DON'T PANIC

chapter ten; his smile, his eyes

-RxN-

A week passed since I had last seen Roxas. After the squabble him and Axel had, he politely asked us both to leave and for Axel to walk me home.

It was extremely chilly one day as I walked to the variety store at lunch to grab some hot chocolate. It was just a five minute walk down the street, so I decided that it could be good for me to get out of the school at lunch every once in a while. I still assumed my same position in the stair well every day, despite being kind of friends with Axel. I discovered that I was a lot more awkward inside of the school then I was outside of it. When I saw the redhead, I was too scared to even wave.

I crossed my arms over my chest in an attempt to keep warm as the wind harshly burned my skin. I trotted a bit faster once I was in the parking lot of the variety store and rushed inside to the warmth.

As I paid for my hot chocolate, I noticed someone standing around outside the window. He was wearing a dark gray toque with blonde hair poking out the bottom and wore a heavy black hoodie. Roxas? I wondered hopefully before rushing outside.

"Roxas!" I exclaimed, smiling happily.

His eyes darted to me furiously. "Shh!" He hushed, clasping a hand over my mouth. Half of his face was covered by a black scarf. "Don't say my name so loud, please." He said in a softer tone, removing his hand from my blushing face.

"I'm sorry." I peeped, feeling incredibly silly.

"It's okay."

"What are you doing here?"

"I came to buy cigarettes." He chuckled bashfully. "This is the only store in town that will sell to me without ID, that I'm aware of anyway. But I can't go in and ask if there are any other customers, I didn't realize that was you in there."

"Ohh, I see." I chimed.

"Well, wait here. I'll be right back." He dashed in the store and within two minutes he was back out. I smiled at him when I saw him, and I think he smiled back. "Sorry, I know you don't appreciate me smoking."

"Don't be sorry, everyone is entitled to their own decisions and opinions."

"Well I'm glad that you understand that." He looked around cautiously before sliding down the scarf and lighting a cigarette. "Needless to say, my stress level hasn't gone down." He lightly grabbed me by the arm and pulled me to the side of the building where we would likely not be seen. "So, you on lunch or something?"

I nodded weakly. "Y-Yeah. Decided to come get some hot chocolate."

"Oh, that's cool. You need to get a cell phone, Namine."

"I-I do? Why?"

"So I can get a hold of you. I'd like to be able to text you and talk to you whenever..." He awkwardly scratched his head and averted my eyes. I was a little shocked; was he... Embarrassed? About me!? That was certainly a new one.

"O-Oh." I answered awkwardly as well, face flushed. "I would like that too. My uncle said he would get me one soon... Maybe for christmas."

"That's still so far. If I bought you one, would you use it?"

"I couldn't accept that from you, Roxas."

"No really, I'd want you to have it. It would just be a pay-as-you-go one, but I would be more then happy to refill it whenever you run out of texts." He grinned bashfully and I didn't know what to say. That was so sweet, and so uncalled for... I didn't know what to make of it.

"Is it not expensive? I couldn't take money from you. After all you live on your own, and-"

"Money isn't that big of an issue for me, I'm a cheap guy. I get a welfare check every month that pays for my rent and other things; not the most admirable way to make money, but unfortunately it's all I have right now."

"S-Still..." I tried to object, but it seemed as though he had made up his mind.

"Nope, it's settled! I'm buying you a phone. And don't sweat about the cost, I won't go spending a ton of money on it. It will only get up costing me 40 bucks or so."

"That's still kind of a lot of money." I avoided making eye contact with him because my face was so red from embarrassment. Much to my surprise, Roxas placed a reassuring hand on my shoulder.

"Again, don't sweat it." He beamed. "I told you, I wanna be able to talk to you, and unfortunately it's not that smart for me to be out in public that much right now."

At that point, as much as I genuinely didn't like the idea of him spending that much money on me, I surrendered and nodded. I couldn't deny that I wanted to be able to talk to Roxas whenever I wanted too. Actually, that sounded like a dream come true...

And to think, it was his idea.

"I might as well go grab it while I'm out." He told me, flicking his cigarette butt in a puddle. "Will you meet me here when school is over? I know you have to get to class soon."

I looked a the time; only ten minutes to class. "Oh crap, you're right. I don't want to be late."

"Well, I'll meet you at this exact location when classes are over, alright?"

I smiled. "Yeah, I'll be here."

Roxas abruptly pulled me into an embrace, which needless to say, I was not prepared for. My whole body shook anxiously as I weakly attempted to hug him back, but I don't think I was doing a very good job. Suddenly, the chilly fall air wasn't getting to me so much. I think I kind of melted for a moment and solidified in time; the sensation of his body wrapped around mine was foreign yet felt somehow familiar. He let go of me and giggled at my blushing face.

"I'll see you here after school." He winked, before rushing away.

I stared after him blankly. "Y-Yeah... After school..."

All throughout last period, I was extremely nervous. My mind kept on wandering and I couldn't focus on the lesson at all. I was worried that Roxas wasn't going to show up after school. It scared me how easy it was for him to just disappear. I kept on thinking about him; his smile, his eyes, everything about him was so wonderful that I couldn't possibly imagine I would ever have someone so great as a friend.

When I thought about him, my stomach fluttered and I instantly grew anxious... But not necessarily in a bad way. I was anxious to see him again because I liked being around him so much. So when after school finally rolled around, I was at the store within five minutes. It made me smile with a warming relief when I saw that Roxas was already waiting there.

"Hey, you came!" He waved and smiled through the scarf which still covered his face.

"Of course I did." I peeped.

"I was worried you were gunna ditch me." He chuckled jokingly, reaching into his pocket. As if... I thought. I would never ditch you, Roxas. I was worried you would ditch me. For some reason I couldn't find it in myself to say my thoughts out loud, so I stood there silently as he placed a box in my hand.

"Ohh, thank you." I said shyly.

"Open it!" He urged, so hesitantly I did, and inside there was a pale pink "LG" text phone. It was oddly cute, and made me excited to know it was for me. I smiled brightly at him and he returned it.

"Thank you, Roxas." I said. "I really like it, it's pretty."

"I kinda thought you'd like the pink one." He said humbly. "I've already set it up so my number is in it, so whenever you want to talk to me just message me on it. It's a really simple phone, so you'll be able to figure it out pretty fast. You're a smart girl."

I blushed. "Thank you again. I really do appreciate it."

"No worries!" He chimed. "But unfortunately I do have to get back to my apartment."

"Oh, okay then." I probably sounded sad when I said that.

"You wanna come with?"

"Y-Yeah!" I perked up, probably seeming a little too excited, but Roxas only smiled.

"Well then, let's go."