A/N: My response to my own challenge. Also my gift to my beta - A Spot of Bother, and to ChaosHarbor

"Zexion…" The name floated across the room and the boy looked up from his homework. Glancing at the hesitating boy lingering in his doorway, he moved his mountainous pile of homework, clearing a spot for the blonde to sit. Settling down, Demyx flashed a grin before turning to his own work. Watching from the corner of his eyes, Zexion couldn't help but let a slow smile cross his face.

They continued working in silence, but before long Demyx couldn't help but let out the music that thrived through his body. He was soon tapping his fingers on the desk as he continued to read his assignments. What could he say, it helped him concentrate, but it was annoying Zexion.

"Demyx, tell me something." Demyx turned to his friend, surprised that it was Zexion who broke the silence for a change.

"Yeah?" he asked, eyes wide.

"Is it possible for you to sit still for more than a minute at a time?" Demyx let loose his contagious grin.

"Nope." Zexion rolled his eyes.

"Yay for me."

"Now you have to answer my three questions." Zexion raised an eyebrow.

"Why three? I only asked you one." Demyx huffed, brushing his bangs out of his face.

"Will you just cooperate?" Seeing the look of acquiescence on Zexion's face, Demyx continued. "Alright, first question: Do you like me?"

"What kind of question is that?" Zexion shouted. Demyx shook his head.

"Answer it." Zexion sighed.

"I guess one could consider us friends…" he let out slowly. Demyx shook his head again.

"That wasn't the question." Zexion sighed his frustration.

"Fine, yes, I like you. Happy now?" Demyx just grinned and Zexion knew he wasn't going to like where this was heading.

"Next question: Do you lust me?" Zexion choked on the sip of water he took.

"Excuse me?" Demyx merely rolled his eyes.

"Man, you suck at this." he replied, thumping Zexion on the back.

"No, I do not lust you." Zexion coughed out.

"Alright," Demyx said, packing up his finished homework. Zexion eyed the taller man carefully.

"Didn't you have three questions?" Demyx grinned again.

"I don't think you're quite ready for the third question yet," he replied easily, gathering his books and heading for the door. "See you in class tomorrow." Zexion stared at the space the sitarist had just been occupying.

"What the hell just happened?"


Swim class. The one class Demyx passed without any effort. The one class that Zexion hated with a passion. At least he could entertain himself by watching Demyx swim. Wait a minute! Where did that come from? Shit he was losing his mind.

"Zexion, come on!" Demyx's shout brought him back from his thoughts. Muttering death threats under his breath, Zexion lowered himself into the pool, cringing at the temperature.

"Why did I let you talk me into this?" Demyx laughed.

"Because I gave you the puppy dog pout. Plus, you had an extra class to fill and you know you wanted to spend it with me." Zexion rolled his eyes.

"As if. I could have spent it in a nice, warm classroom where it's nice and dry. And besides, why would I want to spend more time with you? I swear you're stalking me."

"Why Zexion, however did you figure that out?" the swimmer asked sarcastically.

"Oh, it really wasn't that hard. You suck at stalking people. You see, you have this habit of not being able to keep your mouth shut." Demyx began to reply but the coach interrupted with a tweet of his whistle and the entire class began laps.

Afterwards Zexion climbed out of the pool, but Demyx continued swimming, a sure sign that he'd be there for the rest of the afternoon. Sighing to himself, Zexion dried himself off, eyes never leaving the form of the swimmer. Shit, he really was losing his mind.


"Why do you insist on playing this stupid game? You suck at it." Zexion sighed, slapping the double jacks and picking up the pile of cards, adding them to his already humongous pile.

"Not everyone plays to win, Zexion," Demyx replied. "I like Egyptian Ratscrew and I like playing it with you. That's enough incentive for me to play." Zexion sighed, pushing his bangs aside, trying to ignore the pounding in his heart. You're not gay, you're not gay, you're not gay! his brain screamed.

"Whatever, man." He sighed again, ignoring Demyx's stare. "So…are you going to the dance?" he asked, quickly trying to distract Demyx from his task of turning him beet red.

"Nah," Demyx sighed, leaning back onto his elbows. Zexion raised an eyebrow.

"No? But I thought that you'd want to be the socialite and dance with everyone there at least once," he teased, but he sobered, noticing the way the Demyx shifted uncomfortably. "So why not?" he asked, tone serious. Demyx let out a laugh and Zexion winced at how forced it sounded.

"Ah…let's just say…um…no, don't worry about it. I just don't feel up to going." He sighed again and Zexion was getting pissed about being lied to.

"Demyx, what's the matter?" The boy shook his head.

"Don't worry about it," he responded. "Do you like me?" he asked, interrupting Zexion's retort. Zexion eyed his friend, concerned about his sudden shift in mood.

"Yes, I like you, Demyx. I already told you that." Demyx looked out the window.

"I know you did, just humor me, ok?" Zexion nodded.

"Alright."

"Do you lust me?" he whispered, keeping his gaze trained out the window. Zexion sucked in a breath of air, holding it as he considered the question. Now was not the time for jokes. Letting it out, he considered the emotions he'd been feeling for his friend.

"Yeah," he whispered. "Yeah, I do." Demyx smiled softly, but his eyes remained sad.

"But you don't love me." It was statement, one Zexion chose not to confirm. Demyx sighed. On impulse, Zexion leaned over and kissed his friend softly. Pulling back in shock, Demyx stared. Seeing the look on Zexion's face, he smiled before kissing him back. "Good enough for now," he murmured, but Zexion didn't hear him.


Waking up, Zexion rolled over to where Demyx had been sleeping, but he wasn't there. Instead, on the pillow was a note, scrawled in the sitarist's messy handwriting.

