AN: Fuufuufuuuu... took me longer to write this up because I honest to god kept getting sidetracked. First, it was the fact I wanted to look at Axel images on photobucket. I found a pirate one.. god he's smexy. And then it was my dog; I amuse myself by making him chase a laser light. I love my Jack... And then it was my sister, who called me and wouldn't leave me alone for another twenty minutes. Then I made an excuse to get off the phone because she kept repeating the same story over again. Anyway, it's done. And I hope you guys like it! (4873 words in the story!) Now for the reviewers!
Faye: Hello dear fic stalker! cough Heehee, of course you're part of it! You honestly helped me. And I'm glad you like my writing. -luff-
Silver Tears 11: I'm glad you find it amusing! I aim for some humor in my stories because I hate reading ones that don't make me laugh once in a while. So I know some of it may be boring, but hopefully not all the time. improving humor sector of brain
beastboyishot1: Thank you! Here is your update. I hope you enjoy it.
Annoying. A simple word to describe Axel. He wouldn't shut up about the Camaro; for crying out loud, it was just a car! And if he made my mom blush any more and say thank you one more time, I'd have to duct tape his mouth. Yes, duct tape his mouth and his hands so he could never get it off. Duct tape fixes everything (and, I might add, is silver, while silence is golden). But I was a bit disappointed when he stopped talking two seconds later. Maybe he was a psychic. Damn, that blasted away a lot of ideas to get rid of him...
"We're home," I heard my mom say in a sing song voice. I lifted my head from the car window and sure enough, there was our simple, but large house. The color was a very light baby blue, sometimes mistaken for white, and front yard was a bit big. I remember Sora and I used to build snowmen all the time during winter and then start throwing snowballs. I quickly got tired of it after I got hit with one that had a small stick in it. The splinter wasn't easy to get out of my face... (I don't blame my brother though). A black steel fence surrounded the yard and even had a gate, which Axel was staring at.
"It's only to your waist. It's not like it's some big...'you cannot pass' gate, you know," I said, pushing it open. To him it was to his waist, but it was as high as my stomach. Sometimes I hated being so short.
"I didn't think your house would be this big," I heard him say behind me.
"Well, you do know we're rich." At this point, he'd be making that bump on my head hurt again. Opening one of the doors, I stepped inside the cooled house and slipped off my shoes on the mat to the left. My mom had this rule where nobody could wear shoes anywhere in the house. People could only go barefoot (unless your feet were unnaturally dirty for some unknown reason), wear socks, or wear slippers. "I'm going to my room, Mom. Just call me if you need me." I then headed up the stairs (which forked into two separate staircases in the middle, the left one going to my wing in the house, the right to my brother's. But there is also a set of stairs that leads up to what looks like a balcony, which heads into my parent's bedroom) and went to the first room on the left.
With a brief sigh, I raked a hand through my hair and sat on my bed. I liked my room, even though Sora says it's a bit shady. Sure, my blinds are always half closed (not half open) and I only use a small lamp to light my room at night, but it's cozy. Plus, my room was small to begin with. I could only fit a bed, a small stand that I wanted beside my bed, and a stand to put my television on. I had to place my PS2 underneath the stand so I wouldn't step on it-I learned that the hard way. I guess I could say I was just lucky enough to have a built-in closet instead of having a big dresser for my clothes.
Even though I had four other rooms to myself, all based on different things, I didn't want a music room. I liked practicing the guitar in my room, not some half empty one that echoes like crazy. I needed to be comfortable in order to play, and my room was as comfortable as it got. I thought for a moment, wondering if I should use my acoustic or the electric. Nah, I needed to calm down. The acoustic has that effect. So picking up the wooden acoustic, I sat on my bed with my back against the wall, just to the side of the window. I played a few strings, testing to see if they were still tuned.
Then I started plucking out a tune. It was one of my favorite songs by the Goo Goo Dolls; I don't see how anyone couldn't like the song. The words, I'd have to say, were probably more touching than ever.
