A/N: Hello everyone, I'm back with another update! Like I said, I look to upload three or four chapters before school starts but unfortunately, I won't be able to do that. School starts tomorrow for me, but since it's the first week, I still might be able to upload another chapter. I'm sorry for not living up to my words, I really thought I had the time, but I had to leave and I only arrived two days ago. Anyways, here's the seventh chapter! I mentioned how I was debating if I should do pure Riku/Nami here or not, but I chose to go with the latter. This is just to show you readers how Naminé's life is going, or at least give you an idea, also about her relationship with Riku. Shoutout to DestinyKeyblader28 for following, GGDude00 for adding this story to his/her favorite's list and IGSP for reviewing! Keep the support coming guys! It really inspires me to update faster! I hope you guys enjoy this chapter!

Review Responses:

IGSP: No promises there, hehe. Roxas and Naminé will have ups and downs, and things may even get worse, but you'll just have to wait and see…hehe. Well as for Riku and her…you hate to see for yourself…and I'm sorry if I disappoint haha! Thank you for reviewing!

Naminé yawned as she stretched. She just woke up from another nap—her fifth of the day. Since the summer started, she's been craving for sleep. All the studying she did during the school year took its toll on her. It's already been three weeks since school ended and she still hasn't rested enough, according to her body at least.

She glanced at her nightstand and saw a blue light flashing on the top left corner of her phone. She grabbed it and checked; she turned out to have an unread message. She opened her inbox and saw that the text was from Riku.

"Lunch at Frankie's? Pick you up at eleven?"

She smiled almost instantly. Riku appears to have asked her out for lunch. She typed a quick reply and prepared herself for a day with the silver-haired person she had grown so fond of.

When she was ready, she went outside of her room and made her way downstairs. She approached her father, who was currently on his tablet reading up on some company reports.

"Hey dad" Naminé greeted.

Her father shot her a wide grin "Hello, Naminé"

"Riku and I will be having lunch together. I'll be back later"

Her father's smile narrowed a tad. She knew how much her father did not want her to spend too much time with Riku since she was getting…married. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Her father nodded in approval, which made her happy for the most part.

She kissed her father on the cheek and walked outside to the porch. She found her red-haired sister sitting on one of the benches around their garden. She quietly sat beside her with a light smile.

"Hey sis" Naminé greeted as she nudged her sister.

"Hey Nami" Kairi greeted back as she wrapped an arm around her younger sister's shoulder "You look happy today. Is it because of Roxas?" she teased with a raised eyebrow and a grin.

Naminé simply chuckled "Yeah, sure, Kai, whatever you say"

"No but seriously, what's with you today?"

Naminé pouted "Do I really rarely act like this?"

"So far this summer, yeah"

"I've been tired, that's all. School's a real pain in the butt"

Kairi rolled her eyes "Sure, it's such a pain in the butt that you're making school look like a joke. What are you dressed for anyway?"

Naminé smiled brightly as she replied "I'm going out with Riku in a while"

Roxas' words about his sister and Riku possibly dating rang in Kairi's ears. Sure enough, Naminé and Riku were very close, but this is college. This isn't like high school where two people who spend a lot of time together automatically become a couple. In college, all sorts of people hang out with one another and most of the time don't end up in a relationship. For a moment, Kairi thought about disregarding her blond friend's words. But he seemed to have a point. How Naminé and Riku's relationship was progressing reminded her of-

Yeah, she really shouldn't think about that.

"Where are you guys going?" Kairi asked.

"Lunch at Frankie's, then maybe hang out at the park or something"

"Do you like him?"

Naminé smiled inwardly at her older sister's bluntness but decided to play dumb. "Of course I do. He's a really good friend"

Kairi narrowed her gaze on her sister, which caused the blonde to laugh "You know that's not what I'm talking about"

"Fine, fine. To be honest, I don't know. I mean, I absolutely love spending time with him and he's a lot different from all the other boys I hang out with. I can be myself around him, for the most part. And he's really sweet, not to mention handsome"

"Sounds like Seifer all over again, eh?" Kairi teased as she burst out laughing.

Naminé glared at her sister and smacked her on the arm "I was fourteen when I had a crush on him! It's not like there was anyone better to have a crush on anyway! It was just a stupid high school crush"

"No need to get so defensive, Nami" Kairi added as she laughed harder.

"Ugh, I hate you Kai"

"I'm just kidding!"

"Whatever. But no, because with Seifer it was all physical attraction. With Riku…I'm drawn to him in a lot of ways. I dunno, I just really love to spend time with him. I'm not sure if I have romantic feelings for him, like I said"

"But does he make you happy?"

