I was lying down in my bed while constantly staring up at the ceiling. Thoughts of what Roxas said to me earlier kept running through my mind.

"Sora's engaged."

Sora…? My Sora was engaged? We were only on a break! Did he not think I was coming back? I told him countless times I was…

I sat up as a tear rolled down my cheek. I quickly brushed it away and stared out my bedroom window. My apartment wasn't the biggest or the fanciest in the town. It was a one bed, one bath apartment. My bedroom was the size of a kid's bedroom but it was nice considering it was my first home. Anyways, my bedroom had this nice large window that covered the whole left side of the wall. It looked over almost all of Twilight Town. It was beautiful. Just looking at it made me forget about Sora just a little bit…

Just a little…

Was he really engaged? Would Roxas lie to me? For some reason I couldn't believe it unless I heard it from Sora himself. I reached towards my cellphone that was resting beside me on bed and quickly dialed his new number. Roxas gave it to me before I left the café.

Ring…

Ring…

Ring…

Rin-

A shuffling noise was heard before a sleepy voice answered. "Hello…?"

What was I supposed to say to him? "Um… Sora?"

"Eh? Who's speaking?" He asked, his voice perking up a little but he still spoke with a whisper.

"…" He doesn't recognize my voice.

"Look um… I don't know how you got my number and it's… 3am-"

I forgot what time it was. Was I awake this whole time?

"…Are you…?" I couldn't say it.

"Am I what?"

"Are you…" I took a deep breath. "Engaged?

He chuckled. I could feel him slightly smiling on the other line. "Yeah, I am."

My whole body went numb. It felt as if there was no air left in my lungs. It was true after all…

"Hello? Can I go back to sleep now?"

"…Yeah…sorry to disturb you…" I said. I couldn't control the tears that were streaming down my face.

"Whoa! Are you crying? Are you ok?" His voice sounded panicky.

"…It's Talia…"

"TALI-"

I hung up before he could say anything else.

Roxas wasn't lying. Sora was really engaged. He had forgotten about us. Our promise. Everything that we were put through.

I guess Kairi was right, after all. Did I really expect him to wait for me until I came back? I wish I never left Twilight Town…

~!~

I walked to my parent's house early that following morning. I couldn't sleep anyway and plus, I haven't seen them since I've arrived back.

My parents got remarried in my second year of college. It was a shock to my whole family due to they fought a lot. I knew it was going to happen. A kid knows her parents.

I knocked on the front door as I reached the steps. My parents were always home. They said they were making up for lost time.

I surely don't want to know what they meant by "lost time" and "making it up."

"GET THAT, VINCENT!" I heard my mother yell from the other side of the door.

"YOU'RE IN THE KITCHEN! YOU GET IT!"

"BUT MY HAIR ISN'T DONE!"

It got quiet after that and I heard footsteps coming to the door. My mother opened the door and her mouth literally dropped open.

"TALLY!" My mother attacked me in a hug, causing me to stumble back a little.

"Hey mom," I tried to breath as she held me in a tight hug.

After she let me go, she dragged me into the house and into the living room.

I looked around the room. Everything looked the same. Even my mother looked the same… sort of.

She had decided to grow her hair out when I decided to cut mine. My mother doesn't like when people say we look alike for some weird reason.

"Take a seat, baby!" My mother grinned at me and pointed at the couch behind me.

"Baby? You're cheating already?" I heard my father say as he came down the stairs. He stood in the hallway, staring at me with the same look my mother gave.

"Hey dad!" I smiled gently at him. We got closer over the years, but not as close as a normal "Daddy's Girl" would be. He still has a lot of making up to do.

"Talia, when did you arrive back?" He smiled at me.

"I told you yesterday, Vincent, Talia would be coming home!" My mom frowned slightly at my father.

"OH yesterday? I thought she was coming back today…" My father scratched his head before walking into the kitchen.

My mother shook her head and turned her attention back to me. I could tell she was checking me out.

Nothing was out of the ordinary. I still had the same bluish green eyes, blue hair (that was cut short), and I definitely didn't grow taller anymore. Being short was part of my family. In fact, Olette has a couple of inches on me now.

"So…" She said as she said across from in the recliner.

"So…?" It wasn't like my mom not being able to start a conversation up with me. She talked to me like I was her teenage friend or something.

"…Why are your eyes swollen and red?" She arched her brow.

That's my mom for you. Always noticing something wrong with her only child. I never did really stop crying last night. How could Sora… be engaged? The question still haunted me.

"Ugh, long story," I let out a depressing sigh.

"…I don't have a job…"

That's my mom's way of saying "I have time, so talk!"

I groaned. "Mom, I really don't want to talk-"

"But if you don't tell me, how can I help you?" She frowned slightly again. She lived to help me solve my problems.

"Sora's engaged…" I said to her.

