Author's Comments: Hi. Hope your day is going well. If not, then I hope this chapter will cheer you up. It might not, though--I got a little depressed writing it. I wasn't quite sure where I was going with this chapter but somehow it turned out like this. Thank you for waiting!

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts (or its theme song). I do own Imani.

I blink and straighten my back. "Huh?"

"Go home," Tifa repeats, reaching out to take the wet rag and bottle of cleaner from my hands. "Something's wrong and it's messing up your work performance. Did you get enough sleep last night?"

"I-I did," I protest and reach out to take back the rag and the bottle. "I got seven full hours."

"You mean you were in bed for seven full hours," she reiterates skeptically. "How many of those hours did you spend asleep?"

…Three. No, two.

Instead of answering, I ask, "Am I really messing up that badly?"

She cocks an eyebrow, pulling the rag and bottle away from my reach. "You switched the measurements for sugar and baking soda in the cookie batter today."

My eyes widen and I gasp in shock. "Not!"

"You spent fifteen minutes sweeping that back corner alone. Normally you cover the whole place in ten."

"I didn't!"

"You burnt the garlic toast three times."

My shoulders sink, the weight of my errors too heavy on my conscience. "No way…"

"Go home." Without giving me a chance to object, she finishes wiping the table I'd been working on.

I sip my glass of water, staring at Demyx over the top. "So what did you want to talk about?"

He averts his gaze momentarily. "I kinda figured you'd have something you wanted to talk about. Tifa called Cloud who called me and told me you were acting weird at work."

Just the slightest I flinch. "R-Really…?"

Demyx leans forward, resting his forearms on the table between his utensils. "Is this because of your realization last night?"

Steadily I set my glass down and drown in his knowing blue eyes. "What do I do, Dem?" I moan. "I'm such a hypocrite."

"No you're not." He sighs. "You're just enlightened."

"But I don't know what to do now!" I cry, my fingers fiddling with the edges of my napkin. "I've never been in this situation before!"

His head nods patiently. "Yes you have. Remember Riku?"

"That was completely different," I protest, embarrassment tinting my cheeks pink. "Riku and I are good friends from high school. Riku isn't a player. Riku didn't purposefully bug me every second. Riku only got hold of me because I was physically attracted to him just like all his fangirls. I wasn't in love with him."

His eyebrows shoot up. "So you're in love with Axel?"

Heat overlaps my blush like a tidal wave. "Nnnnnn…maybe."

A cowbell jingles as Clarabelle trots over, a plate of steaming food in each hand. "Mushroom burger deluxe for Demyx," she places a plate before him, "and a veggie burger for Imani."

"Thanks!" Demyx grins and digs in as she leaves.

"Demyx!" I nearly whine, poking at my food. "What do I do?"

After swallowing a huge bite, he proclaims, "Celebrate."

I gape. "C-Celebrate? Celebrate what?"

"Graduating from your stubborn denial," he says simply. "You should celebrate your love for him by being openly honest with him and showing him how much he means to you."

My jaw drops and my eyes widen as I run the sentence through my head several times. No matter how many times I repeat it, the suggestion sounds completely ridiculous.

"You look at me as if I've grown an extra head."

"I could handle you having two heads better than making it completely obvious that I like Axel."

"You love him. Don't reword your feelings."

I shake my head defiantly. "I'm not doing it. That's like confessing."

"Well you're gonna have to tell him sometime." He chomps his burger. "You can't just wait for him to figure it out on his own, especially if you intend to hide it from him."

"But if he finds out, then what? He'll take advantage of my feelings and then abandon me like all those girls he did when he was rooming with you."

"He won't. He's not that immature."

"Yes he is. You have no idea what he's put me through."

"I get that you're caught off guard at your feelings, but I think you're overreacting."

"Well I think you're under…reacting…"

He snorts and waves a hand at my plate. "Eat. Your brain's exhausted from all the unnecessary stress you're piling up."

"It's not unnecessary! It's logical! It's very necessary!"

"Eat." He eyes me, a warning flashing clearly and disappearing only when I reluctantly pick up my burger and take a bite. "How long has it been since you met Axel?"

"Twelve days," I mumble between bites. "For twelve days he's been torturing me."

Demyx wipes his mouth, humming thoughtfully into his napkin. "Huh. He's never spent this much time giving attention to a girl."

"Because he's never met a girl who's been this difficult to get into bed," I answer, rolling my eyes. Don't bring my hopes up, I add mentally.

"Actually, he has. Larxene was way more difficult than you."

A bullet shoots through my chest. "L-Larxene…?"

"The massage therapist at Radiant Garden," he nods. "That was before she got hired, though."

"Ah…" I slowly nod, despair clouding my mind. So she's the kind of girl he goes after…

"It took him three days to convince her," Demyx continues, his lips smacking from the grease of his burger. "I don't know the details, but he offered her his position at Radiant Garden in order to get through to her."

I sputter, "He was a massage therapist?"

