A/N: Sorry for the long wait guys! I was super busy, but I hope you enjoy this extra long chapter in apology. :-) I hope you guys like it. Now that I get to include more perspectives, the chapters will definitely be a bit longer. Hope you guys don't mind too much. XD
And much love goes out to all those who reviewed! Thank you! xoxo
XX-diamonds-XX
Summary: AU: Riku's band has the chance of a lifetime--they've finally made it to the Nationals. Between a wild road trip to the finals, band bonding and heated rivalry, which band will rise above the rest for a shot at fame? Sokai, Namiku, AkuRoku. Rated for strong language and suggestive themes.
Disclaimer: Nope! I own nothing! All belongs to Disney and Square-enix!
LiD: Rise and Crescendo
Chapter Six: Whiplashed
From where he was lying on the cheap motel bed, Roxas could hear shuffling about. It was soft; almost as though it was suppressed. Wait… suppressed? Why would anyone try and hide it?! Unless… unless they were out to get him!
Crap! Roxas squealed mentally, curling up under his course blanket. I'm gonna die! In his mind's eye, Roxas saw a mad, rugged man with a chainsaw. No! The man was half-robot, and his arm was a chainsaw! And the other one was an axe! A bloody axe!
Wait! Blood?
That means Axel's already dead!
"No!" Roxas burst out, throwing off the covers and hurling himself over the side of the bed where he could hide. And be cornered by the hypothetical killer. Under the bed.
Shit! Realizing his mistake, Roxas began madly flapping about, fighting against the bonds of the blanket he had wrapped himself in. Ahh! Killer! I'm gonna die, we're all gonna die! They're probably already dead!
He squirmed, he writhed, he thrashed about until—
"Crap Roxas—whatever you're doing to yourself over there, stop already."
Forcing himself to a position where he could rest his chin on the bed, Roxas gaped at his friend.
"Demyx! Dude! You're alive?!" he cried, crawling back onto his bed in relief.
"What?" Demyx laughed and shook his head, sitting down on to Axel's bed. Axel grunted testily.Even though Demyx hadn't teased him—like Axel would have had he been awake—Roxas still felt his cheeks go slightly pink. He covered it up by turning his back to his friends and moving to the couch, fiddling through his bags.
"What are you talking about?" Demyx prodded again. Roxas didn't answer to his friend's annoying prattles, though he could hear the mild concern in his voice. Demyx tried again, "Well?"
"Leave him alone. The kid pissed himself to sleep watching gore again last night," Axel grumbled, having been rudely awoken by Demyx's nattering.
"Hey!" Roxas snapped, turning to face his two best friends. At least now he could disguise the flushed cheeks for anger, something he had gotten habit of. "What the hell do you know? You just walked out—"
"And wasn't killed, amazingly, I know—" Axel cut in.
"I never thought that!"
Axel propped himself up on his elbows and laughed in a croaky, just-woke-up fashion. Before he could say anything though, Demyx raised a hand and cut in,
"Hey, hey let me get this straight: you went outside when Roxas was watching horror movies? C'mon man, you know he needs someone to practically tuck him into his damn bed at night." Axel laughed again, collapsing his weight from his elbows and lying back down. Still laughing, Axel added,
"You shoulda seen him when I walked in! He was curled up like some friggin' cat, all twitchy and shit on the couch."
Roxas glared heatedly at the two, then swiveled back around, feeling his face burn. Stupid Axel—figures. Roxas remembered feeling the uncomfortable fabric of the crap-ass couch. That and falling asleep to the sound of what's-her-face's screams; who had been falling down a billion-story building after a machete had been jabbed through her repeatedly—only to be splattered when she hit the ground and have her remains crushed by downtown traffic.
Roxas remembered his step-sister saying something about being "numb to violence". So not true. Roxas loved the adrenaline rush of fear every time a character was being hunted.
Focusing his attention back to the moment, Roxas realized it must have been Axel who had "tucked him in" that night if he'd ended up on his bed. Shuddering, Roxas grabbed a pair of boxers, a towel, some toothpaste and shower gel before making his way to the bathroom. The two idiots were still laughing and chucking out jokes about Roxas's sleeping habits. Pouting slightly as he closed the door, Roxas peeled off his clothes and showered quickly.
By the time he got out of the bathroom, Demyx had gone back to the other room to wake Xigbar—or Xiggy, as he preferred—leaving Axel still lying in his bed. He was flat on his back, hands folded behind his head and eyes wide open. Eyes wide open and shifting his focus on Roxas. Roxas shifted uncomfortably. Axel raised an eyebrow at him from where he lay, and said,
"Demyx says we should hurry up, you know. We need time to practice as well." Roxas nodded absently, eyes looking anywhere but at Axel. Ugh. This wasn't going well, and if Roxas kept this up all the way till Twilight City, they weren't going to get anywhere. Not that they had expected too—they had formed their band, Whiplash, as a joke if anything. Well, it had been a joke when they entered the local talent competition, and it had been almost a joke when they won the state finals—hell, were they surprised.
Roxas supposed it had just stopped being funny when they were told that they were going to the Nationals, to represent the state. Since then, everyone had been taking things a bit more seriously; including Axel, which was strange for him to take anything seriously, really.
Axel was one of his best-friends, hell, the whole band was close to him, but still… Roxas quickly moved to the dresser, not meeting his friend's eyes. Why hadn't he just brought clothes into the shower? Did he think it was totally okay to just friggin' waltz out of the shower in only boxers?
Dumbass, dumbass, dumbass…
Panicky again, Roxas grabbed the first pair of jeans he found and tried shoving them on. Damn you, pants! Get on! Why did he have to shake so much? Why couldn't he be totally cool about having no pants on, and even crack a few jokes with Axel? This was so stupid. Roxas had always been able to hold his own, but this?
Axel snorted.
"Want me to help you get your pants on? I'm already tucking you in at night, too."
