A Wishful Thought: Oh man, my life has been hectic lately! D:

For anyone who was curious, Canada is FREAKING AWESOME. :'D You gotta love British Columbia. (:

And then three days later, school came along. -_-

After a torturous first three days where my schedule was ruined with a huge mishap (on the morning of the first day of school, they decided to change FOUR of my seven classes on me), I finally got it back in order. It goes:

1-Culinary Arts 1
2-Algebra 2 Honors
3-AP Human Geography
4-English 1 Honors
5-Spanish 1
6-AP Biology
7-Early Childhood 1

And I'm a Freshmen. XD

So when you're wondering why it's taking me forever to update, just imagine me burning water, trying to figure out how to write out those stupid AP Free Response Questions, speaking Spanish with a horrible American accent, cramming for the Biology quizzes/homework/tests/idontevenknow that I seem to get every two days, and trying to draw maps but failing horribly. XP

What's even worse is that I barely have any time to read all the updated fanfiction! D: I basically only have the thirty minute bus ride to and from school. -_-

And I know that I've said this a lot, but if you're ever wondering where I am, or if you want some extras for chapters (and occasionally, previews!) stop by my wordpress. Link is on my profile! (:

ANYWHO, I'd like to thank my reviewers for last chapter:

CupcakeLerman, ryuHikari, KeybladeMaster97, sajere1, Reflecting Knight, Sato Tadashi, and Future X13.

You guys are my inspiration to write! :'D
Of course, I'd also like to thank all the people that added a story alert, or favorited this story. It really does mean a lot!

So now, here we go. ;D

Just a Note: I haven't had much Naminé in a while, haven't I? XD Well, she doesn't exactly appear in this chapter, but she's one of the main focuses of it. But rest assured, after this chapter, I'm going to say that she will DEFINITELY be featured more. XP

N 0 N 3 X 1 $ + E N +: Just A Bit Of Bromance

"R-Roxas?"

I inwardly groaned as I was roused from my sleep. Not necessarily completely roused, but just enough so that I was lingering in that in-between state. While only half-conscious, I managed to let out a practically incomprehensible, "Whaaat?"

"I looooooove you," came the mumbled reply as masculine arms suddenly snaked around my waist, pulling me closer towards what I could barely register as another separate being. The invader of my bed nuzzled her (. . . or maybe his?) face into my back, letting out a content sigh.

The creepiness of that hadn't set in yet.

But almost immediately, it did.

So like a normal person, I bolted out of bed, screamed like a banshee, and repeatedly hit the invader of my bed with a pillow.

. . . Don't judge, you know you would've done it too.

I was still screaming my head off, but the intruder still hadn't gotten out of bed. I couldn't even see their face, since they had decided to cover it with a pillow! But trying to take the closer look to see his face only made me freak out even more. Why was this guy (yes, it was a guy) half naked! ? Eyes wide, I turned my gaze downward to stare at my chest.

Why was I half naked! ?

It took me a while to register that I sleep half naked.

Still, the fact that there was a half naked guy in my bed did not make me feel comfortable. Hesitantly, I tiptoed over to where my phone was to check the time.

9:28 AM

It was the day after Thanksgiving, (oh man, that was a HELL of a lot of awkward. But I'll get to that later) and Sora and I were still on Thanksgiving Break. Mom was probably out too, shopping at the Black Friday Sale at the Moogle Mall like every other girl I know and Riku.

What can I say? The guy has a really good sense of fashion.

Anyway, that all meant that I was alone. In my house. With a half naked guy in my bed for no apparent reason.

I forced myself to take a deep breath and actually touch the invader. I quickly withdrew my hand, but the guy still didn't wake up.

And so, I crawled back onto my bed, gulped, and pushed the guy off. As soon as I heard the instantaneous thud, I pulled my quilt over me, leaving a somewhat large gap so that I could still see my intruder once he got up.

I'll be honest though. I was totally expecting it to be Axel. I mean, he's just the creepy kind of guy that would do that! But the thing is, it wasn't.

