A/N: Okay, since I don't feel like rewriting at the moment and since this story is quite possibly the best written one I've got, I'm just going to go ahead and continue it. Thanks for all the positive reviews and all of those reviewers who hung in there. It really means a lot to me. Anyway, enjoy this chapter!

Chapter Five:

Good Girls and Bad Habits

"Phew, I believe that's the last of it."

Tifa stood still for the first time that day and wiped her dirty hands on her already dirty baggy T-shirt. Although her hair had been tied back into a frizzy bun, her bangs were now glued to her forehead from all the sweat that had been forming there. Carefully, she placed the broom back into the closet and admired her handiwork. She smiled gleefully; proud as she spotted the sparkle and shine of the entire grand hall that led to the bedrooms.

Finally, she fell upon the floor, accepting the cool feel of the tiles beneath her and the luxury of not being on her feet for once. Her baggy blue shorts had gathered quite a few dust particles and had stains from the chemical cleaners that Tifa had accidentally spilled on occasion. Her usually nice clean legs were now looking and feeling disgusting and Tifa convinced herself that it would be best not to look at the soles of her bare feet.

Usually, Mrs. Strife would forbid Tifa to ever dress or look the way she did at this time, but since the only 'man' in the house was out, she was able to get away with it. Hell, she even managed to get away without having to wear a bra, considering they bothered her whenever she had to clean. It was moments like these that she was ever so thankful for, embracing the silence that filled the entire now clean mansion.

Although Tifa was not too fond of cleaning anything, much less the entire Strife household (which was more like a castle than a house in her eyes), it was the simple fact that she finally had some freedom while she did it and that no one was looking at her or judging her; especially a particular obnoxious blonde.

"Tifa, dear! Please come downstairs!"

Tifa heard Mrs. Strife's soft voice echo up from the spiral marble staircase and she quickly picked herself up and dashed away. The last time her beloved and strict guardian had called on her and she hadn't heard or had ignored her, hell had broken loose. Tifa cringed at the mere memory that had caused her nightmares for days on end, not to mention extreme amounts of teasing from the pathetic teenage boy living with her and all his rude friends.

"Coming, Mrs. Strife!"

She cried as her feet went flailing down the marble steps, their tapping echoing softly in the empty hall. When she was only a few more stairs away from standing before the high class lady, she stopped, wheezing for air and turning a bright red when she saw the man calmly conversing with her.

"Oh, Cid! Don't be silly! A boarding school will do no good for Cloud at this age! He'll be just as rowdy, if not more. Besides, how can I part with my one and only son?!"

Tifa stared on at the man, mouth open. Standing not much taller than his sister, he had short platinum blonde hair (a trademark it seemed), deep blue eyes and a few wrinkle lines around his mouth and on his forehead, distorting the usually flawless tanned skin. He had a pack of cigarettes tucked away in his breast pocket of the blue collared shirt he wore and he was currently giving little sis an angry look. Tifa's heart froze; the dreaded Uncle Cid.

Cloud Strife, the only man in the family ever since Mr. Strife passed away, was a wild typical seventeen year old boy who was sexually active, a drunk, a smoker and a party craver. Not to mention he was doing terrible at school; hardly passing anything besides math. He seemed to be excellent at it. Tifa had only seen Uncle Cid a few times and those times were either at family events or when 'Cloudy boy' needed his ass kicked into gear. If there was anyone who could straighten Cloud out and scare the shit out of him and his friends, it was Uncle Cid.

Tifa snickered; it was always memorable when Uncle Cid visited. For the few days that he stayed at the mansion, Tifa was safe and untouchable. A simple threat of telling was enough to frighten the boys. The first time she had threatened them, they had made the mistake of believing she wouldn't. They soon learned never to test her again.

"Izzy, don't get your panties in a bunch! If the boy goes to an all boys school or a boarding school, you wouldn't need me to visit every so often just to give him a good lesson about life. Do you know how much I have to travel just to get all the way up here to this ridiculously huge shithole because you can't control a teenage scumbag?! Let me tell you, it ain't cheap!"

"Good morning, Uncle!"

Tifa cried cheerily before Mrs. Strife was about to explode. Tifa's queue was when Mrs. Strife pale face turned a menacing bright red and the dreaded finger had come up, ready to point and jab at her older brother's chest.

So into the argument, neither had noticed her existence until she hopped down the stairs and gave Cid a big teddy bear hug, him almost squeezing her guts out. He lifted her up as he hugged her, muscled arms squeezing the smaller girl's body.

"Well if it isn't Tifa! How've ya been girl? Has my sister been brainwashing you too much again?"

Tifa fought back a giggle and instead gave a heavy hearted smile as Uncle Cid patted her messy dark hair. From the corner of her eye, she could see Mrs. Strife fuming and if possible, smoke escaping from her ears.

"Yep, she did. Too late to save you know I guess. If only her brainwashing skills worked on that spoiled brat of a son she's got."

"That is it, Cid! First of all, in my household, you will call me either Isabella or Mrs. Strife! Not Izzy! You will also refrain from using that vile language in this house and change your language to a more appropriate and more human like tongue! And as long as you are under my roof, you will not call my son any names, for that is abuse and I do not tolerate abuse or bullying! Is that understood?!"

There was a silence and about a few seconds before they both started up a loud menacing argument with much screaming, Tifa had stealthily slipped away towards the house entrance, sighing with relief. Then the door slammed behind her and all that relief was gone.

"Woah...what the hell are you wearing?"

She turned around; knowing full well who the deep male voice belonged to. She looked at the tall spiky headed blonde in front of her whose eyes seemed to be staring at her...t-shirt? No, that couldn't be right.

"Stop staring, you pervert!"

