Didn't Stand a Chance (At All)
Greetings, to the most AWESOME readers ever! First off, thank all you so much for all of the birthday wishes! You guys are the sweetest and you make my day 98% brighter. (The other 2% stems from Tekken Tag Tournament and Sleeping Dogs.) Also, thank you to everyone who reviewed, favorited and followed! When I say I love your existence, I mean it.
Okay, enough rambling...
Chapter 7: A Little Less Sixteen Candles, a Little More "Touch Me"
Since there's no performance this chapter, Chapter 7 is named in honor of Fall Out Boy and their officially announced comeback! (Anyone up to fangirl over Pete Wentz with me?) Also, can you spot the Fall Out Boy reference in this chapter?
Mushrooms.
That was the only rational explanation here. There was no other way for Roxas to possibly discern why there was a wiry redheaded man, which Roxas had long pledged his unyielding hatred for, standing in the doorway of the practice room. He knew that pasta salad from the cafeteria tasted a little weird. And here Xion had tried to convince him it was mold. Nope. It had to be hallucinogenic drugs. There was no way he was really experiencing such a high level of complete mortification. Roxas turned away from his hallucination and blinked hard before turning back.
And all hope that Axel would transform into a pink tap-dancing elephant wearing a sombrero while singing 'Hello My Darling' – dashed.
"Uh, hey. Wasn't trying to uh, to crash your um, practice or anything." Axel stumbled verbally unable to get his tongue and brain to comply with one another. "It was just… that was pretty amaz –."
"What the flying fuck are you doing here?" Roxas cut off the older man's impending compliment. He could feel his face and ears burning. He did his best to swallow the remnants of his song practice and the lingering bits of humiliation and cover them with gruff and annoyed tone.
Axel's brows flew upwards nearly blending in with his hairline at the sudden change in the blonde man's disposition. Although, with their track record he practically saw this coming. "I was passing by, heard you playing and decided to drop in."
"Good lie. Good lie." The redhead mentally patted himself on the back.
"Yeah, well you may now feel free to get back onto the other side of the door and continue to pass by." Roxas spat before turning away from the man.
Axel let out an air of something between a laugh and a huff of indignation. "Look, I come in peace, okay?"
"Cool story. Now get out before you leave in pieces."
Well, damn. Someone had gone to their How to Reply like a Witty Jackass lecture today.
Axel took a couple of steps further into the danger zone. He knew the closer he got to the irritated male, the closer he got to getting karate chopped in the trachea, but listening to his intuition had never been his strong suit. What was the point in starting now? Besides, Axel had spent too many nights poking at the little scab on his bottom lip and asking his bottle of Jack Daniels questions, he could get answers to, right now.
In the battle of Curiosity vs. Common Sense… Curiosity won.
"You do realize a lucky shot when someone isn't ready, doesn't make you a qualifier for the Ultimate Bad Ass Olympics, right?"
"Lucky shot my right ass cheek." Roxas grumbled, as he slightly ushered his chin over his shoulder to give the man a healthy glare.
"As lovely as that mental image is," Axel inched a little closer, making the suggestive smile on his face evident while garnering a much deeper scowl. "I'm not here to challenge you to a fight, mini-Muhammad Ali. I'm here to talk."
Roxas turned fully on his stool to get a good look at Axel. "What makes you think that I want to talk to you?"
Axel folded his arms over his chest. "Do you always work on such high calibers of bitchassness or is this just a seasonal thing?"
"Are you always such a self-assured Jackass or is that just a seasonal thing?" Roxas spat back.
"Are you going to keep answering my questions with questions?"
"Depends. Are you ever going to take a hint and take a fucking long walk off of a short pier?"
Axel sighed and quelled the urge to find a pillow and hold it over Roxas' face until he stopped kicking. The banter, cute at first, was slowly starting to grate on Axel's nerves. "What the fuck is your problem?"
"Well now, that one, I can answer easily," Roxas stood up from his stool, wave after wave of pure irritation coursing through him. He moved closer to the man but far enough away he wouldn't feel compelled to reach up and swing him around by his long red tresses. "You. You're a self-absorbed, egotistical, Loudmouth. You're relentlessly annoying and you make me want to give myself a lobotomy with a rusty hatchet."
"Well you're a rude, stuck-up, and abusive, Prick, that makes me wanna dive into a batch of rusty razor blades before taking a dip into a pool of lemon juice and salt but you don't hear me complaining."
"You are right now, Asshead."
"You know, I'm getting a little sick of you and Xion and this 'Asshat, Asshead' bullshit."
"I have the perfect solution to that! Fuck the fuck off." Roxas answered. He refused to let Axel get the better of this (admittedly somewhat pointless) argument. It made no difference how hot the guy was...not to him. Axel just activated his defense mode whenever he was around.
Axel held the repugnant stare Roxas was giving him. Now, he knew why Curiosity killed the cat. It came into contact with Roxas Motherfucking Strife and blew its fucking brains out because of the sheer maddening frustration that made up the entirety of the blonde's disposition. (That metaphor totally made sense. Cats can totally use guns.) Being upfront didn't work. Being kind didn't work. Arguing back, didn't work. Everything he tried was entirely full of fail and quite frankly, he wasn't sure if it was even worth it. All he wanted was to actually talk to the blonde one-on-one. He wanted to clear the air but in order to do that, he needed Roxas to stand down, something that just wasn't happening.
