...

Eight

...

It had been so long since I'd gone on a date that I almost forgot what it was like to get ready for one. Somehow none of my clothes felt right to wear at all; I must have cycled through about ten different outfits before I settled on something that was classic me-dark wash jeans, a black t-shirt with a band logo on it and my nice leather jacket with one of those collars that stood up rather than folding over. Of course I wore my typical black combat boots with it. I really never wore any other kinds of shoes, save for Converse occasionally.

I'd been able to get a bit of cleaning done in the barn, mainly getting rid of the old decaying hay which I promptly tossed in the fire pit out back and burned, but my side stopped me before I could really get too far with my cleaning. I would have pushed it a bit further, but I didn't want to be too sore for my date with Luxord. Luckily, out here all I had was time. There was really no rush for me to get it all done in one day.

When I heard a knock at the door I had a sudden rush of nausea rise in my throat. I fended off the urge to vomit as I answered the door, pasting a smile on my face. "Luxord, hi."

For a moment he just stood there and stared at me, which admittedly freaked me out a little, "Sorry, I don't mean to stare, I just... I guess I'm not used to this. You look quite handsome."

"Thanks," I laughed nervously, "You do too." It was true, he really did. He normally just wore jeans and a t-shirt, but tonight he was wearing a nice red plaid flannel shirt over a white t-shirt with some nicer (and cleaner) jeans and a pair of brown boots. It actually looked like he'd gone through and planned it out, which was kind of cute.

"Are you ready to go?" he asked, a grin creeping across his lips.

I nodded, stepping outside and closing the door behind me, "Please tell me that Riku makes some badass hot wings?"

"The best in town," he chuckled, walking strategically next to me so that just every so often our hands would brush against each other, "Well... the only in town. But they're amazing. He makes his own hot sauce."

"Is this town heaven? Did I die back in New York and get sent here?" I joked, "Hot sauce is a definite weakness of mine."

He smiled, "Wouldn't have taken you for someone who likes spicy food, honestly."

"Don't think I can handle things hot?" I elbowed at him playfully, "We lived near an Indian restaurant, so I grew up eating spicy curry pretty much every day. There was one point in high school where I thought I'd burned off all of my taste buds."

"So you lived in the city, right?"

"For most of my life, yeah. There was a small portion where I was sent to boarding school in London, but that didn't last long..." Apparently they had drugs in London too, and they weren't that hard to find. Kind of foiled my parent's master plan to sober me up by shipping me out of the country.

He seemed a bit surprised by that, "Really? I grew up in London, oddly enough."

"I kind of figured."

"There are more places in England than London! I could have picked up my accent anywhere," he defended his country, feigning offense.

I rolled my eyes, "I know, Luxord. But there are some subtle nuances to your accent that are more common in London."

"So you're observant. Nice," he seemed impressed by that. "What did you do before you came out here?"

A lot of drugs...? "I had a couple of odd jobs here and there, but my life was a bit aimless. I dropped out of college after one semester, went through some things... This really was a great opportunity for me."

"Before Larxene and I moved out here I was actually a barber. So whenever you need a haircut, I'm your guy," he told me, which surprised me a little. He didn't seem like the type, but it was kind of cool that he was a barber.

"I might take you up on that sometime. I think my general mess of hair could use some attention."

He chuckled, "I think it's rather cute, actually. You pull off the messy look well."

"Well thank you," I laughed as we came up to the bar. He stepped ahead of me and held the door open, which was nice of him. I really wasn't used to this whole dating thing at all.

We seated ourselves in one of the more secluded booths in the corner of the room and he grabbed the drink menu, "What's your poison?"

"What do you recommend?" I asked, reading the other side of the menu as he held it up between us.

"Well now, that depends on your personal taste. Do you like sweet drinks? Sour? Mixed? On the rocks?"

I thought for a moment, "Actually, how are the whiskey sours? I had a bit of a soft spot for them in college."

"Again, you've surprised me," he chuckled, putting the menu aside, "They're fantastic. It's like drinking fresh lemonade, but with a bit of a kick to it. Very refreshing."

