So this is my second story in my NaNoWriMo 30/50/15 challenge, ideally I wanted to upload it about two days ago but life and internet connections and all the rest of it sort of got in the way. Inspired by 'Save My Life' by P!nk and has been floating around in my head for about three months maybe four...anyway hope you like it
"Have you heard about Roxas?" the blonde girl behind the register asked as she wrung through the order of the tall slender boy with a Mohawk come mullet in front of her.
"No what about him?" the boy asked as he handed her a five munny note.
"He's back on drugs again." the girl told him, giving him a sly grin, revelling in having something to gossip about to pass the time on an otherwise boring shift.
"Are you serious?" the boy asked, a similar expression forming on his face. "Damn that kid knows it ain't right, what the hell is he doing?"
"I know right." the girl replied. "I don't know much about how it happened but he's totally fallen off the wagon again; Sora told Riku who told Kairi who told Xion who told Larxene who told me."
"Damn! That kid is going to totally fuck himself up if he carries on like this." the boy replied.
"I know right and this will be like his, what, third time in rehab?"
"If Sora can even get him there, that is." the boy replied and there was a hint of excitement at the scandal of it all in his voice.
It was at this point in the conversation that Axel decided to tune out what the annoying idiots in front of him were talking about, if he continued listening it would only make him angry. He shook his head slightly; it was bad enough that he was being held up on his lunch break by two idiots engaging in idle gossip but it was actually about someone the two of them seemed to know and they were enjoying it. They were enjoying the fact that this poor kid, Roxas, seemed to be on a downward spiral and his so called friends were more interested in the fact that they had something scandalous to talk about when they were bored. Poor kid, Axel thought, he can't even call up his friends and say 'help me save my life'.
"So are you coming over later?" the girl asked as she handed the boy his coffee.
"Yeah, I'll give you a text." the boy said before giving the girl a quick kiss and leaving. Axel made his way over to the counter and cleared his throat as the girl, Namine according to her name badge, continued to wave sickeningly at her boyfriend.
"Sorry." she said brightly as she looked up at Axel. "What can I get for you?"
"White coffee please." Axel replied a little gruffly.
"Sure." Namine smiled as she began fixing Axel's drink. "Any sugar?"
"Err no thanks." he said shaking his head. "Hey, I know this is kind of weird and maybe a bit rude but, that kid you were on about just now?" Axel began a little awkwardly. Despite the fact that he knew he should just walk away and just forget about what he had heard – his common sense told him that he should just walk away and forget about it – but he couldn't. Not after what he, himself, have been through.
When Axel was in his late teens he had had a similar problem with drink and drugs – going out and getting wasted every other night and doing anything to get his hands on his next fix. But when his habit began to get worse and there was a chance that he could cause his body serious damage no one had bothered to try and help him. Instead they had abandoned him and left him to claw himself out of the spiral. No one should have to live through that and his heart went out to the kid; he needed to help him so that he wouldn't be alone.
"Oh what Roxas?" Namine asked seeming completely non perturbed by the fact that a complete stranger had been listening in on her conversation. Either she realised that she had been talking quite loudly so people were bound to overhear or she really was that much of a gossip that she would just talk about her friend's private lives to everyone who asked.
"Did I hear you say that he was in rehab?" Axel asked treading carefully, just in case he did suddenly offend her by probing too deeply but judging by the conversation she had been having with her boyfriend she wasn't that bothered.
"Yep," she replied, that same excitedly scandalised expression on her face. "this will be like his third or fourth time now. He can't even keep himself clean for a couple of months without falling off the wagon again. That'll be three fifty, please." she added suddenly remembering that she was supposed to be working.
"With friends like you it's no bloody wonder." Axel muttered quietly enough so that he knew Namine wouldn't hear him. "So what…" He began louder so that she would hear as he handed over the munny but was cut off when Namine looked over his shoulder.
"Roxas! she exclaimed as she closed the cash register and went over to the person who had caught her attention. "What are you doing here?" Axel turned to see an ill looking boy, about the same age as Namine, with messy blond hair that spiked up in odd angles and dark circles under his huge blue eyes leaning against one of the café's taller chairs.
"Hey Nams," the boy said weakly, his voice hoarse. "Can I get a coffee to take out please?" he asked. Namine bit her lip awkwardly.
"Have you got any munny on you?" she asked.
"No." Roxas replied hanging his head sadly. "I lost it all last night."
