0o0o0 Chapter 1 0o0o0

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To say that I was nervous was an understatement. College was scary for everyone, but in my case I moved hours away from home. Knowing no one made me feel invisible like a speck of dust.

My gut twisted and turned into knots, it was a familiar feeling but I still wasn't used to it. I sighed and tightened my grip on the suitcase I was rolling behind me.

I found the room that my key designated, unlocked the door, and stepped inside. I walked over to set my suitcase down next to the unclaimed bed across the room, but I got only halfway there when I heard a voice I would have been okay with never hearing again.

"What's up, faggot?" Axel asked. The breath hitched in my throat and my chest tightened.

I turned towards the voice and saw Axel sitting in a small chair reading his favorite book. He looked the same as when I last saw him, besides a few differences.

Axel smiled, and that was what ruined me.

My eyes filled with tears, and I couldn't breathe at all, even if I tried. I was unable to stop myself as I let go of my suitcase and ran out of the room as fast as I could. Tears streamed down my face. I tried to stifle my sobs, but instead I began hiccuping and coughing.

I didn't have any idea where I was even going, but I kept running. I just tried my best to avoid people. I didn't want to get any strange looks, I got enough of those back in Twilight Town.

I really thought that when I left Twilight Town, I'd finally be happy. But Axel had to be here, he had to ruin my happiness. I don't understand why he of all people had to be my roommate. There were thousands of students in this school, but it just had to be Axel. I knew that someone was behind this. Someone had to know of my history with Axel, they had to have known about everything.

My limbs felt like lead and I didn't have any desire to walk anywhere. Axel brought back the exhaustion I had fought so hard to rid myself from.

I sat myself down in the empty hallway. I tried not to cry, I really did, but I cried anyway. I cried a lot. I thought I had cried enough last Christmas, when everything happened. I guess I was wrong.

Suddenly, a hand was on my shoulder. My head shot up and my eyes connected with another boy's. His hair was brown and spiked in every single way imaginable. He was tanner than me by a long shot, so I figured he was a local beach bum.

"Are you okay, Ven?" the boy asked me. Who is Ven? I thought..

"I'm not Ven. I'm Roxas," I spat. The boy tilted his head to the side.

"Are you sure? You look just like Ven," he said. I nodded, and took a few deep breaths. The tears streamed down my face more slowly now.

"I'm positive," I replied. The boy nodded and stuck out one of his tanned hands. I shook it.

"I'm Sora. Now, do you want to tell me what's wrong? I hate seeing people sad, and I'm a really good listener," the boy, Sora, said. I didn't even know the kid, but here he was, offering to help me.

"No," I said. Sora slid down on the wall next to me.

"I think you want to talk," he pressed.

"I do want to talk," I admitted. "I just don't want to tell the whole story. I know that if I do I'll probably start crying again," I said. Sora laughed and I ended up giving him a death glare.

"I'm not laughing at you! It's just that I've already seen you sobbing your eyes out, so who cares if I see you cry again?" he said. I considered what he said. I guess he had a point, a really weird and kinda stupid point, but a point nonetheless.

"Well, back home in Twilight Town I had a really hard time. I got bullied a lot because I'm gay. When I came out my friends ditched me. After that I made one friend, and he was my only friend for a year. He was older and left for college. Around Christmas of that year, he sent me and everyone else I knew an email that was so homophobic and full of all my secrets. I was humiliated and bullied even more. I left home and came here to get away and have a fresh start, but he's my roommate."

I looked down at the ground. I'm surprised at myself for how much I told Sora. I planned on only telling him that someone who screwed my over was my roommate, but it snowballed and the whole thing came out. I hid my face in my arms and Sora didn't say anything for a while.

"I'm sorry. Those people never were your friends. Friends lift you up and make you greater, not treat you like shit," he said. I scoffed. As if I already didn't know that, I thought.

Then, I was even more surprised by Sora's kindness; he hugged me. Sora, a guy I just met 10 minutes ago, hugged me. I didn't hug him back, but I smiled for the first time in ages. I think anyone would smile when they make their first friend.

Sora stood up and pulled me up with him.

"I want you to come and meet my friends! They would really like you," he said in a cheery tone.

I was at a loss for words. More friends? I was smiling like an idiot as I followed Sora to his room, which was conveniently located right next to mine. He opened the door and ushered me inside.

