Sora

"Kairi, slow down! I can't even understand what you're saying!" I exclaim, trying to make out her rambling words over the phone.

"She's gone, Sora! All of her stuff... everything is gone!" she coughs out, and I can tell she's probably vibrating with energy right now.

I give her a moment to relax before I talk again. "Kairi... what are you talking about? Who's gone?"

"XION!" she shouts, and I can hear her flop down onto her bed. "When we got home today, she was just... gone! Mom says she's going to some private school in another city... that she'll be living there! What the hell happened between her and Riku that forced her out completely?!"

"Well... Roxas told me some crazy story about Riku having an affair with a guy..." I mention, knowing I probably shouldn't be telling her this. "I guess she also told Riku that she basically hates all of us, including you and Namine."

Her loud groan affirms that I shouldn't have told her. "What the hell?! Seriously?!"

"Look, honey... I'd love to gossip with you all night about how much of a bitch Xion is, but I really, really need sleep... it's like, two in the morning."

She huffs, "I miss you... why couldn't I have stayed there?"

"Because your mom was going insane all alone? You at least need to spend two or three nights a week there, babe... I miss you too, but so does your mom."

"Ugh... she'll be fine! I just need to find her a boyfriend," she says, "And hopefully one that won't turn out gay."

I chuckle, laying back in bed, "That's kinda harsh, Kai. Everyone we know is gay!"

"Well, that's why I have to find someone straight! Apparently in this town, that's gonna be difficult."

"You... have a point. Good night, baby."

She sighs, "Fine... good night, I love you!"

"Love you too."

"I feel like I've been hit with a bag of bricks..." I groan, slinking down into my chair at school. "Is it possible to still be hung over from Saturday?"

Namine giggles, "Anything is possible... that weekend was brutal! Even Riku didn't show up!"

"I'm actually kinda worried about that... do you think he made it off the island okay?" I wonder, "It can be kind of confusing if you don't know the area..."

She shakes her head, "Don't worry, I sent him a text this morning. He told me he's fine, he's just sick today."

Kairi shrugs, "I feel like he may not want to face school without Xion today..."

"Hey, if I was finally out from under that bitch, I'd be glad to show it off," Yuffie comments, grinning. Namine jabs her in the side and she yelps, "Hey! You know I never liked her, Nami! Why does it always offend you?!"

"I'm not fond of her myself," Kairi bites, crossing her arms. "She did says she hates all of us."

I hug her close to me, "Quit... she's your sister. Regardless of what she did or said, you know you love her."

She just grumbles and sinks into my arms, "Whatever..."

"Kairi, I actually wanted to talk to you about something..." I mention, looking down at her.

"After class, honey... we're gonna fail at this rate," she tells me, opening her book as the teacher starts lecturing.

I sigh, opening my own textbook, but my phone buzzes and I look at it instead.

I talked to Aerith and she agreed, as long as Kairi has no more episodes.

I grin, Thanks, Dad. I haven't had a chance to tell Kai yet, but she'll be really happy.

Good... now pay attention, you're in class!

Oh shut up... you're at work!

He's so funny when he goes into "Dad-mode" because it's just so very unconvincing.

By the time art class rolls around, I'm nearly bursting with energy. "Can we talk now, Kai?"

"Sure, Sora! Just let me finish my drawing... I'm almost done."

I grit my teeth, wishing she'd stop making me wait. "Kairi... you're going to want to hear this, honey."

"Sora, seriously... I'm going to fail if I don't turn this in today!" she shouts, her cheeks turning pink.

I sit down across from her, furrowing my brow. "Kairi... are you failing all of your classes?"

She looks up, clearly startled. "Sora..."

"All you've been worrying about all day is getting your work done and paying attention. I've never seen you act like that before... what's wrong?"

"Okay, fine... yes, I'm failing. We got a letter from the school that if I didn't pass, I'd have to repeat eleventh grade," she tells me, slinking down in her chair. "I didn't mean to fall behind, but with my episodes lately and switching classes... I just fell behind. I don't know what to do, Sora..."

