Once I got home, my mom was in the kitchen, looking overwhelmingly stressed with a pile of bills and paperwork carelessly spread out on the table. She had finally noticed I was home when my heavy book bag hit the ground. There was an awkward silence as we both looked at eachother, anger in my eyes, stress in her's.

"Tifa..listen to me.."

"Why should I?" ...The phone rang. I went over to the I.D., saw her stupid boyfriend's number and slammed the phone down on the table where she sat.

"Finally he's done something useful. Saving me from a pointless lecture from my mother.." I said. I grabbed my book bag and ran upstairs to my room. I was starting to regret even coming home. Being here made me sick. I stripped off my school clothes and put on my white tank top with my gray sweat pants. Pulling out my cell phone, I opened it and smiled at the silly picture of Aeris and I. Her nose was wrinkled and her tounge was out, her head tilted slighty. My eyes were wide and crazy and my tounge stuck out, almost touching hers. It was such an adorable picture. Suddenly, my ring tone went off and the phone read "Aeris". I smiled again and took the call.

"Hey,"

"Hey. Was everything okay when you got home?" she asked. My mom walked in my room.

"Ugh..hold on...What do you want?" I said angrily.

"Who's on the phone?"

"Aeris..why? Don't you have something to do? Someone to betray your own daughter for?" She walked out of the room and shut the door tightly behind her.

"Anyway, I'm pretty much just giving her what she deserves. Total disrespect...all these years she's continually turned her back on me...she deserves it,"

"I'm sorry...about everything going on with your mom..."

"No no...if anyone, it's her fault. None of this is on you. Don't worry about it,baby..." I said sweetly. She giggled slightly.

"God...I can't wait to see you tomorrow..." she said.

"I know, I'm sorry I didn't stay a little longer...I don't wanna be here..." I replied.

"I wish you were here,too...I'm gonna wait by the front of the school for you tomorrow,"

"Well, aren't you a romantic.." I giggled.

"Only for you,baby.." she answered. I laughed softly. She was so sweet. I couldn't ask for anyone better.

"Ok, I'll look for you, since you always manage to beat me to school.."

"Ok,baby. I'll see you tomorrow. I love you,"

"I love you,too. Bye..." I ended the call and layed the phone next to me, still looking at that wacky picture of us. My eye lids felt heavy and the light outside began to fade as minutes passed. Before I knew it, I was sound asleep.

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Morning came and I had the worst headache. I looked over on my bed and my phone had a note next to it. It was still open to the picture and the note read: I'm sorry...

Mom

I looked up from the note, set it aside and got up to get dressed for school. I picked out a red tank top with my black half-sweater over it and my red and black plaid knee length skirt. I quickly brushed my hair, brushed my teeth then grabbed my bag and rushed downstairs. I found my mom asleep with her head on the table, a cup of coffee next to her hand. I smiled slighty at her and grabbed my lunch from the table. Then got in the car and drove to school.

I could already see her beautiful face, she was laying in the front of the school next to a tree, many students surrouding and waiting for the bell to ring. I quickly got out of the car and ran over to her. Once she saw me, she smiled and patted the spot next to her for me to lay. I threw down my book bag and made myself comfortable next to her. My eyes scanned the students surrounding us. Then I looked at her, smiled, and gave her a kiss, not caring who saw. She broke the kiss after a few seconds and smiled back.

"I missed you last night..."

"I missed you,too" she replied, her face still close to mine. I glanced around and saw a few people staring and whispering. I didn't care. I smiled at her and kissed her again. Suddenly, we quickly pulled away when we heard his voice.

"Oh, look. The little dykes have nothing better to do than to make out, right here in front of everyone," Known to judge people for everything, Sephiroth was the most hateful bastard on the planet. Behind him was...oh no...it was...Reno. He was gonna tell mom for sure...

Sephiroth picked both of us up and took us to the side of the school building then threw us on the ground.

"Why must the queers always think it's okay to show PDA and yet, the normal ones get punished?" he kicked dirt at us. Reno ran up behind him.

"Dude, what the fuck? That's my sister man!" he pushed him away and helped us up. I was shocked. My brother...standing up for me? This was weird...

I quickly grabbed Aeris' hand and led her far away from him. I had tears in my eyes, moving her hair away from her face, making sure there wasn't a scratch on her.

"Are you okay?"

"No,no. I'm fine...I'm okay,Tif.." I cried harder and hugged her, looking over at a growing fight between Sephiroth and Reno. Finally, after what seemed like forever, Mr.Wallace broke up the fight. The bell rang and students ran inside, due to the drizzling from the sky becoming stronger and stronger. Aeris and I quickly went behind the buidling and sat on the ground.