Roxas growled in response, and trying to keep the defensiveness out of his voice, he said,
"I-I'm friggin' fine. Get your own ass up and put on some friggin' pants, stupid fag." Shit. Okay, so it was still defensive. He got his message across, right?
Axel chortled, getting up and making his way to the dresser. Roxas had finally gotten his grey jeans on properly, and was sitting bare-chested on his bed.
There was a soft thud against him, and Roxas immediately whirled.
"What the—" A shirt. Axel had tossed him a pale blue t-shirt, which Roxas quickly slipped on. Axel shot him an exasperated look as he leaned against the dresser. A strange look in his eyes, Axel said,
"Relax. I'm not gonna molest you or something."
Roxas flinched instinctively at the words, but tried to offer a sheepish smile. "Yeah I know, I was just… cold." He distinctly saw his best friend roll his eyes before stepping into the bathroom.
Moving to the dresser, Roxas tried to run a comb through his dark blond hair but to no avail. He didn't get it. Stupid, thick hair stuck up in every which direction, and no matter what he did, it'd never stay down. It always ended up looking like he had been holding a blow-dryer towards the back of his head at an angle, and like permanently melted his friggin' hair that shape.
Scowling at his reflection, Roxas slammed the comb down after a bit and gave his head a violent shake. Fine. The sonuva bitch could be messy, but Roxas was gonna make it messy. Stupid, stupid hair.
Roxas grabbed a navy blue hoodie out of his duffel bag that was sitting on the couch next to Axel's. The more clothes he had on, the better, especially if he was around to—
"Hey, 'scuse me."
Axel's arm reached around him, grabbing his own duffel bag. Roxas held his breath, feeling the warmth of Axel's arm against his stomach through his t-shirt. Fingers tensing on the hoodie in his hands, Roxas stiffened. Axel didn't need to take that long, did he? Did he? Why did he have to search through his bag, why couldn't he grab the whole damn thing and just go?
Roxas' breathing was growing short, goose bumps prickled his own skin, Roxas was sure his face was lighting up—
"Here!" Roxas cried, grabbing Axel's bag and chucking it at him, all the while shifting so that he and Axel were face to face, instead of Axel's creeping arm from behind…
Roxas shuddered, and shoved his hoodie on. His face must still have been pink though when it emerged from the neck of the sweater though, because Axel was smirking at him. Axel was always laughing at him, jeez.
"Thanks," Axel said mildly as he pulled out a crimson sleeveless and tugged it on. Picking up Roxas's abandoned comb from the dresser, he ran it though his mane of red hair. Roxas watched somewhat enviously as the comb slid easily through the fiery locks, fitting exactly as Axel wanted it to. But then, Axel always spent a ridiculous amount of time grooming. Like a friggin' girl or something, he was so damn vain.
Roxas began stuffing everything back into his duffel bag, and asked,
"So where are we heading next?" Axel turned and tossed him a devilish smirk.
"We'll be meeting with an acquaintance of mine. He'll know somewhere to hang for the night."
Roxas grimaced warily. He'd heard enough stories of Axel's random 'acquaintances' to be suspicious.
"Who," he began. "Who is this person?"
"Oh, you'll love him. He's quite the character." It didn't comfort Roxas in the least.
LiD
Sora frowned at his friend as he watched him shove their bags into the back trunk. Ever since Sora had woken up this morning, Riku had been nothing but moody. Acidic, angry, or as Kairi put it, man-sulky. Riku had mentioned something about "what-happened-was-none-of-his-business", but knowing Riku, that only intrigued Sora further.
Sora sighed and made his way to the backseat. He really wished Riku would just 'fess up.
But then, Sora supposed he'd pried enough into Riku's little bubble yesterday and all. It wasn't his fault though, Riku's dad had called him and asked him to… c'mon, even Riku can't be that blind. His dad's worried.
Rolling his eyes mentally, Sora jumped into the backseat where the two girls were already sitting. This time Naminé was in the middle – Kairi was being sulky herself and wanted the "window" seat. Sora had pointed out that the whole damn car was a window, but had just gotten punched in the arm for that.
Everything packed thoroughly away, the five were now cuddled up in Tidus's convertible. Tidus himself was still sleepy, having been rudely awoken at the crack of dawn by a kick to the face from Sora. Sora wasn't sorry in the least—the blond drummer had been using his big toe as a pacifier, dammit. Freakin' gross.
That was the last time he was sharing a bed with Tidus.
It was a good thing Kairi hadn't been awake, or she definitely would have snapped a photo for her collection. She had quite a few compromising ones already. Like the one with Tidus, practically snorting some fries he had wedged up his nose, as he dipped them in ketchup (he had, of course, thought no one was looking at the time). And then there was that one before formal, where Kairi – too klutzy herself – had forced a very awkward Sora to teach an even more awkward Riku to dance ("Dude!" Riku had whined. "You're like, touching me!" Sora and Kairi had sneered at Riku to just grow up; it was to impress Riku's date, after all. Of course, no one was to ever know it had been Sora to teach him). Shuddering at the thought of those photos in the wrong hands, Sora felt the car start up.
Riku, still 'mansulky', was picking up his pace with the car. Frowning at the warning sign, Sora leaned over Naminé and said sharply but quietly to Riku,
"Dude; don't take out your anger on the car, 'kay?" Riku didn't respond, but he did slow down as they pulled into a more mainstream road. Sora leaned back into his seat, taking the orange that Naminé had passed to him. They hadn't had much time to grab a breakfast, as they had a bit of distance to cover till the next major place to stop in.
Glancing down, Sora realized with a smile that Naminé had peeled it for him already, and was spreading cream cheese over a bagel from the food bag for him as well.
"I can feed myself, you know," he said, not unkindly. He raised an eyebrow, a smirk in place. Naminé smiled vaguely back but didn't say anything, instead handing him the bagel. He glanced over at Kairi, who had also fallen asleep in the car, head lolled back and snoring loudly. This is so a chance for payback.
