A/N: I don't know what to say.

Wait, yes I do! I have 235 reviews! AHHHHHH! I love it! It's not like a half way mark or anything, but I don't think I made a big enough deal about it last chapter! I have 235 reviews! YES!

And because I feel like rambling, we are going to have a small "WHAT'S THE AUTHOR BEEN UP TO" session. Since prom, I have graduated (Duh.), I cut my hair from the middle of my back to a little boy cut, I work almost non-stop, my friend and I stopped being, well, friends (I've complained about that enough; you know that, already.), and I have recently began to see every movie ever released to theatres. Yeah. That's me now. Oh! And when I'm not sleeping, at work, or at a movie, I'm working on this blasted story…yeah. I'm hoping, hoping, HOPING to have this done by the end of August.

I think I can do it…I hope I can do it. le sigh

Onto the story!

&$&$&$&$&$&

We don't mind the anger
We don't mind the pain
We don't mind the emptiness
As long as you feel the same- Empathetic by Me.

Roxas walked out of his room, into the living room where his mother was watching a court room drama and balancing her check book. She glanced at him when he sat down next to her, rolling her eyes when he heaved a fake sigh; she pushed him with her shoulder. "May I help you?" She asked indulgently, throwing her hair over her shoulder.

Roxas' head rolled around on his shoulders, poofing his lips out in diversion. He sighed, glancing at his mom from the corner of his eye. When he took in her bored face, he cracked a grin. He took a deep breath and hopping around on the couch, like a five year old. "What are you getting me for Christmas?"

Her head fell limply into her hand, the motion clearly saying, 'of course.' She sighed and looked up at him, her eyes sarcastic and hard. "A lump of coal, it's all you deserve." She said frankly, going back to her check book.

"I beg to disagree."

"Beg all you like." She said without looking up at him. "Santa is bringing you the biggest lump of coal he can get his fat, pudgy fingers on."

"Come on, Mom." Roxas said, pouting. "You've told me what you're getting me for Christmas for the last five years." He grabbed her arm and shook it, giving her barely enough time to jerk her pen away from the book.

"I know. But it takes all the excitement out of it for me…" She said with guilty blue eyes.

Roxas stared at his mother for a moment, taking in how uncaring she really looked. "You are a terrible liar, Mom."

"Shut up, kid." Phoenix said pushing him away by using his head.

He laughed, fixing his mussed up hair. When he had his hair tamed, he threw himself onto his mother, causing a surprised squeak to escape from her lips. "Tell me! You know you wanna." He yelled, pinning Phoenix's arms down by her sides so she couldn't push him off.

"Get off me, freak-monger!" She yelled, wiggling around his arms. She tried to move her arms around to attack her son, but she was getting nowhere quickly. She glared at Roxas, huffing upsetly. She was about to tell him that if he didn't get off her, she was going to sell him to the gypsies, but then he gave her the puppy eyes. She shrugged out of his embrace, acting like he was smoothing out the wrinkles on her nonexistant sleeves. "I'm getting a house, Roxie." She said, pushing her hand over his mouth before he could squeal.

As soon as she was sure that he wouldn't scream like a mad fangirl, she released him, weary of his large eyes and stunned face. "A…a house?" He asked, unbelievingly. "As in, no more apartment?"

"Yeah, is that okay?" She asked with a quirked eyebrow, sarcastically.

He shuffled around on the couch, rubbing his scar unconsciously, reminding him of Sora, who took great delight in brushing up against it. "What's the chance of it setting on fire?"

"There are smoke alarms." She laughed. "Good ones. Brand new, they are." She reassured him. "I held a lighter under it to make sure that it went off, even." She said, petting his hair.

He swatted her hand away, smoothing his hair to the flat of his head with his hands. "How many bedrooms?"

"Three. I figure one for me, one for you, and one for your brunette shadow." She said, referencing to her nearly adopted Sora.

"Sora doesn't need his own room." Roxas said, maybe a little too quickly. He looked over to his mother quickly, noticing a slightly suspicious glint in her eyes. She smirked a little, resting her elbow on her knee and her head in the same hand.

"Are you two gonna share forever?" She asked sweetly.

He blushed. "We don't mind…"

"Am I out of the loop on something?" She asked with a slight bit of a quirked eyebrow, leaning closer for the answer Roxas was sure to mumble as a desperate means of escape. He tried to lean away from her, lying on his elbows with a pout. But to prove that she was mom and there was no escaping her, Phoenix followed after him, lying on top of him and wrapping her hands in his shirt.

Roxas harrumphed, glaring down at his mother. "We went on a date last Friday?" He asked, unsure if that was what she wanted to here by the mock serious look in her face. Damn his mother for being one of the best people he knew at keeping their face relaxed.

