"Mommy!" I called as the rain fell heavily onto both mine and my mother's bodies. Tears were freely pouring out of my eyes and staining my pale skin. There was blood pooling out of my mom's stomach from a piece of the windshield that struck her as the other car did. "Mommy, please don't die!"

Her breathing was becoming more and more shallow by the second and her skin was getting colder and colder. The rain most certainly wasn't helping. "Roxas…" she struggled to whisper. I clasped her freezing hand tightly in mine as she tried to raise it to my cheek.

"Yes, I'm here, Mommy!" I reminded her. "Mommy, you didn't have to come get me! If you just let me walk home, then you wouldn't have been hurt!"

Despite her current situation, Mommy still managed a small laugh. "You're so… silly, my sweet Roxas… I came because… you would've gotten… hurt if I… let you walk… I did it… because I love you…" she explained in her raspy voice. I cried harder, if that was even possible.

"Mommy… I love you, too…" I sniffled. "Mommy, please don't leave me…!" She looked into my tear filled eyes with her dull, gentle ones. She tried to grip my hand back, but I could tell it was a serious task for her. I couldn't stand seeing my mommy – my strong, kind, helpful, fun, warm mommy – this weak.

Her eyes slowly shut and her slow, almost non-existent breathing stopped.

She was dead.

As this reality came into affect, the world around me started crumbling. Suddenly, my mother was no longer in my arms and the wreck surrounding us vanished. Darkness pooled around my feet and I started being drowned into it. I screamed and screamed for help, but my voice wouldn't work and my efforts were meaningless. As soon as I was fully engulfed in the darkness, my mind went blank. All the stressful thoughts I came to know as "normal" were gone. Man, did that feel nice…

"Roxas!" I heard someone call. The voice was vaguely familiar. I could tell it seriously wanted to come into contact with me, but this overwhelming darkness and warmth was just too comfortable to give up just yet. It was so peaceful here. No one to pressure me, hurt me, break me. Just me and silence.

"Roxas, wake up!" the voice persisted. What was with people being so persistent, anyway? Why couldn't they just leave me alone? What did they find just so damn interesting? I will never understand people. "Roxas, if you don't wake up in 10 seconds, I'm going to pour a bucket of ice water on your head! Got it memorized?" Oh shit.

Please tell me that that was some coma induced illusion. Please tell me Axel wasn't here right now. Please, anything but that. Now I definitely wasn't going to wake up. I was just gonna chill here in the darkness. Yeah, that sounded like a plan. If I opened my eyes and ended up staring right into those pools of emerald, I may just go insane. I couldn't take it. I would fall apart.

"Axel, back up a bit," Cloud instructed. Oh, thank god Cloud was still here. Wait a second. Where /was/ here? Was I still at my house? Wait… Cloud! My eyes shot open and I quickly sat up as the memories of what just occurred came back to me, but I was practically blinded by a flash of the brightest red on the whole freaking planet. "Woah, Roxas! Don't sit up so suddenly!" Cloud scolded, pushing me back onto the floor.

I looked around and noticed I was on the living room floor in my house. So that means neither me nor Cloud was hurt enough to go to a hospital. So wait… "Where's my father?" I asked, my voice hoarse and MOTHER OF HELL did my head hurt! It started throbbing really hard and I grunted in pain. It felt like my skull was on fire and was being ripped in half!

I curled into a ball and gripped my head with everything I had. I felt someone grab my hands and pry them off my head and grasp them tightly. "Roxas, calm down," someone gently said in my ear. I wasn't exactly paying attention, though. I scrunched my eyes close tight and tried to magically will the pain away. Wasn't working so well. I ripped my hands away from whoever took them and returned them to my head. FUCK, this hurts!

I felt a hand entangle itself in my blonde locks and gently start massaging my scalp which, surprisingly, helped tremendously. I pried an eye open and saw that it was "Axel?"

"Yeah, I'm here, buddy," he smiled down to me. I tried to glare at him, but he just chuckled and continued rubbing my scalp. "How bad does it hurt, Roxy?" he asked calmly.

