Disclaimer: Blah blah blah I do not own FFVII and I'm not making a profit blah blah blah etc.

Chapter 9

Tifa woke slowly to the sound of someone stomping around out in the hallway, blinking slowly against the morning sunshine flowing freely across her face. She turned her head to the side, smiling faintly when she saw Cloud there. She could live with that. She could wake up next to that face every morning. He was still asleep, lying on his side next to her, one arm draped over her waist innocuously. She watched him, her eyes tracing the too-pretty lines of his face, noticing the way the pillow crushed the spikes of his hair and wondering if he would have to put them back in place or if they'd just spring into place naturally. She'd always suspected he woke earlier than everyone else on their journey so that he could fix his hair without anyone seeing, but she'd never been able to prove it.

She didn't know how long she'd been staring at him for, but the sound of heavy boots had long ago faded down the stairs when Cloud started to wake, and once she noticed his pretty blue eyes flickering open, she snapped her own shut, pretending to be asleep next to him. But she must not have been quick enough.

"What're you doing, Lockhart?" His voice was still kind of groggy, thick with sleep, but there was a lilting tone there.

"Sleeping." She answered readily, keeping her eyes closed. Cloud snorted with what sounded like derision, tightening his hold around her waist to pull her closer to him, so they were pressed up together. Tifa giggled involuntarily, then bit her lip, keeping her eyes closed. If Cloud wanted to say anything more, he was interrupted by the sound of boots returning up the stairs, followed by shouting.

"YO! SPIKEY! WE CAN'T FIND TIFA ANYWHERE!" Tifa sighed, couldn't they just assume she'd gone out without starting a manhunt? It was still early…

"IT'S ALL RIGHT, SHE'S-" Tifa's eyes opened when Cloud started yelling back, and she practically tackled him in her effort to clamp a hand over his mouth to keep him from saying anything more. The last thing she needed was for Barrett to spend the morning yelling and hollering. She propped herself up on one arm and held the other hand over Cloud's mouth, pretty much lying directly on top of him to maintain her leverage. He gave her a look like she was crazy.

"Don't tell him I'm in here!" She whispered, as if that should be obvious, but the point became moot when the door burst open.

"What were you sayin'?" Barrett demanded, before he registered the sight of Tifa pinning Cloud down and his head pretty much exploded. After he had retreated to a safe distance, from where he could yell without being treated to the sight of Tifa in bed with a half-clothed Cloud, Tifa sat back, letting Cloud up. He was chuckling with some amusement.

"I was going to say, she's probably gone for a run. But I guess your way works too." He teased, and Tifa groaned, flopping face first down into the pillow and pulling the blankets over her head while Cloud continued to laugh at her.

Tifa managed a quick shower, ignoring Cloud's offers to assist if necessary, and pulled her damp hair up into a ponytail, re-bandaging her leg and pulling on a short skirt and a t-shirt. She limped down the stairs on her own, holding the bannister for support, and found Barrett scrambling eggs while Cloud ate a bowl of cereal at the kitchen table. "Where are Marlene and Denzel?" She asked, filling the coffee pot with water and setting it to brew.

"Already saw 'em off to school, woman. You overslept." Tifa frowned at Barrett's answer, she never overslept. "Your damn alarm woke me up, but I couldn't find you-" he turned to point the spatula at her like a weapon, and Tifa shot Cloud a look that was more like a plea for help, to which his shoulders shook with silent laughter, before he shook his head and dropped his gaze down to his cereal. "-because you were not where you were supposed to be."

Tifa fidgeted a little awkwardly…well that was one way to put it. "Marlene kicks in her sleep." She supplied quite reasonably, playing with the settings on the coffee machine to avoid having to look down Barrett's spatula and at the big, burly man's face.

"And he don't?" Tifa bit her lip to hold back giggles, and turned to look at Cloud, who also seemed to be fighting to hold in laughter. It was a struggle to maintain a straight face as she answered.

"No, he does not. His hands do tend to wander a bit, though." She fought against her smile as she turned her gaze accusingly towards Cloud, who shrugged.

"I can't help what my subconscious gets up to while I'm sleeping." Tifa might have answered, but Barrett threw up his hands in defeat.

"I do not need to hear this!" He exclaimed, and having escaped his interrogation, Tifa smiled and slid into a seat at the kitchen table, clutching her mug of freshly brewed coffee.

"You're in a good mood today." Cloud said, a little too smugly.

"Only because I got to sleep in. That never happens." She sipped her coffee to hide her smile briefly.

