As Demyx flipped through TV channels, he glanced at Zexion, who was sitting next to him, "Just lemme know if there's something you want to watch."

Zexion shrugged. "Whatever you choose will be fine."

Demyx nodded, "Well, still." he said, flipping through a few more before finally settling on something and glancing at Zexion for approval.

Zexion smiled at him, shifting a little closer.

Demyx smiled back.

Cloud walked in and sat down into one of the chairs, glancing at the TV. "What're you guys up to?"

"Relaxing." Zexion stated.

Demyx nodded as well, "Not really sure what we're watching, though. Was the only reasonably good thing I could find on TV."

Cloud nodded. "That's usually the case. So what do you want for your birthday this year, Zex?"

Demyx glanced over at Zexion, "When's your birthday?" he asked, surprised.

"November 18. This Thursday. And you know I don't need anything, Cloud." Zexion said.

Cloud rolled his eyes. "I asked what you wanted, not needed. Why do you still fight it? You know we're all going to get you something and celebrate another year of having you around."

"And you know that I don't need presents or a party to be happy." Zexion retorted.

Demyx was silent, formulating ideas and pulling thoughts together even as Cloud and Zexion bantered.

"We do it for fun." Cloud said. "Don't you like having fun with us?"

Zexion sighed. "Do we have to have the same argument every year?"

"Yes." Cloud grinned. "It's a tradition of ours by this point - why break it now?"

Zexion smiled and shook his head. "Demyx? Are you okay?"

Demyx smiled, "Yep, I'm fine." he said. "Mind if I steal Cloud for a minute? I have to ask him a question."

Zexion frowned. "Why can't you just ask him now?"

"Because it's about your birthday and has to be a surprise." Demyx winked, "We'll be two minutes."

"You don't have to do anything for my birthday!" Zexion protested. "It's just another day."

"Well, it's the first birthday I'm spending with you." Demyx reminded him.

"Yes, but-" Zexion started.

Cloud cut him off. "C'mon, Dem. We'll be right back, Zex, promise." Cloud stood and headed for his room. Zexion looked panicked as Demyx stood up to follow him, foot tapping on the floor anxiously.

"I'll be right back." Demyx promised, before following Cloud to his room.

Cloud closed the door behind him. "You've got about two minutes before he starts seriously panicking out there."

"I know." Demyx said, "Did you guys have anything planned for his birthday yet?"

"Not that I know of. Why? Got an idea?" Cloud asked.

"Yes, but..." he frowned, "I don't know if you guys will go for it."

"Are you thinking older or younger? Because for his sixteenth birthday, Axel hired a clown." Cloud smirked.

Demyx laughed, "Nice. I was thinking we could maybe take him to The Happy Funtime Place." he said, "But I don't know how well Zex will do with the crowd of kids there." he added, as an afterthought. "What do you think? It's not like we can rent the whole place out or something..."

Cloud grinned. "That's a great idea! We haven't been there yet... And of course we can rent the place, it'll be more fun that way and won't embarrass him as much."

"How can we rent the place?" Demyx asked, surprised.

Cloud gave Dem a look. "You really haven't been here with us that long, huh? Ax, Larx, and myself all have unlimited credit linked to Zex's fortune. His parents think if they give him access to this huge amount of money, it can replace them actually getting involved in his life. So, we use the money for household things but also for wild and fun things like this. He didn't have a childhood, we're making it right now."

Demyx smiled, "Awesome. That sounds great, then." he said. "Thanks, Cloud."

"I'll let the others know. Man, Axel's gonna love this!" Cloud laughed. "You'd better get back to Zex before he passes out from worry."

"Right." Demyx nodded, "Thanks again, and just let me know what I can do."

"Once we get him there, try to make him enjoy himself instead of just watching us." Cloud suggested. "We'll cover everything else."

Demyx nodded, "Alright. Can do. Thanks." he said, before slipping out of the room and heading back down the hall to where Zexion was waiting.

Zexion sprang up from the couch. "What took so long, I thought you only had one question?"

"I was only gone a few minutes." Demyx said, amused.

Zexion blushed lightly and murmured, "It felt longer."

Demyx smiled at him, "Come on, let's figure out what it is we're watching." he said, walking over and sitting back down on the couch, pulling Zexion down next to him.

Zexion's blush darkened but he gripped Demyx's hand, not letting him let go. "O-okay."

Demyx smiled again.

Zexion let his gaze drop to their intertwined hands, stomach flipping. He hadn't pulled his hand away! Smiling, he glanced at the blonde before trying to focus on the TV.

XXXX

Axel really hated his job. He was contemplating how much he hated his job as he left it, but his thoughts were interrupted by his cell phone ringing. Pulling it out, he flipped it open, "Mmm?"