"What? And I didn't get pictures?" She said monotonously, her delicate hand smacking his shoulder lightly as it came to pass that she was scowling at him in a betrayed manner.

Roxas looked dubious. "It's not like it was a ball or something, Mom. We went to the movies."

"What'd you two go see?" She smirked, pervertedly.

"Some horror flick." He shrugged non-commitally, waving it off because he could honestly remember nothing about it. "It was super cheesy and I totally called the ending five minutes into it."

"And what was the ending?"

"The dude died, and the chick killed the bad guy." Came the younger's vague answer, accompanied with a willowy wave of his hand.

"Is that the only part you watched?" His mother asked accusingly, rearranging herself on the couch so as to become more comfortable, still using Roxas as a head rest. She pet his sides lovingly, listening to the sound of her son's breathing.

"No…I watched the beginning too. It was only after that that we turned into heathens." He said with a smirk.

Phoenix sighed, before her eyes bulged. "Please say you didn't lose any clothing."

Roxas thought for a moment. "Hmm?" He wondered, enjoying watching his mother's face wash over in shock. He smiled contently. "There was only one sock I couldn't find."

"Oh…dear." She said, sitting upright with her hand over her heart. "Not the ones with your name on the bottoms, right?"

He laughed, victoriously. "I was kidding, Mom. Just kidding." He grinned, catching her pen that she had thrown at him.

&$&$&$&$&$&$&

"I'm taking tomorrow off. I need to go to an all day seminar. Can you handle Sephiroth by yourself?" Aerith said as she bustled around the kitchen in a furious attempt to straighten everything in the house at once. She put the dishes up with one hand, wiping the counter with the other. She counted the number of shots in the fridge while cleaning it at. Now she was sweeping while giving instructions to Riku. He wondered briefly when she had become the maid, but with him never home, and Sephiroth going just a bit pear-shaped in the head, he figured she had to do something to keep herself from joining his brother in the mindless epitome that was Angel's disease.

He, contrary to Aerith, sat on a kitchen chair, his feet propped up at the table, thinking about everything from the worst day of his life, when his mother had died, to the admittedly not bad day, when Axel had kissed him, just last Wednesday. At Aerith's question, however, he pulled out of his haze, putting away the memory of the way it had felt to be up against the tall, and way too thin redhead. "Yeah. I did it before you showed up, believe it or not." He said with a guilty frown. He did do it!

She stopped sweeping and sat on the table in front of him, smoothing down her pretty scrubs. With a sweet smile she nodded. "Okay." She said, tucking his hair behind his ear, fondly. The smile left soon though as she looked into his eyes, and he just knew she could see what he was hiding. He just knew that she had seen the signs. He blinked, rapidly and looked away from her deep green eyes, making it his buisiness to stare at the slowly cleansing floor. He didn't look back up at her until she stood again and began sweeping, talking to him again as if Sephiroth were her pet in need of being watched. "Be careful, and try locking the drawers. His weakness is making it hard to break anything. So, that's what I've been doing when you're gone."

"Okay." Riku said with a nod.

She gave a quick swipe across her brow, wiping away the light sweat that she was getting from working so fast. "Your uncle's coming by later tonight," She said with a frown at Xemnas' title. "He'll be here with some food, so you don't have to worry about trying to cook." She said with a sigh, leaning over to pick a large piece of paper off of the ground. She read through it quickly, before deciding it wasn't worth keeping and pressing it into the trashcan.

"I can cook." Riku sounded off indignantly, folding his arms across his chest.

She sighed, pressing her head into her palm. "I know you can." She said, calmly, tiredly. "Xemnas just wants a reason to visit. He's been meaning to have a family dinner, and I think since I'm here, it's impeding that progress." She grumbled, getting the dustpan from in front of Riku. She leaned down on the floor and swept the dust into the pan, scooting it back a few inches to get the extra dirt.

He watched her stand up to pour the trash into the garbage, appreciating her more than he had appreciated anyone within the last hear and a half year. She had done everything for the two of them in these past months. Even so much as to take care of Sephiroth when it was obviously, not her place. It was his. It was Riku's, or so he thought. "I'm sorry I haven't been here." He offered, quietly, hating the way her gaze snapped to his, sympathetically.

She took a trembling breath, setting down across from him slowly. The entire time, her eyes were averted, looking at the floor under his seat. "It's easier." She said, softly, her hand finding his knee comfortingly. "It's easier for strangers to watch people die." She refused to look at him, her face deep red, whether from her over exertion, or from embarrassment at having admitted that there was no way Sephiroth was pulling out of this, he wasn't sure.

