-A-

"Saix, it's too fucking early to be waking me up," Axel growled into his phone.

"It's not Saix."

Axel's eyes widened and he got up immediately, giving himself some nice light-headedness. "Demyx?"

"Hey," he said quietly.

"What's, uh, up?" That was lame, but what exactly did you say to your ex? Axel hadn't really had to experience that.

"I actually wanted to talk to you. Can you come over?"

"Now?"

"Yeah…or whenever. I'm not doing anything today, so…"

Axel looked over at the clock in his room; it read 8:09 a.m. "I'll leave in thirty, okay?"

"Sounds good. See you then." And he hung up.

Demyx wanted to talk to him. That was the best news he'd heard since last week when his physics professor canceled their test.

Immediately he was out of bed and getting dressed. He didn't care to try and look super nice for Demyx; he just wanted to hurry up and leave and talk to one of the few people in the world that knew him better than anyone.

After getting on his normal get up, he ran towards the shared bathroom and began to brush his teeth. He may be trying to hurry to Demyx, but he wasn't about to be gross and not brush his teeth. That was more of a Marluxia thing.

As he brushed his teeth and walked toward his room to make sure he had everything, he suddenly remembered that Roxas and Zexion had a date that day – and that made him halt.

However, he shook that from his mind and decided to think about one thing at a time. Demyx wants to talk to me. And he was back to brushing his teeth and not thinking about what Roxas and Zexion would be doing alone.

-R-

Roxas was not a light sleeper, so the fact a door slamming is what woke him up was incredibly annoying. "What the hell, Axel?!" Who slams the front door at nine in the morning, on a weekend? That's just rude on so many levels.

Determined to go back to sleep, the blond buried his face in his pillow. Eventually he did drift off - for a measly five minutes. Since Roxas was doomed to be awake at the crack of dawn, he decided he might as well make his roommate entertain him. Pulling on the closest shirt to him, which happened to be a slightly oversized Panic! At The Disco shirt, the cranky blond made the short trip to Axel's bedroom door.

"You forfeited the right to privacy the second the door slam woke me up – Wait." Roxas looked around the room and realized he was talking to himself. "I guess it was the front door that had slammed." The blond didn't know what to do at that point. Axel wasn't in his room to entertain him and Roxas had never been in the other male's room. Staying in here a minute shouldn't hurt.

Roxas walked over to Axel's desk and looked at all the clutter on it. Batman comics, random scraps of burned paper, car magazines, and a shoe box in a corner of the desk. Curious as a cat, Roxas pulled the shoe box towards him. Don't be weird porn, don't be weird porn, don't be weird porn.

Slowly, as if the speed in which the box was opened affected its contents, Roxas removed the lid. Needless to say, what he found made his eyes go wide.

-A-

As per usual, Axel had a lit cigarette in his mouth as he walked over to his car. He was, naturally, stressed out. What did Demyx want? Was this going to be bad? Was it going to be good? Oh jeez, was it going to be that cheesy thing where he gives Axel back all his stuff in a box?

The redhead sighed as he contemplated all the random things that could go on. But he made it to his car eventually, put on a random radio station and was soon off to his ex-boyfriend's house.

Fuck, I hope his parents aren't there, he thought to himself. Even if Demyx was mad, he was pretty sure that he would never force Axel to deal with them after a break up. Demyx's parents were an adorable couple, especially his mother, but when he and Axel had gotten together, he had been warned that if he broke their son's heart, he would pay. And Axel had no doubt that Demyx's parents actually would do something.

However, even with the fear of his parents, Axel's mind unwillingly went back to Roxas – and Zexion. They had a date later on, he was pretty sure it'd be close to noon, and since Axel clearly had a thing for Roxas by now, he didn't exactly like the idea of the younger couple being all cute and cozy in his and Roxas's room. Of course, he didn't really like the idea of the two being all cute and cozy anywhere at all.

But what could he do? Absolutely nothing. Saix had told him how stupid he was and that he should beg Demyx back, and Riku had told him to wait for the two to break up. He wasn't sure which of his friends was worse.

-R-

Pictures. Tt was a box full of pictures. Pictures of Axel laughing with his group of friends, at the beach playing the guitar, with smudged eyeliner with some band member. Some photos looked like they were from high school, the only indicator of that being the lack of flame tattoos, some looked as recent as the summer before school started.

Roxas couldn't help but smile at all the pictures. Axel looked so happy in them. It was a look the redhead hadn't really had for a while.

