Later in the evening, heavy lashes fluttered as burgundy became unveiled to survey the dark room for a moment. Judging by the darkness that enveloped the room, she hadn't been asleep long. Last she knew she was stumbling through the motions of desire with Reno. 'Oh no…' The thought dawned on her in an instant. 'He must think I'm such a loser…' She rolled over and her breath caught in her throat as she looked upon the fiery haired man that slept beside her. She was still lost in the grasp of alcohol and it regained its control on her inhibitions. She felt a desire reawaken that was not to be ignored.

Slowly, she inched down the bed, pulling the covers that hid him down along with her. She moved with fluid grace, in her best attempt not to wake him. Once the covers had met their demise at the foot of the bed, she slipped herself atop his sleeping form with surprising skill. How she managed the aforementioned without startling him in her drunken stupor would remain a mystery to her confused mind, but she brought slender fingers from his left side and toyed mercilessly at the silhouette that lay dormant beneath the fabric of his boxers, still damp from their midnight swim.

She listened as his breath caught and was replaced with a miniscule growl. She was surprised when he didn't awaken under her touch, but this worked to her advantage. The muscle began to respond to her dancing fingers, straining against the fabric even in his unconscious state. Artful fingers slipped beneath the fabric through the opening, gently and cautiously bringing him into her view. Pearled teeth nibbled against her plush bottom lip, as she raised her gaze to monitor his expression. He was still out like a light, though she was sure she'd have him awake by now. Luckily for her, fate gave her this one.

Slender digits proved adept once more as they encircled the base of his member, silken strands tickling his hips lightly as she dipped down, and—

'No! Don't wake up now!' His mind screamed, how horrible to have to wonder what the ending of such a dream would be like. Unfortunately for him, he was indeed waking up. Lashes tinged nearly the identical colour that dominated his head of hair, blinked harshly in attempt to push away the last bit of sleepiness. For a moment, turquoise rested upon the ceiling. His thoughts were interrupted when he heard a slightly audible sigh from beside him. His gaze strayed from the ceiling and landed upon the figure that rustled beneath the sheets, dark strands tossed about the pillow her head laid against.

'Wait… did we? Nah, I'd definitely remember… but this could be interesting.' His mind was unraveling memories from the night prior, and it was already becoming apparent that he could play mercilessly with her own mind. He immediately pushed himself closer within the sheets, bringing her limp arm around his waist as he listened to her breathing pattern. She was just about ready to wake up, so he pretended to be asleep while nudging her 'accidentally' with his knee.

Dark veils lifted quickly, deep eyes focusing on the familiarity of red hair. She gasped as she watched the first bits of sunlight flood the room, illuminating the fact that his upper torso was bare and revealing the slightly raised flesh where nails had been drug across the expanse of flesh. 'What happened…' her mind reeled, trying to remember what had transpired, but failing miserably. She attempted to move, but felt the press of his arm coming around her waist, where she also became aware of the fact that she was nearly naked.

"Oh… my… god." She stuttered loudly, pushing herself further away from him.

Upon the words she spoke, Reno finally gave up hoping that she might squeal or have any sort of funny reaction, she was clearly in shock. He opened his eyes slowly, keeping up the façade that he'd just started to wake up. His eyes met with hers and he received quite a glare, her lips pursed in a frown to exaggerate her expression.

"Morning, babe." His voice was soft and even, nothing like the startled tone she'd found in her own voice.

"Wh—what happened?" She pushed his arm off her side after removing her arm from his waist.

"Aw, I'm hurt. I can't believe it." He pouted.

"Oh no." She whispered. At once she pulled herself from the sheets, forgetting for a moment that she was half naked. Not that it mattered, if her suspicions were true. Reno's eyes wandered shamelessly over her curves in the morning sunlight, appreciating the perky set of hip bones that appeared just over the hem of lacey panties.

"I am one lucky guy." He propped himself up on an elbow, licking his lips devilishly.

"Shut up…" She winced as the sudden heaviness of her head settled upon her, a throbbing headache seeping in shortly after. She held her temples with slender fingers for a moment before slipping into the bathroom without a word. Reno was about to speak when she slammed the door shut.

