A/N: This is an entry I wrote for a contest that #A-R-R is having on deviantART. Today (June 10th) was the final day for the contest, and I managed to get it in! :D Yaaay! I hope I do well, because one of my favourite artists, Njuuni, is creating the prizes. :O But, read, and please tell me what you think!

Warning: Some mild language, sexual themes and mental/physical abuse present.

The theme of the contest was "Shadows and Sunshine". My pairing is RoxasxReno. 3

I walk down the hallway, clutching my books to my chest as the bell rings for everyone to go to lunch. People pass me by, yelling rowdily at each other and giggling with laughter.

Reaching my locker, I dial my combination, opening the yellow locker to reveal my personal items. Gently, I place my physics and psychology books inside of my locker, taking out my French textbook in preparation for my class after lunch. I take a moment to glance around my locker. At this high school, people said you could tell a lot about a person by the inside of their locker. I wonder what an outsider would see of my locker? High-level textbooks would mean I was smart, which, I am. The numerous pictures of a small black haired girl and me would show that I do have a friend, and I'm not a complete loner like everyone in my class thinks. But there's not much else in my locker.

I close the small door, locking my stuff shut before I continue walking down the hallway. I merge with the student population, weaving around all the bodies to make my way outside to find my best friend.

Not many people bothered getting to know me. At least, not very well. Most people glanced at me, saw the student body president with spiky blonde hair and carrying books almost as big as I am, and label me as a nerd. But only Xion has bothered to dig deeper and find my love of music, my talent at drumming, and my preference for men. Well... one other person has bothered to look deeper...and the thought of him makes my stomach flutter with butterflies.

"Roxas!" I glance up to see Xion standing just outside the school doors, waving at me and smiling like an idiot. I grin to myself, walking just a little faster to catch up to her. When I reach her, she punches me in the arm, laughing. "Gosh Roxas, walk any slower and I'll grow old waiting for you one of these days."

I chuckle, rubbing my arm for comfort. "Nice to see you too Xion."

She grins as we walk together across the campus. "So, what do you want for lunch today, huh? The amazing, icky and gooey cafeteria food, or some nice spicy Chinese from across the street?"

"Mm..." I pause, trying to create the impression that it was actually a tough decision. She chuckles and we start walking off campus before I even answer. I let out a laugh, holding my text close to my chest. "You know me too well Xion."

She snorts. "Well, you've got to be crazy to actually enjoy the crap they serve at school. It should be illegal to give out food that tastes that bad."

I chuckle softly to myself. "So, how's your day been?"

Xion shrugs slightly, her short hair curling around her face. She shifts her satchel over to her other shoulder, making her t-shirt crumple slightly. Her skirt flows softly below her as she straightens out her shirt. "More or less the same as always. Boring teachers, boring classes, slept in almost all of them."

I laugh. "Xion, I don't know why you don't take more difficult classes. You're as smart as I am."

She shakes her head, smirking at me. "No, I think I'm smarter."

"Oh?" I grin, thankful for her presence. We've been best friends for the past three years of high school, and I know I'd be completely lost if I didn't have her.

"Yeah." She points to my textbooks. "You're absolutely wearing yourself down with all those difficult classes, but you're going to graduate with the same high school diploma as I will."

I chuckle. "Come on now, what's the truth?"

Xion laughs lightly. "Oh, are you sure you want the truth?"

I roll my eyes. "You don't have to tell me, I know already. As soon as you graduate high school, you and your girlfriend Namine are moving out to L.A. so she can get into animation and you can get into acting."

She winks at me as we cross the street to the Chinese restaurant. "You got it."

I roll my eyes. "You know, sometimes I'm so jealous of you and Namine. How long have you guys been together now? A year and a half?"

"Two years." She smiles softly, her cheeks turning a bright pink. "She means everything to me."

"See? I'd love something like that." I grimace softly, glancing down at the ground.

