Disclaimer: I do not own any characters from Square-Enix.

Paring: SnowxHope! And a mild SnowxSerah...

Rated for Mature! Contain Yaoi!

Warning: Fluff bunnies. EVERYWHERE! Hoped that everyone has their trash bag ready! Nothing too smexy. Just innocent puppy dog love and some angst. A freestanding story. A lot of OOC-ness in the character though!

Hey guys, here is my next fanfiction installment to SnowxHope. The hot and sexy Snow finds a teen by his front door who comes to live out a promise that Snow had made. However, Snow has no recollections of ever making any promise to this boy. What's going to happen next? You can read it for yourself to find out...

This story is not particularly planned. It just come to me and I have to write it before I forgot it. Though writing a two sentence thoughts into a full blow story really takes a lot of time to write and my mind runs around in circles a lot to get it right. This story is a bit long, so please don't kill me. I didn't get much time to read the story again, so I guarantee there will be mistakes. I am human after all. Enjoy!

A Pleasant Surprise

To Snow, lunch was his morning. He never woke up early, only if Serah or one of his friends had insistently made plans for the early hours. And it was always a challenge for his friends and his girlfriend to get him out of bed. However, the doorbell to his apartment seemed to have a plan of its own for the blond on this fine Tuesday morning. Snow groaned in his pillow from the constant ringing of his front door. He tried to ignore the doorbell persistent cried for his attention, but whoever was on the other side was a more stubborn mule than himself. If the person was one of his friends or Serah, he should've already receive an angry text from his phone. If the person was the mailman, he would've left long time ago, leaving whatever packages by his front door, but this person was neither any of them as the door consistent cries didn't stop. Snow grunted, throwing the thick blanket off his body as he groggily walked to out from his one single bedroom to living room.

"I'm coming." Snow grunted unhappily. He quickly unfastened the bolts and opened the door and there was a package standing in front of his door. A boy with silvery hair and a pair of large green orbs were staring at him from an arm distance. The boy was dressed in short-sleeved orange and yellow jacket with a green decorated neckerchief over a black shirt with a green tea pant.

Snow blinked.

The boy blinked back.

This was unexpected. Finding a boy at his doorstep was not the best way to start his day. The boy looked nervous, but not afraid. Those green orbs shyly glanced at him and when he met those soft green orbs, they quickly glanced away. The boy wasn't nervous standing before a stranger, but more from the fact that Snow was standing before him shirtless.

"Hi." The boy said with an itch in his throat. The kid's shoulders were tensed, who bashfully fiddling with his two thumbs together. Snow furrowed a brow when he saw the teen was embarrassed. Then a surprised blush appeared on those soft pale cheeks. There was large bag at the base of the teen's feet, only to prompt Snow's respond.

"I don't have any money to buy whatever you're selling." Snow muttered lazily, about to close the door.

"Wait Snow...!" Snow stopped when he heard his name been called precipitately. He cocked his head, his brow narrowed together at the boy. Did he heard right?

"How do you know my name?" Snow questioned, folding his arms.

"Ummm... you don't remember?" Hope asked, giving the man a worried look. The man looked at the teen puzzled. "You promised Snow. You promised that I will be your husband!"

Snow nearly soiled his pant, his body turning solid stiff as time itself had stopped. He felt his left eye twitched as he stared gaping at the teen at his front door. The boy must've fallen and hit his head HARD. Maybe the boy might need a cat scan. "W-What?" Snow said in disbelief. People, specially a kid, do not randomly appear at your front door and called themselves your 'husband.'

"Three years ago... when we met. You didn't forget, did you?" Hope said hopefully.

"Kid, this is the first time I seeing you." Snow stated. "Now be a good boy and go home."

"But-" The door silenced the teen. Snow let out a tired yawn. He was about to drag himself back to his bed and sleep away the pass five minutes he painfully just endured. But he didn't. He turned back to the door before quickly opening it. Snow looked down to side of the door to see the silver-haired teen huddled on the ground. "Why are you not going home?" Snow demanded.

"I can't." Hope said, looking away shyly. "I ran away."

"You ran away to come live with me?" Snow muttered incredulously. Can his day get even crazier? Suddenly his eyes drifted upward when he heard heels walking down the stairs. Snow inwardly sighed. The last thing he wanted was to send dangerous and alerting messages to his neighbors of a grown man like himself talking to a little boy. The feet were approaching closer. He quickly moved aside from the door. "Get in!" Snow said, seeing the boy's face lit up.

Ten minutes later, Snow, who was somber free for months, felt the craved for liquor down his throat. He was sitting on his couch, still contemplating of the reasons why he let the kid in his home. His bright sapphire orbs drifted to kitchen when heard the rummage of food in his refrigerator. Hope, the latter introduced after letting the kid in living room, was in his kitchen, making him breakfast. The boy, however, was reluctant to tell him his surname. Snow sunk his tired body in the couch. He made a mental to note to himself to check his blood pressure later. This surely will add more stress to his heart. All Snow wanted was to crawl under his blanket and sleep only to wake up to find all of this was a dream. One crazy dream.

"Snow?" Snow's eyes snapped back to focus to see Hope standing in front of him with a warm plate of scrambled eggs, an omelet, and a piece of buttered toast in one hand and a glass cup of hot brew coffee. A full breakfast package. Snow was impressed. Even he himself couldn't toast a slice of bread without burning it.

"Hope, take a seat." Snow gestured to space beside him which the boy eagerly placed the tray of food on the small wooden dinning table before seated beside him. "Okay, this whole husband thing is one big misunderstanding from your part."

"What? B-But... but!" Hope objected, his lips forming into a pout.

"No buts! You're being a bit melodramatic. I never made any such promise. And that's final." Snow closed the subject.

"Give it time, you'll remember... eventually."

Snow sighed. The kid was determined. And getting rid of him might be a problem.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

Snow flinched when heard the most infernal noise coming from his front door, followed by the most terrifying voice he was not expecting to hear.

"Snow! Snow! It's Serah. I brought you breakfast." The voice spoke for itself from the other side of the wooden door.

Snow was about to have a mental breakdown. Wasn't she supposed to be at summer school? Hope stood up from the couch beside him, and before the teen could take another step towards the door, Snow quickly hauled the boy into the single bedroom. "Shhhh... Not a word from you." Snow said placing Hope on his feet, before leaving the bedroom. He quickly composed himself before opening the door, seeing Serah with an intrigued look on her face. "Serah? What are you doing here so early?" Snow asked merrily.

"I brought breakfast." Serah said waving a white styrofoam box in front the blond. The man looked like he just ran out of bed to see her. She stepped in the living room and stopped when one of her senses suddenly react to something she had never expected to ever happen entering in Snow's apartment. There was something intriguing and foreign in the air from the ways her nose kept sniffing the wonderful aroma of hot blend coffee mixed with cinnamon cream. Her eyes fell on the warm breakfast meal seated on the table. "You made breakfast?" Serah said in surprise, blinking at the food in the plate. Everything looked perfect in nature, never expecting Snow to cook himself breakfast before. Serah, however, didn't for a second believe what she saw on the small, wooden dining table. This was probably the work of some god. Something was obvious wrong with this sight. Serah turned to blond. She placed her hands on her hips, her eyes narrowed at the man.

