***Hey guys! It's Roxy. Contrary to popular belief, my name isn't from my penname "Xoxoroxas", but from my old favorite song, "Roxanne" from Moulin Rouge. Just wanted to clear that up. Poor Roxas, his week is crappy and it's only the first one at his new school. On the plus side he has a party to look forward to next week, right? …Right? Oh, and that whale penis thing from the last chapter is something my friend Reese says all the time… ALL the time. Anyways, on with the show!***
Roxas Pov
Friday turned out to be a suspiciously good day. Everything went well at school, Roxas talked to his friends, no signs of Selphie or Seifer, and no one asked him about his food at lunch. Things were going pretty good.
Except for the fact that it WAS Friday, which meant two days at home.
With his parents.
Locked in his room.
This was going to suck.
But, Roxas maintained a happy demeanor throughout the day, listening to his friends jokes and checking to see if he had an email from Sora when he had his free hour.
And he did.
"Roxas
Thank God I found you! I… won't track you down just yet, but don't let it go for too long, okay? At least… here's my number (555-9876) just call if anything bad happens, kay? And if they get too bad call the cops. Are you using our real names? Or more fake names from mom and dad? Please don't get hurt… where is Cloud anyways? Isn't he in college? Keep me updated!"
Roxas shook his head, smiling as he heard Sora's voice in his head as he read it.
God, he missed Sora.
"Sora
Don't worry about me, I'm fine. I'll keep your number, it's not really hard to memorize, is it? Yeah, for once they're using our real names. And Cloud's in college, he even has a girlfriend! Her name's Tifa. Belle, my English teacher, told me to tell you 'hi'. What's that all about? And you better still be going to school, or else I'll have to find you and kick your butt."
Roxas smiled as he hit the send button and logged off his email.
The rest of his day was pretty normal too, even when he got home his parents just ignored him.
This day was pretty good.
The next morning… not so much.
"Roxas!" Roxas awoke to his mother's shrill shriek.
"Yes Mother?" Roxas asked, rubbing the sleep from his eyes and sitting up.
Only to be knocked down again by his mother's hand.
"What is this that I hear of a girlfriend?" She hissed.
"Uh… Selphie? She's not my girlfriend… she just forced herself at me. But I told her that I didn't like her and all." Roxas explained.
"You don't like her? Are you a fag like your brother? That devilish sinner must've tainted you!" The woman yelled, backhanding Roxas.
"No! It's just… she was being slutty and stuff." Roxas mumbled.
"Roxas, you've got no brain! You turned down the only girl who could possibly EVER love you! And it's because she was too willing? She even knew of what had happened to you, as I take it!" His mother yelled slapping him again, "I thought no one could love you after THAT! I certainly didn't." She sneered, wrinkling her nose at him.
"But…" Roxas began. His mother punched his arm. The woman had surprising strength, but always hit him where it wouldn't be noticeable the next week in school.
"You are so low, nothing will ever love you again! No one does now and nothing ever will! I tried to save your soul, I really did. I worked since the day you were born! I knew you'd turn out this way and you did! You never listened to anything I said, and neither did your brother! He turned out gay! And he was such a good little boy…" His mother trailed off, twisting Roxas's arm painfully.
Roxas cried out in pain as she hit the cigar burn. She laughed and hit it again.
"Can't you see that I'm trying to save you? Now you remember this! Never forget that I could do the same to you as I did your sister!" She shrieked. And with that, she left.
Roxas was left once again cradling his arm, huddled on the floor. He heard the door slam twice, announcing that his father had left for the bar and his mother to church.
Roxas snuck up the stairs and peeked around the corners. Looked like they'd be gone for a while. Roxas's mother had a bible study thing after the mass and after bible study there was ANOTHER mass, so he was clear.
And his father would pass out at the bar, like always. But today Roxas had a plan. And he was going to stick to it. Usually he got freaked out whenever he went upstairs, but all he had to do today was run up, then run down.
Simple, right?
Right?
He tip-toed through the doorway and went to the living room. This is where things got dangerous. If anyone was home or driving home, they'd be sure to see him. He glanced out the window and was scared shitless to see a fluff of red hair peeking up at him.
And the boy who the red hair was attached to grinning at his surprised face.
Roxas walked to the door and opened it to see the redhead.
"Axel! What the hell?" he demanded, his stomach fluttering. He ignored it.
"I wanted to know if you wanted to go to the movies with me! I'm buying." Axel said, tempting Roxas.
"I can't. I'm grounded." Roxas replied.
"Are your parents home?"
"No."
"Will they be home soon?"
"…No."
"Then you can come!" Axel exclaimed.
