Meet the Family

by blu blade

Somehow when Roxas said, "Meet my family," Axel wasn't expecting an overprotective older brother and his psycho husband, a bubbly twin prone to pouting, a silver-haired ex, 3 annoying teen girls who want him nude and a pop star with a crush! Three-shot.

3. Meet the Family

This chapter...this last, final end of an era...has haunted me for the past year. Yes. This ENTIRE year you've been patiently waiting, I've been writing and rewriting this monster. Whew! But I finished it just in time for Akuroku Day! Axel hearts Roxas!

Reviewers...I love you so much! Special thanks to: Following Padfoot's Pawprints, foxyaoi123, ninjafox369, Ldrmas, ScreamforSOH, Riana1702, blood as soft as silk, Obsidian Thunder, and Novelist Pup. Thanks for taking the time to review! It means so much to me.

And thank you to everyone who has supported me and this three-shot!

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Then

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Axel stared up at muscled, dark, looming shadow standing in the doorway. Uh, what? Did this mental case have the wrong room? Well, he did call him a giraffe, a nickname he became very familiar with all through elementary school…and there really weren't any other tall, sexy redheads in the house…

Obviously this guy meant him. Which was funny, because Axel could've sworn this psycho told him to lie on his back and spread his legs. Like a whore. Like a wanton, uke whore.

And let it be known that Axel was no one's whore. He had dignity. Class. Virginity.

Eh…maybe that was going a little too far. But the truth was, he was neither an uke nor a whore, henceforth, this stranger in his room was just that: a stranger in his room, and a horny, aggressive one at that.

"You're a stranger." Axel announced, proud that he had the brainpower to make that deduction all on his own, no matter how stupid he probably sounded. The stranger rolled his eyes and, in answer, slowly closed Roxas' bedroom door. Axel's face fell. What was with this dude? Didn't he understand the laws of uncommon strangers?

"Look," He began as the shadow took a couple of menacing steps toward the bed that Axel was lounging on, "don't you know anything? Now, I don't know you, and you don't know me, which means, as strangers, it's our job, nay, our necessity, to introduce ourselves and get to know each other a little bit."

The stranger paused quizzically. "I just told you my name was Zack."

Axel nodded encouragingly. This was a step! "Good! Hi Zack, I'm Axel. Now, let's start by telling facts about each other. I'll go first: I don't want to be raped."

Zack, finally stepping into the light which was pouring in by the open window, gave him a stupid look. Axel, surprised at how good looking his attacker was, returned it tenfold. He wasn't about to be intimidated by some stranger in his, err, Roxas', bedroom.

Finally, Zack sighed and asked sharply, "Do you honestly think I'm here to rape you?"

Telling some guy you've never met to 'lie on your back and spread your legs' was kind of something a creepy sexual predator would tell you to do. But for the sake of the conversation, Axel refrained from pointing this out. He sighed. Knowing his luck, Cloud probably sent Zack in here.

"Cloud sent me in here, actually." Zack admitted, and Axel flopped down dejectedly against Roxas' fluffy checkered pillows. Damn it! Damn older brothers and their damn protective urges!

"Let me guess, he thought I couldn't be trusted to stay in my own bed." Axel muttered, and Zack seemed to laugh, amazed at Axel's correct guess. He rolled his eyes. This was so ridiculous.

"Yep; Cloud always invites me here when he meets one of the siblings' romantic interests. And being best friends with both him and Sephiroth, I kind of have to help." Zack explained with a shrug, sitting next to his lanky frame on the bed. "But what would make you think he would ask me to rape you?"

"I didn't think Cloud asked you to. I thought you were just going to do it on your own."

"Yeah, because I would want to have sex with a giraffe that is taller and lankier than me; that may be Roxas' MO, but it sure as hell isn't my fantasy."

Axel glared at him. Jeez, tone down the sarcasm. He wasn't the weirdo who barged in the room and made suggestive comments, now was he? Besides, if he wasn't here to take him, what the hell was he here for?

"So…you're still here." Axel finally pointed out, nudging him sharply with his toes, half-heartedly trying to push him off the bed. Why wouldn't he get off and go?

"I told you," Zack said, sounding a little annoyed now, "Cloud sent me here."

"Yeah…?" He drawled, growling in irritation when Zack still didn't move. "You can go now."

Zack also growled, seeming to finger the sword attached to his person as if he were fighting the urge to whip it out. Axel wouldn't be surprised if he did. "Dude, what about this don't you understand? I have to sleep in here with you to make sure you don't sneak in some midnight munchies while the rest of us are unsuspecting."

Axel frowned. "And lying down and spreading my legs?"

Zack shrugged and pulled out two long pieces of rope. "To tie you down. We're all men here. I think we all know what happens to a man late at night when his hormones are raging."

Axel finally just flopped back down. Exhaustion was turning him into a quitter before their very eyes. He flung out his legs dramatically and groaned, "Do your worst! But be gentle…I'm shy."

10:00 A.M.

Axel woke up the next morning with a sore back and even sorer pride. That infuriating Cloud was right: his hormones were raging, and he had tried to sneak out last night. But not to have do that! Didn't he already say he was trying to be respectable?

He just wanted to cuddle.

He sat up, noting that his ropes had been cut and Zack was nowhere in the room. Guess he figured Axel would be too tired to do much of anything when he woke up. Axel scowled. He was right.

Well whatever! He was grumpy and tired, and now he just wanted a nice, piping hot shower. Was that too much to ask?

Slowly rising to his feet—jeez, he felt like someone had just taken his anal virginity—Axel, shuffled to the door and opened it, poking his head and ruffled mane through the crack. Silence.

He grinned and stuck out a long leg. Maybe he would get his shower after all.

Suddenly, all the doors around him banged open, and six heads poked from their rooms, all looking adorably rustled and sleepy.

Then, from the master bedroom, a voice boomed out from the shut entrance.

"Let the bidding begin!"

Those were the magic words.

"I got bathroom first!" Demyx shouted, ignoring the anxious groans of the other siblings. "Oh, shut up, will ya? We have guests, for crying out loud!"

"First bathroom trip goes to Demyx. Next bidder!" The voice announced, and next it was Rikku to pipe up.

"Me second! YPR gets second!" She cried, and the boys of the house all snorted simultaneously. Rikku suddenly looked annoyed. "What the hell is everyone's problem?"

"Why can't you guys ever take individual showers?" Roxas demanded, and Axel brightened at hearing Roxas' morning voice. It was hoarse and so very, very sexy. He tried to catch his eye, but the blonde was too busy wrestling with Sora for space in the doorway.

"I know, right? What do you guys even do in there?" Demyx added, glancing curiously at them. The door to Rikku's room suddenly shut, and all that could be heard from the three were giggles. Axel shuddered. He hated the thought of some kind of orgy going on in there.

What? Just because he was a guy didn't mean he wanted to see that. Think of the unsanitary mess that would be in that bathroom!

The voice boomed once more to grab their disturbed attention. "The order thus far is Demyx, then Rikku! Next bidder!"

"I'm next!" Both Roxas and Sora cried at the same time. Then they both glared at each other. Axel smirked. They were twins, through and through.

"Why are you always trying to get things before me?" Sora whined, and Roxas scoffed back in agitation.

"Oh please, you're the one who is always copying me and following me around. It only makes sense for me to go first."

"No way, man! You're just being a jerk!"

"So?"

"What do you mean, so? So, that's mean! That's my so!"

"Is that so?"

"So!"

"So," the voice began uncertainly from behind the door. "The bathroom goes to Roxas, with Sora trailing after!"

"What?" Sora exclaimed angrily, and Roxas chuckled in victory. "That isn't fair!"

"Neither is life, kid." Axel called out to him, unable to avoid rubbing it in. That managed to get Roxas' attention. He laughed, ignoring his twin who turned with a huff back into the room.

"Good morning!" He shouted to him from down the hall with a good-natured laugh. Axel returned it, mouthing back the words instead, and adding the word fiancé to the end of it. He couldn't contain a goofy grin at Roxas' flush.

Roxas softly closed the door behind him and quietly tiptoed down the hall and into Axel's awaiting arms. He pulled the blonde inside and shut the door behind him.

When he turned to face Roxas, he saw that he was giggling like a madman. "We're going to get in so much trouble if Cloud or my dad catches us." He exclaimed.

"You don't seem too worried." Axel chuckled, covering his own mouth with his hand. He didn't want his morning breath to ruin what would otherwise be a sweet, quick reunion.

"I'm not. I feel so dangerous!" Roxas snickered, falling back onto the bed Axel was sleeping on. He suddenly sat up, pulling a rope from underneath his body. He dangled it suspiciously in front of Axel's face.

"What the hell is this?" He demanded, all traces of his giddiness gone. Axel didn't care though; he was used to this. Giddiness was Roxas' morning personality. But it was like a mirage…it wasn't real.

"Why don't you ask your older brother?" Axel snorted, pulling Roxas off the bed and wrapping his arms around his back.

Roxas squirmed and tried to pull away. Obviously the subject wasn't over. "How about I don't? I'm asking you."

Axel rolled his eyes. No need for the attitude. "Fine, Mr. Grumpy, if you must know, Cloud sent in that overreacting friend of his, Zack, who insisted on tying me up so I wouldn't sneak into your room."

"Why would he do that?" Roxas groaned in exasperation, throwing the rope off of the bed and plopping back down. "I mean, what did he think we were going to do?"

Axel coughed. Jeez, sometimes Roxas was too innocent for his own good. "You know…he thought we were going to…woohoo."

"Woohoo?"

"Yep."

"With Sora lying next to me?"

"Yes, okay, jeez, let's move on!" Axel said, pulling Roxas' body to his. "Now…how about a morning kiss?"

Roxas made a face. "Ew! What about our morning breath?"

Axel smiled devilishly. "I think we'll manage. Besides, if you say no, I'll just tie you up."

"I guess I'm going to have to get used to this." Roxas sighed playfully, pulling his lips down to his. But as soon as they touched, the door banged open, revealing Demyx clad in nothing but a towel, while water dripped down his abs. Axel immediately looked away. He did not need to be ogling a superstar; especially one that wanted him.

"Hey Roxas, better get back to your room. Dad will be doing his morning rounds to make sure there was no woohoo-ing going on last night." Demyx warned him, but his eyes were on Axel the entire time. "Axel, you look sexy in the morning."

Axel coughed and held Roxas back as he tried to tackle his flirtatious older brother. "Yeah, thanks Demyx."

"See you at breakfast." He grinned at him toothily before walking back out of the room, purposely leaving the door open. Roxas cleared his throat and glared at Axel as if it was his fault.

"What?" Axel exclaimed, shrugging helplessly. What was he supposed to do?

"Nothing. See you at breakfast." Roxas muttered, still looking irritated. Before exiting the room, however, he turned to him with a smile.

"You do look sexy in the morning." He admitted grudgingly.

Axel smirked and stretched sensually. "Damn straight."

11:05 A.M.

Cheaper by the Dozen. That was the closest Axel could come to describing what breakfast was like for the Haikus. Toast, bacon, eggs, pancakes, grits, oatmeal, fruit, waffles…food was everywhere!

Not that he was complaining. Protecting his body from muscled men always made him hungry.

"So! What are your plans for today, Axel?" Hannah Haiku asked curiously, looking fresh faced and lovely. He smiled at her. For someone to have crazy children, she really was a nice person.

"Nothing so far." Axel shrugged, glancing at Roxas. He would do whatever he wanted him to do. As long as it didn't involve sex. It was getting harder and harder (literally!) to deny that adorable little blonde.

Roxas gave him a knowing grin. "He's free to do whatever he wants during the day. But tonight…he's busy."

Axel shook his head determinedly, giving him a pointed frown. "No, I'm pretty sure I'm not."

"I'm pretty sure you are." Roxas retorted sharply, running his hand down his thigh. Axel jumped in his seat. Jeez, Roxas! It was a good thing they were sitting right next to each other; otherwise the whole table would see him trying to jack him off!

"Actually, Roxas, I got a phone call from Pence, Hayner and Olette. They happen to be in town! They even said they planned to kidnap you and have a sleepover, just like old times! Isn't that great?" Demyx informed him conversationally with an obviously fake look on his face. Everyone watched Roxas carefully for any sort of reaction.

"Besides," He continued, spearing a strawberry with his fork, "I already told Axel I was going to show him something tonight."

Roxas growled, his patience clearly wearing thin. "I'll show you something mighty painful—"

"Anyway!" Sam Elliot Haiku interjected gruffly, turning the page of his newspaper and taking a loud sip of his coffee. "Axel, I thought maybe you wouldn't mind heading down to the island with me and the rest of the boys today. Take a little swim."

Axel gulped. Well, the truth was…

"Dad," Roxas snickered, and this time Axel could see if coming before he even finished his sentence. "Axel can't swim."

"Your boyfriend can't swim?" Cloud asked Roxas loudly, entering the room with Sephiroth and Zack trailing behind him. "How do you two even get along?"

Roxas smiled. "I tried teaching him. It didn't work, though."

Axel grumbled. Of course it didn't work. He liked fire, got that? Water only put out his fire…there was no use for it.

"Don't worry Roxas," Zach grinned, grabbing a plate as if he lived there, "After last night, I understand what you see in him."

Axel choked. Nice compliment, but way to sound suggestive. Did he want for Roxas to dump him?

Then he realized that, yeah, he kind of did. He worked with Hades, A.K.A., Cloud.

Roxas scowled at his food. He was getting tired of everyone's romantic interest in his man. How many times was he going to have to prove to them that they were freaking soul mates?

"That's okay. He can spar with me and Roxas, instead." Sora offered up helpfully, and Roxas tossed him a grateful smile. At least somebody was making an effort.

"Sparring?" Axel repeated with a snort. "Piece of freaking cake."

12:01 P.M.

No. Sparring with Roxas and Sora was not a piece of freaking cake. It was definitely a piece of whoop ass. And no one liked the taste of whoop ass.

"Winner is: Sora!" Elliot announced, and the Haiku men all clapped in pride. Axel scowled and rubbed his jaw. Sora was way better than he had expected. Whatever. Of course he was going to lose if he had to fight with Roxas' old keyblades. They were too heavy for him!

Personally, he liked chakrams the best, but none of the Haikus owned any! All they had stockpiled were weird assortments of keyblades, shields, and swords.

Roxas walked over to where Axel was still sprawled out on the ground and smiled. "Losing isn't very attractive on a guy, you know."

Axel glared up at his fiancé. What did he see in Roxas again? "Neither is selling out your fiancé." Roxas just laughed and helped him up.

"Sorry. But it was for your own good. Wouldn't you rather be getting your ass kicked by Sora than drowning in salty water?" Roxas asked him with a raised eyebrow and Axel couldn't help but agree. Drowning was so not cool these days.

"Alright, how about this?" Axel challenged, sitting up and tossing him a smirk. "You fight me."

Roxas snorted. "Yeah, right."

Now Axel was starting to get a little offended. Just because he lost to Sora didn't mean he wasn't a completely capable fighter! This was part of his profession! "Why the hell not?"

"Cause I'd win, dumbass." Roxas replied, still laughing. He pointed down to his jaw, which was now turning a little red. "Look what Sora did to you, the guy who said you had his fuckable stamp of approval. Just imagine what kind of injuries I would give you."

Axel didn't care. This was about pride, dammit. "Don't be a punk."

"Don't be ridiculous." Roxas retorted, folding his arms. "I'm trying to be nice and keep you from embarrassing yourself even more in front of my family."

"You're just scared you'll lose." Axel jibed lowly, standing up and striding over to the weapons bin. He dug through it with raw determination. There had to be some chakrams in there somewhere.

"If you're going to be a dick about this, then fine. Get your ass kicked. See what I care." Roxas scoffed, grabbing two keyblades from the stack. For a moment, Axel felt apprehensive. Unlike Sora, Roxas wielded two keyblades. As if one wasn't painful enough.

But when his hands found two sharp chakrams, his confidence came back to him. Ah, good old chakrams!

"Holy Zeus, what is he doing?" Sora murmured, shaking his head. "He's going to lose! Roxas has only ever lost to me! And that was one time!"

Riku grinned, but said nothing. He didn't want him to know that he in fact had managed to beat Roxas once as well. Things were kind of tense with Sora, lately. It was almost as if he had formed it in his head that he still had a thing for Roxas.

But it was whatever. He was used to the Haikus jumping to crazy conclusions.

"At least your dad isn't here to see him lose." Riku pointed out, glancing out to the water where Sephiroth, Zack, Cloud and Sam Elliot Haiku were now swimming competitively. He smirked. He could still remember when he first met the Haikus. Cloud hated him almost as much as he hated Axel.

"Fuck, Roxas!" Both of them suddenly heard Axel shout, and they looked over just in time to see Axel holding his left arm while blood seeped from under his hand. Roxas looked more horrified than either of them had ever seen him.

