Welcome to the official Chapter 1 of Unstable:3 I'm gunna tell you here and now that I don't have a beta, never had so any mistakes are all my fault:/ I haven't bothered getting a beta because I have such a weird writing schedule- or lack thereof. There really isn't a schedule it's just whenever I feel like writing. So yeah, mistakes? Blame me. Any repeated mistakes? Definitely tell me if I'm doing something wrong ^.^
Well, please enjoy Chapter 1, and please review at the end! Feedback and suggestions are much loved by the author:)
The plane ride home had been long for Axel. Not only because it was a good 14 hour flight; also because he had a deranged lapse in judgment and agreed to let his best friend Demyx come stay with him while they were both on leave from the military.
Axel finally got a reprieve from his airplane-shy friend when Demyx fell into a fitful sleep, but even then it was only a short few hours until they were due to land. They were headed toward the bustling city of Traverse Town, where they would take a train to Axel's sleepy little hometown of Twilight Town. His parents still resided there, in a quiet house just outside the outskirts of town that they've owned since his little sister was born nearly 18 years ago. When he'd left for the military two years ago Twilight Town had been expanding, trying to get more families to move to support the local businesses. After two years, he was assuming that the town was no longer small and cozy, but transformed into a busy little city.
He and Demyx were now on the train headed toward the heart of Twilight Town where they would get off. Demyx was already ogling at the spectacular sunset that Twilight Town was known for- one that Axel had witnessed many times and never tired of.
"You lived here for 18 years?" Demyx smashed his nose against the glass window of the train, fogging the glass. "This place is so much better than where I grew up. There's an actual countryside, not just buildings and angry people hustling to work!" Demyx once told Axel awhile ago that he grew up in a city named Oblivion, but wouldn't elaborate on his personal life except to say 'his parents were assholes and he only joined the military to get away from them.' Axel never asked past that. It was obvious to him that Demyx's home life wasn't something the blonde liked to talk about.
Axel turned around, joining Demyx in staring out the window. It had been a little over two long years since he'd seen a Twilight Town sunset… Axel's mind scrolled through fond memories on top of Sunset Hill- his first kiss, countless dates, memorable times with friends. He smiled at the memories, keeping them close to his heart and knowing that they helped him get through rough days in training and battle.
He had only a few months home, and he was determined to make the most of it. It had been a long time since Twilight Town had a taste of Axel.
Axel paid cab fare to the grumpy driver, waving him off and thanking him for the ride. Demyx took one glance at Axel's house, cocking his head to the side. He smiled.
"It's so cute, Axel!" Demyx sprinted, bags trailing behind him, to the front door of Axel's childhood home and barged in.
Axel chuckled and followed his exuberant friend. He was glad that he had the good sense to tell his parents that Demyx was coming as well, or they might've been surprised about the strange man to fly through their doorway like he'd done it a million times before.
A screech resonated through the house and out the door. Axel immediately knew that Demyx had startled his fragile little sister, Naminé. Axel picked up the pace to the door, laughing the whole way.
Naminé's scream of terror quickly warped into a shriek of happiness as soon as her brother came through the door. She bounded across the living room and right into Axel's arms. He scooped up his little sister and swung her around, aware of the fact that this was acutely dangerous in their cluttered little house. He didn't really care- he used to do it all the time when she was little.
As soon as he set his little sister down, she started barraging him with questions.
"How was your flight?"
"Why is your friend so weird?"
"How was your last two years?"
"Is flying freaky?"
"Will you be around for my 18th birthday?"
"Did you meet anyone cool? Besides your weird friend."
"Wanna see my new sketches?"
Axel placed a hand over her mouth. "Nami, shut up for two seconds. I haven't seen you in two years, I wanna look at you." He stepped back and surveyed his sister. She had been only 15 when he left, and hadn't changed much. Her face had lost some of its awkward puberty pudginess, and she'd gotten slightly taller. She was still his beautiful and pale younger sister, but with a few differences and brighter blonde hair. It was starting to resemble their father's.
He dragged his fingers along his chin, and putting a extremely theatrical concerned look on his face. After a short pause he said: "You're still short."
She laughed, punching him in the chest playfully. "I'm sorry I don't meet your height standards, skyscraper." She paused. "No, but seriously, how was your flight?" Naminé took his suitcase from him, leading him farther into their modest home. Axel noticed that it was unnaturally clean compared to its usual lived-in look.