Snow mentally cursed when he saw the serious look on the girl's face. Okay, he could think his way out of this before his girlfriend could figure out there was a boy in his bedroom. He was a smart man. "Y-Yes." Snow flashed her a pure white teeth. The girl however, didn't buy his act.

"Okay... I order out." Snow said.

"Breakfast?" Serah cocked her head at the man. The blond was lying at her and he was doing a terrible job so far. She glanced around the room and stopped when her eyes fell on a bag beside the couch on the floor. "Is someone here?"

"Ahh... No." Snow smiled nervously, blocking the way to the bedroom.

Serah's eye widened. "Snow? Are you cheating on me?"

"What? No Babe!

"Then who are you hiding inside your bedroom?" Serah demanded. She didn't give her boyfriend the chance to answer as she pushed the man's arm away and opened the door with no constraints, the bedroom's door hitting wall hard, sending vibrations throughout the apartment. Serah only took one step forward inside the room when her eyes fell on the teen with silvery hair seated at the edge of bed. She cocked her head, meeting a gaze from a pair of green orbs. "There is a boy in your bedroom?"

"I know." Snow said dryly. "This is Hope."

"Ohhh..." Serah felt relief over come her body. "So you're not cheating on me?"

"No. What makes you think that?" Snow spoke.

"I just thought... I'm sorry Snow. I over reacted. I should've trusted you."

Snow signed in relief. It seemed like he worried for nothing. Serah was an understandable girl. As the girl turned and leaned toward him, Snow stared in panic as Hope ran and shoved the girl away before wrapping his two slender arms around his waist. "Back off! Snow is my husband." Snow nearly fainted when he heard those words.

Serah gaped at the boy who was glaring death at her and also have his arms coiled around her boyfriend. There was possessiveness and selfish reflected in those bright green orbs. "Hu-Husband?" Serah spluttered.

"The boy is delusional." Snow stated.

"What? Snow?" Hope protested.

"Like I said, I did not make any such promises." Snow said sternly.

After five minutes, the situation had slowly calmed down. The trio found themselves sitting in the living room with Snow seated between Serah and Hope, however, the teen still had his possessive arms around him. "... So the breakfast you found was actually made by Hope." Snow finished reciting his uneventful morning circumstances. Serah only chose to giggle at his misfortunate situation. This was not the reaction he was expecting from Serah.

"Wow Snow. Troubles seem to like you a lot." Serah said amused.

"You're not helping." Snow snorted.

"Wait when the guys hear about this down at the bar?" Serah said whimsically before walking to the front door.

Snow stared, his jaw gaping at his girlfriend. 'She shouldn't dare?" Snow mentally said. "Serah, where you're going?"

"Meeting with Light. Skipping classes today." Serah responded, giving him a wink.

Snow groaned his face in his hands after the front door closed. Serah bailed on him. He glanced down beside him. The boy was still showing no sighs of untangling his slender arms around him. Life really had a nag at biting his ass. Feeling the tension unloosen as the girl left, Snow took this opportunity to free himself from Hope's grasp. As hectic his morning began, Snow dragged his feet to his bathroom, dying for a long and hot shower to start his day. He stopped and turned to the teen still sitting on his couch. The boy had a daze expression in his face, hoping for something to happen. Snow gave the boy a blank look. He did not have any idea as to what miracle the boy was waiting to transpire. His eyes fell on the warm meal sitting and waiting on the table, screaming to be eaten before it turned cold. His stomach only responded with a loud grumble. Well, the food was not going to eat itself. He stalked toward the food, breaking a tearing a piece of the omelet and throwing it into his mouth. It seemed like the presentation of the food rival the taste of it. There was a buzz in his mouth, a craving for more.

"Do you like it?" Hope approached him.

Snow nodded. "No one has never made food for me before." Which only made the breakfast taste much more delicious.

"Not even Serah?"

"Serah don't even know how to boil rice." Snow stated with a smirk on his face.

"Yes! A point for me." Hope cheered.

Snow stopped eating and glanced at the teen beside him. He saw mirth of happiness in those large green orbs. The boy was taken all of this serious. "Hope..." Snow turned and faced the teen. "This thing has to stop." He saw the teen's face fell.

Snow sighed in frustration. There were fresh tears starting to deluge in those green orbs. It was better to let the kid down than to give him high hopes. Someday Hope will understand what love really is and he will laugh back when he reminisced about this memory in the future. "I'm sorry Hope. Even if I said those words when we met years ago, I probably didn't mean them. It was... a joke. You understand?" Snow said, seeing the teen's face fell, looking at the ground. He placed a comfortable hand on Hope's shoulder. The teen nodded slowly. Snow sighed again, rubbing his sore shoulder. A hot shower felt welcoming right about now, all craziness aside.

"Good. So where do you live?" Snow asked, seeing the teen's shoulder tensed.

"Ummm..."

"I'll drop you home on my way to work." Snow stated, folding his arms waiting. The boy was still reluctant to tell him about himself. "So..."

"I live in Palumpolum."

"Pal-Palumpolum..." Snow's jaws hit the ground. He was carrying a perfect impression of a fish out of water while looking at the teen. Palumpolum was on the other side of Cocoon. This kid was insane. And how in the world did this kid even get the money to travel from Palumpolum to Bodhum? The cost alone would be around at least three thousand fols. "You travel across the globe just to come live with me?"

Hope nodded.

"Wait, so we met in Palumpolum?" Snow asked incredulously.

Hope nodded again.

Snow's shoulders slumped. He stood up dragging his feet to his shower. As the bathroom door closed, Snow stripped himself from his pants and underwear, and entered into his shower cubical. The hot waters on his skin was relaxing, washing always all the morning stress. The water, however, didn't wash away the image of a silver-haired teen from his thoughts. Snow's mind couldn't help but wonder over the words he just he heard. The boy and him had met in Palumpolum. He had only visited Palumpolum twice in his life; once when he was very young and the second time was three years ago when he decided to get away from Bodhum for a while after a girl he loved left him. He ran away for a week in Palumpolum, drowning his sorrow in alcohol. Shrugging the past away, Snow's thoughts returned back to the teen. On both visits he had never seen or met Hope, nor he had no memories or recollections of ever seeing a silver-haired boy. Nevertheless, Hope knew about him and had claimed they had met before.

Ten minutes later, Snow stepped out from a steamy bathroom with only a towel around his waist. He opened the drawer and took out his under wear which he slipped under the towel. He quickly put on his usual attires for work before reentering the living where he found the boy quietly sitting on the couch. "I'm going to work, but our conversation isn't over." Snow muttered, grabbing his keys handing on the kitchen walls before stepping out. He needed to find a way to get rid of this kid.

If there was anything other than someone disturbing his morning, then the narrowed eyes on a set of snickering and grinned faces eyeing him were another disturbing features enough to add to his misery. The moment he stepped into the bar, Snow could feel something in the air from the ways Gadot, Yuj, Maqui and Lebreau stopped whatever task they were doing and turned towards him with an amusing look on their faces. Honestly, Snow loved his friends. They were practically his family. Even though they seemed to live off the pleasure of teasing and taunting him and making his life a living hell sometimes. The opportunity to question each of the mischievous expressions on his friend's face was crushed when two familiar looking female with similar hairstyle stepped into the room from the balcony. The oldest sister left without a word, leaving a smirked looking Serah in the room. Misfortune was really out to get him.

