I did a good job of wrapping Axel's present. I used a deep red paper, pulling it tight so there were no wrinkles or creases. I added a sparkly white bow on top for good measure. It was perfect. I felt a little proud, honestly, of just how perfect this was going to be. I headed downstairs to set this near the tree as well. It looked like mom had set out the rest of the gifts already, so it was beyond crowded in that corner. I set the red box on top of the rest, satisfied.

When are you coming over? I texted Axel before heading to the kitchen. I could hear the TV playing down our new hallway, and no doubt Sora was down there eating a bowl of Lucky Charms. I grabbed an apple, biting into it. The juice tried to dribble down my chin and I quickly wiped it off. Axel was probably still asleep. What to do all morning…hmm….I do need to deliver gifts to my high school friends still…

My phone buzzed, making me jump. Noon good? Axel replied.

I thought you'd still be asleep! And yeah that's fine.

I was about to head upstairs when my dad appeared. I did a brief double-take; he was wearing a checkered robe. I hadn't seen him in anything that wasn't formal for a while. He smiled at me. "Good morning, Roxas."

"Morning," I muttered, trying to exit the room.

"Your roommate is coming over today right?"

"Yeah."

He rubbed his face. "As long as he doesn't stay late, I want to get some family time in."

"Alright." I again was about to bow out, but he continued.

"I have good news for you."

"Oh yeah?"

"My friend is going to let you test try a job sometime after Christmas!"

He gave me this look—like he was expecting me to be ecstatic and thank him a million times. I gave a slow nod. "What kind of job?"

"Cashier."

"Cool." Sounds so fun. I took the opportunity to bolt upstairs before he could complain about my lack of response. Or about the fact that I had avoided going to their latest charity event. This one was a few hours of wrapping presents for the needy, which I had done before, and it was pretty alright, I just didn't want to be around my family for that long.

I spent the morning getting ready and delivering the presents to Olette, Pence, and Hayner. I got back home with just enough time to kick off my shoes. Someone was knocking on the door. Sora shot over there like whip, answering the door with an, "AXEL!"

Sora wrapped around a laughing Axel. My brother finally untangled himself, and Axel's eyes landed on me. He gave a little wave and a smile. He was wearing a lot of black and his cheeks were slightly flushed from the cold. He stepped inside, towering over Sora. "Hey Axel," I greeted.

"Hey guys."

"I got you a present too!" Sora exclaimed. He ran upstairs.

"Does he ever get tired?"

I stepped closer to him now that there was room to. "He runs around like that until he crashes."

Axel looked down at me, and I turned away awkwardly. Then he picked me up. I protested, and he gave me a hug before setting me back down. "Want me to take off my shoes?"

"Oh yeah, sure." I grabbed his coat and threw it on the stair railing. "Sorry I'm not used to having people over. At least not new people."

"I can tell, Roxie."

"HERE!" Sora bounded back down, throwing a package at Axel.

"Want me to open it now?"

"Yes!"

Axel tore the paper off, and held up a book. He flipped it over in his hands, confused. "Is this…"

"Stickers!"

"You got him a sticker book?" I shook my head.

"And they're all smiley faces!" Sora bounced. "You can put them on stuff you like!"

A smile crept onto Axel's face. "Well, in that case…" There was a blur of movement, and he stuck something onto my forehead.

I hit his hand away, searching my forehead for the sticker. "Seriously, why did you do that?" I half demanded.

They laughed, and I ripped the sticker off. It was a green smiley face. I lunged over to Sora and stuck it on his arm. As expected, he wanted to keep it. He asked Axel to see the book, and then he put stickers on both of our hands.

Somehow it turned into a fight. We were struggling over the book, trying to stick stupid smiley faces on any body part we could reach. We were laughing, spinning around, and jumping at each other. Sora got his hands on the book, and backed away from us, an evil smirk on his face. I dove forward to grab it, but he was too quick. He slipped the other away, and Axel snuck his arm towards him. Now Axel was holding it high in the air. The two of us were too short to reach it.

"Looks like I win," Axel said proudly.

"We should probably get these off." I had a rainbow of stickers all over me; they snaked up my arms and torso. I picked a few off my cheek, and found one dangling in my hair. "Did we use all of them?"

"Not yet."

"I'm gonna keep mine," Sora nodded to himself and went back down the hallway.

Axel gently took another one out of my hair. "Thanks," I said.

"You're welcome." Once we were done sticker-removing, we went into the living room.

Axel let out a low whistle. "Damn, your house is nice, Roxas," he said.

"I guess," I said, a little uncomfortably.

