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.

A/N: Did anyone catch the small shocking thing that Alana said about Cloud's eyes back in chapter 28?

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

"Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving." –Albert Einstein

Chapter 33

Zack was just getting comfortable, hitting the pillow a few times and flopping around until he found the ideal spot. Finally finding the perfect position, he closed his eyes. Exhausted from work, his boss at the store had gotten in some new sort of juice in one gallon jugs. Of course with him being the heavy lifter, he lugged around jugs from the boxes, to an empty place on the shelves. Then he wanted the stuff moved to a different spot in the store after he had it finished. Let's not mention the boxes that were left that had to go in the store-room. He was strong to begin with, but lifting like that all day had taxed his already sore muscles.

Picturing Aerith, which was probably not the best thing for him to do, was creating a problem that he would have to take care of at the expense of losing sleep. He sighed and tried to picture something else that bored him. Once when he was a little kid, three or four years old, he watched his father paint the wooden chicken coop. His father being the awesome dad that he was, pushed a brush in his hand and instructed him to paint the lower half, he would get the upper part. Being sufficiently bored, he was ready to drift off…

A shout shot his eyes open and stared forward to see the wall next to the dresser. Rolling over, he looked at the clock and it said 9:38 p.m. He paused for a moment and then the yelling started. This had been going on for the last couple of weeks. After their drinking party a couple of days ago their fighting seemed to intensify. Zack did give Alana props; she had a good set of lungs on her. Rolling to his back and watched the ceiling fan go around in circles, it was just like how he felt. He couldn't help but hear their argument in the small apartment.

"Cloud! Then why don't you just leave!"

"What do you want from me?" He pleaded.

"I want you to want me!" Her voice cracked.

"I'm here, with YOU aren't I?"

"That's not what I need."

In a softer voice, "Alana please don't do this."

"Don't touch me! Just get away from me Cloud."

"Fine, if that's what you want. Is that what will make you happy?" CRASH!

"There goes the lamp," Zack whispered to himself. Luckily the lamp was wrought iron, so they just had to replace the bulb.

Hearing the bedroom door slam, he counted the footsteps and then the front door slammed. They would make up, they always did. Zack gave it a few minutes and he would head outside to see if Cloud needed to talk.

Sitting up, he slowly pulled his clothes on and opened the door slowly and peeked out. With the coast clear, he slipped out and made his way to Cloud's retreat. It was always the ice cream shop just down the street. It was always the same, Cloud would get an ice cream and then he would get some for her, and then they would make up. Zack didn't know what was worse, the fights or the make-up sex. At least he knew about when they would make up and then he could make himself scarce. Usually taking a walk for a couple of hours and then he would sneak back in and get a few hours of sleep before work in the morning.

He didn't think that Cloud knew that he could hear them making up, or even their regular nights, from beginning to end. He was sure that had Cloud known how thin the walls actually were, he would want to crawl under the nearest rock and stay there. Zack silently sent curses to the thin walls and loud friends.

It made Zack blush and sometimes he couldn't leave, so he would have to contend with trying not to listen. What made it the worse weren't just the noises that they made, it was the headboard. He tried humming, singing and burying his head under the pillow, either way, he would have to either picture something unappealing, or just take care of his problem later. After all, it had been forever since he even gotten the opportunity.

Finding his friend sitting at his usual table, Zack approached and sat down across from him, "Hey buddy, need to talk?"

Cloud glanced up, "Sorry Zack."

"Hey, what couple hasn't fought? It's just part of it," Zack took Cloud's spoon and took a bite of ice cream, "What it is that she's upset about?"

He looked up and then glanced back down, "Yeah."

"Cloud, look at me," Zack took another bite of ice cream, "What is it?"

Cloud sighed and sat back in his seat, "She told me that she loved me a couple of months ago."

Zack looked confused, "Okay… What did you say?" It was perfectly natural to say I love you at their point in their relationship. He had been the first to say it to Aerith way back when they were together.

Cloud looked out the window, "I didn't say anything. She's mad because I haven't told her. Hell, I can't even say it just telling you."

Zack sat back and rubbed the back of his neck, "Wow," He paused before asking, "Do you love her?" Maybe now he can find out why he isn't with Tifa, where he thought Cloud belonged.

Cloud put his hands down on the table and hung his head, "I really, really like her, but I…"

Zack fiddled with the napkin, "You still love Tifa."

Cloud softly said, "Yeah." He looked up at Zack, "I've tried to stop loving her, but I just… I can't just…"

As Zack stood, he put a hand on his shoulder, "Follow your heart man." Taking one more bite of Cloud's ice cream, he went back to the apartment and didn't bother to undress as he lay down in his bed because he would be leaving soon enough. He knew where Tifa kept the extra key to the back door to the bar, so he would frequent the office couch on nights like this.

