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Four

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I had never seen a restaurant so booming with business than I did that night. The Wayfinder was absolutely packed full of people; everyone in town was there. All of the other businesses in town were black. Apparently one of the perks of living in such a small town was that if everyone wanted to get together, that's what everyone did. Even the bar looked closed.

"Roxas! Come on in!" Hayner found me standing outside just staring at the packed cafe in terror.

"I don't think I can move my legs," my cheeks flushed red as I realized how scared I was of this party.

He chuckled and started dragging me up the steps, pretty much forcing me through the door.

"Welcome to Destiny Township, Roxas!" a wave of voices crashed down over me as everyone held up champagne glasses in a toast to me. Hayner shoved a glass into my hand so that I could raise it with them, which I then immediately downed. I'd need a lot more than just champagne to make it through this whole ordeal.

"Thank you everyone," I mumbled, wondering exactly how bright red my face was at that moment. It felt like someone had set fire to my cheeks.

It looked like Ventus had set up a buffet along one of the walls, and that both Xion and Aqua were waitressing that night. I wondered if Riku was helping him in the kitchen, because I didn't see either of them among the crowd.

"All right, everyone. Roxas gets his food first and then everybody is welcome to dig in!" Hayner announced, shoving me towards the food bar.

It seemed like everybody's goal tonight was to make me the center of attention. I could literally feel thirty pairs of eyes burning into me as I took a little bit of everything from the buffet. It was typical comfort food; chicken, potatoes, veggies, soup. They really did go all out for me and while I appreciated it, I really just wish I could have spent my first night in town in the comfort of my home.

"Come sit with Olette and I!" Hayner pulled me in the direction of a table with a pretty brunette seated at it.

I took the empty seat and smiled at her, "Hi there, I'm Roxas."

"Olette. Lovely to meet you," she grinned, shaking my hand. "You look... absolutely terrified to be here."

"I'm not big on parties," I told her, grateful that somebody at least understood, "I mean, obviously I'm grateful that everybody is so welcoming, but-"

"But it's a little much," she smiled warmly, "I tried to tell Hayner and Ventus, but they got a little too excited that you were coming."

I chuckled, watching everyone line up to get their food, "Do they do this every time someone new moves in?"

"Honestly, it's been years since anybody did. Plus we all did love your grandfather so dearly," she added, touching my arm comfortingly.

"Whoo, I do love it when Ventus and Riku share their genius," Hayner sat down with a heaping plate of food, "Don't you wanna go get your plate, babe?"

She nodded, "I'll go get in line."

"Your wife is pretty wonderful," I told him, "I hope we can all become good friends."

"Hell yeah!" he grinned, patting me on the shoulder, "You need anything at all, you come to us."

I sighed happily, "Thanks, Hayner. I'm really glad that at least one of my neighbors is welcoming."

"Ran into Axel?"

I laughed, "More like Charlie ran into me."

"His dog? He's such a sweetheart. I kind of wonder if Charlie is secretly siphoning off all of Axel's good traits and leaving him one big sociopathic husk."

"So his name is Axel..." I let the name roll off my tongue. It did make sense, the name fit him really well. "Anyways, he basically told me to get out of town, that you guys didn't need city scum like me hanging around dragging down your reputation."

He rolled his eyes, "Don't listen to that asshole. If he wants to live a bitter, lonely life that's his choice."

"I don't get it. He's such an attractive guy, how has he not made any friendships in town?"

"He can be as gorgeous as he wants on the outside, but it's what's underneath it all that counts," he reminded me, "I think Xion had a thing for him a few years back, but he shot her down hardcore and damn near broke her heart."

I frowned, "Well damn..."

"She's over it now," he said, shrugging, "I think she's got it pretty bad for Riku myself."

"Ohh," I scanned the crowd to find her indeed staring at Riku as he filled his plate, "They'd be a cute couple. But why was she hitting on me earlier then?"

He scoffed, "Everyone in this town is emotionally stunted. Nobody wants to admit their feelings, so they just cover them all up and act like they don't exist. Like everybody knows that Terra is in love with Aqua, right? But he's a lot older than her, so he acts like there's no way it could ever happen. And then Xion, she has all of these feelings for Riku that she just represses for some unknown reason. And then there's Sora and Kairi. There's some unrequited love..."

"Sora?"

"Oh right, we never went to meet them. Sora works at Rusty Key Carpentry with his twin brother, Vanitas. They're sitting over there with Kairi and Namine. Sora has brown hair, Van has black hair," he told me, motioning behind us to them. "Kairi is the redhead, obviously."

I nodded, "Got it... I'll try to remember."

Olette sat back down next to Hayner and smiled at me, "Trying to remember everyone's names?"

