Crumbling Walls

Cloud walked closer to his little sister and the strange brown-haired man, a frown marring his lips. The sight of his little sister in a man's arms was not something he ever wanted to see; and someone so much older then her at that. If it was a young neighborhood boy, maybe, just maybe, he wouldn't feel as angry.

But this guy looked to be about in his twenties and Selphie was freaking thirteen years old; nothing more than a baby, really. She was clueless, hyper and eager to please people. It was hard telling what someone could make her do if they really wanted to take advantage of her.

Her eyes were wet, Cloud noticed, his anger flaring, before turning a glare on the man, who seemed to only look back at him with a blank stare, though his eyes slightly flickered, but Cloud barely noticed.

"Calm down, Cloud!" Selphie exclaimed, not sounding quite like her normal hyper self. Cloud noticed she was holding her arm in a strange way, his anger morphing into worry quickly.

Cloud crossed his arms, looking from Selphie to the stranger, his eyes icy daggers. The dark-haired man didn't even flinch, which aggravated Cloud. Didn't he realize the severity of his actions? It was unthinkable what he had been doing and planning no doubt.

Leon stared at Cloud, not backing down from his gaze. He hadn't done anything wrong anyway. It was Selphie's fault, even though he couldn't really be annoyed with the girl. She had been hurt and scared. It was a natural response to cling to the person who saved your life much to Leon's dismay. He now had a feeling the girl, his new ‘friend’ so she had called him, would not leave him alone.

He was already talking more around her, which wasn't like him at all. In his defense though, he could not really ignore a child in pain. He wasn't cruel; he just wasn't always sure how to express himself and when he did, it always felt fake to him.

Despite being thirteen, Selphie knew about the birds and the bees, at least for the most part, so she slightly understood why Cloud looked angry to find her like that with Leon. The young girl smiled, wishing she hadn't been crying. The tears really set her brother off.

"This is Leon, Cloud... and he is coming to dinner..." Selphie started.

"Like hell..." Cloud said loud enough for both Selphie and Leon to hear, not caring what the so called "Leon" thought. The man had practically been molesting his sister. What had he convinced her he was her boyfriend? How sick.

Selphie put on one of her best pouts, but Cloud rolled his eyes, seeing right through her act. He didn't fall for it all the time; Selphie was that good, but in the current situation, he wasn't falling for anything.

Does Cloud seriously think that I would... Leon started to think, before he shrugged and turned his back. "Whatever." He said, heading back toward his father's house. He hadn't wanted to go to the dinner anyway.

When Selphie's face fell, Cloud had to take a step back. Did she seriously like that creep? She was too young. Then why did she look so, so sad?

"You big meanie head," Selphie cried, her tears back. She looked at Leon's retreating form. He was already halfway to his father's house. "Why did you do that? Leon is nice, Cloud!" Selphie glared daggers at her brother, almost making him feel bad for his actions. Just almost...

"Selphie he was..." Cloud started.

"Don't treat me like a stupid kid, Cloud. I was... he was..." She stomped her foot. "Go get him right now and make him come back. I asked him to come to dinner and he said yes. That was ruuuude Cloud!"

"But..." Cloud hated being made to feel guilty, especially when he felt he had no reason to be. Leon had been...

"Please Cloud. You don't know the whole story. Please..."

The whole story... Cloud glared after Leon's back, then groaned. "Fine, whatever, but you very well better be telling me a pretty good story after I drag his ass back to the car..."

"I promise!" Selphie said, running to the car, jumping into the back seat. "Hurry up though!"

"Demanding little..." Cloud continued to grumble as he reluctantly took off after Leon. He caught up with him quiet easily, grabbing his arm.

"Hey, stop," Cloud said.

Leon stopped walking, though he made no move to turn and face Cloud. His body was tense and he was agitated. What now? He wondered, inwardly sighing. Those two had to be some of the most annoying siblings to walk this Earth. Why didn't they know how to leave things alone?

"For the life of me I can't figure out why she likes you," Cloud said through gritted teeth.

Me either, Leon thought, shifting his body, still making no move to acknowledge Cloud, which only caused Cloud to become more angry.

