Title: May Cause Cancer

Story Summary: So here we are, like every other day of our lives. Slaving at work and putting up with pretentious customers, lusting after people and making stupid decisions. I'm all work and little play. But he's all play and little work.

Chapter one: Cigarettes and Soundtracks

Chapter Summary: I remember grinding with Axel and Demyx thinking that things could only get better from here. Boy was I wrong.

Rating: M just in case

Warnings: Language, Sexual themes, Slight Violence, partial Nudity, AU

Notes: I do not own Kingdom hearts. I simply borrowed the characters for this. By the way if you are interested in Beta Reading, I am looking for a Beta Reader to help me in this project. Let me know if you want to.

So here we are, like every other day of our lives. Slaving at work and putting up with pretentious customers, lusting after people and making stupid decisions. I'm all work and little play. But he's all play and little work. It funny how things have changed but they stay the same throughout the course of it. The only thing that's really changed is I've moved out and my mom doesn't call me anymore. I am the same person, and for the most part we have the same relationship as well. I wonder how we've grown. I'm still five feet three and he's still six feet tall. We have different friends but in the end we are still friends and go to each other with our problems.

Axel says we've changed but I don't really get it. Image that, I over analyze things but I'm the one who doesn't understand how we've changed. We still so grab Venti green tea lemonades from Starbucks and walk by the river. I'll spew my philosophical bull shit and he'll laugh at me. We have the same old jokes and slowly are making new ones. It's funny how our relationship progressed. We simply moved from hanging out at school to hanging out at work now. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. We've had our ups and downs but I still care and I'm sure he still cares.

I love Axel, but not in the sexual sense. We are merely two friends who happen to have different sexual preferences. But this isn't explaining things how I wanted to. I guess I should find a better way to do this. Maybe we should go back to the beginning. As I shift around on my bed and reach for my C.D's; the person I'm with sits up and gives me a funny look.

"What are you doing Roxas?" he asks as he rubs his eyes. I push Sora back down on the bed and fish underneath it for what I'm looking for. I pull it out and smile a bit. Sora looks at me and grabs what I'm holding. He looks at it and smiles. I crawl over him to get to my lap top. I open the case and look at the C.D for a bit. The previously mentioned redhead gave it to me as a birthday present. I pop it out of 

the case and look at the disc for a moment. On it is scribbled Soundtrack: Ela, Axel, and Roxie; I shake my head.

"I hate it when he calls me that." I wrinkle my nose and Sora laughs. He grabs the C.D. and sticks it into my lap top. Sora ruffles my hair and clicks the C.D. on. We lay down on the bed, Sora for music; I for the memories.

Hold on Tightly Let go Lightly – Boys Night Out

I first met Axel when I transferred into advanced English. I changed class to get into a different history class. My history teacher and I were having our differences, so I asked to change classees. I had to show up early, since I needed to get the work I had missed from the previous week. I went down a one row and sat at the back of the class. Before the bell rang three people walked in and stood in front of where I was sitting. I had my head down, looking over my assignments when a hand pushed the sheets down. I looked up and I saw him. The tall cocky red head gave me a smirk and put his hand on my shoulder.

"You're in my seat, but since you're so cute I'll let you have it," His voice was sort of sweet and a bit cocky. I shook my head and smiled at him. The teacher told us we would be reading all period, which meant a social period. Axel took the seat in front of me, turning around to talk to me. The people he had come in with were friends of mine. Kairi was a sweet girl, a bit pushy and had a bit of a habit of lying; Luxord is a tall blonde boy with a bit of a gambling problem (he is really funny and a lot of fun). I smile as Kairi turned around and started talking to Luxord. Axel starting talking to me and I knew we had something. Axel and I liked the same music, had the same interests and made the same grades. We were a funny kind of pair and we had just met.

At the end of class Axel asked me where I was going. I told him I had to go to Home Ec. and he smiled. He took my hand and asked if he could walk me there. I got flustered and told him I wasn't gay.

He sighed, "Figures."

