Hi friends, thank you so much for your comments on the last chapter. If you haven't gotten a reply back yet, you will soon :)
~Seventeen~
A fight and then a shooting. Zack was beyond angry. He was exasperated. Cloud ended up telling him about the shooting before he had to learn about it some other way. That was good, at least, but the thought Cloud had been physically assaulted was hard enough to deal with without having to think about the fact he could have also been shot. When he was sure Cloud was stable enough to hear it, he did lecture him again a little bit. It didn't last long on account of Cloud being pretty convincing when he said he was done with messing around. He really wanted to believe that. Really, he needed to because if he couldn't then he was going to get even less sleep than he already did.
He stayed with Cloud through the next several hours that morning. After Cloud telling him about his medication for this panic attacks was taken from him, he wanted to make sure he was able to get another refill as soon as possible. It was the weekend so Cloud's doctor's office was closed. His only option was to go to a walk-in clinic and request a prescription that would at least tide him over until he could talk to his own doctor.
Because he knew he didn't have the medication to assist him, Cloud had clearly been worried about finding himself at the mercy of one of his torturous attacks. He'd been afraid to sleep in case one of his nightmares set him off. Zack lay with him and promised to take care of him if he did start to panic. Luckily, it didn't come to that. There were a few moments when Cloud's anxiety started to go into overdrive and he was able to keep him calm and talk him through it.
Cloud had been pretty clear about not wanting to have a doctor look at his injuries from the fight, but with him having to go to the clinic anyway, Zack tried to convince him it'd be worthwhile to get looked at so he could maybe be prescribed something for the pain as well. Fortunately, by the time the closest clinic opened, he said his ribs weren't hurting as much as they had been in the very early morning hours right after the fight. Whatever pain he did have wasn't hindering his breathing, so that was reassuring.
While at the clinic, the doctor who saw to Cloud re-cleaned, disinfected and put new bandages on the small cuts on his face. He confirmed it didn't seem like his ribs had been fractured but suggested he continue icing them and his face and resting until he was pain free. Zack knew Cloud probably wasn't going to listen to that. Tifa was going to be having their weekly dinner that evening and although Cloud didn't want the attention his bruised face was obviously going to get him, he said he didn't want to miss out on it. He liked seeing everyone and Marlene would be disappointed if he wasn't there.
After the clinic and the pharmacy, where they picked up Cloud's prescriptions, Zack brought him back home so he could relax. He warned Reno not to bug the crap out of him or he'd give him bruises to match Cloud's.
After Zack had left, Cloud found that Reno was actually sort of considerate. He was still pretty irritating and cracked off a lot of insults to him like usual but he also offered to get him water or ice or anything he needed from the kitchen. In the early afternoon Reno left to go to the gym. Had Cloud not been a little high on the painkiller he'd been prescribed, he might have been more upset about missing out on joining him.
There was nothing for him to do but read or sit and watch television. The painkiller was actually amazing. He made a note to himself to remember to really thank Zack for pushing him to let the doctor examine him so he could get that prescription. It seemed to dull most of what he was feeling. Even his thoughts. He tried not to think about the things that his mind really seemed to want to dwell on. He knew he needed to figure his life out and set that goal for himself his therapist had suggested. He really needed to resist the urge to give in to the temptation to stay in bed and sleep his life away instead. The allure of that could be pretty powerful.
It had been awhile after Reno had gone out that he heard a knocking at the apartment door. Since Reno wasn't there to go answer it for him, he thought about just ignoring it. He gave in though after a few moments and decided to pull himself up off the couch and go see who was there. When he opened the door he was stunned to see it was Marco standing out in the hall. It took less than a second for the guy's nervous smile to fall from his face and be replaced with shock.
"Oh my god," he spoke in awe and confusion. "What happened to you?" he asked.
Cloud was so surprised by him being there at all that he couldn't find his voice right away. When he did, he avoided answering his inquiry.
"What, uh, are you doing here?" he asked back and Marco held up what he had in his one hand. It was his racing jacket. "I said you could leave it at the hotel desk," Cloud said tonelessly when he took the jacket back from him.
"I wanted to see you," Marco told him while looking him up and down a little. "What happened?" he asked again.
"Don't worry about it," he said. "Thanks for dropping this off," he added, a bit of discernible coldness making its way to his voice. He started to shut the door and Marco put his one hand against it, keeping it open.
