~Axel POV~

"What do you think you're doing?" It wasn't even a question, my father was screaming at me like I just lit the whole house on fire.

"I got my eyebrow pierced," I said in the most 'obvious' tone, we were standing in the kitchen, but once I knew the 'yelling' was going to start, I knew to take a seat on the bar stool in front of the island. When he wanted to yell, he yelled, and he'd drag it out, even if it was in the stupidest ways possible.

My father was dressed in a black and white suit, looking like a stuck up penguin, and for no reason, it wasn't like he was even going outside, at all. And behind him, my mother was standing, looking out the sliding glass door to the deck, her arms crossed, but her face looked like she just wanted to escape.

Go ahead, I thought, Run away... it's not like you do anything here.

"First the tattoos," I rolled my eyes, ignoring the rest of his rant. Instead I stared at my mother. Wasn't it supposed to be an 'instinct' to want to protect your child, to want to make sure your child had a good life? All my mother did was 'bathe' in my father's money. Seriously. She doesn't cook, she doesn't clean, she doesn't wash dishes, no, because that's what we have a maid for. That's the maid's job. So Mom has enough time to follow like a kicked puppy behind my father... she doesn't even fucking talk.

My father's voice continued to boom, shouting about all his 'embarrassments' and all the shame I was brining to the family. But I didn't care to listen to what he was saying, instead I just rested my face in my hand, and watched the spit come flying out of his mouth. Good thing he 'frowned' on losing his temper in public, because his screaming was an 'embarrassment'.

Of course, he spent a giant chunk of time ranting about my tattoos, because they're the end of the world, and then the piercing, and now, oh-boy, he was on to something new. Except it wasn't new, it was the same old thing he was always bitching about.

College.

I rolled my eyes, which was apparently a mistake, just like everything else I do.

"You're ruining everything!" just like always. "And what about your girlfriend, you've been neglecting her also."

I couldn't help but laugh at that, shaking my head I spoke in an incredulous voice. "We're barely even together. She doesn't need anything from me, she's getting all her 'attention' from the football team." To say that was a mistake on my part.

"And," of course he was going to run with that. "Maybe she wants a real man, and 'maybe' if you had joined the team like you were supposed to, it wouldn't have happened."

"Yeah right, you don't know Larxene," he didn't even know me.

"Apparently neither do you, you're failing her as a boyfriend, like you're failing this family!" The rant continued, but it was the same thing it always was. The same words, the same tone, and the same heartless man saying it.

Rolling my eyes, gained me another burst of shouting, but I still didn't care. I could have donated a kidney to some orphan, and guess what, knowing my luck, the kid would get kidney cancer and yet again, I'd be the fucking devil. Standing up, I got ready to yell back at my father.

Instead, I watched my mother standing there, her hand now covering the lower half of her face as she stared outside.

"Are you going to say anything?" I shouted over my father, gaining my mother's attention. But it only lasted for a second, she looked at me for not even two seconds before looking back outside, and ignoring me yet again. "Guess if it wasn't for the 'maid', we'd all be dead!" I held out my hands like I was gesturing to my brother and sister, even though they were nowhere to be seen. Never were. "You'd hear us crying in our cribs, and just look the other way! Like you always do!" It was my turn to have spit fly out of my mouth, but I didn't give a shit.

Like I didn't give a shit that my father was now screaming at me for yelling at my mother, because 'yelling is barbaric', ironic.

"Fuck off," I mumbled, grabbing my leather jacket off the chair, slamming the front door as I left. If I really wanted to piss my father off, I'd start yelling at him from outside, and get all the neighbors' attention. Show him just how 'barbaric' I can really be.

I didn't.

I got in my car and left instead, not giving a damn that I burned out.

Bullshit, that's all that fucking house is. Cranking my radio all the way up, I flicked through the songs on the mixed CD, until I could finally blare 'just the right' song.

"Fucking bullshit!" I screamed over the song, Guts over Fear by Eminem was my fucking anthem... slamming my hand against the steering wheel, wishing it was my father's face. If only... I punched it again.

Speeding to the red light in front of me, I slammed on my breaks at the last moment, taking a second to think of if I really even wanted to hit the breaks. Show my father just how much of an 'embarrassment' I could really be, cause a mass pile up, and have it be all my fault. His insurance would be fucked, and he'd have to part with his beloved money, maybe for good.

