Chapter Text
Cloud walked up the old, worn staircase that led up to Seventh Heaven, a local coffee shop. The smell of slightly burnt espresso filled the air as he ascended the last few steps. The decorations didn’t change often, but he was always a little surprised to see paper skeleton garlands still hanging from the ceiling in August. They’d gone up last October, so he wasn’t sure whether they’d forgotten to take them down, put them up early, or were intentionally a permanent fixture. They fit in enough, though, as not a single piece of furniture in the place matched.
“Mornin’, sunshine!” Tifa called out from behind the counter. She leaned against the counter facing Cloud, not bothering to pick up the scribbled notepad to her side. “Let me guess, iced coffee with cream and no sugar?”
“Biggest you can legally give me,” he muttered, leaning up against the counter and picking up their large printed menu, resisting the urge to fidget with the peeling laminate at the corners. “Got any idea what Zack would order? He’s meeting me here any minute now.”
“Oh, I could never forget his order,” Tifa said, laughing. “I don’t think I’ve ever had a customer ask for that many pumps of vanilla.” He handed her exact change for both their orders and she took off to the espresso machine.
Cloud walked over to the side of the counter labeled “pick up” with a chalkboard hanging from the ceiling. He idly picked up one of the strange trinkets lining the counter that looked like a cross between a scarecrow and a clown, which he found unsettling enough separately.
“Hey, watch it with that…uh…whatever the fuck it is!” Tifa said as she stirred the unnecessary amount of syrup into Zack’s latte.
“Why do the owners insist on keeping shit like this in here?” Cloud asked, equally puzzled and amused at the probably haunted collection of tchotchkes.
Tifa shrugged. “They say it gives the place character ,” she said with air quotes, achieving the rare chuckle out of Cloud. “Alright, here you go!” She slid over a Lisa Frank novelty glass, complete with a silly straw, and an enormous mug that said ‘#1 Grandpa’ on it.
“Thanks,” he said, rolling his eyes at her choices of cups. He sat down in the only booth, on the opposite end of the room. It was secluded enough that he was rarely bothered by anyone but Tifa.. It was also the only area that wasn’t lined with shelves of dusty books, which was a nice bonus.
Zack arrived up the stairs a few minutes later.
“Welcome in!” Tifa said, getting her quota of management’s demanded greetings. “Cloud got you a drink already.”
“Oh, thanks! You’re the best, Tifa,” Zack said, saluting her as he took a sip of his extra hot vanilla latte like it was nothing. He scanned the room for Cloud’s tall spikes and headed toward the booth once he spotted him.
“Hey, sorry I’m late!” Zack said, sliding into the side of the booth across from him. “I wasn’t expecting much traffic.”
“Yeah, you’d think there wouldn’t be people out this early near campus on a Saturday. All these freshmen nowadays bringing their cars…,” Cloud said with slight agitation, earning a laugh from Zack.
“It’s noon, Blondie. Most people usually rejoin the world of the living long before now,” Zack said with a smirk. “And if I remember correctly, somebody signed up for a 9 AM that starts next week.”
“Ugh, don’t remind me,” Cloud said, somehow looking even more disgruntled than before. “It was either that or taking it over the summer.”
Zack snorted. “Good luck with that. Oh, and thanks for buying my coffee.”
“No problem. It looks disgusting. So, uh, why did you bring me here exactly?” Cloud asked.
Zack opened his mouth wide, feigning offense. “Can’t a guy take his best friend out for coffee without a reason?”
Cloud raised an eyebrow. “Zack, you never make plans in advance. You rarely even warn me before showing up at my house.”
Zack let out a nervous laugh.. “Okay, you have a point.”
“What is it?”
Zack’s expression fell. “My roommate screwed me.”
“Congratulations,” Cloud said flatly.
Zack rolled his eyes, trying not to give Cloud the satisfaction of a laugh. “Okay, screwed me over would be a better way of putting it. One of his friends needed a place to live and took it upon himself to, uh, replace me without any warning.”
Cloud groaned. “…Zack. I told you finding a roommate on Craigslist was a bad idea.”
“I know you did, but I couldn’t find anyone else!” Zack said. “I thought I’d be living with Aerith in the first place, but the whole breakup thing didn’t exactly help with that.”
“So, the thing you brought me here to talk about?”
“Yeah, that,” Zack’s eyes avoided Cloud’s for a moment. “I know this is a lot to ask of you, but...I need someone to move in with. I didn’t expect my plans to fall through again, but if you need me to I’ll pay more than an even share of rent and I-“
“Fine.”
“…wait, really?” Zack asked with wide eyes.
“Were you expecting me to say no?”
“Not exactly? I thought you’d need a little more convincing than that, though. That was easy,” Zack said, sighing and leaning forward.
