The blonde entered the convenient store with a ten dollar bill in his hand. Reaching to pull the coke from the cooler he stopped. His brother, Sora, had sent him in to buy a pack of cigarettes for Riku, his boyfriend. They had been together for almost a year and no matter how much the brunette begged, the man wouldn't quit. Roxas looked up in curiosity to see who was working. Normally, the cashier wouldn't ask the boy to show his ID. Something about having a million people who wanted them and only half of them had IDs and she really didn't care as long as she got paid. But this time, when the boy looked up, he saw someone he had never seen before.
Emerald green eyes glanced nonchalantly up from the magazine that was held in his long thin hands, quickly returning. The blonde noticed a smirk appear, but it was quickly replaced with a sudden interest in the magazine. A nimble finger rose to push the glasses, which rested upon the bridge of his nose, up a bit. Roxas quit staring for a split second as his hand grasped for the coke. He took a couple of steps to the counter and set down the coke. The man's attention was brought back to the blonde. The smirk reappeared.
"Yes? Will that be it?" His tone suggested that he was slightly amused; perhaps he had noticed the boy gawking.
Roxas looked for his voice, "Um, actually, I need two packs of Camel light 100's. Then that'll be it."
The man turned to reach for the cigarettes, smirking a bit more. "ID please?" A slight colour came to the boy's face.
"ID?" He choked a bit, looking through his bag, "Must'a, uh, left that at the house…" He avoided the man's eye.
"Never been caught have ya'?" The voice was more amused than before, the smirk now audible.
"Caught? N- no…" The blonde settled on telling the truth.
"M'kay Blondie, how old are ya'? Tell, me an' I'll let ya' go… with the packs." His fingers played with the wrapping for a moment before sliding them toward the boy. "Come on…"
"Alright, alright, but only because my brother's boyfriend will kill me if I don't come back with 'em." The blonde blushed a bit darker, looking at the man again. His hair was fire red, eyes that beautiful emerald colour, and he also had little teardrop tattoos right below both of his eyes. "I'm fifteen."
"Fifteen?" His green eyes widened a bit, and his mouth dropped slightly. "No wonder ya' never been caught, ya' look like yer eighteen." He looked to the side, mouth forming a thin line, "Wha's yer name?"
The boy blushed darker at the comment, but then composed himself, "Roxas. Yours?"
"Axel, but my friends call me Red, and Roxas, no Roxie, here ya go." The hand that was holding the cigarettes pushed them forward.
Roxas handed the load to Sora and settled in the car.
"Geez, what happened to you?" the brunette's eyebrows furrowed. "You look like a tomato."
"Nothing happened…" The blonde reached for his coke, but was distracted by a tap on the window. Axel stood smirking and motioned for the boy to roll it down. "Yes?" The blonde looked annoyed.
"You forgot something…." The man handed forward two one dollar bills folded neatly to the boy. "Here."
Roxas blushed and reached forward taking the money and accidently brushing his hand against the other's. "Thanks…" he said looking over at his brother. The brunette smirked slightly at the colour that came to the boys cheeks.
Shortly after the man left a look came across Sora's face. "So, that's," He pointed his finger at the cashier walking away, "Why you were so out of it huh?" The blonde's cheeks got a shade darker.
"Maybe…" His blue eyes shifted to the side. "Maybe not."
"What do you like him 'er something?" The brunette spoke again.
"So what if I do?" He sounded slightly offended.
"Well, then you do, and that would also prove that you're gay, right?" It was a rhetorical question.
"I- Well, I… I guess it would. Geez I admit it are you happy now Sora?" The blonde's nerves were frayed. He was in-fact gay, though he wasn't the first to admit it. He had this whole sexuality confusion going on, or that's what he put it out to be. Though, everyone knew he was gay.
"Roxas, it isn't anything to be ashamed of, you know." Sora, on the other hand, was pretty much flaming. He had always been gay, had always known it, and always embraced it. He wore makeup for Christ's sake. But then again, so did Roxas.
"I know, I know, it's just… weird." The blonde smiled a bit, "Plus, I don't even know him, therefore, I can't really like him…" He faltered, looking out the window. His eyes met that of an amused Axel who had been standing outside of the store, smoking a cigarette. And no doubt, that the redhead had just heard every single word. "Sora. Drive." It was an order.
~o~
The brunette closed the door lightly, grabbing the pack from Roxas and throwing the blonde a Dr. Pepper from the mini fridge. The whole 'moving in' process, well let's just say, it seemed to suck. It had been Valentine's Day when Sora woke up with four hickeys on his neck and a box of chocolates laying on the bed. Upon opening these he found a house key. Yes, Riku had purchased a house for the two, and considering that the man was filthy rich, it was pretty damn big.
Now, they were attempting to move all of the brunette's things into the house, without breaking anything. Which, for Sora and Roxas, had turned out to be pretty hard.
"Oh! Rox, we managed to get the couch in the living room, so you can make yourself comfortable. Also, Riku bought a new toy."
