13

:About five hours later:

Music pounded from the speakers as Roxas reached for the almost empty bottle of tequila from his spot on the couch. The empty bottle of whiskey lay next to him.

...I'll go ahead and pour myself a drink. I really couldn't care less what you think...

The sounds of Hinder hit Roxas from all sides, words slowly getting twisted in his head.

...I don't wanna know its over, so save your goodbye kiss. I don't wanna know its over, cause ignorance is bliss. I can hardly see what you've done to me, cause the Vodka's running on empty. I cant stay sober, till its over...

"HA!' he hollered to no one in particular. 'Axel made this CD for me and theirs nothing you can do about it. Nothing, you hear me, NOTHING!" he roared the last word.

The phone rang for the fifth time in the last hour. Roxas stumbled over to the phone, almost dropping his bottle in the process. He grasped in phone cord and tore it out of the wall.

"Ha! That'll teach you ta' ring!" He grinned stupidly and giggled. He heard a knock at the door. The blonde staggered to the front of the house, grasped the knob and twisted.

It was locked, damn. He pulled on the little knob until it came unlatched. Grasping the door handle again, he wrenched the door open.

xxxx

The sounds of Hinder could be heard from the front path. Axel exited his car and strode purposefully up the front steps. Upon reaching the front door, he knocked loudly. The teen saw the door handle wriggle , heard a faint curse, and finally felt a gust of hot air hit him. The scent of mixed berries and booze hit him hard in the face. He looked at the bedraggled blonde standing in front of him and couldn't believe his eyes.

The Roxas in front of him couldn't be his Roxas. The short...thing...in front of him had blood-shot sky blue eyes that had turned dark, a very pale complexion, half flat hair, mussed up clothes, only one sock, and an almost empty tequila bottle in his right hand. Axel looked behind Roxas and saw an assortment of liquor bottles, most of them at least half empty.

"What. The. Fuck." Axel said, directing his attention back to the younger of the two.

"Im havin' a party! Wanna make-out?' Roxas paused. 'Maybe im being too forward. I know! Wanna fuck?" Roxas snorted.

Axel wrenched the bottle from Roxas' grasp and shoved him backwards out of the door frame. Roxas careened over a footstool and landed on the carpet with a soft thud.

"Are you fucking insane? I know your upset, but drinking is not the answer, it only makes things worse! You could die, did you know that? Is that what you want, to die? To die like your parents?' tears filled Roxas' eyes ' Well that's an awful shitty way to go. God, your such a dumb-ass sometimes. Fuck! And just because im so pissed and also cause I want to, I'll say it again. Fuck!"

The house became quiet as the CD came to an end. Roxas met Axel's eyes.

"It worked for mom when dad died." Roxas whispered. At this, he turned his head and puked on the dining room tile behind him.

Axel picked Roxas up and carried him to the bathroom. Holding the petite blondes hair back for him, Axel let him empty his stomach. When Roxas was done, Axel put him in bed, knowing full well that tomorrow would be hell and Roxas would regret every drop of booze that passed over his lips. When he got back out in the living room, Axel began picking up bottles off the floor and stacking them on the coffee table.

"Rum, whiskey, tequila, Jack Daniels, Absolute, Tattoo.'his voice trailed off. 'Holy shit! What the hell was his mother thinking, keeping this much booze in a house. This is more than most liquor stores have in their entire stock! But what I wanna know is how the hell Roxas managed to drink this much without like, dying or drowning or something. Kid must have a strong stomach." Axel found a box in the hall closet and stacked all the bottles neatly inside. Setting the box to the side, Axel sighed.

Poor kid, he thought to himself, he's been through so much, What's he gonna do now?

Shrugging out of his leather jacket, Axel tossed it on the back of the couch and re-entered Roxas' room. He sat on the edge of the bed and kicked off his converse. (A/N: yes ladies, Axel wears converse too! Just like a real emo kid!) Axel lay behind Roxas on the bed as the small blonde curled into him. Axel absentmindedly stroked the blondes hair, not greatly anticipating the day to come.

xxxx

When Roxas awoke the next morning, he thought he had been hit over the head repeatedly with a hammer. He moaned and tried to sit up, quickly regretting his actions. He felt the bed sink down a little to his left. Cracking an eye open, he surveyed the dim room and found a very angry looking red-head with a throbbing temple glaring back at him holding a tall glass of what he hoped to hell was water, and two aspirin. Axel tilted Roxas head forward slightly, popped the aspirin in and got the blonde to drink some water. His touch was gentle but his face held something akin to anger. After swallowing, Roxas gave Axel a weak smile and got a ferocious (A/N: my friend Robyn wanted me to put penis instead of glare XP) for his efforts. Roxas' smile quickly turned into a grimace. His head throbbed painfully as Axel purposefully cleared his throat in the blondes ear.

"Gah! That hurt you dumb-ass! Why don't you just shoot me, it'll be less painful!" Roxas clamped his hands over his ears as he said this, his face screwing up into a mask of pain.

