Its been three days since you found Jace's ring on your doorknob and you haven't seen Cloud at all. You spent the first day moping around, and while you're still pretty heartbroken, it took a lot for you to admit to yourself that you have feelings for Cloud, but now you're just trying to be ok. Its a slow process and its ok if he doesn't feel the same for you, you just hope he doesn't hate you, you wouldn't be able to handle that.
You opened the bar early hoping it will get your mind off things. Unfortunately for you it wasn't working and now the bar is super busy. It really made you wonder why the bar is only this busy when you're here alone. At around 8:30 you were carrying a tray with drink orders for several groups when you noticed Cloud walk in so you quickly dropped off the drinks and made sure everyone was ok. When you turned around you saw Cloud walk out of the bar, he never even looked at you.
You frowned, maybe he doesn't want to see you anymore. You could feel tears welling up in your eyes, but you held them back and continued working. You were relived when their was only about an hour before closing, you're feeling pretty emotionally drained and with how busy the bar has been today you're physically exhausted too.
Most of the crowd is gone, just a few of the regulars lingering. You made polite conversation with Jacob and Alex before cutting Jacob off. You went to check on the last group, a couple of mechanics who come every few days. The rest of the night was pretty uneventful, you locked up and made yourself some tea. You decided to wait up a while to see if Cloud would come home, you wanted to tell him about your feelings and if he rejects you, then you can move on. You hated waiting around but you have no idea where he might be, ever since you moved in, Cloud has always stuck pretty close to you, even called when he was going to be late. At this point you're just worried about him. You eventually feel asleep at the kitchen table; when you woke you checked the time, 2:27am, and their were no signs that Cloud ever came home. With a yawn and a terrible feeling you headed up to your room.
The next day you woke up pretty late, showered and dressed in dark jeans and a black crop trop. You brushed out your hair and headed downstairs, you weren't sure if you should have breakfast or lunch as its now well into the afternoon. You frowned, there were still no signs of Cloud ever coming home. You wanted to call him, you were a bit terrified of if he'd answer or not, but you couldn't find your phone anywhere. You decided to make breakfast, you were feeling a nice cup of coffee and scrambled eggs.
You heard the door to the bar open and went to investigate. You were annoyed to see who your intruder is.
"Autumn, baby! Aren't ya glad to see me?" Reno announced.
"Get lost Reno" you told him as you pinched the bridge of your nose in annoyance. "We're not even open yet"
"Can't a friend just drop in?" Reno asked.
"But we're not…" you were cut off.
"Ah but we are, remember you said you'd give me a chance!"
You sighed, you did agree to give him a chance, if only for Alyssa and Jeremy's sake. "Fine you can stay, but if you don't behave you're out" you told him.
He followed you around, and just kept talking about everything from how to met Alyssa and Jeremy to his most recent assignments from Rufus. You tried to tune him out as you made your breakfast, but when you turned around you found that Reno had a few beers from the bar.
"Isn't it a bit early for drinking?" you asked.
"Isn't it a bit late for breakfast." Reno snickered.
"Bite me" you mumbled rolling your eyes.
"Gladly" He said with a smirk as he finished off his first beer.
"Gross"
You finished making your breakfast and set it on the table. When you went to pour yourself some coffee, Reno made a grab at your food.
"Reno!" you snapped. "Make your own breakfast"
"But it looks so good" He wined as he finished off another beer.
You rolled your eyes as you began eating. Reno just continued to drink beer after beer, as much as you hated to admit it you were starting to get concerned. You suddenly heard a knock on the door to the bar, you told Reno not to eat your food while you went to investigate. You looked through the window on the door and saw a panicked looking middle-aged man holding a small package.
A bit confused you opened the door. "Can I help you?" you asked.
"Is this Strife delivery service?" the man asked.
"Well technically, but Cloud isn't here" you told him.
"I need this package delivered today" He said. "Do you think he can do it?" you were about to tell him that you have no idea when Cloud is coming back, but the poor man looked so panicked.
