Cantabile
Disclaimer: I have already disclaimed to so many times… the only thing I own the plot and my love for writing this fanfic.
I know I said I would write more over my break… but then I realized I had midterms right when I got back from partying during Mardi Gras… the peeps at Loyola are insane if they think college freshman will be able to function that Monday, let alone take a test!
Anyway here's another lovely chapter!
Chapter 13
I felt really bad leaving Axel to go hang with Sora and Riku. Though they saw how well Axel has been treating me, they just aren't ready to accept him back into our square of friendship.
And I was slightly concerned about Axel when I left him. He looked really sad about not being able to come along… but there was something else in his eyes… I don't really know what it was.
I would call him later to check on him… hopefully that didn't make me an obnoxious boyfriend.
I sighed and walked down the street to get to the restaurant where Sora and Riku were waiting for me. They said I might like the restaurant and so I wondered exactly what it was.
When I reached the corner I smiled. Le Petit Café was the name of the place. I entered and when I saw Sora and Riku sitting at a table by the window, I moved over to them.
"Hey guys! Thanks for inviting me… but are you sure this is a French café, you know a lot of places have French names but American foods…" I said with a smile.
"No, you're supposed to tell us if this is a real French restaurant, silly! You're the expert in this case!" Sora said and pulled me into a hug.
"Okay… well let me see the menu." I said as I sat down.
"Here." Riku said and I smiled at him.
I opened the menu and smiled. "So far it has one check… the entire menu is in French and there are no descriptions… the waiters are supposed to tell you about the meals." I looked around the menu and chuckled.
"Even if this wasn't a French restaurant… you have to be a damn good imitation to have escargot on your menu." I added.
"Wait… Escargot… like, snails?" Sora asked and I nodded and licked my lips at the thought of delicious escargot.
"I thought that shit was fake! I thought that was a joke! French people really eat snails?" Sora asked incredulously.
"You really shouldn't clump people in generalizations like that, Sora. I'm sure many other people in Europe and the rest of the world enjoy the delicacy." Riku said and Sora winced.
"I don't know why you are cringing Sora, you've never had it and it's fuckin' delicious!" I said with a laugh.
"I just… it's snails!" Sora exclaimed.
"Cooked snails… with a delicious garlic butter sauce… oh god don't make me start drooling!" I said.
"Hello, are you guys ready to order?" the waiter asked when he came up to our table.
"Oui, Je voudrais les escargots et un verre de l'eau… s'il vous plait." I ordered in my native tongue to test to see if the waiter would understand.
"Ah! Parlez-vous français?" The waiter asked and I smiled.
"Oui Monsieur. Je suis francais. Je suis originaire de Montpellier." I said.
"Vraiment? Mes grands-parents vivent à Montpellier. C'est beau, oui?" The waiter replied and I nodded. My home was the most beautiful place on earth.
"C'est très vrais! J'adore Montpellier. Il est le meilleur endroit dans le monde! Visitez-vous ton grands-parents souvent?" I inquired.
"Je voudrais parler avec vous un peu plus ... mais j'ai besoin de vous servir en premier. Peut-être après mon quart de travail est terminée?" The waiter asked if I could talk with him after his shift was over and it would have been nice to have a nice chat but I immediately thought of Axel waiting for me at the conservatory.
"Je regret mais je veux retourner à mon copain. Il est un chanteur au conservatoire. Je l'aime." I said with a fond look on my face.
The waiter chuckled and nodded. "I figured you were too perfect to be available. That boyfriend of yours is lucky." The waiter said.
"Amen." Sora said dryly and Riku nodded.
"So sorry about that… what would you two like to order?" he asked.
"Well if Roxy is gonna eat the snails, I'm gonna eat 'em too!" Sora said with a determined voice.
"Very good… I promise you'll like them. And for you, sir?" He turned his gaze to Riku.
"Je voudrais le croque monsieur et un verre de l'eau." Riku spoke perfectly and my jaw dropped.
"You were holding out on me this whole time!" I yelled incredulously not realizing that Sora had yelled the same thing, making the exclamation that much louder.
Riku laughed and shook his head. "I'm just really good at guessing…"
I sighed and Sora shoved his boyfriend slightly with a groan. "It's not fair… Riku is so much smarter than me… I'm so dumb!" Sora cried.
I shook my head at Sora… I knew he was fishing for complements from his boyfriend.
"No Sora, you're perfect. And besides… if you were really smart, I wouldn't impress you half as much as I do now… I wouldn't worry about it Sora. You're adorable and I love you just the way you are." Riku said the spiel as if he had recited it many times.
