Roxas laid on his bed, wearing another outfit of Sora's. The more he thought, the more his head hurt.
Tifa knocked on the closed bedroom door again, "I'll be ready in a few minutes."
"That's okay, I'm not going," he whispered to himself. Sora was always hanging out with Riku, Roxas practically had the bedroom to himself, but he didn't wasn't to be there either.
In a single movement, the teen stood up and walked out of his room, out of the house. He had been there for three days and he still hadn't met his father. Never even caught a glimpse. The more time that went on, the more the teen became nervous. What was with the note? Why was his father ignoring him? Was his presents the reason no one was ever around?
Whatever.
He'd walk away from it all. It was better if he disappeared, right?
After walking a few blocks, he was no longer alone.
"If you're not going to murder me, leave me alone."
'Why would I want to do that?" The redhead kept up with the teen. Tucking his phone in his pocket and leaving his hand there. "Are you trying to get put away?"
The blond pause for a second, surprised by the question. "No." His answer was believable.
"Are you sure? You do a lot of these 'walks'..."
"Is there a reason you're bugging me?"
"Is there a reason you want me to murder you?"
They stopped walking, Roxas looking up to the redhead. After a deep breath he kept moving, "No..."
"Are you sure?" Axel repeated himself. "You know..." The blond stopped walking, turning to face him while the taller boy began his rant. "They do care about you..."
"Oh really?" His face didn't look like he believed that in the slightest.
"Sora loves having a brother... he never stops talking about you."
"What are you his boyfriend?" When the redhead gave him a confused look, the teen elaborated. "You know an awful lot about my brother."
Axel smirked, "Yeah, no I'm not his boyfriend... that would be Riku." The last part was a whisper.
"Seriously?"
"No," he smirked, "I'm kidding. I'm... friends... with Riku, Sora's been attached to his hip recently..."
They continued walking.
"Tifa cares too..."
"How do you know that?"
"She keeps checking up on you, doesn't she?" When the blond nodded, he continued, "She was worried about you... about how you would be adjusting, so, she quit her job."
Roxas wanted to feel grateful, but instead he wondered why his father didn't do that instead.
"Yes, Cloud was going to," Axel read Roxas' mind. "Cloud makes more dependable money, and for some reason they thought a female presence might make you feel better." When he received the confused look he explained, "Sora talks... a lot."
Their walk became eerily quiet.
After a few more blocks, the two's pace slowed down. There were a lot of the things the blond wanted to say, but no one asked him any questions. No one asked, so no one needed to know. As they approached a bridge, Axel gestured for the two of them to sit on the bench. Reluctantly, his motion was obligated.
"Why do you want to run away?" Axel asked as he slouched onto the metal bench.
"They don't want me here anyway," he answered a little quicker than he wanted to. "They can make room in their lives for me all they want... but that's just it," he looked over his shoulder at the redhead, "I'm not apart of their lives. Cloud has the perfectly little family here, it doesn't include me."
"So," Axel leaned forward to sit like the blond, "Why haven't you left yet?"
Blue eyes shot over to look at him, but he stayed looking forward. "Yeah..." he thought about it. He could have easily walked away from Tifa, he could have walked away from everything and not gone back to their house. Why didn't he? Instead he 'attempted' and gave up. Did he really want to run away? What did he have to go back to, his mother was still in the hospital, their home was empty.
Mostly empty, Zack still lived there. But, did the blond really want to go back to him? They never fought, but they never saw eye to eye either.
He wiped the thought from his mind.
"It's okay to care," the redhead spoke, "Curiosity made have killed the cat-"
"But satisfaction brought it back." Roxas finished his sentence, nodding his head. "Great pep talk."
"Cloud doesn't work weekends," Axel said after a few minutes of silence. The conversation didn't follow like he expected, instead more silence took place.
Roxas was deep in thought, debating his odds. If he ran away now, he knew what was waiting for him. But if he stayed, he could finally lay some unanswered questions to rest. He needed to make sure he knew what all his questions were first though. Cloud had one chance. Roxas didn't have the time to waste on the stranger, if he didn't live up to his low expectations, he'd get him to agree to take him to his mother. He'd stay by her bed till she got better. Because she had to get better. She never would have purposefully put herself in there like that, no matter what they said. Something didn't add up.
"Hey," Axel pulled him out of his thoughts, "Are you okay?" The redhead noticed the tears welding in his eyes. There was something he wasn't telling anyone, and it was obvious he needed to. "What's wrong?"
"It's nothing," the blond waved off the concern. "How do I get back to the house from here?"
A smile spread across Axel's face, "I'll walk with you." He pulled out his phone, but didn't divulge who he was talking to. The blond knew it wasn't his place also.