I smile a little and grab her hand, "You can start by moving in with me."

"Wait, what?!" she exclaims, her beautiful eyes wide. "What do you mean?"

"My dad talked to your mom and she's letting you move in with us! If you want to, of course. We can get a nice big bed and make my room into a space for both of us. There's even a spare room across the hallway that we can turn into an office for school work!" I explain, grinning at her reaction.

She giggles and throws herself at me from across the table, giving me a big hug. "Of course I want to!"

"Good, 'cause I already ordered a new bed online... it should be here in a couple of weeks. I... got a little excited last night when Dad mentioned it," I joke, giving her a kiss on the cheek. "But finish your drawing! We can't have you failing or the whole thing is off. No more episodes either... that was the condition from your mom."

While she goes back to her drawing, I scratch at mine mindlessly, adding an occasional stroke or two. I've been done since last week already, but having the drawing in front of me always makes me doubt myself. "Hey Kai, look at me for a second," I tell her, noticing a spot I need to fix. She glances up and I hone in on her eyes, making sure I get them down just right.

"What are you drawing, Sora...?" she wonders, trying to look over the top of my easel.

"Quit, I don't want you to see!" I shout, grabbing my sketch pad and flipping it shut.

She huffs and sits back down, "No fair... then you don't get to see mine either!"

"Didn't want to!" I retort, sticking my tongue out.

She mumbles something sarcastic and returns to her drawing, sighing deeply a few minutes later. "Thank God... I'm done!" As if fate was listening, the bell rings and we hand in our drawings to the art teacher on our way out.

Riku

It's nearly midnight, and I must've checked my phone a thousand times to make sure the clock isn't wrong. I can't help thinking that I got played, that he's not going to show up and that I'm just waiting around in the dark for no reason. I don't know why I stayed behind anyways... so many things could go wrong. I could get robbed, beaten up, raped... hell, I could get killed out here! Why would a college guy want me in the first place? There's nothing special about me...

"You're here."

I nearly leap out of my skin at the low sound of his voice, turning to face him in the dim candlelight. "Yeah... uh... so are you..." I mumble awkwardly, wondering again what I've gotten myself into.

He laughs deeply, "You don't need to be so nervous, Riku... I'm not going to hurt you or anything."

Should I be alarmed that he brought that up? I ask myself, sweating bullets. "Ha ha... yeah... sorry, it's just..."

"You've never done something this crazy before."

"Exactly," I nod, leaning back against the wall. "This kinda tops everything, and I've killed a guy."

His eyes widen and he scoots away from me, "Uhm..."

"No, no! It was self defense... I was mugged a couple years ago and I grabbed his gun and shot him in the kneecap. I guess he ended up bleeding out... Sorry, that was a really stupid thing to say right off the bat. I didn't even tell my friends until Saturday night."

He relaxes a little and smiles, "Yeah, not a great ice breaker... I guess better him than you, right?"

"Well, the police told me that they found out he had this huge criminal background... so I kind of did the world a favor with that one," I explain, shrugging.

"I guess you aren't such a kid after all, huh? Surviving a mugging at gunpoint and killing a guy..."

I've calmed down quite a bit since he first showed up, but I still don't know for sure what's going to happen. "So... why did you want to stay on the island? We could've met up back in town tonight."

He shrugs, "I dunno... just felt like being alone. No chance of people stumbling in on us and ruining a good night. Back on the mainland, I always have people bothering me. My friends, Marly and Larxene, are constantly up my ass. That's why I was so far into the forest earlier. I had to lose them somehow!"

"You sound like my ex... she apparently hated hanging out with our friends..."

"Oh don't get me wrong, I love those bitches! But they don't really understand what 'alone time' is," he tells me, chuckling.

I find myself laughing too, "Oh good... I was hoping you weren't like that. Anyways, Marly? That's kind of a strange name."