The blond went through the pictures one by one, completely entertained. Amusement parks, car shows, parties, all happy memories. Roxas's smile fell as he came to a recent looking photo. It was of Demyx and Axel kissing. The pair were smiling into the kiss, and Axel was flipping off the camera. They looked so happy.

It was that second Roxas felt the weight of what he was doing. He was prying into Axel's private life, his past. The blond hurriedly put the photo back in the box, and the others on top of it, trying to bury the feeling he had in his stomach.

They had been so happy, what had happened? What caused Axel to break up with Demyx? What could have possessed the ginger to end things with someone he looked so happy with?

Roxas's phone buzzed in his back pocket.

"Looks like I'll be able to head over in an hour instead of at twelve. That alright?"

The blond rose from the desk chair and started to leave the room he suddenly felt like an intruder in. "Sounds good Zex, I'll see you soon."

-A-D-

Axel parked at Demyx's parents' house. He had rang at the gate, having not done that in years, before it opened for him and he parked in his usual parking spot. Sometimes he forgot just how rich Demyx's family was.

As he got out of his car, there was Demyx, walking on over to him. Fuck, he groaned to himself. He wasn't sure how to react. Should he smile? Should he look sad? What should he do?

Demyx figured that out for him, however, and shocked the hell out of Axel by glomping him in a hug – a hug he had done since he and Axel had been close.

"Its been way too long," Demyx said to the redhead, and Axel just looked at him with pure shock. He was so shocked, in fact, that he didn't even attempt to hug back.

"Umm."

Demyx understood, and just smiled warmly at his ex-boyfriend. "I'm okay, Axel. That's why I invited you, so you can hug me, ya' know. I've missed your hugs."

So Axel did. He wrapped his arms around the blond with as much force as he could muster, and Demyx happily hugged him back eagerly. He truly had missed the redhead, even if they were no longer a thing. Axel would always hold a special place in his heart, just like he knew that he would always hold a special place in Axel's heart. It wasn't the way he thought it would be, but he was happy as long as he got to be close to Axel and as long as Axel was happy.

After a good couple minutes of just embracing, the two awkwardly pulled back, and Demyx continued to just smile. Axel tried, but he just couldn't. He of course still felt bad for what he had done to Demyx, especially why he had done it, but he was happy that Demyx seemed to be doing well.

"Come on," the blond said, before heading on over to the entrance. Axel simple followed behind him, easily catching up with his longer than life legs.

"How've you been?" the redhead asked, unable to help himself as they walked into the mansion.

"I've been better," the blond said honestly. "But I've definitely been worse, so I can't complain."

"I'm sor-"

Demyx just waved him off. "Don't bother apologizing. You know better than anyone that I already forgave you." And Axel did actually know that, too. "What I wanna' know…" They sat down in the main room of the house, and Demyx offered Axel to sit on the same sofa as him. "I wanna' know why."

Even though Demyx actually was okay with the whole thing by now, it still hurt of course. The two had been together for so long, and then suddenly they weren't. Demyx deserved an explanation, and no matter how nice he was, he had a right to know.

"I don't think you do," Axel said, not willing to look at Demyx. Obviously Demyx deserved to know, but Axel didn't want to hurt him more than he already had.

"Axel," he sighed, before resting his hand over the redhead's, who suddenly looked up at him with more surprise on his face. "I need to know. If it hurts me, that's fine, but I'm never gonna' completely…be okay with this unless you tell me. I want to know…what I did-"

"You didn't do anything," Axel said immediately.

"I had to have done something, Ax. Why else would you…do that…"

Demyx tried to keep control of his emotions, he really did, but…but this was Axel. It was his first love. Axel had been the person that made him realize he preferred men.

"It wasn't you, Dem. I promise."

"Then what was it?"

Axel sighed, and looked up at Demyx once again. "I…I realized that…someone else had…had…" Fuck, Axel, just say it!

But Demyx knew. "You started liking someone else, didn't you?" Axel's eyes told him that it was true, and Demyx then knew why Axel broke up with him. He knew Axel thought it was a terrible thing to like someone while you were with someone else – he thought so because it had happened to him in high school. He had watched Axel go through it, actually.

And the more Demyx looked into Axel's eyes and thought about it, the quicker he realized who it was. God, it had been so obvious, too.

"It's Roxas, isn't it?"

