-Welcome to Act II! I hope you all have had a very Merry Christmas and will have a pleasant New Year! I got jumper cables and new tires! It was honestly just what I wanted! You guys get anything special?

Anyway, I had to work on Christmas (which someone told me I'd get super amazing tips because everyone feels sorry for you for working the holidays, and I didn't. Dirty liars…) and will again on New Years. It kind of sucks; in the summer I had signed up for a class that ended with a trip that was supposed to take me to London for New Years…but it got cancelled because there wasn't enough interest. Damnit, I wanted to go see the place where Marlowe got stabbed in the eye! And possibly go get my drink on! But noooooooo. And this year I could have actually paid for it…hopefully it's offered this year and I'll have funds to try and take that class.

But wow, this turned out to be a lot longer than I expected. So hopefully you all have some time on your hands! Well, time to kick this baby off!

Disclaimer: I do not own any Halestorm songs in this story. Nor do I own anything from the Kingdom Hearts franchise. If I did, I would be able to pay for college and go to London on my own…*sniffles*-

It had been only five hours or so, he honestly couldn't tell. Roxas had gone back to the club during the dead and dull times of the morning he had left, the vibrant nightlife paused with the coming of the sun. Knocking on the door provided no answer at first, and he was ready to give up, but then to his surprise a gigantic man answered the door, groggy-looking from the night before. Why exactly this man, who looked like he could be one of the club's bouncers, was answering the door at nine in the morning was beyond him.

"Beat it, kid. Can't you see hours are over?" he growled. It was a scary sight, really, this beast of a man towering before him, looking icily at him for interrupting his nap. "I….I…" he stuttered at first, but then swallowed hard and found his voice. "I'm looking for someone who works here. Axel…Axel…"

"Don't know of an Axel. Sorry."

He was about to turn around and slam the door in his face, but Roxas immediately reacted, grabbing a hold of the large man's arm and shoving his foot in the closing door.

"Please, sir," Roxas began, and at the icy glare that he got from the man he almost recoiled and let go, but held on. "The Dancing Flames or something like that. Just tell me where he is; I tried his apartment and he wasn't there, and I just…I just…" Roxas choked; he was almost on the verge of tears. "I promise I'll leave if you just tell me where he is or what time he works or something!"

"He's long gone, kid. Bastard quit and left in the middle of his shift last night."

That was when Roxas had last seen him. Of course, Axel had looked distressed and heartbroken that night, so it was only natural he would get as far away as possible. After all, that's what he had done all those years.

"Do you know where he went?"

"Don't know, don't care."

Roxas' grip on the man's sleeve faded as he let go. He stood there for a few seconds in silence, feeling defeated and absolutely horrid. "Thanks," he whispered.

The man, however, didn't respond, and by the time Roxas had issued his thanks the door was already halfway closed.

So here he was now, at this random bar so many miles away. After that incident, he had hopped on a bus and hadn't stepped off until now, getting off to grab something to eat and perhaps a few drinks so he could wash away his misery. He honestly didn't know what to do now; he couldn't go back, and his only option was to search for Axel. Of course, if the success rate of his mission remained at what it was now, than it seemed almost hopeless.

Grabbing the shot glass placed so perfectly in front of him, he picked it up, feeling the temperature of the cool liquid seep through the glass and chill his fingers. He threw back his head and consumed the whole shot, placing the glass in front of him and gesturing for the bartender to get him another, possibly a few more after that as well.

It was the first time he had gotten completely wasted like this in awhile. His speech slurred as he called the bartender over again to give him yet another shot of whatever had been in that glass, and whatever had been in there had been pretty damn strong. His voice slurred as he tried to call him over, the bartender looking skeptically looking over at him.

"You gonna pay for all this, kid?"

"Good Llllllllllllord!" he slurred. "Why does…hey, yeah, why does everyone call me k-kid? Do I llllllllook like some sort of ch-ch-ch…"

"Hey, I just want to know if you've got the money to actually afford all you've been drinking. Almost sounds as if you've had enough, too."

Roxas scowled, reaching into his pocket, fingers scratching at the various bills crumpled inside. He was awfully slow about bringing the money out, his brain not connecting that his hands needed to grasp at the money and then pull it out of his pocket, nor did it seem to register the impatience of the bartender staring him down.

"Just let it go, Lucas. I'll take care of it."

