-sigh- at last...christmas vacation is finally here...-sits in bed and drinks cocoa- yeeee...definitely the greatest time of the year...
i really do feel like an emo author! seriously! do i drabble on too much? hm. and what's with all the '...' i use in my stories?? i bet if you counted there'd be MILLIONS...!!! there it is again! -dies-
oy, i guess that's what happens when you read too much manga. their conversations trail off a lot with '...' especially in Fruits Basket and KH mangas. riku is a dot dot dot person! i'm not alone!!! -dances-
well, getting into the topic of manga, SHIRO AMANO IS MY GOD...well not really but he is my love...second love...third love...ok, i just love him. XD he portrays the akurokuness so well in the mangas and novels. -bows down to his greatness- if you've got the time, check out maiki. and check her KH links. she's got a STASH O.O
ANNNNYYYYWAY...didn't i tell you i drabble too much??? -explodes then pieces back together- yay! -sings- axel and roxas are dating, axel and roxas are dating...and where are they dating??? oooooo, secrets, secrets...i'd better go to the bottom now and type out the goodbye...yeah. ahem, thanks for checking back you guys! your compliments are driving me into happy land -floats on a cloud with hot cocoa- ahhh...no school is heaven, yes?
Chapter Twenty One: It's a D.A.T.E Part II
Everywhere we walked smelled like rain. I kind of liked it but then again it sort of made me feel depressed. Like I said before, it rarely rains in Twilight Town; and even when it does it doesn't pour down buckets. Odd...lately it's been doing that...hours on end even. Then all of the sudden the sun starts coming out; today of all days! I swear the weather is PMS-ing.
I guess I just felt a little depressed because it did rain. It kind of made me sad when I had to look at the smudgy chalk drawings on the sidewalk that were getting washed away. I kept thinking of how some of them could've been Namine's; being the insane little artist that she is.
I forced my hands into my jacket pockets and slowed my pace down at bit. I wasn't sure if I liked the fact that I was walking up so close to Axel. He just made me feel so short! I was a head shorter than him. But that was probably not the reason I felt so insecure. He was smiling too. Not sure if that's a good thing. It just made this little 'surprise' of his seem like a death call.
There were barely any people out on the streets but I guess that's what to expect when it's a Sunday morning. People normally stayed indoors. I just started thinking of mom and how she had most likely gotten up at 5:00 AM to start cleaning the house a second time. I bet anything that she was forcing Sora to clean his own toilet. Or, better yet, clean my room. I started chuckling to myself when I thought about it.
"What's so funny?"
I quickly cleared my throat and stared at the ground, eyes welling up a bit. "It's nothing."
"Oh really?" Even though I wasn't looking at him, I could already imagine Axel looming over me like I was a little kid.
I looked away to hide an upcoming blush. Why was I so embarrassed?! Suddenly I felt like going to the bathroom again. But that would be sort of weird: running all the way back to Axel's house just to go pee.
"Y-yes really," I said a bit harshly. I started feeling bad about it though. I used to talk a lot like that when I first met Axel and wanted to do nothing but lock him in a closet. I started getting that image of him getting locked in places all the time by his dad...ugh, stop thinking already. You'll make your head explode.
"Hey, you ok, Roxas? You don't look so great."
I raised an eyebrow and glanced at Axel in the corner of my eye. Just how far was this place anyway? "What're you talking about?" I asked.
He stuck his hands into his own pockets and started staring at me all concerned-like. "Dunno. Just looks like you've got a lot on your mind. Wanna talk?"
I scoffed and stared up at the sky; it was starting to get brighter out. At least that would dry up some puddles around here. "I'm telling you, I..." I stopped myself and took another second to look at his face. He really did look concerned. I sighed and started up again. "Thanks...but, it's all good." Good boy, Roxas.
Just then, I heard him snickering. Normally when people snicker they partially want you to hear or it's just a failed attempt at keeping it to yourself. By the looks of it, I had a feeling that Axel was trying to make it obvious.
"What's wrong with you?"
Axel crossed his arms behind his head confidently and kept laughing about something. It was really starting to bug me! "Oh, I know what's on your mind."
I was fully facing him now with this pathetic look on my face. "What?"
He turned his head slightly the other way and smiled widely. "Hm..."
"What? What'm I thinking of? What?" I was starting to feel spastic and even my cheeks felt that way. That's when I noticed something. He was blushing too...seriously? Seriously, he was! Not only now but he was doing it earlier too...I was about to put 'in bed' at the end of my sentence but thought it better if I didn't.
I started biting my bottom lip while I looked up at him blushing and all. "Ok, I guess I don't really have to know," I said, trying to sound convincing.
That caught his attention a bit. His eyes gazed over at me with anxiousness but his smile was still there. It's nothing but a cover up, I know it. "Ok, if that's what you want..." Just in the way he said it made it all too obvious for me. Even he was embarrassed to know what I was thinking about. Wait, what exactly was I thinking about?
I didn't talk to him for a while after that. I knew he was sill looking at me the whole time we were walking. He kept stepping in all the big puddles and that got my ankles wet. I got tired of it and stopped with my hands balled into fists.
"You seriously have ADD!" I yelled at his back. He just kept walking at the same pace, kicking the water up from another puddle while he passed it. "Hey, are you listening to me? Hey! Don't walk away from me like that when I'm ranting at you, damn it!"
