Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts does not belong to me!

AN: Wow guys, as always, thanks so much for the reviews on the previous chapter! I really appreciate each and every one! I try to reply to all of the logged-in ones, so if I missed yours, I'm really sorry (it was not on purpose)! Hmm, I am currently drinking "Gettin' Cool" Melon Soda, and let me tell you, it is delicious. Kinda like Cloud and Leon, who are majorly featured in this chapter! Thanks so much for reading, and I hope you enjoy the chapter!

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Cloud loved the feeling of his breath ragged in his throat, the way he could really feel the air filling his lungs. He found comfort in the sound of his shoes smacking the concrete, the ache in his legs and the swish of his shorts, the warmth he felt from inside and the bite of the cool air on his skin – the clarity in his mind that he always got when he ran hard. He had his cell phone with him; he felt a little nerdy to have it strapped onto his arm like that, but he figured maybe from far away it looked like an iPod or something, and it was less bizarre than strapping it to his leg, femme-spy style, or having it clunking around in his pocket and hitting him in the balls when he tried to run, like that one time... That had been a short run.

This run, however, would be anything but short. He had taken the bus to the school that morning, which was only about 4 ½ miles away from his apartment. He didn't have to bring anything – it was a Teacher Institute Day, and the gym teachers tended to get off easy. They had a meeting, in which they discussed the usual issues: how to get students more involved in participating in sports, how to get students to pay attention during the required Health units, how to get students to stop pretending to have sex with the CPR dummies (Cloud had sighed at the mention of the dummies – he could remember Leon pretending to get a blowjob from one and making everyone in their class laugh.). All in all, they got out by around 10:30 (in the morning, of course), and he had planned ahead so he could jog home, making sure to take the long way across the golf course behind his apartment complex.

He checked his watch as he entered the golf course, fairly surprised to see "10:56" blinking up at him. Then again, he wasn't running as hard as he often did; if he'd been really trying, he'd already be home by then. Getting home in a timely fashion wasn't on his mind today, though - Leon would be there for the whole weekend once he showed up, and Cloud was positive that the snarky brunet would flat-out refuse to work out with him. His main objective was to get in a good, long run before Leon arrived, in the hope that it might work to balance out the weekend of complete laziness ahead of him.

Of course, in preparation for Leon's arrival, he had made a complete plan. Having instructed Leon to give him a call when he was about 20 minutes away (hence the cell phone strapped to his arm), he would have time to jump into the shower, lather up with copious amounts of the Axe shower gel he liked to think made him smell sexy, wash his hair with the "Sweet Pea" shampoo that Leon liked so much (the contrasting scents played off of each other nicely, he thought), wrap that thin, periwinkle blue towel around his hips (with enough time to adjust it to his liking, which would take him at least 4 tries… yes, he'd done this before…) and make his hair sufficiently "wet n' sexy" before casually, nonchalantly answering the door, preferably with droplets of water still clinging tremulously to his shoulders and chest. If there was time, he might do a few quick crunches on the ground in the kitchen, so his abs would be extra-toned when Leon first saw him. Not that they'd be toned when they were lounging half-naked on the couch, potato chip crumbs littering the room between the empty beer cans and video game controllers, which was how he'd probably look for 90 of the weekend – but that didn't matter. It was all about, well… It was all about impressing the hell out of Leon, and making him glad he'd held out for those months to be with Cloud.

Not that I have to. It's just kinda fun.

Plus, he'd need to take a shower anyway. He had specifically worn his gym shorts (maroon) and an old, graying t-shirt to the meeting so he could get this run in, and the shirt was drenched in sweat now. In general, he was drenched in sweat. He could feel a drop sliding down his neck, and he brushed it off with the back of his hand, wiping it on his shirt as he neared the fence between the golf course and the apartment complex.

Grabbing the top of the fence, he tried to imagine what Leon's reaction would be to the pleasant-smelling, wet, sexy blond who'd answer the door. He could picture Leon's grin, and he could practically hear the brunet's voice as he vaulted over onto the apartment side of the fence.

In fact… He looked up as he neared his door, his vision blocked partially by the haze of sweat that seemed to have formed around him, and partially by a large piece of his hair that had dampened with said sweat and was drooping in front of his eyes.

"Jesus, did you run all the way back here from the high school?"

Slowly ascending the concrete stairs, Cloud blinked at the figure standing in front of his door. He was tall, and had lovely brown hair, and a smug grin, and a belt that Cloud thought looked familiar… very familiar…

"You look like hell, man. I thought you'd be here primping all morning, but, I mean, wow. Not that you need to primp, you're sexy anyway, but, well… Hey, nice arm strap. Kinda like those sexy woman spies, right? I got it, that's cool."

