Chapter 25

Cloud

They were sitting in the kitchen in comfortable silence. Cloud was staring out of the window and Squall was reading a newspaper and finishing his supper. The outside world was turning dark as the first flurries of snow blew down the streets. Cloud was musing, finding himself looking back at the time they had been living together now. Officially they had lived only for a year but if you added up the time Cloud had spent there before the accident and getting together it was over two years by now. It hadn't been the rosiest path and at times tensions ran high but they managed it all somehow. Their working hours sometimes made their timetables collide but they tried to make up for the missing each other by trying to keep up the habit of eating at least once a day together.

Life was mostly comfortable, easy and they enjoyed the love between them. There were times when they fought, of course. More than once one of them had left the apartment, banging the doors shut on their way. But it was part of normal life, and neither of them was idiot enough to complain too much.

Sometimes Cloud wondered if this was in the end enough to keep Squall by his side. After some serious consideration they had decided to sell the delivery company and move out of the town after Cloud would get his diploma as a certified martial arts teacher. He had entered the school on a whim but it had turned out to be one of the turning points in his life. The wanted diploma in question was actually on his desk right at this moment. He had refused to go to the ceremony to accept the paper along with the few other people who had attended the course and had wiggled his ass out of it by simply flirting with the headmaster who ran the school. He had let him get the diploma without any fuss. This particular thing Cloud had left unsaid to Squall and friends; he wasn't much in for celebrating such a simple thing.

Cloud shot a sideway glance at his companion. Squall had earlier came home with unexpectedly short hair and it still made no sense to Cloud as to why Squall had cut it. The brown locks were his favourite play thing when he couldn't get sleep at night and Squall was so conveniently sleeping soundly next to him. But Cloud didn't complain. Squall was handsome no matter the length of his hair. Well, to Cloud Squall was the perfection materialized. The only exception in his life to whom for he would anything. He just hoped he had conveyed his feelings of love enough openly to Squall to know this.

There were few things gnawing at Clouds mind and he was unable to settle down before he had sorted them thru. One was that he would have to tell Squall that the likely buyer of their company had indeed sealed the deal earlier today and he and Squall only had to sign the papers and they would be free. Cloud was really bad at remembering to mention these crucial things sometimes and Squall had more than once lost his temper with him because of it. But it was the other matter in his mind that had made Cloud forgot the deal signing completely. He fidgeted on his chair and sighed enough loud to Squall hear him.

"What's the matter?" Squall asked quietly, monotonously, not even lifting his head from the paper he was reading. Cloud smiled lightly. Of course Squall would notice his discomfort even if he didn't show it. According to Squall Cloud was like an open book, easy to read from the simplest things. Cloud swallowed, steadying his breathing trying to focus and say things in the right order. His heart was hammering so loud he could almost hear it. This really was terribly bad, bad idea..

"We got the deal." Cloud managed to say after a moment of gathering his thoughts. "The deal is ready to be signed."

"What! When did you hear about this?" Squall exclaimed and blinked, the newspaper falling to the table and the brunet attached his eyes to Cloud who unwillingly flushed slightly. He felt embarrassed he had forgotten to tell this and Squall glaring at him didn't make it any easier.

"This morning…" Cloud mumbled.

"Oh for crying out loud, Cloud! I have told you a million times to let me know of these things at once." Squall ran his finger thru his shortened hair. It was the perfect length that hung over his face half way down and was short from the back. And it made Squall look younger than he was.

"I know. I'm sorry. I just…" Cloud's voice trailed off and he sat there staring at the table surface.

"You just forgot. Yeah. That's what you do, don't you. When it's something big. It just happens to slip from your mind." Squall grumbled and picked up his paper again, sulking. "Just give me the papers and I'll sign them so we can finally be free from it."

The silence spread over them again, slightly uneasy this time. Cloud stood up and picked up the plate Squall had emptied and walked to the sink. He stood there a while, his heart pounding mercilessly in his chest, evidently trying to cause him a cardiac arrest and kill him. He felt like choking. His whole body was tingling and his breath was caught up in his throat. He turned and eyed his friend. His lover. His partner. He knew he was being selfish sometimes but he wanted nothing more than to keep Squall right here, next to him. Cloud walked back to the table and slammed his fist on the table startling Squall and almost made him drop the paper again.

"What the hell Cloud?" Squall frowned at him.

Cloud said nothing but removed his open fist from the leather small box he had hid in his hand when he hit the table surface. Squall was staring at it silently, the paper in his hands slowly starting to fall to the floor as the grip of his fingers loosened.

Cloud flicked the lid of the box open with one move and pushed the item towards Squall.

"Marry me." Cloud said his voice trembling and low and he flushed. His heart was hammering so hard now he could hear it in his head. Squall was gaping at the golden ring resting in the box and still didn't say anything to Cloud.

"I know I'm being selfish here when I know you want to move off from Midgar and start over your working career." Cloud stared straight into Squalls eyes now. Squall had made that decision after Sora and Roxas had moved closer to Ventus and Axel was planning on selling his club too. "I know I'm a hindrance at the moment, with no prospects of a new job or anything and I can't stand the idea of losing you to someone if you go before I can leave here. So marry me. That way I'll have you with me always. Forever." Cloud was feeling rather stupid as he was just rambling and stuttering the words he had planned on saying but they seemed to come out somehow more pathetic than he had anticipated and Squall was looking like a fucking retard with his mouth slightly open and eyes wide. "Say something!" Cloud finally snapped his nerves tight as violin strings.

"Cloud.." Squall finally whispered getting on his feet and taking a hold of Clouds hand that had pushed the ring on the table. "I had no idea you thought I was going to move without you." Squall let Clouds hand go and picked up the box and took the ring out of it and handed it back to Cloud. Cloud felt his heart stopping. Was Squall saying no? Refusing to accept his proposal? Suddenly he felt cold and everything was hazy and unfocused, cold sweat making his shiver.

"You don't want to…" Cloud exhaled his words with a sinking feeling and stared down at the simple frame of the golden ring.

"No, you idiot." Squall smiled softly and took Clouds hand back to his. "You should be the one to put it on me, not me." Cloud felt the floor disappearing under him as the words sank to his mind. "I'm saying yes, you lovable, agonizingly slow moron." Squall had his left hand raised between them and with trembling fingers Cloud managed to slip the ring to its rightful place. He let out a soft whimper.

"I thought…" Cloud whispered with dry lips and looked up to his now soon to be husbands eyes.

"You thought I didn't want to? Stupid. Like I could leave you behind or not accept a proposal like that. Imagine that, a ring slammed to your face. Who could resist that?" Squall grinned but with no real mockery. Cloud laughed and wrapped his arms around Squalls shoulders.

"Yeah, well. But I'm your stupid idiot. Until the end of time." He leaned closer to Squalls face hovering just over the lips. He felt the laughter Squall let out as a breath of air more than he heard it.

"Yeah. Until the end." Squall closed the empty air still between their lips and sealed it with a soft kiss wrapping his arms around Clouds waist and pulling their bodies together.

A/N

So uncute it's adorable and jeez my teeth ache from the sweetness! Hope they aren't too ooc.. It's just that these two have grown to be like this in my head over the years.

I hope it's not too boring. I just like writing about their normal routines.