Here's chapter 5 for all of you to gaze upon in wonder... and hopefully read and review! Hope it's up to your standards! My stories never meet my own expectations because my writing skills are still developing in my opinion, but maybe they meet yours. I don't know.

Once again for those of us who are a bit forgetful… might as well be honest, you can count me in that group, hee he, this is so you don't get confused. Flashbacks are in bold and italics, while Sora's crash memories/flashbacks are in just bold. Both are in this chapter so you need to keep that in mind, thank you very much!

Anyways, Jeremy X comes in this chapter so be excited! Yay new character!

On with the show! (I missed saying that! Readers of my other stories might remember me saying that a whole lot. Hee he!)

Chapter 5

The front door creaked open, slamming shut loudly almost at once.

"Uh, whaz goin' on 'Oxas?" Axel asked groggily, flipping over to pull Roxas' warm body closer against him and falling back asleep in moments, the disturbance long forgotten in the primal need of sleep and comfort. "Just 'ever min' me 'Oxas, go ack to leep like a goo boy."

"Roxas, I'm home dear!"

"What's that noise?" Axel moaned drowsily, his large emerald green eyes flicking open at the sound of the kitchen door slamming down on the first floor and the sound of high heels clomping across the tiled linoleum floor. Axel looked down at the sleeping angel in his arms and beamed, silently thanking God for his good fortune and to have found someone so perfect to fall in love with who loved him in return.

Roxas looked so calm and peaceful in his arms after all the misery and hurt Axel had glimpsed bottled up in Roxas' miniscule childish form. For someone who looked so much like a child and seemed so carefree and playful most of the time, Axel was surprised at how deep Roxas' despair had been. Axel reached out a long fingered poetic hand and gently caressed the curve of Roxas' jaw and up the side of his face lovingly. Leaning forward slightly to hover just inches over Roxas' soft fragile body, he touched his lips to Roxas still closed eyelids in what was unmistakably a tender and caring gesture.

"Roxas, did you hear me call for you or not? Where are you?"

"Oh shit, it wasn't a dream! Roxas wake up, your Mum is downstairs!" Axel took a hold and shook Roxas' shoulders none too gently, knowing now that what he had heard before wasn't just his imagination at all. "Roxas, please wake up! Listen to me!"

"Axel, what's going on, where's the fire if there's no smoke?" Roxas said blearily, wiggling around the bed cutely until he was snuggled against Axel's much larger form in an attempt to get warm and comfortable so he could fall back to sleep. "Why did you wake me up like that without a cock-a-doodle-doo? It's too early, the sun really sucks and I like the moon better! Let's go have tea and crumpets with the British later, okay lovey-dovey-pyro-of-mine?"

"I know its early Roxas, I think so too but it can't be helped." Axel said, amused by Roxas' sleepy ramblings about random things. Biting his bottom lip at what he knew he had to do even if it killed him. "Wake your skinny ass up right now Roxas, you're Mother's down stairs you freakin' idiot! Wake up already would you?"

"Did you just yell at me Axel?" Roxas whispered, snapping awake at once. He looked up at Axel, the hurt visible in his eyes as a single tear slipped down the side of his face. "Wait, did you say my Mother was here?"

"Yes, I said it and she's home. Why else would you think I'd say those things to you? I only did it because I knew it would wake you up." Axel said kindly wiping away the lone tear before jumping off the bed much to Roxas' displeasure.

"Roxas, answer me right now or I'm calling the police!" His Mother shrieked in fear, thinking he couldn't answer because he'd been kidnapped by some rapist, not that he had been sleeping too deeply in the comforting arms of another.

"I'm right here Mother, don't worry! I – I was in the bathroom and didn't hear you until just now, sorry!" Roxas called down the stairs before turning back to Axel. "What do we do now? She can't see you here in my room! Do you know what would happen if she did? I don't even know what would happen if she did, but I sure don't wanna find out any time soon!"

"I could sneak out the window and climb down somehow." Axel said going to the window to peer out of it at the siding of the outer walls. "Or I could just jump and hope to land on my feet like a cat would, you know?"

"Roxas, I'm coming up." His Mother called up as she began climbing the stairs.

"Axel, go now please!" Roxas begged, tears filling his eyes as he jumped from the bed in frustration as he moved to close his door and press himself against it in an attempt to keep his Mother out of his room.

