Lou-pie: sorry for the looooong wait… my computer had a virus. Shit, I just remembered that Riku was Sora's and Roxas' next door neighbor and yet I managed to forget about that so sorry, but I has fixed it to make it more mysterious! So this story is slowly making its way on since I've never done a story that had a lot of pages in each chapter. And yes, salt and vinegar chips are the best! So I hope you're all enjoying the story so far and I am so happy because Blood Lust got 100 reviews, yahoo! Now on with the story!
Rating: PG-NC17
Pairing: Axel/Roxas, others
Chapter 3: Family Relations
Axel sighed as he rolled off his bed and made his way towards the bathroom in his boxers after slipping on his black rimmed glasses, bare feet padding across the carpeted hallway. He slipped out of his boxers once he was inside with the door closed and stepped inside the bathtub/shower before closing the dark blue curtain. He turned on the faucet and waited for the right temperature before pulling down the end of the faucet so the shower would turn on and spray down on him. Axel shivered when cold water hit his chest first before slowly turning hot, causing steam to rise up and fog the mirror.
The door opened suddenly and Axel had to peek out to see who it was, giving an irritated sigh when he saw that it was only Kairi. "What the hell Kairi? Can't you see I'm naked and taking a shower?"
"Yes, but I can't see anything so quit your whining," the girl replied as she started applying her make-up.
"Can't you use the other bathroom?"
"This one has better lighting."
"It shouldn't be that hard to put on make-up since you don't wear that much," Axel grumbled as he went back under the spray, grabbing the ocean wave scented shampoo and began washing his hair.
"It is quite difficult to apply eye-liner when you're first starting out! This is my second week of actually using it!" Kairi spat back. She scowled at the shower curtain when she heard a small chuckle coming from it. "I can't see why you have to wear make-up."
"I only wear eye-liner, thank you very much, and I like the way it makes me look."
"Some crazed psychopath that likes to molest children?"
"Oh hardy har, har."
Kairi smirked to herself in the mirror in victory as she applied a little bit of cover-up. "So what the heck was that last night? Why didn't you tell them?"
"… I'm not comfortable about talking about it and they were almost complete strangers," Axel replied a little solemnly. "Why didn't you correct me?"
"Because I too am a little… uncomfortable talking about it, so I thought you might have told them." She laughed nervously. Putting away her make-up, she walked out without another word.
Axel rolled his eyes at the lame excuse as he rinsed out the conditioner. After washing his body, he grabbed his towel to wrap around his waist and walked back to his room to get dressed. The goth pulled out a black, short sleeved Billy Bong shirt and a pair of washed out, boot cut jeans before slipping on some mismatched socks. With that done, he went back into the bathroom to brush his teeth, put in his contacts, apply his eyeliner, and fix his hair. Feeling rather tired this morning, Axel didn't feel like putting his contacts in and decided to keep his glasses on; only putting a little bit of black on his lower lids and he didn't even bother to gel his hair in its usual spikiness, letting it spike it's natural way (which wasn't much) in a low pony tail.
He took off some of his earrings and put in his nose barbell, his lip barbells was the next to go in with his lip ring. Axel then decided to also put in his eyebrow ring before he called himself ready to go, skipping breakfast since he woke up a little late today. He took only one step into the living room before Kairi was pushing him towards the entrance, telling him to hurry up and put on his shoes so they could go. The black/redhead pulled on his yellow converse and black hoodie that had the Zelda logo on it before grabbing his keys from the key bowl on the stool underneath the coat hangers after slipping on a dark blue beanie.
It was rather nippy this morning, making the siblings hurry to the truck so they could turn on the truck quickly and get warm. Axel practically slipped, but luckily he slipped into his truck and was able to grab hold of the car door handle. He unlocked it and pulled himself in to reach over and unlock the passenger side to let Kairi in. With the truck turned on and the heat on full blast, they were on their way to school.
LINE-BREAK!
Sighing, Roxas sat alone on the windowsill near the school entrance as he looked outside to see if he could find a familiar head of red and black hair. Sora had gone to hang out with his new friend Riku somewhere else in the school and left Roxas alone to his lonesome. He spotted a couple of people that he recognized from his classes and had talked to, but they were busy talking to their friends to really see the blond. Giving another sigh, he turned around to let his legs hang over the edge.
"Why, don't you look like a bundle of angst," a deep, yet childish voice spoke, snapping Roxas from his sadness.
