Chapter Five

Namine

The Other Side

August 30, 2014, 10:15 a.m.

I nearly flung my phone across the room as my alarm went off again, shattering my dreams and bringing me into the waking world. It was Saturday, and I really didn't want to wake up. It'd been a long week, and I was staying up late with Axel every night.

I should have just slept in… but I knew that if I slept much longer I would regret it in the long run. Tonight was going to be a long night, mainly because Axel was throwing a huge party to celebrate the end of our first week of senior year. It didn't make much sense to me, but I also wasn't a huge party girl either.

Axel seemed incredibly excited, and I couldn't figure out why until I realized that his parents weren't going to be home and there was probably going to be a large amount of alcohol involved.

I was supposed to head over to his place at noon to start getting things ready, so even after my morning shower I had some free time.

August 30, 2014, 11:03 a.m.

paintingwithroses: Sammy! You're up already?

luckyXIII: Yeah… I got somewhere to be at noon.

pwr: That's funny, so do I!

lu: Where are you going?

pwr: Helping my boyfriend get ready for this big party he's throwing.

lu: Party? You hate parties.

pwr: Welll….

pwr: Yeah, kinda.

pwr: But he's really excited, so I'm going to suffer through it.

lu: Wow, you must really like him.

pwr: I really do!

lu: So what's the occasion?

pwr: Huh?

lu: …For the party?

pwr: It's the end of our first week of senior year. I guess he wants to celebrate that it was our last first week ever.

lu: It's kind of a stretch, but it works… You sure he didn't just wanna have a party?

pwr: I think that's pretty much what happened, yeah…

pwr: So how have you been?

lu: I've been fine. I'm just hanging out with a friend later.

pwr: Fun, fun… Did you steal away your girl yet?

lu: Rosie! I already told you I can't do that.

pwr: Ohh the other guy will get over it! You deserve love too!

lu: There's plenty of women for me to be with, I can let this one get away.

pwr: Do you know how often it is that you find your perfect match?

pwr: Hardly ever!

pwr: What if she's the one?

lu: We're in high school, Rosie. I have time.

pwr: She should at least know how you feel.

lu: I told you how I felt and it didn't get me very far.

pwr: Well damn.

pwr: Way to make me feel awful.

lu: You know that's not how I meant it…

pwr: I thought you said you were fine with this.

pwr: You said we could still be friends.

pwr: I'm not going to just sit around waiting for another snide remark.

lu: Rosie! Damn it, just listen to me.

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August 30, 2014, 11:37 a.m.

I couldn't believe that he would say something like that to me. I understand that he had feelings for me, and I know I hurt him when I told him about Axel, but… he promised we would still be friends. That little remark was hurtful, and pretty much just spiteful.

Whatever feelings I'd been having for Sammy were pretty much gone now. Ever since I moved, he'd been more and more distant and irritated. It was almost as if he was trying to push me away, and it was starting to work.

As I was trying to process my anger towards Sammy, my phone started to ring and vibrate obscenely in my pocket, scaring the living daylights out of me. Once I got it pried out of my jeans, I answered, "Hello?"

"What're you wearing to the party tonight?"

I giggled a little, "Hello Yuffie. As I told you in art class before, jeans and a flowy tank top thing."

Yuffie and I had become a little closer in class after I modeled for her, so it didn't surprise me to get a call from her. "Nooo, wear a dress! I'm wearing a dress and I don't wanna be the only one!"

"Right… I'm pretty sure you won't be the only girl there in a dress. He invited the entire senior class."

"Welllll I don't wanna be the only one in our group then!"

I rolled my eyes, chuckling, "I don't even have a dress to wear, Yuffie… unless you mean a sundress and I'm pretty sure you don't."

"I can bring one for you!" she exclaimed, "I have a bunch!"

"What would you ever need a bunch of dresses for?" I wonder, more to myself than her. "Nevermind… If it'll make you feel better, fine. But choose a classy one, please? I don't wanna look like a whore."

She huffed on the other end of the phone, "You think I dress like a whore?!"

