Chapter Three
Wishing Against The Arrow
"Are you okay?" Selphie turned away from the TV screen and glanced up at the boy whom she was leaning on. Tidus looked down at her, watching her critically.
"Yeah, totally," she replied, sitting up and lifting her head from Tidus's shoulder. The two were in the middle of their Saturday night tradition of dinner and a movie; Tidus had brought over the fixings to make nachos and Selphie had popped Yours, Mine, and Ours into the DVD player. The movie itself was slightly dull though so Tidus had resorted to looking at his girlfriend, studying her quietly up until he spoke. Selphie continued looking at him curiously. "I'm fine, why do you ask?"
"You just seem…distant," the sandy-haired boy replied quietly, blue eyes reflecting with concern, curiosity, and…love? Selphie looked away, unable to keep her eyes locked onto his.
"What makes you say that?" she asked again, turning back toward the movie. Tidus shrugged, shifting the arm that was under Selphie's body and stroking her side lightly.
"I don't know. You just…do. Are you sure everything's okay?" he replied.
"Tidus, I swear, if something was wrong, you'd be the first person to know," the brunette assured the freshman boy, still not looking him in the eye. Tidus nodded slowly and looked away, facing the TV once more.
"If you say so."
"And I do," Selphie finalized and nodded, praying that Tidus didn't notice that she was lying through the skin of her teeth. The blue-eyed boy remained silent, watching the movie almost too-intently. Selphie sighed quietly and rested her head back on Tidus's shoulder, unsure of what to do now.
'Well, way to go Selphie. You've managed to lodge yourself between a rock and a hard place…or something. Question is, who's the rock and who's the hard place? Oh forget it, you just need to figure out what the hell you're going to do! It's obvious that your little tiny miniscule crush on Kairi is not going to go away on its own like you thought it would. Plus you're still in a relationship with Tidus. Have been for the past almost four months. Think about what you'd be doing to him!' She stopped her train of thought, glancing back at her boyfriend who had his eyes closed now. She could tell that he was still awake though.
'Think about these past four months. Think about everything Tidus has done for you. The kid's done nothing but provide love and affection for you every day since you first met. Do you really want to throw all of that away? Just for something that might be a fluke? Besides, you were with Tidus before you decided to try out bisexuality. Shouldn't you stay with him? Great, I have no idea what to do. Either way, one of us is going to get hurt and that's not going to help.' She growled slightly and Tidus opened his eyes, staring at her blankly. She blinked up at him and sat up.
"Are you mad at me?" she asked quietly, slightly unnerved by Tidus's stare. The boy shook his head sadly, continuing to stare at Selphie silently.
"It's just…" he paused for a moment, looking deeply into her eyes. The green-eyed girl squirmed a bit, growing more uncomfortable as time went on. Tidus looked away again, glancing up at the clock on the wall. "It's almost like you're hiding something from me. Did I do something wrong?" he questioned her, a small flash of hurt flickering onto his face. Selphie felt her resolve start to crumble, guilt beginning to eat away at her.
"Tidus, don't say that," she said immediately. "I promise that you didn't do anything; everything's fine."
"But Selphie," Tidus started to argue.
"No. It's fine," she repeated herself, turning Tidus's face back toward her and brushing her lips against his lightly. "I promise."
Tidus looked at her with that same unreadable look, contemplating whether to speak or not. He suddenly removed Selphie's head from his shoulder gently, pushing himself off of the couch. "I should go," he mumbled, heading toward the front door. Selphie looked after him in alarm and shot off of the couch as well, scurrying after him.
"Wait, Tidus!" she exclaimed, joining him in the front hall. Tidus's hand lingered on the doorknob of the front door, staring down at his hand rather than meeting Selphie's eyes.
"Sel, obviously there are some things you want to think about. I'm just freeing up your time." He shrugged, glancing back at her with a small grin. "I'll just talk to you Monday okay?"
"But-"
"Just…call me if you want to talk about something. You know I'll listen no matter what," he cut her off again, opening the front door and stepping out into the brisk autumn night air.
"How are you getting home?" Selphie changed the subject. The sandy-blond boy slipped his hands into the pockets of his jeans, shrugging again.
"Walk."
Selphie's eyes widened. "But you live on the other end of town!"
"A little walking never hurt anybody." He moved down off of the front porch and headed down the front walk.
"It's cold out though! You'll get sick!"
"Bye Selph…" He waved one last time before turning to the right, heading down the street and disappearing into the night. The brunette stood on her front porch, watching her boyfriend walk away from her, getting smaller and smaller until she couldn't see him anymore. She sighed loudly and trudged back into the house, slamming the door behind her.
"Damn," she cursed to herself and headed upstairs, leaving the DVD player running and the leftovers from dinner sit out on the table.
"You know what I don't like?" Seifer asked, leaning against his locker with Raijin and Fujin on either side of him.
"No, but I'm sure you're going to tell us," Axel retorted, slamming his own locker closed after retrieving his materials for first period Chemistry that Monday morning. The red-head idly wondered how Seifer managed to worm his way into their group, or rather, how he managed to take it over. Rai and Fuu weren't too terrible before Seifer took charge, making them his lackeys. Sometimes he secretly questioned if he was the only sane one left.
Seifer threw his head forward, indicating a pair of boys standing at the other end of the hall, the smaller brunet being held in place by the silver-haired boy's hands as they talked, leaning their foreheads against one another. The tanned boy stood on his toes and planted a kiss onto the older's lips before smiling cheerfully and walking away, a bit of a bounce in his step.
"Fags," Seifer spat out, shuddering in disgust. Raijin and Fujin nodded in agreement, their own looks of disgust in tact. Seifer glanced over at Axel. "What do you think?" he questioned the green-eyed junior.
Truthfully, Axel thought the display was kind of cute. He recognized the silver-haired boy from his first period class, Riku or something like that. He couldn't remember the little brunet's name but he knew that he was Silver's best friend, not to mention his boyfriend. He remembered times when Leon would hold him like that; not very often, just because he was Leon, but Axel treasured the times that he did.
Now though…now Leon had Cloud and the blond senior seemingly had the other boy wrapped around his finger. When Leon and Axel were together, Leon never allowed for PDAs as Axel called them, Leon made sure to call them public displays of affection. Now the brunet could be seen outside cuddling discreetly with the blue-eyed boy or sharing a brief kiss before parting ways.
Oh how Axel envied Cloud.
"Axel…" Seifer said stiffly, snapping the boy out of his thoughts. "What do you think?" Axel quickly faked his own look of disgust.
"Yeah, totally gross," he replied half-heartedly, hoping that the blond didn't pick up on his reluctant tone. After all, the other three didn't even know that he swung that way and there was no way he was going to tell them now. Seifer accepted this answer and nodded proudly.
"My younger brother is friends with those two," he said casually, watching as Riku walked down the hall and entered his first period classroom, the same one Axel shared. Raijin looked at Seifer in fear.
"But aren't you worried about him being around them? Monkey see, monkey do, ya know," he said. Seifer shrugged and smirked slightly.
"Nah, Roxas knows better. I've been teaching him not to get involved in that shit," he replied. Axel frowned at this, feeling a small pang of disappointment.
'Such a shame that he has a brother like Seifer. He's actually pretty cute.' Axel admitted to himself, turning his attention back to the conversation at hand.
"Doubt it." Fujin said.
