I Don't Know How To Love.

I rushed out of the shower and hurriedly changed into jeans and a white v-neck t-shirt. I stuffed my wallet into my back pocket and made sure to lock my front door. I bounced impatiently on my heels as I waited for the elevator to go down to the underground parking garage. The second the doors slid open I jogged to my car, wrenched the door open and stabbed my key into the ignition.

The excitement bubbling in the pit of my stomach was downright frightening.

I made sure calm music was playing on the stereo before I backed out of my parking space. Today looked nice: the sky was blue and there were very little clouds out. I rolled my tinted window down and rested my arm over it as I turned a corner; the warm spring air whisked through my hair, pushing it backwards, and I smiled to myself. Today was going to be a good day.

Naminé was sitting on the steps when I parked by the curb. "Hiya." She bounded towards the car and pulled the door open. When she stepped inside the car instantly began to smell like the air after a storm. It was nice. "You look quite chipper this morning; a complete opposite from what you usually look like every morning at work."

I rumpled my hair and cast a quick look in her direction: she was wearing jean shorts and a blue plaid button-up with the sleeves rolled to her elbows. Her shorts exposed parts of her thighs I've never seen before, and I instantly looked away. "Er," I shook my head, ridding myself of the hormone-induced thoughts, "I dunno, I just woke up feeling different today."

She giggled and raised her hands; she was holding a jar of Nutella. Surprise, surprise. "Maybe it's because you know you're gonna have Nutella for brunch."

I chuckled and shifted gears. "Maybe."

We shared some idle conversation on the semi-short drive back to my apartment; as we rode the elevator I mentally hoped everything was still clean. It should be, since I just cleaned it the day before.

"Wow," Naminé awed after I unlocked the door; she stepped out of her white flip-flops and turned a full circle around the foyer, "Mister Penthouse Suite." Her eyes were wide, her mouth was partially open and she was clutching her Nutella jar in both hands, like a child. It was painfully adorable.

"It's nothing, really," I mumbled in embarrassment as I led her to the kitchen. I was about to grab the bread when she stopped me; her hand was on my wrist, and I noticed how soft her touch was. I gulped nervously and looked at her. "What? I thought we were having Nutella."

"You don't always have to have it with bread, you know." She told me with a smile; she pulled some of the drawers open and fished out a pan. She scoured my pantry and fridge for what looked like baking ingredients: eggs, flour, milk, butter…

"Uh, what are you doing?" I asked curiously as she cracked a couple eggs.

She slid a mixing bowl down the counter, and it stopped right in front of me. "One cup flour, one cup milk and two tablespoons of butter. Stat."

I immediately got to work, though I was still confused. She poured the eggs in and gently pushed me aside. She was whisking the batter now; I blinked as she mixed quickly. "Um…"

"Heat up the stove, please. Make sure it's on medium."

I did what I was told. When that was done Naminé carefully poured half of the batter in and spread it evenly with a spatula. It dried quickly, and she flipped it over. I finally realized what she was making. "Crepes?" I asked, and I smirked when she nodded.

"Mmhmm. Do you have ice cream? Fruits?"

I was lucky I went grocery shopping last weekend. I ventured into my fridge and pulled out some strawberries and blueberries, and I found a tub of vanilla ice cream in the freezer. Naminé had already finished making the second crepe and spread Nutella on the inside of both of them: the thick brown hazelnut spread melted somewhat, looking shinier and thinner than it was supposed to be. I licked my lips as I watched my shorter companion slice the strawberries, and when she added them in I sprinkled blueberries on top.

Naminé was about to start eating when an idea came to mind. "Oh - wait," I hurried over to my pantry and pulled out a bottle of chocolate syrup, "We forgot the finishing touch."

"Perfect." She grinned up at me as I squirted chocolate syrup in a zigzag fashion over our crepes. After cleaning up we sat down across from each other at the kitchen table and dug in. I poured both of us a glass of milk.

"Mm, this is really good." I chewed slowly, making sure to savour the taste. "You're a whiz in the kitchen."

"With Nutella, mostly," She smiled shyly, "I like to experiment a lot."

"I bet most of those experiments are successes," I chuckled, and I laughed again when she blushed slightly, "'Cause this is amazing. I've never had Nutella like this before."

"It's easy to turn one simple thing into many different things," She shrugged, "You just have to find the time and motivation."

"I suppose." The doorbell rang and I sprang up from my seat. "Oh, that's them."

"Hey bro," Sora greeted me cheerily; Miyo was giggling in his arms, "How's everything?"

"Not bad," I replied casually as Kairi and Koji stepped inside, "Hey kiddo." I ruffled my nephew's spiky copper hair and he grinned toothily up at me.

