Disclaimer: Final Fantasy VII, and Kingdom Hearts belong to Square Enix and Disney. Sadly, they do not belong to me.
"What time is the bus suppose to come?" Zack asked, leaning against Cloud, sighing slightly.
Cloud stabilized himself and glanced at his watch. "Ten minutes ago..."
Zack moaned and started to pace around. He rarely stayed still, and for him to have stopped moving for that short period of time was really quiet amazing. He started to fiddle with a strand of long black hair that had escaped the red bandanna he was wearing and had flopped down in front of his eyes. He started to mumble about the slow bus services in the country and how Tifa and Vincent should have just flown over.
It was mid November and it seemed a great number of schools had a four day long weekend, and Tifa and Vincent had taken the opportunity to bus down to Hollow Bastion to visit Cloud. Yuffie had wanted to tag along, but unfortunately had to go on a small trip with her parents.
Cloud was really excited to see both Tifa and Vincent, but was also extremely nervous about it. He was mostly nervous because he had neglected to tell them something very important. He hadn't told them about his new relationship, which also meant he hadn't told them about his liking of guys. He didn't really know how they would act when he told them, he didn't expect them to be disgusted with it but he couldn't help but think it anyway.
He also hadn't told Zack about all of this.
He looked down at his feet and kicked a small rock around before looking up at Zack, he had stopped walking around and was giving Cloud a concerned look.
"You okay?" He asked, walking over to Cloud, combing back a few stay hairs from Cloud's field of vision.
Cloud nodded slightly and sighed. "I kinda have something to tell you..." he spoke, standing up a little straighter. Zack looked slightly worried, but didn't say anything. Cloud continued, "I kinda...maybe haven't told Tifa and Vincent about us, and I was wondering if maybe we could not act as a couple for a bit...that is until I tell them."
Cloud looked down over Zack's shoulder, not wanting to make eye contact with Zack. When Zack didn't say anything right away Cloud started to get worried and forced himself to look at Zack.
Zack was smiling slightly at Cloud, trying to look reassuring. "Hey, that's fine. As long as I get to meet your friends I'm fine."
Cloud could see a small amount of hurt in his eyes, but didn't have time to talk about it some more before he saw two familiar faces looking around, slightly confused.
Cloud grabbed Zack's hand and squeezed it slightly before he shifted his grip so he was holding onto Zack's arm. He headed over to Tifa and Vincent a smile gracing his lips as he pulled Zack along with him.
Tifa saw Cloud first and broke out into a huge grin. She jogged up to Cloud and Zack while Vincent followed slowly behind with travel bags in tow.
Cloud let go of Zack's arm and hugged Tifa. She returned the embrace laughing lightly. When they pulled away she grabbed his hands, and swung them from side to side. "I didn't know you missed me enough to give me a hug!" She laughed.
Cloud blushed slightly and turned to Vincent. Vincent put his bags down, and Cloud and Vincent shared a 'manly' hug.
"Good to see you," Vincent spoke. His eyes flicked over to Zack, he gave a confused look.
Zack shifted slightly under the stare that Vincent was giving him, and returned it with a sheepish smile.
Cloud looked to where Vincent was looking and blushed even more. Not only had he just hurt Zack only a few moments ago, but now he had completely forgotten about him as soon as he saw Vincent and Tifa.
Cloud moved so he was standing beside Zack and smiled at Tifa and Vincent. "Tifa, Vincent, this is one of the guys I talk about all the time, Zack."
Zack broke out into his trademark grin and reached his hand out to Vincent. Vincent took his hand and shook, nodding slightly.
"Nice to meet you." Vincent said and let go.
"You too," Zack spoke, and turned his attention to Tifa. He stuck his hand out to her and she took it, a small blush creeping up on her cheeks.
"Hello," she said as Zack winked at her before letting go of her hand.
Tifa laughed slightly and batted her eyelashes more then usual. Cloud's eyes bugged out slightly -- he had seen that look before.
"I have to go to the bathroom for a moment...where is it?" Tifa asked, looking around for a sign of some kind.
"Oh, I know where it is," Cloud said. Tifa shot him a smile and linked her arm with his as Cloud started towards the bathroom.
Vincent moved so he was standing next to Zack, watching Tifa and Cloud walk away. "Did he tell you they used to date?" he asked.
"Yeah...why?" Zack asked. Why would Vincent care about that?
Vincent just shrugged.
Meanwhile Cloud was being dragged into the girl's washroom by a persistent Tifa.
"Come on, no one is in here, okay?" She said, giving one final tug and pulling Cloud in. She closed the main door and locked it, before turning around and looking at Cloud. "I am disappointed in you," Tifa began, walking over to the bathroom mirror. "You never told me Zack was so attractive."
Cloud stumbled slightly and hit a washroom stall door, causing a large bang to break the short silence in the room. He jumped slightly when the door hit the wall, and Tifa gave him a look.
