Okay, so I know what a lot of you must be thinking, but I promise I haven't taken any attention away from "Don't Look Back".

I've had this chapter done since about the time I posted the first one so I figured it was time to post it and see what kind of feedback I got on it.

Enjoy!

One choice. One choice can have so much of an impact on your life, I mean, how could it not? Even meaningless choices like what to wear have an impact on how your day will go. It took me a while to understand just what my choices in life were leading me to and when I did it was damn near too late. I was looking over the edge of an abyss into a bottomless pit.

After Namine left I was at a bit of loss as to what to do with myself. At first it was easy, I just did all the things I had been doing only with out her there. Now I was able to bring different people home with me if I wanted and not have to worry about her coming home, it was a good deal.

Then I started to lose interest. I stopped calling my regular 'lovers' and started spending my free time (mostly at night since my job was during the day) at bars and clubs, getting drunk and possibly taking home a stranger or two.

I developed an attachment to certain bars and clubs and would frequent those only until I settled into a routine. First I'd stop in at the Vault, a gay dance club and then Mollys, an Irish pub and then, depending on the night of the week, either Toxic another dance club or Velvet a gay bar. This was my routine, and it lasted a few months.

I'd made a few new friends, Marluxia, a flamboyant florist with bubble gum pink hair and a thing for blonds, and Larxene, a loud, rude, obnoxious girl who loved to throw down with the boys (and won most times).

It was pretty nice having friends who didn't know anything about my past. They knew I was a bit of a slut, I took home my fair share of guys and girls, but no more then any of them did.

It would be these two that would change my life in a way that none of them had ever intended to do.

It was a Friday night and I was currently sandwiched between a drunk Marluxia and Larxene up on a little stage in the middle of The Vault as we grinded on each other, drinks in hand.

The music was loud and the bass was heavy. The room was filled with a soft smoky haze as to show the lasers and disco balls beams of light better. The building was packed full of bodies pumping against each other, trying to drink and dance away there weeks worries.

"I need another!" Marluxia screamed in my ear. I nodded and grabbed Larxene's wrist and jerked her with us as we got off the stage and started to fight the crowd to get to the closest bar. We stopped at the back of the line and Larxene finally pulled her wrist free from my grasp and draped her arm over my shoulders.

"I was having fun Roxy! Why'd you stop me?" She whined in my ear. I flashed her a smile and wrapped my arm around her waist best I could. She was tall as it was but five inch heels put her way over my meager height.

"Because love, Marly was out of rum!" I said into her ear. She gasped and looked to Marly who pretended to feel faint. She went to him and quickly started to fan his face, when we got to the bar she turned to the bar tender.

"Quick! He's out of rum!" she said to the man behind the bar. I laughed as the bartender gave her a cool look before he turned and started to make the drink. Marly rolled his eyes at me as he paid the bartender and grabbed his drink. I followed them over to a different part of the club were the music was slightly less loud (instead of "make your eardrums bleed" loud it was a more 'you'll forever hear a high pitched ringing' loud). Here they had several seating areas set up made of lush sofas and a small center table. The lights were much dimmer in here, giving the illusion of privacy. Marly collapsed onto one of the couches and I followed suit. Larxene collapsed on top of both of us, giggling like mad as we cursed and tried to keep from spilling our drinks.

"Boys, this place is boring me." she said with a sigh and rolled over so she was on her back and staring up at me.

"Wanna head to Molly's then?" I asked as I took a drink of my rum and coke. Larxene groaned and set up, completely in Marly's lap now, she wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her head on his chest.

"I was thinking we could do something different tonight." she said with a slight pout that had Marly glaring at her.

"Larx..." he said trailing off and she stood and turned to face them, her arms crossed.

"I think we should to take him. Everyone will love him!" she said gesturing to me. I felt a frown come onto my face.

"Everyone?" I asked, a little worried now. Marly glanced at me and then back to Larxene.

"If you think its a good time..." he said and Larxene clapped her hands and pulled me to my feet.

"Come on Rox! It'll be great!" she said as she started to pull me toward the front of the club.

"Hold on Larx!" I said as I dropped my drink into a passing trashcan. "Where are we going?" I asked but she didn't seem to be listening.