"It's short for Marluxia," he says, shrugging again. "His parents are weird."

"Wait... it's a guy's name?" I wonder, my eyes wide.

He smirks, "I know, right? He kind of looks like a chick too... Pink hair, feminine features... weird thing is, he's actually straight! Him and Larxene have been together since like... middle school."

"How weird... I'd like to meet them sometime," I offer, hoping he doesn't think I'm being too presumptuous.

"Sure thing! Maybe later today I'll drag you back to our hangout," he says, grinning.

I can't help but laugh, "Do you realize some of the things you say sound a little creepy? 'No chance of people stumbling in on us' and 'drag you back to our hangout' are kind of..."

"Yeah... yeah, I just thought about that too..." he agrees, blushing a little. "You know what I meant, right?"

"Sounds like I'm not the only nervous one," I comment, smiling at him.

He shoves me playfully, "Shut up! It's not my fault you're sitting all the way over there, being all cute and adorable..."

My usual sarcastic response totally flies out of my brain and I just stare at him.

"What? Never been called cute before?" he wonders, grinning.

"Not since... well... no, it's been a long time..." I tell him, my cheeks turning bright red. "I'm not used to it..."

He crawls over and sits down next to me, leaning against the wall and facing me. "How's your ankle, by the way?"

To be honest, I'd totally forgotten about that until he mentioned it. "It... it hurts a little, but I'm fine. I think I'll recover."

"Good..." he says, smiling, "I felt really bad about that... when I saw you, I kinda... spaced out."

"Spaced out... why?" I wonder, looking up at him. I don't think I've ever met anyone taller than me, besides Axel, but he's taller than pretty much everyone.

I see him blush again and he turns away from me. "I... you were... I don't know... there's just something about you..."

"Terra... I don't understand what the appeal is about me... I'm just a high school kid who doesn't watch where he's going..."

"That's just it, Riku... I have no idea why you get under my skin so much... But here's the thing-I don't care. I like you, a lot," he says, turning back to me and smiling. "I really hope I don't sound like an idiot..."

I chuckle, "You don't... I like you too, Terra."

"Good." Before I have a moment to think, his lips are on mine again in a much less awkward kiss than our first. I should probably pull away, but... instead I find myself kissing him back, letting him push me down onto my back as he crawls over me, never breaking our kiss. "Riku..." he whispers, looking down into my eyes. "I..."

"Yes..." I whisper, and suddenly it's too late to turn back.

Roxas

For some reason, waking up in Axel's arms still makes me smile everyday, as if it were still the first time. I don't know what I did to deserve such an amazing life, but... I'm incredibly happy and content.

"Roxy, why are you licking my foot?" he asks me, his face buried in his pillow.

"I think that's Janey, Axe..." I comment, chuckling. Sure enough, when I look down I see Janey slurping on him. "I think she's hungry, I'll go feed her."

I slip out of bed, first prying his arm off of me, and head out to the kitchen to feed her. I notice it's almost dark out and jump a little. We hadn't meant to take such a long nap after school, but I guess we were both still exhausted from the weekend. "Hey, Axel? She's almost out of food," I call in to him, giving her a heaping scoop.

"Shit... didn't we get any at the grocery last week?!" he yells back, and I hear him get up.

"We must've forgotten... wanna go out?" I ask him as he surfaces from the bedroom.

He frowns, "No... I wanna go back to bed with my Roxy..."

"She's gonna be very mad if she doesn't get breakfast tomorrow... she might just snack on us!" I joke, hugging him. "If you don't wanna go, I'll run out... I don't mind."

"Rox... are you avoiding me?" he asks suddenly, making me stop dead in my tracks.

I look up at him, "What do you mean, avoiding you?"

"Since... since Saturday night... What I said, before we went to bed..."

I turn to the door, grabbing my wallet and keys, "I'm not avoiding you, Axel... we just need dog food," I tell him before walking out the door.

