Author's note: Greetings from 2014. I haven't updated this since Feb 6, 2009. That's over half a decade ago (as some of you sweetlings have magnanimously pointed out by sending me private messages). It's been awhile, I know. So, I'll just leave this here.

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Protein: (noun) Any of a large group of nitrogenous compounds of high molecular weight that are essential constituents of all living organisms.
Shake: (verb) To move (an object) up and down or from side to side with rapid, forceful, jerky movements.
Protein Shake: (noun) Riku has one every morning after working out his incredible muscles at the gym. Then, he has a very long shower whereby he washes his sweat-covered body with Old Spice and lathers his hair with L'Oréal Paris' Hair Expertise Eversleek Intense Smoothing Shampoo.

"The One Where Everybody Gets Excited."

The morning wasn't a quiet one. Cloud Strife unceremoniously awoke to an impressively incessant (yet annoyingly erratic) banging from outside his immaculately cluttered bedroom. His first thought was 'why is my hand down my pants?' and his second thought, after hastily extracting his hand from said pants, was 'I think someone is trying really hard to break into my apartment. I keep a spare under the doormat, moron!' Fortunately, it eventually occurred to him that he had let Leon stay the night, and that they had a lot to drink before going to bed.

The blond groaned. Had last night really happened? Did he embarrass himself completely? He kind of remembered talking about relationships and that he was starting to… Oh my god. Did he let slip that he was so undeniably gay for his boss?!

Fuck. Leon had better not remember anything.

Cloud haphazardly threw on some clean clothes and made a beeline for his door, almost tripping over his collection of fluffy Moogle and Chocobo stuffed toys. He exhaled heavily, drove a hand through his mess of spikes in a futile attempt to tame them, and made his way out of his room as calmly as he could. Despite imbibing more alcohol than was reasonably healthy last night, he felt wide awake and uncannily alert. But then again, Cloud could hold his alcohol pretty well and he prided himself in not being the type to get excruciating hangovers the morning after a big night. That's not to say Leon exhibited the same traits.

The blond found the poor Leonhart in the kitchen, trying valiantly to get the toaster working. He looked, for the most part, extremely unkempt. His shirt was rumpled and his hair was sticking out at very odd angles from sleeping on the couch. He looked utterly ridiculous. Fortunately, Cloud found it very appealing. And kind of sexy.

The blond sighed. This wanton attraction was getting annoying.

Now, about that toaster…

"That thing stopped working months ago."

Leon looked up wildly from where he'd been smacking away at the miserable kitchen appliance. His eyes met Cloud's and he glanced away sheepishly, like a naughty kid caught in the act of kicking a stranger's painstakingly crafted three-storey sandcastle.

"Sorry. I… I've got the munchies. Need food."

Cloud nodded idly as though expecting such a reply. "Okay, but you're not gonna get anything out of that toaster. I tried to pop some corn in there once, but they just sizzled angrily and caught on fire… and so did the toaster." He indicated the black marks all along the front of the useless object.

"Oh." Leon sounded a little disappointed. He really, really wanted some delicious toast right now. The man fell silent for a while as he sullenly pushed the toaster back into the little corner where he found it, between a jar of never-been-opened-even-once lentils and a mini rice cooker. Then, he eventually looked down at his feet and muttered awkwardly, "I've got a bit of a migraine."

Cloud almost cracked a smile. Hangover indeed.

Leon sniffled pathetically. "I… I think I might go have a shower. Maybe my munchies'll go away."

Fifteen minutes later, Leon wandered back into the kitchen to find that some food had miraculously appeared on the small breakfast table. A large bowl of cranberry nut granola, a steaming cup of green tea and a couple of painkillers, all neatly arranged on a placemat. Who knew Cloud was the domesticated wifey type?

The Leonhart looked over to where Cloud was sitting. He had obviously already had his own breakfast (judging from the almost-empty bowl of semi-stale Fruity Pebbles) and was currently resting his head in his hands, looking tired and defeated. Almost as if he'd just lost some sort of long-waged battle.

"You okay?"

Cloud's head snapped up. He was about to open his mouth, but as soon as he registered that Leon was wearing nothing but a damp towel around his waist, the blond completely forget what he wanted to say.

