Disclaimer:

A/N: This is where I write a bunch of irrelevant crap. Instead, I want to thank all my reviews! You guys are so sweet, I tried to reply to every one of my reviews. And thank you to my beta, Axels-saint, who taught me how merpeople have sex and beta'd this for me! C: (Go check out her new fic, Paint me the Sky, guys. Seriously.)
Note: In case you guys haven't been paying attention to the smaller details, Seifer is visiting for a total of about thirteen days (as of this chapter). Only mentioning this so people don't think they went to the movies, and Seifer left the next day (will make sense once you start reading). This is actually of zero to no importance, but I figured I'd tell you guys XD


Chapter 9: That boy's got woe

"Just like I said it would, that movie sucked," Axel said as he entered the dorm room, Demyx and Zexion trailing behind him, the blonde having announced that he was spending the night.

"Um, what movie?" Demyx said, narrowing his eyes. Zexion glared up at him as he stopped in the doorway, shoving the man forward a moment later to gain entrance. The music major shot him a small pout before turning back to Axel with a scowl, stabbing a finger in his general direction. "You were too busy sulking the entire time to even watch the damn movie! I couldn't even concentrate on it!"

"I was not sulking!" the redhead squawked. And he hadn't been—he simply felt the need to huff and puff exaggeratedly every few minutes whilst slouching in his chair with his arms crossed haughtily. Clearly not sulking. And maybe he had tripped Seifer as they walked into their assigned theater, but it was all in good nature! It was funny…Roxas had laughed. "Besides, I thought you only wanted to see the previews."

Demyx swore and smacked him upside the head.

"If anyone was prevented from watching the movie, it was me," Zexion mumbled as he pulled off his scarf, stepping around a cursing Axel and fixing Demyx with a pointed stare. "You were talking the entire time."

"You can't tell me you actually wanted to see that dumb movie, Zex," Axel said, rolling his eyes seconds later at Demyx's interjection.

"It is not dumb!"

"It was an interesting concept," Zexion sniffed indignantly before making his way down the hallway to his room with a brief 'goodnight'.

Axel should've run for the hills when he saw Demyx leering at him. He should have fucking run. If any of his nineteen years with the mulleted-man had taught him something, it was that when Demyx got that stupid look on his face, Axel was going to be dragged into some type of deep shit. And this was the only the beginning. Sooner or later Demyx would be smiling like the fucktard Axel knew him to be, eyes crinkling at the corners and before Axel knew it, he would be doing a strip tease in the middle of Ikea, only to find out that the security cameras hadn't, in fact, been broken like Demyx claimed them to be.

Whatever, he had gotten a date with some random employee out of it.

This time, however…Demyx was not to be trusted.

"Sooo," the dirty-blonde cooed as he dropped down on the couch beside Axel, who subconsciously scooted away. "You gonna tell me why you've been acting like a prissy little bitch ever since Seifer came around?"

Axel glared.

"What are you talking about?"

"From the moment the guy stepped into Pluto's, you've been treating him like public enemy number one! I don't think you've said a full two sentences to him,"

"I told you to lay off the crack, but do you listen? Noooo. Don't blame me when you wind up on the corner a year from now, playing your guitar for drugs,"

"Okay, first of all, it's called a sitar, get it straight," Demyx lifted a second finger. "And second: Don't change the subject, buttface!"

"Buttface, Dem? Really?" the redhead asked with an amused smirk.

"Yes, really. Do not question the king of party-rock—We've been over this!" the musician exclaimed as he smacked Axel on the arm yet again. Fucking hell, he was going to be decorated by the time the night was done. Demyx may look like a scrawny little drummer boy, but it just so happened that he had grown up with a fucking six-foot-six brother who was not only tall, but buff as all hell to top it off. For those unaware, the laws of the universe clearly state that if one has an older sibling, regardless of size, they must know how to kick ass or be forced to be the older sibling's bitch for the rest of eternity.

The more you know.

Insert fruity rainbow-star thing.

"Obviously, you're a buttface," the blonde said matter-o-factly, wagging a finger in Axel's face. Axel considered biting it. "Look at it—Clearly, you look like a butt,"

"Clearly, I am sexy as all fuck," the redhead scoffed, flipping his wrist flamboyantly.

