"Yuffie!!...Yuffie,stop. Please try to understand! Why are you doing this? This is hard for the both of us." Outside the cafeteria, Aeris and I stood above Yuffie who sat on the floor crying.

"Have you guys even thought about how much this could hurt our friendship?"

"What are you saying? Zack and Cloud are okay with it. Why can't you be? You've always been one to accept differences, Yuff"

"It's not that...I dunno...I'm just scared. I don't want us to be broken apart...You guys are like my sisters...I get along with you way better than with my own screwed up family..." Aeris sat next to her on the floor.

"Yuffie...I'm promise you, that will never happen,okay? I promise that no matter what, I won't be any less of your friend. Or Tifa's"

Yuffie looked up, her sleeves soaked with tears, and gave Aeris and hug.

"I'm happy for you guys...really,I am. I just...I dunno. I'm scared..."

"Everything's gonna be alright,Yuf. I promise you." I said, hugging her. Wiping her black tears off her face, we all walked back into the cafeteria and sat at our table. Zack and Cloud glanced at Yuffie, looking away quickly when she looked at them.

"She's okay," I said smiling. Yuffie smiled back.

For the rest of the school day I was becoming somewhat disgusted with how much of a lovestruck school girl I was acting like. I wrote "A&T" all over all my books and didn't realize I did it until I wrote it about twenty times. My heart fluttered whenever I thought about her. I had these feelings for so long and was finally able to tell her, with the best result I could ever ask for. Why...why must my love be sitting all the way across the room from me. We looked at eachother, giggling and blushing, much to the teacher's dismay.

"Ahem...ladies. If there's something you'd like to share, maybe you'd like to share it with the entire class since you seem to make it work across the room."

"Nah, that's okay. Thanks for the offer,though." I said. When the bell rang, I had praised it for saving us from the teacher's attitude.

"At last, the day is over..." said Aeris stretching.

"I know,right? Finally. What time's your mom gonna be home, tonight?" she asked me.

"I don't care. She's usually out screwing some guy. Probably to get promoted for her stupid job or something."

"Is she really THAT bad?" she asked.

"You have no idea..."

"So...I guess I'm coming over then."

"Yes, you are!"

We both made our way outside and to my car to drive to her house.

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Ah, the bliss of coming home to an "annoying-mother-free" home with my love. We ran upstairs then threw our bookbags to the ground.

"I wish my mom would stop thinking about her "sexual needs" and start thinking about her only daughter. I hate her stupid boyfriend...she's always at his house. Every single day for hours on end and never even does anything beneficial for us. I'm sick of her..."

"You know I care about you, right? More than anything..." Her sparkling green eyes were focused on me intently. I smiled and folded stray pieces of her hair behind her ear.

"...I love you." she said. I looked up at her, both of us inching closer.

"I love you,too." I said. Then we kissed. Kissing her made me feel like the world around us completely stopped in it's tracks. It was the best feeling in the world. Her hand ran up and down my arm lovingly. Just the slightest touch from her made me shiver. We broke the kiss and smiled at eachother.

"Tifa!!!!!!"

"Oh...my god. I can't believe this..." I grabbed Aeris' hand and ran downstairs.

"Mom...why are you home already? Shouldn't you be at your boyfriends?" I asked her. She looked completely wrecked.

"Hey, I thought you'd be glad I was home..." she scolded. I shook my head and led Aeris out the door, both of us grabbing our bookbags. But before we could get out, my mom grabbed my arm and yanked me away from her.

"You know...ever since my daughter's been hanging out with the likes of you, she's changed." she told Aeris.

"Mom, don't! I've always been this way with you!" I yelled.

"No, Tif. It's okay, I'll just go..." said Aeris. I quickly got up and began to leave again with Aeris.

"You are NOT leaving with this...this skank!" said my mom. I shoved my mom up against the wall.

"Yes, I am! You never tell me who I can leave with ever again. I get along better with her than anyone else, including you. You're never there for me anyway! So, I'm leaving you and your stupid, worthless boyfriend behind because I hate you! Go...go fuck eachother like always. I won't get in the way." I led Aeris out the door with me and drove off in a fury. Far,far away from that bitch mother of mine.

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Sixty-seven miles an hour, tears running over my face. The more I tried to hold them back, the more they poured out. My mother was the most self-centered, careless bitch on the planet. I couldn't deal with her crap anymore.