'That went well.' He laughed a bit, almost wondering if he should come clean about the fact that nothing had really happened. Maybe if he wasn't so sure he'd have fun torturing her with little details about the evening that almost happened. He waited there in the bed as her listened to various noises coming from behind the closed door. Finally, she reappeared, one of the complimentary robes tied loosely around her.

"Why so shy, all of a sudden?" He smirked, watching as she blushed crimson.

"Reno… just tell me what happened, please." She drew closer to the bed, watching his eyes as they filled with ideas.

"Well, first you decided we should go skinny dipping… and then, you caused quite a disturbance downstairs. After that, you dragged me up here and well, you know." The signature smirk he wore grew as he gave a vague explanation, sure to drive her crazy.

"Skinny dipping?" The idea registered with her and the blush she wore became deeper. "A disturbance...?" She was having trouble understanding, and he was glad to help.

"Yep. You took off for the beach after we left the bar. You practically stripped upon arrival, and then had your way with me." He drug out the last sentence, insinuating she'd done some devious acts, though he only referenced her stripping him as well. "When you had enough of that, you decided you wanted to bring me back here."

"And then?" She was growing frustrated with his frequent pausing.

"You stormed through the lobby giggling, and once we were out of the inn keeper's view, you shoved me against the wall and begged me to do you right then and there." He was having too much fun watching the shocked expression flood her blushing features. "Then some guy came out and flipped you off, and you tried to kill 'im. I had to break that argument up."

"I did what now?" She covered her mouth with shaky hands.

"You were about to punch him when I stopped you. Then you brought me back here… and the rest, well… I could give you a reenactment?" His grin faded, watching as she glared heavily. Had she agreed, he would have had her pick up where his dream left off. Much to his disappointment, she shook her head furiously.

"That's okay… I—" She paused, finally allowing her head to stop shaking. "I must have drunk more than I could handle."

"That you did." He agreed. Suddenly he felt a bit of guilt wash over, as she buried her head in her hands. 'Why do I feel guilty…? I barely know her.' He questioned. "You okay, Tif?"

"Am I okay? No! I'm not. I can't remember a thing about last night and I—I … I don't know you very well and… Cloud… he…" That's about when the salted tears began to trail down her flawless cheeks. Reno really began to feel guilty at that point. He rose from beneath the sheets, standing at the side of the bed. Her knees looked as though they could give out any moment. He reached out with both arms; pulling her close and wrapping his arms around her while she buried her head against his chest.

The guilt became unbearable as he pondered whether or not to just spill the beans about they're lack of intimacy, but then it dawned on him. As he stroked the back of her head, breathing in the scent she wore, he realized that he'd already begun to like her. 'Crazy shit…' He wasn't usually one to be so easily won over, especially since he'd earned his reputation. If he let her in on that little fact, he assumed she would jump for joy and catch the next ride back home without giving him a second thought.

She sunk further into his arms, the moisture of her tears slipping down his chest and adding to the list of reasons why he should tell her the truth, but nothing came.

"How long are you here…?" She asked, between broken sighs.

"For a while." He really was.

"Can we figure this out?" She pulled away, looking at him with wet eyes.

"Sure, Tif." He didn't even know what she meant, but he agreed to make her happy. He watched with satisfaction as a tiny smile washed over pastel lips.

"Meet me on the beach at noon, then." She requested. He glanced at the clock for a moment,

"Tif, it is noon."

"Oh! Then… one?" She nearly laughed at her confusion.

"Of course." He kissed her cheek and released her, reluctantly heading for the door. Once he'd gone beyond the threshold, with the door being closed behind him, she sunk into the bed.

'What am I going to do? I can't just forget about this…act like it never happened. This breaks anything that could happen with Cloud. That's all there is to it. He'd never forgive me for acting this way, I'm sure of it. I let him down, but then again… whenever we get close, he goes back to thinking about her. Maybe I should accept that nothing would have happened, even if I hadn't done this. Maybe I should move on… but with Reno? That's impossible. I don't know him very well at all… and what I do know is that he's not the relationship type. He probably doesn't even like me. But you can't just have sex with someone and stroll away into the sunset. Well, I'm sure he does. But I don't… I have to find a way to make this okay. What am I supposed to do! I hate this indecisive nature.'

