"Hey, Ven?"

Ven notices his brother out of the corner of his eye rather than actually hearing him. He pulls off his headphones and leans back in his desk chair, happy for a distraction from his history essay. "Sup?"

Roxas leans against the doorframe, hands stuffed in his pockets. "I need the car on Wednesday after school. You think you can get a ride from someone else?"

Ven heaves a sigh—an overdramatic, completely unnecessary one—and rolls his eyes quite far into the back of his head. "I suppose."

Roxas smirks at his brother's antics. "Thanks." He turns to go.

"What do you need the car for?" he asks his brother's back, making him stop.

Roxas shrugs, not fully turning back. "Got some stuff downtown."

"Like what?"

Ven is pretty sure he isn't imagining his brother's discomfort or his avoidance of the topic. He knows Roxas too well. But Roxas is fighting his usual tells for such things. The casualness in his voice when he says, "Just getting some stuff done," is commendable.

Before Ven can ask further, Roxas is gone, leaving Ventus to speculate as he taps his pencil against the desktop.

Roxas checks his watch again. He kicks a rock as he waits beside his car. His eyes go back to scanning the front doors for a flash of red. Stepping back, he checks the back seat of the car again to make sure he got rid of all the empty fast-food containers, dirty clothes, and random junk that had littered the area. He spent the better part of last night cleaning up the interior.

After confirming the car's cleanliness, Roxas goes back to leaning against the hood. He waves at a few of the others still leaving, feeling more anxious with each passing minute.

She's late…but only by, like, five minutes, so it's fine, right? She hasn't changed her mind. She's just…she's popular, Roxas reasons. She must have gotten caught by someone and is stuck in conversation. That's fine. He can wait. He's patient…

For the most part.

A flash of red gives Roxas a jolt until he realizes it's a different red.

Axel is passing by on his way to his own car. He stops by upon seeing his friend's anxious expression, which isn't all that different from his neutral expression, but good friends can tell. Roxas may be good at keeping his emotions to himself, but he isn't that good. "The princess hasn't arrived yet?"

"Not yet," Roxas says.

"Hey, don't sweat it. Someone probably won't stop talking to her."

Roxas lets out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. It's good to hear someone else confirm his assumption. "Yeah, that's what I was thinking."

"You tell Ven why you need the car?" Axel asks.

Roxas doesn't look at Axel when he says, "No."

Axel shifts on his feet, knowing the reason why. "Look, man. I'm sorry I got you all nervous. I'm sure—" He notices the same thing Roxas does which makes him stop his consoling. Kairi has burst through the school's front doors and is running to the parking lot, a direct beeline towards them.

She's there within a few seconds, clearly out of breath, apologies tumbling out. "I'm so sorry. Clara was asking me about prom stuff even though—" she takes a few deep breaths, "—even though I'm not on the planning committee, and I told her that, but she wouldn't—" another breath, "—stop talking and I finally got away. Again, so sorry."

"It's fine, really," Roxas is quick to say. Axel notices the relief in his eyes. "Are you ok? You need a second?"

Kairi straightens, takes one final big gulp of air, and smiles. "Nope, totally fine. Hi, Axel."

"Princess." Axel nods. "Well, I'm heading out, so I'll see you two later. Have fun getting your pink garb there, buddy."

"Later."

"Bye, Axel." Kairi turns to Roxas, still with a smile. "Shall we?"

"Yeah—Yeah, let's go." Roxas quickly moves to open the door on her side. Kairi gives him a grateful smile and takes her seat in the passenger side. Roxas sits himself in the driver's seat and starts the car. They're pulling out of the parking lot before conversation starts again.

"So…you're not on prom committee?" Roxas asks, proud of himself for being the one to initiate the chatting—not common for him. "Seems like something you would do."

Kairi nods. "You'd be right, but with cheerleading, my advanced courses, and being the student body treasurer, I didn't want more on my plate. But for some reason, people keep asking my opinion."

