They walked in silence Axel shooting sideways glances at Demyx considering the similarities between him and Roxas.
/You know you can't do that man... For the simple fact that you'd be using him to replace someone else... Keep your thoughts to yourself./
Demyx was giving sideways looks to Axel's eye...
/I wish I could ask him all about it.../
Autumn was coming and the leaves were changing colour again...
Axel stopped suddenly looking up as a single leaf floated down and landed in the palm of his hand he handed it to Demyx who looked at him oddly.
Axel shrugged.
"It's supposed to be lucky... You can make a wish on a freshly fallen leaf... But only if you catch it before it hits the ground..."
Demyx held the leaf in his hand and slyly opening his bag slipped it into one of his notebooks.

They reached the school a short while later and walking through the gates someone called out to Axel.
"Hey Axel where'd you get the bruise? One of your fuck buddies cocks miss your mouth?"
The redhead stopped dead and turned to face where the voice came from.
"Yeah... Your dad's got really shitty aim."
With that said he started to walk away when the group ran up and surrounded him.
"What did you say?"
The redhead cleared his throat.
"I said YOUR DAD HAS SHIT AIM his cock went in my eye instead of my mouth would you like me to draw you a fucking diagram?"
One of them pulled his fist back to hit Axel.
Demyx went to run in to try and break up the fight.
"You really think I'm scared of being hit? Go for it."
The teen stopped dead fist raised.
Axel stepped forward, dropped his bag and spread his arms.
"Come on. What the fuck are you waiting for?"
With that the bell rang and the crowd dispersed.
"I'll get you later faggot."
Axel picked up his bag and rejoining Demyx continued walking like nothing had just happened.
The blonde was wide eyed and ran in front of Axel with his hands out in front of him to stop him in his tracks.
"Wait! What the fuck just happened?"
Axel shrugged.
"I called his bluff."
Demyx stopped him again.
"That was scary though I thought you were gonna get hurt and I..."
The blonde hushed himself and tried to disguise the embarrassment on his face.
A smile tugged at the corner of the redheads lips.
/Oh man I haven't known this guy a day and he's already worried about me... That's so cute... That's so like... No.../
Axel shook the thought away and continued towards class Demyx smiled to himself and looking in his notebook for a moment at the leaf followed on after Axel.

The rest of the day rolled in quickly and before they knew it they were walking back out of the school gates.
Demyx stood at the gates knowing he'd have to go the other way and caught Axel's gaze for a moment before the redhead turned to head home.
"Uhm..."
Axel turned back.
"Yeah?"
The blonde stood pressing his fingers together looking at his shoes.
"Well it's like the weekend..."
The redhead nodded.
"Yup."
Demyx was clearly having trouble wording what he wanted to say.
"Out with it man! I have to get home or my dad will kill me."
The secret irony of this sentence made him want to both laugh and cry.
"Well I just wondered if you wanted to... Hang out over the weekend?"
Axel mentally weighed up what he would be doing over the weekend.
/Avoiding my dad... Staying in my room... Being alone... Can't see mom this weekend cause she'll think I got into a fight... Mourning Roxas... I'll be alone and depressed.../
"What have you got in mind?"
Demyx shrugged.
"I haven't seen much of this place... Maybe you could show me around? Maybe watch a movie or something?"
Axel nodded and ripped a piece of paper from a copy in his bag and scribbled a number on it.
"Here's my number. Give me a call tomorrow."
Demyx nodded watching the redhead walk away for a moment.
"See you tomorrow then."
Axel raised his hand in goodbye without turning back.

