Duet-

"No,"

"Come on Namine! This will be a huge boost for your career! Being able to collaborate with an artist like him? Other singers would kill for the opportunity!" Aqua, her agent encouraged kindly.

"No! Absolutely not!" Namine refused, stomping her foot to emphasize her point.

"Why? Give me one good reason. emphasis on good," Aqua replied, crossing her arms and frowning.

"He's just so, so," the blonde struggled to find the words, Aqua finally understanding what the pretty young singer was trying to get across.

"You're afraid that you may still have feelings for him,"

Namine's eyes grew wide before she nodded slowly, looking down at her folded hands in her lap.

"Oh Namine it's ok to be scared about these kinds of things!" Aqua comforted, placing a gentle hand atop Namine's. "Love isn't an easy thing and singing a duet EP with your ex doesn't make it any easier. But I promise, I will be with you every step of the way and if at any point - and I do mean any - you feel uncomfortable, I will call off this whole collaboration project right then and there! No questions asked,"

Namine stewed on the thought for several minutes, worrying away at her bottom lip before she finally acquessed and nodded her head.

"I'll do it,"

"Really?! Oh I'm so proud of you Namine!" Aqua cheered, clapping her on the shoulder.

"I just hope I don't regret it," was Namine's only thought as she watched her agent saunter out of the room to confirm the collab with the other record company.

—-

"Nope. I regret it,"

As soon as Namine had stepped foot inside the recording studio she wanted to turn tail and run. There stood her ex-boyfriend, looking just as handsome and capable as the day that they had ended things. He was currently adjusting the headphones on his head and messing up his forever spiky hair as he spoke to one of the producers in the booth.

"I think I sounded flat on that last measure. Can we go over that again?" He asked, the producer nodding in reply.

"You weren't flat. You actually sounded perfect,"

The female voice startled him as he whirled around in surprise to find Namine standing there.

"Namine?" He breathed out her name, sending shivers down her spine with the way he spoke it.

"Hi Roxas,"

———

"Let's do it," Roxas said with a determination that caused his agent to raise one of his sharp eyebrows.

"You're sure? I mean, you haven't really moved on,"

Roxas shook his head adimently. "And I won't move on! Not until I know for sure that this, us, will or won't work,"

Axel looked at his best friend, the slight bags under his usually clear blue eyes a constant concern for the redhead. He hadn't done well with his breakup and Axel could see the negative effects that it had caused his personal life despite the fact that his career was soaring.

Axel sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Fine, fine. But if this ends up falling flat on it's face and you end up with your heart shattered even further, don't come crying to me!"

Roxas gave the redhead a sad smile.

"Thanks Axel,"

"Yeah, don't make me regret this,"

——-

He wanted to run to her. He wanted to throw his arms around her. He wanted to kiss her senseless and apologize for how things ended between them. He wanted to whisper in her ear just how much he had missed her and beg for her forgiveness.

But what Roxas ended up doing was simply staring at her with his mouth agape, looking like a fish.

She chuckled lightly at the sight causing his heartbeat to escalate in his chest. He had to force himself to keep from clutching at his shirt from the sudden reaction.

"You're looking good," Namine said as she walked further into the booth and headed towards the music stand and mic that were set up for her.

Truth was, he was looking more than just good. He was looking positively fanatastic. Single life seemed to be doing him some good.

She grasped her set of headphones and gingerly placed them over one ear in order to hear whatever the producer might say.

"Namine," Roxas whispered, interrupted by a voice outside the booth.

"Alright guys. Let's start with an easy warmup,"

After some vocal exercises, that Roxas may or may not have been paying attention to, they started their first practice song, a poppy love song that made the pair inwardly cringe at how pertinent it was.

Roxas frowned at Axel and Aqua as they both gave a thumbs up from the booth. He could tell they were having far too much fun with this.

"Ok that was good, but I know you two can do better. Let's try something else. Something with a little more opportunity to show off your range. Your lyric sheets for this one are the last set," the producer said, a new song starting to play into their headsets. Roxas's eyes grew wide as he recognized the lyrics on the pages at the bottom of his pile, his gaze darting towards the blonde girl beside him as she started singing the first words.

[Listen to Nobody But Me by Sofia Reyes and Prince Royce for the full effect.]

Roxas cleared his throat and his mind as his part came up.

As they mounted up to the first chorus, Roxas couldn't help but think of just how on the nose the song was. No way was this a coincidence.

The pair went through the entire song, their voices meshing better than they ever had before. It sent shivers down Namine's spine at just how much she had missed this. Missed them.

