"So, you wanna go out sometime this weekend?"

Cloud threw the perpetually energetic brunette an incredulous look at what she had just asked him. As the realization finally set in, Yuffie turned a bright red color under his deep blue gaze. Her hand flew to her mouth, floundering for words, desperately grasping at anything to say.

"N-no! T-that's not what...I mean...I meant...I've only known you for, like, a week," She shouted out, her blush somehow turning an even darker shade of ruby red. "I-I meant as...as friends, you know! Like, I could show you the town and stuff! I didn't...I didn't mean a date date if that's what you were thinking! I really meant to say-"

Cloud chuckled lightly as his expression softened, holding up a hand to stop the poor girl from flushing until all the blood left the rest of her body to her face. He smiled gently at her and replied, "It's okay, I know what you meant. But uh...actually...I already have an offer to do just that this weekend with someone. Sorry."

"Oh, It's alright," Yuffie replied, lowering her head and averting her eyes, playing with a loose thread on her shirt. Cloud immediately felt bad for how he had just treated poor little Yuffie. He felt like maybe she really was asking him on a date and he just utterly shot her down, with another person no less.

Cloud picked up his fork and began picking at his cafeteria food, not really interested in eating it anymore.

"Well, where are you going," Yuffie finally asked, breaking the blonde out of his reverie.

Cloud looked up at the brunette with a confused expression on his face. Where were they going? Hell, Cloud didn't even know if they were actually even going to go out, maybe he was busy tonight? Knowing him, he'd probably surprise Cloud. The blonde gave the small girl a shrug of his shoulder and replied, "I don't really know, I think it's going to be a secret."

A small smile crept up on Yuffie's face as her eyes lit up slightly as that smile soon turned into one of mischief. "You're going out with Zack, aren't you?"

Cloud's heart beat picked up a bit and he could feel his face flushing a more than likely unpleasant shade of red, giving away his embarrassment. He dropped the plastic fork to the plastic tray and held his hands up in a defensive manner, shaking his head vigorously. "N-no, It's nothing like that! We're not going out!"

Yuffie chuckled at his nervousness. "Hehe, no, no I know what you meant, but I wouldn't be surprised if he tried to..." her eye brows rose in a suggestive manner, leaning in closely across the table to get into the blonde's face. "...seduce you in any way shape or form."

He raised his hand nonchalantly and, with a now composed expression, flicked the girl in the forehead. She settled back into her seat, rubbing her forehead and giving the blonde a dirty look.

"Meanie."

"Pervert."

"Can't argue with that," she replied with a wide grin on her face.

----

"Fuck," the blonde cursed, stomping his foot heavily on the ground, a hideous scowl twisting his features into a mask of utter frustration. "Not again, goddammit!"

He watched in complete fury as his big, yellow ride home steadily headed down the street and out of sight of the front doors the school, where he now stood. His father wouldn't be home until after work at around 6 o'clock, so he was pretty much stuck there until then.

With a heavy sigh, he relaxed and let go of his anger, letting it chase after the bus. He pinched the bridge of his nose as he took a series of deep breaths, trying to relieve his now pounding headache. Boy was his father going to be pissed.

"Okay, now I think you're just trying to mooch rides off of me."

Cloud spun on his heel at the familiar voice, finding the raven haired teen standing in front of him, blue eyes boring into his, hand on his hip, an evil little smirk playing along the corners of his mouth. Zack was holding his keys in his other hand, fiddling with them, their metal clinking was the only thing that broke the deafening silence between them despite the traffic noises pouring around them.

"I-I...I didn't meant to..." He was shocked to say the least. Zack hadn't been there in first hour to walk him to the gym and he hadn't seen him t any other interval during the day. To be honest, it had pretty much crushed his hopes of having a good day. He couldn't exactly pin point why. So now here he was, standing in front of him like God's good grace to Cloud.

Zack chuckled lightly as he watched the younger teen flounder for words for the second time that day. "Please, don't get too excited," he said sarcastically. "Look's like you need me once again."