Leon looked a little concerned at Cloud's blank stare, then looked down at himself with pursed lips. "Oh. Yeah. I was gonna ask if I could borrow a clean shirt and a pair of pants? Slept in mine last night and they're kinda gross now."

It took Cloud a few seconds to process that yes, Leon would probably be able to fit into his clothes (the man was only slightly shorter than Cloud but they had the same sort of body size) and yes, Leon did indeed have his nipple pierced (as Demyx had so eagerly revealed to everyone the other day), that much was obvious. And shit, look at those abs. How the hell did he find the time to work out?!

The blond quickly shook himself out of his daze and nodded mechanically. "Got an extra Fix outfit. Needs ironing though. Eat first and I'll go get it ready."

Domesticated wifey type indeed.

Leon glanced down at the granola and tea, then looked back at Cloud. "Thanks, man. You really didn't need to… to make breakfast. You didn't even need to let me stay."

It was the first time Cloud had ever heard his boss sound completely grateful. Usually, Leon didn't let any emotion show. This time, Cloud could sense the heartfelt appreciation emanating from the older man's voice. It was a very, very pleasant change. Feeling more sure of himself, the blond gave a little shrug. "Don't be stupid." He stood up, ready to resign himself to ironing his and Leon's uniform. "Eat."

After chucking his remaining cereal in the bin and dumping his bowl in the sink (which was already filled with a small stack of other unwashed items, including the two shotglasses from last night and — for some strange reason — two empty cans of Red Bull), he started out towards the hallway.

"Cloud."

The blond froze. Leon's voice was sombre and very quiet. He turned back towards the kitchen and peered at his house guest. "Ya."

Leon's face was grave.

"You have… ah, um. Fruity Pebble…" Leon pointed at his face.

Swiping at his cheek, Cloud nearly died of embarrassment as soon as he realised there was indeed a Fruity Pebble stuck on the side of his face. He'd been talking to Leon the whole freaking time with freaking FOOD glued to his now-very-rosy cheek.

The blond gave a grunt of acknowledgement and quickly retreated to his room, trying hard not run.

As he searched his closet for an extra Caffeine Fixation uniform, a unexpectedly buoyant thought crossed Cloud's mind. At least he seems a lot better today, he mused absently. He's not depressingly suicidal or moping about that ex-girlfriend of his every few seconds anymore.

Cloud figured that was a good thing.

After getting himself dressed and ready for the day, the blond returned to the kitchen a few moments later with Leon's set of clothes, perfectly ironed and neatly folded in a small pile.

"Here's your—" Cloud started, just as he witnessed his boss put down the receiver of the telephone that sat on the kitchen bench. Cloud squinted at the man in a semi-accusatory manner. IF THAT WAS RINOA, I SWEAR TO GOD, MAN. "Uh. Who was that?" The question came out just a little bit hostile.

Leon blinked at Cloud's abrupt tone. "Just called a friend for a favour," he said slowly, "and then called some guys to come fix my car." The man looked closely at Cloud, attempting to evaluate his employee's strange behaviour. "Sorry I used your phone. I don't exactly have one anymore."

Cloud bit his lip. I'm not worried about the phone, idiot.

Leon sighed. "If you think I called Rinoa, you can relax. I didn't."

Cloud's eyes immediately dropped to his feet. Awkwaaaard. He was so suddenly self-conscious about his speculative and presumptuous conduct that he didn't notice Leon's curious scrutiny.

"Cloud, seriously. Are you okay?" the older man questioned for the second time that morning.

Cloud Strife glanced back up at his boss, then just as quickly averted his eyes as soon as he caught a glimpse the concerned look on the other man's face. That was when his eyes fell upon the sink. It was empty – completely devoid of the piles of unwashed items that had been sitting grimy for days. All the dirty dishes had been meticulously cleaned, considerately wiped dry and placed neatly in small stacks next to the sink.

Everything was sparkling.

Alright.

It was then that Cloud (in an unexplained fit of decisiveness) finally, ultimately, truly, completely accepted that he was absolutely in love with his boss.

I love him. I fucking love Squall Leonhart. I admit it. I goddamn admit it.

