Chapter Two
Displeasing the Arrow
"He's looking at you again." Leon looked up from his sandwich and over to his blond boyfriend, raising an eyebrow.
"Who?" he asked. Cloud sighed heavily and pointed across the courtyard not-so-discreetly. Leon followed Cloud's finger and his gray gaze landed on a boy sitting at a table, intently staring at Leon. Upon being discovered, the red-haired boy ducked his head and pretending to go back to his lunch. Leon sighed quietly and looked back at Cloud.
"And?" he said to Cloud, picking up his lunch again. Cloud rolled his eyes and poked at his salad.
"And, it's creepy. He's creepy," he retorted around a mouthful of lettuce.
"What's so creepy about him?" Leon asked. "And swallow before you answer please."
Cloud cleared his mouth of food and leaned over closer to Leon. "I'm just saying…it's weird that you have some underclassman staring at you like that. I know I would be unnerved by that."
"Well that's you, not me."
"But Leon," Cloud started to protest before the brunet slammed a hand over the blond's mouth.
"Are you stupid?" he asked rhetorically. The other boy shrugged in return. It was Leon's turn to roll his eyes. "Cloud, that's Axel," he stated, waiting to see if his boyfriend would get what he was talking about.
"Wait, wait, wait, the Axel?" Cloud said, albeit muffled by Leon's hand. The brunet nodded grimly and refused his hand from Cloud's mouth.
"Yep, the Axel. I thought I explained that to you the first time we busted him for staring."
"Nope. You told me to ignore it." Cloud nodded. Leon shrugged and looked back at Axel again.
"Well, now you know. That's Axel…he's just changed a lot, that's all. He's a lot better-looking than the last time I really got a good look at him. Let his hair grow out," he commented, smirking knowingly when Cloud's lips turned into a frown.
"Yeah well, I don't see what's so great about him," the blond grumbled, pushing a tomato slice to the side of his dish. Leon quirked an eyebrow again.
"Jealousy doesn't serve you justice, Cloud." Leon focused on his sandwich, sneaking a peek at the other boy who was fuming.
"I'm not jealous!" he insisted loudly. Somewhere behind them, the cafeteria doors burst open and Yuffie skipped over to them, plopping down in the grass in front of Leon.
"Who aren't you jealous of, Strife?" she asked, taking Leon's sandwich and biting into it.
"Supposedly, he's not jealous of Axel. And that's mine," he scolded and took back the sandwich.
"Axel? The Axel?" Yuffie inquired, laying on her back and using Leon's feet for a pillow.
"Why does everyone insist on referring to him as the Axel? Do you guys really know of another Axel?"
"What's this about Axel?" another soft-spoken voice asked from above their heads. The three teens on the ground looked up and spotted a brunette girl in a pink dress.
"Aerith, you're reasonable. Tell these two to quit referring to Axel like he's something special," Leon said, finishing off the last of his sandwich much to Yuffie's disappointment.
"Where did the topic of your ex even come up?" Aerith asked as she carefully sat on the ground in front of Cloud.
"Stupid freak keeps looking at Leon," Cloud mumbled. Aerith and Leon exchanged a look and Aerith nodded.
"Cloud, there's no reason to be jealous. Leon and Axel are over," she explained calmly. Cloud growled in frustration and pounded his fists into the ground.
"I'm not jealous! What do I have to say to get that through to you guys?" he exclaimed, handing the rest of his salad to Yuffie.
"Well you're certainly acting jealous."
"Am not!"
"Look Cloud, you are. Just face it. Although I can't see why you're jealous." Leon folded his arms over his chest.
"I'm not jealous, Leon."
"Then what the hell is your problem?"
"Axel freaks me out! Lookit him! He looks like he's ready to pounce on you in a second!" Cloud shrieked and pointed at the redhead again who was writing in his binder. Leon gave his boyfriend another look and shook his head.
"Cloud, relax. Nothing's going to happen between me and Axel. It's over," he repeated firmly. Cloud snorted and shook his head.
"Have you bothered to tell him that?" he asked, nodding forward to indicate the approaching redhead. Leon inwardly groaned and shook his head.
"Just shut up and let me talk," he murmured lowly, loosely draping an arm over Cloud's shoulders and looking up at the junior boy who stopped in front of them.
"Hey Axel," the brunet said calmly, eyeing the younger boy closely.
"Hi Leon! How've you been?" Axel chirped, green eyes sparkling suddenly. Leon couldn't help but smile slightly at the other boy's enthusiasm.
"All right. How about yourself?"
"All right," Axel replied and glanced over to Cloud. "Hey Cloud." He smirked. Cloud narrowed his eyes in return.
"Hello Axel," he said stiffly, making a point in snuggling up closer to Leon. Leon inwardly rolled his eyes and Axel's expression faltered.
