Author's Note: Hey guys I'm so sorry this has taken me so long to update, it's been a LONG and weird year for me and I haven't had a lot of chances to get writing done but, fear not, this story will continue. I hope you like it and, once again, I'm sorry for the long wait. S-E
After insisting that Xion wear a blindfold for the entire journey Axel finally removed the strip of cloth from around her eyes. Xion blinked, her eyes adjusting to the darkness around her. She seemed to be surrounded by tiny shimmering lights which she eventually realised were about a hundred small candles in jars. On the floor in front of her was a blanket with a hamper weighing it down at one corner and behind the scene on the floor was a beautiful red and golden sunset. Xion turned to Axel and raised an eyebrow at him, it was almost as if he had actually timed the sunset to coincide with her taking off the blindfold. He grinned at her.
"What were you expecting?" he asked, a teasing note in his voice.
"Not this..." she replied, trailing off. His grin widened and he took her hand and kissed it.
"Would you like to take a seat, my lady?" he asked. Xion giggled and allowed Axel to lead her over to the blanket and the pair of them sat down. She looked out at the sunset and then back at Axel, the light of the dying sun was falling on him and giving his hair an almost ethereal glow. The red head turned to smile at her and she could feel a blush creeping up the back of her neck. When did Axel Flare stop being the school's sex pest and start being such a gentleman?
"The view is beautiful." she said, almost to herself but Axel heard her. He brushed her hair out of her eyes and tilted her chin up so their eyes locked.
"Truly breathtaking." he stated. Xion suddenly wondered if he was talking about the view or her but then he closed the gap between them and pressed his lips to hers. The kiss was romantic but too short for Xion's liking and when Axel pulled away she found herself wanting more. When did this happen, she thought to herself, when did he stop annoying her and start having the power to make her knees go weak?
"Axel I..." she began. She could feel the blush creeping up her neck travelling higher and making her face hotter, hopefully the red sunlight would cover it up. Axel would only know if he touched her face and feel that it was on fire, could she prevent him from touching her face? Why couldn't she make her brain work? She needed to force her brain to work or this was going to be a very one sided date, conversation wise she thought.
Luckily for her Axel decided to give her a break from trying to force basic communication and turned to the basket behind him. He pulled out two glasses and a bottle filled with a dark red liquid that looked like wine. Oh great, she thought, he's going to try and get me drunk. Axel smirked at her as if he had read her mind.
"Don't worry," he said reassuringly. "it's not alcoholic."
"Oh good." she said, again it was almost as if she was talking to herself rather than Axel. Her nerves were already shot and the last thing Xion wanted to do was get drunk and make a complete moron out of herself. As she watched Axel reach into the basket again Xion desperately wished that she could calm down, suddenly wishing that whatever was in the bottle was alcoholic – at least then she could drink for 'Dutch Courage' (but as her mother had always told her "one step up from 'Dutch Courage' is always 'Dutch Dick-Head'".) This was the most nervous she had felt since her first day at Destiny Academy. As she tried to control her breathing and at the very least seem calm and collected Axel turned to face her and she snorted with laughter. The red head had stuck two bread-sticks underneath his upper lip.
"Look," he said. "I'm a walrus." Xion continued to laugh, all her self-consciousness melting away. The laughter taking hold of her she began to relax, the feeling was wonderful. Xion's laughter prompted Axel to start laughing, the bread-sticks jiggling slightly, making Xion laugh harder. Eventually when the two could no longer breathe properly, Axel removed the bread-sticks from his mouth. Xion exhaled, calming herself from her laughter.
"Only you, Axel." she told him. "Only you can pretend to be a walrus and make it seem like the most normal thing in the world." He grinned, taking a bite from the tip of one of the sticks.
"I aim to amuse." he stated. She raised an eyebrow at him, still smiling. "Hey, I made you laugh."
"True." she replied. He stared at her for a few minutes, a half lop-sided grin on his face before he brushed her hair out of her eyes and kissed her.
From that moment on the evening had gone by seemingly as a wonderful blur to Xion. Axel had prepared a picnic for her and they had sat watching the sunset. It was terribly cheesy but at the same time it was terribly romantic. It had started to get colder as night fell and Axel had given Xion his jacket when she began to shiver. Xion was surprised – she had never expected Axel to be such a gentleman.
