Disclaimer: I don't see the characters singing and dancing! (Sora doesn't count you guys. He would sing and dance no matter who owned him. ahemrikuahem)
Note: FF may delete spaces, punctuation marks, letters, etc. from the story... So if there's something there that I don't catch, sorry!
luluNOTE:
I am absolutely AMAZED that I got past 5 chapters in my very first fanfic. Let's all celebrate! PartyPartyPartyPartyParty!
Anyways. Sorry about the whole "Roxas' secret hobby" thing that I left behind in my chapter preview on ch.4. It didn't really fit well into the chapter, but you guys already have an idea, don't you? It's coming up, though. I promise. And I don't break my promises, as you can see from my last promise with Riku! ("Boo, Lulu!")
It's funny that I feel like getting up and jumping all around the house even though it's 1:12 am. Want to know why? BECAUSE I READ THE NEW REWIEWS I GOT FOR THAT LAST CHAPTER! I'm so excited! (Everyone's sleeping and I can't exactly go stomping around the house, though. Too bad, huh?)
THANKS SO MUCH TO raven.in.the.sky., xxjust-a-nobodyxx, Erinicole12, TheOptimisticPessimisst, cherry, REIzor Image, and DemmyandZexy FOR REVIEWING! YOU GUYS ROCK OUT LOUD!
Title: Broken Clockwork
Chapter: 6; Hiding In My Closet
Summary: Roxas was always on top of things, following time down to the second. Until he met Axel, carefree and fun. What happens when you mix two opposite elements of life together?
ON WITH THE SHOW!
In The Mood For Dance,
Lovely Lulu
oXoXoXo
"Everyone, meet Riku."
Riku…
I WOULD LOVE TO MEET HIM! I practically screamed… in my head. I looked to my sides and saw that there was an empty seat on my left. On the right, there was that fangirl that woke me up yesterday.
"Hey," he gave a small, lazy wave. Yeah. A wave that drowned me in oozing sighs. I looked again to my right at Fangirl. She was practically oozing herself. Maybe we could be friends… that stalked Riku together! Riku's voice was deep, husky, and oh-so-sexy. I might've overanalyzed this, though, since he did, after all, only say one word. Who cared? As long as he was still sexy, nothing in the world mattered!
"Riku, why don't you go ahead and introduce yourself," Ms. Jergen's smile spread even wider than before as she looked at the class. Riku skimmed over the class with bored, half-open eyes. He opened his mouth and everyone leaned forward in anticipation for his introduction.
"Hey, my name's Riku. Hi everyone," he said simply. Ooh. He's dark and mysterious! I thought. I like that.
"…" Ms. Jergen was still waiting to hear more stuff come out of his mouth, but Riku just stood there, not looking awkward at all, and waited for further instructions. "Er…" Ms. Jergen stood up straight and rubbed the back of her neck. "Alright then. Riku, you can sit next to…" She scanned the class for empty seats and looked right at the empty seat on my left. SCORE! She smiles again and points to the seat. "You can sit next to Sora over there. Sora, raise your hand," I do and I smiled likes there's no tomorrow. I wanted him to notice me. I wanted him to talk to me.
Without saying a word, his feet started into motion and he strolled over to the empty desk. As he walked towards me, a million thoughts were running through my head.
His hair was so silky. Love me. His teeth were so straight. Touch me. His eyes were so pretty. Take me. His arms were so good. Rape me. His lips were so luscious. Sex me up. His skin was so smooth. Bang me. His body was so perfect. Fuck me. His –
"Hi, Sora," I swear I saw the corner of his mouth quirk up a little bit. Right then and there, I practically melted into a puddle of Sora-Pudding, but I didn't show a thing on the outside. If there was one thing I was good at, it was acting. Though, I was obviously good at much more than just that. Why else would I have been so popular? Hair flip.
"Hi, Riku. Welcome to Twilight School," I showed my brilliant, straight, white teeth.