She did wear short shorts and a tanktop most days… "Nooo, not at all. But you definitely dress a little more… openly than I do."

"Great! I'm going to bring shoes for you too. You're what, a size 7?"

I raised an eyebrow, "How did you know that?"

"Magic!" she chirped, then hung up the phone.

I don't know what I just got myself into, but I'm a little scared.

August 30, 2014, 12:12 p.m.

"Hey Nami," Axel greeted me at his front door, leaning down and giving me a kiss.

I stepped into his …mansion… and looked around. I'm honestly not sure what kind of preparing this party needed.

"So… I kind of forgot that I needed to get food, and I can't get it on my motorcycle. Come with me to the grocery?" he asked, giving me puppy dog eyes.

"You could have asked me over the phone, weirdo," I teased, poking him in the sides. "Sure, do you wanna go now?"

He nodded, pulling me right back out the door behind him. "Lemme drive, I know where I'm going."

I shrugged and handed him my keys, not really caring either way.

Let me just say, watching Axel attempt to climb into my car was the most hilarious experience of my life. I think he forgot how short I really was, so he got one leg halfway in before getting stuck.

"Shit… Namine, how short are you?!" he exclaimed, struggling to get the seat back so he could get in. I reached under him and flung the seat all the way back, causing him to fall into the car, hitting his head on the doorframe on his way down.

"Are you okay?!" I squeaked, trying to hold back my giggles.

He just grumbled, rubbing his head a little as he situated himself upright.

I got in the passenger's seat, hoping his driving skills weren't too terrifying. I'd never actually been in a car with him before. "What're we getting anyways?"

"Oh, you know… typical party food. Chips, dip, pizza, drinks, candy… all that shit," he told me, driving surprisingly well so far.

"What's it going to be like? I've never really been to a party like this…"

He cocked a brow, "Really? Well, it's pretty much just going to be a bunch of people getting wasted and acting like idiots. …And loud-ass music."

"Sounds… fun?" It really didn't, but who was I to judge?

"Oh it totally is. Trust me, once you're in the moment you'll have a great time."

I shrugged, "I'll take your word for it. I've never really had alcohol either, so it'll certainly be interesting."

"You have no idea, Nami…" he chuckled, seemingly creepily ominous. "We'll get you nice and fucked up."

With the outfit Yuffie was bringing me, I'd probably have to be fucked up just to put it on.

August 30, 2014, 4:48 p.m.

"Fuck, Axel… the ice keeps attacking me!" I squeaked as more ice cubes fell around my feet. We were in his backyard filling up big plastic bins with ice for the booze, which his older (strangely effeminate) cousin Marluxia had dropped off a few minutes earlier.

He grabbed the bag of ice from me and finished filling my buckets, pointing me towards the back gate, "Looks like Yuffie's here early."

I looked up and smiled, running over to her. "Hey! Did you bring my outfit?"

She nodded, "Yeah, I gotta change into mine too… let's go inside!"

"Axel, we're gonna go change in your room!" I yelled to him as he wrestled with a huge hunk of ice.

He grunted …something… in response, so I took her inside and up to his bedroom. It was honestly one of the only rooms I knew how to find in his gigantic house.

"Yuffie, that bag looks awfully light… did you forget one of the dresses?"

She shook her head, dumping it out onto his bed. "Nope, they're both there!"

I raised an eyebrow, "Yuffie, I said to keep it classy…"

She held up a black dress that was covered entirely in lace, and looked like it would fit a small child. "It's totally cute! Guys love lace!"

"I have a guy, Yuffie, and he likes me in jeans."

"Believe me, when Axel sees you in this he's not going to be able to keep his eyes off you," she told me, handing me the slip of fabric.

I rolled my eyes and snatched it from her, stripping down to my bra and panties and shimmying the dress over my head. The lace was pretty, but I could already feel a breeze in places I didn't want one.

"Jeez, help me Yuffie," I struggled, getting it stuck halfway down my arms.

She helped me get it on, and I turned around so she could zip it. "Uhm… you're gonna have to lose the bra, Nami."

