Chapter XLII: Misinterpretation Side A

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I looked at my things that were sitting in my room. My room. This was the first time in my entire life that I wasn't sharing a room with anyone. It felt… Empty. "How's it goin', kiddo?" Tifa asked, poking her head in. "Ahhh, niiiice!" She said, entering and examining my handiwork. "Looks good!" She said with another nod of approval. I had ultimately decided to take Tifa up on her offer about staying with them. I had gotten the room closest to her's- which I was perfectly fine with. I actually preferred that.

If anything were to happen, I could just quietly sneak into her room to talk or something. "…Looks kinda bare. Don't you have like- I don't know… Band posters or something?" She asked me, her hands still on her hips. I shook my head. "What?! Oh man, we are fixing this." She said, tugging me by the arm and into her room.

"B-But you already painted it!" I protested. A week before I moved into one of the guest bedrooms, Tifa had kidnapped me after work and took me paint shopping. I eventually picked a sky blue and Tifa insisted I get glowing stars for my ceiling. …Truthfully though I kind of liked them. "Oh, boo! It's just paint!" She said, waving me off as she tugged me into her room. "Okay, favorite band or artist or whatever- go!" She said quickly, pointing a finger at me. "Wait- what? U-Um, I don't know, Coldplay?" I spat out. She snorted and typed in "Coldplay posters" into Amazon's search bar.

"You pretentious little bastard." She said, sounding smug. She opened a new tab. "Favorite movie- go!" Crap, I was expecting more music! "Ah, um, er, Scott Pilgrim Versus the World?" I said, sounding more like I was asking her than saying it. She typed it into the search bar, again opening a new tab. "Favorite color!" What the hell!?

"Um, red!" Was she really going to buy me just a piece of paper with red on it? "Favorite hair color on a boy!" …What… had she just asked? "…What?" She rolled her eyes and turned around in the chair to me. "We need hot, half-naked boy posters on your walls- duh! Oh, we can do like Calvin Klein or something if you're not opposed to it." She said, typing one of their images into the search bar. "If I gotta I'll run there and steal some art they got in their of their hot boy models… Yum, they are such eye candy~" She said with a devious tone. …Was she seriously getting me something like that for my walls…? Oh no…

"You like pinup girls? Wait what kind of question is that, everyone likes pinup girls…" She said, rolling her eyes as she hunted for some of those next. "Wha- T-TIFA!" I stuttered, feeling the blood rush to my face at the pictures of the girls that came up. "…Kiddo, you need to go look at life more- They're just boobs." She said, ruffling my hair. "And these boobs are gonna be on your wall!" She said, clicking a picture. "Wha- NO WAY!"

"Way." She said with a nod. "Favorite super hero?" She said, moving on. "Wha- no way! Get rid of the pinup and Calvin Klein stuff!" I hissed. "Oh, are we buying Sora posters?" Aerith asked, coming in and looking over Tifa's shoulder. "Yup! He's being a little punk about having boobs on his walls." Tifa said with a light elbowing to my stomach. "Well maybe he just gets easily embarrassed- …or something."

"MISS AERITH!" I hissed, my face feeling so hot I wasn't sure if there was any blood left in the rest of my body. Even she was teasing me…? That was just cruel… Tifa eventually bought me fourteen different posters for my wall among two actual paintings. She stretched, her hands over her head and shoulders popping. She got up with a nod and patted my shoulder. "…Just accept it." She said simply. Aerith giggled and excused herself alongside Tiffa. I could do nothing but pull out my phone and text Kairi and Riku about this… I can't believe her… Tifa is ridiculous…

…And I loved every minute of her and her crazy.

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When the posters came in, Tifa let me hang them up where I wanted- so long as I hung them all up. …It was so embarrassing… But I wasn't going to complain too loudly about the one poster of the guy in nothing but his boxers- sorry Riku. Tifa came in and raised an eyebrow at my work. "…They're all so… So straight." She said, almost as if in disgust. "…You're not this straight so why are your posters?" She asked me, looking seriously concerned. "Wha- what does my sexuality have to do with my room posters- I mean aside from the content, and even then that was all you!"

She shook her head. "It gives your room character! I mean as a kid mine were all straight, but it was kind of a collage type of thing! Like seriously they're evenly spaced and everythi- did you measure them?! Oh man, kid…!" She said, smacking her hand to her forehead. "Seriously! You're going to kill me! Come on, we're tipping some of these."

"Wha- wait, Tifa! Tifa- no! I have them now I want the- TIFA!"

