A/N: Okay...PLEASE DON'T KILL ME! I meant to have this up far quicker but heh...mum's computer crashed and the only place I've been able to write is school, since the only other working computer around here is my dad's and...we're not goin there. Then came actual, you know, school work, my natural laziness, and fun family stuff (catch the sarcasm?)...I don't normally take this long to write something, I swear!
Disclaimer: I just realized I didn't put this in the beginning of the first chapter...eh, I own nothing. At the moment. I have something I own in this chapter, but I'll cover that at the bottom! Anyway, yeah, I no own kingdom hearts, or final fantasy, or anything the belongs to Square Enix
Axel's POV
"Axeeeeelllll. The kitchen smells weird…" I chucked a pillow at the door.
"Get over it." I muttered from under another pillow. I loved pillows. Riku always said I never needed a blanket. I'd just burrow under all the pillows anyway.
"…Oh and Zexion and Sora are staying with us for awhile." That woke me up.
"No way in frikken hell." I hissed at a rather startled Demyx. I can move pretty damn fast when I want to, thank you very much. Though I doubt slamming open the door helped.
"…Why?" I groaned, running a hand down my face. It was way too early for this. And who cares if it was eleven in the morning?
"…Because your brother is a goddamn sugar demon who can't sit still for one minute, and Riku's adopted cousin-twice-removed-whatever-the-hell-he-is is…is…" Demyx was doing his patented puppy eyes. The ones I'm pretty sure every spoiled five year old wanted. "…Fine. But if they take the last of the coffee again, they're paying. And I want to sleep while they're over. Got it?" Demyx quickly shook his head in something I supposed was supposed to resemble a nod and ran off, happy as a puppy with a new bone.
Zexion smirked at me from his position at the entrance to the hallway. Then he got tackled. I groaned, stepping over the pile of lilac and blonde hair that was Demyx and Zex, heading for the kitchen.
…Damn. It did smell weird in here. Eh…at least it was a weird clean smell, rather than a weird I-don't-know-what-that-is smell. Sora, little brown haired, blue eyed midget, was currently perched on the counter, distracting Riku, who was trying to make breakfast.
Okay. Let me explain something about these people that I live with. Riku. Best friend since whenever (I honestly don't remember a time when Riku wasn't around). Elementary school, junior high, high school (and this is the one and only time I will mention that place of pure evil) and now college. I loved the little bastard like a brother, yet at the same time…I wanted to strangle him on a regular basis. Or lock him in the closet again.
…Then there's Demyx. He crashed through the ceiling of third period English in tenth grade and landed in my lap. I only found out later that he did so because he'd been attempting to find a way to the drama-club's snack room from the detention room. Apparently the paneling that made up the ceiling was rather hollow.
Friends ever since. And when Demyx came, the rest of his little psycho group, now our little psycho group came as well. Larxene, crazy evil chick extraordinaire, as well as a junior (why she hung out with us is beyond me…), Zexion, Riku's somehow-related-cousin coincidentally, and evil little bookworm, sophomore, like us, but perfectly willing to prove to us why he should be a senior with that mind of his, Marluxia, grade A creeper, also a junior, and flowery linebacker, and Sora, hyper ball of sugar, who also happened to be one of Demyx's innumerable siblings (which is another story entirely), and a freshman at the time.
So, to give a reason to this little explanation…Riku was going out with Sora, Demyx, with Zexion, and overall, I'd known all these people for at least five or so years…So did I find the sudden make out session on the floor of the hallway odd? No. And did I have any issue shoving Riku out of the way right as he was about to start his own make out session with Sora? Nope. He was in the way of the fridge. And I was hungry. Riku flipped me off, which was only a half hearted gesture since as soon as I was out of the way, Sora had grabbed him again.
And did I have any issue with the fact that I was currently the only single one in the house? If you didn't count the smack to Riku's head and the kick to Demyx's side as I passed with my bowl of Coco Puffs as incriminating evidence, no, I didn't.
