Well, hello there! I'm surprised at how no one came up with a different scenario for that happened with Axel/Xion. You guys are rather funny ;) And not a SINGLE person said anything about how Demyx cursed ('Damn' is a bad word to him) at the end!

Ugh, I realized half of the communication in this story is via telephone. I'm sorry. And this story isn't even about Demyx trying to get Zexy to like the book anymore, lol.

dISCLAIMER: If I owned these characters, your life would be H E L L.

-xxx-

"Shit," Axel said as he leaned onto his hand, covering his eyes. He had just gotten off the phone with Kairi. She had been yelling at him about cheating on her girlfriend's brother. He realized that his blonde ex had seen him with Xion earlier that day.

"Damn it, Rox, it wasn't supposed to be this way…"

-xxx-

Yuffie sat at her desk, tapping her pen on the wood, making hardly-noticeable noises, with the scraping of chairs against tile, and scratching of pen against paper. She was humming a song she had heard on the television the night before, while at her friends Zack and Aerith's place, keeping the latter company. The phone was beeping monotonously, informing the caller that the receiver had yet to pick up his line of the phone.

"Yuffie, has he picked up yet?" A blonde male asked the secretary, from an open doorway a few steps from her desk.

"Nope!" She said cheerfully, swinging her legs back and fourth. There was a click, and a voice canceled out the beeping.

"Yuffie, stop calling me. I'm almost there." Zexion sighed.

"Well, Cloudster told me to call you!"

"That doesn't mean you have to do it."

"But he's my boss!"

"And has that ever stopped you before?"

"Nope!" She giggled, jumping up from her desk. She ran a few feet, and jumped on her boss's back as he was standing up, acting like the ninja she claimed she was.

"Argh, Yuffie! Get off!" Cloud ordered, and she ignored him, much to his dismay.

"Yuffie? I'm going to hang up now." There was a click and the dial tone went dead. The small brunette jumped off the blonde's back, and onto the floor.

"MISSION ACOMPLISHED!" Yuffie said rather loudly, but not a single person looked up. They were used to her wild antics.

"So when will he be here?"

"Soon!" She said, and skipped off to get more coffee. Her seventh cup that day.

-xxx-

When Zexion's call with the little ninja had ended, he found himself wondering who the new artist for his book would be. If he or she was good, there was a possibility that that person would stay for the rest of the books, as Aerith would be busy with her child. Cloud, his editor, had called him on Sunday to tell him that he would be meeting the new artist on Tuesday, around noon, and Cloud kept getting Yuffie to make sure Zexion would be there. It wasn't like he was ever late, though.

Sunday. When Demyx had asked him out. It wasn't like he was avoiding the blonde… it was more like neither party had bothered saying anything for the past two days. Which was unusual for Zexion's vibrant friend. He usually would have called at least six times by Monday. He was broken out of his trance-like driving as he spotted the building, and drove up next to it.

-xxx-

Zexion stood outside the meeting room fidgeting with the strap on his bag. He didn't exactly like meeting new people who knew his secret, or well, people in general. And there was a total of around ten people who knew he was the author of one of the most amazing books today. Fuu was obvious, and his parents. Then there was Cloud and Leon, his editors, although Cloud did most of the editing rather than his husband. And Yuffie, who hacked Cloud's computer one day. Then Aerith, for she did the artistic designs, and her husband who would hang around enough while she was still working. Then, the person talking over Aerith's job.

He could hear Cloud's voice through the door, although he couldn't distinguish between the words. Apparently, the new artist was a relative of Cloud's. And a girl. He was lecturing her on how she couldn't tell anyone who he was. That was part of the job. And as long as Z.I. didn't plan to tell the world who the hell he was, his staff couldn't either.

The door cracked open, and Cloud called him inside- apparently the girl had agreed to not say a word to the public.

"And remember, I'd hate to do this to you, but if you let it spill, I'll have to sue. Come in here already!" Cloud called. Zexion pushed the door aside, and his eyes widened as he recognized the girl. Her blue eyes were wearing a similar expression.

"Do you know each other?" Cloud asked, as the two looked college students staring at each other in the white meeting room.

Namine finally grasping the situation, she gasped, "Zexion is… Z.I… oh."

"Yes…" Zexion looked out the window to his right, and stared at the sun shining through it.

"I just… Can't believe you could write something that amazing!"

"Are you implying…?" Zexion raised his eyebrow in amusement as the girl's flustered face.

"N-no! I just meant, I didn't really think a college student would be able to write something this good! Apparently I was wrong…" She smiled.

"Yes, yes, we find Zexion amazing in every way… Can we get onto what you came here for, Namine?" Leon rolled his eyes. A sketchbook was thrown from Namine's side of the room, and Cloud was chuckling at the two of them.

"You really should be nicer to your cousin-in-law, Leon. And Namine, you probably are going to need that back." Leon grumbled something about too many relatives, and Namine blushed and grabbed the book.

