Life went on as normal. The following day I sat around at home, doing schoolwork and burying my nose into books to forget about my own problems. Even though it was a Sunday I just didn't feel like leaving the house or doing anything fun. I just stayed in my room all day, trying not to think too deeply, my mouth tasting of ash.

I was snoozing after school that Monday afternoon when Cloud slapped a red book onto my desk, causing me to jump.

"Th' fuck did you get here?" I mumbled as I sat up.

Cloud smiled. "Apparently Riku tried to lend you his book on Saturday but you bailed without it." He shrugged and sat down on my bed "So I was to give it to you next time I saw you."

I ruffled my hair, yawning. "Can we just forget about Saturday night?"

Cloud smiled, and I like to think he was deciding against teasing me. But of course, I was wrong.

"How can I forget about Saturday? You almost banged my flatmate."

I groaned and flopped back down onto the bed and threw the pillow over my head. "Leave me alone."

Cloud laughed, and I heard the door open. Assuming he'd left, I peeked out from under the pillow, but hid my face again just as quickly when I realized that Cloud hadn't left and someone else had joined us in my room.

"Go away." I mumbled, but the pillow muffled my words. Cloud and the newcomer laughed.

"That's no way to treat a guest, Roxy." Cloud teased, and for a terrifying second I thought that Riku was with him. I tore back the pillow only to sigh with relief – it was only Axel.

"Yo." Smiled the redhead "How are you feeling?"

No doubt Cloud had brought him up to speed with the situation. Cloud always liked to gossip. I blew air out of my cheeks, irritated. Cloud was the worst brother anyone could ever have. But I felt too crappy to get angry at him, which was fortunate because I wasn't sure if I wanted to freak out in front of a nice stranger like Axel. Still, I was pretty pissed.

"Like shit." I snapped. "What the hell are you guys doing in my room?"

Axel withdrew slightly, his face tight with worry of intrusion, but Cloud sat on the end of my bed and he relaxed.

"We're going to McDonalds, wanna come?" Cloud smiled.

I rolled my eyes. There were thousands of reasons why I didn't want to go with them. The first one was that I was still sleepy and I wanted more rest. Secondly, Cloud drove like a maniac and I knew it was just a matter of time before he introduced his car to the river. And finally, I didn't even like fast food. It's far too disgusting and greasy for my tastes.

Instead of bitching like the whiny prick I am, I scoffed and kept it simple.

"No."

Axel shrugged and turned to leave but Cloud just nudged me, smirking. "Today is Opposites Day – No means yes and yes means no."

Usually, I don't fall for dumb shit like that. But that day I was tired and not thinking clearly, so I rose to the bait.

"Fine then, yes, I would love to go to McDonalds with you."

"Great!"

Before I could protest, Axel had me by the left arm and Cloud had me by the right. Even though Axel was tall and thin he was pretty strong, and when I flopped like a fish between them it was to no avail. They dragged me, kicking and shouting, down the stairs, out the door and into the back seat of Cloud's car. Reluctantly, I fastened my seatbelt and settled down for a sulk.

I'm not religious, but as I watched Cloud clamber into the driver's seat and start the ignition I couldn't help but offer a quick prayer - to whatever guiding force there was out there – to ask for a safe journey. It's funny how Cloud can sometimes bring out the best in me, even when he's at his worst.

It doesn't stop me from wishing his head would explode though.

We backed out of the driveway slowly, as Cloud was never good with reversing, but once we were on the bitumen he slammed his foot down on the accelerator and the car's tyres squealed against the road in a burnout. Within seconds we were flying down the road at seventy in a forty zone.

I held onto my seat tightly as Cloud took a corner at sixty, cackling like a maniac. I tried to shout at him but I felt that if I opened my mouth I'd throw up everywhere. Axel pointed to the oncoming road in an epic pose.

"Maccas ahoy!" He shouted, and he and Cloud laughed.

"What the hell is 'Maccas'?" I shouted above the roar of the engine. Axel turned around in his seat and I realized with a shock that he wasn't wearing a seatbelt. His red eyebrows cocked at me teasingly.

"It's slang for McDonalds. In, like, Antarctica."

Although Axel was pretty, he seemed to be a few cents short of a dollar as well.

"Nobody lives on Antarctica!" I shouted, but at that moment Cloud had reached over and cranked the radio up, so nobody heard me shout. Hip hop blared through the car, and I would have clamped my hands over my ears to shut it out if they hadn't been clinging desperately to the bottom of my seat. I screwed my eyes shut and tried to think of nice things to clam me down.

Instead, the memory of Riku in nothing but jeans came to mind, and I shifted uncomfortably in my seat for the rest of the journey.

Miraculously, the car screeched to a stop in the McDonalds car park, completely unharmed. I stumbled out of the car and fell to my knees.

