I should probably say this in advance…This story is about to come to a close. Like…in a few chapters or something.
Thanks for sticking with me this far!
Hope you all enjoyed reading this!!
And thanks a bunch for all the reviews, favorites and alerts too, they mean a lot to me.
It's like a silent, 'OMG, I love this but I'm too speechless to say anything.' sort of thing. Lawls.
"Quiet day huh?" he asked as he continued to walk in circles within the coffee shop, around the tables, through the tables, past the bookshelves and into the espresso machine.
Roxas let out a low growl and tried to keep himself as neutral as possible as to not offend any possible consumers or scare them off.
"But then again, the lunch rush was over about an hour ago." he reasoned as he took a seat on the same table as a business man who was reading a newspaper.
The headlines screamed; WILL IT BE WAR OR PEACE BETWEEN THE TWO FEUDING COUNTRIES?
That one's a seller for sure.
Axel brought a hand up to his mouth and yawned noisily, "But still, you'd think a famous well known coffee shop would get more people than this guy who probably pretends to have a job and that woman who's smiling very creepily at her phone."
The blond proceeded to wipe the counter tops clean for the fifth time that half-hour.
"I bet they have cyber sex with each other…But they don't know it." he sniffed nonchalantly as he propped a hand up on the table noiselessly and rested his chin on his open palm. "Yeah, you'd like that, don't you?" he smirked as he stared at the man opposite him whose eyes weren't even moving with whatever he was reading.
Somebody suddenly stepped in through the opened front doors of the shop and walked right up to the counter.
The new customer had Roxas' undivided attention, "Hello sir, welcome to Twilight Café. How may I take your order?" he asked with a smile on his face.
Much practice made it seem no longer so forced.
"Um…" the older man, by the looks of his clothes, neither a business or a college student or teacher, still had his blue eyes fixed on the menu board that hung above at the wall while he had a hand tapping his chin thoughtfully. "Hm…"
The red head rolled his eyes as he pushed himself off the chair and walked over to stand by the man with an arm on the counter, "It's just a bloody cup of coffee. Tall, Grande or Venti. Come on man. It's not a life or death decision."
Roxas ignored Axel and waited patiently, unlike some people.
The customer's blue eyes lit up as he suddenly formed a decision, "I'll have the…" he cut himself off and then he changed his mind, "On second thought…"
Axel let out a long sigh as he thumped his head noiselessly on the counter top. Roxas glanced at him for a grand total of two seconds before his eyes snapped back to the customer.
"What's your favorite kind of coffee?" the man suddenly asked.
The blond blinked, "I'm sorry?"
"I don't think that's a cup of coffee." the older man chuckled as he turned his eyes to the blond. Then blue met blue. "You seem oddly familiar."
Now that Roxas thought about it, the older man seemed familiar to him too, "Have we met before?" the older man asked as he tilted his head a little. Maybe the blond had served him coffee before.
Roxas was now trying to think of what flavor he bought last time.
"What's your name?" the dark haired man asked curiously as he leaned down and rested one arm on the counter top. Doing the exact same thing that Axel was doing.
"Don't give it to him." the red head demanded.
Roxas blinked again and knew why the other man seemed so familiar but he brushed it aside, "My name is on my nametag sir." he smiled as he pointed it out non-too-bluntly.
Axel smacked his forehead with his hand.
He laughed, "So it is, Roxas."
"Yes." he smiled, a friendly gesture, despite the small fact that he was feeling a little slightly somewhat uncomfortable.
"I'm Zack by the way."
"Well Zack, is there anything you'd like to order?" the blond asked again.
"Oh, right." his eyes snapped back to the menu board as he straightened his back to stand properly, "I guess I'll take the…" he bit his bottom lip in thought, "Caramel frappachino with extra caramel and don't go skimping out on the whipped cream too like those other shops do."
He almost smirked, "What size?" he asked as his fingers hovered over the overused till.
"Er…Grande." he settled for eventually.