"I'm so sorry, Axel!" Roxas exclaimed distraughtly, ripping off his shirt and running over to Axel. Sora watched as he gently tied it against Axel's arm, but not before giving it a soft 'I'm sorry' kiss. He had never seen Roxas so…gentle.

"Do you think I'll ever be like that? You know, with someone I love?" Sora asked Riku slowly, giving him a meaningful look. Riku, unfortunately, didn't seem to notice his pick-up attempt.

"Maybe. Hey, we better head back to the house to finish the cake. We still have to frost, remember?" Riku reminded him. Before Sora could even reply, he had already taken off for the house. Sora ran after, a frown plastered on his face.

Damn Riku. He wasn't making this easy!

1:50 P.M.

Axel couldn't believe he lost. To Roxas, of all people.

Well, okay, he could believe it.

What he really couldn't believe was that Roxas accidently slashed his arm. 'I tripped!' He had insisted, looking like he had just killed his own puppy. Axel couldn't help but forgive him despite the fact that there was literally nothing around for him to trip on. But he was still a little pissy about it.

Actually, he was a little pissy about this entire trip. The more he thought about what Roxas had done, the more annoyed he got. Technically, Roxas tricked him into coming here. And now that he was here, things kinda sucked.

"Honestly, Axel." Roxas complained, finally finished bandaging his arm properly. "Are you going to be this grumpy all day?"

Axel sniffed indignantly. "I don't like your tone."

"I don't like your attitude." Roxas retorted snappily. Then he sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Sorry. I'm not in the best mood either."

Axel frowned at him. What did he have to be grumpy about? He wasn't the one who got his arm slashed. "Why?"

"I'm not getting any." Roxas answered loudly and bluntly, and Axel had to jump up and shut the bathroom door so Hannah Haiku didn't overhear them. Jeez, was Roxas trying to get him in trouble with his folks?

"You know, you should like me for more than my body, Roxy." Axel sighed, but Roxas only glared at him in a way that let him know he was definitely not amused and definitely not kidding.

The door suddenly received a loud knock, followed by Rikku's voice. "Hey Roxas! Can we borrow Axel for a couple of hours?"

Axel turned to his secret fiancé, giving him the best puppy dog look he could think of.

But, obviously, it didn't work on the guy who had long since mastered the look.

Ignoring his pleading expression, Roxas gave Axel a grin that was filled with revenge. "Borrow him for as long as you like!"

Axel scowled. All of this because he wouldn't have sex with him?

"Be that way, then." He sniffed, standing up and walking out of the bathroom. He could hear Roxas snickering behind him, and before Axel could register what was happening, he received a hearty squeeze on his right butt check.

His heart banged against his rib cage as an intense arc of pleasure danced down his spine. Holding in the moan that had almost slipped from his mouth, he wagged his finger at Roxas in a scolding manner before he practically ran out of the bathroom as fast as he could.

"Oh, and Axel? Meet me in the laundry room in three hours." Roxas called after him, still grinning like the cat that caught the mouse. "Have fun!"

2:00 P.M.

Axel was not having fun. Not in the least.

What Rikku meant by 'borrowing him' was actually 'borrowing his driving'. Which was just another way of saying, 'drive us wherever we want to go, bitch.'

Now, he felt their pain. During his young adulthood, his older siblings refused to drive him around, just like Rikku's older siblings were. But he never asked his big bro's boyfriends to sub in instead. Hell, he didn't know anyone who did that.

"I'm only doing this for Roxas, you know." Axel felt compelled to explain, scowling when a car full of teenagers pulled out quickly in front of him, causing him to slam on his brakes. Damn kids!

"It's so weird," Rikku began with a little shake of her head, "that Roxas has such a boring boyfriend."

Axel was so offended that he stopped the car then and there, right in the middle of the street. "Get out."

Yuna and Paine gasped and quickly turned to Rikku for guidance. But the blonde simply scoffed and folded her arms. "So you're saying I'm wrong?"

"Rikku, Rikku, Rikku." Axel sighed, shaking his head and smirking at her. "Who do you think you're talking to? I invented fun."

"Lies!" Rikku cried, and Axel's mood depleted to a startling ten percent. This girl did not know who she was messing with.

"Believe it or not, your brother is the one with the stick up his ass most of the time."

"What? No way."

Axel cleared his throat and began to mimic his fiancé. "No, Axel, we can't do that! Axel, we're going to get in trouble! Axel, playing with fire is dangerous!"

The girls all laughed. "Playing with fire is dangerous."

"Not if you know how to wield it, Rikku." He scoffed. Looking at the three mischievous girls, he was suddenly reminded of himself. It was pretty much the same spirit and carefree nature that he had when he was their age. Of course, his siblings were like demons; complete jerks who never played with him…but whatever. Close enough.

"You know what?" Axel suddenly declared, turning to look at the three troublemakers. "Let me show you what real fun looks like."

5:00 P.M.

"You're where?" Roxas demanded murderously, pacing back and forth in the garage, the place where Axel had avidly convinced him to go to. Because, he insisted, he might get a little testy and want to curse very, very loudly when he found out where they were. Which, of course…was jail.

Roxas shook his head. He never should have left Rikku and Axel alone together. Rikku was a little match that would clearly light Axel, the fire.

"God dammit, Axel. Dad is going to freak the fuck out when he finds out you got Rikku arrested." He groaned, slapping his palm to his forehead. "And no, I don't have enough fucking money to post your bail."

Axel fell silent on the other line, but Roxas did not feel the least bit of pity. This happened way too many times before. Every single time he got even close to saving a large amount of money, Axel got himself arrested. And now he had dragged Rikku into it.

"Let me talk to Rikku." Roxas sighed, waiting for Axel to pass his little sister the phone. "Hello?"

"Ohmigawd, Roxas!" Rikku squealed, and he immediately winced. "Axel is so fucking cool!"

Roxas rolled his eyes. Well of course Axel was cool. That was part of why he loved him. But that didn't mean Rikku needed to act like that. "Watch your mouth."

"Why? Axel curses all of the time!" Rikku whined. He let his head fall back in shame. What was he thinking, bringing Axel around his baby sister? She was impressionable!

"Okay, Rikku, listen. What's the charge? Why are you guys in jail?" He asked hesitantly. Did he really even want to know?

Besides that…now it looked like he was going to have to get help from the one person no one wanted to be indebted to…

5:15 P.M.

Sephiroth stepped out of the bathroom blissfully, mentally acknowledging that the house was, for once, completely silent. Well, Sora and Riku weren't, due to the fact that they were in the kitchen placing the finishing touches on their thank you cake—something that was taking them hours to do for some reason. But those imbeciles didn't really count.

He had deliberately chosen to remain only towel-clad, considering what he was planning to do to Cloud once he made it back to the room. But one quick glance to his left revealed Roxas coming back into the house from the garage, looking both distressed and pissed at the same time.

Normally, Sephiroth would ignore this. It was certainly not his problem. Lately, however, Cloud's little brats had taken to coming to him for assistance with their issues. It was so very, very irritating, and so very, very bad for his sanity.

This was why he just knew Roxas was heading his way.

So, sighing heavily, Sephiroth stepped back into the bathroom to grab his jet black robe.

"Oh, Sephiroth!" Roxas called out, spotting him instantly in the black robe. "Can I talk to you for a moment?"

And that was how Sephiroth found himself at the police station, artfully placing little cuts on the police officers' skin when they weren't paying attention in order to convince them to let Axel, Rikku and her minions off free of charge, free of consequence, and free of any later problems. He was terrifying enough, he knew, without the physical violence, so it wasn't really needed. But if he had to come down here in his free time, he was going to get some practice out of it.

"Yo, Sephiroth! Thanks for…whatever you just did." Axel thanked him, smirking in a way that told Sephiroth that he was definitely not sorry.

"Axel," Roxas groaned, holding his hand as if he were a toddler that needed constant watching. "Was it really worth it? I mean, really?"

"Rikku. Why don't you answer that?"

Rikku beamed at Axel before giving Roxas a nonchalant shrug. "Burning people then hiding and making it look like it was an inanimate object that did it so they'll freak out is always worth it."

Sephiroth seethed on the inside. What was he becoming? In his single days, he never would have rescued a couple of brats for doing ridiculous public actions. Damn Cloud; making him fall in love.

"So, Seph, you're not going to tell Cloud, right?" Rikku worried suddenly, her optimism dying down with the threat of her overprotective big brother looming over her. "Please?"

Sephiroth rolled his eyes. And be the one who received the brunt of Cloud's irrational fretting? "No."

"Thanks Sephiroth. You know, now I kind of get why Cloud loves you so much." Roxas mulled, giving him a sincere smile. Sephiroth merely grimaced at him and turned away. He didn't need his compliments.

But if someone happened to look for one brief moment, they would have seen the corner of Sephiroth's mouth actually go up.

5: 18 P.M.

Cloud chuckled devilishly as he stood outside of Demyx's room, waiting for his younger brother to finish talking to his friend Xigbar on the phone. What were they talking about for so long anyway?

Whatever. It didn't matter. What mattered was that he was going to assist him in getting rid of Axel. Sephiroth had already done his part; he stealthily researched Roxas' past occupations to see which of them would cause a rift between the two.

Roxas had never told them where he worked, but Cloud always suspected that he used to be a stripper or a prostitute or something equally scandalous. It was in the way Roxas talked about it; he was always so defensive.

Once Sephiroth had indeed uncovered the scandalous job Roxas once held, Cloud knew all he needed to do was tell Demyx and plant the seed.

"Okay…okay, yes….alright already! I already told you I was going to seduce him tonight! Yes! Oh…fine. Bye!" Demyx huffed, finally managing to get off of the phone just as he exited his room. When he saw Cloud, he squealed loudly and jumped ten feet back.

"Cloud!" He breathed, cowering ever so slightly. "What are you doing?"

Cloud secured his arm around Demyx's shoulders, giving him a brotherly squeeze. "Demyx, I've decided that I like you."

Demyx looked at him like he was crazy. "Why?"

"I dunno." Cloud shrugged, dismissing the statement just as soon as he made it. "Anyway, because of this newfound respect for you, I've decided that I'm going to help you get Axel."

Now Demyx's face made him look like a mad scientist. "Woah, you're starting to freak me out, dude. If you need money or something, Cloud, just ask, man. I don't mind—"

"I don't want your money, Demyx. Some of us don't need to be rock stars to earn incomes, okay?" Cloud smirked, shaking his head. Money was the last thing he and Seph needed, thanks to their high-paying jobs. Stupid, naive Demyx. Sometimes he wondered how they were even related.

"So you're really just being nice?" Demyx questioned him suspiciously, still looking wary.

Cloud grinned even wider. "Cross my heart!"

Demyx suddenly relaxed in his arms, molding into Cloud's brotherly embrace as easily as silly putty. "Okay, great! Well, what did you have in mind?"

"I heard you're taking Axel clubbing tonight." Cloud began, walking Demyx down the hallway and back to his room. "I have a suggestion as to where."

7:25 P.M.

Axel waited silently inside the laundry room, twiddling his thumbs together with nerves he really shouldn't have felt. Roxas was his fiancé dammit! He shouldn't be scared to tell him that he just didn't want to have sex with him!

But still…Roxas was pretty sensitive. And by sensitive he meant a hothead. And by a hothead he meant a controlling, angry little blonde who always found a way to have…well, his way. Not really like a brat or anything. Just like…someone who never took no for an answer. Determined, was the word for it, he guessed.

He jumped as the laundry room door swung open, revealing Roxas holding a basket full of dirty clothes. Axel stared at him. Oooookaaay, he wasn't expecting that he actually wanted to do clothes! Oh! This changed everything!

"Here, let me get tho-"

"Sit on top of the washer machine." Roxas demanded, not even looking at him as he threw the clothes into said machine. Axel frowned. Well jeez; what the hell was his problem?

Roxas already forgave him for the jail thing thanks to Sephiroth, so it wasn't like there was any reason to stay mad at him.

Still, he wasn't one to enjoy Roxas' wrath, so he did as he was told, sitting down on the washer machine just as Roxas slammed its door. He tried to catch the blonde's eyes, to figure out just what the hell was going on, but Roxas kept his head down as he reached by him, placing both arms on either side of him to turn on the machine to the right settings.

Axel raised an eyebrow. Was he okay..? He was acting weird. Like, that crazy cow Isabel weird. And that was pretty weird.

The machine started going, but Roxas didn't move, instead keeping both arms on either side of him, trapping him. Wait…trapping him…?

Axel's eyes widened. Wait a minute—

Roxas lifted up his head and fixed him with a determined, lustful stare. "We're going to have sex."

Oh shit.

"Wait a sec Roxas; we're not going to have sex. I don't want to." He stammered, but he wasn't ready for this kind of attack. His voice was cracking, his whole demeanor screamed uke!, and frankly…Roxas looked sexy as hell.

Roxas smirked as he climbed on top of him, pulling off his shirt and displaying his perfect, golden body. Axel had to bite his lip to regain his control. This was not good.

For once he was trying to be a good boy, like the good son-in-laws who respected the rules and the house and shit, but Roxas hitting on him and jacking him off and looking all sexy and irresistible was just too much to bear!

"I wasn't asking you." Roxas snorted, ripping off their pants.

"Wait Roxas, I really like your mom."

Roxas bit his neck. "So?"

"So I respect her. I don't want to disrespect her by having sex in her house."

Roxas suddenly growled and stopped moving, making Axel sigh in relief, and in disappointment. Okay, so yeah, he wanted to respect the house and stuff, but his libido wasn't much better than Roxas'. Both contained large doses of testosterone. Sex between the two usually lasted about three hours minimum, neither tiring, and neither quitting.

"You picked the wrong day to start acting noble now." Roxas snapped, but he got off of him with a groan and started to put his pants back on. Axel smiled. He was only doing this because he loved him.

"I'm doing this for you, you know." Axel sang, grabbing his wrist so he could turn it over and kiss it. "You're going to respect me much more when this is over, Roxy baby."

His blonde lover merely hummed indifferently as he pulled his shirt over his head. "Sure, whatever you say."

But nevertheless, Roxas paused slightly and turned back to look at him. For a second they both just stared at each other, relearning the other the way they hadn't had a chance to since arriving. Finally, when Axel slowly smiled at him, Roxas spoke.

"You know," He began softly, "its already impossible for any living creature in this universe to love you more than I do. So don't feel like you have to impress me, okay?"

Axel grinned goofily. He loved hearing Roxas tell him that he loved him. It was the best feeling in the world. It was better than winning the lottery, better than winning American Idol, even better than sex!

Well, maybe not that…

Suddenly, the sexy beast inside of him began to stir from this proclamation, and Axel's pants, the same ones Roxas had just put back on him, were abruptly a little too tight. Was he…?

Oh no, was he horny? Now?

Roxas raised an eyebrow at the uncomfortable expression that had crossed his fiancé's face before his eyes wandered down to the tight bulge in his pants. He smirked.

"Someone a late bloomer?" He quipped, trying to hold back laughter. Axel scowled.

"Shut up, and come here." He ordered as he reached for him, but Roxas nimbly dodged his grasp and made a sudden movement for the door. He grinned playfully.

"I don't know Axel, I might respect you less." He sighed dramatically. "Damn, and I really wanted to…"

"Wanted to what?" He asked eagerly, unknowingly taking the bait.

"No, nothing, never mind… it's too late for that. Besides, I don't know if you would be able to be quiet enough once I start."

"Roxas, get back here. We're going to do it, now."

The said boy merely scoffed in amusement at the order. "No." He replied simply, and left the room. Axel frowned. He should have known that Roxas was not one to be told what to do, despite the hypocrisy that stirred from it. Ugh, screw honor and respect; he should have listened when Roxas wanted him to take him.

"Roxas!" Axel groaned, taking off after him and grabbing his arm. "Don't just walk away."

The blonde grinned at him. "What, miss me already?"

"No one likes a tease." Axel whispered playfully in his ear, giving it a little lick and watching as Roxas' cheeks reddened ever so slightly.

"I only tease you because I like you." Roxas snorted, pushing him away and hopping onto the counter. "I learned that from Riku."

Axel glowered immediately. "Don't say that name in this house."

"Have you forgotten that it's my house?" Roxas asked amusedly, raising an eyebrow. "Don't tell me you're jealous?"

"Considering you made out with him while I was gone, yeah, I guess I fucking am." Axel growled, stepping away from him and folding his arms. He was cool about Riku when Roxas told him the truth, but just thinking about it made his blood burn.

Something about the way Roxas and Riku acted around each other gave him all kinds of ideas about their relationship…

"Look at me." Roxas ordered seriously, and Axel obliged without even thinking about it. "I love you. Not Riku Nioki. I want you. Not Riku Nioki. I crave—"

"Cake!" Sora interrupted, suddenly appearing right in front of them. He turned to Axel and grinned cheekily. "I made you a welcome cake."

