"Roxas."

The ladybug walked across the burnt black sidewalk and waddled its way towards a piece of grass.

"Roxas?"

The little black legs under the bright red with black dotted body grabbed onto the blade of grass and began to pull its way up the stem.

"ROXAS!"

Roxas stopped watching the ladybug and looked at his brother, Sora, who had been calling his name for the past minute. He gave the brunette a tired look and went back to watching the lady bug. Sora was Roxas' older brother by one year and five months. He had dark brown hair the splayed out in all directions. He always wore baggy pants and tight fitting shirts—an odd combo, but it fit his personality well. He was always talking and one to be the center of attention. He was outgoing and could make friends in an instant just by twinkling his eyes and smiling at them. Roxas, on the other hand, was the exact opposite. The only thing the two shared, were the cerulean blue eyes that belonged to their dad. Roxas had blond hair and always wore loose tops and tight jeans. He was quiet and he only talked when he wanted to, which was never.

Roxas flinched at the gust of cold winter wind that caressed his face but kept his eyes on the ground. Sora finally decided to give up on his brother and stomp on the leaves traveling with the wind. The yellow bus turned the corner and gave a honk that startled the brunette and was ignored by the blonde. The bus slowed to a stop next to the two and opened its doors. A lady from around the age of the dinosaurs opened the door and frowned at the two.

"Great. Two more punks I gotta pick up," she said as Sora hopped up the stairs and flittered into a seat with a surprised, silver haired boy. Roxas gripped the shoulder strap of his backpack and solemnly made his way up the stairs. He looked around for a seat but found that none were available. He turned to make his way back up to the front but was tripped and fell face first onto the narrow passageway. He heard snickers surround him and he scoffed. He picked himself up and wiped his hands on his pants while he continued to the front. This school was no different than the others. He finally found a seat with some blonde girl and the two sat in silence till they got to school.

Sora was the first one off the bus but stopped and waited for the silver haired boy, whom he had already made friends with. He clung to his arm and asked him to show him around. The boy smiled and nodded as he led him into the building. It was typical of Sora to forget about Roxas. Sometimes he didn't mean to, but Roxas never exactly talked to him so he would get bored with the blonde and find something else to do. Roxas made his way down the stairs and was once again tripped onto the hard gray cement.

"Hey lookie here. We got a new toy to play with!" a boy said, his beanie covering most of his eyes but, they still gave off a glint of evil. Roxas shuddered and attempted to pick himself off the ground for the second time that day. The boy slapped him on the back and wrapped his arm around his shoulder—pulling him closer to himself.

"My name's Seifer. Do you need a tour around school, new kid?" Seifer asked as he whispered in Roxas' ear.

First day of school and he was already being bullied. Fan-fucking-tastic. Roxas pushed Seifer away and took off running towards the school. He heard a few shouts directed at him but ignored them all till he was inside the giant building. He made his way into the doors and looked around for his brother. He saw a sign that said office and decided that would be a good place to start. He walked to the office, keeping his eyes on the ground the whole way. He just wanted to be invisible. He wanted to blend in with the ground and become undetectable, then, no one could see him. When he made it to the door, he lightly gripped the knob and pushed it open. He was greeted by a squeal and a bone crushing hug that Roxas was unaffected by.

"I'm sorry Roxas! I totally forgot about you! Riku wanted to show me to the office and I just said yes but forgot about you!" Sora said as he rubbed his face against Roxas'.

Roxas' face was one of disgust as he pushed his brother off of him. He would always do that. He would leave him and then come back after everything had happened. Roxas knew Sora just had bad timing and because of that, Roxas had to suffer.

Sora seemed to sense something had happened and asked.

"Roxas? Did something happen? Don't you lie to me. You know I can tell when you do," Sora nagged as he wagged a finger at the blond.

The boy, Riku, stood off in the background, busy with obtaining the two's schedules. Roxas knew his brother could read him like a book. Sora thought of it as a gift; Roxas thought of it as a curse. Roxas looked to the ground and stayed silent. Sora huffed and hugged his brother once more.

"You're staying with me and Riku for the rest of the day, got it?" Sora said as he backed up from the blonde, who only looked at him in confusion. Sora laughed and continued, "The classes here are extremely easy so they put you in a lot of my classes and Riku is in my classes too!" Sora said as the man showed up behind them.