"Oh?" Kairi's head was craned towards the kitchen, where Naminé was still sitting, "You have someone over?"

Sora eyed me slyly, and I shot him a glare. "Y-yeah, this is Naminé. She's a friend from work."

Naminé rose from her seat and approached my sister-in-law; when they shook hands I noticed how similar they looked, physically-wise. I thought that was a little uncanny. "It's nice to meet you." The blonde smiled kindly, and she bent over the little boy in Kairi's arms. "And who's this strapping young man?"

"Koji!" My nephew exclaimed, waving his tiny fists in the air. He giggled when Naminé tousled his hair.

"It's nice to meet you too, Koji. My name is Naminé."

Koji reached out towards her, and Kairi laughed as she handed him over. "He seems to like you - he's usually shy around strangers."

"I'm Sora, by the way," My brother stepped forward, "Roxas' better-looking brother." I rolled my eyes as Kairi and Naminé laughed. Sora glanced at his phone and rubbed the back of his head. "Anyway, we better get going. Maybe we'll have some more time to chat once we get back?"

"Of course." Naminé smiled kindly as she bounced Koji in her arms; huh, I didn't think she'd be staying for the entire afternoon. "I'll probably still be around."

Sora and Kairi glanced at each other for a split second; it was almost unnoticeable, but I caught it. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes a second time. "Alright," My brother said as he handed his daughter over to me, "I guess we'll see you both in a few hours." He wriggled his eyebrows in my direction, and I pursed my lips so I wouldn't cuss at him in front of his children.

"Bye." I closed the door with my foot. I shook my head. "Don't mind them; they're both crazy."

Naminé was too busy with Koji to pay any attention to me. "Say, Koji, do you wanna help me finish my Nutella crepes? They're really good; I think you'll like it! C'mon!" The little boy laughed excitedly as she skipped over to the kitchen.

"Huh?" Miyo looked up at me with curious violet eyes. I sighed and smoothed down her hair.

"I don't get it either, to be honest with you." I gave my niece a pathetic smile. "You can help me finish my crepes."

Brunch was fun with the kids; Koji kept smearing Nutella on his fingers and the corners of his mouth for some reason (it's obvious whose eating habits he inherited) so Naminé had to keep cleaning him off. Thankfully Miyo was a neat eater so I had less trouble. It seemed that Naminé loved being around kids: she played around with them in the TV room after we cleaned up in the kitchen. She drew pictures with them, watched TV with them and played make-believe.

"C'mon, Roxas," Naminé crawled over to the couch and tugged on my wrist, "Come play with us! We need a horsey for our cowboy." She jerked her head towards Koji, who was pretending to shoot things with his hand. He was making gun sounds with his mouth.

"Why can't you be the horsey?" I whined, "I'm tired."

"Tired? All you've been doing the past few hours was sit on your butt and watch us have fun!" She tugged a little harder, and I toppled forward onto the ground. "There you go - here, Koji! Uncle Roxas is your horsey!"

"Oh no-" But it was too late. I felt my nephew scramble onto my back, and he grabbed fistfuls of my hair. "Ow, Koji!" I heard Miyo and Naminé giggling somewhere behind me, and I groaned. I was thankful Axel wasn't around to see this.

"Horsey, horsey!" Koji dug his heels into my sides and I grimaced, "Go, go!"

I groaned again and began to crawl forward. "Naminé-"

"Horseys make sounds, you know," My blonde companion interrupted me; she was sitting cross-legged with her back against the foot of the couch, and Miyo was sitting on her lap. "They neigh and whinny."

"Clop, clop, clop." Miyo mimicked horses' hooves with her hands.

I sighed. "Neighhhh." I mumbled; I could feel my cheeks turning red.

Naminé didn't look very impressed. "What kind of neighing is that? Let's try this again - with feeling, please!"

Dammit. I crawled around the coffee table, and when I came face-to-face with my coworker and niece I made the best neighing noise I've ever made in my entire life - the only neighing noise I've ever made in my entire life. I turned redder when Naminé and Miyo cheered and clapped enthusiastically. Koji kicked my sides again, and I winced.

"See? I knew you could do it! You make a good horsey after all." The blonde grinned at me, and I rolled my eyes.

"You owe me for this." I grumbled as Koji tugged on my hair again. I made another lap around the coffee table.

"For what? Nobody's here to see you except for us."

"I still feel incredibly ridiculous."

"Hey, you're not neighing anymore."

I whinnied again, and Koji and Miyo giggled. "How much longer do I have to do this?"

"Until Koji gets bored of you, of course."