"No, I made the cake. Sora just whined the whole time." Riku interjected, entering the kitchen with a beautifully designed cake in his hands. "Happy, uh…happy…err…"

"Just take the cake!" Sora exclaimed, grabbing it from Riku's hands and thrusting it in Axel's direction. "It's for you."

Axel blinked at the two of them, slowly smiling. He was so flattered! "You made this for me? Wow. Thanks. No one's ever made me a cake before."

Roxas opened his mouth to protest, but Axel silenced him by correcting himself. "Fine, I mean, no one's ever made me a cake before that has actually tasted good."

"Shut up. A second ago you would've tasted anything I gave you." Roxas grumbled, rolling his eyes. "Who's the tease now?"

"I'm pretty sure it's still you." Sora snorted.

Demyx suddenly walked into the room with Cloud and Sephiroth trailing him, looking as if he just solved world hunger. His grin was almost too wide. "Hey guys!"

"Hey, Demyx…" Roxas answered warily, instantly frowning when Demyx perched next to Axel. "What's up? You look so…"

"Satiated." Riku finished, also appearing to be a little disturbed by how happy he looked. "You're blinding us with your smile."

"Axel." Demyx began, completely ignoring Roxas and Riku's comments. "You should go get dressed for our little thing. We need to leave an hour earlier than usual because of the fans."

"Fans?"

"You know…crowds of screaming girls—and guys—trying to rip off my clothes and do me right there on the floor…that kinda thing. If we leave early, we cut that crowd in half." He explained with a suggestive wink. Axel shuddered at the thought. Being trampled to death was the last thing he wanted.

"Fine. I'll see you later, Roxy." Axel smirked, leaning over to give him a quick kiss before taking off for the stairs. The tension in that room could cut a knife. It was the last thing he wanted to be in.

Roxas watched Axel go up the stairs for a moment before narrowing his eyes at Demyx. "Where are you going?"

Demyx faltered for an instant, allowing Cloud to step in front of him and save him. He gave Roxas a disapproving frown. "Roxas. The only reason Demyx is taking Axel out is to apologize for his inappropriate behavior, something you wanted us to do. Why won't you just let him?"

Roxas gaped. He wasn't used to Cloud taking Demyx's side. Usually, Cloud favored him more than the boyfriend-stealing rock star. "Yeah, but—"

"I thought you were better than this." Cloud shook his head. "Really, Rox."

Roxas groaned exasperatedly. "Fine! Fine…go take Axel wherever you want. Just…just stay away from Club Thirteen, okay?"

Demyx batted his eyes innocently. "But why?"

"Because!" Roxas snapped, before wincing and shooting him an apologetic look. "Sorry. It's just…it's dangerous there, okay? Axel would…he'd hate it there."

"Sure, Roxas. I'll try not to." Demyx answered back sweetly. "I really will try."

That didn't sit well with Roxas. Why try when he could just do?

"Great! Well Roxas, I think Pence, Hayner and Olette wanted you to meet them at the clock tower at 9:00. And it's—" Cloud checked his watch. "That time! You better go."

Roxas peered up at his bedroom anxiously. "I wanted to say goodbye to Axel before I—"

"He's a grown man, Rox! Just go!" Cloud shooed him, practically pushing him out of the kitchen and into the front door. "We'll tell him you said bye!"

"Fine! Jeez!" Roxas cried, fumbling with the door knob as Cloud and Demyx continued to push him into the door. "Look, I'm leaving, alright? Stop pushing me!"

"Sorry!" Demyx called out to him as he watched Roxas walk down their drive way and into his car. "See you later!"

Once Roxas was safely in the car and out of sight, Demyx turned to Cloud with a grateful smile. "You saved my ass."

Cloud sighed but gave him an encouraging pat. "Don't worry, you'll learn. Anyway, you better go get dressed and get out of here before Axel changes his mind."

11:10 P.M.

Two hours ago, Roxas had been shooed out of his own house by the one sibling he liked the most. Well, behind Sora and Namine, of course.

Now, as he sat on the clock tower, chewing on a sea salt ice cream bar, he was starting to feel uneasy about the whole thing. Why were Demyx and Cloud so eager for him to leave? It just seemed suspicious.

And it wasn't that he didn't like hanging out with Pence, Hayner and Olette. He loved his friends! They were amazing; they moved with him to New York without even being asked. It was just…Axel was too desirable for his own good! All kinds of people had to be hitting on him right now.

The clubs in this town were surprisingly worse than the ones in New York. The clubs in the city were sophisticated. The ones here were trashy. He would know. He used to be a—

"Oh no!" Olette gasped, squinting down at the neon lights from where she was seated on the high clock tower. Roxas immediately sat up. She saw something. Was it Axel?

"What is it?" Pence asked her gently, much more gently than Roxas would've asked her. She shook her head.

"Nothing. I-I just thought I saw…oh, it was probably nothing."

"What is it, dammit?" Hayner demanded impatiently, cocking his head at her. "Spit it out!"

"I just saw a crowd of girls go running into Club Thirteen, all holding Demyx memorabilia."

Roxas froze. Oh god. Demyx didn't.

Then it all clicked. Of course. Cloud must have found out and told Demyx to take Axel there in order to drive a wedge between them. Dammit!

"We have to go. Now."

11:30 P.M.

Roxas entered the club that was so familiar to him, it hurt. Damn Demyx for taking Axel here like this, and not even mentioning it to him. This was his life, dammit. His older brother had no damn business trying to run it.

"Hey Roxas! Haven't seen you in a while!" One of the dancers in the cages called down to him, doing a backbend to see him from where she was hanging. "You finally decided to come back to us?"

Roxas made a disapproving face at her, ignoring the curious looks that his three best friends were shooting him. He never exactly explained to them what he used to do here. Ugh, that cage girl was going to give him away! What made her think that he needed this demeaning shit?

"I've moved on from this. But it's nice to see you." And with that, he grabbed Olette and Pence's shirts and tugged them away from the half-naked cage dancers and towards the bar. At least he knew the bartender would be some help.

"Roxas is pretty serious about this, huh?" Olette whispered to Pence as they stumbled to keep up with Roxas' crazy serial killer pace. Pence nodded furiously.

"I know. I never knew he was so possessive." He whispered back, but unfortunately it wasn't quiet enough. Roxas whirled on his two friends. Jeez, what kind of friends talked about the other friend when he was right there?

"I'm not possessive!" He shouted, glaring at Pence, before whirling back around and stalking off to the bar. "Whatever, I don't care anymore, why don't you two find a cage girl to ogle?"

That was probably harsher than he needed to be, but right now, the only thing on his mind was Axel. He immediately softened at the thought of him. Axel…he thought Roxas was his angel. He couldn't let him know that he used to bartend here, hell, some occasions he even caged danced.

No. He shook his head. Axel couldn't find out about this. And, although he wouldn't admit it to Olette and Pence…Axel was his.

But he wasn't possessive at all! Nope. Not even a sliver.

Pushing past all of the grinding bodies and the dancing males, he made his way over to the bar, his eyes flitting across the entire club. No such luck. Damn, he was going to have to do this old school.

"Roxas. What are you doing back here; this place isn't for you anymore." A quiet voice asked him, a voice so quiet, it contrasted with the loud atmosphere of the club. Roxas sighed at the sight of his old friend. He had hoped they would meet on different circumstances. Actually, he had hoped they wouldn't meet in this place at all.

"Zexion…I need your help." Roxas hesitated, eyeing his small, beautiful old bartending partner in indecision. "Can I make an announcement on the head speakers?"

Zex smirked, and suddenly he didn't seem so small and fragile anymore. "Why? Lose someone, Roxas?" When he growled, Zexion added, "Never knew you were so possessive with your ukes."

That was the last straw for his politeness.

"Give me the fucking microphone, Zexion, before I hop over there and get it my fucking self." He spat, earning a couple of appalled stares from the people around him. He glared at them. "What, never heard anyone threaten someone before?"

Zexion gave him a sardonic half-smile. "Calm down, Roxas, I was only playing."

"Well I'm not."

"Did I hit a nerve? Did you really lose your uke?" A pause. "Wait…oh god; you're not even the seme are you? You're the uke!"

Roxas sighed, frustrated and blushing. "C'mon Zex, this is important."

Zexion's teasing, almost cruel demeanor melted, and once again he was simply Zexion, small and fragile and quiet. "I'm sorry, but you know as well as I do that I can't do that."

Damn. He thought for sure that Zexion would let him use the mike, no questions asked, but now he had to go and throw the rule book, the one he himself slaved over back when he was a bartender, back in his face.

Roxas must have been silent for a while, because Zexion suddenly muttered to himself, "Man, you really are possessive."

"I'm not possessive!" Roxas shouted, suddenly aggravated again. Why was everyone saying that?

Zexion watched him in amusement for a couple of seconds before going back to preparing a drink for a new customer. "So where's that cute singer of a brother of yours?" He asked, partly trying to make small talk and partly curious. "Haven't seen him around here in a while."

Roxas scowled at the mention of that fiancé stealing traitor. "Around here somewhere with my boyfriend."

Zexion raised an eyebrow as he handed the customer their drink. "Is that why you're here?"

Roxas remained silent. There was no need for Zex to know everything from him when it was obvious he could figure it out himself. But just as he was about to say something to him, the crowd went crazy, and the DJ cut whatever song was playing abruptly to put on one of Demyx's latest singles.

The second he heard the melodious sound of Demyx's voice, Roxas' whole demeanor darkened angrily. It was time to go get his fiancé.

11: 35 P.M.

Axel, with a raised eyebrow, observed the club Demyx had dragged him to a little over an hour ago. And how was it going? Well…in theory, in his bedroom, it had seemed like a perfectly innocent idea, going to a club with his fiancé's brother. It could be, y'know, bonding or whatever.

But now, as he watched the women dressed in scanty clothing (well, the ones dressed, at least) grinding in cages while men and women practically had sex all around him…he realized he'd made a terrible mistake. A mistake that he couldn't believe he made. A mistake that would probably piss off Roxas and a whole damn lot.

How much of a dumbass did he have to be, thinking he could ignore a sexy celebrity hitting on him every chance he got in an atmosphere that practically begged him to have sex with someone?

"Alright, alright, we have a special guest in the house tonight, as if you guys didn't already know!" The DJ shouted as he began playing one of Demyx's singles, making the crowd in the club go crazy. Axel grimaced as a pair of what appeared to be teenage girls began making out right on top of him in their uncontained excitement. Nice.

He needed a drink.

Shoving past the couples, he managed to squeeze his way to the bar, ignoring the way a couple of girls were eyeing him flirtatiously. Any other time he would have gladly done a little flirting himself; Pssh, nothing was wrong with flirting! It was fun and it gave you confidence! But tonight he felt too stupid to care. How in the hell was Roxas supposed to trust him if he couldn't even make wise decisions?

He frowned miserably. Roxas was going to kick his ass once he discovered that he and Demyx actually kissed. Made lip-to-lip contact. Sucked face. Lip lock-

"Is that you Axel?" A soft, familiar voice asked him, and Axel glanced up stonily to see his old best friend from high school, Zexion something. He smirked. Did he ever even know Zexion's last name? Some best friend he was.

"Hey Sexy Zexy!" Axel greeted loudly, now considerably more cheerful at seeing a familiar face- one that was scowling from the detested nickname. Well, at least one that wasn't Demyx's traitorous ass. The purple-haired boy gave him a scathing glare before turning around and starting to work on someone's drink. Axel blinked. Wait…he was the bartender? His smirk returned. Interesting.

"I guess some things never change." Zexion called from over his shoulder, but Axel could have sworn he heard him mumble, "Like your stupidity."

His grin remained effortlessly in place. How come they lost touch? Sexy Zexy was a great pick-me-up! "What's an irresistibly cute guy like you doing in a naughty place like this?"

Zexion slid another fruity, alcoholic concoction down the bar, and turning back to Axel, he leaned in towards him on the bar with an exhausted huff. "Bartending."

Gee, Zexion, because he obviously couldn't see that. "Oh really? I hadn't noticed."

Zexion grinned. "There's another thing that hasn't changed. You're just as unobservant and self-centered as you were in high school."

"Eh well…it's become a habit really." He answered with a shrug, and Zexion laughed. "You here with someone?"

Axel's smirk immediately fell, replaced with a ferocious growl. "Yeah, with a fucking kiss stealer."

Zexion looked amused before straightening and taking another customer's order. "That kind of stuff never seemed to bother you before."

Axel let out a frustrated bark. "I've never been…practically attacked…by my fiancé's hot older brother before."

Zexion spilled the drink he was mixing, much to the chagrin of the man who was waiting to give the drink to the woman he was seducing. Axel snorted. Real men didn't need to get their dates drunk to have their way with them.

His old friend turned around slowly, looking at him with an expression akin to fatherly pride. Axel stiffened and gave him an odd look. He was just sharing a piece of information, a piece of his horrid day. There was no need to cry, jeez.

"So it's finally happened to you, eh?" He said softly, and Axel raised an eyebrow. Uh...to what experience was he referring to? Being hit on?

At Axel's skeptical, bewildered look, Zexion tilted his head and said, "Even a guy like you found love."

"The hell do you mean a guy like me?" Axel demanded, instantly feeling insulted. What the hell? He came over and chatted him up like they were good buddies and Sexy Zexy rudely insults him?

Zexion grabbed his hand, stopping him from stalking off, and the red head narrowed his eyes, feeling his hand heat up with that recognizable heat, that proverbial rage. Don't touch. The purple-eyed bartender quickly removed his hand, but not before hastening to elucidate himself.

"I wasn't trying to insult you, Axel. I meant that a guy who was living life to the fullest but still was experiencing life knocking him back down was able to fully trust someone with their heart." He explained before looking down at his hands. "I still…I haven't reached that stage yet. It's encouraging to see that you have."

Oh. Axel felt the fire within him simmer down to a slow burn, and his cocky smirk returned back onto his, dare he say it, quite sexy face. "Jealous yet, Sexy Zexy? Not that I can blame you…I'm a hot commodity, obviously, but Roxas is quite the catch."

Zexion snorted in disbelief, almost as an instantaneous reaction. "Me, jealous of you? Don't make me-" Suddenly he paused and spilled the man's drink once more, causing him to just walk off without paying him.

"Can you believe that guy?" Axel scoffed as he watched him go with a sneer. Asshole. People made mistakes. Then he turned back to Zexion with a raised eyebrow. "Anyway, what's wrong now?"

"Roxas Haiku? He's your fiancé?" He sputtered, and Axel nodded, not understanding the problem. "Yeah. What of it? You know him?"

"Of course I know him! And that makes the older brother you were talking about-"

"Demyx." Axel replied scornfully, his eyes flashing dangerously at the name before relaxing back into their usual smug expression.

Zexion finally just shook his head and grabbed one of the nearby beers. He tossed it to Axel, who took it with a curious lift of his brow.

"Trust me; you're going to need this. I just saw him about a minute before you came over here. He was pissed. He practically threatened me just to get control of my microphone so he could find you."

Axel swore and took a long swig of the beer Zexion kindly gave him as his old pal went back to bartending the now annoyed and impatient customers. Roxas was here. Damn. He might as well kiss his ass goodbye, because Roxas was going to demolish it when he found out about the kiss.

"Seriously, though," Zexion frowned as he made his way back to his miserable friend, "what the hell were you thinking, coming to this orgy with his flirtatious older brother in the first place without telling him? You should know how possessive he is; hell, even I know that."

Axel scowled. Thanks Zex. Like he didn't already know that. "Guess I'd better go find him."

Zexion nodded like he was stupid before swirling back to his customers. Axel slowly got to his feet to find his fiancé. Better get this over with sooner than later.

"Oh and Axel?"

"Yeah?"

Zexion actually hopped over the bar counter, ignoring the protests from the spectators, to come over to Axel face to face. He gave him a grave look.

"I'm going to tell you something, something that isn't my business, but something I feel like you should know." He began, and Axel narrowed his eyes at him expectantly, but anxiously. "Roxas used to work here with me as a bartender, but he started off as a dancer. That's part of way he's so upset. Try to understand what he has to be feeling right now, okay?"

Axel blinked at him slowly, trying to imagine Roxas up in one of those cages. At first he thought of the sweet, blushing boy that he was able to melt in and couldn't. But when he really thought of Roxas Haiku, possessive, playful and sexy, he could see the blonde up in the cage, moving his sexy body in exotic positions.

This made him feel…a lot of things, he supposed. Jealous…irritated…sad for him…

Why didn't he tell him? They were supposed to be getting married, for Christ sake…

Axel blinked back down at Zexion, who was looking up at him as if he wasn't sure if he should have told him. It was fine…because it appeared as if Roxas had never planned to tell him at all.