-R-Z-

Roxas had an hour before his boyfriend got to his place, so he decided to take a quick shower and clean his room. Not that when they ended up in his room the clutter would be on Zexion's mind, well Roxas hoped that it wouldn't capture his attention.

Just as the blond pulled the last corner of his comforter back, his phone went off. "I'm walking down the hall to your place, finish cleaning your room yet?"

Roxas scoffed and didn't even bother to reply. When he heard the knock at the door, he stomped over to let his mean boyfriend in. "Well don't you look cranky."

Zexion was smiling at the look Roxas was making. It was fun to tease his boyfriend, especially when he knew his teasing was accurate. Roxas just "hump'd" and stormed to the couch. Zexion entered the apartment and followed his slightly smaller boyfriend.

"Come on Rox, your pouty face is cute, but I like you smiling better." Roxas plopped down on the couch and looked up at his boyfriend, pout in place and arms folded. "Roxas..." Zexion's voice took a warning tone but the blond wouldn't budge. "Fine! You leave me no choice."

Zexion sat next to Roxas and pulled the blond on top of him. Before Roxas could so much as turn his face away from his boyfriend's, his hand was in his hair. Not in a kinky way, more in a Roxas-loves-to-have-his-hair-played-with way. The blond melted into his boyfriend, closing his eyes and enjoying the feeling of Zexion lightly scratching him.

"Still mad at me?" A smile played on Zexion's lips. He knew damn well he was exploiting Roxas's ultimate weakness. He also knew what his boyfriend's answer was going to be.

The blond breathed out an "I hate you" but both males knew that wasn't true.

-A-D-

"Yeah," was all the redhead said, looking down again.

Axel couldn't bear to look at Demyx right then. How could he? He had hurt the one person that had been there through thick and thin – not even Saix had at one point. But Demyx, he stayed and he helped and he made Axel a better person, and how does he repay him? He falls for someone else, someone that he barely knows, and betrays Demyx.

"Huh. I feel like I should've known," the blond said, letting out a sigh.

"How could you have known?" Axel groaned. "I didn't even know for a while."

Demyx chuckled a little, before putting his hand on Axel's shoulder and forcing the redhead to look at him. "You guys are…different around each other. I honestly don't even know how to describe it, but…it's your vibe. You just seem to naturally get comfortable when he's around, and he seems to, too."

"But it shouldn't be like that. I shouldn't be like this around someone I barely know."

"You're right, you shouldn't," Demyx agreed, nodding his head. "But you are, and Axe, that's okay. You can't help how you feel."

"But it's not okay," he growled. "Because of this, I…I hurt you, Dem. You should be furious at me, not trying to help me."

"I was furious, Axel," he said, his voice calm, despite how uneasy he was feeling. Of course he had been distraught about it, but Demyx wasn't the type to hold a grudge, nor was he the type to lose someone that he had cared about. "But you know me. You know I can't be mad for long."

"But you should be-"

"But I'm not," he interrupted the redhead, getting slightly annoyed. "Look Axe, I'm not happy about all this, but this was what you chose and what you wanted. I'm not gonna' try to change your mind, but I'm not gonna' cry about this anymore. I'm okay."

You're way too good for me, Axel thought as he looked at the blond. No one in the world could be as amazing as Demyx. Axel wished how he felt for the blond was enough, and he wished that his feelings hadn't been leaving him, but they had. Any type of feeling, emotion, they were going to Roxas, and as much as Axel wanted to hate that, he knew he couldn't. What he felt for Roxas was something different. What he felt for Roxas was something he had never experienced with Demyx.

-R-Z-

The couple was anything but innocent, and Zexion decided they should take advantage of the empty dorm. They had stayed on the couch simply cuddling and giving each other playful kisses for ten minutes, before Zexion bit Roxas's neck, which lead to them being in Roxas's bed shirtless, and the owner of that bed having a very obvious hicky on his neck.

"Since when are you aggressive?" The blond chuckled as his boyfriend's mouth moved up and down his neck.

"Since I decided I wanted to be." Zexion captured his boyfriend's mouth in a kiss and moved his hand toward the hem of the blond's jeans. Roxas panicked, his eyes went wide and he moved his hips away from the wondering hand. "What's the matter, Rox?"

Zexion couldn't help but sound slightly hurt as he backed off. His boyfriend, his little Roxas didn't want him?

"No, Zexion. Hey, don't look so sad look at me." Roxas sat up, pulling his boyfriend into a tight embrace. "Don't look sad, I guess I just don't want to mess around right now."

