Axel gaped at the younger boy, not sure if he should try to deny his claim or just slam the door shut. The brunette was weaker than him, so if he needed to, he could knock him out and maybe then he could grab Roxas and make a run for it. Several plans were forming in his head at once as he realized who the other boy was. He'd briefly read a description of Roxas's benefactor in the file Xigbar had given him, and the boy in front of him seemed to match that description word for word. This had to be Sora, that psycho Riku's little boyfriend.....
His thoughts were disrupted when he heard the door of his room open and someone coming up behind him slowly.
Axel's could have smacked Roxas for his stupidity! He felt his eyes widening in fear as he looked back, moving to block the blond-haired boy from view as best he could.
"What the hell did I just say, kid?! I just told you to-"
But Roxas ignored him. He'd heard everything they'd said, and now he came up to stand beside Axel and face the brunette, staring into bright blue eyes that perfectly matched his own. They were wide and innocent, and the more he looked into them, the more Roxas seemed sure that the other boy was not a threat to him. At least not right now. But then, why was he here?
The brunette looked at him thoughtfully, silent for a long time before he spoke. "Roxas......"
The blond's face was composed and serious; he felt like all that had happened that night had left him feeling emotionally drained and tired. He stepped away from the door, pushing Axel aside also as he motioned to the other boy. "Why don't you come in?"
Sora followed the two boys inside slowly, heading into the living room where Roxas offered him a seat on the couch. Axel stood with his back against the wall by the door, his arms crossed and his expression pouting and distrustful. The brunette sighed. I wonder if he'll let me leave when this is over?
He moved his attention back to Roxas, who sat down slowly on a chair right beside the couch. The other boy sat still, waiting to hear what Sora was going to say.
After another short silence, Sora spoke. "Roxas, I'm glad I finally got to meet you. I don't...really know where to begin."
Roxas looked at him kindly, trying to smile. "Well, we could start with an intro. You know my name already."
Sora blinked, confused for a second. Roxas already seemed to sense what was going on, and Axel definitely knew who he was. He smiled sadly. "My name is Sora. I guess you already know why I'm here then, huh?"
The blond was about to speak when Axel suddenly stepped forward, his voice harsh and full of anger. "You're the one who caused all this! You and your family! How could you have possibly agreed to something like that? Roxas was just an innocent kid trying to get by, and thanks to you he ended up kidnapped by those heartless bastards over at S.I.G.E. Do you have any idea of the pain you put him through? All the things you took away-"
"Axel, that's enough! Stop it!"
The red head snapped his attention back to Roxas, surprised by the interruption. The voice that was so sweet and small before was now replaced by an angry, commanding tone. The boy glared at him, his expression completely serious. Axel grudgingly moved back to the wall, trying to contain his anger when he heard Sora begin to sob.
The brunette's eyes were full of tears as he looked at Roxas, his voice sounding bitter and a little betrayed. "He's right, though! My own father was the one who set up the contract, and Riku was in on it the whole time too!"
He looked down at the floor bitterly as his hand gripped the arm of the couch tightly. "I didn't know anything until now, but that's a poor excuse. I don't have the right to ask you to forgive any of us for what happened, and I can't ever hope to make it up to you. But I still had to see you, and say it.......I'm so sorry, Roxas. I can't imagine how much you must hate me." His shoulders shook and he brought his hands up over his eyes, trying his best to hide his shame as he cried. He didn't deserve anyone's sympathy......
But he was taken by surprise when Roxas came over and sat down next to him, grasping his shoulders lightly but firmly. The boy looked him in the eyes; they were sad, but full of warmth and comfort. "Sora... I can't tell you that it's okay, but I can tell you it wasn't your fault. You didn't choose this any more than I did. And there isn't anything we can do about the past now."
Sora was shocked by how calm and understanding Roxas was. The brunette had come here willingly, preparing to be yelled at, punched, hated....but the person he was expecting it to come from had barely overreacted at all since he showed up! Roxas was talking to the person responsible for his kidnapping, the person for whose life he would have been killed to save, if that were necessary, and yet the blond spoke to him like he was comforting an old friend in mourning or something! Sora was completely baffled.
Roxas continued speaking. "I know you were expecting me to be angry with you, and in truth I am a little; it's natural to feel that way after all that's happened. But you could have ignored the whole thing or pretended you didn't know anything about it, and you didn't. Instead, you came here to admit your mistakes and apologize, and that makes all the difference in the world. That's why, no matter how I feel, I could never hate you, Sora."
Sora couldn't take it anymore; he practically threw himself at Roxas, holding him tightly as he cried into his chest. "I'm so sorry, Roxas!" He still felt terrible, but somehow Roxas had managed to make him feel like, at least someday, things would be okay.
