Mask Your Disdain.

Time passed by way too slowly, but at the same time I was so out of it I wasn't even aware of it actually passing. Before I knew it I was standing in front of the full-length mirror in my walk-in closet, staring miserably into my reflection. My shirt was wrinkled, my jeans were creased, my hair was messier than usual and there were dark circles underneath my lifeless eyes. I looked like I had just crawled out of my own grave.

My phone vibrated in my pocket, and I slowly pulled it out to answer it. "Get your ass outside," Larxene ordered, "We're gonna be late."

I sighed and trudged out of my apartment. Sure enough, Axel's car was humming just outside the building.

"Lighten up, will ya?" Demyx patted my shoulder as I climbed into the seat beside him, "Naminé will be yours in no time - only if you show some enthusiasm!"

I chose not to say anything and leaned to press my cheek against the car window. I closed my eyes and waited out the car ride, ignoring the words of my friends as they joked about how they thought tonight and tomorrow were going to turn out.

The engine stopped rumbling, and I opened my eyes; we were in a parking lot. I noticed the flashing lights around the corner, and I came to the conclusion that we were at the movie theatre.

"We figured it'd be useless to stalk them during dinner since we did that last time," Axel shrugged as we climbed out of the car, "So we decided to skip out on that and just go to the movie instead."

"We don't even know what movie they're watching." I rolled my eyes and shoved my hands into my pockets.

"That's why we watch them," Larxene snickered, "Ooh, this is gonna be so much fun."

"I hope they don't watch anything scary…" Demyx frowned. Axel smacked the back of his head, and the blond glowered at him while Larxene laughed in the background.

I wasn't aware I was friends with The Three Stooges.

I leaned against the side of Axel's car and tilted my head back to face the sky. It was already dark out, and there were so many clouds I had trouble finding the moon. What an ugly day this turned out to be.

"Hey," Larxene hissed, beckoning me with one finger, "I see them. Lay low!"

"Huh?" Before I had time to react Axel pulled me by the collar and forced me to the ground, where they were crouching by the car's front wheels. Larxene was peering out a bit and laughing to herself; I leaned over her shoulder and caught a glimpse of Naminé ducking out of a silver car just a few feet away.

This was it. I was finally going to see who this Riku guy was. I was finally going to see who took Naminé away from me.

The guy who circled around the car to link his arm with Naminé's was nothing like the guy I had been picturing all this time. Riku had long silver hair with jagged bangs that hung over his eyes, and he wasn't skinny at all - in fact he looked pretty fit. He looked tall - a little taller than me - and his lips were curved into a suave smirk as he listened to Naminé talk about whatever. He laughed, and she laughed too.

Everything began to hurt, for some reason.

"I thought artists were skinny and wore turtlenecks all the time." Demyx was scratching his head in confusion. At least I wasn't the only one who thought the same thing.

Axel rolled his eyes. "You're hopeless." He stood up and brushed off his jeans. "C'mon, they're inside now." Larxene and Demyx followed him, and I let out a loud sigh before rising to my feet. I trudged behind as my friends crept into the lobby, careful to keep their distance from the couple who were deciding which movie to watch.

"Please not a horror movie, please not a horror movie…" Demyx chanted hopefully as he crossed his fingers.

"Is Naminé a chickflick kinda girl? She looks like one." Axel raised an eyebrow.

"I'm craving popcorn." Larxene muttered, her eyes shifting towards the snack bar every few seconds or so.

I watched Naminé thank the ticket vendor person. "I think they're watching a chickflick." I pointed out dully.

"How do you know?" Demyx asked worriedly.

"I heard them."

My blond friend sighed in relief. "Okay, well...I guess we're watching a chickflick!"

Larxene groaned. "I'm getting my damn popcorn first."

"Okay, we have to make sure to sit at least four rows away from them," Axel instructed as we made our way towards the ticket counter, "And we can't say a single word to each other - I know Naminé will recognize your voice in a cinch."

"Like I'm gonna have anything to say." I muttered pathetically as I took my wallet out of my back pocket. I paid for my ticket and waited for everyone else to do the same. We headed into the theatre quietly; I squinted through the darkness so I could find Naminé, and when I found her I nudged Axel and pointed her out. We sat four rows behind them like Axel said we would.

