Chapter Nine

Time for Fun

"I know we've already been at this school for a few weeks already, but you know what we need?"

"A nap?" asked Roxas.

"Go right back to summer vacation?" joked Xion with a giggle.

Axel rolled his eyes. "No, guys, a party."

I was thankful it was only me, Xion, Roxas, and Axel sitting at our table. If we included people like Kairi and Sora and basically all my brothers, there would really be an uproar.

"A party?" repeated Roxas. He almost choked on his apple juice when he said that.

I watched as Xion's eyes lit up. "A party? That sounds like a great idea!"

An actual choking noise was heard before Roxas turned to look at Xion. "Xion, don't you remember the last party Axel threw?"

I continued to sit there in silence, interested now in what this party was, because this was the first I heard about it.

"Didn't the cops let us go with just a warning?"

I almost choked on my own lunch.

"Yeah," Roxas said casually, "after Axel almost burned down the backyard of Demyx's place."

"Hey!" called out Axel. "It was a complete and total accident."

"Sure, pyromaniac."

Xion laughed while Roxas and Axel gave each other looks at the cafeteria table. I even giggled a little myself.

"Seriously, though, what's the harm?" asked Axel. Roxas raised an eyebrow in challenge while Xion still smiled. "This school would be completely and totally boring if we didn't throw a party."

"And when do you plan to throw this party? Tomorrow?" Roxas snorted. "Who's going to come to a party on such short notice?"

"I think you underestimate Axel's ability to lure people to parties," Xion said with a small smirk.

"And it'll be even better if we held it at the Strife house."

That made Roxas and me almost spit out our drinks.

"What?" We both exclaimed at the same time.

Axel blinked. "No matter how many times that happens with any Strife twin, I'll never get used to it."

"You can't be serious," Roxas said in a harsh whisper. He looked a little panicked, and I couldn't blame him. "Even if my dad bothered to go with it, there's Cloud you have to worry about, Axel."

"Isn't he going on a date with Aerith on Saturday anyway?" wondered Xion.

"Even if he was, he's going to think something's up. Not to mention word gets around this school pretty damn fast. So, how would he not know what was going on?"

Axel chuckled while shaking his head. "Easy. We would just get word around that there will be a kickass party tomorrow, and we'll text everyone the address the day of."

"Except Cloud," added Roxas.

"Possibly Aerith," Xion said.

"Aerith would never tell Cloud," Axel said with a scoff.

"Have you forgotten?"

Axel raised an eyebrow at Roxas.

"Nobody can lie to Cloud, and I mean nobody."

"That's why nobody wants him to be a cop," Xion said quietly.

"You'd think it'd be because nobody wants him to get shot on the job or something, but no." Roxas shook his head fervently. "There's just a lot of scary things about Cloud no one wants for police work, because he'd make all the criminals wish they were dead already."

There was a small pause until Axel said, "Anyway, come on, Roxas, this is my last year here at this school. Besides, you owe me after the pants incident."

What did he mean by that? "Roxas, what is he talking about?"

Roxas looked at me, now appearing rather embarrassed. "Um, it's nothing."

Axel grinned widely. "You see, Roxas and I bond over embarrassing moments, mainly for him more than me."

Xion snickered to herself. "Roxas ripped his pants one day, and he was trying to figure out the issue in the bathroom. So, Axel walked in and noticed and offered to give him his jacket. Roxas tried to act all prideful and told Axel he didn't need a jacket, but Roxas eventually relented. I think he still has that jacket."

"Uh, no, I gave it back to Axel yesterday," Roxas retorted.

"You still owe me," Axel told him.

Roxas groaned, grumbling to himself before he finally said, "Fine." He pointed a finger in Axel's direction. "But if you ever light anything on fire, you're paying for the damage."

Axel shrugged at that, but I could sense some discomfort with him. "Alright, deal. Don't worry about it, Roxas. This party will be like nothing ever happened. It'll be that fun."