"Demyx had a brilliant idea for Zex's birthday - The Happy Funtime Place." Cloud said without preamble.

Axel paused, "Seriously? That's perfect." he grinned, all hatred for his job pushed to the back of his mind.

"Yeah, so either you or Larx will have to rent the place out for his birthday - it's this Thursday, in case you forgot. Also, throw Dem's name on a couple of the presents - kid can't afford anything right now and I told him I'd take care of everything as long as he got Zex to actually participate instead of just watch." Cloud explained.

"I'm not the one that forgets birthdays." Axel reminded him, "I'll swing by on my way back to the house. I've gotta grab Roxas anyway, and both places are in that direction."

"Sounds good. You bringing Rox back here or going out?"

"Haven't decided." Axel said, "Do you want me to bring him back there?"

"Whatever you want. I just peeked out into the living room, though, and Demyx and Zexion are on the couch. Holding hands. Should we - wait, are you driving?"

"Nope." Axel answered, "Heading to Larx's car. Should we what?"

"Does he even know about gay sex ed?" Cloud asked bluntly. "It's not usually taught in schools and I can't imagine anyone ever telling him. He's sitting on our couch freaking holding hands with Dem. Our Zexion! Plus those two share a room! And they're only kids, for god's sake. If they do any... experimenting, I don't want either to get physically hurt."

Axel coughed, "Have to say I did not expect that to be what you were going to ask." he laughed.

"Yeah, well, I didn't want to be the one to bring it up, either! I didn't exactly get 'the talk', you know, and I'd rather Zex not be bedridden for a week!" Cloud snapped.

Axel smirked, "Alright, alright, one of us will talk to him. Though if you think Dem knows anything more than Zex, I'd venture a guess that you're wrong."

Cloud sighed. "Good luck getting Zex to let him out of his sight long enough to talk to him."

"You grab Dem, I'll grab Zex and we'll explain in different rooms at the same time?" Axel suggested.

Cloud snorted. "You'll have to drag him kicking and screaming, unless you can come up with a really good excuse. But yeah, that'll work. God this is awkward."

Axel laughed, "It's not like we can sit them down in front of a sex ed tape or something. Well, I guess we could, but we'd probably have to lock them in the room and put the TV behind glass so they couldn't turn it off."

"I'm sure they'd find a way to turn it off. Or at the very least, simply face the other way."

"Right." Axel said, "Alright, I'll grab Rox, stop by The Happy Funtime Place, and then we can drag those two into two different rooms and give them the talk."

"...Bring some beer." Cloud hung up.

Axel laughed again, stuffing his phone back in his pocket and climbing into Larxene's car, driving to Roxas's. Parking in front, he headed towards the door and rang the doorbell.

Riku opened the door. "Hey, Axel. Looking for Roxas?"

"Yep." Axel nodded, "Hey, Riku."

"Him and Sora are in the kitchen. C'mon." Riku said, closing the door behind the redhead and leading him into the kitchen, hugging his boyfriend. "Look who I found."

"Axel!" Roxas smiled. He was wearing his apron and cleaning up what seemed to be a rather large baking endeavor.

Axel smiled back, "Hey."

Sora nodded, "Hey, Axel."

"Want a cookie? Or a muffin? Or a brownie?" Roxas asked.

"The cookies are still my favorite." Riku smiled, taking a bite out of the one Sora was currently eating.

Sora sent a dejected look at Riku, "My cookie..." he frowned.

"I'll eat anything you made." Axel said, "Actually, mind packing some of that up and bringing it with you? I have a feeling we'll need it." he said, thinking ahead.

"Sure. But who are we bribing with it?" Roxas asked, getting out a bag and packing some of the desserts up.

"Hey, leave some for us!" Riku protested before squeezing Sora. "Sorry, they're just so good... And you get to eat them all the time..."

"We're distracting employees and then bribing Zexion." Axel said.

Sora glanced over at Axel, "Are you guys committing felonies again? 'Cause you've done a lot of that lately."

Axel laughed, "Nah, not this time."

"What felonies?" Roxas asked.

"The whole kidnapping thing." Riku answered.

Roxas rolled his eyes. "I wasn't kidnapped. Also, that's only one thing, so you should have said 'felony' instead of 'felonies'."

"Nah, we also let Demyx live with us for awhile when it was illegal." Axel shrugged, "So, we've just been doing illegal things back to back."

"You know, I really don't think it's a good idea to be declaring all the crimes you've recently committed in your boyfriend's kitchen." Riku commented.

Roxas snorted. "Right, well, I guess I'm going to commit some crimes with Axel. Will you bail us out of jail, Sora?"

"I already said that what we're doing today isn't illegal." Axel chuckled, "Unless Zexion ends up murdering me."

