Chapter 3 is finally up! Sorry it took so long! I kinda had writer's block. But anyways… Enjoy! .
Usually, the glass was half-way full in Zack's opinion. For some reason though, today it was half-way empty. He glared somewhat angrily at the brunette as she giggled away, clinging onto Cloud whenever she could. It made him furious though when Cloud would grin a bit and put his arms around her waist loosely and pull her closer, as if he was trying to keep her warm from the cold snow. And then there would be more giggling.
Zack looked away from the couple and took another swig from his liquor bottle. The trio was right now outside of the inn, around a nice fire, sitting and chatting with alcoholic drinks. Cloud and Tifa were doing most of the talking whilst Zack was doing most of the drinking. He seriously doubted that the two "childhood" friends had much of an alcohol tolerance as both would babble incoherently before going into a fit of laughter.
He was absolutely convinced that Tifa was especially drunk as whenever she insisted on bringing out more drinks, she would stumble and giggle the whole way to the door and back. This was getting a bit out of hand in Zack's point of view. "Tifa, don't you think you've had enough?"
"Hee hee, no!" She giggled out, hiccupping slightly. "Besides, you've had a lot more than me, Zackie!"
He rolled his eyes at the new nick name and stared at his own little pile of bottles. True, he had drunk a lot more but his alcohol tolerance was clearly a lot higher. He turned his attention to Cloud. "Cloud, I really think we should stop drinking. Tifa over there is getting a little ditzy."
Cloud smiled a bit and shrugged. "Really, I didn't notice." His smile got a bit wider. "Let's play a game!" Zack shook his head. Though he didn't look like it, Cloud was drunk as well. "Let's play spin the bottle!" Zack brought his hand to his forehead and got up. He wasn't exactly in the mood to play anything.
"We're gonna need more bottles then, hee!" Tifa said in a high voice and got up again, heading back to the inn.
Zack sat back down, figuring that he should probably stay before the two did anything stupid. "Only one game, Cloud! And no more drinks! Don't you think you've had enough?" Cloud shook his head in disagreement with a cocky smile planted on his face. Zack sighed. He was praying to god that this situation wouldn't get awkward.
"I'M BACK, HEE!" a more than excited Tifa piped up as she approached the two. However due to her drunkness, she tripped forward and landed on Cloud's lap. Zack eyes went wide and looked away, cursing at the heavens for doing this to him. When he heard more giggling than normal, his eyes turned back but went horribly wide-eyed. Cloud, in his drunken glory, had wrapped his arms around the girl and brought her as close as he possibly could to his body, snuggling his head into her neck.
"Cloud…" Tifa moaned quietly before running her fingers through his hair and bringing his lips to hers in a sensual kiss. Zack went pale. He wasn't sure if he was horrified at what he was seeing or just plain grossed-out. His blood boiled as Cloud moaned somewhat and his hands were approaching her…
"OKAY!" Zack said in an unusually loud voice as he sprang up from his spot and stomped towards the two. "Clearly, we're all drunk and happy but let's not do something we'll all regret." He separated the two, who both groaned and picked them both up.
"But we weren't done yet!" Tifa whined as her hands tried to reach for Cloud's. Zack's eye twitched as he tried to form a smile.
"Like I said, let's not do something we'll all regret!"
The first thing Cloud noted when he woke up was that his head hurt. A LOT. Groaning a bit as he got out of bed, he washed up and headed downstairs. Zack was already down, sitting at one of the tables, taking a sip from his coffee. He seemed somewhat depressed. "Uh…hi?"
Zack looked up and gave him a nod. "Hey." Cloud took the seat across from him. "You're heavier than you look, you know that? And who knew you could get drunk easily?" He smirked as Cloud looked at him wide-eyed.
"Wait, I got drunk?" A nod. "Uh…did I do anything stupid?"
"Not really. Other than you kissed Tifa and almost had that." And made me wanna kick both your guys' ass Zack thought bitterly. Cloud didn't seem so surprised. Zack raised an eyebrow. "You don't seem terrified."
Cloud chuckled a bit. "That's because this isn't the first time we've made out and almost had that." Zack nearly choked on his coffee and looked at the young SOLDIER terrified. Cloud only gave a half-hearted smile.
"You sure you have to go now?" the brunette asked as Cloud pulled away from their hug. He nodded, a sad smile standing out the most on his face. "Can't you stay longer?" the girl whined.
The blond shook his head. "We really need to get these supplies to Midgar." Tifa's eyes dropped to the ground, trying to hide the fact that she was very close to crying. Cloud smiled at his childhood friend and lightly took hold of her chin, gently making her look into his eyes. "I'll come back, I promise."
"I'll keep you to that promise!" She choked out as the tears flew from her eyes, burying her head in his chest. Cloud lightly wrapped his arms around her waist before moving his hands to his shoulder and gently pulling her back. Giving her a final sad smile, he turned around and took a seat next to Zack, who had been grumpily watching the two through the front window.
