When Axel woke up the next morning, shifting around and hoping to pull a warm body close to his, he was surprised when said body was nowhere to be found. He sat up groggily and rubbed his eyes and as his senses came to life, the smell of syrup, bacon and eggs filled the air.
Axel threw the blanket off his body and searched for some clean boxers and pajama bottoms and slipped them on. He headed out into the kitchen to find Roxas busy cooking dinner.
"Wow, sex and breakfast in the morning? I may never want you to leave. Make you my husband." Axel teased causing Roxas jump, who in turn, clutched his chest and laughed.
"I would make an amazing husband, thank you." Roxas beamed, turning off the stove top and bounded over to his boyfriend and took his hand, leading him to the table.
"You went all out didn't ya?" Axel noted the syrup, Nutella and strawberries on the table.
"You made a delicious dinner last night, I just wanted to show you my appreciation." Roxas shrugged bringing over their plates. Eggs, bacon and pancakes were all piled on and Axel felt his stomach grumble once more.
"Believe me, it is much appreciated." He said grabbing the leg of Roxas' pajama bottoms and pulling him closer. Axel pulled Roxas down for a small kiss and smiled. "Thanks for breakfast."
"You're welcome." Roxas sighed kissing him back. Soft smacks filled the air as kisses were exchanged. Axel hooked his fingers into the waistband of Roxas' pajama bottoms which cause the blonde to pull away a soft chuckle leaving his mouth.
"Our breakfast is gonna get cold." He said pressing a kiss to Axel's nose.
"Can't you be my breakfast instead?" Axel whined, wrapping his arms around Roxas' waist.
Rolling his eyes Roxas laid another kiss to Axel's mouth before moving out of his arms. He pointed to Axel's plate and gave him a stern, yet playful look. "Your pancakes are gonna get soggy." he ran a hand through Axel's hair affectionately before moving away and taking a seat himself.
Axel gave him a pout before focusing on his food. He started to munch on a piece of bacon. "What are your plans for today?" He asked.
Roxas busied himself with his pancakes and looked up at Axel. "Hm? Oh, I'm gonna help Sora pack, then do laundry and work on some homework. Maybe even go to the pet store and visit some cute kitties." He shrugged. "What about yourself?"
Axel stabbed a pancake and started to cut off a piece. "I have band practice. And that's about it. My life is boring."
"If your life is boring, then what does that say about mine?" Roxas laughed.
Axel joined in his laughter which eventually lead to a comfortable silence, the only noise being the scraping of silverware on their plates.
Once he was finished with his breakfast, Roxas started to clean up, putting the condiments away where he found them and placing the dirty dishes in the sink.
"Ya know you don't have to do the dishes, I can clean up since you made breakfast." Axel said, standing behind Roxas, wrapping his arms around the blondes waist.
Shrugging, Roxas placed the clean plate on the dish rack leaned against his boyfriend. "I know, but I'm the one who made the mess." He closed his eyes and sighed happily.
"You keep this up and I will actually want to make you my housewife. I'll be so lazy and won't ever get up again." Axel joked, burying his face into Roxas' neck, placing kisses on the his skin there.
"Mmm, as nice as that sounds, I'm afraid I'd grow bored and stir crazy." Roxas murmured, leaning his head to the side, giving Axel more access to press kisses wherever he liked.
Roxas' eyes fluttered close and a gasp fell from his mouth as Axel sucked at the base of his neck.
"I marked you up pretty good last night didn't I?" Axel gently kissed a spot that was bruised before moving away.
"Yeah, at least it's in a spot that can be hidden from the wrath that is Sora and Riku." Roxas turned to face Axel.
"Unfortunately I can't say the same for you." Roxas' eyes landed on his neck which was peppered in hickies.
Axel shrugged. "If anything my friends will give me shit and start asking about you. I think I can handle them. I'm gonna hop in the shower. Wanna join me?" He held out his hand out to Roxas, who took it and nodded, bottom lip tucked under his teeth as they made their way into the bathroom.
—-
After the shower and they got dressed (with a few makeout sessions on the bed, in the closet and on the couch), Roxas and Axel said their goodbyes before Roxas returned home. Axel already missed Roxas, if he was being honest with himself.
