Chapter Two: Brothers.
I don't feel like putting a warning, just know, there is sex, drugs, partying, crude language, and boyxboy themes. If you don't like that, shoo fly, go away.
DiZ-Claimer: I don't own any kingdom hearts or final fantasy characters, but I do own action figures, and thats good enough for me.
A/N: I want to keep updating this story for a little bit, but I will continue Secrets, so don't worry. Just trying to switch things up a bit before I get writers block and hate myself. I hope you enjoy this story just as much as Secrets, too. I rather like it, if I do say so myself.
When the twins made it to school the next day, the routine went the same as always; Sora's group of friends came alone, and Roxas went to scurry off and hide by himself. No one ever noticed this, and if they did, they didn't care. They came to talk to the brunette! Not the blonde.
Today, Axel noticed.
"Does anyone know where Roxas went off to? He was next to Sora when they showed up."
Sora arched an eyebrow and tilted his head to the side. "Why?"
The redhead shrugged, "I want to talk to him."
"Is something wrong with us?" Demyx frowned, and Axel quickly shook his head.
"No! Not at all, he just seems like he needs a friend more than you all do." The redhead pointed out, and the group nodded in agreement. "That makes sense. He normally hangs out around the corner, at the end of the hall, in front of Xigbar's classroom." Sora said and motioned in the direction he was talking about. Axel nodded and began walking in the direction, dismissing the whispers that came from the group that he just left.
When he turned the corner, the hallway was practically empty, score for the couple of stragglers pulling things out of their lockers and pushing things in. Roxas was nowhere in sight though. He strolled down the hall a bit until he came to the end, and to his left was a big wooden door and a small hunched over blonde doodling in his sketch book, just as he had been yesterday.
"Roxas."
Cerulean orbs shot up and met acidic green slits. "Axel! What did I tell you about creeping up on people?" The sketch book cover was slammed closed once again, and Roxas was now to his feet.
"That it's a good way to get shot. I'm guessing you forgot what I said in return."
Roxas thought for a moment. Axel had told him he didn't give any fucks, well, "You'd give a fuck if a bullet was in your abdomen."
Axel shrugged something Roxas noticed that the redhead did a lot. "Probably, but until that time comes, there is no reason to give any fucks. So, I have a question."
Roxas really didn't want to ask about the question, nor did he want to answer it, but to be nice…
"What is it?"
"Why do you keep away from everyone else?"
Roxas' eyes narrowed to slits. No, this is the exact type of question Roxas didn't want to have to answer. He'd rather it just be a mystery to everyone except himself and Sora, but of course, stupid redheads like to prod their way into his life.
"I don't like people."
"Why not?"
"Why do you keep asking questions?"
"Because I'm curious."
"Questions are annoying."
"It seems that everything annoys you."
"Maybe because it does." Roxas seethed and began to walk away from the redhead. Ever since that asshole came to this school, he'd been Roxas' ass non-stop. (Not literally.) It was really wearing on the blonde's nerves.
Roxas expected Axel to follow him, and his expectations were met when a crazy irish-accented voice began calling for him to stop and slow down. Didn't Axel understand that when Roxas walked away that meant their conversation was over?
Axel was much taller than Roxas, with much longer legs, so it hardly took any effort for him to catch up to the blonde, and keep his pace. Why wouldn't he just get the message and go away?
"It's rude to just walk away from someone when you're in the middle of a conversation."
"Not in America, idiot. We can do whatever we want." Roxas snapped, which only earned an amused smile from the redhead.
"I'm not some dumb foreigner, Roxas. I don't understand why you're pushing me away when all I want to do is be your friend."
Roxas stopped dead in his tracks, and turned to face the now halted redhead. "I don't want to be your friend, Axel. Go be Sora's friend. He likes everyone."
"That may be so, but I don't like him, I like you."
A fierce blush spread across Roxas' cheeks, and he stomped his foot in anger. "No! You can't say things like that to people! They get the wrong idea!"
"What kind of ideas have I given you, Roxas?" Axel asked, a smirk prominent on his lips.
The blonde stared into shimmering green eyes, and his stomach flipped. Axel was challenging him. He wanted him to make a fool of himself! And although Roxas had some ideas of attacking the redhead with hugs and kisses, the better half of him had ideas of homicide. He wanted to tear the redhead limb from limb, then boil him in acid until there was nothing left.