Her blue eyes widened into saucers and a huge smile was on her face. Why she was smiling? I have no clue.

"OMG! VINCENT! GET YOUR LAZY BEHIND OUT HERE! HE PROPOSED-"

"WHAT?" My father yelled from the kitchen. He came running out with steam coming out from his ears. "When the hell did this happen?"

"Oh honey! Aren't you proud of her?"

"No!"

"Our baby is getting married!" My mother clasped her hands together.

"No she's not!"

A tear escaped from my eye. "He's not… engaged to me…"

My parents stopped their bickering and turned to me with confused expressions.

"You've been… dating since high school, I thought?" My father arched a brow.

"Yeah, you guys only went on a break…"

I grunted. "I guess a break means go out and get engaged to him…"

"Well, hey, there are better people out there for you!" My mom smiled.

"Or you can stay single all your life and live with us!" My dad smiled even bigger than my mom.

They didn't understand. How could I expect them to? My dad may have left my mom, but he never got remarried or engaged. He knew where his heart was. That's one thing my mom didn't have to worry about. She didn't have to worry about her ex-husband (or husband…) going out and messing with other girls. She knew he'd come back.

I got up. I felt more tears coming on and I really didn't need any sympathy right now.

"Look… mom… dad, I'm going now. This is still a sensitive subject. I just want to… be with my friends…" I started to head for the door.

"Oh… okay baby, well if you ever need anything, call us! We're just a phone call away!" My mother walked me to the door.

"Yeah! And don't worry about that boy! Who says being in a relationship is the happiest thing-" My father stopped talking when my mother sent him a death glare.

I smiled gently as I left their house. At least it's nice to know they're still the same.

~!~

"Damn bro…"

"What am I going to do, Riku? She's here and she knows…" Sora stirred the straw that was in his lemonade.

Riku stared at his depressed friend. He didn't know what to say. It was Sora's fault that he was in this jam.

"Um… well… shouldn't you just confront her?" Riku finally said after a few minutes.

"And say what? 'Oh yeah, I met this other chick and since you weren't here, I decided to just go ahead and continue my life with her?' She'd hate me," Sora frowned.

"She probably already does hate you…" Riku shifted his eyes away from the spiky haired brunette.

"You and Kairi… are no help to me at all…" Sora got up from the small café table.

"Hey, what the hell are we supposed to say? You made the mistake, not us. You fix it." Riku frowned. Sora's been moody every since Roxas told him Talia was coming back this week.

Sora turned around and began to leave. "Whatever…"

"We all hate her…" Riku said.

Sora turned around and shook his head at his best friend. He knew they hated her. They all hated her.

~!~

After visiting my parents, I decided to take a trip to Destiny Islands. Even though Atlantica had nice beaches, they didn't even compare to the ones here at Destiny Islands.

I was slowly walking along the boardwalk; memories of my last day here 4 years ago running through my mind. I looked up from the ground and to the small island that Sora had taken me to on our first "date." A small smile crossed my lips.

I closed my eyes as I remembered all the times Sora and I had together. How could he go out and get engaged to another woman? I thought he loved me… I knew he loved me. He told me. Countless times.

I didn't notice the steady stream of tears coming from my eyes.

"T-Talia?" A male's voice said.

"You know her, honey?" A woman's voice then said.

My eyes instantly opened and I froze in my spot. I knew that voice. How could I forget it?

It was…

"Sora? Who's she?" The woman said again.

"Uh… she's my-"

Quickly brushing away my tears, I turned around then and smiled slightly at them. "I'm just a friend from high school…"

It hurt me so much for me to say I was just his friend. We were back to square one… and this time we'd stay there.

I took this short time to check out the woman I was assuming was his fiancée, since a silver ring was on her left ring finger. She had long black hair with brown highlights. She wore a black tank top and white shorts. Her facial features were soft and I could tell from a distance she had light brown eyes.

Sora really knew how to pick them out, didn't he?

"Oh, hello, I'm Rinoa…" She held her hand out for me to shake.

I shook her hand lightly. When she let go, my attention went back to Sora who was still staring at me. I couldn't show him I had been crying so I threw a fake smile at him and walked up to him.

"Hey… Sora," I put on my best fake smile for him.

He looked almost the same. His facial features had definitely matured since the last time I saw him. His spiky hair was shorter and didn't look as much as a mess as it used too. He had gotten taller, too. One thing that didn't change though was his ocean blue eyes. They were still the same.

"Hi…" He simply said. I could tell he was nervous.

"How's it been going for you?"

"Okay…you?"

"…" My act was slowly disappearing the more he talked to me. "Great…"

"Hey, what's your name again? You seem to be friends with Sora and I want to get to know more about all of his friends!" Rinoa came up to us and grinned at me with her perfect white teeth.

"Talia…" Sora and I said in unison. Our eye contact didn't break.