"Aw, come on Roxas, you'll find a guy. You will." She opens the door to the Chinese restaurant, gesturing for me to go first. "You'll find a really sweet guy who makes you feel like the most special person in the world, and you'll just know it."

I nod, biting my bottom lip, my thoughts drifting back to the other person who has bothered to try and find the real me...

"Hey, look, it's our president and his little pet."

I glance over to the voice, my eyes catching onto the bad boy of our school. He smirks at the two of us, leaning back in his seat and kicking his feet up on the table. His bright green eyes gleam at me, his long red hair tied up in a ponytail that trailed long behind him. His dark clothes threaten to blend him into the background.

"Shut up Reno." Xion snaps at him angrily. "You're lucky you haven't been expelled from school yet."

"I'm practically quaking in my boots." Reno rolls his eyes at Xion. She rolls her eyes and walks over to the counter to order food.

"Ah, little Roxas." He smiles softly at me, and I blush softly as his green eyes go from menacing to delightfully soft in an instant. He gives me a gentle smile, and I smile back, feeling my heart start pounding.

Suddenly, he sneers, licking his bottom lip. "You two should start dating, you'd make such a cute couple." Xion walks over to me, glaring at Reno.

He pauses, looking as though a light bulb went off in his head. "Oh, that's right, you have a girlfriend don't you?" He snickers. "Roxas, do you ever watch them do that? Whatever would the rest of the student body think about having a gay president?"

"Ignore him Roxas, he's just a jerk." She grabs my arm, pulling me out of the restaurant. I glance back at the redhead, who winks at me and gives me a soft smile.

I have butterflies in my stomach as we walk out and start heading back to the school. Xion hands me a pair of chopsticks and a container of food. As I eat, I listen as she rants about how much of a bully Reno is without touching much of her food.

I wish I could tell her what happened... I really want... but I'm scared I'll lose her as a friend if she found out.

End of the day, and I hang back at my locker, trying to look busy. Xion had come by earlier, asking if I wanted to come over and help her and Namine work on a sculpture. I had passed, and when Xion gave me a funny look, I explained that the two of them would probably want to make out, and I didn't want to cockblock them, so to speak. She blushed and left after that, promising to text me later.

Most of the student body is gone by now. There are a few stragglers like me. Some are participating in after school clubs, and some are just waiting for rides home. I stand at my locker, packing all the textbooks I would need for homework tonight into my backpack. I smile at the pictures of Xion and I around my locker. There's a couple of her and Namine too; my favourite is one of the two of them curled up on the couch. The three of us had been watching a movie, but it was almost midnight, and the two of them fell asleep on each other. I thought it was rather cute.

And of course, there are a couple pictures of the three of us. There's a stream of pictures from a photo booth where the three of us sat and made ridiculous faces at the camera. I keep that picture on inside door of my locker, because it always makes me smile.

Gently, I close the locker and start walking. I don't live very far from the school, so I just walk home. Once outside, I glance around, looking for a certain redhead, but the primary colour is nowhere in sight. A little saddened, I start walking home alone.

After a couple minutes and I'm walking down the sidewalk, I pause. I glance around, swearing that I heard my name. I shrug, and continue walking.

"Roxas, wait up!"

Okay, I didn't imagine that. I turn around and a huge grin lights up my face as I see my redhead tearing down the street, a bouquet of roses in his hands.

I stand on the sidewalk; waiting patiently and feeling my stomach fill up with more butterflies. He catches up to me, completely out of breath. He holds up a finger, pausing to bend over and wheeze out a couple of desperate gasps for air.

I chuckle. "Reno, you really should work out a little bit. You shouldn't be that out of breath from a short sprint."

He laughs, standing up straight. "You kidding? Why would I work out when I can have an awesome, defined body without doing anything?"

I shake my head, a permanent smile on my face. "Because it's good for your health."

Reno snorts. "So, let me get this right. I smoke, drink every other weekend, and occasionally do weed, but you want me to exercise a little to help my health?"