"You're not a stranger, anymore, though." He defended. "And I've completely pawned him off on you." He spat, bitter in a split second.

She rubbed his knee, finally looking up into his eyes. She stared into his eyes again, but began talking regardless, keeping all of his attention on her. "I don't love him like you do." She said in a brutally truthful manner. "I've learned how to keep to the other side of the glass. Even if I am closer to some patients than the others, I've never been stupid enough to get attached." She grabbed his arm, now staring contently at her pink nurses outfit. She stood then, grabbing her little brown leather purse. "Bye, Riku. I'll see you the day after tomorrow." Aerith said, giving him a quick hug, and exiting the house before there was even a slight chance that another awkward conversation could start.

&$&$&$&$&$&$&

All three members of Sora's family had decided to act somewhat remotely like family on Saturday afternoon, choosing to have breakfast together. So it was that Cid was at the stove, sweating like a pig to finish the entire breakfast course, consisting of bacon, eggs, potatoes, and toast. Acylone read her magazine with false rapt, and Sora watched his mother expectantly, waiting for her to pop with whatever 'news' she had found out.

His heart hammered in thought that she had already found out that he was doing more than just the friend thing with Roxas. That he would A.) have to stop seeing Roxas that instant, or B.) leave this house that very second so she didn't have to look at his fag face. And he really wanted breakfast. Biting his lip subconsciously, he didn't see his mother's face pop out of her magazine with a disgusted frown.

"You know your friends…uh, Leo and Claus?" She asked, waving her hands vaguely in the air. "They graduated two years before you. You know the ones." She looked at him expectantly, watching his face for any sign of recognition.

Deciding it was much too early in the morning to play dumb, especially when his father, not ten feet away, knew exactly she was talking about. He took a deep breath, releived that it wasn't Roxas she was bringing up, at least for today. "Leon and Cloud." He corrected, leaning back in his seat, and folding his arms across his chest. "What about them?"

"Did you know they're gay?" She put her magazine down with a snap, her eyes hard, and cold as she asked the question through pursed lips.

He smiled, looking around the room, in utter disbelief of his mother. Rotating his head around to look at his mother with empty eyes. "Did your gaydar go off again? He asked with a smirk. Out of the courner of his eyes he could see his father shake his head in a way said that he was disapproving of the way he spoke to his mother, but he didn't care at the moment. He pushed his chair away from the table and jumped up on the island in the kitchen, further away from his mother, and right in the way of what his father was doing.

She scoffed as she picked her magazine back up. "Sora, this is no laughing matter. Do you know that's three of your friends that are gay?"

Sora scrunched his eyebrows, his eyes looking around the room in confusion, noting the same look on his father's face. He held up three fingers in his mother's direction, taking his other hand and hovering it above him. 'Leon,' he mouthed, beginning to fold down his index finger. 'Cloud,' he followed the other name, beginning to pulled down his ring finger, while staring at his mother's back. Before he could peel his ring finger down, leaving in it's place an obscene gesture as a substitute for the unknown person, his father's hand closed around his fist, folding all of his fingers into his palm. He withered guiltily under Cid's stare, before nodding and returning to his mother. "Mom, I only count two."

Acylone twirled I her chair, to stair at him, and whisper in a conspiring tone, "Leon, Claus, and Riku are all gay." She turned back around

"Cloud. C-L-O-U-D. Cloud." He corrected under his breath. Twisting around on the island to look out the window, with and agitated huff, he asked, "Do you hire detectives to find this stuff out?"

She shrugged, turning the page to her magazine. "It's just in the gossip system."

"How do you know it's true, then, honey?" Cid asked, watching from the corner of his eye as Sora rolled his eyes, and shook his head. The boy sucked his bottom lip in between his teeth, closing his eyes while taking a deep breath. He hopped down off the counter, straightening his tee-shirt.

"All of my sources are reliable." She snapped at her husband. She sighed afterwards, when he didn't take the time to properly get angry and glare at her. "Sora, I don't think you should hang out with them anymore. Who knows what kind of influence they're giving you." She said, giving her son a meaningful look, practically telling him, 'do it, or die.'

"Yeah, mom. Whatever." Sora said. He took a plate from the cupboard, taking some toast, bacon and eggs that his father served him. The potatoes weren't done but he didn't feel like waiting for them. He was hungry and he wanted to get away from his mother so badly. "I'm eating in my room." He told his father, staring at the food on his plate when his father looked at him in what, to Sora, appeared to be a disappointed gaze.

He walked away quickly before his father could say anything, ignoring, completely, his mother.

&$&$&$&$&$&$&

Kairi walked around downtown with no one but herself to keep her company. She had gone into several stores, and found several of her friends. But she had found nothing that she wanted to buy, and no one that she wanted to hang out with. They all had significant others, and were just too happy, and they all reminded her of Namine and her cruel words, more than a week gone.

