TheSpacesInside
Chapter Two: Falling Hard
Babblings: I guess there's nothing much to say except that I would really appreciate feedback if you'd like me to continue this story. Enjoy chapter two.
x-x-x-x-X-x-x-x-x
When Roxas awoke, he was curled up under a blanket next to the fireplace where he'd fallen asleep with his aunt Aerith. He groggily stretched his arms above his head and loudly cracked his back.
"Ew, I really wish you wouldn't do that, Rox," remarked Sora, stepping out from behind a bookshelf. "It's really gross."
The blonde ignored his cousin and flopped back onto the comfortable rug, pulling the soft blanket back over his body. He shut his eyes, not feeling in the mood to move or really do anything. Once again the face of that red-haired guy, Axel, flashed over his mind's eye. He groaned, deciding that he'd rather stay in this one spot all day than go back out on the ski hill and risk making a fool of himself again. But his heart yearned for that man and he didn't know why, especially when the man didn't even seem to recognize Roxas.
"Come on, sleepy-head," urged Sora, lightly kicking him. "Breakfast is ready. The rest of us have been up for awhile already."
"Just tell my aunt that I want to stay here," he muttered, turning away from the brunette.
"Not a chance, buddy. Aerith's going to open the store in a few minutes and then you'll have to move anyway."
Reluctantly, Roxas wrapped the blanket around him and ambled his way sleepily to the kitchen, where he plopped wordlessly onto a stool.
"You're really cute when you're tired," Namine pointed out, giggling a bit with her hand over her mouth.
Roxas groaned and placed his head on the counter. "I'm not in the mood to be called 'cute'."
"I'm just stating the facts," the blonde girl said, pointedly, before taking a dainty bite out of her waffle.
"Roxas!" exclaimed Aerith, walking into the kitchen. "You look so cute."
The whole world was conspiring against him. He could feel a headache coming on. All he wanted was a little peace and quiet to figure things out, but these people just kept bothering him. He reminded himself that they were his friends, but it didn't much make him feel better. "May I have a waffle?" Aerith handed him a plate with a fresh one on it and Sora a plate with five. Suffice to say, Sora had finished all five of his before Roxas had finished his one.
"Rox, you need to go get ready," said Namine.
Roxas shook his head. "I'm going to stay here today." Aerith, Namine, and Sora shared a look, but, surprisingly, didn't say anything. He was thankful for that at least. He really didn't feel like explaining to them why he didn't want to go. He didn't know if they'd understand anyway, except Aerith who already knew.
Once Sora and Namine had left for the day, Roxas climbed lazily up the stairs and collapsed onto his bed, exhausted.
x-x-x-x-X-x-x-x-x
When he woke again, it was a relatively more reasonable time of day and he was definitely more personable. He put on his glasses, feeling too unmotivated to put his contacts in, and arrived downstairs to help Aerith. All the customers loved Roxas, because, even though he only had a memory of a few months, he'd already read nearly half the books on the shelf and could tell customers anything about them. He was also very good at making coffee, which was definitely a plus. And he was 'cute', as Aerith and Namine would say and his presence brought in a lot of young, female customers.
Roxas quickly lost himself in the work, letting all his other worries float away while he helped other people. Then they came back with a rush the moment he saw a tall man with flaming red hair walk in the shop.
"Hey, Blondie," he said, stepping up to the counter and sitting in one of the stools, spinning around on it like an amused little child. "I didn't know you worked here."
"Uh, yeah," Roxas muttered, fighting the blush from coming to his cheeks. He was still embarrassed about the day before. "My aunt's the owner. Is there anything you'd like?"
The man looked at him liked he's lost his mind, but nodded. "Peppermint hot chocolate, please." As Roxas started to make the hot chocolate, he couldn't help but stare at the man in front of him and he couldn't shake the feeling of familiarity. He knew this man from somewhere. "You like to read?" the man asked.