"Roxas, open this door right now!" His Mother called rattling the door handle. "Roxas, since when do you lock your door? Open up sweetheart."

"Hold on Mother, I'm getting dressed." Roxas called still holding the door shut. Roxas released the pressure on his door for merely three seconds to turn the lights on, but it was more than enough for Roxas' Mother to get inside.

The door went bursting open at once, his Mother slipping inside quickly to stare open mouthed at the scene unfolding before her. There stood her terrified looking son, fully dressed and leaning against the wall while across the room one long leg and half of his skinny yet buff torso out the window, was Axel, looking just as terrified to see her there as Roxas did.

"Roxas, who's this and what is he doing in your room – or half way in from the look of things?" His Mother asked, her voice sounding more confused than angry. "Can someone please explain this to me? I'm way more than a little confused now."

"Mother, you once said you'd love me no matter what, and you meant it right?" Roxas asked sheepishly twiddling his thumbs in discomfort.

"Of course sweetheart, but what does that have to do with a strange teenager climbing out of your window and everyone looking at me like I was here to kill you both?" His Mother asked. "Roxas, what's going on?"

"Mother, you might want to sit down for this." Roxas said with a sigh, ushering his Mother over to the edge of the bed before moving to pull Axel back into the room and over to where his Mother sat looking perplexed. "Mother, this is my best friend Axel, Axel this is my Mother."

"Hello there Mama Roxas, it's nice to finally meet you. Roxas has told me oh so much about you." Axel said cheerily, taking her hand and shaking it so that she smiled at him.

"He's so nice Roxas, a really gentleman. But why did you try to sneak him out your window?" She asked, looking between the two boys guilty faces.

"Mother, I have a confession to make. A really big one actually now that I think about it." Roxas said, taking his Mother's hand in both of his while looking down at the floor and his bare feet as he wiggled his toes into the shaggy warm carpet. "The truth is Axel's not just my best friend. He's so much more than that to me Mother, promise to please try to understand how I feel if I tell you what he means to me. You have to promise if you want me to tell you what's going on."

"I don't understand Roxas." His Mother said slowly, looking up at Axel like he had three heads. "What else could he be? I promise to try and understand, so tell me."

"Axel's not just my best friend because…" Roxas sighed, deciding it would just be best to get it over with so she could freak out and be done with it. "Axel's actually my boyfriend. Mother, I'm gay. I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner but I wasn't sure you'd understand and I didn't want you to be ashamed of me."

"I really love him, if that helps at all." Axel said softly, bringing her eyes onto him. "He's so wonderful and perfect. I know I could never deserve his heart, but all he wants in return is my heart. How could I say no when I loved him too much to deny him anything?"

"You two are together then?" She asked softly, looking up into Axel's face as Roxas was too busily studying his carpet for her to catch his eyes. All she saw in Axel's eyes made her realize it was true, that Roxas had been perfectly serious when he said he didn't like girls that way. In Axel's eyes, she saw what she had always dreamed for her son – a unique romantic filled with unconditional love, a love deeper than the ocean, a passion hidden deep within their hearts burning like the flame of a thousand candles. It brought tears to her eyes that someone could love her son so much and that Roxas had found the perfect love for himself as she had always hoped he would. So it was another male, it didn't matter who it was as long as Roxas was happy. That was all that mattered to her. "I understand Roxas, I'm happy for you, both of you."

"You… what did you say Mother?" Roxas said, looking up confused. "You mean it, you aren't angry or upset or disappointed or anything? You're really happy for me and Axel then Mother?"

"It's your life, and you have the same right as anyone else to fall in love with whoever you wish. I always hoped you find someone to love Roxas. I'm so happy for you both!" She gracefully climbed off the bed and hugged both of the in turn, her eyes misting over with tears. She turned to Axel as she went to leave the room. "One last question and then I swear I'll leave you two alone. Just out of curiosity, what did you two do last night? Please tell me you didn't…"

"Oh no, Mother we didn't!" Roxas swore, followed by a nervous giggle. It was true though, all Axel and Roxas had done was kiss and make-out a few hours before Axel had picked up an extremely exhausted yawning Roxas gently and carried him up to his room.

"Come on Roxas, hold on tight or I'll drop you." Axel said compassionately, picking me up with one arm under my knees, the other behind my back cradling me against his chest affectionately.

