So here we go. Third and final chapter. Hope you guys enjoyed!

I thank these people, too:

AllieReade, xeriwinged, Metal Chocobo, Sarehptar, Chaos Harbor, Aryna.Takashi, flame of destiny, thr0u6hTh31c3, Frozenwithoutfear, and my sweet ShadowAili.

Chapter three, Matched Pairs, is dedicated to The Writer you fools because she's great. Plus, her fic How I Paid For College was what first got me into Zemyx, so she gets kupo.

Kupo!

Kiss and Tell

.t h r e e.

Matched Pairs

"Sucks. Completely sucks!" Demyx complained into the phone.

He was stuck, basically. His parents had met Zexion and talked about being careful and warned them about sex--moreso Demyx than Zexion, which the blond couldn't understand--and then continued to tell Demyx how sweet a boy Zexion was. Then his mother wanted to discuss with him about his sexuality, and told him the options of adopting if he were to marry, for she hoped for grandchildren in the future.

Demyx wanted to die.

Axel laughed at him again. "I'm so mean to you..."

"You are! Why'd you make me kiss him?" Demyx whined loudly.

"It made for a good dare," Axel replied. "I didn't think he'd take it to the extreme, though..."

"Neither did I!" Demyx sighed loudly, stretching out on his bed. His mother and father had gone out to talk--still, his father couldn't comprehend the fact that his son didn't like girls--so Demyx was left alone and decided to seek refuge in his room, phone at his ear. He was hoping for comfort.

He was getting laughed at by the boy who put him in this mess.

"That's it, I'm calling off the agreement."

"You can't do--"

"Yes - I - can!" Demys huffed loudly. "Axel! This is not a laughing matter! We're playing with another person's feelings, here!" He rolled onto his back, staring at his plain ceiling. He could remember asking his father numerous times to paint it blue--and the numerous times his father said the paint would either flake off or drip off--and he sighed at that too. So... plain and simple.

There had to be some other meaning to why the ceiling was so--wait a minute... no... there had to be a reason why Zexion was doing this, and there had to be a way to put a stop to it.

"I can't just not tell him and keep this up. What if it, like... scars him forever... or something?"

By the end of his sentence, Demyx was lacking in reason. He knew it would probably be better in the long run, but... how exactly could one explain that to the boy who found all of this to be mockery?

"Know what, Axel? I'm just going to hang up the phone now. You're destroying my thought process."

"Oh, you've had a thought process?" Axel insulted playfully. "No, no, kidding. Please don't hang up. My sister's home and she keeps talking about pink flowers, and if I get off the phone, she'll call her little flower buddies--"

"Nobody cares, Axel," Demyx interrupted. "I'm going through a mid-life romance crisis--which is your fault, by the way--and you want me to help you not listen to your sister talk about pleasant things?"

Axel was silent for a moment, but soon replied, with a smile in his tone, "Basically, yeah."

"Have fun with the flowers, Axel!"

And he hit the 'END' button and dropped the receiver on his pillow in triumpth. Never in his life did he think he'd enjoy hanging up on a person so much.

But that did nothing for his problem.

He sighed. What next, what ne--oh yeah... Picking up the phone again, he decided to call Larxene and yell at her for setting him up.

u.u

Seven days...

In only seven days, Demyx had met Zexion's parents, Zexion met Demyx's parents, he became part of the school's new 'hot couple', and now he had a date. Even through all the incidents where he had to hide in bathrooms and empty classrooms with Zexion, he could never just sit down and talk with him.

Zexion just didn't talk, he decided.

One evening, he tried to prompt conversation, and his accidental muttering received a confused look from the junior. Shaking his head, Demyx let him return to reading. Another time, he had asked questions about hiding spots, and Zexion gave him a mere shrug and returned to reading. He tried bringing it up when they were walking and ended up being overly cautious about Zexion walking into traffic with his nose in a book.

That was when it clicked.

Books, reading, literature. All a giant blah. And that blah had completely taken over Zexion's brain.

Their parents had talked and set them up on a date. They went to the movies together and then went to dinner.

What a perfect time to talk.

When... Zexion wasn't reading the menu, or staring absently around the place. Demyx couldn't let it wait any longer. Though he tried to start before the main course--using the apetizers to build up his courage--he had to wait until dessert before he could bring up anything.

"Zexion..."

The boy looked up from his cake. "Y-yes, Demyx?"

"Um... Zexion... you know we really had no interaction before I kissed you, right?"

Zexion nodded slowly, slight worry forming in his face as he tried foreseeing what was to come.

Demyx looked at him calmly. "Well... you have to realize... we weren't really even friends before this, and then after that dare, everyone started thinking we had been together for a really long time, when you and I both know it's only been a week--"

"Wait, wait, wait..." Zexion set down his fork and stared at him. "You mean to tell me... you kissed me because... because of a dare?"

Glancing down, Demyx stared at the table. "Y-yeah..." he mumbled. "B-but see, it's not because--"

"I understand."

Demyx looked up to find Zexion fixing his jacket and preparing to leave.

"Zexion..."

Zexion pushed his chair back and stood up. "I'm sorry. I... overreacted... I won't bother you again--"

"Zexion, sit down. I'm not done yet."

Though he didn't take his seat again, he stopped walking to listen. Sighing, Demyx rose from his seat and walked over.

"Look... Zexion, I didn't mean it that way. You didn't bother me... I just think we moved way too quickly in a week's time. I mean, I'd love to go out with you and all, but... the parents thing, and the groups at school... don't you think that was a bit... much?"