Axel suddenly stopped and lowered his arms again, crossing them over his chest. After that he turned his body around enough for me to see him giving me this sort of seducing sort of stare. I smelled death on him, I swear it. "Alright, go ahead. Rant all you want," He said coolly.
It just felt like he dropped a 40 ton boulder on my head. I groaned to myself and tried calming down a bit. That's it, Roxas, breathe. Just breathe. You can do this. I took in a deep breath.
"For one thing, kicking up water on my pants is gonna get 'em dirty. If my mom sees 'em, she'll rip 'em off the second I walk in the door and give me an hour long lecture about proper hygiene while I sit half naked in the doorway. I'm not ready to take that crap, ok? It's bad enough that we haven't gotten this dumb project done! I mean, you said we could work on it today. Today, Axel! And look where we are. You're busy drenching me in water and I'm stuck here getting soaked and suddenly, I need to go pee really badly!
How far is this 'surprise' place of yours anyway? Hm? About another two miles? If I have to walk that far I swear I'll pee my pants. Then mom'll have to clean two things, the water and the leakage. Then she'll ground me! Ground me! She'll probably share that story with everyone at Christmas time and I'll shrink under the table and start cursing at you! Yeah, 'cause you're taking forever to get me to this place that I don't even know about! For all I know it could be a McDonald's with a playscape! Great idea! Roxas loves the little kid toys!
Then maybe by the time we get back to your house, we'll have all this work to do and we'll stay up till three in the morning to get the whole thing done! So the next day we'll barely get to stay awake to even present the damn thing!
So, so, maybe, maybe you're thinking 'oh, since it's the weekend, I've got him all to myself', right? Huh? I'll just throw myself on you and we'll forget the whole thing? Hm? And fail! Yeah! Let's ditch school and spend our days skipping around the town! Then you'll get to kick all the water you want on my pants. I bet that's what you're thinking, right? I bet so! I...I..."
I cut myself off when I realized that Axel was just standing there; doing nothing but breathing, blinking and staring.
I straightened up a bit and rubbed the back of my neck. I wondered if voices echoed around here. "Uhm..."
Axel laughed lightly to himself. "Is that all?"
"Erm...I...I guess...I think so." Suddenly I felt crappy all over again. Way to go, Roxas. Way to 'calm down' like you said you would. Uh-huh, I bet he's just smiling to cover up from bawling. I barely even remembered half the things I said.
"Heh, that's the most you've said to me ever since we met, y'know?" He cocked his head back in the direction he was walking and turned away. "Come on, let's get outta here."
I stared gloomily at the floor and felt like something was caught in my throat. Actually, that whole spiel felt like the most I've said in months. I almost didn't recognize myself after I said it. I hurried up and kept a few steps behind him. I felt like jumping off a cliff.
"Quit being like that, Roxas! Come here!" Seconds after he said it, Axel reached behind and grabbed my arm. I almost froze but before I could even react, he pulled me until I was forced to be right next to him. The thing was, he didn't let go of me. He moved his arm until it was wrapped around my shoulders. I stared at his hand uneasily.
"Uh, hey, y'know..." I curiously held up a finger and was flat out cut short when Axel pulled me in closer. "Ow!" I squeaked.
"Relax, will ya, Roxas? You're acting like you've never been out of the house before."
I glared at him then quickly looked away. Good thing no one was around to see this. If there were someone, they might get the wrong impression with me staring at him...then again, Axel holding me like a girl was judgment itself. I stubbornly crossed my arms. "Maybe you're the one that needs to tighten up. You're acting as if world peace actually happened."
"You know something?"
I sighed. "Yeah?" What, was he going to go on this whole topic about world peace? I literally thought he could've been the one that started the fighting!
"You ever wonder who came up with the idea of money being everything?"
"Maybe...why?" Ok, so world peace wasn't it.
"Just a thought. See, it's like, whenever there's a bad situation in the news, there's always money involved. It's like someone could be the greatest person in the world one day, then the next day they change into this crazed shopper on two legs. I mean, even killers think about it, right? When they're hiding something they don't want the world to see? They'll only reveal it if there's money."
"What the heck are you talking about?" He really was weird sometimes.
"If you ask me, people are just desperate. Almost too desperate."
"You're so random."
He shook his head to the ground. "Yeah...and they turn to stupid cash for help all the time." Was he even listening to me? "I guess people are just bored with their lives and need to get out...they just try doing it the wrong way."
"Well, people need change, you know?"
There was this really long pause after that and it really made me shiver. People were starting to show up out of nowhere on the sides of the street but they really didn't seem to take notice in us. Even so, I kept getting this feeling like I knew everyone of them. Just keep your cool. No one will notice.
"Hey, Roxas?"
"Hm?" I said with a start.
"Think we'll ever get out of this place?" There he goes again, being a frantic little rainbow of questions. Axel the frantic rainbow...ew. Love to see that children's show one of these days.
I almost got my foot caught in a crack in the street but I quickly caught my balance. "What do you mean 'get out'? What do you mean 'we'?" I felt like flailing.
He shrugged. "Ah, y'know...for a change."
