Disclaimer: I do not now or before and most likely not in the future, own Final Fantasy, Square Enix or any of the characters.

Reviews, critiques and flames are welcome. I absolutely love all reviews about the story as it gives me motivation, I use good constructive criticism to help my writing improve and I feed the flames to the fires of my imagination.

Guest reviews: (Thanks for taking time to review!)

1.) I just couldn't have a story without Zack, he is just to awesome to not have in the story!

2.) Heartbroken is one way to put it. I can only imagine what it would feel like to be in that situation. Hopefully I never know what it's like and for those of you who do know what it's like, all I can say is sorry that you know first hand.

Please don't forget to let me know what you think of the chapter! Thank you!

Thanks to my before posting beta Queen of Jokers and my after posting beta SubZeroChimera!

"Never waste your time trying to explain who you are to people who are committed to misunderstanding you." -Unknown

Chapter 32

The red-headed Turk in the alley watching the apartment fell over into the wall beside him. He couldn't believe his eyes, he was at his funeral; he carried his dead body to the helicopter, he saw with his own eyes as Zack was placed in the cremation chamber. Hojo had to have fixed it so that he could steal his body, but how? How was Hojo able to bypass the Turks, more specifically, the top Turks that were in the room with the body?

Reaching in his pocket for his phone, he dropped it from his panicked fingers. Picking it up he fumbled though the numbers and was finally able to dial the number, "...Tseng, you ain't gonna believe this."

Tifa had fallen asleep and Alana had gone to bed but Zack finished the story, leaving out the part about him going to the house. Right now he just wanted to enjoy the company of his friends.

Sephiroth got up, "I'll be right back."

Zack looked at Cloud and when Sephiroth closed the bathroom door. Leaning toward him, the brunet whispered, "Do you know what is going on with Aerith and Sephiroth?"

Cloud choked on the swig of beer he had just taken, "Uh, yeah," Zack lowered his eyes and Cloud continued, "He doesn't know that you two were together," Cloud leaned forward, "She asked me not to say anything to him."

"What is their… I mean… Are they…?"

"Aerith's mother died a few years ago," Cloud fidgeted and he accidentally knocked over an empty bottle on to the floor, "They're living together, for about 6 months now, Zack I'm sorry. I don't know what to say. You know if he had known, he would have never-"

Zack got up and rubbed his head, "Does she know what happened to me?"

"No, I'm afraid to say anything," Cloud stood up and put his hand on Zack's shoulder.

Zack's sadness showed in his eyes as he asked Cloud, "Is she happy?"

Clearing his throat, the blond quietly said, "Yes."

Downing the rest of his beer, Zack said as he gazed at the empty bottle, feeling just like it, empty, he sighed, "Don't tell her about me. If she's happy, that's all that matters."

Coming out of the bathroom, Sephiroth asked, "What's going on?" A quick nervous look bounced between his two friends, palpable tension filled the room.

"Uh, nothing," Zack cleared his throat and changed the subject, "So Cloud… you have a girlfriend, what was her name again?" Zack's voice cracked a little.

Cloud went back to his seat and he ignored the brunet's question, "Listen Zack, we have the extra room, I would love it if you stayed here."

Faking a smile, Zack rubbed his head again, "That sounds great."

Sephiroth began picking up some empty bottles and taking them to the trash and beamed, "I would love for you to meet my girlfriend too. She is fabulous, beautiful, kind and caring."

"Yeah, that sounds great Seph. Listen I'm gonna hit the sack. I'll see you guys tomorrow," With a goodnight pat on each of their backs, Zack went into the bedroom and quietly closed the door.

Sephiroth got a puzzled look on his face and with concern covering his normally calm voice, he asked "What happened while I was in the bathroom?" Sephiroth pulled Cloud's arm and didn't let go of his arm right away. His silent interrogation scanned Cloud's facial expression.