He walked me anyways. After that I spent class alone; my best friend had graduated last year so now I really didn't have many people to talk to. I worked quietly in my Home Ec. class, now people always wonder why I took that class. I figured that one day I would need to know how to cook and knowing how to sew would be useful for me. On top of that it would be an easy class and a good place to meet girls. After Home Ec. I called up Sora and asked him if he wanted to go for lunch-I had a third period spare.

I stepped outside to meet up with Sora; it was break so tons of other students were outside. I put a cigarette in my mouth and lit it. After a few minutes, Sora pulled up and we went to lunch. Sora was my best friend. I was going to move out with him this summer, after I graduated. If we weren't together, we were texting or talking on msn. That's just how Sora and I were. I jumped into his car and off we went.



After lunch I got settled into my new history class. I sat down at the table that the teacher directed me to and waited for class to start. A few minutes after the bell went and we had gotten settled into class the door was thrown open. In strutted the same redhead from my morning English class. He sat down beside me and smirked.

"So we meet again,"

"I guess so." After that I was stuck with him. He drove me home from school that day and when I went to leave the next day for school he was waiting out there to pick me up. We were comfortable with each other. The red head didn't have to try to be friends with me and I didn't have to try either. Don't get me wrong, Sora-was and always would be-my best friend, the two of us had simply always been friends and we always would be. But Axel and I fit like puzzle pieces. We had met and it was like we simply knew we would always be there for each other.

In the first few days I got to know a lot about Axel, as him with me. I learned that Axel had just moved to Hallow Bastion from a small place called Twilight Town. He lived on the outskirts of town on a farm with his parents. When he told his parents that he was gay they had kicked him out. He moved to Hallow Bastion to live with his aunt. I told him how I lived here all my life with my single mom. I told him that me and my father fought a lot and didn't get along at all. He figured it was probably better that we were both in our current situations. I liked spending time with Axel.

After a week or two it was safe to say Axel and I were a constant pair. We were hardly seen apart at school, minus our different classes. Axel came over for supper a lot, my mom simply loved him. He was so alive and full of life, it was a nice change in our small apartment. Sora loved having Axel around as well. The three of us made quite a team. We ran around showing Axel all the fun things to do around town. We took Axel to basement shows and moshed. We took him to our favourite places and showed him things that only Sora and I shared. Of course we had kept some of our places for just us. But Axe didn't mind, he knew that Sora and I were friends for quite some time, and we needed certain things to be between just us.

Axel made our Duo into a Trio. But even being a trio Sora and I were still a Duo when we went out just us two. When Axel and I went out just the two of us we were also a duo.

It was like Axel belonged with us, especially with me.

Bad Reputation - Joan Jett

The rest of September fell past in a haze of school work, basement shows, job searches, alcohol and cigarettes. I never said we were perfect angels now did I? Being with Axel was almost like needing to breathe for me. It simply always was. Of course school life had taken a drastic change and I could no longer find female dates; though the number of males interested in me had spiked dramatically. This is the point where he'd tell me to shut up and I wasn't missing out on much by not dating girls. Then I'd tell him he wasn't missing much since he didn't like girls but I was missing out on a lot.



Axel and I had a lot of strange conversations. They would make either of us rather uncomfortable, till we hit each other and laughed about it. Half of the time we spent at school was outside smoking. Sora couldn't come and get me for lunch very often; he had finally gotten off his lazy bum and gotten himself a job. Axels' behaviour was a strange thing. The red head walked me to class, or forced me to walk him. He said he had to drive me to and from school simply to spend more time with me. He held my hand often, if not all the time. And do you think he changed the way he acted if front of my mom? No, we still held hands and were goofy teenagers. She didn't even think twice about it. The start of October had been the start of some of our strangest conversations.

"Axel?" I said with a slightly questioning tone. The red head looked over at me and passed me the cigarette we were sharing. Apparently around Twilight town it didn't get cold till the end of December. So here we were, in the first few days of October and he had only worn a tee-shirt to school. The red head was holding me against him as we smoked outside, claiming he only wanted my body heat.

