"Hey, Marluxia," greeted Roxas, him and Sora coming up to Marluxia.
"Hm? Oh, hello Roxas, Sora," he said, a smile on his face.
"You're in the photography club, right? Can we see you're latest shots? We wanna see how good you are," Roxas asked, putting on his best puppy dog face.
"I don't see why not." He took the camera off the strap that dangled off his neck and handed it to the shorter male. Roxas quickly clicked through all the pictures, obviously looking for something.
"It's not here!" Roxas exclaimed.
"What are you looking for?" Marluxia asked, taking back the camera.
"The picture you took of Saix and Demyx!" they both answered. Marluxia looked away in shock that they knew, then sighed and motioned for them to follow him as he started walking. Roxas and Sora looked at each other in question, but shrugged and started following Marluxia.
Marluxia led the two boys to a park that was strangely lacking kids, it being after school time. "You guys have to understand… I didn't want to do any of this… But I had no choice…"
"There's always a choice, Marluxia! What are you talking about?" Sora asked.
"Please don't repeat this… But I did because Larxene… Well, she…"
"What did she do to you, Marluxia?"
"A year ago, she caught me and my boyfriend on a date. No one even knew we were going out! We had to keep it a secret. My dad is probably the biggest homophobe you'll ever meet and my mom believes that I'm this perfect son. It would crush them if they found out I was dating a guy. Larxene threatened to tell them if I didn't do what she said. I didn't want to hurt my parents… So I had to break things off from my boyfriend and I haven't spoken to him since…" Marluxia explained, choking on some of the words as if the mere mention of his past pained him.
"Did she get any kind of proof of you two going out?" Roxas asked.
"Pictures and a video of us kissing… It really kills me that I can't be with my dear Luxord because of her…" he said.
"Well, we could help you out, Marluxia. If you'd like to. We could make this beneficial for all of us," Roxas suggested.
"You'd actually do that for me…? But… Larxene…" Marluxia said, blushing at the thought of seeing Luxord again.
"Don't worry about her. We'll take care of it," Sora said.
"Well… If you say so." Marluxia reached into his back pocket and pulled out an envelope. "I think you guys better keep these." Roxas took the envelope and opened it to reveal copies of the photo of Saix and Demyx. Roxas and Sora nodded their thanks and told Marluxia to be ready to see Luxord once again.
-SPACE-
"Go on, knock already," Saix instructed. Demyx hesitated, but knocked. No answer. He knocked again. Still no answer. "There's gotta be a key here somewhere…"
"Hang on, I got a spare that Zexion gave to me," Demyx said, pulling out his keys. He put one in the door knob and turned, walking into the house. Slightly creeped out, Saix followed. "Zexion? Are you here?"
Zexion was shocked to hear Demyx's voice. Feeling stupid for forgetting about the extra key, he quickly locked his bedroom door and grabbed the house phone off his bed side table. He crawled under the covers and tried not to make a sound.
"C'mon, he's probably hiding in his room." Zexion could hear Demyx coming up the stairs. But he didn't know who was with him. It was probably Saix. The very thought made tears threaten to fall from Zexion's eyes. But he refused to cry right now.
Demyx knocked on Zexion's bedroom door. "Zexion? C'mon I know you're in there… Please, I just want to talk…" No answer. "I'm not leaving until you answer me."
Knowing how stubborn Demyx was, Zexion ripped the covers off and said, "I have nothing to say to you! Just go away, Demyx!"
"Zexion… Please I need to know… Did you really lose your faith in me…?" Demyx sounded really hurt, but Zexion didn't care.
"Of course! How else am I supposed to respond to a cheater!" he accused.
"A cheater? Zexion, I NEVER cheated on you! You lost interest in me!" Demyx remarked.
"I never lost interest in you! I always loved you; even if I was lonely! You had your band practice and I accepted that you needed to be with them because I didn't want to drag you down from your dream! But you went and continuously ignored me and cheated on me with that stupid Saix! Was I that boring?" Zexion questioned, his temper rising.
"What the hell? Me and Saix? And when did THAT bull form in your brain?" Demyx said.
"Well… I kinda figured… It seemed so obvious when Larxene told me…" Zexion was so quiet that Demyx had to struggle to hear him. It took him a second to realize what Zexion said.
"Wait, Larxene?" he and Saix both exclaimed. "But… Larxene was the one who told me that you lost interest in me because you thought I was a loud, annoying spaz…"
Confused, Zexion got up and unlocked his door, completely forgetting the phone. "Well you are a spaz… But that doesn't mean I've lost interest in you…"
"You haven't…? Well, I never cheated on you…" Demyx said, barely a whisper.
