Authors Note: HEY GUYS, SORRY FOR THE LONG WAIT!
BUT I HOPE THIS WILL MAKE UP FOR IT :D

LET ME KNOW IF YOU'RE ENJOYING THE STORY.

~I'm sorry for any spelling or grammar mistakes that I may have made~

NOW READ ON~! :D

The laughter as maniacal as a deranged lunatic, ready to kill his victims. The glare of piercing yellow eyes just watching him struggle just to stay calm. He's falling, Ventus is falling in a pit of nothing, all he could hear was that laughter. All he could feel was all the anxiety and panic, his breathing in short huffs of breath.

"You're so dead..." He could hear Vanitas voice. "You'll be in hell forever"

He kept falling, he didn't know what he fell off of or for how long, he just fell and he couldn't have felt anything so frightening.

"I know all your weaknesses, you can't hide from me, I will break you" He could still hear Vanitas' voice.

Ventus couldn't breathe. It was like the darkness was inflating his lungs, he wasn't breathing. He could feel the sweat fall on his face.

He finally stopped falling...

He fell into the arms of a hooded man. It shrouded his face in darkness. For some reason, This man made Ventus calm for a brief second. His heart beat relaxed. The hooded figure put him down and Ventus said "Thanks..." Finally he could breathe again.

The figure nodded his head and started walking away. A few feet away and it stopped. Ventus noticed that the way the figure walked seemed oddly familiar. The mystery man turned around and had a book in his hand, Ven looked at it in his hands and realized... "Thats my journal"

He looked up and saw that the hood had fallen down and stared at the face of Vanitas. Ven went wide eyed he tried to scream, but no words fell from his mouth. He kept trying and trying until finally the words "Give it back!" came out.

Vanitas made a sickly grin, sharp teeth shown coming from his mouth. He heard Vanitas' laugh, the same eerie laugh from before. "Get ready shrimp, your life is done!" Vanitas shouted and a black and dark purple vortex appeared behind. He stepped into walking backwards, the smirk never leaving.

"Get back here" Ventus yelled as he ran towards the closing portal. He jumped at it, but he didn't make it and it was sealed. These weird small blue creatures with sharp limbs jumped at him, but he started falling once again, his breath again cut short. The last thing he saw was those piercing yellow eyes, go demonic and red.

Ventus awoke in a cold sweat. That entire night he's been tossing and turning. He had been panting trying to get his breathing back in control. He looked at the clock that read "3:47 AM". He pushed his hair back and wiped the sweat from his forehead. He couldnt take it, He thought that Vanitas was probably up right now studying on how to destroy Ventus.

"Thats it, tomorrow, I don't care what it takes, I'm going to fight for my journal back. And to make sure he doesn't bug me anymore. He may find out my secrets, but I can keep him from using them against me, if I learn to speak his language" Ventus told himself as he looked at his fist. Fighting fire with fire was definitely what he was going to do.

That Monday morning Ventus was sitting in class, he made sure to be the first one there in order to catch Vanitas just in case he would show up before any other students. The less of a crowd the better.

But as the day went on, Ventus didn't see a single tuff of spiked black hair. He saw everyone else but the person he was trying to confront. It made no sense, Vanitas maybe the school asshole and the bully, and the bad boy, but he didn't cut school, he'd show up and just ignore anything that wasn't in his interest.

Not one single strand of the non-conforming hair; not a glimpse of those cat like yellow eyes.

Ventus made it to lunch with nothing but negativity in his head. He's probably reading all of it. Every single secret I have in there. All the pages of writing stories and my dreams. He's probably thinking about how he can use all of it against me; blackmail me into being his slave or something... Ventus thought. He was sitting at his lunch table, saving it for all his friends. Terra and Aqua, coming in hand and hand; smiling and laughing. Ventus loved how happy they were being in their relationship, but he was still so scared of what could be happening right now with his book that all he did was say hi and go back to looking down at his hands in his lap making a fist and shaking.

Aqua and Terra noticed and asked what had happened.

Ventus thought for a minute, could Aqua and Terra handle the situation with Vanitas he was in? Not freak out and go on a rampage? Could they really handle any other details, like how they kissed? What he found out about Vanitas? Well they were best friends, he decided to tell them. But wow was Ventus' brain not working with him today though, because all he said was "I lost my journal..."

"What?! Ven, how could you have possibly lost it? You keep that book with you twenty four hours a day!" Aqua yelled in shocked.

"Okay okay, calm down, it was probably an accident. Wasn't it Ven?" Terra tried calm her down.