"You make me want to kill." Roxas whispered under his breath, and then continued to walk down the hallway. Axel just stood there, awestruck. Did that tiny, innocent looking blonde really just say he wanted to kill people? That was the last thing Axel expected.
Not a minute later, Kairi found her half-brother, still dazed and confused in the middle of the hall, not budging despite the people trying to shove and pass him to get to class.
"Axel, what're you doing? Did you ever find Roxas?" She asked, and he snapped out of his daze.
"Yeah, I did. He's very… odd, isn't he?"
"I don't think you have room to call anyone odd." She joked, and slapped his lightly on the shoulder. "Now lets get to class.
In their last class of the day, Axel took his seat in front of Roxas, but didn't speak a word to him. He didn't even sit in his half-way facing the front position like he did yesterday. He sat forward, and stared directly at the teacher as he spoke.
Roxas, on the other hand was forging a mental war with himself. He knew he had creeped Axel out with what he had said this morning, but it was the truth! Well, kind of the truth. Roxas had never killed anyone, and he doubted he ever could, but the redhead set off such a fire in his stomach, that he felt like he could.
He debated on whether or not he should say something to Axel, to make him feel better about this morning, but why would he? He had never apologized for anything in his past, why would he start now? Although, Axel was bumming him out. He kind of liked having someone to talk to, even if he did always act like he hated it. Talking to Sora and Cloud solely was no longer doing it for him. Maybe making a new friend would actually be okay.
Roxas took his pencil from the top of his sketch book and gently poked Axel in the back with the eraser end. The redhead glanced back and smiled slightly. "What's up?"
"I wanted to say… that if I weirded you out this morning, I—"
Axel held up his hand, signaling to shut the blonde up. "Don't worry about it. I can get a bit sadistic myself." He grinned, and a small, (very, very, very small) smile tugged at the ends of his lips. The action almost hurt, seeing how smiling wasn't one of Roxas' known activities. That was more up Sora's avenue.
"So, we're good?" Roxas asked hopefully, and he found that weird. Normally he wouldn't care if someone thought he was weird, but for some reason, Axel was different. He stayed on Roxas, and constantly tried to be friendly towards him. Most people just shunned him and laughed.
"Golden." Axel confirmed.
The smile on Roxas' face grew bigger. It was really starting to hurt. How Sora did it so much, he'd never know nor fathom.
Axel had turned back to face the teacher, but Roxas wasn't done talking. He jabbed the redhead in the back again, slightly harder this time. Instead of just turning his head, Axel turned his entire body back to the half-way position he had been sitting in yesterday.
"You could always just say my name, no need to get violent… unless you're into that type of thing." Axel wore a grin, and wiggled his eyebrows at the blonde, Roxas wore a face of disgust.
"I'm not gay."
"Nor am I, but it never hurts to experiment."
Roxas cocked an eyebrow. "Axel, are you hitting on me?"
Axel did one of his famous shrugs and replied, "I might be. Does that bother you?"
The blonde was at a loss for words. Axel just admitted he was flirting with him, and he doesn't even give a fuck! Are all people in Ireland this forward? Or was it only Axel? For a lack of a better answer, Roxas said the first thing that popped into his mind.
"I don't know."
Now, it was Axel's turn to cock an eyebrow, and wear a very confused expression. "You don't know if that bothers you?"
"I don't feel like it bothers me," Roxas stated simply. "but if you could stop, that'd be cool to."
"If it doesn't bother you, why on earth would I stop?"
"Because you have respect for me?"
"Do I?" Axel hummed to himself for a moment before nodding. "Yeah, I do. But you are pretty cute. And I really have a thing for blondes."
"My uncle's blonde." Roxas stated dumbly, which earned an odd look from the redhead in front of him.
"Unless your uncle is around 5'3, about sixteen years old, and is named Roxas, I can't say that I'm interested." Axel said proudly, with that same grin still on his face.
Roxas' cheeks warmed up for the second time that day and he realized that Axel was making him blush once again. The redhead was the first person to ever be able to do that. Everyone else that had ever hit on Roxas was just playing some sick joke, or wanted dick because their boyfriend just dumped them and Roxas was the only one available. Not that he ever took up any of these offers. He usually blew it off and told them how big of assholes they are.
"You don't mean that," Roxas said, trying to rub the blush from his cheeks.