He busied himself with cleaning the rest of the dishes he pried Roxas from earlier and set them in the dishwasher before he had to leave to get to Demyx's house for practice.
Once the dishes were piled in the dishwasher and leftovers were packed away in the fridge, Axel headed into the bedroom to make sure his hair wasn't too frazzled from the make out session he and Roxas had earlier and inspected his neck, dark bruises were peppered across the base, trailing down to his collarbones.
Chuckling, Axel needed to make sure to mention to Roxas not to leave any hickies where they were visible. Or at least where they weren't so dark he couldn't use makeup to cover it.
A scarf should be just the right remedy to cover the hickies and any attention that could be drawn to his neck.
Heading into his bedroom, he opened the group chat labeled 13 Hearts and sent a quick, "be there soon, still getting ready."
Pocketing his phone, he felt the phone buzz in succession, knowing his friends were probably giving him grief for being "fashionably late."
"If you only knew, guys, if you only knew." Axel said to himself, adjusting the scarf around his neck and trying to cover the hickies the best that he could. Once he was satisfied, he grabbed his book bag that he left on the counter and headed out to his car, locking the door behind himself.
Axel unlocked his car and climbed in and headed off to band practice.
Demyx's house was in the middle of nowhere; a nice perk for their band as there were no neighbors to complain about the noise. Why a farmhouse, he had no idea.
Finding where all the other cars were parked, Axel pulled in and parked. Grabbing his things off the passenger seat, he climbed out of the car and headed up to there door.
He rang the doorbell, repositioning the bag on his shoulder. He could hear movement and voices and the distinct sound of Marluxia saying "and he calls me fashionably late." Which made Axel chuckle in return.
Once the doorknob started to turn, he prepared himself for the onslaught of questions he was sure he was gonna receive.
"Axel!" Demyx cried when he opened the door, a huge smile on his usual beaming face. When his eyes fell upon the scarf around Axel's neck, they narrowed before brightening up. "Come on in. Took you long enough to get here."
Axel chuckled at his best friend as he walked into the house, looking at the other band members faces.
Marluxia and Xigbar were busy talking animatedly about god knows what, but Larxene, their drummer was nowhere to be found.
"Where's Larxene?" Axel questioned as he set his stuff down, turning to look at Demyx.
"Where'd ya think?" Demyx closed the door and headed into the kitchen.
"Rehab?" Axel questioned. "Seriously Larxene? Again?" He thought to himself.
A cheerful "yup!" echoed from Demyx and Axel visibly frowned. He knew if he ever wanted Roxas to meet his friends in the future he was gonna have to tell them that their Rock Star lifestyle needed to be private.
There was no way he was going to expose Roxas to something that could inevitably lead to relapse.
"Hey Axel, can you come help me for a moment?" Demyx asked from the kitchen, pulling Axel from his thoughts.
"Coming," Axel shoved his hands into his pockets, walking into the kitchen nonchalantly, giving Marluxia and Xigbar a shrug as he passed them.
When he reached the kitchen, Axel noticed that Zexion was in there too, arms crossed against his chest as he leaned against the counter and there was a dark look on Demyx's face.
Green eyes widened as he looked at his best friend. "Demyx, what's goi-." he was cut off by Demyx ripping the loosely tied scarf that was wrapped around Axel's neck, revealing the deep purple bruises that hid under.
"I knew it! You've been in a much better mood these past few months. Especially after last weekend. Who is he?" Demyx demanded, his voice loud and brash. his eyes narrowed as they fixated on one particular dark bruise. "Is it Saix?" He spat. "I swear to God if you're back with the no good, spineless, thinks-he's-better-than-everyone snake, I am going to kill the both of you." the venom was dropping from his voice.
Axel backed up, putting his hands up in defense, eyes wide. He could hear his other band mates murmuring and the sound of fabric against fabric as they got out of their seats to investigate the commotion in the kitchen.
Zexion had moved to grab Demyx's arm, trying to calm his lover. "Dem, you're not giving him a chance to speak." He grabbed his shoulders and held Demyx against his chest.
Demyx's shoulder relaxed a little, but his eyes were cold as they glared at Axel. They had known each other, for practically their whole lives, having grown up next to each other. Demyx and Axel became inseparable and as they grew older, the bond grew over time. When Riku and Axel became fast friends in college, Demyx welcomed him with open arms.
