Infidelity

Chapter 1 - Rooftop

By Crystal Snowflakes

Warning: Contains infidelity

Yuffie wiped her angry tears away with the back of her hand as she held her fourth handcrafted tooth achingly sweet, extremely potent cocktail in the other. Climbing the stairs two steps at a time, she was relieved to hear the chattering of the crowd at Seventh Heaven disappear gradually behind her. She pushed the roof door entrance almost forcefully, only to almost turn around and run back down the stairs at the sight of him. But the noisy crowd that she just escaped from convinced her to stay.

"What the hell are you doin' here, brat?" Reno grunted out as he blew smoke out of his mouth, his cigarette-holding hand picking up the glass of whiskey that was balancing precariously on the railing, his eyes studying the hardly discernible tears at the corner of her eyes.

"Better question is," Yuffie muttered, grimacing at the smoke as she settled in a spot upwind from him at a far enough distance. "What the hell are you doing here, Turkey? It's kinda your engagement party. Party's downstairs." She finished her drink in one big gulp, wincing as she savoured the sweetness burst in her mouth and the brief burning sensation down her throat. Placing her empty glass on the ground with a clink, she sprung up gracefully and balanced herself on the ledge of the roof to face him. She trusted him as far as she could throw him, which probably wasn't very much, and the last thing she wanted was for him to push her off the ledge and for her to take a tumble down three stories, drunk. She noted with dry bitterness that even with her ass on the ledge, he was still a couple inches taller than her.

They had done their hardest to stay away from each other over the years that Reno and Tifa had been together because they somehow managed to rile each other up incessantly, with it always ending up in arguments and the occasional physical fights. She'd been close to slicing his throat with her shuriken and he'd been inches from frying her face off. While Tifa had found it entertaining at the beginning, it grew old fast because all she wanted was two of the closest people in her life to get along, since Cloud had gone off to wherever he had gone. Now that she thought about it, she was so rarely around Tifa whenever Reno showed up that she wasn't even sure how well the redhead had gotten along with the rest of AVALANCHE.

Reno took one last puff of his half-smoked cigarette before snubbing it against the railing and throwing it in the cigarette disposal bin that Yuffie noticed was newly installed. "'Case you didn't realize, I didn't know anyone down there," he scoffed, almost resentfully.

She had realized.

"Where's the rest of the Turks?" she asked, mainly out of curiosity and she noted absentmindedly that this was one of the few times they hadn't quite gone at each other's throats right away. She wasn't in the mood and he didn't look like he wanted to bother either. Initially, she had just wanted a quiet place to think, but she supposed a tamer conversation with the annoying Turk to push away her dark thoughts for the moment worked just as well.

He took another sip of whiskey, his eyes looking far into the distance before he finally answered, "We're having a private celebration later."

"Huh," Yuffie said thoughtfully, scooching a few inches closer while being careful not to tumble backwards to scrutinize the Turk and she found herself frowning at what she saw. "You don't seem too happy on your engagement party day. Saving your excitement for the after-party?"

Draining his cup, he continued staring out into the darkness of the city. Yuffie knew from experience that there wasn't anything to look at from the rooftop of Seventh Heaven. She had spent enough evenings staring into the nothingness to collect her own thoughts. Unabashedly, she continued to study him, intrigued, because he was nothing like the confident Reno she had known—he seemed almost uncertain and lost.

He took a deep breath in, his hands running through his own hair before he replied, "Teef wants kids right after we get married." He shook his head to himself, almost as if he was surprised at his own admission.

She tilted her head inquisitively as she stared at him with slightly narrowed eyes. "You don't wanna?"

Reno snorted and he looked into her eyes. "Do I look like father material to you, brat?"

Yuffie's gaze wandered to his jaw and wondered briefly if he had always had that chiseled jaw or if it was the alcohol fogging her mind before she looked back up to his eyes. She had never realized how his eyes seemed to glow in the dark and she found herself mesmerized by the depth of emotions she saw. Yuffie held the gaze and didn't back down even when she felt her stomach flip flopping slightly and she snickered loudly to stop her mind from crossing a dangerous line that couldn't be uncrossed.

