Disclaimer: I don't own KH2. I only own the side characters: Yuki, Bree, Drew and Elam. And maybe some other characters as the story continues.

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Flaming Paradox was to be on tour in only another week and preparations were hectic. Everyone was packed and ready to head out, but as usual last minute preparations were being worked on. The band manager, the body guards, the stage workers, make-up artists, stage planners, sound directors and of course Roxas were all running around like chickens with their heads cut off.

The manager had already explained the itinerary. The first concerts were close by. The first ones were in L.A., San Francisco, Washington, New York, Boston, Seattle, Miami, Honolulu, Chicago, Illinois, New Orleans, Nashville, Memphis, and oh so many other locations were to be covered in the first month. From there they'd move up to perform in Canada in some of the major cities and then they were to travel all the way down to Mexico, Argentina and Chile. All the Latino American countries were on the agenda. And the idea of all the running around was driving everyone insane.

"Our first show is in a week and I need to do something with my hair." Bree complained as she followed the manager around as he barked orders to the stage workers. The group was to have a pre-show practice to make sure the songs were down and practiced. There would be no lip syncing, and that meant that the sound better be damn good.

Roxas was running back and fourth moving clothes from a trailer of the band's best show wear to their respective trailers that would be dragged around for their tour. The manager, Vince, was red-faced and blowing steam out of his ears due to Bree's badgering, Sid was in charge of sound and catching shit from Vince about the last performance a year back when the sound left room for improvement. Sid cringed and promised a better performance this time.

Stage runners were heading high and low adjusting the light angles and replacing burnt out bulbs. They consulted the stage director, Liam, who instructed them on the backdrops and order of events on stage speaking of cues stage effects.

The band was up front moving about to help anyone who needed it all the while catching hell from all sides. Sid was badgering them to try the sound, Vince was on them about behaving themselves and leaving all the rest up to him, Liam ordering them to stand in the middle and practice their positions to be able to line up the lights and mark tape X marks for later reference. Axel made sure the group was lined up so everyone would be visible for anyone in the crowd. He also insisted that the camera man who would be projecting larger images of the band on side screens for further away viewers to not just focus on him. He planned out the shoots and made sure the cameras were clear on sharing the spotlight with every band member equally.

Roxas came buzzing by being rushed by the costume director, Pam, carrying a load of jeans and shirts piled high in his arms barely leaving room for him to see over. He felt his foot catch on something and fell forward knocking over a large speaker that teetered only a moment before crashing towards an oblivious Yuki. The stage worker Yuki was conversing with reacted just in time to get her out of the way but was crushed instead.

Roxas quickly rose to his feet abandoning the clothes and with help from the now alerted stage crew, lifted the heavy box off of the young man. His name was Ian, as Yuki confirmed, and he was out cold. Due to the size and weight of the speaker it was unlikely he made it out without a fracture or a break. Now Vince was having a real fit and Roxas stood apologizing to the potentially homicidal manager, along with Pam, Liam and Sid was on him about the danger of losing that speaker. Roxas explained what had happened and tried to defend himself to no avail. The simple fact that Yuki could have been the one to have been flattened under the speaker was what mainly got him into trouble.

The unanimous decision was obvious; Roxas was as good as fired for something so stupid on his part. The boy pleaded for a second chance explaining how important it was to have a job. And then Axel and Yuki stepped in the middle of the lecture.

"Stop this!" Yuki shouted to quiet everyone down. "This could have been anyone, and what would you have done if I knocked over the speaker instead?" She was furious. "Roxas has done nothing wrong. Leave him his job and keep working on the stage. We'll cover the expenses of the speaker and of course Ian's medical bill."

Axel stood between Roxas and the raging managers until Yuki's rage settled them down.

Suddenly Drew stepped in as well. "I agree with Yuki, this could have happened to anyone. Vince, Sid, Pam, Liam, y'all need to calm the hell down and worry about Ian first. Let's just get the stage preparations done so we can all go home." That shut everyone up. Drew turned to Roxas and the boy's wide eyes were enough for Drew to know how much he appreciated it.

"Vince, why don't you make your phone useful and call an ambulance? We have the in-house doc. Here taking care of Ian, but he needs a hospital with equipment before anything can be done. Hm?" Axel said raising an imperious brow.

Vince grumbled under his breath and snapped open his phone and looked for a quieter place to make the call.

Once the angry crowd dispersed, Drew, Yuki and Axel turned to Roxas and both gasped to see him with his head down and tears streaming off his face falling to the ground in a small puddle. Yuki spared no time in dragging him off-stage and to a quiet corner of the stadium with Axel on his other side. Drew didn't want to impose and left the three alone to their devices.

