The week passed slowly, Zexion waiting at his window almost every night before falling asleep late. He had even begun to leave a notepad and a pencil on his windowsill, in the hopes that he could even know if there was any news when he was gone. Every day he spent a little time counseling himself, countering the need to panic with the plain fact that it wouldn't be worth it until he knew for sure what was happening. Meanwhile, he spent quite a bit of time trying to finish his homework, and the rest with Demyx.

He had found that being with Demyx took quite a bit of refusal, the blonde constantly trying to find out what he could say or do to get Zexion to go a little further during their kisses, or remove one or two more pieces of clothing when it got heated. But it wasn't hard to say no, rather, harder for Zexion to say yes to most things. He couldn't help but try and conceal his body, self-consciousness getting in the way of the confidence to agree to let Demyx touch him wherever he wanted.

Roxas also dropped quite a few hints to lead Zexion to believe that he suspected them, making him want to divulge any detail he could—in his experience with their conversations together, Roxas had a way of bringing out any information he was curious about. Zexion held strong, however, sure that it was in Demyx's best interests.

One night when Roxas was back at his own apartment, finishing homework that Zexion had managed to finish before the last weekend of the break, Zexion found himself watching television with Axel. It wasn't something that happened often; given that Zexion had made it a habit to spend most of his free time with Demyx, and Axel spent most of his with Roxas. He knew that Axel was much more oblivious to the fact that he and Demyx had a relationship, hoping that perhaps he could ask him some things he had been wondering about for a while.

"Axel," Zexion finally spoke up during a commercial, making his cousin turn his head and raise his eyebrows at Zexion to show he was listening, "Were you with anyone before Roxas?"

"What, you mean like in High School?" He replied, Zexion nodding his head. "Well yeah, a couple girls. None of them were really that great. Why?" Zexion blushed, hoping that the dim light of the room hid the pink tint on his cheeks.

"I-It seems that I missed an important course in freshman biology…that h-had a great deal to do with relationships." He stuttered, hoping Axel caught his drift. "And not the dating part, either."

"You mean you never had a Sex Ed class at your high school?" Axel looked shocked, picking up the remote and pausing the TV. "What about Aunt Mena, or Uncle Vic? They never took the time to explain stuff to you?" Zexion shook his head, simultaneously glad that he had brought it up (it seemed to be more important than he thought) and regretting that he had done so with a family member. But Demyx was just as unfamiliar with the act as he was, if only a little more educated, and he didn't want Roxas to connect the dots about them just yet.

"It's not like I've never read anything, or seen anything. I used to have a computer, plus there's a whole chapter about it in the biology textbook." He swallowed, a nervous lump beginning to grow in his throat. "I just…there's a lot missing there, I think."

"You bet there is." Axel said, almost with awe. Zexion felt immature, folding his hands in his lap and looking at his kneecaps. Demyx was right; his legs were kind of hairy…

"I just wanted to know if…if there was anything important that I should know, that's not in the textbooks. The idea alone makes me nervous, but I don't know where to start, and I don't have the resources anymore." Zexion brought up a nail to his mouth, biting it as he mulled over his question. He knew it was rather general, but there was no other way to find out, unless he wanted to try and look up inappropriate websites on the school computers—something he was not willing to risk.

"There's a lot, there, Zexion. I'm not sure where to start. Is there someone at school that you're interested in?" Axel set the remote on the footstool, folding his hands together and leaning one arm up onto the back of the couch casually.

"N-No! Not at the moment…but I've gone so long without dating, I never had a chance to experience the things that people experience around my age…" He twiddled his thumbs, hoping his guess was true, wondering if people normally waited much longer to have sex. "I don't know how long a person is supposed to be in a relationship before they can sleep together, and what it involves, or if you do it differently with some people…" He rubbed his forehead. "Mostly I just want to know some of the basic stuff. The important stuff."

"Well, to answer your first question, I can say that it's different in every relationship the length of time before they go all the way. Roxas and I tried to wait until his eighteenth birthday, but we didn't quite make it. But most of the girls I went out with before them didn't let me touch them the entire time we were dating." Axel rubbed his chin in thought. "I would say for your first time, try to wait. And definitely wait until you think you're comfortable enough to let a person see you naked and watch you do embarrassing things." Zexion nodded, feeling like he should be taking notes—but it was easy to absorb what Axel was saying.

"I read in the short 'sex' section in the textbook that some people are sad when they do it for the first time." Zexion noted, wondering why the authors of the book decided to add that detail. Perhaps they were trying to indirectly encourage abstinence.

"Sure, if they do it before they're ready. But it's hard to be sad for a guy after sex, because—well, I cannot even describe to you how good it feels." Axel laughed. "Anyway, I guess another thing I should tell you is that yes, everyone is different about what they like and what feels good. If you go out with a lot of girls, you're definitely gonna meet some kinks along the way." Zexion stayed silent when Axel mentioned girls, knowing it would come up, not wanting to interrupt him. "And wear a condom no matter what."

