~o~ Chapter ten *Enter Holy Music Here*

Okay, so this is a milestone. The tenth chapter of Brotherly Bonding. I want to take this time before the chapter starts to thank my loyal readers and thank everyone that has reviewed this story. I really appreciate it. Whenever I upload a chapter I keep checking to see if I have any reviews, and when I do my heart explodes with joy. So, thank you guy, very much. :)

Oh, and this chapter is pretty long. Its kinda a late Christmas and new years present. Hope you guys like. :)

And now, *Drum roll* Chapter ten! ~o~

Hi, I'm Roxas Richards and I'm discovering a lot of things these days.

Axel woke up with a killer hangover but I knew by the way he looked at me that he remembered most if not all of what he said. He departed to take a shower and teasingly invited me in with him. I decided to test my limits and gave him a silky smile with a husky, "Maybe later." He turned red and left immediately.

I got dressed and brushed my teeth out in the bathroom downstairs. Then I washed my face and went into the kitchen. Cloud was in there, cradling his head in his hands over a bowl of Lucky Charms. Zack was leaning on the counter next to the stove, cooking eggs with a cigarette hanging from his lips as he played into an old, green Gameboy Color. Rufus was sitting at the table with the redhead from the ride and Xion. When Xion motioned for me to sit next to her, I did, and she introduced me to Marluxia, Rufus's boyfriend. He died his hair since I saw him in the car and at Cloud's house, now instead of red its a warm pink.

Xion looks way different from last night now that the color has died down. She's still in her pajamas, too, short black shorts with a loose black shirt that has a half naked Skin Industries angel girl on it. She has slippers on, too, fuzzy black ones, with knee high black socks with pink hearts all over them. Her bangs are down and and kind of messy and her face is clear of any makeup. She's the same pale color as she was last night so it obviously wasn't her foundation, but unlike most girls, she's just as pretty without all the face paint on.

We hear Zack curse and she laughs with a roll of her eyes. "He's playing his old Pokemon games. Ignore him." Then she looks at him and smirks. "He's such a freaking kid. What kind of twenty year old plays Pokemon? On a Gamboy color, that."

Zack looks up and us and pouts. "I do."

"Which one is it?" I ask, interested. I used to love playing Pokemon growing up.

"Gold," he says proudly. "Been saving it all these years."

Suddenly my childhood floods back. All the Pokemon games on my Gameboy systems, all the staying up late in my bed so I could play. Maybe sneak off while the family was distracted to hide under the sink and play for hours. The hardest decision of my childhood was which starter Pokemon to get. I got in a fight with someone in elementary school because he said that Pokemon was gay. My only fight. Good times.

Sora comes down a little while after. He gives Zack an odd look when he realizes what he's playing and Zack puts a hand on his hip, looking righteous in the morning light. "I know what your thinking, Sora. 'Wow, his bond with his Pokemon is so strong! Look at his Pokemon's strength! He probably never got made fun of in school. I wish I could be just like him when I grow up!'" He put his hand up as if to stop the gushing. "It's okay, Sora. I'm still a person, just like you. Yes, you can have my autograph. Where do you want it? Your breast?"

"Oh, yeah. Totally bro." Sora sits across from me and I notice that his face is getting better. When he came here he was messed up. Now the swelling has gone all the way down and his lip is only split instead of swelled and irritated. The hand marked bruises are already gone and the big bruise that he had on his right cheek bone is subsiding and his black eye is only bruised at the bottom corner now. He heals up fast. I still don't believe him when he says that he fell. Obviously he didn't. He probably got in a fight or something, knowing Sora, and got his butt handed to him or something, and because its such a shock since he always wins and so embarrassing, he's lying about it.

When Axel comes in he meets my eyes for a moment and I give him my sexiest smile. When he looks down quickly and hides the bottom half of his face with his hand in embarrassment, I laugh inwardly. The shower earlier and now this. I'm going to have a lot of fun with my new superpower. I shall call myself Lust Man and fight villainy with my sexy powers of utter sexiness.

Namine, Riku and Kairi all come in at the same time. Their dressed other then Kairi and Namine's matching fuzzy slippers, Kairi's red and Namine's pink. Namine kisses me and sits at the table next to me. It's my turn to look away when Axel glares at her then meets my eyes. I feel my chest tighten and have to look at Sora who shakes his head at me. I glare at him because I know what he's thinking. That the look between Axel and I just now points to what he was saying yesterday. That I shouldn't have let Namine kiss me because not only am I leading her on but she kissed other guys yesterday, including Axel. That's just what I can see on his face. God knows what else that boy is thinking.