"If you were, then maybe Roxas would be all over you instead of Seifer," Demyx said, suppressing a devilish grin.

Axel may or may not have choked on his own spit.

"Um, what?"

"Oh, come on, Ax, don't play dumb," the blonde chided as he flopped over across his friend's knees, peering up at him with a mischievous spark in his eyes.

"I'm not playing anything,"

"So you really are dumb then?" he asked innocently. Axel paused for but a second before jerking his knee violently, causing Demyx's head to make a rough bounce against his lap.

"Ass," he whined.

"Stop projecting your delusional fantasies on me and we won't have a problem,"

"Sorry, but none of my fantasies involve Roxas," snorted Demyx. "He's free for all of your wet-dreams, don't worry,"

"The hell, Demyx?"

"Axel, I've known you since we were…I don't know, really young. There's no point trying to hide things from me,"

The redhead sighed, running a frustrated hand through his spikes. He knew he shouldn't have let Demyx drink all that pop at the theater on top of multiple bags of Twizzlers. Fucking sugar. "For the last time Demyx: I. Do not know. What you are talking about,"

"Bro, I know you like Roxas!"

Axel blinked. And blinked again. Then simultaneously felt the urge to laugh and punch Demyx at the same time for coming up with such a ridiculous idea. Roxas was cool and all but…Just no. No.

"Demyx," he began, talking slowly as if speaking to a child—And really, Demyx was pretty much the same thing, if not worse. "Remember back at the beginning of senior year when you introduced me to your cousin?"

The blonde across his lap furrowed his brow, not quite understanding what that had to do with anything. "Um, yeah?"

"Alright, now, remember how I had to stay at your house for that weekend a month later and he was there too?"

"Yeaaah,"

"So then you must remember how he molested every god damn day," the redhead bit out, narrowing his eyes when Demyx started laughing. It was no laughing matter, dammit! He had been traumatized—Marluxia was a fucking creep! Well, he was cool now, but he certainly hadn't been a year earlier when he had caught the pink-haired man slipping into his makeshift bed (the pull-out couch in Demyx's living room) next to him every-single-fucking-night.

"Dude, that was so funny!" the blonde snorted. Axel flicked him in the forehead.

"Shut up, bitch-fuck, no it wasn't!" he hissed, clearing his throat a moment later. "Anyways, remember how for the next week you were convinced that I liked him?"

Demyx winced at this, "Oh, yeah,"

'Oh, yeah' my asshole, Axel thought bitterly.

"I had a reason for that one!" Demyx squawked, trying to save face. "I mean you—"

"Dem, you're reasoning was that I hadn't knocked him out when he grabbed my ass, I only broke his nose, so, of course, I must like him,"

"Well, it sounds stupid when you put it like that…" the mulleted-man grumbled, pouting.

Axel rolled his eyes, "It sounds stupid no matter how you put it,"

"Whatever," he mumbled grouchily only to perk up again a moment later. "But you know if you like R—"

"I'm going to punch you in the face,"

"Geez, you don't have to be mean about it! I'm just saying. Seriously, man, you can't be lonely for the rest of your life,"

"Last time I checked, I've never had a problem finding a date," the redhead said as he cocked a brow.

"I know that, but it never really lasts and—"

"Dem, please do not tell me you are trying to play match-maker,"

A long pause, then: "Noooo."

Axel cast him a dubious glare.

"You two would look cute together!"

"Okay, it's time for you to get some sleep," Axel said as he climbed to his feet, Demyx falling to the floor in the process. The redhead contemplated stepping on his friend…more like curb-stopping him, but decided against it. Late night violence was stupid violence. He would wait until morning and commit a surprise attack, whoever said they were for cowards was obviously just bitter because they were stupid enough to have been victims of more than one.

Axel grabbed a blanket and pillow from the basket set in the corner of the room (set there solely for nights when Demyx decided to crash at his place) and tossed them to the blonde man who was picking himself off of the floor while simultaneously glaring at his friend.

"Night, Dem," the redhead said as he made his way down the hall toward his bedroom.

"Think about it!" he shouted after him.

"Sleep with one eye open!"

-.-.-

"It's Christmas! It's Christmas! It's CHRISTMAS, Rox!"

