The Passionate Beat

The Passionate Beat
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Chapter Six

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The next two weeks brought about changes to everyone. With school starting, it left less time to give to social lives, and that in turn left a lot of questions unanswered. Demyx had started to avoid everyone like the plague after their return from his birthday adventure, however, that turned out to be more difficult than he had anticipated. As it turned out, he still shared several classes with Riku; Sora and Roxas had gotten jobs at the café he played at, and well, Axel did have a key to his apartment.

The only one that he had any success in avoiding was Zexion. After all, they shared no classes, and as long as Demyx refused to visit the house that Riku and his cousin were renting, he basically nullified any chances of running into the pewter haired DJ. But just because he hadn’t seen him, it didn’t mean that Demyx had stopped thinking about Zexion. In fact, the blond had found it difficult to think of anything else. And that disturbed Demyx. How could he spare a thought to a lying schemer? No one wanted the past to repeat itself, least of all Demyx himself, and with what had happened that morning in the kitchen, it was bound to.

So to try and distract himself, Demyx threw himself into his studies and his work. On top of his schooling, three afternoons a week were devoted to teaching private music lessons for younger children, while three evenings were set aside for teaching yoga. Of the remaining evenings, Demyx played his own music at the café, leaving one night a week open for a social life or projects. In a way, Demyx was glad that there were so many things that he was able to use to distract himself with, but at the same time, he knew that he would burn himself out far too quickly if he kept this up. But that was better than facing the music and confronting Zexion.

“Oi, Demyx! Two songs, then you can break for 20!” a voice called out, belonging to the manager of the café, Tifa Lockheart. Nodding as he continued to sing into the microphone while strumming on his acoustic, Demyx allowed himself to be lost to the music once again as he finished this set. This was something that he always found relaxing. Playing to the small crowd, the blond was able to ignore everything else going on in his life and just let everything out. And there was no one around to judge him. All the mental anguish that he put into the words that he sang were just words to the crowd, not the laden emotions that they were to Demyx.

All too soon, the two songs were done with, bringing the musician back to the real world all at once. Quickly letting the patrons know that he would return shortly, Demyx bowed and thanked everyone for their applause before walking over to the counter and sitting on one of the barstools that lined it.

“You’re sounding really awesome out there tonight, Demy,” Sora grinned, pouring some steaming coffee into one of the white ceramic mugs before handing it to his friend.

“Thanks, Sora,” replied Demyx as he reached across the counter to retrieve the sugar, adding plenty before stirring it and taking a sip. The crowd was a decent size for a Tuesday night, consisting mainly of students and working class. Hopefully they would be the generous types and leave lots of tips in the open guitar case at the base of the slightly elevated stage.

“Hold on,” Sora paused before walking over to the POS system and entering in a few things on the screen. “Hey, Cid! Order in!” By the time that Sora had turned around and walked back over to the counter and started to polish glasses again, Roxas was approaching the counter, tucking an order pad into the pocket of his black apron.

“Sor, did you get that the ham and swiss was on rye with no mustard?” Roxas gave a short nod to Demyx in acknowledgement, but grabbed the coffee pot off the burner to take over to another table.

“Yeah, and the wrap had no bacon. And table 19 is going to need another pot of hot water for their tea,” Sora answered, putting the small silver pot on a tray with a bowl of milkers. With a nod and a smile to both of them, Roxas was off again.

“I still don’t know how you two do that,” Demyx laughed.

Sora just cocked his head to the side in confusion. “Do what?”

“I mean, you were inputting that order as he was taking it. It’s almost like you have him wired or something. I know that I couldn’t do those sorts of things with Larx or Nami.” There was something about those twins that kind of freaked Demyx out.

Sora just laughed, giving a small smile to his friend before returning to his polishing. “It’s just something that we have always been able to do. Why do you think that Tifa would only hire both of us instead of just one? She wanted to see how much extra work that she could get out of us.”

