A/N: Yeah, sorry this chapter is so late. Been out of town at a funeral for the past week or so, and we just barely convinced the grandparents that they may want the internet...yeah, those kind of people, lmao. Anyways, hope you enjoy this;D

Hayner

Dublin- Four months later

Grinning subtly, I watched my roommate lean over the bar, smiling slowly at a tall and lean brunette handing him a napkin.

"Why thank you, hot stuff," Tidus winked at the brunette, "I'll be sure to keep this somewhere safe and give you a call sometime." His smile turned into a greedy one when the guy tipped him, slid of his barstool and then moved back into the crowd to go mingle. Waiting to make sure he was out of his line of vision, Tidus groaned, letting his forehead drop onto the bar.

"Gaydar... It's such a lie." Pulling his head back up again, he grinned my way, tossing the napkin in the trash can, letting it nestle along with the five others he'd gotten a hold of tonight.

"Don't judge me, Hayner, if you put your eyelashes to use and bent over a little more often, you'd be able to afford that extra cheese pizza like I do every week out of tips alone too."

I rolled my eyes and served the two beers I'd grabbed to the guys who were waiting. "God, Tidus. One of these days you're going to break some poor boy's heart. And I will be there telling you 'I told you so'. Now. Please stop flirting with the boys out there, and get your ass to the back and grab us some more ice."

He raised an eyebrow, "God gave you a pair of legs and arms of your own, you know."

"Yes, but seeing as how I got it the last five times, I figured you'd give your ass and cleavage a rest for the night by pulling your weight." I snarked back before turning my back to him and taking the next two orders that came in. It felt good to snipe back and forth with Tidus, something we did often as he was also my roommate. I just hoped he was still planning to vacate the apartment this weekend. Seifer was coming to town.

He snorted, "Did you know Yuna got me this shirt? Says a V neckline on a dude looks gay." He shrugged his shoulders, moving so he could go to the door that led to the reserve. "I'm guessing she be right, since no one in here has figured out I'm as straight as they get." Laughing happily at his act, he vanished to go get the ice I'd asked him for.

Tidus, like me, worked as a bartender in one of Dublin's best reputed gay bars, called 'Pink's'. The place was owned by Marluxia, his hair was pink, hence the name. Tidus, unlike all other employees, was the only straight one in here. Marluxia hadn't actually asked him to act gay, he pretty much did it himself cause he swore the tips were better. I'm thinking it was because he was a huge flirt and got off in playing and pushing peoples buttons.

Letting my eyes scan through the bar, I caught sight of Zexion walking through the door, blowing the bangs in his face away as he shook the raindrops free from his jacket. The bar wasn't all that huge, very cozy, wooden beams lining the walls and ceiling.

The bar itself was made out of wood too, the shelves behind it filled with numerous different bottles of alcohols, wines, syrups and soft drinks. I'd been a tad worried about having to remember all of it, but it turned out, in the heat of the evenings the bar offered? You didn't exactly have time to worry about anything. With the amount of people passing through? You just had to keep on serving and socializing; taking a moment to wonder wasn't really an option.

Smiling as Zexion waved my way, he then turned his attention to the space that was located on his left and before me. Lots of small round wooden tables people were seated at, and against the wall were more private places to sit as there were wooden panels placed between the little round couches following the curves of their tables. The bar was long rather than wide, it was actually pretty narrow, but its length wasn't all that impressive either once it was packed, with not much air left to breathe through.

Actually, the best chance at getting a bit of space? Was in the middle what with there always being people at the bar to get drinks, or across it, by the stage, to listen and dance to the music the bar's musicians performed. Apparently tonight it was Axel's turn to sing, his eyebrows furrowed in concentration as I could see his lips move in the form of a curse words, looking over his shoulder to have Demyx, the guitarist, help him out. While Demyx was always there, Axel and Roxas took turns. They both had a different crowd, Axel being a bit more flamboyant.

"I'll be at Yuna's this weekend." I glanced back to see that Tidus had come out front, a bucket of ice in his hands as he poured it into the ice bin. Snagging the tip in front of me and pocketing it, I nodded.

