A/N: Hookayyy ((:

Here I am with another story out. It's just, I cannot wait for summer to come and I'm getting ahead of myself. Well... Alaska in the winter... You'd want a summer once in a while, too. So read, enjoiii, worship.~~~ :33 Once again, I have nothing to say, so I'll just say more as I go along. Okay? Okay.

Footnotes enabled.

Disclaimer: Disclaim'd

My name is Roxas Strife and welcome to the first day of the worst summer of my life. Now that the formalities are taken care of, get the hell out of my way.

* * *

"Roxas," Cloud, my dad, sighed heavily, "This isn't the first time I've told you: You can't come. I'm sorry, but this is strictly business,"

My pout deepened, "Of course I don't want to go. Taking pictures? Bo-ring. But I don't know why I can't stay home. I'm almost 18. I don't need a babysitter, much less, a summer-long babysitter,"

His face hardened and he crossed his arms as his assistant fidgeted beside him, "She's not your babysitter. It's my sister, Rikku - Your aunt. And," He fished around for an excuse, "I'd love for you to stay... but wouldn't you get lonely?"

"I have friends," My heart lurched at that lie. The train depot announced that my train was boarding and I slumped my backpack over one shoulder, "But whatever. I'll see you in 3 months,"

Dad stiffened and then pulled me into a hug. His assistant, some newbie, checked his watch and leaned in, "Cloud, we're going to miss our flight if you don't hurry,"

"Right," My dad pulled away and handed me my duffel bag, "Stay out of trouble,"

I snorted, "Right, whenever have I ever been bad...?"

He laughed but zonked back into Mr. Dad mode, "I'm not kidding. I don't want anymore bad reports. No fighting, no arguing, no attitude, and try to get along with the other kids. Destiny Islands has a bunch of kids your age, according to Rikku. So be nice. Oh, and no more piercings. Those lip rings are enough for me,"

"They're called 'snakebites,'" I rolled my eyes at my dad's unhip-ness.

He pulled me into one last hug, "Just be good. I love you, Roxas. And I'll call you whenever,"

"Cloud..." The assistant's voice was strained and trying to rush him. I didn't even bother to learn his name; My dad would sleep with him then toss him out when he got too clingy. That's the thing with my dad: He liked fresh starts.

"Right. See ya," I pulled the large earphones around my neck onto my ears, "I got my phone," I handed my ticket to the Train Guy. He punched it and I found my seat right by the window; My dad was still waving at me at the plane depot, while his assistant was still trying to pry him away and to the airport.

I slumped in my seat: A whole summer. A fresh start. In a small town on a small island that I've never heard of. Maybe fresh starts weren't so bad after all...? I turned up my iPod as loud as it could go as I watched my dad grow smaller in the distance.

* * *

Dad was the Cloud Strife. The indie, successful photographer. Ever since he sold his photos to various clients, we were no longer the traveling Father and Son. We were rich, comfortable guys living the dream. Well... Cloud was. I wasn't too sure for myself...

Anyway.... I shall tell this tale from top to bottom. Dad was gay. Forever. And his mom and dad didn't like that. Not one bit. See, they were a homophobic, house-making family. Everyone wore a smile on their face, had green grass [chemically achieved green grass], a white picket fence surrounding that grass, and a decent cookie-cutter house sitting on top of that grass. Oh, and don't forget the lawn gnome. The dad went to work as a pencil pusher; Mom cooked dinner and cleaned the house like Betty Crocker. Tragic, I know.

Dad - my dad, Cloud - had a best friend, Zack. And he was an excellent friend. But Zack had a sister, Tifa, then one thing lead to another [Beer. Lots and lots of beer helped.] and 9 months later... Here I am. Sadness struck when Tifa died right after I was born. It's okay. I was too young to miss her at all. So here my dad was -gay, single, and the father of a baby to his best friend's sister- and guess who came to his rescue. Yep, sex and all. Zack did. They both helped me grow up in Zack's apartment until I hit age 7 or 8.

