The blonde searched everywhere. He couldn't find her anywhere.

To avoid awkward and probing questions from his comrades, Roxas had woken up early that morning, around eight or nine, and wandered the streets of the city for hours, peeking here, peeking there, checking in the shops and the alleys, but with no luck. He didn't dare check The Organization's hangout, in fear he'd encounter one of the other members. He was simply hoping he'd catch her by herself, or with one other person, just so he could quickly apologize and move on with his life.

Fat chance.

000

Today was a hot one. At least 85 degrees, probably more.

Roxas pushed his spiked bangs from his forehead, wiping the forming sweat with his other hand. It had to have been around noon by now, and he still hadn't seen Xed. He looked up at the cloud-tainted sky, silently wondering why they couldn't block the sun's heat as well as it's light. He brought the glass bottle of beer he gripped in his former hand to his lips and took a deep drink, savoring its cool relief. As long as he had stopped walking, he decided to slump down on a nearby doorstep to rest for a bit.

He went over and over again in his mind where he had checked: the bar, the liquor store, the thrift shops, the old truck yard, the alley back ways… but to no avail.

The teen sighed, and was about to give up when he caught a glimpse of a certain brunette, walking on the other side of the street.

"Xed!"

Her head snapped up, and began scanning the area for the source of her name.

Roxas waved his hand, wildly, in an attempt to get her attention. Her eyes caught sight of him, but no more than for a mere second or two. She immediately turned away and kept walking.

"Huh?" The boy was confused. "Hey, wait up!"

She walked faster.

He threw back the rest of his drink in one large gulp, and tossed the bottle to the ground, standing up. "Come back!"

And then she broke into a run.

Roxas glared. Why was she running?? He took off as well, following her at a relatively fast pace. However, she was much faster, forcing him to speed up as well.

The chase was on.

He followed her for a LONG time. They ran down the street, up it, around it, everywhere. Occasionally she looked back to see if he was still following, with something close to fear in her eyes. And when she saw that he was, she'd push herself to keep running (He would've shouted out to her that he only wanted to talk, if only he had the breath for it).

Soon, in an attempt to throw him off, she swiftly ducked into an alley and began running down it, dodging dumpsters and jumping over garbage as she went. Roxas ran after her, the new obstacles now slowing him down along with growing fatigue. His lungs were burning, his legs were on fire, both aching for rest, but his desire to catch up with her ultimately overtook his physical wants.

After many, many twists and turns, Xed found her next path blocked by a high gate. Breathing hard, she looked behind her. He wasn't there, not yet—but she could hear his footsteps growing ever closer. Silently hoping he'd leave her alone, she ran at the gate and, grasping the metal as best she could, began climbing up and over.

Hearing the shaking metal, Roxas followed the sound to where she was. Between ragged, broken breaths, he managed to choke out,

"Wait…wait, don't…go…"

The shock of hearing her voice made her grip slip and her footing fail, and she fell back down to the ground. The brunette turned to face him, backing up as much as possible against the gate as she could. If only she could phase through to the other side…

"L-leave me alone!" she gasped, breathing heavily.

"I just…want to talk!"

"No! Go away!"

He advanced towards her, limping a bit. "Look…I just—"

WHAM!

Roxas reeled back, holding his bruising cheek. Xed withdrew her punch, giving him a hard look.

"I'll screw you over, just like last time!" she threatened, making fists. "Get lost!"

He growled. "You got lucky last time. I could've easily beat you, hands down."

She scoffed. "Well then, bring it!"

Despite his body feeling like cold, tired stone, he lunged forward and slammed her, back first, into the gate. She cringed, but kneed him in the stomach. He narrowly blocked it, and punched her in the face. She returned the punch with one to his chest. He stumbled back, clutching his stinging torso. The girl took the opportunity to rush at him, throwing all her weight (which, wasn't all that much) at him, toppling him over. She tried pinning him to the ground, but he wriggled out of her grip, shoved her off, and pinned her to the ground, successfully. She struggled as well as she could, but he easily overpowered her.

"Get…off!!" She screamed at him, glaring daggers at him.

Roxas glared back. "See? Who's the winner now, huh? HUH?"

"Fine! You are! Now get off!!"

"Not yet! If I let you go, you'll just get up and run and won't even listen to what I have to say! So shut up, stop struggling, and listen!"

With a defiant look in her eyes, she grew quiet and relaxed, breathing hard. Once she had calmed down a little, he relaxed his grip on her...but just barely.

"Look," he started, "I'm sorry about the knife thing." Something in her eyes softened faintly. He continued, "It was *hit of me to pull that. I let the heat of the fight get to me. So…sorry."

She was quiet for a moment, before saying, "…I just don't like knives, okay? I had a bad experience with them…that's why I ran. I thought…you might still be angry about how the fight turned out…"

"Oh…"

"…and sorry about the kneeing thing. That was pretty low."

He grinned a little. "It's fine. Xradenom always said you have to have the balls for this gangster *hit. Apparently mine need some work…"

She chuckled softly, and smiled a little at the joke.

Roxas looked into her pale eyes, which seemed so deep, so layered with many emotions. There was something about her, something enchanting and so alluring to him…it called out to him…

Xed looked into his ocean-blue eyes, just as vast and endless as the real thing. His presence, his aura, it was all so strong, so attractive…it was unlike anything she'd ever encountered…

They shared a quiet moment, just looking the over other. It wasn't passionate, but it wasn't awkward…it just…was. Just a moment in time, a little slower than all others. Their heart beats weren't heard, their breathing went unnoticed, it was just like looking into a still mirror, and being totally and utterly amazed but surprised at the vision looking back at you...

"Hey…" he said, his voice barely audible. Something in her eyes shifted, as if she was snapped out of a trance.

"Huh?"

He cleared his throat, and made his voice stronger. "Hey…do you want to, y'know, go out sometime? Like…on a date?"

Xed was a little surprised. Didn't he know the rules? No fraternizing with the other gang? Didn't that mean anything to him? But, on the other hand, the thought was surely tempting. There was this something about him that drew her to him, and she wanted to see just what that was.

Letting her nerves get the best of her, she looked away from him. "It's getting late…I need to get going…"

Roxas looked up into the sky, to see that the clouds were darkening. "Oh…sorry…" he quickly but hesitantly got off of her, and stood up. She stood up after him. He rubbed the back of his neck. "Well…see you around then…"

She nodded. "Yeah…"

The brunette turned, and started to walk out of the alley, from where they had come.

"Oh," she called over her shoulder, "and Roxas?"

He looked up. "Huh?"

A smile that he couldn't see. "Definitely…maybe."

A grin passed onto the blonde's lips, as he watched her walk away into the darkening streets.

000000

Ooooh…..could it be amor? ^^

We'll just have to wait and see :3

Chapter 7 Preview:

"Roxas, what are you doing here??"

"Come take a walk with me?"

"So, what's your story?"

The blonde bit his lip. Where was she?

"Vexen! I need to talk to you! It's important!"

…oh no…

See you next chapter :)