Okay, I'm really excited to be posting this because I haven't posted anything in ages. I really enjoyed writing this. It's my first Axel and Roxas!! They are my favorite pairing ever. This is a two parter. I have the second part completely written, it just needs to be edited. It is way longer than this. While this part is less that 2,000 words the second is over 7,000. Took. Me. Ages. But seriously I'm so jelous of people who can just write loads in a snap. Anyway on with the story... or disclaimer.
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters used. It's fanfiction, duh. And don't own the song lyrics used either. But you should go listen to song, it's awsome.
I wish you'd unclench your fists
And unpack your suitcase
Lately there's been too much of this
But don't think it's too late
*
"Come on Roxas, please!" Axel cried in desperation as the blond quickly descended the stairs, flinging his suitcase onto the ground by the door. "No, please, lets talk about this," Axel begged. Roxas ignored him and crossed the living room to fetch his laptop, glass from the broken photo frame crunching under his feet. "Please, please!"
Roxas wrenched open the front door and bent to pick up his suitcase. Axel watched helplessly as a car drew up outside. He tried to catch a hold of Roxas but the smaller man whipped his wrist from Axel's reach and moved down the steps and to the car calling out to his brother to, "Stay in the car!"
Axel followed him down the steps trying to avoid looking into the car at Riku who sat in the driver's seat and at Sora who was staring out the window at him with a horrified expression in place. He supposed Sora must have already noticed the fresh bruise covering the flesh around Roxas' left eye and the cut on that side of his nose. As Axel approached Roxas, who was opening one of the back doors, Sora made as if to get out the car, but Riku's hand grasped and tightened round his arm restraining him. "Hey!"
Sora attempted to shake him off but Roxas told him firmly, "It's okay Sora, I'm getting in anyway."
As Roxas slammed the door closed, after depositing his suitcase on one side of the back seats, and ducked round Axel to go to the other side of the car, Axel tried again to reason with him. "Rox," he groaned, "Please, I'm so, so sorry, you know that." Roxas carried on as if he didn't hear and reached for the door handle. Axel darted forward and grabbed a hold of his wrist, hearing Sora's muffled shout from inside the car. "Don't go Rox, don't."
Roxas strained against Axel's strong grip, unable to break his hold before stopping struggling and making eye contact with Axel. "Let me go." Roxas' tone was firm and Axel had never heard him sound so stern, but it was the double meaning in Roxas' words with made him release him. In a second Roxas had opened the door and shot inside. Axel stayed standing in the middle of the road as Riku drove away, Sora looking back and Roxas not.
When the car turned the corner and drove out of sight, Axel muttered his final plea, "Don't leave me, Rox."
He stood for a moment before anger bubbled in his chest and he ran back inside and slammed the door. He crossed to the broken frame and picked it up. The photo - of him and Roxas, taken at Christmas - was still stuck inside and Roxas' blood was still on the corner which had struck him. Axel choked back the misery which threatened to overcome him and instead let out a scream of frustration and flung the frame across the room like he had done before, this time striking the glass coffee table which cracked.
Not satisfied with the minimal destruction, Axel stalked to the mantelpiece and swept his arm along it, sending ornaments and other objects flying. Tearing from the room, he ran at full speed up the stairs to his - and what used to be Roxas' bedroom - and set about breaking the photo frames in there, along with his alarm clock - which, luckily did not break the window on impact - and the mirror.
Surveying the room, fists clenched, Axel found nothing else on which to vent his anger and so set about ripping the sheets from the bed. He fisted them and pulled them off into his arms and was immediately assaulted with their sent. His body jerked as he suppressed a sob before he collapsed onto the bed, hugging the sheets close, breathing in the smell of Roxas, crying.
*
Roxas leaned his head against the cool window, drawing his legs up onto the seat and wrapping his arms round his knees, pulling them into him.
"Roxas," Sora whispered, "What did he do?" Roxas ignored him and tried not to imagine the pained, worried look on his brothers face; and then tried to, in order to block out the worse image of Axel's broken expression.
"Rox, please."
Roxas suppressed a flinch and squeezed his eyes shut. It wouldn't help him to think of Axel. Rain dotted onto the glass that was lightly steaming up from his breath and where his forehead rested. His seatbelt was digging into his neck painfully but at least it took away from the throbbing round his blackened eye and bruised heart. He tried to shut it all out but Sora was still pleading with him. Begging for answers; not for Roxas to stay. He couldn't get the feeling of Axel's hand off his wrist. He rubbed and rubbed and then scratched but it made no difference, he could still sense the tight grip of long warm fingers gripping, holding on.
"Roxas," Sora's voice was louder, a little shrill, "What did he do to you?" Still Roxas refused to look round and offer an answer. "Roxas-" Sora was cut off and Roxas supposed that Riku had stopped him.
