In retrospect, leaving Yuffie's house in a huff was not Demyx's smartest idea. Yuffie had driven them to her house, and so Demyx had no way of getting home. And he sure as hell wasn't turning around to go groveling back to Yuffie's house and asking her for a ride. He stuffed his hands in his pockets, wishing that he lived closer to Yuffie's house and that walking home was feasible. He couldn't call his parents.

His hand hit crinkly paper and he pulled it out of his pocket. Zexion's phone number... right, he'd been worried earlier and gave him it. Staring at the sheet of paper for a moment, he pulled his phone out, carefully dialing the number, hoping he wasn't making a mistake.
"Zexion speaking."

"Uhh... hi, it's Demyx." Demyx stumbled, not sure what to say.

"Demyx? Is everything okay?"

"Not... really. Umm... is there any way you could..." Demyx paused, "Wow, this sounds really crazy. I need a ride home."

Zexion's voice didn't waver or hesitate. "Where are you?"

Demyx looked around for a street sign, finally finding one and rattling it off to Zexion.

"Stay there. It's close to where I am - I'll be there in a few minutes."

"Okay. Thank you." Demyx mumbled.

"I'll be there soon." Zexion repeated, hanging up.

XXXX

Hardly a minute later, Zexion pulled over to the curb where he saw Demyx standing. "Demyx!" He called. "Get in."

Demyx hurried over to the car and climbed in, "Thank you again."

Zexion nodded, pulling away from the curb. "Just give me directions to where you want to go."

"Okay. Just continue down this street." Demyx said, pointing down in the direction his house was in. He leaned back in the seat, relieved he wasn't going to have to walk home or call his parents.

Zexion nodded, keeping his eyes on the road but glancing every now and then at the blonde slumped in his seat next to him. "Do you want to talk about it?" He asked quietly.

Demyx glanced at him, "I just had a fight with Yuffie, that's all." he said, 'And stormed out of her house like an idiot.'

Zexion nodded again, hesitant to ask more. "Look, I... I know I said you could always call, no questions asked, but... I promise you don't have to answer, but what's really bothering you? This fight with Yuffie is just the latest excuse for the sadness in your eyes..."

Demyx glanced at him again, shifting awkwardly, "I really don't want to talk about it." he mumbled.

"Oh." Zexion said softly.

Demyx forced a smile, "I'll be fine. Thanks for picking me up."

Zexion nodded, slowing to a stop at an intersection. "Sure. Anytime. I mean it. Uh, which way?"

"Left."

He turned in that direction, desperately trying to think of something to talk about. He tried to remember what the first conversations with Axel, Larx, and Cloud had been about... "What's your favorite kind of music?"

Demyx blinked, surprised, "Uhh... I like rock music." he said, "Pretty much every kind of music, actually."

"My roommate Axel loves rock music. He also loves blasting it in our stereo even though he knows the noise drives me crazy." Zexion said, chuckling. "I grew up listening to classical and jazz, so I know that best, although I can't really say it's a favorite of mine."

Demyx chuckled, "I have my favorite kinds, but honestly, if it has some kind of a beat, then I love it."

Zexion nodded. "What's your favorite food?"

Demyx thought for a minute, "Not really sure."

"Well, if you could go out to eat anywhere you wanted, which type of restaurant would you pick?"

"Umm..." he thought for a minute, "Mexican, I guess."

Zexion looked thoughtful, nodding his head. "Which way now?"

"Right."

"Favorite color?"

"Green." Demyx said, "Take a left up here. What's yours?"

"Blue." Like your eyes."Last good book you read?"

Demyx was about to think about that, but had to stop, "That's my house there."

"Here?" Zexion asked, pulling up in front of a house slightly bigger than the one he was currently sharing with three roommates, the yard immaculate.

"Yeah." Demyx said, "Thanks for the ri-"

He was cut off by a cry from right inside the house and a woman ran over to the car. "Demyx! There you are! Come on, you're coming with me tonight. Who's this?"