"Thanks," he whispered as his fingers touched the edge of my desk lightly. They lingered there and slid down the side of the small table when he turned to the empty desk and sat down, leaning forward to rest his elbows on the tabletop. WOW. Now I could look at him without even moving. How great was this?
For the rest of the class, I didn't even bother trying to listen. The only thing I could focus on was the beauty sitting next to me.
oXoXoXo
Turns out, there's a new kid at school. In just one passing time period, he became the talk of the school. He had arrived just before 6th hour, the last hour of the day, and some kids had seen him sitting in the office. A rather quiet and mysterious kid, he had moved from Destiny Islands for a reason nobody knows… yet. His name was Riku and I heard he had smooth silver hair, and light green eyes.
Green eyes… As I walked down the hallway, I wondered if his eyes looked anything like Axel's. Were his eyes green with fire burning inside them? Were they deep and filled with all different shades of green? Did they sparkle when he talked? I had played the scene where Axel and I had met over and over and over in my head. It refused to leave me alone. I wasn't attracted to the guy or anything… Just fascinated, I had concluded. After all, I. Was. Not. Gay.
I rounded the corner as I did every day at the end of school to find Sora animatedly talking to Kairi again.
"…He sits right next to me, too! He's, like, so pretty and everything. You've seen him right? I mean, the moment I saw him, I knew he was going to be mine. Kai, he's totally perfect! You don't even know half of it! Like, his voice is so sexy and deep and everything and his hair is so shiny and he doesn't even need to use hair gel to make it look so pretty since it just kind of hangs down and stuff. Not only that, but he walks so totally girly. I know he's got to be gay, right? So I totally have a chance with him. I know it! My gaydar is never wrong!"
Kairi was giggling as Sora waved his hands around and made way to many hand motions. I walked up behind Sora and tapped him on the shoulder.
"Hey, Sora. Ready to go?" I was just glad that Sora was back to normal. Yesterday's whole… thing kind of got me worried there. At least his mind was off of me and Naminé. Aw, man. And I had just stopped thinking about Naminé, too. I started singing a song in my head to block out memories.
Sora whipped around and jumped up and down.
"Roxas! I'm so glad you're here! I can tell you all about Riku now! He's so –"
"Tell me in the car. Come on," I wrapped a hand around his wrist and pulled lightly. "See ya, Kairi. I'll be stealing Mr. Totally-In-Love here for the rest of the day, if you don't mind."
She grinned and waved good-bye as we left the area. "See ya, guys! Love ya, So!" I heard her make a kissing sound and saw Sora turn his head around and blow a kiss back.
"Love ya, too, Kai! See ya later!"
I shivered and let go of Sora's hand. This mushy stuff was a little scary for me. My stomach growled as I lead Sora out to the car and we drove out of the parking lot. I just wanted to get home and eat some cake. Sora talked excitedly the entire way home about Riku, the new kid, apparently.
Life seemed pretty good that day, I thought, as I ate my share of the small mocha cream ice cream cake that afternoon.
oXoXoXo
I groaned as I woke up that morning. I glanced at the digital clock on the coffee table.
1:54 pm
"Ugh…" I rubbed my eyes and scratched at my hair. Slowly, I pulled myself off the couch and walked to the tiny bathroom. The door was closed, so I pushed it open tiredly, blinking slowly.
"AAHH! AXEL! GET OUT!" I heard a feminine voice scream at me. Oh. That was right. Larxene was staying with me now… I turned around and shook my lazy hand towards her.
"Don't worry… I didn't see anything…" I yawned and walked out without closing the door. The next thing I knew, the door was being slammed and I was sitting back down on the couch, holding the clock in my hands. I wasn't really thinking about anything and still in the state of mind between sleeping and being awake. The front door to the apartment opened and I looked at who was coming in.
"Hey, Axel. You're awake?" Demyx peeked in from behind the heavy door.
"Yeah. Just got up a minute ago," I didn't even bother getting off the couch. Instead I laid back down on it.