Cloud pulled away from him, "Just having a memory about the lab," Cloud said as he took Tifa's shoes off and put her feet up on the couch and covered her up, "You gonna be okay walking home, it's really late?" Sephiroth seemed to relax a bit and when he opened the door the sun was already breaking the night with soft streams of light from between the plates.

With a smile, he said, "Yes, I think I will be okay, I need to get ready for work anyway. See you in a couple of days?"

With a nod and a smile, Cloud said, "Yeah," Speaking before he knew what he was saying, he called, "Hey, Seph?" Stopping and turning, Sephiroth raised an eyebrow, his universal way of answering, Cloud continued as he stepped closer to his friend, "Maybe you should keep Zack being alive to yourself for a while." Putting his hands nervously in his pockets, Cloud said the first thing that came to mind, "The uh… the less she knows about the three of us and Hojo, the better she'll be in the long run. Don't you agree?"

Patting him on the back, Sephiroth gave a rare smile, "Good point. I don't want her in any danger, so we can keep it between us, for now."

As the blond watched him close the door, he looked toward the room where Zack was staying. With a nervous whisper, Cloud sighed, "This is not good." Heading to his room and changing into his pajama pants, he crawled into bed. He wondered if Sephiroth ever talked about them with Aerith. If he did, surely he would have mentioned Zack. Maybe he had, but Aerith didn't pay it any mind, she knew that they'd worked together before. Sleepily, Alana rolled over and put her arm across his chest. Lightly rubbing her arm, he took a deep breath.

Zack was back, just when he was getting used to the thought of Zack being gone forever, the world got turned upside down again. As tempted as Cloud to go crawl in bed next to his friend, just so he could be near him again, maybe he would sleep better with Zack closer, but he quickly squashed that idea down. As much as he cared for his friend, he needed time to process all the new information.

When he had first found out the Sephiroth and Aerith were dating, he just about turned inside out and over the last few months, it had become something that was just there, something that belonged, like a peanut butter sandwich made better with a little jelly.

Rolling over to his other side facing away from Alana, he closed his eyes and tried to get some sleep.

A week after Zack returned, Cloud asked that Zack stay at his and Alana's place, paying part of the rent, freeing up more money for them to finally leave Midgar.

Tifa got Zack a job at a store just around the corner from the bar and it entailed stocking shelves and all the heavy lifting. He only worked for three days of the week at the store, and the rest of the time he helped out at the bar. He didn't make much money but he just didn't like being alone.

It was the plan of leaving and starting families, starting their own business that had sustained them and helped them to hold on to hope while they were in the lab. Zack thought he would contribute financially; after all, he was always the man with the plan. The nervousness of the fact that he was running out of excuses to not meet Sephiroth's girlfriend and getting away, with or without his friends, sounded like the best idea.

They all got together regularly at Cloud's once a week for the last three weeks and thankfully Sephiroth didn't bring Aerith. When they planned another get together, Tifa had to stay at the bar because of a private party. Cloud had inquired about it, but she said they met every so often and they were meeting that night. So that night, it was just Cloud, Alana, Zack and Sephiroth.

Deciding to let loose and play a drinking game, Alana just sat back and was trying to not be obvious while laughing at them.

Cloud was losing miserably and Sephiroth wasn't much better, he was at least as drunk as the blond. The oldest of the three didn't consider how Cloud could portray his feelings to him seemingly without knowing.

Unfortunately Cloud was starting to get mad at everyone laughing at his every attempt to speak clearly, that was until he fell out of his chair. Zack grabbed his sides and laughed as Cloud tried to get back up in his chair. Stomping the floor, Zack couldn't stop laughing and the blond slurred a loud proclamation from under the table, "Shhhut the hell up dick head!"

Sephiroth was able to stop laughing barely long enough to hold out his hand to help Cloud up. Being a little less drunk than his friends, Zack could see it coming, but the laughter took over, keeping him from saying anything. When Cloud pulled on Sephiroth's hand to get up, the large silver-haired man lost his precarious balance on his chair, landing on Cloud, splaying the blond out on the floor underneath the heavier man.