The moment I sat down I didn't even bother to look at the gigantic screen in front of me; I kept my eyes trained on the couple sitting not so far away, giggling amongst themselves. I could make out the little curl of hair at the back of Naminé's head in her silhouette whenever she turned to face her companion, and my fingers itched. I could hear her soft voice talking nonsense, and Riku's deeper voice talking back with the same level of enthusiasm. Once the movie played they quieted down a bit but every once in awhile one of them would turn towards the other and say something, and then the both of them would beak out into a fit of hushed laughter.

As time passed I began to tune out everything else except for Naminé and Riku. I couldn't even see the movie flashing in front of me - the only things I was focusing on were Naminé and Riku's silhouettes. I couldn't hear any dialogue or music playing - only Naminé and Riku's voices excitedly whispering to each other.

At one point Riku leaned in a little too close for my liking and pecked my girl on the cheek. Hot fury bubbled in my stomach, and my hands clenched into fists. Naminé's giggling scathed my eardrums.

I couldn't do this anymore.

I stood up abruptly and briskly made my way out of the movie theatre. I didn't care if Naminé saw. The anger, the jealousy, the pain scorching inside of me burned relentlessly as I stomped into the public restroom. I approached the closest sink and splashed my face with cold water. When I dried myself off I glanced into the mirror and scoffed at my pathetic, defeated expression.

Who was I kidding? Who was I to have hope, to think Naminé would magically forget about Riku and come back to me?

She doesn't want me - not in the way I want her. Why would she ever want someone like me, anyway? I know I wouldn't.

"Roxas?" I noticed Axel's reflection approaching me from behind, "Hey man, are you alright?"

"Y-yeah," I shook my head, "I'm fine. I just needed some air."

I felt his hand on my shoulder. "I'm sorry. I didn't know it would affect you this much."

I shook my head again. "To be honest with you...I didn't either." I ruffled my hair and hung my head over the sink. "Why do I have such bad timing?"

Axel leaned against the wall beside the mirror and crossed his arms over his chest. "Bad timing doesn't mean anything, Roxas. You still have a chance-"

"To hell I do!" I glared up at him, "Did you see the way they were acting towards each other? There's no way I can possibly wedge myself in between them!"

My redheaded friend rolled his eyes. "You're just thinking on the negative, man. You're not thinking aggressively enough."

I let out a dry laugh. "So what do you expect me to do? Take her by force?"

My best male friend shook his head. "Well, if the situation calls for it." He lifted himself off the wall and casually brushed his cheek with one thumb, smirking at me. "Seriously though, Roxas - you gotta grow a backbone, dude. All ain't lost yet."

"It sure seems like it." I stubbornly scuffed the tiled floor with one shoe. The image of Riku's silhouette kissing Naminé's silhouette's cheek flashed before my eyes and I cringed. "I never wanted to feel this way. I told myself I'd never get into a relationship solely for this reason. I never wanted this to happen."

"Well, you know what?" I looked up and saw Axel frowning in my direction, "You can sulk all you want about it but you can never get what you want if you're afraid of getting hurt. Sometimes you gotta deal with stuff you don't want to deal with if you wanna get to where you want to be. Got it memorized?"

His words made perfect sense, but a part of me still didn't want to believe him. I sucked in my pride, however, and nodded. "I know." I nearly whispered.

"Sometimes you can't help how you feel." I felt Axel's hand on my shoulder again. "C'mon, we better get back. The movie's gonna finish soon, I think."

When we returned to the theatre I noticed how most of the audience was in tears; I guess this chickflick was a sappy one. Demyx's eyes were glazed over, but I had nothing to say about it. Axel kept prodding him, though, and I was scared they were going to fight, therefore resulting in us being exposed.

Speaking of exposed…

The movie ended, and the credits began to roll. As the credits scrolled along the lights in the theatre began to gradually brighten. My pulse accelerated and I frantically turned to Axel, who looked surprisingly calm. When Naminé and Riku rose to their feet I felt someone - most likely Axel - push down on the back of my head - hard.

I sat still with my head in between my legs, trying to lean forward as much as possible so my head wouldn't be seen. I could hear Naminé and Riku talking animately with each other as they walked past our aisle. I guess they didn't see us.

