AN: Dammit. It's like all the ideas I get are from songs... and games, but whatever! I need to just like wait to publish these because I have way too many unfinished ones already. Plus, this will not be taking the path of crisis core so guess what... Genesis and Angeal are still alive! So just pretend that they're not defaulty. Anyway here it is.
Disclaimer: I don't own Three Days Grace (I don't have any imagination when it comes to naming things. Plus, Three Days Grace just fit a little bit better then Linkin Park with my characters), the Kingdom Hearts characters, or the Final Fantasy world. Nor do I own the Linkin Park, Three Days Grace, or other songs used in this fanfic.
P.S. If the pairing wasn't hint enough, this is malexmale. I don't take kindly to homophobic comments.
Third Person
It was a cold October day. Friday to be exact, which made things all the better for the fans of the band that was performing in the city tonight. This band, Three Days Grace, was currently on their last performance for their world wide tour in Kalm. The tickets were sold out, just like the rest of their concerts, and the stadium was flooded from the inside and out. About an hour after the time they finally started to open the gates, the security finally got the raging fans under control.
Things became as quiet as a graveyard when the smoke and first few chords began to rumble over the speakers.
Every time we lie awake
After every hit we take
Every feeling that I get
But I haven't missed you yet
Every roommate gets awake
By every sigh and scream we make
All the feelings that I get
But I still don't miss you yet
Only when I stop to think about it...
XXXXX
Back at ShinRa almost everyone was watching this televised event. Even Zack Fair. Or maybe that was because his friends, Reno and Cissnei, over.
"Zack! If we miss even one second of their songs I'm gonna have Reno zap your ass off with that EMR of his!" Cissnei yelled while chasing the said ravenette throughout his apartment. To any bystander it would have looked like Zack was terrified, but he was actually having the best time annoying Cissnei.
"Hey, is it even possible to zap someones ass off?" he quickly threw over his shoulder.
"Trust me yo, I'll find a way," the lazy red head threw in from his position on the couch. "Aw, but I thought we were friends," Zack whined, stopping in front of the couch. Big mistake. The little brunette was still on his tale and came crashing into him, knocking them both onto the ground.
"Ha!" she triumphed as she took the remote from the slightly dazed Zack. The TV was then settled on the currently over used channel while the raven haired soldier still lie on the ground. The first verse started to play.
To be honest Zack had heard of this band just not their music, nor had he seen the people. He had called Reno and Cissnei over after leaving Cloud's room. If the blonde didn't have a hundred and three fever they wouldn't even be watching this now. Well, actually if Cloud hadn't forced him to go out and have fun with some of his other friends he wouldn't be here now. The blonde had been sick for a while now with all sorts of things, stomach flu, fever, even mono. Zack was getting worried, the boy had been drawing in sickness like a magnet. And much to the blondes protests, the soldier took care of him. This was the first night in a few weeks that he had not been spending his favorite chocobo.
Of course he forgot that tonight was the concert, so as soon as the invitation presented itself, the redhead and the brunette were taking over his home. He sat there reminiscing about it. Only when the chorus rang out did he lift his head up to see the person behind that voice.
I hate everything about you
Why do I love you
I hate everything about you
Why do I love you?
The teen was amazing. He looked like he just lived the music. Zack finally pulled himself up to an upright position so he could get a better view of the screen. The boy had dark brown hair, kinda black, and had fair skin that was almost white, but a bit darker. His hair was layered and cropped, about time to get it cut again. Also milk chocolate brown eyes stared out into the audience, face over all ,he couldn't be any older than fifteen.
Every time we lie awake
After every hit we take
Every feeling that I get
But I haven't missed you yet
Only when I stop to think about it...
After realizing that this second verse was very similar to the first he took that time to study the other players. The one to the singers immediate left was a lanky looking guy with hair a cross between a mohawk and a mullet. The other guitarist had silver hair covering one of his eyes. And the drummer... Oh Gaia. The guy looked just like Reno. Their tattoos were just in different shaped and hair in different styles. One word: Questions.
