Roxas let his bag drop in the foyer as soon as he steps through the door. He stood dazed, remembering the way the Mustang had shot off the second he was out of the student parking lot. He stares at his sneakers and tried, for a moment, what in the hell had drove him to do such a reckless and frankly stupid thing? Roxas hugs himself and collapses to the floor, his back glued to the door. His fingers stills lightly shaking, given he had them locked in an iron grip.
Thunder had greeted him at the door, but Roxas barely acknowledged him.
He didn't know why, but it felt like it had something to do with Axel. Just like everything else in Roxas' life did. He still hadn't seen Axel since they had kissed on the stairs, hours before his grueling audition with Marluxia. And yet, not even Marluxia's harsh kisses could cover the feeling of Axel's. Roxas raises his trembling hand and traces his thumb along his bottom lip. Reminiscing on the feeling of having Axel's sturdy frame hover over him; that feeling of safe.
He could still feel him on his lips. If he closes his eyes and tries hard, he can almost see Axel's silhouette.
He skipped practice so he wouldn't have to face him. And yet, he wanted to see him. He could try to play it off as long as he wanted to, but he keeps thinking about him all day long. He wanted to see Axel. To look into those intense green eyes, and run his fingers through that fire red hair. Perhaps, if he were to apologize, it would give him one last excuse to see him. To tell him everything, he thought, letting his eyes slide closed. Everything he should have said already. He'd spit it all out, regardless of who was around to hear it. He'd tell him how he couldn't stop thinking about him, how he just wanted to be near him. He'd do the unspeakable. He would step closer, wrap his arms around Axel's neck, and kiss his lips.
Brave thoughts, he told himself, opening his eyes. Roxas had to face it. He was falling for Axel.
He couldn't breathe when Axel talked to him. He couldn't breathe when Axel touched him. He just wants to be with him. To have him inside his world.
It feels like he suffocates when he's away from Axel. He's going out of his mind.
Roxas leans down to hook his hand once more through the strap of his backpack and gym bag. He trudged down the hallway, dragging his book bag behind him like a ball on a chain. The living room was dark and empty, and so were the hallway and kitchen.
Parents are away, he reminds himself.
He lifted his book bag and slung it onto the nearest kitchen chair, deposited his keys on the table, went to the cabinet to get a clean glass, then stalked to the sink to fill it. Tilting his head back, Roxas drained the glass, then wiped his mouth with his hand. He set the glass on the counter and sat down at the table, shoulders slumping. The kitchen clocked ticked and he listens as the refrigerator clicks then hums. The remnants of the adrenaline subsiding. Roxas brought his hands up to his face, rubbing his eyes.
That wasn't him. He'd been beyond himself.
Roxas sighs, feeling suddenly so tired. How had it all come down to this? So much had gotten in the way, and now, he couldn't even face Axel.
Thunder's feet could be heard tapping across the wood floors as he enters the kitchen, one of his few knotted rope toys in his mouth. He comes up to Roxas, placing the toy in his lap, his little stub tail whipping back and forth. The simple motion reminds Roxas of the way his head whipped back and forth while driving. Roxas shakes his head and groans. He turns his knees out from under the table, and the toy falls to the floor.
"Not tonight, bud. Please? It's been a long day." Roxas says in a raspy voice.
Thunder whines, but not because Roxas said no. He walks up, and rests his hand on Roxas' lap. Roxas' eyes water and he leans down, resting his forehead on the loyal Rottweiler. He scratches behind both the dog's ears, and for a moment, they stay like that, listening to each other's breathing. Roxas then kisses the dog's head, and Thunder licks his chin. Roxas manages a smile as he wipes away the sloppy kiss.
"Man's best friend." he mumbles.
He pushes himself up and goes over to the cabinet beneath the sink to pull out Thunder's dog food. Scooping a cupful, he dumps it into Thunder's food bowl, along with filling up his old glass of water and pouring it into the second bowl. Thunder walks over and begins his meal, his little tail wagging back and forth. Roxas stays and watches him eat, leaning against the sink as he hears Thunder chew and gobble the food.
When he hears the dog burp, he smiles. "Remember to chew." He jokes.
His head jerks up when he hears his phone vibrate. In the dead silence, next to Thunder's monstrous chewing, it was the loudest thing in the house. He walks over as he hears it again and digs through his backpack until he finds it in one of the side pockets. It was a text from Demyx.
Demyx: Hey when are you coming over? Aren't you out of school already?
Roxas looks to the clock hanging above the fridge. He got out of school at three-twenty, and the drive home was a good fifteen minutes. It was already ten past four. He sighs and looks back to his phone screen.
"Sorry, got caught up in some things. Be there soon." He replies.