"Write down the address," you told him. The man did as you asked, paid you and left shortly after. You put the box down on the bar and headed up stairs, you slipped the money under Cloud's door then headed back downstairs.
When you returned to the kitchen, you couldn't say you're surprised because you fully expected this to happen, but Reno had eaten the rest of your breakfast, as well as downed a another beer. "You better pay Tifa for those" you told him.
"I always pay my tab" Reno slurred.
You absently rolled your eyes, "Did you really have to eat my breakfast?" you asked as you walked over to the fruit bowl, theirs no way you're making anything else right now, you grabbed an apple hoping it would fill you.
Reno opened his mouth to speak several times before he finally said, "it looked good"
(Cloud)
You absently completed your deliveries, you were so out of it you didn't even take Fenrir. You couldn't stop thinking about Autumn, its been four days now and you're scared to face her. You kept thinking about a few nights ago, you weren't sure what you were thinking and as much as you enjoyed it you hated that it made Autumn cry, that you hurt her. At first you just wanted to give her some space but the longer you were left alone with your thoughts the more guilty you feel. You finally decided that you'll talk to her tonight when you're done with your deliveries.
(Autumn)
You felt so awkward sitting in the kitchen with Reno, he just keeps looking at you, you were about to call him a creep when the phone in the bar started ringing. Taking it as your excuse to get away from Reno you jumped up and answered it in the other room.
"Seventh Heaven, Autumn speaking…." you were cut off,
"Autumn! finally I've been trying to reach you for days" Alyssa sighed. "Tifa's not kidding you really don't answer your phone."
"To be honest I don't even know where it is" You told her, but then added, "Whats going on? is everything ok?"
"Oh yeah everything is fine, I mean unless you count Barrett trying to rip the sleeves off all the dress shirts he tries on." You giggled, that sounds exactly like what Barrett would do. "I'm just worried about you" Alyssa said, you were about to tell her not to worry when she spoke again , "I know I shouldn't worry, you spent three years alone, I get it but now that we have you back, I can't help it" She told you.
You bit your lip as you chose your words carefully, "I must have really made you worry all that time, but I'm ok, I promise." you told her sincerely.
"Did Cloud ever come back?" she asked.
"yeah…" you nearly mumbled.
"Wait that 'yeah' doesn't sound good," She said, "Did something happen? Do I have to fight him? You know i used to fight Zack all the time."
"Zack would let you win" you told her.
"Not the point! Don't change the topic" She told you, but after a moment added. "I'm here for you, you know you can tell me anything."
You sighed trying to think of how to explain it as you looked around, Reno was no where in sight, but you spoke in hushed tones so he wouldn't hear. "Cloud came home the same night everyone left, but we haven't spoken since then."
"What? Why?" Alyssa asked genuinely confused.
"Well you see…." you paused unsure how to continue. "Cloud and I… we sort of had sex" you mumbled the last part.
"I told you to test your boundaries not jump him!" Alyssa told you, now she was speaking in hushed tones too, you were thankful, you don't really want anyone to know about this. "Was he good?" she asked after a moment.
"Alyssa!"
"what? I'm curious"
You groaned and slid against the bar until you were sitting on the floor, still holding the phone to your ear, "I don't know what to do."
"Was he upset with you? I don't get it. What happened after?"
"I sort of woke up naked in bed with him" you mumbled, "I lost Jace's ring and when I couldn't find it, I started freaking out, Cloud was still asleep and I didn't want him to see me like that so I went to my room." You explained, "And now I haven't see Cloud since."
"When all this gets sorted out we'll get back to you waking up in his bed, but I don't understand why would he be avoiding you."
"Thats exactly it! Its been driving me crazy, what if he hated it, or me, I've been trying to talk to him for days" You were starting to panic again.
"Its going to be ok" Alyssa told you.