Xion blinked at him. "That didn't really make sense, Axel."

"Oh, you know what I mean! So, Naminé, are you in?"

I didn't expect this whole conversation to suddenly turn itself around to me. Three pairs of eyes were on me, and I could feel the pressure build. Trying to swallow my juice some more, I said, "Well, uh, as long as there's no drugs…."

"I can't make any promises, but other than that it's a yes then?"

Slowly, I nodded my head.

Axel smirked. "I knew there was a reason why I liked you, Naminé."

I honestly had no idea what I was getting myself into that day.


In the halls, I could already hear a bunch of people gossip about the big party that was supposed to go down, but apparently no one knew where it was. No one would know until tomorrow, from what I heard. Some of those girls could be extremely loud.

It still amazed me how this school could spread rumors and gossip and other kinds of news rather fast, all because this school is bigger than mine.

Of course, if this was spreading around that fast, soon enough I would bump into—

"Did you know about this?"

I was confused when I walked over towards my locker, with Ven following behind. "Know about what?"

"The party," he responded. "Everyone's saying it was Axel's idea, and—" he glanced around before coming close to me to whisper "—I heard we're the ones hosting it. Is that true?"

I glanced around myself before turning back to him. "Who told you that?"

"Xion."

I gulped nervously. "Well, I—"

"Cloud is going to kill us. You know that, right?"

"Not if he doesn't find out right away," I replied as I went to grab my math materials. Once I finished gathering my own school supplies, I followed Ven so he could get his own.

He spluttered when we reached his locker. "But he will find out. You know it. I know it. Roxas knows it. Sora would know it if we told him."

I shook my head immediately. "As much as I love Sora, we both know he's not the best liar." I had to admit, Roxas was the best liar out of the four of us. Sometimes it could be scary how much he could imitate Cloud when it came to the whole "let's put our emotions on complete shutdown for a moment" type thing. So him knowing about the party was just fine for us. Ven wasn't as bad, depending on the lie and who you were talking to. The same went for me too. But Sora...he was just too good. Too pure. The poor child couldn't really lie to save his life. And having him lie to Cloud—we couldn't take that risk.

"That means you can't tell Kairi either," Ven remarked.

I stared at him. "I can't make any promises on that."

"The only good thing about this is Dad is out of town."

"What's going to be really bad is what Cloud tells him when he gets back. It'll be even worse if he breathes a word of this to Mom."

Ven took a deep, long breath before saying, "Well, we're teenagers. We live for making mistakes, right?"

"Not if it kills us in the end," I muttered bluntly.

Automatically, Ven frowned. "Thanks for the vote of confidence, Naminé."

I winced. "Sorry, I'm just telling you the truth."

He sighed. "Yeah, I know. This whole thing is just freaking me out, you know?"

"You and me both."


I was surprised everyone was able to keep the whole party a secret until tomorrow. On Saturday, Cloud left the house around five, which gave us at least two hours before the party was supposed to start at seven. Axel and some of the others that actually knew where the party was texted everybody else they knew with the address, being careful to mention certain people who weren't supposed to get the message. I didn't think the plan would work, though, because it wasn't like they could control where all the messages ended up. And people made mistakes on who to send their messages to. We could only hope this party would last long enough before we got severely punished.

I never really cared much for parties. I didn't have any friends back in Destiny Islands, so most of my time was spent as a loner if I ever did go to one. The last party I remembered going to ended up having me publicly humiliated. So all I hoped for was just to hang out a bit and maybe enjoy it with friends. Besides, the way Axel ran his parties had me curious.

I threw on some casual clothes while trying to look at least a little nice. I wore a flowy blue dress that hugged my body a bit and fell only a little past my knees. I made sure to definitely wear long underwear underneath, otherwise I just never felt confident in these kind of dresses. I wore some white flats with it, while letting my blonde hair flow freely.

By the time it was seven, people began piling in, and it quickly turned into a party. There were plenty of drinks, which included alcohol (much to Roxas' annoyance), some food, a bit of music, and tons of people just hanging out. We also had a pool, but not many people were hanging out there—yet.

