AN: Yo, this is my first one-shot. Treat it nice, and it'll treat you right back ;)
Warnings: Swearing, sex, PG violence
Disclaimer: I don't own KH or any of its characters. Do people really have to do this? I still don't know.
Well, enjoy :)
The town of Dexter, population one-thousand, two-hundred, and seventy-three, was located in the southwestern section of New Mexico, US, and was encased in acres upon acres of farmland. The clear Lake Van lay on its east side. No one visited, unless it was a lost trucker or the occasional family touring the United States by car. Other than that, the people of Dexter never had any company except themselves. There was so much farm land surrounding it anyway, making it damn near impossible to leave.
Now, this town only had the bare minimum. There was only one elementary school, one middle school, and one high school, each run down and falling apart from lack of proper use. There was a miniscule town hall and a rusted water tower. There was a bank, a hardware store, a three-hundred-year-old grocery store, a few restaurants which were nearly running out of business, a café, a garbage dump, a post office, and a police department, where the coffee got cold and the impatient officers slept because there was absolutely nothing to do. An old and abandoned church could be found lurking around the southern side of Dexter; a Christian church that no one visited to this day. A rusty park or two with failing equipment could be found if you squinted hard enough.
In other words, it was desolate and in the middle of nowhere. People barely came and went, and life was pretty dull. Since it was so microscopic, scandals were infrequent, as criminals didn't linger around these parts. Nothing to take, you know. The last earthquake was years ago (a small number on the Richter scale), rarely a tornado would pass through, and weak winds would blow through. Disasters of all sorts were scarce and rarely seen.
So the day after the big fire occurred, people were crowding the streets and gossiping about what had happened. Some thought it was an accident, a fallen candle or a stove left on too long. Some thought it was a suicide attempt. Some thought it was on purpose, as the rumors told them a pyromaniac lived there. Some would even visit the ashes of the scene, hoping to find clues about what happened. Unfortunately for the townspeople, the charred wood that was once a cozy house had nothing to tell them. Not a trace of information had been left behind.
That house had been owned by one Axel Montgomery, a hardworking student who had been home for the summer holidays and was hoping to enjoy the time off from school. He went to Santa Fe University of Art and Design, a long distance of a hundred or so miles away. Why he went there was obvious; there were no colleges in Dexter.
His parents had been farmers, but died in an unfortunate accident out in the field, leaving six-year-old Axel with his mother's sister. Axel had always felt sympathy for the woman, as he was sure that she had never wanted her dead sister's son living with her. But she loved and raised him without complaint, and Axel had to at least thank her for that.
Axel Montgomery and Alice Shaw lived together for years on the edge of Lake Van on Ridgecrest Circle, a small cul-de-sac that had only two houses. Throughout Axel's years of living at his aunt's, he was ever-thankful for his best friend and neighbor: Roxas Baker. Although Roxas was a year younger than Axel (who constantly teased him about his age), they would always be found together. When someone was looking for one of the pair, they'd find them both.
When Axel was eight, they would ride their bicycles around drawn chalk roads on the sidewalk, pretending they were race cars because Roxas's parents didn't let them bike on the black tar. When Axel was eleven, they would read together in the shade of Roxas's apple tree, a fan connected to an extension cord from the house blowing cool air across their faces. When Axel was fifteen, they would be found roughhousing in what grass they had or would be walking through farm fields together, talking. Axel wouldn't have survived his experience in Dexter without Roxas's company.
When Axel was a sophomore at their local high school, his aunt passed away. She left him with the house, everything in it, and a large sum of money. Axel filed many papers insuring his legal independent lifestyle began to live at the house alone, as he couldn't let go of the last memory of his family. He hid that fact from many others until he turned the rightful age of eighteen.
On Axel's eighteenth birthday, he revealed to Roxas that he would be going away to Santa Fe for college to major in Graphic Design. He had bought his education at Santa Fe University with student loans, scholarships, and his aunt's money… finding he could barely buy his way through college and the house bills at once. But he did so with honesty.
When the end of his summer after graduation came, Axel was utterly heartbroken to leave Roxas for the first time in his life… and for months! But Roxas was going into his senior year in high school, and there was no possible way for them to stay together. Axel promised that he would be back during the winter and summer breaks to be with Roxas again, as it was only an hour or two by bus to get back to Dexter.
However, to Roxas's disappointment, this was not the case.
Axel had called Roxas during winter break, revealing that a lot of his money got stolen, that he was completely broke and couldn't be back during his three-week vacation. Roxas was somber, but he resolved that Axel would definitely be home for three long months during the summer holiday to hang out with him, right?