Engulfed in her thoughts, she hadn't even noticed the clock hit 12:30. She came about five minutes later, startled by the time. She couldn't very well go in her robe. She hurried into the bathroom and swept her messy hair into a haphazard pony tail. Once her face was washed, she applied a light amount of makeup to cover the dark circles beneath her eyes and the redness that dominated her nose. Hair was set loose once again, and she pulled on a pair of cotton shorts and tank top, finishing her lazy look with a pair of flip flops in attempt to make being at the beach comfortable.

Reno had already made it to the beach, not bothering to falter from his normal attire. Of course, strolling through the hotel to his own room had been enough show of skin for the day. He was fairly certain one old lady had passed out when he bumped past her in the hall. He sat on a bench near the beginning of the sand, staring into the horizon and pondering over various thoughts.

Tifa had arrived ten minutes late, surveying the scene as she looked for the telltale red hair. Upon finding him in the bench, she began to feel butterflies in her stomach. She nearly turned to leave when he caught sight of her. He motioned for her to come over, and she froze, knowing she couldn't just run. She slowly made her way to the bench, sitting beside him when she did.

He grinned as he noticed the high cut of the shorts, not that he hadn't seen her legs in much more revealing ways. She caught him and sent her elbow into his side, "Quit that."

"I can't look?" He grinned innocently.

"Not now." She shook her head.

"Then later?"

'Bad choice of words, Tifa.' "Maybe." She found herself lost, normally words came easily, but now they seemed minimal.

"What did you want to know, babe?" He changed the subject, worrying for the safety of his pride if she decided to smack him right there for being his usual self.

"I don't know. I just want to know why, I guess. Were you drunk?"

"Heavily buzzed, but I guess I couldn't have been totally blitzed, because I remembered what happened when I woke up." 'Liar.'

"So… I guess you didn't take advantage of me completely. So why?"

"Tifa…" he groaned. He didn't like expressing things in an in-depth way.

"Please, it might make me feel a little better."

'If you put it that way…' "You are gorgeous, Tif. You're fun too. Call it caught in the moment." 'Piece of shit liar. Well, not completely. But still… liar.'

"Really?" She looked up at him for the first time since arriving, studying his face for a moment. "You're not so bad yourself." She thought on those words after letting them out, was she serious? He'd once destroyed her home and business, her life essentially. Yet he'd helped her in two instances. Once during the reunion, and once just today. He made her feel appreciated like she hadn't felt in a long time. Maybe he wasn't so bad.

"Thanks. Now, can we get off the hard stuff?" He chuckled in attempt to lighten the mood.

"I guess." She gave in, hearing him sigh in relief. "So what now?"

"Tif! I thought we were done with the hard stuff for now?" He exclaimed playfully.

"I didn't mean it that way." She feigned innocence. She really did. She wanted to know what he wanted from her. Was it just that night, or would he want to be friends?

"Oh. As in what do we do right now?" He grinned when she nodded. "I guess drinking is out."

He received a slight punch to the side for his sarcasm, she certainly didn't feel up to being drunk a second night in a row. One was plenty. He flinched one eye shut as he felt the contact, giving her a nice glare for her exaggerated reaction. She always hit harder than she thought.

"Sorry!" He rubbed his side where she had hit. "What do you feel like doing?"

"Hm. No skinny dipping, that's for sure." She giggled at the idea of going skinny dipping. The strangest things always happen when you drink too much.

"Well, let me take you to dinner?" The suave expression he wore made her want to punch him again. He was so cocky sometimes. Alas, she couldn't really turn him down, if she wanted to find out what exactly he wanted with her.

"Well…" She pretended to think on it, drawing him in anticipation. "I suppose." She agreed to his invitation.

"Go change, then. Meet me back here."

"Change?"

"Yep. Put on something nice." He winked at her with that smirk he usually had when he was scheming something.

"Oh! There you go with that mystery crap again." She huffed.

"Yeah, yeah. Just do it, Tif. You'll have fun with me, I promise." To say he had confidence would be an understatement.

"Fine, I'll be back." She turned and left promptly, and he watched as she headed in the direction of the inn. That was his cue to sneak off and grab a quick surprise for her, before she returned.

So that was chapter three. I really am having fun with this, and trying to keep it real as well. I do hope that you have enjoyed the story thus far. Thank you to those who have reviewed, it's very much appreciated.

And if you're a fan of the pair, join the fanlisting at paint-the-sky . org / reti (no spaces of course)