Ballad

by skinnedkneedmisfit

All Namine wanted was a cover band for her wedding. All Roxas wanted was to make his fiancee happy. All Axel wanted was to be heard.

21. B-Side: Teenage Dirtbag part one

In this chapter: Sora has a lot to say.

xxxXXXxxx

Ballad B-Side
"Teenage Dirtbag" part one

xxxXXXxxx

They broke away from the club like a shot. Riku's hand clutched tightly to Sora's, refusing to let go. The brunet was panting into the chilled air, unsure of what to say.

"…That was an amazing set."

Sora could see it. Although Riku's face was turned away from him, he saw his cheek quirk into a small smile. It washed away quickly when he turned to face him, looking at Sora with stony, hardened eyes. "Why did you come back?"

The frail, hopeful smile on Sora's features faded as well. He sighed and looked down at the pavement, and subsequently at their hands. Riku had still refused to let go. "This is my scene. You've always known that."

"You knew we were playing tonight." To that, Sora nodded softly. "You know how they feel about you."

Riku took a moment to look around. The crowd that Seifer dispersed were starting to gather outside. Although nobody had the guts to approach them, they had given them a wide berth and were watching their every move.

"Let's get out of here."

Sora perked up as Riku pulled on his hand and led him out of the crowd. "Go where?"

"Axel's place," he answered, pausing after they escaped most of the crowd. "Do you know where it is? I've never walked there from here before…"

Sora cracked a small smile and walked in step beside him, leading the way. "Sure. I had to save Roxas from a one-night-stand there once, I think I remember where to go."

He decided to lead them down a side street that was more residential than the main road with all the clubs and bars. It was substantially quieter to the point where he could hear Riku's jerked, nervous breaths beside him.

"So, uh… how is Roxas doing?"

"Doing fine," Sora said, although he wasn't sure why Riku was asking. Perhaps Axel talked about him during the tour, it wouldn't be surprising.

"He saved me."

It wasn't the response Sora was expecting. He tilted his head towards him. "What do you mean?"

"Roxas… drove out to the harbor one day in November and just… talked to me. He wouldn't leave until I said something, and nobody had ever really done that for me before."

"Really? I find that hard to believe…"

Riku frowned. "Well, the others tried. At first, they tried so much that it only made me close up more. It hurt too much to talk about." He winced and Sora gripped his hand closer. "I wanted to tell him, though, because I knew that it would get back to you, somehow. I wanted you to know what happened."

Sora took a deep breath to steady his voice. This talk had been put off long enough.

"He only told me that he knew about what happened over the summer," Sora replied softly. "But he didn't tell me how he found out… I just figured the guys said something to him."

Riku nodded and looked up at the trees. "It was the worst pain I ever felt in my life. I thought I really knew you, understood you, and that you felt the same way with me. But I was wrong."

"I really felt that we-"

"You didn't, though," Riku stated. "Not really. Anything that you felt from those two weeks was a lie. You purposely hid facts about yourself that would have changed how I felt about you. I wouldn't have dared made a move on you if I knew you were engaged. None of this would have happened if you had been honest."

"So what happened, exactly? After I left?" Sora could only imagine the worse, and Riku confirmed all his fears.

"It sucked at first. It was terrible. Everyone told me you were a little shit and that I'd get over it fast, but I couldn't. I felt like I was broken. I kept thinking that I did something wrong, that I should have noticed something was up with you, but I was too dumb to see… I lashed out at Luxord and Axel. Xig and Mars didn't like my attitude and said it was stupid that I was getting so worked up over a guy I barely knew for a couple weeks. It hurt. Their words hurt because you weren't just some guy to me. You actually meant something."

The way he looked at Sora was accusatory, and it stung. It hurt, but nowhere near as much as the pain Riku felt after Sora left.

"The band had a falling out. We stopped playing shows together. They kept practicing, but I stopped showing up, like I was trying to prove a point. Like they would come back begging for me and it would prove they were wrong about you. Eventually they wanted to follow through on their plans to move to Bastion and I couldn't do it, knowing you lived there. Axel talked to me about it, but I couldn't leave. It didn't feel right. But the lease on the house was going to expire and he said I could ride out the rest of the lease on his apartment. So I stayed there, and everyone left.

"That's when things started getting real bad. Once the guys were gone, it was like my moral compass went with them. The only time I ever left the apartment was to eat and surf, but sometimes the kids from the harbor would stop and invite me to parties. Shit would go down. I'd get fucked up. Wake up somewhere, go home. Wash, rinse, repeat."

"Is it helping to talk about it?" Sora asked.

Riku took a moment to consider before nodding his head. Maybe Sora had a point, and there was something gratifying about telling everything that was wrong to the person that actually made everything wrong. Perhaps it was time to find a therapist. "It helps to have people listen. I wasn't ready to talk then, but I'm ready to talk now… What about you?"

They were each trying to come up with the right thing to say, taking the time to perfectly word each sentence before speaking. "There's a lot to talk about," he sighed. "I wouldn't know where to start."

"Start with the beginning," Riku told him.

They were approaching Axel's apartment, now. Sora had picked Roxas up a few blocks away, but once they reached that point Riku was familiar enough with the neighborhood and was able to lead them to the complex. He had been living with Axel the few weeks leading up to the tour and had his own key.

The apartment was a mess. It seemed like Axel only had enough time to throw some of his belongings inside before heading out to the Organization. There were suitcases everywhere, and Sora noticed some cardboard boxes in the corner of the living room that must have belonged to Riku. There were clothes everywhere and the couch was covered with a sheet and blanket, where Riku had been sleeping.

"Do you want anything to drink?" he asked Sora.

The brunet was sober enough but he could still feel a headache coming on from everything he'd been through that night. "Water sounds freaking amazing," he mumbled. Riku poured them two glasses and set them on the coffee table. He took a seat on the opposite end of the couch and Sora sat far on the other side.

"Who was your first love?"

Sora scoffed, "Love is kind of a strong word."

"Well, someone must have said something to you. Someone made you think that it was perfectly reasonable to do what you did."

"It doesn't have to be anybody else's fault," Sora replied. "Why can't it just be mine? I want to own up to what I did, not deflect."

"I appreciate that, but it also isn't totally insane that I just want to get to know a little more about you." Sora blushed. "C'mon, anything. Like, how did you and Demyx meet?"

Sora raised his brow and took a sip from his water. "Now that is going way back. I really am going to have to start from the beginning, huh…"

Riku smiled the small, excited smile that Sora missed so much. "Go on."

°o°

Demyx was two years older than Sora. Demyx probably wouldn't remember it, but they met in middle school. Sora was terrified. It was his first day, and he didn't know anybody there. His best friends from elementary school were zoned into a different campus and all he had left were vague acquaintances of fifth grade. He was dressed in his back-to-school-shopping best, a red t-shirt with black shorts and yellow sneakers.

He was walking through the courtyard, keeping his head low and trying to make it inside unnoticed, when something rolled into view. A hackysack.

"Hey! Can you pass it back?"

Sora looked up and saw him. Shaggy blond hair, shirt with David Bowie's face on it, tattered jeans, and destroyed Chuck Taylor sneakers with writing on all the rubber parts. Sora had never seen anything like him before.

He had also never played with a hackysack before and looked down at it lamely. He tried his best to get it onto his shoe, but it wasn't happening. The boy's friends were laughing and Sora's face started to redden the more he tried. He finally gave up and picked up the ball, tossing it to the kid instead. He let it bounce off his chest, down to his foot, and then he kicked it to his friends.

"S'cool, you'll get there eventually. Sweet kicks, by the way. Where'd you get them?" he asked, nodding to Sora's feet.

He blushed and looked down at his shoes. "I dunno… My mom…"

The boy just laughed. "Yeah, I know how it is."

"Demyx, c'mon!" his friends chided. The boy, now named Demyx, gave Sora a nod and left to go back to his friends. From that moment on, Sora would see him from time to time around campus, but never had the guts to speak to him. Even though the older boy graduated into high school the next year, Sora still thought of him whenever he saw kids dressed up in band tees and baggy jeans in hallways.

So, imagine Sora's surprise when one of the first people he met on his first day of high school was none other than the boy that had occupied his thoughts the most throughout all of middle school. Sora had no idea he would be here until he discovered him hanging out in the first period Health class. On top of that, the teacher had tasked them to sit in alphabetical order. He called out their names loudly.

"Demyx Skönstedt!"

He made his way to the desk and plopped down, taking out a spiral with doodles of skulls and lightning bolts carved into the cover.

"Sora Strife!"

He hesitantly took his seat behind Demyx. The punk paid him no mind at all, but Sora made it his goal, before the semester was over, to at least talk to him.

And it wasn't like Sora didn't have friends in any of his other classes. He shared his Literature and Science classes with two guys named Wakka and Tidus. They had been best friends since kindergarten but thankfully were friendly enough to let Sora into their clique. They were really into blitzball, although it was something Sora had never really given much mind for. Still, the idea of being really into anything at fifteen, especially when everyone around you was obsessed with it, seemed like a good idea. So he started buying blitzball magazines, started watching Monday Night Blitzball with his dad, started paying attention to stats and players, and soon became just as really into it as all the other boys in his grade.

It was getting closer to October, and the blitzball season was winding down. Sora found himself in first period Health with a blitz magazine hidden in his binder as he pretended to be reading over notes more than paying attention to what the instructor was saying. Suddenly the mood in the room changed. Students started talking, standing up, moving desks, and Sora looked around himself, confused.

In front of him Demyx had turned around and had a small smirk on his face. "Earth to Strife," he said. Sora felt the color in his face pale. Demyx Skönstedt knew his name.

"W-What's going on?" Sora asked hesitantly.

Fast as lightning, Demyx reached for Sora's binder and snagged his magazine. Sora was frozen and couldn't even try to stop him. The boy looked at the cover, which advertised post-regular season statistics for all the NBBA league teams. "I don't understand how you ace every test," Demyx sighed. "I have to study my ass off."

"But you still get A's," Sora squeaked. Not that he was spying or anything. He could see the punk's grades over his shoulders when the teacher would return tests. Nothing but mid-to-high 90s. Sora figured that Demyx must be smart. In order to hang out with Demyx, he'd have to be smart, too.

The punk took the compliment with a roll of the eyes. "Whatever, it's still work. But since you're naturally good at this stuff, I figured you'd be a good partner."

Shoot, that's right. All the kids in class were splitting off with their friends into groups of two. The teacher had large sheets of paper graciously provided from the art department. "Right. What are we doing, again?"

"I get to trace your body and then we're gonna draw a bunch of organs inside."

