Sora West had managed to hit his snooze button three times before his phone began blaring on the night stand next to his bed. He opened his eyes into little slits and hissed when he noticed sun was streaming in his open window; he quickly slammed his lids closed to shut out the offensive light. The brunet then blindly shoved his hand out of the covers and slammed it around the nightstand until it landed on his phone. His eyes remained closed while he pressed the device against his ear and answered the call.

"Hello?" Sora croaked into the mouth-piece and rubbed his tired eyes.

"Good morning to my handsome fiancé!" Kairi's voice chirped from the speaker. Sora quickly moved the phone a few inches away from his ear before continuing their conversation.

"Good morning, Kai." The brunet stretched and yawned before snuggling back into his covers. His navy blue comforter was too cozy for him to leave just yet.

"You lazy bum; you were supposed to be up thirty minutes ago." The auburn haired woman scolded him while chuckling. She was always a morning person and her future husband was the exact opposite. Waking up was the hardest part of Sora's day.

"I know, I know. Is that all you called for?" He sat up in bed and forced himself to open his eyes. Once they adjusted Sora was able to make out the furniture in his room. His bed was the largest piece, obviously, and took up a majority of the small master bedroom in his apartment. His dresser, which had been lime green at one time (but was now a much more "mature" black), was the second largest object. It was currently crammed into the corner with a television and assorted dirty pieces of laundry scattered on top of it. The rest of Sora's room was occupied by a small computer desk, a shelf that held all of his old base-ball trophies from high-school, and the night stand that once held his phone, but now only had a small lamp resting on it. His brown walls hadn't changed since the last time he had woken up and neither had the miserable excuse for carpet that was stained and matted in his usual walking trails around the maze of smashed together furniture.

"I just wanted to wish you luck. Today's the day you get the big assignment, right?" Kairi questioned. Sora's eyes went wide when he remembered that it was Thursday and that was the day his boss had promised to let him know about a big new writing project that had Sora's name written all over it. He had also forgotten that Thursday was the day he and his boss were holding interviews for his assistant position.

"It totally slipped my mind! Shit!" Sora threw himself out of bed while holding the phone to his face with his chin against his shoulder. Kairi giggled on the other end of the call and then quickly hushed herself. Sora could hear her cover up her phone before muttering to someone else in the room. He listened closely while slipping on some fresh boxers.

"Sorry, I'm on the phone with my fiancé… No, no, it's fine... He knows… Yeah, we have an open relationship… the bathroom is right down the hall… I work at eight, if you could be gone by then… Thanks!"

Sora's heart sank while he listened to Kairi talk to whatever man she had slept with the night before. He didn't let it show in his voice, though, when she returned to his call.

"Sorry about that, honey. I need to get going so I hope you do great today! Don't forget that I love you." The auburn haired woman waited for Sora to say "I love you, too" before ending the call.

The brunet rubbed his eyes in frustration and continued about his morning. Normally he had a lot more time to get ready than just an hour but he had hit snooze three times and talked to Kairi for at least five minutes more. He needed to hustle if he was going to get out of the house in time for him and Roxas to make it to the office.

Roxas!

Sora remembered that it was his responsibility to wake up his best friend and quickly darted from his tiny bedroom into the even tinier bedroom across the apartment. He dashed through the kitchen and the living room before colliding with Roxas' door and bursting through. The blond groaned and rolled over in bed but otherwise remained undisturbed by Sora's dramatic entrance.

"Rox, you gotta get up! Your interview is today!" Sora hurled a fresh pair of boxers in his best friend's direction before leaving the room. He ran into the kitchen and dumped some coffee that had brewed twenty minutes before (thank goodness for automatic timers) into a mug. He screwed the lid on while shuffling back to his room as speedily as he could without spilling.

