Horray for long chapters! So like, in a Microsoft Word document, this was around 10 pages. So it's nice and long. :]

I dont own Kingdom Hearts in any way shape or form, as you all know...

BURNING TWILIGHT IV – ADVERSARY

It had been a few months since the event at the station had happened, but a few good things actually came from that experience. For one thing, Axel and I were as close as ever, and we were both happier. Well, Axel looked like he was just in his normal mood, but I was certainly happier.

But, as my luck would serve, bad things ended up happening too. I couldn't help but staring at Riku whenever I saw him, which was turning out to be quite often, and there was a growing grudge growing in the pits of my heart for what he had done to Axel. Eventually, Riku found out that Axel had told me everything.

"Roxas," It was Riku. Lunch was almost over and he wanted to talk again, and Axel let me go but gave me a worried look when my hand left his shoulder. Just like the last time we talked on-on-one, he took me away from everyone else to talk privately.

"What's the deal with you and Axel?"

"Well, uh…" I didn't have an answer, and I was desprate for one. I could feel my face turn red and everything, and I just couldn't come up with a good answer. Its not like I was just gonna up and say "Oh yeah, Riku, me and Axel are wonderful! We're the closest we've ever been and Im loving it! By the way, did you know he kisses me goodnight? Oh yeah, that's my favorite!"

Yeah. I didn't think so. So, I just said the first thing that came to mind.

"Nothing," Smart move.

"Hm." He snorted, bending over a bit so he could look over me in a very condescending way. "If that's the case, then why has he been so attached to you? Any reason for that?" It annoyed me when people hinted at something, like you were just going to up and confess a secret, or at least something you want kept secret, anyway.

"I dunno. We're just friends. Relax." Apparently, I had said that with a little too much oomph in my tone, because he moved himself closer and started talking to me like he was some sort of bully-kid. Obviously, he didn't like my lie.

"Tell me everything that has gone on between the two of you."

"I told you, nothing. And besides," I took a step back. "It really isn't any of your business to be poking around in other people's lives. Its not like you own either of us, so cut it out."

Ya know how in movies, the bully always picks on the weaker of the students? And things never go too well at all? And the weaker kid gets beat up and returns to class the following days with a black eye?

Well, guess what happened.

Everything except the black eye part.

Actually, what really happened is he just grabbed my collar like the bully usually does, and laid out some threats.

"Listen, if you aren't going to tell me, then Ill go ahead and tell you this," He tightened his grip, I noticed, partly because the material of my jacket was heard squeaking from being pushed on itself. "If you hurt him, I swear to God, I will hurt you so bad in return you wont come within one hundred miles of this place, got it?" He loosened his grip, and at that point I went to turn away, but he wouldn't let me.

"Also," He glanced away from me, looking probably at Axel. "As far as Im concerned, Axel's mine. He always has been, and he always will. Don't get in our way, understand?" He dropped me and calmly walked away, grabbing his stuff and claiming that he needed to head to class early. Whatever.

The bell rang pretty much right after that, and for once math class wasn't a bore. For some reason, Mr. T had us watch a movie. I forget what it was called, but it was pretty good.

After all my classes were done for the day I met up with Axel outside of the art building, which was halfway to our room, and we had an engaging conversation all the way back. Axel and I were near inseparable, at this point in our relationship. And I liked that. I liked it quite a bit, to be honest.

But there were times where he would just wake me up at one or two in the morning, worried. And it was always for the same reason, he didn't want to lose me. This was one of those nights. I can only imagine what fears were going through his head, mainly because of the whole "Riku" situation.

"Roxas," He whispered right in my ear. "Roxas. Roxas!" I had also noticed that he had stopped calling me "Roxy" for the time being. I wasn't sure whether or not I missed being called Roxy, either…

"…yeah Axel?" I turned over, rubbing my eyes, trying to wake up. He sat at the edge of my bed.

"I want to talk again," He said, with me sitting up in response. He looked at me and smiled, but his eyes didn't look at all like he was happy. A little part of my died on the inside each time he smiled like that, without real feeling behind it.

"Roxas," He started off as he usually did on these nights, a sigh with my name in it. As usual, I just listen. "Roxas, I know that you know this. Ive told you a thousand times, and Im sorry for waking you up it's just that…well, I need advice." That was unexpected. Really, it was.

"You said you've been through all of this before, so I need to know what helped you get by everything, especially since you were on your own." I sighed. I didn't really know what to tell him, I don't know how I got through everything, I just did.

