Disclaimer: I love these characters, but they are not my own.
Author's Note: D'aw, I love this chapter :) Purely Axel and Roxas for you.
Sugar and Spice
Chapter Seven: Oblivion
The doorbell rang and Roxas ran to it like a bat out of hell. Flinging it open, he grinned at the figure in front of him so widely, it hurt.
There was Axel, standing there in all of his sexy glory, car keys dangling from his hand, dressed to kill. Really, Roxas felt like he was about to keel over from the heat waves that Axel seemed to be emitting. He was wearing black pants and a maroon shirt that had 'Oblivion' written across it in a graffiti style. Seeing him standing there, Roxas could have sworn that he heard a chorus of 'Hallelujah'. Only it was in an awesome rock style, guitars blaring and a lead singer screaming the words, instead of that weird gospel shit.
"Happy birthday, Roxas," Axel said; tone soft and genuine.
Roxas couldn't help it. Axel's body seemed to just be screaming 'touch me!', and he had to obey. He threw himself at the redhead, wrapping his arms around his lean form and burying his face into his chest. "Thankyousososososmuch," he blathered into his shirt, squeezing him tightly.
At first Axel had lifted his arms away in surprise, but then he brought them down to hug Roxas back, one hand wandering up and intertwining itself in the boy's hair. He laughed, and Roxas closed his eyes, inhaling his crush's scent. Roxas couldn't really describe the smell, but it wasn't like cinnamon or anything cliché like that, but it was like…the woods. After a moment Roxas figured out it was just from the air freshener in Axel's car, which was pine. Oh well, it was still wonderful. Roxas was hugging him, and Axel was hugging him back, and it was the first time it was comfortable. Last time they had embraced, it was in the camaro, and the gear shifter had dug into a pretty sensitive spot on Roxas' body. Not so comfy.
"No problem, you know I wanted to do this for you," Axel said finally, pulling away, his hands falling into place on Roxas' shoulders.
Roxas beamed, shoving his hands into his hoodie's pockets. His Oblivion hoodie's pockets. Oh yeah. That's right. The concert was tonight. He'd been looking forward to this for weeks. Finally, he and Axel were going to be alone together doing something other than studying! It was like a date! Kind of!
"I like your shirt," the blond complimented shyly to the ground, though it was directed at Axel.
"Thanks. I love your hoodie, man. But aren't you hot?" Axel put his hands on his hips and shook his head in mock disapproval. "It's in the middle of spring!"
"Well…um…I'm not wearing a shirt underneath it, so…I'm okay…" Roxas admitted, and almost as if on cue, the slightly-too-big hoodie slid to the left, exposing his bare shoulder.
"O-oh," Axel said; his eyebrows raised and his expression went odd-looking.
Roxas felt himself grow hot, but it wasn't because of what he was wearing. He adjusted the hoodie, and Axel seemed to snap out of the trance he was in.
"Well, shall we go?" Axel asked, voice cracking a bit so he coughed into his hand to clear his throat.
"Yes!" Roxas cried, throwing his hands up in the air, his sleeves flopping because the hoodie was so oversized it covered his hands completely. He'd ordered it online, and they had ended up giving him the wrong size. But the concert had been too close at the time so he didn't want to send it back. His mom had told him he looked cute anyway, and mother always knew best with Roxas.
The boy practically skipped alongside Axel as they made their way to the camaro. Things had continued to be awkward between them ever since they went to Fun World. But Roxas was hoping that that would change tonight. Oblivion was so awesome they could probably work magic, in his opinion.
"So why'd you wanna pick me up so early?" Roxas inquired cheerfully as he buckled himself in.
"I wanted to take you out for coffee first," Axel replied simply.
Roxas blinked at him slowly. "You wanna go get coffee," he stated. Smooth, very smooth. When all else failed, Roxas fell back on to using repetition.
Axel hesitated for a moment. "Yeah."
Suddenly Roxas noticed the irony of his friend's proposal and smiled. "Before a huge rock concert?"
Axel hesitated for a little longer. "…Yeah."
Roxas had to suppress a laugh. The two things were completely different! Though he did feel all warm and fuzzy at the thought that that's where people usually went for dates.
Seeing the other boy's amused expression, Axel quickly added, "Well, you know, so we can talk a little before our eardrums are blasted out and get some caffeine and stuff." As he spoke, Roxas admired the way that Axel talked with his hands. Yet another thing that made him sexy without trying. "There's this awesome place that's on the way to the concert," he went on. "But, I don't know, whatever you want. It is your birthday after all."
The blond fiddled with his exceptionally long sleeves, trying to think of the best thing to say, since he found coffee disgusting rather than appealing. He really, really wished that he could tell Axel what he truly wanted: him. And what did he want to do? Anything of the sexual nature. But, obviously, Roxas would never be able to sum up the courage to request such a thing. And although he would be extremely delighted to do unspeakable things to the redhead, really, he was happy going just about anywhere with him.
"Coffee is sexy…" the evil conscious said almost as if to himself from his sitting position on Roxas' shoulder, no longer able to stay silent. Stroking his chin with his forefinger, he put in, "Hmm, yeah, you should go. I think we can work with that. It's got that whole relaxed, sensual feel to it." He nodded thoughtfully, like this was his expertise.
There was a 'poof' and Roxas' angel stepped out a white cloud that faded away quicker than usual. "Roxas doesn't even like coffee!" he spluttered right away, throwing his hands up in the air.
The devil only smirked. "Sooo? He likes Axel. And one must make sacrifices in order to get what one wants."
"Roxas. Is. Straight." the angel stated through gritted teeth.
"Straight as a circle, maybe…" the other snickered.
"…Um, Roxas? So would you like some coffee or no…?" Axel asked uncertainly due to the delayed response. He was looking at Roxas worriedly, pulling on a lock of his hair repeatedly for some reason.
"Don't lie, Roxas. You told him you kissed Naminé when you really didn't, and that's not a very nice way to treat a friend," the angel advised, shooting the devil a dirty look. "And then remember when you lied about art club?"
