Tifa inhaled deeply, her hands trembling at her sides, her heart stammering in her chest, her breath still ragged and her skin still hot. Her father was standing in the center of the living room, his expression pulled back into a severe glower, studying her face with his eyebrow raised high on his forehead.
Cloud had left moments ago, leaving Tifa alone with her father in the living room, all of the air sucked out of the room when the door had closed behind him. Now, standing alone with her father's penetrating, accusatory glare on her, Tifa felt her nerves begin to eclipse, anxiety bubbling up and expanding in her gut.
"I wasn't expecting you," Tifa finally spoke, her voice small and choked by the embarrassment that still flooded her body. Just moments ago, Cloud had her pressed against the wall, grinding against her and sending new, hot sensations of pleasure coursing through her senses, and she had been seconds away from exploding into stardust when the doorbell rang. It had been a brutal interruption, but the horror of the situation was only magnified by the reality that it was her father of all people who had chosen that exact moment to visit, and she was still disheveled and flushed, awash with scorching desire and an ache that badly needed to be assuaged.
It was a terrible condition to be in, standing in front of her father in this state, his scornful grimace informing her that he knew everything that had been happening prior to his arrival.
Brian tipped his head at her before dropping onto her couch, unbuttoning his jacket as he settled one arm out over its back, watching her carefully. In tandem, Tifa turned, catching her breath and willing her heartbeat to slow, and took a seat in the armchair, facing him.
He ran his hand over his mustache for a moment before shaking his head at her.
"Was that that Strife bastard from Colorado?" he asked suddenly, thumbing back at the door where Cloud had departed moments ago.
Tifa blinked, feeling the heated flush of arousal she was still living under transform suddenly into anger. She sat up straighter, glancing back at him, shaking her head.
"Dad..."
"I hope you are not getting involved with that boy, Tifa," her father cautioned, and Tifa once again hated the condescension in his tone, not too dissimilar from how Rufus had so dismissively referred to Cloud. "He is absolutely no good for you. I remember his family well; complete trash."
Tifa's mouth opened, her eyes widening in surprise, but her father went on relentlessly, crossing one leg over the other as he looked at her sternly.
"His father left that family in so much debt," Brian added, shaking his head. "His mother defaulted on so many loans, she was the biggest liability I had ever seen in all of my years at Bank of the West," he shook his head. "And she had no control over that boy. He was always getting into trouble, I remember your mother talking about it all of the time. I couldn't imagine why she insisted on being friends with that woman."
He was shaking his head, clearly disdained, but Tifa could only stare, feeling pressure build inside of her chest.
"I don't know what he is doing here, in New York," Brian continued, "But Tifa, I forbid you to entertain him. A boy like that is nothing but trouble, and is certainly not worth your time nor is he any good for you. Rufus has already made mention of this to me, which was something I intended to talk to you about. A security guard? Laughable."
Tifa stared, disbelieving. Rufus had brought Cloud up to her father? What sort of grotesque conspiracy were these men playing with her life?
"Dad," Tifa's voice had taken on a tentative, warning edge. "What are you talking about?"
Brian tilted his head at her, offering her a disapproving look. "Tifa, you are not a little girl anymore," he chastised her, and Tifa felt her cheeks brighten with humiliation. "I know that you had your ideals about things, but now we need to start thinking seriously about your future."
"Please elaborate," Tifa couldn't stop herself from biting out.
Brian pursed his lips into a thin line until they disappeared beneath his mustache. "A woman like you needs to be very careful when considering the kinds of men that you would invite into your life," he began. "You are very wealthy, in case you have forgotten, and poor, average Joes like Strife would go out of their way to attach themselves to you. This is a dangerous game to be playing."
Tifa could not believe what she was hearing. Was her father actually suggesting that Cloud might only be interested in her money?
Her father couldn't possibly be that cynical, could he? Or that stupid?
"Not only that," he continued ruthlessly, "But you now have a very prominent role in one of the largest institutions in the world. You need to guard your reputation carefully, and that begins significantly with how you treat your personal life. It won't be long before the tabloids are chasing after you, a young woman as successful and beautiful as you are. You do not want to give them an excuse drag your name through the mud."
The fury that was stacking inside of her with his every word was becoming unbearable, leaving Tifa feeling like she might scream if he said another word.
"My personal life, and who I choose to date, are no one's business," she informed him carefully.
"That may be the way that you see it, Tifa," her father replied. "But I can assure you, that nothing is further from the truth. You were born into a certain position in life, and you are simply going to have to learn to accept what comes with that."
Tifa's knee began to buckle and sway.
Brian sighed, shaking his head again. "I've learned that Rufus asked you out, and that you refused him," he said in a low, serious tone. "What are you thinking? Are you trying to embarrass me, Tifa?"
Tifa's eyes widened in shock, and she wondered if it were possible for this conversation to get any worse from here.
She started to respond, but her father was at his feet, suddenly pacing as he continued, waving a finger down at her. "If Rufus Shinra asks you on a date, Tifa, goddamnit , you accept," he scolded. "I don't have time for your childish behavior. And Rufus would be good for you. He's older, mature, and stable ."
Tifa had never been a disrespectful or defiant daughter, but she was moments away from snapping at her father, seconds from cursing him for the audacity of his words, they were so unbelievable. She was well aware of the control that he was trying to leverage over her life, but this was a bridge too far, flaming her neck hot, the rage threatening to boil over in a nasty outburst.
"No," Tifa replied evenly, working hard to control herself. "I am not interested in dating him."
Brian stopped his pacing, turning to face her, a threatening look on his face.
"Tifa," he warned, "Do not defy me. This is about more than just your silly crush on that Strife boy. This is about your future and mine, and our future with the Company."
She narrowed her eyes at him, certain that he was not suggesting that somehow, he wanted her to date Rufus as part of some ploy to improve his own standing with the Shinras.
"What are you saying?" She asked him slowly, her hands balling up into fists in her lap.
Brian resumed his seat on the couch, this time leaning forward over his knees, adjusting his necktie. "All I am saying," he responded in a level, even tone, "Is that if Rufus Shinra asks you out again, you accept. At least give him a chance."
Not a chance in hell , Tifa thought, though she said nothing.
Her father sighed, leaning back on the couch again, his eyes narrowed at her.
"There is something else," he said slowly.
Tifa just waited, her heart beating viciously loud in her chest.
"I need you to be very careful in how you conduct yourself when working with Shinra Capitol's accounts," he informed her. "I am sure you don't need me to warn you about the importance of discretion, but some of this firm's investments are extremely delicate. And they have earned quite a bit of attention from external interests. We need to exercise caution."
Tifa blinked, unsure of what he was trying to communicate, but was suddenly reminded of CorelCorp and that U.S. Attorney who had cornered her a few days ago.
"What is this about, Dad?" she asked, her voice catching in her throat.
"Just be reminded that you are bound to a non-disclosure agreement concerning your employment with the firm," he warned.
Tifa studied his face, trying to read the thinly veiled implications of what he was saying, trying to decipher the words he was not mentioning. Narrowing her eyes, she sat up straighter.
"Does this have anything to do with that U.S. Attorney?" she asked him, matter of factly, keeping her tone neutral.
Her father quirked an eyebrow, brown eyes both narrowing. "What US Attorney, Tifa? Has someone already been talking to you?"
"Reeve Tuesti," she responded. "He approached me a few days outside of Headquarters, asking about trades with CorelCorp, about your involvement in them. And Rufus just had us make a huge sell-off of CorelCorp shares. What's going on?"
Brian stared at her, then shook his head, letting out a brief, dark chuckle.
"Tuesti, huh? Already? Tifa, do not talk to that man," her father warned. "He is an opportunist. He is planning to run for governor next year, and is looking to make a name for himself ahead of the election by going after Wall Street firms. He's been digging for something to sink his teeth into for years. He wouldn't know the first thing about business or finance if it hit him in the jaw. Just another holier-than-thou, sanctimonious government lawyer."
Tifa felt bile begin to rise in her belly, biting down on her bottom lip to hold it back. She dropped her hands to her sides on the chair she sat in, her nails digging deep into the cushion's fabric.