"Well…" I ran my hand through my horrible tangled hair, waking myself up a bit. "First of all, how come you're always giving me a fake smile?" He was caught by surprise, I could tell.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Whenever you smile at me, like just a second ago, it wasn't a real smile. It wasn't happy, like smiles are supposed to be."

"Sorry 'bout that…" He put his head down but I had just the words to bring it back up.

"Don't be sad about it, just think of something happy whenever you want to smile. Just don't give me those fake ones!" I managed to get him to laugh, and that was my accomplishment of the say.

"Then, I guess Ill just have to think about you all of the time, Roxas." That made us both smile.

"Well back to your question," I said, leaning back on my elbows. "I guess, when I think about it, I didn't really have any special trick up my sleeve. To tell the truth, I guess something told me not to do anything too drastic or permanent, because I was needed somehow. There's not really any other way to put it." He just smiled at me, a real smile, this time. It made me smile back at him.

"Good thing you listened," And he got that look in his eyes again, the one that used to make me feel uneasy and like a baby. Except, this time, it just made me look at him. He was so handsome, one of the most beautiful boys I had ever seen. Even in the dark, his eyes were glowing.

He moved closer to me, holding himself up with his arms as he inched closer, until he was only inches from my face. I was nervous, just like I was the first time we had kissed, but this nervousness wasn't due to expectation, it was because of my mixed feelings. I knew I sort of liked him, but something told me that I was unsure of how I would really feel unless this happened. And it was.

Our lips met, and time was lost. There was nothing else in the world but me and him. His lips were soft, softer than any I had ever felt before. I had butterflies, and they were going crazy, but the sensation was flawless, I loved it. It was the perfect moment.

We must have moved the blanket, because Axel was the only thing keeping me warm. He had gotten on top of me, his thin yet muscular body against mine, and the kiss hadn't stopped.

I don't know how long the moment lasted, but every second was beyond fantastic, and I wished I could have experienced it again once it was over. It was past two in the morning, and we needed to get to bed. I tried to tell Axel to get up and go in his bed, but he had already fallen asleep. I just laughed and covered the both of us with the blanket, figuring that it didn't matter whether or not we slept in the same bed.

I was on my side, about to fall asleep when Axel turns on his back and brings me close. I laid my head on his chest, hearing his heartbeat for the first time. One hand was on my shoulder, the other was combing slowly through my hair. I laughed, the sneak had faked sleep. I didn't care. I fell asleep just like that, a warm hand through my hair and my head on his chest.

I didn't know it, but that night I had fallen the hardest I had ever fallen for someone in my entire life.

I was dreaming about Axel indirectly that night, the whole dream was that I was at this park or something, and one of the main things I can remember is that Axel and I were walking down a white-railed sidewalk, and I remember seeing a fully inflated purple balloon drop onto the grass, not popping. The next thing I cal recall is that we're laying down in the grass, he's propped up on his elbow and says to me "You want to know the secret?" and I laughed as I said yes. "Yeah, yeah, what do I have to do for you to tell me?" He rolled his eyes and agreed to tell me. "If you want to know what the secret is, you have to-"

And I woke up. But it was kind of a good thing, because it was Axel who woke me up earlier than I usually woke up…I had mixed feelings about waking up that early, actually.

"Roxas,"

"What is it, Axel?" He turned me over, a big smile on his face. He looked like he'd been awake for hours already, based off of how lively he was.

"Hurry up and come with me, or you'll miss it!"

"Wait, miss what? What'll I miss?" He pulled me out of bed and outside as quietly as he could. I was pretty tired still, so I just followed wherever he was taking me. All's I know is that we had to climb a flight of stairs somewhere, and then when I was really awake we had to climb up between two walls with what little leverage there was to get where he was taking me.

We broke out of that tight area and went around an enclosed corner, where we jumped over a small cement wall to get to flat ground.

"Shh, you have to step lightly, people are down there," He lifted his finger to his lips and then pointed down. I followed his pointing and then looked up to follow Axel, only to see perhaps the best sunrise I had ever seen. I was speechless. Usually, I wasn't too amazed by these things, but I was this time. Probably because of Axel, but, whatever. It was still amazing.

"Wow," I laughed. "Axel, how did you ever get to find this spot?"

"Its easy when you read between the lines." We stood with our arms folded across a cement wall, just low enough for us to comfortably stand. I heard Axel giggle a bit, and then he brought me close with his arms wrapped around me.

God, it was so great. Just standing there with him watching the sun rise to bring us a new day. He pointed to a few of the buildings, telling me some things about them.

