Chapter 4

Faux-hawks and too-big-pants

The rain came down in buckets – even heavier than the night before. Roxas couldn't even remember what it felt like to be dry, and now even the kitten, curled up in his hood, was soaking wet.

It mewled pathetically, and Roxas almost felt like doing the same.

It was seven o' clock now, and the boy was literally ready to collapse. He had been wandering aimlessly around town. He'd gotten kicked out of five places when he hadn't ordered anything, and was currently trying to find another place to hang that would keep him somewhat dry. But Twilight Town was a small place, and there weren't that many available dry spots to find in this wild downpour.

The kitten climbed soggily out of his hood.

Shivering, the little animal curled itself between Roxas's collar and neck. The soaking wet and shivering boy placed his hand over it protectively, and kept on walking.

It was roughly an half hour later when the two were 'blessed' with a break in the monotony of their endless walking in the pouring rain. It was then that a tall figure, dressed all in black, very suddenly appeared in front of Roxas, who admittedly was not looking where he was going – the boy found himself painfully flung to the sidewalk as he and the stranger collided - the poor kitten went flying.

Roxas gasped, the air knocked violently from his lungs as he hit the ground.

The kitten let out a horrified yowl as it landed in a deep puddle.

The blonde boy vaguely noted a dull shooting pain where his head had come in harsh contact with the concrete, before black began to seep into the corners of his eyes.

The last he heard before he lost consciousness were the words: "Oh shi-"

Roxas blinked. Raising a small hand to his face he rubbed his heavy eyes… he was so tired. So tired that he didn't even think to wonder where on earth he was. That is, until he heard a voice say,

"Hey sleeping beauty, you're awake."

Roxas jumped up! His mind was still fuzzy, but he was able to piece together a fairly nice room – walls painted a deep red color, black carpeting. He was tucked into a huge bed with black covers, or at least he had been.

Bolt upright in the bed, he swung his head around. His eyes, still heavy with sleep, finally landed on a man. The guy was sitting in a chair beside the bed, leaning back, feet propped up an end table.

Roxas blinked. The man, who looked like he was probably in his early twenties, had to be the most beautiful person the boy had ever seen. He was thin and tall, with pale skin and sharp defined features. He had two small emo-tear tattoos on his face, one beneath each eye. His red hair was pulled back into a loose ponytail, and Roxas wondered vaguely if it was dyed, the color was so bright... But most mesmerizing of all were his catlike green eyes. They were locked onto Roxas's blue ones, and the boy was finding it annoyingly difficult to look away.

"How're you feeling?"

It took Roxas a moment to realize that it was the guy talking, and another moment to realize that the guy was talking to him.

"Uh…?" he mumbled intelligently.

His throat felt dry and scratchy, and his mouth tasted like something had crawled in and died in it. How long had he been out for? His stomach felt like a hollow pit…not a pleasant feeling.

He blinked his blue eyes at the handsome man beside the bed, who had just gotten up. The man towered over poor little Roxas, who was short to begin with. This guy had to be at least six-foot-six. But, the boy realized, it was a nice sort of towering. Not the menacing kind. More like the…protective kind?

Gosh he didn't even know this guy…he was talking- scratch that – he was thinking nonsense. See Roxy? This is what happens when you don't sleep for two days and you wake up in some random house in some random bed in a room with a guy who you don't even know and have never seen before in your entire life: you go insane. He almost giggled, but his dry throat didn't allow him to. All that came out was a scratchy sad sound…

Technically, this was a potentially dangerous situation: you know, the whole waking up in an unfamiliar bed owned by some guy who was very obviously bigger and stronger than he was… But the boy was still too leaden with sleep to think about being scared…which probably would have been a reasonable emotion to be feeling at that point in time. But what the heck – he was warm, he was dry, and there was a very handsome nice looking man towering protectively over his nice comfy bed. Life was good, for the still-half-asleep Roxas.

"Yeah…uh look, I'm going to go get you a drink of water, just…stay here, okay?"

Sure, whatever. He wasn't going anywhere.

Roxas cuddled down deeper into his cushy black blankets. It was so…warm…

Before he knew it, he was asleep again.

The next time Roxas opened his eyes the red room was glowing with the light of the fading sun. The handsome guy was nowhere to be found, and Roxas realized that he was completely alone.

His mind was much clearer now than it had been before, and he felt totally awake, if not completely physically weak… Going days wallowing in freezing rain without decent food, water or sleep will do that to a boy. Okay maybe it had only been a day and a half that he'd been gone from home, but he had been without decent food and water for a lot longer than that. A part of his brain that probably should have been thinking of more important things took the time to note how painfully thin he was…

The boy blinked his blue eyes and shook his head to clear it.

Now was not the time for a wandering mind! He had things to find out, first on the list, where the heck was he! Second…where…wait a sec…where was his kitten…?

Roxas's heart dropped suddenly into his empty stomach…the kitten was…gone?

Roxas gulped as he was unexpectedly overcome by a strange feeling…it felt like part of his heart had been ripped up… He had only known the little kitten for a day, but it felt like a lot longer…how could he be gone? Instantly forgetting everything else, he clapped a thin hand over his mouth at the horrible and unexpected feeling of loss he was experiencing. Tears welled up in his blue eyes.