"I can't believe you're throwing a party at your house when you know how Cloud's gonna react when he finds out!" Kairi told me when we were about an hour in.

I shrugged. "This was all Axel's idea, not mine. And Roxas agreed to it."

"Yeah, but so did you."

Thank you, Kairi, for reminding me when I'm trying to forget how this will probably be my last day alive.

I drank some of the punch I was given in a red cup. "So? It's still not my party to deal with."

Kairi shook her head at me. "I hope I'll see you at school on Monday after this."

"Don't get your hopes up," I reassured her with a smile. Kairi laughed.

"I think what we should really hope for is that Axel doesn't burn this house down, like he almost did with Demyx's at the last party."

I nodded my head in agreement. "Yeah, that's true. Even if something does happen, I think one of the boys has a fire extinguisher ready."

"Good," Kairi said happily. "Hey, I'm gonna go find my friend Selphie. You wanna come with?"

I met Selphie once. She seemed like a cute, interesting girl, but I didn't feel like talking to her. I never really had the heart to tell Kairi that sometimes I really didn't know what to do with that girl because she really could go on and on about anything. What didn't help was she really liked to go on and on about boys.

"No thanks," I told her. "Good luck finding her, though. A ton of people came here."

"Yeah," Kairi said with a sigh. "Well, wish me luck! And try to have some fun, okay?" She gave me a small smile before walking away to go find Selphie. I simply stood there, sipping my punch while gazing around at everyone else. There were a few people who were dancing to the music playing, which was probably some Katy Perry or Nicki Minaj or whatever someone decided to put on. Some were already a little drunk, from what I could tell. (Hopefully Axel could keep his word on making sure no one got high at the party, or let drugs in in the first place.) Others were laughing and talking, looking remotely sober. Some were making out, and I made sure not to look anywhere in that direction.

But then I noticed someone coming towards me, and I almost didn't know who it was until she stood right in front of me. "Naminé!"

I blinked, not used to her sudden closeness. "Hi, Xion. What's up?"

She looked around before grabbing hold of my hand, dragging me to some part of my house that was a bit more private. My heartbeat quickened, and all I could focus on was her hand grabbing hold of mine. Her hand was warm. Maybe it felt that way because I naturally had cold hands, but it still felt nice to me. At least they weren't warm enough they could get sweaty, like Sora's.

"You wanna get out of here?"

I almost didn't register what she said, but then I couldn't help but laugh slightly. "Isn't some handsome guy supposed to say that to me before having us ride off into the sunset to our happily ever after?" I joked without even thinking. Was there something in this punch already making me feel a little loose?

Xion smiled at me. "I was never one to always follow stereotypes. Come on! I'll ask again. You wanna get out of here?"

I wasn't really all that interested in the party in the first place, and going somewhere with Xion sounded like fun. Didn't Kairi say I should let myself have fun anyway?

I nodded.

Xion's smile became brighter. "Great! I know exactly where we can go, and I brought some alcohol with us to get a taste of when we get there." She gave me a small wink, making me feel slightly flustered. "Still feel like getting out of here?"

I wasn't too keen about the alcohol thing, but I was curious about what place she had in mind to go to. "Yeah, let's get out of here."

I set my punch down on a table and sneaked out of the party with Xion. No one seemed to be paying attention to us, surprisingly enough. They were all too focused on themselves or someone else. I didn't even think any of my siblings realized I was leaving the party without giving a warning. Oh, well. They wouldn't even notice if I was gone. I was pretty sure I was still practically invisible to a lot of people.

"Do you mind getting there by bike?" asked Xion as she placed her black backpack over her back, filled with a bit alcohol she grabbed before leaving.

I shook my head. "No, I don't."