I thought about it for a second. I always had thoughts about ditching town one of these days. Just for a change, Hollow Bastion sounded like a good place to go to. They had everything; great colleges, night clubs, apartments with views, skateboarding shops and even snow. Seriously, it snowed for days there. All we ever got were puddles and little globs of white stuff that barely even lasted five minutes before the sun would melt it away.
But what was all this and 'we'?
"Maybe. There's always a chance."
"Ch, you always say 'maybe'. Usually ends up being a 'no' later on."
"Hey, I've got my opinion! I never said anything about a no!"
He kicked at a puddle again and nearly drenched half of my right foot with water. I ignored it. I actually barely even noticed it. I was too busy getting into this whole topic that I started forgetting why I was even walking. I even forgot where we were for about five seconds. All I knew was that something smelled really good right now. No, for your information it isn't the AXE. I already covered that.
Curiously, I looked up and nearly screamed when I saw my reflection in a glass door that I was only inches away from touching. "Crap!" I said, half startled, and tried looking beyond the reflection. I thought my eyes were going to fall out.
"You don't come to this place often, do you?" Axel teased, looking down at me all smug-like.
"Starbucks? The coffee place? Are you kidding? It's literally against mom's religion to take us here. And she doesn't even have a religion!" I stared up at this little plastic wreath that was hanging above the entrance door. Christmas already?
He laughed and peered in through the window. "Why not? Afraid you'll stop growing?"
I groaned and nodded. "Yeah." Apparently, mom's thoughts were wrong. Axel came here a lot and had coffee and look at him; he's a head taller than me! And I don't even drink coffee! Life is so unfair sometimes.
"Hah! He's right there! Come on, let's go." Confidently, he took hold of the door handle and pulled me along side him.
"He-ee?!" I nearly fell flat on my face when he started pulling me inside. It was like Sora when he got over excited during Christmas shopping.
We were half way into the store when I swore I heard a familiar humming at my back. The humming suddenly stopped by the time the little bell on the door tinkled a bit. It felt like Halloween all over again.
"Hey! Roxas! What're you doing here?! Haven't seen you in a while!"
My knees buckled and I abruptly forced myself to take a huge step to the left. I managed to slip away from Axel for now. I just hoped it was close enough.
"Hey, Roxas, it's..." Axel had his hand on the door to keep it open a bit. I wished he wasn't so respectful.
That's when I remembered the voice. It did sound familiar...almost deadly familiar. Hell, I should've found a nearby cliff earlier. I really should've. Just when my palms started sweating, I cautiously turned my head to the sound of high heels clicking at high speed against the pavement. Even behind glass she was just as creepy.
"Oh...h-hey, N-Namine..."
Surprise? Oh, yes.
xxXXxx
"What're you doing here? I've never seen you out here on the streets on the weekends," Namine said a bit cuddly. She caught the door and pulled it open enough for her to fit inside. I just had to move over for her to squeeze in and bump shoulders with me. "Oh, sorry!" She apologized and pulled the strap of her white handbag up a little more.
I smiled, a little, and moved back. "It's no..." I perked up and, out of the corner of my eye, realized that Axel was leaving to walk up to the counter. I started panicking and began walking backwards toward him. If I turned away from her that would've been rude...right? Unlike most guys, I can't read a girl as if she were a book. "...problem..."
She smiled sweetly and started giggling. "Why are you walking backwards like that?"
"Uhm...erm...I just..." Just then, I bumped into someone and quickly spun around. Of course it was Axel but he didn't really mind it. He just looked down at me and began switching glances between me and Namine; not obviously though...he was skilled at that. It made me feel like I could squeal...and not in the good way. What really bugged me was that he was smiling...and somehow, I knew it was fake.
"Yo! You there?" He yelled, resting his arm casually on the counter top. "Saw you in here a few seconds ago!"
"What the heck are you doing?" I asked. "You'll get in trouble."
"Pft, yeah right. Watch." He stepped away from the counter and put his foot up on top of it. That nearly stopped my blood flow. After that, he pulled himself up and, once standing, jumped off and shook up the whole place. It nearly made the money in the cash register pop out. Lucky for us no one was in here. If there was someone, they would either run away and find some other shop or would call the cops. Either way sounded pretty dangerous to me.
"I'm serious! You'll scare the crap out of..."
"Friend of yours?" Namine asked. She was still smiling and it nearly made my jaws hurt watching her. And even though she was smiling, she had her eyes glued on Axel with a look like she was about to scream. I figured I'd better answer quickly to stop it from happening...if it ever would.
"Uhm, y-yeah. He's..."
"What's going on out there?"
"Hey, where are ya? I've been waiting here for the past minute and a half and I still don't have my espresso!" Axel replied to the voice while pulling out from underneath the counter. Apparently he knew the place well. Not only the place but the people too.
Suddenly, there was this freakish crash in the back that nearly made me jump about ten feet. To my right, Namine moved back a bit and drove her attention to a door that I thought led to the back room or something. After the crash, the whole shop was shaking when there was a muffled, girlish scream coming from behind that door.
"Aw, man! Dang!"
I could recognize that scream from anywhere. I really didn't need to hear the voice to give the face away. As I thought, the voice, and the high scream, belonged to Demyx. He sort of stumbled into the room while hopping on one foot. He had on this forest green apron over a plain black polo and a pair of stone colored khakis. From his neck down he was covered in water. Some of his hair looked like it was flopping over too. Even the little "hi my name is: Demyx" card on his apron started to lose its cheeriness when the ink started to run.
