ADSLFJLAKSDJGLKG I love you guys. :3

Lookie! An update! Chapter three, whee-hee!

Disclaimer: The disclaimer from the first chapter still stands. :O!!

\e\x\i\t\ Next Exit /n/e/x/t/

A Kingdom Hearts FanFic by Mayfall

- - - - - - - Chapter Three: Living Arrangements - - - - - - -

Well this was... awkward.

Frowning, Hayner watched Seifer as he walked away, the end of his coat flapping around the top of his boots. Seifer was digging into his pockets as he walked, looking for his day pass again, as Hayner watched from the opposite side of the tracks, lost in thought over what had just happened, what with his near-death experience and all.

There was the fight between him and his parents... his leaving... the train ticket... the tracks... the actual train... and then Seifer, diving off the train platform and saving his life...

Hayner frowned at the shrinking back of Seifer as the taller boy moved away from him. Had it really been Seifer who had saved him? Was this really the same Seifer who had been picking on him all these years? Who had, since second grade, made it his soul duty in life to never let Hayner go a day without an insult? Who had shoved his head in a toilet two years ago? Who had beat him mercilessly in front of the town during a Struggle match? The same one who had snuck a worm into his sandwich just a few weeks ago, and not told him until half the worm was gone?

Suddenly, Seifer looked over his shoulder at Hayner, who was just standing there staring at him, and said, "Hurry up, chicken-wuss. The shuttle's not going to wait for you." And with a small sneer, Seifer lifted himself back onto the platform, his day pass found and clutched in his hand.

... Yup, that's him, alright. Hayner shuffled his feet slightly, looked to the right and to the left, as if looking for any other direction to head in besides toward Seifer, but gave up on it, and jogged across the tracks, frowning to himself. What was he thinking? Why do I even need to follow him, anyway? Where're we going to go...?

Hayner jumped back onto the platform, and moved over to the open, awaiting door of the shuttle.

"Ticket?" the conductor waiting at the door asked, looking down suspiciously at the spiky-haired boy. Hayner just looked up at him blankly, before he realized what the guy was talking about. "Oh," was all he said as he looked down at his pant pockets. "Uh, yeah..."

Seifer laughed harshly from his spot on the one of the seats across from the door, his arms already stretched to their full length across the seat backs, one leg up with his ankle resting on his other knee. Hayner's eyebrows came together as he shot him a look, and Seifer just smirked at him, tilting his head back so that his beanie squished up against the glass. Seifer watched as Hayner's brown eyes scanned his freshly pulled-out wallet, his thin fingers finally pulling out the plastic card that was the student's day pass card. His bristly blonde hair, spiked straight up from his head, receded from Seifer's sight as Hayner looked up at the conductor, and flashed him the day pass. With a nod from the old man, Hayner tucked it back inside his wallet before moving past him into the train, and dropped down into an empty seat next to the door so that he sat across from Seifer.

He felt the air whoosh over his bare shoulders as the door was closed automatically, and looked out the window behind Seifer at the opposite platform of the station, where he had almost be squashed by the Huntington Express. As the shuttle lurched into motion, Hayner frowned, watching the people on the platform descending onto the gravel on the area around the tracks, pulling their luggage after them, pulling small children along by the hand. Hayner watched them through the window even as the shuttle left the station, and Seifer watched him with narrowed eyes, suspicious of the strange expression Hayner was giving the passengers of the Huntington.

He was supposed to be gone on that train right now. He was supposed to be whizzing away from Twilight Town at 40 miles per hour, wondering where to get an apartment. But here he was now, sitting on the same shuttle that he took every day to school, across from one of the jerkiest people he knew, speeding at 15 miles per hour toward... somewhere. He didn't know.

After glancing around the train to make sure no one was watching or paying them any attention, Seifer placed his foot back down on the ground, and leaned forward, his hands coming together to hang over his knees as he looked up at Hayner, his shoulders sagging forward. "Alright, chicken-wuse," Seifer said, causing Hayner's eyes to fill with surprise at being addressed, and to look forward at him. "Explain to me why the hell you almost just got yourself killed."

Hayner frowned. Seifer was, of course, wondering about the circumstances that led to Hayner's being at the train station to be run over in the first place, even though he said it so inelegantly. With a small sigh, Hayner debating not answering, but with a second look to Seifer's scowling face, he let his shoulders drop, and crossed his arms. "Well," he said slowly, "today's the last day of quarter right? And today was my math final, so -"

"- So you failed, like usual." Seifer raised an eyebrow, smirking as Hayner turned slightly red and looked away.