"So Snow..." Snow turned to Lebreau standing over the counter. He rolled his eyes. Here it comes. "When is the wedding?"

Snow snorted. "You told them already?" Snow turned to Serah. "And you say that you will going to meet up with Lightning?"

"Meet up here." Serah corrected with a smile.

Fortunately, Snow lived through the day with a few more snickering or sharp comments. He stepped out from bar, darkness already covering the dusk. After work, Snow usually killed the night hours with Serah or with his friends while walking down the neon streets in the city. However, as he entered his car, he drove to one destination in his mind; his apartment. He pulled up to his four hundred fols rent apartment in the parking lot fifteen minutes later and was relieved to see that the building was not burn to a crisp on the ground. He climbed up the stairs and was relieved once again when there was not any overlarge package with large green eyes and silvery hair standing outside his door. His keys jiggled when he opened the door's lock and his apartment greeted with a warm and fragrant smell, something that he had never experiences before.

He found Hope in a heartbeat. It wasn't the food cooking in the oven that caused his eyes to drift to kitchen, but rather the kid walking around in the room. A pair of green eyes frolicked toward him as he opened the door, a warm and welcoming sight from a boy with silvery hair.

"Welcome home." Hope greeted, stepping out of the kitchen, as if that spot of silvery locks and soft, pale limbs with a subtle light-jaded orbs were by some means difficult to notice among faint tint of red occupying those cheeks.

Snow averted his eyes. Yes, by some means difficult to notice. He didn't know how to react to this new pace. His eyes turned to activity in the kitchen. "You made dinner." It wasn't a question.

Hope nodded. "I have a lot of free time after school, so I learn how to cook... I wanted to cook for you."

"Ohh..." Snow said stunned, his eyes doing the averting thing again when he saw the tint redness appear on the kid's cheeks again. He stepped in the kitchen to asses the new developing situation and saw a bowl of mashed potatoes on the counter. He opened his never-used oven and there was a loaf of meatloaf cooking in bread pan. Quite the comforting food. He watched in curiosity as the teen plated their platters with the food before placing them on the table. For a second, Snow might considered letting the teen stay.

"Hope, we need to talk." Snow said, his voice turning serious walking out the kitchen. He pulled out a chair from under the table before taking a seat. Hope stopped before entering the kitchen and turned to face him.

"Are you going to kick me out?"

Snow saw the frown and sad face on the young teen's face. "Do you have anywhere else to stay?" Taking a kid in his home was not one of his life priorities.

"No..."

"What about your family? Wouldn't they miss you?" Snow asked.

"My parents wouldn't notice that I'm gone." Hope choked out.

Snow scratched his head. He was in a predicament. He hated that Serah was right. Problems seemed to like him a lot. For starters, he couldn't kick the boy out of his house. He wasn't a heartless monster. It would be easier to send the kid back home on the next flight onto Palumpolum and then send for the bills later. His blues eyes held on to the teen, seeing the lost and frightened look on Hope's face. And Snow was pretty sure that the next words he was going to say were just an angel possessing his body.

"Alright." A beat. "You can stay. I don't mind that you're here."

The angel squeezed his heart indeed.

Snow felt his world falling, literally, when the chair feet fell back from a sudden pressure tackling him. He only heard the chair squeal in protest and he opened his eyes, without realizing they were closed. Hope had his face muffled in his chest. Snow sighed, running his hands on the teen's back. "Geez, what am I going to do with you?" Snow muttered, then realized that his hands were doing before he quickly retracted them, but not so fast that it appeared like he was shocked.

Snow collapsed onto his bed with a content smile on his face. If there was one thing he loved after a warm meal was a good, long sleep. He hummed quietly; ignoring the bathroom door creaked open. He didn't looked up and nor opened his eyes to see the teen walking towards him. He felt the bed slightly dip from the extra weight from the lithe body and opened his eyes when the teen didn't say anything. He saw the teen hovering over him shirtless, only dressed in a pajama pants like himself. Snow couldn't help but feel his eyes wandered uncontrollably, taking in every soft, pale skin. The sight alone left Snow swallowing down a large knot through his throat. There was also a strong pheromone scented of morning dew and ocean waves suddenly in the air, emitting from the kid. Snow didn't say anything. He wanted to, just to break the silent atmosphere.

He and Hope held each other eyes, sapphires staring at a pair of infectious sea green orbs, feeling the room becoming increasing warm by the second. Snow could feel his skin reacting to the changing atmosphere as his throat becoming dry. Anxiety was starting to build, although it was the good kind of anxiety... the tickling, shivering kind which made his body tensed in a good way. There was something wrong with this boy. Something that was so graceful and alluring that oozed in a sexual manner that any stranger with no moral would beg to defile like a common whore. The boy's body was attractive, quite feminine which craved to be forcefully abused and corrupted. He didn't know where the sudden thoughts come from and he pushed it away before he delved too deeply on it.

"Ummm... Snow, do you have extra blankets?" Hope nervously asked. He started to play with his fingers in nervous habit.

Snow's blue eyes snapped back to reality. He glanced away and stood up and walked to the closet. He took out a warm blanket and handed it to the teen who was still on his bed. His brow furrowed when he saw the kid twisting so much. A moment ago, there was something shared between them when they held each other gaze. Snow felt something, and he knew that Hope felt it too. He only hoped it was his body sending warning signals, which just misinterpreted the weird feeling at the pit of his stomach. He took a seat back on the edge of the bed. Maybe it was just him imaging things.

"Snow?" Snow turned to the young teen, who was huddling the blanket in his arms. This times he didn't glanced away his eyes when he saw the bright tint spreading on Hope's face. "If you want, I can offer sexual pleasure. I-I don't mind."

Snow's left brow twitched, staring at the kid incredulously as time seemed to coalesce. Did he hear right? Did this boy just offer himself to him? Maybe his hearing was off or possibly his dinner was spiked. Not wanting to answer the teen's open-ended idea or even think about what he just heard, Snow grabbed his blanket and a pillow, and stepped out the bedroom.

"Snow?" Hope called, concerns leaking from his voice.

"Stay! You can sleep in here for the night." Snow only spoke before shutting the bedroom door. He walked into the dark living room. He rather slept on the couch than going back to the weird atmosphere in his bedroom. The day had been unpleasant enough since he woke up. And now he hoped to get a nice sleep without any plaguing image of a silvery hair teen creeping in his head.

As awkward the night ended, the growing tension seemed to dissipate the following day. Snow woke up to a warm breakfast and a smiling Hope. It seemed the previous engagements had left the teen unfazed and everything had returned back to normal. Snow shook his head. There was nothing normal about his situation to begin with. And as he stepped back into his living room the evening, he was awaited with an eagerly smiling teen. The silver hair, the large sea green eyes with a hint of possessiveness and the warm meals were habits he was getting accustomed quickly. It was nice, Snow agreed, knowing that someone was waiting for him when he came home from work. Though, his eyes kept doing the averting and peeking one or two glances thing when the teen stepped out from his shower with only a towel covering up the lower body and walked around the apartment searching for clothes to wear. Something strange was happening around him and it was beginning to piss him off.