Axel dropped the glare, much to Roxas' surprise before he turned on his heels and made his way to the door. He stopped short of the doorknob and turned back to the still fuming (albeit slightly confused) man behind him.
"You know something? I think Roxas the Person could take a little direction from Roxas the Singer. Roxas the Person could use some pointers on how to be real and not… brimming with bitchassery." Axel began. "Look, I know I can be a bit of an asshole and I know I've said some shitty…shit, but I'm actually trying to be nice and you're giving me thirty different kinds of shade. You want me to 'fuck the fuck off'? Fine."
Roxas felt the furrow in his brow and the stiffness in his jaw lessen despite himself as the redhead finished. He so badly wanted to revel in just how pissed off and frustrated the other man was. He just couldn't. In fact there was an overwhelmingly confusing twang of guilt and panic constricting his intestines as he watched the knob turn and the door begin to open, and if that wasn't just the biggest chunk of Capital Fuckery ever, he didn't know what was. He bit down on his bottom lip as he watched Axel begin to step through the opened door.
"Just a bit?" He blurted before clamping down hard on his bottom lip again. Axel froze in place. Roxas looked on as a pair of green eyes turned toward him. He hadn't really meant to say it, really. It was impulse. A last ditch effort to break a tradition of them ending every meeting on a sour note. A desire he hadn't even really known he'd had until the words shot from his lips.
"Run that by me again?" Axel asked the corners of his lips twisted downwards in a perplexed manner.
"I-I said: 'Just a bit?' As in: Are you sure you have a tendency to only be 'just a bit of an asshole?' Sounds like a grossly inaccurate measurement to me." Roxas offered a half-cooked stiff smile.
Axel let out a wry laugh, quickly catching the man's words and awkward facial expression for what it was: a gesture of goodwill, albeit slightly awkward and unexpected. "Maybe I also have a habit of tossing out understatements."
"You could also take a bit of your own advice. Axel the performer and Axel the Person could also have a bit more cross-over."
"Yeah?" Axel asked before he fully turned around, letting the door close again. "Most people tell me I'm the same insufferable asshole that I am onstage, offstage."
Roxas let out a humored puff of breath. "Well, yeah, you really are. But you're significantly more tolerable when you're singing than you are when you're not."
Axel's small smile grew into a full-blown grin. "Aw, Roxy, that's the sweetest thing you've ever said to me."
Roxas' face dropped. "Call me that again and I'll go back to wanting to rip your entrails out. I'm trying to be nice, don't make me go Bruce Lee on your ass."
Axel took a half-step back, throwing his hands up in defense (something he seemed to do entirely too much around a guy that was so much shorter than him. Really, he could just step on the guy if he put a little effort into it). "Alright, alright. Sorry, just thought it was a cute name for a cute guy."
"Oh, would you look at that? Your big toe is just about over the 'whoop ass' line."
"What? That was a compliment." Axel argued.
"No, cute is not a compliment for a guy. 'Handsome', yes. 'Hot', sure. 'Wow, you look a hell of a lot like Jesse McCartney', Why not? But cute? No." Roxas explained sternly.
Axel couldn't hold in the amused snort at the expense of the serious expression on Roxas' face. "Oh man, you really need to lighten up."
Roxas raised a brow. "How? By being an overtly obnoxious flamboyant goof?"
Axel laughed again. The kid was actually somewhat funny, you know, when he wasn't threatening his various organs and whatnot. That or Axel's brain was working overtime to turn all of these insults into flirtatious gestures. "No, silly goose muffin. I have that role covered." The redhead stopped and pondered for a second. "What are you doing tonight?"
Roxas scratched his head and gave the other musician a look that dangled between skepticism and fear. "Nothing. Why are you asking? Especially with such a suspicious look."
Axel grinned. "On a scale of one to five, five being the highest, how interested would you be in going on a little adventure with me? Before you ask, no, this isn't a sexual advance."
"The fact that you even had to make that clarification, makes this entire proposition, that much sketchier." Roxas frowned.
Axel rolled his eyes. "Just answer the question Captain Pissy Pants."
"-1.6. The negative is there to emphasize how much I'd like to go across your head with one of Xion's drums for using that damn nickname." The blonde grouched.
Axel tried his best to hide his smile with an eye roll. "Look, if that number somehow miraculously rises throughout the rest of today, meet me outside of the Liberal Arts building around eight tonight."
"Do I really look dumb enough to go along with this possible rape plot?" Roxas asked in an amused tone.
"Hey, it's not rape if you yell surprise." Axel winked, garnering a look of mild alarm from the blonde in front of him. "It was a joke. You know those things that people with a sense of humor, laugh at?"