"Well, much better when Demyx here fell asleep." Axel's military duffel was getting a little weighty on his shoulder, so he set it down on the couch. "He's terrified of flying." Demyx stuck his tongue out at Axel. He pretended not to notice.
Axel's mother approached his side, slinking an arm around her son's waist. "Welcome home dear," she got on her tip-toes and kissed his cheek. "We have a slight problem of space for your… friend" A stray red hair fell out of her tight bun, and she pushed it behind her ear nervously. "Last year we converted the guest bedroom into an art studio for your sister…" She shifted back and forth on her feet, clearly feeling bad about the mix up.
Demyx turned beet red, face contorting into a deer in the headlights look. "I- I'm sorry, I really didn't mean to impose or anything. I can get a hotel or something…?"
Axel shook his head, immediately dismissing the idea. He draped his arm over his mother's shoulders. "Nah, we can share a bed mom. We've done it a thousand times and it really doesn't bother either of us. Right Demy-cake?"
Demyx smiled and sighed, relieved. "That's right, Axie-poo! And thanks, because I REALLY didn't want to get a hotel… heh." He twisted his hair around his finger awkwardly. "Plus, I can cook! Really, well! Tell them, Axie!"
Axel raised an eyebrow, unsure of how to let Demyx down easy. Sure, he cooked well in the middle of the desert with a troupe of guys that couldn't boil water without burning it. But by normal standards, Demyx wasn't so great. "I guess… I mean you did cook a giant spider into our soup that one time." He smirked at Demyx's pouty, hurt look. "But like you said, it was an honest mistake. Besides, there aren't spiders that big around here."
He felt his mom cringe. "Uck, spiders… I think I'll do dinner tonight. I've planned your favorite for tonight." She wiggled out of her son's embrace and faced him. "Would you like to go help your father with the grilling dear? I'm sure he'll love to have some alone time with you and your friend to talk about your… trip." She sighed, and turned away. "Sometimes I think your father misses it." She left the trio for the kitchen.
Axel grabbed his sister in a loose headlock. "So Nami- before I go help dad, what's this about an art studio?" He smiled at how her face lit up, and smiled even wider when she grabbed his hand and dragged him through the house. She was 17, but sometimes she still acted like a child.
But that was okay with him. As long as he was fighting for her ability to still be a child, she wouldn't have to witness nightmarish things like he and Demyx had.
After Axel had seen Naminé's brightly lit, stark white, brand new art studio, the two soldiers made their way into the backyard to help with the grilling like they were asked.
Axel's father was tall- as tall as Axel, but where Axel had a thinner build, his father was bulkier. And after 25 years retired from the military, Luxord had never stopped working out and never lost his strength. He kept his body at peak physical condition, which was good considering the amount of drinking the man did.
His father flipped the large steaks, head whipping up when he noticed people coming out of the corner of his eye. He smiled, close lipped and meaningless. Luxord was never an expressive person, but Axel could tell that he wasn't jumping for joy on the inside after seeing him. Years of war had honed and hardened Luxord, and a recent very large gambling loss had also taken a large toll on him and his marriage to Axel's mother, Raye.
"Son." Luxord nodded a greeting at his son, eyeing the newcomer with obvious judgmental disdain. Axel was embarrassed, but Demyx tended to not notice when people gave looks like that. "Who do we have here, Axel?"
"Dad, this is my friend, Demyx. He didn't really have anywhere to go, and since we're on leave together I invited him here… like I told mom a few weeks ago." Their father-son relationship was awkward and brimming with anger, so neither father nor son made the move to give a greeting hug.
"It's good to meet you, sir." Demyx smiled, bouncing on his heels excitedly. "Axel told me that you're a war hero- that you served for a few terms."
Luxord raised an eyebrow at Demyx and nodded, seasoning the steaks. "We all know it isn't glamorous, but I wouldn't trade my time in the service for anything." He sighed dejectedly, and then bored right into Demyx's eyes. "It saves a lot of lives, it really does."
Demyx nodded, losing eye contact with Luxord. "Axel's proud of you… he told me."
Axel glared at Demyx, and Luxord eyed his oldest child with mistrust.
"Is that so?" Luxord grabbed his tongs and removed the steaks from the grill, putting them on a decorative platter forcefully. "That's nice." Luxord left the boys without another word.
Axel rounded on Demyx, eyes flashing angrily. "Why did you say that? I've never said I was proud of my father."