"Oh no, he's too stupid to do something that stupid," Saix intervened.
Completely ignoring Saix's comment, Zexion shook his head. "I never lost interest in you… You don't see it, do you Demyx? Before I met you, my life was so gray and dead… You brought color and life to my world. Demyx, you're my sun…." Zexion said, a genuine smile playing across his hidden face.
Demyx smiled back. "I'm your sun…" He giggled at the cheesiness. "And you're my star… always leading me to happiness…" he said, brushing back Zexion's bangs to stare into his eyes.
Zexion started tearing up. "I'm sorry I ever doubted you, Demyx…I'm so, so sorry… Can you ever forgive me…?"
"Only if you forgive me, too…" he said, wrapping Zexion in a tight, loving hug. "I'm so sorry… I love you so much, Zexion."
Zexion hugged back just as tight, burying his face in Demyx's chest. "I love you, too, Demyx…" Saix smiled at their make up. A cough interrupted them, though. Zexion looked up to see if it was Saix, only to be hugely mistaken. "Aqua-nee!" Zexion quickly pushed Demyx away, blushing like crazy.
"Aqua, I'm sorry for barging in like this, but I just had to make things right between me and Zexion. I swear, I didn't cheat on him. It was all just a big misunderstanding. One that Larxene created," Demyx explained, taking Zexion's hand reassuringly.
"Larxene? That annoying brat who picked on Zexion in fifth grade? Oh, this'll be too easy. Just leave everything to me, boys," Aqua said, a sneaky smirk on her face, slightly scaring the three boys.
A few days later, Zexion and Demyx walked hand-in-hand to Saix's house for the final practice before the concert. "So how's practice been lately? You ready for your concert?" Zexion asked.
"You think I'm not? I am going to kill it out there! I can't wait to see the looks of all those kids from school when they realize we're actually good!" Demyx said, clearly getting too giddy.
"Oh? Last time I heard you play, you broke three strings," Zexion joked.
"Only because Cloud tuned it wrong and you know it!" Demyx reminded.
"I know, I know, I'm just messing with you. So how many songs are you playing? Did you decide which ones?"
"About four, and yes. But you'll just have to wait and see which ones. We also got a new one. But you can't hear it until tomorrow!" Demyx said in an instructing tone.
"Aww! Fine. But remember, I'll be in the first row, cheering you on," smiled Zexion.
"You're idea of 'cheering' is going 'Whoo,'" Demyx said, barely whispering the last word. Zexion pouted and playfully punched Demyx's arm. "I'm kidding! You know what I mean!" he laughed. "And I'll be sure not to stare at you the whole time."
"Wouldn't want him and Roxas to get killed by our future fans, now would we?" Axel intervened, him and Roxas coming up behind them. "You better watch out for each other, Zexion! You guys are so small! If Roxas gets hurt, I'll do to you what Aqua DREAMS of doing to Demyx," Axel threatened, earning a smack in the back of the head from Demyx.
"They'll be fine, you over-protective dope."
"Oh? So you're not worried about me, Demyx?" Zexion joked.
Demyx wrapped an arm around Zexion's neck and pulled him close. "That's such a stupid question, Zexy! I wouldn't let anything hurt you!"
"Okay, okay! I was kidding! C'mon I can't breathe!" Zexion laughed out. "Demyx~!"
"Sorry!" Demyx chuckled, releasing Zexion, who couldn't stop laughing.
"God, this is the most I've ever seen him laugh! Are you sick or something, Zex?" Axel exclaimed.
"He's not sick, you dummy," Roxas said.
"I-I'm just happy things are getting back to normal," Zexion said, calming down.
"True! Guys, guess what? You know how I told you about Marluxia and Luxord? Turns out, Marluxia's parents were okay with them being together! And Marluxia's severed all ties with Larxene!" Roxas announced.
"About Larxene, I haven't seen her at school. Where is she?" Axel wondered.
"I heard she was sick, but she's probably moping about Marluxia. She'll be back on Monday," Demyx said.
"Well that's good. Wouldn't want Aqua's plan to fail, now would we?" Zexion said.
"What IS Aqua's plan, anyway?" Demyx asked, throwing his arm over Zexion's shoulders.
"She didn't give me the details. She said wait until after the concert tomorrow and that it won't take full effect until school," Zexion informed, earning questioning looks from his friends. "But it's Aqua, so I'm sure we won't be disappointed."
A little fighting. Kinda happy ending. The next chapter, we learn what Aqua has in mind for the Bitch. I mean Larxene. Oh wait, no I don't.