AU prompt from OTPPrompts on Tumblr. I don't own these characters. blah blah blah. just read it XD

"Another glass, Ax!" Axel flinched when he heard the call. This was the 5th one so far and the poor guy had only been here 20 minutes. Still, if there was anyone that could hold their liquor, it was him. With a sigh, he turn to get another glass of whiskey.

"Xigbar… you should slow down. I'd hate to have to cut you off within an hour of you stopping by." The red headed bartender said as he sat the glass of amber liquid down. "I know you can hold your own, but I've never seen you drink like this." The elder man just gave a half-hearted chuckle and took half of the new glass in one drink.

"I've never needed to drink like this." He answered passively before knocking back the other half. Axel cocked an eyebrow, hoping that he would get more information. Alas, his pepper haired friend remained mum on the subject.

"C'mon, Xig. You can't leave me hanging like that. Let's hear it." He said, pouring Xigbar's next glass. "I might just leave you the bottle." Once again, his friend tried to give his normal grin, but even succeeding to put the smirk on this face, his eyes gave him away. Finally he dropped the act and the corners of his mouth fell into a dissatisfied frown.

"Xaldin… Man, I didn't even know I had enough heart to break so bad." With one tear welling up on his eye, he slammed the entire glass back and slammed it back down on the bar. People turned to stare but quickly looked away. "I have had break ups and losses, hell, I've been cheated on but ain't none of them ever hurt me like this." Axel listened and slowly sat the bottle down beside his friend.

"Wow, Xig. I'm sorry… that's rough."

"This isn't the first time he's freaked out about me being 'childish' and said he was leaving. Usually though he comes back and apologizes for over reacting. This time though," he paused long enough to remove the spout from the bottle and take a swig. "But uh, it's been three days. I've called him, texted him, hell, I went by his house and when I got there guess what I found. The fucker up and moved. There is a damn for sell sign in the yard." Axel was about to comment, when the front door of the bar opened. The blonde that walked in seemed to slip in quietly and sit at a table in the far corner and laid his head down. Xigbar turned to see who what being stared at and cocked an eyebrow. "Oh I bet he needs a drink. A strong one."

"I couldn't agree more." As he started to go about gathering his things to go ask the guy what he wanted, he noticed the heartbroken whiskey drinker was still turned around looking. "Xigbar?" The man turn back to the table, pulled out a pen, and jotted down a note on a napkin.

"Here. Take him your best drink and this. Put the drink on my tab." He said as he started to nonchalantly go back to his own drink. "Don't need no one else being this mopey." Axel chuckled and poured up something strong and smooth. Even down and out, Xigbar could still be counted on to be a good guy with a sarcastic humor. Axel moved pasted the other patrons in the bar who were all up and dancing and having a good time and came to a quiet stop at the lonely new patron's table. The person raised their head as the note and drink were sat down on the table and Lethem looked toward Axel. The red head flinched inwardly at this blonde's puffy, red eyes.

"I've never seen you here before. The name's Axel, owner and bartender." He had to bite his tongue to stop him self from adding his customary 'got it memorized' to the end on that. This particular patron didn't look in the mood for his odd, amusing quirks. "That drink has been paid for. If you need anything, don't hesitate to come to the bar or flag me down" With that, he headed back to the bar. The blonde muttered a thanks as he left and looked over toward the drink. As he started to take a sip, the note caught his attention. Slowly he picked it up and read it. The handwriting was sloppy, but not completely illegible.

"Hey, kid. You look like you are having a rough night. If you need ears, I got two. Shoulders? Got two of those as well. But even if you don't wanna talk, at the very least, don't drink alone. Doesn't solve a thing. If you decide to, I'm the guy at the bar with the whisky bottle. -Xigbar"

Though he fully intended to just ignore the note, when he looked back up that the bar, the guy with the black and grey hair looked back at him and raised the bottle in his hand invitingly. His eyes gazed back down at the note and a scowl came across his face. He got up with his drink and made his way to the bar, sitting down beside the man that had invited him up there. For a moment, they both just sat their quietly drinking their poison. Quiet was not Xigbar's strong suit, so he spoke first.

"What's your name, kid?"

"…Demyx…"

"What's gotcha down?" silence followed the question. Xigbar glanced over towards his company to find him staring into his empty glass with an hollow expression. He motioned Axel over to refill the glass and took a swig of his own. "Not something you wanna talk about yet? Might do you some good."

"I…" Demyx started but he started to choke on his words. He glanced over at Xigbar apologetically before starting at the now full glass before him.

