A/N: I've decided I have a problem. I really need to update my other stories, but I keep starting new ones! Oh well… I had to get this one out. The idea was just too persistent to ignore.

I've placed it in the M category, but I'm probably not going to know whether that's temporary or not until the story's completed. My reasoning for this is that this story will deal with some adult themes, and I'm not sure yet how graphic the retellings are going to get. I'm almost guaranteed to forget to add them in later on so... I'm leaving a blanket trigger warning here for things like rape, child abuse, self-harm... Know your own boundaries. Feel free to PM me for a summarized version of any of the characters' stories, if needed. Thank you.

Chapter One: The Buildup

The hallway goes on for as long as his eyes can see and fades off into an impenetrable, blurry brightness where they cannot, the walls, ceiling, and floor all blending together into one sterile tunnel.

He can feel the cold tile he's backed up against. Everything around him is so white as to be blinding, but the shadows rising up around him are of the deepest darkness imaginable.

He covers his head with his pale, sticklike arms as their clawed hands reach for him. Through his screams, he is able to wonder vaguely where Sora is...

…

Roxas shot up in bed, the panic from his nightmare carrying over to hold his conscious thoughts hostage. Almost immediately, he felt a pair of strong hands pushing him back. Reflexively, he resisted and a panic-induced scream bubbled up inside of him, but before this panic could make a sound, he was stopped by a soft voice.

"Roxas, you're okay. Calm down. Breathe."

The blond boy laid back against the pillows, and his father's grip on him relaxed. Cloud's voice was always quiet, but he reserved an especially gentle tone for moments like these. Roxas let his tightened muscles go slack. His breathing wasn't completely back to normal, but he was considerably calmer.

He stayed like that for a moment, letting Cloud stroke his hair back from his sweaty forehead. When he had relaxed enough to notice that his shirt was also damp with perspiration, he gave the man a weakly embarrassed smile.

"Morning." He could hear the weariness in his own voice and had to give Cloud credit for not looking even a little exasperated. This was a far-too-familiar occurrence.

"Are you all right?" he got in response. Roxas resisted the urge to roll his eyes. When he was the one panicking, his father was always the first to assure him that everything was fine, but as soon as he was calm, Cloud would let that authority and self-assuredness drop. It was all too clear, in the aftermath, that these nightmares-and the boy's less than subtle reaction to them- frightened him just as much now as the first one had all those years ago.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He yawned and glanced at his clock, which quickly jolted his mind back into a state of alertness. It was already six-thirty! Cloud deftly moved out of his son's way as the boy jumped out of bed and began rushing around his room, tossing clothes for the day over his shoulder in the general direction of his pillows, and grabbing his towel off its hook.

"Don't forget, you two have your first group therapy session after school today," Cloud called after his son as the bathroom door shut behind him a little too forcefully in his hurry.

Stepping into his icy-cold shower, Roxas groaned. Today couldn't have started out any worse, and it didn't look like it was about to get any better.

…

Despite the many similarities in their appearances, Cloud was not actually his biological father. He and Leon had adopted Roxas and his twin brother Sora after 'The Incident' as Roxas had taken to calling it.

Leon and Cloud were more lenient than most parents when it came to their teenage sons, but there was one topic on which neither man was budging: Whether or not the boys got counseling was not up for discussion. And at fourteen, the two had a long path of failure and misery stretching out behind them.

Family counseling had ended when it had become clear that the two would spend the allotted time fidgetting and averting their eyes, accomplishing nothing. For quite a long time they'd been counseled together, but it had been brought to their parents' attentions that Roxas was content to let Sora ramble on about nothing in particular, avoiding the subject until their time was up. Most recently, they'd tried to have them counseled separately, but that idea had dried up quickly. Sora got continually quieter as his doctor pushed him towards the more difficult conversations, and Roxas had flat-out refused to speak from the moment he had set foot in the office. Finally, Roxas's therapist had suggested group therapy for the two, and by this point, Leon and Cloud were ready to try anything. If Roxas had hated Dr. Vexen before, he loathed him now. It was little consolation that he would no longer have to see the man, though a part of his brain did have to wonder if his (now-previous) therapist had grown just as tired of their time together.