The blond looked up to see a young man with jet black hair spiked back almost like Axel's, only it wasn't as crazy as the goth's, with a lock of hair hanging over his right eye, which were a dark, deep blue. He was a little pale (no surprise there since almost everyone here were pale unless they went tanning regularly) and had a scar in the shape of an 'x' on his left lower cheek near his jaw. The man smiled down at Roxas toothily, showing rather pearly, straight teeth.
"You must be new, right?" the man asked as he sat next to the blond. "I may not remember names, but I do remember faces."
"Yeah, I'm new," Roxas replied, feeling a little uncomfortable with the man being so friendly with him. "Just moved up from California."
"Really? That's nice. But I bet you're hating it because of the cold weather."
"Yeah."
"Is that why you're upset?"
"I'm not upset per say, but that's not what it's about," Roxas quickly answered. He wanted to hurry up and get away from him even though the man was rather nice, but he was an adult and who knows what he really was. "My brother left me behind to go hang out with a new friend of his and I'm waiting for my own newly made friend."
"I see. I think I did see you walking by the weight room with Axel yesterday while on your way to your next classes." The man tapped his chin as he narrowed his eyes in thought. "Oh, where are my manners? I'm Zack Fair, the weight trainer for the school."
Roxas gave a mental sigh of relief when he heard that this man was only a teacher and was just trying to be nice to the new kid. "I'm Roxas Taylor." They shook hands with smiles on their faces.
"You must be Ventus' twin, 'cause I almost called you Ven when I first saw you. But that's when I realized that he doesn't angst, he just pouts cutely... and because he had his wisdom teeth pulled yesterday." Zack chuckled, Roxas as well. "Every time I see him, I'm always reminded of my husband Cloud, and now you too; you guys look almost exactly like him."
The blond was shocked to hear this, eyes widening when the man plainly said he was gay; a gay that was married. "Husband?"
"Oh, sorry, you're not offended… are you?" Zack quickly asked with an apologetic look.
"No, no, just surprised. Gay couples can get married here?"
"Well, the state recognizes married gay couples, but they can't get married here; they have to get married in another state."
"Oh."
Zack grinned. "I'm glad you're not disgusted. I suppose you're not since your brother is… well, gay… with a boyfriend." The man glanced away as more students filled the school. It was fifteen minutes until the warning bell rang.
"I actually didn't know until yesterday," Roxas stated a little sadly, leaning back against the window. "We haven't been all that close ever since he moved here with dad. Sure, we talked once in a while on MSN or Facebook, but we don't talk about what's been happening in our lives. He may have mentioned that he made a new friend, but only told me their name once or twice. Other than that, we're kinda reconnecting." He shrugged.
"Which I'm guessing is going pretty smoothly since you're twins; well, until he got his surgery." The raven haired man stood up and turned on his heels so he could look down at Roxas' sad form. "Axel should be here any minute!" The man looked outside the tinted window and spotted the tall teen they were just speaking about. "And speak of the devil, he's here."
Roxas spun around in his seat. It took him a while to recognize the goth since the black/redhead had on a beanie and a pair of glasses, but he knew it was him because Kairi, who was speaking angrily at him and was being ignored, was walking right next to him. He looked… tired, overly tired; which was weird because he looked just fine yesterday. Roxas thought that he would fall over suddenly and him walking on slick ice didn't help doubt his thoughts. Kairi became quiet once inside and left her brother's side in search of her friends.
Axel made his way towards the windowsill, unknowingly that Roxas was already there waiting for him. Zack greeted the goth first, surprising the sleepy teen.
"Hey Zack, Roxas," the black/redhead murmured tiredly, not even giving the two a smile as he sat down next to Roxas and leaned his head on the blue eyed teen's shoulder, closing his eyes. He was leaning heavily on Roxas, the blond being the only thing keeping him up.
Roxas felt a little uncomfortable by the contact, but didn't move or say anything; the guy wasn't that heavy anyway. Zack was unsurprised by Axel's actions and rolled his eyes with a light smile. Roxas gave the older man a questioning gaze, wondering why the man was giving the goth that kind of look. It was answered, accidentally most likely, when Zack gently picked up the teen and murmured,
"Looks like he didn't take his pills… again." The raven said this unknowingly that Roxas had great hearing.
"Pills?" the blond asked as he too stood up, looking at the sleeping figure in Zack's arms.
