***Hey! Today we shall be learning of Axel's past. It doesn't rival Roxas's, but it's not particularly pleasant either. Let's just say there's a reason that Axel wasn't totally horrified that something that bad could happen to someone like Rox. Have fun, and review!***
Axel Pov
Roxas looked up at Axel with shock evident in his eyes.
"What do you mean, Ax? I thought you were normal." Roxas whispered.
"Not in the slightest. But it wasn't nearly as bad as you. I- my parents… They fought constantly. My father beat my mother. I gave my sister, Ariel, my iPod and blasted the music so she wouldn't have to hear. She was three years younger than me. I used to cover her ears and sing when my iPod ran out of juice. She could hear it through the walls in her room, so she ran to my room and crawled into my bed. Then, when I was ten and she was seven… Mom shot Dad, then shot herself.
"We, Ariel and I, had heard the first shot. Ariel was freaking, but I told her that it was a car backfiring. I-I went out to see if my story was true… and I saw Mom standing in a pool of Dad's blood. She was freaking… She said something about she never meant for this to happen… Then she pointed the gun at me, her eyes were glazed over… she was drunk… and she shook her head. She told me to go into my room and tell Ariel that Mommy and Daddy went to a nice place. She told me to go to my room. I was so freaked out that I did… and I heard a second gunshot.
"Ariel wondered why I was crying. I told her what Mom told me to tell her… and I called the cops. Ariel figured it out soon enough… and she was sobbing. Reno, my big brother, told the cops that he'd take care of us… He paid for the funeral, but then he got drafted into the war… He told us that we could live with our aunt, but I said that I could take care of me and Ariel until he got back. He looked concerned, but gave me the credit card and told me to take care of my sister.
"He died… He became a hero, then died, fighting to protect one of his friends. Rude, his friend, came over and told us himself… he… he offered to take us in, but I thought I could handle it on my own. Rude didn't understand the social care system. We had no guardian, so a year after Reno died… we were taken away. Ariel was ten and I was thirteen. I haven't seen her since. We email each other and talk on the phone a lot… but it isn't the same.
"A woman, Snow, took me in. She said my hair reminded her of apples. I ran away first chance I got and went back home. I knew the secret hiding spots, so they never found me. I stayed there with a stolen phone and charger, living off the rest of the money on the credit card, until it ran out. Then I was hunting the streets for money on the ground and food. At school I got 'Free or reduced lunch' from the cafeteria, but it wasn't enough." Axel explained, shaking his head.
"I know what you meant." Roxas whispered, speaking for the first time.
"Then, one day during my wandering, I found Setzer. He offered me drugs, said it'd make all my pain go away. I wasn't stupid, I knew what they were and what they'd do to me. But he offered them for free and I was so hungry, I thought maybe I could sell it, you know, for money. I did, made some good cash off it too. Setzer figured it out and asked me to sell for him. I did, so long as I didn't have to actually do the drugs. I… didn't want to get high. So I sold them to innocent kids… and got them addicted.
"Child services eventually caught up with me. I got adopted by a girl called Anastasia, she has memory loss, can't remember her childhood. They say her family was rich and she ended up in a foster home until she was 18. So she wanted someone with a… similar experience. She didn't want anyone else to be in the foster care system that long, it's hell." Axel explained.
"Yeah, I read about it. That's why I don't want to leave, you know? Because even though I'll end up with one of my brothers… I'll still be there for a while. Plus there's a lot of paperwork. And they probably won't let a nineteen year old adopt me, brother or not. They'd think he's unfit. Same with Riku. I'd be stuck there until I'm 18. And… I don't want to leave here. It has my childhood… Xion. And now I have you guys. If I went off with one of my brothers… I'd probably never see you guys again. We'd have to hide from my parents until I turn 18, and by then… Who knows? Two years is too long. I couldn't come back. Mother and Father would kill me. I could only talk to you guys, and that's not good enough, Ax." Roxas whispered.
"It's okay Rox… when… when you're 18 we'll tell the cops everything that happened. Two years isn't too long. We can make it two years." Axel comforted the crying boy. The door knob wiggled and Roxas threw Axel into the closet again.
Axel Pov
Axel waited to watch his boyfriend get beat up again.
Funny, he was even more furious now that they were officially going out.
And it didn't help that Roxas was sitting up against the crack, so that Axel couldn't see what was happening.