So she was alone, kicking pebbles on the sidewalk further down the sidewalk so she could kick them when she had come close enough again. She was almost about to go home, lounge on her bed, maybe consider watching television instead of wallowing in self-pity. Just as she was about to turn around and head away from this street and back to the vacant car-lot where she had parked her vehicle, she saw a familiar bounce of short black hair. It was the assistant teacher for Professor Luxord…what was her name…

She stomped her foot, trying to get the name to come back to her. Yuppie…Yorkie…Yuki…Yuffie! That was it! Yuffie! Yuffie was an interesting enough person, no significant other, a pet moogle that she dispised…perfect for saving her from boredom.

Jogging over to the almost-college graduate, she stopped next to her, folding her hands in front of her innocently. "Hi, Miss Yuffie. What are you doing out here?" She asked, looking at the big bags hanging limply in her hands.

"Christmas shopping." Yuffie said with a smile and a shrug.

Kairi nodded, trying to look into the bag for any hint of what she was buying. When she found none, she guessed, randomly. "For your family?"

She shook her head,"No. Just decorations. My parents are the only family I have. They don't want me to buy them anything." She said, waving her hand around in the air, as if it should be obvious to Kairi.

The younder nodded, toeing the ground in front of her nervously. "Are you about done?" She asked with a pounding heard.

Yuffie shook her head visciously. "No. I've got, like, zillions of stores I have to stop by. I love holidays. I have to completely go overboard on every single one!" She laughed, giving Kairi a little shove.

Kairi stepped back a few paces, laughing along with the bruette. "Do you, uh, mind if I go with?" She asked, loosing her smile and looking at Yuffie hopefully. She wasn't precisely sure why she wanted to go with Yuffie…but it was better than being on her own. It was better than wallowing in her self-pity on her bed with cartoons running in the background.

"Don't you have friends to gallivant around with?" She asked skeptically, looking around for even children ready to throw…rocks at her.

Kairi shrugged with a sad smile, knowing how pathetic she must look."We're on the fritz right now."

"Whatever." The elder smiled. "Come on."

Kairi sighed with relief, and hurried after her as she had already started on her way to her next store.

&$&$&$&$&$&$&

The ringing interrupted him from his position of staring numbly into the television screen, while his brother slept comfortably on his bed. He had been like this ever since Aerith had left, not getting up to get a drink, any food, not even his cigarettes…which he was really craving right about now, there were a few times he was positive he wasn't even blinking, but then he would blink because he had thought about it and then decide that he was obviously still blinking. He had flipped through the channels several times, the cartoons getting old, only so many cop shows he could take, and finally he had to give in, deciding to watch Days of Our Lives.

He sighed, readjusting in his seat for a better position to fall asleep in. He was almost there, too, but just as he was about to hit that lovely haze between sleep and wakefulness his cell phone started buzzing wildly in his pockets, which he was lately beginning to despise the tightness of. Pulling out his death-phone, he stared blankly at the number on the screen.

"Yeah? Who is this?" He demanded.

"Hey. It's me!"

He rolled his eyes. "Who's 'me'?"

"Axel. Freak." He chastised, as if it should be apparent to the entire world.

"How'd you get my number."

"You called me whenever you whooped Seifer's ass. I saved it in my phone." He heard the chuckle on the other end of the line. "How'd you think I was going to call you?"

"I didn't think you would call me at all!" Riku said, loudly. "We're guys. We don't call back if the end of the world is eminent."

"Yeah. Whatever. What are you doing?" Axel asked.

"I'm brother-sitting." Riku sighed, putting his phone on speaker, setting it on the arm of the chair, and then leaning his head back to force himself into the mindlessness that was the TV.

"How's that going?"

"Oh, I think Sephiroth is setting a religion completely based on sleep." Riku said with an affirmative nod.

"So…what are you doing?"

"I'm watching a Days of Our Lives Marathon."

"Are you serious?" Axel deadpanned, and Riku could practically see the unbelieving stare from him.

"Yeah. I was watching cartoons earlier, but they're really stupid. I needed something with drama. What are you doing?" He asked, playing with a loose thread in his seat.

"I'm on my way to Demyx's."

Riku perked at the name. "You still talk to that kid?" He asked incredulously.

"I think I talk to him more than I talk to Roxas."

Axel sighed, listening to his stomach growl. He poked his stomach, with a small frown. "Is that on the way to my house?"

"It can be." Axel said vaguely.

"I don't want to make you go out of your way."

"Riku!"

"Will you pick me up some Japanese food?" He asked quickly.

