AUTHOR'S NOTE: This was just a little idea I had rolling around my head until I actually sat down and wrote it. Now that I've finished playing the "extremely long" game and watched Advent Children a hundred and six times because I love when Cloud says…"I'll phone in the verdict", I think I've come to know the characters a little better, especially Cloud and Tifa, so I hope I've captured them correctly. This is just a short one that needed to come out. Hope you like it.

WARNING: This fic contains graphic language, but nothing an average teen hasn't already heard.

"Tifa, you gotta help me." Cloud barreled in through the front entrance and darted behind the bar to join me.

I stared at him like he had four heads. Cloud hardly ever got flustered unless there was a good reason, so I was alittle surprised by his sudden state. "What's going on, Cloud?"

He leaned closer and jerked a thumb over his shoulder. "See that girl that's about to walk in?"

I peered toward the door and noticed a pretty red-headed girl. She looked like she was trying to decide whether or not to come into the bar. It took a minute before I remembered the face. "Yeah, isn't that…?"

"Priscilla, yeah. The girl in Junon I saved when I gave her CPR a few years back."

"What's she doing here?"

"Okay, here's the deal." He kept his voice low, but it was pointless because there wasn't anyone else in the bar. "I delivered something to Junon the other day and ran into her. Now she's following me around."

"Why is she following you around?"

"Well…she sort of likes me."

I shrugged. "So what's wrong with that? I remember her being a nice kid. She can't be all that bad."

"She's a whack job."

I laughed. "Oh come on, Cloud, you're exaggerating."

"No, I'm serious. She's been calling my cell for the last two days, leaving me a million messages about meeting for a drink. Then I don't know how she knew I'd be there, but she followed me to the Chocobo Farm yesterday. I took off when I saw her and she left me a scalding message, asking me why I'm avoiding her." He pointed toward the door. "And now she's here."

"Well, what'd you do to get her so worked up?"

He gave me an innocent shrug. "I didn't do anything."

"Were you flirting with her?"

Cloud scratched the back of his head. "I…I might've, but I didn't think she'd take it personal."

"What'd you say to her…exactly?"

"All I said was…it was a nice day and she said it would be even better if I'd take her to the beach for a skinny dip and I said…maybe if I had the time."

"Well, there's your problem, right there. You led her on, Cloud."

"I didn't mean to." He sighed and rolled his eyes. "So what do I do now?"

I glanced toward the door and saw Priscilla trying to see inside through the glass. "First of all, don't ever say something you don't plan to follow through on. Coming from someone as…good-looking…as you, girls are gonna take you up on it."

Cloud frowned and scratched the back of his head again. "Well, thanks, Tifa. I didn't know you thought I was good-looking."

"Don't flatter yourself, Cloud, I'm just trying to help you."

"Oh."

I knew Cloud used to harbor some kind of feelings for me back when we were kids, but ever since Aeris came into his life, I wasn't sure if he still felt the same, despite the fact she was gone. Just to keep things safe between us, I never encouraged his feelings…even when I started to feel something for him during the months we were chasing after Sephiroth. But I continued to convince myself I felt the way I did because I liked my close friendship with him and if he ever got involved with anyone, then I was afraid I'd lose what we had.

"What should I do to get her off my back, Tifa? I mean, her father's calling and asking what my intentions are with his daughter."

"Well, you can always tell her you already have a girlfriend."

The bell above the door jingled.

"I tried that," Cloud explained. "But she obviously doesn't believe me."

"So what're you looking for?" I whispered. "You want me to pretend to be your girlfriend?"

"Oh man, I'd really appreciate it."

I meant it as a joke, but he obviously took it literally. "Okay, fine."

"Cloud?"

Cloud and I both turned toward the voice, finding Priscilla standing on the other side of the bar with a wide grin.

Her smile faltered a bit when she saw me. "Oh, hi. I remember you. Tisha or Tina…"

"Tifa," I corrected her, already finding the girl to be annoying. She obviously had her sights on Cloud and was leery of any female competition. Deciding to do it Cloud's way and get things rolling, I wrapped my arms around Cloud's arm and lovingly leaned my head on his shoulder. "What brings you all the way from Junon?"

She raised her nose and tried to make herself look daunting, even though she was a good head shorter than me…and more so than Cloud. "I came to spend some time with Cloud."

I mocked surprise as I turned to Cloud. "Oh, Honey, you didn't tell her about us?"

He gave me a strange look before he remembered what all of this was about. "But, Muffin, I did tell her."

I nearly cringed at his pet name for me. Muffin? Couldn't he have thought of something better? Like Angel…or even Sweet Cheeks would have been better than Muffin. Yuck! I casually turned back to Priscilla. "I'm sorry, but Cloud and I are exclusive."

