Wait A Thousand Hours.

"Do it." Axel commanded.

I buried my face in my hands. "No."

"Do it."

"No."

"This was a part of the bet, Roxas. You lost."

"I did not lose."

"Less than five minutes ago you told me you were attracted to Naminé Nakasato. You lost, man."

"The rules of the bet state that I lose only if I fall head over heels for her-"

"Which you have."

"No," I glared at my best friend through the spaces in between my fingers, "I'm attracted to her. That's something entirely different than falling head over heels!"

"I dunno, you seemed pretty lovesick when you were telling me what happened on the weekend." Axel cleared his throat and began to speak in a high-pitched voice. "So we went out for dinner on Saturday and it was really fun; we talked and talked and talked - God, Axel, she's so easy to get along with. Then on Sunday we babysat the kids together and she made me dance, and there was this one time when I looked at her while we were dancing and I swear to God I wanted to fuck her right then and there."

Do I really sound like that?

"I didn't say that," I snapped, though my face was red, "I said I thought she looked beautiful."

"See? You're in love with her." Axel crossed his arms. "Guys who are merely attracted to a girl don't use the word beautiful - they use hot."

"Beautiful seemed like a more fitting term." I muttered pathetically.

"It seemed more fitting because you're in love with her," Axel tutted, "Geez, Roxas. You're so inexperienced." He laughed and touched his forehead with the heel of his palm. "I give you a month and a half to fall for this broad and you do it in one weekend. That's rich."

"I'm not in love-"

"Stop denying it, Roxas. You love her," The redhead crossed his arms and smirked, "Now, back to what we were arguing about before…"

I groaned and stuffed my face into my hands again. "What do you want for lunch?"

He cupped a hand around his ear. "I'm sorry, were you referring to me? I didn't hear you say my name...or rather, what you're supposed to call me now that we've established you lost."

I growled. "What do you want for lunch, Superior?"

Axel threw his head back and laughed. "Hm, that has a nice ring to it." He hopped off my desk and stuck his hands in his pockets. "I'm feeling some sushi. C'mon, let's ask Larxene and Demyx if they wanna tag along-" He wriggled his eyebrows playfully, "-and maybe you can ask Naminé too, hmm?"

I whipped a pen at him.

--

"Why won't you tell me?" Naminé whined.

"Because." I smirked and leaned back against the sofa. We were spending our Monday evening in my TV room. We just had dinner - I managed to convince her to have something that didn't have Nutella in it - and now we were just lounging around. This was the third consecutive time she's been over, and I was loving every minute of it.

Until now.

"Please?" She batted her eyelashes.

"That's not going to phase me, Naminé."

"Pleeeease?" She was pouting now, and I think the corners of her eyes were tearing up. Ugh...Miyo did this to me all the time.

I rolled my eyes and leaned into my palm. "I was sixteen," I muttered, "And very, very drunk."

"Wow." She crawled closer to me. "Who was it?"

I flushed red. "That isn't important."

"Yes it is," She protested, "First kisses are always important. Now, tell me - who was it?"

"No one."

"You kissed yourself?"

"Yes."

"That isn't possible!" She narrowed her eyes, "C'mon, just tell me. I promise I won't tell anyone else. How can I, anyway - the only person I really talk to is you!"

My face turned redder. "You're never going to let it go if I tell you."

Her eyes widened. "So it's someone we know?"

"Yes…"

"Kairi?"

"No."

"...Sora?"

"That's disgusting!"

"Hmm…" I could practically hear her brain working. "Axel?" She looked me dead in the eye, and when I instantly turned away she fell back against the couch, hysterical with laughter. "You've got to be kidding me! I knew you guys were best friends, but I never knew there were benefits!"

"Didn't I just tell you I was drunk when it happened?" I retorted, "It's a part of my life the both of us want to forget."

Naminé settled down a bit, though she was still giggling. "I can imagine." She got on her hands and knees again and crawled closer towards me; I could feel her arm brushing against mine, and I stiffened. "So, how was it?"

"I just said it was a part of my life I wanted to forget, Naminé."

"You can forget after you tell me how it was." She grinned, and I sighed.

"It's hard to remember," I mumbled, "We were both drunk, and I think one of our friends dared us into doing it. Either that or we were playing Spin the Bottle."

"That doesn't answer my question."

I groaned. "It was nasty and I never, ever felt so heterosexual in my entire life."

She giggled again. "Cute."

My eyes widened. "How is that cute?"

She shrugged her small shoulders before folding her legs underneath her. She leaned in towards me, resting the side of her head against my arm, and my heart began to pound painfully against my ribcage. "I dunno, it just seems cute. Two best friends sharing their first kiss - how much cuter can that get?"

"Well," I started, "It would've been cute if those best friends were attracted to each other. In this case they weren't - and they never will be - so it wasn't cute at all. In fact it was quite the opposite. And," I raised a hand in the air, pointing upwards with an index finger, "If I may add, those best friends were drunk, therefore they were out of their minds when it happened. It couldn't have possibly been labeled as cute if they were hammered."

"Sure it can," Naminé blinked up at me, "A lot of people usually become more truthful when they're intoxicated."

"I never liked Axel in that way, and I'm pretty sure it's the same for him."

She shrugged again. "Or maybe you did and you just didn't want to admit it."

"What are you trying to get at here?" I asked with dry amusement, "Do you want to set us up or something? 'Cause that's kind of an impossibility at the moment - Axel's with Larxene."

"Oh, I know. I hear them all the time."

Chills ran up and down my spine. "Gross." When she laughed I looked down at her. "Okay, I've answered the question. Now it's your turn."

