Summary: The bullying that has haunted Roxas for years just became worse. After enduring a very tough break-up with Hayner, the whole school *mysteriously* finds out that he's gay. Will Axel be able to stop Roxas from harming himself when things just get too much to take? Akuroku. Warning: Involves physical/sexual abuse.

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the storyline!

I couldn't hear him anymore, but I knew he was still sitting on the other side of the door. I could feel him there. I could feel his warmth pressed against the door. If I was very still and held my breath, I could almost feel his heartbeat through the wood. He was still waiting for me.

Through the French doors, I could see the night becoming lighter. It would be dawn soon. Neither of us had moved in hours. I had cried silent tears for a while after closing the door, never allowing myself to make any sound. I didn't want him to hear me. I didn't want him to wait for me. It would have been better if he had just yelled at me for running away like I had, but I knew he wouldn't do that. He probably wasn't even angry at me. He probably wasn't even disappointed, even though he had the right to be.

He'd asked me if he'd hurt me, but I was the one who had hurt him. He'd probably wanted to kiss me for a while, and I'd ruined it. Yet, he was out there most likely feeling guilty about it right now and I was just in here hiding from him, making him feel worse. I had to tell him it wasn't his fault.

I pulled myself off the floor, muscles aching and bones popping. I scraped the door as I moved my hand to the doorknob. I heard Axel stir on the other side of the door. When I tightened my grip on the knob, the sound the metal made seemed to echo through the room.

I could hear Axel clearly when he stood and pressed a hand against the door. "Roxas?" he called quietly.

"I'm gonna come out now," I said, my voice hoarse.

I kept my gaze on the floor as I opened the door, not wanting to meet the eyes I could feel searching my face, not wanting to confront him at all. Slowly, still with my eyes on the floor, I trudged out of my room, closing the door behind me.

"Roxas," Axel said, reaching out to me, but not coming close to touching me. I closed my eyes. "Roxas, look at me." I could clearly make out the pleading tone in his voice. I thought I even heard that voice, that perfect voice, crack a bit when he said my name.

I gradually brought my eyes to his, surprised to find them red and puffy. Axel had been crying. The realization that I had, indeed, hurt him caused bile to rise in my throat.

I gulped it down before saying, "I'm sorry."

He scrunched his eyebrows as he said, "For what?"

"For running out on you like that," I said, looking away from him again. And for making you cry.

"Roxas," he said, his voice gentle again. "You had the right to be emotionally distraught. You were in pain, and I shouldn't have approached you like that. The last thing I wanted was to hurt you, and that's what I did." His voice actually did crack on the last sentence, sending my heart into the pit of my stomach.

"You didn't hurt me, Axel," I said, meeting his eyes again. He wasn't looking at me this time.

"I shouldn't have kissed you," he said, clenching his eyes shut.

"As I recall, I kissed you," I pointed out.

"You did," he said. "But I initiated it. I made you feel like you didn't have a choice."

"Axel, I-"

If you didn't want to kiss me, you could have backed away."

"Axel," I tried again.

I shouldn't have-"

"Axel!" I shouted, reaching out to lay my hand on his arm.

He looked at my hand, then, puzzled, into my eyes.

"I wanted to kiss you," I assured him.

"Then..." he said, trying to make sense of what I'd just admitted. "Why...?"

I winced, not wanting to tell him why I ran, but knowing that I had to to make him understand. "You bit my neck." I closed my eyes and took a deep breath before saying, "My father does... did... that. Even after he stopped molesting me. It was his way of letting me know that I was his. It just brought up the memories when you did it."

"I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't know. I won't do it again."

"I'm sorry for overreacting like I did," I said, taking another deep breath. "I must have made you feel so..."

Before I could apologize again, Axel pulled me into a fierce hug and said, "I thought I did something horrible that hurt you. I'm just glad you're alright."

I returned the hug with a smile saying, "I am now."

He chuckled.

"What's funny?" I asked.

"Nothing," he said. Then, "I just would have loved to see the look on your father's face when he found out you were dating Hayner."

I stiffened. Noticing, Axel loosened his hold and pulled back, inspecting my face.

"Sorry," I said, relaxing a bit. "I'm fine. I don't think my father knew I was seeing someone. If he had..." I shuddered.

"Well," he said, "I'd bet he'd be pissed to know you didn't belong to him at all."

I pulled away from him and he released me without hesitation. "Hayner and I never... We didn't..."

"Oh," he said, somewhat surprised. "I'm sorry, I just assumed... My bad."

"It's okay," I said, not really wanting to discuss my lack of a sex life with Axel.

