CHAPTER TWO

Roxas lay in bed, gazing up at the stars on the ceiling, arms stretched above his head, thinking. He wondered where he'd heard the name Hollow Bastion before, and what it was like. Axel was right – there was a lot outside of Twilight Town. Sure, Roxas couldn't think of anything off the top of his head, but he wanted to know. He wanted to see it all. He didn't want to discover things vicariously.

He wondered, most of all, how long Axel would be sticking around. Eventually, he would leave, just like all the other out-of-towners had, and life would resume without him, just as it always had been like. But Roxas wouldn't be the same, even if everyone else was.

He was doing his Axel homework – he was thinking of the redhead, and what he'd said.

Damn the man for being so memorable.

At first, getting his job at the toy store had meant to be the thing that gave him that extra bit of experience in life, let him branch out and explore a world independent of his friends or family – but that ended up just becoming part of the same boring life he'd ever led. Now, he just had added pressure, and more headaches. He wasn't even sure if it was worth the munny he earned. He wouldn't quit – not yet, at any rate. That would be… it'd be giving up, and Roxas didn't want to be a quitter. He wanted to just… find what it was inside of him that made him feel so empty all the time, so repressed, so trapped, and scoop it out with a pair of scissors and a fork. He wanted to feel normal again, like he had when he was younger, when nothing was better than sitting in the Usual Spot under the train tracks, with the gang and a sea-salt ice cream bar, planning for the next Struggle tournament. He hadn't felt that sort of enthusiasm for bordering on two years now. It was… draining, being jaded during what should have been the best years of his life.

He wondered how Axel felt about life. If he found it fresh and exciting, or if, because it was just normal for him, he was just as bored as Roxas. Did he enjoy the fact that he'd moved to a little town like this? Was he telling the truth when he said he liked Twilight Town better?

Roxas… he liked his home town. He loved his friends and family. And – he wouldn't give up what he had, not in a million years, not for anything… But was it so wrong for him to wish for more? He felt… like maybe it was. No one else expressed these desires. No one else found this day-by-day existence to be stagnant. Or at least, if they did, they kept it to themselves, and painted on happy faces, so that Roxas couldn't tell.

He didn't paint a face for himself. He didn't have the heart to. He tried to keep in his growing unease, but in the last two years, he'd become quieter, a little sullen. He'd lost his exuberance, and while everyone else just told him it was a phase he was going through, he couldn't help but fear that this was him forever. Because all he could see in his future was the life his parents had lived, and theirs, and it terrified him.

He sighed, squeezing his eyes shut in frustration. He wished he had something to knock himself out. It was always at night, in bed, that these thoughts surfaced. No matter how exhausted he was, once this train of thought started up, Roxas was doomed to at least an hour, sometimes two, of wallowing in his own desperation.

Axel, he told himself firmly, picturing the redhead. Axel would make it all okay.

Roxas was sure of it.

.o.O.o.

The next day at school, Roxas was on the lookout. He didn't let on to anyone that he was, God no, he hid behind his usual stoic, half-smiling façade, but his eyes were restless, as he hung out with his friends out on the front grass, plucking up the green blades and mutilating them between his nails, waiting for the bell to ring.

Axel never came. He didn't like to admit it, but his disappointment was severe. He had hoped… well, he had just… hoped, really. He had felt something other than the dull ache for a while, and now, that was withering.

Maybe it was over already; maybe Axel would never return. Maybe all he'd have now was half-formed, pining ideas of what another life could be, to drag him from what was lonely disquiet into full-blown, angsting depression.

He endured the two classes before lunch, jaw tense, only to discover the redhead outside the cafeteria on his way to get some food.

Upon seeing him, Roxas' face slackened, eyes growing wide, then narrowing. He stalked over to where the object of his displeasure awkwardly stood, looking almost out of place among all the teens that had grown up together. His gaze fell on Roxas, lit up. "Roxie!" he exclaimed, coming out of his cross-armed position against the wall. "I was waiting for you!" He took in the pissed expression, and faltered. "I mean, hi?"

"Where were you, exactly?" Roxas demanded. "When I was hanging around, thinking you were maybe running a little late, ending up being late myself, where were you?"