Demyx took a couple of seconds to straighten himself out before idiotically staring around the room. "Don't ask..." He groaned and finished shaking the water out of his shoe.
I looked over at Axel who was biting his finger. I could see tears welling up in the corners of his eyes and it almost made me want to laugh. He really did look like a clown when he was laughing/holding a laugh back. "O-Ok...I w-won't."
Obviously, Demyx wouldn't buy it and, while pulling his shoe back on, said, "If you have to know, the stupid espresso machine started hissing at me when I started cleaning it this morning. So, what I did, I left it on top of the back counter and when I came back, it was literally spilling out buckets. Buckets!" He exclaimed and squeezed out excess water from his apron. Pft, Demyx in an apron...
Axel immediately stopped laughing and, using the finger he was chewing on, scratched the side of his head. "Aw, so that means..."
"No espresso shot today, man. Sorry."
"Aw, not even a bit? I can make it work if ya pay me." Axel cracked his fingers and began rolling his shoulders around.
Demyx scoffed and walked up to one of the cash registers. "Please. I barely get paid anything in one shift. I've gotta save up for better things." He entered some code on the register and popped the money drawer open. That's when he looked up and finally locked eyes with me.
You should've seen the way he stared at me! It was like he hadn't seen me for years. His blue eyes started glowing and they even looked like they doubled in size.
"Roxas! How's it going?"
I gave a little wave at him and walked right up to the counter. "Ah, pretty good. Geez, you act like we haven't seen each other in years. It's only been the weekend."
"Yeah, but it still feels long." His head ducked down when Axel slapped a hand atop his head and he started giving him a noogie. "H-hey!" He whined.
"That's what I'm telling you," Axel said, "Work does that to people. You keep thinking that the days are longer when in reality they're just as same as the last." He let go after that and, when I stared at him, I realized he wasn't looking at me. It sort of made me curious and I almost started asking him before I felt a hand on my shoulder.
"I hope I'm not interrupting anything, am I?"
I looked over. I almost forgot Namine was here. "N-no. You're not! It's ok..." I should've said something else. Like: "There's supposed to be a huge hurricane tomorrow. We should all go home." Then again, I didn't want to be rude. What would she do to me if there wasn't a hurricane tomorrow?
"Ooo, friend of yours, Roxas?" I turned back to Demyx who was leaning over the counter with his arms crossed. He kept looking at me then Namine then me again. I hated it beyond reason.
"Ah...this is Namine. She..."
"Nice to meet you," Namine said and politely waved her hand. She was scaring me...really.
"Yeah. I've known her for a while...since Sora and I were kids. She just showed up a couple minutes ago." I added that last part in quickly. I didn't want him getting any ideas. "Axel and I were just..." I took a second to look around and behind the counter. "Where in the neck is he anyway?"
Demyx looked up with a start and spun around frantically. "What the...?"
"Hey! I think I got it!"
That's when Demyx and I exchanged panicked looks. Not Namine. She was too damn happy to be freaked out. Demyx broke into a run and quickly forced his way into the back room, first slipping on a puddle of water. What a klutz.
"Quit trying to fix it! I told you it's not gonna work!" Demyx.
"Seriously! Doesn't it look better than it did before?"
At that point I figured that Axel really and truly had ADD. If he couldn't stay in one place it was another. And that wasn't always a good thing. He always had to move around...it was like taking care of a little kid. Yeah, I can say that more than once and it'll still be true.
"Just-just go outside, ok? I'll figure something out. My boss'll kill me if he found out this thing caught on fire. Then my pay would go real low!"
The door busted open and Axel went flying out. He rubbed the top of his head and glanced over his shoulder at the door for a second, chuckling to himself the way he always does. I could read him like a book; that was for sure. "Hey, you getting anything, Roxas?" He asked. I felt weird talking to him, though. I almost didn't want to answer. I kept getting concerned about what made him switch like that.
"I mean, if you're not getting anything..." I started.
"Hey! I'll fix you guys up something! Ow...hey, Roxas? You allergic to anything?" Demyx sounded like my mom yelling over the vacuum cleaner. I sort of missed mom all of a sudden.
"Not that I know of! But you don't have t'..."
"'Kay! Be right there! Just grab a cookie or something, 'kay?"
Namine wouldn't stop giggling. I pictured her giggling so hard that her lungs would pop right out of her. Actually, that was too scary so I shook it off. You'd think she never even talked to a guy on a regular basis. She settled herself by this one round table with two sides. She scooted into one side and sat by the window. Ok, now I just had to make this work. Don't sit next to her 'cause that would be awkward...but don't sit next to Axel, if he comes back, 'cause that would be...awkward. Stand? Sounds good. 'D' dates are full of dares. Take them head on...I felt like crawling away. Maybe she'd forget! What the hell am I saying?
I looked behind me where Axel was leaning against the glass case that had all the cookies in it. He had his back turned away but I could sort of tell he was reading the menu on the wall. I just got worried and slightly sad when I saw him. I started thinking if maybe I did something wrong. Either that or he was just disappointed he wasn't getting his daily shot. No, I was pretty sure it was me.
