Ventus woke up with sunlight over his face, groaning at the sudden discomfort. His eyes snapped open, and for a moment, he felt disoriented at his unfamiliar surroundings. Then he remembered the party, and being locked out of his room, and Vanitas offering him a place to crash.

His gaze then fell on the boy sleeping across from him—barely one or two feet apart. Vanitas's face hadn't lost any of its intriguing allure while he was sleeping; whatever magnetic pull Ventus felt towards him, it was more than just attitude. He'd kicked off his blanket in his sleep, and again, his shirt exposed the hard muscles of his stomach, the tattoo and piercing there, and Ventus allowed himself to admire it, this time.

Vanitas had admitted to flirting with him the night before. Besides, Ventus had more or less accidentally asked him out twice, and he hadn't turned him down either time. He was handsome, and nice enough, and they had at least one interest in common.

But there was the issue of how everyone had acted around him. How Terra—by Vanitas's own admission, one of 'the most friendly people'—wasn't friends with him. It wasn't that Ventus trusted Vanitas's reputation over his own experiences with him, not exactly. But it made him wary. All in all, he barely knew Vanitas. The last thing he should do was start fantasizing about doing on a date with him, or imagine dating him, or—

Of course, by telling himself not to do it, Ventus couldn't help but think about it. Groaning, he looked away from Vanitas, and sat up in the bed. He looked down at his clothes, and—yep, it'd take some serious work ironing this shirt at some point.

There were a couple texts from Terra on his phone. The first was from late last night: In Vanitas's room? Everything ok? And the second, from this morning, I'll be in all day, so come back whenever.

Sighing, Ventus wondered if he'd made Terra worry by spending the night here. In any case, he should head back to his own room—if only so get his key back and change clothes. Still, glancing back at Vanitas's sleeping form, he hesitated. He wasn't sure what the etiquette was here; he didn't want to appear ungrateful by vanishing before Vanitas was even up.

He didn't have to wonder for long: Vanitas stirred just as he was hesitating to leave.

"Hey," Ventus greeted, feeling suddenly awkward, considering what he'd just been thinking about.

Vanitas only groaned back, burying his face in his pillow. His hair, normally styled with such precision, was a true mess now, Ventus noticed, amused.

"Um—thanks for letting me crash," he said quietly.

"Yeah, of course," Vanitas replied, his voice muffled by the pillow.

He didn't move, and for a moment, Ventus thought he'd fallen back asleep. "So—I think I'll just go," he said, quietly.

Vanitas groaned again, but at least it meant he'd heard him. "Sure. See you around."

"Yeah, see you around." He hesitated, then took a deep breath. "Maybe for stargazing night?"

There was no answer, and after a moment Ven noticed that his breathing reverted to its deep, regular quality—he'd already gone back to sleep. Chiding himself for even asking, Ventus got up. Cautiously, he walked over to the window and closed the curtains, hoping Vanitas would appreciate the gesture. Then, trying his best not to make any noise, he found his shoes on the floor, picked them up, and walked outside the room, making sure to close the door silently behind him.


Terra all but jumped on him as soon as he entered their room.

"You all right, Ven? When I got your text, I almost came right up to get you."

Ventus backed away a little, surprised by Terra's tone. "I'm—fine. Vanitas just happened to be there when I realized I forgot my keys inside. I was gonna wait for you in his room, but—I was too tired to stay up."

Terra raised an eyebrow. "And—that's it?" he asked, dubious.

"That's it." Ven shrugged. "He was just being nice."

Terra didn't seem swayed. "That's new."

"Is it? He was also nice at the party, when I couldn't get to the bar—"

"So you didn't just run into him, huh?"

"Terra, what's the big deal?" Ven asked, a little more forceful than intended. "What's wrong with Vanitas?"

"I'm just—looking out for you. I thought—I don't know, I thought he was—"

"Taking advantage of me?" Ventus said, unable to hold back his sarcastic tone.

"Well, he did get you a drink—"

"He just ordered it. From the bar. He never even touched it." He scoffed. "If it really was that bad, you would have left the party." At least, Ven hoped so. "So what is it? Is it his reputation? Is it something personal? Did he break your heart, like Lauriam?"

