Hey hey hey, my beautiful readers. I have yet another excuse for my late update. Yep, this time it's because my internet has been down for the last few days, so, obviously there was no way for me to put this up.

Shout out to an anonymous reviewer who refers to him/herself as M (Death Note reference?), who left me a very extensive and thorough review! Your criticism was greatly appreciated, and I double checked this chapter for errors. Also, about what you said about my contradicting myself, I'm not sure specifically what you're talking about, but inner conflicts aren't exactly my strong point. I'm sorry if anything I said confused you, and if you spot it again in this chapter, please, please inform me so I can correct it.

It was also brought to my attention that the "real world" element in this story isn't exactly up to par. While that wasn't supposed to be crucial to the story (you'll find out why very, very soon) it should not be ignored. That being said, I'm considering rewriting a version in which the characters are still in school, since that's all I know, and Leon being their professor in digital photography or something. I'd leave this version up of course, but please tell me your opinions on this, since it's all for you, the reader.

Also, one more thing, ("KingdomFlameVIII, you're rambling! D:" Sorry!) if the characters in this story were given a name change and appearance alterations, is it potentially publishable? I should probably ask this later because I have crazy shit in store for you, but I'd just really like to know your opinions. I aspire to write and publish at least one book, could this be it? Let me know please please!

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Kingdom Hearts, Square Enix, or Disney. Not even Axel. Seriously, I'd be cool JUST owning Axel. And Riku. And Zexion. Actually, could I just take Organization XIII to go, please? Except Vexen, they can keep him.

"What the hell do you mean, 'Larxene is pregnant!'" Axel demanded, grabbing Demyx by the shoulders in fear. No. This cannot be happening. This is what I get for being a vile, dirty, rotten little cheater. But—fuck! I can't be a father. I just can't!

Demyx threw his hands up in the air. "I mean that there is a little embryo spawning in her uterus. And by embryo, I mean baby," he exasperatedly, "I mean, jeez, I know you don't like girls and all, but didn't you ever take Sex Ed in high school?"

"That's not what I meant," Axel growled.

"Oh," said Demyx shortly, catching on to Axel's disbelief, "Well, if it makes you feel any better, there's only approximately a one in ten chance that it's yours. That's what she told me over the phone anyways, apparently she doesn't actually know who most of them are so…"

Axel hid his face in his hands and groaned. This really wasn't the type of thing he needed to come home to, especially not drunk, frustrated, and trying to tell Demyx he was cheating on him. No sir, he was having enough trouble with blue-eyed blondes as it was. Or did Larxene have green eyes? He didn't know or care. What struck him the most was how cavalier Demyx was being about the whole pregnancy thing. Didn't it bother him at all that Axel possibly could've impregnated some girl they barely knew? A girl! He didn't even like girls.

The whole 'girls are icky' ideology that took over every elementary school boy's mind had never really left him. Women were loud, and annoying, and they squealed over everything, then later they developed growths on their chests that spit out milk and they bled from the orifice! EW.

This was not to say that every woman was a disgusting nutcase, Axel was more mature that that. He'd met several girls just that week, that day who were intelligent, kind, and not shallow in the slightest. But the thought of having to spend extensive amounts of time around one like Larxene, who shamelessly flaunted every unsatisfying womanly trait, made Axel sick to his stomach. And she was a slut, no less. From the impression he'd got from her the morning they'd met, one night stands were not that uncommon for her. Really, did she never have a father? Behind the blatant disgust he felt for her, he couldn't honestly say he didn't feel a bit sorry for her. She was violent, and she was mean, and she had a pathological need for attention.

What made her that way? He knew better than to assume that just her gender was to blame. So what was? What sort of past did she carry on her shoulders? Was she ignored as a child, maybe? Abused? What sort of family was she from? Or perhaps it was the opposite. Perhaps her parents kept her in such a sheltered environment that she felt the need to lash out to the extremes. To, as many put it, 'live her own life,' just as a big 'fuck you' to the folks. What would she do now, that everything she knew was about to change?