"See? Building three? My first year here my room was in that building, and the year after that all of my classes were in building C, and my room was right next to that. It was pretty cool," His voice trailed off, so I assumed he was done. He rested his head on my shoulder, whispering in my ear.

"But you know something?" I moved my head a bit in question. "Out of all the years Ive been here, and out of all the people Ive gotten to know, you're my pick of the litter," I smiled, and he gave me a quick kiss on the cheek before saying that we needed to leave before we were seen. But the sun was up all the way, so I didn't mind.

Skipping all of the boring parts of my day, Ill go right to lunch, where I see Axel for the first time after leaving the dorm every day. Instead of sitting at a table like normal, he invited me, Demyx, Zexion, Riku and Sora to come sit with us in the grass. It actually wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. I had gotten past giving Riku dirty looks, and it turns out he and Sora were just as good of friends as Axel and I were. It made me wonder, a bit though.

As normal, Demyx was spending most of his time either playing random, but complicated looking sweeping riffs on his guitar or breathing down Zexion's neck as he tried to read. I had no clue what was going on between them.

"So, Roxas," Sora said. "How have things been? Everything better?"

"Better?" Axel intervened, obviously worried about me. "What was the problem?"

"A few weeks ago, back when I last saw him Roxas was all concerned about you. Apparently you had gone somewhere and he was kind of worried or whatever. He came by our room to see if we knew where you went." The whole time I was giving Sora that look that said Sora, there are just some times in life where you just need to STOP TALKING. But he didn't get the memo.

It sucked, because Axel didn't know that I had gone to see Riku before finding him. I can only imagine what his thoughts were on this, because he gave me that Oh, really? look. I just shrugged, mouthing to him "Ill explain later."

After that lunch was just a bunch of awkwardly ending conversations.

Math wasn't any better. Thank goodness Axel and I talked it all out through a note instead of out loud…that couldn't have ended well. I tend to get loud when I argue openly.

What was that all about? Is what Axel's note said. He was awfully to-the-point.

Nothing, it was just when you left math that one time in a hurry I wanted to make sure you were alright.

So why'd you go to Riku?

Because since he was like your best friend or something I thought he might know where you had gone or where you would go, it wasn't anything bad.

Where did he say I was?

He said you'd either be roaming in town or at the station. Why? He didn't respond very quickly at all. He looked like he was thinking about something, and he wouldn't budge whenever I tried to move him. Soon enough he passed the paper back.

Its just like, why didn't Riku go looking for me if he knew where I'd be? We have our last class together, and if I wasn't there, why wasn't he concerned? I looked over to him after I finished reading, and he had his chin in his hand, his elbow holding it up. He was troubled by it, I could tell.

Sighing, I gave whatever advice I could.

Look, Axel, It took me quite a while to write the right words, but I got it. Don't brood over it. Not to be an ass or anything but you said yourself that he didn't care about you anymore. And if that's true, this proves it, okay? Don't get upset about something like that. Who knows what he was thinking, but if he was afraid to lose you he'd go after you. He didn't, and as bad as it may sound, I just have to say leave the issue alone. You've fixed this problem, why start it all over again?

I don't know what effect that had on him, but he didn't write back. I have to admit I got kind of scared, he wouldn't look at me for the rest of the class. But he didn't rush out right after the bell rang. He just slowly packed his things. Being who I was, I waited for him for as long as I could. He even walked the halls slowly. It was too quiet, everyone was in class or running to a class to be on time, and I knew we were both too far from our own classes to even run to get there on time. Outside of the building I stopped him.

"Axel," I said, grabbing his arm and holding him back. He didn't look back, he just stood frozen. "Look, I know what I said might have been bad, but its true. Trust me." He didn't say anything. I let his hand go but he made no moves. Putting my hands on my hips I continued.

"Listen, just let that go. It doesn't have to be right now, and Id hate to say get over it, because I know, first hand that its not that easy. But like I said, that problem is said and done. Nothing more can be done unless you bring it up again and restart that heartbreak. You just have to leave Riku to live his own life, and whether or not his new life has you in it is his decision, alright? Now, I don't like it when you get like this. You're unresponsive, you don't listen to anybody, and you put yourself in jeopardy just because you're upset. Don't do this, please." Silence was the only noise, and it was the loudest thing I could hear.

He didn't speak for a long time.

