Here is yet another update! I'm so proud of this story! *squeals*

I don't care that it's not getting a lot of attention; I just feel brilliant!

I don't own shite. Keep that in mind :) thanks to those of you who have reviewed and favorited! I appreciate it!

Messages in a Bottle

IV - Reno Russo

At around 4:45, Axel closed down the Paopu Scuba Shop; earlier than usual.

There would be no more customers anyway and Axel wanted to be on time for his "date" with Roxas. The redhead had a lot to do; He wanted to make sandwiches and pack a picnic basket for the boat ride.

And he also thought it would be a good idea to visit his old man.

Reno Russo was Axel's father and best friend. When Axel was thirteen, both his father and mother got into a car accident when going on a date. Only Reno had survived. Axel had been at home with a neighbor who had acted as a babysitter.

Axel had never understood how his father felt until Xion died. Xion had been his love, his life, his best friend and wife. He had a hard time living without her in his life. His home felt empty, having lost that spark that brought it to life. He felt like an empty shell.

This must be how his father felt because Reno never moved on.

Axel got into his old Ford truck and drove on over to his father's house, which was more into the city rather than near the coast. Upon arriving at Reno's abode, the redhead parked his truck in the driveway next to the little old car parked there.

The front door of the house was situated in the back, so Axel moseyed his way on over through the tall grass in the backyard to get to the door.

Stepping up onto the creaky old porch, he saw his father there, smoking a cigarette. He looked a lot like Axel except he was shorter and some grey was starting to show in his red hair.

The elder Russo looked up and smiled. "It's about time, squirt."

Axel chuckled. "Yeah, sorry about that Pops. Been pretty busy with the shop and all."

"Nah, you've just been too busy moping. But you seem a lot happier today," Reno said as he stomped out the cigarette. "You meet someone new?"

"How did you-?"

Reno laughed. "I'm your dad, son. I just know these things. So who are they?"

The elder had long come to accept that Axel was just about as straight as a picket fence that was built by a toddler. He loved his son no matter what he did behind closed doors.

"Well.. I just asked this guy to come for a ride on Flurry later tonight around six." Axel said, trying to downgrade it.

Reno looked amused. "Ah, so you got a fun-filled romantic evening planned out. You packing candles or something? I'd recommend the Glade Apple Cinnamon ones from the Dollar Store over on Surrey Drive. They smell pretty nice; I grabbed a few for myself."

"It's not really a date.." Axel said, sitting on the porch step next to his father.

"You sound like you're trying to convince yourself of that, son." Reno pointed out, grinning. "Just accept that you have the hots for this young man and get 'jiggy' with him or whatever."

Axel winced. "Ew, Pops, stop."

Reno laughed loudly. "Oh come on son! You deserve a long and romantic night out with someone special! You need to move on; you'll be a lot happier."

The younger Russo gave him a look. "Just like you did."

His father fell silent and looked up into the distance. "You're not supposed to repeat your parent's mistakes, son." He sounded like he was centuries old for just a minute.

Axel hadn't seen his father this serious since the death of Axel's mother. Usually, Reno would try to lighten the mood even if he himself wasn't feeling so hot. He really just wanted to see people smile. Axel had always admired that about his father.

He sighed. "Sorry, pops.. I didn't mean anything by that.."

Reno pat his sons head. "I know that. I just don't want you to end up like me. You're 30 and still have your whole life ahead of you."

Axel nodded in understanding.

"That's a good lad," Reno said, patting his son's back then standing up. "Now go get ready for your date."

"Right. Bye Dad." They hugged.

"Bye."

Axel stood up and left in his truck. He had a lot to do.

After a trip to the Dollar Store, Axel had everything he needed to make the perfect picnic basket.

As he drove home, Axel looked at the clock. 5:25. Perfect, that was just enough time to make sandwiches and get there on time.

The next half-hour was spent at Axel's house making a bunch of sandwiches and wrapping them up in plastic.

He grabbed his rather large picnic basket that he had used to bring his lunch in at one time and started packing the sandwiches and other food items.

Soon it was 5:50 and everything was ready. Axel felt relieved.

After grabbing the picnic basket and his leather jacket, he headed out to his truck and started it.

The radio came on; it was the weather. Not a cloud in the sky, no sign of rain and the water would be calm. Excellent.

Grinning, Axel drove on over to the pier, arriving at 5:59.

"Just on time," Axel said to himself.

Roxas was in panic mode. Literally.

He had spent the whole afternoon trying to find out to where and it was hard. He ended up wearing a dark blue t-shirt with dark jeans, hoping that this would be nice enough.

When he looked at the clock, his panic grew. It was 5:55 and he still hadn't left the hotel yet.

Ohshitohshitohshitohshitohshitohshitohshitohshitohshit!

He ran out of the hotel as fast as he could.

Crap! I still have to get Pepsi!

Looking around, he ran to the nearest store and bought a 2-liter bottle of Pepsi and then began sprinting toward the pier.

By the time he got there, Roxas was completely and utterly exhausted. He looked at his phone. It was 6:15. Shit.

He ran out to where he last saw the Flurry and hoped that Axel was there.

To the blonde's relief, Axel was still standing there with a basket in his hands.

Roxas walked up to him. "Uh...hey."