Snickering, Sora pulled out his phone from his cargo pocket. Naminé raised an eyebrow at him, then looked to her sleeping sister. She giggled.
"Sleeping beauty," Sora mouthed out to Naminé with a wink as he took the shot. Kairi stirred a bit, but didn't wake up. Riku's eyes flicked to the rear view window, but he didn't say anything except,
"Wanna pass me an orange?" Naminé's smile waned a bit, but she complied and handed him a granola bar, along with his peeled orange, a buttered bagel and a juice pouch. Riku took them just as silently as Naminé handed them, and used the slumbering Tidus to hold it all.
The silence remained, perturbed only by Kairi or Tidus's snoring. Deciding to make light conversation, Sora asked Naminé,
"Does your sister always snore this loud?" Naminé smirked slightly, and responded with a wary glance towards her sister,
"Yeah. When we were kids, she'd come into my room to sleep because she was terrified of monsters. I'd wake up with bags under my eyes the next morning, but Kai never believed that she could snore." Naminé stuck out her tongue teasingly to her sleeping sister. Sora laughed,
"Damn; I'm so screwed if we ever end up living together."
"You're an only child, right?" Naminé inquired.
"Hmm…? Oh yeah – I wish I wasn't though. The only family I've got that's my age is Roxas," Sora laughed a bit here, and added, "Riku knows him! Right, Riku?" There was a shrug from Riku in the front, and Sora rolled his eyes. Yeesh, that's what he got for trying to include the guy in some conversation. But then, Roxas had never been exactly Riku's favourite topic – or person, for that matter.
Naminé brought Sora back into the conversation when she asked,
"Roxas?"
"Yeah, he's my cousin; from my late dad's side of the family. He's only a few months older than me – crap!" a thought occurred to Sora, and he quickly pulled out his cell phone and started clicking away. Naminé looked confused, and asked what he was doing as he was typing. He smiled brightly, and turned the phone so she could decipher his text message:
Hey Roxas – happy birthday, man. I'm awesome; hope you are too. Buy yourself something nice from me. I'll pay you back next time we meet. :P
Sora took the phone back, and responded to Naminé's questioning look, "He's turning sixteen – he's so friggin' smart though. Skipped a grade or something, so he's like going into grade twelve next year."
"Really?"
Sora nodded, beaming with pride. A slight laugh in his voice, he said, "Yeah, but he's a total prep. Was, anyways. I can't remember which, but he used to – oh! He actually used to go to Radiant Garden – for like, piano and drama I think – before he dropped out for normal school. Not exactly sure why, though."
"Radiant Garden? You sure?" Naminé asked, curiosity piqued. She furrowed her brow, no doubt trying to recall any faces. She asked, "What's he look like?"
"I dunno. Kinda like me, blonde hair, blue eyes… dressed like a total prep though. I'm talking polos, shades, brand name jeans… heh. But he's a good guy – I see him like two or three times a year. Same as ever; far as I know."
Sora paused for a moment, and flipped through his cell phone until he found a photo of his cousin. Roxas was flashing a million-dollar smile up at the camera, the familiar glint in his slightly darkened eyes. Sora, grinning cheesily, had one arm thrown casually over his shoulders, hand reaching around to pinch Roxas' cheek. Passing it to Naminé, he said, "Here's a picture." She glanced at it, and said,
"Hey! I think I recognize him!"
Sora's eyes widened in surprise. "Really?"
"Yeah…" Naminé laughed sheepishly. "I saw him around on campus I think. I never really talked to him… we were pretty young. I was in my first year; you said he left, so I guess that's why I never saw him much after." Sora grinned,
"He's actually a lot quieter than me, amazingly." Naminé laughed lightly, and a comfortable lull fell into the conversation. Bored, Sora pulled out his cell phone once again; thoughts still on his cousin.
An actual phone call would have been more thoughtful, but he'd rather not wake up Kairi or Tidus right now, and if waited till later he'd most likely forget. That and a long distance call to Roxas' hometown would be damn expensive. Maybe Roxas would call him back from his home phone in D'Arc City – or City of the Arc, as some knew it for
the impressive steel arc that spanned the inner city. Not that his cousin Roxas would care – he wasn't a temperamental person. That was probably why Sora and him got along so well on the rare occasion they got to see each other.
Sora sighed and put the phone away, leaning against the door. He wished he got to see his cousin more often, but ever since his dad had passed away…
… A blaring song with a strong, perpetual bass had pulled in nearby, interrupting Sora's thoughts.
"Hey, knew you couldn't stay away from us," a sharp voice gloated. Glancing over, Sora saw the blond, Demyx, and another, eye-patched man in the back seat of a convertible. In the front, he noticed a hooded, bundled up figure beside a flaming haired young man.
It was the one person who could only piss the already moody Riku off. The voice had belonged to none other than A-X-E-L. Damn.
LiD
They had pulled up at a stoplight in a particularly busy intersection, and to the left of them were Axel's newest favourite people.
Axel couldn't help himself. Smirking, he glanced over at the other driver. Riku, yeah, that was his name. The silver-haired dude with a lot of anger issues. With a slight grimace, Axel remembered his expression of utter hatred towards him as he was slammed up against the pillar. Dumbass.
Riku glared at him heatedly, and spat,
"What do you want?" Axel smirked again and said,
"A little excitement would be nice."
Riku raised an eyebrow and replied, "Really? I woulda thought going around harassing chicks gave you plenty of action." Axel glared. Oh no, Riku was so not going there. Not letting the aqua-eyed teen know he'd pushed a button, Axel sneered,
"You want some action now?" Axel's raised a challenging eyebrow at Riku as he revved up his car.
Riku snorted in response, and focused his attention back on the road. The light still shone red, letting the cars pass across them. The spiky-haired loser spoke up,
"Don't be stupid, Riku," he warned. "Just ignore him." What? He was going to ignore him? Axel scowled. I don't think so, buddy.