"Axel? Are you okay?" Demyx asked. He sounded so concerned…

He was not okay. This last bit of shit on top of the pile that was his life was the very last bit he could handle. He felt like he was going to go crazy, or fall onto the floor and die. Or both. And what was worse? He couldn't even bring himself to tell Demyx about half the things that were stressing him out. He was supposed to, of course, but he couldn't. Cowardice had gotten the best of him. He found himself shaking his head, regardless of the front he was supposed to be putting up for his boyfriend.

"No," he said miserably, his shoulders heaving and his voice becoming thick, "I'm not okay…"

Nothing was okay. He was virtually unemployed, his entire love life was going to complete shit, and to top that off, he may be forced by nature to choose someone he could never love. Maybe she deserved love, but he wouldn't ever be able to care for her like he should. Meanwhile, the one his heart truly belonged to (whose identity he still wasn't sure of) would be far beyond his reach.

"Sit down, Axel, before you fall," said Demyx softly, trying to ease Axel's shaking form onto the couch.

"No, no, let me up, let me up!" Axel shouted, flailing his arms. Thankfully, Demyx got the message and let him go, just in time for him to make it to the bathroom and vomit noisily into the toilet. Were anyone to question him, he'd try to blame the sudden action on all the alcohol he'd consumed, but in his head he knew that wasn't the case. Who knew that the fiery, confident Axel was really such a pansy?

Demyx appeared behind him within seconds, gingerly reaching around his head to take the clumps of hair that framed his face and hold them back. "I told you, you were sick," he scolded, "you shouldn't have gone in today."

Axel opened his mouth to argue and say that no, he was not ill, and even if he were, they needed the money anyway, but before he could get a word out, he was met with another mouthful of sick. Fuck, it was disgusting. When he was sure it was all out he sucked up the residue and spat the rest of the vile substance in the toilet.

"I'm not sick," he said, sniffling and shaking his head, "I'm upset. I can't be a father, when I can't even take care of myself! I'm still a kid." He moved away from the porcelain bowl and sat in a fetal position against the wall. Neither of them had turned the light on upon entering the room, so it was dimly lit only by the overhead light in the kitchen. Demyx moved over to join him.

"Hey, hey, shush," he said, placing a kiss atop Axel's head, "You're being silly. You do take care of yourself. There's nothing to worry about until there's something to worry about, okay? Stressing about it today isn't going to affect the outcome of tomorrow. What's gonna happen is gonna happen, regardless of what you do about it. There is nothing you can do but accept that and try to work with what ya got."

Axel swallowed. "But Demyx, you work two jobs. Hollow Bastion's industrious, without Poir, I'm not gonna be able to find work, unless we go somewhere crazy like Radiant Gardens where all the real designers are at. And even then, what? I have no experience other than that of a private company. I'm mediocre, how am I supposed to pay child support?"

"Maybe she won't ask you to," said Demyx, shrugging his shoulders, "And it's still just a one in ten chance, possibly more."

"But if that were the case, she wouldn't be tracking down all of the possible fathers" Axel pointed out.

He seemed to have made his point to Demyx, because the man remained silent for a few minutes. "She wants you to go to the hospital with the rest of the guys next Sunday," he said, his tone becoming increasingly gentler with each word, "I can take off work and come with you, if you like. Sundays are usually slow days anyway…"

"It's okay," Axel mumbled, wiping his mouth, "It probably wouldn't make her feel any better if she found out one of her possible baby-daddies was actually gay and in a relationship."

"Oh, she knows," Demyx responded in a matter-of-fact tone, "We chatted for a while that night at the club, that's how she got my number. Marluxia introduced us, remember? They made a bet to see if she could get into your flaming homosexual hot-pants… You really don't remember?"

