Tada! Strange day to be posting a new chapter of this story, but it's also a strange day to have a birthday... that's right, I'm no longer 17ish... ish... ish... I'm officially 17! WOOHOO! So, to celebrate this wondrous occasion, I'm going to post a chapter for you guys :) You're all very lucky, though. See, Friday evening, after a fun day of doing nothing but watching Sola (awesome anime) all day, my computer crashed. It wouldn't let me turn on the computer, or access my files, or anything. To make matters worse, my computer freak of a father wasn't home, so I was stuck without any of my files for two days. Which means I didn't have anything of this story. I thought I lost it all.
Buuuut, thanks to my wonderful luck (which isn't exactly so wonderful) all of my files were safe on the hard drive. I didn't get a virus, my computer just had a corrupt operating system. So, it's all good now :D I mean, sure, my laptop won't turn on still, and I'm pretty much going into writing withdrawal as my father wants me to affect my files as little as possible for fear that I'll ruin them, but hey, at least I didn't lose the 200ish pages of this story you guys HAVEN'T read yet... actually, I think it's only around 150 pages now... man, time flies...
Anyway, to my reviewers: I'd like to thank kaoru-chibimaster, P5hng-Me-A'Wy (why does your name have to be so complicated! DX Also, it doesn't matter that you're bad at reviewing. Anything you say is appreciated :D), and chocomiiillk (who reviewed 7 times... wonderful :D) for their reviews.
Also to SignatureSinful, I'm sorry again for not replying to your review for chapter 27... I felt so bad after I read your last review... forgive me? :D Thanks for the review again, though :)
Now then, to people who want their reviews talked about... uh... 813 i love you813! You're welcome for the reply :) I'm a people pleaser, so I try and make everyone happy. And of course I had to mention chapter 3! That was the best chapter ever! :D Everyone who reads it thinks it's funny XD Yeah... it takes Roxas a long while to get over that fear... I don't think he does for the entirety of the story... I don't really remember... And yes, Axel can play the piano. He's perfect, why wouldn't he be able to? XD You get to learn about Axel and Roxas' past a little more in Axel's next chapter. ;P And yes, Roxas is an idiot. I hated writing that chapter, but it had to be done... *sigh* Thanks for the review!
To SutaaFox: Yay! You're back! :D I hope your exams went well :) I missed reading your reviews! I won't really reply to them right now because there are so many, but let me know if you want a message reply to them :)
Phew! I think that's all of them... I think... I hope... maybe?
So anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter, please review, answer my poll, and I'll see you guys on Saturday! :D I may or may not go back to one chapter a week, as it is stressful for both me and my beta to prepare 2 a week, plus someone asked me to do so... Have an opinion about it? Let me know :)
Ja ne~
~Sunechirei
Full Chapter Title: A smirk is still a smile
Axel's body temperature is higher than normal. I mean, a lot higher. I think he said his average body temp is around 101º. He attributes it to the fact that he's a red head, and a pyro, but I think it's just because he's a complete and total freak.
Now, don't get me wrong, the fact that he's that warm in the winter is really nice. I certainly didn't get cold at all during that night in Twilight Town, but in the summer, or when it's warm out, it's just a nuisance. Especially now, one month after Naminé left the company, at the end of May, when Axel decided I was still upset about her disappearing, and dragged me to his apartment to spend the night.
No, Sora was not there. He'd taken some time off to go home and visit his mom who had broken her leg, or something like that, so he was in Destiny Island. Leaving me, alone, with Axel, in his apartment...
Note how I found out his body temperature is annoying in the summer.
"Wow, Roxie, you are not a morning person, are you?"
I heard Axel's voice right before he placed a hand on my head. The hand ruffled my hair, which irritated the hell out of me, and I swatted it away, grumbling. Grabbing Axel's covers, I pulled them over my head, grumbling at him to go away. All he did was laugh at me.
Saying I wasn't a morning person was an understatement if I've ever heard one. I don't know how Axel was able to rise with the sun, then stay up till all hours of the night. How did he do that? When did he sleep? It really pissed me off...