"I'll…call you up sometime, Zexy." Axel muttered, giving him a brief salute before shaking his head. What a fucked up night. Well, whatever. Hell, he was just going to have to suck it up and find Roxas. They had more than enough to talk about it once the blonde calmed down.

If the blonde calmed down.

11:49 P.M.

Roxas frowned from his perch sitting on the edge of the DJ stand. Normally clubbers weren't allowed to be on the stand, considering DJ Takashi was a stickler about his space. But Roxas was used to being an exception, and he had made many a friend when he was working at this club. At least his past job gave him some kind of positive benefits.

"Ay, Roxas! You see your man?" DJ Takashi yelled over at him, moving with the beat of the next hit he began to mix. The crowd changed the pace of their dancing accordingly with shouts of exhilaration. "He has to be somewhere around here!"

Roxas snorted, finally spotting his redheaded idiot leaning against the wall on the far left of the club, his demeanor a warning to anyone who dared fuck with him tonight.

Hmm, he was going to be somewhere alright. Somewhere far, far away from Demyx and this goddamn club.

11:50 P.M.

Demyx grimaced as he searched the crowd for the man he unsuccessfully tried to seduce. Jeez, this whole seduction thing was getting beyond ridiculous. What did he have to do to get Axel to stop running away from him and see that he was the one for him, not Roxas?

Ignoring the clinging arms that shot out from every person he passed who were just bubbling with excitement at seeing him in the flesh, he crossed his arms and sighed. He had forgotten what it was like to be a normal person; a person who couldn't get whatever he wanted by just blinking.

This was why Axel was so special. He could actually resist him…he saw Demyx for more than just a celebrity.

And Axel was hot. Let's not forget that.

But there was the tricky business of Axel's stubbornness. Or should he say Axel's loyalty. It was maddening! Why couldn't that loyalty be directed towards something that would appreciate it, like him?

"Demyx, I love you!" A woman who had suddenly jumped out in front of him cried, tugging on his tight black shirt.

He smirked. "I love you too."

He promised himself long ago that he would never be mean to a fan, no matter how annoying or how obsessed they were. Besides, since this was his hometown, most people didn't fawn too much over him.

It was as he was mulling over this that he saw a flash of red hair looming in the distance, owned by a tall, sulking person. Axel!

Time for take two!

11:55 P.M.

Axel sneezed. Twice. And that did not sit well with him.

Even in his sulking, he was a very perceptive person, and he had the feeling that doom was about to be inflicted upon him. Again.

He glanced around fleetingly. Was there anywhere to hide? No, not unless you counted the miniscule space between the grinding bodies as hiding places. Truth be told, he was so lean that he probably could fit between them. But that was both unsanitary and gross, and he had enough seduction pooling in his pores. Ew.

It was as he was looking around that he noticed two blonde heads coming in his direction from opposite sides of the club. One was small with spikes all over the place, looking both enraged and relieved at the same time, while the other was tall and muscled being trailed by what had to be the entire club.

Axel gulped. Well, it was nice that he managed to stay alive for so long…now it was time to meet his end.

"Axel!" Demyx exclaimed with a little laugh, unaware of the proximity of his brother. "I've been looking everywhere for you! After our kiss, you just disappeared!"

"What?" Roxas demanded murderously as he finally reached them, and Axel shut his eyes in frustration. Damn Demyx! Now Roxas knew about the kiss before he had a chance to explain it. This wasn't going to end well.

"Now Roxas, it isn't what it sounds like, okay? Just calm down-" He began, but the angry blonde quickly cut him off.

"Calm down? Calm down? Why the hell should I do that? So you can feed me some lie?" Roxas snapped, looking angrier than Axel had ever seen him. "Jeez, Axel, I thought I could trust you!"

The entire place seemed to be silent, as if this was the first fight that had ever happened in the club. Axel sincerely doubted that, but obviously any fight that the famous Demyx was involved in had to be good. It would only be a matter of time before the press was called.

But at the moment, he could care less. In fact, strangely enough, he was kind of angry at Roxas, too. He was kind of acting like a jerk, screaming at him as if he was some little kid. And Axel, as partial as he was to Roxas, wasn't going to take that shit from anyone.

"You have your nerve, Roxas." Axel sneered, crossing his arms and glaring down at him. "When were you going to tell me about your amazing cage dancing career?"

"Whaaaat?" Demyx gasped unconvincingly. "Roxas, I had no idea you danced here!"

Roxas flinched back as if Axel had slapped him. "Who…who told you about that?" He gasped.

Axel's eyes narrowed, ignoring his question. So he admitted it! "You weren't going to tell me at all, were you?"

Roxas fell silent and scowled at the floor. Finally, he muttered, "What's it matter?"

"'What's it matter?'" Axel exploded, throwing his arms up in the air incredulously. Oh come on! Surely Roxas had a better excuse than that. "What do you mean, 'what's it matter'? We're supposed to tell each other everything!"

"Then why didn't you call and tell me you were coming to a freaking sex club with my hot older brother who obviously has a crush on you, huh?" Roxas shot back, gaining his voice, and the upper hand, back again. "You weren't planning to tell me about the kiss, either, huh?"

Zexion, who had been pushing his way through the crowd, suddenly appeared, looking more than a little anxious. "Hey, guys, you're going to have to take this argument outside. The owner is threatening to call the cops."

Roxas whirled, suddenly glaring at Zexion with something akin to hatred. "And you! How dare you tell him something so personal about my life! I wish everyone would just get out of my goddamn business and leave me alone!"

"Dammit Roxas, don't yell at him! He was just being a good friend!" Axel shouted back, disliking the way Roxas was trying to blame everyone but himself. Take some responsibility!

"Roxas, Axel, Demyx, please! Yell at me, hate me, whatever, just go outside and do it! I don't want to see you guys get arrested!" Zexion pleaded. Roxas continued to glare at him dispassionately before shaking his head and clutching his spikes with both hands.

"You know what, Zexion? I don't care if I get arrested. My heart has already committed a crime by loving someone that I can't trust." Roxas whispered, averting his eyes from Axel's own fiery green orbs. "The engagement's off."

Roxas was speaking so quietly that Axel couldn't have he heard him correctly. "What? W-What did you say?"

"I said," Roxas began, his voice growing in intensity, "that the engagement is off! I don't want to marry you. And….And I don't love you anymore!"

Axel felt his breath catch in his throat, and a dull ache pounded at his heart. What…what….what should he do? How did he stop Roxas from…from not loving him? This was too heavy; this, this he couldn't handle.

"I…" Axel trailed, struggling to find the words that would make it seem as if Roxas didn't just break his heart in the worst way possible. "You…we…"

Roxas, watching him from under his lashes, pretended as if he couldn't tell that his words had just cut Axel deeply. He didn't want this either. But he couldn't take back what he just said. It was too late for that.

But just as he was about to give in and deny everything he had said, Demyx stepped forward and pressed his lips against Axel's, causing the entire club to erupt in excited screams and catcalls.

"It doesn't matter if you do or don't want him anymore. We're together now. When we kissed, we connected, which is more than I can say for the two of you." Demyx explained snidely, giving Roxas a triumphant grin. "Face it, you lost."

Roxas laughed darkly as all thoughts of reconciliation vanished from his mind. "I lost, did I?"

No one could predict the sickening crack that Roxas' fist would cause Demyx's nose. As girls began to scream in fear for Demyx's beautiful face, the blonde terror turned to Axel and announced coldly, "I didn't lose. I quit."

Axel watched Roxas stalk away with raw panic. "Roxas, wait!"

"I hope you two are happy together!" He shouted without turning around, and he soon disappeared between the bodies.

Axel felt his breathing quicken, as if he had just been running for miles, and he couldn't seem to catch it again. "What's…what's happening?"

"It's the po po!" Someone in the crowd shouted, and suddenly everyone was running in all directions to avoid being charged as bystanders to a supposed attempt at murder.

"Shit, it's the cops! Axel, we have to go!" Demyx cried, shaking him and trying to break him from his self-induced mini trance. "Zexion is waving is towards the back, I think there's another exit over there!"

Axel blinked rapidly, still trying to grasp what had just happened as Demyx pulled him towards some kind of exit. Did he and Roxas just break up? Roxas didn't…Roxas didn't love him anymore…

He pressed his fingers to his temples and shut his eyes tightly, willing all of this to vanish as if it had never happened to begin with.

2:00 A.M.

Cloud paced around his room anxiously, just waiting for Axel and Roxas to walk through the door in the midst of an argument. This was going to be epic!

"Is it true?" A deep, hesitant voice suddenly asked from his door. Cloud whirled around. Leon.

"Is what true?" He questioned, smiling at his long-time best friend. This was good…it looked like Leon was finally coming around; he was finally ready to be his friend again!

Leon ignored his smile and stayed in the entry-way. "Is it true you told Demyx to take Axel to the club that Roxas used to dance at; the club he is insecure about?"

Cloud's smile became a bit more mischievous at the mention of his ingenious plan. "Hell yeah, that was me. What of it?"

Instead of looking impressed at the sound of his plan, Leon just looked sick. "You're becoming just like Sephiroth, aren't you?"

Cloud's face fell in astonishment. "What? What are you talking about?"

"I mean," Leon continued as if he had never even spoken, "you've always been protective of your siblings—especially Roxas, but you've never been…vindictive. Cruel."

Cloud began to feel the stirrings of anger in the pit of his stomach. "Oh, is that it, then? You're just going to come into my house after ignoring my calls for months and judge me? You barely even know me now!"

The muscular man in his doorway fell silent at his words. Finally, he muttered, "You're right, Cloud. I don't know you anymore. Because the Cloud I used to know…the Cloud I was in love with…would never purposely hurt his little brother, or anyone else, for that matter."

Now it was Cloud's turn to be speechless.

"Sorry to bother you. Seifer and I are heading out. See you…sometime." Leon said sadly, and as Cloud stared at him wordlessly, he turned around and shut the door.

Cloud blinked for a moment, registering all that Leon had said and accused him of. Was it true? Had being married to a man like Sephiroth changed him? Tarnished him?

No. None of this was Sephiroth's fault. This was all his doing; Cloud was the one who had become a power-hungry, sibling-owning jerk.

Sephiroth suddenly entered the room, looking more than a little annoyed. "Was that Leon I just saw leaving this room?"

Cloud sighed as he threw himself onto the bed. "Seph, be honest. Have I changed?"

"No." Sephiroth answered without a hint of hesitation. Cloud knew he was being honest—Sephiroth didn't play games—but that didn't make him feel any better. He couldn't get Leon's sad expression out of his mind. He hated to disappoint people; most of all, his best friend.

"Leon found out I was the one behind Demyx taking Roxas to the club. He thinks I've changed for the worst." He explained, burying his face in his pillow. "What if he's right?"

Sephiroth relaxed his aggressive stance (he was still annoyed at Leon having been in his room) and went to sit next to Cloud. He remained silent for a moment before softly admitting, "I love all sides of you."

"So you admit that I'm different than how I used to be!" Cloud accused, sitting up and searching his husband's eyes with heartbreaking seriousness. "I've changed!"

"You've grown." Sephiroth amended harshly, disliking Cloud's implication that he was lying. "That isn't the same as being different."

Cloud fell silent at Sephiroth's no-nonsense tone.

"If Leon wishes for you to be the same innocuous boy you were a year ago, he is deluding himself. You are an adult now, Cloud. You've experienced trials and tribulations that only married couples can face. And still, you are able to laugh and love life as no other man has." Sephiroth explained lazily, as if the whole conversation bored him. "Do not allow Leon's jealousy to make you question yourself."

Cloud nodded grudgingly. "You're right."

"Now," Sephiroth began with a shrug, "your actions toward your brother's fiancé were, in fact, vindictive with little cause. However, you were only enacting what I had suggested, and for that, no one can accuse you of being cruel. Merely… irrationally overprotective."

Cloud fell back against the pillow. Great. Now he was back to feeling bad.

"Maybe I did get a little vindictive…" He admitted, running a hand through his spikes. Before Sephiroth could answer, the front door downstairs suddenly creaked open, cutting through the quiet house with loud clarity.

Sephiroth glanced towards the clock. "It is a little after two in the morning."

Cloud winced. "It has to be Roxas or Axel."

The couple quietly left the room and went to the staircase that overlooked the first floor of the house. There they had a clear view of the front door without having to actually move downstairs. What they saw shocked them.

There, in a small, blonde, crumpled heap was Roxas, cradling a beautiful diamond ring in his hands.

That's when it hit Cloud.

"Sephiroth," he gasped, turning towards his husband in shock. "What did you say Axel was to Roxas again?"

Sephiroth raised an eyebrow before self-assuredly answering, "Axel is Roxas' fiancé."

Cloud was suddenly filled with a peculiar mix of astonishment and remorse. What had he done?

"H-How do you know?"

"Namine confessed it to me yesterday after Roxas told her." Sephiroth answered, but not before shooting him an 'are you a dumbass?' look. "In addition…I have eyes. Where were yours?"

2:04 A.M.

Sora blushed as he switched his cell phone from his left ear to his right. The screen of his Droid was sweaty and filled with bacteria due to it being beside his ears for so long, but he didn't care. All he knew was that Riku was telling him everything he wanted to hear…despite it being over the telephone.

"Sora, what am I going to do with you?" Riku mulled absently from the other line, his voice slightly deeper and sultrier as a result of their intimate nighttime chat.

Sora blushed even deeper. He already had a couple of ideas, none of them PG.

"Riku…" He smiled, playing with his bedspread, "Is it true what you said before?"

"What?"

"That you think I'm handsome?" Sora whispered, covering his face with his hands in embarrassment. As much as he liked talking to Riku like this, he had to admit it was a little embarrassing. He wasn't used to being mushy and stuff.

Not that he was complaining.

Riku groaned. "Sora, I told you that I thought you were beautiful. Not handsome. Saying your handsome makes you sound like some Prince who has just rescued me or something."

"So? That doesn't sound so bad to me." He argued, laughing while Riku retaliated with all the reasons he couldn't possibly be handsome.

That's when he heard the front door creak open slowly, like some kind of horror film.

"Uh, Riku. I'm going to have to call you back." Sora frowned, opening his door and venturing to the stair case. "I need to check on something."

After shutting his phone and safely depositing it into his pocket, he poked his spiky head over the railing and squinted at the door. Was that Roxas? All he could see was a little ball of blonde, rocking back and forth like some kind of insane asylum patient.

"Sora." A voice suddenly murmured, and he whipped around. What the hell—

When he turned, however, he saw that it was only Sephiroth and Cloud who had called him. Then they saw what he was seeing: one very broken Roxas.

"What happened?" He demanded, pointing to his depressed twin. This was unacceptable. Sora hated when people got hurt, but he hated it even more when it was his brother. Someone was asking to get their ass kicked.

"They were engaged, Sor..." Cloud informed him softly, pointing towards a gorgeous diamond ring that was slightly visible from Roxas' scrunched up hands. "…And we ruined it."

Sora was silent for a tense moment, registering the enormity of what Cloud had just told him. That meant all of the ruined conversations and overprotective actions from his family and friends…all of that…were tiny stabs at Axel and Roxas' relationship.

Sora sighed and began descending down the stairs. There was only one thing left to do.

"Come on. Let's go fix this."

2:15 A.M.

Axel felt sick to his stomach for what had to be the tenth time this night. And it only seemed to get worse with time.

"Don't worry Axel! You'll be even happier than you were now that you're free!" Demyx babbled. Axel wasn't quite sure what he was saying, but he knew it was some freaking nonsense.

He could never be happy without Roxas. He didn't want to be free!

He wanted to be tied down, dammit!

But not literally. He'd had enough of that, thank you.

Zexion glanced over at him as he led them through an alley that would lead to his apartment. "Axel…I feel partly responsible for all of this."

He glared at him. That was for damn sure. "Oh, you think?" He answered sarcastically.

His old friend shrugged and turned his attention back forward. "You're angry, I get it. You don't want to talk right now."

Axel remained silent. It wasn't that he didn't want to talk. It was that he didn't want to talk to the two guys who were partly responsible for breaking him and his fiancé up. It was a perfectly reasonable reaction to not want to talk to the guys who fucked up his life, right?

"So Axel!" Demyx gushed, grabbing his hand and swinging it. "When should we announce to everyone that we're together?"

Axel snatched his hand from his grasp. He didn't hold hands with guys that were life-ruiners. "Are you crazy? We aren't together now, we certainly weren't together in the club, and we won't be together in the near future, got it?"

Demyx looked crestfallen. "Where is this coming from?"

Axel shut his eyes and counted to three. It wasn't going to help, getting all angry at Demyx. The singer had already been punched by his little brother once. He didn't need to be hit again.

Still…he deserved it.

