"SORA! HEY!" I turn around and realize it's Demyx. He heaves, "Jesus Christ...where'd...where'd you go?"
I shrug, grinning like a child.

"I found Hiro, he was lurking around those huts like I had thought. So I told him and Roxas to hang out OUTSIDE of the woods until I found you and Axel...Let's hope they got that."

"Have you seen Axel?"
I shake my head, "No, just been."

"Still tripping? Sounds like it."
"Mmm...yeah. I couldn't stop."

"Couldn't stop what?"

I think for a second before realizing that I had no idea as to what I'm talking about.

"...I dunno."

We walk in what seems to be circles before stopping on a track.

"Okay, if that ways where the lake is, then this way should be golden...I hope." Demyx thinks for a second before flickering his flashlight on.

Soon, we reach the lake. People were setting up tents along the lake and setting up fires.

"Damnit. I'm sorry I'm not the best GPS right now Sora."
"It's okay."

We joked a bit, even though it was still a chore for me to speak.

As we passed a long aged wall I turn my head, noticing two people necking hardcore.

I swear I see Axel's red hair, so I keep on staring as we pass by.

I see Larxene, and I see Axel.

"Wait." I push out, my heart stops.

"What?" Demyx turns and I walk back.

Is this...a hallucination?

No

No

No

No

"Axel!" I shout.

"Sora!" He stands up and I take a step back.

"Oh geez..." I hear Larxene sighing in the background.
I feel my chest fluctuating in and out.

I

I can't.

He grabs me before I could turn, making me face him.

"Sora I-"
"-Let go!" I yell, only making matters worse.

Everyone stops just to pay attention to us, and my chest tightens. I see red lipstick smeared across his face and I just can't face him anymore.

Is this some sick fucking joke?

I need to get out of here.

"Sora wait-"
"-I'm leaving." I tell Dem, pushing past him back into the dark that is the woods.

-x-

"Hey looks like we've got another one!"

Hiro and Roxas drum on some random buckets at my arrival. Usually this sort of shit would please me, but right now I'm about to lose it.

"Last one is Ax, have you seen him Sora?" Hiro asks.

I smile, "Oh yeah, I've seen him."

I roll up my sleeping bag and throw anything I left out into my bag.

"What are you doing?" Roxas asks.

"I'm leaving."
"Why?"
"...I don't want to be here anymore." I say simply before exiting the tent and heading to the docks.

I don't know how I'm going home, but I am.

I'll swim if I have to.

I can't believe him.

Tears fall off my face as I furiously wipe them away.

Fuck him.

I don't need anybody...

I walk up the docks, where very few boats remained and sit on my bag, holding onto my tears for dear life.

People look at me funny, but I could care less.

I scream into my lap, louder than I can process. My fingers soon yanking my brown hair tightly off the surface.

I scream.

As long as my lungs could hold out.

"Hey dude you okay?" I hear someone ask.

"He's fine, just havin' a bad trip." I hear Demyx breathing heavily from behind.

"Oh."

I feel Demyx lean down next to me, "Penny for your thoughts?"

"I wanna go home..." I strain out, hiding my tears.

"Take me home...please."

"Sora you sure you don't want to talk it out with him?"

I stand up and throw my bags over my shoulder, "I'm positive. I want nothing to do with him, please, I just wanna go home. I'm so sick of this bullshit always happening to me and I just want to get the fuck out of here. Please Demyx."

He hesitates, running his hand through his hair.

I look him in the eyes, "Please..."

He sighs, "Alright, but only because I don't want you hitching a ride with some murderer. Let's go."
We start walking to his boat, and Roxas calls me.

"Yeah?"
"Don't leave without me, I'm coming!"

"You don't have to. Catch a ride back with Kairi and-"
"-Just shut up. I'll be down there in a second."

-x-

We arrive to Dem's vessel, where some random guy sat with a bored look on his face.

"We done here?"
"Yup."

"Must not've been too many fish biting this year, huh?"
"I try my best."