The startled look on Priscilla's face was priceless. But just as quickly as it appeared, it vanished, replaced by a crooked smile. "I see what's going on here." She reached across the bar to touch Cloud's other arm. "You are too adorable, Cloud. You feel sorry for lonely old Tifa, putting yourself out so she can have some company."

What????!!!! She had the nerve to call me lonely?

"What the hell're you talking about?" Cloud countered and I could tell he was quickly losing his patience. And when that happened he wasn't very tactful with his choice of words. "I love Tifa. In fact, two months ago I asked her to marry me. Right, Tifa?"

"That's right," I quickly complied, feeling a little giddy just hearing him talk about marriage.

"I don't believe you, Cloud," Priscilla said with a pout. "Why won't you admit we have something special between us?"

"There's nothing special between us, Priscilla. You're delusional." And there it was, his lack of tact.

But my sudden dislike for the girl stopped me from calming Cloud down before he really started saying the wrong things.

"Okay, then prove it," she said with her hands on her hips. "Kiss her."

I felt Cloud stiffen or maybe it was me. The only kissing Cloud and I had ever done was an occasional quick peck on the cheek…during birthdays or other events we had in common, such as the time we celebrated the one year anniversary of Meteor's destruction. Or the times he'd suddenly bring home flowers to decorate my room…I'd kiss him on the cheek for being so thoughtful. Those times were rare. In the days of AVALANCHE, we might have hugged and held each other quite a bit, but it was only to comfort…nothing sexual implied.

Cloud pulled his arm out of my death grip and turned to face me. His eyes were a little wide as he placed his hands on my arms. There was a tinge of color on his cheeks and I was pretty sure my own face was getting redder by the second. "That's not a problem. Right, Tifa? We kiss all the time."

"Ye…yeah…all the t…time," I stammered and stared into his electric blue mako eyes.

He bent forward and plastered his lips against mine.

I closed my eyes and didn't move…waiting for it to be over. But as he held his lips pressed to mine, I could feel him breathing through his nose. When he finally pulled away with a brief slurp of my lower lip, I reached out to grip the bar because my knees were threatening to buckle underneath me. Holy Shiva…it was just an innocent kiss, but I could have sworn for a second there I felt a little orgasmic.

"That was pathetic," whined Priscilla. "You call that a kiss?"

I had almost forgotten she was even there. But Cloud didn't give me a chance to reply. He immediately came at me again and this time his mouth was open. Unfortunately I had also opened my mouth to protest the whole charade…and now his tongue was practically down my throat. I nearly gagged, but to my complete dismay, it came out as a moan. As he slowed his frantic penetration and began stroking my tongue, his arms slid around me. My mind was in a fog. All I could think about was how good he tasted and how good his body felt pressed against mine. I almost missed the fact that I suddenly found my arms tightly around his neck, which explained why our bodies were glued together.

Holy Gods! Cloud Strife was kissing me…and I was enjoying it. He was enjoying it. We were so engrossed in this brand new experience and feeling, that I again forgot the Junon girl was standing there watching us.

"Ha!" she exclaimed. "I can do that with Mr Dolphin!"

Cloud slowly pulled away from me, his eyes now flaring with anger as he turned them toward Priscilla. "Look, I'm not gonna fuck her in front of you, okay? I gotta draw the line somewhere."

I slapped a hand on my forehead. He really had no tact at all, did he?

Priscilla grinned slyly. "So you've slept together?"

Cloud nodded. "Yeah, we have sex every night. We've done it all."

I couldn't get my vocal cords to work anymore because I was still reeling from that ninety second saliva-swapping tongue caress. My face was so hot, I wanted to stick my head under a running faucet. I realized that very second his hand was resting on my butt cheek…in a rather intimate way, I thought. Wasn't he taking this a little too far?

"You're not fooling me one bit, Cloud Strife," said a flustered Priscilla.

"Could you excuse us a minute?" Cloud grabbed my hand and dragged me around the corner and up the stairs into his office. He shut the door and turned around to face me. "Tifa, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to kiss you like that. It just…happened."

"I…I…know, it's okay. It was an…"

Before I could get another word out, Cloud's hands were on my face and his mouth was on mine again. Maybe I should have been shocked because Priscilla wasn't anywhere near us…but instead I gripped the front of his shirt and held him in place as our tongues explored more of what we had tasted downstairs.

Cloud dragged me to the wall. An uncontrollable desire came over me and I raised one leg around his waist before dragging the other one up. It was like we were suddenly possessed…or obsessed…or something. We couldn't seem to get close enough, even though there wasn't a millimeter between us.

I sucked wildly on his lips and he responded by sucking on my tongue. With my legs wrapped firmly around his waist, his package was pressed against me and it was coming alive in all kinds of pleasant ways. I desperately clung to him with all four of my limbs, like he was the one thing keeping me alive.

