Working at the Italian restaurant proved to be a good outlet for me and a good place to practice being more social and friendly, without flirting or trying to get in someone's pants.

After a couple weeks of working there, I became really good friends with some co-workers, Hayner, Pence, and Olette. We'd all work together, then hang out at Hayner's to play video games, watch a movie, or just talk. Pretty soon, Sora began to notice my transformation.

"Going out after work?" he asked one day.

"Yeah, we're going to watch some scary movie that Pence has been bragging about."

"You seem so much happier now. Maybe, maybe a break from Axel was what you needed." Sora's words stunned me.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you were always so dependent on him. But look at you now; now you're making new friends, you have a job, you're surviving all on your own. I'm proud of you Rox." Sora patted my head and I shrugged.

"I admit I like my life a lot more now than how it used to be, but I still miss him."

"It's natural." Sora didn't know what else to say; I could read it in his eyes.

"Well, I'll be back later tonight. Love ya Sora!"

"Love you too Roxas."

"Hey Roxas, you ready for movie night after this shift?" Hayner asked as he and I dressed into our uniforms in the employee locker room. We had to wear nice white button up shirts with black slacks and those half aprons that wrap around our waists.

"Yep, can't wait." I high fived him and went to go man my booth at the main entrance.

"Well well well, if it isn't blondie boy?" I heard as my back was towards the door. I turned around after hearing that distinct familiar voice.

"Reno? What's up?" He gave me a half hug and I didn't realize that seeing Axel's brother would make me so happy.

"Just out for some lunch. I didn't know you worked here."

"I've only been here for a few weeks. Anyway, is it just you?" I grabbed a menu, ready to take him to a table.

"And one more," Reno turned around as if to expect his guest to be there. "Where'd he?" He kept looking around and I grabbed an extra menu from inside a shelf of my podium. When I stood up, I saw two redheads.

"Roxas?" Axel asked, like he was afraid to say my name out loud.

"Axe?" I did the same, wishing so badly to just disappear.

"Well isn't this a nice reunion?" Reno put one hand on Axel's shoulder and one on mine.

"Give it a rest Reno," Axel rolled his eyes and Reno chuckled.

"Right this way please," I blushed and rushed off to a nearby table, placing down the menus, trying not to think about how red I was turning.

"Thanks," Reno slid into the booth.

"Someone will be right with you soon," I dashed back to the safety of my podium, seating a few more people as I fought hard not to turn around to the table where Axel was sitting at.

"Hey Roxas, can you cover for Olette? She's backed up and hasn't taken any orders from tables eight through thirteen." Pence asked me and I nodded, walking away from my sanctuary and towards the kitchen.

"Rox, we need tables eight and nine," Hayner called and I looked down at my chart. Shit. I put Axel and Reno at table number eight. Fuck my life.

"Um," I hesitated.

"Thanks, I really appreciate it!" Olette patted my shoulder, running around through the bustle of a full restaurant and I knew I couldn't deny her a break.

"It's no problem. I got it taken care of." I marched up to Axel's table, notepad and pen in hand, ready to take their order.

"So, what will it be?" I tried to flash a dashing smile, but my nerves showed through.

"I'd like to try the soup of the day, and I'm sure Axel here would love a big bowl of 'I miss you'." Reno smirked and Axel reached across the table to smack him with his menu.

"I'll take the lasagna." Axel handed me his menu and I nodded, walking to table nine to get their order.

When the time came to take the food to tables eight and nine, I got nervous. I had never carried one of those huge trays full of plates, and I usually wasn't expected to, but I had to help Olette. I mounted it on my right shoulder, trying to balance it out as I weaved between chairs and people. I served table nine, since they had a bunch of people at their table and I wanted to empty that tray as soon as I could. Then, with just two servings left to go, I walked to Axel and Reno.

"Soup of the day, and lasagna." I set their plates before them and Reno thanked me.

"Anything else I can get you?" I asked both of them.

"A kiss?" I heard Reno snicker quietly and Axel turned red, getting up and walking away.

"Don't worry, he'll be back soon." Reno dug into his soup and I tried to look like I didn't care.

"Hey, I'm going to take five." I told Hayner after I returned my tray to the kitchen and then made my way to the bathroom.

I stood in front of the mirror, not aware of how red I was. I splashed some cold water on my face, trying to wake myself up of the dream I seemed to be stuck in. When I reached for a paper towel, my hand ran into someone else.