Demyx scratched his head, confusion written all over his dopey face. "I don't understand… you're in the military, he's retired from it… how could you not be proud? I assumed he was the reason you joined in the first place." Demyx's voice wavered, wondering how much he had actually just pissed of Axel.
Axel shook his head, approaching his best friend slowly. He peeked over his shoulder, making sure that no family members were present for what he was about to say. "It's true that I left here because of my dad, Demyx. But not why you think."
"Why?" Demyx was concerned.
Axel shook his head and backed off. "That's a long story that would spoil tonight, plus I really don't want to talk about it." Axel idly itched one of the two purple teardrop tattoos that graced his face. "Either way, the last time I talked to my father I called him a disgrace and a dickweed because he lost all of my sister's college fund playing card games." Axel's fists clenched, remembering that phone call 6 months ago.
Demyx's jaw dropped. "You didn't tell me that!"
Axel shrugged at Demyx. "It never came up. We got into a huge fight about it, and every time I've called he's never picked up the phone. It's always been mom or Nam."
Demyx frowned at his friend's story. "Is Naminé even going to be able to go to college now? She looks like she's a junior or senior. There's no way they can earn enough money back before she goes to college." He found himself concerned about the girl he just met.
Axel pursed his lips, glancing at the house to double check that no one was coming. "Naminé's fine. She's extremely gifted and has applied for a fuck ton of scholarships. I'm not worried about her… it's just the principle of the thing. You don't gamble away your youngest kid's college fund." Axel seethed, unabashed by the thought of hating his own father.
Demyx nodded, sobered. "Does she know?" He whispered unnecessarily.
Axel shook his head sadly. Not a moment later Naminé's head popped out the slider door, searching for them.
"Dinner's ready!" She called to them, waving them inside. They left the backyard, heading into the house to have what was sure to host an awkward family dinner.
Awkward wasn't the right word. Downright horrifying was how Axel classified that dinner. Naminé and his mother had been pleasant like usual, but after 6 months of not speaking to his father things were bound to blow up at some point.
And blow up they did. Axel just didn't expect it to be so soon. But with his temperamental father, you never really knew. Luxord was unstable… hence the gambling and drinking.
The dinner was so bad that halfway through it Naminé had fled with a dumbfounded Demyx into her studio, locking the door behind them.
The blowup started Naminé mentioning that Demyx and Axel would be sharing a bed, and ended with how Axel was a 'flame throwing faggot' that wasn't cut out for the things that Luxord had done, in the 'best time of his life by far.' That comment had offended Axel's mom so much that she cried and eventually fled the conversation as well.
The funny thing is, there were no differences between Luxord and Axel's career. The funnier thing, however, is that Luxord was blazing drunk.
Dinner had started out pleasant enough, presumably because Luxord hadn't drank yet. It hadn't taken him long to succumb to the alcohol- and to Axel's dismay Luxord was not a happy drunk.
At the end of the argument Axel stormed away, almost regretting his decision to come home. He tried hard to never have any regrets, but he couldn't help regret not pushing his mother harder to divorce Luxord and throw his drunk ass out.
Roxas was eating a sandwich. White bread, three slices of turkey, one slice of cheese, mayonnaise, mustard, and sliced pickles. Olette always made fun of him for the pickles, but he thought the sandwich tasted dry without them.
Olette was munching a slight variation of the same sandwich, chatting happily about the things that she and Roxas could do later after he got out of work. His attention fazed in and out, but he caught some snippets of her wanting to shop, go to the beach, or visit Naminé's newly arrived brother. What he understood was that either Olette spends all his money, see Olette half naked on a beach, or be forced to mingle with Olette's friends. After Roxas agreed to the beach Olette changed the topic of conversation to something that he knew was going to come up (again).
"According to Naminé he didn't have a very good return last night." Olette frowned at her food. "It's quite sad really, considering everything he's done. Naminé didn't go into detail because the poor girl was so upset, but I did catch that her dad had something to do with it." She took a man-sized bite off her sandwich and continued speaking, mouth slightly full. "It's always something to do with her dad; he's quite the douchebag I hear."
Roxas nodded absently, picking a stuck piece of pickle skin out of his teeth with his tongue. "Olette, even if that is the case I doubt he wants to see many people today. He just got back. I don't remember how long you said he was gone-"
"Two years," Olette interrupted him, munching her food enthusiastically.
