A/N: Hey howdy hey there! Um. It's been almost 2 months since I've updated. How? It doesn't even feel like two months Dx Why so late? Multiple reasons. 1) I refused to upload until I covered ALL of Thanksgiving in one chapter. 2) Real life problems w/friends and such. 3) Disheartened with my writing 4) I wasn't happy or in a good mood a lot of the time, so I didn't feel like I could write anything funny. 5) Laziness. 6) That thing where you think about something (this story in my case) so much that you lose motivation to actually write it because you know the story so well already.
Anyway, I'm not trying to make excuses, that is just a conglomeration of reasons why this is so late coming. Going forward Idk how long it will take me to finish future chapters. I'll certainly try to be more punctual, but I have AP tests and state testing and SATs coming up. So we'll see, I suppose. I've devised a way to keep my mind off of this story so much so that I actually feel motivated to write it, but I will speak more about it at the end.
Apologies again. Kisses~
Marluxia and Naminé eventually drove off and Demyx and Zexion proceeded to entering the shorter boy's house to probably continue fooling around. Upon entering his own house after everyone had left, Roxas found Riku and Sora splayed out on the couch watching TV and not moving at all. "Hey Sora, hey Riku," he greeted.
They returned the greeting halfheartedly, sounding like they were in pain. "Roxas while you're up, can you get us something to eat?" Sora wondered, shifting slightly.
"Why can't you get it yourself?" the blond snorted.
"We just got back from practice and it was absolute hell... We're in so much pain right now..."
"Oh I forgot that you guys still have practice like every other day. Did you have lots of fun?" Roxas flopped down on the couch on top of his twin's legs, making him whimper in pain.
"Coach was super pissed today 'cause Demyx didn't go to practice today, and since our season's over already, we're just doing fitness training until polo starts up next semester. So, since he was so pissed, he made us do suicides, stairs, planks, and pushups in that order for like 3 repetitions. It was absolute torture." The brunet whined. "And now it hurts all over and we can't move, so please feed us?"
Roxas begrudgingly agreed and made them a small snack. Later that evening Cloud gave Sora an ice bath in which Sora tried to keep himself from crying at the immense cold, making everyone feel bad. This was followed up by an awkward explanation of why Roxas needed to use Tifa's nail polish remover. Luckily, the night wasn't too bad all in all.
The next day found Roxas with Sora in Cloud's car. Everyone had the day off, so they planned on having a small family Thanksgiving the day before the huge celebration to at least get some family time in. The twins had been sent to the grocery store to pick up some supplies, which was sure to be horrendous because everyone wanted to get their stuff for Thanksgiving the following day. The first sign that of how terrible this trip would prove to be started with the fact that the parking lot was almost completely full and they had to park near the back of the lot.
The inside of the store buzzed with people going here and there grabbing this and that, trying to get what they needed and out the door as soon as possible. Sora and Roxas decided to split up the list so that they could finished faster, so they went off alone to procure this and that. Roxas wasn't much of a shopper, but with a list in hand, he had no problem locating things quickly. He looked at it more as a mission than a shopping trip, so it was easy for him to focus in on his own world and needs.
Being that Roxas was so centered on his mission, it really surprised him when he a hand coming from the other side of a refrigerator lined with milk grabbed him and growled "Roxas!" He nearly dropped the gallon of milk he was retrieving. Luckily, he recovered it within seconds and had it placed gently in his basket of stuff. The blond glared through to the other side of the freezer and spotted a familiar face and shit-eating grin.
"Hey, Roxy, how's it going?" Axel wondered.
"What the fuck?" Roxas could only look at the redhead, dumbfounded. "I didn't know you worked here! Since when, fire crotch?" Truth be told, the blond was a bit upset that his secret boyfriend hadn't told him he had a job earlier.
"I've had this job for about a year. Ever since I was eligible for a work permit, at least," Axel responded, licking his lips before letting out a breath that managed to reach Roxas and warm his face.
"How come I didn't know about this earlier?" the blond wondered. "And how the hell were you able to hang out with me all throughout my punishment? You didn't have work, did you?"
The redhead shrugged and smiled genuinely at Roxas (which, to be quite honest, was the blond's weakness). "I don't know, I guess I just didn't think it was that important. Plus, there's so many people working here that it's not like I work a whole bunch of hours. During your punishment, I had other people take over for my shifts. I have a buttload of shifts to make up. Plus, we would only hang out for like an hour, so I was able to work a little bit. And since your dad has that day off every Wednesday or whatever and since we didn't really hang out on the weekend, it really hasn't been a big deal."
Roxas' initial anger flowed away and he tilted his head at his boyfriend. "Why would you do that? It can't be fun work… Stocking shelves, talking to people…," Roxas shuddered, "sounds icky."
"It's not fun and it's definitely icky, but you're worth it." There was that smile again.
Roxas felt strange. Cold and frozen on the outside, but warm and melty on the inside. "Remind me to kiss the fuck out of you later. For now, though, I gotta go. Sora's probably waiting for me."
"I look forward to later." Axel grinned. "I gotta get back to work anyway, see ya, Roxy."
"Yeah, see you tomorrow probably." Before Roxas completely walked away, he impulsively turned back to face the redhead. "Oh, you should call me tonight!" He exclaimed without really thinking, making Axel give him a questioning look. The blond blushed lightly and looked down at his feet. "Just, I don't know, I might be lonely? Okay, whatever, Axel, bye." Saving himself any further embarrassment, Roxas went on with his mission with thoughts of a certain redhead plaguing mostly every one.
When Roxas regrouped with Sora, the brunet asked if something had happened, pointing out the blond's apparent unsettledness. He snapped at his twin, making Sora grin and that concluded their trip to the grocery store.
Being the good boyfriend that he was, Axel called later that evening just as Roxas had requested. The blond had been sitting in the living room with his family watching TV when his cell phone starting to ring (Roxas preferred to have the sound on because he hardly ever felt the device vibrating). Seeing 'Mr. Sexy Pants' light up on the screen brought an instant smile to his face. Quickly, yet as naturally as possible, Roxas proceeded to race up the stairs to his and Sora's room where he locked the door. As he went, he could practically feel Sora's shit-eating grin aimed at the back of his head. If Sora knew who was calling, Roxas doubted he would be so smug.
