"Axie! It's snowing!"

"Yeah...it is."

"Can we go sledding?"

"...I don't feel like it."

"...You never feel like doing anything anymore..."

"...Sorry."

"AXEELLL WAKE UP!" Demyx screamed, jumping onto the sleeping redhead.

"Agh! Fucking hell Demyx! You landed on my nuts!" Axel yelled as he pushed the blond onto the floor, "God you suck."

"Why yes I do suck." The blond winked at him earning a long groan of disgust from the older teen.

"Who are you screwing NOW?" Axel asked.

"You know that adorable emo kid that hangs around the campus? He's ALWAYS reading?"

"Uh...Zexion?"

"Yep!"

Axel looked at him confused for a few minutes, waiting for the gears to start moving in his head. Then it finally clicked. His best friend was screwing Ventus' brother.

He groaned again and put his head in his hands. Out of all the people that Demyx could've chose to be his new fuck buddy. Why him? Why Zexion? Maybe the blond was losing more brain cells than Axel had thought.

"Demyx why did you pick Zexion?" Axel asked, eyes glued to the palms of his hands.

"...What do you mean pick?" The blond asked, raising an eyebrow in confusion.

"I mean you always pick someone from your little group of druggies to fuck around with and now you're messing around with emo boys?"

"...Ohhh you think he's my fuck buddy."

"...He's not?"

"Nope! We're dating."

"When did this happen!?"
"It happened in the beginning of the semester!"

"THAT LONG!?"

The panicked redhead looked at his calendar. It had been months since meeting Ventus and he was now learning that his best friend was with his brother? If he had known this he would've asked Demyx to invite Zexion over so he could ask him questions about Ventus instead of waiting for his brother to finally get a free moment to question the parents.

"Why are you freaking out!?...Oh my god you stole my pot didn't you!? You're having a freak out high!"

"I'm not high Demyx!"

"You so are high!"

"How many times are we going to say the word high!?"

"As many as I want to because that's what you are!"
"Oh for the love of god Demyx shut up!"

"Not until you admit it!"

"Fine Demyx! Yes I'm totally high! I'm cruising with the clouds right now! That's how fucking high I am!"

"...you're so lying."

Axel never thought it was possible to want to smack someone so hard that their goofy smile would actually fly off, but oh boy did he want to do that right now. He loved his best friend but sometimes he really wanted to choke him until he turned purple.

"Demyx...I might kill you," Axel slowly said, extending a hand towards the blonde's throat.

"Okay! I'm done teasing but why were you freaking out?"

"...Zexion is Ventus' brother."

"The dude who looks like your dead best friend?"

It took every last bit of will power to prevent him from kicking that druggie's ass. The words sounded too harsh for his liking, "...Yes Demyx. I really think its Roxas and I could've asked Zexion about it."

"Okay then I'll invite him over tonight and ask him if he can answer some questions."

"...Thank you."

"No problem, but you're cooking tonight!"

"...Fine."

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

The awkwardness that suffocated them could be cut with a knife. Axel was grateful that they were eating or he'd have to commence in conversation and Zexion didn't look like the socializing type. He had no idea how he was going to ask this kid about Ventus.

"Well I'm done! You two talk about what you need to talk about. I'll be over there," Demyx said as he kissed Zexion and headed to the couch.

Shit!

"Uh...okay then," Axel said. He was now determined to slowly kill the pothead later. He directed his attention to the quiet teenager across from him.

"...You had questions about Ventus?" Zexion asked. The redhead's eyes grew wide with shock. He hadn't expected the anti-social emo to start the conversation.

"Um...yeah I did."

"Go ahead and ask."

"...Alright well...your parents adopted him right?"

"That's correct."

"Well where did they find him?"

"We were camping and we found him in the woods. He had been hurt badly, especially on his head."

"And he couldn't remember anything?"

"No. He had a severe case of amnesia. He couldn't even remember his name."

"Did your family ever bring him to a therapist to try and trigger those memories?"