"Look she made you an offer; our family doesn't back down from our responsibilities, so you're coming back with me. You're going to eat and like it."

You've got to be kidding me, Leon thought, wrenching his arm away when Cloud grabbed it, seemingly trying to drag him toward the car. Neither teenager was happy, that much was obvious.

___

Leon set at the kitchen table, staring blankly at the wall. He could not believe he let that blond get him in the car. Though in the end he had went with him, knowing refusing was a lost cause. What in the world was wrong with this family?

He rubbed his arm where Cloud had clutched earlier, still feeling a sting from the contact. Human contact was so alien to him. Why did everyone insist on touching so much?

At least it was apparent Cloud didn't want to touch him. It seemed Selphie was very good at getting things her way. She even got out of telling Cloud why he had come to find his sister and a stranger apparently hugging in the street. She had been asleep when they got back to the car, hugging her arm to her chest. Cloud hadn't the heart to wake her, so he let her sleep.

It was clear she was hurt. Cloud didn't know why and knew it had something to do with Leon, for which he wanted to punch for hurting her.

The blond was in the living room, waiting for Selphie to wake up, leaving an annoyed Leon to sulk at the kitchen table. Of course to anyone looking, it did not look like he was sulking. He had that same blank look on his face he was usually seen wearing, unless of course something crazy like what happened earlier pushed him to react in a way that was unlike himself.

Leon expected Cloud to come into the kitchen anytime, getting tired of waiting on Selphie.

Then he'll expect me to explain everything, Leon thought. Yeah, right...

Sure enough Cloud came into the kitchen, sending the quiet Leon a glare. He set across from him, leaning forward, his aqua eyes wide and angry. It was the first time Leon got a good look at the man. Leon's eyes flickered just slightly, before he turned his head to avoid the other.

Cloud fumed. He was being ignored again. "Care to explain?"

No, not really.

"If you weren't doing anything wrong, then I should think you'd want to tell me what was going on," Cloud said, tempted to grab Leon's chin and make him face him. Being ignored like this really steamed him.

Leon shrugged.

"Oh, so you were doing something wrong?" Cloud tried to keep his voice calm and even. This guy was so irritating.

Leon shook his head, making to stand up and walk out of the kitchen.

"I don't think so," Cloud said, jumping up and running after him, getting to the door before he did. He blocked the door and Leon's only exit. "I'm her brother. I have the right to know, don't you think?" Cloud glared.

The brown-haired teenager glared right back.

Cloud smirked. Finally some reaction.

For someone so attractive, Cloud sure was a pain in the ass.

Leon turned from Cloud, "Whatever," he muttered.

"Whatever, whatever," Cloud mocked. "Is that all you can say?"

Oh, there are a few things I'd like to say... Leon thought, though he was never one to really lose his temper or at least show that he had. Not to mention he didn't like speaking more than a two words at a time, IF the person he was talking to was lucky. Selphie had been really lucky. She got whole sentences.

"You really are a pain in the ass," Cloud sighed. "Who thought someone could be this annoying."

Leon, his back turned, slightly, just slightly raised an eyebrow. When Cloud wasn't yelling, he could be amusing. Honestly whining about the fact that he was being ignored.

Cloud groaned, "You are impossible..." He moved away from the door, walking behind Leon's back, reaching out to try to turn the dark-haired man around, so that he was facing him.

He succeeded, causing Leon to try to pull away from him. He did not want to be touched, even if Cloud's hands on his skin felt nice...

Leon pushed that thought away, before turning the tables on Cloud, startling the blond when he found himself back against the counter, with Leon too close for comfort.

The stoic teenager gave Cloud a look, his gray eyes seeming to be saying, "How do you like being touched?"

He may be inexpressive, but Leon wasn't one to get bullied around by someone and he wasn't going to look weak in front of anyone.

Unused to touch as he was, Leon was still a man, and he felt a small amount of thrill by the shocked look in Cloud's bluish green eyes. He liked that for a split second, it seemed Cloud had submitted to him. That was before Cloud roughly pushed him away.

"Jerk..." Cloud spit. "What’s the big idea... I thought you haaaated being around people..."

His lack of expression said as much.

Leon shrugged, amused, before he walked past Cloud and out of the kitchen.

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