Author's note: For the record, it's not as if Roxas and Naminé have dropped out of high school entirely just to hang with Sora and his posse all day. The kids at September Alley may be drop-outs, but Rox and Nam are just casual visitors. Just clarifying. Some people think they're permanent members of the Sept Alley scene. They're not. Anyway, enough twaddle. Here we go.

viii.

It's one Wednesday after a long day at school that Roxas found himself coming down with some kind of illness. The flu symptoms were all there. He could feel them bubbling up violently from the back of his throat, from between his eyes, from just under his skin. He felt feverish and cold all at once, his head was pounding and he'd had a hell of a time trying to concentrate on school work all day.

Great. He was coming down with some kind of influenza virus and his end-of-semester examinations were just around the corner. Wonderful.

This was the last thing he needed.

That afternoon, he told Naminé that he'd take himself to the doctor's and asked her to tell the others that he wouldn't be stopping by September Alley to hang. He needed to get diagnosed, get some medication, then get some rest at home.

Naminé, reasonably concerned, had wanted to accompany him to the clinic, but Roxas insisted that she stay away from him lest she catch the virus too.

"And then we'd both feel like crap for the exams," Roxas warned.

Naminé took heed of his advice and let him be. Instead, she scurried off to let Sora and the rest know of their friend's quandary.

Roxas' family doctor was located at the heart of the central business district of Twilight Metropolis. It was a twenty-minute bus ride away and by the time he reached the busy waiting room of the clinic, he was feeling weak, drained and just a little bit lightheaded.

He moved resolutely to register his name with the lady behind the counter. It didn't take as long as he thought it would. The lady took a gauging look at him and handed him a piece of paper with a number printed on it, then told him quite bluntly to take a seat and wait for his number to be called, which he proceeded to do without further question.

There were a number of blue plastic chairs that lined the walls of the tiny clinic and clearly, there didn't seem to be many empty seats left. But eventually, he spied one next to where a petite, inconspicuous-looking girl in an orange floral sundress was sitting, fingers tightly curled around the edge of her seat. He glanced in her direction and shot her a shaky smile before going over and sinking into the chair with a heavy sigh.

There was a moment of silence. Then,

"You don't look so good," the girl beside him observed quietly, startling Roxas a little.

He turned to face her fully.

The girl's eyes were a pretty, pretty green and her long, wavy hair was a dark, chocolate brown. She looked just a little bit older than him. Maybe seventeen, maybe eighteen. He couldn't quite tell.

He tipped his head forward in fleeting acknowledgement. "I don't feel so good either," he confessed.

"You're a little pale."

Roxas nodded. "Guessed as much." Then he looked a little closer at this stranger. "What about you? You don't look like you're all that sick."

The girl looked embarrassed for a split second and crossed her legs self-consciously, like she were holding back the urge to fret. "Oh. No, no. I've just got this little problem…" she trailed off and looked down at her bony knees.

Roxas blinked, sensing her discomfort. "Ah, sorry. It's personal, isn't it? I didn't mean to pry. You don't have to tell me what you've got."

She looked up again. "No. That's alright. I shouldn't – shouldn't be afraid to say it. Um…" she glanced away for awhile and took a deep breath. "Well, a couple of hours ago, I took a…" she pursed her lips hesitantly and squirmed in her seat. "I – I took a pregnancy test. And it came out p-positive. I think – I think I'm pregnant. But, I'm here to make sure I really am. Y'know, those over-the-counter kits aren't exactly foolproof." For some reason, the girl laughed a little, but there was a noticeable wretchedness in her voice. "Who am I kidding? I'm pretty sure I'm pregnant. And my parents aren't going to like it. And…" she started to tremble, "and the father of my child… he, he's…"

"Whoa, hey, shh," Roxas exclaimed when he saw the tears slip past her eyes and down her cheeks. "Don't cry." He darted over to the counter where a box of tissues sat, grabbed a few and returned hastily to pass them to the girl. She accepted them meekly.

"T-thanks."

"Don't cry. You'll be okay," Roxas assured her, awkwardly patting her on the shoulder in hope that the gesture would manage to convey his unspoken sympathy. "You'll be fine."

The girl nodded mechanically, but her eyes held a pool of doubt and despair.

Suddenly, Roxas felt like his imminent respiratory illness was the most insignificant thing in the world as he sat there next to this poor girl who could very well be carrying a child. She looked so frail, so terrified, so young.

