Third chapter! Bit of a change as I felt I couldn't do anymore with Roxas until I set down a bit of a premise plus I wanted to write a bit of the other stories that are going on. So here's some Cloud for you!

Warnings: Yaoi, as usual, language and a bit of smut.

The one where Roxas does the chasing

Cloud silently hated the sun as it stirred him from his sleep by playing on his face. He groaned and rolled over to find the bed empty. He hated it when he did that. Sitting up he rubbed his eyes and looked at the clock "Bastard turned off my alarm!" The blonde swung his legs over the bed and walked out into the kitchen in his boxers.

Chugging down some orange juice, which to him equalled breakfast; he showered and dressed for work. He'd taken an extra shift at the bike shop since it was a holiday from school but he'd wanted to go ride his bike by the cliffs before he started. He cursed his partner for thinking he preferred sleep to riding his bike.

He got to work and Axel was already there, elbow-deep in their scrap parts bin. Cloud kicked him up the rear so he dove in headfirst "What the fuck was that for!" The bin squeaked.

He grinned "What'cha looking for?" They were allowed to take parts from the scrap bin to modify their own bikes. If they could fix it, they could have it.

Axel used a rag to wipe the oil from his face, he only succeeded in streaking it down his neck "I'm making her pretty"

The blonde looked over at Axel's bike, a few parts had been removed and laid out on the floor of the garage. There were a few scratches on the white stallion that decorated the side "She looks pretty to me"

The redhead returned to his work "I'm just replacing a few parts and giving her a new paintjob. This one's getting a bit beat up"

Cloud laughed "You shouldn't ride like a madman then"

"Oh, and you're the king of road safety I see"

Cloud noticed the array of red and orange paint tins on one side of Axel's bike "You painting yourself on the side there?"

Axel laughed, "No, I'm putting some flames down her sides-"

A blonde eyebrow tweaked "That's original"

Cloud was ignored and Axel was now wildly gesturing with his arms "-and then I can ride her off into the sunset in a flurry of dancing flames!"

"A flurry of…." Cloud shook his head and smiled "Sure, whatever kid" An oily rag was thrown in his face.

"Don't call me kid! You're only a year older than me Blondie"

The now oily blonde wheeled his own bike into the back of the shop "Oh I'm sure you'll inflict it on someone else at some point so I'm going to have my fun while I can"

After fixing a few bikes and watching Axel laugh, swear and yell at his own, Cloud sat down for a break on their rather disgruntled, messy sofa. He looked over at the clock, which was hanging next to the thing every garage must have; the half naked woman straddling tires/cars calendar. Not that any of them cared for that sort of thing. The clock and his stomach reminded him it was past lunch. It was about this time every day that Cloud wished he either ate a proper breakfast or brought lunch with him. Axel always called this section of the afternoon 'Grumpy Cloud Time' and had learnt to be absorbed in his work instead of bothering the older boy. Today however he heard a call from outside "Hey Blondie! Someone to see you!"

Cloud was about to make the effort to move when he saw the silhouette of someone familiar standing in the sunlight coming through the door. The man stepped in and Cloud smiled "What would I do without you?"

"You'd starve, that's what" chuckled Leon as he handed Cloud the lunchbox.

It didn't take long for Cloud to get stuck into the homemade sandwiches as Leon sat next to him "Where'd you go this morning?"

The brunette leant back against the couch "I went to go sort something out"

Cloud stopped devouring his lunch for a second "That creepy beanie kid?"

"Yeah, I-"

"I told you not to go near him!" The lunchbox was forgotten "He STALKED you Leon, He-" Leon held a finger up to Cloud's lips and shushed him. Cloud looked half annoyed half upset, that one little finger couldn't really do anything to make him quiet but he obeyed.

"I went to tell him once and for all, to leave us alone, forget about it all and get on with his life" He leant over and kissed Cloud on the head. Now the blonde felt silly about his outburst "You ok, Cloud?"

"Yeah, I'm fine" He looked up into Leon's face and smiled. Then he poked him in the chest "Just don't turn off my alarm when I wanna ride my bike ok!"

Leon laughed, "Ok, I'll be more careful next time I think you need more sleep" He leant in and kissed him. Cloud threw his arms around his neck and fell backwards onto the cushions, bringing Leon with him.