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I sighed as I flopped face first into my blue painted room with stars on the ceiling with crooked posters. My sheets hadn't been washed in two weeks and had clean clothes on my bed that needed to be put away since Thursday. There was a laundry basket in the corner by my closet that I haven't emptied out in three and I know a pair of boxers have been under my bed for eight. My desk was slowly turning into a mess of papers and I didn't care.

…I felt in control of everything in this room in spite of the growing mess and it felt nice. I felt ridiculous for being so petty, but I really did like this- being able to make a mess and just leave it. I really did. I felt contented. I forced myself up, taking off my work boots and putting them in their proper place. It was Sunday, meaning dinner with everyone. I was a bit late, but was here none the less .I just needed to quick wash up and change and I could run downstairs before everyone got too into their meals.

When I was in the shower, there was a loud pounding on the door. "Hey! You've been in there for two minutes already, let's go!" Tifa yelled, but I know she was joking. "Fine, I'll totally come out naked and with soap in my hair!" I called back. "Great, I'm sure your boyfriend'll be into it!" I couldn't help but snicker. "…So how was your day?" She asked, her tone not sarcastically loud anymore. "It was okay. We had more welding practice today. I've got pipe parts in the trunk of the car that I put together."

"Really? That's awesome, I'm gonna go look at what is sure to be some shoddy work!" She said, but sounding really excited just to see some piping I had welding together. I even heard her footsteps quickly disappearing. I couldn't help but smile to myself while I finished my shower. When I finally managed to go downstairs, Kairi was in the middle of a ridiculous story, my pipe in her hand while she sounded like a pirate. "…YARG, THERE HE BE!" She called to me, pointing an accusatory finger. Riku quickly got up and tackled me- along with Tifa, Roxas, and Cloud- wait Cloud?- Aerith, Axel, Kairi, Naminé, our aunt- okay- woah!

I feel to the ground, Riku kissing my forehead. "I take a shower and you all plot to dogpile me?" I asked, feeling a crushed- loved, but crushed. "Yes. Kairi was telling tales of the lake-"
"Sea."
"Sea monster, Sora. I killed it first, so I get a reward." He said while everyone set to taking themselves off of me. He helped me up and Kairi snarkily replied with, "Well I got the best booty." In her best pirate voice and proceeded to grab my butt. "Bullshit, that's my booty!" Riku said, pulling me close and putting both of his hands over my butt. I couldn't help but laugh and apparently the same could be said for my aunt.

"…Then I totally have the magic telescope." Roxas said, holding my piece of pipe. "Wha- aw, no fair!" Naminé protested. He smiled and tossed it at her while she clumsily caught it. "Well that was sweet of you." Axel said with a cockily raised eyebrow. "…Well, I do have a treasure of my own." He said, sounding unusually sappy as he looked up at him through his lashes. Everyone proceeded to obnoxiously "aw" aside from Cloud and Naminé. Roxas then proceeded to gesture with both of his hands to Aerith.

It made me bust out into laughter. "My glorious piano teacher, everyone." He said, Axel's expression dropping. "You… Snarky… Piece of shit." He said, sounding honestly hurt but still joking. "She's wonderful and I couldn't ask for anyone better." Roxas said with a nod while Aerith couldn't help but giggle at the exchange. "…Stealing the other guy's treasure!" Axel declared, continuing the apparent game of pirate.

He lightly grabbed Aerith's wrist and ran with her out of the room. "Hey- no!" Cloud called after him, obviously getting a little defensive about someone stealing Aerith away. Tifa noticed it too and smirked widely before punching him in the shoulder. "Go get her then, tiger~" She teased. Kairi wolf whistled while Cloud told everyone to shut up as he trudge off after Axel, grumbling about us "stupid kids".

"So how was your day?" Riku asked me, pressing his forehead to mine. It was a simple question, but it was enough to pull me away from the commotion of everyone else… "…It was good. How was yours?" I asked him, rubbing our noses together. "It sucked, but now it's better. I find myself looking forward to these dinners and getting upset when I'm not here." I smiled and leaned up a bit to kiss him just briefly. "I know what you mean… My entire week is off if I don't get to see everyone in one place. It's really nice."

Riku nodded in agreement. "It's like one big dysfunctional family." I couldn't help but laugh and nod. …but some part of my brain thought of my mother. She was missing out… I felt bad for her… But that didn't exactly mean I was going to rush over and bring her either. I pitied her, yes. But I wasn't going to make excuses for her anymore. She was mostly out of my life and I preferred to keep it that way now that it was an option.

Eventually after some more shenanigans, dinner resumed as it usually did. Riku held my free hand while we ate, Tifa kept basically playing footsies with me, Roxas ignored Axel in favor of talking to Naminé but I noticed how close they were sitting, constantly brushing against one another, Kairi told me all about her show rehearsals, and Aerith, my aunt, and Cloud made quiet conversation amongst themselves. …It was really nice and chaotic and yet so orderly and wonderful and I loved every moment of it.

