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“It’s a shame Pence couldn’t come with us, right?” Hayner said to Roxas as the two along with Xion and Olette on a train which was taking them to a stadium in order to go watch a football game today. Truth be told, Roxas wasn’t much of a sports guy, he briefly looked at his ticket and one team said “Broncos” but he didn’t pay attention to the other team. He came along for two reasons, one was that Hayner asked him nicely and two, Hayner convinced him.
Hayner convinced Roxas by way of the girl sitting next to him. Her name is Xion and if Roxas had to be honest with himself, he’s madly in love with her. He briefly tuned out Hayner, sneaking a glance at the other girl, it almost caused him to fumble his answer.
“Uh, yeah, yeah!” Roxas stuttered and he noticed that Olette had a knowing smirk on her face. Among his group of friends, Olette noticed things the most and he can’t hide anything from her. Recently, she had been trying to ‘subtly’ convince Roxas to act on his feelings for Xion. The only thing that kept him calm whenever both Xion and Olette were there was that Olette won’t jump the gun and outright throw him on the spot, for now at least.
It was something of a running joke amongst his group of friends about how in love Roxas is with Xion and how he won’t simply just ask her out. If Hayner convinced him to come along, then Olette most likely convinced Xion to come. The only thing stopping Roxas from outright proposing to her is that he doesn’t know if she feels the same way. For some reason, his friends find this amusing.
He and Xion had been best friends for even longer than he was friends with Hayner, Pence, & Olette. They’ve been glued to the hip since they were little children and his feelings for her had only grown since those days.
///
“Roxas, when you were really sick that one time, she acted like your personal nurse.” Pence teased.
“Xion would’ve done that for any one of us.” Roxas countered.
“At most, Xion would’ve gathered up our homework and brought it to us, hoping that we get better soon,” Olette stated.
“Xion, every day, came to your house, made you lunch, helped you with your homework, and made sure that you were well. Who does that for someone they just consider ‘a friend’?” Hayner said.
Waving his arms around, Roxas told them, “Well that’s just the kind of caring, sweet, wonderful, beautiful-” Olette cut him off.
“You’re doing it again.” she teased.
///
The rest of the train ride was uneventful as Roxas wondered why Pence didn’t come with them. While it’s true that Pence isn’t a sports guy like Hayner and Olette, Pence never really passes up an opportunity to go do something with the rest of them as a group. The other boy muttered something about a job he had to go to today and that was all Roxas got from his friend.
He and Xion talked some more as she asked him about how his day went and he did his best to avoid staring into her eyes (avoiding the knowing smirks from his friends.)
Pulling up to the station, Roxas and his friends did their best to stick together amidst the sprawling crowd of people. They made their way through the stadium, looking for the section that they were seated in as listed on the tickets. Upon finding their section, an agreement was made for Xion and Olette to go find their seats and for Hayner and Roxas to get some food.
Alone with Hayner, the other boy nudged Roxas to get his attention and leaned in.
“I know what you’re going to say Hayner.” Roxas cut him off but the other boy shook his head.
“I’m going to keep saying this until you actually do it, ‘ask her out!’ she’s nuts for you!” Hayner gripped Roxas by the shoulders.
Exasperated, Roxas threw off Hayner’s hands, “Even if I want to, how do I know if she feels the same way?”
Holding up his hands, Hayner told him, “Hear me out, slip an arm around her.”
“What?” Roxas froze up at the thought of just boldly making a move like that.
“During the game, slip an arm around her and see how she reacts.”
Roxas shook his head, “I’m not doing that.”
They stepped up, one spot behind the counter, Roxas knew that this conversation would be over soon, for at least a little bit until Hayner inevitably decides to bring it up again.
“All I’m saying is to seize the opportunity, you’ll never know until you try it,” Hayner told him and thankfully, he and Roxas were finally ready to order food for the group.
///
“Did you see how he was looking at you?” Olette told Xion, smirking at her.
“For all I know, I had something on my face and he found it funny.” Xion deflected.
Olette shook her head, “He’s crazy for you, I’m telling you.”
“Roxas and I are just friends, he doesn’t see me that way.” Xion wasn’t sure how her friend feels about her. While she may be in love with him, she’s content to simply just remain friends if he doesn’t return her feelings.
