He smiled. "There is something on your face." And it was as simple as that. Two friends under the shade of the tree. Zemyx. Fluff.

Dedication: Another dedication to my dear friend. Lifes. Lover. Zemyx!

Under the Shade of the Tree

A nice, warm day was what Zexion had hoped for. And it was exactly what he was granted the very next day. It suddenly got warm in San Francisco the next day just after he muttered that out while he was walking out the science building after his astronomy class. He was sure that it was not magic or that God had granted him his wish or something. The weather in San Francisco was plainly weird mostly in a good way. It was surprisingly, yet at the same time usual for the weather to change. It was foggy and extremely cold the day before. And the next day, it was warm—so warm that Zexion didn't even need a jacket.

And so, his backpack looked pregnant because he had stuffed his jacket in there. It was common for the people who lived in San Francisco to always bring a jacket or a sweatshirt everywhere.

Stuffing the piece of whole wheat bread in his mouth, he ran over to the art building where he took his music class to fulfill his GE requirements. He hated the whole wheat bread to an extreme because it tasted absolutely bizarre—to say it the least, it was distasteful. However, he needed the fiber. And sometimes, he got too busy that he had no time to eat his share of greens at all. So, whole wheat bread was always the way to go.

He took his seat once he was inside his music appreciation class, his last class of the day. He gave a soft smile to Demyx when their eyes met. Demyx was the Mohawk blond that sat in the corner of the class and was also his best friend. Said blond returned mirrored the smile lazily, staring out the window, dozing off, and letting his mind taken away by the blue horizon and the white clouds.

Zexion shook his head, releasing a small chuckle before sitting down, reading his novel. The day dreaming Demyx, typical.

--

The clouds were slowly heading east, taken by the wind. They stared down at the lilac haired college boy who was sitting under the shade of the tree. Zexion was hooked by the little novel he was holding. It was not that he enjoyed it, but he had to read it until the end for his English class. It wasn't half bad. The piece of literature started out really confusing and nonsensical, but it picked up halfway through the book. Zexion was way ahead of the class. His assignment for the week was merely to read until page fifty-five, but he was already two hundred and twenty pages in.

"Can I sit here?" There was a soft, gentle, and lazy voice that startled him.

Zexion looked up from his book only to find Demyx. "I don't own the grass field," he responded easily, laughing a bit as he turned his attention back to his book again.

"I'll take that as a yes, bookworm," Demyx laughed, sitting down, then lying flat on his back with his arms as a pillow for his head. He squinted at the sunlight that seeped in through the leaves and closed his eyes.

"What's your story?" Zexion put down his book, tilting his head to the side to look down at the blond.

"Busy night at the bar," Demyx drawled. "Only slept two hours."

"I'm surprised you're still alive," Zexion commented, also looking up to the sky.

"People don't die from lack of sleep, Zex," the blond grinned brightly, stretching his arms and legs and finally sat up.

"You never know."

"You should run a research project on it," Demyx teased.

Zexion stuck out his tongue. "Maybe I would. Just to show you how many years you have left."

"Aww, don't be so mean."

"You asked for it," Zexion answered uncaringly.

Demyx didn't respond. He watched Zexion's expression closely, smiling a bit. He reminisced back at how he and Zexion had become best friend. From as far back as he could remember, Zexion was always the bookworm, the school's genius. However, the boy wasn't the best when it came to PE. During the track run in high school, Zexion fainted. And Demyx, who had never spoken a single word before with the fainted boy, went in for help.

Since then, they had been talking and seeing each other quite a bit in several classes.

And it was just that simple.

To be honest, Demyx was quite fond of the bookworm.

"I wonder what I need to do," Zexion mumbled. "Physics test, Chemistry Pre-Lab, Calculus homework, Engineering Lab…" he started counting off.

Demyx shook his head and chuckled. He scooted closer to the lilac haired boy and rested his head on said boy's shoulder.

Zexion was startled. "Demyx?" he asked, almost whispering, no one had been that close with him before.

"It feels kinda nice here," Demyx smiled. And he dared himself to rest his head on Zexion's open lap. He did.

"Hey!" Zexion protested. "Get away!" there was an apparent blush on the bookworm's face. "Wh…"

"I'm tired…" Demyx drawled, not caring, burying his face into Zexion's stomach.

Zexion's blush hardened. He felt the warmth all over his face and used his little novel to cover it. He was glad that his bangs actually helped in concealing his blush.

Demyx observed closely whilst smiling. He reached out and pulled Zexion's hand away gently. Their eyes met.

"There's something on your face," the blond commented softly.

"Huh?" Zexion was about to raise his other hand to clean whatever was on his face.

However, Demyx suddenly buried a hand in Zexion's soft locks. The blond leaned up while at the same time softly pulling the other boy down.

"De…my…"

Zexion's eyes were wide as their lips met. He could feel his heart skipped a bit as he felt those pair of soft and tender, yet at the same time cold lips.

When their lips parted, there was a loud slap.

"OW!" Demyx yelped in pain.

Zexion bit his lower lip. His face was red all over.

"You didn't have to hit me so hard…" Demyx pouted.

Zexion stood up, walking away. Demyx quickly chased after him. The bookworm huffed then. "You should have picked a better pick up line to substitute that old cheesy one."

Demyx's eyes widened, blushing. "Then… that means I can kiss you without receiving five fingers mark on my cheeks if I find…"

"Don't push it, Dem." Zexion laughed softly.

The blond's eyes widened as he received another soft slap and also a short, brief kiss on the cheek.

"On second thought, maybe you can."

It was a warm day in San Francisco.

--