"I have your schedules, you two. Sorry, Roxas was it? Sora neglected to tell me he had a brother. I wouldn't have left you behind with Seifer in the gang if he had," Riku said with an apologetic look. "My name's Riku. Sorry for the late meeting," Riku said as he held his hand out to Roxas. Roxas stared at it. He reluctantly moved his hand out to great his halfway and the two shook. Roxas was surprised at the amount of strength the boy had. Riku gripped his hand with intensity. Roxas winced at the shaper pain and Sora decided to jump in.

"So how many classes do we have together?" Sora asked Riku as he broke apart the handshake.

"We have all of our classes together. We also have almost all of them with Roxas too," Riku said as he looked between the two papers. Roxas looked at the beige carpet under his feet and played with a couple of strands using his shoes.

"Almost?" Sora asked the question Roxas was thinking.

"He has two classes without us," Riku said as he looked at Sora's horrified face. "Don't worry, I have friends on both of those classes. They owe me a bunch, so I'll have them watch him." Riku looked at Sora and continued," He sure does look like a troublemaker. Albeit unintentionally, he's going to grab a lot of attention." Riku waved for the two to follow him and headed out the door. Sora quickly ran and grabbed his arm. Roxas found it a bit odd. Sora usually wasn't one to be clingy. A crush. Yup, Sora had a big crush on the slightly taller man. Roxas sighed and hurried to catch up—not wanting to meet the 'Seifer' guy again.

The three went to all their classes together. Each one the same as the last. Roxas and Sora were forced to stand in the front of the classroom and recite their names and where they came from. Sora would always smile and cover for Roxas.

"My name's Sora Strife! This is my little brother Roxas. We both came from Disneyland! It's nice to meet all of you!" he would say as he pulled Roxas to one of the empty seats next to him and Riku.

The bell finally rang on their current period and the three headed to lunch. Riku and Sora were talking about what types of games they liked and other things they had in common. Roxas walked closely behind them and listened to their conversation. Something caught the corner of Roxas' eye as they entered the large lunchroom. Roxas turned his head to get a better look at it.

Red.

Bright red hair, the color that you would see on a fire truck, was seen on a boy's head. The boy stood a couple tables away—waving at someone. Roxas gasped in his mind when the boy's bright emerald green eyes locked onto his own cerulean blue ones. The two stared at each other till Sora shook Roxas' shoulder.

"Hello! Aren't you going to sit with us?" Sora asked as he began to drag Roxas toward the now smirking red haired boy. The boy sat on top of a table and Roxas watched in amazement as Riku walked up and high fived the boy. Roxas watched curiously as the boy got off the table and stood up. He had to be at least three feet taller than Roxas, who watched with a blank stare as the boy strutted over to him and Sora.

"Who's the cutie?" the emerald eyes gleamed with mischief as the boy bent down to get a better perspective on Roxas.

"His name's Roxas! Mine's Sora! It's nice to meet you!" Sora said as he jumped up and down, a little too excited over nothing.

"The name's Axel. Got it memorized?" Axel said as he put a finger to his temple and winked one shining eye. Roxas felt his heart thud in his ribcage and quickly brought his attention to the tile floor. He heard a slap and Riku start scolding Axel on the stupid phrase. He felt Sora pull him away while telling the two arguing boys they were going to go get some lunch.

"Roxas…" Sora started as they were waiting in line for their food. "Why didn't you say anything?" Sora asked in a slightly hurt tone.

Now that to two were alone, Sora got serious. Roxas looked at his hands and brought one up to cover his throat and look at his brother in sadness. Roxas doesn't talk for a reason. Not just because he doesn't feel like it, but because he lost his voice a couple years ago. He and his friend Hayner had been in a car together with Hayner's dad. A semi-truck's tire blew out next to them and they were sent flying into the wall on their other side. Hayner's dad died on impact and Hayner died later on in the hospital. Roxas was extremely lucky to get away with some lacerations and wounds from the glass cutting him. Roxas lost his voice when, somehow, some of the glass found its way to his vocal cords. He had surgery and a couple weeks after, he was said to have regained full control of his voice. He went to therapy a couple times a week. But, Roxas suddenly quit going. No one but Roxas knew why. Deep down inside, he was afraid. Afraid he might not like his voice. What if it came out old and gross? Roxas couldn't risk it.