"I feel like my head might explode," I chuckled, picking at my food. It was seriously delicious, but I just wasn't hungry.

"Just wait till you meet the kids," she laughed, "Grandma Gainsborough has them all corraled at the inn. We didn't want them seeing everyone drink."

"I had no idea there were any kids in town," I furrowed my brow in confusion, "Whose kids are they?"

Hayner pointed to an older guy wearing a bandana around his head, "That's Cid. He runs the carpenter's shop and he's got three kids; Selphie, Wakka and Tidus. Selph is fifteen, but Tidus and Wakka are eight and ten respectively. And that guy over there is Zack. He's Pence's uncle, and he has his own daughter, Paine. They all live together. Paine is ...nine, I think?"

"Yeah, her and the other girls are all nine," Olette continued, "Sora and Vanitas have a younger sister, Yuna, and Yuffie over there has a younger sister named Rikku that lives with her and her boyfriend Leon."

I tried to absorb what they were telling me, but it was going right over my head, "Maybe when I meet everyone it'll sink in?"

"Don't worry, it'll take some time," she assured me, "And just for a sort of heads up... There are a lot of single parents living here. I guess people kind of use this town to escape from their problems."

"I did notice that. But hey, I'm not judging anybody. I'm running away from a lot of bullshit myself," I sighed, sipping on the glass of champagne Aqua had refilled for me while I wasn't looking. She was like a ninja waitress or something.

Hayner elbowed me in the side, "With us, you have no past. All we care about now is the future you build for yourself here."

That was probably the most reassuring thing anybody had ever said to me before, "Thank you Hayner... That means a lot to me."

I nearly jumped out of my damned skin as I felt someone grab onto my shoulders from behind, "What are you doing hiding over here?! We're all ready to meet you, damn it!"

Hayner smirked, "Roxas, meet Marluxia."

I turned around, craning my neck to look up at a man with the most gorgeous pink hair I had ever seen in my entire life. He looked like he'd just stepped off of a runway or something, but not exactly in a manly way, "Uhm... hi?"

"Hey boo! C'mon, you need to meet my better half," he literally nearly picked me up out of my chair, dragging me over to the table Kairi was sitting at with Sora and Vanitas. "Roxas, this is Kairi, my main bitch," he told me, "Oh, and her friends or whatever..."

Kairi rolled her eyes, "Marly gets jealous when I hang out with Sora and Van instead of him. But hey, good to meet you!"

Sora smiled up at me, "Hey man, nice to meet ya."

I waved at him awkwardly, "Yeah, nice to meet you."

Vanitas just stared at me with these intense, golden eyes. He didn't seem too keen on saying hello or anything, so I just kind of ignored him.

"I'll take it from here, Marluxia," Hayner appeared by my side, "I guess we can move right along to Cloud and Tifa. They're Sora and Van's parents."

We went around the room until I'd been introduced to literally everybody in town, save for the kids and Grandma Gainsborough. Or so I thought.

"Wait a minute... Zexion isn't here," Hayner searched around for him, "The librarian, I mean. God, that guy is so antisocial..."

Olette walked up to us, "Did anybody notice that Demyx isn't here either?"

I wracked my brain trying to remember meeting a Demyx, but the name didn't sound familiar, "I don't think I've met him, no."

"Shit... did anybody go down to the lake and invite him?!" she exclaimed, looking horrified, "Oh God, we're terrible people!"

Hayner chuckled, "Relax, babe. I'll take Roxas down there tomorrow to meet him. Demyx lives in a house by the lake. He's a fisherman, and a damned good one at that. As for Zexion, we'll just have to drop in on him sometime too."

"Axel never showed up either," I pointed out.

"Right, because we didn't invite him on purpose," Hayner told me, shrugging, "Why would we want an asshole like him here?"

I frowned a little, "Isn't that kind of cruel? You could have at least invited him..."

"He wouldn't come anyways, so why bother?"

"Because maybe all he needs is to be included," I suggested, "But whatever... You know him better than I do, and my first experience with him was definitely not fun."

"Do yourself a favor and just stay away from him, Roxas. You'll have plenty of friends around town, I promise."

I nodded, sighing softly. I just hated the idea of pushing somebody away without really giving them much of a chance. Axel might be a decent person somewhere underneath it all, but I guess I'd really never get to find out.

...

A/N: Finally a story I can update frequently again like the Internship! I'm so happy with this story so far, and I have soooo many plans for it. Let me know in the reviews if you would like me to post a little guide as to who is related, who is dating and where everyone works. I have one all made out for myself, so if anything is confusing for you guys I can definitely post it for you.

Simply Rexene