VIII

Roxas. Roxas. Roxas. God I just want to be with him right now. Why isn't it seven yet?

He had been pacing the living room until Mar got tired of his bitching and told him to stop or go outside. He still didn't know when Xemnas was coming back, so he decided on the latter and was currently pacing around town. He had taken his bike for a drive around Fragment Crossing, but when he started getting antsy again he got off and headed for the park.

He sat on a swing that was a little bit too small for him and continued to think about Roxas. It was almost two, only a couple more hours. Only a little bit longer until he could see his sweet Roxas again.

During the day he had tried to commit his face to memory. Every curve, every dimple and freckle, as many details as he could. He had only seen his face a couple of times so it was hard, but he was just too excited.

The day was going way too slowly for it to be regular time. Seriously, it was driving him nuts. He could see the clock tower from where he was on top of a big hill. It was now a couple of seconds passed three and he groaned.

His leg started bouncing up and down and he decided to go get something to eat to hopefully pass the time. There was a little restaurant down the road, and his stomach rumbled. He cursed himself, he had been so caught up with Roxas that he had forgotten to eat anything.

Halfway there, at a stop light, a thought crossed his mind. What if Roxas wants to get something to eat? Then what? He could be ruining a perfect opportunity for later. Honestly, how rude would it be to make him eat alone?

But his stomach growled despite himself. Maybe just a snack would do for now.

He stopped at a gas station and grabbed a bag of chips and an energy drink. He then briefly wondered if his other beers had survived the night.

Axel decided that he simply couldn't wait anymore. Well, he could, but he was going to do it atop the clock tower and wait for Roxas to show his cute little face.

When he arrived, there was no one in sight. He was actually surprised to find that his drinks had been left, along with his mess. To pass the time he cleaned up, utilizing the little trash can right outside the door.

He decided to have just one beer, because he thought they were actually pretty good. He still had loads of time so he decided to take the trek all the way back down to his motorcycle just so could get the drinks out of his sight. He actually wanted to be sober when talking to Roxas.

His bike had a little attachment in which he could store the drinks in. it wouldn't fit the whole box, but he could shove the cans in and not have to worry about them.

Now back on the ledge of the tower, it was four forty-two. It had taken him a few minutes to get here, plus the rush hour traffic. He took his time on everything, and by the time he had finished both drink and the somewhat massive bag of chips, it was only fifteen after five.

Wanting to amuse himself, he thought about spitting off the edge of tower, but decided against it in case Roxas came early. He hoped he would come early, then he could be with him longer.

Axel shut his eyes. He wasn't even that tired, he was just really bored. Before he knew it he had passed out.

He woke to the loud bell chimes ringing in his ears and throughout his entire body. He looked up to find himself alone, and was devastated when the clock read seven.

Relax, he told himself, Roxy's probably running a little late. Maybe he's on his way up right now.

Five minutes went by, and still no sign of Roxas.

Axel tried to force himself to be calm, but he was growing too worried too quickly. What if he had decided otherwise? What if didn't want to be with Axel? What if he had been lying when he said it was all okay?

Or what if… "What if he's hurt?" he asked out loud.

No, not his Roxas. He looked at the clock, 7:10. He could wait a little while longer. He'd give him until eight, he decided. He didn't know what kind of life he had, what if escape was too hard for him? But also, what if he wasn't on his way?

He started pacing like an antsy teenager. He hoped he'd be okay, no, no he was just overreacting like a good boyfriend.

His heart fluttered at the thought.

Would Roxas be okay with that? Hopefully he would, because now that he had him he didn't want to let him go. It's been a while, and Roxas still hasn't shown up. Axel was growing more and more anxious and then suddenly he saw flashing lights in the distance.

They were speeding down the road and his eyes widened as he watched them go. He watched their path closely until the lights and the sounds were completely out of sight.

What if Roxas was the one they were going after? I might just be paranoid… but maybe I should follow them just to be sure…

There was an ambulance a few seconds later and his mind was made up. He ran down the stairs, nearly tripping several times, and jumped onto his bike.

He revved the engine and sped off down the road after the cops. It's funny, never in all his life did he think he'd be willingly following the police.

They started coming up on a smaller part of town. It was at the outskirts of Twilight and was just barely passing into Fragment. Did Roxas live all the way out here? Did he… oh god did he actually get hit?