“And the fact that she is sleeping with Axel’s older brother has nothing to do with why you were hired, right?”

“Well, maybe just a little.” This time it was Sora’s turn to laugh out loud as he walked over to the coffee machine to put on another pot. “So, are you coming over to Riku’s after we get off? Roxy and I brought over some movies that we are all going to watch.”

Pausing as he had the mug up to his lips, Demyx prayed that the oddly perceptive brunet didn’t notice the wince that went through his body at the sound of the silver haired teen’s name. “Nah. I’ve got a class at 10 tomorrow morning and I still have to read a ton for it. I’m probably going to head right home after I’m done.”

Sora raised an eyebrow at the answer as he walked over and took the now full coffee pot off the burner, basically just holding it out, and it didn’t surprise Demyx to see Roxas walk over seconds later to exchanged his empty pot for the now full one. “You know, I don’t think that that is all, Demy.” Leave it to Sora to seem to be a complete airhead, but actually notice the smallest things. This time, Sora walked over and grabbed the two plates that were just put up there by the cook, holding them out as Roxas came and grabbed the plates out of his twin’s hands.

“Wh..Wh…what do you mean you don’t believe me?” Demyx stumbled over his words slightly as he hoped that Sora would just drop it. But of course, he had no such luck.

“Did something happen between you and Riku? You seem to tense up every time that someone mentions going over to hang out at his place or something. Not to mention that you have totally been avoiding us lately. We miss you Demy,” the brunet said, his blue eyes wide with concern over his friend.

The musician just sighed, gripping lightly at the mug in his hold. Damn that boy. “No, everything is cool between Riku and me.”

“So, then why are you refusing to come over to his place anymore?” Roxas asked, butting into the conversation. It really was creepy how they did things like that.

“I’ve just been busy trying to readjust to school and working and I just want a little me time lately.” Pasting an artificial smile onto his face, Demyx cursed the twins that most likely would not give up until they got the answer they wanted.

“Bullshit,” the younger teens answered in unison. Demyx winced at the almost expected answer. Honestly, he knew that there was only one way to get these two off his case. He just wished that there was some other way.

Letting out a deep sigh, Demyx lifted up a hand to pinch the bridge of his nose. He was sure that he and his sisters were never anything like this. “If I promise to tell you everything after work, do you promise to drop it?”

And with that single statement, it was enough to bring a huge grin onto each of the twin’s faces. “We knew that you wouldn’t last,” they told him in perfect unison.

“You two are evil,” Demyx laughed before downing the last of his coffee.

“Riku and Axel tell us that at least 6 times a day,” Sora giggled, walking over to the order window just as Cid put two more plates up. “Thanks Cid.”

“Damn kids. How the fuck do you manage to know as soon as I am putting the fucking food up,” the cook grumbled, chewing on the end of a tooth pick. With a few grumbled curses he readjusted the paper hat that he was forced to wear before turning around out of sight once again, mumbling something about evil twins or something like it.

Sora and Roxas both just giggled again before the brunet handed the plates off to his brother, then turned back to face his older friend.

“Demy, you know that we are only doing this because we care about you, right?” the brunet asked as he grabbed the sugar container that Demyx had been fiddling with and filling it.

The older teen just let out a single chuckle. “You know, everyone tends to say that way too much. You never know exactly who it is who means it.” Pushing the empty cup over towards his friend, Demyx stood up, walking back over to his small stage before picking his guitar off its stand before starting right into another set, while leaving Sora standing there with a sad look on his normally cheerful face.

Honestly, Demyx hadn’t wanted to make Sora upset, but he was just so sick and tired of people telling him that there were doing something because they cared for him, or that’s just what friends do. How many times had he heard that before, only to have it be a complete lie? Too many times to count, that’s for sure. Allowing his emotions of frustration and anger to creep into his playing, it was all he could do to not begin playing depressing music. After all, he was there to ensure that the guests were entertained during their meals, not become suicidal. Besides, Tifa had written it right into his contract that he was to only play things that everyone would like and would keep a pleasant attitude. The last thing that he wanted was to be fired for turning all emo tonight.

