Good Question: I have pretty much the entire story, story boarded with a lot of it written out. So updates from this point on will depend on how motivated you guys make me and how my college classes go. If audience response is good you'll probably get about an updated a day or at least 3 updates a week.

Change of title now official.

Edit: Added more length to the chapter instead of putting it into the other one. A bit revised.

Chapter 7: Rolling Stones

It was raining, or rather pouring, the temperature dropping steadily as the night went on, and Zexion had the misfortune of having his heat turned off recently. Demyx was copped up together on Zexion's couch with Roxas. It was a type of weekend sleepover. Demyx and Roxas were intertwined in Zexion's lap, the two of the munching entranced on popcorn, which was a little burnt because Demyx had been too busy loving on Roxas to notice that it was done. Thunder rumbled outside and after a small bolt of lightning the lights in the apartment went out, as did the TV. Roxas and Demyx eeped and squished themselves closer to Zexion for comfort.

"Relax," Zexion said rubbing both of their backs.

"We are relaxed," Demyx and Roxas quipped back at him. Zexion looked at them like an adult would look at a child who was trying to tell them they didn't sneak candy and they've got the entire bag behind their backs. He shook his head and sighed. He stood up with Roxas and Demyx clinging to him, causing him to stagger a bit.

Zexion patted them on their heads gently, "You have to let me go. I need to get the candles out."

Demyx and Roxas reluctantly let go of him, and then held onto each other. They cuddled as they listened to Zexion shuffle around in the back of the apartment. They each had their eyes closed and were lying under one blanket on the couch, trying to relish in what little light could be gathered from the storm outside. The two of them began getting a little nervous as the wind picked up and it appeared as if Zexion had been gone for a really long time. They squeeked as they heard a sudden ruffle behind them, turning around to find Zexion holding to lit candles out to them.

Oh.

"Here, put these on the table."

They each took a candle and carefully felt for the table, getting side-tracked a little bit and poking each other in the sides instead. They sat close to the flickering lights until Zexion had finished gathering enough candles to light up the room. Demyx and Roxas stared at him as he moved across the apartment.

"The, this should be good."

Oh yes. It was good.

Zexion talked for a little while before he noticed that neither of them were paying any attention to him. Their eyes seemed a little hazy. "Zexion's apartment to couch occupiers, pick up. What's wrong?"

But on the contrary It was oh so right. This was the first time either of them had seen Zexion in the soft candle light that bathed over him. And he looked sexy, really sexy. Even Roxas had trouble not staring.

"You know, taking a bath together is recommended when the lights go out," Demyx said to Roxas, keeping his eyes fixed on Zexion who was starting to feel practically naked.

Roxas nodded and agreed. He situated himself more on the couch. Being loved by both of them was different than having sex with them, and he assumed that's what the two of them would devolve into doing once they saw each other naked.

"Come with," Demyx said extending a hand towards him.

"Demyx, that'd be weird."

Demyx smiled gently at him, "I didn't mean for shenanigans, tho' that would be really interesting, but to cuddle in the tub. It's big enough to fit the three of us. "

Roxas thought about it for a second. The apartment was pretty cold, they wouldn't mind his company, and maybe a little love was what he needed to try and make being around Axel easier for his heart, and Demyx was pretty insistent.

Hang outs like that developed to be pretty common from them, alternatively at different places so that one places didn't get too trashed. Most of the topic conversation would end up relating back to Axel and the things he did to be so sexy. Zexion listened to the commentary with patience, occasionally offering his own opinion. Roxas had told them about how Axel had playfully flirted and winked at a girl when they were out grabbing lunch, and the girl had practically melted into the ground. Demyx thought about it wistfully, resting his head between his hands. "If only he were gay," he sighed and Roxas chorused an agreement. Roxas had unconsciously begun to envelop himself as a part of Zexion's and Demyx's relationship. Demyx, oblivious in his own way, had welcome it, pulling Roxas closer in to give his heart another person to distract himself with other than Axel.

Although Roxas was having his problems with being around Axel they spent a lot of time together. Roxas would drop by sometimes when Axel was doing set up work at the bar for his brother. They also spent a lot of time at school and in between classes together. Axel, as the very handsome captain of a sports team, had a bit of a fanclub that operated in the school. While they had originally felt threatened by Roxas they had now branched him in as a handsome friend appropriate to be ogled at. Some even fancied the idea of both of them together, either with them or just with each other. For the most part the fanclub or the movement wasn't that big of a public thing, but you could hear the whispers of it everywhere. Roxas of course had become almost immediately aware of it, and found it harder not to fantasize about Axel. There were too many pervy thoughts about the two of them floating around that he liked to think a bout way too much on his own private time, and some he hadn't even thought about. He had also begun to wonder about what it would be like to actually date him. Some of the fanfictions he had stumbled across painted a pretty enjoyable picture of it.

