All I Ever Knew.

"I'm an idiot." I muttered, thunking my head against my kitchen table.

"You are an idiot," Axel agreed with a grin on his face, "An idiot in looooove."

Sora laughed. "I can't believe you're going on a date! A normal date, not a date Axel had to set up for you! This is an unblind date, Roxas! A seeing date! A visible-"

"I get it," I held up a hand, "Thanks." I rifled my hands through my hair and grabbed my glass of water. "How do I get myself into these kinds of situations? I don't want to go on a date!"

"Aw, c'mon Roxas," Sora patted my shoulder, "Give this girl a chance. It seems like she really likes you."

"Yeah," Axel agreed, "And she's hot too. You can't turn down a hot girl."

They definitely weren't helping. "Look, I'll just get this stupid date over with so I don't have to listen to you guys anymore." I rolled my eyes and swiped my hand through my hair again. "This is just gonna be a friendly, casual, totally platonic outing. Not a date - an outing."

"Right." Both my brother and best friend eyed me, their expressions unconvinced. I groaned again.

"Why don't you guys believe me? She's just a friend, a coworker! Today was the first real conversation we've had - the one on Monday was brief."

"So? The conversation you had today was more than enough to show you're attracted to her." Sora pointed out, and I rolled my eyes.

"You weren't even there - how would you know?"

"Just the way you explained your story to me," My brother shrugged, "You were so animated and interested, like it was the best thing that ever happened to you."

"Which might be true." Axel added, and Sora laughed.

I growled. "You guys are gonna be sorry when I prove you wrong tomorrow."

That night, I couldn't sleep. I couldn't stop thinking - or dreading - about tomorrow. What was I supposed to wear? What was I supposed to say? What was I supposed to do?

I figured I should just take this like those blind dates Axel always set me up with. Calm, cool, collected and most importantly: distant. I didn't want to pursue anything with this girl, at least nothing further than friendship. She was nice, and she was new to the city, and I was the only one she felt comfortable around. It would only be natural - and common courtesy - if I befriended her, right? There was nothing wrong with having Naminé as a friend.

Yeah, I think I'd like to have Naminé as a friend.

But nothing more.

--

I woke up at ten the next morning - that was surprisingly early for a weekend, at least for me. I didn't even get enough sleep, but for some reason when I opened my eyes I felt like I had enough energy in me to last a month.

Ten o'clock. That gave me nine hours.

Nine hours until my 'date' with Naminé.

My first seeing date.

I knew who the girl was, and I sort of knew what she was like. It shouldn't be too hard - make her laugh, keep things simple and platonic - piece of cake. We'll be friends in no time. Pals. Buddies.

Nothing more.

I decided to spend my morning cleaning up the apartment; I couldn't remember the last time I cleaned it, so I figured I should. I put on some music on the stereo and hummed along to the songs as I wiped, polished, mopped, swept, vacuumed, dusted and sprayed everything. I reorganized my CDs and books, cleaned out my fridge and folded my clothes. My mom would've been so proud of me.

Three hours later I decided the place was spotless enough. I placed my hands on my hips and glanced around the TV room; everything was neat and clean.

The sun glared on a polished surface and my eyes darted towards it; my acoustic guitar was lying in its vertical stand in the corner, and I frowned. I couldn't remember the last time I played my guitar. I approached it slowly and ran my fingers down the strings, smiling slightly when they shyly sang back to me. I picked my guitar up and sat on the couch, resting it on my thigh. I strummed a few strings, realizing with awe that it was still in tune after all this time of not being played, and began playing random chords.

As I played flashbacks of my younger years relayed through my head like an old filmstrip: I remembered playing guitar in the hallways of my high school while I waited for Sora's soccer practice to finish, and I remembered playing inside empty lecture halls when I had long breaks in between classes during college. I had a notebook where I had all my own compositions and lyrics and stuff, but I had no idea where that went. I should look for it.

After a while my fingers began to feel sore; after not playing for a lengthy amount of time the callouses on my fingers had disappeared, so I was unable to play for long periods of time. I frowned as I set my guitar back on its stand, making a mental note to play some more later. I've forgotten how relieving it was to just sit by yourself and listen to the music you were making. It was therapeutic, in a sense.

It was only three in the afternoon. I had four hours to waste until I was supposed to pick up Naminé. How was I going to waste four more hours?

