Axel leaned back against the wall behind him as he watched Roxas completely glomp this new man. Roxas wrapped his arms around the man's neck and had to stand on the bottom stair to reach his tall figure. The taller blond seemed to be taken aback slightly but eventually hugged the boy back. Suddenly, Axel felt a little cold, left out. If this was the brother that Roxas spoke so fondly of, then did he need Axel to fall back on anymore? Maybe."I-I waited so long to s-see you!" Roxas gripped Cloud's long, black figure so tight his knuckles went white. He pulled away from his big brother and look at him with watery eyes. Cloud just smiled and pulled Roxas back into the hug, speaking in a calm, quiet voice."I'll explain later… I'm so sorry." Roxas thought about these words. After a while, he nuzzled Cloud's chest and closed his eyes. --"We should go, Roxas. This smell might start to get to you."Roxas opened his eyes, waking up. He had fallen asleep in Cloud's arms and was now led across the large couch in the living room of Dad's house. The voice sounded familiar. It was Axel, who was leaning over the boy and gently nudging his arm. Roxas sat up and rubbed his eyes, looking around, slight panic in his voice."W-where's Cloud…?" Axel blinked and then gave a reassuring smile. "He's in the kitchen, cleaning up all the crap in this house. I just came to wake you up, sleepy head." The tattooed boy placed a warm hand on Roxas' cheek. The blond smiled against it and swiveled around to get up off of the couch. Axel held out his arms as if he was going to hug Roxas. Roxas stood up and brushed himself off, ignoring Axel with his arms outstretched. After sorting himself out, Roxas quickly walked out of the room, straight past the redhead, as if he wasn't ?Axel stood stunned and lowered his arms, listening to Roxas call out for Cloud in the hallway. Everything seemed to slow down as he recalled Roxas' eyes. Roxas was looking straight through Axel. He wasn't even there. He just wanted Cloud. Did he even need Axel now? "Cloud?" Roxas wandered around the corridor, into the kitchen where Cloud had a plastic bags full of empty cans from the floor of the kitchen. The blond man looked up to his little brother in the doorway and smiled. "Hey, I see you're awake.""Uh huh… What are you doing?""Cleaning up… I can't believe you let the place get like this, Rox. There's dust and crap everywhere!" Cloud shook his head in disappointment and continued picking up the cans and broken pieces of glass."Well um… actually… I haven't been living here with Dad… I've been living with…-""Me." Axel stood in the hallway, behind Roxas by about a meter. Cloud looked up at him and raised an eyebrow."And that bastard let you?"Axel frowned. Who the hell is he calling a bastard? I've just met this guy!"Um… no… not really. Dad didn't." Axel breathed a sigh of relief when Roxas said this. I thought Cloud meant rubbed his arm nervously and avoided Cloud's eyes."With Axel? Where is HE then?" Roxas knew that Cloud meant Dad and just bit his lip. Cloud didn't know about what Dad did or where he was. He didn't know anything about what had happened to Roxas since he had disappeared all those years ago. "I- um… he's" The blue-eyed blond knew he would HAVE to tell Cloud some time, if it was his dad, too. Of course he would find out soon enough."He's not here. He's not coming back either." Axel placed a hand on Roxas' shoulder and stood by his side, rather than behind him. The redhead's emerald eyes were fixed on the slightly older man in front of them both. As he spoke, Roxas blinked and looked up to him, a small smile appearing on his face. "Y-yeah.""Not here, I guessed that. Just where is he?" Cloud was starting to grow impatient, even Axel could see that. After a short pause, the tattooed boy spoke. Roxas saw that he was going to have to admit what had happened and just hope for the best- that Cloud didn't see him as had always been a challenge to get through to, even as a child. He knew what he wanted but was in no way spoiled. He just wanted what was best for himself and his little brother. When he was ten year old boy, Roxas was barely old enough to walk and so Cloud had taken it upon himself to take him away from the house whenever a fight started or Dad would smash something up- plates, a door, Mom's face. He would carry Roxas around town and try to block out the noises of screaming and crying of his own head, then attend to the crying Roxas who didn't know what was going on. Sometimes the