"What is it Rox?" He looked down at me as I took a drag of the cigarette. The nicotine filled my lungs, giving me a slight buzz.

"Are you trying to sleep with me?" He quirked an eyebrow at me. I heard a few people near me whisper about my comment and I tucked my head down. As if we didn't already seem gay enough. I fidget around a bit and he tightens his arm around my waist. I take another drag of the cigarette and hand it back to him.

"Roxas don't ask stupid questions. I'm freezing my ass off, the last thing I'm thinking about is trying to plow you," He took a long drag of the cigarette and blew the smoke in my face. I wiggle my nose and he smiles.

"But you have thought about it?" I questioned him a bit more. He passed the cigarette back to me. I started to inhale the remains of our cigarette, sharing is so much faster. But then he said something that made me choke.

"Of Course," I pushed him off me as he laughed. He tripped over his own feet and fell on his ass. I laughed and took a drag of the cigarette. He looked up at me and gave me his goofy grin. I smirked down at him and exhale smoke.

"You just looked so cool," He said and stood up. I dropped the butt of the cigarette and stepped on it to make sure it was out. He went to take my hand for us to walk back inside but I slapped it away.

"And you looked so Gay sitting on your ass like that," I remember laughing and running back into the school. He chased after me and we laughed until a teacher caught us. Axel got scolded since I was one of the teacher's favourite students. We didn't bring the subject up again for quite a while, I thought about it a lot though. So now that I knew Axel did think of me in a sexual way. The only problem was well there really wasn't one. He knew I didn't return the same kind of feelings and that was where we left it for the time being. I talked to Sora about it but he couldn't think of anything I could do 

at the time either. I didn't stop hanging out with Axel though; it was almost as if I couldn't. We had simply moved on from the strange conversation.

The next thing I can recall was the Halloween party we went to. Sora's new buddy from work was throwing one and the guy had insisted he meet us. I had dressed as a fifties greaser and Axel was a thirties styled mobster. Sora's friend was pretty cool. His name was Riku and to this day he and Sora are still friends. The party had started out slow, just a few people, but around nine or so more people had starting showing up along with more alcohol. Safe to say by eleven I was pretty well on my way to being really drunk. Axel had promised he would stay sober through the night, simply because he had to drive me home. I don't remember getting home though.

I do remember waking up with a splitting headache and in nothing but my Boxers. When I had opened my eyes I freaked out because Axel was there, only wearing his boxers as well. He calmed me down quickly and explained everything. He had brought me home because I was drunk. He took off my clothes because I had asked him too. Which I could see. I knew from previous experiences I hated wearing clothes once I got a few drinks in me. After He'd help me strip I'd passed out and he went to sleep. I trusted him, which in turn his story was confirmed by my mom. She had watched him help me the whole time, and had even helped herself.

"Roxie, you should be Gay." I had dropped the dish I was holding when Axel made this statement mid November. I turned around and gave him a really strange look. You know when you smell something really terrible and you screw up your face? That was about what my face looked like. Before I regained my composer he started talking again.

"Well everyone at school already thinks you are and you'd make a really great guy for someone," He stated. I bit my lip and looked at him. I really couldn't believe he had just told me that.

"Yeah, no thanks to you," I said and put my hands on the counter behind me. I knew I should have picked up the dish, but hell it was a plastic cup. It would survive being on the floor for a bit. Axel got out of his chair and walked over to me. He covered my hands with his and smirked down at me, like the cocky red head he was.

"I could teach you everything I know," I pulled my hands out from under his and ducked under his arm to get away. I picked up the cup and threw it into the sink before heading over to my cigarettes, which were laying on the kitchen table.

"Axel you know," but the red head cut me off.

"Yeah I know; but you can't blame a guy for trying hey?" I smiled a bit and lit the cigarette in my mouth. Truth was I had been turned down a few days ago, and I had told the girl the exact same thing. He knew it too, that's probably why he said it.