"Roxas, it's alright…" Yuki whispered and cooed. Roxas sobbed silently into his hands until Axel stepped up and wrapped his long arms around him and rested his chin on the boy's head.

"Thanks Yuki, I can take it from here." He said quietly while nodding over his shoulder at his co-star.

Yuki understood and turned to go back to the stage and see if she could help with anything on stage.

Meanwhile, Roxas composed himself with Axel's help.

"Thanks…" Roxas said quietly.

"It's alright," Axel shrugged with an arm still around the smaller boy.

"I can't believe what could have happened, and I need this job. More than that, someone's hurt and it could have been Yuki."

"Look, it could have happened to anyone. I know what it's like being under stress, and those bastards are damn hard to please. When a show is on the way it's always like this. We've had worse."

Roxas looked up with red eyes. "You have?"

"Yeah, one time one of the stage engineers left out a faulty cable that was still plugged in and I accidentally tripped over it and somehow managed to have it make contact with my skin. I was electrocuted pretty bad, but I'm still here. There's a running joke saying that ever since then my hair's impossible to straighten."

Axel smirked as Roxas' face lightened and he laughed. "Well, on the one hand I'm relieved nothing happened to you. On the other, I'm grateful you told me that. Thanks, really."

"Anytime."

Ian turned out to have a broken rib, but he wasn't upset. It turned out he was in love with Yuki and being able to save her from a similar fate proved very fulfilling. He was too happy for a patient with a broken rib. He'd be in bed for a while before he could get back to work, but his job would be standing open and ready for a promotion thanks to his honorable act of valor.

And so, the stage was set and the lights, effects, costumes, trailers, sound and cameras were all ready for opening night. Of course there were a thousand other opening nights to go through and different stages to attend to, but every stage promised to put on a show. To make matters simple, Vince contacted each stage ahead of time and gave some guide lines for the directors at each place in order to minimize stress and work.

That night Roxas was in Axel's room after everyone had gone to bed. He sat on the floor reading as Axel sat at his laptop writing some song lyrics and planning the music in his mind. He'd requested Roxas be with him to inspire him.

"Hey Rox, tell me what you think of this," he moved to let Roxas sit down and read the lyrics.

The screen read:

Two sides of one story
two faces of the same coin
feel like I've known forever
back to back with fate

Parallel reflections of awe
I never knew I knew you
Until I turned around
Always waiting to be found

Chorus 1
You found me out
when I turned around
Wish it'd been sooner
But it doesn't matter now

So here we are killing time
no sense rushing
we're living on a dime
this is today and forever

Roxas looked up from the computer screen at Axel.

"I like it, but I feel like it needs more continuance. It feels sort of choppy."

Axel smirked. "See? Is being honest really all that hard?"

Roxas smiled. "I've been honest with you all the time. I just may not be as expressive."

Axel kicked the swivel chair to get it moving and Roxas lifted his feet off the ground to het it turn. As it slowed to a stop Axel hopped on with his legs hanging over one side, his lower torso in Roxas' lap and his elbows resting on the other arm rest.

"You're heavy." Roxas mused.

"Am not. Have you not noticed my skinny frame yet? I'm slim and trim."

"Compared to me, you're a giant."

"In height maybe."

Roxas laughed.

"Sleep with me." Axel said suddenly.

Roxas' face went straight.

"Huh?"

"Sleep with me tonight."

"What kind of sleep?"

"Well, it's not like I wouldn't mind getting into your pants, but I'm not a horny bastard. I was just thinking of sharing a bed kind of sleep."

Roxas smiled lightly. "I think I need some time before I let you get into my pants, but sharing a bed sleeping sounds like a good idea."

"Great." With that Axel rolled off the chair with his feet on the ground first and hoisted Roxas out of the swivel chair and over his shoulder.

"This is humiliating." Roxas mumbled.

"Ah, quit complaining."

Axel threw Roxas back first on the lush bed and pounced on him sparing no time to attack his lips. Roxas responded eagerly and wrapped his arms around Axel's neck. The vocalist trailed his lips down the boy's neck gently and listened as Roxas' breathing hitched. Axel smirked into the skin and brought his head up to find the smaller boy's face red as a tomato.

Roxas blushed even harder when he saw Axel's eyes on him, but he smiled gently.

"Lay down." The blond said patting the space next to him. Axel did as told and made himself comfortable in the crook of Roxas' neck resting an arm over his stomach. Roxas stroked the whacked up fiery locks and like that the boys fell asleep.