Alright! –rubs hands together and smirks– This is where everything gets decided… Will our favourite little blonde uke (really uke, especially in this chap) overcome his shyness, or will his "relationship" with Zack end here? Keep reading, there may be shmex! O_O Yup, you read well, I may, I just may write a sex scene! Or at least a really good break-up scene. Muahahahaha! –evil laugh to match the smirk– lol

Chapter 4 – Sweet Dreams

Cloud slowly awakened from his troubled sleep, and he soon became aware of a headache, and of the noise outside his room. It was a day off today, so of course the cadets were gonna party and have fun all day long… but Cloud wished they'd party and have fun elsewhere. He sighed and pressed his pillow over his ears to cover the noise. After a few minutes, he realized it was kind of pointless, and since he wouldn't be able to fall asleep again, he decided to get up. After shedding the clothes he hadn't taken off the night before, he put on some jogging pants and a t-shirt and set out to go for a morning run. As soon as he opened the door, though, a strong arm was slung around his neck and someone ruffled his hair playfully.

- "Man, I owe you respect!"

Cloud recognized Nelo's voice, and when the cadet let go of him, the blonde saw there were three other cadets around him, all wearing a big smile…

- "What's all that about?" the blonde asked, still a little sleepy and dazed.

- "Weeeell, it seems you made Reno melt…" Nelo answered with a smirk and a suggestive eyebrow move. "Damn, we owned this time!"

Cloud rolled his eyes and pushed him away. He really didn't understand that whole competition thing… and he didn't think it was such a good and marvellous thing that the Turk had hit on him.

- "Ah, come on, take it as a compliment, Strife!" another cadet said. "He picks only what's best, and it seems we in SOLDIER have what's best!"

The blonde felt like an animal in a circus… or a piece of meat thrown to a pack of hyenas. He was just about to dash out of the building when a strong voice called from the other end of the hallway.

- "Ay, cadets! Let breathe the poor thing breathe…"

Zack was heading for the showers and he shot them all a happy look.

- "I had to pick him off the bathroom floor this morning, go easy on him."

It was exactly as if nothing had happened, and that set Cloud off.

- "Excuse me" he said hurriedly as he pushed past Nelo and headed for the exit.

One of the guys called something out to him, but he didn't hear; he couldn't even say who it was. Once outside, he started running at pace which was a bit faster than he used to, his anger converted to pure energy. How dare Zack do as usual, as if he'd done nothing wrong? He didn't even look like he cared about what it had felt like to the cadet… Hmm so good, the blonde's body answered. No, it was totally wrong, totally inappropriate, his mind said. Why did you stop him? his body replied, annoyed. Well, um… shut up, I wasn't ready! his mind blurted out. Oh bullshit, sure you were, you little virgin ass!

Cloud sighed inwardly as he kept running though a little slower now, knowing his body was right. It had felt good, he had to be honest about it. But after the reaction he'd had, that gasp and running away, he really didn't know how to face his superior again. He knew he'd looked like a girly girl, weak and prude… Wow, everything was so complicated in love! Wait, love?... The word still had a funny sound to it, and it still didn't have a really clear definition… What did it imply exactly? Were there kinds of love, degrees, levels? Yeah, for sure there were, but how was Cloud supposed to make the difference, classify them?

He finally slowed to his usual jogging pace and tried to clear his mind… without much success. Ah well, maybe it was better that way. Maybe if he kept it always in his mind he'd find a solution, and man did he need to find one, fast. It would be impossible to live in this kind of tense and uneasy atmosphere for much longer.

xXxXxXxXxXx

Five days later…

- "Let's go, cadets! Faster! I know you can be much faster, much more impressive than that!"

Zack was applying the new training program that the first-class soldiers had decided on, and he wasn't going easy on his cadets. Sprints in the mud, obstacle courses, swimming across fast rivers, climbing the cliff near the complex, wrestling, sword fighting and practice at the shooting range. The whole thing. And of course, first-class soldier Zack Fair did every exercise with the trainees, with a little more ease… But there still was one very difficult obstacle in his path, during all that time: Cloud. He wouldn't speak to him at all and barely looked at him, and when he did, he either looked utterly embarrassed or totally pissed, depending on his mood. In the rare occasions that Zack spoke directly to him, stopping him in the hallway or something, the blonde would simply walk past him and grumble something incomprehensible, without even looking at him.