The man looked at the blond in surprise before giving Axel a guilty look. "He… has a lot of 'stuff' going on in his life right now that he has to take some sleeping pills to help him sleep at night and get a full night's rest." He began walking away, motioning with his head for Roxas to follow him. "If he doesn't take them, he stays up late and becomes really tired in the morning that he can't function right, but that only happens when he doesn't get enough sleep in a few days."
They turned down a bunch of halls as Zack explained until they reached the nurse's office and were greeted by a dark brown haired woman who wore a dark red sweater that was rather low cut and black slacks. Her hair was up in a loose bun with dark brown eyes, which looked up once Zack walked in. She sighed and stood up from her desk, her high heeled boots clicking on the linoleum floor as she walked over towards the raven and the goth, motioning for Zack to lay him on one of the empty beds. Zack obeyed and placed Axel in the bed closest to them.
"He hasn't been taking the pills I had asked him to take?" the woman asked with a heavy Italian accent as she crossed her arms, now in front of Zack. When the raven shook his head, she sighed in aggravation. "I swear, that child is going to kill himself at the rate he's putting himself through."
"Leave the worrying to me, Christina," Zack said quickly, giving the woman a reassuring smile. "You already have a lot on your plate, with the new coming of a baby and your husband being away all the time with his job."
"Ezio is thinking of quitting his job and getting another one when my due date is close."
Roxas looked back and forth from the two adults, wondering if he should wait for Zack to finish or leave and find his class. He decided on the second and began to leave, but Christina's voice stopped him.
"And who is this? A friend's of Axel's?"
Zack hummed questioningly before looking behind him and remembering that Roxas was still with him. "Hm? Oh, yeah. He's a new friend of Axel's."
"Shouldn't you be going to your classes, young man?"
"I was," Roxas protested lightly, trying to keep the angry look off his face. He started to leave again until Zack caught his arm and pushed him into a chair next to Axel's bed.
The raven smiled. "You stay and guard Axel from Christina; she's not going to be very nice when he wakes up. You won't get in trouble since you're new anyways and I'll let the teachers know."
"Hey!"
"See ya!" Zack gave a final wave and left, leaving an angry Christina.
The woman eyed the blond before sighing and gave the teen a smile. "I guess I don't have to stay while you're here. So I'll be going up front to my real office; I usually stay back here since it's quieter and I can get my work done." She left after saying that, closing the door behind her.
This left Roxas alone with a sleeping Axel (get your head out of the gutter people!) and with nothing to do. There were a couple of teen magazines on a self next to him, but he wasn't interested in them since he found them rather boring. He did feel a little tired though and would like to get some more sleep; his thoughts kept him up late last night. So, without further ado, Roxas climbed into the bed beside Axel after pushing him towards the other side of the bed. He could have used the other bed, but he had a thing for sleeping in unfamiliar places that made it difficult for him to sleep. Since Axel was kind of familiar to Roxas, he couldn't help but feel safe when he lay next to him. He radiated off enough heat to keep the blond warm and Roxas soon followed Axel into sleep.
LINE-BREAK
Roxas had no idea what time it was when he was being shaken awake again. He took in a deep breath and stretched, his eyes had yet to open. He yawned at the end of the stretch, making the person who woke him chuckle. Roxas opened his eyes then and was meet with rather beautiful green eyes and a nicely shaped face. It took him a second to realize it was Axel he was looking up at and to realize what happened earlier that morning. Sitting up, Roxas rubbed his eyes with the back of his wrist, wanting to go back to sleep for a few more minutes.
"What time is it?" he asked the older teen as he stood up, giving one last stretch to wake himself up.
"It is lunch time," Axel answered.
Roxas froze, eyes going wide. "Are you telling me I missed half of my classes?" He ran a hand through his hair angrily, giving a small growl. "I can't believe I fell asleep that long and missed most of my classes!"
"Hey, calm down, blondy," Axel said without any concern in his voice. "It's only your second day here and you just moved here; the teachers aren't gonna bother ya until next week, believe me. You have nothing to worry your pretty little head over." He gave a wide, toothy grin to reassure the blond. "Now let's go, I'm starving!"
Roxas nodded and grabbed his bag that he had set down next to the bed earlier, picking out a paper bag with his lunch in it. It was lot heavier than yesterday and more stuffed, making Axel gaze at it questioningly, hopefully. Roxas could only smile at the look, keeping his mouth shut the whole way to the cafeteria room. The two of them wormed their way to the back where they had sat yesterday, finding Sora and Riku already there.
