A/N: Please, please, please don't hate me for this. I, for some reason or another, have been reading a lot of tragedy stories on here, and I decided to write one.
Disclaimer: I do not own Axel, Demyx, Roxas, or Zexion. However, I do own all the other characters in this story, however minor their roles may be, and despite the fact that they don't have names.
My day began the same way it always did. I woke up, took a shower, got dressed, and headed for school. I got there early today, to watch my latest obsession, a guy named Zexion. Although he had hair covering half his face and mostly wore band t-shirts and skinny jeans, he did not appear to be what everyone else classified him as. I mean, sure, he seemed like a loner, emo kid, because he spent as much time as he possibly could in the library with his nose buried in a book, but he was actually pretty nice. I've seen him interact with the librarians like they're his best friends, and he offers to show people where to find certain books if they can't.
Right now, Zexion is reading a book under a tree, using the sun as his light. He looks so serene, so peaceful, like he's in a world of his own.
"Hey Dem!" Axel shouts in my ear. I jump almost out of my skin, my heart pounding.
"Jeez! What the hell was that for, Ax?" I question him, irritated that he scared me so easily.
"I figure you probably don't want to be late to class because you're too busy staring at some guy," he replies. "And besides, other people were bound to start noticing you openly gaping at him."
I blush at the statement and start twiddling with my thumbs.
"I don't know what you're talking about…" I mumble.
Roxas shows up at that moment, saying good morning to us both. Axel leans down and presses a kiss to his cheek.
"Good morning, love. Did you sleep alright?" Axel asks. He has his asshole moments, but when he wants to be, he can be very sweet. This was one of those times.
"I'd have slept better if you were there with me," Roxas says to his boyfriend.
They start getting a little mushy with each other, when I decide to leave for class. I do not need to see my best friends being all lovey-dovey, again.
So now, it's first hour. Science. Oh joy. I don't particularly like this class, because I'm not good at memorizing everything we need to know. It's always been a bad subject for me. Luckily, we have a substitute teacher today, and we're told that we're going to be watching a movie today. Just a random movie, no documentary or whatever it is we normally watch. Because of this rare opportunity, I use the hour to sleep.
I wake up to the sound of the bell ringing, alerting me that it's now passing time. Grabbing my backpack, I shuffle out of the room, still wanting sleep. I head to my locker to grab my history book. However, I happened to get a locker in the most crowded hallway here at the school, and someone gets shoved into me, knocking the book and my assignments out of my hands.
"Dude! I'm so sorry! My friends are being jackasses. Are you okay?" the random boy asks me.
"Yea, I'm fine. It's not a big deal," I say. I begin picking up my scattered assignments before they get stepped on, and shove them back in my book. The warning bell rings and I book it to class, not wanting to be late.
History is a subject I learned to like because of the awesome teachers I had. Most of them have been quirky, or able to relate to everyone easily. They helped me find out that I actually enjoy history, so it's a tight second for my favorite class.
Today, we were learning about the events leading up to the Revolutionary War. This is my favorite thing so far, because it means we'll get to watch The Patriot. Anyways, we take notes for most of the hour, and are informed of a quiz tomorrow.
Passing time is uneventful this time around, lucky for me. I swap my history book for my English book, and head off to my favorite class. This is only my favorite class because I have it with Zexion. And we sit pretty close to each other. Then I realize that we're doing group projects today, only we don't get to choose our partners. The teacher assigns us partners, and when I hear her say that I'm paired with Zexion, I'm thrilled. Inside, I'm jumping ecstatically.
We get to work on our project, designing a picture to depict a poem we chose. Zexion starts sketching things out, and I learn that he's actually a really great artist. In the meantime, I'm talking to him, about the message of the poem, and how the author meant for it to be interpreted. He doesn't say much, engrossed in his art. By the time this class is out, we're almost finished already. I leave the room, grinning like an idiot.
Roxas meets me during passing time to fourth hour, since we have class together.
"Oh my gosh, Roxy, guess what!" I exclaim.
"What, Dem?"
"I got paired with Zexion to work on a project for English!" I'm as giddy as a kid in a candy store, on Christmas.
"Cool for you, man! Anything happen?" my blonde haired companion asks.