"A bar called Organization 13. It's were we work and play." Marly said as he finally caught up with us. He gave me a reassuring smile. "They can be a little rough around the edges but they're good people, you'll like them. Thats if your up for it?" he asked. We hit the doors and were out side when Larxene finally let me go. We all paused as Marly eyed me, waiting for my answer. "So? Are you up for it?" He knew I wasn't comfortable going to new bars on such short notice, it made me uneasy. I bit my lip a little.

"Oh what the hell! Why not?" I said with a grin. Of course now I had a mile long list as to why not...but at the time...the choice seemed minimal to my near drunken state.

"We're on our way!" Larxene sang as she pranced around Marly and me. I smiled a little at her crazy drunkenness.

"I won't be intruding will I?" I asked Marly. He simply smiled and shook his head.

"You're our friend Rox, any friend of ours is welcomed." he said as he linked his arm with mine. We made our way down the street, attracting quit a bit of attention. Between the six foot blond skank and the pink haired flamer, you learn to accept the fact that your the humble one in the group.

We hailed a cab and piled in. Marly was having trouble giving the cabbie the address, what with our skank casually letting her boob pop out every few minutes. Eventually we got to our destination and stumbled our way out onto the sidewalk.

"Welcome!" Larxene said, as she spun to face me, her arms in the air. "To our humble work place!" she said with a bow. I snickered as she turned and ran toward the crowd out side of the building we had just pulled up in front of. It appeared to be a large metal warehouse that had been converted. It was a popular notion these days, four big walls with plenty of space to do with what you pleased. Marly took my hand and started to pull me toward the crowd as well.

"Don't be intimidated Rox, there's always a huge crowd but not all of them will even get in. We don't know why they even bother. Most of them are duds any way." he said as we approached.

"Duds?" I asked and he just gave me a wink. As we approached, the crowd seemed to part and a large blond man appeared.

"Hurry up Marluxia." the man said, his voice thick with an accent I couldn't place in my near drunken state.

"Oh hush Luxord, I'm getting there." my pink haired escort hissed as he dragged me along. "This is our friend Roxas." he said as he pushed me in front of him. "Remember him, he's allowed in whenever he wants." The big blond eyeballed me for a moment before nodding and stepping aside.

"Alright, but pass the word along. I won't be held responsible for the others if they toss him." he said as we passed. The door was the original to the building (or at least it appeared to be), metal and solid looking. As soon as it opened we were blasted with music and soon swallowed up by the noise and lights as the door closed behind us.

It was a huge space, cavernous, was the word that came to mind. The ceiling was so high up you almost couldn't see it except for the streams of lights that flashed down. The whole center of the building seemed to be made up of different levels of dance floors and several raised cages. From what I could see there were three bars in the room, the back wall and the walls to either side of the front door.

We took a few steps down into the room and I was attacked by Larxene.

"Roxy! How'd you like it?!" She screamed into my ear. I laughed and kissed her cheek before they both grabbed me and pulled me to the right of the room. We took a small stair case up to the landing were the bar was positioned and slid our way to the front were a rather short blue haired bartender was mixing drinks at lighting speeds.

"This is Zexion, he's the second best bartender in the building." Marly said into my ear as the blue haired boy turned to us.

"Hello Marluxia, Larxene. What can I get for you?" he asked in a soft voice. I was really surprised we could hear him at all.

"Hey Zexy! This is Roxas! We'll have rum and coke!" Larxene said as she leaned over the bar and kissed his cheek. He seemed to ignore the blond women as he nodded to me before turning to make the drinks. I turned to Marly.

"The second best?" I asked as our drinks were handed to us in record timing. Marly gave me a huge smile and handed me my drink.

"Wait till you meet our Axel." he said and pointed across the room. I turned to look and the first thing that caught my attention was that side of the club seemed to be much more densely packed. If the club was symmetrical then the spot were everyone was gathered would have been another bar. I took a few steps to the right to try and see what everyone was watching but had no luck seeing through the mass of bodies.

"Would you like to go see the show?" Marluxia asked me with a raised eyebrow. I shrugged my shoulder and took a drink.

"Nah, lets dance." I said and flashed him my award winning smile. Larxene stumbled over to us and grabbed my hand.

