"Cloud, you around?" Xigbar called into the garage as he walked in, tossing his jacket onto a chair.

"Here." Cloud said from his position underneath his bike.

"Oh, there you are." Xigbar said, plopping down on top of his jacket, "You can take off on lunch whenever you want."

Cloud merely grunted, concentrating on his work. He was currently tuning his bike and while this latest set of modifications might not be exactly street legal, the bike would be kickass when he was done.

"Kay, well if you're not going anywhere, I'm gonna grab a drink. Want anything?" he asked, standing up again (and wondering why he'd sat down in the first place) and heading towards Cid's office.

"Soda'd be good." Nodding at his work, Cloud pushed himself out from under his bike and replaced his tools, grabbing his rag and wiping the grease off his hands, pushing himself into a sitting position.

Xigbar nodded, vanishing into Cid's office.

There was the sound of someone opening the shop door, "Hello?"

Cloud quickly stood up. "Just a sec!" He yelled in the general direction of the door. Dropping the rag and wiping the rest of the grease and oil onto his already stained pants, he maneuvered to the front of the shop.

"Welcome to the Rusty Wrench, I'm Cloud. How can I help you?"

"I was asked to drop this off here." The man said, holding up a package, "It's for a... Cloud."

"Huh." Cloud said, taking the small brown package. The box wasn't heavy and there was no writing on the wrapping. "Who's it from?" Cloud looked up from examining the package when he got no answer, realizing the guy who had given it to him had already left.
Cautiously taking the package to his work bench, he debated with himself if he should open it or not. In the end, he shrugged and tore the wrapping, figuring if it was a prank it couldn't be THAT bad.

Once the wrapping was off, Cloud realized it was a box of chocolates. He pulled the lid off and grinned at the smell. Fancy chocolates. Yum. Inside the lid was a note. He pulled it off and quickly read it:
"Cloud- I bet you'd taste more delicious than these chocolates. Care to let me find out? -Leon"
Cloud blinked but shook his head when he heard Xigbar coming out of Cid's back room.

"Thanks for the chocolates, Xig. And no, I'm not sharing. Also, I think I'll take that lunch now." The blonde said.

His coworker blinked, "What are you talking about?"

Cloud rolled his eyes. "We've worked together how long? Your voice has that tone you take with customers who are insisting that dent wasn't there before they brought their car in and you are trying to convince them otherwise. Fess up, I know it was you."

"Speaking of dents." Xigbar said, "I should get working on that car." he gestured off in the general direction of a dark blue car that had been brought in hours ago, "Weren't you gonna take lunch?"

Cloud chuckled, grabbing his keys and box of chocolates, deciding to walk to the corner deli for lunch. "Whatever you say, man. Thanks again!"

Once his coworker had gone, Xigbar leaned back against the rustbucket statue in the center of the garage and chuckled to himself. Well, that didn't work.

His amusement was interrupted by his cell phone going off. Pulling it out of his pocket, he flipped it open.

"HOW THE HELL DID HE KNOW?"

Xigbar winced, pulling the phone away from his ear, "I don't know, Seifer. I'm assuming things didn't go well with Leon?"

"He handed the flowers to some freakin' random girl on the street before thanking me and walking off like nothing had happened!"

"Cloud enjoyed the chocolates, but he wasn't fooled into thinking it was Leon." Xigbar shrugged.

"But this was foolproof!"

"Apparently not. Leon knows us pretty well, and I guess I've worked with Cloud longer than I thought." Xigbar shrugged, "We'll come up with something else."

"Yeah, but now they're gonna be on the lookout."

"It'll be fine, Seifer." Xigbar chuckled, "I've gotta get back to work."

"Oh, right. Well, before you go, what should I do if someone's stalking me?"

Xigbar frowned, "What?"

"There's a blonde kid stalking me." Seifer repeated, "I seriously see him every single time I turn around."

"You're imagining things, Seif." Xigbar laughed, "See you later." He flipped his phone shut and stood up to get to work.

XXXX

"Man, I wish we could hear what he's saying." Hayner grumbled from his position crouched in some bushes several feet away from his blonde stalker. He was thoroughly confused - if the guy was stalking him, why did he give flowers to some other dude? Does this mean he's definitely gay? But then why did the other guy give the flowers away? Was his stalker rejected? And who the hell was he talking to now?
"I don't know, Olette. I think this is just making me even more confused. And nervous. I mean, what if he sees us?" Hayner whispered to his sister who was crouched right next to him.