"Happy is a really strong word, so I wouldn't say that he does, but he does cheer me up and most of the time I feel better when I'm with him" Naminé answered, her gaze on the floor.

Kairi hummed in acknowledgement. She observed her younger sister's expression. Maybe she does like him. Naminé rarely ever gets comfortable with a guy the way she does with Riku. Kairi smiled. It wasn't everyday she got to see little Naminé(even if she wasn't little Naminé anymore) speak so thoughtfully about a guy. Then her smile suddenly turned into a frown. Now she had a better idea of the guilt Roxas felt about not allowing Naminé to have genuine feelings for a guy. During their little chat a few days ago, Kairi told Roxas about Naminé's supposed history with boys. She wasn't kidding when she said Naminé has never been truly into a guy in her life. Then Roxas said something about how the guilt made him feel even worse because he felt like it was Naminé's right to have genuine feelings for a guy and he was going to take that right away from her by being forced to marry her.

"I'm surprised you even answered my question. You normally don't say anything when it comes to a guy" Kairi remarked.

"Maybe that's because I've never really been this close to a guy" Naminé said with a small chuckle.

"Nah…there was Pence"

"Well yeah, but I mean, not like with Riku, that is"

Their conversation was cut short when they heard the sound of a car horn go off outside the gates. They both turned and saw a gray BMW. The window lowered to reveal Riku who gave them a wave. Both sisters waved back and Naminé stood up.

"There's my ride. I'll see you later, sis" Naminé said as she gave her sister a hug.

"Careful" Kairi advised in a motherly tone.

"Yeah, I know, I know" Naminé rolled her eyes and made her way to Riku's car.

"Hi Nami" Riku greeted as Naminé opened the door and sat on the passenger seat.

"Hey Riku!" Naminé greeted back with a smile.

"Let's head to the park after Frankie's?"

"Funny, I was about to ask you just that" Naminé said while she and Riku laughed.

"Great minds do think alike" Riku commented as he drove off.

"Definitely. So what's up? Is there any reason why you want to hang out today?"

Riku raised an eyebrow "Do I need a reason to hang out with you now?"

"Not really, just a question"

"Oh, because I'm so in to you and it would just break my fragile heart if I'm not within your proximity every three days" Riku retorted jokingly as he batted his eyelashes at his blonde companion.

Naminé laughed and smacked his arm playfully "Stop it you! No, really. Is something up?"

"Not really. Like I said, I just wanted to spend time with you" Riku admitted, making Naminé feel warm inside.

The two continued to chat on their way to the restaurant they always seemed to eat at whenever they were together. After a heavy lunch, both drove to the park, where they hung out for several hours. They sat on the bench near the fountain that was located on the center of the park and continued talking.

"So how was that dinner thing you guys had last Saturday evening?" Riku asked.

Naminé cringed. It's not that she didn't want to talk to Riku about it; heck she would talk about anything with Riku. It's just that she wasn't keen on sharing the…rather emotional experience to anyone. "It was nice"

"Your family ate with Roxas', right?"

"Yes"

"So how were they?" Riku pried, oddly interested in what happened which heightened Naminé's curiosity.

She sighed. It was just Riku after all. "It was alright. The conversation between our parents was quite pleasant. As for Roxas and I…" Naminé hesitated "…we got along just fine"

"Weren't things, you know…awkward?"

"At first, yeah, but we managed to have a civilized conversation" Naminé didn't feel the need to tell Riku about the first, emotional parts of her conversation with Roxas.

"That's good. Roxas is a nice guy after all. I mean sure, he can be an asshole but the guy is flat out nice, especially to his friends"

Naminé tilted her head slightly. All of the sudden, she was interested in what Riku had to say about the blond that is supposed to be her…fiancé. "How do you know that exactly?"

Riku turned to Naminé with a grin "He and I were seatmates during the first semester of our freshman year, remember?"

Naminé thought back to the first semester of her freshman year. During English 14, she sat right behind Riku and on his left sat Aqua and on his right sat…

It was indeed Roxas.

"Oh yeah, I forgot"

"Really Nami? You were sitting right behind me and I was sitting beside him" Riku said teasingly.

"He and I weren't exactly close, you know…" Naminé trailed, a light blush covering her porcelain cheeks.

Suddenly, Riku burst out laughing. He laughed so hard he started tearing up, which caused Naminé to look at him as if he lost his mind. "What's so funny?" Naminé asked with a weird stare.

"Nothing" Riku answered as he wiped a tear from his right eye "I just remembered when he told Hayner, Pence and myself that he had a crush on you!" Riku choked out as he continued laughing maniacally.

