Kira: Hey everybody! Are you excited for the next chapter? All of you readers were helpful, well those who reviewd were helpful. Thank you, by the way, for

the reviews. There were a lot oh helpful ones. Some were even telling me what they thought should happen next. Ah one of you sent a review that made me

think 'holy crap we think so much alike' This is because you said what you thought should happen in the story and it was exactly what i was thinking of

doing. So weird | I

Ah to HaruhiandHikaru, no need to answer your first question. I told of Roxas' moms death back in the prologue and it will say in this chapter as well. Your

third question about Roxas and Cloud? Well thats how it is in their respective games, seriously they look a lot alike. Blonde, Spikes, Blue eyes, and the like.

Also, Majestic Stardust...I know I am a genius and I love you too XD in a metaphorical way you know :3

To an anonomous reviewer: I am not wrapping up the story. This is not the end. There is still a lot more to tell. So no worries kays.

Random Fact of the Day: Yesterday I had just finished possibly the most hilarious and cutest AkuRoku fanfic I have ever read. I swear my cuteness sensors

are on overload! The story is Protecting Me by Onemoreparadise You guys should go read it. It's about how Roxas accidently drank a potion that turns him

three! and guess who has to take care of him. Come on who doesn't want to read the adorableness that is three year old Roxie. God i can feel myself about

to squeel in cuteness from the memories.

So, are you ready for the next chapter! Yell, Hell Yes!

Chapter 8

Roxas POV

For the next few weeks I spent lunch at Axel's office and hung out with everyone. I had soon made up with Zexion about the first lunch, saying that I wasn't really comfortable

with talking about that kind of stuff. I said nothing about that subject being connected to me, but I could tell that everyone had already a very good suspicion about my

situation. I was now counting down the days until my eighteenth birthday. So far I had about five months left.

Father continued to keep away from me and I didn't need to beg at all. The group had invited me to go places with them over the course of those weeks, and I agreed to all of

them, except when I had to stay out past ten. I was still careful about my father and got home by curfew, not wanting to upset him. Axel still had not asked me out on a date,

but I could tell that he really wanted to. When we were together he stayed by my side the whole time, he was always smiling and talking, and he wasted no time to use every

opportunity to show PDA, whether it was holding hands or putting his arm around me or even going as far as hugging me. I didn't hate it and I even sometimes returned the

gesture. Once Axel had been extremely sweet and I gave him a kiss on the cheek. Later he returned the gesture and we both had been on cloud nine the rest of the time, so

said the others. In short, this was the best time I have ever had in my whole life.

I was lounging in my room on a Saturday evening, thinking about the next time I would see Axel. I was falling for him hard; maybe I had already fallen for him. Suddenly I

heard my father calling my name. I tensed my eyes widening. He finally called me; my life was going to go back to hell now. I hesitantly got up and headed downstairs. I

found my father in the hallway, bags at his feet. I looked down at the bags confused and then at my father. He looked toward me with disgust and I cowered away from him a

bit.

"Finally, you little bitch." He said.

I was so confused that I didn't have enough time to register what happened till I felt myself being dragged backward. My father had fisted his hand into my hair and I was

being dragged across the floor to the living room. I started to scream when my father let go of my hair as he threw me on the floor. Then the beating started, it had been so

long since the last one that the pain from the punches and kicks seemed to have increased. I was in so much pain. When the beating stopped I had cuts that were bleeding

profusely and bruises that had already started turning black.

When I heard a belt buckle being undone, fear spread through my body like wildfire, leaving me paralyzed. When my head was lifted up and I saw my father's member in

front of my face, I couldn't help but let a small whimper escape my throat. I heard laughs above my head, so sickenly dark and I could feel my blood running cold. He loved

that I was afraid of this, he savored my pleading cries.

I felt the fist in my hair push my head forward and my eyes started burning. Holding back my tears I prayed that someone, something, would save me from this beast. I had

opened my mouth and almost had his member in it when suddenly honks were heard outside. My father froze and I heard him curse silently. He pulled my head back and

pushed me to the floor. I laid still and watched him get up and peek out the window. He growled and then headed back toward me, zipping up his pants.

I tensed as he neared me and almost screamed as he grabbed my arm and pulled me to a standing position. Still keeping his grip on me, we headed to the back door.