I laugh when Riku sits next to him and Sora gives me a look. Poor guy, he's barking up the wrong tree.

"I'm gonna run to town for you, sweetie," Xion calls over to Cloud who has pushed away his untouched bowl and buried his face in his arms. He grunts a response. Then she looks to us. "You guys wanna tag along? I don't wanna go alone and Rufus never wants to go places with me. Marluxia only does whatever he wants."

Sora agrees for both of us and Namine nods. Kairi says that she and Riku need to 'talk' so they'd just stay. Sora drags me along without protest because after that look with Axel I'd rather not be stuck in the house with him. He leads me to the front back seat of the Expedition and Namine gets in next to me. Then he gets in the front and starts talking with Xion as she pulls away. I guess they know each other, but it makes sense since Cloud and Leon are best friends that he'd know Cloud's sister.

Namine leans her head on my shoulder and I get a nice whiff of her perfume. She's so cute in her slippers. Xion turns her attention on us when Namine starts to talk into my ear and makes a hacking sound. "Oh, barf! Roxas, I thought you were gay!"

I see Sora roll his eyes before he looks back at us. "Everyone thinks he's gay. It's 'cause he's a total twink."

"Mmh," Xion nods in agreement. "Yeah, he is a twink. Hey, Roxas, ever been with a guy?"

"No," I say, trying to keep the annoyance from my voice. I'm happy to find that I've succeeded.

Sora snorts and waves his hand dismissively. The bastard. "He's never even had a girlfriend. Namine's his first one."

Xion gasps. "Oh, wow, really? A cute little thing like him?" She looks at me in the rear view mirror. "There's no way. Hows that?"

"All the girls at school think he's gay and that we're going out," Sora laughed. "It was a rumor Axel started our freshmen year. And then there's the fact that he's afraid to talk to girls and he's really shallow and picky. They don't think I'm into guys anymore, though. I'm a big fucking hearthrob, you know."

Good god. I can't believe I had forgotten about that! That's why the guys in my classes started acting weird towards me and all the girls wanted to be my friend. One of them told me about the rumor and I brought it up with Axel and he laughed about it! Namine giggles beside me and takes my hand in hers. She's laughing at me, too!

"So," Xion says, looking at Namine in the mirror now. "Your sister. She bi?"

"She had a girlfriend once," Namine said in thought. "I think so."

Xion nodded. "She breaking up with that Riku tool?"

Namine shrugged and sighed, laying her head on my shoulder. "I have no idea. She tells me nothing about her relationships."

Xion had to go to the drug store to get some Advil. It takes awhile but after driving around the little mountain town for an hour we find a Rite Aid pharmacy and go in. Its relatively empty with only one cashier on staff and a few inventory checkers. She treats us to ice cream even though it feels like its below zero outside and we sit in the car with the heater on while we eat it. Xion's really funny, I quickly realize. In a short time I find out a lot about her, too. She's sixteen, a lesbian, a raver and hates Cloud as much as Sora and I.

"Well," she says when we finish. "Better get home to those tools of a brothers."

Cloud is laying on the couch when we get back, sleeping with his head on Zack's lap. Zack is engrossed into his game of Pokemon and doesn't even look up when we walk in. Rufus and Marluxia are all cozy together on the other couch, watching Beauty and the Beast with Leon awkwardly next to them. Sora takes a seat next to him and Leon puts his arm around him. I guess all of Leon's friends know about them being together. Xion stays with Sora and Namine and I go up to the room she's sharing with Kairi.

After kissing on her bed for awhile we snuggle and watch some South Park on the TV in their room. I'm happy to find that I'm getting better at the whole make out thing. I'm pretty damn proud of myself. We end up kissing again but this time there's something more. Namine starts to kiss my neck and sits on top of me and... dear lord, there's no way she's thinking to do that! I push her off and she stares at me oddly. I have to cover up quickly but I'm really flustered. "Uh, um, I'm a virgin, so..." Her expression changes to pity. Why would she pity me for being a virgin? "I don't really think I'm ready to take that... Erm... step."

She giggles and nods her understanding. "I understand. Your not mature enough."

