Chapter Two
Evening Prayers
The school's final bell had rung and the students were all spilling out into the hallways, complaints about too much homework, or detentions danced through the air as Roxas made his way upstairs to where the junior's lockers were kept. Climbing up the stairs was a lot harder then expected. His messenger bag was stuffed with textbooks and assignments he needed to complete if he wanted to get caught up before exams, which were in January. The bag must have weighed more then him, so it was quite a shock when the bag became lighter. Roxas turned around quickly, half expecting to see his books strewn all across the floor, but definitely not expecting to come face to face with Axel. Had his eyes always been that green, had he always had those markings under his eyes?
Roxas blushed furiously and stepped backwards and away from the punk. Axel's laugh bounced off the walls and some juniors joined in with his laughter, most were too busy trying to escape the school to care.
"Your bag is bigger then you Blondie" Axel teased, he held the bag by its top strap and made lifting it with one arm seem easy. Roxas tried to quell the twisting and turning of his stomach, what was wrong with him?
"I have a lot of work to catch up on" Roxas murmered quietly, Axel leaned down and cocked his ear towards Roxas.
"Pardon, speak up kiddo I can't hear you over the afterschool buzz" Axel said, Roxas just stared at his ear. He counted 12 silver studs all the way up, but the first one was just a large hole in the boy's lobe. He was grimacing when Axel turned to look at him.
"Your…ears" Roxas said a little louder then before and Axel laughed more.
"Yup, been piercing them since I was 12, I just started stretching them though like, 2 years ago" Axel said and fingered his silver studs lovingly. Roxas stared; he had always wanted to pierce his ears at least once. His father would never permit it though, so Roxas had just forgotten the silly little want.
"Don't your parents have something to say?" Roxas said as he was lead to his locker by Axel, he ignored the way his wrist burned underneath Axel's palm. Though, in the back of his mind something told him it was God's way of telling him this was wrong.
"Naw, my mom is totally cool with it and my dad's got more piercings and tattoos then I do" Axel said and stopped by Roxas' locker staring at the boy and smiling happily.
"Are the markings on your face tattoos?" Roxas found himself asking and Axel laughed jovially, but nodded his head happily.
"Hurt a lot more then I like to let on though" Axel winked at Roxas and smirked, Roxas' throat dried instantly.
Roxas blinked harshly, banning any thoughts that might have suggested Axel was attractive. That was an abomination, it was a sin of the worst kind to find someone of the same sex attractive. Roxas opened his locker, Axel held up his bag signaling for Roxas to put away whatever he didn't need.
"I actually don't have anything to put away" Roxas said, more to himself then to Axel and the punk's eyes widened.
"What do you mean? Look at all these textbooks, you can't take em all home!" Axel shook the bag for good measure and Roxas just shook his head and closed his locker door. He wondered where Naminé was.
"I have to hand in all the work I missed tomorrow, I need all my textbooks" the blonde said, gently taking his bag way from Axel and slipping it over his head, resting it on his too-small shoulder.
"I'm sure the teachers won't mind if you take a few days Rox" Axel said and stared at the boy confusedly, he was starting to catch drift of something strange in the boy's expressions.
"My father wouldn't allow it" Roxas said, trying to swallow the bitter bite that accidentally came out. He'd have to ask God's forgiveness for thinking harshly of his father.
"Oh, so your dad's one of those neo-Nazi homework parents?" Axel asked as they headed towards the staircase and Roxas shook his head.
"My father just wants me to do well" Roxas whispered, he seemed to be trying to convince himself more then he was trying to tell Axel. Axel stared at him, chewing on the corner of his lip at the boy's odd expression. He decided he didn't know Roxas well enough to question him, or maybe he was just nervous.
"Oh...Anyways, what school did you go to before coming to Lawrence Heights?" Axel asked, patting down his pockets for his father's car keys. Roxas wobbled along side him, struggling with his book bag, Axel tried to suppress his smirk. The boy was adorable.