Zack was so angry at himself… He'd managed to make Cloud hate him. Great, way to go champion, he told himself each time he saw or thought about the blonde. He didn't know how he could make it up to him, if that was possible at all. It was really tough not to just burst out in front of everyone and scream at the blonde that he had overreacted- no, wait, that would be a really bad move. He'd scream he was sorry, then. Yeah, that would be better, but still… Cloud would probably simply drop out of SOLDIER if anything like that happened… Ah well, he had no choice but to keep quiet, wait and see what came out of this.

For his part, Cloud was devastated, demolished. He just wasn't able to make a single decision. He couldn't even be subtle and act as if there was nothing going on between him and his superior… It was torturing him… especially at night. He'd never really had suggestive dreams before. Alright, so they were wet dreams to be honest, but Cloud would never call them that. It was so frustrating… Those dreams, they weren't even that explicit, and each time, he would wake up with a hard-on, and once with wet bed sheets… Quite some time ago, in his teenage years, he had given in to a few self-pleasuring sessions, but now, if he tried, he could not concentrate on faceless people doing erotic things; he always ended up seeing Zack's face and, well, other parts. Masturbating while thinking about him was an absolutely inconceivable concept: it just felt too weird. So basically, he felt unfulfilled. It really was frustrating, both physically and mentally. Homesickness? Pfft, that was the last thing on his mind right now. He needed to do something about all of this, he just couldn't take it anymore.

xXxXxXxXxXx

The next night…

After yet another hard day of training, Cloud set out towards the showers to go wash himself up. He wasn't too tired or sore, surprisingly. His body was adapting to the soldier lifestyle at last. He turned on the hot water and closed his eyes, sighing with delight as the hot droplets poured down on him. A shower was a really simple thing, but oh did he enjoy it each and every time. He washed the mud from his face and hair first, then from the rest of his body. It had been pouring like crazy that day, but Zack had made it clear that soldiers didn't take days off because of a little rain… Cloud tried to shut off all thoughts of his mentor from his mind as he shampooed his hair, digging his fingers in his scalp a bit harder than usual…

Even if he was now stronger, faster and fitter than before, he thought he was such a sissy… No guts at all when he really needed to have some. Fighting? No problem, he was really good at it. Dealing with his emotions? Nada. Zero. Null. But he couldn't stay like this forever… He decided he had to do something about it. Tonight. He didn't know what yet, but he guessed he'd find out once confronted with the situation. He dried himself up, then slipped on a pair of jeans and a black t-shirt, quickly towel-drying his hair and sighing as he looked at himself in the mirror above the sink he was standing in front of. And all of a sudden, all the answers came to him: why he looked and felt so miserable, why he didn't think about home anymore, why he wanted to be held… why he wanted to be with the first-class soldier.

He loved Zack.

- "I love him…" Cloud whispered to himself, almost unbelieving.

Yeah, it had taken some time, but now he knew.

- "I love him, I… really… love him" he said a bit louder, as if to convince himself.

He quickly grabbed his things and hurried out of the bathroom to open the door of his dorm room and fling his dirty clothes and wet towel inside. Then, after making sure it was late enough so that nobody was in the hallways, he headed for Zack's apartments, repeating the same sentence over and over in his head… He quickly knocked four times on the man's door, heart pounding, and it took a while before the door opened to reveal a surprised -no- stunned Zack. They stared at each other for a moment, until the first-class let out a little "umm…" and gestured to Cloud to come in, which he did.