Sora seemed to understand that Roxas couldn't have said anything and he brought his arm around his brother and pulled him into a tight hug. They broke apart immediately and Sora went back to being happy-go-lucky as he practically flirted with the lunch lady to try and get more food on his plate. Roxas smirked slightly at his brother's antics and grabbed an apple. He paid for the apple and headed back to find Riku and Axel. He looked around and immediately spotted the red haired boy laughing with Riku and some other people. Roxas hesitated and wondered if he should wait for Sora to come when he suddenly felt a hand on his head.

"What are you doing just standing there? Sit."

Axel had somehow made his way over to him while he was thinking. Axel ruffled Roxas' hair and pointed to the empty seat. A boy with a darker shade of blond waved to him and asked him to sit. Roxas sat in the chair and stared at the grey table in front of him. He heard his name be called couple times, but he just stared at the table and ate his apple. A thought flashed through his mind. What if they were as mean as 'Seifer'? Roxas quickly looked up and immediately blushed when he realized Axel sat right across from him and their eyes were locked together.

Axel was in the middle of biting his sandwich when the quiet blond suddenly jerked his head up. He searched the wide and scared eyes for a second before the blond realized what he did and they filled with embarrassment. The emerald eyes refused to let the cerulean ones look anywhere else. He saw the pale skin start to cover with a light pink blush and had to smile through his sandwich. The boy seemed to notice Axel's smile and quickly looked down at the table again. Axel watched in amusement as a light smirk passed across the blonds' shaded face.

Axel continued to watch the blonde throughout lunch. He didn't know why, but for some reason, the blonde caught his attention. He wanted to know why the boy refused to talk. He had asked Sora about it while the blond was engaged in a staring contest with the table. Sora said the he just didn't feel like talking and quickly turned back to Riku. He knew he was missing something but also realized that Sora wasn't going to answer anymore.

The bell rang and everyone got up and started heading out to their respective classes. Axel went to go to his next class before he was stopped by Riku.

"Hey Axel, remember last week when I covered your ass in math and you said you owe me one?"

"Uh, no?" Axel lied as he tried to find out what the sly silver haired boy wanted with his body.

"Well, you did. I need to look after Roxas here during your last two classes."

Axel eyes grew big and a grin crossed his lips. His smile grew even more when he saw the blond shift uncomfortably next to his brother. Sora smiled and gently pushed the silent boy towards the happy red head.

"I swear to god Axel, if anything happens to my brother, I'm going to rip out your throat and feed it to the birds while giving your blood to a pair of vermillion colored squirrels!" Sora said with the biggest smile he could muster.

Axel mentally shivered and knew he should never get on Sora's bad side. The last two classes of the day were up next. He and Roxas had English and study hall together. He turned and headed towards the classroom. The blond quickly tripped and followed the taller man as close as possible. Axel felt like a mother duckling as the blond struggled to keep up with his larger strides. The two finally made it to class and Axel pointed to the seat next to him and ordered the blond to sit. The boy sat and stared at the desk in front of him. There were many intricate drawings born from the boredom of teenager's mind carved into the wood. He stared at them and studied the way they were made. Axel watched the boy curiously and decided to strike up a conversation with the quieter one.

"So… Roxas, where did you live before you came here?" the man asked as he moved in his seat to face the boy. He leaned his elbows on his knees and leaned closer to the silent blond. He was ignored. The boy didn't even blink at the question. He stared at the desk in front of him. Axel tried to figure out why he didn't answer when it finally came to him.

"I'm such an idiot!" Axel said as he facepalmed. What Axel failed to realize was that class had long since started and had been going on for around five minutes.

"Yes, Axel? Is there something you would like to share?" the teacher asked from the front of the classroom.

"Uh, no. I was just thinking!" Axel lied as he awkwardly swung his long legs back under the desk and faced forward. How could he have been so stupid as to forget that Roxas didn't talk? No wonder why he didn't answer.

"Oh, I see we have a new student! Roxas Strife? Am I right? Why don't you come up here and tell us about yourself."