"Oh, but I do." Axel said, his grin now replaced with a smile.
"I thought you said you'd stop hitting on me." Roxas grumbled, not making any progress with his blushing dilemma.
"No, I said that I find you cute and I have a thing for blondes, not once did I say I would stop."
Roxas groaned. "Why not?"
"I don't want to."
"You suck."
"Sometimes," Axel teased, and wiggled his eyebrows at the disgruntled looking blonde.
"You're sick."
Axel shrugged. "Possibly."
"Does nothing get to you?"
"Not really."
"Well aren't you lucky?"
"Only because I got to meet you."
Roxas rolled his eyes. Was Axel seriously trying to butter him up? It wasn't going to work, not today, not tomorrow, possibly not even next millennium. But, Roxas did have to admit, Axel was rather charming and extremely good looking. He could have anyone he wanted at this school, yet he pinned over the sadistic emo kid that hid away in the corner.
The duo spoke a bit more, until the teacher got onto them and told Axel he needed to turn around and face the front of the class room. Axel followed the instructions reluctantly, but did nothing more than lay his head on his desk.
When class let out, everyone rushed out of the room, well, everyone that is except for Axel. Somehow the redhead had fallen asleep, and was snoring quite loudly. The only other person left in the classroom was Roxas, and he couldn't just leave him like that…
After a few shakes, Axel sat up and looked around with crazed eyes until he realized he was in an empty class room, and the only other occupant was the blonde.
"Where is everyone?" He asked dumbly, which earned an eye roll from the blonde.
"Everyone is gone, class let out like three minutes ago. How do you sleep through all the noise of those kids packing up and leaving? It sounded like I was on a freakin' construction site."
"I listen to Suicide Silence when I go to bed, Roxy. You really think some shuffling books and feet are gonna wake me up? I have to be physically touched."
Did Axel really just call him Roxy? That was a nickname only people he had known for a while were allowed to use, and even then, he didn't like it. But for some reason, when Axel said it, it wasn't too bad. It annoyed him, but not to wits end like it would have if someone else would've said it, someone like Demyx.
"Well I sleep in silence, like normal people—and why am I talking about this, I'm going to miss my bus." Roxas began to rush toward the class room exit, but his wrist snagged on something. When he looked to see what it was that had caught his sweater sleeve, he saw Axel holding onto it.
"What're you doing, dude? I'm going to be late!" Roxas growled. Axel just stood up, still holding onto the blonde's wrist, and led him out of the class room. They walked the opposite way of where the busses would be, and Roxas began to freak. What was this guy doing!?
Roxas tried to break free of the vice-like grip the redhead had on his wrist; he wriggled and tugged and swatted at the redhead's fist, but to no avail. Axel kept walking, and Roxas kept fidgeting. "I have to go home!"
"I'll take you home." Axel stated softly, continuing to pull the smaller male down the hallway. Roxas furrowed his brows.
"You can drive?"
"Not legally, of course. I haven't taken the American driving test yet, but Kairi says I can drive just fine."
"Then why isn't she riding with you?"
"She is." The redhead said happily.
Soon, Roxas could see the student parking lot. Almost every other student on campus was gone, except for a few stray cars here and there. One in particular caught the blonde's eye. It was bright cherry red, about as red as Axel's hair. It was a nice car to, and Roxas was sure that if he was a car fanatic like Cloud, he would have came in his pants, because it was that nice. It looked foreign, too. Beside it was a girl Roxas instantly recognized as Kairi, and she was waving her hands back and forth in order to get her brother's attention. Axel waved back, with a smile on his face, and continued to pull Roxas toward the car.
"You brought yourself a carry-on?" Kairi teased once they reached the auto mobile. Axel grinned and nodded. "I thought a new face would be nice. Hearing your voice gets on my nerves some times." Axel chuckled, and Kairi slapped him on the arm. "You're one to talk! Do you have any idea how annoying it is to constantly hear that accent of yours? Sometimes, I'd rather shove razor blades in my ears rather than listen to you."
"Then why don't you?" Axel asked, an eyebrow cocked.
"Ugh, you're unbelievable."
"Can we please leave, I have to get home around the same time as Sora."
Both siblings looked to the blonde, and in sync, they asked the same thing. "Why?"
"He'll get worried."
"He can always call you."