As soon as Zack closed and locked the door and turned around, the blonde wrapped his arms around his neck and pulled him roughly to his lips, pressing their bodies together and pushing his embarrassment to the back of his head, letting his body take over his mind for once. After the initial shock, Zack quickly recovered and gladly responded to the kiss, which quickly became as deep as they could make it, and he wrapped his arms as tightly as he could around the blonde's waist. He didn't know what had provoked this, completely changed Cloud's mind, but he surely wasn't going to stop what he was doing to ask… He wanted nothing more than to ram the cadet into the wall right now, but he'd learned his lesson, so he did the best he could to control himself. It was getting really difficult to control his bodily responses; with Cloud that close, that passionate and, most of all, in his apartments, it was impossible for his brain not to extrapolate and almost convince him that they would end up in his bed…

The blonde, for his part, felt his whole body escape his control gradually, and heat and blood rose to his cheeks. He knew he was blushing like crazy, and his mind was begging him to stop, run away and never come back, he wasn't ready for this, he was too shy, this was crazy, blah blah blah… But Cloud just didn't listen this time. And his body was more than happy about it… The two soldiers kept kissing for a long while, the strength and passion never waning, and their hands were starting to roam about, shyly, tentatively… And then Cloud had to say it; it was driving him mad, he had to let it out…

- "I love you" he hurriedly whispered through the kiss and his hard breathing.

Zack snapped right back to reality and, before he could stop himself, pushed Cloud back against the wall and grabbed the front of his shirt. The poor little blonde looked totally taken aback and was speechless, eyes wide open and lips half-parted, still breathing hard.

- "I don't want you saying that unless you mean it" the first-class said in a low voice, staring straight into the cadet's blue eyes.

He so wanted it to be true… but he didn't want to be in this relationship thinking Cloud loved him back if that wasn't the case. It took a moment before the blonde's brain processed the information, and then he looked at Zack with a little frown and an "I don't understand" look. He'd never lied to him, why would the man think it wasn't true?

- "W-well, of course I mean it" he said.

- "Swear it" Zack ordered, pulling him from the wall towards him.

- "I love you Zack" Cloud hurried to answer, in a little voice. "I'm sorry…"

- "What for?" the man asked, now smiling faintly.

- "… I guess… for making you wait, and… for realizing it only this late…" the blonde answered, returning a little, shy smile.

The older soldier let out a little laugh and they hugged, tightly, the both of them smiling for real now.

- "You have no idea how good that makes me feel…" Zack whispered.

- "Yeah, me too" Cloud sighed. "I'm sor-"

- "Forgiven."

- "I love you…"

- "I love you too."

The blonde never would've thought that just saying it could feel so good… They stayed like that for a moment, simply enjoying the other's closeness, Zack still a little unbelieving and Cloud trying to gather up enough courage to make his next move. When he finally did, he gently pushed the soldier back, then grabbed the bottom hem of the man's shirt and slowly lifted it up, staring at his hands and trying to keep them from trembling… with little success. Zack was even more unbelieving now, but he helped the blonde pull the shirt over his head and then let it drop on the floor.

Cloud's heart was beating fast and hard against his ribcage and he could feel his whole body warming up… It wasn't the first time he saw his mentor without a shirt, but now, in these circumstances, in this time and place, it was much different… He tentatively placed his hands on Zack's shoulders, gulping, and he slowly traced his way down the man's collarbones and chest, then his abs… and he jumped when Zack suddenly grabbed his wrists. He looked up anxiously, but the man was wearing a large grin.

- "That tickled…" he said.

Cloud stayed still for a moment, then let out a little laugh. Well, who would have thought that this guy was ticklish… Zack slowly pulled him closer, wrapping an arm around his waist and cupping the blonde's cheek with his free hand, brushing his thumb lightly against his lips. The cadet held on to the man's shoulders and gulped before saying:

- "I'm… uh, I don't, um-"

- "… think you're ready to take it far and/or all the way, you're worried you won't be good enough, you're still uncomfortable and unsure about what to do, blah, blah, etc… right?" Zack asked with a gentle voice and a little smile.

- "Right on…" the blonde mumbled, now evading the man's stare.

- "Hey, I've learned, ok?" the first-class soldier tried to reassure him. "I'll go slowly; I'll follow the pace you'll set."

Cloud's eyes went wide in an "offended virgin" kind of way, and the older man burst out laughing.

- "No, no! That's not what I meant! Aw, poor thing!"

He made the blonde rest his cheek on his chest and he held him close to reassure him.

- "I meant to say I'll respect the limits you'll set, ok?" he said in a soft and warm voice.

Cloud nodded his agreement and closed his eyes. It was all really stressing him out, but oh dear how he wanted this…

- "Wanna keep standing here?"

