Chapter Six: Epilogue

"Good morning beautiful!"

From inside the small flower shop came something like a shout of joy and relief. The slight, elderly woman Zack had flirted with as he passed her in the doorway raised her eyebrow at him. "You've got your work cut out for you," she said.

"Nooo," Zack moaned as someone's hand closed around his wrist and began to tug him inside, "Save me Mrs. Clifton!"

He was not rescued, however, and the bells over the door of Hewley's jingled loudly as the door shut with him inside.

"Hi," said the owner of the shop, Hewley himself, "Here." He pushed a large wad of cloth into his arms and Zack pouted, suddenly very regretful he came.

"Don't I get a kiss? You can't just force me into working without some kind of incentive."

Angeal looked a mess. His hair was a wreck, his eyes had dark circles under them, and his lips were dry and chapped when they sought his out. Zack cupped the man's face with his free hand and pressed their foreheads together, not letting him escape just yet. "Poor baby," he cooed, "Working too hard."

The brief pause in his boyfriend's otherwise-hectic morning seemed to be appreciated. Angeal smiled tiredly, the worry lines on his visage disappearing for a moment, and he moved in to kiss him again. "Do you mind?"

"Yeah, no problem. I don't have to be in 'till twelve."

He finally let Angeal go and moved further into the shop, slipping the loop of the apron over his head and tying it behind his back. The shop, usually so neat, was covered on every surface in pink, green and yellow flowers. Zack whistled as he surveyed all the hard work. He stuck his head in the back room and made a happy noise as he spotted a familiar figure standing by a long, wide metal table against the far wall.

"Seeeph," he drawled as he hugged the man from behind, belatedly noticing the dirt on the front of his own apron (Sephiroth wouldn't realize until he turned around in front of a mirror, at least).

"Hey," Sephiroth murmured, and his deep voice thrummed with approval. "I haven't seen you in ages."

"Four days," Zack pouted. "It's not my fault you and Cloud are all holed up on the other side of town." He nosed at the back of the man's neck and began to press tiny kisses under his ear.

"We keep telling you to stay the night more," berated Sephiroth gently.

"But then Genesis would be all alone at his place. I can't abandon the guy."

They had had this conversation many times before—and it wasn't quite an argument, but still a conversation—and Sephiroth tried to say something else, something Zack figured he probably wouldn't like, so he silenced him by turning the man's head as far as it would go to the side and locked their lips. Zack maneuvered Sephiroth's bottom lip between his own and ran his tongue over the softness of it, feeling his friend's body melt against his chest.

For a long few minutes no work got done whatsoever. Just because Zack's arms were around Sephiroth's waist anyway and because his hands were so close they crept towards the clasp of his belt. He hooked a thumb between the waistband of his jeans and the soft skin of his lower belly. Sephiroth responded enthusiastically, pressing his ass back against him.

"Focus!" Yelled Angeal from up front, perhaps noticing the lack of productive sounds that had gone on for far too long.

Zack backed up but called back, scandalized, "Angeal! Seph's not wearing underwear!"

"I know," was the simple, grave reply.

Sephiroth ignored Zack's stupid amused look and gestured at the massive pile of flowers that had to be attractively sorted and put into vases. "We're going over and setting them up tonight."

They worked quietly and efficiently for a time, both of them skilled at most things flowers after being in this crazy, unprecedented relationship with Angeal for over a year and a half. The long lines of filled vases grew further and when they finished assembling the table bouquets for the reception Sephiroth surveyed their work and murmured sourly, "She better like these."

"This is Aerith we're talking about. Of course she will."

Angeal did not let them hide out in the back for long. Sephiroth got roped into putting the finishing touches on the displays for the chapel and Zack was assigned register duty, tending to the regular customers who wandered in. He had to leave eventually, though, and it took some reassuring to have Angeal let him go. Genesis was swinging by in an hour to replace Zack and although Sephiroth tended to complain a little too much he was quicker than any of them at the tasks Angeal assigned. They'd be fine.

And they were. When Zack arrived at Genesis' house that evening the others, sans Cloud, were there, already back from setting everything up. They ordered pizza, everyone far too tired to cook, and in the last hour or two of their night they went over the plans for the next day. It would be a busy one.