Axel walked in to try and get a tool he needed; he saw the couple on the couch and silently swivelled on one booted heel and walked right back out again.

A little while later Cloud emerged from the garage a whole lot more cheerful than he had been previously. Axel looked up from his tinkering in an engine to see Leon kiss Cloud goodbye and head off down the street "Looks like Grumpy Cloud time turned into After Glow Cloud time"

"Huh?"

"Nothing." He then thought for a minute "You know, it amuses me that you two manage to keep your reputation in school even though you're the gayest people I've ever met"

Cloud waved his hand in Axel's direction, in mock gayness "Oh please, like you're not a raging homo"

Axel raised a finger and opened his mouth as if he were going to say something, then decided not to and returned to his engine.

Later that day Cloud had just finished up his last job when he wandered over to see how Axel had painted his bike. He'd touched up the paintwork on the stallion and had been adding flames to its mane. Cloud bent down and spoke by Axel's ear "That reminds me of one of those Pokemon things"

If Axel had been in a manga at that moment he would have simply had 'dot dot dot' over his head "Shut up Cloud"

Cloud laughed and gave him a pat on the head "I'm heading home. I'll see you in school tomorrow" he locked up his tools and wheeled his bike back out to the courtyard "Don't stay there all night"

"'Kay" Axel continued painting "See ya tomorrow" and with that Cloud revved his bike and sped off down the street.

Cloud returned home and sat down with a sigh on his bed. He heard the shower running in the bathroom and thought on invading it himself. He lay back on the bed and remembered what Leon had told him earlier. He'd been to see Seifer. Cloud had an immense dislike for the boy, especially when he found him snooping around their home.

It was a week or two ago and Cloud and Leon had been out with their friends. Axel had come back with them to pick up a movie Cloud had borrowed from him. Leon had gone to take a shower while Cloud and Axel sifted through the vast DVD collection searching for the correct one. Eventually they found it "Right then," Axel said, standing up "I'll leave you two to it then" he winked at Cloud, who rolled his eyes.

"I'll walk you out to your bike" Parking in town wasn't great so Axel always left his motorbike at Leon and Cloud's. The two walked around the side of the house to more secluded area where the bikes were kept.

The thing about Leon's house was that it wasn't really a house. It looked like one, but Cloud and Leon only owned the bottom floor, the top was another apartment that was someone else's. Because of this, obviously, their bedroom and bathroom were also on the ground floor, but at the back of the house. Cloud and Axel rounded the corner and Cloud stopped dead in his tracks. Axel wondered why and turned to speak to Cloud, who was beginning to shake, the blonde had balled his fists, his teeth were clenched and a small growl was emitting from deep in his throat. Axel, quite frankly, was petrified. He looked over to what Cloud was so angrily staring at and saw someone crouching by their bathroom window. Leon got claustrophobic in the shower and so opened the window at the bottom ever so slightly, which wasn't usually a problem. Tonight, however, he had a Peeping Tom. Axel opened his mouth to yell but Cloud had already pounced.

He couldn't believe how angry he was. He was shaking, every fibre of his being reverberated with pure hatred. He didn't know who that was but they certainly weren't going to survive the night. He moved quickly, he was over to the person in less than a second and tackled them to the floor. He didn't look at them, he just pinned them underneath him, started punching and didn't let up. He started to feel blood on his knuckles; whether it was the pervert's or his he didn't know he just knew he was too angry to do anything but beat the crap out of this guy.

"Fuck Cloud stop!!" He suddenly felt Axel's arms grab him around the chest and pull him off "It's that kid!"

Cloud looked down, breathing heavily. The kid had scrambled a few feet away from him and was rubbing the blood from his mouth. Sleeveless shirt, beanie hat, he knew them from school but he didn't know his name "What are you doing here kid?"

Seifer looked up at Cloud, his eyes were wide with fear "C-Cloud. I-I didn't know you'd be here"

Cloud lunged forward again, Axel preventing him from getting any nearer to Seifer "But you knew Leon would be here didn't you!"

None of them had noticed that the shower had stopped. Seifer stammered on "I-I-… I just wanted to come to Leon's house and-I…" Not many people knew it was Cloud's house too, he figured that was why Seifer was surprised to see him there.

"You don't have a good excuse do you, you little stalker! How long have you been sneaking around here?"