"Demyx, have you not noticed that I'm completely and utterly taken already?" Axel snapped, more than a little tired of his antics. "Can't you take a freaking hint?

Zexion gave him a pointed frown. "Axel! Don't take your frustrations out on him."

Was he serious?

"Oh, and why the hell not?" Axel hollered, following Zexion so closely that he was practically on his heels. "Why can't I take my frustrations out on the guy who tried to seduce me? He's pretty much ruined everything!"

Now Demyx's whole body seemed to slump. "Jeez, I didn't know you hated me, Axel."

Now, no one could ever dispute that Axel was murderous when he was angry. But few people realized that he was actually a pretty reasonable guy. Hell, he was even known to be nice. This, unfortunately for Axel, was one of those times.

"Look, Demyx. I'm sorry, okay? I don't hate you." He gritted out from between his teeth, frowning when the blonde singer perked up. "Hey, that doesn't mean I love you or anything."

"You will once Roxas is out of the picture." Demyx muttered, thoughtlessly vocalizing his thought. But Axel heard it. Ho boy, he heard it!

That was it. Enough was enough.

It was time to be a man and let Demyx know how things worked around here.

"Demyx!" He shouted, grabbing him by his collar and pressing him against the brick wall. Zexion gaped and seemed to have a heart attack, but Axel ignored him and looked deeply into his green eyes. "I'm only going to say this once, so listen up. I am in love with Roxas. I will never be in love with you while we are together, because Roxas is a possessive little entity that requires all of my heart to love. He is my fiancé. He is my life. He is the only man for me. Got it memorized?"

Demyx eyes were so wide, they looked like flying saucers. It would have been funny, actually, if he wasn't so annoyed.

"Y-You and Rox…were engaged?" Demyx gasped, looking so incredibly shocked, Axel had to wonder why it was so surprising to everyone. "Why didn't you say anything?"

Axel faltered. Good fucking question.

"Well," He began uncertainly, letting go of Demyx and scratching the back of his head. "I guess I kind of liked the attention."

As he said it, Axel realized with absolute certainty that it was true. He liked Demyx's affection…if not just for the ego boost. That could only mean one thing…

This was his entire fault.

He scowled.

"Dammit."

2:50 A.M.

All the Haiku family members and their friends sat in the living room of the giant, farm-like house, simply staring at each other. Well, all the family members and friends except for the ones involved—Roxas, Axel, Demyx and Zexion. But the majority certainly was there.

And none of them were happy.

"I can't believe I didn't realize my baby was engaged." Hannah spoke softly, her voice trembling. "You could practically see the love in his eyes."

"Now all they're filled with is hurt." Sora mumbled from his spot on the couch next to Riku. He figured calling him over would only help an already screwed-up night. Riku nodded in agreement, running a hand through his hair. "He wasn't even this hurt when we broke up."

"Is that what everyone is so worried about? The fact that he was engaged? The fact that they're broken up now? Shouldn't we be worrying about the solution? Aren't we going to do something?" Rikku cried, jumping up from Cloud's lap. He rolled his eyes and roughly pulled her back down.

"Put a sock in it. Don't you think we know that?" He huffed, tossing her onto Sephiroth. The other male raised a cool eyebrow at him before chucking her back to him.

"Dammit, stop that!" Rikku demanded indignantly before finally just standing up with her arms crossed. "The point I was trying to make is that sitting here isn't going to help anything."

"What do you suggest?" Namine asked her quietly.

Rikku pursued her lips at Yuna and Lulu, who both stared back at her blankly. Hell if they knew. The blonde sighed pointedly. "Well?"

"How should we know?" Yuna cried while Lulu added, "We don't even live here."

"Neither does Axel." Leon, who had been invited back to the house after much begging from Cloud, threw out, sinking deeper into the couch he was sitting on. Seifer punched him in the arm. "Stupid. That doesn't matter."

Rikku's eyes widened, and suddenly a terrible, amazing idea popped into her head. "I've got it!"

"Oh no…" Sora groaned, burying his face into Riku's chest.

3:30 A.M.

"What am I supposed to do now? Do I go back to the house, like a creep? Or do I stay away, like a creep?" Axel groaned as the three of them stood in front of Zexion's flat in the downtown area. He was contemplating calling a cab or convincing Demyx to drive him back to the house, but he wasn't sure if that was such a great idea.

It took forever for the Haikus to like him. Now that he and Roxas weren't together anymore, how long would it take for them to forgive him?

"Who knows and who cares! Look at this place!" Demyx exclaimed, checking out Zexion's pad in awe. "This is freaking amazing!"

Axel had to agree with him on that. It was pretty freaking amazing.

"Come on in. Take a load off, enjoy, please." Zexion offered grandly, opening the door and leading them inside. "Surprisingly, my bartending skills have been good to me."

Demyx seemed to be looking at Zexion in an entirely new light. "You're so awesome."

"Coming from a celebrity, I'll take that as an immense compliment." Zexion smiled, hiding a blush behind the hair swooped over a side of his face.

Axel grimaced. It wasn't that he didn't like to see blossoming love. It was just that his love was doing the opposite! And right now, he didn't want to see the two people who helped ruin his life starting a new relationship!

"Guys, back to me, okay?" Axel snapped, folding his arms and leaning against the wall right next to the front door. "Should I go back to the house?"

Demyx pursed his lips. "Nah, I don't think Roxas will want to be anywhere near you right now. He already punched me, his own brother. Who knows who he'll punch next?"

3:45 A.M.

Roxas punched the strawberry cupcake in his hand and watched it go soaring into the air, landing with a soft thud on Sora's carpet. He hated Riku's too-sugary sweets. They gave him a headache and made him feel ten pounds heavier than before.

But, he supposed, it was nice that his ex boyfriend was trying to cheer him up. Exes certainly didn't tend to do that. Then again, Roxas did look a little crazy when he first came in the house, what with all of that dramatic rocking back and forth as if he belonged in the loony bin.

He glanced at the Mickey Mouse clock hanging in Sora's room. It was almost four o'clock. Where was Axel? Was he going to come back to the house?

Roxas hoped he would. This was ridiculous. They should be together, working this all out. Then again, he did tell the man that he didn't love him anymore. That would hurt anyone.

"Aw, fuck!" Roxas sighed loudly as he plopped down on Sora's bed, causing him to bang his head on the headboard. Double fuck. Now he was probably going to wind up with a concussion, knowing his luck.

Why the hell did he tell Axel he didn't love him anymore? That wasn't true. In fact, he wasn't sure he could ever stop loving him, even if he wanted to.

He was just so mad at him! He should have known better than to go to that club with Demyx behind his back! He had the whole damn day to tell him Demyx asked him to go, and he didn't use any of those opportunities. How were they going to have a lasting relationship if they didn't trust each other?

"Axel will come back." Roxas said to no one in particular, staring up gloomily at the ceiling. He was afraid if he didn't, they really would be over. They had to work this out.

They just had to.

Suddenly, Riku popped his head inside his room. Instantly he groaned. Why was he everywhere?

"What?" Roxas snapped at him, shooting him an irritated look. If he was here to tease him…

"I thought maybe you might want to talk." Riku offered kindly, entering the room a bit more. Roxas' anger melted. Jeez, look at him, taking his frustrations out on Riku. He was just being a good friend!

Except, Roxas noticed with a wary expression on his face, friends didn't walk around shirtless when they knew their perfect, Adonis bodies made the other uncomfortable. They didn't lick their lips as suggestively as Riku was either.

And they sure as hell didn't lock the door behind them.

11:32 A.M.

Roxas awoke the next morning wrapped comfortingly in long, lean arms. Before he could stop himself, he jerked upright, his heart beating anxiously and excitedly. Could it be…?

"Axel?" He cried hopefully, nudging the body covered in blankets with his toe. The body groaned huskily, stretching in a catlike manner before sitting up. All of the cover fell aside to reveal…

"Riku. Oh. It's just you." Roxas grumbled, yanking the blankets out of Riku's grasp and nestling himself underneath them. "Go away."

Riku stretched again, this time reaching his arms to the sky, showing off his rippling muscles. Roxas huffed and remained silent. This was the quickly becoming the worst morning ever. Why the hell was he showing off his body this early in the day? In fact, what was he even doing in his bed?

"Since you were so emotional last night, I came in to check on you this morning. When I came in, you looked cold, so I wrapped my arms around you to heat you up." Riku explained, almost as if he read his mind. "I figured since I'm so goddamn hot, it would warm you right up!"

Roxas scowled even deeper. It was official. Now it really was the worst morning ever.

"Well," Roxas grumbled slowly, "do you mind leaving now? You can tell Sora I'm fine."

Riku glanced over at him speculatively. "You don't look fine."

Roxas rolled his eyes. Captain Obvious.

"When someone says they're fine, obviously they aren't. But because they say they're fine, that clearly means that they want you to leave them the hell alone. Understand?" He explained through clenched teeth, struggling to remain friendly.

Riku scratched his head with a grin. "I don't even know what the hell you just said."

Roxas sighed obnoxiously before sitting up in the bed. Looks like he wasn't going to be left alone today. "Did Axel come home last night?"

Riku frowned and opened his mouth, preparing to answer, when Cloud opened the door, peeking his head inside the room. Roxas eyed him warily. What was going on now?

"Morning, Rox. How'd you sleep?" His older brother asked him softly; as if he was afraid any loud noise was going to break him. Roxas scowled. This was starting to get silly.

"I'm fine." He reiterated, an annoyed gleam beginning to form in his cloudy blue eyes. "Where's Axel?"

"In his room." Cloud and Riku both answered slowly, after glancing at each other. Unfortunately, Roxas was up and out of the bed before either of them could finish their sentence. "Wait, Rox, he doesn't want to-"

Roxas padded barefoot to the room Axel was staying in, his mind working in overdrive. When did he get back? Did he want to talk? Did he hate him now? Were they going to make up?

Finally, he reached the door. He took a deep breath. Pull it together, Roxas.

"Axel?" He called out, opening the door. Yep, there he was: tall, powerful and sexy, standing next to the foot of the bed with a tank top in his hand. He wasn't wearing a shirt either; his abs glistened in all of their milky brilliance. With a painful thud, Roxas remembered how noble Axel had been about respecting his family and not having sex.

Axel was always giving. But why couldn't he give him his trust?

Almost guiltily, green eyes met azure ones.

"Roxas." Axel said, a hint of surprise coloring his words. "What are you…?"

"Why are you packing?" Roxas asked him accusingly, his eyes having just found the suitcase on the bed, already filled with Axel's clothes. Clothes that just three days ago, Roxas himself had packed for him…

Axel sighed. Damn Cloud and Riku for not keeping Roxas on a tighter leash. Then again, who could?

"Roxas, I think maybe we need some space." Axel murmured, reciting the words Demyx and Zexion had encouraged him to say just a couple of hours ago. "This is starting to get too serious."

"Serious." Roxas repeated, staring at him suspiciously. "That's the whole point of marriage, isn't it?"

Axel winced. Roxas' tone was so sharp, so rough. "Well, yeah, but—"

"I don't believe you." He interrupted him loudly, closing the gap between them by taking a small step. "This doesn't feel like something you would do to me."

"What do you mean?" Axel snapped, averting his gaze. Damn it, Roxas, let him end this while both of them were still whole! "This is what I want."

Roxas was suddenly right behind him. He could feel the heat just radiating from his body. Oh god, Axel couldn't do this. He knew Demyx and Zexion were just full of hot air.

Exhibit A:

Axel: I miss him already.

Zexion: No, you don't! A lasting relationship takes time and space!

Demyx: Damn straight!

Axel: So you think we should…take a break?

Zexion: Not a break, per se. But a breather.

Demyx: Yep…damn straight!

Axel: I don't want to hurt him, though.

Zexion: In the long run, you won't be. You'll be strengthening the relationship!

Demyx: That's true. Damn straight!

Axel: But Zex…are you sure this will work? What if he thinks we're breaking up?

Zexion: Technically, you are. But once you get back together, you'll have a relationship that's practically perfect!

Demyx: Oh, definitely. Damn str—

Axel: Don't say it! Just shut up, already! I'm sick of hearing your voice, which I know is weird since I have all of your CDs. But you know what I mean!

Demyx: Okay. Damn…

Zexion: Straight.

Axel:…

It seemed like a great idea at the time, but now that he was actually doing it, it seemed like the biggest mistake in the world. How could being away from Roxas possibly be the right decision? He turned to face him—

And was assaulted with searing, emotional kisses to his face, his neck…any and everything. Roxas' arms clasped themselves around his neck as Axel automatically pulled him against his long, lean frame. Their tongues intertwined around each other, reflecting the way their bodies were connected. Fuck, yes.

This right here was the answer. Being together was always the answer, right? Axel wasn't sure if that was true or not, but right now, in this moment, it was the only answer that made sense.

He shoved Roxas on top of the bed, pushing aside folded clothes to make space, as Roxas sat up on his elbows, gazing hungrily at him. Their lips met once more, even rougher and more passionate than before. This was a dance they both were very familiar with; it was only natural for Roxas to spread his legs seductively at the same moment Axel fumbled with his belt and zippers.

Just as Axel's elongated, spindly fingers dipped inside Roxas' boxers, Riku stumbled into the room through the door that they had forgotten to close. Mentally, Axel cursed the day doors…and Rikus…were invented. They had done nothing but screw him over!

But Riku wasn't even paying attention to them. Actually, it looked like he had been thrown in the room. But by whom?

They all peered to the side to see Sora standing in the hallway, looking more than a little pissed at his crush. Axel raised an eyebrow. Interesting.

"You're ruining everything! Now go get Roxas before he tells Axel what happened between you two last night!" Sora hissed at him, trying to keep his voice down. Unfortunately, he had yet to notice Axel and Roxas blatantly staring at him from inside of the room.

Riku groaned under his breath as he obliviously turned around. Upon seeing Axel and Roxas tangled up in each other, eyeing him suspiciously, he froze. But of course, being Riku, he quickly wiped it away and grinned. "Oh, hey!"

Axel suddenly put two and two together. The Halloween make out session between Riku and Roxas. The trust issues. Sora whispering about 'what happened between them last night'.

His jaw tightened. Of course.

He stiffly began to buckle his pants back up as he sat upright, running rigid fingers through his hair. Roxas' eyes widened as he too figured out what was going on.

"Axel! No, it's not what you think!" He cried out, reaching out to touch him, but Axel jerked roughly out of his reach. He climbed off of him so quickly one would think he had cooties. He glared down at Roxas in disgust. He couldn't believe he was stupid enough to trust him with his love.

"I'm not fucking stupid!" Axel shouted, violently grabbing his suitcase from the floor and striding out of the room. He shot a murderous look at Riku as he passed him, not even bothering to kick his ass, although that's the first thing that came to mind.

Roxas stared at Axel's retreating back in shock. What just happened? Did they just break up over…Riku?

Riku had, thankfully (for his own safety), lost the grin on his face, but had replaced it with a grimace. He tore his gaze from Sora to settle it on Roxas. "Um…what just happened?"

Roxas strode over to him, raising his fist to deck him, but lowered his arm just as soon as he raised it. There was no point in hurting Riku. This was his mess, not Riku's.

"You just became the reason Axel hates me." Roxas answered with a sigh, struggling to prevent his tears from flowing in front of Riku. "Can you…can you please leave me alone?"

Riku nodded helplessly before walking out of the room, closing the door behind him. The minute he left the room, he shot a glare to Sora, who looked as equally horrified as he did.

"Did we just-"

"Fuck that up? Yeah, we did." Riku groaned, palming his forehead. Rikku was going to kill them!

12:00 P.M.

"You what?" Rikku roared from her post on the couch between Yuna and Paine. The two girls looked just as angry as she did. They may not live there and they may not be related to the Haikus, but they knew when their friend had been screwed over. "Do you know how much work I put into telling Demyx and Zexion what to say to Axel? How much forward thinking I had to display?"

"Was it really that hard? I mean, all you told Zexion to do was convince Axel that they needed 'space and time', right?" Seifer asked unhelpfully, shrugging impassively at her. "A monkey could've done that."

The Haikus, plus a few additions, were all in a circle, seated in loveseats, lounge chairs, and couches in the family room; it was the one place they all knew Roxas wouldn't want to be.

"Monkeys don't speak." Namine pointed out softly. Seifer gave her a mocking grin.

"Neither do you, most of the time."

Leon growled at him in warning before turning his attention back to Cloud, a fact that Sephiroth didn't seem to be enjoying. Cloud, however, seemed to be blissfully unaware of the power struggling occurring because of him.

He gave Rikku a puzzled look. "How did you know that was going to bring them together? What if Axel really had broken up with Roxas?"

Rikku sat down gloomily, still glaring at Riku and Sora. "I knew Roxas wasn't going to believe that it was Axel who had come up with the idea. So in Rox's mind, he was going to have to do everything he could to erase that thought from his head. Because of that, he would be willing to apologize and seduce Axel for all that he's worth."

