Warnings: Nudity, past drug use

Chapter 4 – He Doesn't Look a Thing Like Jesus

Demyx made me Axel's apprentice for the day and told me I'd officially start working for him tomorrow. He was nice enough to give me the same hours as Axel as well. Although it may have been for selfish reasons, I think I heard him say something about wanting to sleep in. But I didn't mind, I was happy to be working with Axel, not so happy to be working at eight thirty in the morning, but at least it was with Axel. And I'd make some money at least.

"Hey, Roxy, we're closing for lunch, come on." Axel told me from behind the counter. "We'll get something fast, and then I want to get you some clothes. And don't complain, you can't come to work naked."

A quick lunch, two more hours at work, seven outfits, two coats, three sweatshirts, two pajama pants, seven pairs of boxers, and three pairs of shoes later we arrived at Axel's apartment. When he opened the door my jaw dropped. His apartment was bigger than my house. There was a lot of red, black, and white throughout the open living room, kitchen and dining room. The furniture, appliances, and electronics were all very modern looking and top of the line. "Wow." I said.

"Yeah, Saix had very expensive taste, but he let me pick the colors. And all of this stuff is really comfortable. Uh, you can use whatever you want mi casa es su casa. The remotes for the TV and surround sound are in the side table on the right, the game systems, I think we have them all, are under the TV, and the games are on the book shelf. We also have top of the line appliances in the kitchen. I think Demy restocked the fridge too, I'm not always good at that." I could believe that when I looked at Axel's thin frame.

"Okay, I guess I'll be in charge of grocery shopping. Is Saix your boyfriend?" I asked.

"Was." He responded quietly.

"There's that word again what do you mean 'was'. Did you break-up?"

"No, he died. He had a brain tumor so we knew he was dying, but I loved him. Of course his parents hate me."

"Why?" I was curious.

"Follow me, I'll show you your room." I complied though, admittedly, I was a little frustrated at him avoiding my question. However as we started walking he continued. "They never liked me, never thought I was good enough. Anyway, they're really pissed now," he pause outside a door, "because Saix left me everything he owned, even his $1,307,000 car. They really wanted to make money off of that, and the apartment." He opened the door. Much like the other room this one was very modern looking with top of the line electronics. The only difference was that this room was several shades of blue and white, rather that red, black, and white. It was wonderful, and it was mine, kind of. "You have a walk-in closet and a rather large bathroom with a steam shower and Jacuzzi. This is your space; I'll always knock before coming in, okay?"

"Yeah, thank you so much Axel. Why are you helping me?" I just couldn't understand why anyone would do this for me. Especially when my own parents refused to.

"I know what it's like."

"No you don't! You've probably never even had cough syrup, let alone any real drugs. You don't know anything!" I hate it when people try to relate to me. They don't know anything.

"My mom died when I was twelve," Axel dragged me with him to sit on the bed, "I don't have any other family and the house was auctioned off. Somehow I managed to escape social services but I had nowhere to go. After a month of living on the street, digging food out of trash cans, drinking rain water, freezing my ass off at night, I just wanted to stop feeling. I wanted to be with my mom. And I guess I kind of got it. Some man came up to me one night. He said for a hand job he'd make the pain go away.

"'What worse could happen,' I remember thinking to myself, so I did it. It was disgusting but could've been much worse. When I was done he gave me my first shot of heroin. It was great, everything just seemed to go away, so kept going to him, getting more and more. The sexual acts I performed got worse and worse. This went on for four years. I would let the man fuck me, he'd get me my drugs, I'd get completely fucked up and then I'd do it all over again. The bench you were sleeping on used to be my bed. I got so fucked up one night; I passed out on that bench, and woke up in the hospital. Saix had seen me, he knew I was overdosing on something and he was able to save me.

"Saix had me completely off all drugs by the time I was eighteen. That's about the same time we started dating, even though I had been living with him for two years. He told me he wouldn't date me until I was sober. Then once I got sober he told me why we couldn't be more than friend while I still relied on drugs. He told me it was because he was dying of a brain tumor and he only had a few years left. And he was right, I've been sober four years and it's been so fucking hard staying away from drugs. Especially when you just handed me that coke…"

"You didn't do it did you?" I had stayed quiet for his story but I was worried that I ruined his sobriety, I would never forgive myself.