"Um…" Axel blinked. "Not here?"

Bad answer. "You know, Axel, you make it pretty damn hard to be a good mentor, when you're trying your damndest to be a sucky student," the blond fumed. "What, did they not care about attendance at your old school?"

"Whoa, Roxie, slow down." Axel waved his hands in front of the angry face, an anxious expression on his own, bending down to try and be level with him. "Seriously, kid, you're going to blow a gasket or something at this rate. How's that blood pressure of yours doing?"

Roxas brushed him aside impatiently. "Don't call me kid, Axel, you're the same age as me, remember? Just – " He sighed abruptly, rage leaking away, leaving weariness in its wake. Tedious, hollow weariness. "Just forget it. I'm getting something to eat. You go skip class to your heart's content."

Axel followed him into the cafeteria, struggling to explain himself to the closed-off teen. "You like jumping to conclusions, don't you, Rox?" he said worriedly. Roxas attempted to ignore him, but was grabbed by the arm. He shot Axel a cold look.

"Yes?"

"Exactly when did you assume that I was skipping class?" Axel asked, faintly annoyed with the cold-shoulder treatment. "Because I was just innocently standing there, waiting for you, and all you've done is chew me out since I saw you."

"I…" Roxas frowned, wracking his brains, a small amount of panic telling him that at no point was there any reason for him to assume that Axel was skipping. And even if he was…

"What do you care, anyway?"

"I – I just…" Roxas was flustered. He yanked his arm free, running a hand through his hair. "I told you. I don't want to look like a bad mentor. You – you're reflecting on me."

"Well." Axel raised a sardonic eyebrow. "I'm sorry that my early doctor's appointment reflects so negatively on you, Roxie. How can you ever forgive me?"

"…Oh." Roxas' voice was small. "Doctor's appointment?"

Axel, reassured that the ice had been successfully broken into floaty, melting chunks, was amused. "Yep."

"Oh."

Axel let him squirm for a couple moments, then heaved a gusty sigh and threw an arm around the blond's shoulders, steering him towards the lunch-line. "Don't worry, Roxie, I won't make you look bad in front of the school. Promise."

Roxas shook him off, with a half-hearted glower. "I don't… really care care…"

He snorted. "Oh, sure, just enough to attack me with a stick."

"I didn't!"

"Only because you didn't have one," Axel pointed out. He patted the blond spikes soothingly. "It's okay, Roxie. Our first fight is over, and now…" He grinned wickedly. "…we can kiss and make up."

Roxas glared anew. "Right. Whatever you say. I'm going to go find a seat now, and wait for the others."

As suddenly as he'd arrived, Roxas wanted him gone again. All that time wasted thinking of the redhead, only to realise that in the flesh, he was still as immature and flirty as ever. How did Roxas ever think that salvation came in the form of a flame-haired joker of a pervert?

He grabbed their usual table, just as the other three arrived together, making a beeline for him. "Roxas, how was trig? Did you get the pop-quiz?" Hayner swung himself into the chair beside him, immediately starting to untangle a sandwich from inside a complex, mile-long twist of cling-wrap. Roxas watched, fascinated, nodded.

"Yeah, it wasn't too bad…"

"I liked it," Olette chirped, bringing up her feet to sit cross-legged on the chair, wiggling to get comfortable while she pushed a lock of brown hair behind her ear. "I figured it was coming, so I've been studying up. It was so easy!"

Hayner snorted. "Sometimes, I think you should've ended up with Pence. Then you could both drool over crap like that, and get all hot during study-sessions."

Olette flushed, throwing her lunchbox at her boyfriend, obtaining a yelp from him. He rubbed at his forehead, scowling. "Jesus, 'Lette, that hurt."

"Stop making fun of me and Pence then," she pouted.

"That'd be Pence and I," Roxas murmured with a small grin, hiding it behind his drink. Olette glared, while the other two giggled like naughty boys behind their hands.

"Helloooooo, peasants." Axel thumped down into the chair next to Pence, sporting a carrot juice and a box of fries. He spared a moment to gaze blankly at Hayner's sandwich, still being diligently unwrapped. "Make your own lunch today, Blondie?"

