So have you ever heard that saying that's like, "Your worst enemy could become your best friend"? Well, even if you haven't, you just heard it from me so hah! Point being, I guess you could say that's kinda what was starting to happen between me and Axel, other than the fact that he could never be my best friend. I mean, sure, I couldn't stand him when I first met him but he was slowly starting to grow on me.

And between you and me, it was beginning to scare me a little.

Truthfully, I had no real reason to be scared of our growing friendship but I really thought I did. Kairi was right. It took me a while to warm up to people and maybe I had attachment issues. So what? The other problem was I already thought that Axel was cute. Now that I thought he was sort of a cool guy, what would that lead up to?

I had to keep my distance from him no matter what before something disastrous happened. The last thing I needed was to get myself into another twisted relationship with somebody else.

But of course, nothing seemed to go as planned lately. Why would it?

"So are you guys going to Demyx's tonight?" Kairi asked us on the way out of the school as we headed to the parking lot. Classes were officially over for the week and all of us were just ready for a break.

"How did you even find out about that?" I countered back as we headed for my car.

"And how come I wasn't even informed about this?" Sora complained as he lagged behind us, suddenly looking up from his phone. If I had to guess he was probably texting Riku.

"Axel told me last night at work," Kairi answered first.

"And I was going to tell you about it when we were both at home," I replied to Sora. He frowned briefly before shrugging and stopping at his car which was right next to mine.

"Okay fine, I guess I'll let it slide. So are we going?"

"Yeah, I guess so. Think Aunt Seiya will object?"

"She's not even going to be home. She's got a date." The tone was almost hilariously childish even as he rolled his eyes heavenward.

"Your mom's going on a date?" Kairi's eyes widened, staring at my cousin in disbelief.

"Yep. Some guy from work that's been into her for a while now I guess." Sora was making it pretty obvious that he didn't want to talk about it.

"So, uh, guess we'll go over there then," I said, quickly changing the subject.

"Guess so. What time do we want to go over there?"

"Demyx said sometime after eight because he has to work," Kairi chipped in, jumping into my car as soon as I unlocked it.

"…'kay, guess we're going at eight then." I shrugged and looked back at Sora. "Where are you going right now?"

"I have to go check into work, make sure they don't need me." Sora looked away briefly as he patted down his pockets to find his car keys and still holding onto his phone. Sora works at the local video store; so does Riku.

I'm surprised that they actually get any work done.

"I should be home by four." There was a sudden noise of triumph as he found his keys. Waving to both of us, he ducked into his car and soon pulled out of the space next to us and disappeared from sight. Kairi glanced over at me as I slid into the driver's seat, starting it up and leaving as well.

"He's not really happy with Seiya going on that date, is he?" she asked me as I drove us back to our neighborhood, turning up the volume of my stereo just enough.

"How could you tell?" She chose not to say anything, looking out the window again.

"So you guys are really going to go to Dem's tonight?"

"Yeah, why not?"

"Because Ax-el will be there," she said with a grin, turning her head back to me.

"Don't do the name thing. And so what?"

"I thought you didn't like him?" It was kind of unfortunate we'd stopped at a red light and I couldn't ignore her for that long. I managed to until the light changed again, but I ended up shrugging my shoulders as an answer.

"Maybe I changed my mind. I mean, once you get to talking to him, he's not so bad right?"

"Yeah, we tried telling you that from the very beginning."

"So I'm a little slow on the uptake. What more do you want from me, Kai?" I pulled into her driveway and put the car in park, turning in my seat to look at her.

"The truth would be nice."

"I am telling you the truth though!"

"Roxas," she said slowly, grabbing her shoulder bag from the floor. She looked at me for a moment before shaking her head and opening the door. Obviously she changed her mind. "It's not important. I'll see you later tonight, okay?"

"No, what were you going to say?" She stopped in her tracks and stood halfway out of my car, keeping her back to me.

"It was nothing, really."

"Promise?" I challenged her, waiting for her to crack. Kairi knows that she can't lie to me; she's horrible at it, in fact. Same with Sora. She turned to look at me and smiled reassuringly.

"Promise," she answered firmly, finally getting out of my car and slinging her bag over her shoulder. "See ya later!" She slammed the door and practically skipped up to her front door, already grabbing her cell phone and holding it to her ear. I'm not saying that I didn't believe her but…

…okay, that's exactly what I was saying. But come on! Kairi was definitely acting weird and I didn't like it. Then again, there wasn't much I could do about it until she decided to tell me what was up. So, being the good friend I am, I backed out of her driveway and left, determined not to bother her about it. By the time I got home, I noticed that Sora's car was already parked on the curb. With a quick glance at the clock, I saw that it was only a quarter after three. Parking my car in the driveway and heading to the house, I threw open the front door and slammed it behind me.

"Sora?"

"—no idea. But I'll let you know if I figure it out. I'll see you tonight," he seemed to be saying to someone and as I moved through the front hall and turned right at the stairs I found Sora on the couch with his phone pressed to his ear. Hanging up, he tilted his head backwards to stare at me. "What is it?"

"I thought you wouldn't be home until four?" I ended up sitting next to him, glancing at the TV briefly.

Oprah. He was watching Oprah. It was then I realized that Sora wasn't actually watching the TV.

"No, I said that I'd be home by four. There's a difference." He didn't leave much room for argument as he slipped his phone back into his pocket and he focused on the TV. There was an awkward silence for a moment, me watching Sora and Sora (seemingly) watching the TV.

"So…care to share what bit you in the ass?" Nice and casual. It seemed like a nice way to start a conversation. Sora obviously didn't think so if the derisive snort was anything to go by.

