My Life Cataclysm

by Riku's Dark Vampire Girl

When is paradise no longer paradise? How does one problem go from bad to worse? How do you deal with it all? Improvise to make it through, even if the redhead bully from hell gets in the way. Keep the Sambas at home. Late AkuRoku. Early chapter revision.

36. One More 'til Midnight

6:30 a.m.

I stared at the screen as the past flashed before my eyes.

With each scene came a shot of nervousness in chest and the way my stomach hurt made it worse. Yet, seeing myself doing the stuff on the screen made it all the more worse.

The guys fared no better. Zexion sat there with his jaw on the floor from seeing what he had done. I suppose he did fulfill Axel's wish for that night though not in the way he expected. Demyx laid on the bed with his hand on his head, cringing every now and then from seeing what he was doing. Marluxia was the worse of them all, motionlessly bent over the trashcan and only making movements when he made a choking sound.

Blocking a couple of the screens were Scion and Faron. They were dressed in the same clothes they wore the night before, they were a mess. Scion's hair actually became frizzy with strands of hair out of place here and there. Her dress was wrinkled though thankfully not torn or ripped from as far as I could see. In spite of her unkempt state, she stood tall with authority, her hands crossed behind her back as she observed the show. Faron stood confidently as well though in a more tired stature. Her hair was disheveled too and her dress was just as wrinkly as Scion's outfit. Every now and then, they'd glance back at us with pitiful looks. As best I could, I responded with a face that said I was sorry, though I knew it wasn't enough.

I just wished Axel was as apologetic as I was. He was rolling on the floor, holding his side to keep his laughter from busting a gut.

'Damn, I failed,' I sighed in my head as I continued watching myself. Amazingly enough, I remembered some of my actions despite the chemical that was still circulating in my bloodstream. Pressing the hot water bag against my head, I thought back to the night before. With the recordings of us and my memory, I could piece together what happened.

All I hoped was that while I figured things out, Xigbar would remove the gun pointed at my face.

---

6:03 p.m.

"So what's this I hear about a sleepover?"

"I told you Cloud, Axel's inviting me over to his for the night."

Thursday evening was starting out really nice for the last day of the year. Sun was setting, stars were out, the rolled-down window was letting in a refreshing breeze. I was feeling pretty good, mostly because I was spending the night over at Axel's house...again.

"Is that why you're skipping out on that party Sora and Riku are going to? Sora said Wakka's party was going to be the best of the year," my uncle made a turn around a corner. "Yeah well, I could go next year," I shrugged casually, not bothered about the information. "I would've preferred you go to keep an eye on Sora so he doesn't 'crash' again. Guess I'll just have to hope Riku does it," he came to a stoplight, "Who was this Axel guy again?"

"He's the spiky, redheaded guy who spent the night over at our house the night of the storm," I pulled at my hair when I mentioned Axel's hair. "Oh yeah! That guy!" he nodded, remembering the teenager from so long ago. "And you said he lives where again?" he turned to me. "Further up the mainland, in the 'nobles' district" I pointed to the road that would lead to the bridge to the mainland.

"'Nobles' district? You mean that neighborhood where all the rich people live?" he tilted his head in disbelief.

"Seriously, he lives up there," I thumbed the light to let him know it was green.

"Sheesh. No offense, but when he came over he didn't look like he was one to live in such a high class area. More like a neighbor from down the street, but I guess you kids dress in any way you want to make a statement," he shook his head. "Just look at Sora on a normal," I rolled my eyes. What statement was Sora trying to make? "I suck in the sun by wearing mostly black?" Or what about Riku? "I'm not going to make any sense so I wear pants on an island." I couldn't understand those two.

Cloud made another turn, "So what line of work do Axel's parents work in to earn such an expensive place?" Crap, I never thought about that. Like I could outright tell him that Axel's dad worked in the mafia. What a joke or a disturbing fact if he actually believed me. As for Faron...I didn't know. She may have been a doll maker by how nicely she crafted the doll of me, but her CFS seemed like an obstacle that would put her out of work. What to say...

"Uh, his dad works for Disney," I bluffed, "and his mom...She's a doctor." I doubted she could even be a doctor with her fatigue. Collapse right in the middle of a surgery or working on people half asleep. That would just not work out...

"No wonder!" he flipped on the turn signal, "He must get a lot of presents for his birthday and Christmas!"

'Yes he does' I smiled knowingly in my mind.

The topic of presents returned my thoughts to Christmas day. After a whole day of breaking out our new gifts, we had Christmas dinner before shoving off for a little more gift use until we clocked out. Once Sora was out of my hair, I finally got the time to go rummaging through the presents the others had given me. Namine had bought me a sketchbook of my own including a pack of colored pencils. Kairi basically gave me the same gift as Sora except mine was made from paopu fruit skins instead of shells. Don't know how she made charms out of those kinds of things but she was really good at it. From Demyx I got a stack of CD's, a stuffed white seal, and a year pass to the aquarium.

What the other three got me I thought were special, Faron's and Scion's were at least. Faron had bought me a set of orchestral soundtracks she probably thought I'd like. Normally, orchestral music wasn't in the list of music I listened to, but after hearing the sounds of the instruments pump through my headphones for days, I changed my mind. As well as the soundtracks was a blanket, an outfit, hair care products like gel and shampoo, and a postcard book.

In one of the presents from Scion, I found a set of safety gear including a helmet and knee and elbow pads. Just by seeing what they were, I knew she wanted me to be more careful. It had been a while since I last wore equipment like those, but I was willing to throw them on if she wanted me to. Already fell off my board before, I didn't want the next time winding me up with knee replacements. Also from her were two handmade scarves, bedsheets, a set of manga, and a gift card to a well-known skate shop.

Then there was Xigbar...I don't even...

He gave me about four pairs of resin models to paint, all of them of girls. A pack of different colognes was in the mix too along with a month free membership to the local gym. I had no idea what he meant by those or his last gift for that matter. It left me...I can't explain it. He was horribly kidding around with me. Though truth be told, I actually put together the models and painted them anyway. He made absolutely no sense!

"You and Sora need to start getting in some driving lessons," Cloud turned onto the road that lead to Axel's neighborhood, "Skating everywhere isn't always the best way to travel, especially when it's raining. The two of you are supposed to be getting your licenses next year."

"Yeah, I know" I crossed my arms behind my head. As long as there weren't cute animals scurrying in the road then I could pick my ass up and learn how to drive. I wasn't about to risk running over Donald and I doubted Sora would tolerate me running over his animal "friend."

Cloud slowed to a stop next to the opening of the hedges. When he caught sight of the house, he let out a whistle in awe of everything. Since Christmas was over, all the decorations were down so he didn't get to see how magical it looked during the holidays. However, he must've felt as much wonderment as I did when I first saw the place. It could be overwhelming at times.

"Will I need to pick you up tomorrow morning or are you getting a ride back?" he snapped out of his trance as I got out of the passenger seat. "I think I'll get a ride back from Axel," I waited until he unlocked the backseat door to open it, "or I'll just walk. Either way works fine."

"Alright then. You kids have a good time," he watched me hook my backpack around my arms. "And you have a good time with Tifa!" I ended with a wink. He blushed, looking around uncomfortably. Come on, it was going to be two adults left at home with the kids out. What else were they going to do? Watch movies?

"Mosey!" I pointed down the street where he had came. With a wave, he took off like a bat out of hell. Either I embarrassed him too much or he really wanted to get some.

I headed for the house, anxious to start this sleepover slash party. That's what Axel called it when he called Wednesday night. Scion, Xigbar, and Faron were supposed to be leaving for the night which meant the house was going to be left to us. My immediate thought was that leaving the house to Axel couldn't be good since I had no experience with him "partying." I'd assume crashing the place and setting things on fire would be his style though I doubted he'd wreck his own place, especially if Scion was going to make him clean it up. On the other hand, if things turned out well, then maybe the five of us would have a little fun if only Marluxia and Zexion would let it be that way.

My shadow rapidly crept up onto the front of the house as a light shown behind me. I turned sideways to see a car slightly turning around the hedges. The light kept me from seeing what kind of car it was but I did hear somebody get out. The headlights began to recede as a figure came around in front, heading towards me. As he came close, I could see that he was carrying a backpack too. His height must've been about mine if not a little taller. Yep, it was him.

"I should've expected to see you here, Rock Ass," Zexion huffed as he stopped in front of me at the fountain.

"You're talking to a new member of the group now," I stood my ground, "don't I get a little respect?"

He slid past me with a confident smile, "'New' doesn't beat 'senior' in any group." I followed up behind him. There was no equal in "new" or "senior" statuses; yes, he had been in the group longer than I had, but I still thought I deserved a little respect seeing as how I wasn't any other kid at school anymore. Tch, when does a newbie ever get much respect after joining a group?

"But we'll see if I decide to start giving handouts of consideration your way," he stopped at the door, "if I want to overcome my dislike of you." He mumbled the last part though there was no need since I was standing right next to him. What a bastard. 'Yeah, well I bet Axel will speed that process right up,' I sneered, seeing as how he wouldn't be able to see me out of his right eye since his hair was covering it. My boyfriend, his leader, said that if he or Marluxia had a problem with me, they could take it up with him. I didn't like bringing Axel into the problem but he was going to be the first backup I would have in dealing with those two.

Ringing the doorbell, I was about ready to drop the topic and start a new one. The dogs were barking behind the door, but Scion was taking longer than usual to answer.

"Hey," I peered over at him.

"What?"

"What's up with your face?"

"What's up with yours?"

"That's not what I meant," I rolled my eyes, "I meant your eye. Your right eye." He turned his head so that his left eye was looking at me. By the glare he had, I knew I probably offended him in a way. Just as guilt was about to overwhelm me, I remembered the time he stepped on my hand and laid out those porno magazines on my desk. I wasn't about to show any regret for asking.

"Why do you ask?" he crossed his arms, looking me over like I was a wise guy for asking. "Just want to know why you keep it covered all the time is all. Wearing hair in my face like that would get really annoying, really fast" I answered in an annoyed tone. Why did he need to question me like I was some sort of criminal?

Exhaling an irritated breath, he faced forward again.

"I'm color blind in my right eye."

"I'm sorry."

Those were the first words out of my mouth. I wasn't planning on saying it but finding out made me feel bad. Knowing about it triggered an automatic response. What made it worse was that I had said it after he appeared offended.

He glanced at me with a raised eyebrow before looking at the door again, "It's not that big of a problem. I keep it covered so it doesn't conflict with my good eye." His response didn't make me feel any better if that was what it was intended to do. A wad of guilt always dropped on me when I was inconsiderate about people, going so far as to reach out to a guy who hit me with a book. Now I felt like the jerk.

"How...is it?" I cringed in the right side of my face as I asked.

"How is what?" he rolled up his jacket sleeve to read his watch. It must've been around six something o' clock. I know he was anxious to get inside but barely two minutes had passed after he rung the doorbell.

"Are you...totally color blind in your right eye or you can see a few colors...?" I shrugged. In health, I learned that color blindness wasn't completely gray, black and white, or whatever they saw.

"I can see some blues but other than that everything else is a dull, dull color" he rolled his sleeve back down.

"Oh."

"It's not all that bad," he sighed as he crossed his arms. Footsteps were approaching on the other side of the door. I tried to get my wincing under control as I looked at him. "I've still got two working eyes with one that can see all colors," he adjusted his backpack with a bump of his ass, "I'm thankful I'm not totally blind."

The door opened.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't the munchkins of the group?"

Xigbar was the one to open the door that time and not in the way I thought he would.

He opened the door like any other person would, it was just the way he was dressed threw me off. All he had on was a pair of black dress pants and a winged collar with a bow tie, leaving his chest and arms completely exposed. His scars were like an explosion in my face every time I looked at them. If Scion was the "sweet French maid" then Xigbar looked like the "buff butler." I was afraid I wasn't going to make it to sleep that night.

"I'm not short!" I pouted, hoping my stunned look wasn't too obvious. "I don't even understand why you think that in the first place," Zexion looked up to the guardian with a dull face. "Please," Xigbar stepped to the side to let us in, "you're both peanuts to me."

Entering the house, I found that the decorations on the inside had been taken down as well: no lights, no fake wreaths, the pets weren't dressed up anymore, not even the scent of cinnamon hung around. Despite the absence of those elements, I could still feel a sort festiveness in the house.

"What happened to Santa?" I bent down and ruffled Ammy's fur.

"You guys can wait in the living room with the other two. Axel will be down in a minute," the guard shut the door and sprinted for the stairs.

"I'm gonna guess Scion is getting ready too and that's why she couldn't answer the door?" I called up to him before he reached his room. Xigbar, Scion, and Faron were supposed to be going to a New Year's party for the night so it made that sense she couldn't get the door. She was too busy getting spiffy. "You know women. Take forever to look their best," he chuckled, retreating into his room. Like Scion needed forever to look good; she was a natural beauty.