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"…Cloud… Isn't coming to dinner?" I asked confused. Tifa nodded, but I noticed she avoided looking at me. "It's um… This thing he does once a month. He can't miss it, it's really important." Roxas' shoulder's slumped as he sunk down into his chair a bit. "…Oh. Well… Where does he go then?" He asked the question both of us wanted to know. I get was already pre-established, but it he couldn't change it so the date wasn't during one of our dinners? I mean it was only once a month, sure but… It still kind of hurt a little bit.

"Why don't you ask him when he comes back?" Aerith offered, gently placing her hand over Roxas'. He didn't reply, still seeming a bit upset. "…Okay." And the sad part is, dinner went on as usual. Roxas' usual trio was over along with Axel while I had Kairi and Riku. Dinner was lively and loud and wonderful… And Cloud wasn't there. It kind of upset me. He was missing out just like our mom… Sure it was only once and I had instances where I had missed out as well, but…

The feeling nagging at me wouldn't go away. Was he out with old friends? Having some personal time? A particular monthly delivery at a set time? What could it possibly be…? What was so important that Cloud couldn't be here- even if it was something he usually did?

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I had forgotten all about asking Cloud why he had missed dinner until a month later. He was out again, on the 28th, the same as last time, but it wasn't during dinner. I didn't mention it, but I was also curious about whatever it was he was doing. It was almost secretive... Or maybe it just came off that way because he never spoke of it. Would I be intruding if I asked about it? But I was curious… And so was Roxas.

When we were alone doing dishes after dinner, he had asked "…Had Cloud gone out again this week?" Meaning he not only remembered, but he remembered the date as well. Then again, he probably had it written down in his journal, so… "…Yeah. I didn't ask him about it though." I added before he could even get around to asking. "…Do you think we should?" I shrugged, rinsing a plate off. "…I don't know. I mean if it was something simple, Tifa or Aerith would have just told us… When it's this big thing, they kind of…"

"…Avoid the topic entirely?" He finished for me while drying another plate off, to which I nodded. "…They did the same thing when it came to him and us." He reminded. "…I want to ask him." I looked over at him with a slightly worried expression, but I wanted to know as well… "…I'm going to go ask him." He decided, putting the plate and dishrag down and turning on his heel and heading out to where everyone was. "Wha- Roxas…!" I called after him while he walked with a determined gait.

Roxas slipped into a seat next to Cloud while I hovered in the doorway, nervous enough to shake a bit. "…Hey Cloud?" Roxas asked, causing him to look down at my brother. "Yes?" Roxas opened his mouth- and I saw him hesitate. …He wasn't going to do it. "…Where's the dish soap? Sora and I ran out…" He mumbled. I knew him too well.

Cloud got up and showed him where it was, letting him take it back into the kitchen. "…I couldn't do it…" He mumbled, making me smirk a bit. "Yeah, I noticed." He elbowed me, pouting slightly. "Then you do it." I snorted. "Yeah, right." We finished the dishes in silence, but it didn't take us both being twins to know what the other was thinking then.

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The next month, on the 28th,he was gone again. It was seriously starting to bug me… But I knew from Tifa and Aerith's reactions the first time that they wouldn't tell me. I quietly stewed in my room, pacing before calling Roxas. "Hello?"
"Where do you think he's going?" I blurted out. "Do you think it's something illegal?" I offered. Roxas snorted, trying to suppress laughter. "If it is, I wouldn't mind getting in on that." He joked. "Roxas, I'm serious!"

"Seriously stupid." He retorted. "I mean, think about it. What could Cloud possibly be doing that's so bad? I don't even think I've seen him scowl, yet alone go steal something or murder someone or whatever else you think he's doing." …Murder… "…What if he's transporting dead bodies for the mafia or something?" I whispered. Roxas burst out into laughter on the other line. No, no wait I take that back- he was in hysterics. "Soh… Ahahahaha! Soraahahaha…!" He couldn't stop laughing at me. I sat down on my bed, eyes narrow and probably pouting a bit.

"Fine. You think it's so funny, what do you think he's doing?" Roxas finally calmed down enough to reply. "…I don't know. Does it really matter? He's an adult, he can do what he wants to." He reminded. "…So you've never really thought about it?" I asked, honestly surprised. "…I'm not going to answer that. I'm just going to say it took up an entire page in one of my journals." He mumbled. It was my turn to laugh. "Oh man… We're ridiculous, aren't we? It's probably him just playing poker with some friends or something. We're sitting here with these crazy ideas and getting ourselves all worked up over it just to probably have it be something like that."