"There you are!" Sora exclaimed when he spotted his older brother. "I thought something might have happened to you; lunch is almost over!" A quick look at the clock that hung over one of the cafeteria's entryways proved the brunette right.
Axel shrugged after he sat down across from the younger brother, Roxas sitting next to him. "I kinda fell asleep on Roxas and was brought to the nurse's office. Roxas came with and I'm betting Zack gave him the ok that it was alright if he skipped a few classes today, so fell asleep too." He kept the part where Roxas had fallen asleep beside him on the bed to himself, not wanting to embarrass the blond even though it sounded tempting.
Riku rolled his eyes when he heard the name Zack. "Of course Zack would do that, the saint."
Axel snorted at the silver haired teen as he stood back up to go get his own food, but Roxas stopped him and showed him the extra sandwich, chips, drinks, and snacks that were for him. Axel's eyes widened before he gave a cute puppy-dog grin and hugged the blond tightly. The goth dug into his lunch happily, making Roxas envision Axel waggling his tail in a fast pace with a set of pointy dog ears perked up on top of his hat. Riku once again rolled his eyes at the scene, but Roxas found the goth's antics… cute.
"You'd get excited over anything, wouldn't you?" the silver haired teen said gloomily.
"Of course if it's from my cute little friend Roxy!" Axel replied excitedly when he noticed the drink that Roxas handed him was a NO FEAR. He took several gulps of it and burped quite loudly after leaning over towards Riku so he could do it in his face. "Thanks Roxy!"
The blond snorted, trying to keep back his laughter when Riku waved a hand in front of him and gave the black/redhead a disgusted look. "No problem, you looked like an energy drinker, I just didn't know what kind you liked and all we had were NO FEARS (thanks to Leon)."
"Leon's going to be mad when he finds one of his NO FEARs gone," Sora stated jokingly with a small smile. "But we can tell him it was for a great cause." Roxas chuckled at the way his brother was trying to be funny and it was rather adorable; even Riku couldn't help but melt.
It was all fun, even with Riku's small cockiness towards Axel, until the goth suddenly groaned in pain and grabbed the left side of his rib cage, making a sore face. "Oooow, that did not feel good." He bent down a little and Roxas saw the muscles around Axel's ribs on his left siege up and twitch quickly for a few seconds.
"What the hell was that?" the blond asked, watching as the older teen sat straight again, still rubbing his side.
"It's my ribs; happens all the time," was the quick reply, but that wasn't all of it and Axel kept going. "I have scoliosis and because of that, I have all these knots in my back and ribcage that pulls on the muscles around my ribs. And shit does it hurt." He rubbed again, feeling a rather large knot there. "Yep, and there's the problem." The knot slipped from his fingers several times until he finally caught it with his middle and index fingers, pushing down on it to get rid of it. The whole time, Axel was wincing and making sore faces that appeared funny to Riku and Sora.
"Want some help? I'm really good at taking out knots," Roxas stated, wanting to help the miserable looking goth out. Axel was grateful at this and took off his sweater, lifting his arm to present his knotted side. The blond confirmed his curiosity about Axel having a tattoo and was right that it was a bright red snake with a black belly, only he couldn't find the head and the snake continued underneath his shirt.
The taller teen winced and hissed as Roxas worked on the knot that he was trying to get rid of earlier, feeling great relief when he felt all the juices squirt out and his muscles relaxed. But the hand didn't stop, nope, it kept traveling and finding more knots. Axel was almost in tears when Roxas decided that he had to stop before lunch time was over and began eating again. Axel slowly let down his arm with a hiss, his side still a little sore from the pressure, but it did feel a little better than before.
"There's still plenty more, but it'll be too painful to get them all out at once," Roxas explained after swallowing a bite from his sandwich. "And the pain could get worse if you don't get that checked out."
"Trust me, I've been to a chiropractor before and it did help, but they are expensive and I no longer have my Denali Kid Care to pay for it," Axel scoffed, pouting as he finished off his sandwich.
"Denali Kid Care?"
"It's kinda like Medicare for kids from the ages 1-18," Riku explained as he brushed his hair aside from his face. "It'll pay for anything medical so that you won't have to pay for it yourselves."