And just like that, it seemed like a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He had finally, officially come to terms with his infatuation. The battle was over. And for the first time in weeks, Cloud Strife no longer felt agitated or distressed. He felt liberated.

"I'm fine, man. Just… would it have killed you to ask to borrow my phone before using it? Jeez."

The day started off without a hitch. Cloud and his oh-so-perfect companion were the first to arrive at Caffeine Fixation (after walking the entire short distance together - not hand-in-hand mind you, but that's okay, Cloud could deal). During the journey, they had a lighthearted talk about their favourite hair products. This stemmed from Leon having to use some of Cloud's good stuff that morning. He had been impressed by the number of different sprays and gels and styling products the blond kept in his bathroom cupboard. A lot of them were apparently S-Enix Approved, whatever that meant.

Interesting fact: Cloud had always thought of becoming a hair stylist when he was younger. Of course, he figured it wouldn't ever work out - he didn't have the patience to deal with other peoples' tresses (much less other people in general).

During the walk, Cloud came to discover that Leon used to surf during his pre-teenage years. Until he decided that black leather and tight pants were more his style, not drawstring shorts and a perpetually salt-encrusted body.

Also, the Leonhart had injured himself pretty badly one day while out paddling the seas.

"See this scar?" he told Cloud, pointing at his forehead. "Smashed my face into some rocks. I was fifteen. Pretty traumatised. Sold my board and vowed never to return to the water ever again."

Axel and Demyx arrived relatively on time (Axel about 10 minutes late, and Demyx after finishing his late morning class). Leon finally got his car fixed. It cost him an incredible $850 to get all four of his tyres replaced. ("Holy fucking gold bars, I am never ever owning a car!" Axel had exclaimed in melodramatic fashion, earning him extremely disgruntled stares from early morning customers in the vicinity).

Cloud couldn't help but notice that Leon had paid the mechanic in full, in cash, without so much as a noncommittal grunt as soon as the guy told him how much it would cost. The Fix must be raking in some serious money for Leon to have relinquished his hold on that much cash without batting an eyelid.

At exactly 12 noon, she stepped in.

She was tall, fairly lean (but very well toned—probably a practitioner of yoga or some form of martial art) and had lusciously long, dark hair that cascaded down her back. Oh, and she definitely made everyone in the vicinity turn heads and wag tongues. Her tight black shorts and white cropped top exposed a little more flesh than was clearly necessary (Axel actually clucked his tongue at that). And there was no way in hell those boobs were real.

"Guys," Leon announced loudly in his best no-nonsense voice as the shamelessly well-endowed girl sauntered up to the counter, "this is Tifa Lockhart."

Axel and Demyx only managed to stare, a little dumbfounded. Who the hell was this? But Cloud knew better. This was the 'friend' that Leon was talking about earlier. The one he called for the favour.

"And I thought I'd be getting a huge round of applause for turning up," the girl said in greeting, grinning roguishly at every single one of them.

Leon managed a small smile. "Hey, Tif. I'm really sorry about calling you in like this. You were the only person I could think of."

"Don't be a baby, Leon. You need time to recover from your break up. You're a little out of it, you said so yourself. If you need help managing The Fix, you can always count on me!" Tifa gave Leon a playful pat on the head, giving everyone the impression that the two were close.

Axel's hand shot into the air. "I HAVE A QUESTION."

Leon sighed. "Calm down. Let me explain."

"Oui," Demyx bobbed his head in agreement, "s'il vous plaît expliquer."

"Tifa's my half-sister. She's here as extra help."

There was a moment of silence. Then, in a simultaneous chorus:

"You have a half-sister?!" Demyx.

"Your sis is hawt." Axel.

Cloud just rolled his eyes at his asinine co-workers and calmly extended a hand to the newcomer. "Cloud. Nice to meet you, Tifa." The blond figured if he wanted to start impressing the love of his life, why not start by getting to know his family a little?

Tifa shook his hand enthusiastically. "I've heard a bit about you, Cloud. Apparently one of the more level-headed and responsible employees here, according to the boss?" She tilted her head in her half-brother's direction as if waiting for some sort of confirmation.

Leon shrugged.

Tifa laughed and returned her gaze to Cloud. "Don't worry, that was exactly what he told me a month after you started working here. I remember. He was very impressed with you."