"Oh trust me, he will." Seifer nodded assuredly. Axel opened his mouth to protest but suddenly the bell for first period rang. Inwardly sighing in relief, Axel shifted his bag on his shoulder and turned.
"I'm out, see ya guys later!" he said quickly and made his escape, practically racing into his classroom and throwing his bag down on the floor by his desk. He slid into his seat and looked to his left where Riku sat scrawling out the last few answers on their homework sheet.
"You didn't finish either?" Axel said, pulling out his own unfinished worksheet. Riku shook his head and calculated a few numbers.
"Didn't have time, seriously," the silver-haired boy responded as he jotted down his answer.
"Oh? And what were you doing last night?" A smug grin crossed Axel's lips. Riku rolled his eyes and closed up his book, setting his homework on top of it.
"Like it's really any of your business, Axel."
"No, not really. But I mean, I could probably guess what you were doing anyway." Riku looked up at the redhead and raised an eyebrow.
"Oh really now," he said, giving Axel a suspicious look. "So do, praytell, explain to me what exactly I was doing last night."
"That little brunet you're always with," Axel replied with another self-assured grin. Riku's expression faltered briefly before slipping back into his cool façade.
"First of all, the little brunet's got a name. It's Sora. Secondly, what business is it of yours if I was doing Sora last night?"
"You didn't though, I can tell." Axel shrugged, doodling on his homework.
"…okay fine, so I didn't. But-"
"You were with him, I know."
"You know a lot, don't you?"
"Psh, more than you'd think," Axel retorted. Riku opened his mouth to reply when he suddenly saw a flash of blond near the doorway. The silver-haired boy turned his head and his eyes locked onto Roxas, who was waving him over. Riku sighed and got out of his seat, shuffling toward the door of the classroom.
"What?" Riku asked, slightly suspicious of why the blond boy was there. Roxas reached into his pocket and pulled out a white piece of paper.
"Message from your bitch," Roxas said with a small smirk, thrusting the note under Riku's nose.
"Gimme that," the aqua-eyed boy snapped as he snatched the note away quickly. "Shouldn't you be in class?" he suddenly asked. Roxas shrugged nonchalantly.
"It doesn't really matter I suppose, it's just Creative Writing," he said in return, scanning around the room briefly. His eyes slowly landed on Axel, staring at the teen for a brief moment. Axel stiffened up, feeling as though someone were watching him. He looked up from Riku's homework that he was "borrowing" and locked his own gaze with Roxas's. A cocky grin spread across his lips and he nodded. Roxas's eyes widened and he started backing out of the room.
"Uh…Rox?" Riku raised an eyebrow at the boy's odd behavior.
"Actually Riku, you're right. I should be in class. See ya!" Roxas blurted out before barreling out into the hall, racing back toward the English hallway. Riku blinked in surprise and raised the other eyebrow.
"Now what the hell was that all about?" he mumbled to himself, unfolding the note as he walked back toward his desk. He opened it the entire way and his eyes swept over the page.
Riku,
I completely forgot to ask you what I was going to ask you to begin with! How about lunch, just you and me? We haven't done that in a while…please?
I love you!
-Sora
"Crazy kid," Riku murmured fondly, shoving the note back into his pocket.
"The little brunet?" Axel asked, discreetly dropping Riku's homework onto the other boy's desk.
"His name is Sora," Riku repeated himself.
"Right right, Sora." Axel waved a hand in the air casually. He looked back toward the door that Roxas had fled through, a curious look on his face. "Say Riku…" he started out slowly, waiting for a response.
"Hmm?" Riku hummed, tearing his eyes away from the clock to blink at the redhead. Axel kept his eyes trained on the door for a few more moments.
"That boy that was just here…" he murmured. Riku tilted his head slightly.
"You mean Roxas? What about him?"
"You're friends with him, aren't you?"
"I guess. He's a lot closer to Sora though; why?"
Axel grinned and scooted his desk closer to Riku's, leaning his arms on the other boy's desk.
"So, what can you tell me about this kid?"
Riku stepped out of his third period AP History classroom, stepping away from the door and out into the hallway. Looking over his shoulder, he caught Axel's eye and smirked at the redhead that walked out behind him. Axel returned the same smug look and headed down the hallway toward the cafeteria, leaving Riku to walk the other direction toward Sora's locker. The brunet was already rummaging through the locker, head buried inside and arms moving in and out rapidly. Riku waited patiently and leaned against the locker next to Sora's. Sora finally slammed the locker closed and turned, jumping and yelling in surprise upon seeing Riku there.
"Where'd you come from!" he exclaimed, staring up at his boyfriend with wide eyes.
"Um…my mom's vaginal region?" Riku shrugged.
"Ew."
"Hey, you asked."
"Still," Sora sulked. Riku draped an arm around Sora's shoulders and led him back toward the cafeteria.
"Oh come on, don't sulk. Besides, I've got some news for you," he bribed the brunet. Sora's ears perked up and he glanced back at Riku.
"News? What kind of news? And why are we going this way? I thought we were going out just by ourselves!" Sora protested, stopping in his tracks right in the middle of the hallway. Riku sighed and allowed the arm that was around Sora's shoulders to slip down to his waist.
"I know, I know, but trust me, we have a better opportunity waiting for us just inside those cafeteria doors," he replied with a charming grin. Sora's frown wavered a bit and he continued glaring at Riku.
"I repeat, what is it?" the brunet demanded. Riku urged Sora forward again and the two boys entered the cafeteria, making their way toward the doors that led to the courtyard.
"Well…I don't know if I should tell you. Maybe I should just let it be a surprise," the silver-haired boy said teasingly. Sora pouted slightly and flashed Riku a pair of puppy eyes.
"Oh come on, Riku! Just tell me!" he begged, pushing the door open with his hip and leading the taller boy outside. Riku continued to smile and tapped Sora on the nose gently.
"Fine, I'll give you a hint. There're two parts to it."
"What? That doesn't help me!" Sora exclaimed. "Come on! I just want to know!" Riku snickered and sighed dramatically.
"All right, I guess I can tell you…but you have to keep quiet until we get there okay?"
"Yeah!" Sora nodded enthusiastically. Riku made a big show out of looking around them, making sure that no one was listening to them. His eyes darted back and forward suspiciously, causing Sora to giggle at the sight. The aqua-eyed boy leaned in and brought his lips up to Sora's ear. The blue-eyed boy waited impatiently, practically bouncing on the balls of his feet. Riku slowly brushed a kiss onto Sora's ear and licked the shell gently.
"Love you…" he murmured and pulled away with a satisfied smirk. Sora smiled up at Riku.
"Aww, that's so…wait, that's not what you were going to say!" he shouted, smacking Riku's arm lightly. Riku let out a real laugh this time and ruffled Sora's hair.
"Okay, okay, I'll tell you. Gosh, you're so fun to mess with," he informed his shorter lover.
"I don't think I like you very much right now, you know that?" Sora huffed, continuing to stomp his way over to a far corner of the courtyard where their group usually sat.
"Oh don't be like that, you know I was just teasing you."
"Jerk."
"Blackmail."
"What?" Sora stopped again and blinked. Riku chuckled and grabbed Sora's hand, pulling him forward to keep him moving.
"That's what the opportunity is. Blackmail," Riku repeated himself. Sora raised an eyebrow slightly and gave Riku a skeptical look.
