A/N: Phew. Writing this chapter was like pulling teeth. I re-wrote it about three times, and changed a lot of shit over and over until it finally felt at least a little decent. This is kind of filler... 'cuz stuff finally starts happening in chapters 8-10. And I just wanted to write the fun stuff...not boring but necessary filler. Also, my old art teacher from high school makes her debut, kind of. She was pretty much the coolest teacher ever, and I miss her.
So, thank you so much to the people that review, I appreciate it more than you know. Keep reading! :)
Monday brought absolutely nothing. Roxas was sure that something great and tremendous had transpired in the past few days, so his morning was rather boring and dull and well...disappointing. When Sora arrived to walk with Roxas to school, nothing happened. Sora didn't jump all over him, demanding to know what had happened. In fact, he seemed extremely distracted. His cousin didn't talk much like he usually did on their walks to school...he merely sighed a little, dreamily strolling down the sidewalk. Even Roxas' mild attempts at conversation were dismissed with one or two words in response.
Chemistry proved to be more of the same. Axel arrived late as usual, but hardly gave a glance to Roxas. He'd been expecting something at least a little different. A wave, or a smile, or maybe even that he would sit in the vacant seat next to Roxas. But no, Axel just plunked down beside Tifa, immediately striking up a conversation with her. He felt like something like a stone had landed hard and dull in the pit of his stomach.
At the end of class Roxas even delayed, pretending to gather his books and papers meticulously, rather than just shoving them in his backpack as was his normal way. He'd been hoping to catch Axel's attention; but when he turned around from his bag, the classroom was completely empty. Roxas barely contained a sigh, and ran a hand through his hair.
Lunch, at least, brought something unexpected. Upon walking into the cafeteria, he noticed that their table, usually already populated by his friends was completely empty. He trudged over; a little embarrassed to be sitting down by himself. As it was, nobody else was sitting by themselves...they all had their own groups and clusters. Even the boy with blue-slate hair had taken from being the only student to sit alone at lunch to hanging out with Demyx and Axel just outside the cafeteria doors.
Ten minutes later, and halfway through an olive and cream cheese sandwich, Sora and Kairi finally entered the cafeteria themselves.
"Where were you?" Roxas couldn't help from asking as they sat down. Kairi immediately grinned, and looked at Sora with eyes that he'd never seen before. The glance held the same kind of warmth that Axel's eyes had...
"Well, we were just...uh..." Sora trailed off, his eyes locked on Kairi even as he was addressing the blond.
"We were just talking," Kairi supplied.
"Oh," Roxas smiled. He didn't want to instigate any questions that had so far, not been asked. He was rather grateful, really. He still hadn't figured out what to say about leaving the dance on Friday.
"I have some good news, though," Sora chirped, his smile morphing into a full-fledged grin. "After the dance on Friday... Kairi and I decided to...umm..."
"We decided to try... being a couple," Kairi finished, smiling warmly at Sora and she placed a hand over his. He laced their fingers together.
Roxas smiled, albeit a little awkwardly. "That's...great!"
"Yeah...that's why I kept calling you all weekend, doofus. But you wouldn't answer!"
"I was busy...with homework and stuff. Plus, you could've just walked down the block and demanded to tell me in person," Roxas laughed. Sora pouted, crossing his arms.
Namine didn't show up for the rest of lunch, though Kairi insisted that she was in school. "Probably finishing her latest painting," she said, flipping some auburn hair over her shoulder.
Roxas kept expecting one of them to bring up the dance...to bring up Axel. Especially Sora. However, it seemed that the two were too preoccupied with themselves to bring up Roxas.
By the end of the day, Roxas was anxious to get to art class. He wanted to see Namine. Although part of him was relieved, another part felt guilty. The guilty part almost...wanted to be yelled at, to be told off.
As he was expecting, Namine was sitting in her normal seat with her easel already set up, her brush to the canvas. The painting was nearly finished, and in his opinion it was her most amazing yet. It was just a simple landscape, but the trees were dark, silhouetted against a beautiful twinkling blue twilight color. The moon hung low in the sky, large and round and reflecting a pale yellow light.