Again, to Roxas's dismay, this was not the case.
Axel brought his girlfriend, Larxene, home during the holiday whom he met during his stay at the college.
When the arrogant goddess of love
Came to steal my shoes
She had a white-hot pistol
And a homemade heart tattoo
Roxas was not pleased, not even in the slightest.
When Axel introduced her to Roxas for a dinner at his place, he hated her from the start. Her 'I'm-the-best', cocky, pompous attitude pissed Roxas off to no end. She sneered at Roxas when they shook hands. When the three of them ate together, she chewed loudly and talked with her mouth open, which sprayed her chewed-up food across the table and into Roxas's food. Whenever Roxas tried to talk to Axel, he would be interrupted by one of Larxene's exclamations.
Saying one's to give and one's to take away
But neither of them will keep you off your knees
After they finished their meal (Roxas threw away most of his), she propped her legs up on the table and didn't offer to help clean up or wash dishes. She was only semi-kind to Axel and would bad-mouth Roxas to his face when Axel wasn't listening. She would even go to the point of physical abuse, pinching Roxas or stepping on his feet 'accidently'.
It would be an understatement to say Roxas hated Larxene. He wanted to set her on fire and then pulverize her burned bones. Plus, she was stealing his Axel time. Roxas thought this summer break was supposed to just be Roxas and Axel time, not Roxas and Axel and Larxene time.
A week of summer vacation passed. Roxas was invited to hang out with Axel and Larxene almost every day, but he politely declined each phone call.
"Sorry, I'm busy. Erm… my mom's… sick. Yeah. So I'll stay home and take care of her today. Bye, Axel!" Click.
"Um, I don't know if I can hang out today. My dad needs is running errands and needs me to take care of chores around the house. Sorry!" Click.
"Hey, um, I'm busy again today, I've got to… do something. Uh, maybe later? Bye!" Click.
After each rejection, Axel got more and more frustrated with Roxas. He tried to think of why he was getting ignored, and thought that maybe Roxas had gotten a new best friend or something while he was away. He thought that, yes, that must be it. So he called him up at night while Larxene was sleeping, hoping he wouldn't get rejected.
"Roxas?"
"What, Axel? What now?"
"Well… we need to talk." Axel heard a gulp at the other end of the line.
"Umm… okay I guess? Shoot away."
"No, I mean in person. Now." Axel heard Roxas scrambling around his room.
"Okay. And—it's only us… right?"
Axel glanced at Larxene, blonde hair matted around her face and drool seeping out the corner of her lips. "Yeah. I'll see you outside in five."
Both hung up.
As promised, they met together in front of Roxas's house, each wearing light cardigans to battle the late spring breeze.
"What's up, Axel?" Roxas asked. "What did you want to say?"
Axel motioned for the two of them to start walking. "You've been ignoring me lately. I just wanted to know what's up."
"No, I haven't," Roxas denied.
Axel looked at him skeptically. "Right. You've been 'busy' every time I've called." He stared at his feet as they walked. They had reached the lake and began to stroll down the pavement on its side. "It's almost like… you—have a new best friend or something."
"You were off at college, you know. I've got other friends to hang out with."
"Well, no shit, Roxas, I'm not dumb. But you weren't hanging out with them every single day you rejected me, now, were you?"
Roxas gulped loudly. "Well, no—"
"So what is it, then?" Axel interrupted.
"No, it's nothing, I swear! I've just been busy," Roxas said frantically.
"So you admit to ignoring me, then?"
"No! I just—"
"So are you going to tell me why?"
"I just said that—"
"You've obviously been ignoring me, Roxie."
"No, I swear I—"
"Just say why!"
"Axel, if you would just—"
"I don't get why you can't tell me—"
"IT'S YOUR DAMN GIRLFRIEND, OKAY?! I CAN'T STAND HER!" Roxas yelled.
Axel quickly became silent.
"She's a bitch," Roxas continued, tone ferocious and voice so low that the combination made his words seem like growls. "She's rude to me and I hate her guts. That's why I didn't want to be with you two. Just… it's not you, okay?"
"Well, damn, that's the stupidest excuse I've ever heard. You can't be around me because of my girlfriend? How old are you?"
"You were nagging me to tell you so I did. It's your fault you can't accept that that's how it is," Roxas said with a frown on his face.
"My girlfriend isn't a bitch, anyway."
"Yes, she is. I hate her, and I really don't know what you see in her."
"Well, then you're an idiot. She's great," Axel stubbornly defended.
"Name three good qualities about her," Roxas smugly stated.