"Like HELL, you dumbass!" I shouted. What the hell was he doing here anyway? I glared over at Cloud with my silent answer and he mouthed the words "I called him." Why the hell would he call Axel? Before I could manage to ask any more questions, another wave of pain crashed over me and I was lost.

Beep… Beep… Beep...

Damn, what was that beeping? It was really irritating.

Beep… Beep… Beep…

Wait, where was I this time? Or am I still at home? These are important questions, people! Answers would be just lovely! Maybe I should wake up and ask them.

Beep… Beep… Beep…

I peered open my eyes but quickly shut them again, shielding my face with my arm, due to a bright as hell light shining right over my face. 'Whoever put a fucking light right above my face is getting shot,' I angrily thought. I grunted annoyingly and heard someone gasp as a response.

"Roxas!" they exclaimed. I felt them apply pressure to one side of my bed as they rushed to my side. "Roxas, you're up! How're you feeling?" I raised an arm over my eyes as I opened them and tried to glare at… Axel?

"What're you doing here?" I grumbled. "Where am I? What the hell happened?"

"One at a time, Roxy," Axel smiled, bile rising to my throat at the sound of his voice using my nickname. "First, I'm here because I'm worried about you. Second, you're in the hospital. Third… Well, I think Cloud should tell you. I'll go tell him you're awake," Axel explained giving my hand a light squeeze before leaving to hunt down Cloud.

I took the opportunity to look around my room and noticed that there pretty much was nothing here. The small room contained the bed I was wrapped up in, a few monitors on hooked up to me on my side (a heart monitor, which explained the beeping), a small couch across from me, and a crappy TV mounted in the corner. Cozy.

A few moments later, Cloud came in the room and took Axel's seat next to my bed. "How are you feeling?" he asked.

"I would rather not have a head right now, but other than that; just fucking peachy," I said, obviously pissed; mostly because I was still waiting on answers. "Now can you tell me what happened?"

"When did you black out?" he asked.

"I heard my father yell at you, but I can't remember what it was. Other than that, just you at the top of the stairs telling me to run away," I explained. Why couldn't I remember anything else?

"Shit… Well, I guess now I have to give you the entire story," Cloud sighed. "After he threw you against the wall I tried to run over to you but your father cut me off and slammed me against the wall. He had me by the neck and was choking me," he started, showing me a bruise in the shape of a hand around his neck.

"He was yelling at me, saying things like we were… doing things. He said one too many things about you I didn't quite like so I ended up blindly kicking his ass. Damn, did it feel good to finally be able to do that!" he happily said, me smirking and motioning for him to just get on with it. "After I came to, I moved your father out into the garage and tied him to the water heater. Just as I was about to get to you, Axel was standing in the door way."

"What was he doing there?"

"He said he came over to return your flash drive and he heard the screaming so he came in on his own. Your father must've left the door unlocked." Oh, so that's why I couldn't find it. I lent it to Axel so he could use it to save one of his projects for school. "The doctors said you have a mild concussion and some slight brain damage, which is probably why you can't remember much of the other day."

"WHAT?" What did he mean by 'the other day'? How long was I out?

"You've been out for about a day and a half, Roxas…" I was somewhat relieved by that. At least I didn't miss too much. But I have brain damage… Do I not remember other things? Are they important? If they are… But wait.

"Cloud, you still didn't tell me where my father is," I pointed out.

"After you passed out again, I called the cops. Your father is in a cell awaiting trial for child abuse, attempt at murder, and a few counts of drunk driving," he said. My face paled. He was gone? In custody? He… He couldn't hurt me…?

No, there's no way that was possible. My father wouldn't have been found out so easily. He was smart in that department, at least. In the eight years since he snapped and started hitting me, he always managed to avoid being found out, no matter what happened. He knew a lot of people and most of them were lawyers or some other form of law work and always conveniently owed my father favors. Any time I tried to save myself or one of the neighbors cleverly caught on, the matter was swept away as if it was never there. I had come used to living that kind of lifestyle.

But just like that, he was in custody? Awaiting trial, at that? There was just no way. But Cloud never lies, about anything. Why would he lie now of all times? I had no choice but to believe him and just move on. "So what happens now?" I asked, the fear hinting obviously in my voice.