Oh gosh he felt like a total baby…but he couldn't help the tears running down his cheeks. Even though he wasn't sleepy-tired anymore, he felt completely spent – emotionally and physically. His muscles ached, his head ached, his shoulder ached, his ribs ached, his throat was horribly dry and sore, his empty, bruised stomach moaned, and now his heart hurt on top of it all. Overall, he just felt like crying. So he did.

He didn't cry out loud - he never had. He just let the tears run down his face and drew his knees up to hug them against his chest. Outside, the ever-dimming sun dipped behind the pale purple mountains, and the warm red room suddenly felt lonelier then ever.

Roxas was awakened the next morning by the cheerful sound of singing. He blinked his eyes sleepily…then, remembered where he was.

Everyone seems to say that everything's supposed to be better in the morning, but aches and pains don't go away overnight. And the boy's heart still hurt from missing his lost friend…

But, Roxas pushed all other feelings to the back of his mind, and allowed his most instinctive emotion to take over, drowning out all the others: cautious anxiety...

The singing was coming from somewhere other than his room. It was a very nice voice, light and cheerful, and most definitely didn't sound like the handsome man from earlier.

Roxas narrowed his eyes curiously…

Suddenly, a door opened in the wall! It was all very odd and surreal to the disoriented boy. If he had been paying attention he would have realized that it actually was just a normal door. Someone had simply removed the wooden frame, and painted the door the same shade of the red room, so it was nearly invisible to anyone who wasn't looking for it. Roxas hadn't been looking for it. To him, it looked as if someone had pushed open a section of the wall.

A boy bounced into the room.

The first thing Roxas noticed about him was his hair - he had the weirdest hair that Roxas had ever seen: it was dirty blond, and styled into a sort of funky faux-hawk. Only with a mullet. He decided not to dwell on it.

The boy was carrying a tray, and on the tray was the most wonderful breakfast in the world.

Roxas could have kicked himself for being so pathetically trusting and thoughtless (for all he knew, Faux-hawk-boy was coming in to kill him!) but the food the guy was holding just looked so good! When it was placed in front of him he didn't even think twice. Pancakes and syrup, strips of crispy bacon, scrambled eggs and buttered toast, all gone in a matter of minutes.

It took Roxas a moment to realize that Faux-hawk-boy was staring, mouth wide open.

"Oh…sorry…" Roxas hung his head.

"Oh! Oh no that's all right!" With a bubbly grin, Faux-hawk-boy swept the remnants of the tray off Roxas's lap.

"Wow, you must've been hungry! I'm Demyx," he held out his hand, grinning benevolently down at the smaller boy.

Roxas looked down. He suddenly felt very small and nervous…

"Hi…" he mumbled, ignoring Demyx's outstretched hand.

Demyx frowned a bit, but quickly recovered.

"I'm Axel's friend, I live in his apartment with him,"

Roxas glanced up at Demyx's grinning face. Demyx seemed to interpret his blank look as a questioning one.

"You're wondering why I'm not in school! Right? Well I dropped out! I'm going to be a famous musician!"

In reality Roxas hadn't been wondering about Demyx's current living situation or his dreams of the future, but he listened politely.

Suddenly, Roxas heard a loud shrill mewl! His breath hitched in his throat and he felt like crying when a tiny bundle of fur flung itself up onto the bed! It was his kitten!

The kitten stumble across the black covers and threw itself into Roxas's arms. The boy felt like his heart would melt. And even though his eyes were dry, he was crying tears of happiness on the inside! Gosh it felt so good to see a familiar face. Roxas hugged the kitten to his chest, and the tiny animal purred loudly. And, cuddling into his master, promptly fell asleep, still purring like a buzz saw. Roxas smiled, and for a moment, felt utterly content. Until he realized that Demyx was staring down at him rather oddly.

"W-what…" Roxas didn't like being stared at – it made him nervous.

Immediately waving his hands in the air, the faux-hawked boy said,

"Oh, no, no, I just didn't know he was yours. I was wondering what he was doing outside Axel's apartment."

Roxas looked up. "Axel?' Demyx had said that name before.

"Yeah, you know him, tall, creepy, red hair, looks like a druggie - Axel. He's the one who knocked you out."

Roxas didn't really see where the 'druggie' reference fit in, but he assumed the boy meant the handsome guy he had met earlier. The one who had gone to get him a glass of water, just before he had fallen back asleep.

"Axel…"

Demyx grinned again. "Yeah, Axel. This is his apartment – he works Tuesdays."

What the…Tuesday? How long had he been out… No wonder he didn't feel sleepy, and no wonder he had been so hungry!

Demyx giggled a bit, then tossed a bundle of clean clothes onto the bed beside Roxas.

"Here," he said, "they're mine so they might be a bit big – put 'em on, mmkay? I'll be in the living room watching TV or something. Come out when you're ready." The dirty-blond boy smiled one last time, and, breakfast tray under his arm, left the red room via the 'invisible door'.

Roxas squinted at the bundle of clothing on the bed.

He realized a moment later as a red blush spread across his pale face, that he wasn't wearing any clothes! What. The. Heck! Who had taken his clothes off!

He flung the black covers off his body, relieved to see that he was still in possession of his boxers, and quickly donned Demyx's clothes.

He sat for a moment, on the edge of the bed, cradling his sleeping kitten, wondering whether or not to leave the room… Demyx had said he would be in the living room. With a deep breath, Roxas pushed himself off the bed and shuffled across the black carpet in the other boy's too-big-pants. Steeling himself, he pushed open the door.

To be continued…