Tifa swung the door opened and let you walk inside first. Right in front of you was a staircase that led upstairs, and beside it was another that led down the stairs. Both staircases were covered in a dark blue carpet, but the floor beneath your feet at the entrance were white tiles. Along the wall were pairs of shoes, and you assumed the family didn't like having their shoes on inside the house. You kicked off the shoes on your feet and placed them to the side with the others.
"So polite!" Tifa exclaimed, copying your actions and walking up the stairs.
To the right was the living room, having a large flat screen T.V. sitting on top of a stand, having a couch made for three people sitting across from the television. A blue recliner was sitting off to the side with a glass coffee table beside it, having some papers and mugs sitting on top. Straight ahead from the stairs was one large room where only the white kitchen counter separated the kitchen and the dining room. The table they ate at was white and straight ahead, and off to the right was the white kitchen. To the left was a hallway, which you assumed led to the bedrooms and bathrooms.
Tifa smiled and excitedly ran down the hallway. "I have a surprise for you!"
Cloud and Noctis stood behind you as you curiously watched for what surprise Tifa had. You heard a door open and the sound of pap-pap-pap as something was running towards you. You gasped with shock when a small brown and white corgi came by and jumped on your legs, barking excitedly. You were taken back by the dog and you weren't quite sure what to do, since you've never really had a dog before.
"He loves meeting new people." Noctis smiled and bent down to pet him. "His name is Denzel."
You smiled and knelt down beside Noctis, reaching out and petting the energetic pup. He licked your hand and barked, which took you by surprise and made you fall. Noctis laughed and went to help you back to your feet. You looked away with embarrassment.
"He's friendly. Don't be afraid." Cloud assured you as he walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge. "What do you like to eat {Y/N}? We don't want to make something you don't like."
You went mute again, getting nervous to be in a new environment and having to learn to trust new people all over again. You simply shrugged, deciding not to answer him. Cloud turned away and looked through the fridge again, rummaging to try and find something simple that you enjoyed.
"Have you tried Chinese?" Tifa piped in. "Maybe we could order take out tonight?"
You turned to Noctis, hoping he would tell you what it tasted like or give you more information. Noctis patted the top of your head. "Just give her chicken and rice. She should enjoy that. Now let me show you to your new room, I hope you'll like it."
You followed the college boy down the hallway and followed him to the left. Straight ahead was a door and off to the right was another. Noctis opened the one that was right in front of you and let you enter first.
You gazed in awe as you walked inside. {The room can look any way that you want! But I'm including a bed, closet, wardrobe, and a desk. The color and such is up to you.} It seemed much more decorated than your last room, having lots of your favorite colors and designs all over, plus a very soft carpet beneath your feet.
Noctis smiled as you were looking around with wide eyes as if this was a new experience to you. You could feel his gaze resting on the back of your head, but you thought nothing of it since you were too excited to care. That's when Denzel came running in and he jumped on top of your bed, panting with this goofy look on his face. You couldn't help but giggle as you reached out to pet him, patting the top of his little fluffy head.
"You seem attached to him, and he likes you too. I mean, he likes everyone." Noctis began laughing. "If a murderer came in he would be happy to see them."
You laughed with him and turned towards him. "So Cloud is in the army?"
Noctis suddenly frowned. "Yeah. He's only back for the holiday and that's for like... a week or so. He's leaving a few days before Christmas. Oh! Speaking of which what do you want for Christmas?"
He seemed to be wanting to change the subject, and you decided to ask about Cloud being in the army another time. "They asked the same thing and I don't know."
"They? Oh, you mean the Fair's." Noctis shrugged. "We've talked about our families getting together so you can spend Christmas with the people you're actually comfortable with. I'm sure you've grown attached. I know this whole adoption thing was sudden."
You looked back towards Denzel and you sat beside him on the bed. He curled up on your lap and you proceeded to pet him again. "I'm happy, but I did get attached."
Noctis smirked. "Between you and me, Aerith and Zack would have adopted you in a heartbeat. But they didn't because of the boys."
"Zack said it wouldn't be fair to his boys. I don't get it." You frowned.
Noctis began laughing again and he laughed so much he had to hold his stomach. "Oh goodness {Y/N} you don't know? They wouldn't adopt you because of the same reason my parents were hesitant to adopt you."
"Is there something wrong with me?" You asked.
Noctis seemed to ignore you. "Then they mentioned that they only fostered me. So everything's okay."
"What?"
He turned as if he wanted to avoid the conversation. "I gotta tell mom what I want to eat. Sorry!" He dashed away in a blink of an eye.
You and Denzel exchanged eye contact and you shot him a confused look. He simply yapped before running out of the room to follow his master. You shook your head to get the confusion from your head before you chuckled and went to change your room the way you wanted to.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Back at the Fair's house, having dinner together was normal but at the same time, it wasn't. Taking into consideration both Zack and Aerith's jobs sometimes it was hard to have dinner together. The same went for the Strife family; with Cloud being in the army and Noctis being in college. Now that the family is together, everyone sat down at the table and you guys were enjoying the Chinese take out they had given you. You were told it was chicken and rice with some sauce you weren't sure of, but you did enjoy it. You felt a little awkward at first, however, as Noctis was talking about college and you sat there listening but not understanding what 'scholarships' and 'grants' were. You assumed since you were still in high school that you didn't have to worry about it for now.
"Do you want to go to college, {Y/N}?" Tifa suddenly asked.
You didn't like the fact that the house went silent as the family turned to look at you. You barely even knew what college was except for you pay to get educated.
"I-I don't know." You stuttered. "I don't know much about it."
"Noctis can tell you everything there is to know." Tifa assured you. She took a bite of her food and smiled.
"You don't need to know right away, that's fine." Cloud chimed in with his monotonous voice. "As long as you don't do anything illegal we'll support you."
You looked down to your food. Cloud seemed like a guy who's emotionless, but his words made you feel a bit better about the adoption plan. Despite the family not knowing you well, they still were going to support you and help you as you go about your life. You felt better knowing that not only the Fair family was willing to support you. All these wonderful people here to help you, and you never knew about their presence until after Zack had saved you from the monster who claimed to be your father. You looked up to see your new family, who were all staring. But they stared with compassionate eyes; eyes that told you that everything would be okay. You smiled a bit and chowed down on your food.
The sudden change startled you, but it was okay. They were a wonderful family and all of them were very kind towards you. You were lucky to end up having two wonderful families take care of you.
But you knew that Christmas was coming up. How were you going to give them anything? They deserved something from you. But what? You pondered the question as dinner ended and you finished most, but not all of your food. Tifa gladly took your plate and went to place it into a container so she could save it for later. That's when you went back into your room and collapsed on the bed.
What could you give everyone for Christmas with no money?
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
I know I haven't been updating (Yeah I have habits of either updating a lot or none at all) but that's because I graduated High school! *Add confetti and random noises here* So it's been a little busy for me. But I did it, and I'm done, and I survived. Sorry if this chapter is a little eh, but I wanted to post something before I went on with my busy life and before I went about trying to figure out what an "adult" is.
~Yunru