All the reviews said to continue. Full-speed ahead!!

BTW, so that no one gets confused, we're shifting POV's throughout the story. This one is Zack.

He's so cute, Cloud is. Unfortunately, he's straight. And a homophobe. Ugh… I always fall for the homophobes. Uncle Weiss said I have no one to blame but myself for that but then Nero turns around and says that you can't help whom you fall in love with. Neither morsel of advice is exactly helpful right now.

Why is it not helpful right now, you ask? I'll tell you why: Cloud's humping my butt, that's why. And it is pressing on me. I know he's not doing it because of me. He's a homophobe and I'm not delusional. I'm hot, but not that hot (though Aeris tends to disagree). Cloud is dreaming of his girlfriend. I can tell, because he says her name every few minutes.

This shouldn't hurt so badly though. I mean, sure, he's cute, but Reno was cute too. It didn't hurt this much when he broke things off with me way back when. And, because I'm not completely out of touch with my own emotions, I know precisely what's wrong. I love Cloud. But he doesn't like guys. Hell, he's got one of the most beautiful women I've ever seen (just because I'm gay doesn't mean I can't judge whether or not a woman is pretty) as his girlfriend.

I try scooting away from him but, well, this is a REALLY small bed. Like, they never want you to have sex so they make the beds way too small. I'm seriously on the edge of it here, between a sexy Cloud and a really hard wall. So, that's nothing doing. Next idea would be… waking him up. Yes, before things get even more awkward than they are.

"Cloud…" I try shaking him. "Cloud," I hiss a bit more urgently.

"Nnnnnmmm…"

Shit. Okay… Uh… Well, the only thing I can do now is just wait it out. Pray that it turns to a really weird unsexy dream, like mine tend to.

A really small, yet highly demonic, part of me says to take advantage of him. Touch him. I can't though, because that'd just be wrong. You don't do that to someone, regardless of how soft his hair is or how beautiful his eyes are or how hard his-… No, stopping that train of thought right there!!

"Tifa," he whispers blissfully in my ear. He's making life wonderful when he does that. Shivers run up and down my spine and goosebumps break out all over my legs. It almost makes me think that I'm the one he's having sex with and that's just perfect. "Oh, Tifa… Ahn…" He shatters the illusion with a single name. Her name.

The tears that prick my eyes cannot, under any circumstances, be seen or heard or felt by Cloud.

I don't feel like getting up the next morning. Hell, I don't ever want to wake up again. I know I'm being five-hundred types of emo, all of which are perfectly justifiable. I can't bring myself to look at him and that's pretty weak of me. Hence, I'm emo.

Cloud's perfectly fine though, minus being embarrassed. The evidence of his embarrassment was in the "Oh shit," he muttered upon waking up this morning. Right now, he's getting dressed and I'm observing the wallpaper pattern next to my bed. It's pretty… Not as pretty as Cloud… Dammit.

"You okay, man?"

"Yeah," I say without looking at him. How can I? "I'm just not feeling all that great. Go to class, I'll be fine. In fact, I'll get up soon. Just not right now." I'm pretty good at acting happy and cute and everything, but I can't force any of that into my speech for him. Is that because I want to be real with him or because I don't have the energy to be all peppy? Blah…

So, he leaves and I grope around for my phone. I need to call Aeris. It's only 9-ish. She's probably working in her botany class, but I'll leave her a message for later.

"Hello, this is Aeris Gainborough. Sorry I can't come to the phone right now. Please leave a message and I'll get back to you when I can. Bye."

Beep!

"Hey, Aeris. It's Zack. Uhm… Could you… Call me back… After 2, if you can? Things… Aren't so good and I could… really… use… your voice… Okay? Bye."

I don't even have a class until noon. Even then, it's Uncle Nero's class, which is good. It means I can chill with him and get some much-needed help. Granted, Weiss gives me more sensible advice, stuff I should have listened to in high school, but Nero is more sympathetic.

So, off to his and Weiss' apartment I traipse. It's not very far, only a couple blocks from the dorms. Before I know it, I'm ringing their buzzer.

"What?!"

"Uncle Weiss, it's me. Zack."

"Oh… I thought you were one of those Jenova's Witnesses."

"You mean Jehovah's Witnesses?"

"No, I mean Jenova's Witnesses. Either way, come on up." The little latch unclicks. I ascend the stairs, go a few doors down and there's the door. There's a little sign on it: "If you throw an object at the professors, please be prepared to retrieve it." They're not very sociable.

When I open the door, Nero's drinking tea at their dinette table and Weiss is making what appear to be cinnamon buns. The issue is that Weiss is wearing a frilly apron. It's white, everything of his is, but still… It's frilly. Even I'm not that gay.

"Zack," Nero's eyes light up. "Come, sit." He gestures to the chair across from him, the only other chair at the table. "What's the matter? You look depressed."

"Big surprise. I've got… this thing… for a guy." Weiss snorts. Nero shoots him a glare but motions for me to continue. "He's… Not gay… He's homophobic, actually."

"Oh…"

"Yeah… And… Well, his bed fell apart two nights ago… So we've…" I start fidgeting in my chair. "We've been sharing…"

"So long as you didn't ejaculate inside, the police have no evidence that you've raped him." Weiss says all of that very matter-of-factly, like he's talking about the weather.

"What!?"

"Well, that's what you did, isn't it?"

