Hey everyone, I'm so so so sorry for not updating in like forever and a day, especially with the cliffhanger in the last part. Yes, I am a slacker. :( Well, I finally have this chapter up and I hope you enjoy it. There's kind of a lot of dialogue in here, which bothers me, but it needed to be done. R&R please! Now for our buddy Dem-Dem with the disclaimer.
Demyx: I missed you guys!
Stardust: I'm sure they missed you too Demy. We all love you. :)
Demyx: Yay I'm loved! ^-^
Stardust: I will love you more if you said the disclaimer so that I don't get sued!
Demyx: Okay! Stardust Roses does not own Kingdom Hearts, but she does own a copy of the game!
Thank you for reading.
Demyx couldn't say a word. He looked into her deep blue eye, completely paralyzed with the exception of his mouth, which moved without his consent. He was absolutely sure he appeared like a complete idiot to Zexion . . . who, as it turns out, hadn't even glanced his way. He blinked rapidly, after all, he was still quite surprised that Zexion had actually come over here. She held out the hand that wasn't holding her book to Axel and dropped a red lighter into his palm. "You dropped this." she said.
Axel thanked her, and then she left without another word or a glance in their direction.
"Mm, that's a weird one. Glad we're through." he said without looking up from his slice of pizza.
Demyx looked at Axel in disbelief. "You dated Zexion?"
The red stared into space, green eyes wandering without fixating on single spot, as if dating Zexion Ienzo was no big deal. "Yep."
"What was it like?"
A smirked passed Axel's lips, and Demyx was completely sure that something dirty had shot through Axel's mind. "To put it simply, Zexion was just not my type, although he was pretty good in bed."
There was no way possible that Demyx could stop the pale pink blush that spread across his cheeks. He could only imagine her small body lying next to his, so warm, so soft. Half of her face would be hidden by her over-long cascade of bangs, and she would look up into his eyes as he held her tightly in his arms . . . What an absolutely wonderful fantasy . . .
"Demyx,"
"Hm?" He blinked several times and noticed that the eyes of all his friends were directed at him. "What is it guys? Something in my teeth?"
Sora chuckled and leaned back in his chair. "Someone has a crush."
"Do not Sora!" The brunette laughed again and rolled his eyes. His twin smiled, happy that Demyx could possibly soon be in a relationship.
"I think you do. But you might get backaches from leaning down so much." Demyx gave him a questioning glance. "You know, 'cause Zexion's so short?"
This remark caused an eruption of laughter from the three surrounding him.
"Well, height isn't really a problem for me . . ."
"It will be after you find out just how short Zex is."
Axel still wore that goofy smirk, his arms folded over his chest as the twins continued to make jokes about the rather short Zexion Ienzo. He knew most of what was going on, that Demyx had a crush on Zexion, and he was becoming pretty pissed off with the twins' jokes. He watched as the blonde's eyebrows scrunched together, and that innocent, slightly round face sunk into a glare.
"She is not short, she is beautiful and perfect in every way!" Demyx slung his bookbag over his shoulder and rushed out of the pizzeria.
. . . After Demyx was out of earshot. . .
"Did he just call Zexion a girl?"
XXX
Zexion sat quietly in the farthest corner of the room, immersing himself in the wonderful work of Stephanie Meyer's The Host and occasionally nibbling a slice of pepperoni pizza. This old pizzeria was one of his favorite places to read. He loved the smell of the baking pizza, and no one bothered him while he read. There also weren't many people that actually ate inside a restaurant these days. Most people ordered deliveries to their homes, which made everything all the quieter. There was the familiar sound of the closing oven, followed by someone turning on a faucet, and the hustle of the workers in the back. He had grown to know every sound and smell in this place, and he especially loved how surprisingly peaceful the place could be. A happy, breathy sigh escaped his lips as he continued to read. He looked up when he heard an unexpected jingle of the bell on the door. Axel Lea, and his very loud group of friends. Especially that Sora Yanahara. He sighed. This could make reading a lot harder, especially with that Edym kid constantly looking over at him.
Not that he actually minded the guy's glances. It just made him want to look back, and that would cost him valuable reading time.
On occasion his own eyes flickered over to the table of four, or to be more exact, a sandy-haired young man. For some reason this man piqued his interest. It was the way he just floated on through life, being spontaneous, just enjoying what there was and living in the moment. From his observations he could also tell that the sandy blonde was quite silly as well, often joking around with his friends and making so many people smile. Zexion found him rather interesting for whatever reason it may be.
He neatly placed a paper bookmark between the pages and closed the book. He tucked the book under his arm, grabbing the empty soda can and plate with his now free hands and walked to the garbage can at the entrance of the pizzeria. As he took a final sip of soda before throwing away the can, he noticed a red rectangular object by his foot. Upon closer inspection he recognized it as a red lighter with the name 'Axel' written in Sharpie on one side. Great he had to actually talk to his ex-boyfriend. He sighed, might as well get it over with.