"You were supposed to call," Cloud panted, leaning back on the railing as he tried to catch his breath. "You… were supposed to call 20 minutes early… So I could… take a shower…"

"He speaks!" Leon exclaimed, dropping the duffel bag he was holding to the ground to spread his arms in amazement.

"You were supposed to call!" Cloud repeated, thoroughly disappointed that he hadn't been able to put his plan into action.

"Eh, I know, but I forgot, and then I was practically here, so I figured I'd just surprise you. I didn't know you'd be all… sweaty." Leon grinned, pulling the blond closer to him. Before he could really hug him, though, he grimaced, stepping back. "On second thought, you should take that shower. You smell like a locker room."

Cloud could feel a drop of sweat trickling slowly down his back. Laughing, he gave Leon a playful glare. "Yea, you should have called. That's what you get, you have to hug a nasty, sweaty man. C'mon, no, no, you can't weasel out of it now! You deserve it, bastard! Then you have to shower with me, too."

Leon cried out in protest as Cloud wrapped his arms around his neck, quieting a little as the blond caught his lips in a needy kiss.

"Mm… you contaminated me, bitch," Leon murmured, letting his hands settle on Cloud's hips in an attempt to avoid putting them directly in any given pool of sweat. "You taste like salt, and you got me all covered in your sweat."

Their dialogue interrupted by frequent kisses, they stumbled together to the front door, where Cloud tried vaguely to get the key into the lock as Leon pressed him against the door.

"Yea, I know… I… nnh… I did it on purpose so… mmm… so you'd shower with me…"

"God, I missed this."

Leon leaned back to take a breath, letting Cloud get the door open and grabbing his bag from the ground.

Cloud yanked his shirt off as he wandered into the kitchen, wiping the sweat off of his neck and forehead with it before putting it down to unfasten his cell phone from his arm. Leon let out a long, happy sigh as he went directly to the bedroom, letting his bag drop with a thud to the floor before popping back out.

"It's good to be back here," he said, stretching. "Good to be kissed, too. I missed that. I always forget how nice it is."

Cloud snorted. "And here I thought you were pining for my lips day and night."

Heading into the bathroom, he turned around. "You coming, or…?"

Leon shook his head. "I took a shower before I got in the car this morning, and all I've done is sit on my ass for 7 hours driving. Plus, you looked so dejected; I didn't give you your preening time."

"I resent that," Cloud said, smiling and shaking his head as he closed the door behind him. From the other room, he heard Leon call out:

"This gives me time to poke around in your stuff, anyway, see if you're hiding any secret lovers under the bed, find your porn stash, which you failed to hide effectively the last time I was here…"

"That was a novel!" Cloud yelled back, opening the door again. "You just opened it up to one scene-"

"It was called 'Hard-On,' and the pages were suspiciously crusty," Leon retorted, raising his eyebrows as he walked by on his way back to the bedroom. "And if it was just an innocent novel, which it wasn't, why was it stuffed under your bed within arm's reach but kind of behind the leg of your bed frame? You know, so no one would run into it, but you could reach it whenever you want?"

"Shut up," Cloud muttered, leaving the bathroom door open as he turned the shower on. "As if you don't have any…"

"Never said I didn't have any," Leon said jovially, poking his head back around the doorway in time to see Cloud stripping off his shorts. "I just said you do."

Cloud gave him a dark look, shooing him away. "If you're not gonna shower, then don't come in here and distract me."

Always a good listener, Leon took it as a cue to enter the bathroom instead, giving the blond a cheeky grin before pulling him close again. Sliding a finger under the waistband of Cloud's boxers, he leaned down a bit to leave soft kisses along the blond's neck, biting a little at his ear. "But I wanna distract you… it's fun."

Pale fingers slipped beneath Leon's shirt, touching and rubbing and feeling him, and he smiled to himself as he tugged Cloud's boxers off, letting them drop to the blond's ankles only to be promptly pushed away.

"Thanks, you know, I'm so exhausted from that run, I just couldn't undress myself," Cloud said sarcastically, grinning mischievously as he stepped into the shower; simply laughing at Leon's indignant noises of protest. "Nothing's stopping you from coming in here," he added, squeezing a glob on shampoo into his hand. "It's up to you. Crusty novels or a hot, wet man all slicked up with soap in the shower?"

"I don't want to get wet!" Leon protested, yanking the shower curtain back enough to see Cloud's face and successfully mock-pout at him. "Do you know how long it takes my hair to dry? It's ridiculous now that it's grown out a little."

"So get a haircut," Cloud said, shrugging as he rubbed the shampoo into his hair.

"Eh, I kinda like it long."

"Dirty hippie," Cloud noted, sticking out his tongue. Leon was starting to crack, he could tell. The brunet kept sneaking glances downward, and the bathroom was beginning to get steamy from the hot water. Having worked the shampoo into a sort of foamy lather, Cloud prepared for phase 2 of his hastily formulated plan to get Leon into the shower. Putting on his best o-face, he sunk his fingers into his hair, moaning Herbal Essence Commercial style as he let the water run over him.