The brunet whipped open his dresser to reveal rows of organized dress shirts and pants. It seemed that the only amount of organization in his entire apartment was contained to those two drawers; he took out the outfit on top and nearly threw his coffee on the night-stand so he could change. He pulled up his grey dress slacks and hurriedly shoved a belt through all of the loops after he tucked in his lilac dress shirt. He finished off his ensemble with a plain and simple black tie with an Eldredge knot before grabbing his coffee and sprinting to the bathroom. It was here that Sora inspected his outfit and deemed it decent enough for what his day had in store. He quickly gave up on running a comb through his unmanageable hair and brushed his teeth, cringing at the taste of mint with his black coffee.

"Hey, I need to put my face on, so hurry up!" Roxas called to him from outside the door. Sora sighed internally before opening the barrier between them. He rolled his eyes at the sight of his best friend.

Roxas had completely disregarded the boxers Sora had thrown at him and had put on a pair of his favorite lace panties instead. They were slightly covered by his black tights, though.

"I thought I told you that you had a better shot of getting the job if you went as Roxas." Sora frowned again when the blond ignored him and scooted in-between him and the sink to reach the shower. Roxas turned the water on and splashed his face a bit before wiping it clean with a towel.

"I don't feel like Roxas today. I feel like Roxie and that's that." Roxie smiled cheerfully at her best friend and tousled his spikes.

"Rox…" Sora's warning tone was completely lost on the blonde, though, because she was happily humming to herself while sitting on the closed toilet. She placed a small mirror in front of her and began putting on bright red lipstick.

"Don't be such a worry-wart, Sora. Everything will be fine!" Roxie beamed and went back to applying her make-up. The brunet shook his head and decided the best course of action was to let her do what she pleased because there was no stopping her once she set her mind to something.

"Just be ready in twenty minutes, okay? We can't be late." The blonde saluted in response before the brunet left the room. Sora reminded himself that sharing his bathroom was only a temporary situation. He was just helping Roxie get back on her feet, after all. Sure, it had already been six months, and sure, Sora had said only a few weeks, but that didn't matter. All that mattered was that Roxas was safe from Blaze and was getting his life back on track.

Her life on track, stupid. Sora scolded himself for his blatant ignorance. She's Roxie today and you better not forget it at the interview!

Sora had never lived with anyone before Roxas, though, and it was proving to be more difficult than he had imagined. He didn't like sharing the television or the bathroom and the kitchen was too small for both of them to be in at the same time. He could hear Roxas snore all night long and when he wasn't snoring he was singing loud enough to upset the neighbors. The blond left his towels on the bathroom floor all the time. He never closed the bread bag after taking out a slice. He did a thousand other things that pissed Sora off, too, but the brunet cared about Roxas far too much to bring any of it up. He knew that leaving Blaze was the hardest thing Rox had ever done; it would take longer than six months to get his life back together.

That's why Sora was determined to get Roxas the job as his assistant. It wouldn't be easy, of course, because he knew that his boss wanted him to have a male assistant and Roxas was determined to be a girl for the day. Having a best friend that cross-dressed had never bothered Sora much as long as the blond didn't get caught. Sora had talked them out of a few scrapes before because Roxas hadn't been careful enough.

"The world isn't ready for people like you and me, Roxie. You need to try harder." Sora held an ice-pack to his friend's eye while nursing his own wounds. Her make-up was smeared and her wig was matted. The blonde wiped tears from her eye before smiling sadly at Sora.

"It's not fair, though. It's just who I am. I can't be confined to just Roxas or just Roxie. I'm both him and her. I'm not hurting anyone! And you're not hurting anyone either, just because you like men. I like men too, and it's okay when I'm Roxie but not when I'm Roxas? But I'm both of them, so it doesn't make any sense." Roxie cried out in desperation as she shifted how she was sitting on the closed toilet lid. Her leg was being iced in the shower from where the men at the bar had managed to kick her before Sora came to her rescue.

"Of course we're not hurting anyone. Maybe someday it will be different and we won't have to hide who we are. But for now we need to be more careful and make sure no one ever finds out." Sora sighed and wrung out the cold wash-cloth before adding more ice. He hated to see Roxie cry the way she was.

