A/N: Thank you lovelies for the reviews! I'm glad to hear that you're enjoying this, and I hope you enjoy it more as we go along :D
I'm as eager to get straight to the fluffy stuff as you, but one step at a time, right? This fic is based off of Leo and Kate, so there will be plenty of maddeningly cute things to come! (Gosh darn it they're literally all but married how can you not be frustrated by that?) Honestly, I was so excited when I came up with the idea, I thought Cloud and Tifa were the perfect parallels. Except their feature film isn't gonna be just a plain romance movie like Titanic, because we ARE talking about Final Fantasy here...
And just a mild language warning, reminder that this fic is rated T.
Chapter 5 ~ Decisions
Midgar wasn't close to a hot climate, but for some reason an unusually warm front flooded the city the same day that Cloud decided to visit the garage. He usually didn't like taking his shirt off while working, but it ended up off of him and somewhere on the floor anyway.
He slid out from underneath the vehicle and searched for his discarded shirt. Once he found it, Cloud used it to dab at his brow. He wondered if Cid ever thought that buying a fan was a good idea.
Speak of the devil, Cid came striding into the garage carrying two glasses of iced tea. "Damn kid, take a break, would ya?" he said. "Yer gonna pass out with the rate you've been goin' at."
He shrugged as he gratefully accepted the drink. "Lost track of time," Cloud said honestly.
"You stupid fucker. I'm kickin' ya out for a bit so ya don't overwork yourself." Cid gave him a narrow look. "I know if I let ya hang out in here yer gonna start workin' again anyway."
"Glad to know you care about me, Cid."
The mechanic let out a boisterous laugh. "Don't flatter yourself, shithead, I just can't afford to have ya passin' out on me. I ain't yer mother, Strife. Now get yer ass outta here!"
Moments later, Cloud found himself outside the side door of the garage, drink still in hand and his shirt shoved on by Cid for decency. Amazing how he could be an asshole and a total mom at the same time. He sighed as he settled on a bench on the shady side of the garage.
He had met Cid on the set for his most recent film, G-Bike. Cid sold himself as a simple mechanic, but after a few months of visiting the garage, Cloud learned that he was also a pilot and engineer who used to build his own planes. He didn't get far enough to learn why Cid had stopped.
Cid wasn't necessarily the most…pleasant company. The guy had a penchant for colorful language and smoked to the point where Cloud was sure his lungs would eventually begin to shrivel from all the secondhand smoke. At the same time, the guy really knew what he was doing when it came to engines, and he was the one who taught Cloud everything he knew about them. Cloud didn't know much before he met Cid, but his interest had been sparked when filming G-Bike.
G-Bike was where Cloud first learned how to ride a motorcycle, and he hadn't looked back since. Cid teased him endlessly when he had purchased his own motorcycle not even a day after wrapping up. Now, Fenrir was one of Cloud's most prized possessions, especially because Cid helped him modify it above and beyond its original form. Cid might be an asshole, but Cloud felt that he owed the mechanic more than what money can pay.
Cid's garage had inadvertently become one of Cloud's favorite hangouts, and Cid had inadvertently become something of a friend. There might be a whole lot of cussing coming from one end, but Cloud took Cid's willingness to teach him about auto work as a sign of friendship. And for Cloud, making friends is an accomplishment.
Especially with Tifa. Ifrit knows why the fates decided to bring her back in his life, but he wasn't about to mess up again.
Realizing that his mind had wandered, Cloud groaned, fighting the impulse to smack his forehead at the risk of looking crazy to people passing by. No matter what he did to distract himself, she wouldn't get out of his mind. it was like he was in a spell where everything just led back to Tifa, Tifa, Tifa. Shiva, he wanted to see her, more than he wanted to admit. Yet every time Cloud eyed his phone for the past few days, his anxiety and plain cowardice got the best of him.
What was wrong with him? Cloud ran a hand through his hair, willing the knots in his stomach to go away. When they traded numbers, she did say that he should call her. Maybe she's been waiting for him to call?
Or maybe she was just trying to be friendly.
He felt like a teenager.
A buzzing vibration against Cloud's leg yanked him from his thoughts, and he drew in a sharp breath. There was no way the universe could have a sense of humor sick enough to - nope, it was just Zack. Inwardly cringing at his own pathetic thoughts, he picked up his phone. "Hello?"
"Cloud."
He sat up straight, thrown off by the voice's tone. "Zack? What's wrong?" It was Zack, but not Zack. No, the voice was way too quiet and unsteady. It almost sounded like a completely different person.
He heard a shaky sigh. "Could you come over by any chance?"
"To your place?" Cloud asked. "I'm at Cid's right now, so it could take me a while."
"Then, maybe that bar that's like six blocks down from there?"
"Sounds good."
"I'll be there in fifteen."
A heaviness settled into Cloud's chest as he hung up. It was rare to hear Zack so put out, and even rarer that he wouldn't say what's wrong straight up. Whatever the case was, it had to be very serious to put Zack in such a solemn mood.
"Aerith broke up with me."