"Only if you'll do the same in return."

"Wait what?"

"You heard me." He finally looked away from the TV and settled his gaze on me.

"Yeah but that doesn't mean I know what the hell you're talking about." I couldn't help it when I raised an eyebrow. He continued looking at me for a few moments before shaking his head.

"Nothing." He looked away and changed the channel. As a sudden sense of déjà vu set in, I snatched the remote from him and turned off the TV, forcing him to look at me again.

"No, no more of this nothing stuff. I want to know what's going on!" Sora calmly reached up and pried my hands off of his shoulders.

"Roxas, relax. All I'm saying is that you're suddenly acting different. Or maybe you're finally going back to normal, that's all." He shrugged and got off of the couch, heading toward the stairs. Without hesitation, I got up and followed him up to his room.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" I questioned, standing in the doorway so that he couldn't get through. Sora sighed and met my eyes again.

"It means that ever since the day you met Axel, you were even more high-strung than usual but now you're starting to go back to being the cool Roxas everybody likes." He shrugged again and leaned against the wall.

"…was I really being that much of an ass?"

"Dude, everybody noticed it. Even Naminé and she's hardly even around anymore because of stupid Marluxia. The main question we have is what made you change back?" Sora folded his arms over his chest and stared me down. Just because he was 17 already and I wasn't didn't mean that he had complete authority over me.

Besides, his glare made him about as scary as a goldfish.

"Nothing made me 'change back', dude. I wasn't even really aware that I was being a dick, remember?"

"Yeah but something made you snap out of it."

"Not really…I guess it's just because Axel's not as bad as I thought. Is that a problem?" I must've snapped without even realizing it because his immediate response was blinking at me in surprise and laughing slightly.

"Whoa, Rox, easy on the defense. It was just a question."

"Well now you know the answer." I couldn't even explain why I was being so defensive. I just wanted the conversation to end suddenly and even though the rational part of my head told me that I was the one who started this I had to be the one to end it, too.

"Yeah, but I probably could have figured that out on my own."

"So why didn't you?" I snapped back. Sora was quiet again, watching me from his own doorway.

"…no idea. What time do you want to head to Dem's?" he changed the subject just like he always did when he knew he was busted.

"Eight, remember?"

"Oh…yeah."

"Who's driving?"

"I guess I can. Are we picking up Kairi?" At this point he was refusing to meet my eyes, and maybe I felt a little guilty but not enough to apologize.

"Unless you're delegating Riku to do it."

"I could, but he's working and probably won't have time." I didn't respond right away, pausing to see what else he had to say. He finally looked up and continued to examine me quietly, scrunching up his nose in thought. It was kind of weird, the way he was staring at me.

"Sure. So…let me know when you're ready to leave?" It sounded more like a question than a statement but I didn't bother to correct myself before quickly stepping into my room and shutting the door before Sora could say anything else. I crossed the room and flopped onto my bed, staring at the door. I didn't get what was going on. Sora was acting weird, Kairi was definitely acting weird, and it had something to do with Axel because both of them had mentioned him. In a way it didn't really matter though because nothing was going on with me and Axel.

Really.

Besides, they couldn't prove anything even if they tried. Maybe I was acting a little different now that Axel was around but I liked to think of it as readjusting, not being weird. Apparently my cousin and my best friend were both against me and that meant that I had to find a way to convince them that I wasn't reacting to Axel.

Yeah. Easier said than done.

At about eight, Sora and I left our house in his car, heading first to Kairi's to pick her up, and then over to Demyx's house. The ride over was pretty silent and I was kind of thankful when we pulled up and I could practically throw myself out of the car, hopping out and knocking on the door. You can imagine how surprised I was when Axel answered instead of Demyx.

"Hey guys, Dem'll be home soon," he greeted us and moved out of the way so that Kairi and Sora could enter the house. I on the other hand stayed out on the porch with Axel, looking up at him curiously.

"If Dem's not even home yet, how did you get into the house?"

"I've got a key," he brushed it off easily and that just led to even more questions

"Why would he give you a key though?" I knew it wasn't my business, but everything about my friends is eventually my business. Before Axel could answer, Demyx's car pulled into the driveway and he opened the door, pulling out four boxes of pizza as Riku stepped out of the passenger side with two bottles of soda.

"I see you collected your paycheck," Axel said teasingly, opening the door for the two of them and promptly turning away from me. Demyx works at Pizza Hut and every time he gets paid, he ends up bringing pizza home with him. It works in his favor though since he lives on his own; his mom died at childbirth and his dad…well his dad's a story I don't really want to go into. He was raised by his grandparents until he was 18 and then he moved out. As far as I know the only reason he can afford his own place is that he's renting from his grandparents, but I don't ask him about the details too often. He doesn't mind living by himself though; half of the time, he's with us anyway.

"Yeah, figured I had to feed you free-loaders. Riku picked out the films though," Demyx called over his shoulder as Riku scurried in behind him, dropping the sodas and three DVDs on the coffee table before crashing on the couch next to Sora. Axel shifted his gaze back to me and nodded toward the door.

"Coming in?" Without another word I re-entered the house, settling in on the couch as well. Axel found his way to the spot next to me, leaving Kairi and Demyx to the one reclining chair and the floor. Sora was sitting in Riku's lap and already munching on a slice of the pizza Demyx brought with him while the mohawked boy was fiddling with his DVD player.

"What movies did we get?" I heard Kairi ask from the chair as we both grabbed for pizza.

"Well, this first one is especially for Sora," Riku replied with a small grin, taking a bite of the pizza Sora held in front of him.