Roxas groaned as he turned over onto his stomach and buried his face into one of his numerous pillows in an attempt to block out the annoying noise that was his brother. Would a pillow have the same effect as a bullet or paperweight if he threw if hard enough? Physics had always been his worst subject, simply because he really couldn't muster the fuck that was necessary to care.

Just as he was reaching for a small throw cushion at the edge of the bed, a sudden weight threw itself upon his back, all but crushing his spine and knocking the wind out of him.

"It's Christmas, Roxas! It's Christmas! It's Christmas! It's Christmas!" Sora shouted exuberantly as he bounced up and down, his knees digging painfully into Roxas' lower back. Both of the twins may have been small in stature, but they had also been actively involved in sports throughout high school, putting on a bit of muscle in the process which, of course, weighed far more than fat or normal body tissue.

"S-Sora…" Roxas managed to get out, though it came out as more of an unidentifiable mumble due to the fact that his face was still pushed into a pillow, though it was more so because Sora was forcing him there with the steel grip he had on his shoulders.

"It's Christmas! Why are you still sleeping? IT'S CHRISTMAS, DAMMIT!" the brunet shouted, finally climbing off of his brother…only to force him to turn over and jump atop him again. Fisting the cloth of Roxas' faded sleep shirt, he yanked him up, never minding the way the blonde's head lulled sleepily to the side. "WAKE UP!"

It was when Sora slapped him that Roxas finally perked up, bringing a knee up and violently sending his brother falling backward.

"I'm already awake!" he hollered as he rubbed at his abused cheek. At the end of the bed, Sora pouted for a split second before jumping up once more, contemplating tackling his brother again before thinking better of it. Instead, he opted for grinning madly whilst abusing the bed's mattress with hyperactive bounces.

"It's Christmas!" the brunet chirped as he continued to grin stupidly. Roxas gave him a blank stare, glancing over at the clock, then back at Sora.

It was 6:34 in the fucking morning and, assuming that he hadn't been in a coma for the past five days or so, it was not, in fact, Christmas.

"No, Sora," the blonde grit out, pursing his lips as he contemplated shanking his brother with whatever blunt object he could find. It was totally justified, Sora had slapped him, after all. "It is not Christmas. It is Tuesday, and I am trying to sleep."

"No duh, it's not really Christmas! But it is our Christmas!" Sora shouted, reaching out and jiggling Roxas' foot as if that was supposed to set the light bulb off. Oh yes, magical foot movement and Roxas suddenly had the secrets to the Universe, better known as whatever the hell went on in his brother's head on a daily basis.

"Th'hell are you on about?" The blonde questioned groggily as he sat up. As long as Sora was in the room, he wasn't going to be getting any sleep so might as well get up now and avoid any further injuries.

"Remember…we're all leaving tonight?" he explained, moving his hands in a 'you know' circular motion. "So we're all going to do presents and chill today?"

It took a full two minutes for Roxas to realize what he was talking about, during which Sora's face of excitement slowly turned to a 'You have got to be shitting me—you better not have forgotten' look. "Oh, yeah, that," the blonde deadpanned, feeling the beginnings of a yawn in his throat.

"What do you mean 'oh, yeah, that'? Did you forget?" Sora screeched, leaning forward with narrowed eyes. When it came to Christmas and Sora, you didn't play around.

"No I didn't—Ahhh—I didn't forget," Roxas blinked back tears as he threw off his blanket—stupid yawn.

"Then can I have my present?" the brunet asked, waggling his eyebrows.

"No,"

"Aw, why not?"

"We're doing presents at home, So."

"Can I open at least one today?"

"Who's says I got you more than one?" Roxas asked as he rifled through the top drawer of his dresser for a pair of boxers. Maybe throwing all of his underwear in with his t-shirts when he was putting his clothes away the first week he had arrived wasn't the best idea. He had a lot of t-shirts…

When he turned around he was met with the site of a wide-eyed Sora, bottom lip trembling and the essence of the 'kicked-puppy' look etched perfectly across his features. Roxas sighed.

"Kidding, So,"

"Oh, okay, got scared there for a sec," Roxas rolled his eyes as his brother instantly jumped back to his happy-go-lucky self, hopping off the bed. "Hurry up and get ready or we're gonna be late!"

"We don't have to be there until nine, Sora," the blonde pointed out haughtily.

"But you take like an hour to shower."

"And you still sleep in footy-pajamas."