"And I'd give up forever to touch you
'Cause I know that you feel me somehow
You're the closest to heaven that I'll ever be
And I don't want to go home right now.
And all I can taste is this moment
And all I can breathe is your life
'Cause sooner or later it's over
I just don't want to miss you tonight.
And I don't want the world to see me
'Cause I don't think that they'd understand
When everything's made to be broken
I just want you to know who I am.
And you can't fight the tears that ain't coming
Or the moment of truth in your lies
When everything feels like the movies
And you bleed just to know you're alive."
I hadn't noticed the door had opened or the fact that a certain redhead was standing against the door until I bothered to open my eyes in the midst of my hobby. My fingers paused on the strings as I stared at him. It wasn't embarrassment or shyness that I felt because he had been watching me or anything. I was severely pissed because he had entered my room without asking permission. Hell, he probably didn't even try!
"What the hell are you doing in my room?" I growled, setting my guitar against my bed and the wall carefully.
"I just thought I'd roam the house and get to know it, so I don't feel lost. I just heard you playing and couldn't resist to come inside," he said. Lame excuse. He wanted to beat the crap out of me for earlier. "That was pretty good. How long did you practice that song?"
I was silent. I didn't really want to talk to him because he just made my calm demeanor go away. That sucked. "Months..." I finally murmured, laying backward on my bed. I heard the ruffle of clothes on the wall, so I took it that Axel had slid to the floor.
"You sing really good, too." I kept quiet at that; no one complimented on my singing, not even my dad or Sora. He was weird. "Well, you never asked me twenty questions. From earlier today."
"I don't feel like it."
"Come on, there has to be something you want to know about me," he pushed.
"Can you leave me alone?"
"No." His voice sounded as if he was smiling. I didn't doubt it.
"Why are you bothering me?"
"Because I think we could be good friends. I think there's some nice kid deep down in that grumpy body of yours."
"I'm not grumpy!" I complained, pushing myself up on my elbows. "Why does everybody think I'm grumpy? I'm a really nice, quiet kid!" He only grinned at me and I gave him a 'whatever' look and laid back down. I heard Axel moving around seconds later, then a weight against the bed next to my leg. So.. maybe he wasn't that bad. He could be quiet if he wanted to, obviously, but I still thought he was annoying. "Do you have any siblings?"
"No," he said. The answer was quick, too quick, and I guessed he was hiding something. I stayed silent for a moment, wondering if he'd break, but he didn't say anything. So I moved on.
"Those guys you were hanging out with today.. your friends? What are their names?"
"Demyx is the blonde one-he loves to dance and play music with this.. weird instrument of his. Marluxia is the one with lavender hair. He's a nature freak, but he can be really pissy. Sometimes we wonder if he's really a girl." Axel laughed, shrugging his shoulders lightly. "But we still love him like a good brother. Zexion is the other one. He's big on books and reads basically any kind. But he has a fancy for fantasy ones, like talking animals-as long as the words are small and the book is about billions of pages long."
I thought for a moment, thinking of what questions to ask. Maybe it was harder than I thought, but he seemed to have been asking me left and right earlier. Maybe I'll just ask the same ones he did. "How old are you?"
"Seventeen."
"When do you turn eighteen?"
"Halloween."
"What's your favorite hobby?" By this time, I had flipped onto my stomach and was needlessly poking my feather-down pillow.
"Um.. well, I sing too.. a little. And I like acting. So, not much, to be honest. I usually just hang out with my friends." I glanced at the back of his head. Something wasn't right in the way he was answering these questions; but he had practically pushed me to do it!
"If you don't want to answer any of them, you can just say so. I'm not pushing you.." I muttered, returning my eyes to my pillow. I saw his spiky red hair move as he shook his head.
"No, I want to answer them. I just don't know how to word some of them, that's all."