He entered the kitchen, hair still damp and clothes thrown on somewhat haphazardly, to find his brother with his forehead resting on the polished wood of the table. Though their 'twinness' was often commented on, Roxas and Sora were not identical. There were certain physical similarities, particularly around the eyes, but in all other aspects, Roxas's coloring resembled their biological mother's, and Sora their father's. But it was not their appearances that defined their relationship, anyway. Their connection was clearest in the familiarity with which they moved around each other, even in the most banal of occasions. As dissimilar as they could be in personality, Roxas would be the first to admit that there was a part of him that was incomplete without his brother. They'd experienced too much together for things to be any other way. And though they rarely addressed it aloud, he knew Sora felt the same way. The boys' other father's childhood friend stood in the kitchen as well, attempting to have a conversation with Sora. She wasn't getting very far.

"Morning, Yuffie," he greeted.

She smiled at him. "Hey, Roxas. Jeez, have you grown again?" she asked cheerfully.

Roxas grinned back. Yuffie was particularly short, but it never seemed to bother her. "What's up?"

She gave a dramatic sigh that somehow didn't take away from her cheery demeanor. "I'm off to go see if I can drag your father's workaholic ass away from the firm for a while. See ya later, kid," she said, affectionately ruffling his brother's hair before nearly prancing out of the house. Sora, morning person that he was, merely grunted in response.

It was around this time that Cloud joined them, having claimed the shower shortly after Roxas got out. "Was that Yuffie I heard?"

"Yeah, she's going to go track down Dad at work."

Cloud sighed. "That girl wreaks destruction everywhere she goes… " But Roxas knew that his father was really quite fond of Yuffie. As Leon's best friend, she'd been their chief supporter back when they'd been in high school- a time when homosexuality had been even less accepted. "He's working on a really big case right now," he continued, mostly to himself. "I should probably go make sure she doesn't distract him too much… Do you two want a ride to school before I go?"

Leon was a fairly successful lawyer, so Cloud was able to have a more laid-back job and a much less rigorous schedule. Namely, he taught karate lessons during the day and wrote in his spare time. Cloud was an aspiring author, and though he'd gotten things published before in newspapers and magazines, he hadn't quite had the breakthrough he'd been hoping for. There was this huge project he'd been working on for as long as Roxas could remember, but Leon was the only one ever given the privilege of seeing it.

Roxas nodded and had to nearly shove his twin out the door and into the car.

…

It was a bright, sunny day in Hell, but it was Hell nonetheless. Roxas got out of the car, slammed the door, and scowled up at the gray brick building that was his wasn't that Roxas was without friends or any scholarly talent. He may not have been a straight-A, honors student, but he didn't have any major trouble keeping up with his schoolwork, either. No, the sad fact of the matter was that high school- even in a nice, relatively small town like this one- was still high school, and there would always be bigots and jerks. And, just like something out of a bad movie, being the adopted son of two gay men made him a prime target for Twilight Academy's most obnoxious bully.

In fact, no sooner had Cloud driven away than he heard Seifer's voice ring out across the schoolyard, "And how are the fags this morning?"

Internally, he sighed. Had he been asked before starting high school, Roxas would have expressed disbelief that such things really happened. The words Seifer accosted them with were almost comically villainous. Blatantly douche-y. There was no way to look back on his actions and misunderstand his intentions. Even Seifer had to have some semblance of a conscience. And Roxas had never gone out of his way to antagonize the older boy. How did he justify acting the way he did?

Roxas whipped around to glare at him, but Sora, now fully awake, had already placed a restraining hand on his shoulder.

"Just ignore him, Rox." This was hard to do as Seifer's shout had already attracted a lot of attention, (no cartoon circles of thuggish lackeys pointing and laughing, but the curious stares were bad enough) but Roxas turned away from the other boy and headed into the school. It didn't help his case any that Seifer would be a senior soon and this was just the spring of his freshman year.

…

Considering how well they got along, there were still times that Roxas was struck by how different he and his twin were. Sora was popular almost by default. There was just something bright and magnetic about the brunet twin, likely the reason Seifer felt Roxas made an easier target. Sora made friends with just about everyone, and with his personality, even those friends a little higher up on the high school food chain couldn't fault him for befriending the lowly outcasts at the bottom. Namely, his brother's preferred group of friends.