Roxas thought back to when he had pretended to like art so he could get closer to Naminé. He had almost made a complete fool of himself, but things had gone pretty well besides that.
"If I do recall correctly, that ended with Axel on top of Roxas on the ground. Went pretty well, if you ask me." The devil leaned against his pitchfork and examined his fingernails smugly.
"Uh, that was an accident. And you convincing Roxas to lie had nothing to do with it." The angel sighed. "Really, Roxas. Make up for all these shameful homosexual thoughts you've been having lately by at least not lying!"
Roxas pondered this. He didn't want to lie again, his angelic conscience was making him feel bad enough already because of that. But it really wasn't much of a lie – it was only coffee – and he wanted things to be normal between Axel and himself, he could barely stand the uneasiness between them anymore. Maybe this would help. So before he could stop himself, he blurted out, "Sure let's go get coffee!"
Angel Roxas' mouth dropped open and he looked like tears were about to come streaming from his eyes from his useless efforts. The devil only did a sexy little dance of triumph for getting Roxas to do the 'wrong' thing.
"Alright then." Axel grinned and he revved the engine, the sound of Oblivion met their ears as they sped off down the road. It was a dream come true for Roxas, spending his birthday with one of his crushes. They sang together on the way there, horribly, but it was still special. Like a weird, terribly off-pitch duet.
It wasn't long before they arrived at a quaint little place, called 'Twilight Café', on the outskirts of town.
"This one of my favorite places." Axel said as he opened the door.
Before Roxas had the chance to reply, the strong scent of coffee beans smacked him in the face. Whoa. It took him a second to clear his senses of the unpleasant smell. He then observed the place had paintings all over the walls and lights hanging from the ceiling that looked like stars. It had a totally relaxed feel to it, with music softly playing. It seemed like a place that artists might like, from what he knew anyway, seeing that he didn't really have a creative bone in his body. But he knew that Axel was into art, and was actually good at it too, so it fit.
"What would you like?" Axel asked him as he pulled out his wallet. "It's on me, birthday boy."
"Uh…" Roxas really thought coffee tasted like cardboard in liquid form. He got his caffeine from soda pop. So, naturally, he had no idea what he was talking about. "I'll take one of those crap-o-chino things."
Axel stopped digging through his money, and the barista behind the counter raised an eyebrow.
"Uh. I think you're getting 'frappuccino' and 'cappuccino' mixed up, Roxas," Axel corrected with an amused grin.
"Oh. Right," Roxas said stupidly, looking down at his checkered shoes and hoping his bangs hid his blush well enough.
"…Do you actually like coffee?" Axel questioned, brows knitting together.
Thinking fast, Roxas replied at lightning speed, "Uh sure. I just like my coffee black. Like my men."
Axel looked flabbergasted for a moment but then burst out laughing. It took Roxas a second to realize that he had actually made a joke and he chuckled a little bit too.
"Man, Roxas. Wow. Never thought a thing like that would come out of your mouth. You are just full of surprises."
Oh, you have no idea.
"So, one plain coffee and I'll have the Mocha Chocha frappuccino."
Mocha…Chocha…? Roxas thought as he examined the menu board along with all its weird names. Who would want a drink that sounds like it going to choke you? What is wrong with this place?
"Would you like whipped cream on that?" the barista asked, flipping his indigo hair to try to get it out of the way of his eye. He was unsuccessful.
Axel agreed on the whipped cream – on his drink only, to Roxas' dismay – and they sat down with their drinks at a little table by the window. Roxas stared down at his cup like it was the black lagoon. The deep abyss. 20,000 leagues under the…icky smelling brown liquid.
"You're pretty tough for taking your coffee plain like that. Though I guess straight-A kids like yourself need lots of caffeine, huh?" the redhead said thoughtfully, licking the whipped cream off of his drink.
Oh God. Licking.
Roxas tried to look away. He really did. But, it was like a train-wreck. How does one look away from something like that? This was so not fair to him!
Axel took some on his finger and licked it slowly as he watched a few people walk by, and Roxas' eyes practically rolled into the back of his head because of how freaking sexy it looked.
Noticing Roxas' awestruck expression out of the corner of his eye, the redhead paused, finger still in his mouth. "Shomething wong?" he asked through the digit.
Roxas swallowed thickly. "Yeah…uh…no…yeah. Maybe," he stuttered.
Axel released the finger and set his hand on the table, which almost relieved Roxas of his fantasy, but glancing down he could still see the finger all slick with saliva and…and…
"I'm just still in shock that we are going to go see Oblivion," Roxas somehow managed to choke out, saving himself.
Axel lifted his frappuccino, tipped his head back to drink from it; then set it down, revealing that he had a nice new whipped cream mustache. "Ah, I know, kick ass, right? I'm psyched."
Roxas stared. Everything Axel had said went in one ear and out the other, because all that he could really focus on at the moment was: moustache.
"Do I have something on my face?" Axel asked, seeming scandalized by the look Roxas was giving him.
"Um, yeah." The boy pursed his lips together. "All up in here." He gestured to the area on his own mouth.
Axel wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and looked down at the moustache that was now on his arm. "Wow. Pfft. Thanks for letting me know." With that, the redhead decided to go back to removing the cream with his fingers, sucking on them like it was some daily event that was completely normal and couldn't possibly turn Roxas on in any way. The blond had to bite back a moan just from watching him.
"Mmm, I love whipped cream," Axel sighed as he continued.
"I love that you love whipped cream," Roxas breathed in awe.
The older teen gave him a weird look and then asked, "Aren't you gonna drink any of yours? Is it hot enough for you?"
"Oh it's definitely hot enough…" Roxas all but stuttered, not talking about his drink, but he quickly raised it to his lips, forcing it down and trying his best not to spit it out. He ended up having to cross his legs under the table and drinking the strong coffee was the only thing that kept his lower half under control.
"So…I've been meaning to ask you." Axel said casually, swirling his finger in the last of the cream and licking it away one last time, and it was like someone had stuck a pin in Roxas, because he let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding and finally let his limbs relax. "Why do you like Naminé so much?"