Roxas raises his eyebrows. "It's not all that surprising. You're well-known, well-liked, and well-respected. People trust your opinion."

Kairi feels a blush creep onto her cheeks. "Why thank you, that's nice of you to say. It's just—I'd rather just go, you know? I want things to be a surprise as I see them, but now I know what color the balloon arch is going to be, what flowers they got for the tables, and what the theme is—it's A Night Under the Stars, by the way. In case you were curious. The invites go out Friday."

"Sounds like a good, cheesy prom theme to me."

"It was between that, Fairy Tale, and Enchanted Forest. I was for the starry night theme."

"Definitely the best of the worst." Roxas catches himself. "I mean—not that it's bad. It's just…you know. Cheesy. Like I said."

"Oh, I'm totally with you." Kairi is quick to jump in with his view. "Super cheesy. But that's part of what makes prom fun, I think. It's just a campy night where we get dressed up and pretend to be full adults at a grand event."

"If someone spikes the punch, then it will definitely be a 'grand' event." Roxas pauses. "Maybe we should get there early and get a drink before the punch is spiked."

"What, you don't want to get totally wasted at prom?" Kairi teases.

"Not my top priority, no. And you can just forget having any yourself. If I bring you back drunk, your dad might kill me. He's the mayor, he knows where in town he could hide a body. He's got connections."

Kairi can't help the full-body laugh this causes. It takes her a minute to calm down before responding. "I can't even argue with that. My dad totally would."

"You see what's on the line then, good," Roxas continues the joke. "My neck is on the line. If you even say you had only an 'ok' time, I'm screwed."

"Oh, come on. You're not giving yourself enough credit. We're going to have fun!"

"That's what I'm saying! We're going to have fun or else!"

More laughter, now from both of them. Roxas is glad for the ease of conversation. They don't talk often one-on-one so he wasn't sure how they'd do chatting by themselves. But once they started, it's rather easy, much to his relief. He isn't always the best with words and his humor isn't always picked up on—which is why he gets along well with Axel who often has a similar problem. So this is good! It's going good. Roxas takes a deep breath to further quiet his nerves.

Kairi, for her part, wonders why she hasn't hung out with Roxas more often. He's got a great sense of humor. She remembers him being quiet within group gatherings, usually speaking when addressed rather than giving input willingly. She can't blame him for the self-preservation, however. The high school gossip chain is more than willing to chew someone up and spit them out with only the whiff of a rumor to go off of. Keeping to one's self can't hurt.

But…Kairi would like to get to know Roxas better, not only because he's taking her to prom. He's been really nice to her. She'd like to be someone he'd be willing to open up to. She wouldn't betray his confidence. She can't help but wonder what he really thinks of her…

They're close to downtown now, a few minutes from the rental shop. Roxas finds himself scanning the streets for his classmates. It's a big enough town that enough people wouldn't recognize him, but they would recognize Kairi. The two of them. Together. Going into the shop a ton of people are already going to for prom outfits.

Roxas's joviality seeps through the cracks anxiety has created. His heart speeds up as they turn onto the street. He feels it more acutely as Kairi waves at someone crossing the street at the end of the block.

"Good, it's not looking too busy," Kairi comments as they find a parking spot across the street from the shop. She unbuckles her seatbelt. "You ready?"

"Yeah." The word squeaks out of Roxas's windpipe. He clears his throat. "Ah—Kairi? Um—quick question…"

Kairi looks back at Roxas and feels uncertainty creep up on her. He looks uncomfortable. She settles back in her seat.

He's having doubts. Of course he is, she thinks. She's forcing him to wear pink, to match even though they aren't dating. It's like staking a claim on him she doesn't have. She shouldn't have suggested this.

"Are we…?" Roxas starts, stops, then continues without looking directly at Kairi. "Are we telling people we're going to prom together?"

Kairi blinks. Of all the things she had been worried about him saying, this wasn't one of them. "Um, yes? I hadn't thought about that."