We got on Xion's blue bike, with me riding behind her and keeping my hands steady on her shoulders, and my feet precariously rested on the back of the bike where some part was sticking out of the two wheels to give me room to rest my feet.. I smiled as the wind roared in my ears while Xion rode through the evening. It felt nice and relaxing just to be with someone else and not a bunch of people, doing what feels practically like nothing. We even laughed a bit, such as when Xion almost crashed us into the ground because I almost fell off the bike.

I realized we had hit the Station Plaza, and I was a little confused as we got off Xion's bike.

"So you wanted to bring me here?" I wondered.

Xion shook her head at me. "Not here, exactly." She pointed a finger upwards. "I wanted to bring you up to that clock tower."

When I looked up, I recognized the clock tower I barely took a glance at when I first came here a few weeks ago. The large clock tower that stood higher than most of the buildings here in Twilight Town. There were many bells to its sides, making it look as if it had wings. I never actually went on top of that thing, but my brothers apparently had. They'd usually go up with their friends to hang out, eating sea salt ice cream. I didn't see the fun in that, but that was probably because I didn't have any friends in Destiny Islands, along with another reason I wasn't proud of admitting.

"You mean way—way up there?"

My chest tightened a little, and my breaths felt a little more shallow. For once, my hands actually felt rather clammy, and I couldn't help but form them into small fists to prevent any possible shaking to be seen.

"Yeah!" said Xion brightly. I think I looked like I was about to be executed, because then she asked me, "What's wrong?"

"Oh, uh," I murmured while feeling my cheeks grow warm, "I'm just not a big fan of heights. That's all."

"That's okay," Xion reassured me. "If you fall, I'll catch you."

I didn't know why, but it was enough time to leave me too stunned to even refuse Xion's hand. Besides, she grabbed it before I could retaliate, and then she dragged me over towards the clock tower. The inside looked really scary from being so dark. Xion had to use the flashlight on her phone to help guide us through and up the stairs. The both of us coughed a bit while going up there, since the place was rather dusty. Xion also tripped a few times, because a miscalculation of steps—or maybe it was the fact the both of us were a little buzzed. I wasn't sure.

Goodness, there were so many stairs. It was understandable, from how high the clock tower was. I tried not to think about it, because it only escalated my fear of falling and being uncomfortable around heights. Xion said to me that we were almost there, and I decided to take her word for it, because I was getting tired of these stairs. I swore she also squeezed my hand in reassurance of that, but I must have been imagining things.

The door creaked when opening to the top, and I had to squint my eyes for a second to focus at the moon in the sky. This would have been so much worse if the sun was still up.

Xion and I let go of each other's hands, and she kept walking forward with her bag still on her shoulder while I hung back. Just how high were we up here? My body began shaking, and anxiety settled in while I tried to take deep, steady breaths. Since there were so many stairs, I could put a guess on exactly how high we were up here. Therefore, I felt like my drink was going to come back up soon.

"See?" said Xion with her back turned to me. "Isn't the view great up here? I wish we could have come when the sunset's here. That's what Twilight Town is really known for; it's great sunsets." She paused in her talking and glanced over at me. I could see some sparkle to her blue eyes, even if it was pretty dark out here. "What are you doing all the way over there? Come over here! The view is great!"

I stuck close to the side of the clock tower's walls. "Um, uh, no thanks. It—it looks nice from here too!"

Xion placed a hand on her hip and raised an eyebrow at me. Wow, that was such a Kairi move. I could see how they were twins at that moment. "What did I tell you before, Naminé? I'd be there to catch you if you fell!" She held out a hand towards me with a genuine smile on her face.

There was something about her I hadn't felt in a long time. Sure, I felt it with my family and the few friends I had, but they didn't really count. This was with someone I had only met awhile ago. I didn't really know what the feeling was for awhile, but maybe now with my mind more relaxed, I was able to see what I felt.

Trust.

