Warning: there's a bit of a lemon in this chapter.
As they walked to the store under Tifa's request, Yuffie couldn't help fidgeting. It was beginning to fray Cid's nerves.
"Are you gonna settle down sometime in the near future?"
She jumped, not expecting his voice. "Gods, Cid, do you have to be an ass today?"
"Nothing special about today."
"Actually, there is. But obviously, you have no idea."
Cid paused, eyeing Yuffie. He was bewildered as to what had gotten into her. The bickering was tiring, and he was starting to realize they did that quite a bit. They had all the physical chemistry in the world, but very little compatibility.
"What the hell ever."
He kept walking, but he could feel her eyes on his back, attempting to burn him. What if he'd relied on her to fix the wounds Shera had left, but hadn't given much more beyond that?
A pebble stung the back of his head and skittered into the street, had him turning to face Yuffie.
"Oh, good. That was real mature, Yuff."
"Well, I got your attention, didn't I?"
He started toward her, all the mind to give her a full list of reasons they needed to forget about being anything beyond friends. She took a few steps back, he kept his path. Eventually, she'd backed into a wall and he was practically nose to nose with her.
"Yeah, you've got my attention all right. And Yuffie…"
Before he could say a word, she was kissing him desperately, arms coiling around his neck and pulling him into her. Her body language was unlike the previous times. There was urgency and there was fear. As if she knew what he would say and thought that she could somehow avoid it with affection. As though proving to him that they had chemistry, dizzying chemistry, would keep him around.
The kisses trailed from his lips to his neck and ears, making the world drown in a ringing sound and the strangest kind of heat. There was nothing he could do to prevent his hands from running up her thighs and using them to lift her off the ground. When he did, she wrapped her legs around him. He was gone.
"You can't do this to me out here…"
"Why?" she whispered.
He shook his head, disbelieving what he was about to do. He carried her blind, trying to see through her kiss as he stumbled back through the alley. There was an abandoned shop at the back, door busted ajar, but it was more shelter than boxes and trash.
When he set her down, she helped him move the door aside and then led him by the wrist. The dilapidated cars and rusted tools didn't make for a conventional setting, but it was further proof of how unconventional they were together.
The only vehicle still intact was lifted on cinder blocks, but the hood was a shiny blue. He stopped her at that moment, pushed her down against the hood, a move she seemed to appreciate. She sighed and pulled him in.
In a moment of impatience, she hurriedly pulled aside only the articles of clothing which were in the way. He still had a shirt, shoes, socks… Pants bunched at the knee. She still had everything, just a pair of shorts pulled aside.
She was surprised when he slid into her, but she knew instantly she wouldn't last long. Judging by the heightened tension and his facial expressions, he wouldn't either. Together they rode passion and basic instinct as far as it would take them, lost in between a kiss, a moan, a thrust, or a desperate grope.
When she grabbed his shoulders with a vise-like grip, he knew. She buried her cries in his mouth, and he lost it. The hardest thrusts came last, uncontrolled and raw. As soon as the fog cleared, he collapsed and hid his face between her shoulder and neck. She was practically panting, half crying.
"Shit," he whispered as he left her moments later and pulled up his pants, feeling dirty as he studied the oil stains marking the floor.
She stayed in place a few moments longer before sliding down the front of the hood to sit with her knees to her chin. She looked disappointed, lost, or some combination of the two. He knew there was no way they'd last. With the tension gone, what would be left? They'd spent so many days building this tension up and now it'd been torn down.
He wiped sweat from his brow and took a seat beside her, the scent of their sins catching him off guard. "You okay, kid?" he asked.
"Yeah, just catching my breath."
Sometimes she was a damned good liar. When she fell into him, he couldn't help but drape an arm around her shoulder.
"You sure?"
Her voice was slightly muffled by his chest, but he couldn't have missed what she'd say next. "Cid, I really love being with you. These last few weeks… They've been awesome. I know that I've been trying to sabotage it, too, by acting like an idiot. I'm afraid, can you blame me?"
He could feel the wetness of her tears soaking through his shirt; feel her sigh and attempt to sniff back more tears. Was it believable? Was the bickering and immaturity because of an attempt to keep herself distant? Defense mechanisms were a strange thing.
"I can't rightfully say I blame you for being afraid. Hell, I'm terrified."
"I could tell. It made me think maybe you had second thoughts."
"I've been having second thoughts all along, Yuff."
"I figured. Part of why I tried to defend myself."
"You didn't do a very good job, considering what just happened…"
She laughed and it was a sound he was glad to hear. "No kiddin', huh?"
"I think we're gonna have to come up with a good excuse. The market doesn't take this long."
"Ugh. That's right! And we can't go back empty-handed."
Cid shook his head and got to his feet, offering Yuffie help up. She had to know he was avoiding the subject. She had that look, despite the smile she was trying to force.
"Cid… Do you want to try and make something out of this?"
He played with the stubble on the end of his chin, giving thought to her question. He had no answer for her. Nothing that made sense to him, anyway.
"I don't know."
It was as if the life just fled her. She looked away, hiding her eyes in effort to hide the confusion and pain. He knew that had hurt.
"I shouldn't have kissed you to begin with. Ever. This is ridiculous, Cid."
He tried to tell her that wasn't true. That he wanted to make something work, but didn't know how to trust and put himself on the line again. It wasn't that long ago that Shera left. He couldn't make any sound decisions without knowing this wasn't just a desperate search for comfort.
He wanted to tell her that she should trust him, help him figure things out. But instead, he let her walk out. For a while, he stood alone in the silence of the old shop. That night, he'd leave. It was better to let things go. If it was meant to work out, he'd have to figure that out on his own. He couldn't string her along, not like this.
If she wanted to visit a few months later, he wouldn't fight her, but for now, he'd simply wait out the sun. Make a break for it when the moon was out.
A short come-back, but one that faced the issue. I am unsure if I want to give one more chapter for closure, leave it here, or make a sequel several months later. I have a few ideas, but I'd like to know what everyone is interested in. I don't want to continue if no one is reading this anymore! Let me know, and I'll go with it :)