"Sounds good. Seifer is coming by this weekend and I was just going to double check that we wouldn't be clashing. How is Yuna these days anyway?" Thank goodness Tidus spent his days off with his girlfriend, that way giving me plenty of privacy with Seifer. I only got to see him on the weekends that Penelo was with Aerith, so when we did see each other...well, privacy was sorta a given.

"Yuna is fine." Tidus returned, partly climbing up the bar to point a finger in Axel's direction, who then winked across the room, leaning into the mic to start singing;

"He... is twice your age...I'm guessing money is the reason that you stay..."

"You fuckers. He's barely thirty." Grumbling and dearly wishing that I could chuck a handful of bar nuts at Axel, I tried to ignore the dig about my relationship with Seifer. No matter how many times I tried to explain it, they couldn't get past the age thing. I didn't understand it. Either way, I flipped Axel the bird, then decided to channel the British and gave him the two fingers.

Axel only grinned, "Bless your soul, you got your head in the clouds..." He continued the song, the crowd appreciating it as they shouted out happily when Demyx started backing Axel up with the guitar.

"God, he's such an ass. Who's brilliant idea was this song anyways?" I gave Tidus my death glare, silently daring him to ignore the question. I couldn't really get Axel as far away as he was, but I wasn't above dumping chocolate sauce down the front of Tidus' shirt and ruining it. "It seems you were just waiting to give him that signal, so I'd tread very carefully if I was you." It's not like any of them had even met Seifer, and yet they were convinced he was some middle aged, overweight, balding guy who I was with only for the money. Or that he was just using me for some reason.

Tidus gave me a funny look, "Who do you think? You know I don't have the smarts for a move like that, Axel is a pain in the backside, but let's face it, he isn't the sharpest tool in the shed either. Demyx is too mother beeping sweet, and while Zexion is a genius, he don't give a flying fuck about Seifer." Tidus grinned, nodding at someone behind me. "Hey, Rox."

I whirled around, glaring at the smaller blonde standing at the bar with an empty glass and a smirk on his face. "You?" Rolling my eyes, I snagged the whiskey to top Roxas' drink off. He wasn't on duty tonight, so I guess that meant he was free to torment me through his red-headed boy toy. "Really Roxas? That's what you come up with?" The Best Course of Action? I tried not to let him know just how much I wanted to kick his ass for that. The more sensitive I appeared, the more they had an opinion about it. He tipped his glass in thanks and took a sip.

"Well, the truth hurts Hayner." He grew a touch serious. "So, Seifer decided to deign you worthy for a visit this weekend, huh? How nice for him." His tone was dismissive, but for some reason, my relationship with Seifer bothered him the most. I didn't get it, and I sure as hell wasn't going to let him insult my boyfriend.

"Dude, lay off. I told you already, he has his daughter every other week. It's not a big deal that he only gets to come out on certain weekends. Besides, he has to run his farm." I winced. Why did all of my explanations seem to make the situation sound way worse than it really was?

Roxas took another swig from his drink. "I'm just saying Hayner. It seems like he's just here whenever he wants to be and that he already has a life out in, Ecnis or something." He waved his hand flippantly.

"Ennis." I ground out.

"Whatever. Be sure to tell him we all said 'hi'." Wow. Roxas sober was sarcastic enough, but Roxas with a few drinks in him, sounded positively evil. Like he was really telling Seifer to go impale himself on a rusty spade.

In an effort to really work on not keeping so much to myself, I may have shared a bit too much with my co-workers these past few months. First, I'd let them all know I was in a relationship. Then came more stories about where I used to work, which led to how I came to meet Seifer, which morphed into the explanation about Aerith and Seifer and basically, I'm pretty sure I'd given them all the impression that he was some in-the-closet divorcee with ex-wife issues and a kid. Didn't help that I was the 'babysitter' to said kid. That just clinched it. He was officially a scumbag.

"I'll be sure to tell him that you're all going to pitch in and give me a week off next month so I can go visit him." Suck on that, Roxas.