As far as group projects go, it wasn't that bad. Sora wasn't exactly an artist, but it beat sitting in a desk listening to someone talk about germs. "Sounds like a plan." Demyx got the supplies from the front desk and then they contributed with the rest of the class in moving their desks to the side to make room.

Demyx traced Sora's body onto the large piece of paper, even going so far as to outline the spikes of his hair. Sora laughed and they went to work on the brain, heart, and lungs. "So how did you end up in this class now?" Sora asked, coloring his brain a lovely shade of blue. "I thought this was a freshman-level class."

"It is," Demyx chuckled. "I just didn't have time. The way my schedule worked out Health overlapped with Latin two years in a row. Thankfully third year Latin is after lunch so I could take Health this year."

For their school a Health credit was required to graduate, along with two language credits. "So you must be really into Latin to take the third year course…"

"Chyeah! It's great! The teacher's a total hippie and allows for stupid amounts of extra credit, but on top of that Latin's everywhere. It's the root of a bunch of European languages so once you learn it you can slog your way through the others."

"So you recommend it?"

"Absolutely! I mean, I did pretty rad on the language pre-SATs thanks to that class."

Sora hadn't started considering which foreign language class he would take. If Demyx was into Latin, maybe that would be the direction to go. "Say something to me in Latin."

"Semper ubi sub ubi."

"What does it mean?"

"It's a Latin pun. 'Always wear underwear.'"

Sora laughed and accidentally colored out of the lines on his liver. "Sound advice. I'll be sure to sign up next year."

Sora couldn't think of a single particular moment where everything went wrong. It was more like a slow, steady churning towards the inevitable. There was always an inkling in the back of his mind that maybe he was a little different, but he didn't know how to act on it. One day, during lunch, he along with Tidus and Wakka sat at their usual spot at a table shoved up as close as possible to the dark corner where freshmen were doomed to eat until each progressing year let them sprawl out a little further. They were talking about girls.

"Did you hear about Janice from seventh period?" Tidus asked.

"Awman she is so fucking hot," Wakka sighed wistfully.

"Well I heard she's getting it from Jason."

"Ugh, skank. Who'd want her anyway?"

Sora was in the same sixth period math class as Janice. She sat to his left and would always help explain things during group study if Sora didn't understand the day's lesson. It was true she was dating a sophomore boy, Jason, but he didn't understand why her having sex would have anything to do with Wakka wanting her or not.

"You're just jealous," Sora responded.

"Of course I am! For the first time since our balls dropped we're surrounded by older women and none of them could give a shit about us! It's fucking unfair…" he said, pouting into his pudding cup.

Honestly, Sora never gave the majority of the student body a passing glance. He let his eyes roam across the room and watched as a bunch of pimply, red-faced teenagers shove school-issued meals down their throats. There was nothing appealing about it at all, especially the girls.

°o°

"And that's when it happened," Sora said dreamily.

"What?" Riku asked, leaning back against the armrest of the couch and clutching his glass of water close. His eyes were open in rapt attention.

A small, nostalgic smile traced across Sora's mouth. "My first crush."

°o°

His name was Phillip. He was a sophomore and apparently the golden boy of the choir. They had done an autumn concert and he had earned a solo, which was practically unheard of for a second-year. Although he wasn't incredibly tall, his perfect bone structure and body type made up for it. He was an Adonis and Sora was having trouble looking away.

It seemed his friends noticed he was staring, too. "I heard of him," Tidus said lowly, so only the three of them could hear. "I have a friend in algebra who's in choir who knows all about him. Apparently he's super gay."

"Gay? Like gay gay?" Wakka asked, his lip curling. "Gross, man! That's, like, unnatural, y'know?" He chuckled and shook his head. "That's just sick."

"That's just what I've heard," Tidus replied with a shrug. Barely a second passed before he was off talking about another person in school and their alleged sexual exploits, with Wakka contributing with off-color commentary. It all breezed past Sora and he couldn't even hear it. His eyes slowly tracked Phillip across the room where he sat at a table with other choir kids. Wakka and Tidus may have thought it was weird, but that wasn't how Sora felt at all. In fact, instead of feeling threatened, he felt oddly hopefully.

He had a chance.

So for the next couple weeks, he kept tabs on Phillip. Nothing major; just if he happened to see him in the halls, he'd pay attention to who he was talking to. If it were a boy he'd look for signs, like smiles or blushes, anything to contribute to the rumor, but all-in-all he just looked like the typical high school boy with perfect bone structure. The only evidence even slightly leaning towards Sora's favor was his reactionless face when girls would flirt with him in the halls. Helpful, but not one hundred-percent undeniable proof.

It became regular habit at this point that Sora would arrive to first period Health early and shoot the breeze with Demyx. The older boy was smarter than Sora gave him credit for and was an invaluable resource in helping him with math.

"You're still doing it out of order," Demyx said, going over the work Sora had done last night. "You can't multiply until after you subtract here, see? But you can divide here first, because that's in parentheses." He paused when he noticed Sora clearly wasn't paying attention. He snapped his fingers in the freshman's face to make him wake up. "Yo! Earth to Strife. Come in, Strife."

"I'm here," Sora groused, knocking Demyx's hand away. He solved the problem the way Demyx taught him and put his homework away.

"What's the matter? You're really out of it today. Feeling sick?"

Sora buried his face into his arms resting on his desk. "I feel sick, but unfortunately Mom was an unrelenting tyrant and forced me to come in today."

"Do you have a cold?" Demyx asked, backing away slowly.

"No, nothing like that." Sora sighed dramatically and moved to rest his chin on his hands. "Just a sickness… of the heart."

A smile tugged on Demyx's lips. "No shit, really? Who is she?"

The butterflies in Sora's stomach were immediately shot down when he remembered, right, this isn't normal. And although Demyx seemed like a non-conservative type, that didn't mean he was exactly open-minded.

"It's nobody," Sora said, red-faced. "It's embarrassing."

"Oh now I really need to know. Is she in your class?" he asked, but Sora refused to respond. "Is she a sophomore?" Sora gave him the side-eye and frowned. "Junior?" Still no response. Demyx's face dropped. "Senior? Sora, no offense, but they're an entirely different creature by that point. They're practically adults, you won't have a chance with someone that much older than you until you graduate high school."

At this point the teacher walked in and started demanding attention from the class. Sora and Demyx faced forward, but the punk whispered over his shoulder, "This isn't over yet," before focusing on the lesson. Sora sighed and tried to pay attention, but it was so difficult.

The class wrapped up and when the bell rang it was like time had never passed at all. Demyx turned around and started hounding him with questions. "Is she in a club? You don't do extracurriculars, right? What about sports? Is she in softball? Volleyball? Field hockey? Soccer?"

Sora rolled his eyes and started heading towards the exit. Right out of the classroom was where Sora and Demyx's time together ended, with Sora having to head to the east wing and Demyx to the west wing for their second period classes. Today marked the first time Demyx started following a couple minutes longer.

"Chess club? Key club? National Honors Society?"

"Knock it off, Dem." Sora approached his locker so he could grab his a binder.

"Book club? Computer club?"

"There are no clubs!" Sora cried, throwing his hands in the air.

"This is a big deal! Baby Sora's first crush, I wanna know all about her! Is she in band?" Sora didn't answer. "Choir?"

There was a tightness in Sora's throat. His eyes widened a miniscule amount. His pace was uneven for a moment. Demyx's smile spread across his face like the plague.

"So she's in choir." Despite Sora's discouraging look, Demyx backed off and bounced away happily. "Got it, dude. I'll see you mañana!"

He wasn't kidding. Sora made it through the rest of the day as usual as ever. He even finished his homework early and got to watch cartoons with Roxas before their mom made him go to bed. Since he was still in middle school Roxas had to wake up earlier than Sora. Even though Sora usually got up at the same time anyway, he liked teasing his brother about it relentlessly.

"It's no fair," his brother whined. "None of my other friends have bedtimes."

"Don't give me that," she threatened. "I know for a fact Mrs. Marshall puts Hayner to bed at ten. Now go."

Sora went to bed not long afterwards and at school tomorrow he was surprised to find Demyx waiting by the front entrance. The freshman didn't think much of it and breezed past him, but the punk started calling him out.

"Hey, hey! Wait up, man!"

He slowed and waited for Demyx to catch up. This was unusual. Normally they would chat in class, but Demyx had never really gone out of his way to hang out outside of Health. Suddenly Sora became hyper-aware of how different they were now that they were out in the open. He wore a polo with cargo shorts and sneakers, and Demyx wore skinny pants and a baggy tour shirt, even crusty combat boots held together with duct tape. They may as well have been night and day. Already Sora was noticing some second glances from kids he recognized from his classes.

"What's up, Dem?" He tried to make a beeline to the Health classroom and silently cursed that it was on the complete opposite side of campus.

"So, Aurora, who sits next to me in Lit, also happens to be in choir and she was able to help me out by giving me a complete roster of all the honeys in the club." Sora watched in horror as Demyx pulled a crumpled sheet of notebook paper out of his back pocket and cleared his throat. "Alice Beaumont? Meg Egan? Esmeralda Moore? Kiara Campbell? Marian Evans?" He paused to look down as Sora. "I can keep going."

"Yeah, but I keep wishin' you'd get the memo."

"C'mon, man! I know everybody at this school. Gimme a name and I can put in a good word for you. Honest," he said with a pleading grin.

"Sorry, pal. You're better off finding a new hobby."

Defeated, Demyx pouted as he stuffed the list of choir girls back into his pocket. The look didn't stay on his face for long, and as they rounded the corner into their classroom's hallway he perked up. "Oh! Right, before I forget, I made this for you."

Sora slowed to a stop outside the door and waited as Demyx adjusted his backpack so he could get into the front pocket. He pulled out a burned CD in a slim plastic jewel case. There was nothing on it except Demyx's usual drawings of lightning bolts and skulls scribbled on the disc in marker.

"What's this?" Sora asked, flipping it around to see if there was any sort of label on it.

"It's a CD," Demyx explained, which earned an immediate scowl from Sora. "It's a mix that I put together just for you! Filled with stuff I think you'd like."

"Yeah, except I won't know what any of that stuff is."

"I know! That's part of the fun."

°o°

"Demyx made you a mix?" Riku laughed. Sora had felt better after drinking the water, but they both decided they were hungry. The punk stood in Axel's kitchen seeing what was still edible since the redhead hadn't had a chance to go grocery shopping since they got back.

Sora leaned against the counter and chuckled. "Yeah. I remember it really caught me off-guard. It was such a personal gift, and it just came out of nowhere. It wasn't like we had much in common outside of sharing the same class…"

Riku found a box of spaghetti and a can of tomato sauce that hadn't gone bad yet. He showed his findings to Sora, who nodded an affirmative. "Do you remember any of the songs?"