would have to stay out all night, and come back in the morning to see if Mom was okay, or still Roxas was finally able to figure out what was going on, he left the house when he was told to and did so without a word. He would follow Cloud everywhere, like a little lost puppy. Even when Cloud wanted some time alone in his room, he would let Roxas sit beside him and fall asleep right there, against Cloud's warmth. Any of Mom's older friends would say that Cloud took better care of Roxas than anyone else did, or could. Mom would just change the subject and pat Cloud's head as way to say, 'Thanks for trying.' Then look away. This bond was broken the day Mom died. Roxas found out that night that Cloud had left the house, his bags and half of the contents of the fridge taken too. While Mom was alive, Dad had never tried anything on Roxas, or Cloud for that matter. But Roxas being alone in the house with him just gave him good reason to target him. After Dad's first attack, Roxas lost the shine in his eyes and acted strangely, like a split personality. He spent most of his day either in the living room or up in his own room, trying to find a source of that warmth he felt while sitting next to his big brother. But he couldn't find it. Cloud had only visited the house once, and that was for only a week. The two were together again but Cloud knew that he had to leave. He had joined a group; they had found him wandering the streets alone and took him in. There were only a few, none as young as he was at the time but none were fully grown, apart from one- Xemnas, his name was. Cloud stayed at the house for as long as he could without getting attacked or yelled at by Dad. When he saw what his younger sibling had been put through, Cloud was disgusted and took it upon himself to make sure Roxas hadn't been attacked while HE was there. There was one incident, the first, where Dad had pinned Roxas down to the floor and had undressed him. Cloud had just gotten home from school and heard Roxas screaming through the walls of the living room. When Cloud opened the door to see Roxas underneath his Dad like that, the older boy raged and managed somehow to get Roxas dressed before any real damage could be done. But then Dad started drinking, and another side was revealed. When Cloud found him raping Roxas, he would merely hit the older blond, and continue. Cloud had had enough, he left the house after vowing to Roxas that night that he would come back for him, and take him away as soon as he was old enough.I'll come back for you, and when I do, we can go anywhere you like… but you have to wait… remember that thing I taught you? If you keep saying that every night, I'll come back. Just you .From then on, Roxas waited every day and every night for his big brother to come back for him. Days passed to weeks, to months, then to years. Roxas was a young teenager now, and maybe it was too late for Cloud to make everything better."Roxas?"Roxas snapped out of his thinking, he had been standing there for… he didn't know how long. Cloud stayed in font of him and raised an eyebrow as if to say, 'I'm waiting'. Axel rubbed his thumb along Roxas' neck to reassure him that as long as he was there, it would be OK. "Huh? Oh… right... um.""You were saying where Dad is.""Y-yeah… he's not coming back… hopefully he's going to prison…" Roxas rubbed his arm once more and waited for Cloud to get angry. The club- or cult, whatever it was- had hardened Cloud. Roxas could see that this was a whole new man, not the child he saw in him all those years ago. The thought frightened Roxas that his big brother had changed, that maybe he wouldn't care for Roxas as much as he used to."Prison? For what he used to do?"Axel raised an he USED to do?"What do you mean, used to? That fucker never stopped! I personally-""Axel." Roxas placed a hand on Axel's chest, almost to hold him back. Axel could feel his whole body heating up, a fiery rage burning inside him. Roxas looked back at Cloud and sighed."Axel's right, he never stopped. After you left he just…-"The blond looked away and squeezed his eyes shut. Cloud blinked and took a step forward, towards the smallest boy. "H-he never…""It's alright, calm down. I understand, Roxas." Two long arms wrapped around the boy and a familiar warmth engulfed him. Roxas hugged the chest connected to the arms and expected it to be Cloud. It was Axel. The redhead was bent down in front of Cloud, hugging his little brother. Cloud raised an eyebrow and took another step seem a little… friendly?"Um… Axel, was it? Do you mind if my brother and I had a little chat?""Uh, yeah.""