"... Do you want me to tell you the story, or do you want to tell it?"

"I'd love to tell it," Seifer said, leaning back once more, his hands slipping lazily into his jacket pockets. His eyes become half-lidded, and he looked straight at Hayner as he said with a deadpanned voice: "You failed, got kicked out of the school, then got kicked out by your parents, and were on your way to go move to a distant city where you'd start your new life and work at Burger King until your 47, growing yourself a big ol' beer belly in the meantime." Seifer tilted his head, trying and failing to hide a growing smirk. "Sound about right?"

Hayner gritted his teeth back and forth, and his hands curled themselves into fists. "I hate you," he seethed, his face once more turned toward Seifer, his brown eyes livid.

"Oh shut it, chicken-wuss. If I was wrong, feel free to fill in the blanks, then." Quirking another eyebrow, Seifer shifted in his seat. "Go on, loser - tell me why the hell we almost had to scrap you off the train tracks." As much Seifer hated to admit it - and knew he never would aloud - he was curious as to why such a mama's boy was so far from home.

Tempted more than ever to keep his peace and not tell Seifer the truth, Hayner looked away until the blue eyes across from him burned holes into side of his head. Finally, he sighed, giving it all up, and started in with his tragic story. "Well, the truth is..."

The sky outside remained clear as they traveled, stretching on for infinity above the heads of the people of Twilight Town as they each went about their daily business. Birds twittered and flew about the Twilight Town shuttle, seemingly about to race it to its destination, until they veered off and slowed down, twittering to themselves and to other birds. As the shuttle rocked back and forth, puttering along the tracks, the ocean came into view over the small, rolling hills, stretching on in an endless abyss of water, the only infraction of this image being a small, miniature island, a little less than a mile out to sea. It was composed mostly of rocks and seagull poo, but there was still a small beach running along the outside of the island, so someone could potentially ride a small boat out to the island and enjoin themselves for a while. As Hayner gave a brief description of what had happened that day to Seifer, the island outside the window caught his eye, and he watched it carefully as they sped along the connecting plateau of land that connected the two sides of Twilight Town. Outside of the window behind Hayner, there ran an adjacent road that cars could drive on, but very few did. The shuttle was just easier, and at this point it was actually cheaper to ride the shuttle both ways than it cost to pay for gas. But if one did drive, it was very easy to park along the edge of the road, and cross the tracks to reach the small, rocky beach that was at the bottom of the hill that the train tracks rested on. As far as Hayner knew, it wasn't much of a beach, and therefore not often used.

As the ocean disappeared once more behind hills, Hayner finished his story of that afternoon's events, ending with a simple, "And... here we are."

Seifer just gave Hayner a look, and responded, "Well, that was stupid of you." Hayner frowned. "I mean," and here Seifer shifted in his seat again, lifting his leg up to rest on the other one, "Christmas is in 13 days - you should've at least stuck around for presents before running away."

Glowering at his lack of sympathy - and sense -, Hayner barked back, "It's not like I'm going to be gone forever, you moron. It's only until they... they..." He frowned. What did he want from them again?

Seifer shook his head, refusing to give him the answer. "Whatever, man. My story was better."

With an eyebrow quirk of his own, Hayner hissed, "Oh yeah?"

"Yeah," Seifer said, looking to the front of the train. "Oh well - you're still going to end up alone as a fat man working at Burger King."

Hayner, his fists shaking, jumped onto his feet right there in the middle of the train, started to yell, "Say that to my face!", but was cut off abruptly after the word 'that', when the train suddenly slowed down as it came into the station, throwing Hayner off balance.

The teenager was sent sprawling onto the dirty carpet floor of the shuttle as Seifer laughed loudly at him, slapping his knee repeatedly. Several adults on the shuttle muttered to themselves about 'teenage hooligans', but both boys ignored them. Hayner scrambled to his feet as Seifer continued to laugh himself silly, unable to believe that had actually happened so perfectly.

Getting up from the ground for the third time that day, Hayner dusted himself off again, disgruntled as he pulled a gum wrapper off his pants.