"Let's go wait for him in the next room, 'kay Ammy?" I winked. She barked, turning with a start toward the room where Zexion was already heading. I followed behind her with Ramsey and Prometheus warily walking beside me. Couldn't they get over my existence already!?

"Hey guys," I waved as I came in though Marluxia didn't deserve my welcome. "Roxas, you made it!" Demyx waved from the couch, keeping a hand on Tobi who was lying in his lap. Marluxia nodded to himself as if to confirm that I was really there, keeping his focus on petting Felicia. "Axel wanted me to come. Why wouldn't I?" I leaned against the wall next to the doorway. I wanted to take a seat on the couch, but Zexion stole the last spot next to Marluxia. Fine. He could be that way. I doubt sitting next to Marluxia would've been a world of fun anyway.

"So it's official. This is the first gathering of the Thirteenth Order with Roxas as our new member," the blond beamed proudly, gesturing to me with his free hand. Zexion clapped with the enthusiasm of a sick person while Marluxia stuck one of those roll out noisemakers in his mouth and blew with little energy. If that was their reaction to that announcement, they were going to hate my next move.

"Seriously! I mean, look what he made me for Christmas" I pulled my Order jacket out of my backpack.

Marluxia and Zexion let out disapproving groans unlike Demyx who actually welcomed the sight. They were really going to have to get over themselves if they were always going to act like that around me. "Oh yeah! Axel said he was working on something over break," the Nocturne came over and got a good look at the backside. "Cool, let's see it on ya!" he suggested. Doing just that, I slipped my arms into the sleeves, pulled at the sides so they were straight, and did my best casual pose. "Looking sharp, Roxas," he said in an impressed tone, "you almost look as sharp as me."

"Hey!"

"Oh Roxas! You look so handsome!" Scion's voice swooned from lobby. I turned around in time to catch a glimpse of her leg going past the top step of the right staircase. How could I look handsome from behind!? That didn't make any sense! Not to mention I was supposed to look tough with the jacket on. It must've had to do with it being a bit big for me. Still...

"Demyx..." I whined as I faced him again. He shrugged like he didn't know what to do. Behind him, Marluxia and Zexion were snickering over what had happened. 'Whatever!' I huffed in my mind, clutching the collar of my jacket, 'Axel made this for me. I don't care what anybody says about it. It's special.'

"Please. You look so good." A hand stroked down the back of my neck all the way to my lower back. Although the jacket was on, the light touch of his hand was gentle enough to make me shudder in pleasure.

"Miles ahead of handsome."

"Axel!"

He ruffled my hair, "Glad you could make it to our little shindig." Dressed in a white tank top, black pajama pants, and his signature jacket, Axel winked at me as he leaned against the door frame. Seeing him again after several days apart was like seeing an old friend after so many years. As to be expected, nothing had really changed about him since the last time I saw him.

"I wouldn't miss it for the world," I attempted to fix my hair, "how was your trip?"

"Boring as hell. No fun without you guys," he led the two of us toward the couch. "C'mon Axel. Spending time away from home must've had some high points somewhere," Demyx held his arms out. "No, not really. Sure, had a little fun here and got to see a few relatives there, but nothing beats home sweet home!" he pulled both of our shoulders toward him so that we were squeezed up next to him. "Be sure to send us a postcard next time" Zexion set his backpack on the floor.

"So what's the plan for this evening, Axel?" Marluxia smirked like he knew his leader had planned something good. There was a high chance that he did. What was his chaotic plan for the night? "Let's see...Adults are leaving, the house will be to ourselves, and awesome shit's gonna go down. No real need for a plan, Marly," Axel beamed assuredly. "What about you-know-who?" Demyx gestured to me in the most obvious way even though I was standing right next to him. "Oh yeah! One thing that's planned, we lay down the ground rules for Roxy here," the Flurry motioned to me. I suddenly felt like I had walked into a trap when I saw the Order smirking devilishly. I had no idea what they were going to do with me. Ground rules? What was that supposed to mean?!

"Axel! What're you gonna do with these packs of soda?" Scion called from the kitchen. Tiptoeing her way into the room with a 12-pack of soda, she set it down by the doorway and caught her breath. Adorned in the dress I had given her for Christmas, her hair was let loose as always with the bangs on the side of her head shaping her face. Black high-heels were on her feet and a silver necklace with a pink blossom charm hung from her neck. I had never seen her so dressed up before without counting Christmas. She looked more radiant than ever.

Axel rolled his eyes and sighed, "We're bringing them in here. Sheesh, when are you guys leaving?" Stretching her back out, she rubbed it soothingly to remove the pain, "As soon as Faron's ready we'll be heading out and honestly, that scares me."

"However so?" the boss's son raised an eyebrow playfully. Scion squinted at him as if attempting to read his face, but smiled in weak confidence when she turned away from him. "I've worked here nine years, Axel. Don't think I don't know what you've got planned."

"What ever could you mean?" the said asked in an innocent tone, putting a hand to his chest as if to appear offended. Seeing him react that way was starting to get me more concerned about what he was keeping in his sleeves. "I'm not stupid, that's what I mean," she crossed her arms while giving him a stern look, "I could only imagine what you'd do here while we're out."

"What? Reading me just like that?" he shrugged, posing in an overly innocent questioning posture. "Yes I am, and I'm pretty sure we've taken the right precautions this time," she narrowed her eyes, her smirk returning. "You really think so?" he did the same. The two locked into what seemed like a battle of will. I couldn't stop glancing between them as a faint cloud of tension formed. They were evenly matched.

"You look nice, Scion!" I broke the stare down.

"I owe it all to you, Roxas. If you hadn't bought me this dress..." she broke from their game and pinched the sides of the dress. "You bought her that...?" Marluxia peered at me like he could believe I had. "With my own money, yes I did" I answered proudly. Zexion lifted his back off the couch so he could see around Marluxia to the maid, "You...do look nice, Scion." Peeking at Axel, I could see him rolling his eyes.

"Thank you, Zeixon," she blushed madly, "And before I forget Roxas, can you do me a huge favor tonight?"I felt heat filling up my face, "Favor?" What kind of favor was she asking for? "Uh, sure. Okay, what is it?" I kept myself from stuttering.

"Could you watch Axel for me?"

"WHAT?!" Axel's voice echoed throughout the living room.

"Just for the night?" she winked, "I'd feel a lot better if you kept an eye on him and made sure he didn't do anything reckless."

"Quit using him as a watchdog!" Axel stepped in front of me although I could still see Scion across the room. "Please Roxas," she clasped her hands together and standing as high on her tiptoes as high as her heels would allow her. There was no doubt I was going to be on her side. Axel's way of partying was completely foreign to me and watching out for whatever he was going to throw at me was put at the top of my list. I wanted to stay as far away from a police visit as possible.

"I'll do my best, Scion" I peeked over his arm.

"Roxaaaaas!" Axel groaned as he looked at me sideways. "Thank you, Roxas! You're a lifesaver!" the maid flashed a bright smile. 'I feel the same way as you, Scion,' I thought. What type of precautions did they have to take anyway?

"Scion!" Faron called from upstairs.

"Coming!" the maid answered, hurrying out the doorway to the stairs.

"Thanks for ruining the night, Roxas!" Demyx huffed sarcastically. "Hey, it's not like I'm going to call the SWAT team if something breaks," I faced them, "As long as it's not going to make us spend the night in jail, them I'm fine with whatever we're going to do." I looked up to Axel with sincerest eyes I could put on in an effort to both believe me and convince him to fix his schedule if there was something horrible in between.

"We won't be doing any of that, will we Axel?"

He turned all the way around so he was facing me. His eyes were hard, not in anger, but like a defense to what he was planning. It was going to take a lot more power than I thought. I was about to start pouting my lower lip and clutch the collar of my shirt like a spoiled brat but, once again, the others being there was bothering me. All I could do was gaze up at him pleadingly.

A smile.

I held off my pouting.

"Fine, we'll play it your way," he proclaimed.

"Really?" I grinned hopefully.

"Sure, doesn't derail my plans at all," his smirk returned, "We're still on track." I sighed. Dammit to hell. "We've still got one hell of an evening ahead of us. No way something shitty like ending up in jail is gonna happen to us!" he spun on his heels and headed for the doorway Scion had left through, "Now help me get these packs in here."

The rest of us followed Axel into the kitchen as we were commanded to help him with the packs of soda. At least seven 12-packs were waiting in the kitchen, each a different brand of soda. He said he picked them up at the store earlier that day to "keep us up" the whole night. Along with the sodas were a pack of popcorn, bags of candy, and snacks like Twinkies and Swiss Rolls. As if the gingerbread village wasn't enough sweets already though not much was left of it since most of it was gone.

"I feel like you were planning on us getting high off of all this junk," I carried the last pack of soda into the living room. "It's the New Years, we have to live it up somehow," Axel unwrapped a Twinkie, "what's a little sugar going to hurt?"

"Just don't get fat or else I'll hate you," I pouted. He replied by throwing a Twinkie at me as a way to silence me. Those things are a sin.

"We may actually need this to get Zexion off the couch," Demyx picked up a pack of soda. "Ex-cuuuuse me?" the said Schemer stopped flipping through the book he had brought. "Look at yourself! You're reading a fucking book on the New Year's when we're about to party!" the Nocturne motioned to the dictionary-sized book in his hands. I wouldn't have been surprised if it actually was a dictionary.

"I do too know how to party," Zexion shut his book, "I just don't do it a lot."

"Name one time you've actually partied..." Marluxia stared at him cunningly like he knew he didn't have an answer. He didn't. I knew he wouldn't cause frankly, I couldn't imagine Zexion on the dance floor and shaking his ass or actually having fun unless it had sadism in it. Complete opposite of Sora who was the life of the party. Hell, he brought the party with his breakdancing and worming all over the floor. Zexion would be the type to totally end it.

"I CAN TOO PARTY!" he threw his book to the floor though immediately picked it up like it was his baby. "I rest my case," his pink-haired companion crossed his arms confidently. "Then Objective Number 2 of the night: Get Zexion to party his ass off!" Axel held up two fingers. "What's Objective Number 1?" I tilted my head curiously. "You'll see," he ruffled my hair again. Where did he keep his hair gel?

"You boys planning to have at each other tonight?" Xigbar stepped into the room fully clothed this time, "Don't leave a mess."

"Shut up. I'm sure you'll be getting as drunk as hell at the party." Axel rolled his eyes. "Hell yes I will. Hopefully not too tipsy that I can't drive," his body guard answered proudly. "You claim yourself as a body guard yet you're not even a designated driver" I frowned. He was such a hypocrite. "Lay off my case, kiddo," he chuckled, "Are you becoming a designated pet owner?"

"Wha...?" it took me a moment to get what he was saying but when I did..."WHAT THE HELL WAS UP WITH THAT?!"

He broke out in laughter while I stormed to my backpack by the couch. What he was laughing about had to deal with the last Christmas present he had given me. I brought it with me to confront him about it. When Sora saw me with it in my room, he wouldn't stop laughing for a good 15 minutes. Later that same day, he actually stole it from my room and had Samba freak out about it.

"What the hell is this!?" I gripped the handle of the holed-box in front of him.

"Gee, it says 'Pet Rock' on the side" he calmed himself down for a moment to read it before busting his gut again. By then, he had the rest of the Order laughing along with him. Seriously, a rock pet? I didn't even know they still made things like that! Made no sense at all!

"Like that?! I named it Xigbar!" I picked the smooth black rock with googly eyes out of the box and held it for them to see. Honestly, I picked off one of the eyes after Sora returned the thing to me. Why not name something stupid after the guy who gave it to me? "And guess what? It already knows a trick! ATTACK!" I chucked it his way. Got him square in the ass; he was really nimble for a body guard. That was when he turned on me and got me in a headlock. It wasn't out of anger by the way he noogied my head. I swear that hurt a lot worse when he did it than other people.

"Don't be so sore, Spiky," he let me go. My scalp was burning like no other. "Shit, Xigbar. I knew you were evil but this..." Axel wiped his eyes. "Just wait until your birthday, hothead!" his guard chuckled. Oh what would he have in store then...

"You guys getting ready to leave?" Demyx asked. "Yep. Just need Faron to get her shoes on and a quick briefing for all of you. In here, boys," he waved for us to follow him into the lobby. A sweet aroma wrapped around us the second we stepped in. The two women were all dressed up and ready to go. Scion had added a light purple silk scarf-shawl mix to her shoulders. Next to her, Faron was dressed just as well. She went with the "little red dress" look only the dress flared well past her ankles. Diamond earrings hung from her ears to match the diamond necklace around her neck. On her breast was a bright, green brooch I recognized from the set I had given her. Everything, especially the dress, brought out her features. Her hair actually appeared to be the bright blond it should have and she seemed less pale. She looked gorgeous. The dress had to have done it. That or she attempted to get a tan and touched up her hair.