Gramma and Gramps weren't so happy. After a few bitter and not so pretty arguments... Dad walked away with me, leaving behind his parents, Rikku, and Zack. We've never seen any of them since. Dad took his old pick up truck and we drove around the land, staying in countless cheap apartments, sometimes even living in the car. All we had were the car, a photographer's grade camera, and each other. Dad made some chump change from small jobs here and there: selling door-to-door crap, working in Chinese buffets, selling a few sunset shots he took. He only made enough to buy us a Happy Meal and gas for the car.

Life was rough; I was hardly in school, we were extremely unhealthy [not fat, just unhealthy] from all the fast food and 7-11 munchies, and the people I met. Oh, the people. Apparently, having a homo dad wasn't acceptable and I got my ass kicked every day at whatever school I was at. Finally, I decided to fight back. All my rough 'n' tough rowdiness was a huge factor we were always on the run. But whatever, y'know?

Finally, Cloud got his big break and a guy who had a law firm wanted one of his pictures for an advertisement in the Yellow Pages. Cha ching, Dad got one fuck of a paycheck. The guy who bought dad's pictures started bragging to his friends, then eventually, Dad was a demanded guy. Everyone wanted to know about the undiscovered photographer and what he had to offer. And Cloud gave everything he got. Some dude, manager of a minor modeling company wanted to hire him. He accepted and we finally moved into a real apartment; not one of those already-furnished crapholes that had elegant names like 'Radiant Garden.' I was 16 at the time, incase you're keeping up with me. Dad slept with the guy who hired him and was made Chief Photographer. Cue the angel choir.

So moving on, Dad broke away from models and fashion for more journalistic subjects, since he was a big enough name by then to call his own shots. Which is why I was stuck on a moving train to an island off the coast of God-Knows-Where. Cloud wanted to take a 3-month-long tour, expressing both the beauty and horror of our world. Deep, I know.

Excuse me, I just barfed a little...

* * *

The train came to a screeching stop and I snapped out of my dazed state of mind. My butt was numb and I grabbed my things; I was the only one getting off here. I immediately noticed the cool ocean air that cascaded my cheeks. The depot was empty except for a tall redhead talking to the guy at the counter. My phone stated that my long 5-hour trip was over and I was in stupid Destiny Islands; I carelessly shrugged the enormous duffel bag off my aching shoulders and pulled up my sagging jeans, despite the fact that I clearly bought skinny jeans to avoid said problem.

Redhead-Dude saw me and sauntered over to me at a painfully slow rate. What really got me was the white, toothy grin he gave me. Who was this kook?

"Roxas, right?" His voice was like a guitar; soft and melodic with that hint of edginess and bad-ass-ness.

I nodded vacantly. Those green, green eyes. Holy shit, those eyes. You could say they were like UFOs, strangely eerie, yet hypnotic and abducted your soul. I mean, my blue eyes were generic. Everyone with blue eyes could catch the light just right and make them illuminate, but green was a more unforgiving color to work with. Especially in the dim, fluorescent train station lights. And those tattoos. A black, teardrop tattoo under each eye, forever etched into his beige, flawless cheeks. Like, whoa.

He smiled again, "Rikku's waiting for you," He grabbed my duffel bag and I observed him as I followed him out of the small station. What stuck out the most was the fact he was tall. Like, we're talking 6'2" tall. Okay... that's not too tall... But when you're only 5'4", everything is tall. Another BIG thing about him was his hair. His hair was blood red, yet had a fiery tint to it. And not to mention every strand was perfectly shooting out of his head in crazy spikes, down to his shoulders, which he tied in a low, piece-y ponytail.

I realized it wasn't as late as I thought when we stepped out in the parking lot and I saw the afternoon sun shining brightly over head. I felt extremely warm and out-of-place in my hoodie and urban, cooler attire. Redhead was more summery: dark denim shorts cut to his knees, smeared with random gashes of various paints, but his pale yellow T-Shirt was unpainted, and he wore black and white checkered Vans. What really got me were the sunglasses he slipped on once we stepped foot outside. His sunglasses were deep purple, thick-rimmed, and seemed bulky. This guy was weird shit.

