The words didn't seem to process right at first, with Roxas' quick speaking and frenchtastic accent. After a moment though, I felt my stomach lurch. Demyx was with…another guy?
"What?!" I turned my head spotting my…boyfriend, who'd stopped a few feet behind Roxas. There were a couple of dark bruises on his neck, which I was sure weren't from me. "What the hell is going on?" I stalked past Roxas feeling the anger rising. This was not happening. But for some reason, it didn't really surprise me. Demyx had been acting…off. He'd gotten a lot more sexual with me and less talkative with me…not that I was to complain. I thought that was what he wanted so I went along with it.
"I don't know WHAT he's talking about." Demyx huffed out. "He walked into the storage room were me and Zexion were smoking and he just starts freaking."
That little piece of shit! Demyx couldn't lie for his life. I could always tell because he'd scratch his left hand.
"Stop lying." I couldn't stop the bitterness that came out with my words. "What did you do?"
"I told you…we were smoking!" A second lie! I turned to Roxas who shook his head. I knew it was true. Roxas didn't like me so he wouldn't make up things about Demyx. He'd have to be jealous to do that. My lip quivered slightly as I held back tears.
"You were with Zexion and now you have the nerve to lie to me?" I spat. "Tell me the fucking truth."
"How did you know tit was Zexion?" Demyx asked averting his eyes.
"You've been talking about him a lot lately. So is this true or isn't it?!" I said through clenched teeth. I could feel the salty water prickling the corners of my eyes. Demyx nodded slightly, backing off.
"…It's true." He muttered not looking at me. I felt so disgusted. It felt like I had just been punched in my stomach. I tried to say some cocky remark back but all that came out was a shuddery breath. I took off out the door.
I ran out into the small, brushy park and sat down by a my favorite creek. I kept telling myself not to cry but I wasn't strong enough and the tears just bulldozed out of my eyes. I stayed there like that for a minute until a blinding light hit me in my sore eyes. I flinched away from it.
"Hey! You're not supposed to be here past ten!" I sighed and just nodded, standing up again on shaky feet. Man I really did feel queasy. "You okay kid?" The officer must have noticed my eyes because he moved to put a hand on my shoulder. Of course I didn't want some creepy cop touching me so I quickly shuffled back towards the Bean. My voice was lost. I knew it was going to be impossible to sing for my fans. Not that I cared. It was really more to give myself a name.
After a few deep breaths, I opened the door, spotting both Roxas and Naimne looking a bit panicked. The smile that could have been there didn't show. I think the crying made my face numb. Besides…this wasn't really a time to smile.
"Axel…" Namine was quickly over to my side, straying a bit from me in case I snapped. God knows I wasn't far from that. "I…I didn't know Demyx did that…I'm so sorry." I could tell she was telling the truth as she placed her soft, moisturized hand on my arm.
" 's alright." I said taking another shaky breath, "I don't think I can sing though."
"Tell them to cancel the show." Naimne offered. "And then we can go to your house and I can make hot chocolate! Does that sound good?" I nodded even though I really wanted to be alone. "Go on then." She ushered me forward with her hands on the small of my back. I walked up to Cid, the manager of the shop and broke the news. After about…a minute of cursing, he nodded and told me to get home. Luckily we got out of there before the announcement was made. I didn't need more humiliation. We got in the car, my emotions getting slightly in check, as we drove back to my house.
I slumped down on the couch, wrapping my favorite purple fuzzy blanket around me, as Namine busied herself with the hot coco. Roxas sat down next to me awkwardly. Turning my head to him, I attempted a smile, which quickly turning to a quivering pouty face as I sniffed a sob back.
"Are you….okay?" he asked quietly.
I wasn't going to try to talk. It would come out sounding like a dying frog. Shaking my head , I let another tear fall down my cheek.
"Oh…" Roxas muttered. He just sat there awkwardly. Well goddammit he was gonna be useful! So I laid my head on his shoulder and began to sob, wetting his shirt with icky salt water. I felt Roxas' pat my shoulder slightly. That made it worse. I gripped hold of his blue polo shirt and sobbed into it. I didn't mean to make Roxas feel…awkward, like I'm sure he was. But I needed a shoulder to cry on. Literally. After a couple more minutes I sat up, feeling terribly embarrassed.. "I'm sorry…." I said whipping my red puffy eyes. This was going to be a long week. I was sure of it. But the funny thing was…I didn't know how wrong I would be.