"I went to St. Andrew's College" Roxas said quietly as Axel stopped in front of a black Cadillac that had probably seen better years. Axel let out a low whistle
"St. Andrew's...I've heard of it. Is it that really strict, really expensive all-boy boarding school?" Axel asked, eyeing Roxas and his heavy bag.
"That would be the one" Roxas said, tugging on the strap that was cutting into his soft flesh.
"Hey, you want a ride?" Axel blurted out; he fought the blush off his cheeks and grinned at Roxas.
Roxas wanted a ride, he really wanted one. His bag was too heavy, and he was so tired from walking around in the big, new school but he couldn't. What would his father say if he saw Roxas pulling up in front of their house with Axel? Roxas shook his head harshly and turned quickly before he changed his mind.
"Roxas…wait!" Axel called but Roxas just lengthened his stride, he didn't want the red head to follow him, he was the epitome of temptation to Roxas. Roxas had never been tempted by anything, always one to avoid anything of the sort but Axel had everything beckoning Roxas to sin, everything.
By the time Roxas got home, he knew his father was there. His car was in the large driveway and the porch light was on. Roxas swallowed thickly before sliding his key into the lock and opening the door slowly. He had gotten lost on his way home, and it was now early evening. Roxas could barley feel his shoulder, he was sure there was a bruise on it the size of a small city.
"Roxas?" his father's voice called from the kitchen. Large boxes littered their home for they had yet to unpack, he made his way around them and into the large, brightly lit kitchen where his father was hanging a wooden crucifix over the stove.
"I'm so sorry I came home late, sir" Roxas said quickly, looking at his father with pleading eyes. Ever since he was smaller, he had never been allowed to call his father anything of the sort. His father demanded to be called Sir, claiming that the only father of Roxas' was in heaven.
"What is your reason?" his father asked, his deep voice ringing through the empty house as he turned to look at Roxas with eyes just as blue, only so much colder.
"I got lost on my way back, this city is so much bigger and I wasn't sure which way to go" Roxas said quietly, twisting the hem of his cardigan's sleeve in between his thumb and index finger.
"Very well, I expect that you know your way home now and tomorrow you'll here by 3:30. You may go do your homework now" his father said turning, and taking a few things out of the box by his feet.
"Roxas, you also have to unpack" he said just as Roxas left the kitchen. How was he supposed to unpack, and finish all his work?
In his room he tossed his bag onto his bed which had been made earlier that morning, his furniture was already set up, all he had to do was set everything in its proper place. There were so many boxes though, so he decided he'd do all the work from school then unpack. He emptied the contents of his bag and began working on every assignment he had missed.
Around 6:30 his father called him for dinner, and Roxas stared at the papers scattered all over his bed before sighing and going towards the kitchen, the dinning room was a door off to the right and he walked in. His father was seated, and everything was set as Roxas slipped into the seat furthest from his father.
"Are you going to say grace?" his father asked, lacing his fingers in front of him elegantly and bowing his head when Roxas nodded. Roxas laced his fingers together and stared at his father as he said grace.
It wasn't that he hated his father, he was just afraid of the man. He had been in the army years before he started helping at their local church, and something just wasn't right in the man's head. He claimed to be a man of God, and he passed that down to Roxas, even if the boy didn't want it. Roxas attended church at least 4 times a week, sitting in the pews during mass or sometimes carrying the offering during the service. His father insisted that he be close to God, his father said that because of his loss of faith, Roxas' older brother Sora was lost. His father had disowned Sora, and kicked his mother out of the house when he found Sora with his long time friend from Sunday school, Riku. Roxas' mother defended her son and they were thrown out of the house. Roxas missed his mother and brother but his father always punished him if he even mentioned them in the house. They were lost to the devil.
