A/N:Yahoo! Another chapter! I seriously meant to have this up over the weekend, but I just couldn't write. But I finally finished it earlier today. Now, to be truthful (AND THIS IS IMPORTANT SO YOU MIGHT WANT TO READ THIS BIT OF MY RAMBLING) I don't know when I'll be able to update again. As I'm sure you're all aware of, Akuroku Day is right around the corner. To omage, I was going to update on that day, you know, last day of the arc and all, but what I came to find out today, is that I have an oral surgery on my fourth favorite day of the year. I will be under sedation, and I don't know what I will and won't be able to do. So what will probably happen is that I will try my very best to get the last chapter of the arc up before that day (as well as a one-shot and another story I was planning on uploading. Yeah. I was gonna go all out), but knowing me, there is a 58% chance that won't happen. So. I apologize in advance and hope that you all can find it in you to forgive me if I don't succeed. But I will be there in spirit on that magnificent day, and hope you all enjoy it. With that, on with the chapter!

Roxas POV

School was going as normal as always. And just as I had presumed, everyone was staring at me, and Yuffie was having a field day.

"I just really can't imagine you submitting to anyone. I mean, you're just a hard-ass half the time," Riku sighs as Yuffie continues to die on the couch in our chill spot backstage during lunch.

"I never asked you to imagine it," I growl, ready to smother Yuffie with a pillow to shut her up.

"Oh come on Rox. It's a big milestone," Sora says. He comes over to sit next to me so he can wrap an arm around my shoulders. "We're all happy for you and how good your relationship with Axel is going."

I'm practically seething. I cannot stand that half the school knows that me and Axel…AUGH, WHY CAN'T PEOPLE MIND THEIR OWN DAMN BUSINESS?!

"Okay, okay. I'm okay," Yuffie heaves while catching her breath.

"Glad to see you back with us," I say angrily.

"Roxas, there's no need to take that tone with me. I'm not laughing at you, or the fact you lost your v-card. I'm laughing because I know you're a private person, and the fact that the whole school knows is just hilarious!" And she's off again. If I weren't so fond of her, I swear…

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up. This will become old news quick." Maybe if I say that enough, it'll be true.

"Puh-lease," Yuffie comments. "From the man who swore never to be in a relationship? And you gave up your V to Lynch? Hayner's probably having a fucking conniption over this news. And he's probably raking in the dough, too."

"Raking in the…? Oh no. Oh no." I shoot up off the chair I was leaning back on, almost falling to the floor.

"What's wrong Rox?" Sora asks.

"I have to go! I'll be right back!" I say hastily.

"You better be!" Yuffie shouts. "Today's Tuesday, so don't you be hanging all over Lynch instead of hanging with your best buds!"

But I'm already out of the door before I can give her a second thought. Oh no, oh no, oh no, this is bad, this is so bad, please God, I know you don't support my sexual orientation, and you obviously hold a grudge against me for it from the way my life has spread like wildfire throughout the school, but please, if you've ever felt an inch of mercy, please let me be wrong about this. I mean, he wouldn't….would he?

I leave the school to go around the side, opting from cutting through the cafeteria (ha! They would have thought). Once I get to the courtyard, I can already see them, chatting. Discussing. Oh god, please no. No, no, no, no, no, no-

"Hey Roxas," Demyx greets, spotting me first. Everyone turns to say hello, and Axel gets up.

"Hey Roxy," he says, putting his hands on my waist.

"Axel." I ignore him for a second and turn to the man I desperately ran all the way here for. "Marluxia."

"Yes Roxas?" he responds sweetly. Oh please no.

"Sidebar please?" I ask. He shrugs and gets up where we step away from the group's curious eyes and ears. "Axel. Over there." I point him away from me and towards the others.

"I can't listen?" he says dejectedly, and I decline him firmly once again. It didn't really matter, but it would be easier to just discuss this with Marluxia.

"What can I do you for, darling?" he asks me.

"Marluxia. Please. Please tell me you didn't make a bet," I say gravely.