"They had brought him to a therapist, but all he ever remembered was his age, birthday and his love for snow."

"...I see. Did your parents ever tell the police that they found a child?"

"Yes they did, but the police couldn't find anyone in the nearby area looking for a child that fit Ventus' description."

"...Okay."

"...May I ask why you are asking all of these questions?"

"...When I was younger I lived on an island and I had a best friend named Roxas...he was the only one I really liked. The only friend I really had...but then we moved and after we did...we heard that he had been kidnapped and pronounced dead."

"...So you believe that Ventus is Roxas?"
"Yes I do. The stories can easily be linked together and they look exactly the same."

"...Perhaps you should talk to Ventus about this."

"...I can't. He'll think I'm crazy."

"Not necessarily. Ventus has always had an open mind. Plus your story isn't so unbelievable that someone would automatically jump to insanity."

"...I think about it."

"Are you two done yet!?" Demyx called from the couch. He was obviously feeling impatient and was aching for affection.

"Yeah we're done! Keep your shorts on!" Axel shouted back, a small smile tugging at his lips.

"No promises!"

The redhead chuckled and glimpsed at the grey-haired teen. He never realized how cute Zexion was until he saw the smile on his face. Axel almost found it heart-stopping. It looked so genuine and it brightened the room; he never would've thought that the shy, proper, depressing teen could produce something so beautiful. It definitely proved to him that there is more than just the outer layer to a person. In every person there lie deeper layers that reveal something about themselves, but they will only be shown to those who they hold dearest to their hearts.

oOoOoOoOoOoOo

Dishes were done, tables were cleared and washed down and now all Axel had to do was go to the store to pick up some hot chocolate and mugs for himself, Demyx and Zexion. The depressing teen had been invited to stay the night and Axel was beginning to like him with each second that ticked by. He never would've thought that Zexion, the proper bookworm, would be so interesting and talkative. Never again would he judge a book by its cover.

"I'm heading out! Do you guys need anything else?" Axel shouted.

"Uhhh...Yeah! Can you get condoms!?" Demyx shouted through the door.

"Um...sure Demyx," Axel replied, trying to hold in the massive amount of giggles that were begging to be freed.

"Why would you ask him for that?!" Zexion shouted. The rise in volume surprised the redhead. He didn't know that Zexion's voice could get louder.

"Because I don't have any," Demyx replied, obviously ignoring the annoyed tone in the shorter teen's voice.

"I'll be back soon!" Axel shouted, wrapping his scarf around his neck as he exited the apartment and headed into the elevator. It was then that he noticed the position of his lips. He lightly touched them as he realized that he was genuinely smiling. Now that he thought about it, he had been smiling quite a lot after talking to Zexion about Ventus. Maybe it was because he was having a good time or maybe it was because he was finally getting closer to the truth.

He poked the number one button and leaned back on the wall, his eyes shifting up to the numbers on the screen. His mind was beginning to scroll through the past months he had spent with Ventus and as he looked back he noticed how much the blond was beginning to act more like Roxas.

Every subtle body movement, every word pattern and even the small habits that Ventus did were starting to form into the same body movements, word patterns and habits that Roxas did. He found it rather odd that the blond, who had no recollection of what happened before he was adopted and still couldn't remember anything, was now slowly beginning to act like the person he once was.

"...Is he...starting to remember maybe?" Axel asked himself, pulling on his gloves as the elevator came to a halt, "but...why is he doing it now? Why not before when he was going to therapists? Maybe I'm just imagining things..."

The silver doors opened slowly, revealing the lobby to the redhead. He raised an eyebrow at the crowd of people gathering around the exit to the apartment complex and walked towards them.

"Excuse me...why are there so many people here?" He asked one of the civilians.

"A boy passed out in front of the building. They're bringing him to the hospital now. Poor thing was freezing in the snow they say," the woman replied.

"Oh...thank you." He gave her a gentle smile and continued through the crowd of people. It was only until he saw the blond boy being carried into the ambulance did he stop dead in his tracks.