Out of nervousness he started biting on his fingernail. He immediately stopped when he couldn't drive with one hand. Axel skidded to a stop behind the police cars and saw that they were in front of a little ice cream stand.

On the ground were two kids he didn't know. One of them was trying to get up and walk away like a dumbass, but the other was lying stone cold.

He didn't see Roxas anywhere, and he was relieved. Now that that was out of the way he turned towards the two victims on the sidewalk.

A couple more kids were around, surrounding the blond and trying to encourage him to lie still. He was punching the air deliriously and was screaming something about his hat. His tall friend patted him on the shoulder gently as he was moved to the ambulance, "Seifer you need to calm down, ya know?"

He snarled at his friend, "I will not! Those two homos, thinking they can just do whatever they want. And you! You didn't even stay to fight!"

"Well… I got knocked out ya know? Don't put the blame on me!"

Axel ignored him, just some punk. On the ground the other kid was still lying flat. Axel briefly wondered if he was dead. A police officer pushed him back, and not wanting to get into a fight, he apologized and shuffled away without protest.

They moved the kid onto a stretcher and a girl he assumed was his girlfriend suddenly appeared at his side crying furiously.

"I called you brother Sora! He'll meet us at the hospital, can you hear me? Roxas and your mom are on their way! Please be alright!"

That caught his attention. Roxas? Brother? Holy shit. Axel's eyes widened and he caught up to the girl when the officers wouldn't let her ride in the back.

"Hey, you know Roxas?" he said. The girl sniffled and looked up at him wearily.

"Y-yeah. Why?"

"I… do to," smooth, "Um. That's his brother right? Let me take you to the hospital."

She pulled a tissue from her purse and wiped some of the tears off her face, "How do you know Roxas? Or Sora?"

Axel bit his lip, "We used to go to school together. I've never met his brother until now though. We uh… never really talked much until recently. Please, I want to make sure he'll be okay too."

The girl's eyes widened some and she nodded reluctantly. He wouldn't blame her, she was about to get on a motorcycle with some stranger.

He went to retrieve his bike and she almost backed out, saying she'll call Roxas to come pick her up. Axel decided to play on the air of caution as well as reverse psychology, so naturally he said fine and that he'd be there before her. He also kind of needed her since he didn't know which hospital they'd be going to.

She stalled at that, and then slowly got onto the bike behind him. She held him as loose as she could as he sped off down the road towards after the flashing lights.

They arrived about a minute behind the ambulance. Axel parked and the two ran inside, just barely catching Roxas's brother as he was whisked away to the E.R.

The nurse told the girl to wait when she started to run after him. Axel found a comfy spot and nestled into in the stiff chairs, preparing himself for a long night.

There was a plop next to him and he turned to see the girl sitting a seat away. She turned towards him abruptly, "…Thank you. I'm Kairi, by the way."

He nodded, "Axel."

Silence fell between them again, but when it became clear that no one was going anywhere Kairi turned to face him again, "How do you really know Roxas? I know you said you went to school before, but that doesn't entirely explain everything."

Axel bit his lip. He hadn't had time to prepare for this, on the drive over here he had been trying to come up with a suitable lie.

"We… used to be lab buddies."

"Really? No offense, but you look much older than Roxas."

He shrugged, "I get that a lot… I'm only a year older than him," keep lying… he thought.

"Oh, really?" she said surprised but not suspiciously, "I never would've guessed."

"Yeah I graduated last year. We just started hanging out when I went off to college, it's been a while and he knew I was visiting. We were going to hang out tonight, but when he didn't show up I got worried. Then… the police drove by and I couldn't resist the urge to follow them. What if it was Roxas? I kept thinking…"

At least the last part was true. He had been genuinely worried about Roxas. He felt a little uncomfortable and out of place being here, supporting his brother, but he did want to make sure they were alright. As inappropriate as this was, he figured he could get in some brownie points with his mom.

Oh god his mom. He'd be meeting his mom here. He gulped in anticipation.

They fell silent once more, and then ten minutes later two figures came bursting into the E.R.

"Where's my baby? Where's my baby Sora?" a petite women with long bright blonde locks was screaming at the top of her lungs and crying her eyes out. There was makeup all over her reddened face and she was scrabbling at the air like a madwomen.

The nurses rushed to shush her. Then, he saw Roxas, his heart fluttered for more reasons than one. On one hand he was very glad to see him okay too, but on the other he was devastated by the fearful look in his eye.

