A loud groan sounded from behind the blonde teen, causing him to turn around. The two males made eye contact, seemingly having a conversation without speaking.
                “Guys, not everyone can speak telepathically!” Axel ruffled the shorter teens’ hair, snapping them out of the small stare down.
                “Why do we have to go visit that ? He’s annoying and rude.” Roxas huffed as he leaned into the tall redhead beside him, unhappy with the large group’s current plans.
                “Yeah, I don’t see why we g– ow!” the brunette, reflexively gripping his arm, shouted in pain, narrowing his eyes at the tall blue haired girl beside him.
                “Stop complaining, you two, he’s injured! And I’ve been at home sick for a while, so I haven’t been able to meet him.” Ventus tuned Aqua out as she began scolding the two males, and began walking once again. Faint laughing graced his ears, telling him he was ahead of the large group. I wonder how Vanitas is doing… the fracture affects his ability to type, so he’s probably annoyed with it.
                “So, I hear you like me.” A teasing voice sounded beside him, causing the blonde to jump nearly ten feet. The large brunette to the right chuckled, glancing back at their group of friends, which was now several meters behind them.
                “Where… where did you hear that?” Ventus narrowed his eyes, checking to make sure the group of teenagers couldn’t hear him.
                “When you told Vanitas. Figured we should talk about it, but I never really had the chance to bring it up,” Terra started, examining the shorter male. Ventus sighed, staring at the sidewalk sadly, noticing they were almost to the Ashe’s home.
                “Why’d you lie to him?” Terra asked, snapping the blonde out of his trance, his head whipping up to stare at the brunette with wide eyes.
                “How’d you…” he trailed off, unable to complete the sentence, but aware the tall teen would understand.
                “I think I’d know if you were hopelessly in love with me, Ventus,” Terra laughed as a look of realization spread across the blonde’s face, followed by a light pink dust.
                “Right. You know me way too well.” Ventus sighed, a soft chuckle escaping his lips.
                “So, why’d you lie to him?” Terra asked once more, keeping his eyes focused on the house now coming into view.
                “I…” Ventus paused as they reached the house, looking back towards their friends whom finally noticed how far behind they were, “I was too embarrassed, too scared… to tell him the truth. I panicked, and your name just sort of… popped out.”
                “Right, well, he’s starting to get annoying, so you should tell him the truth.” Terra smiled as Aqua jogged up to them, wrapping an arm around Ventus’ shoulders and pecking Terra’s lips.
                “Let’s go in, already!” Aqua chimed, knocking on the door loudly. Shuffling could be heard from inside as the others caught up. “This is a big house. Impressive.” The blue haired girl whispered, admiring the architectural details. A large thump sounded from the other side of the door before it swung open, showing a very unimpressed and annoyed ravenette.
                Vanitas stared at the large group of teenagers before him, narrowing his eyes as he tried to figure out why exactly they were at his door. Slowly, he shut the door, turned around, and walked back to the living room.
                “Who was that?” Sora asked, glancing up from the tv, having finally beaten the boss.
                “Your superfluous friends.” Vanitas mumbled at he plopped down on the couch beside the slightly older teen. Sora stared at him blankly, blinking a few times.
                “I don’t know what ‘super.. fluous’ means…” the brunette stood up, confusion drenching his features.
                “It means unnecessary.” Riku answered for the ravenette as Sora rushed to the door, where Aqua could be seen staring in shock.
                “I’m so sorry, guys! Vanitas has been grouchy all morning,” the brunette explained, letting the group inside.
                “How’s he been doing?” Ventus asked as the others made their way inside. Sora paused, glacing back at the blonde. Sighing, he looked to the ground with lidded eyes, unsure what to tell the taller male. Shaking his head slightly, the brunette lead Ventus to the living room, where the others had gathered.
                “I think Ventus is taller than both of you,” the room erupted into laughter as Roxas began protesting, stumbling over his words, until he eventually stopped. The blonde teen glared at the tall redhead, causing him to laugh harder.
                “There’s no way Ven is taller than me!” Roxas grumbled once more, glaring at his twin as he walked in. Ventus offered the male a sympathetic smile, which he rejected.
                “Hey, Ven, c’mere!” Sora dragged the taller teen towards Vanitas, shoving the two males back to back. The ravenette glared at his older brother, about to leave until a snort came from the direction of the couch. Terra and Axel had begun laughing, while the others tried not to. “Vanitas, you’re shorter than Ven!” Sora shouted, surprise lacing his voice as he stared at his younger brother.
                “Yeah, whatever.” He mumbled, peeling away from the loud herd of teens. Tapping his leg twice, Fang trotted to him from his perch on the bench by the window, his little stump wagging. “Later, losers.” The ravenette flung his usable hand in the air in a mock wave before jogging up the stairs, Doberman in tow.
 
                A slow rapping came from the door, causing the teen behind it to groan, shift, and close his eyes tighter. As the sound reached his ears once more, he sat up slowly, wiping his eyes. Standing up, he walked over to the door quickly, just to stand in front of it. A sigh could be heard from the other side as a hesitated knock signalled the person on the other side wouldn’t give up so easily. The ravenette turned the knob, paused, then gradually opened the door.
                Ventus stood on the other side, hand raised and ready to knock. He flushed a light pink as he let his hand fall to his side, shifting his weight under the ravenette’s stare. The blonde narrowed his eyes, examining the boy in front of him. “Have you been crying?” Ventus stared into glossy, pink eyes, surprise coursing though his entire body.
                Vanitas raised an eyebrow as a yawn escaped his lips, injured hand raising to cover his mouth. “What do you want?” his voice was quiet, uneven. Ventus narrowed his eyes as Vanitas avoided the question, causing the ravenette to shift uncomfortably.
                “I just wanted to see if you’d be willing to hang out… it’s getting kind of loud and annoying downstairs.” Vanitas sighed, another yawn escaping his mouth as he did so, opening the door for the blonde to enter. The ravenette returned to his bed, flipping his pillow before leaning it against the headboard and resting on it. The blonde teen closed the door behind him, walking in slowly as he watched the quiet male yawn. Ventus stood beside the bed awkwardly, unsure what to do until Vanitas patted the space beside him, indicating the blonde could sit.
                “Why did you pick a fight with them?” Ventus asked curiously, taking a seat next to the ravenette.
                “I’m not entirely sure.” Vanitas yawned and picked up the book on his bedside table as Ventus rested his head in the nook of his neck, messy blonde hair tickling the ravenette.
                “Sora said it was because of me.” As the blonde’s quite voice registered, Vanitas tensed a moment before relaxing. Ventus glanced up at the male, curiously awaiting the answer.
                Vanitas hummed, unsure how to answer the blonde. “I suppose… it was.” The ravenette sighed as he opened the book and began reading, trying to end the conversation. Ventus shifted onto his knees before propelling himself to the place between the raven haired boy’s legs. Throwing his arms around the ravenette’s torso, Ventus pulled him close, catching him off-guard.
                Tightening his grip, Ventus buried his head into Vanitas’ neck as the ravenette’s face flushed a deep crimson. “Thank you, Vanitas.” His voice came out barely a whisper as the other finally gave in, carefully wrapping his arms around the blonde, as though afraid to break him.
                “Yeah, whatever.”