"No, that's not—" Terra sighed. "I mean, the guy does have a reputation that you shouldn't mess with him, but as far as I know, he's never…hurt anybody. As for broken hearts, if he's been with anyone over the past year, he's kept it under wraps."

"Just tell me already!"

Terra fell silent for a moment. "It's about how he pays his tuition."

"His—what the hell?"

"I told you about Isa, my roommate last semester. Before him, I had another one, Zack. He was my roommate since we got accepted to the residence. The reason I got another one was Zack dropped out to go to rehab."

Ventus frowned. "He had an addiction problem?"

"I told you Vanitas is a certified genius, and he works at his father's lab. Well, that's how he paid for his tuition. He's created some new drug, and his father's lab sells it. They call it Unbirth, because…I don't know, some metaphor shit about what it makes you feel. It's so different from anything out there, it's completely unregulated, so it's technically legal for them to do so."

Ventus could guess where this was headed. "And Zack got hooked on it."

Terra nodded. "I told you I tried to be friends with Vanitas. But after Zack—I couldn't."

"But—you just said his father's lab sold it, not him."

"Does it matter? He created it, he benefits from it. He gets his share of the blame."

Ventus looked away, his head reeling with information. He pushed past Terra, and sat down on his bed. "Look, I get it, but—"

"I thought he was gonna make you try some."

Ven let out a nervous laugh—he couldn't help it. "And you thought I would have?"

Terra shifted uncomfortably, and sat down across from Ventus. "I don't know. Maybe I'm overreacting, but you can't blame me for worrying."

"Well, I'm fine, and I didn't take any drugs. We barely talked before I fell asleep." He paused. "I get what your problem is. And—thanks for letting me know."

Now that the adrenaline of arguing with Terra was fading, he found himself wondering what to do with the information. Or even how he felt about it. In a way, 'Secret drug dealer' fit more with Vanitas's overall image than anything Ventus himself had observed about him—but then again, that might just be his own prejudice speaking. Then again, he'd seen inside Vanitas's room, and none of that matched with that image either. Then again, his father was the one selling his creation.

Then again, as Terra had said, he'd created it in the first place.

"I should have told you yesterday," Terra said. "I just didn't expect him to be…nice to you. He's not exactly introverted, from what I've seen of him at parties, but—well, he's not usually friendly, either. So I didn't think you needed to know, you know?"

Ventus nodded. "Yeah, it's fine. I get it." He sighed. "You know what? This is too much of a mess, and way too trivial to ruin my Saturday morning."

"'Trivial'?" Terra asked, incredulous.

"I don't mean to say—" Ven just had a way of putting his foot in his mouth recently, didn't he? "I'm basically just a stranger to all of this. Vanitas offered me a place to crash, and that's the end of that. It doesn't really…matter, what I think of him, you know? It's not like I'm his friend." He didn't mention his earlier fantasizing about dating Vanitas—that felt like it had taken place on another day, not less than twenty minutes ago. And he felt foolish for doing that with someone he barely knew, regardless of what shady dealings he may be involved in. "Can we just—move on and forget it happened?"

Terra observed him for a moment, then nodded. "Yeah. That's fair. And I'm sorry I blew up at you like that."

"It's fine. You were worried." Ventus could empathize with that, having had to take care of his brothers almost by himself for years. Although he wasn't sure where Terra got it from. "Anyway. I need a shower, and a change of clothes. Maybe we can finally have that gaming time you've been begging me for since I got here afterwards?"


Gaming was a perfect way to defuse whatever tension remained between Ventus and Terra after their argument. Ventus had suggested Overcooked, because it was the only co-op game installed on his Playstation and he figured it'd be better to help them relax than playing against one another. And…well, Terra wasn't exactly good at helping in a stylized kitchen, but then again, neither was Ven, so at least there was no room for pointing fingers when they inevitably failed—repeatedly.

They lasted for all of two hours—plus a break to go get breakfast at the residence's food court—before Ventus's phone buzzed. He looked at it, ready to ignore the call, but when he saw his grandfather's name on the screen, he had to pick up. He practically never called—it had to be something important.

