...

Three

...

I hopped up the steps leading into the bar with more pep in my step. I'd probably spend a lot of nights there after working the farm.

"Well, well, well... Now who do we have here?"

I glanced up to see a raven-haired woman who looked suspiciously like Namine walking towards me. "Name's Roxas, I'm the new kid in town."

"More like a new man," she quipped, her eyes scanning me up and down. There must not have been many available men in town, 'cause these women were really creeping on me.

"This Xion, one of the Gainsborough triplets. She works here as a bartender some nights," Hayner told me, "Why are you here so early? Riku doesn't even open up until five."

She rolled her eyes, "Inventory day. I hate it."

"Is he around?"

"Sure is! Riku, get your ass out here!" she called over her shoulder, shifting her weight onto one foot and planting a hand on her hip. "He's probably back there counting each individual peanut in the bag," she huffed, "Riku!"

A white-haired man came grumbling out of the back room, scowling at her, "What?"

"The new guy wanted to say hi. His name is Roxas," she told him, giving him a sassy look.

"Oh... Right. Sorry, man. I'm Riku," he said, holding out his hand. "Xion, you need to go recount the cases of wine we just got in. I think we're missing one."

She pouted, "But I wanna talk to Roxasss..."

"Go. Now," he scolded her, pointing to the back room, "Sorry. I hate inventory day just as much as she does. We've been coming up short on our wine lately."

Hayner scoffed, "Three guesses who's stealing it..."

"Now, we don't have any evidence that it's him," Riku said, "I know what you're thinking, but just because he's practically a hermit doesn't make him a thief."

I just looked between the two of them, "Am I missing something here?"

"Not important. I'm sure you have a lot more people to meet. I'll see you at the cafe tonight," Riku said, ushering us out the door.

"Hayner, what's going on at the cafe tonight?" I asked him again, becoming increasingly suspicious.

He chuckled, "Nothing at all, Roxas. Nothing at all."

"I don't know if you've noticed, but I've got a bit of social anxiety, Hayner. Please tell me what's going on?"

"It wasn't my idea," he wasn't off to a promising start, "But Ventus is sort of throwing you a welcome party tonight."

I groaned, "I hate parties..."

"Well, that's why I'm taking you to meet everyone now. It cuts the awkward down by like half."

"Ugh... Whatever. Where to next?"

He pointed to the clinic, "The only two shops left in Town Square are the Clinic and the Library. We'll go say hi to Saix, then Zexion."

"My head hurts trying to remember all of these people..." I grumbled, following him into the tall building that made up the clinic.

"Yo, Saix! Aerith! You around?!"

I cringed as he shouted yet again, "Jeez, Hayner. Do you have any volume other than loud?"

"What is it? Who's hurt?" a small brunette woman came rushing down the stairs, looking around in a panic before her eyes settled on me, "Oh! You must be Roxas. We're so happy to have you here, dear."

"This is Aerith, mother of the triplets and best nurse in town."

"Only nurse in town," she reminded him, yanking me into a tight hug, "Ohh, you look just like your grandfather. He'll always hold a place in my heart."

I smiled, "I didn't know him very well, but thank you. It's nice to know that somebody will remember him fondly."

"Of course, darling. Ooh, let me go and fetch Saix. I think he's reading in his study."

"Saix is the doctor here. Extremely talented. Used to be a surgeon until he busted his hand in a car accident. He regained most of the function, but sadly had to give up his career because of it. After a bit of a depressive period, he decided to move out here to be closer to his brother, Marluxia."

I frowned a bit, "That's sad..."

"He's got a pretty nasty scar from the accident too, so try not to stare okay?"

I braced myself for the worst, but when the light blue-haired man came down the stairs I realized that it wasn't too bad. It looked mostly faded, but I could make out an X shaped scar right between his eyes.

"Ah, this must be Roxas. Welcome to Destiny Township," he greeted me warmly, "Have you been well received so far?"

"Everybody has been wonderful, thanks," I smiled, shaking his extended hand which did have a bit of scarring on it.

"Have you been by Marly's yet?"

"Yeah, I think we might be saving him and Kairi for last. I don't wanna send him running before he meets everyone else," Hayner laughed.

