Hey chapter two is finally here :D please enjoy!

Disclaimer: i don't own anything of course :D

"And then Mister Vexen said, 'Mister Fair would you kindly refrain from mixing unknown chemicals as I'm sure we would all like to keep our eyebrows'!!" Tifa cracked up as soon as she finished the story. Cloud was bent over double laughing and Leon was leaning on Zack to keep himself from falling over. Aerith was giggling with her hand covering her mouth.

"What's the joke yo?" came Reno's voice from behind Cloud. Zack and Tifa fell silent, their smiles slipped. Aerith and Leon caught sight of Reno as well. Cloud turned his smile still broad.

He stopped when he saw Reno's face. He had three parallel scars running across his right cheek that weren't there yesterday. Cloud could also see, under the turned up collar of his shirt, a bandage covering his neck.

"Oh Reno." He said as he stepped forward to pull the red head into a hug. When he wrapped his arms around Reno's waist however, the red head jumped and hissed in pain. Cloud stepped back, looking shocked.

"Reno?" Aerith asked taking a step towards him.

Reno ran a hand through his hair and smiled apologetically.

"Sorry Cloud, that's a sore spot at the moment."

"You don't have to apologise to me, Reno!"

"Don't you apologise!"

"Why don't you go tell the authorities?!"

"You shouldn't have to deal with this! It's criminal!"

"What about Axel?!"

They all spoke at once, people walking down the corridor turned to stare at them.

"Shhh keep your voices down yo," Reno cautioned. He didn't want anyone else to know his home situation. "Axel is fine, he locked himself in his bedroom and I'm eighteen tomorrow, I'll be moving right out of that house with him so there's no point in telling anyone anymore."

"No point?" Tifa exclaimed at the same time as Cloud asked,

"Where will you go?"

"I don't know, we'll find somewhere. Maybe stay in a hostel or something yo. At least until I find an apartment to rent or something."

They stared at him incredulously.

"But, it could take years to find an apartment! Are you gonna drag Axel around that whole time?!" Cloud asked gesturing with his hands and looking desperately at Reno.

"Well it's a helluva lot better than leaving him in that house isn't it!" Reno yelled at the blonde. Cloud physically flinched and took a step back, right into Zack's arms.

"Hey, c'mon man we're all worried about you no need to snap at Cloud." Zack frowned at Reno. Reno sighed and brushed his hair out of his face. He looked so tired and fed up. Cloud bit his lip.

"I'm sorry guys, I just…I'm so worried that I'm gonna mess things up yo." He said averting his gaze. Cloud stared at his best friend. He wished there was a way he could help him. Maybe find him a place to stay. A place…

"RENO!!" He exclaimed suddenly jumping out of Zack's arms and looking up at Reno with shining eyes. Reno looked at him with a startled expression and Zack still had his arms out.

"You could stay with me!" Cloud said looking as though this was the best idea ever. Reno blinked at him.

"C'mon I live far enough away from her!" Cloud reasoned.

"I dunno Cloud, I wouldn't wanna intrude or anything." Reno said rubbing the back of his neck.

"You won't be intruding! This would kill two birds with one stone! You and Axel would have a safe place to call home and I won't be alone anymore!" As Cloud had his back to Zack, he didn't see his frown when he said 'alone'. But Aerith did.

"Are you sure?" Reno asked.

"Well it's a helluva lot better than leaving Axel in that house isn't it!" Cloud used Reno's own argument to solidify his. Reno smiled at him.

"Okay I get it, we'll come live with you but I'm getting a job and paying rent yo?"

"You don't need to my parents left enough money to…" but he stopped at Reno's determined glare. "Okay whatever." He grinned and hugged Reno. Reno flinched but let Cloud hug him. He saw, over the top of Cloud's blonde spikes, a frown on Zack's face. He raised a questioning eyebrow but Zack simply shook his head and looked away.

Aerith found Zack sitting on a desk in their classroom. The bell had just rung for lunch and the quiet brunette had noticed that Zack wasn't with them. Amazingly no one else had noticed. They were all too wrapped up in plans for Reno's birthday and move. She had seen the frown Zack had had on before and knew something was up.

The afternoon sun cast bright highlights in Zack's black hair as he stared out the window despondently. Aerith walked silently to him, marvelling at just how beautiful he could look sometimes.

"Hey Aer." Zack said not even needing to turn and look to know it was her.

"Hey," she said placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. "I noticed you were missing from the group."

Zack turned to look at her, his sky-blue eyes uncharacteristically hard.

"You're the only one who did though, right?"

Aerith didn't answer. She couldn't, because the answer wasn't the one Zack wanted. Zack gave a cold 'ha' of laughter before turning back to the window.

Aerith knew now what it was that was upsetting him. She leaned her head on his shoulder.