After what seemed like an eternity, Cloud abruptly released me. Luckily he had the good sense to catch me before my ass landed on the floor.

We stared at each other as we tried to catch our breaths. It was like we were seeing each other clearly for the first time…and not through a sheer curtain of phony feelings. Did all that just happen? Did we nearly have dry sex against the wall? The thought shot a shiver through my spine.

"Tifa, I…I don't know what's wrong with me."

I wiped at my sweaty forehead. My insides were burning like a furnace.

"I did it again. I'm sorry."

I punched him on the shoulder, but not that hard. "Shut up, Cloud. Just shut up." I put a hand on my forehead again. "I can't think straight."

Cloud pulled the door open and just as we were about to walk out of the office, Priscilla's voice stopped us in our tracks.

"Yup, it's a done deal. Cloud and Tifa can't keep their hands off each other. You were right. Once they got started, there was no stopping them."

"What the…" Cloud started to say, but I slapped a hand over his mouth to keep him quiet.

"They went upstairs. I think they're doing it," Priscilla said with a giggle. "So when do I get my money?"

Cloud shook my hand off. "We've been set up."

My jaw dropped. "Who would go to all this trouble to get us together?"

His eyes were focused away before they suddenly met mine again. "Barret."

I gave him a skeptical look. "What? How do you know it was Barret?"

"I'll tell you how I know. Last week he asked me if I was seeing any action."

"What kind of action?" The look he gave me made it perfectly clear it was the sexual kind. I put my hands on my hips. "Well, have you?" I really didn't have a right to ask him, but I suddenly couldn't help myself.

"Tifa, you know I'm not like that." He waved off my question. "Anyway, he was going on about how certain parts will fall off on a man if they don't get any use."

I bit my lip to contain the threatening laugh. If he didn't sound so serious I wouldn't have held it back.

"I bet Barret put her up to it. He's paying her to pretend to be after me. The man's a fucking genius. We played right into it."

"So…you were just…playing?"

His expression changed and his eyes came back to mine. "Huh? Oh…well, weren't you?" he carefully asked.

I shrugged and thought about how I could kick my own ass for thinking he had kissed me because he wanted to. "Yeah, of course I was."

"Yeah, me too." He waved his hand again. "We just got caught up in it, right?"

"Right." I wanted to kill him. I literally wanted to take a hammer and smash his skull until he was dead. He seriously thought I got all hot and heavy with him because we were just playing around? DAMN, what was wrong with him? Yeah, I could have told him the truth, but I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of laughing at me for being stupid. Asshole!

"I got an idea," Cloud said with a twinkle in his eye. "Just play along, okay?"

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, whatever."

Cloud took my hand and dragged me down the stairs and back behind the bar.

Priscilla was all smiles when she saw us. "Let me guess, you want me to believe you just had a quickie, right?"

"Yeah," replied Cloud. "That and a little chat. We've come to an agreement about something."

"Something?"

"Well, you see, Tifa and I have been together for so long that we never got the chance to be with others."

Priscilla's cool demeanor slipped a noticeable tad. "Oh? And what is that supposed to mean?"

Cloud leaned on the top of the bar, directly in front of her and he gave her a smile. "She gave me permission to…have a little extra fun, if I wanted."

Her eyebrows shot up into her bangs. "Extra fun?"

"Sure. You and me. How 'bout it, Priss?"

"I'm really…not too fond of my name being shortened." Her face went ghostly white.

"Fine, I won't do it again." He gave her another solicitous smile. "I can go another round right now. Where do you wanna do it? Upstairs in my room? On my motorcycle? Right here on top of the bar?"

Priscilla grimaced a little and suddenly began to back away from the bar. "You know, I…I just remembered I didn't tell my father where I was. I really should call him."

Cloud pulled his cell out of his pocket and flipped it open as he started to walk out from behind the bar. "Here, use my phone."

She spun around and headed for the door. "No, I really better get going. See you around." She was outside before the bell above the door started jingling.

Cloud slapped his hands together. "I knew she was faking all along."

I put my hands on my hips. "All along? Fifteen minutes ago you were desperately asking for my advice on how to get her off your back."

He turned around and innocently shrugged. "I said I was just playing along."

"Yeah, sure you were."

His expression changed. "You know, we can really mess with Barret on this."

"How?"

His eyes were flaring again. "I got an idea to get back at him."

I rolled my eyes. Whenever Cloud had an idea, bad things were likely to happen. But of course I always went along with whatever he had in mind...even if it was going to be physically and mentally painful.

Well…I couldn't say no because I adored him.

I thought about continuing with a second chapter that would follow Cloud's "idea", but it can end here, too. Is anyone interested in seeing more?