Title: A Heart to Call My Own

Author: rawkerdemyx

Rating: M/NC-17…they mean the same in my book.

Contains: Yaoi, lemon, romance, AU, high school fun

Summary: Zexion, the resident emo kid in his high school, was never looking for friends. He already had Axel and Marluxia, which was more than enough. He never even saw the blond mullet coming. Zemyx

Disclaimer: The Kingdom Hearts series, its story and characters, belong to Square Enix in association with Walt Disney, Inc.

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Zexion dropped his bag from his shoulder onto the hard concrete and took a seat next to two other boys: one with flaming red hair, the other with flamboyantly pink hair. The silver haired young man took his seat with them and let out a sigh. Being awake this early in the morning was almost a sin to these three, yet they were still here before school started.

Not saying anything to the other two, since he rarely said anything at all, Zexion simply took out his calculus textbook and began reading. He had a test later that day and, while math was one of his best subjects, he still wanted to review the material. Zexion was, if nothing else, an exemplary student.

"What're you reading there, Zex?" Axel, the red head, suddenly interrupted.

By now, Zexion thought, you would think they would know not to bother me when I'm reading and to not shorten my name in any fashion. Afterall, my parents named me Zexion…not Zex. He came to the decision to not reply until Axel actually addressed him with his name.

"Yo!" He heard Axel exclaim. "Zex, can you hear me? You didn't suddenly go deaf did you? Zex? ZEX!" And, suddenly, there was a teasing poke to his side. He resisted the urge to squeak or giggle or do something else horribly embarrassing and focused on the equations in his book. He did, however, hear a rather effeminate giggle come from Marluxia. "Fine, be that way…you know, you can be pretty grumpy in the morning, Zexion."

At the mention of his name, the silver haired boy looked up from his book and said, "Yes? Is there something I can help you with?"

Axel smirked at him when he replied, "Oh…I see…Zexion. What are you doing, Zexion?" He stressed Zexion's name every time he said it, letting the other teen know that he knew why he wasn't responding earlier.

Zexion decided to have a little bit of fun. After all, it could not hurt to play with the taller boy. He did look rather put out from Zexion ignoring him. "Something you wouldn't understand," was his short reply.

Axel pouted even more. He's so cute…Zexion thought briefly. Dismissing this thought, he quickly amended his previous statement, "I'm sorry, it's just for math…I have a test later."

At this, Marluxia looked up from his compact mirror that he carried around with him everywhere he went. "Sucks to be you!" And then he went back to staring at his reflection.

Narcissist…flashed across Zexion's mind. He looked back down at his book and began to work through one of the examples in his head.

Suddenly, Zexion heard a loud peal of laughter coming from somewhere to his right. Looking over, he saw a boy he had never seen before talking to a group of girls. His disdain for the people who had interrupted his studying suddenly spiked from its normal level that he had for all people. Quickly, though, he looked down when the unknown boy looked directly at him. Intently reading his book, he did notice when the blond man walked up to him.

"Hey! Cheer up emo─" he started to say, but Zexion interrupted him.

"If you finish that sentence, I swear to whatever higher power there is, you will regret it." He said, glaring at the blond boy with his one visible eye.

The new guy's startling sea green eyes went wide and he laughed quickly. "Never mind! It's nice to meet'cha though! I'm new here…the name's Demyx."

"While I'm sure that's all interesting," Axel drawled, " we are really rather busy…so, if you could go back to annoying someone else, we'd really appreciate it."

"Huh," Demyx said, "high school drama much? I just wanted to make some new friends on my first day."

Zexion actually took a little bit of pity on this Demyx kid since Axel could come off a bit strong when you first meet him, especially in the morning. He stood up and put his book into his bag. Swinging the bag over his shoulder, he turned to face the blond. "I'm going to go to my first class. It was nice meeting you."

Demyx looked crestfallen at Zexion's sudden leaving. He started to turn around when something in Zexion reminded him that Demyx was a new student and he should maybe not immediately alienate him. Glancing over his shoulder, he muttered, "What's your first class, anyway?"

The blond seemed to brighten for a moment and then bounced in Zexion's direction. He pulled out a copy of his schedule that had just been given to him that morning. Zexion's visible, silver eyebrow raised slightly as he looked at the schedule then lowered again as he looked back at Demyx. "We're in the same class…Advanced Physics with Ms. Wellen. So, I guess you can follow me." Demyx's face broke into a stunning smile as he followed Zexion in the general direction of the classroom.