"Heey, Cloud's just happy to have Reno moving in with him, happy to have his best friend safe and a full house."

Zack was silent. Aerith heard him swallow and knew he was fighting down tears.

"Why…why didn't he tell me he felt alone?" he stammered, still staring resolutely out of the window. Aerith wrapped her arms around his waist.

"Because, knowing Cloud, he wouldn't want you to worry. You know what he's like!"

"I would have moved in with him if he'd asked, if he'd dropped one hint about it!" Zack threw his arms in the air.

"I know and Cloud probably does too. But he's not thinking of himself right now, he's thinking of Reno and Axel."

Zack sighed heavily. He leaned his head back against Aerith's.

"You're right, I'm being selfish right now aren't I? Reno has no other place to go and I'm sat here complaining that it's him and not me moving in with Cloud. Guess that makes me the bad guy in this situation!"

Aerith opened her mouth to speak when the classroom door burst open and their group of friends stood in the doorway.

"THERE you are Zack! I…" Cloud stopped short when he saw Aerith with her arms around Zack and their heads together. His eyes widened and his mouth dropped slightly.

Zack heard Tifa's gasp, Leon's "Uh oh." And Reno's mumbled "Shit!"

Zack and Aerith leaped apart as if they had been caught in the act. That just seemed to confirm things in Cloud's eyes. His aquamarine orbs began to spill over with tears. His mouth twisted and his fists clenched. He gave one sob that broke Zack's heart and punched the doorframe before turning and running off down the corridor.

Zack was frozen in place. His mind was temporarily blank. He could only stare at the place where his boyfriend had been only moments ago. He was snapped, rather rudely, back to his senses when Reno yelled at him,

"Well go after him you dumbshit!!"

Zack shook his head and hurtled out the room. He thundered down the corridor calling out apologies when he crashed into people. He couldn't see Cloud anywhere. He looked desperately up and down the corridor. He caught sight of a flash of blonde hair to his left and with renewed hope he ran after it.

Only to discover, to his annoyance, that it was their maths teacher Mister Luxord. He was toying with a pack of cards in his hand and talking to Marluxia.

"Hello Fair, what's the rush?" Luxord asked in his British drawl.

"Have…have you seen Cloud?" he asked, panting. Marluxia raised an eyebrow.

"Yes he was running down this corridor in the direction of the grounds, he didn't look too happy either, you wouldn't have anything to do with that would you?" the pink haired teacher asked.

Zack brightened. The grounds! He knew where Cloud was going. He started off down the corridor again calling out his thanks over his shoulder as he ran.

He eventually burst out into the bright, warm grounds. He scanned the field and the gardens, looking for one particular blonde. Sure enough, he spotted him sat in their usual spot. He hurried down the steps and ran across the yard, ducking a basketball as it went sailing past him.

"Watch yerself Fair!" a voice yelled. Zack grinned in its general direction and waved. He jogged onto the field and over to the old, solitary oak tree. He slowed as he approached Cloud. He took deep breaths to steady his pounding heart and calm himself.

"Hey chocobo." He said, letting Cloud know he was there. Cloud looked up in alarm, he was sat with his knees under his chin and his arms wrapped around them. Tear tracks glittered in the sun and fresh tears looked like jewels. It took Zack's breath away to see how beautiful Cloud was, even when he was crying.

Cloud frowned and buried his face in his arms.

"Go away." Came a muffled reply.

Zack's shoulders slumped. He sat down next to Cloud and put his mouth close to the blonde's ear.

"C'mon baby at least let me explain." He said. Cloud's whole body shook as he attempted to hold back a sob. Tentatively Zack slipped an arm around Cloud's waist and pulled him closer. Cloud stiffened.

"It was my fault, I got… a little selfish and Aerith was telling me things I should already know."

Cloud sniffed.

"That tells me nothing Fair." He said. Zack flinched at the cold way Cloud had said his last name.

"Okay I got a little… jealous? I guess. Of Reno. Because when you said that his moving in would make them safe and you wouldn't be alone anymore I thought that…that maybe, you didn't…" Zack didn't know how to finish that sentence.

Cloud looked up at him. He no longer looked angry, which was a good thing Zack told himself.

"You were…jealous of Reno? He's my best friend Zack no more and no less!" he said, his expression confused.

"I know that! I just felt like I'd missed something. I mean you said you were alone and I didn't even think about it!" Zack exclaimed. Cloud blinked at him for a couple of seconds then he smiled slightly.

"Oh Zack, you idiot. I love you! I'm not alone when I have that! I just meant, with regards to Reno moving in, that the house wouldn't be empty and I wouldn't wake up and come back to a silent house!" he leaned up and softly kissed Zack's mouth. Zack deepened the kiss and gently pushed Cloud down to the grass.