He could here the smile. "What do you want?"

&$&$&$&$&$&$&

Not a second after hanging up with Axel, Riku's phone buzzed again, causing Riku to growl in frustration that his phone was constantly going off. He was about to flip it open and tell whoever was on the other line to stop fucking calling him, but he read the ID.

The Uncle

He sighed, flipping over the cover and pressing it to his ear. "Yeah?"

"Riku?"

"Yeah?" He said again, irately.

"I'm on my way. I'm bringing some Burger Land." He said, making Riku immediately stick his tongue out in disgust.

"Super." He choked out. "See you in an hour." He said before immediately shutting the phone to escape any chance of his uncle wanting a 'heart to heart.'

&$&$&$&$&$&$

"Sora, are you sure this is okay? " Roxas asked, trying to pull back on Sora's hand, to get him to keep walking farther down the street. "They don't even know me. How do I know I'm not impeding?"

Sora gave a final tug, pulling Roxas closer to him, and wrapping his arm the other's waist. "Roxas, you don't know these people like I do. They impede on themselves." He said as he walked down the path to the house Roxas was trying desperately to escape entering. "These two are probably the worst people on earth to hook together, because most of the time, they don't talk to each other!" Sora stopped at the door, pulling the dirty-blonde- haired boy around to look at him. "Trust me, if anyone's impeding on anything, they're impeding on themselves. Kay?"

Roxas sulked, but nodded regardless, moving a little behind Sora as he knocked on the door, firmly. They waited silently, or as silently as they could with Sora chastising Roxas for trying to shrink further and further behind him. It wasn't that Roxas was shy around new people; he was actually very outgoing, but he remembered these two when they were in high school. They weren't precisely the friendliest of people.

It was several moments before the door opened, and Roxas was about to start appealing to Sora that there was a lovely store just around the corner that Sora could rob if he felt like it, but the door opened, causing Roxas to clutch Sora's hand intensely.

"Just fucking drop it, you prick! It's not important!" Roxas heard from behind the cracked door, causing his grip to tighten on the hand he was holding. There wasn't a response from whoever was yelling at whom, but the door opened all the way. In the door frame, there stood a tallish man with blonde hair and blue eyes. He looked hacked off, cold, and withdrawn until his eyes landed on Sora and Roxas.

"Sora," He asked, "Who is this?"

"Roxas, this is Cloud." He said, giving a sharp tug on his arm to pull in out into view. He stepped inside the house, pushing Cloud aside as if he owned the place. Down around in the kitchen, he could see a head-full of long dark brown tresses. "The grim looking one is Leon." He said, pointing to the man in the chair, who turned around to regard Sora with a glare, until he saw his partner. "Leon, Cloud, this is Roxas, my boyfriend." Sora finally said, spinning around so they could both get a good look at Roxas.

"It's nice to meet you." Leon said with a slight bow of his head. He turned to Sora instantly after he said his nicety, though, giving him a small, steely glare, which, of course, Sora took no notice of. "What are you doing here?" He demanded, standing up and waving at the chair as an invitation that Roxas could have it, an offering Roxas took with only too much pleasure.

"We were bored…" Sora said with a shrug, when he caught Roxas' meaningful stare he amended leisurely. "Okay, I was bored. My mom ticked me off so I grabbed Roxas and came over here. I figured it'd be a good bonding experience." He said, throwing his arm around Cloud's shoulder.

Cloud huffed, pushing the young brunette off of him. "Bonding." He scoffed, rolling his eyes and leaving the room with a cold glare to Leon. All three occupants of the kitchen were silent for a moment, listening as Cloud threw himself onto what two of the three knew to be the couch.

The tall brunette sighed, irately. "Don't mind him." Leon said, waving his hand in the general direction that Cloud had walked off in. "He's mad at me… again."

"Why?" Sora asked, sitting down next to his boyfriend, who once again shot his hand out to grab Sora's hand.

"Hell, if I know." Leon said with a shout. "He's very in touch with his estrogen today." He said, banging on a kitchen wall, to emphasize his point.

"Take a sugar frosted fuck." They heard from the living room.

"He's very pleasant too." Leon deadpanned, leaning up against the wall he had just hit, and folding his arms over his chest.

Sora snickered. "What did you do?" He asked, watching Leon's face as he rolled his eyes expressively.

"What did your mom do?" He countered, refusing to give anything up, without having fair payment.

Sora shrugged, noncommittally, acting as if what he was about to say didn't bother him. "She's hired detectives to sniff out every gay person on the planet, so as to save me from becoming one."

Leon glanced at Roxas, who was sitting next to Sora in a very uncomfortable manner. He looked closely at their interlaced fingers, and smirked. "I can see it's working."