Once night had well and truly fallen Axel and Xion made their way back to school. Axel walked her to her room (again Xion was surprised at his chivalrous nature) and the pair stopped outside her door.
"So," Xion smiled turning to face the red haired boy. "I had a really good time tonight."
"Yeah, I did too." he replied, smiling back at her. He leaned in to kiss her but before their lips could touch a loud moan of pleasure from the other side of the door met their ears. Xion looked up at Axel and the pair began laughing softly.
"Well I guess I won't be going in there for a while." Xion stated.
"Well..." Axel said shuffling nervously. "if you want I think Zexion's in the library so you can come and hang out in my room until they're done." Xion studied him, he seemed so terrified that she would say no, not at all like his usual cock-sure self.
"Yeah," she replied after what seemed like a lifetime to Axel. "that would be nice."
Once in his room Axel turned on his bedside lamp, sat down on his bed and motioned for Xion to come and sit next to him. Feeling incredibly nervous Xion went and sat down on the mattress. As an awkward silence hung in the air Xion desperately tried to think of something interesting to say. It was insane, she thought, the two of them had been talking for the past couple of hours but now that they were on Axel's bed it was different. Now they were on Axel's bed there was a chance for something more than just talking.
"So...um..." Xion began, not really sure what it was that she had been about to say.
"Shall I put some music on?" Axel asked, hurriedly trying to diffuse the tension.
"Yeah that would be nice." Xion smiled.
"Cool." Axel got up and went over to the stereo. "I think there's something already in here." he muttered, turning one of the dials. Almost immediately rap music began blaring out of the speakers.
"If a girl won't come round she must be a lesbian
Or turns me down she must be a lesbian
If she doesn't fancy me, she must bat for the other team
She's a lesbian!"
"Sorry." Axel said, swiftly turning the stereo off and rummaging for a new CD.
"What was that?" Xion asked, laughing. Axel shrugged and turned over the disk.
"The Midnight Beast..." he read. "must be something of Zexion's." He put a new CD in the stereo and what Xion recognised as Del Amitri began playing softly in the background. Axel sat back down next to her. He brushed her fringe out of her eyes and leaned in to kiss her but before their lips had a chance to touch Xion pulled away. "Sorry, did I do something wrong?" he asked, suddenly worried that he had upset her.
"No...it's just I've never done anything like this before." she admitted. "A few days ago I'd never even been kissed and now I'm...here."
"Honestly? I've never done anything like this before either." Axel confessed. Xion narrowed her eyes in confusion.
"You've never had...?" she trailed off. That couldn't be true, the way Kairi and Namine went on about him he was Destiny Academy's answer to Casanova.
"No! No I've had..." Axel replied. "I lost count how many after about 13."
"That's comforting." Xion muttered darkly.
"But I've never bought a girl back to mine before." Axel continued as if she hadn't spoken. "I've never been on a proper date with a girl since..."
"Larxene."
"So she told you then?" Axel asked, Xion nodded. "Ok yeah, since Larxene, but I've never fallen in love with a girl before." Xion turned to stare at him.
"You've what?" she asked in confusion, almost afraid that if she asked him to repeat himself he would tell her she had misheard him. Axel placed his hand on the back of her neck and tilted her face up so that their eyes met; jade meeting blue.
"I've fallen in love with you Xion." he stated earnestly. "And it's not just because you're smart or because you're beautiful, it's because you say what you mean. You don't tell me what you think I want to hear. You're not like other girls who just say things because they think it will make me happy, you tell it to me straight."
"Is that a good thing, 'cause when you say it like that you make it sound like a bad thing." she stated.
"It is a good thing." he told her. "I don't want a girl who says things because she thinks it's what I want to hear. I want a girl who speaks her mind, who is on the same intellectual level as me and who doesn't mind telling me when I'm being an arse."
"You're an arse most of the time." Xion countered, Axel chuckled.
"And that is why I love you." he said and kissed her softly. He pulled away after a few seconds and looked into her large blue eyes. Xion looked up at him.
"I think I'm falling in love with you too." she replied and pressed her lips to his in the first kiss the couple had shared that she had initiated.