It had been three weeks since my break up with Demyx and surprisingly, I didn't really care. The year was progressing quickly with activities and such and I guess I really did see this coming. Everyone seemed astounded by my…progress with the issue and I found myself hanging with some unexpected new people. For example, my best friend from last year, who I didn't see through out the summer, started to hang with me again. I couldn't see how much I missed Riku, until I had him back. Along with him came Sora. Since they were going out, they were definitely a packaged deal. Of course Naimne stayed by my side, still very guilty about her brother along with Kairi, Olette and Olette's boyfriend Pence. But the strangest thing of all, was that Roxas and I had become very close.
We'd had four sleepovers in that time along with sitting with each other at lunch. I was proud to say I was starting to know Roxas. I knew his favorite lollipop flavor, green apple, and why he had a cute little Teddy Bear with him. And as I got to know more and more about him, I started to begin to flirt. Of course it was unintentional at first but as I became aware of it…I started to become very fond of said French blonde. I noticed all of his little French to English slip-ups and how good he smelled. God I loved his scent. It smelled sort of flowery, like a rose. I couldn't get enough of that.
It was a Friday at school, well into October of course as Roxas, Namine and I sat at the art table scribbling over some paper.
"What are you doing for Halloween?" Roxas asked Naimne, clicking his tongue softly as he drew. Yes. I noticed things like that about him.
"I'm dressing up as Cinderella and Kairi is going as Ariel…" Figures they'd dress up as Disney Princesses. Roxas nodded.
"What are you doing, Axel? Hayner wants us to do this…Trick-Or-Treating thing…" he muttered.
I chuckled softly. "I don't really know yet." I tapped my chin thoughtfully. It was a serious debate between Egyptian prince and Vampire. Either one would do fitting my…Sexy physique. "I'll probably go as a Vampire." Yeah. And Hopefully I'd get to suck on Roxas' neck.
Roxas raised his eyebrows. "The suck blood thing." I'm sure he knew what it was, he just didn't know the English term for it.
"Yup. I'm not gonna make myself look creepy though. More…charming." I smirked and raised my eyebrows before laughing. "What about you Rox?" Yes I gave him a little nickname. It was cute. Short and sweet.
"I…do not know…Maybe I will go as a French person." He smiled playfully. Oh I could have just kissed his cute little nose right then and there.
"Roxas, you're silly. You're supposed to dress up as something you're not." She laughed and nudged Roxas. A quick idea came to mind.
"Hey Nami. Maybe we should pick his outfit out for him." I grinned playfully at the horror on Roxas' face.
"I do not want to be dressed up as a hooker!" Roxas said hurriedly. I blinked and raised a brow at that.
"Roxas, I need to tell Hayner to limit your TV time…" Namine mumbled, clearly annoyed.
I burst out laughing and, of course, Vincent gave me a glare to shut me up. Roxas blinked and began to laugh too.
"I think he'd make a good pirate." Yes. That would look nice. All I needed to do was get him to say 'arr'.
"I do not want to go as a pirate hooker!" Roxas begged again. "I do not want to knock on doors and say, 'I am here to take your booty!'" I clapped my hand over my mouth trying not to laugh. Roxas looked rather…serious about that.
"Have you been watching Hayner's dad's porn?" Namine asked flushing bright red.
"…He left it in the TV…" Roxas muttered twiddling his thumbs. The next thing I knew, I was on something cold and hard looking up at our table, howling with laughter. I could see Roxas' face and it was bright red. He was absolutely and utterly adorable!
"MR. THOMAS!" The great feeling of a good laugh disappeared as a deep and rather…angry voice boomed. "DO I NEED TO TAPE YOU IN YOUR CHAIR?" Mr. Valentine scowled at my wacky behavior. Clearing my throat, laughter stifled, I sat up and slithered back into my chair.
"No Sir…" I said quietly a bit embarrassed about my chair issues. My favorite little blonde grinned slightly at me and I returned the smile. "For the future Roxas, we're not going to make you wear sexual themed outfits for Halloween unless you want to."
"Oh…okay." Roxas seemed at ease now. I felt very good about that. Even though a flustered Roxas was extremely cute. On that note, I decided to discuss more important matters.
"What are we gonna do for the art project though? We haven't started yet."
Namine looked pretty smug at that comment but kept her mouth closed. Of course the art prodigy would be finished already. Duh.
"We could do a collage of the great things of America" Ug. I lived here all my life. That was the last thing I wanted to do. But I had to let him down in nice way.
"Naaa… it seems a bit too historical and less artistic." I thought for a moment before an idea popped into my head. "Hey!! What if I draw you and you draw me? My mom has oil paints and canvas in her studio. We could work there!" Truth was, my mom, Elaina, did just about everything. She was a chef, she painted, gardened and was a mother. That's why I loved my mom. She was very talented.