"Axel… Get up already. It's already past lunch time! Come on!" Demyx walked over to me and tugged on my arm.
"Nooo…" I groaned. "Let me lay here… I don't want to wake up."
"I'll make you some coffee. Then you'll wake up. Why didn't you shower yet?" he asked me, cringing his nose. "You still smell like smoke and cigarettes, man. Gross."
"Larxene just got out of the shower or something. She's in the bathroom. Didn't you hear the crazy girl scream at me? I accidentally walked in on her. I was practically asleep still, though, so I didn't see a thing. Not that it would've mattered. I'm not attracted. God didn't want me to be," I had said all this with my eyes closed as Demyx walked into the small kitchen and took out some things from the cabinets to get some coffee ready. Meanwhile, Larxene opened the door with one of my T-shirts on as well as a pair of my jeans. Thanks for asking. I heard her coming out of the bathroom and, with my eyes still closed, spoke.
"You done with the bathroom?" I asked.
"Yeah. You can use it now," she seemed to be over the whole walking in thing. I literally rolled off the couch and landed on the ground face up. Suddenly the light fixture above me blinked on and I shielded my eyes. "Get up already," Larxene didn't seem to really care whether or not I got up. She just said it for the sake of saying it. I knew I had to get up eventually as well, so I pushed myself up off the floor and crawled into the bathroom, shutting the door behind me.
I wasn't wearing a shirt, so I stripped off my pants and let them pool around my ankles. I rubbed my eyes again and turned on the shower, taking off my boxers and then stepping in. As the water washed over me and woke me up, I wondered whether or not I should get a job. I needed to pay the bills for the apartment and now that Larxene was staying with me, I had to pay more for the water and stuff that she used. I scrubbed myself down, washed my hair, and rinsed. I had been working odd jobs for a while now after I got fired from my last job. Maybe I could find a job as a waiter or something at a dinky little restaurant. It was better than nothing. Then I thought about where I could get a job like that. Nobody was hiring right now… Suddenly, it hit me. My brother could probably help me out. I had to give him a call later…
I stepped out of the shower, dried myself and stepped out with the towel wrapped around my waist. I walked into the middle of the living room and searched the ground for some clean clothes.
"Axel," from the kitchen, Demyx's voice sounded. "I washed some clothes for you. They're over on the couch."
"Oh. Thanks, again," I said, gliding over to the couch and picking up a clean light green top, a pair of night black jeans and a big grey hoodie. I dropped the towel and pulled on a pair of clean plaid navy blue boxers.
"God, Axel. Have some decency, would you?" Larxene's voice, also from the kitchen, said.
"Oh. Sorry. I forgot about you again. You know, since I'm obviously not getting used to you, could you try to get used to me, maybe?" I shrugged and tugged on the shirt and pants. Pulling them up as I hopped into the kitchen, hoodie in hand. Demyx pushed a hot cup of coffee across the table as I sat down.
"Did Roxas call yet?" He asked innocently.
"Agh… So many things to remember about…" I groaned. "No…" I said sadly. "He didn't drop a call. I don't even know if he lives in Twilight Town. What if he was just visiting or something?"
"Huh," Demyx put a finger to his lips. "That might be true."
"Who's Roxas?" Larxene asked from next to me.
"Just a kid Axel met in the Cloud Café downtown," Demyx shrugged.
"Hey! He's not just some kid, okay?" I growled. I took a sip out of the coffee mug and sighed. "You guys have got to help me find a job today. Did you bring any newspapers, Dem?"
"Yeah, lucky for you," he spat. "You need to get a job, I agree, or else I'll be the one always bringing in the food and clothes and newspaper and stuff."
"Yeah, yeah. Just start looking," All three of us bent over the counter to look for a good hiring job.
oXoXoXo
I was sitting in my room, doing my homework like a good little boy should, when all of a sudden I hear a thump outside my window. Oh, God. I thought. What is it now? I stayed seated at my desk and stared at the window, seeing a dark figure tumble onto the balcony. I watched, amused, as whoever it was tried to get in.