"That's really coming along, Nam," he said as he sat down beside her. He pulled out his linoleum block and carving tools. She didn't respond, didn't even bat an eye, and just continued to draw dark squiggles of branches. "Nam? You 'kay?"
She didn't answer. Roxas huffed and dug into his linoleum. "...You're mad at me." She didn't say anything, but her shoulders tensed, and her head seemed to nod slightly. He could understand, of course, why she'd be pissed. He just didn't expect that such an obvious realization would make his insides like ice. He liked her, dammit. Even if he wasn't sure that he liked her like, well, that...She was a good friend. She understood him in ways other people hadn't... He couldn't even relate to Hayner the way he could with her.
"I know why you're mad," he sighed. Roxas pushed his art materials away, and turned to watch Namine sitting on her stool.
"I would think it's pretty obvious, Roxas." Her voice was cold and held a thin waver of acrimony. She didn't look at him, but her brush stopped moving against the canvas.
"...I'm sorry," Roxas offered, but it felt like distasteful copper against his tongue. His voice raised a bit at the end of the apology...it wasn't very sincere.
Finally Namine turned to look at him. Her large blue eyes were watery and venomous. "You don't sound very sorry."
"I didn't mean to hurt you or anything. I just-"
"I know that," she interrupted, her voice still hard as stone. She sighed. "You just...should've said something. I mean," here she laughed a little, but it wasn't a happy sound. "I wouldn't have asked you if you'd just said."
"Said what? I wanted to go with you." Roxas wasn't sure exactly what she meant. Was she implying that she knew he...had these thoughts? If so, how did she know? Was he just that obvious? It seemed like everyone around him knew something that he didn't. Riku had suggested it before anyone else...even Sora had known somewhere, somehow...He felt like it was written on him in tar, tattooed across his forehead for the world to see. Did Cloud know as well? How could everyone else be so certain when he himself was anything but certain?
"Roxas..." He looked back up at her, and her eyes had softened some. She looked much more like herself. Anger was not a flattering expression, and he didn't like it on her above everyone. "It's okay. You just...made me feel like...Like I was just there so you didn't have to...admit it. To yourself."
"Namine...I don't even know what yet I'm admitting to. I just...don't know, okay? Can you forgive me for my own confusion?"
She smiled at him a little. "Yeah. That's okay. As I said, you should've just told me." He gave her a smile in return.
Mrs. Ganes, the art teacher chose this moment to stroll behind them and stop, peering over both their shoulders.
"Roxas, you don't feel like working today?" she asked, her voice an odd combination of kindness and sternness.
"No, I was just talking," he replied sheepishly, eagerly pulling his linoleum block back to the edge of the table.
"Well, less talk, more art. Okay?" She gave a thin, austere smile and turned to Namine. "That's coming along well. Nearly done?" At Namine's affirmative, Mrs. Ganes said something about mounting it next period. She made to walk away but paused, hovering behind Roxas. "Roxas, I'd like to speak with you after class."
He gave her a nervous glance, wondering if he was in trouble for slacking. Usually Mrs. Ganes was pretty lenient, but she seemed to have her moments of frustration and stress. She was often very temperamental: one day she'd be bubbly and helpful, and the next she'd wear a constant frown and snap at requests for help or supplies.
"Nothing bad," she added, and Roxas smiled at her in relief. It seemed like today was one of her good days...thank god.
***
Roxas waited after class, Namine being the only one to stay behind to finish her piece. Mrs. Ganes often let her most prized students stay, as long as they were quiet and cleaned up after themselves. He followed her to the art office, right next to the dark room. She sat down at a computer and motioned for Roxas to do the same. The room looked more like a lounge than an office, having a mini-fridge and microwave, as well as a small futon couch and three computers. Some student's work hung on the walls from years previous. One was dated from 1985...wow.