"Alright," We stopped in front of a Volkswagon Van [spray painted, no less...] and he tossed in my duffel bag. He really seemed like the hippie-artsy guy, considering the fact his van was packed with art supplies of all sorts. There were a few easels - a few broken and a few not broken - tucked wherever they could fit, cans of spray paint, uncapped and obviously used recently, piles of paper everywhere, boxes of markers, boxes of paints, boxes of colored pencils, boxes of paintbrushes, and endless CDs were scattered everywhere. But the weirdest of all in his car had to be the 3 headless mannequins in the back, patiently waiting for the ride.

"Get in," He smiled. Geez. He smiles too much. I obeyed and opened the passenger door and the immediate smell of coconut suffocated me.

I stared out the window, not really sure what to think of my welcomer. He was different, that was for sure. But he wasn't... creepy or weird. And I suppose you could call him attractive. If you were into hippies and Deadheads. Which I wasn't. "Roxas..." He made my name sound like Handel's Messiah or a Hallelujah chorus.

"Hmm...?" I pulled out my iPod and scrolled through the Artists.

"Nice," He simply stated, not tearing his eyes away from the road. Destiny Islands was definitely small. There was a LONG road that had shops and such on either side, a WalMart at the end of the road, and a boardwalk that lead to the ocean. The sand merged completely with the town, giving that rustic, beach-y, peaceful look. Houses were wherever they could fit; Destiny Islands obviously was relying on tourism to keep them alive. I could tell there would hardly be any residents.

"Nice what?" I glanced and Axel's charming profile.

He shrugged and laughed gently, "Just a nice, sunny day,"

"Right," I raised an eyebrow, expecting more for him to say… Nothing came out of his mouth.

"Axel," He put on his blinker and started down an extension off of the main road.

"What's 'Axel'?"

"That's my name," He laughed, "The name's Axel, commit it to memory," [1]

"Commit it to memory... That's a new one..." I sneered.

"I like to keep things fresh," He shrugged, "So did those hurt?"

"What?"

"Your snakebites..." He touched his skinny finger to his lower lip, right where my two metal studs were placed.

"Nope," I answered flatly. I ran my tongue along both little metal studs and felt an inner calmness rush over me. Those snakebites were my touchstone; the small glimmer of comfort in a shit situation, "Did those hurt?" I pointed to his tattoos and a lonesome black eyebrow piercing.

He laughed, "Nope... Well the eyebrow didn't. But the tattoos were a bit painful,"

"Why'd you get them?"

"Because," He pulled into the driveway of a white, small house with a big porch, "They're like HUGE conversation starters,"

I smirked and rolled up my iPod, "So here we are," Axel proudly escorted me to the porch. The musky salty air was stronger at this house than at the station and I'll admit, it was a refreshing scent compared to the hustle and bustle of the smoggy big city.

All I knew about Rikku was that she was 8 years younger than my dad [making her 25] and she was the favorite child who inherited ALL my grandparents' money. Which explained the cozy house alongside the beach. "Axel?" A very girly, young voice called out.

"Yeah," He kicked piles of skateboards out of the way. Some of them were broken, some weren't, "I'm here,"

"And Roxas?" I heard stirring on the other side of the screen door.

"I'm here," My voice was hoarse and dry. Footsteps approached the door and I saw Rikku for the first time in 8 years. And she looked much better now than ever. When I was growing up, I remember her being chubby and not fairest of the land. But now... She must've ate something new because she was still extremely short, but she was so thin now. Thin as in toned. Plus she used to have brown hair that was now dyed platinum blonde. She wore really short shorts and a pink tank top, while white flip flops thwacked against the hardwood floor.

"Roxy!!" She smiled and gave me a big hug, "You're so tall now!! And so cute!!"

"Thanks... Uhh... Aunt Rikku," Her hair was soft and it was up in a high messy bun, braided strands in the bun, too.