Maybe it was a mistake to stop...

Snapping my head, I looked out the window, behind me heard someone shouting and bitching, sticking my head out my window I noticed the finger he was holding up for me. This fucker...

Getting out of my car, not bothering to shut the door behind me, I stomped towards the guy's car.

"I almost fucking hit you, you fucking," I cut him off. It was his mistake, he chose to get out of the car. Swinging my hand I punched him across the face, nice solid hit to his cheek. I didn't bother to stick around to see him get back in his car, he was just another whiney little bitch thinking they own shit. I was speeding towards a fucking red light, it would have been his fucking fault if he hit me, didn't have shit to do with my driving.

Fucking bullshit...

I needed to get away, I needed to clear my mind... and the first thing, person, to pop in my head was Roxas.

Parking in the fire lane in front of the bar, I didn't bother to turn the car off. Running up the stairs this kid called a fucking tongue, I banged on the door, sounding like the police about to bust the door down.

The door quickly opened, and the small little blond was standing there, his eyes big like he was a scared puppy. Not gonna lie, that toned down my anger a little bit. But i still just wanted to get out of there.

"You alright?" Roxas stepped back, opening the door wide, but I didn't want to come in.

"Get dressed," it wasn't a request, but I was surprised when Roxas actually walked away from the door, like he was listening to me without an argument.

"Bossy," a little bit of an argument, "Do you want a drink?" He held up a bottle of liquor, but that was just a bad combination.

"Are you ready?" I asked instead, I'd drink that whole bottle, and with how I am, someone would end up dead. He nodded his head, slipping his shoes on, wearing the same black and white clothing he was always wearing. "Let's go," I started to walk down the stairs, hearing the door shut when I was almost at the bottom. I wanted Roxas just to hurry up and move with me, but he was moving his usual pace, and he wasn't going to change that for me, I couldn't already tell. "I just want to go," I said once he caught up with me, hoping he would take the hint and move his ass.

"Why?" he was practically jogging to catch up to me, getting in the car without another word.

"I just want to get away from everyone," I slammed my car door shut behind me, pulling away from the curb and driving away quickly. Looking like a kidnapping or theft probably. Glancing over at the teen, I saw the smirk on his face, "What?"

"So I'm not everyone?"

"Get your seat belt on," was the only answer I gave him. Of course he wasn't 'everybody', he was Roxas.

We drove for probably an hour, only stopping so I could pull over and get gas. While I went inside to put cash on the pump, Roxas jumped into the driver's seat, and when I began pumping the gas, he stuck his head out the window. "Where did you get this car?" He asked, staring at me, I took a deep breath, rolling my eyes because I really didn't want to answer that.

My tank was full before all the money was off the pump, perfect. I took the chance, and didn't answer Roxas, walking back inside the gas station for the change. Taking a moment before going back outside was a mistake, the cashier watched me like I was going to steal something or do something terrible, whatever. Slamming my car door shut yet again, I sped off, did I just look that 'troubled'?

After about a hundred more deep breaths, I finally answered Roxas. "I don't know, my father bought it."

"Oh..." He looked out his window then back at me, like he was really debating about whether or not to say the next part, "That was nice of him..."

"Nice?" I couldn't help but laugh, "He bought it and then told everyone else that I paid for it myself, from the 'work' I was doing." Roxas was the first person who actually knew the truth, not even Demy or Zex knew... "He wants me to pay him back for it, a fucking 25 thousand dollar car, that I didn't even fucking want, but now I have to pay for it."

A really deep breath later, and I was continuing my rant. "My father doesn't know how to just let anything fucking 'be'. He has to buy everything like it's going to show off his fucking money, or show that he's some great fucking parent. Hell, he couldn't even teach me how to drive! He 'paid' someone to do it because he didn't have 'time'. He pays people so he can brag about how he's in a hundred places at once. He's fucking bullshit..."

In my father's eyes, everything is solved with money, any and every situation can be solved with a heavy check... he's so fucking stupid.

"He's spending his money quicker than he's making it." I blurted out, resting my head on my hand as I watched the road, hoping some idiot would pull out in front of me just so I could hit them full force, and so I'd end up dead.

