Welcome to the next chapter of Protection From The Elements! Yay! Sorry, I've been a lazy bum... thanks to Random Yaoi Fangirl and coalmine for inspiring me to get off my lazy butt and write this! Much love! Now, without further ado...Chapter 3!

Love,

Victoria Faust

VFVFVFVFVF

But you never let me fall/push my back against the wall/every time you call you get so emotional/I'm freaking out

-Lyrics: Ring, Ring by Mika

Exhausted, Demyx fell back onto his couch. He shut his eyes and rested his hand on his head. Work had seemed to drag on forever today. All he did was load pictures onto his computer.

All.

Day.

Long.

It really did get tiresome, but what could he say. It was part of the job. The work came along with the play. Another reason why the day took so long was probably because he was so excited for the concert. He was nervous. What if Axel didn't want to go? Or worse, what if Axel didn't want to see Demyx at all?

He decided to worry about it later, after he talked to Axel.

His eyelids dropped and he yawned. Only five thirty and he was already ready for sleep. But, he couldn't.

"What if Axel calls me?" He thought to himself.

Demyx suddenly grinned and looked at his sitar. What a way to pass time. Grabbing his sitar and jumping back on the couch, he started to play.

He started to realize that it didn't really matter what he played, just as long as he was playing he was happy. Who knew how long he played? He sometimes played for hours at a time, never even once glancing up at the time. Today was one of those days where he just played random notes. He used to write songs all the time, when he had first moved to New York. Now, he just wasn't inspired. It bothered him sometimes, but right now he was just too worried.

Suddenly, he heard a loud bang and looked up. It was six fifty! How the time flew when he was playing.

Feeling refreshed and energized, he grabbed his long coat and his cell phone. He wanted to clear his head, and he figured a walk would accomplish that best.

VFVFVFVFVF

He stepped out onto the street and felt a sharp rush of cold. A quick shiver traveled down his spine as he walked down the sidewalk. Luckily, the street lamps had been turned on a little early. As much as this city amazed him, he was still scared of it. He'd heard terrible stories of robbery and murder, taking each to heart. He was going to take as many precautions as possible to make sure nothing happened to him. Demyx hadn't even bothered to put his cell phone in his pocket, he was still grasping it firmly in his hand. Sneaking a peek at the phone screen, he found himself disappointed. Axel hadn't called. No texts or anything. It was 6:55 according to his phone. He angrily slipped it into his jacket pocket and continued down the path.

Demyx kicked at the snow on the sidewalk. Whoever had attempted shoveling had done a terrible job. In a way it made his sad, seeing piles of gray, dirty snow piled on the sidewalk. What ever happened to a white winter wonderland?

Upon turning the corner, he felt his pocket start to vibrate. An excited ball of nervousness began to form in his stomach as he took his cell phone out and flipped it open.

"Hello?"

"Demyx? Yo, it's Axel."

Demyx stopped walking abruptly and almost slipped on a patch of ice. He latched onto the side of a building and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Oh, yea, er, hi! Um, how are you?" The blonde stammered.

"I'm fine, thanks. Anyway, I got your letter. What's this about meeting up?" Axel said.

Demyx frowned. He was melting into puddles of nervous goo and Axel was still giving off an air of confidence. It wasn't fair.

"Yea, I was wondering," Demyx swallowed hard, "Do you want to go to a concert with me on Tuesday?"

Silence.

Seconds felt like hours as Demyx waited on a reply. Demyx wasn't sure if he could take this much longer.

"What concert?" Axel finally asked.

"Hellogoodbye." Demyx replied quickly.

". . . Sure, why not." He replied after a moment of deciding silence.

Demyx held the phone away from his mouth and silently cheered.

"Yesssss!!!" He whispered.

"What?" Axel's voice sounded from the receiver.

"Oh, nothing! So, um, How about you stop by my office tomorrow? I'll give you the ticket and all of the information then."

"Sounds good. Where's the office?" Axel asked, coolly.

As Demyx rattled off the address, Axel quickly jotted it down. He couldn't believe that he had said yes. What was wrong with him? Where had his strong, invincible armor gone? He was slowly turning into mush.

"So, I'll see you tomorrow." Axel said.

"Yea! I look forward to it! Bye, Axel!" Demyx beamed through the phone.

"Bye."

Demyx clicked the phone shut. He felt himself grinning broadly, feeling like he was going to burst. Suddenly, a bomb went off inside Demyx and he jumped up in the air yelling.

"YAAAAAAAAAAY!!!!!!!!"

He had completely forgotten about the ice and as soon as he landed, slipped and fell onto his knees. Wincing, he fell onto his back and felt tears running down his cheeks. It felt like his knees were on fire, but even as he lay there on the ground, probably bleeding, he was still grinning and laughing.