"Now, you rest. Tomorrow, we check you out and take you to my house. Next week, we go to your father's trial," Cloud explained.

"Okay… Sounds like a plan, I guess…" Alright then. My life has officially gone down the toilet. I feel like there's something else I've forgotten… but what could it be? "Hey, Cloud? Do you think when I get discharged we could do like a questionnaire thing or something? Just to make sure I haven't forgotten anything to major," I suggested. The brain damage was seriously scaring me.

"Yeah, sure, buddy. Anything you need," Cloud smiled. "I need to get home, but Axel is going to stay here in case you need anything, okay?"

"Uhm… Yeah, okay… See you tomorrow, Cloud." I faked a smile as he ruffled my hair a bit and left, probably to tell Axel he was leaving, then head on his way. I got bored and started mindlessly playing with my hands when I noticed I had a bandage wrapped around my wrist. What was that there for? I unwrapped it slowly and my eyes widened when I saw that there was a deep cut in my wrist. 'How the hell did that get there?' Did my father ever cut me? Not that I can remember… Besides, he's never used knives on me before… Then… Then did I do this…? W-Why would I cut myself? I mean, sure I was depressed… but what happened to make it so bad I cut myself?

As I was lost in my thoughts, I didn't notice Axel walk in and take his seat back. "Roxas?"

I looked up to him, my eyes wide and fear and confusion clearly visible. "Axel, what happened…? Where did this come from!" I asked, showing him my wrist. I don't know if I told Axel or not, but he might have some kind of idea.

Axel's eyes widened and he grabbed my hand, pulling it closer to him. "Roxas, wrap this back up!" he scolded, taking the bandages and quickly wrapping them back around my wrist. When he was finished, he took my hand into his and grasped it really tightly, sighing and letting his head droop. "No, Roxy… I don't know why that's there…" he whispered.

I looked away from him, slightly disappointed. I thought I told Axel everything. Apparently not. "Oh… Okay then… Well, thanks for wrapping it back up," I mumbled.

"No problem…" Well now this was awkward. What was I supposed to say now? Well… There is something I remember… But is now such a good time? Well… It's not like I have anything else to talk about… Plus, what if I forget about it later? I'd rather not take that chance, I guess.

"Hey… Axel? Can… Can I ask you something?" I nervously said. No turning back now.

"Anything, Roxas," he smiled, making my heart flutter.

"Well, something's been on my mind for a while now and now might not be the best time, but... Well what I'm trying to ask is... Would… I mean… Will you… No… Uhm… Well… The thing is… I, uhm…" I mentally kicked myself. Why couldn't I just say it? It was just a simple six word sentence, so why? Axel giggled a bit and just sat there, waiting for me to say it. He knew what I was going to ask, yet he let me struggle anyway. Bastard. "Would… Would you… Would you possibly… maybe… consider… think about… going out with me…?" I mumbled.

"I'm sorry, Roxas, I didn't quite catch that. What did you say?" he asked in a mocking tone. He so heard me, the bastard.

"Would… Would you go out with me, Axel…?" I asked again, trying to hide behind my short bangs. Axel fell silent and let his head droop, his hands suddenly becoming very interesting. "Or have I asked you before…?"

"No… No, you've never asked me that, Roxas… It's just…" He fell silent again and instantly I felt like a crossed a giant line. I shouldn't have asked him. Now everything's all awkward! God, what have I done?

"I-It's fine, Axel! Ju-Just forget I said anything, it's okay," I nervously said, trying to take back my words so we could just go back to normal.

"Roxas, it's not okay," Axel said sadly, making me feel even more like shit. He was seriously good at doing that recently. Now I was scared he was going to say something like he didn't want to be my friend, or he was already with someone he didn't tell me about, or… or… I dunno; something worse than that! But he seriously surprised the hell out of me when he said, "It's great."

"…Haaa?" I asked in complete and utter disbelief. How the hell was that great? Where the hell did that even come from? "What do you mean?"

"Actually… I've liked you for a while now, Roxas…" he smiled, blushing a bit. Axel – big, tough, badass sex-god Axel – was blushing. THE FUCK.

