The next day I was still bothered by Naminé's question, and couldn't help thinking that she had wanted to do something sexual, or at least romantic. I discussed it over lunch with Axel; we happened to both be in the room at the same time while the TV played a show that was ideal for zoning out to.

"Well," Axel said, taking a huge bite out of his hamburger. "She probably just wanted to make out or something."

"Make out?" I asked, horrified.

"I doubt she wanted to have sex already." He laughed at me for a few moments.

"Oh ok."

His eyes flitted sideways to glance at me. "Never been kissed?"

"Shut up."

"You could always practice with your pillow."

"Like I'm gonna do that!"

"Oh! Before I forget!" He suddenly jumped up, shoving the rest of his food in his mouth and going over to his desk. "Do you like The Sprinkles?"

Disregarding the cutesy name, The Sprinkles was a rock band that was semi popular. I had all their CDs and an old poster back at home. "Yep."

"You wanna go to a concert with me?"

I felt my heart rush with shocked excitement. Was he serious? I had never been to a concert, and it had been killing me for the past few years. Whenever someone good was in town, something came up to prevent it: it was too far away, I had school, I had no one to go with. And The Sprinkles?! They were to die for. On the other hand, it would mean spending a lot of time with this idiot.

Although he had seemed a little less annoying lately. I was probably just getting used to him.

"Is there a catch?" I asked.

"No. I already have the tickets." He waved them at me, grinning. "I was supposed to go with Demyx but his sister eloped or something."

"Oh, when's the concert?"

"Next Friday."

"Alright." I took my ticket, secretly very excited. "Thanks."

The week obviously dragged by and by Friday I was so on edge, I'm surprised I wasn't dancing around. I was in the bathroom, throwing on a pair of jeans and combing my hair, while Axel was humming in the background. I saw his face appear in the mirror. "I am so pumped," he beamed. "What do you think?" He yanked his hair back into a ponytail, posed with a weird puckered face, then let his hair fall back down.

"No mantail," I said without a single thought.

Axel stuck his tongue out. "Are you jealous of my gorgeous hair?"

I snorted. "It's like your head is being engulfed in spiky flames."

He paused, thoughtful. "Hmm…spiky flames. I like it."

I set my comb down next to the sink, asking, "Do you use a gallon of hair gel every day or what?"

"I could ask you the same thing," he smirked.

I had a small jar of hair gel hidden within my things; I used only a little bit each day, I swear! I can't stand when my hair doesn't look like the right kind of messy. It drove my mom a little crazy ("You're hair is fine without this glue!") but she kept buying it for me regardless. Which reminded me that the last time I talked to her, she was harassing me to get a job again…bleh…

"When are we leaving?"

"Whenever." Axel was still surveying himself in the mirror. He was wearing tight, black jeans, and a The Sprinkles t-shirt. He looked so…thin and mature and something I couldn't put my finger on. Unfortunately, he noticed where my eyes were, and he gave me a mischievous look, a smile stretching across his face. "Yes, Roxas?"

I felt heat fill my face. "What?" Out of the bathroom in two seconds, I started gathering my things. "I'm ready, Axel."

"Alright." He appeared, grabbing his keys and jingling them absentmindedly. "Want to drink some coffee before we go? We won't be back til late."

"No, that stuff is disgusting."

"It's better than your tea!"

"Is not."

"Don't blame me if you get tired."

We were out the door and headed to his car. The sun was starting to set, making the sky orange and pink. The days were already getting shorter with the approaching winter. Everything was oddly quiet for a Friday night, and the shadows were stretching in the fading light.

The venue was about twenty minutes away, in a large nightclub. Concerts can be held in a variety of settings, and I guess this place was pretty nice. We were patted down upon entry, and then we walked inside. The lighting was dim and already packed. Everywhere I looked, there were people chatting, holding plastic cups, and wearing odd assortments of clothing. "Is there alcohol here?" I asked, confused.

"Only upstairs," he explained. "I guess I'll ditch you down here so I can grab myself something."

I shot him a dirty look. "You'd better not."