There were 5 people sitting around the room, chatting. When I walked in everyone stopped talking and stared at me. One girl had short black hair, one had long platinum blond hair, and the third girl had pretty auburn hair. There was a guy with silver hair there, too. I didn't stare at any of them, though. My eyes locked on someone that looked exactly like me.

I figured that the two of us looked alike because of what Sora said, but I never thought he would look identical to me. Everything was the same. And by everything I mean everything. To be honest, it was really unnerving.

"Oh, this is Roxas!" Sora said, breaking the heavy silence that had hung over the room. Sora introduced everyone to me. The girl with black hair was Xion, the blond one was Namine, and the auburn haired one was Kairi. The guy with the silver hair was named Riku. He was scary even though he was laughing and joking around. I think that's probably because he's always glaring, even when he's smiling.

I ended up sitting next to Ven, the guy who looked exactly like me, just staring at his face. He was staring back at me with a strange expression. Ven poked and prodded me, and touched my hair. Ven opened my eyes and stared deeply into my irises. He looked at the back of my neck and then laughed.

"What?" I asked.

"I finally found something that I have and you don't!" he exclaimed while turning around and pointing to a scar at the nape of his neck.

"What's that from?" I asked him. He smiled at me devilishly.

"Well, since you asked, I guess I have to tell you the most amazing story you'll ever hear," he said to me, or rather he announced it to the room. Everyone groaned and rolled their eyes. Riku called out something that I couldn't really make out, but I'm positive it was "Not again!"

Ven told a long story that I have to admit was pretty cool. It seemed almost too cool to be real. The story was too long to ever repeat or remember, but in the end Ven got a gash so deep you could see his bone. He got this by falling off a speeding motorcycle, but I doubt that's true.

When Ven's story ended all I could say was, "Wow." He nodded then shrugged like it wasn't a big deal.

Xion got up from Sora's bed and sat next to me on Riku's. She looked at me curiously.

"Where are you from? I've never seen you around before," she asked me. I smiled almost as largely as I did when Sora hugged me. Xion wanted to know about me. Someone was curious about me. Someone wanted to know more. The feeling of importance was foreign to me, but I welcomed the pride that it brought.

"I'm from Twilight Town. I flew here and it took about five hours," I said. Xion's jaw dropped slightly.

"You flew five hours just to come to Destiny Islands University? And I heard Twilight Town is amazing, that it has really delicious ice cream, too," she said quickly. I laughed at her reaction.

Xion smiled a little and that's when I noticed how pretty she was. Her hair was cut in pixie style and framed her face nearly perfectly. Her skin was exceptionally clear and looked soft to touch. Xion's eyes were as blue as mine and Sora's, but her eyes were bigger and rounder, with thick black lashes curled up with mascara. She smelled like vanilla perfume mixed with the distinct smell of the beach. Xion was beautiful, and I really wish I could be attracted to her.

"I moved here to get a fresh start, you know? I got tired of seeing the same people all the time," I lied practically through my teeth. "And, yeah, it's called Sea-Salt ice cream. I'm addicted to it!" I say with a small chuckle. She smiles at me again.

"I would love to try some, but I don't think it's sold here," she said. Her smile turned to a slight frown. "Which sucks, I really want some now that I know you liked it so much."

"Whenever I go home to visit I'll bring some back for you guys to try, it's soooo good," I gushed. I really was passionate about sea-salt ice cream. I haven't even been gone a day and I'm already craving it. I guess I'll just have to make some myself.

"Destiny Islands has its own legendary food. It's called the paopu fruit, have you ever heard of it?" Xion asked me.

The paopu fruit. It does sound familiar. When I didn't answer, Xion took it as a cue. "It's a star-shaped fruit that grows on some trees here. They say that if two people share a paopu fruit their lives will be intertwined forever."

When Xion told me that, I remembered exactly why it sounded so familiar. I have heard about the paopu fruit, but that was two years ago.

0o0o Flashback 0o0o

It was my junior year in high school and it was the second Monday in October. I roamed the school library aimlessly. I had said that I was looking for a free reading book, but actually I just wanted to get out of french class.

I turned into the romance section and fake looked through the shelves. I picked up a random book and "read" the back of it. It was your typical young adult romance novel. It featured an outcast girl who falls in love with the most popular guy in school. Then the popular guy likes the girl but does something stupid to ruin it. No matter what that douchebag of a guy does, he always manages to get the girl in the end. I really just don't get it.

I put the book back and turn around, nearly jumping a foot in the air. Axel Flynt was standing next to me, looking me in the eyes. I had never spoken to Axel before; I never made the effort and neither did he, so I guess you can say that the ignoring was mutual. Yet, here he was, standing right in front of me. He obviously wanted to say something to me. What he wanted to say? I could never guess.

Axel opened his mouth and closed it. He seemed to be thinking, judging by how he scrunched his brows together. He seemed to make up his mind when he opened his mouth again.

I got ready to be called faggot. Everyone calls me a faggot. Homo. Queer. Twink. I get called everything. Not everyone tells me to my face that I'm a freak and that I'm disgusting, but no one has come to my defense yet. Not even my old friends. They just sit as the cooler kids or the assholes bombard me with slurs and insults. Axel was probably going to do the same. I mean, Axel was one of the popular kids, he and his best friend Demyx Glass were pretty much the top dogs at the school. I wouldn't be surprised if he finally put me down.

Axel turned to face the bookshelf and I followed suit. I looked at him curiously from the corner of my eyes.

Axel was gorgeous, to put it simply. He had high cheekbones and a defined jaw. His eyes were a striking emerald color. Axel's hair was as red as red came and was usually worn in one style; pushed back and spiky. However today his hair was up in a pony tail that he somehow managed to pull off. His cheeks were littered with light freckles, which had to be my favorite thing about him. Axel was also tall and, well, I'd say lanky, but he was somewhat toned from being the star of the track team.

Axel looked at me discreetly. I quickly averted my gaze.

Axel picked up a little book that was right in front of him. He looked through the pages and made a disgruntled noise. He closed the book and set it back down. Axel turned to walk away, but he looked at me and our eyes connected for a few seconds. Then he left.

My eyes fell on the book that Axel had picked up. He had looked at a book that was simply titled 'The Power of Paopu.' I noticed something strange about it though. There was a slip of paper jutting out of the top of the book. I grabbed the book and ripped out the piece of paper. The first thing it said was to read page 20. I flipped through the book until I came across the page Axel had indicated.

The passage was about the main character, a shy mousey girl, musing about what it would be like to share a paopu fruit with a boy. I finished the page and went back to Axel's note. It told me to meet him at the library in the mansion at 7 o'clock because he had something he wanted to talk to me about. I looked at the other side of the note, looking for more writing. Was that really all he wanted to say? I sighed and put the book back.

0o0o End Flashback 0o0o

"Oh, yeah, I've heard of that before," I said. Xion smiled. Riku looked over at us and rolled his eyes.

"Don't believe anything about the paopu fruit, it's a load of crap," Riku said curtly. I turned to him and shrugged.

"You won't know until you try," I say. Riku smiled at me.

"I want to try the paopu fruit, I just need someone to try it with!" Sora said happily.

"I bet Kairi would die to share one with you," Riku said in a teasing tone of voice. Sora's cheeks flared pink. He sheepishly looked at Kairi, who looked petrified. Her cheeks were bright red and her eyes were wide open. Sora looked back at Riku.

"Shut up!" Sora yelled. Riku along with the others, including me, laughed.

Everyone drifted off into conversation. Xion migrated to sit next to Namine, and I'm guessing that they were gossiping about something. Sora and Kairi were talking quietly to each other. Sora had his hand gingerly placed on Kairi's shoulder, and Kairi looked like she was in heaven. I turned away, though, I felt as if I was intruding on something private. Ven and Riku were laughing as hard as they could about a joke Ven told.

My thoughts drifted to my old friends from Twilight Town. We were all so close, Pence, Olette, Hayner, and I. We could talk for hours and hours and never run out of anything to talk about. It was the happiest time of my life, when I was friends with them. When I came out Hayner got them to turn against me. He told Pence that I had a crush on him and was trying to get into his pants (what a lie.) Hayner told Olette that I slept with her brother and only became friends with her to get with him (another huge lie.) I don't really understand why they believed Hayner over me, Hayner always did have a history of lying.

Hanging out with Sora and his friends reminded me of hanging out with Olette and the others in our little hiding spot. It made me miss the colored marbles that we all had. It made me miss watching the sunset on the clock tower while eating sea-salt ice cream. It made me miss Olette telling me that she had a crush on Hayner. I still remember how she would go on about him for hours. I wonder if they were dating now; they would have been a nice couple. I don't think they'd be as nice as Sora and Kairi would be, though.