"That was something I ran into before…" Zexion chuckled nervously. He did realize its importance though, however, he was sure that Demyx didn't have anything to spread—but maybe there were more reasons to wear one besides preventing the communication of disease.

"You're going to, a lot." Axel smiled. Zexion began to forget the awkwardness of the situation, settling on the fact that he was simply an inexperienced student who had some questions. "But try to remember that sex will often complicate things. To some people it means that you're just a way to feel good, and to others it means they love you and expect that you're in love with them as well. If you're not on the same page, it might get messy."

"Sounds…confusing."

"It is. But if you're on the same page, it's great." Axel ran his fingers through his hair, looking to the side and seemingly thinking back on a few memories. Zexion could only guess that they included Roxas.

"How did you know you liked Roxas after having dated so many women?" Zexion's voice was timid. After all, the question was a bit of a change of pace. Axel's brow furrowed in thought, tapping his fingers on his knee.

"I'm not sure. Somewhere along the line I turned my flirting energy toward him, and then it became serious. I guess I realized that Roxas had everything I couldn't find in a girl. That's…a bit of a different topic than sex, though." Zexion could see Axel was becoming shy, something he enjoyed—it was nice, for a change, not to be the one embarrassed.

"Do you love him?"

"Yeah, I think I do." Axel grinned, the kind of smile that you couldn't help. It only lasted a few moments, however, before he continued. "Anyway…there are a lot of things you should probably find out with your girlfriend." He coughed. "Or boyfriend…" He added, after a second thought.

"Thanks, Axel…" Zexion stood, "What you've said to me really helps." Axel nodded

"Anything to help, Zexion. Though if you do find someone, you let me meet them before you go off canoodling. I don't want you being with any jerk who's gonna try and take advantage of my little cousin."

"Of course." Zexion laughed, going into his room and finding his biology textbook. He sat on his bed, perusing the human anatomy section once again. At least this kept his mind off of more stressful things, though his thoughts did flicker occasionally to his mother and her whereabouts.

Looking at the illustrations he pondered how long he would have to wait until it was okay to let Demyx do everything he wanted to him, and how long it would be until Zexion was bold enough to do a few things back. Perhaps he would have a little talk with Demyx first, though he knew for sure he'd have to be more confident about it then he was now. Faintly, he could hear the phone ringing in the living room.

"Hey, Zexion, it's Demyx." Axel appeared at his doorway, Zexion quickly turning the book on its face, hoping Axel hadn't seen what he was looking at. Standing, took the phone, watching Axel walk back into the living room before closing his door.

"Hello?"

"Hey Zexion! Guess what?" Demyx's voice sounded odd on the phone. Perhaps it was his fault, for not really being used to them.

"What?"

"I finished all the break homework, which means tonight you're coming over. Kay? Bring clothes for tomorrow." Demyx sounded overjoyed to be breaking such news to Zexion, who grinned.

"Wow! Alright then. Pick me up whenever." Zexion laughed, opening the door as they said their goodbyes and walking into the kitchen to put the phone back in its station. He turned to Axel, who looked over in interest. "Demyx is making me stay at his place tonight."

"You're gonna leave me all alone?" Axel pouted. "Well…alright then. At least you're getting along with him." He turned back to the TV, flipping channels. Zexion went back into his room, putting a few pieces of clothing into a bag and looking around to make sure there was nothing else he should bring. He glanced to his clock to check the time—it was already rather late, it being almost ten at night.

Suddenly, he heard a rap on his window that made his heart leap.

He shut his door quickly, running to the window and shoving it open, using a hushed voice to none other than Nails standing outside on the fire escape platform.

"You have to be quiet, my cousin's in the other room." He whispered, Nails nodding quickly in compliance.

"I just wanted to let you know how it was going…" He lit a cigarette quickly, running his fingers through his hair and looking troubled. Through the bit of light that shone through his window he saw pale skin and bags under his eyes. Zexion's stomach fell, knowing that whatever he was about to tell him wasn't going to be something he wanted to hear. "I haven't really found a thing. It's not looking good, kid."

"What do you mean, not looking good?" His voice was already starting to shake, threatening to reach a decibel that might alert Axel.

"I mean that I can't find her! No one knows where she went. It doesn't mean she's dead, it just means she's great at hiding. Or…well, let's just leave it there." Nails sucked on the end of his cigarette, seemingly calmed by the smoke that filled his lungs.

"Are you going to keep looking?" He muttered, pulling back, not wanting to breathe in any of the haze that wafted around Nails' head.

"Of course. I want to find out what's going on here, it's the least I could do." He gave Zexion a weak smile. "But kid, word of advice…I've had relatives go missing, myself. I would try and take your mind off of it whatever way you can, or you're gonna go crazy." He put out his cigarette on the metal grating to his side.

"Okay." Zexion didn't want him to speculate further, knowing that at least Demyx was on his way to distract him. It wouldn't be so hard to take his advice, at least for tonight.

"Alright. Take care." Zexion watched as Nails climbed easily back down the metal ladder, wishing he could go with him, wanting to know how he was going about his search. He didn't move from his place on the window sill until he heard a knock at the front door and the faint sound of Demyx's voice.