The blonde took a moment before faintly shaking his head no, and then Zack pulled back to take his hand, smiling, and lead him to his bedroom, at the far left corner of the apartment. He was barely containing his excitement… Cloud too, to be honest. Once in the bedroom, Zack closed the door, dimming the lights, and led the blonde to the bed, slowly but surely. He stopped at the edge of the bed and faced the younger soldier with a little smirk.

- "So… You take your shirt off or I take it off you?"

Cloud felt his cheeks become red once again as he avoided the man's eyes and started taking off his shirt, but Zack interrupted his move, his stare so intense it could've burned through the blonde's clothes.

- "In fact, I was wishing I would be the one taking it off…" he whispered huskily as he bent down to steal the cadet's lips, softly kissing him.

He felt the blonde shiver as he lifted his shirt, and did not resist the temptation to let the tip of his fingers brush against the cadet's ribs… They broke the kiss to let Zack pull the shirt over Cloud's still damp hair, but when Cloud approached to continue the kissing, the first-class placed a hand on his chest and looked at him with… a look… that reminded him of Reno's, yeah, like Reno's had been. Like the cadets looking at their girl of the night. Lustful and full of implications. But this time, it didn't freak him.

- "You're… so hot…" the man nearly moaned, looking up and down at Cloud.

The young soldier felt his insides boil at being looked at like this and he knew he'd lose control over his body soon… it was already slipping. Then Zack bent towards him again, but instead of kissing his lips, he gently kissed his cheek, then slowly left a trail of butterfly kisses on the way to his ear, which made Cloud inhale sharply and then bite his lip to keep himself from gasping.

- "Don't be embarrassed if you make noise" the dark-haired man whispered before running his tongue along the shell of Cloud's ear, which earned him a strong shiver and a loud gasp. "It really turns me on…"

By then, the blonde was holding on to the man's shoulders tightly for fear his knees would give out, and his untouched body reacted strongly to every move Zack made. The man was now kissing his way down his neck, using lips and tongue to tease the blonde's sensitive skin. After a moment, Cloud felt another kind of sound at the back of his throat, and he fought hard not to let it out. Finally, there was a surge of boldness inside him and he began unbuckled Zack's belt and undid the button on his pants, then he unzipped those and let them fall to the floor. He tentatively placed his hands on the soldier's hips, and the touch made Zack shiver. He couldn't believe this was happening, finally. He stopped kissing the blonde's neck and stared straight into Cloud's eyes… No mistake possible: the look on that face was pure lust… oh, and a little shyness too…

- "I'm not… forcing you to do anything, you know?" he told the cadet in a warm voice.

He nearly died of a heart attack when Cloud took his hands off him to take off his own pants, then step out of them and out of his shoes and socks, those blue eyes never leaving his.

- "I know" Cloud whispered with a little smile.

Zack smiled back, stepped out of his pants, shoes and socks too and then they embraced each other again, pressing their bodies together as they kissed. No more control over bodily functions at this stage… They both could feel the other's member hardening through the thin fabric of their underwear. After a moment, Zack pulled away gently and turned, with Cloud still in his arms, to push the blonde slowly onto the mattress. The cadet felt a wave of heat wash over him as he lied down on the bed, head on a pillow, sustaining his lover's stare. Yeah, he was a bit uneasy and embarrassed, but the sensations Zack made him feel compensated largely, and he knew that he could trust the man to stop if he was asked to.

The older soldier crawled over him to the other side of the bed, where he lied down on his side and propped himself up on an elbow, his body flush against Cloud's. Then he started caressing the blonde's cheek, a reassuring smile on his face, and when he thought his young lover was more comfortable, he let his hand wander down, trailing down the blonde's throat, tracing his collarbones, then exploring his chest and abs, feasting his eyes on the cadet's body as he did so.

- "The SOLDIER training did you a lot of good" he whispered with a little smile.

- "Yeah…" Cloud answered in a shivering murmur. "Um, to you too…"

Zack's smile widened and he bent down to place a soft kiss on the blonde's lips.

- "I love you…" he whispered huskily.

Cloud would have answered, but Zack had slid his hand down over his boxers so it was now resting against his clothed erection. And the sound trapped in the back of his throat finally escaped. A moan. He had just moaned. He jerked his head sideways to clamp his mouth shut with a hand, his cheeks burning… as did the rest of his body.