"Tell you what, if I ever decide to try it, you'll be the first person I come to," He smiled. We both thought at that time I would never even consider it. Now it wasn't that I was against it, I just knew it 

wasn't me. I liked girls and even though I knew I could find the same kind of comfort in Axel, I couldn't have those kinds of feelings for him. But that didn't bother either of us for a while. Axel was a great friend and not someone I was willing to lose. We understood that, and it was simply how it was meant to be.

Little did I know that I would soon need Axels' comfort in a much bigger way.

How to Save a Life – The Fray

The day that changed my life had started out like every other day. I wish it hadn't though; maybe there would have been a sign that way. I had gotten out of bed, late like normal. I'd thrown on a pair of jeans and a tee-shirt. I threw my phone into my pocket and pulled a warm hoodie on. My mom passed me two pieces of toast as I walked out the door. One for me and one for Axel. I gave him a piece of toast as I jumped into Axel's car.

"Give your mom my thanks I didn't grab breakfast," He put it into his mouth and I laughed. Axel had made it a habit to call me as he drove to my house and request, or demand toast. Axel and I haven't hung out for a while, and if we did, it was either at school or at work. Axel had finally found a job, so now he didn't have to bum cigarettes off of me all the time. Ironic that only a week before he got the job he was complaining that we didn't get to spend enough time together.

We had got to school and the day was passing quickly. I sat down at our lunch spot in the hallway we had claimed as ours. Axel sat down beside me and put his arm around my shoulders. I rolled my eyes and started eating my salad.

"You look cold Roxie," He said and I shrugged. We had sat there for a few minutes before saying anything. It wasn't either of us that spoke either. It was Olette. Good god she was the most amazing girl on this earth. She was a soulful, indie brunette. She was holding a c.d case out to me, a smile on her face. Damn I felt like I was in heaven, it didn't matter that Axel was sitting right beside me, holding me and glaring at the poor girl.

"Thanks for lending me this, it was wicked. I hope you don't mind that I ripped the songs onto my computer," She handed over the c.d and I took it from the girl. She smiled and put her headphones on. I watched her walk away from us and sighed. Axel grabbed the c.d from my hands and laughed.

"I'll just be throwing this out," I grabbed the c.d back and smacked Axel in the forehead with it. He laughed at how silly I was bieng about this. I was so hopelessly in love with Olette. She was probably one of the only people in the school who still believed I was straight. Axel was about to say some sort of smart ass comment when the school intercom came on.

"Will Roxas Hart please report to the main office,"

Axel shot me a funny look and I shrugged. I hadn't done anything wrong as of today, I didn't really get why I was being called down to the office. I grabbed my bag and stood up. It went without saying that Axel followed me there. I got there and the secretary gave us a funny look. She said I should 

probably go into the office alone. Axel merely shrugged and sat in one of the chairs to wait for me. I walked into the principal's office and sat down. Cid gave me a sinister look. Now don't get me wrong he was a great principal but he had a certain way of being really frank with all the students.

"Your mother has been in an accident at work," That sentence killed me inside. He explained what he knew and asked if I needed a ride to the hospital. I told him that Axel would take me and he nodded.

The next few hours were a blur to me. Axel had driven me to the hospital and I found out what had happened to her. She had been taking apart a machine to fix it. Something had come loose as she worked and fell on top of her. They were only giving her till the end of the night to live. I remember sitting in the chair beside her bed the whole time. Axel had went to my house and called my aunt's. He returned later. After a few hours of waiting my aunt's had showen up as well. I remember thinking to myself that this was all a horrible dream, that I would wake up and everything would be fine. Axel had stayed with me the whole time.

It was about two in the morning when it had started to hit me. We were all crowded in the small room watching my mom sleep. Then she had started gasping. I had thought for a moment that she was waking up but I realized how much pain she was in. The doctor and two nursed had come rushing in. They were asking us what we wanted to do. No one seemed to be able to make a decision. I was silent for most of the conversation, my eyes locked on her as she struggled to breathe.

