Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts.

Axel groaned as a loud, blaring sound cut through his somewhat fitful sleep. That fucking alarm clock. He wasn't entirely sure why he'd set it, as it wasn't as if he had to go anywhere. This was his vacation, of a sort. Or so he tried to tell himself. He hadn't come back to find the boy with sky blue eyes who had meant so much to him. Not at all. He'd probably forgotten all about the redhead by now, anyway.

He flung out a thin, pale arm, muttering curses at the sound of rain pounding against his slightly concave window, and slammed his hand down on the offending black piece of machinery. Red lights screamed out at him from the box, informing him that it was 7:01am.

"Just a few more minutes," he mumbled to it irritably.

An hour later, even the faint sunlight drifting through the rain clouds had managed to penetrate the flimsy grey curtains covering his window. Axel groaned again, as he was woken for the second time that morning. He rubbed a hand over his angular face, and threw back the dirty blanket. He frowned in distaste at the cheap flower motif printed onto the fabric, and levered himself into a sitting position on the lumpy mattress. He flinched with disgust as his bare feet touched the carpet that was a little sticky, for some reason that Axel did really not want to know. Casting his gaze around the room, he sighed. A couple of cheap paintings decorated the lime green walls; a coffee table in the corner was covered with junk like empty beer cans and an overflowing ashtray. Forecast for today: Crap. Gritting his teeth, he stood and made his way into the bathroom that joined onto his cheap hotel room. He shivered as his feet came into contact with the icy cold tiles. He leaned his arms against the bathroom counter, then, taking in the stained brown colour of the surface, removed them and tucked them behind his head. Raising his radiant emerald eyes to the cracked mirror, he regarded his reflection.

His face was pale, even for him. That was probably due to the amount of crying he'd done yesterday. That definitely accounted for his slightly reddened and swollen eyes. His mouth was fixed into a grim line that looked as if it would never smile again. He was tall and skinny; just the same as yesterday, and his twin chakram necklace matched his hair- both were a fiery red colour. The necklace had been a gift from a certain blond-haired boy. Axel knew that he had saved up for weeks; months even, to afford to buy it for him. It was the only item he'd kept from his past, and he treasured it dearly. Axel ran a hand through his wild red locks. Reaching into the pocket of his boxers, he brought out a faded and broken red lighter. He rubbed a hand over its slightly roughened surface, and flicked it, trying vainly to light it. After several failed attempts, a tear leaked out of his green eyes. Axel immediately scrubbed it away furiously, and shoved the lighter back in his pocket.

"Enough." he muttered to himself. "Time to go meet an old friend." Axel laughed at how clichéd that sounded – like something from an old movie. He laughed in an attempt to dispel the anxiousness that coursed through his body at the thought of the reunion with someone from his past.

xxxxx

Demyx glared at Axel in uncharacteristic anger. He clenched and unclenched his fists, forcing himself to stay calm, or at the very least, not grow physically violent. People in the café gave them strange looks, but Demyx didn't give a shit.

"Fuck you, Axel."

The man with fiery red hair was fiddling with the sleeve of his black hoodie that, two days ago, had been soaked. His coffee was cold and untouched. Demyx didn't touch his food either. His once hot pumpkin soup had acquired a thin film over the top.

"Why did you come back?" Demyx's grey-blue eyes were narrowed, his normal cheerfulness absent.

Axel shifted uncomfortably. He was well aware of the glances they were receiving from the other customers in the small café. He thew his gaze around the room and shuddered at the painful pink colour of the walls, which clashed horribly with the blood red curtains spread across the window, thankfully concealing the rain outside from view. It made him uncomfortable to be the recipient of so many stares, and he rubbed his hand across the back of his neck, refusing to meet the other's eyes. "I … I don't know …"

"Oh. Brilliant." Demyx laughed sarcastically, a mockery of his real laugh.

Axel glared at the other man, his jade green eyes angry. "I missed you. I missed everyone. I wanted to come back."

"Not for long though, huh? Once you've had enough of this dump, satisfied your peace of mind, you'll be off again, right?"

Axel didn't speak, and his anger faded. He couldn't get angry at Demyx. This was his fault, and he shouldn't take it out on his friend. Actually, he wasn't sure if he could call him a friend anymore. Demyx looked pretty pissed. Axel kept his eyes on his stagnant cup of coffee. Demyx gave a loud sniff. Axel looked up, horrified, to see the other man crying.

"Oh, shit, I'm sorry Dem," he said sadly. "I didn't mean to upset you … I thought you'd be happy to see me."

Demyx gave a sob, attracting more stares from those seated around the pair. "As if I wouldn't be upset!" he exclaimed loudly, his sentence punctuated with sobs that he unsuccessfully tried to suppress. "You left. We had no problem with that. I mean, we all wished it was us leaving, sure, but we were happy for you. We were happy to see you happy." Demyx's voice grew cold, his sobs halting, though tears still ran steadily down his cheeks. "And then you told us, in no uncertain terms, that we would receive no address to contact you by, no email, nothing, because you wanted to forget everything about your past, leave it all behind, including us."