"There is nothing to worry about, Tifa," her father continued. "Let Tuesti poke and prod all he wants. The business conducted at Shinra is perfectly legitimate. Just avoid him at all costs and do not tell him anything about the work that we conduct in the firm. You are under no obligation whatsoever to speak to him. If you feel uncomfortable, you may request the assistance of General Counsel Tseng, or one of our other attorneys on retainer."
Tifa wanted to laugh at that, hardly believing that Tseng would do anything to help her at all.
Sighing, Brian pushed up to his feet again, buttoning his coat and looking down on her with a purely contemplative look on his face.
"Consider everything that I said," he advised her calmly. "These are serious matters, Tifa, and I expect you to behave with the grace and poise I know you are capable of."
With that, he bent down to press a kiss to her forehead, his lips burning her flesh.
"I'll call you later in the week."
Tifa watched him wordlessly as he left her apartment, closing the door behind him and making his way down the stairs outside of her foyer.
When he was gone, she dropped her head into her hands, feeling tears well up in the corner of her eyes. Her entire body was now shaking, she realized, completely seized by his audacity and his threats. Dumbfounded, she poured over his words and the violent edge of his commands to her, insisting that she sacrifice everything, not only her hopes and dreams for her own goals in life, but now even her most personal affairs.
There was no way that she was going to date Rufus Shinra. She did not care what her father said.
"Tifa?"
Tifa looked up, seeing that Aerith had reappeared in the living room, making her way over to the couch. Tifa glanced over at her, wiping the tears from her eyes with the back of her fists.
"What's wrong?" her friend immediately asked. "What did your father want?"
Tifa shook her head. "Oh, Aerith, my dad has completely lost his mind," she blurted, shaking her head. "Not only is he forcing me to work at Shinra, but now he is actually encouraging me to date Rufus. And worse yet, I think he might be involved in something illegal!"
Aerith held her hands up, concern suddenly etched across her face as she leaned forward. "Whoa, whoa. Slow down. That's a lot to take in. Let's start from the beginning. Dating Rufus?"
Tifa got to her feet; just hearing Aerith repeat the words to her sent a flare of anger and anxiety into her throat. "I can't believe it, Aerith. Rufus has been pursuing me relentlessly since I started. He dragged me to a god-awful lunch, invited me to the Hamptons, and tried to corner me into going out on a date with him." She began to pace between her chair and the television across the room, side-stepping the coffee table, Aerith's eyes following her as she went back and forth. She stopped then, dropping her hands to her hips as she glared at Aerith as if somehow this were all her fault.
"But Aerith, I can handle Rufus," she gasped, shaking her head again. "I can turn him down. But I can't handle my father. He wants me to date Rufus, and he basically threatened me."
It was Aerith's turn to stand, and she rose and crossed over to Tifa, reaching up to her friend who was a few inches taller than her and settling her warm hands on her shoulders, trying to quell the tension that was rushing up inside of her and threatening to burst through the floodgates.
"Threaten? Listen to me, Tifa. Take a deep breath, and listen. Your father cannot force you to do anything you don't want to do. And he can't threaten you. You're a grown woman. What is he going to do to you, Tifa? Think about it."
Tifa shook her head and turned away, not wanting to respond to that, but Aerith was relentless, pulling her shoulders so that she was forced to face her again.
"Worse than that," Tifa found herself finally sighing, "He hates Cloud. I knew he didn't like him when we were kids, but now, I know why... and I'm disgusted. He forbid me to see him."
At that, Aerith snapped her head back as if she had been slapped, her tongue making a sharp clicking noise against her teeth.
"Tifa, are you hearing me?" Aerith's voice was now bright and sharp, and Tifa could see the pulsing viridian flickers in her eyes, indicating that she was also furious. "He cannot force you to date anyone, and he can't tell you who you can or cannot see! This isn't the fifteenth century!"
Tifa expelled a sigh, nodding, knowing that Aerith was right, but also knowing that she lacked the courage to fight her father, that this was a losing battle, and feeling like her only option might be to run, she was feeling so caged.
"And what's this about illegal activity?" Aerith went on.
At that, the air left Tifa's lungs, and she stepped away and collapsed back onto the armchair, now dropping her head in her hands, tears threatening the corners of her eyes. She heard Aerith step closer to her, her soft breathing waiting above.
"Tifa?"
Finally, Tifa looked up and sat up, exhaling deeply. "There's a U.S. Attorney investigating my dad, maybe investigating the entire company. He already questioned me. My dad pretty much told me to keep my mouth shut."
Aerith sighed, dropping back into her seat on the couch. "Investigating him for what, Tifa?"
Tifa was looking down at her hands, where her fingers had begun to roll and twist over each other. "I'm not really sure. But I've heard some suspicious things in the office involving certain stocks and accounts. It could be insider trading, or worse."
"There's something worse than that?" Aerith asked with a laugh, but Tifa only shook her head.
Aerith's giggling died in her throat. "Okay, listen, Tifa. This is New York. The law here is... ambitious. And they are very aggressive with Wall Street, especially after the last financial crash. Maybe he's just overzealous. I mean, do you really think your father could be capable of something like that?"
Tifa swallowed the lump in her throat, realizing that she wasn't sure anymore, that maybe, she'd never really known who her father was.
"I'm tired," Tifa suddenly announced. "I need to go to bed."
Tifa swiped her phone soundlessly off of the coffee table, ambling down the hall to her room without another word to her best friend, closing the door behind her before she fell face-first across her bed, letting the mattress bounce gently with the weight of her fall.
She laid silently in the darkness for a long moment, before she eventually lifted her head, hearing her heart in her ears again, feeling the rise of adrenaline that accompanied the spiking anxious energy that had clouded around her. As much as Aerith had been right and was trying to help, Tifa still felt trapped by her own inability to do anything about the situation she found herself in, by her inability to stand up to her father and extract herself completely from this entire mess.
At that thought, she felt tears threaten her eyes again, and she willed them away, swallowing the heavy mass in the center of her throat that was eager to reveal itself as a sob. Instead, she pulled her phone toward her face, swiping up to unlock the screen and glancing down at the swirling, liquified colors in the display.
She hesitated for a moment before she navigated to Cloud's contact, opening up his text message window.
Tifa: Hey. I'm really sorry about that
Cloud: Hey. It's okay.
Tifa: No it's not. My dad is a jerk
Cloud: Yeah, I knew that already, but it's not your fault.
Tifa cracked a smile at his response, rolling to her back and holding her phone over her chest as she giggled at his response.
Cloud: We still need to talk.
She bit her lip, staring at the screen for a long moment, his words staring right back at her with an ethereal glow. She thought back to the moment they'd shared just over an hour ago, hesitant confessions falling from their lips before he had her pressed against the wall, his lips melded with hers and his fingers threaded through her hair as he ground the hardest part of his body against the softest part of hers.
Just the thought of it had her growing warm and wet and swollen again.
Tifa: Are you working tomorrow?
Cloud : I'm off.
Tifa: Can I come over when I get out of work?
Cloud: Sure. I'll be here.
Tifa: Okay. I'll see you then
She hesitated again, then added a blue heart and sent it to him. She waited, staring at the screen, her heart in the center of her throat.
A moment later, he responded, sending the same blue heart back to her.
Smiling, Tifa dropped her phone on her bedside table, pulling the covers over her head, warmth blooming over her and helping her forget her troubles, at least for a little while.
The next evening during the rush hour, Tifa rode the subway home, clutching the stanchion and holding her laptop close against her hip, her body swaying with the jerks of the train along the tracks. Rufus hadn't been in the office today, so mercifully she'd been able to avoid him, focusing instead on her actual workload for the majority of the day, pouring over accounts and reports and responding to client inquiries. She avoided most of the other analysts and strategists on their team, though Elena had stopped by a few times to chat. As uneventful as it had been, it had still been a Monday, and Tifa was feeling the typical exhaustion that was associated with the start of the workweek.
And now, she was on her way to Cloud's apartment, ready to follow up on the conversation that they'd started the night before, a conversation that had been first interrupted by their own desire for each other, and ultimately by the untimely arrival of her father.
