Chapter 7: Spontaneous Combustion

Roxas roughly ran his towel through his wet hair, attempting to dry it as fast as possible. Xion had called maybe ten or fifteen minutes ago, announcing that she'd be arriving at his house soon. The blond, of course, spent his free and Naminé-less day lying around and watching episode after episode of Power Rangers. Needless to say, he was very surprised to hear that the time to get ready for Club Spades came so soon.

Collecting his clothes, Roxas exited the steamy bathroom, leaving the door open behind him. He passed Sora's room on the way back to his own and paused for a double-take. A smile made its way onto his face at the sight of his brother preparing himself in the mirror. The brunette was repeatedly running his hands through his spikes as if hoping they'd spike more.

"What are you doing?" Roxas asked bluntly. Sora whipped around in surprise to face his brother.

"I'm fixing my hair!" Sora shrugged. "Kai— I mean, I learned that instead of trying to fight my hair and getting it to stay down, I'd let it be. It's part of my identity, so no more spike-squishing for me. No sir. From this day forth, I will not fight them. I will embrace them. Embrace the spikes!" By the end of his monologue, Sora seemed to be lecturing himself. Roxas shook his head in amusement. "What's with that, Roxas? I suggest you do the same!"

"Let me guess." Roxas leaned against the doorframe, pushing his hip against it to keep his towel from slipping. "Kairi said she liked your hair."

"So what if she did?"

"That's all I needed to hear." Roxas smirked. He looked Sora up and down, noting how perfect his clothes were. His black dress pants were creased neatly, and his brilliantly red dress shirt was ironed thoroughly— not a wrinkle in sight. "So is Kairi wearing red tonight?"

Sora returned his attention to the mirror, but nodded slowly. "Yes…"

"So are you two dating now or something?" Roxas asked outright. No need to beat around the bush with his brother, right?

"W-What? Of course not!" The color of Sora's cheeks would have looked rosy had it not been for his choice of wear. "We're just friends. You know that."

"Okay." Roxas pushed off the wall, but before leaving, he spoke a few more words. "I just figured something happened between you two, considering she's your date tonight."

"How did you—"

Roxas walked to his room with a laugh, closing the door behind him. He never had to ask complete questions to Sora. He found it easy to extract the information through a series of questions, a task particularly difficult for other people. Sora, though, revealed a lot with his reactions. With a cocky smile on his face, Roxas closed the door behind him and walked to his drawers.

"I told you to start getting ready at nine."

Roxas's body jumped in shock at the sound of another's voice in his room. His eyes narrowed as a giggle escaped his best friend's lips.

"Thanks for the warning." He mumbled as he pulled a pair of boxers out. "Turn around. Or close your eyes. Whatever."

Xion did both, spinning around on Roxas's computer chair to face the wall. "I don't see why you didn't notice me sitting here. Too busy patting yourself on your back, I assume." She turned around seconds later, watching Roxas flip through clothes in his closet. "Oh. Allow me." With a sigh, she stood up and walked over to him. She immediately pulled out black dress pants and a white, long-sleeved shirt. After throwing the outfit into his arms, she pulled a black tie from the recesses of his closet and turned to him with a smile.

"You know my closet more than I do. That's slightly unsettling." Roxas smiled up at her as he slipped the pants on.

"I helped you fill it and arranged it using my system. I'm amazed you haven't picked up on it yet. It's basically color coordinated by type of clothing…"

"That's more complicated than you think." Roxas joked. "I'll need a belt." He muttered as he tucked his shirt in.

"This will suffice." Roxas noticed the belt in Xion's hand when he looked up.

"Thanks." He walked around his room as he dressed himself, something that Xion used to comment on since it was an unusual habit. "You look taller."

"I'm wearing heels, Roxas." She walked over to him, fixing his collar. "I'm almost taller than you in these!"

"Correction: you're almost as tall as me in those heels." Roxas yelped when Xion pinched his arm. "Ow! We can't all be tall!"

"Well now that I'm temporarily tall, I'm going to enjoy it. You're not about to undermine it with your snarky comments."

"Snarky? It's the truth."

"Just roll up your sleeves." Xion rolled her eyes before walking back to the dresser.

Roxas laughed, but listened to the order. He quickly learned that Xion knew what she was talking about when it had to do with dressing him up. She seemed to know what looked good on her too. As he slipped on his dress socks, he took the time to observe her. The all-black strapless dress she chose to wear was fitted to her form and ended well above her knees. It was simple, yet elegant. Golden bracelets— where and when did she get those? — jingled on her wrist as she made fixes to her hair. He also noted the black heels she matched with her outfit; they looked rather painful. Was being tall really worth it?

"My feet are killing me already." Xion whined as she sat on his bed. "The night hasn't even begun and I'm ready to take these off."

"Well why don't you?" Xion looked at Roxas like he was crazy. "What? Don't wear heels if you're going to complain about it all night."

"But I look cute in them!"

"So?" Roxas grunted as he put on his own shoes. They were most likely more comfortable than hers.

"I look good in this, Roxas. I'm going to wear them."

"Stand up." She obeyed, a questioning look on her face. "Yeah, the whole ensemble looks great on you. But uh… you have no butt whatsoever." Roxas laughed, ducking under the smack that was aimed at his face.

"Oh shut up! Why do you have to follow up a compliment with that?"

"I'm just saying!"

"Well I can't help it. I'm skinny and I can't gain weight."

"I think that's the reason why so many people didn't like you at school. You being that one girl who said she wanted to gain weight," Roxas joked.

"I don't want to gain that much! Just enough to get curves, you know?"

Roxas clicked his tongue. "Oh girl, I know exactly what you mean."

"I hate you." Xion gave Roxas a light shove before sitting on his bed again. "Thankfully, I'll have Zexion around to entertain me. He'll understand my plight."

"He is the last person who would." Roxas said with a laugh. He stood up, dressed to the shoelace, and walked to the mirror to observe himself. "Am I done?"

"Fix your tie." In a moment, Xion was standing behind him, doing it for him. "It's too loose. Bring it up a little more."

"You're choking me!"

"No, I will choke you if you don't listen." The hands Roxas's brought up to prevent Xion from touching his tie dropped to his sides. Xion adjusted the tie so that it rested in the perfect position without restricting any airways. "See? That looks so much better. There are only a few occasions were loose ties don't look sleazy. Unfortunately, this is one of the cases where they do. So dress properly."

"Yes ma'am."

"Let's do your hair." Xion opened a canister of Roxas's hair product and ran it through his hair in multiple directions. "You should take your brother's advice, you know. Embrace your spikes!"

Roxas closed his eyes as he let Xion do her work. "You heard all of that?"

"Yeah. Personally, I think Kairi's right."

Roxas smiled. "You got that much out of that too?"

"Oh please. Sora's an open book. To us, at least." Xion walked around Roxas and stood in front of him, wedging his hair in place. "I wonder how your hair naturally sticks up when it's so soft…"

"I think whatever you're putting in my hair helps."

"Hey Rox— oh. Am I interrupting something?" Sora froze as he watched the weird scene before him. All he saw was Roxas standing in front of his mirror with his eyes closed and Xion running her hands through his hair. He also noted the two seemed to match. Maybe Xion was his date.

Roxas opened one of his eyes to find his brother standing just inside his room. "No. What's up?"

Sora blinked. "Oh. I was just about to say that I'm going to head over to Kairi's right now. I was wondering if you guys were ready."

"Go ahead." Xion told him without turning around. She kept her focus on styling Roxas's hair. "I'll drop Roxas off there after I'm done with him, and then you two can bring the girls over to Club Spades."

"Wait, why aren't you coming with us?" Roxas opened his other eye and stared directly at his best friend.

"Secret." Xion shrugged. Finished and satisfied with her friend's hair, Xion walked out of Roxas's room, speaking to Sora as she passed. "I'll see you there!"

"Yeah. Don't take too long, guys!" Sora quickly ran off, eager to maximize his time with his own best friend.

Roxas was rooted in place until Xion returned from the bathroom, her hands now clean. She raised a brow in question at Roxas's strange look. "What?"

"Why aren't you coming with us?" he repeated his earlier question.

"I told you. That's a secret. Now look yourself over and tell me what you think." Xion sat on his computer chair and sighed in relief from taking the weight off her feet.

"My hair is fine and I'm obviously a sexy beast. Now tell me where you're going."

"You need to accessorize," Xion countermanded. "Here." She walked over to him again, pulling out a checkered leather bracelet. "Wear this. Not only does it match your outfit, but it gives that extra flair that you need."

"And here I thought it was just because you got it for me." Roxas smirked.

"That too. But you gotta admit, you like it." Xion took a step back, her eyes widening. "Speaking of what I got for you…"

"Hmm?"

Xion returned with her black wristlet in her hand and extracted something from it. "I visited Luxord with Axel to see the club today— it looked weird being lit up and all— and they told me to give you this." It was a pass, equally as big and sturdy as a standard credit card. Instead of numbers, though, the card was decorated simply on both sides. On the face was 'Club Spades' in a unique font; on the back, a single club was followed by three spades.