"Um, anyway, just thought I'd drop by…guess I'll see ya later?" he said to Leon, confusion written across his face. Leon nodded in return.
"Take care of yourself, kid," he said, waving Axel off. The redhead turned on his heel and began marching over toward the cafeteria. Yuffie looked up at Leon from her position on his feet.
"Squall…does Axel know you're taken?" she asked, sitting in an upright position.
"First of all, it's Leon. Second of all, he should know," Leon replied, looking off in the direction Axel had fled.
"Well, I think he's still quite fond of you," Aerith added her own input.
"Yeah well, he just needs to back off. Didn't you dump him before summer break?" Cloud asked, leaning his head on Leon's shoulder. The brunet continued staring in the direction Axel went, not looking at his boyfriend.
"It was a mutual agreement," he said quietly. "He said he was fine with it."
"Apparently not," Yuffie cut in, also looking in the same direction Leon was. "I'm surprised you're not irritated about it."
"I don't know…I think it's kind of sweet," Aerith replied, playing with the hem of her dress.
"What the hell do you mean sweet?" Cloud sat up, staring into the face of his childhood friend. Aerith shrugged and looked up at Cloud.
"I'm just saying, he's so innocent about it."
"Trust me, Axel's far from innocent," Leon mumbled, finally looking back at his friends.
"But still, even saying hello to you makes him excited."
"Yeah, excited in the pants," Cloud muttered.
"Cloud!"
The blond sighed loudly. "Look guys, Axel just needs to lay off because Leon is-" he stopped then, unsure of how to finish his sentence.
'Well…Leon's mine. Nobody's taking him away from me.' He completed the thought in his head.
"Told you you were jealous," Leon said to him.
"I am not!" Leon rolled his eyes and leaned forward, pressing a small kiss to the corner of Cloud's mouth.
"Well you shouldn't be because I love you," he assured him just as the bell rang, signaling the end of the lunch period. The three seniors (and one junior) stood up and gathered their things, heading back toward the building.
"As you should," Cloud retorted, nodding his head in assurance. Leon snickered and grabbed Cloud's wrist, leading him inside.
"And I do…even if you are a total moron," he said with a smirk.
"Hey!"
"Hey Roxas?" The blond boy looked up and over to Sora who was sitting to his left.
"What?" he asked, returning to his math assignment that was in front of him. Sora tapped his pencil on the desk nervously, biting his lip and watching the other boy.
"Are you…okay?" he asked tentatively. Roxas stopped writing out his equation and glanced at Sora again.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Well I mean…you kinda freaked out on us yesterday and I was just wondering…" Sora trailed off, fidgeting in his seat. Roxas sighed quietly and shook his head.
"No, everything's fine," he replied.
"I don't know…you just seem kind of sad lately," Sora observed, gnawing on the end of his pencil now. Roxas shrugged his shoulders and went back to work.
"Well I'm not sad. Sorry to disappoint you," he said and looked back at his paper. He frowned when he noticed there was something wrong with his answer and started erasing it.
"But Roxas," Sora protested.
"Sora, I'm fine! Just stop asking okay?" Roxas snapped, jabbing his pencil down too hard and erasing a hole right through his paper. "Damnit," he cursed quietly, smoothing out his paper in hopes to fix it. Seeing that it was a futile attempt,after all, it was a pretty big hole, he crumpled up his paper and laid his head on his desk. "I wanna go home," he mumbled.
Sora knew that Roxas didn't mean go back to his house that was two blocks away from his own, but his hometown, Twilight Town. The blond had lived in the city for his entire life up until this past summer when his father announced that they were moving to the islands. Roxas had taken it the hardest out of all of them. When the family first arrived in the middle of July, the youngest was absolutely miserable, moody and snapping at his entire family. His parents were always out working, the only thing that hadn't changed since the move, and left him with his two older brothers, Hayner and Seifer. Roxas was just ready to crawl under a rock and never come out again. Then he had met Sora who lived right around the corner.
It was October now, a little over three months since Roxas had came to Destiny Islands, but Sora knew that the blond was still homesick; which was why he allowed his friend to sit there, head on his desk and eyes closed as he tried to calm himself down. Tilting his head to the side, he slowly reached out and placed a hand on Roxas's shoulder.
"You know what I think?" Sora asked, not removing his hand from Roxas.
"No, but I bet you're going to tell me," Roxas mumbled. Sora nodded and massaged the other boy's shoulder gently.
"I think you just need a mental health day."
"A what?"
"A mental health day. Ya know, just kick back, relax, not use your brain for 24 hours."
"So I'm guessing every day is a mental health day for you?" Roxas smirked slightly. Sora frowned and pinched the other boy's neck.
"Very funny. But seriously, I think you should skip tomorrow and take an early weekend. You look like you could use it," he continued, pulling his hand away as Roxas lifted his head.
