The week went too quickly. It was Friday, and my mom would be here in a few short hours. I had hung out with Naminé a few days earlier, which wasn't awkward thankfully. I had already packed and now I had nothing to do but wait around.

Axel was in the same boat. Our luggage was pilled next to the door, and we sat around quietly. I hadn't asked him about what he had meant, when he said he might like me.

There was a solid, clear knock on the door, and I went to answer it. There was a lady standing there, seeming to glare at me. She was tall and lean, wearing a black business suit with a knee-length skirt. Rectangular shaped glasses perched on her nose, and her fiery red hair was pulled back in a neat ponytail. "Well…aren't you short?" she said disapprovingly.

"Excuse me?" I asked, shocked.

She was striding in, taking in our room with obvious disgust. Which I didn't understand. We had actually cleaned it up! I had even scrubbed the bathroom out with strong smelling cleaner.

"Axel," she said simply.

"Hi mom."

No wonder why Axel was looking moody. His mom was like a dragon.

"Let's go."

"Really," he ran a hand through his hair, "you didn't have to come pick me up. I drive and—"

"I have seen that boy," she said coldly.

"Mom," Axel said quickly, glancing at me, "seriously, I don't—"

"It's one week." She drew herself up to full height. "Surely you can put up with me for seven days."

"Alright."

Suddenly, she strode up to me, sticking her hand out. I shook it; her fingers were strong and cold against my skin. "My name is Evelyn."

"Roxas," I managed. Her eyes were boring into mine, and I resisted the urge to shiver. They were the same shade as Axel's, and yet they seemed vastly different. Cold and unmoving I suppose.

"I trust you are keeping my son in good company."

I nodded.

"Very well. I hope your break is most pleasing."

Evelyn glided out of the room, Axel trailing behind. "See ya, Roxie," he muttered to me.

They left me alone to my thoughts. It took about ten minutes for the chill in the air to disappear; that woman..was not what I expected from Axel's mother to say the least. I always imagined his parents would be goofy and loud like he was; the kind of parents who don't care if you're late for your curfew, and simply make some kind of stupid joke about it. Nothing like that woman.

Another hour passed by, and my mom arrived. She was much more comforting than Evelyn. She pulled me into a giant hug the second she saw me. I greeted her, my voice muffled. She was wearing plain, light green clothes, and a giant smile. "Are you ready to go, sweetheart?" she was already asking.

"Yeah." We both grabbed a suitcase, and hurried to her car. Sitting in the passenger's seat, I felt comfortable and at home. The seats were made of plush leather, and a vanilla air freshener was stuck into one of the vents.

The chit chat was alright. I had a lot to tell her from my classes, of course.

"So Roxas," she said after we had been silent for a while. I had been staring out the window, the radio playing some pop junk she loved. I had already heard a few songs more than once in the past half hour.

"What?" I looked over and she appeared nervous. Oh great.

"I know how close you are with your brother."

"Uh-huh," I said slowly. I needed to steer away from this conversation quickly, but what could I do? I was trapped in the car, and there was no graceful way to change the subject. That's why I had wanted Sora to drive me.

"Well, I was just thinking that you could maybe help him meet someone, or try talking to him, or—"

"Mom, no."

"Don't be unreasonable, darling." Her voice was getting higher pitched with each word. "Your father—"

"Mom, please, drop it." I rubbed my temples, feeling an old ache there. "You already know what I think."

"I just thought it would be a good time."

"Thanksgiving is the perfect time to forget all that shit."

"Roxas! Don't curse!"

"Sorry."

"Honestly, has college changed you that much?"

"No," I muttered. "You just made me angry."

Suddenly she was digging in the side of her door, and she produced a granola bar. "You hungry?"

Nice peace offering.

When we pulled up to our house, I barely recognized it. It had to be three times bigger since I left. "Mom…"

"Isn't it nice?" We both hopped out of the car, and she beamed at me. Our house was very suburban, painted with whites and greens, and now it was bulging out on the right side, cutting into our yard. There was a tiny bit of frost on the grass, making it sparkle, and a few left over flowers were dying near the sidewalk.

"It's..bigger."

"You just have to see the new edition!"

"Edition?" I said blankly.

"ROXIE!" Sora flew through the air and caught me in a hug.

I took a few step backs to avoid falling. "Hey."

"Hi!" Sora bounced up and down. "Tour?" He looked at mom, who nodded, and then he yelled, "Tour!"

We entered and I was led through the recent changes. An entire hallway on the first floor was added; it contained three rooms. One was an office for my dad, one was a guest room, and one was another (although smaller) living room. "It's nice," I shrugged.

"I usually hang out in here now," Sora said, gesturing around the living room. My Xbox was sitting in front of a new, flat screen TV.

"Jesus," I said, barely keeping up.

"Isn't it great?"

"Where'd mom go?"

"She's baking you a pie!"

"Alright. I'm gonna go unpack, ok?"

"Ok!"

Thank god my room was the same. If they had touched it, I would have been furious.

I threw my clothes into the dresser, slamming it shut, and sitting on my old bean bag chair. I could hear the front door opening, which meant my dad was home. It was going to be a long, long week.

XxXxXxX

Sora and I were playing a board game a few days later when my dad burst into the room. He was holding a tray of cookies my mom had just baked. He set them down near us, grinning. He was a large guy who always wore suits or button down shirts. "Hey kiddos," he greeted.

"Hi!" Sora said.

"Hi," I said.

"I know we haven't had time to hang out yet since I've been busy with work, but I was thinking the three of us could go look at hot tubs."

"Hot tubs?" Sora's head shot up with interest.

"Yeah, your mother and I have decided to get one."

"Yay!" Sora jumped up.