"Zexion. He's a friend." Demyx said, "Mom, can you wait a minute, please?"

"Your father will be home in a minute and I don't particularly want to see him. I'll be in my car, grab some clothes and stuff." With that, the woman walked over to her car and sat down inside it.

Demyx glanced over at Zexion, "Sorry about that. Thanks for the ride. See you in school tomorrow." he got out of the car and ran into his house before Zexion could respond.

XXXX

Roxas hurried to his friend's usual spot behind the science building, hoping they were there. His grin grew wider as he saw they were all there, Hayner talking adamantly about something.

"You guys!" The blonde called, rushing over to the group. "I've got awesome news!"
"Yeah? 'Cause like I was just telling these two, I got some news of my own, though it isn't very awesome." Hayner said, taking in the glowing appearance of Roxas.
"I don't think I've ever seen you this happy. You bake the perfect cake or something? Did you bring any?" Pence asked.

Olette just rolled her eyes at her brother and smiled up at Roxas, "Okay, so what's the news?"

"I've got a boyfriend." Roxas announced proudly.

"R-really? That's, ah, great." Hayner said, trying to be supportive.

"Congrats, bud." Pence said, smiling. "Although, I would have rather enjoyed the cake..."

"Dude, shut up!" Hayner said, punching Pence's arm.

Roxas laughed at their antics, simply glowing in front of them, still in awe at the fact that he now had a boyfriend. Him! A boyfriend!

"That's awesome, Roxas!" Olette grinned, "Congratulations!"

"Yeah, it is! And he's so amazing! I can't wait to introduce him to you guys!" Roxas gushed.

"Y-yeah. Well. That's... nice. Anyway, can I tell my news now?" Hayner asked, clearly uncomfortable talking about Roxas's new boyfriend but unwilling to do anything to upset his best friend.

Roxas laughed. "I'm sorry, Hayner. Sure! What's your news?"

"Yeah, c'mon, spill already." Pence demanded, crossing his arms and glaring at the soccer player, who had refused to tell them anything until Roxas was there, too.

"Today, I talked to my stalker." Hayner said seriously.

Olette's grin got wider, "Really? How did that go? Did he kidnap you to use for ransom against our family? How did you escape?"

Hayner scowled. "No, he did not kidnap me." He snapped. "I was practicing in the small field before soccer practice really started and noticed him watching me. Before I could do anything, he just came over and talked to me. Then the bastard had the nerve to deny that he's stalking me! So we came to the agreement that next time I see him, I have the right to find out why the hell his schedule is so close to mine to see if he's telling the truth or if he really is stalking me."

"That sounds... complicated." Pence said.

"You idiot!" Roxas said, smacking Hayner's arm. "I told you he's not stalking you! Why can't you just leave the poor guy alone?"

"No, no, he's definitely stalking him." Olette said, "We counter-stalked him, Hayner, don't you remember?" she gave Roxas a look over Hayner's shoulder that clearly said, 'don't ruin this for me.'

Roxas rolled his eyes but nodded, deciding he would concentrate on Axel and let his idiot friends do whatever the hell they wanted so long as they left him out of it.

"I know! He had the nerve to accuse me of stalking him! I told him I was just trying to figure out why a random guy like him was following me, but he didn't seem convinced... He actually sounds like you, Roxas - he said I was hallucinating." Hayner said.

"Well, you are." Roxas muttered. Louder he said, "Imagine that."

Olette giggled, "He's just crazy, Hayner. You'll catch him in the act next time."

"Yeah!" Hayner said, fists clenched in determination. "His name is Seifer, by the way."

"Well, as lovely as this has been, I'm going to head home and give my boyfriend a call." Roxas said with a grin. "Good luck with that, Hayner. I hope you figure things out."

Pence slapped Hayner on the back. "I second that. C'mon, Roxas, I'll give you a lift. Later!"

