Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts I and II are owned by Square Enix.
Author: damarys
Genre: General/Drama/Angst/Romance
Rating: R
Pairings: Axel/Roxas, Hayner/Roxas, Riku/Sora, Leon/Cloud
Warning: Yaoi, language, angst.
Summary: Moving in with an older brother he didn't know existed, wasn't exactly Roxas' idea of fun. Meeting new friends and falling in love, was a whole different matter altogether.
Feedback: Yes, please.
Note: I went way too hard on myself with this chapter. I kept rewriting it and rewriting it and then finally realized… it doesn't need to be perfect. Soo.. Here it is, finally.

By the way, thanks for all the positive feedback people! It means so much.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
All That Matters
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
-o-o-

Tall buildings reached up to the sky, like towering giants, and Roxas shivered. They had finally arrived at their new 'home', or Traverse Town as Aerith had called it.

It didn't look too welcoming.

The place was run down- homeless people sat on the side of the street begging for a few spare coins, buildings were empty with broken windows, graffiti written on walls, even the air seemed dreary. He slouched lower in his seat when a passerby hit the car and yelled out a crude comment to Aerith.

"Just ignore them, boys." She said cheerfully, but her mouth was set in a hard line.

"Um.." Sora started, looking as uncertain as Roxas felt, "Is Cloud's house around here?"

"Yep, just a little bit further."

The brothers shared a look, Sora's blue eyes wide. He obviously hadn't expected Cloud to be living in such a place. The slums.

"We're gonna be living here?" Roxas voiced the unspoken question, crossing his arms and looking at Aerith.

"Cloud has a nice apartment. He'll take care of you." Was all the brunette said, catching his eye in the mirror and smiling.

"But-"

"We're here!" Aerith stated effectively cutting off Roxas, as she turned the car off into a small parking lot in front of a small tan apartment building.

Sora looked around nervously, seeming to have lost some of the enthusiasm from before. The apartments seemed in slightly better shape than some of the other buildings around. At least.

"It's fine, Sora. I don't think Aerith would give us over to some raving lunatic." Roxas whispered quietly, trying to convinced himself of that as well. At least I think not, isn't that against whatever she works for?

The younger smiled gratefully before they followed Aerith of the car and into the building.

A redheaded man watched quietly from a darken alley a few yards away.

-o-o-

"Soo..this is Sora and Roxas." Aerith beamed, looking like a proud mother as she pointed to the respected boys as she said their name.

Cloud stood awkwardly in the middle of his living room, hands in pockets and eyeing the two boys that were his brothers. They definitely looked alike, anyway, with the spiky hair and blue eyes. "Uh, hi. I'm Cloud."

"Hi!" Sora grinned back without hesitation, moving forward to shake the elder's hand. "I'm really glad to finally meet you. I can't believe it!"

The blonde blinked, "Err..yeah."

Roxas snorted quietly, not offering a warm welcome like Sora- but instead inspected the place where they would be living from now on. To put it nicely- the place was very… small. It was crowded with just four people in the living room. He raised an eyebrow wondering how in the hell three people were going to fit in here daily. He doubted there was even a second bedroom.

Where the hell were they supposed to sleep? The floor? Maybe they'd have to find a nice spot outside on the sidewalk like it seemed half the neighborhood liked doing.

A small chuckle escaped his lips before he could stop it, and the other three looked at him with matching expressions of puzzlement- no one had said anything funny.

"Um…sorry." Roxas rubbed the back of his head, staring down at the floor- a faint blush spread across his cheeks.

A few moments of silence went by awkwardly- no one knowing what to say to break the ice.

"Well.." Aerith said finally, placing a hand on Roxas and Sora, "Why don't you boys go grab your bags and settle in while I sort out some adult things with Cloud?"

"Sure." Sora said while Roxas merely nodded.

"Now, Mr. Strife, there's a few things left you need to sign-" The brunette's voice was cut off by the closing of the door.