I blinked once, not sure if I heard her correctly. "What was that?"

"Your bra? You can't wear one with this dress, the straps will look horrible. Besides, you'll be fine without it. You're perky!" she giggled, unsnapping my bra.

"Fuck, Yuffie, I'm not taking my bra off!" I yelled, but she already had it off of me. With that, she zipped me into the dress and turned me to face his full-length mirror.

I have to admit, it didn't look as bad as I thought it would. It was strapless with a sweetheart neckline that plunged a little further down than I would have liked and suctioned my boobs up into my throat. I mean seriously… my cleavage was intense. The rest of the dress was absolutely skin tight and the back of it just barely covered my ass. It was hardly a dress… and it made me feel very uncomfortable.

Suddenly she was shoving a pair of shoes into my hands, a pair of ridiculously high spike heels, black and strappy. "Yuffie, I'm not putting these on… in fact, I'm taking this off as well. I look like a slut," I told her, struggling to find the zipper in the back and failing. "C'mon, help me…"

"Nope! Put the shoes on, Nami. You look hot," she refused, swatting my hands away from the zipper. "Seriously, Axel is gonna love it."

I gave up, knowing this was a battle I was gonna lose. "Fine…" I took the shoes from her, sliding them on and fastening the straps around my ankles.

It had been awhile since I'd worn heels, so my first few steps were very shaky. "I'm gonna kill myself in these things…"

"Too late!" she chirped, already in her own dress. "Zip me!"

I pulled the zipper up on her dress, wondering how I even got it to go up.

"Are you girls ready? People are starting to show up!" I heard Axel shout up the stairs, "Come on, Nami!"

I was about to go downstairs when Yuffie grabbed me by my hair, stopping me short in my tracks. "Ouch! What the hell?!"

"Let me do your hair and makeup really fast. It'll take two seconds, I swear!"

She was pretty accurate. In a couple of minutes, she had my hair in a braided bun on the top of my head, with little curly pieces left down around my face. My eyes were all smokey with grey and black and my lips were blood red. The hair was cute, that I could agree with. The makeup, not so much. "Now go! Your man wants you," she said with a giggle, pushing me out into the hallway.

"Namin-!" Axel stopped short as I appeared at the top of the stairs, looking utterly and completely shocked.

"Did you find her?" Roxas came up behind Axel, stopping in his tracks as well when he saw me. "Is that Namine…?"

Axel blinked once, "I… think so?"

"Yeah, yeah… it's me…" I mumbled, stepping carefully down the stairs.

"Namine, you look… gorgeous," Axel said, pulling me into his arms right away. I actually didn't feel like as much of a midget next to him.

I laughed, leaning into him, "I look ridiculous."

"You look like you need a drink," he told me, chuckling, "Come on."

August 30, 2014, 8:47 p.m.

"Namine… are you okay?" Roxas was staring at me with a strange look on his face.

I nodded, the movement making my head spin, "Fine, why?"

"You seem to have lost a shoe…" he pointed out, raising an eyebrow.

"Did I?" I slurred, tipping over sideways trying to look. Maybe I'd overdone it with the alcohol already… "Well damn… might as well take the other one off too!" I said, tugging at it but failing at getting it off and nearly falling over.

He grabbed my arm, holding me up. "Come sit down on the couch… I'll take it off," he said, pushing me to sit down.

I kicked my leg out, giggling, "I feel like Cinderella! Ooh, are you my prince?"

"That'd be me, dear," I heard Axel's voice behind me as his arms enveloped me from over the back of the couch.

Roxas fought my shoe off and set it aside, looking up at Axel, "Any idea where the other one is?"

"Not a clue… I think I should take this one upstairs," he said, coming around the side of the couch and promptly scooping me up into his arms. "C'mon Nami… it's time to take a nap."

"I dun wanna take a nap!" I whined, struggling in his arms.

Roxas rolled his eyes and walked away, grabbing a shot of whiskey out of someone's hand and downing it.

