CHAPTER 4

Cloud hummed in his sleep as he dreamed of the brunette from yesterday. The man was beautiful with his long chocolate brown hair, tan skin, and grey eyes with that scar between them. He was everything the blond had dreamed of and wanted. But something wasn't right here… Cloud's eyes scrunched and went wide open when he suddenly remembered that he and Leon had dinner plans last night.

He sat up. "Fuck! Oh fuck, fuck, fuck."

The blond jumped out of bed, took a shower, then ran past Demyx to get to his car and drive off, forgetting about the young blond. The young blond watched with wide eyes as his older brother left him, forgetting that he was his ride to school.

"Great, can this morning get any worse?" Demyx mumbled angrily to himself. "I guess I'll walk and be late for school then."

He grabbed his shoulder bag and placed it over his shoulder with his foot, the bag on his left and the strap on his right shoulder. Getting his sandals on after opening the door and closing it, he made a run for it, dashing along the sidewalk towards his school.

People who were walking also moved out of the way to let the blond pass. He was grateful when no one stopped him and asked if he needed a ride; he would not get a ride from a complete stranger. And he smiled when he saw the school come into his view as he rounded the corner.

But suddenly, the strap on his left sandal broke and he fell face first in the pavement. He groaned as he felt a small trickle of blood run down his chin and down his neck. His knees were also scrapped up from the fall. He cursed before slowly getting up with little difficulty.

"Like I said, can things get any worse?" Demyx grumbled up into the cloudy sky. Right after he said that, it suddenly started to rain. "Unfortunately, it can…"

He limped towards the school, knowing he was going to be late. It was only the second day of school and he was already having a rough time. Like he said, can things get any worse for him?

(at the school)

"I don't see the blond kid anywhere," Axel mumble as his second class was about to begin, looking out the window and watching the as the rain fell. "Maybe he couldn't take my picking on him as much as he though he could." He smirked.

"Or maybe something happened to the poor kid that is probably making him late," Reno suggested plainly.

Axel frowned at that. For some reason, after hearing the dark redhead say that, he felt a little twinge of fear will up into his heart. "Let's just hope it's what I suggested first."

"Oooh, going soft on the blond are we?"

"No, if something happened to him then I might not be able to pick on him."

"Dude, you've gotten so riled up ever since that kid came here yesterday. Maybe you do have a soft spot for the little blond. And I'm not saying that I dislike you for it, it's actually the other way around."

"Well save your speech, I don't like Demyx one bit."

Reno chuckled and smirked. "You actually used the kid's name for the first time. Are you sure you dislike the kid that much?"

"Yes I'm-"

The door was suddenly kicked open by a very wet, very bruised and bleeding Demyx. The teacher was surprised when his door was kicked open suddenly and stood when the blond entered. Axel was shocked as he saw the poor blond. He gulped as random thoughts of the blond suddenly being mugged.

And by the looks of him, you sure would have thought so. His face was forming a bruise on his left cheek where there were several scrapes and gashes. The water from the rain dripped down his forehead, turning the droplets red as they ran across his scrapes.

Without hesitation, Demyx walked down one of the isles between the desks to get to his desk. He did not acknowledge the redhead as he passed him, but was confused when he saw that they had the same second classes when they didn't yesterday. Maybe this only happened once a week.

The teacher, Saix, was a little concerned for his little blond student. "Uh, Mr. Strife, you should go to the nurse's office and get cleaned up."

"I'm fine," Demyx said a little bit more roughly then he intended to.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes…"

"Then I'll just continue with today's lesson."

The blond sat in his seat very still, not wanting to take notes since his pants were dripping wet. He would have to ask someone for some after class today. The people that were closest to him kept looking at him like he was crazy to not go to the nurse's office. If it had been them, they would have said yes just to get out of class.

The blond girl who was one of the people to ask him a random question yesterday was sitting on the desk to his left. She gave a worried look to the blond before looking back to the front. She sighed as she took extra notes, copying them down on another sheet of paper.

Axel looked back once every few minutes while the teacher's back was turned to glance at the wet and angry kid. He couldn't help but feel sorry for the blond. He had forgotten too take notes since he was worried and simply passed the time by looking at Demyx. He was surprised when class was over.

Axel quickly made his way to Demyx's side when they were both out in the hallway, wanting to ask the wet blond a few questions.

"Hey, loser, what the hell happened to you?" the redhead asked bluntly as he stood in the younger teenager's way.

"I don't need to tell you, it's none of your business," the blond replied angrily, bypassing the redhead. Axel slammed his hand into the lockers, his arm in the blond's way.

"Listen loser, I just asked a simple question concerning you because I thought something serious might have happened to you. Now what the hell happened?"