Tentatively, I got up from my position against the wall and slowly stepped over towards Xion. Gingerly, I placed her hand in mine. Xion held it as tightly as possible without hurting me, and got me to sit over the ledge with her to look up at the stars and the shining moon while still holding hands. Even though we were sitting over a ledge, being with Xion put me at ease at least a little bit. My heart wasn't pounding as much, and my shaking had been minimized.

"Wow," I said softly. "It is quite beautiful."

"I told you." I heard some noises, and my hand was let go. I noticed Xion was looking through her bag until she brought out two bottles of—was that beer?—alcohol onto the ledge. "Have you ever tried beer before?"

"Can't say I have," I answered her.

"Me either," Xion confessed with a small laugh. "I've at least tried rum and a 'virgin' margarita or two, but never beer." She was able to open the two beer bottles with just her hands. I never understood how someone could do it with their hands. If I had any sort of bottle with that kind of cap on top, I needed a contraption to open it, or even one of the boys to help me out. "Axel told me it tastes like piss."

A small noise escaped me. "If Axel told you that, why are we trying it then?"

Xion scoffed. "Axel can be a dirty liar sometimes. So who says he's right until we try it?"

I had a feeling Axel wouldn't joke with her about alcohol and what each kind tasted like, but I didn't feel like arguing with Xion about it. "Um, okay," I said as she handed me a beer bottle. I dared to sniff it before taking a drink. Already it didn't smell appealing. I didn't think alcohol was supposed to, but some were even said to be fruity. Why couldn't beer have been one of those things?

"Okay, on a count of three, we'll both drink it at the same time," Xion said. I nodded my head. "One...two...three!"

We both took a sip at the same time.

I swallowed mine with a small cough, while Xion spit hers out over the ledge.

If I had the urge, I would have started crying. Instead, I went to put the beer down to my right with a shake of my head and a small giggle while Xion kept coughing. "Shit," she managed to say. "That tasted worse than piss."

I nodded my head in agreement. "I think Axel was trying to warn you."

"Yeah, maybe."

When the both of us managed to get over the horrible taste of beer, we just let them be and would probably dispose of them in a garbage can somewhere later. That was apparently all the alcohol Xion had brought, because she was confident we could at least handle some beer, and there was really nothing else she could steal alcohol-wise from the party apparently without being seen. I told her it was okay, and that I could now cross-off beer from my alcohol list.

So, instead, the both of us focused on the view again. The sky was so dark and blue, and the stars were shining so bright. The thought of more worlds or universes, besides our own, being out there always had me thinking. We were something small that was part of something bigger, something beautiful. It amazed me that was all I got from just looking at the stars. It made me wish I could paint it or sketch it, if only it wasn't so dark.

"When Axel, Roxas, and I became friends, we'd always come up here after school as much as we could to have sea salt ice cream together." Xion glanced at me with a curious stare. "Have you ever had sea salt ice cream?"

I nodded my head with a soft smile. "Yes, I had some with my brothers one time when I visited here, and it was really fun. It's salty yet sweet."

"Yeah," Xion said quietly.

"Do you guys still come up here?"

The girl nodded her head. "Yeah, like I said, we have sea salt ice cream together as much as we can." I saw her frown in the little light we had around here. "Axel is graduating this year, though, and soon it'll be just me and Roxas. The trio will be broken up."

I didn't like the way that sounded. Without even thinking, I placed a hand on Xion's shoulder and squeezed it gently in reassurance. "He'll visit. I'm sure of it. You all seem like really great friends, and I've only been around for at least a week and a half—or two weeks now, I guess." I took my hand from her shoulder.

She gave me a smile of gratitude. "Thanks, Naminé."

I just smiled at her in return and nodded my head, as always, when I really didn't know what to say, especially when someone was saying their thanks to me.

"You know," I said out of nowhere, "while this place seems great to hang out at with friends, it also seems kinda romantic." What the hell, Naminé? You've drank too much spiked punch.

"You think so?"

I hadn't realized at the time Xion had placed her hand over mine much until I felt something touch my hand.