Hayner just shook his head at the retreating forms of his friends. "You believe me, right Olette?"

"Of course I do!" Olette grinned.

Hayner nodded. "Good. I should probably head to the field for second practice. See you at home?"

"Yep. Have fun at practice." Olette smiled.

XXXX

Xigbar wiped his hands on a rag, tossing the rag onto the desk and opening the door of the car he'd been working on. Sitting down, he started it, nodding in appreciation as it started immediately. Shutting it off, he left the keys in the ignition and the door open and walked over the desk, plopping into the chair.

The sound of a motorcycle outside broke him from his thoughts. "Ah, fuck." he muttered.

Cloud turned off his bike and got off, taking the helmet he had lent Leon from the brunette and placing it along with his own on the bike's now empty seat. He led the way into the Rusty Wrench, immediately catching sight of Xigbar at the desk and headed over there.

"Look who I brought to visit, Xigbar." The blonde said with an evil grin.

Xigbar looked up, "Oh, hi Leon." he nodded, turning back to his book.

"Don't you even." Leon said, grabbing the book from Xigbar's hands, "Explain yourself."

"Okay, so Cloud told you about the magazines. They were just a harmless prank, Leon, come on." Xigbar crossed his arms.

"This isn't about the magazines." Leon grumbled.

Xigbar blinked, genuinely surprised, "Then... what is it about?"

Cloud rolled his eyes. "Don't play dumb. You're just making this harder on yourself. You want me to corner and hold him while you punch?" Cloud said, directing the last part to Leon.

"Whoah, okay! Before you start punching me, I really would love to know why you're punching me!"

Cloud rolled his eyes again, facing Leon. "It's your call. He's your roommate, and it was your office, after all."

Xigbar watched, completely confused, "Your office?"

Leon glared at him, "Yes, my office. The one where I almost threw your surprise out the window."

Xigbar frowned, "You could've thrown the magazines out the window... I would've been okay with that."

"Not the magazines." Leon snapped.

"I meant it when I said playing dumb is just making things worse for yourself, Xig. I thought Leon was going to kill Zack... How'd you get him to do it, by the way? I mean, I know he's an idiot, but he's usually not that stupid." Cloud said. "That reminds me - after we leave here and find Seifer, we should find Zack, too." The blonde said to Leon.

"Zack?" Xigbar repeated, "Who's Zack? I don't know a Zack."

Leon raised an eyebrow, "Xigbar, are you honestly trying to say that you had nothing to do with Cloud's friend deciding to strip for the two of us in my office?"

Xigbar stared for a minute, not sure if Leon was serious, before bursting into laughter. Once he calmed himself, he spoke, "I can honestly say that I had nothing to do with that."

"You know, I'm having a really hard time believing you. And even if I did believe you... I still want to punch something. And you're sitting right here. Convenient, huh?" Cloud growled.

"Hey, now." Xigbar said, putting his hands up, "Come on, Leon, call him off!"

Leon raised an eyebrow, "Why should I do that? Even if you had nothing to do with the stripper, you did still organize the other stuff."

Xigbar looked past Leon and Cloud at the clock, "Sure, but you've already been here for 20 minutes. If you want to have enough time to find Seifer and kill him, you're going to need it."

"Call me off? What am I, a dog?" Cloud yelled, slamming his fist into the desk. "Tch. I'm not Leon's to order around, thank you very much."

"Sorry, sorry!" Xigbar said, "Seriously, though, who would you rather kill, me or Seifer? 'Cause you only have enough time for one of us and I promise I didn't have anything to do with what's got you both on a murderous rampage."

Cloud clenched his jaw and turned his back on Xigbar. "It's your call." He told Leon stiffly, anger still evident in his voice.

"Seifer, then." Leon said, "You can kill Xigbar at work later."

Xigbar seemed slightly relieved, and hoped that the threat was empty, but knew that he should probably find another apartment to sleep in for the night. Time to call in favors.