The blonde walked into the next room, and of course there was a flat-screen that was probably bigger than the boy's car, sitting in the living room. "Great, Sor, ya sure ya ain't gonna break it?" Roxas knew the answer to that and the boy's voice confirmed that with a 'No' and a slight giggle. A slight smile pulled at his lips as he sat down on the couch and began searching for the remote.
~o~
He shoved the sliding door open, not even looking to see who was working. He had just spent three hours working with Sora, trying to get all of his stuff moved in, and he was tired. His curiosity ended up getting the best of him and upon glancing up, he saw Axel, sitting on his lazy ass, reading another magazine. Though something about him today made Roxas' stomach turn flips a bit more violently than normal.
The redhead had his hair pulled back into a sloppy ponytail and he had on a skin-tight black V-neck, which almost made the blonde drool. Roxas felt his face heat up slightly as he walked to the counter with two cokes.
"Back for more are we?" There was something seductive about his voice. "Roxie…" He purred. "You know this is illegal. Right?"
Roxas' throat closed, "I- I… uh… Y…yeah." The tone in Axel's voice made him think that he might be talking about something other than the cigarettes.
"Two packs again, Darling?" His voice settled down a bit more this time, licking his lips slightly and smirking at the redness on the other's face.
"Y-Yeah, that'll… That'll work." The sound was barely audible through the boy's dry lips.
"Oh, and I was wondering… are you doing anything tonight?" The redhead's expression turned to that of hope.
"N- uhm, no… I don't think so anyway…" The blonde tried his hand at composer again. "Why?"
"Well, there's this really good Italian place right outside of Hallow Bastion… I was wondering if you were, eh, interested?" He sounded like a dork, but Roxas didn't care.
"L- like a date?" He smiled, blushing a light pink.
"Well, yeah… If that's what you wanna call it." A smirk made its way to the man's face.
"Uh, sure!" He reached for his bag, grabbing out a slip of paper and a pen. He jotted down his address and cell phone number, handing it to Axel.
"Great!" He smiled, showing off a set of extremely white teeth.
"What time?"
"Pick you up at 8-ish okay?" He sounded giddy.
"Heh heh, sounds good." He went to hand the redhead a five for the cokes.
"No, on the house." A smile pulled at the corner of Roxas' lips as he reached his hand over the counter to grab the redhead's shirt. He nudged him closer and gave into the smile.
"You're a gentleman… I like that." He planted a light kiss on the redhead's cheek.
The redhead blushed a bit, which was odd, and smirked at the blonde. He wrapped his arm around Roxas as much as the counter would allow, and returned the kiss. He pulled away a moment later and gave Roxas one last kiss on the head before handing him the cokes and winking at him. Roxas walked out of the store with a face redder than Axel's hair. Settling himself into the car, he began telling Sora just what happened.
~o~
Sighing and sitting down on his bed, he smiled to himself. Now, he had to get ready. His blue eyes followed his hands as he searched through his closet to find a decent outfit. He settled on a ripped pair of checkerboard jeans and a red tank top. He shoved his black gages through his ears and threw on a few bracelets. His hands ran through his hair and he huffed, sitting down on the bed again.
He heard a horn honk and he peered through his window to see a shiny black mustang parked in his driveway. Running down the stairs, he said goodbye to his dad and shut the front door quietly, so not to wake up Zack. With his bag thrown over his shoulder he opened the passenger side and slid in. "Hey Ax." He muttered.
"Hey Roxie." He leaned down and pecked the other on the cheek. "You look absolutely stunning. If that's the right word, though you could say beautiful as an alternative."
"T-Thanks…" He smiled and turned a bit pink. "Y-you too, by the way."
The redheaded man was dressed in ripped black cargo pants and a light gray tank top. His hair was fishtailed loosely and tamed a bit. "Oh, thanks…" His emeralds glanced off to the side. "You got everything?"
"Yeah," The blonde said hoarsely.
"Good." A smirk pulled at the corner of his mouth. "Let's go."
~o~
They were seated quite quickly thanks to Axel's uncanny ability to work his magic with the ladies. Too bad he was gay. They chose a booth and the redhead sat with the blonde, rather than across from him. "See anything that jumps out?" It was Axel that spoke first.
"N- not really." Roxas had trouble with his words since the redhead had sneakily snaked his arm around his waist.
"Want me to order for you then?" He tightened his grip, smirk growing.
"S-s- Ahh!" Little did the redhead know that Roxas was extremely ticklish. He cleared his throat, "Sure."
"Ticklish are we?" He smiled at the blonde as the waiter approached.
"What can I get for the two of you?" Demyx said. Axel had gone to the same highschool as the boy and they had been good friends. "Ax, hey! Who's he?" He pointed to Roxas smiling.
"I'm Roxas, nice to meet you." He reached out his hand.
"I'm Demyx, I went to highschool with Axel. Nice to meet you too." The boy reached out and grabbed the other's shaking lightly.
"Now that we're all acquainted." The redhead spoke up. "Uh, Dem, the usual… Two orders of it."
