The Journey or The Destination?

Before I go on with the second chapter I have to say a big Thank you to AkuRokuLove! xD You were my first reviewer! *showers with love n sparkles n all that*



Now, on with the story...









-

The final week of classes went by in a flash, leaving nothing but the dreaded exams and in those few spare hours, Roxas had tutored Sora to the extend of his ability. Almost the point where he wanted to put up the textbook and literally beat it into the cute brunette’s head. Lucky enough for him Namine pitched in when her classes were turned into self study periods.



There were times when Sora’s attention span was that of a peach cobbler but was quickly snapped back into action at the mention of Kairi, who refused to become part of the study group. Although she had denied offers to help, she still thanked Roxas and Namine and even at one point made cookies for them… Which were used to further bait Sora into studying.



Finally the last day of their exams came upon them, Sora and Roxas going towards their shared geography class. While the blonde was calm and ready his exam buddy looked ready to have a seizure. He was confident going to his first exam, the next two just seemed to drag him lower. The first three had grated his nerves to the max of their extent, making him wound like a top.



When Roxas placed his hand on the other boy’s shoulders the brunettes head whipped around so fast he swear he heard it crack.



“Roxas, what if I fail? Do you think if I failed Kairi wouldn’t talk to me anymore?” Roxas rolled his eyes shaking his head.



“No, but you’ll probably have too much summer school to worry about partying.” It took him a moment before he realized what he just said and wished he could suck it right back in.



“Summer school!?” Sora exclaimed, “I can’t go to summer school they’ll eat me alive! Roxas you have to help me here!”



“I’ve already done what I can, now shut up! We could be failed before we even get to the exam room with you yelling like that.” Roxas hissed, taking Sora’s shoulder a pushing it through the door at the same time silently prayed the boy passed and would be able to calm down.



Roxas himself found not trouble with his own exams, Home Ec. Was simple answer sheets and a making a cake and science was simple knowing which chemical went where. That was all school was, memorizing, repeating and bullshitting.



As he sat down, he looked over to Sora, who gripped his pencil with white knuckles as he stared down the pages as it would jump up and bite him.



The teacher the calmed the students in the room before looking to the clock, one hand raised.



“You may begin.”

-



“So how do you think you did?” Namine asked meeting the boys outside of the building in simple summer dress and a straw hat, all ready dressed for summer. Roxas was about to reply when he cut off by a loud exaggerated groan behind him.



“Horrible!” Sora walked sluggishly, his feet dragging behind him as he came to rest his chin of Roxas’ shoulder, “Why does America have to have so many states!?”



Roxas gave him an annoyed looked over his shoulder while Namine gave a soft giggle, “Sora, calm down. Everything will work out.”



“Says Ms. Smarty-pants,” Roxas said with a smile, taking in her bleached dress, “Getting already for summer while us poor degenerates have to suffer in confinement.”



“Yea!” Sora agreed, though not quite understanding what a detergent-grape was.



Namine laughed before putting her hands on her hips and promptly sticking her tongue out at the two of them.



“Oh she did not just go there,” said Sora, acting offended, moving away from Roxas to crack his knuckles.



“Yes. Yes she did, Sora.” Roxas said trying to keep the laughter out of his voice and he stood beside Sora facing Namine.



“Oh, and what exactly are you little boys going to do about it?” It was hard to take a threat like that seriously from the gentle voice, but a challenge was a challenge.



Matching blue eyes met before both spiky mops nodded and turned to ‘the enemy’. Together they took a deep breath before pulling their cheeks apart, sticking their tongues out between stretched lips with crossed eyes.



“Oh, my god! It’s grade 2 all over again!” In mid face pull Kairi had shown up with a mix of amusement and disappointment across her face.



“Uhn-um?” Sora and Roxas took a few moments before releasing it was Kairi standing there and slowly they released their faces, suddenly quite bashful. Namine was having a heck of a time laughing, holding her stitching sides.



“Okay you two, some of us like to act our whole age, not just the second digit,” She giggled and ruffled both their heads, messing their spikes into random angles.



