"Hey, where've you been? I was getting worried!"

Those were Terra's greeting words when Ventus came back to their dorm room, feeling lighter after spending the afternoon with his brothers in a place that was truly theirs.

"Oh, sorry. I spent the afternoon with my brothers. Should I have warned you or something?" Ventus wasn't aware there was such a rule of etiquette between roommates—they'd kept tabs on each other a couple times before, but mostly because when they were hanging out.

"Not—really. I just—ah, never mind. How're you doing? You were pretty wild at that party last night, it was fun to see!"

"I'm great," Ventus simply said, and he really felt great. Seeing his brothers left him brimming with positive energy, and talking to them about Vanitas helped him focus on the good parts of the night. "You?"

"Hungover, mostly," Terra said, chuckling. He was sitting on his bed, laptop over his knees. "I'm surprised you managed not to drink. Most freshmen can't wait to get smashed."

Ventus just shrugged. "I've been to a lot of official functions where it was 'okay' for me to drink. But after seeing a bunch of drunk adults at an office party…alcohol sort of loses its coolness factor." He made a face as he recalled the variety of behaviors—from undignified and annoying, to lewd and borderline illegal. One woman, a major shareholder of the company, had gotten handsy with Ventus—and he'd still been underage at the time.

"Because of—your family's company, right?" Terra asked, marking a clear hesitation at the mention of Ven's family. "Yeah, I guess that makes sense. But still, not a reason to completely ditch drinking."

Ven shrugged. "I'm not completely ditching it, I just—there'll be time for it when I'm not driving. And you don't have to keep acting weird about my family." They had never talked about it, merely danced around the subject, and suddenly, Ventus had enough of that. "It's been a week, you know, and I'm not going to melt down if you so much as mention them."

Terra let out a nervous chuckle. "Fair enough. I just—I don't want to push you, okay?"

"It's not like it's a difficult topic. I just wanted to let people know who I was on my own terms, so that—" He paused, wondering if it would sound conceited or offensive, then figured Terra wouldn't care about that, based on everything he knew about him. "So that people didn't just try to make friends with me to get something out of me. Like most people have been doing since they found out."

"Yeah, that's what I figured," Terra said. "And, um, speaking of everyone finding out—did you know Vanitas was at the party yesterday?"

Ventus summoned his best poker face. "Yeah, I—saw him shortly before I left. Why'd you ask?"

"Just—I didn't know he was invited. I wanted you to know that."

"Why would you—" Ventus started, frowning, then he realized how behind Terra was on the state of their relationship. "It's fine, you know. He's in one of my classes, and he lives right across the hall. I know I'll see him around." He sighed. "Honestly? I'm not even really mad at him for outing me. It was a low blow, but it's not his fault people were exactly as I feared they might be about it."

"So…you're good?"

Ventus sighed. "That feels like an understatement, but—"

"I saw you leaving with him," Terra interjected. "And—I know I don't like him, but if you're with him, I want you to know you don't have to lie about it or anything. It's not really any of my business."

"Oh." That was all Ventus could manage to say, as he refrained from asking if Terra had seen them making out outside of the bar. "Um, I'm not with him." Terra cast him a skeptical gaze, and Ventus felt himself blush. "We hooked up. It's just a one time thing."

Terra let out a soft whistle. "Nice, man." Ven gaped at him, surprised by his reaction. "What? Just because I don't like him doesn't mean I don't have eyes." He shrugged. "You feeling okay?"

"Yeah, weirdly enough," Ven admitted. "And that's as much as I want to talk about it, got it?"

"Okay, man," Terra said, laughing. He laid his laptop aside, stood up and started stretching slowly. For a moment, it seemed to Ventus he was intentionally letting his shirt ride up to give Ven a show. "You know, you still owe me some gaming time, since we got interrupted last week."

The distraction was welcome. "I don't have plans for the rest of the day," he said, grinning.


Sunday morning was when Ventus ran into Vanitas for the first time since they had slept together. Terra had left to the gym early in the morning, and with the room completely silent, Ven had woken up too late to eat breakfast at the residence.

Sighing, he left the dorm, remembering a pie shop off-campus close to the residence that had a small restaurant area. Tiana's Palace was crowded, even at this time, but he stuck through the queue, too lazy to look for another place. When he finally sat down at a corner table, with a croissant, a piece of chocolate cake and a slice of cherry tart that looked positively decadent, he heard a voice right behind him.

"Comfort food?"

