Chibi: Okay, so this chapter is long overdue. I hope you like it though! It took a long time and lots of tweaking. Pleeeeease revieeeeeeewwwwwww. Enjoy!

Six

A few days after the party I walked in on my brother in the bathroom. He wasn't naked or anything. Well, completely naked. He was sat on the toilet, on the lid, in his boxers, and he had his head in his hands. His fingers were clutching at the dark strands at his hairline and he looked up startled.

"Oh," he murmured. He stood up and walked stiffly out the door, and I felt my face grow warm with the embarrassment of seeing him semi-naked. He shut the door roughly behind him, and then I was alone. I stared at myself in the mirror, stood in my ratty pyjama shorts and my father's oversized t-shirt, my hair long and in need of a trim, messily strewn across my shoulders. I looked pale and ill, my eyes held up by dark smears. I shook my head at myself and turned the shower on, pulling the t-shirt over my head and dropping it on the floor. The door was suddenly thrown open.

"Are you still not talking to me?"

"Zack get out!" I snatched the t-shirt up from the floor and held it in front of me, my face even warmer than before. My legs shook with shock and embarrassment. "Have you never heard of knocking?"

He seemed oblivious to my screeches, and was only seeking out one response from me. "I don't get it! You haven't spoken to me in days! I mean, what could I have done?"

I almost dropped the t-shirt in surprise. He couldn't possibly be that oblivious, could he?

"What do you mean? Surely you know?"

Zack spluttered. "N-no! I don't! Why do you think I'm asking?"

I sat down on the edge of the bath, still clutching my top to me. I stared hard at him.

"Do you remember Yuffie's party?"

"Yes."

"Do you remember going upstairs?"

"Yes, yes!" He snapped irritably.

"Well, do you also remember walking in on me and Reno and then humiliating me in front of loads of people?"

Zack bit his lip, out of what I thought was guilt, but then realised he was trying to hold back the words he desperately wanted to blurt out. It didn't do much good though – all too soon his true thoughts came tumbling out of his mouth.

"What did you think you were doing Tifa? You're fifteen! You're too young for, for that! Plus Reno's one of my friends and is nineteen!"

"It's none of your business, Zack." He eyes shone dangerously, and suddenly, as he darted forward, I truly felt vulnerable, sat on the edge of the cold bath tub and only partly dressed. He grabbed my shoulders and I flinched at his touched, pulling away and losing my balance. I fell backwards into the bath and into the stream of still warming up water. Zack moved backwards, and seemed to shake himself.

"It is my business, Tifa," he murmured. "You shouldn't be around someone like him. You shouldn't be a part of that crowd."

"Then why are you?"

"I ... " He looked like he didn't know what to say. He scratched the back of his head and looked sheepish. "I don't know ... "

He shook his head and walked out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

After a few minutes I got out of the bath, undressed fully and climbed back in, trying to push what had happened to the back of my mind.

I decided I wanted to go for a run. Forgetting I had just showered and cleaned myself, I pulled on my exercise shorts and sports bra, laced up my trainers and plugged in my iPod. As I headed out the door, Dad came out of his study and his lips moved but I pretended I hadn't heard him and shut the door behind me. I wanted to be alone, alone with my thoughts; I guess you could say, so I could dwell on Zack's words and the other thing that was preying on my mind. I wasn't exactly ignoring Zack. I was still quite angry with him for how he'd humiliated me that night, but it was the image of Yuffie perched on Cloud's lap that had kept me quiet for nearly three days. The startled look in her eyes, but no shadow of guilt, and the husky lust that lingered in his, and his flushed cheeks. He'd wanted her ... I knew he'd wanted her. And why wouldn't he? She was beautiful, with a shapely body and such experience that she exuded confidence and pleasure. Who wouldn't want her? I crinkled my nose and shook my head, pushing myself up the hill.

It was a crisp day, but fairly sunny. The air wasn't particularly warm, though, and bit painfully at my skin as I scaled the rocks and streams towards the top of the hill. And yet I was sweating furiously, feeling the salt course down my face and cutting through the dirt that had been thrown up by my feet pounding the dusty earth. I was thankful I'd tied my hair up, feeling the ponytail beating the back of my neck. I pushed a stray lock out of my face and found the path less steep.