"Yeah well, what would I tell Seif? 'Hey Seifer, my friends think I'm going insane so I'm skipping school today'? Sora, that wouldn't work," Roxas pointed out.
"So fake sick. Duh." Sora sat back down in his seat, turning sideways to look at the other blue-eyed boy.
"I don't think I can do that. Seif's too smart."
"What about Hayner?"
"…I didn't even think of that," Roxas said slowly, furrowing his eyebrows in thought.
"Think Hayner would fall for it?" Sora questioned, closing his math book all together. Roxas shrugged in response.
"I don't know. I guess I could try it."
"You should. Me and Riku are skipping out tomorrow too."
"Your parents will let you?" Roxas looked up in surprise. Sora nodded and began packing up his school bag.
"Of course. My mom's into the whole 'fulfill yourself before others' policy and Riku's doing so well in school his parents don't give a rip if he skips or not. You should hang out with us tomorrow at my place. My mom's working and already said that Riku could be over. I don't think she'd mind if you were there too, she likes you," Sora finished up. Roxas threw the last of his materials into his bag and looked up at Sora.
"I'll think about it," he replied just as the bell rang, signaling the end of fourth period. Grabbing his bag from the floor, he slung it over his shoulder as Sora followed him out of the classroom.
"I'm serious, Rox. You need a break. You're going to burn yourself out," he said to his friend as he fell in step beside the blond. Roxas sighed loudly and shook his head.
"Sora, remember what your mom said about fulfilling yourself before others?"
"Yeah?"
"Take her advice and shut up. I'll see you tomorrow." Roxas turned into his biology classroom, leaving Sora standing out in the hall.
"Cranky." He shook his head and continued making his way down the hall.
"Yo, Flameboy!" a voice shouted from Sora's left. Sora glanced over and cringed. Without warning, he saw a flash of silver whip by him and the next thing he knew he found himself squished into an open locker. He stared into the grinning face of a girl with short silver hair and pale skin. Standing behind her stood a taller boy with blond hair hidden under a black beanie. To the side stood another boy with an identical smirk.
"Well Fag, you didn't even put up a fight this time. I'm impressed," the blond leader said, folding his arms over his chest.
"Never gets old, does it Seifer?" the brunet asked rhetorically from inside the locker.
"Of course not. Seifer says you totally deserve it ya know?" Raijin chipped in.
"Anyway, hope you enjoy your stay. Fuu?" Seifer beckoned the silver-haired girl. Fujin stepped forward and shoved Sora's arms over his head, shutting the locker door in his face and locking him in.
"Thanks for playing," Seifer said and the three seniors laughed, walking away down the hall. The warning bell rang for fifth period and Sora sighed, shifting in his position. Reaching down into his pants pocket, he pulled out a small silver flip phone that his mother had given him for his 15th birthday. Pressing down speed dial 2, he leaned back against the locker wall and waited.
"Yeah?" the boy answered on the other end of the line.
"Riku…are you busy?" Sora asked sheepishly, laughing slightly. He could visualize Riku rolling his eyes and standing up from his position at the front of the classroom. After all, he was a TA this period.
"Where you at?"
"Locker in the 400 hallway."
"I'll be right there," Riku sighed before hanging up. Sora hung up and smiled to himself.
"At least I'm lucky enough to have a boyfriend like Riku," he mused to himself, leaning back even further. Suddenly he felt something sticky on the back of his neck and cringed.
"Yuck! Used gum!" he shrieked and pulled away, thrashing around inside the locker peeling gum off of his neck while trying to keep his footing.
Out in the hallway, Riku heard all of the commotion down at the end of the hall and jogged forward, stopping outside of a locker that was thumping about.
"Sora?" he called out curiously. The thrashing stopped suddenly.
"Riku…there's gum in here and it smells like old feet." Riku rolled his eyes and shook his head.
"I'll be back with a janitor," he grumbled and walked away, heading off to find somebody to release his boyfriend from his metal prison.
"Why don't we ever go shopping?" Selphie asked, leaning against her desk and facing the girl on her right. Kairi looked up from the magazine she was reading. Sixth period study hall always meant extra reading time for Kairi.
"What?"
"Why don't we ever go shopping?" the brunette repeated. Kairi closed her October edition of Cosmo!Girl and faced her childhood friend.
"You don't like shopping, Sel," Kairi said.
"Says who?"
"You fight with numchucks."
"And?" Selphie prodded. Kairi shrugged and tucked a strand of auburn hair behind her ear.
"I'm just saying, you're like the most non-girly girl I know. I never really pictured you to be one to like shopping, that's all."
"Well, I like it. The end."
"I didn't know that…" Kairi trailed off, looking at her friend curiously.
"Well, I didn't expect you to. You spend all of your time with Naminé," Selphie grumbled to herself. Kairi still heard her however and sighed.