…Alone."Axel got the picture. With a reassuring squeeze of Roxas, he let go and walked to the front door."Since, we're going in a minute, I'll wait outside. It's warm anyway." Axel shrugged and opened the door. Roxas watched and wiped away his tears with the back of his hand, just waiting for Cloud's response. With Axel gone, he got it."Why didn't you tell me what was going on here?""With Axel?""No, with Dad!""…I-I-""I told you to get help from someone, if he ever started on you again.""C-Cloud, I didn't know where you were, I-""I'm not the only one in your life, you could have called the police!""A friend did… that's why he is where he is now.""And that Axel guy? He looks pretty street-smart, I bet he's taking advantage of you, right?""W- No!""Not been messing around with you? C'mon Roxas, nobody takes care of a distraught little boy, probably half his age, for nothing! A man has his needs too!"Roxas frowned as more and more tears fell from his blue orbs. At the last comment, the boy clenched his fists and yelled as loudly as his sore throat would let him."Axel is NOT a bad person! If it wasn't for him, Dad would be doing…all of those things he used to! It's all because of Axel I'm alive right now!" With that, Roxas marched across the hall and pulled on the already-broken handle of the front door. After stepping out of the house, he slammed it shut behind him, collapsing into tears on the door step. The blond leaned against the side of the house with his hands covering his eyes. Sobs could be heard from next door. Axel came from the front of the yard, running. Again, he wrapped his arms around Roxas and rested his head on those blond spikes, telling him it would be okay. "W-why the hell d-does he have t-to be such a j-jerk?""I… don't know.""H-he tried to tell m-me you were a bad p-person… I know f-for a fact y-you're not!"Axel paused at this and frowned slightly, but continued to gently rub Roxas' cheek and wipe away his tears. He had to think about what to say before he spoke again."N-no… I'm glad you think I'm not… listen, there's something I need to tell you, Roxas… I-"Axel was interrupted by the front door to the house opening and Cloud walking out, a sorry look on his face, though he was obviously still angry."Roxas, we need to talk. I don't think either myself… or Axel can keep this from you anymore."Axel frowned and turned his attention from the blond boy still clinging to his chest. Roxas had now stepped away slightly and looked at Axel, then Cloud before turning back to Axel."…Y-You wanna tell me something? What is it, Axel?" Roxas said this with an innocent voice, as if nothing could be more important than this. For all Axel knew, there might not be. He stayed silent, just frowning, angry at Cloud for blurting this out. Axel knew what Cloud had done, the organization he had joined. Together with the black clothes, it was pretty obvious…it was Organization 13. Axel had a history with these people. If Cloud had joined, that meant he was one of them now, so Axel had had mixed feelings about him from the start. But the fact was, Cloud had known that both he and Axel needed to tell Roxas something important. The redhead would have preferred to do this alone with Roxas, back at home. But no, that obviously couldn't work now with Cloud here to ruin it all. "But we shouldn't do it here. You said you were going back to your new house anyway? I should come… then we can talk." Cloud spoke in a matter-of-fact tone and raised an eyebrow when Axel answered with a scoff. This may had been the first time they met, but Axel had no intention of hiding the fact that he was disappointed in Cloud. He turned away from both blonds and spoke in an angry, quiet voice."Yeah sure… let's get away from this dump."Roxas blinked and followed Axel with his eyes as he walked away from the house on his own, hands in pockets. His cheery, happy self from just around an hour ago had disappeared and Roxas didn't feel very happy now either, quite clearly. Cloud was also looking slightly agitated, like he knew what he was going to do was wrong but still needed to do it… whatever it was. Roxas wanted to know why Cloud had changed so much and what he and Axel both needed to say. Also, why Axel was acting so strange- had Roxas done something wrong? His big brother seemed anxious to tell him whatever it was and Axel looked like he wanted to forget what was it?