"Ha. Clever." Roxas took his pass with a smile. "I guess I'm thirteen?"

"I'm fourteen." Xion flashed her own card, which was similar to Roxas's save for an extra spade. "And here. This is your pass to the Diamondheart Suite." Xion took out two cards and handed one to Roxas. It was the same kind of card as the previous one, but this time it was made to mirror a playing card from the standard deck.

Roxas noted his was the King of Hearts.

"Luxord sure has a thing for gambling," Roxas muttered. "And why is everything themed? Was this all his idea?"

"I think it's pretty neat." Xion defended the club owner. "I got the Red Joker. King of Hearts seems to be much cooler."

"Want to trade?"

"Heck no. Luxord told me to keep this one." Xion tucked her cards back inside her wristlet. "The second one will give you access to the VIP lounge. Luxord assumed that we would want to visit Axel and Demyx in the DJ's box, so he gave us that privilege for tonight. Don't lose either of those cards."

Roxas tucked both of his club passes into his pocket. "I won't."

The two fell silent as they made minor adjustments, sharing the mirror and occasionally cracking jokes. Roxas walked about his room as Xion fixed her makeup, picking up clothes around his room. He stopped when he noticed Xion staring at him through the mirror.

"We should leave soon," Xion said, answering Roxas's unasked question. "But I feel like you're incomplete. What am I forgetting?"

"I put on everything you told me to." Roxas shrugged.

Xion bit her thumb and stared hard. "What is it that I'm… oh!" Without an explanation, Xion threw the closet doors open and began her search. It didn't take long; soon she was holding a hanger with a black vest. "This. Put this on."

Roxas obeyed, slipping his arms into it. He shrugged the rest of it on and buttoned the vest up. He looked at himself in the mirror and smiled at his best friend. "A vest?"

"A vest." Xion nodded in approval. "You look perfect."

"When do I not?" Roxas smiled through the pain in his arm, courtesy of Xion's punch.

"Glad to see you so confident. Now come on. We have to meet up with that brother of yours."

"How does this look?"

"How do you look, you mean? Great, Kairi. Now stop worrying."

Naminé sighed as she brushed through her sister's hair, slightly annoyed with how meticulous Kairi was getting with her appearance. In her opinion, Kairi looked great; gorgeous, even. But her poor twin was so convinced that she didn't look good enough and cycled through about six dresses before settling on her current red one. Naminé recognized it as the same dress from this past school year's Homecoming dance. It hugged Kairi in all the right places and ruffled near the bottom, giving off the appearance of a skirt. The dress was strapless, and Kairi was delighted to find out that it was fitted around her bust more snugly.

"Is my hair alright?" Kairi asked worriedly.

"Okay, enough." Naminé placed the brush down and pulled Kairi's computer chair closer to the vanity Kairi was sitting at. "Why so hung up on appearance? Is it because you're going with Sora?"

"That does have something to do with it…"

"And you know that Sora will approve of your appearance even if you wore ripped jeans and a baggy t-shirt?"

"See, everyone keeps saying that, but I still want to look good!" Kairi pouted in the mirror.

"Well then I'll just ask the question: do you like him?"

"Of course I like him! He's my best friend. What kind of question was that?"

"I meant romantically."

At this, Kairi blushed. She had never actually said it out loud before. Kairi was quite sure she felt something for Sora, but physically saying it to another human being seemed to be another thing entirely. But this was Naminé, her sister. She could always confide in her. "I… I mean, maybe. I don't know. I'm just…"

"Kairi, just tell me. Do you like Sora?" Naminé waited for her sister's reply, but it didn't come. Her sister seemed to withdraw whenever Naminé wanted to bring it up.

And boy did she want to bring it up. Though Naminé spent the whole day painting outside— no way in hell was she going back into her studio for now— she still noticed the way Kairi walked back and forth between their rooms as she searched for a dress. It wasn't until dinner did Naminé confront the antsy nature of her sister's actions. She knew it had to do with Sora— Kairi only seemed to go into crazy mode hours after she physically said the words 'Sora is my date tonight'— but she couldn't be completely sure without hearing it.

And here, Kairi was avoiding the topic again. "Kairi? You there?"

"I've been feeling weird around him since spring break," Kairi confessed without making eye contact. "Remember the party I told you about?"

"The one where you got drunk and woke up on Selphie's living room floor?" Naminé recollected, a hint of judgment in her voice.

"Yeah. That one." Kairi continued quickly, "I didn't tell you everything. Well, I did, but not everything everything. I kind of did something stupid, and I'm pretty sure nobody saw us, so I didn't think I had to mention it since nobody knew but me…"

"Kairi, what are you talking about? Who saw who, and what did you do?"

"I kind of sort of maybe possibly made out with Sora," Kairi whispered.

The room was filled with a stifling silence before shattering like glass a few seconds later.

"What?" Naminé shrieked and shot from her chair. "You made out with our childhood friend and thought that you didn't have to tell me?"

"We were both drunk and nobody saw! And Sora doesn't remember— at least, I don't think he does— that we did anything that night. It's not a big deal, really!"

"Not a big deal? Kairi, no wonder why you're so confused! I don't know why you didn't tell me this!"

"I didn't tell you because I knew you would judge me like you are right now!" Kairi retorted angrily. "What part of drunk don't you get? I wouldn't have done that if I was all there!"

Naminé fell silent, realizing her sister was right. She was definitely passing judgment. People make mistakes. Some are more stupid than others, like Kairi's typically are, but it happened. And Kairi, in her pitifully confusing state, did not need someone to slap her hands and yell at her.

Naminé sat right next to Kairi on the vanity bench, staring at her folded hands in her lap. She mumbled a quiet apology, to which Kairi forgave rather quickly. They sat there silently, awkwardly even, with nothing to say. After what seemed like an eternity, Naminé cast a sidelong glance at her sister and asked in a low voice, "So is he as good as everyone says he is?"

"Naminé!" Kairi's face reddened faster than ever before, making Naminé laugh and retreat a few steps for safety.

"I'm just curious!"

"Well it's none of your business! And I don't remember anyway!" Kairi crossed her arms and looked away, trying to calm herself with slow breathing. In a matter of seconds, she found herself giggling, and suddenly she was laughing loudly with her sister. She shook her head, finally able to meet her sister's eyes. She knew Naminé did that just to break the tension between them. "I'm sorry for snapping at you."

"I'm sorry for judging." Naminé took her seat behind Kairi and smiled. "I just… I thought you told me everything. I guess I was just shocked that you didn't tell me such a vital piece of information. You're supposed to share all the gossip with me."

"I didn't tell you because I didn't think it meant anything." Kairi had a defeated look in her eye. "But ever since coming back here, I can't stop thinking about him. And I really was flattered when he asked me to be his date tonight. I just… I don't know. He's been my best friend for so long. And, hypothetically, if we were to start dating, then poor Riku would be the third wheel."

Naminé didn't know what to say to Kairi, or how to handle this situation. She couldn't imagine what Kairi was going through. So she went with whatever came to her mind first. "Well first off, I doubt Riku would care if the two of you dated. And second… I'd rather you date Sora than some other guy…"

"Really?"

"Yeah. I don't need to remind you about those two losers you actually dated—"

"Please don't."

"— and how I didn't approve of them one bit, but Sora… I think it'd be okay if you dated Sora. I mean, if you're going to date someone, date someone I know and trust."

"Well then I'll just come out and say it. I think I like Sora." Kairi's eyes widened as soon as the words left her mouth. "Wait—"

"You like Sora!" Naminé giggled and ran away to put some distance between herself and her twin. "You said it and there's no takesies-backsies!"

"I can definitely take that back!"

"Too bad, I called it!"

"But I'm not even sure if I actually like him!" Kairi groaned, dramatically throwing her hands up to cover her face. "I might have said that solely because you said you approve."

Naminé's smile faltered slightly— apparently Kairi found it difficult to talk about boys with her— but she didn't let it bother her. This was, after all, a step in the right direction. "Well I think you actually like him. To prove that, let me ask you a series of questions."

"I actually have to get ready," Kairi said as she tried to continue with her make up. Naminé immediately approached her and grabbed her arm, stopping her twin.

"Let's say Sora wasn't your date tonight and instead he was going with someone else. How would you feel about that?" Naminé slowly fell onto the bench next to Kairi, staring at her through the mirror. "And let's say you saw these two kissing since, as you know, Sora's kisses have some notoriety attached to them…" She observed Kairi closely as she spoke. "And let's say he's dancing with this girl, and their hands are all over each other, and—"

"Well, Naminé," Kairi interrupted, "now that you've convinced me that I'm going to be a cold-hearted murderer in the future, I would like to return to my make up."

"See? You're jealous!"

"How does the desire to kill equate to liking Sora?"

"Because the fact that you want to murder the girl is an indirect statement that you like Sora and want him for yourself— that, or you're actually a psychopath who thinks she owns another human being." Naminé shrugged with a smile.

"This whole thing turned grim and morbid a little too quickly."

"Sounds like teenage love to me."