"No…no, I flushed it. But I wanted it, and five years ago I would not have flushed it. You asked me why his parent hate me, that's why. I was sixteen, and he was twenty when I moved in. His parents didn't like it. When he bailed me out of jail for drug possession, a few months after I moved in, they told him to get rid of me or they'd disown him. It was an empty threat but he told me even if it wasn't he wouldn't have kicked me out. They always bitched at him 'Get that druggie whore out of your house, he just wants money for more drugs.' And Saix would respond, 'But I love him and I want to help him.'

"When I was nineteen I had been sober for a year, and he bought me my Lamborghini. He said it was for a year of sobriety and my birthday. His parents did disown him for that but he had already inherited his dad's company, so nothing really changed. Huh, I guess I own it now. At least I make a profit on it.

"So no, I don't know exactly what you've been through, but I have my own scars, and I think I can make a pretty accurate assumption of what you're going through. I know it sucks to be alone while you're struggling to keep yourself from drugs. Your mom was wrong, she should've been supportive. I don't know what I would've done without Saix."

Okay, not even the cruelest shrink could make that shit up, Axel wasn't lying. Maybe he does understand, maybe he can save me. Oh Red, I want you to save me, I want a happy ending. I want all of my pain to be gone. Axel was looking quite depressed sitting next to me. His normally bright green eyes had dulled and it was a sad sight to see. Before I knew it my arms were wrapped around him, holding him tight. I didn't want to see him upset; I wanted to take away his pain. He brought his arms around me and we sat like that for hours. I don't know how many hours, but it felt right, it felt good.

oOo

It felt good to hold onto my little blond, who was still wearing my coat. I could stay like this forever. It wasn't sexual either, it was just comfort and it was nice. I hate to say this but it may be better than Saix. No, Saix loved you and you loved him. Roxas is just a friend comforting you and needing his own comfort. At some point Roxas fell asleep, so I took his shoes and socks off and tucked him into his new bed.

oOo

I knew I wasn't in my bed. This bed was way too comfortable. I slowly opened my eyes and was bombarded with blue. The memories quickly came flooding back into my head. Axel had invited me to live with him, and I fell asleep hugging him. He must have tucked me in. He really was sweet. I saw a note on my nightstand when I turned over.

Hey Roxy,

There's a new toothbrush and tooth paste in the

bathroom. I also left you some shampoo and

conditioner, and hung your clothes up in your closet.

There's also some towels on the shelf in your closet.

And a very bright and shining morning to you.

Axel

I smiled. His hand writing was a little girly, but he's so thoughtful. It was so nice to be taken care of for once, rather than being the one who had to do the caring. My parents were always too busy fighting to take care of Sora and me, so I took care of him. I made sure he was fed and clothed, that his homework was done, and that he never heard the fighting. This started when I was eight, then by the time I was sixteen I was too drugged up to do it. Luckily my parents got divorced around that time and my mother was able to take care of him. I missed him.

After going through my morning routine, and putting on clean clothes. I grabbed Axel's coat and went to find him. Behind the first door I opened was a closet, but the second door led to a bedroom. I walked over to the bed, which had red blankets and pillows, lots of pillows, and Axel was sleeping on his stomach without a shirt. He has a gorgeous back. I stuck out a hand and pushed on his perfect back, he's so soft. "Axel. Hey Red, wake up. We got work in an hour."

Then he rolled over, legs pulling the blanket with them, revealing him in all his naked glory. "Oh. My. God." I looked away in an attempt to be polite but I couldn't help looking back at him. He was skinny, sure, but he had toned muscles in all the right places, he had an eight-pack, and damn, he was well endowed. "You look really…really good naked." I said before I could stop myself. A wicked smirk spread across his face. "And the hair color's natural, I've been wondering."

Apparently that was too much for Axel because he rolled over clutching his stomach, laughing his naked ass off. "Holy hell Roxy…that was…the greatest reaction…ever."

"Okay, okay, calm down and get ready for work. I'm going to make breakfast. And I brought your coat back." I held his coat out to him and his laughter died down somewhat.

"Keep it Roxy; I like it better on you." I smiled a toothy grin at this, and his face lit up at the sight of it. I would smile more just to see him like this, even if he had clothes on, he was so beautiful. And I loved the way he called me Roxy. No one else ever called me that, so no bad memories came with it. It was just something between me and Axel. I liked that, I liked it a lot.

So the ending was a bit of comic relief after Axel told his story. I hope it worked

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