I blush softly, glancing down at the ground. "Well, it sounds silly when you put it that way."

He chuckles softly. "By the way, these are for you."

I smile as I take the roses from him. I lean over them, inhaling their delicious scent. My cheeks are burning with how much I'm smiling. "Thank you Reno. They're lovely."

He grins, his smile bright and dazzling. "Anything for you." Reno bites his bottom lip, glances to the left and right. A satisfied smile tugs on his lips as he looks back to me. Then he takes a step closer to me, cupping my cheeks in his surprisingly soft hands before he leans down and ever so gently presses his lips against my own.

I kiss him back softly, my heart in my ears as the spectacular feeling absorbs me. When he pulls away, I just want to grab him and kiss him even harder.

He chuckles, catching the look in my eyes. "Later Roxie. Can't exactly do that here, now can we?"

I blush softly, looking around. "No, the street by our school probably isn't the best place to do something like that."

We start walking to my house, and the butterflies refuse to leave my stomach. "Hey, Roxas." I look over at Reno, and a small pang goes through my heart at the heartbreaking sorrow that's plain on his face.

"What is it Reno?" I ask softly, holding the roses close.

"I'm sorry for being such an ass to you today at the Chinese place." He looks at me with sad green eyes, and I feel my heart breaking for him. "I hate keeping up appearances like this. It's killing me inside."

I grimace slightly. "I know, me too." I look sadly at the ground. "But, there's only a couple months left of high school, and then we can leave this prejudiced place behind." I smile up at him. "That's good, right?"

He nods, looking down at the street. "I guess so."

My eyes linger on his face, tracing over the scar underneath his eye. I sigh softly to myself. Reno told me the story about his scar when he first came to me. And it hadn't looked that pretty back then.

We reach my house in silence, and I take out the house key from my pocket, unlocking the door. "Do you have any homework?" I ask him over my shoulder.

Reno shakes his head, "No, I did it in class. You have any homework?"

I nod. "Yeah, but it's just some calculus, I can do it later."

He raises an eyebrow at me as we enter the house and he closes the door behind me. "Something on your mind Roxie?"

I walk over to the kitchen, taking out a vase and filling it with water. "Well... we do have the house to ourselves for a while." I place the vase on the dining room table, taking the roses out of their bag and gently putting them inside the vase. "My mom won't be home for a couple of hours..."

Reno walks over to me, dropping his backpack on the ground beside me. I shrug off my backpack, dropping it beside his before turning around to look up into his eyes. He stood about a foot taller than me, but I thought his height was sexy.

"Where's your mind honey?" He winks at me, leaning in a little closer.

I bite my bottom lip, glancing into his bright eyes. I wonder if he thought my blue eyes were as sexy as I think his green eyes are.

He smiles at me, completely understanding the look. Gently, Reno slips his hand into mine, the skin contact making my heart race as we walk hand in hand up the stairs of my house and into my bedroom.

I sit at the dining room table, doing some calculus homework. My senior year of high school just started, but my math teacher was vicious in his assignments already. I was thankful that math comes easily to me; otherwise I'd be completely lost like the rest of my class.

Suddenly, there's a knocking on my door. Curious, I get up from the table and walk over to the door. I open it, and practically jump a foot in the air at what I see.

The school bully stares up at me, clutching at his eye, blood oozing out between his fingertips and harsh purple bruises blooming all over his skin.

"Can I come in?" His voice cracks, and I notice that he stands on wobbly knees.

"Oh crap, well, I can't exactly turn you away looking like that." I take a step forward, putting an arm underneath his and helping his wobble into my house. Using my foot, I shut the door behind us before I bring him over to the living room.

"Just, um, sit in the couch. I'll bring the first aid kit." I watch, mesmerized for a moment as the toughest guy I've known in my entire life hobbles over to the couch, looking like he's going to collapse and die any moment. I snap back to my senses, running halfway across the house to the bathroom to grab the first aid kit and a wet cloth.

