Disclaimer: Don't own, never will. I'm so sad.

A/N: OH MY GOD, I'M SORRY FOR HOW LONG THIS TOOK, and I know you're all going to kill me when you find out this chapter's been sitting on my computer for a very, very long time. :apologizes profusely: I just haven't had the time to update... I'll try to be more efficient in the future. D: Okay, enough of my babbling. Onto the fic!


the one thing that stays mine

PART I

.chapter two.

"Roxas, you dumb shit, I'm trying to tell you something!" Axel screamed, eyes ablaze and glaring desperately at Roxas, who refused to meet his heated gaze.

"Fuck off, Axel, I'm not in the mood to hear it," Roxas snapped, wrenching the door open forcefully, revealing the hallway behind it. "Get out."

"Wha—Get out?" growled the older boy in disbelief, clenching his fists and refusing to move. "You can't tell me to get out!"

"Like hell I can!" Roxas returned, fists clenched now as well. "I'm sick of your fucked-up bull shit! You think this is the right way to get attention? You're fucking crazy."

"I'm NOT crazy," replied the redhead, his voice turning shaky. He reached up, massaging his forehead and shutting his eyes. "I-I'm just…I don't know. I'm not well."

"And right now, I'm not interested," said Roxas unsympathetically, knowing in the back of his mind that he'd kick himself in the ass later for his behavior. He always did. They'd had this fight before.

"You're just scared." Axel's voice had evened out and he was now staring at Roxas so seriously that the younger boy was taken slightly aback. "Scared of what I might have to say."

"You're out of your mind."

Axel shook his head, making his way slowly toward the door. "I'm not, and you know it," he said stonily as he entered the hallway. "You know it because you're going through it, too. You'll get it one day." Roxas slammed the door behind him.

When Roxas awoke later that morning, he found himself entangled in his bed sheets, little beads of sweat clinging his hair to his forehead. He noticed there were tears in his eyes as well and blinked them away without a second thought. After all, he'd woken up this way so many times he'd forgotten what it was like to enjoy a dreamless sleep. He turned his head to glance at the space next to him, letting out a sigh of relief when he failed to find Axel beside him.

"Just know that I'll still be here when you wake up."

"Once a liar, always a liar," said Roxas with a chuckle, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes before getting up out of bed and making his way toward his dresser, grabbing the first shirt and pair of pants he could reach.

"I've never once lied to you, Roxas."

Roxas whipped around, dropping the clothes in his hands and pressing his back against the dresser in attempt to get as far away as he could from the redheaded figure now sitting on his bed in front of him. His hands were shaking and his pulse was racing. He opened his mouth to say something but his voice was nowhere to be found.

Axel sighed, leaning back on his elbows casually. "I thought you were okay with me being here."

"I—" squeaked the younger boy, fighting with all his might to regain his voice, but nothing could relax the shock of realizing that your dead best friend really is standing in your room. "I—I"

"You…?"

"ROXAS!" came a loud shout from the hallway, startling the boy in such a way that he jumped backwards into dresser, his voice leaping back into his throat just as three loud knocks sounded at his bedroom door. "YOU AWAKE YET?" Thankful for an excuse to leave the room immediately, Roxas quickly opened the door and bolted into the hallway, slamming it shut behind him.

He cleared his throat in hopes that it would lower itself a few octaves. "Yeah, of course I'm awake, Sora, you dumbass. Who the hell can sleep around here with you screaming bloody murder in the hallways?"

Sora rolled his eyes, shoving his brother aside and reaching for the door handle.

"Hey!" Roxas exclaimed, pushing the other boy back forcefully. "Who the hell said you could go into my room?"

"Move it, Roxas," Sora replied, completely unfazed. "You borrowed my favorite shirt the other day and I want it back." He reached past the blonde boy swiftly, but Roxas was faster, slamming the door once more when Sora managed to crack it open.

"I'm telling mom!" said Sora threateningly, glaring at his brother. "Give me my shirt back!"

"Don't be such a crybaby, you mama's boy." Roxas gave him another shove in the chest, expecting the brunette to throw him a punch or kick him, but Sora just quirked an eyebrow at him.