Demyx: Kk. Txt me when you're on your way. ;D
Roxas hesitates. Needless to say he was nervous and unsure about him getting back into the car. He didn't really trust himself. But he couldn't ask Demyx to come and get him. Especially when Demyx already had a new job and couldn't drive them both to places, and that they live so far away from each other. In fact, Roxas would need to wake up an hour earlier just to get himself ready, and to avoid heavy traffic.
Guess he'd just have to suck it up.
After grabbing two more shirts and another pair of pants, he checks the house to make sure it's secure and locked, and grabs his keys.
"Okay Thunder, be good. And stay off the internet." He says, before closing the door behind him.
It was around five to five when Roxas arrived back at Demyx's complex. He pressed the button below an old and wrinkled sticker containing his apartment number. The thing made a light buzz sound, then after three seconds, the buzz repeats an octave lower, and Roxas hears the tumbler of the lock click and the door easily pushes open. Roxas made his way to the elevator, both bags on one shoulder and navigates his way through the hallways until he sees Demyx' number. Doing the classic 'Shave and a Haircut' pattern, the door opens and Demyx greets him with a smile. Roxas returns the smile as Demyx invites him in.
"Hope you like Chinese!" he says, closing the door.
Roxas places his bags by the shoe mat, or rather piles of shoes near the door, and walks in further to the kitchen to see the table covered in several cartons of Chinese food. Stuffing his car keys in his back pocket, he took in the heavily scent of egg rolls, moo goo gai pan, wan ton soup, and beef with broccoli filing the apartment. Hunger awoke within him. A growl like that of a ravenous dog snarled in his stomach, and it came loud that he didn't bother to humor himself with the hope that he didn't hear it.
"Nice." Roxas says.
"Oh! And check it out!" Demyx says moving over to the living room. He picks up a stack of films from the coffee table. "I got some movies we could watch."
"What is this, a sleepover?" Roxas jokes.
"Well, you are staying at my place temporarily, and you brought your gym bag and clothes. So yeah." Demyx retorts with a humorous grin.
"What movies?" Roxas ask as he helps himself to an egg roll.
"Eh, mostly cartoons." Demyx admits. "And mostly Tom&Jerry."
"Get out! I used to love that show!" Roxas says with a brief snippet of excitement and nostalgia.
"I still love that show!" Demyx says. "I got the one where they go and try to find a magic ring."
"The one where Jerry gets it stuck on his head?" Roxas asks.
"Yes!" Demyx says happily. "So get what you want and come on over!" Demyx says as he plops onto the couch.
"Alright, just let me change." Roxas says as he snatches his bags and heads for the guest bedroom.
They'd spread out on the floor for the movie, sitting on the cushions of the couch that they dragged to the floor. Roxas now dressed in a black tank top and black and white checkerboard pajama pants, takes a sip from his water as Jerry had just changed two other mice into cheese. The small red and white Chinese food containers had been opened and passed back and forth between them indiscriminately – neither of them, Roxas noted, keeping track of which fork was whose. Demyx wasn't very good at using chopsticks, and after spending endless minutes of teaching him, he simply gave up and continued eating his egg fu young with a fork. As Roxas cracked open and devoured his fortune cookie, his phone suddenly rings.
"All cell phones off in the theater!" Demyx harshly whispers.
"Sorry!" Roxas whispers back. "I'll be right back." he says getting up from his seat.
"No prob. I've gotta pee." Demyx says following him, pausing the movie.
"Have fun." Roxas replies with a laugh as he makes his way to the guest bedroom. He slides his thumb across the screen and sees Coach Katie's name come up. "Hello?"
"Hello!" her voice squeals across the phone. Roxas jerks his head away and rub the inside of his ear. "You've barely contacted me for days and now you're not answering my calls?!" she blurts.
"Gee, thanks for blowing my ear out." Roxas retorts as he adjusts his ear and shakes his head.
"Not the point." Katie counters.
"I'm sorry, I've been caught in a lot of things and I recently got a new phone." Roxas explains. "So what's up?"
"Well," Coach amusingly starts. "the audition was Monday, it is now Friday, and not one phone call! What happened?"
Roxas sighs and just decides to straight up lie, sick and tired of constantly hearing it. "I didn't get it. It was all a complete waste of time." He says.
"Aw, I'm sorry sweetie." She says.
"How about that job for Lady Gaga?" he asks. Realizing he completely forgot about it.
"It was already taken. Sorry, hun." She answers.
"I figured as much."
"But, there is a reason why I called you." she suddenly says. Practically hearing her smiling through the phone.
Roxas' eyes widen and his eyebrows furrow. "What are you talking about?"
"Well, even though Lady Gaga had someone take your position, I was able to get you another job." She explains.
