1. Behind Closed Gates

"Why am I doing this?"

"Come on, Naminé. You're going to have to meet them eventually."

I roll my eyes and continue to stare out the car window. She just couldn't get it in her head that I didn't want to meet – Wait. "Them"?

"'Them'?" I look at my mother accusingly. "I thought you were just introducing me to your boyfriend…" She kept her eyes on the road, but squeezed her lips together and shrugged her shoulders nervously. "What, don't tell me there's two?"

"No, no, nothing like that…" She scoffed. "It's just my boyfriend, Leon, who I've told you about… And his son, Roxas."

"Son?"

She paused. "Yes… son."

I leaned back in the passenger seat, playing with my shoulder-length, blonde hair. "Why am I just now hearing about this 'son'?"

"Well, he's not actually Leon's son. He adopted Roxas a couple weeks ago."

That seemed a little random. "Why?"

"It's… complicated, Naminé."

"So you don't know?"

"No, it's just... Roxas's been through a lot. Leon found him on the streets."

My head shot in my mother's direction. The streets?

"Wait, how old is this kid?"

"About fifteen, a year older than you."

"Why was he on the streets? What, did he run away or something?"

"Something like that. You'll just have to ask Leon when we get to there."

I leaned back in my seat, turning to look out the window as the residential houses soon turned into commercial shops and restaurants. My mom met Leon about four months ago. Before that, it had been just me and her for three years. Why do I suddenly have the feeling that things were about to change?

"Naminé, this is Leon."

The man before me looked nothing like I had expected. As opposed to the sketchy, vile-looking man I pictured when mom mentioned "new boyfriend", Leon was clean-cut and… handsome. The most surprising aspect, however, was that he actually looked likable. He was really tall (but that might have just been comparative to my 5'4'' height) with long, dark-brown, spiky hair. I noticed a thin scar that cut across his face from his mid-forehead to his left cheek. He smiled at me and held out his hand, shaking mine firmly when I offered it to him.

"Nice to meet you, Naminé. Your mother's told me a lot about you."

I smiled honestly, trying hard to diminish the awkward air that hung around us. "Nice to meet you too."

We were in a coffee shop in Healen, an area downtown with tall buildings and high-class restaurants. Leon apparently owned the store, which I found surprising as I looked around at expensive decorations and architecture. Well, at least we knew he wasn't mooching off my mom's money.

I eyed the set of table and chairs that Leon had stood up from to greet us, where a young boy was seated, listening to his iPod. His arms were crossed and his hood was up, but I could still make out the blonde bangs that were shading his eyes while his head faced downward. He was slouched far down in his chair, with his feet stretched out underneath the small, round table.

Leon turned towards the boy, gesturing towards my mom and I as if he was paying attention. "Roxas, you gonna introduce yourself?"

Roxas made no movement, and Leon dropped his arm in aggravation, calling out more sternly, "Roxas."

"What?" The boy snapped, pulling his hood off and looking up with an angry expression on his face.

But then his eyes met mine, and they widened. He suddenly looked surprised and... confused. We stared at each other for a few seconds, allowing me to take in his sandy blond spikes, tan skin, pouty mouth, and light-colored eyes.

"Roxas, this is my girlfriend, Aerith, and her daughter, Naminé," Again, Leon gestured to us.

"Hi," He muttered, and I noticed his voice, though laced with irritation and anger, was naturally soft. But that was all we got out of him before his hood was back up, his arms were crossed, and his head was down again.

Leon sighed, turning to us. "So. What can I get you guys to drink?"

Two years later

"Touch my radio again and you die."

"Then turn it down!"

"No."

"Yes!"

"No – Hey!"

I reached over with my other hand – the one that didn't have my wrist clasped in his hand from my previous attempts – and turned the volume of his car radio down to a considerable volume.

"What did I just say?"

"You're not the boss of me!"

"It's my car!"

"Well, I'm trying to read!"

"Does it look like I care?"

"Would you let go of me?"

"Why should I?"

I groaned, throwing myself back in the passenger seat. We had been going at this since we got in the car. Every time I'd try to turn the volume of his music down, he'd turn it back up with the controls on his steering wheel. "You're relentless."