Roxas looked to his left, where he had thought he heard the voice come from, and observed a tall man with vibrant pink hair standing to his side. The bartender looked to protest, but then sighed and got Roxas another drink, bringing an extra one as well for the man who had intervened for him. The pink haired man grinned seductively at the blonde, sitting beside him and scooting a bit closer, their legs slightly touching beneath the bar.

At this, Roxas giggled. The alcohol was surging through his system and messing with his ability to think. Why was he here again…oh yeah, to find Axel…why was he here again.

"Why thanks, mister!" Roxas yelled in an obnoxiously loud manner. His fingers twitched as he reached for the glass, the unsteady and fast movement of his hands spilling more than half the shot as he grabbed it, but he quickly guzzled what was left without noticing. He hiccupped once and put the glass down, his head following the movement as it hit the bar. It hurt, and Roxas winced, but he laughed instead. He was too far gone to really care.

"Easy there, pal," the mysterious pink haired man said, rubbing Roxas's back sensually in support. "We don't need you hurting yourself here, y'know?"

"No, no, no, no," Roxas started, "I do not know. Really, who gives a damn if I hurt myself? I sure don't. I'm sure my family doesn't. I'm sure my wife wouldn't give a damn, either."

"Your…wife?"

Of course, the alcohol had also succeeded in loosening Roxas's lips, as he laughed again. "Oops. Make that ex-wife…or…wait…no, she was my fiancé…but we never rrrrrrrrrrreally made it down the aisle…does that make her an ex-fiancé?"

"Oh, you poor baby," the man cooed, his hands slipping to the blonde's shoulders, rubbing and massaging them now too. "Is that why a cute thing like yourself is out here by yourself? She left you at the altar, broke your poor little heart…"

"No, no, no…" Roxas sat up, however, the skilled hands massaging his shoulders didn't leave. "I l-left her. It was me. I'm the cold-hearted bastard who left her on our wedding day."

"Oooh, such a bad little boy!" he said, those hands moving to Roxas's back now, pressing deeply into his skin, making the younger boy shiver in anticipation, the blonde letting out a small moan in reply.

"No…I'm not a little boy…I'm not a…not a kid."

"Sure, sure."

"No really, I'm not! I can p-p-prove it, too!"

"Oh?"

With that, Roxas turned to face the pink-haired man, grabbed his face, and laid a hot, passionate kiss on his lips.

"How soon can you start?"

"As soon as you need me to."

"Great, great! Tonight good?"

It had been a long day for Axel. He had run out on the middle of his shift, and after stopping at home for a very short time and throwing a few things into a suitcase, he was gone. He had called his landlord and told that he was leaving when he was already twenty miles away from that godforsaken city. He didn't care what happened to the things he had left behind; the bare necessities were all he needed anyway.

And after a long bus ride to who knows where, Axel stepped off. His first job was to look for work; luckily the bar where he had been let off had a sign in the window calling for new dancers of any gender. In the few minutes it took for a shotgun interview, Axel was once again employed, and his first shift was going to start in just a few minutes.

He had never really gotten a good look at the place though. Thinking it wouldn't hurt to familiarize himself with his new occupation, he stepped out from behind that lacey curtain where the dancers freshened up before their shift. He took a deep breath; the place reeked of cigarettes and whiskey. The place didn't look too different from his old job, though; the only difference was that there weren't hundreds of sweaty bodies grinding against each other to the beat of some very bad techno.

And then at the bar, he saw it, and his eyes went wide in shock. That blonde hair was so familiar; no way in hell it could be him…could it? The small frame was slumped over in his chair; the other man rubbing his back he recognized from sitting down with for a quick interview earlier. That was awfully nice of him, but he did run the place, so guess it was standard that the owner try and sober up the customers, or prevent them from puking all over the bar.

Surely it wouldn't hurt for him to take a peek and see if it was the blonde, right? And if it wasn't him, then he'd get himself out of the awkward situation by asking his new boss something.

But as he approached, the blonde suddenly shot back up. Axel gasped and froze as he took in the sight before his eyes; it was him! Fuck, what was he going to do? He didn't want to let himself get hurt again, right? And Roxas seemed drunk as hell, anyway, so what were the odds of…

"Oh…" Axel thought as he saw Roxas kiss his new boss, closing his eyes and mashing their lips together so suddenly he swore he just blinked and it was happening. He felt his heart sink again at the sight, his own lips trembling, eyes tearing up at the thought.

He wasn't going to go through with this again. This stupid thing called love had already messed with his heart enough. So he did the only thing he could think to do; something that was too familiar when it came to Roxas and him.