He sat in the dark, hiding his red hair from the crack. If Roxas's parents found him in there… There would be consequences.
He heard voices. Axel strained his ears, trying to hear whatever the person was saying.
Suddenly there was the sound of a hand hitting skin. Someone slapped Roxas. Axel gritted his teeth and tried to suppress the urge to jump out of the closet and save the blonde. He heard Roxas quietly whimper in pain. He sounded like a kicked puppy.
Well, that's kinda what he was.
Roxas started crying out and sobbing. Whoever was torturing him laughed. His Mother.
Axel listened to Roxas's pain. His hands were shaking from rage and fear that he couldn't save the blonde in time. He was just reaching up for the door handle so he could kill whoever was hurting him, when suddenly Roxas wasn't blocking the door. Axel could see.
And he seemed to have slumped over, passed out.
Axel waited until he heard footsteps ascending the stairs and the basement door close. Whoever it was left.
Axel carefully opened the door and looked at his blonde.
Roxas's arm was bleeding. A word was written in it.
"Mistake…" Axel trailed off, reading the bloody word carved into the pale flesh. It looked so wrong on Roxas, that was something that should be carved into someone else's arm, not his best friend. That was something that someone emo would carve into themselves. Not… someone like Roxas… Anyone but Roxas.
Axel grabbed one of the shirts from the closet and pressed it into the wound. He chewed his lip and tried to devise a plan on how to help him. This… wasn't right.
"Axel?" Roxas asked faintly.
"Yeah Rox?" Axel asked, relieved that Roxas could still talk.
"Get the first aid kit. It's under the floorboards near my bed. Left side." Roxas whispered.
Axel ran and grabbed it, replacing the floorboards and kneeling beside Roxas again.
"It'll be okay Rox…" Axel trailed off, freaking out to himself. He cleaned up the cuts and covered them with antibiotic stuff. Then he wrapped bandages around Roxas's arm and held his hand.
"Roxas…" Axel trailed off, wondering what to say.
"I… I'm sorry Ax." Roxas whispered.
"Why are you sorry?" Axel asked, confused.
"Because you had to see that. You should've left with Namine." Roxas replied, looking away.
"Hey Rox… look at me…" Axel said, trying to smile gently as he turned Roxas's face with his hand.
Roxas didn't jerk away.
The blue eyes met the green and Axel smiled for real.
"You didn't jump away." Axel said quietly, kissing the blonde boy's forehead. Roxas cringed a tiny bit at the touch, but smiled a tiny smile to himself.
"If I had left you wouldn't know about me. And I wouldn't know about Selphie." Axel reminded Roxas.
"Yeah." Roxas agreed.
Roxas Pov
Roxas was drained. Two beatings, a long nap, a boyfriend, two confessions, a forced girlfriend, and a new scar was a lot to take in a day. His arm hurt like hell, but he still felt happy. Maybe it's a side affect of being with Axel.
He thought about his imaginary house of cards. There were two sides. There was the castle half that was him and Axel. Then there was the rubble half of everything else.
He sighed, leaning against Axel. He was tired as hell. Maybe he could figure something out to get him out of church tomorrow so he could spend the day with Axel.
But Axel probably had better things to do…
"Hey Rox, do you want to go somewhere tomorrow?" Axel asked, as though he read Roxas's mind. Roxas smiled to himself.
"Yeah Ax. I think I figured out a way to get out of church." He said quietly, cradling his arm.
He was aware of the searing pain and of Axel's arms carrying him to his bed as he fell asleep.
He awoke the next morning, Sunday. His father was waking him up.
"Roxas, get your ass out of bed so we can go to church." His father growled. Roxas gulped quietly.
"Father…" He whispered. His father turned slightly and looked at the smaller blonde.
"I… I don't want to make you and Mother look disgraceful at church with my presence. God… wouldn't like it that you allow me to enter his house. I'm too disgusting to be there." Roxas said softly, hanging his head in fake shame.
His father was silent for a long moment.
"You are an abomination, not meant to be there. It's good that you finally realized it. You should have never entered a church to begin with." His father said harshly, glaring at the boy. Roxas still didn't meet his gaze.
"Boy, look at me when I speak to you!" His father demanded. Roxas looked up meekly, afraid of doing something wrong. Afraid his scheme wouldn't work.
"Yes Father." Roxas mumbled, bringing his eyes to meet his father's.
