sweetie. Can they come?"

"Yeah, but we were just wondering who would be preparing the meal?" Aeris asked. Matthew laughed.

"Don't worry, I'll get it all prepared."

"Oh thank god. We'll see you Saturday." Aeris returned to the table.

"We're OK. Dad's doing it."

Later on, as they were clearing the plates away Barret said,

"Yuffie, Aeris, we've got an Open Mic Night on Friday. Can I sign you up?"

"Sure! I haven't sung in a while." Yuffie agreed. Aeris nodded.

"That'll be fun. It'll be interesting to see me play the guitar though." She held up her broken wrist. There was a knock at the door and they turned to see Marlene, Mike and the Turks outside. Tifa let them in.

Mike turned to Aeris and looked her up and down, shaking his head.

"I let you out of my sight for ten minutes and this happens… what am I going to do with you Aeris?"

"Forgive me?"

"I guess I'll have to. Sephiroth would kill me if we lost you." Mike said, hugging her. Aeris laughed.

"We're all fine. We have to give evidence in court next week but other than that…"

"Wonderful. And the documentary is airing on Saturday afternoon. We postponed it after the accident to keep the press off your back."

"Yay, we can watch it with your parents, Aeris!" Cloud grinned happily.

"And then perhaps we can get your naked baby photos out, Cloud." Aeris shot back. Cloud blushed as Tifa looked interested.

They sat down with coffee. Elena examined them all.

"You've gotta be more carefully guys. I mean, Aeris has still got a cast on, Tifa's got the traces of a black eye, Vincent's in a wheelchair and now Cloud's got bandages wrapped around his head. People are gonna start thinking you've been fighting or something."

"Yup, we're trouble-makers." Tifa said, pouring more coffee.

"That's us. Uncontrollable." Cloud agreed. They all laughed. Aeris sat down next to Elena and as the other started talking she asked,

"Did Rufus call?"

"Nope, but I'm over him. He's a loser."

"A very rich, handsome, famous loser."

"Exactly. They're the worst kind." Elena smiled. Aeris looked around to check that no one was listening and whispered,

"Did you think about what I said? About Reno?"

"Aeris, come on. We're best friends. I've known him since we started high school together."

"It just makes you even more perfect for each other! C'mon Elena. Look at him."

They both glanced over at Reno who was laughing at something Yuffie had just said. Aeris turned to Elena.

"You can't say he's not good-looking."

"I'm not saying he isn't."

"And you can't claim that he's not funny."

"Of course he's funny!"

"And nice." Aeris persisted.

"Well obviously."

"So what's the problem?" Aeris asked.

"He's Reno."

"…that's not a reason El." Aeris said quietly. Elena shook her head.

"Look, Aeris, have you ever considered dating Cloud?"

"Ew, no! We've known each other since we were in diapers! Completely different to you and Reno!"

"How is it different?"

"Because you and Reno would make a nice couple!" Aeris cried. Elena shook her head in despair.

"You're crazy. What is in those painkillers?"

"It's not the painkillers, its common sense. Tifa?" Tifa, who was sitting on Aeris' other side looked over.

"What?"

"Do you think that Reno and Elena would make a great couple?"

"Totally! They look so sweet together!" Tifa agreed. Elena snorted.

"There must be something in the coffee here. You're all barking mad."

About an hour later Marlene and Mike leave.

"We're meeting Sephiroth to catch him up on your condition. We'll see you later." Mike told Aeris. Elena got up too.

"I've gotta go too. I'll see you tomorrow guys. See you later!" She waved goodbye as she left. As soon as they were gone Aeris and Tifa called Reno over.

"Reno, we need to talk to you." Aeris said quietly. Reno grinned.

"Sure."

They sat with him at a separate table. Tifa took a deep breath.

"Reno, we want to know what you think about Elena."

"El? What do you mean, what do I think about her? She's my friend." He said, confused.

"Yeah, but… do you think she could be anything more than that?" Aeris asked.

"You mean, like a girlfriend? Nah, she's my best friend. It'd be weird." Reno said, pulling a face.

"C'mon, you can't tell me that you've never thought about her as girlfriend material."

"Maybe when we were like seventeen. I had a crush on her but I never did anything about it. I got over it eventually." Reno said, shrugging. Aeris smiled.

"But look at her. She's gorgeous."

"Well sure."

"So why don't you ask her out?"

"Because… because… she's Elena."

"But don't you think that you should at least try? You two are so clearly made for each other!" Tifa insisted. Reno stared at her.

"What? You think so?"

"Isn't it obvious? You would make the most adorable couple ever." Aeris smiled. Reno stared at them both and then at the door, where Elena had been only moments before.

"Me and Elena? Really?"

He didn't speak for a few minutes. Aeris and Tifa smiled at each other. Then Reno shook his head, not to say no but because the whole situation was clearly confusing him.

"I need coffee. You guys have got me all muddled up now."

Reno returned to the table. Yuffie darted over, curious.

"What's going on?"

"We're going to try and set up Reno and Elena." Tifa explained. Yuffie clasped her hands together.

"Oh, you should! They'd be perfect for each other!" Aeris and Tifa both started laughing. Tifa grinned at her friend.

"See? This is just what you need. Something to keep you busy and stop you worrying. A little match-making is exactly what we need."

"Meddling in the private lives of others? Sounds like my kinda thing." Aeris agreed.

They rejoined the main table. The guys all looked at them suspiciously.

"What are you guys so happy about?" Reeve asked.

"Girl stuff." They said in unison. Cloud shook his head.

"Oh no. You're not getting away with that excuse again. Come on; tell us what's going on." The other guys made sounds of agreement, except Reno who looked worried. Yuffie sighed.

"It's really nothing. See, I was having a little problem with my make up."

"Make up? And you had to go sit at another table to discuss it?" Reeve asked, confused.

Yuffie glared at him.

"Gawd, Reeve! You so don't get it!"

"Sorry, I just don't get what the big deal is." Reeve said, shrugging. Yuffie's face crumpled.

"Oh… you don't understand me at all! You don't care about me!" Tears ran down her face and she darted for the bathroom. Aeris and Tifa glared at the men.

"Look what you did, jerks!"

"Next time, when we say it's a girl thing, will you just let it go?" They all looked suitably ashamed

Aeris and Tifa followed Yuffie to the bathroom where she was waiting for them.

"Did they fall for it?" She asked eagerly, wiping the tears from her face.

"Oh yeah!" Tifa said and they fell about laughing. Aeris wiped her eyes.

"I didn't know how good an actress you were Yuffie!"

"Hey, living with my Dad? I learned all the tricks. Fake tears, temper tantrums, faking sickness."

"When should we tell them that it wasn't real?" Tifa asked. Yuffie considered for a minute.

"We wait in here for a few minutes and then go out. Let them apologise and grovel for a while and then we can let them know!"

"Good plan!" Aeris said, grinning. Tifa sighed, stretching her arms.

"You know what? I think we might just have a semi normal day tomorrow. No psychos, no kidnappings, no injuries…"

"Sounds boring. Can't wait." Aeris agreed.

(A/N: Filler, filler all around so let's all leave a review! Lol, next chapter will be here soon. And as for this chapter… I don't know, I'm just filling up on making Reno and Elena look awkward. And hey, if it entertains me I'm hoping it'll entertain you too! Please review before you go and tune in for the next exciting chapter of I'll Be There For You!)