"I can't believe you Axel!" Sora opened the front door, kicking his shoes off with a huff. Riku and Axel slowly following him inside, they'd heard the lecture the entire way there, but Sora didn't sound like he was done.

"Sora," Roxas stepped out of their room and into sight, "I can take care of myself."

Although Sora shut his mouth, he continued to glare at the redhead. With a shake of his head, he lead the group to the small bedroom.

"Roxas," the concerned brother asked, "He didn't hurt you or anything... right?" Sora mumbled it as if that was going to stop Axel from hearing.

Roxas kept his feet planted to the floor while he sat on his bed, hunched over with his forearms resting on his knees. "No."

Sora sat opposite Roxas, his back straight as a board as he nervously watched his brother. "Are you sure? I mean, no? Nothing at all? It's okay if something happened, I mean, even if you don't want to tell me..." He continued to ramble, his emotions plastered on his face.

The blond's face remained void of emotions, except for the sarcastic smirk he forced on. "Yeah Sor... I turned into you." Glancing at his brother he noticed the confusion but didn't elaborate.

"Well," Axel chimed in, "In our responsible defense, Roxas wanted to come back here once he realized he was trashed. And I knew better than to let him be out in an unfamiliar town while he was trashed."

Axel could tell a lot by the 'twins' faces, Sora was not comforted, and Roxas didn't know what he was talking about. Riku sat beside Sora, leaving Axel standing by the shut door, receiving glares all over the emotional road map.

"And," he defended his responsibility, "teachers put this together for you... I told them you might miss a few more days." That explained the large stack he plopped on the bed, the blond nodding his head before turning away from it.

"Only if there's more alcohol," It wasn't a joke, but when no one laughed Roxas attempted to lighten the mood. "Come on, alcohols always fun."

"Do you remember what you said last night?" That perked Sora up more, but Axel was testing waters he knew were full of dangerous rocks.

Roxas may not have spoken, but he also didn't face Axel, or even look in his direction. Axel didn't need words to know what that meant.

"Would you like me to tell you?"

Even though Axel was the one speaking, Roxas looked at his brother. His back visibly stiffening.

"I said enough," Roxas stared the taller man down. "It wasn't your business and it's sure as Hell no one else's."

It was as if Roxas knew he'd said something embarrassing, something to be ashamed about.

"What, you're going to take all that to the grave?"

"Yeah, well, it doesn't seem like it's going to be a long trip." The blond threw his hands up, standing as if to size up Axel. Blood pounded in Roxas' ears, but the quietness of the room didn't escape him. He cursed himself before returning to his seat, "Thanks," he attempted again to defuse the tension, grabbing the pile of papers to throw on the other side of him.

"You're willing to hold this over your own head?" His bleeding heart spoke softer, moving closer to sit near the blond. Reading his body language as best he could, but the blond was good at hiding.

"I'm trying to spend time with my brother... drop it." The beginning was so nicely spoken, but Roxas bit the last words out, not sparring the redhead a glance.

Said brother decided to try to pry, "We're brothers... you can tell me anything."

The blond rolled his eyes, his weight shifting, not liking that he was in the hot seat. "Sora, what have I done to make you think I'm hiding anything?" Before the younger brother could answer, Roxas answered for him, "Nothing."

Sora watched his brother, taking a moment to pick his words for once. "There's a lot..." Everyone's eyebrows rose, causing Sora to snap out, "I'm not that blind!"

Roxas stood up, "It's too hot in here," he ducked his head down as he fled the room. Slowing his pace as to not alert Tifa or Cloud, he only wanted fresh air.

His space was soon occupied, but he kept his eyes shut while he hoped it wasn't Sora. The suspense got to him before the person revealed themself, he turned to face them head on.

"Sorry to blow your spot up," Axel offered with a shrug.

"Forget it... and forget whatever you think you know about me." Roxas started so strong, but Axel heard the blond whisper, ever so quietly, "Please?"

"Listen," Axel made up the words as he went, "That was a lot of alcohol you drank, and you did it really fast, I mean, damn! It's a good thing we weren't competing."

"Yeah," Roxas chuckled, knowingly adding into Axel's scheme, "With your measly 3 sips of beer."

"Ha... you noticed?" The redhead rubbed the back of his neck, "Sorry if red flags went up, but it didn't seem like a good idea for me to out drink you."

"I don't know if you could, you are a beer drinker after all," he teased more.

"That was my bottle of liquor you polished off."

Roxas had another comeback, but the light heartedness they'd achieved would be gone. He searched for some joke to say next, but as time ticked by he was saved by the bell.

"Roxas, Axel," Cloud greeted, quietly shutting the door. "I'm glad you two are hitting it off, but after last night, I'm worried."

"Sorry," Axel jumped in, "It got out of hand."

"It was my idea," Roxas quickly shot out, "I didn't want to stop once I started."

Cloud motioned for the two to calm down, not knowing exactly what to say after their reactions. "Axel, I don't know what's allowed in your house, but you're still underage," his gaze shifted to his son, "I don't know what your mother allowed either, but you are also underage. You two are hurting yourselves in the long run... it's not worth a couple hours of fun."

"Yes I know Cloud-" the mini blond was cut off.

"If you're going to be drinking, please don't..." he closed his eyes, as if that would erase his knowledge of what he was condoning. "But if you must, be smart about it." Cloud didn't clarify, while neither teen thought he needed to, it meant a lot to know Cloud didn't either.