Axel carried me upstairs to his room, but I was nottt having it. "Axey, I don't wanna go to sleep! I wanna dance!" I giggled, squirming my way out of his arms and falling onto his bed. I immediately, if not clumsily, hopped to my feet and started jumping on his bed, dancing around like a fool.

"Nami, you need to settle down! You're gonna get sick!" he exclaimed, laughing a little.

"No! I don't wanna!" I twirled in a circle, "Get me more of that Fireball stuff… it tastes like candy!"

He climbed up on the bed with me and wrapped me up in his arms, tackling me down onto the bed. I ended up underneath him, with him straddling my hips. "No more alcohol, dear."

"Ohh, no fair," I pouted up at him, wiggling a little.

"Stop that, Nami…" he mumbled, gritting his teeth a little.

I furrowed my brow, "Why? I have too much energy not to wiggle!"

"Don't… do it while I'm on top of you…"

"Why?" I asked again, wiggling around as I struggled to get free.

He groaned a little, shifting his hips, "Just don't! Settle down and relax."

In my drunken mess I didn't understand what he meant, so I continued to squirm and wriggle about. "Just let me go back to the party! I was having fun!"

"You hate parties, Namine… you're drunk," he told me, starting to sound a little frustrated.

I whined, "Well I was wrong."

"Damn it, Nami, stop wiggling!" he yelled, grabbing my wrists and pinning them above my head. He pushed his weight against my lower body, effectively holding me still.

I stared up at him with wide eyes, my drunk self not knowing what to do. He met my eyes, and even through the intoxication I could feel a little jolt of electricity run through my body. Within seconds his lips were on mine in an intense, breathtaking kiss that nearly brought me back to sobriety on it's own.

I kissed him back, my heart pounding hard in my chest as I came back to reality and realized what was happening. "Axel…" I mumbled against his lips, trying to pull away.

He yanked his head back and stared down at me with a strange fire in his eyes. "What?"

"Just… you're hurting me…" I whispered, my hands starting to go numb.

Axel tore his hands away from my wrists, holding himself up on the bed now, "Sorry," he bit out, clenching his jaw.

"It's okay…" I stretched my wrists out a little, looking up at him again.

"You look so sexy, Namine…" he mumbled, his eyes traveling down my body. I hadn't realized before how drunk he actually was… apparently he was a bit higher functioning than me.

I squirmed a little bit, still pinned beneath his weight. "I disagree... I look like a whore."

"Same difference," he laughed, leaning down to kiss me again. I turned my head to escape it, but he just kissed down my neck instead.

"Axe, why don't we go back down to the party? I'm feeling much better," I told him, starting to get really uncomfortable.

He continued to kiss along my neck, stopping at my ear, "Why? We could have so much more fun right here…"

"I would really rather go downstairs…" I told him again, but it wasn't as if he was hearing me. His hands slipped under my body and I felt him starting to slide the zipper of my dress down. "Axel, stop it…"

"What, you need more booze? Just relax and lay back, babe…" he whispered in my ear in a low, sultry voice.

I struggled against him, whimpering a little, "Axel, I'm not joking… We need to go back to the party now."

"Don't be like that… I know you feel the spark between us…"

"Yeah, but not like this! Just get off me, Axel!" I was yelling now, struggling more as he became more persistent. He was acting completely out of character, and I knew it was the alcohol… but it was scaring me. When he suddenly pulled the entire top of my dress down, I shrieked. "Axel! Get off me!"

All at once I felt his weight lifted off of me, and relief flooded over my body. That is, until I saw what was happening in front of me.

Roxas had snatched him off me and just about threw him across the room. "What the fuck are you doing, Axel?! Do you not hear her screaming?!"

I scrambled quickly to grab a blanket and cover myself while Axel tried to regain his composure. "Get the fuck out of here, Roxas… this is none of your business."

"Right, so I'm just supposed to let you take advantage of the poor girl?" Roxas countered, getting up in his face. "Go downstairs. I'm taking Namine home."

"Like hell!" Axel shouted, shoving Roxas backwards. "She's fine! We were just having fun!"