"Of course, let me clarify: if Zexion kills Axel, will you bail me out of jail for killing Zexion?" Roxas asked, rolling his eyes.

Sora laughed, "No, because Zexion's lawyer will kick my ass."

"Meanie." Roxas stuck his tongue out at his brother. "Just for that, I'm not bailing you out for killing Riku's murderer!"

"Whoa, who's murdering me? Why do I have to die?" Riku demanded.

Sora laughed, leaning into Riku, "No one's killing you on my watch, don't worry."

"Good. I'm glad someone in this room will protect me and doesn't want me dead!" Riku pretended to shudder, holding Sora closer.

Sora laughed again.

"Okay, don't eat all the food while I'm gone! I'll be back... whenever. I'll call you, okay?" Roxas said to his brother, grabbing the packed food and moving to take Axel's hand.

"Yep, sounds good." Sora nodded, "Have fun."

Roxas smiled. "We will."

Axel squeezed Roxas's hand, "Ready, then?"

Roxas nodded and waved to the two in the kitchen as he and Axel left his house and climbed into Larxene's car.

"Okay, we've gotta go spend a shitload of money at The Happy Funtime Place, and back to my place. Sound okay?" Axel asked Roxas as he started the car up.

"Yeah, but why are we going to a kid's play place?" Roxas asked curiously.

"We're renting it for Zexion's birthday." Axel answered, "He didn't really... get a childhood, so Cloud, Larx, and I are pretty much forcing him to be a kid now. Which means things like this. This was Demyx's idea, though."

Roxas laughed. "That's so awesome! When's his birthday?"

"Thursday." Axel answered. "Thus the shitload of money part."

"All right... But why are we potentially bribing Zexion with my desserts?" Roxas asked.

"I think I'm gonna hold off on telling you that part until we're there so that you can't refuse." Axel grinned at him.

"I don't even know how to respond to that except to say ut-o." Roxas laughed, shaking his head.

Axel smiled, "I'll make it up to you later, I promise."

Roxas smirked. "I can't wait."

XXXX

Hayner sighed and stuffed his hands into his pockets as he aimlessly wandered around campus. He had an hour to kill before Olette was done with class and they could head home, and he just didn't feel like working in the library, not when it was so nice outside. The air was cold and he couldn't feel his nose, but that was just how he liked it. Shuddering a little in the wind, he made his way to one of the fields, intending on finding a place to sit for a while and enjoy the cold, when he stopped, spotting the by now familiar figure of a certain blonde walking past. Moving towards him, Hayner waved. "Hey."

Seifer turned, "Oh, hey." he nodded. Eyeing Hayner's bare arms, he frowned, "You're astonishingly bad at remembering to wear a coat." he commented.

Hayner rolled his eyes. "I told you, I like the cold."

Seifer just shook his head, "Right, right."

"Ah, sorry, but I left your jacket at home..." Hayner blushed lightly. "I'll try to remember it next time." He shivered again, feeling more of the cold now that he'd stopped moving.

Seifer rolled his eyes, "Just keep it." he said, pulling off the one he was wearing and tossing it to Hayner, "But I want that one back once you remember to wear the other one."

Hayner caught it and threw it back at him. "I'm only getting cold now 'cause I stopped moving. I don't need your jacket."

Seifer raised an eyebrow. "Well, put it on anyway." he said, tossing it back.

It smacked into his face and Hayner growled, "You did that on purpose!"

Seifer shrugged, "Should've kept it the first time." he smirked.

"I can't take this - what'll you wear? Especially since I forgot the other one. Don't be stupid." Hayner threw the jacket back at him again.

"At least I'm wearing long sleeves." Seifer said, "I'll be fine. You, on the other hand, are going to freeze. And then die." Seifer said, throwing it back at Hayner for the third time.

"I will not!" Hayner snapped, catching the damn jacket again. "And I won't be out here much longer - you, on the other hand, will need your jacket for the rest of the day, doing... whatever it is you have to do." He threw it back to the other blonde.

"Going to class." Seifer answered, "Where it's heated." Seifer said, tossing it one more time, "Take the fucking jacket before I force you into it again."

Hayner threw it back at him and spoke without thinking, "I'd like to see you try."

Seifer shrugged, before lunging forward and grabbing Hayner.

Hayner twisted out his grip before taking off, laughing. He ran off the path and around confused students, glancing over his shoulder to see Seifer close on his heels. Laughing like an idiot, heart racing, he veered onto one of the fields, his turf. He poured on the speed, doing another quick check behind him, surprised to see Seifer not only still there but gaining on him. Reaching inside himself for a burst of speed, he taunted, "You'll never catch me, old man!"