Crushing Cloud, the former General was laughing so much, he couldn't roll over. In exasperated panic, Cloud started kicking his feet trying get out from under him as he howled, "Git the hhhell offf!" Cloud stopped kicking and started laughing when Sephiroth let out a hilarious snort as he laughed. Of course that caused Sephiroth to start his own new round of breathless chuckling. Eventually Cloud was able to crawl out from under the hysterical silver-haired man.

With a playful punch to the arm, Cloud garbled, "Doon't hhelp me anymore!"

Zack lost it and nearly fell from his own chair, but he held on to the table. His fit of heavy giggles reached a peak when Zack had to run to the bathroom before he peed himself. Once Cloud punched Sephiroth in the shoulder again, it then became a contest. Sephiroth punched Cloud in his shoulder, "Owww!" While they lay on the floor, they punched each other in the shoulders in turn.

Coming out of the bathroom Zack yelled, "I wanna play too!" Pulling Cloud up and patting his own shoulder, the brunette garbled out, "'kay Cloud hhit me!"

The tip of Cloud's tongue poked out from between his lips in deep concentration, pausing to get his target in his sights. Pulling his fist back, the blond let it fly and… to his surprise, he missed and went down to the floor with a loud thump, "Ahh, shhhit!"

Alana got up, "Okay you guys I'm leaving. Have fun and please don't break anything."

Still lying on the floor, Cloud gestured to her, "Hey! 'lana… C'mere." With a sigh, she walked over and he tried to whisper, but it came out much louder, "Diid yooou know that I'm oon the floor!" Bursting into laughter, he laid his head back on the floor while he grabbed his sides in tickled amusement at his statement of the obvious.

Alana patted his head and calmly said with a smile, "Good night Cloud."

Getting himself under a bit of control he said in a mockingly sad tone, "Awww… Does this mean I ain't gettin' any tonight?" He busted into another fit of loud amusement, leaving Zack in boneless laughter and let go of Sephiroth who he'd been helping off the floor.

Sephiroth fell to the floor again and rolled in hilarious cackling and squeezing out between snorts, "Oww Shit!"

"Good night boys," Alana went into the room and closed the door.

Zack put his finger to his lips, "Shhh, Clooud I think yoou're in trouble now."

Cloud waved his hand in Zack's direction, his tone momentarily angry, "I doon't give a fuck!" With a lot of effort, he rolled over on his side and attempted to sit up. Now with all the animosity gone from his demeanor as quickly as it'd appeared, a smile slinked across his face and sloppily got out, "She doon't stay mad at me fer long… If yooou know what I'm meaanin'!" He tried to wink with one eye, but it ended up being both eyes. Sephiroth snickered sloppily at Cloud.

Zack went over to try to help Cloud up, "Yoou're lucky Spiky, shhe's gorgeous."

From the floor, Sephiroth held his hand up in the air, "I thiink I'm gonna hafta stay here. If I go hhome like this, Aerrif-th will make me sleep out in the garden."

Zack's facial expression changed and he tried not to get angry, but it upset him enough that he instantly sobered a little. How could this happen? He should be with his childhood sweetheart. All those nights in the lab that he stayed strong for Cloud and Sephiroth, Aerith was what kept him strong. What was he supposed to do now? His courage was waning because the source of his stability was no longer his to have.

"No prob! Pull yer'self up ssome couch!" Cloud gestured to the couch with a large wave of his arm and in the process of his grand wave of acceptance, he smacked his hand into the table leg, "Ouch!" Sephiroth rolled over to the couch and slowly pulled himself on to the couch.

"Hey, guys I'mm gonna turn in," Zack held Cloud up right.

"Me too!" Cloud held his hands up to his mouth to amplify his voice toward his bedroom door, "Heere I come!" Bursting into howling laughter and he went back to the floor. With a shrug he decided to crawl the rest of the way. He reached up for the door knob and noticed that he was locked out. Cloud turned around to his buddies and laughed, "Ooops!" Then he whispered to Zack and Sephiroth, "Waatch thiss."