"Oh, sorry," I looked over and saw Axel, who clearly visited the bathroom for the same purpose as I did, cold water running down his red face too.

"Sorry," Axel pulled his hand back and I stood there, not sure what to say or do.

"Um," I felt so nervous, I thought I was going to throw up.

"You look good," He said and I looked up into his eyes.

"What?" I felt so slow, like words couldn't process through my thick skull.

"You look great. You have a job and you just look…happy." He smiled and I broke into one too.

"Thanks. How have you been?" I hadn't seen him since he kicked me out.

"Eh, life is life. Had to pick up an extra job, but you got to do what you got to do." He shrugged.

"Yeah. I was tired of being home all day." I rubbed the back of my neck.

"Well good for you." Axel's smile returned and that made mine do the same. I wanted to tell him that I missed him; wanted to tell him that I still loved him; hell, I even wanted to tell him that I slept with a red pillow I named after him. I just wanted to be the source of his happiness.

"It's because of you that I kept fighting to help myself." I wanted to say all those truths running through my mind, but the time just didn't seem right for such direct words.

"What do you mean?"

"When I started living with Sora, part of me wanted to return to my old ways. I wanted to just give up and go back to how I used to live. But I knew that Sora, Riku, you, and even I deserved better than that. You made me realize that I needed to change. Kicking me out was the wakeup call I needed. Thank you."

"Glad I could help. Still, it's really quiet at home now. Demyx is over a lot just to fill the empty void of space and noise." Axel laughed nervously and I smiled wide.

"He seems like he'd be good at that."

"Yeah, he is." Axel continued to laugh when I looked back at my watch.

"Well, I should be getting back to work."

"I should get back to Reno."

"He seems like a good big brother."

"He really is. Annoying, but helpful." Axel fixed his long flowing hair and I wanted so badly to run my fingers through it. Wanted so badly to smell it as it tickled my palms. That sense of longing read all too easily on my face.

"I miss you." I said, not wanting to get so emotional, but I felt like I didn't have a choice.

"I miss you too Roxas," Axel moved in to hug me when the bathroom door opened.

"Oh, sorry," Hayner blushed, quickly walking into a stall as I turned red with embarrassment, and Axel chuckled at me.

"I'll be out there," He said, turning around, walking away, forgetting to hug me.

I sighed, washed my face again, and then sighed even bigger.

"Who was that?" Hayner asked when he knew we were alone.

"My ex." I said, hating that title.

"Damn, he's hot." Hayner smiled.

"Yeah, he's perfect."

"Then, why'd you two break up?" I could tell that Hayner debated asking, but went for it anyway.

"I cheated on him, and he stopped trusting me." I put my head in one of my hands, hating myself more than ever for finally realizing how nice I had it, and how badly I abused that.

"I'm sorry," Hayner said and then smiled, "He looked like he still loves you."

"Yeah, I still love him. So, maybe," I shrugged. "Let's go back before Pence and Olette start to worry."

"Right." He high fived me and we went back to our jobs. I sat a few more tables down and then was asked to run bills to tables. Of course, Axel's was on my list. I ran through the others first, knowing that I could make Axel and Reno wait since they looked just fine, laughing and talking about whatever it was they seemed so happy about.

"Here you are," I said, sliding down the receipt face down, smiling as best I could for the two redheads.

"Axel's right, you have an adorable smile." Reno said and Axel's eyes widened. I blushed and fell silent.

"Oh, um, thank you." I said nervously, trying to laugh it off as I ran off to help another table.

"Roxas, one last time, I'm begging you!" Olette grabbed my shoulder and pointed to another large circular tray.

"Haha, ok," I picked up the tray, lifting it up with my right arm, surprised at how heavy it felt. My arm started to wobble and the tray started to shake, and I could feel myself losing my grip. I saw a little kid running around, and in an attempt to dodge him, I tripped and down I flew, trying to keep the food from falling over. I fell on my stomach, and when I opened my eyes, the food was still in tact with the plates and the tray landed smoothly on the ground as I did my best to guide it on my way down. The consequence? I think I broke something. With all the attention and silence, I couldn't tell where the source of the pain was, but it was there.

"Roxas?" Hayner ran to my side, Olette right behind him.

"Oh man," I tried to sit up, my stomach sore.

