The spattering of water against the locker room floor tiles was unnerving.

Completely exposed as he showered, Sora fought to keep his gaze from wandering to Riku. He didn't want to be caught staring. They'd showered together a few times before, but he'd never looked…

Don't look. Shower. Shower first. Don't look.

So much easier thought than done. He could barely even focus on the shampoo he was supposed to be lathering into his hair. Riku was just too close, too naked, and all those things he'd said before about wishing they'd kissed the first time they'd met, and liking Sora's laugh and eyes and smile, well, hearing all of that for the first time had left him more flustered than he'd ever been in his life. He could have kissed the older boy, if he'd have been capable of making eye contact. As it was, he was left with the desire to kiss Riku until he ran out of breath and none of the courage required to do so.

In his head, Sora was a mess. He wanted to kiss Riku but he didn't know where to start. Should he say something? Ask if it would be okay? Or would that be weird? Maybe he should just do it, just grab the older boy and kiss him. But if he did that, he had to do it at the right moment when there was no danger of shampoo getting in eyes or soap in mouths. He'd have to wait for an opening.

Okay. Don't be obvious.

Sora snuck a glance at the boy in the next shower over, his hands busy rubbing soap into his rag.

Damn.

He was never going to get tired of the way Riku looked without a shirt. It just wasn't fair—how could anyone be that athletic? He was only sixteen. He wasn't even done with puberty. What was he going to look like in two years? Three? What about when he was twenty? He'd be taller, broader in the shoulder and with more defined facial bones. Sora hoped he'd get to see that.

But, for now, he liked Riku just the way he was, and he smiled when the teal-eyed athlete pushed his hair back out of his face.

"Hey."

One of Riku's eyes cracked open to look at the brunet. "Yeah?"

Realizing only now that he didn't actually have anything to say, Sora widened his smile into a grin and remained silent. His lack of response made Riku stare at him, one eyebrow lifted higher than the other, until he turned and let his arms fall by his sides.

"Are you staring at me for a reason, Brat?"

"Do I need a reason to admire my boyfriend?"

"Admire?" Riku was almost smirking now, and moved just the tiniest bit closer to the younger student.

"Yeah. What else would I be looking at? I mean, we're showering together for a reason, aren't we?"

"Yes," they were almost chest-to-chest now, eyes locked, "we are."

Sora could feel his nervousness turning into anticipation. Being this close made it impossible to feel anything else. All he wanted to do was move even closer, pull Riku down, and kiss him. So he did. His arms wrapped around the older boy's neck and Sora arched his stomach into Riku's, lifting his chin at the same time that Riku tilted his head down. Hands stroked the brunet's sides and hips, frictionless and warm thanks to the water; Riku's lips were so close to his own that Sora almost thought he could feel them, but no, it was just the taller boy's breath.

Holding Sora close, Riku's gaze shifted between the brunet boy's vivid eyes and tantalizing lips. They were so, so close, and he could feel how badly Sora wanted to close the tiny gap that remained. It made him grin to know the younger athlete wanted to kiss him, almost made him giddy. After all of first semester and break, he was glad he didn't have to pretend anymore.

He could kiss Sora whenever he wanted.

Letting his eyes become hooded, the silver-haired athlete pulled Sora a little tighter against himself. "Ask me."

"M…" Sora looked up at the other boy, head tilting to the left, and smiled. "Can I have a kiss?"

"Please."

"Please."

A hand cupped his cheek and Sora's chin was lifted, Riku's lips wandering along the edge of the brunet's jaw.

Jerk.

It wouldn't have been possible for him to think the word any more fondly than he did now. He was even smiling, completely at ease as Riku eventually made his way to the younger boy's mouth and kissed him softly, strong fingers still holding the brunet's chin up.

Both only half under the spray of their respective showers, the two boys held close to one another. They didn't clutch or grab or grip, there was no urgency in the way their mouths moved together or passing between their pressed-together bodies. It wasn't a fierce kiss or a particularly passionate one, but for Sora and Riku it was just fine. It was soft and patient and nice, and Sora knew a kiss like this mean they wouldn't be taking their relationship any further today. That was all right, though, because he hadn't ever imagined his first relationship would progress in a high school locker room. The showers were a good place for kissing and eventually for more, but those other things would happen somewhere else first, and they would be better for it.

X

"I can't believe we have this much math homework a week into the semester."

"Are you really surprised?" Axel sat beside the blond on his bed and moved back to lean against the wall beside him. "Mm…I mean, considering that we know Miss Larxene is pure evil."

"Okay, that's true." Setting his book aside, Roxas shifted so he was side-by-side with the older student and slumped his shoulders, sighing. "All these advanced classes are a lot of work."