Axel looked at the boy in question and wondered how he would answer. The boy slowly pulled back his chair and walked up to the board. He grabbed a piece of chalk and wrote 'Roxas Strife; Disneyland'. He put the chalk down and wiped his hands together as he walked back to his chair. The boy sat down and the teacher could do nothing but accept the answer on the board. The class continued on as planned and Axel could only stare at the blond.

Class ended and Axel stood and stretched. Peaking out from below his shoulder, he noticed a bright cerulean eyes staring at his stomach. He followed the blond's gaze and saw that his shirt had lifted up slightly, revealing part of his happy trail. Axel chuckled at the blonde.

"Like what you see?"

The blond jumped at the red head's voice. A blush quickly spread across his face and he frantically looked anywhere but the tall boy in front of him. Axel's hearty laugh reverberated next to his ear and Roxas felt his lips twitch into a smile. The laugh made his heart beat a few times faster. When a hand suddenly lay itself on his shoulder, the heart decided to step it up a notch.

"Well come on! Let's head over to study hall," Axel nodded his head toward the door and motioned for the boy to follow.

Roxas quickly threw his school books in his bag and hurried after the boy who stood waiting for him next to the door. Roxas stumbled to the door and tripped as he got up to the red head. Axel swiftly moved to catch the falling boy by reaching around and grabbing his waist.

"No need to rush. I'm friends with the teach'. He ain't gonna do anything if we're a few minutes late," Axel's cool voice whispered across Roxas' ear. He quickly wiggled in the Axel's grasp and dislodged himself from his tight hold. Axel laughed at the boy's ever present blush and wrapped his arm around the boy's shoulder pulling him closer and turning his cheeks a nice cherry pink. The two walked to class just as the bell rang. They walked in and Axel swiftly dodged a piece of chalk and hid behind a surprised Roxas.

"You're late," a tall man with an eye patch got out another piece of chalk and aimed it at the cowering boy.

"I was showing Roxas around school! He's new you see! He's from Disneyland!" Axel said in a flurry of words as his red locks rubbed against the side of Roxas' face. Axel was very good at hiding for a boy of his height.

"Whatever. Get to your seat and shut up," the man said as he waved the two boys off and went onto the computer. Axel grabbed Roxas' hand and smirked at the blush. He pulled the blond to the back of the classroom where the other blonde boy from lunch sat before them. Axel sat next to him and struck up a conversation while Roxas hung back and sat next to the red headed loudmouth.

"Don't worry about Xigbar. He's usually all bark but no bite. It's only Axel he picks on!" the blond boy said from next to Axel. Roxas smiled and dipped his head in appreciation. He looked to Axel and saw that the red head was deep in thought about some sort of problem.

"That's it! I know what we are going to do next week!" Axel suddenly said as he jumped up in his chair. He was immediately greeted by twenty shushes. Axel quickly apologized and sat down.

"Let's go to the beach!" he said in a much lower voice. The other blond smiled and agreed then turned and began to talk with a slate haired boy about the new plans.

"Hey Roxas! Why don't you get your brother to go? I'm sure Riku's going to come too," Axel said as he grabbed the silent one's shoulders. Roxas smiled and nodded his head in agreement. The bell sounded and they packed up their things and headed out to the courtyard. They made it to some picnic tables and Axel sat on the table, just like he had done in the cafeteria earlier.

"Roxas!" a voice said right before Roxas was attacked by a glomp. "Did he hurt you? Are you ok? How many fingers am I holding up?" Sora asked a barrage of questions as he held two fingers up on his right hand. Roxas smiled and held up two fingers as well. Sora laughed and hugged his younger brother.

"Hey Roxy! I will talk ya later 'kay?" Axel said as he waved to the blond, whom was now being pulled away by a frantic Sora.

"Are you sure he didn't hurt you?" Sora inquired when they were well away from the table. Roxas nodded his head and remembered that they were heading to the dreaded bus. He suddenly felt himself tense up and readied himself for any sort of impact he was going to receive. They got on the bus and once again, Sora sat with Riku—forgetting all about him as he began talking about math. Roxas saw Riku give him a smirk before looking at the brunette. Roxas wondered if Riku was really a nice guy like Sora believed him to be as he made his way to the back of the bus. He felt a hand on his shoulder and almost yelped as he was thrown into a seat.

