Hey guys. I have to apologize ahead of time; Laci and I had a bit of trouble figuring out what we were going to do with this chapter, so it's a bit all over the place. Combine that with the fact that I was taking calculus III this summer and this was exam week (five tests in four days) and the fact that Laci currently does not have a computer and you have a chapter that is just a little bit late.

Either way, we're very, very close to the end. We have graduation and a few other odds and ends and then this baby is done.

Enjoy!

WARNINGS: finals, mothers, and loneliness

Axel and Roxas were sitting in the middle of the living room of Axel's house, studying. Finals were coming up within the next few days, and although Roxas felt like he was more than prepared for whatever the teachers could throw at him, he knew Axel would be studying until the tests were over. Helping Axel review and quizzing him, even for the classes they did not share in common, was a way to spend time with him.

They had already been at it for an hour and a half when Roxas started to get really bored. They had already worked through the review sheet for two of the subjects, and Roxas could tell that Axel's brain was starting to slow down a bit.

"Break time," Roxas said, setting down Axel's notebook.

"But..." Axel protested for a second, but gave it up a moment after, sighing and laying back onto the floor.

Roxas smirked. "That's what I thought. We can go back to studying later. Your brain can only take in so much useless shit at once, though."

"It's not useless," Axel protested.

"When are you ever going to need this?" Roxas asked, holding up one of Axel's textbooks.

"I dunno. Maybe someday there will be a little brat running around needing help with their homework."

Roxas made a face. "Kids were always supposed to be part of my life plan, according to my parents. I've always thought I'd make a particularly awful dad, though."

"I don't think you would," Axel said. "I might, though."

"Are you kidding? You've got an enormous soft spot. I can see you having a little girl just clinging to you."

"Why a girl?"

Roxas shrugged. "I can see you with a boy, too. I just got the mental image of you having a daddy's little girl first."

"I guess. Maybe that wouldn't be so bad."

"Do you want kids?" Roxas asked. It was the first time that either of them had really talked about children, since it was hardly a pressing topic, and he was a bit curious.

"Not particularly, but hey, I'm only 18 right now."

Roxas nodded. "That's pretty much the way I feel. I sometimes can't even take care of my own shit. I can't imagine having another loud, messy, little person to take care of."

"The world is scary enough with only one Roxas."

Ignoring Axel's jab, Roxas said, "Besides, last time I checked, two boys don't make a baby on their own."

"Thank goodness. Or I think Demyx and Zexion would be in trouble."

"What does that mean?" Roxas laid down next to Axel.

"Use your imagination."

Roxas laughed. "If you just mean they're having sex, that'd put Riku and Sora in the same boat as well. Babies, babies everywhere."

"Yes, but those two have been at it for longer."

"Have you and Dem talked about it?" Roxas asked. "I mean, I know they've been having sex, but they tend to avoid the topic with me around."

"Dem talks to me about everything, including stuff I'd rather not know."

Roxas made a face. "That sounds like a picnic."

"Sure," Axel said.

"Sora refused to talk about it when he and Riku had sex the first time. I didn't press. I am a bit curious, but not enough to make an issue of it. As long as it doesn't fuck with their relationship, we're all good."

"I wouldn't talk about it openly either. What happens in the bedroom, stays in the bedroom."

"I'm somewhere in the middle," Roxas said. "If it was someone I trusted asking about it, I might talk about it. Like, if Riku and I were talking, I know he would not say a word, and I might give a few details. For the most part, though, it's nobody's business but mine and, now, yours. I'm not Mr. Motor Mouth like Demyx."

"Demyx is fond of telling me things, but he doesn't do it so much with other people."

"You're old friends. It makes sense."

Axel nodded.

Roxas moved closer to Axel. "I'm glad you have him."

"Yeah, me too."

"Hm," Roxas said, closing his eyes.

Axel gently kissed his cheek, and Roxas opened his eyes again so he could move to kiss Axel. The redhead kissed back for a second before pulling away.

"We have to be careful," he said. "My mom will be home soon. I don't want her walking in on a makeout."

"That would be just a little bit awkward," Roxas agreed. "We don't have to do anything now, then."

"Love you."