After the thud came a loud gasp for air, an even louder shriek, and then the sound of a rubber band slapping against skin.

Ohhh. . . Haha, it was just Sora.

I immediately relaxed after that, though I was still curious as to why my brother had crawled into bed with me. I mean, we hadn't slept with each other since we were like. . . seven!

And to the perverts out there: NO. Not that kind of sleeping with each other. Goodness gracious.

"S-Sora? What the hell are you doing in my bed?"

Sora blinked and looked around curiously before mumbling, "Well, I'm not in your bed anymore."I rolled my eyes and threw the quilt off of me. Tiredly, my brother stood up and fell onto my cushiony bed face first, grabbing the quilt and snuggling into it. "Now am I. So ask away."

I rolled my eyes for a second time before repeating myself, "What the hell are you doing in my bed?"

My older twin seemed to ponder this for a moment, before screaming, "T-THERE'S A COCKROACH IN MY ROOM!"

I gave him a curious look, "Well that doesn't answer my question. What are you—"

At this point, Sora was fully awake, and had sat up in my bed to give me one of his scared expressions. "NO. Roxas, you don't get it. There's a cockroach in my room." Still seeing my puzzled stare, he threw his hands up into the air while letting out an exasperated sigh. "I hate cockroaches!"

I felt my lips shape themselves into a round o, "Alright," I said slowly, trying to figure out what to say to him, "Well, why didn't you kill it?"

My brother stared at me as though I had fifty heads. "I didn't want to touch it!"

"Well. . . Why not?" My brother was still giving me that "Oh my God, you're such an idiot!" look, so I sighed and forced myself to say, "Where is it?"

Immediately, my brother's face contorted into one full of thanks. "On one of the shelves in my bedroom. The one across my bed."

I nodded, before beginning to make my way towards the door. Before I opened it though, I turned back to look at him, "You're coming too."

He gave me his puppy dog face, but I automatically shot it down with a glare. We had a staring contest for a few seconds, before Sora broke it off with a huff. Slowly, he got to his feet and followed me, my quilt dragging on the floor.

Once I opened the door to his room, he immediately jumped behind me as though I would shield him from the horror that was the freaking cockroach.

I still didn't understand why this was such a big deal to him.

But I still wanted to be a good brother, so slowly, I advanced towards the bookshelf in his room. If I'm being honest here though, I didn't even need to get that close. I could see the bug he was talking about (I was shocked that it actually stayed there) from the doorway, and that thing was freaking huge.

It was even making me a little squeamish.

Forcing away my shivers of disgust, I forced myself to get as close to the bookshelf as I could so I could get a better look at it. And to my surprise, I found the real reason it had stayed put.

"Sora, why did you leave chewed bubble gum on your bookshelf?"

My brother merely shrugged, "I dunno."

I rolled my eyes, "Well, the stupid cockroach is stuck in it now."

My brother's eyes practically popped out of his head, "EW! Roxas, that's disgusting! Hurry up and kill it and get it out of my room!"

I frowned at him, surprised that he wasn't taking any pity on the poor creature. Sure, it was absolutely gross and disgusting, but did it really deserve to die? "C'mon, Sora. I think that the thing's miserable enough. Just let it. . . starve to death or something."

Sora gave me an incredulous look, "You pick now to start fighting for animal rights! ?"

I simply chuckled, "I guess so." My twin's gaze shifted from the hideous creature to me, and eventually he dropped the quilt and stomped off in a different direction. Eyes wide, I slowly trailed after my brother. "Sora? Where are you going?"

"To get that spray that kills the co—HOLY SHIT!"

My eyes furrowed in confusion, and I hurried my steps to catch up to Sora. Once I got there, my own face contorted into one of disgust, identically matching my brother's face.

The stupid bug spray that was supposed to kill the cockroaches was being swarmed by cockroaches.

My poor brother actually whimpered when he saw this before sullenly walking back into our house. "I guess I'm never going to be able to go into my room ever again."

"Or our garage."

Sora's whining only got louder.