They didn't look like much, from a glance. There was Olette, the bookworm. Pence, who got picked on for being slightly overweight and a little on the slow side academically. And then there was Hayner, the self-proclaimed leader of their little group of misfits. No one disputed or challenged this position. Hayner had a strong, stand-out personality that sort of kept him from fitting in anywhere. A fact he was aggressively, almost defensively proud of. Last but not least, there was Roxas himself. To be honest, Roxas wasn't really sure how the rest of the school viewed him. The only thing he was certain of was that he didn't really fit in anywhere but with the losers at the bottom.

The four of them fit together strangely well. If he was being honest, Roxas would have to admit that they weren't particularly close. He didn't know the first thing about the others' families and homes, aside from the few casual comments here and there, and the other three knew equally little about him. Which suited him just fine. Perhaps that sounded a little cold. He really did consider them to be friends, not just random people to spend time with during the school hours. Like all groups of friends, they had their high moments... and their low ones. Their dynamic was not always as clearly defined as they (Hayner) would sometimes like it to be, but Roxas liked that as well. There were times he felt they should be taking steps to become closer... but he couldn't deny that their current distance felt... safe.

At lunch that day, Sora chose to sit with his brother instead of his other friends, no doubt remembering the tension with Seifer that morning. Olette and Pence had always been as distantly fond of Sora as they were of their closer friend, but Roxas was vaguely aware of Hayner eyeing his brother almost suspiciously. Sora's tendency to drift amongst social circles was something the other blond had never fully trusted. But, after the disastrous first time- their only true fight- Hayner had avoided addressing this mistrust directly. It was a good call on Sora's part, though. About halfway through the lunch period, an apple fell with a thunk onto Roxas's head. He turned to see Fujin- more commonly known as just Fuu- who had paused behind him. She was one of Seifer's gang, and though he rarely heard her say anything, she could be quite vicious when given the right motivation. She actually looked apologetic enough for Roxas to believe that it had been an accident, but the older girl quickly composed herself when she realized that Seifer and the rest of her group were laughing.

Nevertheless, Roxas picked up the apple from where it had rolled down his head and landed on the table with almost exaggerated patience. He tried to hand it back to her, but she backed away with her tray, sneer in place.

"I don't want it now. I'd probably be poisoned from all that hair gel." Those two sentences were probably the most she'd said all week, and it was just loud enough for Seifer to hear a few tables away. Roxas lost any and all traces of sympathy he'd felt for her immediately. So much for trying to be the better person.

The blond boy scowled as she walked back, knowing she'd just given Seifer a new topic of interest. While Sora's hair kind of just stuck up every which way, Roxas's definitely had a more styled look to it, but it dried that way without any assistance- not that Seifer would believe him. He longed to go over there and say something to the still-laughing group, but he didn't. And it was only about to get worse.

Had he not forgotten his science notebook in his locker later that day, Roxas never would have ended up in Principal Xigbar's office. But he had, and his teacher had been nice enough to let him go get it. Unfortunately, at that same time, Seifer had walked out of the bathroom down the hall… and saw the perfect opportunity.

Roxas didn't notice the older boy until he'd been shoved into his locker, his forehead connecting with the cold blue metal. Slowly, he took a deep breath. On top of everything else, he really didn't need this today. He whipped around and slammed his locker shut, glaring at Seifer, who didn't even have the decency to stop his increasingly hyena-like laughter.

"Careful, Roxy. You wouldn't want to have to add Anger Management to your schedule."

Oh, how he despised that nickname. Most of all when it came out of Seifer's mouth.

"Then again," the bully continued, "it would probably fit in well with your therapy sessions." Just the way Seifer said 'therapy' made it clear he thought such things were only for the clinically insane.

"And what would I need therapy for?" Roxas replied in a tense yet measured voice. Silently, he dared the other boy to bring up The Incident. But Seifer had other plans. A wicked grin crossed his face.

"Oh, you know. I figured even your cocksucking parents wouldn't approve of you screwing your brother."

And there was the last straw. Roxas had plenty of experience by now in ignoring the older boy's taunts, but today he was wound just a little too tightly. "You motherfucker," he growled.

This time, there was no force in the world that could've stopped Roxas's fist from connecting with Seifer's face.