"I was kidding, Roxie." He looped his arm around my shoulders and I sighed.

We talked through the warm up bands that neither of us cared about. It was pretty lighthearted until I asked why he had chosen to be a crim-major, to which he replied, "It's interesting." But I could tell from the look on his face that, not only was that not the reason, but he didn't want to talk about it whatsoever. So I awkwardly changed the subject and that's when a girl came up to us.

She was wearing…well not much. Her legs were long and slender, and barely covered from her miniskirt. Her face was a cute oval shape, framed with short dark hair, and she gave us a smile. "I love The Sprinkles."

"We do too," Axel replied.

"You guys wanna hang out? My friends ditched me."

I stole a glance at Axel, trying not to laugh; it was hard to tell whether he was disgusted, amused, or torn. "My friend doesn't do drugs."

She glanced at me, startled. "I'm not here to…" she tried desperately.

"Oh, good," he grinned. "I'm Axel, and this is Roxas."

"I'm Amber," she introduced.

We turned back to where the stage sat in front. I had to crane my head slightly in order to see over everyone; curse my short genes.

"How are you, Roxas?" Amber slid closer to me.

I shrugged. I hate talking to people I don't know.

"Do you have a girlfriend?"

Did Naminé count? I just shrugged again.

"You're so quiet," she breathed, leaning closer to me. All I could look at was the thick black goo outlining her eyes…she smelled like peppermint…

"What are you doing?" I finally squeaked in a panic, shoving her back. She lost her balance—she was wearing high heels—and landed on her butt. The image of black underwear pieced my eyes and I was so embarrassed I wanted to cry.

"You asshole," she hissed, jumping up.

"I'm sorry!"

Axel was staring at us. "He has a girlfriend, you know," he put in.

Amber sneered at us and, to my relief, stalked off. Thank god.

"You were a big help there," I glared.

"Sorry, I—"

But at that moment, The Sprinkles entered the stage and the crowd roared. The concert was amazing; it lasted over an hour, and Axel and I spent the time singing along. Screaming, really. The band was so loud, the floor was vibrating under my feet. We were shuffled around by the mob, eventually ending up closer to the stage. When The Sprinkles were coaxed back out for an encore, everyone surged closer, and I was pushed against Axel. He caught me, laughing. "Are you alright?"

His skin was hot against mine. "Yeah." I straightened, but was still pretty close to him.

A guitar riff filled the air and I forgot about the proximity.

"That was amazing!" Axel beamed. We stepped out into the parking lot, the crowd spilling out onto the pavement. There was already a long line of cars trying to get out.

"Yeah. Maybe we should wait a few minutes for things to clear out."

"Good idea," he nodded.

We looped over to his car. There was a cold tinge to the air that made me shiver slightly. I slid into the passenger's seat, grateful to be sitting; the bottom of my feet were aching and my eyes felt heavy.

"Want me to start the car to heat it up?" Axel was asking. "You look cold and tired."

"I'm alright." I shifted so I was sitting up straighter. "Good thing you didn't get drunk, Mr. Driver."

"I wasn't gonna. You should totally learn how to drive, Roxie."

"Not my name," I muttered, ignoring the fact that I do know how to drive.

"You must be close to your brother if he's allowed to call you that."

I rolled my eyes. "He'd probably cry if I didn't let him."

"True," Axel laughed. "You could've slept with that Amber girl if you wanted to."

"I didn't want to."

"Where's your sense of adventure?"

"Not with some random, possibly disease-ridden girl."

"Roxas! Don't be mean!" He laughed again.

"I should feel pumped up still," I complained, feeling drained. My eyelids were dropping and it was hard to keep my head up.

"Here." Axel threw a blanket on me. It was warm and it smelled like the ocean—a mix of salt and fresh air.

Instead of complaining, I kept it around me and looked out the window. A group of people were walking by, loudly making jokes and shoving each other around. Maybe next time I could go with a group…I could take Sora…except he doesn't like The Sprinkles…well I could take Hayner..and maybe Naminé..and…

Axel was on top of me in the car. His green eyes reminded me of a cat's, and he was giving me a strange smile. "What are you doing?" I asked. His knees were pressed against the outsides of my thighs, preventing any real movement.