"Yeah, what he said," Axel agreed. "When I first started getting pains in my side, my grandma took me to the health clinic to get it checked out. They took x-rays to see what was wrong, found nothing. They thought it had to deal with my heart since most of the pains happened around that area, so they made me wear a heart monitor thing for 24 hours. It was a bitch to wear and cost over 800 dollars." Roxas whistled at the price, finding it rather ridiculous. "And I didn't have to pay cent, Denali Kid Care did."
The brothers' eyes widened at this, thoughts running around in their head. "I should ask mom and Devon about it and see if we could get some," the blond said, speaking both his and Sora's thoughts out loud.
"It depends."
"Denali Kid Care is for those who can't really afford medical care for their kids," Riku interrupted before Axel could say anything more. He finished the last of his own meal and sat back as far as he could in his chair without falling backwards. "I don't have it because my parents have the money. If you can afford the medical assistance, then you don't need the extra help."
"Oh," Roxas and Sora said at the same time, a little disappointed.
"I don't have it anymore, because I'm 19 and the people don't believe I'm still in school." Axel leaned his elbows on the table and cradled his head in his left palm while his right sat on his left arm. "I'll tell you about it later," he quickly added when Roxas opened his mouth to ask and the bell rang. "Onto classes of doom, I guess."
LINE-BREAK
Second day of school went pretty well. Zack was right in the teachers not expecting anything from him since he was new in town and trying to get into the swing of things. Roxas' mind was filled with a lot of questions about several things (one we already know); the relationship between Axel and Riku, of course; and the thought about Riku being their neighbor, yet Axel dropped him off at another house yesterday, which confused the blond considerably. Axel being 19 and yet he's still in school also bothered the blond, more so than the thought of the goth's and silver haired teen's rudeness to each other. Kairi and Axel had to be at least 5 years apart in age and this kind of disturbed Roxas just a little.
Roxas waited by the usual place for Axel and the others, letting his thoughts run as he waited. He had yet to see Terra today or Vanitas, not even at lunch time (he caught a glimpse of them today in the cafeteria), and was a little bit concerned for Terra on how he was handling with his boyfriend being bedridden for most of the week. Roxas wasn't too worried since he had seen this with Leon and knew that Ven wouldn't be too bedridden, just in a little bit of pain and not being very hungry… unless he got a dry socket. Now those looked painful to get.
He remembered Leon getting one and was constantly taking Advil to lessen the pain, not wanting to take too many of the pain medication prescribed to him since it would make him too dehydrated and make him sick. Leon finally, but stubbornly, went back to the oral surgeon to get the blood clot that wouldn't scab over sucked out and replaced with some sort of cotton, packing thing that tasted like clovers and held some kind of numb medication to numb the pain. Leon was back to his usual self in less than thirty minutes when the medicine kicked in, almost skipping as he walked.
I wonder how Ven's feeling today, the blond thought as he sat over the heating vent, letting the warm air flow through his clothing. He was surprised out of his musing though when an arm wrapped around his shoulders. He knew it was Axel; the goth always seemed to be wanting physical contact. Roxas didn't deny him and let the black/redhead touch him, feeling like he had to for the older teen's sake.
"Sorry it took me so long to get here; Mrs. Rosso wanted to talk to me," Axel explained after he let his arm drop, though his shoulder was pressed against the blond's. "Said she was worried about and shit."
"Because of this morning?" Roxas couldn't help but ask.
"Yeah. Word got around about me being carried off to the nurse's office by Zack and she kinda… freaked." He rolled his eyes at this and leaned back against the window, his knee now touching the blond's. "Getting kind of tired of everyone's worrying and shit."
"Why are they so worried about you?"
Axel froze at this, his eyes widening just a bit just as he was rubbing his right eye. He soon frowned and looked away, kicking his heel once, twice, against the small tiles lining the wall of the windowsill. Roxas knew he had hit a rather sore spot and opened his mouth for the goth to forget what he said, but Axel interrupted him. "It's because of what happened two years ago and what happened in my past that makes them worry about both me, Kairi, and Lea, my older brother."
"Do you mind if I ask what happened? If you don't want to talk about it, I'll understand."
"No, no, it might do me some good to actually talk about it, but not here where there's too many people."
Roxas nodded his understanding just as Sora came bounding up to them with a large smile, Riku following behind at a much smaller pace. Kairi was soon seen running down the hall and into the large entryway to catch up with them. Axel quickly switched back to his happy mood like a snap of fingers and was greeting the bouncy brunette with a large grin; a sneer was all Riku was receiving today, earning a sneer back. Kairi smacked both of them upside the head and told them to stop acting like a bunch of children. During all this, Roxas' eyes never left Axel's form, watching him act as if their exchange never happened.