"Woah, Faron," I blushed.

"Hi boys," she spun, "Like it?"

"You look lovely Mrs. Montag," Zexion said as if he sincerely meant it. He probably did, though I hated his change in personality all of a sudden. "Very beautiful!" Marluxia agreed while Demyx nodded. I knew the girls were pretty, but they weren't actually thinking of getting a date of them were they?

"You're not gonna pass out at the party are you?" Axel kept a straight face, "I don't want ANY of you guys coming home until hell freezes over past midnight."

"Relax Axel, I've already taken my medication so I'll be up for quite some time!" she put her hands on her hips, her expression bold. Yeesh, she even acted younger.

"And speaking of being up all night, we're going to lay down some ground rules," Xigbar picked up a set of car keys as he walked over to the ladies. "Here it comes..." Axel leaned against the wall. "Yes, here it comes, hothead," the Freeshooter mocked him.

"First off, no destroying the house," Scion spoke up first, "I clean up this house almost everyday. I'd like to have one night where I don't have to clean up after you boys."

"No loud music either. It's okay to listen to some, I just don't want the neighbors to complain about it being too loud," Faron spoke up next. "The nearest neighbor is like a block away! What the fuck!?" Axel thumbed the wall across from him. "Also, no pranks, gimmicks, or shit that's gonna wind you guys up in jail. Or bottom line: Stay your asses in this house." Xigbar pointed to the floor. "It's not like I had actually planned for us to go anywhere," the redhead shrugged. I hadn't either. The point of a sleepover was to actually sleepover and not go anywhere.

"Lastly, before you get any ideas Axel, look what I have here," Xigbar shuffled through the set of keys he had, specifically holding up a gold one. As far as I could see it wasn't Axel's car key yet Axel's eyes widened a bit on his poker face when I glanced at him. Whatever it went to, it had an importance to him.

"This is staying with me," his guard dropped the key among the rest of the set.

"You boys have fun tonight and please stay out of trouble!" Faron said as she draped white shawl over her arms. "Be sure to take good care of Felicia and Tobi tonight. If you guys need anything, the numbers are right next to the phone in the kitchen." Scion nodded to the doorway past us. "Okay! We get it! Stop treating us like a bunch of fucking kids!" Axel pointed to the door. "But I thought you said you were four-years-old..." Xigbar glanced back at him as he opened the door. He did have a point. Axel just looked away, resting Xigbar's case.

"Later guys!" he called back as he stepped out. "Bye, boys!" both women waved. "Have a good time!" I gave a thumbs up, the others waving tiredly behind me. Once the door closed, Axel snuck over to the wall next to the window. Peeking outside the curtain, he watched them as they made their way to whoever's car. I wanted ask him about it, but it felt odd breaking the silence. We were all watching him after all. Outside, a car door closed. Axel pressed the back of his head against the wall as headlights shone through the curtain. The car went around the circle and the sound of acceleration diminished into the distance. He looked out the window again to make sure they were gone and when he did, he faced us with a smirk.

"Jackpot!"

"Oh shit!" I gasped.

"Guys, we are going to have one hell of a show!" he power walked back into the living room. "But Axel, I want to live!" I hurried after him with the other three following behind me. "No worries, Roxas. We won't do anything you can't handle," he directed us to sit on the couch. There wasn't enough room for us to all sit on it so I sat on the arm of it next to Demyx, keeping my distance from the other two.

"Look at this. We've got our new member Roxas, the house to ourselves, and a hell of a lot to do!"

"Yaaaaay" we punched our fists into the air unenthusiastically. Really people? It may have been just the five of us, but we were going to have a party here. "Seriously guys? Ramsey and Prometheus get more rallied up when they have to piss! Let's see some excitement!" Axel commanded. "Yaaaaaay!" we shouted louder than before.

"Louder!"

"Yaaaaaaay!!"

"FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!"

"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!" I practically had to scream out for all of them.

"Are we going to fucking rock the house or what?!" he shouted. "Hell yes!" we answered. "Can't hear your sorry asses!" he put a hand to his ear. "HELL YES!" we shouted.

"Good! Cause tonight we're gonna party like it's 1965!"

Automatically, we all grimaced and shook our heads. I knew we were going to get high, but not that high. "Shit, you guys are right" he rubbed his chin in thought.

"Fine, we'll party like it's 1985!"

"YEEEEAAAAAAAH!" we jumped off the couch. The dogs barked happily at seeing us rallied up while Tobi and Felicia wandered off as if to avoid an impending doom. Ah well, I was pretty hyped up for the night now. All I needed was the mini pep rally.

"First things first though. We're gonna need some supplies so Marluxia and Zexion," he pointed to the said, "there are some new mattresses down the hallway. Roll them in here. Roxas and Demyx, the freezer is down the hall. Swing by there and get every fucking tub of ice cream you guys can find. And as for me, I'm going to order pizza."

"Sure, give yourself the easy job," Demyx twitched his eyebrow.

"Please," Axel stopped himself from completely making it out the door, "I've got the hardest job of the night: Keeping you guys in line."

So the rest of us split into our tasks. Marluxia and Zexion went one way down the hallway while Demyx and I went down the other. The way we went was a part I had never been to before though looked about the same as the other part: lots of rooms, pictures hanging on the walls, little tables. Why have so many rooms if only four or five people lived there? Also, how were we supposed to know which room had the freezer in it? He said down the hall, that could've meant any room down the hall.

"Here it is" Demyx grabbed the doorknob of the last door before a corner. "How do you know?" I looked at him as my eye twitched. "Axel and I used to explore the place a bunch," he opened the door. The room looked like some kind of food pantry or storage room. The shelves were stacked with snacks, canned goods, and packages as if it was a store. A cupboard was next to the shelf with what I guessed was more food if not kitchenware. Our target was waiting at the back of the room next to a stack of boxes.

"Holy crap, what're they waiting for? A flood?" I scanned around the room. There was even a cooler in the corner! "Just emergency rations. It's not like they keep it all to themselves. They donate you know," Demyx opened the freezer, releasing a flowing chill into the air. "Donate to me. I could probably hoard some of this stuff somewhere," I chuckled, looking into the freezer. Stacks of frozen foods were inside, particularly several tubs of ice cream. He did say get each one.

"This guy is seriously trying to kill us," I picked up a tub of mint chocolate chip ice cream. "Prepare to be dead by the end of the night" the Nocturne picked out Rocky road. "Prepare to rot from the inside out before the end of the night," I scowled as I pulled out a tub of strawberry ice cream. Where was the sea salt?

"So how's life?" I set my two tubs in an empty box. Be a lot easier to carry them in that than with my arms. "Pretty good. Thanks for the sound generator by the way," he stood back up. "Thank you for the year pass, stuffed animal, and CDs," I gave him a thumbs up. "Yeah well, I saw how you were cuddling that stuffed dolphin when we were at the aquarium..." he smiled. The thing was cute. Leave me alone. "Grand Destan let me to get both the seal and pass for ya for free!" he got back into the freezer. "Really? Tell him I said 'thanks'," I brought out a tub of chocolate. I thought since the guy gave it up to his friend that he didn't have any power anymore. Guess I was wrong.

"How about...at home?" my voice became soft when I asked. "Huh?" he tossed out some cherry ice cream.

"You know," I leaned against the wall, "with your step-dad being...dead?"

He stopped shuffling through the tubs. I knew I had hit something he probably didn't want to talk about and was ready to change the subject if needed. Despite this, I could tell he was going to give me an answer anyway.

"Things have been...quiet. Better I guess," he replied with a hint of sadness in his tone. "I'd suspect they would be. How do you feel?" I asked cautiously. "Okay I suppose though," he stood back up, "his death isn't what I wanted."

"What?" I tried not to sound like I couldn't believe he just said that. If I was in his position, I'd be somewhat glad he wasn't around, but I didn't want to be inhumane. He must've had another reason why he wouldn't have wanted him gone. "Why?" I cleared my throat. "It's not how I wanted things to go," he confessed, "What comes out of dying out of the blue? There's no justice, no punishment, no compensation for his crime. Hell, there's barely any closure after what he did!" He had raised his voice which frightened me a bit. On the other hand, I could see where he was coming from. After what that guy did, I would've liked to see a lengthy jail sentence for him and an apology for me if I were in Demyx's place. Death was his easy way out.

"How did he die anyway?" I brought the box off the floor to the rim of the freezer while he got back to the ice cream. Could I be any more inconsiderate?

"I thought you knew," he put a tub of Blue Moon in the box, "it was on the news."

"Well I've never seen the guy so I don't know if he's been killed in a car accident, died of natural causes, or what," I explained. He didn't give me any clue as to what he looked like really so how was I to know what he looked like?

Sighing, he continued stacking the tubs, "I don't want to talk about it."

"Is it cause you don't like to ta-"

"It's not that I don't like to talk about it. Cause what happened to him has to with Axel."

"Axel?" I felt lightheaded as he hurriedly stacked the rest of the ice cream into the box. What did Axel have to do with it? I know Axel talked with somebody on his cellphone when we were at the hospital, but I didn't know what they talked about. What did he do? Did he...kill him? The possibilities bothered me.

"What did Axel do?" I demanded.

"I can't tell. Not tonight at least" he paced himself to the door.

"Demyx! What did Axel do?"

"Not tonight!"

"Demyx!" I struggled to keep my voice as low and steady as possible but it was hard. I didn't want Axel to suddenly hear what we were talking about and ruin the night for everybody else. Then again, I desperately needed to know what Axel had done to Demyx's step-dad. I wouldn't sleep peacefully at all until I knew yet my gut was telling me to hold back.

"Demyx!"

"Will anything change between you and Axel?" he abruptly stopped to set the box down and grabbed my arm.

"Axel and I?" I trembled. "Will anything change between you two?" he stared me straight in the eyes, "You just joined the Order, Roxas, and I know the two of you are starting this thing off right. I don't want anything to change!" To make Demyx act this way, Axel must have done something terrible to the other guy. The way Demyx was squeezing me and the tone in his voice were scaring me. I was beginning to wish I had never questioned what happened at all.

"Will you think of him any different?"

"N-no" I stiffly shook my head.

"Nothing's gonna change?"

"N-no."

"Promise?!"

"I promise!"

Even with my word, Demyx gripped me tighter. I kept my ground with him despite my fear of what was coming next. His answer would tell me the full extent Axel would go to help a friend. I just hoped whatever he had done wouldn't be used against me or anybody else who was close to me.

"He-" Demyx took in a deep breath.

I made a small terrified noise in anxiousness.

"He...had him assassinated."

"Assa...!" I couldn't even finish the word. Assassinated? Just like those guys at the Express were trying to assassinate me? No way...It just didn't seem possible. How could he? Nonetheless, the pieces of what happened since Demyx wound up in the hospital made sense. Axel called somebody to take care of business and business was taken care of.

"Ark took him out. It was on the news Thursday evening," he let go of my arm.

"You mean the guy they found...with the bullet in his...outside his house?" My sentence was so broken up when my mind drifted back to that Thursday. "That was the guy," he nodded to confirm my thoughts. "Axel," I blinked as I turned away. Despite the crime being heavy, I was thankful he didn't do it himself. I strove to keep my thoughts positive in that he did it for somebody else's sake. It probably would've worked if my conscience had given me peace.

"Roxas you promised!" the Nocturne stomped his foot. "I know! I know! I was just...I don't know!" I shook my head. I couldn't really tell him what I was thinking thanks to the promise. In fact, the most I'd have to do the rest of the night was to acknowledge the promise and ignore what I had just heard best I could so I wouldn't break our promise. I'd be lucky enough to forget about the whole deal.

"Rox-aaaaas!"

"Well, I'll get over it!" I got back to him with the biggest smile I could put on. "You will?" Demyx narrowed his eyes. "Eventually, but I don't want this to ruin the night," I picked up the box, "It's a party remember? We're supposed to be having fun."

"I guess," he sighed as he glanced to the side, "just don't make anything obvious."

"You got it. Now let's go!" I headed down the hallway. Actually forgetting about the thing was easier said than done, not like I had a choice. I just hoped I could pull it off without letting the fact that my boyfriend had given the order to kill somebody get in the way of the fun.

`~*~*~*`

6:15 p.m.

When we got back into the room, two mattresses were laid out on the floor. Down the hall, Zexion and Marluxia were retrieving the third mattress with limited success considering the thing was oh, a square. Axel was lying on the couch with Tobi under one arm and his cellphone up to his ear in his free hand. Seeing him lying there brought both happiness to my chest and a queasy feeling to my stomach considering what Demyx had told me. I knew he was evil at first, but I didn't think he'd ever go so far as to kill. Yet the way his face brightened when he saw us put my thoughts at ease for the moment.

"Thanks," he finished his call and shut the phone.