Roxas kept up his look of suspicion as the redhead moved a little closer to him. He felt completely compelled to back away from the advance, but as a pair of malachite resembling irises locked onto his, it felt nearly impossible. He watched wide-eyed as Axel's moved in a little closer. So wrapped up in what was going on visually, he felt a small shock as a warm hand, the tips slightly calloused in a way that could only be from constant guitar use, took his own and placed something in his palm.
"You decide to show up, use this." Axel advised quietly. Roxas gave a curt nod, still trying to soak in the abrupt change in atmosphere.
Axel flashed a grin before backing up and making his way out of the practice room after giving a small wink. Roxas stood blinking long after the door had closed behind the man. It took him about five minutes to even register the fact that there was something in his hand. He looked down to find a small white ripped slip of paper. On it, in smudged black ink and messy writing, was a note.
400-5438 Get it memorized.
Roxas stared at the paper for a second before something clicked. "Just passing by, huh? Lying Jackass." He muttered to himself as he felt the inklings of a smile prickle the left side of his lips.
There was always cause for suspicion whenever Xion offered to pay for something. There was even more cause for suspicion when Xion offered to not only pay, but to walk clear across campus to take Sora to his favorite food establishment on campus: Wonderland. It was a small colorful place that specialized in different desserts. More specifically, ice cream. Sora's kryptonite. And now, with their fifteen minute break slowly easing into thirty minutes as they leisurely strode back to the practice rooms… Sora just had to ask.
"This is a set-up, isn't it?" He shoveled a giant spoonful of ice-cream into his mouth.
Xion looked up from the raspberry cheesecake cookie she was currently fixated on. "Yes, yes it is." She answered in a matter-of-fact tone.
"For me or for Roxas?"
"Roxas."
"Why?" Sora sighed, none too happy about the fact that when they did finally arrive back, Roxas would no doubt be in a homicidal mood. He would make sure Xion walked in first, that way when the drums went flying, she'd, rightfully, take the first hit.
"Because, everything that irritates us about others, can lead us to a better understanding of ourselves." Xion answered simply, pouting a little as she dropped a plethora of crumbs down her top.
"Can I get the 'Xion for Dummies' version please?" Sora asked through a mouthful of chocolate ice cream.
"Carl Jung."
"Not him again." Sora muttered to himself, earning himself an ear flick from the dark-haired woman beside him. He winced and gave a sulky frown.
"Hey, don't diss Jung. He knows what he's talking about."
"Don't doubt that. Just doubt you know what he's talking about. I'm sure the guy never said: "Let's try to force two guys, who clearly hate each other, to jump each other's bones…or fight to the death. Whichever comes first" I think your interpretation sucks." He replied as he nursed his ear.
Xion stopped and gave the man a warning look. "This could easily turn into a set up for you, you know. All I have to do is tickle you and I could easily get what little secret you've been hiding, out of you."
Sora pointedly took three steps to the left, away from Xion. "Evil."
"You started it." The woman shrugged turning her attention back to her cookie.
Before the conversation could go any further the pair's attention was drawn to a wild bundle of blonde hair. Demyx was wildly flailing his arms in attempt to catch their attention as he powerwalked towards them. Sora and Xion exchanged looks as they upped their pace to try and meet the man half-way.
"Geez Dem, what's going on? You look like you just broke out of a mental institution." Xion asked as soon as she got close enough to fully take in his appearance.
Demyx gave the woman a semblance of a deadly glower as he caught his breath. "If I do, it's your and Axel's fault."
Xion and Sora both perked up in alarm, ready to run back to the Arts building.
"Oh, no. They didn't start fighting again, did they?" Sora asked.
Demyx shrugged. "Hell if I know. I told Axel what you wanted me to and the bozo ditched me at fucking Walmart."
The two band mates relaxed before letting out barely contained snickers. Demyx rolled his eyes at them in return. After a second, Xion regained her composure, (the same could not be said for Sora who had just about shoved his entire ice cream container into his mouth to stop the laughter.) and looked around, slightly confused.
"Hold the phone. If Axel ditched you, how did you get here? The nearest Walmart is like, five miles away and knowing just how much you love any kind of strenuous activity, there's no way you walked back here."
"I waited for Riku to get off and he drove me back. It was lucky that we got there when his shift was about to end, otherwise I would have pitched a bigger bitch-fit. Good grief, you Strife brothers are good at causing problems. It's bad enough they discontinued the Twinkies and that you two have Axel and Riku acting like Austin Powers after he lost his 'mojo', now you're messing with my transportation too? I think I need a burger, beer and some punk rock." Demyx rambled.
"Wait, wait, and wait. What do you mean "you Strife brothers have Axel and Riku acting like Austin Powers after he lost his 'mojo'? What does Sora have to do with Riku losing anything?" Xion asked eyeing at the other two men in front of her.
Sora just about dropped his ice cream as he gave Demyx a look that clearly screamed: 'you are so dead, you big-mouthed dummy'. Demyx clamped his mouth shut and just shook his head. Xion stared them down. Sora was desperately combing his brain to think of some kind of excuse but the only thoughts he could conjure up were various ways he could kick Demyx's butt all over Radiant Gardens University. Xion, now officially knew there was something going on and there was only one way to escape the barrage of questions Sora and Demyx just knew were coming.