So, although he was playing songs with all his heart, his mind was elsewhere. Why did Roxas and Sora have to be so nosy? Although he knew that the two of them really were true friends, and as such deserved to know everything, but Demyx wasn’t sure he was ready to divulge into his past again so soon. It was times like this that he cursed Riku for being so trustworthy. After his silver haired classmate had learned everything last year, Demyx had pleaded with him to keep it a secret and not tell the twins. Frankly, this all might have been easier if Riku had told them. Deciding that all the emotional baggage could wait, Demyx absorbed himself in his playing once more, intent on entertaining the crowd with doing the one thing that no one could take away from him.

The night continued on, Sora and Roxas thoroughly earning every cent of their tips by amazing their customers with their strange twin powers, and Demyx keeping everything well entertained with his nice mix of original material and well known favourites. And even better, his guitar case held quite a bit of munny which very much pleased Demyx. That meant that he didn’t completely let his mood control his performance. But as the last of the customers left the café for the night, the sense of dread that Demyx had been trying to squash deep inside himself made another appearance. Propping his acoustic on its stand as soon as the final patron exited the door, Demyx crouched down to begin collecting the night’s earnings.

“Here,” a voice said, thrusting a glass of water in front of his face. Startled, Demyx looked up to see a smiling Tifa kneeling down next to him.

“Thanks, Tifa,” Demyx thanked her, quickly taking a large mouthful of the liquid. The cool water was nice on his parched throat after such a long night of playing.

“You did really well up there tonight, Dem. The crowd loved you.” The owner smiled proudly before helping the musician begin picking up his equipment.

The blond just blushed as he lovingly placed his guitar into the now empty case. Suddenly, their conversation was interrupted with the sound of laughter coming from the other side of the dining room. Demyx was not surprised at all to see Sora and Roxas at the source of the sound, laughing at something that happened into their own little world. With a grin, Demyx looked back over at his boss, who was watching the twins with a cocked eyebrow, looking as if she wanted to ask the boys what was so funny. “Trust me, Tifa. It’s best not to ask with them.” The laughter that was so much like the music that he played fell from Demyx’s lips, bringing another smile to the busty brunet’s lips.

“You know, they make more in tips every night then I do when I wear a low cut shirt during play offs,” Tifa laughed, causing Demyx to just about choke on the water that he had just taken a sip of when she had said it. The action drew more laughter from Tifa as Demyx coughed a few times to clear his windpipe of any water. “Maybe I should try and get your sisters to start working here. Then we can see if the three of you could out do the two of them.”

“Nah. We’re not quite as in tune as those two over there. It might be because we’re all fraternal, and Sora and Roxas are identical,” The blond explained with a smile, knowing that while he might not share what Sora and Roxas did with Larxene and Naminé, he still shared something special with them. “Besides, I think that Larx might, no, would scare off all your customers.” They shared another round of laughter before continuing with the clean up in silence. Sora and Roxas working an amazing two man show that even left Tifa speechless for a little while. Demyx laughed and carried on just as much as the rest of them.

It wasn’t until Cid called from them to get their ‘fucking asses over to get their fucking food’ that Demyx felt that sinking feeling rising up again. Now was when they were sure to press the issues again. Placing the last chair on top of a table, Demyx walked over to where Sora and Roxas were already gathering up the three plates before wishing the cook a good night.

“Fucking kids,” the man grumbled as he exited the kitchen, taking off his greasy apron, mumbling about needing a fucking cigar so bad after working with those demon spawns. Without even looking back at them, he exited the building, growling all the way.

“What did you two ever do to him?” Demyx laughed as Roxas passed him a plate full of salad that looked mighty tasty, before the three of them took a seat at one of the booths, Roxas and Sora on one side and Demyx on the other.