He ran

Opening his eyes from the mind-numbing kiss with this stranger, Roxas took a moment to regain his breath. They broke apart, and he smiled seductively, leaning his forehead against the pink haired man's. Both let out staggered, uneven breaths, Roxas slowly feeling himself come back down to earth as his eyes wandered around the bar, taking in the different looks of shock and, in some cases, disgust of the people around them.

But there was one look different from the rest. The green eyes that looked back at him in that split second held pain and heartbreak in them, and then they disappeared as the man turned around and ran towards the back. In that minute frame of time, Roxas was finally pulled back to the mission at hand, and nearly pushed the other man off of him and stumbled off from his seat at the bar.

"Axel!" he yelled.

The redhead turned around only for a second, his eyes glistening with tears, before he turned the other way again and continued to run.

"Where the hell do you think you're going?" the man who Roxas had been locking lips with only seconds ago asked, his voice taking on a slightly annoyed tone. The blonde was unaware that he wasn't talking to him, but was puzzled when as he yelled, "Sorry!" back to him, Axel had responded with, "I quit!"

The pink haired man watched in a rather calm irritation as the two ran out together, Axel pushing the fire exit open and Roxas following in pursuit, the shrill sound of sirens following as the mass of people began to hurriedly move together in a wave of panic.

The noise inside didn't seem to bother the two, though. In the dark parking lot they both ran, the blonde chasing after the redhead, never really seeming to catch up to him. "Axel, wait!" he choked out, almost out of breath from running, but keeping up his pace nonetheless. They were in the middle of nowhere, anyway. Not like Axel could run away from him for long.

"Hey, hey!" Axel called. He flagged down someone who was just about to leave, the couple starting up their car and ready to pull out of the parking lot. He slammed into the car's back passenger side, working the handle of the door. The people inside looked terrified at the sudden intrusion, their own fingers not fast enough to hit the locks before Axel had a chance to get the door open and hop inside.

"Please, just get me out of here!" he begged. Tears were dripping from his face, the redhead's intimidating demeanor dissipating before the couple's eyes, and they couldn't help but feel sorry for him. Then noticing the blonde who had been following Axel, they nodded, and with a click from park to reverse the car backed up and then clicked again into drive before speeding away.

"Axel!" Roxas screamed before doubling over, feeling exhausted and sick. The alcohol swished in his stomach, the blonde now able to feel it churning back and forth as he bent forward. He could feel it coming back up his throat and out of his body and he vomited on the spot, the taste of the unknown substance he had consumed earlier flooding his senses.

Feeling his knees buckle, he sank to the ground, the concrete digging into his skin from his pants. He could feel the rocks and harshness of the earth as he regained his senses and feeling himself begin to sober up from the experience. His mouth was dry as he tried to breathe normally, the taste of vomit and alcohol still fresh on his tongue as he let out a cough, breathe in, breathe out, cough, repeat.

How could he let Axel slip away from him again? "Damnit!" he thought, his fist pounding against the ground in frustration. He had been so damn stupid, letting his guard down like that for even a second. No wonder Axel had run away. He had been such a dumbass. The coughing subsided as he spent his time on the ground, thoughts moving through his head as fast as speeding cars. No way he could let something like that happen again. From now on, his mind had to be on one thing and one thing only.

Picking himself up off the ground, he tried to spit the nasty taste out of his mouth. Surely there would be another bus stopping and heading out of here fairly quickly. He could get far away from this place and back to the task at hand.

Or, so he thought. The bar had been in complete disarray and panic when he had left, and while things were finally calming down, he could feel the tension in the air. Pushing the door back open, he slowly stepped inside, one foot taking a small step in front of the other, noticing the dirty glares the people were giving him for their evening disturbance. The eyes he really had to worry about, however, were the glaring daggers from the man he had had a friendly encounter with earlier.

"Well," he said, approaching the pink haired man he had kissed at the bar, pulling out most of the money he had left and setting it on the bar, not worrying whether it was too much or too little, "it's been a blast, but I really need to head out of here."

"You are not going anywhere."

The blonde turned to look at the pink haired man quizzically, at first letting out a small laugh before it took in the seriousness of his tone and facial expression. Roxas quickly converted his laugh into a cough before responding with a, "No, no, I really should. I um…think I left something on at home…like the oven or the lamp or something…"

"Now come on, babe," the pink haired man said, his icy cold expression holding an element of seduction. "You don't think you were going to come on all hot like that and think you were just leaving like that, right?"