Seifer just smirked to himself and sped up, pulling on reserves he hadn't had to worry about since high school when he'd been on the track team for three months. (They'd kicked him off for not coming to practice.) Lunging forward, he tackled Hayner to the ground.

"Shit!" Hayner cursed, tumbling to the ground and somehow ending up underneath Seifer. Both were panting and as Hayner slowly regained his breath, he blushed, realizing the position they were currently in. Seifer's breath was ghosting his face and he shivered, it having nothing to do with the cold ground beneath him, blush deepening as he stared up into light blue eyes.

Still regaining his breath (he hadn't been GOOD at track), Seifer spoke, "Ready to put on that jacket now?"

It took Hayner a minute to realize Seifer had said something. Turning an impossible shade of red, all he could think was, 'He smells better than his jacket'. "Wh-what?"

Seifer sighed, "The jacket, Hayner. The jacket I chased you all the way out here to force on you. Ready to put it on?"

"Y-yeah." Hayner managed to answer.

"Good." Seifer said, getting off of Hayner and standing up before offering the younger blonde a hand to help him off the ground.

Hayner stared at the hand before cautiously taking it, letting Seifer pull him to his feet.

Once Hayner was standing again, Seifer handed over his jacket.

Brain finally restarting, Hayner took it, realizing how cold he was. He shivered, trying to pull the jacket on and getting the sleeves twisted, struggling for a few minutes before sighing in defeat. "Why does the world hate me?" He muttered.

Seifer chuckled, walking around so that he was behind Hayner and untwisting the sleeves, helping him into the jacket.

"Thanks." Hayner muttered, hugging himself, inhaling that intoxicating scent again.

Seifer checked his watch, "I should probably get going soon or I'll be late to class."

"Right." Hayner nodded. "Are you on campus tomorrow? I'll bring your other jacket plus this one."

"I told you to keep the other one." Seifer said, "But yeah, I'll be here from noon 'til four."

"When do you wanna meet up?" Hayner asked.

Seifer shrugged, "I'll be in the courtyard around 2, if you'll be here."

"Yeah. I'll be there." Hayner nodded.

"Sounds good." Seifer nodded, "See you tomorrow." he waved, heading towards his class.

"Right." Hayner watched him walk away before sitting in the grass, a bubble of almost hysterical laughter bursting out of him. "It's a date. Oh god." He put his head in his hands.

XXXX

Axel walked into the living room of the house, eyes falling on Demyx and Zexion before he sighed, glancing back at Roxas, "Hey, meet me in the kitchen?" he asked.

Roxas gave him a look but shrugged. "Sure. Hi, Demyx, Zexion." The blonde waved, heading for the kitchen.

Zexion smiled. "Hi, Roxas."

"Cloud around?" Axel asked the two younger boys.

"I think he's in his room." Demyx answered.

"Right. Thanks." Axel said, heading down the hallway, mentally planning things. Knocking on Cloud's door, he sighed. No way they handled this was going to be easy.

Cloud opened the door and sighed. "That was fast. You rent the place?"

"Yep." Axel said, "That part was easy."

Cloud nodded. "Yeah, I figured. So, got any ideas? I think Zexion's got a death grip on Demyx."

"Like I said before, grab them and pull them in opposite directions. Roxas made brownies, they might help." Axel said, "He's waiting in the kitchen."

"What'd you tell him about this?" Cloud asked.

"Absolutely nothing." Axel answered, shrugging.

Cloud snorted. "Well, am I to assume you'll be talking to Zex alone, then, and Rox is the reinforcement in the way of baked goods for after his brain explodes, or are you just going to throw them both into the room and see how they react?"

"I'll talk to Zex." Axel rolled his eyes, "But yes, Roxas is reinforcements. Can you handle Dem by yourself?"

"He'll probably think it's about Zex's birthday at first, so yeah. I think so." Cloud nodded.

Axel nodded, "Alright. Let's get this over with."

"Did you remember to get some beer?" Cloud asked.

"Yep." Axel nodded, "Roxas has it in the kitchen."

Cloud sighed. "All right. No point in stalling." He gestured the redhead out of his room, leaving the door open as he'd be dragging Demyx into it shortly.

Axel nodded, following him into the living room.

Cloud glanced at Axel before clearing his throat. "Dem? Could I talk to you for a sec?"

Zexion squeezed Demyx's hand. "Alone again?"

Cloud nodded.

"You won't miss him." Axel promised, "I have to talk to you anyway, Zex." he said.

"About what? My birthday again? This is getting a little absurd." Zexion muttered, clearly not happy.

"Just come on." Axel said, not sounding too pleased about it himself. Grabbing Zexion's arm, he tried to drag him as nicely as possible towards the kitchen.

Demyx's eyes widened and he blinked, "Uhh..."

"Axel!" Zexion protested, yanking Demyx's arm since he refused to let go of his hand.

