Changes
Summary: Sometimes, people just need a little push to change. For Roxas and Naminé, it was going to be a lot tougher.
Disclaimer: I wish :(
Author's Note
Please read the end A/N, it's quite important! Rated T for language.
Dedicated—to all my readers & reviewers of You are the Music in Me and Skateboards & Sketchpads. Enjoy :)
It was a rare thing not to see Naminé Nagano and Roxas Osaka fighting.
Really, it was all anyone expected to see of them.
Naminé and Roxas had a hate/love relationship that, more times than not, leaned on the hate side. Their friends were used to seeing them argue and thought nothing of it. Like today, the two blonds were bickering over what drink at JumpJuice was the most expensive. It was a stupid argument, but this was nothing new.
"I'm telling you, the Mango Go-Go is seventy-five cents more than the Kiwi Express!" Roxas insisted, his brows furrowed in annoyance. He made this face often when they were together, which, given their tendency to argue, was a lot.
"What did you do, memorize the menu?" Naminé shot back, taking a sip of her drink. "It's the starfruit-yogurt mix, me and Kairi just ordered it yesterday! Tell him, Kai!"
Kairi said nothing, a weary look on her face. Like the rest of the group, they all knew better than to get between Roxas and Naminé when they were in a heated discussion. She looked over at Roxas' cousin, Sora, and the two of them giggled. The group was sitting outside a row of shops, crowded around one of the many round tables. Joining them were their other close friends; Riku, Olette, Hayner. Pence & Selphie.
"Can you guys shut up for two seconds," Hayner said impatiently. Normally he would just gruffly deal with the fighting, but he was in a bad mood today. Bad for Hayner, at least. "God, I swear, all the two of you do is argue."
Naminé and Roxas paused long enough to shoot him a look, then continued to argue. Hayner threw his hands in the air, exasperate. "CAN WE PLEASE GO SOMEWHERE?" he shouted, at the top of his lungs. Everyone turned to him. "I'm sick of listening to these two fight, just fuck already why don't you?" He shouted.
"Hayner!" Olette gasped, ashamed and appalled at her boyfriend's language. She turned to the blonds who both looked slightly embarrassed. "I'm so sorry, he's just like this because—"
"Because my girlfriend's on her rag and won't have sex with me," Hayner finished.
Blushing bright red, Olette glared at him as the others burst into laughter.
"It's true though," Selphie piped up when the laughter had died. "You two argue like there's no tomorrow. Why is that?"
"We—I, I mean…we don't argue all the time!" Naminé denied, squeezing her JumpJuice cup so her smoothie came up through the straw.
"Yeah, we don't!" Roxas interjected. "I mean, usually. But it's mostly her fault, you know how hot-headed she gets, she likes to nitpick at the littlest—"
"That is a bunch of bull!" Naminé said angrily. "If anyone, it's you who doesn't know how to—"
"See?" Selphie raised an eyebrow, smug.
"I—we—I just—"
"Maybe you guys should go into couple's therapy, or something," Sora suggested innocently, his eyes round and child-like. This brought a snicker throughout the group. Roxas gave his cousin a shut up look before kicking him in the leg. "Ouuuch," Sora whined.
"You know perfectly well me and Naminé are just friends!" Roxas said, towards the whole group. They all looked away, smirking, angering Roxas even more. "We are!" he protested, Naminé nodding besides him.
"We all know that," Riku said slowly, his voice velvety. "But it's kind of obvious you and Nam have a thing for each other—"
"Enough!" Naminé shushed him, her face flushed crimson.
"Come on, Naminé, let's get out of here," Roxas said, throwing them a look. Naminé grabbed her jacket off the chair and followed him, leaving her smoothie behind.
"We all know you guys are gonna fuck at home!" Hayner called after them. Roxas gave Hayner an obscene hand gesture as they walked away. An elderly couple glared at Hayner and at Roxas' retreating figure. Olette shot them an apologetic look.