The sound of the doorbell reached Kairi's room, and both girls immediately looked down the hallway that led to the living room. Kairi turned to her sister with pleading eyes. "Think you can get that?"

"Yup! You look like you need time to mentally prepare yourself anyway."

"Oh shut up."

Naminé jogged to the door with a giggle, delighted to see Sora standing outside through the glass. She quickly opened the door to let him in.

"Hey Naminé!" Sora greeted cheerily, pulling the blonde into a surprising hug.

"Hey there! Someone's a little excited, it seems!" Naminé laughed as she separated from the boy.

"Did Kairi tell you?" Sora asked with a smile.

"Yeah. Between you and me, she was ecstatic and giddy and all over the place as soon as you left last night."

Sora's eyes shined in happiness. "Really?"

Not really. As Naminé recalled, Kairi walked into her room like a zombie, told Naminé the news, and left soon after in her dazed state. Both reactions were good, but one was more exciting than the other. Sora didn't need to know that Naminé twisted her tale. "Oh, definitely. I've never seen the girl so excited for something in her life."

Sora was beaming. But just before Naminé started to feel a shred of guilt for adding her own details to the excited Kairi account, Sora frowned. "Hey, why aren't you dressed yet? We're leaving in a couple minutes. Aren't you coming?"

Naminé shook her head. "No, I don't think so. I spent the whole day painting and drawing outside today, so I'm pretty exhausted. You guys can have fun for me though! I don't mind."

"Naminé, you have to come!" Sora whined. "Come on. You're here for the summer, so you might as well enjoy it!"

"I don't really enjoy noisy crowded places, to be honest." She shrugged sheepishly. "Clubs really aren't my scene. I'm perfectly content staying in with a book or a movie. And maybe a bowl of ice cream."

Sora grinned, but didn't hide his disappointment. "You sound just like Roxas every time I try to make him go with me anywhere."

"Sora?"

Naminé turned around to see her sister step out of her room, a light blush gracing her cheeks when she saw her crush. Naminé discreetly stole a glance at Sora, who seemed unable to tear his eyes from Kairi.

"K-Kairi… hey," he chuckled, snapping out of his trance. "You look gorgeous."

Naminé wanted to gush, but bit her lip instead. Resisting the urge to make a comment was probably the hardest thing she had to do today.

"Thanks…" Kairi looked away, obviously flattered by the compliment. "Can I talk to you in my room, Naminé? I need help with something."

"Of course. I'll be right there." When Kairi walked into her room, Naminé turned to Sora, giving him two thumbs up. "That was smooth!"

"What was?" Sora was clueless.

"Nothing, nothing." Naminé took a good look at Sora before bringing her hands to Sora's shirt. "Here."

"Hey—"

"You look cute, but this gives you a sexier edge." Naminé explained as she unbuttoned his shirt, revealing the crown necklace that hung around his neck. "See? And now she'll see the pendant she got you."

"Oh. Thanks!" Sora was dumbfounded by the simple change.

"It was your idea, not mine." Naminé winked before leaving for Kairi's room. She saw her sister pacing along the side of her bed, nervously rubbing her hands together. "You're going to kill your feet if you keep doing that."

"What was that?" Kairi asked frantically.

"What was what?"

"That!" Kairi harshly whispered, a finger pointing in the direction of the living room. "What Sora said!"

"Kairi, honey… that's called a compliment. Those are good things—"

"Don't patronize me! I know it was a compliment, but… but didn't it come out a little too easily? It was too casual, right? He should've been more afraid to say something like that if he didn't mean that in the friendly way. But he didn't even stutter! Nam, what if I do something stupid and he doesn't like me back—"

"You're stressed because he thinks you look gorgeous?"

"Maybe!"

"Then you're overthinking things. I think he likes you back anyway. I didn't just spend all that time with him talking about the weather, if you know what I mean."

"Well what did he say?" Kairi was suddenly very interested in Naminé.

"He seemed happy to hear how you reacted to all of this."

"You told him?" Kairi groaned in mortification. "Why did you do that?"

"Just because." Before Kairi could question her further, Naminé left her room and met with Sora in the living room again. He looked up at her, surely wondering where Kairi was. "It's almost ten, Sora. Shouldn't you guys be going soon?"

"Yeah, but—" The doorbell interrupted Sora's sentence. "Oh. Speak of the devil." He ran to the door, pulling it open and allowing Xion and Roxas to step inside.

"Naminé! Are you really going to a club like that?" Xion greeted with a smile.

"I'm not really going with you guys tonight." Naminé's eyes flicked to Roxas, who was looking around the room uninterestedly. Naminé was rather surprised at the sight of him: he apparently knew what looked good on him. Not that he looks good or anything, Naminé assured in her mind.

"What? Of course you are! I already told my friends that they'd be meeting Roxas's date tonight!" Xion explained innocently.

Roxas's attention was quickly directed at his best friend. "You did what?"

"You mean you aren't going with him?" Naminé's brows furrowed in doubt.

"Nope! Riku's my date tonight."

Roxas, Sora, and Naminé were quick to react to the news.

"What?"

"Whoa, no way!"

"How? I thought—" Naminé closed her mouth. She wasn't supposed to know that Xion said she wouldn't go as Riku's date.

"Yeah, I am." Xion shrugged. "I'm going to head over to his house right now, and we'll leave from there."

"Wow. I thought you were going with Roxas like Naminé did," Sora said.

"I didn't know we were required to bring date,." Roxas said through clenched teeth.

Xion ignored the glare he was sending her and jingled her car keys. "It's not a requirement. I just told Luxord what to expect from us, that's all. Now I apologize for cutting this short, but I really gotta go. Hopefully Riku will be ready as soon as I arrive."

"Xion—"

"I expect to see all of you there!" Xion said with a smile. Her eyes, however, never left Roxas's when she spoke. "See you."

And with that, Naminé was left with the twins in her living room. Sora seemed shocked, but didn't seem to pay it any mind. Roxas, however, glared at the door Xion had closed behind her.

"Ready to go?" Kairi came out of her room, a small red purse in her hand. She looked around the room, noticing how weird everyone was acting. "Did I miss something?"

"Nope!" Sora tucked his hands behind his head. "But I think we have to wait for Naminé to get ready. And I don't mean to rush anyone, but I offered to take Hayner and Olette. Partly because I'm their friend, and partly because Olette knows the way to get there…"

"Oh. Don't let me hold you up. Six people won't fit in your car anyway. You guys can go on ahead." Naminé crossed her arms, brushing any protests away. "Seriously. I don't feel like going anywhere today."

"Nam…" Kairi started.

"Just go. All of you. I'll be fine here."

"Well if you're sure…" Sora turned to his brother and best friend. "Shall we go?"

Roxas was first to reply. "Go. Take Kairi. I have to… I'll wait here for this one." Roxas nodded in Naminé's direction. Sora looked conflicted, but nodded.

"Well, I guess we'll see you guys there," he said slowly.

"Nam, I really hope you change your mind." Kairi and Sora left through the front door; Roxas closed it as soon as they left.

Naminé again found herself alone with Roxas. A long silence passed before either of them did or said anything.

"Well? Aren't you going to get ready?"

Naminé looked up, offended. "Didn't you just hear me say that I'm not going?"

"I'm not taking no for an answer. Get yourself ready or go like that."

"I'm not going anywhere. Go by yourself." Naminé walked past him, dropping onto the couch and turning on the TV. "Just tell everyone that I'm not feeling well."

Roxas walked over and stopped right in front of her, obstructing her view. He stood over her, his blue eyes glaring at her. "Why are you being so difficult? Is it because I'm the one asking you? Well sorry that it's not Kairi or Xion, but that doesn't change the fact that you have to go."

"I don't have to go anywhere," Naminé said in a low voice, standing up and staring up at Roxas. "And it doesn't matter who tells me that. Neither Kairi nor Xion. I'm staying here tonight. If you want to leave, go. I'd gladly lend you my car since you're so intent on getting there on time. Now, I'd appreciate it if you got out of my way. I'm trying to watch a movie here."

Roxas's eyes narrowed; neither of them was backing down. Finally, after what seemed like minutes, Roxas relented. A satisfied smirk formed on Naminé's face.

"Fine. Stay here and watch."

"I will, thank you." Naminé watched as Roxas stalked off, but frowned when he didn't go out the door. Instead, he walked into the hallway that led to her room. "Hey! Hey!"

Roxas ignored her, walking past the bathroom. Naminé only managed to catch up to him when he reached her room.

"I thought you were going to watch a movie," he said simply.

"What are you doing here? This is my room!"

"I'm taking it upon myself to pick something for you to wear while you watch TV."

Naminé was burning with anger. The audacity of this boy was starting to piss her off big time. The last straw was drawn when he threw the closet doors open.

"Stop! Get out!" she yelled. Roxas turned around, seemingly unaffected by the volume of her voice. "I was having a great day— the best day of this whole vacation so far— because I didn't have to put up with you at all! And within minutes of arriving in my house, you manage to piss me off! Just what the hell is your problem? Why won't you just accept the fact that I'm not going to your stupid club tonight? I don't like that kind of stuff, so sue me! But don't you dare go through my stuff without my permission, and don't you dare push me around like I deserve it!"