"Listen, brat. I'm going off on a business trip. Bosses invited me." He said with pride in his voice.

When we reached the door, he opened and threw me into the dirt. I couldn't move, so I stayed still while he talked, voice darkened to disgust.

"Going to be gone for two weeks and I am not allowing trash like you in here without someone watching. But when I come back, you better be sitting waiting for me. Or

you're going to have hell."

He mumbled under his breath about how I could steal something or break something. Then he slammed the door. I waited and listened until I heard the car out front drive

away. After I was sure they were gone, I slowly stood up and walked out to the front.

'Two weeks huh. Fine by me, but where am I going to go.'

I thought about it over and over, walking while I went. The next time I looked up I found myself in the alley next to where Axel and I first met. Looking toward the big office

building, I shook my head.

'NO I could not go to Axel. I can't bring him into this. Besides if I go to him, I would have to tell him about my bruises and my cuts. Which were still bleeding and hurt

horribly.'

The redhead had crossed my mind but I kept talking myself out of it each time. I couldn't go to him…besides he probably went home already. I turned around crestfallen until

a voice stopped me cold.

"Come onnnn Axel."

It was Demyx. I looked down the block and I saw everyone walking. I noticed Axel first and I couldn't help but smile, even though it hurt from a bruise sitting on my cheek.

They were walking toward me, probably worked late since the sun was already setting and the people on the street seemed to have dwindled down to a few others who had

worked late.

As they approached, I started telling my body to move backwards and run. But Axel seemed to have already entranced it because I could feel myself walking slowly from the

shadows toward the redhead. Soon I was at the mouth of the alley, waiting, with a frown on my face, a hand on my arm in an awkward half-hug, and tears starting to fill up

my eyes.

It took only one glance from Axel for him to suddenly stop and cause some of his friends to bump into him.

"Roxas. What are you doing here, what's going on?"

"Axel" I sobbed, tears running down my cheeks.

Hearing the pleading tone in my voice, he rushed over to me and gathered me into a hug. I could see the others walking up with worried looks. Axel pulled me out of the hug

and looked me up and down. When a look of horror crossed his face, I knew that he had seen the bruises and blood. I couldn't care less anymore, I decided that I would tell

Axel everything and hope I didn't drive him away.

"Oh my god, Roxas. What happened you're all beat up and you're bleeding everywhere. Shit"

I laughed a bit not knowing why. When everyone had taken in my whole appearance they were mortified. Demyx and Cloud started crying; Sora was in hysterics, Riku and

Leon looked ready to kill, and Zexion had started examining all of my wounds. Axel sat there and stared at my face, he seemed angry, sad, and worried at the same time.

I grabbed his hand and said, "Axel…I need a place to stay, please."

Axel's expression softened and he nodded. Standing, he shooed Zexion away from me and scooped me up into his arms. I circled my arms around his neck and leaned my

head on his shoulder.

"Roxas is staying at my house." He announced. I heard agreements from the group and we broke apart. Everyone got into their individual vehicles and drove off toward Axel's

house. I was lying down in the back seat resting when the car stopped. I sat up and stared out the window. Axels house was amazing, a mansion with an amazing garden out

front. Axel picked me up out of the car and carried me inside, everyone else followed behind.

The inside was just as impressive as the outside. Axel placed me on a couch in a large living room and then left. While he was gone, everyone sat down in different places,

wasting no time doing it I noticed that they didn't hesitate on where to sit. Obviously they've sat here many times before. Axel soon came back with a first aid kit and handed

it to Zexion, who told me to take of my shirt. I hesitated for a second until I felt Axel sit next to me and grab my hand to give it a squeeze. I sighed and took off my shirt.

I closed my eyes as I heard gasps from the occupants of the room. I knew what they had seen, they had seen the bruises and the bleeding cuts, but they had also seen the

scars. The ones that my father left behind from previous beatings. I could feel myself shaking slightly, afraid about what might happen next. I couldn't believe it when a hand

clasped mine and a hug came from my side. I opened my eyes to see sadness on Zexions face as he stared at my wounds. He was the one who grabbed my hand. Looking to

the side I saw Axel holding my shaking form. Everyone else was pretty much the same as the two next to me.

When Axel and Zexion let go of me, Zexion opened up the first aid kit and started cleaning my wounds. I hissed as antibiotics were sprayed on the cuts. Then I heard the first

voice in this room of silence.