"I don't see what that has to do with anything." Sora said, turning up his nose at his brother.

"Don't dig up dirt on me and I'll do the same for you," stated Roxas simply as he headed over to the closet for a change of clothes. "You wouldn't want Riku finding out about that, now would you?"

Sora shrugged, "Riku already knows,"

Roxas froze, turning around slowly to face his brother with a look of pure horror marring his face. "…Sora, please don't tell me you…you…"

"Well, duh!" Sora laughed. "Of course we have,"

Roxas looked for the nearest waste basket.

"But that's not why he knows, Rox. You don't fuck in your pajamas, you know."

Roxas groaned, 'Dear God, what did I do to piss you off? Was it 'cause I pushed that little girl at the convenience store the other day? I'm sorry, but you know how I am about twinkies, and it was the last fuc—freaking box.'

Woken up at a quarter to early-as-fuck and now faced with images of Riku and Sora going at it like bunnies that refused to leave his mind? The morning was just shaping up fan-fucking-tastically. If this didn't stop soon, he was seriously going to vomit all over the carpet, and he sure as hell wasn't going to clean it up. Sora would probably just sit there and complain if Roxas had him clean it, so the only option left was Riku. Yes, Riku was perfect, because in the end this was really all his fault in one way or another…everything was always Riku's fault.

Final decision: Riku would be made to clean up the vomit…with his tongue.

Okay, ew.

"He always stayed the night on weekends back in high school, remember? He didn't want to be around his brothers," Ah, yes, Riku's near psychotic brothers, making the silverette's life a living hell one day at a time. Roxas was particularly fond of them. "Come to think of it, Rox, you're lucky we weren't dating back then," Sora said with an impish grin.

"I don't need to hear this," he grumbled, pushing past his brother and out of the room.

"Morning Roxas," Riku called, smirking knowingly to himself as the blonde stomped by on his way to the bathroom. Never in the history of his eighteen years had Sora been known to give a pleasant wakeup call—but Riku didn't know the half of it.

Bitch.

-.-.-

"It's time for presents!" Sora shouted as he literally kicked the door to Axel and Zexion's door open, stomping in like a mad man.

"Sora, I think you broke my front door," Axel said from the adjacent kitchen, only to be blatantly ignored from the brunet who bounded in to the living room whilst shouting about candy-canes and elves and other Christmas-y shit.

"He only knocked a screw lose," Riku noted as he examined the hinges of the door before following his boyfriend.

"Oh, only a screw, no big deal or anything," Axel grumbled to himself with an eye roll. "Maybe it'll be a big deal when the door falls off and crushes me and I die."

"You're such a drama queen," Roxas said as he hopped onto the counter beside the redhead's working space, peering into the bright orange bowl that Axel had been adding sugar to when they walked in. "If it makes you feel any better, I'd at least try to move the door."

"You'd only try?" Axel gasped in mock horror, stopping as he reached into the fridge for milk to throw a hand against his forehead dramatically. "I knew you didn't love me!"

Roxas shoved a hand in the bowl, scraping a finger up the side. "Never said I did."

"Jerk," he answered as he smacked the blonde's hand away. Throwing a overzealous pose, he cocked his head to the side, "No one can resist this sexiness."

"You have such a big head."

Axel gaped at him, hand slowly inching up toward his head as if to see if what Roxas said was true. Of course it wasn't! He had the most perfectly proportioned (never mind his skeletal structure and womanly hips, it was all a part of the entrancing effect) body on earth!

"I was talking about your ego," the blonde said with an eye roll, kicking his heels against the cabinet gently. Axel shrugged.

"Well that's only expected, I mean when you're this se—"

"Yes, sexy. We get it: you're sexy."

"Aww, I knew you thought so, Roxy," Axel cooed, grinning cheekily at the blonde. Roxas merely scoffed and forced down a laugh, refusing to encourage him.

"So, where's Seifer?" he asked after a moment. Not like he was complaining or anything, but the absence of the jackass certainly put a hindrance on Axel's plan to give him a laxative-filled cookie. And no, he didn't find that the slightest bit mean. This was his duty as a human, as a resident of this earth! Being Roxas' friend, it was only expected of him to give the blonde's boyfriend the second-degree, and if he chose to do that with laxative cookies, then so be it.