"Big deal, it's blackmail. It's not like you don't have tons of it stored in that pretty little head of yours," he said, swinging their adjoined hands back and forward gently.
"True, but this is special blackmail," Riku replied, eyes twinkling mischievously.
That definitely caught Sora's attention.
"What…kind of special?" he asked slowly. Riku looked ahead and noticed that they were almost to their usual spot.
"Just watch," he whispered back, marching up to a pair of teens on the ground next to a picnic table, the female chatting animatedly and the male seemingly not listening to a word she said. "Hey guys," he greeted them in a louder tone, sitting on the end of a bench and letting go of Sora's hand.
"Hey, we were wondering where you two were!" Selphie greeted them, looking up at them from her place on the ground next to Roxas.
"Where is everybody?" Sora asked as he plopped himself down in Riku's lap, making himself comfortable.
"Well Tidus went to go get food," Selphie replied.
"And Kai?"
"She and Naminé went back to her locker to get her money." Sora looked at Selphie in surprise, confused by her sudden mockery of Naminé and the small pout that was threatening to overtake her lips. Riku didn't seem to notice however since he suddenly smirked instead.
"Good." He nodded. Selphie blinked at him and tilted her head to the side.
"Good? What's good about it? Do you know something I don't because I don't like not knowing things and-"
"Selphie, stop talking and I'll tell you," Riku promised her. The brunette instantly went silent. Riku smiled at her and flickered his gaze over to Roxas, who was currently writing something down in his binder.
"So Roxas," Riku started out, playing with Sora's fingers in his lap.
"Hmm?" Roxas hummed, not bothering to look up from his lap.
"How's your nose?" the silver-haired boy asked, peering at Roxas through his bangs. The blond boy froze briefly before looking up, giving Riku a curious look.
"It's fine…why do you ask?" he questioned, closing up his binder all together and staring at Riku full-on.
'There's no way that he could possibly know about Saturday. He just couldn't.' Roxas tried to convince himself, forcing himself to remain calm. Riku shrugged in return.
"Just wondering," Riku replied. Roxas nodded his head and smirked at the other boy.
"Kind of a goofy thing to wonder."
Riku remained silent for a moment, contemplating his next move. Selphie looked up at Sora in question. The brunet shrugged and shook his head. He didn't know what was going on either; he rarely ever did when it came to Roxas.
"Yeah, I guess it is," Riku finally spoke again. Roxas gave him another strange look before opening his binder once again.
"Ookay then. Weirdo." He returned to the page he had been writing on and retrieved his pen. Riku rolled his eyes and leaned back against the table.
"And what kind of boxers would you happen to be wearing today? Teddy bears? Kittens? After all, I'm sure your dinosaur ones are dirty," he said with a snicker. Roxas snapped his head back up and stared at Riku with wide blue eyes.
"Who told you about that!" he yelled, blinking in shock. Riku burst into laughter, leaving Selphie and Sora to exchange confused looks once again.
"…did we miss something?" they asked simultaneously. Riku regained enough composure to retell the tale.
"So apparently, Roxas is a big ditz."
"How do you figure?" Sora prodded, leaning back against Riku's chest.
"Well, Blondie here answered the door without pants on and then when he tried to run away, he ran straight into a wall. Oh and something about blue drool." Riku stopped and looked at Roxas with a triumphant smile. "Sound familiar, Rox?"
The blond boy attempted to glare at Riku while fighting off a blush. "Shut. Up," he growled through gritted teeth. Riku smiled sweetly in return.
"Oh don't worry, Axel doesn't think you're a loser or anything. Just kind of retarded."
"Oh, who cares what he thinks anyway?" Roxas muttered, growing redder from the combination of embarrassment and anger.
"Obviously you do," Sora pointed out. Selphie giggled quietly and looked over to Roxas.
"Aw, it's okay, Roxy. I'm sure nothing's been damaged!" she said through her laughter.
"Other than his ego," Riku commented. Roxas growled and threw his binder on the ground.
"Okay fine, so I made myself look like a dumbass! There, are you happy now?" he shouted, glaring at his three friends who were surprised by his outburst.
"Roxas…calm down. Look, we all act stupid around our crush at one time or another. You just have to roll with the punches," Selphie explained, leaning back against the tree and looking at Roxas warily. Roxas sighed heavily and shook his head.
"How many times do I have to tell you guys? I don't have a crush on Axel. I barely know the guy!"
"Don't you believe in love at first sight?" Roxas looked up at Sora who was quietly watching the pair on the ground thoughtfully.
"Yeah, about as much as I believe in Santa Clause," the blonde snorted. "Sora come on, seriously. Love at first sight? Please."
Sora pouted and fiddled with his hands in his lap. "First of all, Santa's real. Second of all, what is so hard to believe about love at first sight, huh?"
"Santa's not real, get over it. And love at first sight is actually just lust at first sight, and I'm not lusting after Axel, therefore, I win, you lose. End of story." Roxas nodded in confirmation.
"So what about Kairi?" Riku cut in.
"What about her?"
"Doesn't she count as lust at first sight?" Riku countered, grabbing onto Sora's hands and forcing them to hold still. Roxas blinked a few times.
"What? N-no, she doesn't! See, I actually have a crush on her," he started to defend himself.
"But you started to like her when you first met her, did you not?"
"Well I guess but-"
"Well then there you go. That counts as love at first sight, which is, according to you, lust at first sight therefore you're lusting after Kairi. So I think that I win and you lose. End of story," Riku said with a slight mocking tone to his voice.
"Riku, be nice," Sora warned him, watching Roxas as his anger started to grow.
"You know what Riku? Screw you. You don't know what you're even talking about!" Roxas shouted at the silver-haired boy.
"Roxas, relax! Look, Riku didn't mean to make you mad, did you Riku?" Selphie interjected, glancing at the oldest teen for confirmation.
"Well actually-"
"Riku!"
"Okay, I didn't mean to make Roxas mad," Riku said with a slight sigh. "But I mean, it's not my fault he gets so easily offended."
"I'm not offended," Roxas cut him off.
"You're the one who's sitting here yelling at me."
"I'm not yelling!"
"What's going on?" Roxas looked up and spotted Kairi standing a few feet away, a puzzled look on her face and without Naminé by her side. A small grin crossed his lips and he felt his anger leaving rapidly.
"Nothing, Riku's just being an asshole, as usual," the blond explained, scooting over so that Kairi could sit next to him. The blue-eyed girl carefully sat down on the ground between Roxas and Selphie, setting her sandwich in her lap and unwrapping it.
"That's not surprising," she said as she set the cellophane aside, taking a bite of her food. Roxas nodded and picked up his binder once more, returning to the page he was writing on. Selphie looked over at Kairi and reached over, swiping the sandwich from the redhead's hand and taking a bite.
"So where's your shadow?" she asked around a mouthful of food, swallowing shortly after. Kairi gave her a playful scowl before taking her food back and giggling quietly.
"Well, it's a funny story. So we were walking back down the hall to come back out here right? Well, we ended up going down the "senior hall" and Nami was busy talking to me, so she wasn't watching where she was going. So just as we turn the corner, she crashes right into this one guy. Any of you familiar with the name Marluxia?"
"Isn't he that guy with pink hair?" Sora questioned his female friend. Riku lifted him up gently and set him down on the bench, getting up and heading back into the cafeteria. Sora decided against questioning his boyfriend's motives and waited for Kairi's answer.