Now that Axel was no longer unknowingly teasing him with erotic acts, Roxas could think a little more clearly. At least, he thought he would be able to. "Uh…"
Axel rested a hand under his chin and looked at Roxas expectantly. That was kind of an out of the blue question from the redhead. Why does he care?
Roxas' eyes traveled to the ceiling as if there might be an answer up there. He figured that he was just having a brain fart or having trouble recovering from the recent display of finger sucking, because he was finding it difficult coming up with an answer. It should have been easy, right? He had liked Naminé for so long now…
"Well," he finally said, "she's really cute. And…well, I-I don't really know why else…" he admitted sheepishly. Maybe it was the fact that he didn't want to talk about why he liked someone else to one of his crushes.
"Hmm," Axel scratched his temple and looked a little distant. "Well, like, do you two get along well on your own? You didn't tell me much about the Fun World trip. Do you guys have anything in common?"
Roxas thought about this. And thought and thought. Axel waited patiently, sipping his drink.
"We get along alright, yeah." Roxas nodded. "But, I mean, she's a girl and she likes girly stuff and it's hard to have things in common, right?"
"Sure…" Axel agreed unconvincingly, but he smiled. "I understand that it's hard to figure out why you like someone though, believe me. Give it s'more time, I guess." Halfway through his sentence he began tugging on his earlobe restlessly. Weird…
"Why'd you wanna know?" Roxas asked curiously.
"Well," Axel cleared his throat and looked serious now. "I guess I was wondering if you two…were gonna go out now." He lowered his eyes to the table. "You guys did, uh…you know. When you said goodnight, right?"
It took Roxas a second to figure out what Axel was talking about. Then, "Oh!" The blond felt his stomach twist and it wasn't because of the nasty coffee he'd been drinking. Memories came flooding back of when he had attempted to kiss Naminé, and failed miserably. Then once again he felt that stab of guilt because he lied to Axel and said that he did kiss her.
"Uh," he said. "Well, we haven't really talked about it."
Axel seemed confused by this statement and Roxas' heartbeat began to pick up. "Really? I figured you'd be too shy to say anything to her but I thought for sure she'd talk to you about it…"
"Oh r-really?" Roxas' stomach was gaining more and more knots of guilt and he wondered how much longer he could keep this up. He didn't like lying to Axel…the guy was his only friend, and here he was, treating him like this… "Well, I guess we haven't gotten the chance yet."
Roxas made the mistake of looking up and their eyes met. This made him feel even more shameful, because all traces of a smile had left Axel's face and he still seemed skeptical.
"But you sit right next to her in math and you even eat lunch with her sometimes." the older boy pointed out.
Roxas wanted the sink down in his seat and try to hide his face underneath the table, because it was probably giving him away. He laughed nervously, "Haha, well, you know, I gotta pay attention in math and then during lunch her friends won't even let me get a word in!" Well, this part was true. And really, they hadn't talked about it because…it hadn't happened. Roxas figured Naminé probably knew that he had tried to kiss her, but she never brought it up. And he was actually thankful for that since the memory embarrassed him.
Axel leaned back in his chair, seeming to believe him now. "Oh, okay. Yeah, those chicks never shut up. And you're a little math dork so that makes sense."
"Hey! I am not a 'math dork', you…you math slacker!" Roxas crossed his arms and huffed.
"Me the slacker? I'm the one who finishes the homework first when we work together lately; you're so distracted all the time," Axel teased back.
Roxas couldn't deny it; he was always worrying about both Naminé and Axel, not to mention he liked to watch the older teen scribbling out equations, sticking his tongue out when he erased fervently and Roxas found himself observing him more than anything else.
"I'm not the one who's failing math though," Roxas said.
"But I'm getting better, thanks to you," Axel countered with a smirk.
Glad the subject was changed from Naminé, Roxas leaned his elbows on the table and asked, "How's your fappy-chino?"
"Frappuccino," Axel corrected again with a laugh. "It's fantastic. Wanna try some?"
Roxas was taken a little aback by this offer but nodded enthusiastically. "Sure."
Axel pushed the drink across the table to him with a generous smile, and the blond took it.
Axel's mouth touched this…so it's like a fraction of a kiss, Roxas thought in math terms, with uncontrollable glee.
He drank some and his mind almost exploded from the chocolate-y goodness and the thought that his lips were making contact with something that Axel's had. He never had thought that coffee could actually taste good. "Whooooooaaaa. This is fantastic," he exclaimed with wide eyes after he swallowed. Not to mention cold, soothing his throat from his own black coffee that had burned it a little.
"I told you," Axel said smugly. "You can have the rest of it, if you want."
"Oh, but it's yours." Roxas protested, trying to be polite.
"Nah, you barely drank any of your coffee, go ahead," he encouraged. "Take it, birthday boy."
"Thanks…" The boy grinned like an idiot and took another gulp.
Axel moved to place his hand back down on the table, not watching his own actions because he was distracted by an eight-foot tall man who was towering over the counter nearby. Roxas was a bit perplexed by the man's height too, but his attention was brought quickly back to the table when he felt Axel's fingers suddenly brushing against his skin. A jolt went through his body from the accidental contact of their hands and the two jumped a little, both drawing their hands back quickly.
"S-sorry. I wasn't looking – sorry," Axel stammered, placing his hands under the table in his lap as if to prevent them from doing anything else. Like touching Roxas was a bad thing.
"It's alright," said Roxas quickly, a little hurt from his friend's reaction. The redhead turned his head and stared out the window, while Roxas lifted the frappuccino and drank from it, each avoiding each other's eyes and the awkwardness.
Apparently, it was time for Roxas' devil to make yet another appearance. "Wooow. Could the sexual tension between you two be any more obvious?"
Choking and spluttering on his drink for what felt like millionth time, Roxas elicited a concerned look from his redheaded friend. "In order for there to be sexual tension doesn't the other person have to want you, too?" he shot back.