"Do you know where your brother is?" Eraqus's voice rang loud as soon as he picked up.

For a brief moment, Ventus panicked. "Did something happened with Roxas?" Ever since their Skype call, the idea of Roxas relapsing as a result of Ventus moving out had been at the back of his mind.

Yet, he realized, Eraqus's tone had been steady—the exact kind of steady that marked stifled annoyance.

"No, I'm calling about Sora," he said. "He didn't come home last night." Ventus felt a sigh escape him before he could hold it, which didn't escape Eraqus. "It's nothing to celebrate, Ventus. I need your help finding him."

"I'll be right over. Shouldn't be more than twenty minutes to get home." He hung up before his grandfather could say anything more, with another, weary sigh.

"Everything okay?" Terra asked.

"I don't know," Ventus confessed, opening his Find My Phone app. "Sora didn't sleep at home, my grandfather's worried—" The app finished syncing, and Ventus clicked on Sora's phone, which showed up as an icon on the map at a familiar address. "It's nothing," he said. "He's just over at his friend's place."

"Then—why do you have to drive there?"

"My grandfather doesn't know my brothers share their location with me," Ven explained as he went into his closet to grab some shoes. "And I don't want him to know. Besides, I'd rather be there when Sora gets home. I don't want him facing our grandfather alone."

Terra made a soft whistle. "That bad, huh?"

"He's just—really strict. Sorry I have to cut our gaming time short."

"It's okay. You sure you don't need any help?"

Ventus briefly froze at the thought of taking Terra to meet his family—or see where he lived. It wouldn't take much from there to him finding out who Ventus was. "No, I'm good. Sora probably just didn't hear his alarm this morning. Usually he sneaks back into the house without our grandfather noticing."

"If you're sure. Let me know if you need anything."

Ventus grabbed his keys, and stopped in front of the door, turning back to smile at Terra briefly. "Will do, thanks."


Ventus had purposefully inflated the time it would take him to get home, so he could make a detour by Riku's house first. He didn't ring the doorbell, not wanting to bother Riku's parents; instead, he just parked in front of the house, and called Sora's cell phone. He's already sent him a text before he'd even left DSU; Sora knew to expect him.

"Hi?" Sora's voice came, hesitant.

"I'm outside," he said. "Can you come out?"

"Y-yeah, I'll be right out."

A minute later, Sora walked out, Riku and Kairi right behind him. The three of them walked over to Ventus's car, Sora getting in on the passenger's side while the other two came over to Ventus's side.

"Good morning, Ventus," Kairi greeted him.

"Having fun at college?" Riku asked with a grin.

Ven shot them both a deadpan look. "I was until my grandfather called."

Kairi winced. "Sorry about that. It was my idea."

"You know I'm not the one who's mad," Ventus pointed out.

"Yeah, we know," Riku said, but Ventus had turned to look at his brother.

"I'm sorry," Sora said. "Forgot to set my alarm. You're usually there to cover for me on Saturdays."

Ven sighed, and glanced back at Riku and Kairi. "See you guys around," he said. They got the message, and walked back towards Riku's house. "You know you're gonna have to be more careful now, right? And I don't just mean try harder not to get caught. It's about time you try being more responsible, too."

Sora averted his gaze, keeping them fixed on his own hands, fidgeting over his lap. "I know, Ventus."

Starting the short drive back home, Ventus kept glancing at his brother. "Are you sure you're all right? You've never gone out without warning me before."

"Well you're not home, so I didn't know why I should—"

"It's not about me being home, or being the authority figure you have to answer to, or anything like that," Ventus said. "It's about you letting me—or someone—know where you are." He paused, and hesitated for a moment. Then he decided to say what was on his mind anyway. "When Grandfather called, I thought Roxas had started cutting again," he confessed.

Sora finally turned to stare at him, looking like a deer in headlights. "But I—He's better, right?"