The guys get's ready to start up the engine and Roxas jumps on.

"Sorry Dem but I'm goin with."
Dem shrugs, "No skin off my bones."

The guy throws a cigarette off the boat.

"Hey!" Dem snaps. He looks over.

"What did I say about the fishes? Don't poison them." He glares. The guy rolls his eyes and the boat starts moving.

Dem settles himself inside while we talked on the outside.

"What happened?"

I shake my head, ashamed that the very second relationship I've ever been in has just ended horribly like the first.

I'm the fool again.

I'm the cheated one, again.

I shake my head and pull my hoodie over my eyes.

I can't even cry anymore.

Nah, just too embarrassed to.

As the minutes dwindled by I kept myself occupied by rearranging the contents in my bag. Organizing the colorful t-shirts I brought for everyday of the week, and then some.

A small baggie nearly flies off the boat, hitting Roxas face instead.

"Ow. What's this?" He picks it up and starts inspecting it.

I realize it's the coke Axel and I shared yesterday.

"What the fuck is that?"
I take it back from Roxas, "It's mine now."

At least I got this much over on that bastard.

We sail for a few hours before reaching Destiny. The island is already fogged up tonight.

Roxas is nice, grabbing all my bags for me and telling me to take my time as he scurried off the docks towards my car. I walk a few feet from the boat with Dem.

I feel bad for putting him in this awkward position.

"Alright...I guess I'll be seeing you around?"

But he did chase me down.

"Demyx...can I ask you something before I go?"
"What?"

I think about my question for a sec.

I fidget in my spot, "You've been friends with Axel for a long time...is...is this the kind of shit that he does to people?"

Demyx just stands still, at a lost of words. I can tell he has a lot to say, but he doesn't want to.

He's horrible at hiding it.

He finally speaks, "I don't know what to tell you...I'm sorry."

I nod my head, "Thanks anyways."
"Wait, before you go. Here." He hands me his number on a piece of paper.

"I'm sure Hayner and I wouldn't mind helping ya feel better once you get down."

He flashes me a big smile, and it makes me feel a little better.

I smile sorely, "Thanks."

"Take care Roxas!" He waves to Roxas before heading back to the docks.

-x-

"Where is he?"

As soon as I got a hold of myself, I ran back to camp.

Away from Larxene, where I knew I had gone wrong. I wipe my face off with the inside of my shirt, seeing the makeup stains set in every where.

I run up to the tree, hoping to god that he's standing around with the group.

How could I have been so...

"What happened to Sora?" Kairi stood in front of me.

Fuck me, this is not what I need right now...

"Where is he?" I repeat, looking over to Hiro.
"He's not here, what did you do to him!"

"Nothing! Where is he?" I'm getting pissed at the second, I smell the light alcohol on Kairi's tongue and I'm wondering why no one's grabbing her away from me.

"What the fuck did you do to him Axel!" She screams, pushing me.

"I didn't do anything alright! He caught me kissing a fucking girl-that's it!"

The hush that sets in is so intense. I feel the heat on me now.

Shaaaaame on you Axel, shame.

"Retard." Namine spats out.

I feel a hard smack come across my face.

"You fucking bitch..." But somewhere inside of me, I knew I deserved it.

If not from Sora, at least from someone he cares about.

"That was for Sora...if you weren't going to be faithful then you should've hit the fucking curb! You asshole...he's way too good for you! You're the only stupid bitch here now, you and Larxene! Now because of you...I hope you rot in hell Axel!"

I start laughing, because I'm so pissed.

Namine grabs Kairi's arm and leads her away ,"Later, Hiro."

"Ladies." He waves 'em off as I step away.

Hiro walks up, patting me on the shoulder, "What happened?"

"...I already told you what happened."

I push his hand away and crawl into the tent.

-x-

"You boys are home early?"
"Change of plans. Is Donny home?" I ask going up the stairs.
"No he just-"

"-Good."

I close myself in my room and throw my bag onto the ground. My brain is racked with questions waiting to be answered. I don't know where to start.