-xxx-

"Soo… I was thinking of putting Roxel on the front, in the middle. And then Arren behind him, like this." Namine sketched the taller male behind the short blonde, as Zexion watched over her shoulder, "And then, Im going to have Shion be sitting on a tree… And the King be looking back at Roxel. And a clock tower here…."

After being given an overview of the book, Namine had thought up an idea in her head to what the characters looked like, and surprisingly, they were very similar to what Zexion had in mind. The slate-haired male also liked her style of art. It had a faded look to it, yet still be brilliantly colored. He was rather hoping Aerith wouldn't come back… As long as Namine kept his secret. He liked having an author life, and a private life.

"I was thinking… Put Kuri on the cover…" He pointed to a vacant space behind the King. Namine looked up at him, and then nodded. What the author wants, the author gets. Zexion sighed.

"Alright… I've got the basics. I'll finish this up over the next week and a half. The deadline is the Friday after this one, right?" Cloud nodded at his cousin, "And… no spilling news about the book, even to my girlfriend or brother. And no releasing the author's real name." Zexion nodded this time. She put her pencils back inside the little blue pencil case, and returned the sketchpad to her small bag; Zexion hadn't noticed it before.

Cloud and Leon both got up and left, off to do the other notorious tasks they had planned for today. Namine turned around and looked at him, still bit shocked that her friend's new friend he had picked up in a bookshop, was the author of the last few years. And the next few years to come. Zexion stared back, arms crossed in front of him.

"…Yes?" Zexion asked, unsure of what she was looking for.

"He really likes you, you know. When he first met you, he talked about you for an hour." Namine said calmly, whereas Zexion hadn't expected that at all.

"What does this have to do-" He was abruptly cut off by the smaller girl.

"Do you like him? You do, don't you?" She prodded.

"Well…" Zexion said, unsure how to answer, but opted to just admitting it. "I like him too…" He said softly.

"Then why did you turn him down?" She asked, accusingly.

"I'm… afraid of being hurt again." He mumbled, and she sighed.

"I will tell the world you are the author." Zexion's eyes widened, and he took a step back.

"What?"

"I will. I don't care if I'm sued. Cloud is my cousin, and he'll have our entire family's wrath if he does, so it would be light. For me. You, on the other hand, would have your biggest secret released to the public. Now, what would that do for you?" Namine said, defiantly. Zexion's eyes lowered. "But, I will keep the secret if you do one thing for me."

"What do you want?" He asked, bitterly. He was starting to wish he hadn't met Demyx's friends. The blonde girl was pleasant enough when working on the same side as oneself, but she was a harsh enemy when playing for the opposite team.

"You have to go on that date with Demyx."

"Huh?" He had been expecting something bigger. But, this girl was Demyx's friend. She was selfless, practically. He was remembering what it was like, when he had friends who would have done the same thing for him as she was doing for Demyx.

"So?" He sighed. "If you don't like it, you don't have to do it again. Please?" She begged.

"Alright. But you will have hell to pay, if it gets out."

"Sure!" She smiled. "Oh… And are you going to tell Dem?"

"Tell him what?" He already knew the answer, though.

"Tell him that you, his friend, is his favorite author. Ever." Zexion sighed again.

"I don't know…"

"You should. However, I won't tell him for you." She turned around and headed for the door. When she placed her hand on the handle, Zexion spoke.

"You are a really good friend, you know." She smiled, and disappeared past the door.

-xxx-

"Hello?" Demyx said, not bothering to look at the caller ID.

"Demyx?" Demyx nearly dropped the phone. He didn't really expect the slate-haired boy to call. He put down the shirt he was folding. It was Riku's anyway.

"Zexion? I'm sorry about that… Ya' know, on Sunday… Just forget about it."

"No, it's fine…"

"No! Just forget it!" Demyx said hurriedly.

"So… you don't still want to go out with me?" Zexion asked quietly. Demyx was taken aback.

"No! I do!" Demyx waved his arms around, trying to ward off the idea, then remembered that Zexion was talking to him on the phone, and couldn't see him.

"Is the offer still valid, then?"

"Yes!" Demyx said, enthusiastically.

"So…"

"Uhm, want to go to the movies? This Friday?"

"Alright. I'll talk to you later, then."

"Sure!" He heard a click, and then stopped trying to hold in his excitement. The laundry didn't get finished till Riku came home later that night.

-xxx-

"Kairi! Just let me talk to him!" Axel pleaded over the phone.

"No! How could you do that to him?" She screeched, and hung up. Axel decided he would actually go see Roxas the next day.

Kairi sighed, and plopped down on the couch next to her blonde girlfriend. She took the other girl's hand in hers.

"Must we do everything? Boys are hopeless!" Her lover giggled, and replied softly.

"Which is why I love you," Namine leaned over and kissed the redhead on the cheek.

-xxx-

I love this story, its growing on me! And thank you Musicislife166 for loving my story, despite the fact you dislike shonen ai.

Thank you! Reviews make me happy.