"Land!" I cried, trying to steady myself with my arms. Axel laughed at me but Cloud aimed a light kick at my ribs.

"Come on, shithead, let's go get some food."

I clenched my gut, trying not to throw up at the thought of greasy food after a car ride like that. Axel helped me to my feet, peering at me in a concerned way.

"You're green, Roxas."

I brushed past him. "No fucking wonder." I snapped over my shoulder.

"Feisty one, isn't he?" Axel quipped to Cloud.

"What does 'feisty' mean?" Cloud responded.

I rolled my eyes and pushed through the door, making a beeline for the restrooms, turning my collar up as I went to hide my fading hickey. I didn't want any food, but I supposed Cloud would have some waiting for me when I emerged later. If not, I figured, no harm done.

McDonalds was crowded on that scorching Monday afternoon, and I couldn't see any free seats along the way to the bathroom. Shrugging slightly to myself, I went into the men's and slunk into a stall at the very back. I sat on the toilet lid and held my face in my hands, willing the nausea to go away.

For the first time in two days, the cool darkness helped me think clearly. I didn't mind when the events of that Saturday night flashed through my mind like a broken film – if anything, I relished the memories. Peeking out from between my fingers and eyeing my shoes, I realized with a rush that hooking up with Riku hadn't been such a terrible, sinful thing to do.

I was just growing up.

I remember feeling like a huge weight had just rolled off my shoulders. Being a teenager is all about finding yourself, and that was exactly what I'd been doing. I wasn't a little kid anymore; I was becoming a man with the sex drive to match. And there was nothing wrong with that – I just had to find a better way to go about discovering and exploring my sexuality. I knew wasn't going to find many answers at the back of Riku's throat, sexy as he was.

Smiling, I stood up and let myself out of the stall. I walked right past the basins and a young boy who was openly staring at me with disgust, probably assuming I'd just taken a dump without flushing or washing my hands. I flipped him a wink as I walked past.

That's right, move over because this bad boy is coming through. I mused.

As usual, my good mood was spoiled by Cloud.

When I walked out into the main restaurant area, I noticed the silence immediately. When I'd walked in to the restrooms I could barely hear myself think, but when I emerged I swear it was so quiet I'd have been able to hear a pin drop across the room. The place was still packed, but everyone was staring open-mouthed at a certain table.

On that table, slowly taking off his shirt was a grinning Cloud.

"Cloud! What the fuck are you doing?" I barked, and the spell was broken. Some of the patrons began to laugh, others pulled out their phones and snapped a picture, while others just rolled their eyes and turned back to their food.

Two burly security guards dashed over and yelled at him to get off the table, but Cloud merely flicked his shirt off and tossed it across the room. Before he could flex his muscles into what he thought were sexy poses, the security guards had him by the waist and shoulders and wenched him off the table. Cloud kicked and screeched like a little girl, but they wrestled him through the diner and shoved him out the front door.

"Three month ban!" One of the shouted as the other retrieved his shirt, which was smeared with the contents of a Big Mac and drenched in coke. The shirt was tossed out after him and the door was slammed shut.

I facepalmed. Hard. But that wasn't enough to convey my frustration, so I whacked my face against my palm again. And again.

"Stop hitting yourself, people will think you're just as crazy as him." Axel said as he materialized beside me.

I sighed. "I suppose we should go to him." I muttered as I stepped forward, but Axel caught my shoulder and held me back. I turned and he swung Cloud's car keys at me merrily.

"He can wait. I'm hungry." He smirked, and I felt myself grin too.

As Cloud and Axel had abducted me without my wallet, Axel bought me a medium McChicken meal and himself a large Quarter Pounder meal. We sat down as far away as we could from the table Cloud had danced on, which was unfortunately the one next to it. For the first few minutes we ignored curious glances from the other customers as Axel scoffed his burger and I picked at my chips.

When Axel's burger had vanished, he took a long slurp from his drink and gazed at me soberly over our food. I munched on a chip and returned the gaze.

"What?" I muttered after a while.

Axel put his elbows on the table and smiled at me. "So do you still go to school?"

I nodded, sipping my drink. "Year eleven."

Axel smiled. "I remember being in year eleven. Fun times." He tossed a chip into his mouth.

"Did you finish school?"

Axel chuckled "Surprisingly, yeah. Everyone else who got apprenticeships dropped out at the end of year ten, but I persevered all the way to year twelve and got a pretty good grade."

I smiled. Axel didn't seem like the kind to stick with school. He shook his head at me, smiling. "It's actually easier to stay in school, y'know. You don't have to worry about crazy things like tax, rent, bills and such. At school the worst you can do is fail, and even then there's a heap of teachers holding your hand the whole way."

I had to admit, he had a point.