I check my phone and see ten missed calls from him and a few texts.

Just as I'm reviewing his texts, he calls.

"What do you want?"
"Did you really just leave?"
"Yeah Axel, I really just left."

"Why?"
"Do you think that for one fucking second I would want to be there with you? You've been telling me this whole fucking time that you didn't like her...So why the fuck were you kissing her?"
He sighs, "It's not what you think."

I'm quiet, waiting for the next dumb thing to fly out of his mouth.

"...Shit Sora, you're acting as though I was fucking her."

I chuckle, "From the looks of your face you might as well been."

"It was just a kiss."
"No, it wasn't. No one kisses long enough to get caught. So what's your next stupid excuse, huh?"

"What's the fucking point Sora? You're leaving to Twilight Town in two weeks, what's the point?"
"You're right Axel, what is the point when you ask someone out, huh? What is the real point of asking someone out, when you have no intentions on acting like a normal fucking boyfriend...you dumb-ass."

He laughs, "Why are you so fucking jealous, Sora?"
"Don't be so fucking smug, Axel."

"Riku must've had his hands fulls, huh?"

Now he's done it.

I almost give him the pleasure of my internal gasp. I ball my fists, clear anger seeping from me now.

I laugh, "Oh you narcissistic bastard!"

"Oh-oh, Sora's using big words again we better hide."
"Go fuck yourself you conceited fuck!"
"Hmph. Gladly."

I hang up and take the batteries right out of my phone.

I wish people would stop doing this to me.

I almost cry, but manage to internalize it instead.

-x-

I stay up late, Axel stomping out my brain matters with the subtle fact that he exists.

Soon, t.v does jack shit to get my mind off of him.

Everything I saw.

Everything he said to me.

It repeats, over and over and over again.

I can't fucking stand him!

I stand up and knock on Roxas' door. He doesn't answer after a while so I step in. I make my way to his medicine cabinet nonchalantly after looking around for a few seconds.. His Xanax was long gone, so I look at the bottle next to it.

Vicodin.

Never had it, but I remember it being a big deal in school.

At one point everyone wanted it, even Riku told me how they felt when he broke his arm—fucking amazing.

But that could've been because of his arm being in pain and all.

What the hell...wouldn't hurt to try.

...Wait, why does Roxas have Vicodin?

I take a closer look at the bottle and realize that it's his Dad's.

"The fuck dude?"
I stare at him with a stupefied face on.

He frowns.

"It's not even yours!" I whine.

"So? It's more of mine than it is yours!"

I drop the bag on the counter, pulling out the coke that had fallen out of my bag on the boat earlier.
"Two lines. You can take it or leave it."

I put it on the counter and cross my arms. He laughs, "What, the fuck, is that, Sora?"

I shrug, "...Cocaine."
He starts laughing and laughing and laughing, making me regret making the offer.

"If you don't want it-"

"-E for effort, let's go. I've got a better idea."

-x-

"Where'd you get this shit?" He inspects the crystalline powder under his desk light. Roxas had sprinkled the contents across a small mirror.

"It's Axel's."
"Really?"

I nod, still mad at the thought of that bastard. He shakes his head, "What the hell happened between you guys?"
I shake my head, refusing to answer.

"It's uncut. Real good." I continue on about the coke.

He looks at the coke, to me then back at the coke.
"...Seriously?" Roxas quiets his voice in disbelief.

I nod again.

"...Nah...Really?"
"His friend got it from Costa Del Sol."

"I'll see about that..."Roxas says skeptically and I roll my eyes.

I see him put two huge pills onto the mirror. One on each side of the coke pile.

"What are you doing?" I ask curiously, watching him over his shoulder like a hawk.

"You'll see..."

He crushes the pills into a fine dust with a lighter, and cuts four fine lines from both of the piles.

Inside his drawer he takes out two straws and cuts both in half.

"Two for you, and two for me."
"What's going on?" I ask, now completely lost of the goal we were achieving here.