Roxas sighed as they started down the hall, "Signing us off like a bunch of fucking packages. He'll probably ask for a refund in a few days."

"That's not true and you know it!" Sora pouted, looking put out. "Besides, I thought he was really nice. We should be grateful- he's the one inviting us into his home. Remember that."

"How could I forget?" Roxas muttered, crossing his arms.

The brunet stuffed his hands in his pockets, a sad look in his bright blue eyes as he looked up at his older brother. He's really changed since Mom died…it's affecting him more than he lets on. "I was just saying…never mind. Let's just go get our stuff."

Silence stretched on until they reached Aerith's small Volkswagen. Roxas went to open the passenger door but it didn't budge.

"…" He sighed before slapping the window hard, leaving a smeared hand print. "Damn it, we forgot the keys.."

"I'll go back and get it." Sora said quickly, casting a worried look at the abused car before trotting off.

"Yeah…okay." Roxas replied quietly although the brunet had already taken off into the building. He moved away from the car and sat down on the sidewalk, being careful to avoid anyone else that was giving him a curious look. Or hostile.

Sure are some friendly people around here. He thought absently, looking around at the neighborhood. A few tough-looking guys were huddled in a circle across the street, talking hurriedly amongst each other, and a woman stood at the end of the street walking back and forth…waiting for something. He didn't want to know what. What a bunch of losers.. He sighed again, leaning over to stare at his shoes and hoping Sora wouldn't take much longer.

A few more minutes of brooding went by undisturbed before a warm hand grabbed his shoulder, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Sora! What the-" Roxas hopped up quickly, heart pounding- getting ready to beat his little brother to a pulp for scaring him before he stopped dead.

Two guys were staring at him, both grinning. The one that touched him had bright red hair that was spiked up high, and under green eyes there were small diamond tattoos? He was unusually pale and was made only worse with the black hoodie and pants he wore.

"Someone call the fire department 'cause this one's smoking!" The redhead whistled, looking Roxas up and down.

WHAT!

"E-excuse me!" Was all he could get out, completely dumbfounded.

"I think you scared him, Axel." The other one said, laughing. Roxas turned to get a good look at the speaker. He had brownish blond hair that was shaved on the sides but long hair was sticking up in the middle- a few strips of bangs fell in his eyes. A mohawk?

Roxas glared, pointing at the mohawk weirdo- annoyed that they had caught him off guard and said the first thing that popped in his head. "The 80's called and they want their haircut back, freak."

Silence. It was the newcomers turn to look confused before the one named Axel let out a bark of laugher, and bent over to clutch at his stomach.

"Hahahaha!" He gasped. "That was so bad."

"Heeeey! I like my hair, thank you." The blond man muttered, looking offended as he patted his hair lovingly.

"…" Roxas just stared, not having any clue what of the situation. What did they want?

"Whew!" Axel wiped his eyes before focusing on Roxas again. "What's your name, kid?"

"..Why should I tell you?"

The redhead snorted, before pointing back over his shoulder at the other boy. "That's Demyx and my name's Axel. Got it memorized?"

"Er…I'm Roxas." He mumbled, sticking his hands in his pocket and looking down, afraid of the way those green eyes pieced through him.

"We got a name!" Axel grinned cheekily, nudging Demyx playfully in the side- fully enjoying himself. "Never seen you around here before. You new?" Roxas nodded. "The person named Sora left you, that why you look so lost?"

"How did you-"

"You said Sora when he grabbed you." Demyx supplied helpfully, still running a hand through his beloved hair.

"..Oh." He frowned, not sure if he should trust them. "Well...he's my little brother. We left some stuff in the car and forgot the key, so he went back in to get it. It's taking him a long time though.."

"Hmm." Axel muttered, stroking his chin thoughtfully. "We can keep you company 'til he gets back if you want."

"Um…okay."

"So you live in the apartment now?" Demyx asked, leaning against the building wall and crossing his arms.

"Yeah, with my older brother." He didn't offer why.

