AN: Sooo, another chapter rewritten. I've only got one left to go, and then we can get on to the new stuff, yay! Well, enjoy, and I'll see you at the bottom.
Chapter Four
Tastes Like Chocolate Chips
Demyx uncharacteristically growled angrily, shoving his hand into the deepest reaches of his locker, searching fruitlessly for his Spanish book. Where in the world is Axel? He thought frantically, the hand searching in utterly unexplored corners of the locker. He must be late. Again. The redhead never seemed to show up in time. Of course, they had been up until one or two in the morning on the phone talking about Axel's new fixation, and Axel was known to miss school for sleeping through his alarm when he had had a good twelve hours anyway, so maybe he just hadn't heard it going off.
He finally shouted in joy, having finally found the long searched for book, and jumped in surprise when a resounding crack and yelp issued from the locker next to him. Looking around the door of his obnoxiously yellow locker, he saw a short boy clutching his blonde head in pain.
"What in the hell?!" he spluttered, matching Demyx's curious gaze with his own furious stare.
The tall blonde giggled, he couldn't help it. The look on this boys face was completely at odds with his bright blue eyes and angelic visage. This however, only increased the ferocity of the glare. Demyx controlled himself, and decided the best way to remedy the situation would be to introduce himself, and proceed to do so. The boy only glared at taller blonde's outstretched hand, then glanced back up at his face. He apparently decided he was not being mocked, and, rubbing his head ruefully, grabbed it.
"Roxas. What were you yelling for? It's eight in the freakin' morning." Demyx held up his Spanish book as explanation.
"What once was lost has now been found." He didn't, however, manage to keep the straight face he was going for, and a grin broke over his face due to the hilarity of his own lame joke. Roxas looked a little confused, but grinned anyway. There was something about the taller blonde that put his at ease, and it was much too hard to stay mad at him. He was a bit like a little kid.
Demyx suddenly gasped, realizing what the boy had said his name was. "You're Roxas?!" Roxas nodded, now confused, but the bell rang and Demyx just gave him another huge grin and ran off without an explanation and Roxas stared after him, now utterly confused.
"Roxas! We have our first class together! And our lockers are right next to each other!" A grinning Sora ran up clutching a beaten up schedule in his hand.
"Of course our lockers are, we have the same last name." Roxas rolled his eyes at his twin's happy mood. "You have Science first too?"
"Yeah, with some professor Vexen guy."
"Huh, well, what room is it in?"
"126, I think." Sora checked his schedule for the umpteenth time, trying to read around the already creased folds in the paper.
"Well, we better get going then. I wouldn't want to be late on our first day." Roxas pushed his locker shut, hoisting up the books he carried seconds before they fell to the ground, before walking in the direction of his first class, towing a chattering and excited Sora behind him.
oOoOoOoOo
122...123...124... Demyx sped by half full classrooms, searching for the right one. 125...126! He poked his head around the door, and saw immediately a shock of red hair in the back of the class. There were a couple other students on the polar opposite of the room, throwing glances ranging from appraising (usually from the females) and calculating (from only some of the males) at him.
The redhead wasn't paying them any attention however, instead fiddling with a pencil in his long hands, his long legs resting on the desk in front of him, and Demyx, attempting to surprise him from behind, failed miserably and tripped over desk, cursing loudly. Axel turned his head to glare but realized who it was, and, with a yell of delight, sprang out of his seat and tackled the now half-way up blonde back to the floor. The freshmen stared, but the two just lay there on the ugly linoleum floor, laughing hysterically. Axel got up, clutching his sides, and helped the still prostrate Demyx off the floor, pulling him into a hug. The freshmen gaped.
"Demyx, holy crap, don't do that to me, bro!" The redhead feigned a heart attack.
"Axel! I met Roxas, his locker is right next to mine!" The dirty blonde flung his hands around excitedly.
"What?! What did you say to him?!"
"Nothing, I just said my name, don't worry." The five minute bell rang and a distressed look planted itself on the blonde boy's face. He pecked Axel on the cheek and sped out of the room, claiming loudly that Spanish was all the way on the other side of the building. The freshmen were whispering to each other, but Axel could care less. He sat grinning at his desk and staring up at the ceiling, the sound of feet walking into the room not bothering him until he hear a gasp and an urgent whisper.