"Think you can still ride the bus?" Seifer said as he closed in on the blond. Roxas could only watch in horror as Seifer raised his hand and quickly brought it down on his face. Roxas cringed in fear and closed his eyes but never felt any pain. After a minute or so passed, he cautiously opened his eyes and saw the Seifer was now on the ground, one side of his face was beginning to swell. He was looking up, his eyes wide in fear, at some figure looming above the two boys.

"Think it's pretty cool to pick on little boys? What are you a pedobear?"

A hearty laugh that filled Roxas with joy and made his heart beat quicker greeted them. Roxas immediately jumped out of the seat and hugged the red head. He felt Axel's hand ruffle his hair and take him to a seat behind Sora. The slate haired boy was sitting in it but graciously moved when the red head came near.

"You could have sat with me," the slate haired boy added as he went to sit somewhere else. Roxas smiled at the kind words and felt himself heat up as Axel pulled him down into the seat the two shared. He looked into the green eyes and waited for an answer. The red head only cocked an eye brow and Roxas figured the boy would have to learn his language later. He swiftly pulled out his phone and began to type rapidly.

'Thank you.'

"No problem! Riku told me earlier and I figured I might as well fix this up now rather than wait till later. By the way, mind if I come over?" Axel said, all the while smiling.

'Ask Sora.'

"Hey Sora," the taller man leaned over the seat and swatted at one of the unruly brunette locks.

"What the hell do you—Axel? What are you doing on the bus?" Sora asked, bewildered, as he twisted around to get a better look at the two that sat behind him.

"Roxas here wanted me to come over and help him with his English homework! He said to ask you if it was alright."

"Isn't it a little late to ask? You're already on the way to our house."

"Good! Thanks Sora!" Axel said as he sat back down in his seat and faced the blond once more. "Sora said 'Yes!'"

'Yes Axel, I heard him too.'

Axel chuckled and saw Roxas laugh as well. Axel was amazed at the way Roxas pulled this off. His mouth was open and his eyes were shut but no sound came out. If you listened closely, you could hear the air as he breathed in and out. Axel suddenly had the urge to hug the cute, laughing boy in front of him. He wrapped his arms around the boy and pulled him close. The airy laughs immediately stopped as he realized he had been caught. Roxas beat against the larger boy's chest till the boy reluctantly let him go. The bus stopped and Axel was swatted in the head.

"This is our stop," Riku said as he pulled Sora off the bus. Roxas and Axel watched them walk away as Roxas speed texted on his phone.

'This isn't our house."

"Yeah it's Riku's! Wow, the two already have a play date! Well, so do we, Roxy!" Axel said as he laid his arm over the blonds' shoulder and laughed once more.

'Roxy?'

"Yeah I thought it was a good rhyme! Didn't you? 'We.' 'Roxy.' See?" Axel said as he pointed at the imaginary words in the air. Roxas smiled and nodded his head.

'Is that my… nickname?'

"Yeah? YEAH! It is! Foxy Roxy Moxy Poxy! But I think I'm just going to call you Roxy." Axel said as he pulled the blond into another hug as the bus slowed down to a stop. Roxas lightly pulled Axel's shirt and signaled for them to get off. The two got off the bus and Axel stared at the size of the house that lay in front of him. It was an old style Victorian house. There were at least twelve windows on the side of the house that he could see. Each window had a different color drape that somehow matched the light blue outside of the building. Roxas walked up the stone walkway and began to climb up a set of steps. Once at the top, he turned and waved for Axel to follow. Axel looked at the blond, and quickly ran to him. Roxas fished out the keys from his pocket and unlocked the door.

"Roxas? Sora? Welcome home!" A sing- song voice came from the kitchen on the right. Axel saw Roxas take off his shoes and proceeded to do the same. Axel wore tough army size boots. Mainly because shoes don't usually come in his size and he liked the feel of being able to clomp down the hallway at school and scare the little freshmen. He managed to get both shoes off in a reasonable amount of time before standing up and coming face to face with a patient Roxas—who had been waiting for him the whole time. Axel smiled and motioned for him to lead the way. Roxas walked into the kitchen and Axel was surprised to see a man, a young man only around the age of thirty, standing over the stove. He was mixing some kind of concoction and didn't notice their presence till Axel cleared his throat. The man looked away from his combination of ingredients that looked somewhat comparable to that of a stew.