Quieting their amusement, both of them watched as Cloud set his sights on getting into his bedroom.

"Aww come onn! Open up!" He caressed the door with his fingertips like it was Alana's soft skin, "I'm jus' gonna keep knockin' til you open up the door," Knocking softly over and over, and true to his word, he didn't stop until Alana opened the door and looked down at him sitting on the floor. He looked up at her and smiled his best smile.

She crossed her arms and sighed loudly, "Fine, get in here." She turned around and went back into the bedroom.

Cloud turned around to his friends, "Toold ya!" He winked at them again, with both eyes, and then continued to crawl through the doorway, shutting the door with his foot.

Sephiroth eventually stretched out on the couch and promptly passed out. Zack got an extra blanket and covered him up and went into his room.

Laying down on his bed, with his hands behind his head, he thought of how much he missed Aerith. He wanted her back. However, he couldn't be sure that she would choose him over Sephiroth. According to Cloud, she said that it had broken her heart when he'd disappeared.

Suddenly feeling the walls closing in on him, he had to get out of there, needed to get some fresh air. Quietly he pulled the door open, Sephiroth was snoring and he heard Cloud and Alana talking loudly. Quickening his pace, he got out the front door, just picked a direction and walked.

Cloud crawled his way over to the bed and Alana got him up to the side of the bed. She got his boots off, while he lay back on the bed, looking up at the ceiling. Unbuttoning his pants, she tried to wiggle him out of them, but he smiled at her and offered, "Heey there, let me help ya out!" Lifting his butt off the bed, she got his pants the rest of the way off. However, when she leaned over and grabbed his arms to pull him up, he fought back and pulled her down, trying to kiss her. As she dodged him, he tried again and then asked, "Whaat? You doon't like me noo more?" A fake frown covered his face as he reached up to her again.

"I am trying to get you into bed, now stop it," She sat him up and took his shirt off and he lay back down on the bed. He reached down to take his boxers off and she grabbed his hands and looked at him, "No Cloud. I'm not doing this tonight."

Rolling away from her, he mumbled angrily, "Fiine I didn't wanna any'way."

Talking under her breath she muttered, "This is getting ridiculous, I don't know how much more of this I can take." She huffed over to the other side of the bed.

He was still slurring badly but she understood every word, "You're gonna pick a ffight now? What's up with you lately?"

A slight cringe went through her as she remembered that he had enhanced hearing. Slipping between the covers, she turned to face him and asked, "Cloud… Do you love me?"

He furrowed his brows, "That's whaat thiss is all aboout? OH, comme on!" His voice was getting louder and he rolled over and faced away from her.

She turned to lay on her back, "We have been together for almost a year. Maybe this is the wrong time to bring this up, but I have said it, why won't you? Do you love me?"

Cloud really didn't want to talk about this. He'd done everything he could to avoid this subject. It was true that he did love her, but he wasn't in love with her, his heart belonged to someone else. He wanted to be happy with Alana and he wanted to make her happy, but over his and Alana's whole relationship, he tried to get over Tifa, but it was to say it than do it.

"Cloud? Answer me. Do you love me?" Her voice was rising in volume.

Cloud just blurted out, with anger as it washed over his voice, "Yes, okay?! Good night Alana!"

Zack walked around aimlessly, but found himself at the bar. The lights were still on, but there was no one there, that he could see. He opened the door and called out hoping that Tifa was around, hoping to talk, "Heelllooo!"

Tifa stuck her head out from the kitchen, "Hey, Zack. I thought ya'll were at Cloud's?" She was busy putting things up from the earlier party.

He just needed to talk, he wanted some company that didn't remind him that Aerith wasn't his, "Yeah, we were, but I had to get out of there." Zack grabbed a chair and plopped down in it.

"Are you drunk?" Tifa smiled at the thought of all three of them drunk and acting the fool.

Zack looked up at her, still sloppy with his words, "Drunk? Me? Nooo! Tipsy maybe. Cloud's drunk and Shefir, Shefa, Selfioth… His silver-ness passed out on the couch."

