A/N: I truly appreciate the reviews I recently received. Thank you so much! I thought this chapter needed to be a little longer, so I hope you'll enjoy it! ;P

Stuck in the Middle
The light from the morning sun pierced its way through the window, casting long shadows in the living room. The sunlight shined brightly upon the two sleeping adults. Cloud grunted and moved his hand up to his face, rubbing his eyes.

He didn't realize he was on the couch until he looked around and noticed the bartender was still asleep, with her head resting on his lap. Some of her long hair covered the side of her face. Cloud slightly moved it out of the way, revealing a beautiful woman. He could see her ivory skin looked so soft and smooth, that he wanted to caress Tifa's cheek with his fingertips.

"Tifa," he spoke delicately.

The bartender responded to Cloud's gentle voice as she rolled onto her back and slowly opened up her eyes. Her vision was a bit blurry. She blinked a few times, and she could now clearly see a familiar face, framed by golden spikes.

"Morning," Cloud said, his lips forming into a small grin.

"Good morning," Tifa yawned.

"Did you sleep well?"

"Yeah, I did." Tifa sat up and stretched out her arms and legs. "Better than ever, surprisingly. What about you?"

"I have a cramp in my neck, but I'm fine."

The bartender smiled as she ran her fingers through her hair. They both agreed on that they should take a shower, regarding the fact that they still had on the same clothes from yesterday. She headed up the stairs to her room, while Cloud remained seated.

He placed his hand down on the cushion of the couch where Tifa was sitting. He thought about what happened last night, the way she placed her hand on his chest and sending him a strong sensation with that one, simple touch. Cloud wanted to tell her how he felt when she was snuggled up next to him, but he didn't believe he had the courage to do so. He knew Tifa for so long now; he thought it would be a great time to confess. He finally decided to get up and walked his way upstairs.

After the swordsman took a shower and dried himself off, he slipped on a black tank top with matching colored cargo pants and decided to go to his room to plan out his routes for deliveries later this week. His desk was covered with so many paperwork and receipts from his previous deliveries. He wasn't much of an organizer, but he somehow managed to straighten things out.

Cloud tucked one hand into his hair as he took one hard look at the map of Kalm he recently printed out. He carefully checked to see which route he would have to travel on first. Just from looking at one route to the next, it made his eyes sore a bit. He rubbed them gently and his gaze was now on a picture of two young people standing outside of Seventh Heaven.

He realized it was a picture of him, standing next to Tifa. The blonde didn't know when exactly the picture was taken, but his instincts told him it was on the same day he came home to surprise Tifa. The bartender definitely looked surprised but mostly happy, with that bright smile she always wore on her face. Cloud looked the same as usual. He couldn't really tell if he was smiling or not, being such a shy person when it came to taking pictures, but whether he was smiling or not, he knew he was happy.

The swordsman quickly turned his head when there was a knock outside his door.

"Come in," he spoke clearly.

The door slowly opened and the brunette poked her head inside.

"Hey, I've made you some breakfast," she told Cloud. "You want some?"

"Sure," the blonde smiled slightly.

He followed Tifa downstairs and into the kitchen. The smell of pancakes and bacon immediately filled Cloud's nostrils. He always loved the fresh smell of his favorite food in the morning. The bartender kindly told Cloud that he could sit down at the table while she was preparing the food for him and herself.

Maybe this is the right time to tell her. The swordsman thought.

He didn't understand why all of these strange feelings started to occur inside his mind and body. He thought and he thought, but the spiky-blonde could not think of a possible answer.

"What would you like to drink?" Tifa asked, approaching the table with two plates.

"Milk, please," Cloud replied.

Tifa smiled and nodded as she walked her way to the refrigerator. She came back later with a glass of milk, along with a glass of orange juice for herself and carefully set them down on the table.

"Thanks," the swordsman said quietly as he cut his pancake into pieces before taking a bite.

"You're welcome," Tifa smiled.

The wolf ring she had on her right, ring finger shined brightly as if Cloud just gave it to her. Just seeing her wear it, made him feel good inside.