"You deserve every ache, pain, and wave of nausea you get today. I have no pity fro you whatsoever. You brought this upon yourself and now your getting the rewards for it. If this ever happens again, I'll break up with you before you can say 'im sorry'. I went through enough drinking when I was a kid. Im most certainly not gonna date a drunk. So if you keep drinking, just go find yourself a new fuck buddy. Got it memorized?" Axel left the room, slamming the door as hard as he could on his way out. Roxas cringed again, slowly sitting up.

"Fuck." he muttered under his breath. He swung his legs over the side of the bed, realizing he was still fully dressed. Slowly stripping off his clothes, he opened his top drawer. Shaking slightly at the small squeaking sound the drawer made as he opened it, he pulled out a pair of boxers and lounge pants. Pulling both on, he tied the drawstring on his flannel blue night pants. He exited his room and entered the kitchen. Axel was sitting at the table, running one long, spindly finger around the rim of his coffee cup. Looking up when he heard Roxas' footsteps, he grimaced.

"You smell awful.' Axel commented, wrinkling his nose. 'Go take a shower."

Roxas shot him a sarcastic grin.

"Gee thanks hun. Its always nice to know you care." Roxas reached for a muffin on the plate in front of Axel, not really hungry, just wanting something to do to distract him from the pain in his head.

"You don't want to be doing that sweetie." Axel said in a sickly sweet voice.

Axel shot Roxas a don't-do-it look. Roxas shot back a shut-up look.

Roxas popped the cranberry raisin muffin in his mouth, chewed, swallowed, and promptly threw it up in the sink behind him.

"Told ya." Axel said smugly.

Roxas turned around and glared in Axel's direction, his face pale. Roxas leaned his back against the counter and slid down to the floor. Axel stood and squatted beside the pitiful looking blonde. Trying o fix the half flattened spikes on his boyfriends head, Axel soothingly ran his fingers through Roxas' hair. Roxas smiled up as the other boy in front of him.

"I feel like shit." Roxas whispered weakly.

"I know, I know.' Axel softly kissed the smaller boys lips. Axel grimaced as he pulled back and looked Roxas in the eye. "Why don't you do both of us a favor and take a shower. Now." Roxas laughed.

"All right."

Axel helped Roxas up from the floor and sat at the table at Roxas strolled down the hall to the bathroom. Roxas opened the bathroom door and closed it behind him. Stripping off his pants and boxers, Roxas stepped into the shower. He turned the silver knob until the water became hot and soaked his hair. He reached absentmindedly for the shampoo and began to lather his hair. The familiar scent of mixed berried hit him as the memories came rushing back.

Mom's shampoo.

Roxas leaned his back against the tiled wall and closed his eyes as the tears began to fall. He took a deep breath and heard the click of the shower door being opened. Axel stepped into the shower and brought his gaze to Roxas', immediately noticing the tears on his face. Stepping up to Roxas, Axel leaned down slightly and kissed away the tears. Roxas shot him a weak attempt at a smile. Sticking his head back under the spray, Roxas rinsed the shampoo from his hair and turned back to Axel who was now leaning in the spot Roxas had previously vacated. Roxas leaned his chest against Axel's and smiled up at him.

"I love you." He whispered. Axel's face formed into a mask of shock, than changed back to its original cool facade.

"I love you too." Roxas snuggled into Axel, content with the admission.

When the water began to turn cold, Roxas turned it off and exited the shower, bringing Axel out with him. Wrapping a towel around his waist, Roxas left the bathroom. Axel followed behind him, a similar towel around his waist. They both went into Roxas' room, the lights still dim. Roxas stood in the middle of the room, looking lost. Axel sauntered over to the blonde, wrapping his arms lightly around his waist. Tugging lightly at the towel around Roxas' waist, Axel was granted easy access to the place he most wanted. A blush rose to Roxas' cheeks as he realized what was going on.

"I cant, not yet. Im sorry Axel, im just not ready." Roxas rushed to wrap the towel back around his waist. He strode to his dresser, grabbed some boxers, black lounge pants, and a black tank top. He got dressed quickly, knowing a disappointed Axel was watching him from behind. Roxas exited the room swiftly, grabbing the bottle of aspirin from the bathroom as he went. Pouring himself a glass of water, Roxas took two more aspirin and a deep breath.

That was close.

A/N: AWWW! So close, yet so far! Poor Axel and all his pent up sexual energy! -cries- Believe it or not, that was actually 11 handwritten pages. Whew! Thank you Leod for always being there and proofing this for me! (I know I changed it a lot!) Well im gonna hope for five reviews, but more would be greatly appreciated. I LOVE hearing from you guys! Axle-shaped candy for anyone who reviews! Tell me what I could to better, PLEASE! I wrote this at a girl scout sleep over with 14 4-11 year olds, it was AWFUL! (I don't like kids much!) Thanks for reading and I love you all!

Hugglesnuggleglomplick!

-literary license-