Author's Note: Well this took longer than I thought, probably because I've had writer's block that's about the size of a skyscraper for the last couple of months. (Not to mention I'm one of the laziest people I know.) I read some good fanfics (cough Fire Crotch and the Friend Zone Virgins cough) and books (I've become utterly obsessed with John Green) lately that have inspired me back into writing. No promises as to when the next chapter is out but I hope it will be quicker than this one! As always, thanks for reading and reviews are greatly appreciated!
After having Vanitas quite literally throw my bike into the back of the van, I poked my head inside the sliding door and looked around uncertainly. Lexaeus, a tall and muscular guy with his brown hair back in a pony, was in the driver's seat and hadn't said a word. Zexion was sitting in the passenger seat studying his book intently. Axel and Vanitas had claimed the two middle seats, with Roxas sprawled on the back seat. "Where am I supposed to sit?"
"Go to the back and keep Roxas company, seeing as he wants you to be with him so badly," Vanitas answered, gesturing me towards the cramped space between the middle and back rows. I sighed and climbed in. I attempted to get comfortable but I decided it was a lost cause. The car lurched forward as Axel and Zexion had a rather loud argument about the volume of the radio and Vanitas rolled his eyes and put his headphones on.
"Hey Xion?"
I turned towards Roxas's weak voice. "Hm?"
"You didn't have to come with. These guys are a bunch of losers and I was just acting like a kid by wanting you to come with." He attempted to move onto his side to face me but winced at the pain and fell back to his original position.
"It's ok. It's kind of an adventure, right?" I smiled at him.
He returned the smile. "Yeah, an adventure."
The ride was short and pretty soon we pulled up in front of a small rental home. We all helped get Roxas out of the van and carried him up the steps into the house. The door opened into a living room where a blond girl lounged across a red, over-used looking couch. "Baby Face didn't die, right? That would totally be a downer on my good day," she asked rudely as she examined her nails.
"Not the time, Larxene," Axel growled as he led us down a dark hallway. We stopped at the last door on the right side and Axel unceremoniously kicked it open. The bedroom was small and cozy with white bedding and light blue walls. We gently set Roxas down onto the bed.
"I have to check for his injury so I ask you all to kindly get yourselves out of the room," Zexion instructed, shoving us all out the door.
"Don't do anything naughty Zexy!" Axel chuckled as Zexion promptly slammed the door in his face.
"Woah, what's going on?" A blond boy stood at the doorway a few feet away from us. His hair was styled oddly and he had an instrument like a guitar in his hand.
Vanitas shook his head. "Did you seriously sleep through the whole episode, Demyx?"
"I need my beauty sleep," he answered with a cocky smirk.
"Well we're going out to the kitchen to get some grub. We'll explain it to you there." Axel's voice had an edge of irritation to it, as did Vanitas's. Why did they hang out with this guy if he annoyed them so much?
Everyone went down the hall and into a kitchen that shot off of the living room. Larxene was in the same position, not seeming to care about Roxas one way or the other.
All the guys started grabbing food at random out of the cupboard and digging in, making noises that bordered on sexual as they stuffed their faces with chips. I stood off to the side, feeling more than slightly uncomfortable. Why hadn't I just biked home and did the laundry like I was supposed to? Now I was in a house with a bunch of upperclassmen that were on a feeding frenzy.
"Hey." I looked up from where my eyes were trained on the ground to see Axel towering over me. "Sorry about earlier, I don't normally lose my cool like that. You want some food?"
I raised an eyebrow and nodded, following him obediently to the fridge. Inside were microwave meals in almost every variety possible and about 5 gallons of chocolate milk. I decided to play it safe and grabbed some microwave pizza. Axel showed me to the microwave and I put the pizza in.
"So," he began, leaning against the counter, "I probably should explain some stuff to you. I'm Axel. I'm a year above you and Roxas. Zexion, the idiot Demyx, and jackass Vanitas are all in my grade too. Larxene and Lexaeus are seniors. This house is Lexaeus's ever since he emancipated from his parents, which it would be wise never to mention. We all pitch in though and keep food in the fridge and electricity in the house." He stopped and raised his fire-y eyebrows. "You follow?"
I nodded wordlessly and realized that I had long since swallowed my gum.
"Roxas is our pet of sorts. He's small, adorable, and does absolutely anything for food." Seeing the look on my face, he raised his hands and said, "Kidding! Anyway, this is our place so feel free to get comfy. Oh, and watch out for Larxene. She's got a slight temper problem." As if on cue, I heard a crash followed by the sound of Larxene swearing profusely at Demyx. Axel smirked and swaggered out of the kitchen and down to Roxas's room.
A ding came from the microwave and I shuffled over to retrieve my pizza. After pouring myself a glass of chocolate milk from one of various jugs, I quietly wandered into the living room. A lamp was lying on its side towards the door. "If you ever so much as try to practice your stupid jumping guitar solo in this room again, I will personally shove that sitar so far up your ass that you will.."