"I… I really can't…" Roxas stuttered.
"Why not?" The redhead asked with puppy eyes.
"Don't you dare use those on me, they won't work." Roxas warned.
"Fine, you leave me no choice. I'll have to kidnap you!" Axel exclaimed, grabbing the boy around the waist. Roxas's eyes went wide and he flinched violently out of his grasp.
"Nope. I might go some other day, but my parents want me to clean the house for Cloud. He's got a few days off of school and he's coming over tonight." Roxas smiled apologetically.
"But your house can't be that messy!" Axel whined.
"No. I can't go, Axel. Plus if my parents found out that I left when I was grounded… Just not in the middle of the day. Sometimes my dad just drives around downtown." Roxas explained.
"But…" Axel was cut off by Roxas slowly closing the door.
"Sorry Ax, maybe later." Roxas said and the door closed.
"Damn it!" Roxas heard Axel curse on the other side of the door.
Roxas sighed and went back to the living room for the phone. It was wireless, so he ran back down the stairs and slammed the basement door. He's clean later… first he had to talk to someone.
He dialed Sora's number.
Ring…ring…
"Riku… I know you miss me… but it's my day off… just let me sleep!" He heard Sora's groggy voice on the other end.
"Sora, it's like ten. And Saturday. Shouldn't you be having 'adventures' or something?" Roxas asked. He heard Sora squeak.
"Roxas?" Came the astonished question.
"Yep. Missed you bro." Roxas said quietly.
"Missed you too." Sora's voice said, sounding a little choked.
"You okay? You sound a little weird…" Roxas trailed off.
"I wish I could hug you right now!" Sora yelled into the phone. Roxas laughed and shook his head.
"Well you can't. I've gotta clean, Sor. Cloud's coming over tomorrow and I'm grounded." Roxas said with a hint of bitterness in his voice.
"Okay… wait… They grounded you on the weekend?" Sora yelled into the phone. Roxas held it away from his face.
"Yeah Sor. They've done it before, what's stopping them now?" Roxas asked.
"When was the last time you ate?" Sora demanded.
"Uh…"
"Tell me!"
"Yesterday I had some Pringles at lunch…" Roxas mumbled.
"Damn Roxas, they're gonna kill you!" Sora yelled again.
"Sora, I know that. Just give me some time, okay? I just want my clean slate, though Selphie's pretty much scribbling all over it…" Roxas grumbled.
"Selphie? That girl that Kairi talks to?" Sora asked.
"Yeah. It seems that Kairi told Selphie about what happened last year and Selphie's trying to make me like her or else she'll tell everyone. And somehow mother found out and was telling me that I just missed out on the only person that would ever love me. She said that she never loved me." Roxas said, bitterness fully evident in his voice.
"That's not true Rox! I love you… as a brother and all." Sora said awkwardly.
"You know, I think Riku was a good influence on you. You knew Tidus, Wakka, and Selphie before and you were an ass, but as soon as you met Riku you were your normal, happy self." Roxas thought out loud.
"Glad you think so, cuz as soon as I'm 18 we're getting married." Sora giggled.
"…He proposed?" Roxas asked. Riku wasn't a very… expressive person.
"No dummy! I have plans involving drinking and Vegas." Sora said deviously. Roxas laughed.
"Oh, by the way, Mother and Father still think you're an unholy abomination that deserves to die. Just thought I'd let you know." Roxas said.
"Good, cuz I think the same of them. God, I've been a horrible big brother." Sora groaned.
"Hey, you're only a few minutes older!" Roxas complained.
"That still gives me big brother rights. Tell Cloud I say hi!" Sora said as he hung up. Roxas shook his head and followed suite. He crept back to the living room and hung the phone back up. He started to clean up and soon his eyes drifted to the big window in the front of the living room.
And he swore to God that he was going to kill Axel.
He opened the window.
"Axel! The fuck!" He hissed.
"Well, you said maybe later…" The redhead smirked.
"Fine, you want me to go that bad, then help me clean and we can go." Roxas hissed, clearly annoyed.
About half an hour of cleaning followed, during which Roxas showed Axel where everything in his entire house went.
They were cleaning in separate rooms when Roxas heard Axel call out.
"Roxas… what's this…?"
Oh shit, what did he find?
Roxas walked into the room to find a blood-splattered uniform shirt in the dirty laundry. He gulped.
"Hell if I know." He responded. Just then he heard the door open.
"Shit!" he hissed.
He grabbed Axel's wrist and pulled him harshly down to his room in the basement. He looked around frantically until he found a place.