Both of them just ignored me.
…Bastards…
X-x-X-x-X
I was alone in the apartment again. Which is prolly the fourth or so time I'd noticed it. Zexion had dragged a promise out of Demyx that he would at least attempt to get help from the bookworm for some class or another this weekend. And as it was Sunday, he had no choice. So he was gone. And Riku…Riku had vanished with Sora about two hours ago, saying something like "don't wait up". Now, normally, if I had nothing pressing, I'd call someone and tell them to get their asses over here, or vice versa. Larxene was busy with family. Marluxia…well, lets put it this way. I'm not staying alone with him. He may be my friend but sometimes…And Vincent, someone not formally mentioned in my rant above for good reason, was out of town with Reno, my ever loving idiot of a brother, and Rude. No idea what they were doing. But knowing my brother…it was prolly a good thing I didn't know. Because if I did, it would likely come back later to bite me in the ass when I got dragged to court to testify in their defense.
Yes, he is that bad. And no, I'm not exaggerating…except maybe a bit about the court thing. Reno wouldn't trust me with something like that. And it's not like he's been to court before…well, I take that back…he's never been convicted of anything. Let's go with that.
Anyways, all of that perfectly and simply emphasized the fact that I was yet again alone. At night. With nothing to do. And no class to go to tomorrow.
I sighed, standing and heading down the hall. I still had a few boxes to unpack anyway. My room though was starting to look more or less like the one I'd had back when I'd shared an apartment with Reno. Bed in the corner, covered in black, red, and silver pillows, and I'm pretty sure a black comforter. Don't know. Haven't seen it since I'd unpacked it, and before that, hadn't seen it for going on a year and a half. That should tell you just how many pillows I have. Cheap, fake-wood desk next to it, already covered in papers. Closet stuffed with clothes since I was too lazy to find hangers or fold them and put them in the cheap dresser next to the cheap desk. Stereo system atop the dresser, a pile of CDs on the floor beside it, and a few framed pictures next to the stereo. Now, I'm not a nostalgic type of person. There's only three pictures up there. One's of me, Demyx, and Riku, graduation robes splattered with paint because some idiot in our class thought it would be funny to fill a few water balloons with the stuff and throw 'em after the ceremony. Turns out said idiot was my brother. The one next to it is me and Reno when we were like…six I think. I was balling my eyes out, and Reno had this evil little grin on his face. He was holding my prized Red Power Ranger action figure. Right after that picture had been taken, I'd tackled the little shit. We ended up breaking a window and the toaster with that fight. It'd been fun as hell and, at the end, I couldn't even remember why I'd been upset.
And the next picture over…that was one of the most traumatic events of my life that had been captured by that little digital camera. Demyx and Sora had invited Riku, Zexion and I over to their place for Thanksgiving dinner. That was where we'd met the six other Strife family children (Zexion already knew them but apparently saw no need to, I don't know, warn us. Other than him though, Riku and I had never met any of the family. Heck, in the two years we'd known them, we didn't even know Demyx and Sora had any more siblings). Cloud and Lightning, the oldest at 25 (now…they'd been 21 at the time), and two of the gloomiest, scariest twins I'd even met. Serah and Ven, the calmer ones in the family (not twins, I think they were a year or so apart…). Demyx was apparently the next oldest after them, then Sora, then Kairi and Namine. Now, while Cloud and Lightning were scary, these two sweethearts were on a whole 'nother level with the scary. Kairi was the oddball of the family, being the only one with red hair in a family of brunettes and blondes. She could also sniff out any lie, from anyone, and made it her business to know everything. And Namine, the sweet looking one…she had blackmail on me that I didn't even know existed. Those two would be…seventeen now I think. Seniors in high school.
