Red Light District
Chapter 5 - Unveiling
I can't believe you guys! You can't believe how happy all the reviews for the last chapter made me!
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"Rox-as?"
He scrubbed the mask away in the sink as he had every morning when he was finished since he had started there. But this time was different. He wasn't alone, it wasn't morning and his eyes were watering, his tears meshing with the water that rid him of the shield. A worried voice drifted through his mind, but it collided with his dreams and his nightmares, being blocked out as he cleansed himself as though he were wiping away each of his sins. A hand was on his shoulder, but the warmth it gave him only made him attack his face more furiously. His skin felt like it was on fire before he stopped.
"You know who I am now?"
--
"Sora? Sora, come on. Move just a bit for me, okay? Just… anything? C'mon, bud, it isn't that bad yet. Right? Move. That's it. Squeeze my finger. You know I'm here. You'll be alright. Roxas is gonna get enough money to make you all better. Doesn't that sound great? Oh, Sora, I miss you."
--
"So, all along I've known it was you, ya'know."
"Why do I highly doubt that?"
"I'm not that big of an idiot!"
"Well, what do I do now? I still don't have enough to pay for Sora's surgery." Roxas pouted, watching his toes that dangled from the bed. Axel was laying down, gazing at the ceiling once more, fingers supporting his head in a makeshift cradle. At Roxas' latest statement, however, he sat up.
"You mean… you weren't just making that up?"
"What?"
"That you had a brother!"
"Why would I make something like that up?"
"Okay, so, you have a brother. And he ..."
"Has brain cancer. He is basically paralyzed with the tumor. It's pressing against the part in his brain that controls movement."
"And that is why you have this job, to get the money for his surgery?"
"Right."
Axel pondered this, his fingers wrapping around his chin in thought. He didn't see any lies and so he continued. "Then, who was that guy at your house earlier?"
"Riku? He's my brother's boyfriend."
"How come I never met either of them?"
Roxas shrugged. "Guess I just never wanted you to. We moved in with Riku about two and a half years ago. Our mothers were best friends since they were little, so they didn't mind us living together. But, now it's just me, Sora and Riku."
"So, what you said about your parents? That was true too?"
The blonde nodded.
"W-Why didn't you ever tell us?"
"It wasn't something you needed to know."
"Roxas, you and your brother and this ... 'Riku' person have been living on your own for the past two years and you don't think I would need to know?"
"Nope."
"But, Rox, I thought I was your best friend."
"You are."
"Then ... Do you not trust me or something?"
"Axel, put it behind you. You know now, just don't go telling the others. I don't need the pity card drawn on me all the time."
Axel sighed deeply before manoeuvring to his knees, kneeling behind Roxas. He snaked his arms around the boy's small frame, hauling him back to sit in his lap. "So, what are we gonna do about your brother?"
"Eh, A-Axel? I-I thought I was off the clock, stop smothering me!" The blonde tried to wriggle free from his best friend, feeling just a little odd to be in his best friend's arms after having his secret exposed. "And, what do you mean, 'we'?"
"I kinda put you out of a job. Now it'll be on my slate if you don't get that cash, right?"
"No. I'll just have to find someplace else to get it."
"Nope, not if I have my way with it. You have to spend time with your brother and make sure your grades don't slip down past mine." Axel chuckled at the struggling boy still in his grasp. "Ever wonder why I came every night?"
"Um, I thought it was because you were horny and I was good at getting rid of that?"
Axel sighed. "Okay, let me rephrase that. How do you think I was able to be here night after night?"
"Parents are rich?"
"Close. My parents don't give a care in the world about lil' ol' me." The redhead gave out a harsh laugh. "Okay, they are better-off than other people, but, it isn't like my brother and I get to see any of that cash. Which is why my brother started this place."
"You mean ... your brother is ... Marluxia?"
Axel chuckled, shaking his head against those bright spikes, savouring in the fact that the one he had been fantasizing about for the past few months was huddled against him, both glad to have that secret finally out in the open. "No, silly. Marluxia is just a waiter. My brother is his boss."
"He has a boss?"
"Wow, he really is power-hungry if he wouldn't even tell you he wasn't top of the food chain. Nope, my bro is Reno. You saw him in your interview, didn't you? He's full of cash, seeing as this bar is a lot more popular than I hope you would think."
"So... You tell me this because ...?"
An exasperated sigh. "Roxas, try it out. Put things together."
"I 'lost' my job, so, now I have to find a way to make money. You feel like you have a dept to pay, so you bring up your loaded brother. Putting two and two together gives me ... No, Axel, you can't."
"Aww, and why is that?"
"That surgery costs a lot!"
"A lot that you don't have. Now, I don't mean to offend, Rox-as, but, do you honestly want a vegetable as a brother?"