"What job?" Roxas asks.
"Okay, so after the job was already taken, I started to spread the videos on Youtube and such. And apparently, a cousin of the manager for Jennifer Lopez, had seen the video of us doing the dance to "On the Floor" and so he showed it to the choreographer who lives next door to the manager since he lives on Destiny Islands, and he apparently loved it and wants to have you as a dancer!"
"Wow. I guess it really is who you know." Roxas manages to say as he processes everything Katie just told him.
"So all you have to do is show up to the studio and rehearse the routine!" Katie squeals.
"Wait, I got the job?!" Roxas questions.
"Yeah! They saw you and automatically liked you! They want you in her newest video!" she squeals.
"Get out! That's insane!" Roxas screams in unison with her. "How did you do it?"
"I said that I was your new manager, and that you looking for a new job." She says. She sounded a little hesitant to tell Roxas she declared herself as manager, but Roxas couldn't be more grateful.
"Oh my gosh, Katie I so owe you one! When do they want to meet me?"
"This weekend. She's recording part of her video in town and she needs a new partner for her dance routine."
"What's the song?" Roxas asks.
"Dance Again. Have you heard of it?"
"Yeah, I love that song." Roxas says.
"Okay, well I'll text you all the details and I'll come and pick you up at noon Saturday." Katie says.
"Oh actually, my parents are out of town, and I'm staying with a friend." Roxas tells her.
"Oooooohhhh!" Katie says and Roxas rolls his eyes, smiling. "Is it Axel?"
"No. Just a friend I made at the other audition." Roxas snaps. "I'll send you his address."
"Okay! Have fun! I'm so excited!" she jitters.
"I'll see you later." Roxas says before he presses the 'End Call' button.
Standing there dazed, Roxas stares at his phone in awe, as he tries to process what Katie had just told him. He got a job. He got a job for Jennifer Lopez. J-Lo. This was unbelievable. He was going to dance for J-Lo. He here's a knock at his door and Demyx peeks his head in.
"Hey dude. Come on, let's finish the movie." He looks at Roxas and gets a small hint of nervousness. "Roxas, what's going on?"
Roxas slowly turns to him, a smile so wide on his face it could look like grimace. His mouth agape, Demyx smiles and snickers. "That's a face."
Roxas shakes his head and opens his mouth wider to talk, and thankfully he did, "I got a job."
Demyx breaks into an overjoyed smile. "Roxas that's great! For who?!"
"Jennifer Lopez." Roxas manages to say, his eyes flicking to Demyx.
"The Brazilian Booty of pop-culture?!"
Roxas nods.
"Woohoo!" Demyx screams and wraps Roxas in a hug. "Congratulations!"
Roxas returns the hug along with pats on the back. He begins to smile and laugh.
"This is so surreal." He says as Demyx releases him.
"This is REAL!" Demyx says smiling. "And I say, we celebrate with celebratory ice cream!"
"Done." Roxas says as he follows Demyx out.
Demyx rushes to the kitchen. He pries open the freezer door while Roxas resumes his former position on the couch cushions.
"So what do you have?" He asks as he sees Demyx pull out three different colored cartons.
"Uh, we have Double Chocolate Chip, Sea-Salt, and Rocky Road." He says as he pulls out two bowls from the pantry.
"You like Sea-Salt too?" Roxas asks as he gets up, going over to the bar stool.
"Yeah, it's not my favorite, but it's good." Demyx explains as he pulls open a drawer, taking out two spoons.
"I love Sea-Salt!" Roxas exclaims as he sees the blue dyed ice cream.
"Don't drool on it." Demyx jokes and in result Roxas sticks his tongue out. "Here, you can have as much as you want."
"Oh no that's fine." Roxas says.
"Go ahead, this is celebratory ice cream." Demyx ensures as he hands Roxas his spoon. "Completely different from regular ice cream."
"What makes it different?" Roxas asks amused as he dips his spoon into the frosted food, covering the tip in the delicious frozen treat.
"It's more fun to eat." Demyx jokes, taking a large scoop with his spoon into the Rocky Road.
Roxas sees him take a look to the clock, then diverting his attention to the frosted food.
"Almost time for you curfew?" Roxas jokes, licking the rest of the Sea-Salt treat off his spoon.
Demyx gives him a 'very funny' look, and mimics Roxas' laughter adding on a humorous face. "Haha."
"So, you know any ice cream recopies?" Roxas asks as he takes his bowl.
"A few. You?" Demyx asks.
"A few." Roxas answers laughing.
"What kinds?" Demyx asks as he drizzles chocolate syrup on his three scoops of Rocky Road.
"Uh, Banana Fudge Swirl. Banana Split. A few shakes. And I can make an ice cream cake too." Roxas explains.
