Summary: "Can't you just be there for the family for once?" Alternative Universe, College setting. Oh, and it's slash. Don't like? I suggest you don't read it. Kthx.

Pairing: AkuRoku, because that's what was wished for!

Warning: Pfffffff... nothing, really. Mild swearing?

Disclaimer: Riiiiiiiight, no. Those characters? Belong to SquareEnix and Disney respectively. I'll tell you when I take over either of those companies. Storyline? Is mine, but not that original, anyway.

Dedication: For my lovely muse, kotilo – This was supposed to be a birthday present, but of course it wasn't even nearly finished for her birthday. Knowing me, it might not even be finished until the next one… I hope you still enjoy it, love!

"… run, in fact," Roxas finished for him. "At least you should, if you want to get there in time."

"Great," Axel mumbled and jumped up, picking up Reno and running out of the bathroom. Roxas followed them quickly. They were out of the apartment in no time, and Axel hugged and kissed Reno goodbye before he all but shoved the child into Roxas' arms.

Family Bonds – Chapter 9

To Axel's enormous surprise (and relief), he made it to his exam on time. He was rather surprised when he realized he was one of the first students to show up until he realized Roxas had to have told him a wrong time so he would hurry up a bit.

He used the little time he had to calm down again, and he surprised himself at how well he did on the exam itself. It wasn't at all as difficult as he had expected it to be. He knew he was grinning when he left the room again, attracting strange looks from his fellow students, but he didn't care. For once he was feeling happy here in college, and he wasn't going to let that be taken away from him again.

He even saw Roxas in the hallway once; Roxas was with other people, so he didn't dare to approach him, but as soon as Roxas noticed him he made his way over to Axel and told him Reno was alright and safe in the day care. He also asked Axel how he had done on the exam before he had to hurry to his next class. They agreed to meet up at the gates after Roxas' last class. Axel would have to wait for half an hour.

His classes for the day went over quickly, and for the first time Axel actually took part in the discussions, making his young professors sweat with sophisticated questions or answers. He also called Zexion during one of his breaks to take the day off. After his classes were over he left the building, sitting down somewhere to enjoy the warm sunlight outside while he waited for Roxas. He was feeling like whistling; it was a nice day, his final was over, and soon he would go and get Reno and maybe spend some time with him before…

"Axel!"

He looked up startled when he heard his name being shouted all over the small plaza. It had been a female voice, but…

He bit down on the inside of his cheek when he noticed the woman heading straight for him, shoving other students out of her way roughly. A raven-haired guy followed her. She was wearing sunglasses again, of course; this time the hood had been replaced by a hat to cover her hair.

He briefly thought of running away and hiding, but decided against it. So he just sighed and leaned back, greeting her with a weak smile.

"Hey, Ar-"

"Why the hell are you here?" she bawled, ignoring all the people around them staring at her already. "Where is Reno? How dare you to leave him alone! I told you to watch him one more day!"

Axel felt a frown draw his brows together. Glaring at her he rose from his bench and stepped forward.

"Reno is fine," he answered, forcing his voice to stay calm. "I asked a friend to take care of him."

"Why didn't you just stay at home?" she screamed, roughly brushing her lover off when the raven-haired man, Eric, tried to touch her arm to calm her down a little. "Do you have any idea how worried I was?"

"Exam, Ariel," Axel forced out through gritted teeth. "Today was one of my finals. Did you even hear what I said yesterday?"

"I don't care about your stupid school!" she fumed. "God, Axel, you're so unreliable! I needed you just for a weekend, and you…"

"Shut the fuck up," Axel said, surprised at himself for still staying so calm. He balled his hands into tight fists.

"No, you shut up!" she ranted on, her pretty, pale face flushed with anger. "You and your study shit! Can't you just be there for the family for once?"

"Shut it, you brat!" Axel yelled suddenly, and Ariel took a small step back, her mouth forming a surprised little 'o' as she watched her brother's eyes take on a murderous gleam. "I told you I didn't have time to watch him! My 'study shit' is important to me! I know you can't understand that, since you didn't even finish high school…"

"So what?"

"Shut the fuck up," Axel shouted. "Yes, my studies are important, and you can't just interfere with my life like that!"

"I just asked for a weekend!"

"You didn't ask! You dumped him on me! And it's Monday, in case you didn't notice!"

"You always liked watching Reno for me!"

"I do! I do like watching Reno, but you have to ask me first! Do you even know what that is, asking? Do you know what the word 'please' means?"

"Don't yell at me! You don't have the right to yell at me like that! Stop yelling!"

"Stop being a spoiled, selfish, ignorant bitch, then I'll stop yelling!"

"Oh, you asshole!"