He nods again. "To this day, he's got mixed feelings about the whole thing. If he didn't convince her, he'd never have found the time to intern at the hospital and he'd never have had to know Larxene the bitch."

"That doesn't make sense." My eyebrows furrow. "Why would he bribe her with his job in order to sleep with her?"

Demyx shrugs. He takes my purse, pulls out my cell phone, and plugs in a few numbers. "Ask him."

"What're you doing?" I ask despite knowing exactly what he is doing. "Don't call him! It's fine. I don't care."

"You don't care why Axel went through so much effort to sleep with Larxene?" He gives me a doubtful glance, positioning the phone next to his ear. "Right."

"Don't call him!" I demand, dropping my burger and wiping my fingers quickly before reaching for the phone.

He pulls away, a sly grin on his face. "Hello? Axel? It's Demyx."

Karma. A little voice in my head reminds me that I did the same thing to Namine and Kairi, but I squash it immediately. "Hang up!" I hiss.

"Yeah, I'm using Imani's phone. She wants to ask you something."

"No I don't! Hang! UP!"

"I'll put her on." He holds it away long enough to give me a warning look. "Don't hang up. Ask him."

The moment I have the phone in my hand, I press the red "end call" button. "Are you crazy?" I glare at him. "I'm not asking him."

"It's going to eat at your brain until you do," he sighs.

Stubbornly, I shrug and stuff my phone back into my bag. "I'll deal with it."

Sometimes I hate being stubborn. I get crap for it sooner or later.

In you and I, there's a new land…

"UGH! Stop calling me!" I resist the urge to throw my phone at the wall, opting for pressing the side button and silencing it.

Roxas chuckles, his pen scribbling across some paperwork. "Who's calling you?"

Once the "Missed Call" screen pops up (for the seventh time), I quickly flip open the phone and put it on silent mode. "Axel."

"Why's he calling you?"

"Because Demyx was trying to get me to ask him something but I didn't and now he's probably trying to bug me until I cave in and ask."

"That sounds like something he'd do," he says absentmindedly. "And you're here because you want to get rid of the stress he's causing you?"

I hesitate, my breath halting midway in my throat. "In a way…I guess."

He nods and scans the computer screen, a businesslike air settling around the front desk of Radiant Garden. "Should I try squeezing you in for a massage with Lexaeus?"

"Oh no," I shake my head, laughing nervously. "I'm not here for anything like that. I actually wanted to ask you something."

His eyebrows nearly disappear beneath his bangs. "Me?"

"Yeah." A slight quiver takes over my voice as jitters seize my heart. "It's about Axel and Larxene…"

"They're not going out, if that's what you're wondering." One corner of his mouth pulls up in a smirk. "He's free for your taking."

My words clog up my mouth and I'm left sputtering embarrassedly. "T-That's not it. It-It's about how Larxene got hired here."

"How she got hired?" he repeats.

"I heard Axel was involved somehow."

Setting down his pen and drumming his fingertips on the desktop, Roxas's forehead wrinkles as he forms his words into sentences. "I only know that Axel quit working here a few months before Larxene got hired and that they knew each other from a chance encounter at a bar. I think Axel recommended Larxene as his replacement since Lexaeus was getting slammed with customers."

I swallow thickly, garnering the courage to ask, "Have you heard anything about Axel convincing Larxene to sl…sleep with him to get the job?"

His face twists into a grimace. "Axel sleeping with Larxene? Gross!"

"Shhh!" I jam a pointer finger to my lips frantically. "So you don't think they'd do that?"

"Hell no!" he hisses. "Who'd want to sleep with her?"

"I heard my name."

We share a despairing look as we turn towards the voice. Larxene, arms crossed and eyebrow quirked skeptically, taps one foot impatiently as Roxas and I stutter.

"You must have heard incorrectly," I shrug, plastering an undisturbed mask on my face.

"No, I don't think I did," she drawls, her antenna-like bangs bobbing slightly. "What was that about me and Axel?"

"Nothing!" I shift my bag on my shoulder and spin on my heel, calling my goodbye to Roxas.

"Eleven missed calls," I read aloud, exiting out of the screen before being launched into a new notice. "Four new voice messages."

"Well aren't you the social butterfly today?" Kairi comments. Her eyes are glued to the computer screen, an occasional clicking breaking the silence of the room.

I roll my eyes. "They're all from the same person."

"Who?" Click click.

"Guess. Fourteen new text messages."

"Axel?"

I nibble my lip in mild frustration. Of course she'd guess correctly on the first try. She didn't even pause to think. "Should I listen to the voice messages or read the texts first?"

"Why's he calling and texting you so much?" Click.

"It's not important." Deciding on the text messages after realizing that hearing his very attractive voice might give me a heart attack, I open up my inbox and scroll to the first message from him.

Imani. It's Axel. Give me a call. Delete.

"Tell me," Kairi insists. Click.

I know you're there. Call me. Delete.

"You don't need to know."