I sighed and crawled another two laps. When I was about to start a third one the door rang; was it three already?

"I'll get it." Naminé bounded up, scooping Miyo in her arms and raced for the door.

"Hey Naminé," I heard Sora's voice; Koji was still kicking my ribs, "Where's Roxas?"

"In the TV room. He's playing horsey with Koji."

"Horsey?" Kairi sounded like she was trying to hold back a laugh.

Sora came into the TV room, and the moment he saw me on all fours with his son perched on my aching back he burst into laughter. "Wow, I never thought I'd see something like this. C'mere, Kairi - look!"

I felt like a freak on display, or something. "Looks like you and Koji are having fun, Roxas." Kairi giggled, and I sighed.

"Can someone please get him off? My back hurts!" When Sora plucked him off I stood up and stretched to remove the kinks in my spine. "Ah, much better." I tweaked Koji's nose and smirked. "You're heavier than you look."

"Or maybe you just need to work out more." Naminé added cheekily, and I flushed when my brother and his wife laughed. We spent a good couple hours in the kitchen talking - Kairi and Naminé ended up bonding pretty quickly. Sora even pointed out their close resemblance, but they assured us they were of no relation.

"Are you absolutely, positively sure neither of you were swapped at birth or something?" Sora asked for the billionth time as we approached the front door; Miyo and Koji were asleep in their parents' arms.

"Yes," Kairi sighed; Naminé was shaking her head behind her, "I assure you that Naminé and I are not related. This was the first time we've ever seen each other, and we told you that the both of us aren't adopted. Is that enough proof, or do I have to show you my baby pictures?"

"Okay, okay," My brother rubbed the back of his head, "Just making sure." He turned to me and grinned. "Well, I guess we'll see you next week." He then turned to Naminé. "And...er…"

"You'll most likely be seeing me next week too." She smiled, and Sora and Kairi gave me a look that made me want to throw them out of my apartment. At the same time, however, I wanted to gape at Naminé.

"What?" I protested, trying to hide my surprise, "She's better with the kids."

"He's right, Sora," Kairi shrugged, "If she could make Roxas play horsey there's no telling what else she could do." I wondered if she was implying something.

Everyone laughed (except for me of course). I opened the door and we waved goodbye one last time. When they were gone I shook my head and ran my fingers through my hair. "Sorry about that - like I mentioned before, they're crazy."

My shorter companion was tugging on her hair. "S'okay...but," She bit her bottom lip and peered up at me beneath her eyelashes, "It's...it's okay if I come again next week, right? I kinda just threw it out there without even asking you beforehand."

I waved my hand dismissively. "Yeah, of course you can come." I reached for my hair again. "Heh, maybe this can be somewhat of a weekly tradition - Nutella and babysitting."

When her eyes lit up I couldn't help but smile. "Really?" She looked like a little kid again, and when she clapped her hands together I laughed.

"Really." I walked into the kitchen; I could hear Naminé's bare footsteps padding behind me. "Uh, so what do you want to do now? We have the house to ourselves." God, that sounded wrong. "Uh, I mean, the kids aren't around so...er," I groaned, "I can't think of a way to correct myself without making it sound even more awkward."

She giggled and took a few steps forward. She was approaching me slowly, and with every step she took my heartbeat accelerated. She was so close she had to tilt her head a little to look up at me; her eyes looked even bigger, and it was easier to see the silvery tint in her irises. I could smell her hair - the rainy, fresh-after-a-storm smell, and her skin was so smooth, so flawless-looking…

Stop. Stop. Stop.

"Well," Her soft voice filled my ears; she tilted her head to the side and her eyes veered off to the left somewhere, "What do you usually do when you have the house to yourself?"

That was a surprisingly difficult question to answer. "Uh," It was so hard to concentrate when she was so freaking close, "I...I dunno-" I gulped when I felt her eyes on me, "-I kinda just, er, I kinda…"

"Kindaaa…" She drawled out the second syllable, pressuring me to answer.

"Y'know what?" I laughed nervously and took a quick step backwards, rubbing the back of my head with one hand, "I don't really know." I couldn't smell her hair anymore and my heartbeat was returning to normal...somewhat.

There was no way in hell this was happening right now. This couldn't be happening. I've gone through high school and college without being attracted to anybody! I've talked to girls before, I've befriended them before - what makes this one any different? Plus, I've only known the broad for, like, a week and this was only the third day we actually interacted with each other. How could this be happening so soon? Why was it even happening in the first place?

I couldn't be attracted to Naminé in that way...could I?

Workplace relationships were usually frowned upon, anyway.

But what about Axel and Larxene?

Well...they're Axel and Larxene.