"You're such a klutz!" Seifer hooted, whacking Hayner in the back as he stood up, the train ceasing to be in motion. The doors opened and people shuffled out, and Hayner felt a strong hand wrap itself around his arm, pulling him out after the body of a still chuckling Seifer.

x-x-x-x

"Where're we goooing, Seifer?" Hayner whined, following behind the taller boy five minutes later. "Why're we heeere?" Hayner tripped along after Seifer, feeling particularly sore after his last fall. And now they were walking all over Twilight Town. Just like before, he was starting to feel sleep tugging at his brain. He was tired, sore, and had barely escaped from near death, and he didn't exactly want to walk around a stupid town for a long time after all that.

"You wussy," Seifer hissed, leading the way through the shopping district, down toward the Sandlot. Hayner dragged his feet, yawning.

"M'not.. a.. wussyyyy," Hayner yawned, making Seifer shake his head.

"Honestly," he mumbled, moving a bit faster. "Keep up, chicken-wuss, and stop b-tching like a girl."

Down to the Sandlot they went, Hayner whining and yawning the whole way, Seifer stringing along a constant flow of curse words in response to his complaints. Crossing through the center of the raised platform for the Struggle tournaments, Seifer paused in the center of the rink, his hands on his hips, watching Hayner.

Hayner, upon reaching the rink, had looked blankly at it, blinking at it sleepily. Slowly, he lifted his hands onto the raised concrete, spreading his fingers wide. He continued to look at the ground as he moved his leg up, his knee coming over the edge. With only one leg left on the ground, he started to push himself up slowly, still staring blankly at the ground, his mouth slightly open from pure tiredness. He lifted himself up incredibly slowly, his arms shaking underneath his body weight. For a minute, it look like he was going to make it, and that his other leg would come up onto the platform and support him, until... with no warning at all, Hayner pitched forward, his arms giving out, sending his face into concrete.

...

Seifer just stood there and watched as Hayner, silently, dragged his corpse across the concrete without even lifting his head, his arms flat and gripping on the raised ground. His legs shifted uselessly behind him, getting no traction, but making him look like a fool as they flailed out behind him. He squiggled like a worm across the ground, his hips waving back and forth, his chin aiding in pulling himself forward. He moved in bursts, his arms pulling him forward, stopping, going back, and pulling again. Seifer raised yet another eyebrow as he watched Hayner's trek across the ground, unable to know what to make of the pathetic display.

Finally, both of Hayner's legs made it fully into the rink, and he pushed himself onto his knees, his butt sticking up in the air. Then his hands pushed him up, and finally he managed to heave himself to a standing position, the sides of his arms and his chin slightly red. He looked at Seifer, as if challenging him to say anything about the way Hayner had just dragged himself across the ground.

Seifer, blinking, simply turned his back, and crossed the rest of the rink in five big steps, and jumped off onto the ground Hayner had just worked so hard to leave behind. He turned back around to look at Hayner, and gestured to the ground. Hayner, looking both hateful and exhausted, simply hung his head, and limped toward the edge of the rink, mumbling curse words under his breath.

All for nothing... Mother f-cker...

Once Hayner had jumped off the platform, stumbled slightly, then finally regained control of his motor functions, they had set off the last few feet toward a building, and Seifer pulled open the door, sliding through and pushing it open enough that Hayner could stumbled past it before it closed. "Where'rewe?" Hayner asked, yawning, combining his words.

"Stop asking that," Seifer mumbled, leading the way into a large hallway through the ground floor of the building. The hall was a large, open space, with walls of glass that pointed to the outside. The walkway turned into a breif gravel pathway, winding through a miniature atrium, with benches and plants decorating the space. There was a fountain off to the side, spraying water straight into the air, until it fell down into an awaiting basin around it.

Hayner gaped openly at the space, and looked at Seifer, waiting to see his reaction. Seifer, however, looked unimpressed, and just walked through it like there was nothing special about the area. He walked straight ahead, until he was forced to spot as they reached another large pair of doors. Over the glass doors - currently glaring from the sunlight so that Hayner couldn't see out - there was a sign reading 'Twilight Town College District'.

"The college district?" Hayner yawned. "Why're we here?"

"I live here," Seifer finally explained, stepping up to the doors.

Hayner's eyes widened mid-yawn, and he said, "You do?!" He thought Seifer lived where everybody else did, in the residential area.

Seifer nodded, "Duh, just said that, chicken-wuss." Pushing on the bar that ran along the door, Seifer looked over his shoulder, and said, "Prepare yourself."

Hayner blinked, and was just about to question him about what he meant, until the doors suddenly fell away, and Hayner was so taken aback that he fell into silence.