"Those two," she shook her head at the two seventeen year olds who were walking side-by-side.
"Why can't they just admit they like each other, have a go, and then move on?" Hayner rolled his eyes. "Those feelings they've had for each other have been bottled in for years. You'd think they wouldn't be able to stop themselves from ripping off their—"
"Maybe arguing is just their type of foreplay," said Riku with a half smile. Everyone laughed, chattering over each other.
"We should get them together," Kairi said, after a moment.
They all looked at her.
"Kai, we've been trying to get them to go out for years," Selphie pointed out.
"Yeah," agreed Pence, "and they just won't. They're so stubborn."
"But we haven't actually tried, have we?" Kairi asked. "I mean, all we've done is tease them about it and bring it up, but we haven't done anything." The group was silent again.
"It would be nice to get them to stop arguing, at least for a moment," Sora smiled. "And they're definitely not going to get together on their own accord. Count me in!"
Everyone else agreed, all of whom seemed excited to set this plan in motion.
"Okay Kairi," Hayner said gruffly. "What do we do?"
Kairi motioned for them to lean in, her auburn hair swaying past her shoulders. "Here's my plan…"
—
RxN
—
"Can you believe them?" Naminé huffed, crossing her pale arms.
"I know," Roxas said. "They never stop with that, do they?"
"Never," Naminé agreed, sighing.
The two of them were sitting on the sand, as close to the ocean as possible without the waves washing in and getting them wet. It was a perfect evening, had they taken the time to notice. The sun was close to setting, the beach was quiet, the sound of waves splashing. It was slightly breezy, a problem that could be solved with a light cardigan.
Roxas shifted, adjusting himself in the sand. "You think they'll ever stop?"
Naminé looked over at him. He was leaning back on his toned arms, his eyes closed, showing the length of his lashes. The sun hit his face perfectly, so his chiseled features stood out. It was a bit…odd, being alone with Roxas and seeing him from this perspective. Odd, but intriguing. She quickly turned back to the ocean, kicking off her sandals and burying her feet in the warm sand. Her face felt hot as Roxas' well built arms came into her mind. "No," she said after a moment. "I don't."
Roxas chuckled and opened his eyes. "Hey look—the sky."
Naminé looked up, awestruck by the red-orange sky. Despite how long she'd lived on Destiny Islands, the sight never ceased to give her shivers. Taking in the whole view, she lied down on her back, a wide smile on her face. "I never get tired of seeing it," she breathed, her eyes gliding across the different colors.
"Roxas!" a voice called out. The two blonds squinted down a ways, farther along the beach. A blond girl with Naminé's, and every other girl's, ideal beach body and seductive green eyes walked up to them. It was Rikku, who Naminé didn't like in the slightest. Rikku and Roxas had dated all of freshman year, something that every guy and girl at Blue Seas High knew. Rikku was looking straight at Roxas, ignoring Naminé completely. Naminé did the same, continuing to stare at the sky.
"Hi, Roxas," Rikku cooed. Naminé winced at her voice. Did this girl really think talking that way would pull guys? Apparently it does, Naminé reminded herself as memories of Rikku furiously making out with boys in the hallway came into her mind. Disgusted, Naminé shook her head.
"Hey, Rikku," Roxas said, uncomfortably.
"I haven't seen you all summer," Rikku pouted, crossing her arms over her chest. Heat rushed to Roxas' face as he stared at his ex, remembering that face she used to pull whenever she wanted to—
Roxas busied himself pushing around sand with his fingers, looking at Naminé to see how she was taking this. She was still lying down, one of her knees brought up.
"Yeah…" Roxas said mildly, as his ex-girlfriend continued to ramble on.
Roxas, however, was not paying attention to the girl chattering away. His eyes traced Naminé's creamy, long legs and stopped at the sliver of her stomach that was showing from her shirt that had ridden up. Lord, he thought, biting his lip.