Cloud nodded and strolled out of the shop and towards his bike without a backwards glance at his coworker. Throwing his spare helmet to Leon, he pulled his on and straddled his bike. "Where to?" He asked, starting the engine.

"He's probably at the apartment." Leon said, pulling the helmet on and climbing on behind Cloud, "Head down this street."

As they left, Xigbar pulled his phone out, dialing Seifer's number.

"Oh, hey Xig. Dude, you won't believe-"

"Seifer, if you're at the apartment right now, RUN. Run and hide somewhere that Leon won't be able to find you."

"Uhhh... why?"

"Just do it. He and Cloud are on their way. Something about a stripper-really, Seifer, a stripper?-and wanting to kill us both."

"What? But I didn't send a stripper!"

"Then who the fuck did?"

XXXX

Cloud and Leon pulled up to the latter's apartment building, and Cloud quickly cut the engine.
Without bothering to take off his helmet just yet, he turned to glance at Leon who was still on the bike behind him. "He here, or did Xigbar give him a head's up to get the hell outta dodge?"

"Looks like Xigbar called him." Leon said, "We could check the college-he's taking business classes 'cause he's tired of working at the Box Depot, but I doubt he went there."

"I doubt he'd go someplace you'd think to look. Let me call Zack and find out where the idiot is." Cloud said. He took off his helmet, handing it to Leon as he dug in his jeans pocket for his cell phone. Quickly dialing, he waited for Zack to pick up.

"Heyya, Cloudy. Wasn't expecting you to be calling for a while." Zack said, laughing.

"Yeah. Just wanted to make sure you were okay after your... hasty exit." Cloud said.

"Heh. Yeah. I'm good. What about your brunette friend? You get him to calm down? You two involved or something?"

"What? No. We're just friends. Listen, Zack, I'm sorry for overreacting. It was a stupid prank, nothing more."

"Aw it's no problem, Cloudy! And why aren't you guys together? If I wasn't married and swung that way I'd be all over him!"

"Zack! Focus! Look, it's my day off and now that the excitement's died down, I've got nothing to do. Where are you, you at your place?"

"Nah, me and Aerith are visiting her brothers. You should come by, though." Zack quickly relayed the address. "See you in a bit!"

Cloud hung up, not bothering to reply. Tucking his phone away, he took his helmet back from Leon and pulled it on. "Let's go pay my idiot of a friend a visit, shall we?"

Leon chuckled, "Sounds good to me."

XXXX

A few minutes later, they pulled up in front of the house.

Cloud cut the engine and stood up, once more placing his and Leon's helmets onto his bike before leading the way up to the apartment Zack had said he was in.

He knocked on the door, and a minute later it was answered by a guy with silver hair.

"Hi. We're friends of Zack's. He said he was here...?" Cloud said.

Riku blinked. "Uh. Sure. C'mon in." Closing the door, he turned to yell into the apartment as he made his way back into the kitchen, "Zack! Your friends are here!"

Zack popped his head out from around the corner, coming over to the entryway. "Cloudy! You made good time! But I thought Riku said - " He cut off as he caught sight of Leon.

"Ah... Cloud?" Zack asked, confused.

"Zack. We want to ask you a few questions, all right? Good." Cloud said, grabbing Zack's arm in his grip. "Any place we can talk... privately?"

Zack audibly gulped. "Ah. Heh. S-sure." Zack led them to Reno's bedroom, figuring the redhead wouldn't mind if they borrowed it, and closed the door once they were all inside.

"What's going on?" Zack asked.

"My roommate seemed to have no idea what we were talking about when we went to go kill him." Leon said.

"Kill him?" Zack repeated, confused. "But, Cloudy, I thought you said you understood it was just a harmless prank."

"Well, here's the thing, Zack. Leon here is having a little problem with his roommates. They seem to think it's cute to pull ridiculous pranks on us in a misguided attempt to get us together. And while you have been known to prank me in the past, becoming a stripper is not something you'd ever think of on your own. So, we need to know - who put you up to it?"