Rushing back to the living room, I place the kit on the couch, sitting myself down beside him. "Hey, I'm going to clean your wound. I have to do that before I can do anything else, okay? You don't want it to get infected."

He nods obediently, removing his hands. The blood flow wasn't as strong as I thought, but I'm shocked to see a deep cut under his eyes. Gently, I pick up the warm cloth and press it to his face. He hisses in pain, his hands clenching tightly to keep from crying out. I hold the cloth to his face, wiping up the excess blood on his face and then using the clean side of the cloth to hold against the cut.

"Reno, right?" I ask pointlessly his name was famous all over our school. He nods though his eyes were closed.

I nod, licking my lips, thankful that my mom doesn't get home from work for another couple hours. "Reno, can you tell me what happened?"

He swallows, and shakes his head slightly before wincing in pain. "Okay, okay." I mutter, pressing the warm cloth to his face. "How about I fix you first, and then we talk?" I wait to see if I get an answer, and after a moment's pause, I get a small nod.

I nod. "Okay, Reno, my mom is a doctor and she's taught me how to sew up cuts. Your cut is pretty big, would you like me to give you stiches?"

He nods, still not talking. I take away the cloth, thankful that the blood has stopped flowing. I open up the first aid kit, taking out the supplies for stiches that my mom had put in there for emergencies. I'm pretty sure this qualified. I pick the cloth up, washing the blood off his hands before I grab a stress ball and place it in his hand. "You might want to squeeze that. This might hurt a little bit."

Carefully, I start the process of stitching up his cut. He grunts though the whole procedure, and I can tell it hurts when his eyes start tearing up. I feel a small part of my aching inside. It was so weird to see a completely different side of the bully everyone assumed he was. I move very carefully, trying not to hurt him as much as possible.

When I finish, I can see him visibly relax. His eyes close and a couple tears stream down his cheeks. I pick up the cloth, using a clean corner to wipe the tears off his face.

Rummaging through the first air kit, I pick up a little spray bottle that my mom liked to use on cuts. I place my hand over his eyes, not wanting to get the spray in his eyes. "This might sting a little." I squirt the silver spray onto his cut, and I catch him squeezing the stress ball tight enough to make his knuckles turn white. I wipe off the excess spray from around the cut, and then I remove my hand. "Now, don't touch your cut. The spray will help heal it, but it's a really deep cut. You might have a scar there for the rest of your life." I pack away everything into the first aid kit except the cloth. "Of course, I'm not a doctor, so I'm not sure."

I stand up. "I'll be right back, okay? Don't move. You look like you've lost a bit of blood." He nods, still holding the stress ball. I walk back to the bathroom, putting the first aid kit away and dropping the cloth into the sink. Turning the hot water on, I pour some soap into the sink. After it fills up a little, I turn the water off, resolving to let the cloth soak for a bit to get the blood out.

I walk back to the living room, glancing at Reno. Resolved to take good care of my guest, bully or not, I walk into my kitchen and grab some ice cream out of the freezer. I grab two spoons from a drawer and walk back into the living room.

"Reno?" I call his name softly, sitting down beside him on the couch. "You like ice cream?"

He opens his eyes, glancing down at the container of ice cream in my hands. Sitting up a little straighter, he looks up at me. "Who doesn't like ice cream?"

I smile at him, handing him a spoon. "My mom. She prefers yogurt."

Gently, he takes the spoon, our fingers touching softly. I swallow; glad I'd remembered to wipe the blood off his hands earlier. But my fingers tingle all the same, and I feel the slightest hint of a butterfly in my stomach.

Reno takes a small spoonful of ice cream and places it into his mouth. I watch as he visibly relaxes with the small treat. He lets out a deep breath, taking another spoonful. "I suppose you'd like to know what happened, huh?"

I nod, eating some ice cream myself. "It'd be nice. It's not everyday that someone appears on your doorstep looking like they're about to die."

He winces slightly. "Do I really look that bad?"

I nod my head. "Yeah, you do."