"Mature?" I stare at her. "Because I want to stay a virgin makes me immature?"

She shakes her head, still smiling. "That's not what I mean. I don't mean the way you act, I mean the way you feel here..." He pokes her index finger into my chest where my heart is. "And here." She motions for my nether regions and I scowl at her. That makes her laugh again. "Well, your the first guy to deny me, Roxas."

I feel a pang. "You sleep with a lot of guys?"

"What?" Her expression changes again to a look of almost worry. "Well, yeah, but... I don't do that when I have a boyfriend, if that's what your implying."

"But you do when you like someone," I say, not sure where all this is coming from. "Like you said you liked me?"

Now her face hardens. "What do you mean? I didn't sleep with anyone for months because I liked you. I'm not that much of a whore."

"That didn't stop you from kissing my stepbrother," I ground out, wishing I never said it. But the words just keep coming, as if I had broken a damn or something in my throat. With each word I can see her face sink with her heart, but I just keep throwing them out. "You know, that's what everyone's saying. That your a whore. I didn't really believe them, but... well, you pretty much just admitted to it. Did you really kiss Axel? I mean, seriously?"

"Yes," she says, her shoulders squared and chest out. "I did. But that doesn't mean..." She stops.

"Doesn't mean what?" I demand, standing up and off the bed. She gets up, too, and stands on the other side of the bed, facing me. "What, Namine?"

"That doesn't mean I don't like you!" She's yelling now and I feel I have to yell back.

I grit my teeth. My heart hurts. I feel like I'm going to cry. I've never been strong when it comes to arguments or matters of the heart, so this is a deadly mix. And now Axel has been thrown into it, and for some reason, that makes it worse. Maybe I am getting feelings for the gorilla, but I'm not going to let him ruin my relationship. But the words are still coming in spite of my thoughts as I say, yelling back, "If you really liked me you wouldn't have kissed him!"

"I was confused," she tries to defend herself. "I thought you didn't like me and Axel was flirting with me so I just thought 'fuck it Roxas doesn't care about me I might as well have some fun.' But the whole time I was thinking about you! Okay? Are you happy?"

"No." I walk out of the room and she follows after. To my dismay, the whole group of house inhabitants, excluding Kairi and Riku, have moved outside the room, listening to our argument. My eyes go across the crowd, to Marluxia and Rufus's bored looks, to Cloud and Leon's looks of amusement, Sora, Zack and Xion's looks of pity and then stay on Axel for a brief moment as he smiles triumphantly. Then I look at them all again. "What the fuck are you all looking at?"

They get out of my way as I storm through, Namine following after. "Roxas-!"

"Fuck off," I hiss at her and slam the door to the room I'm staying in.

~o~

Around four Axel comes into our room. I've had time to think about what I said to Namine and how childish it was for me to snap like that, even all the cussing, but I'm still pissed off and in a bad mood. So, when he walks in, I glare at him over the math homework I was supposed to be doing over the break and have neglected the last few days. When he just stares back at me I snap, "What?"

"Let's go play in the snow," he says.

I stare at him. "No."

"Okay." He sits on the bed and stares at me more. What is he staring at? What's his problem? "You have a cute glare, you know."

I want to punch him. I don't know why, but that statement embarrasses me. I want to spit insults but I think I've had enough fighting for today. He sighs and takes the homework from me, looking it over. Then he throws it somewhere. His smile makes me want to punch puppies, the bastard.

"C'mon, Roxas! Let's do something fun. It's winter break, for shits sake. Your such a square, I swear."

"I'm not a square," I snarl at him. But then it dawns on me. I am a square! I am so freaking lame its unbearable! When he stares at me, I can't help but blush. "I'm not!"

Axel laughs and takes my hand, pulling me off the bed. "Then show me. Come on, let's build a snowman."

"Because snowmen are so hardcore," I grumble and follow him out of the room, grabbing my jacket from the chair by the desk. I'm already wearing my boots so that's all I need. We walk outside and I see Leon and Sora sitting on the porch swing together, snuggled up by each other. Their kind of cute together. Apparently, they made up last night over the whole Vincent thing.

My boots crunch in the snow that fell over the night. Axel starts to roll a big ball of snow and I watch, unable to hold my smile as he struggles. I sit on my butt and start patting snow together for the head. My hands burn from the cold but I don't care. I'm done before Axel is so I get up and start to roll the torso of the snowman. Its heavy so he has to put it on top of the bottom ball but I put on the head and find the rocks to make its face. He breaks the arms of branch off of a nearby tree and sticks them in. Then we stand back and admire our hard work.