"Actually, it's like a light brown color but yeah, that's him." She nodded.
"Okay so what about him?" Selphie asked impatiently, pulling her knees to her chest and watching Kairi closely.
"Well, she had ended up spilling some of her soda on his shirt and so because she's a freshman she started apologizing like crazy and rambling. Marluxia kind of just laughed it off and noticed that she was wearing a Fall Out Boy shirt and he started up a conversation about that and so…yeah, she's still back in the senior hall talking to him." She shrugged and went back to her sandwich, resting her back against the tree.
"…wait, she's down there by herself?" Sora raised an eyebrow. "You sure that's a good idea?"
"Sora, she's fine. Besides, it's just the usuals…y'know, Marluxia, Larxene, Saïx, Demyx, and then the one junior. Axel I think?" Kairi looked up thoughtfully. "Either way, she's safe," she decided.
"I'm surprised you didn't stay," Selphie commented, picking at the grass by her legs.
"Why would I? I'd rather be here with you guys," Kairi replied. Selphie smiled cheerfully and nodded.
"That's because we're pretty awesome." She winked and scanned the courtyard. "Where the hell is Tidus?"
"He probably got sidetracked," Roxas mumbled as he turned to a new page.
"Nah, he's right there with Riku," Sora announced, pointing across the courtyard to where the two boys where marching toward them. They soon arrived back to the others, Riku sitting next to Sora and Tidus next to Selphie, just where they belonged.
"Sunchips and water," Tidus said briefly before handing Selphie her lunch and biting into his own slice of pizza. Selphie took the bag and bottle from him and nodded absently.
"Thanks babe," she said in return and focused her attention on Kairi. "So did Naminé say if she was going to come back?"
"I don't know really. She seemed pretty interested in what Marluxia was saying to her, whatever that was."
"Hey, I would be too if I was a freshman with a senior talking to me," Sora jumped in, taking the giant cookie Riku brought him and opening it, breaking off a piece. "Besides, Naminé deserves to meet new people."
"Yeah, exactly. Maybe she'll end up staying with him for the whole lunch period," Selphie added, a slight edge of hope in her tone. Riku gave the younger brunette a skeptical look but kept his mouth shut. He knew something was up; he just wasn't quite sure what.
'I'll just ask her during 4th period.' He decided to himself and chewed on his cheeseburger quietly. He let his eyes wander over toward Roxas, who was still hunched over his binder and scribbling away.
"Whacha writin', Roxy?" he questioned the blond.
"A list," Roxas answered without looking up or pausing his flow of writing.
"A list of what?" Sora blinked and leaned forward to look at the piece of paper. Roxas quickly shielded the list from the brunet and held his binder close.
"What I want for my birthday. My parents are actually gonna be home for once, so they're buying my presents and stuff," he announced happily.
"Isn't your birthday on Friday?" Kairi rejoined the conversation.
"Yeah, basically."
"And then you'll finally be the same age as everybody else in your class," Tidus pointed out as he picked at his lunch.
"Rub it in, I know," Roxas sighed and ripped out the piece of paper, folding it up and putting it in his pocket.
"Wait, you're not even going to let us see the list?" Selphie poked Roxas's arm and reached for his pocket. The boy swatted her hand away and shook his head firmly.
"Nope. It doesn't matter anyway, it's just a list for my parents."
"But Rox, how are we supposed to know what to get you if you don't even clue us in?" she whined, still prodding at Roxas's arm.
"Surprise me."
"You don't like surprises," Riku reminded him.
"Then don't get me anything, I don't care."
"What's with the negativity?" Sora looked up from his cookie.
"There is no negativity," Roxas snapped back. He noticed the hurt look on Sora's face then and quickly tried to backtrack. "I mean, well, there's nothing really special about material items ya know? I'm perfectly happy with just acknowledging the fact that I'll finally be 15."
"Whatever you say, Rox. Whatever you say," Sora sighed and finished off his cookie, handing Riku the wrapper.
"Well what do you want me to say?"
"Roxas, I think what Sora's trying to say is that we love you and want to do something good for you on your birthday, but you're making it kind of difficult," Kairi filled him in. The bell rang then and Roxas quickly shoved his binder into his bookbag, bouncing to his feet.
"Well would you look at that, the bell rang! Better get to class!" he stated before all but running away from his friends, retreating inside the building. Sora blinked and looked at the remaining teens around him.
"That's odd. Usually Roxas dreads going to Advanced Algebra," he commented as he stood up as well, waiting for Riku patiently. Tidus rolled his eyes and shook his head.
"Sora, don't you get it? Roxas was trying to avoid the subject of his birthday, therefore, he used getting to class on time as an excuse," he explained as he also got to his feet, pulling Selphie up after him. "Basically, he was saved by the bell, literally."
"My question is, why is he acting so weird about it? I mean, he's finally going to be caught up with the rest of us. Well, almost the rest of us. You'd think that he'd be talking nonstop about it," Kairi pointed out as she got up and dusted off her skirt, picking up her trash. "It's almost like he's afraid to be excited."
"Kairi, if there's one thing I've learned throughout my time of knowing Roxas, it's that there is no explaining Roxas. He's an enigma and shall remain so until we either bully it out of him or he cracks enough to tell us." Selphie grinned and slipped her hand into Tidus' as the group walked back toward the building.
"So in other words, we should just leave it alone," Riku rationalized as he shoved his and Sora's garbage into the trash can by the door. "It's none of our business and I bet that Roxas wouldn't approve of us prying." The group of five entered the building and walked down the hallway, noticing that the crowd was getting smaller as more people were getting to class.
"Well I'm still gonna ask him during class. You can't just pick up and leave like that without an explanation," Sora concluded.
"Sora, seriously, don't pry okay? If Roxas wants to tell you and you want to tell us, that's fine. But don't force him to talk all right?" Riku warned him, pinning the smaller boy up against the wall. Sora pouted slightly but nodded, albeit reluctantly.
"Fine, I won't pry," he sighed and sulked even more. Riku rolled his eyes and pressed a gentle kiss to the younger boy's lips.
"Oh stop that. I'll see you after school okay?"
Sora immediately perked up. "Yep, definitely!" he all but squealed as he hugged Riku tightly and skipped into his math class. Riku chuckled under his breath and continued on his way, Kairi at his side.
"You love your flamer, don't you?" Kairi asked as they headed out of the math hallway.
"Oh totally. But I have a feeling that he's going to mess up somewhere with the Roxas thing."
"Guess we'll just have to see?" Kairi looked up at Riku in question.
"Guess so." Riku shrugged and entered his classroom, leaving everything else behind.
"So I have a question," Selphie said casually, leaning on Riku's desk as the older boy worked on his speech.
"What?" he replied without looking up from the notes in front of him.
"Do you think I should experiment with a girl?" Selphie crawled up onto Riku's desk, sitting on part of his notes. Riku's eyebrows shot up into his hairline and he finally looked up at the brunette perched on his desk.
"Say what now?"
"Do you think I should experiment with a girl?" Selphie repeated herself, leaning forward closer to Riku's face.
"Uh…if you want?" he replied unsurely, setting down his pen and giving Selphie his full attention.
"Well do you think it'd be a bad idea?" the green-eyed girl pressed on, determined to get some answers. After all, Riku was smart, he would know what to say and do.