"Nnnh… ohh… Leon… Leon!"

"Stop! No!"

"Ahhh… yes, oh God, yes…"

Leon tried in vain to block out the noise, clamping his hands down on his ears, but as Cloud let out another roar of pleasure, however fake it may have been, he finally caved, stumbling into the shower fully clothed and pressing Cloud to the wall with a rough kiss.

"Coercive bitch," he murmured, leaning his head back a little as the blond attacked his neck and shoulders.

"Mm, yea, it's true," Cloud replied, finally stepping back. "Absolutely. Oh dear, I really ought to get you out of those wet clothes before you catch cold…"

Smirking, Leon backed away. "You know, that's ok. It's a nice offer, but I think I can handle it."

Stepping out of the shower, his smirk grew even larger. "I've been wanting to check out that 'novel' you've got anyway, so take your time in here. Really. Enjoy your shower, now."

A half-empty bottle of face wash narrowly missed Leon's head as he ducked out of the bathroom, his socks squelching as he made his way into Cloud's bedroom to change.

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Roxas groggily opened one eye as he heard Axel's radio turn on. He always seemed to wake up seconds before his alarm would go off, and today was no exception, despite the fact that it was 5:00 in the morning. Rolling over, he found Axel still asleep, the redhead sprawled out on his stomach, one arm cushioning his head, the other hooked around Ichigo.

Axel groaned as Roxas tried to shake him awake, snuggling his face into his pillow and squeezing his eyes shut.

"5 more minutes…"

"C'mon, you gotta get up. If you're that tired, then I can drive, and you can sleep in the car, ok?"

Axel snorted, finally opening his eyes. "You can't even drive stick. We'd get there, like, next week."

"So get up, then! It's not my fault you wouldn't go to sleep at some godly hour," Roxas replied, hopping out of bed and turning on the lamp on the nightstand. Axel let out a cry of agony as the bright light hit his eyes, hiding his face in his pillow again.

"I couldn't sleep."

Roxas knew it was true – if it had been up to Axel, he would have fallen asleep as soon as they had gotten into bed the night before, around 11:00. Unfortunately, his nerves had kept him awake until almost 3 in the morning, when his exhaustion finally overtook his anxiety. Roxas had tried to stay awake to be helpful, but he'd drifted off around 1:30, leaving Axel to toss and turn on his own for another hour and a half.

"Alright, I'll tell you what," Roxas said, pulling one of Axel's shirts on. "I'll heat up some of the pizza from last night, and you can sleep an extra 10 minutes. After that, though, we really have to go, otherwise we'll get stuck in rush hour traffic in the city."

Axel mumbled vaguely in response, pulling the covers back over himself and curling up with Ichigo.

Roxas tried to take as long as possible putting the pizza in the microwave, situating the slices on a clean plate to take in the car before setting it to 30 seconds and leaning against the fridge to wait. Inevitably, though, the pizza finished, and he set about finding Axel's wallet and ID and picking out some clothes for him before attempting to wake the redhead again.

"You said 10 minutes," Axel whined, shrinking away from Roxas's hands. "It's been like, 20 seconds…"

"Ax, I picked out clothes for you and everything. C'mon. We can stop at McDonald's and get a Coke or something to wake you up."

Having picked up Sora's tricks from years of being on the receiving end, Roxas gritted his teeth and yanked the blankets away from Axel's shoulders, the older boy yelping in response as the cool air infiltrated what had been his oven-like cocoon. His threadbare flannel pajama pants did little to hold in what heat he had left, and he clung to his tiger for warmth, glaring up at Roxas. "I don't wanna go…"

"You want me to pick up your mom by myself? 'Cause, you know, that'd be pretty awkward. Plus, I've only had my license since like, mid-February, so I can't really legally drive with anyone else in the car yet. I think it might be a bad idea to illegally drive your mom home from jail, yea?"

"What if she doesn't like me anymore?" Axel asked, his voice small behind his tiger.

Roxas blinked. "What?"

"What if she doesn't like me anymore?" Axel repeated, sitting up straight and giving Roxas a mournful look. "What if… I mean… I haven't gotten her letters for months, what if-what if she thinks the ones I've been sending her are dumb?"

"…Are you kidding? Axel, she's your mom, of course she likes you," Roxas replied exasperatedly. "Are you trying to find reasons to be nervous? C'mon, get out of bed."

"Some people's moms don't like them," Axel replied, leaning back against the wall. He gave Roxas a disapproving look as the blond grabbed his arm and dragged him off the bed, shoving a pair of jeans and a t-shirt into his hands.