Seifer looked down, embarrassed. Which gave Cloud all the evidence he needed to know it was more than once. Axel was starting to lose his footing with all of Cloud's angry wriggling. The blonde was just breaking free to continue ramming his fist into Seifer's face when the bathroom window opened wide and a fully clothed Leon, albeit with wet hair, appeared and surveyed the scene. "What's going on out here? You're making a lot of noise"

"Him!" Cloud jerked his head since Axel was still grabbing his arms "He was looking in the window while you were showering!"

Leon looked down at Seifer in disgust "You were really doing that?"

Seifer couldn't do anything but stare at the bottom of the windowsill; he couldn't look at Leon's face. He was scared he was going to set Cloud on him.

"Get lost kid"

"What!" Cloud jerked so hard Axel nearly fell over "You're letting him go! Just like that!"

"I think you've beat him up enough. Now, have you calmed down?" Cloud grumbled a bit more before nodding "Okay Axel, you can let him go" Axel removed his grip from Cloud's chest and straightened up. The redhead chose this moment to walk over to Seifer, he grabbed the boy's shirt and pulled him to his feet.

"You got off light." His voice was low and menacing "But don't think this is the end of it. In school all they're going to talk about for the next week is that you've been stalking Leon. I'll make sure of that. Your precious reputation in your little gang, it'll be ruined. Now go!" Seifer ran away as fast as he could, whimpering. Axel yelled after him "Chicken wuss!"

Leon shook his head "That wasn't a very mature insult, Axel"

Axel shrugged his shoulders "Couldn't think of anything better, my mind's obviously been broken by the spectacle I've seen tonight"

Axel soon headed home and Cloud went inside. He sat on the couch with his head in Leon's lap "Are you ok?" he asked

Leon looked down at him and smiled "Yeah I'm fine. My privacy feels a little invaded but it'll be okay"

"Really? I was really mad. I thought you would have been too"

Cloud felt Leon stroking his head "I have you to get mad for me. Thank you for standing up for me Cloud, even if you did go a bit far"

Cloud snuggled up to Leon; he couldn't understand why his partner wasn't as livid over this as he was. But he knew he's never let that Seifer kid near him again.

Maybe it was because of that promise Cloud had made himself, that he now felt put out by the fact that Leon had gone to see Seifer of his own volition. He knew Leon meant it for the best; Cloud would just have to keep a close eye on the beanie kid in school the next day.

And so Wednesday rolled around and they were back in school. Cloud put his bike around the back with Axel's and noticed something out of the corner of his eye. It was Sora's twin, Roxas. His friends were making a big fuss over him because he seemed to have dyed his hair. Cloud met up with his own friends and as usual Sora was standing with Riku "Sora," Cloud said, "Your brother's new hair is cool" Sora giggled and gave a knowing smile to Riku. The senior was confused but thought nothing of it, must be something to do with the family.

Classes past as usual. Cloud was good in school but he wouldn't say he was exceptional. He got by with a comfortable amount of space between his grade and the class average. At lunch he thought he'd talk out his Leon worries to Axel. They weren't really worries per say, sometimes he just needed to make a big deal about it to someone and then it wouldn't bother him anymore. Leon had quickly gone to talk to Riku so Cloud took the opportunity to talk to Axel in the line for food. Mid conversation something seemed to distract him "I don't mind him going and seeing him to tell the little creep to get lost, but he could have at least told me before hand"

Axel nodded and reasoned with his friend "He probably didn't want you worrying about it all day" his green eyes widened as he saw a boy he thought he knew walk towards them, with vastly different hair.

Cloud sighed "Yeah, I know. I guess he was only looking out for me, like always"

Roxas was walking past them now and Axel's head had followed him "Uh….huh"

Cloud tilted his head "You ok there? Axel… hey" Axel's eyes were not leaving Sora's brother, even when he walked the other way the redhead still followed him "Hey Axel, I'm leaving Leon and declaring my undying love for Vincent"

Axel seemed to return to the conversation when Roxas sat down at his table "See. It'll all be fine don't you worry"

He rolled his eyes "Idiot"

"What?"

Sitting down at their own table Cloud cornered his friend "What's going on?"

Axel shoved a bread roll into his mouth and muffled "Nothing"

"Liar. You're still thinking about that Roxas kid. I can tell"

"How the hell did you know about him!"

Cloud smirked and folded his arms "I didn't"

The redhead smacked himself on the forehead "I hate you sometimes"

The blonde turned to face him "Spill it."

