I don't know why but I had practically run all the way to the school, my boots falling against the sidewalk in fast steps. Out of breath and on fire, I sat down on the front steps of the main building, waiting. Waiting. Waiting. It felt like forever until I saw Axel in a sweater coming up to the building. Panic. I felt panic. I frantically made sure my hair was alright and my face wasn't too red before he stopped in front of me. Looking at him made my heart stop, and I couldn't look away, not if he was willing to talk to me. I felt like my whole world had suddenly changed, because he was finally looking at me and talking to me again!

"Hey," was all he said at first before I watched his weight shift to one leg, his eyes looking off before looking back to mine. I nodded a little, but didn't dare speak, just in case the redhead wanted to say anything. "I uh…" He what? I watched him step in closer, and it was… hard to explain the pounding in my chest. He made me so nervous and I wasn't really sure why. We had been friends before, even a little more than that at one point, so why? Why did my heart seize?

"What?" I asked, looking up at him before he sat down beside me, his proximity making my palms sweat. Wiping them on my pants, I looked away, my blood pumping like no other. I didn't know what he was going to say, and I had no idea what I was going to say to it. Was he officially telling me to scram? No. He'd already done that, right? So what was left? Was he going to break me into little shards, stomp me out like a bug? I hoped not.

The silence hung for a moment before Axel suddenly blurted out what he'd been holding back… probably. "I really like you… and I know that probably seems a little weird after all of this. But I didn't want it to end then, that was you, and I just couldn't take you leaving me high and dry."

As much as I wanted to interject and tell him how wrong he was, I held that all inside and just nodded. It was my fault for not talking to him and getting angry with him. What had it really mattered anyway? I wanted to be with Axel, and he wanted to be with me too. So why?

"Right. I'm sorry for that…" I licked my lips before looking to him again, his red hair calling my gaze. "And I know. I like you a lot too-"

"So then why did you get so- so crazy when I told you we did it?!"

"You act like I should have just gone with it. We were drinking that night, and do you know how uncomfortable that made me? You have no idea, do you?" I hissed right on back. We both held glares toward one another until he broke the silence and growled.

"Why then? Huh? Why did it make you uncomfortable?"

"My dad was a worthless piece of shit who drank until he could hardly stand. He used to beat the shit out of me, alright? My brother and I used to go to school with bruises until I decided to move out and live on my own." I never thought that I would have said that out loud, not to anyone. My eyes widened before I looked over to him, his eyes wide too. Was he really that surprised? We shared a minute in silence once again, my breath gone from my lungs. Why had I said that? