Lean On Me (FF7)

59

~Cloud's POV~

"I-I'm not s-scared..." Tifa breaks eye contact with Vincent. Slamming his cup down on the counter beside her, which makes her jump, he turns and takes long strides out of the room, but not before I see hurt tears pooling at the bottom of his crimson eyes. I look back at Tifa, who has sunk to the ground with her hands over her face, sobbing. Torn between my best friend and the crying mess on the kitchen floor, I jam my phone in my pocket and crouch down beside her.

"Tifa..."

"I never should've accused him of cheating," she cries, leaning on my chest. I jump and nearly fall backwards,  but catch my balance and awkwardly put an arm on her back.

"You couldn't have known," I try to reason.

"Which is exactly why I shouldn't have picked a fight about it! I had no proof it wasn't just a prank or something." I don't have anything to say to that, so I just sit there and let her drench my shirt in tears. This is kinda awkward. The kitchen door opens and Yuffie raises an eyebrow at me but doesn't say anything as she opens the fridge in search of something to eat.

"You know what I just saw," she speaks up, closing the door and leaning against the machine.

"What?" I sigh. Tifa wipes her eyes and looks up.

"I swear Vince was just crying," she frowns. "Never imagined him to be that sort of person."

"Yeah, well," Tifa say bitterly.

"I'm assuming something went wrong between you two?" She crosses her arms.

"Yeah."

"Not to be all eavesdroppy and stuff, but are you... Are you really scared of him?" I say quietly. Tifa bites her lip and looks down at the floor.

"I don't know. I guess I've always been a little careful around him. I have this stupid fear that he'll turn into Chaos or something and just hate me. I mean, what kind of person like him wants anything to do with me?"

"Hey, don't feel too bad. At least he doesn't give you the shivers," Yuffie shudders. "Besides, as cheesy as it sounds, he loves you. We can all see it."

"I know, I just... I don't know what to do. I don't want to !make him mad, I try to keep things hidden so that we don't get into fights..."

"Don't do that," I say, shaking my head. "Fights make you guys stronger."

"But you two never fight," she scowls at the ground. I burst out laughing.

"I smell jealousy," Yuffie mutters under her breath.

"We fight all the time, actually," I admit. "We just keep it quiet and outside. There's actually times when I wonder how we're still together." Yuffie kicks my shoulder and I grimace.

"So what am I supposed to do?" She frowns.

"Just wait a little bit and talk it through when you're ready," Yuffie shrugs.

"That sounds easy enough."

"Trust me, that's not what happens between us," Yuffie laughs and I blush.

"Do I even want to know?"

"Not really," I shake my head.

"Thanks I guess," she stands and leaves abruptly. I sigh and stand, frowning at the large wet spot on my shirt.

"What was that all about?" Yuffie's asks, tearing off a couple pieces of paper towel and handing them to me. I accept them gratefully.

"She and Vincent were having a screaming match about cheating because some random number kept texting Vincent and then it just got out of control and he left because she's scared of him apparently."