"But I-"

"Spill it or I'll get Yuffie to find out for me"

"Okay okay! Geez…" Axel then told Cloud about how Roxas had tried to confess his feelings to him. "You see, I told him I didn't do blondes" he then started to tug at Cloud's own locks "Because you know, it's like you. But the kid went and dyed his hair! I mean… who does that? What do I do now?"

Each tug was making Cloud's eye twitch a little more "That's all fine and dandy but let the hell go of my hair" Sora's knowing smile made a whole lot more sense now.

His friend retracted "Sorry… I really don't know what to do. Usually when I say stuff like that they just leave me alone"

Cloud put his chin on his hand and sighed, "You really are dense sometimes. He obviously likes you. He likes you enough to change his hair colour, and trust me; dyeing blonde hair never goes well, it's damn hard. Least you can do it go talk to him"

"But I don't know what to say"

"Say you like his hair."

"But-" Cloud pushed Axel up and out of his chair. The rest of the table was listening at this point

"Go on. You made him dye his hair, you owe him a conversation"

Axel was starting to get flustered "It's not like I have to go right now…" Although Cloud found this amusing he needed to get Axel moving.

Luckily he didn't have to do much. A very happy voice jumped out of nowhere "Axel! It's for love! You must face your destiny!"

"What?!" Yuffie immediately shoved Axel across the dining hall in the direction of Roxas' table.

The table laughed, not at Axel, more at the way in which he'd been disposed "Thanks Yuffie"

"No problem!"

It was then that Leon joined them "What's going on?"

Cloud smiled "We think Axel has a crush"

Leon's bottle of water stopped halfway to his mouth "Really? Axel?" Axel was known in their group for rejecting everyone. He'd never had a crush or shown any signs of being interested in anyone at school. "Are you sure?"

"He's all flustered because he told Roxas he didn't like blondes. Kid went and dyed his hair"

"Aw, that's cute. Well, it's something new for him anyway"

A little while later Axel returned, blushing slightly. Everyone was looking at him, expecting him to say something "What? I talked to him"

Yuffie lent forward across the table "Yeah, but what did you SAY?"

Axel seemed to fumble around for words "I liked his hair…. And I wanted his stylist" at this the table groaned.

Leon shook his head "Oh Axel, you're not too good at this are you?"

"I'm perfectly good at the whole talking suave thing thank you! I can get any girl to come home with me if I want"

Cloud smiled and looked Axel in the eye "Yeah, but you've never liked them before have you?" He was saved from a comeback by the bell telling them to return to their classes.

Cloud finished classes earlier than Axel so he immediately left for work instead of waiting around for him. He fixed two of the bikes that were in the shop, they didn't need much doing to them, and if he was honest, Cloud was usually bored at work when Axel wasn't around. Somehow having his friend swearing and clunking around in the background entertained him. Some time later Axel appeared, he was quiet and simply got on with his work.

"So..." Cloud said after the twentieth agonising minute of silence. Axel looked up at him questioningly. Cloud sighed "What did he say to you that's made you like this?"

"Nothing's wrong I'm fine" Cloud threw a spanner at Axel's head, missing on purpose but not by that much. "Ah! Okay, okay!" He came over to where Cloud and his tools were spread out and sat on the floor "I'm… I'm really confused"

Cloud had just wanted Axel to stop being so quiet but it occurred to him that his friend really did have a problem "You're confused over Roxas?"

Axel's eyes were staring down at the floor and he was playing with a screwdriver, passing it between all of his fingers as he mumbled "Usually they just leave me alone"

"Who do?"

"The people that confess their feelings to me. Sometimes… If I think they're genuine, I want to see how they really feel. So I'll tell them something"

Axel was beginning to seem a whole lot deeper than Cloud thought, "Like you don't like blondes?"

"Yeah… and usually they just see it as a rejection and never mention it again. Roxas is the first person to actually… do something"

"That's a good thing. It means he really likes you" Cloud had stopped tinkering with the engine in front of him and was fully paying attention.

Axel let out a big sigh and threw his hands up in the air, screwdriver and all "I know! And now I don't know what to do with him…. Cloud, why are you laughing?"