Demyx had been there to console Axel when Saix ended things, which he openly admitted to, he was happy about. He never liked Saix; his attitude towards Axel was a massive turn off for him and never liked how controlling he had become over his best friend. Which he gladly told Axel every chance he got. So his feelings at just the sheer thought that Axel had gotten back together with his ex, was justified.
"Roxas." Axel finally spoke, his voice barely over a whisper.
His friends whispered among themselves and Axel fought the urge to roll his eyes.
"Hens," Axel thought.
His friends were fucking hens, clicking away at any juicy gossip they good get their hands on.
"His name is Roxas. He's Sora's cousin." Axel repeated, reaching to grab the scarf that Zexion was holding out to him. He took it and replaced it around his neck, positioning it so it sat comfortably around his neck.
Demyx's whole demeanor changed and his shoulders slumped forward. "Sorry to freak out on you like, I just, we haven't talked in a while and the last time we didn't talk, well, things weren't going so well for you," he paused, rubbing the back of his neck. "I thought maybe you guys got back together and you were hiding that from me."
Axel chuckled and shook his head. "I couldn't do that to you again, not after the last time he and I broke up and then got back together. I haven't even spoken to him in three years, that ship has sailed to never return." He gave Demyx an apologetic smile.
Demyx returned with his own smile before grasping into Axel's shoulders and bounced up and down on the balls of his feet. "So tell us, Roxas, right? Tell us about him!"
Axel looked over at Marluxia and Xigbar both who had had shit eating grins on their faces and he held back his attempt to roll his eyes. "I hate all of you," he mumbled before straightening his posture as best as he could with Demyx still holding onto him.
"Like I said, he's Sora's cousin. He's getting his degree in Zoology, loves white tigers, is super fucking cute…" was now a good time to mention the rehab thing? No. He would mention it to Demyx and Zexion after band practice, but he could wait to tell the others.
Axel shrugged as his friends stared at him.
"That's all you got? He's cute and likes white tigers?" Xigbar rolled his eyes.
"Looks like Axel is finally growing soft after all these years." Marluxia mused a smirk on his face. God what Axel would give to punch that stupid smirk off his face.
Sensing the uncomfortable tension that was starting to build between Marluxia and Axel, Zexion moved forward, his eyes turning to them. "Gentlemen, I would suggest practicing. It is why we all agreed to meet here yes? Not to drill Axel about his love life. That can wait till after practice is over." he gave everyone including Demyx a look before shooing them away with his hands.
Grumbles were made by everyone, except Demyx who was cheerfully informing them of a gig he had scheduled them and how if Larxene wasn't back from rehab by then, they'd have someone step in for her.
Practice usually lasted a few hours, the members of 13 Hearts practicing their songs and jamming away. Sometimes they would talk about new songs they were working on and other times they would just bullshit working on parts of their songs that needed the most work.
Afterwards, pretty much everyone left minus Axel who was sitting on the couch with Demyx who was curled up next to Zexion, who had one hand running through Demyx's hair and the other was holding up a book.
"Roxas is an addict. Well, recovered addict." Axel said, breaking the silence that had fallen among them.
Demyx shot up, staring at his best friend and even Zexion who wasn't interested in the mindless gossip that the two childhood friends discussed, lowered his book and looked at the red-head.
"What? What was his drug of choice?" Demyx asked, pouting when he received a soft squeeze from Zexion; a wordless reminder that he was being too invasive.
Axel sipped on his beer absent-mindedly not paying attention to what the couple was doing, his eyes fixated on the blue Sitar that stood by the Television stand. "Heroin and Cocaine." he replied after several moments passed, taking another sip of his beer.
Demyx looked at Axel before moving to look at Zexion who gave him a shrug, before moving to face Axel once more. He bit his lip, not sure what else to say to his best friend.
"Is this, is this like a deal breaker for you?" Demyx asked after several minutes had passed, trying to figure out the best way to really ask that question.
Axel looked at Demyx, his mouth forming into a content smile. It was something Demyx hadn't seen in a long time.