I sat there for a while, silent with my own thoughts. Then Ven tapped my knee. I looked up at him, slowly, still somewhat out of it.

"Roxas, I get creeped out when I look at you," he said monotonously. I looked at Ven blankly. My mind was going out of control, wondering what he meant. Does he know that I'm gay? Does he hate me for that? Will he bully me? Will he get everyone else to hate me? What will I do? How will I survive here? The beating of my heart picked up. I felt my face scrunch up and my cheeks get more red.

"Why? If you have something to say then just say it!" I spat at him. Ven looked confused and laughed nervously.

"No, no, I didn't mean it like that! I meant because we look so alike!" he said to me. He smiled at me lamely. I un-tensed my shoulders, even though I didn't know I had tightened up. I began breathing normally and rubbed the back of my head. I laughed breathlessly and looked at Ven.

"I'm really sorry, I'm just on edge recently," I said. Ven nodded understandingly. "Yeah, this whole looking the same thing makes me feel weird too. I'm not used to people looking like me," I continued.

"We're probably related in some weird way," Ven said. I thought about the possibility.

"There's really no way we're related. My mom left my dad and I when I was 2, and I was an only child," I said matter-of-factly.

"Yeah, and my dad is dead, so I'll just say that this is either a really, really, strange coincidence," Ven stated. I nodded and laughed.

"Yes, because people with no relation looking identical is really a common occurrence," I mocked. Ven stuck up his hands in defense.

"Hey, hey, hey, I'm just expressing my thoughts," he said. I laughed and threw Riku's pillow at him. After the initial shock and OOF! factor, Ven gave me a look so evil that it could make blood go cold. I smiled innocently at him. Ven took the pillow I had thrown at him and leaped closer to me on the bed. He bashed me multiple times with the pillow.

We were both incapable of holding in our giggles and exploded with laughter. I grabbed Riku's other pillow and started hitting Ven back. Soon, Sora stood up with his own pillow and joined in. He hit both of us as hard as he could, so Ven and I silently made an alliance to take that fucker down.

I was the one who tackled Sora's legs while Ven jumped on top of him to hit him in the face. It was one big pillow fight, and it was amazing. I had never laughed that hard, and it was one of the first times in years I've laughed while having fun. It made me feel warm and giddy inside, and I gladly let that feeling make itself familiar with me again. It had been too long and I'm finally happy.

Eventually it got late, I wish I knew the time, but all I know is that it was dark outside. I left Sora's room in high spirits. I had friends. Real friends who cared about me and laughed with me. We had fun together and we cracked jokes together. I haven't had a friend in so long that the joys of having friends was something I had forgotten.

I walked into my room and immediately started coughing. Whenever I took a breath my throat burned. I covered my face with my shirt and walked deeper into my room and saw Axel sitting with Demyx on my bed. Both of them had cigarettes in their hands and were happily puffing smoke into the room. I glared at Axel and stomped to my bed.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" I demanded. Axel looked at Demyx incredulously. He laughed a bit and shook his head.

"Well, I'm just sitting in my room enjoying a smoke with my best friend. What are you doing?" Axel said in a tone that was five times too sweet. I balled my fists and squared my jaw. I felt heat rush into my cheeks as I sat there and glared at Axel with all the anger towards him I had bottled up.

"I see that, you asshat! Couldn't you at least have the decency to open a window or, oh, I don't know, go outside? What's wrong with you?" I screamed at him.

Demyx looked amused and laughed. He smiled at me, but not in a friendly way. He stood up, put out his cigarette in an ash tray and walked next to me to mess up my hair.

"I'll be back tomorrow, Axel. I'll let you and the it talk it out. Bye, queer!" he called on his way out. I was already too infuriated with Axel to even bother thinking about Demyx.

I snatched the cigarette from Axel's mouth and put it out for him. Axel gave me a look that would have made me quiver with fear in normal situations. However, this wasn't a normal situation.

"What was that for?!" he yelled at me. I ignored him and moved to the window and opened it, to let the smoke out. Axel got up and grabbed my arm, tugging me around to face him. "I said, what was that for?" he repeated. I yanked my arm away from him and stepped back.