"Whoa whoa," he exclaimed. "Are you mad?" he asked.
"No, why?" Cloud answered him casually but his voice was sharp.
"You sure? 'Cause you just tried to close a door in my face," Marco said to that, his hand still on the door. "I saw you called last night, I tried calling you back. Messaging you. You didn't answer so you must be mad about something," he insisted.
Cloud exhaled impatiently and looked at him hard. "You have a type right?" he said, more of a statement than a question.
"Uh, sure, cute, blond, and pissed at me?" he attempted to joke. "Yeah I guess, don't you?" he asked back with a light shrug.
"I came by the hotel last night and saw you in the lounge," Cloud said and was met with an expression like the guy couldn't see the relevance in what he was saying. "You weren't alone," he reminded him.
"Right…" Marco said softly in response, nodding a little and not looking away. He still seemed a little confused or didn't get the point Cloud was making but it was obvious when he realized. "Oh," he said, his eyes widening a little in understanding. "You think that—no, that wasn't—" he smiled then a little. "That was just contract related for WhipCat," he claimed.
Immediately, Cloud had a sinking and burning feeling coming over him. He hadn't even thought about the possibility of something like that. Still, he was suspicious and guarded. "At that time of night?" he questioned skeptically.
Marco shrugged. "Yeah, that was the only time I could get a meeting with this guy. It was really last minute," he confirmed. "It happens. I've finalized deals in the middle of the night before," he said. "I swear that's all it was," he assured Cloud. "You're the only person I've had back to my hotel room or slept with while I've been in town," he stated and then his expression changed and he lowered his hand from the door finally. "Wait, are you...jealous?" he spoke through a grin.
"No," Cloud denied, feeling embarrassed but trying his best not to let it show.
"You saw me with someone else and you got mad about it," Marco said. "Kinda sounds like you're a little teensy bit jealous," he teased.
"Well, nothing to be jealous of now," Cloud retorted. "You're leaving today right?"
"Actually," Marco said as he leaned his one shoulder against the doorframe. "The guy you saw me with in the lounge, he's the cousin of the racer we're trying to sign. He's sort of an unofficial agent acting on his behalf. We're negotiating some terms but I have to wait on the rider to come back into town. It's going to be another few days at least," he explained. "So...I'm extending my trip a little longer," he informed Cloud with a small but warm smile and something of a presumptive gaze. "That means you know, there's a little more time for us to…"
"What? Waste time?" Cloud said when he left the statement unfinished. The suggestion Marco was making though was clear.
"If you want to put it that way," Marco agreed uneasily. "I really like wasting time with you."
Cloud gave him a bit of a hesitant smile back. "You could do that with anyone, though," he pointed out. "A bunch of anyones. Why limit yourself?"
Marco shrugged. "I'm happy doing it with you," he said simply.
Cloud couldn't help scoffing at that, hardening his expression. "Why?" he questioned and he actually did want to know because he didn't get it.
"Why not?" Marco replied. "You're fun," he said and Cloud's brow furrowed at the suggestion.
"Fun?" Cloud said back. He didn't think that was true.
"Not the right word?" Marco asked, chuckling a little. "Ummm…" he hummed as he thought for a second. "Well, I think you're different from anyone else I've ever met. I think you're really interesting," he explained seriously. "You're honest and you're smart, and funny in a very cute sarcastic way. You do a really good job pretending you're not impressed by or interested in me in the least, which for some reason I find incredibly attractive. You've got the craziest amazing-est blue eyes I've ever seen."
"Amazing-est?" Cloud repeated dryly and Marco just nodded.
"I like you," he said simply. "If you weren't so against it, I'd have kissed the hell out of you by now."
He didn't really know what made him do it, but without even thinking about it, Cloud reached up and took hold of his shirt. He pulled Marco toward him a little and kissed him, taking him completely by surprise. It stung a little, his mouth being sore from the night before. He started pulling Marco with him into the apartment. He had to let go of the guy's shirt to close the door. Marco pulled back from him a little then.
"I didn't say that to get you to—" he began to say.
"I know," Cloud said before he could finish.
Their mouths met again as he lifted his one hand to hang his jacket up on a hook next to the door, not even looking to see if he was close enough to reach it. He found out he wasn't when he heard the jacket hitting the floor. Marco tried to take his face in his hands while kissing him back, which had him hissing a little from the pain.