"I don't know."
Or not.
"Riku!" Selphie whined, now spreading herself out on top of the desk.
"Wha-Selphie, get off of my work!" the silver-haired boy protested and attempted to push Selphie off of his desk.
"But I want your opinion on something!" Selphie insisted, refusing to budge at all. Riku sighed in frustration and rolled his eyes.
"Okay, fine, if you really are bi-curious, you should experiment with a girl. Anything else?"
"No, not really," she trailed off, pulling Riku's notes out from under her. Riku hummed quietly and snatched the papers from her, resting his chin in the palm of his other hand.
"Good because I have something to ask you."
"Oh? What's that?" Selphie blinked her large green eyes at the older boy, curious to what he had to say. Riku paused for a moment to gather his thoughts and plan his wording carefully; the last thing he wanted to do was make Selphie mad.
"Selph…are you jealous of Naminé?" he finally asked, unsure of any other way to put it. Selphie blinked once, blinked twice, and raised an eyebrow.
"Is it that obvious?" she countered with her own question.
"No, but thanks for confirming that for me." Riku smirked and bumped his forehead against the younger girl's. "So, care to tell me why you're so jealous of her to begin with?"
"I'm not jealous," Selphie immediately replied.
"Sel, you just admitted that you were," he retorted flatly. "Look, you'd probably tell me sooner or later anyway, so might as well just do it sooner. What's going on?" he demanded, leaning back and waiting for an answer. Selphie sighed heavily and traced patterns on the desktop she was sitting on.
"Okay well, promise you won't say anything to Kairi?" she asked meekly, causing Riku to raise an eyebrow again.
"Kairi huh? Yeah, sure. So what's going on?" he repeated himself. Selphie didn't answer right away, instead looking down at her hands. Riku frowned thoughtfully and tilted his head, trying to think of what could be so horrible that Selphie wouldn't outright say it.
"I think I'm bisexual."
Oh. That.
"Um, didn't you tell us that last week when we were terrorizing Roxas?" Riku inquired as he glanced at the clock, realizing that class was almost over.
"Nope, I said maybe I was curious. There's a difference." Selphie nodded enthusiastically. Riku gave her an amused smile and chuckled lightly.
"Okay so why are you suddenly bisexual?" Selphie remained silent, giving Riku a blank look and waiting for the boy to come to the conclusion on his own. Riku thought for a long moment, closing his eyes in concentration as he racked his brain back to everything Selphie had ever said about the matter, which really wasn't much.
'Okay so…she's curious, she thinks she's bisexual, she's jealous of Nami, she said not to tell Kai-…wait! No way…' He shook his head suddenly, attempting to get rid of his current thoughts and suspicions.
No such luck.
"Tell me it's not what I think it is…" he said slowly, opening his eyes to meet Selphie's.
"What do you think it is?"
"You have a crush on Kairi, don't you," he stated rather than asked. The brunette looked to her left, then to her right, and shrugged.
"I'm not entirely sure yet, but the feelings are starting to show up-" she was soon cut off by a triumphant yell from Riku.
"I knew it! I was gonna ask you about it later! Aha, I am a genius!" he announced, slamming his hands down on the desk.
"What? Is it really that obvious?" Selphie asked quickly, scared that her secret was out.
"Psh, no. I'm just observant like that, don't worry. But I'm going to guess you don't want Tidus to find out either?" Riku responded, packing up his papers and his binder.
"Of course not. He's already suspicious of me, why confirm his theories?"
"Just saying, Sel, just saying. So what are you going to do?"
"…about what exactly?" she asked, finally sliding off of the desk to pack up her own bag.
"Your man-made triangle. Are you going to ignore your crush on Kai and stay with Tidus or are you gonna break up with Tidus and go for Kai or stay with Tidus and fool around with Kai or dump Tidus and ignore Kai or-"
"I don't know! Riku I'm really confused, please don't throw so many options at me," Selphie cut the older boy off before he could continue listing all of the possibilities for the brunette.
"Got it. You know I'm here if you need me though right?" The bell sounded off and the entire class hurried out into the hallway, Riku and Selphie moving at a slower pace.
"Yeah…thanks."
"No problem. Sora'll help too, you know how he loves being involved in everybody else's business." Riku rolled his eyes at the mere thought, causing Selphie to giggle.
"Yeah, but maybe we'll appreciate it this time," she suggested and looked ahead, spotting Sora at the other end of the hallway barreling toward them.
"You think so?" Riku gave Selphie a skeptical look, keeping one eye on Sora.
"Hey, I only said maybe," she pointed out. Riku nodded and picked up his stride to reach Sora faster.
"We'll talk about it later okay?"
"Yeah…sure thing," Selphie barely said before Riku was pounced on by Sora who began talking animatedly and dragging the older boy down the hallway. She felt a small pout form on her lips and sighed heavily, turning to make her way toward Biology.
"Gay boys always have it easier," she sighed quietly and stepped into the classroom, closing the door behind her.
After school time found Roxas in his bedroom, stereo cranked all the way up and him on his computer, checking his email. He pushed himself out away from his desk, determined to go downstairs and hunt for something to eat when the song changed, loud rock music bursting through the speakers. Roxas grinned to himself and leaned over to look out into the hallway discreetly.
No one else was home yet.
Pushing himself out of his chair and landing on the floor, Roxas started dancing around his room and singing loud and off-key to the words coming from the speakers, not even hearing the doorbell ring.
"Well if you wanted honesty, that's all you had to say, I never want to let you down or have you go, it's better off this way, for all the dirty looks, the photographs your boyfriend took, remember when you broke your foot from jumping out the second floor, I'm nooot okayyyy, I'm not okayyyyy, I'm not okayyyyy, you wear me out!" He didn't care that he looked like a total flamer right now or that he'd die of embarrassment if anybody else saw him. All that mattered was that in four days he'd be 15 and something incredible would happen, he could just feel it. He continued dancing and singing as the song went on, failing to notice that the front door had opened and closed and that footsteps were thudding against the stairs.
"Guitar solo!" Roxas announced and dropped to his knees, playing his air guitar and head-banging right there in the middle of his bed. With his eyes closed, he didn't even notice that his door opened part-way and that somebody stood outside in the hallway, chuckling lightly.
"Now those are some mad skills," the other boy commented lightly, causing Roxas to jerk awkwardly and fall off of the bed, face-planting into the carpet and staring up at Axel with bewildered blue eyes.
"Wha-what are you doing here!" he exclaimed, scrambling up to his feet and shutting off the stereo. Axel gave him an amused smirk and leaned against the doorframe, watching the smaller boy closely.
"Lookin' for Seifer," he said shortly, eyeing the stereo system. "Say, how much would I have to pay you to shake it like that again?" he added as an afterthought, sliding his eyes to once again meet Roxas'. The blond's own eyes widened at the suggestion.
'Okay, just stay calm. It's just the weird kid…he's your brother's friend…stay calm, and don't blush!' He told himself, staring up at Axel.
"S-seifer's not here," he stuttered and felt his cheeks grow warm at the sound of his own voice. He cleared his throat and tried again. "He, Raijin, and Fujin all went down to the park."
Axel clearly was annoyed and he rolled his eyes. "Bitches," he muttered to himself and shook his head, faking a smile for Roxas. "Well thanks kid, I should probably track 'em down." Roxas huffed defiantly and narrowed his eyes.