I sat up after a few minutes and sighed. Axel chuckled and stood up, rumpling his hair. "Well, that was fun."

"I still don't get how spying on them is gonna break them apart." Larxene muttered as we made our way out of the theatre.

"We're obtaining info on the enemy," My redheaded friend explained nonchalantly, "So we'll know just how to keep them apart."

"Are you sure?" Larxene asked skeptically, "Or are you just teasing poor Roxas here?" She jokingly patted my back, and I glared at her.

"Well, we still have tomorrow don't we?" Demyx shrugged his shoulders, "It's gonna be fun dressin' up and everything."

"And pretending to be a tree-hugging, anti-government protesting, anti-conformist bitching, keffiyeh-wearing, so-indie-no-one-knows-what-they're-talking-about hipster?" Larxene scoffed, "Yeah, sounds like loads of fun."

"I still think it's a ridiculous idea," I kicked at a pebble before pulling the car door open, "Naminé isn't stupid - she'll be able to recognize us even with disguises."

"Nuh-uh," Axel disagreed childishly as he crawled into the driver's seat, "Not if we have really good disguises."

My eyes dulled as the engine roared to life. "You planned this out, didn't you?"

Demyx nodded enthusiastically; Larxene was rolling her eyes in the background. "Yeah - we got fake hair dye and everything!" He sounded so excited. "And I brushed up on my 'artist-talk', too."

The only female in the group raised an eyebrow. "Artist-talk?"

My redheaded friend chuckled as he backed out of his parking space. "Yeah, y'know...the way they talk and everything. All you gotta do is sound like nothing impresses you, even when you're talking about something you're interested in. Throw in the occasional 'man' and 'dude' every now and then, and bam - you're a hip...artist...person!"

I groaned and buried my face in my hands. Tomorrow was definitely going to be a disaster.

I tried to ignore the dumb conversations my friends exchanged as they drove me back to my place. I languidly waved goodbye and faintly caught Axel telling me how he'd be around to pick me up at eleven tomorrow morning before dragging myself up to my apartment.

As I got ready for bed I wondered if Naminé was going to call me. I was kind of hoping she wouldn't since I already knew what happened, but at the same time I craved her voice - her voice talking to me, and not some other guy.

By the time midnight rolled around I figured she wasn't going to call. I felt relieved and disappointed at the same time.

I couldn't really sleep, but I was expecting that. I couldn't stop thinking about what happened in the theatre, when I saw Riku kiss Naminé on the cheek. I couldn't stop replaying the way they giggled together and how they always leaned in a little close towards each other when they were talking.

I sounded like a fifteen-year-old lovesick high school kid. It was really pathetic.

I woke up early the next morning feeling groggy and disorientated. I forced myself to take a cold shower in hopes it would wake me up - it sort of did - and trudged into the kitchen for some breakfast. Ever since Naminé began to come over frequently there was always at least one jar of Nutella sitting in my pantry, so that eventually became my routine breakfast food.

After cleaning up in the kitchen I lazed around my apartment, half-heatedly searching for something to occupy my time until my friends came to bother me. Every song that played on the stereo reminded me of Naminé, and for some reason every TV show reminded me of her too. I didn't have the heart to play my guitar.

I was better than this. I knew I was.

Thing is, if I knew I was better than this why wasn't I do anything to improve myself?

Before I had the chance to think of an answer the sound of impatient knocking came to my attention, and I sat up from my couch to stare at my front door. "Wakey-wakey, Roxas!" I heard Axel sing from the other side of the door, "It's time for a makeover!"

Was it time already? I groaned and smacked my face before dragging myself over to the door. The minute I opened it my friends barged inside, their arms laden with costumes and makeup and other disguise-related tools. "Uh," I eyed the funny-looking wigs Demyx was carrying, "We're not really going to wear those, are we?"

Axel plucked a black hair tie from his pocket and smoothed his hair out before quickly tying the back into a ponytail. He looked a lot more like his older brother that way. "I'm not, but you will." He grabbed one of the bags and rummaged through it. "Go change into something artsy and we'll fix you up."