"I lost my cellphone like three weeks ago and never felt the need to find it. Can you call him?"
"Sure thing!" Kairi said happily, obviously forgetting about the tiff with her brother not seconds earlier. She pulled out her iphone, (Which was clad with a pink case covered in rhinestones) and began tapping on it. Eventually, she must've found Sora's number because she put her phone up to her ear and waited. Not seconds later a loud, "Hey, Mudkip!" erupted from Kairi's throat.
"We're stealing your brother for the day, I hope you don't mind."
"Mind? I'm shocked you were able to get ahold of him long enough to have him miss the bus."
"So you don't care?" She asked, now examining her nails, which were a pale pink color, and were also slightly chipped, if Roxas noticed right.
"No, I don't care. It actually gives me time to clean up the house before Cloud gets home. Be careful, though. He isn't stable, even if you think that he is. He could snap at any seconds. Just, keep your knives hidden and make sure Axel doesn't get on his nerves too much."
"Gotcha Sor, no sharp objects, and no annoying Axels. He'll come home safe and sound, don't worry!"
"I'm not worried about him," sigh. "I'll see you whenever you drop him off."
Beep.
"Did my brother seriously just give you permission to kidnap me?" Roxas asked, eyebrow raised. When Kairi nodded, Axel's smirk grew, and Roxas' hand met his face. Seriously? Why Sora, why!?
Kairi hopped in the backseat of the shiny red automobile, and Axel opened the passenger door for the fuming blonde.
"I can open my door myself next time, thanks."
"Ouch Roxy, I'm hurt." Axel said with fake sincerity. Did nothing get to the redhead? Or was he just super obnoxious?
"Whatever." Roxas huffed, and crossed his arms over his chest. He was not looking forward to hanging out with Kairi and Axel. If it was just Axel, maybe he wouldn't be this upset with Sora for just letting them take him away like that, but Kairi was there too, and the blonde never liked the wine-haired girl, even since the first day he met her.
Roxas didn't really know why, but everything about Kairi made his stomach churn. Everything from her voice, to her laugh, to the way she looked. It may have been caused from the day after they met, she tried to have her way with Sora, even though everyone knew of his sexual orientation. She was lucky Yuffie was there to kick her ass, because Roxas would've, he would've in a heartbeat. The fear in his brother's voice sent volts of anger throughout his entire being, and ever since that day, he's hated her. The only reason he put up with her is because Sora claimed she changed, and now she was one hundred percent lesbian. Yeah, he'd believe that whenever he saw it.
Axel was now on the driver's side, and they were pulling out of the parking lot. Heavy metal played softly in the back ground, and after a few moments of that being the only noise, Roxas heard the crack of a lighter.
When the blonde looked to Axel, the redhead had a cigarette between his fingers, and was taking a long, slow puff. Roxas was so tempted to slap the cancer stick out of Axel's fingers, but he didn't, for fear of getting in a car accident. Instead, he chose to say something about it.
"You're going to get cancer."
"It already runs in my family, so I don't care."
"You're going to cause it to advance quicker. Don't you want a long life?"
"You only live once, Roxas. And I refuse to live by the rules of anyone other than myself." Axel took another drag off the cigarette, and Roxas watched as the smoke danced in front of the redhead's face as he exhaled.
"Well, I don't smoke, and I don't secondhand smoke either. So either you put it out, or stop the car and let me out."
"Okay." Axel stated calmly. Roxas expected the redhead to pull over and let him get out, but instead he just threw the cancer stick out the window. Kairi watched in bewildered amazement. Axel had never cared when she told him to stop! What the hell made Roxas so special? That's when she realized—
Axel likes Roxas! It was so obvious to her now! He never tried to be so accommodating to anyone else before. And he never, ever, let anyone ride in the front seat of his car. He was totally gay for Roxas and she could totally use this to her advantage!
"So boys, what're we going to be doing today?" She asked, Roxas groaned.
"You can always take me home."
"But what's the fun in that?" Kairi pouted, which earned an annoyed eye roll from the blonde. Yup, he defiantly hated this bitch.
"I could take you home, and then me and Roxas could go find something fun to do." Axel stated, and Roxas smiled. The blonde liked that idea way better than having to spend the better half of the rest of the day with Kairi. Just being in her presence annoyed him.
"Or, we could all go to the mall." Kairi offered, but Axel shook his head no.
