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Scars of Friendship

Reno was in a celebratory mood. Not only had the recent job been successfully completed, he had also conned Rude into doing all the paperwork. He planned to eat piles of takeout, drink lots of beer, sleep till midday and eat cold leftovers. He was feeling pretty pleased with himself till he spotted Cloud trudging up the pavement. What a gloom cloud, he thought and then smiled at his own joke. Maybe he should pass on some of his good cheer. He looked down at his double takeout, nodded once and called out to Cloud. It wasn't often Reno saw Cloud surprised, but he caught him today. In fact, if Cloud's quick glances were anything to go by, the blond hadn't realised where his wandering feet had taken him.

"You don't usually hang round here," said Reno by way of greeting. He knew full well that Cloud often took to walking when he was troubled. Tifa had mentioned it and asked if Reno ever spotted him somewhere strange to let her know.

"Just walking around," answered Cloud.

"Have you eaten?" asked Reno.

"Um..." Cloud seemed taken aback by the question.

"It's dinner time, I have food, we're in front of my place and I'm hungry - do you want to join me?"

"Oh."

"Don't make me celebrate alone," added Reno.

"Okay."

Reno almost laughed at Cloud's expression to his own answer. He looked like he had said yes without thinking about who was asking and then realised but couldn't back out without appearing rude. Reno idly wondered how many awkward moments the evening would hold. And how many he could make.

Reno wordlessly led the way to his place. It wasn't a fantastic place but it had hot water, a working fridge and a comfortable bed. Cloud glanced round before taking a seat at the small kitchen table. Reno had pictured himself tucking in on the sofa but seeing as Cloud had seated himself, Reno changed his plans to the table.

"Beer?" he asked opening the fridge.

Cloud looked up from peering into the takeout box and nodded.

Reno frowned a little as he took two beers from the fridge. Maybe celebrating with Cloud wasn't such a good idea. He hadn't said anything since he agreed to join Reno and it wasn't like a beer or two, or even three, was going to loosen his tongue. He put the open beers on the table, pick up a plastic fork and starting picking out the boxes. Cloud took his beer and starting doing the same. After a couple of bites he put down his fork.

"Why are you celebrating?"

"Um…" Now that he thought about it, Reno wasn't sure if he could say. "Actually, I don't know if I can tell you."

The dark look that Cloud usually reserved to ShinRa related topics slid into place and he glanced at the front door. What a buzz kill, thought Reno.

"But seeing as it's you, I think I will," added Reno.

"I don't want to know ShinRa secrets," said Cloud darkly.

"Not a ShinRa secret," said Reno. "Foiled attack on WRO."

"Oh," said Cloud before returning to his dinner.

"You know, you gotta leave the past in the past," said Reno.

"It's not that easy," said Cloud looking like he was beginning to wonder what he was doing.

"No, it's not," agreed Reno. "But you gotta start, man. This could be your start."

"What?"

"Not so long ago, a couple of years, we were trying to kill each other, and yet here we are," said Reno sweeping his across the table, "enjoying a meal together."

Cloud looked at the takeout box and Reno's grand gesture. What he said was true. Many things had changed over the last while. Things weren't as simple as AVALACHE against ShinRa. Everyone had made mistakes. And forgiveness was possible.

"Maybe enjoying is too strong a word," said Reno.

"No-" said Cloud quickly but then couldn't think of anything to say. Reno raised a brow as he waited. "I mean, it's not awful."

"Thank you," deadpanned Reno.

"I don't mean it like that," said Cloud.

"I know," said Reno. "I'm teasing. Don't be so serious all the time."

Cloud stilled at Reno's words. He was serious all the time. He'd been a serious kind of child but he had laughed and had fun. He didn't seem to laugh anymore – he was too busy being serious. Too busy in the past – his mistakes, his horrors, his regrets…

Reno watched Cloud mulling over his thoughts, his presence forgotten. How on earth did Tifa put up with it? The constant gloom and doubt and guilt.

"I'm gonna watch some TV," he said getting up. "Grab your food and join me."

He wasn't sure if Cloud would actually join him but he did. Possibly only because he didn't want to be awkward. Whatever the reason, he joined Reno of the sofa. A comedy was halfway through but Reno left it on. There weren't many choices and apart from the news, it was all repeats. Resources were scarce and repeats were better than nothing.

"When I first started at ShinRa I used to love this show," said Reno between mouthfuls. "What about you? What did you watch as a kid?"

"We didn't have TV, it was expensive and the reception was bad because of the reactor," said Cloud completely rapt.

Reno then abandoned any further attempt at conversation. It wasn't the celebratory evening he had hoped for but as Cloud said earlier, it wasn't awful. It was actually how he planned his original evening, he just now had an extra person. Over the course of the evening, they watched two comedies, the news and a soap opera that had Cloud more confused than entertained. But he did get caught up in a drama and was surprised when credits rolled.

