Rating: M

Always

Chapter 3

Summary: Continuation of Reckoning and How Long is Forever?
Axel had always done so much for me… was always there for me… and I found myself wanting to return the favor. After all… he deserved all the happiness in the world, for giving me mine. Akuroku. Roxas' POV.

A/n: Thanks for your support so far! Enjoy the update (:

Last time:

"Do I get something special if I can beat you up someday?" Axel blinked.

"What do you want?" he asked, I shook my head.

"It's a secret."

"You can have anything you want, whenever you want…" I pouted.

"I want to earn it." Axel smiled.

"Alright, deal. If you can beat me up some day, I'll give you whatever you want." I smiled excitedly and hugged him. The red-head laughed and then kissed the top of my head.

xXx

The next morning was hell.

Axel and I had agreed to 'train' together, starting in the morning, which, I guess, he tried to do every single day, and so he'd woken me up at four in the morning, had made me a breakfast of hot tea, toast and scrambled eggs so that we had something in our stomachs and then he had smiled at me innocently.

"Today, you're going to earn your shower. Are you ready?" he'd asked. I had blushed and then nodded, foolishly agreeing.

First, we had started our regimen with jumping jacks, jogging in place, pushups, high knees, butt kicks, nonstop, and then repeated them, three times for a fifteen minute 'warm up'. Then we'd stretched for several minutes before going on a five mile jog, which Axel had done so briskly that it had been more like a five-mile-run and I'd struggled to keep up with him. We'd gone through the park as we'd done the run on the way back but I hadn't appreciated it properly—I'd been too busy, trying not to fall over, which I'd actually done a couple of times already.

Three blocks from the house, I stopped again, leaning back against a tree, panting. Noticing this he doubled back, jogging in place. "Don't stop, we're almost there," he encouraged.

"I-I need a minute," I murmured, closing my eyes right after Axel smiled. My lungs were on fire.

"If we hurry, we can climb up on the roof and watch the sunrise." I nodded, trying to move again. My legs trembled, wanting to give out. "Do you want me to carry you on my back?" I shook my head. Would I ever be equal to him? Fuck.

"I want to do it." Axel smiled just before we continued on our way home. My body shook as he encouraged me to 'finish strong'. I closed my eyes, running through the gate and then stopped. I smiled. I was sweaty and gross, sore and completely out of breath… but I felt accomplished.

"No, no, don't stop, keep walking as your body cools down." I resisted the urge to groan then nodded, walking around the house with him a few times. It was easy for me to see how he stayed in shape and why he looked so thin. Then he helped me climb onto the roof and we found the perfect spot just as the sun began to rise. "I'm proud of you," he murmured as his arms wrapped around me. I smiled up at him.

"It was hard, but worth it." He smiled back.

"Oh?" I nodded.

"Yeah, I'm one day closer to being able to beat you up." Axel laughed. His chin rested on top of my head as he smiled and we watched the sunrise.

"Ready for your reward?" I smiled.

"What's my reward?"

"Your shower."

"Will you be there?" Axel laughed lightly.

"If you want me to be."

"I do." He climbed down and then I jumped down, into his arms. Axel hugged me. Then he kissed my forehead and led me inside.

"So… I'm full of curiosity..."

"About?"

"What do you want from me if you can beat me?" I smiled secretively.

"Nope! It's a secret." Axel pouted and it made me want to hug him. "Don't you go and let me win either." The red-head's pout deepened.

"I can't have a hint?" I smirked.

"Curiosity killed the cat." Axel sighed then pouted again.

"Fine." I laughed, unable to help myself. He was being so cute.

"I love you so much." The red-head smiled, brightening before grasping my hand and leading me into our bathroom.

When we got into the shower, he pulled me close, massaging my sore body as I stood under the warm water. I leaned into his touches. "That feels nice," I murmured. He smiled, kissing my neck.

"I assume you're sore."

"Nonsense, I could have run ten more miles with you," I murmured sarcastically. Axel laughed.

"Well in that case…" I scoffed at him and he laughed at me again. "I'm just kidding babe. I don't want to kill you on the first day by making it too intense for you." My eyes widened slightly.

"You usually do more than we did, don't you?" Axel smiled a little then glanced away, shrugging. I groaned, resting the top of my head against his torso.

"I'm never going to beat you, am I?"

"Nope, not with that attitude." I bit my lower lip. He was right. I needed to be positive. "You can't push yourself too hard Rox, you've gotta start out slow. Otherwise you might hurt yourself." I nodded.

"Yeah," I murmured.

"I think it's really sweet, that you're doing this." I smiled a little.

"Really?"

"Would I lie to you?" My smile widened and I couldn't stop.

"Nope." I hugged Axel and he hugged me back, each of us holding the other for a long time.

"Will you be alright, by yourself today?"

"Yeah, why?"