Roxas again kept his mouth shut, why crash a seemingly heartfelt moment with bullshit? He even needed to hault his movements too, because if his words were bad for him then his next idea was equally disruptive. Testing Cloud's acceptance of having a gay son was something he'd do for Sora, but was now the time?

Fingers slowly intertwined with his, he wanted to react but he couldn't. There was no right move in that second, but to stay still. Cloud gave a small smile before retreating inside, Roxas still didn't know what to do. If Cloud was watching, he'd know it was fake, but if he held on too long, Axel might question how much was fake.

"He's gone," Axel contradicted himself by whispering.

Roxas opened his hand, and slowly Axel pulled away. "Was that wrong?" Axel made have had a smirk, but his tone was genuine.

"I thought about doing something like that too."

The smirk became somber, "But you didn't do it..." He stayed watching the blond, as if he expected a broad reaction.

Again Roxas missed his cue to sound sincere, "You beat me to it..." His voice didn't sound believable either, but like every other doubtful moment, Axel would save it for later.

The teens enjoyed the quiet air, Roxas staring at the sky and Axel staring at him. They took turns eyeing each other and the clouds, until they slipped and their eyes met. It felt like the first time they actually made eye contact, and if it felt awkward neither let it show.

"Sora's going to follow us out here soon," Axel spoke when Roxas looked away.

"Would that be bad, his room's so tiny."

It was Axel's turn to catch himself, knowing his words could be disastrous. "It has perks," he offered, having nothing to back up his claim, "It'll be fine." His smirk held little reassurance, but Roxas followed him nonetheless.

Riku and Sora were whispering to each other, stopping as Roxas opened the door, Sora jumping and scrambling for words. "I'm sorry Rox, but I think it might make you feel better to talk about whatever is bothering you."

Roxas began to shake his head, but it was Axel who spoke. "No, Sora, I'm sorry. It wasn't my place to throw Roxas under the bus like that, and it wasn't my business to share something I don't know anything about."

The blond's mouth stayed tightly shut, wanting to take blame off Axel, but also glad he was no longer in the hot seat. It looked like Sora accepted his rebuttal, with a huff. Roxas moved to return to his previous spot, watching and waiting for Axel to sit next to him. "Sor... I've been alive for almost 17 years, I've known you less than a month," before the negativity of his words could set in, he hurriedly finished his train of though. "You're not going to know every little thing about me. Not every smile, or every broken bone."

"You've broken a bone? His wide eyed brother asked. "How'd it happen?" He asked like it was some other worldly concept, something only heard of on TV.

"Yeah..." Roxas didn't understand his amazement, "Which one?"

If possible, Sora's eyes grew, but he gave no answer. And Roxas hated to answer things he wasn't directly asked.

"Not long before I moved here," Axel read the quietness of the room, "I broke my ankle." He chuckled like it was a fond memory, "I played basketball and, I don't know, lost my footing? Rolled my ankle and broke my fibula..."

Roxas slowly followed his cue. "I broke my ankle too... part of the talus." Eyes begged him to keep talking, doing so after another pause. "They call it snowboarder's ankle, which... I guess is fitting. I broke mine while snowboarding."

"You like to snowboard?"

Roxas absentmindedly nodded his head, "Yeah... I did." It was like prying teeth, but everyone patiently watched and waited. "I haven't gone since it happened..." the stares begged for a little more, "It happened when I was eight."

A smile steadily grew on Sora's face, growing as the silence progressed. By the time Roxas thought to look, he was bursting at the seams. When his own face showed concern, Sora jumped.

"I'm sorry! I don't think it's funny, I'm not some secret sadist!" He shook his hands as he defended himself, "I'm sorry, I just like hearing about you. You know, about your life... how'd you break it? Like, what happened leading up to it?"

Roxas took a deep breath, here he was being asked a direct question and still not wanting to answer. "Um... I remember riding down a big hill... at a resort place... I was next to Zack, he was the one who took me... and then Zack was really close, and we wiped out..." Roxas felt childish with his rambling, but he was trying to answer Sora before he could even ask anything.

"How did Zack get hurt?" He'd missed a question.

"He didn't... by the time I realized what was happening, he was standing next to me, calling an ambulance and telling them I probably had a broken ankle and wrist..."

"Is that why you have so many scars?" No one saw that question coming, "All you ever show is your forearms but you have a bunch of teeny tiny little scars..." He could sense he'd crossed a line much sooner than he should have by the scowl on Roxas' face.

"There's not that many, no ones asked about them, and scars mean I've done stuff and lived." He point blank listed, staring his brother down. "Maybe if your dad didn't ditch, you'd know more about me."

"Why is it always 'my' dad's fault? Why isn't your mom's?"

"Yeah, I guess it's too bad my mom's not Tifa-"

"Enough!" Riku stepped in, "Roxas whatever happened between them, does not matter. They missed the first 16, years, and now that you're here you're the one pushing them away. You're pushing Cloud out, trying to 'self-sacrifice' and piss him off, and you're shutting Sora out when all he wants is get to know you. If you really want to prove Cloud is shitty, try to connect with him and see if he steps up or steps out."

No matter how rational Riku sounded, it still got under Roxas' skin. He stormed out of the house, not bothering to see who was running to catch up. Maybe it'd be someone to take him out of his misery.

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I don't know why I said I'm trying to do this right. I can't do anything right.

Uploaded: August 2nd, 2020