- "Hey, stop that…" Zack said, in a gentle voice and with a smile, taking Cloud's hand away from his mouth. "You don't have to be ashamed of those sounds. I'd kill to hear you moan like that again…"

The blonde bit his lower lip as he shifted his eyes away from Zack's, but it was impossible not to make a sound as the man's hand slowly caressed the bulge in his boxers. Oh heavens did it feel good… He let the man do that for a moment, until he thought he was gonna burst and he grabbed the soldier's wrist gently. He gulped but gathered up the courage to turn and lie on his side and gently push Zack so he was the one lying on his back. He readily started caressing the man's chest, curiosity and need taking over, and he saw the man's face twitch slightly when he brushed over a certain spot on his abdomen. He ran his finger over it again and this time the response was stronger. There was a short but sharp intake of breath, and the blonde smiled a little.

- "I think you're holding back some sounds too…" he whispered.

Zack let out a little laugh and the cadet bent down his head a little, feeling yet another surge of boldness and gently biting his chest. The first-class gasped at the unexpectedness and pleasure, and he buried his hands in the blonde's hair. Cloud repeated what he'd done a few times, then decided to take care of that little nerve twitching on the side of Zack's neck, which earned him a few loud moans. It was so easy… and now he understood how arousing those kinds of sounds were. He then started his ministrations all over again to the other side of his neck the first-class's neck as he explored Zack's upper body with a hand.

The older man felt the blood rush to this one part of his body, and he couldn't help but think the young blonde was a natural. Every move he made felt really pleasurable and sent shivers up and down his spine. It had been quite a while since he had last had this kind of contact with someone, and he'd almost forgotten how much more fulfilling and delightful it was than when he was alone with himself. After a moment, he stopped Cloud and had him lie back down on his side, and he did the same so they'd face each other. He knew that the blonde knew what the next step was… and he saw a little uneasiness in his eyes…

Nonetheless, he slowly placed a hand on the blonde's hip and hooked his thumb inside his boxers, then pulled them down, unhurriedly, leaving the cadet plenty of time to stop him if he wanted to. But he didn't seem to want that, and he even lifted his hips a little from the mattress to help Zack. The blonde moaned when his trapped and aching erection was finally freed, and the older soldier pushed the cadet's boxers as far down as he could. Cloud was resting his cheek on his arm and holding on to the sheets with a hand, staring straight at his lover, and he cursed himself for being so shy; if he hadn't been, this would have happened a lot earlier.

It felt quite weird, being stared at like Zack was doing, especially since he'd never been naked in front of anyone before, but he knew he would do the same in a moment… The first-class soldier smiled widely at him all of a sudden and Cloud shot him an intrigued look.

- "Come on, I know you wanna undress me too…" Zack moaned with a suggestive move of eyebrows.

The blonde felt himself blush again, intensely, but he gulped and released the sheets, bringing his hand towards the man's tight and short boxers, but Zack gently took hold of that hand, brought it to his lips and kissed the blonde's fingers softly, with a tender smile.

- "Just kidding, I'm sorry… couldn't help it."

The blonde nodded faintly, and to the older soldier's surprise, he took his hand away and did undress him. Alright, the poor thing's hand was shaking and his blush was visible even in the dim lighting, but he undressed him. Zack helped Cloud in his task, taking his underwear completely off with the help of his feet, and he couldn't help but smile when he saw the blonde's stare wander shyly down there… he slipped an arm underneath the cadet's neck and got even closer, pressing his lips against his, and then brought their two scorching hot and already sweaty bodies into contact, which made Cloud gasp instantly. The older man caressed the young blonde's back and continued gently kissing him for a moment, until Cloud grabbed his shoulder and looked at him with both the sexiest and the cutest look ever, lips half-parted.

- "Do something…" he half-whispered, half-moaned. "I… I've been frustrated long enough."

Wow, thought Zack, who is this guy? Where was the shy cadet who'd never speak openly about anything, even to a close friend? Now it was more like the cadet when fighting: confident and bold… Well, he wouldn't complain. He was probably the only one to ever see this side of the blonde.