"Well, we're allowed to get creative about it." He offered. "True… But I really want to know now- it's bugging me." Roxas was quiet for a moment. "…Do you want to ask him together next time I come over? It doesn't have to be during dinner… It would probably be better if we didn't actually. There's usually always someone looking for us or something." He pointed out. "True… So… Do you want to hang out tomorrow?" I offered. "…Ask him then?" I added.

"…Sure."

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"…I can't get over these posters." Roxas said, looking my walls up and down. "…Tifa picked them out." I reminded. "Uh-huh." he said sarcastically, but he was mostly looking at the half naked poster of the male model. "…He's really hot." He pointed out. "…How many times you jerk to that?" He asked, pointing to him unabashedly. "Go jump in a lake and drown…" I grumbled. "…If I guess the right number, will you tell me?"

"NO!" He snickered. "So you have." He teased. "I'm gonna…!" I lightly punched his arm, making him laugh. He still rubbed it though, meaning it had probably hurt a little bit. "…Riku see your room yet?" I snorted. "Yeah. And Kairi took the liberty of printing a picture of Riku's face and taping it over that guys one night during dinner. …It was really funny." I admitted, an unhindered smile on my face.

Roxas snorted, looking at the poster again and imaging Riku's face on it. "…I'm kind of jealous. I'd be dead if I had posters like this in my room." He admitted. That was probably true… "…Then just move into another one of the guest rooms." I casually mentioned, putting my hands behind my head. "…You wouldn't think it would be too crowded?" He asked, honestly not taking what I said as a joke. "Ah… Er… I-I don't know…" I mumbled, arms lowering.

"…If I could drive, I'd want to help out with deliveries and stuff here…" He mused out loud for me to hear. "…I think it'd be nice. It kinda sucks to know I never could." He said, giving me a bit of a weak smile. "…You could sort stuff and do paperwork." I pointed out. "…I guess." That thought didn't seem to appeal to him as much as actually making deliveries. "…Have you… Have you thought at all about what you want to do after you catch up with school and stuff?" He shrugged. "…I don't know. College sounds lame, but I wouldn't mind giving general studies a shot until I find something I like or decide on what I want to do with myself…"

He sat down on my bed next to me, the conversation of the posters long forgotten now. "…What made you decide you wanted to get into carpentering?" He asked me, giving me his full attention. "…I… I don't know really. I mean I liked being hands on with stuff, and I knew I was too antsy to go to school anymore, but I also knew mom would kill me if I got some shitty job… So the next option was trade school. I still got what I want while satisfying what she wanted from me. It pays good and is really hands on, so…"

"Yeah but even then, there's a lot of jobs like that. You could build counter tops, windows, roofing… But you picked carpentering? Why?" I thought about it for a moment. "…Because I get to melt and drill holes into stuff and go in spaces people don't usually get to see." I decided with a wide smile. "Tearing off roofing just to put new stuff on it kind of seems lame. Counter top is a lot of lifting that I don't feel like doing, and I'd probably break more glass than fix it." I offered quickly with a chuckle.

"…So I guess given the parameters of what she wanted, I looked for something that appealed to me. But… You don't have to worry about that anymore. You can do whatever you want." I offered with a wide smile. "…That's…" Roxas looked uncomfortable as he looked down into his lap, his fingers clenched. "…That's a lot of options… I… I don't know what I want to do at all… I can barely manage what I'm doing right now, yet alone…" He swallowed hard. I rubbed his back. "Don't worry about it so much. I'm sure as long as you help out around the house and appear to do something productive, I'm sure no one will complain. You also have to remember that everyone understands what you've went through. We all know you're still trying to figure out who you are, yet alone worry about what you want to do with yourself. It's okay to not know or go at the same pace as everyone else." I reminded, but that didn't seem to convince him much… He still seemed upset with himself.

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We eventually got around to hunting Cloud down with a nervous boldness. "Um… So, um… We want to ask you something." I blurted out. He put down the clipboard that had related to some deliveries he was going to make today. "…Yeah?" …I could totally push Roxas under the bus and make him ask right now. …But that would be being a bad big brother. "Um… So… We were kind of just curious as to um… What you do on the 28th." I finally managed, the lump in my throat not going away. It also dawned on me that he didn't have to answer me at all…

"…You want to come?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. Roxas and I blinked at him. "…What?" I asked, confused. "Do you want to come with me the next time I go?" He asked again, rewording it for clarification. "…We're going to hide dead bodies." Roxas hissed behind me in a worried tone, recalling an earlier conversation we had. If Cloud hadn't looked so serious I would have laughed. "…What?" Cloud asked, narrowing his eyes in confusion. I elbowed Roxas in the ribs. "Nothing! But, um… Can we? Is that okay?" Cloud looked over at a wall and shrugged.