"That's not fair, Selph."
"What?"
"You can't blame me for hanging out with Naminé. After all, you spend a lot of your free time with Tidus anyway!"
"Yeah, but that's different!" Selphie argued back.
"How so?" Kairi challenged her.
"Tidus and I are actually dating," the green-eyed girl retorted.
"And Naminé and I aren't?" Kairi raised an eyebrow.
"No," Selphie scoffed but quickly looked at Kairi in shock upon comprehending the words. "Wait, are you?" she asked with wide eyes. Kairi giggled behind her hand and shook her head.
"Of course not, silly. I was just saying that to see what you'd do," she said. Selphie blinked at her momentarily and slowly nodded.
"Right, I knew that," she assured the red-head, suddenly feeling confused. She examined her friend closely, taking in the way she reached into her bag and pulled out a tube of lip gloss, spreading a thin even layer on her lips and rubbing them together. The shine of the gloss fascinated Selphie, causing her to focus on Kairi's lips for a few moments longer. She suddenly shook her head and sat back.
'What the hell, Selph? Remember, it's just a tiny crush. Tiny! Almost miniscule. Like…it shouldn't even be a problem. Besides, you've got Tidus remember?' she mentally scolded herself before realizing that Kairi was talking to her.
"-do something." Selphie caught the last part of the blue-eyed girl's sentence.
"Sorry, what?" she asked, blinking at Kairi. The redhead sighed and shook her head, smiling still.
"I said, what are you doing tonight? We can go hang out and do something," she repeated herself. Selphie nodded and looked up at the clock, noticing that they had half of the period left.
"Well, I have to work tonight…but you can swing by the shop and we can go out from there?" she suggested.
"Okay sure, what time are you off?" Kairi asked her, opening her magazine back up.
"Seven or so," Selphie replied as she opened her binder, doodling on a blank sheet of paper. Kairi nodded and smiled again.
"Perfect. I'll be there."
"Great," Selphie replied, looking back down at her paper with a satisfied smile on her face.
'It's about time I got some time with her.' She nodded and suppressed a giggle, going back to drawing stick people.
The clock on the wall read 6:50 in the evening and Selphie was more anxious than ever to get out of there. Usually she enjoyed her job; after all, it was Baskin-Robins. But today, she just wanted her shift to end so that she could go out and have some fun. She looked up from her position behind the counter when she heard the bell chime and she smiled upon seeing Kairi walk into the building. Her smile suddenly turned into a confused frown when she noticed Naminé follow in after her. Kairi walked up to the counter and leaned against it, smiling at Selphie brightly.
"Hey, you ready?" she asked, not noticing that Selphie was shooting Naminé small glares every now and then. Selphie looked at the red-haired girl and nodded.
"Yeah, hang on," she said and headed into the back room, hanging up her apron and grabbing her sweatshirt. Yelling a quick goodbye to her boss, she jumped over the counter and stood by Kairi's side. "So where are we going?" she inquired as she slipped on her yellow hoodie. Kairi beckoned for Naminé to follow and she led the other two girls outside.
"I don't know. I was thinking we could do a movie, or the mall, or even just grabbing some pizza or something." She shrugged.
"I suppose it's up to Selphie since she's hardly around anymore," Naminé said with a playful smile. Selphie nodded and smiled at Naminé as well as she could without it seeming forced.
"Pizza sounds fine to me," she replied. Kairi nodded and began walking down the street toward the nearest pizza parlor, Naminé quickly following her. Selphie followed behind at a slightly slower pace, watching her two friends closely. The two other girls were laughing over something Naminé had said, something that Selphie hadn't caught. The brunette tilted her head and slipped her hands into her front pocket thoughtfully.
'Is this what's happened since Tidus and I started dating? My friends formed a tighter friendship and left me out? What the hell? That's totally unfair! Just because Tidus and I formed something special doesn't mean that I didn't want to keep my friends special too! I mean honestly, where'd Naminé even come from? She's a freshman! But so's Tidus…oh, it's not fair! I thought tonight would be just me and Kairi! Then again, what was I really expecting? A date? Yeah, right. Besides, how would I explain that one to Tidus?' She sighed quietly and looked up, noticing that Naminé had already gone inside and that Kairi was standing at the door waiting for her.
"C'mon Sel!" she hollered. "It's cold and I'm hungry!" Selphie laughed and jogged up the street, joining her friend at the door.
"Kai, you're a wimp. It's not cold out," she said to the blue-eyed girl. Kairi snorted and nodded toward Selphie's attire.
"Says she who's wearing a sweatshirt," she said, gesturing to her own t-shirted body. Selphie raised an eyebrow and frowned slightly when she noticed that Kairi was shivering.
"Want it?" Selphie offered, already halfway out of the yellow hoodie.