"Well, I'll see you around then," Rikku smiled, giving her hips a little wiggle as she walked away.
"Charming, really," Naminé said sarcastically as soon as Rikku was out of earshot. "I have no idea why you broke up with her."
"Don't even start," Roxas warned, tearing his gaze away to flick her hand lazily. They smiled at each other, a cool breeze rustling their hair.
Suddenly, Naminé screamed and shot up, giggling.
High tide had come in and the waves had washed up on their legs. Roxas scrambled up, grabbing Naminé's sandals and laughing as he and the flaxen-haired girl dashed away.
—
RxN
—
"Kairi, where are we going?" Naminé asked as Kairi pushed her out the door. Kairi locked it, then pushed Naminé past the other apartment doors.
"I told you, we're grocery shopping," Kairi said nonchalantly.
"But we just went grocery shopping four days ago," Naminé said, raising an eyebrow. "Remember? You bought six bags of those disgusting pork chips."
Kairi reddened. "I can't control what I crave when I'm on my girl time!" she hissed, pressing the unlock button on her car key. "Besides, I saw you eating a bag too, so don't try to pin this all on me!"
"I wasn't—"
"Come on," Kairi interrupted, opening the driver's side and sliding in. Naminé rolled her eyes and got into the passenger seat.
"You know, you can be so bossy sometimes," she complained. "But do I ever boss you around? No! In fact, I'm pretty sure I put up with—" her voice cut abruptly when she realized who was in the backseat. Two pairs of blue eyes were looking at her, amusedly. "S-sora!" She sputtered. "Roxas!"
"Good morning to you too," Roxas smirked. "And I have to say, you are definitely one of the most bossiest people I know."
"I—I am not!" Naminé said through gritted teeth. "I'll have you know you're not exactly the nicest decoration on the wall of life either!" This comment brought out full-on arguing, which lasted for a few minutes as Kairi pulled out of the driveway.
"What are we even doing?" Naminé demanded at Kairi, as Roxas paused for a breath. "I doubt we're grocery shopping!"
"We're grocery shopping?" Roxas glared at Sora. "You said we were going to buy new Blitzball equipment!"
"Okay, I lied," Sora's face flushed. "Both of us," he added as Naminé began to open her mouth. "But for a good reason!"
"And what reason is that?" Naminé glared at him, then at the auburn driver, and then back to Sora.
"Relax, will you?" Kairi sighed. "We're going to the carnival down on SeaView," she explained. "We're meeting up with everyone else there, so please stop arguing!"
"I don't understand why you couldn't have told us," Naminé grumbled accusingly. Roxas nodded, leaning back, his arms spread across the top of the seats. "You could have made it a hell of a lot easier."
"No, we couldn't," Sora said. "Roxas, you would have complained that all the food is too pricy and that all the rides are hardly worth going on—"
"They aren't!" he interrupted.
"And Naminé, you would have chickened out because of all the roller coasters," Kairi finished.
"I'm not scared of roller coasters!" Naminé cried, her blue eyes round and steely.
"Oh please," Roxas scoffed. "You wouldn't even go on that dolphin ride when we went to Splash City last year." Naminé reddened at the thought, then leaned towards him and pinched his arm. "Ow!" he yelled, rubbing his arm as the bickering started once more.
After twenty minutes of non-stop arguing, the four 17-year-olds were finally at the carnival.
"Here we are!" said Sora, cheerfully. He leaned forward excitedly, craning his neck to try and see all the rides and attractions that peeked out over the gate. Roxas and Naminé, both less excited, grumbled unenthusiastically as the clambered out of the car.
"Okay, so everything's set, right?" Kairi turned to Sora and whispered.
Sora nodded. "Pence and Selphie are in position, Hayner and Olette are patrolling, and Riku's at the midway."
Kairi smiled. "Do you really think we can pull this off? Maybe we should forget it…"
"Don't worry sweetie," Sora sprang forward and gave Kairi a kiss. "This'll work."