"Sora, you thinking what I'm thinking?" Demyx asked, eyes still locked on the advancing woman.
"I do believe I am." Sora answered.
"Good. Then it shouldn't be a surprise when I say: Cheese it!"
Sora dropped his ice cream and the two of them turned tail and ran as hard they could in the direction opposite of Xion. They had no way of telling if she was following them or not. (They were not too scared to look back, they just didn't want to.) They kept going until they were at the Arts building. Finally feeling as if they had put enough distance between them and Xion, they stopped and leaned against the building's brick exterior and fought to catch their breath.
"Think we lost her?" Demyx panted.
"Think so. Oh, by the way…" Sora turned and gave the drummer a firm punch in the bicep.
"Ow! What the bitch?" Demyx hissed as he tended to the tender area. "What was that for?"
"What you said, duh! We wouldn't have had to take off like we were extras in a Godzilla movie if you'd watch it!"
Demyx plopped down to the ground and crossed his legs. "I don't get what the big deal is. Riku told us. Why haven't you told Xion or Roxas?"
Sora flopped down into the grass a couple of inches away. He scrubbed his somewhat sticky hands onto the thighs of his jeans. "Because it's a bigger deal than you think. Besides, before I tell them, I think I need to talk to him."
"Well it's kind of hard for someone to have a conversation with someone else while they're flipping over handrails like they're one of Charlie's Angels, don't you think?" A different but incredibly familiar voice asked from behind Sora, causing the hairs on the back of the brunette's neck to stand on end.
Sora turned slowly to be met with the basis of this conversation. Riku was leaning a shoulder against the building, he was still in his work uniform of a navy shirt and khaki pants. Sora felt his mouth immediately go dry.
"You know, trying to talk to you is sort of like trying to Send a Postcard From A Plane Crash."
Sora forced a small laugh and nonchalant shrug. "Well you know me, I'm always Reinventing the Wheel to Run Myself Over." He answered.
Riku gave the brunette a small smile before turning to Demyx who was looking at the two of them like they'd just grown three extra heads. "Hey, Dem. Mind giving us a minute or thirty?"
Demyx wordlessly gave a nod and pulled himself up of off the ground, dusting off the back of his jeans. "Sure, why not? But you guys might not want to stick around here for too long. Xion's bound to show up soon." He turned with a small wave and began to walk away, leaving the two alone.
"We're avoiding Xion?" Riku asked as he pushed himself off of the wall and holding out a hand to help the shorter man up off of the ground.
"It's a long story. Well, not really. It's a 'Demyx has a big mouth and nearly blabbed to Xion so we ran like we stole something' kind of story." Sora answered as he accepted the assistance.
Riku shook his head and laughed. "Of course, it makes so much sense."
"I know a place we can go." Sora offered. He gestured for Riku to follow him and they began walking in silence. It wasn't as awkward as either of them pictured it being, but by no means was it a relaxed atmosphere. There were a plethora of unsaid apologies and explanations to be given and in all the time the two had been thinking about this moment, neither of them had actually thought about what they wanted to say. Riku was now wishing he'd made that pit stop for a little liquid courage and Sora was really hating himself for dropping his own bit of nerve, in the form of ice cream, earlier.
"Here it is." Sora announced, breaking both their bubbles of thought. They then proceeded to climb the slight peak of land. Sora sat first in his usual little area. Riku took a seat next to him, making sure to keep at least a foot of distance between them. The last thing he wanted to do was scare the brunette off again. Silence crept back in around them as they watched people wandering around campus. It gave a perfect view of the courtyard and was seated right where one could easily see the sun begin to move behind the tallest dorms on campus.
"This is a nice view." Riku spoke first.
Sora nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I know. It's kind of a mind-clearing area. It's where I come to think and stuff."
Riku snuck a glance over at the man beside him. "Yeah? What kind of things do you think about up here?" He asked.
"Everything. School, family, embarrassing moments at festivals, you know, garden variety stuff."
Sora shrugged. He was trying incredibly hard not have a conniption. He really didn't want Riku to think he was some kind of professional spaz-machine. (Despite the fact that he was. Riku just didn't need to know all of that, yet.)
"About the festival," Riku started, pointedly keeping his eyes on the roving student body below them. "I didn't mean to – I should have asked you and clarified before I –"
"Even if you had, the outcome probably wouldn't have changed." Sora cut in.
Riku turned to look at Sora, who was taking his turn to avoid eye contact. "What do you mean?"
"I was – am confused about some things. I have been for a while. I really wanted to meet you halfway. So much so, that it scared the flying fig newtons out of me. Having a girlfriend for years that you're totally attracted to, then having those same feelings just as strongly about a guy? I'm Not Okay, trust me." Sora exhaled before looking over with a friendly expression.
"The Jetset Life is Going to Kill You," Riku answered as he leaned over and nudged the brunette with an elbow. Sora answered with a small chuckle. "My Chemical Romance? Seems very unlike you."