"…I don't see why not." He then went back to dealing with the clipboard and packages while Roxas and I shot one another glances. …We are so going to hide dead bodies. I don't care where we're going, from now on I'm going to call it "hiding dead bodies". No one needs to know what really goes on. …Besides, if that was really what was happening, no one would believe that, so it was a perfect cover!

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Roxas and I were both nervous. Cloud told us just to dress as we usually would, but be appropriate about it. He took us on his bike, Roxas in the back and me in the front. He even let me steer for a bit. "…You know I should get around to buying one of those side seats for one of you two." He mused more or less to himself. I kind of want to see Roxas in that with a silly little helmet.

We drove a bit of a ways out and came to a house. It wasn't anything spectacular or too particularly noticeable from the outside, but it was decent in size. The poker guess? Cloud parked his bike, and nodded towards the door. "…Well go on. You don't need to stay up my butt." He said, gently pushing Roxas forward a bit by his back. Roxas shot me a glance before going over to where I was. We both cautiously approached the door and knocked.

"Coming!" Came the female call from the other side of the door. A woman quickly answered the door, looking down at us in slight confusion. "Oh- hello…" She said, it sounding slightly like a question. Cloud came up behind us and nudged us in the house. "Hey." He greeted her casually. "Hi, Cloud. Should I go get him?" He nodded. "He didn't oversleep again, did he?" The woman chuckled. "A little. You know how he is. He gets so excited he stays up all night and can't stop talking about your visit. I'll go wake him up."

She wandered into the back of the house, pretty much leaving us to make ourselves at home. The house was very orderly and neat… It was to the point where it could rival mom's, only there was more stuff and it felt... "Lived in". It didn't feel like a type of hospital… The room we were in had an entertainment center with a large TV and lots of movies behind the glass doors. The wooden table seemed to be the same kind, the couch a dark tan. The floor was hardwood- easy to clean. There was a bookshelf in the corner that seemed to house books ranging from picture books to scholarly articles.

"Um… Cloud?" Roxas asked, looking up at him. Cloud just sat down on the couch and patted the spot next to him. "He'll be down in a bit." He replied simply. He? Who? A man wandered into the living room, greeting Cloud with a nod while he held coffee in his hands. "Who are the runts?" He asked, clearly talking about us. "…Roxas and Sora." Cloud replied, nodding to each of us appropriately. "They're my sons." He added. The man's eyes widened before he chuckled.

"…Well, won't he be happy." He smirked before leaving the room. He? The person that woman was going to wake up? There was a thunderous sound of footsteps from the stairs before a boy- no… He wasn't a boy. He was older than us, but looked young- ran down the stairs. "Cloud!" He quickly threw his arms around him, pulling away and smiling widely. "Hey, Ventus."

I felt my eyes widen as I looked over to Roxas at the same time he did. This was… Ventus? Cloud had been going to see Ventus…? He…? The man with the coffee laughed a bit. "Relax, Ven." He said, musing his hair. "So I brought you these two to meet." Cloud said, nodding towards Roxas and I. Ventus quickly set his wide eyes on us, inspecting us.

"…They're your brothers." Cloud said simply. "…My brothers…?" Ven asked for clarification. Cloud nodded. "This is Sora, the brunette, and this is Roxas the blonde." He said, putting a hand above our heads when he said our names. "…Your mom kept them secrets from us for a long time." Ventus' eyes kept searching, looking, inspecting us for something…

"…They look a lot alike…" He whispered to himself. "…I like them." He decided simply with a nod. But- he didn't even know us! And he decided he liked us? …He was weird… I don't mean that in a mean way! I mean like something legitimately seemed o- …Oh. Oh I forgot… Mom said he was autistic.

The woman from earlier with the blue hair finished coming down the stairs. "Aqua! Aqua these two are mine!" Ventus declared, pointing to us. I noticed Roxas cover his face to hide a smile. "They're your what, Ven?" The girl said with a laugh. "Mine." Ventus said simply. She laughed a little bit. "Yes, but your what Ven- come on, use your words." She reminded. Ventus looked like he was trying to find the right word to describe what we "were". "…My secrets." He decided, making Roxas snort.

The man with the coffee chuckled. "Come on, stop playing around and tell Aqua." He lectured, making Ven give him a bashful looking. "…My brothers." He finally said, a wide grin on his face. "And I love them." He added quickly. The woman named Aqua looked over at us with wide eyes. "…So that's why you looked so similar…" She mumbled. She then quickly replaced her shock with a wide smile as she placed her hands on her hips. "Alrighty, then! Is there anything either of you two want- water, something to snack on?" She offered.