He looked at her as she took off her wire rimmed glasses. "Why do you think I want to speak with you?"
The question caught Roxas off guard. "I don't think I know."
She gave him an odd smile. "You're in tenth grade and you're taking a class for seniors who need extra time to finish their portfolios. And...To be frank, you're nearly as talented as they are."
For a second, he thought he hadn't heard right. Then he blushed, looked down and mumbled a "Thanks" through his smile.
"So, I was thinking you should join N-A-H-S or the National Art Honor Society. And next year, we could get you started on a portfolio..."
"Umm, yeah, okay. I like art."
"Do you draw at home?"
Roxas didn't want to respond...he liked Mrs. Ganes, but he wondered what her reaction would be. Would she take back her offer? "Not really..."
"Okay. You should start, though. Get a sketchbook," she smiled. "You should probably go; you'll miss your bus. See you tomorrow, Roxas!"
He smiled back, grabbed his backpack and left. Sora'd probably gone home already, but that was okay. He still had to go to his locker, which was on the second floor. After he'd gathered some notebooks, and put others back, he was still smiling. He really didn't think he was much of an artist, though he'd finished two prints already. They were all right, but he really liked the one he was starting now. It was an image of a man, with his flesh open to reveal a rib cage full of blackbirds.
***
Later that evening, Roxas was waiting eagerly for Cloud to return. Sitting on the couch watching something stupid on tv, he anxiously glanced at the clock on his phone. It was just past five. He knew part of himself wanted for someone to call, but he didn't want to think like that. The cell phone screen went black, and Roxas sighed. He shoved it back in his pocket, scowling. This was so stupid. Didn't Axel say that he liked him? Didn't he make overtures to Roxas that weren't so...platonic?
Headlights flashed into the living room window as a car pulled up in the driveway. Cloud was home.
Sure enough, a few moments later, his brother walked into the house, and hung up his jacket. "Roxas?" he called.
Roxas immediately stood up and went over to Cloud. "I need a sketchbook. So...can we go get one?"
"Didn't we just buy school supplies?" Cloud furrowed his eyebrows. He looked tired.
"Yeah, but, please? I have no other way of getting there. Unless...I could drive myself?" He smiled innocently at his brother, giving him wide puppy eyes.
"No. I'll drive," Cloud snapped as he turned to grab his jacket from the closet.
"Thanks," the smaller blond grinned as he grabbed a coat of his own.
***
Tuesday evening, Roxas was sitting at his desk, with his brand new sketchbook opened to the first page. He drummed his pencil against the wood, and looked out his window for inspiration. The moon was high in the sky, just a small crescent. A few stars were scattered here and there. He could see a telephone wire silhouetted against dark blue, and the yellow shine of a street light. Nothing out of the ordinary. Ugh. His pencil continued its rhythmic beat.
His mind was once again on other things. This wasn't about Axel, however. It was about Riku. The silverette had tried to join their table at lunch again, meekly asking if he could sit. Sora glared at the wall, refusing to even acknowledge his once best friend. Riku finally slinked away, looking miserable. He had bags under his blood shot eyes and for a second Roxas wondered if he'd been up all night crying. Then his rational mind told him that Riku wasn't capable of crying. Even though Sora had been in his life since forever. Even though not being with Sora when he was right there must've been torture.
Sora, disturbingly, didn't seem to miss Riku at all. He still went about everyday, like normal. Although, he really had just hooked up with Kairi. Which was kind of weird, in and of itself. Lunch had been kind of awkward, between Namine who acted like nothing had happened, and the new couple not so secretly playing footsie under the table.
Roxas looked down, and realized that he'd been drawing. He hadn't been paying attention, just put the pencil to paper and did whatever. And it was nothing, really. Just a pair of cat-shaped eyes that looked startlingly familiar. Dammit! Honestly, did everything have to be about that dumb red-head?
At that moment, his pocket started to ring. Pulling out his phone, his sighed expecting it to be Sora, like usual. Except, the screen said 'Axel'. Speak of the devil. He blinked, and the ringing continued. Finally, his body reacted, and his flipped it open.