To his relief, Snow had slept on the couch the night again to avoid anymore troublesome tension between Hope and himself despite the itching feeling on his fingertips. And then the morning routine repeated itself before going to work. That's how it ben for the past week or so.

A wet washcloth slapped him in the face, knocking Snow out of his past days reminisce. Snow turned to see Lebreau standing in kitchen, her hands on her hips staring at him.

"Why you do that for?" Snow demanded, grabbing a piece of dry paper towel to wipe his face.

"For a second, I thought you were dead; standing there motionless like a zombie. Didn't you hear me calling for you?"

"Ohh... ummm... what?" Snow said intelligently with a sheepish smile.

"The delivery! Help Gadot bring in the delivery." Lebreau repeated for the forth time. She noticed the blond was acting strange today. He seemed very impassive, more like daydreaming. She followed the blond out the kitchen before returning her presence behind the bar counter, where a angry line of customers were waiting to be served. The brunette served each customer dignifiedly until the line of hungry customers slowly dispersed away around the bar. She turned her attention to her blond friend, who had already loaded the deliveries in the storage, was sitting on a stool for some time, brooding in his thoughts. There was obvious something wrong with Snow.

"So, what's been eaten you up today?" Lebreau asked, leaning on the counter.

"It's nothing." Snow said.

"Really." Lebreau said incredulously. "Seems like something to me. Your head had been somewhere else since you walk in the bar today."

"..."

"Is it marriage problems?" Lebreau grinned.

Snow flinched, glancing at the brunette. She had a cheshire cat look on her face. "Please don't joke around like that." Snow said weary. He was expecting this kind of behavior after he told them couple days ago about the kid staying with him for a while. Then his minds had wandered back to the half-naked image silvery hair teen again. The memory wouldn't go away. It was implanted at every corner of his brain. A glass of cool ice-tea glided over the counter stopping before him. "To cool your nerve down." The brunette only spoke.

"Thanks." Snow muttered to the brunette but the young woman's focus was suddenly at the entrance door.

"Serah is here..." Lebreau said amused. "And she brought a little friend."

Snow didn't turned around from his seat. He had become inured with Serah's extrovert lifestyle when his girlfriend would bring her school friends to the bar, even though some of the guys flirted with the girl. The same applied to him. Girls took any opportunity to flirt with him and Serah knew that he didn't take them seriously. It was meaningless fun to past the time.

"Snow!" A familiar teen's voice called.

Snow choked when he sipped on the cold drink, falling back on the stool before hitting the ground. He began coughing uncontrollably when the cool liquid went down his windpipe rather than to his stomach. He gave his chest a few light punches to clear his throat and fizziness in his nose. Everyone had their heighten moments in life and each individual face in the bar just witnessed his.

"You okay?" Snow looked up to see Hope and Serah standing beside him. This world was full with misery.

"Hope? What are you doing here?"

"Ummm..." Hope fiddled with his fingers. "Serah stop by and insist that I come with her." He cringed when he saw the blond glared at the young girl.

"What?" Serah said in her defense. "You can't let him stay in the apartment all day."

"I can go back if you want." Hope suggested. Snow had told him a couple days ago to not leave the apartment without his permission. Hope could not understand if the man was keeping him safe or a secret by making that statement. Seeing the man's reaction, he felt guilty that he had broken Snow's words and trust.

Snow sighed with he saw the teen's face saddened. "Okay. You can stay." Snow gave in those giant puppy eyes. No person could not resist that look. Hope's face automatically lit up before Snow was tackled into a forceful hug. "Just don't say any unnecessary things." Snow warmed gravely before he guided the kid on a stool near the counter. "Stay here, so I can keep an eye on you."

"Got it." Hope nodded fervently, talking the seat with a smile on his face. He gave the blond one last reassuring glance before the man disappeared in the kitchen. All in all, he felt giddy that Snow wasn't mad that he left the apartment and let him stay at the man's workplace. His green orbs started to wander around the bar, taking in every sight and niche. The bar had a strong seaside theme, with dazzling colors of blues painted on the walls which were heavy decorated with sea ornaments and pictures. The bar wasn't big. It only had seven tables encircled with wooden chairs scattered around the bar. It felt cozy nevertheless.

"So I finally get to meet you." Hope's eyes quickly snapped toward the voice to see a young woman on the other side of the counter smiling from both ears at him. "You're Hope." The brunette leaned her elbows onto the marble counter folded. Hope nodded. "I'm Lebreau. I help run the bar with Snow and the others. So I heard that you came all the way alone from Palumpolum to live with Snow?" There was mirth in her voice and she seemed harmless to Hope which prompted the teen to nod back.

"Snow say that he don't recall ever meeting me, but I'm sure he will. Very soon." Hope said confidently.

"I'm sure everything will work out in the end."

"Really..." Hope lit up. Someone believed that he actually got a chance with Snow.

Lebreau was squirming with glee inside. This boy was something she had never met before. There was an intense fire of determination burning in those green orbs, and they were all directed to Snow. Hope was serious and his feeling was real. However, the chances were slim as Snow was dating Serah at the moment, but that didn't stop Lebreau's mind from wondering with delight of how the situation would turn out if Snow wasn't with Serah.

When Snow stepped back into the front with a hot onion soup in his hands, his eyes manually quickly turned to the silvery hair teen he had left on the stool. He let out a breath which he wasn't aware he was holding when he saw Hope hasn't move an inch from his seat. However, his breathing hitched when he saw his brunette haired friend smiling and talking to Hope. He quickly reacted, grabbing Lebreau by the hand, dragging her to the kitchen.

"What are you doing?" Snow tried to remain calm, but it ended with him yelling frantically.

"Chill Snow. I was just trying to get along with the kid."

"I hoped you didn't say anything weird to him." Snow muttered, reentering back to bar.

"Is something wrong?" Hope asked.

"Nothing to worry about cutie. Just your husband and I talking." Lebreau grinned, seeing Snow turned pale and Hope's cheeks flushed. "I'm going to go take a stroll on the beach. Come join me if you want." Lebreau walked to the front entrance, giving the silvery hair teen a wink before disappearing.

"Here!" Snow pused the warm bowl of soup before the blushing teen. He needed to pent-up his thoughts before they could wander. Green orbs swayed from the door, back to him, then to the onion soup and back to him.

"T-Thanks." Hope said genuinely.

Snow slumped on the bar counter. The entire day was mentally exhausting. And his bed did feel comforting right now. His eyes swirled back to Hope who silently was eating the soup while taking one or glances at him which he quickly avoided. 'Why Serah had to bring him here?' Snow's thoughts wondered back. He then looked around the room for his girlfriend only to see the girl was gone. 'Great! She left.' Snow mentally sighed.

"Say Awww Snow..." A spoon of warm soup was pointed before him. Snow saw a pair of teasing green orbs staring at him. 'Well, at least I can count on him.' Snow thought, leaning down and engulfing the silverware in a mouthful.