"Lets dance Roxy!" she said and before I could say one way or the other I was pulled out onto the massive dance floor. I stumbled behind her for a moment before she finally stopped and turned on me. I was sandwiched between her and (who I assumed was) Marly as the music pumped and our bodies followed along.

We stayed out on the dance floor for several songs before Larxene disappeared into the crowd, leaving me and Marly to our own devises. We danced for a few more songs before I waved my empty cup in the pink haired mans face and he nodded, agreeing. We fought our way out of the crowd and toward the bar.

I realized we were on the other side of the club now, the side that had been so packed early. Now, however it was pretty empty. We took the few steps up and I slid into a bar stool before turning to the bar.

And my world shifted...granted I was pretty drunk so my world was always doing that, but this was different...

The man behind the bar was stunning. At first I couldn't decide what about him had struck me so...uhh...deaf, dumb, and stupid..? His hair was red, fire engine red, and stuck back in long spikes straight back from his face, his eyes were bright green that managed to be unnatural and natural all at the same time, he had little upside down tear drops under each eye that drew your attention right back up to the green orbs.

He was wearing a vest over bare skin, and what beautiful bare skin it was...I might have been drooling. The vest just covered his upper chest and left most of his stomach and hips available for viewing (and oh man was I viewing..) His legs were clad in dark jeans from what I could see of them.

At the moment my red headed bartending god was busy with another customer and thankfully hadn't seen my shameless ogling but Marly had. He was leaning on the bar and watching my face with a knowing smirk.

"Pretty to look at it isn't he." my pink haired friend said. I simply nodded because my voice wasn't quit working yet. "Keep watching it gets better." I looked at him like he was crazy, if it got any better I was going to cum my damn pants. He just chuckled and nodded toward the red head. I turned around just in time.

The customer the red head had been talking too had apparently placed his order. The red head picked up a glass and tossed it in the air, while simultaneously pulling a bottle of liquor from behind him. He caught the glass and flipped the bottle several times in the air before he placed the nozzle into the glass. He reached behind him and pulled a lime from a container and tossed it over his shoulder and caught it in the glass. There was a round of applause as he slid the glass down to the customer. He gave a small bow and then turned those green eyes on us.

"Marly." he said as he picked up a cloth and wiped down the bar. "It's your night off and you bring your date here?" he asked, eyeing me. I couldn't help a small smirk tug at my lips.

"Hello Axel, I see you are as entertaining as ever. If that was a creative dig on my friend here, his name is Roxas and he is not my date." my pink haired friend said as he waved his hand in the air. "And Roxy and I will have a cream sickle shot, and make it entertaining." Axel turned his attention to me even though his hands were already moving gathering ingredients for the shot.

"And does Roxas have a voice? Or are you one of Marly's mutes?" he asked with the SEXIEST smirk I have ever seen.

"I have a voice." I said, very smooth Rox. I hissed at myself. Axel chuckled a little and I wanted to squeal (or hit myself in the face).

"Well watch closelyRoxas." he said as he set a silver shaker on the bar in front of me. "First the Pinnacle." A blue bottle of liquor came up from the floor and he caught it and spun it on the palm of his hand. "And a bit of cream." he said, reaching down with his free hand and snatching up a small carton of cream. He poured both the cream and liquor at the same time before dropping both and grabbing up the hose. "A shot of OJ." He pressed a button on the hose and added it to the silver shaker. "And a little shake." he slammed the lid down on the shaker and rolled it up his arm and back down. He popped his elbow out and the shaker shot into the air, while it was air born he pulled out the two shot glasses and got them on the bar before catching the shaker, popped the lid and poured an even amount in both glasses. He slid one to me and one to Marly. "And enjoy." he said with a smile for me.

I picked up the shot but my eyes were glued to his.

"To good friends and good times!" Marly said and clinked his glass with mine. I tapped the bar with the glass before throwing the contents into my mouth. I closed my eyes and hummed.

"That's really good." I said, opening my eyes to find green eyes still watching me.

"Glad you enjoyed it. What else can I get for you?" he asked, sweeping up the glasses from the bar and dropping them into what must have been a sink.

"Rum and coke, put it all on my tab. Rox, I'll be right back. Will you be good here?" Marly asked me and I just nodded as I watched Axel make the rum and coke. I heard Marly chuckle. "Of course you will. Axe, watch out for him." he said. I snorted and took my drink as the red head slid it too me.