"How you guys don't have any sea salt ice cream here is beyond me," I glared at the assortments in the box. "I didn't even know that was a flavor before Christmas," he rose up from the couch and started for us, "What? You wanted some, Roxy?" Pouting, I turned away so he wouldn't see me puckering my lower lip, "Hell yes."

"And why are you holding Tobi hostage?" Demyx pet the feline's head since Axel was carrying him like a carry-on bag. "C'mon, Demyx. Tonight'll sort of be like a boys night out. No girls allowed," Axel held Tobi above his head, "except for my babe Ammy."

"Felicia wouldn't think so," I looked to the floor. She was purring up against my legs and pawing at the air toward Axel. She wanted Tobi. "Fine. No human girls anyway," he set Tobi on the ground next to his mate.

"So we're gonna be sleeping on these things?" I walked over to the "arena" of mattresses. The two queen-sized cushions were positioned one next to the other. Just looking it over told me that they were going to be incredibly soft and that I was gonna have a hard time staying awake lying on them. Axel sprinted over and tossed himself on top of them, "Of course. No sleeping on the shitty ground and what would be the use if we slept in separate rooms?" Ammy trotted over only to jump onto her master and lay on him like he was a pillow. He cringed while Demyx and I laughed.

"I fail...to see...the humor...going on here!" Zexion panted as he and Marluxia rolled the third mattress into the room. With a final heave, they pushed it to the ground next to the other two. One more and we'd have a complete square. "Can we get some help with the last one? My back's about to break from all that rolling," Marluxia stretched out his back. Those things were huge so I could guess at how heavy they were. "Alright guys. Let's give 'em a hand!" Axel nodded to the doorway. Twisting their backs and shaking it out of their arms, the two led the way with Demyx following behind. Axel was about to go after them until I grabbed his wrist. Without looking at me, he stepped back into place as I held onto his arm.

"I missed you," I rested my head against him.

"Missed you too," he turned around and kissed me on the cheek.

Letting go of his arm, I locked him in a tight embrace. Finally some alone time...or about the only alone time we'd get that night, so I thought. "We won't be able to do much tonight, will we?" I laid against his chest. The sound of his anxious heartbeat was enthralling. "We can get our spots in here and there," he ran his fingers through my hair. "How?" I looked down to see Felicia and Tobi purring against our legs. Why were they mocking us?

"Maybe when the others are asleep? I'll find a way," he played with one of my spikes. I groaned when he did that, but he kissed me on the lips to satisfy me.

"You guys better not be stepping out on us!" the Graceful Assassin called from the hallway. "Keep your dick on! We're coming!" Axel looked back toward the door before getting back to me, "Don't worry. We'll get our time."

Together, we headed into the hallway and helped the others with the mattress. With the last one in place, we collapsed on all four of them for a break. Axel flipped on the T.V. above the fireplace and turned it to a specific channel. The news.

"We're gonna watch the ball drop?" Demyx stretched his arms and legs out. "Why not? It's not like we're gonna wait five hours for the friggin countdown," his friend spun his hand with the remote in it, "We're gonna be doing other stuff too."

"Like what?" Zexion asked, still looking at his damn book. "Getting you to party your ass off is one," his leader smirked over to him. The Schemer huffed and buried his face in it more like that would help his case any more.

"Then there's Roxas's-" Axel stopped when he looked at me, his cunning smile returning. "My what?" I rolled over from my back to my stomach so that I was looking at him. He still wasn't letting on to what they were going to do with me and I was getting anxious. Whatever it was couldn't have been worse than having to face Ramsey or going into Xigbar's room again. Their smiles, though, did nothing to help what it could've been.

"You know what guys?" the Flurry tossed the remote onto an empty part of the mattress ring, "Let's go downstairs to the basement for a while."

"Basement?" I blinked, "You guys have a basement?"

"No shit. Gotta keep things somewhere right?" he flipped off the T.V. before heading toward the doorway to the lobby. The rest of us (including the animals) followed him around the corner toward the front door. At first I thought we were going to go outside cause the door would be somewhere out there, but then he moved a chair that was sitting in the corner next to it. Revealing a cellar-like door, he spread them open. How did I miss that my first time around? And why hide it?

"Watch your step guys cause I sure as hell won't catch you if you fall," he said as he lowered into the floor by the staircase below. Hesitantly, I went after him and the others behind me. I didn't know how high up we were so I was careful about going down.

Axel hit the switch that turned the light to disperse the darkness. A long hallway was in front of us, silent and cool unlike the rest of the house. Dark blue tile came under our feet as did dark purple on the walls. "Damn, Axel," I looked all around us even though there wasn't much, "who needs this kind of basement?"

"We got a lot of things that need to be stored," he shrugged, "not to mention it serves as an underground bunker."

"What the hell?!"

"Thaaaat's right! When the rest of the world is being vaporized, we'll be chillaxing down here in the sauna," he thumbed one of the doors. Both unfair and fair for me. The thought of them sitting in a hot, steamy room with Xigbar was disturbing. I'd hate to be him when that happened; let me explode at that point.

Our leader fearlessly led us down the hall to the door third to the last on the left side of the hall. The lights inside instantly switched on once he opened the door, revealing tons of exercise equipment inside. A pair of treadmills were in one corner with an elliptical trainer in the other. All kinds of weight machines filled the room in between, some I didn't even know existed. Against the walls were sets of dumbbells, medicine and exercise balls, and kettle bells. Looking back at me was myself in one of the mirrors that lined the back wall. Now why the hell would Xigbar give me a membership to a gym on the islands when they had their own personal gym under the house?!

"I guess this explains why you guys are so ripped," I stepped onto the rubbery floor. "How else did you think I got abs like these?" Axel lifted up his tank top, showing off his perfect six pack. As if I couldn't be any more jealous.

"I can't believe you actually spend time down here with Xigbar," Marluxia took a seat on the stationary bicycle. "I've spent some bonding time down here with my dad too. It's fun!" the Flurry took his place on one of the benches. I sat next to him. "But all that sweat...Nasty!" Demyx shook his head as he leaned against one of the back mirrors. "Don't be such a hypocrite, fishboy," Zexion smiled, "they train you guys just as hard for swim season." "Yeah, but I don't actually have to try. I'm a naturally good swimmer!" the blond thumbed his chest confidently. That I could believe. Friggin Olympics.

"Nothing better than hanging out down here," Axel tossed up the remote from somewhere and turned on the T.V. next to the door I had neglected to notice. "I don't suppose anybody else comes down here except you three," I leaned back against the barbell. "Believe it or not, I've actually seen Scion come down here and work herself out," he kept flipping through the channels until he ended up on the news again. "Seriously?" I twitched. Axel and Xigbar I could imagine, but Scion? I thought she got enough exercise just running around the house and taking care of everybody's shit. Why would she need to go down there?!

"Maybe we could get you down here for a workout?" his eyes looked to me seductively, "Work you out hard enough and you can get rock hard abs like mine," he lifted his tank top again. I felt them with the tips of my fingers and yes, they were rock hard. I sadly looked down to my own abs when I lifted my shirt. Not rock hard. He poked me and I giggled with a flinch. Embarrassing. I was the fucking Dough Boy!

"So Axeeeel," Marluxia looked to our leader with a sly smile. "In a minute. Goddamn, you're impatient!" Axel waved his hand at him with no real annoyance in his tone, "First, we bring the sodas down here and put the ice cream in the freezer."

Everybody except him groaned. After the trouble of moving them into the living room? Reluctantly, we did as we were told and brought down the packs. Since I was still paranoid about falling down the steps, I stuck with handing the boxes to Demyx when he was in the hallway until I came down myself. From there, they were put in a room that didn't have much in it except another freezer. Once that grueling task was done, we went back to the weight room when the lights suddenly shut off above me and the hallway went dark.

"What the hell?" I looked up into the darkness. The only light in the room was the T.V. yet that shut off too.

"Axel?" I turned every which way I could in the darkness.

"Demyx, hit that light!" I heard him say. Just when I thought he was fixing the "problem," only one light came on right above me like a spotlight. Even with the ounce of illumination he had given me, the rest of the room remained mostly pitch dark. The most my senses could bring me were the sounds of something moving.

"What're you gu-" I was cut off when something kicked me from under my feet, causing me to fall back. Luckily a rolly chair had been placed behind me before I could hit the ground, but I was still confused.

Where did it come from?

"Guys?!" I called out, slowly becoming scared. I really had no idea what was going on. They were pulling some kind of prank but what kind of trick is it when I'm sitting in a rolly chair, in a weight room, in the dark?

"Axel," I called out again in a meek voice, clutching the chair should it somehow save my life.

As I had hoped, Axel stepped into the light so that he was in front of me, yet something was up with him. His arms were crossed and a twinkle was in his eye as he looked down to me with a proud grin. I couldn't read him. On both sides of me, Zexion and Demyx also stepped into the light with a scary kind of happy look on their faces and I just knew Marluxia was behind me with the same smile. I felt like I was in a cult.

"I'm not gonna be gang banged am I?" I hunched my shoulders up to my ears to give off a sort of "sad puppy" face. He shook his head without losing his all-knowing smile. His response took me by surprise; I was sort of expecting a smart remark to follow.

"So," he spoke up, "you wanted to join the Thirteenth Order?"

I squinted at him in puzzlement, "Y-yeah?"

"Well now you're in," he uncrossed his arms to set his hands on his hips, "You should be proud of yourself. It's not everyday that we accept new members."

From what I had heard about them before, I wasn't surprised.

"But do you know what 'Thirteenth Order' means, Roxas?" he paced around the chair, not taking his eyes off me. "Not really? It's the name of the group isn't it?" I twisted my head to follow him until he returned to his spot in front of me. I wasn't sure where he was getting at or why he was acting like he was. "Yes, but let me lay some ground rules for you to help you understand better," he said with hints of excitement in his tone.

Oh no.

"Number One: Once you get in, you can never get out" he held up his index finger. "Number Two:," Demyx startled me after being so quiet, "Treat each other with respect."

"Number Three: Scion and Faron are to not be messed with," Zexion said as I turned my head to look at him. Axel already seemed to have violated that rule.

"Number Four: No stealing. We're not criminals," Marluxia announced from above me.

"Number Five: If called to a meeting, you're expected to show up. No exceptions unless you have good reason," the rules went back to Axel.

"Number Six: What goes on between us is to be held confidential unless it holds no extreme importance," the Schemer announced.

"Number Seven: Unless you have the balls, do not get in trouble with Saix," Marluxia was pretty serious on that note. Like hell I wanted to get in trouble with Saix. I'd shit bricks.

"Number Eight:," it went back to Axel again, "Our business is strictly fun so don't be all uptight." That rule seemed to have contradicted most, if not all, that rules that were said already.

"Number Nine: If you have a problem, be sure to talk to us about it. We'll be here for ya, man," Demyx gave a thumbs up.

"Number Ten: Any knowledge of mafia business is to be kept strictly to yourself. Nobody outside of this house is to know what's going on," Axel heavily emphasized that. I had no problem there considering I hadn't seen any activity thus far. Not yet at least...

"Number 11: Traitors will be eliminated indefinitely. No questions asked," Marluxia twirled one of my spikes around his finger. "Axel," I looked to him frightened, hoping that he wasn't meaning that I was going to be killed if I ever turned the other cheek on him. "Don't worry, you won't be hurt," he shook his head, "not if you didn't disobey Number Ten. That's business you'll have to take up with my father." I nodded to hide my gulp. There'd be no way I'd step into that territory, especially since I hadn't seen the guy before. He could've been a body bruiser for all I knew.

"Number 12: Don't get thrown in jail. No criminal activity or anything. This ties to Number Four," Zexion pinched the bridge of his nose. Then why didn't they just combine those two?

"And finally," Axel stood tall before me, "Number Thirteen: If you're gonna go out, go out with a bang. Got it memorized?"

"Uh-huh" was all I could say.

Number Thirteen, I'd never forget that.

"Failure to follow these rules will get you kicked out and exterminated faster than you can piss-" he stopped when he saw me pucker my lip, "Don't worry! I'll just give you a swirly, okay?" he asked in a compromising tone. Better than getting killed. "Okay" I peeped.

"Do you accept?" he held his hand out toward me. Going over the rules again in my head, I realized I hadn't really broken any of them at the moment and a good deal of them I could handle no problem. Nevertheless, something was hanging in between and whatever it was had me worried. Maybe it was the thought that I wouldn't be able to follow all the rules or that something was going to happen even if I did. I wanted to go along with it anyway even though I couldn't sort much through. There was no way I was going to disappoint Axel or back out of it, not after he had gone through the trouble of making me the jacket. Not with what we were going through together...

"I accept!" I grinned, slapping my hand into his tight grip and giving him a firm shake. The other three pulled out their noisemakers and flicked confetti over my head. They called that a congratulations?