"Ok, that's done..." I looked over and saw Demyx exit the back room. He was mostly dried off now. I figured it was because of the running around he'd been doing. He walked right past Axel, who barely even seemed to notice him, and over to the cash register. Then, he mysteriously leaned over the counter again, arms crossed, and ducked down low so that the register would hide him a bit. He looked up once and quickly signaled to me to keep it down by pressing a finger over his lips.
"What?" I asked but he shushed me. So I leaned forward just like he did. This felt like sharing secrets like a kid. "What?" I whispered again. I hoped Axel couldn't hear. I hoped Namine wouldn't hear.
"Hey, you think he's pissed about not getting an espresso? He's not usually like this. I mean, it's not like him to be spazzing out then all of the sudden being all secluded in a corner. Something happen? Did he get a call from his dad or something?"
I shook my head until I nearly dizzied myself. "No, no. His dad didn't call." I didn't feel like talking about parents right now.
He let out a sigh after hearing that.
"To tell you the truth, I don't know."
There was a pause when out of the blue Demyx said, "Hey, I'll start something for ya, alright? Peppermint mocha sound good to you?" He straightened up and walked over to the machines. What was with everyone and mood swings?
"Uh...yeah? Hey, what's with all the Christmas stuff? Kinda early don'tcha think?" Now I was really confused. I mean really confused. Christmas, secrets, mood swings...why the heck Namine was here in the first place...
"You ok with regular or decaf?"
"Ah..." I thought about it for a second. It really only did take me a second to think it through. Trust me; it was the only chance I had to have coffee. "Regular," I said. I felt like a coffee-ordering-pro.
"Vente...Grande?" He pulled up these two red cardboard cups; one medium and one about double that size. It was bigger than a large slurpie at the burger places. I felt like drooling and pointed at the taller one. Vente...cool. I seriously am a pro at this...let's just try not to over react. I was having way too much fun and I didn't even drink the coffee yet.
Demyx put the smaller cup back down on the counter and sort of let out a whistle. "Gee, getting hyped up for something?"
I laughed sheepishly. "No. I'm just tired I guess." I had to teach myself that lying was wrong. To tell you the truth, I was definitely anything than tired. I felt like I could stay awake for another week if I could.
"Oh, sure. Bet you've got somethin' goin' on with Little Miss Daisy over there..." He looked up from one of the coffee machines he was working on to nod his head toward Namine. I looked behind me and started waving my hands in front of me like a madman.
"No, no! It's not like that! I was coming here with Axel! Not her!" I forced my mouth shut and swallowed hard. Cautiously I looked over at Axel. He was still emo-ing over there by the cookie shelves. I bet he heard me. He just wasn't in the mood to think about me at all.
Uselessly, I walked up to the pick up counter and rested my head over my crossed arms. I was really starting to get worried and Namine wasn't making things easier. Of all times...of all times! But it's not like I'd tell her to leave. I couldn't just walk over to her and say I was on a really important date. She'd most likely have another giggle fit and say something like, 'heehee, ok, Roxas' then walk away. Girls...they never take people seriously.
"Suddenly I'm beginning to think that you really do need some caffeine today, huh?"
Lazily, I pulled my head up from the counter and moved back when I saw a tall cup sliding toward my face. I caught it and nearly dropped it when I felt how hot it was.
"Here," Demyx said, tossing me a cardboard sleeve, "you'll need that. Oh, and, don't mention this to my boss if you see him. He'll kill me if he sees I'm giving away free coffee."
I scoffed and leaned against the counter with my back turned to him. "I don't even know what your boss looks like, Demyx."
"Oh, hey, does Namine want something?"
"Uh, I..."
"Namine! You want a coffee?" Demyx yelled. Man, was he embarrassing! Lucky for us no one was in here right now.
Namine looked up from her cell phone, she was probably texting, and smiled. Again with the smiling! "Oh, no thanks, I'm good." And she turned back to tapping at the keys at random speed. That was another thing girls were good at. They could text like hell.
"Well, I might as well think of something to make for Axel. But, knowing him, nothing could really replace his shot. He hates trying new things sometimes."
I peeled off the little green sticker that covered the opening on the cup and let the steam puff at my face. It smelled like candy canes. I wasn't sure if I should reply. Talking about Axel right now seemed pretty dangerous. "Heh, yeah..." was all I could say. To try and get my mind off it, I took a huge sip from the cup and swallowed quick enough before it could burn my throat. Ugh, it was like Sunday night at the bar for teens. Demyx the bartender...wow.
"Well, you might as well go accompany her. She's getting kinda..."
"Yeeeah, Roxas. Why don't we join her over there, hm?"
Just as I was taking another sip, I felt something slap on my left shoulder and, for whatever reason, I held the coffee in my mouth. It burned like hell. I swallowed quickly and coughed. "W-What...?" I spat.
"You heard me. Come on, look at her! She looks lonely sitting over there by herself, yeah?" I finally was able to get the thought through my head: Axel was talking to me again. Even five minutes felt like all eternity when Axel didn't talk. The guy talked for hours on end that, if you hang around him as much as I do, you'd almost die of boredom if he went mute for even five seconds.
I felt a push on my back. He was forcing me to do a lot of things today! "Hey! Ok, ok! Alright!" What was I supposed to do? Go back to thinking of mentioning that there's supposed to be a hurricane later on today? I hated myself for being such a coward. With Axel still holding onto my shoulder, I started walking toward Namine's table. Ok, so the walking was more like baby stepping but, come on, you'd be freaked out with hormones racing at top speed, right? Right?