A hand fell on his shoulder, startling him. He recoiled, practically falling off his chair, and Vanitas chuckled as he move to the chair across from Ventus. He lounged across it, leaning against the wall and facing Ven with a self-assured smirk.

Ven held his gaze defiantly, unwilling to show any more upset than he already had. "I overslept and I was starving. This was the only place I could find close enough to the residence."

Vanitas raised an eyebrow. "This is my favorite spot." It sounded like an accusation.

Rolling his eyes, Ventus decided he was too hungry to play Vanitas's game. Pointedly avoiding to look at Vanitas, he took a first bite of cake—and couldn't stifle a small sigh of contentment as he did. That bite alone could explain the shop's success, and for just a moment, it was all he could focus on.

So when the spell faded, and he noticed Vanitas was still there, staring openly at him, he couldn't help but be a little surprised. "What do you want?"

"This is my favorite spot," Vanitas repeated patiently, as if Ven should have understood something the first time he'd said it.

"So?"

"If you're trying to follow me around, you could at least be subtle about it."

Even though he'd taken another bite of cake, Ven burst out laughing—he couldn't help himself. He was pretty sure he made a poor sight, but he didn't care. This felt too unreal. "You think I'm stalking you?" He asked, struggling just to catch his breath. "Now who's self-important?"

Vanitas narrowed his eyes. "I'll give you that; your poker face is good, but—"

"My poker face? What the fuck are you on about? I had no idea this was 'your favorite place'"—he insisted on the words with heavy sarcasm—"and I don't care. I just wanted to eat breakfast. Preferably in peace."

"So you're just gonna pretend like you weren't affected when I threw you out?"

Vanitas's question killed Ven's hilarity, although he found the strength not to waver. "I was," he admitted. Lying would only make it look like he cared—which he didn't. "I'm over it. I coped."

"What, your roommate gave you advice?"

"My brothers, actually," Ven said. "You asked me if I wanted no strings attached, and I told you I did. So, yeah, I was surprised when you threw me out, sure. But that's all it was. I'm not going to stalk you around campus to pine over you. Sorry to burst your bubble." He paused, suddenly out of breath. "Now can I eat breakfast in peace?"

For a moment, Vanitas observed him silently—studied him, even, with a puzzled, stupefied look. "Okay," he finally said, flatly. Then he stood up, and walked away. Ven waited a second, then glanced back at him. Vanitas walked to the queue at the counter, paused there for a couple seconds, then turned on his heels and left the shop altogether.


Ventus spent the rest of his Sunday catching up on everything he'd left hanging since the start of the weekend. He had a surprising amount of homework after just a week in college—surprising to him, at least; Terra looked amused at his moment of panic. And of course, there was the matter of his promise to Roxas.

He figured he should take care of that first, so he could get a hold of his grandfather as quickly as possible.

"Office of Eraqus Enix," a familiar voice answered—Morgan, Eraqus's secretary. "What can I do for you?"

"Hey, Morgan," Ven greeted him. The man had worked for his grandfather since before Ventus had been born—and Ven was pretty sure they'd had an affair for most of that time, although they'd never told Ventus or his brothers. "Can I talk to Grandfather?"

"Oh, Ventus, good afternoon! Sadly no, Mr Enix is on a business lunch. Can I take a message?"

Ventus sighed—he should have known. Eraqus barely ever had lunch without some potential or existing business partner. "No, it's okay," he said. "I'll send him an email, and he can call me back whenever."

"As you wish," Morgan said. "How's college, by the way? We've been missing you at the office."

"Busy," Ventus replied, unable to repress a smile. Of course Morgan would ask him when his own grandfather wouldn't. "But…good, so far. I think."

"That's the important part."

"Yeah." Ven chuckled. "Maybe I should come by the office when I have some time. Since I'm in the city anyway now."

"Oh, no, don't be silly," Morgan chided him, but there was a smile in his voice. "It'll take you forever to drive downtown from the campus. I'm sure you have better things to do."

"I don't know about better, but I haven't had a lot of free time, you're right about that," Ventus admitted. "Still, if I'm ever downtown, I'll try to come say hi."

"I'd love that. And I'm sure your grandfather would appreciate the gesture too."

Ven let out a skeptical scoff. "Yeah, sure. Anyway, I should get to work. I sort of let homework pile up all weekend."

Morgan let out an indulgent laugh. "All right, don't let this old man hold you. I'll tell your grandfather you called."

"Thanks, Morgan."