Both boys were suddenly blasted by an extreme level of sounds, smells, and sights as they stepped outside. People were flocking about the long, cobble-stoned street ahead of them, talking and laughing and eating hotdogs from street venders, music echoing around the buildings that lined the streets. A nearby jazz band had set themselves up near the building that Seifer and Hayner walked out of, the trumpet player's trumpet glowing in the light from a photographer's camera flash. Both people were obviously students, as were almost all of the rest of the people on the street. Couples and groups passed by, coins slipping from their fingers as they passed the open guitar case in front of the band. It was like a carnival, bathed in the afternoon's sunlight, the happy people moving from store to store, clutching purchases and coffee cups.

It's like a new world, Hayner thought, shielding his eyes from the sunlight. As it was a Friday afternoon after classes, almost all of the college students had hit the streets to celebrate their freedom. Seifer, apparently unsurprised by all the going-ons, took hold of the gaping Hayner's arm again, pulling him past the band. For now, Hayner allowed himself to be led, too busy looking every which way to really be walking without aid, anyway.

Between a coffee house and a bookstore, a half a dozen college students had set up canvases and easels, and were either sketching or painting the street scenes before them. Hayner turned his head quickly to see a pair of people duck into a bar, and as the door closed a puff of cigarette smoke leaked out into the sunlight. Twisting to look over his shoulder, Hayner watched a pair of girls enter a Christmas shop, purses hanging from their elbows. Looking forward again, Hayner called to Seifer, "Is there a carnival or something in town?"

"What?" Seifer shouted unable to hear him over the music. Hayner found himself being pulled forward against Seifer as they passed through a throng of people. "What did you say?" Seifer repeated, looking to Hayner as he fell into step next to him.

"Is there some sort of event going on?" Hayner asked, looking around before them, feeling his shoulder repeatedly bump against Seifer's.

Seifer blinked, and looked at him through the corner of his eye. "What do you mean? Does it look like there's one going on?" He asked it sarcastically, so he was surprised when Hayner nodded fervently.

"Uh, kinda," Hayner said, watching a group of people waiting in line for what looked like a stand that was piercing people in any place they requested.

"It's always like this," Seifer explained with a shrug. Hayner shook his head incredulously as another pair of people passed them, one with a vibrant Mohawk, the other one smoking an odd cigar.

x-x-x-x

After leading Hayner all the way down the street, Seifer turned toward a large building at the very end of the street, several stories tall. "An apartment building?" Hayner asked, as Seifer held the door for him. "You live in an apartment?"

"You got a problem with that?" Seifer barked back at him, bumping shoulders with him again as he moved toward the stairs. Hayner, rubbing his shoulder, walked after him, and quickly into him, as the taller of the two came to a sudden stop.

"Hey, what the - " Hayner's question was answered before he even asked it, as he looked around Seifer and saw a short, angry woman standing in front of them, waving her fist at Seifer. She looked to be about four feet tall, with more width than height. She had the most hideously mousy hair pulled up on top of her head, exposing a wrinkly, and yet bulgy neck. Hayner blinked. What the-?! What is she; Seifer's girlfriend?

Hayner had to throw a hand over his face to keep from laughing.

The gray-haired old woman looked furious as she waved her bony fist at Seifer, her wide girth wiggling under a greasy apron. "Where's my rent, Almasy?! It's already been a month!"

"Chill, Mrs. Jones!" Seifer held his hands in a defensive manner, looking flustered. "I'll get you you're money soon - just calm down, woman! You'll give yourself a f-cking heart attack!"

"You calm down and get me my money so I can pay for my surgeries after my heart attack, you ingrate!" Mrs. Jones poked Seifer harshly in the abs with one of her bony fingers as she talked, surely leaving a bruise. "And don't use such language around a lady!"

"Calm down, grandma," Seifer hissed, taking a step away from her. "You'll get your money when you get it." And with that, Seifer moved toward the door leading to the stairs, ignoring Mrs. Jones' angry calls that followed him.

Hayner, trying to avoid any eye contact with the scary woman, hastened after Seifer, but was abruptly stopped as five, cold-as-ice fingers closed around his arm, and he found himself being pulled down to look into the face of the frightful woman. Her gray eyes made him shiver, and she screeched, "And what is this, Seifer?" 'What'? Hayner thought to himself. I'm a person, you ugly old bat... Hayner felt a rush of hatred toward the scary old woman.