"Um. Helloooo. Are you stupid? Axel is like a big blob of goo around you. How could he not want you?" Devil Roxas responded. "He totally meant to touch you, that was no accident."
"It was too! And how is it that you always manage to make it here before I do?" the miniature angel conscience asked irritably when he emerged.
"Cuz I'm quick as a whip, baby. Wpsh!" the other replied, thrusting his hips to the side and imitating the sound of a whiplash.
"Anyways," angel Roxas went on, ignoring him. "Axel is just being a good friend. He's not a 'blob of goo'. He's just nice. And he just wasn't watching where he was setting his hand, that's all. Nothing more."
"Hey, Roxas, I'm gonna go to the bathroom, okay?" Axel interrupted on his thoughts, getting up and running a hand through his hair.
Roxas was thankful to have some time to think. Man, this was kind of turning out like a date - it was getting really gay - not that he minded or anything.
He looked down at his hand, and even though Axel had touched it for just a split second, his skin still felt tingly there.
"Roxas, you're just going through a phase," his angel told him. "Remember, most people have homosexual thoughts at some point in their lives. It doesn't mean you're automatically damned. Just as long as you don't act on them."
"Oh, I think you are already too far gone, Roxas," the devil disagreed. "You've been thinking of him this way for over two months now!"
"Well, obviously he doesn't want to because some part of him doesn't want to and thinks it's wrong. That part is also known as, myself." The cherub Roxas crossed his arms indignantly.
"I see your mouth moving but all I hear is 'blah blah blah I'm in denial that I like men, blah.' How strange," the opposite conscience commented sardonically. "Anyway, the way Axel looks at you, you can tell he's totally hopelessly gay for you. That's why he's taking you all these places you've never gone before. Next stop: Pleasure Island." He snickered.
Angel Roxas rolled his eyes. "You are largely misinterpreting Axel's actions and only seeing what you want to see-"
"Back." Axel's words cut right through the boy's thoughts, causing the representations of his conscience to vanish. "Miss me?" The older teen seemed more composed now, but didn't sit back down in his seat.
"O-of course," Roxas smiled up at him.
"Do you want anything to eat before we go?" Axel asked, motioning to the counter where you could get sandwiches and other snacks.
"No, I'm okay." Roxas said, he didn't want to make Axel treat him to anything more, but his tummy decided that this would be the perfect moment to growl.
"Sounds like your stomach disagrees," the redhead pointed out, reaching forward and poking it.
"Hey!" Roxas pushed his chair back and guarded his belly.
"I'll get you a sandwich," Axel decided with a wave of his hand and without Roxas' consent, walking over to order one.
That was weird, Roxas thought. Did going potty make him suddenly all laid-back again…? It was like Axel went through some transformation in there. Like Clark Kent turning into Superman via a phone booth. But this was weird-acting Axel turning into normal Axel via a toilet…
The redhead returned with two ice cream sandwiches in hand.
"Dude, how'd you know I liked those?" Roxas exclaimed happily and practically started drooling all over himself.
"Because I like them, and you'd have to be crazy not to," Axel replied with a shrug, handing Roxas his and taking a seat. "We seem to have the same taste in a lot of things anyway."
Roxas was about to take a bite when he realized that this was true. They both liked ice cream sandwiches, along with loving Oblivion, they shared the same favorite song, and their hatred for specific trig functions…Axel was even introducing to Roxas to new things that he liked too, like that Mocha Choca thing.
As they ate, Roxas noticed Axel start tugging on his earlobe again. Man, that was getting annoying. Roxas tried to ignore it, but he kept seeing the constant movement out of the corner of his eye. Over and over and over and over and-
"Would you stop already?" he finally blurted out, irritated.
Axel paused with his ice cream sandwich still in his mouth, then after a moment his face got all scrunched up and he spit it out. "Ah! Brain freeze!"
Roxas bit his lip to try not to laugh as Axel pinched the bridge of his nose and tried to make it go away. It was so cute. Once Axel got a hold of himself he took a deep breath and asked, "Stop what?"
"That weird habit." Roxas explained. "You keep pulling on your hair and your ear…you've never done that before."
"Oh. Sorry, I didn't realize," Axel apologized, looking down at his lap. "Shit, it's just…ah, never mind."
"What?" Roxas demanded.
"Uh…." Axel started to pull on his hair again, but then noticed and stopped abruptly. "I quit smoking…." he admitted to his lap. "I haven't had a cigarette in almost three weeks now. I guess I picked up another bad habit in place of it, since I used to smoke when I was nervous…"
Roxas couldn't tear his eyes from the older teen. Three weeks ago…was when Axel showed him the Oblivion tickets. And it was when Roxas had an allergic reaction to his smoke…! Axel had said he was going to try not to do it around him anymore, but did he seriously quit entirely? For me…? And he did it when he was nervous?
"Why…why did you do that?" Roxas asked in a quiet voice, hoping for the answer he was thinking.
"Well, I guess I got some inspiration," Axel said with a smile. Roxas' eyes widened and he dropped his ice cream onto the table by mistake. The other boy laughed and the blond felt his face turn crimson, but the two grabbed some napkins and cleaned it up together. Roxas wasn't about to let the subject drop though.
"What was your inspiration?" he asked.
Axel stopped mopping up the ice cream with the paper cloth, and seemed a little uncertain for a moment. "Oh, well, you know. Mainly that I don't want lung cancer or anything."
But the glance that the redhead gave him almost confirmed Roxas' suspicions.
The blond could have reached across the table, grabbed Axel by the collar of his shirt and kissed him. He really wanted to. And it would've been nice, considering there would be no chance that Axel would taste like an ash tray. In fact, he probably would have tasted like ice cream at the moment.
But Axel leaned back in his chair and began to finish off his own ice cream sandwich, so even if Roxas had gotten the courage, the opportunity was gone.
"So, now that we have had our ice cream and caffeine…" the redhead said calmly once they had finished their food, he suddenly exclaimed, "are you ready to rock?!", standing up abruptly from his seat, throwing his hands up in the air. This caused his chair to topple over with a loud clatter and everyone in the café turned to stare. Roxas noticed Axel's cheeks turn a little pink with embarrassment, so he decided to save the day.