"You're as clumsy as ever," she laughed. Cloud just glared at her before she turned around to inspect herself in the mirror yet again.
"Anyways, was it just me, or do you think he and I kind of hit it off?" she asked, unaware of the position she was putting Cloud in. "I might ask him for his number later."
Cloud tried to act cool about it, but the thought of his ex-girlfriend hitting on his current boyfriend was enough to make him want to burst. He simply shrugged and leaned up against the wall.
Tifa suddenly whipped around and looked at Cloud with an apologetic look. " I am so so so so sorry!" she exclaimed her eyes bugging out. Cloud's eyes bugged out as well and they both stood there staring at each other.
Had she figured it out already? How the hell could she know already? All these questions were running through Cloud's head, as he stood there, stunned.
Tifa spoke up first, "this must be so weird for you. I mean your ex talking about your best friend in that context!"
Cloud let out a sigh of relief. "Well it is a little weird...I mean you did just meet him," he said, trying to sound relaxed about it, but at the same time trying to get the point across that it was really not cool with him.
"I'm sorry..." Tifa said, patting his arm and then walking towards the door. "We should be heading back," she opened the door and headed out, leaving Cloud in the girl's washroom.
She hasn't said she wasn't going to stop flirting...
They had all gone back to Cloud's place to watch some movies. Tifa and Vincent were hanging out in the living room going through Cloud's DVD collection, while Cloud and Zack were making popcorn in the kitchen.
"So...what do you think of them?" Cloud asked, filling a glass with water while Zack watched the popcorn twirl around in the microwave.
"They're really awesome. I can see why you're friends with them," Zack said, tearing his gaze away to look at Cloud. "Although Vincent is a little intimidating...kinda like Seph!" He scratched the back of his head and laughed softly.
"Vincent seems to scare a lot of people, but he's a nice guy." Cloud started to swirl the water in his glass around, trying to think of a way to talk about Tifa without sounding like a complete twat. "So... what do you think of Tifa?" His voice squeaked slightly when he asked. Zack gave him an odd look and Cloud mentally slapped himself.
"She's a nice girl, seems like she can really take care of herself. Her punches hurt..." Zack rubbed his arm, remembering when she punched his arm in the car for a comment he made about her shoes.
Cloud was about to say something when the microwave beeped a few times. Zack whipped around and jumped from foot to foot. "It's ready!" He yelled, whipping open the door and grabbing the bag. He was getting ready to open the bag when he suddenly fell down on one knee and grabbed at his head.
"Fuck!" He yelled squeezing his eyes shut. Cloud was by his side in a second, concern written all over his face.
"What's wrong?" Cloud asked frantically, putting his hand on Zack's shoulder. When Zack didn't reply he squeezed his shoulder. He didn't know what to do, and Zack looked like he was in distress.
But after a few tense moments Zack cracked open an eye and took his hands away from his forehead. He laughed a nervous laugh and looked over at Cloud. "Sorry about that..."
"Is everything okay in there?" They heard Vincent call from the living room.
Zack kept focus on Cloud before he yelled back in response, "everything is fine!"
"What was that about?" Cloud asked, his eyes large and watering slightly. He had never seen someone go from being perfectly fine to being in complete and utter pain.
Zack put his hand over Clouds hand that was still squeezing onto his shoulder and lifted it off his shoulder brining it to his mouth and giving it a small kiss. "It's nothing. I get migraines sometimes, and this one was just really bad...it's no big deal, really."
He stood up and stretched slightly before rubbing his eyes. Cloud stood up as well, still not convinced. "You sure you're okay?" He asked.
"Right as rain. But I think I am gonna go home and sleep, just in case." Cloud nodded in agreement and walked with Zack to the living room. Vincent looked up from a DVD case he was reading, and Tifa shot up from the couch looking worried.
"What was the yelling about?" She asked.
Cloud was about to respond when Zack cut in, "I dropped the popcorn all over the floor." Zack laughed, and shrugged. Tifa nodded and Vincent just raised his eyebrows. "Anyways, I'm gonna head home, I didn't get a lot of sleep last night and besides, you guys all need to catch up without me being in the way!"
"Okay...bye!" Tifa said, looking slightly disappointed. "See you tomorrow?"
"You bet!" Zack replied, winking.
Cloud walked with Zack to the door, and leaned against the wall as Zack put his shoes on. He was still shaking slightly and was extremely confused. Why would Zack just lie like that? It wasn't like having migraines was something to be ashamed of.
Zack glanced around to make sure Tifa and Vincent were around before he grabbed Cloud and pulled him into a tight hug. "Don't look so worried," he whispered, kissing the top of Cloud's head before pulling away.
Cloud smiled slightly and nodded. "I know… still just a little shaken up, it's not every day you see someone get a migraine like that."