Roxas raised an eyebrow at her oddly timed enthusiasm. "Okay… either way, I doubt he wants to see very many people today other than his family. Even if his dad is such a 'douchebag.'" He emphasized with air quotes. He had absolutely no clue about the truth of Naminé's dad, and he wasn't about to make rash judgments because of a family fight that he, again, knew nothing about.
Olette frowned and crossed her arms, huffing. "Okay fine. We'll meet him some other time." She quickly horked down the last bit of her sandwich. At this point, Roxas was used to her Viking-like eating habits. She was a dainty, cute girl, but nothing got between her and food. He didn't even try.
Roxas tossed his paper plate like a Frisbee to the trash can, landing neatly inside like he'd done many times before. "Who said I wanted to meet him?" He crossed his arms and mirrored Olette's frown. He was making a joke more than anything. Olette didn't catch on right away.
When she finally picked up her boyfriend's joke, she dropped her arms and grinned. "Don't be a party pooper Roxas. I'm sure you and him will get along. Naminé also tells me that he brought an army friend with him." She giggled. "Who knows? You might even end up having a three-way bromance with the two. Roxas, Axel, and Demyx, sitting in a tree! K-I-S-"
"Demyx? Why on earth would I even think about kissing a guy named Demyx?" Roxas snorted, rolling his eyes. "He'd probably enjoy it too much, judging by the sound of his name!"
Olette smirked at his hypocrisy. "Well, who is Mr. Judgment now?"
Roxas put his hand up, silencing her name calling. "Not judging… inferring. By his name."
"Yes, Roxas. Because I'm sure that when his parent's named him they said 'Demyx sounds like a gay enough name! He shall be a homosexual, and we shall call him Demyx!"
"To be fair, that is a pretty fruity name." The sudden appearance of Olette's sister startled Roxas, whom she was standing right behind.
"Thank you Selphie." He grinned at Olette. "Two to one. What now, huh?"
Selphie giggled, mussing his messy hair. "Oh, Roxas." She buried her head in the fridge, searching for something to munch on.
Roxas looked at Olette, face beet red and horrified. 'Did your sister just hit on me?' He mouthed to her. She could barely contain her hysterical laughter.
Through her silent fits, she nodded. Her lips tried to formulate a response to him, but she found the awkward situation too hilarious to speak.
Roxas stood up, determined to leave the room as quickly as possible. "Well… I'm going to go take a shower. I stink. Bad." He was hoping to get at least a 'eww!' from Selphie for that.
Her response: "Have fun Roxas, make sure to soap up!" He gagged.
He ran from the room just as Olette's silent laughing fit turned into a very loud one, complete with snorts.
Right before he slammed the bathroom door, he heard Selphie speak again.
"What's so funny, Olette?"
When Roxas was fresh out of the shower he brushed his teeth, with Olette doing the same right next to him.
"What are you doing tomorrow night, Rox?" Olette spoke through a mouth full of toothpaste, some accidentally dribbling down her chin. She wiped it off with her finger.
He shrugged, and spit out his toothpaste into the sink. "Is this a trick question? Because tomorrow is our bi-weekly movie night. My pick."
Olette giggled at the thought of their odd tradition. "Well, I was wondering if we could add a couple people… just this once." She added the last little bit, knowing Roxas disliked it when other people joined their bi-weekly date. It was their night.
Roxas rinsed off his toothbrush, contemplating this. "Depends on who. If it's just Pence or something, he can wait till next week when we go out with everyone." Roxas turned around and sat on the bathroom counter. "So who are you thinking?"
"Naminé, Axel, and Demyx." Olette grinned hopefully at her boyfriend. "Naminé says you'll get along great with those two. And she wants to show them a good time for the few months they're home." She rinsed off her toothbrush, watching Roxas think. She hoped he'd be okay with the few additions, because she wanted Axel and Demyx to have a good time just as much as Naminé did.
Roxas bobbed his head back and forth in thought. "I don't see a problem with it. But… I'm still picking the movie."
She smiled gleefully, clapping her hands. "Of course you can still pick the movie." Olette hesitated, giving Roxas a slightly bashful look.
"There's something else you want." He stated, knowing she wasn't going to outright say it.
Olette grinned and batted her eyes at Roxas theatrically. "Can you pay for everyone?" She kept smiling, hoping it would soften Roxas up a bit. Not that he wasn't a big softie already.
He groaned jokingly. "I guess it's a good thing I get paid today, you mooch." He kissed Olette's forehead and hopped down from the counter. "Speaking of, I've got to go to work. Text me." He exited the bathroom, leaving a bubbly and excited Olette behind.