Back at home Axel brought all of his things to his room and was settling down on his bed when his phone beeped.
*Hi, uh... Don't mean to be nosing or anything but I just asked my mom and Arnica oil is really good for reducing bruises... Sorry if I'm being rude... Just trying to help... :-)*
The redhead didn't even have to look at who'd sent the message.
He shook his head smiling.
/Demyx./
He ran to the bathroom and searched through the medicine cupboard.
Taking things out and setting them down he looked through the shelves there at the back of the shelf sat a small brown bottle.
*Arnica*
It read in small letters.
/How lucky is that?/
He smiled to himself and went back to his room, he opened the bottle and was about to pour it on again when his phone beeped.
*Do not use it undiluted! It'll chemically burn your skin!*
Axel smiled to himself and picked up his phone.
*Good timing I was just about to put it on. What should I mix it with?*
Demyx grinned to himself.
*Well any kind of oil works really... One or two drops and those bruises should be eased by morning.*
*Thanks... So... I'll meet you tomorrow about 12?*
The blonde smiled.
*Sounds good... I'll see you then.*
Axel put his phone on the bed and went downstairs to find some oil.
/One or two drops eh?/
He then caught his reflection in the mirror.
/Better make it 3.../
He mixed the oil and rubbed it across his eye where it was bruised.
/I hope this works.../
Suddenly he heard a car pull into the drive way.
/Shit.../
He grabbed the oil and ran back up into his room as quietly as he could manage and listened.
No roaring... No throwing things...
/He's not drunk yet.../
The breath held in his lungs was let go in a sigh of relief and he moved around his room as normal.
"Axel?"
His fathers voice was normal not angry...
"Uhm... Yeah?"
The redhead walked slowly down the stairs.
His father looked at him he could feel his eyes on the bruising he'd left.
"I'm going out soon..."
With that he walked off without saying another word.
Axel went back to his room and applied more of the oil to his eye.
He lay on his bed dozing in and out of sleep...

"Axel... Please! Why won't you... HELP ME!"

He jumped into consciousness in a cold sweat checking around him.
"Just a dream..."
Sighing to himself he checked his reflection.
The arnica oil was working...
Where he was black it was turning to more of a grey and almost everywhere else it had almost faded back to his skin tone.
He checked his watch.
/2.23 am? Jesus I've been out ages.../
Before he could settle back to sleep he heard someone slam against the front door.
/Oh no.../
His father opened the door and fell into the hallway.
"Look at the state of this place... Axel! AXEL!"
/Maybe if I pretend to be asleep... He'll leave me alone.../
The footsteps were on the stairs now...
Slow and heavy...
Each step made Axel's heart thump a little harder against his ribs and then after what seemed like forever...
His door swung open.
"AXEL who the fuck do you think you are leaving the place in a state like that?"
The redhead blinked his eyes open slowly like he'd been sleeping.
"Uhm? I haven't been downstairs... I've been up here all night..."
His father approached his bed.
"So what are you saying? I did it?"
His voice was quiet...
Like the calm before a storm.
"No... I'm just saying I've been asleep all night..."
"WELL NO WONDER THE PLACE IS A STATE IF YOU'VE BEEN UP HERE DOING NOTHING!"
His hand reached out and grabbed Axel's hair.
"I didn't do anything!"
A fist caught him in the gut forcing the breath out of his lungs.
He fell to the ground coughing on his hands and knees.
"Please... I'm... Sorry..."
"Not as sorry as you will be..."
His father took his belt off his trousers and wrapping it around his hand once raised his hand above his head and brought the belt down across Axel's back.
Axel cried out in pain.
"I'm sorry I'm sorry please stop it won't happen again!"
His father kicked him in the stomach and seeing that Axel was winded, stopped for a moment.
"You'll never stop... You've been lazy and inconsiderate ever since your mother left! That slut!"
The redhead caught his breath.
"My... Mother... Is... Not... A... Slut..."
His father laughed.
"Hmph... You're just like her... Naïve and selfish..."
Axel shook his head.
"She is not selfish she just wanted to get away from you... And I can't blame her..."
His father brought the belt down across Axel's back again and he cried out in pain.
"I fucking hate you!"
He walked up to Axel and dragged him up off the floor.
"You hate me? I raised you! I didn't have to you know! I sent you to school kept you clothed and well looked after!"
Axel coughed catching his breath.
"That's hard to believe... All I remember is you and mom constantly fighting... And then her running off to grandma's to hide... From you!"
His father looked him in the eye.
Oh you think she was so great? So why the hell is she gone off and started a new family and left you out? Why didn't she take you to her mother's house with her huh? And to think I raised you as my own son!"
Axel looked wide eyed into his fathers eyes.
"What? What do you mean your OWN son I AM your son."
His father backed Axel into a wall.
"Your mother's a fucking slut... Honestly... I don't know who's son you are..."
His father poked him in the chest on the last word and turned his back on Axel.
Axel felt himself slip slowly down the wall to the floor.
His father walked out of his room slamming the door leaving Axel alone, short of breath and in tears.
/My mom hates me my dad hates me and my friends... My friends... Are dead because of me... I'm worthless... Why am I still here?/
He heard a muffled voice from somewhere.
"AXEL AXEL! ARE YOU OKAY? PLEASE ANSWER!"
The redhead traced the noise back to his cell phone and reluctantly picked it up.
"Hello?"
"Axel Jesus Christ what happened?"
"Nothing happened..."
Demyx sighed.
"Listen Axel I heard everything."
"I was just watching a movie no biggie..."
There was a long pause.
"Axel I heard you cry out I heard almost everything..."
The redhead held the phone in his hand trying not to break down while Demyx was still on the line.
"Why did you call me anyways?"
"You called me..."
Axel rubbed his eyes trying to keep the calm in his voice.
"Oh I'm sorry... I must've fallen asleep on it..."
"Axel don't change the subject... I'm... Worried."
/He doesn't care he really doesn't he doesn't know you well enough.../
"You've known me like a day..."
Demyx sighed impatiently into the phone.
"Fine then... If that's how you feel forget about tomorrow... I wanted to be a good friend... Obviously that's not what you want..."
Axel tried to apologise but the line went dead before he got the chance.
He dialled Demyx's number in and waited...
But kept getting his answering machine.
/Why do I fuck up everything?/
He dialled for the seventeenth time and got the answering machine again.
Axel broke down into tears.
"Demyx I'm sorry... I really want to apologise... I'll be at the school tomorrow at 12. I'm sorry..."
After that he took some sleeping tablets and drifted into a drug induced sleep.