"I can watch myself thank you." I muttered into the my drink as I watched the red head move off to help the next customer, he shot me a smile and I wanted to faint.

I wasn't sure how long I set there watching the red head make drinks but I know that it was the longest time I had ever set in a club. Ever. He was amazing! At one point I watched him make a drink on his forehead! Eventually Marly came back and we had a few more drinks before the red head decided we had had enough.

I pouted a little at this but knew he was right, I was having trouble staying on the bar stool. Just then the music stopped and the silence was deafening.

"Don't pout blondie, it doesn't suit you." Axel said as he swept up my last cup and replaced it with a glass of water. "Drink this and let me call you a cab." he said. I stuck my tongue out at him but drank the water.

"I don't need a cab." I muttered after I set the glass down on the counter. I swung around and managed to stumble to my feet. I turned back toward Marly but found him passed out on the bar, I laughed and poked his face. "Mar! We have to go! Look the lights are on!" I said, pointing up to the ceiling. I heard a very sexy chuckled and looked up just in time to see Axel place his hand on the bar and launch himself over and land beside me.

"Come on Roxas. Marly will be taken care of. Let me get you a cab." he said again and this time it was impossible for me to argue...or even think, what with his hands on my lower back. He led me down the steps and toward the front before I could even form a thought.

"How do you do that?" I asked as he pushed the outer door open for me.

"Do what?" he asked as he waved over the huge blond from earlier. "Could you get me a cab for Roxas?" he said to the other man.

"Sure Axe." the big man said before he walked toward the curb. Axel turned his green eyes back on me and I had to blink a few time to focus.

"How do I do what Roxas?" he asked and my tongue tied again. I shook my head to clear it and leaned against his side.

"Take away my words." I mumbled and yawned at the same time. The red head seemed to go very still so I looked up at him. He was staring at me with raised eyebrows and a small smirk. I tried to think back to what I had just said but couldn't come up with anything. Axel shook his head a little and then started forward.

"Theres your cab, come on." he said and I stumbled next to him. His arm around me was the only thing that kept me standing. He got me into the back seat of the cab. "What's your address Rox?" he asked me. I shook my head and poked his nose.

"Who knows?" I said with a giggle. He rolled his eyes but was smiling.

"Come on Rox, give the nice cabby your address so he can get you home." he said and his hand touched my cheek.

"909 Main st." I said as I tried to focus my thoughts. Axel smiled and rubbed my head before he stood and went to the front window. He gave the cabbie something and then came back to me.

"Have a good night." he said as he stepped onto the curb. "It was nice meeting you." I nodded.

"Yeah, you too." I said and the door was shut. I watched him through the window as he turned back and headed for the building. "God it was good meeting you." I mumbled before my eyes slid slightly shut.

I woke the next morning with my face pressed into hot, sticky leather. I groaned and pushed myself up and stared around my living room. Feeling very grateful I had at least made it into my apartment, I heaved myself to my feet and stumbled as a nasty headache made itself known.

"Fuck." I groaned as I stumbled over to the restroom, losing clothing as I went. My mind was on hold as I turned on the water and stepped under the down poor of water. I scrubbed my face under the water and tried to bring last night into focus. I had a flash of red hair, acid green eyes and a smirk that could melt you into a puddle of goo.

"Axel." I muttered as my eyes opened again. The God-like bartender of Organization 13. I felt myself shudder slightly as the image of him floated up. I would most certainly be returning to that particular establishment again. Very soon. I washed up quickly and made my way to my room, snagging my cell phone off the kitchen counter on my way. I had a missed call from my boss and a voice mail. I hit the voice mail icon and pressed the phone to my ear as I went for my closet.

"No doubt you're going to be late as usual. So make your laziness useful; stop in and pick up the project outline from Olette at her office. Be here by noon or don't show up at all."

I tossed the phone onto my bed and rolled my eyes.

"Sure boss. I'm all over that." I said as I pulled out my suit for the day. I hated dealing with Olette, she was this innocent little designer who thought she should 'help me'. By help me she meant help me find the lord and change my harlot ways. I snorted as I pulled on my tailored gray dress pants. Her husband on the other hand, was once very fond of my harlot ways. I smirked and pulled on a nice green dress shirt and dropped the suit jacket onto the bed while I pulled out socks and shoes.

