Secrets
Chapter 1: Good Riddance

It felt like my heart had been ripped out of my chest and torn asunder.

I don't know why, but my body froze; I couldn't think, I couldn't breathe. My eyes were glued to the two before me, my hands clenching into fists. To just think, after five years of being so close... She betrays me. My mouth opened, but no words came out. I was overwhelmed. I never thought in my wildest dreams that this day would come.

Or maybe I had.

"Roxas? Wha- What are you doing here?" She frowned, her eyes half lidded as the other man looked coldly at me. I could tell that he was pissed, and she could tell that I was hurt. My eyes closed slowly as I turned around. All I wanted to do was go home. To go home and think about things.

But him? He wanted something else.

"Naminé? What's going on?" The other man took a step toward me.

Naminé started to speak, but her voice dissipated as she watched him confront me.

"Have you been fuckin' my girl?" His face was just inches from my own.

I observed him closely: He was a good few years older than both me and Naminé. His light brownish-pink hair fell to his shoulders. My azure eyes looked up into his.

He was high. A strong whiff of marijuana caused me to take a step back and Naminé cut her way in between us.

"No, Marluxia! It's just..." Her delicate fingers twitched as she held back the urge to hit something.

I could see the hate in her eyes, so clear that it hurt.

Why was I still there?

"Than who is he?" The man looked from her, to me. Then back to her.

I stared at him for a few more minutes as Naminé tried to think of something to say. Marluxia? Marluxia! I knew that name. He was friends with Riku; he was a part of the Organization XIII gang that ran Traverse Town. Naminé left me for... a gang member? The fuck?

I took a step toward the older man.

"I'm just an ex-boyfriend. Don't worry about it." I patted his back and stared into Naminé's baby blue eyes. "Good luck with that one. You'll need it."

I looked over my shoulder as I made my way up the stairs to the mall, she was holding him back from following me.

It was strange. The girl I thought I loved had been cheating on me for who knows how long, and yet... my life didn't feel any different. For some reason, I wasn't even upset anymore. I guess it just hadn't hit me yet. Or maybe... maybe I had been wanting it to be over.

"Roxas?" I broke my stare at the floor and looked up to see where my legs had taken me before turning toward the voice. It was Sora. I smiled to myself as I noticed that we were right outside my favorite restaurant.

"Hey, man. I was just getting ready to grab a bite to eat. Wanna join?" I took a few steps toward the restaurant as he grabbed his phone out of his pocket.

"Kairi should be here any minute if you don't mind to wait. We were gonna meet up for lunch! I'll text her and let her know we're eating here." Sora leaned against a nearby wall as he played with his phone.

"Does Riku still work here?" I tried to glance into the restaurant as I saw a glimpse of silver hair through the window.

"Sure does! That's why I was headed up here, actually."

"You and Kairi weren't going to eat here?"

"No, no. She usually doesn't like to go here. She hates how crowded it can be. But it's not that bad at this time of day. I was just going to stop in and say hi to Riku while I was waiting on her." He put his phone back in his pocket and looked through the restaurant's window. He spotted Riku and ran inside.

I looked around and saw Kairi in the distance. I waited on her before heading into the restaurant to see the two best friends chatting away.

"Hey guys! I already got Riku to set us up a table. I ordered you a strawberry lemonade, Kairi. Is that ok?" She scooted into the booth beside of Sora and nodded.

"Hey, Kairi. It's been ages!" Riku bent down and gave her a hug, looking up into Sora's eyes behind her and smiling.

"I just saw you yesterday!" She giggled and pushed him away as I took a seat across from the couple.

"Yeah, yeah. A second away from a beautiful girl like you feels like an eternity, y'know!" She looked away from the silver-headed man, trying her best to hide the blush that had just appeared across her cheeks.

"You better watch out, Riku! That's Sora's girl you're talking about!" I smiled and took a sip of my drink as Riku rolled his eyes.

"Hey, best friend's are supposed to share." He winked at me before taking our orders. He began to head back to the kitchen, but I grabbed his arm and leaned in closely to him.

"Would you mind bringing me out a cold beer? I know it's a little early, but I've kind of had a hell of a day."

"Sure, no problem, man." I watched as he walked away toward the kitchen, then turned back to face Kairi and Sora.

"Did you just order beer, Roxas? That's unusual for you." Kairi's bright blue eyes met mine as I nodded slowly.

"Yeah, well. Sometimes you need a drink... and this is one of those times." I grabbed a piece of bread from the middle of the table and took a bite, trying to avoid the conversation.

"Did something happen?" Sora leaned in from across the table. "Is everything ok between you and Naminé?"

I stared down at the table in front of me and frowned. My thoughts couldn't help but remind me of the incident that happened earlier. But once again, I didn't feel anything. In all honesty, I felt as if a great weight had been lifted from my shoulders.

"Not really, Sora. We kind of... broke up." I took another bite of bread as Sora pushed his way out of the booth and took a seat beside of me.

"What the hell happened? And when?" I turned to look at him for a moment before looking down at my watch.

"What happened? I found her making out with some drugged up piece of shit. When? About ten minutes ago." Kairi and Sora looked at one another, shock evident on their faces. Riku sat a beer down in front of me and walked away. Sora excused himself and followed after him.

"I'm sorry that had to happen, Roxas. I know how much you cared about her." Kairi looked away from me, sadness ruining that beautiful smile that always graced her features. "I never thought she'd do something like this."

"Me neither. But you know, I don't feel that tore up about it. I mean, sure, it pissed me off. But I think that deep down inside, I wanted it to be over. You know?"

She nodded and took a sip of her strawberry lemonade as I glanced over to see where Sora was.

He was still talking to Riku. But something was off.

I looked closer and saw Sora's hand in Riku's.

I chugged the rest of my beer down and stared at Sora as he took his original spot beside of Kairi.

Coincidentally, Riku got off work around the same time that we had finally finished our meals. He tagged along with us as we wondered aimlessly throughout the mall and in the end, he offered us all a ride home.

I wasn't sure what was happening between him and Sora, but I was definitely starting to feel a weird tension between them. Kairi seemed oblivious to it, but I couldn't help but keep noticing certain things. Whether it was just a simple touch of the hand or an intimate stare from a few feet away... something was different.

We dropped Kairi off at work, then headed to Sora's house. Of course, Riku offered to take me home first, but I needed to spend some extra time with Sora. Maybe I could forget about my own drama and partake in his. Whatever was going on between him and Riku... I wanted to know.

"Hey, Sora? You mind if I chill at your place for a while? I really need to just relax and you know... It's just, after what happened with Naminé..."

Sora looked over at Riku, smiling in reassurance before turning to look at me from his seat on the passenger's side.

"No problem, Roxas! It'll be like old times!"

I nodded in agreement before breaking his stare and looking out the window. I had to try and forget about Naminé... and if that meant budding into someone else's drama, I didn't care.

Written By: FembotAxel