Maybe I should eat something. I didn't eat yet. I scrambled into the kitchen and wrenched my fridge open; leftover pasta. Perfect.

Wait, what if I eat too much? What if I'm still full by the time we have dinner later? That would mean a waste of money and time. I wouldn't get to see Naminé for as long as I wanted to.

Hey, I didn't say I wanted to see her!

"Argh," I smacked my forehead with the heel of my palm, "Stop arguing with yourself."

Great, now I was talking to myself. Maybe I've been living on my own for too long.

I only ate a portion of the leftover spaghetti because I wanted to leave room for dinner. That didn't even take half an hour.

Groaning, I trudged back into the television room after cleaning up in the kitchen. I flopped against my couch and stared at the ceiling for a good forty minutes. Maybe if I kept staring I'd fall asleep…

I opened my eyes, and the first thing I noticed was how the lighting in the room had dramatically changed. Everything looked...darker.

I glanced at the time, and I nearly jumped out of my skin. It was quarter to seven.

I fell asleep for nearly four hours.

"Crap, crap, crap-" I bolted straight to my room, pulling my shirt over my head and jumping straight into the shower. Five minutes later I raced into my closet - still somewhat dripping wet - and hastily changed into a pair of dark blue jeans, a white dress shirt, a black skinny tie and a black blazer. I stepped into a pair of black and white sneakers, made sure I had my wallet and keys with me, and slammed my front door shut.

When I clambered into my car I realized I had five minutes to get to Naminé's place. According to the directions she gave me it would take at least fifteen minutes to drive there, depending on traffic. Ugh.

I hoped there weren't a lot of cops out tonight.

I drove quickly, but made sure to be alert at the same time. Turns out Naminé lived in one of those city townhouses; the ones with the vintage kind of feel. It looked nice on the outside; it made me wonder how she managed to afford this, since downtown townhouses were usually pricy. I parked by the curb and jogged up the short stone steps. I rang the doorbell and waited patiently with my hands behind my back.

Naminé opened the door seconds later; she was wearing sneakers, jeans and a white fitted t-shirt. My kind of girl.

Since when did I have a kind of girl? I never cared about girls - at least not like that! I never cared about anybody in that way!

"You look quite handsome tonight." She smiled, and I felt uncomfortably warm under her stare. "Just stay put - I'll be out in a sec." She softly closed the door before I had the chance to compliment her. I glanced around awkwardly for a moment, contemplating on what I was supposed to do: was I supposed to stay here, or wait in the car?

Well, she did say stay put…

"All ready." Naminé suddenly appeared in front of me with a white knitted beret on her head and a simple smokey grey jacket. She smiled up at me and wound her arm around mine. "Surprised I haven't dressed up all fancy-like?"

I raised an eyebrow at her. "No...why would I be surprised?"

She shrugged. "You just seem like the type who goes on a lot of dates...to like, y'know-" She fluttered her hands, "-fancy...places." She giggled at the end of her sentence, like how a child would.

I chuckled as I pulled the car door open for her. "I've been on a few, but all of them were against my will."

"Ahh," She drew out the sound as if she had just solved a difficult puzzle, "So you really are a ladies' man."

"N-no, no," I protested as I climbed into the driver's seat, "It's just...Axel used to set me up on all these blind dates when we were younger, and I didn't really want to go on any of them." I muttered in embarrassment as I turned the key into the ignition.

Naminé raised both of her eyebrows in mock shock. "What? How could you not want to go on a date with anybody? I find that very surprising."

I chuckled as I shifted gears. "I find it surprising that you find it surprising."

Even though it was dark out I could tell she was blushing; I could hear the sheepishness in her voice. "Well, I dunno...you just seem like the kind of guy who had a lot of, er, relationships in the past."

"Oh? And what gives you that impression?" This was getting interesting.

I could hear her fumbling and hesitating, and it forced a smile upon my face. I definitely liked shy Naminé more than quippy Naminé; she was more amusing. "I dunno…" She mumbled, "You just look the part."

I laughed, though I felt that was enough prodding for now. "That's all I'm going to get out of you, isn't it?" When she nodded I laughed again. "Alright, alright. I'll stop interrogating you."