Zack, perched on the couch and massaging Angeal's tense shoulders, seemed to be an outlet for everyone's anxiety. "I don't know," he said for the umpteenth time as Sephiroth yet again asked him some minute detail about the wedding that he, truthfully, had no damn clue how to answer. "I'm not the one marrying her anymore!" he protested, "How the hell would I know what the hors d'oeuvres are?"

"Damn right you're not marrying her anymore," Genesis called from the kitchen. The redhead developed, in this past year, a fiercely possessive side. He always was that way to a lesser extent through their many years of platonic friendship, however especially so towards Angeal, his first and closest friend, and Cloud, who Genesis took under his wing for months before he met the rest of them. They'd all be lying if they said they did not secretly enjoy Genesis' fiery, occasionally snarling possessiveness. Zack just rolled his eyes at the comment, however, unsurprised.

Angeal relaxed against Zack's chest, his head lolling back against Zack's shoulder. Zack 'awwed' at him and his friend's face scrunched up adorably in annoyance. Sephiroth watched with amusement as Zack slipped his arms around Angeal's waist and cuddled him, his fingers laced together over his tummy.

The silver-haired man eventually left to help Genesis with the dishes and Angeal began to snore softly against Zack's jaw. Then, to Zack's consternation, someone knocked on the door. It was obvious who it was but Seph and Gen didn't hear it—darn.

"Sorry," Zack murmured as he carefully extracted himself from Angeal after kissing the tip of his nose. Grunting, the man flopped down and sideways.

"Hey Spike," Zack greeted cheerfully as he opened the door. Cloud looked dead on his feet, and he gratefully accepted Zack's hug. Once inside the door the blond dropped his backpack and work hat on the ground and stumbled into the kitchen to greet Sephiroth and Genesis, then came back in only to flop onto the couch with Angeal. The older man stirred just enough to grab him, arrange themselves so they were stretched out longwise, and settle Cloud comfortably against his side.

They were both asleep in under what had to be two minutes.

Zack whistled lowly and strolled into the kitchen, hands on his hips. "Damn, Cloud's out already. That can not be healthy—hey! So that's why you two have been in here so long."

The two of them were bent over a large shared slice of pie, a tub of ice cream beside them on the table. "What about that diet we all agreed on?"

"We had pizza for dinner," Genesis snapped, "and I'm stressed out. Shut up."

Zack laughed and walked over, bending over the back of Sephiroth's chair and looping his arms around his neck. Genesis scooped some dessert into his mouth when he opened it expectantly.

Sephiroth asked after a moment, "So how do you feel about tomorrow?"

Zack leant on his boyfriend a little harder, making his spine curve under his weight. "…A little weird," he confessed honestly. The other two gazed at him, expressions still soft and curious.

"I guess a small part of me is a little upset. Just 'cause we dated for so many years… and marriage is huge, you know? She'll really be gone." Hastily he added, "—I'm not sayin' I want her back, or that I regret anything. I'm just sayin'."

Those words would have caused a fight six months ago when the lines between romance and friendship were still tangled and tripping them up, when all of them were insecure and half-convinced this arrangement would blow up around them. As it was Genesis' lips pursed and Sephiroth looked awkward, but they understood.

They'd come far, now that he thought about it.

"Well…" Genesis, always the one with the bravado and confidence, looked hesitant, maybe a little shy. "I'm glad we've got you."

"Yeah," Zack answered, dropping a kiss to the top of Sephiroth's head, "Me too."

Despite all his promises Zack cried like a little baby the next day. It started when Aerith came out in her dress. She looked radiant as she walked down the aisle, and even though Kunsel looked goofy with his bright orange hair he was every bit the smitten husband Zack was not able to be. He was happy for them.

After the ceremony he dealt with the good-natured teasing from his friends about the dust that got in his eyes (or at least that was the excuse). He cried again after arriving at the reception, which was gorgeous, Hewley's flowers all over the large outside pavilion.

It was emotional, but it was fun, too. Angeal got instantly drunk, finally ready to let loose after weeks of preparation for Aerith's wedding. Genesis dragged him away from the bar to their assigned table but quickly gave up on him, saying he wanted to dance.