"Hey!" Seifer yelled, and pulled Hayner away from the bat woman with a tug. "None of your business, you old croon!" Seifer shoved Hayner before him, and Hayner heard Mrs. Jones yell some more as they made their get away. Any sound she was still making, however. was cut off seconds later as the door to the stairs was closed - or was rather slammed - by Seifer. "Crazy old lady," he sighed, moving past Hayner.

On the threshold of the stairs, Seifer glanced over his shoulder. "Hey - you okay?" He asked, spotting Hayner looking over his arm where Mrs. Jones had grabbed him. "Sometimes meeting the devil herself can frighten some people."

"She left a scratch," Hayner mumbled, and looked up, frowning with his lower lip. "She was scary," he said quietly.

"Tell me about it," Seifer said, looking forward and starting up the stairs. "She's one hell of a penny pincher, too. She once turned off my air conditioning for a week because I was late on paying for it. What a hag," he mumbled to himself.

As Seifer took the stairs two at a time, Hayner rushed after him, his feet pounding after Seifer's own, calm strides. Is there what Seifer comes home to everyday? Hayner frowned. It almost made Seifer look human... Almost.

After four flights of stairs, Seifer peeled off from the concrete steps, and went to the door of the fourth floor. He pushed it open, and held it open for Hayner, but... Hayner wasn't behind him. Seifer blinked, and waited another moment. After waiting several seconds, Seifer looked around the door, looking for Hayner. Finally, he watched as Hayner's head slowly appeared over the top of the stairs, as the boy himself wheezed and grunted as he pulled himself up each stair. Seifer blinked, watching Hayner limp past him like he was some sort of war-torn, injured soldier.

"... You've really got to get into shape, there, chicken-wuss."

"Shutthehellup," Hayner wheezed, leaning forward onto his knees, panting like he was fresh off a marathon.

With a chuckle, Seifer closed the door, and started down the new hallway, hearing Hayner groan at the idea of walking anymore.

"Are we almost there?" He called, limping down the hall, one hand on his lower back to support himself. "I don't think I can hold on much longer..."

"Ahw, shuddit. We're here now, you doofus." Seifer's apartment was located at the very end of the hallway - number 413. He wiggled the knob, and took a thankful breath when it remained locked. Well, at least no one stole my stuff...

Whipping out the key from his jacket pocket, he had the door unlocked by the time Hyaner dragged his sorry self to the doorway.

"So this is where you live?" Seifer looked down at Hayner as he leaned against the wall, a hand on his forehead like he had a headache from all the physical activity.

"Seriously, you have to get in shape." Seifer hid a grin as Hayner shot him a nasty look, and pushed the door open. "And, yeah. This is my home sweet home."

Seifer pushed the door open, and it swung away from him easily, revealing a surprisingly large room. Seifer walked in, dropping his room key on the table by the door, as Hayner swung around the doorframe, and entered Seifer's apartment, closing the door behind him upon Seifer's request.

The room they were in right now looked like a living room, with a large couch in the center of the room, a table in front of that, and a TV on a small coffee table against the wall across from it. As Hayner walked in a bit further, he saw the room opened up to the left into a small kitchen with an island - like countertop on wheels, but with cupboards built into it - and an electric stove near the sink. A large fridge sat clunking in-between wall cabinets, which were spread all along the walls, until the wall broke into a hallway leading down into an area Hayner couldn't see from his position.

Hayner had been expecting the apartment to be messy, considering it was Seifer, but it wasn't as bad as it could have been. Clothes were piled on the couch, and he could see some dishes starting to stack up, but other than a few other dust surfaces and more clothes thrown around - how did Seifer even own so many? -, he was impressed with how clean Seifer kept it.

"Wow," Hayner said quietly. Seifer looked at him, ready to ask what he was 'wow'ing about, when Hayner suddenly exclaimed, "It's not as bad as I thought it would be!"

Seifer walked over to the grinning Hayner, looked at him silently for a second, and then punched him in the arm.

"Ow! Whatthehell?!" Hayner swore, grabbing his arm. "What the f-ck?!"

"You can go now," Seifer hissed abruptly, turning away, and Hayner frowned.

"G-Go?" He asked. What.. does he mean?! He let go of his arm for right now, and looked at Seifer. "I... walked all this way so that you.. could tell me to f-ck off?"

