A/N: Hi. Well, in case anyone cares, this story will be updated on a daily basis. After all, it's a twelve days of Christmas kinda deal. I update this until Christmas Eve, and then it's over. Simple as that. Well, here's the second chapter. PLEASE READ, I AM A DESPERATE AUTHOR WITH NO REVIEWS FOR THIS STORY SO FAR! However, thank you to Destiny's Fury for putting this on story alert.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that is in the Fortune 500 companies thing.

Chapter 2: A Generous Offer

Depressingly, Axel continued to sit on the stoop of his former home until the too early twilight that usually accompanies winter crawled onto the scene. Rich colors splattered on the canvas better known as the sky: vivid reds, pale yellows, regal purples, faint oranges, and very wan blues all arranged themselves magnificently. The shoppers who had hunted for bargains all day dispersed minute by minute, either returning home or hailing a taxi to perhaps dine at a fancy restaurant.

Axel could care less.

He maintained his apathy, even as the weak sunlight dimmed, and the temperature dropped five degrees to eventually descend to a bone-chilling fifteen degrees for that night's low. Of course, this was according to the unlikable weatherman on TV whom Axel knew always got the forecast wrong. Typical of that guy, really. Oddly enough, that sardonic comment in his mind caused him to smile wryly. No matter what happened, his morbid humor would always be there to somewhat cheer him. Unfortunately, the flurries that had persisted all day tenaciously danced a wintertime waltz that provided no rest for the weary. In other words, an exasperated Axel still had these flakes to put up with.

Heaving a hopeless, lamenting sigh, he excavated a candy bar from the depths of one of his cumbersome suitcases. Maybe a Kit-Kat bar would elate his down-trodden spirits—in the event that it had stayed unfrozen, of course. As he took a bit of the chocolate to find it to his liking, Axel swore he heard the rolling of wheels on cement. A flipping of a certain board that was most likely painted dark blue and black, which he had admired many times at his workplace. A board that made him bitterly remember how he broke his own one day when landing painfully on his tailbone; he truly hoped that the board he thought he heard would arrive shortly. Who knew that wheels would induce him to think that help was on the way?

Sure enough, the skateboard which Axel had envied the owner appeared around his street corner toward him at an extreme velocity. The particular boy riding the board arrogantly showed off his tricks such as the handstand, the ollie he had just perfected—even grinding on the rail of a stoop. An elderly woman poked her head outside the moment she heard somebody on her property.

"Hey, young man," she screeched the boy's way, "stay off my stoop, won't you?"

"Sorry Mrs. Callahan," he yelled over his shoulder as he neared his destination.

Meanwhile, Axel jolted his head up, leaving his pathetic excuse for a dinner temporarily forgotten. A crooked grin decorated his face, for he was aware that his rescuer had arrived at last. Flipping his skateboard into the crook of his arm as he stopped, the blond smirked in greeting.

"'Sup, Axel!"

"Hey, Roxas."

Wait until Axel told his best friend the dismal news! The redhead sighed yet again, picking up his chocolate bar again to nibble; he honestly didn't want to mooch off his friend like some sort of leech. He never asked for assistance if he could help it, especially on holidays. The last thing he ever wished his pals was to bring them down emotionally. Still, Axel felt totally obligated to inform Roxas of his current situation.

"Are you OK, Axel? You look bummed out, dude."

Loyal friend as ever, Roxas sat beside Axel on the steps, attempting to decode what troubled him. However, the redhead enshrouded his face with an emotionless, drab mask as he inevitably fell into himself, listing his misfortunes silently.

All the unlucky events of the past week that lead up to today's eviction haunted his mind and gave him chills that he had grown accustomed to as well.

Last Tuesday, the vile electric company robbed him of his precious electricity, which made him curse like a sailor for five hours on end. He recalled how his neighbor, Mr. Strife, quietly tapped upon his door.

When Axel saw the calmly furious blond man at his doorstep, he wasn't even prepared to hear the words that came out of his neighbor's mouth.

"Look, I'm watching Wheel of Fortune right now. Tom is winning, and I have been rooting for him for the past five minutes. Now, I don't care if you were too lazy to pay the electric bill, just stop cursing and let me watch my show in peace."

Even though he had stated this softly, evident rage proved that Mr. Strife meant what he said. He would get what he wanted, no matter what Axel's opinion was of it.

A slam of the door announced Axel's reluctant agreement.

Then, of course, with the electricity gone before he could think twice, he discovered one day that he suddenly couldn't flush the toilet. Racing to each cramped room with running water, Axel tried using each and every tap.

Those sick idiots who controlled his life had shut off his water, too.

