"Hello?" Cid yelled to the empty house with no dinner anywhere in sight. "Shera? Vincent?" HE stopped, hearing a loud banging from the laundry room and the shower on in the bathroom next to his bedroom. "What’s Vincent doing taking a shower on his knee? And what’s Shera doing attempting laundry?"
After a short debate in his head, Cid decided the possibility of Vincent drowning from trying to take a shower on a bad knee and possibly loopy on painkillers was far more probable than Shera electrocuting herself with the washing machine, although she’d probably put a few dents in it already.
"Vince?" Cid asked, wondering how concerned about the smell and the fact that all the sheets and blankets had been ripped off the bed. The bathroom door was half-open.
He was answered with a tiny whimper.
"Vince, you okay?" he asked, walking into the bathroom.
Vincent was lying in the bathtub with the shower on. His head was resting on his arm on the edge of the tub. He’d obviously been crying for a while, rather hard as well, and looked pretty sick. He turned his head away from Cid as he came in.
"What the fuck happened?" Cid asked.
"You drugged me."
"No, I didn’t. I can’t even cook hot water and you know it. Shera drugged you. I just agreed to it."
"I told you I hate those pills. I hate the way it makes me feel. I told you."
"So why the shower?"
"I had a panic attack from those stupid pills. Then Jenova showed up and I sorta had a really bad flashback."
"Oh, god," Cid said, sitting down next to the tub. He put a hand on Vincent’s cheek. He kept it there, despite Vincent’s flinching. "Were you hurt?"
Vincent shook his head and turned away, shaking Cid’s hand away. "Please don’t hate me."
"For what? Did you bite Shera?"
"Cid… oh god, it was so… God I’m scared. I’m scared of everything Cid. I’m scared of pills, I’m scared of nightmares, I’m scared of Jenova. I’m just some stupid baby. I even… God, I puked all over myself and ruined the mattress, not to mention the sheets… and my pants… God, please don’t hate me." Vincent curled up into a ball, burying his head between his knees and wrapping his arms around them.
"C’mere, Vince," Cid said, gently trying to pry Vincent from his ball. "Come on, head out of the water. There." Cid hugged him as tightly as he could, getting his sleeves and gloves wet. The shower sprayed on his hair and goggles, and even the pack of cigarettes. He kept telling himself each pack would be the last as he tried to break the habit. He often comforted himself that he at least wasn’t smoking near Vincent.
Vincent started sobbing on Cid, getting his clothes wetter.
"Please, please don’t cry, Vincent. Please don’t cry. I never have any clue what to do when you cry. Or when you’re scared. I wish you at least knew what I should do."
"Please don’t make me leave. Please. I don’t want to leave. I don’t have anywhere to go and… and… I love you. I’ll do anything, please don’t kick me out."
"I’m not going to kick you out. For what? Being scared again? I never kicked you out for nightmares and I’m not going to start now."
"But… but… what about the bed?" Vincent asked, looking up at Cid.
"Vince, it’s okay. I’ve been dealing with people so drunk they puked and pissed all over themselves. Hell, Shera doesn’t usually drink, but when she broke up with a boyfriend, she didn’t even make it home. Had to wash her off. At least you won’t get a hangover."
"You’re not mad at me?"
"No, I’m not mad at you. I’m mad at that fucking alien. How long have you been in here?"
"I can’t remember. The hot water stopped a while ago, but… but I as so afraid you’d hate me."
"I don’t hate you and I’m not going to start." Cid kissed Vincent on the forehead and helped him out of the shower. "Easy. It’s okay. I’m not letting you leave any time soon. You mean too much to me for me to kick you out over something little like this. Here." Cid handed Vincent a few towels. "You dry off and I’ll go make sure Shera doesn’t destroy the washing machine. I’ll order us a pizza and if you want, I’ll show you the right way to ruin a mattress."
"Cid, I thought you didn’t—"
"Of course I want you, dumbass. I just thought… well, I kinda thought I’d hurt you when you were out of the hospital."
Vincent didn’t say anything, but smiled as he wrapped the towel around him.
"All you had to do was ask. Hell, not even that." Cid proved his point by giving Vincent a kiss on the lips. "I’ll be right back, you just get dry."
"You shouldn’t have to worry about me like this, Cid."
Cid didn’t say anything and hurried to the laundry room. Shera was there, angrily pounding on the washing machine.
"Cid, I’m a stupid mechanic. Why the hell can I never figure this thing out?" she almost cried.
"Shera clam the fuck down!" Cid yelled, bashing a button and the machine started.
"Cid, you can’t even make toast! How the hell—"
Cid grabbed Shera’s shoulders angrily, but didn’t hurt her. "Calm the fuck down. I need you both to calm the fuck down, you hear me. Okay? Look, I need you to do me a really big favor, and it’s important, hear me?"
Shera nodded and Cid took his hands off her. He paused, glancing at the washing machine and decided it was loud enough to cover up their conversation.
"I’m going to go and see if I can cheer him up. When he’s distracted, I want you to get that gun of his and hide it."
"Cid, he’s not—"
"I have no idea, but he scared me. I don’t want to take any chances and I sure as hell don’t want to send him back to those doctors."
"Cid, I already called them today. I had no idea he—I’ll get the phone."
"No, you are not. He’s not going to the hospital unless he really needs it."
"You mean like he starts threatening to kill himself?"
"Damnit Shera! Don’t do this to me. Don’t you dare. And don’t you even think of doing it to him. Do you have any idea how fucking scared that place made him?"
"I was the one watching him most of the time, Cid."
"Look, he was pretty messed up today. You can call—hell, I’ll call myself if he actually starts looking serious. You know I’d rather have him go to the fucking hospital than the morgue any day."
"You can trust me Cid. I’ll do it. You just keep an eye on him," she said. "Make him happy, Cid."