Tifa pushed that thought from her mind as her train came to a stop in Park Slope and she began to carefully file out of the subway behind the throngs of the workday crowds. Now that a day had passed since that moment, Tifa'd had time to ruminate on the fiery state of her relationship with Cloud and how it was beginning to quickly spiral out of control. With everything in her life in a constant state of flux and tumult, her relationship with Cloud was just another lighting bolt in the center of the storm. She was torn between wanting to be with him, to fully confess the true depths of her desire, to let him know that they went far deeper than a mere physical attraction, and that she was falling for him. The logical part of her brain didn't want to invite the complications and drama of a relationship into her life, especially one that would make her father angry and inflame the already thorny challenges in her life.
As she walked through Park Slope, the sky already dark and the harsh winter wind biting her cheeks, she wondered how she could navigate her feelings and the realities that were crashing in around her, and why she couldn't summon the courage to do as Aerith always unhelpfully suggested, and just follow her heart. Could she ever do what she wanted without worrying about what everyone else around her expected of her?
As she rounded Sterling Place and approached Cloud's complex, she sent him a quick text to let him know she was close. The front desk buzzed her in, her heart riding her throat the entire journey she took the elevator up to his floor.
She held her breath after she'd knocked on his door, but it was only moments later when he appeared in the doorway, pulling it open and making room for her to enter.
"Hey, Teef," he greeted her softly, tossing his head in a nod so that his fluffy yellow fringe brushed across his forehead. He was wearing sweats again, dark grey pants and a pullover hoodie with the words US ARMY stamped across the front in camouflage embroidery. Already, she could detect his masculine scent, crisp and clean and pleasant, not overpowering, but inviting and somehow tranquil.
"Hey, Cloud."
She stepped into his living room, hearing the rat-a-tat-tat of gunfire erupt from the television across the room, finding a shock of black hair peer up from behind the couch. As Cloud locked the door behind her, Zack paused his game and dropped the controller, turning to her with a wave.
"Oh, hey, Tifa," he offered her a bright grin. She noticed he was still wearing his cadet uniform, but that his shirt was unbuttoned and disheveled.
"I'll get out of you guys' way." He got to his feet, offering Cloud a knowing look. "Don't touch my game, bro. I haven't hit a checkpoint yet."
Cloud tossed him a completely disinterested shrug, and Zack disappeared from the living room, down the hall to his own room.
"Let me get your coat," Cloud offered.
Tifa shrugged out of it, offering him her laptop bag as well. He accepted them both, but Tifa noticed the way that his eyes lingered when they caught sight of her skirt suit, traveling the length of her body down to her legs before he caught himself and turned away quickly, blushing as he went to hang her bag and coat by the door.
Her heart was square in the center of her throat again when he came back, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Um, you want something to drink?"
She shook her head, though she admitted that a strong shot of alcohol or at the very least, a glass of ice-cold water might help her nerves settle so she could get through this.
"No, thanks."
He gestured to the couch, then cursed at the empty chip bag and game controller that Zack had left in the center of it. He muttered an annoyed apology to her under his breath as he cleared the mess away, and Tifa couldn't help but smile when she finally settled into the couch next to him.
She realized as soon as she sat that she hadn't put very much space between them, though that hadn't been her intention when she'd dropped into the couch. She blushed, feeling his warmth beside her, and Cloud shifted slightly in his seat, leaning even closer to her.
"So..." he began, his voice trailing off, dissipating as words failed.
"So," Tifa picked up, but found herself similarly stuck.
Damnit, Tifa! Just say something!
"About last night," he scratched the back of his neck again, and she quickly caught on that this seemed to be a nervous habit of his.
He's so cute , she thought, unable to stop herself from looking up at him.
"I'm sorry," she began, but Cloud was moving closer to her at that.
"Why are you apologizing?" he asked her, and then, his hand was in her lap, finding hers and wrapping it inside of his.
She dipped her chin a little, her cheeks stained pink as the blood rose, especially as she realized that Cloud's deep blue stare was locked on to her face. Truth be told, she didn't know why she was constantly apologizing. It seemed to be her favorite go-to whenever things got awkward or she didn't know what to say, and she realized that she was doing it constantly, found that she was more and more uttering those words to placate others, especially men.
It made her feel just a little disgusted.
She shook her head, trying to operationalize her thoughts into words, yet unsure how to voice what she was thinking to Cloud. As if he sensed her distress, he drew in even closer, this time putting his arm around her shoulder.
"Hey, it's okay, Tifa," he consoled her softly.
Hearing the quiet timbre in his voice, she turned to look up at him, their eyes meeting, and his gaze was softer than she could ever remember him looking at her.
"Tifa, when I came by last night..." he trailed off again, but this time she stayed silent, watching his brow as he warred internally for words. "...I wanted to tell you how I felt."
He left it at that, his eyes holding hers, cerulean irises darting back and forth as he tried to gauge her reaction. His hand was still holding hers, and boldly, suddenly wanting to encourage him, Tifa turned her palm in his so that their fingers lined up, and she let their fingers interlock together, giving him a little squeeze.
The warmth that passed between them at that point of contact seemed to jolt him like an electric shock, hitching his breath and sitting him up a little straighter, his arm curling tighter around her.
"Tifa, I've liked you for a really long time," he admitted, dropping his eyes, as if he were afraid his whispered confessions might escape into the wind and expose him for the world to see. He dipped his face closer to the side of hers until his forehead was mere inches from her temple. "I mean, I think I even liked you, in a way, back when we were kids. You were always so nice and smart and pretty... but since I moved to New York... I can't stop thinking about you."
The words left him in a rush, and he was turning away again, his cheeks bright pink. Tifa, for her part, was crumbling inside, not expecting the depth of his disclosure, not anticipating the sweetness and the intimacy of it. Her heart was running a race inside her chest, pounding wild and free against her ribcage, and she was almost certain he could hear it, with how close he was sitting.
Tifa's feelings for Cloud had blossomed like a lily leaning into the sunlight after a dewy rainfall in the months since she encountered him on the M train, but she realized that even though their contact and their friendship had withered in the years after she left Colorado, she had always had an affinity for him, and that their chance meeting in this city had only rekindled something that had been there all along.
She looked up at him, leaning forward so that her temple finally did bump into his forehead. At that, his eyes were back on her face.
"I like you, too, Cloud," she admitted, her voice much smaller than she could ever remember hearing it, almost making her sound child-like. "And... I think I've always felt something strong for you, too, even back in Colorado. It's why I was so happy to run into you here, to have you back in my life."
Cloud exhaled a slow breath as if relieved, leaning into their forehead press.
"Tifa," he breathed, and his thumb was now stroking the inside of her palm, a tender sensation that left her feeling giddy. "I meant it when I said I wanted you. So... what does this mean? What do you want?"
What a question , she thought, closing her eyes to focus, unable to concentrate when she was looking into the swirling sparkles of his blue, blue eyes. His question carried such a weight behind it, so open-ended and placing so much on her to decide.
It was just yet another burden that she was shouldering as her life continued to careen out of control around her.
"Cloud, I..." she tried to summon her words as her voice broke off, keeping her eyes shut as she frantically searched her brain for her best vocabulary to assemble it into something coherent. "I... I don't know. I'm scared. My life is a mess right now, and I'm not sure if a relationship would be healthy right now. I don't want to give myself to something I can't be fully present for, and I wouldn't want to hurt you or not be there for you."
"Tifa, I'll be anything to you that you want me to be," he responded without hesitation, forcing her to open her eyes in surprise, crimson crashing into blue as their eyes met. "Anything you need from me, I'll give you."
She swallowed carefully at his words, her heart now beating so violently she was afraid it might burst out of her chest. His words were a curious, dangerous blend of sweetness and electrifyingly suggestiveness, and they instantly sent a warm tingle between her thighs. She exhaled slowly, holding his gaze as she chose her next words carefully.
"Maybe we should just take it slow," she suggested, following his reaction and giving his hand another squeeze.
She watched the corner of his mouth turn up in a slight smile, and then he was pulling his fingers away from where they were threaded with hers, bringing his hand up to cup her cheek gently as he continued looking into her eyes.
"We can take it as slowly as you want, Tifa," he vowed. "I'll wait for you as long as I have to. I promise."
Those words melted her, sent her bones into puddles, forcing her to lean toward him with a barely-audible moan. He caught her by pressing his lips against hers in a closed-lip kiss, and instantly, Tifa had her arms around his neck.