Axel's introduction to its existence wasn't until he had stumbled across a fanfiction that Roxas had left lying around his room. Roxas explained it as a curiosity about what it was about and said he had kept it to show him. As Axel read through some he began to notice more things about Roxas, things he had never really noticed before. He was starting to be able to recall Roxas's smile almost perfectly from memory. Which didn't bother him, he just assumed that he hadn't been a good enough friend until then to have all these wonderful things slip past him. He was walking around school after the last had rung to wait for Roxas. He stumbled across two girls bent over a piece of paper, blushing and giggling to themselves. He walked over to them and tapped them on the shoulders, wanting to see what it was. The girls jumped apart in surprise.

"Axel!"

"Oh!"

"Hi," they said in unison, scooting closer together and hiding the paper behind their backs.

"You wouldn't want to see it," one of the girls said, "I don't think you'd be interested in it."

Axel ignored them because he had a feeling about what it was. He bent and twisted a little so that he could reach a hand around them and pluck the paper from their hands. They squealed and grabbed their stuff from the ground, running away giggling and looking back every so often, giggling even more. Axel shook his head, sometimes he really didn't understand females. He looked at the paper in his hands. His eyes widened a bit as he figured out who the attractive woman in the picture was. It was a drawn picture of a female Roxas, and it was wonderful. Axel felt himself blush a little.

"Ready to go?"

Axel twitched a bit in surprise but recovered quickly, swiftly tucking the drawing in between his books. This wasn't something that he wanted Roxas to catch him with.

"Yeah, let's go."

Axel drove Roxas home and watched the boy walk into his house, giving a small wave before he closed the door. Axel leaned back in his chair for a little bit, sliding his book a little off of the picture of Roxas. Whoever had drawn it knew how to draw drawings that spoke to you because Axel found the picture terribly entrancing. He shook his head and concentrated on getting home. He drove off after putting the book back on top of the drawing.

That night as he was sleeping, he had an interesting dream. In it Axel was at school at practice, and he knew someone was waiting for him as he got done. He was in the locker room taking a shower when he felt someone walk up behind him. He turned around, knowing who it was because everyone else had already left the campus. 'You can't be here,' Axel breathed softly. The woman who had entered the showers was only wearing her panties and a white tank which would soon become see through. 'I could leave.' She said with a smile as she slowly sauntered her way towards him. Axel grew hard as he watched her move towards him, the dampness in the air clinging to her skin. His breath hitched as she stepped into the shower with him. The water cascaded over her, making her shit cling to her body tightly and flattening her blond hair. The woman wrapped her arms around him and ground their bodies together. Axel responded by wrapping his arms around her legs and hoisting her up against the wall under the shower so that it ran down his back. She moaned and she stared at him, her bright eyes gone misty with need. She slipped a hand between them and down, touching as much of Axel as he could. 'Oh Roxas,' he whispered.

Axel woke up panting heavily. He could see the moon hidden behind clouds. He took a deep breath and glanced down. Axel cursed at the boner he had and moved to open his window to get some cold air in. He collapsed in his bed, his body reacting already to the cold wind coming in through the small crack he had opened. He closed his eyes and cursed his imagination. It didn't really bother him that he had this very sexual dream, it bothered him that he had dreamed of Roxas. He cursed the picture he had found earlier and tried to clear his thoughts. It seemed like it was going to be a long night.

The next morning Axel had trouble looking straight at Roxas. In his head certain things Roxas said or did became more feminine to him, and when they were getting ready for P.E. he imagined as he strictly glanced at Roxas's back and the curve of his ass, that Roxas was a woman, and he had to do very unpleasant things to himself so that he would be able to participate in P.E. It came to a maximum when Axel fell half asleep in one of his classes, having not slept well the night before, and imagined Roxas, as a male, in a dress and it looked almost just as pretty. He startled himself awake with the thought and resigned to himself to go see a therapist because this was just weird.

The dream had profoundly affected Axel and he was more alert than ever. His fascination extended into watching Roxas interact with other people. He knew Demyx was gay, although the revelation had been a rather painful one, more so for Demyx than himself. It had brought a small gulf between them that they had never truly managed to patch back up. Roxas had given him an excuse to linger about again, but he felt like something was still awkward about it. Zexion he had gather, as most people would if they stopped to observe, was also gay and together with Demyx. It wasn't something they flaunted but just was. Roxas and Demyx flirted, and were very publicly affectionate, spurring on rumors that never really harmed their reputations, but only indulged some minds in intricate fantasies. Axel began to notice the way Roxas displayed affections towards women who flirted with him and Demyx. Which led to his speculation that maybe Roxas had a bit of gay in him too. If Roxas noticed that he was watching him more, it was never mentioned. And Roxas had noticed it, but not in the way Axel thought he might. Roxas had noticed that Axel seemed to be more absent minded, maybe even bored in his company, which only drove Roxas to cling to Demyx and Zexion more in his loneliness. The one day Axel brought up an interesting proposition to him.

"Hey Roxas."

Roxas closed his book and tilted his head back so that he could look at Axel.

"Yes?"

Axel grinned and leaned down, wrapping his arms around Roxas's shoulders. "You've met Reno, so I figure you could come over for dinner. Mom and dad want to meet you and they're actually home tonight," Axel suggested as he continued to lean on Roxas.

"Um. Sure. I just have to ask Tina."

"I already did. She's cool with it."