"Um…yeah, that was exactly what I had in mind."

"No, really," the pink haired man said sweetly, his fingers gently brushing over Roxas's, touching them ever so slightly. "I know this night didn't go quite as you or I would have planned…"

"No, I mean it," Roxas scoffed, pulling his hand away quickly. "All that from before was…I mean, I was drunk and…"

"And I think we should continue, right?"

Roxas couldn't believe this! Sure, he had come onto this guy rather…strong, but he had taken it back and rejected him, right?

"C'mon, baby…"

"Excuse me?" he yelped rather loudly, his pitch going a bit higher. By now the other people in the bar were staring at the two.

"I know what you must be thinking, you're not right. You should know I'm not your baby not tonight. I never was the kind of guy to trip and fall in love."

"Really?"

"The kind to say enough is not enough."

"That's not the impression I got…"

" The touchy, feely co-dependent kind. I like the feeling but I'm not on cloud nine." At the look the pink haired man gave him, one of complete disbelief and irritation, Roxas turned around to get the hell out of the bar, only to had himself stopped when the other man had grabbed his wrist.

"You love it, you hate it, you think it, you say it," he turned back around to face the man, a cocky expression that asked him if he really wanted to leave stretching across his face. Of course, Roxas was totally turned off by this, and a bit tired of this argument. "You want it, you need it, I tell you but you don't believe it. What were you expecting?"

"Well…"

"Another lullaby? Are you kidding? You must be high!"

"Only high on you," the pink haired man answered back, his hand reaching for Roxas. It went to the top of his head, where he gently twirled a small strand of golden locks. Roxas immediately pulled away, those curls slipping away from the other man's fingertips.

"You must be high 'cause it was just one kiss!"

Roxas was finally out of his grasp, ready to leave the bar. He took a few more swift strides to the door, quick footsteps following behind him, the man behind him not ready to let him go.

"What'll it take for you to stay, babe? Flowers? Candy? Anything? I can get them for you, y'know."

Candy and flowers? What did he look like, some shallow little girl?

"I don't need your flowers, they'll just go to waste."

"Fine, candy then."

"I don't want your candy 'cause I don't like the taste. There never was the possibility I'd stick around."

"Fine, we'll go somewhere else."

"But my intention was to let you down."

"Seriously?" the other guy gasped, finally seeming to get the hint that Roxas wasn't interested.

"I never was the kind of person good at playing house. You want it, you need it, you think it, you say it, you want it, you need it, I tell you but you don't believe it. What were you expecting? Another lullaby, are you kidding? You must be high! You must be high 'cause it was just one kiss!"

Totally shocked, the pink haired man fell to his knees in disbelief. He had never been rejected before, and never before like this! The young blonde's constant protesting made him…furious.

Of course, Roxas saw the sudden movement, and rolled his eyes at the other man. Going back towards him, he squatted down so he was eye-to-eye with him. He'd let him know exactly how much he didn't want to be with him.

"Everything about you makes me scream!" Roxas said, watching the expression of the man's face to make sure he got everything he was saying. Getting up, he went to turn back towards the door and then took another glance at the pink haired man. "Be a man and get up off your knees! I'm trying to say this in the nicest way." Roxas was starting to leave again, now only inches from the door.

Of course, the man scrambled to his feet at that. He tried to make a grab for the blonde again, but this time Roxas had heard him coming, and moved away before the man could get another chance to touch him.

"What were you expecting? Another lullaby, are you kidding? You must be high!"

Turning around, he finally had the actual door in front of him. Letting out a sigh of release, Roxas felt the knob of the door in his grasp. He felt the refreshing chill of the night air wash across his face; the chill that only moments ago brought a lot of unwelcome negative emotions was now a force driving him to move forward.

And yet there was that hand on his shoulder stopping him again. "Fine, one last time," he thought.

"What were you expecting? Another lullaby, are you kidding?" he shook the man off, ignoring the deadly glare that he was now facing. "You must be high! You must be high 'cause it was just one kiss!"

He hurried out the door once he was finally free of the man. He needed to take the next bus out and find a place to stay; this had been an eventful evening, but he wanted to get far away from this place and plan his next move. He came to a stop at the sign that signaled where the bus would be meeting him. He really didn't care if he had to wait outside in the middle of the night when it was cold, because he'd rather be here than back in that shithole of a bar with…

"Hey! I said wait!"

Fuck, was this lunatic still following him?

