It's my birthday! I got a tablet and so I'm possibly one of the happiest people alive right now ! I got also got shoes, a Nightwish CD, and a whole lot of money! XD Anyways, you guys get a longer than usual chapter here, so you'd better be happy. Thanks again to BlueFox of the Moon
There was a knock at the door. I dog-eared my page and got up to open the door. Axel stood on the other side, grinning widely. "Ready to go?"
I shook my head and stepped back to let Axel step inside. He did so, and pulled the door closed behind him. "Smells funny," he said, wrinkling his nose.
I shook my head again. "Maybe the small space is allowing you to smell yourself more than usual." I almost smirked as I went up the stairs and grabbed a clean hoodie, my wallet, cell phone, and keys. When I turned around, Axel was there, looking around.
"It seems different in here during the day," he commented.
"You know, that's a really creepy thing for you to do...sneaking into my room while I'm downstairs…"
Axel gave me a weird smile, then winked. "That's not the half of it!"
I blinked, then got some crazy, gross images in my head of Axel rubbing up against my sheets with no clothes on. "Ew, ew, ew, ew, ew, ew, ew…" I covered my eyes with my hands, only managing to make the images more visible to my mental eye, but not realizing it at the time.
Axel grabbed my wrists and pulled my hands from my face. I cringed and let out a small whimper. Axel let go instantly. "Right, sorry. I forgot about that."
I looked up at him, surprised confusion surely etching my features.
He apparently noticed, because he gave me a sympathetic look and continued to explain, "Your wrists. You shook hands with your left hand, and I noticed you flinched when Demyx touched your wrist when he first introduced us."
I blinked. This was possibly the first time I considered Axel's stupidity to be an act.
He winked again and walked past me. "I'll give you one tip, though," I turned to look at him, and he looked over his shoulder. "Don't go further than that. It can cause some nasty damage if you go too deep."
I frowned, trying to find the hidden meaning of his words. He turned his body so he was fully facing me and pulled up his sleeve, revealing a bandage. He untied that and unwrapped it. I mentally prepared myself to see something grotesque, but there were no scabs. Just a whole lot of scars, deep ones, that looked like they had been infected at one point.
He moved his hand, but the look on his face made it look painful. "I made that mistake a few years back. I pushed too hard one time and cut the tendon. It never healed fully because it got infected a few days later."
As hard as I tried, I couldn't tear my eyes from his wrist. I could see where the tendon had been cut, and I couldn't even trace the scars with my eyes, there were so many of them.
He wrapped the bandage around it again. "It's to cover the scars, so people don't ask too many questions," he said when he saw me open my mouth to ask. "Only Demyx and Roxas know, and now you."
He turned and went down the stairs. I quickly stuffed my things into my pockets and ran after him. I quietly pulled on my shoes and opened the door. He smiled as he walked out. I closed the door behind us and followed him across the street to his truck.
I stopped at the passenger door, waiting for Axel to unlock it for me, but then he went around to his side and got in. I pulled on the handle and the door opened. "You don't lock your doors overnight?" I asked as I got in.
He smiled at me. "And I noticed you didn't lock your house."
I pulled the door closed, possibly with a little more force than needed, and pulled on my seatbelt. "Mom's home, I don't need to."
"Besides, the day I lose this one, is the day I'm getting a new vehicle," Axel said. He turned the key and the truck roared to life, then he looked over his shoulder and started to back out onto the road.
We spent the majority of the drive talking about anything and everything that was pointless, but I eventually worked up the courage to ask the one question that was burning in my mind.
"Hey, Axel, why did you...you know...cut?" I whispered the last word, not even meaning to.
He glanced at me, then averted his eyes back to the road. "We were having some problems...three years ago, I think. My mom found out that her boyfriend of twelve years was cheating on her.
"So, after kicking him out, she blamed everyone else for things that happened to her. She resorted to prescription pain medication, became addicted, and eventually broke down. She was sent to an institute, so I had to stay with her boyfriend until she got better," Axel paused, probably thinking of how to word what came next. "From there...My story's basically the same as yours, until my mom was released a year later. She got a new boyfriend and, as much as I dislike him, he's possibly the only thing keeping her stable right now. Not to mention that he's paying the bills and groceries, since she can't work too much." He sighed.
I stared at my hands. "What about your dad?"
Axel let out a loud, spiteful laugh. "That fucker bailed as soon as he found out my mom was pregnant!"
I felt tears come to my eyes, and did my best to blink them back. "I'm sorry," I wiped my eyes with the sleeve of my jacket.
"Why are you crying?" Axel asked. He sounded worried.
"I-I…" A sob escaped my lips. "I feel bad...you've been through so much more than me...yet you handled it so much better." Another sob, followed by a sniffle. "You're strong, but I can feel it...your pain..." After that, my words were too distorted by sobs to understand, even for me.
Axel stayed silent as I cried. I briefly wondered if I was pissing him off, but he turned the music down so he could hear me.
I was just rubbing my eyes dry when I felt the truck stop. I looked up through my hair and saw that we were at the carnival. Axel turned off the truck, then leaned over me and opened the glove box. A minute and some trifling later, he closed the glove box and sat back up straight. He grabbed my chin and pulled my face up.
"W-what are you-" I started, but stopped when I saw the pencil in his hand.