True.

"Hmm…" Naminé was tapping her chin with an index finger, "We could…" She wandered towards the TV room with her hands clasped behind her back; I tried not to watch the way her hips shifted as she walked slowly around the coffee table, "We could just hang out."

I raised an eyebrow. "But isn't that what we're doing right now?"

"No, we're just standing around awkwardly while figuring out what to do." She tugged on her hair. "Unless you want me to go…"

I hastily made my way towards her, shaking my head frantically. "No, of course I don't want you to go." I swallowed the lump in my throat when she glanced up at me. "Say, why don't we just lounge around for a bit? Watch TV, or something. Then we can have dinner, and I'll take you home."

She smiled that small, innocent, pretty smile of hers and for a second I couldn't feel my knees. "Sounds like a plan." She moved to sit down on the couch, but the second she sat down she bolted straight up again. "Hey!" She exclaimed, like she was trying to get someone's attention.

I looked around the room. "W-what is it?"

She bounded over to where my guitar and CDs were. "I never knew you were into music." She crouched in front of my guitar and poked the strings.

"Yeah...well, lately I haven't found the time to sit down and listen to some lately, let alone play my guitar." I sat cross-legged next to her and ruffled my hair. "Work's been grueling."

"Well, since you have a reason I'm not gonna make you play," She grabbed a CD and headed for my stereo, "But I am gonna make you dance."

My heart nearly exploded. "Huh?" Fast rock music began to play and my eyes nearly bulged out when Naminé grabbed my hands, tugging me to my feet. "Naminé-"

"Don't worry, I don't know what I'm doing either." She pulled me to a vacant spot on the floor by the couch, and suddenly we began to dance - well, it wasn't really a dance. She was kind of just pulling me in all sorts of directions, and I kind of just went with the flow. After a few seconds I realized she was telling the truth and I played along; I felt like a child again when we grabbed each other's wrists and spun around in a dizzying circle. I twirled her around like one of those waltzers or tango dancers or whatever dance that move came from, and as a joke I dipped her low to the ground.

While we were dancing there was a brief moment in which I finally came to the realization that I definitely felt something for Naminé - something more than friendship. My common sense was trying to fight against it, telling me things like how we've only known each other for a week and how I made a life vow to never get into a relationship, but another part of me - a part of me I never knew existed - told me completely different things.

I came to this realization, I think, when I dipped her. She was staring up at me with those big blue eyes, and her chest was heaving. Her platinum blonde hair was falling gracefully like silk ribbons, weaving in and out between my fingers. Her face was flushed pink, and her small mouth was slightly parted as if she had just seen the most amazing thing in the world. My hand was on her back, supporting her weight; I could feel her pulse thudding excitedly against my palm. Her grip on my shoulders was gentle, reluctant.

I don't think I've ever seen anything more beautiful in my entire life.

Before I knew it, the song was over and we were catching our breath on the couch. The CD skipped to a new song; a somewhat slower tune in comparison to the mini-rock concert we had just moments ago.

"So much for lounging around." I chuckled; Naminé was sitting on the opposite end, giggling behind her hand.

"You had to admit it was fun." She grinned, and I nodded.

"I haven't had that much exercise in years."

She made a face. "Ew."

My head snapped in her direction. "Hey, what's that supposed to mean?"

She smirked and crossed her arms. "It means exactly what it's supposed to mean. Gee, and I thought you were fit - you sure look like it. Do you not eat or something?" She brushed her bangs out of her eyes. "First babysitting, now you say you don't exercise - you're just full of surprises, aren't you?"

I chuckled. "I can say the same thing about you, you know." I rubbed my stomach and leaned back against the couch. "So, what do you want to eat for dinner? It's almost six." When she didn't answer I looked in her direction, and I raised an eyebrow when I noticed she was gone. I heard clanging noises in the kitchen.

"Do you want toasted Nutella-and-banana sandwiches or fried Nutella wontons?"

God, this girl...

--

A/N: Chapter Inspiration: Elevator Love Letter by Stars.

Some of the songs playing in Roxas' car: Dreams by The Cranberries, A Letter To Elise by The Cure and A Sunday by Jimmy Eat World.

The CD Naminé picks is Jimmy Eat World's Bleed American; Roxas and Naminé dance to Sweetness, and the song that played afterward was If You Don't, Don't.

I just added the official Hard To Get playlist on my blog =) Check it out, and you can listen along as you read! The link to the playlist will be on my profile =)

It will probably be updated as I write more chapters, so keep checking back in case new songs are added!

Thank you all who have reviewed, favourited and alerted this story! I appreciate all of your support; it means a lot to me =)