Zexion embraced his boyfriend hard, some part of him knowing that he wasn't overreacting in the slightest. He wanted to be wrong. God he wanted his current thoughts to be wrong. His blond was in his arms, his blond. Zexion needed to believe that Roxas was still his despite how things were going lately. Couples go through rough patches, so this was just their rough patch. So Roxas didn't want to have sex, that doesn't always mean something – even though Roxas had never denied sex in the past.

Roxas was holding him so tightly, so lovingly, just as he always had, but Zexion couldn't help the feeling in his stomach. "Let's just go watch a movie." Roxas kissed his boyfriend on the cheek and took his hand. "You know this isn't about you, right? This is all me, just me being weird."

Zexion plucked his shirt from the floor and let go of Roxas's hand. As his shirt went back on, his hair became a wonderful barrier between him and the blue eyes he had grown so used to staring lovingly into. "You've always been weird, Roxas. Come on, let's go watch a stupid romantic movie where you'll cry and I'll have to remind you it's just a movie."

"Sometimes those movies say they're a true story!" The blond grabbed his shirt and tugged it over his head.

Zexion held out his hand to his boyfriend, which Roxas desperately took. "You'll believe anything, won't you?"

"No! But what can I say, I'm a sucker for a cute love story, especially where everyone ends up happy."

The couple made it to the couch, snuggling into each other and found a movie that was just starting. "Do you really believe in happy endings?"

"I do, they might not happen in the way people expect but they do happen."

-A-

The two seemed to work everything out, and though both knew going back to a friendship would be awkward at first, both were also happy that there would be a friendship at all. Axel never wanted to lose Demyx, and Demyx never wanted to lose Axel. Even if they couldn't be together in the way they had originally thought, they still wanted to be together in some way.

Axel left Demyx's after some time and headed back to school. He still couldn't believe how okay Demyx seemed. Perhaps he was giving himself too much credit, but he was sure that the blond would seem a little more upset. But then again, this was Demyx. In Axel's past, he had put Demyx through some crap, and the blond had forgiven him almost too easily. So really, was he surprised? No.

But Demyx shouldn't forgive people so easily. Even though it worked out for Axel, he had always been afraid that someone would take advantage of Demyx's kindness. To some degree, Axel knew that he took advantage, but he also knew that there was a line that he wouldn't cross, and that would've been intentionally hurting Demyx – something he refused to ever do.

Regardless, he was honestly happy that he and Demyx would be fine in the long run. It may not be in a couple days, or even a couple months, but they would be okay.

As he arrived back at the school and parked in a spot, he decided to celebrate his and Demyx's future friendship with a celebratory cigarette. Lame, of course, but he was in a good mood.

The redhead was in a good mood walking up to his dorm room, at a leisurely pace, until he finally reached the door and he put his key in. When he opened the door, that's when his mood died, and that's when he remembered why he hadn't been excited for that day.

Roxas and Zexion were on a date – in his and Roxas's dorm. Lovely.

-R-Z-

Zexion stiffened the second he heard a key enter the front door lock. Why does he have to be back? Can't he just disappear until everything with Roxas goes back to how they were? Granted the two of them where never perfect together, but they were a lot better off than they were now.

When Axel actually opened the door, Zexion made it a point to give him a look before Roxas could notice. As for Roxas, he didn't even realize Axel was back until he heard the front door close.

"Hey, you slamming the door this morning killed me."

The redhead didn't seem to react, which made Roxas wonder where he had been - and if he was okay. The blond tore his eyes from the ending of the incredibly sappy movie to size up his friend. His eyeliner was still perfectly winged so he hadn't been crying or rubbing his eyes, he wasn't dressed up or in pj's, so it was a whatever outing.

Where had he been? Why hadn't he told Roxas he was leaving? When did Roxas become so concerned with Axel? He was his friend, it's normal for him to care. Roxas was simply caring for his friend, that's all.

Anyways, the blond could feel the awkwardness radiating off of his giant roommate, so decided there was only one thing to do. "You wanna' hang out with us? We have some pizza left over and we're about to look for a new movie to watch." Roxas smiled at his friend, hoping to get him to stay with them.

Zexion couldn't believe Roxas was doing this, actually on second thought, he could. He knew how Roxas was, he wasn't one to leave anyone out, but the fact it was Axel made it a horrible idea. Had it been anyone, anyone else Zexion wouldn't have cared half as much.

