Oh wow sorry I know it's been years but I recently started playing FF7 again so I had to find this fic on an old harddrive... still have some chapters written I will add here eventually! Hope you all been doing well =)

ahaha sorry it got too long so I cut it in half

When I noticed my friend waving from the door frantically, I spurted there because the buses engine was already running. I was the last, apparently, only Angeal got in after me.

My eye twitched slightly when I thought of him. Zack had taken a seat just behind the bus driver, offering me the aisle one, right beside Angeal. I had gotten to know a little about him during that movie night, he seemed like a nice guy. Calm and collected like Sephiroth, but in another way. Today, I had seen a completely different side of him, though...

Barking really was the best word for it, pointing out every mistake someone made, or when they were too slow. It would seem ruthless and unfair to an outsider, or a newbie like me, but there was no room for kind words on a real battlefield. I knew that most people avoided coming more than three days a week, or even talked bad about Angeal. Those were the people that wouldn't last long here, though, I knew that much.

If you wanted to live; wanted your team, your troops to live – you had to follow every instruction without a second thought, even if it meant reaching your very limits in every possible way.

Therefore, I was not angry at him. He was only doing his job, and moreover, really well.

When he noticed me staring, he offered me a smile, as well as a nod. I smiled back but got interrupted by Zack's fuzzy head suddenly being in front of mine, near my chest, leaning towards the instructor. "Yo, bro! How did Spike do for his first time?", he asked and I didn't move until he mentioned my name.

"Zack, don't...", I uttered, slightly embarrassed. My right hand buried itself in his wet mane, trying to push him back into his seat.

"It was fine. He reminds me of you back then..." Angeal's deep voice caused me to let go of my friend, who was now almost leaning half on top of me.

Unsure of of what to say, I chose a simple "Um... thanks. I'm trying hard to become better every day!" while trying to push Zack back once more.

"Do you wanna switch seats?", I asked him quietly, but he shook his head, remaining in place above my lap. "No. And aawwh! You're gonna be great then, if you're like me!", he teased and I rolled my eyes.

I heard the other man chuckle. "That's great, if you have a dream, pursue it. I appreciate it when SOLDIERs are highly motivated, it helps them tremendously to reach their goals."

"Yes! I will do my best!" I grinned at my MT instructor, not noticing that my "stopping" hand was running through Zack's hair until I heard him purr. "Oh yesss, do that again...", he mumbled when I stopped abruptly, throwing my hands to my sides. "What the hell!"

We all got a good laugh out of that and Angeal asked him about his girlfriend – I told him we'd see her soon.

Soon being now, we had twenty minutes to get from the bus to my flat, which was not going to be a problem.

Both of us waved Zack's colleague goodbye and trotted towards the 2nd Rank dorms.

After we arrived, we still had enough time to boil water for a tea or a coffee, whichever she preferred. Talking about her, I honestly had never heard him speak her name before.

"What's her name, by the way?", I asked curiously, before I made an idiot out of myself, if she knew mine.

"Oh? It's Aerith.", he mentioned, placing teacups on the coffee table. We had decided to go and eat lunch in the cafeteria after, before both of us SOLDIERs would go train with our swords for a while, or, in Zack's case, do some paperwork first. Or a lot of paperwork...

I was about to answer "I see", when the doorbell rang. My friend sprinted towards it, almost kissing the floor because of the round carpet again. "We should staple it to the ground...", he complained before swinging the door open.

A young, brunette woman in a white and blue dress entered, friendly smile on her face. She was really pretty, I had to admit. Her hair was tied back into a braid, using a pink bow. I stepped closer as she offered me a hand, after getting welcomed by Zack with a kiss.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Cloud." My hand reached out sheepishly, but before I could shake hers, I felt someone from behind me press me towards her. "No need to be so formal!", my 1st class friend said as he pushed me against his girlfriend for an awkward hug.

"Ahh, it's so nice to be here with my two favorite people!", he cooed, snaking his way to our sides to snuggle both of us.

When he finally pulled away, I was glad that Aerith gave me a knowing smile, introducing herself.

"Coffee or tea, honey?", Zack hollered from the kitchen while we took our seats.

"Tea is fine.", she smiled in his direction.

"... and my other honey?", he teased.

"Zaaaaack!"

He knew that my choice would always be coffee, so he didn't have to ask... but that was just him being him. He was probably the only person who would always get away from me with such things. Unless Seph-...

"So now you two finally meet!", he beamed, seemingly happier than the two of us together.

"Cloud has been my friend ever since he moved here a few months ago. When we met each other, it immediately said 'click'!", he exaggerated, but I let him.

"You were actually the first person I talked to while you signed me up and brought me to my dorm... and showed me around.", I noted, remembering. I was happy that I'd found a friend here this early, he'd also helped me getting to know countless people here...

"Oh, that's so sweet!", Aerith said after setting down her teacup.

"Our meeting was more spectacular, though, honey, don't ya think?" He grinned in his girlfriend's direction.

"You fell half on top of me...", she chuckled before Zack spoke up again.

"Nah, nah! Not like that. It was an accident... I'm glad that it happened, though!", he flirted. "I was on a mission and fell through the roof of a church... where she was! She was taking care of some beautiful flowers growing on the ground there... so I suggested that she should open a flower shop! And she did, so the next chance we met again, we went on a date... and I got her this ribbon!" He pointed at her hair proudly. "Isn't that so romantic!", he sighed, gazing into his lover's eyes.

I smiled, seeing both of them so happy. "That's great! I'm glad you've found each other".

We continued our talk for a while more, before moving to the cafeteria to eat. There, we spent another hour, until Zack had to leave for work and training, and me for training only.

All of us agreed that we should meet again some time and then went our ways.

Mine leading me not far back, behind the cafeteria for some solo training. I felt like I wasn't going to manage a long one, since my muscles were still very tired from this morning's military training. The cuts and bruises here and there would heal in no time, so I paid no attention to them.

Sadly, I couldn't train the only thing I wasn't exceptionally good at – Materia. Those were locked away and only to be used in field trainings or missions, so low ranked members wouldn't set the HQ on fire or even summon a meteor. It made sense... but also forced me to wait for Sephiroth to improve this.

Sword fight against a dummy would have to do for now – at least to keep the basics in my head.

After an hour, I decided that it was enough for this busy day, and made my way back home.

What I didn't know yet was that a very interesting evening was about to happen...

oh heck yes you bet