"Yeah, well you're annoying."

He dropped my hand and reached over to turn the volume dial until The Black Keys were blasting through the car again. I slammed Jane Eyre shut and threw it on the floorboard, crossing my arms and looking out the window.

It's been a month since Leon and my mom got married. After their honeymoon, they decided to move into a bigger house (we had been living with Leon, with Roxas and I sharing a room. That was quite the experience). Now, we were on our way to the new house with Leon and my mom in the moving truck in front of us, while I was stuck with Roxas in his '69 Camaro. He was seventeen now, while I was sixteen. My hair was longer and my boobs were bigger (not by much though...), and he was now six foot with a body to kill – but not a thing has changed between us. He was still a quiet, brooding loner who hated everything, and I still knew nothing about him.

Except his past. When I finally got around to asking Leon about Roxas, about a few weeks after I met them, I learned why Roxas was the way he was.

When Roxas was eight, his mom died of cancer. Leon never specified what kind. Six years later, his dad shot himself. Leon said he found Roxas getting jumped in an alley, not far from the coffee shop. I could tell that there was a part of Roxas's back story that he was leaving out, but I chose not to ask. When I asked him why he adopted Roxas, he just replied, "Sometimes, there are things in life you just do."

And that's how we got here. The only other facts I learned about Roxas in the two years that I'd known his were that his eyes were dark blue, and that he loved music.

My eyes grew wide when I realized the type of neighborhood we were in. Trees surrounded either side of the road we were on. In between them were cobblestone driveways blocked off behind intricate iron gates. Each long driveway we passed led to a house that was at least three times the size off our old house. Part of me questioned whether or not a family like ours belonged behind a tall, iron gate.

We arrived at the new house in silence (well, apart from the music blaring through the car). We stopped while Leon punched in the gate code, then made our way down the long, cobblestone driveway when the black, iron gates opened. The house was bent around the end of the driveway, making a small courtyard in front of the front door and garage. Roxas pulled up next to the giant moving truck my mom and Leon were currently hopping out of. I looked out my window at the large entryway that held a dark, intricately designed front door.

I stepped out of the car and looked up at the large house. It was bigger than our old house, and much bigger than Leon's flat in the city. Tall pine trees of a variety of shades of green surrounded the house, some even taller than the second story of the house. I counted at least four chimneys sticking out of the tall, pointed, multi-layered roof. The second story wrapped around the entire house, creating two sections above the main house and garage.

Leon unlocked the front door while my mom came around to Roxas and I.

"So," She smiled at us. "How was the drive?"

Roxas said nothing and walked into the house behind Leon.

My mom smiled sympathetically at me. I just shrugged, following the guys inside.

I was met with a curved staircase and an old, crystal chandelier hanging above me on the high ceiling. The four of us stood there, looking around. Leon let out a low whistle.

"Pretty cool, huh?" He says as he wraps and arm around my mom's waist.

She looks up at the crystal chandelier. "I'll say."

"Why don't you two go check out the house before we unload? The realtors said this place has got a lot of nooks and passageways."

I nodded, and made my way up the stairs, realizing that Roxas was already ascending them. Right up the stairs was a loft, with a high ceiling and a large, glass window the overlooked the backyard. From it I could see a lake, and a small dock coming off the freshly-cut grass of our yard that led to it. At least I knew where I'd be spending most of my time reading.

But just as my optimistic thoughts about living in a new house appeared, I heard a door slam down the hall that Roxas had walked down.

And with it, all of my optimism faded.

typewrite: Here's the first chapter of my first multi-chapter story! It's a little short, I know, but the others will be way longer. I promise. If you have any questions, comments, suggestions, ect., feel free to let me know.

Please review. I love hearing what people have to say about my stories.

It's rated T due to language (mostly spoken by Roxas) and violence. I probably won't be too descriptive with the violence though. There's also some sensitive material regarding Roxas's past, which you'll learn more about later on.

The song inspiration for the story is "Learning To Breathe" by Switchfoot.

Thanks for reading!