"It looks like its sick," I laugh, because, who are we kidding? This has to be one of the worst snowmen of all time. The balls are uneven and the stick arms are crooked and it the wrong place. The rocks are all different sizes and different colors, not making up a complete smile because rocks are scarce and hidden underneath the snow. One of the eyes is way bigger then the other.

Axel laughs, too, but shakes his head. "It's cute. Maybe a little lopsided, but, still."

Snow angels, snowball fights, eating snow and trying to warm our frozen hands up... I'm actually having fun with Axel. When was the last time we just played around? Or just had fun together? I don't think we've ever been like this. We both lay in the snow on our backs and stare up at the bright, gray sky. The snow has started falling again, lightly showering over us. Its beautiful. I'm in a good mood now, giggly like I'm a schoolgirl. When Axel reaches over and takes one of my hands in his, I don't pull away and let it sit in the snow in between us.

"Roxas," he says and I grunt a response. "Thanks for coming out here with me. I know you didn't want to."

"I'm having fun," I say, partially lying but partially not. "I'm sorry for yelling at you the other night. I was out of line."

He shrugs, squeezing my hand. "Nah, you were perfectly in line. I was being a dick. I just wanted to piss you off and get you to break up with that girl. I was, um... what's the word?"

"Jealous?" I smile and look at him. He stares back blankly.

"Yeah."

Our eyes are locked for a good ten seconds before he starts to lean in. I lean in, too, but its a slow process. At least, it feels slow, when in reality, it wasn't. Our lips never meet, though, because Cloud calls to Axel from the front porch. He curses and excuses himself before getting up, leaving me, sitting in the snow, freezing cold and wet, mentally freaking out.

Because I almost kissed Axel!

I get up a few minutes after and find Namine. Then I kiss her and apologize and lay my head on her shoulder. She pats my back and apologizes, too. But I don't have the heart to tell her that the fight isn't the only reason I'm apologizing.

Namine informs me that Riku and Kairi did, in fact, break up. Kairi's been sulking all day in the kitchen, eating away her sorrows, while Riku went home. She glares up at me from the counter where she'd been eating some cake and snarls at me. Then she continues to eat.

Sora comes in, in an incredibly good mood, and sits in the seat next to Kairi. He hugs her and giggles, saying that he's sorry for the tragic breakup, and that he understood how she felt. Then he makes the biggest mistake of his life. As he tries to comfort her, he says, "He was useless, anyway! I can't even count how many times he's tried to kiss me..."

Kairi stares at him, wide eyed, and Sora sighs miserably.

"Right, right... What is that, one slap?"

"Three," Kairi corrects.

"Three?"

"That's what she does," Namine told me, giggling. "If you do something that pisses her off or hurts her feelings, she gets to slap you. How many depends on how annoyed or hurt she is. Oh, and they come randomly so you can't do anything about them. And they fucking hurt. Bad."

I almost shiver at the thought of Kairi, the scary beast that is my girlfriend's sister. Dear lord, if she ever found out about whatever is going on between Axel and I... I do shiver now.

Sora looks absolutely terrified. "Can't we just get it over with now?" Kairi shakes her head and Sora whines. "Please?"

~o~

Kairi's slaps were, in fact, random. When the third party started up we were all sitting on the couch, Namine snuggled up beside me and Sora telling us about something that happened in class. When we were all laughing, Kairi took that moment to strike, and the slap echoed throughout the room. People looked over to see what happened, curious eyes looking to where Sora held his cheek, crying in pain.

"That's one," Kairi smiled.

"Oh, god, I can't see!" Sora blinked his left eye, the side where he got slapped. Kairi's hand mark is burned into his skin, angry and red.

"Are you gonna cry?" Kairi asked.

Sora sniffled. "No!"

~o~

Sora was pretty butthurt after Kairi slapped him. He hid away with Leon for most of the first few bands, but when Leon had to go help with 'Elektrik Pork Vomit's practice before they went on, Sora came back out with us. It occurs to me that I've never heard Axel's band play seriously, only muffled from the basement, and I haven't been able to see them these last few days. Everyone says their good so I'm guessing they are, but their probably not my type of music. Heck, I don't even know what type of music they are! Maybe metal? Or punk... That's what the other bands have been so far. The ones that I heard. I feel ashamed, not knowing what my own stepbrother's band genre is.