"Wow you're an idiot sometimes" The blonde calmed himself down "You finally have someone that's fallen head over heels for you, with barely knowing who you are instead of knowing you're one of the most popular guys in school and you're at a loss at what to do with him"

"Well… he does barely know me…"

"Then ask him out on a date"

"I can't do that!"

"Why not?"

"I… Well I- er"

Cloud's eyebrow arched upwards, then he pointed his finger at Axel and exclaimed, "You're shy!" Axel turned the same colour as his hair and Cloud couldn't help but giggle, "Oh, the suave and sexy Axel is too shy to ask the guy he likes out on a date"

"Oh shut up!"

"It's true though isn't it?"

"Cloud! Shut up!"

"It is!" The next thing Cloud knew he was pounced on and wrestled to the floor. The two boys rolled around the floor of the garage arguing. They only stopped when they heard a deep voice from the door way

"Well, I certainly didn't expect to find this"

Cloud froze, with Axel still on top of him. He laughed slightly nervously "Hi Leon"

Axel jumped off "Ah! Sorry Leon! I was trying to hit him"

Leon pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head laughing, "Don't worry about it"

"What are you doing here?" Cloud brushed himself off

"I was in the area. Thought I'd come keep you guys company"

Cloud folded his arms "There's no reason for you to be in the area. You were bored at home weren't you?"

Leon hesitated for a minute "Yeah. And I figured I'd come here for a bit then we'd go home together"

Axel cooed in the background of the 'coupley' scene "Aw! Aren't you a good little wifey!" He ducked to miss another spanner "Alright, I'm going!" he then slinked away to the forecourt leaving Cloud and Leon alone.

Leon jerked his head towards the doorway "He ok now?"

Cloud sat down on the dilapidated couch, Leon soon joined him "Yeah he's fine now. He's still going to sit and do nothing but he seems to feel a whole lot better and have his head in place"

"That's good" Leon smiled "Hopefully one day he'll get to be as happy as we are" He pulled Cloud's hand to his mouth and kissed it

"Oh, you are a good little wifey aren't you? All cheesy" Cloud began to laugh but was cut off by Leon's kiss. He pulled away after a moment "Kissing on this couch is beginning to become a habit… Squall" He lengthened the vowels in Leon's first name, saying them in a low, husky whisper. Only Cloud could get away with using that name. Leon growled deep in his throat and pinned Cloud to the couch.

"Oh you're in for it now Blondie" Before Cloud could even consider a witty retort Leon had taken his mouth again. The usual oral battle for dominance started. Cloud enjoyed the fight but always gave in. He tangled Leon's hair within his fingers and with the other hand began pulling on his jacket. He felt Leon's hand travel down his side and rest upon his belt, he was beginning to get breathless and the kisses weren't stopping. Not that he wanted them to. Cloud tilted his head back and Leon began to kiss down his neck to his collarbone. Leon slipped his hand under Cloud's shirt just as he nipped the skin at his collar, causing the blonde to gasp. Leon licked the minor wound and stroked Cloud's chest, he chuckled as he felt him writhe underneath him.

Axel is the master of timing. Whether it be bad or good. He chose that moment in time to return to the garage to ask about the bike on the forecourt "Hey Cloooouuuu- Sorry!" he cringed as he backed out. Axel didn't care about what they were doing; he was more embarrassed that he'd interrupted such a private thing.

The two older boys composed themselves and went to join Axel. Leon cleared his throat and said "Sorry about that" Cloud was still quite pink.

Axel waved his hand and laughed "No, no, don't worry about it"

"What's up?" Cloud shuffled on the spot a little. He'd never been seen in such a compromising position before.

"It's this bike. It looks ok to me but it's still not working" Cloud helped Axel with his work for a while and then they finished up for the night.

Some nights Axel would go home with Cloud, and they'd watch movies with Leon or have dinner. Tonight he felt he'd be imposing and so said his goodbyes to the couple.

He opened the door to his apartment; it was dark inside, so he knew his brother wasn't home yet. He dumped his bag on the couch and went to shower. Axel used his showers for thinking time and he had a lot to think about. He'd never felt that anyone was genuinely interested in him as a person before. Roxas had completely thrown him out of his comfort zone. He felt refreshed as the warm water hit him and stuck his hair down to his head.

"I wonder what he'll do next…"


Third chap finished! As always, reviews are cookies and love. I hope you enjoyed the little bit of Cleon action in there. I've never written smut before heh. Next chapter Roxas is back!