"He left yesterday; flying out to Cali to visit his Dad."

"So you guys aren't spending the holidays together?"

"Unless I can suddenly materialize in Los Angeles, I don't think so."

"What about New Years'? You're supposed to kiss at midnight to ensure a year full of affection and happiness with that person," Yeah, on the inside Axel was totally cheering, and wasn't really doing too good of a job hiding it outwardly, either. Luckily, Roxas was too busy eating cookie batter out of the bowl.

"I don't need to rely on some silly superstition to secure the successfulness of my relationship," the blonde said with a glare, the intimidating nature of which was ruined a moment later as he shoved a batter-covered finger in his mouth.

"It's not a 'silly superstition'," Axel could only hope it wasn't—he wouldn't want Roxas to be doomed for the rest of his life, stuck in a perpetually unsatisfying relationship with some cocky bastard. God, he was such a good friend.

Roxas opened his mouth to respond when the front door was suddenly slammed open once again, revealing a snow covered Demyx and Zexion.

"I got the sprinkles!" the music major shouted excitedly as he bounded into the kitchen and dropped a near over flowing bag onto the counter. Zexion walked over much more calmly, stopping beside Roxas as he rubbed at his temples, frustrated.

"Please, someone shut him up," he groaned with a huff, sending the ends of his slate bangs flying upward. "He hasn't stopped talking since we left."

"Aw, come on, Zexy! Where's your Christmas spirit?" Demyx said, not the slightest bit put out.

"Yeah, Zexy, where's your Christmas spirit?" Roxas taunted as he smirked impishly at his friend, to which Zexion glared.

Sora, however, popped up in the kitchen suddenly, saving them all from a quick and bloody demise. "Did someone say sprinkles?"

"Hell yeah I said sprinkles!" Demyx shouted, punching the air excitedly. Snatching up the brunet's wrist, he began dragging him back toward the living room, Zexion trailing behind. "But first: PRESENTS!"

Roxas laughed lightly as he hopped off the counter, waiting for Axel to pop the tray of cookies into the oven and set a timer before they headed into the other room with everyone else. Plopping down on the couch, they separated the gifts into piles for each person and listened to the more than a little complicated explanation of the opening process that Demyx was giving for something as simple as a clockwise rotation.

Sora was up first, plucking a large, oh so lumpy present from his pile. Instantly, he knew who it was from, because though Riku was perfect at a lot of things, his skills with giftwrap were less than satisfactory.

"Aw, Riku, you didn't have to get me anything!" the brunet cooed as he turned around to shoot a smile at his boyfriend whose lap he was currently sitting in. Across the room, Roxas did nothing to hide his snort of disbelief, knowing that Sora's words were a complete and utter load of bullshit. Not that his brother was a materialistic person or anything, but he knew for a fact that the brunet loved presents—especially on Christmas.

One year, their parents had been playing a trick on them and the morning of Christmas had told them that they had sent all of the presents to a local goodwill, saying that the only gift they needed was each other and knowing that they had helped someone less fortunate than them. Now, Sora was a compassionate person and always trying to help out more or less, but when it came to Christmas, you didn't fuck around. Considering he had been ten at the time, the broken bedroom door that had resulted from the brunet slamming it behind him was somewhat understandable. Too bad their parents hadn't seen it that way.

Ripping open the snowman wrapping paper, Sora squealed excitedly and hugged a large moogle stuffed animal to his chest, giggling like a school girl. Behind him, Riku laughed. "I'm glad you like it; I'll give you the rest of your presents when we get back home."

"Like it? I love it!" he corrected, giving the silver-haired man a quick kiss.

"Yeah, yeah, we get it, it's so cute, you two are going to screw later, moving on!" Demyx said, flailing his arms uselessly. "Riku, open a present!"

Rolling his eyes, Riku leaned forward and picked the smallest present from his bunch and opened it to reveal an itunes gift card from the terribly creative Zexion.

The rest of the gift-giving went smoothly, continuing until each person had exhausted their pile of presents. After that was done, the group had spent hours decorating the mass of cookies Axel had been making, more or less destroying the kitchen as a whole, and ate said cookies whilst watching a running marathon of Christmas movies on ABC for the rest of the day. Both Roxas and Sora had collectively freaked out on Axel upon learning that he had never seen Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer, and had refused to let him get up from the couch until the movie was over, even during the commercial. Axel had ran like hell to the bathroom after that, his bladder about to explode.