Because of this whole cockroach incident, my brother seemed absolutely traumatized. And I mean really traumatized. He wouldn't stop flicking himself with that stupid rubber band.

The two of us were now sitting in the living room watching cartoons. I had moved the coffee table that used to be in the center of the room to the side, so that I could comfortably watch TV from the floor since Sora was occupying all the space on the couch. I wasn't that interested in the cartoons (I mean, they got rid of all the good ones), and I could tell that Sora wasn't that amused either, since he kept flicking himself with the rubber band.

I bet it was all crusty and disgusting with his blood at this point.

"Do we have any leftover turkey, Roxas? I'm hungry."

I glanced upwards at my brother, who looked absolutely tired. Sure, after his whole discussion with Vanitas, he got a lot better and wasn't as emo. But now, he had these weird moods (much like a pregnant, bipolar woman) where he'd be all emo again because he was thinking too much, and all he'd do was eat.

So yeah, it must've been one of those moments.

I simply nodded at him, "Yeah. . . It was only three of us last night, remember?"

There was a pause, "Oh yeah. . ."

Insert another stupid rubber band slap here.

Slowly, my brother got out from his seat on the couch, and walked towards the kitchen, leaving me alone in the room. My nails were already digging into my skin because of the balled up fists they had formed.

Enough was enough. Seriously, Sora was going to end up killing himself if he kept flicking himself with that rubber band.

Okay, maybe not. But it's not healthy!

I let out a breath that I hadn't even realized I had been holding. Roxas, you have to let him heal in his own way. No matter how. . . weird and unhealthy and. . .

SNAP!

"Sora, will you just stop it! ?"

I hadn't even realized that I had jumped out of my seat on the floor to stare at my brother until a few seconds after it happened. Sora had just took the leftover turkey out of the refrigerator, and was staring at me in awe.

He recovered pretty quickly though, "Stop what?"

My fists only balled up tighter as I struggled to keep myself from lashing out at him, "Stop hurting yourself with that stupid rubber band."

His expression was blank as he stared at me. There was no offense evident on his face, and there was no anger on it either. "No. It helps me. If it bothers you so much, then just ignore it."

And as if to prove it to both of us that he didn't care at all, he had the audacity to actually hurt himself with the rubber band again.

So yes, that's when I exploded.

I marched right over to him, and grabbed his arm, holding it high enough so that it was eye-level with both of us. His arm was bright red and ugly looking. Thin scars where the rubber band actually cut into his skin were evident, especially on his pale skin. "You want me to ignore this! ? You want me to ignore the fact that my brother, my best friend is hurting himself like this! ?" He remained silent, but his eyes had an unreadable expression in them. "I don't understand why you're turning to something stupid like this to solve your problems! Sora, you shouldn't have to rely on something stupid like that!"

Before I could say something else, he cut me off. His voice wasn't angry or anything, and it was actually surprisingly calm sounding, "Then what do you want me to do?"

And that's when the desperation set in. I don't know if it's because of the fact that I'm the younger twin, or because of the fact that I'm the more responsible one. But at that point in time, I just felt so helpless. I didn't know. I didn't know anymore, and I was just so confused. And so, I blurted out the first thing that came to mind, "Talk to me," I myself could hear the desperation in my voice, but I still hoped that Sora couldn't, "I-I'm your twin, Sora. We're supposed to look out for each other! And I can't. . . I don't know what to do when you hurt yourself like that. It's stupid, Sora! It. . . It makes me feel scared!"

At the mention of the word, Sora seemed surprised, almost skeptical, "Scared. . .?"

I nodded, "Yes! I'm worried about you! Those scars on your arm. . . Do you really think that all of them will heal? You're making yourself bleed, Sora! It's just. . . I. . ." I found myself choking on the words that were tumbling out of my mouth. I was surprised to realize that I sounded hysteric.

But I think that it was the fact that I was freaking out that made Sora come to his senses.

In a single movement, Sora pulled off the rubber band, through it in some random direction, and hugged me.

Not one of the homosexual kinds of hugs (incest ain't good, kiddies). It was one of those hugs that only an older sibling can give you. The kind that makes all the worries go away, just for that second. The one that makes you feel like everything will be alright.