Axel

"He went out for dog food two hours ago, Demyx... I have no idea where he is," I say into the phone, sitting down on the couch, "I'm afraid... maybe he left me..."

Demyx sighs into the receiver, "I don't know, man... that doesn't seem like something he would do. But I guess I don't really know him too well yet, either..."

"He wouldn't... he wouldn't do that to me..." I mumble, trying to shove all of my dark thoughts out of my mind. "I'm worried about us, Dem... he still won't let me, well... touch him."

"He's probably just nervous, Axel. I wouldn't worry about it. Remember, he's never been with a guy before. It's really foreign to him. Remember the first time we fooled around? We were horribly awkward," he reminds me.

I relax a little, "Yeah, you're right... I should be more understanding I guess. It's just so frustrating... he's so cute and sexy and... it's hard to resist him."

"Ha ha, yeah... I know what you- Shit... Axel, you might wanna turn the news on..." he says suddenly, sounding funny.

"I never watch the news, Dem... Is it important?"

"Fuck... Axel, turn on the news..."

I grab the remote and turn on the local news channel, dropping my phone when I see the image on the screen.

"...was pulled from the wreckage and is currently being rushed to the hospital for surgery, in an ongoing effort to save the teenager's life. We have confirmation that the driver and front passenger of the other vehicle died on impact, while the two rear passengers survived with only minor injuries. The driver of the SUV was highly intoxicated, and hit the pick up truck going an estimated 50 miles per hour when she ran a red light as he was driving through the intersection. I'm Miranda Beckette with the news."

My heart sinks down into my stomach and I nearly fall off the couch. I'd know that truck anywhere, even with the side completely bashed in. "Roxas..." I mumble, feeling ill as I grab the keys to my motorcycle and stuff my phone in my pocket. I stumble out of the apartment and get on my bike, but then quickly realize that I shouldn't be driving in my grief.

"D...Demyx... can you come drive me to the hospital?" I sob, sitting on the sidewalk in front of the apartment. "I... I'm going to call Sora... if he isn't there, we should pick him up..."

"Of course. Zexion is with me, we'll be there as soon as possible," he tells me, hanging up.

With shaky fingers, I find Sora's number. "Hello?"

"Sora... have you seen the news? Did you hear?"

He pauses, "No... what's wrong?"

"Roxas is in the hospital... he was hit by a drunk driver... I guess he's in surgery," I tell him, almost unable to stomach the words. "Demyx is driving me over... we can pick you up on the way."

"Jesus... we'll meet you there, Dad can drive me. I'm so sorry, Axel... I can't even imagine... God..."

I let out a sigh, "I... I don't even know what to do... I'll see you there, I have other calls to make..."

Soon after I hang up, Demyx pulls up in his Mom's car and I crawl into the back seat, laying down and curling up. "I'm scared, Demy..."

"I know, Axe... it'll be okay. He'll make it through this, he will..." he tries to assure me, but through the entire half hour drive, I just sob my eyes out.

When we get there, the waiting room is like a mob scene. Everyone we know is there, even Namine and Yuffie. The only person I don't see is Riku, but I remember him being sick today so he might not have heard.

Upon seeing me, the entire group sucks me into a hug, crying and wondering why this had to happen.

"You must be Axel..." a tall man with dark brown hair says, sitting in the corner. "I'm Zack, his step-dad."

"Yeah..." I mutter, stepping out of the crowd to talk to him. "What... what happened?"

He sighs deeply, "The police told me that a bunch of girls were driving drunk in an SUV... they ran the red light right as Roxas was passing through and hit the passenger's side of the truck. If it had been the driver's side, he wouldn't be here... Anyways, he's up in surgery now. I haven't heard about his injuries, but... they were pretty bad."

I don't even know what to say... I'm too busy trying to choke down more tears.

"You... aren't just his roommate, are you?" he asks me suddenly.

I look up, eyes wide, "Uh... what do you mean...?"

"You're dating, right? You and Roxas?"

"I... I..."