"Do you live around here?"
"Naw. I live in Sunset Terrace." Sunset Terrace? That was far from here, plus it's where people who had money lived most of the time. I set that information aside, saving it for later. This really wasn't right.
"Are you parents together?"
"Y-yeah. They're still together."
"You don't have a home, do you?" I glanced at him now; I wasn't as stupid as people thought. I could piece together a puzzle within seconds if given the right clues. Just by ten questions, I could figure that out. He had a brother, but didn't want to say anything. I guessed that maybe he ditched Axel or didn't want him to be a part of something. His parents were either together and abusive toward each other, or not really together. There was another choice, but I didn't want to think about it. He couldn't possibly live in Sunset Terrace because he didn't seem the type to be able to live there without getting the police called on him for lingering on property. There was the Tunnelway, but that was always under the police watch in case there were fugitives, criminals or something of the such taking cover there. Axel would be forced into an orphanage or something in no time if he spent time there.
"No..." he finally said, almost in a whisper. "I mean, I do. But I'm always freeloading off of Demyx and Zexion-they share an apartment-or Marluxia. I can't do that forever. And I can't find a stable job in my current state to get enough money to even get a car or a house of my own. I can barely feed myself, for crying out loud."
"Then you can stay with us for a while, sweetie." I jerked my eyes up to see my mother in the doorway, a warm smile on her face. It was one of those looks that make you want to just up and hug her to death and cry your eyes out and confess everything in her because she seems the trustworthy type. Well, she was. And very compassionate when people have it rough. Despite being rich and having a better life than most people, we weren't stuck up. Our family was the farthest; in fact, my mother gave out money randomly to people on the street and helped the homeless people as much as she could. She says it's like giving them a push to start a new life and work harder instead of giving up. Her hard work almost always pays off because I've seen a few of those homeless people with a car and a stable job to keep them going.
I honestly had to admit to myself.. I felt bad for treating Axel the way I did. I mean, sure.. I knew he wanted to be friends. I didn't know he cherished friendships because those were the only people he could count on. I never had to deal with it, so that's what hurt the most. I was in the dark of how he felt and now that I knew the truth, it seemed like I shouldn't even be a friend. It really hurt.
"I'm sorry.." I murmured without thinking twice. Both Axel and my mother looked at me, confused. I simply looked down at my bed, not wanting to confess it to their faces. I guess you could say I was ashamed. "I'm sorry for being mean. I didn't know.."
"It's ok, kid. I don't blame you." And he could forgive so easily... What an idiot. Funny and witty, but still an idiot.
"Well! Dinner's ready, just thought I'd let you boys know. We're having spaghetti and garlic bread. And don't forget to wash your hands!" And then she was gone. Almost immediately, I leaped off of the bed and followed suit. I knew that if I lingered, things were get eerie and quiet and then we'd say something stupid, or one of us would, and everything would be messed up. I wanted to avoid that.
After washing my hands, I headed downstairs and into the kitchen to the right. Axel was already there and chowing down the spaghetti on his plate; how he was there first, I don't know. He just was. Shrugging it off, I sat down at my own seat at the table and began eating. Sora, as usual, was late to dinner, but he always made it up with something weird.
"Mom! Riku finally admitted a secret!" he burst out as he appeared in the doorway. I seriously don't know what is wrong with my brother, but he talks about Riku more than Kairi, which is odd in my mind.
"What is that, honey?"
"Him and Kairi are planning a big surprise for my birthday!"
"Um.. don't they do that every year...?" I asked flatly, pointing my fork at him. He gave me a childish pout and sat down.
"So. They might make it even better than the last one. Who knows? I might be going to a concert!"
"In which I might say no, depending on the concert," Mom butted in, giving him a stern look as she took her seat at the table.
"Awww.. Mom, it could be The All-American Rejects! Or possibly Adema, Sugarcult, Avenged Sevenfold, Sum 41, Green Day, McFly, I don't know! I haven't checked the internet about upcoming concerts lately!"