Before Cloud could even think to say anything, Axel elbowed the inarticulate blond out of the way. "And what did he say about me?" he asked excitedly.

Tifa raised an eyebrow at the redhead's rude display, her expression suddenly frosty. "Excuse me, but I was talking to Cloud."

Axel blinked, then backed away immediately. That was not the reaction he was expecting from the brunette, and the look she was piercing him with could kill. Definitely a relation of Leon's, no doubt about it. Axel decided that it was wise to never piss the sexy lady off.

Unsurprisingly, Cloud took a liking to Tifa immediately.

Leon actually cracked a smile at the situation. It was about time someone had the audacity to put Axel in his place.

"I see you smiling," Axel hissed sourly at his boss.

"You had it coming."

Axel pouted.

Tifa, meanwhile, was engaged in a productive conversation with Demyx, with Cloud listening in and trying not to look too interested.

"I seriously didn't realise Leon had a half-sister! Then again, I guess I don't know much about his family. I've met his older sister once, though. Ellone, yeah? She came to a show with us once!"

"Ellone? At some loud punk rock concert?" Tifa scoffed, sounding incredibly amused.

"Nah, we saw Coldplay. She actually got the tickets for us. I thought it was really nice of her!"

"Yeah, she's the nice one. Leon has a soft spot for her. Not so much for me, hey Leon?" Tifa threw a large grin at her brother.

"We do hate each other," Leon deadpanned.

"If by hate you mean love, then yes, I totally get what you mean," Demyx nodded understandingly. "Because if you hate someone, you definitely want to help them out at work."

Tifa laughed, delighted at Demyx's way of thinking. "Exactly."

Needless to say, Demyx and Cloud warmed up to Tifa immediately. Not so much Axel, but Tifa was fine with that. Work resumed as per normal, with Leon working the front with Axel. The rest were huddled in the kitchen discussing Something Very Important.

As soon as Leon was out of earshot, Demyx had immediately pitched the idea of throwing Leon a party at The Fix on Friday night to Tifa. A serious discussion actually ensued and even Cloud felt the need to join in.

Demyx, bouncing up and down on his heels, was clearly excited about the prospect of a Cheer Leon The Fuck Up Party. "We'll ask the boss dude if we can keep the place open late! And, and, and… well, he's always wanted Mismatched to play live at The Fix, so I reckon this Friday should be the day the band makes its debut!"

"Wow, you've put a lot of thought into this, haven't you?" Tifa looked impressed. "That actually sounds like a good plan!" The brunette turned to the other blond in the kitchen, clearly not about to leave the silent individual out of the conversation. "What do you think, Cloud?"

Cloud wasn't a party person. Neither did he think Leon was either, for that matter. But if there was even the slightest chance that this party could make his boss feel a little better, he was willing to endure the social event and sacrifice some of his comfort.

"I think Leon will be happy with that," he eventually replied, managing a small nod.

Demyx grinned knowingly and whipped out his phone. "Texting the band right now!" he announced, fingers flying over the keys.

Yo, Tidus. We're totally playing caffeine fixation on friday night. TELL EVERYONE.

Approximately 7.5 seconds later, Demyx received an enthusiastic reply from his reliable lead singer:

Cooooooooool man i'll let villiers and kreiss know.

Thanks bro. Will fill you guys in on the details tonight. Talk later. PEACE

"What kind of music do you guys play?" Tifa asked as Demyx finished up his short text and pocketed his phone.

"A little bit of everything, I guess. We play loud."

"Don't tell me. You're the guitarist."

"Do I look the part?"

"I'd say so."

Demyx beamed, then looked contemplative for a bit.

"I think I'll get the YRP girls to rock up. Maybe a little battle of the bands might be a good idea. I know Rikku and Yuna wouldn't say no!"

It was then that Cloud had to mentally slap himself for agreeing that this party thing was a good idea. He vaguely envisioned Rikku burning the place down (with Sora as her willing accomplice), all the while chanting "nana-nana-nana-nana STRIFEMAN!"

Eventually, they pitched the idea of this wild party to Leon. He actually ended up agreeing, much to everyone's surprise, but had to ensure that his staff members knew that they were not licensed to have alcohol on the premises.