Tifa hugged her arms around her chest, a strange heat rising to her cheeks and colouring them red. Cloud snickered and looked up to met her blazing eyes, fire meeting ice. Tifa looked away, trying to recover from the massive blush before she heard the door creak open again.

"Cloud, what's all that yelling?"

The yelling had indeed escalated and Tifa saw Cloud's face turn pale as Cid's thunderous voice boomed down the hallway. She also saw a tall woman step through the doorway, long auburn hair spilling down in waves all the way to her lower back. Her eyes were a deep and bright green and her skin was like porcelain, her body slim and curved in all the right places. Tifa couldn't close her mouth when the older woman stepped inside, big eyes looking innocently at their surroundings. This must have been that model girlfriend Cloud had that everyone had been talking about. She was a foreign beauty from another country. At first, Tifa didn't believe the stories; a twenty four year old woman who was a gorgeous foreign model was Cloud's girlfriend. Anyone with enough sense would doubt that story. But now Tifa was a believer.

"H-Hi..."

Tifa muttered softly before the woman noticed her standing still in front of her. When heavy black lashes blinked in confusion, Tifa mustered a smile as the yelling in the background seemed to calm down and Cloud had started panicking. She was greeted with a warm smile afterwards as well and Cloud had interrupted it by grabbing her and panicking.

"Well, well, if it isn't my favourite little nephew. How's it going Cloud? Oooooh, and he brought a cutie home today!"

Cid's voice came in sarcastically from behind Tifa and caused both her and Cloud to turn around in shock.

"Mooooooooooooooooooom!!! You didn't tell me he was going to be here today!! MOM!"

Tifa laughed and Cid had a cocky smile run itself across his lips. Cloud's girlfriend stood behind him, too stunned to move, her famous green eyes wide in bewilderment.

"Come now, aren't you happy to see me, Cloudy boy? Haven't you missed your dear Uncle Cid? After all, it's been quite a few months since your seventeenth birthday."

Tifa wasn't sure but she could have almost thought she saw an evil gleam shining in Cid's dark blue eyes.

"And it's also not polite to leave such a beautiful young lady behind you without introducing her to the family. What's your name, cutie?"

Cloud seemed to be frozen in place while his girlfriend stood behind him trying to find the words as a blush crept to her pale cheeks.

"My name is Aerith, sir. Aerith Gainsborough."

The girl had a soft and sweet voice, almost just as innocent as her complexion. Tifa didn't understand why such an exotic beauty was even doing with Cloud, quite possibly the most immature teenage boy alive.

"Cid! I'm warning you! I did not ask you to come over here for this!"

Mrs. Strife came storming in behind Cid looking more furious then ever and Cloud took this opportunity to grab Aerith's arm and make a run for it to the safety of his room. He pushed past Tifa, almost causing her to fall down and dragged a very stunned Aerith away with him. Tifa caught her balance and muttered a curse under her breath so that Mrs. Strife didn't hear her.

"Cloudy boy, where the heck do you think you're going?! We aren't done talking over here!"

Cid cried out after the blonde, ignoring Mrs. Strife and her very angry expressions. Tifa didn't know how he did it; she hated those expressions and they used to scare her when she was younger.

"Cid, enough! Leave them alone! You can lecture him after his girlfriend leaves...he deserves that much respect. Besides, she's such a good girl and I really don't want Cloud to lose her."

Tifa fought back a snort of laughter; poor Mrs. Strife still believed that her son was a good boy. Cid turned around after Cloud and Aerith had both disappeared up the stairs and stared hard at Tifa, ignoring his little sister again. His eyes immediately looked down at her chest, widening all of a sudden.

"My, my...Never knew you grew up so quickly Tifa."

Tifa stared at first, dumbfounded, but after getting the gist, covered her chest hastily and turned a deep crimson that she could feel tears well up.

"Never knew you weren't a little girl anymore. Damn, this girl is going to be attracting all the boys... Where'd those knockers come from?"

That was it. Tifa ran upstairs, covering her chest as she ran and brushing past a ready to explode Mrs. Strife. She could hear Cid's laughter echo behind her even by the time she reached the hall where she had just finished cleaning. That was when she picked up the familiar scent of something that was not supposed to be there. She stopped, tears frozen in her eyes and cheeks still coloured red. Smoke. Cigarette smoke. Coming from Cloud's room. She took a few careful steps towards the slightly open door, the voices growing louder as she moved closer.

"Are you sure you're allowed to smoke in the house?"

"Yeah, as long as no one finds out...Besides, I don't want to just smoke. I didn't bring you over here for that."

Whatever had gone away from Tifa's previous blush came back in full force when she saw Cloud's eager and tanned hand unbutton the woman's shirt without so much of a care. They were both on his bed, cigarettes sitting in the ashtray, smoke escaping into the air. Cloud leaned in for a kiss and her hands made her way into his hair while he continued to dispose of her button up shirt, revealing a bright pink bra that cupped a set of petite breasts.

Tifa had never been inside of Cloud's room but when she saw it, there were drug needles, pill bottles, cigarette packs, condom packs and beer bottles lying everywhere. Not to mention, a half naked girl sitting on his bed. She was in shock; she knew he had been bad, but never this bad. Her mind was still processing these facts before she noticed she was still staring at them even when she had started to remove his pants.

Tifa bolted to her room, cheeks burning and tears falling down. For some reason, they wouldn't stop even if she wasn't sobbing or anything. They just kept coming so she had no choice that night but to stay locked up in her room, head stuffed into her pillow until she would fall asleep and they would finally disappear. Why was she hurting?

End of Chapter Five

A/N: Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter despite that it was somewhat short, depressing and a bit dirty. Wait up for the next chapter and reviews are nice. Constructive criticism only please!