Axel shook his head slowly, "All I remember is going to the club with you, then waking up in her apartment. It was really awkward; she had to introduce herself to me…" He hung his head in shame.

"Huh… wow, now I feel pretty guilty," said Demyx, shaking his head sadly, "I shouldn't have let you get so shitfaced. Or I should've at least babysat you."

Axel was in awe. He was the one wronging his lover in so many ways, yet he was the one feeling guilty? He's too good for me, Axel concluded, That has to be it. He's way too good for me and a low bastard such as myself doesn't deserve him. After a few more different wordings of the same "I don't deserve him," How can I not be happy just with him? His soul is more beautiful than mine will ever be.

"I'm the one who broke the rules," he said somberly. What Demyx still didn't know was that he'd broken more of their ground relationship rules than one. In fact, it was the only other one. Rule number one: No sleeping with women. Rule number two: no falling in love. At the time Axel had just laughed at them, assuming he'd never even have to worry about it. Oh, how wrong he'd been.

"Screw the rules, Axe, I just want you to be happy," said Demyx. "Shit happens, and ya never know what life'll toss at ya. So we should just enjoy ourselves while we can, right? 'Cause who knows what tomorrow will dump on you."

Yeah, ain't that the truth. "I wish I was strong as you, Dem," he said honestly, putting his head between his legs and begging the room to just please, please stop spinning.

He felt a cool hand brushing over his forehead, easing, comforting. "Shh, you're so brave, Axel," Demyx whispered soothingly, "Everything's gonna be okay. We'll get through it, okay?"

Axel nodded, somewhat for Demyx's sake and somewhat for his own. It was foolish to believe that this speed bump in his life would never pass, because it would, and no matter what the outcome was, eventually he would definitely have to get over it. Time does that to you. He knew that. He told himself that, over and over again. But convincing himself to believe it for the time being, that was a different matter entirely.


"Guys, I'm back," Roxas called lightly as he stepped through the door of his apartment. It was still light out, and his cheeks were still flushed from the cold, his fingers still numb, and his heart still beating at a dangerous pace at the thought of the forbidden rendezvous between himself and Axel.

"We're in here!" called Hayner from the living room. Roxas took his time shuffling out of his boots and coat, carefully retrieving from the pockets every crystal he'd collected for them. Before he entered the living room, he fixed himself a steamy mug of hot chocolate (extra marshmallows) to warm himself up.

"You would never guess where I went today," he said casually as he entered the room. He sat himself down next to Naminé on the loveseat.

"Ooh, tell us," said Olette interestedly, leaning forward to rest her elbows on her knees.

Roxas extended his previously closed fist out for everyone to see, and opened it to reveal the gleaming gemstones, eliciting several 'oohs' and 'ahs,' especially from the girls.

"The Rising Falls," he said dramatically, setting them on the coffee table in front of each of them, with the exception of Xion, who seemed to be absent from the scene. "These things were just lying around up there. And there were bigger ones too! A—" he began to say Axel, but an alarm in his head told him no, leave Axel out of this, "Marluxia picked up one the size of a golf ball! It was ridiculous—"

"Wait," Pence interrupted, "When you say the rising falls, do you mean the actual rising falls of Hollow Bastion? One of the seven legendary wonders of the worlds? They actually exist? I know Pride Rock does but the falls!"

"Huh? 'Course they do! Oh, right, forgot you don't live here," said Roxas, playful bonking himself on the head for forgetting such a silly detail, "Yeah, they're real. And they're amazing. Seriously guys, it was unbelievable. So beautiful…"

"Did you get any pictures for us?" Naminé asked hopefully.

"Actually, I did," he replied, only just remembering as she brought it up.