"Axel, we are a café. No, I will not let you bring any booze, even if you're the only one who'll be drinking."

"But—!"

"I will fire you."

"You would not." Axel's petulance was astounding.

Tifa made a really impatient noise at that. "My god, would Knuckles the Echidna PLEASE BEHAVE?"

Sometime in the late afternoon, Roxas and Sora appeared. Everyone was privy to their arrival thanks to the loud announcement of "'SUP, CHUMS?" that emanated from the doorway. Sora was obviously having a good day. Roxas, however, was in a terrible mood. School was particularly rough for the blond that day, and it had absolutely nothing to do with his annoying teachers (seriously, that Mr. Jecht dude, man) or his education in general (Roxas topped all his classes on a regular basis).

If you wanted to know the truth, he was still mad at Axel because of what he did last night. But for a different reason entirely. It started out as a subconscious thing, but eventually (halfway through Physics class to be precise), he was horrified to realise that the whole time since getting out of bed that morning, he'd been desperately trying to figure out if the infuriating redhead was genuinely interested in him or if the bastard had just been playing a game all along, which he offhandedly alluded to immediately following their kiss. This greatly confused the shit out of him and, as is common knowledge to everyone, teenagers usually unwittingly mask their confusion with anger. Lots and lots of anger.

"Rox, Sor!" Demyx greeted them animatedly, arms flailing a little. "You totally gotta meet our newest addition!" The musician gestured towards Tifa, who was currently handing out a drink to a customer on the far side of the counter.

Roxas glanced around stonily (okay, anxiously) and was glad to find The Fix devoid of lanky people with stupidly red hair at the moment. In the kitchen, probably trying to torture Strife with his shitty jokes, he told himself with a scowl.

Tifa waved the two boys forward once she was done with her customer and winked at them. "Dem told me all about the two of you," she stated with a grin as she shook each of their hands. "Hi, I'm Tifa. Just helping out around here for a few days until Leon is stable enough to get over his itty bitty broken heart. Honestly, I hope to god you two are easier to get along with than the scrawny beanpole troublemaker out the back.

Sora burst out laughing while Roxas raised an eyebrow.

"I'm likin' da pretty laaaady!" Sora sang, giving her a thumbs up.

Roxas sighed. At least he knew the girl was on his side about the scrawny beanpole.

"Tifa and Leon are half-siblings," Demyx explained to the boys patiently. "Also, we've all discussed the party thingy that we talked about yesterday. Defs happening this Friday, dudes! My band's gonna be playin' and IT'S – GONNA – BE – THE – BEST – THING – EVER."

At that moment, Cloud popped his head through the kitchen door with a glare directed at Demyx. "Pipe down," he growled. Then, glancing at Sora and Roxas, added: "Get your uniforms on and get to work, guys."

The blond looked pissed, but Roxas was pretty sure the Strife's prickly expression was due to the fucking redhead torturing him with his shitty jokes again. What a dick.

5:00pm, Caffeine Fixation Kitchen.

"What's the most impressive thing you've done in life so far?" Demyx was asking Axel as the two lethargically unboxed new batches of wax-lined paper cups and plastic lids.

"I started the first Hate Club in high school," the redhead responded after two seconds of deliberation.

"Hate Club?"

"Yeah, for some reason, a number of disgruntled girls formed the 'I Hate Axel Onér Club'. It was fantastic."

"I remember that," Cloud muttered. "They didn't like the fact that you were practically stealing all their hot boyfriends from under their noses."

"Pfft," Axel snorted, flinging a loose plastic lid at Cloud (it did a poor somersault in the air and landed ten feet away from the blond). "It was nothing personal. Jeez. It wasn't my fault their pretty boys couldn't resist me."

Tifa tsked and gave the redhead a long once-over. "You don't look that irresistible to me, Onér."

"You aren't a guy," Axel shot back, a little hurt. "You wouldn't know. Only the male population appreciates me."

"Wow," Tifa marvelled, a little mockingly. "You're quite full of yourself, aren't you? Well, good luck finding yourself a steady boyfriend then."

Axel made a face. His expression mirrored that of a person being stabbed by a particularly long jewel-encrusted dagger. Quickly stepping away from the girl in front of him, he retreated to where Sora was standing and whispered into his ear. "That chick is so mean."

