Work was, as always, a drag. Normally being a mechanic and fixing cars all day would be a guys dream job. Guys like cars. But for Axel it became a bore after about a year of it. Today it felt like the hours were a lot longer than they should have been, and old Cid seemed a bit more agitated than usual. Yelling at anyone at the drop of a wrench. As the redhead continued to walk the next few blocks in the poring rain from work, head bowed against the cold, he started to think about what to do for dinner and about going into the nearest Starbucks to get something hot to drink . . .

That's when he noticed the storm grate. He stepped back a little bit to examine it more closely. Something about the water going into it was off. He bent down a little to get a better look. The water was . . . pink? No, not the water itself but there was a deep pink liquid in it. He looked down the street from where the water was coming from, and nearly had a heart attack.

A body laid crumbled on the corner of the street in a ball.

Axel sprinted forward and slid to a stop. He knelt down into the mixture of, Axel was alarmed to see, blood and rain water. He rolled the person over to see that it was a guy and leaned in to check for signs for breathing. He felt relieved instantly despite the fact that the guy's breathing was extremely shallow and hard to catch, and his skin was ice cold and pale white. Other than that, Axel was okay. If you count "okay" as a little more than panicky.

"Hey, hey kid. Come on, wake up!" Axel began to shake the boy gently, but he remained limp. Groaning, Axel looked up and down the street for someone. Anyone. Yet the street was completely empty except for the red head and the unconscious boy.

What was he going to do? There was not a single other person around and his cell phone had decided to die during work. So, he did the only thing he could think of. He rolled the kid over onto his back and picked him up bridal style. As he was putting the kid in his arms he noticed the gashes up and down his forearms. Along with the razor that laid on the ground that sparkled under the already lit street lamps. Axel felt his stomach quiver with nausea. iHe's a cutter . . ./i

Once he had a good grip on the kid he ran for his apartment as fast as he could, trying to forget the fact that he saw the razor. After about a block he came to his building and sprinted up the stairs. He couldn't remember unlocking his door or taking his coat off. He could barely remember turning the hot water on in his bathtub. All he knew was that he needed to help this kid who still hadn't woken up. So he began stripping the guy of his sopping wet clothes, but left the boxers on. Axel picked him up and gently put him in the hot water, propping his head against the wall. Once Axel had him settled he decided to check the cuts on his arm. Which was a mistake.

They looked worse in the light. They were deep and jagged cuts that would be fatal to anyone. It was amazing this kid was still alive. Axel digged through the cabinet under the sink for benzyle peroxide and found a clean dark cloth. He set to work on the cuts that desperately needed to be cleaned and felt sick at the feel of them, even through the cloth. When the cleaner started to bubble on both arms Axel looked for some bandages and wrapped them up, placing the arms on either side of the tub so they wouldn't get yet. Once he had finished his work he sat back to get a good look at the guy's face.

He was young, maybe in his late teens. The tips of hair that were still plastered to his face were starting to dry and showed dirty blonde strands. And at last he was gaining some color in his face. All around he was . . . attractive. Even with the lip and nose piercing.

But that still didn't make Axel feel better. His heart was still racing from the scare. What should he do? Call a doctor or something? What if he or she thought ihe/i was the one who did this? That would be bad. Really bad. But he had to especially if he didn't bandage the cuts right. Axel felt another wave of nausea at the thought of the kid's injuries and the razor that was still lying on the ground outside . . .

Without thinking he left the bathroom, shut the door and walked into the kitchen to plug his phone in. Once the battery bar started to blink he dialed the first number he could think of.

"Hello?" he answered on the third ring.

"You still at work?" Axel asked.

"No, I just got off. What's up?" Demyx asked.

"You need to come over. Now."

Demyx chuckled. "Dude, how many times have I told you that I don't do the whole "friends with benefits" thing?"

"This has nothing to do with our friendship and I would appreciate it if you didn't joke around right now."

A pause. "Ouch. That sounded a little harsh." Axel rolled his eyes. "What is so uber serious that I need to rush over to your place for?"

"It's . . . sort of difficult . . ."

"Difficult, ihow/i? What the hell happened?" Now Demyx was getting serious.