"Roxas, you ok?" I turned around and Axel was right there, hand on my back, guiding me up.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"You hurt?" Hayner asked and I realized how many people were staring at me.

"I think I'm fine," I started, but Axel cut me off.

"He wouldn't say even if he were dying. Come on," Axel scooped me up and I tried to argue against it.

"It's ok, I'm fine," I insisted but Hayner shook his head.

"Dude, look at your foot!" He pointed and I realized that my ankle was twisted funny.

"Eww!" Olette screeched and I sighed.

"I don't think he can walk," Pence said and Axel nodded.

"Reno, start your car." Axel looked at Hayner, Pence, and Olette. "We'll take him to the hospital."

I put my arms around Axel's neck, using my injury for all I could, letting my head fall against his chest as he cradled me out of the restaurant, into Reno's car, and into the backseat where he sat with me. That's when the adrenaline of nerves worse off and the pain became more noticeable.

"Ugh!" I grunted, gritting my teeth.

"Whats wrong? Is it your ankle?"

"Mhm," I nodded, trying not to be as weak as I felt I was.

"Reno, hurry up." Axel said and Reno waved him off.

"Yeah yeah, I'm going, I'm going."

"Don't worry Rox, we'll be there soon." Axel rubbed my shoulder, creating a heated friction that distracted me.

"I hate hospitals," I said, already freaking out at the thought of those loud machines, the needles, the smell of hand sanitizer.

"Is that why you're always lying about being hurt?" Axel asked me.

"Well, that, and I don't want to be a burden." I shied away.

"Roxas, if you're hurt, you aren't being a burden. Besides, I saw why you fell. I think it was really brave and sweet of you to take the fall so the little boy wouldn't have gotten hurt."

"Really?" I asked, feeling special that Axel would think that.

"Yeah. It shows that you aren't selfish and that you care about others." Damn, that's something that, three or four months ago, he'd never be able to say truthfully.

"I do care Axe. The more I got out of my comfort zone, the more I began to love life; the more I started to care." I smiled at him when Reno slammed on the breaks at a red light, causing my ankle to bump against the floor of the car, sending a sharp pain up my leg.

"Reno!" Axel growled.

"Sorry!" Reno hollered, and Axel held onto me tightly.

"We're almost there."

Author's Note: So here we see Axel back in Roxas' life, as if I could keep those two away from each other ;P Sadly I'm in a bad mood….i had 4 accounts on KH2 but my baby brother decided to over-ride them with all level one beginner accounts. So I lost my level 87, level 96, level 34, and level 8 games, all on different level's of difficulty. I don't know about you, but I think this is enough of a reason to commit murder -_- Ugh, super pissed. Anyway, I hope that you liked the chapter!

To Tomo-7: I'm glad that you get it more and hopefully it continues to make more sense ^_^ Hmm, moody Roxas had a realistic part of him that made him relatable, because he's flawed, but I like changing characters so hopefully it worked.

To Vocal-len02: Awww thank you! I shall try not to let you or any of my readers down! I do my writing at night when I'm break for college (which I currently am) so it's a lot of work that keeps me up super late when I still have to be up early. Kind of a pain. Thanks, it was ok, someone puked on me which was gross!

To RikuMewKira: hahaha, good point, I think if parents knew about , they'd be scared! Aww yay! I'm glad you like it and I'm thinking of extending it more, if I have time to write and if I can come up with something worth writing. Hahaha, I love Reno, but I'll save him for Rude ;P

To Ruby1056: Thank you for your request and I'm sorry that I didn't post an extra chapter, but I will do my best to post daily as best I can. This story is actually almost over, so if I decide to extend it, I need to buy myself time …..or start typing ridiculously fast lol. Thanks again, it was nice to hear that kind of request =)

To mellow-panda7: Still reading your reviews, still loving them, still commenting back! Hahaha, yes, I LOVE Reno and I love Rude, especially the two together. Yes I do love Aww moments with Riku. AWWW, YAY! I loved the pillow thing when it came to my head so I'm glad that you appreciated it too! ^_^

To shadowridge: Ah, ok. I need to start using my psp like that lol. As you may have noticed, I am a HUGE yaoi fan, and sorry your eyes got raped, but I'm glad that you switched over ^_^ Lmao. OF COURSE! I'd love to help you write one! I get super busy and work on a bunch all at once, but I'll do anything I can =)