"Listen, I already told you, so I'm not going to tell you again!"

Of course, at this response, the pink haired man laughed. Roxas had his backed to him, intent on not acknowledging him. "Of course, I heard you. I just, y'know, thought maybe you'd want to know where Axel had gone…"

At these words, however, he froze. He didn't want to give himself away, but he also didn't want to give in to the man from earlier. So he just stood in place, completely silent.

"Funny, though, that you're looking for him. After running away from your fiancé and such. Wouldn't think that you'd ditch such a pretty woman for some floozy of a redhead, eh, Roxas?"

How did this guy know his name? He'd never told him, had he? He honestly couldn't remember what else he had done when he was drunk besides the kiss.

"Y'know, they're looking for you. The police, I mean."

"What for? I didn't do anything wrong. People back out of marriages at the last minute all the time."

"Something about robbery and emotional distress and all that jazz."

"Robbery?"

"So you are the Roxas they're talking about on the news?"

Shit, he'd fallen right into that.

"What do you want?"

"Oh, nothing really. You've only broken my heart," he dramatically began, Roxas rolling his eyes in response before the other man got serious, "and scared off my new employee in the past hour."

So Axel had started working there? "What, you want me to take his place or something?"

"You could do that."

"And be a stripper? Hell no."

"Or I could call you in. Think how pleased everyone will be to see you! Think how afterwards you'll never get the chance to go and find Axel ever again! Oh, sound like the perfect happy ending!"

Roxas let out a sigh of frustration. So now he was on the run from the cops as well? Perfect. And if he didn't do what this man asked, then he'd be caught and poof! There goes everything. Of course, he could just try running…

"Don't even think about it, kid. I'd be on you faster than you could say 'Oh shit!' and the police would be here before you could even think about what could have happened if you took this offer."

There wasn't any other way out of this. Roxas's only option at this point was to give in. He turned back to the pink haired man, taking a few steps back toward the place he wanted to be the farthest away from at this point. His shoulders heaved as he let out another sigh. "Only the dancing, right?"

"Well, we'll see."

He was about to protest, but redrew his words. Roxas really had no other choice. "Fine."

"Great," the pink haired man said, extending his hand out to shake on it. Roxas couldn't believe what he was about to do, but He withdrew his from his pockets and met the others, feeling the tight grasp as he gave his word to remain there and take up the job Axel had just left.

"Your shift starts in twenty minutes, sweetie," the other man said, letting his hand go and turning back towards the bar, a smirk spread across his face. "See you inside."

And the two walked back into Royal Garden, the strip bar owned by Marluxia Rosemund, who'd Roxas had just shaken hands with.

TBC

-So there you have it. The beginning of Act II. The mysterious pink haired man is indeed Marluxia. Shocking! And Roxas is going to become a dancer! Woot woot! See, I get mostly ones from tips anyway, so now I have something to spend them on; Stripper Roxas! Lol, actually, I was going to get a pet turtle over break, but that's a different story…

So here is a preview of the next chapter, which is all about Axel! Huzzah!

Axel bent over at the waist, still on his knees, so that his head was touching the ground. Godamnit, he told himself he wouldn't cry anymore over this. He knew that being with Roxas had been a mistake, and that it shouldn't have happened, but it wasn't worth beating himself up over anymore. He had know that he would be too much for Roxas and that expecting anything after their lovemaking that evening would be too much to ask from the younger man. "I tear you down I'll make you bleed eternally."

He was able to imagine himself and the sorry state he was in. How Roxas had found him like that, and how after the blonde had run away from him and hurt him so many times, he had finally done the same in return. "Can't help myself from hurting you when it's hurting me."

His fists met the ground as he pounded them in frustration. "I don't have wings!" he exclaimed, "To fly with me won't be easy. 'Cause I'm not an angel," he felt himself shake at this, admitting it to himself finally, that he wasn't going to be good enough to be with Roxas. The tears that had been building were finally able to break free, the first one trickling down his cheek, more soon to follow. "I'm not an angel."

So yes, there is a small snippet from the next chapter. Hopefully I can get that one out plus one more over the remainder of break.

Ah, and I actually wanted to ask about the whole turtle thing. I decided to let the kids that I worked with to name it, but they threw a slew of names at me, so I was able to narrow it down to four of them. I was just going to ask friends and reviewers and random people on Omegle to help me pick from these four: Squirt, Momo, DJ, and Rockstar. So please do help me decide on it! Anyway, read and review, over and out! -Nibzo-