"Is that the end?" asked Cloud still staring at the TV. "The story isn't finished."

"Yeah, it's not a movie or a comedy," said Reno. "You gotta watch every week."

"Next week!"

"Yeah," said Reno. "TV'll be here, I'll be here, takeout'll be here."

And that was how a weekly hang out started. They continued that way for almost three months before Reno realised one evening that he was looking forward to Cloud's arrival. And that even though some evenings were quiet or had awkward moments, he really enjoyed them. And in the weeks that followed that realisation, Reno started to feel genuine affection for Cloud, which soon became attraction. Cloud also seemed more relaxed and at ease when he was around. They spoke less about what was happening on the TV and more about themselves, their ideas and likes. That wasn't to say that Cloud became a great communicator and sharer of feelings and thoughts. There were still many evenings where he barely spoke or sat scowling at the TV. Reno has tried the first couple of times to get Cloud engaged in conversation about something – anything. But the more Reno tried, the further Cloud withdrew. It had been more out of annoyance that Reno left Cloud alone when he was in a funk. But it turned out to be the best thing. Usually by the end of the evening Cloud had relaxed and exchanged a few words with Reno. However, tonight was a different story.

For starters, Cloud had been sitting outside Reno's door when the redhead arrived home. He hadn't really taken note of Reno's greeting, nor his opening the door. Reno had crouched down next to him and poked his shoulder to get his attention. It took Cloud a second the turn his attention to Reno and Reno had been surprised to see how upset Cloud was. Genuinely upset, not his normal gloomy or withdrawn self. It had Reno more worried than he cared to admit. With his budding romantic interest in Cloud, he'd become rather sensitive to Cloud's moods. Withdrawn Cloud he knew how to deal, but this upset Cloud was something else.

"Are you okay?" asked Reno after Cloud had sat down on the sofa.

Cloud shook his head. Reno recognised the emotion running through Cloud in that single head shake – grief. He quickly run all the dates he knew of that might be a cause but none matched up.

"What's wrong?" he ventured.

"Sephiroth killed Aerith today. And for some reason, it's really painful this year," said Cloud quietly.

Takeout forgotten on the table, Reno came to sit on the sofa.

"I feel like I'm betraying her," said Cloud clearly confused.

Reno suddenly felt nervous – it was odd. He wasn't a nervous person, yet he felt the distinct fluttering in his gut. Something he hadn't truly experienced since he was a teenager. An eager teenager talking to someone he really liked.

"It might just be that moving forward thing I mentioned ages ago," said Reno. Or it might be you like me back, added Reno to himself.

"The guilt thing?" asked Cloud.

"Part of it," said Reno before adding. "Maybe also this thing between us."

Cloud frowned.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, we were enemies then," said Reno disappoint Cloud didn't get what Reno wanted to say. "Now we hang out. With each other."

Cloud didn't seem convinced.

"Or more like you don't hate me anymore," added Reno. "You know, the person that was your enemy."

"I never hated you," said Cloud completely unaware of the effect his words had on Reno. "I fought you because you were working for ShinRa."

"Besides," added Cloud after a moment. "You never followed through on capturing Aerith."

"Yeah, well, she was special," said Reno.

"That's why Zack loved her," said Cloud almost to himself.

Reno cast Cloud a curious glance. It was the first time Cloud had mentioned Zack to Reno.

"And you," said Reno watching Cloud closely.

"Oh… yeah."

Even as Cloud said the words, Reno could see he was conflicted. Reno knew that Cloud had mixed up some memories of himself and Zack but to what degree he didn't know. Looking at Cloud now, he wondered how far Cloud's delusion had gone. And if he, Cloud Strife, had loved Aerith as much as he imagined. Or had Zack's ghost played a part in it. Reno couldn't help hoping that Cloud's feeling for Aerith were heavily influenced by Zack. It meant that not only did Reno stand a real chance with Cloud, but that his current feeling of betrayal was in response to his feelings for Reno.

He desperately wanted to hug Cloud but didn't know how to casually do so. Instead he shift closer and put his arm around Cloud's shoulders.

"I'm sorry you're feeling so down," said Reno pulling Cloud closer to him briefly.

After Cloud's initial surprise, he let Reno hold him for a bit. And Reno was further surprised when Cloud suddenly let out a sigh and rested his head on Reno's shoulder. Reno remained still but not stiff, enjoying the brief intimacy. Some time passed, longer than Reno expected, before Cloud lifted his head. He gave Reno a small smile of thanks, but it reached his eyes and Reno knew at that moment there was nothing he could deny Cloud.

"Shall we eat?" asked Cloud.

Reno nodded and watched Cloud get up and walk to the table reeling from the realisation that he had utterly fallen for Cloud. That small smile had stripped away all of Reno's defences and exposed his true feelings – he was in love with Cloud Strife.