I hate everything about you
Why do I love you
I hate everything about you
Why do I love you
Only when I stop to think about you, I know
Only when you stop to think about me, do you know?
I hate everything about you
Why do I love you
You hate everything about me
Why do you love me
I hate, you hate
I hate, you love me
I hate everything about you
Why do I love you...?
The song ended and even though he wasn't there he thought his eardrums would pop from the cheering. The rest of the night went on like that. The concert that had started at 10:00 PM ended at 2:00 AM and not once did the fans or the band seem to tire. But Zack got tired as soon as the TV screen went black, as did Reno and Cissnei.
The soldier waited for his friends to go out the door before following them and locking the door. "Where are you going?"Cissnei asked.
"To see Cloud," he replied with a barely noticeable blush over his tan face. It was no secret to anyone that Zack had a big crush on Cloud, possibly more, but no one ever called him out on it.
"Oh yeah! How's that kid doin' yo? I know he's been bedridden since like, what, May," the red head queried. Zack winced. It was August. The ravenette was getting very concerned about the blondes condition. It seemed like as soon as he was about to get better another illness came along. He could still sit up and move his limbs, but was only able to stand up for a short amount of time before his body would over work itself. Is that still even considered bedridden? While the feeling a knife being carved into his heart, Zack recalled the first time that Cloud had collapsed.
XXXXX
"Hey Zack, I'm gonna go get some water. You want anything?" Cloud asked, getting up from the couch. The soldier turned his head toward the cadet retreating into the kitchen and called out, "No thanks, I'm good. You sure you're okay?" he asked in a worried tone as the blonde stumbled a bit before finally making it into the kitchen.
"Yeah. I'm just tired," Cloud's voice came out from the other room. Zack let out a slight breath of relief and sank down into the couch a bit more. They had just gotten back from training. The soldier wasn't too keen on the idea, but finally caved after a few minutes of Cloud pleading. They pair didn't end up doing too much, just a little bit of what Cloud had learned in class. No sparring. Zack didn't want to push him past his ability for the day.
The cadet was actually excelling many of his peers. One of the reasons that the 2nd class had even considered taking up the small blonde as a student. But that was a different flashback. The soldier was suddenly ripped out of his thoughts by the sound of shattering glass that was soon followed by a loud thump coming from his kitchen.
"Cloud?" the ravenette called out as he rushed into the kitchen. There the cadet lay on the tile floor, clutching his head in a tight grip. "Cloud? What's wrong?" Zack shouted skidding to a stop on his knees fallen cadet. The was no blood anywhere, just some sparkling glass in the sink.
"My head..." he trailed off, "Hurts so bad..." Before the blonde passed out. The soldier sat there for a second just staring at the boy that was out cold in his arms before coming to his senses and running him down to the infirmary.
Someone was able to sneak out of the ShinRa grounds that night.
XXXXX
"Zack. Zack?" a familiar voice called to him, snapping him out of his flashback. The ravenette stared at his friends for a second before stupidly asking, "Huh?"
"I asked how Cloud was doin' yo." the redheaded repeated a little slower. "Oh, um, he's down with the fever now. 103 degrees the last time I was there. It looks like it's starting to get better, but I'm not too willing to get my hopes ups." the soldier replied a little dull.
"Didn't he have that 106 degree fever just a few days ago?" Cissnei cut in. Turks may not show emotions very often, but this one cadet had the power to make his way into anyones heart once he opened up a bit. They checked in every few days for the blondes condition.
"Yeah," Zack said as he tried to find a way to get out of the conversation without seeming rude, "I'm just gonna go visit him. I'll see you guys soon 'kay?" he said quickly already walking towards the cadets room without an answer. So much for not seeming rude. The soldier thought.
XXXXX
The walk to Cloud's room was very tedious and nerve racking at the same time. Whenever there was someone in the same hall as him he would walk, and as soon as the person turned around the corner the soldier would break out into a run. While he was walking he couldn't help but to worry. What if the cadet had fell down on his way to the bathroom and broke a bone? What if he had passed out while taking a bath and was drowning? Or what if he had simply come down with a even worse illness then what he had had already?
