Axel woke to the sound of his alarm screaming at him to wake up. His dream began to fade away. He lay on his bed with his hands behind his bed and sighed happily. Even though he got home late, he considered that the best night sleep he'd had in while.
Throwing his covers off himself he trudged down stairs to the kitchen that smelt of freshly cooked bacon.
There he found Irene in a slightly better state than he last saw her. Her bun wasn't quite so wild and her smile was warmed.
"Morning, Axel." She said while putting some bacon and toast on the table for him. He sat down with his two sisters and began to eat.
"How hard is it to put a shirt on?" questioned Lacie.
"Why should I?" asked Axel after swallowing. He'd been told off too many times in his life about not talking when his mouth was full.
"Cause I don't want to see my brother's bare chest while I'm eating, it's not very appetising." she said disgustedly.
Adria giggled slightly from the other side of the table.
"Oh so you think it's funny do you." he teased Adria, who snapped her head up with an apologetic look on her face, only to see Axel was joking. "Well take a good look cause this is the only chest that you'll see for a very long time." Axel laughed sitting back in his chair to reveal his tightly muscled chest.
Lacie turned bright red, the colour of her hair. She quickly finished her breakfast and ran off.
"Axel," Adria whined "Don't be so mean," she attempted to kick Axel from under the table but missed and hit the table leg instead. She pouted as it hit but bit her lip so she wouldn't cry. Unfortunately Axel still saw and jumped out of his seat and sat next to her, pulling her onto his lap.
"Adria! You ok?" he asked desperately.
"Yeah… just… nicked it." she said trying not to cry. Axel pulled her in for a hug but she kept her distance. Axel looked questioningly at her, she never refused a hug before.
"You have no shirt on," she whispered, trying not to laugh.
"Not you as well!" he teased, pushing her off his lap. "Can't believe you to." he murmured as he left to get dressed.
He grabbed his uniform that was dumped onto his chair yesterday and chucked it on messily, grabbed his bag and waited downstairs for his sisters.
They didn't take as long as the usually did, and Axel found himself surprised was Lacie was running down the stairs.
"Since when did you become so enthusiastic about school?" he questioned as she ran past.
"Eh, you know. Second day is always better than the first." She called from behind her. Suddenly Adria dashed past him.
"Why is everyone so excited today?" he cried to himself.
"It's athletics day today. Remember." She called over her shoulder. Axel stopped dead in his tracks.
He threw the keys to Lacie. "Start the car up," then he spun around and sprinted into the house, up to his room, grabbing his gym clothes. The shirt was the schools but choice of shorts was yours, which meant that the usual girls wore such short shorts they may as well have been underwear.
He bounded down the stairs and up to his car. He was slightly out of breath by this time.
"Seems everyone wants to get some last minute practise in." laughed Lacie.
"I can't believe you forgot. What were you doing in second period yesterday?" asked Adria. Axel's thoughts flashed to the blonde as he sped away from their house and into school.
Destiny High didn't have a huge academic average so they made up for it through sporting events. Athletics day was a huge event for the school and everyone was hyped up about it.
Axel parked his car in one of the available spaces of the parking lot, then headed to look for Riku.
He was in their usual spot behind the main block of buildings. There was a small gap between two classrooms with no windows, so as per usual Axel found Riku smoking.
When Riku noticed his friend arriving he quickly stamped out the cigarette and went up to meet him.
"Excited?" Riku asked as he walked to Axel.
"I actually forgot this morning." Axel said ashamed.
Riku looked at Axel astonished. This was very unlike Axel, he always looked forward to athletics, he always led in hurdles, discuss and shot-put. Axel just laughed at Riku's expression.
"Seifer dragged me out last night," he explained.
"You went out the day before athletics!" Riku exclaimed.
"I didn't know it was today!" Axel defended himself. "You know how they always change the day." he said trying to find an excuse.
"He's messing with your mind." Riku said as he walked away from his friend.
Axel's head snapped up and he chased after Riku, "Who. Seifer?"
Riku shook his head. "Roxas." he explained.
"Who's Roxas?" he demanded.
Riku stopped to look at him, they were by the doors to the main school, so he lowered his voice. "The guy you're crushing on."
Axel froze, every muscle in his body tightened, his fists clenched. His name was Roxas.
Riku had left Axel when the bell rang, eventually Axel forced himself to move and was very nearly late to class again. They had first period to get changed and ready for the day, then at period 2 they headed up to the fields for the rest of the day.
Axel could hardly concentrate as he walked up with Riku. He finally knew his name, he was no longer 'that mysterious blonde', he was Roxas.
He suddenly felt a surge of freezing cold water on his face. He looked up to see Riku shaking his head.