"You want to know what my problem is?" Roxas asked in a low voice. "My problem is you. Contrary to your own beliefs, I was enjoying my day too. But that all changes when I realize how stupidly spoiled and uncaring and selfish you are!" Roxas's voice rose to a yell. "You think I'm doing this to piss you off? Of course you do, because every action of mine is done solely to get a reaction out of you. Because I don't do things unless it annoys Naminé, right!"

"I didn't—"

"Well here's a reality check: you're not the center of my universe. We're not telling you to come because you're the life of the party, but you apparently seem to think so. No, Xion is telling you to come because it'd mean a lot to our friends, who worked his ass off to get where he is! But you wouldn't know the first thing about that, would you? Being that everything was handed to you, you don't understand anything about how tough it is to get noticed!

"Maybe I'm stupid. I'm stupid for thinking that maybe, just maybe, you would understand that when you're trying to get in the spotlight, every ounce of support counts. Your sister and all of your friends get this-maybe you would too! But I was wrong. You've always spent your time in the spotlight. Everyone at your school knows who you are because of your parents. Everyone in your town probably knows who you are too. The connections that you need are probably already there for you."

Naminé was stunned into a silence. Across from her, Roxas's eyes seemed to pierce right through her. The boy was breathing heavily, shaking slightly as he tried to calm himself.

"Do you think I'm the kind of person who goes out partying every weekend?" Roxas asked quietly. "I hate this stuff. It's overrated. It's noisy, everyone's sweaty, and I can't stand some of the people that go there. But my best friend asked me to come because he was worried that nobody would show. He also told me and Xion to bring as many people as possible. I'm going and sucking it up, even though I'd rather be at home right now. And everyone else, thankfully, agreed to go. But I guess you're above them, right? Because you're Naminé and you never have to do what you don't want to.

"Stay and watch your movie." Roxas's voice and breathing had returned to normal. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and walked out of her room. "I'll just get someone to pick me up."

The door to Naminé's room closed, leaving the blonde alone as she requested. But Naminé found that she wasn't satisfied. She simply stared at the wall of her room.

She thought that his words shouldn't have bothered her. He was always mean to her, so it shouldn't have been a surprise. She was supposed to move on and ignore them.

But Naminé found herself hurt. And if she was being truthful to herself, she'd admit that his words stung. It's not that they were true— were they? — But she saw something else in Roxas's eyes when he yelled at her. It wasn't anger, either. Almost every time he looked at her, she saw that in his eyes. But this time, there was something else in his eyes that really tore right through her.

Disappointment.

Why was that there? As far as she knew, Roxas never thought highly of her. Why, then, did he look at her like she let him down?

Whatever the reason, it bothered Naminé more than anything he'd ever said to her before. She found that she wasn't even mad; all she felt was sadness. Like she really did drop the ball for someone she cared about.

"Why…" Naminé whined to herself, "I don't like you, I don't care for you, and I don't ever listen to you… why do you still get to me?" She groaned as she stared at her open closet.

Was she being a brat? She really didn't think so. She was no friend of Roxas's, so why should she care— why was she even obligated— to go to that club when she didn't want to?

She blinked as the truth hit her. The real reason why she was adamant on not going was because Roxas was going.

Kairi could have easily convinced her if they were home. Hell, Kairi convinced her to come here.

She really was resisting because of him.

She was going to go. She didn't think she was being selfish about it though. In her mind, Roxas was still the bully. She had the right to stay at home if she wanted, and to tell her friends 'no' when she pleased. But she knew it was wrong to rob herself of a potentially decent time with friends. And Roxas's best friend did say that every person counted. Grabbing her towel and a few clothes, Naminé walked out of her room and threw the objects in the bathroom. After turning on the water to let it warm up for her shower, she looked around her house for Roxas.

He was nowhere in sight, but the front door was unlocked. Naminé walked out and found him standing in the driveway, holding his phone.

"Hey," she called out to him, her voice a little hoarse. He was completely surprised that she was there. "Don't call for a ride. We can take my car."

"Forget it, you don't have to—"

Naminé didn't give him time to say anything. "I thought about what you said… and I still think you're an asshole, but you were almost right. Sit somewhere inside and wait. I'll be ready soon."

She didn't even wait for a reply. Instead, she walked straight back into her house and prepared herself for a night out.

Absolutely nothing was said on the car ride to the club. Granted, Roxas was itching to make a comment on how "I'll be ready soon" meant "have fun waiting in the living room for half an hour" but decided against it. She did, after all, agree to go.

He was thankful for that. Partly because he had convinced her to help fill the crowd, and partly because she saved him from making an apology.

In truth, Roxas felt terrible after yelling at Naminé like that. As soon as he left the room, he knew he crossed the line. It was one thing for someone else to tell him that he was being too mean; it was another thing entirely when Roxas himself thought he was too mean.

He hadn't even made a call to Xion for a ride. He actually went outside to catch some air, cool his head, and suck up his pride to apologize. But she surprised him by finding him. And before he could stop her to apologize, she went and told him she'd go.

So he guessed he didn't have to apologize.

He still felt a little bad about it though. Just because he managed to convince her to go didn't mean that his words weren't uncalled for. But she didn't seem to bring anything of it up, so he wouldn't either. This was working, this silence. She didn't have to talk to him and he didn't have to talk to her.

So when he got out of the car, he only said what was necessary. "Stay close to me."

Roxas seemed to take a stutter step when he realized how that sounded. He paid it no further thought and instead walked up to the club entrance. As expected, there wasn't a line.

Naminé did as Roxas requested and followed right behind him. It was well into the night, and Naminé could hear the loud music blaring from the innocent-looking building they were approaching. A single club and a spade decorated the top left corner of the building; besides that, it looked like just another white building, lit by the dull orange of the nearby streetlamp. A large, muscular man was standing at the entrance, his arms crossed and bulging from his shirt. He wore a similar outfit to Roxas's, minus the vest.

"Arriving fashionably late, I see," the man said.

"I was caught up with things, Lex," Roxas replied coolly.

"Of course. This your girlfriend?" Naminé blushed when the man looked at her expectantly.

"N-No. She's not," Roxas replied.

"Your date, then?"

Roxas's face reddened. "No, not really."

The large man shook his head. "Shame. Guess she'll have to wait outside then."

"Wait, Lexaeus." Naminé watched Roxas pull a card from his wallet. "Fine. She's my date. Can we go in now?"

The muscular man seemed satisfied. "Feel free."

Naminé merely stared when Roxas looked back at her. She assumed it was a signal to follow him inside, so she did. As soon as the door opened, the loud music made its way to her ears. After she and Roxas passed the black curtain just inside, she paused in shock.

The club was filled with other teens, many of whom Naminé didn't recognize. The large group of people were dancing and gyrating on the dance floor, lit only by the moving and flashing lights as a familiar song blared from the speakers. Naminé couldn't find a single person she knew, so she was forced to follow Roxas. He seemed to be leading her to the bar.

The long bar was situated along the wall to the left of where they entered, and the dance floor was but a few feet away on the right of the entrance. Tall bar stools with spade-shaped seats lined the wooden countertops; only a few were vacant. Roxas walked straight to the open areas.

"Hey kiddo!" Naminé heard an older man greet Roxas as they arrived at the bar. She focused her eyes on the bartender, her eyes widening when she noticed his eye patch. Like the bouncer outside, he was dressed simply in a black tie, white shirt, and black slacks. He deftly juggled a bottle of liquor in his right hand. "Been waiting on our last VIP member. You want a drink?"

"A non-alcoholic one?" Roxas asked with a smirk. "Sure." He turned around, noticing Naminé's fearful yet curious gaze. He turned back to the bartender. "Xigbar, can you make that two?"

"No problem!" Almost immediately, two drinks slid straight into Roxas's hands. "There you go. Nice of you to finally show up!"

Naminé moved closer to the bar, taking the drink that Roxas wordlessly offered her. She sat on one of the stools next to Roxas, leaning in to listen to his conversation with the bartender.

"Was it always this crowded?" Roxas yelled his question over the loud music. Xigbar shook his head.

"Doll showed up half an hour ago with a party bus filled with you kids. Her date seems to be quite a big deal."

Naminé had a feeling the bartender was referring to Xion.

"Tch. Sure he is," Roxas said. The normal tone of his voice was buried under all the noise. "So it's been good so far?"

"As if! The dancing didn't start until about fifteen minutes ago!" the bartender filled two more glasses and sent them down the bar to a waiting teenager. "I thought the whole thing was a bust when a bunch of kids were standing around like they'd never seen a dance floor before. Good thing Axel and Demyx know how to get people on the floor. I thought Larxene was going to throw a fit."

"She's here?" Roxas asked.

"Say cheese!"

Before Naminé and Roxas could realize, a bright flash of light temporarily blinded them. Naminé blinked past the white dots plaguing her eyes and found a blond woman standing with a camera in her hands.