"Would it help if I told you mine first?" At first, Demyx didn't respond, but eventually he nodded and looked over toward Xigbar again. "Alright. The asshole that I was with went on one of his holier than thou freak outs and left. I thought he'd come back and apologized but instead he skipped town. No call no text, just 'fuck-your-feelings-I'm-gone'". Demyx's eyes got wide.

"That's awful… why would he do that?" The blonde asked, temporarily forgetting about his own pain.

"The hell if I know, man. All I know is I ain't never been hurt this bad but hey," Xigbar held up the nearly empty bottle in his hand with a smirk. "It helps to have a bar owner for a friend. May not be the solution, but it sure doesn't make it any worse." A small smile spread across the face of his audience of one. Xigbar wasn't sure if the alcohol was to blame, but even just that small smile made him feel a little warmer.

"I…" Demyx started again. This time as he started to get choked up he took a deep breath and forced himself to continue. After all, Xigbar had been open enough to share his, why couldn't he? "I found out my boyfriend… well, I guess ex boyfriend, has been cheating on me. So I went to confront him about it and found them in the living room of his apartment… with the window open. He knew I was coming by…" Xigbar halted mid-drink and sat the bottle down with an irritated expression.

"Now that is fucked up. Who even does that? I can tell you one thing. Sounds like an asshole. And not even a loveable asshole like me. I'm sorry man. You didn't deserve that. No body deserves that. Except maybe your ex." Demyx half heartedly chuckled at Xigbar's comments.

"Heh… thanks. I couldn't even go home after that. I just kinda… wondered around town. I got tired of walking though so I came in to rest before I went home. So far, I like this change of plans better."

"Ha! See. I told you drinking alone would solve nothing." Xigbar's voice was loud and more his normal demeanor. He and Demyx sat there and talked for a long time, laughing and making jokes. Ok, Xigbar was making jokes and Demyx was just laughing helplessly. After a while, Axel make the announcement for last call, and Xigbar stopped mid conversation to look at the clock. "Holy shit. Where did three hours go? Geez. I didn't mean to keep you here so long, Dem."

"No, no, no, it's fine! Actually thank you. You made my day. All I would have done if I left is go home and stayed in bed for days…"

"Hey, what are friends for?" Xigbar finished off this drink and turned toward the blonde. "So. I don't know about you. But I'm not exactly a nice person. I have a favor to ask you."

"Uh…"

"It's nothing bad. Ok. It's not bad for you." Reaching into his back pocket he pulled out his phone and opened the camera. "I need you to take a selfie with me. I feel the need to be petty and try to make this asshole jealous. Not to try to get him back. Nah, just for shits and giggles." Xigbar held his phone toward his new friend. Demyx shrugged and took the phone, holding it up to get the perfect angle. As he was about to snap the picture, he got surprised by kiss on the cheek. Demyx blushed madly but had the biggest grin on his face. Xigbar took his phone back after the picture was snapped and laughed. "Aw, how cute. It's even better because you are cute and blushing. I gotta send this." Demyx placed his hand gentle on his cheek where Xigbar had kissed him and chuckled then looked over his shoulder to see what he was doing. He had attached the picture to a text, but what he had typed under it was the part that got him. 'Not going home alone tonight'. Not 3 minutes later, his phone started buzzing. XALDIN flashed across the screen. "Oh man. He actually called. That's grand." Xigbar laughed hysterically. Eventually the buzzing ceased and the screen darkened, but it almost immediately lit back up and started buzzing again, which made Xigbar laugh even harder. Even Demyx laughed.

"Hey, Xigbar, can you send it to me too? I want to try…" Demyx asked, a small shyness in his voice. Xigbar took a few deep breaths to control his laughter.

"Sure thing. Here, just put in your number and send it. Oh man. The worst day turned out to be the best." He laughed as he ran his hand though his long black and grey hair. Demyx finished sending the picture to himself and started to hand the phone back, tilting his head curiously. "I got to piss Xaldin off one last time and-" he quickly yanked his phone back and grinned devilishly, "I got your number. Today's loss is now a total win" Demyx blushed slightly a Xigbar celebrating getting his number. Quickly he sent the photo to Zexion with the very same caption that had been sent before. Suddenly he felt an arm wrap around him. He looked up at it's owner who had a very triumphant and proud look on his face.

"Guys." Both men turn to face Axel, who standing behind the bar with his arms cross and a smirk on his face. "I have to close up. You have to go."