Sora chuckled. "I remember every second of that CD. In fact, once I left for college and got a computer of my own, it was the first CD I burned. The music's been with me ever since."

The sound water filling a pot almost drowned out Riku's question, "What were they?"

The brunet held up a finger and counted along to each track listing. "Gimme Gimme Gimme by Black Flag, Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue by the Ramones, Liar by Sex Pistols, Cool Shmool by Bratmobile, Bombshell by Operation Ivy, First in Line by Flamingo 50, Honey by the Konks, and then, of all things, Kings of the Wild Frontier…"

"Adam and the Ants," Riku said with a smirk. "I didn't know Demyx was into the distorted stuff. Always seemed like a melodic kinda guy."

"Well, that's what he was into in high school," Sora said, shrugging. Riku put the pot of water on the stove and set it to high. "That CD changed my life. Like, nothing was the same after that. I listened to some rock music and, y'know, whatever played on the radio or whatever. But I guess it never occurred to me that there's people out there making music that was never meant for the radio. It was so loud that I only listened to it at nighttime, after I was sure everyone was asleep, with my headphones on. Nobody knew. I didn't have money of my own to go out and support that kind of hobby, so I had Demyx help me there."

°o°

"I need more stuff like this," Sora said as he entered the Health classroom and found Demyx already in his seat. The blond laughed and tilted his head to the side.

"First time's always free. Now you gotta pay the price."

Sora frowned. "C'mon, at least give me names. Half these songs are so loud I can't even understand what they're saying." It made it difficult to try and look up lyrics on the family computer.

Demyx put on a proud smile and cockily rested his hands behind his head. "Well, well, well. If only you had something to bargain with. If only you had some form of information that would be useful for me that I could trade music with."

The freshman was just about on the end of his rope. "Dem, c'mon, man. Why do you care so much?"

"Because it's funny," he said with a laugh. "I mean, we're best friends, right? Why're you keeping silent over something like this? It's minor."

Sora raised a brow. "Best friends?"

Demyx's smile grew stale on his face as he paused for a moment. It quirked down slightly. "W-well, yeah, I mean-"

At that point the teacher came in, pissed. Apparently the grades on the last test were abysmal. He paced the floor and lectured them on the importance of memorizing every type of cell in the human body. There wasn't a moment in the class to break into groups or talk, so Sora spent the rest of the class panicking on what Demyx had said.

'Best friends,' really? Since when had they hung out enough to become best friends? The only things they ever did together was study, help each other with homework, work on group projects together, share music… Sora gulped. Those were all things that best friends tended to do together. But they never really did anything together outside of class. Sora had never even been to his house! How can you call someone a best friend if they've never even seen the inside of your bedroom?!

The bell rang and shook Sora out of his panic. Demyx grabbed his spiral and stood, handing Sora a sheet of paper he had torn out of it. "What's this?"

"Track listings. For the mix."

Sora looked down at it. Scrawled on the top was 'Sora's Mix' and below were a bunch of track names and bands. "…Oh, you didn't have to do this, Dem."

"Nah, it's nothing. I was being a little shit making you do something you didn't want to do. I… think it's really cool that you liked my mix so much that you wanted band names, and it was dumb of me to hold it out on you, so here." He tapped the paper in Sora's hands. "But I wasn't joking about how the first one's free. CD-Rs aren't cheap. You'll have to buy some if you want me to burn you more stuff."

Sora folded it up and put it in his back pocket. "Hey, do you wanna hang out tomorrow and… I dunno, study or something? We could go to the library?"

"Yeah, that sounds awesome."

After that, Demyx stopped bothering Sora about his crush. However Sora found himself wishing that he had taken Demyx up on his offer on getting to know the choir kids more. He didn't know anything about Phillip other than he was a pretty face. Walking up and introducing himself was too risky. The only chance they'd get to share a class together would be if they happened to register for the same elective class, or if Sora entered choir. That wasn't going to happen, and he didn't want to wait until next school year to meet him anyway. So, in an effort to get the ball rolling on his part, Sora decided it was time to introduce himself to school choir's golden boy on his own terms.

He knew at the very least that they shared the same lunch. Some days he would eat in the cafeteria and on others he wouldn't, but on the days he did, Sora noticed he would sit at a table near the window where the popular kids and upperclassmen tended to eat. Sora would have to coordinate this perfectly. Phillip had bought lunch from the cafeteria, and it was getting close to when the bell would ring.

Tidus and Wakka were doing their usual back-and-forth about winter sports that were starting up when Sora saw Phillip stand up from across the room and make his way to one of the trash bins. Now was his chance. Sora steeled his nerves and stood up with his lunch tray. He strode past the one closest to his usual table as Phillip was dumping the trash from his tray into the one next to the exit doors.

Phillip turned around and knocked Sora's lunch tray on the floor. Food spilled everywhere. The tray landed with a clatter. Everyone paused for a moment to look at them. Success.

"I am so sorry," Phillip said, devastated. He immediately bent down to help pick up the food, and Sora quickly followed. The next part was tricky, and had to be done just right. They both reached for Sora's plastic fork at the same time. Fingertips brushing together briefly. Sora looked up and Phillip was looking at him. The sophomore held the gaze for two agonizing seconds longer than proper before he gulped and stood back up.

"Thanks," Sora said, softly.

"Don't mention it, um…" he paused for a moment, switching on his golden boy charm, "I don't believe I got your name."

The freshman smirked and tried to stop his pounding heart from turning his face beet red. "Sora. Sora Strife."

"So-ra," Phillip repeated, trying the name out. Sora liked how it sounded coming from him. "I'll see you around, Sora Strife." He smiled a smile practically oozing in charm as he turned back to join his friends at his table. Sora returned to his table, where Wakka and Tidus were oblivious to what just really transpired by the garbage bin.

"Way to go, loser," Tidus laughed. "You better watch out or he'll make you pay for dry cleaning." Sora highly doubted that. He glanced over his shoulder towards Phillip one last time and was shocked when their eyes met. Phillip jolted and immediately and pretended to laugh at something funny one of his friends said. Sora smirked and had never felt more confident in his life.

However, that confidence usually jumped out the window the moment he stepped into his home. His dad was running late, which was par the course when it came to being a delivery man nearing the holiday season. While his mom hummed in the kitchen cooking up dinner, Roxas was laying on the floor in the den watching cartoons.

"Hey, you finish your homework?" Sora asked, prodding his brother in the butt with the toe of his shoe. Roxas swatted him away.

"Most of it."

"Most of it? What are you doing watching cartoons then?" If Sora didn't prod his brother to move he'd stay stagnant forever. The boy had a habit of taking the easy way out of troublesome situations.

"It's math. And I know you're bad at math, so don't try to help."

"Hey, give me some credit. I can solve seventh grade math problems." It also helped that Demyx was a freaking genius with math and was taking senior-level courses as a junior. His friend had plans on taking even higher level courses at the community college so he wouldn't have to take them when he actually started college.

So Roxas sighed, knowing Sora wouldn't give up until his homework was finished, and led his brother to his bedroom. Roxas always kept his room neater than Sora, always put his clothes away, minimal wall decorations, etcetera. So when Sora entered his little brother's bedroom and found a huge, huge poster of a sweaty topless man with a mustache on the wall by the dresser, he almost had a heart attack.

"What is that?!" Sora cried.

Roxas glanced at it and shrugged. "Freddie Mercury."

"I know who it is. What is it doing in your bedroom?"

"Mom took me to the music store over the weekend. It was a promotional thing, free with purchase of their greatest hits CD." His little brother held up the CD as proof.

Sora frowned, taking the CD from his hand and looking over it. "No fair! Why didn't mom tell me you guys were going to the music store."

"I dunno. It was Saturday and you weren't home." That's right, he'd made plans to hang out with Wakka and Tidus. Still, that didn't make it fair that his brother had a shiny new toy and Sora didn't.

After explaining in layman's terms how to understand exponents and unknown variables, he found his mother wrapping up the last of their dinner. "So you and Roxas went to the music store on Saturday," Sora stated.

His mother sighed, having had this conversation numerous times and knowing exactly where it was going. "What did you want, Sora?"

"When's the next time you're going to the office store?" That question caught her off-guard. There wasn't a whole lot at office stores that a fifteen year old boy would be interested in. "I need CD-Rs. A lot of them. For… school."

If it was for school, that usually meant his mom would go all-out, so two days later Sora came home from school and found case of 100 CD-Rs on his bed. He turned around and immediately gave them all to Demyx the second he saw him the following day.

The entire story up until this point had been about how Sora got introduced to the kind of music that ended up corrupting him. Undoubtedly, without Demyx's help the process would have taken a lot longer, but it stands to reason that when you hear the right music, the music made just for you, things change. Thoughts change. Habits change. Styles change. Over the course of freshman year Sora's family watched as the oldest Strife son emerged from a cocoon made of polos and cargo shorts as a young man in band tees and ripped jeans.

Coincidentally, the end of his freshman year was when his second crush appeared.

°o°

"Wait wait wait," Riku said, trying to get his spaghetti onto his fork. There wasn't much left in his bowl, but Sora still had a lot to go since he was kept busy talking. The brunet used the break for Riku's question to slurp up a couple bits. "So whatever happened to Phillip?"

"Phillip's still there," Sora replied with his mouth full.

"So you've got your sights on two people at once?" Riku stated, as if this were the big mystery that would have solved all of Sora's relationship issues. Instead the younger boy frowned and gave the punk a patronizing glare.

"Nothing's even happened yet. I'm allowed to have two crushes at the same time." He swallowed his spaghetti and pointed his fork accusingly at Riku. "You've gotta have more respect for the timeline, man. The sequence of events is crucial. And let me remind you that you were the person who wanted to know every dirty little secret about me."

The punk wrinkled his nose. "I asked you who your first love was, I don't remember asking about all that."

"Well the road to my first love is paved with a lot of dirty secrets, and none of them were dirtier than Flynn Rider."

°o°

It was about two months before the end of freshman year. Wakka and Tidus had been talking about the possibility of trying out for the blitzball team, and the practice sessions for tryouts were keeping them busy. Sora and Demyx were hanging out on one of the large decorative rocks placed in the courtyard, each with an earbud from the same headset plugged into a discman. This was their usual routine. Normally it involved getting last-minute homework done so they could goof around in Health instead.

Today, as luck would have it, there was no homework leftover from last night to panic about. Sora was in good spirits as he lazily gazed around at all the kids milling about waiting for the first bell while the Cranberries played softly in his ear. That's when he walked through the doors.