"Watch."
He sits down at his seat, putting the straws up both nostrils before snorting both at once.

"Jesus Christ." I remark out loud as he continues up his steady lines.

"Brutal..." I watch with a grimace, amazed at what he's putting away.

He finishes though, and he stands up, going to the bathroom. "Shit that's good..."I hear him snorting water now, and things get a bit intimidating.

My palms sweat as I take the seat. I breathe out deeply. I look at my straws before plugging them in my nostrils uncomfortably.

Slowly, I snort up both lines at once until it's gone. I feel tinges of stinging, but nothing too bad.

That wasn't so...ow...ow...OW

"AH!'' I grab my nostril and sink to the ground in pain, my tears were running from this one.

"Snort some water!" I hear Roxas from the bathroom.

My heart races and waves of euphoria oh my god it's like I see the light.

I jump up and open the faucet in the bathroom. I cup some water in my hands and snort it.

Unbeknownst to me, the after math taste of coke and Vicodin came rushing down the back of my throat in some ungodly taste I don't ever want to know of again.

"AHHH!" I cough, choking on a combination of grossness and pain.

Oh god the pain.

"This was a horrible idea..."I hunch over the sink, coughing my lungs out.

"Haha...hahahaha...HHAHAAAHAHHA."
I hear Roxas and he makes me start laughing.

I feel the air shifting around me, and I sit in Roxas' beanbag chair.

He soon joins me and we can't even speak for a while.

Soon Roxas asks, "Wanna play live?"
"...I don't know...Yeah. Yeah, I do."

He starts up a game and I stare at the ceiling, feeling myself melt away in the ultimate pleasure of relaxation.

Axel has bruised my mind, but the medicine is easing the pain away.

I can't feel a damn thing.

"Zero fucks..." I express loudly.

Roxas laughs.

"What happened?" He asks once more.

I roll my eyes over to him.

He smiles highly.

"Axel was making out with Larxene. Had fucking lipstick all over his fucking face..." I wave my hands in front of my face.
Roxas mouth slowly drops, and I nod my head.

"...That's what happened. Then he said something about me and jealousy and...I don't remember, I don't really care it wasn't important."

We laugh.

Time is some fucked shit in my head.

Fast...slow.

I can't even.

I don't care.

"It's over though."
"You win some...you lose some."

We started smoking some weed, and only got ten minutes into our game before we started nodding off. I tried hard to keep my eye's peeled, but it was impossible. It was as though my eyes had rolled to the back of my head and checked out.

We must have looked like two fucked up zombies.

There's a knock on the door and our eyes instantly snap open.
"Roxas is Sora in there?" Mom calls out.

"Y-yeah. I'm in here." I sit up slightly, acting as though I'm alert.
"Oh, okay. I went shopping for groceries so you boys help yourselves out okay? I'm going to bed."

I suddenly feel this weirdly empathetic, I call out.

"I love you mom."

"Yeah, love you." Roxas says after.

"I love you too boys. Night."

We hear the soft padding of moms feet disappear, and here her enter her room.

I hope she'll be okay without me.

"I'm taking some...with me..." I say before standing up.

But Roxas isn't really responsive, he's just nodding off.

I grab a handful of Vicodin from the bottle and toss them in my pocket before sitting down again.

I slap the side of his knee, "Go get food."
"Fuck you..." He blinks slowly, nodding off again.
"Please, come on please? Please? Please? Please?"

"Sora..."

"Please?"
"...Okay."

Before Roxas gets back, I pass out cold.

-x-

My days are up. I've only got hours on Destiny, then I'm catching a flight out with Roxas.

Most of my stuff is gone inside my car on a ferry, halfway to Twilight by now.

I've been sleeping in Roxas' room since we got back because...I just don't want to feel alone.

Like we used to, when it was just the two of us.

I wake up in the middle of the night because my phone's ringing.

"Hello..."

"Where the hell are you? I'm outside your window like a fucking squirrel!"

