Disclaimer: I do not own the characters or settings therein. They are the sole creative property of SquareEnix. I do however own all editions of Advent Children, and Final Fantasy 7 for my PS3. DUDE… IT'S AWESOME IN HD. Err… I digress.

Pairing: Reno and Cloud (yaoi but no lemon-y freshness)

Warnings: Glossing over some man on man action.

Inspiration: Need You Now by Lady Antebellum (yeah I know… I'm like a year behind in listening to this song. Don't judge. *scowls*)

Title: Need You Now

Standing in the shadows of the building he was leaning against a lone figure lit a fresh cigarette. He knew he had no business being here. Not this night and not at this hour.
The bar 7th Heaven had been closed due to a private party earlier. Friends and colleagues of Shin-Ra and the WRO were celebrating Valentine's Day. He'd been there with them but now he was standing outside in the cold with his thumb hovering over the send button on his cell phone…

Earlier in the night…
Reno, the 'Wild Turk', the one that was the party wherever he went wanted to be anywhere but here tonight. He begged for weeks to have this night off. Tseng just assumed it was so he could drink until he passed out.

Tseng was right... kinda. Reno wanted nothing more than to drink himself into oblivion but in the privacy of his home. Not here. Not in front of him.

Leaning against the bar, Cloud watched Reno from his peripheral vision. Cloud noticed that the easy smile Reno always wore didn't reach his eyes tonight. There was something… off about the redhead tonight.

"Reno, where have you been?" Tifa asked as she approached the booth he was sitting at with Rude.
"Oh, ahh yanno. Was tryin' ta give sobriety a shot, yo," Reno replied and ignored the snort from his partner and the glare from Tseng.

Tseng knew Reno was lying. If anything Reno's drinking had gotten worse in the last few months. It seemed like every morning the redhead either stumbled into the office with a massive hangover or still inebriated.

"Oh, well we missed you for the last three months," she said with an easy smile and she leaned over and pressed a kiss on Rude's cheek. "I can see you're enjoying some tonight though."
"Heh. Yeah," Reno said as he lifted his tumbler of whiskey in a mock toast.

Reno felt the heat of someone's stare on his back, when he turned around he saw a pair of bright blue glowing eyes that bore into his very soul. With a shaky hand, Reno lifted the glass to his lips and drank the remainder of his drink in one gulp. Turning back to Tifa he held out the glass to her.

"J-just bring me the bottle, yo."

The party didn't go into the wee hours of the morning like it normally would. Valentine's Day had fallen on a Monday this year and everyone had to either work the next morning or those with kids had to take care of their little monsters. Both Tseng and Rude offered to drive Reno back to the Tower where the Turks had residences. Declining the offers, he watched as Tseng helped a visibly drunk Rufus to the town car that was waiting outside.

Reno walked out into the frigid Edge night. His thoughts kept going back to another crisp night just three short months ago. It was the last time he drank at 7th Heaven.

It was the last time he trusted himself to be alone with Cloud Strife.

The blonde mercenary turned delivery boy had always intrigued Reno, even before he came across him in Aerith's Church all those years ago. Reno vaguely remembered the blonde as a lowly grunt that Zack had taken under his wing.

Back then, Reno looked at Cloud as someone that needed to be taken care of. A precious fragile boy with the face of an angel. Reno spent many nights picturing that angelic face doing lewd acts to his person as he stroked himself to completion. That was before Nibelheim, before Cloud fell off the face of Gaia for five long years.

Reno eventually found other fantasies to think about, to fill his long lonely nights. Then one night just a couple of years ago he saw him again. It was Reno's crowning glory as a Turk. He was dropping the plate on Sector 7 and came face to face with Cloud. But this man was nothing like the boy he knew before. This was a warrior and it caused Reno's blood to boil.

Cloud had changed since then. During the events to save the planet from Sephiroth, Cloud was a strong and almost arrogant warrior. Then, he broke. At the time of Geostigma, Cloud reminded Reno of the young boy he once was. Unsure of himself, needy but too shy to verbalize what he wanted.

Since that last battle with Sephiroth and his Remnants, then the curing of the stigma, an almost happy medium settled over Cloud.

He was shy but forthright. He was strong but his eyes still hinted at a fragility that called to the redhead. Reno wanted Cloud more than he ever thought he could, he fell head over heels for the man.

Three months ago, Reno had him.

It wasn't anything romantic, with soft words and sweet kisses. It was two drunken men tearing each other's clothes off. It was hot, dirty and rough. Cloud had followed Reno into the private bathroom in the back. It started out as an argument over something Rufus was trying to pull on the WRO and Cloud. Cloud kept cornering the Turk, itching for a fight. Instead, Reno succumbed to what he'd been dying to do for years.

He pulled Cloud violently up against his frame and crashed his lips against the blonde's. Cloud was startled for a moment before giving in and taking control.

When all was said and done, Cloud couldn't even look Reno in the eye but the redhead saw an expression he couldn't quite place pass over the blonde. Was it shame or regret? Reno tried to speak to Cloud but no words would form. Instead, the delivery boy just pulled his clothes back in order and walked out of the bathroom leaving Reno alone.

Reno tried to contact Cloud in the days and weeks after that night. Cloud was avoiding him at every turn. The blonde would return Tseng's calls about needing deliveries, or Reeves orders for WRO movement but if Reno called, nothing. No response. Ever.

Reno's heart broke in those weeks. He then went into survival mode, he avoided the man that was avoiding him and licked his wounds with several bottles of cheap booze. But this night, no one would let him avoid the blonde.

Shaking himself out of his thoughts, Reno pressed the send button with a muttered "Fuck it." If Cloud still insisted on avoiding him then he can go fuck himself. The blonde's eyes followed him the entire night. Reno felt it, knew it.

The Turk listened as the cell rang three times; he was just about to slide his thumb across the end button when the call connected.

"Reno," Cloud breathed into the phone. "Forget something?"
'My heart,' the redhead thought to himself.
"Ah. I ah. That is," Reno stammered.
Sighing heavily, Cloud let his impatience show. "Reno, it's been a long night. What do you want?"

Without thinking, he let the one word tumble from his lips.

"You."

Silence seemed to stretch on for Reno.

"Look, I- I'm real sorry I bothered ya. I jus, I-I dunno," the Turk said.
"Where are you?"
"Fuckin' standing in the gahdamn cold outside ya winda like a love sick fuckin' teenaga," Reno with a humorless laugh.

Reno heard the call disconnect. Feeling like ten times the fool he normally did, he looked at his phone before sliding it back into his pants pocket. Biting his lip, hoping to cause himself enough physical pain to drown out the emotional one, Reno took a few silent steps away from the building.

He didn't hear the backdoor open. He didn't hear the sound of combat boots crunching behind him but he felt the strong arms wrap around him. He felt the warm breath brush up against his neck that ended in a sweet kiss.

"I need you, Reno. I need you now," Cloud said as he gently tugged Reno back towards 7th Heaven. Back towards his room.

A/N:To continue or not to continue… that my loverlies is the question. Read and Review and let me know if you want me to bring the smut in Chapter 2.