"I am not going in there, I'll just go switch my classes…" The grin on the redheads face got even bigger, but he pretended not to notice the two that had walked into, one trying to quickly walk back out.
"No you won't, stop being a baby. Hey Axel! You have this class to?" Axel turned around to face the smiling brunette and the blushing blonde attempting to nonchalantly walk to the only empty seat that wasn't right in front of the redhead, but Sora beat him to it, and he was forced to move back over to the only seat left in the room.
At that moment the bell rang, and their professor walked into the room. "Class, this is chemistry. I will not tolerate shenanigans in this class, unless they are intelligent ones, in which case I will be amused when I hand you your detention instead of being rather angry. Don't touch the chemicals in the back cabinet, they'll kill you and then I'll have to sign some papers which will be rather boring, so don't do it. And you will address me as Professor Vexen, not Vexy or some equally other disgusting nickname, did you catch that Axel?"
"Yes, sir!" Axel stood up out of his chair and gave the professor a salute, which made most of the class laugh and Roxas slide further down in his seat. "Sir, may I have permission to call the blushing blonde in front of me Foxy, sir? Seeing as I can no longer call you Vexy, Sir?" If Roxas was blushing before, it was nothing compared to the color on his face now.
"You can call him whatever you want, just sit down, Mr. King." Axel complied, pushing his chair forward so his legs could rest on the basket underneath Roxas's desk.
"Now," said the professor, calling everyone's attention away from the redhead and back towards the front of the class, "see to it that by tomorrow you all have a spiral notebook specifically for this class, as you will need to take excellent notes… Mr. King! Would you kindly desist in interrupting my class?"
Axel grinned and looked at the professor innocently. "I was just telling Foxy what he's gonna need for your class!"
Roxas turned around to glare at him angrily, and said, forgetting they were in a class with other people, "Oh? 'Cause I'm pretty sure you were telling me that ice cream Sundays aren't the only thing you like chocolate sauce on!" Sora burst out into hysterics, while the rest of the class looked slightly disgusted before laughing along with the brunette's infectious laughter.
"Class, class! Now, as much as we'd love to know about you're love of the many uses of ice cream toppings, I'd appreciate it if you would refrain from citing them in my class. Save it for after school, thank you."
"Sure thing, but you can't tell me you don't want to smother this kid with sprinkles too. It can't be just me!"
"Mr. King, I will have order in this class!"
The rest of the class went much in this way, Axel whispering things to the severely embarrassed blonde in front of him, while Sora and the rest of the class snickered, and the professor looked increasingly frustrated. Roxas couldn't help but feeling like screaming when he thought that he would have to endure this everyday for the rest of the year, and it was only the beginning.
oOoOoOoOo
"Does anyone know the answer to number six on the board?" The teacher pulled out a stack of note cards and picked one randomly. "Umm, Zexion, is it? Well, let's have the answer." The class turned to a blue haired boy sitting at the very back of classroom. The boy just looked at them from behind his long bangs, and the professor muttered something and pulled another name. "That's fine, that's fine. Let's have someone else. Demyx? Am I pronouncing that correctly?"
"Yes you are and the answer is six squared." He answered promptly. The teacher moved on, going through the rest of the problems, and Demyx spent the rest of the class casting covert glances at the pale blue haired boy in the corner.
When the bell signaling the end of sixth period rang, Zexion walked as quickly as he could out of his math classroom. He hated math, although he wasn't that horrible at it, he just never applied himself to it. Well, not this class, anyway. Now his second period art class was an entirely different story. Art, he loved. He could spend all day in art, either that, or literature or music. Or a lovely combination of the three. But certainly not math.
A tap on his shoulder interrupted his train of thought, and he stopped dead, whoever was following bumping into him and falling over. He turned around and there was that silly looking tall blonde boy from his last class. Demyx, if he remembered correctly. He had the strangest hair cut Zexion had ever seen.
The boy scrambled to his feet, muttering apologies. Zexion just continued to look at him.
"Um, I was wondering, if you would uhh... want any help with math..." Demyx muttered almost incoherently, still trying to pick himself off the floor.
"What?" said Zexion, putting absolutely no inflection in the question.
"Well, since you didn't know the one answer, I thought you might want help or something. I don't mind, I swear, and I'm good at math." Demyx grinned, looking not a little like a puppy searching for a treat or a kind word from a beloved master.