"Come on, Roxie. I know it's Sunday, and neither of us have to work today, but that doesn't mean you can be all lazy," Axel told me. I felt pressure on the bed next to me as Axel sat there, and he grabbed the top of the blanket, pulling it off me slowly. "Roxie..."
"Go away!"
My irritation just seemed to amuse Axel, and he yanked the blanket off my head, sending a bright light into my eyes. I groaned, and struggled to get it back over my head. It would be so nice to just disappear into the darkness again, not have to worry about all the shit going on in my life right now, like Naminé leaving and no longer talking to me, not knowing if I should tell my parents about me and Axel, not knowing if the two of them were okay, as they'd started arguing again (the reason I was completely okay with Axel kidnapping me), and wondering if I did the right thing by working with my dad's company.
Darkness would be wonderful.
"Now now, Roxie," Axel whispered, capturing one of my flailing hands to keep me from actually obtaining the blanket, "you're going to have to get up sometime, so why not now?"
"Because it's early, I'm tired, and it's too bright. Go away."
"Don't wanna," he said. Then there was heat next to my neck, and I felt Axel's lips press against my skin, right below my ear.
That woke me up.
I sat up quickly, trying to ignore the prickly feeling trailing across my skin, and grabbed a pillow, throwing it Axel. "Go away!" He was laughing at me, backing away. My vision began to clear, getting used to the bright light streaming in through the window. I saw Axel standing a few feet away from me, wearing a black t-shirt, and a pair of baggy jeans. You'd think that it was just a regular outfit, one that he just randomly threw on, but damn did he look sexy.
I think I started to blush.
"Why did you have to wake me up?" I muttered, rubbing the place where he'd kissed. It still tingled, like electric shocks were being sent through my body. It was really annoying. "It's really early, and I didn't exactly get to go to be early last night." I sent an accusing glare at him, though I was really only mad because he'd woken me up, not that he had kept me up late.
"Well," Axel said, rubbing his head with a laugh, "it's not like you complained..."
I just had to throw another pillow at him.
"Whoa, Roxie, violent today are we? I didn't think you had any fighting spirit in you," he teased. Before I could respond, however, my phone suddenly rang.
Both of us froze, and stared at the buzzing cell. I didn't know who in the world was calling me, seeing as I didn't work today, my dad could care less about where I was, and Mom knew I most likely was going to avoid the house. She'd screamed at me the night before, and I'd ran out, frustrated and pissed. Axel didn't know that, however, which is why he assumed that I was just pouting about Naminé when he found me on the street quite a ways from my house.
So it wasn't her (unless she was calling to apologize, which would be stupid because she knows better than anyone that I'm not a morning person), then who could be calling me?
After the fifth ring, I reached over and grabbed the phone, checking the name. Surprisingly, it was Olette.
I answered it, gesturing to Axel to get out of the room.
"Hello?"
"Roxas! Oh my god, I don't think I've spoken to you since your birthday! How are you?"
What could I tell her? That I've been running around like a chicken with it's head cut off, trying to figure out whether or not I liked Axel? Or how about this one; I'd been shitty because my life was falling apart at the seams, I've been trying to keep my relationship with my business partner a secret, and the girl I loved now won't talk to me!
Yeah...
"Roxas?"
"I'm fine," I finally answered, silently telling Axel who was staring at me to get out of the room. "How have you been?" Axel would not leave the room. He just crossed his arms and gave me a confused look, which really irritated me, because... well, it just irritated me.
"Well, my first year of college was difficult, but a lot of fun."
"That's good."
"Yep! Guess what?"
"What?" Axel was still staring at me, which was unnerving, so I slid out of bed, and headed over to him, placing my hand on his chest. He laughed when he realized that I was trying to push him out of the room, and he leaned down, whispering in my ear;
"My room, Roxie. I can stay here if I want."
Right as he said this, Olette exclaimed, "I finally have the money and time to come visit!"