"Aha!" Demyx exclaimed, jumping away from the TV. "Got it!" He made his way over to the chair and lifted Kairi up, setting her back down on the arm of the chair and letting her legs drape over his lap. We didn't even get a chance to ask why, exactly, this was specifically for Sora before a dolphin appeared on screen and the narration began.

"It's an important and popular fact that things are not always what they seem."

"You rented Hitchiker's!?" Sora's voice suddenly cut over the narration and his eyes were wide as he turned to face Riku. "This is awesome! This isn't even supposed to be out until next week!"

"Yeah, there's a reason I sent you home early. Surprise?" Riku had a pretty smug look on his face, but maybe he kind of deserved to feel a little smug. Sora had been talking about the movie for months since he missed it in theaters. He sat up a little to practically smash his face against the side of Riku's laughing a little even as he kept an eye on the screen.

"I love it. I love you?"

"Do you love me more than the movie?"

"That's debatable."

"You two are ridiculous," Kairi finally cut in, waving a free hand to shush them. "Demyx, start it over! We missed half of the narration already."

Surprisingly, everybody kind of shut up once Demyx rewound to the beginning and the movie started over. About halfway through the movie, the pizza was finished and everybody had fallen into a calm sense of camaraderie while trading commentary and jokes. Everybody else seemed pretty comfortable, even the two that were sprawled on people's laps, but I kept fidgeting. I wasn't even sure why. Maybe it had to do with the fact that Sora and Riku were flirting and sitting this close I could hear everything. Maybe it had to do with the fact that Axel was hot and also in my personal space. It also could have been both, but something just wasn't right about that picture. I kept trying to get Kairi's attention to get a little help with the situation but she was too busy watching the movie and talking to Demyx. Instead, I got unwanted attention.

"Stop moving around so much will ya?" Axel looked down at me, shifting again so that I wasn't jostling him every time I wiggled around.

"Sorry." Apologizing probably didn't mean much when I kept squirming around anyway. I heard Axel sigh and before I knew it he had removed his hand from the spot next to me and draped his arm around the back of my couch behind my head.

"Is that better?" Somehow his eyes never even left the screen.

"Uh…sure." I shifted again before forcing myself to sit still. Okay, so maybe it wasn't much better because now he was actually touching me, but I figured that I had to tone it down before I was either thrown on the floor or made a fool out of myself like I always did. Somehow, I ended up leaning in toward Axel's body so that I was half-laying against his side, all-the-while trying to keep calm.

Of course, that was kind of hard to do when Axel's fingers kept brushing over my shoulder but at this point I wasn't even sure I had the energy to care. This was just how things were going to be.

It was a longer movie, but eventually Hitchhiker's Guide ended and Demyx pushed Kairi's legs out of his lap so he could get up and swap out DVDs. It was a strangely fluid motion as Riku also dislodged Sora and began clearing the empty pizza boxes and napkins. I'm not sure if they planned this or what, but they made quick work of getting the garbage out of the way and putting in the next movie even while Sora was busy talking to Riku about every single thought he had about the movie.

"What's this one?" Kairi didn't bother moving from her perch on the arm of the chair

"You'll recognize it when you see it." Demyx settled back into his chair, shifting Kairi's body so that they were both sitting comfortably. "Or Roxas will, anyway."

"What?" It didn't take long before the music hit my ears and I realized School of Rock had made its way on our screen.

I can admit I was obsessed with the movie for a while just because that entire scenario would be a dream for me. Jack Black's not a bad actor, and the soundtrack was made up of some incredible songs.

"That's cool, I guess," I said as nonchalantly as possible to try and downplay the fact I was happy with the choice. Despite being wrapped up in Riku, I heard Sora snort from beside me.

"You guess. Says the guy who made us practice the titular song for a month just because he wanted to play it?"

"Says the guy who had most of the movie memorized?" Demyx chimed in, grinning from his seat.

"Says the guy who broke his copy of the movie from overuse?" Riku got in on the act as he settled back on the couch next to Sora again. Kairi and Axel were both snickering to themselves and in the end I shifted back into the couch.

"Whatever, you're just mad I sound good."

"I've never seen it," Axel said from my left and I looked up at him, not sure if he was serious or just making fun of me. Given his eyes were watching both me and the TV, it didn't take long to figure it out.

"Well then prepare to get educated."

I pretended he wasn't laughing at me, but at least things were more comfortable now and he even listened as I explained everything there was to know about the movie. It was something that relaxed me and put me in my own element and I could feel myself melting into his side again even as I continued making notes about what was happening on-screen.

I'm going to guess that I fell asleep shortly after that because I don't remember the movie ending. I probably would have been more disappointed if I'd never seen it before, but instead I was kind of content to go back to sleep. I was comfortable despite the fact that whatever I was laying on kept moving.

"Roxas…"

I don't think I said anything intelligent and swatted at whatever was poking me in the cheek. It was definitely a hand. Kairi usually does this to me and every time I swat her she thinks it's hilarious. Don't ask me what that's all about. The hand continued but it was more of a jab than a soft poke. That's what finally got me to wake up and I realized that I was staring at someone else's black denim-clad inner thigh.

"Well good morning, Sunshine."

Correction, Axel's inner thigh. I instantly shot up and looked around the room. It was just me and Axel in the living room. I heard vague crashes from the kitchen but other than there, there was nothing.

"What's going on?" It probably wasn't all that subtle to be scooting away from him to the other end of the couch, but who cares.

"You were kind of dozing when we started Sin City and you weren't awake at all by the time Mean Girls was over, so Sora, Riku, and Kairi left you here and headed home."

It was in that moment I realized I didn't have friends. I had a posse of traitors.

"What? Are you kidding me?"