What the hell, Imani? CALL. Delete.

"But I want to know.

You had a question for me right? Tell me. Delete.

You're not mad at me, are you? If you aren't then call. Or text. Texting works, too. Delete.

Demyx says you're not mad at me so why aren't you calling me? Delete.

This is getting REALLY stupid, Imani. Call me, dammit. Delete.

"Imani! Tell me."

I roll over on the bed. "It's not worth telling."

If you're not gonna call or text, I'm gonna hunt you down. Commit it to memory. Delete.

I WILL FIND YOU. Delete.

"Whoa," Kairi exclaims, her voice inches from my ear. "He sounds stalkerish."

I scream, backing up against the wall next to the bed. "Don't read over my shoulder!"

Not at workplace. Professor Aerith said you had today off. Delete.

"Then tell me what's going on!" she whines, crawling onto the bed to catch sight of my cell phone screen again.

You work at two places? You're crazy. Delete.

Not at other workplace. I will find you…eventually. Delete.

Kairi laughs and I manage a slight snort. "Wow, he's really set on finding you."

"Creep," I mutter.

Not at Radiant Garden. Roxas said you stopped in though. Delete.

Where the hell are you?! Delete.

Finally my inbox is empty and clean. "He likes texting," I note pointlessly.

"What'd his voice messages say?" Kairi asks, taking my phone from me.

Before I can answer, though, the phone lights up with a new text message.

One place left.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

I jump, my eyes darting to the door. "Oh no…"

"Ooh, what now, Imani?" Kairi taunts, handing me my phone and slipping off the bed to answer the door.

"No!" I hiss. "Don't!"

"Why?" she singsongs, her hand on the knob.

My heart pounds as I whirl around for a hiding spot.

Knock knock.

"Coming!" Kairi calls, turning her hand—

With a squeak I dash underneath my bed, sliding as close to the wall as I can and holding my breath.

"Hey Axel. What's up?"

"Hey."

That single word sends jolts of electricity through my limbs.

"Do you know where I can find Imani?"

Has he always pronounced my name that way? Damn those sultry tones.

"I'm sure she's around here somewhere. Have you tried looking for her at work?"

"I tried everywhere I could think of. I even tried Radiant Garden but Roxas couldn't give me any hints." Footsteps thump through the carpet as he enters fully and Kairi shuts the door.

He doesn't sound very concerned about me. He sounds quite relaxed, in fact.

"You know what? I'll help you find her. She might be somewhere on campus."

My forehead creases. What's she saying? She knows where I am.

"That'd be great."

Another shiver crawls up my spine. Axel rolls his 'r's?

"I'll check the library. Sometimes she studies there and loses track of time. Be right back." She jogs to the door, yanks it open, then slams it shut.

…Oh. Now I get it.

"Where could she be?" Axel wonders aloud, a playful tone in his voice.

I swear I'll get back at her for this.

"Maybe if I text her one more time…"

I bite my lip, my limbs tensing up in apprehension. Hopefully he doesn't notice the glow from my phone down here.

In you and I, there's a new land…

A gasp slips from my mouth. I thought my phone was on silent mode!

My sanctuary, my san—

Hurriedly I do whatever I have to in order to shut my phone up. My thumb ends up flipping the phone flaps apart to read the message.

Found you.

Clothes rustle outside the bed and soon Axel's green eyes dip down to the space I hid--trapped myself in. "Hey there," he purrs, laying down his head to see me better.

The moment I meet his gaze my heart kicks into fourth gear, the rapid beats filling my ears. I can only manage to look into his eyes for three seconds before the sparks stinging my eyes threaten to blind me for good.

"Did you get my messages?"

The carpet scratches my cheek as I nod. "I only read the texts," I mutter. "Didn't get around to listening to the voice messages."

"You didn't miss much, then."

I'm sure I didn't. The "I WILL FIND YOU" messages spelled everything out just fine.

"I didn't sleep with Larxene."

Crap. I should've told Roxas not to mention anything.

"Almost did, but I had to chase her out because she was so sadistic," he goes on casually. "I bribed her with a possible job at Radiant Garden to get her to sleep with me. She needed a better-paying gig than being a waitress at a bar and I needed to get rid of my boredom. Turns out she wasn't worth it."

Sharp pangs stab at my gut with every word. He went through all that effort just because he was bored?

"Did that answer your question?"

A dangerous stinging sensation builds up behind my eyes. "Absolutely," I mutter.

"So we're clear, then?" he asks, a hand slithering closer to grab my wrist and burn my skin. "We're okay?"

Tightening my hold on my phone, I purse my lips to hold in my true thoughts as I nod stiffly and allow him to pull me out from underneath the bed.

We're perfectly clear, but we're certainly not okay.

Author's Afterthought: I threw in a complete 360 mood swing! Hope you at least enjoyed reading what happens next. (Imani getting her heart broken is not enjoyable, of course.) I'll update as soon as I can--I started writing the next chapter. Please leave a review!