"Calm down, Hayner, he's not gonna see us." Olette rolled her eyes, peeking over the bush at Seifer. "He's on the phone anyway."

"Okay, okay. But this so far hasn't shown us why he's stalking me. And hey, why isn't he looking for me? I mean, I'm hiding in a bush right now. Shouldn't he be looking for me?" Hayner asked, faced scrunched up as he tried to make his thoughts make sense. They sounded much better in his head.

Olette giggled, "You're thinking into it too much, Hayner. He's probably talking about you on the phone right now."

"You think so?" Hayner murmured, studying his stalker closer. "Oh, look, he's leaving!" Before he could get up to follow, however, Hayner heard a sarcastic voice say right behind him, "Do I even WANT to know what you guys are up to?"

Hayner jumped up and spun around. "Goddammit, Roxas! Don't sneak up on me like that!"

Roxas rolled his eyes and offered his hand to Olette to help her up, looking them both over. "Well?"

"We're counter-stalking." Olette shrugged, taking Roxas's offered hand and standing up, "Stalking Hayner's stalker to try and figure out why he's stalking him."

Roxas blinked. "You were serious about that? Come on, Hayner! For the last time, that guy is NOT stalking you! If he was stalking you, he'd be the one hiding in bushes, not you!"

"Well, how do you KNOW he doesn't hide in bushes, huh?" Hayner asked, frustrated.

"Because... Because! Gah, you two are impossible!" Roxas said, throwing his hands up in the air. "I give up. Stalk your so-called stalker. Waste your time. Here's a thought: why don't you actually talk to the guy?"

"Rox, you are not grasping the very basic idea that he is a crazy STALKER. You don't talk to stalkers. You run away from them." Hayner explained, wondering how his friend could be so dense.

Roxas was equally frustrated. "Fine. You're right. What do I know?"
Hayner grinned. "See, I told you I'm always right."

Roxas rolled his eyes. "I'm ignoring you now. Olette, how are you? Having fun playing in the shrubbery? How were your classes today?"

"Oh, the bush is quite nice, thank you." Olette said, patting the shrub next to her fondly and giving Roxas a look, "Classes were fine as classes can be." she shrugged.

"That's nice. Are you all done for the day?" Roxas asked.

"Well, I still have practice - " Hayner started.
"I was asking Olette. Ignoring you, remember?" Roxas interrupted. Hayner stuck his tongue out at the blonde and crossed his arms. Roxas rolled his eyes.

Olette giggled.

"As I was saying -" Roxas stopped abruptly as Hayner shoved him. "Hey! What was that for?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. Are you talking to me?" Hayner asked sweetly.

Roxas growled. "You're going down!" With that, he launched himself at his best friend. Off balance, Hayner crashed to the ground, taking Roxas with him. They wrestled for a few moments, to the great amusement of Olette, before they were both out of breath and decided to call a truce. Standing, Hayner slung his arm over Roxas' shoulders and the shorter boy grinned.

"I knew you couldn't stay mad at me." Hayner said, grinning.

Roxas rolled his eyes but chuckled. "Yeah, well. I still think you're an idiot."

"And you're a moron, so we're even." Hayner deadpanned.

Roxas punched his shoulder and rolled his eyes as Hayner just grinned at him.

"Right. Anyway, I came to find you guys to let you know I'm heading home." Roxas said, shrugging Hayner's arm off and adjusting his ruffled clothes.

"Aww, okay." Olette said, "Lots of homework?"

Roxas shrugged. "Relatively. Not a lot, it's just that what I have is worth a lot of points so I have to do really good on the next few assignments if I want to pass. Plus I promised Sora I'd make some more cookies since he only got some raw dough from the last batch."

Hayner chuckled. "Have fun with all that. See you tomorrow?"

Roxas grinned. "Of course!"

Olette smiled, "See you tomorrow!"

Roxas smiled and waved before turning and making his way across campus. He pulled out his cell phone and called his brother, slowing down his walking as he listened to Sora's phone ring.