"Isn't that a bit bold of you? What if I had said no?" Roxas asked as he turned around in the chair to face him. Axel leaned in with a grin, their noses almost touching.

"You wouldn't say no."

Roxas had to remember to breathe as he left the library.

The day passed quickly for him and Roxas found himself soon standing outside of Axel's house as he fiddled with the keys. Roxas's apprehensions grew the longer he stood there.

"Namine! Kairi! I'm home."

Roxas glanced around as they stepped into the house, looking for the people that Axel had called for. In a few seconds he found himself wondering why he had toppled to the floor.

"Hey Kairi. You missed."

Roxas groaned and lifted himself a bit off of the ground so he could be eye to eye with the little girl sitting on his body. The little girl turned her head and stuck her tongue out at Axel, "I didn't miss. I meant to land on Roxas."

Apparently Axel had talked about him enough so that he was recognizable by the small child from description alone. "Hi there, Kairi, was it?"

The bubbly girl turned around back to him with a gigantic grin, "Oh yes! Yes! I'm glad you rememberered."

"Welcome home, and it's remembered."

Roxas looked behind Kairi to see another girl, this one older, giving Axel a hug. "This is Namine."

Roxas smiled and lifted Kairi off of himself, nodding a hello to Namine. She stared curiously at Roxas before turning to Axel. "Oh, mom and dad got called in. They can't eat with us tonight but they send all of us, and you Roxas, their regards."

"That's a shame. But you're still eating with us, right Roxas?"

"You have to stay!" Kairi squealed, pulling on his arm.

Roxas would've stayed regardless of begging, especially with the prospects of meeting the prestigious parents was off of the table. "All right, all right. I wasn't planning on leaving anyway," he said with a cheerful laugh.

Axel picked Kairi up and carried her to the kitchen, her laughter ringing across the house. Namine smiled at Roxas and waited until he had entered the house more. "He's still single ya know."

Roxas blushed and almost made a second visitation with the ground. Was he that obvious?

Roxas had become a more regular visitor at their house, eating some meals there and tutoring Namine when he had the chance and she needed help. Especially when Axel wasn't home this gave them time to talk, and to Roxas's great surprise, Namine was far beyond her age peers in comprehension and maturity. She was very intelligent and talented even with young age. He learned that everyone in their family somehow excelled at something. For her it was academics, Axel it was sports, and Kairi was showing a flair for music. Namine had laughed about Reno, calling him the family's 'hidden talent.' A knack for business had eventually been the closets that their family could get to a consensus. The closer he got to Axel's family, the more hopeful he began to feel, now spending some more time with Namine than Demyx and Zexion some days. Axel, had however, started to become mysteriously busy.

One weekend Roxas was knocking on Axel's door, not having spent that much time with him during the week. He glanced around at the dead trees in the year and waited for the door to open.

"Roxas!"

Roxas gave up contemplating Axel and caught Kairi before she could tackle him to the ground. For a little girl she packed quite the force behind her.

"Hey Kairi, is Axel home?" he asked as Kairi began to pull him inside the house.

"He was. But he left. He wouldn't tell me why though."

As Kairi complained about older brothers who kept too many secrets Namine had come to the door. She smiled and tried to pry Kairi off. It wasn't that Kairi wasn't a bundle of cuteness, Roxas's arm was just going numb.

"You just missed him."

"So I heard. Any idea where he went?" he asked as he tried to get blood back into his arm.

"No. He just got a call and sprinted out after that," Namine said as she sent Kairi to get some paper and crayons. Roxas nodded and put his jacket on the rack in the entry way and kicked off his shoes. Axel's home was almost his second, he had even met the father. Only Reno made him feel uncomfortable, he felt that the man didn't like him very much. Roxas hadn't even made it out of the entryway as the door flung open again. "Roxas!"

Roxas didn't have any time to prepare as Axel launched himself at him, bringing them both down in a tumble. "Ow," Roxas grumbled as he raised a hand to what the thought would develop into a bruise later.

"Sorry about that."

He opened his eyes to find Axel staring right at him. He swallowed and hoped Axel couldn't hear his heart beat. It was almost having a seizure. "You're not sorry."

Axel laughed and balanced himself over Roxas, his knee sliding dangerously close to areas that Roxas didn't want him accidentally touching. It might be his undoing. "You know me too well," Axel quipped getting up.

Roxas took Axel's outstretched hand, "You're not very hard to figure out."

He hadn't expected Axel to tug him up with such force, causing him to loose his balance and topple straight back into Axel, the two of them ending once again on the floor in an ungraceful and embarrassing heap. Roxas felt humiliated.

"Careful there Roxy-baby, I know I'm irresistible but damn," he said with a playful wink, this time pulling Roxas up more slowly. Roxas blushed as Axel laughed and walked to the kitchen.

"That looked like fun," Namine commented having watched the interaction.

"Well it wasn't," Roxas applied grumpily.

"He loves you."

"As a friend."

"It's a step."

"Oh god I hope so."

Namine gave Roxas an encouraging pat on the back and then went upstairs to distract Namine.

'I really hope so,' Roxas thought as he followed Axel into the kitchen.