“Now c’mon Sora,” She said, suddenly turning her attention to him, “You better buck up by the time we have our math exam. One fifteen sharp!”



The brunette’s back went ramrod straight, “Yes ma’am.”



“Good,” Her voice softened, “And good luck okay?”



“Heh,” Sora relaxed, running his hands through his hair, trying in vain to fix them, “It’s about all I got.”



-



Soft melodic strums drifted from vibrating cords of the instrument, weaving in a gentle rhythm through out the teenager’s room. Demyx sat with the sitar in his lap, eyes closed with his blonde head swaying with the beat. It was in these moments he felt at peace, almost utterly complete with the world in those simple notes.



Things had gotten simpler in the Strife household since the divorce had run out of steam, winning their mother custody of he and his brother. Their father had moved back to Hallow Bastion, almost an entire world away from Traverse Town.



At first, he thought it was ludicrous. There was the fighting and the crying, always ending with a slamming door, then there was Demyx trying to keep himself from killing his brother and vice versa. Not much had gotten better once the final papers were signed, he blamed his mother and things just seemed to get uglier and uglier. Until one day, though he wasn’t sure quite why, everything just felt okay.



He guessed that one day, he just got tired of being angry. And once he stopped screaming and yelling, he realized it wasn’t his parents or his brother, it was him filling the house with noise. So one day, he stopped and the house was blissfully quiet. He was content.



Of course life wasn’t perfect but while he had the house to himself and his sitar at his fingers, he believed it was even if it were for a few moments.



…That were broken by an obnoxious beeping.



Coming out of his calm state, Demyx picked up his cell phone. With a quick glance he acknowledged Axel’s name blinked on the screen and flipped it to his ear.



“Any luck on the stalker issue?” He asked quickly, a smile in his voice.



“Well hello to you too ass hat,” The red head sounded disgruntled on the other end, it sounded like things weren’t going his way.



“I’ll take that as a no,” He chuckled into the phone, which was now wedged between his head and his shoulder as he lovingly placed his sitar on its stand.



There was an exaggerated sigh before Axel answered, “This is getting to be a piss off.”



Demyx rolled his eyes, “Oh c’mon. You get more ass than most toilet seats. And that’s not a compliment.”



“Heh, sure it isn’t,” Egotistical bastard. “But yea, everyone is either taken, straight or…”



“You’ve fucked them already.” Demyx said flatly.



“Yea, that. And it’s not like I can walk up to some one and say ‘Hey! I have a stalker! Date me so he can leave me alone!’ That just doesn’t fly.”



The blonde stifled some laughter but a snort escaped him.



“Bastard.” Axel growled.



“Hey, hey. No need for name calling.” Demyx said cheerfully, “But seriously, is it that bad? Like, get a freaking man whore or something.”



“Ew. Dude? No. Even I’m not that low.” There was a pause then, “Hey… Dem, you’re not seeing anyone are you?”



Demyx nearly rolled off his bed, “Okay. Now you’re just desperate.”



The red head huffed, “It’ll only be for a few days! Be a friend!”



“Fat chance.” He replied flatly, “Besides who knows where you’ve been.”



“Argh!” Demyx pulled his ear from the phone with a grin.



“Well, has he gotten any worse? Like has he gotten to perverted phone calls yet?”



“Gek, no. Thank god for small miracles. Still a pain in the ass though.”



Demyx chuckled before there was the sound of the front door closing, “Hey, my bro’s home. I’ll call you back later, kay?”



“Pfft, sure.” Was the irritated reply before the line disconnected.



Demyx flipped his phone shut then pocketed it as he exited his room, moving towards the kitchen. Swinging around the corner he saw blonde tuffs of hair from behind the open fridge door.



“Hey Roxy.” Demyx called, walking up behind his little brother to shove one hand into his spiky hair but was swatted away.



“Hey,” Roxas pulled a coke from the fridge before closing it then going to sit at the small island, “Where’s mom?”