When they parted for oxygen Zack grinned mischievously at his blushing blonde.

"I could move in, and make that house even louder!"

Cloud smiled, leaning up for more.

"We'll discuss that at a later time."

Cloud dug his house key out of his back pocket and jammed it into the keyhole. He opened the door and then stood aside for Reno and Axel to walk in. He closed the door firmly behind himself and followed them into the living room.

Reno looked around the cosy living room. Cloud still had photo's covering almost every surface. Photo's of his parents, of Roxas and Sora, of his friends, even an old one of Cloud and Reno when they were kids.

Axel thought it was odd being here when Roxas and Sora weren't.

"So," Cloud said as he walked into the living room. Reno sighed.

"I'll go now, Axel you stay here." Reno said dropping his school bag on the floor.

"Do…do you want me to come?" Cloud asked. Reno looked over at his best friend. Cloud looked so worried.

"No, if she is home I don't want you to get hurt, besides if you did get hurt then Zack might go on a rampage!" Reno grinned. Cloud smiled weakly in answer.

Reno slowly pushed open the front door of his 'home'. He looked around the dark hall with a trained eye. No sign of her, but he had long since learned that that didn't mean she wasn't here. He took a tentative step inside. He kept the door open as an escape.

"Mum?" he called. No sound at all. No television, no bottle's clinking, no drunken laughter. He cautiously peeked inside the living room. No, she wasn't home.

Even with this knowledge Reno didn't relax. She could be home any second. He hurried upstairs to Axel's room and began to pack anything and everything into his rucksack.

"Do you want a drink Axel?" Cloud asked from the kitchen.

"No thanks." Axel replied. He was sat on the sofa in the living room chewing on his bottom lip and twisting his shirt in his hands. He hated not knowing if Reno was okay.

"Hey."

Axel looked up in surprise. He hadn't heard Cloud leave the kitchen. He was stood in front of him with a kind smile on his face. Cloud crouched down and took Axel's hands to stop him from tearing his shirt.

"Reno'll be fine. If he hasn't come back yet that just means that he's getting your stuff right?"

Axel swallowed and then nodded. Cloud smiled at the young boy.

"Wanna help me make something to eat?" Cloud asked him.

"S sure." Axel agreed and then went with Cloud into the kitchen.

Reno came back to a house smelling of baking and chips with laughter and music coming from the kitchen.

"This is what a home should be like." He thought. He dumped the bags in the hall and followed the sounds and smells to the kitchen. He grinned when he saw Axel laughing at an odd-shaped cookie. He had an apron on over his uniform that was obviously Cloud's as it was too big for him.

"Smells good guys!" Reno said over the music. Axel looked over at his brother.

"Reno!" he yelled. Cloud turned the music down. "I've been making cookies!"

"Awesome, do I get to eat one?" he asked, ruffling Axel's hair.

"Not till after dinner." Axel said putting his odd cookie back on the cooling rack.

"Did'ya get everything?" Cloud asked.

"Well I got our clothes, we'll just get everything else tomorrow yo." Reno said running a hand through his hair. Cloud nodded.

"Well you can put your stuff in the room next to mine and Axel's stuff can go in the twin's room for now."

"Okay." Reno walked out the room and took the bags upstairs.

He dropped Axel's stuff in the twin's room and then went down the hall to the spare room. He pushed open the door. It was a fairly plain room. It had a double bed, a wardrobe, a chest of drawers and a desk with a chair. The sheets on the bed had just been changed by the looks of things. Cloud had obviously been getting ready for them. Reno smiled and shook his head at Cloud.

He put the bags beside the bed and then sat down on it. He looked around. This would be his room starting tomorrow. Part of him was nervous about leaving, what if something went wrong? What if their mother found out where they had gone? Would he be putting Cloud in trouble too?

He sighed again and scratched at the bandage on his neck. His eyes landed on a photo in a frame sat on the desk. He walked over and picked it up. He laughed at the chaos of the picture.

He was in it, grinning cockily as always. Cloud was there, laughing, with Zack's arms around his waist and his chin on the blonde's head with his roguish in place. Leon was there and Tifa and Aerith, all laughing with their arms around each other. Reno remembered that day, they had gone to the park with Cloud's new camera and were fooling around as always. But this was a photo that truly caught that. Reno wished he could go back to a day like that. Where there was nothing to worry about apart from where lunch was coming from.

He put the photo back down. He suspected Cloud had put it there on purpose.

Reno fell asleep that night to the sound of his mother's cursing and things smashing. His brother was curled up beside him, too scared to sleep on his own. He fell asleep knowing that this was the last night they would be here.

The big day approaches! :D pleeeeaaaase review pretty pretty please :)