"Love you, too." Roxas kissed Axel on the cheek.

Axel smiled and wrapped an arm around Roxas, pulling him closer. Roxas nuzzled into Axel's side, wrapping one of his own arms around Axel's thin waist.

"If we aren't careful, I might just fall asleep like this," Roxas said, yawning.

"That's not a bad thing."

"Mmhm," Roxas said. "It is too."

"Oh?"

"I can't quiz you when I'm passed out on your floor, can I?" Roxas asked. "You would miss my fantastic quizzing skills."

"Oh well. You're cute when you sleep."

"Oh?"

"Mhmm."

Roxas poked Axel gently. "I feel like I should object to being called cute, but it's probably a bit late for that."

"Yep. Wouldn't make it any less true anyway."

"Either way," Roxas said. "No falling asleep."

"You can if you want."

Roxas shook his head. "Nah." He kissed Axel on the cheek. "I'm good." He did not really want to pass out on the floor when he had actually found the time to spend with Axel.

"Mmkay." Axel snuggled closer to him.

The two laid there in comfortable silence, enjoying the proximity to each other. After a few minutes, though, Roxas felt the need to break the silence before he did actually fall asleep.

"I keep wanting to say I love you, but I feel like if I start using it so liberally, it will become a verbal tic."

"Aww, I wouldn't mind," Axel teased.

"Then I love you," Roxas said, kissing Axel. "Oodles and bunches and all that sappy stuff."

"I love you too, goofball."

There was a noise as the door opened and Axel's mother walked in with a bag of groceries. She turned into the kitchen. "Axel, would you mind giving me a hand?"

"But Moooom."

"Yes, Axel?"

"Roxas is here."

His mom wandered back into the kitchen. "Oh. Hey there, Roxas. I'm stealing my son. He's going to help me put away groceries."

"Works for me," Roxas said, grinning and attempting to sit up. Axel refused to release him, though, so he settled back in. "Do you need an extra hand?"

She grinned. "See, Axel, your boyfriend knows how to be polite."

"He's a suck-up," Axel muttered. "We were studying."

"Oh yeah," Axel's mother commented dryly. "You know, if studying involved cuddling on the floor, I would have stayed in school a hell of a lot longer."

Axel frowned. "We were taking a break."

"Well, break's over until the groceries are put away."

Axel groaned, but disentangled his limbs from around Roxas. "Fine."

"Drag Roxas along," she said. "I'm taking him up on his offer to help."

"He can get up by himself. He's not two."

"I hope not. I don't want my son into babies."

"Ew," Axel said, making a face at the thought.

Roxas stood up, seeming completely unperturbed by the conversation. "Well, I'm not a baby, last time I checked, so we're all safe. Grocery time."

Axel shoved his shoulder gently.

After all the groceries were taken inside from the car and unpacked, Axel's mom changed out of her work clothes and walked back into the living room. "Roxas, would your parents mind if I stole you for the night? Since you're dating my son, I should probably get to know you better, and I would love if you could stay for dinner tonight."

"Nope, they wouldn't mind, and I'm free."

"Perfect." She beamed. "You and Axel can run along for the time being, then, and I'll take care of starting that."

"Thank you," Roxas said, smiling. "I appreciate it."

"Wanna take studying to my room?" Axel asked.

"Let's grab your stuff."

The two of them gathered up the books and notebooks from the floor before retreating down the hall to Axel's room. They set the books down on the floor next to Axel's bed.

"I like your mom," Roxas said. "She's got personality."

"She's odd."

"Now we know where you got it from," Roxas teased.

"Hey..."

Roxas grinned. "Seriously, though. I like her a lot."

"She's awesome."

"Has she always been so comfortable with everything?"

"I guess so." Axel shrugged.

Roxas shook his head. "That must be nice." His own parents had been nicer about things lately, but Roxas seriously doubted that they would get to the point where they were comfortable with the idea of him having a long term boyfriend anytime soon.

"Mhmm."

"So," Roxas started. "Are we actually going back to studying?"

"Nah."

Roxas grinned. "I was hoping you'd say that. I don't think it would be very productive. Near the end there, I was learning more than you were."

"Oh?"