"Hey. Oh, you brought the Pepsi! Fuck yeah!" Axel grinned.

"Yeah, I did. Just like you wanted," Roxas breathed out. He was out of breath from the distance he ran.

The blonde blinked when he felt Axel's hand rubbing his back. "Breathe, Roxy, breathe."

Roxas blushed at the nickname and slowly caught his breath.

Once Roxas was alright, Axel helped him up onto the ship. "We chose a fine night to go sailing." Axel said once they got on the ship.

Roxas nodded. "Yeah, its really pretty out. Though it is a bit chillier than I expected. Heh."

"Didn't you bring a jacket?" Axel asked.

Roxas shook his head. "Its summer, I didn't think I'd need one. I'll be okay."

Before Roxas could say anything, Axel took off his leather jacket and handed it to him. "Here, take this. I don't really need it anyway."

The blonde blinked. "Are you sure? I don't want you to get cold."

Axel grinned. "I'm used to this weather! I'll be fine! And if I get too cold, I can always use your body heat to get warm."

Roxas blushed at the thought.

With a hum, Axel took the Pepsi and picnic basket below deck and then came back up. He turned a crank to lift the anchor up and then they were ready to sail.

Roxas walked up to Axel, stumbling, as the redhead steered the ship; there was a good wind blowing and they were moving. "W-whoa," Roxas said aloud as he stumbled.

Axel chuckled. "It takes a minute to get used to it. Just stand still for a second."

Roxas stopped next to Axel and held onto his arm. He didn't like feeling all wobbly like this. Another chuckle escaped Axel. He's so cute.

Soon they were far enough out in the sea. There was no sign of any other boats and the clear ocean water was peaceful and barely rustling the boat.

"Let me set the anchor then we can eat," Axel said, letting go of the steering wheel. Roxas nodded and waited as Axel set down the anchor.

The rest of the night, the two men talked and ate, just happy to be in each other's company.

"These sandwiches are so good, Axel! What the heck do you put in them?" Roxas asked with a mouth full of turkey sandwich.

"Do you really want to know?" Axel asked, looking serious.

Roxas nodded.

"Come closer so I can tell you," The redhead said, gesturing for the blonde to get closer. Roxas set his sandwich down and leaned forward.

"The souls of the unborn," Axel whispered in a completely monotone voice. Roxas blinked then began to laugh and giggle loudly.

Axel scratched behind his neck. "I didn't think I was that funny."

Roxas kept laughing and laughing like he couldn't stop. Tears peaked the edges of his eyes and he was holding his stomach. Then suddenly he began to cough. He had a piece of turkey caught in his throat. Axel noticed immediately. "Oh shit, are you alright?"

When the blonde kept coughing, Axel gripped Roxas' shoulders. "Are you choking, Roxas?" Roxas nodded.

Axel immediately started doing the Heimlich on him. He didn't want Roxas to choke to death on their first date.

After quite a bit of struggling, the lodged piece of turkey flew out of Roxas' throat and landed about three feet away from them.

Roxas gasped for air while Axel rubbed his back. "That was close," Axel breathed, relieved.

"Y-yeah," Roxas stuttered.

The rest of the night went well, they had deep conversations, funny ones, and even gained some inside jokes just like any two people would from spending so much time together.

They really clicked together and it surprised both of them.

Around 11:00 pm, Axel stood up. "Oh wow, I hadn't realized how late it was. We should start heading back to shore. Roxas nodded, even though he was slightly disappointed that the night was ending so soon.

He had been having so much fun with Axel, much more fun than he had had in such a long time.

Roxas had learned so much about Axel; He liked chocolate pudding, taught scuba diving, hated lima beans, and he always wanted kids. The wanting kids quality was a good thing for Roxas. So many times, dates had gone badly because the man he was going out with did not want a child whatsoever.

And Roxas had Namine to think about, so he'd immediately leave, no matter how great of a catch the guy was.

Axel was kind, smart, and funny. Namine would really like him; Roxas could feel this in his bones.

Soon, sooner than Roxas would have wanted, they were back at the pier. The blonde frowned and looked over at Axel. He looked just as disappointed as Roxas did. Green eyes met blue. "Hey, uh..." Axel scratched behind his neck. "Would you like me to drive you back to where you're staying?"

Roxas slowly nodded. "Yes, please."

Grabbing Roxas' hand, Axel led him over to his truck. "Nice truck," Roxas commented.

Axel grinned. "I like it a lot." He opened the passenger-side door. "In you go, milady."

The short blonde rolled his eyes and got in the truck. Axel got in on the driver's side. "You're lucky that I like you so much," Axel said. "I don't often let people ride in old Bessie here."

Roxas chuckled. "I guess I'm lucky then."

Axel laughed then started the truck and drove Roxas to the hotel.

Once they were there, Axel parked the truck. "Alright, we're here."

"Thank you for giving me a ride Axel." Roxas said, opening the passenger door. "Wait," Axel said, grabbing the blonde's hand.

Roxas blinked and looked back. "What?"

Axel quickly leaned forward and gave Roxas a quick kiss on the lips. "Bye."

Roxas blushed deeply. "Y-yeah, b-bye."

He left the car and closed the door.

He just kissed me...