"Ugh, what the hell?" Roxas rubbed his eyes.

"Suck it up, you baby! I got a nice picture of you and your girlfriend here. I'll have it up in a few days after I've had enough time to make fun of it!"

Since Roxas seemed to act casually with the woman, Naminé assumed it was the Larxene girl they were talking about earlier. "What are you, the club photographer? A warning would have been nice."

"Candid shots are the way to go." The blonde turned to Naminé this time, looking at her as if sizing her up. "You the shrimp's girlfriend?" Naminé quickly shook her head. "His date then?"

Naminé didn't know what to say to that. She was and wasn't at the same time. So she looked to Roxas to answer for her.

"For tonight, I guess she is." He didn't even bother to look at her when he said that. Before she had the chance to confront him about it, someone had placed their hands over her eyes.

"Guess who?" Naminé recognized Xion's voice and pulled her hands over her head. "You came!"

Naminé returned the hug that Xion gave her. "Yeah, I thought I'd uh… show my support for someone I don't really know," Naminé finished weakly.

"Well thank you! That really means a lot to Roxas and me." Xion turned to the bartender. "Xigbar, can we get two shots of what little alcohol you have in stock for tonight?"

Xigbar laughed before taking a bottle from under the bar table. "Thought you'd never ask. I was starting to question why we gave some of our VIP cards to kids."

When he finished, Xion took the filled shot glasses and handed one to Naminé. "I hope you can hold your alcohol. Do you drink?"

"I can, but isn't this illegal?" Naminé asked, looking around to see if anyone was looking at her.

Xion shrugged, a mischievous glint in her eye. "Don't you drink anyway?"

Naminé smiled. "I guess." The two clinked their shot glasses together before gulping it down. Naminé's face contorted in disgust. "Whiskey?"

"Not your favorite, it seems." Xion giggled. "Why don't you find yourself a table? I want you to meet someone, a friend of mine. I think you'll like him."

Naminé nodded warily, unsure of whether Xion was meaning to set her up with someone or not. "Sure, let me—" She looked around, but she didn't see the boy who was just sitting there seconds ago. "Where'd Roxas go?"

"Probably up to the DJ's balcony." Xion pointed to an area over the dance floor that was covered with tinted glass. "Don't worry about him."

"I wasn't worried." Figures. He ditched her. Naminé got up, spotting an open table on the far end of the room. "I'll be over there. Don't take long, all right?"

"I'll be right there!" Xion walked off, seemingly straight into the crowd of dancing teens. Naminé went in the opposite direction, hoping that the area she was heading toward was a little quieter.

Roxas stared at the door labeled 'Diamondheart Suite'. He pulled out his wallet, taking out the other card Xion had given him earlier today. It didn't have any barcode or black strip on it at all, so Roxas did the only thing he could think of: he waved the card in front of the door handle and, to his surprise, it opened.

He walked into the room, relieved to find a refuge from the noise outside. The Diamondheart Suite was a large white and red room, intricately decorated and themed to fit the motif that was Club Spades. The suite was placed so that it oversaw the dance floor; Roxas figured that he was staring through a wall of one-way glass since he didn't realize what it was from the outside. Directing his attention to the room occupants, he was surprised to find only one person inside. Like always, he was buried in yet another novel, sitting with one leg crossed over the other on a couch.

"You would come to a club to read a book," Roxas teased as he walked toward the boy just a year older than himself. "Nice to see you, Zexion."

Zexion lowered the book that was held to his face and looked Roxas in the eye— or at least, the one eye that wasn't covered by his dark hair. "Roxas. Pleasure seeing you again."

"Of course." Roxas shook the outstretched hand. "Why are you in here?"

"Because I can be. It's the only place quiet enough to not only read, but have a conversation without yelling." Zexion shrugged as if it were obvious. "You might find this shocking, but I actually don't want to be here."

Roxas grinned. He should have expected sarcasm. "Yeah, I know what you mean." Roxas looked around the room, finding a set of double doors that separated one wall of glass from another." Are Demyx and Axel in there?"

"Yes." Zexion nodded in affirmation. "Axel was looking for you. I suggest you let your presence be known."

"Way ahead of you." Roxas opened the door that led to the DJ station. Both of his friends turned around as light flooded into their small quarters.

"I was wondering if you were going to show at all! That would have been mean, my best friend standing me up and all." Axel took Roxas's outstretched hand and pulled him in for a man-hug.

"You definitely had us worried." Roxas repeated the action with Demyx. He wasn't as close to the other DJ, but considered him a friend nonetheless. It'd be a lie to say that he didn't hang out with Demyx often in the past.

"I had a couple things to deal with before arriving. Sorry I was late." Roxas patted both guys on the back as he looked down into the dance floor.

"You didn't miss much. Everyone was standing like cows until we practically begged them to get going. Your brother was the one who actually led the crowd."

"Pretty brave of him." Demyx nodded in approval. Roxas watched Demyx bring one side of his headphones up to his ear and smoothly transition from one song to the next. "I just hope people remember our names when they leave tonight. That shouldn't be much of a problem since the alcohol is limited to the adults and VIPs."

"Is everyone here?" Roxas asked. He thought he had an idea who the adults might be.

"Nope. You probably saw most of them. Xaldin is here somewhere, acting as indoor babysitter. He must be bored out of his mind." Axel chuckled to himself as he prepared something on his laptop. "Luxord left as soon as the place was filled. Besides that… I think that's everyone. Everyone you didn't see, at least."

Roxas nodded, searching the crowds for a familiar face. After scanning for a few minutes, he managed to locate his brother and Kairi in the dead center of the crowd, dancing too intimately to be considered just friends. He spotted Hayner and Olette nearby, and soon picked out Selphie, Ven, and Aqua from the crowd. He was a little glad to find that it was difficult to spot his friends; the only reason why was because there were so many people he didn't know.

"So do you guys just let the music play or something?"

"Oh! Thanks for reminding me." Axel picked up a microphone, bobbing his head to the music as he waited. As soon as he fell into the rhythm, his voice reverberated from the speakers. "Club Spades, how ya'll doing tonight?" a loud cheer rang out, making the balcony vibrate from the volume. "That's right! You know you love it! What do you guys say we pick things up a bit? DJ Demyx, can we get a faster beat?"

"Let's do it…" Demyx sped up the current track, preparing for an ease into the next song.

Axel nodded again, speaking in rhythm to the song. "All right! This is DJ Axel and DJ Demyx for Club Spades! Let's go everybody, hands up! Hands up! Hands up! Hands up!"

Roxas felt a chill run down his spine as the crowd fed off Axel's energy. He could feel the change in atmosphere, and a smile made its way onto his face. He knew people down there were having fun. "Nice one." He fist bumped Axel and Demyx.

"What can I say? I've got the swag and the charisma. I do it like a boss." Axel shrugged. "We've got a whole night to party away."

Naminé blanched as the room grew louder. The table she found was more like a rounded booth; she had to lean outward to see the crowd of jumping people, most of them with their hands in the air. Some mouthed or sang the words to the song; others seemed completely lost to the music.

Just as she was beginning to wonder when Xion was going to return, she noticed the small girl pushing her way through the crowd. Behind her, a very reluctant-looking boy followed behind her, probably against his own will. Naminé noticed Xion's hand encircling the boy's wrist and how he seemed to cringe from the volume of the speakers.

She quickly assumed that he, like her, did not want to be there.

"Naminé!" Xion bounced as she got closer. "Look who I brought!"

Naminé smiled weakly as the two filed into the opposite side of the booth. She waved to both of them. "Hi."

"Naminé, this is Zexion. Zexion, this is Naminé. She's Roxas's date for tonight." Xion explained. Naminé blushed under the hard gaze of the boy.

"Is that so?" Naminé had to lean forward to hear the question.

Naminé blushed, but shook her head. "Not really. We just came together."

"Yeah you did!" Xion said. Naminé cackled. Zexion shook his head in disgust, prompting another reaction from Xion. "Oh come on! You know you found it funny!"

"And to think I actually entertained the possibility that you'd leave me alone tonight…"

Naminé looked back and forth between the two. She assumed that it was the dynamic of their weird friendship, considering the small smile on Zexion's face. "So are you here to show your support too?"

"You mean to say that you noticed I was having a fantastic time here?" Zexion's brow rose when he caught Xion staring at him with puppy dog eyes. "Oh for crying out loud… a fabulous time here."

Xion squealed, clapping like a seal before she tightly embraced the boy. "You always knew how to make me happy!"

"When you're happy, you tend to leave me alone," he responded in monotone.

Naminé found herself smiling at the exchange between the two. She was rather confused; the way Zexion spoke showed he seemed to harbor a lot of ill feeling toward Xion, but the smile on his face told otherwise. It was a strange, almost one-sided kind of friendship. She really didn't know what to make of them.

"You look a little confused." Xion laughed at the look on Naminé's face. "As my only gay friend, I've declared Zexion to be my sassy gay friend. Admit it. You wish you had one."