This kiss, unlike their previous ones, was truly shy and tentative, seeking approval. Tifa felt the warmth of his lips against hers, soft and pleading, asking her for her permission for more. She separated her lips, letting him slide his over hers more fully, and with his tongue and teeth against hers came the reminder of their previously shared passions, flaring a deep ache inside of her. Tifa couldn't stop the way that she was suddenly climbing into his lap, straddling him and pressing her body close to his, desperate to be as close to him as possible.
Cloud shifted his body slightly to accept her, his arms wrapping tightly around her waist to anchor her to him, her skirt riding up high on her thighs as he pressed her body against his until she could feel the peaks of her breasts ache as her nipples brushed painfully against the fabric inside of her bra. She tightened her hold on his shoulders as their kiss deepened, the dance of their tongues and the delicate glide of his palms across the expanse of her back sending sparks straight between her thighs.
She moaned into his mouth, and Cloud groaned in response, his hands wandering along her back, warm and firm. She sucked his bottom lip, and she blushed as she felt his erection against the inside of her thigh.
"Mmm, Tifa," he growled when they broke apart for air. "I thought we were gonna take things slow?"
His fingertips were flirting under the hem of her blazer, tugging gently at her blouse where it was tucked into her skirt, and Tifa brought her hands to wrap around the back of his neck, her fingers threading into his soft, golden tufts of hair there as she stared into his eyes.
"We are," she whispered, lips swollen from his affection. "But we can still make out, right?"
He smiled, settling against the couch a little more as she continued to stroke the nape of his neck. "Yeah," he breathed. "Whatever you want, Tifa."
She leaned into his smirk with her lips, reigniting the warmth that was coursing through her center with a new kiss. His lips parted instantly for hers, their tongues meeting again, their explorations becoming more vivid and desperate, flooded with sucks and gentle nips, Tifa moaning her desire low in her throat, Cloud dropping one hand to her hip to hold her down and close to him as he started to grind up at her. She widened her thighs around him, wanting to feel more , her skirt riding up so high now it was almost at her waist.
"Cloud, I swear to god you're not allowed to do laundry anymore. I can't find my -"
Tifa pulled away from Cloud with a snap at the sound of Zack's voice, and with a start, she turned and then rolled herself off of Cloud's lap, pulling fretfully at her skirt and her blazer, trying to right everything as her cheeks burned, Cloud wiping his mouth and sitting upright.
"Ah! Shit!" Zack exclaimed.
"What the fuck, Zack," Cloud growled angrily, and Tifa couldn't stop herself from staring at the blatant outline of his erection against his sweatpants.
"Sorry!" Zack blustered, backing away toward the hallway again, now with his hands held up. "But dude, why don't you just take her into your room? Jesus."
"Zack!" Cloud hissed, and Tifa covered her face with her hands as Zack began to laugh and backtracked with a jog to his room.
Cloud turned to her, his cheeks also pink, and Tifa dropped her hand, feeling her cheeks burn as their eyes met.
"Sorry about that, Teef," he apologized softly, his lips still wet with her saliva.
"It's okay," she replied, leaning up to swipe her thumb across his bottom lip. "We just can't catch a break, can we?"
He laughed at that, reaching up to brush his knuckles along the curve of her cheek.
"I should get going, anyway," she said, pulling at her clothing to further straighten it. "I still have a lot of emails and work to catch up on that I didn't finish at the office."
"Don't work too hard," he responded, his thumb now at the line of her jaw, causing her to instinctively lean into his hand. "When can I see you again?"
She smiled under his touch, finding its tenderness soothing away the anxieties that had begun to take up permanent residence in the center of her chest.
"Soon," she whispered in reply, "I'll clear my calendar."
With that, Cloud leaned forward and kissed her gently, this time soft and loving, a long kiss goodbye that melted her insides and was branded on her lips for the rest of the night after she'd left his apartment.
Unfortunately, Tifa found that she did not get the opportunity to spend any more time with Cloud the way that she wanted as the rest of the week passed, the work at Shinra beginning to pile, and her responsibilities increasing. Her father was dropping by her office often now, questioning her about several accounts, including recent transactions involving bigger entities like CorelCorp and Icicle Energy. His sudden appearances and his vague queries always left her with a profound sense of unease, wondering why he was suddenly so invested in trades that should have otherwise been routine.
Which made Tifa wonder about some of the accounts and transfers she'd been tasked with completing for Rufus recently. They were strange requests, shufflings of funds between accounts that seemed to have no relationship to one another. She was also deeply disturbed by some of the premature decisions that Rufus was making before deciding on trades, prickling at her conversations with Reeve Tuesti and with her father. It seemed that sometimes he had knowledge that he shouldn't, information about companies and mergers and acquisitions that no one else did.
She also noticed that Rufus seemed to be tied up in meetings with the other executives a lot more often than usual, not that she was complaining, as it created fewer opportunities for him to interact with her. He had taken to calling her to his office several times a day, pulling her from her own work so that he could sit her at his desk while he paced in front of his window, rattling off ideas and strategies for increasing their profitability, all of which continued to rub her the wrong way. But she remained rigidly compliant, keeping her back stiff as she listened to him, typing notes into her laptop and offering him her suggestions whenever he prodded for them.
Even so, his time caught up in executive sessions were not enough to halt his endless pursuit of her. He had taken to asking her to dinner daily, and despite what her father had said, she firmly refused him every time. This only seemed to encourage him, though, and he had begun to treat it as some sort of quest or game, laughing any time she turned him down, playfully teasing her about her boyfriend , Cloud, until she was red in the face from a blend of anger and embarrassment. He hadn't forced her to take lunch with him at any fancy restaurants again, but she found herself fully vexed whenever he would call her to eat in his office, or even worse, the times when he would drop into her own just as she was in the middle of bites. She hated eating in the busy Shinra cafeteria, but after the first few times he had interrupted her, she had taken to escaping there to avoid him.
It was midmorning Friday, and Tifa was counting the hours down, waiting haplessly for the weekend and especially Sunday when she knew that Cloud was off from work, hoping to take advantage and spend some time with him again. She couldn't assuage the burn of his kisses from her lips for that entire week, couldn't forget the feel of him hard and pressed against her, his hands hot as they traveled her body, his fingers pulling dangerously at her blouse with the intention to tear it away.
He lived in her thoughts constantly, their fleeting intimate moments filling her with longing every time she relived them. They had moved into a new space together, not defining what they were to each other but still moving forward together, finally admitting and sharing their feelings for one another that backed up the passion and attraction that was tugging them together like the magnetism between two binary stars. And he promised to move with her at her own pace, letting her navigate the stressful complexities of other parts of her life with him at her side, without any pressure at all.
She loved him for it, and she wanted, needed to spend more time with him, even if they weren't ready to take a serious leap into something well-defined yet.
"Ms. Lockhart."
Tifa looked up from the spreadsheet she was staring at to find Tseng standing in the doorway of her office, his features pinched with severity as his coal-black eyes peered down at her. Instantly, she was pierced by the harshness in his glare, causing her to sit up straighter.
Wonderful . Her favorite person in the office had come by to pay her a visit. Tseng's mood around her had not improved in the slightest lately; he still pinned her with the same nasty looks and was short and curt with her whenever they interacted. Through Elena's chatter, she learned that her blond colleague had a seemingly unrequited crush on him, and Tifa couldn't imagine what she possibly found attractive or compelling about such a wildly stringent and uncompromising man.
"Yes?" she responded, sitting up straighter in her chair.
"We have a problem," he informed her cryptically. "We need to visit the 68th floor."
Tifa slowly rose, feeling a bizarre sense of dread roil through her shoulders, resulting in a tenseness that had her rolling them as she picked up her phone and slid it into the pocket of her blazer.
The 68th floor was the main executive floor, where the other top brass of the company worked, her father included. Tifa rarely went down there unless there were rare occasions when she needed to interact with Scarlet or Heiddegar's assistants for certain projects. She found herself avoiding it at all costs, not wanting any more exchanges with her father than absolutely necessary.
A problem on this floor did not sound good at all.