As the final notes of the song faded out, they turned towards each other in perfect synch, both attempting to speak at the same time. Two sets of wide blue eyes stared into the other, eliciting chuckles from both of them.

"Ladies first," Roxas gestured to Namine, stuffing his hands in his pockets so he wouldn't be tempted to fiddle with them.

"I thought that I could do this. Get past all of, well, the past, bu I realized that I can't,"

Roxas's heart dropped his pupils dilating again as he understood what she was saying.

"I now know that this won't work,"

He didn't know what came over him, but before Namine could even attempt to leave, Roxas had lunged forward and put his hands to good use by capturing hers.

"Please Namine. Please don't go. Not again," he begged.

Namine looked at him curiously, tilting her head as if that might help her understand him better.

"What are you saying Roxas?"

"I'm asking you to stay. With me,"

Namine blinked rapidly at the sudden confession.

"When you left - when I let you leave - it was the worst thing I've ever experienced. Namine, when you weren't a part of my life anymore, I realized just how much of me you took with you,"

Namine listened patiently as he spoke, trying not to interject.

"What I'm trying to say is, I'm so sorry for everything I did to hurt you. Not asking you to stay is the biggest regret I've ever had. I love you. And even if you don't feel the same way, I just," he sighed deeply. "Needed you to know,"

He released her hands allowing her to be the one to make the next step.

She stared at the man in front of her, broken and leaving his heart and emotions bare before her.

"Please. Say something?" He pleaded. The silence was killing him.

Namine launched herself at him, pulling his lips down to meet hers in a desperate kiss. Roxas was only momentarily caught off guard before he kissed her back with just as much fervor. He only broke the kiss when he began to taste the saltiness of tears on his lips.

"Namine? Why are you crying?" He asked, brushing her tears away with his thumbs.

"I thought I was the one that messed things up for us by not asking if you wanted me to stay! I didn't want to leave you, but everyone in the industry was telling us that our relationship was hurting both our careers. So like the foolish teenager that I was, I broke it off expecting everything to turn out perfectly. When it didn't I couldn't help but blame myself for what happened. Until now, I had always thought that you blamed me too,"

"Oh Namine! I could never blame you for something like that! If anything, I thought you hated me for not chasing after you,"

"Never! I could never hate you! I love You Roxas!"

A fresh bout of tears poured from her eyes, followed by Roxas's own, the couple falling to their knees inside the booth and allowing themselves to let out all the pain they had kept bottled up over the last couple of years. Namine leaned her forehead against Roxas's their tears eventually turning to laughter.

"They must think we look ridiculous!" Namine said jokingly as she wiped a hand across her wet cheek. Roxas shrugged in reply, wiping away at his own damp skin.

"Who cares what they think. As long as we've figured us out everything will be ok. Um, we did figure out everything between us? Right?"

Namine laughed and Roxas couldn't believe just how much he had missed that sound.

She nodded. "Yes, Roxas. We are back to being 'us' again,"

Roxas's eyes blew wider as a sudden thought pervaded his mind.

"I know that look. What are you planning?" Namine asked, a little worried.

"I think I came up with our new hit single. the one to symbolize our reunion?"

"Oh yeah? And what would that be?"

"How does, 'Back to Us' sound for a title?" He asked splaying his hands as if he were placing the title on an invisible marquee.

Namine's sweet smile was all the answer he needed. "It sounds perfect,"

———

BONUS:

"I told you she still had feelings for him! You owe me fifty bucks!" Aqua exclaimed, putting out her hand as if to claim her prize.

"Ah, ah, ah! You said she still had feeling and I agreed, but I bet that my boy Roxas would be the one to confess first, so technically it is you that owes me fifty bucks," Axel claimed proudly, crossing his arms and puffing out his chest.

"Ugh! No fair!" Aqua whined, fishing some croyons bills out of her pocket.

"Thank you so much for investing in the future!" Axel said triumphantly.

"what future?" Aqua asked, raising a manicured brow and putting her hands on her hips.

"My future of course! Lunch is going to be fantastic today!" He said, holding the money in front of the lights as if to examine it.

"They're not counterfeit!" She cried indignantly.

"You can never be too careful Aqua," he said with a wink, pocketing the cash. "Now, do you think they're done smooching on the floor? We got a schedule to keep,"

"Axel!"

"What?!"


Ok, new favorite chapter! I wanted to do something with these two that started out melancholy and turned into a happy ending, so this came about. I know that Jesse McCartney and Meaghan Jette Martin don't sing Nobody But Me, but I felt like the song fit them well for the story. Also, both Jesse and Meaghan can sing so well, so I felt that a romantic duet was perfect for them. So pleased with this chapter!