"Listen to your lame-ass friends man. Fighting is just wrong," Axel mocked, voice going higher at the end in his false preaching. He saw Riku's knuckles grip the steering wheel tighter. In the back, Demyx caught on and added,
"Yeah! Why the hell would you actually stand up for yourself?"
"As soon as the red light changes," Riku seethed with a taut jaw. "We go, and I'm gonna leave you so far behind you won't even be able to kiss my ass."
"Riku!" the teen's friend protested. "I'm serious! Just let it go, man!" With his cry, the other blond sitting next to Riku had awoken.
"Wha—" the blond broke into a huge yawn. He looked as though he was about to say something, but…
… Green. Too late. And with that, Axel pressed the pedal to its full depth.
The car picked into full speed, whipping past buildings and even other vehicles. Beside him, Riku's convertible was keeping pace, the driver's eyes hard and focused. The road in front was being swallowed by the speeding cars. The buildings had melted away, and open landscape was throttling by them. Axel laughed, and pressed harder on the pedal.
Wind practically slapping his face, Axel heard Demyx cheering in the back, calling out,
"Come on, losers! What the frig' is the matter, can't keep the hell up?!"
They were past the water tower now, and the engines were so loud it challenged the music, with Demyx whooping over all of the noise. A familiar adrenaline racing through him, Axel couldn't resist a smirk as he saw the car beside him pull into a brief lead, before slackening a bit. He's not gonna last long.
Still speeding, Axel grinned when he heard the other car come to a squealing stop behind them. Dumbass probably gave into his friends. Whatever, his loss. As ecstatic as he was with the victory, Axel still groaned as he saw Demyx stand up in the back and roar,
"You just got WHIPLASHED!!"
There was a cry of pain, and Axel knew Demyx had been dragged back down by Xiggy. Xiggy grumbled, still upset with having been awoken,
"Friggin' lamewad. Sit your sorry ass down; wanna get pulled over?" Demyx didn't respond right away, but Axel saw him punch Xiggy in the chest.
"What?" Demyx snapped, struggling in Xiggy's headlock. "We'd get pulled over for me standing up, but not for Axel speeding like some sorta… friggin'… fast guy?" Xiggy raised an eyebrow, but ignored the terrible simile when he said,
"No, no one cares about the speeding. You were a moron up there; more than enough reason for the cops to come."
"Screw you."
"You wouldn't know how."
Smirking from the front, Axel said casually, "I can help you there."
The two in the back shut up immediately.
Axel rolled his eyes, attention now shifting to the blond beside him.
Roxas had fallen asleep again in the front, but was now sleepily coming to. Figures. The dork could sleep through a damn hurricane. Too many horror movies. Too much gore. Axel winced, feeling his stomach churn at the thought of slaughtered body parts. Dammit, what the hell was so great about hack-and-slash?
Roxas' hood had been pulled up, cascading all the way down to leave only tufts of blond hair and his lips exposed. Thin, pink, slightly cracked lips. Axel had constantly advised Roxas that he should use lip chap. But, of course, that was far too girly for Roxas; so his lips remained dry. Mmm… Axel could think of plenty of other ways to remedy that problem, though. All of which would only scare Roxas so far away that Axel would not – as Riku had so elegantly put it – be able to even kiss his ass.
Roxas sat up and yawned, casting a quizzical look at Axel.
"What just happened?" asked Roxas.
"Nothing, precious," Axel responded cheerfully. "You just go right back to sleeping tight." Roxas scowled – no, Axel swore it was almost a pout, crap – and Axel couldn't help but smile as he focused his attention back on the road. He did all of the driving for the trip, but on occasion Xiggy would as well. Axel didn't exactly trust his car in the hands of the 21-year-old tattoo artist/black market dealer, but what choice did he have? He needed sleep too.
Xiggy and Demyx were still bickering in the back, and Axel wouldn't be surprised if it escalated into an outright fistfight. Faggots. They need to get off each other's case every once and while. But then, Axel supposed he'd be sick of someone too if they lived in his basement. Not that Demyx's grandparents needed the extra income really, but they always felt sorry for people who needed cheap places to stay. Axel smiled in spite of himself at the thought of Demyx grandparents. Sweetest, most adorable old couple anyone would ever friggin' see.
His thoughts were disrupted by the blond beside him though. Roxas had pulled out a candy bar from his pocket, and was about to eat it when Axel cut in,
"Eww, Roxas; don't eat that crap in the morning."
"Then take us somewhere to eat, ass," Roxas snapped, eyes slightly red and swollen from having just been rudely awoken. Roxas took a bite of the candy bar anyways, and chewed on it aggressively, glaring out the front window. Axel smirked again, amused by his friend's irritable mood. He normally hated having food in his convertible, but today, was Roxas' special day, so Axel would make some exceptions.
Roxas was always grumpy when he woke up; he always had to sleep at least nine hours to be semi-happy; he had to have time to brush his hair (which he never could, but never gave up trying); had to brush his teeth with lemon-ice toothpaste; had to fold his blanket but never fix his sheets; had to have a naval orange, a strawberry jam sandwich, hot chocolate (no matter what, Roxas was always cold in the mornings) and half of an iced croissant with a dab of whip-cream on top…
Shaking his head, Axel stopped obsessively listing off all of his best friend's morning habits. If this kept up, Axel was going to die simply from waiting inside. Not like you can say anything though. Not yet.
Pulling into a drive-thru, Axel lit up a cigarette while he was waiting for their turn. Roxas gave him a sidelong glance, but didn't say anything. Well, didn't say anything until Axel gave a hacking, smoker's cough. Roxas grimaced in concern as he flipped his hood down and jammed his hands in the hoodie's pockets. He told Axel,
"You really shouldn't smoke so much, you know."
"Why the hell not? You do it too." Axel snapped, feeling defensive. It was his damned life.