Sora nodded, giving Leon a calculating look. "Now, what did you do?" He asked giving the other brunette a scrutinizing look. Roxas looked between the two, watching the way they interacted so easily. He never would have thought that kind, sweet Sora could make himself at home with the not so kind, not so sweet Leon and Cloud.

"I asked to meet his parents."Leon growled.

"And he's mad at this?" Sora laughed, looking at Leon as if he had suddenly gotten a sense of humor.

"I think he sees it as a commitment thing." Leon said loudly. "He has commitment issues."

There was a 'thunk' on the wall Leon was leaning against, causing his to jump and glare at the wall in betrayal. After that, they all heard stomping, and finally, an, "I do not!" from the disgruntled Cloud.

Leon returned his gaze to them, "He does." He said with a nod, leaning back against the wall before jumping again when there was another 'thunk.'

&$&$&$&$&$&$&

Riku ran outside when he heard a car pull into his driveway. There was only one person it could be, because if it were his uncle he would gladly sit in his seat and do nothing. But his uncle had another forty-five minutes before he arrive, leaving only Axel. Axel, who had better of brought his food or he was never speaking to him again.

Riku stopped short however, when an odd car was parked in his driveway, instead of the one Axel had used to pick him up in that day…however long ago it was. It was white and odd looking. But inside, he could make out the profile of Axel, who was rummaging around in the passenger seat, so he patiently waited, leaning against his shut door for support.

The redhead finally noticed him from the corner of his eye, he grabbed something, and then threw the door open. "Hey." Axel yelled as he clambered out of a car, not the one he had picked Riku up in. He shut the door with his free hand. He jogged up to the Riku, turning around when he noticed that the lunar-haired boy couldn't stop staring at the car. He smirked a little, pulling his keys out of his pocket and pressing the lock button. He heard the locks go down…

'beep beep.'

Riku jumped as the alarm letting Axel know the doors were locked went off. When the redhead began laughing he turned around and punched his shoulder, muttering something under his breath that sounded an awful lot like, 'jerk,' to the other. He sighed, looking at the car one more time, before he asked, "Whose car?"

Axel shrugged. "Mom's."

"Who did the other car belong to?" Riku asked confused, hoping beyond hope that it hadn't been stolen.

"Dad."

Riku nodded, noticing the light black jacket that was tied around Axel's waist. "I see you have your coat." Riku laughed, pulling on the light knot that kept the jacket on his non-existent hips.

He slapped Riku's hands away from him, glaring at the younger with his poison-green eyes. "Yeah. I'm trying my best not to become an icicle."He held out a white paper bag. "Here. Salmon infested sushi, no wasabi, or ginger, and your icky miso soup."

Riku smirked, putting his hand on the doorknob behind him. "I like you a whole lot better than I did earlier."

"Oh, good." Axel clapped, unenthusiastically. "I'm climbing up in the world."

"Yes, indeed." He looked up at Axel from under his bangs, a calculating smile. "Wanna come inside for a few minutes?" He asked, pushing the door to his house open invitingly.

Axel looked behind him, taking in the homely, lived-in appearance of Riku's house. Looking back at Riku, he nodded. "Yeah." He answered, following Riku into his house, and closing the door behind them.

&$&$&$&$&$&$&

Namine sat on Marluxia's couch, reading threw on of his botanical books, while he flipped through channels in a very bored fashion.

"Jason…how could…"

"Come on, Patrick! We need…"

"Now if you'll watch how careful I am with this…"

"If you call now you can…"

'click'

Marluxia turned the television off with the grim expression. He rearranged himself on the couch, scooting closer to his fiancé on the other side of his couch. She took no visual notice of him, only flipping the page of her book with interest. He sighed and put his head on her shoulder, looking at the way his hair fanned over her white dress, and pale skin. Still she did nothing.

He sighed, pushing her with his shoulder. "Have you told your parents?" he asked, picking his head off her, and wrapping his arm around her shoulder instead.

"No." Came her clipped reply, as she turned the page to her book.

"Why?" He asked, looking at her as if he had just been betrayed.

"I don't want to listen to them." She said, gently, setting her book down on the coffee table so she could look at him fully.

"Think they'll throw a fit?" He asked, hoping that that was the only reason that show wouldn't want to tell her parents. He had pink hair after all.

"Oh, trust me, Marluxia. I know they will." She said, with a humorless laugh. "They'll blow a gasket and then lock me in a room in a far away place where the only one who knows me name is my bed." She said, with an unhappy sigh.

He nodded, giving her shoulders a comforting squeeze. "Are you going to tell them?" He asked, worriedly. He was fine with her not wanting to tell them now, but he didn't want to deal with the hassle they would go through if they were just married whenever Namine came home one day.