"I've got a lot of work to do and I want to get it done by the time the week's over." I smiled a little, knowing why. Our anniversary was in a week and a half.

"I'm sure I'll find something to do," I replied, looking up at him. I smiled; this was perfect—it gave me time to look. Axel pouted a little.

"Well, if I don't see you for the rest of the day, will I see you at four in the morning?" I smiled.

"It's a date." Axel smiled before hugging me again. I smiled back. I hadn't realized that this meant so much to him. I made up my mind right then and there: no matter what happened, I wouldn't quit.

xXx

I stood in my workshop, gazing up at the cabinets a little bit intimidated and wondering where to begin. Hesitantly, I climbed on the counter as my legs protested and opened them, beginning to search in the vases and then anywhere and everywhere I could. I completely emptied the cabinets looked in every box, container, basket, under rolls of ribbon several times—and found myself pouting. I couldn't find it. I bit my lower lip as I sat on the floor. Would I ever find it? I leant my head back, resting it against the bottom cabinet, stopping when my eye, just barely, caught something blue. I blinked staring up at the faux tinned drop ceiling. My heart began to pound and I stared at the door, hoping that Axel wouldn't come out. Then, I got up, on the counter and reaching up, I pushed the tile up and to the side. I frowned, realizing that I was too short to poke my head in. My heart pounded and I hoped there wasn't an animal up there...

I jumped, seeing the outlines of darkened objects. I reached in and my fingers brushed against something made of paper. Grasping it, I saw the blue thing that was sticking out move as I pulled it out before freeing it. I blinked at it, realizing that it was an envelope with what appeared to be a card inside. It had Axel's name written on it in my handwriting and it was sealed. I hummed, setting it in the cabinet before reaching into the ceiling again. I, just barely, felt a box with the tips of my fingers. I frowned. It was too big to be the necklace's box. I bit my lower lip then jumped, grabbing it and pulling it toward myself, I pulled it out. It was slightly heavy and looked like it was an old shoe box. I was curious about it but put it in the cabinet. I could always look at it later. Right now, I wanted to get everything out of the ceiling before I had to worry about Axel catching me. Jumping again, I grasped what felt like a book. It was wrapped in plastic. I pulled it out then looked at it for a moment or two, smiling a little before putting it into the cupboard. Then I thought for a moment, wanting one last look. With a soft 'aha' I dug out my cell phone, holding it up and jumping again to illuminate the space I was disappointed when I saw nothing else… and as I was about to jump again to double check, when a squirrel poked it's head out and stared at me. Startled, I screamed and lost my footing, falling to the cement floor painfully.

I closed my eyes, trying to stop my head from pounding. My stomach tied itself into knots when I heard the garage door open. I bit my lower lip. It would be so unfair if Axel found those things right now after I'd managed to hide them from him for God knows how long.

"Roxas! What happened?" He asked, rushing to my side. I groaned.

"I was cleaning and then I heard something," I murmured, trying to come up with an excuse. "There's an animal up there…" I said, staring up at the ceiling. "It scared me, so I lost my footing and fell." Axel helped me sit up and I hissed in pain. Axel's look of worry intensified.

"How bad's your pain?" I shook my head, not wanting him to find what I'd found.

"I'll be fine." I murmured, wincing as I moved. Axel frowned at me then he picked me up and took me inside before setting me on the couch.

"I don't want you to move from this spot until you're feeling better." I pouted at him. "I've got a few things to finish up and then I'll go clean up your workshop." My heart stopped.

"You don't have to do that." Axel sighed then ruffled my hair. He bit his lower lip when he felt a large bump on the back of my head. It made me wince.

"I know. But I don't want you hurting yourself again. And I don't have to stand on the counter to put stuff away. You do."

"But-" Axel shook his head.

"No 'buts', Roxas Hikari." I tilted my head at him. I knew that that wasn't his last name… so…

"I didn't change my last name when I married you?" Axel shook his head.

"We decided that it'd be better, in case you ever wanted to do your own thing, that your last name was different than mine." He smiled a little. "You wanted to work hard for and earn whatever you wanted to accomplish."

"Does that upset you?" Axel shook his head.

"Not at all- I still have you, no matter what your last name is," he whispered. I blushed. "That's all that matters." The red-head smiled, ruffling my hair affectionately. "Back to work for me." I calmed, intending to sneak out as soon as he left. "But I'll be checking on you periodically." My face flushed.

"Why?" Axel chuckled.

"Because, I know you and I know you'll be out there, trying to put that stuff away so that I don't have to." I pouted at him and he frowned. "You were already thinking about it, weren't you?" I glanced away.

"If I'm going to be confined to the house for a while, can I at least have some paper and a pencil?" Axel's frown deepened as I avoided his question. Wordlessly, he left, going into the bedroom and when he came back, he had a sketchbook in his hand, as well as a mechanical pencil.