Cloud blinked, startled by the abrupt statement. The sympathy followed soon after as he watched Zack bury his face in his hands.
"Zack…" He had no clue what to say. Cloud wasn't very good at comforting people, especially not with his closest friend. Usually it was the other way around.
Cloud knew that Zack had probably done all his crying before he even called him, so Zack showed no signs of tears as he looked up and shifted his gaze to the window. Even still, Cloud could see a glassy sorrow to his normally lively, electric blue eyes.
"She said things weren't working out." Zack's voice was thick and stuck in that quiet tone, which was only more unnerving in person. "Said it's probably better for the both of us."
"I don't understand," Cloud said. "I thought you guys were happy together."
"That's what I thought too, man." Zack let out a hollow laugh. "Then again, it's all 'cause of me."
Cloud frowned. "Don't say that Zack," he said. "You wouldn't do anything to make her upset."
"No, it's not that," Zack said. He finally turned his gaze to Cloud. The emptiness in his eyes was unsettling and showed an obvious discomfort. "I got an offer today. Veld Verdot needed a replacement for the lead in his next blockbuster."
The change in topic seemed odd to Cloud. "That's amazing," he finally said.
"It is. It's gonna be more than that though. International. And a trilogy." Zack began picking at his uneaten fries. "The contract's probably gonna have me living overseas for the next couple of years…maybe more if it really hits off."
Cloud knew that by more, Zack meant that he would be away from home indefinitely. Veld Verdot was a huge filmmaker, and working with him was guaranteed to skyrocket Zack's career, but he was famous for filming all around the world. The realization made Cloud's throat tighten as he fished for encouraging words. "That's a huge offer, Zack. It'd be stupid to turn it down," he said.
"Yeah, it's pretty big," Zack said. "I told Aerith first. But then…she said that maybe this long-distance thing just wasn't going to work anymore."
"I thought you guys were good with that though."
"I did too." Zack looked up at him mournfully. "But then she said that she'd been thinking about breaking things off for a while. Said that…things are just too hard when I'm always traveling."
Cloud didn't know how to respond. He couldn't blame Aerith, because five years of long-distance had to be rough. Zack just traveled a lot because he loved going international. This was the first time Zack said he'd be gone from home for a prolonged period of time, though.
"Zack, you can't turn this down," Cloud finally said. "It's such a big opportunity, so don't let this stop you."
"I know, I know." Zack sighed. "But I guess I had this coming. I can't just expect Aerith to wait for me like she always did."
"We're all gonna miss you," Cloud said quietly. He was still absorbing the fact that Zack would be all but moving away entirely. As annoying as he found his man-child friend, Zack had been the one to convince Cloud to try acting, and was at his side for his entire career ever since. The idea of Zack's prolonged absence was something Cloud found unsettling.
Zack frowned apologetically as he noticed Cloud's furrowed brow. "It's really sudden, isn't it," he said.
"When would you be leaving?"
"Two weeks. I was called so late that filming's already scheduled to start next month."
Cloud leaned back in his booth, letting the surrealism of the news numb him. "Two weeks," he repeated. Two weeks suddenly felt like an incredibly short amount of time.
Zack chuckled humorlessly. "I'm sorry Cloud, this is a lot to take in and here I am getting hung up over Aerith."
"Don't be sorry," Cloud said. "I know this is all really hard on you."
"I'm just so frustrated. Arrrrrgh!" Zack ran his hand through his black spikes. "I really wanna take this offer, but I also wanna stay home and be with my girl. If she'll take me back, that is."
"I guess…that's just the price we pay for what we do," Cloud murmured. It was true, that acting came with certain prices. Whatever they sacrificed, they weren't allowed to just ask for the normal things, like steady work hours or a predictable schedule. That was just a part of the job.
Zack frowned thoughtfully as he swirled his beer. Even though he didn't say anything, Cloud knew that his best friend was already thinking about a win-win solution. That was something about Zack that made him reckless. He always insisted that there was a way around things. Sometimes, he would go to extremes and push his limits to get to his goal. Cloud wondered what lengths Zack would be willing to take now for the sake of Aerith. He knew that he had to say something, before Zack does something stupid.
"I won't take the job."
Cloud blinked. "Did...did I hear that correctly?"
Zack chuckled lowly. "As much as I wanna do this, Aerith means so much more to me," he said. "I'll tell them I can't do it."
"No." Cloud shook his head. "Zack, you can't just drop everything like that."
"Why the hell not?" Zack spread his arms, gesturing at nothing in particular. "She's more important to me than my job, than all of this! In fact, why don't I just retire altogether?"
Cloud grit his teeth. "Listen to yourself! What about your dream?"
That was enough to sober Zack up. "My dream," he murmured.
"Don't just throw away everything you've worked for, Zack," Cloud said quietly. "You just might regret it if you do."
His friend said nothing. He was deep in thought, and his face told that he was wavering. Cloud knew he had to stop his best friend from making such a reckless decision. He still feared for whatever the outcome may be. The problem was, once Zack set his mind to something, it was near impossible to sway him.