"We're not done with our game yet," I put in, scowling. It wasn't the game I cared about. I just didn't want to spend time with this stranger.

"You can finish it later," he said, bowing out into the hallway.

I had no choice in the matter, and found myself riding along. I managed to zone out the whole experience pretty well, but I had to wonder just how much my dad had to buy before he was happy. I mean, sure, he was making a lot of money…it just all seemed so fake to me.

My phone buzzed. Free me!, Axel had said.

Free me first, I replied.

"Who's that?!" Sora tackled me while dad discussed something with an employee.

"Axel," I pushed him off.

"Tell him I said hi!"

"Yeah, yeah."

Axel was sending me info about some chat room and inviting me to talk later if I got bored. Olette also sent me a message inviting me to stay at her house tomorrow night.

"Hey dad?" I asked. He was frowning at a hot tub, and looking at the buttons.

"Yeah?"

"Can I stay over at Olette's tomorrow?"

He gave me a look. "It's almost Thanksgiving, Roxas."

"Yeah but I never see her when I'm at school."

"Fine as long as you tell mom. And don't give her any grandchildren yet."

"Yeah right," I muttered.

When I told her, she looked like she wanted to cry; I felt bad, but I was determined to go. I had already had enough of this place.

That night, I did find Axel online.

Roxas82 has logged in

HotFlames: Hi Roxie!

Roxas82: Seriously? Ur name

HotFlames: Don't you love it? I had it as something else earlier but I didn't wanna offend you ;)

Roxas82: It sounds stupid

HotFlames: So mean :(

Roxas82: I try

HotFlames: How's your family?

Roxas82: Eh. How do I make this chat stop booping?

I was laying on my bed with my laptop on me, the room completely dark. Everyone else was asleep, so I had headphones on full blast. The annoying beeping noises were interrupting my music, and often too because Axel was replying quickly.

HotFlames: Hit options and mute it.

Roxas82: Alright got it

HotFlames: Sorry about my mom

Roxas82: She doesn't seem like your mom

HotFlames: She's a lawyer

Roxas82: Makes sense

HotFlames: Anyway, I was supposed to stay with Demyx but got dragged here

Roxas82: That sucks

HotFlames: Tell me about it. What have you been up to?

Roxas82: Hanging out with Sora

HotFlames: Sexy

Roxas82: You weirdo

HotFlames: Kidding :p we should find a way to go back to school early

Roxas82: They're so strict tho

HotFlames: We could live in my car

Roxas82: No

HotFlames: Yes!

Roxas82: No

HotFlames: Aww you make me cry Roxie

Roxas82: I doubt that

HotFlames: Why does your family bug you so much?

Roxas82: I dunno. They seem so fake.

HotFlames: Fake?

My fingers were hovering above the keyboard when suddenly arms were squeezing my torso. I threw my headphones off, staring at Sora. He beamed at me, lying next to me and hugging me. "Shit you scared me," I muttered.

"Is that Axel?" He shoved his face near my screen.

"Yeah, yeah," I pushed him away.

"Hi!"

Roxas82: Sora says hi

HotFlames: Hey Sora

"What are you doing in here?" I asked.

"I couldn't sleep," he pouted.

"You're not sleeping in here."

He fell silent, playing with a loose string on my blanket. He twirled it around his finger a few times, then said, "You always accept me, huh?"

"You know I do."

"Alright." Twirl twirl. "Oh so I am going to graduate from high school early! And go to school with you next semester!"

"What?" I set my laptop aside for the moment, staring at him. "Really?"

"Yep!"

I knew he was smart, and I knew he missed me..but I did not expect this. "But why? Don't you want to graduate with all your friends?"

"I'll say bye," he shrugged.

"What about the big graduation ceremony?"

"I want to go to school with you!"

"I know that but," I shook my head. "Are you sure?"

"Yes!" he shrieked, hugging me again. I hugged him back this time, confused. My brother was so weird.

"Is it because dad?" I said finally.

Sora let go of me, looking away. "He's alright. He buys me a lot of games."

I snorted. "That man buys everything."

He giggled, then added quietly, "I don't like him that much."

"But you like everyone," I argued, because it was true.

"I mostly like you!" He tackled me, and I made a frantic grab at my computer so I wouldn't land on it.

We half wrestled until I managed to get him off. Sora smiled at me; I could just barely make him out in the dark now that my laptop was closed. I did miss hanging out with my brother, even though he was a little crazy and goofy. And before I went to school, he would sneak into my room about once a month, so this was pretty normal. We'd either talk, or he'd drag me off to do something with him. On occasion, he slept in my bed, but that was only when one of us was really really upset. We had each other, if no one else. Sora was pretty close to my mom, although that seems to have changed; I could only blame my dad. He hadn't become a different person, not quite. His actions were different, however, and it affected everything. Mom was more quiet and she would do anything to please her husband. Poor Sora probably felt alone here.

I coped with it by holing up in my room most of the time.

Sora shifted and I glanced over at him. He leaned forward, kissing my cheek.

"I'm your brother, you know."

"I know!" he said happily. "If you weren't, maybe I would have kissed you on the lips."

I punched his arm. "You'd better not."

He laughed, jumping off the bed. "How's Axel?"

"He's fine," I said slowly. Oh shit, he's probably still online. I yanked my laptop towards me, opening it. The light made my eyes sting.

HotFlames: Helloooo?

HotFlames: I see how it is

HotFlames: You think Sora is cooler than me! :c

Sora hovered in my doorway. "He's a nice guy."

"He's a moron," I snorted.

"Night night!" He hopped away.

Roxas82: Sorry my brother is distracting

HotFlames: I was about to get off

Roxas82: Bedtime already? :p

HotFlames: It's only 12!

By the time we stopped talking, it was three in the morning. I settled into my bed, yawning.