"Photographic memory," Roxas reminded him.

"Well, yeah, but..."

"But?"

Axel shrugged.

"Your brain can only process so much."

"I guess."

Roxas sat down on Axel's bed and held out his arms. "We can work on stuff after dinner."

Axel joined him on the bed. "That sounds good."

Roxas wrapped his arms around him and kissed him on the cheek. "Good."

"Love you, Roxy."

"Love you, too."

Before long, it was time to eat. Roxas learned quickly that dinner with Axel and his mother was an interesting experience. The two were constantly teasing each other and joking around like they were friends instead of mother and son. Although Roxas would never admit it to Axel, it almost made him a bit jealous-his mother was nice when company was around, but he had never had the same kind of warm, friendly relationship with her.

After dinner, the two boys helped clean up and went back to Axel's room, where they did actually study for another hour or two until Roxas finally went home for the night.

Riku looked at his small boyfriend, who was sitting on the bed in his room in Roxas' house. Things had seemed like they were going to be okay when Sora got out. Riku was surprised by how happy Sora was for the first week or so. Everything seemed like it would return to normal.

For the last few days, though, Riku could not help but notice that things were not quite right. Sora had been a lot quieter, and even then, he had a small frown on his face.

Riku knew he had to talk to Sora about it before things could potentially get worse.

"Sora?"

"Yeah, Riku?"

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

Riku looked at him. "Sora, I am not a complete moron."

"Seriously."

"Have I done something wrong? Is it Roxas again? Is it school or your parents or...?"

"It's nothing."

"Would you please quit lying to me?" Riku asked, his voice low and tinged with sadness.

Sora was quiet.

"I promise I will listen and take whatever it is seriously if you would just talk to me about the things that are bothering you."

Sora shrugged. "School's almost over."

Riku frowned slightly. "I would have thought that would make you happy, since it means summer is coming up."

The brunette shook his head.

Finally, things clicked. "Oh, I see now. This is about Roxas and I graduating."

"Mhmm."

Riku hugged Sora. "I'm sorry, Sora. I could just fail all my exams and stay back a year?"

Sora shook his head, hiding his face in Riku's shoulder.

"We'll still have all summer," Riku said, running a hand through Sora's hair reassuringly. "Just because we've graduated doesn't mean we're going to leave immediately."

"But that means it's close..."

"It's been close for a while now," Riku said sadly.

"That's not how I meant. I meant... you'd be past the last step before it was RIGHT THERE."

"No," Riku said. "The last step is when we have the car packed and we are ready to drive off to school. From after graduation until then, we still have almost three whole months. It isn't a lot, but it's something."

Sora whined at him.

"Sor, I love you," Riku said, kissing Sora on the top of his spiky-haired head. "And I know you can't help being sad about me leaving. If you dwell too much on it, though, and you let it hang over your head for the next three months, we won't enjoy our remaining time together as much. Besides, it's not like I'm never coming back."

"You're just going to be farther away than you've been since I was like 10."

"It's only five and a half hours or so. We'll make this work."

"Still far..."

"It is far," Riku admitted. "But it is still close enough that I can come home for long weekends and breaks."

"There aren't very many of those."

Riku was quiet. Sora moved to look up at him.

"I'm sorry," Riku said.

"Why?"

"Well, I'm the one who picked the school. I could have stayed closer like Roxas."

Sora shrugged, and Riku frowned. "So I'm sorry."

"Don't."

"It's making you unhappy. Maybe I shouldn't do this after all. I mean, I need to go to college, but I could always transfer..." Riku said quietly.

"It's done that for a while. Don't let it start bothering you now."

"Maybe I should go," Riku said flatly.

"No. I just... You've known how I feel about this year and all that for months. It didn't stop you before, so why should it matter now?"

"Because I thought time would make it better. I thought we'd get more used to the idea. I... I didn't think..."

Sora shook his head.

"I'm sorry." Sora was succeeding in making Riku feel incredibly guilty, even though Ri knew, objectively, that Sora's happiness should not entirely be his responsibility.

"Stop."

"Maybe I should go," Riku repeated, standing up.

A hand reached out and grabbed his wrist. "Ri..."