Axel couldn't accept, he had to know how Zexion felt about him. He couldn't possibly be so dense as to accept.

-A-

"As tempted as I am to join you, especially since you never share food, you guys are on a date and all, so I'll just do some homework in my room."

As much as Axel didn't want the couple to date, he wasn't going to be a jerk and interrupt it. Even Larxene wouldn't interrupt him and Demyx when they actually had plans and were on a date. That's just a line that wasn't right of him to cross. Actually, no line was okay for Axel to cross until the two broke up – if they broke up.

The redhead was pretty sure there was some form of homework to do, although he couldn't actually think of what, but he could find something. Or if all else, he could go back to taking a nap. His sleep had been interrupted after all, and sleep didn't really sound like a bad thing. Of course, would he really be able to sleep with the knowledge of Roxas and his boyfriend on a date? Probably not. Axel probably wouldn't be able to focus on anything, really.

"Ah, but if you guys plan on making with the kinky, please for the love of God either do it silently, or warn me so I can find a nice place in the school that I suddenly am dying to go to."

For one, he just didn't care to hear another couple having sex. He'd walked in on Saix and Xemnas way too many times, and had heard Marluxia way too many times with other people. And of course, he just didn't want to hear Roxas having sex with anyone. He could mostly stand the date, but if he had to hear them having sex, he'd probably lose it, especially with the amount of sex dreams he'd been having lately.

He'd heard Roxas moan his name so many times in his dreams that he was pretty sure he would rip off anyone's head if Roxas moaned their name out.

-R-Z-

Roxas blushed a deep red, while Zexion wrapped his arm tighter around the blond.

Roxas didn't want Axel all alone. He knew Zexion might be annoyed, but Roxas just felt like Axel should be there. "We're not going to do anything. What you see is as far as we're going today. Stay with us, please?"

It looked as though Axel was going to deny again, but Zexion beat him to it. "Roxas, if he doesn't want to stay, don't make him feel like he has to stay."

The blond shrank into the couch, surprised by Zexion's harsh tone. "I'm just trying to be nice Zex, he's my friend... We'd do the same if it was Hayner..."

"Axel isn't Hayner! Hayner has been your best friend since before I even knew you. You've barely known Axel for a few months! How does that make him Hayner's status?"

Now Roxas was annoyed. Zexion of all people knew Roxas didn't care about time. All Roxas cared about was whether or not he was comfortable around someone, and he was around Axel. Zexion was being rude and it was pissing him off.

"Maybe Axel is Hayner status. Why does that matter? Bottom line is that he's my friend and I wanted him to hang out with us so he wouldn't be hauled up in his room. I don't know why you're acting like this."

Zexion got up from the couch and stared Axel down. "You're the only one who doesn't understand why I'm acting like this, Roxas."

When the silver haired male turned back to his boyfriend, the angry look that was directed at him broke his heart. "You're way out of line, Zex! Actually talk to me, tell me why this is such a problem!"

Zexion just shook his head and headed towards the door, "Yeah, I'm out of line."

"Zexion, where are you going? We need to talk about this!" Roxas was up at this point, and trembling with anger. He couldn't believe Zexion! He had never been this rude in front of anyone and the fact he was behaving this way in front of Axel somehow bugged Roxas more. What was Zexion's problem with Axel? Roxas couldn't talk about the ginger in front of his boyfriend because he would just roll his eyes. Whenever he simply said he was playing video games with Axel, Zexion went ice cold. It was one thing to do that over text, it was an entirely different thing to do in front of the actual person.

"I'm going home Roxas, I'll call you in a few days." Zexion stormed out of the dorm before his boyfriend could say anything else. This was all just a rough patch...wasn't it?

Zexion shook his head as he exited the building and decided he was going to do something out of character. He pulled out his phone and scrolled to a certain contact. "Hey, I know this is out of nowhere but I need someone to talk to."

-A-

What…the actual fuck had just happened?

The younger couple just blew up out of nowhere and it shocked the hell out of Axel. He had never seen them argue, and had just assumed that they were a perfect little couple. However, this clearly proved that theory wrong.

Axel just watched the scene unfold, watched as Zexion glared at him and watched as Roxas defended him. It was all one huge surprise for Axel, except Zexion glaring, and he wasn't entirely sure how to react. He had already had the feeling about Zexion not liking him, which was fine since he obviously wasn't a huge fan of Zexion, either. And from the looks of the fight, it would seem that Zexion probably had an idea about how Axel felt about Roxas. It would explain the jealousy.

