It was Monday, but Axel didn't feel like going to school. He turned in his bed and stared up at the ceiling, sighing. Then his thoughts wandered off and he found himself wondering how Roxas was.
He slowly got up and picked up a pair of pants off the floor, not really caring which pair it was, and grabbed a T-shirt which he was quite sure was clean. He put his shoes on and made his way through the untidy room, the floor full of clothes and other stuff.
This morning it didn't smell that bad in the hallway, since both his mum and dad had been fairly sober the day before and decided to at least wipe up the vomits on the floor. Axel took a pack of crackers he found and sat down on one of the unmatched chairs at the now almost clean kitchen table.
For once he didn't have to hold his breath while walking through the hallway, but he was sure that it wouldn't last very long.
"Axel!" Roxas called as he saw the redhead round a corner, and Axel smiled as the blonde came running towards him as he always did. Roxas hugged the redhead tightly, tilted his head back and closed his sapphire eyes.
Axel got the message and pressed his lips against the blonde's.
"Roxas!" they heard a voice call out.
"Oh, for cryin' out loud!" Roxas said angrily and they broke apart, standing two feet away from each other when a familiar blonde woman rounded a corner.
"Roxas, you forgot your backpack." Roxas' mum said as she reached them. She then looked at Axel with that same look she'd had the day before, a mix of nervousity and despise. "And I see you've found your friend." she said, not even trying to hide the dislike in her voice.
"He lives nearby." Roxas said, glaring at his mother while snatching the backpack from her. "Let's go, Axel, or we'll be late." He turned his back on his mother and started walking towards school, Axel walking right beside him.
"I can't believe she did it again!" Roxas said when his mother couldn't hear them anymore.
"Rox, just leave it." Axel said, placing his arm around Roxas' shoulders. "It's not the first time y'know, I'm kinda used to it."
"That's what makes me so mad." said Roxas. "No one has the right to judge you without even trying to get to know you."
Axel placed a soft kiss on the blonde's cheek. "Don't worry 'bout it." he said softly. "It doesn't matter, as long as I have you. Got it memorized?"
Roxas smiled at Axel's well known catchphrase and wrapped his arm around the redheads middle.
As they reached the schoolyard they did as before. Axel kissed Roxas before leaving to go to his first class, since their first classes unfortunately were in each end of the school building, while Roxas stood there looking at the older teen walking away.
And as soon as Axel rounded a corner, the whole schoolyard came running towards Roxas, surrounding him and yelling insults and threats, until Sora and Riku came over and saved him.
"Why don't you just give up on him already?" Riku asked, breathing heavily after the long run.
"I can't just give up on 'im." Roxas puffed.
"Then will you just keep on doing this every morning through high scool?" asked Riku, almost beginning to sound angry. "Me and Sora won't be able to save you for ever y'know."
"Yeah, I know." Roxas said, looking down at his shoes.
"Then what're you gonna do 'bout it?"
"I don't know." Roxas sighed. "I don't know."
After school Roxas was on his way to meet up with Axel at the gate, when suddenly someone grapped his arm and pulled him behind a storage house. Roxas looked up at the longer person in surprise. He looked at the boy's face, surrounded by pink hair, and wondered what he wanted.
"Stay away from him." hissed the person. "Stay away from him, he's mine!"
"What? Who are you?" Roxas asked trying to free his arm from the only hardening grip.
"Stay away from him, or you'll regret it."
"Who're you talking about?" Roxas asked, getting nervous as he feared he already knew the answer.
"Stay away from Axel, or something bad might happen to him."
Roxas' eyes widened. "You wouldn't...hurt him...would you?" he asked, slowly panicking inside. This guy was seriously creeping him out.
The pink haired guy smiled, a smile so cold it chilled Roxas to the bones. "Oh, I really think I would."
Roxas tried to get away from the pinkette, frightened by the coldness in his voice and the look in his eyes.
The guy leaned in to him and stopped when his face was only a few inches away from Roxas'. "Stay away from him, or you'll both regret it." the guy said and pushed Roxas away so violently that the blonde fell over. The pinkette slowly turned around, leaving Roxas sitting on the ground.