"I don't know. I thought so, but it's only been a month and a half. We Skyped a couple days ago, and he didn't look so good about me leaving." He left out that Sora not being home had added to Roxas's distress. "But that's beside the point. If I'd known you were out, I wouldn't have had to worry at all. I just…would have known." He'd reached home, and he parked in front of the garage. "I know you didn't mean to make me worry; I don't need you to apologize to me. But that's part of what I mean when I say you should be more responsible. When I say I need you to be more responsible."

He turned to look at Sora, and for a moment, they stared at each other silently. Then Sora nodded. "I'll do my best," he said.

Ventus nodded in return. "Now to deal with Grandfater." Sora let out a whimpering noise that echoed Ventus's own dread—and he wasn't even the one in trouble.

Their grandfather had likely heard Ventus's car when he parked, but he wasn't waiting for them at the door. Instead, Ventus found him in the living room, sitting on a couch with his phone at arm's length. He barely raised his gaze to acknowledge Ventus's entrance, and didn't acknowledge Sora's at all. Typical; he wouldn't break his composure, no matter what. Perfection, at all costs.

"Hello, Grandfather," Ventus said. "I thought to check Riku's house, and—" he nodded towards Sora. "Crisis averted."

"Is it?" Eraqus's question came, hard and cold.

"Summer vacation isn't even over," Ventus pointed out. "I think one unplanned sleepover isn't the biggest deal in the world."

"What about going into town without permission, last Thursday?" His accusing gaze remained fixated on Ventus, who got the message—he was the one who had driven Sora there. "I remember it was past midnight before you came home, Sora."

"Still," Ventus insisted, "as long as he doesn't do that once school starts again—"

"Stay out of this, Ventus," Eraqus snapped.

Ventus knew better not to argue with his grandfather dismissing him, but he still glanced at Sora. His brother looked mortified, but he met his questioning gaze with a brave nod. "I'll be fine," he whispered.

Clearing his throat, Ventus looked at his grandfather again. "I wanted to pick up a few things I forgot to take to my dorm," he said, more to Sora than to his grandfather. "I'll be in my room."


The truth was, he had taken everything he needed—likely for the entire semester, maybe even more, considering how much he'd packed—but he wanted to be there when his grandfather was done with Sora.

Before then, though, he had a minute for something else. He climbed the stairs, but instead of going to his bedroom at the end of the hallway, he knocked on the door closest to the stairs, on the left.

A few seconds later, Roxas peeked outside—and beamed when he saw Ventus. "Ventus!" He all but lunged at Ventus through the opening, who caught him in his arms. Roxas's hug was a tight—almost desperate—squeeze. "I didn't know you were home." He sounded excited, but he was keeping his voice low—he had to know what was happening downstairs.

"Really? What did you think I'd do, leave you guys alone to weather the storm?" Well, he technically was leaving Sora alone, but at least he'd be there to pick up the pieces afterwards. "How was he?" he asked.

Roxas pulled away from him with a sigh, and stepped back into his room. Ventus followed, and closed the door behind him. Roxas let himself drop on his bed, scooting over to give Ventus some room to lie down beside him.

"He tried really hard to make me tell him where Sora was."

"Sora told you?" Ventus asked, incredulous.

"No, of course not," Roxas said, bitter. "I mean, I could see where he was on my phone, but I didn't want to tell Grandpa about that."

"Yeah, me neither. That's why I came to pick Sora up."

"Is that all you came back for?" Roxas didn't even try to hide his disappointment—which Ventus took as progress.

"Well, no, it's not all," Ventus said. "I was planning on coming by tomorrow. I wanted to check on you, too—you sounded pretty down when we talked over Skype."

"I'm not—back there. If that's what you're thinking."

Ventus reached to take his brother's hand, and squeezed lightly. "Good," he simply said. "I trust you to know. And if things do get bad, I trust you to know you can call me."

"Or Doctor Sid," Roxas said. "He's only five minutes away, and he gave me his phone number specifically for that."

"Or even Sora," Ventus suggested. "He's here for you. You know that, right?"

"I know."

There was a note in Roxas's tone that told Ventus there was more. "But—?"

"I don't know if I want to rely on him, you know? Not when he's always off doing his own thing."