"Okay, listen." He took her hand in his and looked into her bright green eyes gravely. "I really can't say I know much about this sorta stuff, but… if you really do have a kid in there, you just gotta take it all one step at a time, okay? There are plenty of people out there who'll be willing to help you through this. And I'm sure whatever they initially think, your parents will always still be there for you. So count on them. Count on the people who love you. As for the father, hey, if he doesn't want to be a part of any of it, it's his loss. He can be a bastard about it, but at least then you know he's a bastard. That way you can cut him loose. Don't you worry about him. Focus on the now." Roxas gave her hand an encouraging squeeze. "One step at a time, okay?"

She looked back at him, eyes still brimming.

"… Okay." She sniffed and gripped his hand tight. "Yes. Okay."

"Good. Then you'll do just fine."

She nodded wordlessly, then broke eye contact with him when she realised how long they'd been staring at each other.

"I – I'm Lily," she mumbled, almost bashfully, "Lily Odette. But everyone calls me Olette. Like the place in southern France."

"Right. Nice to meet you, Olette. Call me Roxas."

Olette smiled a watery smile, very much feeling the warmth of his hand still clasping hers securely.

"Thank you very much, Roxas."

ix.

It should be made known that Roxas had two best friends in school. During lunch break, he would hang out with them both. The first was a girl he'd known since his first day as a junior. This was Naminé, of course. The second was a boy who joined the school a year ago. He was put in Roxas' tenth grade class in the middle of term just out of the blue, which obviously struck everyone as odd.

The arrival of the new kid had sparked a great deal of interest amongst his cohort. Mainly because the fifteen-year-old boy had a prominent scar on his forehead just above the bridge of his nose, slanting just between his eyes. No one knew how he got it and he made it quite clear that he wasn't going to tell.

His name was Seifer. And him and Roxas, they didn't exactly get along the first time they met. Roxas was, all things considered, quite a self-righteous individual. And Seifer was an arrogant teenage boy through and through. The two didn't like each other on sight.

In fact, the two only became friends through a bizarre incident that involved one of the school's most notorious bullies: Hayner. It also involved Naminé, to an extent.

What happened went down two weeks into Seifer's arrival. Roxas was at the tuck shop getting some juice while Naminé waited out at the netball courts, where they always had their lunch together. While alone, Hayner had deliberately gone over to her to have a talk. Eventually, the talking turned into taunting, and Naminé was clearly showing signs of distress. Of course, Hayner would never have gone anywhere near Naminé had Roxas been around to safeguard her. But Roxas wasn't around. So it was Seifer who came up to them and yelled at Hayner to back off.

Of course, there was a scuffle.

And there was much noise.

And when Roxas arrived a minute later, there was even more noise when he joined in.

Turned out Seifer was pretty tough for a tenth grade high schooler, and it was clear, as soon as Roxas entered the fray, that Hayner was fighting a losing battle.

It didn't take long before the whole school turned up to watch the spectacle.

Half an hour later saw the three scruffed up boys and Naminé in the headmaster's office where Naminé truthfully recounted the story of how she was being harassed and how Seifer and Roxas were only trying to stick up for her. Her narrative didn't manage to gain them any sort of immunity from the punishment that was ultimately served. But that was okay, because three weeks worth of detention later, Seifer and Roxas called a truce and eventually ended up being best friends.

A year and a half later, they were still as close as ever, and they had lunch with Naminé at the netball courts every chance they got.

x.

A Sunday in Summer, Roxas was in the city, shopping for a present for Demyx, whose birthday was the following Saturday. The gang had been secretly making plans to throw him a small surprise party.

Roxas wasn't very well off. He hoped the music CD he bought at the discounted price of ten bucks would be enough as a decent present.

His task completed, Roxas was now just aimlessly wandering the shops along Central Street. It was not as crowded as he initially thought it would be. That thought barely crossed his mind when someone almost walked right into him.

Fortunately, he was quick to avert any sort of impending disaster, gracelessly stumbling out of the way of the preoccupied man, who had been distractedly looking over his shoulder without paying any attention whatsoever to what was in front of him.

"Whoa. Jesus!" Roxas called out, rounding on the man somewhat irritably. "You seriously gotta watch where you're going, man. You very nearly made me trip over my—" he stopped in mid-rant when he eventually realised who was standing in front of him.

It was that guy. The one he saw at the cinema. On the big screen.

"You!"

The stranger, clearly bewildered at the events that had unfolded, blinked owlishly and righted his pristine collared shirt, stepping back a little from the teenager in front of him, as though a little afraid of what Roxas might do to him.