"Hell yeah!" Roxas yelled as loud as he could, standing up and knocking his chair over too.
Axel beamed, a few people coughed, and the barista gave them a death stare.
"Sorry…" they both mumbled, fixing their chairs, before heading out of the coffee shop, laughing.
Once in the car and all buckled in, Axel handed Roxas a piece of paper and asked, "Would you mind reading me the directions there as we go along?"
"No problem." Roxas agreed, taking it and looking it over.
Once they reached the highway, Axel turned to him and said, "So, are you getting excited? I mean, we are actually going to see them live."
Roxas grinned at Axel's enthusiasm. "Dude, I know!" He could feel adrenaline beginning to pump through his veins and he had to try really hard not to act like a girl. They were seeing Oblivion. The band that had made Roxas realize that Axel wasn't such a bad guy, despite his previous beliefs. "I can hardly even believe it. We'll be in their rock godly presence!"
"Yeah, and hopefully since we are going so early, we can be one of the first inside," Axel said, pressing his foot to the gas and causing the car to accelerate a little more. "So, what exit do I get off first?"
Roxas looked down at the directions, and noticed that his smile refused to go away. His cheeks were starting to hurt. "Exit thirteen," he replied and his hoodie slid down his arm, revealing his shoulder once more.
Axel turned toward him, and didn't look away. "…Exit thirteen huh?" he asked, a little dazed looking.
Roxas wondered why Axel was looking at him so strangely and felt his aching, smiling cheeks turn red. "Yeah…"
"Hmm…" Axel nodded absently, and Roxas got the feeling he wasn't listening. Or paying attention to the road. The car began to swerve a bit and Roxas gasped, grabbing at his hoodie above where his heart was in reaction, thus causing it to cover himself again.
"Axel!" he gasped, pointing to the guard rail they were about to hit.
"Shit!" The redhead quickly jerked the steering wheel and went back to focusing on his driving.
--------------
"Holy crap that's a lot of people," Roxas breathed in awe, freezing in the middle of closing the passenger car door.
"Holy crap is right," Axel agreed, staring at the huge line of people that was entering the concert dome to see the show.
"So much for getting here early..." Roxas teased, referring to the fact that Axel somehow kept missing all the exits and roads that he had to turn down even though he had the directions read to him the whole time. They got lost several times, causing them to be so late that they missed when the doors to the concert opened and many people had already gotten inside. Not that Roxas really minded, as long as they didn't miss Oblivion.
"Hey, that's totally not my fault," Axel said in his defense as he walked around the length of his car to fall into step with Roxas.
The other boy gave him a skeptical look. "Oh really? Whose fault is it then?"
"Uh." Axel struggled for an answer before deciding on, "It was no one's fault. There was just some, uh, distractions."
As they crossed the parking lot, feeling the pulsing beat of the stadium through the ground underneath them, Roxas asked, "What's that supposed to mean?"
Axel scratched his nose and then said, "It doesn't matter, we're here now, this is gonna be so kick ass. Look at my hands, they're shaking."
Axel held out a hand in example for Roxas, and it was indeed trembling like he said. If possible, Roxas' grin grew wider, and his face still hurt from smiling so much all day. His cheek muscles weren't used to it. Roxas had never been much of a smiler, so this was quite the work out. And his mind couldn't really comprehend all this excitement and wonderfulness; Oblivion, his favorite band since what felt like forever, and Axel, on his birthday. This was quite possibly his best birthday ever.
The two boys probably would have died before admitting it, but Oblivion was pretty mainstream and therefore attracted a lot of fans; so they had to park really far away. But the speakers of the concert dome clearly had been cranked because they could hear the opening band inside very clearly.
"The band right now kind of sucks," Roxas observed.
"Yeah, I was just thinking that," Axel agreed as they walked along.
Finally when they reached the street they had to cross in order to get to the main entrance, Roxas eagerly stepped out on to it, eyes solely focused on the dome. But less than a second later, he felt a hand suddenly wrap painfully around his arm. Gasping, he was pulled back and a car he hadn't even seen zoomed by, so close that his bangs were blown backwards by its passing. His previously rapidly beating heart seemed to stop in that moment. Especially since Axel had pulled him in so quick that their bodies were now pressed together.
"Whoa, Roxas." Axel laughed humorlessly. The boy lifted his head to blink at him, seeing a nervous smile on his friend's face. "That was close."
"Yeah…" Roxas murmured, swallowing thickly since Axel's hand was still holding his arm tightly and they were still so close. "Sorry."
To his dismay, Axel pulled away and cleared his throat. "S'Alright. Just be more careful, you scared the shit out of me," he half-scolded. "You can't see Oblivion if you're road kill."
If Roxas' heart could have grown wings, a face, and a voice to say 'tee hee' and fly away in bliss, it would have. Axel saved him and he was scared for him! Roxas wanted to kiss him again.
"Okay, the coast is clear, let's go," Axel said in regards to the empty road, ruining another possible kissing moment that Roxas probably wouldn't have taken because he was too chicken. They crossed at a quick jog and only had to wait in line for a few minutes in order to get inside. And inside, it was even louder.
The dome looked even larger indoors and it was dark, yet with tons of strobe and colored lights. It was enough to get anyone's adrenaline pumping. Or give them a seizure. There was a sea of hundreds, even thousands of people, already jumping up and down to the opening act's music. It was chaotic, and it was awesome.
Axel said something to him, but Roxas couldn't understand at all because of how loud everything was.
"What?" he yelled over the terrible guitar solo that was currently going on, and even his own voice sounded muffled to him.
"I said let's go over there!" Axel shouted, pointing to the first area in front of the stage. "I bought us tickets for that section, all we gotta do is try to get a good spot!"
"Okay!"
