Only For Tonight (Cloud Strife x Reader)

Part 1

Statistically speaking, January is the most depressing month of the year, but February had always been your least favourite by a mile. You weren't quite out of winter and not yet into spring, and the weather was always in limbo between rain and snow. Yesterday, you'd gotten away with a light jacket, but today absolutely required a full on coat. On top of that, the holidays felt like a distant memory by now, and at least for you, there weren't any exciting days close enough to look forward to. Yep - February sucked, and this was all the more clear to you as you trudged home through the muddy streets of the Sector 7 undercity. You could feel your socks beginning to get damp through your boots and you cursed yourself for not buying yourself a new pair last time you went shopping on the plate.

It was just past 9pm, and as you passed by various shops and stands, you watched as fellow Sector 7 citizens closed up for the night. Neon signs flicked off, and the streets started to quiet down as everyone headed home to get warm for the evening. Luckily, your boss had let you close the weapon store early since rumour had it a snow storm would be hitting some time tonight, but only time could tell if that would be the case. Either way though, you didn't want to be outside to find out.

When you finally approached Stargazer Heights, you could just make out the silhouette of your upstairs neighbour leaning against the railing outside his room. You stared up at him for a few more steps, wondering why the hell he was outside - it was getting colder and windier by the minute, anybody in their right mind was bundling up inside for the night.

You couldn't say you really knew Cloud - you'd probably only spoken to him a total of five times in the past four months that you'd lived in the unit below him. From this very limited introduction alone, though, you'd gathered that Cloud wasn't exactly a people person, to put it plainly. Of those five times, three of them had been when his neighbour Tifa was with him and she did the vast majority of the talking. To top it off, Cloud gave off a maddening air of patronizing arrogance, so to say you weren't much of a fan was a bit of an understatement. Regardless, you always did your best to be friendly when you inevitably ran into each other, though you avoided him as much as possible.

As you got closer to the building, you shoved a hand into your coat pocket to grab your house key. As you did, you took one last curious look up at Cloud, whose face you could now make out. His eyebrows were scrunched together, and an even deeper frown than normal tugged on his lips. Clearly something was wrong, and if he were someone else you'd go up there to make sure he was okay but...

You considered it for a moment before deciding against it. You didn't really like Cloud, and to be fair, the feeling was mutual. While your impression of him had been that he was apathetic and conceited, to him you were overly animated in particularly annoying way. Talking to you made him want to put earplugs in, so he'd been thankful when Tifa was around to keep you busy when he'd been forced to be in your vicinity. As you trudged home, he'd noticed you glance up at him and watched as a look of confusion passed over your face before you (thankfully) dismissed him and headed to your front door. Cloud was already in a shitty mood given his situation, and dealing with your exuberant personality would most definitely not help.

At the same time, you stuck your key into your door and continued to mull over the idea of asking if he was okay. You couldn't really explain it, but something told you he might need help. You knew there was a very large chance he wouldn't want your assistance even if he needed it, and you tried to reason away the urge to check on him, but your hand remained unmoving as you grasped the end of your key. After a moment, your instincts won you over, and you pulled the key back out from the lock and turned on your heel with a sigh. You headed to the stairs and to your surprise, and Cloud's dismay, you began to climb them.