Reno sighs softly, leaning against the couch. "I'm sorry to intrude on you. It's just, when this happened, you were the first person I thought of turning to."

I raise an eyebrow. "Why? The only time we've ever communicated is when you're insulting me."

He winces again. "I'm sorry. I knew you were out student body president, and you're really smart, and I've heard that you're really nice. I know your mom is a doctor because I see her in the emergency room every now and then, so I thought you'd be the best person to see."

I raise both of my eyebrows. "Why do you seem my mom in the emergency room?"

He sighs, looking completely rejected and finished. "Long or short version?"

"Long." I reply instantly. I like knowing all the details.

He nods, taking another bite of ice cream. "Well, you take psychology, yes?"

I nod. "Yeah, I'd like to be a psychologist when I grow up."

Reno glances at me, a little surprised at the information. He shrugs and continues. "Well, you know that a big reason for kids who becomes bullies are because of their parents, yes?"

I nod, waiting to see where this goes. He grimaces slightly. "My mom died years ago, and my dad is an alcoholic. Worse, he's an abusive alcoholic." I watch as Reno swallows, closing his eyes as his hand tightens around the stress ball. "I've gone to the emergency room a couple times because of him. But because I've got such a bad attitude in school, everyone just assumes I got in a fight and they just fix me and send me on my way."

I sit back, leaning against the armrest of the couch. The shadowy figure of a bully that I'd always perceived about him was vanishing before my eyes as he spoke. "Today is my birthday." He mutters softly. "My dad tried to kick me out of the house because I'm eighteen now. When I tried to refuse because I still have high school to finish, he grabbed me and beat me. I could smell the liquor on his breath." Reno winches slightly, his hands brushing up and down his arms. "When I was on the ground, he pulled a knife and cut me. I managed to get away from him at that point, and I just ran. I didn't know where to go."

He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a piece of paper. Reno hands it to me, and I open it to see my address on it. "Your mom gave that to me the last time I went to the emergency room. She's the kindest doctor I've met. She told me I could come to her house if I ever needed to talk. I think she suspected there was something bigger behind my injuries than a simple fight."

I smile softly to myself. That's my mom all right.

Reno looks over at me, his eyes practically pleading with me. "May I stay with you? Please? I'll do anything, I don't want to go back."

I nod eagerly. I'd have to be a cruel person to make him go back. "Of course you can Reno. You can stay here as long as you like."

He smiles back at me softly, gratitude shining in his eyes.

I open my eyes, yawning. I hear the soft snoring behind me, and I smile softly to myself. I turn on my side, snuggling close to Reno as his arm wraps tighter around my body. I close my eyes, breathing him in. I open my eyes, gazing tenderly at his face. He looks so peaceful when he's sleeping.

Gently, I kiss the tip of his nose. "Reno dear, we've got to get up. We have school today." He groans and I chuckle softly, remembering the day he first came to my house. I lean forward and gently kiss his scar; I had been right that night, he would have that scar for the rest of his life.

Looking at him, I'm so thankful that night had happened. Of course, I hate that he had to be abused for it to happen, and I'm so glad that his dad is in jail now, but without it, I wouldn't have him like this now.

We grew closer over the weeks that we spent together. At school we mostly ignored each other, simply to keep up appearances. When we had to interact at school, he threw an insult or two, merely to please the rest of our classmates that the status quo was being kept up. But once the two of us got back to my house, it was like all that melted away and we were best friends.

We learned so much about each other. He learned everything about me that Xion had, and I felt like I could trust him with anything. In turn, I learned that while Reno has some bad habits (of which I'm determined to break), he's also incredibly smart and he wants to be a doctor when he grows up.

One day, a couple months after Reno had first appeared on my doorstep, he came into my room, sat on my bed rather solemnly, and told me with his head hanging that he was gay and had a huge crush on me. He said he understood if I kicked him out right there and then.

