After leaving Xigbar's house and never daring to look back after I had quite politely thrown up all over his driveway, I realized that I didn't know where I was or where to go. I didn't want to go back to my dorm, knowing that would only bring me down. I didn't want to go see Demyx either, not knowing where he was or with Xigbar so fresh on my mind. So I just wandered, really. I eventually got my bearings, finding that I wasn't too far from the frat houses. I tended to stay away from those though, knowing that pressured kids staying up late to study could be very irksome. Or drunk. Often both, on top of horny and stressed. Finals were a killer amongst college students. The thought of finals in my mind, I groaned and headed for the library. I had to do one thing right, even if my migraine wanted me to curl up in my bed for the day. I wasn't going to ruin the last week of my college career.

The library was packed, as it was no surprise. It was fairly quiet, other than the sounds of pages turning, pens scribbling, and post-adolescent brains trying to figure out the secret code known as trigonometry. It was almost like walking into a funeral parlor. There were even some people crying, mourning the future death of their term grades. I looked for a familiar face, wondering if Demyx was around, but I didn't see him. So, flopping at a computer and booting it up, I began to give myself a neck massage, trying to nurse my headache. I was a bit surprised at how well I was dealing with my hangover, other than the headache, throwing up on Xigbar's driveway, and the odd feeling that I was missing my fire demon spirit.

So all was good.

I just stared blankly at the computer, still rubbing my neck as I tried to get my spinning brain to focus. It took me a while to finally get back into gear, getting a few texts from Demyx checking to check on me and tell me he was focusing on studying and we could hang out after finals. But honestly, after last night, I started to wonder if I ever wanted to do that again. The answer was yes. So many times. It had been way too long since I had that much fun, although I could do without the hangover and waking up in my mortal enemy's house. Maybe there would be post-finals parties. Oh no. There would definitely be post-finals parties. High-strung college kids set free led to wild party after wild party. And after over a year of being a social hermit, I wanted to break out. I wanted to be that batshit crazy kid everyone wanted to party with.

That kid that Saïx had worked to keep me away from.

It was then that I finally made a connection as to why I had been snapping in the "bad kid" direction. Saïx was gone. I had no one around to keep me out of trouble, to keep me focused. There was no motivation to study, no motivation to really do anything. There wouldn't be a blue haired nerd holding out a reward of sex and cuddling for my slaving away. And, as I realized that while staring blankly at the generic green and white wallpaper on the desktop, I pulled myself out of the chair and headed back for my dorm.

Three hours later, I had everything packed up into boxes I had gotten from the student help desk, all two of them stacked by my door. I took a seat on the bare mattress of my bed and sighed, wondering if I could just skip out now. Call my mom and come home. Then I could-

And then my stomach sank to the depths of my feet. My parents didn't know I had lost my scholarships. If they found out, I was as good as dead. I was a bloody steak floating in shark infested waters, crimson tainting the salty brine as the predators decided how to break me into as many pieces as they possibly could. I was not looking forward to the time sawed teeth would be tearing flesh from bone. I would have to stay on my flotsam for now and just hope I wouldn't be spotted.

For the next few weeks of finals that I reluctantly took, I slept on a bare mattress and spent as little time in my dorm room as possible. I didn't stay in contact with many people, as finals tended to have that effect. As soon as they were over, however, I got a call from Demyx with a reminder than made my heart shrivel up and hide in a cavity of my cranium.

"If you wanna get a good room at the summer house, you should bring your stuff now. I'll be over with my truck if you need to me to haul anything for you. Xigbar's saving a room for you, too, so hopefully you won't get stuck with roommates."

Frowning, I unlocked my dorm room and stepped around the boxes. "How many people spend the summer there?"

"A hundred, on a good year."

I tripped over my own feet, flopping down on the bed and staring at the upper bunk. "You're shitting me."

"Nope. You've been at Xiggy's house. You know how big it is!"

"Uh, not really. I kept to the living room and I never looked back. Never saw the place, really."

"Oh, well it's kinda like an apartment style. Really big. Xiggy's got a lot of money."

"So that must be why you're dating that old coot, huh?"

I didn't realize I had said it out loud until I heard Demyx's voice, which made me picture him giving me a puppy dog look and I cringed away from the phone. I hoped he didn't read into my statement too much, because God forbid he find out an emotionally discombobulated "friend" had a ridiculous crush on his seductive soul.