Their walk was comfortable and quiet. Roxas' enjoyed the comfort of being accompanied by someone so silent, unlike Sora. He didn't have anything against his brother, but he was so talkative. Something Roxas was not used too.
As they approached the house that was beginning to become all too familiar, Axel stopped. "Alright," he paused to make sure Roxas was paying attention to him. "I'll see you in school Monday... right?"
He thought about it before he answered. Really debating it in his mind. Confidently he nodded.
Axel smirked, "Good... I like seeing you." Without another word, the redhead left.
Roxas looked at his shoes, unsure of what the teen meant by his words. After a deep breath, he found his way inside.
"Roxas," he was instantly wrapped into a hug. Tifa was beyond eager to see him it seemed. "I was worried..." She whispered under her breath, pulling away from him. She walked to the couch behind her, gesturing to the bags that sat there. "I went shopping without you..." she sat down, "It's not a lot, but it's a start." Roxas moseyed his way to the bags, peaking inside them to see black clothes twined together. "We can go shopping for more stuff another time... I picked out things I thought would get you through till then..."
She patiently sat, waiting for some kind of reaction from the teen. He pulled out a few articles of clothing, placing them on the couch. Not bothering to take a seat, or move very fast. As if he was afraid the bag was full of venomous snakes. Tifa slowly stood up. There was no point in her waiting for him, the best thing she could do was to give the boy his space. Taking a few steps towards the other room, she was stopped.
"Tifa," the teen quietly spoke, "Thanks..."
A smile formed on her face, but she didn't let Roxas see. "Of course, it's not a problem at all." Tifa chanted in her head about her silent victory.
Roxas migrated the clothes to his room. They were nothing extravagant, but they could get him through the week without having to wash anything. He pulled open the drawers to his almost empty dresser. Pulling out Sora's clothes, he threw them on his bed and threw his own clothes in the dresser. By the time Sora came back, late at night, the clothes were neatly folded on his bed.
He laid on his bed, throwing a tennis ball he'd confiscated from the school.
"Roxas..." Sora took in the clothes, and the scene of his brother. His brother was beginning to put in roots. It warmed the brunets heart. He wasn't ready to lose his brother yet. "Hey..." he nervously sat next to his clothes, "I came back for some clothes, but I'm going back out... Do you want to join me?"
The blond peered over to his brother, "Nah, it's fine..."
"I want to hang out with you though... it's nothing wild," the boy quickly became defensive. "I was just going to hang out with Riku and Axel."
He added the redhead and Roxas' answer changed. "Sure," he shrugged. In truth, he didn't think him and his brother alone with Riku would be very interesting. More like Riku and Sora carrying on conversations and Roxas being the third wheel. But if Axel was going to be there, he might have someone to talk to when he became said third wheel.
Sora's face instantly grew a smile, "Yay," the words escaped him but only Roxas noticed it.
.
Roxas was lied to. Axel wasn't there, not right away. By the time he showed up, a lot later that night, Sora was ready to go home.
"All the time you spend out, and you're this early of a bird?" Roxas picked on his brother. The only way he really got into any of their conversations was by picking on one of them.
Sora pouted while Riku smiled, "He's usually already asleep by now."
The brunet blushed, "I'm tired okay?"
His smirked, "It's okay Sora, you're still cool in my book." Roxas patted his brother on the shoulder, giving him a genuine smile. Sora was surprised but that actually meant a lot to him.
"We can stay a little bit longer, but remember, it's a minute walk home."
"Hey," Axel spoke up, "I've got a vehicle, remember?" Sora was the only one who seemed a little on edge to that idea, but he accepted it without a fuss. He wanted to stay 'cool'.
After a few minutes of talking, the group of four split into two separate groups of two. Riku and Sora, chatting away about innocent life matters, and Axel was easily holding a conversation with Roxas.
"So, why'd you join Sora, you've never come before?"
"He asked me this time," Roxas shrugged, "Plus, he said you'd be here." It was an innocent response, but the blond elaborated when Axel raised an eyebrow. "I was right, okay? Sitting with the two of them is me being the unnecessary third wheel."
"Yeah, I know," Axel chuckled, "That's why I wait so long to show up. By the time I get here, Sora's too tired for conversation."
"Thought you liked my brother?" It was Roxas' turn to raise an eyebrow.
"I do," Axel really wished they were drinking. "What's the point in me coming me over to Riku's if I'm going to silently sit in the corner while they talk away?"
"Touché," Roxas nodded.
They continued to talk nonsense until Sora tapped his brother on his shoulder. "Rox…" no one missed the nickname, "I'm sorry... but I'm really tired... I have to go home tonight, I told Mom I'd be there."
"Okay," He stood up, looking at Axel and then his brother. "Do you want to walk?" He brother didn't seem comfortable with the idea of Axel driving. Sora didn't answer, but that was an answer in it's own. "Let's walk," he nodded to Axel as a form of goodbye, but was surprised when the two older boys followed them outside.
