Disclaimer: Everything belongs to the beautiful Square Enix, who changed my life. (The reason I say this is cause I beat Dirge of Cerberus and bawled like a baby. But they did change my life.)

Now I hate Hojo more than EVER...

Chapter Five:

It was Friday, the last day of the week. After Vincent had to go to work after school, he knew he'd be alone for the weekend. For once he wished it wasn't Friday, so he could have a chance to possibly muster up the courage to talk to Lucrecia. He walked alone to school. It was a cloudy day, and the sky was grey. Vincent's darkness seemed to match in a way. He walked up the stairs, and this was the first time he wasn't late in a long time. Cloud came over to him with Tifa. "Hey, Vincent. You alright?" Cloud asked. Vincent shrugged then nodded slightly. "I guess," he said. But he had been a little stressed lately. He had run out of marijuana, and didn't have enough money to buy more from his 'drug dealers'.

Vincent sighed. "I'm glad it's Friday, though," he said. Cloud nodded. Tifa smiled. "Hope you're okay, Vincent," she said. He nodded. Then, Yuffie came over to him. 'Ring, bell, ring!' Vincent thought to himself as she neared. "Hi, Vince!" she said, patting his shoulder. "Hi.." he said quietly. She tilted her head, as though she had seen something weird on his face. "You okay?" she asked. Vincent sighed and rolled his eyes. "Why does everyone keep asking me if I'm okay!" he said, walking through the doors and leaving Cloud, Tifa and Yuffie.

Vincent was dreading science, when he had to sit next to that new guy, Hojo. But maybe he could find out something about him. He definitely wanted to know more about Lucrecia, but was too afraid of being rejected. But he could see something different in her eyes. Something pained, something that she felt sad about. Vincent sat up in his chair, waiting for Lucrecia to come in. When she walked in, Hojo was by her side. He seemed to be talking to her, but she just kept her head down. Vincent eyed him suspiciously. Then, as she turned to go to her seat, Hojo grabbed her wrist. She turned back around to look at him. Vincent tried with all his might to contain himself, since he wanted to rip Hojo's face off. He watched as Hojo said something to her between gritted teeth. She nodded hesitantly, and went to sit down. Vincent kept his glare on Hojo as he sat down next to him. Hojo glared back, then turned his attention to the front of the room. 'Bastard,' he thought to himself. Vincent was hardly able to focus for the rest of the day.

After school, he ran to work because he was already late. He ran into Reeve's office, breathing hard. "Sorry I'm late," he said, putting his stuff down and going to get the first customer. He didn't even give Reeve a chance to reply. Vincent came out of the office, and lit a cigarette before working. As he inhaled, he froze. It was her. Lucrecia. She was there. He felt like he wanted to disappear. Their first confrontation at his work! He turned away quickly, and put out his cigarette even though he wasn't finished with it yet. He sighed, and walked over to her, not saying anything.

"Sir?" Lucrecia asked. Vincent couldn't oblige. He looked up at her. "Hi," he said. "Oh, hi. I knew you looked familiar. I think you're in some of my classes, right?" she said. Vincent's insides felt like they were twisted. 'Oh, she's so beautiful..' he thought to himself. "U-Uh, yeah. I thought you looked familiar, too. A-Are you having problems with your car?" he asked.

"Oh, actually it's my boyfriend's car... He didn't feel like taking it here, so I had to. B-But it's okay, I don't mind.."

'Hojo!' Vincent thought to himself, filling with rage. 'So he made her come here?'

"Are you alright?" she asked, looking at Vincent. 'Shit! Caught in a daze,' he thought. She smiled slightly. "Oh, uh.. sorry. I'll fix it. What are the problems with it?" he asked, walking over to the car. "He said something about the engine. It's not working right. And neither is the motor," she said, sitting on a chair. Vincent lifted up the hood, but he couldn't concentrate. It was hard to. He couldn't take his mind off of her. She was actually there with him, in the same place. But he didn't want to fix this car. It was his. Hojo. But he wanted to be with her.

"Okay, I'm gonna have to get under the car," he said. He went over and grabbed the things that he would need. Lucrecia sat patiently on the bench. As he went under the car, she spoke. "So, you work here?" she asked.

"Yeah. I need to make money. I live by myself."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that... You live in Kalm?"

"Yes."

"Oh, I apologize for asking all these questions, I'm just.." She stopped talking. 'No, it's okay,' Vincent thought. He wanted to tell her it was okay, he wanted to fix her broken smile. It took about 20 minutes to fix the car. "Oh, thank you so much. This really helped me.." she said. "No problem... Y-You can go into the office and see Reeve to pay," Vincent replied. She smiled and walked away. As soon as he knew she was gone, he sighed and slid down to the ground. "My god.." he said. He had just helped Lucrecia, the girl he wanted to talk to for a long time!

He rubbed his head, and pulled out another cigarette from his pocket. He didn't want Lucrecia to see that he smoked, though. Lighting it, he leaned up against the wall. A few minutes later, Lucrecia came back out again. Before she could see, Vincent threw his cigarette out to the side, putting a mint in his mouth. "Thank you, um... I apologize! I didn't get your name.." she said, looking at him. Vincent stood up.

"Vincent. Vincent Valentine," he said. She smiled. "Thank you, Vincent. Oh, and I'm Lucrecia. Lucrecia Crescent," she replied. Vincent smiled inside. 'What a beautiful name..' he thought to himself. He nodded.

"I'll see you around, then," she said, walking to the car. He nodded again. But then, as she was walking to the door, he saw something. There was a scratch on the back of her neck, accompanied by a small bruise. 'No, it can't be... Get that off your mind, Vincent,' he thought to himself. She sat in the driver's seat and drove off. Vincent sighed.

'Thank you, Vincent. Oh, and I'm Lucrecia..'

'...Lucrecia Crescent.'