When I found myself at the top, I paused for breath briefly and changed the song on my iPod. Nothing seemed to match my mood – every song was either too happy or too sad. Nothing sat in the middle. I remembered that Yuffie had loaded all the songs onto it and turned it off in annoyance.

"Oh ... hello."

I glanced up from my hands, and saw a figure stood ahead of me, the sun directly behind them and shining into my eyes. I could only see the outline ... someone taller than me. I pulled back, fearing it was Kadaj again, but then I realised their voice was too soft spoken for the Kadaj's sharp sarcasm. I shaded my eyes, peering at them.

"Cloud?" I stepped forward and the sun shone over me, over the top of my head, and I saw his sky blue, almond cutter eyes, and his soft blonde hair. His face was, as usual, unreadable, except for his eyes. They looked pained. I felt my face flush, again, when I realised he was shirtless, wearing just a pair of knee length shorts. I couldn't think why he would be up here, on the top of the hill, shirtless.

"What are you doing here, Cloud?"

"I ... I was sleeping."

"Up here?"

"Well ... I wanted to enjoy the sun."

I smiled. "Not exactly that warm though, Cloud."

"I guess ..." He looked embarrassed, and unsure of what to do. He scratched the back of his head, almost mirroring Zack's earlier pose in the bathroom, his cheeks a little red. He reached down and scooped up an old checked shirt, which he had evidently been using as a rug, and hastily pulled it on. He only did up a few buttons, though, the lower ones, and for some reason I felt the need to note that the shirt was still hanging open, with one side of his chest and a nipple on display. Why was I noticing that? I looked away, feeling pathetic. It wasn't as though I had never seen a boy's chest before. And it was as though his was particularly outstanding – he was slim, and toned, no doubt from all the gardening he was hired to do around the village.

I decided to break the ice, if you will, and sat down with my legs crossed near the edge of the hill. He followed suit and placed himself beside me, so close that I could feel the brushed cotton of his shirt graze my thigh. I looked up, at the sunny sky, staring intently at the shapes of the clouds above me. I had always done this. I managed to find the strangest shapes when I concentrated hard.

"So ... how are you, Cloud?"

He was silent, picking at a piece of skin next to a fingernail, and then shrugged softly. "Fine, I guess. You?"

"Fine ... I guess."

Silence again. There was a definite awkwardness between us, and I knew precisely why. It wasn't to do with Zack, or even what happened with Reno. It was about what I'd seen, between him and Yuffie. It didn't matter that he'd seen me, barely dressed, about to sleep with Reno, because we both knew that it was a silly school-girl mistake that I'd made due to pressure. It didn't mean anything. But what I'd seen, in Yuffie's father's study just a few nights ago, meant something. Perhaps not to Yuffie. Perhaps maybe not even to Cloud ... but it meant something to me. And he knew that it did. He was aware of this, understood what a wakeup call it was for me. I may have spent much of my time grouping the people I knew into the two categories of Virgin and Non-Virgin but it had never occurred to me to wander whether or not Cloud had slept with anyone. I didn't even really know how old he was. All I knew about him was that he was beautiful, came from Nibelheim and his parents were divorced. Or perhaps had never even married. Well, whatever. They weren't together. And he had appealed to Zack. That was all I knew about him, really.

I decided I wanted to know a little about him. "Cloud, how old are you?"

He looked surprised. "Eighteen."

It was my turn to be surprised. Eighteen? I had thought he was only a year or so older than myself. But he was around the same age as my brother. I supposed that I needn't have been surprised, seeing as he was friends with Zack. But it startled me somewhat. It made him seem somewhat out of reach. I wanted to know more though.

"Do you have a girlfriend?" He shook his head. "Have you ever had one?" He blushed a little.

"Um ... yes."

"How many?"

"Three."

"Really?"

"Why, Tifa?"

"I'm just curious!" I was sure he was nearly laughing, and I looked away, even more embarrassed. I stared at my legs, counting the goosebumps that had pricked up in a slight breeze. Three girlfriends? I had never even had a boyfriend. I'd done stuff with boys but I'd never had anything serious. But Cloud ... well, after three girlfriends, no doubt he'd slept with at least one of them. I was intending to keep quiet and mull these thoughts over but the words tripped out of my mouth, and then hung there in the air between us, Cloud's face a picture of shock.