"Ah, fuh..." he spoke against Marco's mouth.
"Sorry," Marco said. "We should stop, let's stop," he suggested.
"It's fine," Cloud told him. "Just don't grab my face," he said.
"You didn't say what happened," Marco reminded him when Cloud tried to lean up into him again.
"I don't wanna talk about it," was all he said.
Marco kissed him back for only another second or so before retracting again.
"I feel like this can't be comfortable for you," he said making Cloud huff out an irritated exhale.
"It's my problem to worry about," he told him.
"That doesn't just instantly make me not worry," Marco said, pulling back from him again a little.
Cloud looked at him hard. "You're kind of pissing me off right now," he informed him.
He didn't want to think about anything right then. He definitely didn't want to think about his injuries and what caused them, or anything that would make him change his mind or second-guess his assertiveness with Marco in that moment. He was feeling something other than just impulse for once. He couldn't put words to it or really define what it was right then but he wanted to ride the feeling.
"Sorry," Marco replied, laughing a little and leaning in to kiss the side of his neck as Cloud was trying to unbutton his shirt. "You're hot when you're mad," the guy spoke against his skin.
"Stop talking," Cloud told him.
"And when you're bossy," Marco added, his hands running down Cloud's back and holding his body against his. "You're really turning me on right now," he spoke just above a whisper.
"Good," Cloud said back, his fingers undoing the last of the buttons on Marco's pale yellow shirt. He was walking forward, moving them in the direction of the bedroom when the back of Marco's leg brushed against the edge of the coffee table.
"Why are you pushing me?" he questioned as he looked down to see what he'd felt touch his leg while walking backward. "I feel like I'm going to hit something."
"Bedroom's behind you," Cloud said before pressing his lips to his again.
A few steps after, Marco's back did hit the frame of the doorway to the bedroom. They shuffled inside and Cloud shut the door. Inside the room, Cloud reached down to undo Marco's pants while the guy held onto the back of his head firmly but kept his kisses a little on the softer side. Marco kicked off his shoes so he could get his jeans fully off. Cloud slid Marco's open shirt down his shoulders and off his arms and actively tried to disregard the pain in his torso when he finally sat himself down on the bed and moved himself to where he could lay back comfortably. He found himself groaning a little from what pain he did feel radiating out from deep in his torso but he was sure it hadn't come across as an indication of pain to Marco.
"Where's your stuff?" Marco asked him.
"Side table," Cloud said. It's where he kept some lube and some condoms. For a moment though Marco just knelt over him on the bed, still just kissing him. "You need to not be so nice this time," he told Marco then and the guy pulled back a little.
"What do you mean?" he asked to that.
"You're too considerate, or something, it's annoying," he informed him straight. Marco looked at him with one eyebrow raised.
"Mm, 'kay, that makes no sense," he said through a smile as he took the one tied end of the drawstring on Cloud's sweatpants and pulled it slowly, undoing the loose knot.
"Just stop thinking so much and being so goddamn gentle," Cloud told him firmly. "Is that really how you wanted to screw me when you first tried to hit on me?" he questioned somewhat sharply, sliding himself up against the pillows a bit so he could get his t-shirt off.
"Well no," Marco admitted as he helped to pull the material up and over his head. "But fantasizing about something's a little different than—whoa!" he exclaimed then when his t-shirt came off. "What the hell," he uttered with clear concern when he saw the bruising that was setting in to Cloud's torso.
"It's fine," Cloud assured him.
"That doesn't look fine," Marco replied swiftly.
"It is," Cloud insisted. "Just don't grab me there," he said. He tried to reach over to the side table drawer.
"Are you sure, these bruises..." Marco spoke apprehensively, his right hand hovering over the area of his torso.
"Are bruises, not stab wounds," Cloud snapped back. "It's fine," he repeated.
"What if I'm hurting you?" Marco asked.
"I'll tell you," Cloud replied simply. He could see though that Marco was really worried. "I'm doped up on pain medication right now, I won't feel shit unless you press on it," he told him surely. After informing him of that fact, the guy sighed and shook his head.
"Oh, that's comforting," he remarked. "So, you're drugged right now and you expect me to go ahead and take advantage of you now that I know that?" he spoke rhetorically.