"Can we go now, lover boy?" He grumbled, making Cloud giving him a glare and a nod. "Finally!" Zack started the truck and drove away from the village, a few of them waving at them as they drove off.
Tifa waved, staring at the truck until it was no longer in sight. "Come back soon, Cloud…" she whispered as a few tears slid down her cheek.
He almost wanted to bang his head against a wall. He WOULD bang his head against a wall if there was one near him. Zack didn't understand what was going on. He and Cloud had both agreed that they were just friends. Nothing else. There was no feelings between them other than that of friendship. Then why did he feel his heart tear into two whenever he saw Cloud and Tifa together? Why did it shatter when they shared a kiss, even if they were drunk? He looked at his companion, who had dozed off a few hours ago. His eyes studied the form of his angelic face, and locked onto his lips. He turned his gaze back to the road ahead, a disgusted look taking over his facial features. And he had kissed those lips. Those same exact lips that had kissed Tifa god know how many times. His eyes sneaked back to those so-called disgusting lips.
God, he wanted to kiss him. He wanted to kiss those god-damned disgusting but oh so beautiful lips. He wanted to claim them and make them his for as long as he could. His eyes widened at the thought and quickly turned his attention back to the road. Since when did he want to make Cloud his? Since when did he ever have the want to kiss him, let alone have him all to himself? "What the hell is wrong with me?" Zack whispered as he approached their destination.
Snowfall is always heavy in Midgar.
Blue eyes slowly fluttered open and took in the new surroundings. "We're here?" Cloud asked, a hint of tiredness in his voice.
Zack chuckled a bit and nodded. "About time you woke up though, Sleeping Beauty. I was going to leave the truck soon if you were going to keep snoozing."
Cloud smiled a bit and softly laughed. "Good thing you didn't kiss me. You're not exactly Prince Charming."
At this, Zack winced a bit but hid it with his own laughter. "Who knows Cloud; maybe I was contemplating it throughout the whole drive. Kissing you, I mean."
They stared at each other for a moment before bursting into laughter. Cloud held his stomach, slowly calming down. "Funny Zack, real funny," he finally managed to say after catching his breath.
"Yeah…funny…" Zack said quietly, rubbing the back of his head. "Yo Spikey, you drive the truck to Shinra, I'm gonna go walk around the city." He opened the door and started to step out and gave Cloud a worried look. "You'll be okay, right?"
He smiled and nodded. "Of course I'll be."
"'Not exactly Prince Charming'" Zack mumbled as he walked through the streets of Midgar, stopping every once in a while to look at the display windows and food stands. "You're no beauty either, lover boy." He grumbled angrily, not realizing that he just bumped into someone.
"Oh dear," a soft voice said as she dropped her flowers onto the snowy ground. "Hey! Be careful!"
Zack whipped around, realizing that he was being spoken to and saw the girl picking up the now destroyed flowers. Sighing, he walked back towards her and knelt down, picking up one flower that wasn't completely dead. "Sorry about that," the SOLDIER said quietly, absentmindedly handing the girl the last flower. "Wasn't paying attention."
She sighed and gently took the flower from him. "It's fine. A lot of people don't nowadays." She got up gracefully and looked at the black-haired man. "You're not familiar with Midgar, are you?"
Zack looked up, actually looking at the girl's face this time. He shook his head in disagreement. Due to the SOLDIER program and Shinra, he had been in Midgar many times. "Nope, I've been here for a while." His eyes looked up into the brunette's. "You?"
She smiled lightly. "I've been here all my life." She held her hand out timidly. "Aeris." Zack looked at her confusedly. She giggled a bit. "My name is Aeris."
His own smiled appeared as he gently shook her hand. "Pleasure to meet you, Aeris. I'm Zack!" Excitement arose within him. It wasn't everyday you got to make a new friend, especially with a pretty girl.
Aeris' own smile grew. He has a nice smile she thought. "Pleasure is all mine."
Cloud stared at the clock in the lounge at the Shinra Building. It had been two hours since he had last seen Zack and as far as he had been told, the First Class SOLDIER had still yet to arrive. He paced back and forth through the room, looking at the clock every two seconds. Where is he? The younger one thought, worried about his friend. Whenever Zack went on walks, it was usually no more than an hour. Two had already passed and the elder one had not arrived. Looking at the clock one last time, Cloud grunted angrily, grabbed his jacket and headed for the main door. Just as he was about to step out of the lounge, Zack came barging in. Cloud stared at him, questioning the look that was on his companion. "Where the hell were you?"
Zack shrugged. "Out. Walking around, you know?" His smile though told Cloud that he did a lot more than just "walking around".
"What were you doing?" Cloud's voice was filled with curiosity as he took a seat on a couch nearby. "You usually don't take this long 'walking'." Cloud smirked, teasing him a bit. "Met a girl?"