Hayner scowled. "Keep you mouth shut, bean-pole, so I don't have to shut it for you."

"Ooh." Axel's eyes went wide, as he focused on opening the top of his juice. "I'm intimidated," he stage whispered in Roxas' direction.

Roxas chuckled, masked it as a clearing of the throat as Hayner switched his burning gaze to him, and whispered back, "Submit."

Axel snorted loudly. "As if," he said, normal volume. "Ummmm." He shoved several fries in at once. "Deep-fried goodness."

"Gross," Roxas commented. Axel made a face, opened his mouth to reveal the chewed-up food. Roxas shook his head wryly. "And here I thought you could bring some maturity to this group. Silly me."

"Very," the redhead agreed, and dug into the rest of his food with an almost obscene relish. "You have no idea how long it's been since I had fries," he muttered through a mouthful. He rolled his eyes back into his head. "Unh, God it's good."

"Do you mind? Some of us are trying to eat. You looking like the fries are orgasmic isn't doing a lot for my appetite."

"Orgasm fries," Pence laughed. "Man, I wonder if they'd sell out or bust." He thought for a moment, then shook his head. "I really can't decide."

"Sell out," Axel nodded fervently, jamming more in.

"I think… I just went off fries," Olette said quietly, delicately wrinkling her nose. She turned to her boyfriend. "Hayner, you're not allowed to take me to Burger King for dates anymore. It's French restaurants all the way from here."

"Fries are French," the dirty-blond muttered, finally freeing his sandwich from its prison. He took a bite, unperturbed by the cheer of victory the redhead gave upon seeing the liberation, taking time only to flip him off, something that felt like it would become a regular occurrence.

The rest of the day passed normally, and Axel attended all his classes, sitting beside Roxas whenever he could. Really, it was flattering that the redhead was paying so much attention to him. Okay, so it was only his second day, which meant that Roxas was really the only one he properly knew, but still – it didn't feel like Axel was just going to abandon him the moment someone slightly cool came along and crooked a finger.

As the final bell rang, releasing them for one more day, Axel packed up his things quickly. He met Roxas at the door, eagerly. "So, do I get to follow you home today?"

Roxas paused, shifted into the hall, shooting him a dubious look. "You… want to follow me home."

The redhead grinned. "Unless you'd rather show me around the town?"

Roxas raised his eyebrows, grimaced slightly, nodded. "I can do that. The last part, that is – I don't need you knowing where I live."

Axel snuffed a laugh. "Yeah, because I'm such a stalker. It's what I do when I'm skipping school."

Roxas rolled his eyes, blushed a little, muttered something under his breath. "Well, come on," he said grudgingly. "We need to leave from the back if we want to avoid the others."

"Sounds good to me," Axel murmured with a smile, following the blond down the hall.

.o.O.o.

"So, did you think about what I said?" Axel asked casually. They were seated atop the clock tower, feet dangling, eating sea-salt ice cream. It had been a long time since Roxas had come up here to watch the trains run in and out of the station. This was one of those things that belonged to the old days. He should've had Hayner, Pence and Olette lined up here along with him, instead of a redhead he'd known for all of two days.

But then, even they rarely climbed the clock tower anymore.

"What did you say?" asked Roxas absently, chewing the ice cream bar's exposed stick while the bright blue confection melted, frozen drips raining down to earth.

Axel made a noise of disapproval. "Yesterday, when I told you to think about what I'd said when I left you. Did you do it? Did you think it through?"

"With my tiny Twilight Town brain? Yes," Roxas admitted. "I thought about it."

The other teen eyed him eagerly. "And?"

Roxas furrowed an eyebrow at him, as the four-thirty train chugged away down below. "And what? What do you want me to say?"

Axel was exasperated. "No epiphanies? No new resolutions, Roxie?"

"Umm…"

This was the side to Axel that had Roxas perplexed. Up here, just the two of them, he was almost a different person to how he acted around others – serious, thoughtful, provocative. It was the flipside of the coin.

He flicked the blond's forehead, groaning. "Come on, Roxas. I know you're in there. So, you thought about what I said – and then what? What happened to the thoughts?"

"They – danced? I don't know." Roxas glared a little. "What do you want from me? Okay, so you managed to point out that I'm some boring little no-brain hick, are you happy now?"

