Marluxia stood rooted to the ground and watched as the steel-blue haired man walked off helplessly. The scolding liquid that had spilled on his coat sleeve went unnoticed by his numbed mind. There was no mistaking that man's identity. That appearance, that hair, that cool and disregarding behavior – it was Zexion. There was a stabbing pain in chest that Marluxia hadn't felt for a long time and one he had never thought he'd have to deal with again.

Slowly, as if in a daze, Marluxia looked down at his soiled sleeve. Even at his side he could smell the sickening sweet smell that was, that had always been, Zexion. He wanted to be angry that his very fashionable pink, the same tea pink shade of his hair in sunlight, and white fur coat was devastated but couldn't. The smell was so nostalgic and fuck, it had been too long since he had smelled it.

He let his cobalt blue eyes shut for a moment and he took a deep breath to center himself. This wasn't like him. No matter what Zexion had been to him, Marluxia had a reputation to uphold. He couldn't be letting some old flame shake him up like this. Zexion had betrayed him a long time ago and Marluxia had pulled himself back up to his full height in record time. He would never allow one man to drag him down.

Zexion had come ridiculously close to being the one though.

With a shake of his head, Marluxia turned and continued on his way to his destination The Aristocats. It was the largest book and music store in Traverse Town and happened to be Demyx's second home. They were supposed to go to the Radiant Academy's book store to buy their books, but somehow Demyx had convinced Marluxia to meet up in The Aristocats instead. Their school books were likely a lost cause for the day.

Demyx was in the classic rock section of the store and, judging by the way he was moving his legs and hips, listening to something by Elvis. Rolling his eyes, Marluxia walked down the tiny isle and pulled at the large headphones the younger teen was wearing and let go so it effectively snapped back to his head and startled him.

"What the hell, dude." Demyx whined and pushed the headphones down around his neck so he could rub at his abused ear. "You didn't have to do that."

"No, I didn't, but it made me feel better."

The mullet haired teenager only pouted before his eyes, the same vibrant green of Axel's, darted down to his sleeve. "Oh man, no wonder you're pissed. What happened?"

"Someone just bumped into me, that's all." Marluxia replied and stripped his jacket off, revealing a tank top of yet another shade of light pink.

For a second it looked like Demyx was going to open his mouth to likely say something along the lines of "And they lived to tell the tale?" but, strangely enough, Demyx shut his mouth almost as soon as he had opened it. Marluxia didn't like it, not one bit. Especially not when Demyx turned back to the music and started to tug nervously at his AC/DC shirt with one hand and rubbing his leather clad thigh with the other. Did Demyx even realize just how obvious he was when he was trying to keep a secret?

"Demyx." The blonde in question jumped and squeaked as Marluxia wrapped a strong arm around his shoulder. Marluxia kept a straight face as he pretended to go through the section David Bowie CDs. "Did you know he'd be here?" He asked and tightened his hold on his little fishy friend.

Demyx gave a high pitched laugh. "What? Why would I know that Zexion was at Hatter's with Axel and Luxord? That'd just be silly!" He squeaked again when Marluxia grabbed his chin and forced Demyx to look into his stormy blue eyes.

"Why didn't you tell me, Demyx?" The taller, more muscular of the two demanded in a voice filled with practiced control. It was hard to be mad at Demyx though, what with the way the fish was fidgeting in his grip. It was really rather cute. "Well?"

"Well, it's just – you know." Demyx explained and tried to weasel his arms up to push Marluxia off him.

"I don't think I do. Why don't you explain it to me?" Demyx needed to get to the point. After all, Marluxia was being such a good boy and controlling his temper. Surely there was a point because Demyx, bless his little heart, was harmless and likely wasn't trying to piss Marluxia off. He was certain that Demyx had some sort of logic that, despite the common misconception that Demyx was completely scattered-brained, would make total sense if he would just spit it out.

Green eyes flickered and perfectly straight and white teeth bit into a plump lower lip as Demyx battled with the decision. Just who asked him to keep his mouth shut, I wonder? Axel was the first man to come to mind, but Axel wasn't so dumb as to entrust Demyx with a secret, no matter how much he loved Demyx. In that case, either it had been Luxord who told Demyx because he knew for a fact Demyx would spill or Vexen, who would have heard it from his brother and told Demyx thinking that Demyx wouldn't spill. Vexen might have been the scientist in their family, but his people skills sucked. Marluxia knew that for a fact, since he and Demyx actually did hang out with the awkward twin for reasons he still wasn't quite sure of.

