Demyx finished up breakfast and got himself ready to leave Axel's house, he idled in his friends hallway.
"Are you sure you don't want me to come with you? To take down the pictures? To make sure he's gone? Whatever you need."
The blonde looked at the ceiling trying to fight back tears.
I should try and handle this by myself...
Tears spilled over his cheeks and Axel grabbed his coat.
"That's it, I'm coming."
"I'm sorry Axel..."
The redhead looked at his friend like he was insane.
"You've just been cheated on and your relationship ended... You need support, there's no shame in that ok?"
Axel handed him a tissue.
"You ready?"
Demyx took the tissue and nodded.
"Okay."
He set the alarm on his house and locked the door.
They arrived at Demyx's apartment complex by two o'clock, he looked visibly uncomfortable entering this building again.
Remembering yesterday and how raw he had felt as he left.
"I'm not sure... Axel maybe we should just go... What if he's up there with..."
The redhead steered his friend towards the lift.
"It's your home and while I get it's hard, you will have to return here at some point... Why should you be the one to run from your home? You did nothing wrong... And if he's up there with anyone he'll fucking regret it, I promise you that."
The lift dinged open and Axel walked inside.
"Come on Demyx... It's going to be okay..."
He walked into the lift after his friend.
Floor after floor went by on the led screen, Demyx could feel his heart pounding as they got nearer to his one.
"I'm not..."
Axel put his hand on his friends shoulder.
"You'll be okay... I'm here... Give me your keys I'll go and check it out first ok?"
He nodded and handed Axel his keys.
"I'm not going to let anything bad happen ok?"
Demyx nodded tears flowing freely down his face.
The doors dinged open at his floor and they stepped out of the lift, Demyx led Axel to his apartment.
"You're going to wait here, and I'm going to go inside and check that everything is okay. Ok? Then I'll come get you and we'll go from there alright?"
"Yeah... Ok..."
Axel slid the key into the lock and opened the door.
The curtains were all closed, so he flipped on a lightswitch and looked around the main room.
It was a little messy, like Xigbar had left in a hurry but nothing was out of place otherwise.
He stepped forward and heard something crunch underfoot, he lifted up his foot quickly to see a broken picture frame, a picture of the two of them during happier times.
He picked up the frame and put it on the counter top and cleaned up the glass.
Axel moved into their bedroom.
This was a good bit messier, drawers were left open, their contents hastily taken out.
It looked like they'd been robbed.
I guess he took Demyx's warning seriously...
Axel closed the drawers, and threw any stray clothing that looked like it belonged to Xigbar.
There were bare patches on shelves, where Xigbar had pictures or possessions and had taken them away in a hurry.
Axel checked what he presumed was Demyx's side of the closet, it looked untouched.
He closed Xigbars side did a quick tidy up, took down any pictures he spotted of them together and closed the bedroom door.
The redhead walked to the front door taking down pictures of them together, he piled them up and put them down next to their TV.
He approached the front door and popped his head around.
"Okay, all clear. You coming in?"
Demyx took a deep breath and walked in, his breath hitched as he noticed all of their pictures were down, there were a lot of empty spaces where their things had stood side by side.
He let himself fall onto his sofa and cry.
They spent the day turning the place into a more 'Demyx-centric' haven.
Moving furniture, dumping anything left of Xigbar's.
Putting their photos away until Demyx had decided if he wanted to keep or dump them, Axel put them well up out of his reach so he couldn't just grab them in a moment of weakness.
Finally Axel changed the bedsheets...
He didn't feel it was right for Demyx to have to face possibly soiled bedsheets that his ex had fucked some stranger on.
The redhead washed his hands as the washing machine whirred to life, getting rid of the last evidence that Xigbar had ever even lived there.
Axel collasped down onto the couch next to Demyx.
"You okay?"
The blonde shook his head.
"No... But I know it had to be done..."
He laid his head on Axel's shoulder and the redhead put his arm around him resting his chin on Demyx's head.
"It'll get easier... I promise..."
He gently stroked his friends hair until he drifted off to sleep.
Demyx awoke it was still dark outside.
He checked his phone.
2 am...
He gently woke Axel who'd fallen asleep sitting up.
"Uhmmm?"
He blinked awake.
"Let's get to bed..."
Axel too tired to argue, climbed into the bed beside Demyx and settled into a deep sleep.
The blonde too was so emotionally and physically exhausted he fell straight into a comatose like sleep.
Demyx awoke at 6 am the next morning, he looked over at Axel who was still dead to the world.
He relaxed back and stared at the ceiling, golden sunbeams spilled through the light curtains and danced across the wall with the light shift of the curtains in the light breeze.
He thought about his drunken want to go to Paris, he got the flight details up on his phone, they were in a few days, he'd even booked a hotel, it looked big and luxurious.