"Hello?"
"Hey Rox!" came a muffled but excited greeting. He could hear the sound of background music and the roar of people talking. "What's up?"
"Uh, n-nothing, really," Roxas tried to keep himself from smiling. He wasn't happy at the sound of Axel's voice. Nope. Definitely not. And those certainly weren't butterflies.
...Fuck.
"So, I was wondering..." Had Axel's voice just dropped an octave? Seriously? "Do you wanna hang out tomorrow?"
"Um, okay." He didn't think he could say more than that. His heart was kind of in his throat at the moment. Axel didn't answer for a moment, and Roxas wondered if he could hear him over the noise on Axel's end.
There was a loud boom of laughter, which Axel participated in, that kind of broke the moment.
"Listen, Rox, I have to go. But I'll see you tomorrow, 'kay? Bye!" A click and Roxas ended the call as well. He really...just did not understand that damn red head. One minute Axel could have his entire focus on Roxas. He could call to make plans, and then disappear the next second, as if nothing had happened. Axel had the undeniable ability to make one feel like they were the only person on the planet, only to then turn his back and shatter that illusion into a million tiny pieces.
It was weird, and it did little to calm Roxas, who wanted nothing but stability right now. However, a recent memory surfaced, of the tranquil evening he'd spent with Axel. That night, Axel's lingering gaze, his lingering words...they'd made Roxas feel important, real and solid. And Axel had done nothing to destroy that feeling bubbling in the blond's stomach.
He turned back to his sketchbook with renewed vigor and inspiration.
***
The next morning felt like years. Roxas woke up early, not on purpose. But sleep had been restless; his belly having never fully settled after Axel had called. He showered quickly, and for some reason, his hair actually looked good. Shiny and soft, and still tousled, but that was sexy, wasn't it? Jesus Christ, why did he care about such things anyway? Stupid.
Pre-Calc and U.S. History went by slower than he could stand. Chemistry was torture. Axel arrived on time for once in his life, but only smiled and waved at Roxas from across the room. They had lab that day, so it was a double period.
The bell rang, finally releasing him from hell. He delayed again, meticulously collecting his books and papers. The warm hand that fell on his shoulder from behind was expected, though. Roxas stood up straight and turned around. The classroom was empty, save for himself and Axel. Who was standing really close, actually. A little too close for one's personal comfort and Roxas wasn't one to have his bubble abruptly popped. He looked up to find green cat-shaped eyes staring down at him, bright and flickering. Like tiny flames.
"H-hey," Roxas stuttered, blushing at his lack of cool.
"Hey yourself," Axel grinned, all of a sudden moving away to sling a bag over his shoulder. "I was thinking, my place after school? Don't worry; Reno and Rude won't be there."
"Okay, sure."
"See you after school, then." Axel gave a warm smile as he left the classroom. Roxas followed, wishing the day to pass by faster.
Of course, his following classes took ages to end. It seemed as though every time he glanced at the clock it was moving slower, the hands teasingly ticking backwards only to piss him off. He glared at the clocks in return, tapping his pen anxiously against his desk.
Were his classes always this boring? Normally, notes seemed to be worth taking. His teachers were at least a little interesting, or at least they had been. Even art -the class that he was slowly looking forward to every day- ended up proving to be just as arduous and tedious as all the others.
Finally, finally, the last bell rang. Students hurried from the art room, Roxas scurrying along with them.
Three minutes later, and he was out in the sun, Axel exactly where he'd expected: smoking a cigarette by a shiny black motorcycle. As Roxas descended the side steps Axel chose that moment to lift his head and catch blue eyes. He smiled and waved, and Roxas reciprocating, felt some kind of relief that he would only recognize much later. It was that special kind of relief of being around someone that you truly, deeply miss when they aren't around. It would later be the same feeling he'd experience with Axel's arms wrapped around him.