--
"Wait, you didn't tell Demyx and Zexion that you had a feeling that I worked here, did you?"
Axel quirked an eyebrow, thinking the blonde had fallen asleep a while ago. He stretched, glancing at the clock. One in the morning. Man, Reno would be mad when he finally got home. But for now, he was happy that everything with Roxas worked out the way he planned. Even though he didn't plan a thing.
"Nah, they don't know about my nightlife. They're still in the dark as to why you were always so tired during class. Why were you, anyways? I made sure to leave in plenty enough time for you to get enough sleep."
Roxas glared through the dark, the only light coming from the darkened window. That one bar of light illuminated those perfect blue orbs and made shivers rock the redhead's heart as he peered into them. He was still in denial that Roxas had been his little whore. And now it was all over.
"I could never sleep when you left because I was too paranoid that you would come back and tell me that you knew who I was. It was really stupid. And, besides..." Roxas looked away, his cheeks reddening. "I find this bed really ... awkward and uncomfortable to sleep in." There was a moment where nothing could be heard but the soft buzz of late-night traffic. The blonde almost wished that Axel had fallen asleep on him, but had no such luck.
"I made it that way, didn't I? And, the fact that you're still awake means it is still awkward slash uncomfortable?"
Roxas didn't answer which made a lump rise in Axel's throat. He had released the blonde before they had gone to bed so he just slung his long, slender legs over the edge of the mattress and was up before Roxas had time to grab hold of him. "A-Axel?"
Trying to hide the hurt in his voice, Axel turned to the blonde, making sure his smirk was in that block of light. "I want you to get some sleep. How? By removing the problem. If I make it awkward or uncomfortable, I'll take you home."
"B-But, Axel, wait!"
"No, just grab your clothes. I'll make sure you get paid for the full night. You have a big day tomorrow. We're going to fix your brother."
"A-Axel... Do you think ... I could come with you....? To your house, I mean? I don't want to go home. Besides, it'll be easier that way."
"Grab your stuff, kid. We can even hit my bro now, when he's ... hopefully ... too groggy to know what's going on."
--
How'd this even happen? Poor Sora! He must be so worried about me. He just had to see me climb that god awful tree, didn't he? It's his fault that I'm here. I didn't ask to fall. I didn't ask to break my arm. But, I get to go home later tonight. The twerp's parents are gonna pick me and Mom up, apparently. I hate the smell of this room. It's too clean. Makes me wanna puke. Mom's sitting in the corner, reading a magazine, thinking I'm asleep. How could anyone sleep in this place? First time was because I was knocked out on their drugs.
--
Good, they're here. Now I can get out of this ridiculous dress and back into my regular clothes! I don't break a smile the whole time they are forcing the shirt on over the bulky cast. I just want to get home and sleep in my own bed and see Sora's face when he sees the cast. He hasn't been in yet, but, with the hospital times as short as they are now, it isn't a surprise. He wasn't allowed in the ambulance with me, so I want to rub it in. Maybe I can have my own personal slave. Kid would be stupid enough to wrap around my finger.
--
We're in the car. It's dark now, so I almost wonder what time it is. The clock on the dashboard says 9:57. Wonder if they waited up to greet me. I doubt it. I'm staring from the window, secretly lavishing in the light that baths over me from the lamps outside. I hear the sirens before the flashing red and blue flood the horizon. Sora's dad pulls over to the side to let the car pass but our vehicle lurches and my whole body feels like it's on fire. I can't see the blue and red anymore but the sirens still howl in my ears. My mother is screaming beside me before we are slammed once more by the ground that has leapt up to cave in the roof of the car.
I don't hear her screams anymore.
When I open my eyes, they are met with the sickly sight of whitewashed walls and my nose burns with that retched smell once more. It still makes me wanna puke. Then a startled sob and someone is clutching my hand. My eyes are still fuzzy so I can't make out anything about that face. All I can see is the bright blue that is staring at me that lets me know that Sora can finally see what he did to my arm. But, he's crying. My arm can't be that bad, can it? I try to focus but my mind is still fogged from being unconscious. I thought I had been allowed to leave this place.
"Sora? What's so bad about my arm? It's just a little break. It'll heal quick enough."
I don't know what I say, but Sora starts crying harder. I ignore him for the blur standing behind him. The only way that I know it is Roxas is from the duller blue flashing through the haze.
"Roxas, where's Mom? I can't see yet. Where is everyone? How'd you guys get here, anyways?"
My questions seemed innocent enough to me, but I could sense that even Roxas had tears flowing down his face. "Guys?"
Roxas looked away, glaring at the ground. "You were in an accident."
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TBC
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Poor Riku. I'm really sorry about how short these chapters are. Oh well. Just be glad I don't wait a decade to post! What do you think?
Remember the feelings, remember the day - Bad Boy
Cascada
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