"Pull the plug," My aunts gasped in horror. The room was quiet before they started to protest. I shook my head and looked at Axel. They had wanted him to leave all night, but I simply wouldn't let him. I needed Axel there, more than I needed anyone. The doctor turned to me and told me it was my choice. I nodded and told him to do it. My aunt's tried to get me to leave the room, but I wouldn't go.

Axel slipped his arms around my shoulders and held me against his chest. I stood there and waited while she gasped and tried to hold on to life. Her last breathe seemed like it took an hour even if it was only a few moments. When she was pronounced dead I let myself fall apart. My aunt's told Axel to take me home so I could get some rest. They said they would take care of the funeral plans.

The funeral was a week before we got out for Christmas break. It was cold and bitter outside, reminding me of how I felt on the inside. I simply felt like there was nothing left. Sora and Axel were both there for me at the funeral. They were in the family room with me, and sat next to me in the front row.

I had a certain hate for Christmas this year. I hadn't returned to school since my mom's accident. I had been aloud till the start of the New Year off of school. Axel was suppose to go back home for the holidays, but he didn't. I remember spending Christmas sitting on the couch. We exchanged our gifts and ate left over Chinese food. He had brought over movies and we simply sat and existed, like it was any other day of the year. I didn't want it to be Christmas; it was my mom's favourite holiday.



I remember half way through watching Austin Powers I finally broke down. I cried through the rest of the movie. Axel didn't say anything; he just held me and watched the movie. I cried until I fell asleep. Axel had held me all night.

Life – Our Lady Peace

When the New Year started, I started up again. It was really hard. I had too much to do. The way it broke down was I had an apartment I didn't want to be in, with furniture that reminded me of my mom. Everything in the apartment reminded me of her. I sold most of it, only keeping sentimental things. Whatever wasn't sold was donated. My land lord had asked me if I was going to move out. I said yes. Now it was the simple matter of with whom.

Most people thought Axel to be the oblivious choice, that or Sora. Axel was great; we had a lot of fun and got along well. There were defiantly upsides to living with him; being able to smoke in the apartment, being able to drink more than Sora would let me. But then there was tension between me and Axel. I knew he had a certain amount of feelings for me, but we had talked about that. We had our awkward moments still. I thought it would be much to stressful, but it looked like my only choice.

Then Sora had called me. He and Riku were going to move in together, he asked me if I wanted to move in with them. I weighted my pros and cons. Sora was my best friend. He understood me and could handle me no matter what mood I was in. Axel didn't have that experience yet. I had to smoke in my room or outside, but that wasn't too bad. I didn't know Riku very well, but from what I heard he was a pretty chilled out kind of person. Rent between three people was cheaper than rent between two.

In the end I decided to move in with Sora and Riku. When I told Axel he was pissed of at me. He wanted to know why I had picked them over him, especially since I hardly knew Riku.

I remember the conversation so vividly. We were sitting on the kitchen floor of mine and my mom's old apartment. I was ready to move out, all my stuff was packed and everything that had been sold and donated was gone. We had an ashtray sitting on the floor, and we were sharing it. I smoked a lot more at that time. It was something about all the stress I was going through.

"Why Rox? It just doesn't make sense! I am your best friend, you should live with me!" He was angry and hurt. I could see it in his face. It hurt me too, to know I had caused that pain and frustration.

"Axel, I already explained why, it cheaper and closer to work and school," He made this hissing noise. Like a cat ready to rip your face clean off.

"So you're just going to ditch me?! For what?"

"Fuck you Axel! I've known Sora for eight years, he is one of the most important people in my life," I pulled the cigarette back to my mouth and took a long drag.



"What about me?" I closed my eyes and rubbed the bridge of my nose. I could not do this right now. Here were Axel's feelings for me bubbling up again. It was hard to deal with. I cared about the guy so much, but I knew I couldn't give him what he wanted.

"Axel," I snapped to bring him back to reality. I took another drag of my cigarette and stared at him. For a few moments we didn't speak, it was too intense to say anything. I looked down at the floor between my legs.