Yeah... It definitely was an accident. Ventus mentally face palmed himself as he thought about when he accidently threw it out the window at Vanitas. Brilliant move, Ventus. Blinded by emotions, this isn't like you, what is with you and your heart. Pick one guy, who really makes you feel something?

Ventus complied with Terra and agreed it was an accident. Right after that Sora and Kairi came with Riku not too far behind. Everyone greeting each other and Riku sitting across from Ventus. When Ventus looked up and saw Riku smiling at him, he smiled back. A very weak smile it was.

Sora came in his bubbly mood talking about all the epiphanies he had over the weekend and waiting to share them in person with his friends. All the people having their own food and enjoying each others company. Ventus the only one not talking all too much as the frown and paranoia grew on him.

Riku noticed and Terra and Aqua were definitely going to talk about this after lunch with Ventus, but hey, have a good time before something bad. It really would help you appreciate the greater things.

But now back to Riku noticing, he tried talking to Ven while the other bunch of people were having a grand ol' time.

"Hey Ven, whats wrong?" Riku asked. "You look like you're about to die"

"I lost something important to me, I never leave anywhere without it and it means a lot to me and I just accidently lost it" Ventus answered not looking up into his eyes.

"Would you like for me to help you look for it after school?" Riku offered.

"I would love that... but this is something I would much rather work on myself" Ven politely declined.

After school came and not only have Terra and Aqua offering non-stop to help Ven look for his book, but he had told them no repeatedly. The three of them were all walking home and were standing on the corner right before crossing another street.

"Ven, why wont you let us help you?" Aqua asked slightly upset.

"Aqua, Terra, I don't want you to help me because... well... for the last four years of my life, I have never done anything to stand up for myself, I need to just find it on my own and it's just a small pride thing"

"Ven, what doesn finding a book have to do with standing up for yourself?" Terra asked confused.

Ventus realized what he had said and remembered that they still didn't know. "Well... what I mean is, if someone found it, I would need to stand up to them in case they dont want to give it back. So that could help me with other people..."

"You mean... like, maybe it'll help you stand up to Vanitas?" Aqua asked curiously looking at Ven.

"I guess, yes"

"Speaking of which, did anyone else notice that he wasn't in school today or was that just my imagination?" Terra wondered.

They all crossed the street and walked down another block while talking still "No, you're absolutely right, I didn't see him at his locker at all today" Aqua recognized.

"Yeah... anyway, I have to go, I just remembered that my mom wanted me to do something for her after school" Ven lied. He wanted to leave just to make sure they wouldn't somehow put two and two together. He waved them goodbye and ran the rest of the way home.

The rest of the week had gone by, almost in the blink of an eye for most people, but to Ventus, it was the slowest and most agonizingly painful week ever. It was Friday, and Vanitas had not shown up to school once that week. Not once.

Ven has had it. Vanitas making him worry so much for his own being, nothing but axiety filled Nightmares for the last five days as he slept.

After school, Ventus went on a hunt. He found Axel, just the person he was looking for.

"Axel" Ventus tapped him on the shoulder as he caught up to him as they were leaving the school building.

"Ven?" Axel was confused, he may have been dating Roxas, but he actually doesnt get much of a conversation going with Ven. They would only have a conversation that would last around three sentences, all together. "Oh my god, did I forget about a date tonight or something with Roxas?" Axel worried.

"No, I'm here to ask for a favor" Ven replied in a serious tone.

"What is it?"

"I need you to take me to Vanitas' house"

After so many questioning looks and many "are you sure about this?", Axel agreed to take Ventus to Vanitas' house. They were only across the street when Axel pointed to a home. It wasn't as nicely kept as the others surrounding it. In that cul-de-sac, it was more noticeable than the others. For one thing, most of the grass on the front lawn was either dead or dying. There were only so few patches of green grass growing and it would just blend in with weeds. The house was still structured fine, but the roof had some broken tiles and the windows weren't the cleanest.

Axel and Ventus were standing in front of the broken gate. Axel opened it and went to the front door where a blond was not far behind. Ventus knew that Axel was bring Vanitas homework to do in his absence. It's not like anybody else was going to have enough courage to do it, nor knew his living address. He knocked on the door and waited. Ven had some serious shaking in his knees happening in his wait. He stood behind Axel when the door had finally opened.

"Hey, Mr. Yami! I'm here to bring Van his homework again" Axel said with a smile.

"Whatever, I'm going out right now to work" Xigbar said. "Just don't fuck up my house" He put on his jacket and left. He walked right past Ventus without so much as a glance.

Ventus' nose cringed. He smelled so much alcohol coming from him, it was amazing he wasn't getting a DWI, instead, for just walking. It was amazing how he could even walk in a straight line.

Axel had Ven follow him inside.