“Everyone thinks the two of you are already dating,” Olette told her matter of factly.
Xion brushed her aside with a hand, “No way.”
“The only reason why the other girls aren’t asking him out is that they see him as ‘off-limits’.” That one took Xion off guard. Gossip was never something that she was interested in, so rumors in school would often just fly right over her head.
“Don’t believe me?” Olette smirked, “Haven’t you ever noticed that all of the other girls seem to give him longing glances whenever you’re around. Try holding his hand, see how he reacts.”
Xion considered for a moment. She had to admit, part of her was curious as to whether or not Olette was right. Truthfully, she did notice some of her fellow classmates look at the pair when they were together, but she didn’t think anything of it. From the look on the other girl’s face, she knew that Xion was thinking about it. Something didn’t sit with Xion however about Roxas.
“Why did you never ask him out?” It occurred to Xion that Olette never showed any interest in Roxas besides just plain old friendliness.
In response, the other girl shrugged, “He’s cute, but he’s not my type. Again, he’s off-limits.”
Xion began to think for a moment before she was interrupted by Roxas and Hayner returning with the food. There was a moment where she and Roxas just awkwardly stared at each other and she silently lamented that it was going to be a long game.
///
Roxas spent most of the game alternating between looking at the players, glancing at his phone occasionally, and of course, sneaking glances at Xion. He assumed that Hayner arranged it so that he and Xion were seated next to each other and he wasn’t quite sure whether he loved him or hated him for it.
During one of his moments of checking his phone, he felt something creep onto his hand and he briefly shot a glance, checking to see if a piece of paper blew onto his hand but what he saw made his heart soar. Xion for whatever reason had decided to hold his hand and he wasn’t sure how to react. If Hayner saw him react, he would never hear the end of it so he decided to do his best to keep quiet and gripped her hand in return, it felt nice and soft to hold.
In response, Xion shifted briefly in place and he thought about what Hayner had said earlier about seizing the opportunity. If he were alone with Xion, then maybe he would bring it up, but he’s not going to put his best friend on the spot like that with everyone else there.
///
Xion had to stifle a squeak when she felt Roxas grip her hand tightly. When Olette mentioned that Roxas was ‘off-limits’ she began to wonder if he really did feel that way about her. She and Roxas do spend a lot of time together and she has to admit, he is very cute. It just feels odd because in a sense, they do kind of act like a couple but it’s never felt romantic to her. He’s always been there for her and everything just feels natural to her. In all honesty, she imagines that they’ll probably just end up living together regardless of what they do.
She and Roxas have been friends for a long time and at some point, she did have some sort of attraction to him but that went away. Although, she has felt slightly different around him as of late but she isn’t sure if it’s actually love. Part of the problem she’s found in determining whether or not he feels that way about her is that he’s always acted this way towards her. He’s always been so kind, gentle, sweet, handsome…
She blinked quickly, where did that come from? She thought to herself. Something about this situation feels right to her, Have I always felt this way about him? Maybe those supposed rumors about them acting like a couple had some truth to them.
////
It was during the halfway point of the game when Hayner and Olette got up and left to go somewhere else. The pair were still nervously holding hands, unwilling to break the connection when an announcer boomed over the crowd, “Alright you lucky couples, get ready for the kiss cam!”
Roxas felt a slight sense of dread as he hoped that he and Xion wouldn’t be noticed. A sinister realization came up as Roxas had to wonder if Hayner and Olette had chosen this moment to leave on purpose. While the idea of kissing Xion was far from horrendous (in actuality, he has thought about kissing her alot before), he again doesn’t want to put any undue pressure on her.
The camera panned over to various couples as they all seemed to follow a pattern; first it would show an unassuming couple, they’d get surprised, and then one of the two would pull the other in for a kiss. This went on for two minutes before the camera panned over a boy with spiky-blond brownish hair and a girl with short black hair framed in a pixie cut. It took Roxas a second to realize (with mounting horror) that it was the two of them.
When Xion realized it, she promptly let go of his hand and proceeded to cover up her face with the hood of her jacket. It fell to Roxas to try and desperately wave away the camera as the crowd went from cheering, to chanting “Kiss, Kiss!”, to groans of disappointment as the camera panned away.