"U-Um, I'm okay…" I mumbled. "Water would be nice." Roxas decided. She nodded, giving him a smile before heading into the kitchen. "And you just want coffee, Cloud?" She asked, popping her head back into the room. He nodded, and with that she disappeared again. "Terra…! Terra…!" Ventus said, tugging at him. "Hm? What's up, cutie pie?" He asked him, leaning down a bit. Ventus whispered something to him with a wide smile, making Terra snort. He then mused his hair and sat himself on the loveseat.

"So, who do you wanna sit with, Ven?" He asked, watching our older brother debate if he was going to sit with the person he lived with or us. He quickly opted to sit with us. "Ouch." Terra said with a chuckle. Ventus just shot him a wide smile. "Jealous?" He teased. "Very." Ventus chuckled. "It's okay. I still love you very much, Terra." He reminded, making me feel like I was intruding. "Good. Now I don't have to cry." Terra said, but his expression held not even a remote hint of sorrow.

Ventus snorted. "You don't cry- at least not around strangers." Terra seemed to wince, then covered his face with his hand and feigned sobbing noises. Ventus took a pillow and threw it at him. "You look stupid." Terra couldn't help but laugh at him. "Jeeze, you're being overly mean to me, today! Trying to show off?" He asked with a crooked grin. "…No." Ventus mumbled, but he fussed a bit. Terra chuckled, but let the subject go.

Cloud offhandedly played with Ventus' hair, his arm slung over the back of the couch. "…So, what do you two think?" He asked, addressing us. "U-Um… I… I don't…" I felt like it would be wrong to say I wasn't too sure- at least in front of him… "I think he's great." Roxas said simply, making Ventus beam. Ventus threw his arms around Roxas and rubbed their cheeks together. Roxas laughed at him and hugged him back.

"Can I kiss them?" He quickly spat out, looking over at Terra. My face flushed red while Roxas didn't seem phased much by his question at all. There was a snort from the room where Aqua had disappeared. She came into the room with coffee in one hand and water in the other. "No, Ven. Remember what we talked about?" She reminded, looking at him directly while she spoke. She gave Cloud his coffee and put Roxas' water on the table. "Thank you." She nodded to him, smiling a little to herself at the sight of Roxas still in Ventus' grasp.

"…But I love them." Ventus said, sounding sorely upset he wasn't allowed to kiss us. "You already love them that much?" Terra asked with a raised eyebrow while Aqua sat next to him. Ventus nodded furiously. "Yes!" Roxas laughed a little bit. He was so… Honestly simple. We were his brothers and he quickly took a shine to us and let us know. He didn't try to hide it at all…

Ventus clung happily to Roxas who didn't even bother trying to remove him- He even drank his water around him. If anything, it was like having a little brother rather than an older one… There was more banter between Terra, Aqua, and Ventus, but it made me wonder what their relationship was. Aqua had brought Ventus something to eat a bit later, to which he replied, "Thank you- I love you, Aqua." She kissed his forehead and sat next to Terra. "I love you too, Ven."

So I had heard him say that to each of the people living with him. I didn't know if it meant much considering he had already told us that, but… It felt different when he said it to them. When he said he loved them, it was full of affection and adoration. When it was said to us, it was said in a newfound happiness.

Cloud even seemed happy to just sit in the same room with Ventus. "So, um… Cloud…?" I whispered while Ventus was talking Roxas' ear off, Terra and Aqua watching with fondness. He hummed in reply while looking down at me. "…How come you only see him once a month?" I remembered the conversation I wasn't supposed to hear with him and Tifa…

"Ventus has this kind of schedule… He gets really upset if it gets messed up. So I only see him once a month so it doesn't make him get upset." …A schedule that's that strict…? I looked confused, then something clicked in Cloud's head. "It's um… Something relating to his autism. It's not like that." I felt the small amount of tension I had amounted leave me. Good…

The rest of the visit I was very quiet, but kept watching Ventus. He seemed really happy… He seemed to never not have a smile on his face… It was nice just to watch him. He was very animated and the way he spoke was unique. Aqua made us sandwiches for lunch- which were simple, but really good! I found by the end of the visit, that I probably liked him… I was kind of upset I didn't get to grow up with Ventus, but I was glad he got to be happy. He deserved it.

When we had to leave, Ventus started to pout. "Do they have too?" Aqua nodded, gently removing Ventus from Roxas who laughed a little bit. "Yes, Ven. They have to go home, now." Ventus pouted. "…Can you bring them with you next time, Cloud?" Ventus asked, looking at him with wide, pleading eyes. Cloud nodded. "Sure." Ventus instantly beamed and threw his arms around Roxas again. Clearly he liked him more- I was okay with that. I liked Roxas too.