Roxas quieted down, eyes dropping at the fierce fire in Axel's. Yeah, Roxas smoked too, but… it was only ever out of the need to calm his nerves. He could remember back when they'd first met, how Roxas had picked up the habit out of more of an image factor than anything else. Pshht… Roxas was always like that. A slight twinge of guilt pricked Axel, remembering it had been he and Demyx to introduce poor innocent Roxas to the world of cancer sticks and booze (and a whole lotta other crap at that).
Roxas was sitting tilted away from him, eyes staring out the window. Axel silently cursed himself; snapping at a friend wasn't the best way to start the day. But too proud to repair the damage, Axel just leaned over the side of his convertible when the voice box asked,
"How may I help you?"
Axel quickly listed off breakfast for the four of them, and pulled up to the window to get the food. Passing breakfast to the group, Axel was about to pull out of the drive-thru when—
Slam.
"What the hell?!" Axel roared at the car in front. It had stopped so suddenly, Axel had to slam on the breaks to not collide. "Friggin idiot!"
Seething, he nearly pounded the steering wheel when he saw some stupid gay-ass jump out of the van in front and run back to the drive-thru window.
Frustration still clouding his mind, he was pulled out with a mild moan from beside him. Turning, he saw Roxas dabbing the sleeve of his sweater at his thigh—the sudden stop had caused the still burning hot coffee to slosh through the opening on the cup, and some of it spilled on his pants. Axel winced for his friend—burns sucked major ass. Axel had played with fire long enough to know that.
Axel pulled out some tissues from a box nearby, and gently helped wipe Roxas' pant leg clean.
"Sorry about that," Axel mumbled, not meeting Roxas' eyes. Roxas was now resting a hand on his scalded thigh, but was grinning for his friend's sake. Roxas was in pain, because of some idiot in some damn van in front of them and Axel could have… he was gonna…
"It's all right," Roxas laughed, voice surprisingly casual. "It's not your fault old farts can't drive."
"Yeah," Xiggy agreed vaguely. "Old people suck."
"Hey!" Demyx cried out defensively, shoving the older man. "You live in my grandparents basement, dumbass!" Xiggy bowed his head.
In spite of himself, Axel met Roxas' eyes and smirked too. Roxas, Axel told himself for the millionth time in his life, had the bluest eyes, had the most subtle glint… not a sparkle, but this shimmer of emotion… Axel wondered what they'd look like with eyeliner. His friend wasn't into that "drag-queen, gay-ass shit" (Roxas was always cute when he got defensive like that) as he put it, but Axel could imagine. Not that it mattered anyways – Roxas was adorable as he was…
… Without really thinking, Axel's hand was resting on where Roxas thigh had been burned. Over Roxas' own hand. Axel wasn't even able to process the emotion—if he had, he might have exploded or something from it all—but he was practically holding hands on Roxas' thigh.
For the briefest moment, Axel thanked the stupid old man that couldn't drive.
But alas, the moment did not live any longer than it was born. A panicked expression flashed on Roxas' face, and the blond quickly pulled his hand away, masking it by running his hand through his hair.
"W-wonder what's, um, holding up… the… um… line, thing…" Roxas had gone very pink as he said this, as always. Flipping up the hood of his sweater again, Roxas retreated into it. Again, only from his lips down could be seen. In a contradiction of what Roxas had just said to Axel, Roxas reached into his own pocket and pulled out a lighter and a smoke.
Ah crap.
Axel watched Roxas for a moment, contemplating on whether or not he should pull the cigarette out of his mouth. And as cute as it may look, Axel hated seeing that nicotine stick jutting out from Roxas' lips. Axel didn't want Roxas to die of smoking, dammit. That would suck ass more than himself dying.
Not knowing what else to do, Axel mentally sighed and pulled out another cigarette. Shit.
LiD
The car came to a squealing stop, much to Kairi's gratitude. She'd awoken when her head had done a full-whiplash—what had that loser with the faux-hawk cried out? Oh, right – "You just got WHIPLASHED!!" What a lame-ass. Seriously.
Groaning and rubbing her neck, Kairi adjusted herself in the leather seats of the convertible. Riku was in the front, seething and resting his head on the steering wheel; Naminé was looking horrified, gripping the seat; Tidus too looked like he had just woken up, and Sora? Well… Sora looked almost as pissed as Riku—he was glaring at his friend so hard that even the upcoming storm wouldn't weather it.
Kairi said aloud, "What the heck just happened here, huh?" Irritated at having been woken up, Kairi began trying to comb through her auburn hair with her fingers, pushing it into a ponytail. Glaring, she was startled when Sora snapped at her,
"Look Kairi. Just—" Whatever Sora was going to say to her, he got cut off when Riku practically kicked open his door. Yeesh, what's his problem? Riku slammed the door behind him, scowl written on his face, and stormed off. Sora shot up from his seat.
"Riku!"
"Hey!" Kairi cried, getting up as well. "Riku?! Wha—get back here!" She threw Sora an incredulous expression. The hell? Why wasn't anyone explaining anything?! She noticed that they had pulled over alongside a bland, dry landscape. Beside them stood countless trees, lining the raised road against gentle hills. After the dip, there stretched endless fields of wheat in the rising sun, the stalks practically glowing golden with the sun's rays.
They watched Riku storm off past the trees, his silver head disappearing beyond the small hill and somewhere into the distant fields. Oh yeah, the farmer was so not gonna be pissed at that, Kairi thought sarcastically. She made to jump over the door and go after him but—
"Riku!" Sora called out again, jumping over the door. Kairi gripped his arm.
"Sora—wait! You can't find him alone in this grass!" Stupid Riku, always trying to go at it alone…Kairi was about to climb over again, but Sora gently placed his hands on her shoulders.
"Kairi—he's not gonna talk—"
"Argh, it could take forever to find him!" Kairi continued, ranting. "Of all the places we had to stop! That oaf—you know he's a damn good hider when he wants to be!" she steamed. Sora held Kairi's fierce glare for a moment, and she grudgingly quieted. Without looking behind her, she knew that Tidus and Naminé were sitting attentively. Sora broke the brief silence.