"Why couldn't I have thought of it?" Zack grumbled, crossing his arms.

"That's just not how your brain works. Besides, you usually do pranks that are fun for you. How is stripping in front of us fun for you? You're not gay; you're married! Also there's no way you'd know I'd be in Leon's office. Just spill. Tell us who told you to do this and we'll drop it. Right?" Cloud said, glancing at Leon, hoping the brunette was fine with sparing his idiotic friend. Zack might be a moron, but he still was one of Cloud's best friends.

Leon nodded. All things considered, compared to what he was planning on doing to his roommates next he saw them, Zack may as well have been a close friend. He wasn't, but that wasn't the point.

Zack sighed, caving. "It was your roommate, Larxene. She called me and told me she had the perfect opportunity for me to prank you, if I was willing. I'm sorry, Cloud. I didn't think it through."

Cloud's fists clenched in anger, but he managed to keep his voice even. "It's all right, Zack. Just don't go doing something like that again."

Zack nodded and grinned sheepishly.

Cloud let out a breath. "Since you didn't exactly meet under the best circumstances, this is Leon. Leon, this is Zack."

Zack held out his hand to the brunette. "Pleasure to meet you. Make sure you take care of our blonde, here." He said with a wink.

"Somehow I don't think he needs someone to take care of him. He's pretty damn capable of taking care of himself." Leon said.

No one was able to react to that, though, as there was pounding on the door, "ZACK, I SWEAR IF YOU'RE SECRETLY GAY AND CHEATING ON MY SISTER WITH THOSE TWO GUYS YOU DRAGGED IN THERE, I'M GONNA KICK YOUR ASS AND FIGURE OUT A WAY TO MAIL YOUR BODY TO WISCONSIN."

Zack just laughed and pulled open the door, revealing a lanky redhead with a cocky grin on his face as Cloud gave Leon a reappraising look at his comment.

"Reno, will you calm down? I'm not stupid enough to jeopardize my relationship with Aerith for anyone else. It's just Cloudy! You remember him, don't you?" Zack asked.

Cloud nodded at the redhead. "Long time, no see Reno. How're you?"

"Hey, it has been awhile!" Reno grinned, waving, "I've been good. What about you?"

"Honestly, aside from having to leave shortly to kill a few people for their lack of tact, I can't complain." the blonde relied with a grin.

"Oh, right - Reno, that's Leon. Leon, my best friend and brother-in-law, Reno." Zack said, making the introductions.

"Nice to meet you." Reno smiled. Leon just nodded. Reno turned back to Cloud, "I'm surprised you didn't kill Zack over it. Aerith almost did."

Cloud's grin widened. "I'll let her deal with him while we go deal with Leon's roommates and apparently some of my own. I don't know what gave any of them the idea it would be simple to prank us without repercussions." Cloud said, shaking his head.

"Heh. Just go easy on them, Cloudy. Wouldn't want to have to bail you outta jail again." Zack said with a wink.

Leon raised an eyebrow, but decided not to ask.

Reno laughed, "Sounds good. I'll make sure she knows that you came here in a murderous rage."

"Thanks for that." Cloud said. "We should be going. Thanks for clearing that up, Zack. See you around."

Zack grinned. "Yeah. Don't be a stranger! We need to hang out more! You, too, Leon, since you're involved with my boy there!"

Cloud rolled his eyes. "Why does everyone insist that?"

Zack's grin widened and he just shook his head at the blonde's naivety. He'd bet everything he owned those two would be together before the year was over.

Reno grinned at the look on Zack's face.

"Larxene should still be at work." Leon said, "I'm half hoping she isn't, 'cause then I can fire her. Otherwise I don't really have a legitimate reason."

Cloud nodded. "All right. Let's go, then." With a wave and a grin, he led Leon out of the apartment. Once in the hallway, he immediately spoke up. "Sorry about Zack. As you've probably already gathered, he has a few very important brain cells missing."