Seifer nodded, moving to a cupboard on the wall. "Pretty much," he said. Seifer opened the pantry door, withdrew a cup, and quickly filled it full of water from the sink. After downing a few gulps, Seifer released an 'Ah', and then explained, "I only needed you to come so that if there were any robbers here, I could try and see if they'd leave my TV if I gave them you instead." And he took another sip, leaning against the counter.

So what if that was a downright lie? The real reason he had brought him was because he had wanted to hear his story, and, after the event at the train station, he wanted to make sure Hayner was alright. And he sure seemed to be back to himself, the way his anger was returning to him. So, rather than tell him that on some level Seifer did care about him, he lied, instead, making it sound like he just wanted to piss him off. It's worth it to see him get that mad, Seifer thought smugly, watching Hayner's face turn different colors with his rage.

"You, you... How.. You..." Hayner's fists had curled in on themselves again, and he actually looked like he was ready to return Seifer's punch to him. After taking several more sips of water, Seifer shook his head.

"Why did you think you were here, anyway?" Seifer tilted his head back and forth to crack his neck, and placed his water glass down on the counter next to him. "Why did you think I brought you here?" It was an honest question - again, he was curious about what Hayner had been thinking.

Hayner sputtered in disbelief when he realized Seifer was sincerely asking. "Well, well," he said quickly, "isn't it obvious? I mean, it's your fault I don't have anywhere to sleep for the next two nights!" Seifer's eyebrows shot up into his beanie as his eyes widened, and he adapted a surprised look. What the hell is he talking about?! Does.. does he mean... No, he couldn't... "After all," Hayner continued, unable to read Seifer's expression past 'surprised', and therefore had no idea what he was thinking about, "if someone hadn't tackled me and made me drop my ticket -"

"Excuse me?!" Seifer shouted, making Hayner wince a little. "If I hadn't saved you, they'd be burying you with pieces of your ticket imbedded in your skin!" Seifer looked seriously pissed...

"Wha- ? ... Oh, d-mn, I forgot," Hayner mumbled to himself, and looked sheepishly at Seifer. Seifer... had saved his life, hadn't he? Haha... Oops. "R-Right... T-The whole, whole life-saving thing, right..." He scratched the side of his face idly. "Uh, uh, right..." As Seifer gave him the most obvious 'how-dumb-can-you-possible-be?' look, Hayner shrugged. "I forgot - Jesus Christ, so sue me."

Seifer wanted to hit him again, but he resisted it, shaking his head. "You're a moron, chicken-wuss." Hayner scoffed, but didn't say anything about it this time.

Moving away from the kitchen, leaving his glass of water on the countertop, Seifer walked toward a door near the front door - the hall closet. "So what do you want me to do about it, anyway? Why don't you just go back home, crying to mommy to let you come home?"

"Seifer!" Hayner exclaimed suddenly, and Seifer turned away from the closet he had been about to open.

"What?" He asked, irritated.

"Seifer," - Hayner took a step forward toward him, making Seifer quirk another eyebrow - "I can't go back there. They practically threw me out, and I've only been gone for an hour!" Hayner shook his head, suddenly intent on getting his meaning out the best he could. "Come on - Can't I just stay here for two nights, and then I'll take the train and get myself my own apartment for the rest of Winter Break?"

Seifer frowned. "Why don't you just stay at one of your nerdy friends' house?" Seifer turned toward the closet again, but Hayner stopped him with another exclamation.

"I can't! They're all.. away this break!" He hesitated only slightly, but luckily it was short enough that Seifer - who noticed it - didn't call him on it.

"Away?" He repeated, looking skeptical.

"Away," Hayner confirmed.

Seifer shook his head, once more reaching for the closet door, saying, "Even if I wanted to let you stay here - which," he said over his shoulder, "let's clarify that I don't - I've got nowhere to put you. Where do you suggest you sleep? No way in hell you get my bed, and the couch doesn't need your sleep drool in it, and the carpet's so disgusting I wouldn't let my worst enemy sleep there - namely you -, or put my quilts on that disgusting thing. So unless you come up with a bed somehow," Seifer turned the knob of the hallway closet, opening it, "there's no way in hell you'll get to sleep here."

KUH-klunk!

With a swearword, Seifer took a step forward - having jumped back a foot when a large object had come plowing out of his closet -, and kicked the rectangular package that had just fallen, narrowly avoiding Seifer's head.

"What the hell is that?" Hayner asked, running forward. Even though he had been so far away when it fell, his heart was beating quickly just from the shock of the huge noise it made.