The blond returned the hug, not entirely surprised when he felt the tears beginning to roll down his own cheeks. I guess I wasn't as drained as I thought I was. Either that, or crying' s pretty contagious.......
Roxas blinked back a few tears, glaring slightly as his thoughts turned back to all the other people who were suffering. S.I.G.E. was the real evil here, destroying lives and dreams just as they had done to Namine. It wasn't Sora or Riku, or even Sora's father, even though he had supported their actions. What the institute did was wrong, and someday soon, they would have to be stopped. The boy felt like a coward for having run away, but he made a promise that he'd grow to be a stronger person, and then he would fight back and speak out against S.I.G.E. He owed it to everyone; Namine, Axel, the other patients, and also to himself........
Axel watched the two boys quietly, his expression softening a little despite his mood. First Roxas pulled that stupid stunt back there, and now he was forgiving the other boy so quickly, even after all that had happened! Axel wasn't sure if he could ever forgive Sora, whether or not it was really his fault. But it was clear to him that this was closure that both the boys needed, and so he held his peace as Roxas and Sora sobbed quietly, each offering support and healing the other's wounds little by little....
After a while the peace was shattered by a loud ringing that sounded off in the living room. All three boys jumped, and Sora immediately began searching his pockets until he pulled out a small, black cellphone. It was a pretty nice phone, with a Way to Dawn key charm hanging on the side which Riku had given him for his birthday one year. Looking at the caller ID, Sora's eyes widened a bit fearfully when he saw that that was the very person who was calling him now. Damn, I forgot! I stayed out too late without telling anyone where I was! Dad's gonna have a fit again!
Roxas looked apprehensive, and Axel glared at him threateningly as he answered the phone. "Hey, Riku. No....no, I'm fine, I'm fine! I just had a school project to finish up at a friend's house....... I know.... I know, I should have taken someone with me! Sorry!......"
Roxas listened to him talk, holding his breath and feeling too nervous to move. It wasn't that he didn't trust Sora; he was just afraid of what would happen if Riku came looking for the other boy. Glancing over briefly, he noticed that Axel looked like he was prepared to charge if there was any sign of a threat. Please let Riku just stay at home, please let Riku just stay at home....
Sora continued. " No.......no, you don't need to do that! I'll just........Fine.....okay, yeah, that's fine........Okay, I'll meet you on third street........yeah, gimme twenty minutes.........Okay, bye!" He hung up the phone then, and everyone sighed a little in relief that the crisis had been averted.
Sora looked back at Axel, making sure the red head would really let him go. "Third street is seven blocks away, so he shouldn't suspect anything. I know you don't really trust me, but I swear I won't tell anyone about Roxas! No one even knows that I know about the contract yet........."
Axel looked thoughtful for a moment, then nodded silently as Roxas put a hand on Sora's shoulder. "It's okay, Sora. I trust you...........," Then, a little more shyly, he added, "Maybe, when this whole thing blows over...do you think we could be friends?"
Sora blinked back at him, confused again, but then he smiled back. He should be expecting this by now; Roxas was a pretty weird kid. "Sure, Roxas.....I'd like that. You're a nice guy...I know I don't deserve your- ow, hey!" The blond elbowed him hard in the ribs, and he winced as he rubbed the sore spot. He glared back at Roxas, who was smiling brightly. "It's in the past, remember? Just shut up and go see your boyfriend already!"
Sora grinned back at him. "Okay, okay. I get the picture."
As Roxas opened the front door for him, the brunette stopped and whispered to him. "You're lucky to have a friend like Axel. Please don't be too mad at him; he just cares about you a lot is all." Roxas was still annoyed by Axel's rudeness earlier, but he couldn't help looking down at the floor guiltily. He had ignored his friend's request, even after he'd promised to stay safe...
Sora looked at him quizzically for a minute, then glanced back and forth between him and the red head. Axel raised an eyebrow slightly, obviously clueless of Sora's thoughts, and when the brunette looked back he noticed Roxas's eyes seemed to dart away from the older boy immediately as he blushed lightly. Sora thought he had a pretty good idea of what was going on, and he chuckled at Roxas as he whispered. "Well, it's good to see S.I.G.E. hasn't affected your love life. Good luck, man!" He grinned even as Roxas pushed him out the door and slammed it behind him.
The brunette smiled as he looked over his shoulder one last time, and then he walked off down the street, intent to be well away from here by the time his over-protective boyfriend found him.
Roxas locked the door behind him and turned to face Axel. The red head had barely moved an inch away from the wall, and he looked back at Roxas, his voice tired but angry.
"What the hell did I just tell you earlier?! Don't you ever do anything stupid like that again! What if that had been Riku?!" It never did him any good to snap at the boy, but he wanted Roxas to know how much he'd scared him.