Tifa giggled at Zack trying to say Sephiroth's name. She then gave him a look that told him that she didn't totally believe him about him not being as drunk as he said. At least he'd heard that Soldiers didn't get drunk easily, that they could sober up easier than most, "I'll be right back," Tifa disappeared into the kitchen and a few minutes later she came back out with some coffee, "Here."

Zack had gotten up to look at the pictures on the walls. Some of the pictures were old clippings from the newspaper and pictures of some of the patrons. One of the pictures caught his attention. It was Tifa standing next to a man, his arm was around her shoulders and her smile was large. The other people in the picture he didn't recognize any of them, but the guy with Tifa looked very vaguely familiar. One of the men was huge and one arm had a gun grafted on it, a cute girl with her hair up in a ponytail, and two other goofy looking guys. He turned when he heard her voice and went back to the table, "Thanks Tifa."

Tifa pulled out a chair and sat across from him, "You look like something is bothering you. Do you need to talk?"

Zack sighed and stirred the sugar into his coffee, "I lost my girlfriend and there's nothing I can do about it," With some help from the coffee, his head was starting to clear. Taking a sip and with a clank of the cup on the saucer he asked, "Do you know how that feels?"

Tifa sat back in her chair, "Actually I do… sort of," She strained a smile.

Suddenly intrigued his tone changed to a more pleasant tone, "Oh?" He leaned forward and put an elbow on the table and rested his chin in the palm of his hand.

Her eyes fell with a sadness that he had never seen in her before, she said one word, "Cloud."

Zack sat back in his chair, his tone had sadness written all over it, "Oh, yeah. I didn't even think about that. I'm sorry." He remembered Cloud talking about her in the lab, he'd thought she was dead and then here she was. Why was he not with Tifa? It was obvious to anyone that the guy was hopelessly in love with her, yet he was with Alana. Something in Cloud had changed in the year that he thought Zack was gone.

Tifa exhaled, "What about you? You want to embellish on your problem?" She took a sip of coffee.

Straining a smile that he knew wouldn't fool anyone into thinking he was happy, he quietly poured out what'd been building up, "Before I left on that damned mission to your home-town, I decided that I was going to ask her to marry me when I got back," He spun his empty cup on the table and looked up and smiled a nervous smile that was slightly more convincing, "I got side tracked though," He snorted with a sad amusement.

"Well, what are we going to do? Both of us are in a pickle. I wish I could help you, but I can't even help myself," She pushed her cup away from her and stood up. Walking over to the bar she stood between two stools and leaned against the side of the wood. Getting up, Zack took his cup over to the bar.

As his cup went down to the wood, he looked at her profile, she seemed so damn sad. He could relate. He couldn't stand to see her this way, before thinking, he said with a smile, "Somebody needs a hug. You've never had one of my hugs. I am famous for my hugs, come 'ere," Grabbing her into his tight grasp before she could answer, he felt her slowly relax.

Tifa's face pressed against his upper chest. She could hear his heart beating in its own rhythm. She closed her eyes and could smell him and he smelled like what she thought strength would smell like. His chest muscles flexed as he moved his arms and her head rolled with the wave of the movement.

The feel of his strong arms around her was something that she wanted, she needed. She wrapped her arms around his waist to complete the hug. His shirt had come up a little in the back and she felt the skin of his back and it was so warm. Cloud had moved on, why couldn't she? After a few minutes he let go and took by her shoulders and asked, "There. Is that better?"

Pulling back, she looked up into his eyes; his eyes were so beautiful, the way they glowed, just like Cloud's, so full of life and love for his friends. Smiling up at him with a strained smile, she nodded slightly, "Yes, thank you Zack."

He looked down at her and his smile faded, "You're not better, are you?" He wished that someone would give him a Zack hug. His feelings for Aerith were still right on the surface. Feeling the skin of Tifa's arms, her well-toned, martial artist, body rippled in soft sobs. Maybe trying to help Tifa, would make him feel better, maybe. She just shook her head and tears welled up in her eyes. Bringing her in for another hug, he asked, "What can I do to make you feel better?"

