A/N: phew, got this in. Anyway, sooo glad you liked the previous chapter so much! Thanks to:

Kisdota-The Freak Gamer, Dead Pepper, GaladrielofLorien, Little Patch of Heaven, darkangel24700, LOstGirlz, Skyhanhunter, and Breezestar, my lovely reviewers :)

Anyway, I'm kind of scared that you may find some OOC (something I absolutely hate..like what's the point of using them if they're OOC??). Ugh, but for the sake of plot development, I may have wandered a bit. sorry sorry sorry in advance.

I also sort of jump viewpoints, but I put nice breaks, so it should not be too confusing.

Please enjoy anyway..and look! I remembered the disclaimer!

Disclaimer: anything FF7 is not mine. sigh.


Tifa delicately tapped the edge of the table. This is weird. It was early in the morning; Cloud was still asleep in bed, tired from the night before. I barely even heard him come in. He didn't come home relatively late, but he still managed to avoid Tifa as much as possible, barely even saying 'good night'. Maybe I should have kept wearing the skirt.

She waited patiently in front of the bar for her guest. I wonder if it's about Cloud…they did talk yesterday. Tifa practically jumped when she heard that Vincent was calling her. Initially, she thought it was something Seventh Heaven related, maybe a miscalculation when she was quantifying all her items. But his tone was uneasy, a trait Vincent never possessed. Her hands went in the pockets of her jeans, feeling naked without her gloves.

The frigid October air was finally returning to Edge, catching Tifa by surprise. Her jeans were cut off at the ankles, and her maroon t-shirt did not offer much warmth. She always hesitated to put on a fire come winter. There was something about the ash and flames that ignited her worst fears.

"Hello?"

Vincent's deep voice drew her attention to the door. "I apologize for being late, Tifa."

"No problem, Vincent. Please sit; do you want water or anything?" Her eyes narrowed at his apparent anxiety. Did Yuffie do anything to him?

He shook his head softly, bringing attention to his crimson eyes. "No…well, only to tell you something." Vincent's voice got softer.

Tifa cracked a smile, edging herself back from the dark man. "Oh…go right ahead." What is going on?

"Well…" he hesitated, "Please take these first." His hand pulled out a bouquet of red roses from his equally red cape.

Tifa's mind plunged. WHAT? Her hand went through her hair, fingers running wildly through the dark stands. Stay calm…it's definitely not what it appears. "Oh…that's very nice of you, Vincent." She grabbed them hesitantly, "Is there some special occasion?" There has to be.

"No." He shook his head. "Well I suppose you could call it special." Vincent's gauntlet covered hand gestured to one of the tables. "May we sit?"

"Sure." Tifa's voice was quick and sloppy. She wasn't so eloquent when nervous. She left the flowers on the counter and sat down across from him.

"Um so…what's up?"

Tifa tried to remain friendly and open. Vincent didn't talk to her much, and maybe he was trying to reveal something about himself. Something Yuffie could find more useful than soup. But there was an awful feeling inside of her chest.

"Yesterday, you brought something to my attention…something very important."

His voice made her squirm in concern. Please don't say what I think you're going to say. "Vincent…"

"Please, Tifa." His hand touched hers, only making her shiver. "You're behavior yesterday…I must say it made me realize I have developed feelings for you."

…..you what?

"I think I was always attracted to you, but you finally made me realize it was okay to tell you." I make you realize? How the hell do I make you realize it but not Cloud?

Tifa sprang up from the table getting away as quickly as possible. "No, no, no, no!"

"Tifa…"

She was shaking her head like mad. He doesn't. He did not just say that. Vincent Valentine did not just tell me that. "No!" Her voice was no longer controlled, no longer calm.

He stood up and walked towards her, his voice unusually level. "But the way you were acting, you do not feel the same way?"

"What way? How was I acting?" She was perfectly frantic. Is this what he told Cloud? Is that why Cloud was ignoring me?

"You were asking me all of those personal questions, Tifa."

She huffed, "That doesn't mean I like you!" Ouch.

But Vincent remained curiously unscathed by her comment. He only continued to walk closer to her. "Then why did you ask them?"

"Chocobo head, just SAY IT!"

Cloud looked shaken, looked like he had Geostigma again. Oh hell no. If he makes Tifa have to go through any of that shi—

"I love it when you call me that."