"What about me? I can't take this stress right now, I really can't. The cheaper it is makes it easier on me cause then I don't have to work as much. Sora can handle me however I happen to be, and I don't tihnk you can just yet. I just need some calm right now. I'm about to break," I didn't look up but I heard him shift to sit beside me. He wrapped his arm around my shoulders. I knew he was still bitter but he under stood what I was saying. He pulled me over so I was leaning against him.

"Okay," He said. We weren't fine, but for the moment it didn't matter. He got what I was saying, and sure it hurt him, but I was hurting too.

I moved out a few days before the start of February. Riku turned out to be a really good roommate. It wasn't until I moved in with him and Sora that I found out he was gay. I laughed and told him he should meet Axel.

"Maybe this time he won't be taking care of your drunken ass," He had joked with me. For two people who didn't like smoke, he and Sora seemed to spend an awful lot of time in my room. By the end of February they were tired of me locking myself up in my room and changed the smoking rule. As long as it wasn't in the bathroom I was allowed to smoke anywhere in the apartment. The three of us worked well together. I was thinking about asking them if Axel could move in with us. I talked to Axel about it and he seemed up for the idea.

A few days before I asked, Axel had told me he found a roommate and was moving out of his Aunt's place. It was one of the other guys we worked with and went to school with. His name was Demyx. He was a funny guy, everyone got along with him. I liked Demyx, he was a good guy. He started hanging around with us more and more.

I remember sometime in April the three of us had went to a house party. Axel was off flirting with someone. I wasn't to clear on who the person was. I was playing pool with Demyx and some other girl we worked with, her name was Namine. She reminded me a lot of Olette but I didn't feel the same way about her. Namine was just a friend. Namine was talking about how her boy friend didn't want to deal with their mutual feeling's, they had been fighting for the past week and currently were not on speaking terms. That's when Demyx opened his big mouth.

"It's kind of how Roxas doesn't want to deal with Axel's feelings hey?" He said trying to make an example. I missed my shot when those words left his mouth.

"What are you talking about?" I turned to Demyx and he shrugged.



"He was kind of hinting that maybe that was the reason you didn't want to move in with him," I shook my head but he continued to talk, "I'm not saying he said it but I kind of get that vibe. He's trying to get past them because he knows you will never feel that way about him. He really doesn't want to lose you though,"

After the party was over Axel spent the night with me. I had brought the situation up and Axel explained it better. He said that it wasn't the main reason but he did think it was a reason. Even I had to admit it was part of it. We talked about it and he told me that he was trying to get over his feelings for me. He told me that I had changed his life and I was too important to him to lose.

I told him he was too important to me to lose over something like this.

Let's get moving into Action – Skye SweetNam

It was May and prom was coming up in the next few weeks. I didn't have a date since most of the school was certain I was gay by now. It really kind of sucked. I had tried to get up the courage to ask Olette, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. So I gave up, it wasn't like prom was important to me anyways. It was a superficial coming of age event, where everyone got way too dressed up and paid too much money for one stupid night.

But I wanted to be a part of that in a way. I guess I was missing having a stupid teenage life, were I worked to have money as opposed to pay bills. Where I got to do stupid things and my mom was there to make it better. It was still hard to think about her. I was sitting outside on the stairs of the smoking section, waiting for Axel to get out of class so we could go for lunch. After the sound of the bell I got up and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. After a few drags Axel appeared and we walked down the street to get lunch. Halfway through the meal Axel popped a question that made me choke on my food.

"You want me to what?" I sputtered and grabbed my water. I took a drink and waited to see if he was going to say it again.

"I said do you want to go to the prom together, what are you deaf?" He asked. I took a long drink of my water not sure why he was asking me. I looked at Axel for a moment and gulped. He furrowed his eyebrows and stared at me.

"I'm just asking if you want to go, as friends," He clarified. I looked at him for a moment; I had just spent the past week ragging on about how lame prom was. I blinked for a moment and stuffed a few fries into my mouth. He took a sip of his chocolate shake while he waited for my answer. I mulled over my thoughts about it while I finished eating my fries. He had sighed and figured I wasn't going to answer him.