But I'm in so deep

You know I'm such a fool for you

You got me wrapped around your finger

Do you have to let it linger?

He was tall, practically oozing confidence as he swaggered from the short distance through the front entrance to the main office. Sora had never seen him before. He jabbed Demyx in the shoulder with his sharp elbow. The older boy immediately dropped the book he was reading to flinch. "Ow! Dude, what?"

"Did you see that?"

"What?"

"New kid."

Demyx's eyes followed where Sora was gazing, towards the office, and was able to see a boy he didn't recognize flirting with the student assistant behind the counter. For completely different reasons, the older kid was drawn to the new guy because his social circle would expand plus one. And judging by the grungy green hoodie and brown pants combo, he would fit in just fine. Unfortunately the bell chose that moment to announce the start of the school day. Sora popped the ear bud out and handed it to Demyx.

"I need to stop by my locker real quick," the older boy said, stuffing his music player in his bag. "See you in class."

Sora shrugged and headed to his health class. The new kid had been ushered into the student counselor's office and was out of eyesight, so there was no reason so stick around any longer. Once seated in his desk, he waited patiently for Demyx to arrive.

And he waited. And waited. Until finally the warning bell went off and Demyx only had a minute to get to class. Their teacher wasn't incredibly strict about people being late, but it was still out of character for the punk that didn't have a single tardy on his record. Two seconds after final bell, the sounds of sneakers smashing against tile reverberated against the halls and Demyx appeared, red-faced and panting, and took his seat.

Sadly Sora didn't get a chance to ask any questions as their teacher went straight into a lecture about glands. Luckily the second half of the class was devoted to a worksheet they were allowed to work on in pairs. Without missing a beat, Demyx turned around with a huge grin on his face.

"His name is Flynn Rider," he whispered through shining teeth. Sora looked confused for a minute. "New kid."

A small smirk rose on the freshman's lips. "Really? How?"

"I didn't really have to go to my locker. I asked Panelo about him."

"Who?"

Demyx rolled his eyes. "Girl in the office. The admin assistant. Anyway, she spilled. Name's Flynn Rider, apparently he's adopted. Military parents. Mom and dad both got a request granted to work in the big recruitment offices downtown. He's a junior too, and he's going to be in my poli-sci, lit, and AP-bio classes. Also he's in a band."

"What kind of band?"

"I dunno, some sort of garage thing. I guess he was in a band, until he moved."

"What'd he play?"

"Guitar."

Sora nodded slowly, biting his lip and leaning back in his chair. The worksheet was all but forgotten. "Cool," he drawled.

So that was the story of how Flynn Rider entered his life. He had a voice smooth like honey, a sort of self confidence that was unheard of amongst most teenagers, and enough charisma to get himself out of any trouble. Everyone in Demyx's circle was immediately enamored. For once Sora wished he could be an upperclassman so he would have more of an excuse to talk to him, but for the most part Flynn wouldn't give him the time of day. In fact, embarrassingly enough, the junior had given Sora a nickname.

"Hey, small fry. You doing anything on Friday?"

Sora didn't even realize Flynn was talking to him. His face lit up when he did a double-take, realizing the older student was actually looking at him when he was talking. It had taken two months for them to get to this point. The junior waited with a bored stare for an answer.

"Friday?" Sora almost stuttered, and thanked a higher power that he didn't. Before giving an answer he thought about it for a moment. It was actually the last week of school, Sora was at his locker in the passing period between lunch and his second period final. The schedule was different than usual, with each class being given a two hour block for exam time spread between four days. Each day started with a two hour mandatory study hall, and Thursday would end in a half day after the seventh period final was over. Anything after that half-day was summer vacation and free reign. Sora wasn't doing anything for three glorious months. "Nope! Why, something happening?"

"I was talking to Demyx at lunch. He wants to throw a big party at his place to celebrate. Will you be there?" He had that confident, hopeful smirk that made Sora melt and the younger boy could only nod his head. "Sweet. See you Friday!"

Outside of studying in the library after school, Sora hadn't spent much free time with Demyx. Sometimes they'd hit the pizza parlor or sandwich shop near campus for an early dinner if study sessions ran long, but he had still never actually been to Demyx's house. He was excited to finally have an opportunity.

Flynn didn't stick around after his invitation, and Sora booked it to his next final. After exams were over for the day, he stopped by Demyx's locker and waited for him to show up.

"Hey! Are we studying today?" the older boy asked.

Sora shook his head. "I'm sorta burnt out on studying. If I try to force any more information in now, it'll just push facts out and replace them with all my high expectations for the party you're throwing Friday night."

Demyx cringed as he pulled out the two binders of notes he would need for tomorrow's finals. "God, who told you?"

"Flynn invited me. Why didn't you say anything about it during the Health final?"

"Because it wasn't my idea. Flynn and the others were pressuring me to do it since my house is bigger." He didn't seem happy about it, but Sora wasn't going to let that come between him and finally scoping out Demyx's digs. "I told them my parents were going to be out of town…"

"What about your sister?" Demyx's older sister was just as enigmatic as the rest of the junior's personal life. All Sora knew was that she was older, having already graduated from high school and either taking community college classes or working full-time. "I'm sure she'll be home whether she wants to be or not. Parties are good business for her."

"So how do I get there? Is it near a tram line?"

Demyx was still uncomfortable with the idea. He shifted his backpack to his side and pulled out his spiral. Hastily, he scrawled his address and ripped out the page for Sora. "Just- look this up and have your parents drive you. They won't have a problem with it. Say you're staying the night or something, I don't mind if you crash."

And a slumber party on top of it all! Sora was excited. He kept the address in his back pocket until he got home and used the family computer to look it up where exactly he lived. At that moment a car drove up and Sora's dad entered the office a few minutes later. "I need to get on," he said, tired.

"First, is it cool if I go to a friend's house on Friday? And maybe spend the night?"

"Hm. Tidus or Wakka?"

"Actually, it's my library friend, Demyx? He's having some friends over to celebrate summer vacation starting." He was pretty sure that if his parents actually met Demyx they'd have reservations about their son going over to his house. Fortunately they just knew him as Sora's study buddy. Sora pointed to the map on the screen. "This is where he lives. Would you be able to take me?"

His dad stepped up to the monitor and took a closer look. "Nice place," he said, although the map was just a series of lines and street names from a side of town Sora wasn't familiar with yet. "Sure. Now move. You should be studying."

With a heavy sigh, Sora walked to his room, making a last-minute detour to Roxas' room to see what his brother was up to. "Hey loser. How does it feel to not have finals?" While Roxas didn't have finals, he still had tests to cover the material he'd learned in the last quarter of the school year. He knew what he was going through wasn't as painful and annoying as his older brother's exams, so the blond looked up from his history textbook and grinned.

"It feels heavenly."

Sora rolled his eyes and picked up a dirty sock on Roxas' floor, lobbing it at his brother's head. Roxas' laughter filled the hall as Sora left the room with a smirk, continuing on to his room to study some more.

It was no easy feat getting to the end of the week. On Wednesday his two finals were Science and Math, which nearly killed him. Luckily his seventh period final on Thursday was Computer Studies, and the teacher was a total softie. After forty-five minutes of proving they knew how to use Excel spreadsheets and could make a Powerpoint presentation, the students were given free reign on the computers until the final bell rang.

Sora burst out of the computer lab a changed man. No longer a freshman, at least until he got his report card, and he was pretty sure he aced all his exams. Students in the halls were ecstatic. The seniors were weepy. The junior wing was chaos. He crossed paths with Wakka and Tidus and made plans to go to the pizza parlor once he'd stopped by his locker.

"Any big summer plans?" Wakka asked with so much pizza in his mouth it came out like the sound of a dying giraffe. Luckily Sora knew pizza-speak.

"Gonna sit on my butt. Gonna level up on alla my games. I dunno. What about you guys."

"Practice," they both answered simultaneously.

"We got a chance at actually making it on the team next year! But practicing during the summer is gonna suck," Tidus sighed, not looking forward to all the outdoor exercising in the heat.

Sora shrugged. "Well, at least the bulk of the activity will be in the tank, right? I bet it'll feel good once you get going."

Wakka made a grunt and wiped the sauce off his mouth with the back of his hand. "Hey, before I forget, we're going to get together tomorrow night, maybe rent a few movies or something. You down?"

Between gulps Sora shook his head. "Wish I could, but I'm going to a party that night."

Wakka and Tidus both lowered their pizza slices from their mouths. "Demyx's party?" Tidus asked, eyes growing slightly wider. "The party?"

"Well… yeah, I guess. I don't know-"

"You have to get us in, man," Wakka said with a hopeful grin plastered across his face. "It's gonna be the party of the year! I heard some of the seniors from blitz practice talking about it. Everyone's gonna be there!"

Sora wasn't expecting it to be a huge party. Maybe just Demyx's inner circle, playing some video games, and then they'd crash sometime in the AM. "…Well, I mean, I'll check with Demyx, but I don't think it would be a problem." Demyx loved people, and he was aware that Wakka and Tidus were pretty good friends of his. It shouldn't be a problem.

When Sora called Demyx, the boy answered with a stressed sigh. "I don't know why I let them talk me into this," he said, sounding nervous. "The last time we threw a party when my parents were gone, thirteen people got arrested!"

"Is everything okay? Should I not show up?"

"Sora if you aren't there I will fuck you up. I will find you and I will kill you." He sounded serious.

"Well… then would you mind if a couple more people showed up? Tidus and Wakka?"

"Sure!" he chirped. "And why not have them invite their siblings! Moms and dads! Dogs? Sure! Why the fuck not?!"

Sora laughed. "Alright, I'll let them know. Wakka's dad is really cool. Tells the best jokes. He'll be a hit."

There was a brief moment where Demyx was without words, making noises while trying to come up with something to say before he realized it was futile and laughed along. "Please be there, Sora. I don't know how I'm gonna handle this without you."

The party started at ten, which meant people wouldn't start showing up until eleven at the earliest, which meant that when Sora's dad dropped him off in front of Demyx's house it was eight in the evening and the entire neighborhood was a ghost town the likes of which the young brunet had never seen before. He had heard of gated communities for apartment complexes, but not for mansions. Each house on the block looked like it had at least sixteen rooms inside. Tall columns, big green yards, some even had fountains that acted as a turnabout for the long driveways. Demyx's house had one such driveway. Sora was speechless.

"About what time should I pick you up tomorrow?" his dad asked as Sora craned his neck to see just how tall the house was now that they were next to it. There were at least three stories. This was insanity.

"…Uh. How's one sound?"

"Sounds good. See you tomorrow."