She was silent for a few long seconds. "I was fifteen," She then added in a low, bitter voice, "And it was the biggest mistake I've ever made."

I raised an eyebrow. "Care to share?"

"I was just stupid and young and naïve," Naminé sighed, reaching upwards to push the bangs away from her eyes, "Y'know, it's funny how at that age you think you know so much about boys and love and relationships. You think the first one who comes up to you and says he loves you is the one you're gonna be with your entire life."

I gave her a rueful smile. "Sorry, I wouldn't know." I could smell her hair, and I was beginning to feel a little lightheaded. "Who was he?"

"His name was Seifer," Her voice was still low, still bitter, "Seifer Almasy. He was a couple years older - Axel's age, I think - and he was on the football team. He was the typical jock, but at the time he seemed like the most perfect person in the world." She shook her head. "I think the only reason why all the girls liked him was because he had a nice-looking car."

"Was he your boyfriend?"

"Yes and no - a few friends and I were watching one of the home games and he was on the field, and then he just...he just looked at me. And I looked back." She blinked a couple times, as if she couldn't believe what she was saying. "And...I dunno. It just happened."

"What did?" I was curious now.

"I really don't know," Naminé was shaking her head, "Pretty soon halftime comes and he approaches me, and we start talking. He tells me he hasn't seen me around before, and I tell him it's because I was a freshman." She began to toy with her fingers. "He was really nice at first; he hung out with me, talked to me...he made me feel important. He made me feel like he wanted me."

I felt uncomfortable for some reason. "Did he...did he do anything other than, er, kiss you?"

She laughed bitterly. "No, thank God - at least I still have that, but at the time I think if he wanted to I would've done it. There were many times where he was heavily implying it, but I guess I wasn't paying much attention. I was too busy thinking about how we were gonna get married and stupid things like that." I never heard her speak like this before; she was speaking in the kind of tone you used when you were talking about something you didn't usually share with everyone. "I was the girl who'd write her name with his last name at the back of her textbooks, the girl who believed all those stupid corny lines in books, pop songs and chick flicks." She fell silent for a minute, her small hands gripping the ends of her skirt, "And for some stupid reason I still am that kind of girl."

I rumpled the back of my hair. "What happened, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Before I used to blame the entire thing on him, but as I got older I realized it was partially my fault too." She shrugged. "He just...changed, I guess. He wasn't as perfect as I thought he was. I spent so much time thinking so positively about him and our supposed 'future' together I didn't bother to realize there was a possibility that it might not work out." She laughed that bitter, non-Naminé laugh again. "I guess that was my own fault, right?"

The way she walked around the topic gave me the impression that it didn't end very nicely. I was still fumbling with my hair. "Yeah, I suppose so."

"Now whenever I see a fifteen-year-old girl whose head over heels, I shake my head in disappointment. It's just too depressing to see what happened to me replaying in somebody else's life, y'know? I wish there was some way I could tell them that these little high school infatuations are far from love, but I know they won't listen to me. First of all: I'm a complete stranger, and second: part of being a teenager is refusing to listen to your elders."

I chuckled a little sadly. "That's how we learn, unfortunately. You don't listen to what people have to say, and when you grow up and realize those things they were trying to tell you were true all along you suddenly feel like a jackass for not listening in the first place." I placed my hands behind my head. "Ignorance is bliss, but only for so long."

I heard Naminé sigh beside me, and I turned to face her. She was turned towards me, but her eyes were still staring down at her fingers. "Um…" She hesitated, "D'you...d'you mind doing me a favour?"

I began to feel a little uneasy. "W-what is it?"

Her cheeks were pink. "I really need a hug right now." She opened her arms to me, and I gathered her in mine. Her head fit perfectly into the curve of my neck, and the bottom half of my face was buried in her wonderfully soft hair. She held onto my waist for dear life, snuggling closer against my body and I fought to keep my hormones in check.

She was a friend. A friend who just told you something very depressing and heartbreaking. She needs to be comforted. Nothing more.

I awkwardly rubbed her back and pressed my cheek against her hair. I contemplated on saying something, but in the end I decided words weren't necessary at the moment. Anything I could've said, profound or not, would've ruined this...this whatever. Moment. Thing.

"Roxas?" Naminé's voice was muffled against my shirt.

I continued rubbing her back; she didn't seem to mind. "Mm?"

"Can you make sure I don't do anything that stupid ever again for as long as I live?" Her voice was tiny, insignificant. Afraid.

I took a deep breath, inhaling the rainy scent of her hair. I resisted the urge to close my eyes. "I'll try my best."

I felt her smile against my shoulder. "Thank you. You don't know how much that means to me."

I tightened my arms around her a little bit. "Anytime."

I held her for a few minutes more before she said she had to go. She drove, so I didn't have to drop her off. For some reason, when we broke our embrace I felt strange. Empty. Incomplete. When I watched her smile and wave goodbye before closing the door I felt cold, like I was missing something important.

It dawned on me at that very moment, when I locked my door and turned around to face my empty, expensively-furnished apartment, that I really was lonely and that I needed somebody. I spent most of my life pretending I didn't need anyone because I didn't know how to pine for them, to want someone to be there for me. All of these years I've been trying to fill in a void I didn't know I had with things I didn't need - a fancy car, expensive furniture, clothes with high-end brand names.

At that moment I finally knew what it was like to need someone, and to miss someone when they were gone. This hurt, this emptiness I was feeling - it was real, and I wanted it to go away.

And I knew at that point there was only one person in the entire universe who would make me feel better.

--

A/N: Chapter Inspiration: Quiet by Lights.

The scene where Naminé describes her first relationship is inspired by Taylor Swift's Fifteen and Forever and Always (Piano Version).