“Working, per usual,” Izusa Strife was a tech support woman at Space Paranoids, working off and on night shifts, it was hard to really tell when she was going to be home or not, “How’d exams go?”



The younger sibling popped the tab on his soda, “Easy, but Sora was ready to fall apart. Poor guy was in shambles.”



“Ah, the Sora.” Demyx rolled his eyes, “At least I can sleep safe knowing he won’t be here almost everyday.”



His brother quirked a brow, how could anyone actually dislike the rambunctious teen was beyond him. Demyx laughed before ruffling his little brother’s hair again.



“Nice kid but he always eats out the fridge when he’s here.”



“Ah,” Roxas cracked a smile, trying to evade the hand, “So what’s new with you?”



The taller boy sat in the stool across from Roxas and leaned casually on the island, “Friend’s got some relationship issues going on, not much else.”



“Crazy, I haven’t been seeing you often,” Roxas mused, nursing his cola, “With both you and Mom out so often I sometimes think I’m the only one living here.”



“Awww, is my Roxy Woxy won-wee?” Demyx reached forward to ruffle his brother’s hair yet again but it was easily dodged.



“Why do you keep doing that?” Roxas pouted and combed his fingers through the mess.



“Because it’s my obligation as an older brother.” Demyx nodded solemnly before a grin crept across his face, “So yea, Kairi? Party? Yes?”



The smaller blonde eyed the other wearily, “Why?” The grin only grew wider at his enquiry making him heave a sigh, “You’re planning to crash it, aren’t you?”



“It’s not like Kairi minds,” Demyx shrugged, “With her parties everyone and their grandma goes.”



“Well she always has Wakka and Tidus standing guard, so not everyone.” Roxas smiled, “Sides, who’d bring their grandma?”



“The people with the hip grannys.” Demyx nodded as if agreeing with himself before chuckling.



“God you’re retarded.”



“Ah, but we are related. I’m sure there’s a lil mental retardation in you somewhere,” Demyx replied playfully and swiped his brother’s cola from under his nose. Roxas glared at him.



“There’s more is the fridge y’know,” He said, eyeing his older brother as drank deeply from the can.



After finishing the last swallow, Demyx gave a small burp, “Yea, I know but why get up?” He crushed the can and threw it into the nearby trashcan, “But yea, when is it?”



Roxas decidedly let go of the stolen soda issue and scratched the back of his head, “Well, her parents are leaving the 26th so it’s the following weekend. We’re gonna help set everything up.”



“Who’s buying the booze this time?”



Roxas shrugged, “Iunno but apparently it’s a big occasion.”



Demyx scoffed, “Well yea, school’s done and over with.”



“No,” He shook his spiky blonde head, “Somebody’s coming back into town or something, well I think so. She’s all hush-hush about it.”



“So an end-of-school slash welcome-home party, eh? Why’s it all ‘hush-hush’?”



“Beats me.” Roxas said, resting his chin in the palm of his hand, “I only found out about it when I over heard Nam and her, saying ‘I can’t wait til he gets here’ `n stuff. When I asked them Kairi was all ‘don’t say a word!’”



Demyx quirked a brow, “Conspiracy?”



Roxas cocked his own brow at his brother, “Could be?”



-



Axel nervously puffed on his cigarette as he walked down the street towards his apartment. He wondered idly if he should even go home, maybe he should rent a hotel room or something til everything blew over. The tall boy shook his head, now he was just being paranoid... though the idea was definitely appealing.



Stepping into the air-conditioned entryway of the apartment building after butting out his smoke he thought back to Tifa’s advice. Seeing as his stalker was male, he’d have to get a male stand in.



‘It won’t have the same effect if it’s a girl,’ She had said, ‘Because he knows you’ve been with a man so he’ll probably blow it of as experimenting.’



But good looking gay guys were hard to find in this season, it was like all the free ones packed their bags and left for the summer. He heaved a heavy sigh once he got to his apartment, he’d been doing that a lot today. Most likely because it was so nerve racking.



