WARNINGS: This chapter contains; violence, language and sexual refrences

Hope's face light up bright red. The woman walked towards him slowly. Her boobs bounced slightly as she walked to right in front of him. She looked down at him, caressing his chin and tilting it up to look at her. A small smirk appeared on her lips. Hope gulped and looked at her, probably turning even more red. Then she leaned down slowly and kissed him softly. Her lips were incredibly soft. The way they felt against his were amazing. He wanted more, but she pulled away and stood all the way up.

Her body was beautiful. Her boobs were completely visible through her tank top. The small nipples were hard, poking her shirt out some. Her naval ring was visible as well, making it all the more sexy. The tight shorts outlined her waist wonderfully. She had a perfect toned body.

"Hope. I want you."

"Hope.. Hope." The boy opened his eyes and almost screamed. Hovering over him was Lightning. "You okay? You were making some weird noises." She stood up, still looking at him.

"Yeah.." His voice was somewhat shaky. "Just a bad dream. Sorry to worry you."

She made a small hum then went and sat down by the table. Her laptop was opened and she went back to what she was doing. Hope sat up and rubbed his face. He pushed the blankets off him. Immediately after doing so he knew it was a mistake. His boner was sticking straight up in his boxers. He quickly pulled the blankets over his waist and could feel his cheeks turn red.

Lightning was still buried deep in whatever she was doing. 'Okay Hope. Just get to the bathroom.' He took a deep breath and got out of bed, walking quickly to the bathroom. He sighed happily when he made it unnoticed. Hope quickly turned on the shower then pulled his underwear off, getting into the warm water.

'This is horrible. What kind of person have I become?' Even though his roommate was in the other room, he had to get rid of his now painful erection. He quickly fixed his problem, trying not to think about anything put how good it felt. After he finished washing his hair and body, he wrapped a towel around himself and walked out of the bathroom. He checked the time on his way to his dresser. It was only 11.

The silver haired boy got dressed and got himself ready for the rest of the day. Thankfully, Lightning was too busy in what she was doing to really pay attention to him. Once it was 11:45, he said goodbye to her and left for class.

Most of the day was a blur to him. He constantly tried to keep his mind off the pink haired woman, fearing her would get lost in his thoughts and get another embarrassing erection. Before he knew it, it was already time for soccer practice. He met up with Noel in the locker room.

"Hey." The brunette said as he was pulling shirt on.

"Hey."

"How was your morning alone with Light?"

Hope tried not to think about his dream. "It was fine. I got up a little late so we didn't talk much. But we talked last night when she got home."

"Ah. Did you make a move yet?" Noel snickered softly and pulled on his shorts.

"Don't be ridiculous Noel. It hasn't even been a week." He felt his face heat up.

"But you've thought about it haven't you? I know you more than you think Hope."

He sighed and finished getting dressed. "I had a dream about her.. nothing happened.. we just kissed but.. she was practically naked."

Before he could finish he heard the coach yelling for them to get out on the field. "Tell me after practice." Noel said as they walked out together.

Practice went as it normally did. Snow was a dick and hogged the ball the whole time, claiming he was the team's "Hero". Noel yelled at the blonde at least ten times and Hope just tried to concentrate on the practice. By the time it was over, the two boys were sweaty and tired. They grabbed their bags and put them on their shoulders and began walking back to the dorm.

"So tell me the rest of that dream." Noel said as soon as they were away from everyone.

"Well.. I was sitting at my desk, on my computer when she came in. She was wearing a see-through pink tank top.. without a bra on, and black spandex."

"Damn. That's sexy."

Hope nodded then continued. "She walked over to me, leaned down and kissed me. It felt so good, even though I knew it wasn't real. But she pulled away soon after. Then she said.. I want you Hope. And that was all."

"God damn Hope. Why can't I have those kinds of dreams?"

"Trust me. It was more embarrassing when Light woke me up asking if I was okay cause I was making weird noises."

Noel looked at him then burst out laughing. "Oh shit! Did you have a boner?"

"Of course. Wouldn't you?"
He nodded then caught his breath. "Absolutely. Did she notice?"

Hope shrugged. "I don't think so. I surely hope she didn't."

"Okay Hope. So you obviously have some kind of feelings for her, even if it is just sexual. I have an idea, there's a party this Friday and everyone's gonna be there. So I think you should ask Light to go and try to make a move on her."

The silver haired boy thought in silence as they walked into the dorm building. 'Could I really do something like that? I'm not really that kind of person. But then again.. I haven't had thoughts like this in a while.' Once they reached their hallway, he made up his mind.

"Okay. I'll give it a try."

Noel smirked and leaned against the wall next to their door while Hope retrieved the keys. He opened the door and looked around. There was something wrong, he could feel it. Lightning's bags were scattered throughout the room. The light pink bag was dumped out and left in the middle of the room. Hope dropped his back and looked around the room more.

