Ahaha, we're still in love with this fic. And thanks to scarlettHuntress for pointing out that Zack is a bad puppy for taking advantage of Cloud.

Public Service Announcement: Don't have sex with drunk people.

I am walking on sunshine. I am the happiest person in the world. I am, if you'll excuse the pun, on Cloud Nine. Since I have the day off today, I decide to celebrate and go play Yahtzee with Weiss and Nero. They like it, I like it.

Weiss and Nero greet me at the door and give my humungous grin a funny look. Then they look at each other. Weiss is the one to speak first. "Either you got over Cloud or you got laid."

"One of them. Cloud got drunk last night and we had sex. It was magic."

Nero gives me this kind of fleeting, scared look. "Zack… He was drunk?"

"Yep… Why?"

Weiss lets out a laugh, psycho laugh. "You took advantage of a drunk person."

Wait… Wait… Processing… Complete… "… I AM SUCH A BAD PERSON!!!"

"Ohhh…" Nero comes over to my side as Weiss keeps laughing. "Zack, it's… Well… Uhm… What happened after that?"

"He yelled at me… Then I told him what he said when he was drunk and he said that it was right what he said."

"And what was it that he said?"

"He loves me!" I burst out into gleeful giggles because, yes, finally, after at least a month of pining, Cloud Strife loves me. Nero's eyes light up and he congratulates me. Weiss just starts laughing again. My God… "What?"

"He was drunk. He probably loves everything when he's drunk. Hell, I love everything when I'm drunk." Weiss pauses. "Any idea why he was drunk?"

"No clue."

"Probably that test I gave him."

"… Test?"

"Weiss," Nero looks sternly at him. Not an easy task, considering Nero is shorter than him. "What did you do to that boy?"

"I…" Weiss gets his "I'm in deep shit" sort of look. Makes me all the more curious. "I kind of gave him a Trig test… In Greek lettering… And numbering… It was all in Greek…"

Nero looks at him. I look at him. "Weiss… You what?!?" Dear God, I think I just felt the house shake.

"He made my nephew cry like a little girl. No one makes my nephew cry like a little girl."

"I didn't cry like a little girl."

"A preteen girl then."

"Uncle Weiss!"

Keep in mind that Nero has been silently stewing through that exchange. Finally he, gentle, kind Uncle Nero, fucking snaps and gives Weiss this Look. Not a nice look. Not a lusty look. A Look.

"I am not having sex with you for, like, a year until you go back and you fix that boy's grade and apologize to him and, in fact, for putting up with that, give him 10 bonus points on that test." Weiss pales. I pale.

"Ah… But… He… Fine, okay, you win. I'll do it."

"Good," Nero purrs. I've noticed he likes getting his way. No one is blaming him. "Zack, do you have anything to say?"

"I… Kind of love you for it, because if you hadn't failed him, he wouldn't have gotten drunk… But I kind of wanna kill you for it because you made him sad and drunk."

"I'm Weiss, take it with a grain of salt."

Oh… My God… Cloud must hate me, I realize as I roll my dice in the little plastic cup. I took his virginity (butt-virginity, I'm guessing he and Tifa were active), then turned out to still be gay for him then propositioned him twice thereafter.

"I'm such an awful person."

"Just because you're winning?" Weiss frowns at the score sheet and Nero tugs a spike. Demonic bunny ears… Hehehe…

"No… Cloud…"

"No being mopey during our games." Nero rolls the dice again. Pouts.

"But he must hate me. I would hate me."

"Self-loathing is unhealthy," Weiss says. "If you're all tied up as to whether or not Strife is madly in love with you, just go ask him to be more honest with you. Does he love you or is he just saying so for your sake?"

"… Yeah, okay… I'll go do that…"

"Good. Now, why don't we just put all this away…?" Weiss moves to remove the Yahtzee board.

"Oh, no. I need a confidence boost and this will sooo do it."

Nero smiles and Weiss just pouts. Never seen him pout. Looks childish on him.

"Cloud, I gotta talk to you," I say as I burst through the door. Then I inwardly cringe. My God, I sound like an action movie hero. "Cloud, the bomb's going to go off, we have to get out of here!"

Thank God that he didn't notice. Instead, he swivels away from his desk. Trig textbook, I see. "What?"

"Cloud, when you said that you loved me, did you really mean it or were you just saying it to lessen the impact of the drunken sex?"

"…What?"

I cringe again, this time on my face. Weiss and Nero know that I'm kind of beat-around-the-bush-ish when it comes to big things, but that I'm a blabbermouth when I get a lot of caffienated soda. Something about the sugar and the bubbles. Point is, this conversation is going to go like driving an SUV through a brick wall; It's going to suck going through and the SUV is gonna be mortally wounded but maybe, just maybe, it'll pull through.

"Uhm… Well, I… That is… I love you from the bottom of my little spiky heart and if you're not in this 100% then I don't want a bit of it."

Cloud just stares at me. Oh my God, his eyes are beautiful and he looks so damn confused that I just want to kiss him. No! I must be strong in my resolve to get answers from the sexy confused blond boy.

"Zack, why would I say something like that if I didn't mean it? The fact that we had drunk sex wouldn't change if I said I loved you. I said it because… Frig…" He runs a hand through his hair. "I said it because I meant it."

Somewhere, a rainbow just appeared, a baby stopped crying and someone Caramell Dansen'd for the first time. I suspect Reno for that last one. Second too, actually.

"Seriously?"

"Yeah… I… Fuck… I…"

Awkward silence. "Do you want me to say it first?"

"… Yeah."

"I love you, Cloud." I kiss him on the forehead.

Cloud puts his hands against my cheeks. Oh my God, he's touching me. Like, willingly. "I… Love you, Zack." He stands up and hugs me. "I love you."

"Love you too." I snuggle him and then he does the best thing in the world. Kisses me! Fireworks go off, a dam collapses and somewhere, Reno just started singing Caramell Dansen while dancing along.

The kiss lasts for 23 seconds exactly. I counted on Cloud's alarm clock behind him. Cloud looks away, like he's shy. "So… N-Now what?"

"Whatever you want." I mean that too. He could say, "Get the fuck out of here and go sleep on a park bench," and I'd say, "Which one?"

"… I want… Oh God… I want to try the sex again."

Those fireworks I mentioned? Just got brighter. "Really?" I realize that sounds waaaay too over-eager so I try again. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah. I really want to try this."

I kiss him on the mouth, don't bother watching the clock and pull him onto the bed next to us. His new one, as it happens.