"You're not one of those people," Roxas said shortly, grabbing Axel's keys from his nightstand. "I'm gonna take the pizza and your wallet out to the car. When I get back in here, you better be dressed."

"What if I'm sleeping?"

Roxas narrowed his eyes. "You won't be," he said, giving the redhead a meaningful look before stalking out of the room.

It was light out, but foggy, and Roxas turned on the engine to let the car start to warm up before striding back inside, fully prepared to physically drag Axel out of the apartment. Fortunately, Axel had managed to get himself dressed, and he was zipping up his sweatshirt when Roxas got inside.

"Keys?" he asked, holding out a hand.

"I already started the car," Roxas replied, turning back around to open the door. "You ready?"

"Do I have a choice?" Axel asked, looking downright miserable.

"Not really."

Sighing, Axel followed Roxas out the door, making sure it had locked behind them before settling into the car.

The drive out was uneventful, and, all things considered, pretty boring. They listened to the radio, which wasn't particularly good but not altogether bad, and every once in a while Axel would turn it off to shoot worried questions at Roxas.

"What if she just starts doing… stuff again? Once she gets back, you know? What am I supposed to do?"

"Do you think she'll recognize you just from the pictures she has? I wonder if she still has the pictures…"

"What if she's, like, emotionally scarred for life from her prison experience? I mean, what if she's totally different and-and….I mean…"

"I hope she'll be happy with the apartment and stuff, I mean, I cleaned last night, and- oh God, Rox, I forgot to clean her room! I haven't-I haven't been in there since she left, and-and what if it's- what if there's like, a 3 year old bowl of rotting cereal or something? You have to remind me to run in there really quick right when we get back, ok? So if there's rotting cereal, I can at least hide it before she goes in."

Roxas sighed. "While we're at it, what if she doesn't like me?"

Axel snorted. "Don't be dumb. Of course she'll like you."

"Oh, so it's a given that she'll like me, who she's never met, but you, her son, are worried that she's not gonna like you?" Roxas asked, raising his eyebrows.

"I didn't really think she wouldn't like me," Axel retorted, taking a bite of his pizza as he turned off at the exit for the prison.

Roxas rolled his eyes. It had been a long 3 hours, and all of Axel's worrying had started to get to him, too. He was kind of nervous to meet Axel's mom anyway, and it didn't help that Axel himself was freaking out just for the hell of it.

As they pulled into a parking space, Axel sighed. "Stay with me, ok?" he asked quietly. "I know I'm completely tweaking out like an idiot, but I'm just… just stay with me."

Roxas nodded, unbuckling his seatbelt and leaning across the car to kiss Axel's cheek. Taking one of the redhead's hands, he sat back again. "It's gonna be fine," he said, his irritation deteriorating as the older boy held tightly to his hand. Axel took a deep breath before fumbling in his pocket for a cigarette, lighting it with his palm like he always did. He opened up his door to let the smoke out, and the two sat in silence for a few minutes as he smoked, both watching the car's clock. The moment it turned to 8:00, Axel stepped out of the car and put out his cigarette, nodding at Roxas.

"Guess it's time, then."

As they stepped into the building, Roxas surveyed his surroundings. Axel continued to a front desk, and Roxas headed for the restroom, hoping to check himself once more in the mirror before meeting Axel's mom.

"Wha-where are you going?"

"The bathroom, I'll be right back – no, stay here. It's fine, I swear, I'll be back in like, 2 minutes, tops. I promise."

The bathroom was absolutely disgusting, and Roxas was glad he had worn his own jeans again that day; Axel's were always too long, and he wouldn't have wanted them dragging on that floor. He pawed desperately at his hair, trying to get it to look a bit less disheveled, and he straightened out his shirt, unsure of how he'd forgotten to look nice before leaving Axel's apartment.

Well, it was 5:00 in the morning…

After splashing cold water on his face, he dried himself off, took one last look, and headed back into the waiting area. Halfway around the corner, he stopped in his tracks. A tall woman with a chestnut ponytail was standing with Axel, wearing his sweatshirt and a pair of dirty low-rise jeans. One arm was slung around Axel's shoulders, the other hand balancing a medium-sized cardboard box on her hip that seemed to be full of papers. She was talking to the man behind the desk, and Axel was simply standing with her, smiling and leaning against her. He didn't seem to mind standing in the air-conditioned room in just his t-shirt, and he seemed pleased that his mom was wearing his sweatshirt. It was too big on her, and she had pushed the sleeves up to her elbows in order to keep them from flopping around. Axel finally noticed Roxas standing there, slipping out from under his mother's arm to drag the blond over.

"Mom, mom, this is Roxas!"

"One second, babe," she said, holding up a hand as she finished her conversation with the man behind the desk. "Thanks so much. You have a good day, too."