It was these thoughts that made Zack nearly rip off the door in frustration before thinking better of it and taking out a key.
"Cloud?" he called out as soon as he got through the door frame. His heart only sank into his stomach when he turned around after closing the door. The blonde didn't like people seeing him this 'weak' as he put it.
"Clou-" the ravenette started toshout in panic before he was cut off by the bathroom door opening. The small blonde was standing there with a towel in his hand from drying his still wet hair, and was sporting sweat pants and a grey shirt that were slowly becoming too big for him.
"Yeah?" Cloud asked after the soldier seemed to become speechless. The silence stretched on for a few moments before the cadet started to make his way towards the bed.
It was only as he started to stumble and collapse did Zack react and quickly catch the teen.
"You okay?" he asked worriedly trying to forget the fact that he had his crush right there in his arms.
"Y-yeah, just got dizzy." the blonde quickly assures, but can't make it very convincing due to the fact that he's avoiding Zack's eyes. As he does this the ravenette can't help but notice that there is a dark brown paint-like substance behind his ear.
"What's that behind your ear?" he asked after he had helped the blond out of the uncomfortable angle and onto the bed.
"Huh?" Cloud said in confusion as his hand flew to the side of his head, his fingers coming back with the brown paste on them. "Mud? But it didn't rain today."
It took the soldier a moment before he could figure out that the cadet was referring to the trip to the infirmary they had taken today. Cloud had dropped a last minute notice that he forgot that he had an appointment that day. Which kinda of surprised Zack because out of the two of them (Shamefully, due to his 2nd Class Soldier status), Cloud was definitely the most responsible out of both of them.
But anyway they had gone to the infirmary this morning and on the way there the cadet had fell down on the way back. Of course the blonde had just brushed it off as a side affect from the doctor drawing blood.
The soldier was only snapped out of his thoughts when the blonde muttered to himself. "Eh, whatever." And started to take his shirt off revealing the too slim body.
Zack was already speechless when the cadet was wet, causing his clothes to cling to him, so Cloud without a shirt on... surprisingly had the opposite effect and gave him some of his voice back.
"Wh-what are doing?" the ravenette stuttered.
The blonde looked up and allowed a confused expression to cross his face. "I'm getting a warmer shirt. It's cold in here."
Those two sentences were enough to make Zack's blood run cold. The shirt that Cloud had been wearing previously was already a long sleeved shirt. And the temperature in the room was fine if anything a little warm. So how could he possibly be cold? Truthfully, he wasn't, it was all in his head. Isn't that what most fevers did? You're a hundred something degrees and then you start thinking you feel cold so you try to warm up. Was that a viruses plan? Make a persons body hotter than it should be, but trick us into feeling cold so that we would just try to increase the fevers ourselves.
The soldier walked over to the cadets bed and felt his forehead only to snatch his hand back immediately.
"Gaia Cloud, you're burning up. If anything you should be sleeping with you're shirt off instead of a thicker one," he said as he plucked the sweatshirt out of the blondes hands and threw it to some random place in the room.
"Zack," Cloud whines and Zack smiles triumphantly knowing that he had gotten the blonde into a much better mood.
"You know that I don't like having my shirt off," he mutters as he tries to cover up as many scars as possible with his tiny hands.
The older teen lets out a sigh, realizing that he should have known it wasn't going to be that easy.
"Cloud," he began as he slipped the cadet into a hug, "They're not here and they can't touch you. Besides I've already seen your scars and have told you multiple times that, It. Doesn't. Bother. Me." he whispered softly into his ear so that he might actually get that the soldier really didn't mind all the scars on his chest and back. It was pretty sad actually. The cadet had more scars on him then the soldier did.
The blond let out a sigh hid his face in the man's shoulder, but he still had nerve to say the word that drove the soldier crazy. "But..-"
"But nothing!" Zack exploded for a moment before taking a deep breath. "Anyway, are you okay?" He asked while pulling back to look back at the teen.
