He ran his hand through his fiery hair, carelessly rearranging the always messy spikes. His hand dropped down and brushed the cold surface of the sea salt ice cream packages sitting next to him. There were two bars of a magnificent blue color waiting to repeat what was done everyday.

A sigh escaped his lips as he rested his cheek against his knee and watched his other leg dangle above Twilight Town. "Man, normally I'm the one who's late." he muttered to himself.

Tip, tap, tip, tap. Piercing, green eyes darted to the other side of the clock tower. He recognized this sound, a sound that always made him feel…odd. You'd never hear him admit it, but the light tapping of these feet was his second favorite sound. Everything about it was perfect to him, even the strange feelings that accompanied it…especially the feelings.

"Axel!" a boy with spiky, blonde hair panted as he appeared from around the corner. "I'm sorry I'm late."

"Don't sweat it," Axel replied as his lips curled into the smallest of smiles.

"I'm honestly surprised you waited for me this long," the blonde added, catching his breath.

…..

"What? Axel, are you okay?" a tone of worry inserted itself into his voice.

Axel's mind was somewhere else, somewhere where his secrets were out in the open, somewhere he had a heart. This place was nice. Roxas was there. His footsteps, his voice…. His voice was Axel's favorite sound. His voice, first, and then the light tip-tapping of his feet because that tip-tapping carried him and his wonderful voice to him. "O-oh yea," Axel hurriedly stammered, coming back to reality. "Hey Roxas, I bet you don't know why the sun sets red," he said as he stared off at the setting sun in the distance.

Roxas stared at him, confused. Somethings definitely bothering him, but I guess he never has been one to say what he's thinking...

"You see," Axel continued, "light is made up of lots of colors, and out of all of those colors, red is the one that travels the farthest."

"That must be why you shine so brightly…" muttered Roxas.

"What?" Axel's eyes widened.

Oops, did I say that out loud?! Roxas panicked silently. "U-uh, I said like I asked you, know it all," Roxas stuttered, finishing the sentence with an uneasy laugh and a cheesy smile.

Dammit Roxas.Axel's thoughts raced as he stared into Roxas' eyes…those bright, blue eyes. "Roxas…"

Roxas broke eye contact and glanced nervously down at his feet. He shuffled a few steps and plopped down about a foot away from Axel on the edge of the clock tower. He was focusing his attention on his feet dangling above the scenery below, but he could still feel Axel's eyes on him.

Axel scooted closer to Roxas and Roxas tried to scoot farther away until Axel grabbed his hand. "Don't…" he murmured.

The two made eye contact again but Roxas couldn't place exactly what he was seeing in Axel's eyes. Was it pain? Was it confusion? Could it be anything at all…? Axel is always the one saying us Nobodies can't feel because we don't have hearts….but what if…do we really need hearts to feel?All these thoughts were stomping around in Roxas' head, causing a chaotic scene. He took his other hand and held it above the area on his chest where his heart should have been. It was warm, but there was nothing beating inside...just an empty cavity.

Axel's hand tightened around the blonde's for a moment and the next it was cupping Roxas' face. Axel's slender fingers slid behind Roxas' ear and tilted his head ever so gently. His remaining hand found it's way to the other side of Roxas' face. His skin is so soft…just like I always imagined it'd be. He just wanted to look into Roxas' eyes, hear his voice, touch him….He just wanted him. The feelings he had been trying so desperately to contain spilled over all at once.

With closed eyes, the red head leaned towards the blonde boy.