Tseng didn't wait for her to respond, turning on his heel to leave her office, obviously expecting her to follow.
Swallowing the apprehension back, Tifa crossed out of her office, smoothing her skirt and jacket on her way out and following him down the hall to the elevator. They rode it one floor down to the 68th, and Tifa's eyes instantly widened at the confusion that was already erupting when the doors slid open.
They stepped out to the main floor, a volley of cubicles in the center of the wide-open space that was lined along the far walls with executive suites. The assistants and analysts and brokers who worked here were all standing, looks of pure shock on their faces as they stared in one direction toward a long corridor that bordered a brilliant display of glass windows.
"FBI," came a startling shout, clapping like a gunshot through the air.
Tifa watched in pure amazement as a troupe of federal agents descended the corridor with brisk, determined strides, their dark blue parkas emblazoned with gold lettering announcing "FBI" across their shoulders and breasts billowing behind them, pistols at their hips.
"FBI," a man with uneven but long, black hair at the front of the pack repeated, holding up a slip of paper. "Move away from your computers, please. We have a warrant from a federal court. Please do not move from where you are standing, and allow us to do our jobs."
Tifa noticed that Rufus was already here, standing at one corner of the room, watching the agents with narrow, steely blue eyes as they descended on the office.
As the group of agents approached, fanning out amongst the cubicles in the direction of the executive offices along the far wall, Tifa caught sight of Reeve Tuesti at their heels, his eyes set in focused determination as they scanned the room for a particular target before they stopped on her, their gazes meeting for a brief moment before he turned away.
"We are looking for Scarlet Price and Joseph Heiddegar," he announced to the room, coming at a stop beside the lead agent with the long dark hair and inquisitive crimson eyes.
At that, several executive doors opened, and Tifa watched with fascination as both Heiddegar and Scarlet appeared in the thresholds of their offices, both looking angry and affronted. Her father also appeared, narrowing his focus immediately on Reeve, folding his arms across his chest.
The FBI agent turned at their appearance, making an immediate beeline toward the back of the room where Heiddegar and Scarlet both stood, Reeve at his heels. He held up the warrant in his hand as he approached, waving it in the air as if it were a bomb he was about to toss.
"Lawyer," Heiddegar immediately shouted, and Tifa felt Tseng start anxiously at her side.
"What is the meaning of this?" Scarlet demanded.
The agent came to a stop in front of them, reaching into his jacket to produce a badge and flash it at them. "I am federal agent Vincent Valentine," he warned. "Joseph Heiddegar, Scarlet Price, you are both under arrest for insider trading and securities fraud. You have the right to remain silent."
Tifa blinked in amazement as two other agents rounded behind Heiddegar and Scarlet, seizing them and pulling their arms behind them with the intention to handcuff them. This set off a chain reaction of shocked gasps throughout the office, Scarlet crying profanities into the air as her wrists were locked together, putting further strain on the neckline of her dress, straining her cleavage against it.
"This is unbelievable," Scarlet was glaring daggers at Reeve, her painted red lips turned up into a snarl. "Tuesti, you imbecile. You have no idea what you are doing."
"Save it for the jury," Reeve replied, stepping out of the way as the agents led Scarlet and Heiddegar out of the room.
Tifa was so stunned by the events unfolding that she did not notice that Elena was at her side, Reno and Rude a few paces away.
"This is crazy," Elena was muttering under her breath. Several other agents were now pushing into Scarlet and Heiddegar's office, emerging with their desktop computers and several files and folders in hand.
Tifa noticed that Rufus had balled his hands into tight fists at his sides, anger rolling off of him so thick she could almost see it, like the shimmering waves of a heat mirage on a too-hot day. While the analysts on the floor began to murmur quietly, Tifa's father crossing the room to join them, Rufus turned to where she stood with the rest of his team.
"Seventieth Floor," he hedged, his voice darker and more violent than she'd ever heard it. "Now."
Tifa felt as if she'd gone through a confusing maze by the time she was seated at the long conference table on the seventieth floor, the New York City skyline an ominous presence outside the line of windows on the opposite side of the room. She was seated with Rufus on one side and her father on the other, caged between two men she was convinced were in some sadistic collaboration to ruin her life. Also around the table were Tseng, Elena, Reno, and Rude, all of them somber-faced as they waited for President Shinra to join them.
Rufus was drumming his fingers against the table in a steady staccato, the delicate action heightening her anxiety as she sat beside him, rolling her fingers over each other while they waited. She refused to meet her father's eyes the entire time they sat there, knowing that he was inflicting her with his own stare at occasion. Her mind was replaying Reeve's casual questioning of her days ago and her father's abrupt interruption of her Saturday night, obscurely warning her that something like this might come to pass without the words ever leaving his lips.
The tension in the room had grown almost suffocating when Shinra finally entered the room, a grim scowl pulled across his face. He was dressed in a deep burgundy suit that set an unsettling contrast with his yellow-blond hair, perfectly combed over in a wave across his scalp.
Wordlessly, he settled into a chair at the head of the table, at once crossing his hands together with his elbows on the table as he leaned forward, nearly resting his chin atop them. Tifa watched his eyes narrow as he looked around the room, letting his gaze settle on everyone present before they stopped on her father.
"Well," he began finally. "Seems that Mr. Tuesti must have gotten his hands on something, for a judge to finally sign off on a warrant. Any idea what that might be, Brian?"
Tifa detected the way that her father stiffened in his chair beside her, rolling his shoulders and pulling at his vest beneath his jacket as he sat up a little straighter and turned to the president.
"No," he answered carefully, and Tifa had never remembered hearing his voice so shaken. Her father had always been so confident and collected, haughty even, that hearing a thread of terror in his tone unnerved her. "There have been no breaches or slip-ups, that I am aware of."
"That you're aware of?" Shinra asked treacherously.
"No," Brian repeated. "None."
The president leaned back in his seat now, one hand resting atop the table, fingers now drumming in much the same way that Rufus' previously had been.
"This is bullshit," Reno added unhelpfully.
Tseng had been typing something into his phone, and he set it down on the table, clearing his throat. "Scarlet and Heiddegar will be released on bond by this afternoon," he informed the group, his eyes locked with President Shinra's. "I've already made the arrangements. I'll prepare to question them upon their release to find out what might have gone wrong."
"Excellent, General Counsel," Shinra replied. He then turned to Rufus. "Any thoughts on this, son?"
Rufus didn't move, and when Tifa turned to look at him, she realized that he was glaring at his father, his eyes frozen solid with pale blue. His stare was so sharp and penetrating that she felt compelled to turn away from it.
"How much did they know?" Rufus asked ruthlessly. "Scarlet and Heideggar are both messy. I told you to fire Scarlet months ago. If I ran this company, I would have terminated them both."
"But you don't run this company," the elder Shinra groused.
Rufus' words to his own father in front of the group had been so caustic that they instantly set Shinra's shoulders back, his teeth emerging in a scowl beneath his golden mustache as he seethed. New cords of tension developed in the air, pulling tight between the two Shinra men, and Tifa could feel Rufus bristle at her side at his father's response, and suddenly she felt a small pang of sympathy for him, knowing what it felt like to be in an emotional war with a parent.
"Here's the deal," Shinra went on when it was clear that Rufus had nothing further to add in response to that. "Even if their evidence is flimsy, we know that it is enough for them to have an open investigation. Tuesti will not relent in his pursuit to establish himself as the executioner of Wall Street, all in his crusade to position himself and his shameless political ambitions." Shinra paused, running two fingers across the wrinkles in his forehead, pushing against a band of tension. "We need to be very, very careful from here on out. Suffice it to say that his office will be looking for every excuse to obtain additional information and make more arrests. We cannot allow that to happen."
Tifa heard Rufus sigh distractedly at her side.
"Tseng, I want you to ensure that Scarlet and Heiddegar's lips remain sealed," Shinra went on, earning a curt nod from Tseng. "Brian, you are to scrutinize every transaction that passes through any office in this building with a fine-toothed comb before it is approved to move forward. And those of you in the Vice President's office are to remain vigilant over the accounts and activities that are conducted under Rufus' purview. We cannot allow for another single executive in this firm to become marred by such a scandal as has erupted here today."