"No Selph, it's okay, really," Kairi started to protest before she felt a bundle of cloth land in her arms. Blinking down at the sweatshirt, she looked at Selphie questioningly, who was now only wearing her white button-down uniform short-sleeve shirt.
"Well? Are you going to put it on or not?" Selphie asked impatiently, watching Kairi closely. The other girl nodded slowly and stepped forward, taking her hand off of the door to slip it on.
And as Selphie's hand brushed against Kairi's to grab the door, the brunette felt a spark go off somewhere inside, causing her to usher the redhead inside quickly before she saw the small look of wonder on her face.
The next morning, Roxas's alarm clock went off and he grunted, rolling over to bury his face into his pillows. Realizing that the annoying beep wouldn't go away on its own, he reached out and slammed a fist down on top of the clock, plunging the room into silence. Roxas yawned quietly and blinked sleepy eyes at the clock, taking in the blurry green numbers that read 6:30am. He really didn't feel like moving just yet; he was still tired and slightly disoriented, not to mention he forgot to finish his Advanced Algebra homework after yesterday's incident with the ripped paper.
It was then that Roxas suddenly remembered something Sora had said to him yesterday.
'I think you just need a mental health day.' The brunet's words echoed in his mind briefly before fading away completely. Roxas lay there for a moment, pondering the tanned boy's advice.
"A mental health day," he mumbled to himself, snuggling down into his blankets again. "Maybe Sora's right for once…maybe I do need to just relax…" he trailed off, closing his eyes again. It wasn't long before he drifted back to sleep, curled up contently with his pillow and covers pulled up around his head.
He hadn't slept for very long before a loud knock rang out on his door, followed by Hayner's voice.
"Roxas, get up! You're going to be late!" he announced, opening the door to his younger brother's room. The younger blond groaned and opened his eyes, staring at the clock that now read seven am. He still didn't feel like moving from his bed and he peered out at Hayner from under his blankets, contemplating his next move.
'Fake sick, duh.' Sora's advice rang through his head again before disappearing into nothingness. Roxas nodded and did his best to look absolutely pathetic.
"Hayner, I don't feel very good," he all but whimpered, staring up at his brother with wide puppy eyes. A flash of concern swept across Hayner's face and he crouched down so that he was eye-level with Roxas.
"What's the matter?" he asked. Roxas blinked up at him sadly.
"I have a stomachache…and I think I have a fever," he said quietly. Hayner reached out and felt Roxas's forehead, frowning slightly.
"Well, you do feel a little warm…" he said, standing up to his original height. Roxas nodded slightly but was cheering inside.
'Heh, sucker! I can't believe he fell for it!' He thought to himself as Hayner rubbed the top of his head.
"Well, you just rest okay? I'll tell the front office that you stayed home sick today," Hayner said, still rubbing Roxas's scalp.
'What am I, a dog?' He inwardly rolled his eyes but nodded on the outside.
"Okay…" he sighed, snuggling up to his pillow again and closing his eyes. Hayner grinned and headed toward the door, stopping before he walked out.
"Hey Roxas?" he called. Blue eyes opened slightly and peered out at the older boy.
"Yeah?" Roxas replied. Hayner stood in the doorway, arms over his chest and smirking at the younger boy.
"Nice try." Roxas's face fell and he sat up, not caring that his hair was a tangled mess and his blankets had fallen off of his shoulders.
"Aw man! You knew?" he cried, shoulders sagging in defeat.
"Of course. You might be a good actor, but you never want to stay home sick. You're always stubborn about it" Hayner stepped back into the room, sitting on the bed next to his brother. "So, what's your real excuse for wanting to stay home?" Roxas sighed and yawned widely, rubbing his eyes with his hand.
"Sora thinks I need a mental health day," he explained. Hayner nodded and regarded the younger boy thoughtfully. He took in the sight of the sleepy teen with circles under his eyes and limp hair.
"Well, maybe Sora's right," he decided, running a hand through his brother's hair.
"Huh?"
"Stay home," Hayner said, waving a hand in the air. "I'll tell Seif you're not feeling well and we'll leave it at that. Take the day off, you've been working hard lately anyway."
Roxas's eyes widened and his jaw dropped slightly. "Seriously?"
"Sure. Just make sure that if you leave the house, be back here before 4:30. That's when Seifer gets home." Hayner shrugged. Roxas's face split into a wide grin and he leaned against Hayner's shoulder affectionately.
"Have I ever said that you're completely awesome?"
"Yeah, but I don't hear it enough," Hayner replied and shoved the boy away, standing up again. "Now hurry up and go back to sleep. This is probably the last day off you get until Christmas break." He crossed the room and headed for the door once again. Following his "orders", Roxas covered himself back up and looked at Hayner.
"Hayn?"
"Hmm?"