"Er, yeah. Me." The stranger sounded almost nervous as his eyes darted back and forth, like he was hastily charting an escape route of some kind.

Roxas was too amazed to register the furtive glances. Instead, he spluttered a little, one thought swirling around in his head in the form of Demyx's disembodied voice.

"You're the independent mafia guy!"

At this, the stranger's eyebrows shot up and he fixed his full attention on Roxas for the first time. "Excuse me? Independent what?"

Roxas seemed to struggle for a bit before declaring, "Reno! You're Reno!"

'Reno' stared at Roxas' expression of disbelief for a moment. In those few seconds, Roxas could have sworn that he was being mentally assessed by the guy. Finally, 'Reno' nodded to himself in a self-satisfied manner and relaxed a little, giving the blond a crooked smile.

"Axel, actually. But hey, whatever floats your boat. You fans and your crazy little fantasies and whatnot." The man snorted. "There's been an outbreak of really badly written Reno fan fiction out there. Already. Hell, movie hasn't been out more than a month. What? Are you one of them slash fiction writers? Because I'm Axel Collins—an actor—and despite what ye olde trusty internet says, I am not a closet shipper, and I don't think Reno would ever 'get it on' with Secret Agent Strife. Firstly because they both hate each other. Secondly and most importantly? They're not real."

Roxas' brow creased at that. Most of what Axel just said had flown right over his head. "I never said—" he floundered, "I'm—" not one of your fans seemed just a little mean "—not much of an internet user," he concluded lamely.

Axel looked amused at Roxas' sudden discomfort. "Relax, kid. Just checking. Gotta be real careful nowadays. I've been hounded by crazy people claiming to be my biggest fans or whatever. Creepy and persistent bunch. Don't get me wrong, they're friendly enough. It's the stalkers I find terrifying. They're hardcore."

Roxas couldn't help but grin. "Got yourself a large fanbase, huh?"

"Not so much large as psychotic."

Roxas laughed. For some reason, he found himself relaxing in the actor's presence. The man seemed friendly enough. He thought all actors and celebrities were an egotistical, narcissistic bunch. Apparently he was mistaken.

"So, Mr. Collins, what exactly are you doing in Twilight—"

"Mr. Collins?"

"—Metrop…er, what?"

"Mr. Collins?"

"Um, what else am I supposed to call you?"

"I dunno, by my name maybe?"

"Okay. So, Axel Collins, what're you doing—"

"Just Axel."

"Okay, Just Axel. What're you—"

"Doing in Twilight Metropolis?"

"Yeah."

"Chillin', duh."

Roxas nodded like that were the most obvious answer. "I see." It was his raised eyebrow that indicated that he did not, in fact, see.

"Also came here to see my sister. She lives in this city. Only family I got left. Haven't seen her in awhile. Thought it'd be nice to say hello."

"Oh. That's cool."

"Yeah, yeah. Very cool. Snazzy. Just awesome." Axel seemed a little distracted again. He glanced over his shoulder furtively once more and looked back at Roxas. "Okay, Blondie, okay. Hmm. Hey, let me ask you a question. If you don't mind. And uh, don't take this the wrong way or whatever, but, uh… Oh what the hell, I'll just ask it. Think you got some time to kill, kid?"

A beat.

Roxas tried to hide his incredulity at the unexpected question. Clearly, this was an amazingly unpredictable man standing before him.

"Uh."

"Say yes," Axel blabbed. "Quick."

Roxas blinked. He'd actually been thinking of going to Naminé's house to hang out right after this. But he did that yesterday. Maybe it was about time he changed some things around.

"Well, I guess I'm pretty free. Why? What'd you have in mind?"

Axel almost seemed to breathe a sigh of relief at his answer.

"Great! See, I've got no friends in this city, 'part from an ex-girlfriend I don't think I ever want to see again and my good ol' sis, who's busy till tonight. Was thinking of hitting a Starbucks. But doing that alone's kinda boring. Bad for my image, too. Company's always good. So. You thirsty?"

And here was Roxas' shining moment to spend some time in the company of a relatively well-known breakthrough actor (who might or might not be suffering from some sort of bipolar disorder). Also known as The Stranger He Just Met On The Sidewalk.

But the boy didn't think twice about the consequences, just jumped in head first by opening his mouth and responding with: "So long as my drink's on you, sure, why not?"

And Axel's pretty, pretty green eyes brightened considerably at his answer.

"Just what I wanted to hear. I think I'm beginning to like you already, kid."