I laughed and kissed Sora's cheek. "We love you Sora."
Sora giggled and hugged us both, which meant he actually pulled our heads into one arm choke holds…
Sora, Riku and I joked around as we waited for our food to come. When it did I smiled at the sight of my meal. "Are you ready to taste the greatest thing you will ever taste?" I asked Sora.
"Umm… how exactly do you eat it? What the hell is this?" Sora asked and lifted an awkward looking utensil.
I laughed. "Sora, you hold the shell with that. And you use the long utensil to pull the food out. Watch." I pulled the delicious snail out of its shell before eating it. I moaned at the taste… they cooked it just right and everything was balanced in flavor.
"This place passes… it's a French restaurant." I said.
Riku chuckled. "Well it's a good thing we took you here then." He said and took the utensils from Sora. I think he was worried Sora might poke an eye out with the way he was handling the equipment.
"Here baby, like this." Riku followed my instruction and successfully removed the snail. He gave it to Sora and I waited as he ate.
"That… isn't so bad… the texture is a little odd but the taste is quite good." Sora said.
I nodded. "It's great. I always get mad when people hate on escargot without trying it first."
"I'm glad I did try it. You want one Riku?" Sora asked and pulled a snail out for him.
"Sure but only if you feed it to me." Riku smirked and I made a playful gagging noise.
I continued to eat as Sora fed the snail to Riku. He agreed that escargot was indeed, quite delicious.
I pulled out my phone and called Axel, I really wanted to tell him about how I made Riku and Sora eat snails. I could picture the look on his face when he misunderstood the phrase and then the look of realization after he thought about it.
When I heard the tone signifying that Axel's line was busy, I hung up and put my phone on the table. He would call back in a few minutes after finishing up his conversation with such and such. That was the drill.
I was slightly puzzled when my phone hadn't rung after we had finished eating. Sora paid for our meals and I decided I would call him one more time. I wasn't going to call obsessively, just twice.
The phone rang a little before the busy tone sounded again. I sighed and put my phone in my pocket.
"Are you okay Roxas?" Riku asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine." I said and sent him a smile. I really was okay, I wasn't the only person Axel talked to; he had a lot of friends. I wouldn't ever think to get in the way of that… if I did I would be mad with myself for being obnoxious.
"Rox, I'm going back to our dorm. Are you coming?" he asked.
I thought for a second. I really wanted to see what Axel was up to. I didn't want to get in his way… I was just curious. I turned to Riku. "Do mind if I go with you to your dorm? I want to see how Axel is doing." I said.
"Sure thing. Sora, Roxas and I will meet up with you soon. We're going to take a visit to my dorm first." Riku said and Sora nodded.
"Okay, I'll see you later then!" Sora said cheerfully and moved to return to our dorm room.
Riku and I walked up the stairs and made our way to Riku's dorm room. When he opened the door I walked in slowly and looked around to see if I could find Axel.
"He sleeps in room B." Riku said and I nodded before heading to that door. I knocked and entered only to find it empty. I then noticed how much larger this bedroom was compared to mine. It was a little unfair.
Maybe… I could sleep in Axel's bed from time to time. I snickered. I could be really mean and make him switch with me. I giggled maniacally. Yes… that would be evil.
"You okay, Rox?" Riku asked.
I jumped at his voice and blushed. "Yeah… I was plotting." I said with a mischievous smirk.
"You shouldn't be allowed to make a face like that… it's like the devil's incarnate! There is nothing but pure evil." Riku chuckled.
I grinned. "Oh but I am evil!" I said with a giggle.
"Should I be worried for my best friend?" Riku asked and my grin turned soft.
"You referred to Axel as your best friend." I noted gently.
"He was always my best friend Roxas… I forgave him earlier this week… I just don't want him to know it yet… I want him to do something to really earn it, you understand. And I'm pretty sure that's how Sora feels as well." Riku said.
I smiled. "That makes me really happy to hear. I worry about him sometimes; he can get into really funky moods when he misses hanging with you. He misses his bros." I said.
Riku nodded and sighed. "Sorry he's not here… I guess you'll just have to see him later. But I wonder what he's doing… I mean, you're the best thing around for him… why would he waste time with anyone else." Riku said and I chuckled.
"Well, he loves basking in attention so I let him go play to feed his addiction then come back to me less obnoxious." I said.
"Oh my god! Why haven't I ever thought of that? Damn that would have saved me so many hours of pure annoyance at his ridiculousness." Riku exclaimed and I laughed.
"Well now that you know my tactics, you can use it. I'm just going to head back to my dorm. I'll see you guys later." I said and headed out.