"Hey, can you two hurry up and stop kissing already?" Roxas complained loudly.
"That's what we'll be saying to you and Naminé after this," Sora mumbled, his voice low. Kairi laughed and got out of the car, hitting the lock button. They trudged past the parking lot and to the front ticket booth. "Four people," Sora said to the lady. He passed over the munny as she slid back four bright gold tickets.
After being checked in at the gate, the teens paused at the hot dog and lemonade stand.
"Well, where are we going first?" Naminé asked half-heartedly. Sora and Kairi exchanged sly glances.
"We're not going anywhere," Kairi said, crossing her arms.
"Wha—?"
"You and Roxas are going to spend the rest of the day together," Sora explained. "Me and Kairi are leaving you two on your own to work out your sexual frustrations we all know you have." He quickly hid behind Kairi as Roxas took a menacing step forward.
"This is ridiculous!" Naminé gasped.
Kairi shrugged. "You have no choice. I have both sets of apartment keys, Nam, and Sora has yours." She smiled slyly at Roxas. "And, you guys have no car."
"We could take the bus," Naminé snapped. "How do you guys know we won't just walk out and part after you guys leave? Huh? Or that we won't even spend the day together, period?"
"Can't." Sora said, matter-of-factly. There's only two exits, one on this side, and the one on the other side of the midway. Selphie is watching the back, and oh look, there's Pence watching this one right now!" He waved at Pence who was grinning cheekily.
"In addition to that," Kairi continued. "We have Olette and Hayner walking around the carnival to make sure you guys don't go your own ways. Riku is on the midway bridge overlooking the park, so you guys can't hide or try sneaking over the fences."
"B-but..but they'll get tired eventually!" Naminé said weakly, for the first time having no argument. She glanced at Roxas who looked just as crest-fallen.
"Which is why we have Axel, Demyx, Wakka, Tidus, and Yuffie in on this too," Sora said smugly. "They're each going to switch with someone every two hours, just to make sure you guys don't try to take advantage of them when they start getting weary."
Both at a loss for words, Roxas and Naminé looked at each other.
"I guess you guys understand?" Kairi smiled sweetly. "Great!" she replied, not waiting for an answer. "We'll pick you guys up at 7, bye!" She grabbed Sora's hand and the two ran off, shooting a thumbs-up at Pence on the way.
"I can't believe them," Roxas shook his head. Naminé was about to agree until Roxas added, "They expect us to buy our own ride tickets and food!"
Glaring at him, Naminé proceeded to walk away in a huff.
"Hey, where are you going?" Roxas said, following her. He caught up to the fast-paced blond and grabbed her shoulder.
"You are so…so…ugh!" Naminé shook her head and brushed free from his grip.
"Wait...you don't think I had anything to do with this!" Roxas said, shocked.
"You'll do anything to push my buttons, won't you?" she snapped at him, cutting between a couple who was sharing a bag of candy.
"Naminé!" Roxas said, exasperatedly. "I didn't do this, I swear I didn't—"
"Oh, shut up!" she replied harshly, continuing to make her way down the carnival. Roxas noticed people beginning to stare at them, so he quickly caught up with her again, this time grabbing both her arms firmly.
"Naminé," he said again, his voice quiet. She glanced up at him, annoyance in her eyes. "I honestly had no part in this. If I wanted to go to a carnival with you, I would have asked you myself."
She reddened, quickly averting her gaze after searching his eyes. As she looked down at the ground, she bit her lip lightly, causing Roxas' heart to flutter. He found it strangely attractive when she did that. "Okay," she said. "I believe you."
"Good." Roxas straightened, releasing his hold. "Besides, I wouldn't have needed Pence and them to patrol the carnival. I know you're too fascinated with me to just leave," he winked. "Ow!" he cried as Naminé punched him in the stomach, continuing on with her stroll.
—
RxN
—
"I can't Roxas, I can't—" Naminé panicked, her breath raspy.
