Roxas groaned as he looked down at the people walking and talking below him.
"See! This was a stupid idea."
"We're not stuck, Rox."
"We're at the top and we're not moving. Yeah, that's totally normal."
Glaring at the man sat next to time, Roxas frowned and tried to ignore the lack of ground beneath his feet.
"It's just my luck we get stuck -"
"Not stuck."
"- At the very top. Couldn't have stopped when we were at the sides or even on the bottom, noo! It just had to be the top."
Roxas let out a small yell as Axel shifted beside him.
"No! Don't do that! Do not move, Axel! You're rocking the seat."
"Roxas ... Nothing I do will make us fall to our death, okay?"
"How do you know?"
"Uh ... Well ... because I just ... do?"
"Your logic is lacking, good sir."
Folding his arms across his chest, Roxas continued to glare at Axel. He found that the cause of his problem was also a great distraction from it as well.
"... What?"
"Oh, nothing. You know we have no seatbelts, right?"
"Don't need them."
"I could stand up and jump right now."
"You could."
"Aff! Then how can you say we won't fall to our death?!"
Gripping onto the handle bars, Roxas took a deep breath and forgot the most important rule of his young life: Don't look down.
"Oh fuck."
"Did you look down?"
"Oh fuck."
"Roxas, why would you do that?"
"I'm going to die. I'm going to fall to my death and I'm going to land on that lady and her cotton candy."
"You're not going to die."
"I am."
Shutting his eyes as tight as he could, Roxas imagined what his tombstone would read and what his friends and family would say about him.
"Do you know if I'm getting a tombstone or cremated?"
"I ... Roxas, come on, stop being ridiculous."
"I'm serious!"
"It's up to you."
"Cremated. And keep my ashes."
"You're not serious."
Roxas opened his eyes and looked at Axel, his tears shining in the light of the moon.
"Rox ... Come on."
Tensing up as he felt Axel move closer to him, Roxas' glanced at the side to make sure the seat wouldn't break from the movement and plummet them down.
"I told you not to move, Axel!"
Roxas let himself be leaned into Axel's side as he pushed his tears back. He hated heights, and he had only agreed to go on the ferris wheel because Axel said it would be fast and he could shut his eyes at the top.
"You said we'd be on this for five minutes, Axel."
"I know. I didn't expect this to happen, I'm sorry. But we're okay."
Roxas felt Axel pull him closer to his side, the warmth of his body slowly starting to comfort him.
"Look at all the lights, Rox. Pretty, right?"
Biting his lip and looking ahead, Roxas took in the sight of the lights from the rides below. He could see the fun house in the distance and the swing still going. Slowly lowering his eyes, Roxas felt a smile pull at the corners of his mouth as he watched a group of teenagers run out of the haunted house, screaming words he couldn't quite make out.
"It's a full moon tonight, too."
Roxas blinked at the sound of Axel's voice and looked into the sky. The stars were out, and the moon was full. It was what people would classify as a perfect night. Lifting his hand from the bar and setting it over Axel's, Roxas squeezed and glanced up at his boyfriend.
It had been a perfect night. They had gone on different rides, went into the fun house and laughed at how the mirrors distorted their figures, had gone on the bumper cars and targeted each other, they had tried some of the festival food and had different candied foods. Axel talked him into going on a roller coaster that he ended up enjoying and Axel ended up afraid of.
This was the beginning of the end to their night. A ride on the ferris wheel, Axel would win Roxas that big plushie sea salt ice cream, and he would win Axel the plushie of a flame, and they'd walk home holding hands and get ready for bed. A perfect ending to a perfect day.
"I'm sorry for freaking out."
"It's okay. If I had known you were that afraid of heights I'd have skipped this ride."
Roxas nodded and looked back towards the festival. He wasn't as frightened as he was moment ago, but he still missed the ground and his stomach was still doing flips.
"Happy anniversary, Axel."
"Happy anniversary, Roxas."
Roxas jumped as the wheel started to turn again. Looking around, Roxas felt himself getting anxious as watched the others getting off of the ride.
"Finally!"
Roxas rushed off of the ride platform and onto the ground, his heels digging into the dirt to mark this return. He could hear Axel snicker, but he was too happy to mind. Nodding over to the duck game, Roxas grinned and folded his arms across his chest.
"Still plan on winning that ice cream for me?"
"Of course. ...Still plan on winning that flame for me?"
Grabbing Axel's hand, Roxas nodded as he made his way over to the game booth, determinded to win the toy for his boyfriend. He only stopped to give the ferris wheel one last glare before he focused on catching the little rubber ducks.