I at least wished Axel would let go of my arm, though. Man, it's hot in here.
"Ah...uhm...you doing ok over here, Namine?" Real smooth, Roxas. You sound like a love sick puppy. Heck, she's looking at you like a love sick puppy!
Namine shut her phone, it was a Razr...damn, and looked up at me intently. "Just fine! I was just talking to a friend of mine from school. She's thinking of stopping by in a bit!" She put on another plastic smile. "Hey! Maybe you can meet her! She'd like that!"
I forced myself to laugh. I nearly killed myself trying. I placed my cup on the table and turned to the side opposite of where she was sitting. I stopped myself when I caught sight of Axel already sitting down, leaning forward into the table with a plastic smile of his own. God I wanted to scream! And he's just looking across the table like it's nothing! The bastard!
"Hehe, aren't you going to sit down?" Namine asked.
There was a cold sweat coming on...crap. Don't be too obvious. Think...just think. Whew it's so damn hot in here!
Politely, I slipped into the outside seat beside Namine. I couldn't imagine putting those two words together in a sentence before. She gently nudged my shoulder with hers and cocked her head to the side like some sort of kid modeling for the Frosted Flakes cereal boxes. I'd love to see the day...
"You look a little tense," Axel said. He kept staring at me like I was the suspect and he was the cheesy detective.
"I'm not..." I replied, keeping my voice low. I gave him sort of a shifty look with my eyes but he just half winked back at me. He really doesn't get this does he?
"Well, we haven't been properly introduced yet, have we?" He turned it over to Namine who looked right at him. Wow, no one ever did that often. She obviously had guts.
"Heheh, no."
"I hear your name's Namine, huh? Fits a pretty girl like you."
Ugh, gag me with a spoon! Or better yet, put some sort of killer disease on the spoon, gag me with it, then let me die a quick and painless death!
"Hmhm, aw, thank you!" In the corner of my eye I saw she was blushing. And when Namine blushes, the whole room heats up. You can feel it. And that's not any normal blush, it's an I love you sort of blush. You don't know what trouble you're getting yourself into, man. She crushes on you: it's over.
"Name's Axel," He added all smooth like. Seriously, his voice was like velvet. That's when he just had to do it. Out of all things...he winked at her. Oh, hell no. And she's still giggling? When will the madness end?! I felt like smacking my head on the table so hard that I would pass out.
"So I've heard. You're friends with Roxas?"
As if he couldn't add more to the Mr. Suave act, Axel slowly leaned back into his chair while raking a hand through his hair. Oh, please.
"Ah, I guess you could say that. Right, Rox?"
Enough with the nicknames! "Uh...yeah. Real close." I hoped that wasn't too sarcastic. But anyway, she didn't seem to notice. I prayed that the coffee would pull my mind away. It actually did work for a bit. Maybe that's just when I burned my tongue. I reached forward for the cup and pulled it closer to me before drinking dime sizes bit by bit. I pretended to take interest in the floor. Boy was I great at acting.
"Aw, and Demyx didn't even make me something?"
I looked up from my coffee. I was feeling pretty jittery. "Doesn't know what you want."
"Well, what're you drinking? Lemme see..." Without so much as a 'please', he reached all the way across the table to me and snatched the cup away. I tried training myself to cancel out Namine's bunny laughs. If she did it again I swear I would go deaf.
Curiously, Axel popped the cover off and got blasted by this puff of steam. I bit the inside of my mouth to refrain from laughing. He really was a klutz. A lot of people I knew were idiots sometimes. It's sort of rare to think what he'll do next; even if you do know him well like I do or Riku does. Pretty much all I guess from the guy was what he'd do when we were alone...and even then I got only 10 of the guesses right.
"Shoot, you got all the whipped cream already? Heavy drinker," He said, setting the cup back on the table. I was surprised he didn't swear. I guessed it was because there was a girl here. Amazing what girls do to guys...
"Hey, yo, Demyx!"
"What-y?" He sounded pretty far away. But when I looked around I couldn't see Demyx. He was probably trying to fix that machine in the back again for all I knew.
"Toss me the whipped cream, will ya?"
"Why can't you get it yourself?"
"Aw, come on...please? I don't work here; I wouldn't know where everything is."
"Since when have you even worked on anything?"
"Oh...I've worked..." Just by hearing that sneakiness in his voice did I sort of shake. He even took a second to shoot a quick glance at me before looking over at the register again. You would've mistaken him for some sort of perve. "I just don't think we should delve into it..."
"Fine, but just 'cause you've got people with you and all..." Then, from somewhere randomly behind the counter, this long, silver bottle came flying at our table. I started spazzing...that's probably just the coffee but, man, I felt like I was gonna go for the roof.
Swiftly, Axel caught the bottle with one hand and shook it up a bit. "Thanks!"
"Whatever!" Demyx sounded pissed.
"Ah, ignore him." Axel said, pointing the tip of the bottle in the center of the coffee, "he's just tweaked that he's working and I'm not." He gave the nozzle a tight squeeze and out came this huge glob of whipped cream. It nearly oozed out of the cup. He twirled the bottle in his hands for a second then set it on the empty seat next to him, evilly staring at the overflowing mountain of white.