"That was for smoking in my room, on my bed, and for being a total and complete bastard!"I screamed back at him. He shook his head.

"I'm not a bastard, you don't know anything, faggot," he said with a malevolent sneer. I didn't flinch at his remark like I normally would. My blood was coursing too quickly, my breaths were ragged, I wasn't thinking like I usually do.

I took a step closer to Axel and went on tippy toes so I was nose to nose with him. I poked a finger into his chest and glared into his eyes.

"Don't you fucking dare say that I don't know anything about you! I know everything about you! And yes, you are a bastard. You used me just to get secrets out of me, our whole friendship was fake. You betrayed me and humiliated me! You made my senior year a literal living hell. And you never even apologized! You're not at all sorry for ruining my life and driving me out of my home town. You, sir, are a bastard and I have every single fucking right to call you that!" I screamed into his face. Axel's eyes widened. He opened and closed his mouth a couple of times before deciding on not saying anything.

I went back down to my height and sat on my bed, letting out a long sigh. Axel slowly shuffled across the room to his bed. He didn't say anything, but the air was thick and heavy. I looked around the room I've been doomed to sleep in.

The room wasn't too big or too small. The school here was for rich kids, so everything was nice enough. My bed was directly across from the door and in a corner while Axel's was across from me in the other corner. There was enough room for a small tv and a dingy green chair that I didn't trust to be clean of bedbugs. There were two desks in the room, one next to my bed and one next to Axel's. There were closets in the walls that weren't all that big but managed to fit clothes in anway.

Axel left the room disgusting. Empty bags of chips and cigarette butts were left all around the room, mainly on the floor. The room smelled like piss and cigarette smoke nearly constantly.

I smelled something foul and I looked at Axel who already had another cigarette in his mouth.

"What the hell?" I asked him. Axel shrugged.

"I wanted to finish my cigarette," Axel said simply. I rolled my eyes and stood up. I grabbed pajamas and clothes for tomorrow out of my suitcase and walked towards the door. Axel's eyes followed me.

"Where are you going?" he asked. I looked at him right before I opened the door.

"I'd rather sleep anywhere but here," I told him. I was completely honest. Axel let me leave.

I walked to Sora and Riku's room and knocked on the door. Sora opened the door, saw my flushed face, and let me in without explanation. I smiled at him and said thank you. Riku was sitting in his bed texting a storm on the small cell phone in his hands. Sora led me to his bed and motioned for me to sit down.

"You can sleep in my bed," he said.

"Where will you sleep?" I asked. Sora laughed like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"On the floor, duh," he said between laughs. I shook my head and stood up.

"It's okay, Sora. I can sleep on the floor, it's your room and your bed," I reasoned. Sora shook his head and took the comforters off of his bed and Riku's.

"Roxas, you're my friend. Friends do favors for each other. I don't mind if you sleep in my bed," he said in a tone that signaled finality. I sat back down on Sora's bed and watching him fashion a bed out of the comforters he took. He went over to Riku and pulled a pillow from under his head. Riku gave Sora such a shady side eye that even I got the chills. Sora didn't seem fazed at all and just laughed.

I took off my pants and shirt and put on a black bed shirt. I slipped under the covers of Sora's bed and stared above me. The speckled dots on the ceiling reminded me of the ones in my room at home. I imagined that I was back in my own room and in my own bed. I remembered the smell of sea-salt ice cream which had become a permanent part of my room. I thought about my checkered bed spread and the soft blankets. I counted the dots on the ceiling like I did when I was back home. I had counted them every night until I fell asleep. I ended up counting to over 1,000 dots one night.

Tonight, I could only get to 100.

So, Threats is being rewritten. I couldn't think of any good titles, so I decided on Re:Threats because I'm lazy. I'm sure later on I will find something or a title will be suggested to me.

I have wanted to rewrite Threats for a long time and I'm happy that I finally have the opportunity to do so. I feel that now I will be able to write this story to the best of my ability and to publish it at the quality I've always wanted.

Whether or not you have read Threats before or not, I'm glad that you are reading this. I would love if you took the time to review and leave feedback or suggestions. Feel free to PM if you want to talk or tell me something.

P.S. If you read Threats before, tell me what you think about the rewrite so far. Which version are you liking better? How do you feel about the subtle differences in the plot and characters? I would love to know!

EDIT: I edited this chapter a bit to make it less wordy and icky.