Zexion began to walk away, and Demyx involuntarily grabbed his sleeve, causing the shorter boy to stiffen. What is with this kid? Why would he want to help me with math? He thought, and was about to tell him flat out no, when he looked into Demyx's big blue, water colored eyes, asking him beseechingly to say yes.
"I'm free on Tuesdays and Wednesday after school." And he pulled out of the taller boys grip and walked quickly down the hallway, completely confused by the answer that had popped involuntarily out of his mouth.
oOoOoOoOo
Roxas walked down the hallway quickly, just glad school was finally over, trying to get to his bus without any untoward incidents. He was almost to the doors, when a voice called out, "Hey, blonde kid! Errr, Roxas!"
He turned around and there was that Demyx person waving him over. He had the strangest hair Roxas had ever seen. It was yellow blonde, but what was strange was the cut. It was a Mohawk of sorts, but then got shorter and fell over his shoulders, like a mullet. It works for him though, thought Roxas.
He walked over to where Demyx stood leaning against a trophy case, glancing nervously at his watch.
"What?" Roxas asked, a little strictly. He really didn't want to miss his bus.
"Hi." Roxas stared at him, waiting for the rest. When the taller blonde didn't say anything more, however, he muttered a reply and started to walk away.
"Oh, sorry. I spaced out a bit, it was an interesting day, for lack of a better word. Umm, I was wondering if you wanted a ride home." Roxas glanced at his watch again, about to say he really needed to catch the bus, and realized it had already left. It was a long walk to his house, so he very reluctantly agreed. He hoped his brother and sister had managed to catch the bus.
They waited there, apparently for Demyx's, and now Roxas's, ride, the shorter looking at the trophies in the case just for something to do, when Demyx squealed loudly like a girl. Okay, he is totally gay, thought Roxas. Whatever.
His eyes followed Demyx's path and he saw a tall frame with the a shock of red hair sticking out in all directions, piercing emerald green eyes, and two black triangles like tears under them strutting towards them.
"Shit." Whispered Roxas under his breathe. Axel was driving him home. Thank you, Demyx. He really hoped he could keep himself under control. It probably wouldn't be a good thing if he jumped the redhead while he was driving. Shit, he thought again, I don't even like guys, and I certainly don't know this one... But he thought of Axel's words to him in the park the day before. He wants to know me, though.
Roxas followed the two chattering teens out to Axel's beat up car, caught up in his own thoughts, completely unaware of the looks Axel was throwing at him over his shoulder. This was going to be a long car drive. For both of them.
oOoOoOoOo
It's a good thing Demyx talks so much, or this would be a very awkward silence. Roxas was still lost in his thoughts in the back seat, but not lost enough to realize that the taller blonde was basically having a conversation with himself. Neither he nor Axel was putting in anything, yet he was managing to actual have an almost intelligent conversation. He gripped the seat and door tightly; they were coming up to a turn, and Roxas had found out early on that Axel didn't slow down when he turned. He didn't stop at stop signs either. Or red lights. It was amazing that he hadn't gotten pulled over yet. Of course, his insane could be due to the fact that Axel's car looked like a piece of junk with wheels more than anything, and it certainly didn't look road-worthy.
"Where are we going?" Axel had taken a different route than Roxas normally took, and he was a little suspicious. The neat little houses with well manicured lawns didn't look anything like his neighborhood.
"Demyx's house." Axel had the grace to look apologetic when Roxas glared at the redhead through the rearview mirror.
"My mom won't care. I bring people home all the time. And you can call home and let your mom know when we get there." Demyx looked worried when he saw the other blonde's glare, probably assuming it was directed at him. The glare, however, was all for Axel.
"She won't care where I am anyways." Demyx brightened up, and Roxas looked back out the window, deciding arguing wasn't worth it. You couldn't win against Demyx in an argument; he always managed to draw some strange logic or weird bit of knowledge from his seemingly inactive brain. The blonde might act stupid and high strung, but he was anything but. He just liked to make people laugh, and thought the best way to do so was act like he did.
They pulled up to Demyx's house and got out of the car, Roxas's legs a little shaky. Axel's breaks didn't really work all that well, and they had to glide into the driveway.
"It wouldn't have been the first time I ran into the garage, "the redhead explained. "I've never actually gone through the wall though, so don't worry."
