The reason most people checked into hotels is because they're on vacation in a place where they have no family and need somewhere to stay. While staying at said hotel, people generally experience the magic of an unfamiliar place. The most enjoyable part of this magic, for Roxas at least, was waking up in a bed that wasn't his own. He was able to experience a similar feeling waking up in Axel's bed on the morning of day seven, curled comfortably against the redhead's side.

Axel was slowly stroking Roxas's spine, and the blonde was vaguely aware of the quiet sound of the morning news echoing through the room. He fidgeted slightly, inching himself a little closer to Axel. Naturally this didn't go unnoticed, and Roxas could practically feel Axel's smile.

"Good morning, beautiful." He muttered, kissing the top of Roxas's head and wrapping his arms tightly around his shoulders.

"Good morning Professor." Roxas muttered against Axel's shoulder, smiling.

"Ugh. Please stop calling me that. Especially now."

"Especially now?" The blonde pulled a little, his smile turning wry.

"Yes, especially now." Axel replied, narrowing his eyes and catching on quickly. "I think that kind of formality is hardly necessary while laying in my bed hardly three inches away from me. Less than three inches, in fact."

Roxas laughed. "Alright, alright. Whatever you say."

Sigh. "Just so you know, I…uh…sort of told the school secretary that we both contracted food poisoning from bad take-out, so she gave me the week off. So don't worry about what we're going to do once we go back to school."

"I actually wasn't worrying about that." Roxas said, looking at Axel with owlishly large eyes. "I was hoping you would handle it."

"I will." Axel replied, kissing Roxas's forehead softly. "All you have to do is act."

"Act?"

"So long as we're in school, the last seven days never took place. Alright?"

"Okay." Roxas tore his gaze from Axel's, tucking his head comfortably underneath his teacher's chin and burying his face against his neck. It didn't take very long for him to fall back asleep.

--

Spending the day with Axel as his boyfriend, Roxas learned, was much different that spending the day with him as a student whom he happened to be close to. It was, in fact, significantly different.

Contrary to what Roxas might have believed Axel to be as a "partner," he was very touchy-feely. He didn't want to take Roxas to the mall for fear that someone from school would see them (despite the fact that all of the 'someones' from school were actually in school), but he didn't have a problem taking him to downtown Rochester to go to his favorite café or buy Roxas a ridiculous amount of things he didn't need.

He was constantly holding Roxas's hand or had an arm around his shoulders or had an arm around his waist. He was constantly asking Roxas if he was uncomfortable or if he wanted to slow down or something. It was, for Axel, completely out of character. It was nice.

As they made there way to Axel's favorite restaurant to have lunch, the series of questions started up again. At this point in time, Axel's hand was folded comfortably around Roxas's, and he was leading him forward slowly.

"Roxas, are you sure I'm not taking this too fast for you?"

"Yes, Axel, I'm sure." He was still getting used to the feeling of his teacher's first name on his tongue.

"…Alright. Just…let me know if you want things to slow down at all, okay? Because I mean, I know that this is the kind of thing that takes some getting used to." He squeezed Roxas's hand reassuringly for the umpteenth time, but the boy didn't mind. He actually though Axel's behavior was kind of…cute.

"Well…there is one thing."

"Yes?"

"Could you stop buying me stuff?" It killed the blonde to say it for fear that he would hurt Axel's feelings, but the number of bags they had accumulated was getting overwhelming.

"…Oh. Uh, yeah, of course!" The frown that Roxas was sure he would see was instead a large grin and Axel took him through the door of a shabby little deli, his tall red head hardly fitting through. "Here we are!"

The inside wasn't what Roxas expected it to be. It was incredibly modern, with low tables and bean bags for chairs. The counter was decorated with an interesting arrangement of tiles, forming a mural that closely resembled the flag of Mexico. The menu was a chalkboard hanging on the wall behind the cash register and said counter, and it looked like everything was vegetarian. Axel took Roxas up to the counter where an employee with a hair net, apron, and plastic gloves was waiting for them.

"Axel, its nice to see you again. Its been a while, no?" She was short and looked Hispanic with dark, tanned skin and long black hair, eyes to match.

"Yes, its been a while. Too long, I believe."

"Ha-ha. Yes. I can get you the usual, no?"

"Yeah. And…Roxas, what do you want?" He turned on his heel to face the blonde, his eyes wide and curious.

"I'll…just have one of whatever you're having." Roxas sputtered quickly, examining the menu. The names for the sandwiches were, in a word, interesting, and there was no description to tell you what was in them.

"Well, Maria, you'd better make that two of the usual." He said, smiling again. The woman behind the counter nodded, then started to expertly assemble two, six-inch subs.

"What is it exactly that we're eating?" Roxas whispered, and Axel chuckled.

"You know the veggie delight at Subway?" Axel whispered back.

"Yeah."

"Well this is a lot like that."

"Oh. Okay." However, Roxas was hardly convinced when he was handed a sub that looked like it had a garden inside of it.

--

The rest of the day went far too quickly. After finishing lunch (which, to Roxas's surprise was not only edible but actually tasted pretty good) Axel took him to a small arcade, where the spent the better part of their afternoon. After finishing there, Axel insisted upon buying Roxas at least one new outfit, and with his large pleading eyes and quivering lip the blonde could do nothing but agree. After leaving the store with not one but three new outfits, Axel took Roxas to a little Italian pub/restaurant for a "celebratory" dinner. When Roxas asked what it was for, Axel gaped at him for about five minutes and said that of course, silly, it was their new relationship.

As he was sure Axel expected, Roxas asked at the end of the seventh day just after Axel sent him upstairs to pack his bags if he could stay. The redhead broke out into a grin, pulling Roxas against his chest in a soft hug and telling him that of course he could stay; he could stay as long as he liked. Roxas called his mother (who wasn't home; he had to leave a message) and explained the situation, told her not to worry, he was in good hands.

It was that night, after dinner as the two lay against each other comfortably on the couch, that Axel brought up the subject that they both had been avoiding all day.

"Roxas…there's something we need to talk about." He was stroking Roxas's hair slowly, occasionally trailing his fingers down the boy's neck, as said blonde dozed in his arms.

"What would that be?"

The redhead took a deep breath. "Should someone find out…you know what could happen to me, don't you?"

Silence.

"Roxas…"

"Axel, do we have to talk about this now?"

"I want to get it out of the way as soon as possible, just in case."

"If someone finds out and you…" Roxas paused, taking a deep breath. "And you should be taken to court, then I would testify on your behalf, saying that you didn't do anything to me and all that went on was a harmless crush gone a little too far. No big deal. Alright?"

"…Roxas?"

"Yeah."

"One more thing."

"What?"

"I…" Deep breath. "I love you, Roxy."

Chuckle. "I love you too, Axel."