It was a surprise when Snow's eyes popped open, surrounded by darkness when he heard a whimper, which broke through the harsh raindrops pouring on the glass window and the roars of thunder during the angry stormy night. For a brief moment, Snow thought that his ears were playing a humorous trick on him, but when he closed his eyes for the second time that night, they quickly snapped opened in an instant again when he heard another whimper in the dark room after the flash of thunder. He leaned up from his elbows on the couch looking around the living room. Another lightning flashed, brightened the room for a moment. The light was enough to give Snow the opportunity to see his new silver-haired roommate huddled around with a blanket on the floor beside the couch.

"Hope? What are you doing there?" Snow asked groggily. "It's not healthy to sleep on the bare floor." The boy's head quickly turned to him and as another thunder rumbled, Snow found himself with a teenager in his arms, clinging to him for dear life. There was panic and fear swept across those innocent green orbs. Hope's hands were shaking with his face buried against his chest. After everything that had happened over the past weeks, Snow had forgotten that Hope was really a boy.

"Did you have a nightmare?" Hope didn't answer, and then another lightning flashed which caused the teen to cringe to him. "Scare of lightning?" Snow asked, receiving a mild nod from his chest. "Don't worry. You're safe here. The lightning is not going to hurt you." Snow said reassuringly, but the teen refused to move. He scratched his head, unsure what to do. The storm didn't seem to be going away anytime soon.

"C'mon." Snow said, sitting up on the couch and walked to the bedroom with the teen cradled in his arms. He gently placed the teen back on the bed, but Hope was reluctant to let go of his neck. "I'll be back, I promise." Snow said and after a moment of contemplating, Hope untied his hands around his neck. He reentered the living room, ignoring the teen's calls from the bedroom. He gathered the two blankets and pillow, and walked back to bedroom only to meet the young teen running towards him at the doorway.

"Back to bed." Snow only spoke and the teen eagerly complied. He placed the pillows near the headboard, turned on the little night lamp on the drawer before sinking his tired body onto his bed. He was lying on his back, his face watching the teen who had wrapped himself up in a cocoon blanket from head to toe. Snow sighed from the inside. The angel had possessed him once again as he reached out, coiling in arm around the lithe body, bring an end to the space between them. He felt two arms quickly wrapped around his neck, their bodies pressed together. The lithe body was really warm and comforting in his arm. "I'll keep you safe." Snow whispered, staring at the ceiling. He laid there listening to pouring rain outside which miraculously started to calm down.

"Snow?" Hope uttered softy. "I'm sorry that I'm a bother."

"What makes you say that?" Snow's eyes drifted back to the lithe body in his arm. Hope had uncovered his head from the blanket, staring at him. Snow felt a something heave in his chest while staring back into those giant green jewels. There was something mesmerizing about them that Snow had never felt before. They were very young, almost sacred to look at and what made them special was the way they were looking wholeheartedly at him. And only him. It's liked what people says: You can see a person's soul through their eyes alone. Never in his life have Snow seen someone looked at him like that. Not even Serah.

"I'm imposing and I came to your work the other day."

Snow shook his head. "Don't worry about that. I was nice for you to come see me actually."

"Really..."

Snow nodded, then silence crept between them. "Hope? Would you tell me?" Snow suddenly asked out of the blue. "Would you tell me why you are frighten?" This was a chance for Snow to know a bit more about the boy. He saw the teen looked away, contemplating whether to answer or not. Since the first day, the boy had yet to open toward him personally.

"I-I..." Hope said nervously.

"You can tell your husband?" Snow knew he was gambling when he said that. Deceiving Hope was not his intention, but he had to try something if he wanted Hope to start spilling some information. He saw the teen perked up, redness obvious appeared on those cheeks.

"Ummm..." Hope scratched the back his head. He felt a bit embarrassed and a bit eager to talk now. "I-I was with my parent at their work. They usually work late at night, especially on the weekends. It started... to pour down really hard, and yet... my parents doesn't seem close to finish their work." A lump had formed in his throat, but he kept pushing onward. "T-The next thing I remember, I went down the elevator... It was one of t-those glass elevator which you can see the city light up in the night. T-Then the storm causes a power surge and everything went black."

"Hope..." Snow said softy. He felt the teen's hands trembled more and those green orbs were starting to panic.

"The elevator... had stopped. Every...Everything was loud and scary. I-I close my eyes, telling myself that everything would go away. But it-"

"That's enough." Snow murmured, his holds around the teen's middle tightened. His other hand was wrapped around Hope's back, rubbing in circles to soothe the teen's distress. "I shouldn't have asked you that." As young Hope was, he was probably much younger when he went through that traumatic experience.

"It's okay." Hope breathed against Snow's chest. For some add reason, he felt a little better. Neither of them didn't moved nor spoke.

"Hope, is there somewhere you want to go tomorrow?" Snow asked unexpectedly. Hope's head which was laying on his chest, rose up to met his gaze. "I mean... I'm not working tomorrow, so we can go somewhere if you want."

"Ummm..." Hope pondered for a moment then his face lit up. "The summer fireworks."

"No can do there kiddo. The fireworks wouldn't be shown for a next two months." Snow added, and blinked curiously when he saw the teen's face fell. Did Hope really want to go the firework show that bad? "How about the Bodhum Aquarium? It's the largest on Cocoon." Snow suggested.

"Okay." Hope nodded.

Two months later...

As much Snow didn't want to admit, Hope staying was comforting. It had been over two months since he had found the boy at his front door and Snow had never been happier. Well despite the little tension building between Serah and himself. The young girl began to nag him about the kid staying longer than she expected and Hope's presence playing too much into his time. Snow didn't really see the big deal. He and Serah usually met up for the weekend, but it seemed like the girl craved for his attention constantly. It's not liked he could spend more time with Serah when the girl had school during the week. And when he returned from his outing with Serah, he usually found a sulking teen curled under the blanket ontheir bed. The boy was still hung over the whole husband/promise thing. Snow would get dressed in his pajamas and joined the kid in the bed. Hope would lay there, ignoring him until Snow made the first move and wrapped his arm around the teen, closing the gap between them. The next morning, he and Hope would awake, wrapped in each other arms, a habit which had grown on him.

Most days Hope would accompany him to the bar and most of the time he would find one or two chores to distract the kid for the time. Other than that, the boy would just sit quietly and watched him as he worked or go strolling along the beaches with his friends. He had made it clear to not talk to any strangers without his, or any of the other gang's presence in the bar. Snow was being careful because he did not want to relive another incident that had happened a month ago when he stepped out from the kitchen and saw a male customer, too old for Snow taste, talking to Hope. Somehow, the man had over heard that Hope was visiting the city alone and gladly wanted to show him around the city. Hope quickly refused the customer offer, but the man didn't take a 'no' for an answer. Snow felt a vein popped at the corner of his forehead seeing the man leaning too close to the boy and was enjoying seeing Hope squirm nervously. The next answer the customer received was a punch to his face, a compliment by Snow's fist.

Snow wasn't walking onto thin ice; he was stomping on it when it comes with living with Hope. Especially when he awoke several nights to a recurring mishap; a firm round ass pressed against his lower region. Hope would sleep with no idea what was transpiring and when the young teen leaned more into the heat, those firm ass, which slowly began to haunt his mind during the day and in his dream, would rubbed against him making his body tingled in excitement. Misery really do like company.

