Roxas followed behind Axel, worrying his bottom lip between his teeth. He really, really did not want to say something so idiotic that Axel would avoid him for the two weeks the camp was running.
The blond had been so lost in his train of thought that he hadn't noticed that the red head had stopped in front of him. Roxas walked straight into his back before he could stop himself, and he decided that right then and there would be a nice time to crawl into a hole and die.
Roxas jad started to ramble. "Shit-oh my god, I-I'm sorry-"
"Chill out, kid." Axel rolled his eyes playfully. "You're so uptight, take it easy."
Roxas nodded fervently and avoided all and any direct eye contact with the red head. Axel lifted a hand and gestured to the building in front of the both of them.
"This is where you'll be staying. Along with the other guy counselors and the little kids." Axel explained as he stepped into the cabin. Roxas followed.
The cabin looked bigger on the inside than it did on the outside. There were a few single beds lined against the wall to the left, two dressers against the back wall, and scattered through the room were tables and chairs and the like.
"This is were we'll be staying, and upstairs," Axel pointed to the ceiling with his index finger. "That's were the little kiddies stay."
"Right," Roxas replied as Axel made his way out of the cabin. The blond scampered behind him and stuck close to him as they passed what looked like a rec hall. As they kept walking, a pool came into view behind the hall. There were quite a few campers swimming, and Roxas noticed that the lifeguard on duty didn't look too happy.
"Hey, Hiro, stop messing with the filter!" The lifeguard called to a little boy with messy black hair. He grinned sheepishly, and Axel rolled his eyes.
"That kid is always messing around with things," He mumbled to Roxas. Then, the lifeguard caught sight of Roxas's red headed companion.
"Hey, Axel! Is that the new guy?" The lifeguard-who's hairstyle made Roxas believe he had come straight from the 1980s-waved at Axel. Axel waved back, his lips splitting into a grin.
The red head leaned his arm on Roxas's shoulder. "You bet, Demyx!" He called back to the dirty blond. "This here, is Roxas."
Demyx smiled and waved at Roxas, who in turn, gave a half-hearted wave back. "Nice to meet you!" Roxas offered a sort of smile, as he felt like anything that came out of his mouth would sound stupid to Axel.
What the hell are you worrying about, Roxas? He asked himself. Axel is just a guy like you. A very, very handsome guy, but still just a guy. Ah, shit.
Roxas covered his face with his hands and let out a frustrated groan. Axel quirked a brow.
"You alright there, Rox?" He asked and the blond mentally cursed.
"Yeah, yup. Just peachy," Roxas replied as he got his shit together. Which was a lot harder than it seemed. "So, uh, what do the kids do around here?"
"Well," Axel started, furrowing his brow in thought. "Usually in the morning, there'll be something for the kids to do in the rec hall, like a craft or something to that affect. In the afternoon, the kids usually just run around outside, playing tag or going in the pool. Then after dinner, we have a capture the flag game. After that we have a campfire with s'mores and all that stuff. That's about it."
"Huh," Roxas grunted. "Sounds like a pretty good day for them then."
The red head huffed. "Not for me. Those kids think I'm some sort of freaking jungle gym. They climb all over me."
Roxas chuckled and tried to smother it behind his hand. Axel shot him a look that said "if you don't shut up, I'll throw you into the pool". And so, the blond choked down his laughter.
Axel sighed and pulled his phone from his back pocket and checked the time. "Why don't you go bring in your stuff? It's almost dinner time. Xion, Dem, Larxene, and I have to go gather up the kiddies. Just meet us all back at the mess hall."
Axel pointed to a small, house-like building that was in the far corner of the campsite. Roxas nodded and swung his key ring around his finger, turning to walk back to his hand-me-down car.
He started whistling one of those songs he and Sora had sung on the way down, and Roxas kept trying to whistle something that wasn't meant for five year olds. He gave up trying to whistle anything and grabbed his and Sora's bags out of the car. Roxas started to make his way back to the baby blue painted cabin.
Roxas walked into the cabin, and deemed that the bed closest to the door and the bed furthest from the door had already been claimed by Axel and Demyx. Roxas laid his bag on the bed that was second closest to the door and proceeded to go up the stairs.