He kissed Zack on the lips before opening the door. Zack waved slightly and stepped outside, heading down the walkway.
Cloud watched him for a few moments before closing the door and heading back into the living room.
The past few days had been quite eventful and had left Cloud feeling exhausted. He had taken Vincent and Tifa to the many places a 'larger' city had to offer. The had gone to the wave pool which, looking back, hadn't been the best idea. Reno and Zack tagged along (Sephiroth never went swimming, it left his hair in a complete mess) and Tifa had gone completely weak in the knee's after seeing Zack in a bathing suit. Cloud spent most of the time keeping an eye on Tifa and Zack and almost ended up drowning after a particularly large wave hit him from behind.
The next day they had all gone shopping (Sephiroth had decided to join them for that adventure) and all had gone smoothly until Cloud had walked out onto the street without looking first and was almost hit by a car. Zack had, thankfully, stuck his hand and grabbed Cloud before he went any farther and ended up crushing Cloud to his chest, which left Cloud in a somewhat flustered state. Tifa then spent the first five minutes checking Cloud over and over again for any bruising, and the next five minutes thanking Zack for saving him.
So after getting home from shopping and going to see a movie which turned out to be a total chick flick, much to the amusement of Tifa, and to the disappointment of all the guys (although Cloud suspected Reno enjoyed it just as much as Tifa), Cloud found himself curled up into a warm little ball in his bed, trying to fall asleep, but failing.
He rolled over for what must have been the hundredth time. He still hadn't told Tifa and Vincent about he and Zack, and as time went by it was getting harder and harder.
Vincent was lying on a sleeping cot next to his bed while Tifa was staying in Roxas's room. Roxas was spending the long weekend over at Axel's where they were going to play video games for the entire weekend with only bathroom and food breaks. Last Cloud heard, they were still playing, and Reno was contemplating shutting off the power in the house to get them to stop.
"Can't sleep?"
Cloud rolled over and looked at Vincent, shaking his head. "No, not really. Sorry if I'm keeping you awake."
He heard Vincent laugh lightly and watched him sit up. "I rarely sleep anyways, you should know that."
"I know, I know," Cloud whispered, rolling onto his back to stare at the ceiling. His mind had just started to wander when he was brought back to earth when he heard Vincent speak.
"So... how long have you and Zack been a couple for?'"
If Cloud hadn't already been lying down, he was sure he would have fallen down right then and there at Vincent's question.
"Uh..." Cloud responded, his mind going blank.
"It's not that hard to notice. I mean you two walk really close beside each other, and give each other looks when you don't think anyone else is watching. Only reason why Tifa hasn't noticed is because she has a huge crush on Zack," Vincent explained, brushing back his long hair from his eyes.
Cloud sat up as well and looked at Vincent, "was it that obvious?"
Vincent simply nodded. "I don't know why you didn't just tell me."
Cloud blushed slightly. Vincent didn't say it in an accusing way, but rather a slightly hurt way. Now Cloud felt like a real dick.
"Sorry...I just didn't know how you would react. I mean last time you saw me, I liked girls and had dated Tifa, and now you see me and I'm dating a guy. But Zack is a really amazing person. I mean you know him, but you don't know him know him... you know? He makes me feel like everything will be okay in this world," Cloud stopped talking soon after he realized he was getting all mushy. Cloud didn't get mushy.
There was a pause in the conversation then Vincent spoke again. "You really love him... don't you?"
"Yeah...I really do," Cloud whispered, lying back down.
"I'm glad you found someone, and I'm not angry at you for not telling me, I understand," Vincent replied lying down as well. "But you still have to tell Tifa."
Cloud laughed and stuffed his face into his pillow. "Yeah, I know...and thanks for understanding."
"Oh my god Cloud! I can't believe you wore that!" Tifa exclaimed.
Cloud walked into the back office where Tifa, Vincent, Reno and Zack were all crowded around the computer.
Cloud walked farther into the room and looked over Reno's shoulder to see them all looking at a picture of Cloud in his Halloween costume. Luckily it wasn't one of the pictures of Zack and Cloud actually posing at there Halloween costume, or Cloud would have a lot of explaining to do.
"Oh god, I thought I got rid of all those pictures," Cloud muttered.
"I think you look so pretty! You pull that dress off better then I could!" Tifa laughed, closing the window and turning around to look at Cloud. "How did Zack convince you to dress like that?"
Cloud turned the colour of a tomato and coughed slightly. "Promised to stop bothering me to do weird stuff for a month," Cloud stated. He wasn't going to add in the part about Zack kissing him senseless until he couldn't think straight.
"I'm hungry," Zack said, changing the subject. "Let us go get food!"
"AGREED!" Reno yelled, and started to saunter towards the kitchen. Tifa got out of her chair and followed Reno, laughing when he tripped over a stray cushion. Cloud hear him mutter 'I meant to do that' before continuing on his way.
