A/N: Oh my good gracious it's been a long time. I've had this chapter written for a while, but I had real trouble deciding where to end it and where the next chapter would kick off, but I've finally reached a conclusion. Not to mention school has been crazy. But enough with the excuses and onward with the chapter!


While I was off in my own little dizzying world getting to know Roxas, the girls seemed to have calmed down on the subject. Kairi was complaining about Sora falling asleep in lectures again, Selphie was busy with a huge assignment and Olette was her usual quiet self. She was the one who knew the most about Roxas since she caught the train with us on Wednesdays, but apart from Kairi and Selphie, she actually believed me when I said we were just getting to know each other, and so she let it be. Which I was thankful for, because it was just nice being in the moment, and it was refreshing getting to know someone like Roxas – someone I hadn't met through school, or mutual friends… someone I met by complete chance.

I didn't have to worry about the boys either. As far as Terra and Riku were concerned, Roxas was an acquaintance and friend of mine who they might see around more often. And as far as Sora knew, Roxas didn't even exist. I threatened to skin Kairi alive if she went around telling Sora I had a boyfriend, and she promised not to tell him unless something actually happened. She could keep dreaming.

I yawned and stretched at the table, causing the heads of those sitting with me to turn.

"Woah, Nam, didn't spend an all-nighter working on colouring a tree, did you?" Riku teased, once again opting for a messy kebab as his choice of meal, dropping lettuce all over the table.

I turned to him with raised eyebrows. "Drawing is a lot harder than it looks. But, uh-" I suddenly remembered what had kept me up last night, "I, yeah, I was working on an assignment til late…"

"Must be tough," He nodded unsympathetically, patting his thick law textbook.

"Oh, shush. I work harder than Sora."

At this moment Sora's head shot up from where it was resting in his arms, unfinished lecture notes by his side.

"That's true," Riku teased, to which Sora pouted. "Anyway, don't work yourself too hard, Nam. You too, Olette."

Olette looked up from her notes, taking a moment to register what he'd said after being so absorbed with her book. "Hm? Oh, I won't! We just finished an assignment so it's not too stressful right now."

"How'd you go?" Sora asked, rubbing sleep from his eyes. "I just finished an assignment too. I've got placement next week!"

"Ooh, working with five year olds, you'll be right at home," Riku teased again, and Sora punched his arm playfully.

"It'll be my first time teaching since work experience. I can't wait!"

I smiled as we listened to Sora excitedly telling us about the school he was going to, interrupted only by a buzzing in my pocket. I'd forgotten I'd started putting my phone in there. I pulled it out and quickly glanced at the screen.

"We finished our support class early! My tutor almost never lets that happened. How's your day been?"

I smiled even wider, thankful the others were so absorbed with Sora that they didn't see. I didn't want to seem rude though, so I waited til he was done before replying:

"Yay! It's been good, I'm having lunch with the others right now. Maybe you could pop by?"

Sora stood up to finally buy some lunch before his break ended, and Riku started an animated conversation about his crazy lecturer. Olette and I were giggling at his story and I was clutching at my phone ready for another buzz, but I needn't have – I saw spiky blonde hair bouncing up and down as Roxas stepped into the café.

"Hey!" I called out, waving him over, and Riku and Olette turned towards him. Roxas pulled an extra chair up next to me.

"Hey, everyone," He greeted politely. I thought it was adorable how formal he acted sometimes.

"Hey, Roxas, was it?" Riku dropped another lettuce shred as he asked. "Filling up before your next class?"

"Only briefly," Roxas chuckled, "I usually have a lecture straight after my support class, but we finished early, so I've got about fifteen minutes break."

"That's enough to fit lunch in," Riku nodded his head thoughtfully. I scoffed. "C'mon Nam, I once had to eat lunch in the five minutes between one lecture and the next, and they were on opposite sides of the campus. I tell ya, uni puts your body to the test!"

We fell silent as Cackles the cleaning lady walked by to push Sora's bag under the table (Riku giving me a fake look of despair) before retreating to the centre table where she joined the unwitting students sitting there. At that moment, Sora returned with a variety of foods, none of which looked healthy. He almost didn't notice the extra person at the table. "Oh! I didn't know there was someone else."

"This is my friend Roxas," I introduced. I was getting better at it now. "Roxas, this is Sora."

They shook hands and exchanged greetings, Sora giving a friendly grin. It never took long for Sora to make new friends, what with his goofy charm. As silly as he could be sometimes, his intentions were always genuine and true. I envied Kairi in that respect.

"So what are you studying, Roxas?" Sora asked, stuffing a jam doughnut in his mouth.