"It'll be for a few minutes at the most. Dem... come on." Cloud said, motioning towards the hall and his room, avoiding looking at Zex all together.

Demyx glanced after Cloud, "Umm." he said, glancing down at his and Zex's still clasped hands (or at this point, Zexion's death grip on his hand.)

Axel gave a sharp tug, "Come on, Zex. The sooner you come with me into the kitchen, the sooner you can come back out here."

"Why can't you just say what you have to say to us together?" Zexion protested, digging his heels in to avoid being dragged any further by Axel, still tightly holding on to Demyx with an air of panic.

"Zex, calm down. I'm not taking him away or anything. A few minutes, that's it." Cloud said before sending a pleading look at Demyx.

Demyx turned to Zex, "It'll only be a minute, they said." he told him, "I'll be right back."

"But..." Zexion stared at their clasped hands.

"I'll be right back." Demyx repeated, "Promise."

Zexion stared into Demyx's eyes for a minute before blushing and finally letting go of his hand. "Okay." He mumbled. Turning, he glared at Axel. "Get on with it, then!" He snapped.

Cloud coughed. "Right. Ah, we'll be right back." He led Demyx into his room, firmly shutting the door behind them.

"Come on." Axel said, dragging Zexion into the kitchen.

Roxas glanced at Zexion's face and held up his dessert bag. "Brownie, muffin, or cookie?"

"Cookie, I guess." Zexion grumbled, taking one and sitting down stiffly, glaring at Axel as he bit into it.

Axel took a deep breath, took a brownie from Roxas, and then sighed, "Let's get this over with."

XXXX

Riku grinned at Namine as she set down a few drinks onto the table before taking a seat next to Kairi. "Thanks, Nami."

She smiled at him, happy to see him and Sora looking so relaxed next to each other. "No problem."

After taking a drink and leaning back into the couch, arm over Sora's shoulders, Riku turned to Kairi. "So, how're you and your boyfriend doing? Xigbar, right?"

"Yep." Kairi nodded, "And we're good." she smiled, "Really good."

Sora chuckled, "Still not sure I believe it."

Kairi tossed a pillow at him, "What exactly is it going to take for you to believe I can be actually dating a good guy for once?"

Namine laughed at the pair of them. "Xigbar seems truly nice, Sora. Promise."

Sora just rolled his eyes again and changed the subject, "What about you and Riku's brother?" he asked Namine.

The blonde grinned. "We're doing well. Happy."

"That's good. It's still a little weird to think of you guys as together, but... I'm glad you're both happy." Riku smiled.

Namine smiled back. "We are."

Sora smiled, "That's good." he said, nodding and leaning into Riku.

Kairi giggled, "I swear, you two just ooze happiness. Like, constantly. I don't think it's possible to be depressed in your presence."

Sora snatched the pillow she'd thrown at him earlier and threw it back at her.

Riku laughed and squeezed Sora closer. "That's 'cause we are happy."

"So, Riku and Kairi both tell me you are kissing Riku, Sora. Is it amazing?" Namine asked.

"Nami!" Riku protested.

Namine laughed. "Well, I got to ask you what kissing him was like - it's only fair I ask him the same about you!"

Sora laughed and shrugged, "I don't think I'd be doing it if it wasn't." he admitted.

Kairi giggled again, "Seriously with the happiness oozing. You two are likely to give me cavities."

"I think they're cute." Namine said to her sister.

"So kissing me is amazing, huh?" Riku murmured with a grin, staring into Sora's eyes.

Sora just smirked at him.

"Speaking of cuteness and kissing... Have you kissed Xigbar yet?" Namine asked her twin.

Kairi smiled, "Yes, yes I have. Actually, right before we walked into the restaurant the other day, and it took us quite a bit to start the car after we left."

"So that's why you both looked so happy!" Namine grinned. "Well, good for you."

Kairi grinned back at her, "Thanks! Have you kissed Reno?"

Namine blushed lightly. "No."

Riku looked at her. "He hasn't kissed you yet?"

Namine shook her head. "No..."

"Well, why not?" Kairi asked, "You've been dating as long as Xig and I have."

"I don't know. I guess he wants to go slow..." Namine said, still blushing.

"He must really like you, then, if he hasn't made a move yet. He's probably afraid of screwing it up somehow." Riku said, trying to think like Reno.

Kairi shook her head, "Totally unacceptable." she scoffed, tackling her sister to the couch and wrestling her cell phone away from her before darting into the bathroom and locking the door.

Sora sighed, "Well, shit. Kairi's thinking."

"I heard that!" Kairi snapped from inside the bathroom.

"Kairi!" Namine yelled. "What are you doing?" She ran to the door, but it was locked.