"Please," She laughed, "Just call me Rikku,"

"Alright... Rikku," She flopped on the torn up couch and flicked on the dated TV.

"So how was the trip?" When she settled on an old MMA fight and lounged on the couch, "Good, I hope?"

"It was," I tried to sound friendly, "Long, I guess,"

"I'll bet," She smiled, "How's Spiky? Your hair is exactly as his when he was your age,"

"Good," I rustled my hair then glanced out the large window to see Axel carrying the large mannequins from the car to the porch.

"That's Axel," Rikku explained, "He lives in the basement,"

"Basement?"

"Yeah. His parents kicked him out and I offered him a stay here," She stretched her arms, "He's majoring in Art at the local university. But it's summer, so he's not in school,"

"Why'd he get kicked out?"

She shrugged, "I don't even know. He's such a good kid. I hardly remember he lives in the basement... Quiet, nice, shy... I wonder myself what he did that made his parents want to kaboot his ass out,"

My heart sank. Reminded me of my dad's story. Rikku became fixated on the screen as a man got punched in the face while trying to pin a guy to the ground. Three hours past before Rikku spoke again, "Wow. That was some fight," She checked her watch, "Damn, that's the time? Umm.. I forgot to go grocery shopping, so here's a Twenty," She handed me the money, "There's a restaurant down the street and to the left. Pick me up a Ceaser Salad. Get whatever you want,"

"What?" But before I could get a clear answer, Rikku was leaving the living room. So I just remembered the vague directions and stepped into the dark street. The air was cold and damp from the evening ocean mist and my headphones found their way to my ears. The walk was quick and easy, just up the street and to the left, just as Rikku said. Kingdom Hearts Bar and Grill was flashing overhead, in neon lights.

I stepped inside the empty restaurant to see two guys at the bar counter and a table of men in business suits loudly talking and laughing. "I swear," A tall, skinny guy with sandy blonde hair styled into a mohawk and a mullet was threatening, "If we get less than a 15% tip again, I'm outta here!!"

A shorter guy with almost violet hair that covered half his face remained unmoved, "Whatever you say,"

"I mean it!!" The Mullet guy snapped. He then took pen out of his apron pocket and grabbed a notepad from the shorter guy, then he stormed off to the table with the obnoxious diners.

"Right," The Half-Face hair guy looked at me, "May I help you?"

"Um... Takeout," I removed my headphones and hung them around my neck.

"Here's the menu," He handed me one, "Tell me when you're ready," I nodded in reply and analyzed the menu... Just standard beach food: Hamburgers, chicken strips, fries, onion rings...

"Ready?" The guy stared at me and grabbed his own pen and pad.

"Yeah. Just a hamburger and fries," I remembered Rikku's order, "And a Ceaser Salad,"

"Will that be all?" He scribbled my order on the paper.

"Yep,"

"Alright. Ketchup? Mustard? Mayo?" I nodded to everything except the mayo, "Okay, order up!!" He attached the paper to a clip in a window leading to the kitchen.

Mullet-Guy returned with a scowl on his face, "Unbelievable... A $35.00 tab and a $1.83 tip. Selfish bastards," The men slipped on their coats and filed out the door. The Mullet-Guy continued, "Y'all have a good night,"

A few of the 7 men mumbled, "Yeah, whatever,"

That made him snap, "That's it!!" He took off his black apron and untucked his black polo shirt out of his black skinny jeans, held up by a rainbow belt, "I don't need this shit!! Work hard all day to be disrespected and unappreciated!? Hell fucking no!!"

The shorter guy rolled his eyes and he flipped the page of his book, "You do that,"

"You know what!?" The Mullet-Guy demanded, "I'm done; I quit!!" He balled up his apron and threw it at the shorter guy who caught it with out even looking up.

"That's nice, Demyx," He gently placed the apron on the counter.

Demyx growled, "Watch me," And he headed to the door, "I'm gonna give those pricks a piece of my mind!!"