"Hey short-stuff," Axel said as Roxas drew close enough to ruffle the hair on his head. The older boy grinned at the mess he'd made of blond hair. Roxas huffed and lifted a hand to smash his spikes back down.
"'M not short, jerk." He glared up at Axel, feeling his face heat up regardless of his annoyance. This was another first. It was the first time Axel had ever teased him. It would soon morph into a constant occurrence, mainly because the red head really liked that expression on Roxas. Slightly disgruntled, with a hint of a smile tugging at his pretty, pouty little mouth.
Since this was the first time Axel had ever seen that expression, he momentarily forgot himself and stood there staring for a long moment. God damn, Roxas was so fucking cute, even though he wasn't, really. The blond may have had an angelic face that was just begging for corruption....but Roxas himself was another matter. The boy was headstrong, and smart, and confusing as fuck. Not to mention, probably not capable of corruption...He didn't seem to be the virgin type.
"Are we going to be going anytime soon?" Roxas asked, looking at Axel skeptically. The red head awkwardly shrugged himself out of his 'omgroxasissohot' reverie.
"Yeah, yeah, we're goin'."
***
Axel's apartment was different in day light. It seemed smaller, and dirtier, old pizza boxes scattered around the living room. Empty beer and soda cans littered the floor, two ashtrays on the coffee table over-full and nearly falling over. The room was also in need of a good dusting.
"Sorry 'bout the mess. Haven't really had the time to clean," Axel grinned sheepishly as they stood there.
"...Do you honestly think I care?" Roxas looked up at his friend blankly.
"I guess not. You wanna...drink or something? 'N then we can play this new game I got."
"Yeah, sure," Roxas followed Axel into the kitchen. After deciding on root beer, Axel lit up a cigarette and moved towards the living room.
"This game is sick."
"What is it?" The blond asked as he sat down on the couch, watching Axel fiddling with his Xbox on the floor.
"Left 4 Dead, ever heard of it?"
"No."
"Well, this is the sequel, anyway. Just came out. I've hardly had a chance to play it yet." Axel sat down beside Roxas, handing him a controller, grinning. "You like zombies?"
"I like killing zombies."
The grin widened. "Perfect."
Twenty minutes later, Roxas was sitting on the edge of the couch, furiously attacking his controller as he shot randomly into the onslaught of zombies that he couldn't see thanks to the green vomit his character was now covered in. "Fuckin' shit," he groused, the very tip of his tongue sticking out of his mouth in concentration.
As the green stuff suddenly vanished, among hundreds of corpses came some...thing barreling towards them, huge and monstrous.
"What the shit is that?!" cried the blond, switching to a machine gun as he shot at the monster.
"It's a tank! Run!" came Axel's startled shout as his character started to retreat as quickly as possible. "Run and shoot!"
However, to Roxas' great horror, the 'Tank' reached for his character and...He died. "Fuck!"
Ding-dong.
The doorbell rang suddenly, and that was enough to cause Axel's character to trip and fall, and be stepped on. "God dammit!" He stood up, and walked over to where the staircase met the living room. The door downstairs opened and shut and, "Hello?"
"Demyx, what the fuck man? What are you doing here?"
Footsteps on the stairs, and then there was a tall, smiling sandy-blond standing in front of Axel.
"We already made plans, Ax, you know that," Demyx grinned, slapping him on the shoulder in a friendly way.
"I said seven, Dem. After work. Not at..." Axel glanced at the clock on the cable box. "Three thirty." His expression showed no humor, but there was something about his face that didn't seem annoyed at all, as his tone implied.
"Seven, three, what's the difference?" Demyx made a shrugging motion and walked further into the apartment, when he saw Roxas. His slightly dopey grin morphed into theatrical shock and then settled on overly bemused. "Well, Axel, if you'd just said-"
"I'm not letting you finish that thought," Axel interrupted quickly, slapping the back of his friend's head in return.
"Ow!" The sandy-blond cried, one hand immediately going up to massage the back of his skull. "What was that for?!"