"Why there's the little mouse." Vanitas interrupted, warranting a death glare from Larxene. His brown, malicious looking eyes seemed to be wordlessly taunting me.
"Mouse?" I asked. Everyone in the room was staring at me and I could feel my face going bright red.
Vanitas smirked. "Yeah, mouse. You're small, timid, and scared of your own shadow." He let out a harsh sounding laugh, as the others seemed to take an intense interest in their food. If I could have been a mouse at that moment, I would have been.
"Can we please leave our guest alone?" Zexion had quietly come down the hallway without anyone noticing.
"How's Roxas?" I asked.
"Just some bruising. His neck is probably the thing that was hurting him before, looks like it was twisted a bit too much. Go see for yourself."
I thankfully left the room and padded down the hall. Turning the knob, I quietly entered the small bedroom once more. Axel was already in there, standing next to the bed Roxas was in. They both turned to look at me as I closed the door behind me.
"Speak of the devil!" Axel smirked, crossing his arms over his chest.
Roxas huffed impatiently. "Be nice!"
Axel held his hands up innocently. "C'mon Roxy, it's an expression."
A small giggle escaped from my throat. "Roxy?"
Axel grinned while Roxas sighed. "Axel likes nicknames. I'm Roxy, Zexion is Zex, Demyx is Dem-Dem, and Larxene is just Bitch."
I giggled again, walking further into the cramped room. "So, these are the people that you hang out with. You never seemed to talk to anyone in our grade at school and I always wondered who your friends were."
"Yeah, Axel and I have been friends for a while and he introduced me to all of them. Right?" He turned and cast his bright blue eyes on his tall friend.
Axel face turned a bright shade of pink as he let out a nervous cough. "Yeah, yeah, whatever kid."
Roxas beamed up at him, smiling wider than I have ever imagined he could.
"It's cozy here," I said, changing the subject. "Do you guys come here a lot?"
"Pretty much," Axel answered. "I crash here a lot. Roxas prefers to go home more often than stay. Can't blame him, seeing as there's no air conditioning."
"Axel and I don't come here as much as the others. We do our own thing a lot. Back to the topic of friends, you and Namine hang out a lot, right?" Roxas smirked at me.
"Until she went to summer camp. Now I just sit around my house like a hermit all day," I explained. I finally remembered the pizza in my hand and took a bite. It was still a little hot and had that certain this-definitely-came-from-the-microwave flavor to it.
"You should come here!" Roxas exclaimed.
Axel shot him a look. "We can't just invite random people over to Lexaeus's house."
Rolling his eyes, Roxas replied, "Xion isn't random. She can come over here whenever she wants."
"Uh…." I bit my lip. Even though I wasn't exactly just a random person off the street, I wasn't well known here either. Luckily, my cell phone started beeping in my pocket. Opening it up, I saw a text from my mom telling me that she was getting off early and wanted to take me shopping. Typing a quick answer, I apologetically smiled at Roxas and Axel. "My mom wants me to go home. I guess I'll see you guys around?"
"Tomorrow." Roxas said simply. "You should come here again tomorrow. Axel and I will be here and the three of us can go do something. Right, Axel?"
The red head shrugged. "Sure, sounds cool."
"Just remember it's at the end of Willow Road, ok?" Roxas smiled and waved. I said goodbye to both boys and went back through the house the way I had come. The others didn't seem to notice as I slipped out the door and down the porch steps. To my surprise, my bike was sitting in the middle of the driveway, waiting for me. I climbed on and started to peddle my way back to my house, smiling to myself the whole way home.
The moment my dad left the next day, I was lacing up my high tops and going into the shed to retrieve my bike. For the first time since Namine left, I felt optimistic about the day. I didn't know Axel and Roxas that well but I was excited to go and hang out with them. Willow Road was a 20 minute ride from my house. I peddled faster than usual, adrenaline coursing through my veins, wind rushing in my ears. I finally reached Willow and biked all the way down to the end of it where the small rental house sat. A car that wasn't there the day before sat in the driveway. It was red and beat up with rust patches all over and a cracked side mirror. Something told me that it was Axel's car, as it just kind of had his aura hovering around it. I approached the door of the house and cautiously knocked. The door swung open and Roxas was standing there, an eager smile on his face. "Xion! I was hoping you would come."
Axel appeared next to him, slouching with a lollipop hanging out of his mouth. "Nice timing, Roxy and I were just leaving. You want to come with?"
"Where are you guys going?" I hoped I wasn't intruding on anything, even though they had invited me to come here.
