Hello everyone. Sorry for the long wait for this story. I hope you enjoy it. I also hope to update more frequently.

Thank you for the reviews on the last chapter: cloudstrifejen, PlayfulSylph, and MadameNoire. Also thank you to everyone else following this story.

Note**: I have shorten then story's title from 'Break Me From This Bond/Stay With Me' to simply 'Stay With Me'

Enjoy ^^

Stay With Me

Chapter 6: Dawn

Morning light poured through the uncovered bedroom window, showering the bed that laid near it in its light. The bed's occupant groaned discontentedly as the light reached his face, waking him instantly and causing a throbbing pain to begin coursing through his skull. He didn't open his eyes but instead pulled the covers over his head, blocking out most of the light, as he buried his face into his pillow groaning again in pure misery. Hangovers where the worst, Cloud thought to himself, as he began to wake and noticed the symptoms of his hangover one by one as they miserably appeared: the throbbing migraine, never had he gone without that, the cottonmouth seemed like a must, the feeling that he was dying of thirst and going to throw up his intestines all at once, that one was usually not so extreme, but must have meant he had more to drink than he usually did.

Oh he felt awful. Cloud groaned again as he reached over to reach the nightstand on the opposite side of the bed, that held what he desired most at the moment, his Chaser, but he was cut short when his hand came in contact with the warmth of another body in the bed with him. And he remembered one other symptom he dreaded even more than all the others: memory blanks.

His hand froze on the body before it as Cloud's mind when reeling, trying to recall yesterdays events. Which proved to be more difficult with his throbbing migraine, but he managed to get the highlights of the previous day: first was Aerith's funeral, next that creep had shown up, then…then they went to his apartment and…angel wings? Wow he really drank too much. There was no way some ass of an angel really showed up.

Still Cloud pushed on and tried to remember what happened after that, trying to see if some truth was in his memories, to at least figure out when he had started drinking and who the hell was in his bed.

Sadly all he could recall was going to Fool's Gold with the imaginary dick angel and then…nothing.

Cloud began to panic.

What the hell had happened?!

Apprehensively, Cloud took hold of a fist full of blankets and began to pull them away, closing his eyes, afraid of what he may find.

Please don't let it be someone completely revolting…

Cloud slowly opened his eyes and found that instead of someone completely abhorrent he found a handsome and beautiful man laying before him. He was laying there sleeping so peacefully that he found himself wondering if he really had found an angel.

Wait…angel?

Cloud's eyes widened as he pulls the covers further away to find…that they were both stark naked!

"Ahh!" Cloud cried, pushing so far away from the brunet that he fell off the bed. Quickly pulling the blankets after him and wrapping himself with them, looked around quickly for something to hit the man with. Finding a boot on the floor, unsure from first glace if it was his or the brunette's but not caring either way, grabbed it a threw it at the man.

Leon was slowly coming awake from the blonde's yell but was brought back much quicker when a boot came flying out of nowhere and smacked him hard on the head.

Pain scorched through his skull, "Ahh…Fuck!" pain…it definitely wasn't a pleasant thing to feel, Leon was starting to remember, with a good amount of clarity.

"You fucking prick! What the hell is the matter with you! You fucking asshole, I hope that hurt! What the fuck did you do to me last night!? You asshole!" Cloud found the adjacent boot and took that in his hand and chucked it after the other one having incredible aim and hitting the man for a second time. Feeling a little satisfied pleasure in that fact and from the groan the man admitted after it.

Though none of it could stop the sting in his eyes, signaling the tears that were coming.

"I fucking hate you…" Cloud pulled the covers around him protectively, hiding his face against them, and trembled endlessly.

Leon moved slowly moved into a sitting position on the bed. He could hear the muffled hicks and sniffles that Cloud emitted, through the weak defense of the blanket.

Carefully, The brunet touched the spot on his head that throbbed painfully. Yes…that would defiantly leave a nice bump later, he could tell already.

He looked to the blonde, huddled in a ball, seemingly weeping, and for a moment, he almost felt sorry for the boy. But he stopped himself from such thoughts, telling himself the blonde needed to learn this lesson. Drinking will just cause you more problems…like nights with people you don't remember and regret happening.

Leon closed his eyes and nodded to himself. Yes, he did well to teach the blonde this lesson but now he needed to move forward.

The brunet got up from his spot on the bed and moved to the blondes side, slowly, he touched his shoulder. Luckily moving away quickly enough to dodge the blonde's fist the tried to come in contact with his face.

"Fucking bastard…Get the fuck away from me!" Tears running down his face, but with a fierce look in his crystal eyes, he pushed the brunet back.

Leon faltered back but caught himself. The brunet looked back to the blond and only sighed. Then standing, he moved over to the bags in which held the clothing the blonde had purchased for him the day before and pulled out clothing, beginning to blonde watched from his place on the floor. Then when the brunet pulled on his boots and began to move from the room the blonde spoke up,

"Where are you going?"

The scarred brunet only looked to him, neutral expression coloring his face. "To make you something to eat and brew some coffee. We need to get you over your hangover."Cloud was taken aback from the offer the other male was making to cook and take care of him after…everything that had just happened. He couldn't muster anything more than a single word, "Why…?"

"Because how is letting you wither away going to help me get you back on your feet, and keep you alive?"

The wonder faded from the blond when the brunet's words hit him. "Right…" was the only response the male gave to the scarred males comment. Cloud looked away until Leon left the room. When he could no longer feel the others presence, he stood, gathered some clothes and slowly made his way to the bathroom, which was only a door away from his bedroom, to shower.