"It's not a big deal!" Roxas is quick to say. The keys in his hand jingle as he gestures. "It's just—" He gives a short laugh, "Axel wondered the other day why you wanted to talk to me, and I just told him the truth. I could come up with a lie for everyone else, if you want."

"Why would I want you to lie?" Kairi asks, feeling hurt. "You can tell people."

"That's ok with you?"

"Of course," Kairi says. Why wouldn't it be? Unless… "Unless…uh, Roxas, if—if there's someone else you'd rather go with, I won't keep you tied to me. You can go with whoever you want—"

"What? No! No. I'm going with you. I want to go with you." The fear in Roxas's voice matches that on his face. "I was only thinking if…" He sighs. "If Sora does end up asking you, I don't want to stand in the way of you getting the date you really want."

The hurt dissipates. "Oh, Roxas. No. Don't even—I said yes to going with you. I want to go with you too," She echoes his words. Kairi bites her lower lip, wondering how much she should divulge. Maybe she should keep how much she's been checking him out lately a secret a little longer. They aren't exactly dating. It's a friend thing. That's why he asked her in the first place, but she should tell him something. "Ever since you asked me to go, I've felt—I've actually felt really good about this. I'm really excited to go with you. I mean it. Even if Sora asked me today, I wouldn't say yes."

Roxas fiddles with the keys in his hand. Then, thankfully, he smiles at her, a small one yet it still shows he accepts what she's saying. "Good. Ok, good. I'm glad. I only wanted to make sure, you know? It's kind of a weird situation and I wanted to handle it however you wanted to handle it."

Kairi gives him a smile. "Thank you for that. I appreciate it." She taps her fingers on the armrest, debating, but then she does say, "If you really do want to go with someone else. I won't stop you either."

Roxas is already shaking his head halfway through her sentence. "Nope. Nobody else."

Oh, how the other girls will weep, Kairi thinks lightly, feeling good about getting a date with such a catch because that's what Roxas is. She just hadn't realized it until recently.

Kairi leans towards him a little more, forcing eye contact so he knows she means business. "Now that that's established, shall we get you all dolled up in pink so it's official?"

With Roxas's laugh, the last of the uncertainty leaves the car. "Let's do it."

The sales rep is really good at her job. Having been there for years, she takes one look at the color swatch Kairi brought and knows exactly which vest-and-bowtie combo Roxas should order. It's not a bright, hot pink that Roxas expected, but rather a soft, light pink. Makes sense. Hot pink would clash with Kairi's dark red hair. With the color now revealed, Roxas starts to wonder what her dress looks like. He supposes he will find out in a month.

Roxas didn't have to worry about being recognized after all because the whole time they are there, nobody he knows comes into the shop, and Kairi doesn't seem to recognize anybody there either.

The stop itself doesn't take all that long. They're heading back to the car soon enough. It's a short ride back to Kairi's house because she lives close to downtown. He pulls in front of her house and parks, unlocking the doors to let her out.

Instead of getting out right away, Kairi unbuckles her seatbelt and turns to him. "Hey, so, are you going to the blitzball game on Friday?"

"Uh, I dunno. Hadn't thought that far ahead."

The nerves Kairi suddenly feels catches her off-guard, but she presses on. "Oh, sure. I was just, you know, wondering. Because if you were, it would be cool to see you there."

"Yeah?"

"I mean, I'll be cheering so I won't really be available, but I thought it would be fun to wave at you—if I see you." Kairi is very aware of her fingers lacing and unlacing themselves in her lap. A nervous tell she can never escape.

"I—yeah, I can come. I'll be there."

The big smile that spreads across Kairi's face is an involuntary response. "Great! I'll see you there, hopefully. You'll probably see me before I see you, but I'll look for you! I'll try to find you and wave."

"Sounds like a plan."

"Great! Great." Kairi can't seem to stop this overwhelming giddy feeling from making her babble. She realizes this and opens the car door to escape. "Great, ok. I'll see you at school tomorrow."

"See you then."

