Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any of its characters.

Warnings: Yaoi

Author's Note: The more chapters I write for this story, the more I don't want it to end. At least my muse is starting to come back.

Pretending

Chapter 7: Opposites Attract

Though the wind was howling at lunch time, it howled even more now. Roxas shivered as he looked outside. Though his house was warm and cozy, he shivered just by thinking of the lack of warmth outside. He made a mental note to get his winter coat out soon.

Demyx's words echoed inside his head: "You know, Roxas...Axel...hasn't had a happy life. He lost his mother when he was only a little kid, and his father was never, and is never, home. Axel almost lives by himself. His father blames him for his mother's death. She died from cancer. His mother the only person that really cared about him. His father doesn't care about him. He even said that Axel was a mistake, right to his face! He gets depressed when people are mad at him. He cares for you a lot, because you're his friend."

"He's depressed...because of me..." Roxas sighed, laying down on his bed. Roxas had been mentally beating himself up ever since his conversation with Demyx. Roxas had never even bothered to ask about Axel's life. Normally, Roxas never asked about someone's personal life, as it was their choice whether or not to share it with him. However, Roxas felt guilty about not asking Axel about his life.

Roxas figured that he would have been a good person for Axel to talk to. Roxas and Axel were nearly polar opposites. Roxas was level headed, whereas Axel was wild, like an untamed Stallion in the wilderness. Roxas spoke his mind only when he had something polite to say; Axel said anything and everything that even entered his brain. Axel was a tall guy. And Roxas...well...he was a bit on the short side.

Roxas blushed as he recalled a short phrase: "opposites attract". If the phrase held true, Axel and Roxas would be getting together.

"What!?" Roxas shouted, falling off the bed in shock. "Me? And Axel? Where did that come from?" he asked, shaking his head to clear the thoughts.

"Whatever..." Roxas muttered, climbing back onto the bed. The sun was beginning to set on the horizon; Roxas yawned. He laid upon his bed, closing his eyes lazily. "Well...I guess I can go to bed early tonight. Today was pretty eventful."

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"Oh, Roxas..." Axel muttered, quietly walking closer to Roxas. "I've wanted to tell you something for the longest time."

"What is it?" Roxas asked, feeling his cheeks become red from embarrassment and excitement as he was backed against the wall. His back collided with the cold bricks, causing him to shiver.

"I just wanted to say...that I loved you..." Axel said quietly, his hot breath tickling Roxas' sensitive ear.

And with those words, Axel moved forward slightly, bending over the smallest amount so their lips connected. Roxas wanted to sigh as he felt Axel's soft lips press forcefully against his own, as if Axel was hungry for something.

Roxas felt Axel's slick tongue lick his lips. Recognizing the signal, Roxas parted his slightly chapped lips and let Axel's tongue explore his mouth.

The two tongues seemed to dance a sacred dance. Axel's tongue would tease Roxas', luring it into Axel's mouth. Roxas felt Axel's thin hands upon his hips, forcing him to stay with his back against the wall. Roxas, in response, threw his arms around Axel's neck, deepening the kiss even further.

Axel began to remove Roxas' black trenchcoat -

"WHAT!?" Roxas shouted, his eyes suddenly opened and wide as saucers. "What was that!?"

Roxas face was as red as a tomato. He was panting, trying to have sweet oxygen enter his lungs. A quick glance at his alarm clock told him that it was 10:30 at night.

"Guess I better be quiet..." Roxas muttered. "But still...what an odd dream..."

Roxas laid back down, resting his hand over his forehead. His crystal blue eyes drifted shut, only to snap open again as his cell phone rang. He listened to the odd ringtone; it was heavy metal, but was completely different than Axel's. Roxas looked at the number on the screen, frowning when he didn't recognize it. Shrugging, he opened the phone.

"Hello?" he greeted, trying to be pleasant.

"The old bridge," the monotone voice said before hanging up.

"The old bridge?" Roxas echoed, shutting his phone. Roxas had recognized the voice; it could only belong to Zexion. "The old bridge?"

Demyx's words once again echoed inside his head: "I'll give him your number for you," he had said.

"Axel!" Roxas gasped, opening his window. He shivered at the feel of the chilly night air, but regardless, jumped down and into the bushes below. Groaning, he climbed out of them, frowning as he realized what he had done to his mother's prized bushes. "Sorry 'bout that mom...I'll make up for it later," Roxas said, sprinting towards the direction of the old bridge.

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As Roxas ran, the clouds retreated, allowing the pale moonlight of the full moon to cover the earth. The temperature steadily fell as the wind blew stronger, blowing several leaves off their trees and a few snowflakes into Roxas' eyes. Roxas constantly blinked to replenish the moisture in his eyes, however, the wind just as quickly dried them out again. The world seemed to be still and quiet; the only thing one could hear was the sound of Roxas' bare feet colliding with the pavement of the road.