Coming out of the bathroom, lazily drying his hair, the blond made his way to the kitchen/dinning area of his apartment. He found the other male over by the stove, cooking something familiar smelling though he couldn't quite remember what. The smell also turned his stomach slightly, not that the smell was bad, but the very thought of food…well it just didn't agree with him at the moment.

The brunet turned from the stove with the pan in hand to seemingly dump its contents into the plate before them both. The brunet raised an eyebrow before he began doing so, the slight gesture must have been from the 'surprise' of finding the blond there. The blond only looked to the side, still very annoyed with the other male. "What?"

Cloud could see the other visible shrug as he dumped the food onto the plate. Cloud glanced to find it was simple scrambled eggs the brunet had made. The brutnet moved again to grab the toast that had just jumped from the toaster. Cloud watched as he buttered and placed the toast on the plate, turning once again to retrieve coffee from the pot nearby. Cloud was surprised it had seemed to foreign to him, though it had been a long time since he had had someone make breakfast for him. He hadn't had something like this since…since-"Mornin' Spikey." the raven haired man greeted him, pan in hand, smile on his face, and those sky blue eyes…were also smiling at him…with such love…

Love the blond would never know again.

Cloud covered his face with both hands. The brunet looked to him, simply looked at him. He could tell from the other position he was upset again. But what he couldn't understand was why.

He looked to the food he had prepared. It all seemed fine so what- …Perhaps it was another memory. Leon could feel faint recollection of feeling remorse from his past self remembering someone dear in the past. He could figure who or why but he knew he had felt that pain before. Though it was like a ghost to him now…as he himself was only a ghost of his past self. Of this very world.

He touched the blonde's shoulder. He jumped and looked to the brunet. Leon gave him an expressionless face and he pushed the coffee to him. "Drink the coffee. We have things to do today."

The brunet ruffled the blondes hair a good few times with the towel before he took it away and stalked away with it, down the hall.

"Like what…?" Cloud responded unenthusiastically, as he lifted the coffee mug to his lips, enjoying the warmth.

Leon returned a moment later, choosing then to respond for he didn't want to yell before. That took more effort than the brunet was willing to spend. "Your friend's called and wanted us to come out to lunch with them."

Cloud simply sipped his coffee then winced at the bitterness of it, for it appeared the brunet had left it black. He set the coffee aside and looked to the brunet with a somber expression, "One, Leon, there is no 'us'. And two I'm not going."

"One, Cloud. According to your friends there is an 'us'. And two it would be very rude of you to ignore your support system like that."

"One. That's your fucking fault and two! What the fuck do you mean by my 'support system' you fucking freak!"

"…I am referring to those you call friends."

"Then say 'friend' or 'friends'! God your fucking strange! And annoying! Go do something productive and hang yourself or something. Just get the hell out of my hair!"

"…"

When the brunet didn't retaliate to the outburst, guilt began to fill the blond. He cleared his throat. "Um…sorry. I...didn't mean…That was a little rude, sorry."

The brunet only sighed, "Look I already told them-""What?"

The brunet blinked, "What?"

"You answered my house phone?"

"No…I answered your cell phone."

Cloud hit his fist to the table in anger.

"You fucking arrogate bastard! Who the hell do you think you are going around touching other peoples things!? I was pissed enough last night when you touched that box! But my phone?! My phone?! My fucking cell phone!?"

"What the hells-a-matter with you?! It's a phone!" Cloud stood, hitting his hand down on the table again, "It's my phone! My phone!"

"Yeah I get its your phone! What I don't get is why you're freaking the fuck out about it!"

"Because it's mine you bastard! You had no right! No right!" Cloud turned to leave the room.

"Cloud-!"

"Fuck off!"

"Cloud!"The scarred brunet ran after him, catching him by the arm. Cloud whirled around, glaring daggers at him.

"Look…I only answered it because it kept vibrating over and over and over and it was driving me insane. I didn't mean to upset you, or step out of line."

Cloud only glared at him for a moment before sighing. "But why did you tell them we would go?"

"Because…I think it would be good for you to see your friends…"

The blonde scowled at the brunet, "What would you know about what's good for me?"

"I'm making it my business to know."

-oOo-

The blonde scowled at the brunet, "What would you know about what's good for me?"

"I'm making it my business to know."

Something about the way the other male had said that made cloud feel…strange and uncomfortable.

"Cloud are you ready yet?"

"O…one minute!" Cloud hurriedly finished gelling and hair spraying his hair. Quickly giving himself a once over he left the bathroom and headed down the hall. Cloud wasn't sure why he was trying to make sure he looked so good for his friends. It wasn't like him. He was always anal about his hair, that was a given, but never…everything else. So why…

All thoughts stopped when he came in into the kitchen and found the other man in a pair of snug fitting jeans, a tight white tank top, which was under his unzipped black jacket, leaning against the counter. His chestnut colored, stabled styled, long hair brushed his shoulders and shaped his face so beautifully. His face was so beautiful and those eyes.

Leon turned to him, those striking steal blue eyes met his and… Cloud started to realize it may not have been his friends he was working so hard to look good for.

"Are you ready to go?" The man asked him.

"Yeah." Cloud responded, looking away. Praying the warmth in his cheeks wasn't a visible blush.

"Then lets go." Leon took the spare keys to the apartment in one hand and took Cloud's hand in the other as he pulled them out the front door and into the morning light.