"Brat!"

"Loser!"

"Why am I even talking to you?"

This was getting way out of hand, but Axel didn't even think of stopping their fight. He looked at his sister, his cute little sister, the youngest out of eight children, who had always been spoiled by his father, and he still saw nothing but a girl. She wasn't a woman; she wasn't a mother. She was still only nineteen years old, way too young for all the fame and money, way too young to care for a child. She had never learned how to deal with life. Their father, their sisters and Axel himself had always helped her, she had never had the chance to learn how to be on her own or how to think about anybody but herself… She had always been the sweetheart of the whole family, but right now Axel wished he could go back to give her a good lecture about responsibility…

"Ariel, stop it," Eric suddenly spoke up, holding her back when she moved to step forward, raising her hand as if to slap Axel.

"What's going on here?" another voice added confused, and when Axel threw a look back over his shoulder, he noticed Roxas approaching them slowly. Eric was quietly talking to Ariel, who still stared at Axel through her ridiculous sunglasses, her whole little body shaking; and Axel knew he was looking still pissed, but he didn't possess the strength anymore to change that. He just turned his back on Ariel demonstratively, crossing his arms.

"Don't turn your back on me, Axel," Ariel hissed. "We're not done yet. Where is my son?"

Roxas looked at her, then at Axel, who still made no attempt to turn around or even answer. He raised his brows at Axel, but only got a miffed huff and a scowl in return.

"You… must be Ariel," Roxas finally said, and slowly his eyes travelled from Axel to the small woman again. He cautiously outstretched his hand. "My… my name…"

"I don't care," Ariel hissed, and for a moment Axel was so close to turning around and slapping her. How dare she to treat Roxas like this! "Don't you see we're busy here?"

"Reno, he's at my cousin's," Roxas tried to explain, still very careful and quiet. "At a day care not far from here. If you want to, I'll show you the way…"

"Oh." That got her attention. "So you left my child in the hand of some strangers?" That question was for Axel again, but he still did not turn around.

"You don't have to be worried, Sora… my cousin, he's really good in his job…"

"Oh, I don't doubt that. Still, Axel…"

"It was all my idea," Roxas clarified. "I told him I would take care of Reno for him today."

"I don't care whose idea it was," Ariel exclaimed angrily. "I want my baby."

"Here, I'll show you the way…" Roxas said, and Axel felt a cautious hand pluck at his sleeve. He turned and followed the blond without even glancing at his sister and her lover.

Roxas led them to the day care, a quite big, multicolored house surrounded by a huge garden where dozens of children ran around, crying and laughing and having fun. Two men were out in the garden with them; Axel thought he recognized the brunet, Sora, having seen him with Roxas in the café a few times. The other one was about Axel's age, with dirty blond hair styled oddly like a mullet or something.

"Hey, Sora," Roxas called out when he opened the gate, raising a hand and waving when the brunet looked up, holding a small blonde girl in his arms as he straightened up.

"Roxas," he greeted his cousin, eyeing up the other visitors. "You're here for Reno, right?" He looked at his co-worker, briefly nodding at him. "Could you take the kids inside, Demyx? And get Reno for me, would you?"

"Sure thing," the guy with the mullet exclaimed. "Alright kids, it's time to go inside! Who's first to tackle Riku or Nami wins!" The children cheered loudly and immediately vanished through the doors inside, followed by Demyx. Sora put the girl down, who hurried to follow her playmates, and turned to look at his visitors again.

"You must be Reno's parents, I assume?" Sora said and smiled, looking at Ariel and Eric.

"I am his mother," Ariel replied stiffly, taking a look around and ripping her sunglasses from her little nose. "Say, are there only guys working here or what?"

"Oh no, just me, Demyx and Riku," Sora explained calmly. "Other than that there are Naminé, Yuna, Rikku, Paine and Selphie who look after the children." And when there was no answer for a while, he added, "So… Reno is a very nice little boy."

"As if I care about your opinion," Ariel sneered, and Axel, who had held back and not said a word, was tempted to smash her head against the nearest wall. Their mother had taught them better manners than that, he thought seething with rage. His fingers dug deeply into his arms, causing pain to shoot through them. But he still held back, watching Ariel making a fool out of herself.

"I see…" Sora exchanged a pointed look with Roxas, who could only shrug helplessly. They all stayed silent for a while, waiting for Demyx to return with Reno.

"Uh, my name is Eric," Ariel's lover finally tried to break the awkward silence, offering Sora his hand. Sora took it briefly. "I'm the boy's… stepfather, you could say. Ehm… Thank you for taking him in on such short notice, it was an emergency, you see…"

"What, another dentist appointment?" Axel growled, but looked away when everyone stared at him.