"Fuck, where's Light?" Noel asked as he too put his bag down.

"I don't know."

They both looked at the mess on the floor. Clothes were everywhere. Oddly enough, only the pink haired girls things were all over. Noel sighed and ran his hand through his hair. Hope continued to go around, seeing if anything of his was missing. When he got to the kitchen he heard a soft sound. He furrowed his brow and turned in the direction of the noise. He walked slowly over to the bathroom and leaned against the door. He heard water running. Hope stepped back some and put his hand on the doorknob. Taking a deep breath, he pushed the door open.

The shower was on and the room was steamy. He waved his hand in front of him to try and see better. Sitting on the floor of the shower was Lightning. Her head was leaned back against the wall and her eyes were closed. Hope walked closer to her. She was naked, revealing the cuts on her body.

"Light!"

The boy rushed over to the shower and turned off the water. He leaned down and grabbed her wrist, making sure a pulse was still there. He looked at her and shook her shoulder.

"Lightning.."

This time, she opened her eyes slightly and looked at him. "Hope.."

"Hold on Light." He turned his head to face the door. "Noel!"

The boy came running in and looked at them. "Oh shit.."

"I need you to grab my med kit under the sink."

Noel nodded and did so, handing it to Hope. He opened it up and grabbed a white cloth. He wrapped it around the cut on her arm that was still bleeding badly. After making sure it was tight enough, he moved on to washing the small cuts with a bit of saline. He put bandaids on them after and handed Noel the medical kit.

"Help me get her out to the bed."

Together, Noel and Hope picked up the pink haired girl and carried her out to Hope's bed. She didn't say a word during it. Only a small hiss came out of her mouth when they picked her up. Hope sat her up against the pillows and covered her shaking body with a blanket. He sat down in front of her and sent Noel to get a glass of water. Once he was gone, Hope leaned up and pushed her damp bangs out of her face.

"I'm gonna get a shower. Are you gonna be okay with her?" Noel said as he came back with the water.

Hope nodded and thanked him. "Light.. Drink some water."

She opened her eyes and gently grabbed the water, putting the edge of the cup to her lips and taking a small sip. He watched her, his eyes filled with sadness. 'Who would do something like this?'

"What happened?"

"Nothing. Just fell in the shower." She sat up more, cringing and set the glass on the nightstand.

"You think I'd believe that?"

"Right. Forgot you're number one here. Either way, it's none of your business."

"Are you serious? We come home to find you naked, cut, bruised, and all of your things scattered around the room?" He moved his hand out to the side, pointing at the mess.

"Fuck." She mumbled and looked over at her things. Lightning sat up more and tried to swing her legs off the bed, but was stopped by Hope. She turned and looked at him. "I need to go clean it up."

"No. You're not going anywhere. You can clean it up later. You need to tell me what happened."

Lightning looked into Hope's eyes. They were the most sincere thing she's ever seen. He watched her sigh and leaned back to the position she was in. She pulled the blanket up over her again and cringed when she put her arm down.

"I'm trying to make money."

Her voice was quiet and her eyes averted away from the silver haired boy. "Trying to make money?" He took a second and widened his eyes. "Light... are you.. selling yourself for money?"

She scoffed. "Think i'm that low? I'm selling drugs."

"Drugs! What if you get caught! You'll be expelled and in jail!"

The pink haired girl sharply turned her head and looked at the boy. Her bangs fell in her face. "You think I don't know that? I don't care about the consequences. I need to do this."

"What could be so bad that you need to do that?"

"My sister. She's sick. I need to make the money for her."

Hope blinked and relaxed some. "Serah's sick? She was fine in class-"

"She has cancer okay?" Lightning interrupted him, and averted her eyes gain.

There was a dead silence between the two. It was broken by Noel walking out the bathroom. He smiled softly at them and walked over to his dresser. Sensing that the two were talking about something, he got dressed quickly then walked over to them. He sat on the edge of the bed.

"You okay Light?" She simply nodded and smiled softly at him. "I'd love to stay and make sure you're really okay, but I have a class." He stood up and brushed his hair out of his face. "Hope''ll take good care of you." He patted the silver haired boy on the back and grabbed his school bag, then walked out.

They sat in silence for a few minutes before Hope spoke again. "I take it you're the only one that knows she's sick."

She nodded. "She didn't want to tell Snow yet."

"Lightning look, I know you.. you want to help your sister but you shouldn't have to sell drugs to do it. There are plenty of other better ways that you can do to help."
"This is the fastest and best way for me."

Hope frowned. "I can't make you stop.. but can I ask you a question?" He met her eyes as she looked up at the same time.

