This one was actually a planned sequel. After remembering the Japanese way of Valentine's (which revolves around girls giving guys chocolate), I remembered that there is a holiday exactly one month after (March 14th) called "White Day". Technically, White Day is also observed in South Korea, but I'm more familiar with the Japanese version, which by the wikipedia page says;
"On White Day, the converse happens: males who received a honmei-choco ("chocolate of love") or giri-choco ("courtesy chocolate") on Valentine's Day are expected to return the favor by giving gifts, usually more expensive. Traditionally, popular White Day gifts are cookies, jewelery, white chocolate, white lingerie, and marshmallows"
...yeah, I dunno why marshmallows. Basically, this story is wrapped around that concept of White Day. ANYWAY! STORY HO!
Disclaimer: I don't own KH, Frank Sinatra's "Just the Way You Look Tonight" or "Moonlight Serenade"
Everything had to be perfect.
Roxas was gonna be home from work in about half an hour and Axel was still setting up a few things that he had in mind for tonight.
Why was tonight so special? Simple. It had been one month since Roxas had gotten up onstage with Demyx's band 'UnVersed', and sang a special song just for Axel that he had written himself. That night was one the red head wouldn't forget.
"This was Roxas with his song 'Comatose'." Demyx stopped for a moment, looking like he was scanning over the crowd. "If no one objects, Roxas has to go now."
No one spoke up and Axel wasn't sure if he was supposed to.
The smaller blonde's face fell and he started to walk offstage -
"ROXAS!"
The band, Demyx, Roxas, and the audience looked at the source of the yell, Roxas looking the most surprised to see the red head who had just called out his name, standing in the middle of the club venue.
"Axel!"
Said red head watched as the blonde ran and jumped off the stage, tearing his way to where Axel was standing. "Axel!" he yelled again, the red head opening up his arms. Roxas kept going until he nearly fell into the other's waiting arms, tears starting to form. "I wasn't sure you would come," he said quietly, forgetting about the world around him.
Axel just held on tight to the smaller blonde. "What made you think I wouldn't?" he asked. "I've missed you so much…I just wasn't sure how to talk to you. We were both so angry at each other…and you told me that you never wanted to see me again…"
Roxas looked up at him, eyes teary and up-close, Axel knew that the blonde had been crying earlier. "I-I know. But please…come home?…I need you."
Axel didn't answer. He just smiled, leaned down, and kissed him.
The memory was definitely a good one for Axel. He couldn't even remember anymore what had caused the two of them to break up for a month to begin with, but the Valentine's Day of a month ago was one of the best in the red head's life.
And now he was going to repay Roxas with a nice evening of his own.
While he wasn't good at writing, much less creating an entire song dedicated to someone, Axel did know music, and one of his little blonde's favorite singers was Frank Sinatra, a lounge singer from the 50's and 60's. So the red head had gone diving through Roxas' collection of Sinatra CD's and managed to find the one perfect song for this romantic evening he had planned.
Now to go start cookin', he thought, heading towards the kitchen. Usually, Axel couldn't cook worth jack, but he was progressing to where he could make a few things without having to nuke 'em, thus making them uneatable, or setting anything on fire.
Roxas sighed, rolling one of his shoulders as he walked up to apartment 813C.
Sometimes he just hated the fact that he was a receptionist at a law firm and just so happened to be gay. Just because he preferred guys didn't mean that he fit that stupid stereotype of the flaming gays (which he had no problem with them, considering he was friends with a few, but the stereotype was still annoying) and wanted to chit-chat with all the other female secretaries/receptionists about God only knew what. He was like any other guy…except for the fact that he was gay.
So why did these females try to attach themselves whenever they felt the sudden urge to gossip, or worse, PMS at him?
At least Naminé was smart enough to pull Kairi and the other bitches away before things got really annoying or I might've gone ape-shit on them, Roxas thought, pulling out keys from his pocket. Unlocking the door to the apartment, the blonde thought of just relaxing at home with his boyfriend, maybe asking Axel to order some pizza or something -
But when he stepped into the apartment, a sudden smell tickled at Roxas' senses. It smelled really good, whatever it was. Thinking it to be a bit strange that such delicious smells were emitting from somewhere in the apartment, the blonde locked the door behind him and kicked off his shoes, placing his keys on the table next to the door. "Axel?"
"In here Rox!" his boyfriend's voice called from the direction of the kitchen.
What's Axel doing in the kitchen? Usually when he tries to cook, he ends up making things explode, Roxas thought, cautiously making his way to the kitchen.
What he saw when he got there was surprising, to say the very least.
Axel had his back to Roxas as he was tending to something over the stove in their kitchen, Roxas picking up on the smells of alfredo sauce and chicken. The kitchen table was set for two, a vase that several different colors of roses sat in the middle, and Roxas could hear their stereo in the room playing, "Just the Way You Look Tonight" by Frank Sinatra.
The blonde was shocked at how…romantic…the scene was. Others may have called it simplistic, perhaps not truly romantic, but considering that it looked like Axel had spent a lot of time doing some of this (including the cooking he was still doing), Roxas couldn't help but consider it romantic.
"Axel? What's all this for?"
The red head ignored him for a minute, opening the oven and pulling out a bag of garlic bread that had been heating up in it. Carefully placing the bag on the table, he smiled and answered. "Well, I thought that because it's been a month since we got back together that we should do something special. So I made dinner. It's bowtie pasta with alfredo sauce, with bits of spinach and chicken in it."