"You'll be fine!" Roxas assured. "Come on, open your eyes."
"No!" she said, gripping the metal bar in front of her tightly.
"We haven't even moved," Roxas laughed. "Come on." He gently coaxed her hands off of the bar. "What happened to the Naminé who wasn't scared of anything? The Naminé who forced me to watch all those horror movies on Halloween? The Naminé who punched me in the face because I called her ugly?"
"She died on a roller coaster," Naminé breathed shakily, reaching out blindly for the metal bar once more.
"Naminé!" Roxas sighed, shaking his head.
"Oh, all right," she said glumly, slowly opening one eye, then the other. "But you better not make me go on another roller coaster, or so help me God I will—"
The roller coaster jerked forward unexpectedly, making Naminé scream. A few people behind her snickered. She turned around and gave them the evil eye. The coaster slowly moved forward as it ascended up the slope. "Oh God, oh God…" Naminé muttered, her mouth dry.
"It's fine," Roxas laughed. "The hill down is nothing, I promise."
Naminé didn't seem to hear him as they kept going higher and higher, her heart pounding loud in her chest. As they spent the last few seconds at the very top, she grabbed hold on to Roxas and buried her face in his chest, screaming as the coaster picked up speed and plummeted down.
Roxas was laughing, she could feel the vibrations in his chest as she held on tighter. His arm snaked around her and held her close, giving her a warm, unexpected feeling. Suddenly, she didn't even realize the rushing wind in her ears or the lurch of another drop. She just clung to him and took in his scent, warm and safe, and as the last drop came into view, she felt safe enough next to him to break free and hold her hands high, her scream echoing through the air.
—
RxN
—
"That was so fun!" Naminé said excitedly, bouncing on her toes. "The drop, did you see me? I didn't even close my eyes, I wasn't even holding on!"
"I saw," Roxas smiled, taking a sip of the lemonade they shared. They'd gone on all the roller coaster rides, some even twice. It was amazing to see this part of Naminé so carefree and excited. It wasn't until now, when the sky became dusky, that Roxas realized they hadn't argued all day. "Isn't your voice gone from screaming all day?" he teased.
Naminé ignored him good-naturedly, helping herself to some popcorn. Roxas smiled again at the sight of Naminé cramming her cheeks full of food. His smile faltered when he glanced over Naminé's blond head and saw a familiar beach-bodied girl. "Shit." He muttered.
"What?" Naminé asked, looking at him. She followed his gaze and her hand froze above the bag of popcorn. "Oh, Rikku."
"Come on," Roxas said sharply, grabbing Naminé's hand. The warmth of his palm fell into place with hers as he pulled her into the crowd. Naminé's face heated up at this connection, her stomach suddenly full of butterflies. "In here," Roxas said, lifting open the edge of a tent flap.
Naminé looked at him questioningly but ducked through at Roxas' hard gaze.
The only light in the tent was a dim lightbulb. Boxes were stacked everywhere and with closer inspection, Naminé realized that they were full of peanuts. "Great," she said sarcastically, throwing Roxas a raised eyebrow.
"Sorry," he apologized, a half-smile on his face. "I just don't want to talk to her."
Naminé smiled back at him in understanding. The tent was small and already crowded with boxes, giving her very little room with Roxas. "How long are we going to be in here?" she asked, shifting into a more comfortable position, her back against a box.
Roxas strained his back and peeked out of the tent. "When she leaves," he said, seeing her blond hair circling the area. He quickly turned back around so she wouldn't come closer. After a few moments of silence, he said, "Have you noticed we didn't argue today?"
Naminé opened her mouth to disagree, but stopped short. "You're right," she breathed. It was a strange realization; she bit her lip as she mulled the thought over. Suddenly aware of Roxas' intense gaze on her, she stopped. "W-what?" she asked.
Roxas' eyes slowly settled on her pale pink lips. "I love when you do that," he said in a low voice Naminé had never heard before. It sent shivers up her spine. Entranced, she gazed into his eyes, then sunk down to his perfect lips.