Cloud managed to recompose himself and scoffed, trying to preserve what little pride he had after just looking like a gasping fish in front of Zack, turning his back on the raven haired teen and walking forward. "I can get home just fine by myself."

As cloud walked away Zack ran to catch up with him, walking side by side with the still flustered blonde. "Oh yeah? You got a car?"

"No, duh," he replied.

"Got another friend with a car who hasn't left the school yet?"

"Well...no..."

"Got someone coming to pick you up right this moment?"

"No."

Zack grinned as Cloud continued to fume silently while he continued walking to nowhere. "There you go. You've got no other choice but me left. Haha, I'm starting to feel like you honestly do this on purpose just to see me more."

"Don't flatter yourself," was all he said as he looked up into the distant sky that was already beginning to have tell tale signs of a setting sun. He had his chores to do back at home, not to mention making dinner and doing his homework, and it would only further irritate his exhausted father if he had to come and pick him up from school. He could always walk home, but at that rate he would get home later than his father.

The only option left was to get a ride from the cocky older teen.

"Well, come on," Zack finally said after they had continued walking away from the school for a couple of moments in awkward silence, thoughts rushing through the blonde's head about how to get home...about what he had told Yuffie not 4 hours ago... He felt self concious about actually asking him to take him out because he was still confused about why he felt so down when Zack wasn't there first hour.

"Hm?"

"Well, you have no other option but me if you want to get home without having to be a burden on someone's shoulders-"

"I'll be a burden on yours," Cloud interrupted, folding his arms over his chest and looking particularly glum.

"-so I would be delighted to have the honors of taking you home again," he finished as if Cloud hadn't interrupted him, a small smile playing along the edge of his mouth as he stopped dead in his tracks. Cloud stopped just a few feet ahead of him. The older teen held out his arm in a very 1800s fashion, his posture erect, his expression beyond amused. "Well, may I have the privilege of courting you this evening?"

A blush was spreading like wild fire across the blonde's face, eye brows raising in mild amusement as he retorted, "It's still daylight, my good sir."

"Well..." Zack began to chew on his bottom lip, thinking up a solution to their dilema, until a smile lit up his features once again. "Have you gotten anyone to offer you a good romp around the town or to take you to a delight ice cream social for the evening?"

"Ah, that offer I have not yet received as of this moment," Cloud replied, keeping up his little game of talking like a 19th century business man, "but were some delightful camp to offer me such an evening I feel that I would simply have to respond in the affirmative."

"Well then, that being the case," Zack gave the blonde boy a huge grin, dropping his prim demeanor and stared him straight in the eyes, "Would you humor me for the evening?"

Cloud stood there for a while, seemingly mulling over the concept, even though he knew what his response was going to be from the moment he saw Zack. He didn't understand why he felt the need to stall in his answer. Finally, he lifted his blue gaze from his shoes to meet the worried expression on Zack's face. He was truly anxious for his answer, acting just like he was asking out a girl in middle school.

"Yeah, sure," Cloud finally replied, throwing the older teen a sincere smile to relax him a bit, "I don't see what harm this could cause."

Zack's shoulders slumped and Cloud rose an eyebrow as he watched him visibly relax, a smirk gracing his features, replacing his worried expression. "Oh trust me, Cloud," he said nonchalantly, sauntering up to the blonde boy and throwing his arm over his shoulder, wheeling him towards the older teen's truck, "we are going to raise more hell than hellraiser."

----

"Uhm...Dad?"

Cloud's father looked up from the couple of papers he was reading for work and threw his son a curious look. Cloud was elbow deep in dishwater, absentmindedly running a sponge along one of their plates.

"Can...can I go out tonight?"

Cloud didn't have the courage to even look up and face his father, knowing he more than likely raising his eyebrows in complete and utter surprise at his request. An uncomfortable knot was forming in his throat, his stomach doing daring backflips, making him a bit woozy.

He heard his father put down his papers.

"When?"