There is no way I can reenact my absolute delight of that day. It's a blur of happiness in my mind. I remember telling him that he was ridiculous, that I'd never throw him out. And then I remember admitting to him that I was gay as well, and that I'd been crushing on him too. And then I had my first kiss, and it was absolutely blissful.

I poke him in the sides. "Come on Reno, we really have to go to school."

He groans, pulling me closer to him. I giggling softly, loving his touch. "Noooo, Roxie, you should stay in bed with me all day."

I giggle, kissing his forehead. "Tempting dear, but you know me, I've never missed a day of school in my life. Besides, it's Friday, we can do that all tomorrow."

A pleased smile creeps onto his face. He opens his bright green eyes, pulling me close to kiss my lips ever so softly. "I'd like that."

I laugh, hopping out of bed and throwing a pillow at him. "Then get ready for school!" He growls, grabbing a pillow. "Oh, that means war!"

I laugh, running downstairs as a grinning Reno runs after me before pulling me into his arms and kissing me.

Reno and I enter the school from separate sides, simply not to draw attention to us. But the moment I enter the school, I wish he were beside me.

I swallow as I walk through the school, wondering why everyone was staring at me. Conversations seem to stop as I walk by. What was going on...? Had someone died and I didn't know about it?

But when I turn into the main hallway of the school, the hallway with all the lockers, I realize why.

My eyes widen and my jaw drops as my eyes flash around to the flyers all over the hallway. There was barely any wall space left, there were so many flyers. And on the flyers was a picture of Reno and I from yesterday. And I knew it was yesterday because I have a bouquet of roses in my hands, and Reno's hands are cupping my face as he kisses me.

I look around the students in the hallway in horror. They point at me, whispering among themselves. Oh god, no, please, I don't want to come out like this.

I walk briskly to my locker, determined to just go to my classes and get home as soon as possible. I hear some snickering behind me, and I feel my eyes start to tear up, but I force them to stop. But when I get to my locker, the tears start rolling down my cheeks freely.

All over my locker were those flyers. But in addition, someone had taken a sharpie and wrote the word 'fag' all over them.

I don't even open my locker. I turn around and tear down the hallway. Laughter echoes all around me, and I feel like I'm being squeezed so that I can't breathe. I run into the bathroom, rushing inside a stall and slamming it shut, locking it shut before baking against the wall and falling to the ground, crying.

I don't know how long I sat there, crying. I heard a bell ring for class, but I ignored it. No one could get me to come out of this stall. Never.

So I sat there and cried. This wasn't supposed to happen. This wasn't supposed to happen at all.

"Roxas?"

I hear a feminine voice, and I lift my head in surprise, sniffling.

"Roxas, are you in here?" I recognize the voice as Xion's.

"Go away Xion." I sniffle, clutching my backpack close to me.

I see her shoes appear in front of the bathroom stall. "Roxas, may I come in please?"

"You shouldn't be in the boys bathroom." I mutter, wiping my eyes with my sleeves.

"You shouldn't be in here crying either." I watch as she gets down on her hands and knees, climbing under the stall door. She smiles at me, aiming for comfort. I sniffle again, wiping my eyes, and she walks over to me, sitting down beside me.

"Roxas, it's okay." She wraps an arm around my shoulder, pulling my close to her. "Go ahead and cry. I'm here for you." I sniffle and lean into her, all cried out. But she still holds me, gently brushing her hand along my shoulder for comfort.

I sniffle. "You're not mad with me?"

"Why would I be mad with you dear?" Xion looks at me, using her thumb to wipe a tear away from my eye.

"Because I like Reno." I answer simply.

She laughs. "Roxas, I've known you've had a thing for Reno for months."

I glance at her in shock, speechless. She winks at me. "You don't give me much credit, do you?" Xion chuckles softly, kissing my forehead for comfort. "You forget, I have a gay-dar built into me. I knew Reno was gay. And I could catch the glances the two of you keep sending each other the past couple months. I didn't say anything because you two acted the same as always, so I knew you were waiting to tell me. So I kept my mouth shut and acted the same as I always would."