Weirdly enough a lot of the people Aerith met through Zack were there. Vincent, his neighbor at work, was awkwardly dancing with Genesis because no one else was. Kunsel even was an old work acquaintance of Zack's, and it took him by surprise to find the two remembered each other from a dinner party and were even dating a month after Zack left her for his friends. A few other familiar faces caught his attention throughout the afternoon as well.

Once Sephiroth appeared and predictably started digging in to the buffet, with Angeal the next seat over and draining another glass of soda and whiskey, Zack felt comfortable enough leaving them to join Genesis and Vincent . A few drinks later the three of them were laughing and enthusiastically doing the kind of embarrassing dancing that they'd cringe about the next day. Far from the gloomy few hours he envisioned or that his earlier tears may have predicted he was having a lot of fun. The sun was high and warm breezes blew through the tent. The setting was gorgeous too, an apple orchard an hour outside Midgar that had Genesis waxing poetic about dumbapples and Banora for an age.

The DJ played a slow song and Zack grabbed Genesis' hand, pressing a kiss to his knuckles. "May I have a dance, Sir?"

"You're obnoxious," was Genesis' slightly-slurred reply, but he slid into Zack's space anyway. Zack was taller than him and loved to show that off every chance he got, especially because Genesis' strong personality made him feel comparatively small at times. His hands fell to the man's waist, Genesis' arms slipped around his neck, and their lips met after a few seconds of gazing stupidly at each other.

Vincent, clearly awkward, left for the bar. The other two drifted in lazy, slow circles, talking softly while a little too drunk to not interrupt their conversation with kisses every thirty seconds. Other couples were dancing too, and out of the corner of his eye he could see Aerith doing the same with her mom, her face full of laughter.

Zack smiled as well, and he tilted his head down to bump his forehead with Genesis'. They swayed back and forth for a tender, quiet minute, their hands held.

Then Genesis ruined it in typical Rhapsodos style. "Angeal told me he's going to fuck you in the coat room," he whispered huskily into Zack's ear. Then he gave the man in question, still sitting over by Sephiroth, a sardonic smile. "Though if he has another drink or two I doubt he'll be able to get an erection. How many parties has whiskey dick ruined for us?"

"Reeeally?" Zack's metaphorical ears perked and he looked over at Angeal, who now had his head on Sephiroth's shoulder, his eyes closed.

His fingers skittered around Genesis' waist until he could cup his ass with his hands. "And what about you, huh? Got plans for tonight?"

The redhead smirked. "Naturally. Cloud gets so nervous at these things—I doubt he'd object to leaving a little early. He'll cling; it'll be easy."

"Aaaah." Zack twisted around and scanned the place until he spotted Cloud sitting at a back table and with Tifa by the looks of it. "Good choice." They leered and donned identical mischievous smiles as if Cloud wasn't dating them and already planning to go home with them anyway.

"All it will take is some reassuring words about how 'awkward' this is and he'll be glued to my side the rest of the evening." Genesis may have been rubbing his hands together with nefarious glee given the way he was talking. Zack rolled his eyes and was about to encourage him to head over, but then Genesis blurted, "Oh dear," and moved away.

Angeal's head had fallen off Sephiroth's shoulder and onto the table. His companion studied him calmly, an eyebrow raised, but was otherwise doing nothing to help him. Zack watched as Genesis intervened. Now alone on the dance floor and figuring those three would be busy for a while Zack decided to visit his best friend, because hey—Genesis' loss.

He was wary about approaching the duo. After Cloud officially broke things off with Tifa, including explaining at length the situation with his four friends and the extent of his cheating—yes, cheating, it ate at all five of them every damn day—Tifa and Cloud stopped talking.

They were back together remarkably quickly, however, just not as a couple but rather the close friends they had been in Nibelheim and maybe should have stayed all along. Tifa was still not too hot on him or the others, though, and Zack supposed he didn't blame her.

"Hey you two," Zack chirped as he reached their table. He threw his arms around Cloud and hugged him from behind , bending to plant a big, sloppy kiss on his cheek.

"Hey," Cloud said weakly and then shrugged him off much like Angeal was prone to do.

"Hey Spike," he quirked, "Hey Tifa."

Tifa smiled at him, but he clearly interrupted their conversation. Zack whined, "Sorry to bug ya. I just wanted to say hi."