We got up and paid for our food. We both had class in ten minutes so we lit our cigarettes and headed back to the school. He looked at the ground as we walked. For the weather warming up I felt really cold right now. I reached out and grabbed Axel's arm. He stopped and looked at me.



"Let's do it," He raised his eyebrow at me. I smacked him upside the head for the dirty thoughts I knew just ran through his perverted mind. God I swear all he ever thought about back then was sex, specifically, sex with me.

"I meant let's go to prom together. As friends," He smiled and pulled me into a tight hug. I squawked and laughed as we stood there hugging.

As soon as I got home and told Riku and Sora, I was dragged from the apartment kicking and screaming to go shopping. Shopping with those two was a nightmare and a half. They acted like two dotting mothers as opposed to my roommate and my best friend. I hated every moment of this shopping.

The day of prom was a trip to hell in a hand basket. I was dragged out of my bed around noon to start getting ready. Riku had stripped me off my clothes and carried me to the bathroom well I was still half asleep. I woke up as soon as I hit the water. At least it was hot.

"What the hell!" I yelled. Sora walked into the bathroom and looked at the two of us. He started laughing when Riku forced me under the water to get my hair wet. I pouted as soon as he pulled me back up. He washed my hair for me, claiming I couldn't do it right. He let me wash my own body, thank god. After that I was pulled from the tub and I got to dry myself off, lucky me.

I was dragged around the house getting cleaned up all day. Riku said he didn't care that Axel and I were going as just friends; I wasn't going to my prom without looking like I'd walked out of a fashion magazine.

I finally got to see myself ten minutes before Axel was going to show up. Riku had styled my hair in sideways, unruly spikes. I was wearing a pair of black dress pants, with a matching jacket. Riku had helped me fit them right. I had a light blue shirt on and a black tie. I just stared at myself till Axel got there.

Sora and Riku insisted on taking pictures of us, for us, bastards. Axel was wearing basically the same thing as me only he had a red shirt on. He hugged me and smiled, telling me I looked good. I told him the same thing. Riku and Sora made us pose around the apartment and outside. It was a bit embarrassing but we survived it, somehow. We got into the car and burst out into laughter. Now we were ready for prom.

It was exactly what I had expected. Everyone thought we were either stupid fags or terribly cute together. Namine brought her new boy friend, I think his name was Siefer. Demyx brought the new crazy sassy girl we worked with, her name was Larxene. They were funny since they had both drank before arriving. The alcohol kicked in during the speeches. The food sucked ass, so we were going out after the dance to eat.

Speaking of the dance part, I don't think I've ever had that much fun. I danced mostly with Axel, Demyx and Namine. Once everyone else got really tired Larxene pulled me on to the floor and we tore it up. Once everyone else hit their second wind we danced the rest of prom away. I thought about asking 

Olette to dance but before I knew it we were getting kicked out of the hall. After that we headed to the nearest twenty four hour restaurant.

We ate nachos and danced there. The staff didn't mind since we were nicer than the few drunks that were in there with us. Our waitress, Even, danced with us for a bit. I remember grinding with Axel and Demyx thinking that things could only get better from here. Boy was I wrong.

Boys of Summer – Don Henley

There were times when I wished my mother was still alive, graduation was one of them. Axel's parents had come in to see him graduate so I had no one to save me from spending a day with my father. Riku and Sora had decided to meet me after the ceremony, to give me some alone time with my family . I was forced into an awkward day of shopping with him and my step mom, then a terrible supper which my grandparents were invited too. He didn't let my aunt's from my mom's side come for supper with us, since they would have spent the whole meal at each other's throats.

The second we made it to the hall I made a dash for the graduate area. I slipped on my gown then made my way to find Axel. It wasn't too hard since our class didn't have to many six foot tall flaming heads. He hugged me tight, and promised to save me a seat since he was walking the stage before me. Axel looked good in his gown where as I looked like a drowned rat. We found Namine and Demyx to do my hair. Demyx always had a comb and some gel stashed in the girl's purse. They sat me down and fixed my hair since I had to be dragged out of bed this morning.