Little did Demyx know, Axel was celebrating too.

VFVFVFVFVF

Axel smiled broadly and as much as he tried to control it, he was happy. Excited even. He was going to see Demyx tomorrow after so long and it made him happy.

"Stop." He said aloud to himself, holding his hands out in front of him.

These feelings weren't allowed. He wasn't going to let them in. Not again.

VFVFVFVFVF

Demyx burst through the front doors of the office building and smiled.

"Good morning all! Isn't it a lovely morning to be in New York??" He yelled, patting one of the secretary's heads.

Everyone stopped and stared as Demyx walked by, humming to himself. He was still limping slightly from his fall the night before, but other than that, he appeared to be the happiest man in New York.

Humming, he danced his way over to his cubicle. He sat in his computer chair and spun around. Nothing could bother him right now. Nothing at all! Axel was going to come today and-. Demyx stopped spinning.

"Axel's coming today." he whispered.

All of a sudden it felt like hundreds of butterflies had invaded his stomach. He realized that he wasn't ready to see Axel at all! What would he say? Would Axel be happy to see him? What if...Axel rejected him? Demyx started biting his lip. His mind began to twist and turn at the thought.

Demyx sat there for hours, just thinking, turning thoughts over and over in his mind. He had come up with everything that could possibly go wrong and he knew that something would. He buried his head in his hands and breathed in deeply.

Knock, knock.

His head shot up and he turned around. Demyx tried to breath in, but it felt like his throat had been closed with a tight rubber band. Axel stood at the edge of the cubicle, leaning against the clear glass wall.

"Hey Demyx." He said, smiling slightly.

Demyx put his right hand on his throat, trying to coax it into making a noise. He stood and leaned against his mahogany desk for balance.

"H-hi." He squeaked, voice raspy.

"What's wrong with you?" Axel laughed.

He just shook his head and coughed. Demyx was seriously getting worried, no air was getting to his lungs and he was pretty sure he was turning blue. Ignoring his aching lungs, Demyx grabbed the tickets off of his desk and handed one to Axel. He coughed again, but nothing was helping, he was starting to feel dizzy.

Axel took the ticket and nodded for thanks. He was about to leave, but saw that Demyx seemed to be having trouble keeping his eyes open. Axel put his hand on Demyx's shoulder.

"You okay? You look sick." He asked.

Demyx just frantically shook his head and closed his eyes.

"C-can't...breath." He choked, grasping onto Axel's shirt.

Before Demyx could do anything else, he felt himself falling. Axel wrapped his arms around Demyx and tried to call for help. The last thing Demyx saw was two pretty green eyes staring at him, a scared look flooding the face they belonged to.

VFVFVFVFVF

Demyx's eyes fluttered open and he turned his head to the left. His cheek touched something soft and he smelled cologne. Looking up, he saw Axel holding him and talking to Demyx's coworkers. Demyx was lying on Axel's lap and he was pressed closely against his chest.

"It looks like he's awake!" Someone yelled.

Axel looked down at Demyx and breathed a sigh of relief. Bored employees then began walking away as soon as they found out the tragedy was over. If someone wasn't dying, then they didn't give a damn.

"Do you need me to call an ambulance??" Axel asked, feeling Demyx's forehead.

Demyx jumped and shook his head. He hadn't expected Axel to talk to him at all, let alone catch him when he fainted. Demyx tried to stand up, but to no avail, he just ended up falling back into his chair. He took a deep breath, relieved that his throat wasn't rebelling against him anymore.

"So, am I still invited to that concert?" The red head asked, fiddling with some of Demyx's trinkets.

Demyx just looked at him with a bewildered look on his face. He blinked a few times and cocked his head to the side. He had just gone through a near death experience and Axel was talking about the concert. Amazing.

Axel laughed.

"Oh come on! I just saved your life, the least you can do is let me go to the concert with you. If I don't...who knows? You could die. We can't have that can we?"

Axel lifted Demyx's chin and looked straight at him. A blush crept onto Demyx's face immediately.

"So, I'll meet you in front of the concert hall okay? See you tomorrow, kid." Axel said, patting Demyx's cheek.

With that, Axel walked away. Demyx shook his head and leaned back in his chair.

How can he just walk away after that?? I can't believe him...messing with me like that...

He felt his cheek, the ghost of Axel's touch lingering there. Upon thinking about Axel being so close to him, Demyx felt himself falling again.

Thud!

"Booooosssss! Demyx passed out!!"

"Oh damnit not again!!"

VFVFVFVFVF

Yea I know not a lot happened this chapter, but I had to build up for the next chapter. The next chapter is gonna be a good one! Concert baby! By the way, thanks everyone for reviewing, I really appreciate it!!

Love,

Victoria Faust