"Kairi...?Hold on..."
I stand up and pull a shirt over me before sneaking out of Roxas' room.

I open the door and see her peeking inside my window in a large hoodie.

I rush over to the window and open it for her. "I was about to have a heart attack...I thought you might've left last night."
"What are you doing?"

Once inside she takes off these ridiculously over-sized gloves meant to protect her hands and her hoodie.

"If that stupid bastard could do it...so could I." She breathed out heavily. She opened her backpack and handed me a jar filled with sand and seashells.

"I don't have long, I'm supposed to be at the airport in thirty minutes. But I'm gonna miss you, and I want you to know that I love you."
Kairi grabs me tight and squeezes. She smells so great, like always.

"Kairi...I love you too." I squeeze back.

We embrace for as long as we could before we hear a honk outside.

"Promise me we'll hang out as soon as possible." She starts pulling on her hoodie and gloves again.

"Promise."
"And one more thing."
"What?"
"Don't ever hook up with a guy like Axel again."

"I'm naive not stupid."

She giggles, kissing my cheek before climbing down the rickety garden ladder.

"You're my knight in shining armor." I call out to her once she reaches the bottom.

She puffs her chest out, making me laugh one last time before leaving my yard. I see her ride drive away, and I close my window.

I take the jar and sneak back into Roxas' room. I set the jar next to my bag and settle back into bed.

I curl up into a little ball, tinges of fear and excitement tickling me as I fell asleep.

-x-

We wake up only seconds apart before just lying there, staring at each other.

He frowns.

I could tell he was less than happy to see me off.

"You better call me everyday."
"I will."
"Any word from Axel?"

Axel.

It's becoming really hard to tolerate that name.
"No. And I hope it stays that way till the day I die."
"I don't blame you. Maybe today we could go to the old hangout?"
I turn on my side, "Maybe."

"You can't avoid that place forever. It's like our home away from home Sora."

I shrug.

I haven't been there ever since Riku dropped me on my birthday.

Last thing I want is to deal with another ex.

-x-

It's fucking hot out.

But I guess that's just any other day on Destiny. After a grueling morning of arguing Roxas finally convinced me to go to the island with him. It used to be the greatest place—greater than the promenade that's only open for half a year. We'd have late night parties and play games until our parents called.

I wish I could hit rewind sometimes.

"I think I'm done with dating."
"No you're not, you just need a more mature dude." We grabbed a small boat and start rowing to the old hangout.

"No. I think I'm just going to go back into the dark closet, and come out a straight guy."

Roxas sighs.

I wonder what it would be like to be straight for a change. Yeah, my heart wouldn't be in it and I'd probably end up screwing with some girls mind to the point that she'd want me dead...but what if I'm actually happy in the end?

I tilt my head back, focusing on the light blue skies, "I mean I'm moving, aren't I? I can just start over, get a girlfriend and knock her up. Have a family and die after seventy years of sweet nothing."

"Dude, you really think it would go down that way?"

…..Fat chance, Sora.

"That would only work for so long. You'd love your wife until she hired the college kid next door to clean the pool. Next thing you know, you're masturbating every time the pool-boy comes over. You know the wife and kids won't be home til late so why not? You'll make an advance at him eventually. Maybe he fucks you, maybe he doesn't. One thing's for sure though, your wife and kids find out and disown you. Your legacy as a straight honest man will be ruined, and you'll be paying for the divorce until the day you die in the back of a dirty sex shop, wankin' it to gay porn. Alone, old, and regretting the day you fell back into the closet."

"...Oh, what do you know?"

"A lot. And I've still dated more people than you, older brother. If you want someone serious you're gonna have to go up the age ladder."
"I don't want a gross old guy as my boyfriend."

I imagine the sight of saggy nipples, liver spots, and a limp pink dick. Crooked yellow teeth and a bald spot.

I shudder.

Ugh, no thanks. No thanks.

"How old is old to you?"
"Mmm...twenty three...twenty four."
"Really?"

"Yeah." I sit up.

"Really?"