Demyx glared at the redhead before sighing, looking down at the floor. "My brother… accidentally forgot to drive me to school this morning and I ran all the way. I fell when my sandal strap broke. Then it started to run when I was more than halfway there. That's all that happened."

Axel let out a sigh of relief. Demyx caught it and smirked.

"Were you really that worried about me?"

The redhead blushed at the comment. "No! I was only worried that someone else might have kicked your ass before I did!"

"Sure… keep telling yourself… t-that…" The blond wobbled on his feet for a few seconds, his eyes glazing over as he spoke. He clamped his eyes shut and groaned in pain.

"You alright?"

"Yeah, just a headache. I'll be fine in a few minutes."

"Seriously man, you don't look so good; maybe we should take you to the nurse's office."

Demyx shook his head, stepping to the side to escape the redhead's worried hands that were helping him up. He wobbled as he took a couple of steps, trying to dodge Axel's hands. As he did so, he tripped over his feet and fell backwards towards the lockers on the other side of the hall. Axel dove for him, but he knew he wouldn't make it in time.

Demyx closed his eyes as he waited for the pain to come.

But it didn't, it actually felt like someone was holding him. He opened his eyes and glanced up to see a silver haired teen that covered his eyes, looking back down at him.

"Wow Riku! Nice catch!" Was the last thing he heard before he fell into darkness.

"So you're sayin' he only had a dizzy spell? Why?"

"It must have been from all that running this morning and the wet suit he wore for most of this morning. Why was he like that anyway?"

"He said his brother forgot about him and accidentally left to school without him."

"(sigh) Cloud… I'm guessing he suddenly remembered about his and Leon's dinner meeting last night."

Demyx groaned and woke from the whispering voices outside the curtains that went around the whole bed. He was about to ask where he was when the voices started talking again.

"I'm still a little surprised when you showed up with an unconscious Demyx with you. You've been growing soft lately. Anything happened these last several months?" a woman's voice drifted to the blond's ear.

"Well… I had a meeting with my father a couple of months ago. He's not the same as he used to be. He's more of a jackass now then ever. I guess that's not how I want to become when I'm an adult," Axel's voice came through the curtain next.

"I see. Well, I'm glad you've decided to soften up some. And be careful with Demyx, he's Cloud's only family after their parent's died two years ago. So please, try not to stress him out so much, ok Axel?"

"Ok Arith, I'll leave the kid alone for now."

"Good. Why don't you try to befriend him? Who knows, maybe sometime soon you two will become lovers."

Demyx heard Axel choke on his spit, gasping for air. He tried to contain his laughter.

"Please, you're the third person who that two me today. Fist it was Reno, then Riku, and now you? Maybe I'm sending off some kind of vibes."

"Maybe you are, but enough of that, you need to head back to class and let your little blond friend; if you call him that anyway. Now shoo."

"Fine, fine," Axel chuckled out. And to Demyx, it sounded wonderful.

The blond heard footsteps sound off the floor to the door. He heard the door open then close and he knew the redhead was gone. He heard the lady rustling around with some files before he fell asleep again.

The woman on the other side of the curtain got up from her chair and looked into the curtains, smiling softly when she saw the blond was still asleep. "I hope you feel better soon."

"Demyx I am soooooo sorry about today. I remembered this morning that Leon and I had a dinner meeting last night and was in a hurry to apologize to him," Cloud said with a 'hate me!' look on his face. He was on his hands and knees in front of Demyx right in the middle of the school hallway. People murmured to themselves as Cloud sat there.

"It's ok," Demyx mumbled, passing by his older brother. He took one step before the older blond grabbed by the back of the neck, making him face him.

"No, it's not ok, I got you hurt. Look at what I did to you!" Cloud touched Demyx's bandaged cheek. "Look, it was my fault you got hurt in the first place." He let the young blond go, but stood in front him. "Kick me."

"What?"

"Right in the face, sock me one."

"I'm no gonna kick you in the face."

"Why?"

"Because I'm gonna kick you in the balls when we get home. I don't want anyone to see your embarrassing experience in the school hallway."

Cloud cringed and winced at the angry look his younger brother was giving him. He followed after Demyx, embarrassed that many people had witnessed his act for forgiveness.

Axel from his stop at his locker, laughed at the scene. If Demyx knew that he was the one who carried him to the nurse's, the kid would never live it down. So it would be his little secret, well… until he and the blond became friends.

A/N: wah! I'm not getting very many hits, it's embarrassing!

Demyx: don't worry Chocobo-kun, maybe further on in the story you'll get more.

Chocobo-kin: I hope so. You people must read and review!