"There's a scout tonight," Sora tells me when he comes back. "Their serious for the show now. Cloud says it might be their only chance to be signed. I've never actually heard them play. Have you guys?"

"Last night," Kairi says indicating for both herself and Namine. I shake my head.

"I feel bad," Sora giggles. He turns away from us for a moment to pick up a cup from the alcohol table. When he turns back, Kairi slaps him again. The sound echoes through the room like before and the liquid in the cup sloshes out and onto some girl passing. Her boyfriend turns around to cuss us out but stops when Leon comes back down the stairs and stands behind us. Sora didn't notice any of that, though, because Kairi slapped him hard. He's on his knees cringing and whining from the pain. Kairi just laughs and picks up her own cup, walking away.

"That's two~!"

~o~

Now Sora has two red hand marks, one on each cheek. Poor guy, but its kinda funny to see him keep shooting nervous glances around like Kairi's going to come out of nowhere and attack him. He flinched when Namine tried to hand him his phone he had dropped. He had dropped his phone because he had flinched away from someone passing by him. Its just so hilariously bad.

We're all outside, sitting on the porch swing now. Namine gave me a cup of my own and, while I hate drinking, I find myself sipping on the beverage because the burn feels nice in the cold night air. Sora's downing drink after drink because of his nervousness and Namine has had a few drinks herself. She leans her head onto my shoulder and sighs. Kairi comes out to join us, more then a little tipsy, Sober Xion following to help her. She sits in between Namine and I and puts her arms around both of us to hold us close to her chest.

"I love you guys! I could never live... Hic! Without you!" She makes this awful gurgling sound and Xion sighs, pulling her up and sitting her on the other side of Namine, sitting at the end herself. "Why? I just wanna love them with all my heart!"

Namine and I giggle at how slurred her words are and she returns her head to my shoulder. Xion is still struggling with Kairi when I ask Namine, "Who all plays what in Elektrik Pork Vomit?" I'm even more ashamed that I don't even know what Axel plays. "I mean, instruments."

She hums in thought. "Well, Cloud sings, Leon plays bass and is a backup singer, Axel does guitar and sometimes sings backup for the melody songs, then Rufus is drums. Never sings. Sounds like a dying cat, really."

I laugh, but stop when Kairi makes another gurgling sound and look over at her where she's laying with her head in Xion's lap. They'd be cute together right now if Kairi wasn't drunk, with Xion running her hands through Kairi's hair and telling her those comforting words many people do with intoxicated lovers.

The bands on stage change and by the time 'Elektrik Pork Vomit' ( I have no idea why they picked that awful name), there has already been six bands on stage. By then, though, Kairi's thrown up on me so I end up taking a shower and changing for the first half of their performance. When I'm done Namine meets me in the hall and we walk outside, hand in hand. Their music is already on blast and I must say, I'm impressed. Namine has no problem pushing through a crowd, her words varying from 'excuse me' to 'fucking move!' She's just so polite and feminine. It isn't too long before we're at the front, looking up at Cloud who winks at us.

I'm surprised. They're good. They're really good. And their not the hard metal band I assumed they were. Their actually Indie rock! It's weird. Cloud sings like a freaking angel, too. His voice rides the melody perfectly, Axel and Leon both humming in the background to certain lines in the first song. They play five altogether with one extra song where they play a cover of 'The Reason.' Clouds voice is just so... Wow. I can't fathom it, really. I mean, just... Wow! He gets every note right, high or low, taking a long time before having to take a breath. Then Leon has a nice voice himself and plays guitar like a god. Sora told me once that he's been taking guitar lessons since he was six and I figured that he was good, but not this good. Then there's Rufus who looks rather bored as he plays the drums but hits every one perfectly, with the right force and the perfect taps on the cymbal.

Most surprising to me was Axel. I'd heard him sing in the shower over the years and he sounded pretty normal then. But now, on stage with the other voices and instruments to accompany him, his back up vocals are just as amazing as Cloud's. It seems easy to play bass and he carries generally the same note through most of the song in most of the songs, he's better then I thought he'd be. I mean, he had to teach himself, so he's pretty good for the circumstances, and they actually have a lot of different notes for bass in their songs.