"I think a six year difference is quite a bit. By the time I'm twenty four they'd be thirty and probably lookin' stale and pasty." We laugh.

"Whatever. I'd take a MILF over another teenage boobies any day."
"Don't vagina's look weird after a few kids?"
"Yeah, but they heal after awhile I think. Besides, it doesn't hurt if you don't look too hard. Pence's mom is pretty damn hot."
"That's gross..." I remember Pence's mother. She was always nice and eager to feed. She was especially curvaceous and thickly herself, with a head of dark curls that made her look like a pinup model from the fifties. Roxas and Hayner always stared her down when they got the chance, getting cursed out by Pence in the end. I thought she was pretty too, but I wasn't going crazy over her tits like my brother and our friends.

Huh, maybe that was my first sign.

"No no no! I've seen her lately, she has a body like a twenty SEVEN year old woman. It's magnificent, especially thinking that she popped out a kid like Pence, oh ya, she's a winner."

We were only seven.

"You disgust me."

The old hangout was just as I remembered the last time I was here. White sands danced across the beach as the light breeze came in.

"Like paradise. Right?" Roxas nudged me, grinning. We walk around for a while before coming across the cave.

"Shit. Scarier than I remembered..."

We stand over the small entrance.

"Think there's like...like, a murder in there?" Roxas laughs.
"A homeless guy maybe. It'd be a pretty stupid place for a murderer to hang out in. No people to murder."

"He's not looking for people, he's looking for kids."

"So, kids aren't people?"
"Well, no."

We crawl into the cave and look around at our old drawings. The white marks from the stone had aged, and some had even washed away. Even with that though, plenty of our drawings and sketches remained.

"I'm gonna miss this place..." I glide my fingers across the rugged stones.

The kingdoms we drew...

"Promise me you'll take care of mom once I'm gone." I say.

"What?"
"Take care of mom when I'm gone. Until you leave...and we can't help her anymore."

He sighs.

I know he doesn't like to think of it.

"Yeah, I can do that."

I walk over to the old door we all used to be afraid of.

In all my eighteen years of living here, I've never seen this door budge open once. I push on it and am reminded of the sturdiness.

I wish I could stay here forever...

"I'm gonna go check out the other side, see if anyone else is here."
"Okay."
"Don't sulk too long, I brought our swords for a reason. Here." He comes over and shoves it in the side of my belts.

"Always looking like a hero, right?" He smiles.

"Right."

Roxas leaves and I sulk around for a while, staring at all of my old drawings in particular. The one that catches my eye is my rendering of Riku and I when we had our one year anniversary.

I stare until my eyes dry out.

We etched one another with paopu fruits...

–

"Here."

"What is it?" I ask as I sketch our faces into the stone. Riku drops the paopu fruit in my lap, two bites obviously taken out of it.

I stop my sketching before looking back.

He's turned away slightly, eyes on the ground.

Blushing.

"I love you..."He murmurs, wiping juices from the fruit away from his mouth.

I'm speechless.

My hands tremble as I pick up the fruit, "...Really?"
"I didn't stutter, did I?"

I smile, standing up with the fruit in my hand. I take the biggest bite my mouth could muster and swallow before slamming my lips into his.

"I love you too, Riku."

–

"Hey."

I gasp slightly, startled by Riku's sudden intrusion. I stay put, staring at the rocky wall.

"What...do you want?"

I hate being around him.

Because whenever I am...all I can think about is telling him how much I love him.

How sorry I am.

How I want him back.

It never fucking ends in my head...when he's around.

"I'm not here to start anything-I'm sorry."

"For what? You don't have to apologize to me."
"Well...I am."

We sat in this awkward silence before I couldn't handle it anymore.

I stand up, and try to make away, but he stops me.
"Please, wait. I-I know I'm taking forever...I don't want you to hate me."
"...You're stupid. Move." He steps aside for me and I start my way through the hole.

"Why am I stupid?" I hear him ask me and I stop in the middle of the crawl space.

I hesitate giving him an important piece of information.