"Have you met my brother? He lives Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge. I dare you to ask him to sing Helena in a public area, he'll turn it into a freakin' Broadway moment." Sora explained. Riku laughed, unable to argue. Sora let out a sigh and leaned back onto his elbows and watched as the sun began to dip down between the buildings, the sky casting an orange-pinkish hue. "I can't apologize for freaking out, 'cause, you know, that's just me. But I'm sorry about avoiding you."
"It's fine. Although, I still had no idea anyone could squeeze through those tiny bathroom windows like that."
"Benefit of being scrawny. I was also thoroughly scolded about that. According to Kairi, public bathroom windows are the leading cause of Herpes and Dyslexia… or something… I missed 90% of that rant about a minute in."
"Kairi?"
"She's my other best friend and ex. She's really cool and the reason we're talking and not playing Hide and Seek anymore."
Riku nodded in understanding. "I'll have to make a note of thanking her for that. I never was good at that game and stood no chance against someone as formidable as you." There was another beat of silence as the two watched the sun slowly make its descent. "But if you hadn't noticed, I'm not like Roxas and Axel and I'm not really the kind to hide what I'm thinking or feeling with emo music or general "sluttiness"."
Sora nodded. "I've noticed."
"So, I'm wondering what does all of your deep soul searching and conversations with Xion's opposite, lead to? Because I really like you, Sora Strife."
As the brunette felt his entire face go ablaze like a match and his whole being go went as stiff as a corpse, he'd only just managed to not fall onto his back and sit back up. He was not expecting Riku to just say it like that. He wasn't sure if he should say it back, because honestly who was he kidding? (Well, besides Xion and Roxas and everyone back at home and… Okay, List, getting longer than intended.) He looked over at Riku, who was still sitting up and Sora could tell he was doing his best to not look too eager for the answer Sora, was hesitant to give. What if it turned out this was just college experimentation or that he'd wake up in the morning feeling a comple –
"I like you too." The words flew from his lips unexpectedly.
Sora thought how awkward it would be for him to tell himself to pipe the fuck down.
Sora tentatively looked over at Riku who was giving him a look that created a plethora of goose bumps and standing hairs and other stereotypical and clichéd bodily reactions.
"Really?"
Sora nodded again. "But..."
"Oh, yay, everyone likes it when a 'but' follows an 'I like you too'." Riku mumbled sarcastically, his face falling slightly.
"But," Sora started again, trying to fight the urge to make a potty joke. "Let's try friendship first. I'm still figuring out some stuff and I don't want to just jump into this."
"But It's Better If You Do." Riku answered using Panic At The Disco, to lighten the mood.
Sora rolled his eyes and reached over to push the muscular man over into the grass. "There's A Reason These Tables Are Numbered Honey, You Just Haven't Thought Of It Yet."
The two of them continued to laugh well until the sun had finally been completely replaced by the moon. Sora was glad Riku wasn't pissed at him for the way he'd been treating him and even gladder that the silver-haired man was being so understanding. Even so, Sora figured he'd better enjoy this moment as much as he could, because when he finally did make his way back to the dorm he was almost sure he'd find Xion. He had some serious explaining to do and he was not looking forward to it.
"What the hell happened to you? Did you get body checked by the Abominable Ice Cream Man?" Roxas wheezed as he cracked up at his best friend's appearance. Xion stepped through the threshold of the practice room, her hair dampened and slightly matted. Sprinkles were dashed throughout her hair and chocolate stained the front of her light colored shirt.
"Shut it. Your idiot brother ran off with Demyx and threw his ice cream over his shoulder without stopping to think that maybe, just maybe, I'd be standing there." She huffed. She grabbed her water bottle and proceeded to pour some of its contents onto Sora's abandoned jacket and used it to scrub the chocolate residue off of her face and forehead. Roxas began to laugh even harder as she removed the jacket from her face. Her fringe, was sticking straight up in the air.
"You look like Cameron Diaz from that one scene in Something About Mary!" He choked. "Are you sure it was ice cream and not –"
"You finish that sentence and I will knock you into the year 3015."
Roxas continued to gasp for breath and clutch at his sides while Xion gave him a very unimpressed glower. She took the jacket to her hair and flattened her fringe out. She threw the now empty water bottle at Roxas' head effectively hitting him square in the forehead.
"Oh, ow." Roxas replied sarcastically. "Is that the best that the Great Xion, can do?"
"I'm entirely too sticky right now to do anything else." She countered.
"If I were to make a "That's What She Said" joke right now…?"
"You would die. Plain and simple. And no one would ever find the body because I watch entirely too much Law and Order and CSI: Miami to ever get caught."
"Duly noted." Roxas answered doing his best to contain the latter half of his laughing fit.
Xion sighed and plopped down on one of the stools and continued to scrub the dampened jacket over her hair and face. She continued to ramble and rant under her breath until a ripped piece of paper sitting on one of the music stands caught her attention.
"Hey, what's this?' She asked, picking it up and examining it. "Is this – Is this Axel's phone number?" She questioned again, a large smile on her face.
"Yeah." Roxas shrugged before clearing his throat. "He asked me to hang out with him or something tonight. Not going to though."