When they were done I had a completely new look on this group of immature idiots. Now they're talented musicians and I'm a freaking groupie. When they walked down the path back to the house everyone gathers around and cheers. Its like they're a real band in this place. Is it wrong that Axel looks more attractive now that I know he has talent and a future? I know it is, so to compensate I take Namine's hand and squeeze it gently as we walk back into the house.

It hits me when I'm standing in the kitchen with my friends that this is the last night we're going to be in this house. We met up with Sora again and he's messing around in the corner with a bunch of guys, cheering as one of them downs from a beer bong. There's a keg behind them that my eye catches. Then I look over at the counter top that holds all the alcohol. Namine hands me a cup and without thinking about it I take a sip. Hell, why not?

Because I'm what Sora calls a 'light weight.'

I can only have two cups of brandy with Coke before I worked up a buzz, so I stop there. I have common sense unlike my friends who are still drinking way after the brink. Eventually, we all work our way up to Sora's room and sit in a circle on the floor. By 'we all' I mean Sora, Namine, Kairi Xion and myself. Namine is so drunk its not even funny. Kairi's worked off most of hers and has stopped drinking, sipping on water to clear her head. Sora finishes his beer and stares at the bottle moment before cracking a smile, getting an idea.

"Lets play spin the bottle."

Everyone but me agrees, but after some prodding and a few drinks Namine forced me to have from her cup, I nod and agree as well. It was funny because the first time was Sora who spun it and he had to kiss Xion, who turns out to be a lesbian and she makes a face when they do it. Then she spins the bottle and it lands on Kairi. Kairi giggles before they share a lingering kiss. Cute.

"I have a boner," Sora jokes, opening another beer on the edge of the table. "Your turn, Roxas."

So, I spin it. When it lands on Sora I object immediately. "I am not kissing you." He puckers his lips and gets on his knees, crawling to me. "Sora, no! Get away! I'm not kissing you!" He crawls on top of me and lets out a laugh when he pushes me down.

"Come on, Roxas. Do it!" he says, taking my face in both of his hands. I blush and try to push him off. The girls, including Namine, cheer me on. Reluctantly, I squeeze my eyes shut and let Sora do it.

I'm starting to think that God has it out for me because that's when Leon steps into the room.

"What the fuck is this?" he demands, dropping his own beer. It breaks on the wood flooring and he curses, trying to kick some of the liquid off of his shoes. He looks up and glares at us, mostly Sora who has crawled off of me. Sora sighs wearily. "Dammit, Sora! So much for not fucking cheating anymore!" He turned to leave and was out of sight for a few seconds before stomping back to the doorway and telling me, "And your fucking brother wanted to see you!"

Why does everyone insist on calling Axel my brother? We don't share blood parents, dang it! Reluctantly, I stand and dismiss myself. Namine doesn't notice me leave because now she's passed out on the floor next to where Kairi is sitting.

Axel was waiting for me on the front porch, talking into his cell phone. I raise a brow at him expectantly and he hands me the phone, mouthing, "Your mom." Oh, fuck.

"Hello?" I say into the phone.

-Hi, honey,- my mom's voice comes back through to me. -Are you having fun?-

"Yeah..."

-Good, good...- A silence passes before she asks, -Are you using protection?-

It takes me a moment to process what she said. "Wait, what?"

She panicked immediately, her words coming out quick and high pitched through the phone. I actually had to hold it away from my ear to refrain from hearing damage. -It's just that your father was telling me earlier that he used to do all- all sorts of crazy and obscene things when he went on vacation with his friends and your getting older now so... so... I only figured! Oh, and Axel told your father about you getting a girlfriend and I found out and I must say I think you're far too young to be out there partying and what not with god knows who, but if you do end up getting nasty with this girl make sure to use a, uh... a condom!-

"Mom, I am not having sex," I say, shooting Axel a look.

-Well, just be careful, sweetie. I'll, er, I'll see you tomorrow?-

"Yeah," I agree before hanging up.

"She was listening in on me and dad talking," Axel defended automatically. "I didn't know she was on the other line."

"Yeah, she does that," I sigh. "That's why I don't make calls on the house phone. Figured you'd have known that by now. Is that all you wanted me for?"

He pouts slightly. "No."

"Then what do you want?" I sigh.

