Remember that confusion you feel transitioning from high school to college, and college to adult working life? Or in less 'serious' situations, the confusion you feel when you're trying to cook a new dish without referring to the recipe, or you're trying to clean something but there are too many products to choose from and you don't know which ones work best.

Like you know where you're expected to go, and what you want to do, but you don't know how to start or how to go through it without acting like a total noob.

For Tifa, this is how things are with Aerith ever since that night the other woman made her love known.

They've gone out on dates, hang out at each other's places, make out and have sex, as per usual… but their boyfriends are still their boyfriends.

It's almost like they've decided to salt away whatever happened and go on with life like they normally do.

Tifa would be lying if she says she doesn't find any of this weird…

But in her defence, she hasn't broached the subject of breaking up with their boyfriends and going serious with each other because there seems to be a lack of interest on Aerith's part to do it.

Aerith's still clearing schedules for Zack, still spends hours texting and calling him, and still happy to be under his arm whenever she can in public.

Tifa, on the other hand, has to find it in herself to learn to be somewhat okay with the asshole because by Minerva's name, she loves Aerith enough to do it.

And Cloud isn't going to stop bringing her to events organised by the asshole.

Those are the reasons why it's a Sunday and she's laying on a reclining chair, drinking a glass of cocktail and judging a crowd of partygoers who're taking a swim at the backyard pool of the asshole's home.

Truth be told, she would rather be at home, catching up with the Gift of the Goddess.

"Mind if I sit next to you?"

She turns to see who's asking and lo and behold, it's the asshole himself. He's shirtless, so she can see the hickeys around his neck and his chest, probably left by Aerith.

And on the lower right side of his stomach, there's also the same tattoo of yellow and white flowers that Aerith has on her thigh.

"Sure," she says, holding back from rolling her eyes away.

He lays on the recliner next to her with his arms behind his head.

There's not a minute that goes by without people who're eager to greet and banter with him. He responds to them all with his typical easy-going behaviour.

It never fails to amaze Tifa how easy it seems for everybody else to dismiss the other side of him.

"You're not taking a dip?" he asks.

"Nah, I'm good."

He chuckles, the type that would have made her fall all over him… if he wasn't such a pig with a pisspot of a mouth.

"Why not? It's a pool party. How can you not be in a pool?"

"My sunscreen's going to be washed off. Can't have that and ruin my skin."

It's all bullshit, she knows. They make waterproof sunscreens for a reason. But who cares? She's not obliged to give reasons that make sense.

"One fussy chick, aren't you? Well, no surprises there. With a body like yours… I get why Cloud's all over you."

His remark makes her squirm a little.

What does Cloud have anything to do with any of this? Is he hitting on her? Or is that a dig?

She glances at him, hoping to read whatever's on his face but he's not even looking at her. There's also not a single hint of a smile.

Odd.

He adjusts his voice, then seems a little too keen to veer their conversation away. "Cloud told me about your exhibition… how did it go?"

"It went well. It helps with our sales."

"That's great. I should go to one of yours one day, since you came to mine."

"Sure. I'll let you know if I'm holding one again next time."

An awkward pause between them ensues. She doesn't mind because she's counting the time until he leaves… but he's clearly not leaving anytime soon.

And her guts are telling her that he has something more to say.

"You and me… we have something in common, don't we?" he asks, eyes fixed onto the pool.

Tifa tilts her head sideways, not knowing where this conversation is going. "We… do?"

"Aerith… She makes you feel something, doesn't she?"

When she doesn't answer, he looks at her and grins. "She makes you feel wanted. She makes you feel like there's someone out there who cares about you. She makes you feel loved… you're in love with her, aren't you?"

He doesn't even let her answer before he carries on, "I know what you are to my girlfriend. I can't blame you for it. I am in love with her."

The cat's out of the bag but Tifa's too agitated to be worried about the consequences. What she's trying to figure out now is why's the asshole bringing all of this up?

"What are you trying to tell me here, Zack?"

"What I'm trying to tell you here is no matter how much you convince yourself that she's in love with you, she's not. She's still going to choose me. You can lick and eat each other's pussies all you want but it's this cock right here she's going to go back to at the end of the day. It must suck for you but it is what it is."

The volume of his voice has climbed up so high that everyone around the pool area must have heard him. But he sure doesn't give a damn about it.

So does Tifa.

To hell with everybody else. She has to do something to this man. And there's one and only one thing she wants to do.

She doesn't remember how it started. The only thing that she's able to process is the feel of her fists smacking against Zack's face a couple of times before they're rolling on the ground, punching and kicking at each other.

She pummels him wherever she can – his chest, his stomach, his legs, and his face several more times. If she can't reach any part of him, she's pulling at his hair which is, thank Minerva, long enough to grab in whichever angle.

It doesn't matter what she's doing, she just wants to beat the shit out of him.

He's beating her too and her body fucking hurts everywhere but this is nothing new.

She has taken beatings all throughout her life, including from the very person who's supposed to be her protector – her dad. Zack's punches and kicks? They're ant bites compared to the injuries and bruises she had sustained all throughout her childhood and teenage years.

So she has no intention of stopping. She's going to keep beating him up until the asshole in him – the filth in his soul or whatever shit people name it, flies out of his worthless body.

"What the FUCK! Stop it, you guys!"

Within seconds, her arms feel like they're about to fall off as someone forcibly pulls her away. She almost sprinted towards Zack again, if not for the person who's holding her back.

She shoots the person a glare and finds that it's Cloud who's frowning down at her.

Zack's standing about 13 feet away, curbed by the arms of the barrier man. Aerith's next to him, also wearing a frown on her face.

"FUCKING BITCH! I'm going to fucking kill you!"

"Zack, stop it!" Aerith yells, quickly shutting him down.

"She started this!"

"You provoked her, didn't you?"

Zack's quiet for some time with his nostrils flaring, absolutely peeved that Aerith's not taking his side.

"This is all your fault!" he goes on to say, seemingly redirecting all his anger towards his girlfriend. "I let you whores have your ways with each other but falling in love? Don't make me laugh. That wasn't part of the plan! You said you were only going to play around with her!"

"Shut the fuck up, Zack! You did this to yourself. YOU started this. Stop blaming me for everything just because you're too much of a fucking coward to admit that you're fucking in love with Cloud!"

"I'm-"

"WHAT? You're going to say that he doesn't have your heart and cock all squeezed dry? Then who the fuck gave you those hickeys? Who the fuck did you fuck every fucking night? Tell me, Zack! Fucking tell me!"

The silence is incredibly deafening after the pair's explosive admissions that Tifa can almost hear the blood dripping from her nose splattering onto the ground.

"Zack… that's enough."

Cloud finally opens his mouth and when she looks at him, for some reason, she remembers the look he had when he almost caught her kissing Aerith in that nightclub in Costa del Sol.

That look must have been for Zack, because he's doing it again.

And for the first time since Tifa becomes acquainted with Zack, she sees something softening on the guy's face.

It's almost like… Cloud's words work magic on him.

A/N: Did i write this to turn these 4 tots into messy bisexuals? yes, yes i did. that is the intention since the very beginning.