“We discovered that he has a lover at home by the name of Vincent that he has been with for thirteen years and never tells anyone about.” Sora smiled.

“It took us less then a day before we were able to pull it from him. Apparently even Tifa didn’t know.” The smirk on Roxas’ face was way too reminiscent of Axel, and that somewhat scared Demyx.

“Cid’s gay?” was the only thing that Demyx could think to say to all this new information. He had been playing here for well over a year now, and he hadn’t gotten the slightest inkling that Cid was gay, let alone in a relationship.

“Bi actually. And Vincent is hot for a man in his fifties.” The twins giggled before looking down at the plates that were sitting in front of them. With a short puff of air in complete unison, they picked up their plates and traded in a completely fluid motion.

“You guys are so weird,” Demyx laughed as he started to munch away at his dinner, trying not to think about Cid in any compromising positions with anyone, male or female. It was definitely not an image that he wanted to think about, ever.

“So, when were going to tell us about why you’ve been trying to avoid us?” Sora asked around a mouthful of greens, only to be smacked in the back of the head by his brother. “What was that for?”

“Don’t talk with your mouth full,” Roxas glared, causing Sora to roll his eyes at his twin.

Losing the grin that he had just been wearing, Demyx focused only on the salad in front of him, suddenly losing his appetite. Even after knowing them for over a year, every once in a while the blond couldn’t help but wonder why he was friends with these two. But then again, the fact that they were so perceptive and persistent gave them more credit then anyone else he knew. Taking a deep breath, Demyx set his fork down before starting. “It’s not the two of you, or Axel, or Riku that I have been avoiding. It’s Zexion.” Maybe that would be enough to appease their curiosity.

Tough chance of that.

“But why? Zexion is really cool! We’ve got a couple classes with him and he helps us all the time! And we thought that you two would be awesome friends because he is a DJ,” The answered in unison, causing Demyx to wince.

“Well, the morning that we all spent at his place, well, something maybe kind of happened between us and we may or may not have started making out.” Demyx could feel a blush rising to his cheeks as he stumbled around his words, but how else was he suppose to say these things.

“And Riku walked in on you two, right?” Sora questioned.

Nodding, Demyx reluctantly picked up his fork and took another bite, no matter how much it made his stomach churn.

“You two would make such a hot couple. So, why aren’t you together then?” Roxas asked the question this time, but nonetheless, it still was scaring the shit out of Demyx. That was the first of the questions that twins were bound to ask to ask that the blond dreaded.

“Because,” he muttered, understanding suddenly how Cid could hold a grudge against these two. Not only did they pick your personal life apart, they dried the bones out and used them for torture.

“Because why, Demy?” Damn those two.

“Because I refuse to be the other man again. I already went through that once, and I don’t need it to happen again,” the older male whispered, but knew that the twins had heard him, judging by the equal looks of shock on their faces. Who knew that Demyx of all people was hiding something so juicy?

“Whoa. What do you mean again?” The twins were once again set in their ability to speak as one and it just caused Demyx to groan. Stupid Riku and his being a good person and not breaking confidence.

“This doesn’t leave us, alright? Before you ask, yes, Axel and Riku both know, but I don’t really need to have the rest of the world know.” Demyx continued once he got nods from both twins. “Three years ago, I worked at the Twilight Town for an internship. Anyway, I was assigned to a counsellor by the name of…well, you don’t really need to know his name, let’s just call him…I don’t know…Xigbar.”

“Xigbar?” the twins both cocked their heads to the side in a frighteningly cute way. But Demyx knew better than to be fooled by that cuteness. They were evil. But even being so evil, at least they were trustworthy. And that’s all that Demyx could ask for. The twins were definitely true friends.

“It was an alias that he used to use,” grumbled the musician, a little happy that they were off the true subject, even if it was just for a second. It gave enough time for Demyx to take in a deep breath to help calm his nerves.

“Sounds like some sort of…” the blond twin began.