He chuckles a little, "I'm not angry or upset, Axel. You don't need to worry."

Relaxing a bit, I sit down next to him. "Yeah... we're together. We weren't trying to keep it a secret or anything, but we didn't know how you'd react to him moving in with me."

"Honestly... I was a bit apprehensive about it at first, but with his mother in rehab and me at work all the time... it's better this way, him having a companion at home. I could tell immediately, by the way. The way he talks about you when he calls me... he loves you a lot."

"He... he loves me?" I wonder out loud, smiling a little.

Zack just laughs, "You should tell him you love him too."

"You think so?"

"Life is too short, Axel."

Riku

It's nearly three in the afternoon when a dream startles me awake. It takes me awhile to figure out where I am and what's going on, but when I do I relax a little.

"Terra... why didn't you wake me up?" I ask him, watching him as he sends a text message to someone.

"You seemed really tired... did you sleep at all before we met up here?" he wonders, not looking up from his phone.

I shrug, "No, I was too nervous..."

This makes him chuckle, "It doesn't matter anyways... Hey, do you maybe wanna go meet my friends...?"

I lift myself up on my elbows and look at him, "I guess so... are they still here on the island?"

"Yeah, at the hangout. Why don't you get ready and we can head out?" he says as he drops down onto the ladder of the treehouse. I had't even realized he's fully dressed again. "I'm going to go make a call really quick."

He's acting a little suspicious, but still find myself getting dressed and combing out my hair. I shove my brush back into my bookbag and sling it over my shoulder, heading down the ladder to find him.

"Terra?" I call out, not seeing him in the area. I look around for a minute before I can hear his voice.

"Yeah, he's perfect... No, no... you'll love him, I promise... Of course he's cute! Didn't you get the picture I sent you? Huh... must not have had enough service. No, I haven't told him yet... Well, I was thinking we could- yeah! Exactly. Mhm... mhm... We'll be there in about a half hour. Tell Marly and Larx to behave themselves. Well, I was thinking next weekend... Yeah... Okay... Well hey, I should go... he's probably looking for me."

When he hangs up, he stares at his phone for a long moment smiling before turning in my direction. I duck behind a tree and wander in another direction, pretending to still be looking for him. "Terra? Are you out here?"

Suddenly a strong pair of warms wrap around me from behind. "Right here, silly..." he whispers in my ear, biting at it softly.

"All done with your call?" I ask him, blushing deeply as he holds me close.

"Mhm... just letting Marly know where I am... Ready to go?" he asks.

I nod, "Sure, just let me check my phone for messages really quick." I fish my phone out of my pocket and unlock the screen, sighing when I see a couple of notifications. One is a text from Namine, No homework, I checked all your classes for you. Hope you feel better! The other is a Facebook notification about the various relationship statuses that were changed after this weekend.

"Everything okay?" he wonders, peeking over my shoulder.

"No homework today!" I exclaim happily, knowing I can stay a little later on the island if I get the chance.

"Awesome... we might just have to keep you a little longer then!" he says, practically reading my mind.

I pull away from him and shrug my bookbag back up on my shoulders. "C'mon, let's get going."

"Look out!" I hear someone shout as we come up on their hangout. She's stumbling down a large hill of sand heading straight for us, and she looks like she's about to faceplant. "Get out of the way!"

Right as she's about to slam into me, I grab her arm and yank her into my body, absorbing the force of her impact. I fall on my back and she lands on me, seemingly unharmed. After I untangle her long auburn hair from mine I sit up and set her on the sand next to me. She's so thin it takes nothing to lift her at all... Once I get back on my feet I offer her a hand and smile. "You okay?"

She flips her hair out of her face and grins at me, "Thanks to you, I am! You must be Riku, I'm Shiki."

"Oh, it was no big deal... I couldn't just let you wipe out like that. What were you doing, anyways?"

"I was up at the top of the sand pile and lost my footing... I tried to stop, but my feet just kept sliding in the sand. Thank goodness you were there to catch me!"