After their quick greeting and Sora calling mom to see if they were taking the bus, Riku left with a woman that was most likely his mother after saying goodbye to the brunette and redheaded girl. Sora then explained that Laura was on her way to pick him and Roxas up and that she was already in town looking for a part time job. Axel replied that he and Kairi would wait there until their mother picked them up, which Roxas then said that the two siblings would be welcomed to come over. The blond had given Axel a gentle, yet knowing look, letting the goth know that he hadn't forgotten.
Laura was there within minutes, still using Cid's car since they had yet to buy their own. The two brothers left, telling them to come over whenever they wanted before they left. Axel and Kairi left soon afterward.
LINE-BREAK
Roxas sighed around the pencil in his mouth, trying to figure out the last problem that was given to him for homework. He did a little extra so he could be a little ahead just in case something like what happened today happened again; he certainly hated the thought of falling behind. He already did the rest of his homework, which was easy, between classes; living through Axel's taunts of being a nerd. It was math that always gave him a hard time, always has. He was going back over the ones he had skipped and was now becoming frustrated. Just one more, one more! and he would be done; it wasn't even dinner time yet.
The blond let out a furious groan and let his head fall onto his desk with a loud bang.
"Do that too much and you certainly won't figure out even the easiest problem," Axel's taunt pierced through his brain, making Roxas sit up and swivel his chair around to face the taller teen. Roxas gave him a surprised, questioning gaze. "I knocked, but you didn't answer so your mom told me to go right in. The loud bang made me move faster than I would have liked."
Roxas rolled his eyes, noticing Axel's black and white bag hanging from one hand. The older boy had obviously came over to do homework together with the blond, but he would have to be disappointed since Roxas was already done… almost. Just this last fucking problem and he'd be done! Roxas motioned for the black/redhead to take a sit on his bed, which Axel obliged and sat down on the comfy mattress, bouncing a little.
"What's got your nose in a bandage?" Axel asked when he noticed the look Roxas was giving his math book. Axel was afraid that the book would suddenly combust from the blond's glare.
"Huh? Oh, just this stupid math problem," the small teen grumbled, just about ready to give up. "Are you good with geometry?"
"Eh, not really. I suck at math, to tell you the truth." Axel laughed nervously as he scratched the back of his head near his neck. "I can count, multiply, and divide fast, but that's the only talent I have when it comes to that subject."
"Same here. It's more of Leon's thing, but he's not here at the moment. He actually left right when we got home, saying something about hanging out with a new friend he made."
"Which seems rather surprising to you it seems."
Roxas sighed, closing his book and tossing his pencil onto his desk. "Yeah, he's socially awkward, doesn't have many friends, and likes to stay away from people as much as possible." He rolled the chair back and turned around so he could get up and sit next to Axel before lying down on his back. "Whoever this friend is, I want to meet him."
"Hmm, maybe he's just like Leon."
"Nah, they'd be too awkward around each other so he'd have to be hyper, but not enough to drive Leon insane."
"Maybe he is really a she." Axel wiggled his eyebrows down at the blond, which the blond demolished with a pillow to the face.
"Leon has no interest in girls… or guys. I'm starting to think he's asexual."
Axel barked out a laugh at this, but it soon turned into a wince of pain as a hand grabbed his left side. "Goddammit, I've been getting a lot of those pains lately." He rubbed his side gently, trying to find the knot that was causing his pain.
"I could help ease the tension off if you want, I mean after you've finished with you homework," Roxas suggested, sitting up once again.
"I finished it before I came over here; the bag is full of junk food and shit." Axel unzipped his hoodie and slipped it off, putting it on the blond's bed. Once again, the tail was show to the blond and Roxas couldn't help but stare at it with all its very detailed scales and underbelly. The goth noticed the stare and smirked. "This is just the end of the tattoo I got last year. It's pretty sweet if you want to see it."
Roxas nodded and Axel quickly slipped off his Tee and turned around to show his back. The blond followed the tail from the black/redhead's right arm that twirled around it and up to his shoulder where it slithered over and wrapped around his torso, getting bigger as it went along. The tattoo finally came to a stop just above Axel's pants that hung low on his hips, the snake's mouth open and looking towards the left a little with a little venom dripping from its fangs. It was very detailed indeed and rather impressive; it fit the older male nicely.