The guy hadn’t gotten worse, but it was like he was a ghost. The only times Axel saw him were in the corner of his eye and when he turned to see if he was there, there wasn’t anyone. He wondered if he hadn’t taken the pictures over his shoulder with his cell phone if he would have ever actually known. The whole thing had him jumpy as hell.



-



Sora sat with the brown envelope clutched in his fingers at their usual table, Namine on one side and Roxas on the other. The brunette audibly gulped still trying to fight the inevitable but the blondes were getting tired of waiting.



“Sora,” Namine chided gently, “You can’t just sit there staring at it.”



“And you’re gonna rip it,” Roxas added, but Sora was too busy chewing his lip and worrying over his report card to pay any mind. The blonde boy heaved a sigh before snatching the papers away from him.



“Hey!” He exclaimed, trying in vain to grab it back, but Roxas kept it out of reach.



“Well if you aren’t going to read them, I will.” He stated plainly, his hand on Sora’s chest with the brown envelope over his head.



“I will, I will, just give it.” Roxas eyed him a moment before calmly returning his report card, “I was just working my way up to it…”



Namine gave a small smile and patted his shoulder, “You’ve worked enough Sora, let’s see if it’s paid off hmm?”



His dark blue eyes looked into her gentle sky coloured ones then back to the brown paper that concealed his fate. With a deep breath he tore it open and pulled out the folded piece of paper but instead of looking at them, he held them at arm’s length with his eyes screwed shut, “I can’t look.”



“Want me to read them to you Sora?” Namine asked kindly, rubbing his shoulder.



Sora nodded, not even opening his eyes as he handed over the paper. Roxas moved in closer to hear the results, with out realizing it he held his breathe. The pale blonde cleared her throat as she opened the paper, reading aloud. Her pale eyes brightened as she begun to read.



“Phys. Ed; 62%, English; 57%, Geography; 54%, Choir; 58%, Math…” Namine paused, her face dropping.



“What?” Roxas asked squirming a bit to try and see the paper in her small hands. Sora sat stock still between the both of them.



“…49.” She whispered, placing the paper on the table, “Sorry Sora…”



“One percent!?” Sora wailed, “I got failed by one measly percent!?”



He propped his elbows on the table with the heels of his hands pressed to his eyes. Roxas and Namine shared a look of sympathetic concern.



“Hey, it’ll be okay.” Namine soothed, wrapping an arm around his shoulders, “You passed all your other classes.”



“But Kairi said all five…” Sora mumbled, sliding his head forward so his forehead was resting against his forearms.



Roxas patted his free shoulder, “Oh c’mon, Kairi isn’t going to get anal over one percent. Even though your Math teach did.”



“What’d the math teacher do?” the three of them looked up to see the very girl Sora was busting a gasket about, her red hair in a high pony and wearing a short pink and white one piece. The brunette tensed.



There was an awkward silence as Kairi sat down, looking confused at the lack of greeting. She looked down at the table and it dawned on her. With no sudden movements she slowly picked up the piece of paper and read the grades.



The silence stretched for a few more moments before Kairi bemusedly said, “One percent?”



Sora bit his lip and hid his eyes behind his hair… Here it comes…



“Fucking douche bag can’t do anything right! God I hate Mr. Jafar!” She slapped the paper onto the table before looking to Sora who wore a dumbstruck face.



Namine and Roxas looked to her as well but she just smiled, “That guy has a major stick up his ass, I passed by the skin of my teeth.”



“S-so?” Sora raised his head, eyes hopeful.



“Considering the circumstances…?” Kairi put a finger to her chin and looked upwards thoughtfully, before grinning, “Yea, you’re good.”



“Rea-really?!” The brunette rose from his seat and at Kairi’s nod he threw his arms in the air and gave a whoop of joy, “Yay! Oh god thank you, thank you, thank you!”



He then proceeded to hug each one of them and ended with one big crushing group hug that had the rest of them laughing too, if not breathlessly. Roxas looked to his friend and couldn’t stop smiling. It was good to have him back.



