Cid couldn't help it. He was staring.
Shera flaunted her curves at him in the most obvious way, and he was embarassed to find himself reacting. He flushed.
Tasha....what about Tasha?

Shera frowned. It wasn't working.
She almost laughed out loud when Barret and his football team showed up with the keg. It was the perfect solution.
She'd get him shitfaced! It had worked hundreds of times before, and so it would now work for Shera Niall.

Tasha frowned. She wasn't feeling very well.
It was as well that her parents were in Sacramento visiting her aunt this week. They'd have a fit.
Oh well.
There was that feeling again. Something was...off.
She looked around, surveying. Lisa was throwing herself at Hamilton, the way she did every time she got drunk, and Shay was throwing herself at every male in the crowd. Reeve and Tseng were on the couch holding hands, Barret was utilizing the hastily constructed beer bong to it's full potential. Zack was talking with Aeris...was that it? Nah. Aeris seemed to have a thing for Zack.
Cloud was talking to a morose Tifa, who was crying. Rude was on the other side of the room, talking to a pretty blond girl, Allison. Reno was doing something, not drinking, though, which made her feel a bit better...
Then she spotted Cid.
He was looking at Shera, who was dancing around seductively. He also looked like he was trying not to, she had to give him credit.
Tasha sighed. That was what was feeling off. Cid.
I'm going to lose him...
Biting back the tears that that thought provoked, she smiled and let go.
Figure it out, Cid.
And with that, she headed over to where Sephiroth was talking to Rufus.

The gatorade was tasting a bit funny.
Cid shook his head for clarity, and found none. What was wrong with him?
He could tell that he was inebriated, but...when did he drink? What was in the poweraid?
He shook his head again. Ow.

Reno was the first one to find her.
She was sitting in the corner of her room, in the basement, wiping tears from her eyes.
"Tasha....hey, what's wrong?"
She smiled. The tears made a dignified streak down her cheeks, but they were tears all the same.
Tasha never cried.
"Hey...what happened?" He asked, sitting next to her.
"Cid." She said.
"What did he do?" Reno felt himself tensing up. He'd beat the shit out of Cid if he found out he'd hurt Tasha...
"No no. I just..." She trailed off.
"What?"
"I'm going to lose him. He likes Shera, I think. And I can't hold him back if that's what he really wants..." She turned her head away, smiling wryly. "It just sucks, is all. I can deal."
Reno stared at her. If he was in her position he'd be freaking out. And she stayed sober?
He smiled. "You're brave."
"No, I'm not." Tasha said. "I'm not anything. Or else why would Cid want Shera over me? She's...well...Shera..."
"It takes all sorts." Reno replied. "But you are brave. Standing up to this, facing it, accepting it...not going out and hurting yourself because of it...that's brave, Tasha. You don't realize just how brave it is."
She smiled at him. "Thanks, Reno." she wiped the last tear from her eye and stood up. "Thanks."
"Any time."

The next morning shone on the residence with it's baleful eye, the sun. It had snowed the night before, which made the glare all that more unbearable.
Tasha's house was strewn with bodies. Not dead bodies, merely unconscious.
Cid woke up in the guest bedroom. He had a pounding headache and he was naked.
Shit...did Tasha and I do that again? We can never remember...
...It wasn't Tasha.

Cloud and Tifa woke up together, too, but after a mutual agreement. They got dressed, said their farewells, and made off to their separate worlds. Tifa was grinning, though, so perhaps she won't be single all that long.
Reno was awake all night. He wasn't sleepy...not when he had found the most beautiful woman in the world and had stayed up all night talking to her.
Yuffie Kisaragi. What a name! It rolled off of his tongue like jello.
She didn't seem interested in him, though. But at least they could be friends.
Barret just had a hangover.
Aeris and Zack woke up next to each other, fully clothed. They had gone to sleep after a long, drawn-out, emotional talk. Aeris had finally concluded that she needed to stay away from her house a bit longer.
Tasha, Sephiroth, Tseng, and Reeve all awoke to stiff necks. They had fallen asleep on the couch, sitting up.
Rude and Allison had left the night before. Tasha didn't really care to think about what the two had been doing.
The only people who had stayed completely sober were Tasha, Reno, and Tasha's sarcastic friend Caleb. He simply watched the drunks make fools of themselves.
Even Sephiroth had had a bit. He didn't like it, and no one thought him a fool when he declined another drink.
Rufus was at the foot of the couch. He'd been sitting there all night and had passed out in the same position as a great deal of the other partygoers-prone.
Tasha stood up and yawned. It was late. She didn't really want to go to school anyways. It was a B day, so she could afford to miss it...Cid had easy B days, too...
Don't think about Cid anymore. Remember? You two aren't together....
A sudden thought struck her. What if she was wrong? What if Cid didn't like Shera?
Yeah, right.
She sighed. Maybe I had better go to school today.

Cid panicked. What the hell was he going to do?
He couldn't hide it from Tasha. She'd find out.
What could he do?
He'd just have to tell her.
He'd just made up his mind, and had turned around, when there she was.
Tasha. Standing in the doorway to the guest bedroom. She smiled, sadly.
"I'm waking everyone up for school. I really didn't intend on it turning into this kind of party..."
"Tasha, I'm sorry." Cid blurted out.
She smiled, once again, sadly. "For what? Liking Shera? Sleeping with her?" She shrugged. "Nothing to apologize for. I saw it coming." She smiled again, this time, not quite as sad. "Goodbye, Cid."
Cid stared after her in shock. They'd just broken up, after three years of going out.
"And get ready for school!"