A/N: As I promised, more Leon Cloud love! By the way, the ages are as stands: Cloud and Leon are 16 and the boys are nine (there is basically a seven year difference just so you know)!

Warning: So- you know the drill. This contains male on male pairings, child abuse, and really angst stuff. So if you're an angst fan keep reading. If you lean more toward humor, I've other stories in the works you might want to check out.

Disclaimer: Lawyers said 72 cents isn't enough to buy the Kingdom Hearts games, let alone get it from Disney. Damn you Walt…

Summary: This is the story of poor Cloud. He and his twin brothers live with their abusive father. After a while, his friend Leon becomes suspicious. What happens then?

Remember:

"Talking."

Thoughts.

Time Skip

Emphasis on words.

Self-explanatory.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Chapter Eight

Red.

Cloud hated that color more than anything.

He especially hated it when it littered anything white…

At the moment, his bandages were falling off his arms, brilliant camellia red staining the stark white linen and splashing into the pale sink. It was his fault though. Cloud should have been more careful. He couldn't help it though… Not with all the pressure the school was putting on him for this exist exam he was taking next week.

He only had one year of school left, and then he would be off to college. His mind was constantly rattling with that one thought. It all came down to leaving. These current injuries were proof he had to get out of the house as soon as possible; otherwise he might end up dead.

But if he left… Sora and Roxas…

Who would protect them?

It was then, when Cloud clutched his aching head, causing blood to seep into his blond locks when Leon opened the door to the school bathroom. Blue eyes snapped up in realization that the door was unlocked.

Leon stood still, completely stunned. Cloud bent over a sink; profusely bleeding was definitely NOT something he thought he would find in the school bathroom. Cloud was panting slightly, eyes wide. Clearly, he had not expected to be caught either. "What…?" Leon managed to push out from his mouth.

Cloud almost jumped at the quiet question that crash around him. He brought up his arms, shielding them almost. "I-I was—What I mean is… My-My bro—" Cloud was stuttering so bad he hadn't realized his eyes were beginning to mist over. He turned his head away and backed up to the wall.

"Cloud…" Leon whispered out, foot stepping closer. Cloud shivered for some reason. He wrapped his arms over his chest, soaking his uniform in red stains that would later fade to brown.

"It's not what you think," the blond mumbled. His voice was shaking as bad as he was.

"You don't know what I think," Leon growled as he moved closer, arms out so he trapped Cloud to the wall. Cloud visibly shrunk. The reaction caused Leon's throat to constrict painfully. He swallowed thickly and quickly eased off.

"L-Leon?" Cloud asked, reaching out. Leon's brows fell down, marring his handsome with sorrow.

"Who could do this to you?" he wondered. Cloud make a slight gasp as his friend's head fell down heavily. Cloud pushed off the wall, stumbling toward the brunet in front of him.

"Please don't worry," Cloud begged. Leon's head bolted up angrily.

"I'm always worrying!" he barked. Cloud froze. Leon covered his mouth with his hand. Then he pulled it back and suddenly the blond felt himself being pulled tightly to Leon's body. Cloud's eyes widened considerably as every inch of him was pressed up against Leon.

"W-What?" the stuttering wouldn't stop.

"I'm always going to worry over you… Because…" Leon licked his lips. Cloud felt instantly drawn to the action. Suddenly, Cloud felt very aware of the heat radiating off his friend. Of the clothing plastered against him… how fast his breathing was… the sound of his heart.

"Because…?" Cloud murmured. Somehow the blond knew he was waiting for something… but for the life of him he couldn't figure out what.

"Because I…" Leon tried to continue. His gray eyes darting down to watch Cloud's pink mouth go dry. Again Leon could feel his tongue grow fat and refuse to move. His fist tightened in Cloud's jacket.

"You…?" he prompted again. The boy was beginning to grow dizzy. It almost felt like he would slip away if Leon wasn't squeezing him so tight. Absent mindedly he was starting to wonder if Leon was even capable of staying on to him forever… Cloud thought that wouldn't be so bad.