I shrug, "Like I said, no big deal."

"Oh but it is! Aren't you my night in shining armor?" she asks, her light brown eyes sparkling in the sunlight.

This makes me blush a little, "Uh... I guess so?"

Thankfully Terra steps in, handing her a black cat plushie that she'd been holding before we fell. "Hey Shiki... up to your usual antics, I see?"

"Oh whatever... Way to help me, by the way! It's just awesome that you would've let me fall on my face!" she exclaims, swatting at him with the stuffed animal.

"You're fine..." he mumbles, wrapping an arm around my waist. "Where's everyone else?"

She points to the other side of the hill, "At the hangout. I got bored and wandered away."

We walk around the pile of sand to find a small beach house with a few people mulling about.

"Guys! Come meet Riku!" Terra shouts, keeping an arm around me. A couple walks over to us, which I can only assume to be Marly and Larxene. He's got tinted pink hair down to his shoulders and her bleach blonde hair is slicked back besides a couple of strands. He's a lot taller than her, but Terra was definitely right about him looking feminine. She... she just looks a little scary, to be honest.

"Hi! I'm Marluxia, and this is my girlfriend Larxene! How're you?"

I shake his outstretched hand awkwardly and force a smile, "I'm good... how are you guys?"

"Oh my gosh, hi!" a younger girl exclaims, cutting him off. "I'm Raimo, but everyone calls me Rhyme!"

"Excuse her... that's my younger sister, she's only in middle school. Name's Beat," a short blond guy says, offering his hand too.

A red-haired guy in the corner seems to be ignoring us, with purple headphones covering his ears. "That's Neku... he's antisocial," Shiki says, nearly scaring the shit out of me by talking right in my ear.

After the introductions we sit down in a circle of beach chairs around a nice little bonfire to chat. "So... besides Rhyme, are you all in college?" I wonder, looking around.

"Yepp! We actually all live in a house just outside campus together, it's a nice place!" Marluxia tells me, grabbing Larxene as she walks by and pulling her into his lap.

"You should come hang out sometime, Riku!" Shiki offers, grinning, "Maybe next weekend?"

What are they planning for next weekend? I wonder, remembering Terra talking about it too. "Uh... sure! Sounds like fun. Sooo... what are you guys majoring in, then?"

"Ooh, ooh! I'm an art major!" Shiki exclaims, sitting just a little too close to me.

Beat shrugs, "Neku and I are music majors."

"I'm into engineering, and Marly is an environmental science major," Larxene says. "He loves to garden, it's so weird how everything he grows is just... perfect."

"I guess that leaves me!" Terra says, chuckling. "I'm majoring in high school level education."

"Wow... sounds awesome," I comment, smiling. I'm finally beginning to feel comfortable around them, "I've always thought about majoring in creative writing."

Shiki grabs my arm, scaring me half to death. "We have an awesome creative writing program at our school! Do you think you'll apply there?"

"Well... I still have some time, but I was thinking about it for sure."

Our chatter continues on for awhile, and before I know it the sky is turning black. "Jeez... I should get home..." I mutter, not wanting to leave. "It was really nice meeting you all, and I'll definitely stop by this weekend to hang out."

"You have all our numbers?" Terra double-checks, hanging onto my sleeve. "Do you need me to walk you to the ferry?"

"I can see it from here, Terra... I think I'll be okay. I'll talk to you later, all right?"

He nods and gives me a kiss before finally letting me go. As I board the ferry, I just can't seem to wipe the smile off my face.

Author's Note: Well! I finally got another chapter out! Hope you guys like it! :) Sorry it took so long, I was super busy with the holidays, plus I've gotten back into playing all the KH games!

By the way, if you don't know who Shiki, Beat, Rhyme and Neku are, they're from Dream Drop Distance. They appear in Traverse Town for the first time, and they're from a game called The World Ends with You. You can look them up if you're curious what they look like.

So, anybody else curious if Roxas is going to survive his accident? ;3