Will he use it against me?

How much more can I be used, really?

"...You know why you're stupid? Because no matter what you do to me, I will never hate you."

I start crawling again and I can almost here the "Really?" coming from his lips.

"I said all of those things, because I was jealous...that you had moved on so fast. Things between me and Frances haven't been going as great as I had thought..."

Wonder why...

"So seeing you and Axel all buddy buddy just...I don't know...It got to me."

"I know."

We walk out of the cave. I look around for Roxas, but no sign of him. I start walking to the paopu tree as Riku follows behind like some lost puppy.

I can't be around him.

I just can't.

"So?"
"So? What? What do you want with me?"

We stand in front of the tree we used to share, I haven't sat on it since my birthday.

I can't.

Riku leans against the tree, "Why don't you hate me?"

Maybe it's his warm smile, when he chooses to do so.

Or his eyes that remind me of the endless ocean.

Maybe it's his silky white hair, that illuminates how beautiful he is.

"Sora?" He raises his brow slightly, probably wondering why I'm staring off.

Is it the way you talk to me, when it's just the two of us?

I'm reminded of the way you used to hold me. So far no one can hold a candle up to you in my mind, you stupid fool...

–

"Now, promise me you'll be a good boy."

The skies are cloudy today. I look back at Roxas, him still in his green jammies playing with our building blocks and action figures. Dad is at the table, reading the newspaper as usual.

I look down at my brand new light-up sneakers and Hercules lunch box. I tap the wall lightly, and watch the light show. As cool as they are, they aren't doing me any good right now. I rub my eyes, my lunch rattling inside of my lunch box as I rub harder and harder.

"Can I stay home?"
Mom smiles, picking me up. "No, it's time for you to go to school. Aren't you excited?"
I shake my head.

"Why not."
"Roxy isn't coming with me."
"Are you scared?"
I nod.

She kisses me on the forehead, "You'll be fine today. It's only going to be a little while until Roxy's with you. And by then I'm sure you would've already made some friends. Now wave bye to daddy and Roxas."

I push my head into her shoulders, before waving goodbye. Dad blows me a kiss, and Roxas stands up, handing me a pink block. We make eye contact.

I mouth some words.

He mouths some back and we smile.

–

Mom puts me in the back seat of big blue. I slap on the white seats as she warms the car up. I flip to the front seat and start opening and closing the glove department as I bounced.

"Sora settle down. You've been acting so strange lately...Sit in the back and put on your seat-belt." She murmurs.

I flip to the back, pretending to be a dolphin as I did so before putting on my seat-belt.

She checks it before driving off.

The skies are light purplish blue, and I see street light after street light as she drives me down to preschool.

Once we got there I was welcomed by the teacher. She was a nice lady, wearing a long skirt and dark blue turtle neck. She has on these big glasses that remind me of bug eyes. The air smells like fresh dough, and kids are running around every where.

"Good to see you again, Sora." She says joyously.

My mom hugs me, "Be a good boy now, okay?"
I nod, squeezing her tight before she let go.

She leaves and the teacher leads me to some cubbies. "Here's where you put your stuff."

After she helped me get my stuff situated, I walked amongst the other kids alone.

Some played with each other, some alone.

I held onto the pink block that Roxy gave me tight, as I navigated to the least dense spot in the room.

I sat quietly, scared. I looked around at the puzzle piece mat, toys scattered every where on the floor.

After a while, I got up the courage to pick up a toy. It was a nice enough plane, slick and black with two gray propellers up front.

Before I could fly it, a bigger kid comes up and snatches the toy away, "MINE."

I look down and pick up my pink block again. Before I can cherish the fact that I still have a toy from home, he snatches it away as well, "MINE."

I frown, standing up and snatching my toy back,"No, it's MINE."

His lip begins to quiver, and I sit back down, satisfied with my courage. Dad would be proud.

Then, I feel a crash on my head, followed by another, and another.

I cover my head and start to cry.

CRASH CRASH CRASH!