Roxie came out of the bath-room completely ready to go in only fifteen minutes. She smirked, proud of herself, as she strutted into the living room for Sora to take a look at her outfit. Her stiletto heels were slipped on over the black tights from before, only now the tights were covered by a black pencil skirt as well. Her classic white blouse was only half showing; the rest was hidden by a colorful red blazer. Her blond hair was styled artfully down one shoulder in large curls (it was one of her favorite wigs) and her make-up was impeccable. Winged eyeliner, eyelashes full of volume, bright red lips that matched her blazer, and flawless looking foundation completed her look perfectly.

"Okay, fine. So maybe Roxie will get the job." Sora rolled his eyes as Rox squealed with delight.

"Awesome! Let's go, Sor-rah!" Roxie purposely added the affliction to the brunet's name before grabbing his keys off of the rack and running out the front door. Sora chuckled to himself and checked his pockets for the essentials. Phone, wallet, and favorite pen were all in attendance, and his keys were currently being carried down the stairs by an exuberant blonde.

"Wait up, Roxie!" Sora called to her before closing the door to his apartment and rushing down the stairs. They made it to the car at the same time.

"I wanna drive!" Roxie begged before Sora scoffed and snatched the keys from her manicured fingers.

"In your dreams, girlie. I worked hard to afford this bad-boy, and that means I'm going to drive it." Sora stroked the hood of his 1998 Honda Accord lovingly before sliding into the driver's seat.

"This thing is a piece of shit and you know it." Roxie rolled her eyes as she got into the car sideways so no one could see up her skirt. The apartment parking-garage was surprisingly busy for it being so early on a Thursday morning.

"Hey! Don't you dare talk about the Rusty Stallion that way! After all he does for you…" Sora shook his head in mock disgust and pulled out of the parking spot. By the time they got on the freeway the duo was engaged in a heated conversation about how Roxie should conduct herself at her interview for the day.

"I don't get why I have to pretend to be someone I'm not." She crossed her arms and kicked her heels up onto the dash. Sora cringed.

"Stop that. If we get in an accident you're going to snap your legs in half." He frantically swatted at her tights with one hand while keeping the other on the steering wheel.

"That's not the point, Sor-rah. Just tell me why I can't be the usual Roxie!" She demanded an answer from the brunet.

"Because the regular Roxie is provocative and you know it!" Sora laughed and continued to shove Rox's legs off the dash.

"So?!" The blonde cackled before shrugging her shoulders. "Fine, I'll be a good little assistant. I'll grab you your coffee and run and get you lunches and stuff. I'll even let you slap my ass when I walk by, and I'll be extra sure to stay and lend a hand if you ever need to work late-night over-time." She winked at Sora and puckered her lips. The brunet moved his flailing hand from her tights to her face, giving her a playful smack.

"Get out of here, you harlot." Sora couldn't help but smile as he pulled in to his usual parking spot, though. The pair got out of the car and after Roxie adjusted her skirt they entered the building.

"Morning, Sora!" The secretary, Selphie, greeted the brunet kindly. She then beamed at Roxie after noticing that she was accompanying Sora. "Hello to you, too!"

"Good-morning." Roxie purred to the other woman in a sweet and sultry voice. Selphie looked shocked for a moment before quickly pretending she had a phone call. Sora smacked Roxie for the second time that morning once the bubbly secretary had turned around.

"You moron!" He hissed. "You promised me you'd be sweet and innocent!"

"Oh… did you mean now?" Roxie blinked in confusion before Sora rolled his eyes.

"You are so full of shit. Let's just get upstairs." The brunet took long strides to the clear glass elevator.

His office building was in the heart of the wealthy section of the city and it clearly showed. Sleek and modern furniture and architecture littered the entrance and the glass elevator glided down to their floor effortlessly, as if it was floating on air. Roxie whistled as it opened and sent them a gracious "ping" to note its arrival.

"This place is swank." They entered the elevator alone and Sora pressed the button for the seventh floor, which was where his office was. He took pride in the fact that he had his own office and no longer had to work on the eighteenth floor with all the other interns. No, he was a hot-shot author now, and he was going to soak up all of its glories.

Just as soon as he wrote anything worth-while, that was.