"Sweet." Roxas inspected the art on Axel's back a little closer, deciding if he should get one himself. Maybe not since he was afraid of needles and did he really want one and have it until he was like sixty and it's like sagging disgust-fully on his skin. The blond shuddered at the thought and decided against it, finding the image rather disturbing.
"I have another one up here," Axel said, drawing the younger teen's attention upwards where the older boy was pulling his hair that was tied up away from his neck to show a knife with five points, like one of those throwing stars Roxas had seen once but couldn't remember the name of it. "It's a shuriken. I thought it was awesome and decided to get it done two years ago."
"Cool." Maybe a small tattoo where no one could really see it would be ok, but thay still meant needles. Wanting to get back on track on what they were doing before, Roxas cleared his throat and asked Axel to put his shirt back on. The goth obeyed and slipped the black tee back on, wondering what the blond was going to do next. The taller male remembered when the blond ordered him to lay on his bed on his stomach so he could help relieve some of the pain in his ribs.
"While I massage your back, you can tell me about why people are so worried about you and your sibs," Roxas reminded as the goth laid down, making Axel groan.
"Well," Axel began, "it all started back when I was nine. My mother… died of a heart attack. I remember everything! I was still in elementary school and my class was going to go on a field trip to the pool. I was so excited that I woke up earlier than usual. When I saw that mom and dad weren't home I started getting a little worried about who was going to take me to the poo-ow!" Axel hissed when Roxas found a rather stringy knot more towards his sensitive shoulder and pushed on it… hard. It didn't last long, however, and the pain quickly resided. Roxas began to search for some more.
"Continue," the blond ordered.
"Well, after about twenty minutes or so, Lea came out from his bedroom with the phone. He said that mom and dad were in Anchorage because mom had a heart attack. And since we were too young to stay home by ourselves, we stayed with a family friend. After a couple of days, dad came back with another family friend… but no mom." The goth grunted at another knot being taking care of. Roxas decided to have mercy and just massage his muscles to help him relax as he sat on top Axel's rump. "Anyway, I knew something was wrong by the look on dad's face and sure enough, it was not good.
"I remember the first words that left his mouth, 'she didn't make it.' I was confused at first before dad continued…"
Flashback (Axel's pov.)
"She didn't make it," dad said after a few moments of silence, his eyes watering up. I didn't really understand what he meant by that; I was only nine after all. He wasn't finished though. "Clare died on the way to Anchorage from a heart attack she had in her sleep… mother isn't coming back."
It hit me then, like a hard slap to the face. It seemed like the same to everyone, Lea the most since he was closest to mother, and all at once, everyone burst into tears. I was hugged by Mrs. Lacy, my mom's best friend ever since my parents moved up here, and I cried into her shoulder. I cried as she silently wept, running her fingers through my short, red, spiky hair. Mrs. Carrie, the woman we were staying with, held Lea as he bawled into her bosom; his hair (similar to mine) was petted too. Kairi cried, but only because everyone else was; it didn't really hit her that mom wasn't coming back. She clung to dad as he cried almost as hard as I was, both using each other as a life line.
It was a very sad day; it was cloudy (how cliché), but it didn't rain. I can't really remember what happened after that, but I do remember a little of the funeral, but I don't really want to think of that right now.
End flashback
The hands stopped on Axel's back when a well-known sniffle made its way out of the goth's nose, causing Roxas to stop and see if the older boy was crying. He wasn't, but his eyes did water a little at the painful memory and make his nose run from his eyes being drained from their fluids. Roxas frowned sadly at the attempt of Axel trying to keep himself together. Even after ten years, it still appeared difficult for the goth.
"You don't have to say anymore if you don't want to," Roxas murmured.
"No, no, I need to tell somebody. All my friends were there or heard from someone else when it happened so I didn't have to say anything. You are the first person I'm telling this too," Axel replied, folding his arms underneath his chin. "Please continue with what you were doing and I'll continue on myself."
"Ok." The hands continued, but they more than soothed the older teen than relaxed.
"Our relatives came up as fast as they good to be there for us and mom for the funeral and stayed with us for a week or so to help out dad. Grandma decided to stay permanently to baby-sit us while dad was at work. She helped us do chores and shit like that, teaching us how to cook and do our laundry. She had her other children send up her stuff for her. Everything was going swell, minus the many fights, until two years later, dad had to go to the hospital to have a double bypass done. Soon enough, his lungs started having troubles and had to have surgery on that… three times I think (I don't know).