"You'll see." Axel herded Roxas and I back down the steps and towards the red car. Just as I had suspected, it was Axel's. I sat in the back and buckled my seat belt as Axel adjusted the rear view mirror and turned on a loud rock station. We left the driveway behind and sped off down the street, looping through different neighborhoods. Reaching the outskirts of town, Axel got on a highway. He didn't drive like a maniac like I had thought he would, but let's just say that speed limits didn't seem to matter as much to him as they did to my parents. Neighboring suburban towns flew by, schools and shopping centers and parks being left behind in our wake. Axel and Roxas had both rolled down their windows so I decided to join them. The wind whipped my short, black hair wildly across my face but it felt too good to stop. Rock music continued to blare from the speakers with thick guitars, moaning singers, and drums that pounded in my chest. I felt utterly alive.
A few minutes later, the city that all of the boring suburbs surrounded came into view. Roxas twisted around in his seat and yelled to me over the music and wind, "That's where we're going!" He enthusiastically pointed to the city skyline before me. My heart seemed to quicken in pace. The city always seemed to awaken something in me, some sense of opportunity. Maybe it was the fact that you are in such a crowded place, yet no one knows your face from the person next to you. That sense of being anonymous makes my veins become highways of adrenaline, yet still makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up. It's hard to explain I guess.
Exiting off of the highway, Axel navigated us down several busy, city streets until he pulled into a parking spot. After pooling all of our various coins together to pay for the parking meter, we started off at a fast pace down the sidewalk. "Are you two still going to be mysterious or are you going to finally tell me where we're going?"
Axel looked at me out of the corner of his eye and smirked. "Relax, Xi-Xi. We're not going to trade you for pot or anything."
"Wow, one day and you already have a nickname! That's some progress," Roxas laughed as he elbowed me in the ribs. I laughed as we turned another corner and Axel abruptly stopped.
Turning to face us, Axel stretched his hands to the sky. "Behold, the greatest music store ever created!" I craned my neck around to see the see the name of the store above Axel's head.
"The Electric Airway?" I read off.
"And it has a coffee shop!" Roxas laughed as Axel yelled at him about not appreciating music culture like he should.
"If you two are done, shall we go inside?" I asked, gesturing towards the doors. The boys nodded and we ventured up the stone steps and into the old, brick building.
After Axel dramatically threw open both doors and started singing Paradise by Coldplay in a soprano as he scampered off into the rows and rows of music, Roxas and I began to walk to the coffee shop in the back corner. We were just passing the reggae section when he painfully yanked me back my shoulder behind a rack of hoodies.
"Stay here. I'm going to go get Axel so we can get out of here before anything happens." The happy-go-lucky kid I had seen outside the store seemed to have aged several years. His jaw line was rigid and his blue eyes were not so much the consistency of water, but of steel. He peeked behind the brightly colored hoodie rack and swore under his breath. "Too late."
I looked out the other side to see what was going on. My eyes quickly scanned over the other half of the store, looking for some kind of thug or drug dealer or something. Not that I would know what a drug dealer looks like when I see one, but you get the idea. Finally I spotted Axel in the hardcore section, squinting at a CD. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary, until I looked down the aisle behind him.
A boy about the same age as Axel was carefully watching him from over the top of the CD racks. His hair looked to be about as natural as the tattoo on his right bicep, seeing as it was a dull blue shade. It was longer than mine and tied back, a few stray pieces falling onto his severe looking face that was dominated by a scar shaped like an X.
"Who is he?" I turned back to Roxas, who was staring intensely at the boy with the scar.
"His name is Saix," he replied, not moving his eyes away from him. "Axel and him have bad history, which is kind of my fault but not at the same time."
I looked back towards them and saw that they were both in the same positions as before. I was about the ask more about their bad history when Axel put the CD down and turned around only to find Saix watching him from the next rack. His face formed into an angry scowl. The expression "if looks could kill" comes to mind. Saix seemed to open his mouth to say something, but Axel was already marching down the CD-lined aisle away from him. Roxas pulled me out from our hiding place roughly and tugged me towards the red head. "In case you guys haven't noticed, we're leaving," Axel said, guiding us towards the door. I turned my head just as we walked out the door and saw two more boys standing with Saix, all of them wearing the same expression of part interest, part cockiness, and part something that I couldn't think of a word to describe but made my body go cold. Clinging to Roxas's arm, I allowed him to pull me out the door and away from their predatory glares.
"Xion, huh?"
"That's what Vanitas said her name is."
"She doesn't seem so interesting."
"You never know how useful a little girl like her can be." The boy narrowed his eyes, watching the trio move out the door and down the street.
"But we don't need to use her if blondie doesn't turn me in, right?" Xigbar turned from the other two and started to browse the CDs.
"What are the odds of him not turning you in? Slim, I'd say," Saix answered bitterly.
The third boy smirked. "Oh, I don't think that Roxas has the guts to turn us in. It will be Axel's doing. Give it a few days and we'll be able to start figuring out how this is going to work."
"Whatever you say, Xemnas."