"Look, Roxas," He didn't turn to face me. "I know all of that. I just have to think about it for myself, I need to be able to accept it before I do anything else, okay?" I gave a nod, not saying a word. Even if he didn't hear anything, he knew my answer. "Im skipping this class, and Im going back to the room. If you can, do whatever you need to somewhere else. I need to clear my mind of everything wrong right now. I know you'll understand."

I did. He walked away, and I went to class, late.

The day was over, and I had whatever books I needed to do whatever homework I had, and I didn't mind leaving Axel by himself for a while. If he needed it, I was okay with it. I do admit, I went back and dropped my things off in front of the door, but I didn't go in and disturb him. Then, I left for town.

It was only four in the afternoon, and knowing the people of Twilight Town, things didn't start winding down until five-thirty or six. I smiled a bit at the memories I had of the town, but not once did I go by the station. I didn't want to think about Axel, it would just make me worry.

So, I went to the number one place I used to go in my old home, the Usual Spot.

I was pretty nervous walking through that alleyway, but only because I hadn't seen anyone in a few years, and I wondered if they were even friends anymore. Whether or not they even came to this place anymore.

I stopped in front of the open fence, trying to calm down the nervousness I had. Taking a deep breath, I slowly moved the red-cloth doorway out of the way and poked my head in to find exactly what I was looking for.

Sitting in their normal spots on a box, the couch, and an old heater-type thing, were my best friends Hayner, Pence and Olette.

Being the one facing the entrance at all times, Hayner was the first to see me. I smiled nervously, waving when he noticed me. Of course, Olette being Olette, she was the first to really notice who I was.

"Oh my god, Roxas?"

"Hey," I waved again, not being able to help the smile. Hayner and Pence's reactions were priceless, I have to say.

"What! Roxas!" Hayner jumped off his spot and came over to me, followed by Pence who had pretty much the same reaction. I was smothered in hugs and light punches to the arm, but they were more than happy to see me.

"Wow!" Olette was the happiest, it looked like. She was amazed at how I looked. "Oh my god, Roxas! You look so different! Wow, oh my god, I missed you! How've you been!" Hayner couldn't keep from punching me, asking about this and that…everyone looked so different compared to the last time we were together, but we all still had the same attitudes and all that good stuff. It was just like the old days.

Anyway, we roamed around Town until it was dark outside, and Hayner took me back to his house for a few minutes to catch up after everyone had to go home.

"So, Roxas, what've you been doing this whole time? You back in town for good or what?"

"Yeah, not much…I live as close to Sora now, so, you know how that is. Geez, the people in Sunset are just nothing like you guys here. You cant find any good friends over there. But, yeah, Im actually going to school over at that 'Twilit Boarding School' or whatever. Its pretty nice, but Im not here in town or anything, just came to visit."

"Ah, man, well it was sure a surprise to see you, man!" Another punch. There was going to be a bruise there, but it didn't matter.

"So, when should you be going back?"

"I should leave pretty soon, I cant be out too late, school curfew and everything."

"Oh, well then let me drive you," It was Hayner's mom. To her I was like a second son, as she had always put it.

"No, that's alright I can walk—"

"No! Let me drive you, you'll get there twice as fast."

Needless to say she insisted on giving me a ride, but it was great while it lasted. Hayner and I talked the whole way, and now that he knew I was so close for now he wanted to see me more.

"See ya, Roxas! Come back and see us again sometime!" And they drove off as I walked to my room.

It didn't occur to me that Axel was still there, I mean, it just wasn't like him. But when I got to the door my stuff was still outside, in the exact condition I had left it in. I was kind of shy to go in, I didn't want to disturb him, but it wasn't like I couldn't go in. I mean I cant sleep outside, the patrol people wouldn't allow me.

"Whatever," I grabbed my bag and took out a paper and pencil, writing a note for Axel.

Axel, I didn't want to disturb you so I went to sleep over in Sora's room. –Roxas

I slipped it under the door as quietly as I could, picking up my things and heading for my cousin's room. I didn't care if Riku was there or not, I needed a place to stay, and if he didn't like it, I didn't really give a crap.

I knocked on the door when I got to the right room, and it opened faster than I thought it would. Apparently, they were still awake. Or, at least, Riku was, He was the one who answered the door.

"Hey, Riku," Hopefully that was the right thing to say.

"Hey, Roxas, what's the problem?"

"Well, you see, Axel's having some issues and I want to give him some time alone…long story short, I kind of need somewhere to sleep. Is it alright if I like, crash on the floor or something?"

"Oh, yeah, sure. Totally," He opened the door wider for me to walk in and I set my stuff down next to a bed that Sora was sleeping in. The fool was draped on his bed like he was a stuffed toy.