"Business," Roxas said, and I could see in his expression he was fervently wondering what on earth Sora studied – he looked like he was just here for the food.

"Oh, really? My girlfriend is doing business, maybe you know her!" The brunette turned to me, "Have you introduced him to Kairi?"

"Not yet," I smiled sweetly, and as an afterthought in my mind: or ever. Of course she would meet him eventually, but he was just a friend, so why would I go out of my way to make sure he knows all of my friends in my second week of knowing him? Plus, I didn't want to imagine what kind of tricks Kairi would pull.

"I've heard about her though," Roxas interjected, "maybe I've seen her around?"

"She's got red hair, and she's really pretty," Sora added with a lopsided grin. Another thing I envied – how completely infatuated he was with her.

"Red hair… can't say I do."

"Hm… she is doing a double degree so I guess she'd have less business classes. Well, maybe you'll be with her later on!"

Sora, Riku and Roxas began an animated conversation about guy stuff, and I looked at Olette every now and then with an amused expression. Sora seemed to get on with Roxas especially well, like they were long lost twins, interested in the same things and often spurting out similar phrases. Every now and then Roxas would glance at me with an expression I couldn't quite pinpoint, but it made my chest flutter and I revelled in the sensation.

The fifteen minutes was over before it even began, and Roxas had to leave, along with Riku and Sora. Sora bundled up his food and Roxas chuckled, saying goodbye to me before leaving. I watched them as they left; Roxas looked back at me with a smile.

I turned to Olette and she just smiled at me. I couldn't tell what she was thinking, but dismissed her somewhat questionable smirk when she said "So how's your assignment going?"

I got home that afternoon completely bushed, wishing dejectedly that I was Roxas – he'd gotten home an hour earlier, he'd boasted before. I dropped my heavy sketchbook on my desk and retreated to divulge in some relaxation.

A well-known hobby of mine, when my parents weren't around, was to play on the keyboard in the living room, my only way of playing other than the piano at uni. I wasn't overly talented and never had any lessons, but music was something I enjoyed immensely. After dropping me off, mum had gone grocery shopping, and so I was left to indulge in the silence, turning up the sound on the electric device and playing to my heart's content.

The majority of the songs I played were from games, practised to perfection from the love I had for the stories and meanings behind the notes. I even knew a few tunes from the game Roxas and I both liked. I enjoyed changing the tune from piano to piccolo, which made it sound similar to an ocarina. Who needs the real thing, right?

I was playing a piano piece when I felt a vibration in my pocket. I still wasn't quite used to having it there, but it was lucky I did – Roxas was calling.

Smiling like an idiot, I hit the receive button. "Hello?"

"Hey there." His voice emanated from the phone, sounding elated. "How was uni?"

"Tiring," I said with humourlessly, "You didn't have to go boasting you finished before me!"

He chuckled, and my smile widened without thought. "Hey, you got me up early on my Friday sleep-in, I think a deserve something! So, what are you up to?"

"Just playing some piano," I said, realising I'd stopped playing. I was an incredibly private person and not many people had heard me play, and with another's presence I had ceased practising.

His voice heightened from excitement. "Really? I was about to play my ocarina." I heard shuffling and then a note. "Hope you don't mind."

"No, I love it when you play!" It was a bit of a frustrating feeling, when someone thought something they did might bug you when in fact you found it incredibly amazing. I couldn't get enough of his playing.

A bashful chuckle, followed by a small tune. "One of your favourites, right?"

"Mhm!" I nodded even though he couldn't see me, and to my surprise I heard an equally exuberant "Mhm!" right back. I giggled. He was obviously teasing me. I turned down the volume of my keyboard and played at a few stray notes, hoping he wouldn't hear.

"Can you play any?" He asked. He must have heard. I searched my mind for any excuse not to play, but then a thought came to my mind, one I had thought unconsciously ever since meeting him.

Roxas was certainly an unexpected surprise in my life, and there was no denying that while I was taking this as just two people getting to know each other, there was a certain feeling that maybe… this would turn into something more. But being both wary, inexperienced and a bit too much of a dreamer, I decided not to look into it too much. I didn't want to rid myself of the possibility, though – so I resolved to be completely myself around him. If he was going to like me, I wanted him to like me for who I really was, instead of the way I acted around someone I might be trying to impress. I embarrassingly remembered acting totally different around my old crushes, or even worse, hiding my hobbies and talents, afraid they might think I was bad at them or that it showed a weakness in my personality. With Roxas though, I had the deepest desire to be myself and only myself. So I wasn't going to hide my hobby of piano playing and if I didn't play perfectly, well, that was just a part of who I am. I wanted Roxas to know the real me.