Zexion blinked. "I didn't arrange the students. I told my mother I was kissed and she wanted to know who."

"Then who...?" Demyx sighed and glanced down. "Axel."

"The redhead?"

Demyx nodded. "Oh, I'm sorry... I thought you had planned it. But look... I do like you, okay?"

"You're just saying that--"

"Just listen to me!" Demyx interrupted. "Look... Axel dared me to kiss you after he found out I liked you, and I have no problem being your boyfriend, but... we were moving way, way, way too fast... know what I'm saying?"

"No."

Sighing, the blond beckoned his date to return to his seat. They'd have to discuss this over dessert, he was certain. Zexion sat slowly and resumed eating his cake--there was something about Zexion which had him falling silent for a few seconds.

Simplicity?

Innocence?

Naivety...

"Okay, looky here, Zexy... it's like cake, okay?"

Zexion looked up for this metaphor.

"So we have the ingredients, yes? The eggs and the butter and the mixing tools and the oven. Those symbolize the tools of the relationship. See, we have what we can use, but the oven was only preheated when I kissed you. Following me?"

Zexion nodded slowly.

"Okay. The cake's not baked. Ingredients aren't even in the bowl yet, so we can't start throwing on frosting and sprinkles and strawberries and calling it a solidified relationship yet." That was as simple as he could put it, but the idea of explaining everything through baking was a bit odd to him. He just had to hope Zexion understood.

That slight frown on Zexion's pale lips worried him. "But..." the smaller one murmured.

"What is it, Zexy?" Demyx asked.

"Does it have to be strawberry?" he inquired. "I... I'm allergic."

Demyx almost smacked his head to the table, but then he reminded himself that Zexion was naive. From what Demyx was guessing, the boy in front of him had never had a relationship, at all, and probably got all of this from a morning talk show or a soap opera drama. He nodded, smiling slightly.

"Does chocolate work better for this metaphor?"

"Yes."

"Okay then, chocolate toppings it will be. After a cake is baked. Understand?"

Zexion nodded, then glanced at his plate. "I understand that. But Demyx... does this mean we're not going out anymore?" He looked up shyly. "Because... because we didn't bake together, figuratively?"

Demyx leaned back in his seat. "Well, kinda... Zexion, we're not going steady yet. We're in those early stages, if you want to continue this. I mean, I did like you for a little while, and I kissed you... and your parents approve, so it's a bonus!"

Zexion smiled slightly. "That's good. So this will be our first... official date as... going steady dates?"

Demyx mentally screwed the terminology. It wasn't going to get them anywhere. He nodded and smiled. "Yes, Zexion, we'll be going steady dates. Next time, I'll kiss you for real, okay?"

Zexion's smile grew, visibly happier than they had begun this date. "I'd like that."

o.o

They were hiding in the library again. Though Demyx gave a personal interview with "Information Central" and explained how they were going to take their relationship slow and at a pace comfortable for both of them, the fangirls wouldn't leave them alone.

One of the otaku left a message in his locker, recommending various boys-love series from Japan. "In case you need any pointers," the anonymous note said.

Zexion received pictures and a "How to be a Greatful Uke" booklet--fanmade, of course--and insisted on keeping them, just in case he actually did need them. He had stashed them away in his backpack.

"Zex, wouldn't it be smarter to learn what's fit for you, not what some yaoi-obsessed group of teenage girls think?" Demyx asked him. He didn't really get what 'yaoi' was, but he didn't want to ask them.

Zexion looked up at him from one of his latest books. He read novels--he liked mystery and suspense, and guessing ahead of time made him happy--and often had a new one every week, sometimes two. He'd lower them to listen to Demyx, though.

"Well, I don't want to be completely unprepared," he replied. "And some of the girls do their research, however peculiar. It might have helpful input."

Demyx gave him a skeptical look and shrugged. "Okay... but I'm not reading them, that's for sure." He leaned back in his seat for a few seconds and watched his 'going steady date' return to his book. Only a few seconds passed before he shifted his chair next to Zexion's and began reading over his shoulder.

Zexion let that small, timid smile form on his lips again, but Demyx figured it wasn't about the novel this time. He shifted closer.

"Y'know, Zexy... this might not be so bad, really. Once the fangirls start leaving us alone, maybe we should update our status to actually dating."

Zexion's eyes lit up and he glanced at Demyx happily. "You mean it?" When Demyx nodded, he looked up joyously, as if blessed by the heavens. "Wow... this is better than a new chemistry set!"

Demyx blinked and sighed loudly. "Zexion..." he said slowly.

"Well, it is!" the junior insisted. "I love chemistry, and I'd like to further our relationship."

"What's with the formalities, huh?"

"There's nothing wrong with my formalities!"

A librarian sshed them.

n.n

Dear Diary...

So it's not as bad as I first thought.

Minus Axel setting us up for public humiliation and Larxene helping him find all the girls, I think it's actually going pretty well.

So Zexion's a total dork, as I figured, and it's just wired into his veins, but he's being pretty cool about it. I got him to stop going to extra physics tutoring sessions so we could hang out after school--it's usually math tutoring for me, cuz I suck.

We went to the park a few hours ago and he said "Duckies" and actually chased them around like he was four, and it was really cute cuz he got to pet one. And his favorite color's blue like mine, and I get to borrow his books sometimes--my mom likes this one, cuz she says it enhances my vocabulary.

I'm gonna kiss him tomorrow after school. For real this time. We're going to sneak out the back way and go get some ice cream, and the fangirls are not finding out.

Love loads, Demyx

owari!

:Darkness Princess.