"C'...on d..on't say t...hat..." Hope's ears perked when hear Snow's voice entering the bar. The blond was away on errands since they arrived the bar. He was in the kitchen, helping washing the dishes for Lebreau. He quickly stopped what he was doing and dried his hands with a paper towel. He paused in his steps when he heard another voice following Snow.

"Snow, I'm serious." The voice belongs to a young woman he knew. It was Serah. "The kid has overstayed his visit. Isn't time to send him home?"

Hope flinched, feeling his heart rate skipped a beat. A sensation shocked through his spine, making his body go stiff when he heard Serah's voice just say.

"Ahhh... not this speech again." Hope peeked from the corner to see Snow groaning in frustration, rubbing the space between both brows with his thumb and index finger. He had never eavesdropped on Snow's conversation, though the curiosity of the topic had left him intrigued to not walk away.

"You been spending more time with him than me." A pout formed on Serah's feature. Hope felt a sense of jubilation.

"You could come join us to watch the firework show tomorrow at the beach." Hope flinched. He did not want the girl to be with them. He waited for two months and now that the first firework show had arrived, he wanted to spend the night only with Snow.

"You mean 'come join me and brat.' You care for the boy more than you do for me."

"Serah, you know that's not true." Hope looked, his face twisting with disgust as Snow wrapped his arms around the girl. "Its just been difficult. I had asked Maqui to do some research on Hope and his home where about. When I find out, he will be on the next bus back home." His heart sunk when he heard those words together.

"And good riddance." Cracks rippled through his soul when he saw Serah leaned up and give the blond a kiss. Hope's shoulders slumped against the kitchen's wall. His feet was shaking uncontrollably until they couldn't bear his body weight anymore. His body slid down against the wall, another pang entered his chest; a feeling of abandonment and sorrow. Snow wanted him to leave. There was really no place for him in Snow's life. His eyes slowly started to prickle with water. Then he heard several footsteps approaching. His eyes blinked away the tears covering his vision, scanning for a place to hide. He couldn't let anyone see him like this; weak and broken. He stood up quickly and dashed back to the corner. Instead going to the front, he went to the back, to the bathroom.

"You're not coming to the bar?" Snow asked, blinking in surprise.

Hope shook his head. "The house chores wouldn't clean themselves you know."

Snow blinked again. This had to be longest sentence he had heard Hope say since yesterday morning. The boy was strangely quiet and that only worried him. Even in the night, they would talked about meaningless and trivial things until they fell asleep, but last night the boy only responded with nods or less than two words. "Hope?" Snow crouched down to meet the teen's gaze. He ran his hands through the soft, silvery locks. "Is something the matter? You've been quiet."

"It's nothing." Hope mumbled.

"You sure?"

Hope nodded.

Snow smiled. He brushed away the silver bangs before leaning down planting a soft kiss on Hope's forehead. "Just call me if you need anything. Okay?" Hope nodded. "Ohh... I almost forgot. The first firework show starts tonight. I already made plans to leave work early, so we can get to the beach to find a nice and suitable viewing spot." Snow grinned, though the teen didn't show as much enthusiasm as him. A frown appeared on his face. "Are you sure nothing isn't bothering you?"

Hope forced a smile on his face. "I'm starting to. You never acted like this before." He only got his hairs playfully ruffled before the blond's presence left the apartment. He watched from the living room window as the blond got in the car, waved at him, and drove away. Hope felt disgusted with himself. He gave Snow a fake smile. Hope sighed tiredly. His summer vacation was coming to an end. It's been two months and he had accomplished nothing. Nothing had changed since he had stepped into Snow's life. He entered the bedroom and crouched near to bed to reach for his bag under the bed. He took out his cellphone which he had hid from Snow. 'Well, I better make the call.' Hope sighed again. He strolled down the contact list until he came to the last name on the list; Vanille.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

Hope jumped, nearly dropping the device from his hand when he heard the knocks on the other side of the front door. He hid the phone in his back pocket and sauntered to front door which continued to be pounded impatiently.

"Snow? Snow?"

It was Serah. Again. Snow had warned him not to open the door to strangers and for a moment, Hope contemplated taking the blond's words seriously for this situation. Right now he did not want to see her face, but ignoring her wouldn't make her go away. He unbolted the locks and opened the door.

"Sno-" Serah exclaimed happily only to stop when she saw the silver-haired brat at the door. Her eyes narrowed. "Ohhh... it's you. Where is Snow?"

Hope ignored the distaste in the girl's voice as she entered the living room looking for the blond. "Snow left." Hope tried to humor the girl by saying less words as possible, though the glare he received think otherwise.

"Cheeky brat... you're not cute at all." Serah huffed. "Why don't you do Snow and I a favor and leave? When my sister transfers to the Gapra Whitewood Research Facility, I'll be moving in with Snow at the end of the year. And the last thing I want is a nuisance in Snow's apartment." The door slammed shut next, the vibration from force rippling through the walls.

"..." Hope scowled at wooden door then he signed inwardly, his features softened. He will be long gone anyway before the girl could live inside this apartment.

Snow fed the cash register another set of fols, serving the last and awaited customer of his shift. He grabbed a pen and quickly scribbled list of items needed legibly on a customer receipt that a customer didn't take. He whizzed pass Lebreau and Gadot in the kitchen placing the paper in the brunette's hand before entering the storage room to restock a set of delivered inventories which he had left unpacked on the ground. Not taking a moment to catch his breath, Snow quickly began packing each items on the shelves, unaware of a pair of eyes watching his every movements with glee.

"Such a hurry to go home?" A female voice snickered.

Snow stopped and glanced to storage door. Lebreau was standing with a wide grin on her face. "I just promise Hope that I'll take him to the first firework show." Snow averted the woman's gaze. The woman sauntered toward him and femininely glided her finger over his chest.

"You're smitten with Hope?"

"W-What?" Snow stuttered.

"You know. You like him." Lebreau said with a large smile on her face.

"You're insane."

"Stop fooling yourself." Lebreau snorted, rolling her eyes. She leaned against the wall, and closed her eyes for a second. "Snow... I have watched you and the kiddo interact for two months, and don't tell me that there is nothing between you and Hope."

"I'm dating Serah." Snow said as its the most obvious thing in the world.

"Since when?" Lebreau snickered. "From what I'm seeing, the romance is dead between you two."

"We're not having this talk." Snow's eyes narrowed. The woman was prying too much in his relationship with Serah. Even if he and Serah have not done much over the summer didn't mean people could start speculating that their relationship was going down hill. Snow, for once, didn't need to listen to others to know about his love with Serah. He, himself, could say that their relationship was going smoothly.

"You're in denial." Lebreau said as if bore.

Snow grunted. Him in denial over a kid. What so great about Hope anyway? Okay, so the kid has those gorgeous green eyes, smooth pale skin, and a subtle ass that he had came to fancy. "Alright. The kid does have some... alluring qualities." Snow said nervously, feeling a blush creeping on his face. And he was not denying that. Hope will grown into becoming an attractive young man.

"There you go. Admitting you feeling is the first step." Lebreau smiled.

"W-Wait. I was just kidding." Snow yelped in defense to cover his lie. He was about to leave when the brunette blocked the door.