"What?" Roxas sputtered, turning back after he was about to walk away, his blue eyes sparking with fury. "Hayner, what the hell? I don't understand you at all. I don't know why you're still clinging to some guy who can't even live in the same town as you because he's married and shit."

Roxas blinked when at that moment his boyfriend sang, "Like when we creep out, when he ain't around..." This leading Tidus to snort, circling around me so he could punch Rox in the arm.

"That was perfect timing."

Ah. "It's not like what you went through with the guy you left to be with Ax." When Roxas only glared at me and smacked Tidus for his big mouth, I rolled my eyes and added, "Divorced, Roxas. Divorced. For like, fucking years." I stood my ground, something that I knew I needed to do. "Dude, Roxas. Back off. You don't even know the guy and that's totally unfair and you know it." I took a deep breath. "Now, don't forget to tip us. Remember, it's your night off and you still have to pay for drinks." I forced a lighthearted smirk past my lips, letting him know that this conversation was over, at least for now and that I was still willing to let it slide if he was. These guys were my closest friends here, and when they weren't razzing me about Seifer, we had a lot of fun.

I could tell that Roxas wanted to say something else, but he could read the warning in my eyes. If he wanted to step over the line and continue, then so be it. But I wasn't going to take this lying down.

"I can act gay for you if that'll cheer you up." Tidus offered, trying to distract the mean blond currently brooding over his drink.

Sighing in defeat, he turned to Tidus and smirked. "You know, I've heard through the grapevine that there was a certain tall brunette that was hoping to corner you this evening for nefarious purposes." He winked. "Better watch your ass." He chuckled as he tipped his drink to us once more and headed back to his table.

Tidus frowned in worry, "Hey, Hayner?"

I rolled my eyes and sighed. "Yeah, yeah. I'll walk you home and make sure no gay guys jump out at you."

Seifer

"Thank you so much!" Aerith grabbed my face, planting a kiss on my cheek before bending down and doing the same to Penelo before she ran back to her car, leaving me standing with my girl in the doorway as we waved her off.

"Will Hayner mind very much?" Penelo asked. Looking down at her, I smiled quickly, patting her hair.

"No, he'll understand, don't you worry about that." Our dicks might not though, however reasonable the explanation I had for not showing up tonight was.

"Snuggles and Cookie?" She asked.

"In your room, sweetheart." Smiling as she ran off to skip up the stairs, I closed the front door and quickly crossed my living room to grab the phone lying on the kitchen counter. Dialing Hayner's number, I sighed as I pressed the thing against my ear, hoping he really would understand. I'm sure he would, but it didn't make it suck any less.

"Casa of hotness, how may I help you?" Pressing my lips tightly together, I swallowed my initial comment back to that.

"Tidus..." How I did not like it when that guy picked up.

"Seifer..." Clearly he wasn't thrilled either.

"Hayner?"

"Yeah, let me just go toss him the phone." Some muffled sound before I heard a door creak, "Hayner, it's saggy bottocks on the phone for you." Excuse me?

"Fuck off, Tidus or I'm giving that guy your private cell number." Scratchiness followed then I finally heard Hayner's voice. "Hey, Seifer. Sorry about that. He thinks he's god gift to the unfunny."

"He's never even seen my ass!" I felt the need to point out.

I heard him sigh and then mutter, "Neither has anyone else around here, but they've all got an opinion on it." Throat clearing. "So, what's going on?"

Frowning, I shook it off and then got straight to the point. "Aerith popped over, dumped Penelo in my house and then pretty much told me Zack called in a surprise date while taking off at the same time before I could really tell her yes or no on the matter." Sighing, I rubbed my face, "I'm sorry, Hayner, I won't be able to make it tonight. But!" There was no way in hell I was calling our time together off completely, "I'll come tomorrow."

"Ah man. Stupid Zack. He's no longer on my Christmas list." He pouted, and then sighed. "It's okay Seifer. I know it's not something you can say no to. You sure you'll be all right coming tomorrow? I hate to make you do that cause you'll have to just turn around and go back almost."

I smiled, "It's worth it. I'll be there, promise." Then I growled, "Make sure your roommate ain't there, or else I'll be giving his face a free reconstruction."