Axel paused in thought. "Umm… one, she's a good cook. Two… er, she has a lot of money? Three…" He furrowed his eyebrows in concentration as he racked his brains. Axel didn't want to admit it, but he thought Roxas had a point. He'd never really thought about why he was dating Larxene. She was the one that came onto him, and he'd just kind of agreed on a whim of sorts.
"Not good reasons. At all. Face it, she's just not for you."
"God, Roxas, I just like her, okay?"
"You're such a dumbass," Roxas replied.
"Just—stop! I love her!"
Roxas raised a blond eyebrow. "Yeah, but you promised to come home and spend time with me, your best friend! Or have you forgotten? You promised!" Roxas almost yelled.
"I never promised you that!" Axel shouted, beginning to lose his temper.
"Yes, you did!"
"No, Roxas, I didn't."
"Well, whatever," Roxas sneered. "Go ahead and play with your stupid girlfriend. But don't expect me to hang out with you, 'cause I won't until you ditch that woman. Goodbye, Axel." Roxas began to stalk away in the direction of his house, leaving Axel behind.
"Wait, Roxas!" Axel called after him. Roxas pretended not to hear him and strode out of sight.
The children bowed and bolted off the stage
While the lion & the lamb kept fighting for the shade tree
Axel kicked over a large blue trashcan in a fit of anger. Roxas wasn't being fair. He wouldn't talk to Axel unless he dumped Larxene? How ridiculous. He was acting like a ten-year-old.
Axel speedily collected himself and smoothed back his vibrant red hair. Then he promptly and angrily walked home to a sleeping Larxene sprawled across his bed. He slept on the couch that night.
Two weeks passed. Soon, it was the beginning of July, and the summer holidays were nearing its halfway point. The days became too hot to go outside, and the air conditioning was always on.
Keeping his word, Roxas hadn't talked to Axel since their heated fight. The red-head kept trying to get Roxas to speak with him by visiting his parents' house, vowing to stand outside until he saw his best friend's face. Unlucky for him, he was shooed away by Roxas's parents each time. He called Roxas, who only rejected his calls. Soon, he just gave up.
He began to think about Larxene. Really think about her. There really weren't any good qualities about her, he began to realize. Really, the only thing she wanted him for was the sex, and it was only decent. She was the one that asked him out, he never really knew her anyway. He was beginning to think Roxas was right.
He realized he had to break it off.
However, something happened before he had the chance.
Apparently, Larxene wasn't only seeing Axel. How did he find this out? Oh, yeah, when her 'real' boyfriend broke into his house, screaming for Larxene. How he found the house, Axel would never know.
Groggy and half-asleep, Axel stumbled down the stairs at the sound of a loud crash. His kitchen window was broken in, glass was shattered everywhere, and a tall, burly man with an eye-patch and a furious expression was standing in the center of it all.
And the ransom god of war
Came to set me free
"Larxene is mine, boy. Get 'chur hands off." He walked straight up to Axel and shook a huge fist in his face.
"What the HELL are you doing in my house?! Who the HELL are you?"
"Larxene's husband. Now GIVE HER BACK!"
"Larxene? Husband?! What the fuck?"
Larxene, awakened by the ruckus, had arrived and was tightening her robe. "Baby, I missed you!"
"Baby? Larxene, have you got something to tell me?" Axel screamed at her.
She ignored him and ran up to the burly man. They shared a kiss that made Axel horribly sick to his stomach. When they broke apart, the man gave Axel a glare that could curdle dairy.
"I don't like it when people take what's mine, boy. Payback is in order, I think."
He had a couple of cold bottles
Full of gasoline
Soon, Axel was tied up with rope and a match was lit, which was promptly thrown on the floor.
As the two were leaving, their clothes caught on fire. The man set it out quickly, but Larxene didn't have time, as he was pulling her through the window.
Saying all I love is all that I allow
You blew me a kiss with a big burned hand
Axel tried to set himself free. He struggled and struggled, searching for weak points in the rope and rubbing his wrists raw in the process.
The heat and smoke from the raging fire clogged his lungs and burned his eyes shut. The flames drew closer, gasoline spreading them toward him at a quick pace.
I nearly choked with smoke and fell down
Axel heard a crash, and barely saw Roxas rush in, coughing, before he fainted.
Roxas rescued Axel and dragged him back to his house while the firefighters arrived to put the fires out. He patched up what he could, which wasn't a lot. Axel mostly had suffered internal damage from the smoke entering his lungs, and Roxas could only do so much.
"So, what happened?" Roxas had asked afterward.
