Disclaimer: Obviously don't own.

Request from Uqluiorra12345 for a sea salt ice cream date. Sorry that this is so horrifically late.

It didn't make any sense that someone that short and that innocent looking could be causing Axel this much inner turmoil.

"Come on, Axel. Buddy." He said to himself, watching as his best friend, Roxas, tried to organize the mess that was his locker, "You can do this. You're just asking your best friend, who you're madly in love with, on a date. No big deal. NBD. Did you really just abbreviate 'No big deal'? The hell is wrong with you?"

"Er... Axel, are you just gonna stand here the entire day and talk to yourself or finally grow a pair and go ask Roxas out?"

"Shut up, Demyx! I'm working on it."

Zexion, who had agreed to come along as 'Moral Support' for Axel only because Demyx had asked (read begged) him to come along, rolled his eyes in frustration.

"I have a class to attend, so i'm going to be the villain in this equation."

Axel turned to stare at Zexion with wide, fear-filled eyes.

"What are you planning to d – "

"Roxas! Axel needs to speak to you."

And then, after a gentle shove from Demyx, Axel was standing in front of the blue-eyed, blonde haired personification of the word adorable that was his best friend.

Roxas tilted his head in the cute way that made him look like a puppy that Axel just wanted to take home and love.

He wanted to take Roxas home and love him.

So hard.

Damnit, Axel, remember the goal.

"You wanted to ask me something?"

"Yeah..."

Axel felt like he was about to die. His heart was (very painfully) trying to escape his thoracic cavity via his throat by beating literally a million times a second.

Well. Not literally.

"I was wondering if... you... er... it's just that... well..." Axel felt like punching himself.

"Axel?"

"Doyouwanttogogetice-creamafterschoolwithme?"

Roxas laughed, bending down slightly to retrieve his school bag off of the floor before smiling at his best friend. "I heard 'ice-cream' and 'after school' so if the ice-cream will be Sea Salt flavoured, the answer is yes. I'll meet you at the regular place?"

Axel finally allowed himself to smile. "Yeah, sure. I'll see you there!"

Roxas watched his red haired friend retreat with a smile on his face. Axel was so adorably strange. It was just like him to get all flustered over something as silly as getting ice cream after school. After all, they were just friends, it's not like Axel just asked Roxas out on a date or something. Because that would be ridiculous. Axel doesn't like him that way.

"Hey, Xion," he said, turning to face the dark haired girl who had just walked up to her locker, "do you want to get ice cream with me and Axel today after school?"

"Sure!" she said, smiling. "I'll meet you at the gate after school?"

"Sounds good, see you later."

And they obliviously left it at that.

XxXx

Axel was about ready to get up and run out of the ice cream parlour's door. Roxas was a whole five minutes late which obviously meant that he didn't want anything to do with Axel and now he was going to lose his best friend and this was so totally obviously a mistake and oh fucking gosh there he was.

Axel felt like his heart was going to explode when he saw his best friend walk through that door, a smile on his face that was magically and gloriously aimed in his direction.

But then he saw Xion walk through the door as well.

Axel felt his heart clench.

No, No. Calm down, Axel. Maybe she was here on her own, for her own not-related-to-your-date reasons.

But then Xion walked over to his table with Roxas in tow.

"Hey Axel!"

"Hi there, Xion." Axel tried to not sound as disappointed as he felt.

Roxas brought Xion along with him on their date? What did that even mean?

When they were all seated and ready to order, Axel stood up and said that he'd go to the counter and get their orders. However, when Roxas tried to hand Axel money to cover his ice cream cost just as Xion had done, Axel waved him off and refused to take his money.

"Don't worry about it; I was planning on paying anyway." He said a faint tint of red appearing on his cheeks as he grinned slightly at Roxas.

Roxas and Xion watched Axel walk away with confusion on their faces.

"Did I just witness Axel blushing?" Xion asked, staring at Roxas in melodramatic shock.

"I-I think so..." Roxas replied.

"OH MY FUCK, ROXAS. Is this a date?! Am I seriously imposing on a date between you and Axel?!"

"What?" Roxas said, laughing at the very notion of Axel ever asking him out, "This isn't a date."

"It is! That's it, I'm leaving."

And before Roxas even had a chance to reply to her statement, she was gone.

"Where is Xion going?" Axel said, having come back from the counter just in time to see Xion walk through the door.

"She's leaving. Going home, I guess."

"Oh. Er, why?"

"She said that she was imposing on a date. Between you and i."

Axel sat down heavily on the vinyl bench, his heart beat sounding in his ears.

"Oh."

"Is it? I mean, is this a date?"

Well, this was it. Axel took a deep breath, closed his eyes and just... spoke.

"Roxas... I know this is probably really weird, and if you want to leave I get that. Because I get that I'm putting you in an uncomfortable position. But... yeah. It is a date. At least I was hoping that it was and I thought that me asking you here like I did kinda meant that it was a date but I realise how retarded that is now because I didn't even say the word 'date'. I like you, Roxas. But if you don't want to date me then that's okay, as long as you don't let this get in the way of our friendship."

There was silence following his speech.

Axel finally opened his eyes to the sight of a slightly peeved off looking Roxas.

"Axel." He said, shaking his head. "Remember when we went to that party once and this girl threw her drink at me because I apparently hurt her feelings by not asking for her number after apparently flirting with her for like an hour?"

Axel snorted. "You thought she was just being friendly."

"Exactly, so my question to you is: When do I even pick up on subtleness?"

"Eh?"

Roxas sighed, before looking at Axel in total seriousness.

"Axel, ask me out on a date."

Axel looked at him in confusion but decided that going along with Roxas's craziness usually worked out for the best for him.

"Er... Roxas, will you go on a date with me?"

"Yes, idiot."

But Roxas was smiling and, though he would never admit it to anyone, there was a faint dusting of pink on his cheeks as he saw Axel's face light up at those words.

Then Axel grinned.

"Do you think Xion might wanna come along on our next date too?"

"... Shut up."