That was not the word he had been expecting. In his surprise, Cloud lifted his blue gaze to find his father giving him a completely leveled look of curiosity. The blonde boy blinked a few times before finally letting the words stumble out of his mouth, "U-uhm..He'll be here in about 15 minutes...If that's okay?"

With a raised eyebrow his father asked, "He?"

Cloud nodded, "His name is Zack, he's in my Advanced Physics class and we're just going to go hang out some place, he's going to show me what there is to do in Midgar, ya know, me being the new kid and everything. He's just trying to be nice."

"Ah," he rubbed his chin in thought, "any girls going out with you two?"

Cloud shook his head, "No, It's just us."

"Good," his father drummed his fingers on the kitchen table in thought as Cloud was taken off guard by his apparent acceptance of this not being a date. "It's too soon for you to start going out with girls, we just moved here, ya know? It's good that you're making friends."

His father was nodding in approval of what he had just said.

"So when will you be back?"

"Uhm," This is what Cloud was actually afraid of, "a-around midnight?"

"Okay."

He dropped the plate he was washing and it fell into the sink with a loud clang. His eyes widened complete shock, mouth hanging open, facing his father from across the counter, searching his eyes for some hint of sarcasm. There was none.

Cloud's father chuckled lightly at his son's expression and shook his head in equal disbelief, "You thought I wasn't going to let you go out? You think I'm that much of a prick? Come on, Cloud, I may be a slight hard ass-"

"That's the understatement of the year," he grummbled once he had finally composed himself.

For the second time that day, he just kept talking without acknowledging what his son had said. "-but I remember what It was like to be a teenager, especially at your age with friends who can drive. I'm not going to stop you from hanging out with your friends. You go out and have fun tonight okay?"

The blonde boy nodded slowly, still feeling like this was an order, and tentatively returned to the dish he dropped.

"I want your chores and your homework done before you go anywhere," He heard his father say from the kitchen table, that usual hard tone was back in action. Cloud gave a small smile down into the dish water.

"Homework's done, all I have to do are the dishes," He replied.

His father nodded, "Well...alright. Then remember, having fun, I don't want you to come home tonight unless you did."

Cloud chuckled lightly as he began to dry the plate he was working on, "So would that mean you'd kick me out on the street for the night or do you want me to sleep over at Zack's?"

"Whatever gets you to have fun," Cloud could hear the smile in his dad's voice as he shuffled through a bunch more papers, the scritching sound of a pen on paper became a rapid noise in the back ground. "It's friday, so I really couldn't care less if you sleep on the lawn or in a bed."

"That's cruel," Cloud commented, draining the dish water from the sink and patting his hands dry on the towel, turning to give his father a leveled glare. "you wouldn't really lock me out of my own house."

At that, he put down his papers and took off his reading glasses, giving his son the most incredulous look possible. "I seem to have forgotten...who pays the bills around here?"

Cloud put a hand on his hip and retorted, "Who buys the food? Who makes you dinner? Who cleans up the dinner? Who cleans the house? Face it Dad, without me, this place would fall apart."

"Yeah, yeah," he waved a hand dismissively in Cloud's direction, putting on his glasses and continuing with his extra work.

It was just then that the door bell rang.

"I'll get it!"

Cloud threw the towel onto the counter and ran off to greet the person at the front door. He wrenched the wooden thing open, a smile lighting up the older teen's face as he saw the blond standing there haphazardly in the door way. Excitement coursed through Cloud as he realized this was the first time Zack had actually seen the inside of his house. He took a moment to take in Zack's appearance, looking him up and down. He was wearing a pair of jeans, a black t-shirt with an elegant silver pattern scrawled across the front; a black, collared jack on his shoulders. His hair looked elegantly disheveled, his blue eyes were sparkling.

"You ready?"

Cloud gave the older teen a curt nod and moved to exit the door with him, shouting over his shoulder, "Hey Dad, we're leaving."

"Wait a 'sec!"