"Did you sleep with them?"

After an agonising few minutes, where we sat side by side, staring at each other in disbelief and in absolute silence, he cleared his throat.

"Well, yes. But I didn't just sleep with them."

"You mean ... more than three?" I didn't want to ask, knowing the answer would both hurt and impress me, and he stared down at his fingers again.

He nodded. "Five, to be precise."

I thought about his body moving above a girl's. And then another girl ... and then I didn't want to think about it anymore. My thoughts drifted back to him and Yuffie, her top pulled down with her bra on show, her neck bruised ... I felt sick. I got up to leave.

"Tifa ... wait."

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked so much ..."

He pulled on my wrist, and I sat back down again, hugging my knees to my chest. I rested my chin on the tops of my knees. Cloud sighed.

"I think I need to leave." He stood up, and I looked at his legs, below where his shorts ended. I looked at the curly blonde hair there. "See you."

He walked away, and as he did it started to rain. It started raining hard, drops that hurt when they hit my skin. I sat and shivered in the rain for a while, and then got up and started to run home, my iPod tucked safely away in the pocket of my shorts. I was running fast, trying to get home as quick as possible, as I was cold and getting wetter by the second, so I wasn't paying much attention to the terrain as my feet thundered down the hill. As I fantasised about a hot bath, my pyjamas and a film, I suddenly felt one of my feet fly out from underneath me as I hit a wet, slippery patch of mud. I slipped down onto my backside in the mud, and my leg smashed into a particularly large rock on the side of the path. I yelled in pain, as I finally came to a stop on my stomach, which, being bare thanks to my choosing to wear a sports bra, was now splattered in mud, as were my arms, legs and part of my face. I tried to stand but my feet kept slipping out from under me, and blood streamed steadily and painfully from the cut on my leg. I felt pathetic, rolling around in the mud as I tried to stand up.

I decided I would just sit and wait out the rain, and then try and make my way down the hill when the ground was less slippery. I stayed put, on my stomach, my fingers buried deep in the slimy wet mud. I forced back the tears that were threatening to slip out of my determined eyes thanks to the gash on my leg. The sky was dark, and the hill was dark with the clouds and the mud. I felt my ponytail trailing in the mud and felt my mouth form a pout of annoyance.

In the darkness that had gathered so quickly I saw a flash of light, and thinking it was lightning began to get even more anxious to get home – I had a huge fear of thunder and lightning. But the light wasn't going away and was getting closer – and that was when I realised it was hair. Blonde, messy hair that was somehow spikier in the storm. Cloud was heading back up the hill.

"Cloud! Cloud!" I waved desperately, hoping he would notice my sodden figure sprawled in the mud. I saw his eyes light up in the rain. "Over here!"

Soon he was standing over me, and then crouching down beside me.

"Tifa what happened? Are you okay?" He looked worried and I secretly I felt pleased, however shameless it may have been.

"I slipped in the mud, I've hurt my leg and I can't get up ..." As I spoke a huge roll of thunder shook the village. A crack of lightning shone across the sky. "... And as sad as it sounds I'm terrified of thunderstorms."

His face gave nothing away. He quickly placed his hands under my arms and pulled me upright, and then he helped me walk, supporting me as I limped. We were only halfway down the hill when he stopped.

"Come on. Let's go to my house."

"What? Why?"

"It's much closer than yours, and I want your leg sorted as soon as possible. Plus it's just over there," he pointed to some glimmering lights just on the other side of the hill.

"Fine fine, whatever you say." He helped me across the grass and rocks, and soon he was opening the front door. I was more than relieved to get out of the rain and into the house, but it wasn't particularly warm inside. Although the lights were on in the house, apparently no one was home.

"Dad?" Cloud called, pulling the door close behind us. "Dad, are you home?" There was no answer. I pushed off my trainers and he took me upstairs to the bathroom. "Bath or shower?"

"Bath, please." I gingerly stood in the centre of the room, trying not to drip mud. Cloud bent down and turned the taps, and as I watched the water filling up he got me a towel. He left the room to allow me to change and bathe in privacy, but as I climbed into the tub a huge bellow of thunder rocked the house. I whimpered, and washed myself as quickly as possible. There was a knock at the door.

