Chapter Two: So Distant...

Over Roxas's summer vacation, he was actually hiding in his room the first week, only coming out to eat and use the restroom. Roxas went down to the kitchen to get something to eat one Saturday a week into summer vacation, which had started Wednesday morning after school let out Tuesday, which was at that point eleven days before. Which meant to Roxas that it had been almost twelve days since Roxas had last seen Axel.

"Roxas, my agent is calling me in. I hate to leave my poor baby alone, but he can't hurt you right now. He won't ever be able to hurt you again, so do you think you'll be okay by yourself?" Yuffie asked. Roxas nodded meekly around a bite of cereal. "Okay then. Take care, Deedles, and don't do anything reckless," she said, patting his back, grabbing her purse, then leaving while Roxas sat there, trying hard not to cry at the nickname he hated, that Axel made him happy about. He only liked it when Axel said it, and only Axel. Roxas's head shot up. He leapt off the stool with the realization he was alone- he could now have the privacy. He grabbed the phone off the counter and dialed Axel's cellphone- it was a number that Roxas had texted many times before bed after that first day Axel was gone (or was it the second? Roxas couldn't remember.) The phone rang. Roxas waited, impatient with anticipation, as the phone rang several more times before someone answered.

"Hello?" It was a girl's voice. Roxas was stunned into silence. Why would a girl be answering Axel's cell phone? "Hello? Is there anyone there? Is this Moo-Moo's girlfriend? Because if it is he doesn't want to talk to you anymore. Who is this?" the voice said, seemingly unable to stop talking for more than five minutes. Roxas hung up. 'So he has a new girlfriend already... I'm such an idiot. Why couldn't I see it? Maybe he hooked up as soon as he left. That can't be right- he promised he would come back in three years. I'm going to wait for him- even if he's not waiting for me,' Roxas vowed to himself. Regardless, the pain caused by hearing a girl's voice on the other end of the line was enough to make Roxas drop the phone and slide to the floor. He hyperventilated, trying to control the rising fit of tears he didn't want to shed. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Roxas leap up, hoping it was Axel. He flung the door open and met disappointment when it was just Hayner, Pence, and Olette.

"Hi, Roxas- where've you been all summer?" Hayner asked brightly, not being able to pick up on Roxas's mood.

"Hey, guys. I've been home," Roxas replied quietly.

"Is it okay if we come in?" Pence asked.

"Sure," Roxas said in a monotonous voice. He stepped aside to allow his friends into the massive house he called home. The three entered, familiar with the environment that was always bright with the lights since the curtains were always drawn. Roxas walked to the counter and moved the bowl of uneaten cereal to the floor.

"Scootch!" he called in a dull voice. The little chubby black bulldog Axel had given him padded into the room, tongue lolling from the side of his mouth as he stopped loyally at Roxas's feet, looking up as if to ask what Roxas wanted. Roxas barely nodded to the bowl before Scootch turned his attention to the bowl and began to eat the food inside. Roxas petted him, a smile barely teasing his lips. 'If not for Scootch I would've lost my mind days ago,' Roxas thought to himself. He felt a hand on his shoulder, causing him to whirl around and stand from his crouch next to the dog. Seeing the familiar brown hair, emerald eyes and the always fluffy bangs Roxas let his shoulders relax, having tensed them when he had been touched.

"You seem really disjointed from us- like you don't want anything to do with anybody. What's wrong?" Olette asked.

"He's probably throwing some fit because he lost his phone or something- you know, rich kid stuff," Hayner called from the living room, lounging on THE couch (or the place on the new couch, which is where Axel used to sit on The "Old" Couch) and propping his feet on the coffee table, flipping carelessly through the hundreds of channels Roxas had available.

"Hayner! Don't be rude!" Olette shouted to the boy with brown eyes, brown-blonde hair that sort of spiked back in waves, and an obsession with cameoflauge patterned clothes, AKA Hayner. Pence entered the kitchen cautiously, brown hair messed up and sticking out in several odd directions because of his headband, dark eyes wandering from Olette to the cabinets to Roxas to Hayner then back to Olette, trying to smooth the Dog Street jersey he wore over a white shirt, which covered the majority of his sorta-chubby torso. Roxas rolled his eyes in exasperation.

"Go ahead, Pence," Roxas said in an exasperated tone- the only emotion other than none at all or sadness he's expressed through voice since Axel left... Or was kicked out, to be more accurate. Pence smiled nervously and shyly before dashing to the cabinet where all the junk food was and snagging a bag of shrimp and lime flavored chips (it's gross, Roxas knew, but it was more a food his mom got for in case Roxas's twin sister visited, which was never.) Pence trotted to take a place beside Hayner on Roxas's new couch (his mom bought it and burned the old couch to destroy any of the 'filth' or memorabilia Axel left behind,) eating the chips along the way. As soon as Pence was seated, Hayner grabbed a chip and ate it.

"Ew! Pence- what the fuck kind of chip is this?!" Hayner said, grimacing.

"I don't know, but it's good," Pence said around a mouth full of chips.

"Ugh! Roxas- get me a soda! I gotta wash this shit outta my mouth!" Hayner said, tongue hanging out of his mouth as he continued to distort his face in disgust. Roxas opened the fridge.

"Where's Axel? I didn't think he would stray far from his dog, much less you since, you know, you two were so close," Olette said. Roxas paused a second before grabbing a soda.

"Axel was fired," Roxas said coldly, trying to keep pain from leaking into his words. He didn't want anything to do with this house, anymore- it was so absent without Axel in it. But he wanted to stay because 1.) he had so many memories of Axel he wanted to keep and try to relive 2.) Axel would probably think to look for Roxas here, first.

"Oh... So... Why did he get fired?" Olette asked. Roxas whirled on her, while chunking the soda to the living room where Hayner caught it, which was out of habit of a game Roxas and him used to play when they were younger (Roxas would throw things at Hayner's back to see how successfully Hayner would catch them.)

"It isn't any of your business! I don't want to talk about it dammit I just want to pretend he's here and be happy!" Roxas shouted, not really thinking through what he was saying before running upstairs and into his room. He slammed his bedroom door behind him and grabbed Axel's shirt before laying down on his bed.

Olette looked at Hayner and Pence, who were on the couch with dumbfounded looks on their faces as they stared at Olette.

"You two stay here... I need to talk to him. Just go back to watching TV," Olette said hastily, going upstairs. Hayner shrugged and cracked open the soda.

"It's not my fault Roxas is spoiled," Hayner said simply before taking a sip and turning his attention back to the TV, absentmindedly eating another chip and spluttering at the flavor.

"Roxas?" Olette asked, opening the door.

"What?" Roxas demanded.

"Why are you so upset?" she asked.

"I guess... Because I never did have a dad around after the divorce... And Axel filled that gap," Roxas said, not really sure if that statement was a lie or just partially true. "I think you guys need to go home..."

"Roxas... I don't want to leave you here alone," Olette said carefully.

"I do. Just go, Olette." Olette frowned. Then she turned around and walked downstairs.

"You guys, we need to go. Roxas isn't feeling very well," Olette said. Hayner turned off the tv and got up.

"Rich kids," he muttered as he walked outside with his soda, Pence following with the bag of chips and Olette after, closing the door as she left.