Upon hearing this, Naminé's cheeks turned ridiculously red. Her slight blush from earlier bloomed into a full-on blush. She was speechless. Since Roxas gave her that letter during the end of their freshman year, she tended to stay away from the topic about Roxas' feelings for her…before.

"You should have seen it, Nami! He was stuttering like a teenager who just started to hit puberty!"

"Wait, so he told you about…that?"

"Yeah! Hayner, Pence and I were actually the very first ones to know. It was during our first master lecture for Lit. The four of us were talking about the girls in our section then we asked him if he liked someone in the class. After much nagging, he said he liked…YOU!" Riku almost shouted, pointing at finger at his companion.

"What's so funny about it?!" Naminé retorted frustratingly. She gave Riku a shove and crossed her arms with a pout.

"It was just so epic, Nami. Imagine a stuttering, blushing and head-scratching fifteen year-old Roxas confessing he liked you"

Just as Riku asked her to, the image formed in her mind. She imagined the said blond, with spiky hair, sun-kissed skin, vibrant, deep blue eyes and all confessing his feelings for her…the image made her blush furiously, to the point where she looked like she was going to pass out for being so red. "Shut up!"

"But admit it, Nami, he's kinda cute, eh?" Riku continued to tease.

Naminé was flattered. She truly was. A lot of boys had crushes on her during her middle school and high school years, but no one had ever liked her. The boys she had encountered earlier in her life only wanted her because she was pretty and wealthy. Roxas on the other hand…not only had a crush on her, but actually genuinely liked her. Roxas told her how beautiful she was(which reduced her to a blushing mess upon knowing), how intelligent and insightful she was every time she shared her thoughts in class, how caring she was towards her friends and most of all…how simple she was as a girl(which Roxas claimed was the reason why he liked her). He said he liked her because she didn't wear all the skimpy and revealing dresses the other girls around campus do.

Sweet words…truly flattering and touching…but…

Naminé simply didn't know him well enough…

"Ugh, whatever" Naminé rolled her eyes.

"I was just kidding, Nami" Riku said in a low voice, actually beginning to feel concerned about Naminé. Naminé simply turned away from him and crossed her arms again. Riku reached over to touch her shoulder "Hey, you okay?"

Naminé didn't respond. Riku sighed and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. He pulled Naminé closer to him, making the blonde rest her head on his shoulder. "I didn't mean to go that far…" Riku whispered "I'm sorry…"

Naminé turned to him and smiled "You don't have to apologize. I just…don't exactly like talking about that…"

"Okay, I'll stop…"

Naminé sighed and rested her head back on his shoulder "It's not that there's anything wrong with him…he looks like he's a really nice person but I don't really like to overthink about things…"

"Mhm…okay…" Riku finished as he started to rub circles around her shoulder.

Silence ensued, with Naminé and Riku simply enjoying each other's company. Eventually, they started conversing again, with Riku doing the honors.

"Wanna do something?" Riku asked.

Naminé turned to him with furrowed eyebrows "Sure, any suggestions though?"

"I asked you, you know" Riku said with a playful glare "I dunno, Library? I could read you Shakespeare again while you sleep"

Naminé had to laugh. She remembered the last time he went out with Riku to read. She kept complaining about how sleepy she was getting, so Riku challenged her to stay awake while he read Hamlet to her. She ended up falling asleep on his shoulder and she got teased to death when she woke up afterwards.

"Alright, but this time, I'm staying awake!"

"Yeah, right"

Both walked to the library since it was only a few blocks away from the park. When they got inside, they picked their books and picked a table near the window. Both started reading their respective books. At some point, Naminé laid her head on Riku's shoulder as she read, making Riku blush at the gesture. He gazed down at Naminé and saw that she had a peaceful smile on her face. She looked so beautiful. Since they were sitting near the window, the rays of the sun that peeked through illuminated Naminé's form, making her look like an angel. Riku stared at her in awe, before realizing his stupidity and returning to reading.

Almost an hour later, Naminé completely fell asleep on Riku's shoulder, her book long forgotten. Riku smiled upon realizing this. He stopped reading, laid back and rested his cheek on top of Naminé's head. Immediately, sleep teased his eyelids. He simply succumbed to its gentle call.

Riku woke up first, hours later. He stretched and looked up at the clock to see that it was already six in the afternoon. The library was closing soon. He looked down and saw Naminé still soundly sleeping in his arms. He smiled. As much as he didn't want to, he had to wake her up. It was getting pretty late. He shook her awake and eventually she woke up. She yawned and turned to him.

"It's getting pretty late. We should head back" Riku suggested.

Before Naminé could reply, her tummy grumbled. She blushed in embarrassment while Riku only chuckled. "I guess we should eat first. Will your parents be fine if I take you home a little later?"