They pushed their way through most of the crowd, trying to squeeze in so that when Oblivion came on, they would have a great view. It wasn't an easy task; most people were resistant to give up their position. Luckily Axel was tall and had unique enough hair where Roxas could keep an eye on him without losing sight of him. This didn't mean they didn't get separated though. Several times Axel would push past some people, but then the path would close and Roxas would get left behind, making him curse his shortness under his breath.
"Axel, wait!" Roxas called for what felt like the tenth time when two large men stepped in front of him and blocked his way.
He was only able to see some red spikes sticking up from the crowd, and he jumped up and down as he watched them draw closer. Axel separated both men with his hands like he was walking through a saloon doorway and the movement of the crowd caused the two students to be shoved into each other before rebounding off.
The redhead made some sort of grunt of frustration and squirmed to try to get away from the girls he was now lodged between. They continued to be bumped and jostled around helplessly like a pair of ping pong balls until Axel, as he ducked some unidentified flying object, shouted, "You know what, fuck it! Take my hand, Roxas!"
Roxas' eyes bulged and he tried to keep his balance against the people running into him and from what Axel said. "What?" he yelled back, positive that he had heard wrong.
"Take my hand!" the older teen repeated louder. "Don't ask, just do it!"
Roxas could only gawk at him, so Axel himself reached forward and grabbed the boy's hand, turning on his heel fast to lead them through the crowd.
Axel's hand was a lot different from Naminé's, Roxas noticed. It was bigger and not as soft; but it was warm, while hers were cold. Naminé's felt too fragile, while Axel's felt strong. He liked the feel of it; it seemed to fit with his somehow. He didn't even watch as Axel navigated their way to the front of the stage, all he could look at was the other boy's hand in his own. Everything else was a blur.
Finally they reached as close to the front as they could go, since the first few rows of people were packed as tightly as possible. Again, Roxas was disappointed when he lost contact with Axel because the boy dropped his hand, but he hadn't really expected him to keep holding it in the first place. The sucky band was finishing their set, thanking everyone and the drummer threw his drum sticks into the crowd. It was yet another thing that almost hit Axel in the head and Roxas laughed.
"Look at how close we are, and they're about to start!" Axel exclaimed enthusiastically. "We had perfect timing if you ask me."
"Yeah!" Roxas beamed, standing on his tip toes and bouncing to try to see past the people in front of them. Oblivion was going to be coming out very, very soon! He was so excited it felt like he might explode.
"Can you see?" Axel asked him, leaning down so he could hear better.
"Uh," Roxas jumped up and down a few more times. "Yeah."
"Liar," his friend accused and Roxas froze, because, although he didn't think Axel knew it, he'd been lying a lot lately. But then Axel offered, "Wanna get on my shoulders?"
"Huh?" he yelled in surprise.
Axel smirked at his reaction. "Come on, I want you to be able to actually see the best band in the universe. Especially since it's your birthday."
With that, the redhead kneeled down awkwardly in the crowd, motioning for Roxas to climb on top of him.
The blond looked down at him blankly, mouth agape. He did not think he could do that. The relentless crowd pushed forward, causing Axel to stumble a little, having to catch himself on a hand.
"Come on, Roxas, hurry up!" he shouted, wincing a little at having to try to maintain his balance.
Taking a deep breath, Roxas cautiously swung a leg up and over Axel's left shoulder, then slid into place with the other. He gasped and had to quickly grab onto the boy's red hair when Axel rose abruptly.
"Sorry!" he called down to him because of the fact that he had pulled on his friend's hair.
"It's alright!" Axel told him in a somewhat strained voice, so Roxas could tell that it must have hurt. He wobbled a bit on the older teens shoulders, not being the most poised person in the world and since he wasn't used to getting piggy back rides. Also, having his crotch against Axel's head was a little distracting. But when he looked up, he was in awe at how much he could see. Being a tall person must rock, he decided, because he could see above everyone's heads.
"Am I too heavy?" he asked worriedly when his friend stumbled a little.
"Of course not!" Axel assured him, standing up a little straighter.
The opening band was gone now, the stage was empty, but the noise level in the stadium still pounded against his ears. All of his senses were on overload, all the sights and sounds were almost too much too handle, along with the fact that he was sitting quite comfortably on his crush's shoulders. His hands were in Axel's hair for lack of anything else to hold onto, which he did feel guilty about when he inadvertently pulled on it in order not to fall off. The guy's hair, although it resembled a dead porcupine, was actually quite soft. Axel placed his hands on the younger boy's shins to help him stay balanced and every once in a while he readjusted them, causing Roxas forgot all about his surroundings. He realized that Axel's hands had literally been all over him today, even if unintentional.
Overall, everything was amazing.
It only took a few minutes until out of nowhere sparks burst up from the stage, making the whole crowd cheer and roar and Roxas thought by the time they were out of there they might be deaf. But then, out of the dark corners of the stage, out walked the members of Oblivion, looking majestic and godly and he could hardly believe his eyes.
A girl nearby them screamed louder than anything Roxas had ever heard, and he looked over to see her sitting on a guy's shoulders like he was on Axel's, lifting her shirt to flash the band. Whoa, it must be nice to be a rock star. Though he didn't think they would appreciate him copying her actions.
Roxas felt Axel's grip on his legs tighten in anticipation, wrinkling his jeans, as the stage was illuminated fully and he was disappointed that he couldn't see the redhead's face at the moment.
But then the lead guitarist – best in the world in Roxas' opinion - ran a hand through his unique cross between a mohawk and a mullet, and strung out the first cords to the opening song.
The crowd went wild, and Roxas cheered at the top of his lungs.
The show had begun, and it ended up being the most incredible event in the boy's life so far. Being in such a gigantic mass of people was something else. The attitude of the band and the extremely loud music made one forget everything about themselves, and become lost in the moment. Roxas forgot about Naminé, forgot to be nervous about Axel, and just enjoyed himself. He would definitely never forget it.
----
"Man, I heard they were good in concert but you never really know until you go," Axel said in admiration as he turned the steering wheel on their way home in the early hours of the morning after the show ended. "When they each stage dived one after the other, shit, that was epic."