"Tifa, are you okay in there?" His voice was soft in contrast to the thunder that was rattling the windows. "You said earlier you were scared of thunderstorms ..."

"I'm fine ... thank you."

"Tell me when you're done. I'm putting your clothes in the washing machine."

"My iPod's in the shorts!"

"Don't worry, I already got that."

I giggled to myself softly. After all my thoughts today ... and here I was, having a conversation with Cloud naked. Yes, he was on the other side of the door and I was in the bathtub, but still. Plus we were talking about things other than sex. Or rather, who he had slept with. I washed myself swiftly, trying to block out the thunder.

Soon I was sat with my legs crossed on Cloud's bed, wearing an old, baggy pair of his boxers (yes, my heart jumped slightly at the thought of my skin touching where his had before), and another old checked shirt that he had produced from his wardrobe. My hands were clasped around a mug of hot tea and Cloud was sat in an armchair by the window in a pair of tracksuit bottoms, watching the storm outside. My leg was bandaged. It felt perfect.

Cloud's phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket and answered it.

"Yes, she's safe. We're at my house ... Really? Oh ... right. I'll get her home tomorrow then ... no worries. See you then." He ended the call. I looked at him quizzically. "That was Zack. He wanted to know if I'd seen you. He said the storm's too bad to go out for the rest of the day, and it will probably continue through the night, so he said it was best for you to sleep here."

"Right ... thank you."

"No problem."

He stared out the window again.

"Cloud ... why did you come back? Up the hill, I mean?" He didn't look away.

"I just wanted to check that you were okay. In the rain. And I'm glad I did, or no doubt you'd still be stuck up there."

I giggled. "I like to think that someone would have come looking for me at some point."

He turned, and gave me a small smile. I felt myself get even warmer.

"Do you want to watch a film or something?" He gestured to a small pile of DVDs that were stacked beside the television, which stood in front of his bed. I smiled.

"Sounds good."

We watched The Shawshank Redemption, and I was glad I'd seen it before, because soon my tea was finished, the mug put to the side, and my head on the pillow, my eyes closed.

I slept for eight hours, and when I woke up I was confused, because I was covered in a blanket and the room was dark. The luminous face of the clock on the bedside table read ten pm. When I swung my legs out the bed and my feet hit the floor I hissed at the cold floorboards. There was a pair of socks on the end of the bed and I pulled them onto my feet, ignoring the fact that they were some sizes too big. I padded out of his room and down the stairs, still limping slightly, and found Cloud in the living room, sat on the sofa, still wearing just the tracksuit bottoms, reading a book.

"Hey," He looked up.

"Hey," He stretched his arms out above his head, and looked up at the clock on the mantelpiece. "How'd you sleep?"

"Great, thank you ... sorry for falling asleep in the film."

"That's okay." He patted the sofa beside him, and I shuffled over, sitting once more with my legs crossed. It seemed to be becoming a favourite position to sit in.

"What are you reading?" He handed me the book, folding down the corner of the page he was on. "Ah. Mrs Dalloway. Never had you down as a Virginia Woolf fan."

"It's Dad's ... he's got quite a collection of books really. I'm making it my mission to read all of them this summer."

I giggled and poked him with my foot. "Hey ... you hungry?"

"And by that I'm guessing you are?"

"Perhaps."

"I can offer you cereal or ice cream."

"I'm thinking ... ice cream." He got up and made his way to the kitchen. I picked up the book he'd left behind and began flicking through it. I'd never read it but had always aimed to ... it sounded like our father's were quite similar. Dad was always trying to get me to read his books, and normally I would, but I wouldn't really pick one from his collection myself. He had to almost physically hand me one on a plate before I picked it up and read it. I decided to remedy this as soon as I got home.

"Here you go," Cloud handed me the cold bowl and I began spooning the ice cream into my mouth immediately. "So ... another film?"

"...Sure. I'll try not to fall asleep this time."

He sat down beside me and handed me the remote.

"You know I wouldn't mind if you did ... I'd just ignore the snoring -"

"-CLOUD!" I poked him again with my foot. A small smile spread across his face again.

"Okay ... you only snored a little bit." I poked him again, sharply. "Not at all!"