"This' yours. It's from before the accident." I blinked.

"It is?" The red-head nodded.

"Let me know if you need a new one soon and I'll get you a new one." I bit my lower lip, feeling bad that he had to buy everything for me.

"Okay." I watched as he left then I opened the sketch book, wondering what to expect. I blinked in surprise when I saw that realism was my forte. Page after page after page was filled with drawings of flowers; each had been covered with a Kleenex to prevent smudging. I blinked in surprise, noticing that on the other side of each page at the backside of each flower was a drawing of a person. I flipped back to the first page. First was a daffodil, with a picture of Demyx behind it. I brushed my fingers against the picture. It was so perfect… it looked just like him. Then was an Iris with Zexion behind it, then a peony with my mother's picture behind it. My eyes welled up and I wiped them before turning the page. I saw a tiger lily next and smiled, flipping the page and seeing Axel staring up at me and smiling amusedly. I laughed a little. I liked the expression. I glanced at the other side, seeing a chrysanthemum and turned the page, I a little disappointed. I hadn't drawn myself. I flipped through the pages after that, encountering several blank pages. I was about to close the sketch book when I saw another picture of Axel. I blushed darkly at the heated, erotic, expression on his face.

"Good you haven't moved." I jumped and hastily closed the sketch book. Axel was about a foot away, 'checking' on me. My blush deepened. "What's gotten you so flustered?"

"Have you ever looked through my sketch book?" I asked. Axel walked over to me and sat beside me.

"Nope. I wouldn't go through something so personal without permission."

"Have you ever seen my sketches?"Axel shook his head.

"Nope." I relaxed a little. "Why? Were you drawing something naughty?" he teased. I bit my lower lip and then opened the sketch book to the picture of the tiger lily.

"I'm… surprised at myself," I said, showing him. He smiled as I showed him.

"That's beautiful," he murmured. I flipped the page over and he gasped, staring at himself. "You… you used to tell me that I was more beautiful than a lily…" I smiled and brushed my thumb against his lips, speaking without thinking.

"Your lips are soft as petals, your lashes and tattoos are like charcoal smudges against white marble," Axel's eyes met mine, staring into them searchingly as I continued, "your eyes are more brilliant than the stars and shine brighter than a supernova," I whispered, my eyes ghosting across every facial feature as I spoke about it, "and your hair is more vibrant than a flower in the rain," I finished. "Of course you're more beautiful than a lily." Axel blushed darkly. "You're more beautiful than a flawless gem, Axel," I whispered. His blush darkened. I pushed him down, crawling on top of him and straddling his hips before kissing him gently.

"W-what are you doing?" I set the sketchbook down and smiled.

"Inspiring myself." Axel's eyes widened.

"Y-your back…"

"Is fine," I lied. Sure, I wasn't feeling perfect, but I'd be okay. I leant down, smiling gently.

"What would you do if I did draw a naughty picture of you?" Axel blushed darkly, shuddering. I knew that it was turning him on.

"Why… would you do that?" I shrugged, my smile widening.

"I'm just curious," I whispered, bending down and biting his neck. Axel moaned and I bit harder.

"I-I wouldn't care, I assume it's for private use, after all," he murmured, gently running his hands down my back. I hissed in pain, making Axel sigh a little, almost disappointedly. "Get off," he murmured, pushing me back. I frowned down at him. "C'mon Rox," he said pouting a little, "I'm not gonna have sex with you when you're in pain." His pout deepened.

"Then don't," I whispered, trying to kiss him again. He pushed me back. Frowning, I got up, walking away. Axel sighed dejectedly.

"What do you want me to say?" I hesitated.

"I want you to say 'Roxas, I acknowledge that you're an adult and I trust your judgment'." I glanced back at Axel. He looked upset. The expression made me melt.

"I'm sorry, Roxas… I just don't like seeing you hurt." I walked back to him, sitting beside him.

"I'm a big kid, Axel, I can fall down and scrape my knee now and then and be just fine." I ran my fingers up and down his chest. "I know you know that I've been through worse." My fingers stilled as I looked into his eyes.

"Roxas… I know you're an adult and that you're competent and trustworthy of making your own decisions. I get upset when I see you hurting… that's all. I keep thinking you're going to crack your head open on the cement now. I can't help it. I'm sorry."I blinked down at him, opening my mouth then closing it. He had a point.

"Alright."

"Alright what?" I didn't want to make him suspicious.

"I understand. I'll let you clean up the workshop." Axel pulled me into a gentle hug.

"Thank you." I hugged him back.

"You're welcome sweetie," I whispered. "I'm going to go out today," I announced.

"Alone?"

"I was thinking about seeing if Demyx wasn't busy." The red-head nodded.

"Alright."

xXx

-TBC-

A/n: I feel like this' more of a filler chapter… sorry if it's boring.

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