"Hello?" Roxas asked into the phone as he tried not to sound so breathless.
"Hey, Roxy," Axel replied. "Were you lonely? Did you feel the need to hear good ol' Axy's voice?"
The blond grinned as he lay down on the floor on his side so that he didn't have to hold the phone up to his ear anymore. In a pitiful, weak voice, the blond replied, "Oh most definitely! I was lost in a sea of darkness just floating around trying to latch onto something, but nothing was there. I began to cry because it was just so cold and it hurt. I thought, 'If only Axel were here to melt all the cold! Man, that guy sure is awesome... and hot.'"
Axel's laugh barked over the phone in away that made Roxas feel like he'd made a really good joke, and it felt good. "Yeah? How did that go? Were you hit by any sudden epiphanies? Make any life-altering revelations?"
"Well," Roxas chirped, "I was crying so hard that I almost broke my lungs and then I was like 'Oh, no I need that to breathe,' so I got really worried and then my phone started to ring and it was a little beacon of hope in that dark loneliness. And now, here I am." The blond paused to chuckle. "And now, I've decided that I wanna be just like you when I grow up. Mhmm."
"Wow, Rox, I'm so flattered!" Axel was too busy busting a gut on the other end to say more until he managed to wheeze out, "You little fucking shit, you're gonna kill me if I laugh any harder!" Suddenly, he calmed down. "Well, if you're going to be like me when you grow up, you gotta drink a shit ton of milk and grow like 5 inches. Then, you gotta grow your hair out and dye it red. And the last one is impossible. You gotta actually become cool. I know, it sounds absolutely impossible, and it is."
"Fuck you, asshole!" Roxas exclaimed. "I hate you…" he whined. "Kill yourself immediately."
"Mais, je te manquerais! Je sais que tu m'aimes. C'est d'accord, parce que je comprends que tu es très méchant et tu ne peux pas accepter combien tu m'aimes, (But, you would miss me ! I know you love me. It's okay, because I understand that you're mean and you can't accept how much you love me,)" Axel responded. "Anyway, I heard that you're going to have Thanksgiving with me! Est-il vrai? Je peux voir ta belle figure demain? Je suis très enthousiaste. (Is it true ? I can see your beautiful face tomorrow ? I'm very excited.)"
"Oui, c'est vrais. (Yes, it's true.) I'm going to Riku's house tomorrow. Je suis enthousiaste aussi, mais… euh… Je ne veux pas voir ton père. (I'm excited, too, but uh… I don't want to see your father.) If I see him, est-ce que je peux l'ignorer ? Vraiment, je ne veux pas parler avec lui (If I see him, can I ignore him? Really, I don't want to talk to him)," Roxas explained slowly as he thought over how to say everything correctly. He grinned about how easily Axel had slipped into French and how he spoke at a normal pace in it, unlike Roxas. Plus, the redhead's accent was pretty good. Really, Roxas just liked his boyfriend's French. A lot.
"No worries, I've been ignoring him since that day, too. Je suis en colère encore avec lui ! Toujours, je ne peux pas croire comment impoli il a été à toi. Il sera là demain. Je suis désolé, mais je ne peux rien faire. Avec un peu de chance, il parlera avec les autres parents. Je veux dire, sérieusement… (I'm still mad at him! Still, I can't believe how rude he was to you. He'll be there tomorrow. I'm sorry, but I can't do anything about that. With a little luck, he'll talk with the other parents. I mean, seriously…)-"
"Dis, Axel, j'aime ton français. C'est parfait, (Hey, Axel, I love your French. It's perfect.)" Roxas interrupted. "I think it's cute."
Axel snorted on his end. "No way. It's not cute. It's manly and sexy and sexual and hot and attractive and seductive. It makes you want to fuck me. Baises-moi, Roxas! (Fuck me, Roxas!) I know you want to."
"Psh, hell yeah I do! Axel, tomorrow please mount me immediately and steal away my virginity. I want you to make me scream like a fucking hyena!" Roxas laughed. "And I owe you some kisses anyway. Too bad no one's allowed to know about us. Can't kiss you tomorrow. Oops."
The reply was a whimper and a loud sob. "But I want it! I want your tongue in my mouth! Please, Rox, please, please, please?" Suddenly, Roxas heard the snapping of fingers. "I got it! Tomorrow, after Thanksgiving and everything, we can have a sleepover at my house! Come on, come on, come on! Say yes!"
Roxas smiled warmly at the redhead's insistence and chuckled. "I don't know about that, Axel. I'm not exactly ready to lose my purity to the likes of you. You're just a weenie head."
"Yeah, but you'd love to suck my weenie's head!" The redhead exclaimed. Then, significantly quieter, he scoffed, "Apparently you have no trouble sucking other peoples' heads."
This made Roxas snort, but not playfully this time. He didn't appreciate the way Axel mentioned Roxas' run-ins with oral sex. "Fuck off; you're not even a virgin," he growled. "Why don't you just come fuck me already? Goddamn it, Ax, it's already been like two weeks and you haven't fucking touched me. The gall!" The amount of sarcasm and anger in his voice surprised even Roxas. He wasn't quite sure where the rage had come from, but he felt that Axel deserved at least a little bit of it for saying something so rude.
There was silence on the other side of the line for a while before Axel sighed. "Fuck, Rox, I'm sorry." The genuinely apologetic voice dissipated all the darkness in the pit of Roxas' stomach. "I don't know why I said that; it's just that I get very… protective and um," Axel's voice dropped down to a whisper, "jealous," his voice returned to normal volume, "whenever I'm in a relationship or I have a crush on someone."
"Somehow, that doesn't surprise me at all. You seem like the jealous type of guy."
"Yeah. I hate it. I always get overheated to the point that I'm cold to the core."
"I like hotheads. I am one."
"Me too."