The elevator let out another gentle "ping" and opened on the third floor for a woman with indescribable style and sophistication. Her high-waist grey slacks billowed about her legs and her black dress shoes clacked against the stunning tile of the elevator. Her lilac blouse was tucked in to her pants much like Sora's was. He internally threw himself off the top of the building upon seeing his boss.

"Morning, Tifa…" He muttered.

"Sora, what have I told you about copying my outfits?" She raised an eyebrow playfully at the brunet.

"In my defense, I actually owned this one before you did." Sora replied. Roxie did her best to look as small as possible, recognizing Sora's boss from her name and all the descriptions the brunet had given her. The blonde now realized why Sora wanted her to behave herself. This woman did not look like she messed around. Not a hair was out of place and there wasn't a trace of stress on her person.

"I highly doubt that." She chuckled and handed Sora a binder filled with pictures of applicants and resumes. "I want you to look through this by yesterday. Can you manage that?"

"Yesterday? Seems a little tight, but I might be able to get it done." Sora cracked a smirk in his boss' direction. She raised an eyebrow and cocked her head. Her black hair artfully draped down her back in one long swooshing motion. Roxie nearly swooned with jealousy.

"Very funny, Mr. West."

"No, I mean it! I've already met one of the applicants!" Sora beamed happily. Tifa's eyebrow raised even further.

"Oh?" She mused.

"Yeah, actually, she's right behind you…" Sora mumbled before turning to face Roxie. The blonde had been able to hide in the back of the elevator as it made its ascent up to the seventh floor; not that the ride was over it was a bit harder for her to blend in.

"Hello, Ma'am. My name is Roxas Hart." Roxie extended her hand and gave Tifa a firm, yet submissive, handshake. Just like Sora had told her to do.

"Roxas?" Tifa questioned why the seemingly stunning woman in front of her had a man's name.

"Please, call me Roxie." Rox uttered flawlessly with-out missing a beat. She then gave Tifa one of her signature smiles. She mustered up all the sweetness and innocence she could put into a single facial expression and forced it out. She could see her reflection in Tifa's eyes and nearly melted herself from how perfectly adorable she looked smiling like that. Roxie gave herself an internal victory dance; that degree in theatre had paid off.

"Roxie… Pleasure to make your acquaintance. I am Tifa Lockhart, the chief editor for CityRise Publishing." Tifa grinned in return and it was only then that Roxie could see a bit of old age in the corners of her eyes on her other-wise flawless face. Sora had told her once that Tifa was forty and no one would have believed it from how she looked.

"Oh, I know all about you. It's always been my dream to work in such a successful publishing house." Roxie spewed out bull-shit.

"Well, if it's success you're after, you came to the right place." Tifa smirked and gracefully exited the elevator. Sora was right on her heels and quickly threw away the picture of Roxas as a male that was in his binder. Roxie strutted through the open glass doors and took a deep breath. It was going to be a long day.

After hours of interviewing applicants and asking the same questions over and over, Sora was about ready to throw himself out of one of the windows. Tifa sat with her ankles crossed and her pen resting artfully above her ear. Sora wondered how she always seemed composed no matter what the situation.

"We've looked at over twenty applicants and not a single one stands out to me." She muttered before taking the pen from behind her ear and crossing off the name of the last interviewee that had left the room. Sora stretched before he attempted to work some sort of magic.

"What about the woman in the elevator?" He asked innocently. Tifa scoffed.

"The blonde one? She seemed very… peculiar. There was something about her that I just couldn't put my finger on, almost as if she had a big secret that she didn't want anyone to know." Tifa put the end of her pen in between her lips and chewed on it for a moment in thought.

"A secret? What would she be hiding?" Sora chuckled and pretended like he wasn't terrified that Tifa could see through Roxie's skirt.

"I'm not sure… Maybe I am being a bit paranoid." Tifa shrugged before placing the pen behind her ear again. "Go fetch her, will you? I'll conduct her interview alone."