"I'm sorry Rox," Namine said softly. "I can't serve you unless you can pay for it, Diz's orders." Roxas nodded sadly.
"Oh, ok." he replied a little dreamily.
"Rox?" Namine asked as she looked into his face. "Are you still high?" Roxas swayed slightly as he shook his head.
"No, I promise I'm not." he said softly but Axel could tell he was lying.
"Ok you sit down; I'll get you some water and then I'll call Sora." Namine said trying to force Roxas into a chair before going out to the café's kitchen. As he waited Roxas shifted his gaze from Namine to the door and back again. Axel could see what was going on in his head. Evidently he didn't want Namine to call Sora, whoever he was, as that would probably lead to some kind of argument and only cause more problems for him.
After a couple more glances between Namine and the door Roxas jumped to his feet and darted out of the café. Axel waited a second so as not to seem creepy before following, making sure to keep the spiky head of blond hair in his sight. He followed Roxas until the boy stopped at the opening of an alleyway to bend double and be violently sick. Axel waited a couple of paces behind while Roxas expelled the contents of his stomach in the mouth of the alley, leaning against the wall in an attempt to keep himself standing.
After a minute of dry heaving, spitting out bile and coughing Roxas heaved himself to his feet, trying to stand straight and turned around. His eyes widened in horror as he saw Axel, who hadn't had the time to make it look as if he wasn't watching the poor boy vomit into an alleyway. Roxas seemed to regain his composure pretty quickly after getting over the initial shock and he glared at Axel, raising his arms and sticking out his chest like a puffed up pigeon.
"Why don't you take a picture?" he growled. "It'll last longer."
"Are you ok?" Axel asked continuing to stare at him with pity in his eyes, which only seemed to make Roxas angrier.
"What the fuck do you think?" he asked. "You've been following me right? I just threw up in an alley, or course I'm not fucking ok!" With his own words Roxas seemed to break. He crumpled, leaning against the wall of the alley he had just been sick in and tears beginning to streak down his face. Axel watched him for a moment before going to kneel down in front of him. He waited until Roxas looked up at him before doing or saying anything. "What the fuck do you want?" Roxas asked still sobbing as he stared into Axel's kind face.
"I just want to help you." he said softly.
"Why?" Roxas asked, his voice sad and barely above a whisper. "You don't know me and I don't know you so why would you want to help a complete stranger, especially one like me?"
"Because no one should ever have to feel this bad and I've more than been there all before kid." Axel replied softly, brushing Roxas's fringe out of his eyes. The two stared at each other in silence for a moment and as he stared into Axel's bright green eyes Roxas felt his heart begin to thump harder in his chest. Since he had started abusing various different kinds of drugs no one had ever looked at him the way that Axel was looking at him – with kindness and like he was actually worth something. It made Roxas's entire body ache, sadness and self-pity filling him with lead and weighing him down, as he continued to look into those kind green eyes.
"Help me." he whispered, his voice breaking as more tears filled his eyes and spilled down his cheeks. "Please help me save my life."
"I will, I promise." Axel smiled. He got to his feet and extended his hand to Roxas. Roxas took it and Axel pulled him to his feet. "I'm Axel." he said.
"Roxas." the blond replied as the two of them shook hands.
"Come on," Axel said gesturing his head in the direction of the centre of town. "let's go get some lunch and we can talk."
"Sure." Roxas smiled. As the two of them began walking back the way that they had come Axel handed his coffee cup over to Roxas. He looked at it in surprise before taking it and sipping it. "Thank you."
"No problem." Axel smiled.
Three months later Axel was standing in the queue in the café again waiting for Namine to stop gossiping with each and every other customer standing in front of him. He had other things to do too, you know. As he waited Axel shifted uncomfortably. He was worried and he didn't want to be out any longer than he had too. Since he had met Roxas Axel's life had turned upside down; he had taken in the blond, helped him to try and get over his addiction and stop going out and getting wasted every night. Roxas had been doing incredibly well and the two of them had been getting along like they had known each other for years as well. It was no an ideal situation but they seemed to be making the best part about it.
Then one day when Axel came home from work he found a note on his coffee table from Roxas. The note said that he didn't want to continue being an imposition to Axel, that he was going to get himself a job and his own place and he would give Axel a call once he was settled in. That was three weeks ago. Since then Axel hadn't heard a thing from Roxas, neither had anyone else – not his friends, not even his family. It was now that Axel was beginning to worry. Anything could have happened to Roxas; he could have relapsed and be back on the drugs or he could be perfectly fine but Axel would have been a lot happier if he knew.