Yuffie managed to withhold her grimace, but just barely, "Huh?"

"I'm not good with my emotions, Yuffie."

She scoffed. "Obviously." Tifa would be married with 5 kids if you were. Yuffie crossed her arms, her impatience taking over. "I'll make it easy. Um...here." Her hand fumbled through her pockets, pulling out a Seventh Heaven cocktail napkin and Tifa's eyeliner that she, uh…forgot to return.

"Just write it down or some nonsense. I'll pass it along." This has taken long enough. One of us should be getting some by tomorrow.

"Pass it along?" Cloud's gloved hands took the items, and he began to write the makeshift note. "Why would you do that?"

Well I'm definitely not keeping it a secret. What does he expect? Teef's more my friend than he is. "Just write it, Strife."

His grin deepened as he passed the napkin and eyeliner back to the ninja. She took it with frustration, "See was that so…. WHAT?" Yuffie's smile collapsed. I must be going blind…or crazy. No way does it say that.

Yuffie held the napkin up to the dull sky, attempting to get some sunlight. "This says 'you like me…that you…want me'?"

Cloud's gloved hand gently pressed against her forearm. "I do."

His voice was deep, scaring the crap out of the teenage girl next to him. CRAP! Tifa's gonna punch me out. What the hell did I just do??? "Strife…"

"Yes, Yuffie?" Cloud cracked a smirk, making her fidget on the bench. The fountain in front of them was flowing calmly, mocking her own inner turmoil.

"..I um…" She scooted away from the blonde. "…I'll um, I'll get back to you." It was the only answer she could come up with that wouldn't send Cloud back into a fit of depression or lead to her imminent death by a certain martial artist.

Agilely, Yuffie sprang from her seat and sprinted far from the square, oblivious to the chuckling Cloud behind her. Where wouldn't Cloud go…

Her feet soon carried her to Shinra HQ, where she was already figuring out a hiding spot.

"…I'm sorry Vincent."

The caped man was sitting at the table, his eyes staring at the grains of wood and not the woman across from him. A part of him was still insanely puzzled. "There is nothing to apologize for, Tifa."

She shook her head, "It wasn't right to try and trick you…and look what it led to!" Tifa let out a long sigh. "Yuffie's going to kill me for telling you."

Yuffie. His eyes snapped to attention. What should I do with Yuffie? The ninja's crush on him had become apparent quite a while ago. But he chose to ignore it. What other option did I have? He thought it would go away, that he wouldn't need to confront it because Yuffie's free mind would eventually wander somewhere else. He smiled inwardly. Why hasn't it?

He hesitated before speaking, a part of him feeling slight shame. "Does she like me a lot?"

"A lot?" Tifa laughed. "Ever since I found out about it, she only talks about you."

She does? Vincent frowned at his thoughts. What does it matter? Just ignore it. It is what is appropriate for these situations. It is what you have been---

His thoughts stopped. "Excuse me for a second, Tifa." Vincent shuffled to his feet, careful not to get his pointed toe stuck under the chair. He swiftly went to the bathroom, staring at his pale reflection. Why did I ignore Yuffie?

He turned on the faucet, splashing cold water on his cheekbones. Why did I ignore her and not Tifa? Vincent knew the answer. He knew it, but couldn't say it, couldn't believe it. I wanted to get rid of Tifa's 'feelings' for me as quickly as possible.

Vincent shook his head. He had risked ruining his friendship with Cloud, ruining Cloud's mental stability. All so he could get Tifa's feelings off his back? Then why didn't I confront Yuffie?

His mind jumped to her. To her energetic demeanor, her inability to frown, her constant mutilation of his name.

Vincent trudged out of the bathroom, seeing Tifa still at the table looking concerned. "You okay, Vincent?"

I don't know. He closed his eyes. "I need to think."

A/N: Can't tell if that's a cliffhanger or not, but oh well :)

I finished half of the last chapter (unless I decide to do an epilogue...I'm not so sure), and it's pretty long. So...I guess I'll leave it up to you to see if you want me to post half of it tomorrow (the other half will be done by Sunday, I actually have a life today). Just leave a little review and I'll take a tally. Maybe, MAYBE both chapters will be done. Really depends on my writer's block.

But I'd love to know what you thought anyways (besides the dreaded Cloud OOC...ughhh). bye!

~Mira