"Hello hello. This is Kairi, answering for Sora who's being an asshole and not coming to the phone! How can I help you?"

"Um.. Hi Kairi. Sorry, wasn't expecting you to answer. Where is Sora? I need a ride home." Roxas said, stopping altogether now in order to pay attention to his brother's friend.

"I think he might be in the shower." Kairi answered lazily, "Hold on a sec." There was the muffled sounds of Kairi covering the phone's earpiece, "SORAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Roxas quickly yanked his cell phone away from his ear. Once the screeching stopped, he tentatively held it back in place. "Um, Kairi?"

"Yeah?"

"Did you find him or should I start walking home?"

"No worries, I found him. You're at the school?"

"Yeah. I'm making my way to the little garden area by the theater. Tell Sora to park there, I'll be reading on one of the benches, probably. Thanks, Kairi."

"No problem." There was a click and Kairi hung up.

Roxas put his cell away before shaking his head and making his way over to where he'd get picked up by Sora. Sighing as he saw that the area was empty for the moment, he gratefully sat down and tilted his head up to the sky, watching the clouds lazily and thinking over what exactly he had to get done tonight.

XXXX

He was still there when Sora pulled up a few minutes later, looking either angry or annoyed, most likely due to Kairi, who was sitting in the passenger's side seat, holding a cell phone open for him.

"What do you mean, you're stranded at the Box Depot?" Sora snapped at his phone, "Your car was working fine this morning!"

"Soooora." Riku whined over the phone. "You know my car hates me. Come on, pretty please give me a ride? Oh, and my coworker. He needs a ride too. Pleeeease?"

"Are we talking about the coworker that was sent to fire you a few days ago?" Sora asked, rolling down his window, "ROXAS! Come on, kid!"

Roxas jumped and quickly looked around, easily spotting an angry looking Sora and a giggling Kairi waiting for him in Sora's car. Sighing, he quickly grabbed his stuff and got into the car just in time to hear someone talking on Sora's cell phone.

"Axel? Yeah. Turns out that whole 'firing' thing was a misunderstanding. Guy's great! So you'll be here soon, right? It's practically your duty as my best friend. Right, best friend? Best, awesome, funny, amazing friend? Right?"

Roxas sighed. "Now you have to get him or he'll never let you live it down."

"Roxas?"
Riku asked. "You're with Sora? Great! Convince him to come get me!" He pleaded.

"Ugh, FINE." Sora said, "I'll be there in ten minutes. But do me a favor and get your car fixed for real this time, okay?"

"Yes! Thanks, Sora. You're the best! I promise I'll take it to the Rusty Wrench as soon as possible. Thank you thank you thank you! We'll be waiting outside for you!" With that Riku hung up.

Roxas chuckled in the backseat. "So who's the 'we'? We picking up someone else besides Riku? Oh, and thanks for the relaying the message, Kairi. You guys got here pretty fast."

"Your house isn't far from here." Kairi shrugged, "But no problem."

"Apparently Riku being stranded means his coworker Axel is stranded as well." Sora said, "You want me to drop you off before I pick them up, or do you mind them squeezing into the back with you?"

Roxas shrugged. "You might as well just get them now. Going back to the house to drop me off is heading in the opposite direction, anyways. I'm sure we'll fit for the ten minute ride home."

"Alright." Sora nodded, pulling onto the street.

XXXX

Riku nudged the redhead standing next to him. "Look, here they come." Once the car stopped in front of the Box Depot, Riku leaned down to the driver's side window.

"Sora! You're the best! Have I mentioned lately how awesome you are?" He said, grinning.

"Just get in the back." Sora rolled his eyes, "Hey, Axel." he nodded.

"Thanks again, Sora." Axel smiled, pushing Riku towards the backseat door.

Riku rolled his eyes but grinned once he saw who was sitting in the backseat. He pulled open the car door and bowed to Axel, motioning for him to get in. "Hey, Kairi. Hey, Roxas." He smirked, nudging the redhead to get a move on and get into the car already.

Axel didn't protest, climbing into the car and squeezing in next to Roxas. Before he could speak up, though, Kairi did. "Hey, Riku, tell Sora he's a baby that takes too long in the shower and makes me answer his phone calls from his brother for him."