"Roxas." Axel shook his head, grabbed hold of the other boy's shoulder, the heat from his palm passing through Roxas' shirt and into his skin. The redhead fixed him with an imploring look. "There you go again, putting words in my mouth. You've gone all defensive. I don't think you're a boring no-brain hick. If I thought you were one of them… Hell, I wouldn't even be here right now." He shrugged, released the blond, kicked his heels against the side of the building with dull thuds. "I want us to be friends, Rox. I wasn't trying to make you feel bad about yourself, just… trying to enlighten you to the unfamiliar."

Roxas cocked his head to the side, fingers getting sticky as he pulled out the ice cream and turned it up the other way, to let the drips slither towards his mouth. "The unfamiliar?"

Axel nodded, letting his gaze drift over the view of the town. "Yeah. I mean, this place is pretty neat, I like it and all. It's pretty. But, you know, there's a lot more out there than just sweeping hills and a train line. Like I said, you need to expand yourself. There's more out there than you know."

"Well…" Roxas frowned, feeling like maybe his town was under attack from the redhead's mellifluous tongue. "There's the beach, too. We go there sometimes and… and buy pretzels… I mean, it's not like we're all just wasting away here."

"Of course not," Axel hastened to agree. "I just – agh." He let out a frustrated sound. Scratching the back of his wild red spikes, he scrunched his face up. "I'm not doing a very good job of this." He dropped his hands into his lap, thought for a moment. "What I'm doing here," he attempted slowly, "is trying to show you that there's more to life than growing old and dying in your town. I'm trying to say that, I see the rut you're in, and I want to help."

Roxas' ice cream went plummeting, little more than a splintered stick with a smear of cold blue. His mouth hung open slightly, while Axel leaned forward, eyebrows raised, to whistle. "Nearly beaned someone! I wonder if you could spit on people from up here…" Sensing the blond's sudden change of mood, he hesitated, looked up. Uncertainly, he asked, "Roxie? You… okay?"

Roxas had gone pale, his ice-cream tacky fingers gripping the sides of the parapet, knuckles white. He cleared his throat. "I'm fine, Axel." Blue eyes flickered sideways, tentative. "You… want to help me?"

Axel's face went blank for a moment, before breaking into a slow, warm smile. "Yeah. I do. I'm here for you, Roxas."

The blond struggled internally. "I… Is it really… that – obvious?" He frowned, concerned. "I don't want… I mean, my friends, they've never said anything. Do I really seem so unhappy?"

Axel shook his head peaceably, tugging on a blond spike. "You don't seem unhappy, Roxas, just tired and bored. Like maybe this place isn't enough for you. Like maybe – you're restless for more?" He studied the other boy, watched the hesitant nod, the confusion on the golden features.

"I feel bad," Roxas muttered. Suddenly, he felt like there wasn't quite enough air up here – not while the redhead was staring at him like that. "I – I think I'm going to go home now, Axel. Sorry. Thanks for the ice cream."

"Anytime, Rox." Axel swivelled on the wall, not fearing the chasm at his back as he crossed his ankles. "See you at school, huh, mentor?"

Roxas paused, nodded jerkily, slung his backpack up over his shoulder, and left.

Axel didn't try to follow, or ask him to stay. Axel didn't seem bothered by the way he'd blown him off. But then… Axel was Axel. Who knew what was going on in that head?

.o.O.o.

Roxas was… confused. Out of the redhead's presence, he found his thoughts clearer, no longer stirred up by visions of a different life, but again, the emptiness had returned.

It had only been two days, but Roxas was feeling more shaken by this one person's influence than he had by anything in his life.

That felt wrong. He had a whole history here, all the years of his existence… He should have had a firmer grip on himself than this. He should have been enough of an individual to resist some guy's lilting promises of better places. But maybe… it wasn't the guy himself, it wasn't Roxas just being a pushover – maybe, it was that this was the first person who seemed to notice that… Roxas didn't want – to be here.

Roxas didn't want to be here.

Roxas… wanted a different life to the ones he saw around him. He didn't want to work at the toy store anymore, and he didn't want to be one of the parents buying from it for birthdays and Christmas.