"That sounds perfect!" I grinned as Xion made her way over to our table.

She eyed us carefully as she approached us, "Why hello gentlemen. What can I get for you?"

Luxord spoke up before I could even open my mouth, "Two whiskey sours and an order of hot wings and french fries."

"You read my mind," I said as she looked at me to add anything, "Sounds good, Xion, thanks."

"Are you two...?" she studied us for a long moment, looking thoroughly confused, "I'll just go get your order in..."

I smirked a little, "Subtle..."

"Starting to regret coming out with me?"

"Not at all," I told him, meeting his cool blue eyes.

He seemed to brighten up a little at that, "So tell me more about yourself. Everyone in this town pretty much knows each other inside and out, so it's nice to have someone new to figure out."

"Well what kind of stuff do you want to know?"

"Hm... your favorites. Foods, desserts, colors, music, all of it."

I thought for a minute, "Okay... Well my favorite food is definitely chicken with curry sauce. Favorite dessert is hands down bubble gum ice cream."

"Now hang on a minute," he stopped me, stifling a laugh, "Bubble gum ice cream...?"

"Uhm... yes? It's ice cream that tastes like bubble gum."

He couldn't contain his laughter any longer, but I didn't mind, "Wow... You're hilarious. You go from curry chicken to bubble gum ice cream like those aren't the two most polar opposite foods on the planet."

"Okay then, what're your favorites?" I challenged him, curious to hear his answers.

"Hmm... I'm gonna go ahead and say beef stew and chocolate chip cookies."

I actually wasn't too surprised by that. They were pretty classic foods. "Okay, so maybe your favorites aren't quite as crazy as mine. How about your color? Mine's red."

"I'm going to be absolutely boring and say black," he chuckled, "And I'm sure it won't surprise you much to say that I like pretty much any kind of music. We don't listen to much out here besides Demyx's sitar playing, but back before I moved out here I was kind of just a chameleon."

"Now here's the part where I might totally scare you off," I joked, actually a little nervous to tell him what kind of music I liked, "I'm kind of a metalhead."

He cocked an eyebrow, leaning back in his chair and eyeing me across the table, "Seriously?"

I motioned down to the logo on my shirt, "The Animal in Me. They've got an amazing female vocalist and an epic male screamer."

"Well I suppose I'll have to give them a listen sometime, won't I?"

I relaxed a little, "Sure. I can lend you my iPod if you'd like."

"It's kind of funny... the people who were raised in this town have no idea what iPods are, or any of the new technology," he told me, "Even I'm a bit behind on it all. When we moved out here iPods had literally just been invented."

"I noticed that, actually. Axel seemed rather fascinated by my handheld video game. When did he move out here?"

He shrugged, "He's lived here as long as we have. And what were you doing hanging out with him anyways? That guy is a tool."

"He sort of broke into my house looking for his dog. Charlie kept coming in through the dog door in the back, so Axel nailed it shut."

"He couldn't have just asked you to do it instead of committing a home invasion?"

I sighed, "He doesn't seem like a 'wait and ask' kind of guy."

"He needs to be taught a lesson in manners," Luxord grumbled, "The man's nearly as old as I am and he has the graces of a twelve year old."

For some reason, that peaked my curiosity, "How old is he?"

"I don't know... Thirty one, I think?"

"So he'll be thirty two next week..." I noted to myself, recalling that Hayner said his birthday was coming up.

His confusion about my interest in the subject was interupted by Xion bringing our drinks to the table, which thankfully lightened up the awkward veil that had fallen over the conversation. Talking about another guy on our date probably wasn't the best idea... Hopefully I'd be able to come back from it.

...

A/N: Okay, so I had to split the date up into two chapters or this one was going to be ungodly long. Roxas was doing so well until he crammed his foot into his mouth! We'll have to see how the rest of the evening goes when I return!

Also, thanks to everyone who has been reviewing! Love you guys so much and I hope you keep it up!

Also also, that band that I mentioned actually wrote the song "The End of the Road" that inspired the title of this story. You should check them out! Again, they're The Animal in Me.

Simply Rexene