"We actually have dinner every Sunday at the bar." Roxas offered. Both Terra and Aqua's face dropped and they shot one another glances. "Can we go?!" Ventus asked, letting go of Roxas to grab Aqua's hands. "…Well… I mean, I don't know, Ven…" Terra studied him as his face dropped.

"…Promise you won't have any freak outs?" He asked, making Ventus quickly give him his full attention. "I won't!" Terra studied him for a moment. "…And if you feel like you're going to or if it gets too loud, you tell me?" Freak outs…? …Well if he does, at least everyone there will know how to handle them because of Roxas… "I will!" Ventus said with a heavy nod. "…Then maybe we'll go once and see how it goes- okay?" Ventus beamed. "Okay!"

Ventus saw us to the door, Terra and Aqua lingering behind. Ventus grabbed at my wrist. "Ven-" I turned around in confusion- to which he quickly kissed my forehead, then did the same to Roxas. "Ventus!" Aqua lectured. "I'm so sorry!" I was taken aback by the suddenness of it. "…But I love them." Ventus said, narrowing his eyebrows. He honestly didn't seem to understand why he wasn't allowed to kiss us. "…I love you too, Ven." Roxas replied, shocking everyone into silence. Ventus quickly beamed and threw his arms around Roxas again.

Roxas smiled, gently patting his head. "We have to go now, okay?" Ventus let go. "But we'll see you later, alright?" He nodded. "…Do you want our phone numbers? So you can call us?" He offered. Ventus quickly nodded. "Please?" Roxas smiled and Aqua went to go get her phone. She put our numbers in her phone. "You two also need to send me selfies or something- It helps him find you in the phone easier with a contact picture."

…I got an idea. "Ventus, let's take selfies!" I decided, pulling my phone out. I know we were supposed to be leaving, but… "Okay!" Roxas chuckled at us while we made stupid faces into my phone. I let him pick which one he liked best for the contact picture for my number. Roxas seemed a bit more embarrassed to take pictures- but he had always been like that. He let Ventus take a few, then also let him pick which one he wanted for his contact picture.

After that, we actually got to leave. …And it was kind of upsetting. "…Roxas?" Cloud called before either of us got on the bike. "Yeah?" We got on how we did before- me in front, Roxas in the back. "You want to spend the night? I'm sure you and Sora want to talk or something." He offered. Roxas shot me a brief glace to which I returned. We were that obvious? Or maybe it was just a twin thing… Regardless, Cloud took Roxas and I home.

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"…So?" He asked, sitting on my bed. "…So… What?" I asked, wanting more clarification. "…So, what did you think of Ventus?" He asked, his hand clasping his other. "…I liked him. I'm sure not as much as you, but I liked him." I decided out loud. Roxas smiled. "…Same here. He's fun." I chuckled and nodded. "Oh most definitely." Roxas looked down at his hands with a warm expression.

"…I want to write him something- on the piano I mean. But I also want to quickly fill out my journal before I forget things." Did he have his journal? …Probably. "I think he'd like that." I said with a nod. "…You think?" He asked, looking up at me. "Of course." I said more firmly with a nod. Roxas seemed content with that answer and resumed looking at his hands. "…He was so warm…" He mumbled to himself.

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Chapter XLII: Misinterpretation Side B

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When people think of an unhealthy house-hold, they think of it being dirty- not true.
The house I'm currently living in is cluttered with knickknacks and dirty dishes in the sink and stains on the couch… And I've never felt more comfortable, loved, and cared for.
When people think of an abusive parent, they think of the father- not true.
Our mother… She loved us to the point of paradox. She hurt us with her want for us to never be taken away… But we weren't taken away- we left. Our father adores us- he'd do anything for us. He would never lay a hand on us, yet alone raise his voice to us. …He loves us.
There's this huge misinterpretation as to what should and shouldn't be- and they're all lies. If you're comfortable with where you are and what you're doing… Why bother trying to fit someone else's mold?

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Dinner was loud as it usually was, but quieter than usual. We had three new guests joining us for dinner, so we had to remind ourselves to keep it down a little bit so he wouldn't freak out. If he did, I wanted to be able to help him. I knew what it was like to be overrun by your feelings- to not feel like you had any control over yourself. So I wanted to help Ventus if he needed it.