I couldn't believe how easily we were getting along. Everything was going so nicely.

The cold, wetness of the ground, the dull ache in my leg, and ice that coursed through my veins and made me shiver with a tremor that was uncontrollable, reminded me that this wasn't real – this was fantasy, this was what I wanted.

Don't get me wrong, up until when I fell, all of that happened. Zack walking in on me, my awkward conversation with Cloud, my fall on the run down the hill in the rain ... but then, all the stuff with Cloud, him helping me back to his house ... I'd say I dreamed it, but that isn't really an effective description. It was more like a hallucination that my mind had conjured up as I lay in the cold and rain. What really happened was of no interest. The rain didn't stop, and so after my imagination had finished making me feel warm and loved, I decided to try to make my way down the hill again. I settled for sliding down most of the way on my backside, and then when the ground was less muddy I managed to pull myself upright, and limp the rest of the way. I was shivering so much I thought I'd never be warm again, my fingers digging so hard in my upper arms that they left bruises. My leg ached, and I felt as though it was dragging me down towards the floor. My ponytail hung, limp, muddy and drenched, over my shoulder, with strands of hair splayed across my face in crazed directions. I limped through the deserted village, past all the houses with their warm, lit windows ... I passed Seventh Heaven and felt my heart sink when I saw, through the window, Cloud and Yuffie sat together on a window seat, one of his knees pulled up to his chest and his shirt still hanging open, and Yuffie was wrapped in a cream cable knit cardigan I recognised as mine. I couldn't remember when I lent it to her but it must have been months ago. I couldn't remember wearing it for a long time. It didn't matter though. It looked better on her with her cute, cropped hair. Each had a drink in their hand and though they weren't touching (even Yuffie was smart enough not to flirt with a boy other than Kadaj in public) there was a clear electricity between them. Cloud turned suddenly, and his eyes met mine through the window. As usual, his face gave nothing away. I limped away, towards the dark, empty windows of my house.

The house was cold and empty. I didn't know where everyone was – perhaps they were also at Seventh Heaven, or one of the other pubs in the village – so I was still shivering violently as I padded around the house. I bundled my clothes into the washing machine, turned it on and then burst into tears when I realised that I had left my iPod in the pocket of my shorts. There was no hot water left so I was forced to clean myself in freezing cold water. I was still shivering when I lay down on the sofa, clad in some old long pyjama bottoms and a big knitted hooded jumper of Zack's. I pulled a blanket over me and tried to watch a film. All that was on was an old black and white film ... Niagara. I didn't understand it and soon I had fallen into a fitful sleep.

I was warm enough when I woke up. Far too warm. I had a raging fever and my chest ached. I had a rattling cough and when I managed to clear my throat there was blood on the tissue I had coughed into. But thankfully I wasn't alone now. The lights were on, the heating turned up and the curtains drawn. Dad was sat in the armchair opposite the sofa I was stretched out on, reading a well thumbed book. My eyes were all blurry and I couldn't read the title. He looked up.

"Hey, you're awake."

"Yes ... where were you guys?"

"Zack and Aerith were having a drink at Seventh Heaven and I was watching Marlene for Barrett. Sure was busy. Must have been because of the storm. Where were you?"

"I went for a run ... but I slipped and hurt my leg. I got stuck out there."

"What? Really?"

I nodded. Zack, Aerith and Cloud came into the room. Cloud gave me a very brief, barely noticeable nod.

"Are you okay, Tifa? You don't look very well." Aerith came forward and placed a hand to my forehead. "You're so warm ..."

"I-I'm fine. Really." I swung my legs out and wriggled out from under the blanket. My head ached and my chest was agony.

"Your leg!"

I looked down at it – I'd forgotten that I'd hurt it. The shower had washed away the blood and mud but it had started bleeding again.

"Oh it's okay, really. I'm gonna go get a plaster ..."

I stood up and my head spun. I felt nauseous, my chest thudded, I was shivering but boiling at the same time ... I walked towards the kitchen, but the floor moved and the ceiling spun, and suddenly I was on the floor, and as everything faded I heard their shouts.

"Tifa! Are you okay? Tifa!"

Chibi: Ah the drama. We all thrive on it, don't deny it! Review monster needs feeding please. Thanks for reading!