A/N: I really enjoy this story. It's much shorter than the other ones in my series. Due to the constant scene changing, and short periods of conversation in some of the scenes, it does feel a bit rushed, and I'm sorry for that. But, it is what it is. I hope you enjoy this as much as I do.(: Reviews are very much appreciated!
Summary: "...You know, this hasn't only been hard for you, baby. Things are shit when you're gone, too." "Then why did you leave me?" AkuRoku, Romance/Tragedy
Kiss It All Better
Axel Sinclair sat in his cell, his legs folded in front of him. He stared at his mattress in disdain. He hated blue. It was such an ugly color. This place truly was Hell, giving him this atrocity to sleep on. Not that he ever slept. Even if he could, the "bed" had such little stuffing to it, it was more like a comforter, folded over into two thin pieces, guarding his body from the metal frame beneath him. Zexion, one of the less-hardened criminals down the hall, had his old cot. It had been newer, Axel having been lucky on his time of arrival. They'd traded. Axel's bed for a weeks worth of Zexion's medication. Sure, Zexion would be strung out as Hell and have twitches, but he'd sleep. Unlike Axel.
His long fingers fiddled with the loose strings at the end of is pants. He tugged one off and stuffed it in one of the many holes that had filled it, trying to amuse himself. 'Maybe if I do this enough, I'll have my bed filled. But, then I'd be naked.' He shivered when he thought of Marluxia, the large, flamboyant car-jacker. His hands stilled on his pants. 'Naked's not good.'
The door to his cell, the same hideous shade of blue as his bed, opened. "Sinclair," the bulky brunette at the door gruffed out, "Visitor." Axel hated everything about this place. The guards especially. Though they never hurt any of the inmates, the cold distance thy held from them was just as painful as any strike could be.
'Maybe they weren't always like this,' he thought as he stared at the guard. 'Maybe they've learned to be that way.'
"Thanks, Lexaeus." The cold eyes staring at him narrowed and he cleared his throat. "...Sir."
The large man moved aside, and a small blond entered the room. Axel felt his heart clench, drop, and melt. "Rox!"
"Hey, baby."
Kiss It All Better - He Is We
"Ugh."
Axel smiled into the phone. "Well, hello to you, too." He was laying back, reclining leisurely against the headboard, picking at his fingernails. "How was last night?"
Roxas groaned miserably from the other end of the line, "Oh, baby! It was miserable! You wouldn't believe them!"
The redhead picked his fallen nail tips off of their comforter, scoffing. "I highly doubt that."
His spouse's voice rose several octaves as he mocked his mother's voice. "'Roxas, why don't you have your PhD? Are you sure your happy teaching at the school? Why isn't Axel with you? You aren't having problems, are you? Oh, what a shame. Namine's in town again, you know. What a lovely girl she is.'" Roxas let out another noise of frustration. "Why couldn't you just come with me?"
"You only want me there so they'd be quiet. They never talk when I'm there." Axel chuckled. "Not that I object." He stretched his legs out and put his arms behind his head. "I'm tired of talking about The Mansons. When will you be home? I've played choke the chicken a dozen times since you've left, and it pales in comparison to the real thing."
Roxas let out a bout of laughter. "Tomorrow."
"We still on for the movie?"
"Of course."
Axel smiled into the phone. "I love you, baby."
"I love you too." And Axel could hear his smile as well.
Kiss It All Better - He Is We
Axel lept from his bed. "Oh, God. I've missed you so much! You have no idea how miserable it is in here! I can't stop thinking about you!"
The shorter man held him just as tight. "I know. I've missed you too. There's this huge pain in me." He allowed himself to be lead to the cot, smiling sadly as he joined his partner. "Is it really that bad in here?"
Axel sighed. "Everywhere is bad when you're not around. You can't even begin to imagine how terrible it is without you here."
"Oh, enough of this sad talk," Roxas said, shoving him lovingly. "Ask me what's new."
A smile crept back to Axel's face. That was his Roxas. Forever trying to make him happy. "Okay. I'll bite. What's new?"
"I stopped smoking." The blond grinned. "Mom apologized for always ragging on you. Namine finally left me alone."
He wanted to smile and congratulate his lover, but he couldn't bring himself to. "You seem happy."