He went back into the kitchen and dug through his backpack, which lie on the kitchen counter, to retrieve his Terry and his point and shoot. Picking up the bag, he noticed that it felt a little lighter than usual. Had someone been going through his stuff? Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. After he'd found both cameras, he just shrugged it off and started flicking through the digital photos he'd taken of the place, deleting the, as he deemed them, 'bad shots' as he went. When he came to the end of the collection, he went back into the living room, taking his bag and both cameras with him, and passed Terry around so that everyone could see.

While they were all in an uproar over the beauty of the crystal lake, Roxas picked up his brownie. That seemed lighter too. What was going on? He opened it to find with a shock that there was no film inside. Huh! That's so odd, I could swear I put film in it this morning. Maybe I left it on the table in the art room? Or in the bag? He rummaged quickly through the knapsack, finding none.

He stood up. "I'll be right back, guys," he assured them as he left the living room and made his way down the darkened hallway. When he opened the door to the studio the first thing he noticed that they were gone. All of them, every single precious photo on his clothesline was missing. There were none hanging, nor were they set down on the table. There wasn't a hint of the glossy paper anywhere, or any canisters of undeveloped film for that matter.

"Guys!" Roxas called towards the room he'd come from, "Have any of you been in my stuff? All my photos are gone!"

"What's gone?" Naminé called back.

"My photos. The photos are missing!" He repeated.

"What!"

Roxas growled in frustration and aggressively hurried back into the living room. "All my stuff is gone. My film, the photos, everything."

Blank looks all around.

"What's with you guys?" he demanded angrily.

"Roxas, are you trying to say—" Olette began, but didn't finish. Or rather, she did finish, but she seemed to have trouble getting out the last word. Her mouth moved, but nothing came out.

"You're doing it too, Ollie!" Hayner exclaimed, jumping up off the couch.

Olette folded her arms, "I am not, I heard myself clearly," she argued crossly, pouting at them.

"Where's Xion?" Roxas inquired abruptly, ignoring the peculiar dilemma Olette and Hayner were having. Maybe Xion had taken his pictures?

"She's gone to visit some old friends," said Hayner quickly and dismissively, "But Roxas! Don't you see? We can't use the word—! See, I heard myself, but judging by all of your shocked expressions, I'd say I'm the only one that did."

He was exactly right. It was just the same as it had been with Olette. His lips moved, forming the word that Roxas realized must have been 'photo,' because that's what he'd been trying to ask them about before. But not a sound escaped Hayner's lips.

"Wait, this is ridiculous," said Pence, "Are you guys trying to pull some kind of gag on me or something? People can steal sure, but not words!"

"Actually, I was kind of thinking the same thing," said Roxas crossly, folding his arms like Olette, "especially since I can hear myself. How am I supposed to know that this isn't just you guys pulling a practical joke, and Xion's not gonna jump out of the closet in thirty seconds and say, "here's your stuff, Roxy, ha ha!"

Hayner scoffed, then put his hand to his throat and said, or mouthed, 'photo.'

"Yep, just as I thought," he said smugly to himself.

He stood up, walked over to the mouth of the hallway that led from the living room to the studio, where Roxas was leaned up against the wall. When he reached him he did something very strange. He took Roxas by the wrist and forced the palm of his hand to touch the base of his throat.

"Feel it? When I talk?" Hayner asked, "Humans have voice boxes, remember?" Indeed, with every word, Roxas could feel the shallow vibrations from Hayner's vocal cords against his hands. "Now, I'm going to mouth the word we all know is gone," he continued, mouthing the word for Roxas to clearly see. Nothing. "Now I'm actually going to say it." He moved his lips in the exact way as he had before, except this time Roxas could feel the syllables traveling through the young man's larynx, "Can't fake that."

Roxas removed his hand, convinced, and slid down the wall. Impossible! He thought repeatedly. It's not like the universe, or any human, could suddenly decide to not let anybody use a word! That shit just doesn't happen! Unless God suddenly decided He was sick of pottymouths down here, but even then, photo wasn't a dirty word. And that aside, Roxas was sure that God kept some kind of code for Himself against doing such things. It would cause massive panic worldwide!