"Rox, it was 1:30 in the morning and you weren't waking up. Sora said he'd rather leave you here than deal with a cranky you on the way home."

I stand corrected. I had a posse of traitors and I was related to the king of traitors.

"What time is it right now?"

"About two."

"AM?"

"Yep. Like I said, we tried waking you up, but you seemed to be enjoying yourself." The words were casual, but I knew that he was a little suspicious. And amused. I hated that it was both of those simultaneously and proceeded to glance at the clock on the wall instead.

"Um, yeah…sorry about that. I kind of do weird things in my sleep." An understatement, maybe.

"Don't worry about it." I kind of just nodded and Demyx came out of the kitchen, instantly spotting me.

"Well look who's awake."

"Why did you let Sora leave without me?"

"Because he was impatient and tired and you weren't waking up. Besides, you usually don't care about crashing here," he pointed out as he leaned against the back of the couch. There was just enough light coming from the kitchen to make out that he was watching me and he was watching Axel, eyes darting back and forth for the time being.

"…I guess it's okay," I mumbled, this time trying to avoid the fact that they were both staring at me.

"You sleeping on the couch then?"

"What about the guest room?"

"That's where I'm sleeping," Axel filled in. "So unless you want to join me in bed or something…"

"…I think I'll stick with the couch."

Axel shrugged and got off of the couch, stretching out a bit. "Suit yourself. I'm hittin' the sack. Night guys." Just as quickly as he had appeared when I woke up, Axel disappeared down the hall into Demyx's guest room and shut the door.

Demyx, on the other hand, didn't move at all. He stayed standing behind the couch, leaning on the top and looking down at me.

"So…" he started off.

"So?"

"What's with you and Axel now?"

"God, why is everybody asking me that?" I groaned loudly, sitting straight up and staring at Demyx. "You, Sora, Kairi, everybody keeps mentioning him!"

"It's because you're starting to get attached."

Whatever I was expecting him to say, it wasn't that.

"What? I am not."

"You are." He nodded. "It's written all over your face, Rox."

"…well maybe I'm just starting to accept him as a friend. Is that a real problem?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Friends don't bury their face in their friend's crotch." That at least answered how much Demyx actually saw before I woke up. Great.

"You know I do weird shit in my sleep."

"That was beyond weird though. I mean, seriously…you've never done that. The most you've done is lay your head in Kairi's lap."

"Speaking of, what's up with you and Kairi?" I switched the subject, just to get him off my back. Demyx is usually pretty easy to fluster, but he wasn't budging this time.

"I like her." It was blunt and confident and for the second time in the span of a minute I was at a loss for what to say.

"Like…like her, like her?"

"Mmhmm."

"Since when?"

"You know interrogating me's not gonna stop me from asking about you and Axel don't you?" He grinned. "But it doesn't matter. It's a recent thing. Sometimes you just kind of notice things in a new light, you know? She's really kind of awesome, and she's pretty, and she's smart...can you blame me?"

"I guess not…does she know?"

"Sort of."

I was starting to wonder what else my friends were keeping from me. Or maybe I had just missed all of these developments in my crusade against Axel's existence. The thought brought me back to thinking about Axel though and I thought about some things that weren't adding up.

"Why's Axel here?" I changed my mind.

"Because he can be."

"But he was already here before you were home."

"Makes sense, he didn't have to work today." Demyx suddenly pushed himself away from the couch and went around the living room organizing everything. He may not look like it, but Demyx really is a neat-freak. It's both endearing and terrifying all at once.

"What exactly are you trying to say, Dem?" I finally asked, getting tired of going around in circles.

"Axel lives here. I thought you already knew that?" He gave me an odd little glance before resuming to his cleaning duties.

"Like, with you? Like a roommate?"

"That's what I just said."

"Why?"

"Oh my god, Roxas, you can't just ask people why they're roommates." I knew it was a Mean Girls reference but I still wanted to smother him with a pillow anyway. "He was living alone, I was living alone, it made for a match made in hell. Like a good kind of hell, not a bad kind? We've been friends for years but he's kind of complicated...that doesn't make a lot of sense, does it?"

"No, not really."

It was unfortunate that he reached down to ruffle my hair instead. "Don't sweat it. It's been kind of nice though." He left it there though and he moved to a hall closet to toss me a pillow and an extra blanket. "Need anything else?"

"I guess not." Maybe a reality check? Or a map to navigate what the hell was going on. I was pretty sure Demyx couldn't give me either of those so I settled further into the couch and waved him off. "I'll see you in the morning."

"Sure. Night, dude." He disappeared just as easily and I was left alone in the dark and wide awake. I really shouldn't have opened my eyes. Maybe then I wouldn't be as confused about everything all of a sudden. I couldn't get my brain to stop thinking about everybody's accusations about me and Axel.

It shouldn't have even been a big deal since nothing was happening, but I had all three of my closest friends against me, convinced that something was happening anyway. I didn't even know how to get them off my back about it either. I was pretty much stuck. Kairi already knew that I thought Axel was cute or whatever, but that wouldn't strike up a big discuss-…wait.

Unless Kairi mentioned I was bi to the others? It's entirely possible she accidentally let it slip and the other two decided to join her to conspirize about me and now they're all worried about me and my sanity and maybe they even brought it up to Axel to figure out how to make it stop.

Oh my god, Axel knew.

…or maybe I was just being paranoid. No, I was definitely being paranoid. Sometimes Kairi has a big mouth but I know she'll always keep the secrets I want her to keep. I was overreacting to everybody else overreacting and it was a vicious cycle. It was about then that I decided to stop thinking about everything that was cluttering my brain and start thinking about other things instead. Everything else could wait.