He seemed happy to be here, but a little awkward. He fussed in his seat, but kept glancing around at everyone. "Well look what we have here. Jeeze, Roxas- do all of your siblings look like you?" Axel asked with a chuckle. "I'm the youngest, I look like them." I reminded with a roll of my eyes. "Ventus, this tall jerk is Axel." I said, smacking his chest, making him wince.

"Hello!" Ventus greeted him, giving him a warm smile. Aqua standing behind him with a hand on her shoulder. Terra was off somewhere with Cloud. "This girl is Naminé- she's probably my best friend, not counting him." I said, nodding towards Axel. Ventus stared at her for a moment before giving her a warm smile. "It's nice to meet you, Ventus." She said, nodding to him. "She's very pretty." Ventus decided, the warm smile on his face not leaving. Yeah, she was… I rubbed the back of my neck and nodded in agreement. I noticed Naminé flush at the dual compliment.

It was Sora's turn to introduce his friends. "This guy here is Riku, and this wonderful girl right here is Kairi!" He introduced at the same time. "Guys, this is my big brother- Ventus." He said, a wide smile on his face. …It was nice to see Sora smile like that. I was starting to miss it. But I noticed… They seemed more honest now. He wasn't trying to cover anything up. If he was upset, you'd know. If he was happy, you'd know. I was proud of him… He wasn't running away anymore.

Riku nodded and Kairi gave him a wide smile and a wave. "Heya!" Ventus smiled at both of them. "Hello!" He already knew Tifa, Aerith, and our aunt, so he only needed to be introduced to our friends. "Sometimes I have three other friends come over, but when they do I'll introduce you to them." Ventus nodded. "Okay!" I helped put things out for dinner while Aqua sat with Ven and talked with him. She kept him in his seat even though he wanted to help.

"I don't see why he can't." Aqua chuckled. "Because he'll get so excited he won't actually do much "helping"." Aqua said with a laugh. "Wha- nuh-huh!" Ven countered, making her laugh. I couldn't help but smile. "…Okay. Ventus, why don't you help me get the silverware." I offered. He shot up out of his chair and wiggled away from Aqua. "Okay!" Aqua chuckled, but looked defeated. She sat quietly in her seat, but never took her eyes off of him.

"…So, um… Ven?" I asked him once I had him far enough away. "Yeah?" He asked, Naminé walking by with several plates in her hands. "…Aqua and Terra- they're your friends?" I asked. He tipped his head and looked at the ceiling. "…No. They're my best friends. And Aqua is my girlfriend and Terra is my boyfriend." That statement took me aback a little bit. "…Huh? U-Um, Ven, don't you mean either Aqua is your girlfriend or Terra is your boyfriend?" And if anything, Aqua and Terra seemed good together- I noticed the small little touches, how they'd curl up to one another if they were close enough…

Ventus shook his head. "No. Aqua is my girlfriend and Terra is my boyfriend." I blinked at him, trying to make sure I understood him right. "At… At the same time?" He nodded with a smile. "Yup!" …What… The hell…? Was that even legal…? But… Aqua did hoover a bit and kissed his head a lot… Terra seemed to be willing to let Ventus do what he wanted but offered to be there for him if he needed it… So I could see it. But it was still odd to me…

Ventus helped me grab the silverware and bring it over to the table. "…What about you?" He asked me. "Huh? U-Um… I…" I glanced around, but my eyes landed on Axel who was putting food on the table. "…The tall jerk from earlier…" I grumbled. "…He's my boyfriend…" Ventus smiled widely at me. "Do you love him very much?" The question was simple, but no one ever really asked me that before- at least if they did, I don't remember it. …But it put something in perspective.

"…Yes. I do. Because he loves me very much. He also puts up with me and I know I can be a pain sometimes…" Ventus laughed a little bit. "People like that are the best, aren't they?" He asked, giving me this look… That meant he understood. He knew what it was like to feel like a pain and yet still feel so loved. "…Yeah." I nodded. "People like that are very special." Ventus said simply, finishing putting the last fork where it needed to go. …He's right. They are.

I wiggled away and hunted down Axel in the kitchen. He turned around with a basket of buns in his hand, almost running into me. "Woah- hey you! Warn me, I almost ran you ove-"
"I love you!" I blurted out. He stopped talking. "…Where'd that come from?" He asked with a chuckle. "Who cares, tell me you love me back…" I grumbled. He snickered, putting the bread down. He leaned down and kissed me- hard. It took my breath away… I forgot how to breathe and felt a tingle in my toes and fingers… And was so grateful to have him. I was so grateful to have him, and Sora, and Ventus, and Naminé, and so many others… They made me feel like it was okay to exist and do it happily…

And I loved them all for it.

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"All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy. For what we leave behind us is a part of ourselves. We must die to one life before we can enter another."
–Anatole France