I start feeling dizzy.

"Stop it! Stop!" I hear another kid come to my aid. "Teacher! Teacher!" A bunch of kids call for her.

I look up and pat my head. I feel liquid soaking my hair and look at my fingers.

Blood.

He had white hair, and was pushing this huge kid away from me.

I stand up, with my pink block, and begin smashing it upon the kids head until he began bleeding as well.

Though I wasn't mad, I was doing it as a formality of some sort.

He ran away crying, the kid with the white hair nearly follows him before looking back at me.

"Whoa." Was all he could say. A girl ran up to him and hugged his arm, "I'm scared." She whispers.

"What's going on? Sora?! What happened?"

–

I sit in the office alone. The teachers talking to my mom in the other room, and I know I'm in trouble.

I see the boy and the girl again, spying around the corner. She gets scared and hides, but the boy comes up to me.

"What's your name?"

"...Sora."
"I'm Riku."

Despite my bloodied hand, he held out his. We shook hands.

"Don't mind Selphie, she's not used to stuff like that but I am. That's quiet a beating you gave that kid back there. Yeah, my pa said somefin' like this might happen."

I didn't know what to say, I was so shy. I kicked my shoes up against the chair and watched them light up.

He kicks his and they light up too.

I get excited and he smiles.

"...Because. You were my best friend before my boyfriend."

"That's it?"
I nod.

He blinks.

"Really?"

"Yes."
"I...still want to be your friend. I'm sorry I dumped you on your birthday, I'm sorry I two timed you. I'm sorry I've been such a bitch." He rubs the back of his head feverishly.
"Geez Riku, you're starting to make me feel bad."

Not really.

But, kind of.

...I know I haven't been completely honest to Riku, despite him being honest with me.

"I'm sorry."
"Quit saying that, you sound like a girl."

I soften up a bit, and lean up against the tree next to him.

"Well THAT'S a first coming from you."

We laugh together for the first time in ages.

"What are you doing here?"

I shrug, "Roxas thought I should come here at least once before I move."
"You're moving?" Riku looks to me and I nod, "Tomorrow morning I'm catching my flight out with Roxas to Twilight Town."
"Oh...how's things between you and Axel going?" He mutters out, as though he's half-half on hearing it.

I knew he'd ask me sooner or later. I almost want to lie, say we're doing fine.

But that'd be stupid.

No point in making anyone jealous.

"We broke up." Ugh, my gut drops.
"Oh...I'm...sorry." He turns his head slightly away, but I can sense his smile.

"That's the least genuine sorry I've heard you say all day."

"Can you blame me? I hate him." He chuckles.

"Sora! Are we doing this or what? I'm gonna start hitting myself if you don't!" Roxas calls from down below. He holds up the sword, hitting himself in the face.

"I'm coming!"

"Yeah whatever." Roxas lays back on the sand and starts making sand angels.

"Is Roxas moving with you?"
"Not until he graduates...he could graduate early if he put his mind to it. Slacker."
"He learns his slacking from the best." Riku ruffles my hair and we walk over to Roxas.

"Finally, I thought I'd have to start beating myself harder."

After the first round we sustained enough splinters to call it quits. Our arms developed bleeding welts. Roxas was dumb enough to go another round with Riku, where he was instantly smacked in the face by the sword. We mess around for the whole day, finding things to do on this little old island we always called our home.

Like the good old days.

As Roxas sailed back to the mainland me and Riku stayed behind to watch the sunset on the docks.

"You've changed." He blurts out of nowhere.

"Again? I could definitely say the same about you..."

"I know. Does this mean I'm not barred from texting you?"
I shrug, "Depends on what you text me." I stand up, stretching my limbs.

"Taking off so soon?"
"Aren't you?"
He looks away from me, "Nah, don't wanna go home yet."
I smile, "Fair enough."

He laughs. "See you later alligator."

"Ugh, you're killing me with that shit."

I laugh, ruffling his hair before jumping on my boat. He waves me off.

...I've missed you.