Sora pulled his backpack with his sleep clothes and some video games out of the back seat and said goodbye to his father. He didn't drive away until after Sora had rung the doorbell. It took a few minutes, and Sora wondered if he would need to ring it again, but someone finally answered.

That someone was a woman. Average height, slicked-back blonde hair, and wearing maybe a tiny bit too much eyeliner. She smacked gum loudly and looked down at Sora. "You're… early," he said, with a small sneer. She glanced up and noticed an older gentleman in the car waiting in the driveway, obviously a dad, and her mood changed dramatically. Big smiles, bent down to get a better look in the car window. "Hello! We'll take good care of him, have a good night!"

She waved as Sora's dad nodded and drove around the fountain and back down the driveway. She turned back to Sora and scoffed. "Seriously? Having your parents drop you off for a party two hours early? You either have balls the size of Russia or you're the biggest idiot I've ever met. Who are you?"

"S-Sora Strife?" he replied with a lilt, like he wasn't fucking sure. This woman was terrifying.

The look on her face turned deadpan. "Oh right, Sora. Demyx's been waiting for you. Upstairs, last door on the left." The way she said it was so casual. Without paying Sora another moment of her time she turned and marched into the kitchen where already, in easy view thanks to the open floor plan of the estate, the countertop was covered in liquor bottles in various shapes, sizes, and colors. There were huge stacks of beer cans on the floor, and even a keg. Sora gulped and followed the woman's orders, walking up the statement-making carpeted grand staircase at the back of the atrium.

The vaulted ceilings meant that the stairs went on longer than ones in normal houses. Sora found himself winded when he reached the top. At the top, he walked down the left hall where there were several doors on either side. The last one on the left was open and music was playing loudly from it.

Demyx's room was like something from a teen movie with a huge budget. With the room being on a corner, he had huge windows on two sides, curtains open with natural light flowing in. The room was so huge that he had room for extra furniture, like a couch and a comfy chair. The bastard had his own computer, huge flat-screen television, multiple gaming consoles, and a techy stereo with his iPod plugged in, where the punk was currently standing with his back turned and scrolling through music. Demyx had the gall to dress in a basic t-shirt and ripped up jeans like his parents weren't millionaires.

"Knock knock," Sora said, leaning against the door frame. Demyx flinched and turned to see him, visibly relieved.

"Oh thank god. I need help. This mix isn't working."

"How long were you going to keep this a secret?" Sora asked, pointing to the high ceiling and the huge room.

Demyx looked uncomfortable and shook his head. "It's dumb. It's not something I wanted advertised."

"Yeah, but it's me," Sora said. He was a bit hurt, but there were worse things to be upset about than finding out one of your friends was fabulously wealthy, so he joined Demyx near the stereo and helped him make up a playlist for the night. Start out with punk, get everybody feeling rebellious. Go to classic rock mixed with the some Top-40s once it seemed like the bulk of the people were there. Move on to dance music once everyone was good and hammered.

"So how crazy do you plan on things getting?" Sora asked. "There was… a lot of booze downstairs."

Demyx frowned again. "Yeah, that was my sister's idea."

"Oh, is that the person who answered the door?" It made sense. Her hair was a little bit blonder, but probably treated to look that way. They totally had the same eye color and nose, though. Sora felt stupid for not noticing it sooner.

"She's like, an expert at throwing ragers. She'd probably make good money doing that someday if she'd just get her ass in gear."

"What does she do now?"

Demyx bit out a laugh. "Live in the pool house in the backyard, leaching off my parents, selling weed to the kids in the neighborhood."

The more Sora was visiting, the more uncomfortable he felt about staying. "What kind of party is this going to end up being?"

The punk bit his lip and placed his hand on Sora's shoulder. "Sora, it's gonna be a rager. If you ever feel like you need a break, my room's always off-limits to randos. You'll be safe here."

Demyx wasn't kidding. After the initial nervousness Sora felt when it was nearly ten-thirty and nobody had shown up, people slowly started to trickle in. It wasn't until a smoke-filled van filled with blitzball players and cheerleaders pulled up that it started getting comfortably crowded. Sora walked around, taking in the sights and sounds, while holding a red Solo cup filled with soda.

Wakka and Tidus were there, and it kinda felt like they were supposed to be. There were some other kids going into their sophomore year besides them, but for the most part they felt so young. None of them had ever been to an actual party before. The way some of them would just walk up to the counter and act like they knew how to pour a drink was amazing.

In the end, it was Wakka who was the first to drink. He grabbed a beer from an ice bucket and took a swig. He just grinned through how terrible it tasted. Tidus was the first to try actual liquor, on a dare, and regretted it almost immediately. It was nearing one in the morning when whoever controlling the music decided it was sufficiently rowdy and it was time to turn on the dance music. The rhythm was drilling up and the crowd was loving it, until it all fell away leaving them in an anticipating silence.

That was when Flynn walked into the room. For one brief, glorious moment the room was quiet as the front door opened and he came in. The crowd seemed to part between where Sora was hanging out with Tidus and Wakka in the kitchen and the entryway. He watched as Flynn looked around the room for a familiar face. As his eyes hit Sora's, the bass dropped and sound filled the house again.

Flynn nodded, smirking confidently, as he sauntered across the room. Sora tried to hide his panic and reminded himself that he was standing next to his friends. Just keep cool. "Quite the party," the older boy shouted over the music.

"I was wondering if you'd make it," Sora replied.

"Is it okay if I make a drink?" he asked, pointing to the counter with the liquor that Sora had been leaning against when Flynn arrived. The brunet jumped, backing away so he could get to the bottles easier. "This music sucks."

Sora found himself mirroring Flynn's smile as he watched the boy pour a rum and coke. "You should've been here earlier, then." His reaction was caught off-guard when Flynn handed him the drink he'd just made. "What?"

"That's for you. You're looking a little lonely," he said, putting the cup in Sora's empty hands. There was a plastic shot glass lying on its side on the countertop. He grabbed it, poured himself a shot of something red and clear, and slung it back. With only a slight wince, he tossed the small shot glass into the sink. "I've got some catching up to do. Hey, you know where Larxene's at?"

Sora hadn't seen much of her since the party started heating up. "Her room, I guess." It was obvious that Flynn had never been to Demyx's house either, but was able to get the basic gist that it must be upstairs somewhere. He pulled on the sleeve on Sora's tee shirt, the first physical contact they ever shared, and got him to follow.

"Show me," he said, walking towards the stairs. He was heading the wrong direction. Sora wasn't brave enough to grab his hand, but took a risk and held Flynn by the wrist and led him towards the backyard, where the pool house was. There were kids everywhere around the pool, most sitting with the their feet dangling in the water, a couple dumbasses who were pushed in with their clothes on.

For a moment, Sora made eye contact with Demyx, who was sitting by himself on the diving board, beer bottle in hand and toes in the water. He seemed confused why Sora would be holding onto Flynn and leading him towards his sister's room. Sora only shrugged, smiled, and disappeared inside with the older boy.

The curtains were drawn on all the large windows, making the room dark and musky with smoke. It smelled like something Sora wasn't familiar with. Not quite cigarette smoke. The pool house was one huge room, with a kitchenette pushed off towards the side. There were a bunch of beanbags and lounge chairs strewn across the floor with a few kids occupying them. She had a projector pointed towards the ceiling that gave the illusion that the room was filled with twinkling stars. It was oddly relaxing.

Sora followed Flynn's lead and took a seat next to him on a couch. Larxene appeared instantly and they spoke lowly for a moment. Flynn handed her a couple bills and she gave him a joint. There was a small circle of kids he recognized from school passing around a pipe. He felt like he should care, but somehow he couldn't come up with a reason. They were just here for a good time, as was he, so he may as well enjoy. He looked down at the cup Flynn had given him, so far untouched, and took a small sip. It made him feel… warm.

Now that they were somewhere quiet, Flynn turned his attention to Sora. "So you're going to be a sophomore this fall, right?"

"Yep. Gonna be a mile a minute, so I was told…"

Flynn laughed. "Prepare to be disappointed. I remember my sophomore year at my old school. There were these two guys, twins, huge as mountains, and they hated me…"

He went on to tell Sora several stories about his past life before his parents moved to Bastion. In between stories he would smoke a little. It seemed to only serve to make him more talkative. He only offered Sora a hit once, which the brunet politely declined. It made him feel safe that Flynn didn't tease him for not wanting to try it. Maybe someday, but not tonight. The drink he'd poured was enough as it was.

They were in the room for nearly an hour when it happened. Flynn took another hit, a big one, and stretched out. Stretched his knees to the point where one touched Sora's. Just a simple touch was enough to make Sora's heart leap up his throat. Flynn seemed to notice how he stiffened up when they touched and smirked again, joint sticking out the corner of his lips.

With his inhibitions lowered and them being in the dark, he reached over and touched Sora's leg. Sora could hardly breathe. This was what he wanted, right? Flynn leaned over and pressed his lips against Sora's ear. "You're cute when you're like this." He kissed Sora's cheek, obviously hoping the younger boy would turn around so they could kiss proper. His hopes were dashed when Sora closed up and refused to tear his eyes away from the empty cup in his hands. "What's wrong?"

Even with the alcohol pumping through his system, the dizziness didn't distract Sora from the fact that they were in a room with a bunch of kids from their school. He didn't want them to see what could happen. Sora always pictured this moment being private. "Do you want to get out of here?" Flynn asked.

Sora didn't know if he meant the pool house or Demyx's house altogether. He promised his friend that he'd stay, but he didn't want to ruin his chances with Flynn. If he spurned his advances, who knew if he'd ever get a chance with him again. Suddenly, he remembered what Demyx had told him before the party started.

"I know where we can go," Sora said, looking at Flynn's eyes shining with the stars in the room. He was feeling bold enough to take Flynn's hand now. The older boy flicked the short stub of his joint into Sora's empty cup and they left it in the pool house. Sora led the way out of the dark room. He noticed Demyx wasn't at his post on the diving board, or anywhere outside for that matter. Wakka and Tidus were still inside and didn't notice as Sora brushed through the crowd with a smiling Flynn Rider in tow. The stairwell was crowded with drowsy teens, but Sora was able to climb up and down the left hallway.

Demyx's bedroom door was closed, with a very specific 'keep out' sign on it to dissuade anybody from going in. Before barging in, Sora knocked on the door softly. More to announce his arrival in case anybody was inside, because with the loud music he wouldn't be able to hear anybody protesting anyway. He took a peek inside and it was empty.

This was it. Sora took a deep breath, grabbed Flynn by the collar of his shirt, and dragged the boy inside the room. The moment they were inside, Flynn's red-hot lips pressed against Sora's. His first kiss. He let out a pleased groan and kicked the door shut. Sora had no idea what he was doing, and didn't think to question it until Flynn had kissed him to Demyx's bed. Sora was sitting on the edge as Flynn tried to push him on his back. "Wait."