Turning away from the desk, she smiled at Roxas, holding out her free hand to shake.

"So this is the famous Roxas, huh?" she asked, pulling Roxas into a hug when he took her hand. Stepping back again, she looked him up and down. "You're even cuter in person," she said, hitching the box up on her hip. "Axel sent me some pictures, and, oh God, I've heard more about you than I have about him!"

Roxas laughed a little, even more when he spotted Axel turning red. "So I've heard," he said. "It's good to finally meet you, Ms… um…"

"Steph," she said, nudging Axel teasingly with her foot when she, too, noticed him blushing. "I'm on a first name basis with pretty much everyone I know."

Roxas nodded. "Cool. Um… do you want me to carry your box for you?"

"Well, if you're offering…"

"Yea, of course," Roxas agreed, nodding vigorously. He hoped this would score him some brownie points, although Steph was not particularly daunting now that he'd actually met her. In fact, she kind of reminded him of an older, darker-haired version of Rikku that was less bubbly and more Axel-ish. The box was surprisingly heavy, and as they walked out to the car, he realized that there were books beneath the papers, and that the papers were, in fact, Axel's letters.

"Um, I can drive if you want, since… it's been a while since you have," Axel offered, twirling the keys around his finger. "I've been up since 5, though, so I might suck."

"Pshh, it hasn't been that long," Steph replied, daintily plucking the keys away. "Plus, it's like riding a bike – once you learn, you know. It doesn't go away."

She leaned against the driver's side door, blocking Axel's way in as he tried to secure the driver's position. "Nope, nope, go around, babe. My decision is final! I'm a free woman now, I can drive my own car if I want to!"

As Roxas managed to maneuver the box into the backseat, Steph pulled Axel into a hug, the redhead smiling at Roxas as he hugged his mom back, then looking away, a little embarrassed. Roxas felt a little awkward as well, as if he was intruding on some special family moment, and he hastily made his way around the other side of the car to sit in the back beside the box. Even with the doors closed, he could still hear their muffled conversation from outside.

"I missed you so much, babe."

"Yea, I missed you too, Mom."

"Ax, this is gonna be good, ok? Things are gonna be different. You know that, right? I promise, things are gonna be different."

Roxas watched as Axel allowed his mom to fix his hair, his hands sunken into the pockets of his jeans.

"Mom, just…"

Axel sighed, finally batting his mom's hands away from his hair.

"Just don't lie to me, ok? Don't lie to me again. It took me way too long to get over it the first time, and I don't think I could handle it again. I was a tough kid before, and Rox and the others have spoiled me this past school year. I-I'm different. It's-it's like now that I'm finally happy, it hurts more when I'm sad."

They were quiet for a moment, and Roxas watched Axel's face soften.

"Mom, don't cry…"

Roxas looked down at his knees, trying to avoid that awkward, embarrassed feeling he always got when he witnessed other people's drastically emotional moments that didn't involve him.

"I promise, I promise it won't be like that, ok? I love you. I love you, babe, so much…"

"I love you too, Mom."

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Axel's pale arms wrapping around his mom again, and the redhead closed his eyes this time.

Eventually they pulled apart, and Roxas wondered idly if they had forgotten that they were actually trying to leave. He could hear Axel laughing now.

"Mom, seriously, stop crying, this is weird."

Steph laughed too, wiping her eyes with the floppy sweatshirt sleeves.

"You sure you want to drive?" Axel asked, reaching for the keys.

"Get in the car, Ax. Passenger's side."

Roxas's plan to be invisible was immediately derailed as the others got into the car, Axel having turned around to flash him a smile before getting settled and Steph proclaiming a loud "Roxas!" as she started the engine.

"Er… yea?"

"Roxas, Roxas, Roxas. So you're Sora's brother? Is that right?"

"Yea, he's a year older than me."

"Mmhmm, mmhmm… Ok, so let me try to get this all figured out for a sec… You and Ax are juniors. And Sora's a senior… And then, let's see, Riku was it? Riku's a senior too. And… who else?"

"Demyx," Axel said, slipping his shoes off and putting his feet up.

"Demyx is a senior. Oh God, Demyx is a senior! How did that happen?" Steph cried, taking her hands fully off the wheel to wave them at Axel. "I gotta see Demyx sometime soon, ok? I can't even imagine him older than what, 13? 14? God, he's like your brother, anyway, he practically lived with us. I can't even believe it, you guys are getting so old. Ax, you're the same age I was when I had you."

"Jeez, yea. That's bizarre…"

"Now just imagine giving birth at your age. 9 months of pregnancy for one skinny little baby. Although you were nice, you didn't cry too much. Or, well, you'd start crying, but then I'd come pick you up and you'd quiet down pretty fast. Half the time you weren't even hungry or anything, you just wanted to be held. All the girls at work thought you were adorable."