"I'm sorry…" Axel mumbled. "That was wrong of me … it's just … after Xigbar died …"

"And then you have the nerve to come backto the place you tried so hard to forget, and think that everything would be fine between us."

"I didn't think it would all be fine … I just wanted to see you …"

"Are you going to see Roxas?" Demyx's tears had subsided, and he hiccupped occasionally.

Axel flinched, green eyes returning to his coffee. "I…"

"He was never the same after you left. You were his best friend. Sometimes, I got the feeling he thought of you as more than a friend."

"He did." Axel said softly. Demyx's eyes widened as his longtime suspicion was confirmed. A grin started to form on his face, and his eyes lit up. Suddenly, Axel knew that Demyx had forgiven him.

"Did you feel the same way?" Demyx asked eagerly.

"Demyx, I left a year ago. I hardly even know the kid anymore." Axel nimbly dodged the minefield.

"Yeah- exactly a year ago from yesterday. Roxas knew."

"Huh?"

"I called him, to see if he wanted to come to the movies with me or something – Zex was out gambling with Luxord or something. I really wish he wouldn't gamble. It's such a terrible habit … So I called Roxas, and he could barely talk he was shivering so much. Apparently, he'd been sitting in some park in the mud, in the freezing rain! Can you believe it? He was always so sensible … completely unlike you. Anyway, I asked why he was sitting in the rain, and he mumbled your name and something about an anniversary. A one-year anniversary."

Axel didn't think that Roxas would have remembered. He certainly had. That year had been one of the worst of his life. He'd counted the days going by, waiting for something good to happen. It had been worse, even, than the years in the Community House he and Roxas and Demyx had lived in until Axel had been allowed to live by himself. He was a couple of years older than Roxas, and a year older than Demyx. Demyx would be living by himself now … apparently with Zexion.

"How is Roxas doing?" Axel was almost afraid to venture the question. He wasn't sure whether he wanted Roxas to be doing well and fine without him, or suffering.

Demyx's face fell slightly. "He's coping. He doesn't talk as much as he used to …"

"He didn't talk much before."

"Exactly."

Axel lapsed into silence again. He didn't know what to do. He hadn't anticipated this – this hostility he was receiving, although, in hindsight, he realized he probably should have. Thinking back to the day he left, he cringed in shame. He had treated his friends, who had always been there for him, abominably. Even Roxas. Especially Roxas. For the second time that day, his green eyes allowed a tear to leak down his cheek. "What do I do, Demyx?" he asked, turning to his younger friend for help.

Demyx stroked his mullet thoughtfully. "I can't help you in this, Axel. This is something you have to sort out with Roxas by yourselves. But I can tell you how to win Zexion over. There's this book that he's been wanting for ages, but it's pretty expensive – but hey, that's the price you have to pay for friendship, right?"

Axel gave a half-hearted grin, his mind still desperately trying to think of a way to make up and apologise for what he did to his best friend. "Thanks, Demyx." He tried to make it sound final, so that Demyx would shut up and allow him to lose himself in his brooding thoughts about Roxas in silence. Of course, Demyx couldn't take a hint.

"Of course, just buying the book wouldn't be enough. He's not really that much of a materialistic person that he would accept a book as an apology. Well, he'd definitely accept the book, but he'd still be pretty upset and mad. You'll have to give him a pretty sincere 'sorry'. Not like what you've said to me. That was pathetic. You're lucky I'm such a nice guy. I don't think you'll even need to apologise to Larxene, other than giving her a few beers or a really sharp new kitchen knife. She really likes those ones that they use to chop stuff up fast – you know the ones? They're pretty big, and are kinda curved, with handles on each end. She says they're really good both offensively and defensively... on second thoughts, maybe don't get her that knife … we don't want her in jail again …"

"Demyx …"

"Play a couple of games of poker with Luxord, lose spectacularly – don't make it obvious, mind you, he won't like that – and he'll be happy, I think. He's gotten a lot worse with that gambling … Saix and…"

Axel sighed, and admitted defeat. He continued to nod his head every 30 seconds or so, or at least when Demyx glared at him and demanded to know whether he was listening or not. Rain continued to fall outside, but even the sound of the element he so despised wasn't enough to rouse him from his sadly reflective mood. He drifted sorrowfully amongst his thoughts, thinking of a blond boy with ocean deep blue eyes.

xxxxx

A/N- it was great! I really didn't think that I'd get this done anytime this week, but we had English today, and I managed to write like half of it then, 'cause we had creative writing. This is creative, right? I won't go into my various criticisms of this chapter, because I realise that may get tiring. So … you can tell me instead! Thanks! (that was a subtle way to ask you to review, because reviews motivate me, and really make my day!) Thanks to everyone who's reviewed so far, too. You guys are awesome…