He didn't want to spend every day in a school building, and he didn't want to teach the generations that passed through.

He didn't want to have a home, a wife, a son, and a boss that pushed him too hard.

He wanted… something he'd never seen before.

"The unfamiliar…" The words tasted different, like maybe the air when it pushed from his mouth came from a more exotic place than it had started from.

Roxas turned onto his side on the bed, frowning, feeling the pressure in his chest both subside and tighten. All these thoughts… they disturbed him.

Roxas wasn't sure if enlightenment was even what he wanted.

Perhaps ignorance would be best.

.o.O.o.

"What is it about this place that makes you feel like you shouldn't leave?" A warm whisper into the shell of his ear.

Roxas gasped a little, eyes shooting wide as the redhead passed him by, gaze fixed against his own with a smirk. The blond hurried to catch up, clutching his bag to his chest.

"Yes?" Axel asked, amused, as the shorter of the two opened and shut his mouth several times.

"I – " His voice cracked a little, the bewilderment back. "I just…"

"Roxas!"

They stopped, turned to see Hayner stalking through the hall, pushing students out of his path. He looked mad. "Shit," Roxas sighed quietly, not inaudibly enough to keep the redhead from darting him a curious look. He insinuated himself slightly in front of the short blond, flashing a broad, mocking grin at the taller, angry boy.

"Blondie, to what do we owe the pleasure?"

Hayner shot him a frustrated look. "Are you still here?" he snapped irritably. Then, ignoring any answer that might have been forthcoming, he switched his focus to Roxas. "Where were you yesterday?" he demanded. Roxas blinked rapidly, eyebrows furrowing.

"Uh – yesterday?"

Hayner stared at him for a moment, expressionlessly, before his face collapsed into a dark glower. "Are you serious?"

A long, slim hand slid over Roxas' shoulder, squeezing lightly, Axel peering down with a lazy smile. "Roxas was with me yesterday. We were walking around town. Why? Did you two have a play-date planned out?"

Hayner's eyes narrowed into slits. "You fucking asshole," he hissed at the redhead. Then, with no less rage, but some hurt, he turned on Roxas. "Damn it, Roxas, yesterday was the tryouts for this year's Struggle. But you know what?" The anger dissipated, a pained expression coming across the blond's features. "I couldn't even be there. Because you didn't come over and help me finish my work. You said you would. You said you'd vouch for me with my mom. When you didn't turn up, shit, there went my ticket out of there." He shook his head, suddenly looking baffled. "I mean, I know you don't care about the Struggle anymore, but I still do – and you just left me hanging, to go walk around with your new bean-pole best friend? Do I even figure into anything anymore?"

"Hey," Axel cut in, while Roxas struggled with guilt and words of apology which wouldn't quite come, "you've got your girlfriend, don't you? I bet Roxas doesn't figure into that little equation, does he?"

"Yeah," Hayner yelled, "because she's my girlfriend. You're not his fucking boyfriend, Axel, he's not even gay!"

"You don't know that," Axel replied, calmly. "What, did he turn you down or something, Blondie?"

Both boys jumped, eyes wide, Roxas ducking out from under Axel's arm as quickly as if burned. After a moment, Hayner just laughed, and shook his head. He tipped a finger at the redhead, glancing derisively at the astounded blond. "This is what you ditched me for? This fucking moron?"

"Watch yourself, kid," Axel said mildly. "I don't take well to name-calling."

Hayner was staring at Roxas. "You're not going to say anything, are you? He's standing there, insulting me, and you're just watching it all happen, Roxas." He turned his head to the side, features tightening. "Don't bother sitting with us at lunch. I don't think there'll be enough seats." Another brief, bitter laugh. "Three days…" He walked away.

"Hay – Hayner…"

"Oh, finding your voice now?" Axel asked, as the other blond rounded the far corner and disappeared from sight. Roxas snapped out of his daze, glaring.

"Damn it, Axel, why'd you say those things?"

The redhead shrugged. "Didn't seem like you were going to try and stick up for yourself anytime soon."

"I didn't need to! He was mad at me, not picking on me! Damn." He smacked himself in the face, digging his nails into the flesh. "I can't believe I forgot yesterday. No wonder he's pissed. I'm such a fucking useless friend."