"Hey," Axel said quietly, trying not to upset the blond. "Are you okay?"

Obviously he wasn't, but what else was the redhead supposed to say? He didn't want to be insensitive, but the air in the room was growing significantly more and more awkward.

-R-

A few days? What the hell was Zexion's problem? Did he – did he want to end things? No, this was just another fight, that's all. The couple seemed to be having a lot of them lately.

The blond couldn't seem to look away from the door his boyfriend disappeared behind. He didn't know if he hated the door for allowing his boyfriend to leave or thankful that it got him away. Roxas remembered a time when he hated seeing Zexion disappear, but as of this moment he was thankful the silver haired male was gone.

"I'm fine, not like this is anything new. I just…don't get what his problem is lately. He's been so up and down with me lately. One minute he can't get enough of me, the next he's hiding behind his hair and completely shut off from me." The blond scratched the back of his neck as if scratching it would make the awkwardness disappear from the room.

When Roxas shifted his gaze to Axel, he saw worry in his vibrant green eyes. "Whatever, it's my problem to deal with and I don't feel like dealing with it right now. Sorry you had to witness that, honestly it probably had nothing to do with you. I'll just go to my room if you wanna' hang out here. Like I said before, there's still pizza in the box." The blond tried his best to smile at his roommate, but found it hard to do so.

-A-

"Like I'm gonna' leave you all alone, blondie," he said, rolling his eyes before he walked up to Roxas and put an arm around his shoulder lazily. "You're in a shitty mood, I'm actually in a good mood, so I'm thinkin' we have some good ol' roomie time."

The redhead grinned at the small blond, before leading him back to the couch and planting them both down, before handing him the remote. "You find some movie with explosions, or something that isn't sappy at least, and I'll grab us the beers."

Axel was up again and going to the refrigerator to grab the beers that he and Roxas would have occasionally. The redhead wasn't a drinker, and the blond normally didn't seem to be either, but when one of them was in a shitty mood, beer seemed to solve the problem. They didn't get drunk, but they definitely got relaxed. Weed would be even better, he thought to himself, before shaking his head. No, Axel.

But then again, what was stopping him? He had stopped for Demyx. He and Demyx weren't a thing anymore, so really, couldn't he? Nothing was stopping him from doing it again.

He would decide to not think about it, at least not right then. He had better things to do – like comfort the ever adorable blond that was on the couch, looking for something worthy of their eyes to see.

-R-

Roxas flipped through the channels until he came to War of the Worlds. It didn't have an insane amount of explosions, but it did have plenty of blood and guts. Plus, it was one of the extremely few alien movies the blond could watch and even enjoyed watching.

When Axel came back with the beers, the blond immediately took a few gulps. Axel did seem to be in a good mood, which made Roxas glad. Hadn't he just been thinking about how the ginger hadn't looked happy in a while?

It didn't take long for Axel to help himself to a piece of pizza, and when he offered the blond a piece he declined. Axel's company was definitely helping the blond's mood, but he was not up to eating yet. By the time the scene of the river of dead bodies happened, Roxas had already downed his first beer and was half way through his second.

"So what's the deal, you freakishly tall ginger? Why are you so happy? Weren't we just spending roomie time to make you feel better?" Roxas had been having an internal argument for the last twenty minutes about whether or not he should ask his roommate why he was in such a cheerful mood. He figured it had something to do with wherever he had been, but the blond wanted details. There were way too many reasons why the redhead could be happy and the blond just had to know. Maybe he had gotten a good grade on something, or found the lighter he had lost the other day, maybe he met someone.

When that thought had popped into Roxas's head, he knew he had to ask.

-A-

Axel chugged down the rest of his second beer by the time Roxas finally asked him why he was in a good mood, and he just grinned over at the blond. "Well Mr. Nosy, if you must know, I was over at Demyx's."

Of course, Roxas probably wouldn't get why that would put Axel in a good mood, but hey, he liked a dramatic pause. "Demyx called me this morning, which was why I 'slammed the door', as you said. He told me he wanted to talk, and when I got over there, I quickly found out that I was forgiven." The grin on his face was huge. He actually hadn't been able to bask in his happiness fully yet, so he was getting the chance now.