"Yea, I'm sure they did," Axel grumbled, leaning against the window. "And if it's all ok, I'd rather not imagine giving birth, at any age…"

"Oh, hush. You know what I mean. Anyways, who am I missing? I know I'm missing someone. Roxas! Who am I missing?"

Roxas perked up at the mention of his name, having drifted off trying to imagine Axel as a baby. "Umm… Zexion, he's a senior. I dunno if Axel wrote about him, though."

"Yea, yea, Zexion. Little Emo," she said, her voice distracted as she merged onto the highway. "He's Demyx's boyfriend, right?"

"Yea."

"Huh…"

After successfully getting into the middle lane, where they'd stay for the entire drive back, Steph looked over at Axel. "So did you guys meet because you're all gay, or were you already friends and then coincidentally all realized you were gay?"

"Um…" "Er…" "We…"

"Well, I knew Sora and Riku from Elementary School, and they were always kind of…. exclusive friends. Although Sora had a lot of other friends, too, and then Riku sort of became popular in Middle School. We were more acquaintances, though. I guess I got closer to them because of Rox, who I met, um… in the locker room at school," Axel replied. "Where he claimed not to be gay, even though he obviously wanted me-"

"I never said I wasn't gay!"

"Yea, you totally did, you were all 'Ummm, ummm, I'm not into boys, Axel!' And then you ran away crying!"

"Ok, first of all, I wouldn't have said that, and even if I did, I definitely wouldn't say it in such a weird, high-pitched voice. If you're gonna imitate me, at least do it in a sufficiently manly tone."

"Yea, ok, manly my ass. Either way, I befriended him, against his will, and ended up becoming friends with Sora and Riku from hanging around their house all the time… and then of course, I was already friends with Demyx, who had known he liked guys since like, 7th grade, although he was into girls for a while too. He had a bunch of cute, innocent girlfriends in Middle School, but by High School he'd settled more on guys. And then, I guess Zexion is bi, so… yea, he's in Demyx's math class, and once they got together, he sort of joined the group."

"Well, you had a couple girlfriends too, right? I remember them, when you were like, 14 or so, I can't remember their names though," Steph said, nodding in Axel's direction. "You would bring home these really sweet girls from school and hold hands and watch movies on the couch, it was the cutest thing ever. Well, aside from you and Demyx – you two were absolutely adorable. You know, I'd leave at night and you'd be sleeping alone, and I'd come in to wake you up in the morning and you and Demyx would be all curled up together in your pajamas like little kittens."

"Mom…"

"What? It was cute!"

"Mom, stop! You're being embarrassing!"

Roxas laughed, and he zoned out again as the two in the front began to talk about people he didn't know, catching up on lost time. He had kicked his shoes off too, and had propped his feet up against the back of Axel's seat, trying to get comfy. Partially out of boredom and partially out of curiosity, he reached into the cardboard box, pulling out a letter at random.