"If it makes you better," she grinned impishly as she spoke, hoping her eyes didn't betray her thoughts. "I just got a call from Godo. He's lining up suitors for me as we speak." She gave a dry, bitter laugh before her eyes misted again. "A loveless marriage for me. Who woulda thought, right? Then I'll be making tons of babies and I'm pretty sure I'm not mother material either."

There was something inscrutable in his eyes as his lips pressed thinly against each other and as she continued to stare, she realized it was the same look she saw in her own face in the mirror every single day. He felt trapped. Cornered.

"Oh, shit," she breathed out, feeling an unexpected knot in her stomach and for the first time, she felt sympathetic towards the man in front of her. "You do...love Teef." An uncertain pause. "Right?" But she knew the answer the moment the question left her lips.

And with his lack of response, it seemed like he had known for a long time too. She didn't know the details of their relationship, having preferred to be kept in the dark. If Tifa had fallen in love with any other man, Yuffie would have pestered her for details until she turned red, but she hadn't been interested because it was Reno. She just thought Tifa had bad taste in men (really, c'mon… Spikey?!) and would get him out of her system, but when weeks turned into months, and months turned into years...

"Oh, shit," she repeated with a sigh. "Well, wow. I wasn't expecting that." She ripped her gaze from his because staring at his eyes made her feel like she was staring into her own soul and it was doing funny things to her stomach. Instead, she looked down at her own twiddling fingers, a small furrowed frown on her face. "Why...Why are you together then?" she asked, then added a small, cutting laugh. "Promise I won't judge. I'm about to get married to some rich old man twenty years older than me that I've never met before. I'm in no position to judge you."

She wasn't expecting him to respond. As a matter of fact, she was astonished that they had managed more than ten words without attempting to murder each other. This was uncharted territory for the both of them but it felt oddly…pleasant.

He breathed out harshly and he looked like he wished he still had his cigarette on him—his nicotine-stained fingers twitched slightly, almost inconspicuously. "Feels like redemption or shit," he finally answered, shifting his feet a little as he leaned his weight against the railing.

Yuffie blinked in surprise because whatever answer she had expected, it wasn't that. She'd been expecting some shallow answers about big boobs or a good lay and it was clear to her that he was taking this conversation with her seriously. When she looked back at him, she noticed he had shuffled over closer and her eyes felt inadvertently drawn back to his. "For Sector Seven?" she asked, her tone somber, quiet.

Somehow—even though she knew logically it wasn't—it felt wrong bringing up the taboo subject.

His eyes shifted up to hers. "When someone like Tifa falls in love with you and you're so undeserving, you don't say no."

That was a terrible reason to be with someone and from the look on his face, she realized he was well aware of that fact. She thought back to all the times she had seen her friend since being with him and Tifa had seemed happy. That was all that mattered, right? Yuffie gave him a small, sympathetic smile in return. "But you'll treat her well, right?"

He snickered, but she could tell it didn't have his usual snark and enthusiasm. "I haven't slept with anyone else since. That answer your question?"

She couldn't help the snort of laughter that escaped her lips before she responded dryly, "I mean, your bar's pretty low if that's the case."

He was staring at her again and his gaze made her feel unusually vulnerable, but she was Yuffie and she was proud and confident so she stared right back even though she wanted to look away. And before she knew it, his body was between her legs and his fingers had pulled her chin up and she wasn't sure if she was the one who kissed him first or he was the one who initiated. He tasted like smoke and whiskey and she knew she knew it was wrong but she couldn't find it in herself to pull away and she blamed the alcohol for her lowered inhibition. Part of her wished someone would walk through that rooftop door so that they could see what was happening, because if she couldn't save herself from a loveless marriage, then at least she could save him from one.

The soft moan that escaped her own lips sounded foreign to her own ears and she could feel his hard lips on her neck and her collarbone and all she could do was entangle her fingers in his hair, her lips pressing urgent kisses to every inch of skin she could reach. His fingers dug into her hips almost painfully as she ground herself into him and his teeth bit down hard on her collarbone, causing her to hiss in pleasure.