The ceremony was really boring. There were too many speeches, awards and scholarships for me to care about. I remember leaning on Axel's shoulder and making snarky remarks about everything. He laughed even if what I said didn't make sense; I was too bored to really care.

Instead of going to the school planned after grad party we decided to go bowling. There was Axel, Namine, Demyx, Kairi, Luxord, Larxene and myself. Then something strange happened, Olette asked if her and her friends could come with us. That added three more people; her, Hayner and Pence. We played five games and I kicked almost everyone's ass, Larxene was giving me a run for my money though. After that we hit a coffee shop and headed home.

I don't remember much of the summer, it past in a whirl of parties, beaches and slave labour. I hadn't applied for University since I didn't know what I wanted to do yet, so I was stuck working full time for the next year already. Over the summer Axel had started to get over me, which in turn meant he was sleeping around. Namine had broken up with Seifer and was living the single life for once. Demyx was toning down his party ways to focus on his music. Larxene was Larxene as always, we had been hanging out a lot since Axel was spending most of his time hung over or in someone's bed.

I tried to talk to him about it but he simply brushed me off. He told me I didn't understand what he was going through. He talked about how I was making him suffer since I refused to even try with him. I asked him why being friends wasn't good enough and he simply ignored me. I pushed the subject a bit and he told me to fuck off. He gave me some bull shit about how he was in pain and I wasn't there trying 

to help him. Then I yelled at him about the incidents after my mom's death and how he caused me so much pain. I told him he didn't know what suffering was and to fuck off if he was going to use me as an excuse to get drunk and sleaze around.

We didn't talk for two days after that. I simply ignored him at work, Call me petty if you will but I didn't want to deal with him being an asshole. On the third day of operation ignore Axel He came in and handed me a c.d. He said he had been thinking about us and how he was okay with just being friends and explained that he was feeling unwanted for the past few weeks. I hugged him and took the c.d. It was the story of us, he explained. Songs to go with how we met, and were friends and fought through some really tough things.

The strangest thing that happened that summer happened to two people that no one would have expected of considered. One night Axel was hanging out with me at my apartment. Demyx had kicked him out saying something about being a block to his creativity. Later we found out that Demyx had a girl friend and he didn't want us to know at the time, but back to the story at hand.

Riku and Sora were hanging out with us. The four of us were fresh out of money and lacked alcohol. We decided to play some board games. After three games of Monopoly and four games of life Sora broke out the twister. We all played for a bit before I got tired and sat around out. I wasn't using the spinner just calling out colours and body parts. I had Axel under Sora and Riku over both of them. Riku was determined to win since he had lost every game we played tonight. He leand forward and kissed Sora, which caused everyone but him to fall. Game night was over and everyone retreated to their rooms.

A few days later we got hit with our second ton of bricks. Axel and I were smoking at the kitchen table when Riku and Sora came home. Instead of scolding me they looked a bit nervous.

"Look we got something to tell you," Riku had started but then Sora launched out, not able to contain himself.

"We've been dating for the past three months," My brunette best friend blurted. I almost choked on my cigarette. Axel actually fell out of the chair he was half sitting on. There were a few moments of silence before anyone said anything. Of course it was Axel.

"That really hurt my ass," He referred to his fall. Thus the Riku Sora relationship was ousted. They were cute together, which put a bit of pressure on me and Axel again. I think seeing them ate made him feel like he was being cheated out of something really good by me. I felt bad for Axel, but I wasn't going to pity date him.

Nothing else really exciting happened that summer. We did our thing and had a lot of fun. With the turning of summer to fall, Axel and I headed into our second year of friendship. This is where our story really starts. We were about to hit more hardships, betrayal and fights than we were ready for. Something in my gut had told me so. It was an unpleasant feeling and scared me a bit.