"…thanks." Roxas closed his eyes again. Hayner smiled and shut the door behind him, leaving his little brother to his rest.
Roxas woke up later to the sound of the phone ringing. With another quick glance to the clock, he noticed that it was now 10 am and that the phone wasn't going to answer itself. Reaching over to his bedside table, he picked up the black cordless phone.
"Hello?" he answered with a yawn, running a hand through his hair.
"Good morning, Sleeping Beauty!" Sora's voice rang out from the other end with a laugh.
"Mmh…hey Sor. How'd you know I was home?"
"Cause Kairi called us earlier and said that you hadn't shown up for school either."
"Yeah…Hayner let me stay home."
"Fun. Did you just wake up?"
"Yeah, basically. How can you tell?" Roxas chuckled and swung his legs over the edge of the bed, allowing his feet to touch the cold bare floor.
"You still sound out of it. But once you pull yourself together, you should come over," Sora said to him. Roxas could hear the sound of Riku cursing at something or other in the background.
"Riku's already there?"
"Actually, he just spent the night here."
"What's he mad about?"
"I hit him in the ass with the remote control," Sora stated seriously. Roxas snorted at this, knowing that as ridiculous as it sounded, it was something Sora would do.
"I'm not going to ask…"
"Yeah, that's probably for the best," Sora laughed. "But seriously, come over. Riku and I ended up renting movies last night and we're ordering pizza in an hour or so." Roxas glanced at the clock again, reading the numbers 10:07.
"Gimme about 15 minutes and I'll be there."
"Kay, see ya then Roxy!"
"Bye Sora," Roxas replied and rolled his eyes at the use of the nickname, hanging up the phone. He rose from his bed, standing in the middle of the room and stretching his arms over his head, bending backwards to stretch out those muscles as well. Swinging his arms back and forward a few times to get the feeling back in them, Roxas grabbed some clothes from on top of a clean pile of laundry and shuffled into the bathroom, shutting the door behind him.
15 minutes and a shower later, Roxas found himself on Sora's doorstep. He jabbed in the doorbell with his thumb, listening for any signs of the other two boys. He heard feet running toward him and it wasn't long until Sora flung the door open in his face, a wide grin on his face.
"Hey, about time!" he said, practically dragging Roxas into the house. Nearly losing his foot, the blond followed the brunet into the house and into the living room where Riku was watching some episode of Family Guy. The silver-haired boy looked up briefly and nodded.
"Hey Rox," he greeted the blue-eyed boy and went back to the TV.
"Yo. What's going on?" Roxas returned the greeting and flopped down on the couch next to the green-eyed boy. Riku snorted and nodded toward Sora.
"Genius here forgot where he put our movies from yesterday," he explained. Sora grinned and looked up at the TV. A smile crossed his lips and he jumped up, standing next to the TV.
"Hey, I know what'll cheer ya up," Sora said to Riku at the same time Brian said it on the screen.
"Oh god," Riku muttered under his breath. Sora grinned wider and started dancing in time with the white dog on the screen and singing at the top of his lungs.
"It's peanut butter jelly time, peanut butter jelly time, peanut butter jelly time, where he at, where he at, where he at, where he at, now there he go, there he go, there he go, there he go, peanut butter jelly, peanut butter jelly, peanut butter jelly, peanut butter jelly," the brunet sang as he continued to dance. Roxas snickered under his breath and Riku rolled his eyes.
"Sora, just stop," he commanded. The blue-eyed boy blinked and looked at Riku blankly before a smirk crossed his lips. He took a deep breath and sang even louder.
"Do the peanut butter jelly, peanut butter jelly, peanut butter jelly with a baseball bat! Peanut butter jelly, peanut butter jelly, peanut butter jelly with a baseball bat!" he giggled as he moon-walked over toward Riku, dropping down into his lap. Riku looked at his boyfriend briefly before shaking his head sadly.
"You're so damn weird," he said before kissing him on the nose. Sora wrinkled his nose and grinned.
"Yeah, but you love it."
"Suppose."
"You guys are sad," Roxas said from his place on the couch, not tearing his eyes away from the TV screen. Sora looked over at Roxas from his position on Riku's lap.
"Why?" he chirped, tilting his head slightly.
"Look at you two. You're all over each other and it's not even 11am yet," he pointed out as the ending credits for Family Guy rolled onto screen.
"Jealous?" Riku asked, playing with a strand of Sora's hair.
"Not in the slightest," Roxas retorted. Sora looked at him for a moment before shaking his head.
"I think you are," he said quietly. Roxas whipped his head around and looked at the brunet.
"What's that supposed to mean?" he demanded, staring into blue eyes heatedly. Sora shrugged and remained unfazed by Roxas's defensive manner.
"I'm just saying, I think you're sad that you're alone."
Roxas blinked in surprise at this. "Alone? Who said anything about being alone?"