Sora giggled quietly. "She seems to know how to put you in your place, though! I think we're gonna need her around."

Axel feigned shock and dismay. "Sora! You're supposed to be on my side!"

"I am."

Sora's chipper behaviour started to wane once the sun started to set that evening. The boy was manning the front with Roxas when he starting to exhibit signs of restlessness. This wasn't unusual for the boy, but his best friend couldn't help but notice the way the brunet's eyes would constantly wander to the front door every few seconds.

"What the hell is wrong with you? You screwed the last two orders up and why do you keep looking at the door?!" Roxas couldn't help but feel a little exasperated.

Sora glanced at Roxas, trying to appear apologetic but failing tremendously. "I just really want sunflowers," he replied glumly.

Roxas wisely decided not to comment.

Almost ten minutes passed before the door to the currently-fairly-quiet coffee bar opened.

The first thing Roxas registered was holy fuck those sunflowers are huuuge. And the next thing he registered was Sora pretty much launching himself over the counter and sprinting towards the person holding the bouquet.

"Someone ordered some sunflowers last night," the guy with the flowers said with an entirely straight face.

"RIKU OH MY GOD THERE'S LIKE TWENTY OF THEM."

Riku smirked, handing the flowers over. "I assure you, there's only seven."

Roxas found himself immediately sizing up the silver-haired individual. He was willing to bet his MacBook Pro that this was the guy that Sora was head over heels with. He didn't look gay. Then again, that immaculate hair…

"Roxas, this is Riku!" Sora gushed with the hugest smile on his face. "Isn't he just the best?!"

Roxas rolled his eyes. "So you're the guy."

Riku regarded Roxas coolly, one arm finding its way around Sora's waist. "I am."

"Right," Roxas' voice was casual. "I hope you don't break his heart or I'll break your face."

Sora was about to open his mouth to protest but Riku, recognising a Best Friend Speech when he heard one, cut him off quickly.

"Thanks for the heads up, Roxas. But Sora doesn't deserve a broken heart. Not in a billion years."

Roxas noticed that Sora's ears went an embarrassing shade of pink at Riku's declaration. He sighed, figuring his role as Overprotective BFF was probably going to have to take a back seat from now on.

"Well then. You have my blessing."

Sora gave Riku a high five.

Roxas shook his head, but smiled inwardly. These two were made for each other.

The blond's gaze shifted towards the guy who walked in with Riku. Until then, no one had paid any attention to him. He had lilac-coloured hair and Roxas was pretty sure the dude was cautiously (but fairly noticeably) looking around the café for something.

"You and your friend want some drinks, Riku?" he asked.

Sora glanced around at Riku's companion almost sheepishly, having completely disregarded him the entire time. He was too busy noticing other things.

Riku cleared his throat. "We do, actually. Guys, this is Zexion. We—"

"HOLD THAT THOUGHT," Sora yelped all of a sudden. "You two totally need to come visit on Friday because we are havin' a paaaartaaaay!"

There was silence for a few moments.

"Um," Zexion was the first to say anything.

"NO BUTS," Sora continued, pointing a finger at Zexion (never mind the fact the Med-Law student was a complete stranger to him). "Demyx's freakin' band is playing and I am totally decorating the place with paper elephants!"

Riku promptly exploded with laughter.

Roxas looked like he wanted to throttle his friend. Was that level of yelling really necessary?

And then the kitchen door swung open. "Guys, what's with all the noise? I think I heard my name—holy snap!" Demyx noticed the jumbo sunflowers immediately. Then, his gaze settled on Zexion and the musician almost decided to relinquish his hold on the jug of iced tea he'd been carrying.

"This is the Demyx I was talking about," Sora quipped, without missing a beat. "Ri, I think you've met him. He gave me your number."

"We know who he is," Zexion stated, nodding politely at Demyx.

"Oh. Well, good! So this means you two are definitely coming on Friday, right?"

Riku shrugged. "Sure. I'll do whatever you want, Sora." He shot a glance at Demyx, then looked towards his soft-spoken friend. "What about you, Z?"