At this rate, he finally realized that he seriously needed to pay his bills before the next step in apartment torture came in: the eviction. And, what with him shivering from severe deprivation of heat, he knew he had to do this quickly.

Axel started working overtime at the local Wal-Mart for the preceding three days, doing everything he could to still have ownership of his home. He would stock every over-the-counter medicine in aisle nine, scrub the floor tiles spotless, and even clean every last toilet until the effort killed him. Though death remained far away, his weariness still wasn't enough to prevent the eviction. A bitter thought came to him that Wal-Mart should treat its employees better, especially when it came to the money department.

After all, who could possibly eke out on minimum wage for life?

Sighing from all these painful memories, Axel kept his silence and refused to talk to his best friend.

Meanwhile, Roxas' patience eroded to the point that he thought he was completely insane from the effort. Axel had wasted five minutes without an elaboration on his greeting. Whatever had infected him must surely be taking its toll, or else he would talk by now.

Roxas desperately wished that his best friend would divulge the bleak news. Did he have a disease? Did his family die? Did he misplace his matches that he loved more than life itself?

Taking a drastic measure, Roxas shook Axel to the point of faint dizziness that somewhat annoyed him.

"You won't talk...I'm gonna make you talk!"

When the blond finished his determined detective-style approach, emerald eyes had widened to the size of plates.

Fine, fine, he would talk. What did he have to lose?

His words came out in a jumbled mess. "So, Roxas, it turns out I've been evicted from my lousy apartment, and now I have to live on the street and make money playing guitar (I'm not even that good) and—"

"Whoa, slow down, dude!"

Following the concerned advice, Axel endeavored to placate his breathing rate.

Just as he managed the basics, he heeded to Roxas' excessive fake coughing that almost always calmed him down, bringing him to sanity again.

"OK, so let me get this straight," Roxas placed his hands in front of him in a mature, collected manner, "you've been evicted by Mr. Valentine. Is that right?"

"Yes, that creep kicked me out."

"A simple 'yes' would have been good, Axe. And this means you're homeless, right?"

"Yeah," grunted Axel.

"So, you have to live on the street with minimum wage cash, meaning—"

Grabbing Roxas' shoulder rather invasively, Axel shouted, "Yes! I am officially a hobo! Screwed, hopeless, miserable—I'm all those things. Not only that, but it's two weeks til Christmas, the worst time of the year!"

Roxas flipped back strands of his hair and bestowed a winning, jocular grin that could always charm his girlfriend Olette any day of the week. "Don't steal Christmas this year, Axel! I didn't think you could be that much of a grinch."

"I'm not a grinch! It's just...just that I have issues with it, that's all. I...uh...told you how much my family hated me, you know."

"I know, but I still don't get why you hate Christmas."

Stoically, Axel raised his hands in the air in a mock gesture of surrender. "I thought it'd be obvious to you, man. I guess not."

Desperately wanting to hear strong, plausible answers, Roxas threatened to shake words out of his redheaded friend again.

"OK, OK, you win! Do you know why I hate Christmas? Do you really wanna know?"

"Yes!" Seating himself back down, Roxas clasped his hands eagerly.

Sadly, he had no time to prepare for Axel's explosive, fiery tirade.

"It's because people are so happy! How can anyone be that happy all the freaking time? And don't get me started on those angelic families!

"Here's an example of one," Axel said as he stood up, proceeding to crudely imitate members of the perfect family. "Hey, Peter, get the camera while we watch little Suzie open presents! What's that you say, Suzie? You want to actually see Santa. Oh yes, Mommy, I really do! Well, Peter, explain to the girl. Fine, Suzie, I'd hate to tell you this...but there's no Santa Claus. He's not real, and even if he was, he would have gotten run over by Rudolph the Red-Nosed Freaking Reindeer! There!"

To compose himself, Axel stuffed the remains of his candy bar, including the wrapper, into his mouth. He chewed loudly enough to awaken the dead.

With blue eyes wide, Roxas took in the pathetic state of his friend, completely baffled by his story derived from his perturbed imagination.

"So, your family treated you like crap on Christmas. Is that it?"

Axel precariously lifted his head from his knees, for he had tried to conceal himself from the disgusted glances of total strangers who had eavesdropped on his malicious story. People simply despised a person who screamed to the world out loud that he hated Christmas with a passion, especially when mean-spirited impressions were involved. Axel had found this out the hard way.

"Yeah, my family hates me," he tartly answered Roxas' question. "Just to prove it to you, my dad gave me only one present 'from the family' on my last Christmas at home. It was a twelve-pack of Miller-Lite beer.