"What the heck do you think you're...?" I paused. Literally dead paused. My body started getting even twitchier than it was a few seconds ago. He slid his finger over the cream and slowly licked it off. E...ew...no...I wouldn't exactly say 'ew'. The bad thing was, he kept doing it and he kept looking at me while he was. I wasn't sure if he was being serious or what but what ever it was, it was making my leg bounce like a bastard.
"Hm..." He chuckled and took his finger out of his mouth. Phew. "Tastes a lot better. I'll think of getting that next time, huh?"
"Uh...y-yeah. Sure." I looked away when he recapped the cup and slid it back my way. Namine wasn't talking or anything but I could tell she was smiling. Like I said: when the girl smiles or even blushes, the whole room can feel it. I wouldn't be surprised if Sora could feel it too.
I'm on tonight, my hips don't lie and I'm startin' to feel you, boy. Come on, let's go, real slow; baby like this is...
"Oh! Sorry! That's my phone!" Quickly, Namine reached for her handbag to her right and pulled out her phone. It was like everything she owned was white. She flipped it open and lifted it up to her mouth. "Hello? Oh, hey! Hold on for a sec, ok?" She put it down on her shoulder and looked over at me. "'Scuse me. I'll be back in a sec."
I moved out of the table for her to get by. I can't tell you how happy I was that she was leaving...actually, I was partially happy. That just meant I was gonna be alone with Axel and his new obsession with whipped cream. What a fun date, huh?
I took my time getting back into my seat. Namine left for the bathroom behind us and I really had no idea where the heck Demyx went. The guy floated.
But when I did get back in my spot, I suddenly felt like sticking there with super glue. It was like the world was lifted off my shoulders for a while. I let out a deep breath and slipped lower into the seat. "Geez..." I said breathlessly.
"The girl's got some taste in music, I'll give her that much." Axel stated, resting an arm up on the back of his seat.
"Let's not get into the topic of Namine for a sec, ok? Ugh, as if this day couldn't get any worse...!" I groaned, lightly slapping the table. I was half looking at Axel and half looking out the window; I had this feeling that I was looking at him more, though.
"Don't worry, Roxas. It'll get better. Ok, let's forget about Namine for a minute. Just think about...hm, well..." He trailed off without finishing what he was going to say. I sort of got suspicious and looked away form the window to stare at him at an angle. That's when I felt a little tap on my left foot. I looked up with a start and felt another tap on my right foot.
"Hey! What gives?" I asked, annoyed.
His snickering came back again and at that point I knew my feet were in danger under the table. I pulled them back a bit but no matter how far I moved away he just came back with another tap. Actually, the tapping was more like nudging now.
"Quit it!"
I tried kicking him away. That didn't work 'cause I just got my foot caught in between both of his. And even when I tried pulling away he held me tighter and began nudging my ankle. Dammit! He was getting higher than my ankle even!
I half screamed and yanked my foot away. When I looked under the table I saw his feet inching closer to mine. Oh, no, you don't. Quickly, I put my feet together and kept them frozen for a bit while he kept closing in on me. When he was close enough I darted forward and caught them.
"Ha! Gotcha!" I exclaimed.
"As if!" Somehow, he slipped away from me and went back to massaging my ankles. Massaging? What the heck? I was laughing myself and, with my other foot, caught his other one off guard and pushed it with the tip of my shoe. He glanced under the table and put on a thin smile.
"Oh, you're like that now, huh?"
"Like what? Like this?" I added pressure to the pushing, hoping he'd stop nudging me. I actually thought he was hurting up until I realized he wasn't even pushing me anymore.
"Yeeeah...like that." I could tell he was biting the corner of his bottom lip. He moved again and caught my right foot. Softly, he started inching under the fabric around my ankles. I twitched 'cause it sort of tickled. But if Axel knew that, it would be all over. So I forced myself to sit unmoving while our short game of footsie turned into real footsie. There's a difference, you know.
"I told you, you were tense," He said, still massaging up my leg. Really, he was at my knee now.
"Mmm...no. I told you I...wasn't." What's the use? I sound too relaxed. Even if I was relaxed, I was managing to rub at his other foot. I could tell he liked that.
"Hmhm..." He left his eyes half way open and went on looking at me like he was going to fall asleep. I wondered if this was what it felt like to be drunk.
Suddenly I felt like making out again. Really. This time it was definitely a stronger urge. Damn coffee...damn cologne...everything I saw was relating back to making out! But right here right now would be sort of weird. The blinds were half closed and all and it wasn't like there were any people inside. I was even wondering if the closed sign was switched to open. Knowing Demyx, it probably wasn't. I had to know.
"Uhm, Axel?" I asked, not all too confident in myself. Then again, when am I ever so confident?
"Hm?"
"I was wondering...since no one's here..." I stopped. It's ok, you can do this. It's ok...here goes. "Can we...uh..."
"Ohh, I see. You wanna make out don't you?" He said it sort of cockily. He raised an eyebrow up at me and already I saw this tiny spark in his eye. I was getting used to the mind reading by now.
"Uhm...uh-huh...sort of...?" I wasn't good at this sort of thing.
Axel stopped massaging me at that point. He straightened himself up and leaned forward into the table halfway; just looking at me dazed. "Well? Sort of? Ok, no one's watching, right?" He made it sound so simple.