"No, he and I are in a relationship as of last night, it's just he is this super sweet, caring kid who got wrapped up with the wrong person. He's been clean for two years and fuck Dem, we've been dating for a few months now, but I can see this becoming something long term. I haven't wanted anything long term since Saix." Axel explained, biting his lip.
Demyx nodded and looked at Zexion who was studying Axel.
"Do you love him?" Zexion spoke. Always right to the point questions.
"I think love is a strong word for how long I've known him. Which is a little over two months now," Axel paused for a second, running his hand over his hair. "But I think I definitely could fall in love with him."
All three men were sitting quietly in their thought before Zexion spoke up.
"I can't wait to meet him."
Demyx and Axel both turned to look at the dark gray haired man whose attention was focused on the book he was reading, a small smile that was usually reserved for only Demyx when he did something endearing and the rare occasion when Zexion was happy for Axel, like he was now.
Axel licked his lips and smiled, holding his bottle out to Zexion,
"You will in due time."
—
A few days had passed since Roxas had spent the night with Axel. He missed him, despite that they were in constant contact with each other via texts.
"Hey, what time are you off work?" Roxas sent the message to Axel as he packed his books up and shoved them in his backpack.
He had taken the day of because he had a test in his advanced biology class and expected for it to take longer. So when he finished the test earlier than expected, having studied all night and knew the material fairly well, Roxas thought it was a good idea to surprise Axel to an impromptu date to ice cream.
Hearing a buzz followed by a loud ding, Roxas dug his phone out and read the message Axel had sent him.
"I just finished up with my last patient for the day and was gonna head home, everything okay?"
Roxas chuckled. He always thought it was funny when Axel went into this instant panic, thinking something was wrong.
"Nothing is wrong, out of class earlier than I expected and took the day off, wanted to see if you wanted to get ice cream with me." he sent in response.
Climbing into his car, Roxas got situated, threw his backpack into the backseat and drove off towards downtown Twilight Town. As he was looking for a place to park, he felt his heart drop into his chest when he thought he saw a head of raven black hair.
He circled around to where he had seen the person and let out a deep sigh when he saw it wasn't Vanitas. "Thank God." Roxas mumbled to himself as he found a parking place. Once he found one, he parked his car and clambered out. Shoving his phone in his pocket and locking his car, Roxas made his way to where Axel's office was at.
Once he reached the doors to his office, Roxas sent Axel letting him know he had arrived.
"Kay, be out soon." was Axel's reply.
As he waited, Roxas leaned up against the brick building and scrolled through Tumblr, liking and reblogging random pictures and posts that piqued his interest.
He looked up when he heard the door open and a grin spread across his face when Axel walked up to him.
"Hi, this is a nice surprise." Axel stated, leaning down to give him a kiss.
"Yeah, I expected my test to take longer than it did, so I figured why not go have some ice cream?" Roxas said, taking Axel's hand as they started walking down the street.
Axel chuckled and gave Roxas' hand a squeeze. "That's fair, I know a really good ice cream place just down the road. They even have sea salt ice cream." he said.
The pair walked down the street talking about how their days had been and how Roxas was gonna help Sora pack more of his things when he got home.
"Ah, I see. You didn't want to spend time with me, you just wanted to waste time so you'd have less time to help Sora!" Axel jokingly accused.
Roxas looked at him wide-eyed before playfully jabbing him in his sides, moving his hands around more, the more Axel laugh.
"Okay, mercy!" Axel cried, hunched over as he tried to regulate his breath.
"Ax. Look," Roxas pointed to the building they had stopped in front of. It was a pet store, with a bunch of puppies in the front window. On the window, there was a sign that read Res Q Paws Adoption Clinic! Come find your furry companion today!
"An adoption clinic? You wanna go check it out before we get ice cream?" Axel turned to Roxas who nodded his head. "Please?" He answered.
Axel moved to the front door and held it open for him.
Roxas grinned up at his boyfriend before bouncing into the pet store and made his way to where the cats and kittens were located. He pushed his fingers through the bars, petting at the cats and smiled as their wet noses pressed against his fingers.
He stopped at a kennel that housed a peach colored Sphinx. The cat was curled up in a blanket in the back of the kennel. It opened its eyes and looked at Roxas for a moment before closing them again slowly. "Oh hi." Roxas said looking at the paperwork that was attached to the cage. "I've been hurt before, please be gentle with me."