And so I proceeded to play another song from our game, one of the most popular and bouncy tunes. I had learnt this by ear, so the next comment didn't come as a surprise.

"Some of those notes are wrong… play the start bit again?"

Instead of judging me, he taught me how to do it right, and before I knew it I was playing the tune more akin to the original. I played again for him and he gave an enthusiastic "that's it!", and I knew I'd made the right decision.

Now it was his turn – he played a different tune, one I also liked playing. He played the first part before stopping. "The next part goes way too high to play, at least indoors with my mum around."

I took the opportunity and played the next bit myself, and he fell silent as I played it. When I finished he remarked, "That's right!"

The conversation drifted away from music for a moment and we spoke about other things, including ourselves again. I loved how with every conversation I learned more and more about him, and he learned more about me.

I turned the keyboard even lower as I played a few notes, but he didn't seem to miss a beat. "Play something!"

I hesitated – thinking back again to my resolution with fervour, but not wanting to reveal the song I'd been practising since the start of the year – I was saving that one for when I'd mastered it. I hesitated a second too long and he proceeded to play another song on his ocarina, and I was met with self-inflicted disappointment as the conversation went on, without another mention of me playing. Another resolve – no more hesitating.

I'd only known him two and a half weeks, but I'd already fallen into a routine. Wednesday brought the usual train ride with Roxas and Olette (Olette had mentioned I looked tired, to which I'd countered with 'I was up late drawing', when really I was talking to Roxas all night), Thursdays Roxas would convince me to skip a lecture to hang out, and on Friday we met up. Only this Friday was very different.

The calls had suddenly become a nightly matter, and I'd shovel down my dinner in anticipation for his call, settling in for the rest of the night. Our conversations were always light and fun and full of laughter, with the occasional compliment thrown into the mix that would always make me blush. The nightly calls had happened so suddenly I hardly realised they were actually happening.

On the Wednesday, however, he had proposed something I hadn't been prepared for:

"Why don't you come over on Friday after uni instead? We can play games all afternoon!"

Yes, our very first conversation entailed us saying we should play games together, but no one ever delivers on those kinds of suggestions, right? Well, this one was coming true, and I felt a little off-guard. Excitement seeped through me though, and then embarrassment when I asked my mother if I could go to a uni friend's house and she pulled the most horrific face when I said they were male.

The week wore on a little slower than usual, due to my anticipation. Roxas excitedly pointed to his shirt on the train saying 'look what shirt I'm wearing!' (the same one he wore that fateful day), on Thursday he felt the need to ask me "Guess what song was playing on the radio again?" (Call me maybe), and as he'd walked into the café that day he had given the most heart-fluttering wink I had ever witnessed in my life. All of these things did nothing to calm my nerves about Friday, that was for sure. I know it sounds cliché, but that wink was enough to make a girl's heart melt.

So when on Friday morning I had seeked refuge in the piano room instead of hanging out with Roxas, who had argued he'd need sleep if I wanted his full attention this afternoon, I played game songs while dreamily wondering what his house looked like and what might unfold. I knew it would be nothing like how I imagined, but it was fun all the same.

The day finally ended and I was practically bouncing in my seat on the train, wondering what he was doing at that moment. Probably still asleep, I thought with a smile. I felt a strange sense of surreal-ness. The only other boys' house I'd been to was Sora or Riku's, and my parents knew them well, so it wasn't a problem, but this was a whole new situation.

It felt much more real once my mum pulled up into the driveway of his home. His house was at the far end of a gravel road a little ways from the centre of Destiny Retreat, in the opposite direction to the beach. The block of land was quite large and the house was shrouded in tall trees, with a paddock at the far back adorning a small vege patch. It was quite charming.

I kissed mum goodbye before bolting out of the car in excitement and heading to the front door. The stretch from the gate to the house was quite long, and when I was almost there the door opened itself, Roxas greeting me with a smile. He was wearing a casual blue t-shirt that sat comfortably loose on his torso.

"Hi! Aren't you cold?" I shivered just looking at him, wearing a knitted cream jumper myself.

"Nah, I've got the fire going," He grinned, letting me inside.

I scanned my surroundings curiously. To my right was the living room, where I could see he'd already set up the retro console to the television. The computer from which he must have tried and failed to webcam me was in the far corner, and opposite that was the dining room. There was an adjoining room from there, but I couldn't see what was in it. Just in front of me was the fireplace, crackling and radiating a comforting warmth.