"Wait, so you're trying to tell me that for no reason at all, suddenly we're not physically allowed to say photo?" Roxas asked incredulously, knowing that everyone understood what he was asking, even if they couldn't hear him say it.

"It would seem so, yes," said Olette gravely.

Roxas watched as they all experimentally mouthed the word photo, each trying to say it. He heard nothing. What did one do when thrown into a situation like this? He knew by his rapidly increasing heartbeat that he was nearing a state of panic, but rationally, he knew this really wasn't panic material. It's not like it was particularly dangerous for words to suddenly go missing, unless large chunks of the common language disappeared. But even then, there was always sign language. Still, it was pretty scary shit when a pending threat of losing the ability to communicate lingered over you.

"Why?" he asked miserably, completely at a loss for what to say or do.

"How about we turn on the news?" Pence suggested, "Just to see if anybody else has noticed this, or is even having this problem. For all we know, we could just be going crazy from some obscure, radioactive chemical in those rocks you gave us."

Roxas chuckled nervously, like one of those 'fill the awkward silence' laughs that weren't really sincere, but were needed in order to relieve some of the tension, even if said tension was only in the atmosphere of one's own mind.

Naminé, who was sitting closest to the television, didn't even bother searching for the remote. Instead she simply stood up and turned it on manually. It was already on the news channel, from when Roxas had been watching before Leon called him into work. He was an early riser, something none of his companions would never understand about him. The TV turned on to a news story, and then another after that, and another after that. Armed robbery, in which the criminal was caught and being put on trial; yet another missing person, added to the ever-growing list; and eye contacts that would allow the wearer to read their emails. When the news channel got to the point of talking about lazy email-reading contacts, it became safe to say that the media had not received any word (or lack thereof) on the mysterious phenomenon.

While the rest of his friends were concentrating on the TV, Roxas studied Naminé. She didn't look any different than she always did; clad in her favorite color, white. She was tiny, like a pixie, soft, fragile and beautiful. Nothing about her had changed, but Roxas felt different, something was missing, and he couldn't put his finger on it.

Perhaps in reality, it was only he himself that had changed. People changed all the time, didn't they? This was something beyond his control, surely he couldn't be blamed for it, right? Sometimes you don't need a reason or explanation, because sometimes there just isn't one. Roxas could admit that he found some comfort in that. His only problem, really, would be telling Naminé. How do you tell a girl that you don't love her anymore? Sure, she was nice to look at, and a very kind person, but had he ever really seen anything more in her? Just considering that made him feel like a shallow asshole, but he preferred honesty, even if it were only with himself and the truth did hurt.

"Hey, Hayner?"

Hayner turned around at the sound of his name to face Roxas. "Yeah, what is it?"

"Can I talk to you about something? Just us?" he asked his friend, giving him a hopeful look.

Hayner, along with everyone else, looked thoroughly confused, but he shrugged his shoulders anyway and nodded shortly. "Sure, lead the way."

Roxas would've preferred to talk to Hayner, Pence, and Olette all together, but obviously that would have been way too suspicious. He chose to ask Hayner for advice mainly because they themselves had a romantic past, and also because Olette couldn't be trusted not to spill the beans to her fellow woman. And as for Pence, he was much better at diffusing arguments, as opposed to potentially starting them.

After shutting the door to his and Naminé's room behind him, he and Hayner sat down on the bed.

"What's up?" Hayner asked casually, leaning backwards and propping himself up on one elbow, "besides the whole freakish 'we can't talk anymore' thing?"

"Ummm…" how was one supposed to say this? "You remember Axel? Yeah I like him. You know, like, more than I should, since the position of significant other in my life is currently taken…"

Hayner's first reaction, of course, was to burst out laughing. "Pah! I knew it!" he struggled to say, "Awe, wittle Woxy's got a cwush!"

"Shut up," Roxas mumbled, unable to come up with a better response, "That isn't helping."