"Welcome home Roxas. Who might this be?" the man said as he wiped his hand on a pink apron and walked over. He held out his hand and smiled, his dark brown, almost black locks fell haphazardly into his eyes as he wiped them away with his other hand.

"The name's Axel. Roxas said he needed help with some homework so I came to offer my services," Axel said with a smile as he also held out his own hand to the man. The two shook and for a moment the tension held thick through the air. One man's smile warned 'if you ever think about touching Roxas I will kill you'. The other smile rang out an "I can do whatever I want with or without your permission'. So it was only natural that Roxas could fell the sparks flying through the air. The two soon broke the handshake and the man introduced himself.

"I'm Zack Fair-Strife. Roxas' father," Zack put extra emphasis on the father and turned to his son. "Where's your brother?"

Roxas pulled out his phone and was about to type when he remembered Axel was there. He looked at him and wondered if he would talk on his behalf.

"Sora and his new friend Riku went to kill each other on some video games— I mean kill their math teacher 'cause they have so much homework." Axel covered up the first excuse realizing their father might not like the idea of his son playing games instead of homework.

"Okay! Roxas, why don't you text him and tell him to be home by dinner," Zack said as he walked back over to the now borderline burning stew. "Keep the door open boys. You've only just met."

Axel frowned at the innuendo and was about to retaliate when he felt a light hand grip his wrist and begin to pull him upstairs. Axel decided to just follow the quiet boy, completely content at the wrist-hand contact and quietness that enshrouded them. They finally reached Roxas' room, and just to be a pain in the butt, Axel closed the door behind them.

"Nice room you got Roxy," Roxas smiled at the nickname. No one had ever given him a nickname before so he didn't exactly know how to feel about the red head. Does this mean that they were now friends?

"Hey Roxy, what do you wanna do?" Roxas smiled and turned on a tv that lay in the corner of his room. He dug out an old PS2 system and plugged in the controllers. The game title popped up the words 'Kingdom Hearts' and the sweet but melodious music began to play with scenes of a boy that Roxas and Sora always fought saying it did and didn't look like Sora. The two played the game till Sora came in and demanded him and Riku play. The two were promptly kicked out of Roxas' own room and headed downstairs for the remains of stew. The two finished up and Axel decided it was around time for him to leave. Zack offered to drive but Axel disagreed saying he lived only a block or two away. He and Roxas stepped outside and stood in a slightly awkward silence. Neither wanting to break. Roxas decided to just go for it as he pulled out his cell phone and did one of the bravest things he had ever done in his life.

'Does this mean we are friends?'

"Of course it does! Roxy you're definitely my friend!"

'You're my first friend. I'm not as experienced—'

Axel took Roxas' cell phone as he was typing the message.

"Are you serious?" Axel looked through Roxas contacts and saw he only had Zack, Sora, Home, and their other father Cloud. Axel quickly entered his number into the device and threw it back to the groping boy. Roxas stared at the new number and decided to try it. Axel's phone vibrated a couple seconds later and he looked at the text.

'Thank you.'

Axel looked up and saw a tear prick in the corner of Roxas' eye. He quickly pulled the boy into a hug and softly rubbed his back in a way to comfort him.

"No problem."

The two separated and Axel yelled for him not to forget about the beach trip next week. Roxas stood on the steps till Axel disappeared from view. He knew he should probably go inside but his heart was starting to hurt. Why was it hurting him when it was so content a few minutes ago? Was it because Axel was gone? Roxas decided to set the thought aside for later and go to bed now as he walked into the house and shut the front door on the quiet neighborhood.

...

so what do y'all think hmmm? It's only going to be threeshot TT^TT I is sorry! But, the next chapter is already written ish and i will post it when i get back from spring vacation! ^0^

This is the longest chapter I have ever written! probably because it was originally going to be a oneshot but i was like 'i gotta cut this off'!

Happy birthday gilly!

Oh! This story is made/created for my beta/husband/bestie DreamingDaxern. aka without him, you wouldn't have this story!

reviews help me concentrate and make me happy and giddy! story alerts are okay but author alerts rock! you should check out some of my other stories!

Review for my life!