Once he got comfortable again, pillow wrapped in his arms, he closed his eyes and sleep came pretty fast… He was sitting next to Aerith and she was holding his hand. She looked deeply into his eyes and leaned in for a kiss.

Zack's eyelids whipped open, "What the hell!" He rolled over and looked at the clock. It had only been an hour that he'd been back from the ice cream shop, "Cloud must have come home a little early." Zack got up and started getting his boots on before the noise got too much louder.

He tip toed through the living room toward the front door when a loud feminine scream of anger stopped him in his tracks. That was when the profanities streamed from the room. Slowly, Zack turned to look at the profane riddled door when the door opened with a thump, making the brunette flinch.

To his surprise, Cloud got shoved out of the room, bare-assed naked and falling on the floor. Alana threw his clothes at him as she yelled, "Get out and DON'T come back!"

"Alana I'm sorry, I didn't mean-"

Horrified, Zack was frozen until Alana looked at him and yelled again at the brunet this time, "Get your friend and get him the hell away from me!"

Cloud turned his head and looked behind him and his face read as embarrassingly flustered that Zack was standing there seeing this, but Zack wore a similar look on his face.

Jumping up, the blond hurriedly tried to put his clothes on as she was actively pushing him out the door.

Jerking into action, Zack began grabbing some of Cloud's clothes that had trailed across the floor as Cloud was doing the jump/walk/dress shuffle across the floor. Alana had the front door open and ready to slam in his face.

Outside the door, Zack and Cloud looked at each other and Zack was the first to say anything, "What the hell was that all about?!"

Cloud grabbed his shirt from Zack's hand and slipped it on and as he was tying his boot, he answered, trying to dodge the question that hung between them, "I don't want to talk about it. It's embarrassing."

"You mean more embarrassing that getting kicked out of your girl's bed, buck naked and ending up on the outside of the front door?"

Cloud scratched his head, "Yeah."

Zack folded his arms and chuckled lightly, "Oh, this has got to be good!"

"Shut up Zack!" Cloud started walking down the street as he tucked his shirt in and finished zipping his pants.

Zack prodded as he tried to keep in step with Cloud, "Well you got me kicked out too. I at least have the right to know what happened."

Cloud stopped in the middle of the empty street and turned to face Zack, "I… Oh I can't say it." Zack stood waiting for an explanation with amusement in his eyes and quickly Cloud blurted out, "Okay, fine. I didn't say her name." Cloud paused and tried to get Zack to drop it, he added, "There!" He turned to walk away.

Zack grabbed his arm, "What? I'm confused."

Cloud sighed loudly and his volume greatly diminished as the sentence came out, "I didn't say her name… I said someone else's name."

"Holy Shit!" Zack put his hands up on his head, "No you didn't!" Zack couldn't help but laugh, "Whose name did you say? As if I didn't know."

"Shut up Zack!" Cloud walked briskly to the bar. Zack was following him and just shaking his head, chuckling quietly to himself. Tifa had started closing earlier during the week, so Cloud had to knock on the door. Tifa eventually got there to open the door and she was wearing a night-shirt and a pair of pajama shorts. She had a small blanket wrapped around her shoulders and when Cloud saw her, he turned a bright shade of red and he held up his hands as he brushed past her, "Don't ask."

Tifa looked at Zack who wore a mile-wide grin on his face as he walked by her into the dining area. Cloud turned to Tifa, "Can I… we… stay here for a while?"

Tifa looked at Cloud, his face was reddened in anger and as he stood there, he fidgeted. She looked at Zack and his face was still holding a huge smile, "What happened?" She asked Cloud, but when he didn't answer, she turned to the grinning man who tipped up on his tip toes and back to heels, "What happened Zack?"

Zack looked over Tifa's head at Cloud standing behind her as he mouthed some nasty words at the brunet.

Shaking his head slowly, Zack grinned and said, "I don't have a clue," Zack drew her name out slowly, "Tiiifffaaa," Cloud shot his famous death glare and he could almost feel the heat boring into his skull from that one. However, he countered with another huge, toothy and relishing grin.

Tifa's furrowed eyebrows and confused look culminated to agreement, "Okay, I suppose it's alright," She turned and headed up the stairs and pointed at the office, "In you go." Zack went in, followed closely by Cloud, "Good night boys."

Cloud shut the door and grabbed a blanket then pushed him, "What the hell was that Zack?"

Zack asked as he was laughing, "What do you mean?" Zack grabbed the blanket and a tug of war began.