"What's the occasion?" Zexion asked carefully, question directed at Sora but eyes trained solely in Demyx's direction (not that the flustered musician noticed because he was more preoccupied with biting his lip and looking interestedly at the ground).

"Our boss recently got his heart broke by some chick with a lot of cash," Sora explained. "He needs some cheering up, so Mastermind Genius Demyx came up with the party idea. He's even getting Mismatched Thirteen to play live that night and who in the heck would want to miss that? Don't say you!"

Zexion looked back at Sora, smiling slightly at the brunet's tone. "You can calm down. Yes, I'd be more than happy to see MT play. In fact, I'm already looking forward to it."

It had been a full ten minutes before Riku and Zexion actually managed to order any drinks. Riku refused to sit, opting instead to stand by the counter and talk to his new boyfriend the whole time (Roxas had retreated into the kitchen and carted Demyx out to take his place because "no way in hell am I being a third wheel").

Zexion, bless his sensible soul, waited for his drink at one of the tables like a normal customer.

"Mismatched isn't that great," Demyx said to him sincerely as he approached the shorter male to hand over his mocha. The musician was still reeling at the thought that Zexion wanted to see his band play on Friday.

Zexion peered at Demyx from under a lock of hair, studying the blond's honest expression. "Don't be ridiculous," he chided quietly. Fishing his iPhone 5S out of his pocket, the Med-Law student handed it over to Demyx after keying in his 4-digit passcode. "Music. Artists. Scroll down to M."

Demyx did as he was told. It wasn't every day the boy of your dreams let you flip through their music library and hey look, he listens to some pretty cool bands too, oh wait—

Holy crap, why are there so many Mismatched Thirteen songs on here?

The blond seemed to forget how to breathe as he slowly thumbed through the list. It eventually dawned on him that pretty much all of the songs heavily featured his singing, and while he wasn't quite the lead singer in MT, there were a few songs where the band thought it would be better if he took the lead. He even wrote a few of them as well, his ultimate favourite being an acoustic song he performed solo, titled "An Ocean To Discover" (he would never tell a soul, but that song was written about Zexion, in a way).

And they were all here on Zexion's phone.

"Didn't realise you were a fan," Demyx said slowly as he returned the iPhone to its rightful owner, fingers tingling as they made split-second contact with Zexion's.

Zexion looked almost pleased at the musician's acknowledgement.

"Have you ever seen me, er, us perform? Live?" Demyx felt he needed to know.

"Just once. Unfortunately, I didn't get a very good view of the band."

Demyx had to laugh at that. "Not much to see. Noel's the reason anyone goes to our shows anyway," the musician said in mock seriousness. "He's the youngest and the girls just love him."

"He's the bassist, yeah? Dark hair?"

Demyx tried not to frown. Did Zexion turn up for their show because of Noel? Well, the kid did look a lot like a girl. A girl with muscles. Maybe Zexion was into that sort of thing. He exhaled desolately and gave Zexion a weak nod. "Indeedy. Dark hair. Likes wearing blue a lot. Snow's on drums and Tidus is lead."

Zexion nodded, hair falling into his eyes. "You should be lead in my opinion."

Demyx's heart almost stopped at Zexion's open confession. Whaaaat?

"Tidus has the personality, but he's not quite there with the talent," Zexion continued, as though somehow sensing Demyx's disbelief. "No offence to Tidus, of course," he added quickly. "He's great. It's just… you're a lot better."

Now, Demyx was trying very hard not to blush profusely. Here he was, standing next to Zexion, his Ultimate Boycrush Forever, and they were actually talking about music. About his band. About how he was better than the lead singer in his band.

"I… I really don't know what to say. Uh… thank you. That… that means a lot." Coming from you, he wanted to add.

"Just being honest," Zexion said, smiling faintly. "Just don't tell Tidus I said that. He might decide to never talk to me again."

Demyx couldn't hide the surprise on his face. "You know Tidus DeHaan?"

"We go way back. Even before Mismatched Thirteen ever existed."

"He never told me about you."

Zexion shrugged. "Maybe indirectly. Did he ever tell you about how M Thirteen got its name?"

