Fast Food Madness: The Epic Return V2

It was pretty chilly out today, and the wind that blew into Roxas didn't help how cold he already was. His nose and cheeks felt numb due to the temperature, but he kept going, remembering that the cemetery was only a block away from him now.

 

Namine stood still, and the boy approaching her stopped a few steps in front of her. In her shock, it took a moment for Namine to realize how happy she was to see this person. "Chad!" She finally snapped out of her surprise and ran forward, wrapping her arms around him in an embrace.

"Hey, Nami," Chad said with a smile, wrapping his arms around her when she embraced him. "How you doing, Cuz?" He had plenty of nicknames for her, only using the first two that came to his mind.

"I'm okay," Namine assured him, looking up at him. "What're you doing here? We missed you yesterday!" The rest of her family had made it over to her home, but Chad wasn't there at the time. That saddened her at the time, since Chad was the relative she was closest to. He was two years older than she was, but they had a great friendship despite the age and gender difference.

 

Roxas crossed the street and approached the iron gate entrance to the graveyard, stepping through without hesitance. It was true that this place creeped him out sometimes, but he continued on, knowing Namine was here.

 

"I had to stay with a friend for an extra day," Chad explained. "He needed a friend, you know?" His best friend from back home didn't have many people to spend Christmas with, so this year, Chad decided to stay with him. When Namine nodded in response, he continued. "So once that was done, I got on the earliest plane possible and came here."

"'Here' as in the cemetery?" Namine asked, arching a brow in suspicion. That didn't quite sound right to her; Chad wasn't overly close with their grandfather, but maybe he had just come to see if she was alright?

"Well I went to your house first," Chad elaborated, seeing by Namine's question that he had been unclear. "When I heard you were here, I thought I should come too." Even though they lived states away, they were still best friends. They were more like a brother and sister, than anything else. At least, that was how Chad saw it.

Namine smiled and leaned upwards, giving Chad a peck on the cheek. "Well, I'm glad you made it," she said softly, meaning the words deeply. She had been sad and really missing her grandfather, but Chad always had a way of cheering her up from the searing loss and the pain she felt over missing her grandpa.

 

When Roxas was inside the cemetery, he heard muffled voices, and following them, saw Namine and some other guy standing near her grandfather's grave. He stopped when he heard and witnessed the last bit, with Namine kissing the guy on the cheek.

 

Namine pulled back from the friendly peck, hands clasped behind her back. "You wanna head back and be with the rest of the family?" she asked politely. "It's pretty cold out."

Chad nodded, thinking that was a good idea. "You always think it's cold out," he teased, a small smirk on his lips. His cousin had a way of always getting sick from the cold weather, too. So despite the teasing, he wanted to get her inside as soon as possible.

Namine scoffed, though a playful smirk stayed on her lips. "So what?" she asked, a small laughing leaving her lips. It wasn't her fault she didn't enjoy Winter. Well, actually, she did enjoy it because of the snow and the holidays, but the weather did get too chilly for her taste. Oh well, that was life.

 

Roxas instantly became angry, and decided to make his presence known. "Well, this was unexpected," he said tightly, eyebrows furrowed to mask his pain and fists tight at his sides to keep him from doing something irrational.

 

Namine turned her body towards the voice, her eyes showing surprise. "Roxas? What're you doing here?" She hadn't told him she was coming to the cemetery to visit her grandfather, mostly because she didn't want him to worry about her. Was he upset about that?

Chad turned in the direction of the voice as well, hearing Namine call the boy 'Roxas'. He had heard about Roxas many times; he was Namine's boyfriend. And he took very good care of her. He knew this because he often inquired of Roxas to make sure that his little cousin was in a healthy relationship.

 

"Your mom told me where you were, so I came to offer my support. But it seems like you already have enough of that," Roxas said, sharp blue eyes moving to Namine's "friend". A cemetery? Namine was right to meet this guy here; Roxas never would have guessed.