Roxas blinked realizing that grace had been very long; he whispered a quick Amen and they began to eat. His father watched Roxas, and it made the boy uneasy. He knew his father would never know about Naminé or Axel, or that he was thinking about his mother but just the man's intense stare was enough to cause his fork to falter on its way to his mouth.
"Are you going to tell me how your first day at…that school was?" his father asked, cutting a piece of his chicken and staring at his plate. Roxas' eyes were fixed on his plate as well and his head was bowed slightly.
"Roxas?" his father questioned sternly, snapping Roxas out of his daze and making him look up.
"It was fine, I like my classes they aren't very hard" Roxas said and tried to smile at his father though the scowl on the man's face showed he had said something wrong.
"Your classes should be hard, that way you challenge yourself and have no room to think of temptation and sin" his father reprimanded looking quite displeased.
"I'm sure they will be challenging sir, they are all advanced courses" Roxas said, trying to fix his error from before. His father's scowl did not soften though; it was still harsh and cutting. Roxas felt like sinking under the table.
"I've decided that you are to write out bible pages everyday after school, that way you don't loose your path to righteousness by being in the public school system" his father said, and continued to eat. Roxas simply nodded and hung his head. He wasn't sure how he was going to deal with all the work from school, plus the work his father was giving him.
"Yes sir" Roxas said after a quiet pause, and continued to eat. The rest of the dinner was passed in silence until Roxas was excused and sent to his room to finish his school work.
By the time he was finished it was almost midnight, he got off his bed and began putting everything away as quietly as he could. His father would be furious if he found him awake at this hour.
"Roxas" his father's voice sounded through the room from the door way, and said boy froze, anxiety rippling through his body.
"Why are you still awake?" his father said, the stern tone of voice let Roxas know he wasn't pleased at all.
"I just finished all my work, I…I had to catch up" Roxas answered licking at his dry lips as he turned to face his father. The man was tall so it was obvious the only gene Roxas had gotten from his mother was her height. Other then that, he was the spitting image of his father. The man scowled and looked around Roxas' empty room.
"Have you not unpacked yet?" he asked and Roxas winced. His father was getting angrier and angrier with him, he could tell.
"No, I'm sorry sir. I've just been doing 3 months worth of assignments...I" he was cut off by his father crossing the room with three long strides.
"What have I told you about giving me excuses Roxas?" the man said sternly and Roxas shrunk back, looking for somewhere to hide in case his father got really angry.
"I'm sorry, it's just I wanted to do them well" Roxas said quietly
"Speak up boy" his father said, his scowl deepened when Roxas shrunk back even more. He stepped closer and gripped Roxas' collar in his large hands, shaking the small teenager until he wasn't hunched over and lifted him enough so that he was staring right into his identical blue eyes.
"And look at me when I am speaking to you"
Roxas was blinking back tears, the grip his father had on him was choking him, the tips of his toes barley brushing the white carpet below. He couldn't cry though, not in front of his father. His father was a retired Army General; he would not stand to see his only son cry.
"Why are you crying?" His father hissed and Roxas swallowed the lump in his throat before speaking.
"I'm not Sir" he wheezed and his father released his collar causing him to stumble a bit when his feet made contact with the floor.
"I expect everything unpacked by the time I return from Church tomorrow Roxas, I should be home by 4 o'clock. That is more then enough time to have things unpacked, your homework finished and the bible pages. We are to attend the evening mass" and with that his father left the room, slamming the door harshly on his way out.
Roxas collapsed on his bed, tears silently falling from his eyes as he slipped under the covers. He missed his mother, and he missed his brother but they were far from him.
As he fell asleep he realized that he hadn't said his evening prayers and though it should have bothered him, it didn't.
A/N: Alright, so you've all met Roxas' father now and have alittle bit more of a background story. Hope you all enjoyed this chapter. And to those of you who favorited or story alerted this, thank you so much!
Thank you for reading and review if you'd like (:
Next chapter should be up soon, I hope x]