"Well, it's definitely a no to Avenged Sevenfold; I know the fans of that band get rowdy sometimes."
"You guys can argue about this. I'm going to go be pessimistic in my room until I get tired," I said, putting my empty plate in the sink. I knew Axel would be hot on my trail; Mom wouldn't make him sleep in the living room and we didn't exactly have spare rooms at the moment. We were still remodeling the house. And since he wasn't exactly Sora's 'savior' she was going to stick him with me.
"You still owe me five questions. Don't forget." I looked back at him before entering my room, quirking an eyebrow. Why should I care?
"Well, you owe me a whole ten, since we were rudely interrupted. But I think I'll save them for later," I said as I tossed down a comforter and a couple of pillows on the floor.
"Where's your dad?" I paused with one of the pillows in my grasp, my fingers holding tightly on to it as if it was my lifeline. I barely got to see my dad, and when I did, it was only for a few days. He was one of those businessmen that were always being called out of town for some important job. I know I shouldn't be worked up about it, but sometimes I wondered what it would be like if I actually got to see both of my parents every day.
"Out on a business trip, like usual. He should be coming home next week. He promised he wouldn't miss our birthday," I bit out, letting go of the pillow and flopping onto my bed. I glanced at the clock: only fifteen after ten. I guess we had spent more time at that theater place than I thought. What a waste of a day... "I'm going to sleep. If you need extra clothes, they're in my closet."
/x/x/x/x/x/x/x/
I woke up the next morning to a bright light in my face. What the hell?! I automatically pushed myself into a sitting position and looked around. Axel was no where in sight, although his stuff was folded and piled neatly near the closet, and my blinds were pulled all the way up. I glanced at the clock, which read ten in the morning. God.. how could someone get up earlier than ten?! I yawned and collapsed backward, staring at my ceiling. I can't believe he had messed with my blinds...
"Morning, Sunshine!" I let my head fall toward the door, giving the redhead a flat, emotionless stare. He was wearing my black nylon pants and a lime green shirt. I hadn't worn that shirt in ages. It was too big for me back then, so I had used it as a pajama top. I stopped using it after I grew up a little and hadn't touched it since. At least someone was using it now.
"Get out..." I hissed, then pulled the blankets over my head to block out the sunlight.
"Nuh-uh. We gotta get up and get ready! We're going to hang out today since we don't go to the theater on Wednesdays," he said, grabbing onto my arm and pulling me lightly. I let out a half hiss, have groan, trying to swat him away with my other, then finally caved in after two minutes of him whining and begging and complaining that I was a party pooper. (Seriously, who uses that word anymore!) Pushing him out of the way, I stood and went to my closet. I hadn't changed from the clothes I wore last night, which was a really odd thing because I took two showers a day at least.
"Well... I'll be downstairs in a few.." I muttered, dragging my clothes with me to the bathroom next door. I took a quick shower, just wanting to be refreshed. I then took another five minutes to dry my hair and five after that to gel it the way I wanted it. That was when I noticed that nearly a whole quarter of my gel was gone. He did not use my gel... I spat in my mind, buttoning and zipping my black and tan pants. I snatched my shirt and headed out of the bathroom and downstairs. "Axel! Who said you could touch my gel!"
"...You did..." I turned toward him and saw a confused look on his face.
"What? I didn't say anything!"
"Yeah, I woke you up earlier and asked if it was ok, and you said 'whateverleavemealoneI'mtootiredtocare.' Just like that."
A little bomb went off in my head and I squeezed my hand into a fist. "UGH! People don't understand that I am not a morning person. I don't wake up unless I'm out of bed and doing stuff," I growled. "Whatever. I don't care. Let's just get going." I finally pulled my Pirates of the Caribbean shirt over my head and headed toward the door. Before opening it, I snatched my MP3 player from the shelf to the left and shoved it into my pocket after putting the headphones in my ears.