I wasn't exactly sure what he was commenting on. Was it the wooden floors or the super plush carpets? The giant recliners? Our 64 inch flat screen TV? Maybe it was the Christmas tree and piles of presents. I was used to our house, so I never thought much of it. I wasn't going to point out the new editions if he was impressed with the few rooms he had been to.

Axel was walking through, looking at picture frames and things. Then he fell backwards on to the floor. "Um..what are you doing?" I asked.

"This floor is big enough to stretch out on!"

I sat on his stomach and he let out a gasp of air. "Yes it is."

"Roxas…" he grimanced.

"Yes?" I asked innocently.

"You're sitting on me."

"I am?"

"Yes," he laughed. I got off and helped him up.

"You want to open your present now or later?"

"Hmm..I dunno…" His eyes swept the room until they landed back on my face. "How long can I stay over? Forever I hope."

"You can't stay forever," I snorted.

"But your house is so nice!" he exclaimed, grabbing on to me. He shook us a bit.

"Yeah, yeah." I brushed him off. "My parents are probably going to kick you out around dinner time."

"Awwww."

"Sorry."

"It's ok."

"Wanna go play a game or something?"

"Sure."

We went up to my room. Luckily it wasn't too messy right now and Axel said it "suited me." Not sure what he meant. My room is pretty plain. I had a queen sized bed in the center, a few band posters on the wall, some dirty clothes lying near my blue hamper, and a dresser where my TV sat along with a bunch of random junk. The blinds were open for once, making the room bright and welcoming. I grabbed my computer off of my bed to make room and closed the door.

We played computer games for a while then switched to watching random TV shows. Sometime during this I realized I had forgotten to take my medicine. I hopped off the bed and rummaged in my drawers to find it, hoping Axel wouldn't notice. I dry swallowed the pill and settled back next to my roommate.

"You have a headache?" he asked.

"No, I'm fine," I said quickly.

He nodded, and we fell silent. I guess he knew not to ask. The screen in front of us only mildly interested me; the show had recently changed, and I slightly recognized whatever was on now, but had never actually watched it. Axel hadn't said anything about it, so I just left it on. I was feeling a little awkward. Axel was nice enough to not ask about my medicine…but what if he was wondering? Would it be worse not to tell him? Is he going to assume the worst?

I glanced at him. He seemed perfectly normal.

Hmm. The minutes ticked by and I still felt awkward. I should just tell him. We're friends now.

I cleared my throat. "I take that every day."

Could I have said it more vaguely? I mentally kicked myself while Axel said, "Got to avoid unwanted pregnancies."

He said it so causally it took a second to process. When it did, I swatted his arm. "I'm not on birth control!" I shrieked.

"Oh, sorry, my bad," he laughed.

"It's just an antidepressant."

I searched his face for any trace of emotion when I said that, but there wasn't much. He was either good at hiding it, or he wasn't surprised/didn't care. "Oh ok, does it help?" he asked.

"Yeah I think," I managed.

"Good." He smiled at me.

I paused. "You don't care?"

"Why would I?"

"I don't know…"

"It doesn't matter to me as long as it helps you."

"Oh." I looked down at my hands. "My head..just gets weird sometimes," I admitted.

"Whose doesn't?" He reached over and flicked my nose. "Stop worrying about stupid things." He laid back on the bed, stretching. "Can I open my present yet?"

I glanced outside. The light was now slanting into the window. The sun was setting, and I was surprised my parents had left us alone this whole time.

"Sure," I answered.

We went downstairs to the living room where I turned the tree on. The multicolored lights glowed in the background as Axel opened his present. He tore through the paper quickly, discarding the remains on the floor. His face lit up when he finally saw what it was. "Just what I needed. And the flames!" he laughed, tackling me into a thank you hug.

"Glad you like it."

"Roxas?"

My mom stood in the doorway, her hand covering her mouth.

I turned around. "Yes?"

"There's something on your…" she trailed off, giving a tiny giggle. I looked down at myself, seeing nothing, and shot Axel a suspicious look.

"Uhh…" Axel muttered. His hand brushed against my butt and I jumped. Then he held up—what do you know—another freaking sticker.

I snatched it from him, blushing and balling it in my fist. My mom, now laughing along with this idiot, managed, "How did that get there?"

"Don't ask," I said darkly.

"Nice to see you again, Axel," she said politely. My family had briefly met him when I moved into my dorm room.

"You too," he replied.

She moved closer. She was holding a mug of steaming liquid and I could hear someone moving around in the kitchen behind her. Hopefully Sora.