Leon chuckled, "It's alright. We should get going before Larxene hears and runs."

"Right." Cloud said as they reached his bike, handing a helmet to Leon. "Man, my bike sure is getting a workout today." He said, slipping on his own helmet and climbing on, revving the engine.

XXXX

They pulled up to The Hardware Store Place and once again got off the bike and stored their helmets. By now they were so used to each other's movements on the bike that they moved in complete sync on it. Cloud followed Leon into the store, looking around and not seeing Larxene.
"Where would she be?" He asked the brunette.
"She should be restocking." Leon said, "Where she is, though, I don't know."
Cloud frowned, shrugging. "I'll follow you, then, as I don't know my way around here."

Leon nodded, leading him through the aisles, looking for Cloud's female roommate.

Cloud followed, doing his best not to stare at Leon's ass. When Leon abruptly stopped in front of him, he quickly stepped to the side in order to avoid crashing into him. He saw Larxene ahead in the aisle, and grinned as she turned to face them.

"Hey! Back from lunch?" she asked.

"Yes. Anything blow up while I was gone?" Leon asked.

Larxene rolled her eyes and shook her head, "I think you'd be able to tell."

"That's too bad."

Larxene raised an eyebrow, "What?"

Cloud turned to Leon. "I take it you can't technically fire her now, huh?"

"Not yet, no." Leon shook his head.

"Hey, I haven't done anything worth firing me over." Larxene crossed her arms.

"That's the problem." Leon mumbled.

"Hmmm..." Cloud thought aloud. "What if you just assign her the really horrible jobs? Like bathroom cleaning duty?"

"Hey, why are you both-" she paused, then fell silent for a moment. "Zack spilled, didn't he?" she sighed, rubbing her temple.

"Boys bathroom needs work, Larxene. I suggest you get on it." Leon said.

Larxene grumbled, "Fine. But you two will thank me later!" she said.

"I will never thank you for dragging Zack into this. He's pretty innocent, unlike the rest of us. He would never have done that without severe prompting from you, and I don't appreciate you cutting him loose and letting him take the fall. You fucked up, Larx, the moment you decided to get more involved than you already were as my roommate. I'll see you at home." Cloud said, anger making his voice gruffer and more menacing. As soon as he was done talking, he completely turned his back, staring emptily at the tools on display and resolutely ignoring the woman behind him.

"I didn't drag Zack into anything! He agreed to it-I didn't force him into anything." Larxene snapped. "You know what, cleaning the bathroom sounds better than arguing with you right now." She turned on her heel and stalked off.

Cloud's shoulders tensed at her words, and his hands curled into fists. He took a deep breath and held it, trying not to explode in Leon's workplace.

Leon, noticing Cloud looked like he was about to explode, steered the man down the aisle towards his office and let him in, shutting the door behind them.

"Goddammit!" The blonde yelled, kicking the desk. "Fuck! Fuck this shit! Little, no good, cunt bitch!" Cloud swore, his frame shaking as he restrained himself from incurring any damage to Leon's office.

"Cloud." Leon said, pushing him into a chair, "You need to calm down."

Cloud nodded once sharply and crossed his arms. He knew he needed to calm down, but goddammit was he pissed! He thought he'd be fine, maybe prank her a few times around the house and that'd be that, but she just had to go and say that shit about Zack!

"Sorry." Cloud muttered. He took a deep breath, released it. "Sorry." He said again, more calmly. "Shoulda warned you - I'm extremely protective of my friends, especially Zack since he's so naive. That man would do anything anyone suggested to him, as long as they made it sound fun. I know you're curious - I spent five days in jail for a bar fight in which some asshole decided that Zack was his new toy. Let's just say he moved into the hospital for a few months for making that mistake."

"You sure you'll be okay going home today?" Leon asked, "You look like you'll kill her next time you see her." He paused, "I doubt Xigbar and Seifer will come back to the apartment tonight, so you're more than welcome to stay over there."