"No problem," Sora replied, turning to look at Eric again. "I'm glad I could help. He's an adorable little boy."

"He is, yeah," Eric said quietly, and then they fell silent again.

Finally the door opened again, and Demyx emerged, holding Reno's hand. The small redhead was looking back, waving wildly and laughing before he turned around. He was beaming, his eyes shining and a broad smile splitting his face nearly in half. It even widened though as he noticed who was waiting for him.

"Mommy!" he screamed, his childish voice even higher than usual. He ripped his hand out of Demyx's and sprinted over to the woman, who spread her arms to pull him into a warm, welcoming embrace.

"Reno, baby, there you are!" she cried out, smiling down at the small redhead fondly. "I was so worried about you!"

"I played wiv so many kids, Mommy!" Reno immediately started to babble, reaching up to pull at her jacket. "And Nami and I drew a picture fow you, and, and Demy sang wiv us, and…"

"Excuse me…" Demyx interrupted them, smiling nervously when Ariel looked up at him. "I didn't mean to interrupt, but… aren't you Ariel Kaji?"

Ariel froze, and Axel hated her for it. Oh, she wouldn't…

"I… Yes, why?" she admitted, but she hurried to get her sunglasses back on her face.

"Oh, I love your music!" Demyx exclaimed happily. "I have all your albums, and I was at two of your concerts, and… Uhm… I just… never knew you were a mother…?"

No, officially she wasn't. Ariel had always hidden Reno from the public and the media. Sebastian had told her that the boy didn't fit her image of a successful pop princess.

"I…" Ariel started, clearing her throat nervously. But then she smiled, back to full pop-princess mode again. "Oh, no, you're mistaken, I'm just…" She threw a quick look at Axel, who was still watching her, green eyes narrowed; she quickly looked away again. "I was just… I wanted to help my brother a little, you see. He's a single father, and I thought he could use someone to look after his little boy here, because he's so busy with his studies lately and all…" She beamed at Axel, silently pleading him to play along. "Right, Axel? I just wanted to help you a little with Reno…"

Axel felt his lips stretch in a mirthless sneer, and he watched the smile on her face fade quickly. It was almost frightening how calm he suddenly felt. He had thought he would explode on her if she ever tried a stunt like this on him, but here he was, listening to her all but disowning her adorable little son, who was staring up to her confused, but was smart enough to stay quiet, because he had already learned his Mommy had to say strange things to strange people sometimes; and he felt nothing but cold, tired calmness, and he didn't even wonder about it anymore.

He unfolded his arms and stepped forward, averting his eyes to look at his nephew instead of his sister, leaning down to ruffle Reno's red hair. Reno looked at him, still confused, but smiled at him now.

"Bye, Squirt," he said tenderly, kissing Reno's forehead and gently adjusting his goggles again. "If there is anything you need, if there is anything I can do for you, just give me a call, okay?"

"Okay," Reno agreed, his small voice barely above a whisper.

Axel left without even looking at Ariel.

Back home he flung his bag into a corner, shrugged off his jacket and immediately got to work. If he had ever needed his anger painting, it was now. His eyes were burning while he worked, but never feeling wet or teary.

His hand moved slowly, ever so slowly, careful and cautious, trying to make every line, every angle, every curve perfect. There were dark buildings looming over a dark street; shadows filling the alleys, dark clouds covering the sky. It felt eerie, it felt wrong, it felt perfect and it felt right. Axel's mind shut down.

When his thoughts cleared again he was sitting on the couch, staring at the painting with wide eyes. There was a child now; a child sitting near one of the buildings, with shadows looming over it. A child, knees drawn up, arms hiding the face, hair red like fire.

Axel sucked in a sharp breath, throwing his arms around his torso in an awkward self-hug. He felt so cold all of sudden, or why else was his body shaking so much? His hands, his paint-colored hands, he barely could hold them still…

He was panting, he noticed; and still he was staring at the child, and he was almost sure the child was himself, lost in shadows and alone.

His hands flew to his throat, his breathing hitched; he needed to do something, he couldn't leave the child like this, without a family, alone, it wasn't right. It wasn't right! He couldn't leave him alone!

He jumped up, shaking like a leaf and panting and gasping for air, searching through his assortment of paints, absently touching the painting with two fingers. It was dry enough already (How many hours had he sat there, just staring, how many? He couldn't remember…); he wouldn't smudge it if he painted over it…

He needed to add something, someone else; and they were dressed in white, kneeling next to the child, arms outstretched, but not quite touching; blonde hair, spiky and tousled and swept to the side, and blue eyes, like the deepest summer sky. Pure light, glittering and chasing the shadows away, emanated from this new figure. It was basked in light, immersed in it when everything else around was drowned in shadows, even the child. But the new character protected the child, like… like an angel, or something.