He leaned closer, whispering my name, and I felt a strange thrill in my spine.

Suddenly, a gray figure was at the window, and was grabbing Axel, dragging him outside. There was blood and sickening noises, and I realized a zombie was over my roommate, tearing into his flesh.

Oh, right. This is a dream.

The zombie was a man wearing ripped overalls. Blood smeared his face and caked his dark hair. Lunging towards me, clearly done with Axel, I tried to move away. My seatbelt prevented this and he was about to grab my throat—

"Roxas?" I blinked, and there was the real Axel. Thankfully he wasn't a pile of blood and guts outside.

His hands were on my shoulders, gently shaking me awake.

"Wha?" I asked drowsily.

"You were making weird noises."

"Oh." I used my knuckles to rub my eyes. Something was off. I glanced around, my eyes adjusting slowly to the dark. Underneath me was grass, not a plush car seat. The highway was a few yards ahead of me, cars zooming past loudly. Axel was standing nearby, now smoking a cigarette. The lit part shone brightly, more so than the dotted stars above.

"…Axel?" I finally asked. "Where the hell are we?"

"My car ran out of gas."

"Shouldn't you find a gas station? Don't you pay attention to how much fuel you have?" I immediately exploded.

I saw him shrug, taking a drag. "I guess I was too preoccupied."

"And did you…carry me here?"

"Yep."

"Why?"

"You looked so peaceful, until you started making noise."

"You could've kept me in the car!"

"I didn't want to smoke alone."

I failed to understand his logic; the car was pulled to the side, I now saw, looking sad all by itself.

"What are we doing now?" I wrapped my arms around myself, then pulled my phone out of my pocket. Three new text messages from Sora. I put it back away.

"Riku is bringing us gas, since Demyx didn't answer."

"Alright." I stood up, stretching my legs. My stomach rumbled despite the late hour and Axel grinned.

"Hungry, Roxie?"

"No."

He threw something at me without a word, and I barely managed to catch it. It was half of a Hershey's bar, still in the wrapper. I broke a square off and set it on my tongue, letting the sweetness melt. "Thanks," I muttered sarcastically.

"There he is!" Axel strode away and I followed.

That silver-haired guy—Riku—was pulling up in an old red truck. I watched as he jumped out, grabbing a gas can from the back.

"Hey!" Axel called.

"Here," Riku thrusted the can into Axel's hand.

"Thanks man!"

"No prob." He glanced at me. "Roxas right?"

I nodded.

"Nice to meet you," he said before getting back in his car.

"Hey, don't you wanna—"

Axel was cut off. "I need to go get some sleep."

"Oh alright. I owe you one."

"Yes you do," Riku said seriously.

"Nothing illegal!" Axel yelled after him as his friend sped off.

I sat back on the grass as Axel filled the tank. I finished off the chocolate, and read the texts from my brother:

Roxie! Mom says to call her.

Can I come up again soon? Like next weekend?

Answer meeee :( :( :( Look at how sad I am!

I answered with a "sure" right when Axel was gunning up the engine. I got up, wiping my jeans off, and got back into the car.

I shoved the used chocolate wrapper in my pocket as Axel asked, "So what were you dreaming about earlier?"

"Oh..zombies."

"Zombies?" He gave me a strange look, only one hand on the steering wheel as we rapidly cut through the dark night.

"Yeah, I always have zombie dreams. Sora thinks I should write a book. You know, string them all together in a giant government conspiracy kinda thing."

"Wow, that's the longest answer I've ever gotten from you!" he laughed.

"Shut up."

"So was it just zombies?" he asked casually.

Oh god, was I really talking that much in my sleep? I did do that on occasion…which meant, he may very well know exactly what was in my dreams. Shit.

"Yeah."

"Oh alright," he said easily. "It'll be a few minutes still, so you can sleep more if you want."

No way in hell was I sleeping more.

Although….he was my roommate so I'd be forced to sleep around him again soon.

But I'm sure I wouldn't have a dream like that again.