"No, you're not." Axel frowned at him, removed the hand, pressing down on one of the half-moon creases to try and smooth it away. Roxas looked up at him, eyebrows drawn together, a puzzled expression on his face.

"I don't get you. At all."

"What's to get?" Axel shrugged, releasing him and stepping back. "So maybe you forgot about going to his house to help him cheat his way out past his mom to some dinky little tourno where kids beat each other up with foam bats. Sometimes things come up, and sometimes, people forget stuff. Maybe he needs to learn to depend more upon himself, rather than using you as his so-called ticket out of there."

Roxas drew away, shaking his head slowly. "Three days…" He met Axel's green gaze with consternation. "Don't you think it should be taking me longer than this? I shouldn't be forgetting stuff to go off with someone I hardly know. I should have been with my best friend yesterday afternoon. He loves the Struggle, and I just…"

"Don't let him guilt you, Roxas," Axel warned, taking the boy's face in his hands and angling it up. "It's what he wants. I told you: he needs to learn that just because you're best friends, doesn't give him the right to use you. Besides – aren't you getting a little old for that sort of thing? Aren't you getting a little sick of being the scapegoat in that guy's life?"

"I'm not!" Roxas jerked away angrily. "Damn it – I said it once, I'll say it again: you don't know anything about my life, Axel. Maybe – maybe you see things in me that no one else has bothered to notice, but it doesn't give you the right to – to confuse me like this."

The bell rang loudly overhead, interrupting his ire. "Class time, Roxie," Axel said quietly. Roxas shot him a powerful glare, and stalked away, leaving the redhead to trail along behind, sighing, wishing he knew how to not push quite so hard.

.o.O.o.

The sound of the train passing by overhead filled the world momentarily, blocking out everything else. The dim sunlight filtering through the tracks became a long shadow, with rapid flashes between each carriage. The walls vibrated, setting Roxas' teeth on edge. Then, at long last, the machine clattered away, the sound fading, and peace resumed.

The Usual Spot was empty so far. No one had arrived yet, but they would. It wasn't called 'Usual' for nothing. It had been a while since Roxas had come here – between his after-school job and the homework that had steadily got heavier over the years, he just hadn't found the time or inclination. The other three had continued to manage though. Olette worked part-time in the town library, and Hayner worked at his dad's pharmacy twice a week, and somehow, that didn't mean they had to cut down on each other. Hell, those two were even dating, and he hadn't heard Pence complaining of being neglected. Maybe they were all just better at time management that Roxas was.

Yeah. Maybe that was it.

Or maybe Hayner was right, and Roxas just didn't care enough about them anymore to try. It was a thought that made him feel ill.

Sighing, Roxas tossed his schoolbag into the corner of the hideaway, and flumped down on the ratty old green sofa set along one wall, giving rise to a cloud of dust. Fiddling with his black-and-white chequered wrist band, he tipped his head onto the back of the couch, to let the beams of sun warm the skin of his face and neck. For the first time in a long while, Roxas actually felt himself relaxing. Maybe it was the memories hanging in the air, making him feel a little young again, reminding him that life wasn't some grim march towards the end. There had been a time when this makeshift room, and the people that inevitably filled it, was all he needed to be completely content. When had that changed so violently?

Voices floated into being, stirring him from the light doze he'd slipped into. They came closer, until they were right outside, loud and careless. His three best friends came pushing through the cloth curtain obscuring the doorway, not seeing him for several seconds. When they did, they halted, and all talking ceased. Everyone stared at him.

Roxas fidgeted under the combined force of their gazes. "Um… hi guys," he offered hopefully. "What took you so long?"

Hayner's words were hard. "We went out for a while. It's not like we'd need to let you know."

Olette touched his arm gently, reining him in before he could lose his temper, and fixed Roxas with a quietly frustrated look. "Roxas, it's not like you ever come out with us anymore. I can't remember the last time I saw you sitting in here…" She gave a little laugh. "It almost feels like we're fifteen again."

"Sixteen," Hayner corrected, crossing his arms, frowning. "That was the last time we were all together like we used to be. Sixteen. And then Roxas decided he was too cool for us. Guess he was just waiting for some red-haired freak to come along and complete him."