- "Yeah, me too" he replied in a low voice which made Cloud shiver. "You won't need to tell me twice…"

He let his hand trail down from the blonde's cheek to his throat, then down his chest and abs, after that taking some time to trace his well-defined hips before finally reaching its destination. Cloud gasped and closed his eyes when he finally felt the touch and he held on a little tighter to Zack's shoulder. Even before the dark-haired man began to move his hand, which was wrapped around both their arousals (though his hand was barely large enough to effectively do that), the cadet was already sweating and it felt to him as if his body had caught fire… And when that hand did start to move… oh… Those really were the best sensations he'd ever felt… and both his mind and body agreed on that. Pure bliss.

Zack, for his part, felt pretty much the same. He'd already experienced "all-the-way" sex, and that had been the greatest physical experience to him, but right now, simply seeing and hearing Cloud's responses were more than enough to compensate. This blonde was by far the sexiest person he'd ever seen… and he was especially sexy right now, with half-parted lips and closed eyes.

After a little while, Zack stopped all of a sudden and the blonde opened his eyes to shoot him a resentful look which made him look absolutely vulnerable in the older soldier's opinion. But there were no words necessary for the explanation, because Zack took the cadet's hand which was still on his shoulder and brought it down with his. Cloud felt a wave of heat travel through his body as he realized what this implied, and he gulped, but didn't resist. And he couldn't help but watch, as the older man had him close his hand around their arousals… He would never have guessed he had this little voyeuristic side in him, but he found it was a little plus to look.

He was panting and breathing hard, feeling his entire being burn from the inside out as his hand started pumping his and his lover's erections, Zack guiding his movements. The blonde really was quickly growing addicted to the dark-haired man's low moans… For the two lovers, this short moment lasted an eternity and still wasn't long enough… They both knew they were just on the edge now. Cloud lifted his eyes to look straight into Zack's clear royal blue ones…

- "I love you… Zack…" he said in a little almost whimpering voice between gulps of air.

- "Me too" the man answered in a low moaning voice.

Then Zack closed the distance between them and pressed his lips to the blonde's, and it didn't take long before their kissing became just like the movements of their hands: wild, fast, erratic, desperate… but oh so good… After a short moment, Cloud's breathing accelerated even more and soon after he let out a stifled whimper as his whole body tensed up and he felt a seemingly white-hot liquid escape his arousal. The waves of heat and pleasure were so intense, the blonde's head was spinning and no coherent thought was going through his brain. A few seconds after he came, Zack moaned loudly against the younger man's lips and came too, his muscles tensing up and his hand slowing down, making the blonde's hand slow down too. They were still for a moment, except for their heaving chests and still slightly spasming bodies… then Cloud let out a little laugh, eyes still closed and his breathing still a little difficult.

- "What?" Zack asked with a little smile and in a sweet voice, opening his eyes to look at the cadet.

- "I've been really stupid…" the blonde answered in a low voice and with a faint smile. "If… if I had known it would be like this, it wouldn't have taken me so long to make up my mind."

He opened his eyes to smile at Zack, who smiled back and kept looking at him. The blonde looked simply radiant, with his sincere smile, shining eyes and messy hair. He'd never looked more beautiful than now, in his after-sex glow… After a little while, Zack reached back to grab a few tissues and then proceeded to wiping his and Cloud's hand, and the rest of their bodies, and he saw that now that he was back down to earth, the cadet's shyness kicked back in.

- "It's a little messy…" Cloud said with a little, nervous laugh as he watched Zack throw away the tissues.

- "Sex is always like that" Zack told him with a smile as he caressed the blonde's naturally spiky hair. "But… I prefer when it's dirty."

The blonde's eyes went wide for a moment, but then he smiled and rolled his eyes.

- "Lame wordplay, Fair-san."