"…when did you learn to cook?"
Axel smiled sadly. "Well, I had to do something when I was stuck at Reno's for that month and since Reno's a worse cook than even me, I started to teach myself a little," he said. Then he laughed a little. "One case of food poisoning by my brother was bad enough. Actually, that was the main reason that I didn't call you the morning after we broke up."
Roxas took off his jacket, putting it over one of the chairs. "You were gonna call me after that huge fight?" he asked.
" 'Course I was," Axel said. "I wanted to call you and tell you how stupid I was, how much I love you, all that. But when I got to Reno's the night before, he decided that I needed some 'comfort food', so I ended up praying to the porcelain god for the next three days."
Roxas couldn't help but laugh. He knew that Axel's older brother Reno had worse skills in the culinary area than that of Axel, but the blonde didn't know that the older one had actually made anyone sick. It was a wonder that Reno hadn't gotten sick off his own cooking, much less his own boyfriend Rude growing ill.
Axel turned off the stove. "Dinner is ready," he said, sounding satisfied. "Sit down. I bet Kairi gave you a rough day at work."
Roxas obeyed and took a seat while Axel went hunting in their fridge for something. "She tried to get me to talk about the venue a month ago," he said. "Apparently, Kairi, Naminé, and Xion were all there that night and saw the opening…but only Xion and Naminé stuck around for the whole show."
"Oh?" Axel asked, glancing at the blonde. "Why's that?"
"Because Kairi is stupid, ignorant, in denial, whatever you want to say about me when it comes to my sexuality," Roxas answered. "I remember when I went back to work after that night, I didn't see Kairi for almost two weeks. I thought she quit until she came back, but she didn't talk to me, so I really wasn't bothered by it."
"…then why'd she suddenly come up to you and wanna know about the club venue?" Axel asked, leaving the fridge with something Roxas wasn't paying attention to and going to the cabinets in search of glasses.
"Because, and I don't have a clue why, she thought the song was for her until you yelled and I ran off the stage to you," Roxas answered. "Unless Larxene's been feeding her weird lies, I have no idea where she got that thought into her head. I've never been nice to her beyond her first day on the job over a year ago, so maybe she just kept thinking I liked her for a small gesture."
"Who knows," Axel said. He came over to the table with two wineglasses full of red wine in his hands, offering one to Roxas. "What makes me happy is that you chose me."
Roxas smiled. "Makes me happy too," he said, taking the glass that was offered. Usually, if the two were to drink, they would pull out some rum and mix it with coke or (if it was good) would get some six packs of beer. Wine was something they hardly ever drank, so it was considered special by both of them.
They raised their glasses in salute, then took a drink. When Axel was placing his glass down, he heard what came up next on the stereo and smiled.
"Moonlight Serenade," Roxas simply stated, smiling. "One of my favorites."
"I know," Axel replied, grinning. He held out a hand. "Before we eat, would you accompany me for a dance?"
Roxas simply stared at the red head, a tad stunned. Then his eyes brightened a little and he smiled. "Yes," he said quietly, slipping one hand into his boyfriend's waiting one.
Axel helped Roxas out of his seat and took him over to a more spacious part of the kitchen that left enough room for them. He wrapped his arms around Roxas' waist while the shorter blonde draped his own around Axel's neck. They began to sway back and forth as the singing began.
I stand at your gate and the song that I sing is of moonlight,
I stand and I wait for the touch of your hand in the June night,
The roses are sighing a Moonlight Serenade…
Roxas smiled up at Axel. If this wasn't considered romantic, he didn't know what was. Axel had made dinner, bought red wine and roses, raided the blonde's Sinatra collection for some good music, and had asked him to dance.
The stars are aglow and tonight how their light sets me dreaming.
My love, do you know that your eyes are like stars brightly beaming?
I bring you and I sing you a Moonlight Serenade…
The red head smiled as he watched Roxas. He knew that the blonde was thinking about something, but what it was specifically, he wasn't sure.
But whatever it was, Roxas did look happy.
Let us stray till break of day in love's valley of dreams,
Just you and I, a summer sky, a heavenly breeze kissin' the trees…
Roxas laid his head against one of Axel's shoulders, sighing in contentment. He couldn't remember a time when he had been this happy…other than Axel being at the venue a month ago and accepting him again after a month of being apart. Probably the only other times he could remember feeling like he was on cloud nine were their first date almost two years ago, the night they had slept together for the first time, and when Roxas had first met Axel by bumping into him in the park one summer afternoon.
So don't let me wait, come to me tenderly in the June night.
I stand at your gate and I sing you a song in the moonlight,
A love song, my darling, a Moonlight Serenade…
The blonde looked up at his red head. "Why would you do all this?" he asked, a bit curious.
Axel kissed his boyfriend's forehead. "Do I need a reason, other than I love you?" he countered. He smiled. "I wanted to because you showed me how much you cared for me…and while I can't offer much, I thought I could do the same for you."
The two stopped their small dance, Roxas still looking up at Axel. The red head touched his forehead to the blonde's. "Unless you ask me to go, I won't leave you."
"I already learned my lesson last time," Roxas said, just before kissing Axel. "I can't ask you to go. If I did, my life wouldn't be the same."
Axel smiled, nuzzling Roxas before kissing him, the music in the background coming to an end.