Sora's heart leapt into his mouth before he walked as calmly as he could out of Tifa's office and into the small waiting room outside. He found Roxie sitting just as Tifa had been, minus the pen. The brunet could feel his pulse go back to normal when he inspected how his best friend had adapted a personality to match what Tifa would expect of a submissive, compliant, and enthusiastic assistant. Roxie could play the part and would get the job if she managed to keep her sex a secret from Sora's boss.

"It's all you, Rox. Play it cool, okay?" Sora begged her before extending his hand for the blonde to grab. She laced her fingers around his hand and used it to help herself up. She then flipped her hair over her shoulder, adjusted her blazer, and smoothed out her skirt. The finishing touch was a devilish smile in Sora's direction.

"Sor-rah, when have I ever let you down before?" She winked and strutted to the door. Sora groaned as she entered and sealed both their fates.

Riku Docken woke up at the ideal time of three in the afternoon. He rolled over in bed and stretched his arms against the silk sheets. When he made contact with another body he instantly recoiled in a panic, wondering who the hell could be in his bed. When a wet tongue made its way to his face, though, and began to attack him with affection, he laughed.

"Yuck!" He grabbed the husky by the scruff and playfully put their heads together, stopping her intense licking. "You're an absolute terror, Kida. Do you know that? Huh? Do yah, girl?" Riku happily rolled around with the dog in bed. Kida barked and attempted to lick her master once more. The silveret climbed out of bed before she could get the chance, though.

"Riku!" A very familiar and annoying voice called to him from beyond the hotel room door. Riku groaned and looked through the peep-hole to see Axel beaming at him on the other side.

"What do you want?" Riku called out while putting on some pants. Kida, upon hearing Axel's voice, was now scratching at the door despite all of the silveret's scolding.

"Xemnas wants us downstairs in the board room in ten minutes, so I figured I'd wake your lazy ass up." Axel knocked on the door, signaling that he wanted to be let in. Kida barked in response and Riku opened the damn thing just to stop both of their noise.

"What does Xemnas want us for? We finished the tour; I thought this was supposed to be our week off!" Riku growled angrily. He had just been traveling across the country for seven months with performances almost every night and was sick and tired of being ushered from this place to that without any say. Sure, the tour had offered his band a once in a lifetime experience to get their name out there, and sure, they were now the most successful and popular band in the industry, but couldn't he get one damn day to himself for a break?

"I have no idea but he seemed pretty serious. If I were you I'd get ready fast. Or, if you feel so inclined, just go down like that." Axel made reference to the fact that Riku was now only wearing black sweatpants that had been crammed into the bottom of one of his various suitcases. The silveret flipped off his best friend before throwing a shirt over his head and giving Kida a treat. He then closed the hotel door and entered the main living area of the master suite him and Axel were sharing.

"Fine. I'll go. But I want some damn coffee first." Riku rubbed his eyes and ran a hand through his silver locks. It was going to be a long Thursday.

Rox got the job and managed to impress Tifa so much that the blond started that day. The brunet and his friend were back in the Rusty Stallion, headed toward one of the most expensive hotels in the city on some important business assignment that neither of them could figure out. Tifa had been very secretive about what the assignment exactly entailed.

"And you said I couldn't do it as Roxie." Rox scoffed while she adjusted her wig. She re-applied her lip-stick while Sora rolled his eyes.

"No, I didn't. What I said was that Tifa wanted a male assistant. But then you managed to pull an entire new personality out of your ass and scored yourself the job. But, joke's on you, because now you have to act like someone you're not Monday through Friday, eight in the morning until five at night." The brunet reminded his friend and smirked.

"But that's the fun of it, don't you see?! At the Cabaret I'm exactly who I want to be and there's no challenge in that. Sure, I get to sing and dance and I love both those things. But, with this job, I get to use my acting skills! How sweet is that?" Roxie asked, completely thrilled.

Sora was amazed by how easily his friend could find the bright side in every situation. Sora, on the other-hand, was a realist. All he could see was the trouble they could get in if anyone found out that Roxas was a man. All he could think of was how their second jobs might interfere with their quality of work at the publishing house. He was terrified of getting caught. There was so much risk that came with being part of the Cabaret, but it was a life that Sora couldn't seem to give up.