He was a little surprised that the nickname didn't bother the older soldier, but anyway, it wasn't really important. He propped himself up on an elbow and caressed Zack's cheek as they kept smiling at each other, and then he buried his hand in the dark hair. He'd been surprised, the first time he'd seen Zack, to see someone else with hair as unruly and spiky as his was. No gel, no sticky hair stuff. A little towel-drying was all that was needed. After a moment, he bent down and gently kissed the older man, who gladly responded. Then Cloud slowly had Zack lie down on his back and then he rested his cheek and a hand on the soldier's chest, and wrapped a leg around his, getting himself comfortable. Zack wrapped an arm around the blonde's waist and kept stroking Cloud's hair, smiling to himself… as did the cadet. After a little moment, the younger soldier sighed and his smile became a little sour…

- "I can't stay here for the night…"

Zack's smile faded and he held on to Cloud a little tighter. He'd forgotten about that part… They could never fall asleep together, it would be way too suspicious. Well, maybe, just maybe, there'd be a way… later on… He'd keep his mouth shut until he was really sure though, just in case. After a moment, the two men pushed the thought of that "bad side" to the back of their minds and enjoyed each other's presence for a good while.

Cloud really had the feeling that he was a little kitty, cuddling and curled up against his master. The word "master" didn't sound right, it screeched like nails on a board, but there probably wasn't a better word to… to describe how Cloud felt about his lover. Zack could make him do anything, with a word, or a glance, and not mainly due to the man being his superior… He loved him, he really, profoundly loved him, with all his being, for all he was worth. Maybe an hour later, Zack kissed the top of Cloud's head and caressed his cheek gently, speaking to him in a soft, warm voice.

- "Hey sweet thing, it's getting late…"

But there was no answer, so the older man carefully shifted to get away a little and look at the blonde… and then saw that the cadet had fallen asleep. He couldn't suppress a little laugh, and he kept caressing his cheek as he tried to wake him up.

- "Cloud… Cloud… Hey hun, wake up, it's late…"

Finally, the young man slowly opened his eyes, blinking and looking a bit dazed. Morning-confused look, as Zack called it. He laughed again and kissed the blonde's cheek.

- "You must've been really comfortable…" the older soldier teased.

Cloud closed his eyes and smiled in contentment, nodding his approval. After a while, he sat up slowly, then stood up to grab and put on his boxers and look at his lover with a really sweet look. Zack really couldn't believe it; before, a smile was a rare thing coming from the blonde… and now he was smiling, laughing, making jokes, cuddling… It couldn't get any better than this, and the older soldier couldn't resist. He got up too and walked up to the blonde, getting him into a close hug as he sighed and closed his eyes, smiling.

- "I really love you" he heard Cloud whisper.

- "I love you too" Zack readily whispered back.

They held on to each other for a moment and then the older soldier let go of the cadet so he could get dressed. After that was done, the dark-haired man led the blonde to the door to his apartments and, before the door was opened, Cloud wrapped his arms around Zack's neck and softly kissed him, nearly moaning when he felt Zack's naked body press against his, which was still sensitive… When they parted, they smiled at each other, and then Cloud said in a low voice:

- "Well, um… have a good night."

- "I sure will" Zack answered with a huge winning grin, making the blonde roll his eyes. "You too."

They shortly kissed again and he opened the door a little, peeping in the hallway to see if there was anyone, and after being sure the path was clear, he let Cloud out, winking at him. The blonde reached his bedroom without any trouble, and he undressed down to his underwear before slipping underneath the sheets, smiling widely and giggling like a schoolgirl. Ok, so now he knew what effect an orgasm had on him: mushy brain. Blonde brain… but happy blonde brain. He quickly fell asleep, exhausted but finally fulfilled and with a sweet smile on his lips.

In the meantime, Zack was lying on his back, hands behind his head, legs bent and crossed, and he couldn't help but smile. His satisfaction was great; not only had Cloud made some moves by his own free will, and they'd actually gotten some sexual gratification, but Zack had also heard what he had been burning with desire to hear for so long… The blonde had told him he loved him, and he had looked sincere. It didn't take much for the older soldier to be happy, so with the events of that night, he was more than delighted. If Cloud overcame his shyness just a bit more next time… Zack had to stop thinking about it to keep himself from nose bleeding. Damn, what would it be if it actually happened? He'd die of blood loss for sure.

WEEEE! SEEEEEX! lol Cloud is soooo uke… But only Zack can make him show that part of him. Lucky bastard. XD Hope you liked! I love uke Cloud, at any rate. Anyway. See? You were rewarded for waiting this long! I'll try keeping a semblance of a story in there through the shmex scenes so you still have content to read lol XD Reviews plz as always my dearies!