“You callin’ me stubborn?” Cloud asked, just barely keeping a straight face.
“I mean...yeah, kind of,” Zack said, getting a laugh out of both of them. “But really, thank you for saving my ass, Cloudy. I owe you one.”
“You’ve put up with me for over a decade. I’d call that even,” Cloud said with a shrug. “There is one issue though.”
Zack raised his eyebrows. “There is?”
“I, uh, don’t have an extra room or anything. Or an extra bed.”
“I can provide the highest quality of cuddling services for your trouble,” Zack said jokingly- well, somewhat jokingly. Zack showed affection to just about anything with a pulse.
Cloud grimaced. “I’m not exactly a cuddler,” He said.
“Need I remind you of the sleepovers we had as kids?” Zack asked.
Cloud paused. “I was six. I thought there were monsters under the bed.”
“There must have been lots of monsters under Tifa’s bed in high school, then.”
Cloud’s cheeks turned a bright shade of red. “I-“
“Thought so,” Zack said with a smug grin and a nudge to his arm. After a long pause and no response, though, his smile was replaced with a look of concern. “You okay, Cloud? Did I say something?
Cloud shook his head. “I’m just not in the best mood right now.”
“Yeah, no shit,” Zack said and winced, immediately realizing how harsh it came out. “…shit, sorry, I didn’t mean it like that. I just…I can tell something’s not right lately. I know that look, Cloud. Something’s bothering you.”
“Don’t wanna talk about it,” Cloud said, his eyes downcast.
“Do you not feel like it, or do you not want to bother me with it?” Zack asked. “I’ve seen things eat away at you enough to know when you need to talk.” He took a sip of his coffee, buying himself some time to think his words through more carefully. “Remember that time we both liked Aerith and it took weeks of moping and Tifa forcing us to talk it out for you to realize I wasn’t mad at you?” Zack could think of much more catastrophic situations caused by Cloud’s unwillingness to open up, but bringing those up would probably not go over well.
“…yeah?” Cloud said.
“You could’ve saved yourself the trouble by just talking to me about it,” Zack said, crossing his arms and leaning forward.
Cloud suppressed a groan. “Alright. I’m just…not particularly looking forward to classes starting.”
“Anything to do with last year, or something else?”
“Uh, the first one,” Cloud said, looking at Zack in the most vulnerable way he’d seen in ages. His expression told Zack everything he needed to know, but he wasn’t about to stop him from talking about it. “That, um, episode I had…it’s never been that bad before. I don’t know how to stop it from happening again. I saw what it did to you guys. And not to mention my grades.”
Zack stood up and made his way to the other side of the booth, squeezing himself in next to Cloud in the small seat.
“Cloud. Look at me. You’ve been through hell this past year. Well, more than just this year, but the whole hospital thing is…kind of new. You have enough to worry about without me factored in. Yes, I worry about you. Constantly. But as far as I’m concerned, if that’s the price I have to pay for giving a shit about you, I can deal with it.” Zack wrapped his arms around him with no intention of letting go any time soon. “And as grades go…fuck it. Cs get degrees, right? I mean, don’t just give up, but there are worse things that could happen. Even if it all goes to shit in the worst ways imaginable, you’ll survive, and I’ll be here to help you pick up the pieces.” Zack gently rubbed Cloud’s upper back, and wordlessly stayed that way for a minute or so.
Zack pulled back, and placed his hands on Cloud’s shoulders. “I want you to promise me something,” he said, looking directly into Cloud’s eyes.
“It depends. What?”
“I need you to promise me you’ll put yourself first this time around. Not me, your brothers, school…you.”
Cloud stared for a moment, then nodded. “I can try.”
“Promise?”
“Yeah.”
“ Pinky promise?” Zack asked, in an attempt to lighten the mood.
Cloud snorted and rolled his eyes. “Shut up.”
“I don’t know, Cloud, how can I tell you’re serious if you won’t pinky promise me on this?” Zack asked with a smirk.
“Because I’m not five.”
Zack laughed. “Fiiiine. I guess I’ll have to take your word for it.”
“Hey, Zack?”
“Yeah?”
“I know I don’t say this enough, but…thank you,” Cloud said and smiled faintly.
“Any time, Spike.”
“Oh, and, uh, one more thing.”
Zack raised an eyebrow. “What’s that?”
“Get up. You’re crushing me here.”
Zack draped himself over Cloud as dramatically as possible. “This better?”
“Zack.”
“Hey, it’s not me. I think someone turned the gravity up too high.”
“ Zack .”
Zack snickered and lifted himself off of Cloud. “Alright, I’ve tortured you enough today. I’m gonna head out now. Let me know when I can move everything in, okay?”
Cloud nodded. “Yeah, I’ll call you.”