Once Barrett finished with the eggs, he scooped about a quarter of them onto a plate, along with a slice of toast, and hunkered them down in front of Tifa. She smiled in thanks. "So…how long has this-" he used his fork to point back and forth between Cloud and Tifa, "-been goin' on? Do I need to worry?"

Tifa laughed. "Since yesterday. And why would you worry?" She asked in return, as she started eating her eggs.

"Y'know, in case this guy hurts you or somethin'…" Tifa rolled her eyes.

"What if I hurt him?"

"He probably had it comin'." Tifa laughed out loud at that. Cloud glared at both of them.

"Don't worry about it, Barrett. Cloud has assured me that this is going to work." She popped a bit of toast into her mouth, raising an eyebrow at Cloud as if daring him to argue. He smiled and finished his cereal.

"And if it doesn't, I'll take over the surveys and you can stay here with Teef and the kids." He told him, but Tifa couldn't tell if he was joking or not. She hadn't thought about the possibility of losing Cloud altogether if this didn't work out, but she supposed it made sense…even if it was completely terrifying. She sipped her coffee to cover her suddenly absent smile while Cloud cleaned up the kitchen.

"You want to come grocery shopping with me?" Tifa asked after Barrett left to meet with some folks from an oil and gas company, poking into the fridge to find it very much depleted, doubtless because it had been over a week since her shopping trip.

"You're only asking because you can't walk and carry things at the same time, aren't you?" Cloud teased, and Tifa looked up at the ceiling, and smiled somewhat guiltily.

"Is that a no?" She asked innocently, closing the fridge and flipping her hair back over her shoulder as she turned towards him.

"You know, considering that you're the one who wanted to do things 'properly', you're kind of skipping all the normal milestones, Teef." He was drying his hands on a tea towel as he spoke. "Sneaking into my bed before our first date, roping me into boring household tasks before sex, you're pushing boundaries here."

"I was a terrorist you know. I laugh in the face of boundaries." She smiled, leaning back against the counter, and Cloud walked over to stand in front of her, putting his hands on the counter on either side of her. "No more stealing kisses!" She reminded him, and he groaned, letting his head droop. Tifa giggled as his hair tickled her cheek, blushing when she felt his breath hot against her neck, becoming very aware of his proximity even though he was careful not to touch her skin. Her heart started to race, and tentatively, she reached a hand up, clutching the hem of his shirt tightly.

Cloud lifted his head, looking her in the eye quizzically as she lifted her other hand to his abs, running her finger tips up the hard angles of his body. "Tifa…" She smiled a little mischievously at the pained look in his eyes.

"But...it's not really stealing if I give it to you." She amended as her hand reached his shoulder, and she held him for support so she could lean forward and press her lips to his, her hand twisting in the fabric of his shirt. Cloud's eyes lit up at her words, and as soon as their lips touched it was like he was released from an invisible leash, his hands leaving the counter to find her waist so he could lift her onto the counter. Sliding his hand down her thigh, he guided her leg to wrap around his torso, and Tifa turned her head to the side to take a deep breath. "Cloud," she murmured as she ran her fingers back through his hair. It was softer than she thought it'd be.

Just like the night before, Cloud's hand wandered underneath her shirt, and just like the night before, Tifa found herself pleased enough by his touch that she didn't feel the need to remove it. Instead, she tangled her fist in his shirt, guiding his head back towards her so she could keep on kissing him, and she used her leg to pull him closer, letting her bare foot trail across his back. Cloud didn't seem to mind, responding eagerly to her guidance, seeming more than pleased with this turn of events.

Tifa lost track of time while they were twined around one another, but eventually she recovered her senses enough to push Cloud away. "We still need groceries."

"We can go hungry for a while." He said, almost managing to sound completely rational and reasonable to Tifa's enflamed hormones, leaning in to kiss her neck enticingly before she pushed him back again.

"Clo-oud…" She groaned plaintively, and he gave a long suffering sigh, hanging his head, and giving her shoulder one last nip before he pulled back, running a hand back through his hair. Without him wrapped around her, Tifa felt suddenly cold as she slipped down off the kitchen counter, but she was smiling.

"Just…give me five minutes, all right?" He told her, turning away and heading for the bathroom.

"What, you have to fix your hair?" Tifa called after him teasingly, to which he reached up to check his spikey locks, then looked back over his shoulder to shoot her a glare.

"Make that ten minutes." She just giggled at his glare, and busied herself with checking the cupboards and making a mental list of everything they'd need to buy.

A/N: I wanted to make this longer, but it's been a few days now since I last updated and I didn't want to get out of the habit. So here you have it, enjoy! Review if it pleases you. ^^