"Hey Axel what can I get you?" Namine asked when he finally reached the front of the queue. Since he had taken Roxas in Axel had been introduced to his friends and his brother, Sora, and he was now a regular at the café Namine worked in.
"Simple white coffee please." he stated.
"Coming right up." Namine replied smiling brightly. "Any sugar?"
"No thanks." Axel smiled. Even though he'd been coming into this café for his morning coffee every day for the last three months Namine still asked him if he wanted sugar even though he'd never asked for sugar for his coffee. "Hey Namine?" he began tentatively wondering how he was going to bring up the subject of Roxas.
"Yeah?" she asked as she turned to face him.
"Have you heard from Roxas at all?" he asked, deciding to stop beating around the bush, just jump in and ask. Namine shook her head sadly.
"Sorry, no." she replied. "Have you?"
"No," he said hanging his head a little and sighing. "I haven't heard from him in ages – no one has, it's like he's disappeared – and I'm getting really worried."
"Why do you think he's gone and got high again?" she asked.
"He wouldn't, would he?" Axel asked as he took the coffee from Namine. "I mean he'd been doing so well over the past couple of months." he added.
"Who knows?" Namine shrugged as Axel handed her some munny. "Most of the time Roxas is fine then suddenly he'll have a laps then he'll get really ashamed of himself because of it and just go full circle and spiral back into the drugs ago. I don't know why he's like that; I think it's because he feels like he's a burden or something when he's on a come down or something. I don't know. When he's sober he gets really defensive about it and it's really hard to talk to him – kind of like a 'I don't have a problem but I clearly do' mentality. I guess nobody really understands what it's like to be him."
"I do." Axel muttered sighing.
"What?" Namine asked.
"Nothing." Axel replied, smiling at her as he looked up. "I'll see you around Nams."
"Give me a tip next time." Namine called after him as he left.
"I will when you make better coffee." he teased sending her a cheeky wave as she flipped him off.
No sooner than when he was out the doors Axel was right back to worrying. He sighed as he left the café. He hated the fact that he had no idea where Roxas was and if he was back on whatever drugs he had been taking before. He really hoped that he wasn't; he had been doing so well with his rehab and Axel had even found himself beginning to develop feelings for him, more than just wanting to help him as a friend but wanting him to be something more. Roxas, when he wasn't high or on a come down, was funny, smart, he had stunning eyes and a gorgeous body after he put a bit of weight back on. But his substance abuse was a huge problem; Axel liked Roxas but he couldn't stand seeing him do that to himself all the time.
He continued on his way, his eyes glued on the pavement as he walked, until Axel found himself colliding with someone. He shifted his gaze up and he was met with a mess of spiky blond hair and big bright blue eyes. His own eyes widened as he saw Roxas standing in front of him – he looked so different from the stick thin, ill looking boy that Axel had seen vomiting into an alleyway only three months ago. He seemed so much happier, his smile was brighter and he had lost the dark circles under his eyes, and he was looking well – so well it was like Axel had never been able to see his ribs only a few weeks previously.
"Hi Axel." Roxas smiled. "How are you doing?"
"Hey." Axel breathed too stunned to say anything else. "I'm good thanks. How are you?"
"I'm good." Roxas nodded smiling. It was strange; the two of them had lived together and been around each other all the time for ages but seeing Roxas again and talking to him like this just felt a little awkward, like neither of them really knew what to say and what subjects were safe to talk about. Axel could see that Roxas felt it too – he kept shifting every so often but not in the way that he used to when he was on a come down, like he had no idea how to act now that his system wasn't being pumped full of drugs on a regular basis.
"So what have you been up to?" Axel asked finally.
"Rehab." Roxas stated nodding awkwardly. "Half way through my detox."
"That's good." Axel smiled. "Good that you're staying clean I mean. How's the new place?" he asked after a pause.
"It's good." Roxas smiled. "I've got a job as well."
"Really? That's fantastic!" Axel exclaimed.
"It's nothing special, I just file papers in an office but it's good to have a bit of money coming in." Roxas explained.
"Hey it's probably still better than my shit job." Axel laughed. "So I'd call that some success." Roxas chuckled before they fell, once again, into uncomfortable silence.