"But what if it isn't?" You asked. "I don't care if he doesn't want to be with me, I just need him in my life"
"Autumn, I promise it will be ok, do what ever you have to, to talk to him today." Alyssa told you, you heard a few muffled voices on her end before she said, "I have to go, Promise you'll call me later, I want to check in with you but you never answer the phone" She teased.
"I'll call you later" you promised, "Bye girl"
"Love ya girl"
You hung up the phone and took a deep breath as you stood up. You headed back into the kitchen only to find that Reno had finished off another three beers and that he was nowhere to be seen. To be honest you were a bit relieved, dealing with Reno is exhausting, though you were a bit concerned because he is most definitely drunk at this point and no where in sight.
You rolled your eyes and decided to deliver that package, the guy already paid and it may be good for you to get out of the house. You recognized the address as one of the auto shops on the other side of town, as weary as you are of mechanics at this point, you knew a bunch of the younger guys from that shop come to the bar on Thursdays. The walk to the shop was fairly uneventful, you ran into a few orphans and gave them what you could, if you could help them all you would. It made you think about when Cloud told you to open a clinic, that he and all of your friends would help, you absently frowned. All of your thoughts led back to Cloud, it hurt that he couldn't even stand look at you let alone talk to you.
When you walked into the shop holding the package you recognized a few of the mechanics. The shop was pretty clean considering this is Edge.
"Yo Autumn, What brings you here?" a voice asked, you looked to see one of the Thursday regulars, he was working under a pick up truck and slid out just enough so you could see his face
"Strife delivery service" you said motioning to the package.
"Hold on" He said to you, then called out, "Yo pop's we got a package from Strife's"
A few moments later and older man with salt and pepper hair walked out using a rag to clean the grease off his hands. "I thought he said Strife's?" he asked in confusion.
"I'm just helping Cloud out today" you told him hoping your smile didn't seem forced.
"About time he acknowledged he needs help" The man laughed. You nodded in agreement.
"well lets see what we have here" he said as he took the box from you and quickly opened, it was some weird part, you know anatomy not cars. "Aiden! The carburetor came" He called.
"Bout time" another Thursday regular rushed over and took the part.
Then the one called Pop's turned back to you, "Here's a tip for your trouble" You said offering a few dollars,
"No thanks, give it to Cloud on his next delivery" you told him.
"You sure, its not much but you came all the way out here" he said offering it to you again.
"I'm good" you said with a smile, "Have a nice day" you told him.
As you turned to leave a few of the mechanics called out a chorus of 'bye Autumn' and 'see you Thursday.' You waived as you left and headed back towards Seventh Heaven. The walk back was fairly quiet, not many people around and the ones that were kept to themselves. You were only a few blocks away from Tifa's when you heard yelling, just around the corner.
(Cloud)
You had just dropped off a letter at an old women's apartment and was walking down the sidewalk when you heard an annoying voice.
"You're an asshole Strife!" Reno yelled as he stumbled towards.
"Reno" You mumbled in annoyance, he's pretty much the last person you wanted to deal with right now.
"You heard me you're an asshole" Reno repeated but this time it was clear his speech was slurred and if it wasn't already obvious as he got closer you could clearly smell alcohol.
"Where's Rude?" you asked rolling your eyes.
"I don't care" Reno yelled as he flailed his arms. "You're an awful person!" he slurred.
You tried to ignore his statements as he is clearly drunk but now he's making a scene and people were starting to look. So you decided to just try to walk away, you'll call Rude and he'll probably pick him up.
"Don't walk away Strife! We're gonna fight right now!" Reno yelled
"We're not gonna fight" you told him, "We're going to call Rude"
Then Reno tried to throw a punch at you but you easily caught his fist, he tried to throw another punch at you with his other arm but missed as he lost his balance falling to the ground. You thought about leaving him there but decided against it, he'd just keep screaming and following you. As Reno stood up he tried to punch you again, but this time you put him in a headlock and tried to grab your phone.
"What the hell is going on?"
(Autumn)
As you turned the corner you saw Reno fall to the ground and then get up and try to punch Cloud, who put him in a headlock. You were shocked.