"I'm doing my best Axel, but I'm just so … tired," I said blearily, the last word uttered after a large yawn. I rested my head in the curve of his neck, my body pressed as close to his as I could get it without falling out of his arms and onto the cold floor.

"I know baby, I know. Just a bit longer and then you can rest; just let me get you up these stairs without dropping you down them." Axel whispered in my ear, his lips so close I could actually feel the warm of his breathe on my neck. I smiled cheekily, kissing him on his pale neck, the first time I had ever been bolder than to just kiss his soft thin lips – I'm what Axel affectionately calls 'an innocent'.

It was then as I kissed his neck for the first time that it happened. He moaned openly and passionately, making me blush crimson. Never once in all our time together had he ever made that kind of sound when I kissed him, not once in nearly a month between us.

"Axel, I take it that you liked that then, how very interesting." I giggled, smiling against his neck smugly. Axel nodded his head jerkily, still climbing the stairs with me in his arms. I smiled and kissed his neck again, this time biting him just enough to leave a mark, pushing my tongue against the wound I had created.

"No Roxas don't, don't do that ever again." Axel said his voice tight in his throat. I pulled my head back from his chest, confused by the way he was speaking to me. He was looking straight ahead, his jaw set as he finally reached the landing and headed for the door to my room. "Seriously Roxas, never do that again."

"I thought you liked it when I did that Axel, I'm sorry. I just wanted to show you how much I love you." I said, embarrassed that my efforts hadn't been as well received as I had hoped.

"I know Roxas, and I do love it when you do that. But don't do it again, please." Axel said with a sigh, resting me back against the pillows on my bed. There was something he wasn't telling me, and I didn't like the feeling at all. It was like he was hiding something from me like maybe that he was in love with someone else… I had to find out – NOW!

"I'm sorry Axel. If it bothers you I won't do it ever again." I said quietly. I pulled myself up onto my knees so I was leaning over the edge of the bed about to topple off of it and pulled him down to sit on the bed beside me, getting my face close to his to kiss him. He seemed to sense no danger in just a kiss however, and he started quickly to respond by running his fingers through my short hair. Happy that I had gotten Axel to feel comfortable having me close again, I pressed my whole body against him slowly until my body was molded with his so that every time he moved my body moved with his in perfect rhythm; I tried to pull his closer to me by placing one of my hands in the dip of the small of the back, causing him to wince slightly for some unknown reason, while the other held onto his hair keeping his head close to mine. As soon as I had pressed myself against him, Axel had tensed up but kept going along with it as though nothing was wrong. Until I had moved my hand to grasp his hair that is; when that happened he seemed to panic, pulling away from me as though my touch had burned him.

"What's wrong Axel?" I asked, having thought that he had calmed down only for him to pull away from me and push me back against the bed to get up back away slightly so I couldn't reach him from where I was.

"Just don't Roxas, don't do things like that to me." Axel sighed, his voice constricted as he ran his hand distractedly through his long flaming hair. "You don't know what you're doing to me by kissing and holding me like that. I don't want you ever doing anything like that again Roxas."

"But why Axel, don't you want me to show you how much I care for you?" I asked him feeling upset. He sighed again, reaching out a hand to hold my chin and look into my eyes. I swatted his hand away, looking away from him. "Don't you love me anymore Axel? Is that why you don't want me touching you, because you don't love or care about me anymore?"

"That's crazy Roxas; I just sat here with you for nearly four hours while you cried, how could you think that about me? Do you have any idea how mental you sound right now? You should get some sleep Roxas, I'll let myself out." Axel said in a monotone voice so unlike his regular voice, getting off the bed to leave. I don't know why, but I couldn't bring myself to let him leave. Reaching out swiftly lest I miss my chance, I grabbed his arm, holding onto his wrist as though my very life depended on it.

"No, don't go Axel, please don't go. I didn't mean it, I'm just so confused and upset over everything that's happened right now. I didn't mean any of it, I swear!" I begged tugging on his arm. He wasn't looking at me again, his eyes turned toward the door he had moments before been heading for as though he wanted to escape from me. "Please Axel, please don't go. Stay with me tonight Axel, please. I need to know that you love me."