"It'll be alright, Sor-rah. Just have a little faith for once in your life." Roxie clasped his shoulder and gave him a reassuring smile, practicing her astonishing ability to seemingly always know what was on the brunet's mind. "Everything is going to be fine. We'll make it work."

"But how in the hell are we going to manage working until four in the morning every Thursday night and still be ready to go at seven every Friday morning? I know we both need the money, and I love the Cabaret as much as you do, but I just don't know how well this is going to work out…" Sora replied.

"If there's a will there's a way! Maybe we'll just have to start doing some hard drugs. That way we'll never have to sleep or eat." Roxie joked. Sora frowned and reached his arm over to shove his friend playfully, keeping the other on the wheel.

"You're an idiot." The brunet and blonde laughed as they pulled in to the hotel's valet parking.

"You've got to be shitting me." Riku was livid. Not only had he been called down from his relaxing (and hard-earned, mind you) vacation, he was now being told the worst news of his life.

"It's just a biography. We're not even doing a film like the label wanted us to. I told them you'd destroy all the tapes before they could piece it together." Xemnas explained to the Silveret.

Xemnas was the band's manager and had never steered them wrong before. Riku, however, could not believe that he was actually suggesting that the silveret allow some piss-nosed higher-than-thee author write a biography on his life and the whole band's lives too. Who did he think he was, inviting a random stranger into all of Riku's personal affairs? Not that Riku had many personal affairs; anyway, seeing as being in such a popular band took up almost all of his time. But if he did have any, then damn it, he wasn't letting some stupid writer dissect them all for the public to see!

"This is the best way to get The World that Never Was' name out there." Tifa, who had been helping Xemnas describe the idea of the project, stated. Riku snorted and crossed his arms.

"You said we'd get a break!" Demyx, the bassist, whined. Their manager rubbed his temples in frustration.

"You're still going to get one, actually. A longer one, at that. This book will take six months to write and in that time I don't have any concerts, shows, or tours planned. I want you guys to chill out, help this guy write, and write your own stuff, too. I need some new music to put out when this book hits the shelves. With a biography to read and a new album to listen to the public will go absolutely nuts about you guys."

"The public already is nuts about us!" Axel exclaimed. Of all the members he was the most obsessed with fame. He was always camera ready and loved to be interviewed and have his picture taken. This book would probably be a dream come true for him. Someone asking him every detail of his life and snapping photos of him every four seconds? Right up Axel's alley. Riku's? Not so much.

The silveret liked to sing and play music. So did Axel, keep in mind, as they both were the front-men of the band. But Riku had a special connection with the music they performed. He wanted each and every song to mean something to him, not just be catchy and sell in stores. He didn't mind the paparazzi, but they weren't his closest friends like Axel.

"But you guys will be old news fast unless you keep it up. You can't just fade out. You need to stay relevant." Tifa countered Axel. The red head rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, mirroring Riku.

"Fine. We'll do the book." Marluxia, the keyboardist, began to get up from his seat at the large granite table they were all sitting around. Their plush leather chairs were the best money could buy, and the hotel had not held back their pocket-book when meeting the "needs" of the band.

"We will not!" Riku retorted before getting up to leave as well. Just as Xemnas was about to lay down the law with the silveret there was a sharp knock on the door. A key turned in the lock (as it had been kept that way so fans couldn't sneak inside) and a hotel attendant voiced his presence. Xemnas barked at him to let the guests inside.

A very ashen looking brunet and a stunning blonde entered the room. Well, the blonde entered, anyway. The brunet was more forcibly pushed by his companion until they were standing at the edge of the table.

"Hello, everyone! My name is Roxie Hart!" Rox cheerfully beamed at the table of men and Tifa.

"Good-Afternoon, my name is—" The brunet started to introduce himself in a shaky voice before the silveret cut him off.

"Sora West?" Riku couldn't believe his eyes. After all these years of searching, his high school boyfriend was standing right in front of him… and he was the piss-nosed higher-than-thee author that Riku was going to come to hate.