He spotted the two of them and became confused. He said something to his mom and walked over to us, "Axel? What are you doing here?"

He recalled his story again and Roxas was surprised. Before he could say anything his mom walked over, sniffling, but otherwise okay.

"Thank you for being here Kairi," she turned to him, "and who might you be? Another friend of Sora's?"

"I'm actually a friend of Roxas. We were supposed to hang out tonight and uh… well when he didn't show up I got worried and then the police drove passed our meeting place and I got worried. I followed them, not really sure what to expect and well… now here I am."

Her eyes lit in recognition, "Oh. Right. Roxas told me about you earlier. Sorry your plans were ruined," she smiled weakly and Axel scooted over to invite them to sit.

Roxas sat next to him and his mother sat in between him and Kairi. Axel stole a look at the boy sitting next to him and he looked like he wanted to say something, anything, but with his mom right there he remained quiet. The girl, Kairi, motioned for Roxas to come over so they could talk

He glanced at him and then stood to go talk to her, leaving Axel and Roxas's mom alone.

Suddenly Roxas's mom started talking to him to fill the silence, "So… Axel then. Roxas tells me you're in college. What are studying?"

He blinked before spitting out the first thing on his mind, "En… Engineering," he tried not to laugh at his own lie. That was probably the last thing he would ever study, as soon as he went to college of course.

His mom seemed impressed though, "Oh. Where are you going then?"

He wanted to just curl up alone with Roxas and not be grilled by his mom right now. Although he supposed this would happen eventually, "I'm studying at the University of Port Royal."

She was ever more impressed, what was he getting himself into? He would never be able to go to a school like that. He was surprised she was even buying it. After all, you could smell trouble just from looking at him.
"Oh," she dried some of her tears away, "well I'm glad Roxas has a friend like you. And thank you so much for staying, Kairi was telling me you drove her here? Thank you for that as well. I appreciate that you care about my son like you do, friends like that are hard to find."

Axel forced his smile to not be awkward, "Of course."

He didn't know what to say, and he hoped she wouldn't ask any more questions he had to make up lies for. From his side, he could feel Roxas shaking and all he wanted to do was wrap him up in a hug until he calmed.

Looking straight at him he could see that he was holding back tears. Axel was going to be honest, they were taking a long ass time figuring out if his brother alright or not. He hoped he'd be okay. He was sensing a pattern of meeting Roxas's family at the wrong times in the worst of situations.

Just as he was thinking that, a dark haired nurse came up to them with a neutral expression. She held a clipboard in her hands and blinked twice before speaking, "You are Sora's mother right?"

Roxas's mom nodded vigorously, "Yes. Is he alright?"

The nurse smiled softly, "He'll be just fine, thankfully."

She let out a sigh, "Oh thank god… how bad are his injuries?"

"He's suffered from a minor fracture to the skull, but that should heal with time. His nose is also broken, but again that shall heal. Nothing too serious. Since it's already late I would suggest he stays here for the night just to keep him still, and he can go home tomorrow. He's awake now, if you wish to see him."

Roxas's mom stood quickly, "Yes please. Take me to him, is it okay if we all come?"

She nodded and motioned for them to follow. She took them down a hallway and into a room where the kid from earlier was lying down. He stirred as they entered but winced before he could sit up.

"Mom?" he called out weakly.

His mom started crying again and rushed to his side, "Oh I'm so glad you're alright! Oh, my baby boy…"

Kairi went to his other side while he and Roxas stayed back a little, "Hey Sora. Are you alright?"

His brother grunted as he shifted his head, "Yeah I'm okay. Who is…" his eyes widened when they landed on Axel. Then then sparkled and he sent him a lopsided smile, "Are you Axel?"

Axel looked down at Roxas, how many people had he mentioned him to? He stepped forward, "Yeah. I take it Roxas had been blabbing about me again?"

His commenting earned a nudge in the back from Roxas. He tossed a grin over his shoulder and turned around again.

Sora laughed, "Yeah. He's told me lots. Hopefully we can talk again soon, I'm kind of tired."

He took a step back again, "Oh right, sorry."

Roxas took his spot at the foot of the bed and Axel sat in one of the spare chairs. He felt slightly uncomfortable, but he had already decided long ago that he would be here for Roxas. He tried his best not to nod off like an asshole, but he figured it was okay when Roxas pulled up a seat next to him and started leaning on his shoulder.

Soon, they were both sound asleep in stiff hospital chairs.