I froze, "What?" My hand left Axel's chest, backing away from him.
"I'm coming home! I've talked to Pence and Hayner as well, and they're also going to be able to come back!"
"When?"
"Hm... well, I'm going to come back tomorrow, Pence said in about a week, but Hayner should be in Radiant Garden in about three hours. I think he was going to surprise you by showing up at your house. So act surprised, okay?"
"Um... okay?"
"Anyway, I have to go. My roommate is bring over a bunch of friends for a party so it's going to get loud. See you soon!" The other side of the line went dead before I could even say goodbye. You know, women have a tendency to do that. Hang up or leave before you can say bye... I guess my dad's like a girl then.
"So, who was that?" Axel asked, "And why do you look like your world just came to an end?"
"Probably because my world did just come to an end." I looked over at Axel, who was walking towards me. "I have to get home... Hayner's going to be there in a few hours."
"Wow, you look like you've been to hell and back," Hayner told me when I walked into my house and saw him sitting on the living room couch with my mother. Olette's timing must have been off because it'd only been two hours since she'd called.
Of course, it shouldn't have taken me two hours to get home, but Axel's a jerk and refused to let me go until I calmed down. Well, "calm down" was just what he said, but I don't think making out with me exactly calmed me down. More, irritated me and made me late.
Jerk.
"Yeah," I told him, voice quiet, "something along those lines." Awkward silences didn't happen very often between me and Hayner, but this time... I don't even know why! I mean, yeah, I was hiding a shit ton of stuff from him, but he didn't know that. Note the fact that it's being hidden from him. The only way things would be this weird would be if he was hiding something from me as well. Or he was embarrassed for some weird reason.
I wasn't the only one who noticed the strange air in the room, as Mom stood up and exclaimed, "Alright, I think I'm going to leave and let you two boys catch up, alright?" She just wanted to get out of the room. She was so lucky she could. As she passed by me, she stopped and whispered, "We need to talk about last night. Okay?"
I groaned, not wanting to talk about the screaming match we'd gotten into the night before, and then me running off and not returning until the next day... that would be such a fun conversation.
"So, it's been a while," Hayner said suddenly, looking down at his feet. I nodded. "Um... so, how's... uh... how've you been?"
Okay, there was something wrong with Hayner. He never acted like this. I wondered if he was high, but he didn't seem loopy. Actually, he looked better than I'd seen him in years. Ever since the beginning of high school, actually.
"Well," I replied, "a lot of stuff has changed over the past year. You?" What an understatement, but I didn't really care about my life. I knew what was going on (or, most of what was going on) in my life, but I didn't know anything about Hayner anymore. He dressed differently, carried himself differently, and didn't have the original air of confidence that he'd left Radiant Garden with.
Something was going on, and I knew that. Of course, he knew that I knew, because Hayner isn't exactly stupid, so...
"Well... I... I kinda...," he sighed as I sat down in the chair across from him. "I doubt you heard about this, but there was a guy, in the town I live in, who was killed."
Drugs? Yeah, I could see Hayner doing that, but murder?
"Before you get the wrong idea, I didn't kill him." Oh... well... "He was just a really good friend of mine, and, well, it's my fault he died."
"What are you talking about?"
"It's not important, but I wanted to tell you, because after he died something in me changed... It's like my eyes were opened up to the world around me, and I stopped doing drugs, and drinking... I started actually going to class and doing all my work."
Wow, it was like Hayner had finally taken into account everything I said and shaped up. Too bad it took his friend dying to slap him in the face.
Ugh, I sound horrible. Where's my sympathy for him? He just told me that a friend of his was killed because of him. Actually, the fact that he was telling me this right now, so easily, right when I first saw him after so many months, was kind of weird. I thought he was making it up at first, but only something as outrageous as a friend dying would freak Hayner out so much that he would start studying.
Still, I didn't know what to say.
"Just figured I would tell you so you will stop looking down on me."
Wait, what?
"What are you talking about?" I asked, "I've never looked down on you. If anything, I respected you for being able to be yourself." But Hayner just shook his head.
