So i was productive and wrote three chapter today so you get a second update this week (not like i have an update schedule, its literally whenever i feel like it)
The rest of the week went by slowly, but thankfully things between you and Cloud have gone back to normal for the most part but neither of you have spoken about sleeping with each other. Reno refused to leave and he also refuses to leave you and Cloud alone together, at least he hasn't been drinking. You opened the bar at the usual time, Cloud sat at the end of the bar with a beer and Reno sat next to him chatting away, much to Cloud's displeasure.
"Autumn can I get a beer?" Reno asked.
"No" Cloud replied instantly.
"You're not Autumn" Reno snapped at him, then looked back at you.
"Depends you want to pay for the ones you drank the other day., Mr I always pay my tab" you told him. He opened and closed his mouth several times before he finally decided to stay silent.
"You called Rude right?" Cloud asked suddenly.
You nodded, "Days ago, he said he's be here in a few days but I haven't heard from him since"
"Autumn- baby, why are you trying to get rid of me." Reno whined.
you rolled your eyes, "Literally that sentence, and don't call me baby"
Reno was about to speak again, but Cloud glared at him. You went back to work, every so often you'd glance at Cloud and most of the time you'd catch him looking at you. It did make your heart flutter. You hoped that Rude would show up soon, its impossible to be alone with Cloud with Reno is around. You thought back to two nights ago, you couldn't sleep and had wandered out into the hallway, Cloud had heard you and met you by the stairs, he wanted to talk but as soon as you agreed to, Reno ran up the stairs and forced his way in-between the two of you. You saw Jacob and Alex walk in, you waived to them and prepared their usual drinks.
"How are we today?" You asked as you gave them their drinks.
"Can't complain" Alex greeted,
Jacob nodded in agreement and said "I see your big moody friend is back"
You giggled, "He was only gone a few days." you told him as you leaned on the bar.
"Hmm seemed like more" He replied cryptically. You gave him a questioning look, but Jacob didn't elaborate.
Suddenly you heard a loud thump followed by Reno yelling, "Awe why'd you do that?!"
You looked over as Cloud took a sip of his beer and said, "Don't talk like that about Autumn." He looked so smug
Reno huffed and said, "but its true."
"Doesn't mean you should say it" Cloud told him rolling his eyes.
"Reno what did you do now?" you asked sighing.
"I said you have a nice ass, it was a nice view" Reno replied, Cloud instantly smacked the back of his head. Reno whirled around and yelled. "She asked me! And don't lie you agree with me!" Cloud just shrugged.
You buried your face in your hands and sighed completely embarrassed. "Why is it always my ass" you mumbled in annoyance. it was one thing when Jeremy commented but you really don't want Reno to start now too.
"Well I could talk about your…." Reno was cut off when his face hit the bar. He tried to speak but Cloud forced Reno's face further into the bar, squishing his face.
"Reno!" you yelled, you could feel your ears burning in embarrassment.
"But ish true" Reno tried to say with his squished face, then he attempted to turn to Cloud and said, "come on buddy let me go."
"Autumn?" Cloud asked, looking for your approval. By now everyone in the bar was looking at the three of you, if you could fade into the lifestream in this moment you would, you were so embarrassed.
"Let him go" you sighed, turning away. Then you heard a thud followed by a groan of pain, you turned to see Reno sitting on the floor rubbing his head and Cloud with his hands up defensively as if to say it wasn't him. You looked at them curiously but before you could ask the bell on the door rang, signaling a new customer. You turned to see Rude, you've never been so happy to see a Turk in your life.
"Hey girl whats up?" Rude asked as he pulled you into a hug. "Strife" he nodded to Cloud as he released you.
"Rude" Cloud acknowledged.
"What took you so long to get here?" you asked.
"Rufus had a job for me" he replied, then he saw Reno on the ground. "What did he do now?" he asked.
"I only said…" He was cut off by Cloud kicking him as you yelled, "Say one more word and I will surgically remove your vocal cords."