"Sadly no, but I did find out he's awesome at art. I mean, it was so neat, getting to see him draw something that looked so realistic," I blissfully recall. I sigh in contentment. Roxas snorts at my almost cheesy romanticism and calls me hopeless.
We walk into French goofing off as usual. Sitting down next to each other, we pull out our books, ready for the assignment to be given. Our teacher tells us that he doesn't really have much planned for today, and decides to take a free day.
"Sweet! No work today!" Roxas beams.
We spend the hour talking about what-if scenarios between me and Zexion. Before we know it, the bell rings, and we're dismissed to lunch. Axel meets us in the line and gives Roxas a small kiss.
Before I can tell Axel what happened in English, Roxas beats me to the punch.
"It must be fate, Dem. I mean, it's totally obvious," the redhead says sarcastically.
"Must you always mock me?" I punch him in the arm. We continue joking around as we get ever closer to the gruel they serve as "lunch". Though the fries are good. I decide to take the safe route today, and get a packaged peanut butter and jelly sandwich, grabbing enough containers of fries for the three of us. I pay for my food, and we meet at our table.
Passing Axel his fries, I ask, "Do you really think something could happen because we got paired together?"
Instead of answering me, Axel and Roxas just stare behind me. Curiosity gets the best of me, and I look. I see Zexion with a tray of food, looking uncertainly towards us. I wave him over, and I can see he's nervous about sitting here. Granted I would be too if I didn't Axel and Roxas. I pat the seat next to me and smile.
"Uh, hi… I um, can I sit here? Someone took my usual spot…" Zexion admitted quietly.
"Of course you can!" I tell him, a little too excited.
"Th-thank you," he mumbles.
"Oh, Zexion. Before I forget, this is Axel," the redhead interrupts. "Got it memorized?"
Zexion looks at him like he's a freak. I probably would too.
"And this is Roxas."
"Nice to meet you, Zexion," says Roxas.
"So, Zex, can I call you that? Demyx here says you're a pretty good artist?" Axel questions.
"Uh, yea, I guess. I mean, I'm pretty average," he explains, a light blush on his cheeks. "'Cause no one ever really looks at my art… So, I wouldn't…" he trails off.
Roxas is curious, "Do you have anything with you right now?"
"I just ha-have a few sketches." I can tell Zexion is nervous of people seeing his art. Reluctantly, he hands the sketchbook over to Roxas, allowing him to see the work.
I see Roxas drop his jaw. He's floored.
"Holy crap, Zexion. That's way more than just "pretty average". You're amazing," he says, flipping from page to page.
Axel leans in to see, and his eyes widen. It's surpassed his expectations; that much I know.
"Wow… Just, wow, Zex. This is awesome."
"Um, thanks. No one's ever really complimented my art before," he informs us, unsure how to take the praise.
"Would you mind if I looked?" I ask, hopeful. Zexion tenses up, and the color rushes to his face. He visibly gulps.
Hesitantly, he tells me, "G-g-go ah-h-head." My friends pass me his sketchbook, triumphant smiles on their faces. Wondering why they're grinning, I open the book. I'm shocked to see myself on the page. I look to the next sketch, me again. I recognize the tree I always meet Roxas and Axel at behind me. On the next page, it's a drawing of a full size mirror, words scrawled beneath it. I don't want the world to see me, 'cause I don't think that they'd understand… When everything's made to be broken, I just want you to know who I am. I'm speechless.
Blushing heavily, I close the sketchbook and hand it back to him. He holds the book closely to his chest, anxious to hear what I have to say.
"They… They're beautiful. I'm really glad you let me see them, Zexion." He looks up at me when I say that.
"You like them?"
"I don't like them," I say. He deflates a little, not waiting for me to finish. "I love them."
I see his cerulean eye light up, like it's the first good news he's ever heard in his life.
"Do you really mean that?" he inquires. I nod my head, knowing it'll make him happy.
"With all my heart." As I say that, Zexion leans in, placing a chaste kiss on my lips.
"Awww! How sweet!" Axel exclaims, ruining the moment. My stomach joins in, growling loudly. Then I remember we're at lunch, and I'm not eating yet.
We all laugh that, and from this day forward, Zexion joins us daily for lunch.
Many weeks pass by, and before I know it, it's Christmas break. Zexion and I are nearly inseparable. So naturally, we spend all our free time together, and sometimes with Axel and Roxas.