Roxas nodded slowly. "I am. Things have gotten better. But, at the same time, it's worse. You know, this hasn't only been hard for you, baby. Things are shit when you're gone, too."
Axel frowned deeply. "Then why did you leave me?"
Kiss It All Better - He Is We
Axel loved the color blue. Not all shades. No slight variations of a single color. Only solid royal blue. The same startling color that occupied the eyes of the man sitting next to him.
"Did you like the movie?"
Roxas's face scrunched up as his eyes followed the cars passing them, no doubt spying on the passengers. "It was okay, I guess. I don't know, I'm not a big fan of criers."
"That's only cause you look like a basset hound when you cry." The car swerved slightly as Axel's arm received a punch. "Ouch! Do you want us to wreck! Crazy little shit." He said the insult with a massive grin on his face.
"Keep that up, and I'll be having my Welcome Home Roxas sex by myself."
"Oh, woe is me! Why does my husband hate me so!" Axel flung himself to and fro in his seat as safely as he possibly could. He liked annoying the younger, but a wreck was the last thing he wanted.
Roxas glanced at him smugly. "That's right. I hate you. And don't you forget it, jerk!"
The held eye contact for moment and laughed happily. They silenced when they drew nearer to their house. They quietly unlocked the door and stepped over the threshold.
They were always shy before they made love. Even after the twelve years they'd been together. Maybe it was due to their ever-changing romance. Maybe they felt the over-whelming lust the other had for them. Whatever the reason, they hesitantly made eye contact with each other.
It was unclear as to who first kissed the other. They lips met, and suddenly every hint of shyness was gone. They encased each other, pulling close. Axel groaned, lifting his husband. Roxas returned the noise and wrapped his legs around Axel's waist. After mapping the insides of their mouths perfectly, Axel carried his lover up the steps. In the rush, their front door was left cracked.
Kiss It All Better - He Is We
"Don't be stupid, Axel. I never wanted to leave."
Kiss It All Better - He Is We
About an hour later, Axel rolled away from his lover, panting heavily. He always loved basking in the after-glow. If Roxas's contented sigh was any indication, he was enjoying himself post-orgasm as well.
Axel excused himself to the restroom adjoining their bedroom, just as he always did after sex. He heard a thump downstairs and groaned. "Babe. I bet that's Charlie. Will you check on him?" That damnable cat was always causing a ruckus.
Roxas groaned. "I'm the one who just got my ass rammed. I have to check him?"
"Pwease?" Even though his husband couldn't see him, Axel stuck out his lower lip to accommodate his childish plea.
A sigh came from the room, and Axel knew he had one. "Fine." As he heard the footsteps disappear down the steps, he finished his business and went to wash his hands. He turned for their hand towel, but couldn't find it. He opened the door under his sink and checked for a spare, or perhaps a bath towel.
"Roxas, do you know where the towel is?" When he received no reply, he repeated the question. When he still got no answer, he frowned. He went into the room, pulled on a pair of boxers and made his way downstairs. When he reached the foot of them, he saw Roxas.
He was not alone.
Kiss It All Better - He Is We
Roxas frowned at Axel. "I didn't want to leave you, Axe. Sometimes, though, things happen that we can't control."
"Don't try to make excuses," Axel scoffed. "You left me. I was alone. All alone. I'm the one who had to deal with the fact that I'd never see you again."
The frown left the sweet face before him and the same side smile returned. "You're seeing me now."
Axel stared at his hands. He bit his lip, gnawing the dead skin off. His voice lost its accusing tone, and in its place came a sad, quiet voice. "Was it my fault?"
"Axel, no." He took one of the redhead's hands in his own, drawing the other's eyes to him. "It wasn't your fault."
"How could it not be my fault?" Axel asked, his voice beginning to shake. "I..."
"Shh." Roxas lightly stroked Axel's face. "I forgive you. Come on. Let's go to sleep."
"I... I have to take my medicine."
"Okay, baby. I understand."
Kiss It All Better - He Is We
"Roxas."
The first thing Axel noticed was that his husband had not bothered to put on his underwear before venturing downstairs. An odd thing to notice right off, given the circumstances.
The second thing he noticed was the barrel of a pistol pressing into the blonds temple. The third, and final, thing was the man attached to it.