If my father didn't care about the opinion of every other human on the planet, we'd have money, but no, he's got to show his money off, and now he's running out, so for some god damned reason, it's my job to make the money for him. I don't fucking want to.

Vanille 'can't' because she's a girl, doesn't matter if she's the oldest, she can do what she wants, as long as it doesn't 'embarrass' the family. Fucking sexist bastard. But no, oh no, it's okay if I'm the fuck up, because my parents still have a trump card. Send Lea off to some boarding school and pamper him so he's the fucking success of the family.

I'm still around but my father's already made a fucking sob story for my brother. 'A peaceful older sister, but Lea really prospers after watching his older brother go on a downward spiral'... I'll show him a fucking downward spiral.

"I just want to do me," I shook my head, "I don't want some corporate job... I want to feel alive for once in my life." It's not like my father cares though, that's 'not his problem'.

~Rox POV~

It was beyond obvious that Axel wasn't telling me everything that was on his mind, especially with the long intervals of silence. Reading emotions was something I was steadily getting better at, but reading and aiding are completely different. Now was the moment that I was supposed to say something, comfort him in some way, but I didn't know what to say, all I could do was stare and watch his face.

The redness around his eyebrow piercing was already gone, while mine still felt like a blister. That was probably more because I kept hitting it and trying to 'wipe' it away...

"In the wild..." I started, the facts were disturbing in my own head, "If a parent thinks there's a problem with their baby... they'll eat them." I looked over at Axel, "If the baby is already dead, they'll eat the carcass... most times the baby is still alive though... Eaten alive by it's parent, or lured away by a male relative or 'friend', only to be separated from their mother so the male can beat it... hurt it till it's dead..." He looked at me in shock. "Normally family protects family, when it comes to apes and gorillas... except, this one time... at a zoo... a mother spent three months in solitude bonding with her baby... only to be reintroduced to the main enclosure for her brother to snatch her baby out of her hands, and run around their enclosure... slamming the baby against the walls. Fighting off the crying mother the whole time..."

"That's terrible..." He looked over at me, but I was too busy looking out the window.

"I'm sorry..." I took a deep breath, "I don't understand your father, because my father is the complete opposite."

Axel nodded his head, "Yeah, I know," he mumbled.

But he didn't, because he really didn't know my father. "My father doesn't care what I do... he's always told me I was smart enough to do for myself what I thought was best." It was harder to talk then I thought it would be, "My father has never cared what I've done... he's never cared how I was either... We were close once, but Ma said it was unhealthy... we went to clubs together, we joked around and had fun, blew money we didn't have... but, that was only because he was high or drunk... He was always so much fun though..."

"And now?" It was like Axel was enjoying the spotlight away from him.

"And now, he only cares what he can get from me... free drinks, free drugs, free lays..." I looked to see where Axel was parking, and it was in front of the bar. "He only comes to me when he can't afford to get his fixes from anywhere else... he knows I can set him up with all his pleasures, free of charge..."

"Why doesn't he stay longer then?"

I licked my lips, not wanting to admit that I knew the reason, but also knowing I could only play stupid for so long. "It's hard for him... I remind him of the woman he loved and lost."

Axel was quiet like he was remembering something, something relevant. "Your mother?" he clarified for me. All he needed from me was a nod, and he returned the gesture. "I'm sorry...

~Axel POV~

There was nothing else I could say. Roxas' father and my own, were just alike, but in completely different ways. I forgot Roxas' mother was dead, I mean, Riku never specifically said dead, but that's what I assumed he meant when he said Roxas didn't have a mother. Then again, my mother wasn't even a mother... Roxas and I were like the same coin, just different sides...

"Alright..." I finally filled the silence, "Goodnight Roxas."

He nodded his head, "Night Axel..." his voice quiet and gentle, his body small and fragile.

Complete opposites...

Demyx should already be back, won't even be mad if he never told me when he got back, but I needed to talk to someone... Someone that wasn't my family, and I couldn't talk to Roxas about Roxas...

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Thanks for the reviews, they do mean a lot. And sorry for my last AN sounding so... distressed. I just don't have the energy to try to be... normal? All my energy goes into being happy/normal around my baby, and nap time is just not enough time to fully recharge my battery...

Uploaded: May 12th, 2017