"Aw, man!" I heard a familiar voice say. "It's locked! Wait… I got the keys from Linda."
The voice seemed to be Sora's and I waited for the key to turn in the lock of the door from the balcony. A second familiar voice followed up behind his and whisper-yelled, "Do the keys work?"
The lock clicked and the door swung open. By this time, I had hidden in the closet to see what they were up to. As I looked through the door crack, I saw Cloud stumble into the room from the balcony door after Sora.
"Hey. Roxas isn't here," Sora scratched his head and looked around the room, not sure what to do now that he had actually gotten into the room. Idiot…
"Well…" Cloud looked up at the ceiling. "There's always the occasional journal… or diary…"
"You. Wouldn't. Dare!" Sora whipped around, smiling, though, and pointed at Cloud with a defiant finger. "Let's do it!"
I groaned and waited to see what they would find from behind the door of my closet. I heard the rustling of papers and some books fall off the table. Oh, God. What are they doing? I hope none of the books died. I rolled my eyes and kept watching. Sora wrapped his fingers around a black book on the table.
"Hey! Look, Cloud! What's this?!" He cracked the pages open and read from the book. "Monday! At 2:15pm; meeting for… Oh. It's just a schedule. Go figure, right? Wait! Maybe there's something on his schedule!"
Idiots… That's my old planner. They obviously weren't going to find anything since I didn't keep anything hidden in my room. I was a pretty honest and straightforward guy… I guess. I didn't have anything in my room that I didn't want them to find. I watched as Sora flipped through the pages of my schedule and found nothing.
"There's practically nothing here!" I heard Sora complain as he threw the schedule book he was holding back down onto the table. "Doesn't Roxas have feelings? I mean, seriously!"
"Well, let's get out before Roxas gets back from wherever," Cloud walked towards the door to the hallway and glided out of the room, Sora following close behind.
I came out of the closet (A/N: haha, get it?) and crawled out into my room. I glanced over at the desk. Papers and notebooks were strewn everywhere. It was a total mess. Sighing, I bent down and started picking up papers and pads, setting them back into the places they belonged. Sora had made such a mess looking for absolutely nothing. Did he really think he'd find a diary? I'm not a girl. As I cleaned, I heard Sora yell something to Cloud.
"CLOUD!" he screamed. "Naminé's here! Go find Roxas and tell him!"
My entire body stiffened and I lunged for the door, locking it. I threw myself under the covers of my giant king-sized bed, ears perked and scared. Oh, God. What is she doing here again? I wondered. I heard the front door swing open and a soft voice emit from downstairs.
"Hi, Sora."
Obviously, it was Naminé. She sounded sweet, and a little too convincing. GO AWAY, WOMAN!
"Can I talk to Roxas?"
Deciding the bed wasn't a good place to hide, I threw the covers over my head, and scrambled back inside the closet again. I hid between the shelves and shelves of clothes and decided to wait out the storm. She probably wanted to apologize again, and let me tell you -- I can't stand apologies. I burn up every time someone apologizes to me. They just aren't my thing. I dug my fingers into the pocket of the pair of tight jeans I was wearing that day and dragged out my cell phone. I had to call somebody for help. Maybe somebody could drag Naminé away for me. I'd never have to see her again.
As I flipped open my phone, a ripped piece of napkin floated out and drifted to the floor. I picked it up and looked at it. It was Axel's phone number. I had stuck it in the phone for... safekeeping? I don't know why I kept the piece of writing, but it was there. I put the paper back on the floor and opened up the list of contacts. The very first contact was one I had punched in just yesterday:
Axel.
I sat in between the millions of shelves of shirts, pants, hats, shoes, glasses, socks and stared dumbly at the phone.
oXoXoXo
"Hi, Sora," Naminé had appeared unexpectedly at our door.