All day long, Sora couldn't stop skipping around like an idiot with his stupid, goofy grin on his face. He was up at the ungodly hour of 6AM and announced it to Roxas by diving on his twin and bouncing up and down on top of him. The brunet gained hostility from their father as well, having woken him up on his much-appreciated Thanksgiving Day off. In this mood, though, Sora's untouchable positivity remained firmly in tact amongst any and all passive-aggressive energy sent his way.
"So, Rox, what kind of thing do you think I should wear to this shindig? What would look totally swank on me?" the brunet asked as they hung out together in their room at around noon. Sora hung upside down from his bunk with the newest edition of Men's Health in his hands.
Roxas was reading a collection of stories that had been assigned as homework over the break for English. "I don't know. Jeans and a T-shirt? That's what I'm gonna wear. Axel told me that it usually isn't very formal."
"Wrong!" Sora exclaimed. "I should wear a cute, little, strapless dress with leggings and a mini jacket—you know those cute ones?—with a nice pair of flats. Maybe with a giant bow in my hair… Yeah, that would be cute!"
"Oh yeah? Where are you going to get those clothes? And what about Mom and Dad? And Riku?" the blond twin grinned.
For that, Sora threw his magazine at Roxas. "I hate you Roxas! Jeez, let a kid dream a little bit! And if Riku is the perfect gentleman that I know he is, then the fact that I like wearing panties won't matter to him. In fact, he would see me for the beautiful pansy that I so totally am. And by pansy, I mean the flower!" The brunet climbed down from his bunk to join Roxas on his. He tore the literature book out of his twin's hand and threw it on the floor. "Now, hold me," he instructed as he climbed into his lap.
"Yes ma'am." Roxas grinned as he wrapped his arms around Sora. Just as he pressed his lips to his twin's forehead, Cloud entered the room suddenly.
"Um…" he trailed off at seeing the strange scene. 'My god, what have Tifa and I created?' "We're gonna leave at three, so be ready by then."
"Okay, Daddy, you can leave now. Roxy and I wanna continue with our alone time. I'm sure you understand," Sora replied with a smirk. That received a strange look in response but a quick exit.
Sora started dressing up when it was about two o'clock to ensure that he looked his best. Being that he didn't own any of the things he wanted to wear, he simply wore a V-neck with a cardigan and dark jeans. It was hard to miss the displeasure in the brunet's eyes when he twirled for the mirror. "You know, even if I wore some flats with this, it would be ten times cuter."
"You could get a pair of TOMS or something. They look like flats and lots of guys wear them," Roxas suggested offhandedly his textbook absorbed him once again. Absorbed as he was, it surprised him when Sora tackled him with kisses and hugs.
"I love you Roxas! You are a geeeniiiiuuuuus~! My gosh, why wasn't I born as smart as you? I don't even need flats, I could wear those boots that women wear that look manly; you know the kind, right? Those are hot. And they would look so cute on me! And wow, Roxas, you've opened a door of possibilities for me!" Sora was tucked tightly against his brother's torso and his arms were tightly wrapped around him. "See, this is why you are my twin and this is why I love you!"
The blond's cheeks hurt from the massive amount of smiling he'd participated in. He was far too humbled by Sora's praise to respond. The only compliments Roxas had grown used to compliments were about how cute he was, and he didn't think those even counted as compliments in his book. He didn't really like being called cute.
A silence settled over the twins, the brunet once again in Roxas' arms. Sora was tucked under his brother's chin as the blond read around him, arms around the boy to hold the book. Slowly, as if mesmerized, Sora ran his finger along his twin's clavicle, back and forth, repetitively. The silence over them was comfortable, calm, and loving, which characterized their feelings towards each other. It honestly surprised Roxas how much the calm overwhelmed him whenever he held his twin.
"Roxas," Sora practically whispered to his brother.
"Hmm?" the blond wondered.
"I don't think I could've asked for a better brother. Honestly, I really love you. You've supported me so much our whole lives, and I don't think I could ever express how much exactly that means to me."
A lump formed in Roxas' throat. Immediately, he swallowed it back down and smiled. Sora's naïve honesty made his words so sincere that it touched his heart. "Well, I love you, too. And I honestly don't think that anything you tell me could make me not support you. We get at each other's throats sometimes, but I'm glad we always work it out."
More silence for a while. "So does this mean you're gonna start wearing make up and stuff?" Roxas wondered, effectively breaking the silence.
"Maybe. I don't know. Right now, make up doesn't really appeal to me, but if I started dressing in more feminine clothing, then maybe it would."
"So when are you going to start… exploring that part of you?"
"I really want pretty clothes, but I have no idea how to get them. Plus, right now we don't really have the money to afford clothes anyway," Sora sadly explained. "I wish we did. Then at least I could at least say that I was buying the clothes for a friends' birthday present or something."
"What about thrift stores? If you could scrape together a little money, maybe you could find something cute there. I heard that they're a good place to buy things. I know that Olette always used to buy her clothes from thrift stores. I always thought they looked pretty good."
"Hm. Maybe I'll do that if I can get some money."
The rest of their time together was spent in silence. Roxas was able to finish his reading assignment while Sora was able to finish looking at all the beautiful men in Men's Health. Not long after their discussion died down, Cloud called them down, saying that it was time to go.
Sora's excitement quickly returned and he raced downstairs. He couldn't stop bouncing up and down in his seat on the way to Riku's house.
Roxas, on the other hand, celebrated his excitement quietly. He knew that Sora's excitement came from being pumped to meet Riku's brothers and to hang out with the silver-haired teen. The blond was definitely excited to hang out with his own friends, but he meeting Riku's brothers didn't particularly interest him. Meeting people didn't appeal to him. They'd probably be more interested in Sora anyway.
Along the way, Sora had to give some direction to get to Riku's house because Mrs. Corazza's directions hadn't been very good. When they finally pulled in front of the Gallagher residence, it was only mildly surprising to Roxas that the senior's house was big and nice, not quite as big as the Almasy residence, but it was definitely nice. Something about Riku, maybe his conservative, reserved nature, made Roxas think originally that he came from a wealthy family.