"I'm sorry for worrying you then, Roxas. . ."

I only responded by hugging him tighter.

Needless to say, it was extremely awkward after that. The two of us were eating our turkey (with mashed potatoes and corn of course) silently, neither of us knowing how to form the first sentence after our dramatic kind of fiasco.

But I mean, at least Sora was trying. "Dinner last night was horrible."

With that single sentence, the uncomfortable air surrounding the two of us seemed to dissolve. "Dude. Tell me about it."

Oh, that's right. I forgot to tell you about it.

Well you see, every Thanksgiving, Zack, Cloud, Tifa, and Cid come over to our place for dinner. Before we'd eat, we'd all do that cheesy thing where you state something that you're thankful for. (Zack and Cid always said the funniest stuff during those times) And after we all finished and helped out with the cleaning, we'd all play these cheesy kind of family games. You know, Monopoly, Apples to Apples, Twister, and other kiddy games like that. I know it sounds kind of weird since a lot of kids our age hate playing games with their families. But Sora and I? We love it. Next to Christmas, it's our favorite holiday.

But as you can guess, Zack, Cloud, Tifa and Cid didn't come over to our place on Thanksgiving.

They didn't even bother to call us and at least wish us happy Thanksgiving! I mean, they do have our numbers after all.

I just realized how creepy it is that some of my teachers have my cell phone number.

Anyway, mom tried to act like not having them around was normal, which just made it even more awkward. It felt way too serious when we were all sharing what we were thankful for now that Zack and Cid weren't joking around about it. So to make up for the lack of that, mom tried to crack a few jokes during dinner, but they came out too forced and kind of lame. And since we didn't want to be rude (especially since she's our mom), Sora and I had to force ourselves to laugh.

But playing the games was the worst part.

It just wasn't the same without Zack, Cloud, Tifa and Cid.

Zack and Sora would always get super competitive about everything, and Sora would always pull Cloud into the fray, insisting that Cloud had to do it too. Tifa always laughed at Cloud for being so unenthusiastic, and the two of us teamed up to tease him, my mom occasionally joining in. But my mom mostly teamed up with Cloud to tease Zack. They'd always bring up the fact that back when they were in the army, everyone called Zack "the Puppy" since he was so energetic. And when it was brought up, Zack would randomly act like a dog, complete with the random barking.

Cid on the other hand, would make fun of all of us for actually playing games like this. But he was just being extremely hypocritical, because he played the games with us, and you could totally tell that he was having fun too.

And so when my mom brought out the board games for us to play, Sora and I literally felt like killing ourselves just to get away from the horrible situation.

I'll admit that I felt bad about that though. Because she tried. And it was so obvious that she was trying so hard to keep the fun rolling!

But without everyone else, it's just not the same.

Sora sighed sadly, "Holidays just aren't holidays without the rest of them. When they're not here, it feels like part of our family is missing." When he finished speaking, he looked up from his plate towards me, and there was something in his eyes that just told me what he was thinking. (I swear, it's NOT twin telepathy!)

I mean, part of our family is already missing without Dad here.

The words made a pang of sadness spread throughout me, and so I looked away from my brother. "Yeah. . . I wish that mom and Zack would hurry up and make up already."

To my surprise, Sora was actually shaking his head, "I don't think so. . . I mean, Mom's right. Whatever it is that's the issue, if she doesn't want to tell us, then she doesn't want to tell us. Zack doesn't have to tell her what to do and what not to do. And I mean, she's our mom. I'm sure that she'll know if we should know something."

I felt my brows furrow, "I don't know, Sora. . ."

My brother simply shrugged, "I don't want to stress over it. The only thing that's pissing me off though, is the fact that mom won't even let us speak to Zack. It's stupid. Does she really think that he'll tell us whatever it is against her strict will not to? I mean, come on, Zack does whatever mom says. . . most of the time."

I nodded, deciding to believe my brother, swallowing a piece of turkey that I had stuffed into my mouth. "I know what you mean."