"That would not be very impressive…" Roxas muttered. Hey. It would be impressive if I got the little blonde to pose for me naked. Yes. Very impressive indeed. "We could paint the great things of America!" he seemed dead set on that idea. Of course, I wasn't at all. Okay. I'd played nice.
I looked to Naimne. "You've already finished your project! Can you help us out on picking something?"
She shook her head.
"Nope. It's gotta be you two." She didn't even look up as she continued to draw. Some help she was. At least Roxas didn't seem to hear me totally shoot down his idea. He was still rambling.
"We could paint a McDonald's sign here, a Burger King there, a donut in the middle…"
Somehow I didn't think fast food would impress Mr. Valentine at all. I groaned.
"Roxas I live here every day and so does Vincent!" Don't ask how I know his real name…just don't. "We'll have to come up with something more impressive than that."
Roxas frowned and crossed his arms. Damn. We were really locking horns on this.
"You come up with an idea then. I quit."
I sighed about ready to throw a pencil at Namine to get her to help. "Please don't quit! I need your input! But we both have to agree on something." Roxas just turned away from me. I looked at Namine, practically pleading to her. She sighed and put down her pencil.
"Axel…what would you like to do?" Namine asked softly. I thought for a moment.
"Something with people on it. Like a painting of a big part of a city with busy people walking around."
"And Roxas, you want to do something about America?"
"Yes." Roxas said simply sticking his cute little nose in the air.
"Well. Then, you two are screwed." Namine laughed.
I just glared at her. "Some big help you are." I muttered.
"I do not see why it cannot be about America." Roxas huffed cutely.
"Okay. Okay. We'll have something of both. We can have people and we can have American stuff in it…WAIT" An idea hit me in the head full force. Surely Roxas would like this! "We could paint a portrait of a major American battle! Like the civil war or the revolution."
"That is boring." Roxas frowned. Okay. Wow. People getting blown up, shot at and dying was boring. Just wow.
I sighed. "Fine…we can do something in the present but it has to have people in it!"
"A fat lady. We can call it, 'The American Dream'!'' Roxas grinned. He was so cute but that didn't change the fact that I was about ready to strangle him. I slammed my head down on the table, mumbling about every curse word I could until the bell rang. Roxas just smiled and started to pack up and after a moment longer of brooding, I did the same.
We soon found ourselves in the locker room listening to Cloud's speech on what we'd be doing today. I did not expect this at all.
"Okay as you know, we are starting the swimming portion of this class. Boys have to wear bathing shorts. Not Speedos or regular shorts. If anyone comes into the pool area with those I'm giving you a week's detention!" I blinked. Swimming. Which meant I'd see Roxas in a bathing suit! All my previous feeling of frustration towards the blonde dissipated.
"Girls are to wear one piece bathing suits! The same punishment applies for those who decide to disobey the rules. No jewelry either. After each class you are expected to shower to get the chlorine off. You are also to be naked! NO EXEPTIONS!" This was a bit too much.
"I like to swim." Roxas said smiling up at me.
I flushed lightly. Showering and changing into bathing suits would be very VERY bad for my libido.
"I like it too." I said keeping a grin on my face. After the spiel from Cloud about proper showering techniques, we grabbed our bathing suits from the bins (and let me say they were hideous too) and headed to our lockers to change. I followed close behind Roxas, mind lost in all of the terrible things I could do to him if I lost it.
Once at our lockers, Roxas set his things aside and slowly slid his jeans down. My eyes followed the pants all the way down, before I quickly lurched away from him and began to undress. 'Don't look at Roxas…don't look at Roxas…' Yup. That was my repeated mantra that I had to replay over and over again to stop myself. Once the little blonde beside me was completely bare, he glanced over at me as he slipped the suit up his perfect legs. I blushed even more. What was he thinking about me? Was I too skinny? Was I just plain gross! I swallowed thickly, a little more than self conscious as I slid my boxers off, already knowing I was slightly hard.
Roxas who was done by now, was leaning against the lockers, facing me. Oh god… I was too embarrassed to reply to him as he told me to hurry up. I pulled my suit up, finally covering my exposed length.
"L-Let's go…" I said trying to hide both my arousal and my blush, which I'm sure I failed miserably at.
"Okay." Roxas smiled slightly at me and walked out of the room. I followed him, hoping my half hard-on would go away after I got into the water.
To tell the truth I was actually an amazing swimmer. I used to be on the swim team when I was younger until I got bored with it. Once I was asked to join the Olympics but to tell the truth my work ethic sucks. I would never practice at all. I kept that a secret from most people.
"What do we do when we swim?" Roxas asked nudging me slightly. Of course I blushed.