"No kidding. I hate taking them as a senior—I'd never be able to take them as a sophomore."

"Yeah, well, I'm not sure I should be taking them as a sophomore." Roxas stared glumly at his textbooks, all too aware of the hours of homework he still had to do. It wasn't going to be fun.

"Hey," with a grin, Axel bumped his shoulder against the younger student's, "if anyone can handle these classes, it's you. Besides, if you weren't in them, then I wouldn't have gotten to meet you."

Roxas glanced at the older boy and felt himself blush at the way Axel was smiling at him. "…yeah…" He looked away, shy, his face turning even redder. "We wouldn't want that."

"Not at all."

The redheaded senior practically whispered it to him, and Roxas' blush spread down his neck. Why did being around Axel have to make him feel like this? It hadn't always, and the fact that it did now was hugely inconvenient. It was impossible to keep his cool and be casual when a simple glance from those green eyes could leave him so flustered.

Like was now, for example.

This is so embarrassing.

He needed to calm down so he could get back to doing his homework, but Axel was far too close to him for that to be possible. The heat of the redhead against his arm and thigh made the rest of him feel much too warm—it definitely wasn't helping his blush go away. It would be much easier if he wasn't sitting right next to the senior. He'd be able to cool off and focus if he moved back to his original spot, but Roxas didn't move or even shift away. Yes, it would have been easier to focus on homework if there was a little space between them, but that didn't mean he actually wanted that space. Being flustered was embarrassing. Moving away would be almost painful. But staying close was giving him ideas that he was deeply embarrassed to have.

I shouldn't want him to kiss me.

It made him feel guilty to have to tell himself that. The senior had kissed him once before and it had been awful, granted that was mostly due to the fact that Axel was drunk and they were at a party Roxas hadn't wanted to attend. But still, that "incident" had led to Roxas swearing he didn't want anything to do with the older student, and even though he didn't feel that way anymore and clearly harbored affection for the green-eyed teen, kissing him was out of the question. He couldn't do that.

"Hey, something the matter?"

"What?" Roxas was quick to push those thoughts from his mind and offered a smile to the older boy. "No, I'm fine." Well, clearly he wasn't any good at hiding how conflicted he felt about this.

Not even remotely convinced, Axel watched the blond sophomore's nervous fidgeting for a moment. It was kind of cute, and he couldn't help but grin a little. "You sure?"

The younger student nodded, fingers fiddling about with no purpose or aim.

"Okay." Axel leaned and kissed his companion's cheek, feeling Roxas stiffen beside him. As he drew away, wide blue eyes stared at him in shock, and he grinned. "Yeah?"

"….nothing…" His face had never been so red in his life, and Roxas snatched up his math text book in order to bury himself in numbers and equations rather than think about the fact that Axel had just kissed his cheek and that he was blushing and shy and so flustered the sophomore couldn't even think straight. But try as he might to focus on the assigned problems, he was still completely aware of Axel shifting beside him in order to pick up his own book, and of the self-satisfied grin on the redhead's face. Embarrassed, Roxas still felt himself starting to smile as a bubbly feeling built in his chest. Axel had kissed his cheek.

X

They'd never done this before.

Quiet, Zexion handled the wheel carefully and kept his eyes on the road ahead of them. It was snowing again, and very cold outside, but the heater kept even their toes warm. Still, he frequently glanced at the blond in the passenger seat to make sure that Demyx was comfortable. This was their first real official date, and he wanted it to be perfect. He wanted it to be a good memory for the other boy.

Another glance put a light blush on his face and he quickly put his eyes back on the snowy road ahead—Demyx had caught him looking.

"What is it?" The blond shifted in his seat to face the older student. "You keep looking at me."

"It's nothing," Zexion lied smoothly, his blush already fading as his usual self-control set in. "You look nice, is all." His compliment made Demyx smile and the blond settled back against his seat again, content to watch the snow drift past as they drove.

It was mostly silent in the car, comfortable with an underlying air of anticipation. Despite himself, Zexion risked several more glances at his boyfriend as they approached the city, and he was fairly certain that Demyx had noticed each one of them even though the blond didn't say anything. He was convinced of it by the time they parked, thanks to the ever-reddening state of Demyx's face and the embarrassed smile he was trying to get rid of. Watching him was amusing.

"Hey," Zexion leaned across the space between them, his hand finding the other boy's and lacing their fingers as green eyes shyly met his gaze, "you look fantastic."

The blush on Demyx's cheeks and nose darkened, his chin tucking towards his collarbone. "Thanks."