"Whatever. It doesn't matter." He grinned at me, but the smile seemed a bit fake. I decided to ignore it. "So, I think it's time you tell me how work's going. That emo kid... uh..."
"Riku?"
"Yeah. Is he still all weird and origami like?"
I had to bite my lip to keep from cracking up. Riku had become slightly obsessed with origami since that week he was sick. Just slightly. If you gave him a blank piece of paper, he would make about five different animals or objects. It pissed Ellie off so much that she and Riku got in an argument about it one time at work.
I remember walking in on them as Ellie said, "Stop obsessing over stupid pieces of paper, or I'm not coming over anymore!"
Now, Riku makes the little figurines in secret.
I told this story to Hayner when he asked me what I thought was funny. His reaction was exactly like his old self. He cracked up and the two of us laughed for a couple of minutes.
"Wait, so Ellie's dating Riku?"
"Yeah, for about five years now."
"That's crazy."
"Tell me about it."
Hayner snickered. "Man, I missed you, Roxas. We really need to keep in better contact once I go back to school."
"Yeah, we do."
"Roxas..."
"Look, Mom, I don't care anymore about what you said last night. I was just tired and irritated." It was later that day. Hayner had just gone home, I'd been attacked by a phone call from Pence, then one from Axel, and now I was being cornered in the kitchen by my mother... Yeah...
Mom didn't say anything. She just watched me with sad eyes. I couldn't figure out why she looked that way, or why she even flipped out on me the night before. I'd done nothing wrong. All I did was ask her a question about her parents, thanks to a conversation I'd had with Axel about family, and she snapped.
"Well, I'm going to bed now. Olette isn't exactly easy to deal with." I headed out of the kitchen, carrying some random midnight snack with me. Well, not really midnight... you know what I mean.
"Wait, Roxas-"
"I said I don't care. Please just drop it."
I barely heard her say okay before I disappeared to the upper level of the house, hoping that nothing bad would happen while Hayner was here.
Olette also looked different when I met her at the airport the next day. She'd cut her hair, started wearing makeup, and had an air of happiness around her.
Well, until she saw Hayner. Then both of them pretty much died. Figuratively.
Huh... how I was feeling then, it must have been a similar reaction to the one Ellie had about me being an idiot. About Axel being gay... I felt sorry for her, because these two are so annoying! I wished that they would just shut up, kiss, and realize that they've been in love with each other for so many years.
But no. Instead, for the entire week that the two of them were there without Pence, it was extremely awkward. Needless to say, I was so happy when he showed up at my house a week after Olette arrived, carrying a random bag, and a smile on his... uh... thin face. Apparently his grandparents had this weird diet and it caused him to lose a lot of weight.
I wasn't the only one who'd changed over the past year.
That was really nice to know.
At first, I was really happy about this whole thing, seeing all my friends from high school again, but that happiness vanished quickly. For three reasons.
One: All three of them were leaving in a week, so I only had that long to spend with them.
Two: I decided that it was time to get Olette and Hayner together, because they were really pissing me off.
And three: I couldn't spend any time with Axel while they were here, because otherwise they would find out, and my life would become worse than hell. Worse than that, actually, if that was possible.
I think the last one was the worst part. Which is kinda sad, because three months ago I hated being around the guy, and now, not being able to see him for a week seemed torturous to me. Maybe it would be best to just tell them all. Then I could see him, and there would be no problems.
I kept telling myself that, but I was too scared to do so...
Anyway, I was sitting with my three best friends, at a random ice cream shop, talking about the most random things, and of course, Olette had to ask me the one question I'd been dreading since they came back.
"So, how are things with you and that guy you were complaining about?"
I nearly choked on my ice cream. She was asking me about Axel. The guy I was complaining about before she left...
"Roxas? You alright?" Pence asked me as I started coughing, trying to clear my air way.
"Yeah," I gasped, "I'm fine. Just surprised."