"I'm not a kid. I turn 15 in four days," he informed the redhead, folding his arms over his chest and attempting to look intimidating. Axel was barely able to hold back his laughter.
'Cute kid. A bit naïve, but cute kid all the sa-, shit he's only 14! Greeeat…' Axel sighed inwardly and gave off another cocky grin.
"Right sorry. Thanks, Roxas," he corrected himself, snickering quietly as the blue-eyed boy's glare intensified.
"Yeah, sure whatever," the blond mumbled, knowing he couldn't keep up his façade for much longer. Axel pushed himself away from the doorframe and stood there waiting, unsure of what to say.
"Well, see ya around then," he said with a wave and began walking away.
"Bye," Roxas replied flatly, thankful that the redhead was finally leaving and that he didn't mention Roxas' dancing skills.
"Oh hey Roxas? Maybe next time I come over you can teach me your moves." One green eye winked and the redhead darted down the stairs, exiting the house and heading down the sidewalk in the direction of the park. Roxas groaned out loud and slumped back down into his computer desk, allowing his head to hit the desk with a dull thud.
It was official; he was cursed.
The days crawled by slowly, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, they were all torture for poor Roxas as his big day drew nearer. His eyes snapped open at precisely six-thirty am on Friday morning and he sat straight up, a satisfied grin on his face.
He was finally 15.
Roxas leapt out of bed and grabbed some clothes from the floor, bounding into the bathroom to shower. After making sure that he was nice and clean, he stepped out of the bathroom wearing his school clothes and finished up his morning routine, finding himself down in the kitchen.
"Hello, anybody still here?" he called out, a tad puzzled by the lack of his brothers.
"Yeah, still here," Hayner hollered back from the living room. Roxas dashed into the other room and spotted his older brother sitting on the couch, bowl of cereal in his hands and cartoons on TV.
"Hey," Roxas greeted him, grabbing a handful of cereal from the box on the coffee table.
"Hey dude, happy birthday," Hayner replied offhandedly, more focused on the cartoon than on Roxas. But the younger blond didn't care, he just appreciated the acknowledgement.
"Thanks," he answered with another small grin. "Where's Mom and Dad?"
Hayner frowned slightly and reached over to the side table, picking up a plain white envelope. "Right here," he replied, handing his younger brother the envelope. Roxas gave Hayner a puzzled look before opening it, pulling out a plain card. He read over it briefly and opened it, frowning in disappointment.
"They're not going to be here today, are they?" he asked quietly, throwing the $500 that was in the card down on the table in disgust. Hayner sighed heavily and rubbed Roxas' back gently.
"Sorry man, they left late last night. You were already asleep. They'll be back on Monday though, or they should be," he explained. Roxas stared at the card and the money again before shaking his head and standing up. "Rox?" Hayner blinked at his younger brother.
"Whatever, I'm going to school. Bye," Roxas mumbled and walked out of the living room, grabbing his backpack and slamming the front door shut, causing Hayner to wince. The older boy glanced at the card on the table and shook his head, picking it up and stuffing it back into its envelope.
"You guys couldn't just take a break, could you?" he murmured to himself as he also rose from his seat, carrying his dirty dishes and the cereal box back into the kitchen and glancing up at the clock.
It was only 7:05.
Roxas found himself at school half an hour earlier than needed and sighed to himself, sitting down on a bench in front of the building. Curling his legs up underneath him, he slipped his hands into the pocket of his hoodie and sat still, observing the quiet atmosphere.
"Would it have killed them to miss work for one day? Just one?" he mumbled to himself, looking at the ground. "Hell, they even promised that they would be home today," he reminded himself, fingers suddenly brushing against a sheet of paper. Pulling it out of his pocket, Roxas unfolded the note and his eyes scanned over it, coming to find that it was his birthday list he was supposed to give his parents that morning.
"Guess I have no use for this now." He tore up the list into tiny pieces and shoved it into the garbage can next to him, feeling his bottom lip start to quiver.
'No, Roxas, don't cry. Don't cry, Roxas. Damn you don't cry! Shoulda known that this was going to happen, it's happened every other year. Why should this one be any different?' He rolled his eyes skyward and leaned his head against the back of the bench, sniffling quietly and blinking rapidly. He sat up again and opened his backpack, digging out a notebook and flipping it open. He pulled a pen out of his pocket and uncapped it, scrawling a title at the top of the paper.
"Roxas' revised birthday list," he muttered to himself, scribbling down three of his wishes almost immediately. His pen paused and his hand hovered over the paper, unsure of what else to put. He knew what he really wanted, really he did, but he just couldn't figure out how to put those wishes into words.
"You're here kind of early, aren't you?" Roxas looked up from his list and bright blue eyes met green ones.
"I…suppose," he answered slowly, giving the older boy a skeptical look. "I could say the same thing for you though."
Axel shrugged and held up a pink slip of paper. "They kicked me out of woodshop," he informed the blond with a sheepish smile. "So I need to get a schedule change to get another Fine Art credit."
"Oh." Roxas nodded and looked down at his feet. Axel quirked up an eyebrow and tilted his head to the side, looking at the other boy curiously.
"Hey, why the long face? You just turned 15 today, shouldn't you be like, happy?" he asked, unsure of how to approach the younger boy. Roxas shrugged and refused to meet Axel's eye.
"It's a long story," he simply said, finding the tops of his sneakers more interesting than the redhead. Axel's frown deepened slightly and he shifted his bag on his shoulder awkwardly.
"Well…still, you shouldn't let one little thing ruin your entire day," he pointed out, slipping the hand that wasn't gripping his shoulder strap into the pocket of his large black coat. Roxas nodded again and bit the inside of his cheek.
'Hmm, if only it was one little thing.' He inwardly cringed and continued chewing on his cheek.
"Yeah, I guess so." Roxas merely shrugged. Axel twisted his face in thought and racked his brain for something to say. Without thinking, he reached forward and gently grabbed Roxas' chin, lifting the younger boy's head up to meet his eyes.
"Well kid, you just gotta keep your head up. Got it memorized?" he said coolly, keeping a firm grip on Roxas' face. Roxas nodded as best as he could and wrenched his face away from the older boy.
"Yeah, I guess so," he repeated himself. Axel's eyes narrowed and he shook his head.
"Uh-uh, that's not gonna work. Seriously, don't blow me off." His voice was stern and his eyes were serious. Roxas shrank back slightly and nodded.
"Okay, I won't blow you off," he replied. Axel's expression slipped back into his normal easygoing one and he stepped back from Roxas, checking his watch.
"Well, I should go…maybe I'll see you later," he said offhandedly and shifted his bag again. Roxas blinked in surprise and found himself opening his mouth with nothing to say.
"Bye."
And that was that. Axel grinned once more and began to walk away, heading toward the front doors to the school building. Suddenly he turned around and looked back at Roxas.
"Hey Roxas?" Roxas looked up again hopefully.
"Yeah?"
"If you see Seifer, tell him that I won't be around after school," Axel said and continued on his way, disappearing into the building. Roxas' shoulders slumped and he sighed deeply.
"Yeah…sure," he answered even though Axel was long gone. He suddenly felt disappointed by what had happened and a bit frustrated that he had been so awkward once again. He hated that feeling and he hated knowing that Axel was his superior in every single way. And yet, at the same time, he still was fascinated by the older boy, just a bit. He seemed different, that was all.