To my surprise, Sora actually frowned and rolled his eyes at me. "Man, Roxas. You're not fun to talk to at all. You really don't say much, do you?" Noticing the surprised expression on my face, he chuckled. "I mean, seriously. How am I supposed to share my problems with you when you can't even hold up your end of a conversation?" I knew that he wasn't actually angry or anything because of his teasing expression.

I frowned angrily, "Well what do you want me to say?"

Sora merely shrugged, making it obvious that he didn't really know.

My eyes still slightly narrowed, I recommenced eating my food.

But I was still able to see Sora's stupid smirk from the corner of my eye.

Before I could say anything about it though, he spoke, "Since you aren't gonna be interesting, I guess that leaves me to be interesting!" My expression immediately morphed into one of curiosity. What was he talking about? "How's Namineeeee?"

For lack of a better description, his face looked exactly like this: ;D

No joke.

Immediately, I felt my face turn a bright shade of red, the glare returning to my face almost instantly. "W-What are you talking about! ?"

That cocky smirk was still on his face, "You know exactly what I'm talking about."

I stood out of my chair to put my dirty plate into the basin, using it as an excuse so that Sora wouldn't get any ideas about why my face was so bright.

I mean, even I didn't know why.

"No, Sora. I have no idea what you're talking about."

My brother was entirely calm though, folding his hands behind his head and leaning back in his chair. "Au contraire, mon frè savez exactement ce que je parle."

I angrily dropped the tableware into the basin, reminding myself that I'd have to wash them later. "Sora, don't pull French on me! It doesn't make a difference. And I still have no idea what you mean, and I don't want to talk about Naminé."

There was still a smirk on his face though, "Hein? Donc, si vous ne voulez pas parler de Naminé, vous voulez parler de vos sentiments pour Naminé. Am I right, or am I right?"

Eh? So if you don't want to talk about Naminé, you want to talk about your feelings for Naminé.

My face reddened, and I stomped towards the sofa on the living room, making sure that Sora still couldn't see my face, "I-I-I don't know what you're talking about!"

I heard my brother chuckle, "Sureeee you don't."

"Well then, what about your feelings for Kairi?"

There was a gasp from the table, and I could easily imagine that Sora was shocked that I even dared to bring her up.

Well sorry, Sora, but it was the only subject change I could think of.

"W-W-What feelings for Kairi?"

I smirked at him, gaining the courage to look him in the eye, "You know exactly what I'm talking about."

"No I don't!"

My smirk only widened, "Au contraire, mon frè savez exactement ce que je parle."

A glare etched itself onto Sora's features, "Hey! That's not fair, I said that first! You can't use my own words against me!"

I simply shrugged at him, a devious twinkle present in my eyes. "Of course I can. I can do whatever I want. It's a free country."

My brother only scowled at me in response.

Still eager for an answer though, I made my way towards him, "So. . . Are you going to make up with Kairi anytime soon?"

To my surprise, Sora didn't even attempt to change the subject. He only mumbled a simple, "I already did."

I rolled my eyes at him, "Come on, Sora. I can tell that you're lying."

Sora's frown intensified, "I already forgave her. That's that."

I couldn't stop myself from letting out a sigh of exasperation, "Uh huh. Sure you did. And you still refuse to talk or make eye contact with her because. . ."

There was a pause before he responded with a distressed, "I-I don't know, okay?"

I gave him a curious look. ". . . Sora, that was the most pathetic excuse ever. At least be a little more creative. And you say that I can't hold up my end of a conversation."

My twin rolled his eyes, "Again, stop using my own words against me. That's just not fair."

I merely shrugged in response.

It took a while, but eventually Sora continued with what he was saying earlier, "I'm telling the truth though. I don't really know why I'm avoiding her."

And it was this statement that utterly confused me. I mean, why was he ignoring someone, one of his best friends, without a reason? It just didn't make sense. Plus, the only way I could think to respond to him involved calling him an idiot, and I really didn't want to piss him off.

Not now, anyway.

"Sora. . . That doesn't make any sense."