Kairi just laughed, "Just go sit down, Nam!" she said, before speaking into the phone, "Hello? It's Kairi."

"Who are you talking to?" Namine demanded, before gasping. "Kairi. Please. Tell me you didn't..."

"Didn't what?" Riku asked.

"Call Reno." Namine sighed.

Kairi didn't answer, continuing her hushed phone conversation.

Defeated, Namine walked back to the living room and sat down. "I hope Reno has an understanding sense of humor..."

Riku chuckled. "He'll be fine - I'm sure he's dealt with worse than Kairi working at the bar."

Namine looked a little hopeful. "That's true..."

Sora just chuckled, knowing Kairi could be quite evil when she wanted to.

A moment later, Kairi walked back in, tossing Namine's phone to her and plopping back down on the couch.

"Please tell me you did not just call my boyfriend to demand a reason as to why we haven't kissed yet." Namine said while going through her phone's call history, sighing when Reno's number was the last dialed. "Kairi, why?"

Kairi just laughed, "I actually didn't demand a reason that the two of you hadn't kissed yet." she shrugged.

"Then why did you call him?" Namine asked, levelly looking at her sister and trying not to get angry.

Kairi just smiled at her and didn't answer.

"Kairi... if you won't tell me, I'll just call and ask him myself." Namine said.

Kairi rolled her eyes, "Give it ten minutes." she said.

Sora groaned, "Shit, you didn't."

Kairi just grinned.

Riku glanced between the two for a few moments before it clicked. "You invited him over?"

Namine put her hands on her face as she turned bright red. "Reno's coming over?"

Kairi just continued to grin.

"Nami, breathe. It'll be fine." Riku said, before pulling Sora closer for a quick kiss. "Gotta limit the kissing in front of my brother, okay?" He muttered, smiling at him.

Sora smirked, "That's fine."

Namine took a few calming breaths. "Okay. This is fine. I wasn't going to see him today, anyway, so it's a nice surprise."

Kairi scooted away from her sister on the couch. The doorbell rang and Kairi lept up, jumping over the edge of the couch that Riku and Sora were sitting on to get to the door faster.

Namine fidgeted, fingers tugging at the hem of her shirt, before she managed to make herself stop and sit still.

"Relax." Riku whispered, hugging Sora closer to him.

Kairi walked back in with Reno following her.

"Hey, Reno. What's up?" Riku asked as Namine just smiled nervously at him.

Reno shrugged, "Not much." he nodded at his brother, "Hey, Nam." he smiled at her.

Kairi hopped into a chair, curling up so she was comfortable and leaving the seat she'd abandoned for Reno.

"I apologize for whatever Kairi said to you on the phone. She doesn't know how to behave herself. You didn't have to come over here, I know you were planning on sleeping in a little before work tonight." Namine said.

Reno laughed, sitting down next to her, "No worries." he said, "I won't pass up an opportunity to see you."

Riku made gagging noises while Namine blushed lightly. "That's sweet of you to say."

Reno smiled at her.

Kairi spoke up, "So, Reno, why haven't you kissed Namine yet?"

Namine's blushed deepened. "Kairi!"

Kairi just grinned, "Well?"

Reno shrugged, "Didn't want to push her into anything she wasn't ready for."

Face burning in embarrassment, Namine stood. "Excuse me." She managed to say, before walking out of the room and quickly closing herself in the bathroom, staring at her shocked reflection.

"Um..." Riku said, glancing at everyone in the room. "Maybe I should...?"

Reno didn't answer, standing up and walking over to the bathroom door, knocking lightly, "Namine?"

"I'll be out in a minute!" Namine called, turning on the faucet to splash some water on her face in an attempt to control her blush.

"Way to go, Kairi. You embarrassed her." Riku muttered.

Kairi turned to him, "I know what I'm doing." she said.

Sora sighed, "Need us to evacuate?"

"Temporarily." Kairi nodded, "Come on." she said, standing up and gesturing for the stairs.

Riku glanced after his brother and best friend. "I don't know..."

"We'll be able to hear them if something happens." Kairi promised.

Reluctantly, Riku nodded and stood, pulling Sora up with him.

Reno leaned against the doorframe, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine!" Namine called back, drying her face and mentally cursing Kairi.

Reno didn't believe her.

Taking a deep breath, Namine studied herself. She wasn't wearing anything special, and she tugged at the hem of her shirt again nervously. Her face was still red, although not as bright, and she figured this was the best it was going to get, as she was still feeling very embarrassed. Sighing, she opened the door, blinking at Reno before smiling. "I apologize for Kairi. She really doesn't know how to keep her mouth shut sometimes."

Reno smiled at her, "Don't worry about it. Aerith used to do the same thing. She doesn't seem like it, but she's actually quite evil."