"What?" Cloud replied, not understanding. "Are you for real right now?" he asked. He was ready and willing but when he looked down Marco's body to below his waist, through his boxer briefs he could see for himself it was just the opposite now for him.
"That's gonna be a rain check I think," Marco told him softly. He placed a light kiss on the centre of Cloud's forehead and moved himself off him, lying himself next to him on his back with a deep exhale.
"Seriously?" Cloud said, still not really believing it. He struggled to sit himself up a little higher in the bed, resting his head and upper back against the headboard, eying Marco critically.
"Yeah," Marco, confirmed. He laughed a little at the incredulous look on Cloud's face and placed his hands behind his head. "Afraid so," he added.
Cloud looked away from him, exhaling sharply, and tried to decide if he was frustrated, angry or offended. Really though, he was none of those things. He looked down again at Marco and the guy gave him a small, apologetic smile. "You really are just a decent and considerate jerk," he noted aloud.
The guy thought about it, looking up at the ceiling a second. "That's seems...oxymoronic," he replied lightly. He lowered his arms and turned onto his side, propping himself up on his elbow. "I try to be," he admitted. "Come see me when I'm in the middle of a power sell job and you'll see a different side."
"Yeah right," Cloud spoke back doubtfully. "There's beer in the fridge," he said then. "Is it possible to get you drunk enough to forget how nice you are and do me right now?"
Marco's brow furrowed a little. "Right now? How fast do you think I get drunk?"
"Well if you chugged," Cloud said back.
"Then I'd pass out and probably wouldn't be able to function below the belt anyway," he explained with a laugh. "And no. No mind or body altering substance would make me forget to care about you," he declared. He winced a little when he looked at the bruising that he could see on Cloud's forearms as well, where he'd been hit by Kell while trying to defend himself.
"Hey, you're not in some kind of trouble are you?" he asked as he ran the back of his hand over Cloud's one forearm gently, just brushing it.
"Trouble?" Cloud repeated in question.
"Like some kind of bad domestic situation with someone," he clarified.
Cloud shook his head, not understanding. "What?"
"Did someone you've been with do this to you? Like an ex or something?"
Cloud thought about it. He supposed technically it was from someone he'd been with, but he didn't think that's really what Marco was thinking when asking.
"It was from a fight at a club," he told him.
"Over what?"
Cloud shrugged. "Nothing, the guy was crazy," he said. It only felt a little like a lie since Kell really had seemed a little crazy.
"He just started swinging, huh?" Marco questioned, seeming a little distrustful of his short explanation.
"Something like that," he agreed.
"What about the rest of it?" he inquired then.
"The rest of what?"
"The older stuff. You've got a lot of scars," he pointed out softly, looking up at him sympathetically, like he already knew it had to be from something bad.
"I dunno. Shit just happens. Accidents," Cloud claimed, trying to make light of them and appear indifferent to them.
"The ones on your back? That's no accident," Marco argued. "They look like they either came from some kind of BDSM play or some messed up form of punishment," he reasoned.
"It's not what you think," Cloud said and that was true. It wasn't from some kind of sadomasochistic sex play and it wasn't from the kind of punishment Marco would be imagining. He could never imagine the reality. "It was a long time ago," he said, looking down and away from Marco.
"Doesn't make it not what it was," the guy told him quietly but matter-of-factly.
He looked at Marco. "It makes it over," he concluded.
Marco looked back at him, his expression softening a little in acceptance. "Fair enough," he said.
"Hey, how'd you know which unit I live in?" Cloud asked him then, switching topics to something less uncomfortable.
Marco smiled almost embarrassedly at that. His face reddened a little as he explained. "Oh, uh I had no idea. I just knocked on every door in the building until you answered. You have some interesting neighbours," he said and Cloud couldn't help smirking a little at the thought of him wandering door to door. "And one in fact who has a roommate named Spike, but, uh—"
"That's not me," Cloud said, laughing a little.
"No," Marco said. "Much different physique, but actually maybe marginally more friendly than you are," he teased. "You know, I really didn't think you'd show up last night, even if I was really hoping you would. I'm sad I missed you," he expressed with clear disappointment. "I should have let you know I was going to be in the lounge in case you did come by."