March 5.
Hey mom. What's up? Ok, that's pointless, because I still haven't found the mailbox key, and chances are, nothing particularly epic is happening to you. No offense, but I mean, it's true. Not that I don't want to know how you're doing. Please, let me know. When I finally find that goddamn key, I'll be really interested, I swear.
So I have some exciting news! Today, March 5, is the official 5th day that Roxas and I have been back together, oh yes, BACK TOGETHER. In case you didnt catch that, I'll be less subtle:
I AM BACK TOGETHER WITH ROXAS! And he totally still loves me, which I totally already guessed because really who doesn't love me? Hahahaha I'm just kidding but seriously. Ok. So it would take me too long to write all the spec. details about what happened but long story short he thought that I was cheating on him (WHICH I WASN'T) and so he blew a gasket and ran off and dumped me but I WASNT EVEN CHEATING ON HIM and so then THEN we were teamed up together for the fundraiser thing so I was like 'Roxas.' and he was actually a total pain in the ass but I finally made him talk to me and we got it all figured out and then he hugged me, oh yes a hug, like I was telling you in that other letter that way that he hugs me? He hugged me like that in his roxas way and I thought i was gonna cry i was so fuckin happy. Of course I didnt actually cry or anything because I think he was bawling enough for the both of us (well ok I'm exaggerating he only cried a little and it was cute) but yea. it was really cool. Really. REALLY. Oh man, I've been resisting the urge to just like completely cling to him for the past 5 days cause I missed him so bad. I can't even explain it, he just makes me laugh like no other, he just makes these like… its hard to explain just like observations. These… wry observations. And then on the other hand he does these little things that are completely 'awwwwwww' worthy, like when you see a big muscle man carrying his pet Chihuahua across the street and it's just like 'awww!' except that Roxas has neither muscles nor a chihuahua but THAT IS NOT THE POINT here! The point is that he does cute shit too and that's another good thing about him.
Anyways, before I get too carried away here I can't forget the other news, which is that Demyx (!) has found himself a man as well. I know, usually when he finds himself a guy to go out with, it's like… a bad thing, because they're always mean to him BUT this one is different. His name is Little Emo (ok, his name is actually Zexion, but I'll get to this in a second), and while I tried hard to maintain my opinion that he's weird, now that I've actually talked to him and played cards with him and hung out with him a couple times, I will grudgingly admit that yea, he's pretty cool, and I'm glad he's with Demyx, and I like him. He's a good guy. He's funny, and he's smart but he's not one of those pretentious assholes that tries to make Demyx act stupid so he can reinstate his smartness, he like… talks to Demyx about science and stuff. Sometimes. I mean, they talk about other stuff too. They're a good nerdy couple (I mean, they met in math class…) except for the fact that neither of them is actually nerdy, they're just smart. Anyways, I call him Little Emo because, well, he's little, and he dresses like… he wears a lot of black clothing, (he wears girl pants…) and like 3 belts at a time with spikes on them and makeup, how could I forget the makeup? He wears eye makeup. Usually not too much though. PLUS, his hair… Ok. Either way. Overall yea, I'll admit he's pretty cute, and I guess Demyx likes a guy who's all put together like that. Personally, I admire Roxas's permanently disheveled look, which I'm sure he puts more work into than I realize. I guess I'm lucky… my clothes are generally pretty boring, so I just throw on a sweatshirt and jeans and slip my flip flops on on the way out the door. My hair doesn't get messy, really, or if it does, if I just like… brush it with my fingers really quick and it kinda sticks out the way it naturally does and, well, that's it. Plus, my strikingly sexy features and immature charm add to the overall swoon-worthiness of, well, me. Oh boy, ego boost! Although, I guess if I'm stroking my own ego, it kind of negates itself. Incidentally, 'stroking my own ego' kind of sounds like masturbation, which is somewhere that I, for one, am not going to go in this letter. I gotta go anyway, I'm gonna take Rox out to this all-you-can-eat sushi place for 5 bucks (you've taught me well, I'm bringing empty containers for the fridge in my backpack, and fully intend to bring home like, 50 California rolls). Either way, I gotta pick him up in 10 minutes, and it takes 15 to get to his house, so I better go. Hope you're doing well, and that you could derive some amusement or happiness from this letter.
I love you.
Ax :)

PS: Did I mention I'M BACK TOGETHER WITH ROXAS? Ahahahaaa, I'm so happy. Ok. Leaving. Love you. Bye.

Roxas couldn't help but smile as he read. Axel's handwriting grew messier in sections of more excitement, and he had drawn a little illustration of 3 dancing California rolls at the bottom of the page, with a cheery label that said: "Even the sushi is celebrating! They missed Rox, because while he was gone, I had to eat sushi all alone… Dance on, sushi, dance on!"

He laughed a little, re-reading parts of the letter over and over and trying to imagine Axel propped up on his bed with a pen in his hand, drawing little pictures of dancing sushi. It hadn't even been from that long ago…

There's a special way that I hug? I didn't even notice… He seems so excited here, and he writes just like he talks. It's like a transcript of a one-sided conversation or something.

"What the hell? No! Oh my God, give me that!"

Before Roxas could fight back, Axel had yanked the letter from his unsuspecting fingers, turning bright red as he folded it up to put in his pocket.

"Are you reading my letters?" he asked indignantly, turning completely around in his chair to lean into the backseat.

"I only read one," Roxas said, grinning at Axel's embarrassed expression. "It was really sweet…"

"Shut up," Axel mumbled, pulling the box forward into his lap. "I'll hold the damn box. You can't just read other people's mail! God, I'd been wondering why you were so quiet back there…"

Steph just laughed from the driver's seat, partially at the argument and partially at how protectively Axel was now clinging to the cardboard box.

"Just out of curiosity, how do I hug?" Roxas asked, trying to hold back his laughter. "I wasn't aware that I had a specific hugging style."

"Shut up!"

"Well, apparently you hug really tight," Steph interjected, smiling over her shoulder at Roxas. "But not too tight. And I think the phrase that Ax used was that you 'get your head into it, too.'"

"My head?" Roxas repeated, raising his eyebrows. "I get my head into it? What does that even mean?"

"Shut up…"

"I think it's kind of like how some people hug with just their arms, really, but apparently, you really hug. More of a standing snuggle sort of thing," Steph explained, ignoring Axel, who was curling up into a ball and staring pointedly out the window.

"Standing snuggle… huh… That's cool, I guess. I mean, it's a good thing, right?" Roxas asked, reaching up with one foot to teasingly tug on a piece of Axel's hair with his toes.