"Hey Axel?" Roxas began finally. "I was wondering if you were free for dinner tonight, as a thank you for everything you did for me. You know; putting up with me, believing in me when no one else would and just generally being the person of my dreams by saving me." Axel sighed sadly; this moment would have been perfect for him to get a sort of date with Roxas (even though he knew it would only be a thank you dinner).
"I'd love to Rox, I really would, but I have to work late tonight." he told him. "There's this merger thing with the company and apparently they need me there and I don't know what time I'm going to finish, probably because they'll try and keep me all night."
"Oh," Roxas replied looking crestfallen. "ok."
"Maybe another time?" Axel asked a little hopefully. "I'd love to see your new place and have a proper catch up with you."
"Sure." Roxas smiled but it was a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. Another awkward silence fell over them, heavy and draining, before Roxas sighed softly and smiled up at Axel. "Well I have to go get back to work now. I'll see you around hopefully? I have our number so…" he tailed off giving Axel a shy smile.
"Yeah give me a call." the redhead beamed.
"Cool, hopefully see you soon." Roxas gave him a small, slightly awkward wave, before carrying on the way he had previously been going."
"Yeah," Axel replied as he watched Roxas walk away. "Hopefully."
Axel sleepily reached over to his bedside table and grabbed his ringing mobile, groaning in frustration that he had forgotten to turn the fucking thing off. His eyes watered as the brilliant light from the screen assaulted his eyes. The first two things he checked when he looked at the obnoxiously ringing phone were the time and the Caller ID. As soon as he clocked both he sat up in bed and switched on his bedside table lamp, instantly awake and immediately on edge. He pressed the answer button and put the phone to his ear.
"Roxas?"
"Hey Axel." Roxas answered, his voice sounded a little too chirpy for someone awake at three in the morning and he slurred his words together; it instantly put Axel on edge.
"Roxas are you ok?" he asked, worried.
"I'm fine, I might have done a stupid thing though." Roxas replied before falling into a fit of quiet hysterical laughter.
"What did you do?" Axel asked, his voice a little harder than before. He already knew what he had done but he wanted to know why. Why had Roxas suddenly thrown all of his hard work out of the window and gotten wasted again?
"I fucked up." Roxas told him, and it sounded as if he was beginning to cry. "I went past one of my old haunts, Seifer was there and he offered me a hit – said it was on the house and cause it's such a good deal I'd 'be mad not to take it'."
"But why did you take it?" Axel asked.
"Seifer's a hard guy to say no too, plus he gets really angry when you do." Roxas explained and Axel could tell that he was shrugging. "I tried, Ax, I realy did but I guess I'm not as strong as I thought I was."
"But you were doing so well." Axel said quietly, pinching the bridge of his nose with the effort of trying not to either burst into tears or punch something, his emotions couldn't seem to decide which they wanted to do. If he hadn't have had to work that night he would have been able to go out to dinner and maybe Roxas wouldn't have gone and found his old dealer.
"Not good enough though." Roxas replied his voice catching slightly. "Plus heroine's a really hard habit too break, like really hard. Also everything turned to shit so quickly, it's kind of a gut reflex now: to go get a fix and forget the pain."
"What do you mean?" Axel's eyes suddenly shot open.
"I got fired." Roxas told him, slurring again. "Well they didn't fire me as such they said that the company was in some kind of financial shit and they had to let people go and last in first out I guess. And I was so stupid when I saw you and I shouldn't have asked you out; I knew I didn't have a chance but I just thought…I don't really know what I thought. Why the hell did I think someone like you would be in any way interested in someone like me?"
"Rox, I…" Axel began, not sure if he had understood that right. Was Roxas saying that when he asked him out he had meant it to be a date? How could he have been so stupid and missed that? The one thing he wanted more than anything and he was so damn oblivious that it just glossed over him. Then again he could be over thinking it and reading way too much into the simple statement; Roxas was high after all. Although he couldn't help feel like he had missed an opportunity he would have given anything for.
"No it's fine." Roxas said cutting him off, his voice suddenly angry. "I was being stupid, thinking you'd want someone like me in your life. I mean that's why I left in the first place – 'cause I was fucking up my life and I would just end up bringing you down as well. I mean that's all everyone sees when they look at me isn't it; a good for nothing junkie who turns everything he touches to shit."