"I'll have to take your word for it, since she is one of the nicest people I know. It must be a sister thing..." Namine said.

Reno chuckled, "Well, Kairi, Riku, and Sora have abandoned us, so it seems to just be the two of us now."

"Oh." She blushed again, sighing. "That's probably Kairi's fault, too. Any ideas as to where they went? It feels wrong to kick Sora out of his own house."

"I think they just went upstairs." Reno shrugged. "Let 'em wait up there for a few minutes." he smiled.

"Okay." She smiled back. "Could we move out of the bathroom, though?"

"In a second." Reno nodded, before leaning in and kissing her very lightly. Pulling back a second later, he smiled, "There. Now your sister has nothing to complain about."

Namine stared at him. "I..." She shook her head to clear it. "I didn't want you to kiss me because of my sister. I wanted you to want it..."

"Namine, of course I wanted to kiss you." Reno said, "I just didn't want to push you into anything."

"Oh. Can we," She stared at him shyly, "Can we try again, then?"

Reno smiled, taking her hand and leading her out of the bathroom doorway, "Of course." he said, leaning down to give her another kiss.

When he pulled back, Namine opened eyes she hadn't realized she'd closed. "I'm not very good at this." She confessed, blushing.

Reno chuckled, leaning his forehead against hers, "You're perfect."

Namine's blush deepened and she moved back, shaking her head. "No. I'm not."

Reno put his hands on her shoulders, "Yes. Yes you are." he said, "I could be corny and go through all the reasons why, but I'm going to spare you the corniness and just tell you to trust me." he smiled, pulling her into a hug.

Still in his embrace, she looked up into his eyes, shaking her head helplessly. "No one's perfect, Reno. There's no such thing as 'perfect' - every person finds value in different things. So I... I'm not perfect."

"Well, you're perfect for me." Reno said, smiling at her.

"I... I haven't done anything special. You're the one who's been just amazing." Namine smiled.

Reno just smiled at her and kissed her again.

Dazed, she stared up at him, bringing her fingertips to her lips when he pulled back again. "I... you make it hard to think straight when you do that."

"Then that means I'm doing my job right." Reno smiled.

Namine blushed again (or had she even stopped?) before taking a few deliberate steps back and out of his arms. "We should probably let the others know they can come downstairs now."

"Alright." Reno nodded.

She blew out a breath. "Okay."

Reno smiled at her and squeezed her hand, "You okay?"

Namine nodded. "Yes. I'm just not looking forward to Kairi's smugness after this."

Reno chuckled, "If you want, I can leave and you can pretend we had a huge fight or something."

The blonde smiled but shook her head. "I couldn't do that to Riku. As it is, he worries what will happen if we break up."

Reno smiled, squeezing her hand.

"He doesn't seem to understand that we're both adults and wouldn't be vindictive enough to make him miserable if something happened." Namine sighed, squeezing his hand back and leaning into him a little.

Reno took his hand from her and put it over her shoulders, squeezing her, "Well, I have no plans to let that happen, so I don't think he has anything to worry about."

Namine smiled. "That's good to hear." She murmured, leaning in to him but holding up a hand when he bent closer. "No more kissing. I don't want to be dazed when they eventually come down here."

Reno sighed over dramatically, "Fiiiiine, I guess I can manage that." He sat down on the couch, pulling Namine down so she was sitting close to him, and not removing his arm from her shoulders.

Namine smiled and put her head on his shoulder, shifting closer to him and reaching for his other hand with hers, tracing idle patterns on his palm. "I suppose one of us should call up to them."

"Do we have to?" Reno asked her, "I'm pretty comfortable right now."

Namine looked up at him and smiled. "Or we could just wait for the curiosity to finally get to Kairi and them to come down on their own."

"I like that plan." Reno smirked.

XXXX

Axel groaned, letting his head fall to the table, finally finished talking to Zexion. Not moving, he spoke, "You can go back to whatever you were doing before if you want now, Zex."

Zexion stared at his half-eaten cookie, refusing to look at Axel or Roxas, blushing. "I don't even know what to say to you. Why - How - We're not - I'm leaving." Zexion stood and walked to the living room, sitting down on the couch just as the door to Cloud's room opened.

"Ah, right. Well... just, go back to whatever you were watching before." Cloud said, rubbing a hand over his face and abandoning Demyx, striding into the kitchen. "Beer. Now."

"Oh god, I wish I could have one." Roxas said, mirroring Axel and faceplanting on the table, face redder than his boyfriend's hair.

Axel didn't move, "In the fridge."

Grabbing two, Cloud sat down in Zexion's vacated chair, pushing the other at Axel. "Was that as horrible for you as it was for me? Because I think I'm going to have nightmares. Hell."

Axel didn't touch it, and just groaned again.