Xion did a double-take. "Hold up. You two had a conversation without killing each other and exchanged phone numbers? Next, are you going to tell me that pigs can not only fly but also solve mathematical equations while doing the moonwalk?"
"Okay first off, there was no number exchange. He gave me his out of the blue. And second, I'm not going so you can take all of those idioms and put them away. I'm not meeting up with anyone who says 'it's not rape if you yell surprise' as a joke."
"Prude." Xion scoffed.
"I have to protect my chastity." Roxas countered.
Xion let out a loud, high-pitched laugh. "Hey, there ain't nothing wrong with a little bump and grind."
"Oh, dear God, please don't start quoting R. Kelly at me." Roxas groaned as started to pack up his guitar.
Xion held in the rest of her jokes. "I'm just saying you're not fooling anyone. The two of you have more sexual tension flowing between you than a freaking Freudian theory." Roxas gave her a questioning look. "I'm just saying that maybe it wouldn't be so bad to give him one last chance."
The blonde stopped and mulled over her words for a moment. Despite what he told her, he still wasn't sure if he didn't want to go meet the guy. He still had a bit of time to decide. As much as he was reluctant to admit it, he sort of, kind of, in some weird foreign way, wanted to see Axel again. (Yeah, he died a little inside after coming clean about that.)
"And take into account the fact that if you don't go, I will sing overtly sexual 90s R&B songs until you do."
"You're bluffing."
Xion cleared her throat. "My mind is telling me no," She took in a deep breath. "But my body, my body's telling me yes." She sang at the top of her lungs.
"Okay!" Roxas exclaimed, jumping from his seat. "I'll go! Just stop the madness!"
"Good call. Because I was about to butcher the hell out of Nice and Slow by Usher."
Roxas groaned inwardly as he finished packing his stuff away. "I'm going to take my stuff back to the dorm. I'd help you with the other crap, but then I'd be late. Hopefully Sora will show up. See ya later, Sticky Buns!" Roxas called quickly as he dashed out of the room with his guitar and backpack, leaving a wide-eyed Xion behind.
She looked around at the various instruments and general mess she'd been left with. She slapped her palm against her still tacky forehead. She had not thought this part through.
Roxas stood just a couple of feet from the Liberal Arts building and quite frankly he was starting to rethink this entire situation. Honestly, what if Axel was trying to frame him from murder or set him up to take the fall for some big heist? He would just be walking right into it like some sort of Derp-Bot. Didn't tattoos under the eyes mean a person had killed before or been to jail or something? He looked down at his phone, his fingers lingering over the call button as he debated.
"Thinking of standing me up?"
"JESUS!" Roxas screamed while he nearly jumped out of his skin. He juggled his phone around in an attempt to keep it from hitting the ground. He clutched at his chest, checking to see if his heart was still beating. He then spun around ready to beat, whoever was behind him, until the white meat showed, only to be greeted with (of course) Axel's trademark smug smirk. "Who the fuck does that?" The blonde griped. He was trying incredibly hard to catch his breath.
"Hey, it's not my fault if you aren't paying attention to your surroundings."
"You should know that I am not above ripping your arm out of its socket and beating you with it." Roxas snarled.
"Ooooh, so feisty. C'mon Incredible Hulk," Axel grabbed Roxas' hand and began to pull him towards the building "We have things to do."
Roxas, still somewhat subdued from his near death experience, allowed himself to be yanked along with little resistance. The campus was still buzzing with student life. But most were off near the gym or the food areas. The academic buildings and their surrounding spaces, on the other hand, were pretty dead. Axel led them through the glass doors of the Liberal Arts building, the bright, buzzing, fluorescent lights were a stark contrast to the dark, mostly moonlit atmosphere they'd just left. There was the occasional professor here and there, some greeted them in kind, others giving them suspicious looks. They hadn't walked very far before they stopped in front of an elevator.
"Where are we even going?" Roxas asked as they waited for the car to come down.
"My hideout." The redhead answered simply, keeping his eye on the small LED screen that told them what floor the elevator was on.
"This isn't going to turn out to be a meth lab or something, is it?"
Axel turned to him with a grin. "Hey, drug free is the way to be."
"You kiss your mother with that corny ass mouth?" Roxas quipped.
Axel just continued smiling and turned back to the screen. Roxas took the chance to look the man over. He was wearing those same skinny jeans he'd been wearing when they'd first met and a red and black hoodie. His hair was pulled into loose ponytail at the base of his head, but it didn't do much to pacify the sides of his hair, which was still jutting out in different directions. On anyone else, the red hair would probably look ridiculous but somehow, Axel pulled it off exceptionally well. Roxas continued his inconspicuous examination before he finally looked down at the hand that hadn't been dragging him along like a rag doll.
"What's with the cooler?" Roxas asked.
"It's a surprise." Axel winked, looking at him from the corner of his eye.
"A surprise." He deadpanned.
"Yes."
Roxas sighed. "I'm really hoping my poor little heart can take it."