That was weird. I was thinking he would come over here and, you know, do it. And Demyx said he wasn't usually up for anything new. What was he saying? I'm the one he was best describing. But...still, I was gonna give it a shot. I double checked the blinds then the door to the bathroom behind me. Well...as long as he's comfortable with it...question is: am I? What am I saying? I'm the one that wanted to in the first place!
I got up, nervously, and twitching to a point where I thought my fingers were going to fall off, and copied him by scooting halfway across. I thought our noses were going to slam into each other. It's staring time again...he's winning. Everything's a game when you're talking sex with Axel...I did not just say sex.
"So...tell me something," He said.
I blinked and waited.
"How do you 'sort of' make out with somebody?"
Truthfully, I didn't know the answer to that one. Usually when I don't know what to say it comes out wrong. Hey, it's not my fault! "Well...I guess, uhm, it's only a two second thing?"
"Two seconds?" He asked roughly, "Boy, you round down a bit too much. That's not even long enough for me 't..."
"Hey, hey, ok, ok, alright! Let's not get into details about it!" I said frantically. I made sure to keep my voice down though. Namine sure was a quiet talker. And here I was thinking that girl's were like theater sound systems when it came to girl talk: face to face or phone to phone.
Axel shrugged his shoulders then eyed me down again like someone watching clouds. "First of all, you really should calm down a bit more."
"What? Will you stop..."
"Ah, ah, ah, calm down." He lifted up a finger to catch my attention and lowered it onto the table. I followed it and slowed my breathing. To tell you the truth, my shoulders felt like they were gonna fall off. "Good. I told you to forget about girls for a while, didn't I?"
I nodded. "Yeah..." I sadly said to the floor. I really wasn't feeling all too proud of myself at the moment.
I was feeling that stupid burn on the back of my tongue. I cringed a little and bit down until the tip of my tongue started to tingle. Maybe I bit down too hard 'cause, for some reason, Axel moved over to my side of the table and wrapped his arms around my waist. Again with the forcing. He probably thought I was depressed or something.
The next thing I remember was starting things off at a low key. I really forgot where we even were. I sort of thought we were both still in his room but the smell of coffee changed that. He was still keeping his hands at my waist. That was good, at least...the thing was, mine got a mind of their own and inched to Axel's waist too.
Axel stopped for a second. I still had my eyes closed. It's impossible to keep them open when you're kissing. At least for me. "Well, that long enough? You did say sort of."
"I...I don't think so?" Why couldn't I just be direct? 'A': keep things active and alive with your actions. Hayner was right; it did sound like a cheesy infomercial.
We started up again. I wasn't sure if I liked slow all so much yet. I guess it was gonna take some getting used to since both of us went pretty fast last night. Just thinking about last night I gave him a hard push with my tongue...crap. Some action, Roxas. But that wasn't all I did. You should've seen it. If you were sitting there outside the window you would've had your jaw on the cement by now...I mean, if you knew me or Axel.
Here's what I did...I can't believe I'm saying it.
After that push Axel sort of gasped into me and decided it would be fun to bite the corner of my mouth. Yeah...it was fun in a way. I responded with a gasp/groan of my own and got my hands working up again. They started searching around his waist before stopping in his back pockets. Yes, for your information that's where the butt is.
Oh crap, oh, crap, ass grab, ass grab! That's seriously what I was alerting myself the whole time.
My hands slid into the pockets and, all on their own, squeezed ever-so lightly. I didn't even know that I was groping Axel until I got this hint from a tight grab at my lower back. It wasn't a bad grab though. It was one of those hints that he likes it a lot.
I honestly couldn't believe that I was standing in a public place making out. Standing. I didn't want to collapse on the floor or anything. I seriously am too young for this sort of thing...
Just as we were getting into it more, I knew it was real making out. It's sort of embarrassing to say how I knew. But, right then and there, it didn't so much matter.
Our tongues were all over the place. I must have covered Axel's cheeks a million times and he must have covered little bits of my neck double that much. My lips and neck just felt really wet but, like I said, I couldn't care less. So much for' sort of'. I was even still groping him.
"Getting tired?" He asked. After all that, his voice was still slick as ever. I wanted to melt.
"Kind of..." Before I knew it I had my butt back down. More like my whole body laid out on the bench. I looked up at Axel. He had one hand up on the table for balance and the other one on the back rest of the seats.
"Told you, you should've..."
"Huh? W-what...Roxas?"
Namine?
Axel!
"Almost got it! Hey, you guys ok, in there?"
Demyx?!
heheh, demyx...i love him uberly. X3
i really don't know why i made him work at starbucks but i guess it was this one icon i saw on deviant one day while browsing. DEMYX IS THE GREATEST BARTENDER EVR! ahem, yes. X3
i hate my obsession with cliffhangers! it's not that i love to hang people off cliffs or anything, i just...ugh! cliffhangers are...i don't even know. -falls over-
anyway, i was re-reading my chapters and noticed sooooo many mistakes. i dunno. i write the chapters right when i write them; no planning ahead so forgive me if i have mistakes floating around! DX
hm, is that all? well, if i don't update before christmas, think of this as an early present? O.O well, happy holidays to you guys and thanks again for all your reviews!
WHHHHHHHHEEEEEEEE!
kokoro77
PS: sorry for too much of the kissing. i fail at expressing boy-love DX