I saw Hayner roll his eyes from next to me. "Roxie here has a weird relationship with Axel." He smirked at me, knowing that using my nickname would piss me off beyond all beliefs. "The two of them don't really get along."
"Really?" Olette leaned across the table, obviously curious. "I figured after a while the two of you would maybe get a long a little bit. You know, become friends."
Oh, we've become more than friends. Way more than friends. But I couldn't tell her that... still, at the same time, I felt guilty for letting them believe Axel and I were enemies or didn't get along. "We actually get along now," I muttered quietly.
I could feel three pairs of eyes on me, and I became embarrassed. Olette and Pence probably had no idea why it was so awkward for me, but Hayner did. Hayner had been there the three months I complained about Axel, so he knew that there was something more going on. Luckily, he didn't comment on it at all, and just left the subject alone for the rest of the day.
As did Pence and Olette.
Thank God.
"Roxie, please tell me your friends are going home soon," Axel whispered in my ear. I was not in a situation I liked; being pinned to the wall of my office, by my boyfriend, unable to escape, while Hayner and Pence were in the same building. I'd left them in the lobby with Kairi while I came up to my office to get something.
Little did I know, Axel was in there, waiting for me so he could attack.
"They're leaving in two days," I muttered, trying to get away. "Now please get off me. They could come up any second now to search for me." It had already been five days since Pence had arrived, and, well, time had gone by really quickly, but I still hadn't completely my mission.
"Well then, I guess I'd better hurry then."
Shit.
Axel was extremely difficult to deal with, especially when he had his mind set on something. Currently, his mind was set on me.
I wasn't going to let him get his way today, though, because Pence and I had a plan to get Olette and Hayner to finally start dating. It was extremely important that the two of us did this, because otherwise we'd be stuck with the two of them never admitting to each other their feelings, and life would become worse than hell for all four of us.
Unfortunately, Axel was standing in my way, both literally and figuratively.
"Axel, let me go. I have something I need to do-" he kissed my neck before I could finish my sentence, and I had to shove him away. "Dude! Seriously!"
Axel's pouting face was adorable. Really, really adorable.
It made me wish Olette, Pence, and Hayner were still away at college.
"It's just two more days." It was obvious that Axel was not happy about what was going on right now, and he leaned down to kiss me.
"Fine," he whispered against my mouth. "Two more days. I'll restrain myself for that long, and only that long. Got it?"
"Completely memorized," I taunted, taking Axel's favorite catch phrase and shoving it in his face. It was awesome to see his eyes narrow at my retort, but he didn't do anything more to me, instead just letting me go. "What? No comeback?"
"Two days, Roxie. Two days."
It was obviously a threat, and I knew that Axel was going to do something to me as soon as the two days were up. Either I was screwed, or I was going to get screwed.
Stupid Axel, making me worried like this.
Sighing, I made my way out of the office, passing by a very irritated Axel on the way. He smirked at me, but said nothing, which was kind of worrying. Even if he wasn't allowed to be intimate, there was no way he didn't have some snappy remark waiting on the tip of his tongue. I bet he just wanted to make me sweat.
Well, it was working.
"Dude, Roxie, I didn't think you were ever gonna come back!" Hayner was sitting on Naminé's old desk, and he seemed to originally have been talking to Kairi about something. She was smiling, something I hadn't seen since Naminé left, and was standing next to Pence who looked like he won the jack pot.
Poor guy... never had much luck with girls... the fact that Kairi was talking to him was probably like a dream come true. I couldn't wait to tell him she was taken.
"Yeah, sorry about that. I got... held up." Honestly, that was the best way to describe what had happened. Well, the best way without letting on what really happened. "Anyway, I got what I needed, so let's go. Olette's waiting for us, right?"
"Olette?" Kairi smiled at me, something she hadn't done since before Valentine's day. "You have a friend I haven't met yet?"
I laughed nervously, not really wanting to talk to Kairi. Any second and she could snap at me, acting like she had been before. I didn't really want to have to deal with that. So, I just told her that Olette was a good friend of mine from school, and that she was waiting for us at her house so we could go to the movies.