There were nods and grunts of assent around the table, but it seemed that President Shinra had said his fill on the matter, pushing up angrily from his seat to depart from the room without another word, his rage following behind him like a trail of flames. At his departure, Rufus swore and pushed away from the table, leaving the conference room in an equally thick cloud of fury, Tseng immediately rising and scurrying being him. The others began to rise to their feet and file out quietly, Reno murmuring and cursing to Rude, who remained silent, Elena's eyes wide as saucers as she followed behind them.
Tifa got to her feet, and as she stood, her father did too, their eyes meeting. His seemed to be pleading with hers, but Tifa could only feel the trepidation in her gut flourish.
He started to open his mouth, but thought better of it and shook his head, instead turning and leaving the conference room in one long stride, leaving Tifa standing alone in the room, feeling like the entire building was closing in around her, about to crush her beneath the weights of its secrets and lies.
Later that night, Tifa was so exhausted and wound up tight with dread from the events of the day that she'd simply showered, barely ate anything at all for dinner, and went almost immediately to bed. Aerith wasn't home yet, working a middle school dance with Biggs, and Tifa was grateful that she would not have to explain what was happening in her life to her best friend, too tired and depleted to rehash the events that had her belly coiled with tension and her throat filled with nausea.
Still, she needed badly to feel some sense of relief from everything that was happening, especially since she knew that she was making herself sick with worry over everything that was happening with her father and Shinra Capitol. Laying in the dark with the television blaring silently at her, Tifa impulsively reached for her earbuds and her phone, and called Cloud.
"Hey," he greeted her on the second ring.
"Hey, Cloud," she replied softly to him, burrowing herself deeper under her sheets, the sound of his voice already a balm on her soul. "I'm sorry, are you busy? I know you're at work."
He chuckled, the sound deep and rumbly, raising the hairs on her arms. "Not much happening here, Teef. I pretty much stare out the glass at a driveway all night. What's up?"
"Oh," she whispered in response. "I just, um... I missed you."
"I miss you too," he rejoined instantly, and the words had her bubbling with warmth. "How was your day?"
That question brought the anxiety and the distress back, and Tifa closed her eyes, rolling to one side and clutching the covers.
"Tifa?" he prompted when she remained silent.
"Oh, Cloud," she breathed. "It was horrible. Absolutely awful. I think... I think my father is in trouble. I think the entire Shinra company is in trouble."
"Trouble?" he repeated.
Tifa shook her head against her sheets. "Two of the executives were arrested today for insider trading and securities fraud," she explained quickly. "And my father seemed to know this was coming. He warned me about it that night he came to my apartment."
"Are you really surprised?" Cloud asked her. "Tifa, these Wall Street firms are all dirty and crooked. You know that. But do you think your father would really be involved in something like that?"
"I don't know," Tifa admitted, and the words spilling from her lips made her want to weep. "I - I was approached by a prosecutor. I'm so scared, Cloud. I don't know what to do, I feel like I can't breathe sometimes. I feel horrible."
"Hey," he interrupted her when her breathing became anxiously heavy. "Tifa, calm down. Take a deep breath, okay? Everything's going to be okay. You've done nothing wrong, so you don't have to worry. Things are gonna happen however they are gonna happen, but you have to take care of yourself first."
He was right, she knew, but it didn't soften the blow of the fact that her world was crashing around her. She fought angrily with herself to stifle her sudden sobs, not wanting him to know that she had begun crying.
"Tifa, you okay?" Cloud asked her.
Tifa expelled a tiny sigh, swallowing back another sob and willing herself to relax. "I think so. Thank you, Cloud. You're right."
He hummed, and then it grew quiet between them for a while, and Tifa twirled her fingers in the cord of her headset, not wanting to be away from the sound of his voice.
"Hey, Tifa," he called to her, his voice having dropped with a deep, tenuous edge. "You want me to help you feel better?"
Her heart began to pound, noting something dangerous laced through his words. She curled even deeper into her blankets, reaching for a pillow to hug close to her.
"What do you mean?"
"What are you wearing?"
Her breath caught, realization now firm around her. She squeezed her pillow tight, dropping her face into it as her cheeks began to brighten.
"Purple yoga pants and a white t-shirt," she finally breathed out her answer.
"Goddamn," he swore his response, prompting her to smile against her pillow. "How many of those things do you own? They're so sexy on you. Your ass is perfect for them."
She exhaled, her hips intuitively beginning to roll. "You like my ass?"
"I love it," he breathed out his response.
"Why?"
"Because," he started, "It's so round and full. And your hips, too. I think about your ass all of the time. If I was with you right now, I would be squeezing it, or maybe rubbing it or even smacking it."
Tifa moaned into her pillow, feeling her body flood with heat, the space between her thighs igniting.
"What else?" she found herself gasping.
"I love your legs," he went on. "So long and shapely, I wish you could wrap them around me right now. When you were sitting in my lap the other day, I almost lost it with them pressed against me like that."
"Oh?"
"And your breasts," Cloud continued, his voice dropped to a whisper. "They're perfect, Tifa. I love the way they fit against your blouses and sweaters, just stretching the material a little bit. I bet nobody can take their eyes off of you at work, and it makes me jealous as fuck."
"Really?" Tifa repeated, intrigued by this admission, and also titillated by his vulgarity.
"Really," he repeated. "I want you all to myself."
"That can be arranged," she replied, now feeling playfully bold, his words and the softness in his voice throwing her into the mood.
"You know what else I like, Tifa?" Cloud went on. "I love your lips. They're so soft and full, kissing you drives me crazy. Fuck, I love your whole face. And your long, dark hair. You're so pretty, Tifa. You're the most beautiful girl I've ever seen in my life."
She wanted to scream into her pillow, he was working her up so badly. Instead, she squeezed it, pressing her thighs together, the throb between them becoming unbearable.
"I know you're stressed, Teef," he said before she could respond. "I've felt it in you for months now. If I was with you, I'd take it all away, wind it right out of you."
"How?" she dared to ask.
"Mmm," he hummed, sounding delighted at the opportunity to elaborate. "Are you laying down?"
"Yes."
"I'd get you naked," he began, "and I'd lay right on top of you and kiss you. And I'd work my way down, Tifa. I would kiss you all over, your face, your neck, your collarbone, your flat tummy... and those breasts. I'd suck your nipples until I made you come just from that."
"Oh," Tifa sighed, her hips now grinding.
"I haven't gotten to the best part," Cloud rumbled in her ear, his voice like a gently rolling eruption of thunder somewhere far in the distance. "Your pussy, Tifa. If I was there, I would rub you until you soaked my fingers and the bed. Your pussy is so pretty, I still remember staring at it on New Year's Eve at the hotel, all pink and wet. God, you get so wet for me."
"Cloud," Tifa gasped.
"You want to come for me, Tifa?" he asked her softly.
"Yes," she pleaded, and she rolled to her back, abandoning her pillow as one hand slid beneath the waistband of her yoga pants and into her panties, the other finding her breasts and gently gliding over one nipple.
"Touch yourself," he whispered.
"I am," she moaned.
"Are you wet?"
"So wet,"
"Fuck, Tifa. I bet you're swollen and aching, too. How bad do you want me?"
"Really bad, Cloud," she whined.
"If I was there," Cloud continued, "I'd have my mouth right on that sweet pussy. I love going down on you, Tifa. You taste so good, and I love the way you react to my mouth. Your whole body gets tight, and your hips start to grind and you moan so loud, and you drip . I almost lost my mind at the way that you leaked all over me and ruined those sheets on New Years's Eve."
The pads of two fingers had found her clit, and they began to wind, drawing slow circles over her bud, allaying the ache just a little.
"If I could right now, I would kiss every part of you, and I would lick and suck your clit until you came. You like that, right? My tongue stroking your clit, my mouth wrapped around it, teasing it and tapping it until you shudder, my breath all over you."
"Cloud," she whispered again, arching her back and straining for release as she increased the speed of her movements against herself. "I'm so close."
"Mmm," he moaned in response. "Maybe I'd add my fingers too. Would you like that, Tifa? Two fingers deep inside of you, pressing against your walls while I suck your sweet, swollen clit until you can't see straight."