The very long driveway led a good way's away from the main road. At the end of the driveway, multiple cars sat there and Roxas spotted Seifer's Chevy Avalanche and Marluxia's pink Toyota Corolla among them. Zexion's father's car was also there. It appeared that they'd be the last to arrive. Arriving last to anything always made Roxas a bit uneasy, but by Mrs. Corazza's instructions, they were exactly on time.
Sora was the first one out of the car and quickly bounced up the walkway to the front door. The rest of the Strife family followed more slowly and subdued than the brunet. Despite his exuberance, Sora still waited patiently for everyone else to reach the front door. Together they waited on the front step as a family after Sora had rung the door bell.
A responding series of rhythmic knocks from the other side of the door thoroughly perplexed Cloud, Roxas, and Tifa. Sora looked as of he'd expected this, however, and knocked back at the door with a corresponding rhythm.
The door opened after that, revealing a grinning Riku. "Happy Thanksgiving, Sora, Roxas, Mr. and Mrs. Strife. Everyone's already here, so please come in." As always, he sounded like a perfect gentleman. It almost made Roxas laugh how different Axel and Riku were. His and Sora's tastes in men were very different, though he could see why Sora liked him. Riku was the prince to Sora's princess.
The Strife family proceeded to enter the house and take in the glory that was Riku's foyer. Family portraits hung on the walls of Riku, four other silver-haired men (probably his brothers and father) all in black tuxedos with white shirts and black ties. Two women in black dresses stood next to them. One, to Roxas' shock and horror, was Fuu. Was Fuu Riku's sister? Ever since the first time he met Fuu, when she beat the crap out of him, he had been terrified of her.
Fuu aside, these pictures were very high quality. If Roxas hadn't known better, he would've thought that they were clothing advertisements. An individual portrait shot of everyone in the family covered the walls that led down a grand hall directly in front of the foyer.
As they walked down that hall, Roxas couldn't help but stare at the pictures of Riku and his brothers. They were all very attractive. Like, ridiculously attractive. If Roxas wasn't already happily in a relationship with Axel, he may have seriously considered flirting heavily with all of them.
The hallway eventually led to a very nice kitchen connected to a living room. It looked like everyone was in this part of the house. The adults mostly grouped in the kitchen while the offspring hung out on the couches. There were eight adults in total and probably thirteen offspring.
Immediately upon entering, the adults greeted the Strifes brazenly even though only two of them actually knew the Strifes; the Corazzas. The Strifes were surrounded by adults in no time, introducing themselves and welcoming them to their annual Thanksgiving celebration. The children watched idly, probably waiting until the twins joined them on the couches.
"Cloud Strife!" a soft voice called out among the others. Riku's mother (Roxas recognized her from the pictures in the hall) separated herself from the mass of adults in the kitchen, probably so that she could establish eye contact with him. She was a petite woman with long brown hair that was fashioned into a long, thick braid at the back with two swirling locks of hair on either side of her head just below her brown bangs.
She went to meet the Strifes, her arm outstretched towards Cloud with a bright, nostalgic-looking smile on her face.
"…Aerith?" Cloud responded as he took her hand and shook it.
Everyone present was surprised at the fact that they appeared to know each other. Riku's mother, Aerith, smiled at them. "We used to date in high school," she explained simply. Then she turned back to the blond man. "My goodness, Cloud, it's been how many years since we last saw each other? Around 30? How funny that we're seeing each other again! Riku and Mrs. Corazza had told me that the Strifes would be joining us for Thanksgiving, but never in a million years would I have thought that it was your family!"
Cloud sheepishly chuckled in response. "Yeah, small world."
Other conversations resumed as they had been before the Strifes arrived, with the exception of the fact that Mrs. Corazza and Ms. K (Marluxia's mother in case you forgot) threw their arms around Roxas to welcome him. As Roxas had the lights squeezed out of him, he listened in on his father and Mrs. Gallagher's conversation.
"Do you and Squall still keep in touch? I remember the two of you were always best friends. You guys did practically everything together!" Mrs. Gallagher recalled with a chuckle.
A disturbed look overcame Cloud's features. "Um, no, we aren't in contact anymore. We stopped being best friends quite a while ago," he replied. He glanced at Tifa for a moment, but she didn't seem to notice. She was glancing Mrs. Gallagher with bright, curious eyes, which surprised Roxas.
"What?" Mrs. Gallagher sounded appalled. "And why not? You were practically brothers!"
"We got into a… fight. I don't really want to talk about it." It was then that the blond established concerned eye contact with Tifa. She smiled and squeezed his hand as if to reassure him. Even with his ability, Roxas was very unsure of what had just happened.
At that point, the offspring came over to join their parents and the Strifes in the kitchen. Arms were around and smothering Roxas again the moment Mrs. Corazza and Ms. K finally released. These arms were smaller, however, and belonged to Naminé, who nuzzled her head against Roxas' cheek. "Hey, Nam," he greeted sheepishly.
"Hi, Roxy," she responded cutely, releasing him and joining her arms behind her back.
"Oh, look how cute you two are together!" Mrs. Corazza and Ms. K cooed. They forced the two blonds together to hug again. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say that you two were twins!"
"Since we do know better, you just make one cute couple, though. Which is just as adorable," Ms. K agreed with a smile.
Out of the corner of his eye, Roxas noticed Axel bristle as he watched them silently. The redhead appeared to be locked in a conversation with Demyx, but it didn't look like he was listening to the sandy blond in the slightest. A beautiful feeling entered Roxas' stomach and he grinned. He kept his arm around Naminé's waist even though their embrace had ended. He liked the feeling of making Axel jealous. Though Roxas hadn't seen him mad very often, he had a feeling that Axel looked drop-dead sexy when angry (of course, not angry at Roxas).
Mingling commenced and Roxas and Naminé bounced from conversation to conversation with the different parents and even their friends. Everyone chatted together and Roxas liked being part of this select group. Parties and gatherings normally didn't interest him, especially with people he didn't know, but he felt at ease in this crowd, probably because a lot of his friends were here. Regardless, he found himself enjoying it.