"Well, you're single," Riku pointed out.
"So?"
"And it's obvious that you don't want to be," Sora finished up.
"How is that so obvious? I'm perfectly fine being single," Roxas argued, changing the channel on the TV. Sora shook his head and grabbed the remote from the blond.
"Roxas, I think you're the loneliest person I've ever met," he stated, looking his friend in the eye.
"Why's that?"
"Look at yourself…you're miserable being on the islands, you're single,"
"And none of that makes me lonely," Roxas cut him off quickly. "Sora, I know you're trying to…help and I appreciate it…I think, but just drop it. I'm not lonely. Besides, when I have the entire female population to play with, who says I have to be lonely?"
"Rox, there's a difference between having playthings and having a real relationship," Riku rejoined the conversation.
"And you don't think I know this because?" Roxas raised an eyebrow. Riku shrugged and took the remote from Sora, changing the channel again.
"I'm just saying, obviously you haven't found that one special person that you just click with, so you have no idea what Sora and I are talking about."
"Have too!" Roxas insisted.
"Who?" Sora asked, yanking the remote away from Riku. "Stop changing the channel!"
"Kairi," Roxas answered. Riku and Sora stared at the blond quietly before answering him.
"Nu-uh," they said simultaneously.
"What do you mean no?" he cried, staring at his friends in disbelief.
"Rox, you've got a crush. There's a difference between a crush and full-blown love," Riku explained.
"Well, give it time, she'll be mine shortly."
"What about Axel?" Sora reminded him.
"…who?"
"Axel. Y'know, the boy you were ogling at for a good 10 minutes Wednesday," Riku said with a smirk. Roxas glared at the green-eyed boy in return.
"Okay, that was just a fluke. Just because I was looking at the guy doesn't mean I'm like, in love with him or something."
"It's just the fact that you were looking at him like that, Roxas. Straight men don't do that."
"Ugh, can we not talk about this?" Roxas groaned, burying his face in a couch pillow.
"Why, because you know we're right?" Sora grinned and got off of Riku's lap.
"No because you guys don't know what you're talking about either," the blond mumbled. Riku raised an eyebrow.
"…yeah, two guys that have been dating for a year know nothing about homosexuality. That makes a lot of sense."
"I don't wanna talk about it though!" Roxas whined. "It was nothing! I swear if I saw that guy again I wouldn't give him a second glance!"
"You say that now, but would you really when the time came?" Sora asked rhetorically as he walked over to the phone, dialing the number for the nearest Domino's.
"Probably."
"We'll just have to see about that," Riku teased him. Roxas sat up and smacked Riku in the face with the pillow. "Hey!"
"Hah, serves you right," Roxas declared, laying back on his side. He felt something jabbing him in the side and he sat up. "What the hell?" He reached into the couch and pulled out a DVD case, along with two others. Riku snatched the movies and set them on the coffee table.
"That's where they went!" he exclaimed. Sora hung up the phone and looked over to where Riku was pointing. A sheepish grin crossed his face and he laughed.
"Must have dropped them in the couch while we were…yeah," he said. Roxas's right eye twitched.
"Ew."
"No, it wasn't anything bad!" Sora protested immediately. "Just making-out."
"…still. Who knows what you two have done on this couch."
"Would you settle for each other?" Riku snickered as he watched Roxas's face change into a look of horror.
"Gross!" he yelped, jumping off of the couch and landing on the floor. "You better be joking!"
"Oh don't worry, we are," Riku assured him. Sora shot him a questioning look.
"We are?"
"Yes, we are," Riku muttered forcefully. Sora got the hint and nodded.
"Yep, we are." He grinned all-too-enthusiastically. Roxas shuddered again and moved from the couch.
"Gross guys…just…gross."
"Hey, just because our sex-lives are more interesting than yours," Riku started to say before Roxas covered his ears and closed his eyes.
"La-la-la, I can't hear you!"
"Roxas…"
"Still can't hear you!"
"Roxas, we've probably done it on the floor a few times too," Sora cut in.
"Gah! Why can't you just do it in a bed like normal people?"
"That's boring, duh."
"You guys are disturbing."
"Hey, don't knock it til ya try it." Riku shrugged, pulling Sora back down on top of him.
"…ew," was all Roxas could say and the couple next to him laughed, sorting through the DVDs on the table.
"What movie, Rox?" Sora asked as he pointed to the three in front of them. Roxas finally opened his eyes and looked down at the cases on the table.
"I've been wanting to see Red Eye for a while," he said.
"Then we'll watch Red Eye," Riku decided just as the doorbell rang.
"Pizza's here!" Sora shouted and sprang out of Riku's lap, darting to the door with a $20 in his hand. He came back shortly carrying two boxes of pizza and three cans of soda on top.
"So is the movie in?" he asked Riku, who was kneeling in front of the TV fiddling with the DVD player.