When he asked that, he realized that he meant himself too. Closing his eyes, he rested his chin on the top of her head and the feel of her body so close to his, sent his emotions into an inferno.

He couldn't help himself, he had missed so much. It had been so long since he had felt the embrace of a woman. The closeness of another human being, compassion, friendship. He missed Aerith and wanted her. It had always been her, but he needed to be needed then.

Leaning down, he kissed her. His arms were longing for the warmth that she offered and she let herself go with his kiss. His lips parted and he inhaled the aroma of her. Her feet left the floor as he picked her up and sat her up on the bar. She reached for his shirt and pulled it off and she ran her fingers through his hair.

His arms circled her waist and he rested his forehead on her collar-bone and he felt the familiar sting of tears. She held him as she softly caressed his back as her tears fell down her cheeks and a few spilled to his shoulder.

Zack looked back up at her, his eyes full of pain begged for acceptance and she silently nodded to him, allowing him to lifting her shirt off and he kissed her again, harder. Pulling her off of the bar top, with her legs around his waist. He walked toward the stairs as they filled themselves with the guilty pleasure of each other. Reaching the top of the stairs, he pushed her against the wall and leaned into her kiss.

Suddenly a picture of his blond friend, smiling as he talked about the girl he loved back home in Nibelheim made him break the kiss. Putting his forehead on the wall just above her shoulder he held her in place. Feeling the drywall pushing back against him, he shook his head and let out a low groan of frustration, "I don't know if I can do this Tifa. I mean Cloud… what if he…"

Tifa moved so she could see his eyes, "It's okay Zack, I understand... Aerith…" Her tone was shaky with soft sobs. Gently, he wiped some of her tears from her cheeks as he put his other hand rested on the wall behind her. Still standing in front of her, her small, adept fingers roamed the scars on his chest from the gunshots that had killed him. Looking up at him, she wiped a tear from his cheek.

They looked in each other's eyes, trying to reassure each other for a moment.

With a quick movement forward, his kiss became desperate. Her lips were welcoming and her hands shook as she fumbled at the waist band of his pants. Her waist got rounded by his hands as they roamed her body. Rough hands rounded her rear end and he pulled her up against his more than ready body.

His lips explored her neck, down to her bra strap as his hands moved to the clasp at her back, but he paused, his breaths left erratic. With the back of his hand he softly brushed her cheek, closing her eyes, she leaned into his touch and one of her tears followed his hand. All the pain they both had followed that tear. He grit his teeth and his jaw ticked with shame and a crushing feeling of betrayal, "I don't think this is a good idea. Both of us would regret this later."

She looked back at him and sighed, "I think so too." Lowering her gaze and wiping her face, she slowly moved past him. He stayed holding himself against the wall with one of his hands as she walked into her room, "Good night Zack."

At the sound of the door as it latched, he flinched and whispered, "I'm sorry."

Walking through the door of the apartment, he realized he didn't remember the walk from the bar. Pushing the front door closed, he saw Cloud heading to the bathroom in his boxers, "Hey…" he said weakly and slammed the bathroom door shut.

At the sound of him throwing up he tapped on the bathroom door, "You okay Spike?"

Between retches, Zack heard him say, "I'm never drinking again."

A lame smile touched his lips at the sound of that statement from the friend he felt he'd betrayed. Glancing over to Sephiroth, who was still sleeping it off on the couch, Zack hung his head and went in to his room. He didn't realize that he had been gone for almost two hours. He slipped out of his pants and crawled into bed and covered himself completely when he curled into a tight ball. Cloud didn't have to know, besides, nothing happened anyway. Shutting his eyes, he just wanted to believe it had been a dream.