"Rox that's not why I turned you down. I didn't realise what you meant when you asked me to dinner." Axel said hastily, desperately wanting to correct him. "I…"
"Oh save it." Roxas cut him off angrily. "Just forget it. You don't need my shit and I don't need to cause you anymore." There was a pause on the line and Axel could tell that Roxas was fighting back tears.
"Rox?" Axel tried to coax him back into talking, hoping he could explain.
"Why did you even start talking to me anyway?" Roxas snapped suddenly. "I mean what the hell kind of person just randomly starts talking to a junkie on the streets."
"I told you; I wanted to help you," Axel said quietly. "I've more than been there all before."
"What does that even mean?" Roxas said his tone still angry. "Why the hell are you so fucking nice to me, I don't deserve it!" And Axel had no answer for him. He wanted to tell him why he was being so nice and why he was always so desperate to save him. He had never told Roxas about his own drug habit and now, over the phone while Roxas was high, was not the right time. He wanted to tell him face to face; that would be the only way to make Roxas understand that he was telling the truth and not just pandering to him.
"You do deserve it Rox." Axel finally said quietly. "No one deserves to go through what you're going through alone."
"Like you'd fucking know!" Roxas snapped and Axel had to stop himself from shouting back in retaliation. He calmly reminded himself that it was the drugs talking not Roxas – he had spoken to Roxas when he was sober and this wasn't him. It was one of the things that had driven people away when he was taking drugs; they couldn't take the Jekyll and Hyde personality. "That's what I thought." Roxas laughed humourlessly when Axel didn't say anything to contradict him. "Just another person trying to make me their fucking charity case so that they can feel better about their own shit lives because 'hey my life may be going to crap, but at least I'm not Roxas'."
"Right, that's it," Axel snapped getting to his feet his anger getting the better of him momentarily. "I'm coming over. Where are you?" In that split second he had made up his mine; he was going to go over to Roxas, tell him about his past and make him see sense and believe that his life was worth living; that was the only way for him to save him from himself.
"No," Roxas replied instantaneously.
"What do you mean 'no'?" Axel asked. "You need help Roxas."
"What I need is for people to stop telling me what I can and can't do." Roxas snapped back in response.
"No you need to get yourself some help."
"You know what Axel? I don't need you," Roxas stated flatly. "and you sure as shit don't need me so let's just stay the hell out of each other's lives."
"Rox wait…" Axel began, fear filling his stomach. He needed to go and find him; what if Roxas overdosed? If anything happened to him he would never be able to forgive himself – he would always think that there was something he could have done differently, something more he could have done, to stop it.
"I shouldn't have called." Roxas replied monotonously. "Goodbye Axel, don't expect to hear from me again." The line went dead and Axel let the phone slip out of his hand and clatter to the floor as he felt his heart break in two.
"White coffee again today Axel? Namine asked as Axel reached the front of the queue for his usual morning coffee.
"Same as every day." Axel gave her a smile. "No sugar." he added as Namine began fixing his drink.
"So how have you been?" she asked. "Haven't seen you around in a while."
"Yeah sorry about that." Axel replied rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment. "Work has kind of made me a bit M.I.A. over the last couple of weeks."
"Well I hope all the extra work they're making you do you're at least getting a promotion." she stated.
"I fucking wish." Axel laughed. "Nah they just seem to want me to do loads of work but I got paid a lot for the overtime. Just sucks that I have to practically disappear for a few weeks to do it."
"Yeah you're nearly as bad as Roxas." Namine laughed but it wasn't a laugh that held any of her usual happiness. Maybe it was because when Axel disappeared it was because he was working, when Roxas disappeared it was something more serious. The fact that there was a chance that Roxas would never kick the habit and that it could potentially kill him that had made her stop gossiping and revelling in the scandal of it all.
"Have you seen him recently?" Axel asked shifting his gaze from his open wallet to her and back again.
"Not since he started using again." she replied. That had been four months ago, the night after Roxas had called Axel, high, and told him to get the hell out of his life. So apparently no one had heard from him since that night, Axel thought. He was still worried that Roxas had taken an accidental overdose and was lying in a hospital bed somewhere or possibly somewhere even worse. "Last I heard he was hanging out with Seifer and his crowd again which is never good news. Then I read in the paper that Seifer got arrested and his gang sort of disbanded but Roxas still didn't come back. According to Sora, in his last letter home Roxas said he was 'travelling where the wind is blowing' whatever that means."