"Hello… Naminé," I replied in a, I hoped, nonchalant tone. "Is there… something you need?" I was pausing in all the right places! I think!
"Um… Can I talk to Roxas?" She bit her lip and waited expectantly for an answer - probably waiting for a "Yeah." Not today, sistah!
"No," I answered not too quickly, yet not too slowly. I was one smooth talker.
"Er… Can I ask why?"
"No," I repeated.
"Um… Do you know where he is?"
I thought about this. I actually didn't know where Roxas had gone off to. Cloud and I had rummaged through his desk, hoping for something, anything, that would satisfy our boredom. Nothing, obviously, was found – just a bunch of lame and useless schedules and planners.
"Nope. No idea!" I shrugged and waited for the next cue.
"Um…" That's not a good cue. I frowned and crossed my arms across my chest.
"Bye, Naminé. I got busy-ness to do…" I pivoted on my heel and walked into the house, waiting for her to leave. I obviously had nothing to do. I never did, but that didn't matter. Roxas wouldn't have liked Naminé being in the house, so the best way to get rid of her, was the leave her alone! Maybe she would leave soon.
oXoXoXo
The three of us sat comfortably on the couches around the TV. Lazily, I flipped through the channels one by one, slowly, but efficiently. Our cable was pretty horrible. It basically ranged with TV stations broadcasting The Life of a Sloth to ones broadcasting The Life of a Snail. Ooh. Fun.
Suddenly, the tune of SexyBack started playing in the background of the apartment. I looked over at the coffee table resting beneath my feet, not moving a muscle but the ones in my eyes. The small cell phone vibrated and started spinning around slowly on every buzz. I just sat there and watched it turn around in its small circle of noise.
"Axel…" I heard a faint voice emit from Demyx. Nobody moved, too lazy to get up off their butt. "Axel… Pick up… Your phone…"
"Mm…" I grunted, continuing the ancient art of channel flipping. "You get it for me…"
"Pick it up… It's your phone…" he replied sluggishly.
"You…"
"No… You pick it up…"
"No… Y-"
"SHUT UP YOU IDIOTS! I'LL PICK UP THE FUCKING PHONE!" Larxene screamed at us, pushing herself laboriously off her place on the couch. She bent over and reached for my small red cell phone. "Damn…" she muttered under her breathe, flipping it open. "Hello?!" she said harshly into the phone. Looking confused, she pushed the phone into her ear. "Hello?!" she repeated in the same tone, if not harsher. "Tch…" she cracked the phone shut and put it back on the table.
"Who dat…?" I asked her, turning my head slightly to look at her.
"I don't know. Some freak. Probably a prank call or something. Total silence," she settled back into her spot, burrowing herself into the cushions of the couch.
"Oh…" I replied absentmindedly. After a few more moments of flipping through the same 5 channels on the television, the cell phone rang a second time. Larxene began to reach for it, but before her fingers could barely skim the surface of my phone, I snatched it up. No way was I letting that beast answer my phone a second time.
Flicking a glare at her, I flipped open my phone and put it up to my ear.
"Yellow," I said, as I sunk back into the couch again, watching as Larxene sunk back into her spot, as well.
"Is this… Is this Axel?" There was a stutter then a hurried answer from the other end of the line. The voice sounded oddly familiar… Wait a minute…!
"ROXAS?!" I jumped up out of the couch cushions. So much for watching TV! Roxas was on the phone! He actually called me back!
"I-uh… Yeah…" His tone was confused and a little surprised. I coughed and took a few deep breathes. Still standing, I thought over my next words carefully.
"So, uh… What's up?" This was good, I thought. Simple, yet to the point. Very nice opening line, Axel. I congratulated myself with an imaginary pat on the back.
"Um… Not… much, I guess," Roxas' voice was hesitant and unsure of what to say. Maybe he was analyzing his words over, too?
"Where are you?"
"Um… I'm kind of stuck in my closet," I heard the other line crackle.