He waited patiently for Hayner to get over his fit of giggles before continuing. "I mean, it's not the end of the world that I'm getting over Nam, we all knew it was gonna happen eventually." Hayner nodded in agreement, "What I'm really concerned about is breaking it to her that I'm totally gay for this model that I just met, as opposed to her, who I've known since what? Seventh grade?"

"I dunno, it's your choice, man," said Hayner, "Sometimes you're allowed to make selfish decisions. If you're not happy, she's not gonna be happy, and it's gonna be tense and awkward. But before you go jumping all over that, does he like you? Because if he doesn't, breaking up with her now would kind of be an epic waste of a civil relationship slash live-in housewife. No offense, but that's kind of what she is."

"Heh, none taken. But yeah, he does. He, uhh, admitted it to me today…" said Roxas, shifting uncomfortable and looking in every possible direction that wasn't Hayner.

"Oh?"

"And we made out," he finished miserably.

Hayner scrunched up his face as though in pain and made a noise that Roxas could only describe as 'sucking in a hissy breath,' as if to say 'tsk tsk Roxas, that's a foul.' "Youch," he scolded, "That's low, mate."

"Sorry," Roxas said quietly, defeated. Hayner sat up properly and thumped him on the back.

"Awe c'mon! You're only human. Just come clean to her. It can't be that bad," said Hayner, smiling reassuringly.

"But she's a woman," Roxas moaned, "I mean, don't they like, flip out and morph into weird, crazy little creatures when you tell them things like this? I've seen the movies dude, next they go around and like, scratch and gnash their teeth—"

Hayner snorted. "Don't be stupid, that only happens in high school," he said, scoffing, "Besides, this is Naminé you're talking about. The worst you'll get from her is a tear or two."

"Gee, that makes me feel loads better," said Roxas, "But can I like, not make her cry? I really don't want to hurt her feelings. Isn't there a way to go about this without sounding like a total dick? Because honestly, that's really what's bothering me."

"I don't know," said Hayner, lazily falling back down to lay spread eagled on the bed. "Maybe you should first get the conversation, or your lives, past the whole 'not together anymore' thing before you bring up the Axel thing. So that it doesn't seem so much like you're leaving her for someone else. Even if that is what you're doing, it's just the nicer thing to do… or the safer thing, since you're trying to cover your ass. But really, I think you're making a bigger deal out of this than you need to. It's not like you two will lose anything but a title."

"I just hope she sees it that way…"

"She'll be cool, you worry too much," said Hayner confidently, "At least in the end, you'll still have Axel."

"Hayner?"

"Hmm?"

"Thanks."

Hayner punched him in the shoulder lightly and embraced him in a manly type one-armed hug, "Hey, that's what friends are for, right?"

Roxas nodded. "Also Hayner?"

"Sup?"

"You should ask out Olette."

Hayner blanched. "W-what?"

Roxas shrugged at the reaction. He'd been expecting this. "You heard me," he said nonchalantly, "I know you like her. Everyone knows. Even she does, and she likes you too, you're just too dense to see it. She's been trying to tell you for years dude. I'm talking high school days. Freshman days."

Hayner's entire face brightened. "Really? How come you guys never told me?"

"We were waiting for you to figure it out on your own," Roxas laughed.

He was truly fortunate to have Hayner. How many people can you be friends with, then date, then break up with, and end up being just as good, if not better, friends than before? How many people could you give your entire trust and confidence to, because they'd already seen and heard it all from you? Roxas really missed having him around for that, just to talk to, and say all the things that he couldn't say around anyone else. He was also happy that he, for once, could play matchmaker/therapist for Hayner, instead of it being the other way around.

His best friend smiled at him like he'd just told him summer vacation had come early, "I guess I'm not so good with that kind of stuff," he admitted, smiling sheepishly, "Do you really think she likes me? But she's all like, smart, and pretty and girly and I'm all—not smart."