"I… That is to say that I'm…" Leon's eyes grew drowsy and he had a hard time focusing on his words as Cloud's face began to flush, leaving just a pale pink color resting across his face. Finally, taking no more of it, Leon's mouth began to descend.

But it never reached it's destination as the school bell rang loudly.

BRRRRRRRINNNNG!

The noise caused both boys to let out a yelp and jump away from each other. Leon and Cloud let out shaky breaths. Leon silently cursing his luck and Cloud sitting there with a blush climbing up to his ears. Neither was quite sure what had just transpired between them.

After the shuffling in the hallways outside the door had calmed, Leon straightened up his uniform. Cloud looked down at his arms and sighed wistfully. Leon peeked at the blond, thinking carefully. Then he let out a huge gulp of air.

"Come on," he said, voice seemingly steady. "I don't think you can stay in school like this."

Cloud looked up startled as Leon's hand was held out before him. Leon smiled kindly down at him. The blond found he could not look him in the eyes. So he kept his head down, but there was a slight grin on his face. He nodded and took the offer hand.

Leon had managed to somehow bribe a security guard so he and Cloud could drive out of the student parking lot unperturbed. They drove straight to Cloud's house. There Leon cleaned out the cuts and scrapes on Cloud's arm.

He put away the first aid kit, noticing it had very little bandages left. Leon felt that uneasy sense fluttered into his gut again. But with a gulp it disappeared and he focused on the task of helping his friend lie down. Leon entered Cloud's room and noticed its implacable cleanliness.

Cloud laid in his bed like a lump. Breathing steadily and eyes closed lightly. Leon was starting to think his friend had gone to sleep when the pink mouth opened and inquired, "If something were to happen to me… would you…"

Miss me?

"Take care of Roxas and Sora?"

Leon wanted to say yes, of course, anything for you Cloud, but he bit the inside of his cheek. He didn't want to think along the lines of an injured, or worse, Cloud. Instead he let out a little bubble of laughter. "No, because nothing bad will happen to you."

"But… Bad things are happening to me," Cloud choked. Leon winced and felt his heart beat heavily. His hand gripped taunt in the blankets as Cloud's body quivered once more.

"Please tell me," Leon pleaded. Cloud shook his head, strands of gold splaying out on his pillow.

"I can't… I'm too afraid," he confessed.

"Of what will happen to you?" Leon questioned.

"No, of what you'll think," Cloud answered. Leon stared at him. Cloud closed his eyes again. Leon found himself wanting to lay his lips across the blonde's entire face.

"I won't pity you," the brunet said softly. Cloud let out a tiny smile under his covers.

"I do… but I could care less about pity… I just… don't want you to know how much of a coward I am," he commented lightly. "I don't want you to see me as weak."

Leon let his long fingers softly caress Cloud's cheek that had now returned to its normal peachy hue. Leon tilted his head faintly, speaking aloud. "You're not weak and you're not a coward…"

I'm the coward… I can't tell you how I feel.

Leon's hand had stopped stoking the soft flesh. Cloud's eyes peered open groggily to see Leon fix his tie while standing up. Instantly, a small broil of fear erupted in Cloud's belly. His hand launched out and grabbed onto Leon's hand. Leon made a slight sound and gazed down.

"Stay with me? Just until I fall asleep?" Cloud asked. Leon let out that kind smile again. Cloud relaxed and let his eyelids fall shut. Leon sat back down letting his hand brush across his friend's hip. It didn't take long for Cloud to fall back to his doze.

As soon as he was sure Cloud was out, Leon made to leave… but couldn't. With a shake of his head, he tiptoed back and leaned down cautiously to the blonde's face. Leon licked his lips once before letting his mouth fall over Cloud's.

Before he could really enjoy it, Cloud made a little moan and Leon leapt back. Cloud didn't open his eyes. He just merely turned over and snored softly. Leon nervously chuckled to himself as he left the room.