"Me, a crybaby?" he said, folding his arms tightly across his chest, and tilting his head in mock intuition. "As far as I know, it wasn't me who was sobbing into his pillow at three in the morning. What's wrong, Woxas? Bad dweam?"

Roxas glared at him. "How the fuck would you know?" Sora winced at his vulgarity.

"No need to swear, Roxas, geez," he said. "It's just that twin intuition we've got." Sora tapped his own forehead.

"We're fraternal," said the blonde boy plainly. "That psychic twin crap doesn't work with us."

Sora shrugged. "Yeah, you're right, I could hear you sobbing all the way down the hall. Now MOVE." He shoved Roxas aside, ignoring the small thunk he made as he connected with the wall.

"Sora—NO!" But it was too late. Sora had swung the door completely open, revealing Axel still sitting on Roxas's bed, a mixed expression of surprise and amusement dancing over his features. Roxas watched in horror as Sora walked into the room, stopping dead in front of the redhead. He appeared to have frozen on the spot, a feeling in which Roxas could definitely relate.

There was a beat of silence, and Roxas was sure that his brother would snap out of it and start screaming again.

"Ah, there it is!" Sora exclaimed, running past Axel toward Roxas's desk, which was cluttered with various notebooks, video game cartridges, and, of course, dirty laundry.

Roxas watched his brother in awe as he grabbed a shirt draped over a pile of comic books. Had he really not seen…? No, that's not possible… But didn't he just…?

"I'm guessing he can't see me," came Axel's voice so suddenly that Roxas jumped, abandoning his thoughts immediately..

"What?" said Roxas absently, turning toward his friend.

"What?" echoed Sora, holding his beloved t-shirt out in front of him, examining it for signs of mistreatment.

"What?" Roxas turned back toward his brother, who in turn shot him an odd look that screamed the words 'you're nuts'.

"You're really weird in the morning, Roxas," said Sora as he folded up the shirt and tucked it under his arm before heading back out the door, closing it behind him. Roxas noticed that he, once again, failed to take into account Axel's presence.

Feeling the sudden need to sit down, Roxas leaned back against the closed door with a thunk, sliding to the ground slowly. "I must still be dreaming," he said quietly to himself, shutting his eyes tightly against the boy still sitting on his bed. "I just need to wake up!" His eyes snapped open, but Axel remained in front of him, brow furrowed in confusion.

"What the hell are you doing?" he said, watching Roxas shut his eyes deliberately then open them again a few seconds later.

"Trying to wake up," the blonde replied, closing his eyes once again.

Axel sighed, walking over to the other boy, who had now reopened his eyes and was pressing himself back against the door, looking up at him in fright. He merely stood there for a moment, towering over the poor younger boy, never thinking he'd ever see the day when even his best friend was afraid of him. Axel leaned down, reached out and flicked Roxas on the nose.

"OW!" yelped Roxas, covering his nose with both hands and glaring up at the taller boy. "You jackass—what the hell was that for?"

Axel laughed, straightening himself up and peering down at his friend. "Violence always did bring you back to your senses."

Roxas stood up, shaking his head and brushing past Axel to pick up the clothes he had dropped earlier. "Yeah, and? You haven't proved anything except that you're a jerk even in my dreams."

Axel tapped a finger to his chin thoughtfully. "Oh, really? I thought you couldn't feel pain in dreams." Roxas grumbled something incoherent, tossing the clothes in his hands onto his bed. "Give it up, Roxas, you're not dreaming, all right?"

The blonde boy sighed. "I know I'm not," he muttered, finally attempting to allow himself to give in. "It was just nice pretending that I was dreaming and not going crazy."

The redhead twitched. "You're not going crazy."

"Then why are you here!"

Suddenly, the door opened, revealing a very annoyed Sora. Roxas stared at him for a moment, his chest heaving slightly.

"What?" he snapped.

"Mom says to stop talking to yourself and come down for breakfast."

"I'll be there in a second," Roxas replied, pushing the door closed.

