Only partially dressed and with a towel draped over his head to absorb the water that was still in his hair, Roxas left the bedroom and made his way towards the kitchen. Dinner should be ready by now and he had a pretty good idea of what his redheaded lover had made, since Axel had a few favorite dishes he tended to pick. As soon as he walked into the kitchen, though, he stopped dead in his tracks.

People. Axel's friends. God, he'd forgotten all about them. He'd enjoyed his shower so much and been so ready for dinner that they'd completely slipped his mind. Now five pairs of unfamiliar eyes were staring at him, examining his exposed body as they sat around his and Axel's little table. It felt like an intervention, or an interrogation. In his head, Roxas pleaded for Axel to do or say something to draw their attention, but the redhead was busy at the stove, stirring something in a rather large pot. Slowly, Roxas pulled the towel off his head and wrapped it around himself protectively.

Should've put on a shirt.

Trying not to give away how uncomfortable he was, Roxas turned around and started back towards the bedroom to dress properly. He barely made it two steps.

"Rox, wait." Axel had finished his task at the stove in time to see his blond lover's retreat.

"I'm going to dress," Roxas replied without turning, though he remained where he was.

"I know, but it'll be easier if you don't.

That didn't make any sense to Roxas. What would be easier? Why didn't Axel want him properly dressed while they had company?

"…what'll be easier?"

Axel moved the pot from the stove to a hot pad on the table then started getting out plates and silverware. "Please, Roxas."

He didn't want to. They weren't looking at him anymore, but he still felt exposed and vulnerable even with the towel hiding the worst of his injuries.

"No." And he left before Axel could argue, making the journey with quick steps and with the uncomfortable sensation that the five were watching him again. It was with relief that he put a door between himself and the rest of the apartment.

What were you thinking? You knew they were here. How the hell did you forget? Idiot.

He couldn't believe he'd just done that. He'd gone out there as if Axel was the only one around and as if these marks were from the redhead. Now all those people he'd only just met had seen. Maybe they thought the marks were from Axel. Maybe. Roxas really hoped so. They'd been together long enough that everyone they knew was aware of their relationship. He wasn't ashamed of it, and he really didn't much care if someone happened to notice a hickey. But this was not that, and he had to lean his head back against the door in an effort to hold back tears.

Why did there have to be people in his apartment? Why had Axel thought now was a good time to invite his friends over? When he knew what was happening at work? Maybe he didn't have all the details, but still. All he'd wanted was to come home, shower, eat dinner, relax. He wanted Axel to make those people leave so he could curl up on the couch and enjoy his weekend like he'd planned. A whole two days without worrying about work or Xemnas were supposed to be his and instead there were five strange men in his kitchen.

His breathing uneven, Roxas lifted a hand and lightly began feeling out every bruise and bite mark he could find on his face and neck, his shoulders, chest and stomach. There were more that he couldn't reach on his back, and there were some below his waistline, but he didn't feel like looking at those. They were only there to remind him that he…no, he didn't want to think about it.

Tap tap.

"Roxas?"

And now his boyfriend was outside the door.

"What?" God, he sounded like he was going to start crying, and he could feel the tears still fighting to escape.

"Can I come in?"

No.

As badly as he wanted to say it, Roxas knew shutting Axel out was the absolute worst thing he could do right now. That didn't make him want to refuse any less, but it did stop him from actually saying it. Instead, he stepped away from the door and sat on the bed, pulling the towel around his shoulders again. The door opened slowly and Axel stuck just his head in to peer at the blond.

"You okay?"

Roxas shook his head, silent and small.

Quietly, Axel came into the bedroom, shut the door, and sat by beside Roxas. One arm wrapped around the blond's shoulders in a gentle hug, and he lightly kissed his cheek so as not to agitate the bruises. "Today was bad, huh."

Leaning into the redhead, Roxas nodded and sighed quietly.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"I want to be alone with you. I don't want to see all those people. Today was awful and I just…I want to relax and pretend that things are okay." He glanced up long enough to find green eyes watching him before he looked down again and nuzzled into Axel's chest. "Please, Axel. I don't wanna go out there. They saw." The towel was pulled tighter around his body.

Gentle hands rubbed his back and he relaxed into the larger male's hold as Axel pressed a kiss to his forehead. "Okay."

"Thank you." He could tell there was something else the redhead wanted to say, but he didn't ask what it was. At the moment, he couldn't really bring himself to care. All that mattered was that Axel wasn't going to try to make him eat dinner with his friends, and he felt like he could relax again.

"You're welcome. I'll bring you some dinner so you don't have to come to the kitchen."