Leon checked the time on his car as he pulled out of the driveway. As he went back to school, he tasted his lips. The brunet let out a secretive smirk as the taste cherry lip balm lingered on the tip of his tongue.

After School

Roxas and Sora were surprised when Leon pulled up in his car without Cloud. Riku and Axel, standing right beside their friends like always immediately started to spew out all different answers, none of them, however creative, were helpful in the least.

"Betcha he ran away to go join the circus, but met up with a vampire, and then they went on a spider squishing rampage, and then secretly ninjas came to wipe them all out- secretly of course," Axel held up a really bad drawing of a spider in the back seat of Leon's car. Roxas thumped his head on the window.

"Sora, can we switch seats?!" Roxas called over his shoulder. Sora gave a giggle under his hand as he watched Riku draw out figures for his own explanation of why Cloud was missing in action.

"And so, the navy does this covert operation in which Cloud stars as the single bad ass with a heart of gold!" Riku exclaimed. Leon glared at his cousin in the rear view mirror.

"Watch your language," Leon warned. Riku stuck out his tongue and Leon revved the engine, causing Riku to be lunched forward and hit the back of Axel's seat.

"Ow…" Riku moaned with a face full of fake leather. Axel leaned his head back to stare at the silver haired lad.

"Mind moving your face from my back?" the pyro inquired sarcastically.

"Yes," came the muffled response. Axel jumped up and slammed his back against the seat. Riku let out a little yowl as he was slammed to the floor of the car.

"Knock it off back there!" Leon yelled from the front. Axel threw him a sheepish look as he sat back with a smug look on his face. Roxas rolled his eyes as he let his head lean on his hand.

"Why is Cloud not here?" Roxas questioned out of the blue. Leon risked a quick glance at the sandy haired nine-year-old.

"He wasn't feeling well, so I drove him home," Leon replied. Sora peeked up over his twin's seat in front of him.

"Is he okay?!" the little boy squeaked out. Leon grit his teeth together.

"Yeah, he's fine. He just needs rest," the driver said. The tone clearly said to stop asking questions. Sora sat back, gnawing on his fingernails. Roxas only stared at the window, looking at the scenery. Riku grumbled as he put his seatbelt on. Axel's pencil lazily went across his lined paper doodle of a spider.

Leon stopped at Cloud's house and let Sora and Roxas clamor out of his car quickly. Leon meant to shout out to them, but the boys disappeared inside quicker than a pair of scared rabbits. The brunet ended up sighing as he drove Riku home next.

The silver haired punk ended up slamming his cousin's door. Leon called out a curse to which Riku pulled down his bottom eyelid with his middle finger. Leon squealed his tires as he circled around to drive the last little terror home.

Axel remained staring out at the fast changing houses. Leon pulled up to a decimated yellow house, a few shingles missing from the home. The driver let his car come to a halt. "Right, time for you to go home," Leon whispered under his breath.

The red head glanced up. With a sigh he nodded. He unbuckled slowly and grabbed his back pack. Axel slid out of the car door silently. He looked down at his drawing and ripped it out. Then he handed it to Leon through his open window.

"Thanks for the ride," Axel said with a nod. Leon nodded back. The eleven year-old then spun around and raced up his curb and around the chain link fence to his front porch. Leon went to start his car but drawing made him pause.

He sighed as he folded up and threw the paper behind him. As it hit Axel's seat, Leon drove off back to his own home. Unbeknown to the driver, the paper unfolded, showing that looked curiously like a house up in flames, the spider turned into a strange man shaded in black.

TBC

A/N: Okay, that's it for this chapter! Hope you enjoyed! Writer's block is a bitch… But like I promised, Leon and Cloud lovyness! So anyways… I won't update for a while, or at least until I finish up this series. Once I do, I'll post up a new chapter weekly.

Awww, I love my Axel… What could his little doodle mean?? FIND OUT NEXT TIME!