"Right, because the fact that your car doesn't have working breaks isn't in itself a cause for worry."
"Your sarcasm is enchanting, Sunshine."
The trudged up the stairs to Demyx's room, his mom waving at them from the kitchen with the promise to make cookies, and Axel and Demyx threw themselves on the bed. Roxas just stood in the doorway looking uncomfortable.
"C'mon, Roxas, sit down, stay a while." Demyx patted the comforter next to him, so the blonde walked over and sat on the extreme edge of the bed, still looking uncomfortable.
They ended up finding Demyx's Guitar Hero and playing that, eating a plate of chocolate chip cookies. It was almost four when Demyx had to go out and feed the chickens, and Axel and Roxas were left alone. Roxas was still sitting, a little more comfortable looking, leaning up against the wall. Axel finished a Muse song and turned off the game, plopping down next to the blonde on the bed, grabbing himself another chocolate chip cookie.
They didn't say anything for a while, both continuing to eat cookies. Demyx was taking an awfully long time.
Axel sighed. "Hey Roxas?" He turned to the blonde.
"Yeah?" His stomach seemed to contort itself into knots at the other boy's tone. He turned to the redhead and was surprised to see his face inches from his own. Axel's scent engulfed him and overtook his senses.
"Never mind." He sighed and leaned back again. The scent of cinnamon and cigarettes lingered, and the knots in Roxas's stomach wouldn't go away.
Demyx chose this point to stomp back up the stairs, both of the boys on the bed sighing in relief. No one could relive an awkward tension like Demyx could. It was a school night though, and Demyx said his mom had asked if they were ready to go home; this could be translated as 'you need to get out of the house', but the woman was far too nice to say anything like that, and probably didn't really care anyway. It was probably more of a 'your father's going to be home soon'. Demyx's father generally came home from work and wanted absolute silence in the house, except for his blaring music, and even Axel, who was generally at all times welcomed, would probably get yelled at. The man had no qualms about treating every kid like his own.
Axel told Roxas he was going to walk him home, and Roxas didn't argue. It was getting dark out, and arguing wouldn't get him anywhere anyway. They said goodbye to Demyx and his mom, and walked out into the cool evening.
They had been walking for a while, Axel looking up at the star-lit sky and Roxas down at his own shoes, when Axel tapped the other's shoulder lightly.
"Sunshine, you see those stars right there?" Axel pointed skyward were several faintly glimmering stars fighting against the city lights. Roxas grunted a response and looked were Axel's thin finger was pointing. "Big Dipper. And those ones? Orion's Belt. And that big reddish one is probably mars. If we were farther away from the city, we'd be able to see the Milky Way, too."
"Wow." Roxas had never really looked up before, being more concerned with his feet and the always lurking danger of tripping.
Axel stopped walking. It's now or never. He thought to himself determinedly. Well, no, I'd probably get other chances, but I can't wait any more.
"I really like you, Roxas." Roxas, caught completely off guard looked over and found that the redhead was no longer looking upwards towards the heavens, but into his eyes instead, his face inches away from the blonde's. This time Axel didn't back down though. He leaned closer to the blonde, hesitating only for a moment, and captured the other boy's soft lips with his own. Blood rushed to the blonde's head and he gasped, his arms and legs going numb, only able to focus on the hot skin of the redhead touching his. He tastes like chocolate chips, was the only coherent thought running through his head.
They pulled back; Axel didn't want to push it. It had certainly been a bold move on his part, and he was not sure how it would go over with the blonde. He waited for a reaction, but the other just stood there, an awed look on his face.
"Roxas?"
That seemed to break him out of his daze. The younger boy met Axel's worried eyes, a response coming to his lips before he could even think.
"You know Axel, I think I like you too."
AN: And there it is. I think I only added the scene in chemistry to this chapter, and I hoped you like it. I thought it would give a little more background to Axel kissing Roxas almost out of the blue. Although, as you'll find out, they have four out of seven classes together, including lunch, although Roxas did his best to ignore Mr. persistent.
On a side, but important, note, I want to thank everyone who's reviewed so far. It really makes my day to read those, and I appreciate all of them, the shortest to the longest, even if I don't respond to them. So thanks to everyone who takes the time to tell me whether I'm doing a decent job or not.
I'll try to get chapter five back up as soon as possible!
-demyyyxkun