After all the joyous embracing was over with Kairi sighed in relief and flopped back into the booth, “Now that that is over with, who’s helping me with the party?”



Sora raised his hand enthusiastically and Roxas nodded but Namine spoke up, “I’m tied up with work this Friday.”



Both Kairi and Sora ‘awww’ed in unison, “But the library is so boring!”



Namine giggled, “The pay’s good and I like it, it’s quiet.”



“You’ll be free for the party though right?” Kairi asked, to which Namine nodded.



“Good! All set!” Sora cheered.



“Wait,” Roxas leaned into the group and whispered, “Who’s got the alcohol?”



“Wakka,” Kairi whispered back with a small smirk.



Sora blinked, “Wakka? Isn’t he our age?”



“He turns 18 Wednesday, just in time eh?” Kairi whispered enthusiastically, “And since he’s got his driver’s license he’s got ID which means free liquor! I don’t have to beg my cousin for it.”



Roxas leaned back in his seat, “Yea, Marluxea is always so pissy.”



“I can’t wait now,” Sora tried to keep his voice down because of his obvious excitement, “I’m totally getting tanked!”



“And we have to get you,” Kairi pointed at the blonde boy with a determined look, “Absolutely shit faced.”



“Uhm, no thanks,” Roxas raised his hand in declination. Sure he liked to drink socially but he always chose to stay more sober than the rest. Mainly to make sure his friends didn’t do anything stupid they’d regret. One time he had to dissuade Kairi from flashing the entire party her unmentionables. Didn’t stop Selphie though…



“Oh c’mon Roxas,” Sora pushed, elbowing his friend in the arm, “It’s fun!”



“Even Namine’s gotten hammered,” The red head piped up, making the girl beside her blush.



“Worse morning ever…” She mumbled looking off to the side.



“But you had fun, admit it,” Namine just blushed harder but nodded. Roxas remembered that night, it was just the four of them drinking because Namine didn’t want to make a fool of herself in front of a herd of people. The night wasn’t so bad, she was the life of the party… until she turned as green as a frog and made akin sounds of one into the toilet.



“But you shouldn’t push Roxas if he doesn’t want to,” She replied tucking her hair behind her ear, “I chose to get… ‘hammered’.”



Heeding the words of their blonde friend, Kairi and Sora let the subject drop with a sigh. It would’ve been a sight to see the usually calm and introverted dancing with a lamp shade over his head doing the cabbage patch.



Roxas cleared his throat, interrupting their little fantasy, “So what are you getting?”



“Huh?” Kairi asked, “Oh, yeah. Just some plastic cups and snacks and stuff. The basics.”



“Oh! Oh! Silly string!” Sora cheered, bouncing in his seat.



Kairi quirked a brow, “Are you five?”



“Mentally he is,” Roxas said jokingly.



“True,” Kairi said with a grin, making the brunette pout pitifully and Namine giggle softly, “And besides, I don’t think a drunk Sora could handle silly string.”



Namine nodded, “You could get it in someone’s eye.”



Sora rolled his eyes, “Like that could ever happen.”



“Can’t take the chance.” End of discussion, “Now, Thursday we go shopping. Who’s coming with?”



“It’s just food,” Roxas said, “Do you really need more people?”



“Yes, yes I do,” Kairi nodded, “I know Sora’s in, Namine?”



“Alright, but before four, I have a closing shift.” Kairi nodded before turning to Roxas, expecting an answer.



The blonde sighed, “No can do, Mom’s actually free for the next two days. Gotta get in some ‘quality time’.” He air quoted the last two words. Quality time was cleaning out the house and scrabble in his mother’s mind.



“Alright then,” Kairi said, sounding a little disappointed, “But I gotta go wave farewell to the parents.”



“Not like you’ll miss ‘em.” Sora chirped, winking at his friend.



“True.” She replied, before leaving the group.



-



Yea, I know it’s slow >.< But! Riku in next chapter! Can you guess the stalker? Guess right and you get pudding! -is too cheap for cookies-



Read and review~!