The shorter guy obviously saw this routine before and he said nothing. I sat at a bar stool and patiently waited for my food. Five minutes later, Demyx came back inside and the short guy smirked, "How'd it go?"

"Bad!! I got everything I wanted to say all ready and then right when I approached them getting into the car... Zoom!! They sped off!!" Demyx calmed down and tied his apron back around his small waist and noticed me, "Have you been helped?"

"Order up!!" Someone called from the window, placing two takeout boxes on the sill. Red hair popped, followed by the infamous eyes, "Hey Roxas, this is for you and Rikku?"

I nodded and Demyx smiled, "Whoa... Whoa... Rikku Striefe? So you're Cloud Strife's kid?" I nodded again and he continued, "I'm Demyx, nice to meet ya!!"

"Roxas," I took his warm palm for a brief second then released it, "You too,"

The shorter kid stared at me intently, "So you're Cloud's kid, huh? So I'm curious... Does that mean you're a homo, too?"

"Zexion," Demyx was in an icy Mom-Voice, "Stop it,"

I didn't care really... I wasn't ashamed of my dad's lifestyle choice. Despite Demyx's scolding, Zexion continued, "So? What's your answer?"

My face froze and Demyx didn't stop warning Zexion, "Just shut up, okay? He doesn't have to answer,"

Gay for me was a very sketchy, messy subject. I guess you could say I was straight... but an incident involving Vodka and Hayner, my best friend, I looked at guys in a whole new light, "Nahh... I suppose I'm bi..."

"Mmm..." Zexion narrowed his eyes, "That's cool. I guess. So how old are you?"

"17," I didn't get out of my chair. I could instantly tell that this was going to be an interview.

"Aww..." Demyx smiled, "He's just a wittle baby!! I remember being 17,"

Axel joined us out in front, since the restaurant was literally empty besides us, "Please Demyx," He nudged Demyx's arm, "That was a year and a half ago," So Demyx was 18 ½. At least he was my age. Except he was taller.

"And you really haven't matured yet," Zexion added.

"Oh shut up. So anyway, Roxas, how long you staying?" Demyx asked, leaning against the bar.

"3 months," I mumbled, hating that I had to remind myself I was trapped here that long, "Sadly,"

"Sadly?!" Axel exclaimed, "Why sadly!? Destiny Islands is full of opportunities and inspiration and wonder and hope!! How is that such a drag, man?"

He was officially the artist, seeing "inspiration" that clearly was nonexistant, "Whatever you say,"

A family with two kids came through the door and waited to be seated. Because there was soo not enough space for them. Demyx looked at Zexion, who laid down the law, "I got this one. Since you quit for the 3rd time this week,"

Demyx got defensive, "They clearly did not tip well enough. It's like common courtesy doesn't exist anymore,"

Zexion rolled his eyes and seated the family. I got up to leave and Axel stopped me real quick, "Wait!! Before you go, I need you to hear me,"

"Okay? What?" I was actually curious to what this... beautiful guy wanted to say.

"Just that you're gonna agree with me by the end of the summer - Opportunities and wonder will overwhelm you; It's truly amazing, you'll agree. And I'm gonna help you get there,"

I stared at him hard, "Why the hell would you do that?"

He smiled and rustled my hair, "Because you need to smile every once in a while,"

A/N: :DD

You like? Hope so~~~ I must shower and watch Bring It On [FTW!!], so review please. God, these small Author Notes are so weird compared to my usual, long~ass notes. Harrumph.

Footnote Time~~~

[1]~ Possibly the gayest thing out of Axel's mouth to date. Yes. Even the whole, "He made me feel like I had a heart" thing not as gay. And does he say it in the English versions? I think in KH: CoM... But I haven't played it in a LONG ASS TIME.

So REVIEW PLEASE!!!!one!!!!!1!!

Later Taters~~~

Sammm ((:

Oh, and to all new readers, HALLO!! ~~~ I am a girl. I felt it necessary to let you know. :33