Up there, there were bunk beds lined up against the side walls, with three or four dressers against the wall that Roxas was facing. He glanced around, standing on his tip toes to get a better look at the top bunks, but most of the beds on the right wall seemed to be taken. Roxas knew Sora would've wanted a top bunk, and got lucky when he found an unoccupied bed on the opposite wall. Roxas hoisted Sora's colorful duffel bag over the railing, and made his way downstairs and towards the mess hall.
He was greeted with the sound of obnoxiously loud children, and the smell of food. Roxas's stomach growled ever so loudly, and that was when he realized just how hungry he was. He hadn't really had anything substantial to eat since breakfast that morning (unless you count chips in the car as "substantial").
"ROXY!" The blond winced as he heard his little brother call his stupid nickname. He was waving enthusiastically with both hands over his head. Roxas had no choice but to head over to the little bundle of energy.
When he got over there, Sora seemed to be bouncing. "These are my new best friends! Riku and Kairi!" Roxas recognized them as the two campers who were climbing all over Axel when he had first met him earlier. He chuckled at the three of them.
"Well, that's very good," Roxas smiled. "But I need to get some food or I'm gonna starve."
"Are you going to come back and sit with me and Riku and Kairi?" Sora asked, pulling a puppy dog face.
Roxas glanced at his little brother. Then, he caught the color red at the corner of his vision and turned to glance in that direction. Axel was sitting at a table on the opposite side of the room with Xion, Demyx, and who he assumed was Larxene, as Axel had mentioned her earlier. Her green eyes flashed between the two other male counselors at the table, and her blonde hair was slicked back against her head, except for two strands that stuck up from her head like anntenae. Her features where sharp, and she had this deadly kind of aura surrounding her. Roxas noted to stay away from Larxene.
Xion looked in his direction and waved in Roxas's direction. "Hey, Roxas! Why don't you sit with us?"
Axel and Demyx turned to look over their shoulders at the blond. Demyx smiled and waved, while Axel gave him a smirk. Roxas's stomach flipped.
"Yeah, come sit over here!" Demyx called as he stopped waving enthusiastically.
"Alright, alright," Roxas smiled as he waved his hand. "Just let me get some food first, I'm seriously starting to think my stomach is eating itself."
The other counselors waved him off, and Roxas grabbed a plate, starting to pile food onto it. There was pretty much just about anything; mostly meals that you would see at barbecues. There were trays of hot dogs and hamburgers and the like. When Roxas was satisfied with the amount of food on his plate, he returned to the table where the other counselors sat.
When he stood off to the side of the table, he realized he had two options; either have the pleasure of sitting next to Larxene, or be a blushing mess and sit next to Axel. Roxas decided to take his chances and plopped down next to Larxene.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that Larxene looks less than pleased to be sitting next to him. She looked as if she were going to snarl at him, but Axel put his hand down on the table, just loud enough to grab the counselors' attention. Larxene narrowed his eyes at him.
"Larxene, you know it's not nice to pick on the fresh meat." Axel pursed his lips and furrowed his eyebrows, tone of voice sounding as if he were scolding a small child. Larxene's eye twitched, as Roxas slowly brought food to his mouth and watched the show unfold. Xion sighed.
"Don't tell me what to do, asshole," she retorted as she rolled her eyes.
The redhead gasped mockingly, covering his mouth with his hand. "Was that a curse word I heard you utter? Looks like someone has to put a dime in the curse jar!"
Larxene jumped to her feet and slammed her hands down on the table, making everyone but Axel jump back. She leaned over so that her face was barely three inches away from Axel's. Something stirred in Roxas's chest as he realized this.
"Listen, you prick," she said underneath her breath. "I don't need you treating me like a fucking child."
At this, Demyx looked uncomfortable and Xion sighed in disappointment. Axel, however looked unphased, with a smirk tilting up his lips at the corners. Roxas still didn't like the way Larxene believed she was all high and mighty, and that's when Roxas stood up.
"Just leave him alone, Larxene," Roxas huffed, his fists balling up at his sides. His mental note of staying away from Larxene was being totally ignored at this point in time, and Roxas was starting to regret it.