"Well, 'hi,'" Cloud answered, but he smiled. He looked great in his suit and Zack beamed back, a little lovestruck. At Genesis' gentle insistence Cloud decided to take some college courses in addition to his job, but these days he got very little sleep. He worringly lost some weight in the past few months as a result (and was barred from participating in the diet the rest of them were on), but today he looked a little healthier and the bags under his eyes seemed more faded as well.

He implored Tifa, "Take care of him, won't you? Angeal's drunk and we can't keep our eyes on him."

"You can count on me," Tifa said cordially, and Zack did not doubt it. The two were inseparable these days.

He let them be and returned to the party. The next two hours passed in a blur of alcohol and fun. Sephiroth was coaxed onto the dance floor and humiliated himself, Genesis and Cloud gorged themselves on cake and Angeal threw up in a Hewley's potted plant. Throughout all of this Zack kept an eye out for the new bride but she was fluttering around, being social and talking to people. With the (possibly creepy) watch he was keeping he eventually saw his chance and slunk across the pavilion while avoiding the gaze of her mom and family (because hey, they didn't like him anymore).

Aerith was taking a break from standing and was at a table, playing with her baby nephew, ring bearer extraordinaire.

Shakily, Zack said, "Hey," and came to a stop in front of them. Aerith's hair and makeup looked so damn pretty, and she looked radiant, she really did.

"Stop crying," Aerith scolded him, and covered her face with her hand.

"I'm n-not," Zack stuttered, and Aerith gestured at him to sit. He did, and the two of them blinked rapidly at each other until all eyes were dry. "…Phew," Zack sighed, fanning his face as he ruffled the hair of the teething toddler on her lap for a distraction. "This is really great, Aer."

"Thank you," Aerith answered, and she looked proud.

"So it was as fabulous as you hoped it would be?"

"It really was."

Well then. Content, Zack leaned back in his chair and nodded. "That's great. I'm happy for you." Aerith just smiled, and Zack plowed ahead, needing to fill in the silence. "And—the weather's nice, yeah? It's gorgeous out."

"It actually rained the day we planned to have our wedding," Aerith commented airily, and Zack winced. Unlike with Cloud and Tifa it took them a long time to be able to have a civil conversation together. Things still were not perfect and occasionally Aerith dropped little things like that. It was okay, though, because he deserved them. She invited him and his boyfriends to her wedding, had she not? That certainly meant something.

"Where are the boys?"

"Trying to get Angeal in the car," Zack said, and he was getting emotional again. "He's pretty sick."

Aerith wasn't much better. "Oh no."

"Yeah. Sorry. We should have monitored him better."

"That's okay. The flowers are so pretty. They're—they're amazing. He put in so much work."

"Uh-huh." The ex-couple sniffled at each other. "…I should probably help out, I guess."

"O-Okay."

They both stood and Zack went in for the hug first. Aerith felt the same she always had during all the hugs he took for granted during the eight years they were together. They let go and Zack knew that things was different, not to mention final.

Time to stop feeling bad about it.

Zack wiped his eyes and gave the small boy on Aerith's hip a fist-bump. "See you around little man," he drawled with his usual grin. Aerith air-kissed his cheek and Zack returned to his group of friends, his heart doing flips. If he was sad it wasn't sadness for himself so much; it went without question that he made the right choice in deciding to disengage with Aerith and merge with his male best friends.

A little bit of melancholy clung to him nonetheless as he rejoined his friends. They said their goodbyes and piled into their large car they used when they all went places together. Sephiroth did not drink that night and thus drove, though he was pretty distracted anyway by Angeal loudly complaining into Genesis' neck about his stomach.

True to Genesis' speculations Cloud was indeed relieved to be out of the public eye. He was not really a cuddly person and constantly monitored himself (sometimes to everybody's chagrin) to make sure he did not cross some self-imposed line of 'masculinity' when it came to showing his boyfriends affection. Right now, however, he was cozily cuddled up to Zack's side in the furthest back row of seats, their fingers tangled together lovingly on Zack's lap. Genesis sent Zack a withering look over the top of Angeal's head and got a sunny grin in response.

It was not terribly late. The sun was only just setting. They originally had plans for the after-party—amorous ones apparently, judging by what Genesis said on the dance floor. Everyone was sleepy now, however, full with good food and looking forward to the massive, comfy bed they had installed in one of the rooms on Genesis' second floor. The boys started stripping and climbing into bed when they got there and Zack figured, hey, they could afford a short nap.