"Are we going to go get your stuff? You do have your own stuff, don't you?"
"Yeah, I have some clothes and few things at Demyx's house."
I followed him as he led the way, letting The Dresden Dolls drown out the sound of traffic and any other noise that would be fit to annoy me. As the music calmed me down a little, I began thinking of ideas. First, I'm going to have to lay some personal rules down for Axel. No messing with my blinds, no waking me up to ask me something-it'll just end up like today-do no touch my guitars. His fingers would be broken within seconds, by me personally. Like I said before, he wasn't a bad guy. I just had a lot of pet peeves and such that I thought he'd want to know. Just so he doesn't end up getting hurt a whole lot because I never explained things.
Well, with enough on my mind, I thought the day would get better. But.. you know.. you never want to be an optimistic person when you're truly a pessimist. Honestly. I think I try too much sometimes. Because there it was-one of the things guys hated most-my girlfriend in a lip lock with someone else across the street. Even worse, it was in an ally. I can't express how angry I was, how I wanted to go over and kick that guy's ass. Hell, I didn't know who he was! I felt myself move forward, despite the fact the light was green for the cars. Axel grabbed my shoulder, said something, but I shrugged him off. I guess I was lucky because the light turned red just as I started across the street then.
"What the fuck are you doing?" I snapped as I reached the mouth of the ally. Naminé gasped and pushed away from her new guy-or should I say toy; it might not last very long-and looked at me.
"R-Roxas, I-"
"So how long, Naminé? How long were you cheating on me with.. this guy?" I was oh so angry, obviously. But I think I was hurt more than I could ever be angry. There isn't much to express when you find out a girl you've been going out with for almost a year and a half has been cheating on you. I glanced at the boy once more. No one I recognized; short brown hair, hazel eyes, a bit muscular. I couldn't help myself at that point. I lunged forward, dropping my MP3 player-the headphones yanked out of my ears as I did, but I didn't notice any of that-and began beating on the asshole.
"Roxas, stop it!"
"Hey, Roxas!" I felt myself being pulled back and I twisted angrily, jerking my elbow backward. It met a stomach, but I was still being held on to tightly. "Stop it, kid! There's no point in fighting." I ignored Axel's words, letting it slip through one ear and out the other. I glared at Naminé, my struggling beginning to cease. Axel's arms, for a scrawny kid like him, were friggin' strong. Then I felt myself being pulled away by my hand, and when we paused, I tried to jerk free and go after the asshole again, but Axel had a firm grip.
I finally subsided after we crossed the street, letting him lead me around like a dog on a leash. I don't see how girls could do it. If they wanted to break up with their boyfriend, why didn't they just say it? It just makes it worse to go around and get with another guy. Not only that, but gives them a bad reputation. Well, it was her loss. If she wanted to have a rep as a whore or something, then let her.
"He-whoa! What happened to him?" A voice broke me out of my thoughts and I glanced up. We had arrived at Demyx's house and he was staring at me like I emerged from the floor or something. "Well, whatever. Get him in here so we can fix him up." Axel led me inside and sat me on a black and baby blue chair. I wasn't aware of what I looked like. Hell, if the guy had thrown punches back, I hadn't noticed. Maybe that was what Demyx was talking about.
"Dammit! I don't even know his name!" I blurted out, causing the redhead to jump beside me. Actually, I take that back. My yelling didn't cause him to hurt. The fact I had attempted to squeeze my hand into a fist, which was still linked with Axel's hand, made him jump. Once I realized that our hands were still together, I snatched mine back and laid both hands in my lap. Guys don't hold hands. Ever. Period. End of story.
I looked up at Demyx as he came in with a little white box with a red cross on it. The classic first aid kit-nice. As he started cleaning up my face, I looked over his head to see the boy who Axel called Zexion last night. He was just a big happy fucking ray of sunshine from the look on his face. I stared at him back with an equally hot glare, wondering what his problem was.