The fact that he and Demyx would get to go back to being friends, and he knew that they would actually be able to with minimal awkwardness, was amazing. Demyx was one of few people that he really didn't want to leave his life, whether or not they were a thing. Demyx was too good of a person to lose. Before they had even gotten together, the two had been close – almost as close as Axel was to Saix.

Even though Roxas had known Demyx only as long as he'd known Axel, and had been around the blond even less than that, he figured that Roxas would understand why Axel was in a good mood. Demyx's persona just attracted people, regardless of what kind of person they were. He could make friends with anyone, and though Axel was similar to that, Demyx was more so. Whereas Demyx could make friends just from being his normal friendly self, Axel usually made friends from his sarcasm.

Axel decided to take another slice of the pizza, leaving one left, before uncapping his third beer. Yeah, today would be good.

-R-

"Congrats! That's great to hear."

Roxas meant what he said wholeheartedly, but the second his thoughts flickered back to that picture in Axel's shoe box, he chugged down the last of his beer. It was great news, but for some reason Roxas felt a knot in his stomach. Probably because while Axel had repaired a relationship, one of Roxas's was going through a tough time. That had to be the reason behind the knot. What else could it be?

The blond just shook his head and reached for another beer to distract himself. Usually the blond's distraction of choice was weed, but it seemed like it wasn't Axel's thing. They had never really talked about smoking outside of cigarettes, so Roxas took it as Axel not being opposed, but not wanting to take part. In respecting his roommate, the blond didn't keep any of the substance in the dorm, besides he rarely smoked the green outside of parties nowadays.

After his third sip of the new beer, Roxas was completely relaxed. He leaned against the arm of the couch and put his feet in the redhead's lap. "And for the record, you really did slam the door. I was prepared to make you pay for waking me up, too."

-A-

"Who said I was a foot rest?" Axel asked sarcastically as he took a bite from the pizza. However, he didn't move Roxas's feet.

On some level, he knew he probably should, since contact with the blond wasn't really healthy for him, but at the same time, he really didn't care. Zexion had behaved like a little bitch, in Axel's eyes, and not that Axel would take advantage of the situation fully, but he was absolutely fine with Roxas doing little things like this. There wasn't technically much harm in that.

"Oh yeah, before I forget," he said, glad to have remembered. "There's gonna' be a party on campus next Thursday. I've been needing a party that I could actually get drunk at, and was wondering if you'd wanna' come?"

Basically, Axel had been dying to go to a party where he couldn't be watched, and yes, where he wouldn't have to worry about being a designated driver. He could get drunk for once, and loosen up a bit, in a way he hadn't done in years. And hell, since he wasn't with Demyx anymore, maybe he really could smoke weed again. Maybe some other stuff…He'd probably end up giving Xigbar a call, then. Although he couldn't entirely trust Xigbar, he could trust the male enough to give him stuff for a fair price, and he knew that Xigbar wouldn't put anything too funky in it.

"I'm probably gonna' invite Xiggy, too," he said aloud, remembering that the blond liked weed. "Haven't smoked in a long time."

Haven't done a lot of shit in long time, he thought to himself. And what was the harm? He could let loose once in a while, couldn't he?

-R-

A mischievous smile spread across the blond's face.

A party? A party where, from the sounds of things, Axel would be letting loose just as much as Roxas did? Now that would be interesting. Even better would be the fact that he knew no one would be there to babysit him. Axel being just as messed up as Roxas canceled out any babysitting he could have possibly done.

Plus after the fights the blond and Zexion have been having, Roxas could really use the escape from everything. It probably wasn't the best idea to use parties as an escape from things, but hey, Roxas was young, he's allowed to make stupid decisions, especially since he didn't make stupid decisions based off of his emotions nearly as much as he once had.

The smaller male directed his evil little smile to Axel and got a smirk in return. "A party sounds amazing. I gotta say Axe, I didn't know you were into the smoking scene, besides for cigarettes obviously."

The redhead just shrugged in response to Roxas's comment and smiled a bit more. Maybe it was the beer getting to him or the knowledge that the blond would be delightfully numb in a few days, but Roxas started to laugh. "This is going to be awesome, Axe, I'm excited."


Author's Note: So we got this out way sooner than we thought we would! Roxas and I basically went on a role the past two days, and ended up finishing it. Their business should be ending shortly, so our speediness should slowly be returning.

As always, thanks to those that have reviewed/favorited/followed, and we ask that people continue to to do so and we hope you liked this chapter!