"So he's gone completely AWOL now?" Axel asked.
"Sort of." Namine sighed. "He just disappeared and he wasn't clear why and he didn't say where he was going. I know he's always been a bit of a liability but he's never done this before."
"Do you think he'll ever come back?" Axel asked. Namine shrugged as she handed over his coffee.
"Maybe, that is if he's even still alive." she replied quietly. With those words Axel felt his heart break all over again. He didn't think he could handle it if it turned out that something had happened to Roxas.
"I wish there was more I could have done for him." he murmured.
"Hey Axel you did more than anyone else." Namine told him firmly. "You, a complete stranger when you first decided to help him, did way more for Roxas than any of his friends and family did and I'm putting myself in that category here. The rest of us were all set to give up on him and just leave him too it but you didn't, you stuck by him. You're a good guy Axel, a really good guy. You did everything for him that you possibly could and more but maybe that just wasn't enough to make him change; maybe Roxas just didn't want to be saved."
"Maybe." Axel sighed as he gave Namine the money. "You know, it's kind of silly but I sometimes hope that he'll turn up at my door, totally clean and sober and wanting to start fresh or something like that."
"You never know," Namine shrugged. "it may happen. I wouldn't be too surprised or disappointed if it didn't though."
A year and a half later Axel was sitting in his living room mindlessly watching television and going through some papers for work when he heard a knock at his front door. A little confused, wondering who on earth would be calling in on him when he so rarely had visitors, he heaved himself off the sofa, turned off the TV and wandered down the hallway to the door. When he opened it his eyes widened in surprise. There before him stood Roxas, smartly yet casually dressed and holding a bunch of red and yellow carnations. Roxas smiled at him.
"Hey."
"Hey you." Axel said in a shaky exhale. "What are you doing here?"
"I wanted to see you." Roxas replied. "To apologise for taking off like that and for the things I said. I know it's a bit late coming but there are reasons for that."
"That's ok." Axel replied still too stunned at his dream come true to know what else to say. "You didn't need to apologise for anything."
"It's not and yeah I did," Roxas smiled. "but thanks for saying it." They stood in awkward silence for a minute before Axel finally got over his shock and came back to himself. He gestured inside the house.
"Do you want to come in?"
"Sure." Roxas smiled and followed Axel inside. "Oh these are for you." he added handing the flowers to Axel once he had closed the door.
"Thanks." he smiled. "Um do you want a cup of tea or anything?"
"Coffee would be great, if that's ok?" Roxas replied.
"Sure." Axel smiled and went to the kitchen, the blond at his heels. "I don't have anything fancy so it's just standard coffee."
"That's absolutely fine with me." Roxas smiled.
"So," Axel said as he began filling the kettle as Roxas took a seat at the kitchen table. "how have you been? I mean I haven't seen you in, like, a year."
"I know," Roxas said sadly. "I'm sorry I took off like that, I wasn't exactly thinking straight when I did that but I am now."
"What do you mean?" Axel asked.
"I'm clean." Roxas told him smiling. Axel's mouth fell open; it really was as if the dream he had told Namine about – that Roxas would show up at his door one day, sober and wanting to start afresh with him – was coming true. "And I know now, why you were so desperately trying to help me on matter how horrible I was to you."
"How? I mean I never told you."
"Your brother." Roxas explained.
"Reno?" Axel asked in confusion.
"He was one of my councillors while I was in rehab. I asked him if you guys were brothers or something when I recognised the surname and he does look a lot like you." Roxas stated. "He told me what you went through and that you managed to get yourself out of it and that made me more determined to do it myself. He also said he felt bad for how he treated you and if I saw you again to tell you to expect a call from him sometime soon." he added.
"Wow." Axel breathed. That he had not been expecting. For one thing the huge breach in doctor and patient confidentiality (although considering that Reno had never counselled Axel, maybe it didn't break the rules). "So what are you planning on doing now that you're clean?"
"Well," Roxas said biting his bottom lip and shifting a little awkwardly. "I was kind of hoping that I could take you out on that dinner I promised a year and a half ago." A beaming smile spread over Axel's face and he felt his heart soar in his chest. He had only ever imagined what he would do in this instance, each time he had played it out in his head he had said something different and done something different. Now that it was actually happening all he could do was smile happily.
"Dinner would be amazing."
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