"Oh screw it, I have other things to worry about," he reminded himself and allowed his eyes to wander again, landing on the list in his lap that he had been writing before Axel showed up. He scrawled out his last wish and folded up the paper, tucking it safely into his pocket just before he heard someone shout his name. He looked up and spotted Sora jogging toward him with Riku trailing after him. He glanced down at his own watch and realized that it was close to 7:30 by now and that more and more people were arriving on campus. Pushing himself off of the bench and slinging his bag over his shoulder, he made his way over to his friends and plastered a calm look on his face, ignoring his insides that were still jumpy from Axel's touch and determined to keep his head up.
By the time sixth period rolled around, Roxas was ready to just go home and go to sleep. His day hadn't gotten much better since that morning and he was irritated because of it. He all but stalked into his sixth period drawing class and flung his bag down on the table, flopping down in his seat. He pulled a pencil out of his backpack and shoved the bag from the table to the floor, feeling slightly better about the loud crash he caused. He tapped the eraser of the pencil on the tabletop, impatiently waiting for class to start. The sooner it started, the sooner he could leave and go home. His brooding was soon interrupted though when another bang snapped out him out of his reverie.
"So, did your day get any better?" Roxas looked up and came to once again meet green eyes.
'How does he do that?' the blond silently wondered, propping his head up with one hand.
"What are you doing here?" he countered back, blinking at the red-haired boy curiously.
"Well like I told you, they kicked me out of woodshop, so I needed another Fine Arts credit. Here I am," Axel remarked and leaned back in his chair.
"Oh. That's…cool I guess," Roxas replied slowly, unsure of what else to say. Axel nodded and focused on Roxas again.
"So, did your day get any better?" he repeated himself.
"Uh…kinda?" Roxas shrugged, staring at Axel full-on for the first time that day.
"That's good," Axel noted and Roxas nodded absently, still staring at Axel closely. Axel resisted the urge to raise an eyebrow and ask what was on his face and instead stared back, only not as intense. Roxas was just about to open his mouth and say something to break the silence when somebody else cut him off.
"Yo, Axel! Over here!" Both boys looked up and spotted a kid with dirty-blond hair styled into a mohawk sitting with another boy with longish brown hair. Axel grinned and stood up from the table, grabbing his bag from where he dropped it.
"Hey, I'll see you later, Roxas," Axel dismissed the blond and headed over to the other two older boys. "Oh yeah, and happy birthday!" he called over his shoulder and crossed the room, joining the other two boys at the table and leaving Roxas by himself. A small grin crossed Roxas' lips and he looked away from Axel.
"Thanks," he said quietly just as the final bell rang. Roxas tried his best to listen to what his teacher was saying, but he kept finding himself looking over his shoulder at Axel and the other two boys throughout the whole period. Axel didn't seem to notice though; he kept talking to his two friends and working on their new assignment for class. By the time it was all over, Roxas bolted out of the classroom as quickly as he could, just to get away from Axel, but even then, he found himself looking over his shoulder to see if the green-eyed boy was following him out. He soon crashed into Sora who was once again with Riku.
"Hey, just the guy I wanted to see!" Sora announced and draped an arm around Roxas' shoulders, leading him back down toward their lockers.
"What's up Sora?" Roxas continued sneaking glances over his shoulder while trying to focus on his friend.
"You're coming with me, that's what."
"Right now?"
"Yes. Because I said so." Sora nodded assuredly and grabbed Roxas' wrist, dragging him down the hallway now. "Because we're going to the mall because I want to buy you something for your birthday." Roxas gave Riku a confused look. The silver-haired boy merely shrugged and clutched his backpack.
"I have to go home and finish up my homework," he explained.
"Basically, you have no escape," Sora said cheerfully, pulling Roxas out into the sunlight.
"Great." Roxas rolled his eyes but smirked a bit despite himself. With a wave goodbye to Riku, Sora proceeded to drag Roxas down the street, babbling a mile a minute. Riku waited until they were out of sight before running back inside and meeting up with Kairi, Tidus, Selphie, and Naminé.
"Okay, Selphie, did you tell everybody what time to be at Sora's house?" Riku looked at the younger girl.
"Yep, six tonight!" Selphie beamed proudly. "I included everybody."
"Great. Kairi and Naminé, you guys are taking care of the decorations and food right?" Riku moved on to the other two girls.
"We've got it covered! We'll have everything ready by the time they come back. Wasn't Sora just taking him to the mall?" Kairi asked, twirling a lock of her hair around her finger.
"Yeah, but he's also picking up the cake. He's just gonna have Roxas pick it out," Riku replied and turned to Tidus. "And you, you have the entertainment, presents, and music all taken care of?"
"Chill Riku, I've got it all taken care of," Tidus assured him, holding up a CD case.
"Jeeze Riku, what'd Sora do to get you to be so strict about this party?" Selphie asked as the group of teens left the building and headed toward Sora's house.
"Told me I wouldn't get any for a month."
"Ooh…" A chorus of understanding went among the group and they continued on their way, planning out every last detail.
"So…why do I have a cake?" Roxas raised an eyebrow at the ice cream cake in his hands, looking over at Sora who was walking next to him.
"Because I wanted to buy you a cake. This is a day that you can have your cake and eat it too, man." Sora continued to walk slightly ahead of Roxas, keeping a few steps ahead.
"Well you just bought me a new game for my Playstation. You didn't have to buy me a cake too," Roxas pointed out as they drew nearer to Sora's house.
"Oh shut up, I did it, you can't stop me," Sora drawled out, turning to look at the blond. "What's your deal today? You act like you're miserable."
"No…it's not that."
"Then?" Sora tilted his head.
"…it's nothing."
"Roxas! You can't keep pulling that shit!"
"Sora look, it's fine. Besides, I think this cake is starting to melt," Roxas mentioned, lifting up a hand that was covered in melted ice cream.
"Okay, fine, c'mon." Sora led him up the front walk and to his front door, reaching into his pocket to grab his house key. He unlocked the door and swung it open, staring into the darkness. "Huh, that's funny. Nobody's here," he said casually, stepping in far enough for Roxas to follow. Roxas' eyes darted around the dark empty room and he turned to Sora.
"Well then maybe I can tell you what's up," he started to say but was suddenly cut off when the lights were thrown on and people popped up from all sorts of directions.
"Surprise!" Many different voices cried out and Roxas jumped, staring at everyone with wide eyes.
"Holy shit!" He focused in back on Sora who was grinning broadly.
"I think I'll take that," he said and took the cake from Roxas' hands, sashaying into the kitchen as various people crawled out of their hiding spots. Kairi bounced over to Roxas and threw her arms around him, hugging him tightly.
"Happy birthday, Rox!" she exclaimed and finally pulled away, only to place a kiss on his cheek. Roxas grinned slightly in return.
"Thanks, Kairi," he replied, failing to notice the seething look he was receiving from Selphie. Riku didn't let it go unnoticed however and nudged his younger friend in the side, causing her to look up at him.
"Let him have his fun," Riku murmured to her, eyes still fixated on the blond boy. Selphie sighed and nodded.
"Right, okay," she agreed and made her way over to the stereo where Tidus was, taking the CDs from her boyfriend's hands and flipping through them. She selected one and handed the case back to Tidus, popping the CD into the stereo and cranking up the volume. Roxas looked around the room at everybody that was there.