"There is absolutely nothing sassy about me. And I'm sorry that I don't fit that profile… wait. I'm not sorry at all. Tough luck."

"See? He's so cute when he's snappy like that." Xion made a motion to pinch his cheek, but her hand was swatted away.

"I don't know how Roxas puts up with you for more than five minutes a day," he responded with a defeated sigh. He then turned to Naminé, who was forced to watch the strangest friendship she had ever encountered. "Speaking of Roxas… shouldn't you be with him right now?"

Naminé shook her head. "I don't think that's a good idea. I'd rather be here than around him."

Zexion looked at her quizzically, but didn't ask any questions. "Alright then." He turned to Xion, "Would you kindly get out of the booth? I'd like to return to the suite, and you happen to be in my way."

"Not gonna dance with me?" Xion asked with a sultry smile.

"Who are we kidding? You know I hate you," he replied casually, sliding out after her. "Naminé, it was a pleasure meeting you. I'm sure we'll meet again."

"Y-Yeah. See you later." Naminé nodded timidly. She watched Zexion walk off.

"You don't hate me! You just root for the other team!" Xion yelled at him through cupped hands. She smiled widely when Zexion turned to grin at her. "Ah, I love that guy…"

"I don't know whether or not that feeling is mutual."

"No, he loves me too. He's just shy. When we first became friends, he was always trying to push me away. We never dropped the act, but he's come to my rescue on more than one occasion." Xion shrugged. "Well, since he's not going to dance with me, will you?"

Naminé immediately retreated back into her seat. "Um, no thanks. I'm fine here, really."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah. I'm not much of a dancer, so I'll just sit here. I'm having fun, so just—" The blonde felt herself being pulled from her seat.

"Too bad! I'm not taking 'no' for an answer! Come on!"

Naminé didn't utter another word of protest as Xion dragged her straight into the crowd of dancing, sweaty people.

"And I thought it'd be a really cool idea to get a DJ duel going." Demyx explained his future plans to Roxas, who could only nod in half-understanding. "See, I thought those silent rave ideas were awesome, so I thought instead of separating the rooms by type of music, why not just play on two frequencies, Axel on one and me on another, and see which one people like more?"

"That sounds pretty cool. That way you could notice who's winning and the other DJ knows when to adjust their music." Roxas nodded.

"Yeah! And we'll have a counter up to see how many headsets are tuned into each frequency. I think that'd be really cool."

"It'd look weird, seeing a bunch of people dancing to different rhythms. Not to mention the eerie silence of it all." Axel crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. "Not saying it isn't a cool idea, but just pointing out how funny it'd look."

"I think you guys should try it. You know, to see who the better DJ is between the both of you," Roxas said with a mischievous look in his eyes.

"You kidding me? I'd get crushed." Axel looked over their setup and into the crowd. "Looking good down there. Your friends seem to be having fun."

The door behind them opened, and in stepped Zexion, his book nowhere to be found. "It's awfully loud down there," he said. "You should consider turning the music down."

"You know we can't do that." Axel smirked. "Everyone else seems to like it."

"That's because everyone down there is willing to go deaf for a night of dressing up and dancing. They're all dimwits." He then turned to Roxas. "No offense to your brother and your friends."

"None taken."

"Nor your date," Zexion said with a sigh. "I met her. She seems nice."

Roxas's smile dropped from his face. "You met her? When?"

"Just now. Xion dragged me out of the suite to meet her. I managed to keep it to a minute-long ordeal."

"Wait, wait, wait. You came here with a date? And Naminé, no less?" Axel laughed in disbelief. "I thought you… you know."

"I thought I was going with Xion too, but apparently she had other plans." Roxas nodded in the direction of the dance floor. "I don't know what she sees in Riku anyway."

"Well I for one am thankful that she did. That guy walked in with like twenty people in tow," Demyx said with a smile. "Definitely helped the crowd."

"I'll be sure to get his autograph for you then," Roxas said bitterly.

"Easy, Roxas. No need to get so angry." Axel held up both of his hands. "I'm guessing Xion is the reason why you came with Naminé instead?"

"Of course."

"Mind telling me what everyone here obviously knows?" Zexion cut in. "Why is this Naminé girl such a big deal?"

Axel let out a loud laugh, shaking his head. "You mean you didn't know?" Zexion stared back at him. "Oh wow. It's a long story."

"And I've got to spend at least two more hours here. I think I have time."

Axel looked to Roxas, who merely looked at him with tired eyes. "Fine. Tell him."

"Oh wait!" Demyx picked up Axel's phone from a nearby table. "You've got a message from Larxene. 'Just took a picture of the line outside. You're doing a sexy job tonight. How about a ride on that disco stick later?' Ha!" Demyx chuckled as he read the message out loud.

"Give me that!" Axel swiped the phone from Demyx's hand, grumbling about something.

"Wow. That's pretty nasty." Roxas snickered. "Don't tell me you actually refer to your—"

"What does that even mean? What's a disco stick anyway?" Demyx asked.

"You spend your life making music for people and you have no idea what that means?" Zexion asked condescendingly.

Demyx shook his head, a clueless smile on his face. "Is it an amusement park ride? Can I ride it too, Axel?"

Zexion buried his face in his hands. "Unbelievable."

"Hello? I thought we were going to talk about Roxas!" Axel waved his hand in front of everyone, trying to get their attention.

"Well we were about to until we heard that message." Roxas pressed his lips together to keep from laughing.

"But let's talk about Roxas so I can quickly forget what just happened here." The reader of the group rubbed his temples.

The redhead rubbed his hands together. "Okay then! My thoughts exactly! I think a little history lesson is in order, so let's start there."

After dancing through a few songs with Xion, Kairi, and Sora, Naminé already felt exhausted. So when one song ended, she told her group that she'd be going back to the tables.

And despite the ache in her feet, the sweat that coated her body, and the sheer exhaustion of dancing to a fast rhythm nonstop for a good fifteen minutes, Naminé had to admit that was the most fun she'd had all day. She could have done without the loud music and the crowded dance floor, but it was still fun.

Naminé dropped into the same table she sat at before, groaning in relief as the pain in her feet subsided. She looked to the ceiling, wondering if something had happened to the air conditioning. When did it get so hot?

"Excuse me, but is this seat taken?"

Naminé looked up to find a taller boy smiling down at her. He seemed innocent enough.

"No. You can sit if you need to." She replied shyly. She hated talking to strangers. The boy sat down and slid along the bench of the table, two glasses of soda in his hand.

"You look a little tired. Would you like one?" Naminé figured she must've made a face because he laughed at her. "I promise I didn't do anything to them. I'll take a drink from both or mix them to prove it, if you'd like. Really."

Naminé was thirsty, but she was still wary of the drink. How many times had someone stupidly taken a spiked drink from a stranger? "It's okay. I can get one myself."

"Nonsense." The boy then took a sip from each drink, wiping one of the glass rims with a napkin soon after. "Take this. I'm not going to drink both of them."

Naminé looked at the glass in his hand and took it. She figured she'd be fine if she didn't drink it fast. A few sips probably wouldn't hurt. Besides, if he was out to drug her, he just drugged himself too. "Thanks…"

Naminé sat quietly with the stranger, occasionally taking small sips from the drink she had taken from him. She didn't bother to look at the guy, which she knew was awkward, but she didn't know how to handle herself around strangers. Still, it would have been rude to lie and say that the seat was taken. He looked pretty tired himself.

"So are you having fun?" Naminé whipped around to see the boy smiling at her. She nodded.

"Surprisingly, yes. I don't normally come to these places," she explained before looking away again. She heard him laugh.

"Me neither." From the corner of his eye, she saw his outstretched hand. "What's your name?"

"Naminé." She answered warily. She still took his hand and shook it. "What's yours?"

"Seifer. Seifer Almasy. "

"And that's why Roxas has been acting like a woman experiencing her first contractions for the past week and a half," Axel finished with a tone that was more appropriate for a 'moral of the story' line. Demyx slow-clapped and pretended to wipe a tear from his eye.

"I already told you that I felt bad for blowing up on her," Roxas mumbled. After Axel had finished the story, Roxas took it upon himself to explain the reason he was late to the guys. All three of his friends thought he was too harsh. The unanimous call was that he should apologize. Roxas thought he'd be absolved of the guilt he was feeling by telling them, but it only served to make him feel even worse.

"Yeah, but still. You didn't say sorry. And mean it." Axel patted Roxas's shoulder. "That was totally uncalled for. You played the guilt game on her. Now I feel awful because I feel like I was a part of the scheme."

"Me too." Demyx shook his head disapprovingly. "I mean, it's nice to have a lot of people here, and every person does count. But you didn't have to yell at her."

"Okay, okay! I get it!" Frustrated, Roxas ran his hands through his hair. "I'll say something to her when I leave here tonight, okay?"

"I'll believe that when I see it." Axel returned to his laptop, checking the time. "Wow. We've been here for two hours already. We're officially at the halfway mark!"

"The club closes at two? That's so far away…" Zexion tiredly hung his head.