"Hey, come on, Hayner," Roxas argued, "that's not fair. Axel's got nothing to do with that."

"Hayner, how about you cool off a little?" Pence advised, ever the peace-keeper. "Maybe it has been a while, but we're all here now, right? That's got to be a good sign." He looked over to Roxas, a spark of hope in his puppy-dog brown eyes. "Right?"

Something nervous fluttered in Roxas' stomach. "Right," he agreed. "I mean… I'm here now."

Olette smiled, and gave Hayner a little shake. "So? What do you say to that?"

Apparently, the other blond wasn't willing to let him off so easy. "What about Axel?" He sneered the name, as if it were something to be spat on. Roxas flinched.

"Axel's my friend," he murmured. "But… he shouldn't have said those things to you, and… I told him so."

"Oh, sure, after I left. God save you from showing any sort of solidarity with your best friend in front of your boyfriend."

"Hayner," Olette scolded.

"He's not my boyfriend," Roxas responded, irritated. "He just… Look." He deliberately calmed himself, took a couple deep breaths. "I came here to be with you guys. I figured out that I've been sort of neglecting you lately, and I want to make it up to you. I don't need new friends, I don't need new – anything. I just need to remember what used to make life so fun, and maybe then I'll stop being such a whiny little bitch all the time. Okay?"

Olette had tears in her eyes, a trembling smile in place. She clutched Hayner's arm tightly, then released him and crossed the dusty floor to where Roxas sat. Standing in front of him, hands on hips, she asked, "You mean that, Roxas?"

Unease. Butterflies. Kind of… sick. "Yeah, I do."

Her smile grew, and she threw herself onto the blond, wrapping her thin arms around his neck, making him choke. "O – Olette…!"

She hugged him close, sniffling, grinning over to where Pence sat on the other chair. "We missed you, Roxas," she said, through her tears and beaming, a summer shower. "You never stopped being our best friend, but you drifted away from us." She sat back, situated on his lap, and wiped at her face. "To hear you say you want to try again – that makes me so happy!"

"Yeah," Pence enthused. "It can be like old times! You'll get the hang of it, Roxas, you just need to remember how much fun we used to have!"

"And the bean-pole?" Hayner asked sceptically. His arms were still crossed, foot tapping, not entirely pleased with Olette's tactile pleasure, but smart enough to realise it wasn't a slight against him.

Roxas shifted uncomfortably, wilting under his friends' expectant looks. "Well…" he said slowly, "I'm still friends with him, if that's what you mean. I'm not going to stop liking him, even if he can be… a little thoughtless at times. He – he understands me."

"We understand you," Hayner replied bluntly. "You really don't need him."

Roxas glared. "Well, I'm not going to just ditch him. I like him, he is my friend, even if we've only known each other for three days. But – " He hesitated. "I'm not going to ditch you guys, either. And… and I'm sorry for forgetting about yesterday." He met Hayner's hazel eyes regretfully. Olette twisted her neck, also looking at him, the smile becoming a request, emerald eyes beseeching. Everyone knew how Hayner could be, they all knew what his grudges could be like. But they also knew he was a sucker for an apology, and in the year that they'd been going out, his girlfriend.

The dirty-blond teen sighed. "Yeah?"

Roxas nodded earnestly. "I swear, Hayner. It won't happen again."

"Yeah, no shit, the Struggle doesn't take place again until next year," he muttered. Then he shook his head. "Buuut – I guess I can forgive you this one mistake." He pointed a finger firmly at his friend. "But so help me, if bean-pole tells me I'm gay for you again, I'm kicking his ass. And tell him, the next time he tries to interfere in one of our discussions, to keep his nose out of where it doesn't belong."

Roxas agreed, relieved. "It's a deal."

Hayner looked undecided for a moment, then smiled. "Cool." Olette gave a happy laugh, and hugged Roxas again, letting him pat her awkwardly on the back while Hayner smirked.

"So, what now?" the blond asked, blue eyes darting around the familiar surroundings.

"Now? We do what we always do." Pence shrugged, gave a wicked little grin. "We try to take over the world."