"We just do the basic strokes like freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly. Mr. Strife will tell us what we're doing when we get in." I said looking to Roxas softly.
"Oh, okay." Roxas nodded and followed me to the pool area.
"Okay! Today everyone needs to swim ten laps of whatever stroke they want. Get Going!" Mr. Strife blew his whistle and of course I was the first one in. The rest of the class was a bunch of pansies. The water wasn't that cold.
--
I was ahead of everyone else so I finished first too. The water was actually quite warm today. It was kind of gross, though. Roxas wasn't far behind me and when I saw him get out of the water I followed. We were the first two done, which was not good. I would be alone with him in the showers.
Bad thoughts ran through my head as I slipped the ugly black swim trunks off. I mean, it was gross. Who know what kind of person had worn these before I did. Yuck!. As I turned on my shower, I prayed to what ever higher being was out there that Roxas didn't take the shower next to me.
Thankfully, Roxas had pulled off his trunks a few showers away from me. It would be easier to keep my eyes from wandering that way. He seemed so at ease though. He must be really proud of his body. I looked down at myself, making a face. I didn't think I was that attractive.
As I looked at him, eyes close and water tricking down his body, I didn't really feel the need to blush. It was surprising because usually I was a really horny person. Now, for some reason…I didn't feel that way at all. Roxas was just so breathtaking. He had curves and muscles in all the right places…just beautiful. I wanted to hear that beautiful voice that went perfectly with his body.
"So, how are you liking everything so far? I haven't gotten a chance to ask you." Well I had many chances but usually I was just fawning over Roxas. To say the least, I was a bit ashamed of myself now.
He sighed and thought for a moment. "I like things okay." He said softly as he leaned into the water.
I smiled slightly at his accent. "Awesome."
"Yes, I guess it is awesome." He smiled softly and bean to scrub his spiky hair gently. Chuckling, I followed suit, scrubbing my hair with the vanilla and cherry smelling shampoo that the school provided.
"Are you doing okay?" Roxas asked softly and I turned to see him looking at me. I was sure he meant with the break up. I smiled at him.
"Yeah. Actually, I kind of suspected it for a while. I just didn't want to admit." I began to rinse my hair under the nice hot water. "But…I think I'm starting to fall for someone else." Roxas didn't seem to get the hint.
"That is good." He turned and smiled at me. "I am glad." I smiled back, just wanting to move over there, to hold him close to me.
"Thanks for staying by me through this, Roxas."
"Anything for a friend." He started to soap his body. I sighed and blushed slightly at that turning to soap my own, gangly body. Yes I had muscle but I was…lean. Very lean. It was depressing though, that Roxas only thought of me as a friend. Well…I guess that was to be expected. I heard his shower turn off.
"I am done. I will meet you in the locker room." He said drying himself off and wrapping the white towel around his waist.
I wasn't far behind Roxas as he walked out of the shower room. The other boys were just heading into the place.
I wrapped the towel around my hair, to help it dry and to keep my clothes from getting wet, as I pulled on my boxers and skinny jeans. After a moment of shaking my head like a wet dog I pulled on my yellow T-shirt and began to fumble with the many belts and accessories I had Yeah. Kairi usually made fun of me for this. She told me I was like some gaudy Egyptian woman. Roxas seemed to notice too.
"Why do you wear so many things?" he asked. He was already done and sitting on the bench.
I shrugged. "I dunno. I guess I think they're cool." I slipped on the last of my gel bracelets.
"They look distracting." He wrinkled his nose slightly.
"Distracting from what?" I asked a bit confused.
"From things." Roxas replied.
I blinked and ruffled Roxas' hair. "Well I like them." Roxas frowned and swatted my hand away. I thought for a brief moment and then took off a small silver ring. "Here." I said softly, slipping it onto Roxas slender finger. He blinked.
"What is this for?"
"A present." I smiled softly giving Roxas' hand a small squeeze.
Roxas beamed at me, something unknown shining in his beautiful blue eyes. "Thank you." He said softly.
I had the strongest urge to kiss him but I held back knowing it'd be for the better. The bell rang. "What are you doing this Saturday?"
Roxas shrugged and pulled his bag on. "Nothing."
I smiled triumphantly. "Would you like to come to the county fair with me?" I asked holding my breath.
Roxas nodded and smiled. "Yeah!" he looked really excited.
"Great! I'll pick you up tomorrow at noon." I picked my bag up. "I'll see you then." I waved and took off. I really hoped Roxas like me more than a friend. It would absolutely crush me if he didn't. But I noticed the beautiful smile he flashed me just then had something more in it than usual.