"Oh," she cried out, just as her orgasm rocked into her gently, a wave that passed over her and left her trembling. She stilled her hand against her flesh, her underwear now sodden, and let the euphoria slowly drain through her brain as she came down. She slid her hand from her pants and let out a heavy sigh.
"Did you just come, Tifa?" Cloud asked her, his voice somehow even lower.
"Yes," she breathed in response, realizing that the sound had come out ragged.
"Fuck, that's so sexy," Cloud growled. "Goddamnit, I wish I was with you right now so I could cuddle you until you fell asleep."
When the hell did Cloud get so much game , Tifa wondered idly.
"Me too," she said instead.
"You feel a little better?"
"A little," she replied. "Thank you, Cloud. That was... really hot."
"Good, Tifa. Now go to sleep. You need to get your rest."
When they finally wished each other goodnight, the words I love you were hovering dangerously against the tip of her tongue, and Tifa had to do everything in her power to keep them from tumbling out.
"You look like you're in a good mood."
Cloud glanced at Zack as he emerged from his room, finding his best friend looking up from his seat on the couch. "Must be all that sex you're getting."
If only , Cloud thought. "I'm not getting 'all that sex', jackass," he retorted instead.
Zack popped off a laugh, glancing up at him. "Oh, no? The way that Tifa was all over your lap the other day suggests otherwise. Did you remember to steam-wash this couch?"
"Shut up," Cloud snapped.
"Oh, don't be so snippy," Zack went on, flicking through a few channels on the television. "I'm just glad you finally decided to do something about it. It was driving me crazy."
"I really don't care, Zack," Cloud responded, reaching for his jacket by the door.
"Sure," Zack laughed in reply. "Where are you off to on a Sunday night?"
"I'm going out with Tifa," he informed him, not really giving a fuck anymore what Zack knew about it.
"Hot date, huh?" Zack's eyebrow was devilishly high on his face. "Don't forget the condoms, Cloud. Kids are expensive."
Zack was an idiot. "We're just going to the observatory," Cloud muttered. "We don't get much time to hang out since our schedules both suck. I'll be back in a few hours."
Zack laughed in response as if he didn't believe this, but Cloud ignored it and shut the door behind him, making his way out of the apartment and across the street to pick up Tifa.
He couldn't stop the thrill he was feeling at spending time with her again, actually going on a real date with her, one where it was clear between them both that they were no longer just fucking friends, but that they shared mutual attraction and desire for one another, and had now on more than one occasion exchanged the passions of that desire without the boldness of alcohol to spur them on. Cloud only wondered how deep the end of Tifa's feelings ran, because he knew without a doubt that he was already in love with her, and this fact was burning him up inside.
Their relationship sat at a unique juncture, acknowledged but not really labeled. Tifa seemed terrified of a relationship. And she wanted to take things slow. Cloud really didn't care about labels, and he didn't mind waiting for her, either. He just wanted it to be absolutely clear to everyone - especially potential assholes like Rufus Shinra - that Tifa was his.
This possession was difficult to ignore, but Cloud could hardly give a fuck. Tifa was too precious and too important to him, and he loved her too much, and now that he knew she felt the same attraction to him, that they'd confirmed their mutual feelings, goddamn anybody who thought they had a shot with her.
Not only that, but her job - and probably that prick Rufus - was making Tifa's life hell. He hated how stressed it was making her, how her father pressured her, how the company's legal troubles were dragging her into its misery. It was draining her happiness right in front of him, and it angered him to see. There were days when he wanted to convince her to quit, wanted to go up to her father and tell him to fuck off. But he did none of these things, instead offering Tifa encouraging words and a listening ear, hoping to shoulder some of her burdens.
Their schedules misaligned badly, and it wasn't often that he got to see her like this. Instead, they rode their relationship together through their phones, texting each other at all hours of the day, holding conversations that went on late into the night and almost always ended with Tifa climaxing on the other end. Cloud was usually confined to his glass booth at his boring-ass job when they spoke, so he didn't dare put his hands on himself, though her breathy moans through his headphones made it difficult to resist.
But tonight, he was finally going to see her again, could finally get his hands on her and feel her, real and soft and warm next to him again.
He texted Tifa when he reached her gate, and she soon emerged from her brownstone, her hair tied up high in a ponytail, wearing a black bubble jacket and tight, dark jeans with tan construction boots, all of it making her look super hip and urban and cute , so much so that Cloud couldn't stop himself from moaning low in his throat when she approached.
"Hi," she greeted him shyly, and Cloud reacted instantly, leaning forward and kissing her right there on the sidewalk, his arms wrapping around her and holding her to him, so happy to finally be close to her again.
He kept himself under control though, breaking the kiss after a moment, leaving her breathless. She looked up at him with a smile when they broke apart, licking her lips in a way that had him tightening under his jeans even further.
"Wow, someone is happy to see me," she teased.
"Always," he replied without missing a beat.
They took the subway into Manhattan, arriving at the One World Observatory, which had opened on the top floor of the new One World Trade Center building that had been erected years after the devastation of the September 11th attacks. Tifa had suggested it for their date, saying she had wanted to stargaze from the tower ever since it had opened.
The plaza surrounding the building, now the tallest in the Western Hemisphere, was vast, interconnecting with the subway systems and the local nightlife of downtown. It was a little after seven in the evening, and the sky was now full dark, the wind bitter with cold when they arrived, Tifa's arm looped through his and sharing her warmth with him as they rode the elevators up to the top floor of the building. His heart was beating a little faster as he realized how close she was to him, the sugary scents from her hair and her skin driving him mad.
"This is so exciting," Tifa gushed when they reached the top floor and entered the observatory. "I heard the views are breathtaking."
Cloud really didn't care that much, but if it made her happy, it was good enough for him.
They walked inside the observatory, directed by a staff member to a large, open room that was surrounded fully by floor-to-ceiling windows, offering a completely unblemished view of New York and the surrounding world around them. Perhaps because it was late on a Sunday, the observatory was light on guests, and there was currently only one other small family admiring the views. At this time of night, the room was encased in darkness with the exception of a few skylights that provided a cool blue glow to the room to make it safe to navigate. Cloud heard Tifa gasp as soon as they stepped inside, and he followed her to one line of windows across the room.
"Cloud, look," she pointed up. "The sky!"
Cloud craned his neck back, glancing up at the night sky. In New York, there was so much light pollution that it was difficult to make out any of the celestial beauty from the ground. But at this height, all of the light below was filtered out, and they had a pure, unabashed view of the night sky and its litter of blue and white and purple stars, the moon glowing bright and full above it all.
"Isn't it beautiful?" she asked him, and Cloud could only nod, fully in agreement. "It reminds me of the stars above Breckenridge. Remember?"
Cloud looked down to find her staring up at him, her eyes wide, her glossy lips spread into a smile. How fucking badly he wanted to kiss that mouth right now.
"Yeah," he mumbled, his voice suddenly no longer working properly. "I remember."
She glanced back at the stars, watching them silently for a moment, but Cloud couldn't tear his eyes away from the perfect profile of her face. After a moment, she turned back to him.
"Cloud?" she whispered.
"Yeah, Teef?"
"Um," she was fidgeting her fingers together in front of her, a cute habit of hers whenever she was nervous, and Cloud resisted the sudden impulse to bend down to kiss her forehead. "We made our promise under the stars, remember?"
"Of course, Tifa," he breathed.
"I just..." she looked through the glass again, back up at the black heavens that were stained with glitter. "I just wanted to thank you for fulfilling it. You came for me here in this city at a very scary time in my life."
Cloud felt confused by this profession, not really thinking he'd done much of anything for her since he'd moved to New York. Tifa was independent, she was smart and resourceful, and she took on bigger challenges than he could ever face. What the fuck was she even talking about?
"But Tifa, I d-"
"Shhh, Cloud," she whispered, leaning up and pressing her fingers against his lips. "You've been there for me since the moment I ran into you on the train that night. I couldn't have made it through these last few months without you. You... you mean everything to me."
She lowered her finger, but the damage had been done. Her words and her touch had set something off inside of him, exploding like a bomb, and he looked around quickly to gauge that the family had left and that they were alone in the observatory. Without warning, he was crowding her against the glass, his body pressed to hers, one hand above her head, the other reaching for her cheek.
