"Why weren't you in my room last night?" Roxas asked, trying not to sound upset (although he was). He didn't have a mission today or anywhere to go, and he had just been sitting around wondering if he should go look for his best friend. Truth be told, he had been anxious about something bad happening to Axel lately - he wasn't exactly Xemnas's best friend. Roxas could usually ignore this fear, but last night when he hadn't shown up, it had returned with renewed force.

"Uh… I was – hey," Axel interrupted himself with a self-satisfied grin, "You missed me, didn't you?" He sat down on Roxas's bed and kissed him.

"Maybe I did," Roxas smiled in spite of himself, already feeling better. "But where were you?"

"Do we have to talk about it?"

Roxas wasn't sure how to respond to this question. He certainly wanted to talk about it.

"I was at Lea's place," Axel said before Roxas could respond.

"What were you doing there?" Roxas asked suspiciously. He thought it was odd that Axel hadn't told him beforehand where he was going.

Axel seemed reluctant to speak about it, which naturally made Roxas more curious.

"Roxas, are you sure this isn't going to be awkward? You have to promise that you aren't going to be upset about this."

"Why would I be upset?" Roxas asked. What sketchy things could Axel possibly be doing at Lea's place? Roxas didn't see what about this situation could make him angry.

Axel rolled his eyes. "Why can I lie to anyone except you?" He took a deep breath. "You have to promise not to be mad."

"Okay."

"I was showing Demyx how to break Xemnas's restrictions so he could see his Somebody."

"Why didn't you just tell me that yesterday? Then I wouldn't have worried."

Axel smiled at him. "Worry about me? Roxas, do you even know how adorable you are? Anyway," he said, continuing before Roxas even had a chance to blush, "It was kind of a last-minute thing. I've been meaning to show him how for a long time, but then I just kept getting distracted by you."

"Why would that make me mad?"

"I guess you seemed a little weirded out when I told you Demyx and I used to date, and I didn't want to make you upset."

"I know he's been wanting to see his Somebody for a long time," Roxas mused. He supposed it was weird that neither Demyx nor Axel had mentioned this whole endeavor to him before, but he thought it was nice of Axel to help Demyx out. It showed what a good friend he was. But Roxas still had questions. "Why do you and Demyx never talk when the rest of the Organization is around? It seems like your whole relationship is a secret. I didn't even think you were friends before I heard Demyx talk about your past."

"Now that one's complicated," Axel said. "Xemnas was kind of pissed because I blew off a mission that was kind of important because of Demyx- and then he made this rule about Organization members 'dating,' which basically said that they couldn't. I think you've noticed how hostile things can get around this place. Everyone is looking out for themselves in this sort of environment."

Roxas had never thought about this before. It made sense, but then why was it okay that he and Axel were in a relationship? "Does Xemnas know that you come to my room every night?" Roxas asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I doubt it. As long as I keep doing my work, he doesn't really care what else I do, but if I start slacking, I'm sure he'll start threatening to turn me into a dusk again. And then he loves to go on and on in meetings about how we're a family. He's such a hypocrite."

"I feel like you're my family," Roxas smiled.

"Imagine if we were one, out in the real world, I mean," he mused. He was uncharacteristically animated when he continued, "We could travel the worlds together! No more missions or curfew or rules!" He kicked off his shoes and scooted next to Roxas on the bed.

Roxas enjoyed picturing this. No Castle Oblivion, no secrets looming over their heads. "And Demyx and Xion could go with us!" he added, not imagining that he could leave the two of them behind.

Axel looked at him strangely. "That's possibly the oddest couple I've ever heard of... Demyx and Xion?"

"I didn't mean together!" Roxas clarified. "That would just be weird."

Axel smiled and looked away. "But aren't you and I weird? As a couple. You're this super nice, obedient kid who follows the rules and remains innocent despite the devilish impulses of your boyfriend who daily performs acts of self-destructive rebellion. Doesn't there seem to be something weird about that?"

"I've never thought of it like that before." Roxas couldn't even imagine what a normal couple would be like. All his relationships were complicated by the fact that he was part of the Organization. But he'd never minded much. He just wanted to be with the people he liked. Most importantly, Axel had called Roxas his boyfriend. He smiled. "Axel, I don't think you're as bad as all that."

"Maybe not," he said, "but you don't know everything."

"Then tell me everything!" Roxas demanded.

"We should go to breakfast," Axel said, looking resigned. He stood up to go.

Roxas stood up too, but he didn't want the conversation to be over. "You know I would keep liking you even if it were dangerous or stupid," Roxas admitted. "It would be really difficult for me to dislike you no matter what you did."

"I'm not so sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing. I wish that it were true, that you could never dislike me, but I just don't know if you know me well enough to tell Roxas. I wouldn't want you to like me if I did something horrible. I'd want you to be with someone better than me." He paused momentarily before continuing "The truth is, you have too much power over me, and I know I would never let you go, even if I knew you were better off without me." He said these words with increasing passion. "I've never felt that way…I'm drawn to you even though I know it's bad for both of us." He leaned in to kiss Roxas in the most passionate way imaginable, holding him so close that Roxas could barely tell what was happening. When Axel pulled his lips away, Roxas felt like he could die happily.

"Do you want to skip breakfast?" Axel asked.

"Yeah," Roxas nodded, and Axel leaned in to kiss him again.