"Welcome to the team Roxy" Axel pulled me up from the chair.

"Now can we actually get this party started?" Marluxia asked as Zexion walked back into the darkness toward the door. "Damn, you were the one who was anxious to do this part," Axel gave him the look of "srsly" as all the lights came on. "I'm in the mood for some ice cream!" Demyx crossed his hands behind his head as he walked toward the door. "Toss me an ale, Zexion," Axel stood sideways, pointing to the unopened pack of ginger ale next to the T.V. The Schemer did as he was told before leaving for the bathroom. Like we needed to know. "I'm gonna get one of those mini heart cakes upstairs," Marluxia stuck his hands in his pockets as he strutted toward the door as well.

"Um, Axel" I grabbed onto the cuffs of the jacket. I had to ask him something that just occurred to me. Something I didn't understand.

"Yeah Roxas?" he turned back to me.

I glanced at the floor uncertainly for a second, "I kind of don't get how this happened."

"How what happened?" he asked curiously. "Remember how you said I for my initiation that I'd have to do three challenges?" I was now gripping the collar of my jacket in hopes that he hadn't forgotten. "Yeeeeeees," he rolled his eyes for as long as he held out his "yes."

"Three challenges. Three. I only did two," I was wary about asking the next part, "Shouldn't I have to do one more?" It only made sense that I finish my initiation to make things right. Holding off on the jacket and the rules until then would've completed things though the jacket did make a nice Christmas present. Did he make an exception for me or what?

"Nope!" he replied simply.

"Seriously?!" I gasped.

"Yep," he brushed his hair back with his hand, "you're off the hook with that one cause you've already done it."

"I have?!" I twitched. How had I already done it? I went through all the things that I had gone through since he asked me to join the Order, but I couldn't think of anything that I had done that would've been initiation-worthy.

"Are you awake? The last challenge would've been to face me in combat, but you finished that waaaay before I even asked you to join," he glanced over me to the mirrors for a moment. "Oh," I said, my tone and face down panning. Should've known. In that case, I was lucky to have survived that whole ordeal and not go through it again. I'd suspect not a whole lot of people would've gone through a showdown with Axel much less survive the fight. I was beginning to wonder if Zexion, Marluxia, and Demyx had to go through the same thing I did.

"But that doesn't matter cause I would never let you go through that again," he gently held my shoulders and leaned down to my eye level. "You wouldn't?" I laid my hands on his. I didn't mean to sound like I was anxious for us to have at it again yet I had to ask.

"Never again I swear," he rubbed my shoulders in an up and down motion, "we both almost bit the dust that time. I don't want us to end up in the grave when we're just getting things started." I doubted that if we had gone another round against each other that our attacks would've been so malicious. We were so edging to kill each other back then; a brawl between us again would only end up being a slap fight or even less if that was possible.

Pulling me close to him, we locked our lips together for a short moment until we heard the sound of footsteps coming from the hall. Why the hell did they have to be so damn quick?

"Were you guys just doing something?" Demyx asked as he came in with a bowl of mint ice cream. Axel calmly let go of me and turned around, "No, just telling Roxas how to pull a double-decker."

"Oh that's nasty, Axel!" the Nocturne made a disgusted face. "What's nasty?" Marluxia came back in, biting off a piece of his heart cake. "Axel was talking about double-decking," Demyx explained. "Doubl-" Marluxia didn't even finish his sentence after he began choking on his piece. Zexion actually fared better than Marluxia when he returned from the bathroom; instead of freaking out like he did, all he did was rub his temples.

"What's a double-decker?" I raised an eyebrow as I gazed up at him.

"I'll tell ya later," he pat my head, "let's just party for the moment."

Axel's way of partying wasn't what I was expecting but it was fun nonetheless. All of us sat around the T.V. and flipped through the channels, chowing down on the junk food we brought down. There wasn't much use in watching T.V. by the way Axel had his music on, nevertheless we stopped to watch a show or two. Frequently, we'd start up conversations about what happened over break up until recently which made me comfortable since I was getting to know them a little better. From what was said, Zexion stayed home while his parents went to a party, Marluxia worked overtime as the florist shop with the poinsettias, and Demyx hung out with the kids at the complex. I spent most of the time at home with the others, only occasionally going out to places. No real use in doing so since I was still broke. What a way to spend break.

"Damn, and I thought my break was lame," Axel laid back against the bench and took a swig of his ginger ale. "We had fun! The Longs and I took the kids ice skating!" Demyx argued, taking a bite of his Swiss roll. I didn't even know the Islands had a skating rink. "Still sounds pretty lame to me. Ice skating, yeah right," Axel sniffed. Like I didn't know he was going to say something like that.

"Well what happened over your vacation, Axel?" Zexion glanced away from the T.V. to look at him. His book was buried under the ice cream in the freezer across the hallway; he had no choice except to watch T.V.

Axel shook his head after taking another sip of his drink, "I told you guys, nothing special. Went out, got a cottage outside the city, spent a few days there, came back, the end." Ugh. I hated how he made it seem so uneventful. Something interesting must've happened there that would've been worth telling even if it wasn't exciting to him.

"Was there any snow at all?" I stroked Ammy's fur as she laid on my legs, the other two sleeping on the edges of our group. "Unbelievably not. Piece of shit place to stay!" he sneered, crushing his can in swift motion and tossing it across the room behind him. Cottages always made me think of snow so to not see any would be pretty disappointing.

Marluxia made a sudden surprised gasped like he wanted to say something so we turned our attentions to him. "I heard that it snowed a bit Christmas morning," he choked down his drink, "anybody see it?" Zexion and Demyx shook their heads as did Axel and I just for effect. Like we were going to tell them about our night. Whatever.

"So aside from lame vacations and not seeing snow, what'd you guys get for Christmas?" Axel brought up a new topic. "I got a new sitar, tickets to an upcoming concert, and the sound generator Roxas got me," Demyx nodded to me on the last part. "And what did the kids get you?" the redhead raised his eyebrow intimidatingly. "A bunch of handmade Christmas cards. Damn Axel, the way you asked made it sound like what they get me is a bad thing," the blond slightly turned away. "Nah, the tikes are cool," Axel shook his head, "How about you Zexion, as if I couldn't guess already?"

"A new set of encyclopedias-"

The rest of us groaned like there was no tomorrow. Encyclopedias? Really? Only a nerd would ask for something like that. "I knew you were a geek, Zexion but seriously? More books?" Axel facepalmed in shame. "As if you don't have enough books already! And didn't they get you encyclopedias last year?" Demyx sneered. "How many books could you need?" I questioned with gritted teeth.

"I don't see why you guys are against me getting books for Christmas," he quickly bit out of a chocolate bar. "Oh, we're not against you getting books for Christmas, Zexion. Or your birthday, or Thanksgiving," Marluxia listed out on his fingers. "Or New Year's, or Valentine's Day, or-"

"ALRIGHT, I GET IT!"

"Face it, Zexy. You're a bookworm sociopath," Axel happily rose an eyebrow. "I'm just trying to keep my class rank," the sophomore crossed his arms, "Ranked 18th in the entire sophomore class and moving up fast. I'm graduating with scholarships dammit!" I would've spoken up about my class rank, but I wasn't doing as hot as he was. Ranked 36th in the sophomore class and keeping a steady pace. I was smart, I just needed to get that C out of English. What's more surprising is that Sora is ranked higher than me. Ranked 29th. What the fuck!?

Axel laughed despite Zexion's good reason for keeping his rank. I needed to start thinking about college too. "Well, what's your class rank, Axel?" Demyx asked while Zexion continued to fume. "Mine? Higher than Marluxia's," he thumbed the Assassin who responded with a growl. "Marluxia's an idiot," his friend shook his head. "HEY!" Marluxia shouted right in Demyx's ear. The Nocturne pretended not to notice. I tried to smother a laugh even though Marluxia was glaring right at me.

Our leader shrugged, sitting back on his hands. "Honestly, I don't know. Think last week Xemnas told me I was pretty high; I'm ranked somewhere in the 20s or 10s. 24th was it? I don't remember," he casually said aloud.

"20s?!" I gaped.

"But you don't even do the work half the time!" Demyx did the same. "You're supposed to be the idiot, not me!" Marluxia shouted again. "Gee, thanks for that, Marly," Axel closed an eye so as to squint at Marluxia with the other, "You guys make it seem like I'm not smart at all."

I sat uncomfortably as I thought back to the project we did for history. He didn't do a nice chunk of anything and I stood up for him so he could make the grade. By the way he acted with that project, I was beginning to wonder if he was the same any others. How could he be ranked in the 20s if he acted like that? How could he slack off at all during his last year in school for that matter?

"Projects and shit like that I'll do. If it's regular assignments, then I turn that crap in before the end of the chapter or earlier if I feel like it. In the end, I still get the grade," he explained, reaching over to pet Ammy's head. "What about the quality of the work?" I asked quietly, scratching behind Ammy's ears. "I put work into that too. May not pay attention all the time in class, but once I see the material, I pick it up fast. If it weren't for turning them in late, I bet you that most of my papers would be straight A's," his eyes met mine with a sort of soft look. A hint of blush formed around my nose which I tried to cool it off by drinking some lemon soda.

Demyx chuckled, "I liked how we moved from Christmas presents to class rank." He was right about that. Weird. "Fine then. Back to presents. What'd you get, Marluxia?" Axel turned back to his pink-haired friend. "Flowers, concert tickets, and new clothes," the said grumbled. Flowers? What the hell?

"None of those seem too bad," I shrugged, still scratching Ammy's ears. Ramsey was not eying me very happily. "The flowers aren't the kind I wanted, I don't even like the band they got the tickets for, and the clothes suck!" he replied in a nutshell. "Oh, well never mind," I avoided looking at him.

"Your parents need to get their heads out of their asses," Axel commented before turning back to me, "How about you, Roxy?"

Before I could say anything, I grabbed onto the sides of the jacket. I lowered my head to hide my face, but I couldn't help peeking up to see Axel's gentle smile. From there, I told of what I got such as the comic books and clothes. Amazingly, they didn't make fun of me for the comics as I had originally thought. That or they were keeping the thoughts that I should've been picking up Playboy by my age to themselves. Of course they knew about one of the ridiculous presents Xigbar got me, but the part about what Scion got me was the best part; they seemed amazed that I'd get such a thing from her. I seemed like they either got less or nothing at all from her.

"That it?" Axel tilted his head like he expected me to have gotten more than what I got. "Actually, believe it or not, I got laptop too," I added as if that would satisfy his look.

Sora and I ultimately found out what Tifa and Cloud were saving the court money for. After the two of them woke up later that Christmas morning, they directed our attention to the garage. Inside were two presents: one for me and one for Sora. My cousin's was the most obvious but I had to do a little looking for mine. My present was a laptop that had been released on the market not too long ago. Came with a webcam, Internet, and all sorts of gadgets. Then there was Sora who got a moped. A moped. I don't...I just don't. It was a slick dark blue with light blue streaks running up the sides and written in small font on one of them was the word "Tron." Cloud said that normally those things would cost a lot but he got a discount because of that Zack guy again. While we watched Sora take it out for a spin, I was beginning to wonder if they were favoring him over me. Yet when I looked between the laptop and the moped, I found that they had gotten things about right.

"Nice. Give me your e-mail address sometime and we can talk," Axel lightly hit me on the shoulder. "Sure thing, but how about we exchange numbers too cause I don't know how the hell you're calling me," I beamed like a guy who was trying to hide his anger.

"Computer."

"Whaaaa?"

The doorbell suddenly rung above our heads. Ramsey's and Prometheus's ears barely had time to twitch before they were up on their feet and running out the door, barking all the way up the stairs.

"Pizza's here," Axel announced and looked up to the clock next to the door, "and 30 minutes passed ten minutes ago so it's free. I love living here!"

"Don't forget the crazy bread," Marluxia called after him.

"Oh, I think he's had dozens of those," Zexion mumbled to the rest of us.

He left for a few minutes and came back with three square boxes of pepperoni pizza and the crazy bread. Together we destroyed all three of them and the bag and sauce cup that came with. For the first time that night, I really felt like one of the guys. Eating pizza, laughing, talking, the works. Hey, even Ramsey and Prometheus were a little accepting at that point. When I handed one of them part of a bread stick, they gratefully took it. Sure, everybody else was feeding them too and yeah, they still growled at me but at least they weren't being so apprehensive about it.

"You guys are too much," Axel rubbed Ramsey's stomach area as the dog laid down on his back. "Just don't get fat," I hesitantly reached to pet Prometheus's head. Even with a growl still in his throat, he lowered his head to accept my hand.

Oh yeah, things were going great....

"So, how's it going being a couple?"

...Until that happened.

"What?!" Axel and I blurted out in unison. We stared at Zexion as he finished taking a drink of his soda. "You know. How's it going being in love with each other?" he rephrased his original sentence, keeping his cool as he said it. In an instant, I knew we were in trouble.