Angeal was much better now, shirtless and stretched out on the far edge of their bed. "Poor baby," Zack coddled, and Angeal cracked open an eye to glare at him. "Aww, c'mon Geal. You did great. The flowers were awesome, man. You deserved to let go."

"I really liked them," Cloud offered quietly as he shucked his pants in the corner. "He's right Angeal."

Angeal mumbled a thanks and Zack got in bed, crawling over Genesis (who finally got his hands on Cloud moments later and promptly tugged him down and squashed him, making the blond laugh). Sephiroth was on his side, massaging Angeal's head with his long, sure fingers and Zack spooned up behind him. He pressed his cheek to the soft cotton over the firm planes of his back and nudged Sephiroth's thighs apart with his knee.

Things then fell quiet. The two behind Zack kissed and murmured softly to each other for a minute or two but then went still. The sounds of his friends' breathing usually lulled him to sleep but Zack wasn't feeling it just yet, one last bit of nervousness squirming around hot in his stomach.

"Thanks for coming with me today," he said against Sephiroth's back. "I love you guys."

He instantly received a sleepy chorus of love you's from all four. Finally, reassured, his anxiety gone, Zack went to sleep.

"Hot! Hot! Move!"

Everyone danced out of the way as Zack hurried into the living room with a hot glass dish in his hands. He thunked it down on the table and stuck his fingertips, now a painful pink, in the face of whoever was closest.

"Owww," he whined at Cloud. The man frowned at his hands seriously and then grabbed his wrist, proceeding to press tender little kisses to the pad of each finger. Those electrifying blue eyes met his, blond lashes lowered, and Zack swallowed harshly.

"Seriously?" Angeal asked as he squeezed past them to put a basket of bread on the table. He was clad in just his boxers, and his back still had long welts down it from someone getting a little too enthusiastic earlier. "Give it a rest you two."

Zack latched on to him and Cloud, in a strange, playful mood, did too. "You're just jealous of our youth and vitality."

Cloud's lips found Angeal's neck, particularly a purpling spot he left there an hour ago. "You need a rest, old man?"

"Zack!" Genesis yelled from the kitchen, and Zack cursed and hurried back in, having forgotten his duties.

It was a Tuesday, and so far it had been a good one. Sephiroth and Genesis did not sit next to each other at dinner, still smarting from a familiar argument about everyone's housing situation, but considering Genesis had just been balls-deep in Seph Zack didn't worry too much.

Talk over the meal was nothing special. Zack talked at length about a new marketing campaign he and Vincent were overseeing at work, and Cloud vented his frustrations about an upcoming test in a few days. A week after the wedding things were back to normal at Hewley's, according to Angeal, though he missed them, still living alone in his apartment a block away from the shop in order to be close to it. Sparks flew between Seph and Gen at that comment but the others ignored it.

After eating Zack flopped on to the couch and Genesis sat on his legs. Cloud curled up in the armchair and Angeal stretched out on the floor as Sephiroth popped in this week's DVD. The man shuffled back and Angeal stretched out an arm for him.

"What's this movie about?" Cloud whispered after the opening lines of dialogue.

"Shhh," Genesis scolded.

"Don't be mean to him, Gen."

"Shhh!"

Zack laughed and gazed fondly at all of them. In their full, slightly-crabby but affectionate states his friends were making his heart thump irregularly; it wasn't even fair how great they were. When he thought about it the Zack of almost two years ago, the Zack who tried to get out of doing things with his girlfriend without truly knowing why, was really missing out.

Yeah, his friends were assholes sometimes and they fought, but in reality not much was very different from when they were just friends. The Zack of almost two years ago frustrated him. Although the transition to this relationship had been rocky, to put it lightly, he was in it now, experiencing all of the joys and dysfunctions and happiness they all failed to realize they wanted for so many years.

The Zack of almost two years ago did not want it—could not conceive of it—and rejected it at first when it happened—but happened it had.

And he was happy about that. And he was happy that it had worked so well, and that the five of them, despite the difficulties, were making it.

Everything worked out all right, and the Zack of now was pretty darn sure about that.

Thank you for reading! A big thank you to everyone who supported me through this silly fic as well. It's been a blast! :)