"Yeah, there," the silver-haired boy replied as he stepped away from the TV, switching the channel until the screen showed the previews before the movie. Roxas glanced at a chair behind him and then back at the boys.
"Is the chair safe or did you guys do it in that too?" he asked dryly, picking up a slice of pizza from the box.
"Nah, it's too small," Sora replied. Roxas nodded in a satisfied manner and crawled into the chair with his lunch, watching the beginning credits roll. Riku looked at the chair Roxas was sitting in and a thought occurred to him.
"Hey Sora? Didn't you suck me off in that same chair?" he said loud enough for Roxas to hear, knowing that even though it wasn't true (yet) it would get under the other boy's skin.
"Goddamn guys!" Roxas yelled before sliding onto the floor again, leaving the two other boys to laugh and watch the movie.
The rest of Roxas's Friday was spent at home watching TV and playing video games until 4:30 in the morning. Saturday rolled around slowly and the blond once again found himself in the den watching Saturday morning cartoons, eating a blue popsicle at 11am. He was just beginning to solve who was behind Scooby Doo's latest mystery when the doorbell rang. Roxas continued slurping on his popsicle and watching TV, figuring somebody else would answer the door. The doorbell rang again shortly after that. Grumbling to himself, Roxas got off of the couch and stomped out into the front hall, ripping open the front door.
"What do you want?" he mumbled around the blue stick in his mouth. The red-haired boy on the other side of the door blinked, sending the shorter boy an amused smile. Roxas looked up suddenly and felt his eyes widen at the sight of the boy from Myspace standing on his front porch.
"You must be Roxas," the older boy said. Roxas nodded dumbly, popsicle still in his mouth. "Well, I'm Axel," the redhead formally introduced himself. Again, Roxas nodded dumbly. "So you've heard of me?" Axel raised an eyebrow. Roxas nodded again before suddenly realizing what Axel said. He quickly pulled the popsicle out of his mouth and shook his head.
"Well no, I mean yeah, kinda. My friends know youre name and so I heard it from them and uh, yeah," he rambled, mentally kicking himself for it.
'Way to go, you moron. You just sounded like a total idiot.' He berated himself as he replaced the popsicle where it belonged. Axel paused for an awkward moment before laughing it off.
"Well, that's interesting. Hey, is your brother home?" he changed the subject. Roxas blinked and came back to reality.
"What?" he asked. Axel opened his mouth to repeat himself when he noticed something.
"Um…you're kinda dripping there," he pointed out. Roxas raised an eyebrow and glanced over to the mirror hanging on his right. His popsicle had been left sitting there by itself for a short time, enough to cause a little trail of blue-colored drool to drip down his chin. Ripping the popsicle away again, he quickly wiped the spit off with his sleeve and looked at Axel's feet.
"Thanks…" he said, unsure of what else could have been said. Axel nodded and leaned against the doorframe.
"So, is your brother home?" he repeated his question from early.
"Which one?"
"Seifer," the green-eyed junior replied. Roxas inwardly groaned and shook his head.
'Just my luck. He's friends with the brother that doesn't like me.'
"So…he's not home?" Axel asked him. Roxas looked up suddenly and stared at Axel.
"Um, yeah, he is. He's, uh, upstairs. Second room on the left side," he informed the older boy. Axel nodded and stepped away from the door, entering the house.
"Thanks," he said and headed for the stairway. Roxas nodded and turned to go back to the den, possibly to hide until Axel was gone and he couldn't embarrass himself any further.
"Hey, Roxas" Axel called out to him. The blond stopped in his tracks and looked back at the other boy on the stairs.
"Yeah?"
"Just wanted to say, love those dinosaur boxers," Axel said with a smirk before turning and jogging up the stairs. Roxas gave the retreating boy a confused look, scratching his head and pondering how Axel knew. He looked down then and squeaked, covering his mouth with his hand.
He forgot to put pants on before answering the door.
"Great…obviously somebody up there is mad at me," he grumbled to himself, turning again to walk back into the den. He turned too soon however and smacked right into the wall, bumping his nose against the corner quite hard. He heard laughter from behind him and groaned, shaking his head and racing back into the den.
It was official: he was definitely hiding for the rest of the day. Maybe even for the rest of his life.
And chapter two is completed. This is probably the fastest I've updated in...well, ever. I'm really surprised with myself, hah. You can tell I love writing this fic.
Thanks to: Dreamcrafter, Demolition Lovers, Shibby, inoku, kmwsweetness, XxXChainsXxX, anonymous, JohnneyAntonelli, Dysfunctional Space Angel, and Meggan for reviewing the last chapter.
And as usual, extra big thank you hugs and kisses for April for editing this. And HAH! Told you I could finish the entire thing so quickly. Hehe.
Hope you guys liked it!