Hey there all you people! This is based off of a roleplay I had done with a friend, and we mutually agreed to make it into a fanfiction. Unfortunately, this friend does not have a fanfiction account in which I can credit her, but I promised her that I would mention that I am not the only genius behind this operation!

This is an AU! Mentions of Kingdom Hearts characters, but doesn't go into depth, so even if you've never played Kingdom Hearts, there is no need to worry!

WARNINGS FOR THIS CHAPTER: Spouse abuse, cursing, underage drinking, boy love, and everything in between!

Get the tissues ready, people!

The music around him was loud. There were people pushing, and shoving, but yet Cloud could hear none of it. All he could hear was the sickeningly sweet sound of his friend's voice.

And he wanted that voice out of his head.

He had already reminded himself that he was taken a thousand time, but somehow that voice always brought him out of that delusion.

"Hey, buddy, you all here?" He heard that voice say, making Cloud's eyes widen as he was broken from his thoughts.

"What... What is it?" He said quietly, hardly hearing himself over the booming music of the party going on around them. He stared up at the dark haired male in front of him, his mouth slight agape.

Zack felt his face burning as he stared down at the adorable blond, but started to laugh quietly as the tension between them started to rise. "H-hey, don't make a face like that," Zack chimed, standing up straighter and holding up a red cup filled to the brim with alcohol, "If you do, you'll make my heart stop, you know!"

Cloud chuckled softly, standing close enough to Zack to smell the alcohol coming off of the man's breath. Although Cloud himself had been drinking, he could tell that he was not nearly as drunk as his friend was. "I don't know how to make any other face..." Cloud said, this time a bit louder as he faced toward the ground, a smile spreading across his face. He was flattered, as usual, but he was used to Zack's drunken flirts. Everyone probably was at this point.

But all of the fantasy of this stopped when Cloud felt a firm hand on his shoulder, making him whip around quickly to see a head full of silver hair, green eyes piercing into his own blue ones.

"Cloud, my sweet, can we... Step outside for a moment?" Sephiroth asked, his voice deep and threatening sounding. Cloud turned his head to look at the dark haired male, who gave him a bit of a sympathetic look.

As far as Zack knew, it was no secret what was happening between Cloud and Sephiroth. The bruises, the bite marks, his constantly avoiding Zack's gaze... It was obvious that Sephiroth was the monster here. But Zack, being the okay friend he was, would never lay hands on his best friend's boyfriend, unless Cloud directly asked him to.

Cloud felt his heart start to pound nervously in his chest, and he turned once more to give his dark haired friend a reassuring smile before taking the hand of his boyfriend as he was led through a crowd of dancing drunks. The door leading out of the small apartment room was opened, allowing the two of them to walk out before Cloud turned to shut the door once more behind them, slightly muffling the sounds of the shouting drunks and booming music.

"Sephie, please..." Cloud started with a wavering voice. Sephiroth had started pacing back and forth silently along the sidewalk in front of the apartment building, and Cloud could clearly see the irritation on his face, "I didn't realize that you were already at the party-"

"So you went with him? Is that it? I wasn't there right when you wanted me to, so you went with that other guy, huh?" Seph turned quickly to face Cloud, making the smaller of the two wince a bit and take a step back as the silver haired man shouted in his face.

"No, that wasn't it, Seph..." Cloud retorted quietly, tilting his head down some, though his eyes still met the green ones in front of him. He gasped as his upper arm was gripped tightly, and he was yanked roughly toward the white two-door that Sephiroth had used to get to the party. His immediately reaction was to pull away, which caused Sephiroth to turn and growl in anger. Cloud could feel his body shaking in fear, and he closed his eyes as he tensed his body, preparing for the impact of the hit he is sure is coming.

He felt the sting on his cheek and he quickly reached up to cover his left cheek, feeling his eyes start to well up as tears filled them, and he looked up with wide eyes at the man who'd hit him.

Sephiroth stared down at the man for a moment, breathing slowly but also a bit heavier than usual as he turned away and swung the car door open, climbing into the driver's side but left the door open for just a moment so that he could speak to Cloud. "If you're coming home tonight, you can ask that little bitch to drive you." He then angrily slammed the door, and Cloud was sure that one day the door might break off his hinges.

He held his breath as he watched Sephiroth start the car, pulling out of the parking spot he was in and quickly driving away. The blond stood in his place, hand still cupping his cheek as he took slow, steady breaths. Don't cry, please, don't cry, not now... He kept trying to encourage himself, and he slowly opened his eyes to look at park across from the apartment complex, and he made himself smile as big and wide as he could, and he felt the tears start to dry up as he did so.