Watching this, Axel could not help but feel a pang of pity for his silver haired friend. "Poor bastard…" he said under his breath. He looked next to him and realized Marluxia was still absorbed in his own mirror image and sighed.

Arriving in the physics classroom, Zexion took his customary seat near the back of the room. Most of the more studious students sat in the front so they could see the board better and more easily hear the teacher, but Zexion had always felt that having all of those people behind him with their eyes boring into the back of his skull was more than just a little unnerving. He was mildly surprised when Demyx followed him to his seat and sat down next to him. When he considered it, he thought it made sense since the blond probably did not know anyone else in the class.

"So," Demyx began, "what's this teacher like? Anything I should be warned about?"

Zexion did not even deign to look at him as he took out his notebook. "No, she's just your average teacher. Don't chew gum, don't talk when she talks, and pay attention. That should do it…although, her tests are supposedly pretty rough. We haven't had one yet." He finished preparing his desk for the coming class. He had his notebook, two pencils, three differently colored pens for color-coding his notes, and a highlighter for marking anything especially important.

Demyx gazed at all of this in wonder. When Zexion noticed the boy was staring at all of his school supplied, he had to ask, "Haven't you seen anyone take notes before?"

The blond laughed when he said, "Yeah, but this seems a little extreme, emo-boy!"

A brief facial twitch and Zexion replied, "You know, I would appreciate it if, whenever you feel the need to address me or refer to me in conversation, you actually use my name: Zexion."

"Oh, okay," was all he said. He did not have a chance to say anything else since Ms. Wellen had chosen that exact moment to start the lesson. Zexion did hear him groan though when she wrote the topic of today's lecture on the board: Moments of Inertia. All he did in response to this was smirk.

Lunch had finally rolled around. Not that that meant too much to Zexion. He did not eat very much usually, and he refused to touch the school cafeteria's food. But it gave him a chance to keep studying his calculus textbook. His test was immediately after lunch and he wanted to do his best on it.

During his first class, he had kept an eye on the new student. He felt kind of bad for the blond guy since the teacher had not introduced him to the rest of the class and no one had bothered to say a word to the person they did not even recognize. Zexion was amazed, however, when Demyx did not take any notes. He might have to talk to the boy about that.

Why do I even want to help him? I just met the guy…the silver haired young man thought. He kept walking towards the cafeteria to meet up with Axel and Marluxia. Even if he was only going to read, he still appreciated the company. Not that I'll ever tell them that.

He spotted the back of Axel's head, since he was so tall he was visible above everyone else, even sitting, and he proceeded in that direction. When he got closer, he could not believe what greeted his ears. Demyx was sitting sandwiched right between the red head and Marluxia, talking both of them senseless.

Seeing Zexion, Axel interrupted the incessant chatter, "Zexy!" And, with this, Demyx looked up and smiled that smile of his. "I think I found something that belongs to you," he said, indicating Demyx with a wave of his hand.

Zexion grimaced for a second before saying, "I told you to never shorten my name in any way…and he's not mine." But, he still sat down directly across from the blond.

Demyx had apparently decided to change topics and asked Zexion, "How was the rest of your morning?"

The shorter teen barely had time to say, "Just fine," before Demyx kept right on talking.

"Mine was great! I had an awesome music class, and then I came here to lunch and found…um…uh…I don't think I ever asked your names," he finished bashfully addressing Axel and Marluxia, the latter still looking into his compact mirror. Zexion needed to decipher a way to dispose of that evil thing.

Axel smirked and Zexion immediately knew what was coming. "The name's Axel," he said. "A-X-E-L. Got it memorized?" And with that, Zexion let out an exasperated sigh. "And this," he waved at Marluxia, "self-involved fruitcake is Marluxia."

"It's nice to meet'cha both!" Demyx exclaimed. But, he quickly turned back to Zexion to keep talking. "I was just telling Axel and Marluxia about my music class. It was great! I can't wait to see what the rest of my classes are like!" It seemed like everything Demyx said had to have an exclamation point at the end of it.

Zexion quickly resigned himself to the fact that he was probably not going to get much studying done. However, he decided it would not be so bad if Demyx kept smiling the way he was. He's kind've cute…in a brainless sort've way. The blond thought Zexion was paying rapt attention, but really the shorter teen was lost in his eyes. Demyx was just oblivious like that.

Sadly, lunch had to come to an end sometime and the bell rang signaling its end. Zexion shouldered his bag and stood up from his seat. He looked down to see Demyx playing with his water bottle, sloshing it around and saying, "Dance, water, dance!"