Zexion, I thought lust would be enough, but I can't do this. I love you.

Cursing himself under his breath, Zexion rolled out of bed and dressed. Locking the door before he left, he once again kicked himself mentally. He should have just told him the truth to begin with.

Searching throughout the school, Zexion was at a loss. No matter where he looked it seemed as if he had just missed Demyx. He knew that it was his fault, yet he couldn't help but be pissed at how childish the sitarist was acting. Just as he was about to give up, he spotted him. He was completely at ease, discussing one thing or another with Axel and Roxas. Laughing at something Axel had said, Demyx caught sight of Zexion as he stalked towards him. Excusing himself, Demyx all but flew around the corner, trying to escape, but luck wasn't on his side as Zexion ran after him.

"Should we be concerned about this?" Axel asked, watching with a bemused expression as Zexion flew after Demyx. Roxas just sighed, shaking his head.

"Nah, they need to work it out themselves." Axel nodded his agreement.

"That's good, 'cause I'm hungry," he said, walking towards the cafeteria. Roxas rolled his eyes as he followed.

"And once again, Axel's stomach takes precedence over the happenings of this fine collegial establishment."

"Demyx, stop it!" Zexion shouted. He had him cornered in some random room, but the flighty boy had hidden. Zexion shut the door, locking it behind him. "Demyx, this is stupid! You're running out of places to hide from me." No answer came back and scanning the room, Zexion saw why. The sneaky brat had crawled into the venting system. God only knew where he was now. Sighing, Zexion leaned against the door. He was getting decidedly pissed that fate was toying with him. Unlocking the door, Zexion headed back to his dorm.


Demyx mentally kicked himself for being such a coward. Obviously Zexion wanted to talk to him about something, but Demyx had made it his goal to avoid him, preferably for the rest of his life, but the rest of the day would work for now. Still, something was nagging at the back of his head and Demyx felt as if he owed it to Zexion to at least listen to what he had to say. Sighing heavily, he just couldn't find it in him to move.

"Hey Demyx." The voice was quite, yet it held a tone of authority under it.

"Hey Roxas," he replied, not bothering to look up.

"Want to talk about it?" the blonde asked, sitting next to the sitarist.

"I thought I could deal with just lust, but it didn't work. I don't want to be with him if he can't love me." Roxas smiled, seeming to know what Demyx was suddenly rambling on about. "Is that selfish of me? God, it is! Why should it matter why he wants me as long as he does, right?" Roxas shook his head.

"Demyx, enough. I think before anything else happens you should go talk to Zexion." The sitarist shook his head sadly.

"I can't," he whispered. Roxas raised an eyebrow. "I'm too much of a coward. I mean…I just left him. He was sleeping, I wrote a note and I left. He must be so mad." Roxas sighed, getting agitated.

"Well, obviously there's something important he wants to say to you. Considering he chased you around the school the entire day. If he just wanted to yell at you, he would have given up already." Demyx started to whine, but Roxas cut him off with a threat. "Demyx, if I hear one more excuse as to why you shouldn't talk to Zexion, I'm going to get Axel and lock you in a room together because you're both driving me crazy." Demyx's eyes got wide and he nodded his understanding, suddenly feeling a compelling urge to go find Zexion.

Watching him leave, Axel put an arm on Roxas' shoulder.

"Why do you always use me as a threat?" Roxas smiled up at the redhead.

"Because it always works?" Axel smiled back

"Good point."


Sighing in frustration, Zexion paced the floor in his room. This wasn't working. He didn't know where Demyx was and he couldn't sleep. He knew that the former was the cause of the latter, but… Letting out a groan, Zexion wrenched the door open, fully intent on finding Demyx. Yet, not knowing where to start, he headed for the school gardens.

Stupid roses…he thought, maliciously. Stupid hyacinths… He felt like taking a clipper to everything, until it looked like he felt. Sighing again, he headed toward the small pond that the school had put in last year. I hate that, too… Stopping in his tracks, he tried not to get his hopes up, and yet they still soared. A small form was huddled next to the pond's edge, and as he silently drew closer, the form began to look more and more like Demyx.

"Do you like me?" he asked softly, leaning against a nearby tree. He watched as Demyx stiffened before forcibly relaxing. He turned, meeting Zexion's gaze.

"Yeah…" he whispered. Zexion nodded.

"Do you lust me?" A smile formed on Demyx's lips.

"Yes." Another whisper, softer than last time. Those were the two questions. Zexion took a guess at what the third question was.

"Do you love me?" Demyx turned his head, his face hidden.

"Yeah…" It was so soft; Zexion thought he had missed it at first. "But you don't love me…" he continued, standing and facing Zexion. Zexion smiled ruefully.

"In all fairness, I don't believe you asked me." Demyx's eyes widened in shock.

"Wha-" he stammered. Zexion's smile held as he advanced.

"You said," he whispered, drawing closer, "that you had three questions for me." He was now standing directly in front of Demyx, grabbing his shirt to hold him in place. "You asked me two of them before telling me I wasn't ready to hear the third. You were right, I probably wasn't. But before you go accusing me of not loving you, shouldn't you, for the sake of fairness, ask me before jumping to conclusions?" he finished, raising an eyebrow.

"I- um…" Demyx stammered, averting his eyes.

"Well?" Zexion asked, impatient. Demyx drew in his breath quickly before blowing it out.

"Do you like me?" Zexion smiled.

"Yes." Demyx dropped his head, staring at the ground.

"Do you lust me?" Zexion's smile widened.

"Yes." Drawing his gaze back up, Demyx stared straight at Zexion, before asking quietly,

"Do you love me?" Zexion's expression softened.

"Yeah…" he whispered, brushing his lips against Demyx's. "Yeah I do."