Roxas smirked and looked over at me, "Is that true? Tell me you were having fun with him and I'll leave."

I was speechless. I didn't know how to respond to him… I was so grateful for him stepping in, but I could see this escalating very quickly. "Axel… I think it's time for me to go home."

"See? She doesn't want to stay," Roxas said, standing in between Axel and I. "Go back to the party."

In a blur of movement, Roxas was sent reeling back into the bed and nearly into my lap. I screeched, scrambling to see if he was alright, but he was already back on his feet. "I didn't wanna do this, Axe…" he growled before punching Axel square in the face, dropping him to the ground like it was nothing. He turned to me immediately, apparently not noticing the blood pouring from the corner of his mouth. "Are you okay, Namine?"

I nodded, trying to comprehend everything that had just happened. I don't know if I was still drunk or if I was maybe in shock, but I could not wrap my mind around it. "I… I'm fine… can you zip my dress back up…?"

He moved behind me and pulled the dress back into place before starting to slide the zipper up slowly. His fingers brushed against my skin softly, sending chills down my spine as I turned to face him. "Th..thank you.."

"We should go… he's not going to be happy when he comes to," Roxas said, pulling me to my feet. "Are these your shoes?" he asked, locating my flats from earlier in the corner along with my jeans and tank top. I nodded and he grabbed them, giving me the shoes to put on. "I think you would have looked even better just wearing this…" he mumbled, pulling me out of Axel's bedroom and downstairs.

"Rox, you're bleeding… are you okay…?" I asked him as he yanked me out of the still booming party.

He ignored my question, "Where's your car? I walked here."

"It's out front… I parked on the street so I could get out when I wanted to leave."

My keys fell out of the pocket of my jeans and he kept them, guiding me into the passenger's seat. "You'll have to give me directions…"

"Hang on a second… let me just look at your face," I begged him, trying to see anything in the dark.

"When we get to your house…" he said, turning away from me and starting the car.

August 31, 2014, 10:24 p.m.

I was lucky my parents weren't home when we got there… they were visiting some family from the area. Roxas parked and got out, helping me up and walking me inside.

"Here, sit down…" I told him, pulling him into the kitchen. I got a washcloth and wet it with warm water, trying to get rid of the already dried blood around his mouth and find the source of the new blood. "Roxas… your lips are split in like four places… and I think your gums are bleeding…"

He shrugged, "He caught me right in the mouth. I'll be fine."

"Are you sure you're okay…? I can take you to the emergency room, you might need stitches," I continued to dab at the wounds, but they kept on bleeding.

Suddenly his hand was clasped over mine, and he pressed the washcloth to his mouth, "Needs pressure," he mumbled through it, moving to replace my hand with his own.

"Do you want some ice? That's going to swell soon…" I fussed, unable to let well enough alone.

Roxas just shook his head, "I should go… Are you sure you're alright?"

"Rox… you just drove me blocks away from Axel's, where you said you walked to. Deductive reasoning says you don't live anywhere near here," I said, raising a brow, "You should stay here tonight. My parents are out for the weekend and it's the least I can do after you saved me."

He shook his head, pulling the washcloth away to talk, "I couldn't do that, Namine… I can walk, it's really not that far."

"There's no way in hell I'm letting you walk out of here tonight, Roxas… stay the night and I'll take you home tomorrow," I repeated, not willing to let this go. "I… I'm still shaken up from earlier. Please keep me company…"

He cocked a brow, totally not falling for it, "All right… I guess I'll stay. But hey, what is this going to mean for you and Axel?"

I hadn't even thought about it. "I… I have no idea… I mean, I know it was the alcohol, and I feel like I might have done some kind of stupid things to make the situation worse. I'll need to talk to him… a lot… but I'm hoping we can blame the booze and move forward."

"After all of that… after him nearly… Namine, he almost raped you. And you're telling me you can just move past that?"

It seemed incredulous when he said it, but something in me wanted things to work out. "Like I said… I'll just need to talk to him."