"Do what?" she whispered. He leaned towards her, resting a hand above her head on a box as the other stayed dangerously close to her waist. She could hear his breathing, his warm breath fanning against her neck. Chills erupted through her and again out of habit, she bit down once more on her bottom lip.
"That." Roxas said hoarsely, his hand snaking around her waist and pulling her close. Naminé closed the space between them, wrapping her arms around his neck, indulging in his kiss. A soft moan escaped from her lips, causing Roxas to push up against her more roughly. It felt freeing, amazing, everything she thought that a kiss should have. He ran his long fingers through her soft blond hair as she angled her head closer. It was absolutely—
"HA!"
Naminé and Roxas jumped apart, their breathing heavy, chests heaving, hearts pumping.
Hayner smirked at the two blonds, his eyebrows raised before he turned around, yelling, "I told you they were gonna fuck!"
—
RxN
—
"Happy birthday Roxas!"
It was the seventh of July, Roxas' 18th birthday. Naminé and the group had set up a small party for, as Hayner called it, "turning legal." Boxes of presents were stacked on the table alongside an endless amount of food and a large cookies & crème ice cream cake.
"Thanks, guys," Roxas smiled brightly after an off-key chorus of happy birthday.
"Come see my present," Naminé said excitedly, tugging at his hand the opposite side of the room. Roxas smiled coyly.
"Is this another steamy kiss in a peanut tent?" he asked, half-jokingly.
Naminé rolled her eyes and giggled. "No," she said, smiling. "But it is something you'll like." She pulled out a largely wrapped present and set it in his lap. "Open it!"
"You didn't have to get me anything," he said.
Naminé laughed, tucking her hair behind her ear. "Of course I did, you're my boyfriend."
"But that's just it," Roxas said. "You're my girlfriend. I don't want anything but you, you really didn't have to get me this."
"Yes, I did." Naminé said, her tone beginning to hit the annoyed level. "I got you this because you're my boyfriend. I might not have needed to give you anything, but I wanted to."
"You shouldn't have," Roxas said, his eyes narrowing like they did at every start of an argument. "You're my girlfriend and you're enough."
"So are you saying that if it was my birthday, you wouldn't have gotten me anything?"
"No—no, it's because I'm the guy—"
"Oh, so now you're saying only guys should give gifts because gift-giving is for a gentleman?" Naminé demanded incredulously.
"Well—yes!"
"So basically, I bought you a present that you don't even want, even though you haven't opened it!"
"I was about to open it before you started saying that getting a present for your boyfriend was a necessity!"
"Roxas you are the most—"
"I only meant—"
"You know," Hayner grunted, stabbing his piece of cake with his fork. He looked around at the rest of the group before continuing, "I thought bringing them together would cut all of the arguments they'd have."
"Me too," sighed Kairi, looking weary.
The rest of the group murmured in agreement, as the two blonds continued to fight.
"At least these arguments end differently," Selphie piped up, trying to be positive.
"Can't say I prefer them, though," Hayner muttered again, as the group nodded sheepishly.
"I'm sorry Roxas—I love you," cooed Naminé, running her fingers along the side of his face.
"No, no sweetie, I'm sorry, I love you more," Roxas nuzzled his face into her neck.
"God damn, can you guys just fuck already!"
Author's Note
And there you have it! I've been away from FanFiction for so long, I'm not really used to writing again. However, keeping in mind I have two long-chaptered fics still in the works, I wanted to get into the swing of things again with a oneshot!
To those who are awaiting for updates on YATMIM and S&S:
Please be patient! I shall be updating those as soon as I can. YATMIM will probably come first, and then S&S. Thank you all for the kind reviews; though I'm not able to reply to all of them, I read each & every one and I'm eternally grateful. Thank you for your support!
REVIEW! I'd love to hear from all of you. Thank you again :)