"Roxas," Axel said in a hushed tone that sounded so loud to my ears. "What happened"

I had no idea where to start. There was so much to tell and I was nervous and extremely aware of everyone's looks. I kept opening and closing my mouth like a fish,

wondering about how to explain everything.

"Who did this to you?" Zexion said. Well it was a place to start.

"My father" I replied quietly. Gasps, growls, and exclamations of shock reverberated around the room. Looking around I could see that most of them expected this kind of

answer.

"Why" Zexion.

"I guess I'll start at the beginning."

"Quite a good place to start." Riku

"It wasn't always like this. I lived in a very happy environment. My mother, my father, and me. We were a good family. It only changed seven, maybe eight, months ago. My

mother, she died, in a car accident. Got hit by a drunk driver on the way to the store. After that my father went into a depression. I was bad for a while too, but I moved on

from her death. My father coped another way."

I stopped there feeling like that was a lame excuse as a start. Everyone was quietly waiting for me to continue. Zexion had continued with caring for my wounds and I flinched

a bit when it stung too much. At my lengthy pause, Axel decided to move closer to me and hold my hand. Silently urging me to continue with a gentle squeeze of my hand. I

sighed lightly and complied.

"He…he started to drink. Every night he came home he was drunk and he either completely ignored me or yelled at me about useless things. A month after ward things only

got worse. He never ignored but instead replaced it with beatings. They started out light, a few punches, some slaps, and that was it. Then it escalated into bruises, cuts,

sometimes sprains and broken bones. It just kept getting worse and worse."

I paused again. Zexion had finished with my wounds, so I put my shirt back on and watched him sit down at a chair. It was relatively quiet and I debated on whether I should

continue or not. Revealing everything so far had been hard and I didn't get many reactions from the others, so I could tell that they had pretty much already guessed that I

was beaten.

"He forced you to beg." Leon broke the silence.

I looked up at him and he had a neutral expression shown, but in his eyes he was worried and angry. I nodded and answered the statement.

"Yes, he never let me use anything unless I needed it. I haven't bathed, washed my clothes, eaten much, or even lived and slept in comfort for a while now. He said I had to

get him money to be able to live in the house and since I'm not eighteen yet, I couldn't do anything about it."

"Why didn't you just call the police?" Sora asked.

"I did. A few times but my father was able to convince them each time that I was lying about everything. The police let it go, they didn't even make reports about it."

"That is fucked up." Demyx spoke up, annoyance written clearly on his face. There were nods from everyone, including me.

Silence broke through again and I thought that that would have been done with. I hadn't even talked about the sexual abuse and truthfully my confidence in telling them that

was slowly slipping. Then another voice broke through the silence again, this one hadn't even spoke through the whole story.

"There's something you're keeping from us. I can see it in your eyes. What is it?" Axel said so low that I thought no one would catch it even in the silence. Everyone did catch

it though and looked at me after they gave Axel a quick glance. I looked toward him and he was looking at me with fire in his eyes. He knew I was hiding something and he

wanted me to tell him about it. I got a bit nervous…ok a lot nervous…and I slowly thought about what I was going to say. I recalled everything that that man did to me. I

relived every moment and I couldn't stop. I hadn't noticed my body shaking and my eyes burning from unshed tears until Axel wrapped his arms around me and pulled me

into his lap. Curling into him a bit I started with the first thing that came to my mind.

"He sexually abuses me."

I felt Axel tense up and I looked away from him. I looked away from everyone and down to where my shaking hands were clasped together. Silence spread everywhere. It

seemed that not only the occupants of the room where listening but every creature in the walls and outside of the windows and doors as well.

"He came home really drunk one night and started yelling about how horrible his life was. I was in my room listening to it. Suddenly he started yelling for me to go down

there. I couldn't refuse him so I did as I was told. He was in the living room on the couch staring off into nothing. When he finally noticed me his eyes seemed to get this look

in them. That look scared me and I became frightened more and more with each passing second. He told me to come over and sit in front of him. When I did I couldn't react

when he suddenly grabbed my head. I'll spare you the details, but that night I had given him three blow jobs, he hand fucked me until I bled, and I got beaten to the point

where I couldn't even move without my body feeling every cut, bruise, and scratch. He then made me clean him up and prepare him a bath. Since then he would do almost

the same thing every time. Sometimes he would give me hand jobs and the other way around or he would give himself a hand job and made sure I was there for it. He would

always beat me the worst then and he always made me clean him and start him a bath whether I could move or not. Sometimes he would even bring toys into the mix, I

remember vividly when there was a whip. Bottom line, he really fucked me over for his sick little mind and made sure that every time I could get as dirty as possible. The only

thing he never did was enter me so I guess I'm still kind of a virgin. I'm really frightened every time it happens and in the back of my mind I still think that one day he will go

all the way. It's hell in that house."