"So, do I get the grand tour?" I asked a little awkwardly, waiting for him to take the lead.

"Sure, follow me." He trailed around the fireplace, where there was another living room of sorts with a small couch. "This is the kitchen," He explained as we rounded the corner onto tiles. It was a quaint little family kitchen, with photos on the fridge and a calendar with little notes on it, and from the looks of it a heart on the date of someone's birthday. "Dining's there, and my favourite spot, the computer," He joked as we did a pivot back into the living room. I followed him down the hallway as he pointed to the different rooms. "My parents' room, the bathroom, the guest room, and…" He opened the last door at the end of the hall. "… my room."

The bedroom was pretty much how I pictured a boys' room – plain and simple with block colours and the essential furnishings. Sitting parallel to his window was the double bed, adorned with a dark blue set of sheets and blankets; wedged between the bed and the window was a large wooden bedside table, with a handheld console charging atop the mess; opposite from the bed was a small desk and chair and a desk of drawers and shelves, and sitting on top on the display was his ocarina; to the opposite of the window was the wardrobe. It looked like he'd tidied up his room a little, which I thought was cute.

"It's not much," He said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck.

"No, it's great!" I scanned the various games on his shelf, a lot of them familiar. "And of course, your beloved ocarina is on show!"

"Always," He grinned, pulling it down to quickly play it. "It's too bad you can't play it."

"I can cheat with the keyboard," I shrugged, "so what are we playing first?"

He led me back into the living room and I sat down on the couch as he pulled up the controllers. They were old, but you could tell he'd kept them in good condition.

"Only the best retro game ever," He smirked as he gave the console a tap and turned on the screen, "I started playing this before I could even talk. It's really old, but a lot of fun."

The title screen came up, a barrage of giant pixels moving slowly across the screen. I'd never seen such an old game like it. He turned to me with a cheeky smirk before remarking, "I'm an expert; just follow my lead."

We played the ultra-old game for about an hour, Roxas correcting my button mashes and me giggling every time I died or he had to rescue me. Then came the final boss, a dreaded purple thing that looked suspiciously like… well, you know…

"The famous penis monster," Roxas explained when he noticed my face. "Yeah, I think the developers were having a little too much fun."

After giggling through that, it was time to play a game I was much more accustomed to on a much more recent console.

"I have to warn you I'm pretty good," I said with a playful undertone, and he just looked up at me with a fake scoff.

"I'm pretty good myself; let's find out who's the best!"

We must have played for hours, mashing, screaming and shouting over the game in delight when it was a close match. The afternoon simply flew by and before I knew it I felt a vibration in my pocket.

"Oh…" I stopped to look, and saw my mum was here. "Guess it's time to go."

"Already?" Roxas screwed his face up in disappointment. "That went fast. But just for the record, I beat you more times than you beat me."

"Well next time you're in for a real challenge, buddy!" I teased, standing and finding my bag. We walked over to the door and I paused. "Thanks a lot for today, it was really fun."

"Thanks for coming," He smiled, and extended his arms. I leaned into it and we hugged goodbye, maybe for a bit longer than we should have. I realized it was the first time we'd ever hugged, and it was that moment I decided he was very good at giving hugs.

"Well-" I reached for the door handle at the same time he did, but instead of seeming embarrassed he just smiled and opened it for me. That was another thing I liked about Roxas – he didn't sweat the small stuff, and he didn't get embarrassed over the little things. Our personalities mixed well in that respect.

I stepped outside and saw my mum in the car with a suspicious grin. I did a little skip as I walked to the car and waved at Roxas by the door. "Bye!"

"See you!" He wore his famous slanted grin as he waved back.

I collapsed into the car with a wide grin, and thankfully mum was oblivious.

"Did you have fun?" She asked as she pulled out of the driveway, and I nodded quickly.

"Yeah, I did."

The days seemed to slip by in a haze, and all of a sudden it was Wednesday morning again and I was waiting at the station for Roxas and Olette. Assignments were building and my evenings were filled with calls or instant messages from Roxas, and so the days seemed to meld together.

I pulled my coat closer to me, though it didn't help against the cold. Icy wind breezed with ease through the open doors of the station, and my hair was a blonde frizzy mess from going from hot lecture rooms to freezing conditions every day.

I forgot all about the cold though the instant Roxas entered the station, smiling over at me and looking rather happy himself.

"Hey," He smiled, immediately plonking his bag down beside him, presumably because we were still waiting for Olette. "I've got a surprise for you."

"Hm?" I watched curiously as he dove into his bag, carefully pushing aside books and looking for said surprise. He came back up holding a small origami cube, half red and half green. He handed it to me and watched me expectantly.