"I see you still have the ring I gave you," he said after he swallowed his food.

"Oh, this?" Tifa held up her hand. "I wear it everyday. I love it."

She began to eat her breakfast and she picked up a novel that was lying next to her juice on the table and began reading it.

Go on! Tell her how you feel. Cloud's conscious told him. The blonde cleared his throat loudly, trying to ignore it.

"Cloud, what's wrong?" Tifa quickly glanced up from her book.

"N-nothing," he lied. "I just have….something stuck in my throat."

He picked up his glass and brought it up to his lips, but he only took a small sip. He didn't want Tifa to know he was lying. The martial artist gave him a small smile and resumed back to reading.

C'mon, Cloud. It was his conscious again. Just look at her for a minute.

The swordsman slowly looked up at the brunette. She was completely glued to the romance novel. A gentle smile curved her lips as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

Cloud thought his conscious wasn't going to give him a break unless he told Tifa what was on his mind. Maybe if he continued to eat his breakfast, he'll probably forget, but then something was crawling on his foot. He placed his fork down and looked under the table. Tifa's barefoot was rubbing gently against his. He looked at the bartender to see if she knew what she was doing, but instead, her eyes were stuck on the pages of the novel, nibbling on her bottom lip.

"Uh….Tifa?" Cloud said.

"Hm?" the brunette didn't noticed him.

"Your foot is….."

Tifa lifted her head up, watching Cloud pointing his finger down at the floor. She looked underneath the table and realized what he was trying to tell her.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" she gasped, moving her left foot away from the swordsman's. "This book is really getting to me. I'm so sorry, Cloud. That wasn't like me at all. Um…..Are you done eating?"

"Yeah," Cloud ran his fingers through his hair.

Tifa was about to pick up the spiky-blonde's plate, but her hand ended up touching his hand when he picked up the plate so she wouldn't have to do it.

"I'm sorry," they both apologized simultaneously.

"I'll…..just go upstairs," Cloud said nervously.

"Okay," she said, feeling a little awkward.

Cloud pushed himself away from the table and headed upstairs. He walked down the hallway and went to the bathroom. He leaned over the sink and stared at his own reflection.

"C'mon, Cloud," he mumbled to himself. "You can do this."

He took a deep breath and went back downstairs. Tifa was washing dishes, so Cloud knew it was the perfect time to tell her.

"Tifa," he sounded more serious than he thought. "I need to tell you something."

But before the bartender could respond, someone knocked on the door.

Not again. Cloud thought.

"Hold that thought, okay?" Tifa told him.

She dried her hands with the dish towel and walked over to the door.

"Good morning, Reeve." From the moment she opened the door, the expression on Reeve's face instantly told her something wasn't good.

"Good morning," Reeve slightly nodded his head. "May I come in?"

The bartender allowed the man to come in and told him to sit down in the living room.

"What's going on?" Cloud later walked in.

"I hate to be the one to give out the bad news," the commissioner began, sitting down in the armchair. "As for the evidence, someone secretly placed a bomb near the construction site. We've lost at least ten members of WRO; others are still missing."

"What about Cid?" Cloud asked, sitting down on the couch, just a few inches from Tifa.

Reeve exhaled sharply. "And Cid…Shera called me and explained to me that the doctors said Cid had slipped into a coma around eleven o' clock last night."

"How did this happened?" the swordsman frowned slightly.

"One of the doctors examined Cid's head and the doctor believed he had probably gotten hit in the head by one of the debris that was flying around right after the explosion."

The blonde slowly shook his head.

"And…," the leader of WRO continued, finding it very difficult to explain more. "The doctor thinks there's a chance that Cid could die."

The bartender raised her hand up to her mouth, in total shock. Cloud stared blankly at Reeve. He could not believe what he had just heard. It was like living in a nightmare that could go on forever.

"I'm so sorry that you two had to hear this," Reeve said. "We're doing all we can for Cid."

Tifa slightly nodded, while the swordsman remained silent.