"I know," he said softly. He looked over his shoulder, his gaze distant over the mass of wheat before them, rippling with the passing wind. "He always has been."
Kairi watched his eyes as they came back to rest on her.
"I'll go talk to him," he said.
She hesitated, searching her surroundings, before nodding in understanding. Argh… fine… Sora was his best friend, after all.
And with that, Sora walked past the trees, and began the small descent downwards.
Kairi sighed; Riku could be so childish sometimes. At times like these, she just didn't know what to do with him. Kairi hoped he was okay, though. Trust Sora. It was their common link with Sora that their friendship had even developed. Other than that, she doubted that she and Riku would have ever spoken to each other.
Naminé coughed. Her attention was suddenly drawn back to the convertible, catching Tidus and Naminé's expressions for the first time since Riku's graceful exit.
"Dude… what the hell?"
LiD
Riku shoved wheat aside, kicking his way through the fields. Anger was pounding through his veins; his vision was blurred with fury. Dammit. What the hell were you thinking? You could have crashed the car, you could have hurt them, you could have… you've no control… none at all… Riku let out a roar of frustration and punched a tree he'd come across. He had stopped suddenly during the race, when the image of his father flickered before his eyes. Feeling exhausted, Riku sank to his knees, hating himself even more as his father's words came pouring out to taunt him.
"Just like your old man," his father chortled, hands on the steering wheel. Riku glared out the window, not knowing how to respond.
"I—you… don't ever…" His father laughed again, pulling into their driveway. Getting out of the car, he raised an eyebrow at his son, who was still seething in the passenger seat.
"Get a grip, son. You've got no direction in life, none at all."
"Yeah I do! I wanna do something with my life, not just throw it away to make money."
"Now you listen here son: I work for a living to provide for you now and provided for your late mother then…"
"Don't even bring her into this!"
"Riku! I have every right to speak of her; she was my wife! Don't you… argh! Think about someone else instead of your own damn self for once!"
"Me? What about you? If you weren't so caught up in your work, mom wouldn't always have had to run your errands for you!"
"Dammit Riku, she was going to the grocery store. Just like any other damn day!"
Riku couldn't take it anymore. He leapt out of the car and stormed to the front door, shaking with anger. What he'd give to hit something… right now…
"Riku! Get back here! It's not—I didn't… nobody can…" his father's words were lost on Riku, and the silver-haired teen made his way inside the house, racing to his room. He didn't need this, he didn't need this…
"Hey."
He felt a hand on his shoulder, and Riku jerked his head up.
"Sora—just… get lost. I don't need this right now," he seethed, still lost in his irate memories. His head tilted to the ground again, silver wisps of hair falling into his eyes. His friend didn't move, instead crouching down next to him. His hand still on Riku's shoulder, the teen asked softly,
"Why'd you do it?"
Riku smacked Sora's hand away and stood up, walking away so his back was to his best friend. Crossing his arms, he managed to say,
"I don't know."
Sora laughed softly, and sprawled out on the ground behind him. Thoughtfully, he said,
"Yeah, you do." Riku sighed and said bitterly,
"Because I have no control. I saw him and I… just flipped, okay? I—I… you…" Riku hung his head, unfolding his arms. "Sorry."
"What did he do anyways?"
"He… last night…" Riku hesitated, though he knew he couldn't keep it from Sora much longer anyways. He pried too much. Or cares… Riku turned slightly, looking over his
shoulder as he spoke, "I came outside, and he was all over Naminé. I dunno—I just…" Riku studied his hands, continuing, "… I was just ready to beat the crap out of him." Sora tilted his head sideways, watching his older friend.
"So that was it? Axel was just getting on your nerves?" Riku hung his head once again, feeling the intent of Sora's quizzical stare. Damn, Sora knows me too well.
"No… I…" Riku began.
"I'm sorry about getting on your case, man." Riku turned to his friend, and saw Sora motioning for Riku to come sit on a patch of grass nearby. To one side of them were the vast wheat fields they'd emerged from, and to the other was what looked like an enormous pasture.
"It – it's all right. My dad put you up to it, I know," Riku replied, sitting down next to Sora. Sora lay down, hands folded behind his head. He said,
"You know, he…" Sora cast a glance at Riku, and hearing no interruptions, he continued, "Your dad is just… freaking out a little, you know? His… you're all he's got left, and you just sort of… up and left." Riku yanked out a few blades of grass, and replied wearily,
"I… Sora, you… you don't get it." Raising an eyebrow, Sora propped himself up on his elbows to look at Riku.
"Riku… you know… I know what it's like to… not have… someone." Riku sighed again, not knowing how to explain what he was feeling. Yes, Sora had lost his own father at the age of two… but that had been… different.
"You… you never knew your…" Riku stopped himself, not wanting to rub any salt in Sora's hidden wounds. "Like, your family has moved on, you know?" Your world was left in peace…
"And you still miss your mom?"
"Yea–no Sora—I mean, she – she's gone, and I can accept that… but…" Riku tried again, rubbing his eyes tiredly. "I… my mom… she was everything with my family. My dad and I never got along without her. And now – and now that she's gone, it's like…"
"Like the family's gone too, right?"
"Yeah, I guess…" Riku replied, his eyes drifting to the horizon over the pasture.
Riku's words trailed off, and Sora threw him a thoughtful glance before finally nodding in understanding. Riku felt relieved, not having to entirely explain himself. That was one of the benefits of having a childhood friend he supposed. Sora was lying back down, and Riku stretched out next to him. Seeing Riku playing with the grass, Sora plucked his own, larger blade out from the ground.
"Remember when we were still with Scouts? You know, they taught us how to make grass whistles?" Riku smirked—he did remember. They had both been expert campers by the end of it; this was the first summer they would not be returning even as camp counselors.