"Thanks, Riku, really. And, Im sorry about this, it's just that," I stopped, shrugging. He nodded, knowing pretty much what was going on.

"Yeah, he does that sometimes. Oh well, glad you decided to leave him be. You never know what he'll do, that Axel."

"Yeah…" I looked around. "Hey, where does Sora keep his pajamas? I couldn't bring any, you know,"

"Top drawer,"

"Thanks." I was getting changed, making sure to remove only one article of clothing at a time and then replacing it instead of stripping down like I did for Axel. Thankfully, Riku was totally uninterested. He was going through a binder or something.

"So, uh, Roxas,"

"Yeah?"

"What made Axel get this way?"

"To tell you the truth, I don't really know. Ive only got an idea." I sighed, grabbing a random pillow off the floor and relocating it. Riku tossed me a blanket. "Thanks,"

"No problem."

"Well, I guess it was because he didn't know that I had come here to see if you knew where he had gone. He didn't think Id do that, I guess. I don't know, I told him that I came to ask you and then he got upset about it. I just left him alone." He nodded, flipping some of his long silver hair behind his shoulder.

"Hopefully, he'll be better by tomorrow, or at least soon. Seeing Axel get like that always made me feel kind of bad."

"I know what you mean, he doesn't let anybody in, or anything."

"Mhm."

"Im sorry to rain on your parade, Riku, but, I went into Town and horsed around with some old friends, and it wore me out. Ive gotta get to sleep or fall asleep in mid-sentence."

"Yeah, I think Ill hit the sheets too. Long day," He watched me until I was situated with whatever bedding I had and shut the light off.

"Thanks again, Riku, really."

"No problem, anytime." I turned over, not really wanting to think about anything. It seemed that as soon as I closed my eyes I fell asleep. And I really needed that.

It was one of those rare, deep sleeps, where you feel like you could sleep forever if you weren't woken up. But of course, as soon as an alarm went off I was as awake as Id ever be.

It was Riku's alarm clock that woke me up. For a second I was confused, I had forgotten where I was, but as soon as I saw a blur of silver out of the corner of my eye I remembered. Sitting up I looked at Sora, he was still dead asleep.

"Sora," Riku said right next to his ear. The rock didn't even twitch or anything. "Sora. Get up." He said it louder, poking him in the cheek. His reaction was delayed, which amused me. It took him three full seconds of silence to violently snap awake.

"Roxas?" He yawned. "Why are you here?"

"Long story, it doesn't matter," I stood up to stretch, and scanned the area around me for my clothes. Geez, it looked like Sora hadn't done his laundry since he got here. I found my stuff eventually, and then just got dressed right then and there. Neither of them were interested in me, thankfully. I think Sora just didn't care about it, he had seen me undress thousands of times when we were kids. We were pretty much like brothers, but whatever. Ive already explained this.

So, school started as every other day did, and as usual, I didn't get to see any of my partially real friends until lunch. I say partially real because the only people I ever talk to out of that giant group is Axel, Riku and Sora. Those three, including Sora, are my friends.

I was worried, at first. Axel didn't show up for the first five minutes or so of lunch. I saw him walk up from what looked like the direction of our dorm room, but I didn't question him. He sat next to me, smiling, but it wasn't a completely real smile. He still wasn't better from yesterday.

"Hey, Roxas."

"Hi,"

"So, uh…how are 'ya?"

"Decent. More importantly, how are you doing?" I could only guess that he had been waiting for that. He sighed and put his head back.

"Im fine. Still got some things on my mind, but Im fine." He didn't sound like he was anywhere near telling the truth on that one. He wasn't happy, cheery, peppy Axel.

"Tell me the truth, Axel." I went ahead and said. Someone had to be the authority around here. "You don't sound right. Something's still very wrong. Tell me what the problem is." Instead, he pulled out his phone and pretended to be answering someone's message. He closed it before answering.

"I was perfect this morning, then I read your note to me, and it got me thinking again."

"Thinking? How?"

"You went over to Riku's room."

"Yeah, and? I needed some place to stay so you could be alone."

"You don't get it."

"No," I said as stern as I could manage. "I don't. So tell me what I don't get."

"Not right now. Ill tell you some other time. Lunch is almost over, anyway." He was right, and off to math we went. We were early, for once, but I don't see how. We walked the same pace as normal. Hell, something was wrong and I didn't know what it was. This was another thing you can add to the "Things That Annoy Roxas" list. Not knowing.