Inside the house wasn't as bad as the outside, but there were random clothes thrown all over the place. And as they walked by the living room, multiple boxes of take out were spread on the couches, and coffee table. They walked up the stairs and Axel stopped in front of a door. Ven waited outside in the hallway next to the door and waited for a good time to poke his head in. The walls were a dark navy blue with vertical stripes and the moldings were white, but years of dirt had made the color fade a bit. The floors were wounded, but dust covered strip carpets ran across it.

"Hey Vanitas, brought you some of your new crap to work on" Axel stated as he pulled out two books and a worksheet from his backpack. He explained what the homework he had to do was. Vanitas had paused the music he had been listening to, but kept his headphones on. Axel noticed the kitten trying to climb up the side of Vanitas' bed and pointed. Vanitas swung his arm down and picked him up. "So how's little Ventus doing?" He asked loud enough for actual Ventus to hear.

Vanitas pushed back his head phones and spoke back "Oh he's been doing fine. Buying food for him has been a pain in my ass, cause I can only get those damn dollar cans of tuna unless I take ten bucks from my dad and that small bag of cat food only lasts about a week. So it's a real hassle" Vanitas started petting the kittens head and it purred lovingly.

"Tell me again why you keep the cat around?" Axel said as he slowly started backing into the door frame and leaned on it.

"You know why you ass, it's because it reminds me of Ventus and how adorable he was when he was younger..." Vanitas sighed.

Ventus' eyes went wide. What was that about when I was younger...? His concentration snapped quickly to comprehending if what he heard was actually what it was.

"Well... speaking of Ventus" Axel stood and pulled the blond boy by the arm and into Vanitas' sight. Vanitas went wide eyed at the sight of him and Ventus did the exact same. Axel wasting no time in sticking around made up an excuse and let himself out. Little Ventus decided to jump off the bed and skip out the room and down the stairs on a whim.

"Axel, that fucking dickwad" Vanitas cursed under his breath. Ventus looked at him for a moment. "What are you doing here, Ventus?"

Ven shook his head and got his train of thoughts back on track. He breathed as he tried getting his heartbeat to relax and he kept his look of determination plastered on his face. "I came here originally to get back what you took from me"

"You mean your diary?" Vanitas mused as he sat up and tossed his legs over the edge of his bed.

"It's a journal, and yes." His voice was steady.

"Well smart guy, if I recall, I didn't take it, you threw it at me" Vanitas stood up "In a little fit of rage" He chuckled.

"Whatever, I want it back. Right now." Ventus stood his ground, he was finally standing up for himself. Vanitas could see it.

"Alright, sure, no problem" Vanitas agreed to it.

That was a little too easy... Ventus thought "I know you better than this, Vanitas, what do you want for it?"

"Oh well nothing at all..." Vanitas said as he pulled Ventus' personal book from under his pillow. He held it out for Ven to come and take it. Ventus walked over to Vanitas and grabbed a hold on the book and pulled it from his grasp. He stared at Vanitas before he turned around and held the book to his chest. "Except to tell me what you know" Vanitas stated. Ven looked at him in confusion. Vanitas got a hold onto Ventus' shoulders and pushed him onto the bed. He got on top and pinned Ven's arms above his head. Vanitas held Ven's wrist as he straddled him.

"Vanitas, what are you talking about?" Ven tensed up "Get off of me!"

"How much do you remember, Ventus?" Vanitas stared down at him "Tell me! How much do you remember?"

Ven stared back up at him, he could feel some heat rising to his cheeks. "Remember what?"

"You heard me before, about the "how he was when he was younger" shit. Do you remember?"

Ven just looked up at him.

"Come on Ven, work with me. When you threw your book at me a few days ago, it landed open at a page. The sentence "the dream of us being kids", you can't just dream up that kind of crap, so tell me you remember that" Vanitas looked away and let his bangs cover his eyes. "Ven, you remembering is the light at the end of my dark tunnel" Vanitas breathed. "For the last five years, my life has gone down hill and fell into hell. My mom died in sixth grade, so we moved here for my seventh year. And then the last four years, not once did I hear "We used to be such good friends" or "You were my best friend right?" Nothing of that nature whatsoever, when I got to that classroom, you just ignored me." Vanitas bit his lip. "I tried so hard to get you to remember, why didn't you remember?" He looked back at Ven with a glare.

"I'm sorry. But it probably has something with the accident that happened to me back when I was younger" Ven tried explaining to calm him down "You see, when I was around eight years old, I was driving around with my parents and what had happened was that we got into a car crash. We made it out all alive with some injuries, but I got a concussion, which quickly put me into a coma. I was in it for about three months." Ventus may have been able to get the words out, but it hurt to think about it and he shed a tear. "When I woke up, I lost my memories and then for some reason after a couple more months, I only got half of them back when I was playing in a soccer game and I got hit in the head with the ball..." The second half wasn't as hurtful, but he still was upset.