Naminé looked up from her hands. "So wait...you're not surprised or disappointed about my attire? I mean, I could've just went back inside and changed into something more-"

"You're fine the way you are, Naminé." I reassured her as we stopped at a red light. When her smile reappeared I felt warm inside...and I liked how it made me feel.

It made me feel happy - happy that I was the reason why she was smiling in the first place.

This was bad.

"Mm, I love Italian." Naminé jokingly licked her lips as I parked the car fifteen or so minutes later.

"This has the best Italian food in the city," I smiled as I opened the door for her, "You won't want to eat chicken parmesan anywhere else."

It was a small family-owned restaurant near the heart of the city; I actually discovered it while on a blind date Axel forced me to go on during college. The girl was a bit of a shut-in and she whispered more than she spoke, but the food was really good. I felt really bad for the girl though; it seemed like she didn't want to go on the date either. I wonder how she even came in contact with Axel in the fist place, or how Axel thought her and I would look good together. Maybe he was getting desperate.

"Mm," I felt Naminé press up against my arm, and I looked down at her. She was shivering.

"Your jacket looks pretty thin," I commented; I automatically wriggled out of my own and threw it around her tiny shoulders. "There, much better."

"Thank you," She murmured shyly as she wrapped the lapels around herself. A warm fuzzy feeling enveloped me and I coughed awkwardly into my fist. She giggled, and when I looked down at her she was blinking up at me. "For someone who's been on a bunch of blind dates you act like such a novice."

"It's mostly 'cause I never really, er," I rubbed the back of my head, "The girls Axel set me up with never really appealed to me, if you know what I mean."

"Ah," She nodded in understanding as we entered the restaurant; like I expected it was busy with families and couples, "So you never did this-" She nodded towards my blazer, "-to any of them before?"

"Nope." I turned to the host. "Atsumori, table for two." Minutes later Naminé and I were sitting in a cozy little booth near the far end of the restaurant. "I mean it wasn't like I was rude to them or anything, I just...I just couldn't bring myself to pretend to act like I was interested in them. I felt that would be unfair not only to them but to myself."

My smaller companion nodded as she opened up her menu. "That's understandable." Her big blue eyes darted left and right as she scanned the list of food; she was leaning forward with her arms resting on the table, and the menu was laid flat in front of her. Her brow was slightly furrowed as she thoroughly read the menu, and her lips were pressed tightly together. Her bangs slipped into her eyes every now and then, and she would reach up to casually bat them away.

There I went again with ogling. I really needed to stop this.

"Uh," I cleared my throat and she glanced upwards, "Well...what about you? Have you gone out with a lot of people?"

"Not really," Naminé shrugged again as she sipped from her water, "I mean, I've gone out with guys before but I never really took the date seriously. We always ended up as friends."

"Well, have you ever given the thought that the reason why you always ended up as friends was because you never took your dates seriously?" I asked amusedly, but my eyes widened when she shook her head.

"Nah," She replied casually, her eyes still trained on her menu, "I knew they weren't meant to be anyways. If the guy couldn't take me when I wasn't being serious, then it's not worth it. If you want a relationship to work out you should be able to tolerate each other, no matter what they're like at the moment."

I chuckled as the waiter swung by, and we ordered our food. Once he left I leaned forward and fiddled with my fork. "I wouldn't know," I replied bashfully, "I'm not very keen on relationships."

Naminé leaned forward again and folded her hands underneath her chin. "Oh? So you're not looking to get involved in anything?" She didn't sound disappointed or anything; more like curious. This was a good sign.

"Not really," I chuckled, ruffling my hair, "Y'see...Axel and my brother Sora have been trying to set me up with girls ever since we were in high school, but they just don't understand the fact that I'm content without a girlfriend. I really do like my life the way it is, but they refuse to believe that." My shoulders depressed as I sighed.

"Aw, that's not very fair of them," Her voice was sad with sympathy, "They shouldn't force you into things like these. Relationships aren't for everybody."

"Thank you!" I exclaimed, spreading my arms wide, and I grinned when she giggled, "Finally, someone who'll let me live my life the way I want to live it. I don't need a girlfriend or a wife or anything to make me happy," I muttered frustratingly, "I can be content with the things I have now, can I not? I have a good job, great friends and family...what else do I possibly need?"

She gave me a soft smile as the waiter returned with our food. "It looks like you're all set."