"Just listen to me for a moment." Lebreau said calmly, seeing the blond folding his arms. "Just think about it. I don't want to see you making a decision you will regret for the rest of your life."

"Why are you pressing this?"

"You're like a brother to me Snow. I want to see you happy. And I think Hope might be the one." Lebreau muttered sincerely.

"And what makes you say that?" Snow asked. To be honest, a part of Snow didn't find the idea to be too horrible. A month ago. Hope was a beautiful teen and he knew for sure that Hope will only become only beautiful when older. Whoever ends up being Hope's partner was one lucky bastard indeed.

"C'mon Snow." Lebreau said in frustration. "Anyone with eyes could see how happy you are when Hope is in the bar." Snow only huffed and Lebreau sighed tiredly. The blond wasn't giving in to her reason. "Let me humor you this tale then. Serah comes to bar with her friends and some of them are guys, who are her school friends and flirts with her. And what you do? Nothing. A month ago, a dirty old fart took a seat near Hope and talked to him. Two minutes later, the man left the bar with a busted lip."

"The man was probably a perv." Snow growled.

"And your defense." Lebreau said smugly.

"..." Snow glared at the brunette before stepping out the storage room. He grabbed his coat in the kitchen and gave Gadot a 'see you later' wave. He stepped into the bar, seeing the room cover in an orange glow from the sun setting in the horizon. By an unnatural tendency, his blues fell on wall decorated with a collage of photographs. They were snapshots of random customers and the gang in the bar. It was one of his business strategies to attract customers and to show that the bar was welcoming and friendly place for any people. His eyes drifted over the collections and stopped when he spotted Lebreau's favorite shoot of memory. It was photo of Hope when he first came to the bar. He was careless to let Yuj get a clean shot of him and Hope eating the soup together. And it was a particular snapshot he didn't like, but there was a feeling of warmth over washed inside him. He looked happy in the picture and that was something he would never admit to Lebreau and the gang.

"Hope." Snow singsong stepping into his living room. His eyes quickly scanned the small apartment. The apartment was neatly polished clean, but apparently something felt off when there was no warm, welcoming smiles from a silvery hair teen. "Hope?" Snow called out again and the only responded he received was the wall creaking from someone walking on the floor above his head. He walked into the bedroom, seeing the room was deserted also and the bed was neatly made with clean sheets. Snow scratched his head out of curiosity and returned to living room where he failed to notice a folded paper on the couch. He unfolded the paper to see a phone number. A wave of panic had overcome his body thinking something awful must've happened. He quickly fished out his phone and dialed the number. Snow took a seat on the couch, hearing the phone ringing on the other side of the connection. He began to tap his feet impatiently when the phone continued to ring endlessly.

"Hello?" Hope's voice suddenly spoke.

"Hope!" Snow said in relief. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

"Where are you? The fireworks show is going to start soon." Snow informed, gaining a long silence from the other side of the phone. "Hope?"

"I am not going." Hope said softly.

"B-But you said you wanted to see the fireworks!" Snow said.

"I... I'm going home."

"Home? Why would you go back? You ran away." Snow exclaimed, feeling a pang in his chest. This was not happening! Hope could not be leaving. Not now, not ever.

"I lied. I didn't ran away from home. I'm supposed to be at summer camp. Well that is what my parents think?"

'Lied.' Snow mentally recited. The world was becoming a bit confusing now. Hope lied to him about running away. "Then was it all a lie." Snow said sternly.

"No..." Hope said hastily. "Everything else was the truth. The promise... and my feelings."

Not for a second has Snow ever doubted Hope's words and feelings. The boy had shown him genuine love and now Hope was going away. "So you're going to leave then. Throw everything away like that?" Snow inquired, clenching his teeth.

"I don't want to. My summer is over and I have to go back." Hope's voice mumbled softly on the other line.

"Hope you can't marched into someone life and expect to leave so freely." Snow growled, feeling his chest tightened. The sudden pain was unbearable and suffocating. This feeling was more worst than anything he had ever felt.

"I am sorry."

"SORRY isn't going to cut it." Snow yelled, burying his face in the palm of his hand at his sudden spike of anger and frustration.

"I KNOW." Hope choked. "I...*Hick*... know."

'Fuck.' Snow mentally cursed. The heaviness in his chest had gotten worse which was making breathing difficult.

"I ...*Hick*... would do anything...*Hick*... to live...*Hick*... the past two months with you again." Hope hiccupped. "And I only wanted...*Hick*... to say that...*Hick*... I Love You."

"Then say that to my face." Snow only spoke, his heart ready to burst. He could hear the ragged breathing from the other side of phone.

"I can't."

"Damn it Hope..." Snow cursed. "Is this my fault for still not remembering what happen three years ago?"

"That doesn't matter anymore." Hope sniffed. "All of this will be like a dream, or better yet a memory; a memory that we will only remember."

"Hope..." Snow's voiced pleaded.

"I'm sorry for causing you any t-troubles, b-but I was happy whether it was the past two months or three years ago when we met."

"H..ope." Snow perked when he heard a woman voice on the other line. Her voice held a deep accent.

"I gotta go now Snow. Goodbye. My consolation to you and Serah's future." Hope spoke.

"Wait Hope!" Snow called out, then the line went dead. "Fuck." Snow stood up, clenching the phone in his hands before letting it go. He slowly walked to his bedroom with his shoulders slumped down, the rising heat and heaviness still presence in his chest. He collapsed on his bed, his body still tensed and frustrated. He felt his world becoming quiet as he laid on his bed. He turned to his left side, hoping to see a silvery hair teen lying beside him. It was just him alone in the room. "Are you really gone?" Snow sighed.

"I only wanted...*Hick*... to say that...*Hick*... I Love You." The words still floating in his head.

"Don't you think I fucking know that!" Snow yelled in frustration.

"He's not answering his phone." Serah grumbled.

Lebreau eyed the girl for a moment from across the counter before returning her attention to her work. To say that she was irritated was a blatant understatement. She was leaning against the bar counter glaring at an invoice of today deliveries with a pencil which she kept swirling with her index and middle fingers. She wasn't too fond of doing the paper work, as she usually left them to Snow and Gadot. To add to her trouble, she had a company, Serah, who was sitting across the counter fiddling with her cellphone and complaining about her own troubles. She nearly snapped the pencil when she heard another long groan from the her night companion.

"Did you call his apartment number?" Lebreau asked, her eyes still glaring at the paper.

"I was at his apartment, but he wasn't home." Serah muttered. She came to empty bar hoping to find the whereabout of her boyfriend and was quickly redirected toward the beach crowded with people by the brunette. However, as she wandered through the congregated beach, she didn't see any blond haired man with the exact height of two hundred centimeters. "Lebreau, did Snow say any-" Serah spoke, but was interrupted by someone knocking on the front door before opening.

"Hey girls! Look who we found." Maqui exclaimed happily, stepping aside as Gadot and Yuj entered the bar while carrying Snow who was walking sluggishly with a half-empty glass bottle in his left hand and a big, goofy smile on his face.

"Snow!" Serah cheered, running to the blond.

"What happened?" Lebreau blinked, seeing the blond in a drunken state.

"Hi Lebreau!" Snow grinned, slothfully walking with the aid from his friends to the counter, not letting go of the bottle in his hand. He took a seat on a stool as his body slumped, lying against the counter.