"Are your friends going to leave?"

Axel hesitated before tightening his grip on the smaller male. "Not just yet. There're some things I need to talk to them about first."

"What things?" It was hard to hide his disappointment.

"Important things. I promise it's nothing you need to worry about. Just work stuff." Another kiss to his forehead did little to convince Roxas that his lover was telling the truth.

"Okay. If you say so."

After giving the blond a final squeeze, Axel released him and stood. "I'll be right back with your food."

Roxas nodded, not watching the redhead leave, and moved into the center of the bed once the door had closed again. Being alone in the bedroom in the dark wasn't his favorite thing, but he didn't want to turn on the lights, and he didn't want to leave. For the moment, he felt safe and protected.

I need to tell him about Xigbar. He has to know. One week was bad enough—I can't keep doing this, I can't just wait around until Xemnas decides he's waited long enough to fuck me. But all his friends are here, and I don't want to interrupt…if a night of relaxing with them is what he needs, and he has to talk to them about work stuff, then…

His thoughts were interrupted when the door opened, and Axel came in with a bowl in one hand and a glass of iced tea in the other. "Dinner," the redhead announced with a small smile, then handed the bowl to Roxas. The familiar sight of one of his lover's favorite meals—mac'n cheese with cut up hot dogs in it—made Roxas smile, and he accepted the tea after the setting the bowl in front of him on the bed.

"Thanks."

"You're very welcome." Axel's tone was slightly flirtatious, and he leaned down to capture the younger male's lips in a kiss. "Very, very welcome."

Despite himself, Roxas blushed and laughed a little, looking away as he set the tea off to the side. "You big idiot."

Axel grinned and hugged the blond, pushing him back so they were lying on the bed together as Roxas squirmed and pretended to struggle. "But I'm your big idiot, and you love me, and we both know it."

"Mm…" The blond turned and snuggled into his lover's chest. "Just for your looks."

"Well, my face is my best feature."

Slowly, a grin spread over Roxas' mouth. "I don't know. I can think of a couple other things that might be better features than your face."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Huh. I guess you'll have to show me what you mean."

"If I have to. But later. I'm hungry, and you've got friends to tend to, so get your ass off the bed and go back to your friends."

Chuckling, Axel sat up and kissed him again, for longer this time, and he stroked a hand down Roxas' side as he pulled away. "It's gonna be okay, Rox," he whispered, looking into blue eyes as Roxas stared right back. "I know it doesn't seem like it, but I promise, everything's going to be okay. No matter what those sickos at your job do to you, I'm right here, and I'm going to take care of you. Kay?"

Somehow, Roxas had found the perfect man. "Kay." He smiled a little.

"Good." Another kiss, then Axel grinned at him and left the bedroom so Roxas could finally eat. They'd manage not to spill his food during that little bout of play, and he was relieved that he'd thought to set the tea on the nightstand, so it was safe. And as upset as he'd been only a few minutes ago, he wasn't even mildly surprised that Axel had managed to cheer him up. He wasn't dating the redhead for nothing, after all.

When his food and tea were gone, Roxas placed the dishes on the nightstand closer to the door and got up to go into the bathroom. He'd already showered, but he was feeling more or less exhausted after the extra abuse at work, so he decided to go to bed early. Axel was still out there with his friends so he didn't want to leave the bedroom, and the only TV was in the living room. At this point, the best option was to get ready for bed then pick a book and read until he actually fell asleep, so Roxas combed his hair, washed his face, brushed his teeth and flossed, then changed into his pajamas and wandered over to the bookshelf in the corner.

Most of the books there were Axel's, since the redhead had been interested in Literature from an early age and had, of course, decided to try his hand as a writer. There were at least six novels that he'd written on that shelf, and Roxas had read them all. He loved his boyfriend's writing, thought it was raw and rough and real, just like Axel was. Those books always managed to enrage him, to make him cry and make him laugh. They were comical and cynical, full of sarcasm and flirtatious sidekicks. Axel had told him once that each book had a character based off himself and one based off Roxas, but the blond had never managed to figure out which characters were supposed to be them. He supposed Axel was just too good at writing between the lines for him to decipher the secrets behind the characters.

Tonight, he wasn't sure he wanted a book that was going to affect his emotions so much. Books always got to him at least a little bit, but there were some on that shelf that were so familiar to him that he could read them with simple enjoyment rather than the emotional rollercoaster others sent him on. But what to read?