"I'm so sorry..." I said, still crying.

"It's not your fault,baby..people are just so cruel. So intolerating. It's horrible..." She said. I hugged her and softly let the tears fall. The rain began to get stronger and stronger. Mr.Wallace came around the corner and led us inside, offering to take us to the nurse incase we were hurt. We both said we were gonna be fine and headed to class.

Our clothes and hair were soaked and we were stared upon after walking in the class. I ignored the stares and walked to my seat, slipping slighty from my wet shoes. Reno caught my arm and looked into my eyes, concerned. I faintly smiled at him and kept walking. The class went on and I stared at the board blanky, then scribbling down notes and running my fingers through my wet hair. I was still in shock about this morning's events. My legs were shaking and I felt unusually jittery. The window was open and the breeze flew in, sending shivers over my already freezing skin. Finally the bell rang and I shoved all my papers into my binder and quickly walked up to Aeris. Reno came up behind me and took our arms, then out into the hallway. We looked up at him with worried eyes.

"Hey...Tif..I may have been a bastard to you before..but everything's gonna be okay..."

"You..you're not gonna tell mom?" I asked.

"Nah...I'm not that heartless..." he smiled and punched my shoulder lightly. For once I was grateful to have a brother like him. I wondered what had changed his actions towards me.

"I know this may seem like an awkward time to tell you...but..I'm upset. Because I got into a fight with someone I care about..." he said sadly.

"Reno...who was it? I wanna help you now.."

"Tifa...I dunno how this happened but I guess we both turned out to be...gay," he said. I looked at him, shocked. Never would I have thought that my brother liked guys...never.

"Aww,Reno...I-I dunno what to say...How can I help?"

"Can you just talk to him for me?"

"Of course I can, Reno. Who is he?"

"He's got shoulder length, silver hair. He's a looker. You can't miss him..." Reno gave me a quick hug then smiled at Aeris and made his way to next class. I looked at her with wide eyes and smiled.

"My brother...gay? I'm proud of him. Now I don't have to worry about him bringing home a snobby cheerleader home.." we began to walk.

"Well, there are guys like that,baby.."

"Oh god..."

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Next class was the usual. Boring note taking, boring lecturing and boring threats of detention. Everything you can expect from Tansho Highschool. Luckily that didn't last very long, and the bell rang for lunch. Many hungry students scrambled out of their seats and out the door. I took a deep breath, took her hand and we walked together down the hall to lunch. On our way, we saw Yuffie and ran up to her. She turned around and hugged us.

"I heard about this morning! Are you guys okay?"

"We're fine. People are just...horrible..." said Aeris.

"They just don't appreciate how amazingly cute you guys are together," she said. I giggled and thanked her. Around the corner, Zack appeared with Cloud next to him, reading his usual book on the supernatural. We all made our way to the lunch room and sat where we sit everyday.

"Ok, you guys aren't gonna believe this, I'm still shocked. My brother...is gay. He just told me this morning. Now I'm really wondering why he hung out with Sephiroth," Yuffie grunted.

"Why is it that all the nice guys are ugly, all the hot guys are mean, and the handsome and generous boys are gay!?" She forked at the cafeteria food, disgusted.

"Yuffie, I know for sure you will find someone who will appreciate you for you," said Aeris. Surely enough, a nice looking blonde walked past the table, with his eye on Yuffie. I was sure he was an exchange student. His clothing was unusual and he was carrying a strange blue and white ball. (A.N: Ok, I needed at least one crossover moment, know who it is?) Yuffie looked back at him and smiled, blushing slightly.

"Apparently, you're quite the catch. Even I'd date you,Yuffie.." said Cloud.

"Ok, now you're teasing me!" she replied.

"I'm serious. We've known eachother how long? Only thing is, it'd be awkward.."

"Yeah, and it's gonna get more awkward if you keep talking about it!" she laughed and slapped him over the head.

"Ow...no need to hit.."

I looked over to the other side of the table and saw a boy. He looked rather upset. Silver hair...this was my brother's boyfriend. I scooted to the opposite side of the table and tapped his shoulder.

"Is something wrong?"

"Yeah, but if I told you, you'd prolly...beat me up like every other kid in this damn school..."

"Let me guess...you're going through some tough times with a certain red head who can be a total bastard most of the time, right?" He looked up.

"And you are?"

"Tifa. I'm his sister.." He certaintly looked freaked out. He accepted my offer to discuss his little fight with Reno and how to fix things.

"You know, he sounded really upset when he told me about you two fighting..."

"He did?...What else did he tell you?"