Finally after a few minutes of random socializing, the adults and children separated again. The children settled in the middle of the kitchen on two sides of an island bar with the adults on both sides. Immediately, Roxas noticed that Riku and Sora weren't with them anymore and he wondered idly where they could have snuck off to. The blond also noticed Seifer and Fuu were there among the children. In addition to them, there were three older, handsome silver-haired boys. Roxas assumed they were Riku's older brothers and they were very, very attractive and equally as intimidating.
Roxas had originally hoped that the three gorgeous Gallagher boys wouldn't notice him, but alas, he had no such luck. The blond wasn't particularly good with socializing with people he found to be attractive, the exceptions being his group of friends (though they probably all got along to the fact that they all had special powers). Immediately, the three boys singled him out and stared at him, drinking in his image.
"Oh, and who's this? Riku's obsession's brother?" One of them asked. He had shoulder-length hair and looked the most like Riku, though his features were more catlike. He slithered his way over to the blond and put a hand under his chin so that he could get a proper look at him.
"My god, he's adorable!" Another spoke up. His hair went down past his shoulders. He came to join his brother in examining Roxas and the third brother, though silent, joined the two and together they surrounded him, rendering escape impossible.
Being surrounded by such tall, attractive guys, Roxas felt very intimidated and wanted very badly to crawl under their legs so that he could get away from them and hide in Axel's arms. He always felt safe in the redhead's arms. Sadly, these intense-cat like eyes froze him in place.
"I don't see what the big deal is. He's just a shrimpy little lamer," Roxas heard Seifer scoff somewhere beyond the wall of attractive men.
"Hey, hey, hey, Roxas has a lot of redeeming qualities," Axel's voice argued. He obviously was paying rapt attention to Roxas' situation. "And give the kid some space, jeez! I'm sure he's terrified that three psychotic... psychos are sizing him up." The redhead shooed the silver-haired men aside and saved Roxas from a fate of having his personal space invaded.
Seifer leaned coolly against the counter with his arms folded over his chest. He had an unreadable expression on his face aside from minor displeasure that seemed to be ever-present on his face. The blond's forehead told another story. 'Goddamn, if these three assholes harass him all night, I won't get my chance.'
To which Roxas responded with an intensely curious head-tilting. What on earth would Seifer need a chance with him for? What kind of chance in the first place? The blond was fairly certain that Seifer wasn't interested in him romantically or anything; thus, confusion. "Seifer, if you're so disinterested with me, then why does it look like you want to tell me something?" Roxas bluffed. Seifer didn't look like he wanted to say anything to anybody, especially with the way he was crossing his arms over his chest, but Seifer didn't need to know that.
Of course, Roxas' statement made Seifer blanch and his arms tightened on his chest. He turned his face completely away from the blond so that he was staring at a pantry. "I don't know what the fuck you're talking about, dickwad. And in any case, if I wanted to talk to you about something in private then I wouldn't do it here; I'd do it elsewhere. And remember, you still fucking owe me your life. Or at least your virginity."
The children all broke away from their side conversations as they heard these words tumble from Seifer's mouth. Stupid teenagers, having selective hearing and whatnot. Axel seemed very concerned to hear this.
"Oh, and he's a virgin, too? How delicious," one of Riku's brothers said (the one with shoulder-length hair).
Roxas ignored him, too focused on Seifer. "I thought we agreed to never talk about that," he growled lowly, giving the older blond a warning look. It wasn't like Roxas could really do much to stop Seifer, though, being small and weak.
"Oh, so I shouldn't tell everyone about how you almost…-"
Hastily, Roxas hurried up to Seifer and slapped a hand over his mouth. "Just tell me what the fuck you want," he snarled at the blond.
Seifer smacked the smaller boy's hand away and warned him not to touch him ever again. Then the gathered Roxas by the collar of his shirt and hauled him off to a deserted part of the house, which happened to be a desolate flight of stairs in a living room a few rooms away from the kitchen. The walk was silent all the way there, and only when they arrived did Seifer so much as hint at what he wanted to talk about. It took a bit of prodding on Roxas' part to get him to speak, though.
"So, um, you wanted something, Seifer?" Roxas wondered after they'd been sitting there on the steps in silence for a few minutes. The only response was silence. Seifer was staring at the ground without any words on his forehead. "Oh, come on, don't tell me you're scared to say what you want!"
The older teen scoffed at that. He turned his head to glare at Roxas. "That's just fucking stupid. Of course I'm not scared!" Then he took a moment to stare sheepishly down at his feet, which made him look, dare Roxas say it, cute. He'd never seen Seifer wear such a soft expression on his face. This only lasted a moment, though, for he quickly hardened his features. "So your stupid chickenwuss friend went home?" he asked quietly.
"Huh? Hayner? Yeah, he already left. Why?" Roxas grinned at this. It was simply too perfect. Before allowing Seifer to answer, he guessed the answer himself. "Could it be that you miss him and you really want to talk to him some more? And maybe get to know him? Or his lips?"
Seifer glared at him and promptly pushed Roxas hard enough to make him fall from the third step to the floor. "Don't be fucking stupid. Why the fuck are you so dumb? That's not it at all!"
Roxas laughed at the situation despite the pain in the shoulder he'd landed on. "Oh, so you don't want his number? I was just thinking you might like to talk to him more and maybe explore the world of phone sex with him, but I guess I was wrong."
Seifer's mouth set into a hard line and he glared at Roxas with such festering hatred that it scared him a little. When he spoke, though, his voice wasn't as intimidating as it should've been. "I just thought it would be fun to harass him through the phone and you owe me still, so you better give me his god damn number or else I'll fucking pound you into the ground and tell everyone about how you almost got raped and how some fucking psycho had you backed into an alleyway with your shirt off!"
All the leverage Roxas thought he'd had was suddenly gone. Despite the fact that Seifer had saved him from a horrible situation, that didn't mean he and the blond were friends in any way. Seifer had less than zero interest in being friends with him, and he wasn't a particularly friendly person anyway. "Uh, right," Roxas responded as he fumbled hastily for his phone. He quickly went to his contacts list and selected Hayner from the list before passing the device off to Seifer.