"R-Really…?" I stuttered. A sudden pain struck my heart, but I had no idea what it meant or why it was there, so I ignored it. For now.

Axel smiled and nodded. "Yeah… So… Yes, Roxas… I would like to go out with you," he said, taking my hand in his. Holyfuck. Ohmygod. Noway. Axel Akai did not just agree to go out with me. No way in hell did that just happen. I'm dreaming. Yup. That's what's going on. Wait. No I'm not! This is not a fucking dream! It's just the best thing to ever happen to me, that's what it is! I jumped up a bit out of my bed and wrapped my arms around Axel in a death hug.

"Oh my god, Axel, you have no idea how happy you just made me!" I exclaimed, my smile reaching my eyes honestly for the first time in a long time. He heard Axel chuckle and felt the older man's arms wrap snuggly around his waist.

"Glad I could be of service to you," he joked. I smiled and giggled again as he regrettably pushed me back onto the bed. "Now why don't you try to get some rest and tomorrow I'll drive you over to Cloud's," he suggested.

"But I want to hang out with you tomorrow, Axel," I whined cutely, pouting a bit. "Can't I?"

I could tell he was resisting my cuteness. That was a surprise. No one could resist my Roxy Charm that I had been perfecting since grade school. "As tempting as that sounds, you seriously just need to get some rest. When you're all better we can hang out all you want, okay?"

"Hmpf. I guess so," I grunted. Axel merely chuckled and ruffled my hair a bit.

"Would staying here till you fell asleep make you get some rest for me?" he bargained, getting comfortable in the crappy little chair set up next to my bed.

"Only if you don't sit in that chair," I said, pointing to the not-so-comfortable-but-better-than-a-shit-chair couch across the room. He smiled and got up to move over to the couch. Before he sat down, I asked him if, for tonight at least, he could stay at the hospital with me.

"Uhm, I dunno. Let me go see if I can," he said, getting up to go ask a nurse or someone. As soon as he left, I was already missing the warmth that Axel had brought to my cold hospital room. It always seemed colder when Axel wasn't in the room. He was like my own personal heater, and I loved it. I snuggled into my blankets more, trying to replicate some of that heat so my toes wouldn't freeze off my feet.

I was just about to pass out when I felt a big hand play my hair. My blue eyes fluttered open as they were met with gorgeous acidic green ones. "Go back to sleep, Roxy. I can stay, but I have to make sure you get some rest, okay?" he smiled, still stroking my hair in a soothing way. I nodded and drifted away with the soothing feel of Axel's hand in my hair.

When I woke up, the first thing that came to mind was that it was really fucking hot. Like someone turned the heat up to a bazillion degrees. At least my toes weren't cold. But nor were they alone. It took me a second before I realized I wasn't the only one in the small hospital bed. I opened my eyes and right in front of me was a dark gray covered chest cradling my face. I looked up and sure enough, Axel was sound asleep, his nose buried in my blonde locks. What was up with him and my hair?

His warm, even breathing through his nose blew onto my forehead and strangely, I found some comfort in that. I saw that my fist was bundled around his shirt and I did nothing but grasp onto it tighter. I also noticed that he had his strong arms wrapped snug around my small frame and when I readjusted myself a bit, he tightened his grip on me a bit and pulled me closer to his chest, which I happily snuggled into. God, he was so nice to sleep with. I didn't want this moment to end, not ever.

But there was this nagging feeling in the back of my skull. A feeling that said that maybe being with Axel like this was a mistake. That it's just not meant to happen. But if that was so, then why did it feel so right by simply thinking of the red-head? Well… I would dwell on this later. First things first. What the hell was Axel doing in my bed in the first place? And how did a nurse not notice this and come in to separate us? Yay for more questions. Whoo.

"Axel," I said just loud enough for him to hear me as I shook his shoulder a bit. His face scrunched up and he batted my hand away, not wanting to be woken up. 'Too bad.' I pushed his chest, attempting to just roll him off the bed but before he fell, he gripped me close to his body and we both ended up toppling onto the ground; me on top. "Owwwww….." I whined.

"Morning to you, too, Roxy," he smiled in victory. Bastard.