He hung up, feeling almost relieved that he hadn't reached his grandfather directly. An email would probably be a better way to ask him to get Roxas a car—he could structure his reasoning, and make it clear that he wasn't asking for permission, only for his help. Ven wasn't sure he could do all of that out loud without getting cut off.

Besides, he had missed Morgan. Since he'd found out pretty conclusive proof about his and Eraqus's affair, Ventus had often wondered why they had never made it official and moved in together. Ventus and especially the twins could definitely have used another presence at home—one that wasn't quite so strict as their grandfather. Ventus had never breached the topic with either of them, unable to find a way to do it, but he kept hoping it might happen on its own.

Brushing the thought aside, he sent the email, and got started on his homework. At the top of the list stood his Biology lab report—one that was due by midnight, and that was due for Vanitas. Sure, Vanitas had promised he wouldn't treat him differently or unfairly, but that had been before they slept together. Until this morning, Ventus hadn't thought this would have made a difference, but something about their meeting at Tiana's Palace left him suddenly uncertain. What if Vanitas thought Ventus had been following him because he was hoping for it? What if, then, he'd been hurt when Ventus had rejected him?

That train of thought took him further away from the lab report, as he considered the other implications. What then? Would it change anything? Would it make Vanitas any closer to being someone Ventus actually wanted to start something more serious with? Maybe even start dating?

Closing his eyes, Ventus groaned as he tried to stop from spiralling. Second-guessing himself was not a good place to go—especially when it felt too much like he was projecting now. He'd made his choice regarding Vanitas, and he just had to stick to it. Sleep with him once, get him out of his system. If Vanitas became a problem as his TA, he could deal with that, maybe even report him for sleeping with a student. That was the only outcome Ventus had to plan for—anything else was irrelevant.

Above all, he didn't want to spend any longer than necessary wondering how Vanitas felt about him.


Eraqus called late that evening, not bothering to hide his annoyance at Ventus's email. But to Ven's surprise, he conceded with minimal effort, agreeing to pay as long as Ventus and Roxas found a car that fit with a budget of his choosing. With that sum, they'd probably have to settle for a used car, but when Roxas came on Skype that evening, he was overjoyed at the news anyway.

"Do you think you'll be able to come over next weekend so we can choose one?"

"Are you kidding? I'll make the time," Ventus said, smiling. "Saturday. I promise."

Roxas smiled back. "Thank you so much, Ven."

"Anytime, Ro."

Conversation drifted from there. Ventus mentioned meeting Vanitas in the morning, but if Roxas came to the same conclusion Ven had, he didn't mention it—and Ventus abstained from asking. He didn't want to go there again—and besides, Terra was in the room, unsubtly listening to Ven's side of the conversation, even if he couldn't hear Roxas while Ventus was wearing headphones.

"He thought you were stalking him?" Terra teased when Ventus ended the Skype call.

Ventus rolled his eyes. "Yeah."

"You're not a little worried that that means he's stalking you?"

"Terra, that's crazy talk," Ven retorted. "Look, can we just…not? I feel like I've been talking about Vanitas for most of my weekend."

"Well, you did lose your virginity to him."

Ventus shrugged. "It doesn't have to be such a big deal."

Terra chuckled. "If you say so. Then I'll say this: it'll keep being a big deal with everyone else, too. Not just the first person you sleep with." He paused. "Sex is complicated like that. Unless you're one of the rare chosen ones, it's always going to mess with your emotions a little, even when it really is casual."

"Thanks for the advice, wise guy," Ven teased, deadpan. In a way, it was comforting to hear: maybe he wasn't freaking out in a way that had anything to do with Vanitas—maybe things were just complicated because that's how they should be. "It's just…not really what I thought would happened for my first time."

"Getting any regrets?"

"Still no," Ventus said, even though he wasn't sure if Terra had asked him that yet. "Besides, it's like you said. Even if I'd been dating the guy I lost my virginity with, it'd still be complicated. Only in a different way."

"Probably, yeah."

They fell silent for a moment, then Ventus shook his head, huffing at himself in annoyance. "And I'm talking about him again. You should yell at me if it keeps happening."

"You know you're stuck with him on that thing for your Spanish class, right?"

Ventus groaned. "Don't remind me. I'm serious, don't remind me. I'll deal with that when I get to it."

"Okay, Ven. Whatever you say."

Hearing the disbelief in Terra voice, Ventus shot him a glare. "I still have calculus homework, so…shut up now."

He felt childish saying the words, and Terra's small laugh only made him feel worse, but Terra fell silent, and after a few minutes, Ventus managed to put Vanitas out of his mind and focus on his school work.