With a pleased, greedy grin, Seifer entered the number into his own phone. He returned Roxas' phone and patted his shoulder quite roughly. "Now was that so hard? We're even now, lamer, but next time it'll cost you extra, got it?"
"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say, Seifer."
"Good boy. Keep acting all obedient-like and I may grow to like you. Anyway, I have places to go, people to torture." With that, Seifer exited the room, already texting Hayner.
After that little event, Roxas returned to his friends and Riku's brothers. When he returned, the triplets introduced themselves and the two more petite ones, Kadaj and Yazoo, kissed his hand cordially. The biggest one, Loz, seemed upset that he hadn't kissed his hand and Roxas thought that was cute. Shortly after, the blond learned that Kadaj, Loz, and Yazoo were triplets and that they all attended the same college. Marluxia had joked about how they were interdependent upon each other so much that they couldn't even cross a street without each other. That made Kadaj angry and Loz looked profoundly hurt, though he tried to hide it.
The offspring all relocated to the large living room by the stairs where Seifer had gotten Hayner's number from Roxas. There, Roxas told them that he and Sora were fraternal twins. The triplets latched onto that and made it their excuse in getting to know him better since they already shared "so much in common." Axel tried to stop this travesty upon his "territory," but he couldn't do too much without seeming like he was protecting what was "his."
Immense flirting ensued and everyone except Axel found entertainment in it. The flirting lessened considerably when the group began to interact with each other. Seifer and Fuu hadn't followed them into the living room, so they all enjoyed each other's company. Roxas hadn't expected to have so much fun just messing around with everyone, but he did. Somehow, their conversation transformed into a weird form of capture the flag in which Loz, Yazoo, Kadaj, and Zexion were a team against Marluxia, Larxene, Demyx, and Axel. The two flags were Naminé and Roxas, which raised the stakes just a little higher than they should've been and made the game more intense.
In actuality, it was a lot of fun and a lot of shenanigans went down that Roxas wouldn't have expected. For example, Yazoo managed to trip down a flight of stairs, making Zexion absolutely lose his shit laughing. Roxas doubted that anyone had ever seen the typically somber teen laugh so much at one time, but it was magical, to be sure. The game lasted for about a half an hour before the adults called them to come eat dinner.
On the way to the dinner table, Zexion had jumped onto Roxas' back for a piggyback ride, and Loz decided to give Roxas a piggyback ride while giving Zexion a piggyback ride. Thus Roxas ended up sandwiched between a hot guy and his former friend with benefits. It sure was interesting.
Dinner proved to be interesting as well. Roxas thought it would be boring just to sit at a long table eating, but it wasn't like that at all. Everyone talked to each other and Roxas found the lively atmosphere nice. Riku's brothers finally met Sora and said he was cute, but assured Roxas that he was cuter, which enraged Axel, the blond could tell. He was sitting across the table from his secret boyfriend and it made him feel happy and valued, if a little guilty for how constant this jealousy seemed to be springing up this evening.
The children all sat on one end of the very long dinner table in the Gallagher's very nice and large dining room while the adults sat at the other with Seifer and Fuu as a barrier between them. If there hadn't been that barrier, then the conversation amongst the children would've been more restrained and filtered. As it was, they discussed things, sex for example, without any form of civilized language. The triplets were quickly informed by everyone else that Roxas had participated in oral sex before, which intrigued them.
Sora got upset at this and tried to defend his twin by saying that Roxas had probably only done it once and he'd just gotten carried away by passion without really thinking about it. If he hadn't finished off with a question of verification from Roxas, that probably would've been the end of it, but he did ask for verification from the blond. Not wanting to lie, Roxas explained that he'd deliberately done it more than once. This, of course, disheartened his dear twin brother as well as Axel, who looked about ready to kill at this point, which Roxas found a little unfair seeing as Axel wasn't a virgin at all.
Everyone else seemed… excited (for lack of a better word) to hear this and the conversation continued on. They somehow got onto the topic of skinny dipping and Roxas recounted a few funny instances in which he'd gone skinny dipping back in the Islands. Surprisingly, Sora admitted to skinny dipping with Rikku once, which made everyone except Riku laugh and make jokes, especially when they didn't realize it at first that he was talking about his best friend in Destiny Islands. Sora turned redder than Axel's hair, which was amusing.
At the end of dinner, everyone was stuffed. Roxas ate as much as his stomach could hold and maybe a little more. Everyone else appeared to have done the same. The children all piled back into the living room where they'd been talking earlier to be lazy while the adults, Seifer, and Fuu did all the dishes. Zexion and Demyx cuddled up together on a loveseat in the room, Larxene and Naminé leaned against Marluxia (who was in the middle of them) on a couch, Riku sat on the floor next to Axel with his back against a couch where the triplets laid out together and fit (to Roxas' surprise), and Roxas sat on the floor with his legs crossed with Sora sitting in his lap with his head curled into the crook of the blond's neck, much the same way they'd been at home hours earlier. All of them moaned in discomfort from being bloated.
"Hey, guys, want me to play some music for us?" Demyx wondered after a few solid minutes of moaning. Everyone gave an affirmative moan, which sent the sandy blond out of the room for a few moments. When he returned, he had his ukulele in his arms. "Alright," he said with a sigh as he flopped back down on the loveseat next to Zexion, "are there any requests?"
Sora raised his hand immediately, almost smacking Roxas in the face on its way up. Demyx smiled and called upon him. "Play something cute," he demanded.
Demyx took a quick breath in and exhaled as he readied his fingers. He paused before starting to gaze at Zexion and smile as if silently dedicating the song to him. "When we first met, your hair was long and brown. You hadn't yet cut it all off…" He began playing a quick, upbeat, cutesy song. His face lit up as he played and his charming smile tripled its usual charm.
Instead of swooning at Demyx as he might've about a month ago, Roxas could only stare at Axel with a sheepish look on his face. Unluckily for him, the redhead returned his gaze and grinned, making him blush lightly. He quickly looked away and down at Sora's hair and when he raised his head again, he saw that Axel had thrown his arms around Riku and cuddled up to the senior. The blond raised an eyebrow and blushed again when Axel motioned subtly to the unperturbed teenager and then pointed even more subtly to Roxas.