Axel chuckled as the elevator finally opened up for them to climb aboard. They rode up to the top floor, all the while, Roxas was still trying to figure out where on earth they could be going. They got off and Axel took his hand again, leading him to a flight of stairs that had a long metal chain blocking the way.
"Uh, doesn't that sign say: Students May Not Enter?" Roxas probed.
"Damn you're full of questions. Like I said earlier, loosen up," Axel replied. He lifted up the chain and gestured for Roxas to go under. "Rules were made to be broken."
"Said every inmate ever." Roxas complained before going ahead and ducking up under the chain. "If we go to jail, I'm putting a sign on your back that says: "Feel free to make me your bitch."
The redhead bit his bottom lip to hold in the loud laugh that was threatening to give them away. "Good one, Blondie." He snorted.
They climbed the last two flights of stairs before they were met with a door that was slightly propped open with a cinderblock. Roxas looked at Axel with a raised brow.
"Benefits of befriending the janitor. I supply him with the smokes his wife doesn't want him to have, and I get unlimited access to this." Axel opened the door with a flourish and Roxas' jaw nearly hit the floor.
They were on the roof of the Liberal Arts building. The tallest building on campus. The entirety of the college could be seen and everyone looked like little ants. But it wasn't the college view that took Roxas for a loop, it was the landscape and even better than that was the sky. Usually it was hard to get a good look at the sky from the ground or dorms because the trees and lights cancelled everything out. The moon looked so big and white from here, Roxas felt like if he reached far enough, he could touch it. The stars were equally amazing. He could easily see Orion's belt and the Little Dipper, just as clearly as when he was back on the Islands. For the first time that night, Roxas was speechless.
"Xion told me you had this thing for Astronomy. I figured you might like it up here."
Roxas looked back over at Axel, then back at the sky. "You – How – Oh my damn."
Axel moved past him and walked closer to the edge of the building. The edges of the building were blocked off so he couldn't hang his legs over like he wanted, so he got as close as possible before taking a seat and opening the cooler. "Want one?" He inquired pulling his hand out from the container of ice. He was holding a light blue Popsicle.
Roxas moved closer, his eyes widening. "That's not –"
"Sea Salt? Yeah, it is." The redhead beamed. He could tell by the expression on the blonde's face, he was doing well. He mentally thanked Xion for the head's up on that one.
"It's not poisoned is it?"
Axel rolled his eyes and thrust the frozen dessert into the blonde singer's hands. "No, Douche, it's not." Roxas took it apprehensively. "It's a peace offering," The green-eyed man continued. "My way of saying 'I'm sorry I'm a giant asshole, but don't expect me to really change much because it's embedded in my DNA.' Well I guess it's more of an apology and warning all-in-one."
Roxas eyed the popsicle, sniffed it and examined it again, before finally placing it in his mouth. "Wow, and it's not even the shitty kind."
"Hey, wars were never resolved by handing out shitty ice cream." Axel said defensively before grabbing his own frozen treat.
"And what war, pray tell, do you know of, that was resolved with ice cream?" Roxas asked.
Axel thought for a minute. "The Great Snowman/Penguin War of 1852. The Yeti and Santa Debacle in the 1920s and I'm pretty sure it played a huge role in the American Revolutionary War. Paul Revere would not have made it through that Midnight Ride without a banana split."
Roxas barely avoided a spit-take as he laughed. "Wow. That was actually funny. I didn't know you did funny."
"It's amazing what you can find out when you're not threating to kick someone into the ninth dimension of hell."
"Well, it's amazing what I can sit through when someone's not being the pants-on-head hat-on-ass, stupid." Roxas countered.
"Touché."
They sat for a while and continued to joke around and examine the skies. The time flew as they picked on fellow students and discussed music. They debated guitar brands (Fender versus Ibanez) and whether or not it would be possible for Fall Out Boy's comeback album to rival From Under the Cork Tree and if they'd even be relevant in an industry so heavily dominated by Electronic music.
Time flew and neither of them could hardly believe that they'd been able to sit for this long without coming to blows. (Granted Axel nearly bit off his tongue trying to hold in the dirty jokes and Roxas nearly chewed his bottom lip off trying not to call Axel a 'big fat dummy' on multiple occasions.) After a while, the two of them were lying on their backs, taking the crisp Fall wind in stride as they stared at the sky. They were quiet letting the disbelief and contentedness settle in around them.
It was so weird to Roxas how someone who seemed to be so worthy of hating was actually kind of, sort of, in some out there type of way, cool.
"So, that song from earlier, you wrote that?" Axel broke the record tensionless silence.
Roxas cringed at the question. He knew hoping that that moment could be left alone was something of a long shot. "Yeah, a while ago."
"It was really good. Especially the way you sang it." Axel complimented.
"Yeah, well, uh, thanks."
"I mean it. Shit's hard out here for people like us."
"People like us?" The blonde echoed, titling his head a little so he could catch a glimpse of the redhead.
"Yeah, I mean, even here in Radiant Gardens where the populations like a gazillion, people are still judgmental as fuck. I can't imagine living on a little island like yours."