"What about you?" I asked curiously as I reached for my fork, "Are you looking for a relationship?"

The look she was giving me was kind of worrisome. "I was always the kind of girl who wished she'd grow up one day and find her prince with the white horse and everything, and we'd get married and live in a big castle with cute talking animals and whatnot." She laughed and shook her head. "Of course I'm more realistic now, but I just can't help but wonder sometimes, y'know?"

"So...you're a hopeless romantic." I stated bluntly, and she blushed.

"Kind of," She admitted, reaching upwards to tug on her hair, "I want the guy - the one who I'm comfortable with and vice-versa, the one who makes me feel like I'm the only one in the room." She sighed dreamily and twirled her pasta around her fork. "I know there isn't such thing as a perfect person but you can't help but hope they still exist somewhere out there."

I ruffled my hair with my free hand. "I'm pretty sure you'll find him soon. He's bound to turn up somewhere," I smiled, "Just keep looking. Don't give up. He might be closer than you think."

She raised an eyebrow. "Are you implying something?"

I felt my cheeks burning and my eyes widened. "N-no! I just told you I wasn't looking for a relationship!"

Naminé laughed and returned to her pasta. "Just making sure."

The rest of dinner continued smoothly; we mostly talked about whatever came to mind. We talked about work, where we went for school, our friends, families, hobbies, whatever; by the time I had to drive her home I realized it was very easy to talk to Naminé.

Was that a good thing?

"Thanks for tonight," Her delicate voice brought me back to reality; we were standing in front of her door, "I really enjoyed it." She handed back my blazer, and I took it wordlessly. She giggled and rubbed her stomach jokingly. "If I eat anymore I'm gonna have to change my name to Tsunaminé."

Cute joke. "Er, sure," I chuckled as I stuck my arms through the sleeves, "Anytime."

She was tugging on her hair again; I noticed how she did that only when she was nervous or embarrassed. "Um...do you...d'you think we can hang out again? Sometime soon?" She peeked up at me beneath her long eyelashes, "I can really use a friend...especially on the weekends. Being new in the city kind of sucks when you don't know anybody."

God, she really was unavoidable. I shrugged my shoulders, despite my disappointment. "Well, I babysit my niece and nephew every Sunday afternoon. Maybe you can come over and help?"

Her eyes lit up. "You babysit? That sounds very out of character for you."

I chuckled. "I can't help but agree with you. So...are you in?"

Naminé laughed and nodded. "Of course I am! I'll see you tomorrow, then." She turned around to unlock her door.

"Come around noon, okay?" I brushed my fingers through my hair. "Or...I can pick you up a little earlier and we can have brunch or something before the kids come." Where the hell did that come from?! Take it back, take it back…

"Hm, that sounds very nice of you. Sure." She pushed her door open and turned around to face me. "Ten-thirty, then? We'll have brunch at your place!"

My eyebrow quirked upwards as I stuck my hands into my pockets. "You want to have Nutella again, don't you?"

She grinned childishly. "Can't start my day without it." She walked halfway inside. "I'll see you tomorrow then, Roxas."

I waved dazedly. "Bye." When the door closed I spun on my heel and made my way back to my car. I replayed the scene over and over in my head the entire drive home.

I practically asked her out.

What the hell was I thinking?!

When I parked my car in the underground garage I banged my forehead against the steering wheel and cursed under my breath. This wasn't how things were supposed to turn out. I was supposed to part with her on a friendly note, maybe with a "Goodnight, Naminé; I'll see you at work on Monday" or something like that. Not a "Let's hang out again!" Ugh, what has gotten into me?

I'm not attracted to her...right?

She's just a friend. A new girl who doesn't know anybody. She just needs company. She doesn't want to be lonely.

This was just another hangout - a casual get-together. Friends spend entire weekends together sometimes. It's normal. We're going to be babysitting, for God's sake, not...anything else.

Great, just great.

--

A/N: Chapter Inspiration: Joshua Radin - Only You.

Some of the songs playing while Roxas was cleaning his apartment: Time After Time by Quietdrive, Starlight by Muse and Roller Coaster by blink-182.

The 'Tsunaminé' thing just popped into my head...and I thought it was cheesy enough to be remotely funny so I added it into the dialogue last minute =P

Please review =)