Sora bristled in his twin's arms, though Roxas doubted Sora had picked up on Axel's gesticulations. 'God damn you, Axel, get your fucking hands off him!' The brunet only swore in his thoughts while extremely angry. It probably didn't help his anger much that Riku seemed utterly unaffected by Axel's presence. In fact, he looked quite content and relaxed, his eyes were even closed.
After another song that was too cheesy for its own good, the bloated feelings started to wear off, which made for a much livelier group. For some reason this newfound energy led to Kadaj, Loz, and Yazoo getting up from the couch and attacking Roxas. Kadaj managed to pin Roxas to the floor on his back and climbed on top in order to begin tickling the blond. Of course, Sora and Axel protested and tried to get the three Gallagher boys away from him, but Loz and Yazoo simply turned on Sora and began tickling him as well, which roped Riku into the situation as he tried desperately to get his brothers off his best friend.
Marluxia decided to help Kadaj (who was still flopping around on top of Roxas) by tackling Axel to the ground. Axel, Roxas, and Sora all protested against the abuse they were enduring and tried to fight back, but there was only so much they could do while their ribs were being assaulted and laughter spilled from them against their wills. Riku could only do so much to help Sora, though, seeing as it was two against one, he couldn't make much progress. Since Axel was wrestling to get free from Marluxia and failing at it, Kadaj had the freedom to do as he pleased. Zexion and Demyx began making out on the couch while Larxene and Naminé watched the struggle on the floor and laughed their asses off.
"No, no, no, no!" Roxas repeated as Kadaj flipped him onto his back and straddled him. "Death! Death!"
The room grew louder for a moment and somehow Roxas got the chance to glance over at the entryway to the living room. All the adults were standing there watching the strange scene for a moment. Most of them simply shrugged it off and went to sit in the empty couches and seats on the other side of the living room to watch and be amused. Roxas thought he heard his father and mother ask if they should be doing something about it, but a voice that sounded like Reno's assured them it would be fine.
"Demyx, help me, goddamn it!" Axel cried as he fought to free himself from Marluxia.
Still attached to Zexion at the mouth, the sandy blond waved an arm at the redhead, signaling for him to deal with it on his own. Then he returned to the task at hand. Or mouth.
"Zexion!" Roxas begged from underneath Kadaj. "Please!"
Luckily for Roxas, Zexion broke apart from Demyx with a shy smile and a shrug. He got up from the couch, straightened himself up a bit, approached the struggling blond, cracked his knuckles, leaned down, grabbed Kadaj's sides, and easily removed him from his victim. From there, he threw the silver-haired man onto the floor next to Roxas, picked the blond up by the shirt, stood him up on his feet, and set about fixing his hair and clothes as if nothing had even happened.
Since Zexion had already broken their kiss, Demyx decided to help Axel overcome Marluxia using a similar method to Zexion's, but he gave it a lot more effort for a less impressive effect. When he set the pink-haired boy down, he was breathing heavily from the exertion.
"Wow, Demyx, you're such a man," Marluxia said with a grin.
The sandy blond's face erupted into red. "Shut up!"
"Call me up if you get tired of that thing," the senior said, gesturing to Zexion.
Demyx seemed horrified by every word to come out of Marluxia's mouth. "Zexion isn't a 'thing,' he's a very lovely person with a wonderful personality, a cute face, and a big brain!" This little tidbit made the subject of their conversation smile shyly and flush pink a little. Demyx stepped away from Marluxia and Axel to wrap his arms around the object of his affection. "Plus, he's so small and adorable, how could I ever get tired of him?" he demanded as he nuzzled his cheek against the top of the smaller boy's head.
While this display went on, Axel decided to assist Riku in freeing poor Sora from Loz and Yazoo. Being that Axel had little strength, he went for Yazoo, the weaker of the two. He and the silver-haired teen managed to liberate the brunet from his captors. He wasted no time with his newfound freedom, practically sprinting for Roxas.
The twins sat on the couch the triplets had previously occupied and Riku and Axel quickly joined them as if to protect them. The older boys sat next to their respective twin and Roxas could definitely see this becoming a normal thing, especially at home.
"It's okay, Roxas, I'll protect you from the even-bigger-than-usual kids," Axel assured the blond.
Roxas grinned and quirked an eyebrow in response. "Really? With what strength? The first time you tried to 'protect' me, you failed miserably." Even though the blond had only been joking, Axel seemed really affected by his words.
The redhead slumped in his seat a little bit and his head hung the slightest bit. "Yeah," he replied, sounding rather disappointed. His face seemed a little red with anger, or maybe embarrassment. 'Fuck, today day absolutely sucks. You're such a fucking idiot, Axel. Even Zexion protects him better than you can.'
Feeling worried, Roxas decided upon an action to carry out. Before executing his idea, he did a quick once-over of everyone in the living room. Sora and Riku talked and laughed together, Demyx and Zexion had returned to the loveseat and resumed kissing, Larxene, Marluxia, and Naminé cackled and told inappropriate stories together, the triplets were talking together on the floor, and the adults all seemed absorbed in their own conversations. The blond saw his father grinning and talking with Reno and he chuckled, wondering for a moment if that's how it looked when he and Axel talked to each other. Remembering his original purpose, Roxas subtly walked his hand over to Axel's and rested it on top of the redhead's for a moment.
Without even looking at him, Axel turned his hand palm-up and their fingers interlaced together in a way so natural that it never failed to surprise Roxas a little bit each time they held hands. He noticed Axel's smile out of the corner of his eye and found himself smiling, too.
Abruptly, Axel got shoved out of his seat and their hands were torn apart. Kadaj was at it again. He took the redhead's spot and wrapped an arm around Roxas' waist. Then, without any sort of hesitation, he kissed the blond's temple as if they had been going out for a long time and they had done this countless times. "You are so cute," the college student said with a grin.
Not wasting a moment, Axel got to his feet and stormed out of the room, his entire face painted red, as if he'd just put on war paint. He raged silently up the stairs to cool off. Or at least, Roxas hoped that's what he planned to do.