He gave a light chuckle. "Nah, he's going to Yuna's. It's Roxas you gotta worry about. Snarky little fucker." Hayner's voice sounded tired, but he growled out that last part.

"What did he do?" From the many tales I'd heard about his co-workers slash friends, I'd gotten the impression Roxas was the one he got along with the best.

"Oh...well. He's just got some opinions about every relationship known to man and I guess mine is ripe for the dissecting. It's usually not a big thing, but tonight he was on one. Even got Axel to give his two cents as well. He's just...a know-it-all sometimes. Makes him annoying"

I blinked, "He's got an opinion on you and me even though he's never met me?" The fact that Hayner seemed so bothered with it had me curious, otherwise I wouldn't have suffered from the double take.

Sounding somewhat nervous all of a sudden, he replied, "Well, I guess I need to work on my whole sharing thing. Apparently I suck at it and now they all think you're some creepy middle-aged guy who preys on younger boys, all the while continuing to pant after your ex-wife. Ha ha ha. Crazy, right?"

What? "Yes, crazy." I swallowed the growl. Glaring at my fridge, I kept my tone light. "Axel probably doesn't blow him right, just ignore him." Licking my lips, I clenched a fist, "You get some rest okay? You sound tired. I'll be there tomorrow."

"As long as you're okay with that...I really do miss you." His voice grew softer and I could tell he was smiling. "And tell Penelo I said hi and that I put her drawing on my fridge. I can't wait til tomorrow."

Anger fading just a tad, I sighed contently at his words. "I will tell her that. I miss you too, she does too. Sleep tight, kay? See you tomorrow."

"See ya."

"Later." Hanging up, I kept myself from throwing the phone across the room, knowing the noise would only startle Penelo. Well that just wasn't going to slide. Dropping the phone on the counter, I pushed my opinion on Roxas &Co. to the far back of my mind for the moment, jogging over to the stairs so I could go tuck my little girl in bed for the night. I'd deal with that tomorrow.

Hayner - the following evening

Tidus was wiping the glasses dry, a gooey smile playing on his lips. "When I go to my girl's place tonight? She'll be wearing this skimpy little red dress I got her for V-day last year... God, can you just imagine how hot she looks in that?" Turning his gaze onto me, Roxas and Zexion, he grinned sheepishly as he remembered where he was, whistling a tune to deflect his hiccup while Zexion just shook his head, muttering out a 'dumbass' while glancing at Demyx, who was on the stage taking a small break before continuing on with the show. Axel wasn't standing far away from him, sucking water down greedily from a bottle, offering the occasional flirty wink at the boys trying to get his attention by the edge of the stage.

"Shut up, Tidus. Just finish those glasses already. You've been doing that, for what? Twenty minutes?" Okay, so that was way snappier than usual but it wasn't really my fault. I didn't need him reminding me that he was getting to spend time with his girlfriend when I hadn't seen Seifer in forever. Ass.

"What's got your panties in a twist, Hayner? Hmm? Get stood up last night?" Roxas clearly wasn't trying to keep the smugness off his face and I really wanted to use my rag to wipe it off for him.

I rolled my eyes. "God, Roxas. Aerith dropped Penelo off at the last minute, it's not a big deal. He's coming by tonight so fuck off." And really, I did get a small smile on my face at that thought. I was glad that I at least got to see him for a little while this weekend.

He raised his hands in defense. "Just saying. You're awfully bent out of shape. I'm sure there are some nice local guys here tonight that could help you with that."

I looked up from the bar in Demyx's direction when he started playing that tune, the one that was code for something specific. While playing music was their main job, Demyx and Axel got kicks out of doing the occasional throw in short line of a song here and there. Much like how they'd played Rumor has it for my benefit last night. Assholes.

"The minute you walked in the joint..." Axel started singing the lines that went with what Demyx was playing, "I could tell you were a man of distinction..." Grinning, Axel pulled away from the mic, returning to his chat with Dem, who'd stopped playing the guitar at this point as well.