"Haha. Good one, kid. Well, why don't you come out? I can totally help, if you know what I mean," I chuckled into the phone, smirking. Larxene and Demyx watched me. I was probably more interesting than the TV, after all. This awesome phone conversation was controversial, I tell you!
"No. Seriously. I'm stuck in my closet," Roxas' voice was firmer and a little angry.
"Would you like to tell me… why, maybe?" I paced into the kitchen and sat down at the table.
"Well, my crazy bitch of an ex-girlfriend came by, and I'm kind of… um… Hiding from her," He had started out strong and angry, and ended up intimidated and ashamed. How cute. His voice was so fun to listen to.
"Who is this… crazy bitch of an ex-girlfriend you speak of?" I asked, genuinely interested. Maybe. Well, I was interested because I had to wonder whether or not he was lying about him having an ex-girlfriend, you know. I thought Roxas was gay. He sure seemed gay on that day at the café.
"Her name's Naminé and we went out 3 years ago… She moved to Destiny Islands and suddenly came back earlier this week. This is the second time she's come to our house in the time that she came back for. I don't want to talk to her, so I'm pretending I'm not home…" Roxas explained.
"Want to get out of the house?" I asked him.
"What?"
"Yeah! Come on, we can meet at Cloud Café again. It's better than hiding in your closet…" I chuckled. "…away from this Naminé girl."
"I… I don't know…" He seemed really freaked out by the proposition. I had no idea why, though. I mean, it'd just be like a guy's-night-out! If there was such thing. There is in the gay world!
"Come on! Let's go! It'll be fun!" I urged.
"I… Well! My cars in the garage! How do I get out of the house without a car?" Roxas had come up with an excuse and was dying to use it. How unsocial, yet so cute!
"Just grab your wallet, stuff some bills in and run down your fire escape or something," I told him. I had done it tons of times. I didn't even have a car. "You can ride the subway. Who needs a car in a place like Twilight Town, anyways?"
"Anyone that needs a ride to work, school, restaurants… Cloud Café…" He said this in a "duh" voice.
"Just go already! I'll meet you at Cloud Café! No take-backs!" I laughed and clicked the phone shut.
I could just imagine poor Roxas saying frantically into the phone, "Hello?! HELLO?! AXEL!" I smirked and grabbed the hoodie of the couch.
"Agent 008 – Out," I told Larxene and Demyx who had gone back to watching the TV. I guess the TV was more interesting than me. How depressing. I smirked and took the wallet off the kitchen countertop, sauntering out of the apartment, ready to meet Roxas. This would be interesting.
oXoXoXo
luluNOTE:
This probably isn't a very satisfying "finish-up" of a chapter. I was planning a lot more for this chapter, but I simply ran out of time. Adjusting to a private school isn't as easy as I thought it would be! Starting this school year, I'll be going to a private school with lots of homework and projects and test and quizzes. Oh, whoopee. I'm so excited. –deadpan-
Updates will definitely be pretty dragged out, so I'm really sorry about that. I'm sure that as soon as I get accustomed to the new school system and homework and stuff, I'll be able to get back into my fanfic swing. I'M SO SORRY! -gets on hands and knees and begs for forgiveness-
Not a lot to say about this, I guess… Sorry… The phone conversation sucked. I'll get more AkuRoku juice in the next chapter, as well as SoRiku juice. XD And maybe Zexion will even be introduced!
Next Chapter: Will Roxas show up at Cloud Café to greet Axel? Do Riku and Sora ever become more than just acquaintances? Where's Zexion? Is Naminé still standing at the twins' mansion's door? Is Naminé bashing going to occur? We all know that would be fun.
Find out in the next chapter of Broken Clockwork!
Thanks so much for sticking with me through the last 6 chapters, everyone! And thanks so much to everybody that started reading after the first chapter went up! I LOVE YOU ALL! You make my day awesome and full of butterfly-y surprises! That didn't make any sense.
REVIEW PLEASE!!!