I eyed Saix, "Should I be afraid?"

"Okay, so a couple things you should know about Marluxia... One: he's not gay. Two: he's very effeminate. Three: he's incredibly outspoken. He has absolutely no filter."

"Got it," I nodded, chuckling a little, "Nothing I haven't dealt with in New York."

Hayner shot me a look, "You have no idea, man."

As he dragged me out the door, I was beginning to think that this would never end. "Hayner, how many more people are there for me to meet?"

"Just like... nine or ten more places?"

"Tell you what. Why don't I just meet everybody else at the welcome party tonight? Seriously, I feel like my brain is about to explode with information and all I really want to do is go unpack."

He stopped short in front of the library, "Oh... Well, I guess we could wait until then."

"Thank you, Hayner. It's just a bit too much for me right now," I told him, grateful that he understood.

"Well hey, I'm going to catch up with Pence. He's talking to the carpenters about expanding some of our fencing and I want to make sure he gets enough fence to cover the square footage we need. Can you find your way back home?"

I nodded, "Yeah, just down here right?"

"Right. See you at the cafe tonight, five sharp!"

As I walked back down the path towards my farm alone, I felt an incredible sense of relief flood over me. It was really nice of Hayner to try and help me out, but I just wasn't a social enough person to go knocking on people's doors all day.

I was about to turn down the little path leading back to my house when a flash of bright red caught my attention across the way. Stepping closer to the fence I saw an incredibly tall, incredibly toned man running full force across a large field close on the heels of a large fluffy dog looking like he was having an absolute blast.

Suddenly he slowed down and flopped down on the ground, his dog immediately sitting on him and attacking him with kisses, "You beat me this time, Charlie, but next time I'm gonna win for sure!"

It was like I couldn't pull my eyes away from him. He might have been the most handsome man I had ever seen in the entire history of the universe, even with the little triangle tattoos under his eyes. They were actually pretty alluring. They brought all of the attention right up to his incredibly green eyes.

The dog must have noticed me staring because suddenly I had about a hundred and thirty pounds of dog barrelling towards me at mach speed with it's jowels flapping in the wind and strands of drool trailing behind it like ribbons.

I didn't even have a second to react before the dog had me pinned on my back. I don't even know how it had cleared the fence like it did.

"Whoa, Charlie! Down, boy! Come here!" the tall man whistled and suddenly a thousand pounds were lifted off my chest; literally. "Sorry about that, he doesn't usually-"

I glanced up at him in a daze as he stopped talking, wondering what cut him off so abruptly, "Are you okay?"

He shook his head, gazing down at me with those intense green eyes, "Yeah, uhm... I just... Are you new here?"

"Well, yeah? Did you not see us moving boxes into the house across the street all morning?"

"You're the grandson..." he mumbled, a stern look crossing his face.

I held up my hands defensively from my position on the ground, "I didn't come here to pick a fight with you, man. I was just walking home when your dog attacked me."

"Charlie wouldn't attack anyone," he growled, running his hands over the dog's coat, "And you were obviously on my property. What were you doing, watching me?"

"I'm new here. I don't know anybody, and I saw my new neighbor running around outside like an idiot with his dog so I stopped to look for a second. Sue me, jeez..." I mumbled, picking myself up off the ground and shooting him a glare.

He eyed me carefully, "Where are you from?"

"New York City?" I told him, straightening out my black t-shirt.

"Have you ever grown crops before? Raised animals?"

I raised an eyebrow, "No...?"

"Right," he smirked, a now confident glow around him, "Do us all a favor and go home, city boy. We don't need you out here dragging down our reputation."

"Gotcha," I clicked my tongue, turning to leave. Hayner was definitely right about that guy. He might have been absolutely drop dead gorgeous, but he was an absolute jerk.

...

A/N: Ooh, and the sparks fly. He didn't even introduce himself to poor Roxas before totally shutting him down. But hey, there's a glimmer of hope. How sweet was Axel with his doggie? Who, by the way, is a Saint Bernard. I have a soft spot in my heart for them (mostly 'cause I have one.) Coming up next, the party!

Don't forget to review! Love you guys!

Simply Rexene