I hit him not too gently in his chest as I sat up, straddling his waist. "Why were you in my bed?" Axel smirked at our current position, making me blush, but I had him pinned so he could answer me. "Also, new rule. You are not allowed to keep me waiting when I ask a question. It's seriously gotten annoying recently."

"Yes, oh mighty Roxy," Axel chuckled. That damn chuckle, I loved it so. "You looked cold last night so I crawled into your bed and you were cold as ice! Damn, it took a long time to warm you up!" he exclaimed, me rolling my eyes. I was naturally a cold person, not my fault. He looked like he was hiding something else, but since I pushed him out of bed, I decided to let I it slide. For now.

"Oh… Thanks," I mumbled. Axel sat up, causing me to jerk back and almost fall out of his lap before he caught me and pulled me into his chest for a comforting hug.

"No problem," he whispered in my ear, clinging to me. I clung back and we ended up sitting on the floor for probably a good ten minutes or so. I was about to fall back asleep just like that, snuggled up on Axel's shoulder, when he picked me up and put me back in the bed. He pulled his phone out of his back pocket, frowning at the time. "Cloud should be here soon to discharge you and take you to his place. I got to go home, too…"

I looked back to my lap, my head hanging down. I didn't want Axel to leave just yet… "Okay…" I mumbled. Axel sat down on the side of the bed, pulling me into his warm side where I quickly snuggled back into. I just wanted to melt and stay in his warmth for all eternity right then and there. He placed a small kiss to my temple and rubbed his thumb up and down from its place on my shoulder in a soothing way.

"It's okay, Roxas. I'll text you all the time and I'll call you before you go to bed and when you wake up, okay? Don't worry, it'll be Monday before you know it," he said reassuringly. I smiled at him, kissing him back on his temple as he gave me one last squeeze before putting his shoes on.

He gave me one last look before he left the room and headed home. I have to admit, the whole time I was with axel, I thought not once about my father or the pain he has caused me. Just Axel and his warmth and comfort. He made me feel safe and I absolutely cherished that feeling. In a cheesy way, he was my sunshine. Pfft, I chuckled at that. I could be such a dweeb sometimes.

"Hey, I just saw Axel leave. You two have a nice night?" Cloud asked as he entered the room, bringing me out of my thoughts. I nodded, a slight warmness rising to my cheeks. "Good. You ready to go, then?" I nodded again, so definitely ready to get the hell out of this damn hospital room. I swung my legs over the side of the bed, looking around for my clothes. Before I could start rage quitting, Cloud appeared next to me with my backpack, most likely filled with my clothes. He also pointed next to the bathroom door where my shoes were placed.

I nodded my thanks, feeling a little embarrassed, and made my way to the bathroom to get out of this damn hospital gown. I was so thankful to be back in jeans again. I looked in the mirror above the sink after I washed my face and noticed something. My eyes. They didn't have their usual dullness. They seemed almost… brighter. I smiled, automatically knowing what the cause of such a change was. After getting ready, I grabbed my phone out of the bag just to see if I missed anything while I was out. Not much, just a few missed text messages. Meh, I'll check them later. Right now, I had somewhere to be.

This took way too long to write.
I could go on about how I started summer school, or how I had no motivation, or kept having writer's block, or almost scrapped this because I'm like "NO ONE LIKES THIS. FML.", but I shall not indulge. Don't want to bore you with the details of my life c:

Anyway, hope you enjoy this chapter. I know it's kinda slow; not much happened, but fear not! I have the next chapter already planned out and shall have that started soon so yay C:

Also, thanks to Night-Witch-Watch-Out for giving me my first legit review since I started out on this site .u. you gave me the motivation I needed to get my ass in gear and finish this. You, my friend, get a whole virtual cake just for yourself. Cookies to all that others that reviwed/will hopefully review. I love you all~!

Well, I stayed up late to finish this. I have a big test tomorrow. I hope you all are happy. I'll pass it, don't worry, lol.
Also, this is kinda an early birthday present to myself since I swore I would get this done. I have other projects I need to get started. But anyway, happy early birthday to me :3
Lol I'm such a loser -brick'd-