"Yeah…" Roxas said hoarsely, his voice almost gone from all the screaming. He'd never been so loud in his life; never let himself feel so free. All traces of being uptight or insecure totally faded away. "It was so…fucking amazing."
"Hell yeah it was," Axel said with a similarly exhausted voice. "But, man, my body's sore…"
Roxas gave him a sympathizing look that the other didn't had gotten beaten up in the crowd, but since the blond had been on his shoulders, he wasn't affected by them as much.
"Thank you so much for taking me…just…wow," Roxas breathed.
The older teen glanced over at him with an incredulous look. "Stop saying that. I wanted to, okay? And it was a hundred and fifty percent worth it."
Roxas nodded, too tired to argue. He let his head fall back against the seat of the car and closed his eyes. He was almost completely worn out.
After a long while, when they were getting closer to Roxas' house, Axel asked, "You still awake?"
Slowly cracking his eyes open, Roxas felt guilty that he had gotten to rest while Axel had been doing all the driving and carried him on his shoulders at the concert. How was he not passing out at the wheel already? Jeez, I'm such a bad friend…
Yawning, he replied, "Uh huh…"
"Don't worry; you'll be home soon to sleep," Axel told him with a laugh, face illuminated by the streetlamps as they drove by.
"Nnngh…I wish I could stay up forever and never get tired, just hanging out with Oblivion for the rest of my life," Roxas said dreamily as he stretched and sat up straighter.
"That would be freaking sweet," Axel concurred. "But your life is pretty awesome just as it is, you know. You got to see your favorite band on your birthday….you got to kiss the girl of your dreams… I mean, how does it feel?"
Scratching his forehead, Roxas almost cursed out loud that Axel was bringing up his lie again. He was too tired to pretend, too tired to make shit up. It was past his bedtime anyway. Couldn't it wait until tomorrow?
"Feels great," he responded blandly, hoping the subject would be dropped.
"Come on, you've gotta feel better than that," the redhead persisted. "You're really lucky, Roxas, maybe you don't realize it. If I were you, I would feel so insanely happy right now. Where's your insane happiness? I don't see it."
How did Axel have energy left to talk about this? "I am insanely happy," Roxas droned from partial irritation and partial fatigue. "Just too tired at the moment."
"You're lyyyyy-ing," his friend teased in a sing-song voice.
Roxas huffed and gritted his teeth. "Am not."
"Are toooo."
"Stop it, Axel," he insisted as he rubbed his eyes. Even though Axel was just kidding, the whole thing was reminding him of his lie, which he didn't need right now. He had just had a great time and he'd been able to forget about it. Roxas definitely didn't want to have to agonize over it again.
"You're a liar, liar, pants on fire you liar-"
"I'm not lying! I didn't lie, okay! I'm not a liar!" Roxas snapped without thinking, and then froze in mid-frantic-gesture when he remembered too late that Axel was just kidding. To his horror, the other boy's joking smile fell down into a perplexed frown, and the blond felt his body well up with dread.
"Whoa, whoa," Axel said before Roxas could think of something to say to save himself. The car slowly came to a halt at a red light and the redhead turned towards him. "I was just joking around, I wasn't saying you were. What, you've got a guilty conscience or something?"
"Why yes, he does," Angel Roxas announced with his arms already crossed over his chest as his white cloud he used for teleportation dissolved. "Stop lying, Roxas. Now's the perfect time to admit it!"
"No….I just…no." Ignoring his conscience, the blond turned away and focused his gaze out the window on some homeless person walking down the street, as if that would solve everything.
"Hold on. There's something that you're not telling me," Axel said suspiciously.
"No there isn't." Shit, he wanted the subject changed now. He had been stressing so much about holding up his lie, been so worried that Axel would find out all this time. And in his exhaustion he had probably just given himself away with that outburst.
"Tell him!" Angel Roxas cried. "You're just making it worse!"
"No he's not!" the devil contradicted as he flew out of his black portal and whacked the angel over the head with his pitchfork. There was a loud reverberating sound that only Roxas could hear as the metal pitchfork shook with vibration from the impact on the innocent conscience's hard head and halo. The angel's face went blank, dazed, before he fell in a slump, unconscious, ironically, leaving Roxas with only his evil side to guide him.
"There's nothing wrong with lying, Roxas," he advised while smoothing back his hair like he just went through some kind of physical exertion. His pitchfork was still quivering slightly and he tightened both hands on it firmly in order to stop it. "As long as you can get away with it…go for it. Keep it up. What would Axel think if he found, huh? Totally wouldn't want in your pants, for sure."
There was silence between the two real boys and Axel leaned back in his seat once the stoplight turned green in order to go back to driving again. Roxas almost sighed in relief, thinking that he had convinced him.
"If you lied to me about something, I won't be mad," the redhead said after a minute, tone of voice emotionless. Apparently he hadn't been convinced. "But, you shouldn't be afraid to tell me." With that statement he sounded a little hurt though and Roxas felt bad but also frustrated that Axel wouldn't just leave it.
"Why do you think that?" Roxas asked as casually as possible, though his trembling voice betrayed him. "I haven't lied about anything." God, now he was lying about lying.
"Roxas. If that was true, we wouldn't be talking about this still, and you wouldn't be refusing to look at me."
To prove him wrong, Roxas whipped his head around to glare at him. "I'm really not," he hissed coldly.
"You don't have to get mad," Axel said defensively, still continuing it. Couldn't he take a hint?
"Well," he spluttered. "If you would stop bringing up Naminé and calling me a liar, I wouldn't be mad!"
"Aha! So it's about Naminé," the redhead concluded and Roxas' jaw dropped.
"….N-no, it's really not, okay?" he protested after a moment's hesitation of trying to think of a proper way to deny it.
"Oh, but you do admit that you're lying, it's just not about Naminé?" Axel asked calmly, though he was scowling at the road like it had wronged him in the past.
"Yeah – uh, I mean, no." Roxas could feel his nerves going crazy all throughout his body as he was losing this battle. But suddenly some hope of escaping this situation burst through when he caught sight of his street up ahead.