"'You better make use of that, you good-for-nothing' he told me. The rest of those idiots just laughed. Yeah...like it was absolutely hilarious I got alcohol at fifteen or something like that! My cousin Reno used to come over for Christmas with my aunt and uncle. He was the only guy in the family who liked me. Of course, he's in college now—stopped coming over three years ago. I miss him, but I don't think too much of it since I'm away from those rats now."

Wisely, Roxas nodded his head comprehensively as he spotted the first twinkling star in the night sky. Axel looked his direction.

"Stars are up, huh? Figures. It feels like twenty degrees already; I'd hate to think what it'll be at midnight. The weatherman strikes again with his lies!"

"You don't have to tell me." Roxas chuckled softly.

The two of them merely gazed at the ebony blanket stretched above them while the short blond boy tried to create a plan. After all, Axel shouldn't be completely alone for the holidays, least of all stranded on an icy stoop with his few belongings gathered near him. Why not put him in a decent hotel? No, he didn't have the money.

Perhaps Axel should stay at Zexion's? No, the sixteen-year's mother couldn't tolerate homeless people.

All of a sudden, like a flash of lightning, the foolproof plan that would be the most effective struck Roxas. An idea so brilliant that no loopholes could penetrate it nor meddling adults to destroy it (at least, strict ones).

He had it: Axel could live in his house.

Great! Considering that Roxas resided in a modest suburb outside this city of smog, he was keenly aware that it served as the perfect location. His mother and father, Mr. and Mrs. Highwind, were the kindest, friendliest people in town. And, to top it all off, the amiable Sora Highwind was his twin brother. Success!

Unfortunately, Roxas realized, one problem still stood in his way.

Glancing at miserable Axel, who twirled a loose thread of his hooded sweatshirt around his finger, he felt his heart sink to his stomach. This elaborate plan would work only if Axel would accept the offer. If he refused it, them so be it...though Roxas couldn't exactly abandon a friend to a disastrous fate, especially one like this.

Noting that Roxas stared at him, Axel blankly asked, "What?"

"I have this idea...but, I'm not sure if you'll like it."

"What is it?"

The redhead's eyes now focused on him, which caused him to ponder on the state of his best pal's soul. Honestly, could those usually bright green eyes look any duller or any bleaker or any more depressed than at this moment? Instincts told Roxas that it would be difficult to imagine the dimmed eyes any sadder than now. So, he pressed his carefully rehearsed, inward question courageously without spending more thoughts on Axel's reaction.

"Do you mind if I suggest that you stay with my family for Christmas?"

A jaw dropped in response. Axel could hardly believe that his friend of three years would offer him such charity.

Should he take up residence at Roxas' house for the holiday season? Well, it was not as though it was a death sentence. After all, he had been formally introduced to the other Highwinds, whom he found a delight. They could have cared less about what caste he fell in, despite their immense wealth; all that mattered to them was how he treated other people. In turn, Roxas' sociable family later described Axel as "a nice guy" and "fun to be around." With that in mind, he assumed that even though he had to accept charity, he would think it satisfying in the end. His current dour mood toward Christmas became a distant memory.

"Sure, why not? I mean, your family has good people," he finally replied.

Startled from this sudden consent, Roxas stared at Axel to search for any clues that could point to second thoughts or any reluctance. But, Axel remained cool and collected while maintaining an expression of lucid certainty. Aware that no harm would come to him in staying with the Highwinds, he had made up his mind. And once he decided, he seldom went back on his word.

"Axel, are you sure? You usually don't take offers like this."

He looked toward Roxas, who appeared rather apprehensive and innocently unsure. Suppressing a chuckle, he discovered how much of a hypocrite young Highwind was becoming. Still, he held his laughs in when he said in a tone of finality, "Of course I'm sure! And why so nervous? I thought you came up with this plan."

Upon receiving a look of feigned reproach that he believed, Roxas stuttered horribly, "I—I...well...I—I th—thought y—you'd k—kill me."

Axel smirked as he chortled mirthfully. "Come on, buddy, I'd never kill you. I would rather make you nervous and/or terrified."

His minor joke worked—Roxas paled several shades before getting the joke.

A/N: Well, there you have it. There will be assorted pairings in this fic, including the one mentioned Roxette. Anyways, sorry if Axel was a bit crude in this one. For some reason, I based him off John Bender off Breakfast Club (a movie you should seriously watch). But, yeah, I made him the one with a less than perfect former home life. As for the other random stuff, well, I thought Cloud being mad over missing an episode of Wheel of Fortune would be funny. And yeah, there's so much stuff here. And I wrote this chapter last year during an ice storm and the power was out and my writing hand was freezing, so--

--Anyways, I'd hate to beg, but PLEASE, PLEASE REVIEW FOR THE LOVE OF KINGDOM HEARTS!!!! XD 'Cause seriously, I don't know if you guys think this story sucks or what.