A/N: Finally done. I can't believe how long this took. But oh well, I hope you guys enjoy this.
This is for ONiONLADi777 for being my 150th reviewer for 'Magnetic Attraction'. Sorry this took so long to complete. Enjoy!
Every day he's tried to avoid this one person. Every night he can't escape from him. He's fearful of him, yet also entranced. He's everything you could ask for: tall, well-built, confident, well-liked by everyone and smart in his own special way (his teachers would probably disagree, thinking that he was some loud-mouth lazy arse who would skip school altogether if he could). There was one small issue: he had a fascination with fire. He carried a lighter everywhere with him, sometimes setting things up in flames just to spice things up in the class room, sometimes throwing fireballs at perverts who tried to hit on some of female friends, but a lot of the time flicking the thing on and off. Ironic that one's phobia was fire.
It was probably spurred from that day his father, a heavy smoker, had accidentally left his lighter in reach of his three-year-old son. Of course, Roxas being the curious soul that he was and still is, thought it was a skinny new toy and started playing with it, only to burn his finger badly a few minutes later, screaming his head off and then rushed off to hospital to go to a ward that specialised in burns. Nothing permanent but it created the fear.
Whenever he saw fire, Roxas would get weak in the knees (like he did when he saw him for the first time) and start hyperventilating, heart racing and mind conjuring up images of terrible burns and charred skin. The extent of his fear was so bad that someone had to go see a film he wanted to see before him just so to warn him of scenes that included the dangerous force of nature. He would faint if he saw a large-scale fire destroying a building. Even the tiniest flame sent him into panic mode.
He had understanding friends fortunately. He wouldn't trade them for the world. Though, it had been Hayner who had found out about Roxas' fear of fire when he set light to a match just to light a candle during a power cut. Roxas demanded for it to be put out, cursing and near tears. Hayner immediately demanded what the hell was wrong with him until he managed to put two and two together. Roxas was too hysterical to explain. Since then, Hayner and everyone else had made sure that they have a working flashlight in their houses just in case of another power cut. Roxas brings one with him too to others houses just in case.
Then he came along into his life. Axel. Roxas fell for him as soon as he saw that amazing head of red hair, just as wild and unpredictable as fire. Of course, that imagery never came across his mind until after he found out about Axel's little fascination. It was Pence who had informed him of it, trying to be the good friend. Now Roxas couldn't be anywhere near Axel because he knew that there was every chance of a fire breaking out. If not physically, then emotionally.
Of course, Fate being the drag queen and bitch it is, it had to make him and Axel chemistry partners one fateful afternoon.
Axel proved to be everything that Roxas imagined him to be; confident, if somewhat cocky, amusing yet there was a kindness that he showed beneath the teasing gestures and remarks. But when the Bunsen burners came out to play, Axel whole heartedly joined their game, teasing the dancing flames and doing tricks that Roxas assumed that Axel would think would impress the little blond. It hadn't. It had made him grip his pen tightly. But he just grinned and bore with it.
However, Axel had ended up coming home with him that night since he didn't understand what the chemistry teacher had set them. Of course, this wasn't so much of a surprise for Roxas. For all his brilliance when it came to experiments, Axel was terrible at the written work, especially when it came to formulas. And now here they were, Roxas explaining how things worked and Axel nodding or shaking his head if he did or didn't understand. Mostly the latter.
Axel leaned back and sighed angrily. "I am never going to understand all this gobbledegook. Let's just call it a day or something."
"I am not doing your homework for you," Roxas retorted.
"Why? You're the A grade student. I bet these equations are a walk in the park for you."
Roxas blushed. Another thing about Axel. He knew just how to inflate a person's ego. He shook his head violently.
"No. You have to do your homework otherwise you won't learn," Roxas insisted firmly. Axel sighed.
"What do I get out of it?"
"I'll make you a hot drink and maybe dinner you're lucky enough. My folks are out of town."
"Sounds good," Axel smirked, getting down to work. Roxas sighed. The saying that the best way to get to a man's heart was through his stomach was probably true, though how Axel had managed to be so skinny yet still eat like a horse just boggled his mind.
Fate then really decided to be a bitch. Roxas knew that tonight there was going to be a storm and there could possibly be the chance that Axel may have had to stay the night at his house if it got bad. What he hadn't counted on was just how violent the storm was going to be.
The lights flashed out.
The large bump and shrieked curse announced that Axel had bashed his knee against the coffee table. "Shit. Didn't think this would happen."
"Neither did I," Roxas replied faintly, realising that his flashlight was all the way upstairs in his bedroom.
"I guess we better light some candles then."
Roxas' mind did the maths. Candles plus light plus violent thunder storm equals fire. And object of adoration plus lighter equalled Axel.
"No no no no no no no no no!" Roxas yelled quickly, not hearing the startled grunt from Axel. "It's OK! My flashlight is upstairs! I've done it a hundred times before! I can handle it without candles!"
"Candlelight would be a lot quicker and convenient right now," Axel pointed out.
"But it's also a lot more dangerous!"
It was at that point, Axel had taken his lighter out and flicked it open, the small yellow, orange and red flame illuminating his face. Roxas flinched visibly at its sudden appearance. A small smile tugged at the taller boy's lips.
"So you are afraid of fire," he mused.
"What?! What the hell makes you say that?!"
"Well, not many people start hyperventilating at the smallest sight of a flame," Axel started. "Nor do I think they would react so badly at the prospect of having to light a few candles."
Roxas shrunk, just wishing for the ground to swallow him up. Axel went about setting up candles. When Roxas came out of his embarrassed trance, he looked around fearfully at all the dancing flames in the room.
"Relax," Axel whispered in his ear, "They won't hurt you if you don't touch them. They're not living creatures."
"I know that," Roxas snapped. "It doesn't mean that I like them."
"Same with me and spiders," Axel stated coolly. "I know they won't hurt me if I don't bother them but that doesn't mean I like them either."
Roxas' eyes widened with surprise. Axel, possibly the coolest guy in the school, had arachnophobia?!
"You're scared of spiders?"
"Yup."
"And it doesn't bother you that you're telling me this?"
"Doesn't bother me at all. Nearly everyone knows that I go silent at the mere sight of the thing."
I didn't, Roxas thought.
"But I…I thought…"
"Let me guess. The proclaimed coolest guy at school is not supposed to be scared of anything. Dude, that makes you inhuman. The coolest person is the guy who admits to being scared of something yet, when push comes to shove, is willing to put that fear behind them and do what they have to do. Like now."
Roxas looked around the candlelit room. Now that Axel mentioned it, it didn't seem so bad being around the flames. When he actually took a good look at them, the small fires seemed quite pretty. He felt something go round his waist. Roxas stiffened a little.
It…It can't be Axel…surely…right?
"A-Axel?"
"You know what else I was scared of? I've had my eye on you for some time now and I was too scared to ask you out because I was so sure that you hated me. You always avoided me as if I had some disease."
"You…like…me?" Roxas asked slowly.
A slight nod into his shoulder answered the question. Roxas smiled brightly.
"Well, how about this for an answer?"
He turned swiftly and placed his lips on top of Axel's, which welcomed them warmly in a hungry kiss, tongues dancing with each other like the dancing flames on the candles.
And thus, Roxas' fear of fire was cured…somewhat.