Sure enough a few seconds later he heard Riku's low voice muttering to Sora, "Sor, just leave him. He'll tell you when he ready."
"But what if-"
"No Sora, it'll be okay. Just give it time."
Roxas hardly absorbed the meaning behind the words. He was simply grateful that Sora had shut up. The water droplets trickled down, joining together but never separating, only reaching a size and then running together. Roxas has to wonder why people couldn't be like that. Did rain drops argue? Did they get mad and try to beat one another to the ground? Did they fight over the best spots in puddles? Did they break each others hearts?
Somehow he didn't think so.
He leaned his cheek onto the window, shivering at the cold hard surface so unlike Axel's hot skin. But he pushed that thought aside. The car moved over wet roads, outside rushing past, lights in the dark blurred by movement and distorted by the water on the glass. Roxas sat still as he left everything behind. He wasn't sure if he was doing the right thing. No, he was, he just wasn't sure if he wanted to be doing the right thing if it hurt him so much. He didn't like feeling like he was giving up on what he truly wanted but deep inside he knew he was making the smart move, taking the safer, sensible option which - hopefully - would be better for everyone in the long run.
As the car pulled up in the car park outside Riku and Sora's apartment building Roxas' suitcase slid forward and fell off the backseat. He couldn't quite believe that he could fit everything he really needed in such a small space; shame he could only fit almost everything he wanted.
"We're here," Riku muttered, opening his door and getting out.
Roxas looked up and met Sora's gaze, "Roxas-"
Lowering his feet, he too go out the car, feeling Sora's eyes on his back. As he reached back in to retrieve his suitcase, he spotted a small sliver of glass on the edge of his previous seat. Obviously tracked in on his shoes. He grasped the handle of his case and, as Sora exited the car, pocketed the small piece of the reason he was with his brother and his brother's best friend/boyfriend and not curled up on his old couch with Axel and a tub of sea slat ice-cream watching rubbish TV.
Roxas followed Riku across the car park to the building pretending Sora wasn't offering to carry his case for him and asking him painful questions. The corridors and stairs to the apartment were dull and cold not like the hall of his old house which really was cosy even if he didn't like to refer to it like that. Riku unlocked and opened the door and the three of them stood in the hall for a moment.
But Sora seemed incapable of keeping his mouth shut for long periods of time, "Roxas, can you just tell me-"
Riku kindly interrupted him, "You can take the spare room if you want."
Roxas shook his head as Sora watched him, "I'll just take the couch, but thanks."
"But Rox-" Sora started, concern saturating his tone.
"Sora," Roxas told him firmly trying to keep the exasperation from showing through in his voice, "It's fine." He loved his brother but sometimes, or most of the time, Sora could just be so oblivious to what was the best way to go about things.
"Come on, lets head to bed," Riku told Sora softly, putting an arm round his waist and tugging him towards their bedroom. "There's a quilt on the spare bed or blankets in the boiler cupboard and just help yourself to anything you need," he told Roxas before pulling Sora through the door and closing it. Roxas immediately heard Sora's higher pitched tone start up in what sounded like quiet argument.
Roxas' opened the boiler cupboard and withdrew a fairly think blanket and entered the living room. He couldn't face sleeping in or using anything from the spare bad which he and Axel had shared on several occasions. He set down his case and turned on one of the small standing lamps before flinging the blanket onto the couch and heading to the small kitchen to get himself a glass of water.
He held his fingers under the stream of liquid waiting for it to turn ice cold. He felt numb. Or maybe not completely numb because something, somewhere was hurting, but his emotions were certainly less strong, diluted as if mixed with a large volume of the water that he was going to drink. He wanted to stand looking out the window seeing nothing but the darkness as he sipped his drink but instead he drained his glass and headed back to the living room.
He pulled off his shoes with alternating heels and reached to turn off the light, choosing not to open his suitcase and view what little of his old life remained. He noticed how red raw his wrist was from his persistent, ineffective rubbing and scratching before the room darkened and he lay down on the cold, leather couch to attempt to sleep, draping the blanket over his legs and chest.
*
Axel had woken up with swollen skin round his eyes and a destroyed house. He had cleaned the mess he had made up and thrown all of the broken objects - bar the blood stained frame - away. The destruction and then having to clear up didn't seem like a large enough punishment for what he had done to Roxas, however. He held a knife to his arm and then his face trying to find something to cut that was worth even a tenth as much as Roxas' eye and nose and heart. In the end, knowing it wasn't even close to enough, he put the knife back and fetched the scissors instead.
*
When Roxas woke up Sora was panicking as the couch, the blanket and Roxas' jeans had blood on them. And a small shard of glass was embedded in his flesh.
*
Someday, somehow
I'm gonna make it alright but not right now
I know you're wondering when
Someday by Nickelback
Okay so tell me what you think. Or don't. I know what it's like. I just hope you enjoyed it and might want to read Part 2.