"What the hell is going on?" You yelled as you rushed over.
"I don't know" Cloud said as you approached. He refused to even look in your direction.
Reno struggled against Cloud's grasp. "He won't fight me."
"Reno you're drunk, no one is fighting you." You told him, then you turned to Cloud. "Let him go, he's harmless."
Cloud let him go and Reno almost instantly turned and tried to punch him. Cloud sidestepped and rolled his eyes as Reno tried to punch him again, falling to the ground in his inebriated state.
"ok maybe the headlock was a better option" you mumbled. "Can someone tell me whats going on?" you asked.
"I don't know" Cloud said again as he crossed his arms.
"Oh like you don't know" Reno accused him.
"Reno just tell us" you sighed.
"He's an asshole" Reno said as he childishly crossed his arms.
"We get it, now tell us why" you said as you pinched the bridge of your nose getting annoyed. Cloud's head snapped to your direction, apparently surprised you'd agree with Reno, you surprised yourself.
"He had sex with you! And just left!" Reno yelled, you were shocked he must have overheard you talking to Alyssa earlier and now all these lovely people in about a mile radius know with how loud Reno is yelling. Cloud looked just as shocked as you, for the first time in a days he looked you, but you looked away, you wanted to face him, but not like this. Then Reno turned to Cloud, "You're an asshole, you can't treat Autumn like that, you don't deserve her! Now she's upset because you just fucking disappeared again. So you're gonna fight me like a man!"
Cloud just stood there as Reno tried to punch him again. His fist almost connected with Cloud's face when you grabbed Reno's arm, "Reno you're drunk, go home" you told him. A second later you added, "Wait, where is home for you?" you asked genuinely confused.
"Not until he fights me" Reno yelled as he struggled against your grip, Reno must be super drunk because you're not very strong.
"No one is fighting you" You told him as you pulled him away from Cloud, "Come on we're going back to Tifa's" you said as you threw his arm around your shoulder so you could help him walk.
"But he hurt you" Reno whined.
"Autumn" Cloud said.
"We're not talking about this right now" you said as you turned away and began to walk back to Tifa's
"Autumn" Cloud repeated.
You turned to look at him, his hand was outstretched towards you but slowly fell to his side. He looked like he was about to speak but he stayed silent.
You sighed losing your last shred of hope. "I get it ok" you told him, he looked at you curiously. "Its ok you don't want to be with me, just please stop avoiding me" you told him, you didn't want to look at him for fear that you may cry so you turned and started walking toward the bar. Then Reno tried to grab your butt with his free hand, "Stop it or I'll surgically remove it" you told him. Thankfully that shut him up and he didn't try again.
Once you got back to the bar you dropped Reno off on the living room couch, and went to the kitchen to get him some water, he's gonna have one hell of a hangover. You heard footsteps behind you and turned, "Reno I swear if you don't…" you trailed off, it wasn't Reno.
"You think I don't want to be with you?" Cloud asked quietly. You looked away, refusing to meet his gaze. He closed the distance between you. "Autumn" He said as he carefully caressed your face so you'd look at him.
"You've been avoiding me" you told him quietly as you pulled away, you tried to back up but hit the counter behind you.
"I heard you crying that morning" he told you, "I went to find you, I thought you regretted sleeping with me" he looked at you with those intense blue eyes. "I'm sorry I hurt you." he said sincerely.
"I'm sorry too" you told him quietly.
"Why were you crying?" he asked, he was slowly getting closer.
You looked away, "I thought I lost Jace's ring" you told him, "It scared me." Cloud stayed quiet for a long time, it was so awkward. "I think we misunderstood each other" you finally said.
"I didn't mean to avoid you, I thought you wanted space." Cloud told you.
"I wasn't upset with you, just upset about my ring" you explained. "Can we start over?" you asked. Cloud just nodded, a small smile on his lips. You were happy, you hugged Cloud and rested your head against his chest, as he wrapped his arms around you.