"What?! What're you talking about, Zexion? You are craaaaaazy," I tried to save face, but the tone in my voice was giving it all away.

"How's it going being gay?!" he slammed his fists down in frustration.

"Huuuuuuurr," I looked to Axel for help. He was too busy shooting Demyx this nasty look for some reason. The Nocturne held his hands up defensively and shook his head, still leaving me clueless as to why. Marluxia and Zexion were both staring at us for an answer, but so far there was nothing I could give. The cat was out of the bag. Although I felt closed in, I suddenly remembered what Axel had said about how he didn't care if anybody knew about us or not. If that was how he felt then I thought it was time for me to do the same, at least with the guys.

"It is going great," I sighed, squeezing my knees as if to brace for impact.

"Roxas, you sure you wanna..." Axel turned back to me with a concerned expression. "If they know, then we've got no choice," I smiled tiredly. What else could we do? The look in his eyes told me he was hoping I knew what I was doing. I nodded to confirm his thoughts. Acknowledging my answer, he turned back to the others and let out a deep breath.

"Yep. Everything is looking hot," he confessed, using his usual tone again. "That's all I was asking about," Zexion calmed down. Hearing Axel's response made me uneasy, but Zexion's demeanor was kind of puzzling.

"That's it?" I asked.

"You know, it wasn't hard to tell that you guys have been an item for quite some time now," Marluxia examined his empty can before tossing it behind him. "Oh really?" Axel propped his leg up and rested his arm on his knee. "There was some static at first, but it got more and more obvious. I mean there was the way you and Roxas were acting the week after you got shot, the way you were panicking when you found out Roxas was in the burning shed," Zexion shot a sly look Axel's way, "not to mention the way you laid next to him after we got him here."

"Then there was the carnival where you two ran off inside while the fireworks were still going. Lastly, there was Christmas where you got the jacket," Marluxia looked me over. 'Crap, we were easy to follow,' I winced to myself as I remembered all the events they had mentioned. Unfortunately for us, if we were that easy to recognize by them, then what about Riku and the others? Could they come on to us just as easily?

In defeat, my boyfriend held his arms up like he was surrendering to the police, "Fine, you got us." Again, he shot a look Demyx's way only that time it was an apologetic one. "But," he dropped his arms, "since you guys know about this, you cannot tell anybody else. Not at school, not on the street, nowhere!"

"We know. We know," Demyx pressed his index fingers together nervously. That just gave the impression that he already told somebody yet I highly doubted that.

"It's bad enough Mori might find out. Speaking of which," my redhead turned back to me, "you didn't have any trouble coming here tonight, did you?"

Honestly, I did. Sora kept bothering me about why I didn't want to go to, as he called it, "The Party of the Year." My answer was that I didn't feel like it and I wanted to keep playing Final Fantasy XIII, but he refused to buy it. Riku made it worse when he came over to pick "us" up, saying that I'd be missing out and I could come back and play more later. What concerned me the most about the conversation was that he said I had been acting weird lately. I told him I was fine, but his eyes said I was lying. For the climax, he asked me if there was anything going on with Axel that was making me act the way I was. I said I hadn't seen Axel since school and didn't care where he was. It seemed like he was believing that part though his eyes didn't convince me that he was.

"Kind of," I laid back against the bench.

"Lemme guess, Mori?"

"Yeah."

"That guy," Axel crossed his arms as he laid next to me against the bench, "he's all kinds of noisy."

`~*~*~*`

8:40 p.m.

The night dragged on with barely any evidence of closing in on the New Year. Anybody could tell we were getting kind of bored by the way we started messing with the exercise equipment or drowsily watched T.V. For a minute, I thought I wasn't going to be able to stay awake until midnight so I started putting on my pajamas. The crash from the sweets was setting in, and unless there was another way to keep me up, I wasn't going to make it. Then there was Axel, wide awake and alert as he walked on the treadmill. Even though everybody else was lying around the room, he had his game face on. An idea was forming under that bushel of red.

"Forget this shit."

There it was.

"Hm?" Demyx dropped his head on the bench so that he was looking at Axel upside down. I peeked his way too, not seeing much since I was using Ammy as a pillow. As far as I could tell, Axel turned the treadmill off and smoothly slid onto the ground. Marluxia picked himself off the stationary bike and Zexion stopped shifting through his cellphone on the rolly chair. We all gave our leader our full attentions as he strutted to the door.

"You guys want to have some fun? Come with me," he glanced back at us before walking out the door. Almost immediately, we got up from our places and followed him. He went further down the hallway to the door at the end. By the time we caught up with him, he was already turning the doorknob, but there was a problem.

It wouldn't open.

"Zexion, there's a screwdriver behind the ball rack in the gym. Could you get that?" Axel asked without looking back at him. Just like that, Zexion sprinted back to the room to retrieve the item. Okay, my curiosity was peaked, especially if he was planning on opening a locked door.

"Don't you have a key?" I knelt down beside him to take a look at the keyhole. He sighed, "Nope. You saw the key Xigbar was holding up, right? It goes to this door." As I thought back to it I realized yes, Xigbar talked about one key in particular. He also said that it was staying with him. Alright, but for what reason? What was so important behind the door that he needed to take the key with him so that Axel didn't get any ideas?

Zexion came back with the screwdriver and tossed it to Axel. With his tool in hand, he began to work at the lock. Seeing as how he was working, I was thinking about keeping my question to myself, but the anxiety was coming at me full throttle to bite me in the ass. I had to know.

"Hey Axel, what's behind this door anyway?"

"You'll see."

Well that didn't help. Another surprise. He dug at the hole a little bit more until there was a loud popping sound from within the lock. Standing back up, he turned the handle and the door swung open. A rush of cool air ran past us, making me thankful for still having the jacket on. Inside, it was dark except for the light from the hallway reflecting off a dozen shiny surfaces.

"Congratulations, Zexion," Axel smirked back at the Schemer, "you just sealed your fate."

The said boy looked discouraged as we followed Axel into the room. Instantly, a dim light blinked on above our heads once we stepped in. Various glass bottles were lined on racks beside us, different brands names labeling certain sections for specification. What worried me was that the bottles appeared dark on the inside and had fancy font on the labels. It took a minute for it all to click into place, but when it did...

"Welcome to the Montag's private wine cellar!" the Flurry raised his arms in gesture to the many bottles. "Wine?" I scanned over one of the bottles on the rack. Chardonnay. "Damn Axel, these are really exotic," Marluxia examined a couple. "Check it: imported, exported, white, red, Nuits-Saint-Georges, Coteaux du Layon," he pointed at where the two brands were, "you need a fucking audio tape to know what we got in here!" He was right about that; there were so many bottles that I was getting kind of annoyed. Who needs that much wine in one place? Sliding down the line, I carefully picked up a bottle and slid it out far enough that I could see the label. 12 percent alcohol. Oh shit.

"Does your family even make wine?" Demyx asked as he tapped on the bottom of a bottle. "Course we do. We make the best damn wine you'd ever drink," his friend reached up to a rack, pulling out one that had, as I later found out, the Montag family crest on it. "Have you even tried wine?" Zexion crossed his arms like he didn't believe him. "Once when I was younger," Axel shrugged as he put the bottle back in its place.

"We're not gonna be drinking any of this, right?" I blurted out. Bringing us into the the cellar in the first place must've meant he was planning on us drinking some. That was why Xigbar had the key. No wonder Axel looked so confident after they left. He laid it all out.

Throwing back his head, he laughed, "No way, Roxy! My dad would kill me if he found out I touched his wine. It's suicide!" I didn't get what was so funny unless he was just laughing to cover up a fear of his dad. If that was the case, then I was worried. No, instead of taking a wine bottle, he turned a corner near the back wall. We peeked behind the rack to see something black with a dim blue light shining out of it. Axel knelt down before it and took out his screwdriver again to work at the lock. The metallic square hit the concrete floor with a hard clink followed by the sound of a refrigerator opening.

"Lookie what I got boys," he turned back toward us with a 12-pack of beer. Except for Zexion and I, the rest of the Order cheered. Just what I needed. Never thought he'd stoop to that level. "Now wait just a minute...!" I hurried after Axel as he power walked for the door. This was the exact thing Scion was talking about when she mentioned watching over Axel. The light blacked out overhead in the wine room as Demyx closed the door behind us. Returning to the weight room, Axel slid to the floor in front of the T.V. with the others dropping down next to him.

"Ax-eeeeel! You shouldn't be doing this!" I remained standing with balled fists as Axel tore open the side of the box. "And why not?" he asked, not even looking up at me. "Cause! Xigbar kept you out of that room for a reason and I'm pretty sure this is one of those reckless things Scion told me to keep you from doing!" I watched him pass out the cans. "Relax, Roxy. We're not driving anywhere, there aren't any real weapons around, and all we'll be doing is staying down here watching T.V. Don't be so strict," he rubbed the side of his can against his jacket. I don't even know how he could say that. Sure, he'll be fine one minute, then doing something completely idiotic the next without even knowing. The party was taking a nosedive on my end.

"What if something happens?!" I pleaded as he flipped back the stopper, a flow of foam rising out of the can.

"Calm down, Roxas," Marluxia brushed me off, "Damn, you make it seem like we'll die by taking a sip. Nothing will happen drinking one can." I couldn't agree. As much as we were "partners" now, I was more concerned about Axel than I was about him. "All I know is that I'm not waiting 40 fucking years to have my first drink," our leader picked up a napkin to clean the foam off his hand.

'Great,' I sighed, 'I can't get to him.' At this point, there seemed to be no stopping him now. I had to face the music that he was going to do it and that Marluxia was right in that one can wouldn't hurt as much as ten. Even as his boyfriend, I couldn't stop Axel.

Getting the energy to move my feet, I crossed over the pack of beers and dropped my ass down next to Axel. "Just don't do anything reckless," I mumbled, propping my leg up and resting my arm on my knee. The most I could do while they drunk was to keep track of them the best I could in case they went over their limits. Hopefully I'd be of some use if that happened.

"Hey."

I turned my head toward Axel just in time to catch his kiss. A flame lit up in my chest as he kept at it, but it was brief since I noticed the other three were watching. I didn't think I could handle them seeing our intimate moments. "Don't worry," he brushed his lips against my ear. His arm wrapped around my shoulders and he pulled my self-conscious body against him. "I won't do anything stupid," he rubbed my right shoulder. "But you already are..." I eyed him suspiciously. Got him there. Knowing he had been caught, he smiled sheepishly and shrugged, "Then I won't go insane."

"You're at a loss there, Axel," Demyx laughed as he opened his can. Axel shook his head while the rest of us laughed. Oh yes, he needed an asylum. "What do you people want from me?" he looked around at us. "Just don't kiss me after your first drink; I don't want to taste the beer on your breath," I jokingly held my hand toward his face. "So then I should just get in all my love now!" he set down his can, attempting to pin me to the floor. That would've worked if Ammy hadn't been sitting in the way. I ended up laying against her chest yet she didn't seem to mind in the least. Sadly, he didn't do his "thing" to me at my neck, only sat back up to show it was a joke. Better luck next time.

"Well, this is a show," Zexion smirked while he wiped the foam away from his can.

"Yeah right. We all know you orgasm when you see this sort of thing, Zexy," his leader winked at him. "I do not! I'm just curious!" the Schemer countered with a blush around his nose. Psh, right. "Which reminds me," Axel brought his green eyes to the rest of the crew, "if you guys have some sort of problem with us doing this in front of you, you better hope I don't beat your ass." I flushed as he turned back to me with a more gentle look. "And if you have any problems doing this in front of them, you let me know," he gave a sharp nod. Shyly, I responded with a small "yeah" and averted my eyes to the floor. His sensitivity was killing me.

Demyx raised an eyebrow, "Geez, Axel. The way you act toward Roxas now is...astounding."

"Cause I love him," the redhead winked at me. My face was so hot, I thought I was on fire. "I'm almost jealous; you treat him better than us!" the Assassin huffed. "Cause I'm awesome!" I turned my head to the side, keeping my eye on them. I doubted Axel would always treat me so emotionally. There were still the other aspects of his personality.

"Damn straight. 'Kay guys, everybody on three," Axel held up his can, "One, two..."

The four of them of them downed part of the beverage like it was water. I expected all of them to gasp in enjoyment, but their cringing faces said they weren't going to. "Shit, that's not right," Demyx wiped his mouth with a napkin. "No kidding," Zexion wrinkled his nose. "What? What does it taste like?" I curiously looked to Axel though the way he looked like he was still choking it down answered for me. "I always thought the first sip would be enjoyable. I see was horribly, horribly mistaken," Marluxia shuddered.