"Jeeze, you guys even invited all of the older ones," he commented upon seeing Cloud and Leon.
"That's because I'm awesome," Selphie replied from behind him.
"Actually," Riku cut her off. "Sora's awesome. This whole party was his idea." Roxas' eyes widened again and he looked back toward the kitchen.
"Really?" He blinked in surprise. "Wow, that's…wow."
"We told you we wanted to do something for you for your birthday, Rox. Sora's just the one who put the whole thing into action," Kairi explained just as Sora came out holding Roxas's cake, 15 brightly lit candles decorating it.
"Okay everybody, this cake is freakin' melting, so we're cutting it apart now!" the brunet announced as he led Roxas to a table and set thecake down in front of him. After a loud round of Happy Birthday, Sora leaned forward, staring at Roxas from the other side of the candles.
"Go ahead, Rox. Make a wish," he urged him, leaning back away from the flames. Roxas looked at the flames thoughtfully, racking his brain for something he really truly wanted to wish for. He remembered his eighth birthday, he wished for a dragon. He never got that dragon. For his tenth birthday, he wished for superpowers. He never got those either. Roxas had learned that wishes were not meant to be wasted; then again, he had kind of lost faith in wishes anyway. Wishes never came true, no matter how hard you wished. It was just a fact of life. Roxas continued staring at the flickering flames, contemplating his one wish that was supposed to last him for a whole year. He had to think and choose carefully.
"Roxas, c'mon! Hurry up and make a wish!" Sora whined, startling him a bit.
"Sora, be patient," Riku scolded him as he held the excitable brunet in place.
"But Riku, not only is Roxas gonna waste his wish, he's gonna melt the cake!" Sora pointed out.
"Sora, it's his cake and his wish, not yours."
"But I wanted to eat the cake!"
Roxas was starting to grow annoyed with the couple's bickering and turned his attention back to the candles, desperate for anything. Suddenly it came to him; he didn't know why, he didn't know how, but he knew what to wish for, if anything just to get Sora to settle down. Leaning forward and closing his eyes, he made his wish.
'I wish Axel were here…' Roxas wished inwardly, taking a deep breath and blowing out all 15 candles. Everyone present cheered and Sora practically pounced on the cake with the knife in his hand, cutting up the cake into equal-sized pieces while Kairi and Selphie put the cake onto plates. Roxas slowly opened his eyes and looked around the room at all of his friends, hunting for any sight of red. But there was nothing. No red hair, no green eyes, nothing.
"Hey Roxas, what'd you wish for?" Tidus asked him as he bit into his slice of cake. Roxas pulled back from his slight disappointment and gave Tidus a cocky grin.
"Tidus, you know that if I tell you, it won't come true," he said, looking back at the cake in front of him while trying not to burst into tears.
'Of all the things I could have wished for, I wished for something that couldn't possibly come true. Oh well, it was a dumb thing to wish for anyway.' He told himself and took the paper plate with cake on it from Kairi's hands, biting into it numbly.
'Besides, wishes never come true anyway. That's why they're called wishes.' He confirmed and swallowed the cake in his mouth, not quite able to get rid of that lump that had lodged itself in his throat.
Roxas left his own party at about ten that evening, walking home from Sora's house alone and lugging his bag of presents behind him. He entered his own house and quietly padded upstairs, not bothering to announce his arrival. His parents weren't home, he didn't want to disturb Seifer, and Hayner, to his surprise, wasn't home either.
'Probably thinks I'm still at my party.' Roxas thought to himself as he headed into his room, closing the door behind him softly and dropping the bag on the floor gently. Out of pure habit, he sat down at his computer and logged onto the internet, drumming his fingers on the desktop. He logged into his email account and scored over the different emails he had. Just as he was about to log out, he noticed that he had a new one, just recently sent.
"Olette," he breathed out, clicking on it rapidly. The email opened before his eyes and he hungrily read the letter, letting each and every word sink in.
Roxas!
Happy birthday, Mihara! Our little baby's finally 15, how exciting! You know that we all love and miss you so much and we're waiting for you to come home! Well, hope everything went well for you today, Rox. October 26th just wasn't the same without you here with us. We would have called, but Pence broke his phone and mine wasn't charged and well, nobody else has phones ya know? I promise though, we'll call you soon. You should try and talk your parents into letting you come visit for Christmas; it won't be a Twilight Christmas without Roxas! Haha, anyway, love and miss you always,
Olette, Pence, and the rest of the Twilight Town gang.
Roxas re-read the email a few times before the words got too blurry to read and he pushed himself away from the computer, shutting it off and crossing the room, curling up on his bed.
"Get a grip, Roxas. Nothing to fucking cry over," he muttered angrily, closing his eyes tightly to get rid of his tears. "It's not like they all died or something." He sniffed and opened his eyes, staring up at the ceiling. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a folded piece of paper and carefully unfolded it, idly scanning the list.
"Roxas' revised birthday list," he said dully, folding one arm behind his head and holding the list up in front of his face. "Number one. I wish that my parents would turn around and come home now for my birthday. Yeah, fat chance," he snorted and moved on to the next wish. "Wish number two. I wish that I could go back home or have my friends come visit me here. Well, I'm pretty sure it's a little late for that now. Wish number three. I wish something incredible would happen. Well, Kairi kissed me. Granted, it was my cheek, but it's still a kiss. Does that count? Sure it does, one out of four wishes taken care of. And wish number four. I wish I understood what was wrong with me and why it had to be Axel. I mean, what the hell? I keep looking at Axel, I keep thinking about Axel, but at the same time, I keep looking and thinking about Kairi. What does that all mean? Am I really curious? Ugh, who knows." Blue eyes drifted over to the window, watching the trees move with the slight breeze. Sitting up suddenly, he gently tore up the list in his hand, opening his bedroom window and watching the night sky.
"Oh well, so much for wishes," he said softly, sticking his hand out the window and releasing the little scraps of paper into the night air, watching them dance and twirl together before scattering. Another heavy sigh escaped the young boy and he flopped back on his mattress, leaving the window open. Closing his eyes, Roxas willed himself to go to sleep, despite the fact that it was far too early to sleep on a Friday night. The blond tossed and turned for a few moments until he was comfortable, allowing the sounds of the island to lull him to sleep. Had he stayed awake for a few moments longer though, he would have noticed one shred of paper float back inside the room, landing next to his cheek on his pillow.
And on that shred of paper printed in neat scrawly penmanship was the name Axel.
And...two months later, I update. Hah, well, sorry guys, I got kinda stuck and stuff and I got busy really recently what with graduation and preparing for my dance competition! I leave on Thursday for California -dances-
Anyway, thanks for being patient guys, sorry this took so long.
Thanks to: Dysfunctional Space Angel, inoku, MaraudersForPresident, DashAway, onlyHAUNTED, CAPinkie, JohnneyAntonelli, xInsanoBananax, hyperRme, 13x, Mystery Reviewer, CrimsonRose18, Tifa-Sama, Shimmy123, Laizden, husShh, HiddenShadows13, Issa, silversling, BCZ, Mystic Firorah, HOMIGAWD'! It's teh Prep, Once666, gothangel123, random fan, MaroonSorrow, varda101, and Kenpachi. You guys rock.
And always, thanks to April for editing this. -licks and nuzzles Ap-
And now, to run across town to my dance class. Hope you enjoyed it!