"Still, when I was looking at further study I felt sick of learning, so I got a few jobs around town. Earlier this year was when I realized that you never stop learning, so I got a job as an apprentice mechanic." He smiled, munching on some chips. "I feel like the oldest first-year apprentice in the world, because I always work with kids your age."

"Sorry if I make you feel old, I can't help it that I'm a short arse."

We both laughed. I munched on my burger, feeling a lot better. Axel's sunny attitude was cheering me up a lot, and I didn't mind the grease on my burger as much as I thought I would.

"What do you like doing?" I asked through a mouthful of burger.

Axel shrugged. "Parties are always fun. And I like to watch movies. I used to be right into basketball, but I guess I grew out of that."

I smiled "You'd have been really good at it because you're so tall."

Axel sipped his drink. "Being a giant has its advantages sometimes. But it gets annoying when I can't find any shoes in my size." He laughed. I shrugged – my feet were tiny and I never had trouble finding shoes that fit me.

A comfortable silence stretched between us as we finished our food.

As we stood up to leave, Axel shot me a curious glance. "So, I didn't mean to sound rude or anything, but did you really hook up with Riku G?"

I tugged at my upturned collar. "Er, yeah."

Axel's gaze was sombre as we walked from the building.

"Maybe you should stay away from him, Roxas."

I frowned up at my new friend. "Why?"

Axel folded his arms, bright green eyes on the path before us. "Someone like him isn't good for someone as young as you."

Immediately, defensive irritation rose up in my chest like an angry bubble. I shot a glare at Axel.

"Shit man, I know I'm only sixteen but I'm not a baby."

Axel smirked as we walked to the car, ignoring my snap. "I know you're a big, strong teenager now, Roxas. But you're still innocent." His tone was teasing and I felt my temper rise faster.

I rolled my eyes. "Oh yeah, I'm an innocent little shit alright. Axel, I used to live with Cloud. Cloud. He robbed me of my innocence years ago."

We reached the car and I scanned the area for the devil himself, but I couldn't see the blonde prick anywhere. Axel sat on the bonnet and I would have protested, but I noticed the aluminium barely registered his weight. Even though Axel was tall he seemed to be very light, so I swallowed my argument.

"That's if you consider innocence as the ignorance of the birds and the bees." Axel shrugged "Real innocence is something much more secret than that."

I tapped my foot on the ground impatiently. "What the fuck are you rambling on about now?"

But Axel ignored me. He examined his fingernails, his face strangely grim. "Ever seen someone die, Roxas?"

"What?"

"Ever seen someone die?"

I paused. "Of course not."

Axel shrugged. "Case and point."

I tried to roll my eyes carelessly, but I had to admit that Axel's words rang true. Cynical as I was, I'd lead a very sheltered life up until then. Innocence was to be expected.

"So you're saying that hooking up with Riku was like seeing someone die?"

Axel laughed. I risked a grin.

Hopping down from the hood of the car, Axel straightened his shirt. "My point is that if you get in with Riku you might be signing up for more than you bargained for." He shrugged "If you want him that bad, go for him, but I suggest you find someone tamer to sharpen your claws on."

I was about to reply with a quick comeback, but Cloud's voice rang out from across the car park.

"Roxas!" He shouted. I turned, and my stomach sank through my small intestine.

Across the car park walked Cloud, holding a helium balloon, and walking alongside him was Riku himself.

"Speak of the devil and he shall appear." Axel muttered beside me. "But the devil pales in comparison to this one."

I snorted. "Yeah, right. Don't let a Christian catch you saying that."

Cloud ambled over, looking like an awkward turtle next to the grace that was Riku. I watched his silver hair flash in the sun and his muscles ripple under his skin as he walked, and although I knew I was staring like an idiot I just couldn't make myself care. Axel's warning flew right out of my head as Riku nodded at me, the tiniest of smiles on his lips. My heart felt lighter than Cloud's balloon as I returned the tiny smile.

"Where have you been, buddy?" Axel asked when Cloud was within earshot "And what's up with the balloon?"

Cloud smiled and shrugged. "I love balloons."

Riku rolled his eyes patiently as Axel laughed. He slapped a friendly hand onto Cloud's shoulder. "What are we going to do with you?" He grinned. Cloud started to ramble on, but I turned to Riku.

Riku looked at me, his face tight. How peculiar.

"How have you been, Roxas?" He asked, those tiny lines around his mouth and eyes deepening.

For a second I considered telling Riku all about the time I'd wasted by sulking about in my room and how he'd made me cry for the first time in two years. I thought about telling him how I was pretty sure I hated him, but how I'd missed him anyway.

Instead of saying what was on my mind, I did what Axel would have done by shrugging and smiling good naturedly.

"Yeah, okay. How have you been?"