There was a bit of an awkward silence before Axel said, "So... do you want to go to school or wait another day or two?"

"I should go, but..." I said, biting my lip.

"It's okay to skip a few days," he said. "I'll make you something to eat. You look famished." He looked me over once more before saying, "Then I'll replace those bandages." He chuckled a bit before continuing, "If you're not more careful, you'll end up using all of my medical supplies."

I giggled nervously as I followed him into the kitchen. He gestured for me to pull a stool up to the counter. I did, watching him scowl at his fridge.

"Do you have any idea how difficult it is to make a decent breakfast while avoiding meat, eggs, and all dairy products?"

"Sorry," I said, biting my lip.

He waved my apology away as he said, "It's alright. That makes it challenging." He tilted his head to look at me, a small smile on his face as he said, "I like a challenge." He looked back at his fridge, then to me and said, "Though I'll probably have to stock up on soy products."

I ended up getting dry cereal, apple juice, and half an orange. I didn't complain. I hadn't expected Axel to be able to produce anything special for breakfast. I didn't really want him to make me anything special. Cereal was great, even when dry, considering I usually got my first meal from school. I thanked him and tried not to wolf down the food to fast. It was true that I was almost starving. I'd been sleeping a lot lately, even though it wasn't helping much at all, and hadn't really gotten in much to eat.

After showering, I let Axel replace the bandages. My ribs were still very tender and looked worse today than they had before. I was glad to have them covered. I heard Axel sigh at least twice as he was tending to my wounds.

Just as he finished bandaging my wrist again, his phone started vibrating. He fished it carefully out of his pocket and flipped it open. Seeing the name, he drew his lips together before setting it aside on the counter and letting it ring without answering it. He seemed relieved when it stopped, but tensed up again when it began to vibrate again. After the third call, the phone beeped twice, indicating that Axel had received a voicemail.

He picked it up, looking as though he wanted to flush the foul thing down the toilet, and slid it into his pocket. When he saw my inquisitive look, he muttered something about not wanting to deal with idiots before running a finger through his (still not spiked) hair. He stopped with his hand in his hair, bringing a strand of it out so he could see it, and glanced at the cabinet under the sink.

"I kinda like it like that," I said with a smile. "You don't have to spike it all the time do you?"

He shrugged and said, "I'm used to it that way. I just didn't bother to fix it because..." He glanced over at me.

"I'm sorry I had you so worried about me," I said. "But I'm fine now. I just hid because I thought you'd be mad at me."

He lifted his hand to my face and lightly traced the side that wasn't bruised. "I could never be mad at you," he said. His fingers traced my jaw, trailing down to my neck, gently grazing the finger marks my father had left there before coming to rest over my heart. "Is this okay?" he asked, keeping his hand over my heart.

I nodded, placing my hand over his. "It's alright to touch my neck," I said, enjoying the warmth of his touch. "Just don't bite it."

His eyes took on a mischievous sparkle as he said, "So..." He leaned in closer, hesitating a moment, before letting his lips feather over my collarbone. He lightly kissed the junction of my neck and my shoulder before asking, "This is okay?"

"Yes," I breathed, tilting my head back slightly.

I felt him smile against my neck as he asked, "As long as I don't bite?" His breath ghosted over my skin as he spoke, sending a chill down my spine.

"Just don't bite," I said, my voice no louder than a whisper.

I tried to suppress a shiver as his lips trailed over my neck, stopping to kiss the edge of my jaw just under my ear. He kissed his way up my jaw until I turned my head to press my lips against his. He was gentle this time, not as eager as he'd been before. His hands came up to my face. One stroked the unbruised side of my face while the other one made its way to my hair.

He stopped when I gasped. He pulled away from my lips, but maintained the closeness.

After a while, he pulled his hands away and said, "You should try to catch up on your sleep."

"It's almost noon," I pointed out, a bit disappointed at the loss of his touch, though I could still feel his lips on me.

He chuckled and said, "I know, but you barely slept at all last night if you stayed awake against that door like I did." He lifted a finger and lightly prodded the dark circle under my right eye. "You're exhausted. Besides, I probably have to step out for a while again and I'd feel a lot better knowing you're asleep when I leave."

"Oh..." I said, glancing at his hand over his pocket his phone occupied. "Alright, then."

He smiled and escorted me to my room. I tried not to giggle hysterically when I reached up to trace the line his lips had made. His hands were a lot more pleasant than any others I'd felt, and I wanted to feel them again. I tried not to get too overexcited at the thought as I laid down to sleep.

A/N: I'm so psyched that people are liking this! Thanks for all your support, and for reading. Please review! :)