"Did you like our band?" He's smiling hopefully, almost like some little kid trying to impress his mom at a school play. Its almost cute, almost makes him attractive like he was earlier when he was playing, only its Axel. But this isn't the Axel I grew up with. Its like he's changed into a completely different person. I guess he really isn't as bad as I thought he was.

I smile back, trying to be nice as well. "You guys were really good. I liked it a lot. You know, you have a really nice voice." I try to put on my best seductive voice because its funny to watch him squirm.

"Er, um, you want a beer or something?" he asks, looking down at his shoes then back up at me. "I mean, I know you don't drink, but I figured that you might want to get a beer with me and sit on the porch swing. Or something. I don't know."

I laugh lightly and nod, saying, "Sure. I'll have one. Even though they taste like piss."

Sitting on the swing with Axel wasn't as bad as I thought. He explained to me that Cloud was upstairs right now with a music scout, working out a deal. He said that they probably aren't going to be signed yet because of the label it was, but they'd probably have to prove themselves at the battle of the bands the label is sponsoring. He offered for me to go and I replied with a maybe because god knows if my mother will let me now that I have a girlfriend.

Axel puts his arm on the back of the swing and I blush. Freaking hell, this is bad. He's playing the same game I'm playing at! He leans in close to me and says in a husky voice right into my ear, "You know, I might actually get famous. You should totally be one of my groupies."

I put a hand on his chest to kind of keep him back but kind of just to touch him because his amazing scent is doing wonders to me. "Dear lord, I'd never degrade myself that way."

He laughs and sits back, taking a drink of his beer. I look down at my untouched one and take a drink of my own. It does taste like piss! What the heck, why do people drink this crap? I talk all this crap in my head, though, but find myself taking another drink.

"So," Axel says to clear the silence. "You and Namine were fighting earlier. You were scary when you came out of the room, cussing and shit. You two are having relationship problems already?'

I shrug and tear at the label on my half drunk glass bottle. "She called me immature or something because I didn't want to have sex with her. And I pretty much called her a whore and yelled at her for kissing you."

He moved his arm slightly off the back of the bench so that he could play with my hair, most of his focus on the task. "Yeah, I don't think you two are gonna work out very well, and I'm not saying that because I want you. I'm just saying that while you guys look cute together, she's kind of advanced when it comes to relationships, like always wanting to fuck and kiss and shit. And you're not into that kind of stuff yet. That's what makes you so cute." He meets my eyes now and I keep the gaze before feeling another blush and having to look down and continue ripping the label from my beer. "Besides, you two could pass as siblings. Its creepy."

I smile at that, still not looking up. "I guess we could. But I don't really wanna break up with her. I mean, I really like her."

"What do you like about her?" he asks, his fingers leaving my hair and his eyes going to his own beer.

"Hhm. I guess her personality. She's really nice and funny. Oh, and she's really cute and I'm kind of shallow so her body. I don't know, there's just something about her."

Axel smiles at me and pats my back before saying, "Yeah, that's all girls are. Just nice faces and bodies. Hey, wanna go back inside? Its freezing out here."

"Sure," I say and he pulls me up. When he doesn't let go of my hand as we walk in and I don't pull away, I silently panic. This is bad. This is really bad. I had better not start liking this freaking brute of a teen. I mean, sure, I kind of admit to liking him, but I'm not gonna like him to where I want to be with him. I don't like guys and I have a girlfriend and he's a jerk. Well, he's not that bad, I guess, since he's been nice to me lately, but still.

He grabs another beer, throwing his empty bottle into a trash can. I set my almost empty one on a counter to be abandoned, done with the taste. In the kitchen, he offers me something to eat but I decline because my head is kind of spinning and I don't think I can stomach anything from how dizzy I'm getting. We end up sitting at the counter seats, talking again about why beer tastes so gross. Suddenly, he stops and stares at my neck intensely.

"What?" I furrow my brow at him. "What is it?"

"Dude..." He reaches a hand out to pull on the hood of my shirt so he can get a better look. He grins at me when he confirms whatever he's looking at and then laughs lightly. "You have a hickey!"

"What?" I slap my hand against the infected area of my neck. "Are you serious?"

He removes my hand and laughs again, shaking his head. "You are so dead when your mother sees that!"