"…Yes, actually. A really cute girl," Zack said with his own smirk. "Her name's Aeris. She's really nice. You should meet her, you'd like her."
Cloud's eyes widened. What had just happened? He was just teasing Zack about meeting a girl but he had actually met one? "Oh…" was really all Cloud say. "You…actually met a girl? For real?"
Zack lifted an eyebrow up, questioning what Cloud had just said. "Uh yeah. Why are you acting surprised?"
"N-No reason," Cloud stuttered out, averting his eyes away from his friend.
Zack stared at the younger SOLDIER for a bit before shrugging and getting up. "Well if you want, you get to meet her tomorrow." Cloud's eyes whipped up to stare at elder SOLDIER. "Yeah, we're going on a date tomorrow." The blonde's eyes widened. Zack got up and stretched a bit before heading out of the lounge. "I'm gonna crash for the night. Later…Sleeping Beauty." Zack whispered quietly, smirking a bit as he headed towards his room.
Cloud glared at him as he left, trying to smirk himself to hide the pain. "Shut up, Prince Charming!"
The snowfall is getting lighter.
Aeris fidgeted with the sleeves of her coat as she waited for Zack in the lounge. He had told her to meet him here at Shinra Building but the man was already twenty minutes late. She heard someone panting for air and footsteps approaching her. She turned around slowly to see the man that had made her wait running for his life. He jerked to a stop as he came in front of her, slowly trying to catch his breath. The brunette put her hands on her hip, a little pout forming on her face. "You're late."
"S-sorry about that," Zack managed to say through his gasps for air. After finally catching his breath, he regained some posture and stuck his elbow out. "Shall we?"
Aeris held her pout for a bit before giggling a little and taking hold of the offer. "Lets!"
"ZAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACCCCCCK!" A voice hollered through the halls of the Shinra Building. "ZACCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCK! WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!" Zack turned around to see the blond soldier running towards him, holding a black object in his hands. The younger SOLDIER came to halt and tried to catch his breath.
Deja-vu, Aeris thought as she stared at Cloud with unfamiliarity. Catching his breath, the younger one stood up straight and handed Zack the object. "You forgot your wallet, dumb ass."
Zack blushed a bit as he quickly snatched the wallet from his hands, mumbling a "thanks". Cloud smirked a bit and then looked at the new face. "I'm guessing you're Aeris?"
The brunette looked at Cloud strangely, wondering how he had known her name but broke into a smile and held out her hand. "Indeed and you are….?"
Cloud gently took a hold of her hand and shook it lightly. "Cloud. Nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you too." She let go of his hand and looked at Zack. "Shall we get going?"
"Finally!" Zack nearly yelled as he grabbed a hold of Aeris' arm and nearly dragged her out the door. "Thanks for my wallet, Cloud! See ya later!"
"Yeah…see ya." A loud bang of the door. Zack had left. "Have fun…" the blond whispered quietly, trying to fight back the tears.
"We're just friends…" Cloud mumbled as he sat on the couch, waiting for his friend to return. He glanced at the clock. 10:00. So the two had been out for about…twelve hours now. No big deal. "We're just friends…" he whispered once more. Those words didn't satisfy him. And he didn't understand why. That was what both he and Zack had agreed on. They were just friends. So why did it pain Cloud when he saw Aeris took a hold of Zack's elbow. Why did his heart start thumping hard when Zack was eager to go on the date. "We're just friends…" The taste of those words seemed bitter. He needed something sweet.
He brought his hand to his forehead. Oh god, did he want him and Zack to be more than just friends? Lovers? He nearly had a heart attack at the thought. What was wrong with him? He should be happy to see that Zack had probably found himself a potential girlfriend. He cringed at the word. Aeris? As Zack's girlfriend? He felt his blood boil. "What the hell is wrong with me?" Cloud nearly yelled as he slammed his head into the back of the couch.
His cheek felt cold. He slowly brought his fingers to his cheek and tentatively touched them. They were wet. Was he crying? He was about to wipe away the tears but stopped as he felt a pair of arms wrap around his shoulder, slowly massaging them as they did. Cloud closed his eyes and leaned back into the touch. His own arms dropped down, relaxing as he felt a gentle breath on his ear. "Missed me?"
He smiled as he recognized the voice, glad to hear it. "Mmmh…"
"I missed you too, Cloud." The fingers went to his face, lightly bringing them upwards.
Cloud slowly opened his eyes, expecting to see Zack's face above him but quickly snapped them open as he met an unexpected one. "Tifa?"
A light smile came upon her face as she lowered her lips, barely touching his. "Hey Cloud," she softly whispered against his lips.
Snowfall had almost gotten dangerous that night.
Sorry that took so long! But let me know what you guys think so far! Any suggestions? I won't know unless you review!