"Of course it's a good thing!" Steph exclaimed, grinning at Axel's miserable wet-cat glare. "Aww, c'mon, Ax, has no one been teasing you in my absence?"

"You're humiliating me," he muttered, ignoring Roxas's attempts to comfort him via foot-to-hair connection.

"Babe, this is not humiliation. If I wanted to humiliate you, I'd tell him about-"

"Stop! Stop now!"

"What? What were you gonna tell me?" Roxas asked excitedly, letting his feet fall to the floor as he leaned forward eagerly.

Steph simply laughed, shaking her head as Axel slumped angrily in his seat. "We only tease you 'cause we love you, hun. Right, Roxas? It's a show of affection."

"Absolutely," Roxas agreed, poking at Axel's hair once more, this time with his fingers. When Axel (predictably) reached back to hit his hand away, he was ready, and he grabbed the redhead's hand instead, pulling it close enough to leave a light kiss on his knuckles before letting go. "Plus, you make fun of me all the time."

"That's different," Axel mumbled, although he looked only Extremely Displeased as opposed to his previous Miserable/Infuriated.

Sighing happily, Steph reached for the radio, and they rode the rest of the way home with the music on, Steph and Roxas singing along loudly… and by the time they reached the apartment, Axel had started to sing too.

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Leon had decided to make a frozen pizza for dinner. He'd managed to preheat the oven and put in the pizza, and now he had seated himself comfortably on the floor in front of the oven to watch. Cloud had gone out around 5:15 to pick up a couple of movies, and it was almost 6 now. Leon was feeling impatient. Between Cloud and the pizza, he really just wanted something to put in his mouth; the toothpick he'd been chewing on for the past half hour was getting soggy, and it tasted bad anyway.

So the saying really is true… a watched pizza takes for fucking ever to bake.

He perked up a little as he heard footsteps coming up the stairs outside, and he held his breath in anticipation, hoping it wasn't just the neighbors again. Sure enough, he could hear Cloud fumbling with the lock for a moment before the door swung upon, the blond kicking it shut behind him and dropping a bag of movies on the couch.

"Leon?" he called out uncertainly, scanning the room.

"I'm in here," Leon replied, waving his arm above counter level.

Slipping off his shoes, Cloud came around into the kitchen, raising his eyebrows as he saw Leon's stakeout. "What are you doing?"

"Watching the pizza."

Leon prodded the oven door with his foot, trying to motivate the pizza to bake faster.

"Wow. That sounds, uh… thrilling," Cloud said, trying not to laugh.

Leon wrapped an arm around Cloud's legs, buckling the blond's knees so he toppled to the ground beside him. Settling down, Cloud leaned back against the counter, his leg propped up against Leon's.

"You see that bubble on the left side?" Leon asked, pointing at the pizza. "That bubble's been there for at least 10 minutes. I've been trying to pop it with my mind."

Cloud nodded. "Cool. Is it working?"

"No, not so much…"

Cloud let his head rest on Leon's shoulder, looking sideways at him with a smile. "You wanna do something more interesting?"

"Such as?"

Cloud grinned, swinging one leg over both of Leon's to straddle the brunet. Plucking the disintegrating toothpick from the other's mouth, he leaned in to leave a gentle kiss on Leon's lips.

"Ti voglio," he murmured, looking distinctly pleased with himself for remembering how to say something in another language.

"Huh?"

"It means 'I want you' in Italian. Or at least, Sora said it does."

Leon looked vaguely confused for a moment. "Um, ok. I'm not even gonna ask why my brother would be telling you how to say 'I want you' in Italian, but uh… whatever. Ok. Cool."

"So I could impress you with my skills, of course. He said you were taking an Italian class," Cloud said, idly tugging at the neckline of Leon's shirt.

"Um… I dunno where he got Italian from, I'm taking Danish," Leon replied, scratching his head. "Either way, it was a valiant effort."

"Either way," Cloud repeated, slipping his hands beneath Leon's shirt, "I want you."

"You want me, do you?"

"I do."

"You do, do you?"

"Stop that, it's annoying."

"You want me to stop, do you?"

Cloud silenced Leon with another kiss, this time harder than the last, and Leon found he didn't particularly feel like talking after that; his mouth was otherwise occupied.

The poor pizza didn't stand a chance… by the time they finally remembered it, it was completely burnt.

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AN: Eh heh, I kinda like Cloud and Leon, like, a lot. I hope you guys do too! The LeonxCloud enthusiasts have been almost as excitable as the RikuSora ones, and have officially held a parade in my proverbial neighborhood (with big signs). They threw proverbial candy at my proverbial shrinking form, and I not-so-proverbially caved and gave Leon and Cloud some time in the proverbial spotlight. Ha ha ha, I have had a lot of sugar in the past 15 minutes!
I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter, thanks so much for reading, and please leave a review to let me know what you thought!