…

Roxas stared down at the old oak desk separating his chair from the one Principal Xigbar was sitting in. There was a long scar running down his principal's face from the man's days as a soldier. However, Roxas had never found him to be overly intimidating, and even now the strongest form of anger he saw on his principal's face was one of paternal disappointment.

"This isn't like you, Roxas," he said at last. "You've never been called to my office for fighting before."

No, he hadn't. He probably would've been expelled months ago if he'd let his anger take over every time Seifer deserved it. Xigbar had paused long enough to give him time to explain, but Roxas didn't take the opportunity. Finally, the man sighed.

"How are you?" This was the question that made Roxas look up, as he had no injuries. Seifer's head had smacked sickeningly into the brick wall behind him, leaving him dazed, and the next second, a teacher had come running out of a nearby classroom, putting a stop to their little conflict. He wasn't sure if it even qualified as a real fight.

"Fine," he answered at last, clenching and unclenching his fists on his thighs, just out of sight under the table.

"I've talked to your father already." Yes, he was aware of that. Roxas had spent fifteen tense, nervous minutes waiting on the hard bench outside the office. "He informed me that you and your brother have been having a... tough time. And that some changes to your regular schedule are starting today."

This bout of silence was even more uncomfortable than the last. He almost wished the man would come right out and say it. Acknowledge their fucked up childhood that refused to release its hold on them. But really? Had Cloud really pulled the 'having a tough time, resisting therapy' card? It felt oddly manipulative, and even though it was meant to get him out of trouble, he couldn't help the surge of irritation that welled up in his chest. He knew he was being the unreasonable one here. All the adults were doing their best to save him from punishment, but Roxas didn't offer up any further information and eventually, Principal Xigbar was forced to clear his throat gruffly, stepping back into his authoritative role.

"Considering the circumstances, and as this is your first offense, it's been decided that no disciplinary action will be taken at this time. You're free to go, Mr. Strife. And please refrain from fighting on school grounds again."

"Yes, sir," the blond boy mumbled, standing up. Principal Xigbar had always had a soft spot for him, but Roxas almost wished he'd been appropriately punished. He hated the pity and special allowances and pardons he and Sora were sometimes given because of The Incident. Sora had been known to boast to his friends after getting his way with something, but Roxas knew that deep down, his twin felt the same way, and he never purposely tried to push his luck.

A part of Roxas wanted to be treated equally, and another part was telling him to shut up and take the good luck where it came, because today was hard enough already.

…

Sora jumped up from where he'd been waiting when Roxas pushed open the door. He figured the final bell had rung five or ten minutes ago. The inner rooms off the main office had an almost soundproofed quality to them. Roxas suspected they were designed specifically to prevent the students inside from being able to focus on anything other than their reason for being there. Mentally, he groaned to himself when he spotted his brother. He recognized the look on Sora's face. He wasn't about to get out of here without handing over an explanation. And after six more minutes of being pestered relentlessly, Roxas finally gave in.

"I just wanna know what he said," Sora wheedled. His twin graciously left out even a hint of a reprimand, though Roxas could just imagine what he was thinking... I leave you alone for five minutes... In his usual painfully cheerful tone, of course.

"Maybe I don't want to tell you what he said," Roxas replied. His brother gave him a look, fully prepared to stare him down and Roxas released a sigh. "Fine. He was suggesting that I… loved you."

"...You don't love me?"

"You know what I mean," Roxas grumbled, similarly knowing that his twin was joking, and surprising himself by visibly having to work to suppress a smile.

They began walking and Sora threw an arm around his shoulders amiably, beaming in return. "Just try to ignore him; he's not worth the trouble. C'mon, Cloud and Leon are waiting for us."

Oh, yes… Distracted by his brother and the events of the day, Roxas had almost forgotten the other horror awaiting him that afternoon.

A/N: Review please! (I own nothing.)

At one time, I had all of the pairings for this figured out… then I started planning the story out further and people started fitting better with other people… So, yeah, right now the pairings are a complete mystery to me. I know I haven't introduced all the other characters yet, but feel free to send in your suggestions and input!

Update: Okay, I hope for this to be the last time I edit this chapter. I haven't really added anything so much as I've just expanded on a few things. Particularly things that are finally becoming more important in later chapters. So whether you've been here since this was first put up or whether the final product is the first thing you're seeing, thank you all so much for reading! -4/27/2017