Cloud had no reaction as Sephiroth left his apartment or to finding out that he had been cheated on. Somehow it didn't surprise him. The freezing rain was numbing him. He peered over the balcony wall and waited till he saw Sephiroth's car leave before pulling out his wet phone from his pocket, his face beaming with joy when it still worked and he saw Squall's name as he dialed.

All that hope died when his call was instantly rejected. No, not Squall. This was the worst pain ever. Worse than what Sephiroth had just done to him, worse than his parents abandoning him, worse than anything he'd ever faced. To be rejected by Squall made him wanted to jump over the fifth floor balcony he was prisoner on. With his last bit of hope, he tried the number one more time, but when all he got was Squall's voicemail he realized that he had nothing to lose.

"Squall? I'm sorry. So sorry!" he tried to keep his composure over the phone. "You were right, I should have left him months ago, when you first told me to. I'm going to. For good. But I'm stuck on his balcony in the rain. I know he has a spare key under the mat. Squall, please. There's something else I need to tell you, in person. Please." He hung up and sat silently, for thirty whole minutes, knowing that if he were with Squall, he wouldn't be so miserable. He'd be happy, lucky even. He'd smile and laugh and his bright blue eyes would perhaps shine. But now he had nothing better to do than regret, until he heard a sliding motion. He lifted his head up from his bent knees.

The dark clad figure before him knelt down and held on tightly to his shoulders. Clouds tears started up all over again, heavier than before.

"Cloud, are you ok?"

"Squall! I'm so sorry. So so so sorry."

"I know, it's ok. Now let's get out of here." Squall helped Cloud up and tried not to stare at all the beautifully exposed wet skin under his white T-shirt that his unzipped jacket couldn't cover.

Cloud was attempting to put on his boots when the two men heard keys tumbling in the front door lock.

"Oh no," Cloud grabbed Squall's hand and told him to hide, but it was too late.

"What the hell? What's going on?" Sephiroth walked inside his apartment with a fresh six pack.

"I'm, I'm going home with Squall." Cloud tried to hide his nerves.

"Whatever, you'll be back tomorrow, as always. You're such a slut."

"No, I'm done. It's over." Cloud dint want to break up with Sephiroth to his face, but he wanted Squall to know that he was serious about leaving Sephiroth.

"No it's not and if you think for one second that you have any control, I'll teach your ass a lesson you wont ever forget." Sephiroth's smirk sickened Squall.

"You cant force someone to love you and you cant force him to stay. You've taken advantage of him long enough! Besides, wouldn't you rather have someone who's willing? Cloud obviously isn't." Squall wanted to leave; badly.

"Nah, I like him feisty. He's like my little bitch, helpless and fearful but in need of a good hard fuck."

"Don't you ever talk about him that way ever again!" Squall yelled, surprising all three of them, himself much included.

"Why do you care? He knows it's true. Why else would he keep coming back?" Sephiroth folded his arms confidently.

"I'm never coming back again!" Cloud attempted to walk away but Sephiroth grabbed his blonde spikey hair and yanked him to his side.

"I said no!" Sephiroth screamed.

"Let him go!" Squall not only shouted, but punched Sephiroth square in the jaw. The drunk and angered man threw Cloud to the floor and began charging Squall, who was quick to increase the distance between them.

"This doesn't include him." Cloud tugged Sephiroth's arm, who lashed around to slap him.

"Stay out of this!"

"No!" Cloud knew what he just said and knew it would provoke Sephiroth enough to distract him from Squall.

"What did you just say?"

"I said no! Now leave him alone!" Cloud didnt have to repeat himself because the next thing he knew, Sephiroth had him pinned.

"Boy I am going to fuck you till you bleed out your ears!" Sephiroth fumbled with Cloud's belt with his hazy fingers as Cloud squirmed beneath him.

"Not if you bleed first!" Squall kicked Sephiroth on the side of his head, causing the muscular body to fall over on his side. Now free, Cloud got up, took Squall's hand, and ran out of the apartment, down seven flights of stairs in fear of waiting for an elevator, and into Squall's truck.

Squall started his truck, backed out of his parking space, and sped off, both boys panting to catch their breath.

After a long ten minutes of silence, Cloud turned to Squall.

"Thank you."

"Of course."

"I'm really sorry, for everything." Cloud apologized yet again as Squall parked and they walked up to the door side by side.

"It's ok. I shouldn't have been so impatient. I never want to see you walk out of my life again." They stood in front of the door, looking in each other's eyes.

At that Cloud had to work hard to hide his desire to kiss his best friend. "I would rather die than leave…you."