I glanced into the mirror and ran a hand through my already crazy spiked hair. I set and put on my socks and dress shoes before grabbing my phone and checking the time.

"11, just enough time." I said as I grabbed up the suit jacket and my keys and headed for the door. I worked for a big modeling company as a project coordinator and a secretary..well on my really bad days, depending on how much I had pissed the boss off. I slid on my sunglasses as I hit the street and a few blocks from Olettes office I hit up a street vendor for a coffee.

I strolled into Buttons Inc. with a mouth full of scornful remarks to re-burk the Jesus loving freak but was stopped short just inside the doors as I lifted my sunglasses off my face and placed them on my head.

"Fine, whatever. Just tell Olette that I was here and if she wants me to be in next months show she had better pull that stick out of her ass." A very angry, Larxene was telling the receptionist.

"I will be sure that she gets your message Ms. Lane. Is there anything else?" she asked with a bright smile. I was at just the right angle to see the teeth baring smile the blond flashed at her and saw the other woman's smile dim just a bit.

"Yes, have a satan filled day." She snarled and turned toward me just as laughter bubbled up in my throat at the shocked look of the receptionist. Larxene seemed to freeze when her eyes landed on me and then a slow smirk replaced the glare.

"Well, well, if it isn't my favorite party animal" she said as she crossed the room toward me.

"Well, well, if it isn't my favorite skank." I said with my arms crossed. "What brings you to our favorite local zealot?" She threw a look over her shoulder and snorted.

"I do a bit of runway modeling and Olette had wanted me to work for her but that quickly changed when she started to preach before a show a few weeks ago and I walked out." She said with a smirk. "And you?"

"I work for Zeus." I said with a shrug. "Olette is one of our contracted designers. She has some plans I need to pick up for examining before our next shoot."

"Zeus, huh? Well if we aren't big man on campus." She said "Well I'll let you get back to work. Hopefully we'll see more of you at the Organization." I gave my own smirk and shrugged.

"We'll see." I said and she threw back her head and laughed.

"Sure, Sure Rox. I'll see you tonight." she said as she went around me and out the door. I felt a little miffed but shrugged it off. Truth was, I had planned on going back tonight any way. Now it was certain that I would. I approached the receptionist and slammed my hand on the desk, jerking her bowed head up.

"Hi doll." I said with a wink and leaned on the counter. "I'm here to pick up the Zeus plans from your boss." She just nodded her head and hit an intercom button.

"Mrs. Dean? Mr. Strife is here for the Zeus plans." She said into her head set before turning her attention back to me. "She'll be right with you." I just nodded and continued to stare at her with a leer.

"I like your top, its quite flattering." I said as I shifted my gaze to her slightly opened blouse. She huffed a little but other wise ignored me. I was just about to up the anti and tell her that her tits were marvelous and wanted to know where she got them done, when a door to the right opened and out walked Olette.

She was a rather pretty girl with green eyes and brown hair. Being in the fashion industry, she was well dressed even if it was a little on the uhhh... safe side. She wore a simple pencil skirt with a wispy teal shirt that flowed over her shoulders and just below her carefully concealed rack. She wasted a sunny smile on me as she approached.

"Oh Roxas! Its so good to see you." She said as she handed me a large envelope and managed (some how) to hug me. "How have you been?" she asked as I pulled away.

"Great Olette. You know, just late nights dancing nude in the woods." I said as I turned and headed for the door.

"Oh Roxas, when your ready to accept the Lord as your sav..." she started to say but I cut her off.

"Go to hell Olette." I said. Making sure to keep things rude I gave a little wave over my shoulder with out looking back. I slipped my sunglasses back on as I let the door close behind me and headed further down town.

I managed to get into work right at noon and slipped into the meeting just as the boss man was talking about the next shoot.

"..Olettes plans should be here soon..." I dropped the envelope on the table in front of him as I made my way around to the other side to take my seat. "Thank you Roxas." he said before picking up the envelope and extracting the contents. He grunted. "Just as I suspected, we're going to need to make a few adjustments to these but other then that they're ready to go. I want everybody working on this today, I need samples to send off to the client by end of day. Get going." he said and the crowd of people dispersed. "Roxas, stay put." he said and I plopped down into a chair a few seats down form him.