Kairi exits the car and jogs up to her front door. Turning back, she waves at Roxas before entering and finally allowing her giddiness to calm down.

Well, that was an odd bundle of nerves. And yet…Kairi certainly liked how it felt. She hasn't felt a giddiness with such intensity like that since…

Much to her surprise, thoughts of Sora don't bring the same lightheartedness they usually do—not when she's coming down from a high of hanging out with Roxas.

As she flops down onto her bed, she allows one girlish squeal to escape. She can't help it! Kairi covers her face with her hands then grabs a pillow and holds it to her chest. She keeps it tucked there as she lets her mind wander. She thinks about Roxas, about his cute smile, about his sincere, blue eyes, about if he thought her asking him to be at the game was close to a date…

Kairi rather likes that last thought.

"Hey! Think fast."

Ven jolts and barely gets his hand up in time to catch the car keys Roxas tosses to him from across the living room. He had to drop the TV remote in order to do so. What surprises him more than the projectile thrown at his head is the grin on his brother's face.

"What's got you all happy?" Ven asks. "Where were you?"

"I went to the rental shop to get my tux for prom," Roxas says. He moves to sit on the armrest of the chair closest to the kitchen where he came from.

"And you didn't bring me? What, you wanted privacy while shopping?"

"No, I—" Roxas shakes his head. The grin spreads a little farther across his face. "I brought my date. She wanted to match so we went to make sure we could."

"You have a date to prom? When did this—no, wait. Priorities. Who is it? Start talking!" Ven throws a pillow at Roxas who easily deflects it. Much less effective than a bundle of keys.

"Relax. I'm—It's nothing. I'm going with Kairi."

Ven blinks. The mischievous grin on his own face that appeared when he heard his shy little brother had a date, fades as he hears the name. "Wait. Kairi?"

"Yeah."

"Kairi, Kairi?"

"There's only one in school."

"I mean—wow. That's great!" That's unbelievable, is what Ven wants to say, but what kind of brother would he be if he did that? "How did you manage that?"

Roxas notices his brother's shift in mood, feeling the apprehension, but he refuses to let it get to him. He'd rather keep holding on to the good feeling he got from Kairi wanting to make sure she would see him Friday night.

Roxas tells Ven the whole story with a few more details than what he told even Axel, giving him the full picture of how this came to be. It's an experiment, sure, one that came about because she was bummed she didn't get asked out by Sora. Roxas trusts his brother. Ven may like to talk, but he isn't a blabbermouth. He can keep a secret.

Ven folds his arms and leans back into the couch cushions once the full story comes out. He chews on the inside of his cheek before he decides what to say. "Ok, I'm gonna say something and you can't get mad because it sounds like you already know what you've gotten yourself into, but I gotta say it anyway—do you realize you're her second choice?"

Roxas knows this. He isn't stupid. Yet the sting of it being spoken out loud is still painful. Roxas does his best to push passed it. "Yes, I am very well aware, thanks."

"Hey, I said don't get mad!"

"I'm not mad! I'm—" Roxas sighs, pinches the bridge of his nose. "Yes, Ven. I know the extent of the situation. I'm doing her a favor, not pledging my heart to her."

"Oh. So…does that mean you don't want to date her?"

"No, Ven."

"Well, that's different! Cool of you to be doing that for her."

"Yeah. Sure." Once again, Roxas feels deflated after telling someone he's going to prom with Kairi. It makes the knowledge that the whole school will know soon enough more daunting. What else can people dredge up to make him feel like he shouldn't be the one to take her?

And now he's got a new knot in his stomach because he has just lied to his brother.

Roxas would like to date Kairi—a revelation new to even him. But no one has to know that. In fact, not even Kairi will know that. It's a secret he will keep tucked away until it fades because it's bound to eventually.

Right?

A/N: To all you silent readers out there, thank you so much for stopping by, reading, and enjoying the story!

I've noticed a pattern with my writing. As my stories go on, the chapters get longer and longer. Like this next one. How I have it planned, it's going to be another long one.