“California surfer pirate dude. Like he’d have an eye patch or something,” Sora continued with a laugh.

Demyx allowed himself a small laugh at the thought of the man that he had worked under in that type of description. Why did he get the feeling that the man would have gotten way too much amusement from it? “Anyway, but this was all going on about 2 years after I moved in with Axel’s family after everything with my own. It was a required internship that I had to do through the high school. And I just couldn’t believe how nice Xigbar was being to me. He really took me under his wing, especially when he found out about what had happened.” The musician gave a soft smile that neither of the twins missed.

“Sounds like you had a bit of a crush on him, Demy,” Roxas grinned, while Sora agreed by nodding vigorously.

The oldest blond suddenly blushed a little, turning away from the other two. “Yeah, I did. Let’s face it, after not having an older male influence in my life for well over two years, I had a bit of hero worship going on. And I was 17. The world was my playground. I could do anything. Anyway, moving on.” Once again, Demyx paused, trying to stop his hands from shaking too much and to ensure that the meal that he had been enjoy and since abandoned stayed where it was supposed to.

“So, what happened?” Sora asked, breaking the silence. Instantly he was shushed by his brother by the form of a slap to the back of the head once more.

“Well, eventually, my time there as almost done. Xigbar sort of found out about those feelings and acted upon them. First it was just a few gentle kisses and light touches. I knew deep down that it was wrong, but this guy accepted me for being gay, and I had never felt this way around an older man before, so I fell hard.” Demyx’s body and mind were now on auto pilot, a sad smile gracing his lips as a few tears began to escape from large aqua eyes.

Sora and Roxas both saw this and with a single surprised look towards one another, Sora dipped under the table as Roxas scooted quickly around to the other side so that they were now on either side of their older friend. Each teen wrapped an arm around the blond, sandwiching him between them. “You don’t need to go on,” they told him in whispered voices.

“Might as well.” Demyx shrugged. “Anyway, it didn’t take long for me to be completely seduced by him, and soon, we were in a sexual relationship. I was never happier. Until the day that we were having sex on his desk and in walked his wife and kid. And his son was my age. All the happiness I had been feeling completely disappeared instantly. I had no idea that he had a family. I felt so used. So dirty…So betrayed. There was a huge press scandal after that, and all I could think was that they didn’t have me named because I still was technically a minor. Xigbar had to issue a public apology, resigned from office, went through a very nasty divorce, everything. And it was all my fault. I ruined his life. He even told me that when I saw him again one day. That’s why I refuse to be the other man again.” Demyx’s voice was barely audible. Without another word, Demyx got up from the table, evading the hands that Sora and Roxas shot to keep him there, leaving his half eaten salad sitting there before walking over to his guitar case. The silent tears that ran down his cheeks weren’t hidden from anyone as the musician walked out of the café with another sound.

The twins just sat there, slack jawed and shocked at the story. They would have never imagined something like that had ever happened to Demyx of all people. They suddenly turned to face one another in complete unison. “But Zexion and Lex…he…no…We gotta talk to Riku!” they exclaimed in one voice. Maybe he could help get this all sorted out.

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So of all the things that I am suppose to be writing on right now, this wasn't actually suppose to be the one that I got done first, hehe. I was actually to be working on the MarlyDemy oneshot for the wonderful Tifa-san who does such an awesome job at betaing this story, and I wanted to get another chapter of Accident out too. But oh well. I'm sure that it will all come out soon enough. And I also promise that this is going to be the last chapter of Demy Dramaness.

Only two left…that is kinda sad…but that just means that I am going to have to make those last two chapters extra special and chalk full of everything that we want to have happen!

And what would my author’s notes be without my traditional shout out to my darling Pahoyhoy! I miss you terribly and love you so much! Thank you so much for being my muse! And a hugenormous THANK you to all you wonderful readers and reviewers! It completely blows me away how many people are reading and reviewing and leaving such awesome comments! THANK YOU ALL! Until next time!