Axel scoffed with a roll of his eyes, "I'm surprised he didn't go for a Venti." he mumbled to himself.
"Coming right up." he pushed the button on the till which beeped noisily and displayed the total of how much the older man had to pay, "Is there anything else you'd like with that?" he asked as he gestured to the food display area.
"Nope, just that." he spoke as he reached for the wallet in his back pocket and flipped it open. Axel peered inside and spotted a few notes and bills in there. He had been looking for an ID.
"Would you like it to have-here? Or to-go?" he asked as he pushed the button to display the subtotal of the man's order.
"To-go please." he took out a ten dollar bill after he spotted it on the cash register.
"That'll be 8.95." he smiled as he took the offered note, gave the man his change and started to make the caramel frappachino with extra caramel and no skimping on the whipped cream in a to-go Grande sized cup.
After that was done, and Zack was given his ordered drink, he gave the blond a salute and a wink, "See you around Roxas."
It wasn't until after the older man was gone till Axel spoke, "I swear he was totally hitting on you."
Roxas wiped the smile off his face and gave out a very low growl.
Slowly, the red head came out of his slumber and again, he could not remember his dream. But there was always a residual feeling. What was it this time? Disbelief? A little shock? Some sort of teasing or mockery?
Something…
Definitely not bad though.
Axel sniffed nonchalantly as he brought up a hand to run his fingers through his messy morning hair then he glanced over at the clock on his study table by the bed.
It blinked 10.49am. Not too early, not too late either.
The red head yawned noisily as he shuffled into his bathroom and proceeded going about his morning rituals before he went across the hall to swipe some breakfast.
It's been about two weeks since he woke up from his three month old coma. He finally realized it while he was brushing his teeth.
And it's been about a week since he started having the dreams that he could never once recall. Which is considered strange for him, because normally, he would remember what his dreams or nightmares were about to start chatting his head off about them to either Demyx or Zexion.
They'd always put in their two cents about it.
He washed out his mouth with water to get rid of the foamy toothpaste and proceeded to gargle his mouth with some peppermint mouthwash.
Thirty seconds outta do the trick.
After he was all done, he let out a soft sigh as he placed his arms on either side of the table and stared down at the black hole of the sink.
Axel never remembered what his dreams were about, but he knew, from the very pit of his stomach, that it had something to do with somebody important.
Who this person was though, was a different question and problem altogether.
Now that he thought about it, the dreams started around about the same time he first met with the blond.
Coincidence?
He is all but a distant memory now, that kid.
He shook his head as he walked out of his bathroom, into the living room and then out the door. He didn't bother to lock the door behind him. Too lazy to go back into his room and grab the keys.
He invited himself into his best friends' apartment with a turn of their doorknob, "G'morning."
"Hey Axel." the dirty haired blond greeted as he hopped off the couch and left Zexion to continue on reading his book while the TV continued on in the background.
The red head yawned noisily and then grunted as he pulled out a chair and sat down at the dining table in between the kitchen and the living room.
"Had a good sleep?" Demyx asked as he pulled the fridge open, poured the red head a glass of orange juice and placed it on the table.
Axel offered another grunt as his answer as he picked up the glass and brought it up to his lips.
"How about those dreams? You remember any of them yet?"
The red head paused; the cool glass never once touched his lips before he placed it back on the table. He had talked to them about it a few times, but it was always the same thing.
'I go to sleep, I dream, I wake up, I remember nothing.'
The dirty haired blond never noticed as he went about to make breakfast for the red head. Zexion interfered before Demyx burnt the apartment down.
Axel watched them for a moment before he brought the cup up to his mouth again, only to pause just before they touched. The dreams had something to do somebody important.
Special maybe?
It's been about a week since the dreams started. The dreams that he'd never remember once he wakes up.
He thought that the dreams would just fade away in time. But the feelings he'd get every time he woke up was getting more and more intense. And so mixed in with each other.
Like it wasn't just one emotion. It was a whole bunch of them.