After a few seconds when Roxas realized the close was clear, he let Xion know, who murmured a brief thanks and then the pair watched the brief halftime show. It was an awkward 5 minutes when Xion finally spoke up, “Thank you Roxas…”
Roxas shook his head, a nervous smile on his face, “No need to thank me. I’m just surprised that they thought we were a couple.”
Xion looked like she had something that she wanted to say but she was visibly struggling to get it out.
“What’s wrong?” Roxas asked.
Xion mumbled something. Roxas asked her to repeat herself.
“I said that, some people at school think we’re a couple.” Xion said, a blush creeping on her face.
Some immediate suspects came to mind for Roxas as to who would think that.
“I mean, we do kind of act like a couple in some ways.” Roxas had to admit.
“You really think so?” Xion seemed to be genuinely surprised.
Roxas had to choose his next words carefully, “I mean, we are very close and we are pretty touchy-feely with each other.”
At that, Xion frowned, “That doesn’t have to mean anything. We’ve always been friendly like that. Does it make you uncomfortable when we hug?”
Fervently shaking his head, Roxas denied it, “No, I love hugging you. Something about it just feels nice to me.” He isn’t lying when he says that. Aside from his own feelings for her; there have been times where he’s felt stressed out and Xion was there to calm him down. Likewise, he’s been there for her when she was borderline freaking out over something. He’s grateful that they are each other’s stress buddies.
Xion smiled at his admission, “I’m grateful that you’re always quick to cover for me. That kiss cam made me feel like a deer in headlights.” Xion paused, seemingly wanting to say something but again, remaining quiet.
Roxas was about to turn away when Xion spoke up again, “Would you have kissed me if you had to?”
Nearly choking from surprise, Roxas tried to hide his own blush as he nervously stammered out his answer, “Yes. I mean that is to say that-”
“Really?” Xion interrupted him and in response, Roxas dumbly nodded.
“You’re really cute. I think any guy would feel lucky to be able to kiss you.” Roxas wondered if he said too much as Xion silently considered his answer and then turned back to the game. Another minute passed and Xion shivered.
Unconsciously, Roxas wrapped an arm around her, to keep her warm. To his surprise, Xion breathed out and leaned into the embrace. Roxas felt his heart practically pounding in his throat as she was so close to him. He hates to admit it, but Hayner was absolutely right, maybe she does feel the same way.
///
Xion tried her best to not scream in delight as she felt Roxas hold her close to him. Any hugs that they shared in the past were never this intimate, it made her convinced that he is in love with her. How could she have been this blind?
The halftime show was merely an afterthought in her mind as she turned her head to look at Roxas once again. This time he stared right back at her and she was grateful that Hayner and Olette had disappeared. They stared at each other longingly for a few minutes before another loudspeaker came on, she could barely register the words but then she realized what it said, “Are you ready for the second round of the Kiss Cam?”
Craning her head to the side, she saw that once again, she and Roxas were right in the middle of the screen, in an even more intimate position than last time. Before Roxas could begin to try and wave away the cameras, she thought to herself, screw it!
Hooking a hand behind Roxas’s neck, she pulled herself towards him and pressed her lips to his, closing her eyes to enjoy the feeling. Amidst the cheers of the crowd, she felt Roxas stiffen, and then relax, kissing her back. When they finally pulled back, they both looked stunned but happy.
“Wow…” Roxas dumbly muttered and she found that she could only uselessly giggle.
“I’d say that any girl would feel lucky to be able to kiss you.” she said.
“So...does this make us a couple?” Roxas asked.
“Yep, is anything going to really change between us?” Xion asked him.
“Nope.” Roxas happily said and she leaned into the embrace. “I’d love to kiss you more, but I think we should wait until we’re somewhere quiet like the usual spot.”
Xion giggled, “What do you think the others are going to say?”
Roxas shrugged, “Probably various ways of saying ‘I told you so’.”
Now that she thought about it, where did Hayner and Olette go during the halftime part? And why did the Kiss Cam go to them twice?
///
A bit further back in the stands, a boy and a girl spied on the new couple and they both shared a conspiratorial smirk. Pulling out his phone, Hayner texted Pence one sentence, “We owe you big time.”