"I almost forgot how annoying that kid was," said Axel once Sora was gone. "You sure he's sixteen?"

"Seventeen," said the blonde boy automatically, slipping off his shirt and replacing it with the one he had laid on the bed earlier. "We turned seventeen three weeks ago."

"Oh," Axel replied awkwardly, lowering his gaze to the floor. "That's right. Sorry I missed—"

"Stop it," Roxas interrupted sharply, busy buttoning the pair of pants he had just tugged on. His expression hardened as Axel looked back up at him. "Don't go there. Let's just… Let's just talk about it after breakfast." He turned and headed out the door.

"Look, Roxas—"

"BREAKFAST."

Breakfast that morning turned out to be more awkward and frustrating than Roxas expected. Axel had followed him downstairs and proceeded to stand off to one corner of the dining room while Roxas's and Sora's mother, Evelyn, served her two sons pancakes and waffles. The redhead's constant gaze was unnerving, however, and Roxas, who refused to meet that gaze, proclaimed that he no longer had an appetite after only one Belgian waffle. Sora didn't mind of course, and helped himself to the rest of Roxas's breakfast.

"Are you feeling all right, sweetie?" said Evelyn, surprised at her son's lack of enthusiasm for the food in front of him. "I thought waffles were your favorite."

"I'm fine, mom," Roxas replied as Evelyn reached out and placed a palm on his forehead. He quickly swatted it away stubbornly. "I don't have a fever, I said I was fine."

"Are you sure?" his mother asked, still looking him over. "I heard there's some sort of flu virus going around. Apparently, the kids next door have it and I wouldn't want you or your brother to—"

"Mom, I swear, I'm fine," Roxas insisted, forcing a reassuring smile. "I just, er, ate a lot last night and I'm still full." My dead best friend is also currently inspecting the refrigerator and probably wondering if there's a way to open it without freaking everyone else out, but oh, yes, I'm fine. Just fine.

"Well, all right," replied Evelyn with a defeated tone of voice before flicking out her wrist to check her watch for the time. "If you say so. Anyway, I've got to get ready for work. Don't blow up the house while I'm gone, and Sora?"

"Yehff?" Sora mumbled, finally looking up from his plate, half a pancake sticking out of his mouth. Evelyn rolled her eyes.

"Make sure you save some of that for your brother when he eventually decides to eat. You know I don't trust you two to cook anything, especially not after that pizza fiasco."

"Roxash wando make duh biggesht pisha roll!" Sora shouted as his mother made her way upstairs and into the hall before turning back to his stack of waffles and pancakes.

"I remember that," said Axel suddenly, causing Roxas to peer up at him. He was pacing around the kitchen silently. "You could see the mushroom cloud coming out of your chimney all the way from my house." Roxas snorted, trying his best to hide the smile sneaking onto his lips. Axel caught it, however, and was just about to open his mouth to say something about always being able to make Roxas smile no matter how pissed off he was when Sora chimed in.

"What're you laughing at, you psycho?"

Roxas shot an icy glare at his brother, who had finished his breakfast and was now scraping his fork irritatingly about the leftover syrup on his plate. The blonde boy sat back in his chair sullenly, glowering at his untouched waffles. Was Axel really in the kitchen rearranging refrigerator magnets or was Roxas really just a psycho? He wasn't fond of either option, and both of them scared him. What was worse was that he had no idea how to deal with the alarming situation fate had train-wrecked into his life, and wasn't really sure he was ready to hear what Axel had to say about his rather untimely appearance. Then again, this wasn't the first time the redhead had made Roxas's life a living hell.

It seemed even in the after life, Axel was determined to keep himself on Roxas's mind.


A/N: Just a quick announcement... I have to deal with play practice now, along with school, so updates will be slow. I know updates were slow to begin with, and I'm sorry, but my muse has been out of whack as of late. D: I blame the stress of school, college apps, and Les Miserables -- I'm Eponine btw, omg! So, leave me a review to cheer me up. :D Chapter three is half-way done, so stay tuned for more!

P.S. Yes, I'm totally pro-Sora-and-Roxas-being-twins-or-brothers.