In the blink of an eye, the infuriated blonde whipped around and grabbed Roxas by the collar of his tank, which was not really much to hold on to. She shoved her face far too close for comfort for Roxas, and he gulped nervously. All he could see was the fire in her green eyes.
"I don't need some fucking middle school student telling me what to do, got it, kid?" She snarled in his face. Roxas nodded fervently, trying to control his breathing. He was fucking scared of this stupid blonde with a god complex. Roxas almost felt like crying.
"Hey, Larxene, that's enough." Roxas felt a hand on his shoulder gently pull him away from Larxene's grasp. He looked up to see that Axel's face was set, and his eyes didn't leave Larxene. "You probably scared poor Roxas here half to death."
Roxas had the urge to cling to or hide behind the much taller redhead to his right. Instead, he stared dumbly between Axel and Larxene before she stomped out of the mess hall, muttering strings of curses under her breath. When she was gone, Roxas looked up at Axel.
"Sorry, she's kind of a bitch," Axel shrugged as he clapped Roxas on the shoulder. "Shoulda warned you about her sooner. You alright? You look like you were on the verge of freaking out."
Roxas shook his head, trying to calm himself down. "N-no, I'm fine now. She just caught me off guard is all."
"Riiiight," Demyx dragged out his repsonse. "And Hell has frozen over."
Xion punched him in the shoulder from across the table and he whined about how hard she hit. Roxas looked back at his plate of unfinished food and suddenly claimed that he wasn't hungry.
After that, the rest of the counselors called over the sound of yelling kids that dinner was over and that there would be a campfire in another half hour or so. Axel explained to Roxas that there wouldn't be a game of capture the flag tonight because it was the first night of camp. Roxas nodded and went to go find where Sora had run off to, to tell him to stay away from Larxene at all costs.
Xion came up beside him. "I'm sorry about Larxene. She is such a bitch to everyone, even the kids. She has no filter, I swear."
Roxas shrugged. "Hey, it's not your fault. If Axel hadn't provoked her, that probably wouldn't have happened."
"It was inevitable." Xion rolled her eyes. "But hey, we should probably go help Ax and Demyx with the campfire, they're going to need some help getting firewood."
Later at the campfire, all the kids sat around with marshmallows roasting over the fire. One of the kids, a little girl with platinum blond hair pulled into a side braid, was sitting towards the front of the group of kids, telling them a story; something with a queen who had magic powers and could create things out of ice. Roxas looked to Sora to find that he was totally entranced by the little girl's story.
Roxas, on some stupid decision he made, was sitting next to Axel. Demyx was on his left, next to him was Xion, and then all the way down the row was Larxene. She kept glaring in Roxas and Axel's general direction. Nearly every time she made eye contact with Roxas, he panicked and grabbed Axel's hand. Which, of course, was really stupid of him.
The first time the blond had grabbed Axel's hand, the redhead had quirked an eyebrow at him and smirked. Roxas had immediately withdrawn his hand and stared off into the darkness of the night, blushing uncontrollably. The second time it happened, Axel had followed Roxas's stare to Larxene and he chuckled.
"She's got you scared shitless, huh, Rox?" He mumbled to Roxas under his breath.
Roxas made a frustrated noise and quickly retracted his hand again. "Sorry, it's a force of habit." The blond laughed sheepishly at himself. "I'm a bit clingy."
Axel chuckled as he slung his arm around his shoulders and pulled Roxas in towards him. "I'm a bit clingy, too." And Roxas could feel the vibration of Axel's voice through his back. It made him shiver and blush at the thought of how stupid he was acting.
Then, Roxas felt something drop onto his arm. It was cold and wet, and before he could even comprehend what was happening, rain started to pour down from the sky. The little kids shrieked and giggled in delight, trying to salvage what they could of their s'mores. The counselors jumped to their feet and herded the boys and girls to their respective cabins.
The boy campers scampered up to the upper level of the building, except Sora had walked up to Roxas. Before he could say anything, Roxas cut him off.
"I put your bag on one of the top bunks, but you can always switch with someone." Sora lit up when he heard "top bunk", squealed with delight, and ran up the stairs. Roxas rolled his eyes playfully as he turned to his own bag.
Demyx, Axel, and Roxas were pretty much soaked from the sudden onslaught of rain. Roxas wasn't prepared for what he saw when he had turned around.
