A/N: Omigod, so I totally screwed up because I deleted that one chapter...I accidentally posted 10 in 9's place and 11 in 10's place and so on...so, yeah...go back and read chapter 9 again because it is completely different then what it was...

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Squeenix, or Disney. (I do own a Mickey Mouse watch I bought in Disney World this past summer. It plays music. You know the song in Disney Castle in KH2? Yeah…that song…)

Chapter 12

"Babe, the phone is for you."

Demyx took the phone from Axel's hand, noticing the displeased grimace on Zexion's face at the nickname.

In the past two months, Demyx and Zexion had grown nearly inseparable and infinitely closer. He'd taken to hanging around with Axel and Roxas almost as much as Demyx himself did. Still, in all that time, two things had not changed. Zexion had not grown any more comfortable with Axel and Demyx's close affection, which was understandable. Who wanted to see his boyfriend kiss someone else, even if it was just an innocent cheek kiss? Also, Demyx had still not told Zexion about his tumors, one of which would be completely gone after work that very day.

Zexion wasn't stupid. He knew something was up. He knew Demyx wasn't telling him something, but also trusted him enough to not force an answer out of him. Demyx loved that about him.

He was understanding, smart, funny, and best of all; he was really good with Lyric. Zexion wasn't much of a children lover, but he went out of his way to be kind to Lyric and Demyx greatly appreciated that. Lyric loved him, of course, and she had taken to calling him 'Daddy Zexion', which had greatly embarrassed Demyx and made Zexion a bit uncomfortable, but they'd both adjusted eventually and now it was considered normal. Of course, Axel loved poking fun at it.

Zexion and Roxas got along really well, both having a bit of the same sense of humor and a great love of reading. Zexion and Axel, on the other hand, clashed a bit. They got along for Demyx's sake, but Axel thought Zexion was an "arrogant jerk" and Zexion thought Axel was a "frivolous moron". As long as they weren't left alone, though, they were civil to each other, and that's all Demyx could really ask.

"Hello?" he asked, holding the phone to his ear.

"Demyx, hi. This is Kairi."

His heart rate picked up.

"What is it, is Lyric all right?" His friends looked over at him in concern at the desperate tone of his voice, Axel's eyes watching him in the rearview mirror rather then the road. Kairi laughed. "Yes, yes, she's fine. I'm sorry if I scared you. I was just calling to ask your permission to take Lyric out tonight."

Demyx let out a sigh of relief and waved his hand at them to signal that everything was okay.

"Where do you want to take her?"

"I was thinking out to dinner, a movie, and then she could stay the night at my place. A girl's night, ya know?"

It was like a blessing in disguise. He wouldn't have to take care of Lyric while he was tired from his radiation.

"Yeah, that sounds nice. But…why?"

"Don't take this the wrong way, Demyx, but I think the girl needs some feminine affection."

"Feminine affection? What does that mean?" He had to admit, he was a bit offended. Was she suggesting his…masculine affection wasn't enough?

"I don't mean that in a bad way, really. You do a wonderful job with Lyric. She couldn't ask for a better father. I just mean…the girl spends all her time with males. Her parental figures are both male, not to mention she spends most of the rest of her time with Axel and Roxas. I just think she needs some feminine touches in her life."

Demyx took a deep breath and calmed himself. She had a point, really. No reason to be mad about the truth.

"Yeah, maybe that is a good idea. You girls have fun."

"We will. Goodbye." Demyx snapped the phone shut and handed it over to Axel, and then laid his forehead against the back of Roxas' seat.

"Is everything all right?" Zexion asked, his hand running soothing circles over Demyx's back.

"Yeah, everything's fine. I'm just pretty tired today."

"You're tired everyday," Zexion frowned. "Tired enough to skip a total of three weeks of school in the last month."

Demyx groaned, wishing the seat would swallow him whole. He hated having this argument with Zexion, one who based so much importance on academics.

"Zexy, I already failed the year, will you drop it? I'll test out this summer and it'll all be over. No more school for me until Lyric is older." Zexion fell silent, though Demyx was sure he would have persisted more had they been alone.

Luckily, though, they pulled up to Nicky Doodles. Demyx hardly waited for Axel to stop the car before he kissed Zexion quickly and made his escape. He knew Zexion hated PDA, but Demyx still claimed a kiss anytime he could. In a strange way, it reassured him that everything was real.

He made his way inside, waving as he passed people before going to clock in. Sora and Riku were making out against a wall in the very back and Demyx rolled his eyes at them as he passed. Those two couldn't be left alone together for more then two minutes without starting something.

"Can't you guys do that in the office? I mean, I'm all for free porn, but not so much when the stars are people I know," Demyx joked. They pulled away from each other with what looked like a bit of difficulty and Sora grinned.

"Hello," Riku greeted with a half wave.

"Hi Riku."

"How're you feeling?" Sora asked, looking a bit more serious.

"Okay. Tired, but that's how it is. I actually have my last round of radiation today," Demyx said, shoving his hoodie in his locker.

"Ah, shit, So, I've got to go. I promised my brother I'd help him with something today."

"I'll see you at home later?" he asked. Riku nodded and kissed him quickly before making his way out.

"I didn't know Riku had a brother," Demyx frowned. Sora nodded.

"Yeah, a younger brother. I think he's around your age, actually…" Sora shrugged and made his way back toward his office. Demyx watched him go before heading up to work at the counter.

Zexion leaned back in his desk chair, staring at the ceiling dotted with glow-in-the-dark stars. His brother had helped him arrange them in the shape of the constellations when he was in grade school and he'd never gotten around to taking them down. They barely glowed anymore, but the sentiment was still the same.

