The sable haired girl stared at the lone stalk sitting in a tall glass. She couldn't find a vase for it and since it was just one, she decided to place it in a glass instead.
She blew the stray lock of her hair away from her face only to let it fall back onto her face. She exasperatedly pushed it back and tucked it behind her ear, contemplating if she should just cut it short to ease the irritation of her hair always getting in her face.
Her fingers reached out to touch the soft petals of the flower. She could just smell its sweet distinct smell even from a distance. For the fourteenth time that night, she sighed.
Tifa got up to her to piano, hoping to play a tune or two that could somehow soothe her nerves.
She pressed a key and didn't let go. The sound of the single note covered the silence that had filled the room. Her middle finger then fell to the next piano key. Soon after, the rest followed.
A memory crept into her mind and with a frustrated groan she stopped playing abruptly. She remembered that not too long ago, someone else had sat right beside her on this very bench and had played a tune of his own. She had listened to the sound of his playing and allowed herself to let her guard down. And then came the question, the one that turned everything around.
"How did it get so complicated? Or is it just me?" She said softly into dark of the night.
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"Okay, so what's the deal?"
She cringed at the sound of his voice and willed herself not to turn around.
"Stop avoiding me."
"I'm not." She answered with a calm tone of voice that she could possibly muster under the current circumstances.
"So look at me."
"I'm busy." Her answer was followed by the sounds of the glasses clinking loudly, hoping she could back up her answer with the act.
Few seconds passed without a response from him.
Suspicious, she decided to turn around to see what he was up to, only to find herself face to face with him. She jerked back in surprise and he quickly grabbed her by the arm to stop her from falling behind.
Tifa felt her breaths getting short and rapid. Her skin tingled at his touch and her stomach was squirming in the insides.
"Tifa…" he began.
"Reno." She interjected before he could complete his sentence. "Please. Don't. Don't say anything. Not now, alright?"
A sudden flash of hurt appeared in his blue eyes but it quickly faded.
Reluctantly, he let her go from his grip and took a step back.
Realizing she had probably hurt his feelings, she shut her eyes for a quick moment as she took a deep breath before opening them again, only to find him gone.
With a groan of frustration she quickly untied the apron around her waist and tossed it onto the counter as she rushed out of the door.
"Looking for me?"
Tifa stopped abruptly at the sound of his voice from behind her. She whirled around to see him leaning against the outside wall of her bar.
"Reno!"
He smirked.
"At least this way I'd know how much I actually mattered to you."
"It's not funny."
"I didn't say it was."
Tifa bit her lip, not knowing what else to say.
"Look, I don't get it. What is your problem? You took off last night after taking the tulip from my hand without a word. You didn't pick up when I tried to call you. You ran off to the other direction when you saw me coming from the other way this morning. And now?" He clucked his tongue. "I don't know what the hell you are trying to do."
"I was just…" Her mind searched for an excuse.
"Save it Lockheart. If you think I'm such a screwed up jackass that you don't want to be with and have no feelings for, then say so. I can take it. I am a big boy after all." He said with a tone of sarcasm in his last sentence.
"It's not that! Why do you have to say things like that? Why do you have to make it so difficult for me? You are right about yourself being a jackass!"
Reno stared at her in shock at her outburst.
"I never said I didn't have feelings for you, though I didn't say I did either, but that does not mean you can just come over and say stupid things to me all because I am confused about my feelings!"
Reno snorted and looked away.
"What?" She asked exasperatedly.
"Nothing." He said with a shrug of his shoulders.
Tifa felt herself fuming inside, almost ready to throw a punch at him and to sock another few punches at his gut. Instead, without another word, she stomped on her feet and quickly walked the other way.
Reno looked up to see her leaving and quickly got onto his feet to catch up with her.
"Tifa!" He called out.
She kept walking, increasing her speed with every step she took.
"Tifa!"
She couldn't see a reason for her to stop. She could hear his walking pace increasing as she increased hers. Soon her feet started to carry itself and started running.
"Fuck." Reno muttered. 'I have to literally chase her now?'
Despite his thoughts, he began to run all the same.
He was a fast runner and he knew that would be an advantage on his side. He quickened his running speed and started to gain on her.
A kid suddenly appeared in the middle of his path causing him to put a brake but it was so sudden that he lost balance of himself and thus losing his footing in the process.
"Woah."
Tifa turned back in time just to see Reno fell with a loud thud onto the hard concrete.
"Are you okay sir?"
"You hurt, son?"
Reno quickly shook his head and tried to get up to get away from all the sudden attention.
As he pulled himself up, he took a quick survey of himself before looking back up, and finding her standing in front of him.
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"Are you okay?" She asked softly as she eyed him.