"Senior hurdles," was all he said. Axel woke up and jumped down to the starting positions. He smiled at the familiarity of it all. He scuffed his shoes on the ground, finding his grip. He took a quick look down the line to see who he was up against. There were a few quite well muscled guys along with the average build. His head snapped back to his lane when he heard the ready mark. At the sound of the gun he was off. There was nothing else that Axel thought about as he ran and jumped. He easily took the lead, his long legs finding their way over the hurdles as if he were just walking. After a lap around the oval circuit he found himself back where he started, and first. He grinned hugely. Even in the qualifiers, it still thrilled him to win. He took his first place slip to the tent, where they recorded his name and placing.
After that he would head back to Riku, who he guessed hadn't moved. As he turned his eye caught something, something familiar. Roxas was standing in the crowd, his eyes fixed on Axel. Even though there was a large distance between them, Axel felt as if he was right in front of him. Roxas blinked as he realised what he was doing, he dropped his eyes and sat down next to the brown haired boy. A wide smile spread across Axel's face as he trudged back to Riku and sat down. Riku stared at his friend, and shook his head again. He raised his hand and slapped the back of his head, causing Axel to cringe and buckle.
"What was that for!" he shouted.
"You're so whipped." he snickered.
"I don't know what you're on about," Axel tried to sound indifferent, but the smile returned.
"See!" Riku pointed to his mouth. "You can't help yourself."
"So," Axel said, pushing Riku away. "It's not like you would know."
Riku huffed and turned away from Axel, letting his long silver hair fall in front of him. Axel turned to his friend, his best friend.
"I'm sorry mate." He said to him "I just… I don't know. It's hard to explain. He just wont get out of my head, and every time I see him… I feel… UHH!" Axel threw up his hands to his head. "This is so annoying!" He heard Riku chuckle from inside his hair tent. Automatically he pushed him, forcing him to come out of hiding.
Riku looked up at Axel and smiled. "I was just teasing, y'know."
That deserved Riku another push from Axel, who burst out laughing. Riku joined in.
Later after a couple of hours Axel realised that he had forgotten his drink because he was in such a rush this morning.
"Hey, Riku you bring a drink today?" he asked. Riku was lying on the floor, half asleep.
"There's one in my locker," he mumbled.
"Thanks," Axel said as he got up and jogged quickly down to school and away from the busy fields. He pushed hard on the heavy doors into the empty corridor. His shoes squeaked as he walked down the laminate floors. He reached Riku's locker, opening it easily as he knew Riku's combination. As he did so he heard a noise, it sounded muffled and far off. Axel stopped, listening for it again. He heard only silence.
Trying to forget about it he grabbed Riku's energy drink and slammed the door shut.
He heard the noise again, louder this time more defined. It sounded like someone being hit.
"UHN!" the sound echoed through the empty halls. Axel quickly darted in the direction of the sound, his shoes squeaking beneath him. He reached the end of the hall and waited to hear it again.
"Stop," someone said quietly in the classroom to his right. Axel burst into the room to find two boys, who he recognised from the year below him, along with another boy lying on the floor curled up and groaning. Axel's eyes flew open as he looked at the boy lying on the floor, for a second his heart stopped. The boy on the floor was Roxas.
Axel snapped out of his trace when the boys started to move for the window. He expertly hurdled over the desks and grabbed the boys just as they reached the window. He threw them round, their faces hitting on the whiteboard.
"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!" Axel erupted, his anger was practically visible, it was as if there was a huge red cloud around him.
The boys struggled beneath Axel's tight grip.
"We was just mucking around." the boy on the left insisted.
"YEAH! He's a mate of ours. We was just playing!" the right boy said.
"It doesn't look like that to me. He looks pretty hurt!" Axel screamed in their ears.
At that time Mr Odey, the PE teacher, walked in. "What is going on in hear!" he shouted, then looked suspiciously at Axel, then saw Roxas on the floor. Immediately he helped him sit up.
"You okay boy?" he asked Roxas.
All he could manage was a small whine and a nod, gripping his stomach.
"We didn't do nothing. We're innocent. It was all this guy right-" the right boy was cut off with Axel slamming him further into the whiteboard.
"Axel, what is going on here!" he asked.
"I was just grabbing a drink when I noticed these two boys beating up… this guy," he explained nodding at Roxas.
"NO! We found you beating him up!" the left boy said, trying to blame Axel. He moved to hit him.
"AXEL!" Mr Odey shouted, stopping him. "Let them go," Axel released his grip and the two boys made for the door. Mr Odey put his hand out, stopping them. "Lies are bad boys." he said looking down on them. "Axel's my star pupil, he only hits people if they've done something wrong. That's why he wont join my wrestling team." he said, looking at Axel hopefully. Axel shook his head, Mr Odey sighed.
"Anyway," he said looking back at the boys. "I would believe him over you two any day." he looked to Axel again, "I'll take these two to the office, can you manage him?" he said nodding down to Roxas who was still gripping his stomach. Axel nodded and Mr Odey left with the boys.
Axel went over to Roxas and squatted down. He held out his hand to help him up. Roxas' eyes followed Axel's arm to his face that was smiling brightly.