"You'll have to be specific, we make a lot of bets. Bet on what?" He looks genuinely confused, which is good. Maybe I'm overreacting.

"I'm assuming you've all heard the news?"

"The news? Oh, you mean about you and Axel fornicating? Yes, it reached our table at the beginning of the lunch period."

I mentally scream, but I've got bigger fish to fry. "Unfortunate. But more importantly. You didn't…happen to make a bet on this, did you?"

There's a pause. "Well-"

"Because if you did, I would die of embarrassment and would not be able to show my face around any of you again," I add for good measure.

"Darling, darling, calm down. I didn't issue a bet on when you and Axel got busy," he says calmly. I sigh in relief and am about to turn back to the group when he grabs my arm. "Technically."

"What do you mean…technically?" I ask. The blood has drained from my face.

"Well, we made the bet a long time ago, long before you were in the picture. And it's not even technically about you, it was about when Axel was going to play nookie again."

"Why…would you make a bet about Axel's sex life?" I ask incredulously.

"No, it isn't how it sounds. Okay, you know of Axel's previous frivolity?" he says, shaking his head.

"Yeah."

"Well, a little before he had met you for the first time, he had broken up with another pour soul to fall under the spell of 'Axel'."

"Hey! You don't see me under a spell!" I protest.

"Yes, yes, hush hun, I'm not done with the story. Anyway, Axel had a tendency to boing then bounce, and people were starting to realize that. Not that it kept them all away, but a lot more prospects were more wary. So Axel was going through a kind of dry-spell at the time. And the only reason why we knew is because he kept complaining about it to us. Jeesh, he's almost as bad as Larxene at times. Anyway, I'm getting off topic. Okay, so one day I said it was probably karma working on him, but he disagreed and swore he'd get banged again soon. He commissioned the bet. So it wasn't technically about you, specifically. You just happened to be the next person who Axel slapped bellies with."

Okay. That made sense. I mean, not some of those innuendos for the word 'sex', but about this whole situation. "I understand."

"You're not upset with us are you? Because if you are, I can call it off. It's a rule, if people are hurt by the bet, we decommission it. I'll recollect the money and-"

"No, no, it's fine. It was something from before I was even in the picture. I just hate when people get a laugh over my expense." I'm going to have to deal with Hayner somehow.

"Trust me dear, it's nothing of the sort," he reassures. "And if it makes you feel any better, Axel had a 'conversation' with the Twighlight Bookie earlier during lunch."

"Conversation?"

"He picked him up by the collar and growled at him. Or at least, that's all it seemed like to me."

My hero.

"You two are perfect for each other. Only you would be happy to hear your boyfriend so savagely threatened your classmate," Marluxia chuckles. I laugh too, because I really was happy.

"I can't help it. Axel is the greatest." I also can't help the smile pulling at my lips.

Marluxia stares at me for a few seconds before smiling himself. "I don't think people could tell you knocked mops with Axel."

"Okay, you have to be pulling these innuendos out of your ass."

"You're just giving off a really happy aura. Like, complete contentment with life. People are just assuming it was because you did the deed."

I think about this for a moment. "So you're saying…if I had just denied it…?"

"No one would have known," he finishes for me.

AaaaaaaaAAAAUUUGH!

"But what's done is done darling. Doesn't make any sense to dwell on the matter."

He was right. But what I could do is build a time machine. Go back to right before school started today where I will wait by the gates and kick Hayner right in the nads. That would surely prevent my virginity (or lack of) to ever reach the thresholds of the rumor mill. But where would I ever get the technology?

"Pray tell, how much money was made on this bet?" I ask, jokingly wondering if maybe I could make a time machine.

"Let's see." Marluxia takes out a notepad and flips to a page. "Ultimately Axel won the bet, so he got most of the winnings-"

"Wait, Axel won?" I interrupt in shock. "What did he bet?"

"Hmmm…he said a month and a half."

My eyes bug out. "Why would he bet for so long? I mean, from what I heard, he never went a week without getting laid." I realize I'm badmouthing my boyfriend, but come on. What kind of man-whore bets he won't nail anyone for another month and a half?