It seemed that the cadet was the only one aware of the closeness of the two faces, the proof being the stuttering in the cadets voice. "I-I... feel a little b-better...," all while he was quickly getting lost in the lavender eyes.
He could kiss him hear and now. It seemed like the perfect moment. At this rate he was never going to figure out whether Zack liked him or not. It has been months.
So he leaned for ward and kissed him.
And it was pure bliss.
XXXXX
"Cloud!" someone shouted panicked in his ear while shaking him shoulder roughly. "Come on, Spike. Wake up!"
"Huh?" he said stupidly while blinking rapidly to try and get his vision focused. He looked around the room with wide, feral eyes.
"Why am I on the floor?" the blond questioned the soldier who was currently starring at him with an ineffable amount of concern.
"You fainted after you started to change your shirt. Remember?" Zack answered, expression not changing.
Cloud tried to remember what the soldier was talking about, but instead had a flare of pain in his skull just before he could snatch it. It was right there. He could feel it, but the only thing that was coming to mind was a faint whisper of a memory, almost like a soft caress.
XXXXX
"Now Cloud remember, this shot is going to result in fainting and short term memory loss when it takes affect and wears off. That way you know for sure when," the doctor said turning around with a needle filled with a purple liquid, in his hand. "You sure you want to do this? The others found much simpler ways."
"Yes, but they don't have 24 hour security hanging over them," the blond said. "You asked me before you made it. You asked me while you made it. And you asked me after you made it. And every time I told you that I was sure about it. That's it."
"Yes, but it's such a risky process-"
"I said that's it," he persisted.
The doctor let a frustrated growl out before shrugging his shoulders and injecting the liquid into the teens arm.
XXXXX
"No," he lied. That was all it was. The medicine had just wore off.
So he didn't work up the courage to actually tell Zack about how he felt. He didn't kiss him and the ravenette's feelings were still a mystery. That was one of him many reoccurring dreams recently. They all had different situations, but it always ended in the same way. He expressed his feelings for the soldier and the other accepted them, and if the dream was a good one, he returned the feelings.
The soldier smiled faintly and extended a hand out to him to help the boy up. The blond returned the smile in gratitude as Zack heaved him up and let him to the single cot in the room. Cloud didn't have a roommate anymore due to his prolonging illness.
After they had lied down on the cot (the soldier started to just spend the nights with Cloud so that he wasn't panicking 24/7 back at his apartment), Cloud thought for a moment before deciding to ease the tension and start a conversation.
He rolled over to face the ravenette before asking, "So how did it go with Reno and Cissnei?"
"You mean besides those two taking over my home and getting tackled by a girl two thirds my size? Pretty well," he said, his voice thick with sarcasm.
He put a pout on his face when the cadet didn't even try to hide his snicker.
"Getting tackled by Cissnei? Man, your losing your touch soldier," he said teasingly.
"Am not! I was just distracted."
"A.K.A. Losing your touch. You didn't take your pills today did you?" the blond accuses him.
"So what if I did? I don't like them. It dulls my emotions." the ravenette defended himself.
"That's pretty much the point Zack."
"Well, Angeal told me as long as I take them before anything SOLDIER related it's fine."
"Did he now?" the cadet smiled as he watched Zack's lips twitch. He never was a good liar.
"Well, he may have worded it a bit differently..." the soldier trailed off.
And the night went on like that, with the bickering and teasing between the two teens until Cloud announced he was tired and lied his head on Zack's shoulder not even giving it a second thought.
AN: Yes! This is the longest chapter I have ever written! I'm so happy. Some of you may wonder why I spent so much time on another story when I still have True Hearts to update. I have a huge writers block right now. I'm still trying to work out the details, but it's coming! I haven't given up on it. But anyways whenever I have writers block I just write something else. It's usually unpublished one shots, but this one just happened to be a whole story. Review please. It keeps me going. (And I also like to know what people think about my writing.) XD