"His body just… started shutting down. But he was strong willed and kept on working, even though it caused him to get pneumonia every winter. The longest he ever stayed in the hospital was four months and those were the last months he lived. His lungs were just… degrading until it was the machine that was keeping him alive. They doctors said that they would have to pull the plug on him and let him have a natural death, giving him some kind of medicine so he wouldn't feel anything… he was practically dead to the world by then anyways…"
Flashback (Axel's pov.)
I decided to stay out in the waiting room of the ICU part of the building; I didn't want to be there when they shut off the machine, who knew what it would have done to me if I was there when the line went flat. I sat alone, listening to my music, waiting for the others to come out. Kairi wanted to be there even though she had a weak heart and Lea… he became a lot better at holding in his emotions ever since mom died. Occasionally, my eyes would tear up at the thought that dad was going to be gone from now on and wouldn't be coming back.
It was 8:50 PM when Kairi came out, her eyes filled with tears and cheeks wet from weeping too much. I hugged her immediately as soon as she sat down next to me. I let her cry in my shoulder as I let a few tears slip out and hit her neck. Lea came out a few minutes later; his eyes (a shade darker than mine) rimmed red from unshed tears. Grandma was beside him with one of my aunts holding her as she cried into her handkerchief. We all sat and cried a little more in the room that was somewhat separate and more private then the rest of the waiting room.
Dad's funeral was rather sunny and hot and we spent that day with laughs and smiles, already trying to forget the pain. It helped until our aunts and uncles had to leave. It soon became crazy with trying to get our social security money, legal guardianship for grandma, and paying all the hospital bills on top of regular bills for the house. I had decided to get a job then to help bring in some extra money.
Flashback end
"Where do you work?" Roxas asked, deciding to help take Axel's mind from the obvious pain he was feeling. His back and shoulders were rather tense from trying to hold back tears, and it paid off, but his eyes and nose were red.
"I work part time at the PAC," Axel answered simply, his lip still quivering a little, but it was slowly subsiding from the change of topic.
"Pack?"
"Peninsula Athletic Club. P-A-C, PAC."
"I see. What do you do there?"
"I do maintenance; keep the place running most likely, but it pays good. Bunch of jackasses though, but there are those nice people once in a while." Axel hummed in appreciation when Roxas' hands pushed a little harder between his shoulder blades, soothing the rather tense muscles there. "Just a little lower, there." The massage was working wonders, turning the older boy's brains into jello. Axel especially liked it when Roxas ran his thumbs, hard, up along his spine. "How are you so good at this?"
The blue eyed boy snorted at this. "An old friend of mine back in Cali gave me a misuse book to read 'cause she'd rather have massages for free… she also thought if I did enough of this, I could probably make some big bucks. I thought she was nuts, but I read the book and used her as my test subject. Namine was rather an odd person, but fun nonetheless." He chuckled at remembering his childhood friend as he ran his thumbs up Axel's spine once again. "Now lay on your back."
Axel obeyed, his head now in Roxas' lap and hands. Fingers started to rub the base of his skull, making the goth let out a sigh of pleasure and closed his eyes. The small headache he once had was now gone as nimble fingers pressed against the nerves back there. His head was soon laid down on Roxas lap so the blond could work on his shoulders at a different angle. This he didn't like so much since it hurt from all the knots gathered there. The young boy only massaged them for a little while before calling it quits since his hands were becoming sore.
Roxas removed Axel's head from his lap so he could stretch his legs, lying down next to him afterward. A heavy silence fell over them as Roxas thought about the things Axel told him and the goth was silent because he was trying to think of something else rather than his rather sad past. Another thought sprung up in the blond's mind that had to be answered… several actually.
"Last night, why did Riku go to another home than the one he said he lived in across the street from us? And why are two enemies? And how are you nineteen and still in school?"
The taller teen laughed at this. "I'll tell you some other time."
Lou-pie: annoying and suspenseful isn't it? Anyhow, I'm going to bed since I have to wake up early tomorrow so I could help some lady with her baby since she can't walk at the moment. So sorry for the long wait again, I feel so terrible and cruel! I need more reviews too, it will help me know if I should going with this one. Ideas and concerns are welcomed as always and I will not strike back when a review is rather mean and hurtful IF! it is true. If it isn't then eat shit you bastards! Enjoy!