Sora noticed him coming and immediately busied himself with stuffing his mouth full of pizza. Axel, noticing the brunette's behavior, looked up and caught Zexion's eye. Demyx looked over as soon as he approached and looked up, right into his eye. Zexion, however, pretended not to notice the wide aquamarine eyes staring into his own, but merely handed Axel the lighter, saying "You dropped this" and leaving as quickly as his legs would allow. He heard Demyx stuttering from behind him, but ignored this and left through the open door.
The air outside was comfortably warm, but the humidity had become unbearable from this morning, and he peeled off the hoodie he had originally worn. He walked down the maze of alleyways throughout the small town, not wanting to go home just yet, but wishing to find another place to read. He emerged from one alleyway to one of the back roads that would lead to a vast, grassy field of varying grasses and weeds and wildflowers. There was a tree, if he recalled correctly, in the center of the field. That would be a nice quiet place to read . . .
He found the tree he was looking for, right smackdab in the middle of the field, and was about to scurry up to the higher branches where he had a lovely view of the field and small town in the distance, and could read quietly without being disturbed when he heard a whimper. Ugh. Great. Someone was already here disturbing the peace. "Who's there?" he called out quite coldly, hoping to scare off anyone who was lingering in his tree. Again he heard the whimper, but louder this time, and he followed the sound to the other side of the thick trunk where he found that Edym kid hunched over and . . . crying?
Part of him wanted to yell at him to the guy to shut up and leave, but the other part of Zexion, the part filled to the brim with curiosity about him, wanted to ask what was wrong. The intrigued side won. Before he even registered what he was doing, he was sitting beside the sandy-haired boy and waiting for his sobs to let up a bit.
"So, who screwed you over?"
Demyx didn't answer immediately. He waited a few moments before speaking up. "My friends."
Zexion clicked his tongue. "Some friends. What did they do anyway?"
"They were making fun of the person I like."
Again, the slate-haired boy found himself split into the cold and curious sides. The cold wanting to say "suck it up," the curious wanting to know who. He was also wondering if Demyx knew who he was talking to, or if he was even aware that he was talking to a complete stranger.
"Well, who do you like?"
Demyx took a long breath. "Zexion Ienzo."
What? What the hell? He likes me? He pulled back, feeling rather surprised to have heard his own name. Well I guess it really was quite obvious that Demyx felt something toward him, what with all the not-so-secret glances in class, or the purposeful bumps in the hallway. Had he just been so involved in his own little world that he hadn't noticed Demyx coming on to him?
"Demyx," he said, "turn around."
XXX
His incredible aquamarine eyes, puffy and red from crying, widened at seeing Zexion. The kind stranger he had been speaking with had been her? Oh dear God, what was he going to do? His heartbeat picked up to the point where he felt as if it were going to burst from his chest. He could feel his hands becoming clammy with sweat, but he couldn't move. He was paralyzed by her, swimming in the pool of her blue eye, and he was drowning.
"U-u-u-um, er, u-uh,"He began stuttering. Not a good sign. He needed to get away. Fast.
The shorter of the two rolled his eyes at the blonde's rapid stuttering. In a way, it was kind of cute the way he was falling over his own words, but there was that other side, the part of him that was bothered by that incompetent mess of broken words that slipped from his nervous lips. "Will you stop that?"
Demyx instantly quieted, his bottom lip puckered out slightly. "Sorry," he mumbled.
Zexion sighed. "It's fine." He pinched the bridge of his nose between his fingers. "Just don't let your so-called friends judge you or who your affections are directed towards."
The young musician lost focus after Zexion said "just." The way she pinched the bridge of her nose like that was positively adorable! She was so cute, sitting beside him with her legs spread out and one hand on her knee. Her eyes were closed and she continued to speak, but Demyx couldn't hear a word. He was too lost in her . . .
"Hey, are you listening?" asked Zexion, voice tinged with an irritated tone.
"What? Yeah, sorry." Demyx dropped his gaze to his blue Converse feeling rather flustered after being caught staring mindlessly at her.
"Yeah, then what did I just say?"
Man, this was like English class all over again, only the answer wasn't Straps-Upon-Avian, and Axel wasn't here to rescue him.
The "girl" sighed, much to Demyx's concern. Was he pissing her off? Was this conversation headed toward disaster?
"I said, don't let others judge you. You know who you are."
He perked up and listened carefully this time, hoping that he would piss her off any further. "Thanks." he said with one if his sweetly crooked Demyx smiles.
"Now," Zexion stood up and brushed off her jeans. "If you don't mind I would like to read in silence in this tree."
He also stood up and thanked her again for the kind words. He turned on his heel and pushed his way through the leaves of the low branches, part of him screaming to go back and ask her on a date, but he couldn't manage to muster up the courage. Something inside kept telling him that she would say no, that she wasn't interested, but still a flicker of hope remained within his heart. Alright, he thought to himself, I'm going to ask her. But it was too late. The short girl had already scrambled up the tree to one of the higher branches, and he was already standing in the open field of grasses and flowers.
Look at you, always missing your chances.
Hey, he argued inside his head, that's not very nice!
But it's true. Look, there she is sitting in those high branches.
Fine, I'll admit, I did miss this one. But I will go on a date with her!
Poor Demy! Maybe he'll get a little something in the next chapter. ;)
Bye bye!
