Axel was bored. His shitty job had him sitting in a shitty cubicle for eight hours everyday. Not only that, but because he was low on munny, he couldn't pay for a parking spot everyday. The closest free parking lot was at the high school, over a mile away. Not that Axel didn't mind the walk, he actually enjoyed it somewhat. Unless it was raining. If there was one thing Axel hated more than his job, it was rain.
He sat at his desk, attempting to work on whatever dull assignment his boss had told him to work on. Not that his computer was much help. It made a snail look fast, and in thunderstorms, it went even slower, sometimes even shutting itself down. Axel groaned, running a hamd through his spiky red hair. He looked up at the clock, in hope that there was less time than he thought. 'Thirty more minutes of this? God... why do I have to go through this shit?'
Axel looked out the window, at least maybe it would be nice outside. The red-head looked out to a black sky, which was then pierced by a flash of white light. "Fuck. Thunderstorms. Now how am I supposed to get anything done?"
Axel desperately tried to save everything he had been working on, when the power shut off. Not just his computer, the whole building.
"Oh that's just great." He heard one of his co-workers grumble. His boss came to his cubicle. "Axel, there isn't much more work that can be done while the computers are down. You may go."
Axel huffed, grabbed his jacket, his breifcase, and let. He was soon followed by his co-workers. They parted ways, and Axel started his daily walk, this time in freezing cold rain and thunder. Axel shivered, but didn't bother putting on his jacket; it was probably soaked through already. The red-head's hair was now slicked back, with unruly strands falling into his face. Axel shloshed through the mud and puddles, inwardly telling himself he needed a new job that he wouldn't have to walk a mile from just to get to his car.
He wasn't even quite sure why he had gotten the job in the first place. Maybe because it was the first one to accept Axel when he first moved to Twilight Town. Maybe because, at one point, there had been a hot blonde working there. The two of them had dated off and on, until she met some other guy and ended up with him instead of Axel. Everytime Axel thought of her, a red haze always filled his vision. He didn't know why.
Eventually, he got to the high school. The thunder had stopped, but the rain was as relentless as before. The high school students were filing out into the rain; he heard girls scream about their hair getting messed up by the rain. Axel almost smiled, before realizing that she had always complained about her hair getting messed up by rain. A red haze blocked his vision.
"Hey! Give that back!" A boy's screech slashed through Axel's memories. He stood there, looking for the source. A short blonde boy was attemting to grab a book from a much taller, brunette boy. Beside the brunette stood a girl with bronze hair pulled back, and an extremely short, emo-looking boy. The girl sneered. "Oooh... is that your diary? What's Roxas got in there, stuff about his boyfriend?"
"I don't have a boyfriend! Give me that back!" Roxas screeched. The brunette just laughed and raised it higher in the air. Axel looked around. No one was coming to help the blonde, they all just watched the scene unfold, or ignored it.
"Yeah ya do, Roxas! Wanna know why? Cuz you're GAY!" Brunette spat in Roxas's face, getting roars of laughter from the other two. Roxas clenched his fists. "Says the guy who has sex with Professor Saix every day!"
The brunette flared up. "I do not, you good for nothing piece of shit!"
Roxas was shoved down by the brunette. The other blonde kicked mud into his face. "Why don't you go back to your cardboard box, you hobo! Or can your junkie parents not even afford you that?"
"Yeah! Hey, how does wet, rotten food from thrashbins taste? Better than mud or do you prefer that?" The bronze-haired girl kicked Roxas, who was trying to get up out of the mud. She then shoved his face into it. "This is what you deserve, you know. You're a broke, good for nothing piece of shit. Don't you forget it."
"You three are no better." Axel snarled, grabbing the girl's shoulder, and pulling her off Roxas. She glared up at him, her dark blue eyes full of malice. "What are you, his pedophile of a boyfriend?"
"No. I'm his older brother." Axel turned to the muddy blonde. "Come on, Roxas, let's go home."
The red-head turned to the three teens glaring at him. "Which, by the way, is NOT a cardboard box. Oh, and browny, you have fun in that janitors closet with your teacher..."
Axel grabbed Roxas's arm and whisked him away from the three bullies, who were now standing in the downpour, mouths hanging open. Once out of earshot, Roxas turned to Axel. "Why are you being so nice to me? You don't even know me."
"I don't know, just thought that you might not want a mud bath." Axel pulled out a small leather notebook from his pocket. "I think this is your's..."
"Thanks." Roxas put the notebook into his backpack, which, during the whole episode, had stayed relatively clean.
"Do you mind if I take you to my house to let you clean up, or would your parents get worried?" Axel looked at the blonde, who was now staring at his feet. Axel put his hand on his shoulder. "Roxas...?"
"I'm fine... just... spaced out." Roxas shook his head. Axel nodded. "Ok, so about what I said...?"
"You could come back with me to my apartment. My parents are probably still at work." By that point, the two of them had reached Axel's old, beat up truck. "Well, it's not much, but it's all I've got."
Roxas's bright blue eyes lit up at the sight of it. A small smile crossed Axel's face. "So, I guess you like trucks then?"
The blonde blushed. "Uh, yeah..."
Axel smiled at him, and got in the truck. Roxas got in the other side, and they headed to Roxas's apartment. All the time, neither one spoke, they just looked at each other occasionally. Both were grinning: Axel because he just might have something interesting to look forward to, and Roxas, because he finally had someone on his side.