"Don't make a single sound." He hissed to the confused redhead. He pushed the boy into a very small closet. Thank God the basement was soundproof, otherwise Axel would hear something bad.
Roxas ran up the stairs.
Axel Pov
The blonde ran up the stairs after telling Axel not to make any noise.
Axel couldn't hear a Goddamn thing. He sighed.
This was all his fault for trying to get Roxas to sneak out.
But what was with that bloodstained shirt? It was one of the shirts that Roxas wore home every day…
So something must've happened on the way home or something.
He heard a crash from above and held his breath.
The basement door opened and he heard something fall down the stairs and some laughter.
The basement door slammed shut and Roxas slowly opened the closet door.
"Hey Ax. I kinda slipped down the stairs." Roxas winced, rubbing his arm.
"Are you okay? I heard laughter…" Axel said worriedly.
"Oh, that was my dad. He forgot his lighter, so he came home to get it. And he told me to do my homework and I slipped down the stairs. Don't worry, I do it all the time." Roxas grinned. Axel shrugged.
"Are we done cleaning?" He asked.
"Just let me throw some clothes in the washing machine and we can go." Roxas said, walking up the stairs.
A few minutes later they were on their way to the movies.
Axel looked over at the blonde and laughed.
"What?" Roxas asked, confused.
"You look like a little emo. You've got your hoodie over most of your face and stuff. How huge is that hood anyways? It goes over your whole face!" Axel laughed.
Roxas grinned and pulled it further over his face until the tip of the hood was touching his chest.
"Axel! I'm coming to eat your soul!" He said, holding his arms out like a zombie.
"Ahh!" Axel fake screamed, running. Roxas ran after him.
"Whoa!" Axel said, coming to an abrupt stop. Roxas ran into his back, sending them both flying forward.
"What the hell?" Roxas yelled.
"Stop sign."
"I should probably take the hood off, shouldn't I?" Roxas asked.
"It might be a good idea." Axel agreed as Roxas took the hood off his eyes.
"Hey!" Roxas said, waving to Axel.
"Hi! Okay, what movie do you want to watch? There's a bunch playing right now…" Axel said, looking at the signs of the movies.
"Hmm… I don't know what any of these are about… maybe that Harry Potter one? I read the books, but I've only seen the first movie." Roxas said.
"You… are joking, right?" Axel asked in disbelief.
"Nope. I haven't been to a movie in forever." Roxas said.
"Everyone's seen the Harry Potter movies!" The redhead exclaimed.
"Well not me."
"I must educate you in the ways of the Potter!" Axel announced, dragging Roxas into the building.
"How long is this anyways?" Roxas asked as they sat in the theatre watching previews.
"No idea."
And with that they watched the movie in silence.
They walked out of the movie theatre, shading their eyes from the sun and talking.
"That was so sad when Dobby died!" Axel said loudly, pretending to cry.
"Psh, it was three times worse in the book." Roxas said, rolling his eyes.
"You didn't like it?"
"No, I liked it, but I'm worried about my parents being home. That movie was long."
"Oh right. Let's go!" Axel announced, walking with the blonde in silence until they reached his house.
"Wish me luck." Roxas sighed.
"Good luck, blondie!" The redhead laughed as Roxas walked in.
Roxas Pov
Thank God.
Roxas's parents weren't home.
He ran to his room where he found something very surprising.
Cloud was sitting on his bed.
"Cloud?" Roxas asked, running down the stairs.
"Hey Roxas!" Cloud said, sitting up and hugging Roxas.
"Sora says hi." Roxas said.
"Tell him I said the same. How are Mother and Father? Are you okay here? Cuz I can take you with me to my apartment." Cloud offered.
"Nah, I'll live. I've got friends here. Though Mother and Father think they're horrible sinners and that I shouldn't be seen around such filth." Roxas said in a monotone voice.
"Rox, you have to get out of here." Cloud sighed.
"I know, and I will, just give me some time, okay? I want to be normal for a bit." Roxas smiled.
"Aww, do you have a crush?" Cloud teased.
"No! But I so have a chick who's blackmailing me." Roxas complained.
"What?"
Roxas explained the whole 'Selphie Thing'.
"That's fucked up Roxas. Call me if anything else happens. And here's my email." Cloud said, handing Roxas a business card.
"'Strife Delivery'?" Roxas asked, looking at the card.
"Me and Tifa started doing that stuff for extra cash." Cloud explained, scratching his neck.
"ROXAS!" Came a yell from upstairs.
"That would be Mother." Roxas grumbled, walking up the stairs.
"I'll try to distract her, Rox." Cloud said, joining him on the stairs.
It seemed that Roxas was wrong, maybe his house of cards would last a while.