She looked into his eyes, practically reading his thoughts. She smiled encouragingly. "One of these days." She said, with a noncommittal shrug.

"Why don't you run away?" He asked with a laugh. "You're over here enough. It'd be a sure fire way to get away from everyone you never want to see again."

"There are days I really want to." She said with a sigh. "It's just…they know where I'd go." She seethed, her temper turning suddenly.

"Let's move." He shrugged.

"Just like that?"

"Yeah. Just like that."

"How?" Namine asked skeptically, crossing her arms over her chest challengingly.

"It'll be easy." He said, wrapping his arms around her shoulder. He leaned close to her. "I'll sell this house. Look around a few places for a new one, places far way from here. Then we'd move. I could continue in botany and you could go to school in a local college for you degree." He said with a smile pulling her closer to him.

"When did you become so compulsive?" She asked, giving him a playful shove.

"I'm not compulsive." He said defensively. "I'm trying to make you happy."

"That's sweet, Marly." She said, leaning her head on his shoulder, with a happy smile. She wasn't worried about her engagement to Marluxia anymore. She knew this wasn't a mistake. She snuggled into him. "That's very sweet."

&$&$&$&$&$&$&

Axel stayed for a good thirty minutes, watching part of Days of Our Lives with him. He had sat on the floor in front of Riku's chair the entire time, and had become Riku's personal slave, maybe all too willingly as he asked for his cigarettes, a drink of water, and the remote he had left on the table on his way to greet Axel and his weird car. Of course in return, fifteen minutes into his stay he had sat straight up and proclaimed, 'Goddamn, I am starving!' It was the most bizarre thing Riku had ever seen, and then he had proceeded to eat a good half of Riku's sushi in a heartbeat.

Then it had come time when Riku said that Axel had to go soon if he wanted to go see Demyx anytime tonight. Axel had agreed solemnly, pushing himself off the floor, pulling Riku to his feet as well. 'You have to play mister host.' He had said with a tug.

Thus they were outside, Axel with his light jacked hanging over his form like a drape, and Riku freezing his ass off because he didn't grab shoes or a coat, so he was out in the freezing fucking cold with a long-sleeve shirt, his skin tight jeans, and his socks. It wasn't very conducive to staying warm.

"Thanks for inviting me in." Axel said, laughing under his breath at the way the younger was shivering.

Riku scowled at him, pushing him off of the step he was standing on. "Thanks for eating half of my sushi, you bastard." He said the chattering teeth.

"I was hungry." He said, rubbing his stomach, happily.

"You do need to eat more." Riku said, running his hand over Axel's bony ribs. "I swear your skin and bones."

"Yeah." Axel said, keeping his laughter under control, so Riku wouldn't find out that he was ticklish. It was bad enough that Namine knew. "I've gotta get going. Demyx'll have my head if I don't get there soon." He said, taking a step off the second step of the other's porch.

"Thanks for the food." Riku said. "I owe you."

Axel smirked a bit, jumping back onto the second step to place a kiss on his freezing lips, now that they were on the same level of height. "No you don't." He said puling away.

Riku nodded, waving him off as he jogged to his car, unlocking the door, and slipping in to drive away. As soon as the car was out of sight, Riku slipped back into his house. Closing the door so he was in the safety of his house, Riku sighed. "I really do like that." He said, shaking his head shamefully at how quickly he was beginning to enjoy any time spent with Axel.

&$&$&$&$&$&$&

Axel opened the apartment door to, "Zexy! I can't find my scrubby pad!" He laughed at his friend, walking furthing into the apartment, making sure to take off his shoes, so he was not the blame of the next dirt spot Deymx found.

From the living room he heard the annoyed shout of, "Did you look under the sink?"

"Did you look in the oven?" He asked, that being the most bizarre place in his mind, so most likely the place where Demyx would leave his scrubby pad. He walked into their living room, where his favorite, volitale accountant was seething, and rubbing his forehead in irritation.

"The oven! That's where it is!" Demyx called in delight. The two living room occupants shook their heads, and Axel sat down across from Zexion, who was in the recliner, on the couch.

"Of course!" Zexion scowled. " Why didn't I think of that? That's where I leave my scrubby pad all the time." Zexion growled, shaking his head when they heard the squeezy oven open.

"Don't be mean." Axel smirked throwing Zexion's bottle of water at him, which Zexion caught deftly. The lavender haired man glared at his television, which wasn't even on, so Axel joined him, throwing himself back onto the couch to immitate Zexion.

"Hard not to be." He huffed.

Axel made a sad face for him. "Are the people being mean to you?"