"Any family recopies?" Demyx asks, taking a scoop from his bowl.
"Uh, well there is this one. Something that my mom made up." Roxas says taking a glob of his Sea-Salt. "We don't that many since my mom's not that great with ice cream, but she makes good desserts overall."
"What is it?"
"Uh," Roxas squeezes his eyes shut as he tries to remember the name of the unusual ice cream recopy. "I think, 'Sea-Salt by the Seashore."
"Interesting, what's it made of?"
"Uh, three scoops of Sea-Salt ice cream, then you add some fruit of your choice, some berries, and some lemon juice."
The mention of lemon juice makes Demyx face cringe in disgust. And he give a little snicker of doubt to Roxas, thinking that it sounds more like something designed for constipation.
"Hey, don't knock it till you try it." Roxas snaps.
"I'd rather not." He says.
The two then make their way back over to the couch and enjoy their frozen dairy treats, and Roxas couldn't help but see that Demyx kept looking at the clock. Maybe he really did have a curfew. Maybe the building had a certain hour that everyone had to turn their things off; like when building managers say you have to turn down your music at nine o'clock. They had moved onto another movie; this time, 'Space Jam' with the Looney Tunes and Michael Jordon. Their stomachs full of frozen dairy, the food coma was setting in on the two of them. Demyx had taken on final glance at the clock, and it read eleven thirty.
"Is there a curfew for the building?" Roxas asks as he sees Demyx looking to the clock.
Demyx sighs. "Actually, I'm waiting for a friend of mine to call me."
"Were you supposed to meet him somewhere?"
"No, just, I actually invite him here. For something." Demyx stammers.
"Something important?" Roxas asks, a suspicious feeling crawling up his spine.
"You could say that." Demyx answers.
"Demyx, I've watched enough stupid teen dramas to know that when someone says, 'You can say that,' it means something's about to happen." Roxas stammers, getting a small chuckle from Demyx. "So what's up?"
As if on cue, the buzzer to Demyx's apartment buzzes; and Roxas can hear Demyx mumble, "Saved by the buzz". He gets up and goes over to the intercom, pressing the button without even asking who it was. Obviously he was expecting someone. Why he didn't tell Roxas is another question. A nervous and sick feeling started to bubble in Roxas' stomach like bad gas after drinking too much soda, and suddenly he fears losing his frozen dairy meal to having it splatter all over Demyx's carpet. Demyx waits by the door, and Roxas gets up and places his bowl in the sink. Starting to wonder if Demyx was fighting with a friend makes Roxas nervous. Probably someone from Rose Studios wondering why he quit? Then again, why would he invite his friend here if he had a guest? Perhaps his friend wanted to come over and talk? Roxas was more than willing to give them the privacy, but it seemed strange to do all this while you were hosting.
"Uh, Roxas I think I hear you phone going off in the room." Demyx says as his head gestures to the door to the guest room.
Roxas doesn't protest, he simply raises his eyebrows in curiosity to give off the impersonation he's completely oblivious to the situation. He turns and heads to the guest room, opening the door and pretending to look for his phone, when it was on the nightstand right in front of him; charging, and the screen still black. That feeling over nervousness grows more inside him, pooling into his stomach. Demyx wouldn't have asked him to leave unless it was something and between him and his friend.
Unless, the guest was for Roxas.
But Roxas thoughts were cut short as he heard someone knock at the door. He tries to stick with his solution of Demyx arguing with a friend as he hears Demyx open the door and mumble something to the guest. He couldn't make out the voice of the guest or what he was saying, obviously they were whispering. Debating on whether to go out there or wait to be called, Roxas leans against the wall, trying to decipher what the two men were saying. Finally, a surge of bravery cuts through him and he pulls open the door and walks out acting casual, phone in hand to make it appear that he looked at it, and looking down at his phone, he hears Demyx go quiet.
There's his chance. "Demyx, I didn't see any new text messages, are you sure . . ." Roxas looks up and nearly drops his phone on the floor.
His entire body goes numb, his breathing ceases for a moment before he draws a long gasp. Demyx stands off to the side, biting the corner of his lip. A smile on his face, but not one of happiness, but nervousness; as if wondering if he had done the right thing. Roxas was still debating that himself. Standing at the door, in a thin fleece, skinny jeans and white all-star converse, Roxas almost didn't recognize him without his dance clothes. But the sharp spiky red hair and the reverse teardrop tattoos under his eyes added to the recognition.
But those piercing green eyes, Roxas would've recognized anywhere.
Axel.
"Hey Roxy." Says that cool and soothing voice.
With his numb mind and paralyzed body, Roxas manages one thought.
When are the surprises going to end?