"Yeah."
"Did you get hurt?"
"Yeah. My ego and pride was severely bruised back there. Did you see how I fell? Wiped flat-out like a klutz in the middle of nowhere in front of practically everyone in town. Yeah, that sure boosted my ego alright. " Reno answered.
Tifa couldn't help but roll her eyes at the typical Reno response. A smile crossed her lips, followed by a giggle.
Reno looked at her pointedly.
She looked away to keep from laughing but the laughter came out anyway. Soon she was laughing so hard that she could barely stand properly.
It was Reno's turn to roll his eyes. He obviously couldn't see what was so funny.
"I don't see the joke here."
Tifa just continued laughing.
"When you're done laughing, then come find me." Reno said in irritant and proceeded to walk away.
"No, wait."
He stopped in his tracks and looked at her over his shoulder.
She took a deep breath to regain her composure before walking over to him.
"I'm sorry, it was just that…well, nevermind."
Reno snorted in response.
"I know, I shouldn't laugh. It was just funny for a moment there." Tifa said apologetically.
"Well the moment's come and gone."
"Okay, can we talk then?"
"Like I just said. The moment's come and gone."
Tifa stared at him with her jaw hanging lightly at his response.
"Too bad." Reno said with a smirk.
With that, he turned around and walked away.
It wasn't until a good minute had passed that he suddenly heard her shouting.
"See Reno? This is exactly why I won't let myself to like you. You were a jerk and you still are. Nothing and no one's going to change that. So if you want to be that way, then keep it that way. Be the jackass you want to be Reno. Cause I don't care anymore and I'm sorry I had cared before but I'm not going to anymore!"
Reno flinched at her last words. The words stung him and a pang of hurt was felt in his heart. He inwardly cursed himself for feeling that way. He quickly turned around to face her once again.
"You know what? Don't act like you're some fucking angel either. It's not like no blood was shed in your hands before. And it's not like you've never been mean to anyone or ever hurt someone's feelings. Cause you know what? You just did. You just fucking hurt my feelings, so good for you Lockheart. I hope you're happy with that."
It felt good to release his anger that way. Right then, he couldn't care less if she was not going to be too happy with his words or not.
Tifa glared at him with pure anger.
He smirked at her reaction.
"Have a good life Lockheart. You don't have to care about me anymore cause I'm not going to stick around here anyway. Have it your way." He added.
He was about to give a forced laugh to prove he really didn't care, but he caught sight of a single tear falling from her dark eyes. Guilt immediately crossed him.
"It's not like that Reno…it's not…" She said so softly that it was barely audible for his ears.
Reno sighed deeply and took a few steps toward her.
"Tifa." He paused to think of the words to say.
"I am…well, you know, what I want to say." He couldn't bring himself to apologize, not yet, not right now. He never apologized to anyone, even if he did, it was a sarcastic one.
"But there's no shit that I can do to be this perfect guy for you like old spiky is. And if you can't take that, then…that's nothing left to say. Right?"
"Reno, you don't even know how I feel yet. But you just…" Tifa's voice trailed off.
"So tell me how you feel and we'll end this once and for all."
"I can't. Don't you understand? I was scarred before, that's not the most encouraging thing for me to get into another relationship. I'm just… well, scared."
Reno shook his head in frustration and disappointment.
"I can't figure out just yet how I am feeling and what it is that I want, but…" She continued but Reno interjected midway.
"This is all damn twisted and I can't figure out crap. These feelings? They are foreign to me. So when you think about yourself being the sad pathetic one here, think about how I feel. Just think about it Tifa. And at least I took the chance, unlike you…you back out, all because you are scared. Well, let me tell you one thing, the Tifa Lockheart I knew?"
Tifa looked up at him.
"She wasn't scared of anything." He stated and with a final shake of his head, he turned on his heels and walked away.
"Reno!"
Reno forced himself to stop again. He was getting sick and tired of all this. Were they ever going to quit this fight?
"Tifa, when you find your answer, then find me." He said bitterly without looking back. "Until then, find yourself first."
Before she could respond, Reno took off, leaving her behind staring after his figure.
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Okay, finally I managed to come up with something. Honestly, I didn't really had an idea in mind when I started typing this so it just went with whatever my mind came up with as I typed. And I think I kind of like the outcome actually. Anyway, thank you to those who have reviewed and read my fic. I also realize I've never really thanked those who have this fic up on their fav/alert list, so thank you so much for that, I really appreciate it. Almost forgot, to AniGirl 7, thank you for being such a nice reviewer, and of course I'd care if you are mad about me not updating soon enough. You are after all one of my loyal readers and for that, I definitely take interest into your comments and all. )