"Ow!" I yelped, breaking eye contact with the boy to glare at Demyx. I reached up to touch my eyebrow, but he swatted it away.
"Don't touch it! You'll just make it worse. You'll probably need to get some stitches because that looks nasty..." he muttered, looking a little closer.
"He'll be fine." Demyx looked over his shoulder to smirk at Zexion, who had taken a seat in the opposite chair with a book.
"What's your pro-" A hand was clamped over my mouth and I felt myself being dragged to my feet and away from the two.
"His mom can handle it, really. We'll just be heading back now. Thanks for letting us stop by and letting me get my stuff. Talk to you guys later!" The door slammed shut and he finally let me go, leaving me to glare up at him. "Look, I know you're really pissed off, but taking it out on other people isn't going to help. Well, if it does, just take it out on me. I'm used to it."
Great. It sounded like he was giving me a guilt trip. I had already put enough crap on his shoulders yesterday; he didn't need me fumbling over angry words because of Naminé. "Whatever, let's go home," I mumbled, heading out of the apartment building. After ten minutes of silent walking, we finally arrived back home. Mom fussed over me and my split eyebrow, quickly ordering Sora to get a needle with thread. "Mom, I'm perfectly fine, ok? Stop-don't touch it! It hurts."
"Stay still and maybe I won't be trying to slap you upside the head!" she stated firmly. I finally subsided to fidgeting and glared at the floor over her shoulder as she applied something onto it. At first it stung, but them it went numb. I could barely feel the needle as she began to thread it through gingerly and carefully. I guess she knew what she was doing. She had been a veterinarian when she was younger and always stitched up the animals that came in.
Once she was finished, I trudged to my bathroom upstairs and looked at myself in the mirror. My right cheek was slightly puffier than usual and I felt around with my tongue. It was bad enough I had a gash on my eyebrow, now I had a cut in my mouth. If I only had my pocket knife then, he would have been dead. With a sigh, I headed back to my room and just stood in the doorway, watching as Axel scrounged around in his bag. He obviously didn't have much; it looked like he had pulled out a week's worth of clothing, some deodorant, toothpaste, a toothbrush, body spray and a cellphone.
"How can you have a cellphone when you said you don't have a job?"
"Oh.. I'm on Demyx and Zexion's plan. They said as long I as I don't go over on minutes, I don't have to pay. We all have unlimited texting, so it makes it easier to do that." I nodded my head once and slipped into the room. "Hey.. Things will get better, you know.. Just give it some time."
"Yeah.." I murmured, taking a seat on my bed.
"Are you bisexual?" The question threw me back. Where had that come from?
"Uh... I'm pretty sure I'm not... Why?"
He shrugged, stuffing everything back in his bag. "Just wondering. I mean, it took forever for Demyx and Zexion to admit they liked each other and all. Just wanted to make sure what everyone is like."
"D-Demyx and Zexion are..? Wha...?" Axel looked at me with a smirk, shoving his stuff off to the side.
"Yeah, I was the same way, too. But I got used to it. I never hated them; in fact, I'd have to say we have more fun now than we did when they were trying to hide it. I don't know.. I just wanted to know. I'm gonna go watch some television in the living room or something." I watched him leave, closing the door behind him, then sat back until my back hit the wall. Life. Sucked.
Deedooo.. um. So that guy Naminé was with, I made him up. I own him! Well.. not really, he's make believe... OH #((4 I forgot the disclaimer in the first chappy goes to edit after posting this /cough Anyway. I hope you liked this chapter. I'll try and get another one for you guys tomorrow before I leave for North Carolina-which means I'll be gone for a week with the probability of NO internet. So I'ma miss you guys. Chuu... And as a side note, both Axel and Roxas are straight here in the beginning. Just to clear up some thoughts.
Please Review! -luffs-
Moonie