"What d'you mean by that…?"

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding!" I said quickly, laughing it off and quickly hopping to a safer topic. "I only got a couple boxes, so it really isn't much. When're you gonna get here?"

"Oh, uh, I can leave right now, actually. You ready?"

"Yeah, I'm all packed. I'll wait for you by the parking lot."

After exchanging our pleasantries, the call ended and I began hauling my two boxes down to the parking lot, deciding to wait by the mailbox. I watched as people began planning parties on the spot to get over the hump of finals, I overheard a few people discussing about Xigbar's summer house. That made my mood a bit lighter and easier to bear, knowing I wouldn't be so much of a third wheel. I was still a bit nervous, however, realizing that I'd be living in a house with over a hundred other people, of which I probably only knew a handful of. Believe it or not, I wasn't exactly the best at making friends. That talent had done nothing but decay as I went on. I hoped I would get a room by myself, just so I wouldn't have to go through the entire antisocial panic attack. I was used to having a room to myself, since the accident. I felt like I was walking a minefield, not knowing what was going to happen. I'd never done this sort of thing, but hey, that's what college was for, right?

Demyx showed up about ten minutes later and we managed to fit my boxes in the tiny cab of the truck with us, taking off in silence for Xigbar's. It was a bit of an awkward silence that hung between us, the music on the radio not bringing any relief. Demyx had to feel my nervousness, which was only growing like a monster in my belly, ripping me apart from the inside out. This was a bad, bad, bad idea. I should be on a plane for New York. I should not be moving in with the man who had assigned himself to the title of "mortal enemy". Because love is war, isn't it? I was going to raise a white flag at this point. But don't they say, keep your enemies close? Maybe getting in there would give me an opportunity to dissect Xigbar and Demyx's relationship with a sharp scalpel, ribbing a bloody cut between them that's destined to never come back together again. At those thoughts, the monster subsided to a pleased growling, climbing its way back into my brain to plant seeds of devious plans to get Demyx to be mine. I felt like a witch from a Disney movie, spinning ideas in my head as my fingers idly drummed against the box in my lap to the Aerosmith song filtering through static on the radio. So, so evil. But I wasn't going to win this war by fighting clean. I had to get dirty.

Turns out, Xigbar wasn't holding me a room at all. As soon as Demyx and I came through the front door, me trying to keep my eyes from staring at the size of the place that I must have missed during my hangover, the thin blonde was caught by a belt loop and was soon sucking face full-force. I didn't know why, but I was staring at the display. Demyx was shorter than Xigbar by nearly a foot, but he stood on his tiptoes and Xigbar bent down as their bodies somehow molded together perfectly, Demyx's hand reaching for Xigbar's ponytail as the old man's hands slipped past the blonde's pants and did something that made Demyx melt and moan. I was staring in both disgust and arousal, loving the sight of Demyx melting so easily as thins fingers worked under skin-tight jeans and bodies pressed desperately close, the older slowly leading them back towards a hallway. The way Demyx's body arched, squirmed, and swayed was hypnotizing, and I was staring at his ass longer than I should have, as I received a quick slap upside the back of my head to finally pull me out of it.

"If that gets you turned on, you're gonna do a helluva lot of masturbating around here."

Realizing the strain in my pants, I lowered my small boxes to cover it up, turning to see a rather interesting character behind me. Silver hair to his shoulders, aquamarine eyes, angular face with lips curled into a sneer, a Monroe piercing to match the stud on each ear and the ball on his tongue, and clothing that could easily allow me to sort him into a scene punk clique.

"Riku Kyo," I grinned, returning the sneer. "What the fuck're you doing here?"

"Looking for you, ya faggot," he teased, grabbing the sleeve of my Rob Zombie shirt to start dragging me towards a staircase. "I knew Dem was bringin' ya and I think the entire campus population knows you boned him at that party before spring break."

I stared at his back as we went up the stairs, following him like a stray puppy that had just been kicked in his very sensitive nether regions. "What're you talking about?"

"Granted everyone was stoned, drunk, or both, but Larxene hasn't shut her trap about it. Xigbar's got a fuckin' vendetta against you, dude. So 'fore he stops thinkin' about gettin' his cock up Bubble Brain's ass, let's get you moved in. You can stay with me."