Looking first at the thing on the floor, then at Hayner, then back at the large object, Seifer quickly squeaked, "Oh - it's nothing, nothing - !" Before Hayner had scooped it out of Seifer's reach, and flipped it over.

On the other side, Hayner read aloud from the label, even as Seifer howled to let him back: "'Child-Sized Cot. Fold out bed, great for camping, sleepovers, or guestrooms. Holds approximately 200 pounds.'" Hayner looked up, grinning evilly at Seifer. "A fold out bed? Why thank you Seifer - I accept."

"You loser," Seifer spat back at him, grabbing the cot. "Listen you, why should I even let you stay here? If you hadn't noticed, I kind of make it my duty to make sure you're miserable at all times! So why do you think that I would even let you spend one, f-ckin' night, sleeping in the same f-ckin' apartment as me? Huh? Huh?!"

"I'll help you pay your rent."

"Sounds good." Seifer threw the cot down on the ground. "You get to sleep in the living room - and it's only for the next two nights, and then you're getting on that train."

Hayner nodded, grinning, unable to believe how easy that had been. "Deal!"

"And that's not all." Seifer poked the cot with the edge of his boot, sending it slightly across the dark blue, speckled carpet. "You have to pay for any food you eat."

"No problem!" Hayner bent forward, still grinning, to pick up the cot.

But Seifer's foot came down on it. "And if you snore, and I can hear you from my room, I won't hesitate to throw you out in the middle of the night."

With a shove, Hayner removed Seifer's foot from the folded-up cot's package, and stood up with it - it was fairly light. "Don't worry," he said, carrying the cot over near the window. "I've never been told I snore -"

"- because you still sleep in the same room as your parents?" Seifer cackled, and Hayner gave him the dignified response of a nasty look.

"Stupid," he mumbled, dropping the cot on the ground, and moving to pull it out of its package.

As Hayner set to work of unfolding his bed, Seifer went to the couch to move some clothes aside so he could sit down. After a few moments of silence, with little blurbs of curse words from Hayner as he struggled to figure out how to unfold the bed, finally Hayner got it upright and standing on its own three bars. It was like a metal frame the size of a small single bed, with springs holding a sort of tarp in the center, which was clearly the thing the person would sleep on. Six legs came down from the metal frame, each in pairs with three on one side and three across from them on the other side, that became conjoined with their pair at the floor, making a solid pole run along parallel on the ground, three in all.

Hayner stood back to admire his handiwork, and then nodded with a satisfied grin. "Alright!" He looked over his should at Seifer.

Seifer was hastily folding clothes, and throwing them onto a sloppy pile forming on one half of the couch, but upon hearing Hayner say something other than a curse word, he looked up.

"Oh.. Lookie there." Seifer stood up straight and walked over to stand next to Hayner and look at the fold-up bed as well. "Looks pretty d-mn... cr-ppy. Ha," he said in response to a shove from Hayner, smirking slightly. "But it's supposed to look like that, so I guess you did it right." Looking suddenly serious, Seifer tilted his head and murmured, "Hard to believe I used to sleep on that d-mn thing every night when I was little... Ah well," he said, turning back to the couch.

Hayner moved over to a piece of cloth-covered foam, that obviously served as the mattress. He dropped it on top, straightened it, and then sat on the edge of the cot tentatively. "Ah!" He said when it didn't fall down. "Haha, it works!"

"What - did you think it wasn't meant to be sit on?" Seifer rolled his eyes, finishing up with folding the clothes.

Hayner scoffed, and then paused. "Oh, hey..." Seifer turned his head in the general direction of Hayner to show he was listening, but kept his eyes down at what he was doing. "Where're your parents, anyway? Will they be okay with me sleeping here?" Because there was no way Seifer could be living here alone - right? He wasn't that old yet... He wasn't even out of high school yet. And in that case, wouldn't they be less than thrilled to come home and find themselves with a new roommate?

"Uhn," Seifer grunted, lifting up the pile of clothes now. "They shouldn't mind - they don't live here, anyway, so why would they give a cr-p?"

"What?!" Hayner's mouth dropped open, and he said, "What do you mean? You live here alone?"

"Kinda," Seifer said at last, after giving Hayner a strange look over his pile of clothes. He moved over to the hallway down which Hayner could only assume Seifer's room and the bathroom were.

"But, but," Hayner called after him. "Then where are your parents?"