"They are always mean to me." Zexion growled. "They breathe in and out all day!"

"I think that job has made you really volatile." Axel said. "In my professional opinion, of course."

Zexion sucked in a deep breath, to tell Axel off, but as soon ashe did he heard a big bang from the kitchen. "Yeah." He bit at Axel, standing up from his seat and heading towards the kitchen with an angry stomp. "Demyx!" He barked in the hallway. "What are you doing?"

"It was an accident, Zexy. I don't think I broke anything." Came Demyx's frazzled reply.

Axel made himself comfortable on the couch, preparing for a small scolding from Zexion, but what he got was Zexion coming back into the licing room, with a blank face. "Axel, can I beg you to go home?" Zexion asked, through clenched teeth.

Axel started at his appearance, more than used to Zexion's hot temper, but he usually, was very vocal about it. To see him trying to control it was, honestly, a little disconcerting. But regardless, this was his house, and when asked to leave, Axel wasn't about to argue, so he nodded. He started away from the living room, Zexion right behind him. On the way passed the kitchen he saw Demyx sitting on the floor with Zexion's ten-key, pressing the on button repeatedly, but Axel saw no light from it. He continued walking out, Zexion turning into the kitchen with a deep sigh.

Axel could only hope that this wasn't Demyx's last string.

&$&$&$&$&$&$&

"Riku! Open the door for me!" Xemnas said, kicking the door with his boot. Riku hurried from his place in front of the television to the front door, where Xemnas was still kicking on the door. He was quick to throw it open, if only so his brother didn't wake up again. When it was completely open, he glared at his uncle, who pushed passed him with a quick, "Thank you."

His uncle went into the kitchen, and thus, Riku followed to make sure that he didn't mess up any of Aerith's hard work from this morning. He sat in his usual place at the table, watching his uncle do whatever the hell it was that he was doing, Riku couldn't see really.

Amidst his randomness, Xemnas decided to strike up a spontaneous conversation, choosing, of course, to make it the most awkward he could think of. "How are you and Axel Wise getting along?"

"Great. Why?" Riku said with a forced shrug, ignoring his thumping heart at the mention of his name.

"Curious. I know you've had lots of time with him."

"I suppose he isn't as bad as I originally thought he was." Riku said, shakily. "We've talked a lot. He's actually really… caring?" He asked, grasping for a word that would describe Axel best.

"I'm sure he is." Xemnas replied, though he obviously didn't believe him. "He seems the type to help turtles across the road." He snapped a cupboard door shut, going to a different one, and throwing it open.

"I thought you would be happy that I was getting along with him."

"I'm thrilled that you're getting along with him. I just don't think it's a good idea to get all chummy with him." The old man said decisively.

"He's a good guy." Riku defended.

"You're saying this about the guy who threw you against a locker?" Xemnas scoffed. "Riku, use some sense."

"That was my fault." Riku said guiltily, bowing his head down, as he finally admitted to himself that the reason Axel had done a lot of things was really because of him.

"How?"

"I punched him first." He snapped.

Xemnas turned around to glare at him. "It doesn't mean it's your fault."

"Yeah, it really kind of does." Riku said in a voice that showed his uncle he thought it should be rather obvious.

"Riku, don't argue with me. I'm not in the mood." Xemnas snapped, opening the bag he had brought with him and pulling out three sandwiches and four packages of fries. He gave one of each to Riku, and then took more in his hands, saying, "I'm going to go take your brother some food."

"He won't eat." Riku said, sullenly.

Xemnas continued on his mission, regardless, stopping to smack Riku on the back of his head. "Stop arguing." He growled, making Riku rub his head, while glaring at the older man. Xemnas went on his way to Sephiroth's bedroom.

When Riku was sure his Uncle was in his brother's room, he threw his food away, going to wet some paper towels so he could cover his tracks.

Later that night, Riku went through the house locking the drawers like Aerith had told him to try. He had trouble locking the first few, not acquainted to locking his drawers, but after that he went threw it with ease, working threw the house to lock every thing with a sharp object in it, and even a few without. And while he was in the spare room, locking away the scissors and construction knifes that Aerith used for her sewing, Xemnas crept from the living room to the kitchen with his brief case. Setting it on the table, and opening it, he then went to the fridge and stole all of Sephiroth's tranquilizers.

&$&$&$&$&$&$&

A/N: So, this was supposed to have something in it that's supposed to be in the next chapter, but all this shit happened…and I was like, yeah…This chapter is gonna be waaaay too long. So it's split in two. Ha! I'll hopefully have the next chapter out in the next two weeks, and then you all can slay and/or love me.

Have fun…I'll be slaving away working on the next chapter. le sigh

InnocentGuilt