Oh, god, I am dead. When my mother grounds us, its like being in Alcatraz. No phone, no computer, no reading for fun, no TV, no friends, locked windows, no leaving your room unless its for the chores they assign the us upon punishment. All there is to do when being grounded in our house is stare at the wall, work like a dog and sleep. If my mom see's this hickey- oh, dear lord... I will never see daylight again!

~o~

The party dies down around four, ending the 'camping' trip that has completely changed my life. Namine ends up in her own bed when Sora and I carry her unconscious body and Kairi ends up staying the night with Xion. What they're doing in there, I don't want to know. All I know is that Xion kicked out her roommate, Rufus, for the night. Sora and Leon end the night fighting again, Leon calling Sora a 'slutty whore bitch who will never love anything.' Ouch. Sora wants me to sleep with him tonight and, frankly, I don't think I can face being in the same bed as Axel with all the crap that's gone on between us the last three days. So, I end up bunking with Sora and Leon sleeps on the couch. Everybody else stayed in their respected rooms, Axel grumbling complaints because I'm not joining him, but he can complain all he wants. I'm still not getting in bed with him.

"Leon thinks I'm a slut," Sora sighs into the darkness of the night. I try not to roll my eyes or be sarcastic with a remark like I wonder why? Since Sora has been my best friend for ages and knows everything about me, even crap I don't even know about myself as he's demonstrated recently, he adds, "Yes, I know, I am kinda a slut, but it still kinda hurts for your boyfriend to call you one, dick."

I laugh and meet his eyes through the darkness. "Well, you have to prove to him that your not. I mean, I'm not a relationship expert or anything. Far from it from how much of a mess my love life is right now."

That makes him giggle and shift where he's laying a bit. "Yeah, I guess I'm barking up the wrong tree, aren't I? G'night, Roxy. Love you."

~o~

Sora and I didn't wake up until four the next afternoon. Even after we woke up, it was still awhile after that everyone else did. Cloud wasted no time packing and leaving, saying that he had hired a cleaning crew to do the cleaning. Well, crap, not like I'm complaining.

We didn't get home until around nine. Axel and I haven't said a word to each other all morning, a tense awkwardness surrounding us. He didn't even look at me until we were dropped off at our house. We stood on the curb, Cloud driving away, in silence. Then he turned to me and adjusted my hood to cover my hickey with a smile. "Well, you better pray she doesn't see it."

And pray I did. Every step we took up to our front door felt like a century. When the front door swung open and our parents met us out front, Josh resting on my mothers hip, dread washed over me. She's going to see it. She's going to see it and I'm gonna be screwed and grounded until I'm thirty. Crap. Crap. Crap.

"Oh, my baby!" She took my face in her hands and kissed my cheek repeatedly. I can hear Axel's laugh before he hugs his dad. "I missed you! So much!" She pulls away to stare at my face.

"Did you guys have fun?" Dad winks at us and leads the way into the house, my mom closing the door. Axel and I both nod tensely, knowing that everything we've done the last three days can't be alright with them, even our lay back father. "Good, good."

I think I'm in the stretch, dismissing myself for bed (Yeah, right, I slept all day.) when my mom looks me over. She pauses neck high in the second round of looking me up and down, steps forward and yanks my hoodie to the side to get a look at my neck. I pause, too, and just stare at her with wide eyes. I'm fucked.

I see Axel next to my dad, my dad cringing because he knows whats coming and Axel shaking his head with a sigh. My mom stares at the kiss mark on my neck, lets go of my jacket and narrows her eyes at me, shaking her head in disappointment.

"You're grounded."

~o~

A/N

So this chapter was exactly ten pages long, the last sentence ending exactly at the end. Hehe I'm proud of myself. That's four more then usual.

So, I meant to post this on New Years but my brother ended up getting in a dirt bike accident and messing himself up pretty bad so I've been busy trying to find out whats up with him because we hadn't known for a long while after the accident since he was on vacation with his friends, and then I had to help him a bit and what not, and before I knew it it had been over a week so sorry, guys. :/ Beh, I know, I know, I'm a jerk for not updating.

I hope you guys liked this chapter. :) Finally that freaking party ended! Ugh! Thank gawd.

So, as always, review. :) They fuel me like there's no tomorrow. Thanks so much to all my readers for following this story for ten long chapters, and thanks for sixty reviews! Because, I mean, wow. Sixty reviews. Ten chapters. Ugh, I am so happy right now. What a way to start a new year!

I'll see you guys soon! :D Bye bye~!