"Yeah, we all thought the same, which is why no one bet longer than two weeks. He assumed he'd have a loving boyfriend by then, and didn't want to rush it. We assumed he was full of bologna and was going to be in someone's pants no sooner than the day. And though his time was shorter than the truth, it was the longest out of all us. He won…" He jots a few numbers down. "$147"

Jesus Christ.

"Wow, you all really bet against him."

"Not the best odds. But I got a runner-up amount of $58!" he exclaims cheerfully.

"Are you done stealing my boyfriend from me Marly?" Axel shouts at us. We turn to see him waiting not-so patiently at the table.

"Well, let me return you before Axel does me like Hayner," Marluxia jokes.

"Nah, I doubt he would," I laugh. Marluxia goes back to his seat and I go over to Axel. He's about to get up again, but I wave him back down.

Suddenly feeling daring and loving, I go and sit across Axel's lap.

"Well, well, love. I thought you didn't like PDA," Axel comments happily. His arms had immediately circled around my waist.

"Yes, but I figured you deserved a little treat."

"For what? I don't remember doing anything." He's smiling that extra bright smile that shows off his teeth.

"A little birdie told me you beat up the Twighlight Bookie for spreading rumors around about me," I say sweetly, wrapping my arms around Axel's neck.

"I wouldn't say 'beat up', but yeah, he had it coming." I can feel him restraining himself to kiss me.

"I also heard you won the pot, congrats."

"Oh yeah. $147, in which every penny will be spent on you." Giving up a little, he kisses my nose.

"Why spend it on me? It's your money."

"Money I wouldn't have if it weren't for you." He moves to my cheek.

Well I guess that's true.

We continue our intimate talk, before Larxene speaks up. "Ugh, could you guys not? It's bad enough I lost 50 bucks today, I'd rather not barf too."

"Yeah, we know you guys love each other, but please don't love each other at the table. We eat here," Demyx complains, making Leon chuckle and Zexion shake his head.

You see, and this is the reason I don't do PDA.

I'm about to separate, 'cause I gotta head back to the guys anyway, but it seems that someone else happily does it for us.

"Axel. You don't seem to recall the talk we had about the do's and don'ts of dating my cousin," Cloud growls as he jerks us apart, practically picking me up and setting me on the ground.

"Yeah, because all of them were don'ts," Axel mutters, but shuts up when Cloud glares at him.

"Cloud, stop bullying my boyfriend," I sigh. We also had a talk. About the do's and don'ts of interfering with my relationship.

He seemed to cringe when I said that. Guess he still can't picture me and Axel going out, even though he's seen us together all the time.

"Look, that doesn't matter."

"It doesn't?" I and Axel say together. We smile at our synch.

"Ugh, stop that. Anyway, I wanted to talk to you about something Rox. You have a minute?"

"Yeah," I respond. I give him some time with Leon, and then we walk over to an empty table, out of sight of the group. "So what's up?"

"Okay. So, you know how I'm graduating this year."

Oh right, Cloud was a senior. How time flies. "Yeah. I hadn't even realized the year was coming to a close so quickly. I'm definitely coming to your graduation."

"Of course. Anyway, what I wanted to talk to you about was something else though. You see, right after I graduate, I'm moving out of my parent's house."

This was news to me. "I thought you were going to TU?"

"I am."

"So you're going to dorm?" It was kind of close to be dorming, so I didn't much see the point of that.

"No. I'm getting an apartment."

Oh wow! "That's awesome Cloud!"

"I'm going to room with Leon," he says.

"That's cool. Do Aunty and Uncle know?" I ask, with double meaning.

"Yes, they know I'm moving out, much to their disappointment. And no, they don't know about me and Leon being a couple, which would be much more to their disappointment if they ever knew."

"Cloud…you have to tell them. You can't keep them in the dark about it forever," I chastise.

"I know, I know," he sighs, running his hands through his hair. "It's just…hard. I don't have as much courage as you do on the matter."