The boy sighed, doing what he could to calm Axel down. He still felt guilty, and he was too tired to argue at this point. "I know, you're right. I'm sorry I didn't listen earlier. But can youplease try to be nicer to Sora from now on? He feels bad enough for being in the dark about it for so long."
Axel looked at him intently for a moment, and then he sighed too, conceding. "As long as you're happy, Rox. If you trust him, I'll try to trust him too. I just don't want you to get hurt."
Roxas smiled, walking over quickly to give him a big, warm hug. "I know. I'll be careful." Axel blinked down at him briefly before slowly returning the gesture, letting out another sigh. He had a feeling the younger boy was just trying to soften him up with his affection, but he didn't really care. What could he say? He's a cute kid......just not a very smart one.
After a few minutes, he put his arm around the blond's shoulder and together they walked back to Axel's room, completely beat after such an eventful night.....
Roxas flopped down on his makeshift bed and nestled deeper into the warm blankets, thinking about all the strange things that had happened. Axel had fallen asleep as soon as he had hit the pillow, and now the red head snored peacefully on the bed above him. The younger boy chuckled as he listened to his love mumble softly in his sleep. The words rolled over in his mind as he remembered earlier. I love you so much, Axel..........
The red head had a bit of a dark side, as Roxas had seen today, but he was also a very kind and caring person. Roxas had sympathized with Sora in that he felt like he'd piled up a debt he could never repay, as Axel had never really asked anything of him despite all that he'd done. It seemed right now like the only thing the boy could offer him was his love and devotion, and even with such small things Axel had accepted them gratefully. He even loved Roxas back, a secret wish that the younger boy had never dreamed could come true.
Roxas sat up and laid his arms across the edge of the bed, resting his head as he watched Axel. The moonlight made Axel look pale and even more beautiful, and Roxas smiled at him. He reached out a little, brushing a few strands of red hair from Axel's face as his thoughts wandered aimlessly. His freedom may be limited to the apartment for a little while longer, but he was happy to be anywhere if the red head would be by his side.
Roxas watched Axel for a long time before he found himself slowly drifting off to sleep.....
Riku had come back to his dorm after another late night of sparring practice. He felt bad about skipping out on visiting Sora today, but as he sat down on the couch and checked the messages on his phone, his ears were assaulted by a loud stream of panicked yelling coming from his speaker. Now he drove his old, beat-up red Toyota Corolla as quickly as he could over to third street, heading to pick up his thoughtless, idiotic, wayward boyfriend.
His phone was ringing in the cup holder beside him, but he chose to ignore it and spare what was left of his ear drums. Leon always got a bit irrational whenever his son was involved, and Riku was feeling tense enough as it is. It was late at night in a weird part of town; as soon as he made sure Sora was okay, he was going to kick his ass into next week for worrying him.
Sure enough, the brunette was waiting for him on the curb as he drove up, arms behind his head as he rested against the brick wall of the old volunteer fire department building. Sora walked over to the car and climbed in, though he seemed a little less cheerful and energetic than usual. He just seemed calm, and more than a little tired; he yawned and curled up on the seat slightly, resting his head against the car door as Riku drove off.
The older boy wasn't going to just let him get away with this without a good rant. Sometimes he felt more like the boy's mother rather than his boyfriend.
"Sora, how many times have I told you not to be wandering around on your own? You're always complaining about how I nag you, but then you turn around and do stupid shit anyway! Next time you should really let someone know when you run off somewhere, so people don't worry as much." Sora winced inwardly at Riku's tone, but he nodded with a small smile as his eyes drooped lower. "Sorry, Riku. I won't do it again....."
The silver-haired boy was about to say something, when he noticed that Sora had pretty much passed out next to him. That was a little weird, given that this was Sora he was dealing with, but Riku sighed. "Sure you won't." He decided to give it up and let him sleep, knowing that even his exhaustion couldn't save the boy from his father's deadly wrath the minute they got back.
Even if Sora's behavior seemed a little off tonight, his pension for stupid ideas was nothing new. The younger boy was completely incorrigible; he'd run off randomly a lot when they were kids, forcing Riku to go find him and drag him back home each time. Sora never seemed to understand that his father's wealth and position made him a potential target of attention for all the wrong people. But despite Riku's worries, he had to admit that Sora always made sure there was never a dull moment for either of them. Maybe that's why he'd fallen for the boy; though he wasn't completely sure how he had in the first place.
Oh well. At least he's okay for right now.
Riku reached a hand over and pated his head, smiling a little as he drove. Whatever weird or stupid situations Sora got himself into, the older boy promised to always be there to bust him out. And right now, as far as he knew at least, the brunette didn't even know how much more vulnerable he was, since Roxas had disappeared. Leon's pay and support was only a part of his drive. Above all else, he wanted to protect the life and happiness of the one who had become his hope and light......