"He's drunk." Gadot explained. "We found him walking on the beach alone, talking and cursing to himself moments ago. It was quite a sight."

"Noooo... I'm not... drunk." Snow claimed, sitting up from his seat, but his body began to lean to his right side. Gadot acted quickly and caught the blond before he could fall.

"Snow? Do you want me to take you home?" Serah asked carefully, taking a seat beside the blond.

"Nahhh." Snow smiled. He turned his attention to the brunette. She quickly swiped the alcohol bottle from his hands, before handed him a cold bottle of water which the man quickly drank down. The room then turned to a short silent. "Lebreau... you were right." Snow sighed, gaining five confused faces staring at him after the situation had quiet down ten minutes later.

"What are you talking about Snow?" Serah inquired.

"He's gone!" Snow's face dropped, a pout forming on his lips.

Lebreau did a double take. "He? You mean Hope?" She asked, gaining a puppy dog nodded from the blond. The brunette shook her head in disbelief. She knew something will happen between them, but not like this.

"The kiddo went home?" Yuj repeated.

"It seems so." Lebreau replied.

"So, that's good news. Isn't it Snow?" Serah said happily, though the room fell silent once again, eagerly waiting for a reply from the blond who seemed to have a problem thinking clearly.

"I want him back." Snow huffed.

"W-what?" Serah gasped.

"That's just the alcohol talking." Yuj joked, expecting a laugh from Snow but it didn't came. The blond sat on the stool, brooding over his thoughts.

"I think he's serious?" Maqui spoke.

"Wait Snow! Don't tell me you care for this kid?" Serah almost yelled in surprise.

"I-I don't know!" Snow said with a long face. He growled in frustrations, scratching his head as his thoughts kept running in circles.

"He's another guy and a kid if you haven't notice." Serah informed, ignoring the squirming from the three others guys behind her sensing a lover's spat was about to heat up. "And the fact that you are considering this is more crazy. I thought you taking in a kid was ridiculous and when I told the brat that he was a problem be-"

"Wait! What?" Snow eyed the girl suspiciously. "What did you tell him?" Snow stood up from his seat, glaring the girl.

"I told him what you told me the other day; the boy should leave."

"Why did you tell him that?" Snow hissed.

"Duh... you want him gone too." Serah said obviously, but the blond averted his eyes. Her eyes widened then by a sudden realization. "You didn't want him to go."

"Guilty. You satisfy." Snow confessed, clenching his teeth.

"You actually loved this brat!" Serah couldn't believe the words she was saying.

"I don't know... Maybe." Snow whispered.

"I'm your girlfriend." Serah wrapped her arms around Snow, bracing her face against the man's chest. She felt two arms coiled around her, their bodies entwining. "Listen to your heart Snow. It will know what you truly want?" She asked softly.

Snow looked down to her girl in his arms. Serah felt different. The warmth was different. The texture was different. Everything was different to his liking. He didn't want this. He closed his eyes for a brief moment, only to see a smiling silver-haired teen in his head. That was what he wanted. He wanted his Hope back.

"Snow?" Serah called out when everyone saw the smile appear on the blond's face. Snow's arm glided to her shoulders before she felt a tug, separating the two bodies. Serah stared incredulously and unsurely at the blond and why he pushed her away.

"I'm going to Palumpolum." Snow only spoke before he was pushed back, stumbling on the stool, falling to the ground.

"I CANNOT BELIEVE YOU, SNOW VILLIERS. We're THROUGH." Then the door slammed shut, shaking the entire building. Snow groaned, pushing himself from his elbows. He received three unusual stare from the guys and one grin from the brunette.

"Told you so." Lebreau snickered, adding salt on the wound.

"Don't you hate being right sometimes." Snow shook his head in disbelief. He rubbed the back of his head, feeling a slight bump.

"Are you really going to Palumpolum?" Gadot asked skeptically with his hand stretched out before pulling his blond friend to his feet. He just witnessed the girl who he taught will married Snow just left the bar, heartbroken. What's more surprising was that Snow remains unfazed. The blond showed no sign of sadness or remorse. Snow looked relief or happy.

"Guys..." Snow turned to his friends, smiling at them sheepishly while scratching his head. He just came out telling his friends that he liked another man. A boy to be exact. "I know its kind of weird, but this is who I am."

"You know what's weird? You're poor Snow." Yuj snickered.

"How are you going to get fols to go to Palumpolum?" Maqui asked curiously.

Snow cracked a smile. He was expecting his friends to resent him for his choice. They were truly his family. "A second mortgage on bar."

"Fuck that." Leberau snorted. "I'll be expecting you at the bar at the crack of dawn."

"And no extra stops after work." Gadot informed with a smug expression.

A Month Later...

It took longer than expected for Snow get the money he needed for his travel to Palumpolum. He had made some sacrifices over the month to the point where he could stand in front an airport during a lazy afternoon with a duffel bag in his hand. It had been execrable living one month without Hope, Snow came to terms. Some nights he couldn't sleep. He twisted and turned on his bed until sunrise and hugging a pillow wasn't enough to replace the lithe warm body. The past month was dreadful and unpleasant. He remembered the morning after he broke up with Serah, he jumped out from the bed when he heard the doorbell rang. He quickly opened the door, expecting to see a silver-haired teen, but the only thing that was on the other side of the door was a fist to his face delivered from an angry Lightning. And the worst of his misery was when Serah surprised him at his apartment a week after their separation. It was a known practice that a person did not see their girlfriend after a breakup, however, Snow was surprised and a bit disgusted when he found Serah in his bedroom, naked to the flesh. She wanted to rekindle their relationship and Snow quickly refused her offer. Snow will make sure that Hope compensated for his painful days and nights when he saw the teen, one way or another. Snow only hoped one week will be enough time to find Hope.

"You'll bring him back?" Lebreau asked. She and the others chose to accompany their blond friend to the airport.

Snow only responded by giving her a grin as wide as the sea and a thumb up.

"He's as confident as usual." Yuj muttered.

"Are you sure going alone will be okay?" Gadot asked. Snow was known for his reckless and impulsive decision for causing problem. And if you added his overconfident nature, that only spelled trouble.

Snow nodded. "You might need this!" Maqui handed him a photograph. It was a snapshot of the gang and Hope taking together in the bar.

'Soon.' Snow mentally muttered, staring at the photograph. Somewhere in Palumpolum, Hope was there, alone and heartbroken. He had to at least tell Hope how he feel and this time, Snow will be honest. He was going to live out his promise that he had made. A smile slowly crept onto his face. Hope will be getting a unexpected pleasant surprise.

The End

A/N: Not a perfect ending, but it's sufficient. What happened next will be left to your own dirty and playful imagination. Or I can write a sequel? I tried to fill in much details and clear away all holes in the story as possible, though I didn't go into detail about the event that transpired three years ago, surrounding Snow's promise to Hope. I wanted to write it in the phone scene but I think against it. Some things were left unsaid for a compelling reasons. I made Serah a bitch. Did not mean it, but it had to happen if she keeps coming in between my Snow and my Hope. I thank Square-Enix for killing her before I could. I love Serah, I actually do.

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