In case you care, I thought about the PowerPuff Girls until four in the morning before I finally fell asleep.

By the time I woke up the next morning, I was still tired and disoriented, but at least I wasn't thinking about the PowerPuff Girls anymore. A quick glance at the clock told me that it was a little after ten already. I had no idea where Demyx or Axel were, but I guess it didn't matter. All that mattered was that I was seriously regretting not using the bathroom once while at Dem's. Mornings and I aren't the best of friends. There's a reason Sora avoids waking me up unless he has to, and even I can admit I don't function at full speed for at least the first hour I'm awake. My brain was foggy, my eyes were only half-open, and I found myself thinking about Demyx's weird habit of closing all of the doors in his house as I approached the closed bathroom door.

Naturally, it wasn't until after I opened and entered the bathroom that I clued in that the shower was running and that there was an actual body in that shower. The figure was too tall and wiry to be Demyx's though.

"Roxas, what are you doing?" To his credit, Axel sounded more exasperated than alarmed but even as he looked around from behind the curtain I couldn't help yelp in surprise.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry!" I backed up the way I came, fumbling around for the doorknob. Obviously it would have just been easier to turn and face the door but...sometimes life hands you an opportunity. Did I look a little longer than I should have? Probably.

"Uh…it's fine?" He still didn't seem to care which was the strange part, and maybe his lack of shame amplified my own. I finally got my shit together and turned to yank the door open, bolting out of the bathroom and into the hall without another word. I didn't get too far before I turned the corner and crashed straight into Demyx who also yelped, hands flying up to my shoulders to steady me and prevent me from falling on my ass.

"Man, what are you doing?"

"It's nothing. I just realized what time it is?" I couldn't even bother trying to make it sound believable as I reached up to dislodge his hands. "Thanks for letting me stay the night, Dem, but I gotta go now, bye!" I blurted out and dashed out of the house, getting to the sidewalk before I realized that I had no way of getting home and I lived four miles away.

But I guess that's what feet are made for. Maybe the walk would wake me up, or I could spend all four miles reliving the height of my own humiliation. Neither of those options sounded that appealing, actually. I was about to the end of the street when Demyx drove up behind me, slowing down until he was going the same pace that I was and rolling down the window.

"Do you want a ride at least?" he asked me, watching me walk instead of the road in front of him.

"I'm already walking."

"Roxas, four miles is a long way to walk."

"I can handle it."

"Get in the damn car." He finally stopped in front of me, even going as far as to open the door for me. At the rate things were going the morning couldn't get any worse. And seriously, walking four miles really didn't sound appealing.

"Well since you asked so nicely," I mumbled and crawled into the passenger seat, closing the door behind me and waiting for Demyx to start driving again. It was quiet inside the car for all of thirty seconds before Demyx spoke up.

"…so you saw him in the shower huh?" He cast a side-glance at me, now keeping most of his attention on the road.

"Who?"

"You may be blonde but I know you're not dumb."

"…he told you?" I asked meekly, shrinking back into my seat.

"Mmhmm. He came out of the bathroom as soon as you slammed my front door and explained it."

"Oh…" In hindsight, yeah, that probably drew a lot of attention I could have dealt without.

"So why'd you bolt?"

"Because I walked in while he was showering and that was probably humiliating for him?" He gave me a look that said he didn't' believe a word I was saying. I deserved that because I didn't believe a word I was saying either.

"I think it was more humiliating for you than for him. I've known Axel for years and he's definitely not shy. You, on the other hand, are."

""Okay, well, that still doesn't change that it was really bad."

"Would you care if it were me in that shower?"

That caught me by surprise. "What?"

"Would you care if it were me?" he repeated himself, stopping at an intersection.

"Well, a little. But I mean, you're my friend so it's not that bad, right?"

"What if it were Kairi?"

"That's not fair, Demyx."

"Why?"

"Because she's my best friend?"

"So let me get this right. You're saying that it would make more sense to you to see Kairi, a girl, naked in a shower than it is to see another guy."

There was really no winning this conversation. I should have cut my losses, but… "I guess so." I shrugged. He just shook his head and snorted.

"You're so...something."

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that you aren't telling me the entire truth. That's insulting, man."

"Why is everybody insisting I'm lying about something?"

"Because you're you? And we know you."

"Okay, and what does that mean?"

"You have a weird tendency to be open about the dumbest shit but the things that matter get avoided for as long as possible. Doesn't that get exhausting?"

It did. But I wasn't going to admit that, either, and maybe that just proved Demyx's point.

"Can you drop me off at Kairi's?"

Maybe I should have just been grateful he didn't ask questions and did as I asked. Once Demyx dropped me off, I didn't even bother ringing the doorbell and just opened the front door, running up the stairs to Kairi's room.

"Kairi!" Kicking open the door and stomping into her bedroom, I found her digging through her dresser drawers.

"Well good morning, Sunshine," she chirped, and I found myself wondering why both redheads decided my new nickname was Sunshine. She grinned and looked up from the skirt in her hand but continued digging anyway. "Sleep well?"

"Shut up. Why'd you leave me there?" It was hard to be intimidating when I wanted to just flop down on her bed, but holding my ground was also exhausting.

Everything about this whole day was exhausting and it wasn't even noon yet.

"I'm sure everybody else has already given you a reason..."

"Yeah, they all said it was your idea." Okay, so Dem didn't even mention Kairi, but a little white lie never hurt anybody.

"So maybe it was my idea." She turned to step into her closet to get dressed. "What's your point?"

"Why?"

"Because you looked so cute like that."

"And don't say it's because-wait, what?"

