'The stars are out tonight,' Axel thought, a cigarette in one hand, the other draped across his stomach. He wasn't sure how long he had been staring at the stars, but something about looking into the abyss that is the night sky was slightly calming.

Had he not been so entranced by the stars, he surely would've felt the presence approaching him. No, it wasn't until the said presence began tapping her foot and let loose a loud clearing of the throat that Axel realized he was no longer alone. He put out his cigarette and sat up, knowing full well that this conversation was important enough to have no other distractions.

(Y/n) looked beautiful; there was no doubt about it, and Axel expected nothing less from the girl he fell for. Despite the scowl that adorned your face, you were the one and best thing Axel could've hoped to see.

You opened your mouth to speak, but you were immediately shut down when Axel mumbled a quick, "Hang on," and hoped off the hood of his car. He rounded to the passenger side, ducking down to grab something from the glove compartment. He quickly shut the door and jogged to stand before you.

You looked down to see a small container in his hands. He popped it open, and it took everything in your willpower to keep your annoyed facade.

Axel pulled the corsage out of the container. "You already look gorgeous, and I know you're probably-" an eyebrow raise from you "-okay okay, definitely pissed at me, but I've been looking forward to putting a corsage on my perfect senior prom date pretty much my whole life, so I know it's a lot to ask, but can I?" He had already discarded the container and just held the small bundle of flowers in his hand.

You dared not speak; you simply extended your arm, looking the other way. Axel couldn't help the smile that crept onto his face as he slid the corsage onto your wrist. He felt a sense of pride bubble up, seeing how perfectly the flowers matched your dress.

He looked up to see you looking the anywhere but him or your wrist. "(Y/n)?" he tried, to no avail. He lifted both of your hands into his, leaning down more to your height. "(Y/n)?" he tried again.

"You left me."

.

.

Well wasn't that just a stab to the heart.

Axel sighed, still holding your hands, and said, "I know I did. I know I left you and I know I'm awful and I know this is supposed to be an amazing night and I know that I'm a shitty shitty boyfriend, but can you please hear me out? I beg of you."

Blame it on Roxas for being so sweet to you, but most of your anger towards Axel had already dissolved. You still wanted an explanation, and a damn good one at that, but you were willing to hear him out with open ears.

Finally, with a little grunt on your part, you looked towards Axel. Well, first you looked at your corsage; the more important thing.

"It matches my dress!" you said after a gasp, and then you excitedly looked up into Axel's endearing eyes. "I can't believe you actually got a corsage that matches my dress this well!"

Your sweet voice and Axel's melodic chuckle were enough to dissolve any tension still lingering. The issue was still at large, but the two of you cared for each other much too much for it to tear you two apart.

"Of course it matches! What kind of boyfriend would I be if I couldn't do something as simple as that?! My pocket square matches too." Axel exclaimed with a cheeky grin.

You patted his chest in appreciation, awarding him a, "Very nice, sir".

That chest touch was more than enough for him; the second you finished your thought, Axel had pulled you into a hug, trying to express his emotions completely though his embrace. You hugged him back just as eagerly, not fully realizing until now just how much you had missed him. It hadn't even been 24 hours, since when did seeing Axel become a necessity?

Mumbling into his chest, you asked, "Can we talk now?"

You could feel his nod before his affirmative, "Mhm". He pulled apart from you and led the both of you to the hood of his car, where you both decided to take a seat.

Axel took a deep and shaky breath; in and out. "I guess I should start with I had every intention of coming tonight; I wouldn't miss it for the world. But, I guess it turns out the world decided to throw me a curveball tonight...thanks world." Axel gave a nervous laugh, wishing that he had practiced what to say to you.

"Tonight is poker night for my dad, so he was already at his buddy's house a few hours before I was set to leave. I had just finished getting ready, and I ran into the living room to say bye to my mom before I left. She...she uh," Axel desperately cleared his throat, trying to stop the moisture gathering in his eyes from falling. He looked you in the eyes, something he realized he hadn't done since he started his story. "I walked in on my mom having a heart attack (Y/n)."

Axel hadn't told you much at all about his family, but you knew he was an only child to a mother and a father. You also knew how much he loved his parents; you were never explicitly told this, but it was obvious.

You weren't really sure what to say; Axel had paused and you didn't know what the rest of the story would entail. Not always the best with words, you decided to cup his hands in your own, giving them a small pat and nodding to him when he looked at you.

He nodded back at you, clearing his throat again for extra measure. "My mind went blank, it was the last thing I was expecting to see. I was scared, hell I was terrified! But my instincts kicked in and I scooped her up and I put her in my car and I drove her to the hospital. I didn't even call my dad, the only thing I was worried about was getting my mom to someone who could help her, because I obviously couldn't. They took her right away, surprisingly. They also called my dad, and he was at the hospital with me within the next 20 minutes. It turns out my mom has heart problems, and she has her whole life. I guess for some reason, both of my parents thought it would be better if I didn't know that crucial information about my mother, but whatever. Anyways, they had to take her in for surgery right away. That's where she is right now, she's being operated on. I don't know what's going to happen, no one does. My freak out kinda happened in the hospital, which is way I might seem mildly calmer right now. My mind is still reeling about everything that could happen to her, and I've honestly never been so scared in my life, but my adrenaline is masking all of that right now. But uh, all we can do while she's in surgery is wait. My dad asked me if you were upset when I said I couldn't make it to prom tonight, and that was when my stupid head remembered why the hell I was wearing a tux despite being in a hospital. I rushed here as fast as I could, hoping that you would still be here. And just my luck, my kitten was indeed still here." He smiled, rubbing loving circles on your hand with his thumb. "My sweet sweet angel, waiting for me, caring about me, never giving up on me; what did I do to deserve someone like you in my life?"

Tears had already stained your face; you weren't crying per se, but you couldn't stop the tears from falling from your eyes. You moved your hands up to his cheeks, moving in slowly to place a sweet kiss on his lips.

Breaking from the short kiss, you leaned your forehead against his. Keeping your hands on his cheeks, ready to wipe any tears away, you whispered, "You deserve the best, and I will never give up on you."

That put him over the edge. The events of the day boiled over, and your hands were no match to the river that began flowing out of his eyes. He quickly pulled you back into a hug, not wanting you to watch him cry, while also craving contact with you.

You stayed like this for a little bit. The positions had shifted; you were on his lap, while he had his head buried in your neck as the two of you embraced. You stroked his hair, whispering words of encouragement to him. You wanted him to let it all out of his system; he had been so strong, and he deserved a good cry.

The crying subsided after a little bit, but the embrace still held firm. You decided to speak first, simply saying, "Let's go back to the hospital. Together."

No other words were needed. He quickly pecked your cheek, exhaled a sincere, "Thank you," and hopped off the hood. He helped you down, and you both got into the car.

Axel started it up, switching the heat on. His hand wavered on the shifter for a second, before he turned to you and asked, "Would you mind listening to another story on the way?"

You smiled, "Of course I wouldn't mind; I'll listen to your stories whenever you want to tell me one."

He ruffled your hair, neither of you concerned about prom anymore, and put the car in drive.

The two of you made your way to the hospital, hand in hand, Axel telling you his story all the way from the beginning.