Leaning closer, Tidus peered over at the bar's entrance, "So, how much on a scale from one to ten?" He nodded at the guy who'd entered, the one Axel and Dem had pretty much labeled with 'hot guy walking in, alert'.

Before I got a chance to glance over myself as I was busy pouring drinks, I heard Roxas answer Tidus first. "Damn. Tall, blonde and built. I'd say an easy 9 with a 10 if the guy wasn't looking to commit murder. I've never seen him around here before. Hope he's not here to start something though. The guy seriously looks pissed. How about you, Zex? Care to share?" I knew Roxas was smirking, hoping to bait Zex into actually commenting on another besides Demyx.

"I don't eye cheat like you people. Don't know why I came back here." Zex muttered, jumping off his barstool to go towards Demyx.

I chuckled, going to give Roxas a high five. Annoying Zex was half the fun in this job. Unfortunately, my hand got stuck halfway there as exactly who my co-workers had been talking about finally came into my line of site.

"Holy fuck. Seifer?" I raised my voice, turning my high five into a wave to get his attention. What in the world was he doing here?

I barely heard Roxas give a stuttered, "Seifer?" As my whole vision was narrowed on him as he stalked over to us.

"That's saggy bottocks?" Tidus laughed, "Kay, I'm so outta here." And the whoosh of wind hitting my back told me the coward had gone to hide in the reserve. I filed away that comment for later, vowing that he would live to regret that nickname.

Finally reaching the bar, Seifer let the glare slip momentarily to give me a smile, reaching out to place his hand on the nape of my neck, pulling me halfway across the bar to plant a firm kiss on my lips, letting it linger for a moment.

"Hey," He murmured, "got here early so I could prove to your little friends I'm not fictional, or," He pulled back, staring over at Roxas, "A middle aged wiener, suffering from an oversized beer belly that cries over his ex wife at night."

Roxas had the decency to look properly mortified, but he still kept his chin up, giving Seifer an obvious once over. "So, you're Seifer? Well, it's nice to finally meet you." I couldn't keep my eyes off of this little standoff. I was curious to see if Roxas would voice some more of his opinions to Seifer's face, or admit that he was wrong.

Seifer offered him a tight smile, leaning against the bar as he crossed his arms. "Hi Roxas, mind taking a moment out of your very busy schedule passing out judgmental opinions behind peoples backs, grow a pair, and repeat all you said to my face?"

Oh, this was gonna be good. Roxas clenched his jaw and sat up a little straighter before answering. "As a matter of fact, I can do better than that. I can tell you exactly what I think of this situation. Don't you think it's a little unprofessional to hit on your child's babysitter?" I tried to interject on that note as it had really been me, but Roxas didn't let me get a word in. "Or what about the fact that you're so much older than him? Am I supposed to sit back and not look out for my friend when all these red flags are flung in our faces? What about the fact that you've already been married, had a child, but suddenly you're gay after all of that? Sounds a bit suspicious to me, is all I was saying." At least Roxas was smart enough to keep his tone down and make no threatening gestures. I'm pretty sure Seifer wouldn't respond well to threats.

"For one," Seifer started, "Hayner is an adult and it's a little insulting for you, as his friend, to believe he's stupid enough to get himself in a situation such as you just described. He's smarter than that. Second," I saw Seifer's teeth grit together. "My marriage to Aerith is none of your business. But since you seem so hell bent on butting in anyway, let me tell you how that tale occurred."

Seifer reached out, tugging gently on Roxas' collar to righten it, and I could see a grin forming on his lips when Roxas very nearly cringed back. "I met Aerith when I was twenty years old, she was the same age. I'd just transferred here from America, and while this may sound unbelievable to you as you clearly are an early bloomer, I was a late one, so Aerith was actually the first person I'd ever been with. It's during my relationship with her that I realized I was interested in men, but by the time I wanted to call it off, I got to hear she got pregnant. Now, I can go into detail and explain that while, yes, I did step back in the closet, let's just say that her very Catholic father didn't give me much of a choice, and before I knew it, I was living under the same roof as Aerith, ring on my finger, getting up at 2 in the morning to feed my baby girl."