"Well, yeah," I answered bluntly. Shut up, woman, shut up. "I mean, look at the stars and the moon up in the sky. It almost feels like, from up here, you could just reach out and touch them. You feel like you're on top of the world even." Then I giggled to myself. "Who am I kidding? It's not like I've ever really been in a relationship, held anyone's hand in elementary or something, or even been kissed."

"You've never been kissed?"

Good job, Naminé. Well done. Could you be anymore of a virgin?

I was thankful there wasn't that much lighting here, because I felt my face grow extremely hot when Xion asked me those words. "Uh, um, well, I—no. I never have been by anyone." I turned to Xion in embarrassment. "I've never had my first kiss, but I've always wondered what it was like—if it was as magical as people make it out to be in the movies."

Xion suddenly seemed closer to me than she seemed a few seconds ago, and her hand was still over mine the whole time. A soft smile was on her face as she whispered, "Well, would you like to find out?"

I swore my cheeks got redder. "Wh-What?"

"I mean, you don't have to say yes. I just wanted to give you an opportunity—as a friend, of course."

I had no idea what I was doing anymore when I fumbled out, "I don't want to—I mean—are you sure?"

Xion nodded her head solemnly. "I'm ready if you are."

I felt very, very naked, and I didn't know how to continue on with this. My body shook a little as we both sat under the stars, looking right at each other, and close enough to feel each other's breath on our faces. "W-Well, how does a first kiss even go?" As if subconsciously, I etched closer towards Xion.

"You kind of just let it happen," Xion said softly to me as she came closer as well. "Some people like to make some cheesy speech before it happens, make it more romantic that way, or just whatever makes them comfortable really. You kinda just know."

"Like right now?" I whispered as my stomach fluttered and my chest burned now. My heart was beating fast against my chest, and my entire body felt hot. Everything felt hot, and I wasn't sure what to do next.

"Yeah," Xion whispered right back as she placed a hand on my cheek, "like now."

Then Xion's lips touched mine, and at first I had no idea what to think. My mind was whirling, not comprehending the current action because it had never happened before, but then it took only a second to clear the haze to realize what was happening.

I wouldn't say it was always like it was in the movies, feeling some sort of spark or experiencing fireworks. It was only solemn and felt soft and light. Xion's lips felt smooth and soft against mine, and I tried to be as gentle as possible with hers, because I was afraid of hurting her or doing it wrong. Her breath was warm, but it smelled of alcohol. My breath was no better, since it probably reeked of the same thing. I almost bumped my nose against hers, so I just let her guide me through the kiss. I let her lips glide over mine gently, while her hold tightened over my hand, and I closed my eyes as I took in her breath, wanting to pull her closer to me, but decided against it. I only moved her lips against hers as gently as possible, hearing a light smack in the process.

Once we separated, it felt like I lost my breath completely. Same with Xion. I tentatively touched my lips with my fingers, not knowing what to do or say. My heart was still beating fast, and my body was still hot. I was sure my cheeks were even red now from that kiss. From the dim lighting, I swore Xion looked like she was blushing too, but she also wasn't really making eye contact with me. I noticed she wasn't even holding my hand anymore.

That kiss really only lasted for a few seconds, but it felt longer than that. That's what movies and books were right about when it came to kisses. Not to mention I felt something else; something fluttering in my stomach all the way to my chest. I wanted to say it was the alcohol, despite I didn't have much of it, but maybe it was—

Ring!

Xion sucked in a breath before fishing out her phone from the pocket of her pants before placing the phone to her ear. "Hello? Hey, Roxas. What's up?" There was a short pause until Xion's eyes grew wide. "Are you serious? Oh, shit." Her eyes then fell towards me. "Have I seen Naminé?" My stomach twisted into knots. "Erm, no, can't say I have. I'll tell you if she calls me or anything, though." Then she hung up without another word. "Turns out Cloud found out about the party and kicked everyone out."

Without another word, I grabbed the discarded beer and began to chug it, even if it was disgusting. I didn't know how else to react.