"What do you want from me Roxas!?!" Axel said turning around fiercely to rip his arm out of my grip. He'd never been this angry with me, though I had seen him yell at his band mates occasionally, but never had he yelled at me for any reason. He was always so kind and collected when he spoke to people, I never thought he'd be capable of being unkind to anyone and shout at them so… and it killed inside me that it had to be me he was yelling at. "Roxas, I know that you love me, but if you kiss me like that again I'll just snap. I won't be able to control myself anymore and I don't want that to happen, especially with you around." Axel said sounding disgusted with himself. So this was what he was hiding from me all this time, he was afraid of what he thought her might do to me. "You're still an innocent Roxas and I couldn't live with myself if I was the one who took that away from you before you were ready just because I wanted it. Which is what would happen in the end, you know that Roxas. That's why you can't do that again, as much as I love it AND you. I love you Roxas, and I want you to be mine someday but I don't want to take that away from you before you're ready and willing. You'd never trust or love me again and I'd hate myself inside for doing something that cruel to you simply because I wanted you so much that I lost control of myself. I'm only looking out for you Roxas, please try to understand."

"I understand why you're worried Axel, I really do." I said softly, taking his hand in mine. He looked down at my hand in his, lacing his long tapered poetic fingers with my much shorter ones, bringing my hand up to his lips to kiss it tenderly. "But I'm not afraid of you losing control around me Axel. You won't snap and take advantage of me, no matter what you might think. You love me and I love you, and you don't just loose it on people you really love."

Axel murmured something under his breath, still looking at my hand in his. I didn't say anything to him about it, thinking it must be something he really didn't mean to say or want me to hear.

"Roxas, I can't help but be worried about you and what I might do to you." Axel started his voice trembling, looking up at me with his large beautiful emerald green eyes so filled with hurt and a blanketed pain I could tell he wasn't ready to share with me just yet. "I'm still scared that if I stay the night with you…"

I cut him off by slipping off the bed and wrapping my arms around his waist to pull him against me again, meaning only to comfort him. Let's just say that was a bad move on my part. Axel groaned taking my face in his hands and crashing his lips roughly down onto mine savagely. I felt a moment of panic, my brain thinking fiercely through the extreme pleasure I was receiving from his kiss. Was this the kind of thing he was worried about?

"Roxas, I told you not to." Axel rasped low in his throat, picking me up and slinging me bodily across the bed and climbing on top of me to straddle my waist. Suddenly his lips were smashing down onto mine again, his tongue forcing its way into my mouth as he pulled at the fabric of my shirt, attempted to pull it off over my head. I reached up my hands and tried to stop him but he swatted my hands away finally managing to rid me of my shirt much to my discomfort. He bit down hard on the flesh of my neck, his cold hands running up and down the shivering skin of my chest and stomach. "You brought this on yourself you know. I warned you what would happen, but you kept going."

"Axel…" I choked in a strangled voice, my throat muscles seemingly working overtime just so I could utter his name, those simple four syllables that worked together to spell the name of the one person I cared about, excluding family of course. Axel kissed my stomach, his hair tickling my now exposed skin as he moved over my body, my body going limp under his tender touches and caresses. I closed my eyes, my head fell back and resting against the pillows as Axel explored my body, occasionally causing me to wince in pain as he bit into my flesh. I couldn't see any harm in what he was doing at first, but when he reached for the zipper of my jeans I hypothetically woke up, coming back to the realization of what was happening to me. "No Axel, don't!"

"Oh Roxas, your body drives me crazy!" Axel said softly, kissing the side of my face. I pulled away from him but was unable to get out from under him no matter how hard I tried. Axel looked down at me, smiling slightly as though to himself, and I could see his eyes had clouded over. This wasn't the Axel I was used to at all. The Axel I knew and loved would have long ago realized I was scared and tried to comfort me instead of continuing to terrify me by forcing me into doing things I wasn't used to and just plain wasn't ready for.

"Please Axel, let me up. You have to know I don't want to do this Axel, please stop. Axel, come back to me. What happened to the Axel I know? The one that would never force me into anything I didn't feel comfortable doing?" I pleaded as he reached again for the top of my pants. I grabbed his hands in mine, managing to stop him for an instant, but I knew I couldn't hold back this fierce new Axel for long. "Axel I love you."

"I love you too Roxas." Axel said his voice muffled in the daze he seemed to be functioning under at the moment. He bent down to kiss me again, but I stopped him by placing a finger on his lips, silencing him with a look as he went to speak.