He knew work wouldn't have an issue with him taking some holidays off, especially after all of the overtime he'd been working.
He groaned into his hands.
It's so costly... But... I did only save that money for me and Xigbar... But what if... Are you going to take him back after catching him balls deep in another man? No... No I'm not...
He looked at the ceiling again blinking drifting back towards sleep and whispered.
"I guess I'm finally going to see Paris..."
He hazed in and out of sleep for a few hours until Axel got up at 9 am.
"Good morning sleepy head!"
The redhead offered Demyx a cup coffee.
"Oh thanks Axel."
He closed his eyes taking a sip.
"Did you sleep ok?"
The blonde nodded.
"I think the last couple of days caught up with me, I pretty much fell unconscious. Good thing it happened on a weekend I guess..."
Axel rolled his eyes.
"Yes, how considerate of him..."
Demyx took a deep breath.
"...I'm gonna go to Paris..."
The redhead open his eyes wide and grinned.
"Seriously?"
He ruffled his friends hair.
"Way to go! You deserve a break after all this, and who knows..."
He waggled his eyebrows and put on a terrible French accent.
"What might happen in the most romantic city in the world!"
Demyx shoved him.
"Nothing. That's what will happen. I'm going to get over a guy... Not get under another one..."
Axel grinned.
"There's nothing to say that you can't do both."
Axel left before midday.
"Now look you need anything, anything at all, you call me or text me. Okay?"
Demyx nodded.
"You have both sets of house keys?"
He held them up.
"You have the number of the local police station?"
He nodded.
"You know the number for 911?"
He half nodded then rolled his eyes and smiled, Axel hugged him tightly.
"You will be fine... Alright?"
"Yeah... It's just gonna be hard..."
"Be good, and if you need me for whatever just call or text alright?"
"Yeah."
"Promise?"
"I promise Axel."
"Good... I'll you soon."
The elevator dinged open and with that Axel was gone, Demyx took a deep breath and closed the door of his apartment behind him.
The next few days went by in a haze...
He just kind of fell through them like a mist, nothing felt quite real or normal, everything seemed to have a slightly dream like quality to it, like he wasn't quite there, wasn't quite present anywhere or in anything he did...
Work had given him two weeks off without question, he was 'well ahead of his workload' and 'seemed like he needed a break' they'd said, they had no idea.
He drifted until he was standing at the departures gate with Axel when the fear of what he was about to do dragged him back into himself.
"But how do I know I'm doing the right thing?"
Axel shrugged.
"You don't, but you're going somewhere you've always wanted to go... A beautiful city with new sights, sounds, smells, food and most importantly new people. You're not getting the cash back now. So why not just give it a shot and if you hate it that much, you can book an early flight home... I'll pick you up from here."
Demyx nodded.
"You're right, I'm just nervous I guess. I just need to go."
Axel nodded and hugged his friend tightly, then he pulled back and looked in his eyes wiping away a stray tear.
"Now you're gonna go and have an amazing time and you're gonna come back with a tonne of amazing, scandalous stories to tell me, right?"
He smiled at Axel.
"I can try..."
The redhead nodded.
"You better go before you miss your flight. Be safe and I'll see you in arrivals when you arrive home ok?"
Demyx nodded and waved at his friend.
"See you in two weeks!"
He took a deep breath scanned his ticket and stepped through the gate into departures.
The airport was busy and buzzy with people.
He made his way through security quickly and checked the screen for his gate.
Gate number... 06Z...
He double checked the gate and flight number against his ticket before walking in the direction of where his flight would be boarding.
His thoughts were rushing like crazy as he walked.
I wonder where Xigbar is
Did he go and stay with the guy he was screwing
Are they together
How long was he seeing him behind my back
Did he ever really love me...?
He ran into the gents toilets and slammed the cubicle door closed, he sat on the lid of the toilet and took deep breaths.
It doesn't matter...
None of it matters because none of it was your fault.
He continued to breathe and dabbed the tears from his eyes with a tissue.
"I'm okay... I'm okay..."
One more deep breath and he stood up and left the bathroom and continued on to his gate.
They were already boarding by the time he joined the line.
"Ticket and passport please?"
Demyx handed them over.
"Thank you!"
He walked down the tunnel towards his plane feeling a mix of panic and excitement as the crowd slowly boarded.
When it came to his turn the air hostess looked at his ticket and pulled the curtain open for him into first class.
"Huh?"
"You're first class sir, you'll find your seat on the left hand side at the very end of the cabin, have a nice flight!"
Demyx grinned to himself as he walked through first class.
I guess drunk me was feeling bougie...
He settled into his big comfy seat, feeling pretty pleased with his decision when he was handed a complimentary glass of champagne and giggling to himself wondered how much he'd blown on this flight.