"Whats up?" I asked after the last person had squeezed through the door. He shifted his gaze on me as he put the project plans back into their envelope.

"I hear you were at the Organization last night." he said as he folded his hands on top of the envelope. I set back in my chair but didn't answer right away. Where was he going with this?

"I was." I said, my voice suspicious. "What's it to you?" He smirked.

"Zeus has an extreme interest in the employees of the Organization." he said.

"Okay?" I asked, still not understanding. "Then send out your scouts."

"I've tried, but the Organization is an exclusive club. They only let in people they see as fit. I have forever tried to figure out what that standard is but I've never succeeded. There are several people on their staff that I would like to hire as models." he said. I leaned forward, my elbows on the table.

"Why haven't you approached them when their off?" I asked.

"I've tried but they always say that if we want to do business we have to come to the club. The problem then circles back to the fact that none of our scouts can get passed the front door." he said and his frustration was starting to leak through.

"So you want me to act as a Zeus scout and offer them a job?" I asked, raising my eyebrow. He shifted in his chair.

"Yes, of course you would get the raise that comes with the tittle of scout." he said. I 'hmmm'ed and leaned back.

"Would this be a permanent position?" I asked trying to fight the smile that was tugging at my lips.

"That would depend on the out come." he said, his face going blank. I knew that face, it was the same face he used when it came to evaluations.

"Who is it that you are interested in exactly?" I asked.

"Larxene Lane, Marluxia Blath, and Axel Lasair." he said and a shiver ran down my spine.

"Larxene won't be hard, she already does run way modeling. I don't know if Marly would be interested or not but I'll defiantly make sure he knows it'll be worth his while. Axel on the other hand..." I trailed off as I stared out the window just behind my bosses head. "He seems pretty into the art of bartending."

"Yes I know he is. He is very dedicated to his craft, he has been to many competitions for trick bartending and has won all of them. He is shooting for grand nationals and that is going to cost him a pretty penny. We can help him get that pretty penny. I know several clients that are looking for models with his particular uniqueness and uniqueness in this industry pays very well." I nodded my head.

"Alright, I'll make the pitch to them and get back to you with their answers." I said as I stood and moved toward the door.

"Make it count Roxas. If you mess this up I will make sure you never work in this industry again." My boss said as I opened the door. I glanced back at him and gave a little salute.

"Yes sir." I said as I closed the door. I waited until I was around the corner before I did my happy dance. Not only was I getting paid to go back to the Organization but I was basically getting paid to hit on Axel! "Hot damn!" I said as I headed toward the elevators. Going to the Organization last night had been a brilliant decision on my part!

I did a quick mental check list in my head of what I would need to get done for the day and then stepped onto the elevator. I turned around and hit the 3 button.

"Hold the elevator!" Some one called out. I slid my hands between the closing doors and they opened again. All my happy thoughts vanished as I came face to face with Riku. We both stood frozen for a moment, staring at each other- eyes wide. I turned away first, moving back into the elevator. Riku stood frozen for a moment longer before he too stepped on, hit the lobby button and stood on the opposite side of the car.

"You do realize that we're going to run into each other." I said sliding my hands into my pant pockets and glancing over at the silverette. "We work together after all."

"No we won't. I just turned in my transfer notice. Sora and I are moving." he said, his voice flat. I was a bit shocked that they were still together but at the same time happy that they were. I didn't often feel that my 'relations' were mistakes but sleeping with Riku had most certainty been a mistake.

"I'm glad you two are trying to work it out." I said as I stared up at the mirrored ceiling of the car. I saw Riku glance over at me but I kept staring up. "What we did was a mistake." The elevator dinged and the doors slid open on the third floor. I started off but Riku grabbed my wrist. I turned back and met aqua marine eyes.

"You should tell Sora that." He said. "Tell him what happened Roxas, he's your brother." I closed my eyes and shook my head.

"You two will work it out. You're all better off with out me." I said as I pulled out of his grasp. "Chow" The elevator doors closed behind me and my shoulders sagged and my hand went over my face.

Happy ever after Sora. I thought before I pulled myself together and headed for my rickety little office. Shit to get done and what not.

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