He gave a little sigh at this and asked, "Are you coming?"

Demyx glanced up from his goofing off and made a confused, "Hrrrrmmm?" sound.

Zexion pointed to the doors and said, "The bell. Class. Now. Come?" And with that, he held out his hand to the boy.

"Oh, okay." And Demyx took his hand. Zexion did not know why he had reached out his hand, but he did enjoy the fleeting contact with Demyx that it afforded him. Wait, I don't like to be touched…The thoughts and feelings that Demyx was eliciting in him were rather unexpected and the whole situation felt rather odd. He hoped it would take care of itself in time.

As it turned out, Demyx had his calculus class with him as well. This greatly surprised him as Demyx did not really strike him as the intellectually capable type of person. Although, the boy did take Advanced Physics too. Though, to be fair, Zexion did not know how he would perform in that class.

Because Demyx was new, he was excused from taking the exam. Instead, he just sat at his desk and seemed to be doodling on a piece of paper. Zexion half-resented him as Demyx sat there and had a mental break from the day, as it were, but then realized that the blond would have to work extra hard to keep up with the course anyway, so his feelings of resentment quickly evaporated.

He finished his test first out of all the students in the class, and after double-checking his answers and assuring himself that he had not made any mistakes, he handed the test in to the teacher. She instructed him to sit down and keep himself occupied, quietly, until the class period had ended. He took his seat again, which happened to be right next to Demyx, the blond seemed to cling to him, and took out his physics textbook to work on his homework.

Before he started working, though, he decided to sneak a peak at what Demyx had been working on the whole time. He saw that the blond teen had been actually writing what appeared to music. He had no idea how it would sound if played, if it was any good at all, but he was fairly impressed with the guy. He looked back to his physics book, though, and started working on the first problem.

Before the end of the class, he had come to the conclusion that he had a great detestation for cones rotating about an axis. He had an English class for the last class period, and this was where he and Demyx parted ways. The blond had an art class to go to, so Zexion told him he would see him the next day.

English seem to pass by in a blur and before he knew it, he was walking out towards his car. He considered himself quite lucky as his parents had a fair amount of money and could afford to buy him any car he wanted. He did not ask for very much though since he liked to be independent and did not want to rely on his parents' money too much.

On his way to his car, he spotted a tall, blond mullet-like hairstyle above the horde of people waiting for school busses. Taking pity on Demyx, for some reason that he did not quite understand, he walked in that direction and rescued the boy.

Pulling slightly on the back of Demyx's t-shirt, he caught his attention and asked, "Ride?"

Demyx smiled that smile and exclaimed, "Zexy!"

I have to kill Axel. "Don't call me that. Do you want a ride?"

Demyx eagerly followed him, almost bouncing behind him, and said, "Thanks, man! That'd be great!"

After Demyx got in the car, he told Zexion where he lived and gave him directions. The drive was rather quiet with the blond fidgeting the entire time. He just could not seem to sit still. Zexion made a mental note to keep an eye on him and make sure he never ingested caffeine or sugar.

Pulling up to Demyx's house, he came to a stop. There were no words for him to describe what he saw, but he quickly composed himself so that his face could not betray any of his thoughts. Demyx's house was…well, it was clear that Demyx and his family were having some hard times. But, Zexion did not want to appear elitist and judgmental. He stepped out of the car and walked Demyx up to the front door.

The blond smiled again at him again and said, "Thanks for the ride, dude." His eyebrow twitched at the word dude, but he decided not to say anything. "Um, I was wondering…I saw you working on that homework for physics earlier…" Please don't ask me to help you cheat…please don't ask me! "I'm going to work on it later, but if I have any questions…could I maybe call you?"

Zexion let out a breath he had not realized he had been holding. He did not tolerate cheating and refused to be friends with anyone who did it. So, he went back to his car and got out a slip of paper and a pen. Writing down his number, he gave it to Demyx and told him to call him anytime if he needed help.

After saying his goodbyes, Zexion got back in the car and drove out of the neighborhood and in the direction of his home. After pulling into the driveway, he got his bag out and went through the front door. Walking up the stairs to his room, he entered it and put his book bag down next to his desk. He stooped over it and pulled out his physics textbook to finish the homework he had started earlier. Glancing at the cover of the book, something inside him told him that it could wait. He placed the book on the desk and, instead, walked over to the bed and fell backwards onto it.

Today was a great day…

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