I was shaking a lot now and tears were slowly pouring out of my eyes. I was using all of my strength to keep them from falling. I was struck with the sense that everything

was going to get bad after this. I really couldn't believe that I told them everything. But once the questions started it was difficult for me to avoid them, so I didn't. I refused

to look at everyone curling up into myself more. I was still on Axel's lap but he made no move to do anything. I only came a bit out of my protective circle when I heard a sob.

Looking up I saw tears in Sora and Demyx's eyes. Both were trying not to sob into their boyfriends shirts. Zexion held Demyx while Riku did the same for Sora and didn't show

much emotion on their faces, but their eyes showed everything. Cloud and Leon were snuggled up to one another the anger evident in their faces. I looked up to Axel and he

showed complete rage from his face. I didn't know what to make of it and I could feel myself shying away from him. He noticed though and turned his head toward me. I

jumped from the movement but calmed down when his features softened into sadness.

His hold on me tightened and I suddenly found myself pressed up to his chest in a tight hug. He ran his hand through my hair which I found comforting. I relaxed quite a bit

and uncurled some more. I leaned into him and sighed. The noise broke through everyone's lack of sound and I found myself almost deaf from the onslaught of noise in the

form of questions, condolences, and death threats to my father.

"How the hell could someone do that to their own child!" Sora

"Yeah, I mean just because his wife died did not mean he could go and take it out on his kid." Cloud

"Death happens all the time and the decision he made on how to act from the depression was a wrong choice." Zexion

"Ugh, people like that make me sick." Riku

"Rox, I don't know how you were able to make it threw that and come out as nice and sweet as you are." Demyx

"The whole situation is fucked up." Leon

"I want you to stay with me." Axel

Everything seemed to go silent as I looked up at Axel. He was staring into my eyes with determination. I knew he wouldn't let this go.

"I'm sorry. I didn't want to get you guys mixed up in this. You guys are too nice for this stuff."

"No Rox, don't think that. We are your friends and this is what friends do." Axel said "stay with me for as long as you like ok."

I thought about his request, hell what was I thinking about it for. I nodded my head and leaned back against his chest. The whole ordeal left me weak and drained and sore all

over.

"He kicked me out." I said as I looked up at Axel. He looked at me wide eyed. "He said that he was going to be gone for two weeks and that I had to stay out of the house

until he came back. He beat me up and almost made me give him a blow job. Fortunately his ride came before it happened. Then he dragged me to the back door and threw

me out of it."

Axel stayed silent, he looked like he was thinking. I closed my eyes and tried to rest.

"Roxas, when is your birthday." Axel asked

"In about 5 months" I answered sleepily.

It went quiet again and I was close to falling into a deep sleep. I felt Axel pick me up but I didn't have the energy to move. He told everyone that they could either go home or

spend the night and that he was going to put me to bed. I felt myself being carried and soon I was placed onto a soft bed and covered with warm blankets. It had been so

long since I slept on something so comfortable. I snuggled into the warmth and curled up. I heard a silent chuckle when I rubbed my cheek against the nice smelling pillows. I

heard the door close and then I let sleep take over me.

Kira: awwww. Roxie-baby told everyone. There all so caring. But now I'm in a slump. I didn't do to well on this chapter. :( Well some parts were really good

but I don't think the confession part was done too well. Unfortunatly thats the only way i can see it going. :P So Roxie's staying with Axel for the next two

weeks. SPOILER: The next two weeks are going to be filled with dates, cuddles, and fluff! Yay Well see you next chapter! =o= -u- (waves good bye)

P.S. all of you who screamed Hell Yes at the beginning of the chapter...Go You! Give yourself a prize for being enthusiastic and all time fans of AkuRoku

and my story. You guys are the bomb!