Cloud looked up at Leon at his words, thinking it over before nodding slowly. "Yeah, that's probably a good idea. I've never hit a woman before and I really don't want to start now. Thanks, Leon. Lemme just call Axel to him a heads-up. Think I can just hang out back here until your shift's over?"

"Of course. I was planning on just taking off the rest of the day anyway." he said, "You don't mind hanging out until I make arrangements?"

"It's fine. Do whatever you have to do. I don't want to get in your way." Cloud said, digging out his cell phone.

"Okay. Give me ten minutes, then." Leon said, before leaving his office.

Cloud sighed before dialing Axel's number. "Axel? It's Cloud. I'm not coming home tonight. And watch out for Larxene when she does get home, she'll probably still be pissed. Just wanted to give you a heads-up."

"...What the fuck happened?" Axel asked, "Ah, shit. This is not going to ruin today for me."

"Ask Larx. I just calmed down, I'm not talking about it right now or else I'll end up destroying Leon's office and I don't think he'll appreciate that or let me crash on his couch tonight if I did. And I take it you had a good day? Please tell me some good news here. I need it." Cloud said, leaning back and closing his eyes.

Axel immediately did so, knowing Cloud's temper from experience, "Yeah, remember the guy I ended up convinced was my boyfriend and then drunk myself sick over? Officially my boyfriend."

"Really? That's great! Congrats. You'll have to bring him around once everything calms down so I can meet him and make sure he's worthy."

"Haha, I promise." Axel said, "But trust me, he definitely is."

"Good." Cloud said, opening his eyes when he heard the office door open, relieved to see it was only Leon. "I gotta go. Make sure my stuff doesn't get trashed, okay? And hey, if you're feeling up to it, freeze her bras or something, from me."

Axel laughed, "Will do. Have fun." There was a click and he hung up.

Leon nodded at him, "Ready to go?"

Cloud stood up, nodding and replacing his cell in his pocket. "Yeah. You drive here or you need a lift?"

"I drove." Leon said, "You can follow behind me on your bike if you want or I can just drive you there."

"I don't want to leave my bike here." Cloud answered.

"Alright. You mind following? The apartment's not very far." Leon said. "Otherwise I can just leave my car here overnight."

"I'll be fine following you. Is it really okay for you to just take the rest of the day off? I don't want you to get in trouble for my sake. I'd be fine hanging here for a bit. I do know how to behave myself, I promise." Cloud said.

Leon chuckled, "It's fine. I've got plenty of personal hours."

Cloud nodded, grateful. "Thank you, Leon." He said in complete sincerity.

"No problem." Leon said, "Now come on. Let's get out of here."

XXXX

Sora leaned back on the couch, staring at the ceiling, not really sure how long he'd been sitting there. First Riku reacts all weird to something and Sora (still) had no idea why, and then Kairi snaps at him on the phone. So, that was two friends apparently mad at him.

He finally pulled himself off of the couch, jogging up the stairs and entering his mother's bedroom, opening the closet and opening the minifridge in there. He pulled a beer out and then shut it and the closet, heading back down the stairs as he popped it open.

The front door opened and Roxas bounced inside, kicking off his shoes. "Sora! You home?"

"Yeah, Rox!" Sora called back, "In the kitchen." he leaned backwards on the counter.

"Sora!" Roxas yelled excitedly, rushing into the kitchen. "Guess what?"

Sora raised an eyebrow, "What's got you so excited, kid?"

Roxas grinned hugely. "I've got a boyfriend!"

Sora pushed himself off the counter, surprised, "Wow. Great for you." he smiled. "Who?"

Roxas giggled. "Axel..."

Sora paused, "Riku's coworker? Isn't he like... six years older than you?"

"Yeah, so?" Roxas pouted. "He's smart and funny and understanding and actually listens when I talk, not to mention he's absolutely gorgeous! Seriously, Sora, even you have to notice how hot my boyfriend is." Roxas grinned once more as soon as he said the word 'boyfriend'. He was so happy, and Sora was not going to ruin this for him.