"Beautiful worded. Don't worry, it's endearing," Roxas assured him, "And yeah, she definitely does. She told me and Pence once, and she used to squeal over how hot you looked whenever you kicked Seifer's ass during the Struggle Championships."

Hayner looked very pleased with himself, "Yeah? I'll have to start doing those again…"

There was a short silence, in which both men sighed contentedly, each simply enjoying the company of the other.

"Listen to us, being mature," said Hayner, "Our parents always said that eventually we'd grow up, and it's really weird to actually be there. Eventually seemed like so far away, and I didn't even realize until now that we made it there. We'll have to thank those girls, Roxy, they made men out of us."

"Do you ever miss the old days?" Roxas asked suddenly.

"All the time," said Hayner nodding, "But we got tomorrow to worry about! Y'know? Live for today and all that jazz. But one thing, never let me say y'know again, I sounded way too much like Rai right there."

"Okay," Roxas agreed. "I know what you mean though. Life goes by and suddenly all you have left of the past is an old, washed out photograph."

Hayner jumped up and exclaimed, "Roxas, you just said photo!"

"So did you!" he replied upon hearing the word. "Let's go tell the others! Man, was that weird or what?"

Hayner already had his head and shoulders out the door. "Guys, the word is back! See, listen! Photo photo photo!"

This roused a chorus of several triumphant exclamations of 'photo' from everyone waiting in the living room.

"If any outsider was to walk in and see us, they would totally think we were crazy," Pence pointed out, laughing out loud at the commotion.

As soon as Roxas and Hayner made it back into the living room, their attention, as well as everyone else's, was shifted towards the doorway into the kitchen at the sound of another person entering the apartment. Within seconds, Xion was standing in the archway, completely oblivious to the odd happenings the rest of them had been experiencing only moments ago.

"Hey guys! What'd I miss?" She asked, looking like a happy puppy. Everyone swapped gazes and it was quickly decided that they should not say anything to the girl.

"You wouldn't believe us if we told you, Xi," said Naminé, shaking her head sadly and giggling at her friend's horrible timing.

"What! Tell meeeeee!" She commanded, looking wildly around the room for something that might give her hint. Obviously she couldn't find anything, as the problem they'd been facing wasn't exactly tangible.

Olette tried intervening next, before they lost control of Xion. "Just—never mind, Xi. We didn't do much, Roxas was just telling us about how he went to the Rising Falls today, and he was having trouble with his camera when we wanted to see the photos—"

There it was, the word. She said it, just to flaunt the fact that she could, and everyone in the room, save for Xion, shared a secret smile.

"What! You went to the falls! Without me!" Roxas couldn't tell whether the anger in her voice was sincere or not, but he didn't want to risk getting slapped. So he briskly trotted over to the coffee table, which held all of their crystals, and he plucked one from the pile and raised it high for her see.

"Yeah, and look what I brought for you!" He said with forced cheer. Diamonds were a girl's best friend, right? Not that these things were diamonds, at least he didn't think so, but the way Xion smiled assured him that it didn't matter one bit.

"Ooh! It's shiny! Gimme!" she cried, flinging herself towards Roxas and the gift he had for her at top speed. When she reached him, she took the little stone from him, examined it, then threw her arms around him and squealed right in his ear, "It's beautiful Roxas, thank you!"

Roxas pretended to stick his finger in his ear and wiggle it around. "Hey guys, do you think it's physically possible for her to speak without reaching maximum volume every time?"

"Of course I can," she responded serenely, "But!" Maximum volume again, "Where would the fun in that be! Do you know how powerful these vocal cords are?" She proceeded to sing a note so loudly and so high pitched Roxas was sure his ear drum had split, along with a mirror somewhere nearby.

"What the hell was that!" Hayner exclaimed, clutching his ears.

"That was a b-flat," Xion responded cheerfully.