My brother looked defeated, as though he had tried really hard to explain it to me, but ultimately failed. "I just. . . I tell myself every day, 'This'll be the day you fix things with Kairi. This'll be the day that everything will be better.' But the thing is, every time I see her, my heart just. . . hurts. I don't know what else to call it. And I mean. . . the pain is awful. Did you hear the song that she sang on the first round of Battle of the Bands! ? Did you see the way she looked at me! ?"

I blinked, still not able to make sense of his words. I guess that he noticed the expression on my face, because his face seemed to falter even more. But he didn't say anything, and simply shook his head sadly as he turned to put his dishes away. "You still don't get it."

I could tell that he hadn't meant for me to hear those words, but I still managed to. "Get what?"

He plopped his dishes into the basin, before looking up at me once more, "Roxas, you think that I'm lying to myself, but I think that you're the one that's lying to yourself."

I groaned at him, throwing my arms up into the air angrily before stomping back towards the couch. "There you go again, not making any sense! How am I lying to myself? I'm completely honest to everyone!"

Well, it's the truth. Though sometimes, honesty isn't the best policy.

. . . Heehee, that rhymed.

Now Sora was giving me that look of his that said, "I'm disappointed with you," which didn't make any sense because there was no reason for him to be disappointed with me. "You like Naminé, but you're scared to admit it."

And in that one second, my jaw dropped so far down, that I'm pretty sure it could've possibly fallen off. "W-What! ? No way!"

Sora sighed, before sitting down next to me on the couch, "There you go again. Lying to yourself."

I felt my eyes narrow at him, "I am not lying to myself!"

"You are too."

"Am not!"

"You are too."

"Am not!"

"Face it, Roxas. You, my friend, are in denial."

I shook my head at him, "You're just being weird today, Sora. I'm not in denial about anything."

There was a pause, before Sora's lip twitched upwards. The movement was minute, but it was still something easily noticeable. "So you don't like Naminé?"

It was because of the fact that I noticed his lip twitch upward that I felt slightly uneasy, "No. Not at all."

Unluckily for me, the expression on Sora's face told me that I had said exactly what he expected me to say, "So there's no real reason why you're obviously always thinking about her? Or why I always catch you looking at her in our classes? Or why you were totally jealous of Hope when Naminé was hanging out with him more than you? Or why—"

"W-Well, I like her as a friend!"

Sora's smirk was still plastered onto his face. "So you do like her."

I paused, pondering it. "Y-Yeah. I guess I do. As a friend."

My twin nodded slowly, "Alright then. Repeat after me: I like Naminé."

I looked at him skeptically, but his expression told me that if I didn't do as he instructed, he'd throw a bitchfit.

And I really didn't want him to throw a bitchfit.

So slowly, I tried out the words, "I like Naminé."

What was so weird was the fact that saying the words felt both natural and awkward at the same time. It felt like something I should be saying, but something that I wasn't supposed to be saying. It didn't make any sense at all!

But Sora seemed happy with the words, for his smile widened. "Good. Now say it a little faster, and a little louder, over and over again. 'I like Naminé.'"

I gave him another curious look, but tried out the words a few more times for his sake. "I like Naminé. . . I like Naminé. . . I like Naminé. . . I like Naminé. . ."

My brother nodded in approval every time the words escaped my lips, and slowly, I felt like they were beginning to grow on me. Like they were losing their awkwardness. Though it still felt strange to be saying something like that aloud. I mean, saying something like this was kind of misleading, since I only thought of Naminé as a friend. . .

Or do I?

"Sora? How are you so sure that you even like Kairi that way? It's probably just your wild teenage hormones racing," I reasoned.

My brother had started talking about love. The dreaded word.

Slouching in his computer chair with a, dare I say it, lovesick expression on his face was my twin brother. His unruly brown hair stood up in random directions, and his bright blue eyes seemed to be looking off into the distance. "No, no. I'm positive that I like her that way. Positive."

I had rolled my eyes, turning my attention away from my brother, and onto my homework.

But it seemed that my brother wasn't done obsessing over the "girl of his dreams."

