Sooooo I fucked up the last chapter. I posted the wrong thing in it's place but immediately fixed it. You should probably go read that first so this doesn't confuse you. If you already read the correct version of the last chapter, ignore this completely!

Stay tuned for my fanboying about KH3

-.-

Chapter 12

When I wake up a couple hours later, things are tense as heck. And not Mommy-and-Daddy-aren't-talking tense. No, worse.

All three of them are in the kitchen. Nobody even looks at me when I enter, but Dad at least has the decency to say, "Good Morning, Pumpkin."

My mother takes a deep sigh and angrily stirs her gross oatmeal. And you know what? I don't even care what she's mad about. She could have at least said hi or something. I smile at him—and him only. "Morning, Daddy."

Demyx, without a word, gets up with his food and leaves the kitchen. He puts an unnecessary amount of effort into making sure he doesn't touch me as he passes me by. I sneer and walk over to grab a bowl from the cabinet. I don't have time for this. If everybody wants to act like a child today, then so be it.

I sit the bowl down on the counter and grab my box of chocolate cereal—

It's empty.

Somebody ate my cereal.

I hold in an agitated sigh and toss the box in the trash. The whole reason we have separate boxes of cereal is so no one eats all the cereal from anybody else, and yet my cereal box is empty? It shouldn't be because I barely eat any.

"Who ate my cereal?" I ask calmly.

"Demyx," my Mom answers. "He needed something to put on his stomach last night so I gave him your cereal."

I clench my fists. "Why didn't you give him some of your vegan food then?"

She looks at me like I'm blowing things out of proportion. I know I'm not. You understand why I'm angry, right? This is...some sort of microagression or whatever. She's doing this on purpose and trying to make me look or feel crazy and I won't have it.

"If Demyx wouldn't have gotten piss-drunk then he wouldn't have needed anything to put on his stomach," Dad says with a blank expression. He then looks over to me. "He'll replace your cereal the next time we send him to the store."

Mom glares. "You're really going to make him buy her an entire box of cereal just because I gave him a bowl?"

"You're right. You'll replace her cereal."

Mom snorts. "She can buy her own damn cereal. She has the money."

And that's the last straw.

"You can buy your own birthday gift then. You have the money." Immediately after saying that, I leave the room and make a beeline for my own.

I need to get out of here before I lose it.

-.-

"Hello?"

I feel very weird about calling Roxas with no warning and no actual plan, but if anyone can take my mind off of the insanity going on in my house right now, it's him.

"Hey, are you busy?" I ask.

"Sort of? I'm actually at work right now."

I facepalm. Of course he's at work because he has a life. He doesn't just sit around waiting for the right time to call or text me. I shouldn't have called him. I feel like an idiot.

"I'm really sorry. I hope I don't get you in trouble."

He laughs in a way only Roxas can. I can't explain it, but it's really nice to hear. "Nah, I'm on break right now. I got likeeeee...ten minutes left. What's up?"

"Well you're at work so nevermind. I can wait until you're free. Go—enjoy the rest of your break."

He's quiet for a couple of seconds. "You sound different. Are you okay?"

I sound different...?

"What do you mean? Is it my voice?"

"Mmm, more like your tone of voice. You sound annoyed. Or tired."

I'm both, honestly. But there's no reason to bother him at work about it. "I'm fine—"

"You're lying."

Well DANG, can I finish lying before you call me out?

"Roxas, don't do this..."

"Don't do what? Care about you? I get it if you don't want to talk about it right now but at least tell me the truth. Now I asked you if you were okay."

I sigh deeply. I really don't see the point of this. I need to be distracted, not to pay more attention to what's going on. "No, I'm not okay."

"Thank you. If you want, I can come see you after I get off of work."

My shoulders relax a bit. "Sure."

"And just so you know, you don't have to wait until I'm not doing anything to come to me. It's nothing for me to stop whatever it is that I'm doing and talk to you."

I grimace. "That's not...Roxas, you can't do that. And I'm not going to start demanding your time like that."

"You wouldn't be," Roxas says softly, but sternly. "I'm not saying blow up my phone at six in the morning because you broke a nail—I know you wouldn't do that anyway. I'm saying call if you need me, and I'll be there for you. Let me be a better friend to you than I was before."

My eyes start to sting for reasons I can't understand, let alone explain. "Okay."

"Great. Rest your nerves. I'll be there in a little while, okay?"

"Kay."

We say our goodbyes and I let him hang up first. My phone slips from between my fingers because I don't have the energy to hold it up anymore. I wish I could take a nap so I could enjoy being dead without really being dead for a while, but you know my relationship with sleep is complicated.

I don't get it. Why does Roxas have to be such a good person. It's overwhelming. It's intimidating. He's an adult who does adult things and handles his emotions like an adult. How does he have the energy? How can he put up with someone like me without getting sick of my crap?

Give it time. He must not remember how much of a brat you can be.

God, why? I don't deserve him. I should have just left him alone and let him be happy. I'm just another thing he has to worry about in his busy life.

There's a knock on my door, and I roll my eyes so hard that they nearly get stuck. "What?"

The door opens, and Demyx pops his head inside. "Hey..."

Oh great, Mom's favorite needs something.

"What?" I repeat.

He looks behind him as if he's being followed, then slips into the room. "I wanna talk."

I just stare at him. If he wants to talk he can, but I have absolutely nothing to say.

Demyx scratches the back of his head awkwardly. "I'm sorry about what I said last night...and the day before...and I'll replace your cereal."

I blink. If you couldn't tell, I remain unimpressed.

"I'm serious. I was drunk and upset and I didn't mean any of it." He walks over and takes a seat on the bed beside me. "It might not seem like it, but I have stuff I'm going through too. But with you quitting therapy, it's like nobody even cares."

"How is that—?!"

"And it's not your fault," he says quickly. "That's why I'm apologizing. I know you're not crazy and I don't blame you for anything."

I stay quiet. I appreciate the apology, I really do, but now I don't know what to say.

He turns to face the door with a small huff. "Mom and Dad are getting on my nerves."

"I agree," I mumble.

Neither of us say anything. If you ignore the muffled arguing coming from somewhere in the house, you could say it's eerily quiet. Silence is another thing I have a complicated relatiinship with. It can be so peaceful and give me time to think, but sometimes it lasts too ling and I think too...much.

"Do you even know why they're arguing?" Demyx asks suddenly.

"Apparently it's about me quitting therapy," I snort.

Demyx makes a sound that sort of sounds like a laugh. "No. It's because of Z. Dad doesn't like who I'm dating and him and Mom are really disagreeing."

My eyes go wide. "Ahh! I knew it!" I say as I shove him over. He chuckles as he rughts himself. "I knew you were dating Z! But...why does Dad care? Is she like a prostitute or something?"

He flashes a sad smile. "No. He's actually top of his class."

-.-

My dudes (and duddettes)! Holy CRAP does KH3 look good! I can't believe I legit waited 6 years for this to come out and now I'm actually playing it. I'm not going to be a douche and spoil it for those of you who haven't played it yet but these fucking graphics are CRISPY AS FUCK. When it first popped off, IT. POPPED. OFF MY GUY! It's insane yo. It's the game of the year and I will die defending my opinion.

My inner child is crying right now. I'm not finished with it but I'm getting more and more inspired as I play. I have a whole list of fics I can start just from the prologue alone, but I really want to finish this and Gaslight first. But you guys just WAIT. Great things are coming soon.

Also, thank you so much for reading. I can't say it enough how much I appreciate it.