I scowled, following him as we took a turn and went up another flight of stairs. "You're joking. He hasn't tried to kill me yet."

"Yet," he repeated for emphasis, taking a turn into a hallway once we reached the end of the stairs. It looked like your average dorm, but much… nicer. Plush carpet, white walls, and the occasional framed motif to set a tranquil mood.

Riku Kyo was an interesting species in himself, and I had found myself hanging out with him often, in my early college career. He was the boyfriend of Sora, the basketball team's mascot, and came to pretty much every game. He was also our unofficial water boy, who would give you a cup of water if you wanted it or not. He tended to be a quiet guy before you got to know him. After that, he wouldn't shut up. Sora's chattiness had apparently transferred to the twenty-one year old vessel of angst and self-hatred. The first thing I had noticed about him, before he had bleached his hair to such a wild shade of silver, was that he always wore long sleeves. Even with shorts in the middle of summer. Even to the beach. Now, he wore wrist cuffs with band names or spikes on leather. I had never seen him with his wrists uncovered, but it was obvious enough to assume what he was hiding correctly. After all, from what I had overheard in the locker rooms, the guy had a rough life. His parents were lost as sea when he was younger, so he grew up in foster homes. He was adopted when he was fifteen by an abusive family, no less. He ran away and, after years, found himself with a government scholarship for college and a friend named Sora to take him there.

I was so lost in trying to figure this kid out that I barely noticed him unlocking a door. I paused beside him and watched in mild amusement as he cursed loudly at the bent key, biting it between his molars to straighten it out before successfully unlocking what would soon be affectionately known as my coffin.

The room was actually nicer than I had expected. The door opened to a nice little living room, home to a futon, an easy chair, and a kitchenette that had three different brands of cereal laid out on the counter. There were three doors leading off, two of which were open to bedrooms and the third of which that had posters of post-hardcore bands and warnings to stay out. Smirking a bit, I playfully kicked at him. That was his room, he confirmed with a roll of the eyes. Pointing to a door that was wide open, leading to a rather messy room, he made an introduction to the absent patron.

"That's Xion's room. She's out right now with Sora for some shopping." His flat tone ever present, he made his way to the third room, which was perfectly clean. There was a queen sized bed already made with fresh linens, a desk with a pastel office chair, a wardrobe, and a door to my own private bathroom which, upon closer inspection, I would be sharing with a girl. After all, no guy had that much makeup stacked next to a sink. "This room's yours. You'll share a bathroom with Xion, but she's not too bad. Sora and I share a room and a bathroom on our own."

I nodded and placed the boxes down on the bed, looking out the window beside the desk. It gave way to nothing but a sight of the roof. "Nice view," I snickered, still partially hiding behind the boxes to hide my erection.

He shrugged, slipping his hands into the pockets of his Tripp pants. "You don't spend much time up here. There's a lake a couple blocks away, a pool out back, volleyball and basketball courts, a gym, and a home theater. I've also heard rumors that Xigbar recently bought the land behind his house for a shooting range."

I whistled lowly, raising an eyebrow. "That guy's fucking loaded, isn't he?"

"In more ways than one," he muttered, glancing at me and cocking an eyebrow of his own. "You wanna take care of that?"

Blushing I glanced down at the tent in my pants. "Nah. It'll go away."

He rolled his eyes, but didn't pay me much mind. He left my room, closing the door as he went and I heard him go into his own and starting up music that sounded more like screaming rape victims. Well, it could be worse, I supposed. I could be sharing a room with Demyx and Xigbar. I'd take Riku, Sora, and the mystery girl any day.

I began to unpack, but that didn't take me long. Luckily, however, I was able to get rid of my erection by the tedious work of putting my clothes away and tacking up posters on the walls with tape. I wasn't a fan of how pale everything was, but I wasn't about to complain. I could deal with plush carpet, white walls, and a light green comforter that reminded me of mint. After all, I wasn't paying for this. It seemed a bit more than generous. I opted for a nap once Riku's music stopped and I was left alone in the room. I heard him call out that he left a key for me beside the sink, to which I replied with a sleepy yawn as I cuddled down into a bed that felt like a cloud. In a matter of minutes, I was sound asleep.

This couldn't be that bad, right?