Everyone rolled their eyes at that.

"Hey guys look! It's snowing!" said Naminé excitedly, pointing towards the window. Indeed, the little white crystals were falling in graceful clumps just outside the window. Everyone (particularly Twilight Town natives, who had never seen snow) rushed to the window to watch for a moment in awe.

This last bit of excitement was the last that Roxas felt like dealing with for the day, being the inclusive guy that he was. So he took the first opportunity he could to sit down on the loveseat with Naminé and suggest they all do something quiet, like watch a movie. They still had a good week or so left to stay, so it was agreed that this was an acceptable evening to just take a breather.

They decided on what to watch and what kind of pizza to order without much input on Roxas' part. He chose to confine himself to his own little bubble of Roxas-land, on the small couch that Naminé had picked out herself, and craftily placed right next to the heater. Roxas didn't bother the rest of them, and for the most part, surprisingly, nobody bothered him. He felt a little guilty, since they came mainly to see him. Aside from the first day they came, he hadn't spent much time with them at all… he spent it with Axel. True, he had work as an excuse today, but it felt more like a field trip than anything else.

But Hayner already knew that he needed time to think things through, and Olette had these crazy weird female sensors that apparently told her now wasn't the time to be talking to him. Aside from Xion's never ending list of probing questions about the falls, and his life in general, Roxas was pretty much left alone to his thoughts.

About halfway through the movie, he experimentally slipped his arm around Naminé's waist, just to see how she would respond, if she would respond, to see if there was any hope for a romantic relationship. Not that Roxas was big on sex in any way, but come on. Sometimes a guy just needed to be touched.

Roxas wasn't looking to compare the two or anything, but Axel liked to touch. Not extensively, but he did little things like brush their hands together while they were walking, pat him on the shoulder, ruffle his hair, and, this one seemingly being his personal favorite, cuddling to keep warm.

Now Roxas wasn't gonna say that he was a very physical kind of guy, but admittedly, he really liked the little things like that. Maybe it was just Axel's hands in general that he liked; they were bigger than his own, dry, and very warm. Their fingers fit together perfectly.

Naminé didn't move. She didn't lean into him, but she didn't flinch away either. Not even a shift in position to acknowledge the fact that she was being held. She kept her eyes glued to the T.V. screen as if nothing had changed. Guess that answered his question.

He didn't blame her, particularly, nor did he resent her. Their relationship had always been strictly neutral, and he'd never expected any more… or less. Did he really need to break up with her? Nothing would change, really, if he didn't. They didn't hold hands in public, or by themselves. They didn't go on dates, they didn't say sweet things to one another. They just... coexisted. And it was a harmonious existence. Could he really be blamed for not wanting to offset that balance?

Of course he could. It was like living a lie, and lying was wrong. But given the choice, he would live that way. Clinging to her was kind of like clinging to his identity, because he'd "loved" her for so long. Somewhere in his heart he knew he still did, in a way. But it was normal for people to not forget their first love, especially so short a time after falling out of love, right? He thought so. There would always be a place in his heart for her. But the rest of it, well, he wanted to give it to Axel, and he wanted everyone to know it. So where did that leave him? Conflicted as fuck. Decisions, decisions.

I'll ask Cloud what to do, he decided. He's the one that lives with us. After getting his input, I'll discuss it with Axel. After all, it is our relationship. That, and even after Axel's confession, it was still like an unspoken secret! They still tiptoes around the subject. It was there, and now they both knew for sure that it was there, but what they were going to do about it was still in the gray. And Roxas, he needed things in black in white.

He slept on the couch that night.

What's this? Are Roxas and the others going crazy? Stay tuned to find out!

My apologies for such a short chapter, hopefully the next one will be longer.

Coming up next! Is Axel the father of Larxene's child? What happened to his parents? Will hel get up the courage to tell Demyx about Roxas? Find out in Chapter Eight!

*self-promotion over*