Tonight is no different. I'm getting in my car, ready to head over to Zexion's house for a sleepover. I get a feeling in my stomach, which is usually never good, but I ignore it. I won't let anything ruin my night. I pull my car out, and start towards Zexion's house, a familiar route now. But I suppose that with holiday parties come holiday drunks, because before I can even blink, a car headed in the opposite direction swerves into my lane, hitting me head on.
I'm stuck in the car, my legs pinned between metal. I vaguely remember hitting my head on the steering wheel, hard. I lose consciousness.
At some point, I wake up, feeling someone trying to get me out of the car, but everything goes black again. Strangely, I can still hear everything. Someone shouts, "He's not responding!"
"Demyx, if you can hear me, I need you to squeeze my hand. Can you do that?" Someone's talking to me. Why do I need to squeeze his hand?
"Demyx, come on! Stay with us, buddy. Keep fighting." After that, I don't hear anything.
"He's crashing! Starting CPR!"
"BP's dropping!"
"We can't lose him, we can't lose him. Hold on Demyx…"
The ambulance reaches the hospital, and I'm feeling cold. What's happening? I'm scared.
"What have we got?" A doctor demands.
"Seventeen year old male, DOA. Time of death: four p.m."
I don't understand. Time of death? But I'm not dead! I'm right here next to you! Can't you see me? Who's that on the gurney? I see my face pass by, before being covered by a sheet. I can't be dead…
"Do you think something happened?" Zexion wonders aloud.
"I'm sure he's fine, Zex. Demyx isn't one to let anything stop him. Especially where you're concerned," Axel states confidently.
"Hey, hold on, I hear my mom on the phone. Mute the TV." Roxas does as instructed.
"…Okay, I'll tell him. I'm so sorry. Yes, goodbye," Zexion's mom says, hanging the phone up, "Zexion, honey, you and your friends should come here for a minute."
"Mom, what's wrong? What happened?" the slate haired boy asks, suddenly very afraid to know the answer.
"Honey, that was Mrs. Leith on the phone. I… God, I don't want to tell you this, but…" she starts crying, "Demyx was in a car accident on the way over here. A drunk driver swerved into oncoming traffic and hit Demyx head-on."
"Is he gonna be okay?" Roxas asks her, fear in his eyes.
"No, Roxas… Mrs. Leith said the paramedics pronounced him dead after they reached the hospital."
'The silence is too loud… He can't be dead! He just can't be! It's not true! Please, God, tell me it isn't true!' Zexion thinks, sinking to the ground. The tears start streaming down his face.
"But… I didn't even get to tell him… That I love him…" whispered Zexion. "He always… he said not to say it if I wasn't ready… and now it's too late."
"Zexion… Zex? Are you going to get through this?" Axel solemnly questions the other teen, sniffling, but refusing to cry.
Zexion doesn't hear him, and continues to whisper to himself. After what seems like years of silence, he screams. Like he's lost a part of himself; like he's been stabbed in the heart and had it torn from his chest.
He gets up and runs from the house, sobbing. Axel and Roxas chase after him, worried for what he might do. And after a few minutes of running, they lose him. They stop to catch their breath and hear a police siren coming fast. The cars speed past, desperate to get to the emergency. That's when the two boys see a small crowd running, following the path of the police cars. Roxas stops one.
"Hey, what's going on? Where's everyone going?"
"Didn't you hear? There's a possible jumper on the top of one of the buildings in town."
Looking back at Axel, Roxas grabs his hand and they take off, sprinting as fast as they can. They don't want to lose two friends in one night.
Already seeing the onlookers, Axel and Roxas push their way through, to the front of the crowd. However, they soon realize the jumper is not their friend. A sense of dread fills the two teenagers, who now know that Zexion would prefer to not make a scene.
"Oh God, I hope we're not too late!" Axel huffs out, lungs trying to suck in as much air as they can. His legs burned, and he was out of breath, but he persevered. Roxas trailed behind him, slowing down. He had already seen what Axel had not.
Hanging in a tree, next to the pond where he and Demyx had shared so many memories, was Zexion.
A/N: ;A; I did not wanna do that... I think I made myself cry a few times writing this thing. Please, review, tell me if it's horrible. Okay? I love all you guys, and I hope you don't hate me for writing this.