"Then stop Axel, I don't want to do this. You love me Axel, I know it. Don't force me to do something I'm just not ready to do with you yet." I whispered to him, half begging him to understand. Before he said anything I knew the old Axel was back by the change that occurred in his face. His expression went from confusion to shocked realization and finally tears and self-loathing as he climbed off of me. I breathe out heavily, my eyes flicking over to Axel's slightly shaking form. I was thankful that I had the old him back and had made it out of the very situation I had put myself in by accident without losing IT to him and losing Axel at the same time. "Axel, are you alright?"

"No Roxas, I'm not alright." Axel sobbed into his hands sadly. It was as though he couldn't bear to look me in the eye, for no matter how hard I tried I couldn't catch his eye and force him to look at me. "I warned you this would happen, if you hadn't stopped me then Roxas I don't think…"

"I didn't stop you Axel." I told him, pulling him close to me so he could cry into my shoulder over what he had almost done to me. "You stopped yourself Axel, all I did was ask you. You did the rest on your own Axel; you have more self control around me than you seem to think."

"Thank you Roxas, for everything." Axel said, picking up my shirt and handing it to me, seeming a bit embarrassed by what he had done. I slipped it over my head and crawled under the covers, pulling Axel under with me so I could rest my head on his chest as he wrapped his arms around my waist comfortingly. "Goodnight Roxas."

"Goodnight Axel." I smiled against his broad chest, falling at once into a deep sleep.

"Oh, and Axel dear, promise me something would you?" Roxas' Mother asked as she reached the door that led out of the room and into the dimly lit hall. "Don't you dare break Roxas' heart young man; I'll swear I'd never forgive you if you did."

"Oh don't worry, I won't break his heart." Axel smiled widely, gazing down at Roxas and taking his hand affectionately. "That's one thing I could never do."

"Sora… I'm sorry." Riku said softly, taking Sora's hand in his as Kairi gasped, grabbing the wheel once again as she snapped out of her trace and tried to keep the car from running off the side of the road. "I shouldn't have suggested you break up with Kairi. It's my fault that this is happening to this!"

"You're the one who..." Kairi said in a small voice, her eyes widening. "YOU BASTARD, YOU FUCKING BASTARD DAMN YOU TO HELL RIKU! I'LL KILL YOU FOR THIS RIKU! YOU COST ME SORA!"

"Whatcha gonna do about it bitch?" Riku taunted her cruelly, laughing as she gasped at being insulted to her face for the first time.

"Kairi, keep your eyes on the road would you?" Sora shouted, unbuckling his seat belt and wiggling out of it to get between the two of them as Kairi attempted to claw Riku's eyes out between the gab in the seats. "Stop it you two, this is ridiculous!"

"I HATE YOU!" Kairi screamed at Riku, smacking Sora across the face to get at Riku in her blind rage. Sora gasped and fell back against the locked car door holding the injured side of his face as tears leaked out of his eyes.

"YOU WHORE, HOW DARE YOU DO THAT TO HIM AFTER HE WAS SO KIND TO YOU! YOU BITCH, YOU'LL PAY FOR THAT!" Riku roared, lunging forward through the gap between the seats that Sora had exited.

"Watch out!"

"So Axel, what do you feel like doing?" Roxas smiled, wrapping his arms around Axel's waist to pull him closer almost as soon as his Mother had left the room. Axel smiled mischievously down on the love of his life, taking Roxas' face in between his hands adoringly.

"Oh, I don't know Roxas." Axel chuckled, bringing his face so close to Roxas' that Roxas could feel his warm breath tickling his nose. Leaning in the rest of the way Axel's lips collided with Roxas' lightly, more like a radiantly light caress than a kiss, before pulling back to look into Roxas' eyes. "How about a few more of those, sound good to you then?"

"No." Roxas answered, hurting Axle's feelings. Roxas laced his fingers with Axel's and squeezed them. "Not a few more, I want for than that."

Smiling in triumph, Axel bent forward to kiss Roxas and by chance just happened to glance over at the clock on Roxas' bedside table as he did so – it read noon in big glowing green numbers.

"Is that really the time?" Axel asked, pulling back in shock.

"My clock's a few minutes fast so it's not quite noon yet, about ten till. Why do you ask?" Roxas asked. Axel's jaw dropped.