"Uh, Larxene's husband came to get her, and burned down my house as a 'lesson'. I guess I warmed out my welcome."
Roxas held his urge to smile. He thought it to be too inappropriate after Axel's house was set aflame. "Oh? Too bad."
"So, she's gone now. Does that mean we can be cool again?" Axel said with a husky, smoke-laced voice, then coughed loudly.
Roxas smiled at him and nodded. "I'm sorry I was such a dick about it."
Axel returned his best friend's smile. "Don't worry about it. I should have realized she was trouble."
The blond drove Axel to the hospital after they checked the damaged house. To Axel's dismay, the house had completely burned down, with all of his possessions inside. He had no place to stay, and he was horribly depressed at the loss of his family's history.
As Axel was getting checked by a doctor, Roxas stood in the room with him. He had insisted to stay with his friend.
"Fuck, Roxas, what am I going to do?" The doctor gave Axel a dirty look at the swear word. "Sorry," he added, looking guiltily.
"Well, while we were acting like elementary school students, I got an acceptance letter," Roxas grinned.
"Where?!" Axel gasped.
"Where do you think?"
"No way! So we can totally go and be best buds and shit at the same college?!" Axel exclaimed, getting another glare and a harsh poke from the doctor. "Ouch!"
"Yes, Axel, we can be best buddies and shit," Roxas's smile stretched from ear to ear. The doctor hit Roxas on the head with his clipboard.
While the lion & the lamb kept shooting at a tin can
Before they knew it, it was mid-August. The fire was almost a thing of the past, and the town had finally shut up about it. Axel was staying in Roxas's parents' house until the two of them moved into their apartment they bought together in Santa Fe, near the college. Well, okay, Roxas bought most of it, and Axel was just mostly mooching because he was broke. But they were okay with that.
With Larxene gone, Roxas was happy to be around Axel again. Axel still thought it was low of him to stop talking, but Roxas and his stubborn self had disagreed. However, they don't talk about their fight much. It's much better to have a friend that be without one, as most everyone knows. They were happy to have each other back, and Axel was more than happy that Roxas had helped him realize Larxene's flaws.
They were together every day, just like old times. Both were unbelievably ecstatic.
Just as they were about to move out, Roxas confessed to Axel, saying he had been in love with him for quite a while now. To Roxas's utter joy, Axel replied by giving him a kiss and blubbering something along the lines of 'me too'.
So once school rolled around, the two of them packed their things (Axel barely had a suitcase-full) and headed out the door to begin college life, together as a couple. All was well for the two.
However, Larxene was not happy at all. She wanted find Axel once more. And find where he was staying, she did. She asked around her old campus, looking for a fiery red-head. Some of Axel's friends foolishly gave her the address of his apartment, thinking they were still together.
When the gun-shy goddess of love
Came to patch things up
She had a Purple Heart
And mother's milk in a plastic cup
She left in a taxi to find her destination. And find it she did. She pounded on the door.
"HE LEFT ME! LET ME IN! HE LEFT ME!" She screamed in desperation at the apartment complex's door, as Axel refused to let her in. "HE DIED, AND LEFT ME! YOU'RE ALL I HAVE LEFT!"
Saying one's to give and one's to take away
But neither of them will keep you off your knees
And so she hid in bushes near the entrance to the complex, waiting. And waiting. Until, an unsuspecting person. Larxene snuck in behind someone entering, catching the door at the last second. She bolted up the stairs to Axel's number and raised her hand to knock. But she didn't. She was going to burst in and take him away again. But she didn't. She left.
It was both good for her sanity and consciousness that she left the apartment, because if she would have burst inside, she would have seen Roxas beneath Axel on the couch, moaning and squirming around as Roxas lost his virginity to the one person whom he had loved.
When the curtain rose the crowd is blown away
While the lion & the lamb kept fucking in the back room
No one in Dexter could recall how the two of them got together. When they came back next summer, announcing they were going to get married, Roxas's parents were overjoyed. And although the townspeople sat in the aisles while the two said their vows and clapped as they paraded into their 'just married' car, they had wondered how the two best friends came together.
But again, no one could figure out the mystery. Some thought it was the heat that was making best friends see each other in a different way. Some thought Axel was the one that set the fire to the house in order to get Roxas's attention. Some even went as far as to guess that they had been watched too many chick flicks together turned into lovesick women. But only few heard a rumor that said it all started with the kiss from a big burned hand.
AN: Hope you enjoyed reading it almost as much as I enjoyed writing it :) Review, cause it'll take about a minute of your time and it'll make me feel awesome. Really, I need feedback.
Thanks for reading,
MaddeThee