"No! Gawd, Uncle Weiss." He chuckles and I continue. "Anyways, he was having a… uh… A wet dream about his girlfriend last night and he… uhm… was…" Choking on air, I can barely say the next part. "He was humping my butt." Weiss pours scalding hot icing on himself and Nero chokes on his tea. Then Weiss starts laughing; Not at the pain, at me.

"Weiss! Shut up!" Nero pushes him. "Weiss!"

"I'm sorry, but…" He starts outright cackling. "Honestly, Nero… That's funny."

"Not. When it's happening. To Zack."

"Right. Okay. I'm sorry, Zack."

"S'okay. If someone wasn't laughing at it, I'd have to die."

"And what?" Nero laces his fingers and rests his chin on them. "What do you want from the boy? Tears? Restraining order? I can give you one of my straight jackets, so you can do him without him struggling."

"No! None of the above." Weiss puts a cup of juice in front of me. "I just… want him… to love me… I think."

"Reasonable," Nero purrs. "But, at the same time, not so much. I'm not the Ursula in The Little Mermaid, Zack. I can't make you into a woman for him to love."

"I don't want to be a girl. I just want him…"

"In bed," Weiss finishes. Nero shoots him a glare but, since he's half-right, I don't push it. "You want my opinion? Give it up. If he's a homophobe, the most you can hope for is a friend."

"Or…" Nero gets a very scary look. "Or, you could make him fall in love with you."

"Small problem with that: He's not like that."

"Zack, go into the living room and look under the couch."

I blink. "What?"

"Your self-esteem might be under there." Nero shakes his head. "Honestly. You're an appealing boy. Go get him"

"Nero, he's straight. He wouldn't want me anyw-"

"Who is it?" Weiss interrupts.

"Uhm… Cloud. Cloud Strife."

Weiss nods, looking thoughtful. "Oh, right. Yes… I'll talk to him about that."

"Talk?! To him!? No, Uncle Weiss, please, I'm begging you!"

"Come, Zack," Nero puts his mug in the sink and drags me up by my arm. "You have my class to get to and it's easier if you come along with me."

"Okay…" As I get up, I just have to ask again. "Two things: Number one, pretty please don't talk to him."

"No way."

"Number two, Jenova's witnesses?"

"Yes," Weiss nods gravely.

On the streets, Nero keeps talking to me. And I'm grateful for it. I shouldn't be left alone to my thoughts for too long like this.

"So, Zack, would you like my advice on this matter as well, or are you satisfied with Weiss' answer?" He's smirking, like all this is some kind of a joke. It's not a joke, but looking at it from a light-hearted point of view is probably a lot less suicide-inducing.

"Weiss is right, and I know it, but your answer will make me feel better."

"Alright…" He tilts his head back, like he's getting an answer from the wind. "You said Cloud had a girlfriend, right?" I nod. "Zack, do you recall the story of Hades and Persephone?"

"… From Ancient Euro History class?"

"Correct."

"Yeah, I remember it."

"Play it through your mind a few times, I'm certain it will sink in."

Hades and Persephone, for those who weren't quizzed over it fifty-million times like I was, is about the Lord of Hell taking a wife out of the flowers. There was a lot of story with Demeter, Persephone's mom, and how much she didn't want her daughter to marry Hades and, apparently that's how we get our seasons. But there's no mother involved with this story… Unless he means the girlfriend. Wait… Wait… It's starting to sink in.

"You mean that I should just be happy with the amount of time that I'm given?"

"Good boy, Zack." Good advice, but not really what I was hoping for. I was more or less hoping for a, "He's only repressing it," sort of message.

Nero pats me on the head, like I'm either a puppy or a five-year old. We're in the university territory now, so people are giving Nero funny looks. I have no idea why thought. All consensual adult relationships, regardless of race or gender or familial ties, were deemed legal last year.

"Nero, does it bug you that people the relationship between you and Weiss is sort of… ya know?"

"Not as much as it used to."

"Zack, I just got your call," Aeris' voice sails through my phone at exactly 2:01 while I'm walking back to my dorm to go be emo some more. I think she was seriously waiting for the opportunity to call me. That's Aeris, though. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, it's just… Cloud."

"Oh, what happened?"

Shit, I'm in public. I can't exactly say it outloud. Cloud Strife was humping my ass. That would go over well. "He… uhm…" So I relay the butt-humping story to her in hushed tones. Every time I say it to someone, it sounds even more like a badly written Harlequinn novel.

At first, I think that she's sympathizing with me, which is something I could really use right now. "Oh wow…" Then she bursts into giggles and I start pouting. So much for sympathy. "I'm sorry for laughing, Zack, it's just, well..."

"No, I get it, it's actually hilarious. Nero and Weiss even think so. It'd be so much funnier if I weren't madly in love with him."

"You already feel that strongly towards him?"

"Yeah…"

There's a silence. "Tell you what, I'll bring over your favorite movie and we can watch it together at your dorm, okay?"

"Alright… Thanks."

"Uh-huh. I'll be over in twenty minutes, I just have to borrow Mom's car, alright? Which room is it?"

"It's in the house with the big Mog on the front lawn. I'll wait for you outside." Aeris is coming over with my favorite movie, I think, as I hang up and stroll back to my room. Everything is going to be fine.

Then I walk in on Cloud taking off his shirt and realize, No, nothing is okay.