"For being an idiot," The red head deadpanned, sitting down once again on the couch beside Roxas. "Oh yeah! You guys haven't really met yet. Demyx, this is Roxas. Roxas, this is my lame best friend."
The smaller blond smiled and turned to give Demyx his hand. "Hi."
"Oh my gosh, Roxas...Axel's told me so much about you. In fact, he doesn't shut up. It's kind of annoying, actu-"
For the second time, Axel slapped Demyx on the head, resulting in another bought of yelling and pouting.
"So, what're you guys doing?" Demyx asked as he finally calmed down enough to sit on the chair perpendicular to the couch.
"Playing L4D 2," came Roxas who felt just a little snubbed with Axel and Demyx's obviously close relationship.
"You already have it? Oh, can I play? Please? Pleee-ase?" Demyx was excitedly leaning forward, grinning, and eyeing Axel's controller.
"No," Axel said, immediately snatching up said controller and proceeding to start the level over.
"You're so meeeaaan," Demyx whined, pouting. The taller blond reminded Roxas of Sora, hyper and overly dramatic. He smiled none the less.
"Dem, I have to beat the first level before anyone else, you know that."
"But I'm playing it," interjected Roxas, smirking and feeling kind of special. He remembered now that he knew of a place Axel loved that Demyx didn't.
As if on cue, Axel turned to Roxas and smiled. "That's different, duh."
Roxas cocked an eyebrow, feeling smug and completely comfortable. "How so?"
The small blond gave a yelp of surprise as he was suddenly enveloped in warm arms. "I think you can guess," Axel whispered, right next to his ear. Roxas gasped a little in response to the breath on his neck and ear that caused a shiver to run down his spine. With weak arms he pushed at Axel's chest.
"Yeah, okay, I got it," he said, feeling his face heat up between Axel's burning eyes and Demyx's knowing smirk.
"You guys are so cute!" The taller blond finally squealed, happily clapping his hands. "You remind me of me and Zexy. And oh yeah, that's kind of why I came over." Demyx leapt up from his spot on the chair and plonked down between Roxas and Axel on the couch, practically sitting in the red head's lap.
"Dem, I really don't care what you did with him today. I really don't care if he sucked you off in the bathroom during Study Hall," Axel said, pushing Demyx away from him.
Roxas couldn't help it...Axel said it so seriously and he just burst out laughing. Axel joined in a moment later as Demyx's face turned bright red.
"You guys are jerks. I was gonna invite you to Zexy's party, but now I don't think I will." The sandy-blond crossed his arms over his chest. "Jerks," he repeated, as the two just continued laughing.
After a few long moments, Roxas finally stopped chuckling, and his wiped a tear from the corner of his eye. "Oh man," he continued to giggle a little, finally stopping as Axel did as well.
"So, what about a party?"
"It's Saturday, at Zexion's. Everyone's gonna be there."
"Sweet. Is it like...everyone or like, just the group?"
Roxas now felt completely lost in the conversation.
"Well, it's our group but Zex is also inviting some people," Demyx said.
"Nice. You're coming, right Roxy?" Axel turned again to face Roxas and found himself looking at the blond wearing that same slightly disgruntled expression.
"Don't call me that."
"What, Roxy?"
"Yeah, that," Roxas crossed his arms and tried his best to scowl instead of pout.
"But it's so cute! Just like you, Roxy!" Axel grinned, and slung an arm around small shoulders, pulling a protesting blond to his side.
"I'll show you cute," he grumbled, grabbing his abandoned controller.
"I'll play if you answer my question."
"What was the question again?"
"You're gonna come, right?"
Suddenly, Demyx burst into laughter where he was once again seated on the chair. "That sounded so dirty, Ax."
"Perv," Axel said, before turning back to look at Roxas again. He was blushing again, but also seemed to be trying to bite down a smile at Demyx's antics.
"Yeah, I'll come," he finally grinned as Axel and Demyx erupted into peals of laughter.