"Tifa," he crooned, "You mean everything to me, too."
Without waiting for her response, he slotted his mouth over hers, his tongue swiping at her lips and prodding at their seam. Her reaction was instant, her body coming alive as her tongue darted out to greet his and her arms looped around his neck. He nipped at her gently, pulling a moan out of her, and then her leg was lifting again, rising to wrap around his waist.
This time, though, they were wearing too many layers of thick fabric for any sort of grinding, but the way that her hips twirled under him was driving him crazy with desperation to do something . Unable to think, Cloud dropped his hand from her face down to her waist, pushing her coat up and out of the way to find the button of her jeans, twisting it open deftly and then sliding her zipper down, never breaking their kiss.
"Cloud?" she questioned messily into his mouth.
"Shhh," it was his turn to silence her, dropping his hand from the glass to press a finger to her lips. His hand that had opened her pants was now sliding beneath her panties, a smooth glide that had her gasping when his fingers found her slick heat.
"Fuck," he growled at her, his finger still pressed to her lips. "You're so fucking wet, Tifa."
The moan that she released came out sounding more like a whine, and it made Cloud mad with lust. He dipped his fingers gently against her hot, tight opening, drenching his fingers as much as possible before he dragged two of them firmly along the lines of her folds until they found her clit, hard and swollen and waiting for him.
"Oh," she cried out, and Cloud slipped his finger past her lips and into her mouth, mystified when she gently began to suck.
He worked his fingers over her nub in slow circles, and Tifa was instantly writhing beneath him, her ponytail sliding against the glass with her movements, her dark hair fanning out around her. Cloud watched her face the entire time, thrilled by the ways that her face contorted in pleasure, and he rubbed her more firmly, her moans beginning to escalate.
God, please don't let anybody fucking walk in here.
Her back was arched and her cheeks were flushed, her eyes now squeezed shut as her gasps and whimpers slid out around his finger. Gently, he pinched her clit between his two fingers, alternating his pressure as he began to rotate and twist her flesh, still rubbing tenderly. Her head snapped back against the glass at the sensation, a wild little cry escaping her throat.
"Oh, god, Cloud, yes, please. That's so fucking good. Please."
Goddamnit, Tifa never swore, and he just about came in his own pants at the utterance of it. He growled in response, rubbing and tugging her a little faster.
"You like that?" he asked her in a low rumble, pressing his finger against her tongue.
"I love it," she keened breathlessly, rocking her hips up to his hand. "Oh, Cloud, baby, I'm sooo close."
Feeling the vibrations of her words whispered around his finger in her mouth was sending him to his grave.
"Good," he whispered, leaning forward to kiss her forehead. "Come for me, Teef."
His words must have been enough, because she obeyed immediately, arching her back and slamming both palms back on the glass behind her, a wild, messy sob erupting from her throat. He stopped moving his fingers against her skin, instead tipping his forehead against hers as she whined and rode out her climax. After a moment, she lowered her leg and brought her arms back around him, anchoring herself to him.
"Oh, my god, Cloud," she whispered. "That was.... Oh, god."
Cloud withdrew his hand from her jeans, his fingers sticky and drenched, and he almost never wanted to wash his hands again.
"Mmm," he hummed against her, pulling her close to him. "You're good at this."
He heard a throat clear behind them, and they both turned to find that the attendant, a middle-aged woman, had returned to the observatory and was looking at them expectantly.
"We are closing in fifteen minutes," she informed them brusquely.
Cloud nodded, and when she finally disappeared, he turned back to Tifa, their eyes meeting for a moment before they both broke out into rich, colorful laughter, the happiest Cloud could remember being for a long, long time.
It was just under two weeks later, a Monday night when Cloud had the day off from work, sitting in front of his laptop on his bed and staring at the words on the screen.
Just over seven thousand words accumulated so far, the tab on the bottom of his word processor informed him. It wasn't terrible, but for as long as he'd been working this fucking story, he would have liked to see an extra zero on the end of that number.
He was about to give up for the night when his phone rang at his hip, and he picked it up, frowning slightly at the unfamiliar number on the display.
Colorado , he thought, staring at the area code, something pricking at his brain and making his heart rise a little in his chest.
"Hello?"
"Hi. Is this Cloud Strife?" It was a woman's voice, twinged with the Western accent, and definitely older.
"Yes," he answered carefully. "Who's calling?"
"Oh," the woman sighed heavily. "This is Linda Peterson. I live down the street from your mother, Claudia."
She didn't say anything for a moment, and Cloud waited, his heart beginning to pound as he wondered why the fuck one of his mom's friends was calling him.
"Yeah?" he finally prompted.
"Oh, Cloud, I'm so sorry to have to call you like this, but something terrible has just happened," Linda exclaimed into the phone in a long rush. "Your mother had a massive heart attack a couple of hours ago. Luckily, she was at my house to watch the awards show when it happened. Otherwise, I don't know if..."
"Is she alright?" Cloud cut her off with a shout, now standing at his feet, his heart beating so fast it was nearly out of his chest, his head suddenly pounding with fear.
"She was transported to the hospital, but she's been kept in a coma for a few hours. I'm still here," Linda explained. "They're performing surgery to remove a blockage. She'll probably be kept here for days until they know exactly why this happened and to make sure that she is okay. I wanted to call you and let you know, because she needs you, Cloud. You're her only family."
Cloud didn't need Linda Fucking Peterson to inform him of that fact. He was getting viciously angry, but he bit back the urge to snap. "I'm getting the first flight that I can," he informed her, and he didn't wait for Linda to respond before he hung up.
He went back to his laptop and navigated to a travel website, the anger and the fear and desperation sending him up in flames. In all of the fucked up, unimaginable shit that could have occurred to wreak havoc in his life, his mother having a fucking heart attack had not been on his list of things to expect.
After booking the next available flight to Denver, which was leaving at six in the morning, Cloud sent a text to his supervisor and then began to pace his room, trying to decide his next course of action. He needed to pack, and tell Zack, and -
Tifa. He needed to tell Tifa. He glanced at his phone, but gave up, instead deciding that he needed to speak to her in person. He was so frenzied and upset, needed to see her, and needed the comfort of her embrace more than anything at that moment.
He grabbed his jacket and left the apartment, his heart tearing through his chest as he neared the curb to cross the street, adrenaline careening out of control in his blood as his anxiety spiked and his dopamine levels plummeted. All he could think about was his mother, beautiful and sweet, collapsing to the floor with her hand clutched to her chest. It made him see red.
His thoughts were a violent whirlwind as he waited for traffic to pass before he crossed the street. But just before he did, he looked up to notice some activity occurring across the street in front of Tifa's brownstone.
Squinting in the darkness, Cloud remained rooted in place as he watched. A man dressed in white with a slate-gray wool coat was standing at the base of the steps in front of her building, leaning casually against the railing, golden hair shimmering so brightly under the streetlamp that Cloud could make its shine out from where he stood.
Rufus Fucking Shinra, he realized, his anger transforming into something so dark and threatening and dangerous, it boiled his insides and twisted his throat into knots.
Tifa was standing at the top of the steps in the doorway, the light from the hallway behind her glowing angelically around her. She had her hands on her hips, her hair done up into a ponytail, and although it was difficult for him to see in the darkness, it seemed that she was shaking her head.
Cloud's mind was suddenly at war with itself, half of him ready to cross the street and bash Rufus' head in, the other half wanting to retreat. But all he could manage to do was stare, watching Rufus' hands dance in the air while Tifa continued to shake her head. Eventually, she backed away into the threshold, slamming the door, and even from across the street Cloud could hear the way that Rufus laughed before he turned with his hands in his pockets to climb into the back of a black, stretch limousine that was parked against the curb.
Watching the car pull away, Cloud wondered what the fuck had just happened. Was that motherfucker stalking her? He was going to kill him.
He shook his head, his emotions now swirling out of control. He stared up at Tifa's building, not wanting to confront whatever the fuck just happened, not when his goddamn mother was in a hospital on the other side of the country dying .
Cloud turned back to his apartment in resignation, feeling like the depression and the anger and the anxiety would eat him alive, and he decided that he would just text Tifa later and let her know that he had to leave.
Goddamnit.