He stumbled back again, forcing himself to look away when he collapsed onto his couch again, panting heavily and staring straight ahead, away from the painting.

Oh God why? Why did his youngest sister have to be such a brat? Why did he never manage to make her see how wrong she was? Why did she never remember what their mother had told them about how to behave? Why couldn't she love Reno as much as Axel did? The boy needed his mother, not a nanny, not his toys. How could she not see that? Oh why, why why why why?

He groaned, burying his face in the fabric of the couch, which still reeked of cherry vanilla. He wanted to scream so badly, but he barely had the strength to breathe left. He was drained, utterly spent, exhausted by his anger. Nothing was left. He couldn't even throw away the picture this time.

Slowly his erratic breathing calmed down, and only now he realized he was hearing something. The doorbell. At this time? It was already dark outside. Or was it still dark? But for all he knew whoever it was could have been ringing the doorbell for hours without him noticing. It wasn't the most unusual thing that had happened to him in this state, after one of his anger paintings.

He contemplated staying where he was for a moment, but decided against it. He didn't even know why. He didn't want to see anybody right now, but still his tired body hoisted itself from the couch and trudged over to the hallway, a hand grabbing the handle of the door.

Weary emerald met worried cerulean when he opened the door. Axel blinked a few times, narrowing his eyes at Roxas.

"What?" he asked, and he winced at the ragged sound of his own voice.

"I tried to call, but you didn't answer your phone, so…" Roxas tried to enter his apartment, but this time Axel blocked him with an arm. "Axel…"

"What do you want?" Axel asked huskily, leaning forward until his eyes were on same height as Roxas'. "Want to hear more family stories? Huh?"

"No, I…" Roxas leaned back a little, a slight frown now drawing his brows together. As he stood there, in the dim light of the hallway, his deep blue eyes shining and his pouty lips parted slightly… Axel was tempted to lean forward just a little more and kiss him hard, because he knew that would make everything better.

"What do you want to hear this time, Roxie?" he spat acidly instead, glowering at the blond in front of him. "Would you like to hear how my sister became a famous popstar?"

"I was worried about you," Roxas said slowly.

"Worried about me?" Axel repeated and threw his head back, laughing loudly. "That's rich! You were worried? Why, did you think your good connection to Ariel would break off if I was sulking in my apartment instead of apologizing to her? No, of course I should apologize right now…"

"I don't care about…"

"What is it then? My father's money and prestige? I hate to disappoint you, but I'm not on speaking terms with him…"

"I don't care about your father either!"

"What the hell are you here for then?"

"I told you, I was worried! I came here because of you!"

"To see if you'd get a good fuck out of it?"

The last words were spoken with venom, and for a moment Roxas fell silent, his face paling deadly white. In his messed up state Axel took his silence as a sign.

"I'm right, aren't I?" he chuckled manically, leaning forward again, taking in the clean scent of Roxas' hair and thinking of kissing him again. "You wanted to see if I needed to be 'comforted', didn't you? And then you were going to comfort me, with help of the condom and the lube you carry around all the time… God, I must be such a great fuck for you to come here…"

"No, you asshole," Roxas whispered, his hands balling into tight fists. "I came here because I thought you needed a friend."

"A friend," Axel echoed and laughed again. "Of course, a friend, my good friend Roxie, who isn't interested in my famous sister or my wealthy family or a quick fuck, nooooooo. Perfect little Roxie just wanted to talk, right? Well, news for you!" He narrowed his eyes again, the taunting sneer on his face vanishing in the blink of an eye. "There is nothing I want to talk about with you."

And then he shut the door.

The door bell didn't sound again.

Quick Note: Ha, don't you all love it too when you find already beta'd chapters on your laptop, and then remember that they'd been there for months? I do. I love it. Like, really. I think I wanted to update before my bachelor's examination, but well... it must've slipped my biotech-stuffed mind then. Anyway... There's not that much happening here, anyway, I know, but, my dears, you can put your mind at rest - the next, uhm, six? ::counts, nods:: Six chapters have been written in a fit of inspiration over the last few weeks, so hopefully you'll get to read some more soon. And then this will be finished. Hopefully.

Ah, and all of you who read this: Thank you so much for your support! I know I've been lazy with replying to reviews, but my studies aren't getting any easier, and they don't leave me with much free time (I'll have lectures until the 23rd, 7 pm. Sucky.). So please don't be upset if I don't reply, I'll still appreciate every single review!

Oh, and if I don't get to update before: Merry Christmas!