Cloud furrowed his brows together and moved back into the kitchen, Zack staying firmly by the door, while he rounded the corner to see his dad giving him a completely expressionless stare, glasses off. "Yeah?"

"Well, do I get to meet this 'Zack' or what?" A small smile was tugging at the corner of his lips.

The blonde, without thinking, nodded to his father and replied, "Yeah, sure. Zack?"

"Hm," He called from the doorway.

"Come on in."

A sarcastic smirk lit his face, "Are you sure I am worthy enough to have my peasant feet step onto such holy ground? Are my eyes trained enough to take in such a forbidden sight that is the inside of your house?"

Cloud threw him a glare, "Shut up and get your ass in here."

"Tsk, tsk," Zack said condescendingly, "Swearing at me will only get you kicked out of my car onto the road side, I hope you know." As the older teen walked into the house, taking in the surroundings as he entered the kitchen, he finally understood why Cloud had been inviting him into the establishment in the first place.

An amused smile was on Cloud's father's face, eyebrows raised. Zack's own eyes widened with shock for just a small moment before composing himself and smiling a genuine smile. He raised a hand at the man and said, "Hey, nice to meet ya."

"So I heard you're taking my son our for a night on the town," He said from his chair, amusement evident in his tone for some reason they couldn't place. "Well I just want to lay out a couple of ground rules first. Number one; no kissing or groping on the first date-"

"Dad!" Cloud groaned, smacking his hand his face, now understanding why his dad was entertained by meeting his friend. Zack, however, was laughing his head off at the sheer boldness of his father's comment.

"-rule number two," He went on, obviously trying to suppress a laugh, "I want him home by midnight. That is, unless, rule number three comes into play, which is I don't want him back unless he has fun tonight. You can make him sleep in a public park for all I care, but I don't want him coming back grumbling about something or other. Can you do this for me, Zack?"

"Yes sir," He replied, a wide grin on his face, "I will make sure he has the best damn night of his life."

Cloud's father chuckled and replied, "While I highly doubt that, but good luck to ya!"

"We're leaving," the blonde groaned, grabbing the older's arm and leading him to the door, "now."

"See ya later Mr. Strife," Zack called out behind him.

"Bye you two!"

----

"That was utter torture."

"That was funny as all hell."

"You have a sick sense of humor, you know that?"

"And you don't have one at all! I just might have to keep you tonight if you don't have any fun."

At that last comment all blood left any other part of Cloud's body headed straight for his cheeks. He was only thankful that Zack had to keep his eyes on the road and that it had already gotten dark outside. They had been driving for a good ten minutes in pretty much utter silence, save for the radio playing softly in the background, as Cloud fumed silently over the horrific incident that he had just witnessed.

With a heavy sigh the blonde shifted his gaze over to the older teen driving the car, "So where are we going?"

"That, my dear friend, is a surprise," he said coyly, turning into the left hand lane to pass by a bunch of people, obviously breaking the speed limit. Zack was a reckless driver to say the least.

"Can I have a hint?"

"Nope."

The blonde furrowed his eyebrows, glaring at the raven haired teen, "Why not?"

"Because," He replied, taking an exit off the highway, "you're too clever, you'd figure it out right away. Now sit there and shut up about where we're going, you'll find out when we get there."

Cloud threw him a look. "We're going to a club, aren't we?"

"You suck!" Zack shouted, giving the blonde a quick but completely incredulous look. mouth hanging open. "You are unbelievable. You already guessed where we were going and I didn't even give you a hint. You, Mr. Cloud Strife, utterly suck."

"You're just jealous," The blonde said with a smirk, "besides, you are showing me the night life of Midgar and where else do you take someone to see that besides a club? It was pretty obvious from the beginning."

"Well...It's more like a concert that's taking place at a club," Zack retorted, "I still win on some level."

"Whatever cries you to sleep at night," Cloud replied, turning his head and watching the black scenery fly by his window. He had a weird feeling about tonight...something was going to happen, he was positive about that, but he couldn't help but think it wasn't going to be a good thing.

Hope you liked it. Review.