"Tastes really bitter," Axel got to answering my question, "and leaves this shitty bread aftertaste." Never mind that then. Picking up the can he had just set down, I sniffed the opening of it. Hell, the stuff even smelled bitter! Metallic and hard, it didn't even smell like it was meant to be ingested. "I'm not trying it," I swiftly put it back in it's place.

Axel picked up his can and stood up, a wince still on his lips from the aftertaste. "I honestly have no idea what Xigbar sees in this stuff. What a waste," he stepped around the others as he headed for the door, "I'm gonna get a better pack." I groaned in annoyance as I lied against Ammy's chest. Just when I thought the taste would keep them from drinking the rest of the night...

Keeping his word, he came back with a different pack of alcohol. "These should taste better," he set the six pack of glass bottles on the floor and handed them out. Glimpsing at the label, I found that it had a kind of fruity flavor. Not good. I was both hoping and not hoping it would taste good so that they'd give up their quest for a good drink.

"Let's try this again guys," Axel unscrewed the cap off his bottle, "One, two..." Together, they tilted their heads back again, taking a drink. My worst fears were realize when I saw their smiles. Dammit.

"Now that's a lot better!" Demyx tapped on the glass. Everybody around him nodded in agreement. "A lot sweeter than what was in the cans. Hell of a lot better," Zexion smiled in content. "How's it taste this time?" I leaned toward my lover as he finished taking another swig of his drink. I couldn't take just their word for it."Sweet, just like Zexion said, but with enough...'seriousness' to keep it balanced," he tried to explain. "'Seriousness?'" I raised an eyebrow. What was he getting at? "It's kind of hard to explain. I can't put my finger on the flavor either," he turned the bottle around to look over the nutrition label for an answer. I couldn't tell what he was talking about either.

Curiously, I picked up one of the bottles left in the carrier. West Tropics was the name, two of the ingredients being pineapple and ginger. I didn't know how the hell that worked out, but the guys seemed to have enjoyed it anyway. My interest was getting the better of me.

"Oooooh, Roxas," Marluxia purred when he saw me twist the cap on the bottle. He just had to say that. Soon, everybody else was looking at me.

"Whaaaaaat?"

"Gonna join us, Roxy?" Axel gestured toward me with his bottle. "Maybe..." I looked down to the open container. A sweet aroma was flowing from the drink, making me more tempted to try it. I just wasn't prepared for everybody to be staring at me like I was about to do something amazing.

"I'll be fine...right?" I peeped as I looked at them. "Hey, nobody's pressuring you to do it," Axel briefly put a hand on my shoulder, "you don't have to if you don't want to." Glancing back down to the pale yellow drink, I shook my head, "No, I'll try it, but it'll just be one." Lifting the bottle up to my lips, I tried to keep a straight face to hide my uneasiness. That would have worked if the others hadn't annoyed me by leaning toward my direction; my lips kept crinkling into a smile. I was about to call the whole thing off if they were going to keep doing that, but I didn't want them to think I was being hesitant.

Closing my eyes, I stuck the opening in my mouth and gave my head a sharp tilt back.

Holy crap...

A rush of bubbly sugar passed my tongue and left a bit of heaven. I had never tasted anything like it before. Within it, I could tell there was pineapple in it, maybe a bit of cherry too. Never before had I enjoyed such a combination. Any soda or drink was paling in comparison.

To keep my smile from slipping the bottle, I brought my head down to stop. The guys cheered as I wiped my lips with the back of my hand. Why hadn't I kept going? "So how was it?" Axel smirked like he knew my answer. I giggled, "Really good."

"Atta boy! See, that wasn't so bad," he rocked me happily. No shit. I was sucking on the roof of my mouth to satisfy myself until I took another drink of the stuff.

To shorten the wait for midnight, we sat around drinking for a while longer. In that time, I finished my first and only bottle I would have that night. Well, at least I thought it'd be my last drink. I was beginning to crave more after setting down the first glass. As best I could, I struggled to keep myself from looking at the rack that had the last bottle in it. Unopened, cold, and the others were still drinking their firsts. It was practically calling my name! Still, my conscience was trying to get back some control. To satisfy both ends, I picked it out and sat it beside me without opening it. I'd have my time eventually...

"I'll go get another pack," Axel got up for the door.

"Are you okay?" Zexion twitched his eye as he looked at me. I giggled like a schoolgirl and nodded, "I'm just happy." The candy flavor was still hanging around in my mouth so I couldn't help, but grin. "He does have a point," Demyx set down his empty bottle, "it does sort of give you that happy, warm feeling. I'm definitely feeling it!" Marluxia laid back with his arms crossed behind his head, "Ditto."

"Back!" Axel returned with another rack of the same drink. Just as he came in, Ammy shot up from her place next to me and ran up to her master with a pleading look. I hadn't seen her do that before all night, meaning she must've wanted something really bad. "What's wrong, babe?" Axel knelt down to her eye level. She let out several whines, tail wagging anxiously behind her.

"What is it, babe? You wanna go outside?" he set down the rack and put his hands on his thighs. Her ears perked up with whines going silent. "Outside babe? Outside?" he repeated in a more excited tone. She barked and darted at his face for a quick lick.

"Alright, baby! Let's go outside!" he stood back up. "Taking Ammy out?" the Nocturne looked up at Axel. As if on cue, Prometheus and Ramsey trotted over to Ammy's side to say that they want to go out too. "Taking all three out now. Any of you guys wanna come?" he moved quickly to scratch the ears of all three dogs. "I'll go!" I raised my hand cheerfully. Fresh air was beginning to sound good at the moment. Getting up, I set my bottle behind the bench like I really needed to hide it despite Axel bringing another rack. The others got up as well and followed us out the door.

Coming out of the basement, we passed by the front door and headed for the kitchen. When I looked up to Axel about it, he reassured me that we were still going outside. "We're taking them out back. They love it back there," he explained. Passing through the kitchen, we exited out the door on the right side of the room. From there, was another hallway that led to different ways. Like the rest of the house, it held a white color though the darkness of the night made it a dark blue. Somebody flipped a switch, causing a calm glow to flicker on from each of the flower lamps curving from the wall. Though dim, the lights revealed more tables and paintings on the right wall. On our left side was a wall of glass windows running down the rest of the hallway, revealing the great outdoors beyond the barrier.

Ammy and the Dobermans jumped up on their back legs as Axel opened the glass door. Happy to escape, the dogs ran out like their asses were on fire to the wide open space in front of us. Grass covered the entire area until the curve of the hill came along and the tops of trees took over. The only structure out there was one of those folly-like domes for tea parties, leaving the rest of the place bare. A row of flowers lined up against the glass wall and curved around the corners to the sides of the house. A cool breeze blew up against me as I stared out beyond the trees to the rest of the mainland shrouded in darkness. In a way, the scene reminded me of the field in my dream...

"This is all you guys have out here?" I squinted as I looked up at Axel.

"You were expecting more?"

"Yeah."

"In due time!" he put his hands on his hips, "My dad and Faron are talking about making a mix of a rose and strolling garden out here later this summer. Give it some class."

"As if the place isn't classy enough," I thought aloud, too optimistic to care if he heard. "I just hope they leave some space for my champs to piss," he pouted a bit as the dogs continued running down the hill. "Shouldn't we go after them?" I stepped out onto the grass with just my socks on. "Nah. They'll be fine. They always go down there to do their business," he shook his head. They were so lucky to be free. It was likely that sense of freedom that made me break out my next move.

Out of nowhere, I got this crazy idea to do something. There was an unnatural feel of adrenaline pulsing through me that made me break off into a run from the rest of them. I wasn't chasing after the dogs nor I wasn't heading anywhere in particular either. Instead, I broke into a slide against the softness of the ground like I was in a baseball game. I came to a stop about three feet from where I started and laid on my back, laughing.

"You okay, Roxas?" Axel called from behind me. Nope. Even with grass riding up my butt, I couldn't stop laughing.

"Shit, Axel. All this space and nothing to do!" Demyx ran out past me with his arms open. "I know! Doesn't it suck?" his leader came sliding down next to me. I rolled up next to him so he could hold me in his arms. The two of us lying next to each other like that had sort of an enchanting feeling even though I was ruining it with my non-stop giggling.

"Hey, Zexion," Marluxia ran backwards from us across the yard, "bet you can't pull a cartwheel!"

"Watch me!" the Schemer got a head start in running until he jumped with his arms out and pulled the gymnastic move.

Not even five minutes after getting out there, Ammy and the other two came running up the hill from the sound of our excitement. Each one of them came checking up on us before splitting off into different activities: Ramsey played with Demyx, Prometheus ran with Zexion and Marluxia, and Ammy rolled with Axel and I. Everything felt perfect. Who cared if it wasn't a topnotch New Year's party? Just the four of us together made it fun. We were all enjoying ourselves without streamers, noisemakers, or music. To top it off, I was with my man which was the best way I could spend any holiday.

Calming down, I rolled onto my back and stared up to the billions of stars above us. Resting his cheek on my head, Axel took my hand and kissed me lightly on the forehead. I whispered to him that I loved him and he told me that he loved me more. Coming closer to his chest, I listened to the rhythm of his heart beating in his chest.

From there, the rest of the night was kind of blurry...

`~*~*~*`

11:55 p.m.

Now I know I've been to some crazy parties, but this one started getting kind of weird.

After staying outside a while longer, we came back in for more drinks. Without hesitation, I downed the bottle I had hid like it was nothing. I don't know why, but it tasted a lot better than the first time I drunk it; as if going outside had enhanced my second drink. That reason probably passed onto my next one by the way there was a third bottle sitting next to me, open and halfway gone.

"Geez, Roxas!" Zexion was sitting next to me laughing.

"What?" I turned to him. He kept laughing. "What? WHAAAAAT?!" I hooked my arm around his shoulders and started cracking up again. I didn't get the joke of what was so funny. Was there something on my face?

I shrieked when somebody came up behind me and grabbed my torso. "Got you in the zone!" Demyx rubbed my stomach area, making me laugh so hard that no sound came out for a good 15 seconds. The blond was gasping for breath by how hard he was laughing.

"Guys, it is sooooo hot in here," Axel got off one of the treadmills, swinging his jacket above his head, "I think Marluxia's dead." We looked every which way we could until we found Marluxia lying up against one of the stationary bikes. His head hung down with a tilt to the side while his arms were hooked onto the bike. Demyx let go of me and dragged himself across the floor over to the Assassin. "Luxia? Are you alright? What's going oooooon?" he shook the guy so hard that his head swung. "WHA?!" the pink-haired boy sat up in shock. Something dropped from his shoulder which I'm pretty sure was Zexion's book. The minute he saw it fall to the floor, he scrambled to pick it up. "Hello? Is this Pizza Hut?" he mumbled as he held the book up to his ear.

Suddenly, the sound of popping rung in our ears.

"When did we get to Disney World?" Zexion pointed at the T.V. where fireworks were exploding on the screen. "Woooah," I grabbed onto him in fear. "No, no. That can't be right," Axel sat next to me and squinted at the T.V. I guess we failed to notice the answer in the middle of the screen considering it was the center of attention.

"It's the new year!" he shouted once he figured it all out. "Who said?!" Demyx shook his fist as he held onto Prometheus for support. "New year?" I tilted my head. It sounded like a foreign word to me at the time. "Happy New Year, Axel!" I hooked my arm around him and forced him into a kiss. "Happy New Year, guy!" Zexion grabbed onto my torso and rubbed up against me. I can't help, but shudder when I think about it.

"Guys, we should shoot some fireworks!" Marluxia slapped the book as if that was what the "people" from "Pizza Hut" told him to do. "Fucking great idea, man!" Axel pointed at him.

Stumbling as he got up, the redhead took my hand and dragged me to my feet. I did the same with Zexion and until all three of us were standing up. The other two followed us out as we attempted to climb the stairs. Axel and I got out normally while Zexion came out dragging himself on the floor as did the other two. Who the hell knew how we looked to the dogs? Tripping and crawling on the floor, what kind of people were we?

Somehow, I ended up in the living room as Axel and the others went out the front door. I looked like I was searching for something, but I don't remember what I was really in there for. "Woah! How'd I get in here?!" I screamed, dropping to the ground next to the doorway. For a minute, I sat there with a blank stare on my face until something caught my eye.

"Samba? Samba!" I got onto my stomach again and crawled toward something on the floor. It turned out to be my pet rock.

"Samba, how the hell did you get in here?" I picked it up, shaking it like I'd get my answers that way. Nothing. "Roxaaaaaaas!" Axel called from outside. "Coming!" I got back up and drunkenly went for the opened door. Bright colors flashed in the sky from both up and down the street, filling the sky with color. "Samba, look! Fireworks!" I jumped. There were so many pretty colors, I thought I could grab them in my free hand.

"Roxas!" Somebody grabbed me, who I later found out was Marluxia, and dragged me toward the side of the house. In the garage sat Axel's car, its owner carrying something into the light. "Check 'em out!" he pulled the opening sides back, revealing the explosives.