Rinoa gave us a confused look before shifting uncomfortable a little. "Well, uh… Sora we've got to-"

"You've changed…" He said to me.

I let out a small bitter laugh. "I guess we all did…"

He looked shocked for a minute before regaining his posture.

"Sora…" Rinoa was now on his arm, trying to pull him off in a different direction.

Our contact instantly broke as he turned his attention to the girl pulling on his arm.

"Okay okay, we're leaving!" He smiled slightly at her.

"Nice to meet you, Talia! You should come over our house tomorrow! I don't have a lot of female family members helping me with my wedding so I have Naminé and Kairi helping me… I'm assuming you know them too, right?"

"Yeah," I nodded at her.

Wait…

Did she say… our house? As in Sora and her's?

"You two live together…?" I asked.

"Yeah! I moved in about 3 months ago!" She grinned at me.

I turned my attention back to Sora. My guard was crumbling at a fast rate. I knew if I didn't leave soon, I would break out in tears right in front of them.

"I'll be there tomorrow," I said. "Sora has my number; he can give it to you. I got to go…"

I started hurrying down the board walk.

"Wait! Talia!" Sora called out for me.

I turned around slightly. "Yeah…?"

"…Nice seeing you again…"

"Yeah… you too…"

~!~

"YOU MET HER?" Hayner gaped at me as Roxas, Olette, Pence, he, and I sat in our Usual Spot.

It didn't change much except the old, raggedy green couch was replaced with a raggedy blue couch, and some of the boxes that were usually stacked in a corner was gone. The red curtain that hung over the entryway and everything else was the same.

After my encounter with Sora, I had instantly called Olette, crying on the phone. There, she called a EUSM or Emergency Usual Spot Meeting.

This was new to me. Apparently, the boys made it up while I was gone to solve their problems and talk things out like their feelings and whatnot. When they told me this, I thought it made them sound like little girls. Like, what boys actually talk about their problems and feelings?

I took a small nibble of my sea salt ice cream before replying to Hayner. "Yeah…"

"Isn't she gorgeous?" Pence smiled.

They all shot him death glares while I just let out a small sigh.

"Gorgeous or not, she's a total freak!" Hayner exclaimed.

"Define freak…" Roxas said as he sat on the couch beside me, his feet resting on an old coffee table in front of him.

"Roxas, y'know she's a total bit-"

"Hayner!" Olette shot her eyes at him.

"This is why I said freak…" Hayner mumbled under his breath.

"She invited me over her – I mean – their house tomorrow. Apparently I'm helping out with her wedding stuff…" I said in a gloomy voice.

"Oh yeah, Nami is going over there tomorrow, too." Roxas said.

"…I don't know if I can see him-"

"Talia… when have you ever let a guy get to you?" Hayner cut me off.

I didn't know what to say to that at first. He was right. I had never let a guy get to me before. My ex, Seifer, couldn't even break down my barrier. And he tried, desperately. Even to the point of hitting me and getting expelled from school.

But… Sora. Sora was different. There was no doubt in my mind I was actually in love with him. He had an effect on me that no other boy could reach. Somehow, Sora found his way to break through my barrier.

"Sora's…" I trailed off a little bit. "Different."

"Obviously not different enough to go get engaged to another chick," Roxas frowned.

"We should've worked harder to break you guys up," Hayner frowned at Pence who just grinned sheepishly at him.

If Pence and Sora's best friend, Riku, had never tried to stop my friends and Sora's other best friend, Kairi, from trying to break us up, I probably wouldn't even be associating myself with Sora today.

"Hey, Tally didn't want Roxas!" Pence said in a carefree voice.

"Gee thanks," Roxas playfully looked hurt.

This caused me to smile. My friends somehow knew how to make me feel a little better.

"Oh Roxas, you know I loooveee you!" I said, grinning at him and grabbing his hand in mine.

He playfully pushed me away. "Sorry, but Naminé has me now."

Olette cleared her throat as Pence, Hayner, Roxas, and I started joking about the days in the past.

"…So what are we going to do with Rinoa?" Olette frowned.

Everyone quieted down as we focused our attention on her. My mood instantly dropped again.

"There's nothing we can do but support them," I said.

Olette's green eyes looked extremely hurt. She knew I was hurting on the inside and she hated when her friends were hurt. That's why she had made my friends promise not to tell me about Sora's engagement. Roxas, on the other hand, wanted to tell me since day one. His theory was if they told me when it happened, I wouldn't be as deeply affected about it when I came back.

Either way, I was going to get hurt.

"Talia…"

"I don't want to talk about this anymore. I already have to see them tomorrow, that's enough already," I let out a frustrated sigh. "Let's just… talk about something else. I'm fine…"

I was anything but fine. I knew I wasn't fine.

My friends knew I wasn't fine.

And more importantly…

Something told me Sora knew I wasn't fine.