"Ro—"

"It's okay. It's just—since you left, I feel like both my brothers have moved out."

The sound of Eraqus's voice suddenly rose—too briefly to make out any words, but Ven could guess the gist of it. "Sounds like that might not be a problem for a while."

Roxas hummed thoughtfully. "I'm sorry he has to deal with that shit, you know." Chuckling, he added, "You know, sometimes I think I should act out some more, just to take some of the pressure off him."

Ventus couldn't laugh along with that—not after this summer, not after taking Roxas to the emergency room, not after having to keep an eye on him almost constantly. Ventus had barely conceded to letting Roxas back to his own room a week ago, to prepare them for when he moved out. It felt like enough acting out for a lifetime—but he couldn't say that, not without sounding like he was blaming his brother for it. "You have your own shit to deal with," he said instead.

He heard footsteps coming up the stairs, and sat up. He glanced at Roxas.

"I'm okay," Roxas said, "I promise. Thanks for coming by, though."

Ventus smiled at him, and walked out of his room, only to catch Sora entering his own room, across the hallway. "Hey," he called quietly.

Sora turned to glance at him. "I'm grounded for a week," he whispered back, and Ventus couldn't help but feel relieved to hear that: it could have been much worse, and had been in the past. "Grandpa says he wants to start with a clean slate or something. Since you're not there anymore."

"How…fair of him," Ventus said, unable to hold back a frown.

"Right?" Sora shrugged, and smiled. "I'll try to make an effort, too. For your sake, at least." With a shy smile, he added, "Thanks for coming to pick me up, but I'd rather you come over because you wanna see us."

"Of course I want to see you guys," Ventus said.

"You know what I mean." Another set of footsteps came up the stairs—their grandfather's—startling them both. "I'll just go into my room now. You know, because I'm grounded. Oh, and I won't have my phone, so—"

Ventus nodded. "Let Roxas know if you need me. See you."

"Yeah. Bye."

Sora slipped into his bedroom, and Ventus headed down the hall in a few quick paces, entering his bedroom before his grandfather was up the stairs.

Leaning back against the closed door, Ventus sighed to himself. His grandfather claiming he wanted a clean slate was promising enough—but judging by the volume of his voice moments ago, Ventus doubted it would last very long. That, or Sora would just push his buttons until things went back to how they were before—or worse.

It would be something to deal with later, though. Right now, no matter his grandfather's theatrics, the crisis was averted. Sora was safe and back home, Roxas was fine—that was all that mattered.

The door to Eraqus's study opened and close—his grandfather would probably stay there all day, meaning the way was clear. If Ventus were honest with himself, part of him was hurt that his grandfather hadn't even asked anything about college, even though he wasn't surprised by it. Ventus pushed himself off the door, and even though he hadn't really meant to take anything, he scanned his bedroom anyway.

He'd seen it this empty, of course, right before leaving, but it was stranger to walk back into this room in this state. The bed was still ready, just in case Ventus needed to sleep here, but there was little else left of his personal touches to the room. He'd stored the posters—mostly from video games—so they wouldn't get damaged, since he wasn't taking them with him. He had given his television to Roxas, who hadn't had one in his room, and his console was of course in his dorm room. None of his clothes were strewn over the floor as they usually were. It felt almost like someone else's room.

Someone else's room…except for the telescope next to the window. It was an old thing, all coppery and dusty, inherited from his father, but Ventus had never wanted to buy a new one; instead, he'd learned to take it apart and upgrade the lenses himself, so it was good as new.

Seeing the telescope reminded him of his night in Vanitas's room, and how he'd wanted to take it to college with him. But now, after what Terra had said…Ventus wasn't sure what to do anymore. Idly, he picked up a few boxes of games that he was sure Terra would enjoy, delaying on making a decision about the telescope.

He had no idea what to make of Terra's story, or of Vanitas's behavior. All he knew was what stargazing meant to him. It wasn't just a hobby—it was intimate. Private. Something he couldn't share with someone he barely knew and didn't know whether he could trust yet.

When he left the room, the telescope still stood in its corner, untouched.