He awoke late the next morning at 11 am and in a panic jumped into the shower, threw clothes on and left the house without breakfast...
Axel made it to the school with ten minutes to spare.
He waited, looking off into the distance paying special attention to every blonde boy he could see just in case it was him.
But none of them were Demyx...
And by half one, he had given up he walked home feeling broken.
/I've lost the last thing that was actually okay in my life.../
His eyes were on the grey pavement in front of him concentrating on nothing but putting one foot in front of the other and even that seemed hard right now...
He arrived at his front door unlocked it and walked through his father said something but he just nodded, he kept his head down and his mouth shut.

The weekend went by and Monday came around.
Axel did the same at school as what seemed to be working at home.
Head down mouth shut...
Demyx was watching him from afar, going from class to class, guilt eating away at him that he didn't pay attention to Axel's message.
/He looks so sad... And he's... Limping... Oh god I have to do something.../

Axel went the rest of the week with his head down and barely saying a word.
Demyx was too afraid to approach him and tried to make a million different plans of action but feeling bad about what happened he wasn't sure if Axel needed his space or not...

Saturday rolled around and Demyx now dead set on apologising decided to go around to Axel's house.
/Just go in apologise and everything will work out if it's meant to... Right? Right.../
He was only about ten minutes away from his house and already wondering if this was the right thing to do...
/Now Demyx you can't run away from this forever... Although I could catch him Monday... NO! I have to go now!/
He approached the house breathing like he was about to take a panic attack but pressed on regardless and knocked twice on the door the door was pulled open forcefully.
"Yeah?"
Demyx shifted awkwardly.
/This must be his dad.../
"Uhm... Is Axel in?"
"He's not up yet... But head up if you want to..."
Demyx thanked Axel's dad and made his way up the stairs mentally scolding himself for wondering what Axel wore to bed... Or if he wore anything to bed at all...
Slowly Demyx creaked the door open...
And there in the bed was Axel.
/I guess he's not been sleeping well.../
But as he rounded the bed he noticed something dripping from under the sheets...
Slowly he pulled them back...
Little by little his bruised body was revealed...
There was vomit dripping off the side of the bed and when he pulled the sheets down further he saw a few scattered pills...
/No.../
Gripped in one of his hands was a piece of paper with one word scrawled across it.
'Worthless.'
Demyx checked Axel's heartbeat...
It was barely there...
And fading fast...
Without thinking he grabbed his phone from his pocket and dialled 911.
"Please send someone quick... It's my friend... He's after overdosing..."