Cloud scoffed at that. "It's hardly your fault. I'm the idiot. This shit," he said, indicating to his injuries, "wouldn't have happened if I hadn't walked out so sure I knew what was up."
Marco gave him another brief sympathetic and soft smile. His eyes brightened then. "You wanna have a date night? It's basically our one-week anniversary," he pointed out jokingly.
"I don't," Cloud said back fast to that. "That sounds awful."
"What?" Marco said, taken aback by his reaction.
"I'd rather get punched again," Cloud stated firmly.
"Geeze, tone down the romantic vibes," Marco retorted. "If I took you out you'd like it, trust me, but you're black and blue, obviously I don't expect you to go anywhere. We could just stay in and watch some dumb movies and I'll take care of you."
"Kinda just sounds like that first night we hung out," Cloud pointed out. Marco smiled at the mention of it.
"Ah, recreating the magic of the first night together, so appropriate for an anniversary," he declared with amusement.
Before Cloud could say something back to that, they could both hear the sound of the apartment door opening and closing, someone entering.
"Uhhh...is this the part where I have to sneak out the window?" Marco questioned lightly.
"It's Reno. The guy you met at the race," Cloud told him. He could tell it was Reno because the guy was a lot louder than Zack or anyone else who ever visited the apartment and would walk right in without knocking.
"Oh," Marco said. "He seemed..."
"Annoying?" Cloud offered as an identifier for his new roommate. "He's gonna harass you when he sees you." Cloud reached for his shirt then so he could get it back on.
"That's okay," Marco said with a light shrug. "I can take it. I'm a pro at meeting the friends and family," he added almost proudly. He got himself up so he could start getting re-dressed as well.
"He's neither," Cloud argued.
"Then what is he?"
"Kind of like that mould you can't get rid of," Cloud answered with his head inside his shirt. He pushed it through the neck hole then. "You don't want to be here if you don't have to be."
"You wanna come back to my fancy-ish suite?" Marco asked as he retrieved his pants from the floor.
"Uh, actually, I've got a kind of family dinner thing," Cloud told him. Dinner at Tifa's.
"So, then I pick you up after," Marco offered. Cloud was hesitant though. "Just say yes," Marco urged, rolling his eyes. "Don't be accusin' me of being the only one who thinks too much." Cloud tried to keep a neutral expression when he looked at him but it was hard to do. "Yeah?" Marco questioned, seeing from Cloud's face he was also having a hard time coming up with an excuse to say no.
"Yooooo," Reno called from out in the living room then. "You alive?"
"He'll keep yelling until I open the door," Cloud said. He got himself up off the bed slowly and Marco finished getting himself dressed again. When he was done, Cloud opened the bedroom door and stepped out of the room with Marco following.
"Hey!" Reno greeted with surprise from the couch where he'd plopped himself down. He was still in his gym clothes and he had a smoothie cup in his one hand. "It's ass-man!" he noted loudly.
"You call me that?" Marco asked Cloud when he looked at him. Cloud shook his head.
"Nope, he does, 'cause apparently he's got a thing for yours," he explained dryly.
"Thought you were leaving town, bro," Reno said to Marco then. "Come for a goodbye lay before you jet?"
"Departure's been delayed," Marco replied. "Just came by to drop something off."
Reno looked thoroughly amused. "Balls or heart? Kid's got one of em', right?" he quipped, clearly meaning to catch Marco off-guard and leave him struggling with how to respond.
Marco smirked and quickly responded. "After you've busted the one, I guess that just leaves the other." He looked back at Cloud who tried to keep a straight face.
"Damn!" Reno exclaimed to that. "Ass-man's got jokes!"
Marco looked at him a little proudly, like he just won some kind of match. He headed toward the door with Cloud then. Cloud opened it for him and he paused before heading out. "Get some rest," he said warmly. "Message me later." Cloud gave him a short nod and smile and closed the door after him when he finally left.
"Look at you," Reno spoke up.
"You can shut right up," Cloud replied to that.
When he turned away from the door he could see Reno with a second smoothie cup in his hand holding it up and out to him. He waved it a little at Cloud until he finally came forward to take it.
"Chill out, I kind of like him," Reno said with a wide grin, lifting his one foot and pressing it against the edge of the coffee table.
"I kind of don't care," Cloud countered, sitting himself down slowly on the couch next to him.