Sora pressed the blade of grass with his thumb, and leaning in, he blew gently. A soft, whirring sort of whistle floated from it, and a flood of memories washed over Riku. Suddenly laughing at the memory of him and Sora getting lost and having nothing to do but grass whistle, Riku blew on his own blade of grass. The two broke out laughing, and Riku felt the warm country air, the smell of fresh wheat, heard his childhood friend's laughter…
… Suddenly, nothing really mattered. Everything was calm, and still. With a cheesy grin, Sora said,
"Remember—remember the last time we were out on a field like this?" Riku laughed at the memory, and replied,
"I think that was the best time our campers had. Gotta love them crop circles."
Sora's eyes widened with excitement. "I can't believe we got away with it! And everyone was so impressed!"
"Pfffft—you didn't even want to do it at first," Riku smirked.
"Heh, yeah, but it was all harmless fun, right?"
"Harmless fun? Yeah, until we took that picture of it and sold it to the local paper."
"Dude! We made so much munny from that shot!"
"But then the farmer found out and ratted us out, remember? He was so pissed, he nearly took my head off!"
"You do bring out the worst in things, Riku."
"Stupid punk!"
Laughing, Riku sat up and punched Sora in the chest. Sora mock-groaned in pain, then tripped Riku. Within moments, the boys were locked in a spontaneous wrestling match. A rustling was nearby however, and Riku and Sora froze. Riku had Sora pinned down with one knee on his back and Sora's other arm twisted behind his back, but Sora had a firm grip on Riku's forearm. Letting go, Riku sauntered over to the wheat fields.
"Hello?" he asked. "Is any—"
"You kids!" a grouchy old man cried out, emerging from the stalk and waving a pitchfork around. His worn-out overalls and straw hat gave away his position. "Teenagers! Can't stay off 'a Private Property! Git the hell off ma farm, or I'm calling
the police!" Riku raised an eyebrow, and Sora had already jumped to his feet, hastily brushing grass out of his hair,
"Sorry sir! We didn't know that you were here, we'll just be—"
"I said GIT OFF!" Quickly, Sora shoved Riku and the two were smashing through the wheat, being hounded by a mad old farmer with a pitchfork. Laughing, they managed to stumble onto the road (only having knocked over two scarecrows in their scramble), leaving a fuming man behind them. Grabbing Sora by the arm, the two fumbled along until they reached the convertible. Kairi, Naminé and Tidus quickly halted the conversation they had been having, and raised their eyebrows at the two. They wore the funniest expression, completely identical.
"What's with the grass?" Tidus asked as Riku jumped into the passenger seat. About time he got a break from driving, yeesh. Riku combed his hands through his silver locks, and laughed, feeling lighter than he had all day.
"Mad farmer tried to kill us," Riku said, sharing a goofy grin with Sora.
Tidus nodded, as though that explained everything, and started the car once Sora had settled himself back in the car. Naminé was sitting behind Riku, and Sora was back in the middle. Kairi had preoccupied herself with picking the grass out of her boyfriend's hair, which he tried to block off by kissing her hands. Kairi wasn't the best defender either.
Riku rolled his eyes at the cutesy-ness of the couple behind him, but smirked in spite of himself. If Sora could cheer him up, then the kid deserved a bit of time with his girlfriend. Rolling his eyes once again, Riku leaned his seat back, hands folded behind his head. From her seat "above" him, Naminé locked eyes briefly with him before he slipped his sunglasses on. There was the strangest expression in her eyes; the most flickering question.
Tidus broke the moment however, when he piped up while he was driving,
"Wait… so where to now?" Riku sighed and yanked the still-open map towards him. Glancing at it, he responded,
"Uh… to some place called Sandsea."
LiD
Now back on the highway, the wind whipping past Axel's convertible had helped to soothe the scald on Roxas' thigh. It was still sticky, but Roxas was more than willing to wait till he got some privacy until he changed. Especially after he and Axel had almost held… bleh.
Roxas couldn't even finish the thought, he was so disturbed.
He had noticed that today, Axel was being friendlier than usual… well, Axel wasn't as mocking, as teasing, or as suggestive as his usual self. Not that Roxas minded that Axel—he was the one that Roxas had first met, three years ago, after all.
Roxas grimaced to himself, remembering the odd beginning of their friendship. Roxas had dropped out of the prep art academy—Radiant Garden, or something like that—and had begged his father and stepmother to let him go to "normal school". They hadn't been happy—his family had a reputation to keep up, and some inner-city public school just wouldn't do—but in the end Roxas won. Mostly because he threatened to start failing all of his classes and wreak havoc on the academy, but all the same, he won, right?
Too bad things hadn't gone exactly as planned. Well, that was where Axel and Demyx had come in—even now, three years later, Roxas appreciated what they'd done for him in the long run.
"Hey, Roxas," Axel said mildly, pulling onto a more obscure road. It was afternoon right now, and they were probably gonna pull over again to eat something Demyx had packed. No one would mind—Demyx was a pretty damn good cook, and he knew it too. "How's your leg?" Roxas shifted uncomfortably, and gave a hasty,
"It's fine." He didn't need Axel doing his own examination of the leg. That could only end badly. He's only looking out for you! A voice argued. Just like always! Roxas heard the voices in his head, and immediately felt soothed.
Yes, yes Axel was just being a good friend. A totally normal, totally cool friend who took care of his bandmates and drank and smoke and hit on everybody… Roxas actually found comfort in that thought too. Axel was just horny. A horny, promiscuous bi-guy.
Not that Axel had ever come outright and said, "Hey guys, look at me! I'm bisexual! Y'all aren't homophobes, are ya?!" Naw, Axel still had yet to openly admit he was bi. But the rest of Whiplash had a very good suspicion of Axel's exceptionalexperimental" behavior. Roxas remembered the band rehersal well…
"Yo, when's Axel gonna get here?" Demyx asked, strumming on his electric guitar. Xiggy, at the drum kit, snorted and said,
"Probably off screwing someone before coming to his buddies."