"Thats brutal" Rude told you, then glanced at Reno before looking back at you, "But he probably deserves it." You caught up with Rude for bit before he decided it was time to get Reno back to Rufus, they left saying they would see you at Alyssa and Jeremy's wedding. Shortly after the bar cleared out, even the few regulars like Alex and Jacob left earlier than usual. Now it's just you and Cloud.
"Can I get you anything Cloud?" you asked breaking the silence.
He shook his head, nodding to the half finished beer in front of him. You began wiping down the counter, hopefully no one comes in and you can get all the cleaning done before closing. After a few moments of silence Cloud broke the silence. "Can we talk?" he asked timidly. It's always so strange when Cloud is timid, quiet and brooding sure, but anything that cracks his defenses always surprises you.
You stopped cleaning and stood in front of him across the bar. "What do you want to talk about?" you asked already knowing the answer.
"You know, the other night" replied looking away, his cheeks held a faint pinkish hue.
You absently bit your lip, "you mean when we had sex?" you questioned seeing his brush darken, "Or the fact that you have geostigma." Once you said those words, Cloud gave you his full attention, a look of shock on his face, he was about to speak when you cut him off. "Come on Cloud, did you really think I wouldn't recognize it?"
He was silent for a few moments before he finally said. "I thought you were distracted" the blush returning to his cheeks.
"I was" you told him honestly, as you put a hand on his. "But I'm still a doctor and other than Rufus' people, probably the most familiar with it." you told him. Cloud remained silent you weren't sure if he was embarrassed, upset with you or both. "Why didn't you tell me?" you ask quietly.
"I didn't want anyone to know" Cloud told you.
"But we already know about Denzel's, Cloud you don't have to be alone. If not me then Tifa…"
He cut you off, "I didn't want you to worry" He admitted, once he was sure he had your attention he continued, "That day when Alyssa and Jeremy found you, you talked about not being able to cure it, you were crying, I didn't want you to worry about me."
"I care about you, I'm going to worry about you, even if you didn't have geostigma, theirs plenty of other reasons to worry about you" You told him. Cloud tried to look away but you put your hand on his face stopping him, "We all worry about you, the being gone for days at a time, sleeping in the church, they laugh when I don't answer my phone because I'm always here, but we worry about you when you don't answer"
Cloud sighed and leaned into your hand absently, "I'll try to be better about it" he promised. You smiled at him. After a moment Cloud asked, "Please don't tell anyone."
You absently bit your lip, you didn't like this but you wanted to respect his wishes. "ok" you sighed, "But you will let me examine it whenever I want and you will follow my instructions," you said as you wrote down a list of ingredients and handed it to Cloud, "You're going to get these tomorrow, I can't cure it but I can at least treat it. Denzel is still in the beginning stages so all we can do is make sure he cleans the affected areas, but yours seems much worse, and looks like its starting to spread, hopefully this will ease the pain and slow the spreading…" You trailed off Cloud was looking at you, a small smile on his face, "Why are you looking at me like that?"
"You're very passionate about taking care of people" Cloud told you. You could feel your ears burning in embarrassment as he continued to smile at you. Something about this moment reminded you of when Zander first showed up. You had wandered into the kitchen one night looking for a late night snack and mom was changing Zander's bandages, she was explaining everything she was doing and everything he would need to remember to do and Zander just smiled at her. Now you're pretty embarrassed, just like your mom you tend to go off on tangents when it comes to anything related to medical treatments. You nearly jumped when you felt Cloud's hand cup your cheek, you got so lost in thought you didn't realize you must have been staring. "Autumn, are you ok?" he asked a look of concern clear on his face.
You nodded, "Yes! Sorry," you said a bit too quickly, "What you said just reminded me of something" You told him. Cloud examined your features for a moment before accepting that response with a nod. He let his hand linger for a few more moments before he moved a few stray strands of hair out of your face. "what are you doing?" you asked timidly.
"We still need to talk about the other night" he replied.