"You heard me. You looked absolutely adorable cuddled up to Axel and sleeping on him."

I wasn't sure how I was supposed to feel about that. On the one hand, it was annoying to know Kairi left me defenseless and to my own devices. On the other hand...it was a weird feeling, thinking about someone thinking I was adorable with someone else.

"Sooo...you left me at Demyx's just because I looked cute with Axel?"

"Basically, yeah." She nodded and grabbed her uniform tie from the bedpost, hopping her way through her room to dig up her shoes as well.

"That doesn't make any sense, Kai."

"Sure it does. If you think he's cute, it'd be nice to know if he thinks you're cute and let me tell you something, Roxas, I think he thinks you're cute."

I wish I understood more about how girls think. You'd think I'd get it after being friends with Kairi for so long but it doesn't help that Kairi's not an ordinary girl. Ask me about Selphie or Naminé, I can probably figure those two out better. Instead, I found myself rolling on my stomach and propping myself up on my elbows to watch her, contemplating that train of thought.

It was scary, but it sort of maybe made sense. If you squinted.

"…you really think so?"

"Of course I think so. You should have seen the way he was looking at you last night."

"I don't know about that."

"Just trust me, okay?"

"Do I have a choice?"

"No. And we're going to have to talk about this later because I have to work and you are just in time to drive me."

"But Kairi…" It sounded whiny, but this was the most progress I'd made all day and now it was going on hiatus.

"Later!" It was a promising tone, and then it occurred to me there was a simple solution.

"I didn't drive, by the way. Since you all abandoned at Dem's, he dropped me off."

"Shoot." She frowned. "...if I leave now, I can walk."

"Right. And since I have nothing else to do today, I'll walk with you and you can tell me what's going through that head of yours. Let's go." Grabbing her wrist, I pulled her out of the room and down the stairs, ignoring the slight shrieks of my name as we practically tripped. I was a man on a mission and Kairi was a hostage in...whatever the hell this was. An interrogation? Something like that.

"You're not being fair," she pointed out as we hit the sidewalk to walk toward town. Kairi, luckily, lived close enough to Noon Moon that walking wasn't a huge deal. (I'm pretty sure she just asks for rides because she likes hanging out with me when she can.) Maybe I wasn't being fair, but...

"Neither are you! You left me sleeping in Axel's lap just because you thought it was cute? How do you think everybody else reacted?"

"Roxas, please. We all know that you're a snuggler."

"You could stop telling everybody that at any time now."

"It's true. You're kind of a huge softie that way."

"Seriously, stop talking."

I knew I'd made a huge mistake the moment Kairi's mouth drew into a very thin line and she immediately stopped talking. She looked straight ahead and walked in front of me, going as far as to ignore the fact I was still holding her arm and trying to keep up.

"Kairi…" No answer. "Kairi, you can't just ignore me." The look she gave me clearly said "watch me" as she picked up the pace. I couldn't help but sigh (loudly, I might add) before jogging to catch up to her side again.

"Okay, fine. Can you please just tell me why you believe Axel thinks I'm cute? That's all I'm asking, I promise."

That seemed to be what she was waiting for because her expression broke immediately, turning into something more thoughtful and almost gentle, like she was trying to break bad news to me.

Who knows? Maybe she was.

"First of all, he didn't seem to care you keep nuzzling into his lap which is pretty impressive for someone who's still kind of a stranger. And...I don't know. There was just something about the way he was looking at you that said he was completely fascinated."

"But that doesn't make any sense." It wasn't bad news, but it also didn't make sense. That would imply that there was maybe something happening that I didn't even know about, and I've been trying to stop that since Axel first showed up.

I couldn't help but think about the destiny thing again. Ever since he brought it up it was hard to ignore even if I didn't believe it.

"Why not?"

"I don't know, it's just weird to think about."

"What's weird, that I might actually be right?"

"No. I dunno. You know this kind of thing doesn't happen to me, so it's hard to swallow. And anyway maybe you're reading it wrong."

She didn't reply right away, hands folded behind her back and a slight skip to her step as we entered the main part of town. The café wasn't too far down the road, but she suddenly didn't seem in a hurry to head there.

"You know what I think, Rox?"

"No, but I'm sure you're going to tell me."

"Sure am." This was it. This was the bad news I was waiting for. "I think you're getting a crush on him."

"I…what?" It took a minute to settle in my head, but the words sounded so wrong. "No! Kairi that's not…no!"

"Why not? You have all of the classic symptoms."

"I do not!"

"Do you even know what it feels like to like somebody?" She abruptly asked and I found myself speechless again, words tangling up and trying to fight their way out of my mouth all at once.

"I liked Naminé for a while, remember? And I've had other girls I've dated before."

"Yeah but that's different. We were young, weren't we? That barely counts."

"How's that different?"

"There's a difference between puppy love and a real crush, that's all."

"And you think that I'm starting to get a real crush on Axel?"

"I know you are."

"Whatever." Maybe I shouldn't have laughed at her, but the idea was so ludicrous I didn't know what else to do. We approached the doors of Noon Moon and I held it open for her to step in first.

"Just you wait, Roxas. You're going to realize that I'm right and then you'll be begging for more of my knowledge and expertise."

"Keep dreaming. Call me when you're off?"

"You're not hanging out?" She seemed surprised by that, but I didn't have the heart to tell her that I was pretty sure if I was stuck having to have this conversation I'd break every coffee cup in the place. That, and I had no idea if Axel would show up or not. I wasn't quite ready to face that possibility.

"Nah. I'm gonna go home and kick Sora's ass for being your accomplice. I'll see you later."

"Have fun, don't get blood on the carpet!"