Back to the picture however…Riku, Demyx, and I were crammed in the center, Cloud and Lightning to our right, fighting about something with Ven, Serah was to our left, holding a stapler she'd grabbed from Kairi, Namine was next to her twin, making bunny ears behind Demyx's head while he did the same to her, and Sora was laughing his ass off at our scared expressions. Their dear, lovely mother, Beck, was standing behind us three, an arm around our shoulders, grinning brightly as her at-the-time purple spiky hair poked Riku and me in the eyes.
Now. See why that might have been a traumatic event?
But the memory made me smile anyway. We'd spent every Thanksgiving with the Strife family since, which basically meant, including that first time, we'd gone three times in all, and we were already looking forward to a fourth. Riku's family was too far away for the trip to be feasible with the little money both sides were making, and he went up there for Christmas anyway. And as Zexion had lived with Riku since somewhere around the fourth grade, he was in the same boat. Me? Well…I had Reno. And I'd managed to start dragging him down with us as of last year. I'd invited Vince and Rude but they had finely tuned survival instincts. I was determined to get 'em though this year, now that I had Reno on my side.
I sighed, glancing around the otherwise empty room. The posters hadn't gone up yet, leaving the walls a plain, blank white.
…Well…I had all night right?
X-x-X-x-X
Normal POV
He didn't remember leaving the apartment. He didn't remember coming back, a man on his arm. Even the man, he didn't remember much of, as he was being crawled over. He remembered a flash of blonde, a quick, easy smile, and maybe one of the drunken pick up lines he'd heard almost constantly for the past three years. They played like a broken record in his head every time he went out. And he just smiled. Just kept on smiling as that broken record screeched and scratched and kept on playing. He'd smiled, played along. Let himself take the offered drink with another, shy little smile, the one he'd learned would get him what he needed the quickest. Let himself laugh at the right times, though in his head, the stale, thin jokes and attempts at humor rang hollow and cut deep at times. He just laughed. He'd smiled sweetly when the guy had offered, none too subtly, for them to find someplace else. Hadn't missed a beat when he'd offered his home up as the destination. He remembered that quick easy smile changing into one far less kind. Far more sly. Or at least, he assumed the faceless person thought so.
He didn't remember getting home, unlocking the door. All he remembered of that moment was an ice cold hand on his back, pushing him inside, leaving what felt like a frostbitten hand print on his skin. He'd brushed the thought off he supposed, because he couldn't recall the feeling from where it rested in his mind amongst the others of its kind. The cold touches. The freezing brushes. The iced over breath on his skin. They all blended to create a storm of such intense cold within him; he'd just given up on trying to remember one sensation over another.
He realized he'd been silent as the fingers on his bare skin stopped, and the man's eyes looked up. He smiled again, always playing the part. The man's eyes were blue. He let out a soft, breathy moan as the fingers resumed, not really feeling it, but knowing he'd get in trouble if the man walked out without paying.
As the touches resumed, so did the ice, trailing over his senses like a thick shadow. He used to have a light for that shadow. Used to keep it deep inside. Warm, glowing, it'd helped him get to his feet afterwards. But with each touch by some nameless stranger, some unknown face, those icy fingers had clawed deeper and deeper, tearing at his light. Taking away a piece for themselves. He knew they hadn't meant to. He couldn't hate them anymore than he could get that light back.
X-x-X-x-X
Roxas, not quite asleep, but not quite awake either didn't think until the man had showered, paid and left, that if anyone were next door, they would've heard the entire thing.
Disclaimer: I only own one thing in this chapter sadly...and that is Beck. She's an OC of mine who I just love~ Anyway! I own none of the characters, and the song Beautiful Girl is by Broken Iris. No real reason it's the title, I just happened to be listening to it, and I thought it might have some vague connection to the chapter.
A/N: OKAY! ONCE AGAIN, I'M NORMALLY NOT THIS SLOW! And I apologize for any and all errors/mistakes/things that don't make sense (though with the latter, please feel free to point it out to me, and I'll do my best to fix it/clarify) Reviews are highly appreciated and loved :)