"This isn't funny! Then you say her name really slowly. What the hell?" Cloud's fight with the blanket was not going in his favor. Zack stifled a laugh about that and then yanked the blanket from Cloud and laid it across the floor. Zack remembered all the times in the lab that he took care of the little things like this. Cloud just stepped back and let him make him a pallet on the floor, it was unspoken that Zack was always the caregiver.

Finding another blanket, the blond held on to it tightly and when Zack stood back up, Cloud dropped the extra blanket on top of the one laid out on the floor.

"Hey, it may not be funny to you, but from where I'm standing, it is freakin hilarious!" Zack put his pillow at one end of the couch, but Cloud grabbed it and threw it on the floor where he would be sleeping.

"Do you think everything is funny?" Cloud blocked Zack from grabbing the pillow off of the floor.

Zack resigned to not having a pillow tonight and let Cloud have both pillows, "No… but this is!" Then in a soft sexy voice while he hugged himself and wiggled his hips slowly, he said, "Oh, yeah, yeah right there Tifa, I mean Alana, right there baby," Zack got jerked from his fake fantasy by a punch in the arm from Cloud, "Owww don't hit so hard!"

"Stop making fun of me!"

"Hey I got kicked out too because of your loose lips!"

"Shut up and go to sleep," Cloud lay down on the floor and when he covered himself in a hurry, the blanket flew up and off of his feet and legs. In a huff he sat back up and tried to fix it.

"Why don't you go talk to Tifa? I mean you already have her name down…" Zack laughed a loud gut laugh and when Cloud punched him again, it didn't stifle his laughter, "Owww that hurt!"

After they had settled down, Cloud laid there on the floor of the office with his hands behind his head. He kept turning it over in his head, so he wasn't able to sleep. He could hear Zack snoring softly from the couch and he thought about what Zack had said. As he thought about it, it hit him that maybe this was his chance to at least let Tifa know how he feels. They were adults now, it was time to just come out with it and tell her.

Remembering back when they were kids, she'd always been the one to think of things to do. She'd been the bold one and he just followed along. She even said once that he was pretty cool. However after he found out about what his father was, he didn't stick around town any longer. He wondered if he'd stayed in Nibelheim, if they would've ever been together.

If she didn't feel the same as he did, at least he knew that he had told her. He lay there for at least a couple more hours trying to think of what to say and how to say it. It took another hour for him to get the courage up to even leave the room he was in.

Finally taking a deep breath, he said, "I guess it's now or never." He stood up and went into the bathroom, breathed into his palm and sniffed quickly. Looking in the mirror, he ran his fingers through his hair and splashed a little cold water on his face. Once satisfied with his appearance and lack of bad breath, he took another deep breath, straightened his shirt and smiled to himself, "I can do this. I know it."

Tifa felt something shaking her gently, then she heard a whisper, "Tifa, can I talk to you?"

Opening her eyes, she saw the last person she thought she would see, "Cloud, what's the matter?" She reached over and turned on her lamp and looked at the clock. The thought that something was wrong had crossed her mind. He was still dressed, even his boots were on, so she wondered if he was here to tell her he was going back to his apartment.

"I need to talk to you about something," Cloud sat down on the side of her bed.

Tifa sat up, "What's wrong? It's five in the morning," She covered herself a little with her blanket. Something had to be wrong if he was waking her up at five in the morning. However, she didn't mind seeing him this early in the morning, he was so handsome.

Internally she shivered and scanned him. He wore a dark blue button up shirt that almost matched the color of his eyes. The first three buttons of his shirt were undone and she could see the muscles on his upper chest flex with his breaths. Blue jeans that fit perfectly, accented his rear end, and it just made her want to melt. Last but not least, the overwhelming desire to run her fingers through his hair and grab handfuls of it in the throes of passion made a light blush cross her cheeks.

His voice was soft, "Over the last year or so, I have come to some awareness about myself," He looked down and fidgeted with the edge of her blanket, "When we were kids, do you remember when you pulled me out to the valley to look at the view?"

She cleared her throat, "Yes. Why?"

"There was something that I wanted to do. Well, more to the point, something that I should have done."

"Cloud, I…what are you talking about?" She figured it was from the sleepiness that still fogged her mind, but she was beginning to get even more confused. Why did he wake her up so early to ask about when they were kids? Not that the sight of him was any kind of unpleasantness.

"I am talking about you and what I should have done years ago," He put his hands around her and pulled her into a kiss. Taken by surprise, she leaned back a little but he leaned in to her and kissed her more eagerly. One of his hands went to her back and held her from retreating further. She couldn't believe that he was here with her now, like this. Her head spun and all she could hear were soft noises that stimulated her on more than one level.