"I think it's passing by fast. And Roxas, I think your brother seems to think so as well. He and Kairi haven't left the dance floor since starting." Demyx observed as he looked from the balcony.

Roxas looked down to see Sora and Kairi entwined in the center of the dance floor, surrounded by most of his friends. "They're kind of disgusting."

"Yeah, something tells me they're into each other," Axel joked.

Roxas looked around, squinting when he didn't see the girls he was looking for. "Where did Xion and Naminé go?"

All of the guys looked around the club. Zexion pointed to the far right. "There. Naminé is sitting where I met her."

"Is that…" Axel squinted and leaned toward the glass. "Is that who I think it is?"

"Seifer…" Roxas growled under his breath. "Really, guys? Who let him in?"

"Well duh. Lexaeus!" Demyx replied smartly. "How else would he get in? Someone's out to fill our stereotype, huh…"

"I mean why was he let in?"

"You act like we should discriminate against those you don't seem to like." Zexion rolled his eyes at Roxas's reaction. "It's opening night, and nobody cares about your stupid vendetta against him."

"My vendetta is anything but personal! You know how he treated Xion in the past!" His blue eyes flashed with anger.

"See, that was a contradiction in itself. I think we got the message across the first time. I mean, look, Xion doesn't seem to mind that he's around." Axel pointed to the bar. "Aww, look how happy she looks. Party boy over there seems to be working his magic. "

Roxas looked in the direction that Axel indicated. Riku was talking in Xion's ear; she threw her head back in laughter over whatever he said.

"You're staring like an idiot." Zexion pointed out after a couple seconds.

"Yeah, thanks. I didn't realize." Roxas grunted. "Does anyone want a drink? I'm going to make a stop by the bar really quick."

Demyx raised his hand. "Oh! Can you get me a—" Roxas slammed the door of the DJ booth behind him, leaving all the guys to stare in wonder. "He's not going to bring me a drink, is he?"

"Probably not."

"I've gotta say, you've got some smooth moves out there." Xion laughed as Riku offered her a drink.

"Please, no need to flatter. I already know I'm vastly talented compared to everyone else." A gentle smile formed on Xion's face as they drank together. Riku looked puzzled. "Stunned by my good looks, I presume?"

"Thanks, Riku." Xion looked around the club, happy to see so many people. "I don't know how you did it, but this is really great."

"It only happened because you agreed to come to the after party." Since Riku was speaking with his cup at his lips, he spilled his drink on his shirt as he spoke.

Xion broke into a fit of giggles. "Sexy."

Riku chuckled, wiping his shirt with his hands. "You didn't see that. I'm perfect and don't make mistakes."

"Well I did see it, actually. Are you telling me that was done on purpose?"

"Of course." Riku cleared his throat and narrowed his eyes. "I don't always spill my drink; but when I do, it—"

"It's on purpose," Xion finished for him. Riku rolled his eyes.

"You ruined it." He picked up a few napkins and wiped at his shirt. "Is it stained?"

"Don't be silly. You're wearing a black shirt. Everyone will just think you sweat a lot."

"Well I'm glad I chose to change and match you then." Riku smirked. Xion felt her face grow warm and was forced to look away.

As she kept her gaze away from Riku, she noticed Roxas walking along the fringes of the dance floor. His face told the story: he was somehow pissed off.

"Riku, why don't you dance with the group? Or tell Sora and Kairi to take a break. Whatever is better."

Riku followed Xion's gaze and nodded. "I guess I should." He slowly got up and walked into the crowd, disappearing behind the moving bodies of the dancing teens.

Roxas arrived at the bar, a hard look etched into his features. He loudly ordered a drink from Xigbar before acknowledging Xion's presence. "You seem to be having fun."

"I am. I wish I could say the same about you though." Xion looked at Roxas worriedly. "Something wrong?"

Roxas turned around from where he was looking to look her in the eye. "Are you okay with him being here?"

Xion looked over Roxas's shoulder to see Seifer sitting at Naminé's table. "I honestly didn't know he was here. But he hasn't done anything to me, nor has he approached me. He hasn't done anything since you and the guys had a talk with him." She looked up at Roxas, who was staring back at the table. "You?"

"I don't trust him," Roxas replied simply.

"Well why did you come here, then?" Xion smiled. "It's not me you're worried about."

Roxas whipped his head around to glare at his best friend. "It's not like that."

Xion sighed, staying silent when Roxas turned and craned his neck to look at the two conversing teens at the far table. "Of course not. You just happen to—"

"Something's wrong." Roxas suddenly tensed. He got out of his seat and glared in their direction. "I'm going over there."

"Roxas—" Xion reached for Roxas's shoulder, but she missed as he walked away briskly. She immediately called the bartender. "Xigbar, call Xaldin over right away. I have a feeling Roxas is about to do something stupid."

Naminé was actually growing tired of Seifer's presence. He'd somehow drawn her into a conversation of superficial proportions, but she never warmed up to someone so forward that quickly, much less one who wasn't associated with one of her own friends. Still, she didn't want to make the guy feel bad. She smiled, talked back, and even laughed at all of his jokes, including the ones that weren't really funny. So she didn't really like the guy, but the least she could do was be polite. The guy just loved talking about himself, which wasn't as uncomfortable as it was draining.

That all ended when he asked her a weird question.

"So what do you say you and me head out of here and grab something to eat or something?"

Naminé blinked in surprise. She was flattered, really, that someone was actually asking her out, but she wasn't in the mood. She still wanted to be polite, so she threw on a smile and asked, "Is that even possible? It's past midnight. I doubt anything would be open this late."

Seifer laughed, scratching his head in embarrassment. "Right. My bad. Completely slipped my mind." Naminé smiled weakly at him. "Well why don't I take you home? To your house, of course, not mine. I promise I don't bite. You look pretty tired."

Naminé shook her head. Her heart was beginning to race out of nervousness. "Uh, I'm okay. I have friends that I came here with, and they'll take me home. But thanks for the offer." She looked to the dance floor, getting ready to slide out of the round booth, when she felt a hand encircle her wrist.

"Wait. Sorry, sorry. I didn't mean to scare you like that." Naminé noticed that Seifer had come around the table to sit next to her.

"You d-didn't." She smiled forcefully. "I'm just going to—"

"Stay seated here with me," he finished before holding her down. His grip tightened around her wrist, causing her to wince in pain. "Sit,"he commanded.

Naminé desperately looked around the club, only spotting the back of Roxas's head at the bar. She had no choice but to slide back into the booth. "That hurts…"

Seifer smiled, indicating that he either didn't hear her or completely ignored her. "See, I'm really glad that I don't scare you. For a second there I thought you were going to leave." He leaned in close to Naminé's face. "But I didn't just waste fifteen minutes of my life talking to you just to watch you walk away from me."

Naminé inhaled sharply when she felt Seifer's other hand on her thigh; she knew that it was hidden under the table. "Please, stop…" she whimpered.

He dug his nails into her thigh, causing her to wince in pain. "Don't you dare utter a word. We're not through until I say so." He smiled when she bit her lip in pain. "Good. Now, here's what we're going to do. You and I are going to walk out of this club together, seeing as how we've just found out that we had so much in common in this conversation. If your friends ask you where you're going, you're going to lie to them and say that I'm taking you home. Are we clear?"

"Something tells me that she isn't really into you, Seifer."

Both Naminé and Seifer looked up to find the owner of the voice. Naminé's heart was pounding in her chest to see Roxas standing at the table.

"Roxas… fancy seeing you here. Is there a reason why you're interrupting this lovely conversation I'm having with my new friend?" Seifer smiled innocently, slowly releasing his death grip on Naminé's thigh. She visibly let out a shaky sigh of relief.

"You mean my date?" Roxas took Naminé's hand. "Come on."

Seifer quickly grabbed Naminé's opposite wrist. "Whoa, now! Your date? If that were the case, what was she doing here sitting all alone?"

Roxas glared daggers at the older boy. He didn't bother answering the question. "Let. Her. Go," he snarled.

Seifer frowned. He looked over Roxas's shoulder to see the bartender staring him down. He released Naminé wrist. "Tch. Fine, have it your way. You think your friends scare me?"

"They should, but I think I'm more than you can handle." Roxas locked his eyes with Seifer's. "If I see you anywhere near her again—"

"You'll what?" Seifer replied cockily. Naminé slowly slid out of the booth, allowing herself to be pulled behind her unexpected savior. "You gonna hit me, chickenwuss? Please. You don't have the balls." Seifer slid out of the booth behind Naminé, staring Roxas face to face before turning his attention to the girl again. "I feel sorry for you. A pretty girl like you stuck with a guy like him?" He raised his hand to brush her cheek, but it was quickly swatted away by Roxas.

"Don't you fucking touch her," he said in a low voice. Naminé shrunk back, seeing Roxas shaking in anger.

"Whoa! You know you'll get kicked out if you hit me, right?" Seifer laughed in Roxas's face. "Control yourself, Roxas. You don't want to embarrass yourself in front of everyone, do you?"

"I'll give you five seconds to walk away," Roxas said in a low voice.