Axel decided that he was probably thinking too much. The dreams were probably just a left over 'thing' he got from being stuck in a coma for too long, or maybe it was that beer bottle to the head that made him be this way.
Whatever it was, the red head figured that the dreams would just blow over sooner or later.
"So, what's for breakfast?"
"I hope you like your toasts well done." the dirty haired blond smiled sheepishly as he tried to scrape off the burnt bits on the darkened piece of bread.
The dreams continued to come and go. They always seemed to leave behind some sort of emotion. Sometimes, it was too soft to pinpoint exactly what he was feeling. Other times, it was so intense, he almost felt like screaming his heart out whenever he woke up from those dreams.
But lately, he'd wake up covered in sweat, as though he had been tossing and turning constantly. As though he had been trying to fight something he knew he couldn't win.
Lately, all his dreams have been all the same. The same emotions of fear and pain.
Defeat.
"You're just going to leave me?!"
The voice cried out to him, loud and clear as though they were right beside him. The voice so familiar yet too modified to make sense of who spoke. He couldn't tell who it was that spoke.
"I'm sorry."
His heart was starting to hurt. It felt all too real to him. Was he awake? Was he daydreaming? Or was he sleeping? It was hard to tell anymore.
"Look after my sister for me, ok?"
He'd always wake up with a gasp, with sweat rolling down the sides of his face, his heart racing and beating loudly in his ears. Whenever he woke up from that dream, feeling crushed, broken and left somewhat breathless and with tears rolling down his cheeks, he thought that it was time to deal with it.
Whatever it was.
He still couldn't recall the dream. Couldn't remember the words that were spoken. Couldn't remember the images that his dream showed him. But it left behind a feeling of hopelessness and defeat.
He carelessly wiped away the tears as he got up from his bed and pulled on a random pair of pants and a shirt.
It was weird.
From the moment he woke up from that dream, he felt like he was changing into a completely different person.
A different Axel.
What was even weirder though, when he walked out of the apartment and walked up the stairs one by one, exited through a door onto another floor of the building complex, was that he knew where he was going.
He paced his steps, slow and steady. As though he knew where he wanted to be, and who he wanted to go to.
In only his pajamas and nothing else to keep him warm while out in the cold, chilling midnight wind, he stood in front of the door that led into somebody's apartment.
Somebody important.
He could see that the lights were still on; shining through the small gap at the bottom of the door, despite that there was no noise coming from within. Not the voice of a TV, not a sound from a stereo or a radio, not even a snore from when the tenant accidentally fell asleep on the couch.
But after a few seconds, he caught a muffled sound of what was a piece of paper being flipped.
That someone who was important was reading a book.
Slowly, he raised his hand up to the door, curled his fingers in to make a weak fist, drew in a deep breath and then gave a soft double tap on the door with his knuckles and sighed.
There was no sound from behind the closed door, and the red head wondered if his knock was heard or not.
But before he could make a decision to turn back and maybe try again next time, he heard a shuffling and the sound of footsteps approaching.
Axel braced himself to look into the face of a stranger. Or maybe someone familiar. One or the other.
In a way, he was half expecting the stranger to slam the door shut in his face, or maybe yell at him first before he shut the door in his face, something like that.
In another way, he hoped that the stranger wasn't so much a stranger and wouldn't slam the door in his face.
But what was he to do after that though? He never planned that far ahead. In fact, he hadn't even planned on waking up in this godforsaken hour either.
He felt his heart stop when he heard the sound of the chain being unhinged and the doorknob being twisted open.
Soon, his vision was illuminated and all he could see was light.
Hoo damn…That was descriptive…
Anyways, the coffee price is going by my currency...Just so you know. Lawls. I have no idea how much it actually costs…So I could be a little off. Although I know it's over five bucks, and possibly under ten…For a Tall sized coffee…I think it was about…what? 12 bucks for a Venti? Meh…I never did like coffee…
I could make a nice tasting one for under a buck at my house…
-psst- I have a poll up, have a look-see please?