"Roxas baby, I gotta get home – right now!" Axel said hurriedly, and rushing in a panic, he ran quickly around the room to pick up his jacket from the chair he had left it hanging over the night before and run out of Roxas' room, absentmindedly leaving his shoes behind at the foot of the bed. Noticing this, Roxas quickly scooped up his shoes and raced after him down the stairs and through the open front door. "Axel! You forgot something!"

"What?" Axel asked turning around. The next second his shoes were flying through the air to him. He caught them, smiling slightly at his mistake. "Thanks Roxas! Bye babe!"

""Goodbye Axel, see you again soon!" Roxas called, waxing as Axel pulled his car out of his driveway. I sure hope so Roxas, Axel sighed to himself sadly as she sped down the road towards his home.

Back on his doorstep, Roxas was running it all through his brain trying to fit all the pieces together – and it wasn't working too well.

"I wonder why Axel panicked like that when he saw what time it was." Roxas said to himself, thinking out loud as he walked back inside his house. "I know for a fact that Axel hates being home with his father, so why is he rushing back there like that? It just doesn't make sense to me."

Little did innocent Roxas know, there was much more going on in Axel's household than a mutual dislike between father and son like Roxas thought. Roxas was just under the impression that Axel just had a strange resentment for the place, not that there was something terrible and saddening going on inside.

A week passed by in which Roxas spent a lot of time at the hospital with Sora, skipping school in the face of his brother's loneliness.

"Are you really just here because you're worried I'm lonely Roxas?" Sora asked suddenly, looking up from the chess board sitting across his knees and into his brother's face. "Or are you really worried about something else?"

"What do you mean worried about something else, what else would I be worried about?" Roxas asked, not looking up from his pieces. "It's your move Sora, go already."

"Fine," Sora sighed, moving his knight. "How's Axel?"

"How do you know about Axel?" Roxas asked, his cheeks a little pink as he took his turn. "Who told you about him?"

"Riku told me the night we all went to 'The Dark-Heart'. He said it right after we walked out and left you to hang out with Axle and his band mates." Sora smiled, moving his final piece. "Checkmate!"

"I – how do you always win?" Roxas asked, folding his arms across his chest. "And how are you always right too? Riku swore he wouldn't tell anyone!"

"He just said you had a new friend named Axel, why are you so angry about it?" Sora asked, his eyes narrowing. "Is there more to this story then what Riku told me?"

"Yeah, there is actually. But it's none of your business." Roxas said his face red. He got up from his place at the foot of Sora's bed and walked across the room to the window looking out of it with a determined air that automatically ended the conversation. "So what have you been up to when I'm not here playing chess with you?"

"Nothing really." Sora shrugged disdainfully. "I've read what seems to be the entire contents of the hospital library, played all the handheld videogames Tidus can get his hands on for me, listened to all the CDs Rei can get for me, and then I sleep the rest of the time. Pretty exciting huh Roxas?"

"Yeah, real exciting life Sora." Roxas said sadly. He added in an undertone, "At least you've got it better than Riku does…"

"What did you say Roxas?" Sora asked, a little confused and intrigued at the same time. "Come on Roxas, tell me what you said."

"Nothing Sora, um I gotta go meet up with Axel in a few minutes so I'm just gonna go now." Roxas said sounding flustered. "Bye Sora."

"Bye Rox-" Sora said as the door slammed shut, closing Roxas behind it. "I wonder what was wrong with him. Why was he so jumpy all of the sudden?"

"Oh, hello there Roxas!" Yuna smiled as she walked down the hall toward Sora's room door to find Roxas leaning against it, his eyes closed as he breathed in heavily. "Off to see your friend Axel again then?"

"No Yuna I'm not actually, but that's what I told Sora I was going to do if you get what I'm saying." Roxas smiled opening his slightly stressed and bloodshot eyes to look at Yuna steadily as well as sheepishly. "Don't tell Sora, but I haven't seen Axel in almost a week. Ever since the day he came over to my house and then had to leave so suddenly, he hasn't been showing up at 'The Dark-Heart' and the band had been going on without him recently. I don't know what happened to him but it can't be anything good."

"Don't worry Roxas, I'm sure it will all work out in the end for everyone." Yuna smiled as optimistically as ever. Ever since the day she had cried in that abandoned room she had been determined to never show anyone how depressed she was and to try and make everyone feel a little better by being positive at least while in public viewing. "Don't you worry about Sora dear, go home and get some rest."