Roxas stared at the spot where the pinkette had disappeared behind a corner, unable to move. After a while he stood up and walked towards the gates with unsteady steps.
"Hey Rox, what took ya so long?" Axel called smiling as he saw the blonde, but his smile was quickly replaced with concern as he saw the look on Roxas' face. "What's wrong? Did something happen?" He reached out a hand to stroke the blonde's bruised cheek, but Roxas pushed away his hand.
"I forgot something." he said to answer the redhead's first question.
"Your knee's bleeding." Axel said, concern in his voice. "Rox, what happened?"
Roxas looked down, not realizing until now that there was a hole in his pants and that the blue fabric around the hole was red with blood.
"It's nothing." he said, not looking up.
"Roxas, what happened?" Axel asked again, sounding more anxious this time.
"I told you it's nothing!" Roxas said angrily, looking up at the redhead. "I fell, and that's it. Nothing to worry about."
Axel winced at the blonde's sudden anger. "K, I get it. Gee, ya don't have to yell at me." He put an arm around Roxas's shoulders but the blonde shrugged it off. Axel lowered his arm, a hurt look on his face.
Roxas felt bad for causing the redhead to look so wretched, but he quietly told himself it was only for his own good.
I wonder what happened to Rox yesterday... Axel thought as he woke up the next morning. He lay on his back in the bed with his hands behind his head, staring up at the ceiling. He sure was acting weird... Axel sighed and got up from his bed, got dressed, grabbed something to eat and left the apartment, without noticing what he was doing.
He awoke from his thoughts when he walked face-first into the front door, causing a big bang. He rubbed his forehead and glared at the door before opening it and stepping outside.
He walked quickly, almost ran, towards the town square, searching for a glimpse of blonde hair. He reached the square, but Roxas was nowhere to be found. Disappointed and sad Axel walked towards school, heavy steps and head bowed.
As he reached school he looked around for Roxas' blonde hair, but couldn't spot him anywhere. He walked towards class, ignoring the math teacher's glare as he passed him and sat down on his usual seat beside Saïx.
Saïx was a boy with long, blue hair and gold eyes, which all the other kids had found amusing since he was little. Another special trait was his rather pointy ears and the large, X-shaped scar on his face, which had caused the others to come up with stories about how he got it.
But Axel knew exactly how and why the scar excisted, he had been there when it happened. Him and Saïx were friends, they'd been since they were kids. Saïx and his parents had lived in the apartment next to Axel's, and they'd always stuck together no matter what.
But then, things started to change. Saïx' parents got better jobs and they decided to move. By that time Axel and Saïx were twelve. But Saïx hated the new place, and one day he'd called Axel on the phone. "Bye, Axel." was all he said before hanging up, and Axel, fearing the worst, hurried over to his friend's place.
He found the bluenette kneeling on the ground in the backyard, a piece of glass in his hand and two deep cuts on the insides of his wrists, as well as an X-shaped cut on his face. Axel immediately called the hospital, and an amulance came to pick the bleeding bluenette up.
He'd lost much blood, but he survived, and the cuts on his wrists healed, now you could only see the scars if you knew exactly where to look. But the cut on his face wouldn't heal completely, so it left a scar.
"What're ya starin' at?" Saïx growled and Axel blinked, realizing he'd been staring at the bluenette, who had obviously had a bad morning.
"Nothin'." Axel said. "So, how're things goin' between you and Xemnas?"
Saïx quickly lowered his golden gaze and Axel smirked. By simply mentioning the name of the bluenette's boyfriend he'd saved himself from getting ripped to shreds.
Xemnas by the way was a third year student, had long, spiky silver hair and intense amber eyes. Him and Saïx had been going out for about two years now.
"None of your business." Saïx murmured, staring down at the bench, Axel knew he was blushing.
"Oh, is that so?" said Axel leaning back comfortably in his chair, tipping it backwards. "So you two still haven't done it then."
Saïx stared hard at the bench, his pointy ear tips turning a light pink.