After about ten minutes of silent encouragement and grinning at the park like a weirdo, he decided that he felt good enough now, and he took a deep breath as he walked back into the party. As soon as he'd opened the door, he saw Zack there, hand out as if he were reaching for the doorknob. Cloud blinked a couple times in surprise as his eyes met the other bright blue ones in front of him. Without realizing, he'd found himself smiling as he faced the other.

"Oh... Hey." The dark haired male said with a grin, straightening himself up. His cheeks were a bit flushed, and Cloud wasn't really sure if it was from the alcohol or the embarrassment of encountering Cloud at the doorway, "I was just going to look for you."

Cloud nodded as he kept his head down, looking up at Zack through blond eyelashes, "It's fine, Seph and I were just having a talk," Cloud muttered softly, and he could feel his smile fade. Even after those ten minutes, he could feel his cheek stinking with the force of Sephiroth's palm, "He was a bit tired, so he ended up going home."

The older male noticed the strange behaviour, though he just nodded slowly and decided it might be best not to mention it. Instead, he just stepped to the side, inviting Cloud into the house once more.

The blond closed his eyes as he stepped inside once more, smiling a bit as he looked up to see that the crowd had worn a bit thin. He felt a gentle hand touch his upper back and lead him through the crowd to a nearly empty hallway. He willingly followed, as he was now out of the party spirit.

Once they were kind of out of the way, Zack picked up two unopened glass bottles from a small end table beside a black leather couch and handed one to the shorter male with a heavy frown. "Hey, you sure everything's okay? You didn't have to come back." He said, just loud enough for Cloud to hear over the music and shouting of others.

Cloud nodded slowly, reaching up to take the drink and softly thanks him, though he doesn't open it and instead stares down at the label, almost as if he's trying to distract himself. "Yeah..." He paused for a moment then turned his head upward to look at the raven head. "Let's go somewhere quiet," Cloud's face immediately heated up, and he found himself averting his gaze, feeling a bit defensive now. "I-I mean, if you want to! We can stick around and dance if you want!"

Zack was a bit stunned at Cloud's blunt attitude, but then he chuckled and shook his head, moving the beer in his hands to one hand as he held the other out to Cloud, tilting his head to the side with a wide smile and red cheeks. "Yeah, let's go to one of the bedrooms here or something. That is, if they are taken already." He winked down at the man then laughed when he watched he cheeks and ears turn red, and they both let out of a quiet chuckle as Cloud reached up with hesitation to take the hand of the other male.

The raven-haired man let out a discrete sigh of relief, as he was sure that Cloud would reject him, and he quickly led the smaller male down a hallway, past a silver haired male and a brunette who were hanging all over each other, lips clashing into lips as they passed the two silently.

Zack paused at the end of the hallway, knocking softly on the door at the end and pressing his ear to it before he shrugged and slowly turned the knob, creaking the door open slowly slowly to see that it was, indeed, empty before he led himself and Cloud inside and shut the door behind them.

Cloud took a deep breath of relief as he let go of the other male's hand, glancing around the room as he slowly made his way to the bed there, looking up at the other male as he held the glass beer bottle between his legs. Zack noted that he almost looked shameful.

"It isn't much quieter in here, but at least it's better than out there." Zack said quietly, breaking the awkward silence that filled the room as he took a seat next to the other. It was only when he sat down beside the blond that he noticed the red, swollen cheek and he widened his eyes in surprise. "Hey... What happened while you were talking to Sephiroth, Cloud?" Cloud could hear the seriousness in his tone, and his throat suddenly felt as if a lump had taken it's place there.

"Wh-what are you talking about...?" He said softly, and he dared not lift his head to meet Zack's gaze. He gulped hard, trying to get that painful lump down.

"This," Zack whispered quietly, lifting his glass bottle to softly press the wider end to the reddened cheek. Cloud's reaction was to quickly pull away, as the beer was still rather cold, but he relaxed once more as he let his eyes wander over to the raven haired male.

"Zack..." He started, bouncing one of his legs nervously on the ground, "Have you ever... Let your significant other hit you?"

Blargh... I wanted to make this longer, but... That cliff hanger was worth it ;D

Review if you please, and if not... Well, I can't very well make you, can I?

Constructive criticism wanted! And probably needed!

Thank ya's for reading :3