No such luck. My dad appeared, now wearing some horrible red Christmas sweater. He greeted us, and I watched Axel's reaction. He treated my parents in a particular manner, as if they were fragile and important, like a possible future boss or something. His eyes seem to drift back to me often, and I knew by the small changes in his expression that I must look less than thrilled. This didn't last long, however, because my dad was already suggesting that Axel go home now.

He nodded, gathering his stuff together, and I got his coat for him. My parents drifted back to the kitchen, and I saw my dad kiss my mom on the cheek briefly. Either he was never home, or they were The Ultimate Team. My mom ran every decision past my dad, but never vice versa. His word was law. He wanted family time, that was what we were going to get. He wanted Axel gone, Axel was gone.

I don't even care that he's the breadwinner. Money isn't everything and besides, my mom could've kept her job. She shouldn't be financially dependent on him. We are totally fine—

"Roxas?"

I snapped out of my daydreams. "Sorry," I muttered to Axel. We were at the front door; he stepped outside, a strange look on his face.

"Do you always—"

"We can talk later," I interrupted, fully knowing the adults of this house were probably eavesdropping.

"Alright, thanks again for this." He held up the controller. "I'll text you when I get home, ok?"

I nodded. "Spending Christmas with Demyx or your mom?"

"Haven't decided yet," he said cheerily. "Merry Christmas, Roxas."

"Merry Christmas, Axel."

Then something strange happened. There was nothing else to say, but Axel wasn't leaving. I felt uncomfortable knowing my parents were nearby; the clinking of silverware was ringing in my ears. They were probably getting dinner ready, a sit down together dinner. Great. I stood still, hidden by the open door. Axel was at the doorstep, just looking at me. His lips were curved upwards, just a little, and my heart jumped in my chest. "Bye," I finally said, my voice too quiet.

The moment broke. "Bye Roxas!" He ruffled my hair as if I was a little kid and went down to his car.

Those…strange moments seemed to be happening more often. I closed the door, pondering this. Me and Axel would just get..quiet..and it just felt so weird. Was he zoning out? Something on my face? My hand ran over my mouth automatically but of course there was nothing there. Maybe I should—

Sora was tugging on my arm. "What?" I asked, vaguely annoyed.

"Dinner time!"

I must've drifted into my head again. Sora led me to the dinner table. It was adjacent to the kitchen. A long, wooden table that shined like you wouldn't believe was holding a mini feast.

"Be nice, Santa is almost here," Sora whispered in my ear as if he already knew about the venomous remarks rising in my throat.

Nothing remarkable happened the rest of the night. Dinner talk was focused on the usual, safe subjects, although my dad poked fun at Axel a bit. Wondering why my roommate wasn't with his family all day, and wondering why we had gotten presents for each other since we're just roommates, and wondering why he styles his hair like that. Never said "Axel" it was all "roommate." Did he really have such a problem with Axel? I know he's kind of obnoxious, but he did nothing to my parents. He was downright well-mannered and respectful to them, so my dad needed to step off his high horse…

Sora kicked my leg under the table. I must've been glaring again. I simply nodded until my dad talked about something else. My mom gave me an apologetic look, but she never said anything. That made me angrier than ever. She never stands up to him.

The second my mom was pulling out a pie for dessert, I excused myself. They tried to convince me to stay, but I kept saying I was too full until they let me go.

I went to the safety of my room. Axel had already texted me, You ok?

Yes, why? I replied, crawling into my bed to listen to music.

I flipped through some of the newer albums on my mp3 until the song matched my mood. You don't like your parents do you? My phone lit up.

You already knew that.

I rolled over, staring at the wall. Axel was replying quickly. I guess I did…we should hang out again sometime.

I agreed, then tossed my phone somewhere in the covers, figuring the conversation was over. I was just closing my eyes when I felt a weight land on me.

I gave a tiny shriek, jolting up and ripping my earbuds out.

"Shit Sora," I muttered.

"Sorry," he apologized, getting off me. "You weren't answering me."

"I thought I locked my door."

"You didn't."

"Obviously."

He had shut the door behind him which usually meant he would be staying a while. This idea was supported pretty quickly. "Can I stay in here tonight?"

I sighed. "Did dad say something to you?"

"Not really."

"Sora."

He didn't answer. He was playing with my blanket, staring straight down. His t-shirt was at least a size too big, and was falling off one of his shoulders. I reached over and fixed it; he turned towards me. "He really didn't say anything," he repeated.

"Alright." I let it go, curling back up.

"It's too early to go to sleep."

I sat back up, trying to not roll my eyes. My phone was buzzing somewhere near our feet and I went to fish it out. "Is that Axel?" he continued.

"Probably."

"You wanna play a game?"

"Sure Sora."