The next day, Roxas didn't go to school, he missed the day. Axel sat in his class, not listening to the teacher just wandering why his little Roxas hadn't come to see him at lunch time or before school even started for that matter. The young blond had always come to school that little bit earlier one to get away from his dad and the other reason…well…you can guess that can't you?

Axel licked his lips and turned his head to face the clock in his classroom, three more minutes until the end of school.

Maybe he just couldn't find me? What did his dad do to him? Why did I let him get away when I knew his dad would…Roxas…

"I miss him already. That little tyke really gets to me…I feel so-" He was interrupted by the school bell ringing. He bolted upright and ran out of the classroom.

Axel waited for Roxas to come and walk with him for fifteen minutes before finally coming to terms with that fact that something was wrong. When he got home he sat on his couch and waited more. Even a knock at the door would put him out of his misery.

"I don't want to go to his house…What if his dad answers the door?

--

Roxas was at home, on his bed. Tears run down his puffy red eyes. So much crying in one day couldn't be healthy. He was sat with his back against the wall, hugging his knees and his head bowed. Teeth marks across his neck and lips, red marks around his waist, neck and arms. There was a bruise on his left cheek and right shoulder. His wrist bandage had been ripped off. He was wearing the same clothes he had on all day, a blacktop and baggy jeans with an open jacket on with a hood. He squeezed his knees tighter and put his hood over his head.

Axel…

Suddenly, footsteps came closer and closer, up the stairs. It was his Father, Roxas looked up and panicked, pulling the bed cover over him and lying down to try and act asleep. Roxas could feel his heart raging against his chest, like a wild animal trying to get out of a cage. As Dad came into the room, Roxas didn't know whether to act asleep or awake. The covers were pulled off of him and thrown off of the bed. Roxas kept his eyes closed tightly, even when he could hear his zipper being pulled down. Small beads of sweat dripped all over Roxas' body as he clenched his fists and started trembling.

"Wake up boy." Dad grabbed Roxas by the back of the hood and pulled him up, almost choking him with his jacket. Roxas closed his eyes tightly and got up to his knees, with one hand on the bed and the other on his neck. He turned his head to look at his dad with tears still in his eyes.

"It's time again. I said I'd let you have a rest but your time is up." Dad moved closer and put his hand on the boy's chest, pushing him back against the wall.

"Dad…please don't." Roxas closed his eyes tighter and braced himself for a blow. And he got one. A blow to the stomach, but not with a hard object like a fist or something. This was sharp, almost like a knife. The pain surged through Roxas' body, making his vision blurry. He could barely see and the pain was almost unbearable.

"Dad…I can't breathe." Like he said, he was becoming short of air, finding it hard to find any.

Roxas managed to slide off of the bed and stand before his father. His knees slightly bent, unable to stand straight.

"I think I'm…-" He was interrupted by his Dad grabbing two hand full's of Roxas' jacket and pulling him towards himself. Their lips met, but there was almost no kissing, just dad pushing his thick, slimy tongue into Roxas' mouth. It wasn't like with Axel, there was no feeling. Roxas stood, almost not seeing what was going on. Just struggling to breath. He had to push himself away and take three steps back, stepping on a pen on the floor and flinching.

"What are you doing?!" Dad seemed as if he was willing to kill in his deadly voice.

There was a pause, a long one, several tears dropped to the floor as Roxas realized what he was doing. A small drop of blood fell to the floor. Roxas looked at his stomach, bowed his head then raised it. His face was angry and frowning, tears streaming from both eyes, down both sides of his face, blood dripping from the place where he had been stabbed with the sharp object. He still didn't know what it was…just that it hurt unbearably.

"I don't want to do this anymore!" Roxas took a step back, without taking his eyes off his dad.

--

Axel's house was filled with a eerie silence. He was upstairs, in his bed, sleeping. It was raining hard outside and the sidewalk was slippery. The grey clouds were joined together to make it look like one, huge thick cloud. The rain hammered down. There was a knock at the door, a faint one which woke Axel up anyway. He put on a robe and headed downstairs to the door. He sighed and opened it.

Nothing could prepare me for what I saw…he looked dead.

Axel's eyes widened as he saw the hooded young teen on his front doorstep. His hood covering his eyes and face in shadow. The once baggy jacket just clinging to his slender body. His baggy jeans, torn at the knees and at the bottom. A huge blood patch where the boy had been stabbed in the stomach. His head was bowed, his body was bent. A small puddle of blood had formed by his feet. Axel took a step back and gasped. Roxas lifted his head to show that the plaster had fallen from his face, so may tears were falling from his sad, sapphire eyes. A new cut was on his left cheek and another on his chin. A bite mark on his lips and a red mark spreading from his jaw to his chest. The boy was falling apart, even Axel could see that.

"Roxas." Axel spoke this but Roxas could not hear it. Everything had gone black before, he felt his legs collapse underneath him. He fell forward, into Axel's long arms.

"I-I have to op-open up…-" The blonde just managed to speak these words before falling unconscious.

"Roxas! Wake up! Speak to me. What happened?! Roxas!" Axel shook his motionless body but got no answer.

And I thought he was.