Flynn let out a small "Hm" to note Sora had said something, but didn't seem to hear what he said. He continued kissing Sora until the boy's hands gripped his shoulders and softly pulled him away. "Flynn, wait. I don't wanna…" he paused to catch his breath. God, they were panting. "I don't think I wanna do all this tonight."

A flash a disappointment crossed the teenager's face, but he was a person of reason. "Well… how far are you willing to go tonight?" he asked. Honestly, Sora felt like the evening had far and away exceeded any expectations he'd set out for. Not only did he get his first kiss out of the way, his first make-out session was going smoothly, until he had to speak up. He wondered what Flynn expected from him. Sex? Blowjob? Handjob? Sora didn't think he could handle any of it.

"Um…" Sora faltered. The bass from downstairs was so loud. He could hear the sounds of his classmates talking all around him. This wasn't how he wanted his first attempt at sexual exploration to go. "Kissing's nice. We could totally kiss some more."

He was expecting Flynn to frown. To get up off the bed and walk out of the room and never give Sora a passing glance ever again. Instead, he sighed heavily, his bangs kicking up with his breath, and looked down at Sora with a lazy smirk. "You're lucky I'm a damn good kisser, then."

Sora wasn't expecting it to be this easy. And Flynn was so nice to put up with his sorry request. They kissed slowly, sweetly. Every once in a while Flynn would sneak some tongue in, and Sora allowed it. Sometimes Flynn would explore with kisses on Sora's chin and throat, but always soft and never harsh enough to leave a mark. He made Sora feel so safe.

After about a half hour of this, sprinkled with short breaks to stare into each other's eyes as best they could in the dark, Flynn was the first to speak. "We should probably get back down there."

"Hm. Yeah, we should." Instead of doing anything they kissed for another five minutes. Flynn had a point, though. If people noticed they were gone, they might talk. They were even in Demyx's room, and Sora didn't want to think for even a second what would happen if his friend walked in on them like this. They finally managed to break away from each other and Sora looked outside to make sure the coast was clear.

In the hall Flynn probably stood a little too close as he smiled softly. "So, any big plans over the summer? Family trips or anything?"

"Not a thing."

"Good." He took his cell out of his back pocket. "What's a guy gotta do to get your number?"

Sora glanced down the hall. Still clear. "You want it? Kiss me for it." Sora tapped his lips with is fingertip, expecting a quick peck. What he got was Flynn leaning down and giving Sora a passionate, albeit brief, open-mouth kiss that rivaled anything that just happened in the bedroom. Sora felt like he would walk on air as Flynn pulled away.

He took Flynn's phone from his hands, quickly punching in his phone number and hitting the call button. His phone was in his backpack in Demyx's bedroom, but at least this way their numbers would be recorded on both their phones. At the moment when Sora handed the cell back to Flynn, Demyx walked up the stairs and saw them.

"What are you guys doing?" It didn't escape the punk for a moment that they were standing close together in an abandoned hallway.

Flynn was quick to come up with an excuse. "I was just showing the kid my phone. It's a newer model." It wasn't, and Sora would only hope that Demyx wouldn't notice.

"And you guys had to do that here?"

"No," Sora spoke up, immediately regretting his decision. Flynn was better at making stuff up on the fly than he was. "He just… had to use the restroom."

Flynn nodded. "Yep. Beer just goes right through me."

"Oh! Well you better hurry into…" Crap, Sora was still totally clueless when it came to the layout of Demyx's house. Why did there have to be so many doors in this hallway? "…That one?" He pointed towards the middle door opposite Demyx's room.

Demyx didn't say anything as Flynn brushed past him to the door. When he opened it, Sora breathed a sigh of relief when he caught a glimpse of tiled floors and a giant mirror. The older boy gave him a thumbs up behind Demyx's back and went inside.

Left alone in the hall with his friend, Demyx looked peeved for a moment and shook it off. "I've been looking for you for like twenty minutes. I need your help clearing everyone out. It's past three." He looked exhausted and Sora immediately felt sorry for him.

Together, they cut off the music, started throwing away trash, and telling the other kids that they didn't have to go home, they just had to get the hell off his property. It was nearly four in the morning by the time the last person left. Sora was disappointed that he didn't get to see Flynn off, but they had all summer to fool around.

Soon Demyx had collapsed on his bed, and Sora forgoed any hope of changing into his pajamas as me melted into the plush couch. It hurt his brain to think that his dad would be there to pick him up in nine hours. The sun would be rising soon.

"Man, fuck those guys," Demyx groaned. "I told them I didn't wanna party. I need to find a better group of friends." He shifted in bed and kicked his shoes off before getting more comfortable. "You 'n me, Sora. We're going places. We don't need any of those losers."

It was almost like he was talking in his sleep. Demyx yawned widely and fell asleep on top of the covers. A few moments later Sora passed out, none of them bothering to turn the light in the room off.

A few minutes later, it felt like, Sora awoke to the sound of his cell phone vibrating from his backpack resting near his head. The sun was shining through Demyx's corner bedroom windows and nearly blinded him. Judging by how bright it was, it was late in the morning, much later than Sora was used to getting up for school. The caller ID on the front of his phone said it was his dad. He flipped it open and answered with a croaking voice, "'Ello?"

There was a short pause on the line. "Did I wake you?"

Sora stretched, making a groan and popping his back. "Sorta. Barely got any sleep… Played a lot of video games last night."

"Well, be ready to go in about thirty minutes. I'm on my way to pick you up, and then I have to go straight to work after dropping you off."

The brunet could hardly wait until he turned sixteen in September. He'd be able to borrow the car without bothering his parents to drive him everywhere. "S'cool, yeah. I'll be ready then." They ended their call and Sora sat up and stretched, padding over to the window to glance outside. The yard was covered with red cups and beer bottles.

"Shit! Demyx, wake up!"

The punk growled from the nest he had made during the night. Sora got a good look at the bedside alarm clock that read '12:15' in bright green numbers. "My dad's on his way to pick me up, we need to clean outside."

Demyx groaned. "Just have him pick you up on the street," he said, as if that wouldn't be suspicious at all. Sora walked over to the punk and shook him awake.

"No, Dem! Wake up! If my dad sees everything he won't let me hang out with you anymore!"

Not that it wouldn't stop them from hanging out at school, but Sora wasn't an idiot. He worked his ass off earning his parent's trust and he wasn't about to let it all go out the window because of some stupid party. The threat of not being able to see each other outside of campus seemed to be enough for the blond teen to jolt.

They worked together and managed to get every single piece of garbage into trashbags and hid them along the side of the house, out of sight. Just as they finished, the Strife family car rolled down the driveway and Sora waved goodbye to his friend.

"You look awful," his dad commented, noting the large bags under Sora's eyes. He also noted that his son was still in the same clothes he dropped him off in yesterday evening.

"It was a long night," Sora groaned. On the drive home, Sora's phone buzzed from his pocket. It was a text message from an unsaved number.

"had fun last nite"

A small smirk played on Sora's face as he went into his missed calls list and found that the unsaved number was the same as Flynn's cell from last night. He quickly typed a response.

"call me nxt time u wanna hang"

There, the ball was officially in Flynn Rider's court. Sora wouldn't have to worry about all the rules of dating or coming off as desperate. Most of what he learned from dating he learned from movies, even if he never saw a film where the male lead was going after… another male lead. He was sure everything would be fine. Just calm down, remember how good it felt when Flynn kissed him, and enjoy the rest of the summer.

Perhaps enjoying the summer was easier said than done. When he wasn't playing video games with his brother, he was playing video games at Tidus' house with Wakka, and when he wasn't playing video games there, he was lazing around Demyx's mansion. Apparently his parents were out of town a lot. Each new day brought about the same tedious question: Which video game should we play next?

"Wanna do something fun?" Demyx asked while they were playing his XBox. Sora wasn't going to lie, virtually beat each other into a bloody pulp in all these versus games were getting boring, especially since they were both evenly matched. "There's this arcade downtown."

Sora's ears perked. "Arcade?" There weren't really any arcades in the suburbs where he lived. Sure, there were arcade cabinets in the pizza parlor and the bowling alley, but they were all run down and ancient. Sora had never been to an honest-to-god arcade before.

"Yeah. Wanna go?"

The answer was obvious. The boys found themselves in Larxene's car – which Demyx assured him was fine because she usually didn't leave the pool house until after sunset – and drove downtown. There wasn't a lot for them downtown since neither were old enough to go to clubs. Most had age limits where they'd have to be at least eighteen to enter. Sora couldn't wait to grow up and explore everything his city had to offer.

Demyx parked in a garage and they walked two blocks to a big concrete slab of a building with 'Legacy' scrawled across in neon letters. The inside was loud, filled with bleeps and bloops and kids their age trying to escape the summer heat. There were games there that Sora had never even heard of before, and he wanted to dominate every last one of them. Demyx cashed out twenty bucks in quarters and they went to town.

Sora was psyched when he noticed they were starting to break high scores. They teamed up on a huge cabinet fighting game in story mode and beat the game - in record time! There was a crowd of teenagers around them watching as they made the perfect team, taking down every boss who dared confront them. Demyx laughed as they replaced "R.I.K.U." with "S.M.Y.X." for the top spot on the high scores chart.

The sun was starting to the stretch towards the west, and Demyx kept checking his cell, expecting an angry text or voicemail from his sister. Eventually they left, but on the way the older boy stopped Sora and pointed to some street art spray painted on the brick wall near an alleyway. "Isn't this cool?"

Sora took a closer look. "Really sharp edges," he noted, pointing to the edges of the paint that was usually hard to accomplish with spray paint. "How'd they do it?"

"With a stencil. They cut out these ridiculously complicated stencils to make stuff like this. Sometimes even layer it."

Sora liked it when Demyx got really excited about stuff like this. It made him get excited, too. "Wanna try it?" he asked, voice getting pumped. "Let's make our own design! Paint it all over town! People will see it and wonder who did it. It'll be our secret."

Demyx loved the idea. He was generally a good student and he felt like he owed it to himself to cut loose and do something stupid every once in a while. The following week consisted of long summer afternoons by Demyx's pool coming up with the perfect marking. Something quick and easy. They could not get caught. With college applications becoming a very real thing Demyx had to worry about in the coming year, he couldn't afford a black mark on his otherwise pretty tame record.