Zexion's eyes became hooded and he leaned closer, free hand finding Demyx's chin and tilting it up ever so slightly. "You're welcome," he breathed, already moving forward to press his lips to the younger boy's in a soft, short kiss. When he pulled back, Demyx blinked owlishly at him then smiled, and Zexion leaned his forehead against the blond's.

"Thanks for taking me out tonight."

"Not a problem at all. In fact," a smirk that he must have picked up from Axel replaced the blue-eyed senior's smile, "I'm sure it will be my pleasure." His flirtatious tone set Demyx to blushing all over again, and they shared another small kiss before separating and getting out of the car.

Hand-in-hand, the two boys walked towards the restaurant's front door in order to enjoy their first real official date.

X

Fingers tapping against the sketchbook she was holding, Namine stood behind her cousin and debated whether she really wanted to ask. Kairi was good with this sort of thing…or was supposed to be, anyway. She should be able to provide some advice, and if not, at the very least she could tell her what not to do. That would be more than Namine had to go on at the moment. All she had right now was confusion.

She was definitely going to ask.

"Hey, um, Kairi?"

The redheaded sophomore turned her head slightly, her eyes still locked on the notebook she was doing her homework in. "Hm?"

"Can I ask you a question?" Namine's tone was even more timid than normal, which caught Kairi's attention enough that she put down her pencil and spun her chair around to face her cousin, concerned.

"Of course."

"What," fidgeting, the blonde searched for the right words. She wanted to say this in the clearest way possible without being too obvious about who she was talking about. Yes, Kairi knew, but Namine had yet to say it out loud and she was avoiding doing so at all costs. That would force her to admit she was in over her head and she definitely didn't want that. "What would you do if you liked someone that you don't think you should like?"

Taken aback by the question, mostly because she knew that feeling all too well but was also pretty sure that Namine didn't fully know about that, Kairi blinked rapidly. "…who do you like that you don't think you should?"

Namine ducked her head embarrassedly and fiddled with metal ring binding of her sketchbook until Kairi came to her own conclusion about it.

"Well," Kairi leaned back in her chair, finger tapping her chin thoughtfully, "I'd have to take a while to think about it. Try to figure out why I might like them and why I feel like I shouldn't, and weigh the two sides against each other. If there are more or better reasons to like them than to not, then I wouldn't feel bad about it. But if there were more or bigger reasons why I shouldn't, then I'd do my best to focus on that and get over it as quickly as possible."

"Okay." Namine moved back and sat in her own desk chair across from her cousin. "How do you know how big a reason not to is?"

"I guess that depends on what the reason is and how I personally see it. Or, in this case, how you see it."

Nodding, the blond hugged her sketchbook to her chest and twisted her chair idly. There wasn't much more advice she could get without spilling her guts, and she didn't much feel like doing that. Actually, she was pretty sure everyone would be horrified if they knew what she was thinking, and they might judge her for it even though she couldn't help it. She's been trying to forget about it for ages and just couldn't. But she'd do what Kairi said, and try to figure out if the reasons not to like him outweighed the reasons she did, and that meant she was going to have to take the time to organize her thoughts about everything.

The sketchbook was put aside and Namine picked out a regular notebook instead, pulling her chair up to her desk so she could focus.

Okay, good points versus bad points.

Selecting a pencil, Namine traced a line across the top of the page then one down the middle. On the left column she wrote Good, and then Bad on the right. Okay, now came the hard part. How exactly did she phrase this? Did she do single word summaries? That would work all right for the Good side, but she didn't think it'd be adequate for the Bad side. Well, she would just start with the Good and decide about the Bad when she got to it.

What exactly do I like about him?

He was talented, that much was obvious. Talented and very refined in his mannerisms. Always so polite, as if he were addressing a room full guests rather than students. She definitely liked that about him. And he seemed perpetually cheerful, as though he were completely happy to be teaching a bunch of teenagers how to properly shade their works and to keep their hands clean when working with charcoal. It was like there was no such thing as a bad day in his world. Everything had a silver lining. Every was a silver lining, except for those days leading up to the Masquerade Ball. He'd been depressed for a while, but then he'd cheered back up as if nothing had happened, and Namine knew he hadn't done anything to Demyx after that. The blond had started dating Zexion, after all, and Mister Marluxia had clearly accepted the fact that he wasn't going to get what he'd wanted, and he seemed okay with that. So even though what he'd done was wrong, he couldn't actually be a bad person, or he'd be resentful and angry, right? Maybe it was silly of her to think he was dangerous….

I'll be careful, she decided, still writing away at her list. I'll find out what happened with Demyx and then I'll decide if I think it's a big enough reason to not like him. If it was a misunderstanding, or he didn't mean to hurt him, or he feels really bad about it and is sorry, then I can give him a chance.

It was all just going to have to depend.