"Look!" Seifer shouted, making Hayner jump and causing the cot to shake unsteadily. "I don't think our agreement included the 'Ask As Many Questions As You Want' clause. So shut the f-ck up, alright? Jesus..." He grumbled to himself all the way down the hall, until Hayner heard a door open. Then, as he frowned to himself, he heard a high-pitched voice from the next room, mocking him thusly: "Where're you parents? Why do my parents hate me? Why am I such a sissy? Tell me, Seiffy, oh do tell! Jesus F-cking Christ." The door slammed, and Seifer walked back out, still scoffing, and Hayner gave him a dry look.

"Anyway," Seifer said, crossing back to the hall closet, and opening the door. He shed himself of his coat, including the vest, and hung it up on a hook in the closet. Hayner just rose his eyebrows at the well-tanned back Seifer had turned toward him. "You get to sleep, you pansy, and I'll wake you up in time for dinner." Reaching up, Seifer grabbed a pillow from the top shelf of the closet, and tossed it to Hayner without watching to make sure he caught it. Hayner fumbled with it, and almost dropped it, but kept it from hitting the floor in the end.

Then Seifer reached up and grabbed a quilt near where the pillow had been, and threw that, as well. This time, as Hayner held out his arms to catch it, he misjudged its speed, and it ended up plowing into him, sending him falling back onto the cot, the quilt on his face.

"Mnft," Hayner growled, sitting up. He looked at Seifer to glare at him, noting the new shirt Seifer had shoved over his head. "You didn't have to throw it so hard."

"Right - forgot you were such a wuss that a blanket could hurt you." Seifer just raised yet another eyebrow to the look Hayner gave him, and dropped his body down onto the couch, reaching for the remote on the table between the couch and the TV.

"Now go to sleep," he ordered, lifting his feet up onto the table, and turning the television on.

Hayner, who had been fixing his bed, looked over at Seifer with a scoff. "What - just like that?" Seifer glanced at him, then back at the TV with a nod. "I can't just go to sleep, just like that."

"Try," Seifer suggested, getting off the couch, the remote still in hand, and walked over to Hayner. Hayner blinked at him, and Seifer blinked back. Then, Seifer leaned forward and shoved Hayner roughly onto the bed as the other boy let out a startled cry, before walking away toward the kitchen.

"Whatthehell," Hayner snarled, sitting up and kicking his shoes off in anger. "You jerk." Then he fell back into bed and covered himself with the quilt, turning his back on Seifer as the taller boy opened the fridge, and pulled out a soda. "Expecting me to just go to sleep like that..." he mumbled, knowing full well he had done it loud enough so that Seifer could hear him

"Shut up and quit your whining, or I'll throw you out, you - " Seifer paused, and stared at Hayner's back. He stood there for a second, staring at the spiky head that stuck out from under the quilt. He popped his soda open with his thumb, and walked over to the couch, glancing at the television that was blaring a commercial for the Food Network. He shook his head, and sat down on the couch, flipping through channels while sipping his Coke.

"Jerk's already asleep," he mumbled, as Hayner's even breathing sounded quietly from the corner.

Oh well. As soon as he remembered that cot in the closet - that fell almost every time he opened the door due to its not fitting in correctly-, he knew Hayner would be staying with him. And, hey - he got someone else to pay his rent for a while. It wouldn't be all bad, right? And, as much as Seifer enjoyed to tease Hayner, he didn't actual hate him. He actually considered him to be a sort of friend; just one that he always made miserable... And, again, it was only two nights.

What could happen? Seifer thought to himself, taking another sip of his soda, his feet moving to prop themselves up on the coffee table.

This one took a while to write. -o-; Nothing really exciting happened, I know, except you got to read a few examples of how bad it is when my jokes flop. Sorry for that. DD:

This one was kind of boring, I know, and I'll work hard to try and make the next one at least a little more exciting... I'm trying, but it's a little hard. DD:

Push the little review button, and give me constructive criticism? Maybe you had a bad day, and you hate this story, and you just want to tell me how much it sucks? Go for it. D;

Or maybe you want to tell me that it'll (hopefully) get better! Whee! :D

Either waaaay... puh-lease review? Drop me a line, and any ideas you have to make it better..

And there's love-y stuff coming up soon, I swear. e--e;;

Edit: I changed the part where Seifer's like: "I only brought you so they wouldn't take my TV, blahblah" after Windseeker2305 pointed out that I didn't really explain the real reason Seifer brought Hayner with him. Thank you, and I hope it makes more sense now!! 8D!!