Roxas shifted uncomfortably. Xiggy said someone, not some chick. So maybe… maybe Xiggy was thinking the same thing Roxas had been? Fiddling with the tuners on his bass, Roxas asked, staring at the floor,
"Guys… do you think Axel's, like, gay or something?" A pause.
"That's what I was thinking," Xiggy said with a shrug.
"Yeah, me too," Demyx agreed, looking up. "I didn't wanna say it but hey…"
"He's probably more bi anyways," Xiggy pointed out. "He's always all over the ladies too."
"Yeah."
"Yeah."
"Yeah," Roxas added unintelligently. Well, at least he'd gotten that off of his chest…
… Roxas grabbed the sandwich Demyx had handed him, and started pulling off bites thoughtfully. Axel had indeed pulled over, and the band was eating a quick lunch. Roxas watched his best friend, who was currently standing outside but leaning against the driver's door, ripping the crust off his sandwich and chucking them at Demyx ("Stop it!" Demyx whined pathetically. Xiggy found this quite amusing, and joined in the Let's-Chuck-Crusts-At-Demyx-A-Thon!).
If Axel was bi, and not just… experimental… that meant he could potentially have boyfriends. Like, relationships. Roxas shuddered. Not that Roxas had anything against Axel, or gays in general… but still. If Axel started to bring boyfriends to rehearsals and shit, it'd get on Roxas' nerve. That would be so stupid; doesn't Axel ever give it up?
Roxas had finished his sandwich, and was waiting for the other three to hurry up and get back in the car after they were done eating. Wait—why hadn't Axel kicked him out? Axel loved his car—it was an older convertible that had been completely pimped by Axel's father, who owned a garage. He had a "don't-eat-in-my-friggin'-car-you-fags" policy whenever he could help it—why had Axel even gone through a drive-thru? Why hadn't Axel snapped at Roxas when the coffee had spilt everywhere? Axel's car… Axel's dad… the car had been a gift on Axel's birthday two years past, when he'd turned sixteen…
... Birthday! That was it! Today was Roxas' own birthday, and he'd totally forgotten! Roxas was a complete loser, he realized. A total fag. How the hell do you forget you're turning sixteen? Not that it mattered… Roxas didn't expect anyone else to notice… but Axel and Demyx had to have remembered…
Roxas pulled out his cell phone, even though he didn't really expect anything. Scanning through his messages… there! He couldn't help but grin to himself; as expected, Sora's message was waiting to be read:
Hey Roxas—happy birthday, man. I'm awesome; hope you are too. Buy yourself something nice from me. I'll pay you back next time we meet. :P
Roxas chuckled to himself, and texted back,
Sure thing. Thanks for the new car. :P
Shaking his head, Roxas supposed the best thing to have done would be to call back and have an actual conversation. But then, Sora was all the way in Destinyville, and Roxas didn't have enough credit left on his phone to make a long-distance call that far.
As cousins, they got along very well—in fact, it had been Sora who had introduced Roxas to the bass, and from there Roxas had taught himself.
But then, they never really got a chance to see each other—though, in the past three years, a lot had changed. Roxas still cringed in guilt sometimes, but brushed it off. After all, Roxas' mother had been Sora's late father's sister; ever since the divorce, Roxas hardly ever saw his real mother anymore. Not that he particularly wanted to; his mother and father seemed to have completely moved on.
So have I though. I've got new friends, a new life.
Roxas' thoughts were interrupted by the rocking of Axel jumping into the driver's seat again.
"Everybody, buckle up! We're heading out," Axel said as he started up the car.
"Where exactly are we heading?" Demyx asked warily from the back. Axel grinned and said,
"You'll see."
LiD
Slamming his drink down on the table, the wobbly gentleman in front of him stood up.
"What, Jack, going out already?" the young bartender asked, wiping a mug clean with his rag. The drunk man re-adjusted the three-pointed hat on his head and leaned over, pointing a finger at the bartender.
"Will," Jack said, speech slurring. "I'll 'ave you know tha' I 'ave some bizness to be takin' care of." Will frowned in concern, and asked Jack,
"Are you sure you won't need a ride home?"
"Now, m'boy, Cap'n Jack Sparrow dusn't need to 'ave someone to be lookin' after 'im, 'cos then I would 'ave to look after myself to make shoore I don't get no one in trouble, and then I'd just end up looking awfter the person whom should be doing the looking awfter me." The lean young man gave him a funny look and simply replied,
"All right, Captain," Will said, watching his friend carefully. Captain his ass, Jack looked as worn down as ever. Will just didn't understand why it was that whenever he got drunk, Jack seemed to live in his insane pirate fantasies. It wasn't the safest state of mind to go into the streets with.
Ah well, when Jack set his mind to something there was nothing to get him off of it. With a sigh, he told the "Captain", "Just be careful, and if you get hauled in by the cops again, give me a call, okay?" Jack gave a toothy grin and nodded clumsily, stumbling over to the door of the bar. Shaking his head, he just managed to call out,
"Wait—Jack! What exactly are you going to do?" Jack paused at the door, and turned to answer,
"I got an acquaintance of mine to pick up. 'E gave me a ring on the telly and told me 'e'd be stopping by with a few a couple o' mates of 'is. Something 'bout a mate's birthday." William frowned again; he didn't like the sound of birthday bashes with his already drunk friend. Knowing better than to say anything though, he simply waved as Jack left into the evening light.
Sighing, William pulled out his phone and changed the settings so he could hear the ring. He needed to get to the station as fast as possible if Jack got taken in, again—he already had the station payphone on its own ring tone for his phone. But what Captain Jack Sparrow would never know, was that the tune was very fitting.
Will began humming the tune subconsciously as he continued serving drinks.
"And a yo-ho-ho, a pirate's life for me…"
A/N: There you go! Hope this didn't come off as too much of a filler chapter. The next one is going to be soooooo much fun to write! XD Please, in your comments, any feedback on Whiplash would be much appreciated! I'm enjoying writing their half of the story too now, I'd like to know what you guys think. So just make sure to review. :P