Riku managed to get in after Axel and closed the car door, spreading his legs a bit in order to press Axel up against Roxas. Grinning, he shook his head at the girl in the front seat. "I can't insult him for at least twenty-four hours since he's doing me a favor. Sorry, Kairi."

"Kairi, I can confirm that Sora is indeed a baby that takes too long in the shower." Roxas said, sticking his tongue out at his older brother. "Sorry, Sora. But it's true. You shower longer than a girl!"

"I knew it!" Kairi smirked, laughing. Sora glared at her, only taking his eyes off the road for a second. Roxas grimaced as the next turn the car made forced him to press closer to Axel.

"Sorry, Axel. How have you been?" Roxas asked, trying to plaster himself against the car door in order to allow more room for the three squished in the backseat, ignoring Riku's muffled chuckles.

"I've been good." Axel smiled at him. "You?"

"All right, I guess. I've somehow managed to survive without your amazing food prepping skills." Roxas teased with a grin.

Riku glanced across Axel at the small blonde. Was he... flirting? Huh. Axel might have a chance, after all. "Speaking of food, you cooking tonight Roxas?" He asked hopefully.

Roxas rolled his eyes. "Why is it no one else is capable of cooking a decent meal?" He demanded.

"In that case, mind if I stay for dinner?" Kairi laughed, "I'd rather eat Roxas's cooking than Namine's."

"Namine's not a bad cook." Sora said.

"You've only eaten her cooking once, Sora, and she ordered it. All she had to do was not burn it when she heated it up." Kairi reminded him.

"Fine! I'll cook!" Roxas threw his hands up then crossed his arms and glared out the window.

"Uh... Rox, you okay over there?" Riku asked tentatively.

"Peachy." Roxas snapped.

Kairi didn't even seem to notice Roxas's sudden annoyance at the situation and flipped the radio on.

"Am I assuming everyone's coming over for dinner then?" Sora asked, glancing into the backseat for a moment.

"I'd love to." Riku responded.

"Of course you would. You just want to get into my brother's pants." Roxas angrily muttered.

"What was that, Roxas?" Riku asked, confused but knowing the muttering was somehow directed towards him.

"Nothing." Roxas said, smiling sweetly. "And I suppose you want to stay for dinner, too?" He asked the redhead squished next to him.

Axel looked a little startled, "Uh, is that okay?" he asked, "I'd like to, but I don't wanna make you mad."

"It's fine. Why not? What's one more person to cook for? It's not like I had anything important to get done tonight." Roxas seethed.

"Rox, if you don't want to cook, just say so." Sora said, glancing back there again, "We can order something."

Roxas took a deep breath and then let it out slowly. "It's fine. I'll cook. We can't keep ordering out all the time, it's unhealthy and expensive. I'll just have to cut something - looks like I'm not baking those cookies tonight."

"Aw man, you were gonna bake cookies? Axel, you have not lived until you've had one of Roxas' cookies. They are heaven." Riku said, drooling at the thought.

"Well, at least let me help you with the cooking, then." Axel suggested, ignoring Riku.

Roxas glanced at the redhead in surprise before nodding slowly. "Really? Thanks. This time, though, let's try not to maim anyone with butcher knives."

"Alright, I promise." Axel laughed.

XXXX

Oh Axel. Try your hardest not to maim anyone.

Hi guys! Cami here. It's summer break now, so Jasmine and I have more time to write, so expect these to speed up soon. :D We're kind of addicted to this story. It's actually a little creepy.

Jasmine: Hey, where are you?

Cami: At the mall. Why?

Jasmine: I wanna write.

Cami: Okay, when I get home.

Jasmine: No, I wanna write now.

Cami: …But I'm at the mall.

Jasmine: WRITE. NOW.

Cami: MALL.

Jasmine: I DON'T CARE. WRITE.

Cami: WHAT DO YOU EXPECT ME TO DO, MAGICALLY POOF AN INTERNET CONNECTION AND A LAPTOP INTO THE MALL?

Jasmine: That'll work.

Cami: You're ridiculous.

Jasmine: :P But seriously, can we write?

Cami: *facepalm*

And that, folks, is a heavily exaggerated version of a true story.

Next chapter, expect to see maiming! Or something like that.