Sora raised an eyebrow at him, "Just be careful, kid. I barely know Axel, so that's all I can say." Mentions of Axel (namely the "Riku's coworker" part) had brought his problems with his two best friends back to the front of his head. He leaned back against the counter again, clutching at his beer like it was going to fall out of his hand without realizing it.

Roxas rolled his eyes. "You can re-meet him as my older brother and properly scare him, if it'll make you feel better." Roxas studied his brother closer, noticing how stiffly he was standing. "Sora...? Are you okay? Oh God, did something happen? Is Mom okay?"

Sora glanced up at his younger brother, surprised, "No, no, Mom's fine!" he said, "Sorry, there's some shit going on with Kai and Riku right now, that's all." he forced a smile, "Mom's fine, she's just at work."

"Oh." Roxas sighed, relieved. But Sora didn't look so good... "What's going on? Are they okay?"

"Yeah, they're fine." Sora said, "Just some arguments." he lied, "It'll be fine, I don't wanna bring you down talking about it. So, tell me about Axel." He didn't particularly want to talk about his little brother's boyfriend, but anything to get the topic off of Riku and Kairi.

Roxas frowned and crossed to his brother, hugging him tightly before the brunette could react. Roxas pulled back, looking at his brother seriously. "If you wanna talk about it later, you know where to find me." Roxas suddenly grinned. "Now, at least pretend to smile so I can gush about Axel under the false impression that you actually want to know!"

Sora smiled and nodded, "Alright, go for it." he said, "And thanks."

Roxas shrugged. "He's just awesome. He showed up on campus today to take me out to lunch since I cooked him dinner twice. We went to that pizza place by campus. You'll be happy to hear he was ever the gentleman: he paid for me and didn't make any moves on me besides holding my hand." Roxas blushed. "We haven't kissed yet."

Sora just nodded, not really listening but trying to make it look like he was. He was happy for his brother, he was. Really.

"Sora?" Roxas asked, having the sinking feeling that his brother wasn't hearing a word he was saying. He thought his brother wouldn't care for the details, not that he would completely ignore him! "Right, so after we ate we went and got matching tattoos. Of each other's names. On our asses."

Sora went to nod, but then snapped out of it, raising an eyebrow, "I'm not covering for you with Mom."

Roxas laughed. "Oh, so you were listening? I lied; just testing you. We didn't get tattoos. He got his dick pierced and then fucked me in the back of his car. Man, I'm gonna be sore for a week, but it was so worth it!"

Sora smacked his brother, "I might be drinking right now, but I'm not stupid, Rox." he rolled his eyes, "If that actually happened, I'll just let Mom deal with you when she gets back from work."

Roxas snickered, rubbing his head. "I promise I didn't have sex with Axel on the first date. Honestly, though, I'm surprised at you. You're sober enough to realize what I'm telling you, yet you're not pissed at the mental image I gifted you with. What, you like what you see or something? He's mine, so don't get any ideas."

Sora just smacked him again, "Just go call Hayner and squeal to him about it. I'm going in my room."

"Aw, Sora! I'm sorry! I'll behave, I promise! Besides, I already told Hayner about Axel. He didn't seem that impressed or interested. Too worried about his 'stalker', I guess. C'mon! I'll let you kick my ass at Mario Kart or something!" Roxas said, blocking the way out of the kitchen.

Sora rolled his eyes, "Come on, then, kid." he said.

XXXX

When did these chapters start getting so long? Cami here.

So, we've got chapter nine and ten finished already, which is good, because as long as we continue to stay two chapters ahead, we won't have to miss a week. But I'm going out of town in a few weeks for two weeks, and if we fall behind our two-week-ahead schedule, I dunno what we'll do.

More on that in a later update, though, I guess.

So, what'd you guys think? Let us know! :)