"You are never to go to church again, understood? Never! I will punish you if you ever set foot in one. If you ever find anyone desperate enough to marry you, then you can't go into a church to marry her. It would be sacrilegious. You would make a stain on that church!" The man ranted. Roxas smiled inside his head, this was going perfectly.
"Father, what about Mother? She might still want me to go." Roxas said in a kind of pleading tone, as if he was begging his father to let him come to church, as if this hadn't been his idea.
"She will not. Once I tell her what I just thought up, she'll never want to see you in a church again either." He sneered. Roxas hung his head again, but in defeat this time.
"Yes Father." Roxas said quietly, in a softly resigned tone. His father grinned in triumph and marched up the stairs, slamming the door behind him.
After a few minutes Roxas yanked his covers off and headed for the closet. He opened the door to see his favorite redhead looking sadly at him.
"What's wrong?" Roxas asked worriedly, reaching out a hand to touch the redhead's face, but jumping just a little bit at the contact.
"What's wrong? Did you hear yourself, Rox? Did you even understand the things you said about yourself? And you act like it's normal?" Axel asked, shocked.
Roxas smiled sadly and stroked the taller boy's cheek.
"Ax… I don't believe what I say. I don't think I ever have. I always lie and pretend. That was no different. But I promise you, I didn't lie at all yesterday. I… really like you Axel. I don't want to lie to everyone, but I have to." Roxas said gently, tracing the redhead's upside-down purple tears. He kissed the boy's nose, twitching a tiny bit at the contact.
Something Axel always noticed.
"Rox… I understand that you were hurt, but why do you cringe all the time?" Axel asked, still confused.
"Hmm… It happened after Xion died. I… only let Cloud touch me after that. I rarely let Sora, even though he was my twin. I… was very depressed. It didn't help that every time I was touched by someone other than Cloud it hurt. My parents beating me or the same thing at school. But I hid it. Until… Vexen. He… Always wanted to be in contact with me, he'd stroke my cheek or pat my arm… then he'd… do horrible things to me. You… can't imagine it. You have to have lived it to understand." Roxas said quietly, his small smile fading.
The door upstairs slammed, signaling that Roxas's parents had left.
"So, what should we do today?" Roxas asked, lifting a corner of his mouth in a half smile.
"Well, we should probably see the others… Don't worry Rox, they won't disown you or anything. They might be a little shocked, and Demyx may burst into tears, but they won't think you're worthless or whatever your parents tell you." Axel promised.
"You sure?" Roxas asked, worried.
"Positive." Axel assured him, "I should probably go to Anastasia's house and talk to her so she knows that I didn't run away or anything." Axel said the last part more to himself.
"Kay, after that do you want to go out to eat or something?" Roxas asked with a hint of nervousness in his voice.
"Roxas… are you asking me on a date?" Axel asked, smiling widely at Roxas's steadily reddening face.
"I-erm… well, uh…" Roxas stuttered, looking at the floor.
All humor drained from Axel's face as he realized that was what Roxas did when his parents tricked him. Roxas tried to figure it out, then decided to just shut up and take whatever came next. Axel bit his lip lightly and gently reached up and grabbed the smaller boy's chin.
The blonde jumped violently and looked up, a shadow of fear crossing his eyes.
"I'd love to go on a date with you, Roxas Strife. But remember, the gentleman always pays for the lady's food." Axel joked, pointing to himself.
"Great, I'll get my money and we can go." Roxas grinned in return.
"Hey!" Axel yelled, messing up Roxas's hair. He looked into the bruised eyes.
"Hmm… I bet Namine has some makeup that can make it look like you aren't a panda." Axel thought out loud. Roxas nodded.
"Let's go, Ax! Where do you think they all are?" Roxas asked, grabbing some clothes and heading for the bathroom to change.
"I'll text them. Do you have any clothes that I'd fit in? I don't want to stop at Anastasia's before I go, she's a little far from where we're going." Axel asked.
"Yeah, Cloud leaves some of his clothes here. Last room, top floor." Roxas said as he closed the bathroom door.
"Thanks." Axel smiled, then realized that the blonde couldn't see him. He headed for the top floor and found the room, changing into some clothes that were perfect in height, but a bit too baggy for him. He shrugged and transferred all his belts and chains to this new pair of jeans.
"Let's go!" Axel exclaimed, leading the blonde out. Roxas smiled to himself as they headed to Namine's house to have her cover up his bruises.
***Hmm… Is it just me, or does this seem short…? ***
