Roxas stared at the clock blankly, it was the final day of class of his senior year, five minutes from now he would be free of the hell known as public high school and on his way to the freedom and terror that was sure to be college. He felt a nudge and glanced over as Hayner grinned.
"Almost there" He whispered, Roxas rolled his eyes but couldn't keep a small smile from his face.
"You ready?" He asked.
"Fuck yes!" Hayner shouted just as the bell went off.
"That would be detention for both of you and Mr. Strife." said smiling cruelly. Hayner glared and Roxas groaned slamming his head on his desk. Detention on his last day, typical. He sighed and stood up and left the classroom with Hayner walking after him lowly grumbling.
They were almost at their lockers when Roxas bumped into someone tall with striking red hair and burning green eyes.
"Woah shrimp, careful." Axel said grinning looking down at him. Roxas blinked before moving around him without a word. Axel blinked before moving to follow him. "Hey it was just a joke, what's eating you? It's our last day in this hellhole." Roxas sighed gathering his things from his locker and looked back at him.
"We've got detention." Roxas finally said hefting his backpack over his shoulder. Axel blinked and shook his head.
"Wait what? On the last day of school? For who?" He asked frowning.
" ." Hayner filled in slamming his locker shut. Axel shook his head before a smile took its place.
"I'll bust you out." He swore falling to his knees dramatically in front of the two. "I swear I'll break you out Roxas!". Roxas rolled his eyes trying to keep his ears from burning while Hayner clutched his chest.
"What about me? Would you leave me to rot?" He asked.
"Hayner you still owe me fifteen dollars." Axel deadpanned standing up and brushing himself off. Hayner groaned before he and Roxas trudged back to the classroom for their final detention. As they arrived and sat down in the mostly empty room and waited.
The room was quiet before Xigbar strolled in and sat down.
"So you two are the only ones who managed to get a detention on the last day of school, what are you in for?" He asked with a grin.
" has a stick up his ass." Hayner grumbled. Xigbar laughed then put on his best scolding face.
"Now now he is your teacher and you have to treat him with respect." He said before bursting out laughing. Roxas wasn't sure he could handle an hour with both Xigbar and Hayner like this. Just then, like a blessing or maybe a curse, Axel sauntered in. Roxas watched as he walked up to Xigbar's desk and grinned.
"Hey Xigs, I see you've been confined to the school for an extra hour." He said easily. Xigbar rolled his eyes.
" It's for one more day my dear student. Now whatever would you want in the detention room?" He asked leaning back.
"I want you to let these two out." Axel said smoothly. Xigbar grinned.
"forty bucks."
"ten."
"twenty for one of your choice."
"Deal." Axel said reaching out a hand which Xigbar promptly shook. Axel dug around his pockets and pulled out a crumpled twenty and smirked.
"Told you I'd get you out of here Roxas." He said walking to the door.
"I can't believe you've betrayed me Axel!" Hayner griped from his corner as Roxas grabbed his bag and went for the door. Axel shrugged.
"I only had a twenty and you still owe me my fifteen." He said before he and Roxas walked out the door, condemning Hayner to his detention.
"Thanks for getting me out of there." Roxas said as he walked with Axel through the halls.
"Of course Roxas, someone's gotta keep an eye on you." He said ruffling Roxas' hair. Roxas shoved him away and rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, yeah, now where exactly are we going?" He asked just as they pushed through the doors to the school parking lot, sunlight blinded him.
"Well I was thinking we could grab some sea salt ice cream and head to the clock tower unless your sister really needs you at the shop." Axel said walking up to Big Red, his old ass van with peeling red paint.
"Sure, I'm pretty sure I owe you one though." Roxas said hopping into the passenger seat.
"Well I wouldn't mind a little reward for helping you escape." Axel smirked putting the keys into the ignition and turning. Of course the long suffering whine of Big Red was the only noise that came from the engine.
"Oh come on Red, don't be stubborn today." Axel muttered turning the key again to no avail. On the third try Big Red roared to life and Axel let out a whoop of joy and they took off away from the high school for the last time.
As they took a careful seat on the edge of the clock tower Roxas stole a glance at Axel who was staring out at the far horizon.
"Roxas…" Axel trailed off before looking over at him. Roxas quickly averted his gaze and munched on his ice cream. "I'm taking off in a few weeks." Axel said. Roxas' head whipped around to face him.
"What?!" He said almost losing his balance only for Axel's strong arm to steady him.
"Careful!" Axel yelled looking over Roxas to make sure he wasn't about to pitch off of the clock tower. Roxas was staring at him dumbfounded.
"What do you mean you're taking off?"
"Exactly that. I'm going on a road trip and I'm not sure how long I'm going to be gone." Axel said. Roxas felt like a bomb had gone off, he couldn't focus on the words that Axel was saying, he couldn't think of anything to say. Axel saved him from the silence.
"I was going to ask if you wanted to come with me, if you don't fall off the clock tower first." Axel joked glancing back to the horizon where the sun was setting. Roxas felt like the world was spinning, Axel was leaving but he was asking if he wanted to come.
"You're leaving? Why?" Roxas asked. Axel gave a deep sigh.
"I need some time to figure out what I want to do with my life. Highschool is over, and I've got some money saved up so why not?" Axel said easily, as if he'd explained it before. Roxas just sat and stared at his ice cream trying to figure out a response. "Listen, you don't have to answer right now, I've got a couple of weeks left but I do want you to come with me." Axel said. Roxas bumped his shoulder against Axel's.
"I'll let you know. " He said trying to relax and not think of the choice he would have to make. Axel smiled and they hung out watching the sunset and enjoying their sea salt ice cream.
Axel drove Roxas back home and once he walked in the door he felt like the weight of the world had dropped back down on him. He had to call Sora. He rushed up to his room and quickly typed out a message to Sora.
"Can we talk?" Almost instantly Sora was calling him and he felt immense gratitude for his cousin.
"What's going on Rox?" Sora asked the moment his face was on the screen. Roxas wasn't surprised to see Riku there. He took a deep breath and quickly told Sora everything, from the break-out of detention to Axel's invitation. Sora sat in silence for a few seconds.
"So are you going with him?" He asked. Roxas rubbed at his hair irritably.
"I don't know! I've been crushing on him for a long time! What if I say something stupid or do something that'll make him hate me? We'll be miles from home and away from anywhere that I can go if I mess up. I just… I'd love to go with him but I don't know." Roxas ranted. Riku shook his head just barely visible on the screen.
"Oh you're fucked." He said easily. Sora nudged him hard in the ribs and turned to face the camera again.
"I think you should do it!" He said eagerly. Roxas sighed shaking his head.
"Even if I did what would it matter it's not like he likes me, and besides Cloud might literally kill me." He argued.
"Roxas, even if he doesn't you've lived in Twilight Town your entire life, it'll be great for you to have an adventure with him. He's also your best friend." Sora said. Roxas sighed and shook his head again.
"I'll think about it, goodnight Sora, thanks for listening." Roxas said before quickly hanging up and laying in bed. Thoughts raced through his head, he tried to ignore them and get some rest, he could deal with everything in the morning.