I yawned as I walked down the stairs to get to my dorm… I was pretty tired and I wanted to go to sleep. I was about halfway down the stairs when this random girl, I think her name was Maleficent, grabbed my arm and pulled me to the side.
She looked furious and I gave her a confused look. "Can I help you?" I asked.
"Cut the crap! I know you told Axel to do your dirty work! You're sick! If you wanted to get people to stop believing the rumors, you should have gone around calling all those girls and going from dorm to dorm apologizing and explaining! Don't make Axel do it for you! You may have convinced him that you aren't a slut! But you won't fool me! I was there when you were talking to Demyx about that man-whore Marluxia and what you did with him! You're a fucking slut and that won't change!" The girl gritted out angrily.
I gave her an even more confused look. "What are you talking about?" I snapped.
"You made Axel go from dorm to dorm and explain the rumors. And when the people weren't in the dorms he would call them on the phone to explain! I was walking down the hallway and I saw him get slapped by a couple of girls who were angry at you! It's you who should have gotten smacked not him! I hate you and the way you trick Axel! He should love someone like me who will always be faithful to him!" She hissed and shoved me a little.
Now, I was raised never to put my hands on girls in a hurtful manner so I let her push me, but I spoke out to her. "I didn't even know he was doing that! And it makes me feel very honored that he would suffer the way he did for me, but this is not my fault! I didn't cheat on Axel with Marluxia. I made out with Marley before Axel and I got together! You jumped to conclusions after you heard me talking to Demyx and then you spread that false rumor around! So in actuality, you're the one who got him hurt! Not me!" I yelled angrily. I was so tired of this!
"How dare you say that to me!" Maleficent bellowed and shoved me again and I stepped back to regain my balance…
Only there was no floor for me to step on… I felt panic surge through me as I fell backwards. Out of reflex I turned mid-fall to catch myself, and another wave of fear flew through me as I saw myself fall downward towards the cold, hard, unforgiving stairwell.
I closed my eyes and shot my arms out to break my fall. I suddenly felt a sharp pain fly up my arm as I began to tumble down. I screamed when I felt my head smack against the steps. My body flew over me as I somersaulted forward and down the stairs. I can only say I was lucky there was a wall I smacked into instead of more stairs to fall down from.
I could feel blood running from a cut on my forehead so I moved to sit up. I hissed as I pain shot up one of my arms… however… I couldn't feel my other arm.
I frowned and lifted my arms up for me too see. I let out scream at my swollen wrist.
It was then that adrenaline faded and immense pain shot through that arm I cried and screamed as I realized there was numbness in my hand.
I looked up the stairwell to see Maleficent staring down at me in shock. Suddenly people came running from the dorms at the commotion.
I continued to scream at the pain flowing through me, I could feel the blood running down my face but I really couldn't think of anything to do but just sit there. My brain refused to focus on anything except my wrist and after a minute of staring at it in shock.
My stomach lurched and I vomited to the left of me. I retched again before I felt a hand on my back.
I looked up to see Riku, with a panicked look on his face. He looked at something behind me and yelled.
"Sora! Call an ambulance right now!" He yelled.
It didn't register what was happening. I wailed and screamed at the pain that kept bouncing back and forth from my feet to my head.
"Roxas… Roxas… calm down… you have to calm down." Riku's words went through one ear but out the other.
Things started spinning for a second and I noticed someone running down the stairs to get to me.
It was Axel. The name clicked in my brain and I screamed. "AXEL!"
"I'm here baby! I'm here, and the ambulance is on its way. Who did this to you?" Axel asked and I tried to think… but only one thought hit me.
The thought sent the coldest, most painful chill through my entire body.
What about my piano playing? What if my wrist was injured badly! I couldn't play without functioning wrists! I started screaming again and Axel's face looked pained and frightened.
"Roxas, you need to calm down!" Riku and Axel said together and I shook my head though it made me dizzy.
"I'LL NEVER BE ABLE TO PLAY THE PIANO AGAIN! OH GOD! OH GOD! MY PIANO! AXEL, MY PIANO!" I yelled hysterically and Riku's face sank considerably.
Axel's face hardened. "You don't know that Roxas!" Axel grabbed my face gently and I was forced to look in his eyes. "If you want to continue playing the piano, you need to stop screaming and focus on getting to a hospital so that you can get everything healed. You understand?" Axel snapped firmly and he started taking deep breaths with me as Sora came up and pressed something to my forehead to stop the bleeding.
I another dizzy spell ran through me and Axel's intense green eyes were the last thing I saw.
A/N: HAHAHAHHA! I'M SO EVIL! Review for more!