Seifer sighed, "I did what I thought was right, what I owed that woman and that baby girl. Eventually, we realized that love was a relatively important ingredient to a good marriage, so we divorced amicably, working out a steady schedule that would make Penelo's life as stable and easy as possible." Seifer's anger seemed to have dissipated some as he paused for a moment, letting all that sink into Roxas' stubborn skull.

"While I in no way will say it was all Hayner's doing," Seifer chuckled, "Let's just say that your friend is very persuasive and knows what he wants, and he'll push until he gets it." Taking Roxas' beer, he downed a good swallow, "Does that make you feel better about me being your friend's boyfriend? Or should I keep justifying myself for reasons I'm not quite aware off? You gonna back off and cut Hayner some slack?"

"I suppose I can admit that I may have been wrong." Roxas ground out, and I grinned as I wondered just how much it cost him to do that. Since when does any guy like to admit that? "But I just hope that you guys know what you are doing. Long distance dating sucks." Ah, Roxas. Can't quite admit absolute defeat to anyone. He nodded at me, before standing. "Well, it was nice to meet you, Seifer. I'm going to go find Axel for a bit. Later, Hayner."

Seifer grinned as he turned to look at me, "Does Roxas know how old Axel is?"

I cocked my head to the side, giving him a questioning look. "Um, I would guess he does, seeing as how they are dating and what not. Why?"

"Uncommon name, but I didn't think twice about it." Seifer stuck his thumb over his shoulder, nodding at Axel on the stage. "That's Reno's older brother. You know Reno, you met him through Cloud." Pursing his lips, Seifer smothered the bubbling amusement. "I doubt Roxas knows his real age, what with him throwing a hissy fit about mine. Axel's 28, Hayner."

I whipped around in time to see Roxas give Axel a quick kiss between songs, wondering how long I could keep this over Axel's head if Roxas really didn't know. Fuck, I could OWN him with this. "Really? Dude, Roxas is barely 21. There is no way in hell he knows his real age."

Seifer winced then, "Considering Roxas' difficulty with large age differences? I'm thinking Axel is keeping it from him for that reason." He looked over at the pair, licking his lips, "See how the redhead looks at that little pitbull? Pretty sure that's love, dude." Turning his gaze back to me, he smiled, reaching out to tuck a lock of hair behind my ear, the small moment making me realize he was looking at me an awful lot like Axel was looking at Rox...

Blushing at that look, I smiled at him. "Pretty sure Roxas looks at him the same way. Dammit, there's no way in hell he's gonna be that mad at Axel." Sighing in defeat, I gave him a once over. "So, what prompted you to come in here tonight and show yourself off to all my co-workers?"

"Saggy bottocks?" He said, "My pride was severely damaged, Hayner, I needed to righten it, and while I am in no way arrogant on a daily basis, believe me when I say I have no issue flaunting my looks out to the world, especially if it knocks some sense into your friends' heads at the same time."

I smirked. "My hero." Leaning in, I gave his lips a peck before turning back to the bar. "Okay, I've got about an hour left on my shift, and then I'm off, okay?"

"Sounds great." He murmured, "You want me to hang out here? Or toss me your key and we'll meet at your apartment?"

I glanced around noticing that more than a few eyes were on Seifer. Hmm. "Well, if you can behave yourself with all these boys checking you out, then why don't you hang out here and relax for awhile?" Can I help it if all I wanted to do was show off my hot boyfriend to those around here? Prove to those few who hit on me, that yes, indeed I did have a boyfriend. And he was fucking hot.

He chuckled, taking the beer I offered him. "You got me whipped, Hayner, I'm all yours and have no interest in anyone else." Sitting onto a stool, he settled in, surprising me with the lack of discomfort he seemed to be having in a place like this. He'd been in Ennis so long, first time he'd come to Dublin, he'd been a tiny bit stressed out, what with being forced to step out of his comfort zone.

"Damn straight." I clinked a glass against his and grinned in satisfaction that I was drinking with him.

A/N: Well, almost done with this story. Guess how many more we have for you people? XDXDXDXDXD