He was an unexceptional man. Not the type you usually imagine holding a gun to someone's head. A thin man, his blond hair cute close to his scalp. There was a small goatee adorning his face, and a manic look in his eye.
Behind him, their living room was in chaos. Chairs were turned over, books were flung from the coffee table, their TV no longer on it's perch at the front of the room. How could it be, when the man threatening to harm Roxas had it sitting near him?
"Look," Axel started slowly. "We don't want any trouble. Just... just take whatever you want. Let us get dressed. We'll be on our way. No one needs to know this happened."
"Au contraire," said the burglar, a lovely accent flowing out of his mouth. "This lovely young specimen already informed me that if I didn't lower my weapon and leave, he would 'call the fucking cops'." He brought his face next to Roxas's, snuggling his cheek like a kitten. Axel wished with all his might that Roxas would suddenly be dressed and next to him. His husband being in this situation, naked, terrified him to his core. "And I can't have that. I have a job to do, understand?"
Axel felt adrenaline pulse through his veins, and he found himself barely able to resist the urge to rush the older man, knock the gun out of his hands, and strangle him.
The other man seemed to notice this. He tutted and waved the gun in front of Roxas's face, the short man's eyes following the weapon. "Now, now. No sense in being a hero, is there?" His eyes, his cold eyes, landed on Roxas once again. "Hmm. What to do bout you..."
It was in that moment that Axel would make the largest mistake of his life. It was something about seeing his love standing there frightened, vulnerable, with this hideous man's eyes trailing down the naked body in front of him, that finally made him snap.
He didn't think. There was no planning. No sense of fear, or apprehension. He relied on pure instinct as he lunged for the man, startling him.
In their peaceful neighborhood, there was silence. In every house except one. In that house, there was the sound of a gunshot.
Axel froze. The man froze. Roxas crumpled to the floor.
In some distant part of his brain, Axel connected to television. It was truly amazing how accurate they could be. The hole into his chest was neat, if slightly choppy around the edges. Blood poured out, slowly spreading on the floor.
Axel fell to his knees, pulling Roxas to him. "No! No, no, no!" He sobbed heavily, rocking the body back and forth. "Come on, baby. Don't go, please baby."
Roxas's breathing was unsteady. His wide, panicky eyes turned to Axel, not really seeing him. "It hurts."
Axel felt his nose running, but didn't move to drop it. In the back of his mind, he heard the gun drop and the man sink to the ground. "I know. I know." He pressed his hands tightly against the wound, the heel pressing in between the crevice of Roxas's shoulder and chest. "I'm so sorry."
"I'm..." he took a wheezing breath, and Axel felt his heart break. "I'm not ready... to go..."
Axel let out a choked noise. "You don't have to, baby. I'm right here, stay with me. Don't go." Only silence met him. He let loose an animalistic wail, curling his body around Roxas's. "I love you, baby. Please. I love you so much."
"I wasn't..." Axel turned to face the intruder. "I didn't want to. I wasn't going to. I just..." The man stared at Roxas's body. "I just wanted to scare you. Make sure you wouldn't rat."
Axel reached over for the gun. "You killed him."
"I - I didn't. You scared me. I wouldn't have touched him." He finally looked at Axel. "I just wanted to scare you." He repeated.
Axel pointed the gun at the man's face, astonishingly calm. "You killed him."
"I didn't -"
Axel's face screwed up with fury. With a strangled yell, he cried, "You killed him!"
For the second time that night, a shot rang out.
Kiss It All Better - He Is We
As Axel took many small white pills one by one, it never occurred to it that a guard wouldn't allow a visitor to simply walk into his cell. As he lay down next to his love, he didn't think about the blood stained clothes he wore when the police showed up, or his murder conviction. He couldn't bring himself to remember that Roxas never answered his parting words.
Perhaps that was for the best. For as Axel rested his head next to Roxas's, he donned his first true smile since the burglary. He stroked Roxas's hair, sighing peacefully. "I love you."
Roxas smiled at him, nuzzling that hand. "I love you too."
Axel felt his eyes get heavy, and his pulse begin to slow. "Stay with me? Until I fall asleep?"
He felt Roxas press into his side and lay his head on his chest. "From now until forever, Axel."