"Yeah," Roxas replied, handing him his hot chocolate. "Besides snowboarding it's the only thing I really know how to do. Do you like reading?"
He shrugged, taking a sip. "I've only found a few that I like."
"Well, what genre do you like?"
"Mostly sci-fi."
"Oh," said Roxas, almost excitedly. "Have you read any of Isaac Asimov? He's probably the greatest science fiction writer out there. He wrote I Robot. You know that movie with Will Smith in it?"
The red-head grinned. "I guess I know what gets you talking."
Roxas blushed. "I'm serious. We have some books by Asimov around here if you're interested."
"I might have to take you up on that," the man said, standing up and holding out his hand. "My name's Axel by the way."
The blonde took his outstretched hand, noticing how strong his grip was and how perfectly Roxas' smaller hand fit in his larger one. "Roxas."
Axel's eyes lit up in recognition and Roxas thought that maybe, maybe he knew him from before. But… "So you're the prodigy."
Roxas shook his head. "I'm not a prodigy."
"Trust me," Axel said, stepping back from the counter, "only a prodigy would be able to beat me in snowboarding." He gave Roxas a silky grin. "I'll be here all winter, so maybe I'll see you around. Next time maybe I'll take you up on that book." That said, he turned around and walked out of the store, leaving Roxas to stare at the door long after he'd disappeared.
"I told you you'd see him again," said Aerith, suddenly appearing at his side.
Roxas only nodded and grabbed a stack of books that needed to be shelved.
x-x-x-x-X-x-x-x-x
Roxas spent the rest of the lazy hours of the afternoon thumbing through a bunch of books and looking at the many pictures Aunt Aerith had up of the walls from her travels. He noticed that is many of the photographs there was a young man with blonde hair and blue eyes much like Roxas's. He couldn't help but think that maybe this was the man she'd fallen in love with. Certainly in all the photos with him she looked extraordinarily happy.
Once again these thoughts drifted to Roxas wondering if he'd ever been in love. Sure, he wasn't all that old, but that didn't necessarily mean anything. All he knew as that the boy with the vibrant red hair and green eyes could somehow help him remember – if he wanted to know. Maybe Roxas was better off not knowing what had happened and who he'd been. Maybe he should just start entirely over and forget about the past.
A couple hours later, Roxas found himself being pounced on by a very exuberant Sora. "Rox! Rox! I won today. That guy from yesterday wasn't there! So I won!" Roxas laughed. Sometimes, Sora reminded him of a little kid. He got so excited.
Roxas, Sora, and Namine all sat down to a movie that night (Sora's pick) and Roxas found that he could forget everything, even Axel for a short while. Part way through the movie, though, he leaned over and whispered to Namine, "That guy, Axel, he came in here today."
She didn't have to say anything. She just smiled genuinely at him and leaned her head against his shoulder, reaching over and stealing a handful of popcorn from Sora, who, in turn, yelled a resounding "Hey!" Roxas and Namine shared a look and a small giggle.
Roxas didn't see Axel for several days, even at the mountain. He'd even asked Aerith if she'd seen him, but she told him 'no' she hadn't seen him. Roxas was beginning to wonder if maybe he didn't really exist, maybe he'd made him up. Namine told him no though. She'd seen him, too. He existed, somewhere. Roxas just had to find him.
And find him he did. Well, actually, he ran into him.
He and Sora were waiting for their names to be called for the next race when suddenly, he heard Axel's name being called. Immediately, Roxas' ears perked up and he skidded to the edge of the hill just in time to see a blur speeding down the hill. His name was called next. As soon as he pushed off the top, Roxas knew that this was going to be the best time he ever got. He sped through gate after gate, a cloud of snow rising behind him. When he got to the bottom, though, he didn't stop because he saw Axel's shape disappearing past the crowd. He boarded past Namine and continued down the mountain. He watched as Axel turned down a side-path Roxas had never been down before. The shape became nearer and nearer until… it stopped. Directly in front of him. And he was going so fast that he didn't have time to think about stopping.