"C'mon, I'll help you to the nurse." he said happily. Roxas smiled slightly and shyly took Axel's hand. When the stood Roxas gripped his stomach harder and lost his balance. Axel helped him to the nearest desk, where he sat.
"Do you want me to carry you?" Axel asked boldly. Roxas' head snapped up to Axel's smiling face again. He shook his head.
"I'll probably be alright, just make sure I don't fall, okay?" Roxas said and Axel nodded. Steadily Roxas attempted to walk again. Axel held his arms out slightly in case he fell, but he seemed to be alright so he lowered them. Although his concern did not lower, in his mind he was ready to jump and help Roxas if he needed it.
Unsteadily, Roxas limped down the corridor. Axel held the door open as Roxas passed.
Taking their time they finally made it to the nurse.
A middle aged woman sat at the front desk reading a magazine. At the sound of the door she looked up to see a fiery redhead holding the door open for a smaller boy. She rushed up to help the two, but finding that she couldn't help she went to set up one of the beds for the small boy.
Axel gently guided Roxas into the room that the nurse went to and helped him onto the bed. He tried his hardest to not look distraught at the condition of Roxas, but he didn't think that he did too well when Roxas looked up at Axel as he set him down. His eyes were full of questions that he couldn't ask because of the company.
"What happen here?" the nurse asked half worried and trying to keep a happier atmosphere. Roxas blushed slightly and looked down.
"I found two boys beating him up," Axel said from the back of the room, he had casually taken a place leaning against the wall. He wasn't going to leave. Roxas looked up to meet Axel's frightened eyes. This didn't last long as Axel dropped his face, covering his eyes.
"Oh, dear." said the nurse. "Where does it hurt the most?"
"Mainly in my chest," Roxas replied quietly, touching his chest lightly.
"I'm going to have to ask you to take your shirt off," said the nurse as she grabbed some gloves.
Every muscle in Axel's body tightened. He suddenly felt like he shouldn't be there. Seeing Roxas shirtless might be too much and his composure would break. There was no straight way to the door, the nurse was blocking the only exit. Axel just decided to turn and look at the posters on the wall. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Roxas take his shirt off extremely carefully and slowly. Axel focused intently on him.
He had feared that seeing him half naked would be too much to handle, but what took him by surprise was how badly he was beaten up. His chest had a huge bruise that was already purple, yellow and blue. Axel's head snapped forward so that he could see properly.
It was worse than he thought. Roxas was not just slightly beaten and bruised. There was definite broken ribs, Axel could see that much. The amount of pain that Roxas must have been in must be unimaginable, 'How could he walk?' Axel thought.
Roxas looked at Axel's horrified face, he was no longer holding back. Roxas could see the fear and sadness flowing out of Axel. He looked down, only to see his badly beaten body. He scrunched his eyes shut, not wanting to see it.
"Did I hurt you, love?" asked the nurse urgently.
Roxas' eyes flew open to look at her. He shook his head. "No, I… I just didn't want to see it." he whispered. Having no where else to look, his eyes found there way back to Axel's.
Roxas forgot everything. He forgot his battered body, he forgot the nurse cleaning it down and preparing to put it in bandages. He only thought of Axel.
Axel stared back intently at the small and broken boy beneath him. He wanted to protect him, keep him safe from anything ever again. He wanted him to be his.
Axel shock the thoughts out of his head. Roxas would never feel that way.
"Can you sit up please?" the nurse said breaking Roxas' trace.
"Huh? Oh, sure." He sat up to quickly, the burning pain spread through his entire body, his natural reaction clench his muscles shut, but that only created more pain.
Roxas felt something grab him suddenly. He looked up to see Axel moving him to a more comfortable position with his back against the wall and his feet dangling off the bed. This eased his pain immensely.
"Thanks," he murmured to Axel, who was extremely close to his face. Realising where he was, Axel jumped back to his wall and looked at his feet.
Then the door suddenly swung open, in burst the brown haired boy that looked so much like Roxas.
"ROXAS!" he screamed and ran to his side. He immediately began to fuss over him, trying to find out what happened.
"I'm fine, you don't need to worry." Roxas insisted. Axel groaned internally at his words, it was obvious the amount of pain that he was in.
Axel didn't need to be there anymore, he saw the open door and Riku waiting on the other side. Riku gestured for him to leave with his head. Nodding Axel headed to the door.
"Wait." Axel looked down to Roxas, who spoke. "You're leaving."
Axel put on his best smile. "You got this little tyke," he said ruffling the brown boys hair, "You don't need me." Axel hid the emotion in his words very carefully.
"Roxas," he said. Axel looked to him again and smiled.
"I know." then headed for the door, but just before he shut the door he said. "Axel." Then headed off back to the fields with Riku. Every step took him further away from the blonde. Every step separated them. 'It's how it should be,' he thought, returning to the mayhem. None of them knew what had happened down in the school. All of them were oblivious.