"You smudged your eyeliner," he said, then held the pencil under my eye. "Look up." I did so and tried hard not to blink as he fixed my make-up. "There, all better." He opened his door and jumped out. He slammed it shut and walked to my side, opening the door for me.
"Thanks," I said as I slid out of the seat. I reached for the lock but he pulled my hand away and closed the door.
"No need, my friend. Remember, I want it gone." He smirked as he walked toward the rides. "We're meeting everyone at the ferris wheel," he said over his shoulder. He stopped walking when he noticed I wasn't following. "Come on."
I blinked and jogged to catch up with him. "Sorry, I was just...nothing." I shook my head.
"No worries. By the way, don't mention what we talked about on the way here, please. Demyx knows, but I don't want Riku, Sora, and Roxas to know." I nodded and he smiled at me. "It'll be our little secret." He held up his pinky. I chuckled as I linked my pinky with his. "There's no breaking the pinky swear."
After a minute or two of walking, we found the others at a donut stand. "Oh, hey guys!" Demyx waved at us, then ran over. "You guys were late, and we got hungry."
Axel playfully punched Demyx's shoulder. "You could've at least called us"
"I did! But it said your line wasn't in service! I left a message, though" Demyx popped a small donut into his mouth, the held the bag out to us.
I took one and bit in half, not wanting to seem rude. "Thanks."
"Not in service!" Axel pulled his cell from his pants pocket, and I fleetingly wondered how he fit it in pants. They were so tight. He flipped it open. "Shit! I turned it off last night 'cuz I didn't want work to call me at three in the morning. I guess I forgot to turn it back on…" He held a button down and there was a quick string of notes as it turned on.
Demyx laughed. "Well, you're here now. Let's get you two some drinks and donuts, then we'll go on the ferris wheel."
"Where's the ticket stand?" I asked. "I need to get some"
Demyx draped his arm over my shoulders and shook his head. "Zexy, Zexy, Zexy. When will you ever learn? We invited you, so you don't have to pay for anything. Actually, Axel invited you here, so he should be buying your tickets, but I really don't mind." He pulled a book of tickets from his pocket and put it into my hands. "I already got you some."
"Hey, what about mine?" Axel whined. Demyx grinned and pulled another book from his pocket. "If you want it, you have to eat a donut."
Axel made a face, then turned, walking away. Demyx let go of me and grabbed Axel's shoulders. "Come on, just one," he pleaded.
Axel sighed, turned around, and stuck his hand into the bag. He quickly popped the donut into his mouth, chewed it, and swallowed it. I chuckled a bit at the expression on his face. Demyx grinned and handed the book to Axel.
He let go of Axel and slung his arm over my shoulders again. It must be nice to be tall.
I was steered toward the stand then. "What do you want? Pepsi? Sprite? You seem like a Mountain Dew kind of person."
I smiled a bit as I shook my head. "I can at least pay for my own drink." When we got to the counter, I ordered a Pepsi and a packet of Twizzlers. When I got my wallet out of my pocket, there was already a twenty on the counter, and Demyx was grinning like an idiot.
The guy in the stall took the money and handed the change to Demyx, then handed me my drink and candy. I pouted as we walked away from the stall. "I said I can pay for it myself," I said.
But Demyx continued to grin and stuffed his change into his pocket. "I know you said that, but I wanted to pay for you."
I sighed and put the pack of Twizzlers into my pocket. Demyx grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the ferris wheel. Everyone else followed us at a slower pace. Demyx stopped at the end of the line .
We only had to wait for a few minutes before we got on. Our seat raised a few feet, then stopped to let the others on. Then again. I looked over my shoulder to see Axel sitting with Roxas, and then Riku and Sora behind/under them. I turned forward again.
"Oh, I forgot to ask if you're afraid of heights!" Demyx exclaimed, then rubbed the back of his head. "Are you?"
I shook my head. "I like to defy gravity."
Demyx laughed and nodded his head. "You make it sound so weird."
I watched the scenery as we rose above it. The ferris wheel came to a sudden stop. I looked down to see if anyone was getting on, but there was no line up anymore. I looked at Demyx, who looked just as confused as I felt, and shrugged. "We must have broken down." I pulled the licorice from my pocket and opened it. I handed one to Demyx.
"Well, at least we won't starve," Demyx joked as he took the licorice. "Thanks."
After that, we talked about pointless things, like Axel and I had in the truck. The next time I looked down, probably a half hour later, I saw maintenance people working on some machinery at the bottom.
"How is it going?" Demyx asked. I shrugged.
"It's impossible to tell from here," I replied. "But me might be here for a while longer."
"Hey, Axel!" Demyx called down to the redhead. "What are they doing?"
Axel looked down, then looked back up and shrugged. "Just a minute!" He looked back down at Riku and Sora. "Ask the people down there what's going on!"
I couldn't see Riku's face from my position, but I could hear the scoff on his voice. "I'm too far away. This thing's huge! I'd have to throw them a note or something!"
Axel sighed and sat back. "This is the last time I let you take me on a ride that breaks down at such cliché moments" he said to Roxas, and I smiled at the truth in those words.
It was a total cliché moment for someone like me, who was interested in the person right next to me, and had been for a while.
This would be a long wait.
So, what do you all think? I personally really liked this chapter. And as much as it might seem like it, this is not a ZexionAxel ficc. At least...mostly it isn't. Axel will eventually fall for someone else...Not 100 percent sure who yet, though. Anyways, review, please! It'll be my birthday present