Cloud, Zack and Vincent soon followed, but Cloud stopped to pick up the pillow, earning himself a smack on the ass. He whipped around to see Zack with a smug grin on his face, and Vincent who was trying to ignore what was going on in front of him. Cloud threw the pillow at Zack's face before continuing on his way to the kitchen.
He almost walked into the kitchen before he heard the conversation Reno and Tifa were having. He put his hand out to stop Zack and Vincent, before leaning in slightly.
"- so you know... you can have my number if you like. A pretty lady like yourself shouldn't be all by herself," Cloud heard Reno drawl out.
"Oh, well thanks for that, uh compliment, but I kinda like someone and want their number instead. Sorry," Tifa shot back. Cloud could practically hear her cocking her hip to the side.
"Oh, really now? And do I know this person?"
"Yeah, pretty well I'm guessing. It's Zack. I was planning on asking for his number before I leave today."
Cloud felt Zack slap his arm, and Cloud whipped around sending him a glare. He mouthed a 'what' and saw Zack almost peeing himself from laughing.
"She likes me?" He whispered. "I never knew!"
Cloud rolled his eyes, and turned his attention back to the conversation.
"Zack? Good luck with that." Reno laughed.
"What... you don't think I am his type?" Tifa sounded slightly worried.
"Nah, I am sure you're a nice girl, but Zack is already dating Cloud." There was a death in the conversation, and Cloud almost slammed his head into the wall while he tripped on his feet trying to get into the kitchen.
Cloud stormed in, with Zack and Vincent on his heels. He looked at Tifa and saw a confused look on her face, her mouth hanging open like a fish.
"Tifa..." Cloud said, reaching out to her. God, it felt like some cheesy soap opera.
His hand remained stretched out, and she just stared at him. It wasn't until Zack moved forward and pushed Cloud's arm down did the conversation pick up again.
"Wait... Reno... did you just say Cloud was dating Zack?" Tifa asked, looking from Reno, to Zack, and then to Cloud.
"Well I actually said Zack was dating Cloud but-" Reno was interrupted by Cloud storming over and kicking Reno in the shin.
"OW! MAN! UNCALLED FOR!" Reno huddled down on the ground, and hugged his leg to his body, grumbling.
"Tifa, I am so sorry for not telling you!" Cloud said. He didn't want Tifa to find out something this important in this kind of way.
Tifa just stood there a moment, and then walked towards Cloud, dragging him into a huge crushing hug. "It's okay Cloud! I am so happy for you! I just wish you would have told me Zack was off limits so I wouldn't embarrass myself!" She kept her hold on Cloud, and Cloud heaved a sigh of relief.
Tifa finally let go and held Cloud at arms length. "Why didn't you tell me before?"
"I was nervous. I mean I left and was into girls, and then you come and I am dating a guy and I never told you before and it was just kinda got harder and harder after time. I also thought you might be weirded out."
"Weirded out? Cloud, love is love, it doesn't matter if your a different race, the same sex, or well, anything... as long as you love someone, thats all that matters."
Cloud stood there and let the words sink in. She was right...
The mood was ruined when Reno started to make gagging sounds from his place on the floor. "I don't know about you but I came over here for food and to get away from my zombie brother and your zombie brother, NOT to listen to some after-school special crap!"
Zack burst out laughing at this statement, and Cloud soon started to laugh as well.
"You gotta admit, that was kind of lame." Zack said, coming up and wrapping his arm around Tifa. "But I am glad you accept it, I swear Cloud was gonna develop major bags under his eyes from lack of sleep over all of this."
Tifa laughed, "well it's his own damn fault!"
Tifa looked over at Vincent who had seemed to drift closer to a wall, obviously trying to go unnoticed.
"Your taking this really well Vincent! You don't even seem shocked!" Tifa exclaimed, walking over to him.
"Food!" Reno yelled from the floor, but no one was paying attention.
"Well I already knew," Vincent said.
Tifa's happy expression turned from a happy smiling face to an angry woman who had just learnt her husband had been cheating on her with the slutty secretary.
"You knew... and didn't tell me?!"
Authors Note: Homg... so everyone should send all their love to my wonderful Cloud, who without her and her amazing friendship and amazingness (I am such a wordsmith), this chapter would not be out tonight. I deleted the edited chapter, and couldn't get a hold of my regualr beta until later in the day, so my Cloud (Rosie, you are a godess) filled in. She did a really good job I must say! Anyways, Ihoe you enjoyed this chapter, and all the randomness. I thought I should include Cloud's old friends and I hope I wrote both Tifa anf Vincent well! Also, any idea's on whats up with Zack? Thank you for all the wonderful reviews, I really appreciate them! And thank you for all who watch and favorited this story! You guys are all amazing!