"I'd tell you it's not as bad as you're thinking, but I'd probably be lying. The kids weren't really that bad by themselves. It was when they all got together that they'd feel entitled to say and do shit. Or the parents would condemn you behind your back. Or better yet, condemn the way your parents raised you." Roxas stopped himself. Last thing he wanted to do was completely spill his guts. Axel wasn't totally out of the enemy realm yet.
"On the bright side, at least coming out was your decision." Axel started. "Apparently not everyone gets that choice."
Roxas sat up a little, intrigued. He knew next to nothing about Axel. Not nearly as much as he was sure Xion had told Axel about himself. "What do you mean?"
Axel sighed a little. "Roxy, I'm going to tell you something I've only ever told a handful of people." He sat up and crossed his legs. Roxas followed suit. "See, back in my sophomore year, I was seeing this kid. We both wanted to keep our sexuality on the down low, so to speak. So, for a while our relationship consisted of what could be done between classes under stairwells and what we could sneak in when our parents weren't around. Most people just thought 'Oh, hey, Axel finally got a friend other than Demyx and Riku!' Then there were some people who saw it for what it was." Axel took in a breath before he went on. "Some kids from the newspaper caught us in the locker room. Took pictures, posted them online. It was pretty bad. They got in more trouble than we did since basically they were posting child porn, but I digress," He chuckled. "The guy bailed on me. Said I was the one making a move on him. People believed him since the pictures sorta backed his story. I could have outed him but I figured it'd be pointless."
Roxas mouth was agape. "You didn't do anything to him?"
"Nah. See, Life's a bitch only when you are. You have to know how to treat her if you want good things to happen, you know. Besides people didn't mess with me that much. I mean look at me, if you're not lusting over this, you're probably afraid of it."
"Careful, your jackass is showing." Roxas replied with a half-smile. "Also the way you kill a moment is right up there with Sora."
"Yeah, I know, right?" Axel grinned back before sitting up to grab a half-melted popsicle from the cooler. "You know when I think about it, maybe that's what I didn't like about you before."
Roxas got up and grabbed his own ice cream. "Explain."
"I guess when Xion told me about you, I was sort of pissed. I mean, you had a choice but then when everyone turned on you, you stopped singing, stopped being social. You let them win. And even after you left, you were still letting them win."
Roxas felt a little incensed, he moved his ice cream. "Hey, you don't –"
Axel put a hand on his shoulder. "Down, Blondie Pacquiao. I said thought. As in past tense. My mind sort of changed after hearing you sing today. We're more alike than I thought. That and Xion told me about the other conversation you guys had."
Roxas groaned. "Is nothing sacred anymore?"
"Of course not. It's the 21st century." Axel scoffed lightheartedly. "And I'm a little glad it isn't. Then I wouldn't have known the whole story. I'm sure you would probably cover yourself with Raw Steaks and prance through the Lion Den at the zoo, than tell me any damn thing."
"Good point." Roxas agreed. "And then I would never have known that you could actually not be an assface."
"New one. Gross mental image." The two laughed for a second. "There is one thing that Xion hasn't been able to tell me though."
"And that would be?"
Axel shifted a little so he was looking directly at Roxas. "Many years ago, back when we still wanted to gut each other, we sang a little song called Take Care, in which you, took the second verse and you sang a line that's been bothering the hell out of me for weeks, now. 'Can't deny that I want you, but I'll lie if I have to.'"
Roxas felt his entire face heat up so much he thought he would burst into flames on the spot. Of course he'd pick up on that little line. He was smarter than your average bear. (Even more so than Roxas had thought at the time of said performance.) "W-well – I –"
"I'll make this simple, since apparently in your case, blushing is equal to lowered vocabulary." Roxas felt some of his embarrassment die down and his 'urge to kill levels', rise. "Did you mean it, the way I think you did?"
Roxas clamped down on his lip again. He wasn't sure how to respond. His mind was saying one thing, his body another and – dammit, R. Kelly was getting into his head again! He looked up at the green-eyed man who was looking at him expectantly. He wanted to give into the prideful thing that chewing away at his inside and deny it, but according to Xion and about 5,000 YouTube strangers, he wasn't fooling anyone.
So instead, he nodded meekly.
Before Roxas could open his mouth to explain or even decide to make some kind of joke out of the entire situation, there was another pair of lips on his own. They were sticky and warm and tasted like Sea Salt ice cream. There was a hand in his hair and two popsicles on the ground. And there was an aroma around him that reminded him of the smoke from a freshly blown out candle. The mixture of smells and senses influenced his eyes to close and accept what was happening.
Axel was kissing him. And he was kissing him back.
Hey, Look! An Author's Note with Important Content!
Wooo! Chapter 7! Do you realize this thing is 28 pages double-spaced? If this long ass chapter made your eyes bleed, I'm sorry and I owe you a hug and a homemade brownie. Also if the chapters are getting too long, let me know and I'll try to cut them down/in half.
** I'm still not 100% on the pacing in this chapter. I didn't want things to move too fast and out of their established character. So, if you could, please let me know how it felt you. **
End of Important Content. :)
As always, thank you for reading and don't forget to stay awesome and feel free tell me what you think in that beautiful little box below!