Riku coughed. "It did seem to be working."

"Of course it was!" Rikku snapped, throwing a macaroon at his head. The silver-haired boy rolled his eyes at her. Where'd she even get that? "I said I was sorry!"

"What happened last night between you and Roxas?" Namine asked curiously, staring at Riku accusingly. He chuckled and stretched his legs out, throwing one over the other and resting his feet on the coffee table.

"Well," He began charismatically, tossing her a confident grin that made her blush, "what happened was this…"

Roxas stared wantonly at Riku's perfectly chiseled body. Why, oh why, did he ever break up with him? He was just so perfect in every way humanly possible.

"Okay, wait, Roxas would never think something like that." Cloud interjected, annoyed. "If you're going to tell us the story, tell it right."

Riku eyed Cloud in a manner that could only mean STFU!, before continuing.

"Why, you perfect man, are you visiting me? The weak, the fragile, the beautiful…Roxas Haiku?" Roxas wanted to know, sitting up from his bed. He gasped as his covers slid down his body, revealing his naked frame.

"Your clothes…" Riku murmured deeply in concern. "They've vanished."

"I-I…I was thinking about you and I just got so hot, so heated. I had to chill off somehow."

"Oh my god, Roxas would seriously hurt you if he heard this!" Rikku giggled, looking around as if her temperamental brother might appear out of thin air.

"He would agree that this is the truth!" Riku disagreed, smirking at Sora, who looked more than a little put off at this 'truthful' version of the story. But whatever, he'd get over it. "Anyway, pay attention, Sor, this is the good part."

"Roxas, I know what you want, but I can't. I'm in love with your twin, Sora." Riku admitted softly, striding up to Roxas and grabbing his hand. "We made love tonight."

"What?" Sora sputtered, spitting out the macaroon Rikku had thrown at Riku earlier. "When the hell did this happen?"

"Oh, it happened, I assure you." Riku grinned, squeezing his thigh. "All of that pleasure must have messed with your memory."

"I…you…we…" Sora stuttered, his entire face beat red. "J-Just finish the story, okay?"

"I guess I'll just have to accept that. Well, can we still…talk?" Roxas begged him, rubbing Riku's hand against his smooth, tender cheek.

"I guess. Shall I come over and cuddle with you?" He ventured, stepping inside the room. "Here let me lock the door to enclose us and make us feel more comfortable.

"The end!" Riku announced, grinning cheekily. Everyone stared at him in astonishment.

"You know, I really didn't think you were that creative. But I guess I was wrong!" Demyx declared from the other side of the room, smirking when all eyes stared at him in surprise. "We got here just in time for the end of Riku's crap tale."

Sora was still watching Riku anxiously. "So...you and Roxas didn't hook up last night?"

Riku lifted his head and laughed. As if. "That ship has definitely sailed, Sor." Then he glared at Demyx. "And it wasn't a crap tale. It was the truth!"

Zexion cleared his throat, stepping in the middle of the lounging Haiku siblings and perching on Namine's prized sculpture of Hercules' Megara. "So, okay, according to Riku's crap tale—"

"It wasn't a crap tale, dammit!"

"—Roxas and Riku didn't do anything last night. So all of this is just one big misunderstanding brought on by Sora's stupidity." He finished, adjusting the hair that covered one of his eyes triumphantly. He expected someone to compliment him on his conclusive abilities, but all he got was,

"Who the hell are you?"

Zexion frowned at the older looking version of Demyx and Roxas. That must be Cloud, if his deductions were correct. But what was the deal with his attitude? Cloud was staring at him as if he was some kind of stranger! The nerve! He had been friends—well, okay, acquaintances with Demyx for practically a year. And, if things went the way he hoped they would, soon he and the sexy singer would be more than just that…

"His name is Zexion and his house in amazing!" Demyx gushed, rushing over to him and hanging on his left arm. "It should be on Cribs or something!"

"Anyway," Rikku interrupted, rightfully taking the lead once again. "As Zexion said, Riku's crap tale has indicated that Axel's suspicions are wrong. Totally wrong, since I know Roxas would never spout half of the mess Riku insists he did. The question is, what are we going to do to fix it?"

"Why do you Haikus insist on 'fixing it'? It's not your business!" Seifer pointed out with a sneer, standing up and shoving Zexion out of the middle so he could be the center focus. "I mean, jeez, you guys should be in a fanfiction or something, that's how farfetched this family is!"

"This family," Sephiroth began quietly (to the fear and astonishment of everyone in the room—well, except Cloud, who was still frowning at Zexion like he was a stranger), "is the best family I've ever known. Be lucky that you're included in a circle this tight-knit."

Seifer fell silent. If was almost as if Sephiroth had brainwashed him to do as he said. Which, as silly as it sounded, the Haiku family was still in debate about.

"Y-Yes, sir."

"Seriously!" Rikku agreed loudly, jumping up and clapping. "I mean, have you met this family? We rock!"

Demyx smiled fondly at his bratty-but-loveable little sister before turning to Zexion with a sheepish expression on his face. "Well…meet the family!"

Zexion returned his smile. "Meet the family," He repeated faintly, mesmerized.

And suddenly, like a light bulb that had just been replaced because a moth had wedged inside of it, Rikku solved the riddle of life itself!

Well, not the riddle of life. But she had solved the riddle of saving Roxas and Axel.

Which, to her sobbing, depressed older brother, was practically life itself.

12:38 P.M.

Axel stood rigidly in the light silence of the neighborhood, sitting on his slightly battered suitcase just a couple of blocks away from Roxas' house. He could barely even think, he was so angry at Roxas Haiku. Damn him. Damn him and his crazy, ridiculous, nosy family!

On its own accord, a tear escaped from his left eye. Oh jeez, was he crying? No, this was all wrong! The dumper didn't cry over the dumpee! It was supposed to be the other way around, dammit!

He frowned and pulled out his cell phone. He was going to have to call a goddamn cab to pick him up, since Roxas was the one who had picked him up from the airport and drove him to this empty town. Well, okay, it wasn't empty. But it was nothing like New York.

But the weird thing about it was that he had no desire to go back. Not like this. Not because he had to.

Not without Roxas.

"Axel!" A very familiar voice called out to him from his left, and he turned to see a blonde figure running towards him in the distance. Despite himself, his heart practically leapt out of his chest. Was that Roxas?

He squinted his eyes. No. The shape wasn't right, and trust him, he knew all about Roxas' figure. And it was too slender to be Roxas. The boy may be smaller than average, but no one could argue his masculinity.

Oh jeez. It was Namine.

"Hey." She huffed, holding up a finger that he took to mean, 'give me a minute.' When she finally caught her breath, she looked up him shyly, holding out two heavy duffle bags. He frowned. Uh…those weren't his bags.

"They're gifts. The left bag has my gift and the right bag has, believe or not, Cloud and Sephiroth's." She explained, smiling at him sadly. "I guess they don't matter anymore. Well, goodbye, Axel."

Axel stared after her with a dumbfounded expression on his face. This family must be trying to kill him.

Reaching inside the first bag, he pulled out a heavy, large and folded paper. What the hell? He opened it briskly…then wished he hadn't.

On it was a beautiful watercolor painting of him, posing, while Roxas stared lovingly at him in the distance. The pose must have been the picture that Namine had snapped of him earlier. Oh no…his heart felt like it was going to break even more than it already had.

To distract himself, he stuffed the painting back in the bag and quickly opened the second one, warily reaching inside. He wasn't so sure Cloud hadn't put a dead rat in there or something.

But when he pulled out the two items, his breath caught. It was the most beautiful pair of red detailed chakrams that he had ever seen! How did they know he used chakrams? He had never told them what he did for a living.

Then again, Sephiroth was probably psychic or something.

Before he could stop himself, Axel began walking back towards the house. How could he turn away from the Haiku family now? But no sooner did he walk three steps did the taxi cab drive up to the curve.

He stopped. No. He couldn't go back there. Roxas had cheated on him with Riku. He clearly didn't want to be his husband.

Axel resolutely stepped into the taxi. Being without Roxas was going to be hard, but somehow, at some point, he'd manage.

Then he snorted humorlessly.

Even he didn't believe that bullshit.

Monday, 12:34 a.m.

Roxas thought back to his life before he had fully matured; before he was an adult. Exotic dancing was never more than a job to him—just a way to get some much needed money. He didn't quite remember how he got involved with Club Thirteen; all he could remember was that his parents wouldn't fund his decision to go off to college in New York and he was in dire need of that money. He was in dire need of escaping their little town, really.

Okay, maybe secretly he liked the dancing. It had made him feel powerful and sexy, and he was pretty damn good at it. But after a while, it started to make him feel a little dirty. So he convinced the manager of Club Thirteen to let him bartend. It didn't make as much money as the exotic dancing did, but hell, money was money. Eventually he made enough of it to move out of his parents' house and into the city life.

Roxas had no trouble making new friends, getting an apartment, and getting a job at a prestigious architecture company after graduating college. Still, he always felt like something was missing.

When saw Axel, he knew he was the missing piece.

Roxas was always shy around hot guys at first, but this was different. He had been a nervous wreck, way too fearful to talk to him. In fact, he spent a good three weeks going into the store that Axel worked in every single day, buying something he didn't need just so he could watch the sexy man without seeming creepy.

Which, of course, it was. But that didn't stop him.

After Axel had pretended to be stupid to put him at ease, their relationship was the most natural thing in the world. He was never nervous around him again. That was part of why he knew Axel was the missing piece.

"Earth to Roxas!" Balthier, an older man that Roxas worked with at the architecture firm, called out to him, speaking in his deep British (was it British? Roxas was never sure of accents.) voice. He waved a hand in front of his face. "You there, chap?"

Roxas blinked. Damn. He was zoning out again. And on the job, too! "Yeah. Sorry."

Balthier exchanged a glance with their other main coworker, Tidus, who also looked a bit concerned. Roxas sighed. There was no way he'd be able to work like this.

He sat back and tore his glasses off from his face in frustration. God dammit!

Tuesday, 9:45 p.m.

Axel downed his third glass, fuzzily blinking at his friends, Marluxia and Xion. Well, Xion wasn't really his friend, more of Roxas', but she insisted upon coming over to watch him and make sure he didn't do something stupid. So basically, she was spying.

Bitch.

Axel slapped himself. That wasn't nice. But could ya blame him?

"Axel, you've gotta stop!" Xion pleaded, touching his hand and gazing up at him concernedly. Axel scowled down at her. She kinda looked like Sora, who kinda looked like Roxas.

Bitch.

Gah! Stop it, Axel!

Axel sighed deeply and allowed his head to slump onto his arm. He missed Roxas. Why did he break up with him in the first place if this was going to hurt this hard? This couldn't possibly be the best solution. Ah, it was too late now. The deed was already done. They were already done.

"Marluxia! He's your friend, too! Do something!" Xion demanded, shooting Marluxia a pointed look. Marluxia shrugged huffily. He was busy! Busy painting his nails in Jungle Red, the 'it' color of the season.

"No. Axel. Don't." Marluxia deadpanned, his voice colored with disinterest. Xion let out a short huff of air and took matters into her own hands. She grabbed the glass out of Axel's hands, ignoring his slurred 'hey!' and poured it down the sink. Then she paused. Wait. That didn't smell like alcohol. That smelled like—

"Are you getting drunk off of apple juice?" Xion asked incredulously. Axel stared at her stonily and hiccupped.

Bitch.

Wednesday, 2:51 p.m.

"Hi, you've reached Roxas Haiku. If this is Axel, I'm so happy you called me! I miss you so much! Please, I'm so sorry. I'm miserable without you, Ax. I just want you back, okay? We can—"

"Roxas, this is Pence. We're all worried about you! This isn't healthy. Just, please, call me back when you get this, alright?"

"Hi, you've reached Roxas Haiku. If this is Axel, I'm so happy you called me! I miss you so much! Please, I'm so sorry. I'm miserable without you, Ax. I just want you back, okay? We can—"

"What the hell was that? Roxas, its Hayner. That message was the most pathetic thing I've ever heard, dude. Look…I'm concerned about you, okay? I don't want you doing anything rash, alright? You're my best friend. I need you. So call me back when you get this, loser."

"Hi, you've reached Roxas Haiku. If this is Axel, I'm so happy you called me! I miss you so much! Please, I'm so sorry. I'm miserable without you, Ax. I just want you back, okay? We can—"

"Roxas, you're going to make me cry. It's me, Olette. Why haven't you called anyone back? You're not…dead…right? This is stupid! He's just one guy! If you call me back, we can vent together and pig out on Chunky Monkey, okay?"

Thursday, 6:30 p.m.

Axel had finally come to the conclusion that memories were little pieces of evil. The entire time he was supposed to be…working…he couldn't help but remember all of the fun he and Roxas had together.

This sucked some serious ass.

"Pay attention, number 8!" Ansem, Axel's boss, snapped at him, steadying him when Axel went careening backwards due to lack of attention. He nodded glumly. He hated this job.

But he hated being single even more.

Friday, 11:34 p.m.

"…A-A-And…then…h-h-he…j-just…left!" Roxas sobbed around a big glob of Chunky Monkey in his mouth, dressed in the ripped pajamas he'd gotten a long time ago from Axel as a birthday gift. Olette rubbed his back soothingly and fed him another spoonful of ice cream.

"Oh dear…" She fretted, squeezing him closer to her. "It's going to be alright, Rox."

"No it won't!" Roxas snapped before breaking out into a fresh batch of tears. Pence and Hayner rolled their eyes at each other. Even when he was depressed, he was still as snappy as ever.

"So…" Hayner began slowly, fumbling with his cargos. "You said you saw Seifer?"

Roxas paused in his crying to look up at him in bewilderment. "Yeah. So?"

"How was he? I mean, did he look…good?" He dared to ask, and Olette and Pence both collectively recoiled back from him in disgust. Ew! Did he have a thing for Seifer of all people?

"I wouldn't know because I was too busy admiring Axel, not the guy that purposely spilled ice cream on my jeans when we were dating so he could suck me off in public!" Roxas shouted, throwing a pillow at him. Hayner shrugged embarrassedly. Jeez, there was no need for everyone to freak out. He was just asking.

Saturday

10:03 a.m.

"Hi, you've reached Roxas Haiku. If this is Axel, I'm so happy you called me! I miss you so much! Please, I'm so sorry. I'm miserable without you, Ax. I just want you back, okay? We can—"

"Hey, Roxas. For the purpose of this message, I'm going to completely ignore that desperate answering machine. Your father and I were talking, and we think it would be a great idea for you and the siblings to all go on a revitalizing retreat! Just call Rikku for details, honey! Bye!"

Roxas listened to his mom's message with skepticism. A retreat? Planned by Rikku? It sounded like another one of her ploys. He shook his head and walked into the kitchen, opening the refrigerator. Damn. It was empty.

He shrugged. That was okay. He wasn't that hungry. But no sooner had he thought this, his stomach growled angrily. Ooookay, maybe he was hungry.

Opening the cabinets, closets, and even the storage room all revealed one truth: he was completely out of edible food. That was weird. He just went to the grocery store two days ago!

Roxas stopped in his tracks. He was known to eat when he was distraught.

Wait a second. Did he eat all of that food in two days?

$500 worth of food?

Eyes wide, Roxas dove for the phone. Okay, he was in need of some serious help. If his sister wanted to take him on a retreat, dammit, he needed to take advantage.

10:05 a.m.

"Yo, this is Axel. You can leave a message if you want. But honestly…I don't really give a rat's ass about you."

"Um, okay then. Nice answering machine. Anyway, this is Rikku. I was doing some thinking, and I'm pretty sure you're as depressed as Roxas is. If that's the case, I have a suggestion. Why don't you go visit your parents? Roxas is coming to visit again because family is the most important thing to him. Think about it. It might help you."

Axel stopped chewing his ramen noodles (his version of breakfast) to listen to Rikku's message. How did she even get his phone number? Then he thought of how they had tied him up. Clearly, she was a ninja or something.

Maybe she was on to something. He hadn't seen his family ever since he left when he turned eighteen to come to New York. Ansem had heard about his talents and sought him out, promising him a very secretive, very interesting job. The only catch was that he had to move to New York.

Of course, as shitty as his family life was, he jumped at the opportunity.

A small part of him felt bad for leaving his father in their house alone. But Ariel had done the same thing to Reno, and Reno had done the same thing to Axel, so he figured it was the circle of life.

But going back…it seemed way too farfetched!

Still…he had a feeling that home was where his heart was.

---

Later

---

2:01 P.M.

Roxas wanted to vomit. And that didn't happen often, because his stomach was just as strong as he was. But looking at the disgusting surroundings of wherever the hell his siblings were taking him really didn't make him feel rejuvenated. It made him feel even sicker than before!