"Look Samba! Axel's got fireworks!"I held the rock toward the redhead.

"Roxas, that's a rock," Demyx said bluntly.

"A wha?" I held the stone closer to my face as if to get a better look. "...Then what happened to Samba!?" I shoved it in his face, making him laugh again. Confused, I brought the rock back to my face to examine it more when..."WOAH! Where did this come from!?"

Axel passed out the fireworks and handed each of us a match. "Careful not to hit the house, okay?" he lit his match while facing the house. None of us were comprehensive enough to stop him as he lit it and threw it close the doorway. It burst into a barrage of white sparks, making the dogs go into a barking frenzy. I don't know how long it lasted, but it disappeared somehow while I wasn't looking. "What the hell?" I grumbled, probably hearing the sound of the cats meowing inside. We didn't do our fireworks any better but at least we didn't hit the house. I don't even remember where mine went.

"Hey guys, you know what'd be really funny?" Demyx tapped on Axel's shoulder.

"What?" I asked.

The dirty blond went over to the box and pulled out a stick-shaped firework. "Marluxia, pulled down your pants!" he could barely contain himself. The Assassin did as he was told, revealing his briefs. Getting another match from Axel, Demyx stuck the explosive in Marluxia's briefs and lit it. A fountain of sparks came flying out of the his ass, making him jump every time a spark hit his back. The rest of us stood there laughing at the spec until he pulled it out of his underwear.

"I'ma beat your ass!" he chased Demyx into the house. Curiously, we disregarded the fireworks to follow them inside to the kitchen. Demyx slipped on the floor and Marluxia cornered him with a pumpkin in his hand. I don't even know where that came from. Lifting it up with all his might he gave Demyx a good wack with it, automatically breaking it to pieces. Furious, the Nocturne got up and tackled him to the floor, holding onto his legs like that would do something. "Watch for Felicia!" Zexion made his way across the room to pick Felicia off the table. Seeing him do that made me go over and save Tobi from the impending madness too. Psh, I think I pretty much brought it.

In fear, I ran for the basement and into the room with Tobi in my arms. I had no idea Axel was behind me until I saw him go to the medicine ball rack. "HAH!" he threw a ball at me and I dropped Tobi. Realizing he was getting another one, I attempted to crawl away but I was laughing so much I couldn't focus. Demyx came into the room just in time to take the hit as did Zexion to take the third.

Lying down in defeat, I giggled in wait for the next ball to finish me off. Nope, that apparently gave Axel time to go and get a bamboo sword. "Got ya!" he wacked me across the ass. Feeling the pain, I scrambled to get up and crawl out the door. He went downhill from there by wacking everybody except for the dogs. Once I got out the door, I grabbed onto something soft and held on for dear life. Amaterasu.

I sat out there for who knows how long as Axel screamed and threw all kinds of stuff inside. Luckily he was too drunk to go out looking for me which saved my ass for the rest of the night. I don't remember anything after I went back into the room. All I knew was that at some point in the night, I either fell asleep or blacked out.

`~*~*~*`

6:12 a.m.

I woke up with the worst headache I ever had.

Not even lying against Ammy's soft body helped relieve the pain pounding in my head or the nauseating feel in my throat. Though blurry at first, my vision cleared slowly as I stared at the ceiling. Ugh, could the lights be any brighter? Faint mumbling was close by which turned out to be the weatherman on the T.V. Aside from the sounds of Ammy's insides and the T.V., everything else was eerily quiet.

"What a night," I whispered, dropping my head to the side. Axel was sleeping peacefully next to me, his other two dogs lying beside him. That was a crazed difference from how he was acting the night before.

As for the other three, Marluxia was sleeping on the bench, Demyx was lying backwards against the stand of a treadmill, and Zexion was using his book as a pillow on the floor. All around the room were scattered items such as medicine balls, dumbbells, and bottles. What made things worse was there was a horrible stench in the air that made me sick. Somebody vomited.

"What day is it?" I ran my hand through my hair.

"It's January 1st."

Recognizing the voice, I shot up in fear. Immediately, I remembered the promise I made to Scion and felt terrible once I realized I had broken it. That fact closed in on me when I saw her, Faron, and Xigbar standing in front of the doorway.

"Scion," I felt tears coming to my eyes. Unfortunately, that wasn't going to be my only problem; my stomach surged with pain and I felt like I was about to throw up. Coming to my side, Scion held me gently and rubbed my back. Holding back the impending yuck, I broke into a crying session like a kid realizing he got caught. I couldn't bare to have Scion be mad at me.

"Get the fuck up, guys!" Xigbar shouted, kicking Zexion in the ass. The Schemer sat up with a start only to slam his head back down on his book from the headache.

Beside Axel, Faron shook him furiously though I think it was my crying that really woke him up. "Mm, wha?" he peeked opened his eyes. When he saw my upset state, he got up like there was nothing wrong with him. "Roxas!" he gasped.

"You have no idea when to quit, do you?" his body guard strolled over with a pistol in his hand. I don't think I had ever seen Xigbar so pissed before in my life. Stepping up behind the redhead, he held the gun to the back of his spiky head, "You are in a shitload of trouble."

Dammit to hell.

`~*~*~*`

6:45 a.m.

So that was what happened that night.

Axel got all of us drunk and Xigbar brought us to hell when we woke up. Actually, he brought us to the surveillance room the Montags had in the basement across from the weight room. I like how Axel failed to mention it; if I had known it existed, I wouldn't have drank and actually done more to prevent him from becoming drunk. Yet, it wasn't an excuse. I should have done more to stop him in the first place. I was prepared to take full responsibility for letting everything happen. Thankfully, the audio was broken on most of the cameras and the part where we kissed looked like we were whispering to each other. Our secret was safe from Faron and Scion.

"I'm sorry, Scion. I let you down," I croaked, feeling the tears run down the side of my face.

"No, no!" she smiled weakly, "It's not your fault. You were tempted. It's not all your fault. And Xigbar, would you please put that thing away?!"

"No way. They drunk my booze," he brought the gun closer to my face. It was my life lesson for the day: Never drink Xigbar's booze. "You do realize we can replace that, right?" Faron put her hands on her hips. "Well yeah, I know that. I just want to get my revenge real quick," he sneered, pulling the trigger. I cried out in fear only to hear a small popping sound. I expected my eardrums to be shot out. Wondering if I was dead, I opened my eyes to see bits of confetti falling on chest as a sign with the word "Bang!" on a flag came out of the barrel.

"Is this not the greatest party favor ever!?" he held it up for me to see. I had a hangover, a full bladder, and he had the nerve to scare the shit out of me? If I wasn't so afraid of him, I would've pissed on his bed.

Faron and Scion shook their heads in denial while Axel composed himself. "Hey, you guys are one to talk about getting drunk! I'm fucking sure you guys came home tipsy from that party!" he pointed sharply at them. 'Yeah, right,' I rolled my eyes. Like they would come home drunk. Yet they proved me wrong by the way the two of them giggled embarrassingly when they looked at each other. Coincidentally, one of the monitors showed the three of them stumbling into the lobby when they came back that morning. The Order and I stared the screen as it showed them tripping all over the place. The women blushed wildly though Xigbar shrugged it off as if it was something that happened everyday.

"Ahem, anyway," Faron cleared her throat, "we're letting your father deal with you."

"Oh great," Axel sarcastically waved his hands. "Don't act so carelessly. You should be thankful the police didn't show up on the doorstep about the disturbance," Scion slid in front of the monitor that still showed them being drunk. "People were shooting fireworks everywhere! Nobody would've heard us!" Axel countered. "But somebody would've seen the little 'bomb' you threw at the house," Scion retaliated. Failing to come up with a response, Axel turned his head to the side with a pout.

"And as for you knuckleheads, you guys are cleaning all that shit up downstairs," Xigbar scanned the rest of us. We groaned, more likely from the hangover than the punishment.

"Actually Xigbar, I'm taking Roxas home. He doesn't deserve any of this," Scion stepped up next to him. "Oh really?" he turned to her curiously. She nodded and shuffled back over to the monitors. "See this?" she rewound one of the tapes and let it play. It basically showed what we were doing in the gym. At one time we'd be in there and another time we wouldn't. The scene where Axel was throwing things came on and showed me shimmying out of the room for safety. When I went back in, I hid under the bench with the dogs while Axel continued throwing medicine balls at the guys and they fired back . Fast forwarding the tape showed that they eventually stopped and conked out soon after.

Stopping the tape, Scion crossed her arms proudly. "See?" she beamed, "Roxas didn't do any real destruction or show any violence. We shouldn't punish him when he was just trying to keep safe." My natural goodness saved my ass again. "And what about us? We weren't in control of our actions!" Axel put a hand to his chest in gesture to him and the others. "Yes, but you guys are naturally violent so I'm not surprised," Faron shook her head.

"Not to mention Roxas seems really sick and I want to get him home right away," she came to my side and put a hand on my forehead, "Is there anything I can get for you?"

"Can I get bacon, chocolate milk, and a mint? I'm dying," I held my stomach. The runs were coming and they were coming fast.

"Uh, Marluxia..." the Flurry thumbed to where his friend was still gagging in the trashcan. "I'll take care of him, though I'd suspect Roxas would be worse. Marluxia drunk two bottles, Roxas came close to three," Faron rubbed Marluxia's back. Ugh, I was gonna be like him in no time.

"C'mon, Roxas. I'll take you home," the maid sat me up, "Axel, I think you owe Roxas an apology."

"WHAT?!"

"Apologize!"

Grumbling, Axel got up and walked over to me. Despite his complaining, he stopped completely when he saw my ill state. I think he realized that he had a part to play in me ending up like that, fueling his guilty look. I knew it too, but I didn't want him to feel like he had to take all the blame. Taking a deep breath, he knelt down by my side.

"Look, Roxas. I'm sorry this happened," he said in a sincere tone.

"I'm sorry too, Ax-"

"No," he surprised me by holding my hand, "It was my fault you got this way. I brought out the booze and you drunk some. I said I was going to keep everybody in line yet I couldn't even keep myself straight."

"It's my fault too. I didn't do enough to stop you," I shook my head, making my headache worse.

"No, it was all me. I'm the one who planned this shit out. I said no pressure, but you felt it anyway. Don't take any of the blame," he squeezed my hand. I squeezed back, trying to think of what else was my fault for that night. I couldn't come up with anything. It wouldn't have mattered what I came up with anyway; Axel would've continued to blame himself. To end the conversation, I let out a confirming sound to let him know it was over.

"And don't forget to apologize to the rest of your friends," his step-mother motioned to the other members of the Order. "I get it! I get it!" he threw his hands up as he stood back up. I didn't think they deserved as much of an apology as the one I got.

Later on that morning, Scion rode me back home with my stuff and everything I had asked for. She even went so far as to stop by a restaurant to pick me up some food that would supposedly "cure" my hangover. When we got to my house, she offered to help me to the door, but I didn't want to take the risk of ringing the doorbell and waking up Cloud and Tifa. Rather than taking the risk, I used my key to get inside and she helped me to my room. The way she showed hesitation while getting me up the stairs told me she really wanted to tell Tifa and Cloud, but I reassured her I'd be fine. Once she set me down on my bed, I wrote a note and asked her to tape it to my door. All it said was that I got sick and wanted to be left alone for the day. That hangover would clear up eventually.

She put the sign on the door, hoped that I got better, and left minutes later. I ate as much food as my stomach would allow before putting it on my nightstand and going back to sleep.

That was all I wanted to do.

`~*~*~*`

8:05 a.m.

Too much time couldn't have passed when I woke up to something on top of me.

"Hm, what?" I peeked open my eyes. The room was still dark, but I could make out whatever it was.

"Sora?"

"Ngh," he nuzzled into my shoulder. He was curled up on top of me, draped in his horrid Snuggie.

"Sora!"

"Mm, what?" he lifted his head and looked at me. What the hell...? "What're you doing in my room, Roxas?" he laid his head back down.

"I'm not in your room, Sora. You're in my room!"

He lifted his head again and observed what he could in the darkness. Indeed, he was in my room without leaving a clue as to how or why the hell he was in there. Yet, he sleepily ignored this fact and got comfortable again.

"Whatever."

---

A/N: 2/23/10 - Another chapter that almost bit dust but not as much as the Christmas chapter. This chapter was waaaaay past its due date, but thanks to the Chinese New Year, it kind of wasn't! -raises glass of soda- This chapter was inspired by some videos I had seen, mostly in the part where Axel's attacking everybody. No idea what beer or any alcoholic drinks taste like (and I'll probably never will) so I kind of did my research and improvised for it. Doubt they would get that drunk. No means to promote the stuff! This chapter made me realize how important Fridays were in 2009 i.e. Christmas and New Year's both fell on Fridays. Picked a good year to do stuff though I missed a chunk of the dates! Thanks for reading and please review!