Axel's shirtless torso was facing him, and Roxas had half a mind to look away, but not before he saw how his jeans hung low on his hips.
Fuck, Roxas, he scolded himself. Stop staring at him, he's gonna think you're weird.
The blond ducked away and rummaged through his bag, the tips of his ears burning. Demyx, too, had started to strip off his soaked clothes, and had lain them across the back of a chair to dry. Roxas had followed suit, and was hyper-aware of Axel's green stare boring into his bare back. With this in mind, he threw a shirt on haphazardly and tugged on a pair of sweatpants.
Roxas dropped his bag on the floor and kicked it under his bed. He took his soaked clothes and laid them out like Demyx had. Axel, on the other hand, had just dropped his on the floor.
"They're never going to dry like that, you know," Roxas mumbled and rolled his eyes as he sat down on his bed.
Axel, with the straightest face ever, replied, "What are you, my wife, Roxas? Nagging me?"
Roxas blinked stupidly as his brain tried to comprehend what Axel had just said. When the gears started going, Roxas felt his whole face flush. He stuttered out (unintelligent sounding) noises as he tried to respond. Axel only threw his head back and laughed.
"You're so cute when you're flustered." He gave Roxas a wink. Roxas responded by rolling over onto his side so that his back was facing Axel.
"Wh-whatever. Don't go saying stupid shit like that," Roxas retorted as he pulled his blanket almost all the way over his head. He covered his face with his hands and screamed internally.
What the hell? Calling me his wife, what the hell is his problem? Roxas thought. How can he even do this to me; does he even know how fucking attractive he is?
Roxas heard the click of a lamp being turned off, and the light behind his eyelids faded. He heard a mumbled "good night, Roxas", but from who, he didn't know.
He relaxed and pulled the blanket down just a bit so that he wouldn't suffocate in the middle of the night. Roxas focused on the sound of the rain hitting the windows and fell asleep in no time.
Roxas wasn't sure what time it was, but it sure as hell wasn't time to get up.
He wasn't entirely sure what had woken him up: the sound of thunder overhead, or the pitter-patter of little feet against the wooden steps. Either way, Roxas was awake and didn't want to be.
In moments, Roxas felt a little hand on his ar and it shook him. It was followed by a tiny voice.
"Roxy? A-are you awake?"
The blond rolled over to face Sora. He rubbed his eyes and squinted at his little brother. "What is it, Sora? Can't sleep?"
Sora shook his head vehemently and jumped when thunder rumbled over the cabin. He covered his face with his hands when lightning lit up all the windows, and he started to shake.
Roxas stood up and stretched a bit. He dragged his bag out from under his bed quietly, as not to wake the other counselors. He dug around the contents of his bag, scouring for his headphones. Sora was scared of thunderstorms, but could sleep if he was listening to some sort of calming music. When Roxas came up empty, he cursed under his breath.
"I don't think I packed my headphones, buddy," Roxas whispered to him and put a hand on his shoulder. Another roll of thunder shook the cabin. Sora squeaked. His blue eyes started to shine with the beginnings of tears.
"Hey, hey, hey, no crying, okay?" Roxas tried to soothe him, but it didn't seem to be working. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Axel's figure begin to move.
Shit, he's gonna be mad, Roxas sighed and shoved his bag back under his bed. Axel sat up and slouched over, rubbing his eyes. He yawned and looked at the two brothers.
"Don't like thunderstorms, kid?" Axel asked, his voice thick with sleep still. Sora looked up at him, eyes wide, and shook his head. Axel hummed and shifted himself so that he could reach the little nightstand that sat in between the two beds. He tugged at the drawer and rummaged around inside it, until he pulled out a wire that connected a pair of ear buds. Axel handed them to Sora.
"Now, you take care of those, alright? Those are my only good pair." Sora nodded fervently and thanked him quietly. Roxas handed him his phone, plugged in the headphones, and scampered up the stairs.
Roxas smiled. "Oh, so you do like kids?"
"Shut up and go to sleep, Roxas." He was meant to sound annoyed, but Roxas was pretty sure Axel was smiling. He could hear it in the redhead's voice.
"Thanks, Axel."
"I said, go to sleep."