Well, in actuality, only Hayner and Olette were going to the movies. Pence and I were going to ditch them, play a game of bowling or something, then go back and see how their relationship has changed. If nothing happened, then I had a wonderful plan two.
Just tell the idiots that they liked each other and should go out.
Yeah, that would work.
"Hey, Roxas," Pence asked me suddenly, drawing my attention back to reality. I blinked and looked over at him, realizing that we were in the parking garage, heading towards Hayner's car. The one we'd been driving around in all week.
"What?"
"I noticed that you haven't driven at all since we've been here. Normally you don't like being in another person's car... what's up with that?"
Oh right... I completely forgot to tell them that I'd gotten in a car crash. All of my visible cuts and what not have healed, plus my arm was no longer in a cast, so there wasn't any evidence that I'd been hurt... Axel too, had very few wounds left, though he had quite a few scars on his chest, arms, and legs, and a large scratch on the back of his head, but other than that...
"I was wondering that too," Hayner said, glancing at me. "I was also wondering why you have so many bruises on your left arm." Right, my left arm was still all bruised up... forgot about that visible evidence... I forgot about it because I had gotten used to the cast, and I wear long sleeves.
"You do?" Pence grabbed my left arm, and I winced as he pulled up the sleeve. "Whoa!"
Yanking my arm back, I rolled my eyes. "A few months back, I was driving back into town after... uh... doing something for work, and a guy crashed into my car. I had a concussion and fractured my left arm, but it's not that big of a deal."
Both teens stopped walking and stared at me like I was nuts. It made me feel kind of violated.
"Whatever you do," Pence said after a moment of silence, "don't tell Olette. She'll freak."
"Yeah. Then you'd never drive again," Hayner added.
"Or get in a car."
"Or ride a bus."
"Or leave your house."
"Or-"
"Oh shut up you two!" I snapped before stalking over to Hayner's car. "We have some place to be." I yanked the car door open, got in, the slammed it shut as they laughed their asses off. I was somewhat tempted to hot-wire the car and get the hell out of there, but that would mean I would be the one driving.
Damn.
Finally, the two idiots stopped laughing and climbed into the car as well, still smirking at my previous outburst. The two of them, I swear.
"Are you sure this was a good idea?"
Four times. Four times he asked me this, and four times I've answered him with a "Yes God dammit, now shut up before I shut you up." We were staked out beside the movie theater, waiting for Hayner and Olette to come out of the movie we'd forced them to go see. I knew they couldn't get out of it, because Pence and I had hijacked Hayner's car keys and had driven off. So, the two of them were stuck there unless they wanted to catch a bus.
Hayner hated buses.
Finally, I spotted Olette running out of the building. Alone. And she looked upset.
Oh shit, what have I done?
"Roxas?" Pence was obviously thinking the same thing I was, but we stayed in our hidden spot, waiting for Hayner to show up as well.
We didn't have to wait very long.
"Wait here Pence, I'm going to be right back." Without waiting for my friend to yell at me, I ran towards Hayner, not caring how the guy would react to seeing me. I was probably going to get murdered for pulling off this stunt, but I didn't care. "Hayner!" He looked up at me. "What the hell just happened."
Hayner shrugged. "We were talking about the movie, having fun, when suddenly she asked me how I felt about her, and I lied. I said she was just a friend to me. Then she ran off." He looked down at his feet, and I felt the sudden urge to punch him.
So I did.
"Dude? What the hell?" He asked, rubbing the cheek my fist had just attacked. He gave me a nasty death glare, but I ignored it and screamed;
"Why would you lie to her about that?" I was furious at him. I gave him the perfect chance to talk to Olette, ask her out, because I know he wanted to, and he went and stomped on my generous act like it was absolutely nothing. "You should have told her the truth, that you like her, and that you've been wanting to date her for a really long time but you've been too chicken to ask her out!"
"I have not been afraid to do it!"
"Oh really, then why haven't you?"