"Well, he just wanted me to tell you that he was sorry for what he did and that...he loves you.." Ok, so I'm not the best with words. But hey, I'm trying here.

"I guess...I can forgive him...We've fought alot before...but being with him makes it all worth while," he said, smiling. I smiled back at him and was just about to let him sit at our side of the table when the bell rang.

"You can sit with us tomorrow,okay?"

"Sure...and when you see Reno, tell him to call me.." he said. I smiled.

"Will do,"

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At the end of the day, I drove Aeris back to my house. She had left a note for her parents back at her place before we left, telling them she would be staying with me..."studying". A typical excuse for a teenager to be with their love.

"Mom...I'm home," she sat in the kitchen, doing more paperwork for her job. She removed her glasses and welcomed Aeris in, asking if she could talk to her for a minute. I waited in the living room.

"Aeris...about the other day...I didn't mean what I said. I see how happy my daughter is with you and I regret my words...she's never had a friend like you and you're really helping her. You are welcome here anytime. Ok?"

"Thanks...and I just wanna let you know that Tif's been upset about what's going on with you and her and she really just wants to fix it. I think everything's gonna be alright," I walked in the kitchen and asked if we could order Chinese food. I was CRAZY about LoMein and I was also starving since I had given my lunch to Cloud who was always too lazy to pack his own. Mom agreed and ordered, allowing us to hang out until the food got here. So, we both went up to my room and relaxed after that stressful school day. I layed on my back on the bed with my head hanging over the edge and Aeris sat on the floor, her face inches from mine, smiling sweetly.

"I was so scared today that you were hurt by Sephiroth..."

"And I thought it was so sweet the way you made sure I was okay..." she folded my hair behind my ear and kissed me. I was incredibly thankful it was Friday, leaving us two days to spend together. Doing whatever we wanted.

"So..who gets to plan tomorrow night?" she asked.

"I don't care what we do, as long as we're together..." she smiled and kissed me yet again.

"Mm...how about we go...to that night club downtown? Entering age is eighteen...c'mon,we should!"

"Sounds good to me,baby...anything with you sounds good to me, music to my ears," I replied. She gave me that puppy face and ran her fingers through my hair.

"You're so sweet..."

"You,too.." I leaned in and kissed her then turned over on the bed, dizzy from hanging upside down.

"Tifa! Food's here!" called my mom. I quickly got up, went halfway downstairs, grabbed the bag and came back up.

"Thanks!" I called back from my room.

"Mmmm...LoMein...almost as yummy as you,my sweet," she giggled and gently pushed me back on the bed, kissing me. I broke the kiss.

"As much as I would love to make out with you, I don't have a door lock and I am STARVING.." I said. She laughed and put the food out on the bed. I was eating like a pig. Nothing better than a night with Aeris and chinese food. Yum. I was psyched about tomorrow night. This night club was sure to be interesting. I was definetly making sure I'd wear my best outfit.

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Later, after we had finished eating, we both sat on the bed talking. I lightly brushed her bangs out of her green eyes and kissed her. Her arm wrapped around me, her hand resting on my back.

"I love you.." she said smiling. I looked at her and gave her a hug. She was so warm...and she smelled so good. Every inch of her was like heaven.

"I love you,too...and I still feel horrible about what happened today..." She shook her head.

"It's not your fault,Tifa. We both love eachother, so we shouldn't care about what other's think or say. Just you and me, that's all that matters." she said. I smiled at her and held her hand. I knew we both loved eachother and I wasn't gonna let anyone ruin that.

"Remember when we took this picture?" I said, grabbing my cell phone and showing her the photo. She laughed at the image.

"Yes, I do! We look so weird..."

"But adorable, nonetheless," I said. I closed the phone and hugged her once again.

"I can't wait to show my hot girlfriend off tomorrow at the club! But if anyone even thinks of laying their hands on you, they're dead.." I told her.

"Protective much?" she said, wrapping her arms around my neck.

"Anything to protect you," I answered. Reno walked in the room, shirtless.

"Hey Tif, have you seen my--Oh,oh..I'm sorry...I didn't know you were here..." he said, backing out.

"Wait..Kadaj and I talked today and he told me to tell you to call him,"

"Really!? Ok...I'm sorry for all the times I have been an ass to you! Thanks for talking to him...Oh,hey. Can I, get a picture of you two kissing? Y'know, just to show off to my friends..."

"You're sick!" I threw a pillow at him and he laughed then left the room. I smiled.

"Why...why did I have to end up with a brother this weird?"

"You have me now to end all this family-irony..." she said.

I sighed. "You saved me..."

"I freed you..."