"…Maybe I'm being an ass, you don't have to tell me…" Axel sighed as he turned the car onto the road. During this moment, angel Roxas woke up and lifted his head, wincing and rubbing it as he stood.
"Ow, dear Lord, really, how can you trust someone who just hit me over the head with a demonic object, Roxas?" he gasped as his memory returned and the devil was glaring at him, winding up to knock him out again.
"But, I thought we were close now," Axel rambled on, oblivious to Roxas' inner battle.
"Don't give in! Don't be a pansy like that little you in a skirt over there!" the evil one commanded.
"Axel knows you're lying, if you want to maintain what friendship you have with him now, tell him the truth!"
"Shut up, fucking wuss!"
"No, you silence yourself, meanie!"
Axel was tugging on his hair again, looking stressed and worn. "I mean, I just took you to-"
"Fine!" Roxas interrupted them all, not able to take his arguing consciences anymore or Axel's persistence. "You really want to know?" Grabbing his hair in frustration, his whole body was pulsing with emotions of panic and confusion; he didn't even care what he was saying anymore. "I didn't really kiss Naminé, okay? Are you happy now?"
Axel looked over at him immediately, stunned, and Roxas felt all the color drain from his face.
"No, no, no, no, Roxas, what have you done?" the devil pleaded, falling on his knees in defeat. "No one wants to get with someone who lies to them! Never let them know! Oh man, you really screwed up now…"
"…I'm proud of you," Roxas' angel said, though he didn't look too sure of himself. "Finally, you are doing the right thing. It will all work out!"
Roxas could tell that Axel took his foot off the gas as the two boys stared at each other and the car slowed. "…Why the hell would you lie to me about that?"
"…I don't know… Maybe because I'd look like a complete loser to you if I told you that I totally messed up?" Roxas admitted in a slightly shaky voice. Now that he had dug himself such a deep hole, there was no way he was getting out.
They were almost at his house now, only, goddammit, Axel was going slower. "What the hell, that's not true. You don't need to impress me."
Roxas almost rolled his eyes. "Oh yeah, 'cause I would totally make a fool of myself willingly to someone who's extremely sexy and never has a problem with the-"
"Wait, you think I'm sexy?" Axel interrupted, a gradual smile now spreading across his face.
Roxas' face felt unbearably hot in just a split second, and he was sure that it was probably redder than it ever had been in his life. "N-no, I just mean that's what girls think, they all like you-"
"I'm not some kind of sex god or something Roxas," the other boy said tiredly, wiping a hand over his face as his grin faded away. "Christ, I've never even had sex."
Roxas had opened his mouth to disagree or attempt to say something that wouldn't screw him over more, but then paused. "…You're a virgin?"
"Yeah. I'm waiting for the right person, I guess. But don't change the subject," he said firmly, though ironically he was the one who brought it up. "You shouldn't feel like you have to lie to me. That's ridiculous, I just wanted to help you, not make you feel like you had to be perfect. Why would you be so uncomfortable telling me?" The boy looked positively puzzled and offended, which made Roxas feel guilty all over again even though he was finally telling the truth.
"I'm just confused about a lot of things right now, Axel-"
"What the hell is there to be confused about?" the other asked, seemingly determined to drag everything out of Roxas.
"Because of you – you – I - I just wish you would stop bringing Naminé up around me-"
"Why? I wanted to help you out with her, remember? That doesn't make any sense."
"Well, I guess I'm not even sure if I like her anymore!" Roxas blurted in attempt to keep up; then clapped his hands over his mouth in surprise. What? Where had that come from? He didn't really feel that way…did he? Oh, what am I doing?
They finally reached Roxas' driveway, and Axel did a double-take between the road and the other boy. But he didn't really have a choice but to focus on pulling in, and even then he almost hit their mailbox.
The moment he parked the car, Axel faced him again, an unreadable expression on his face. "Really?"
"Idon'tknow," Roxas squeaked as quickly as possible, feeling like the biggest idiot in the world and scared out of his mind. He uttered a hasty goodbye as he got out of the car faster than Michael Phelps could swim and raced to his doorway.
"Wait, seriously, Roxas, why didn't you think you could tell me that?" Axel called, and Roxas heard him slamming his own car door shut.
"I don't know!" he repeated as he ran up the path to his house, wanting to avoid any further confessions. Why is he following me?
"It's not a big deal, really!" Axel went on, sounding close behind. But it was a big deal to Roxas. Right now, he just wanted to escape, and get away, to lock himself in his room and never face the world again.
The morning was painfully silent, only Axel's loud footsteps could be heard as he ran to catch up. "Just go home, Axel, I don't want to talk about this, okay?" Roxas said frantically as he dug his keys out of his pocket to try to get inside.
From the halt of his footsteps and the sound of his voice, Roxas could tell that the redhead was right behind him. "Alright, yeah, I'll go home."
The blond exhaled a breath and unlocked his door, but didn't hear Axel walk away.
"You're still here?" he asked, although he was certain as he turned around slowly and stiffly. Sure enough, Axel was right there in front of him, hands in his pockets. Since Roxas was standing on his house's porch, they were at eye level.
Axel swallowed, and he looked both serious and nervous. "Yup."
Roxas curled his fist tightly around the key in his hand, feeling his anger at himself spreading towards the older teen. "Why?"
Axel said nothing and Roxas had to crane his head up to see the teen's face as usual when he stepped up onto the porch. He narrowed his eyes at him, heart pounding and key digging into his skin, daring him to come closer. But Axel only continued to walk forward, closing the distance between them. Roxas' glare melted away in an instant when suddenly, quicker than he had expected; the redhead was close enough to touch. The older boy placed a hand delicately on his cheek and he forgot how to breathe, forgot how to think, forgot everything that had been going on and everything that had ever happened. Shock taking over his features, Roxas glanced up into his enigmatic green eyes, questioning and speechless.
Axel leaned down, his eyelids lowering and their noses almost touched.
"I just wanted to say goodnight…" he breathed before kissing Roxas softly on the lips.