They finally decided on something simple. It was an upside-down heart that formed a cross shape at the top. They used some poster board to cut out the initial design. It would be roughly twenty by twelve inches. "Now all we need is spray paint," Demyx sighed. He was still only seventeen, and all the craft and hardware stores had ID checks for spray paint. You had to be at least eighteen. The only person they knew who was over eighteen was…

"Absolutely not," Larxene said. She looked exhausted, with huge bags under her eyes that weren't helped by last night's makeup. All she wanted to do was return to her pool house cave.

"Please! We only need like, three cans?"

She winced into the late afternoon sun. "And what's in it for me?" Leaving the house in daylight was going to cost them. Dearly.

Demyx thought of what he could do for his sister. "I could… get you the ice cream that you like!"

The woman looked at him like he was an idiot. "Ice cream? Seriously?" No, what she had in mind was something a little more practical for her tastes. She turned and walked back into her room while the boys waited by the door. "You guys are friends with Rider, right? Smarmy kid? Brown hair?"

Sora felt his face heat up. Flynn still hadn't contacted him since the summer started. The younger kid kept himself busy, obviously, but a day didn't go by where he didn't go to bed disappointed.

"What about him?" Demyx asked. Larxene reappeared in the doorway with her black backpack. She pulled out a small plastic baggy with weed in it.

"Make the run for me. He lives on the west side and says he can't make it up here until next week and I need the money before then. It's forty even."

Demyx sighed and took the weed. Sora was surprised his friend was being so calm about it. It seemed like this wasn't the first time Larxene treated him like her errand boy. Resigned to his fate, Demyx asked, "When do you need the money by?"

"Tomorrow."

The punk frowned. "I'll need to borrow your car."

She grabbed her keys off a hook inside and tossed it at them, waving her hand flippantly and moved to shut the door. "Whatever. Just make sure it gets done."

"But what about the paint?"

"Not until I see my money," she said sternly, slamming the door on them.

Demyx sighed loudly and shook his head. "This is so stupid." He glared at the small bag in his hand. "I haven't seen him since summer, have you?"

Sora was miffed. Flynn hadn't contacted himself or Demyx, but he apparently had time to give Larxene a call. "I haven't. Want me to text him for his address?"

"Please." Demyx slipped the bag into his back pocket and walked towards the garage while Sora got his phone out and started typing.

"hey stranger. whats ur address? special delivery from larxene ;)"

If that wasn't enough to get his attention, Sora didn't know what would. They waited until they got a response a few minutes later before leaving. The first text was just his address, followed quickly by another one.

"r u coming over rite now?"

"yes, me & dem"

There was a few minutes' pause before his phone buzzed again.

"damn guess ill have 2 put pants on ;)"

It was so dumb, but Sora chuckled anyway. It made him happy to be getting some attention from the older boy.

"Are you texting with him?" Demyx asked, wanting to stay updated. "What's up?"

"It's nothing, he's just being a dumbass."

Demyx kept quiet and continued driving, letting the Pixies fill the void of silence between them. Sora watched as the houses gradually got smaller and yards browner. Eventually they came into a neighborhood of duplexes and stopped at a house with a motorcycle parked in the driveway. Demyx sucked in a sharp breath, and Sora wondered why, until he saw a police patrol car slowly drive down the street and turn the corner.

His friend released his breath with a huff. "God, they sent the wrong guy for this job," he whined. He was being lighthearted about it, but Sora realized that if it was ever found out what they were there for, they'd get in huge trouble. Much more than any graffiti charges would get them.

All those nerves seemed to be lost in the wash when Flynn opened the door and smiled broadly. "Hey guys! Come in, come in!" His house was dingy and sort of depressing. Since they just moved into town a few months ago, there were boxes lying around and the walls were bare. The blinds were closed and no lights were on inside, making it seem a lot darker than it should have been.

"Hey," Demyx greeting, putting on his usual grin. "Sorry, we can't stay long."

Sora pouted. There was no reason why they couldn't. He guessed just being here made Demyx feel nervous, and he couldn't blame them.

Flynn seemed to understand. "Oh, sure, absolutely. Sora said I had something from Larx?" Demyx reached into his pocket and handed him the bag, Flynn got out his wallet and tucked it inside, pulling out two twenties and handing them over. "Rad. You guys sure you don't want to stick around for a while?" He snuck in a wink at Sora when Demyx wasn't looking.

"Nah, I've got to get this back to Larxene."

"Well, what about you?" Flynn asked Sora, who perked up when he realized Flynn was asking him directly.

"Sure," he replied. "I don't have anything going on."

"What?" Demyx asked, confused and upset. "What about the paint?"

"She won't get around to it until tomorrow at the earliest. I've got time to kill until my family expects me back home."

Demyx was unsure, but had to get the money back to Larxene before she left for the night. It would be weird to complain too much, so he nodded his head and went to the door. "Yeah, okay. Whatever. I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah," Sora replied, almost unable to tear his eyes off of Flynn.

"Okay, well… see you tomorrow." He left the room warily and once they heard the car start from outside, Flynn pounced. Sora wanted to talk but was having difficulty finding the air to do so in between soul-sucking kisses.

"Why didn't you call?" Sora gasped. Flynn had moved his kisses away from his mouth and towards the end of his jaw.

"Why didn't you?" he replied lowly. Sora felt like slapping himself on the forehead. He thought his last text to Flynn the day after the party made everything clear. It still didn't account for Flynn's total absence whenever his friends hung out in larger groups.

"Where've you been?"

The question required a little more attention. Flynn settled down slightly and pulled away. "My parents have really been dogging me about getting ready for college. We went on a surprise trip to Radiant Garden Tech for a potential recruit seminar…" Sora was vaguely aware of the school from the collegiate blitzball league. "They expect me to go to military schools, but that's not what I want at all."

He seemed upset enough about it that it was drawing attention away from the serious business of making out. Sora was concerned. "Have you talked to them about it?"

Flynn sneered and rolled his eyes. "They don't care. As long as I get into a place that has a military family scholarship, that's all they want."

"I'm sure there's tons of other schools out there that have military scholarships. Have you tried looking?"

The older boy breathed in quickly, eyes widening, and looking suddenly very annoyed. "You know, I just got back from this terrible trip with my family, and talking about colleges isn't really helping me feel better."

"Sorry! I didn't know it was so bad…"

"No, it's fine. That's one of the reasons why I contacted Larxene. Sorry, I should've texted you first." He kissed Sora on the forehead. "I kinda lied, though. I don't have time to hang out, I was actually on my way to hang out with friends."

Sora's face fell. "Oh…"

"Wanna come with?" And just like that, Flynn made him smile.

"Really?" he asked. Flynn was already walking around the room, gathering the things he would need. He put on a satchel and grabbed his keys off the kitchen counter. There was a small coat closet by the front door, and he pulled out a bright red helmet, tossing it to Sora.

"You bet."

Sora had never ridden on the back of a motorcycle before. It was terrifying, but it was fun to grip Flynn's waist and watch the scenery whiz by. It was so exciting hanging out with Flynn. On top of having a perfect face and a mysterious past, he was rebellious, which Sora couldn't help but like.

Sora watched as Flynn and his friends got high while he sat on a chair away from the main action and drank a soda. It was actually incredibly boring. There wasn't any alcohol at whoever's house they were at, so he couldn't just drink something and pretend he was having fun. At that thought, Sora tried to shake it off and remind himself that this was fun. Flynn went out of his way to invite him! He would have to do his best to be accommodating.

"You want some?" Flynn asked, holding up a blue plastic bong to Sora. The boy had watched his friends pass it around for the past half hour, so he knew how. Sora was unwilling to try it the other night at the party, but… all it did was apparently make you feel calm and relaxed. He didn't understand what all the fuss was about.

"Sure." Sora had never smoked so much as a cigarette in all his life. His family wasn't even immediately related to, or friends with anybody who smoked publicly. He had no idea how the smoke was supposed to physically affect him.

Flynn smiled, sliding up beside him and letting Sora hold the bong. He lit the weed like a gentleman and covered a small hole by the pipe. Sora exhaled and pressed his mouth inside the opening, inhaling deeply. Apparently too deep. Flynn's friends seemed impressed, one of them even applauded. Sora shot up and retched away from Flynn, coughing up nearly everything without a chance of holding it in his lungs.

"Aw, baby's first hit," one of the guys cooed. Sora felt embarrassed and took a couple sips from his soda.

"Don't listen to them, small fry. You did good," Flynn said, patting Sora on the back.

Five minutes passed by and Sora didn't feel anything. In a particularly bold mood, he asked to try once more. Flynn helped him out again, and this time Sora tried to keep the smoke in his system for longer than half a second.

Not long after Sora started feeling dizzy. Really dizzy. He tried to close his eyes, but it just made it worse. He tried standing up only to fall onto the couch. He kept grabbing his head hoping that it would stop spinning. Everyone around him was laughing at his expense. It was the worst Sora had ever felt in a long time.

He didn't want to show how terrible he felt, so he put on his best calm face and asked Flynn where the restroom was. After only bumping into the walls twice, he found it and put the lid down on the toilet so he could sit down. He had to stay calm, just stay calm. This stuff was supposed to help him relax but for some reason it just made his heart beat faster and he couldn't sit still. From his back pocket he pulled out his cell phone and hit speed dial number three.

"What's up?" Demyx asked answering quickly after the first ring, like he'd been expecting this.

"Hey. Can you, uh… come get me?"

Demyx sounded really aggravated. "I knew it. Are you at Flynn's?"

"No, I- I don't really know. He took me on his motorcycle to his friend's house."

"Still east side?"

"Yeah. We're at a house… somewhere a few blocks north of Eighth Street."

There were sounds of Demyx starting the car in the background. "That's helpful but I'm gonna need a little more detail. Can you get outside?"

Sora wasn't sure if he could stand. He held onto the towel rack and took in a deep breath. "I'll go stand by a street corner. Can you stay on the line?"

"Absolutely."

He opened the door to the bathroom and squeaked when he saw Flynn standing there, arm raised like he was about to knock. "Just checking up on you. Thought I heard you talking." He looked down and noticed Sora's cell phone. He had it pressed against his shirt like there was someone on the line and he was trying to cover the receiver. "Is everything okay? Who'd you call?"

Sora let out a small groan. "It's just Demyx," he sighed. "I think I'm gonna go back to his place for a while."

Flynn's eyebrows fell into disappointment. "Oh, really? I thought things were just getting good."

"Yeah, but…" Sora drawled off when he started to hear Demyx talking from his phone. He raised it back up to his ear. "What was that?"

"I said put that motherfucker on the phone, dude." He sounded pissed. Sora handed the phone over the Flynn and mouthed 'sorry' as the older boy held it to his ear. Immediately Demyx was shouting something that Sora couldn't understand, but giggled despite himself when Flynn rolled his eyes and made a 'yak yak yak' motion with his hand.