Riku's eyes narrowed and I faltered. But then he visibly relaxed, shook his head slightly and smiled. "Pretty shit – Sora's upped the stalking." As he spoke, he produced a small packet from his pocket and pulled a cigarette out. Resting it between his lips, he offered the box around, but nobody took one. I watched, fascinated, as he pulled a disposable lighter out of the package, flicked it and held the small flame to the end of his cigarette, shielding it with his cupped hand. He puffed and a cloud of smoke rose above our heads.

Smoking was supposed to be disgusting, but Riku made it look like a cool thing to do. I'd have asked for one if I wasn't sure Cloud and Axel would beat me up.

I was pretty glad that Riku was smiling at me again. Taking it as a good sign, I smiled wider. I could feel the tension relax, and I wondered if it meant that I could be on friendly terms with Riku again. Ignoring everything I knew about acceptable body language, I folded my arms in front of my chest as I spoke. "Really? How so?"

Riku flicked at his fringe and rolled his eyes. "It's ten calls a day instead of three, and I caught him trying to bribe Leon for a copy of our house key." Riku's eyes idly drifted over the buildings nearby as he inhaled through his cigarette. "Thankfully Leon's made of stone, but I'm a little worried Sora might try to pull a crazy stunt again."

I'd heard about Sora's escapades in Riku's house when Riku was absent, but I decided to humour him anyway.

"Again?" I asked, cocking an eyebrow.

Riku smiled and shook his head, flicking some ash onto the ground. "Maybe when you're older."

That pissed me off slightly.

Instead of snapping as I had done at Axel, I rammed my hands into my pockets and tuned into Cloud and Axel's conversation. They were rambling on about cars and car parts, but try as I might I just couldn't keep up with the conversation, even when Riku joined in. Eventually my concentration waned and my eyes drifted to the fluffy clouds that rolled by overhead.

Quite suddenly, I was struck with a strange feeling of certainty.

"It's gonna rain later." I muttered without thinking.

Axel turned to me, mid-sentence. "Pardon?"

Axel's pause caught Cloud and Riku's attention, and they turned to stare at me as if I'd just covered myself in steak marinate and declared I was a cow. I went slightly pink from the sudden attention.

"I said... that it's going to rain later on." I said, scuffing my feet on the ground.

Riku looked up at the clouds. "I checked the weather forecast yesterday and it said not to expect rain."

Axel looked at me oddly. "Why do you think it's going to rain?"

I shrugged, eyes on the crushed cigarette butts that littered the car park. I felt certain that it was going to rain. At that moment, the rain seemed even more inevitable than the sun rising the next day. But my voice betrayed my uncertainty. "Just a feeling."

Cloud opened his mouth to gift us all with his wisdom, but to my surprise his words were not chastising. "I believe Roxas." He smiled. I stared at him. "Roxy knows the future – he reads fortune cookies."

I mumbled something about tarot cards, but Axel and Riku snorted loudly.

"Roxy?" The redhead laughed. "That's a cute name!"

Riku nodded, grinning wickedly. "It is, Roxy."

If I'd been pink before, I was beet red by that stage. My first instinct was to throw punches, but I was short and weak and surrounded by men who were all very strong and very tall. And I knew flipping out in front of Riku would make the situation worse than it already was.

Instead, I turned away and stormed to the car, dragging Cloud with me. Stunned from my sudden movement, he accidentally let go of his balloon. Before he could snatch it up again, the balloon was swirling in the wind far above us. He didn't have time to whine about it, however, as by that stage I'd dragged him to the car. Axel, not really wanting to be left behind with Riku, chased us. I clambered into the car, firmly buckling my seatbelt as Cloud slowly backed out of the parking space and roared out of the car park. Just as the car nosed into the traffic I turned around in my seat and scanned the car park – Riku was standing alone in the centre of the car park, taking a drag from his cigarette, free hand in his pocket as he watched Cloud's car pull away. A plastic bag caught the wind and breezed past like tumbleweed behind him. Riku caught my eye and raised a hand in a gentle wave, but before I could wave back I was gone.

That night, it poured with rain.

-x-

Author's cardboard box: I hate it when people make Axel call Roxas "Roxy". It was funny the first time but now it's just so very overdone. So I've decided to make that Cloud's nickname for Roxas. I so clevuuurrr.

And I guess now would be a good time to own up to the fact that the relationship between Cloud and Roxas is similar to my relationship with my older sister, whom Cloud is roughly based on. My sister is fucking crazy and I love her most of the time, but I honestly hope she never reads this as she would kill me. XD Some of the things Cloud does in this fic are things that my sister has actually done, but I'll leave it up to you to figure out which things those are. ;D

And to Purr, Y MUST U BE ANONYMOUS. D= I can't reply to your lovely reviews!