He glanced at the clock on the wall. His brother was supposed to be there in ten minutes to help him move their mother's things to the attic. The woman had gone crazy and ordered an entire new bedroom set. She had then informed her sons that they were to carry her old furniture into the attic and the new furniture to her bedroom. Not a lot of fun, in Zexion's opinion. He wondered why she didn't have the movers bring in the new furniture, as it was their job, but his mother wasn't exactly the sanest woman on the planet.

"Hey, Zexion! Are you home?"

Zexion stood and made his way down the stairs to see his older brother grinning at him from the front hall.

"Hello Riku," he greeted.

"Hi. Have the movers come yet?" Riku got right down to business, glancing out the window as if a furniture truck might have snuck up and parked in front of the house between the time he came inside and that moment.

"No."

"Good. I'm hoping that if we can get all mom's stuff in the attic we can get the movers to carry the stuff inside before she finds out."

Zexion sent a wry smile at his brother. "That is not a bad idea."

So they set to work.

Two hours later, all the furniture was cleared out and the two silver-haired brothers sat on the floor of their mother's room, catching up on things. It had been nearly three months since they had last spoken for more then five minutes.

"How are things going with Sora?" Zexion asked. Despite his bit of an anti-social issue, Zexion liked Sora. Of course, it was nearly impossible not to like Sora, but that was a bit beside the point.

"Great," Riku answered, his green eyes lighting up. "So is really great. Well, he's been a bit stressed out lately…"

"Why?" Zexion asked.

Riku brushed his bangs out of his eyes, a bit of a nervous habit of his.

"Well, a friend and employee of his is battling through two different brain tumors right now. You know Sora, he has concern for everyone."

Zexion blinked slowly. "Two? That's horrible." He wasn't even aware that a person could live through two tumors.

"Yeah, he's worried. I guess it's hitting him more then it would normally since they're so close. It's his niece's dad," Riku explained. "You might know him actually…He was Sora's sister's boyfriend. You remember her, you guys used to hang out a lot. His name was…oh damn, what was his name? Um…D something…"

Zexion's heart pounded in his chest. His breathing quickened and he could even feel his head spin just the slightest. He knew that Demyx was hiding something…but could it really be something so awful?

"Ah, Demyx! His name is Demyx."

Apparently so. After a long moment of numb shock, he felt anger. How could Demyx not have told him this? How could he have thought it was okay not to share something this colossal?

"Yo, Zexion, are you all right? Where are you going?" He could vaguely hear his brother calling after him as he made his way downstairs, grabbing Riku's keys off the counter. He passed his mom at the front door.

"Oh, Zexion, the movers called. They can't have the furniture delivered today, so I'll need you and Riku to bring my bed back down…Zexion? Are you listening?"

He slid into the driver's seat and started the engine, taking off down the street just as Riku rushed out after him. He didn't really know where he was going until pulled to a stop outside Nicky Doodles. Demyx was just walking out the front door towards another car. He could see a redheaded woman sitting in the driver's seat waiting patiently for him. Zexion came to a screeching halt and jumped out of the car, storming over to his boyfriend. Demyx looked shocked, stopping and staring at him as he came to a stop right in front of him.

"You son of a bitch!" Zexion snarled. Demyx's blue eyes widened and he took a step back in shock. "How could you not tell me? How long were you going to lie to me?" He wasn't yelling. However, his voice had settled down to an icy chill. It was working, apparently, because Demyx looked about two feet tall.

"I didn't want you to know," Demyx whispered.

"Why? Am I not important enough to know these things?" Zexion demanded.

"No, that's not it, Zexy. I was…I was scared…"

"How the hell do you think I feel? I couldn't even find out from you! I had to find out from my brother on accident!" Demyx's eyes were watering; he looked on the verge of crying.

"I'm sorry, Zexy! I…"

"When was I going to find out? When you died?" Demyx looked as if he'd been slapped and Zexion wished he hadn't said that. Still, he was angry and his mind wasn't working too rationally at the moment.

"I wanted to tell you…"

"Obviously not, Demyx. I've been here everyday for the past two months! You had every opportunity and you didn't bother!"

Sora came rushing out, his blue eyes wide.

"Zexion! What the hell is going on out here?" he demanded.

"You want to know what's going on here? My fucking boyfriend didn't think to tell me that he's dying!" Zexion snapped, his voice finally escalating to a yell.

"Shit…Riku told you," Sora said quietly.

"At least someone did!" Zexion snapped.

"I was going to tell you, Zexy! I was…"

"Forget it, Demyx," Zexion growled. "You've been lying to me all along. I don't want anything to do with you." He turned briskly on his heel, slid into Riku's car, and peeled out of the parking lot and back toward his house to find his brother. He had questions, and maybe asking them would distract from the tremendous guilt he was feeling.

Demyx stared blankly at the passing scenery. He couldn't believe what had just happened. Everything had been fine. Great, in fact, and suddenly Zexion knew his secret and everything sucked. Demyx was almost ready to cry. But he wouldn't. He could be strong on his own, even if he really didn't want to be.

"Are you all right, Demyx?" Ariel asked quietly after a good twenty minutes of silence.

"No. I don't want to talk about it," he muttered. She fell silent and he continued to stare at the flashing scenery, though he didn't really see it. He'd get his radiation done and he'd go home…to an empty house. To spend the night alone. Yeah. He didn't need Zexion Montague. But God, he really wanted him.

--

A/N: Yeah, so if any of you missed that, this chapter has moved us two months into the future. I couldn't help the bit of angst. It was completely necessary. What's a story without a lover's quarrel? Review and you can share my birthday snack with me. The snack consists of a single cookie the size of a paper plate (made for my sixteenth birthday by my friend Kenzi Van Slyke) and a 2 liter bottle of Dr. Pepper, both of which I feasted upon while writing this chapter.