Axel took a deep breath and said in a rush "There's a dying kid in my bathtub!" He held his breath this time, waiting for Demyx's response. After four seconds of intense silence Demyx hung up.

Barely five minutes later Demyx came bursting through the door soaked, his poor mullet dripping into his face. And his sea green eyes were fierce.

"What . . .the hell . . . did . . . you do . . . Axel!" he panted.

"iI/i didn't do anything! I just found him on the street!"

"You . . . are making no sense . . . at all." Demyx said, trying to catch his breath while shrugging his coat off. "Again I ask. What. Happened?"

Axel explained everything. From when he saw the kid on the street; bleeding like crazy, up to when he called.

"Was he mugged or something?" asked Demyx.

Axel hesitated, but only for a second. "I don't know. There was no one around so that could have been it." Why was he lying? Especially to his best friend? There wasn't a reason to lie about the razor that was still somewhere on the ground outside . . .

There wasn't a reason, but to Axel there seemed to be a sort of need. Like what he saw was something he should keep to himself. It didn't make sense but it seemed like it was probably best if he didn't tell anyone about it.

"Yeah, probably," Demyx agreed was staring at the carpet with his "Serious Thinking Face" on. The one where his brows were furrowed in concentration and looked a little worried. He looked up at Axel. "So this guy's in your bathtub?"

"Yes, he is."

"Did you clean his injuries?"

"Yes, I did that too."

"Well if you thought about doing all that why didn't you think about calling 911?"

Axel flinched. "My phone was dead!" He defended himself.

"So how did you call me? Using telepathic abilities? Because I swear to you my phone did ring and your name came up on the caller ID."

"I already told you I charged it-"

"So instead of calling the authorities you call ime/i? Do you have any idea how insane that idea is?"

"Please do not go raging gay on me," Axel begged pathetically, messaging his throbbing temple.

"Well too late, Ax. This gay is raging. Now answer my question."

The redhead sighed. "I didn't call anyone because one, I wasn't thinking straight okay? The guy was dying! And two, it would have seemed a little suspicious if I said 'Hey, there is a dying teenager in my bathtub. Please help.' if I had called anyone else. Do you understand now?"

"Oh my god, Ax." Demyx groaned in frustration rubbing his face with both hands. He came to stand in front of the redhead and put a hand on the other's broad shoulder. "Okay, I love you like a brother, and you know this. But this is the worst situation you have put yourself in by far. Do you even know if this unknown guy is still alive in there?"

They stopped talking when they heard muffled splashing and a ithump/i. The two of them listened. There was another ithump/i and they heard loud cussing. They looked at each other with wide eyes. Was that really the one they were just talking about?

Just as Axel opened his mouth to speak the door to the bathroom was thrown open and a gorgeous and furious blonde came stalking out fully clothed. His eyes trailed away from the front door to the shocked Demyx and Axel in the living room. His striking blue eyes rested on Axel. "Hey, you feeling-" Axel tried to ask, but before he could get the whole question out the blonde interrupted.

"You fucking jackass!" he yelled and punched Axel hard in the jaw.

Axel stumbled back and Demyx cried in worry for his friend. But Axel wasn't paying attention. He kept his eyes on the kid now walking out and flinched when the door slammed shut. There was a moment of silence with not sound but the rain outside. Keeping his eyes on the door he rubbed his throbbing jaw. It didn't hurt that much though. He guessed that the guy still wasn't feeling well.

Demyx broke the silence first. "What the hell was that for? Didn't you ijust/i save his life?"

"Weren't you just pissed at me for just saving his life?" Axel asked distractedly. He was still staring at the door.

"Okay, no, I was pissed at you for being an idiot. But good for you that he's still alive."

iMaybe . . . If he doesn't find another razor./i Axel thought to himself. He mentally shook himself. He didn't want to think about that. The redhead walked out of the living room and into the kitchen to prepare dinner.

"Hey, Ax" Demyx walked into the kitchen after the other.

"What?"

"Can I crash here tonight?" he asked.

"Why?" Axel turned on him.

Just then the blonde's stomach growled loudly. "Cause I'm hungry."

For the first time during that crazy night Axel laughed. "Sure, just stop making that puppy face. Spaghetti okay?"