"Try to have a good day," Reeve told them. He got up and left.

There was complete silence. Cloud couldn't move a single muscle after what he just heard about his friend. Just having the thought about Cid in a coma made the swordsman clench his jaws.

"Cloud?" Tifa said, placing her hand on the blonde's arm. "Are you okay?"

Cloud turned his head towards Tifa, barely giving her a smile. He had a deep feeling that the bartender knew he wasn't okay. How can you be okay when you hear the news of a loved one in a tragic accident?

As Cloud studied the bartender's deep, brown eyes, he could see a little bit of fear, but he knew she wasn't going to let that get to her. She was too strong for that. Tifa slowly smiled at him.

Meanwhile at the hospital, Shera was sitting in the chair next to the hospital bed, holding her husband's hand. This wasn't how she wanted to see Cid. He had a couple of stitches on the left side of his forehead and another one merely above his right eyebrow. His right arm was in a cast, including his left leg.

Shera's tears came rushing down like a waterfall, as she sobbed onto Cid's shoulder. Not being able to hear his voice, the heart monitor beeping softly was the only thing that could comfort Mrs. Highwind.

"Cid," she whispered into his shirt. "You can't die. You just can't."

Resting her head on his shoulder, Shera slightly tilted her head and looked at Cid's wedding band on his ring finger, and then she looked at her silver ring. A small grin appeared on the woman's face as she remembered the day she married the pilot.

"Do you remember the day we got married?" she spoke softly to him, although she knew he couldn't hear her. "It was so wonderful. I want to relive that moment, Cid….Someday."

She lifted her head up so she could see her husband's face. Even though he was in a coma, it looked like he was in a deep and peaceful somber. Shera carefully leaned over and gave Cid a kiss on the cheek.

"I love you, Cid."

Back at Seventh Heaven, Tifa called Barret and informed him the news about Cid. She asked the leader of Avalanche to promise her that he would not tell the kids about it. He was extremely angry but he agreed to keep his promise.

After that, Tifa found Cloud in his room, looking out the window.

"I told Barret about the news," the bartender told him. "He wasn't happy about it at all."

"How are the kids?" Cloud slightly turned around.

"They're doing fine," Tifa answered, sitting down on the swordsman's bed. "I really hope Shera is doing okay with this. Cid doesn't deserve this….No one does."

There was a moment of silence.

"Oh, Cloud," Tifa glanced up quickly. "You said you needed to tell me something."

Cloud slowly turned all the way around to face the brunette. He kind of hoped she had forgotten what he needed to tell her. With one hand in his pocket, he started clenching it. The blonde desperately needed to tell her, but why was he hesitating now?"

"Cloud?" Tifa studied the warrior.

"Yeah?"

"What did you needed to tell me?"

"It's nothing….," Cloud said quietly. "I'm fine."

Tifa frowned slightly. "Are you sure? Something's on your mind, isn't it?"

"It's nothing, really." Cloud gave Tifa a weary smile when she walked up to him.

The Avalanche fighter could really tell something was on the blonde's mind. His bright, blue eyes explained it all. She was curious to know what was he thinking, but at the same time, she couldn't pressure Cloud into doing something he was uncomfortable with.

"Well, I'm pretty sure you need some time to yourself," Tifa said. "But you know, if you need to tell me something, you can always tell me, okay, Cloud? I'm here for you."

Cloud nodded and Tifa smiled as she walked out, closing the door behind her. He sat on the bed, burying his face in his hands. He felt so bad for not telling Tifa the truth. He thought he didn't deserve to have the bartender as his best friend. Maybe that was one of the reasons the swordsman hesitated to tell Tifa how he felt about her; he was afraid the truth would ruin their friendship. That wasn't all. Ever since the terrible news about Cid was revealed, Cloud knew it wasn't the right time to tell the bartender about his feelings; he felt as though it was worthless to tell her. The ex-Soldier didn't know which direction to go to. He was so caught up between two different things.

A/N: There's more to this story, so hold on! Remember, reviews are always welcomed. ;P