An exhausted sigh fell from your lips as you finally reached the last table of the bar. Being the 7th Heaven's janitor meant a lot of late hours and cleaning some of the most disgusting and weirdest of things; mainly the bathroom. You sprayed the cleaner onto the wooden surface and began to wash all the unneeded filth. As you gazed up at the clock above the exit, it read 12:01 a.m. You heaved another sigh.
Great way to start my 'special day'...
***
At last, all the duties had been completed and you were finally free to go home... which was the bar itself. You locked all the doors and switched off all the lights, leaving the entire bar dark and silent. As you were walking across the bar and towards the staircase, you could have sworn that there was a light thud coming from upstairs. However, you shrugged it off as you were too tired to care.
As soon as you reached the top floor where all the bedrooms were, including yours, you slight staggered to your room and began to turn the knob... only to have the light thudding noise from earlier reach your ears. And it sounded like it was coming from... behind the door? Your sleepiness faded a little. Was there something inside the room?
It's probably Marlene trying to get into my bed again.
As you turned the knob fully and peaked through, you saw nothing. Even with the somewhat bright light from the moon outside the window, everything but your bed seemed to be pitch black. You opened the door fully, having a clear view of the inside. No sign of anything... or anyone. Cautiously stepping inside, you closed the door and headed to your bed. Then, as you sat down onto the mattress, a colour contrasting black caught your eye.
A large vase of fresh, sweet-smelling roses rested on your nightstand. You were completely puzzled. You didn't remember having roses there before. Ever. As you gazed down, there was a tiny piece of paper leaning against the green vase. You took it from it's place and unfolded it, revealing exquisite, neat handwriting in blackish-blue ink which read; Happy Birthday.
"Do you like them?" a deep, grumbling voice suddenly asked. Much to your own amazement, the voice didn't startle you. Turning your body, you found Vincent Valentine himself standing right beside the window, his tattered red cloak swaying gracefully with the light breeze that was coming through the opened window. A rosy blush filled your cheeks upon seeing the raven-haired man.
"I do, but... How did you know it was my birthday?" you asked. As you recalled, you had never told anyone your birth date, even your best friend Tifa.
"I have my ways," Vincent simply put, walking slowly to you, his sabatons lightly clanking with with floor.
"I see... Well, thank you, Vincent. It's very sweet of you. And to be honest, you were kinda the last person I would expect to receive a gift from." You glanced down at the floor as the man was now mere inches from you, causing your heart to pump faster and harder against the bones of your rib cage.
"I needed to repay you," Vincent quietly claimed. Your (e/c) eyes flung to him, confused by what he meant. He was able to read and understand the look on your face, so he continued. "You've helped me a lot these passed few months, ranging from defeating my enemies to moving on from Lucrecia. It's the least I could do." His glowing red eyes seared into your own, making you internally melt. He had an unusual look adorned on his sharp, handsome features. You couldn't really put your finger on it as you had only ever seen him express monotoned, sad, or hateful expressions on his ghostly pale face, but... it almost seemed like he was expressing... happiness?
"I only did what I needed to do," you replied shyly, turning your head to the side in a weak attempt to hide your ever-growing blush(which was now starting to match the very colour of Vincent's cloak).
"You didn't need to help me as much as you did," he pointed out.
"Well..." You caught yourself being stuck due to his point. Yes, you didn't have to help him, but you did. Why? You could only blame your silly, little heart... which had been captured by the crimson-clad man for quite some time now. Nevertheless, you didn't want to spill out the secret, so you came up with a more subtle answer. "I couldn't just leave a friend hanging, now could I?"
Vincent's red eyes seemed to widen the smallest of a fraction.
"Friends...?" he repeated the word as if he had never heard of it before. The heat on your cheeks increased as you nodded to confirm.
"Yes. Weren't we always friends?"
The man blinked a couple of times, clearly moved by your words. Vincent did in fact think of you as a companion, but never did he think that the feeling was mutual on your part...Well, not exactly mutual... A light smile made it's was across his lips from behind the blood-coloured cloth slight covering them.
"I suppose so."
After a few moments of silence rested between you two, you slowly got the urge to do something you've always wanted to do, but you were unsure about it. You were scared about how he would react and if you would offend him by doing such a thing. However, you somehow got the courage to finally try it.
You swiftly leaned towards Vincent and wrapped your arms around his broad, lean waist and pressed your cheek against his chest, subsequently feeling/hearing his hitching breath and increased heartbeats. It was obvious that he was taken aback by your unexpected gesture. But that didn't stop him from returning it before you had a chance to pull back. He wrapped his strong arms over your back, encasing you in a secure shell of warmth and comfort.
END