Math went by slower than usual, and Axel still wasn't saying a word. I didn't feel like passing notes, so figuring out his issue right now was a lost cause.

Art didn't go by any faster. Considering we had a test, and we had to name all kinds of critiquing viewpoints and describe them, it wasn't very fun like it usually was. Today was just one of those days.

Axel didn't meet up with me after class, so I just went on back to the dorm. There wasn't a note on the door or anywhere around it, so I just opened the door and went inside. Axel wasn't there.

"Ah, dammit, not again…" It was getting too cold outside to be walking freely from the campus, so reluctantly, I packed up a few changes of clean clothes and went down to the main office to excuse myself for a few days. Surprisingly, they give you the right to sick days, kind of like a job does. I went to Twilight Town again, right to the Usual Spot.

They must have all been out doing something, because no one was there and it was only three-thirty. I dropped my stuff off next to where I always used to sit and left. I was walking towards to station mindlessly, I usually went there when there was nothing to do back when I lived here, and I looked up at the clock tower and saw Axel. I forgot he wasn't at the school.

I didn't make any moves to go see him, so I just stared, looking up, before turning around and walking back down to our spot.

It was weird, no one had shown up all day. I went wandering around until I found a back street that lead to Hayner's. When I got there, I knocked just to make sure someone was home. His mother answered the door with a big smile when she saw me again, and she told me Hayner was in his room.

Just like the day before, we had a blast. Turns out Olette was studying for some big test and Pence was grounded, so Hayner was bored stiff at home.

"I never study for any of those stupid tests and I do just fine,"

"Same."

"So, Roxas, what brings you here again? Not that I don't want you here or anything." I laughed.

"See, my roommate is having some issues and I left him alone, so I figured I just needed to get away from it all, and here I am. Do you think it's alright if I stay here 'till Sunday night?"

"Yeah, man, no problem! I mean, Ive got school tomorrow and Friday, but Im sure you'll find something to occupy yourself while I suffer." We had a pretty good laugh over that one. The Twilight Town teachers weren't a very lively bunch. They were either old, grumpy, mean, boring, or a combination of the four.

Hayner's mom was more than happy to have me stay, but we still had to go to bed early since Hayner had school and everything.

The next few days with Hayner and the gang were as fun as they used to be. Pence was gone on Friday and Thursday after school, but he was free for the weekend.

Everything was just fine and dandy until I had to go back to school. It was just back to the same boring stuff I had left, the only difference was that Axel was happy again. I didn't bother him about it at all, figuring it was best to keep the hatchet buried.

It was nearing Christmas, and even though it wasn't a big holiday to me, everyone else was stoked about it. Two to three weeks of vacation depending on the snowfall, and everyone was going home for that time period unless stated otherwise.

My mom wanted me home for the holidays, so I was forced to leave. Sora came home with us, but he didn't stay at my house. Axel wasn't going home for the vacation, so I asked if it was alright if Axel could come and stay with us, since the school wasn't going to be very open.

"He can stay for a while, but maybe not the whole three weeks. Family might be coming and you know how your grandmother is," Oh yeah. The number one thing I hated about the holidays. Family gatherings. And my grandmother was the worst of all. She didn't like anything, she was very old, and old fashioned as well. Which meant a large dinner and no doing anything until actual Christmas day. I hated Christmas, so I never minded the waiting.

Anyway I went to my room and told Axel that he could come with me back to my house, if he really wanted to. His eyes lit up when I offered, and he started to pack whatever he would need.

The vacation was a fun one, but not the funnest, considering that Axel had to leave partway through the vacation because of my grandmother. I was bored stiff after he left. He only stayed for one week, too. It snowed a lot during the vacation, meaning we had three weeks of time off instead of two. It sucked.

But when I got to go back to school, I took a small bag of some more of my personal things to put up in the room when I got back. Axel was more than happy to see me, and greeted me with a big swing-around hug and a pat on the head.

"How was your vacation without me?" He asked.

"Boring as hell," I answered with a laugh. "What about yours?"

"Cold. Very cold. Ha."

"Well it's good to be back!"

Thank goodness that after I got back our relationship repaired itself again. We were just as happy as we were, and what was better, Valentine's Day was coming up. It was already getting into late January, and everyone's minds were on it.

Things went as normal as they usually did, fun at lunch, boring classes, hanging out when school was done, homework, and sleep, followed by the same thing the next day and the next day. Nothing that interesting to report on.

But when the day did come, something bad happened, as my luck would have it.