"Alright, fine, but don't let Vexen know I told you. And could you, like, let me go?"

Marluxia snorted, but did as he was asked. He went back to browsing the CDs while Demyx straightened out his shirt. Patiently Marluxia waited for Demyx to collect his thoughts into coherent sentences. It had taken Marluxia years to hone the skill, but he was glad he had. Sometimes it wasn't easy for people to wait for Demyx and they never realized just how down it could bring Demyx. If Demyx would only be more open with his dyslexia, more people would understand, but Demyx had told him a long time ago that he didn't want people to treat him different for having a learning disability. I wonder if he's told Axel…

"Okay," Demyx began, his brooding disturbed by the very man who started them in the first place. "I meant that, like… We're going to Zexion's school, right? It's been two year since you've seen him and it's just… I know you, dude. I didn't want you to hear about Zexion and do something impulsive and, like…"

"He ruined things, Demyx." Marluxia muttered, wiggling the CD in front of the lined stack. There was nothing Marluxia could do that was worse than what Zexion did.

Demyx fidgeted before offering Marluxia a weak smile. He was the only one who could pull off that sympathetic smile without making it seem like pity. "I know, dude, but this is like, a second chance for you two. I just… didn't want you to miss this chance, you know? I mean, I know how you feel – felt about Zexion."

The raw honesty in Demyx's eyes and voice made Marluxia sigh. "You don't have to worry about me."

This time Demyx's smile was more natural and somewhat like a mischievous pixie. "Yeah, but if I don't who will?"

"Speaking of school," Marluxia started smoothly and ceased messing with the CDs in front of him. He felt his mood brighten once again as Demyx's expression fell and turned sour. "We need to go pick up our books."

The blonde groaned and grudgingly removed his headphones. "Man, Marluxia, you know how to kill a perfectly deep bromance moment."

"I need to get one of those rolling backpacks this year."

Marluxia stopped mid-step and glanced over his shoulder at his sulking friend. Slowly he raised an eyebrow. "I do believe that we just graduated from high school. College students do not use rolling backpacks."

"I-D-G-A-F." Demyx spat out and kicked at the snow, which was beginning to lose its shimmer as the sun began to set. The younger boy had a habit of, at times, using the abbreviations he used while texting and otherwise in real life situations leaving most of the people not of their age group completely confused. "Do you see how thick these books are? I refuse to lug them around."

"You do realize that most of the classes are accessible by stairs, right?"

There was a long pause and Marluxia took the moment to take a sip of his hazelnut flavored coffee and savor the taste. He had to agree with Demyx though. Each time his eyes would glance over one of the tomes, Marluxia felt his heart die a little more. But he supposed carrying them around was going to be his only method of working out because he doubted he'd have the time to go to Cid's gym with his class schedule.

"Shit. You're right." Demyx groaned from around the rim of his own cup. His tongue darted out to lick at the caramel drizzle on the whipped cream of his frappuccino.

"I'm always right." Marluxia retorted, causing Demyx to snort. "Do not question me."

"I feel so sorry for whoever your roommate is, dude."

Marluxia picked up The Grapes of Wrath with a frown. They picked the most boring books for American Literature. "My roommate is some kid named Riku."

Demyx paused short of grabbing his biology book. "Riku? Sora's Riku? Oh, you're going to have tons of fun with him."

The pink haired teenager's frown deepened at lewd undertone to Demyx's words and shook his head, adding Their Eyes Were Watching God to the pile of books in his arm. "Who is your roommate anyway? You never told me when we first got our papers."

He was met with silence so Marluxia turned to look at Demyx, only to find that the blonde had disappeared from his side and was on the next isle. Unfortunately for Demyx, Marluxia was tall and the isles between them weren't so high that he couldn't see him or notice that Demyx was, once again, fidgeting. With sigh Marluxia crouched down anyway, retrieved his final novel, and walked around to the next isle. "Demyx."

"I can't find that stupid sociology book, dude. It's, like, freakin' no where." Demyx rambled in one breath and Marluxia glanced around. He wanted to inform the green eyed boy that it was likely because they were in the H section, no where near the S section but it was likely Demyx knew, he was just trying to avoid telling Marluxia something.

"Who's your roommate, Demyx?" Marluxia asked, the tone of his voice almost bored although he was honestly intrigued. There were two things Demyx hadn't told him. The blonde was getting better at it, but his tics were still far too obvious.

Demyx cracked his neck and looked up at Marluxia with a guilty expression. "Zexion."