"She doesn't even know about us yet and she's already treating you like shit...how will I tell her now?...No...you know what? She doesn't deserve to know about anything that goes on in my life. I'm not even gonna tell her..."

"You should Tifa..."

"Why!? So she can hate us more? No!" There was silence for what seemed like forever. I didn't even know where I was driving. As long as I was away from my mom, I was okay. But, to be honest, I didn't know what to do next. The last thing I wanted to do was return home. And I didn't want to be a burden to stay at Aeris' house again. But I didn't know what else to do...She touched my hand.

"Tif..you can stay with me,okay? It's gonna be alright..." I wiped the tears from my face and smiled at her. I was gonna feel like a burden but being with her is worth it.

Getting to her house was a relief. It seemed like all I had been doing lately was running away. Tomorrow I was going to go back home and completely ignore my mother. The sun was vanishing in the sky, revealing the glowing moon above.

"C'mon inside, it's getting late..." said Aeris. We both got out of the car and stepped inside the warmth of her house. I threw my bag down and sighed.

"It's gonna be okay...I promise..." she wrapped her thin arms around me and hugged me gently. Being with her made me forget everything that was going wrong.

Every wrong turn I made was forgotten the minute I even saw her. This feeling I had for her was unlike any other feeling I had for anyone else in my life. She linked her fingers with mine and led me upstairs. Her house seemed so tranquil compared to the hellish surroudings of mine. I loved it. At the same time, we both layed on our sides on the bed, looking into eachothers' eyes.

"Thank you..."

"Hm?"

"For taking me in like this...I feel like a burden, you know..."

"You shouldn't...because I like having you here with me..." she twirled a strand of my hair, smiling.

"I've never felt this way with anyone...the way I feel with you. It's hard to explain..."

"I know what you mean, Tifa..I feel exactly the same," she replied. I cuddled closer to her, her hand resting on my shoulder. All that was heard was our soft breathing and the sounds of cars speeding away into the cold, dark night.

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The sound of rain hitting the window panes awoke me from my deep sleep next to my love. I stood up in the semi-darkness of the cold room and looked out the window. It had rained pretty heavily all night, though I was just realizing it. The streets had a rather large amount of water running down them. I was praying school would be out today. No way was I driving in this condition. However, I did like the peaceful sound of the raindrops outside, most likely the reason why I had slept through the whole thing all night. I turned around and Aeris was sitting up on the bed, holding the remote to turn on the weather. I smiled and sat next to her. Please, please let school be canceled...

We both watched the bottom of the screen with tired eyes.

"C'mon...school closed, school closed..."

Tansho Highscool: Closed

"Yes!!!!!" cheered Aeris.

"Ah...a day free from hell..." I flopped back down on the bed and pulled the covers over me. Aeris layed next to me with her hand on my stomach.

"I'd much rather spend the day with you then at school..." she smiled and layed her head on my shoulder.

"...I've just now noticed this...where are your parents?" she sighed and sat up.

"They party alot...usually never home.." I felt guilty for mentioning anything.

"Hey," I sat up and wrapped my arm around her. "..sorry,"

"It's alright...Now, we have the whole day alone." she smiled.

"I have something for you," I said. She tilted her head slighty in confusion. I puckered my lips and she giggled then kissed me sweetly.

"That was a nice little gift,"

It was strange. I wasn't one to smile very often. But every second with her brought out more and more joy in me. A side I had never seen before. The more I realized this, the more scared I got. I didn't want to lose her. Suddenly, we heard her parents come in the door downstairs.

"Hey mom, school's out today,"

"Thank god, It's horrible out there! Oh, hi Tifa. How're you?" her mom asked.

"I'm good. Um...I hope you don't mind me staying last night I had a few problems with my mom and.."

"No! Of course not! I think you're a great role model for Aeris. You two make the best of friends! Keep this up, and you may even be at eachothers' weddings!" she said cheerily and walked into the kitchen. I looked at Aeris with a sadness in my eyes. Her mom would be so dissapointed in me if she found out...

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It was about 5:00 in the evening when I decided to return home. I gathered my stuff and gave Aeris a hug.

"I'll see you tomorrow.."

"Yeah," I looked around nervously. "Love you.." I kissed her quickly then walked out to my car. Now, I had alot on my hands. Troubles with my mom and the troubles that were soon to come if word got to our parents. It all seemed so hard, but the happiness that filled my heart just washed all the stress away when I was with her. And that's why I love her so much.

To be continued...