"Thanks a lot Yuna, I feel much better now." Roxas smiled weakly, walking down the hall and out into the parking lot to start on his long walk home.

"Hmmm..."

"What was that noise?" A harsh and slightly paranoid voice asked the darkness clouding the moaning teenager's head, shrouding his sight. "Who's making that noise, because it's really annoying if you didn't already know that!"

"Ngh… Ah… head's throbbing… Uh…"

"Huh, seems my pale freak of a roommate is finally waking up. Should I call for the nurse by any chance?" An unfamiliar voice rang out at the sound of his roommate's pained groans. "Perhaps I really should call for someone… but why bother the nurse to come all the way down here to him? Na, it's none of my business I suppose."

"Who's that… there? Ah... can't move neck…. Ngh…."

"Why I'm Jeremy X of course, you half wit! I'm your obnoxiously mental and lovable roommate. Or rather, you're MY new roommate, even if you don't look all that loveable to me I guess you'll have to do for now." The voice called out joyfully, making his roommate's head ache even more without realizing it. "You gonna talk back to me or am I gonna have to keep talking to myself like I did back when my last roommate was released about a month ago?"

"You talk… yourself?" He asked Jeremy X, his sentence coming out as a bunch of unlinked words instead of the question he had formed and intended to ask before it came out all wrong. His usually above-genius-intelligence-level brain seemed to be working a bit slower than usual after the accident he had participated in unwillingly, his sentences leaving out words without him meaning to but his roommate seemed to get the gist of what he had meant.

"Yeah, I talk to myself when no one is around for me to chatter aimlessly to. That's part of the reason I'm still in here after so long I suppose." Jeremy X confided in his new roommate and hopefully new friend as well. "There's so many strange voices in my head, it's not like I'm talking to myself at all you know? No, how could you. No one understands me or why I am how I am."

"I… try… understanding you… X." The other sighed in pain, trying his best to complete his sentence but failing abysmally to his great displeasure. Giving up, he pressed his head farther down into the pillows and sighed, he realized his brain was working faster than his tongue which upset him. He felt so useless and confused.

"X huh, I like that." Jeremy X laughed pleasantly. "I've never had a nickname before or a real live friend for that matter."

"I'll be… friend X." His friend smiled across the darkness. "I can't see… eyelids… heavy."

"Yeah, it'll probably feel like that for a while but you'll get used to it." Jeremy X said consolingly for his friend's sake. "After what they said happened to you it's surprising that you're even able to speak as well as you are. They say you snapped you neck when you fell out of your seat in the car accident after the car flipped over when it hit the roadside barrier. Is it true that you were in a car accident with your two best friends?"

"Not true… only care about Sora. Kairi… a total bitch… only talked… her because Sora liked… a little bit. He broke up… her before… accident." He explained to Jeremy X the best he could under the circumstances. Jeremy X laughed, but it wasn't a sound his roommate liked to hear. The laugh sounded sinister and wickedly evil as though Jeremy X knew something he didn't and intended to break it to him in the cruelest way possible.

"Then I guess you won't be upset when I tell you what happened to her, huh?" Jeremy X asked mysteriously, his excitement rising at how this new boy would react to the news. "Wanna know what happened to her?"

"Yes, X tell... happened… the heinous bitch." He begged, his voice pleading with his new found friend.

"She was thrown from the car through the windshield and killed." Jeremy X said unfeelingly, actually sounding a little bored now that the secret was out. "They didn't even bother to bring her here to the hospital. She was pronounced dead at the scene and set straight to the morgue."

"She died… the accident?" He asked sadly, his voice cracking against his will. Even if he didn't like Kairi, he still felt terrible that she had died while he had lived. "I didn't like… but didn't want… dead."

"Well she's dead now, so learn to deal with it and get over it." Jeremy X said with a sigh, tiring slightly of his new companion's broken sentences and slurred words. There were making his head hurt. "So what's your name anyway kid?"

"My name… Riku."

OoOoOoOo, soooooo much drama all in one place! My heart's all of a flutter! (Lol, I can't remember where I heard that, but I heard someone say it to me once!)

What's going on with Axel and his father? What will Sora so when he finds out Riku's in the hospital as well? What's Riku going to do while he's locked up with Jeremy X to stay from going mentally insane? Why do crackers have those little holes in them – and what's with all the questions!?!

Please review this chapter and tell me what you think! The buttons not THAT far away! Just look down… and press it.