I shake my head. "Xion, have I told you how amazing you are?"

She chuckles and ruffles my hair. "Yes, but you can do it again."

Xion stands up. "Come on." She holds out her hand to me. "It's almost break and I've got some leftover Chinese food in my backpack."

I grab her hand and she helps me pull myself to my feet. We walk out of the stall, and I walk over to the sink, splashing water all over my face to get rid of the tear marks. She walks over to me and hugs me tightly. "You're an amazing person Roxas. Don't let all these people get to you."

She smiles and looks up at me. "And if you like Reno, then I'm sure he's a good person, because I don't you're not a bad judge of character. And I'll support you one hundred percent."

I hug her back tightly. "Xion, you are amazing."

Xion giggles, punching my arm lightly. "Hey, this means we can go on double dates now."

I smile to myself. "That actually sounds really nice."

We walk out of the bathroom just as the bell for break rings throughout the school. Xion and I walk to the commons, and she takes out a container of Chinese food and hands it to me, along with a pair of chopsticks.

I eat a small piece of meat, feeling my appetite vanish when people come out of their classrooms and start staring at me.

"I don't think I can do this…." I whisper to Xion.

"You can Roxas." She smiles at me. "You're the student body president. You're a strong individual. You can do this."

"Hey, Roxas." I hear a voice and I turn to see Hayner, the other bully at the school.

"What do you want Hayner?" Xion growls at him, her eyes narrowing in hatred.

"Oh nothing, I just wanted to know what little Roxas thought of my handiwork in the hallway." He smirks at me. "I didn't know you had a thing for guys Roxas."

"Hayner, go screw yourself."

I hear the familiar voice of my redhead and glance up to see Reno striding towards us, furry in his eyes.

"Well, if it isn't our school bad boy turned gay." Hayner snickers, but when Reno strides up, there's a fierce determination in his eyes, and I watch in amazement as Reno punches Hayner square in the nose.

Both Xion and I drop our mouths in surprise as Hayner falls to the ground before clambering to his feet and running away.

"Roxas, are you okay?" Reno takes a step closer to me, touching my face with his hands, worry shining in his eyes.

I nod slowly. "Yeah, I'm fine, I'm just…shaken."

Reno kisses my forehead, pulling me close to him. I close my eyes, the rest of the world melting away with his arms around me.

Suddenly, he tears himself away, and I catch that determination in his eyes again. He glances around at all the students staring at us. He turns around and raises his voice to address everyone in the room.

"Hey!" He yells out, drawing everyone's attention to us. "I want to let something be known to everyone laughing at the pictures of Roxas and I." Everyone is now staring at us, and I glance at Xion, but she's just as surprised as I am.

"Yes, I am gay." He glances at me, a soft smile on his face. "And yes, I'm in love with Roxas." I feel my heart skip a beat. He's never told me that before.

He turns back to the crowd, talking to them. "I was broken. I was choking. I was lost, this soul saved my life." Reno glances around, gently brushing his fingers against the scar on his face. "I was bleeding, and stopped believing. I could have died but this soul saved my life. I was down. I was drowning. But he came just in time."

He turns, sweeping his eyes around the whole room, everyone's attention on him. "And you'll never know what it means to me. That I'm not alone, and that I'll never have to be."

With a soft glance at me, he turns once more to the crowd. "So everyone leave him alone. Because he's done more good than you'll ever know."

Reno takes a step towards me, his bright green eyes locked onto my green ones. "I love you Roxas. And I'll help you through this any way that I can."

He leans down and kisses me ever so softly on the lips. I hear Xion cooing at us, and I hear a couple of other people in the crowd star applauding. Reno breaks our lips apart and holds me close to him. I look around at all the students applauding and smiling at us in approval.

I smile and snuggle close to Reno, my heart full and content, knowing that as long as I've got him in my arms, everything was going to be okay.

"I love you too Reno."