Demyx racked his brains for an answer. He knew Tidus pitched the name to the rest of the band when they officially started to get serious about actually becoming a musical sensation. "Tidus said someone from high school, some old friend who used to jam with him when he was 16, suggested it to him when he was looking for a name. But he never really—" Demyx stopped short, mind suddenly and effectively blown. "That was you?"

Zexion actually laughed at the bewildered expression on the barista's face.

"Tidus and I never really hung out after graduating high school," the slate-haired male finally admitted. "Probably because I decided to give up guitar to nerd it out with Med-Law and he's now in Arts, living the life. But before we really went our separate ways, he came to me for a name. He actually asked me to join, but y'know…" Zexion trailed off and he turned his contemplative gaze towards Demyx, looking him straight in the eye. "At least he picked an exceptional replacement."

Demyx tried to fight down every impulse to look embarrassed. "Well damn," he finally opened his mouth to say something. "Tidus is an ass."

Zexion looked mildly amused. "Why's that?"

"I've known him for two years and he never once talked about you! I mean, you seem like an amazing person!"

Zexion regarded Demyx with a strange look on his face. But before he could say anything, some very familiar strumming started to emanate from his phone. The slate-haired individual picked up before the song really started, but it was enough for Demyx to know that An Ocean To Discover was the ringtone.

And fuck, did that make Demyx want to sing his heart out. Not only was Zexion gorgeous, not only was he totally into his band and his favourite song, he pretty much invented Mismatched Thirteen and HE FUCKING PLAYED THE GUITAR.

This was Demyx's soulmate, right here.

Unfortunately, Demyx's aforementioned soulmate didn't seem to be enjoying his phone call. His expression was getting darker as his conversation progressed.

"Lexaeus actually tried to use my Vespa? Is he insane?" There was a few seconds of silence. Then, Zexion sighed. "Fine. Give me ten minutes."

He hung up on his caller abruptly, then reluctantly turned back to look at Demyx. "So sorry, Dem. Something just came up and I have to go, which is a shame because I would really love to stay a little longer— um, you okay?" Zexion had caught sight of Demyx's dazed expression.

"Your ringtone."

"Yeah. Your song, I know. I hope you don't mind me using it?" Zexion sounded concerned for a second.

"No! No, no! Shit, no. I'm just… Really flattered… I… I wrote that song," he babbled awkwardly.

Zexion smiled. "It's my favourite."

"Oh."

"You've got a great voice, Demyx."

Demyx was beyond delighted. "Well, you need to show me what you can do on guitar one day." The words were out of his mouth before he even registered what he was saying.

Zexion laughed, but didn't refute the blond's request. He stood, pocketing his phone and picking up his mocha. "I'm truly sorry that I've gotta go now. I would ask for an autograph but I think you're probably sick of people asking for one. So... I'll see you around, I guess. Most likely on Friday?"

As Zexion turned to let Riku know he was leaving, Demyx gave a little shout. "Hold on a sec!" Struck by an idea that may or may not have stemmed from Zexion's muscular friend, he grabbed the nearest napkin and scribbled on it. Then, before he could change his mind (because he knew he would if he thought about it any longer), he pushed it into Zexion's hand.

Zexion looked startled as he stared at what was written on the napkin. It was a string of digits that looked suspiciously like it could make up a phone number.

"Better than an autograph, I think," Demyx explained quickly, heart hammering frenetically in his chest.

Zexion managed to look a little pink as he ducked his head, almost shy. "Definitely better. Thank you, Demyx."

"Please use it?" Demyx said, trying his hardest not to sound too hopeful. He probably didn't realise it, but his Puppy Dog Eyes were in full force right now.

Zexion carefully folded the napkin and placed it in his pocket. "First chance I get."

Author's note: It's been five years since writing YDCF, so if things don't flow like they used to, I do apologise. I'm not sure if I can finish this baby, but I really want to try! This chapter's a little more serious than the others, but I think it's about time the couples got a little more down-to-earth and less… flighty.

Author's note #2: In the five years I've stopped writing, FFXIII, FXIII-2 and Lightning Returns were released (my god, I can't believe so much time has passed), hence the honorary mention of both Snow Villiers and Noel Kreiss.

Author's note #3: If you genuinely enjoyed this chapter and have two seconds to spare, I would SO appreciate a review! They really make updating a lot easier.