His nimble fingers removed her khaki shorts and underwear in one movement and she could feel the cold concrete of the balcony ledge dig into her ass, but she couldn't care enough. Without warning, his fingers delved deep inside of her and curled and she arched her back, his other hand lifting her shirt and bra up as his mouth tugged and nipped. She cried out his name over and over again breathily until he sent her over the edge in bliss, her body surrendering to him with a shudder.

She heard him dig out his wallet and curse and she could hear her own tipsy voice letting him know that she was on the pill. The loud thud of his belt hitting the concrete entered through her hazy mind, and she felt him push himself inside of her fully and she couldn't help the whimper that escaped her lips as her legs wrapped around him tightly. Her brown eyes met his and she couldn't look away from them as she studied the way they shifted from green to blue before darkening with raw desire. His gaze stayed on her face, his lips curling up slightly in smugness as she gasped everytime he plunged himself into her. And then she brushed her lips against his tenderly before she kissed him hard, muffling her own cries of pleasure. She could feel herself unravelling against him as his thrusts became out of control. With her hands still tangled in his hair and her cheeks pressed tightly against his, she murmured his name a little brokenly against his ear because she knew this was wrong, wrong, wrong and it could never ever happen again no matter how good it felt.

And when she came a second time, this time around him and together, she could swear the earth stopped spinning.

She could feel his warm uneven breath against her neck and she trailed a few more kisses on his jaw and the tip of his ears. She could hear the roaring sound of both their irregular heartbeats and feel her own blood pumping through her veins as she leaned her body fully into him, completely drained.

The urge to say something—anything—was overwhelming, but she found that there was nothing to say. She knew what she had done, realized what would have happened when their lips had first met and yet, she didn't pull away. Even so, she couldn't find it in herself to regret it even though she did feel guilty because this was her best friend's fiancé.

She removed herself from his body slowly, tilting his head down tenderly to look into his muddled gaze—her heart ached at the look in his eyes—and gave him a small drunken lopsided grin before grazing her lips against his. She hoped he understood what it meant.

I'm sorry.

Hopping down from the ledge, her legs still shaking, she pulled on her underwear and shorts, grimacing a bit at the wetness between her legs before she fixed up her hair and shirt. Giving him one last look over her shoulder, she left. His unreadable eyes didn't leave hers and she could feel his burning gaze even as she closed the door behind her. The whole time, she felt like her heart was screaming at her to run back up the stairs because she would regret leaving him.

She must have been more wasted than she had thought.

"Yuffie!" She heard the barmaid's familiar voice call to her and she debated briefly on ignoring her and walking out the bar. But when her warm hand clasped her shoulder, she knew it was too late so she turned around, making sure to slap her usual grin on her face. "Where were you?"

"Hi Teef! Sorry!" She made sure to flash her the small sheepish smile that somehow managed to get her out of trouble all the time. "Had to take a breather on the roof. Godo just called and, well...you know how fun his calls were. Didn't wanna bum you out, ya know!"

Tifa nodded sympathetically as she knew how harsh the Emperor of Wutai could be. "Did you see Reno up there?"

Her heart lurched so unsuspectedly she almost gasped in surprise before she managed to respond. "Oh yeah." She tried to keep her voice levelled. "He was taking a smoke. Didya want me to get him?"

"No, no." Tifa smiled, tucking her hair behind her ears, a tinge of worry in her eyes. "Did he seem okay?"

Yuffie wanted to tell her the truth but found that she couldn't, didn't want to betray his trust like that, even though the woman in front of her was her best friend and she had just screwed her fiancé on the rooftop of her bar.

What the fuck is wrong with me?

She shrugged unflappably instead. "He's the same old asshole as before."

Except he wasn't. Not anymore. Not to her.

"Yuffie," Tifa chided her like one would a child. "He means a lot to me, you know…"

And now he meant a lot to Yuffie too, even though she couldn't understand why.

"I know, Teef," she responded, a little more glum than her usual self would. "I'm so sorry."

And she meant every word.

Author's Notes: Not something I usually write, but it got in my head and wouldn't get out till I got it typed out. What was initially supposed to be a short one-shot came five chapters… Please enjoy!

As usual, comments and suggestions are very much appreciated!

Completed: July 17, 2020
Revised: September 6, 2020