It's nice having friends who get my sense of humor. The walk back was enough to clear my head a little, at least, and by the time I got back to my house I found Sora laying on the couch in the living room watching The Lion King.

"Do you remember when we were ten and we did a duet to this song?" He gestured to the screen where Simba and Nala were singing about Simba being a mighty king.

"You mean when we found out you weren't cut out for singing?" I vaulted over the back of the couch and settled in next to him, staring at the screen even as he jabbed me in the ribs with an elbow.

"Shut up." He was grinning anyway. "You're back later than I thought you'd be."

"Yeah, about that." It was my turn to elbow him this time as I suddenly remembered I was supposed to be mad at him. "What the hell? You suck!"

"Ow!" It wasn't even that hard of a jab but he made a show of rubbing his arm. "What'd I do?"

"You left me with the enemy? How could you?"

"Oh. That. You looked comfortable, Riku was distracting, and Kairi had a curfew. Are you actually that mad?"

I had to think about that for a moment. After everything that happened so far this morning, was I actually mad? On the other hand...I guess in everybody else's defense I was already leaning against Axel the night before and Axel didn't care.

Now that I was thinking about it, maybe I should have been looking at Axel's behavior a little more.

"...just don't do it again, okay? I'll let you off easy this time." He rolled his eyes, but he held up a fist anyway. Fistbumps were usually the easiest form of affection and I don't even know how it started, but it always became an apology gesture. Turning back to the TV, he leaned his head back to stare at the ceiling.

"Oh by the way, your mom said to remind you that you have an orthodontist appointment on Monday at 11 and she wants you to clean your room. My mom sends her love and says there's leftover Thai in the fridge. Do you want me to start the movie over?"

It's nice to know that even Sora could acknowledge there's only one overachiever in this house.

"Rewind. I'll get the Thai."

Sora and I wasted a couple of hours on a movie marathon before I finally dragged myself upstairs to clean my room. As much as I like doing nothing on my weekends, I also like living and if I didn't actually clean my room my mom would kill me.

Being alone in my room also gave me some time to be...well, alone. Play music. Allow myself the privacy to even contemplate thinking about the current chain of events. I wasn't sure how I couldn't even tell what was happening when it directly involved me, but I couldn't stop thinking about what Kairi said.

Why would Axel think I was cute? We were just friends; friends who just met a few weeks ago, in fact. Why would Kairi even think that I had a crush on him? I hadn't even told her about that morning yet and she was convinced I was crushing. What would she think when I told her about the shower thing?

Come to think of it, maybe I should just skip telling her about the shower thing period. It'd only give her ammunition. No thanks.

I'd never even had a real crush on a boy before and there was no way in hell I was wasting my first one on Axel. It took me this long to get used to having him around without wanting to kick him in the dick. Why complicate it? Senior year was supposed to be easy. A piece of cake. A walk in the park. i.e. not complicated. It didn't make sense to try and pursue a thing nobody even knew how to handle.

I soon came to realize that what was really bothering me was the fact that I was caught touching him, even if I was sleeping. Even worse, I was bothered by his total lack of a reaction. How do people do that? I admit, I was a little embarrassed and mad, but I finally was starting to get I was mad at the wrong people. It wasn't Kairi's fault that I was cuddling with Axel. Could she have bailed me out? Yeah, she could have, but at the same time her heart was maybe in the right place.

God. I really was kind of a softie.

Without waiting another minute, I grabbed my phone from my pocket and punched in Axel's number.

"Hello?

"Hey Axel…it's me." I don't know if "me" was as descriptive as I could have been, but a little late for that.

"Roxas, long time no talk." He came out swinging with a joke. I knew I was doomed from the start.

"Yeah." We were off to a great start. I stopped talking after that, taking my time before speaking again. I had to figure out just how to word what I was going to say. I must have taken too long though since Axel spoke again.

"…did you need something?"

"I'm sorry." The apology came almost immediately after that, and I could almost imagine the skeptical look on his face.

"For what?"

"Last night…this morning…everything?"

"Roxas, it's fine. You're worried about nothing."

"Are you sure?" I still couldn't understand how he was comfortable (well okay maybe not comfortable) but tolerant of me doing everything I'd done in the past 24 hours. It was entirely possible he honestly didn't care, but somehow that pissed me off even more.

"Man, you really need to let this stuff go." He laughed slightly. "Yes, I'm sure."

"…if you say so."

This phone call was stupid. Why did I have to open my big, dumb mouth?

Axel seemed to be thinking the same thing since he didn't let the silence linger for long before clearing his throat. "Anyway, Demyx and I are going into town to do a few things so I'm gonna have to let you go. I'll see you in class on Monday?"

"Yeah. No, wait, I won't be there," I corrected myself, flinching at how unorganized and spastic I sounded.

"Why not? Plan on skipping school?"

"Well I mean…it's not like that. I have an appointment and uh, yeah. I might be back for sixth period." I kind of doubted it. I never went back to school after I got my braces tightened, but sometimes being optimistic was the best option.

"Then I'll maybe see you then."

"Right…maybe see ya Monday." I thought the line was going to go dead, but I heard him speak up again.

"Hey Roxas."

"Yeah?"

"Seriously…don't worry about it, okay? I didn't mind." I couldn't help but stare at the phone for a few moments, raising an eyebrow in suspicion. I didn't even get a chance to counter it because he hung up not long after that and the dial tone rang in my ears.

Despite my best intentions, I didn't think that the phone call did much for either of us other than confuse me and make Axel think I was a paranoid freak.

Maybe Kairi was right. Maybe I was starting to become infatuated with Axel, but even when I tried to let myself think about it the idea seemed so blaringly wrong. It was driving me crazy not having an answer, but the obvious ones didn't make sense.

