Over the next three hours, Axel sat with me, getting wet washrags, water… Anything that I needed. I felt special, but only a little. I really just needed his help with getting me better, I felt sick out of my wits, and I'm pretty sure that I told Axel that I loved him more than once. When I came back to school, no one said anything about me being gone, except for Axel. I couldn't have asked for me. Over the next week, the two of us were sitting together for half the lunch period, before his friends would walk by and he would excuse himself. I had to admit… I was pretty curious about them, but I never asked. I didn't want to lose Axel as a friend, because he was the only one that I had.

During week two of my return, we had received our grade reports. Even though I wasn't impressed, Axel was. I had straight A's, though I tried to explain that I wouldn't have accepted anything else. He had two C's, and a mix of B's and A's. He seemed pretty smart, but he was really bad at Literature and History, said it was because they were "boring." It was hard to believe that, mostly because he really liked reading in his free time. This had to be the worst. He was such a weirdo sometimes!

I had agreed to tutor him, though it was rather hard to explain what the War of 1812 was. Axel was such an airhead. When his grades came up, his mom had invited me over to dinner, and I tried my best to decline politely, but she insisted, and I just couldn't say no to her.

And that very Wednesday, I was trying my best to fix the mess of hair that I had, was trying to fix my shirt, which I had buttoned wrong. After about three attempts, I gave up and pulled on a polo, a dark blue one, because my Uncle always told me that I looked good in it, said it made my eyes pop.

I felt like I had been staring at my reflection for hours before Axel honked the horn of his mother's minivan. The fact that he drove it with pride made me roll my eyes every time that I found him in the driver's seat. It was always really funny to me. His head almost touched the ceiling. I checked my belt one last time before looking down and checking the rest of my outfit. I sort of nodded before skipping out the door with my house keys and cell phone. I hesitated at the car door.

Was this my first time driving with Axel? I shook it away and opened the door, slowly sliding into the seat, shutting the door and buckling up.

"Hey, Roxas! How's it going? I like your shirt. My mom will love it," Axel blabbered, making me roll my eyes again. Seriously- a weirdo.

"Thanks… and it's going, I guess." My palms felt wet, and I couldn't stop myself from wiping them on my jeans, making sure they wouldn't be too slippery with sweat. How gross!

"You nervous? You shouldn't be. My mom is pretty great. She's really nice. I would be more concerned with my little sister. She's going to want to put bows in your hair, trust me." Axel let out a laugh, and it sort of helped me calm down, except for the fact that my face was burning red and hot. It was pretty gross, and I was just hoping that Axel was right in saying that I didn't need to be nervous.

The ride there was boring and eventless, but I liked being in the car with Axel, his eyes sometimes finding my own and making me look away quickly with nervousness. How could he be so calm? I mean- It WAS Axel's mom, but what were they going to say as they all sat sipping water at dinner?

"Whatever." I didn't want to admit that I was nervous, not in the least, but I could tell that he already knew, because there was that annoying little smirk on his lips, as if he could just laugh about it all day. It was so weird. Sometimes I hated that smile, and sometimes… I just wanted to kiss those lips like there was no tomorrow. I would never tell him that. Never.

His house seemed normal enough, a little white fence with green grass settled in its borders. I sort of smiled at the idea of living in a house for a long time, but I shook the idea and got out once Axel parked the van in front of the house. I nearly fell out of the car, but I managed to get my feet beneath myself. I was starting to realize how nervous I really was. I checked myself one last time in the reflection of the side mirror before joining Axel to walk up the front steps. How bad could this really be? There were two girls… and maybe his dad?

Once the door was open, Axel's mom was there, wrapping arms around her son and then around me, and I swear! She could hug hard. I couldn't breathe! Finding my strength, I managed to hug her for a moment, but I felt myself go rigid. And it was a moment later that she was letting go and stepping back. She smiled and escorted the two of us to the living room. It still seemed pretty normal. Axel's pictures through the years lined one wall, and his sister's lined another. There were family pictures of people that I didn't know, and people that I did know.

"So, Roxas, how are you?" Miranda, Axel's blonde mother, asked as she sat across from me. I swallowed hard and the first time I tried to talk, all that came out was a breath of air. I felt my face go hot before I tried again, hands rubbing together nervously.

"I'm alright. And how are you? Your house smells amazing," I tried with a smile… before realizing how creepy that must have sounded. I wished that I could start over, but it was too late now. She just smiled and continued on, as if nothing weird at al had happened.

"Mm, it does. It's probably the ham. You're not a vegetarian, are you?" she asked softly. I shook my head before laughing a bit. There was no way that I was.

"Nope. I would be if bacon didn't taste so good," I joked, and I felt as if a weight had been lifted off my shoulders when she laughed along with Axel and me, who had joined us just moments before.

"Alright, boys. I have to go check on dinner, so now you have some free time. It'll be ready soon. I don't want to starve you." She walked out then, tying the back of her apron as she entered the kitchen. I swallowed and turned to Axel, wondering if he could hear my heart beating so wildly in my chest. He smiled, and that brought me back down to the earth that I was supposedly sitting on.

"That was great. I'm sure she really likes you. Come on. Want to go to my room?" He got up then, offering me his hand, as if! I got up on my own and turned to him. I watched as his hand fell to his side, and he sort of started toward a hallway. I peered down it for a moment before walking behind him. We came to a wooden door and he slowly nudged it open, and I couldn't help but notice the way that the metal pieces squeaked. Strange- it made me cringe.

I shook the thoughts I was having away and looked around the room that I was now standing in. There was a bunk bed, a poster, and a family portrait. The only other thing that I could find was an art book, sitting on top of a blank desk. I felt myself suck on my teeth, and I twisted my jaw to stop myself. There were dumb nervous ticks that I had that I didn't want to address. The only one that I had ever stopped was biting my nails. I felt eyes on me, and I couldn't stop from looking.

Those green eyes were going to be the death of me, I knew it. Axel stared back at me before I looked away, unable to accept the fact that he was interested in me at all. I heard that little chuckle that I had grown so accustomed to before I heard him speak.

"I have a computer chair, a beanbag chair, or the bed… Choose one." I felt awkward. I couldn't sit on the bed, right? That would be weird. Axel had never even been in my room before. I moved slowly to the beanbag chair and sank down into it, looking around before meeting eyes with Axel.

"Well… now what?" I asked, cocking a brow.

"Can I ask a favor of you?"

"What?"