"Fucking hell, I am not looking forward to sitting in a car with them for the next three hours," Roxas grumbled bitterly as he shoved his shoes on, glaring at the couple just outside the dorm who were busy sucking face. The urge to bash his head against the nearest solid object was overwhelming.

Leaning against the door frame, Axel raised a brow lazily, "Your car finally break down?"

"No, but knowing my luck it'll spontaneously combust half way there," he grumbled as he grabbed the scarf Axel had gotten him from the couch, his purple hoodie from the redhead already tucked safely into a bag near the front door. After a good five minutes of fumbling around with the striped fabric, Axel took over and began tying the scarf neatly around his neck. "So, I'm stuck with Riku and his stupid car."

Finishing off with a large bow (much to the blonde's chagrin), Axel ruffled his hair lightly, ushering him toward the door. "Well hurry up so you guys aren't on the road too late—I don't want you guys crashing into a tree because you didn't see a cow in the middle of the road."

Roxas gave him an amused look before grabbing his bag and starting out the door, only to be stopped by a loud shout from Demyx.

"Well look what we have here!" the mulleted-man drawled in a southern accent, devilish grin in place. From the couch, Zexion glared at him, the reading of his novel-a gift from Sora (which wasn't as stupid as the title would suggest)-being made quite difficult by the man's noise level.

"What's wrong?" Roxas asked, confused. Demyx's grin only widened as he slowly lifted a finger to point somewhere above the pair standing at the doorway. Said pair slowly looked up to find a green and red and oh so merry mistle toe hanging innocently above them. Roxas laughed.

Axel, however, was not taking it as lightly, glaring at Demyx and pointedly ignoring the slight jump in his chest upon seeing the seasonal plant. "Demyx…" he growled.

"What a co-winky-dink," the dirty-blonde cooed, rocking on the balls of his feet. He shrugged, making a mockery of innocence, "Guess you guys are gonna have to kiss—can't break the tradition."

"Demyx…I'm going to kill you," the redhead grit out, eyes narrowed and fists clenched, perfectly ready to chew his friend out. For the past six days, the man had been going on about how Axel 'secretly had the hots' for Roxas, how it was totally obvious, and how they would make 'such a cute couple, like OMG'. Needless to say, Axel had considered punching him more than a few times...and had acted on such impulses multiple times, as well.

Roxas laughed, glancing up at Axel. "What? Don't tell me the flamer is afraid of a little kiss," he joked with a jovial smile.

Axel lifted a brow, more than a little stunned and just hoping it didn't show on his face. And for the record, Axel did not blush, it was merely a bit hot in the room. "O…Of course not."

"Really now?" the blonde said with an amused smirk. Before Axel could say anything else, Roxas lifted himself slightly on his toes and pressed a gentle kiss to the redhead's cheek, pulling back with a warm smile.

"Merry Christmas, Axel."


A/N: I thought I'd never finish this chapter ; A ; That last scene….THAT LAST FREAKIN SCENE REFUSED TO BE WRITEN. Fucking hell, I'm glad it's done. In other news, I am super excited for future chapters. You guys don't even know.

It's after midnight here, so this is my AkuRoku day gift to you guys! HAPPY AKUROKU DAY MY LOVELIES :majorhearts:

So review and tell me what you think guys! And thanks a bunch to people who read/favorite/alerted/reviewed my new fic!


Anonymous replies:

Destry: I love you so hard for reviewing each chapter though XD Oh god…Roxas and Luxord, that is just scary to think about XDD But oh my gosh, thank you so much, you're too sweet ; A ;

YourFavorite: Isn't he? XD Jealous!Axel is probably one of my favorite things to write, it's just so much fun. Hahaha, it makes sense. And I'm sorry I deprived you of sleep XD ROFL, Oh god that would've been so bad if it was Reno, especially since he's supposed to be Axel's brother in this (But I don't think I've mentioned it yet, lawlz) THANKYOUSOMUCH, DEAR :majorhearts:

MooMoo: yeah, poor Axel, but he got a little something this chapter, yeah? C: And thanks, but as it turns out we're not going to move!:'D I'm happy, but kinda bummed at the same time. Ah well!