"I think what you meant was 'I'm not as blunt as you are'. It wasn't bravery that drove me to tell them."

"But it still takes guts to put that out there, especially to our family."

"You got that right," I sigh, remembering the chaos.

"Anyway, that wasn't what I wanted to talk about either."

"Alright, but we're not done with the subject," I say.

"I'll put a pin on it." I smile at the old memory of Cloud always putting a pin on my crazy ideas. "What I wanted to tell you. Or rather, what I wanted to ask you was…do you wanna move in with me?"

Oh…Oh, my god. "Cloud…do you mean it?" I ask a little shaken.

"Of course Rox. I know your home life isn't that great, and recently its gone down the proverbial toilet. Moving in with me after the school year ends would do some good. You can go back whenever you feel ready. And once you graduate, you can figure out what you want to do, maybe even find your own place."

I think about it for the moment, and realize I would be intruding if I agreed. "Wait, but wouldn't Leon mind? Wouldn't you mind? I'd be cramping in your private space."

"I already talked it over with Leon and he's perfectly fine with it. Seriously Rox, just say yes. I want you to live with me."

"Why?" I ask seriously.

"You forget that once upon a time we used to live together. And then after a year my little brother was ripped from my arms." Cloud brings me to his chest making me almost cry at the sentiment. "I love you and I hate to see you suffer."

"But what about Sora? And what about my mom? And my dad? I doubt any of them are going to agree to this… At the very least, Sora's going to want to move too."

"I know. But it's not as easy for you since your gay, and I wish it was different. And it won't be permanently." The school bell rings, signifying the end of lunch. "Look, why don't you discuss it with them, and we'll see then."

"Okay." Before he can walk off, I hug Cloud from the back around his chest (everyone just seems to be taller than me.) "Thank you big brother. For everything."

He turns in my arms before encircling his own around me. "You're welcome little brother." He ruffles my hair and tells me to run off before I'm late. Oh god, Yuffie's gonna kill me.

…

I wasn't really planning on saying anything today, or tomorrow, or even for at least another month. It just kind of…slipped into the flow of the conversation.

"Dad, Cloud asked me to move in with him at the end of the school year," I say at the dinner table that night.

Yeah, so when I said "slipped into the flow" I meant more along the lines of "I just blurted it out".

"Why?" he asked after he had finished chewing. He hadn't even looked up, like this didn't even concern him.

"Well, he thought it might be better if-"

"You're moving in with Cloud?!" Sora exclaims.

Oh yeah, had I mentioned I forgot to relay this to Sora earlier? Yeah. But it's not all my fault, I hadn't seen much of him after lunch.

"Sora, there's no need to yell. And no one is moving in with anyone," dad chastises. "You've still got another two years kiddo, you can wait until then." He then continues to eat his meal. Well, I guess that was the end of that conversation.

"But Dad, I want to move in with Cloud when the year's over."

Mouth. You apparently didn't get the memo. Dad said no. Conversation. Over.

"And I said after you graduate, Roxas," he replies sternly.

"But Dad-"

"Enough!" he nearly shouts.

The sound of a door opening down the hall can be heard and soon mom walks into the dining room. "What's wrong? I heard yelling. Is everything okay? Is dinner not good?"

"No dear, dinner is fantastic," dad relays quickly, getting up to walk over to her. "Perfect, like always."

"But I burned the vegetables a little bit…"

"They taste great mom, no worries," Sora calls from the table, making her sigh in relief.

"That's good. I'm going to go back to bed, I'm still feeling a little tired."

"Okay dear, that sounds good." Dad waited for her to close their bedroom door before returning to the table.

"Dad, I-"

"Roxas. We're not discussing this. Eat your dinner."

My mouth finally decided to stop making things worse, and we all continue eating in silence. Sora gave me a look as he got up to clear his plate that said 'tell me everything later'.

Dad suddenly sighed as I was just finishing my food. "Maybe it would be better if you moved in with him…" he mumbled to himself.

"Huh?"

"Your mother hasn't been doing well the past few days," he says louder. "I'm taking her to the doctor tomorrow, just for precaution. And you seem adamant about this."