"Oh," I said, genuinely surprised, turning the paper cube this way and that. What was it?

"Here," He chuckled and took it back, and started to unfold the corners, revealing its' true form. It didn't take me long to twig – the red flaps folded out into petals and the green flaps turned out to be leaves.

It was an origami rose cube.

I was almost speechless at first, and when he handed it back to me all I could say was, "Aww, that's so sweet!"

A thousand thoughts ran through my head at that moment, but there was one that stood out above them all: He likes you. I knew my gut feeling must have been right, but having something like this happen to me for the first time was completely surreal.

"Do you like it?"

"Yeah, it's so cute!" I smiled up at him. "Did you make this?"

"Yeah," He nodded. "I made a whole bunch of them for practise. I thought you might like it."

I looked back down at it with a smile. Okay, so maybe he hadn't made it especially for me, but the thought was there all the same. Giving someone something like this is a clear cut sign, right? Oh god, Kairi was right. She must never know about this.

Kairi quickly dispelled from my mind though as I held the delicate paper rose in my hands, unable to hide my smile. He didn't seem the type to do origami, but he certainly was very sweet.

"You can put it away if you want, you know," He teased, watching me clutch it like it was a newborn child. "It won't go anywhere."

"I don't wanna squish it…" I admitted, and at that moment Olette came into the station. We both waved hello and she immediately glanced at the cube just as the train rolled in.

She didn't say anything, but her smile said it all. I gave an embarrassed smile back.

When Roxas and Olette had left the train for the usual campus, I pulled out the rose cube from my bag again to make sure it wasn't squished. It all still felt so surreal, everything that was happening with Roxas. Was it really happening at all?

Kairi was right, love really did pop up when you least expected it. But of course, this wasn't love yet, and maybe it wouldn't be – I wasn't going to think on it too much. Maybe nothing would happen at all. But this did seem a strong sign…

I arrived at my station and hopped off, protecting my cube from the light trickle of rain falling from the pale clouds above. I went down the ramp as usual, past the coffee shop on my way across the street, past Selphie buying a muffin – Selphie!?

I did a double-take and sure enough, there was Selphie with a triple-choc muffin and a latte, clad in even more layers than I was, though marginally more stylish. I raced back towards her with a wave and saw her do the same turn of the head I had moments before.

"Hey, Nam!" She waved exuberantly. How did she have so much energy at this hour, and in this weather? "I thought I might see you!"

"What are you doing here?" I asked, staring enviously at the steam billowing from her cup. "I thought you had an early class on Wednesday mornings?"

"I usually do, but my train got terminated here instead and I've been delayed for aaages." She rolled her eyes and took a sip of her latte. "I don't think I'll even – ohmygosh! Who gave that to you!?"

It took a moment for me to realise what Selphie was referring to, and just as my brain registered she'd sat her muffin on the counter of the coffee shop and snatched the rose cube right out of my hands.

"Is this from Roxas!?" She shrieked, her eyes bulging maniacally from her head. "Oh my god, it is, isn't it!?"

"Hey, be careful with that!" I leaned forward but she retracted tactfully, playing with the paper petals. "He, he gave it to me this morning…"

"That is so adorable!" She was practically jumping up and down, her hair bouncing along with her. "Oh my god he loves you!"

I just smiled embarrassedly, turning to see if any onlookers were staring wildly at us. I was probably going to be late for my tutorial, but somehow there was something tantalisingly wonderful about having Selphie shriek about a boy who liked me. It somehow made it a bit more real knowing someone else was there to validate my thoughts.

She turned it this way and that, still murmuring "That is so cute," and "oh gosh, what a cutie!" so that I was turning pink in the face. "He hasn't even known you that long, Nam – he must really like you."

I flushed even more. "I don't… know about that."

But watching Selphie ogle at the paper rose and remembering his expression when he'd given it to me, I couldn't help but just get lost in the feeling. There was nothing to lose, right? This was the first time anything like this had ever happened to me, so I ought to enjoy it.

Maybe Kairi was right after all.

Preview

"What's wrong?"

"You can't stay in those! Hang on."

"Cold?"

"Anything's fine, I'm easy."

"How much will you let me?"


A/N: Hope you enjoyed! More development to Roxas and Naminé, and of course it will get more exciting very quickly – in fact, I have a special announcement in two chapters' time. Hope you look forward to the next one, and hopefully it does not take so long this time! (I'm about as timely as Natalie Tran…)

Don't forget to check out Fiction Café for very important chapter discussions and thanks a bunch as always!