"I'm just upsetting you."

"Don't leave."

"I'll talk to my mom about potentially transferring."

"It wouldn't matter, would it?" Sora asked quietly. "By the time that was possible, wouldn't a semester be over already? By then, you might as well just finish out the year..."

"I could take a gap year. My parents wouldn't mind."

"You've already made the investment to go."

Riku fell silent, and Sora let go of his wrist.

"I'm sorry," Riku said, speaking so quietly that Sora could barely hear him. "Do you even still want me to stay?"

"Yes."

Riku sat down. "Then I will."

Sora curled into his side. "I love you."

Riku wrapped his arm around him. "I love you, too. I love you so, so much."

Nuzzling closer, Sora hid his face again.

"Will we be okay? Will you be okay?"

"Yeah."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

Riku pulled Sora closer. He couldn't help but feel that it wasn't enough, and he still felt immensely guilty. "Then I promise I'll try my hardest to make sure you aren't alone."

"I'll be fine."

"Still."

"Seriously."

Riku shook his head. "We'll talk every single day."

"Okay."

"You have Skype, right?"

"Mhmm."

"Then we'll Skype all the time."

"Okay." Sora smiled a little.

"And," Riku said, "depending on my schedule, I might be able to visit you sometimes on weekends."

"Alright."

"We'll make this work. The year will pass before we know it."

"Yeah, and then I'll be in college, too, and I can go up there."

Riku smiled. "I should probably be a good influence and tell you you don't have to choose a college based on where your boyfriend goes, but I would be lying if I said the thought of going to the same school doesn't make me very happy."

"Who said it was because you'll be there?" Sora teased. "It's a good school."

"Of course," Riku said, his smile growing slightly. "I wouldn't have picked it otherwise."

"We could have sex all the time with no parental interruptions."

"We could be roommates!"

"Well, duh! Are you sure you're smart enough for college?" Sor teased.

Riku looked at him. "Pretty sure I am. What about you, mister?"

"I was born smart enough."

"Pretty sure they don't let you in college when you can't talk yet."

"You never know."

"Babies can't write to fill out the application, Sora," Riku said, poking him.

"Shhh."

Riku took Sora's advice seriously, choosing to use his mouth to press a kiss against Sora's forehead instead.

"Love you," Sora said.

"Love you, too."

Sora smiled at him.

"Oh, by the way... I talked with my mom earlier," Riku said. "She said you're welcome to spend the night, or I can stay the night here. As long as I let her know what we decide and get us to school on time, it's all good."

"Really?"

"Mmhm," Riku said. "Your call."

"Stay here."

Riku smiled and kissed Sora. "I'll text her now."

"Mmkay."

After Riku pulled his phone out and sent his mother a text, he pocketed it again. "Is Roxas home?"

"No. Not right now."

"Is he going to be home any time soon?"

"Maybe? He went over to Axel's."

"Hmm..."

"Hmm?"

Riku nodded. "Hmm..."

"Hmm what?"

"Just thinking."

"About what?"

"Things we can do while we're alone in the house," Riku admitted sheepishly.

"Oh."

"Sorry?"

"Sorry?" Sora looked confused by the apology.

"Your boyfriend has a bit filthier of a mind than I think you expected."

"I like it."

"You do?" Riku asked.

"Mhmm."

Riku laughed. "I don't know if I should be pleased or embarrassed at that."

"Both."

"Shush," Riku said, kissing Sora.

Sora kissed back, happily shushing. Riku leaned into the kiss.

"Hmm... Time for fun stuff?" Sora asked, pulling away.

"What kind of fun stuff?"

"The fun kind."

Riku raised an eyebrow. "That seems rather redundant."

"So?"

"You're going to have to clarify," Riku said before kissing Sora again.

"I think you know."

"So you want to have THAT kind of fun."

"Mhmm."

Riku smiled. "I am all for that, as long as Roxas doesn't walk in on us."

"I can't guarantee that, but it's worth a shot?"

"It's worth a shot," Riku agreed.

Sora grinned at him. Riku smiled back and kissed Sora.

After making sure the door was locked, they relaxed on the bed to enjoy their time alone.

[TBC]

R&R!