"What are you saying dad?" I ask.

"I'm saying…I'll think it over. It may be the best decision for you and her." He says no more and gets up to empty his plate as well. I wait a while before getting up to clear my own, and head upstairs, a little shocked. I had assumed dad would immediately reject (which he did at first) but now he's actually considering it? And the bigger question here was did I really want to leave my family again?

"Sor. I can come in?" I ask on the other side of my brother's door.

"Yeah!" I hear him call, and enter his room. He's sitting on his bed, waiting for me. I plop down next to him avoiding the numerous clothes and books littered all around. "Bro. How come you didn't tell me you're moving in with Cloud?"

I knew this conversation was going to be hard. "It's not decided yet, but he did offer."

"When? Why didn't you tell me?"

"Sor, calm down, it's not as spontaneous as it seems." I give him a few seconds to get his breathing back in order. He leans forward to listen to my explanation. "He suggested it today at the end of lunch, so I never had a chance to mention it. The reason why is because he knows about all this nonsense that's going in the house right now. And since he's getting an apartment, he felt it would be easier for me to be away for a while, like before."

"But Roxas, I don't want you to leave again," he mumbles. I grab his hand and squeeze it reassuringly.

"I know. But this will be good for mom. And for me."

"Can I come too?" he asks hopefully, like I knew he would. I sigh and wish that Cloud were here to tell him and not me.

"The only reason why Cloud asked me to move in with him is because he knows how hard it is for me to live here. It's not so bad for you-"

"It's not as perfect as it seems either," Sora mumbles.

"I'm not saying it's perfect. But I'm saying that it's tolerable. I literally was screaming and crying yesterday."

"I know…" he says apologetically.

"And I'm so thankful for everything that you've done. For fighting with me." He smiles a little finally, and I do as well. "I love you Sora. I wish we could all live together. But it's going to be hard for him to be feeding two mouths."

"I guess…" I take his other hand as well and we sit in silence for a little while. "It's going to suck without you here bro."

"It's going to suck more without you, bro." We hug, despite the fact that dad never agreed to this move yet. But the more time that passed, the more power I felt. I was getting out of here, even if he disowned me. Hopefully it won't have to go that far.

…

"So I woke up on the floor this morning, wondering if I'd been kidnapped, until I remember what happened last night," I explain to Axel the next day. We're sitting in the gazebo, after-school for a change. We couldn't decide where to head to today, so we came to the consensus to chill in our spot until something came to mind.

"So that's why your back's hurting?" he laughs. I push him but he continues to find entertainment in my pain.

"This is what I get for sleeping with Sora. The dudes a little monster," I groan, trying to crack my back.

"Well, you won't have these moments much anymore, so I say savor them while you can." I had told Axel about the Cloud-move-in thing, and he agreed that it's a good idea. He also went on to say moving in with him would be better (his mom wouldn't mind, would, in fact, be thrilled), in which we argued about the pros and cons of us living together.

"You're right. But it's not even a done deal yet. Dad's still skipping it around." He could be stubborn when he wanted to. I would know. I'm the exact same way.

"But didn't you say you were going to do it anyway?"

I lie down on Axel's lap, physically exhausted from lack of in-bed sleep. "Yeah but I'd rather not have this whole thing end in family-turmoil. I can just imagine us now."

Axel runs his fingers through my hair. I love when he does that, it's so soothing. "Any ideas on where to go?" he asks.

"Nope, but right here's sounding pretty good," I coo. He chuckles and continues his tirade.

"I know I really want to see the sunset," he offers.

"Mm, that sounds cool. How about we-"

My phone starts ringing. I groan, not wanting to sit up.

"Here love." Axel passes me my phone, and it's a number I don't recognize. "Do I even want to answer this?"

"It might be important," he points out.

Not getting up, I answer it. "Hello?"

"Hello, Roxas?"

… "Mr. Orfanos?"

"It's my daughter…she…Xion's gone!"

Important indeed.

See you all on Akuroku Day! (Or thereafter)