"Oh man, ya gotta be kiddin' me." Axel straightened up, causing a loud bang as his chair hit the floor.
"Axel, keep your voice down." the annoyed teacher said and glared at the redhead before turning back to face the blackboard, scribbling down an equation.
"You've been dating for two years, and ya still haven't done it?" Axel continued, actually lowering his voice.
"That's none of your goddamn business, so just shut the fuck up!" Saïx snarled.
Axel ignored his friend's comment and continued teasing him. "I mean, you would think that with a guy like you and a guy like him together it would..." He didn't get the chance to finish his sentence, since Saïx threw him off the chair, making the redhead land on his back on the floor, with Saïx on top of him, the bluenette's hands squeezing tightly around Axel's neck in an attempt to strangle him.
"Not again." their teacher complained, sighing heavily. He then picked up a book and threw it over his shoulder without aiming, knowing from experience that it would hit its target.
Saïx growled as the book hit the back of his head and he turned his head around at the teacher who without turning away from the blackboard pointed at the door.
Saïx slowly released his grip around Axel's neck and got up walking towards the door.
The teacher made a note in a notebook. "Saïx; attempted strangling." he read out loud and the rest of the class giggled. "And Axel; provocation to strangling."
More giggles were heard as Axel got up following Saïx outside.
"Well, I hope you're happy now." Saïx muttered glaring at the redhead who smirked back at him.
"Oh yes, now I have a reason for not attending math!"
After class and a long boring talk with the teacher, it was clear that none of them was going to either apologise or promise it would not happen again. After ten minutes of silently glaring at the teacher, both Axel and Saïx were allowed to leave.
As soon as they exited the room Saïx felt a pair of strong arms around him and he was pulled against a warm chest. "Hey there." he heard a dark voice say into his pointy ear and he moaned as a pair of soft lips gently touched the skin by his collarbone. "How's my Saïxy-babe doin'?"
Saïx turned around and looked into Xemnas' amber eyes with his own golden and smiled into the kiss his boyfriend placed on his lips. He wrapped his arms around Xemnas' waist and Xemnas gently pulled the back of his long, blue hair while sliding his tongue inside the bluenettes mouth.
Axel stood quietly, looking away from the kissing couple. He felt a sting of jealousy as he thought of a certain blonde, a blonde who he hadn't seen since the day before... A thud interrupted his thoughts and he turned his head just enough to see Xemnas pushing Saïx up against the wall, hence the thud, while kissing him passionately.
Axel sighed and started walking towards the next class, leaving his friend and his boyfriend behind. He looked around for a glimpse of Roxas' blonde hair, but couldn't spot it anywhere. I'll get him later, he thought. After school.
Roxas walked faster and looked around, hoping not to run into the redhead on his way home after school. He hurried past the school gates and sighed in relief as he hadn't been stopped. "Yo." Roxas jumped at the familiar voice and as he turned around he saw Axel standing beside the gate, leaning against the wall.
"A-axel." Roxas stuttered in surprise.
"You've been avoidin' me." Axel said and looked into Roxas' sapphire eyes with his emerald. "And I wanna know why."
Roxas looked down at the ground, not knowing what to say or do. He heard Axel sigh and looked up at the redhead who shook his head while looking down.
"If it's my fault, if it's something I said or did, just say it." he said. "I can handle it." He tried not to show how sad he really was, but didn't quite manage to mask his feelings.
Roxas felt guilty, looking at the depressed redhead. He slowly moved closer to him, wrapped his arms around Axel's middle and rested his head on the redheads chest.
"It's not your fault, Axel." he whispered, feeling the warmth of Axel's hands as the redhead carefully placed them on the blonde's back. Then Roxas reached up and placed a quick kiss on the taller teen's lips.
Axel smiled, a gentle smile that nearly melted Roxas' heart.
How could I even think of staying away from him? Roxas thought and snuggled up against Axel's chest, closing his eyes while breathing in the familiar scent he'd begun to miss.
Axel placed his cheek on top of the blonde spikes and a big, smug smirk replaced the sad look on his face. Axel, my friend, you are a true genious, and one hell of an actor.