His lips were soft, just as she had imagined, the way he tasted sent a river of goose bumps up her spine. The fire that smoldered for him from afar lit her up into a wild-fire of passion that she had never experienced. All at once she had to have him right then, her body quivered under his touch. When he slowly and firmly pushed her body to the bed, his body filled in perfectly to the contours of her body and she moaned lightly. Her moan created a response from him that both surprised her and, if it was possible, aroused her more. He jerked forward and she felt his excitement through his jeans and he let out an involuntary groan. Her hands went up and around his shoulders and she kissed his neck softly.

Suddenly he froze and his body went completely fixed in place. Her confusion was thick in her voice, "Cloud? What's the matter?"

Finally he moved, but the look in his face told her that he was suddenly very upset about something. She wondered if maybe she had done something wrong until he asked quietly at first, "Whose shirt is that?"

Slightly out of breath from their first kiss and their too short of a make out, she asked, "What?" She pulled at his face, trying to get him to return to her reddened lips.

Cloud's voice got a little louder, "I asked whose shirt is that?" She looked at the shirt and it dawned on her when he stood up, "Tell me that isn't Zack's shirt." He scolded as he grabbed it from the chair next to her bed.

"Cloud it isn't what you think!" She jumped up and ran after him, as the storm of an upset blond whose short-fuse temper was lit, he crossed the hall and flipped the light on in the office. Tifa pleaded with him, "Cloud please. It's not what you think! Please listen." Tifa's pleas were ignored and she pulled on his arm.

Zack raised his head and blocked the light from his eyes as Cloud yelled, "I'm done listening!" Cloud held the shirt out for Zack to see. Zack shielded his eyes from the light, "Now I know where you were the other night!"

Confused, Zack sat up all the way, "What?" Cloud threw the shirt at Zack's lap. Picking up the shirt, he stayed quiet for a few moments before his sleepy brain let him in on what the problem was. Jumping up, he yelled, "No! Cloud, nothing happened!" Cloud shoved him and the brunet fell back on the couch and stayed there while he put his hands through his hair and a loud voice boomed out, "Cloud! It was nothing!"

Cloud started out the door and he turned around and looked at them. His eyes were full of misery and she hated seeing his eyes so full of hurt. Tifa pleaded again, "Please Cloud!" Deep blue eyes went from Tifa to Zack and the glow was soon overshadowed by his fight to maintain his composure. His head dropped slowly and he turned and went down the stairs and threw the front door open with a loud crash. Zack chased after him, but he'd already disappeared.

Back upstairs, Tifa was crying and stunned at what had just happened. Taking Tifa's arm harshly, Zack asked, "What the hell just happened?" She looked at him and searched for words. Dropping her arm, he headed to the office and as he put his boots on, he asked, "Are you gonna tell me what happened?"

Tifa stuttered a little, "Cloud woke me up and kissed me."

He was quickly growing impatient, "And…"

"He saw the shirt you left here the other night. I had put it over the chair in my room to give it to you the next time you came to work."

Zack's hands ran through his hair and the loud volume of his voice surprised him, "Tifa, get me Sephiroth's number." She turned to the desk and shuffled through some papers. Grabbing a piece of paper, she handed it to him. The very thing that he wanted to avoid, it happened anyway. Even though nothing happened, he still had that twinge of guilt that twisted and turned over in his stomach. It threatened to swallow him up and entwine him within its undulating power.

Zack stood up and grabbed the phone on the desk, he inhaled and held it. Dialing the number, he hoped that Aerith wouldn't answer. He thought of having Tifa call, but she was damn near hysterical. Sephiroth was libel to think that she was an obscene phone call. Of course, the way the night was going, he couldn't be that lucky. A sleepy hello echoed through the phone. A voice that he missed hearing made his heart sink a little. She might as well have just kicked him in the gut. He took a deep breath and tried to make his voice sound somewhat different, "Is Sephiroth there?"

"Just a second," In the back ground she heard her roll over and say, "Seph, someone's on the phone for you." Zack closed his eyes, he fought the urge to drop the phone and just beat the shit out of Sephiroth and take Aerith away from Midgar. However his willpower won. His struggle was not over, but it was on hiatus.

"Okay here… hello?"

A little more relieved now that Sephiroth was on the phone instead, "Hey Seph, we've got a situation here with Cloud. You think you can meet me at the bar in a few?"

"Sure Zack, I'll be right there," Zack shut his eyes as he said his name and then he heard a feminine voice question Sephiroth, "Zack?"

Zack hung up the phone, leaned on the table and his eyes shut and the very cringe that he'd been fighting off all along, found its way into his spine, "Seph is on his way in. We may have a problem in addition to Cloud, so you might want to put some coffee on."

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*