"Where the fuck are we?" He finally asked, slouching down in his seat so he wouldn't have to look out the window. No one answered him. Everyone in the car was too busy staring outside of their respective windows with horrified expressions coloring their faces.

Roxas dared to take another look out the window. Just as he looked, a man dressed in a purple skirt and nothing else began to hump a pig's ass. Lovely.

"Um, I guess we'd better go ahead and tell you." Sora said timidly, wincing as a teenage boy slammed his chest against his window. "We're here to meet the family."

"Who's family?" Roxas demanded, fearing for the worst. Oh god. In his head he was already doing the math. A sudden trip. A bad neighborhood. A feeling of uncertainty. That could only mean one thing. The family they were visiting was-

"Axel's family." Rikku responded thickly. At Roxas' furious glare, she laughed nervously. "It was my idea. Good thinking, right? Ha ha…"

Roxas stared at her for a long moment before jerking towards the handle of his door, struggling to open it. Escape! He had to escape! This was survival 101! He knew his old professor, Yen Sid, was on to something when he persuaded him to take the course What To Do If Zombies Attack.

"Roxas, no!" Namine, Sora, and Rikku cried, fighting to keep him in the car. Sephiroth, who was driving the car with a nonchalant expression on his face, clearly used to all of the depression and violence, cut a sharp glance to Cloud expectantly.

Cloud just shrugged at him. "What? I already told them this wasn't going to work. Rikku's always wrong."

"Dammit, this is going to work!" Rikku shouted as Roxas' struggling feet kicked her in the face. "Would everyone just relax?"

Roxas groaned and went limp in his siblings' arms. "How could you do this to me, Rikku?"

The truth was, Axel himself had never taken him to see his family. Why? Because it was no one's goddamn business who birthed him; that was why. Well, that's what Axel had said at least. But he got the feeling that Axel's family was a little coo coo for cocoa pops.

And now his darling brothers and sisters were taking him to meet them? Axel was going to hate him even more than he already did!

"I miss you." Roxas murmured, shutting his eyes and resting his head against Namine's knee. If Axel was with him, all of this would be bearable. He wouldn't have even noticed that there was bestiality, incest and god knows what else outside of his car window if Axel was next to him; that's how much power Axel held over him.

Sora turned to look at him. "You miss who? Axel? Well don't worry, he's coming too!"

Roxas' struggling to escape began anew.

2:03 P.M.

Axel stared up at the rundown, rusty trailer he used to call home with a frown. What the hell was he doing here? This had to be the stupidest thing he had ever done, right before trying to drunkenly milk a cow with Zexion in high school and running around with his friend Vaan, screaming 'I'm Captain Basch!' at the top of his lungs when they found out he wasn't dead.

Before he could knock on the door…or turn to leave…the door slammed open, revealing a muscular, confident redheaded man with dark sunglasses perched carelessly on his nose. Axel scowled. Great. Now he was going to have to suffer in his disgusting old house with the one person who had ditched him when he was a teenager.

"Reno," Axel growled, staring suspiciously at him. "Why the hell are you here?"

Maybe that would intimidate him.

Reno tilted his head at him and laughed, the merriment on his attractive face seeming to brighten the entire area. How annoying. And clearly, he was not intimidated. "'Scuse me Axie, but this is my house too, you know."

"Don't call me that. And you know what I mean." Axel snapped, striding over and ripping his sunglasses off his face.

"Hey!" Reno protested, reaching to grab them, but Axel was, thankfully, a bit taller than him. He cruelly held them over his head, smirking when Reno finally lost the fake chivalry and began growling at him. Ha, there was the Reno he remembered.

"Why are you here…when I'm here?" Axel demanded, deciding to put on the sunglasses just to piss Reno off. "And don't give me some crap answer about it being because you're my brother, since I don't want to hear it."

Reno finally managed to snatch the sunglasses back, but not before growling, "I wanted to meet Roxas."

Axel's mouth dropped wide open. He didn't know what he expected Reno to say, but it definitely wasn't that. "W-What? How do you know about Roxas?"

"Got a phone call from my old college buddy, Sephiroth. Said his husband's son was marrying my little brother!" Reno explained, his cunning optimism sneaking back into his voice. "How could I refuse?"

Axel felt a thud at the bottom of his heart, which was starting to happen more and more often. Damn. This was why too heavy for his taste. Also, why the hell did Cloud keep interfering in everything? How convenient that his husband just happened to know his deadbeat, older brother…

"And that made you come running back home? I wasn't even here before; I was at Roxas' parent's house, dumbass." Axel snapped at him, still feeling a little suspicious of him. There was something about this that wasn't clicking. There was a piece missing in Reno's explanation.

"Sephiroth said you guys were heading here after you left his parents' house." His annoying, beaming older brother said with a grin. Looks like he was completely back to normal now. "Duh. Now who is the dumbass?"

Axel frowned. What? He and Roxas had never planned to come back here…

"So where is he? Shouldn't he be here with you?" Reno practically taunted, obnoxiously pretending as if he was searching for him. He squinted at the ground. "Sephiroth did say he was tiny."

Axel rolled his eyes. Lame.

"He isn't here. We—"

"Oh, don't tell me you let another one slip through your fingers. You go through boyfriends faster than you go through socks." Reno snorted. "Is it over?"

Something in Axel shifted and hardened. He didn't know what it was. Stamina? No. Perseverance? Not that either. Or maybe it was determination. Whatever it was, it made him almost ashamed to admit to Reno, the brother who had always tried to keep him down, that he had failed to keep his soul mate. He couldn't admit it.

He wouldn't admit it.

"We're still together. Got it memorized?" Axel smirked, pointing a finger to his temple. "So go find someone else to bother."

Reno's smirk fell just the slightest bit. "Oh? If you guys are together, where is he?"

That stopped Axel for a moment. Damn it. What was he supposed to say?

Jeez, this was turning out to be a terrible fucking movie.

3:45 P.M.

"Here we are…" Cloud announced a bit confusedly. He looked from the address, to the house, then back to his directions. "But this is a trailer."

"Duh. Trailers count as houses, Cloud." Rikku pointed out, staring at it in disgust. It was the rustiest trailer she had ever seen. Quite frankly, it was the most disgusting trailer she had ever seen.

"We can't be here, you guys. This is an invasion of privacy." He said worriedly, desperately trying not to remember the look of raw revulsion that Axel had given him the night he left. This was crazy. He was finally meeting his parents after he was rightfully dumped from the love of his life. Some relationship.

"You're right." Namine agreed softly. Roxas peered at her in surprise.

"Really?"

"Of course!" She reiterated. "We can't be here."

"But you can!" Rikku finished with a devilish smirk, and she, Namine, and Sora all banded together to push Roxas out of the car. He landed in the dirt with a heavy thud. What the—

"Hey!" Roxas shouted, quickly standing up to get back into the car. But before he could even touch the door handle, Sora had shut it closed and locked it. He gave him a childish wink. Roxas in turn flipped him the bird.

Stupid twin and his stupid childish games! This wasn't the least bit funny! "Let me back in, you guys!"

"Sorry Roxas. But we have to fix what we broke." Rikku answered sincerely, giving him a little wave. "Good luck! Now step on it, Seph!"

Sephiroth glared deeply at her before complying and speeding off. Roxas watched them go in astonishment. What the hell just happened?

Shaking his head, he turned around and dusted himself off. Well, he was here now. Might as well tell Axel what happened and try to get a ride out of this hell hole. He determinedly walked towards the trailer home, ignoring the putrid smell of dead animal and the sound of arguing coming from inside. He knocked on the door three times.

The door banged open, causing him to nearly jump out of his skin. In front of him stood a beautiful redheaded woman, frowning down at him with a guarded expression on her face. For a moment he wondered why she looked so unfriendly, but after seeing the neighborhood that they lived him, he guessed she had to be.

She had flowing red hair with bangs that framed her pretty face, featuring glittering teal eyes that could rival Axel's in gorgeousness. If Roxas' memory served him correctly, she was Axel's older sister, Ariel, the first sibling to get out of the hellish area they lived in.

"Um, hi." He mumbled shyly, forcing a smile on his face. "I'm Roxas. Is…is Axel here?"

Ariel blinked at him, surprise coloring her face. "You're Roxas? Axel said you were still at your parents' house, planning to come here in a couple of days."

Now it was Roxas' turn to be confused. "What?"

But before he could ask her to clarify, another redhead sauntered to the door, giving him an appraising once over that made him extremely uncomfortable. He leaned against the doorframe and peered at him from above his sunglasses.

"Yo. Roxas, right?" He grinned sexily, and Roxas had to look at his shoelaces to keep from blushing. This had to be Reno, Axel's older, middle brother that left him alone in the trailer home when he was only thirteen. Axel had told him his attractiveness was the only good thing about him.

"Yeah. And you two are Axel's older siblings, Ariel and Reno." Roxas answered, nodding politely at them. "I've heard a lot about you."

Ariel shook her head before giving him a warm smile. "It's nice to meet you Roxas. Would you like to come inside?"

Roxas shuffled his feet. Was that such a great idea? If Axel didn't want him there, going inside was going to ruin things for good.

"Please?" Reno begged playfully, tossing him a wink. Now Roxas couldn't help the blush that erupted on his face. Jeez, no wonder Axel hated him. He couldn't resist any good-looking man.

"Okay."

4:00 P.M.

Axel paced back and forth in the trailer, waiting impatiently for Reno and Ariel to come back from answering the door. Who the hell was it, anyway? They were supposed to be having a discussion about what they were going to do when their dad got back from work to see all three of his children back under his roof when the damn doorbell rang, interrupting them.

Ariel's daughter, Melody, gave him a sympathetic look. "I can tell you miss Roxas."

Axel stopped pacing to frown at her. "What the hell? Why does everyone know my business all of the sudden?"

Melody raised up her hands in a defensive gesture. "I was just trying to be nice, Uncle Axel."

"Yeah, I know. Sorry, Melody." He apologized with a heavy sigh. It wasn't her fault her family was fucked up. In fact, this was the first time they had ever even met. But Axel had a weird, uncanny ability to get along with children, even though he swore he would never have one of his own.

"Melody! I'd like you to meet someone very special." Ariel called to his niece from the other room. Axel sighed. Great, now they had a guest. They would never work out this thing with their dad at this rate.

But before he could dwell on it any more, Axel found himself distracted as the entire room brightened. A light stood beside Ariel and Reno, a light that shined a manner that was familiar in every way possible. Was that…?

"Roxas?" Axel gasped, his eyes widening as the blonde came into focus. Roxas blushed and looked away from him shyly. Why was he so timid? That wasn't like him at all.

"Axel, hey. Listen…my family kind of dumped me here on purpose." Roxas began explaining in a rush, giving him a sheepish smile. "You know how they are."

"Y-Yeah." Axel replied, still feeling a bit surprised. He never thought he was going to see him again, not after walking out on him and his crazy family. He figured he was just going to have to keep lying to Reno about Roxas coming here. He never thought he would just show up, out of the blue.

Then again, if Sephiroth was involved, so was Cloud and Rikku. And they had a terrible habit of sticking their noses where they didn't belong.

"Well I'm glad you made it safely." Axel said forcedly, giving him a pointed look that begged him to play along. "Come here and give me a kiss."

Roxas' eyes practically jumped out of their sockets. "Huh?"

"Give your boyfriend a kiss!" Reno laughed, shoving him in Axel's direction. "Unless you guys aren't together anymore. Right, Axel?"

"I told you Reno," Axel gritted out from between clenched teeth. "We're still together."

"W-We're…" Roxas trailed off, still looking confused. Axel rushed to finish his sentence. "Together, Rox."

"Together." Roxas repeated, frowning at him. Axel would've done the same thing if he was in his shoes, but the fact of it was, Roxas was going to have to play along for both of their sakes. Because once his dad got home, all hell was going to break loose.

"Go on. Kiss him." Reno said again, nudging him even closer than he already was to his baby brother. Roxas blinked rapidly as he awkwardly leaned in to his ex-boyfriend. But Axel knew that wouldn't convince Reno that they were still an item. So he did the most logical thing.

He gave Roxas the sexiest kiss he could muster.

Axel yanked Roxas into his arms and pressed his lips to his sensually, running his hands up the blonde's chest and back down, stopping every so often to graze a nipple. In the back of his mind, he registered Ariel gasping and pulling Melody out of the room and Reno letting out an indignant scoff. He had won.

But that didn't mean he planned to stop anytime soon. He slid his tongue into Roxas' mouth, sucking on his luscious lips when he needed a second to breathe, while reaching down and cupping his ass with both hands.

Roxas pulled his mouth away from his and moaned wantonly, a sound that reverberated through Axel's soul. Oh god. Roxas.

"Damn!" Reno exclaimed, giving Axel a knowing smile and Roxas an appreciative once-over. "Guess I taught you well."

Axel was in such an emotional state, all he could do was glare at him. "Shut up, already."

Roxas let out a soft sound before stepping out of Axel's arms. The way he was looking at him made Axel's stomach twist painfully. This was hurting him.

"E-Excuse me." Roxas muttered before stomping out of the trailer and back outside. Axel watched him go for a second before cursing loudly and taking off after him. Damn it. He was making this harder than it had to be!

"Roxas, wait!" He yelled after him, managing to reach Roxas before he got too far away from the trailer. It really wasn't safe for him to be walking around by himself in this kind of neighborhood, especially when he was looking so vulnerable.

"I can't do this, Axel! I can't do this with you." Roxas cried, whirling around and glaring at him. His scowl was even more menacing than this tone. "Not with you."

"Do what?" Axel demanded, his own anger slowly beginning to resurface. He hadn't forgotten why he had left Roxas in the first place. He hadn't forgotten about his little affair with Riku.

"Pretend like I don't still…like I don't still love you." Roxas whispered, unable to look at him. "I want you back."

Axel felt the shattered corner of his heart begin to mend itself. Roxas still loved him? But he told him that he didn't! What, had he been lying? Or was he just toying with him?

"But you and Riku—"

"Mean nothing to each other! Riku is in love with Sora. And I'm in love with you, you oblivious asshole!" Roxas snapped, his frustration practically pouring out of his pores.

Axel stared at him, feeling a little crazed. So the truth was, Roxas was still in love with him. But the question remained…did that solve anything? Was that going to be enough for him to trust Roxas again with his heart?

He just wasn't sure.

"Okay, look. Just stay here with me and pretend like we're still together." Axel replied, pinching the bridge of his nose. Once upon a time, he used to compare his life to different forms of media, wishing his life was like a movie. Now that it was, all he wanted was for things to be normal again.

"So…you don't love me anymore?" Roxas guessed, his whole body falling dejectedly. Axel sighed loudly, shooting him an irritated expression.

"Well of course I still love you!" Axel snapped, grimacing at himself for admitting it. "I just need some more time to evaluate if we can make this work."

Roxas brightened the slightest bit and nodded agreeably. "Fine. And I'll pretend like everything is peaches and crème with your family. But I'm serious about this, Axel. I want you back."

With that, Roxas strode back confidently into the trailer house. Axel rolled his eyes. This was a fucking mess.

6:00 P.M.

Dinner was a little different than it was back at the Haiku home that was for sure. Roxas tried to keep a smile plastered on his face, but after the first ten minutes, it was permanently transformed into a frown. This must have been how Axel felt at his house.

From the moment the chicken was brought out, Axel, Ariel and Reno could not stop fighting to save their lives. And every five seconds, one of them made sure to bring him in the middle of it.

"We have to leave!" Axel insisted around his chicken breast, waving it around in frustration. "Dad doesn't want us here anymore, trust me!"

Ariel, the optimistic realist, Roxas had discovered, believed otherwise. "I disagree, Axie. I think dad would love to see us!"

"Don't call me that." Axel warned her dangerously, and Roxas squeezed his thigh to calm him down. He tossed him a grateful, loving half-smile before jumping back into the argument. "I was the last one to leave here, so I know him better than anyone."

"A fact that you constantly remind us of; let the past die already!" Reno snorted before taking a rough bite of chicken. Roxas rolled his eyes. Easily the stupid one of the family.

"Let's just see what happens, that's all I'm suggesting." Ariel pleaded, and Roxas had to agree. There was no point in leaving now. Besides…he was kind of curious to see what kind of man birthed his soul mate.

"Fine." Axel gave up, slamming his napkin on the table and standing up. "Come on, Roxas."

"Where are you going?" Ariel demanded, but fell silent at Axel's unforgiving glare.

"My room. And don't bother us unless dad gets here."

All it took was three steps to reach Axel's room. That was the main problem with trailers.

"Do you see why I hate families?" Axel announced with a bitter laugh, falling onto his bed. "They all suck ass."

"I love my family." Roxas replied quietly, sitting next to him on the bed. "And I think I love your family, too."