"It's cool, blondie, we had everything under control. Sora's good, he knows what he's doing." Demyx said something else. His voice lowered so Sora couldn't hear anything at all, but Flynn was still listening intently. The older boy's face fell and he sighed in defeat. "Yeah, whatever. Closest cross street is Fifteenth and Tonberry. I'll make sure he's there." Without waiting for a response, he pulled the phone away and snapped it shut.

"Jesus, kid, that was some Liam Neeson shit. Is Demyx your keeper or something?" He returned the phone to Sora and gave him a long look in the eyes. "You look fine, I don't get why that guy cares so much. Total hypocrite."

Sora groaned. "S'not really a hypocrite. This stuff is more his sister's thing." He followed Flynn out of the bathroom and towards the front door.

"You can't tell me a kid that rich and that bored doesn't have a few vices. Everybody does." He shouted out to his friend that he'd be back in a few minute before slamming the door behind them. "I was really looking forward to having fun tonight."

Sora's stomach sank into the depths of the earth. "I'm sorry…"

"Don't apologize. Blame Demyx. The weed's just doing what it's supposed to do. He didn't need to overreact like that." They walked to the corner. The sun had recently set and a soft twilight had loomed over the neighborhood. Sora took hold of the street sign for support and and breathed in deeply, hoping that whatever was messing with his system could be expelled with a few clean breaths. "You're gonna be okay, kid."

"God, I'm so sorry. I probably embarrassed you in front of the guys." Sora felt like he was going to be sick. Wave after wave of nausea hit him unrelentingly. His heart wouldn't stop skipping, and not in a good way. It was getting harder and harder to catch his breath, even though he kept breathing.

"No, no! You were great! The first time can really suck for some people, but I swear that's not what it's like. Try it a few more times and you'll see what all the hype is about."

Seemingly out of nowhere, Larxene's silver Lexus pulled up beside them and Demyx briskly popped out, glaring daggers at Flynn. "You must be out of your goddamn mind."

Flynn frowned. "For the record, Sora wanted to try it."

"And if Sora wanted to shoot himself in the face you'd just let him do that too?" Demyx asked cattily.

Sora groaned, not at all prepared for the fight that was brewing. "Guys, calm down…"

"Sora's right, you're overreacting," Flynn stated.

Demyx opened up the passenger door by the curb and helped lead Sora in. "I'm not overreacting, look at him! This isn't how it's supposed to go! How many hits did he take?"

"Two."

"How soon?"

"A couple minutes."

"Blunt? Bong?"

"Bong. Dude, chill. There were five other guys there who knew what they were doing. It was his first hit, sometimes that happens. He just needs to get used to it."

Flynn was interrupted by the sound of gurgling noises. Both teens turned to the brunet in the car just in time to see him retching onto the street curb. At least it wasn't in the Lexus. Demyx sighed loudly, barely able to contain how much he wanted to punch Flynn in the face. "I need to get him home. You better watch yourself, Rider. This is your last warning."

"Or what? Afraid Sora will wanna spend more time with me?" Demyx eyed him warily as he shut the passenger door. Flynn had a cocky smirk on his face when he realized he struck a nerve with the punk. "What if I were to tell you how exactly Sora and I spend our time together?" Demyx's hand curled up into a fist. "What if I told you what we did on your bed during the party?"

Demyx exhaled and softly bumped his fist on the top of the car. "You know what? They did send the right guy for the job." He took two steps, pulled his fist back, and slammed it into Flynn's unsuspecting jaw. The brown haired teen reeled backward and fell onto the grass of the lawn on the corner.

"Jesus FUCK!" he cried, grabbing his jaw.

Demyx spoke lowly enough so Sora couldn't hear. "If I ever catch you around Sora again it's gonna hurt you a lot more than it hurts me."

A porch light across the street turned on, and Demyx took that as his cue to leave. When he got back into the car, Sora was curled up into a little ball in the front seat, brows clenched. Nobody spoke until they were well away from Flynn's neighborhood.

"I'm so sorry," Sora whimpered.

Demyx shook his head. "It's nothing. Guy was asking for it. I got to know him better the two months we spent in class together and he's a little shithead. He'll make up stories just to get a reaction out of people."

Sora winced. He could feel the weed still in his system, making him lightheaded. The nausea left when he threw up, but now he was filled with a fluffy sense of nervousness. It would either make the following conversation very easy or very terrible. "But… it's true." There was a small pause where Demyx didn't say anything, and Sora felt the need to elaborate. "The things that… he said about me… and him."

The car was filled with silence. It was deathly quiet as the older boy pulled into the driveway and parked by the front door. Demyx didn't say anything as he opened the passenger side door and helped Sora up the porch stairs and up to his bedroom. He placed Sora on the couch and went to his bathroom, coming back with a glass of water. While Sora took a couple sips, Demyx sighed heavily and sat on the edge of his bed a few feet away.

"I know," Demyx finally said. "At least, I always had a feeling." Another long pause. Sora wondered what his friend could possibly be thinking. What he angry? Was he disgusted? What if Demyx wanted to stop hanging out? Somehow Sora felt an even worse pain than nausea as fear washed over him over the thought of losing his best friend.

"I don't understand why you couldn't tell me," Demyx said at last. "I don't understand why you thought you had to hide it from me. We're- you're my best friend, Sora. Nothing's gonna change that. We're above that." Sora gripped his glass so hard he felt like it would shatter in his hands. So Demyx was disappointed. That was far worse than being disgusted.

"And… y'know, if you ever wanna try anything, like weed and stuff? My sister's loaded with it, so you should ask me next time. I'll make sure you don't freak out with anxiety attacks… You won't have to feel pressured in some stranger's house around a bunch of people you don't know."

It had been a while since Sora had spoken. He raised his blue eyes from the glass of water and met Demyx's gaze head-on. His friend a comforting, soft smile on his face, telling him everything was going to be okay. "So… we're cool?"

Demyx's smile grew into a full-blown grin. "Of course, dude. I meant what I said. Never, ever feel like you can't come to me for anything. Even the stuff that sucks. It may take me a while to come around, but I'm always Team Sora."

The whole night was a testament to Demyx's devotion to his friends. Sora was proud to know that the punk would have his back through thick and thin. However, his moment at ease only lasted a few precious moments until he realized one crucial detail.

"Shit," Sora spat, reaching into his back pocket. His cell phone had been on vibrate all day. It was past ten and he had missed a voicemail from home over an hour ago. "My parents," he said, looking up at Demyx. Even the color on the punk's face paled.

"Dude, you can't go home. You reek. They'll know."

"I have to call them, at least," he said, panicked. He usually didn't feel so anxious, but after the night he'd had there was only so much drama he could handle. If his parents knew what he was up to they would lock him in his bedroom and only let him out for school on a leash. "Do I sound okay?"

"Your voice is shaking," Demyx said, not sure if he should make the call. "Want me to do it for you?"

"No, they'll think it's weird if you call… Shit. Okay." Sora took one deep, heavy, soul-searching breath and hit the top spot in his speed dial. His mother picked up after four rings.

"Hey sweetie! Everything okay?"

"Hey mom! I'm sorry I missed your call earlier, my phone died…"

"Oh, that's fine, honey. I did a little sleuthing and called the Skönstedt's house. Demyx's sister said you'd gone out but were planning on spending the night."

Sora blinked. "She… said that?"

"It's summer vacation and we know you want to have fun, but let us know before making plans like that. Dad and I want to know what you're up to, okay?"

There was no way in hell we was ever going to tell his parents what he was up to.

"I understand," Sora said. "I didn't get in touch with Larxene so I didn't know she'd told you guys my plans. Sorry for calling so late."

His mother was thrilled that he called anyway. She thought he was being responsible, so another notch in Sora's favor. The brunet hung up and noticed Demyx standing beside him, holding out some of his old clothes to use as pajamas. "What did Larxene say?"

"She covered for me."

Demyx had a similar look of confusion and a fear on his face. This was way out of character for his sister. "Well… when I told her you were hanging out with Flynn after I made the run, she probably assumed what you were up to."

"That's… oddly considerate of her."

The punk shook his head and dumped the clothes in Sora's lap. "Doubt it. She's not stupid. You're a potential client and she doesn't want you getting in trouble." That made sense, too. Sora took the clothes and changed in Demyx's bathroom. When he came back out Demyx told him to throw his used clothes in the hamper. "We'll do a small load tomorrow to wash out the weed smell."

Demyx had prepared the couch with a fresh blanket and one of the pillows from his own bed for maximum comfort. He had already changed and was busy disrupting all his untouched bedsheets into another nest for the night. Sora highly doubted the punk made his bed every morning, and wondered if the Skönstedt's had a maid.

"'Night, dude," Demyx sighed, reaching over and clicking a button that turned off the lights in the room. It was a little earlier than their usual turn-in times, but both were equally exhausted. Sora was more than ready to sleep off the anxiety. Once he woke up, everything would be back to normal.

"Demyx?" Sora asked into the dark. He responded with a grunt. "…Thank you."

He could hear the smile in his friend's voice when he responded. "Shut up and go to sleep, dude."

xxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

aaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. This is the first new chapter T_T. It's actually… half of the first new chapter. The chapter was really really long and my beta said it read really smoothly as one piece, but since I'm really far behind on writing the other parts I kinda had to split it in two to buy myself more time… I might combine the two chapters in the future idk. We'll see.

Anyway, I've had a small handful of reviewers make comments about Demyx and how they thought he was interesting and I'm like "IM SO GLAD U THINK SO. HERE ENJOY 100+ PAGES ABOUT HIS AND SORA'S RELATIONSHIP."

In KH:3D news, I've reached the Fantasia level and I'm in love. This is by far the funnest level I've ever played in any of the games so far. I had a lot of fun in the Three Musketeers world because I really liked the comic book fighting style, but the Fantasia level is so beautiful and calming, it's like nothing I've ever played before. In the Three Musketeers world I was messing around with making spirits and I made a giant pegasus and unicorn and I was wondering where they came from since I hadn't fought dream eater versions of them yet, and then I came across them in the Fantasia level and I was like FUCK these losers are difficult but so pretty… (Sora has the pegasus and Riku has the unicorn T_T).

PLEASE REVIEW. This is incredibly important. This is the first new stuff I've written since coming back and I'd really like to hear what y'all think (this was written before I did some of the requests on tumblr T_T;) Reviewing is the easiest and best way for me to know that my work isn't completely awful. I appreciate each and every review I receive, so even if you've reviewed a previous chapter, please leave another review! I LOVE REVIEWS! REVIEW! FOLLOW FAV!