 

Namine blinked at Roxas' tone, surprised at the glare he sent over at her cousin. She and Chad exchanged a confused look, but she knew she was the one who had to try and set things straight here. Whatever Roxas was thinking surely wasn't good. "Yeah, he's--"

 

"A friend of yours. Yeah, sure. Whatever," Roxas said harshly, rolling his eyes. His eyebrows furrowed more, expressing his anger. "You must really think I'm stupid. You made me think this whole time that I was the one who changed, but it turns out you're just as guilty as I am. I must say, though, it was pretty clever of you to meet him here. I never would have thought of a cemetery." Roxas shrugged, but his attitude was very clear. "Would've had me fooled."

 

Namine felt her eyes widen in shock, hearing Roxas' words impact her heart hard. He's accusing me of cheating on him?! she thought in disbelief. How can he suddenly not trust me? I thought things were finally looking up for us again! She tried to regain her composure, hoping to set things right quickly. "Roxas, I'm not--"

 

"You were disappointed in Kairi for doing this to Sora," Roxas interrupted, voice tight and dark. "But it looks to me like you have another thing in common." His eyes moved to the guy beside Namine, making it obvious what he was talking about. After a second his sight went back to Namine, and he arched an eyebrow at her. "A little hypocritical, don't you think?" Seeing someone else? Yeah, he never would have guessed she would do something like that. But Kairi did, and that surprised him enough. This, though... It shattered him.

 

Namine felt her heart breaking, Roxas accusations crushing her. Did he honestly believe she would do something like that? After everything they had gone through together lately, did he really believe that she was seeing somebody else? It didn't make any sense!

"Hey, listen," Chad said, sticking up for his cousin. He had never met Roxas before, but he thought he understood from Namine that he was a nice guy. Apparently, he had been mislead. And he didn't appreciate the way this guy was treating his cousin; he loved her like a sister, and he was going to stick up for her.

Namine shook her head to silence Chad, and he wisely stopped speaking. The blond girl knew from past experience that Roxas was probably close to blowing up. If anything, she would take it, instead of letting him attack her cousin, verbally or physically. "How can you say that?" she asked, her emotions appearing in her eyes. "I'm not--"

 

"Save it," Roxas ordered, moving his arm in front of him for emphasis. His hand immediately clenched back into a fist, and he felt the darkness growing inside him. "Whatever you have to say, I don't want to hear it. Your actions have said enough." Roxas glanced at the taller guy standing next to Namine and then back at her in disgust and anger. After a second's silence, he turned around, heading through the snow back to the entrance.

 

Namine felt her eyes become moist, seeing the person she loved most walking away from her. "Roxas, wait!" she cried, reaching an arm in that direction without thought. She had to stop him, somehow! If he understood what was really going on, then he wouldn't have any reason to be upset. But he wasn't letting her speak!

 

Roxas turned his head to yell over his shoulder, but otherwise continued forward. "Forget it!" he hollered harshly, his voice dark and tight. He turned his head forward and walked on, disappearing out the entrance gate a few seconds later.

 

Namine gasped, tears sliding down her cheeks at Roxas' last cry. How could he have walked away? Again? This time, though, she had a feeling that he wouldn't be back. She turned and felt Chad wrap an arm around her in support, and she was grateful he wasn't asking questions. That would come later. She hugged him back with both of her arms and silently cried into his shirt, the weather almost as cold as her heart now felt.

 

Roxas ground his teeth together as he blended in with the crowd of people moving along the busy streets of the city. He stuffed his fists into his pockets and directed his sight to the ground, knowing his angered eyes would alarm the people passing by. Namine had actually fooled him into thinking she was honest. He just realized how gullible he was.

 

Chad ran his hand over Namine's arm, keeping an eye on his cousin in worry. Roxas had just treated her like dirt. Worse than dirt, actually, because he had verbally attacked her. He'd have to ask Namine about this later, when she was more composed. He needed to know if this was a regular occurrence, or if his best friend had been in a painful relationship for a long time.