It began to snow harder, and the flurry began to turn into a full out storm. As Roxas ran, time seemed to slow down, yet nothing was in any sort of slow motion. The world was becoming covered in a soft blanket of white. Roxas shivered as sweat coated his skin, causing his body to drop in temperature even more. Despite the threat of hypothermia, Roxas didn't turn back. He kept running, running, running.

His eyes widened in fear as he finally saw a figure, no doubt belonging to Axel. The trenchcoat clad figure stood on top of the bridge, looking into the cold, raging river below, as if it was a sort of solace. The gusts of wind separated the strands of Axel's hair; his usual spikes had disappeared. Long, straight crimson hair that hung slightly past his shoulders took the spikes' place.

"Axel!" Roxas shouted, but the howling wind seemed to carry his words in the wrong direction. Axel's figure was coming closer, and soon, Roxas could make out every detail. Realizing that he wouldn't be able to be heard over the wind, he grabbed Axel's arm and pulled down, causing Axel to fall on top of him.

Axel's eyes widened in surprise as he looked at the familiar figure below him. "Roxas?" he asked. "What are you doing here?"

"Came...to say sorry..." Roxas said, coughing in between the words. Though Axel wasn't particularly heavy, Roxas was winded from running a long distance.

"Roxas..." Axel said sadly. For a moment, Roxas could have sworn that he saw tears in Axel's eyes. "Don't die on me, Roxy..."

"What? I'm not...going to die...You're just...crushing me..."

"Oops! Sorry!" Axel said, but it lacked his usual enthusiasm. Roxas smiled slightly as Axel got off of him.

"Don't be," Roxas said, choosing to stay sitting on the ground. Axel sat next to him. "I'm the one who should be sorry."

"No, you shouldn't," Axel retorted.

Roxas moved closer to Axel, shivering. "Yes, I should be. You tried to apologize and I got mad. I'm sorry. Are you mad at me?"

"Of course not, Roxy," Axel said, wrapping his arms around Roxas protectively. Roxas was confused as to why Axel wrapped his arms around him, but decided not to ask.

"Demyx told me about your past," Roxas said quietly. "I'm sorry your mother died. She was probably a great woman."

"So he told you, did he?" Axel asked. For a moment, Roxas thought that Axel was angry, but his suspicions turned out to be false. "I should thank him. At least I don't have to explain it, now."

"What were you doing up there?" Roxas asked. He looked into Axel's emerald green eyes, losing himself within their depths.

"I was going to jump," Axel replied casually. "I mean, if you can't even find a true love, why bother living?"

"You're only...what, 16? You have plenty of time to find your true love," Roxas reasoned.

"Well, 'find' isn't the right word. I already found him, but he doesn't feel the same," Axel said quietly.

"Does he know?" Roxas asked. Axel shook his head.

"No...but...now he does."

"What do you mean?" Roxas asked, confused.

Axel turned Roxas so their eyes met. Roxas felt confused upon seeing the serious look in Axel's emerald eyes.

"Roxas...Don't hate me for this. But I have to explain some things. Remember when we met during the summer, in the store?" Axel asked.

Roxas nodded. "Yeah, you asked me for my cell phone number."

"Remember that one day where I kissed you during lunch?"

Roxas nodded again, blushing. He suspected that he knew exactly where this was going. "You didn't show your face for a while afterwards."

"I thought you would've hated me. But you didn't. I've...always had a crush on you, Roxas. Since the first day I laid my eyes on you when you walked into the store. I just knew that you were the one. But...I understand if you don't feel the same way. I mean, being gay in this society is a taboo, and you're not the kind to mess with them. I...just wanted to know...if you'd go out with me?"

Roxas' heart skipped a beat. Roxas had associated no other feelings other than friendship with the redhead, but he noticed that when he lost himself within the depths of Axel's eyes, another unknown emotion showed itself. Roxas had never thought twice about that emotion; he just brushed it off. But now, that emotion was stronger than ever. It had grown so strong that Roxas couldn't ignore it any longer.

Love is one of the oddest emotions. Although one can hate it, it always shows itself again. Once one knows love, one knows true happiness.

"Axel..." Roxas said quietly, looking into Axel's eyes. "Yes, I do."

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Author's Note: A little bit shorter than normal, but it was fun to write anyway. I loved writing Roxas' dream...I started turning it into a lemon, and then I realized what I had rated Pretending! Unfortunately, I forgot to copy and paste the half-written lemon into a separate Wordpad document, and when I tried to undo everything I wrote to get the lemon back, it didn't give the lemon back to me. Darn.

I have one more "major" event planned for the story. There's going to be a time skip between this chapter and the next: the next is going to take place around Christmas time.