"Kadaj, get off me!" the blond demanded, attempting to shove the taller man away. Of course, nothing came of it, except for a smirk and a chuckle and another compliment calling the blond cute. At the end of his fuse, Roxas couldn't keep his body from moving on its own. His hand quickly made a fist, it reeled back, and then it was over. His knuckles hurt and he heard Kadaj groan and the snap of bone against bone. Knuckle against cheekbone. Hand against face.
Kadaj looked at Roxas with a dumbfounded look on his face for a minute. It seemed then that he understood Roxas meant it when he told him to back off and that he wasn't joking or playing around anymore. "Oh," he said awkwardly, holding a hand to his cheek. "Sorry." Then he retracted his arm from the blond and went to join his two brothers on the ground again. He seemed to get it now.
Before Roxas could even let out an angry, but relieved sigh, a crash sounded out louder than the conversations from somewhere in the floor above them. Everyone fell silent for a moment, wondering what it could have been. Shortly after the sound had echoed throughout the house, Axel came back down the steps and into the living room, appearing calmer than he was when he left. Everyone looked over at him for a moment. Disregarding everyone's stares, Axel looked to Riku.
"Riku, I broke the huge mirror in your room. And your bed sheets caught on fire, but don't worry, I put it out," he said very nonchalantly. Upon hearing this, everyone returned to their conversations, as if this was a normal happening.
"What the fuck?" Riku demanded, shocking Roxas with his language. "Why the fuck did you do that?" He'd never heard him cuss before.
If Axel hadn't been in such a bad mood, Roxas suspected he would be sheepish. But he was still angry, so he opted to ignore the older boy and reclaim his spot next to Roxas. He slumped against the arm of the couch once again and once again, Roxas furtively held his hand, making sure no one noticed. The redhead seemed to calm down at that and smiled. He turned to look at his secret boyfriend, a warm, somewhat tired smile on his face.
From that point onwards, the night went by pretty smoothly and tranquilly. The triplets left Roxas alone, which pleased both him and Axel, so that was good. Surprisingly, the Almasy siblings became the first to leave. Seifer surprised Roxas by acting like an actual adult. The bully had been the first to say that they had to go and then explained that Naminé's and Demyx's schedules for the next day required an apt amount of sleep. Honestly, it weirded Roxas out a bit to see how responsible Seifer was for his siblings.
The Strifes left at the same time as Marluxia, Larxene and their mother and father respectively. They all said their goodbyes to each other, Roxas receiving hugs and kisses from Ms. K, Mrs. Corazza, and the triplets before leaving on his way. Kadaj also slipped a sheet of paper into one of his back pockets while they were hugging goodbye and Roxas found that it had the silver-haired college student's number on it. That made Roxas grin and blush a little bit. He'd never gotten someone else's phone number before. At least, not someone who'd been flirting with him.
On the drive home, Cloud and Tifa talked about all the adults. It surprised Roxas just the slightest bit that Cloud got along really well with Reno. He could see how they would get along due to their similarities to their sons, but from what Roxas could tell, Reno was a big jerk. Also on the drive home, Cloud asked Roxas incriminating questions about Naminé, assuming they both liked each other. Sora jumped on the bandwagon, but quickly jumped off when Roxas asked where Riku and the brunet had snuck off to before dinner.
Something interesting that Cloud brought up was the fact that every one of Roxas' male friends all played for the other team. He sounded surprised that even Axel liked men. Demyx and Zexion probably seemed straight before deciding to start dating; leaving Axel as the only seemingly-straight male in his friend group (Marluxia was too obviously gay to make much of a fuss over). Surprisingly, as they talked, Tifa didn't seem too put off by it. Cloud seemed more put off than she did, which worried Roxas. The older blond warned his son about Axel developing feelings for him, which, while ironic, seemed somewhat rude.
Sora decided to explain to their father that Axel had already fallen head over heels for Roxas, forcing the blond to punch him in the side.
"Roxas, does he actually love you?" Cloud asked, sounding worried. They just now pulled into their driveway and everyone prepared to leave the car.
Once outside, Roxas admitted, "Yeah, he told me about it. Plus, he was pretty obvious about it before. I turned him down directly, though. He knows I'm straight."
And that was the end of that.
Immediately after entering the house, the entire family, sluggish from food and fun, trudged to their separate rooms to get ready to sleep. Roxas and Sora joked about the evening and talked about Riku's brothers. The brunet let his twin know that Loz and Yazoo didn't seem serious about being interested in him, but Kadaj seemed completely serious. He then warned his twin about the dangers of dating an older man who already attended college far away, so Roxas pointed out that Riku was older and would be going off to college the following autumn. That made Sora quiet down.
After finally getting dressed and settling down after a long conversation with Sora, Roxas finally crawled into bed and waited for sleep to take him away. Today had been a day that he wouldn't soon forget. Of course, the day wasn't completely over yet. Days for Roxas ended not when the clock hit 12:00AM, but when he fell asleep at night and woke up in the morning. No, the day wasn't quiet yet over. Roxas wouldn't be sleeping until morning came.
A/N: Alright, alright, yes, that is the chapter! Am I pleased with it? Yes. Are you pleased with it? Idk, tell me about it =o
But yeah, so lots happened and I tried to leave it at a cliff hanger, but I do not think it is a very good cliffhanger.
Anyway, to remedy this problem of over-thinking the story to the point that I don't feel motivated to write it anymore, I've decided to try doing one of those 100 theme writing things. I made up the themes myself and I've already gone through quite a few. My goal is to get used to writing at least a little bit every day and to take my mind off of this story until when I'm actually writing it.
I have a tumblr now, though I don't use it much yet, so maybe I'll start posting them there. They're all gonna be KH fanfics and once I reach 10 completed themes, I'm gonna start uploading them here. But yeah. So. If you wanna. Tumblr:
Anyway, so yeah, if you liked this chapter or hated it you should tell me all about it and such and you should love me despite my tardiness in updating! (I still don't understand how I went from updating every couple of weeks to 2 months. Holy moly.)
Kisses~!