"We can walk with you," Axel smirked. Riku didn't look too happy about it, but he tagged along.
When the reached the house, Sora was quick to say good bye and make his way inside. Once he was gone, Riku didn't take long to leave. The silver haired man could take a hint.
"Want to keep walking?" The red head let out a breath once Roxas agreed to.
"What do you want to talk about?" The blond asked, his hands in his pockets. Axel right beside him.
"Well... I know you said you don't do back stories-"
"Nope."
"But," Axel finished, "It's more of a current story... How did you end up here?"
"Ah," the blond smirked, "This was all a trick to pick and pry at my brain?"
"No," the redhead chuckled, "Fine, never mind." He waved it off, "How are you liking it so far?"
"It's alright.. it's..." he thought carefully about his words. "It's different... Tifa and Sora seem to like the idea of me being here... but I'm not staying." He cut his sentence short, "Give it a few more weeks and I'll be gone. Everything will be back to the way it was and I'll be home."
Axel saw the teen's smile, cautiously speaking. "What would you do if it didn't? The blond stopped walking, staring at the teen in confusion, "Never mind," he quickly changed the subject. "So, how old are you?"
The blond took a second to adjust to the new topic, his mind still dwelling on the previous one. "I'm 16," the redhead nodded like he knew that. "How old are you?"
"I'm 19, I'll be 20 in January."
"19?" Roxas' confusion didn't last long. "How are you still in school- oh... you had to repeat a year?"
"Yeah," he chuckled, "It blows, but," he shrugged again, "Nothing I can do about it now."
"So," Roxas changed the subject this time, "Are Sora and Riku a thing?" Axel had hinted at it before, and now was the perfect time to ask. They walked a few minutes in silence, the redhead staring intently at the ground in front of him. Roxas knew it was rude to ask someone other than Riku or Sora, but he didn't think he'd get a straight answer from them. Especially how Axel hinted at it before. "They'd be good together."
That was the little push that helped Axel spill. "You know you should ask your brother that."
"I know they're something, it's obvious."
"Yeah," Axel sighed, "Sora's afraid to come out."
"Why?"
"He doesn't know how his- Cloud would take it." he nodded his head like he was trying to remember Sora's words exactly. "Cloud's never said anything otherwise, but Sora is worried about disappointing him."
"So what? Sora should care about his own happiness before Cloud's."
"Like you," Axel pointed out, "You'll happily rip yourself out of his life to do what you want, without thinking about him?"
"That's different," his lips pursed. Right?
"He's willing to wait till he's old enough to move out, so is Riku. Then maybe, if it does effect Cloud, Sora will be distant enough that Cloud won't notice as much." It sounded more like a question than statement. It probably didn't make any sense to Axel either.
"That's no way to live..." Roxas shook his head. A brilliant thought crossed his mind. "I've got an idea." He didn't wait for Axel to ask before he pitched his idea. "Want to be my boyfriend?" Axel stopped in his tracks, the blond boy spinning around and looking at him. "It's perfect," he explained, "I don't care if I disappoint Cloud. Maybe it'll take some tension off of Sora if he's got me to be mad at instead. He can even blame me for turning his son straight if he wants."
The more he explained, the more Axel saw the brilliance in his idea, "Not bad," he nodded.
"The only person we really need to convince is Cloud and Tifa, it shouldn't be too hard."
"Alright, let's do it."
The thoughts ran through his mind, when he left he could at least have helped out his brother as a parting gift. He hadn't even met the man yet though. The more he thought about it, the more he played around with the idea. "We'll have to wait though." He wanted answers. "I have questions for him first, then I can tell him I'm gay- wait." He stopped walking again. "Tifa knows you- are you gay?" Big hole in his plot if they all knew Axel to be straight.
Axel nodded his head, "As straight as a cone."
The younger looked at him in disbelief. "You've rehearsed that too many times..." Axel chuckled, "You're bi then?"
"Yes."
They began their walk back towards the house, "Why did you want to walk with me?"
"So we could go out," the redhead laughed.
"I'm not worth getting to know," Roxas said in a much more serious tone.
"I'll judge that for myself."
With a nod on both parties, they when their separate ways for the night.
When Roxas entered their bedroom, he was surprised to find Sora still awake. Although he was laying in bed.
"Have fun?" the brunet asked.
"Uh-huh," he nodded sitting on his bed, causing his brother to sit up in his own bed to look at him. He didn't know Roxas as much as he'd like, but he knew he wanted to talk about something. Roxas began to spill his latest scheme, careful not to step on his brother's toes. After a long conversation, Sora was all in.
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I'm trying to do this story better than anything else I've done...
Uploaded May 3rd, 2019