"Why did you decide to do this now? And why the hell did you make me stay here and listen to it, too?" Roxas demanded, lifting his head and poking Axel's shoulder.

"I'm sorryyyy." Axel whined, turning to face Roxas but not lifting his head, "It was Cloud's idea to talk to them, and I just needed support."

"Don't blame me!" Cloud snapped, taking a long sip of beer. "It's their parents fault for not doing this and making us worry about it. Jesus, they're only kids. No offense, Rox."

"I can't believe neither had had the talk yet. I got it from Kairi when I officially became a teenager. And trust me, hearing it from your boyfriend? Worse. Much, much worse." Roxas sighed.

Axel gave him a sympathetic smile and then glanced at the beer in front of his head before groaning again.

"Please don't make me sit through anything like that again." Roxas said, patting Axel's shoulder.

"Drink the beer. It makes it better. Marginally." Cloud said, taking another sip.

"I promise." Axel said, "And I don't want Roxas to feel uncomfortable since he can't drink yet and I'm not breaking more laws by letting him."

"That almost makes up for the past ten minutes. Almost." Roxas smiled. Leaning down, he kissed Axel's cheek. "Drink the beer, Ax. I don't mind."

"You sure?" Axel asked, hesitant.

"Unless you're some kind of drunk I don't want to be around, I'm sure. I'll just either have to spend the night or call Sora later for a ride." Roxas shrugged.

"Don't worry, Axel's a fun drunk. Mostly." Cloud grinned.

Axel gave Cloud a look, before turning to Roxas as he grabbed the beer, "Larx can drive you if you don't want to stay."

"What can I do?" Larxene asked, walking in, "Why do Zex and Dem look like someone made them watch gay porn?"

"Oh god." Cloud muttered, finishing his beer and standing to get another one.

"Axel offered your services as my ride home, since he's getting drunk. Unless..." Turning to his boyfriend, Roxas smiled. "Are you asking me to stay?"

"I'm asking you to stay if you want to." Axel smiled back, popping open his beer and taking a long sip.

Roxas grinned. "I want to. If you're willing to share your bed."

"I'm leaving. I'll be in my room having phone sex with Leon and trying to forget about tonight. See you all... whenever." Cloud said, taking his second can of beer and leaving.

"Always willing to share with you, Rox." Axel smiled.

"Aww, that's sweet. So, since I don't have to drive, I'm drinking." Larxene said, grabbing her own can out of the fridge and hopping into a chair, "Though you still haven't told me why Zex and Dem look like they watched really bad porn."

"Axel and Cloud decided today was the day they got the talk." Roxas shuddered.

Larxene burst into laughter, and Axel glared at her, "Shut it, Sparky. We could've made you do it."

Roxas shuddered again. "Getting it from a girl is horrible. Just trust me."

Larxene just continued to laugh.

"Changing the subject now because you two get to get drunk and I can't... Brownie, muffin, or cookie?" Roxas said, offering his desserts to Larxene.

"Ooh." Larxene grabbed a cookie, "Thank you."

"You're welcome. Axel likes to use my cooking as bribes. Oh, that reminds me. Ah..." Roxas glanced into the living room before pulling out his cell phone and writing in an empty text the group's ideas for Zexion's birthday, passing the screen to Larxene to read. "Since I doubt Cloud or Axel have half a brain left to remember to tell you."

Larxene took it, scanning the message, and then put her beer down, grinning, "Shit, that's awesome! Whose idea was that?"

Roxas pocketed his phone. "Demyx's, I think."

"Awesome." Larxene continued to grin.

"Yeah. Hey, what kind of drunk is Axel? 'Cause so far, he's just brooding." Roxas said, half-teasing.

Larxene shrugged, "Depends on the events that brought on the drunkeness. Usually he's a pretty fun drunk, but he probably doesn't have enough in his system yet."

"Hmm... Okay. You awake in there, Ax?" Roxas said, tapping on the redhead's forehead.

Axel groaned, "Yes."

Roxas rolled his eyes. " Would you rather sit here at this table still reliving those awful ten minutes, or would you rather be locking us both in your room for some... fun?"

Axel glanced at his boyfriend, "Definitely the second one." he nodded, "See you around, Sparky." Grabbing Roxas's arm, he dashed away.

Roxas laughed. "Enjoy the desserts!" He shouted, before Axel's bedroom door slammed behind them and the lock clicked in place.

XXXX

I feel like I should have something to say about the tackle scene up there, but my mind is now fully on drunk Axel. I forgot the talk was in this chapter. :D

It's Cami, by the way. Jas took my ANs last chapter 'cause a character was making me go comatose. I'm fine now, and so is the character, but you can look for that in chapter 30something.

Hope you enjoyed!