I raised an eyebrow as Larxene began to apply some mascara, or what I at least thought was mascara - I'm a straight guy, how the heck am I supposed to know? "I dunno if I have anything artsy-"

"Which is why we came prepared!" Demyx threw a black backpack at me, and I managed to catch it last-second. "The stuff in there should fit you fine."

I unzipped the bag and peered into it; the clothes seemed pretty ordinary to me. I shrugged and headed for the bathroom. "Uh, okay."

"Er," Axel called after me right before I closed the door, "You're probably gonna have to get used to the pants, though." I heard Larxene and Demyx cackling in the background, and I began to feel uneasy.

I decided to change pants first so I could get the hard part over with. No wonder Axel told me I had to get used to it - these jeans were so skinny it was a wonder how guys could actually wear these without getting erectile dysfunction. After a few minutes of wearing them, however, I sort of got used to it. It just got really uncomfortable when I had to sit down.

The minute I walked out - well, more like waddled because I still wasn't completely used to the feel of my new jeans - of my bathroom my friends nearly collapsed on the floor from laughing so hard. "What's wrong, Roxas?" Axel howled, "Did you give yourself a vasectomy or something?"

I rolled my eyes. "Shut up - this was your idea, not mine."

Demyx - who was now nearly unrecognizable because he was wearing a purple-haired wig - clapped the redhead on the shoulder. "Axel, you're a genius."

I huffed in frustration and stared at the wigs on my kitchen table. "I am not wearing any of those." I muttered stubbornly.

Larxene pulled out a box of copper-coloured hair dye. "Then we're gonna have to do this."

My eyes widened. "No."

"Chill, Roxas," Axel chuckled; he was wearing skinny jeans too - in fact they looked even skinnier than mine - and some t-shirt with weird Andy Warhol pictures all over it, "It's only temporary. It'll wash out."

I swore under my breath before nodding slowly. "Fine, fine. God." I snatched the hairdye from Larxene and stomped back into the bathroom. Half an hour later I trudged back out; my hair was a rusty copper colour, but it was sticking up like always. Naminé would instantly recognize it, even if it wasn't blond.

"Y'know, if I didn't know you I'd think you were pretty cute." Larxene laughed, and I rolled my eyes. "Now for the finishing touch-" She grabbed a black fedora and stuck it on my head and handed me a pair of glasses with thick black frames. "-there. Now you're an artiste."

I put the glasses on and walked back into bathroom. I gaped into the mirror; the person gaping back at me was a complete stranger. I was wearing black skinny jeans, a white v-necked t-shirt with thick light grey vertical stripes and a black suit vest. The black fedora hid my spiky hair and the nerdy glasses averted some attention from my blue eyes.

"Wow." I mumbled.

A woman with sweeping brown hair approached my reflection and grinned. I wouldn't have known it was Larxene if I didn't recognize her voice. "See? Naminé won't recognize you at all."

When we walked back out into the kitchen I noticed how Axel and Demyx were almost finished with their disguises: Axel put on makeup to hide the tattoos under his eyes and was now wearing sunglasses. Demyx got rid of the purple wig, thankfully, and chose a black one instead. Both were wearing pretty tight-looking jeans.

"What's with male hipsters and tight jeans?" I complained as I tugged on the waistband of my own jeans, "Do they not want to start a family?"

"They're actually not so bad once you get used to them." Axel shrugged. He grabbed a black beret and slapped it on his head. "Just for today I will be known as...Jacques."

Larxene snorted. "Jacques?"

"Oui," Axel chuckled, "I am Jacques, from Pair-ee." His French accent was horrible.

"And I'm Matteo," Demyx raised an eager hand, "From, uh…" He hung his head, "I dunno."

I smacked my forehead. "Ugh…"

Ax-er, Jacques threw a skinny arm around my shoulders and shook me slightly. "Aw, c'mon Roxas - lighten up! Admit it - this is fun."

"I don't see how risking my ability to have children is fun." I muttered as tugged on my jeans again.

"C'mon," Larxene pointed to her cellphone, 'We're gonna be late." She shoved Jacques and Matteo - they could've chosen more normal names… - out the front door and grabbed my sleeve. "Let's go, Romeo."

I groaned again.

Was this really going to work?

A/N: Chapter Inspiration: Turn On Me by The Shins.