Clouds words made Squall nearly happy with hope. "Really?"

"Squall, there's something I need to tell you."

"What is it?"

"Maybe we should go inside first."

"Ok; Aerith and Zack are still here." Squall unlocked the door and motioned Cloud in first when Cloud wished that they had stayed outside for more privacy.

"Oh my! Are you ok?" Aerith stood up slowly and walked to Cloud. He didn't have a mirror and couldn't see his tear stained face and salt swollen lips.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks to Squall."

"Cloud, what did he do to you?" Zack knew he was asking a personal question, but if Cloud could admit it, he could realize what he used to put up with.

Cloud looked around nervously when he felt Squall's hand on his shoulder.

"What happened?" Squall looked concerned and wanted the full story, but Cloud remained hesitant. He would die if his only few friends found out how weak he was and how much bullshit he tolerated from Sephiroth.

"Come on, it's ok." Squall led him to the couch and sat next to him. Zack remained in a loveseat while Aerith made her way back to his lap.

"He…he beat me up and locked me out in the rain so he could cheat on me." Cloud confessed, staring at his combat boots.

Zack shifted loudly. "I'm guna kill him."

"I took care of him." Squall didn't want more senseless violence.

"You did?"

"Knocked him out with a kick to the head."

"Dude, that's awesome!" Zack nearly forgot about the uneasiness in the room.

"I'm just glad that he doesn't know where I live." Squall tried to join Zack in smiling.

"I'd have your back." Zack was just as old as Squall and a good match for Sephiroth in strength and adrenaline, especially when Zack had aggression to unleash.

"Cloud, are you hurt?" Aerith asked, returning to the sorrowful tension.

"I'm fine."

"Take your shirt off." Squall said, then blushed. True he loved it when the lithe blonde would walk around shirtless, or, if Squall was really lucky, just his boxers at nighttime. But this time he wanted to check for bruises or scars needing attention.

"Um, ok." After all the trouble Cloud got himself in by refusing Sephiroth, he was afraid to refuse anyone else.

As Squall predicted, Cloud had several bruises on his back and a few on his chest.

"Let me get you some ice."

Before Cloud could decline Squall's generous deed, Squall was returning from the kitchen with an ice pack. He bent down to be eye level with Cloud, who was still sitting, and wrapped his arms around him to situate the ice pack, although Aerith knew it was just an excuse to get closer to him. And like every other expression Aerith wore on her face, she smiled watching Squall help Cloud, and when Cloud noticed her watching them, she winked.

Naturally Squall couldn't see the wink, since he had his back toward the couple in the loveseat, so he was more than shocked when Cloud pulled him in for a hug, squeezing him tightly despite the soreness of his own body.

"Cloud?" Squall froze, mentally unable to return the hug even though he was physically desperate to do so.

"I never got to tell you, what I wanted to say." Cloud rested his head on Squall's shoulder, hips lips so teasingly close to Squall's neck.

"Tell me now." Squall trembled as he felt Cloud's warm breath on his neck. What he'd give to kiss the boy holding him.

"I love you."

Author's Note: There is one more chapter left! This story is very short and I sadly don't have any time to extend it or even edit it . So I apologize for that. Thank you for reading!

To 18plusforme: Of course you are! Awww, thank you! Yay for more cleon! Lol

To UltimateNinjaofDoom: Awesome name! and I agree, Sephy is mean! Especially in Kingdom Hearts 2…

To HazzaTL3: You are right! I've never written a cross-over before, all of my other stuff is strictly Kingdom Hearts, so I was a bit confused and just went with FFvii. I'm still getting used to all the options when posting lol. Sorry if my mislabeling caused any confusion.

To kindofbadger: Yes! I shall update again tomorrow! I'm back on track, or at least trying to be lol. I hate him in KH2. ….*shudders*. I'm glad that you see that, I was afraid that some people wouldn't understand and would criticize. Sometimes we get stuck in patterns, habits, or relationships that we know are unhealthy, but that doesn't make it any easier to break away. Thanks for understanding the complication!

To Shadowridge: My sister and I call each other Fool constantly, even in Japanese. We quote/reference Soul Eater all the time, it's awesome. I think it'd be cool to see the female's as witches. It depends on what you have them do or how they interact I guess. I'm not brave enough to do such bold cross-overs! I ship SoulXBlackstar, but I'm a yaoi fan for everything lol. I also ship Blackstar with Tsubaki. And maka and soul.

Thank you everyone for reading! I am currently working on some fanfictions that I am having SO much fun writing, so I hope you stick around so that you get a chance to read them!

Heart, Sarabellum