"Empty threats, empty threats." Seifer shook his head, walking past Roxas. As he was leaving, though, he spoke to Naminé one more time. "Call me." She yelped when Seifer spanked her as he passed.

A fist immediately connected with his smirking face, and Naminé watched in horror as the boy crumpled to the floor.

Roxas was blinded with rage. Before he could kick that stupid face in, two broad arms wrapped underneath his own and hauled him away, his struggles seemingly useless. Then he felt a large hand fall over his mouth as he was pulled out of the club through a back exit. He was roughly thrown onto the ground.

"Let me go!" he yelled at the larger man. "Get out of my way! I'm gonna kill that prick!"

"Quiet, Roxas!" Roxas barely recognized the voice as he was roughly grabbed by the upper arm. "I said quiet!"

Roxas pulled himself out of the man's grasp. "How could you do this, Xaldin? You saw what he did! You—"

"I said quiet," Xaldin said in a dangerous voice as he grabbed Roxas by the collar. "That's enough, Roxas. It's over."

Roxas, breathing heavily, glared back at the man who restrained him. After a couple seconds, he roughly shoved his way out of Xaldin's grasp. "You saw what he did." Roxas gasped out between breaths. "He touched her. He deserved that and more."

"Let it go, Roxas!" Xaldin commanded with his arms crossed. "The boy is unconscious. His nose is broken, so as soon as he wakes up he'll be kicked out and head straight for the hospital."

"The hospital? Just let the guy rot." Roxas growled.

"The last thing Luxord needs on the opening night of his new venue is your childish drama," Xaldin barked. "Go home, Roxas. It's over. The boy will be handled."

"But—"

"Go home, Roxas," Xaldin commanded. Roxas stared adamantly at the bulky man before sighing in defeat.

"Fine. Whatever." He turned on his heels and stomped off, heading for the parking lot. His heart was still beating rapidly from the exchange. He was, however, thinking more clearly after calming down a bit. All of his senses were beginning to turn to normal, save for the ringing in his ears.

"Roxas!"

He turned around to see Xion standing at the entrance. Naminé was standing beside her, a large coat wrapped around her shoulders. He quickly ran over to them.

"Are you okay?" Naminé asked worriedly. Roxas blinked in surprise before nodding.

"I'm fine, just got kicked out. Whose jacket is that?"

"Xigbar's. He says to return it the next time we see him," Xion explained. "Naminé understandably doesn't wanna be here anymore."

"I'll take her home."

"I'll go with you guys—"

"No, it's okay. Stay for Axel." Roxas interrupted. "Go back inside. Does anyone know about this?"

"No. the only ones who do are the few people who were around. Everyone else was too busy dancing."

"Good. Let's keep it that way," Roxas murmured. "Tell Kairi though. Let her know everything's fine and I'm handling it."

"I can come with you," Xion offered again.

"Xion, don't worry about it. I got it." Roxas tried to use a gentler voice with her. "Go back inside."

Xion knew she wasn't going to convince him. "Fine, I'll go back inside when you guys drive off. Call me if you need anything from any of us though. I swear we'll be right there."

"I know." He nodded before turning to Naminé. "Come on." He placed a hand on her back and led her to the car, not saying a word.

The first few minutes of the ride were quiet. Roxas had calmed himself considerably, finally feeling the ache in his knuckles. He wasn't thinking straight when he punched Seifer; sure, he still deserved it, but Roxas knew that it could have been handled better if he hadn't acted so impulsively. Still, he was quite satisfied with his work. A broken nose when Seifer woke up? It was the most deserved present he could leave the guy after what he did.

Roxas looked over to Naminé, who had sat still and quietly all throughout the ride. "Are you okay?" he asked quietly.

Naminé looked at him in surprise. "Y-Yeah."

"He didn't hurt you, did he?"

"Nothing that hurts now." Naminé almost whispered. She caught Roxas gripping the steering wheel tighter. "Why did you do it?"

"Help you?" Naminé nodded. "Because you needed it."

"I thought you hated me." Her voice was so soft it was almost lost.

Roxas shook his head. "I don't hate you, Naminé. I just… I don't know what to make of you. I can't stand you." Roxas struggled to explain. "But even so… nobody deserves to go through what you had to. I may not like you, but I'm not the kind of guy who'll stand by and let things like that happen to you."

A minute of silence passed between the two.

Roxas surprised both of them when he chuckled. "I really don't get you at all. Anytime I do something to annoy you, you always seem to have an answer. No matter how many times or how many ways I make you angry, you have something to throw right back at me. It's like no matter what I do, you always come right back, fists flying. But tonight… I don't get it. Some douchebag comes onto you and you freeze. It's like every ounce of the strength you constantly show me suddenly disappeared."

"I didn't know how to react." Naminé replied lowly. "He was a stranger. But you… I've been dealing with you all this time."

"Guess you have," Roxas said with a sigh. He carefully pulled into the driveway of Naminé's house. He delicately led Naminé into the house without a word passing between them. He followed her to her room; he knew she didn't need any help walking, but he felt that he should stay close.

Naminé turned on the light to her room, shrugging off the jacket the bartender had lent her. She turned to face Roxas, looking him in the eye. "Roxas, I… thank you. I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't showed up."

Roxas was completely taken aback. He couldn't fight down the small smile that formed on his face. He didn't know why he smiled; perhaps because it was the first time he saw Naminé genuinely express gratitude. "It's nothing. He shouldn't have been able to lay a finger on you." He turned around to leave the room.

"Wait." Naminé called after him. Roxas froze in his tracks, but didn't turn around. "Don't leave. I-It's already late, so just… just stay here for the night."

She watched him nod, half turning to look at her. "Of course. I'll be in the living room if you need me." He walked down the hallway, disappearing behind the wall where the living room was. Naminé closed her door, but left it open a crack. She didn't know why she told him to stay; it was instinctual. Perhaps she didn't want to be alone after what had happened.

Naminé quickly changed into more comfortable clothes, noticing that her hands were still shaking slightly. She curled them into fists, hoping that it'd help her calm down. She closed her eyes and breathed slowly, opening them slowly to slip into bed. Using a remote, she turned off her light; she could still see, though, from the sliver of light that spilled into her room from the cracked door.

She squeezed her eyes shut and curled into a ball, trying to get a hold of herself. Calm down. She told herself. Go to sleep now. You're safe, Naminé. You're safe.

Within the hour, Namine slipped into sleep. Down the hall in the living room, however, was a different story.

Roxas lay awake on the couch, staring at random objects in the quiet house. The TV was on, playing something on a low volume, but Roxas hadn't been watching. His thoughts had been plagued with guilt to the point that he couldn't sleep. He'd look down the hallway that led to Naminé's room every once in a while, but couldn't get himself to stand.

But as his eyes flew open for the umpteenth time, Roxas forced himself to sit up. He took a few deep breaths before walking to Naminé's room, hoping that she'd be asleep. He sighed in relief when he saw the slow rise and fall of her figure underneath the covers. He opened his mouth, but the words couldn't escape him. He sighed again.

"Look at me." He ran a hand through his messy hair as he sat at the threshold of her room. "I can't sleep because I feel so guilty. So of course, I force myself to apologize… but I can't do it to your face. You have to be asleep for me to even say anything." He paused again, looking down at his open palms.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry for what happened tonight, and I'm sorry for saying all those terrible things to you. I know I crossed the line. And now… and now all of this happened because of me. I forced you to go tonight. If I had just let you stay home, you wouldn't have ever encountered that prick… but because of me, he found you. I'm sorry that even happened.

"I know things haven't been great between us, but know that I would never wish for something like that to happen to you; even if you manage to make me angry every time I see you." Roxas pushed himself to his feet as quietly as possible. "I can't even say any of this while you're awake…" he berated himself under his breath, "I know I'm being a coward, but I hope you understand."

As he turned to leave, Roxas took one final glance at Naminé's sleeping form. He placed his hand on the doorknob and allowed himself to smile. "I'm kind of mad I even let you out of my sight. I won't be making that mistake again. You… you looked beautiful tonight."

Roxas pulled the door behind him, leaving it ajar as he'd found it.

Redeeming Endeavor: Thank you so much for the faves and subscriptions, whether it was LPA or myself. I had so many notifications when I got back... thank you. And thank you for even reading! I've never received so many hits/visitors to any of my stories before this one. It's really amazing.

Special thanks goes out to YAYAY317, DoC, Spellbound a.k.a soragirl4ever, Ash09, typewrite, Aaralynne, Naivette, PEANUT v1.2, Zoe the Hunter, KeybladeMaster 97, Stonekipsta, elspoek1, Gear001, VIII, Claymore Person, happy reader, BlackButterfly9, Draco Oblivion, Maskedgirl3, BruHaeven, Shire Folk, and ChocoIsu. Thanks so much for the feedback! I wish I could better communicate how much I appreciate your time and words.

Chapter Data- Total Editing Time: 934 minutes (Whoa!). Word Count: 14,795.- Longest chapter I've ever written, uninflated.

That said, take care! I'll see you around.