Slowly, blue eyes perused over the shelves, lighting on familiar titles and beautiful cover art. Birthmarked caught his attention, but that was the first book of a trilogy and was definitely an emotional rollercoaster, so he abandoned that idea almost as soon as he had it. That was not the kind of book he needed right now. Several more books caught his attention after that, but he passed over each one for similar reason. It wasn't until he had to sit on the floor to look over the lowest two shelves that he found some of the smaller novels he'd had since high school. Coyote Autumn sat off to one side, and Roxas looked at it for several long moments. He hadn't read that one in years, but he remembered it being short and simple and happy.

Well, that was that.

With one finger, he caught the book's binding and pulled until he could get an actual grip on it, then slid it free of the surrounding books and stood. It was a matter of moments before he was settled in bed, the blankets pulled up to his chest and Coyote Autumn opened to the first page. The lamp on his nightstand was on so he could see but dim enough that it wouldn't keep him awake. He knew sleep wasn't far off—he was probably only going to get a few chapters in, but that was okay. He could always finish it tomorrow morning.

X

The first groggy thought that crossed Roxas' mind was that he shouldn't be awake yet. Discomfort at having been woken made him frown slightly as he tried to lift his head, and then he noticed that the lamp was off even though he was pretty sure he'd fallen asleep with it on. Coyote Autumn was missing from his grasp, and he began running his hands over the blankets in search of it, only to give up and turn onto his side to snuggle down into his pillow and close his eyes. Finding the book could wait until morning.

For a few moments, he lay there in the quiet dark and wondered vaguely what time it was. Probably the early hours of the morning when people like him were meant to be fast asleep. So what had woken him up? Maybe just his body letting him know that it wasn't good for his neck to sleep propped against the headboard like that. Yeah, probably.

Just as he was starting to fall back asleep, the blond felt something touch his shoulder and opened his eyes. The darkness of the bedroom surrounded him, but he could feel the mattress dipping as someone lay beside him.

Axel.

It had to be the redhead, and Roxas felt himself smiling when a familiar arm slipped around his waist and gently pulled him back against an equally familiar chest. He hummed happily; Axel chuckled and kissed his neck, just below the corner of his jaw. The arm around him shifted until a large hand found his and wrapped around it, lacing their fingers.

"I love you," the larger male whispered, gently squeezing Roxas' hand.

"Love you, too."

Wrapped in warmth and comfort, Roxas waited a bit before he turned in his lover's arms and snuggled into Axel's chest. He was glad the redhead was finished talking to his friends and had come to bed, and he tried to show it by holding close to him and brushing a soft kiss against warm skin.

"Sorry for waking you," the older of the two murmured, one hand running up and down Roxas' spine in a soothing manner.

"It's fine. I like falling asleep with you." He knew that would make Axel smile, and wasn't at all surprised when he felt his chin being tilted up a moment later so the redhead could kiss him. As tired as he'd been when he first woke up, he had no trouble gathering the energy and focus required to kiss back, and soon the soft action had taken on a more urgent feeling. Eventually, the redhead drew back, letting his blond lover try to catch his breath, and began dropping kisses on Roxas' throat instead. To the smaller male's surprise, he realized after a moment that Axel wasn't just kissing him—he was specifically kissing the bruises and marks left by Marluxia and Xemnas, and his fingers were unbuttoning Roxas' pajama shirt.

Down his neck to his shoulders, then his chest, and stomach as Roxas' shirt was pushed back off his torso. Even though those spots were sensitive, and the light pressure of Axel's kisses wasn't entirely comfortable, Roxas didn't complain. He lay quietly and allowed his lover to do the only thing he really could to try and take away some of the hurt behind those marks. When Axel was finished with the ones he'd found, he moved back up to kiss Roxas' forehead.

"Are there more?"

The blond nodded.

"Where?"

Sitting up, Roxas shrugged out of his shirt and turned to lie on his stomach. As soon as he'd settled, Axel began seeking out each mark on his slim lover's back, kissing every single one with just as much care as he'd done to the front of the blond's body. Then he settled against Roxas, holding him close in a protective way and pressing him into the mattress with his weight. There were more marks, of course, but Roxas didn't say anything about those. He had a feeling the sight wouldn't leave Axel as calm as he was, and he was too happy at the moment to ruin this. Bringing up the other ones would just make the redhead angry.

I'll tell him tomorrow. I'll tell him everything tomorrow, and we'll figure out what to do. I won't let anyone hurt him because of me.

The thought of harm coming to the lovable redhead lying on top of him was enough to make Roxas feel slightly sick, and he quickly pushed it out of his mind. Axel was here and safe and nothing bad was going to happen to him. Roxas meant to make sure of that.