As much as I wanted to call Kairi and have her walk me through it, I knew I needed to try and handle this one on my own. I couldn't tell her about what happened, and I couldn't ask her to explain things to me. All I could do was turn up the volume on my speakers, pick up my dirty laundry and pretend that Saturday wasn't a total disaster.

Kairi must have gotten a ride home from someone else that day because I didn't hear from her the rest of Saturday. In fact, I didn't hear from her for the rest of the weekend. I didn't get a chance to confront her about it on Monday either. Instead, I got to sleep in because of my orthodontist appointment. I finally got in gear at about ten and managed to be awake, functioning, and on time. I'm pretty sure I deserved a medal. I was still only half-grasping the world around me, but at least my orthodontist was in a really good mood.

I should have maybe clued in something was up, but instead I hauled myself into the bulky dentist chair and waited.

"Good morning, Roxas!" He paused long enough to look at his charts, nodding to himself before facing me again. "Are you ready to take those braces off?"

At first I thought the whole thing was a joke. Then I thought maybe I was still asleep and I was dreaming. But no, looking at the calendar on the wall ahead of me said that today was definitely the day we'd agreed on at my last appointment to get my braces off.

This Axel thing was really messing with my head.

"Yeah. Yeah, definitely."

"Excellent!"

I'll spare you the details. It was disgusting and long and tedious, but one by one the brackets came off and I eventually found myself heading back to school with instructions to come back that afternoon for my retainers. I could have just skipped the rest of the day if I wanted to. It was the end of fifth period and I only had English left. There was almost no point in coming back, but I was a man with a half-assed plan. I practically ran down the hall to my pre-calc classroom where I knew I'd be able to catch Kairi. As soon as I walked up to the door the bell rang and everybody came pouring out into the hall. Kairi, thankfully, didn't linger the way she does sometimes and when she walked out I grabbed her by the elbow and started dragging her toward the English hall.

"Thanks for calling me back, Kai." Her eyes widened and as usual she didn't seem to mind that I was dragging her. We drag each other, it's fine.

"Roxas I'm so sorry! I was hanging out with Selphie on Saturday and then Sunday I had to babysit my cousins and I'm sorry!"

"Considering the last time I saw your cousins your youngest one accidentally punched me in the nose, maybe I should be thanking you for leaving me out of it." She's the one who dug her heels into the ground to stop outside of my AP English class, free hand coming up to grab my chin so I'd be facing her.

"Hey, Roxas. Smile." Normally I'd fight her on that, but this time I did it without being asked twice, smiling as wide as possible. She squealed in excitement and hugged me tightly.

"Roxas, you look fantastic! Just wait until Axel sees you." I slammed a hand over her mouth.

"We are never going to discuss me and Axel in that type of context inside these four walls. Got it?" She rolled her eyes, pushing my hand away before leaning back against the wall next to the classroom door.

"Okay, fine we'll never discuss him." A fond smile was on her face and she patted my cheek again. "You really do look amazing. You'll have you-know-who wrapped around your finger in no time."

"Uh. Is that a good thing?" She didn't get to answer as the warning bell rang, signaling that we had two minutes to get to our classes.

"It's never a bad idea to have boys wrapped around your fingers." I knew she was teasing me, but she didn't say anything else as she gave me a quick hug and said goodbye, bolting down the hallway. Without another word, I entered class and settled into my desk. It wasn't a huge surprise that I'd beat Axel to class and it was even less of a surprise as he slid into his seat just as Mr. Teitzel was shutting the door to start the lesson.

"What's up?" It was a typical greeting and he was only half-paying attention to me. I'm not sure what seized me to face him and hope he'd pay attention to me. I didn't need the attention, but at the same time I wondered if he'd even notice.

"Hey." It was almost outright cheerful but it did the trick. He turned, glancing at me before fulling facing me and letting out a low whistle.

"Well what do you know. You can go through metal detectors now!"

"You're hilarious."

"Did you just get them off?"

"Yeah, a few hours ago." I got what I wanted and it was easier to grab my notebook and face the blackboard instead of Axel. It wasn't hard to see that he was still looking at me, and while normally the look of scrutiny would be enough to make me squirm, something had changed.

"Sweet." I didn't respond to him for a while, looking at the board and writing everything at an even clip. Teitzel was lecturing at the front of the classroom but that didn't stop Axel from leaning over just enough to whisper to me.

"Hey. Do you want your homework from earlier today?"

I could have gotten it from Sora or Riku, but if Axel was offering it made enough sense to get the assignment from him right after class was over. "Yeah, sure. That'd be cool of you."

"Cool. I'll come over after school and show you what we're working on."

I should have expected that. I should have expected that, and yet Axel still managed to take me by surprise.

"Wait, why can't you just show me here?" I asked, suddenly looking away from the board.

"Because I don't want to be here any longer than I have to, that's why. Problem with that?"

"No? No, no problem. I just have to go do something after school really quick, shouldn't take me more than five minutes."

I wasn't doing a great job proving I'm not actually paranoid, but Axel didn't seem to mind. In fact, he just gave me another grin.

"After school then. I'll follow you home?"

I didn't even get to verbally reply before Mr. Teitzel chose that moment to focus on us. A minute nod of the head would have to do.

It's not like Axel's never been over to my house before, but that was always when there were other people and also that was before...whatever was going on here. I couldn't help but constantly think about the scenario I'd just set up for myself.

Me. Axel. Alone, in my house, for who knows how long.

Me and my big mouth.

Notes: /jazzhands. We're starting to get to the chapters where things were rewritten entirely. Hope you're ready.