Oh, shit. He found out. He found out. We were dead, dead, dead.

Might as well drink the rest of the beer as taste of the awful fate that was going to happen to me once I got home. Xion had a surprised look on her face, even as I finished the beer and gave out a loud cough.

"Let's just keep this between us, okay?" asked Xion. I assumed that was why she told Roxas she wasn't with me at all, so we wouldn't get in trouble for doing this. I nodded my head again, not being able to fully register anything right now except the fact I was going to get executed the second I got home. "C'mon, I'll drop you off a bit ways from your house, and you can just say you decided to take a stroll or something, yeah? They'll know it's Naminé being Naminé. And if they don't fall for it, no one needs to force you to tell the truth, okay?"

"Right," I muttered.

"Now let's go. We've been out for like for two hours already, and it's best we head back."

Two hours?

I was seriously so dead when I got home.


Xion dropped me off a few blocks away from my house. My mind was screaming the entire time. First off, Xion had kissed me, and I pretty much kissed her back. She was my first kiss. We'd been out at the clock tower for two hours, and now Cloud was going to kill us-well, technically, me. I didn't know what to do or say anymore and felt like I was about to faint at any second.

"Hopefully I'll see you at school on Monday, huh?" asked Xion when I got down from the bike.

Can we kiss again?

No, I couldn't say that. It was just a one time thing. Xion was just being really nice and great and really cute and—ugh, Naminé, stop it! The alcohol is really messing with your brain now. Yeah, that's it. Maybe I was a lightweight.

"R-Right," I said again, "I hope so."

"Great. Don't forget our project is due then! And, if we want, Ms. Elsa said we could let it be put on display, so don't forget that either." With a last wave, she rode off back home. Was she even suitable to ride a bike? What were the rules for that with alcohol? I didn't know, but Xion even said she'd take care of the beer bottles, and not to worry about her getting home. So I forced myself not to.

Now I had to worry about going home myself.

The walk didn't take long, but I tried to make it as long as possible, so I wouldn't have to go inside anytime soon. Cloud was seriously going to kill me, and possibly my other brothers too, if he hadn't already. But then my mind reverted back to that kiss and how good it felt, and everything felt like it would be okay. That kiss seemed to be the only thing that was keeping me sane for now.

With a deep breath, I walked over to the front door, ignoring how the front yard looked a little trashy, and found the front door wasn't even locked. Shakily, I gripped the handle and entered into the house as quietly as possible. No one seemed to be around, so I took the time to shut the door behind me very quietly too. Then I walked forward, hoping I could get to my room in one piece, so then I wouldn't have to—

"And where the hell have you been?"

Oh, shit. He saw me.

Cloud was standing there with his arms crossed. His blue eyes were glaring at me darkly, practically looking deep into my soul and more than ready to kill me. I looked around to find none of my other brothers were in sight, and I wondered if Cloud actually killed them.

"Out," I managed to answer.

"Out where?"

"Just taking a stroll."

"A stroll?" Cloud scoffed in disbelief. "A stroll is something like maybe ten to fifteen minutes tops. You were gone for two hours, Nami. Two hours."

"Really?" I tried to sound as surprised as I possibly could without overdoing it. "Wow, I hadn't realized it lasted that long. I must have really been out of it. Sometimes I just like walking a lot, you know?"

I watched as Cloud chose this time to walk into the kitchen, and I sensed I was supposed to follow him otherwise I'd get killed. When I went in there, he held up a familiar object to me, and I realized to my utter horror that was my cellphone. There was no other cellphone that had a phone cover with a light blue background with sketched out sunflowers and a few daisies on it.

"There's about seventeen missed calls on here. Five of them from me, about seven from Roxas, three from Sora, and two from Ven. Around the second call, Ven heard something vibrating in here and discovered it was your cellphone." His eyes once more studied me carefully. "So you just decided to randomly go on a stroll without your cellphone?"