You thought you were ready to talk to Cloud about how you feel but now that you have your moment you're terrified. "What is there to talk about?" you asked lamely. Cloud's eyebrows knit together in confusion, You looked away and pinched the bridge of your nose; now you've messed up. "I'm sorry, I just…I don't know" You rambled.
"Autumn" Cloud said cutting you off. You finally met his gaze, getting lost in his brilliant blue eyes. "Do you regret sleeping with me?" Cloud asked looking at you curiously.
"No not at all" you answered instantly, Then you got nervous and started rambling. "You were.. and it was, it was wonderful."
Cloud smiled, "Then we'll figure it out."
"Take it day by day?" you asked you leaned on the counter.
Cloud leaned towards you, "I'd like that" he told you. You closed your eyes and leaned in, you could feel his breath on your lips when the bell signaling someone entered the bar rang. The two of you pulled away from each other so fast.
"Sis! Sis!" Riley yelled as he ran through the door, nearly knocking Tifa over. He ran over to you and jumped into your arms.
"I missed you too kid" You laughed as your little brother cuddled into you. "Did you have fun in Costa del Sol?" you asked.
"Alyssa and Jeremy are fun, but they made me try on so many clothes" Riley pouted. By now Marlene and Denzel had surrounded you.
"Theirs a beach!" Marlene said.
"And its so bright there!" Denzel added as you put Riley down. Cid, Yuffie and Barret took their seats at the bar, while Tifa came up to you. Vincent was lurking over by Cloud.
"Can we go to beach when we're there for the wedding?" Marlene asked.
"I don't see why not" you told her.
"Its all they've been talking about," Tifa laughed. "Hows everything here? Cloud wasn't gone too long?" she asked.
"I came back a week ago" Cloud said clearly defending himself.
"The bar is fine" You told her, then you remembered your never put in the order for everything we're out of. "Oh i completely forgot to call the supplier."
Tifa looked around, "Its fine, I'll do it in the morning, I wanna add some brews I tried over at this tiki bar anyway." she said as she started getting drinks for everyone.
"Tifa sit, I got it" you told her.
"Nah I've been away too long, gotta keep busy." She told you. "Oh and you better find your phone, you gotta call Alyssa"
You gasped, "Oh she's gonna kill me. I was suppose to call her back days ago" Before you could say another word, Riley, Marlene and Denzel rushed upstairs. You looked to your friends in confusion.
"Its a new game" Cid told you, "Find Autumn's phone."
"You do lose your phone all the time" Yuffie chimed in.
"They'll be able to play all the time" Barret added.
"Very funny" you rolled your eyes as you helped Tifa get everyone's drinks. You stole a glance at Cloud, he was watching you out of the corner of his eye as Barrett and Cid talked at him. You smiled at him briefly before turning your attention to Vincent.
"Something happened while I was gone" Vincent said quietly.
You were shocked but thankful that he doesn't know what happened. "What makes you say that?" you asked curiously.
"You're an awful lair," he told you, "Even when you were little you couldn't lie."
"I suppose thats a good thing." you told him as he took a seat in front of you. The two of you were a bit away from the rest of your friends, it seems only Cloud noticed, Barrett and Cid are already getting drunk so they're getting pretty loud.
"Did Cloud hurt you?" Vincent asked suddenly.
"Vinny, no" you sighed. "Cloud didn't hurt me" you told him.
"You're an awful liar Autumn"
"Remember you can't always protect me."
"I will if he hurt you"
You sighed, Vincent clearly wasn't going to let this go. "We had a misunderstanding, its handled, we're fine now" you told him trying to be vague. Vincent nodded thoughtfully and put a hand on your shoulder. You sighed, Vincent was just worried about you. "I know you mean well, but I'm an adult now" you told him.
"You're still the same little girl who opened my coffin."
"And you're still the same stuffy old vampire" you laughed.
The two of you joined your friends, Cloud gave you a discretely curious look, you just smiled trying to reassure him that nothing is wrong.