"Yeah, it's summer anyways" Naminé responded nonchalantly. "Let's go! I want steak!" Naminé enthusiastically got on her feet and grabbed Riku's arm to lead him outside. Riku could only follow with a smile on his face.

In the end, they both had to settle for seafood, since there was no steak place that wasn't full of reservations for the night. They ate for about an hour, then Riku proceeded to drive Naminé home. Eventually, they arrived outside the Blakewood's ridiculously elegant mansion. As Naminé unbuckled her seatbelt and prepared to leave, Riku grabbed her wrist. She turned to him confusingly.

Riku simply smiled that cute smile of his and asked "Wanna have dinner this Friday? I could probably take you out for steak by then" he ended jokingly.

Naminé blushed and smiled. The familiar feeling of warmth returned to her by just seeing that smile of his. She simply nodded before replying "Sure, I'd love to. I'll hold you to that!"

Riku chuckled "I know you will. Bye!"

"Bye!"

Naminé stepped back and watched Riku drive off. With a sigh, she entered their house. She greeted her parents, then proceeded to her room. She plopped down her bed in exhaustion. However, a smile made its way to her lips as she thought back to the events of today. Today was a good day.

With that, she changed clothes and fell asleep.

As Naminé slept, on the other side of the city, a blond boy was wide awake.

Roxas was on his laptop, boringly surfing the internet just so he had something to do that wasn't too exhausting and/or illegal. All of the sudden, he heard a knock on his door.

"Come in" he declared without taking his eyes off the screen of his laptop.

"Son," a feminine voice called.

He turned and saw his mother standing on the doorway. She walked over to him and handed him an envelope. Roxas furrowed his eyebrows in confusion as he took it.

"What's this, mom?" Roxas asked as he flipped the envelope. It had a large "S" with a red fill on it and a white outline.

Roxas' mom smiled. It has been a while since his son acknowledged him as "mom". "I'm not really sure. It's a letter from your school, addressed directly to you. I didn't open it since it must be something private"

Roxas smiled from his mother's understanding. He almost forgot how great of a mom he had. "Thanks mom"

With that, Roxas' mom smiled one more time and left his room, closing the door on her way out.

Roxas continued to search the envelope. On the bottom left, it was written "To Mr. Roxas Helterbrand". He shrugged and opened the envelope. He unfolded the letter inside and read it. The letter seemed to be irrelevant to Roxas. He prepared to toss the letter aside, before he read a sentence which shocked the hell out of him.

In the face of all this, we are inviting you to attend tryouts this coming Thursday( June 21, 2015). Our team is in need of wide receivers and defensive backs, since our All-American performers have left for the NFL. The decision on which position you will play, is yours. We await your arrival, Mister Helterbrand.

Sincerely,

Coach Daniel Shaw

What

Just

Happened?

Roxas prepared to crumple the letter, thinking that it was some sort of a prank by some assholes in school. Before he was able to do so, his phone rang. He checked to see that it was his friend, Noel.

"Noel?"

"Hey, Roxas! Have you received your letter?"

"Huh? What letter?"

"That your football coach sent you, you idiot"

Roxas was concerned now. "How the hell do you know about that?"

"Let's just say I pulled a few strings…"

"You better have done it a legal way, or I might get in trouble for this"

"I did, don't worry. My father knows Coach Shaw, remember? He did all the talking about how good you were as a football player"

"Wow…thanks, to you guys, I guess" Roxas scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

"Sure man, no prob. You better get on the team this coming school year! I am going to kick your ass if you waste this chance!"

Roxas almost rolled his eyes but laughed "I know, I know"

"Good. Catch ya later bro. Gotta pack up. Going to Italy tomorrow"

"Oh, I see. Have a safe trip bro!"

"Thanks! See ya!"

"Yeah"

Roxas shook his head and noticed that a small piece of paper fell from the envelope. He picked it up and saw that it was a plane ticket to California. He stood up and went right downstairs. He saw his parents conversing amongst themselves. He coughed to catch their attention.

"Um, Mom, Dad, I'm off to California"

His parents looked at each other worriedly "Is something wrong, son?" his mother asked.

Roxas scratched the back of his head again, not knowing how to explain the situation.

"Uh…I got invited to football tryouts on Monday. I'm headed for Stanford tomorrow"

A/N: So, how was it? Please let me know, I really appreciate feedback from my readers. In the next chapter, the story will shift back to Roxas. I'm thinking about alternating chapters between Roxas and Namine's lives. Let me know if you guys wouldn't mind that. I introduced sports(specifically football) in this chapter because it will play a critical role in Roxas and Namine's relationship. How? I guess you just have to stay tuned hehe! Thank you for reading!