"What?" Axel snorted, propping himself up on one arm and looking amused. "Why's that?"

"Because," Roxas admitted softly, "They're apart of you. I love all parts of you, especially the ones that raised you."

Axel did something that rarely happened. He blushed. Roxas had to choke down the victorious smile that threatened to erupt on his face.

"Roxas…" He groaned, covering his face with his hands. "You're making it really hard to stay pissed at you."

"Good!" Roxas laughed, leaning back and giving Axel a soft kiss. "I'm going to spend the rest of my life doing it too."

Axel couldn't take it anymore. Three months, two weeks and a couple of days being celibate made any sort of interaction with Roxas unbearable. So they were going through a rough patch…that didn't mean they had to abstain. And now that they were in his house and not Roxas', he didn't have to hold back from fear of disrespect.

"Come here." He ordered, and Roxas was happy to oblige.

7:02 P.M.

"Larxene! Pleeeeeease!" Rikku begged in a dramatically deep voice, holding on tightly to her oldest sister's legs. "Don't you want Roxas to be happy?"

"No." Larxene snapped, kicking her off. "I'm not like the others; I don't need to mess up my little brother's life even more than you guys already did."

Rikku knew she had to take drastic measures. "Sora!" She called out, hopping to her feet and pulling him over to where Larxene was. "Convince her to help!"

Sora gave Larxene a tender hug as he widened his big blue eyes up at her. "Please, sissy? Please help us fix what we broke?"

Larxene frowned down at him before looking up at Rikku helplessly. "Doesn't Riku own a car?"

"It broke suddenly." Demyx answered quickly, hiding the screwdriver that he used to slash Riku's tires behind his back. "You're the only other person that can drive him there."

Cloud, in a burst of bad timing, entered the room with Sephiroth, and Larxene wasted no time in glaring at him. "What about you? You're car surely hasn't broken down either!"

Cloud snorted. "I've done enough already. It's your turn to be the good older child and help your little brothers and sisters."

"Please?" Sora begged again, pouting at her. Larxene scowled and shoved Sora off of her, but not before cursing, "Dammit, go get Riku!"

7:15 P.M.

Reno stretched in a catlike manner, grinning up at the ceiling before letting his arms flop back down lazily. He liked to be fully stretched before rocking someone's mind. "So...got a condom?"

His guest, Rude, frowned at him, folding his arms from his side on the couch. "We're not having sex again, Reno."

"Why the hell not?" Reno pouted, running his hands down Rude's chest. "Didn't you have fun last time?"

Rude cleared his throat, shaking his head with force he obviously didn't feel. "Of course I did. But I don't want to ruin our friendship by tacking benefits onto it."

"Can't you just go with the flow?" Reno complained, suddenly not in the mood anymore. Jeez, what did he see in this guy, anyway? Rufus was a much better fuck buddy than Rude. The second they had sex he insisted that they had to stop. Couldn't he just enjoy things?

But before Rude could reply, the front door suddenly opened. Reno gulped. Uh oh. Looks like daddy was finally here.

"Who the fuck is in my house?" His father, with his intimidating frame and even more intimidating voice, bellowed, loading his gun threateningly. Rude immediately stiffened and reached for his own gun, only lowering his hand when Reno frantically explained who it was.

"Hey, daddy…I'm home!" Reno announced flamboyantly, grinning cheekily when his father practically dropped his gun in surprise.

"R-Reno?"

A melodious voice unexpectedly came from their left, as Ariel entered the room followed by Melody. "Reno, do you have a gu…"

Her voice trailed off as her eyes found her father, standing in the front door. "Dad."

"Ariel." He breathed, his eyes jumping back and forth between his children. Then he saw Melody, peering at him from behind her mother's legs. "W-Who is this?"

"This is my daughter, Melody." Ariel answered softly, gently pushing her towards her father. "She's ten years old."

"Nice to meet you." Their father said kindly, clearing his throat as he shook his grandchild's hand. Both Ariel and Reno couldn't hide their beams. Everything was finally functioning like it was supposed to.

And then, of course, it wasn't.

"You all think you can just leave and come back whenever you want to?" Their father demanded, the kindness all gone from his voice. Melody gasped and returned back behind her mother. "How dare you?"

"D-Dad..." Ariel began, reaching out for him. He slapped her hand away from her violently.

"Don't 'dad' me!" He bellowed, practically shaking the entire trailer house. Ariel and Reno jumped. Axel was right. Their father didn't want them there at all. This was a big mistake!

7: 18 P.M.

"What was that?" Roxas asked Axel, sitting up abruptly in the bed. Axel's old red sheets slid down his toned, beautiful body like a dream. And that was one dream Axel did not want to wake up from.

Axel pulled Roxas back down onto of him, reaching between them to stroke him to hardness. He moaned hoarsely. It had been a long night. "Who cares?"

"Axel, I'm serious." He breathed, bucking unintentionally as Axel's hand continued to work. "It might be your dad."

Axel froze, straining his ears to listen to what was going on outside of his love bubble of happiness.

"Dad, please! We heard that Axel was coming here and—"

"Axel is here too? Dammit!"

"Dad, chill out! We're here to meet Roxas!"

"Who the fuck is Roxas?"

Axel groaned. He tried to warn them, he really did. "My dad is here."

Roxas reluctantly hopped off of him. "Let's go meet him then."

"What? No! You're not going out there. He'll make you cry or something." Axel protested as he pulled his shirt back over his head. Roxas, however, sent him a glower that silenced all of his worries. This was Roxas they were talking about here.

"Let's go."

7:20 P.M.

"—and I just want you all to get out…of…my…house!" Their father shouted, shoving Reno, who had attempted to comfort him, away from him.

"Dad." Axel said warily as he entered the room with Roxas, their hands intertwined. "What are you doing?"

"Why did you all come back here? To hurt me?" Their dad seethed, shifting and revealing the beer bottle in his left hand. "Why, dammit?"

"They came because of me." Roxas answered assertively, and Axel whirled around to gape at him. What the hell was he doing? "Roxas, no…"

"And who the fuck are you?" Axel's dad slurred, glaring at him. "Huh?"

"My name is Roxas and I'm Axel's fiancé." He replied honestly as Ariel, Reno and Axel all gasped at his bravery and sincerity. "The truth is, all of this is my fault. If I hadn't been so dishonest with the one person I can really trust, my family never would have come between us. I allowed them to take the blame for my mistakes, and because of it, they brought us here to fix it. I'm so sorry."

Axel stared down at Roxas meaningfully. Did he mean it? He couldn't possibly believe that this was his entire fault! It was both of them. They were in this together.

"I love you." Axel murmured in his ear, kissing his temple tenderly. How could he ever have questioned if they could be in a relationship? He loved this man. This was his soul mate.

"I'm so sorry, Axel! For everything." Roxas answered back softly, before turning to face his dad. "I don't know what happened between all of you, but Axel deserves a much better family than this. You should be rejoicing his return, because he brings such a big ball of happiness wherever he goes."

"Dad, he's right. Let's make a new start for us. We could be happy." Ariel agreed, once again reaching out for him. Only this time, he didn't shove her arm away. Instead, he embraced it.

8:00 P.M.

"So by this point, everything should be going smoothly." Rikku predicted wisely, leaning back on the couch with a grin that could rival the Cheshire cat.

"Then what is the point in making Riku go down there?" Sora complained, staring up at the ceiling fan, bored out of his mind. It was always boring when Riku wasn't there.

Rikku tsked. Sora was so young. Even though she was younger than him, she was so much wiser. "Because…by bringing in the catalyst that made them break up, their trust will be put to the test."

"But—"

"If they make it through that, then they'll be strong enough to make it through the rest of their lives together." Rikku answered, shutting her eyes sagely. "Now go fetch me a glass of lemonade."

8:15 P.M.

Roxas smiled as Axel, Reno and Ariel laughed hysterically at a memory their dad was dramatically reciting. This was the family Axel deserved to apart of.

He watched Axel with a longing glint in his eyes as he shifted awkwardly on the uncomfortable wooden chair that faced the couch. He would never forget this night; the night he had mind-blowing make-up sex with the sexiest man he had ever seen.

Just the way Axel looked at him aroused him to no end. It was always filled with passion and desire, swimming inside emerald orbs. Oh, and the way Axel held him when he was buried deep inside of him…it was always impossibly tight, but it was the best closeness possible.

And now he was going to have this man all to himself for the rest of his life. Life couldn't get any better than this. Nothing could ruin this high.

There was a sudden knock on the door, which was kind of weird since it was two in the morning, but Roxas didn't want to ruin his good mood with pessimism.

"I'll get it." Roxas offered, leaping up and heading to the door. He could feel Axel's eyes on him. Jeez, there was no need to be worried. It wasn't going to be a murderer or anything.

But when Roxas swung open the door, he realized it was worse than a murderer.

It was Riku. Again!

"Riku? What the hell are you doing here?" Roxas hissed, struggling to control his temper. Okay, he was going to have to kick this guy's ass. He just didn't know when to leave him alone! Why did he keep showing up wherever he was?

"Roxas, oh Roxas, I want you back." Riku deadpanned, getting down on one knee. "Will you be my bride?"

Roxas jumped away from him as if he had some kind of disease. "Hell no!"

"Roxy? You okay? Who is it?" Axel called from the trailer living room. Roxas shot Riku a murderous look that said now look what you did.

"Well…" Roxas trailed off, trying to think of some way to get Riku away from the house before Axel saw him. Great. Now they were going to be back to square one.

Before he could think of any good ideas, Axel strode over to the door, pausing when he saw the same silver haired asshole that had almost made him stop trusting Roxas forever. Why was he here at his old house?

"You know Riku," Axel started, laughing humorlessly, "Since I'm in such a good mood, I won't kick your ass as long as you turn around and leave."

Riku sighed and stood up, cocking his head at Roxas before pulling a ring from his pocket. "Please just say you'll be my wife, Roxas Haiku."

"Why do I have to be the wife?" Roxas protested, crossing his arms and scowling at him. He was ruining everything. "Just go away, Riku."

"So our affair really meant nothing to you, huh?" Riku cried out in an overly dramatic fashion. Roxas stiffened at the words. He could actually feel Axel's anger radiating from his body. One second, Roxas was turning to him to sooth the beast threatening to erupt, and the next Axel had tacked Riku into the dirt.

A small part of him wanted to let Riku get pounded. Zeus knew he deserved it. Then Roxas remembered all of the great memories he had because of Riku. He didn't deserve it. In fact, this was probably just some ploy Rikku set up to test them or something.

Then he shook his head. Rikku wasn't that outrageous.

"Axel, wait!" Roxas called to him, wincing as Axel gave Riku a good punch in the jaw. "It isn't true! We've never had an affair!"

"I'm supposed to believe that bullshit?" Axel exclaimed, now wrestling with Riku—who, frankly, was now starting to fight back—for control. "Do I look like a fucking idiot?"

"No. You look like the one person on this earth that is supposed to trust me more than anyone." Roxas replied gently, cocking his hip to the side. "And think about it, why the hell would Riku want to marry me? He'd be miserable!"

If Roxas wasn't mistaken, it looked as if Riku was nodding his head.

Axel abruptly let Riku go. "So I'm just supposed to believe you?"

"Yes." Roxas snapped, starting to get a little offended. It shouldn't be that hard to trust him.

Axel shut his eyes and sighed. This was it. This was the moment in their relationship that could strengthen them or blow them to bits. Did he trust Roxas with this?

With their lives?

With everything?

Axel stared at Roxas for a long moment before shaking his head. Roxas' entire body slumped. That was it then.

It was over.

"If I'm going to trust you," Axel began playfully, and Roxas raised his head to look at him hopefully, "You're going to have to be my bride. You have to wear a wedding dress and everything. With no complaints."

Roxas smiled brilliantly and ran over to his fiancé, preparing to hug and kiss him until the sun came up. Axel took one step back, however, and held up one finger.

"One more thing, Roxy."

"What?"

Axel smirked down at Riku unapologetically…then offered him a hand. "Riku has to do our wedding cake."

"Oh jeez, can you guys be any gayer?" Reno called from the door, but all three members of Axel's family were smiling approvingly at them.

Roxas leapt into Axel's arms, wrapping his legs around his waist. He buried his head into the crook of his neck. "I'll love you forever, Axel."

"Roxas, I'll never stop breathing you in. No family will ever make me stop loving you." He whispered back to him.

Roxas smiled. "With our love, we'll make a new family."

Axel snorted and murmured the sentence that would have them laughing for the rest of their lives:

"Just wait until they have to meet our family."

---

Now

---

5:04 P.M.

"I fucking hate this dress!" Roxas complained loudly, taking an angry bite out of the cupcake Riku had brought him in an effort to calm him down. "I'm a man, god dammit!"

"A pretty man." Demyx snorted, snapping a picture of Roxas in his large, ball gown style wedding dress. Rikku, Namine, Larxene (who practically became BFFs with Axel the second they met at the trailer house), and Ariel seemed to pick the girliest, frilliest, most princess-y dress they could find.

Namine had even managed to do the unthinkable: flatten his hair. It was actually long enough to reach his shoulders! Who knew?

Then, of course, once the hair and dress were perfected, they couldn't leave it well enough alone. So they added make-up, because he wasn't embarrassed enough.

Some family.

"Why are you wearing a dress again?" Sora wanted to know, walking over to where Roxas was posed in front of a large mirror to pat him roughly on the back. "Tell your good brother Sora!"

"Axel won't marry me unless I wear the dress." Roxas gritted out, frowning even deeper as Rikku placed his veil on top of his head. Damn that redhead.

Larxene sighed, her expression mirroring Roxas' perfectly. They were siblings true and true. "I hate dresses, too."

"But you're a girl! Girls have to like dresses!" Sora argued, crossing his arms behind his head, just the picture of ease in his tuxedo. Roxas eyed him in jealousy. He doubted he could even lift his arms in this dress.

"Grow up, Sora." Rikku murmured distractedly, circling Roxas anxiously. "Something's still missing."

Roxas gasped. He almost forgot! He waddled over to his backpack, digging around past the lingerie and multiple lighters to find the precious gift that Axel had given him.

When he found it, his worries and frustrations immediately erased. The Halloween ring. He lifted the ring, which was hanging on a thin silver chain, and held it out to Rikku, smiling when his siblings gasped at its beauty.

"Axel bought you this?" Rikku gasped while Sora lamented, "I didn't realize you could get all that money from prostitution."

"He's not really a prostitute, Sora. That was just Cloud being…Cloud." Namine explained to him with a laugh. Then she looked at Roxas in puzzlement. "What does he do, Roxas?"

"Do we really have to discuss this now? On my wedding day?" Roxas whined, and they all agreed to talk about it some other time.

Hannah Haiku entered the room, holding a box of tissues in one hand. Her eyes watered and her lips quivered. "R-Roxas! You look beautiful!"

Roxas rolled his eyes. "Can't you say handsome or something?"

"Secretly, you love how beautiful you look, and you know it." Hannah sobbed, wiping her tears with a tissue. "I came in here to tell you that it's time."

Roxas practically began hyperventilating.

---

Way, way later

---

Some said the wedding was the most beautiful ceremony that the guests had ever seen, arguably because of the bride and the groom's glowing beauty.

Other said the wedding was the greatest love story ever told, because it brought two unlikely people together who had been through some of the deepest trust issues known to man.

But most said the wedding was the most entertaining, crude, inappropriate wedding they had ever attended; all who held this belief said it was because of their families.

Demyx had unknowingly consumed 50% of the wedding cake prior to the ceremonial cutting, claiming that he thought it was for everyone.

Reno had finally convinced Rude to have sex with him again…it just so happened to be while Roxas and Axel were saying their vows. No one could mistake the faint moans that wafted in from the bathroom.

Rikku, Yuna and Paine had stuffed their wedding dresses with tissue in order to look more busty to the guests…it was just unfortunate that the fans happened to be on and blew their tissues onto the guests.

Sephiroth and Cloud glared at Axel the entire ceremony up until the moment he said 'I do.' Just in case.

Ariel, Melody and Namine thought they were helping when they organized the wedding gifts. They were wrong, and ended up losing all of the cards attached with them.

Riku asked Sora to dance during the reception. No one really knows what happened, but by the time Sora left the dance floor, three people were injured.

No, there was no doubt in anyone's mind that Roxas and Axel's families combined were the worst things that could ever be mixed. But what they didn't know was what the bride and the groom knew. And that was that meeting the family brought them deeper in love than they ever would have been just being alone.

And as Axel and Roxas created new memories for themselves, blissfully forgetting the inconsequential moments that could have made or broken their relationship, one thing they never did forget.

Axel and Roxas never forgot meeting the family.

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And that's all she wrote! Thank you so much for reading! It's been a bumpy ride!

Review if you want (it would be appreciated!) but if not-thanks again!