The dirty blonde nodded and smiled again at Roxas before heading to the back. Roxas set his eyes on the redhead, smiling slightly. Axel glanced at him, his smirk reappearing.
God, does that smirk ever leave his face? Roxas wondered silently.
Axel looked down at the blonde, winking at him. "I like you… a lot." His smirk changed into a smile as he kept his eyes on Roxas.
"I-I like you t-too…" He faltered.
~o~
Roxas studied the man on all of their dates. He only found one thing that he hated about the man; he smoked. But, he smoked lights… so it was okay. Other than that, Roxas was in love with everything about the guy. Even his stupid questions, his ability to call at odd hours of the morning, his obnoxiousness, everything. He was in love, and he knew it.
He had also noticed something else about the man: He had at least eleven or twelve piercings. He had his ears pierced in nine different places. Not to mention his tongue, eyebrow and for some odd reason… his bellybutton. He definitely wasn't very normal, but that wasn't a bad thing. Sora normally joked with him telling him that he needed something to spice up his life. But Axel was a bit more than spice… he was like a million different spices, all in one person.
"Axel where are you from?" He knew that he wasn't from California; he didn't look like it at least. At the moment they sat in the redhead's living room on his leather couch.
"South America… I lived on a little island right off of Costa Rica. My mom was Irish, that's where the red hair comes into play." He smiled playfully. "It's natural you know…" Winking at the blonde, he turned to kiss him on the cheek.
"Wow, really? And there's just no way in hell that your hair is naturally red." He eyed the man doubtfully.
"But, alas," His tone was teasing, "I believe that it is… Wanna check?" the redhead purred seductively.
"I-Well- I… I don't think… You see…" Roxas stuttered heavily.
"You know you can if ya' want." A pink tongue ran over soft lips as he smirked.
"Ax… stop… th-that's mean…"
"I know… but you want to." The purr still audible in his voice.
"S-s-so what?" He averted his gaze from the emerald eyes.
"It's alright… you don't have to, but you can. I'm not going to force you into anything." They had been dating for almost three months and they hadn't even kissed yet. But, the redhead was about to change that…
Nimble hands slid over smooth tan skin. Axel smiled at the blonde encouragingly, knowing that Roxas was nervous. His eyes stayed on the blue ones. Fingernails teased the other's neck, making a soft moan escape the boy's lips. Axel's lips toyed with the blonde's ear, another soft moan exiting the boy.
"Roxas." He purred. His mouth moved to the boy's neck, white teeth nibbling and biting and the tender flesh that was there. Roxas' hips bucked involuntarily as Axel bit down. The blonde tangled his fingers in Axel's mess of red hair, teasing his scalp with his fingernails. His eyes fluttered shut, another moan escaping as the man began to suck lightly. Another buck, another bite, Roxas' hands moved to the man's waist, pulling him on top of him. He then began to remove the other's shirt, smiling lightly at the smell of Axel's cologne.
The blonde awoke the next morning with the same smell on his pillow and an odd ache in his back. He smiled mentally at how gentle the redhead was the previous night, and how sweet he had been. Upon looking around, he noticed that Axel wasn't anywhere in sight. Hearing rustling around in the kitchen, Roxas looked through the door to see the redhead making his way back to the bedroom with a tray of strawberries and pineapples. He was wearing only a pair of loose sweatpants which made Roxas blushed slightly. Axel entered the room and set the tray down.
"Good morning, my darling." his voice hoarse from the night before.
"Morning Ax…" He smiled, blue eyes moving to look at his true love.
Yes, Roxas Strife was in love, and he was okay with it. He was in love with Axel Charlotte, the biggest dumbass on the planet, and the biggest goofball. The most insecure, yet egotistical sweetheart that he had ever met, and probably the most idiotic genius too. He was a piece of art. He was beautiful, with the most beautiful personality ever created. He was absolutely amazing. His eyes could be burning and cold at the same time. His features could be soft with the most serious expressions. His laugh was musical and clumsy, and he was gentle. He was always gentle, when he was around the blonde at least.
His faults made him better, made him all the more beautiful. He always learned from his mistakes, and bettered himself in the process. He was never rough or harsh with Roxas, never speaking against him or raising a hand to him. He was perfect, even when screwed something up. And Roxas loved it, he found it intriguing, and mesmerizing. He was truly amazed and dumbfounded. Roxas was clumsy and awkward, and Axel knew that he was self-conscious. Though Axel knew he had no reason to be. Axel was in love with him and he thought he was beautiful.
He was short and adorable, with the bluntest comments. Axel found the boy very interesting. He was annoyed with the redhead most of the time, but he didn't blame him. He was beautiful in every way. His eyes were the most amazing colour blue; his hair was one of his many quirks. And it was those quirks that made Axel fall head over heels for the boy the first time he walked into the store. It was those quirks that made Axel ask him out that day, and get the apartment for the two of them in august, and eventually propose to him. He loved him, would take a bullet for him, would spend the rest of his life with him.
True love, that was all it took. And two simple words…
"Marry me."