"The last time I went to the mall with you, all you did was shop and make me carry your bags. I'm taking you home."
"Fine, no mall. How about the movies?"
"No, Kairi. I'm taking you home. Period."
"But Ax-"
"Kairi, I said no."
"Then I'll just tell dad you're gay!"
Axel slammed on his breaks, causing the entire car to come to a halt. Luckily, the roads of Destiny Islands were never very crowded, so no one crashed into them.
Axel turned his stare to the back seat, and even though Roxas wasn't looking at Axel himself, he was sure the redhead looked pretty fucking furious right now.
"What the fuck did you just say, Kairi?"
"That… I'll tell dad you're gay..?" Each word got quieter as she spoke, and it became squeaky at the end. Roxas was sure she was scared shitless. Axel was a pretty intimidating looking guy as it was, having him give you an angry look while you're trapped in a back seat sounds pretty horrifying.
"And why would you tell him that?" Axel seethed.
"Because I want to go with you guys. If you take me home, I will tell him."
Some of the Axel gene (Or Axel's dad gene, that is.) must've come out in Kairi, because she no longer sounded scared, or timid. Her voice began to gain confidence as she spoke, and Roxas could tell Axel wasn't happy about that.
Axel faced the road once more, and began to drive, letting out a defeated sigh. "I can't believe you're willing to get me sent back to Ireland over going to the mall. You're pitiful."
"Wait, you'll get sent back to Ireland if they think you're gay?" Roxas asked, and Axel nodded.
"Unfortunately, yes. Our father hates gays. That's why he left my mom, and married Kairi's."
Roxas wore a confused look. "What does your mom have to do with gays?"
"His mom cheated on his dad, with another woman." Kairi said and Roxas nodded in understanding. "Oh."
The rest of the car ride was silent, and they ended up pulling up to a house Roxas didn't recognize, but assumed it was Axel and Kairi's. Kairi was the first one out, followed by Axel and then Roxas. As they were walking up to do the door, Roxas couldn't help but ask,
"Um, what are we doing here, guys?"
"I don't know, asshole over there decided to bring us here." Kairi huffed, then walked through the front door, and quickly up the stairs. Roxas expected the redhead to follow the girl, and go up the stairs but he took an alternate path down a second flight of stairs next to the one going up. Roxas followed him down, and at the bottom, there was a wooden door, with 'Axel' spray painted on it in bright red spray paint.
Once they entered the room, Roxas could see little hints of Axel everywhere. Most of the furniture was red, posters covered the walls, as well as writing in sharpie.
"You've only been here a week?" Roxas asked, and Axel chuckled, and then shrugged. "Yeah, I get bored easily. Haven't had much time to make friends, y'know?"
Roxas nodded as he scanned the scribbles on the walls. It was really just a bunch of dumb sayings and quotes, but Roxas found it pretty cute that Axel thought they were interesting. The posters on the walls showed to faces of Suicide Silence, ACDC, The Rolling Stones, KISS, Asking Alexandria, Of Mice and Men, Nirvana, and various things such as zombies, trippy things, and pot leaves. Very Axel-y.
"I can't help but notice your taste in décor," Roxas said, motioning towards a lamp in the shape of a stripper's leg, including fish net stockings and a black heel. Axel just chuckled. "Yeah, my brother back in Ireland got that for me when I was fifteen. I couldn't get myself to part with it."
"You have a brother?" Roxas asked, and Axel nodded, a slight smile gracing his lips.
"Yeah, his name is Reno. He's pretty cool. Much better than Kairi." Axel teased.
Roxas couldn't help but crack a smile. Axel had managed to make him smile twice today, a world-record for anyone. Lets see if he could go for three.
"You know, Roxas, when I moved to America, I expected a bunch of stuck up assholes and fat people. Everyone here is fake. Their smiles, their motives, their laughs, their conversations… fake. I thought that about everyone, that is, until I met this cute little blonde boy that liked to hide away in corners and keep to himself. That boy is real."
"Axel, are you trying to hit on me again?"
"Is it working?"
Roxas smiled for the third time. "Yeah, I think it's starting to."
The redhead gave the blonde a smile back. "Good."
Oh yes, Axel was a keeper, and Roxas intended to keep him to himself.
Review Review Review, my lovelies.
Love you all.
~CapnCole~