"Uh, probably because she likes you!"
I froze. Hayner was an idiot. How the hell could he think that Olette liked me? She treated me like I was a little brother, or a son or something, not like a boyfriend. Even if she hadn't talked to me about her crush on my best friend, I would have laughed at the notion of her liking me. It was just impossible. Maybe, maybe in middle school, but not now.
"What the hell makes you say that?" I was genuinely curious about how an idiot's brain worked.
"Well, you're the one who stopped me from being mean to her, and the first person to talk to her after she came to Radiant Garden, plus she acts different around you-"
"You're a fucking idiot."
"Excuse me?" By now, there was no one really around us, everyone either in the theater, or in their cars, leaving.
I shook my head and sighed. "I said, you're a fucking idiot."
"Don't you dare-"
"She's in love with you, Hayner." He froze before his hand came into contact with my face. "Just think about it."
"You... you're..."
"The person Olette would come to, to talk about her personal problems. And let me tell you, most of them revolved around you." Finally, Hayner was going to stop being an idiot. He didn't say anything else after I told him that, instead just looking in the direction he'd seen Olette run off in. When I'd gotten tired of him standing there with a stupid expression, I rolled my eyes. "Go. Find her. Make up. Kiss her."
He didn't waste another second.
When he was out of sight, I sighed, and closed my eyes. Only the sound of Pence calling out to me was a sound I wanted to hear. Everything else was just annoying. I wanted to sleep.
"That was nice of you to do, Roxas," Pence told me. I rolled my eyes and told him to shut up, flushing. He laughed, then added, "Hey Roxas, I have a question for you."
"Hm?"
"What's your real relationship with that Axel guy?"
"What?"
This was not happening. Pence could not be that observant. Sure, he was smart, but if he was really that observant, than Olette would be as well, which meant she would know, which meant Hayner would probably know, which meant I was completely and totally screwed. Though, when I thought about it a bit more, if they knew and didn't care, then it was fine.
"When Hayner said his name at the ice cream store, you blushed. I've never seen you react that way to a name before."
"So? Axel's done quite a few weird things to me. I was just thinking about-"
"You also just called him by his name."
"Again, so?"
Pence shook his head sadly. "Roxas, you don't get it. Those kinds of things aren't like you. You're never embarrassed, and you don't remember names of the people you really don't get along with."
"I told you, he and I are friends now-"
"I think you mean more than friends."
I gave up. There was no more hiding from Pence what was going on between me and Axel, because he already knew, and the more I denied it, the more he became convinced.
Defeated, I sighed. "Technically we're "dating," but we haven't told anyone yet." Pence tried to speak, but I shut him up, shaking my head. "I don't want people to know, so you can't tell anyone. Got it?"
"Of course."
"Thanks, Pence." We stood in silence for a while, until we saw Hayner and Olette coming back towards us, holding hands. I smiled. "What actually made you realize that there was something more going on?" He took his sweet time before answering this, and I was starting to get antsy. "Pence?"
Finally he laughed. "When you came down from your office today, your clothes were really messy, and you were blushing, so I put two and two together." That was it? There was no way. Hayner would have noticed those things as well, and Kairi, but neither of them said anything so- "Plus, you have a hickey on your neck."
I blushed, my hand coming up to the place Axel had kissed before leaving the office.
Oh shit, Axel!
"Axel?" I stepped into his office, wondering where the hell he could be. It had been two days, so my three friends were all gone, leaving me to deal with the wonderful fate of Axel's wrath. However, he was nowhere to be found. "Hello? Axel, where the hell are you hidi- Ah!"
I got tackled to the floor by something I thought was a cat. However, cat's don't have red hair, sea-green eyes with black, upside-down teardrop tattoos under them.
"Hello there, Roxas," Axel hissed, a nasty smirk on his face. "It's been two days."
I blushed. "Yeah, I know."
"Well then, can I finish what I started?"
I was tempted to tell him no, and that he needed to get the hell off me, but honestly, the fight wasn't worth it.
"Do what you want."
