The (Other) End of the Road
Chapter Seven
It had to have been well after noon by the time I finally woke up the next morning, disoriented and smelling fucking terrible. I sat up and stretched, having no idea what happened the night before. Everything after that whole thing with Demyx and Xigbar was just gone.
"Well fuck..." I mumbled, my mouth drier than the Sahara and my contacts glued to my eyeballs. Of course I'd forgotten to take them out.
I fumbled around my bedside table to find my contact case, sliding the dry as hell contacts out of my eyes and putting them back in their solution, effectively blinding myself. It'd definitely be a glasses day today.
Sliding my black, plastic framed glasses up the bridge of my nose, I finally looked over and noticed that I wasn't alone. There was a huge dog laying next to me in bed, snoozing happily.
"Good Christ!" I exclaimed, nearly falling out of bed as I stood up and stared at it. What the hell was a dog doing in bed with me?! "...Are you...?"
Right. It was the dog from across the path. He must have gotten in somehow last night.
"Hey, Charlie?" I hoped that I was remembering his name correctly. He opened his eyes and rolled over, starting to wag his tail happily. "Okay... let me get changed and I'll take you home, okay?"
I'm not sure why I was talking to him like he could understand me, but he seemed cool with it so I decided to take a shower and then walk him over. Maybe he'd leave while I was washing off and I wouldn't even have to deal with it.
But was that my luck? Nope. I walked back into my room and Charlie was still lounging on my bed like an oversized bedbug. "Really? All right..." I sighed, getting dressed in a pair of dark jeans, a black and grey plaid button down and my black boots. Rolling my sleeves up to my elbows, I kept a close eye on Charlie.
I really wanted to know how he'd gotten in. It wasn't like he was a small dog or anything. God, he was the size of a small pony. And I really didn't want to have to deal with Reno if he answered the door either. He'd probably be super pissed and blame me for trying to steal their dog.
"Okay. C'mon, boy. Follow me," I tried to coax him off my bed. He eventually lumbered down and shoved his face into my hand for pets, so I started to head out of the house. I got him to follow me across the path, but then I was faced with the terrifying idea of knocking on their door.
Noticing a doorbell on the side, I rang it a couple of times, hoping that Reno wasn't home. He was bound to murder me for even stepping foot on his property.
"Hello?" an incredibly gorgeous voice floated out of the door as it opened, melting me where I stood. It was followed by an eyeful of that insanely attractive guy I'd seen with Charlie the day before, and fuck... He was even more handsome in person.
"Hi... uhm... so I just moved in across the street and, well... I woke up this morning and found your dog in my bed," I quickly explained, rambling nervously as I avoided getting lost in his bright green, enticing eyes.
He lifted and eyebrow, scanning over me before snorting. "Well, at least you're wearing shoes this time."
"This time...? I'm sorry, have we met before?" I looked up at him curiously. No... if we'd met, I would have remembered. ...Right?
"I had a strong feeling that you wouldn't remember," he laughed, the sound just heavenly. "But it doesn't matter. You found him again?"
Again? "I guess so. I mean... I don't know how he's getting into my house. He scared the shit out of me."
He chuckled softly, leaning against the frame of the door. He absolutely towered over me, more than anybody else in town, but for some reason I didn't mind it with him. "There's a dog door on the side door that opens into the kitchen. You might want to block it, or nail it shut."
"Oh! That makes sense," I nodded. "So... did I make a fool out of myself last night?" I grinned sheepishly, running a hand through my hair.
"Hey, it's cool. Parties make me really anxious too. You might have overdone it just a tad on the beer, but they really shouldn't have sprung that on you like they did."
"So... you knew about the party?" I furrowed my brow in confusion, bending down to pet Charlie as he shoved his nose into my hand again.
He shrugged, "People don't even notice me when I come into town. They just chatter on like I'm not there. I guess I just pay attention."
"Well... I'm sorry you didn't get invited. That wasn't nice of them to exclude you guys." Even though your brother is a psychopath.
"I'm used to it. Our name is mud in this town, and it's been like that since I was a kid. The only reason we're still here is because we have literally nowhere else to go."
I could feel my heart just snapping in half when he explained, feeling like a piece of shit for not inviting him when I saw him before the party. "That's terrible. You know, everybody keeps telling me to hate you guys, but they really won't tell me why. Reno just said we were stealing your business, but... it seems like a lot more than that."
"Isn't it funny how loyal we are to our families even if they might be wrong?" he mused, sighing heavily. "Speaking of which, I really shouldn't be seen talking to you. Reno'll beat both our asses if he finds us."
I straightened back up and frowned, nodding in agreement. "You're right... and God knows I don't want to piss Reno off again. He tried to punch my face in last night."
"Fuck, I'm sorry... He's just got a bad temper," he cringed. "No wonder he was in such a pissy mood last night..."
"It's fine. Hayner stopped him before any damage was done. But I bet now it makes sense why I was drunk, eh?" I joked, chuckling weakly.
He smiled an absolutely perfect smile that made me go weak in the knees, pushing himself away from the door frame and reaching out a hand. "I'm Axel, by the way."
"Roxas," I grinned back, savoring the moment that our hands touched. He was so warm in such an intoxicating way. Holy shit.
"I know," he laughed, "You kind of shouted it at me last night when I mistook you for Ventus."
I facepalmed, blushing madly as I glanced back up at him between my fingers. "It was that bad, huh?"
"You also called Charlie a horse. And muttered something about a British guy wanting to crawl into bed with you?"
My eyes went wide and I almost choked on my own spit. "Oh good Lord... I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."
"You also called me hot," he smirked, crossing his arms over his chest smugly.
"I mean..." I let my eyes travel up and down his body, shrugging.
He raised his eyebrows in surprise, "Oh? So that wasn't the booze talking?"
"Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't," I flirted a bit, throwing him a sly wink. "See you around, Axel."
I have no idea where this flirtatious animal inside me came from, but I could feel my heart pounding at a million beats a minute while I walked back to my house. I could also feel his eyes burning into me as he watched me walk away. How on Earth could anybody possibly hate him? He was such a nice guy!
There was a lot more to this whole family feud, and I really needed to find out what was going on. I'd have to talk to Ventus alone some time and try to get some answers out of him.
...
A/N: Well that's more like it! God damn it, they're sO FREAKING CUTE. God I adore them. Maybe next chapter we'll get some answers too. ;P
Keep on reviewing guys! Lemme know whatcha think of the new versus the old!
Love ya!
Simply Rexene