Xion had grabbed me so quickly that I hadn't even realized I was walking around without my cellphone. I should have realized something was off when Roxas called Xion instead of me. I would have picked up if he did, if my cellphone was even there.

"I-I'm sorry," I answered meekly. "I just couldn't take the people in here and desperately needed some fresh air and—"

Cloud sighed heavily as he set my phone down back on the kitchen table before walking closer to me. His eyes studied me carefully once more, and then I heard him sniff. Oh, God. "Have you been drinking?"

I began to back up slowly, not realizing I was putting myself in a corner of the kitchen while Cloud got closer. "What the hell, Naminé?" Oh, God, he was beginning to sound really angry. And he was only going to get angrier at this rate. "Out of everyone in the family, the least I expected was to have this come from you." He shook his head. "What is so damn hard about telling the truth just for once without someone having to force it out of you?"

Force it out of me?

"Just can't play it straight, huh? Well, then I guess we'll just have to force it out of you then."

Why did situations like this have to bring me horrible reminders of the past?

"You're not forcing anything out of me," I said solemnly. "I don't have to tell you everything. Don't you understand that some things are just better left unsaid? Forcing something out is nothing but torture."

While Cloud still may have looked angry, he also looked rather lost. "Naminé, what are you—"

Everything felt tense and uncomfortable. All I wanted to do was leave this room and not think about tonight anymore. I couldn't even think about the one good thing that happened, because I just wanted it all to be over with now. So I went to grab my phone and prepared myself to leave. "Just leave me alone, Cloud."

Before I could leave the kitchen, however, Cloud grabbed hold of my arm to prevent me from going anywhere. I stiffened, feeling my body grow cold as my heart began to beat a little faster again.

Don't be afraid, Naminé. It's not him or her. It's just your brother.

But I could feel myself shake a bit, because what Cloud said really bothered me. Since when did the truth ever have to be forced out of me? Or have that be said by someone in my own family? Knowing that was how they felt? The thought made me ache in my chest, and I really wanted nothing more than to isolate myself in my room now.

"Nami—"

I ripped my arm from his grasp and crossed my arms over my chest, holding my phone tightly in one of my hands while keeping my gaze to the floor. "I get it, I get it, okay? I'm grounded. Dad will have a fit when he hears about this. Got it. I'll just go to my room now." I made sure to keep my voice under control as much as possible before racing up the stairs, hoping Cloud wouldn't run after me or try to hold me back again.

He didn't.

I took a deep breath as I made my way up the stairs, trying to calm myself again as I walked into my room and closed it behind me. Lightly, I bumped my head against the back of the door and slid down with a heavy sigh. I brought my knees close to my chest while setting my phone down to the side, and placed my head against my knees.

I could have just told him I was out with Xion, but then that would get her in trouble. And, since Cloud liked to be thorough, he'd probably ask what exactly we were doing, and I wasn't always the best liar. Besides, I didn't want to risk telling him the whole truth. I didn't want to slip up with telling him we actually kissed up on the clock tower. Then that would lead to an even bigger mess. I just couldn't risk it.

This was why I never did parties.


A/N: Haha, yeah, guess who finally updated after almost two months of not updating whatsoever? (Yup, it's me, it's totally me.)

I'm so, so, so sorry for not updating in so long, guys. My life has seriously been in such a whirlwind that I'm rather surprised I'm still surviving right now. But I made it! I'm on break, and this is my Christmas gift to the ones that are still sticking with this fic. I made it rather long to make up for the long period in not updating. And I even included some Namixi for you. ;) But, yeah, it was a bit of a struggle to write because I wasn't sure how to end it. Not to mention there was other writing problems, but anyway it's here and I hope you guys enjoyed it!

I'll try to make the wait for the next updating not so long, but there is really no guarantee. It depends on how life goes for me, as well as where my inspiration falls to. But do know I will not abandon this fic. That was my never my intention and it still isn't now. The other piece of good news is things are going to get more interesting from here on out—I just can't tell you if they'll be good or bad.

Until next time!