Zack woke up to sunlight gliding over him. 'It was all a dream. I have nothing to worry about.' When he opened his bedroom door, he got greeted by the sight of Sephiroth, still passed out on the couch. Zack went into the bathroom and washed his face and brushed his teeth. Running his fingers through his hair, the man who stared at him, almost disgusted him. He knew it wasn't a dream, what kind of friend would do that to another friend. A picture of Sephiroth came to mind, he wanted to hate him, wanted to fight him for Aerith. But, it all came back to the reality that he had been dead. It didn't seem to matter anymore, he just wanted Sephiroth to make her happy.

Upon opening the bathroom door, Sephiroth approached him in the doorway in a fast gait and Zack said quickly, "Good morning Seph."

Sephiroth put one of his hands up to him as he rushed past him. It was the universal sign of, 'please don't talk to me, I have a hangover from hell.'

Alana sat at the table eating a bowl of cereal and she smiled at Zack, "How are ya feeling this morning?"

He shook his head, "Not too bad, I think Seph and Cloud have it worse though."

She chuckled, "I think you're right."

"Where is Cloud anyway?" The smell of fresh coffee drew him over to pour his own cup. Stirring in some sugar, he felt just like the sugar, melting in the hot abyss of treachery. How could he call himself a loyal friend? 'Nothing happened, remember that,' Zack told himself.

"He is in the bedroom, trying to get dressed," She took another bite of cereal.

Zack smiled and pulled a chair out and sat down, "Yeah I saw him earlier headed to the bathroom." From his seat, he could hear Sephiroth groaning loudly so he said, "I better go check on him. As far as I know, he hasn't ever drunk before, that I know of." Getting up, he knocked lightly on the door, "Hey Seph, you okay?" All he got in return was a groan and a thump, so he announced, "I'm coming in."

Peeking around the door frame, he saw Sephiroth, lying on the floor and circled around the front of the toilet. Looking up at Zack, he said weakly, "I didn't know that I could throw up that much." With a loud groan, he sat up and threw up again. Grabbing his hair before it fell into the toilet, Zack held his hair with one hand and rubbed his back with the other.

Cloud came around the corner and quietly asked, "Hey Seph, want me to call Aerith and let her know where you are?" Sephiroth nodded his head as he lay back down on the floor. Cloud looked at Zack, "This will be interesting." He headed over to the phone and handed it to Alana, "Would you please?" Yanking the phone from his hand, Zack saw as they exchanged a look with each other and the look sent a cold chill down his back.

Zack helped Sephiroth up off the floor and back out to the living room, "Seph, why don't you just go in my room and lay down? You better not throw up on my shit though."

Breathlessly, Sephiroth nodded and said, "Okay."

Taking him in the bedroom, he got him in bed and quietly shut the door. Walking back out to the living room, Cloud and Alana were quietly arguing about something and when Cloud saw Zack, he shut up and looked at Alana. Trying not to look at either of them, the brunet sat back down at the table across from Cloud.

Quickly changing the subject, the blond sat down next to Alana with his own coffee. With a meek smile, Cloud asked his friend, "So where did you go last night?" Cloud took a sip from his coffee.

With a shrug, he answered nervously, "I just went for a walk, you know… to clear my head," Zack averted his gaze and vigorously stirred his coffee.

Cloud smiled from behind his coffee cup and asked with a twinkle of delight in his eyes, "So while taking your walk, when did you lose your shirt and your pants came undone?"

Zack shot a shocked look at Cloud and stood up, "Uh… I got to go."

As he headed for the door, Cloud called out, "Oh come on Zack, if you got lucky last night, at least one of us did," The blond laughed as Alana hit him in the arm and he groaned at the pain that the laugh caused his head.

A/N: Thanks to everyone who reads, favorites, subscribes and/or reviews, I appreciate your time and I dedicate all of this to you. To quote another author, "Getting reviews makes me feel all warm and squishy."

Please send me your reviews if you want. It is really easy. Just click your arrow in the little box, write what you thought or felt about the chapter and then click right down there, just below the box. A little lower… a little to the right… yeah, right there! Click it! *grinning*