Vanitas looked at the tear rolling down the side of Ven's face. He used his hand and brushed it off. The way he did it, reminded Ven, of the dream. When Vanitas let go of one wrist and used his hand to wipe the tears falling down. "You're my best friend in the whooole world~" Vanitas smiled softly. He rested his hand by Ven's head. "You said: "We'll always be best friends. Forever." I said "Forever and ever"" He repeated the exact same words.

Ventus' eyes went wide as he started having memories flood back into his mind. The exact same words from the dream. He remembered all the fun times he had when he was younger with Vanitas. Many days in the park. Many nights at each others houses at sleepovers. Even one memory of their young selves in the bathtub having a cute little bubble bath and messing around with the bubbles.

Ventus used his free hand to grab his head, the sudden rush made his head hurt.

"Ven... do you remember?" Vanitas asked with genuinely caring tone.

". . .I-I think I do" Ventus said as he let go of his and looked back up at Vanitas. Ven touched Vanitas' face and used his thumb to gently rub his cheek. "You really... you really were my best friend, huh?" He smiled "I'm sorry I didn't remember... sooner, Van"

Vanitas' eyes were filled with this light, this light that hasn't been there in so long. He grinned widely and stared at Ven with so much hope. "Thank you..." He whispered before bringing his face to Ven and kissed him. Ven kissed back.

They were like that for a while. Vanitas had his hands holding onto Ven's face and Ven had his arms around Vanitas' neck. Their tongues in each others mouths swirling around each other. Ven moved a hand down to Vanitas' chest and he lightly tugged at his shirt collar. The young men broke apart to get some air. Vanitas quickly took his shirt off and Ven looked at how well toned Vanitas was. His uniform in school really did not do him justice. Ven stared for a minute before Vanitas chuckled. "Like what you see?"

Ven nodded and Vanitas gave him a smirk. He ran his hand down Ven's chest to the hem of his shirt. He stuck his hand under and started feeling Ven's stomach. His hands were cold and against Ven's warm stomach, it caused goosebumps. Vanitas lifted up his shirt and exposed his covered flesh. "Ven, have I ever told you how adorable you look like this?" Vanitas stared at him with lustful eyes.

Ven bit his lip and averted his gaze by turning his head. Vanitas used his hand and turned his face back to him. He gave him a peck on the lips and started leaving a trail of butterfly kisses down his neck.

Ventus stifled a small moan that was about to come from his throat. Vanitas did not give up though. He dragged his tongue out and started licking the skin, sucking on it, leaving a hickey. Ven loved this feeling, and he couldn't hold back his moan when Vanitas found a sweet spot right above Ven's collarbone. "And the noise you make is such a turn on..." He said against his neck. He lifted Ven's shirt over his head.

"Oh shut up..." Ven said bashfully.

Vanitas looked into his eyes again. Ven asked him "So... you named the cat after me, right?" And he laughed.

"Oh shut up you dork" Vanitas said as he lowered himself and hugged Ven. He got off from on top of Ven and just laid next to him; holding him in his arms. Ven had his head on Vanitas' chest, he heard how fast his heart was beating. He loved that he was the reason.

"Ven..."

"Yeah?"

"Thank you so much... thank you for everything" Vanitas smiled and kissed him again.

"You're welcome" Ven smiled after the kiss and snuggled into Vanitas' warm chest, the heart beat creating a soothing rhythm that Ven started falling asleep to.

Ventus woke up to a buzzing in his pocket. He forgot he had his cell phone with him. Vanitas was asleep above him. He pulled out his phone and looked at the screen, he had seven missed texts from Aqua and Terra. He was shocked when he looked at the time and it read "8:34 PM"

Oh fucking damn it, I forgot, it's Friday, it's hangout day. Ven snapped at himself.

"Ven, where are you? - Aqua: 6:35 PM

"Ven, are you okay?" - Terra: 7:01 PM

Multiple messages, after asking where he was and what he's doing. I shouldn't make them worry. He created a new message and added the two as the receivers.

"Hey, sorry, I went looking for my journal right after school again, and when I finally found it, I went to bed because I got tired. I lost track of time, but I don't think I'll come tonight. Besides, you have each other, go do your coupley stuff~" Ven hit send and stuck his phone back in his pocket.

Ven looked at Vanitas sleeping peacefully. He kissed his cheek and thought Honestly... being in his arms this way, is better than anything I could've imagined.