"Same buddy. Axel, come here." he turned to his boyfriend and waved him over, wanting to him to see the Sphinx. Axel walked over and looked at the paperwork. "You guys seem perfect for each other." he said as he watched the Sphinx start to make it's way over to them.
Roxas had left his finger out for the cat to sniff and rub his face against him. "He feels weird." he laughed, running a finger over his nose. The cat leaned into the touch and started to purr.
When Roxas moved his finger away, the Sphinx reached out with his paw to bring it back to his face. He laughed, rubbing his finger over the soft skin, cooing at the cat.
"He seems to really like you. With Sora moving out soon, you could get a cat, like I suggested.." Axel stated as he watched Roxas pet the cat.
Roxas turned and looked at Axel and shrugged his shoulders. "I've always wanted one, but Sora is allergic," he looked back at the cat.
"You do know that these cats are hypoallergenic right? Besides I worry about you being by yourself. I think having a pet to keep you company would be a good idea." Axel said, wrapping his arm around Roxas' shoulder and pressed a kiss to his temple.
Roxas smiled and leaned into the kiss before he pulled away. "I'll have to save up some before I could adopt one, plus by all the necessary equipment. Maybe my next paycheck. Hopefully this cutie won't be gone by then." he said pushing his finger through the square of the kennel once more before moving onto look at the puppies.
Axel watched him walk away before turning to the cat who was also staring at Roxas, his paw reaching out for the blond who had given him his undivided attention. Sighing, Axel pushed his own finger through the square of the kennel and gave the sphinx a soft rub on the top of his head. "You need a good home sweet boy. And that sweet boy over there," he pointed to Roxas as he spoke, "Will be the best home you'll ever have." he promised as he grabbed a card from the plastic pocket and walked to the front of the store where the adoption clinic was being held.
"Excuse me ma'am, I was curious about that Sphinx cat over there." Axel pointed to where he had just been.
The woman, turned to look at Axel, her big brown eyes following where he had pointed and nodded. "His name is Dobby. What would you like to know about him?" she asked, a friendly smile on her face.
Axel bit his lip, before handing her the card. "It says he's been hurt before?" he asked.
The woman nodded, taking the card and ran her thumb over it for a moment before turning to Axel. "When he was brought here, his back leg was broken, he was scratched up and he was seriously malnourished. We were honestly afraid he was going to lose his back leg. Thankfully the vets were able to save his leg and we were able to get him back to a healthy weight. We did have to remove his teeth, so he is on a special kind of diet. He is a little skittish, but he is super sweet and loves to be cuddled." she explained.
Licking his lips, Axel looked back at the cat, smiling when he saw that Roxas had meandered back to the kennel and was playing with the cat. He turned back to the woman and nodded. "I want to adopt him, as a gift to my boyfriend over there. I think they'd be really good for each other. Would it be possible for me to pick him up tomorrow? I want it to be a surprise." he said.
The woman looked between Axel and Roxas who was busy playing with Dobby, laughing when the cat started to lick his fingers and a smile formed on her face. "I'll get the adoption paperwork ready for you." she said standing up and grabbing a clipboard and some papers and handed it to Axel.
He quickly wrote in the information that was requested; Name, Age, address, phone number, etc. Once everything was finished he quickly signed the paperwork and handed it back to the volunteer. She read it over and nodded, going to put the application in their filing cabinet. "Adoption fee is fifty dollars." she said and Axel handed over his debit card to make the purchase.
Once everything was settled away, Axel shook the woman's hand and thanked her. He put his card away and made his way back to Roxas who was cooing at the cat. "Hey, you ready to go?" he rubbed his finger across the cat's nose.
"Yeah, it's sad. I really want to adopt him. I've already decided his name is gonna be Turkey. Dobby is cute and all, but he looks like a Turkey from behind." Roxas said, his eyes sad as he looked at the cat who was reaching out to him once again with his paw.
"I'm gonna cry, let's go." he said with a shaky breath.
Axel kept quiet and wrapped his arm around Roxas' shoulders, feeling his boyfriend's arm wrap around his waist and lean into him.
He pressed a kiss to Roxas' hair.
The pair walked out of the pet store and Axel couldn't help but smile.