"Every time I'm around her, my heart beats faster, and my stomach does somersaults. When I'm away from her, I feel antsy and worried that something will happen to her when I'm away. She's all that I can think about, and I hate it when she hangs out with any guy other than me. Whenever we're with a crowd, my eyes automatically home in on her, like she's the only one really worth noticing. She makes me feel. . . so happy."

When he began speaking, I looked up at him, innocent curiosity on my face.

As though to shake himself out of his daydream, he shook his head lightly. "I may not know exactly what love is, Roxas. . . And I know that you don't believe that it's out there. . . But one day. . . You will. I can promise you that."

I hadn't even noticed the fact that my mantra was becoming louder, quicker. "I like Naminé. I like Naminé. I like Naminé. I like Naminé."

And as that single memory played through my head, I stumbled over my words. "I lo. . .I lo. . ."

There was no need for me to look at Sora so that I could read his expression. I could feel the hopeful aura around him.

"I. . .love. . ."

"ROXAS! SORA! I'M HOOOOOOME!"

Immediately, Sora's aura changed from a hopeful one to an angry one, "MOOOOM!"

My mother was standing in the hallway, several bags from many different stores on the floor around her. She looked extremely confused, and looked between the two of us, ". . . Did I interrupt something?"

Sora facepalmed himself, and shot me the look that said, "Uhh, what do I say now?"

But I found that I couldn't respond to him.

And so, my brother simply sighed. "Yeah. Just a bit of bromance."

An hour had two had passed, but the same thing still occupied my thoughts.

Naminé.

At the mere mention of the name, my heart seemed to leap forward.

With a dramatic sigh, I buried my face into my pillow. Hoping that by some miracle, it would make all the confusion go away.

There was a single knock at the doorway, and before I could yell, "Come in," the person had already entered. Without looking up, I could tell that it was Sora. "Hey bro. . . You alright? You've been in here for a while."

I sighed, slowly moving my body to sit upright and meet his gaze, "Yeah, I am. . . Just. . . Thinking."

Sora just gave me a small smile before sitting next to me on my bed. "Hey, I know that I probably only succeeded in confusing you about everything—"

You've got that right.

"But you would've figured it out sooner or later."

I said nothing to him in reply.

"You know what might help?" I turned my gaze back towards him with a questioning stare. "Invite her to the beach with all of us for Winter Break. Get your feelings organized there. Figure out exactly how you feel when you're around her."

I paused, thinking it over. Maybe Sora actually had a point. It made sense. I mean, it's always better to think about something while you're next to it, right?

I think?

"Yeah. . . I might just do that."

Sora grinned at me, "See? I can be helpful too."

Unfortunately for my brother, it seemed that my mother had walked by my room just as he said that sentence. "You? Helpful? Alright then, Sora. Go and clean your room. It's a mess."

There was a pause, before my brother's eyes widened in horror, "M-MOM! THERE'S A COCKROACH IN THERE!" He had jumped out of his seat on the bed, and was looking around nervously as though he expected millions of bugs to come out of nowhere.

"Okay, Sora. So kill it."

My brother shook his head desperately, "N-No! I hate cockroaches!"

I could tell that my mother was slightly annoyed with Sora's disobedience when she walked into my room, arms crossed, "Sora. You either tidy up your room just a little bit, or you sleep in the garage. Your choice. But last time I checked, our garage was infested with those creatures."

Sora looked like he was about to cry.

A Wishful Thought: I'll be honest right upfront: I'm not very happy with this chapter. XP I think that it could've turned out a lot better, and I feel as though I rushed through it all. :|

But I don't have time to go through and edit everything, so PLEASE don't hurt me! D:

I'm thinking about not writing the next Battle of the Bands round, unless you all really want to read it. XP If I decide not to do it (which I'm leaning towards at this point), then:

Next time ANOTHER SCHOOL CHAPTER. XD We MIGHT finally find out what's been bugging Olette so much, and Roxas will have even MORE fun trying to sort out his feelings for our beloved Nami. XD

Please review.