They collided and both of them were sent, tumbling down the slope. When they finally came to a halt, a jolting pain was shooting up Roxas' leg. He cried out and then Axel was standing above him. "Jesus Christ, kid, are you trying to kill me?"
"Fuck," he said, ignoring the man and sitting up, hands shaking as he undid the straps on his snowboard. His ankle was throbbing now and it was all he could do to keep from crying.
"It's just you at me, Roxy. This isn't exactly a well-traveled run. So I'd say you need my help."
Roxas glared up at the red-head. "How exactly? Unless you plan of carrying me down the mountain."
"Well," he said. "I'm a lot stronger than you probably think I am and you can't weigh more than a hundred pounds."
"A hundred and twenty," Roxas protested, wincing as his foot slid a ways in the snow. "And it's not possible. It'll put you too off-balance."
"The way I see it, you have two options. One, let me carry you or two, wait for someone to find you." Roxas glared and knew he didn't really have much of a choice. Axel handed him a rope. "Here, attach this to your board and then sling it across your back." After Roxas had done so, Axel helped him to his feet, making sure his weak ankle didn't collapse beneath him. Then he hoisted the small blonde onto his back and slowly, slowly made his way down. Roxas was furious with himself and horribly embarrassed.
When they finally reached the lodge, Axel carried him to a small, red car and set him inside. "Where are we going?" he asked.
"I'm taking you to my apartment to see if it's just a sprain or if it's broken," Axel said, starting his car and speeding away from the ski resort.
"What are you, a doctor?"
"I was studying to be one," the man replied, shocking Roxas. "And I was good at it, too."
"What happened?" Roxas asked, curious.
Axel visibly cringed. "That's something I'd much rather not talk about."
For the rest of the ride, neither of them said anything to the other. Roxas called Namine and left a message on her phone, telling them that he was okay and just to head home without him. He tried to ignore the throbbing in his ankle, but it wouldn't go away. When he leaned down to take his boot off, he had to put all his muscles into it. His ankle was swollen to nearly twice its usual size. Roxas groaned. This should have never happened.
Axel pulled up next to an expensive set of apartment buildings. He walked over to the other side of the car and lifted Roxas, easily, into his arms.
"I can walk," said the blonde.
"You want to test that?" Axel taunted, raising an eyebrow. "I don't think so." He carried Roxas into a nice, but messy apartment room. Axel obviously lived alone. He set Roxas on the bed and disappeared into the bathroom. When he returned, he handed Roxas a couple aspirin and a glass of water before lifting Roxas' leg onto some pillows and proceeding to examine his ankle. Roxas had to bite down on his cheek to keep from screaming. A few minutes later, Axel wrapped his ankle tightly and placed a bag of ice on top of it. "It's only a sprain," he announced. "But you'll definitely have to keep off it for a few days. I think I have a pair of crutches around here that might fit you."
"Why are you being so nice to me?" Roxas asked, suddenly very tired.
The red-head shrugged and once again Roxas had the feeling that he knew Axel from before. Maybe that's why he was helping him. But between the aspirin and the pain of his throbbing ankle he didn't have any time to dwell on it because sleep claimed him a moment later.
Axel shook his head, sadly, but stood up to find those crutches. He found them buried deep in the back of his closet. He pulled them out – a pair exactly the right height for a person of Roxas' stature. He walked back into the bedroom and stared at the sleeping blonde. Leaning down, he kissed Roxas' forehead. "Someday," he promised, "someday you'll remember."
x-x-x-x-X-x-x-x-x
Babblings: Hey, I'm sorry to leave you all with a sort of cliffhanger, but I couldn't help it. Oh and I've actually seen someone carry someone else down of their backs – just in case you say it isn't possible.
I'd love it if you'd review!