After a nod, Hope continued. "If this happened to you.. and the people you sell to know you live here.. doesn't that put Noel and I in danger too?"

He watched her open her mouth slightly to say something. She stayed like that for a minute then sighed and looked to the side. "I didn't think about that."

Once again, their conversation was interrupted by a phone ringing. Lightning's grey phone vibrated against the table. They both looked at it. The name was hard to read but when Hope's eyes focused on it he frowned. It was Snow.

"Let it go. He can wait." Lightning said as she flipped the phone over. "If it was something important, he wouldn't be the one calling me." She sat up more. "I'm feeling better. Can I get dressed now?"

Hope nodded. "Do you need help getting up?"

The woman shook her head and got up, letting the blanket fall off her. Hope opened his mouth to ask if she wanted him to leave, but closed it when she walked over to her suitcase. He watched the way she moved. Even with cuts all over her, she moved with great grace. Despite the event that just happened, he couldn't help but look her body over. Her body was just as perfect as he saw in his dream. Her skin looked as soft as cotton and absolutely flawless.

"D-Do you want me to leave so you can get dressed?"

He heard her laugh softly. "What you never seen a girl naked before? You're in college, not grade school. I don't care if you see."

"Right."

Hope looked away while his roommate got dressed. He played with the bottom of his shirt and thought to himself. 'I've got to do something to help her.. but she doesn't seem to want to talk about it anymore.. m-maybe I'll just ask her about the party to get her mind off it.. no.. then she'll think I don't care.." He sighed to himself and looked over at his roommate who was standing next to him. She sat down again, now in purple shorts and a baggy white shirt. Hope tilted his head and noticed that the shirt was his.

"Couldn't find any of my shirts. You don't mind do you?"

"No." He bit his lip then looked up at her again. "Hey.. Noel told me that there's a party on Friday. I was wondering if you wanted to go with me? Like friends."
She squinted her eyes. "Noel told me you aren't the party type. There a reason you want me to go with you?"

Hope was at lost for words. 'Damn it. What do I say now?" He tried to think of something quickly. "I realized I've been studying a lot this semester. I could really use some stress relief."

"Okay, I was going to go anyway, but I'll go with you." She said as she pulled the blanket over her legs.

He looked at her arm and noticed the red cloth that was still there. Leaning over, he gently pulled the cloth off. Lightning didn't say anything and simply watched him. The wound was still bleeding some. He sighed softly and looked at her.

"I need to clean this one. That okay?" She nodded then watched him as he walked over to the sink. He grabbed a hand towel and wetted it under the water. Once it was wet enough, he walked back over to her. "This might hurt so just.. take a deep breath."

He wiped the wound several times as it kept bleeding. Fortunately after another couple minutes, it finally stopped. He smiled and wiped the remaining blood off her arm. Hope walked to the bathroom and grabbed a gauze pad and a wrap out of his medical kit then returned once again to his roommate. He wrapped the would up and smiled.

"Thanks."

"You look a lot better."

"Well what can I say? I'm a tough girl."

Hope laughed and nodded. The pink haired girl laughed softly. "Hey, I think that's the first time I've heard you laugh since you've been here."

She shrugged. "I don't laugh much. Only with people I trust and care about."

The boy blushed slightly and smiled. "So you trust and care about me?"

"Yeah.. I can tell how much you care about me. Even though you just met me, you treat me like I'm part of your family."

"You don't have many people in your life like that do you Light?"

She shook her head. "Serah's the only one."

"I feel honored to be the second." Hope smiled brightly and looked at her.

"Yeah well don't make me change my mind." She said, gently hitting him on the shoulder.

The rest of the night went pretty well, considering what had happened that day. While Noel was out, Hope found out that Serah was diagnosed the week before and that's why Lightning came to the school. She could keep a better eye on her and be there if anything happened. She could always return to the military. She couldn't have another chance with her sister. It was strange, in such a short time, Hope felt that he got to know Lightning so much better.

When Noel got home, she told him as well. The kind of cancer that Serah had was a rare. She had Osteosarcoma, a cancer that forms in the cells that make bones. The doctor had told her that she had only a few years left, though her chances would be higher if she had treatment. Unfortunately, neither of them had the money for the procedures. That's how Lightning got into selling drugs. She herself didn't do any, besides the occasional blunt of weed and cigarettes.

They all talked until midnight. That was when Noel went to bed anyway. Hope and Lightning stayed up for another half an hour.

"Thanks for letting me sleep here." She whispered as she laid down.

"I'm not gonna let you sleep on the floor. You know that. Plus, I don't mind having someone to talk to like this. When Noel's not out partying, he normally goes to sleep before me."

Lightning laughed softly. "Only Noel."

Hope looked over at her and smiled. 'I really am developing feelings for her..'