"Cloud, right?" The redhead asked, and Roxas nodded again looking up at him in surprise. "You look alike, same eyes and hair. Besides, he has that hot boyfriend, nice ass too. Cloud ain't a bad looker either."

"W-whaaat?" Roxas reared back, eyes widen in shock. A boyfriend! He had a gay brother?

"Er…heh…oops?" Axel frowned at his reaction.

"I…j-just didn't know." Roxas shook his head, looking down again. "The…boyfriend…wasn't there before."

Axel shrugged and waved a hand, "They don't live together, he's some kinda nurse and isn't home much. I don't know a whole lot- Cloud n' me don't exactly get along after I made a move on Leon."

"You're…gay?"

"Bisexual." He narrowed his eyes. "That a problem?"

"Oh…no." Roxas shook his head and meant it, but it was still weird to hear it said so bluntly. He had never given much thought on the matter himself.

"You going to school here?" Demyx changed the subject after silence lingered for a few moments.

"Yeah, senior year."

He nodded, "Cool, I graduated last year. Axel dropped out otherwise he'd be joining you."

"School wasn't for me." Axel rolled his eyes at Roxas' questioning gaze. "Hated it, so I left, simple as that."

Demyx snorted, "You never do anything you don't want."

He was about to retort when a voice called out from behind them. "Roxas!"

Roxas turned to see Sora running over to them, looking at the other two men in confusion.

"Oh, hey Sora. You get the key?"

The brunet nodded, waving the keys in his hand, but still looking back and forth between Roxas and the others.

"Uh… this is my brother Sora." Demyx and Axel nodded in greeting. "And this is Axel and Demyx."

"Hi." Sora nodded, smiling.

"Well, kid, I'll leave ya to it." Axel grinned, stretching his arms out behind his head and looking back at Roxas. "Come visit us sometime, apartment 118."

"Ah…sure…bye." Roxas blinked, wondering if he'd actually take up on that invite.

"See ya!" Demyx waved a hand, before slinging an arm around Axel and they both took off, their voices carried off around the corner.

"They were…different." Sora muttered, staring off after them before moving to the car.

"Yeah." Roxas laughed, grabbing his things when Sora opened the door.

"So what took you so long?" He asked, closing the door and handing Sora his bag.

"Oh…well." The brunet suddenly giggled as they set off for the apartment. "Cloud bought us some…interesting gifts." He looked highly amused.

"A gift? What?"

"You'll have to wait and see." Sora grinned, and dodged a swipe Roxas made at him. "I think you'll like it."

-o-o-

"Coloring books?" Roxas stared in disbelief at the 'gift' Cloud had supposedly bought out of the kindness in his heart.

Aerith had left a few moments ago, telling the boys she'd come to check up on them in a few weeks. And everything had gone downhill from there.

"Yeah." Cloud frowned, looking confused. "You don't like it?" Sora seemed to like it, didn't he?

"Coloring books!" Was all the blonde could get out, still staring at the smiling Dora the Explorer on the cover.

"Well…I got you crayons too, so you'll have something to color with." Cloud rubbed at his hair, wondering why Roxas was making such a big deal. He wouldn't have forgotten the crayons after all. He was smarter than that.

"It's wonderful, Cloud. Really, thanks." Sora smiled convincingly, looking down at his glittery cover with kittens on it.

"Yeah, well. I did my best." The blonde seemed convinced, and a small smiled crept up on his lips.

There was silence for a few moments before Roxas muttered quietly enough so the others didn't hear, "You really are gay."

-o-o-

Ugh, I really dislike this chapter. Axel and Demyx are not together, so don't ask. They're just really close friends.

If a few people with good knowledge of the English language, and writing in general, are interested in betaing for me, I'd appreciate it. I've done the last two myself but I have to go over it a million times until I'm sure there's no mistakes but I don't really have time for that- and it takes longer for a chapter to come out. So, please let me know- leave a comment or whatever with your email or SN. Thanks!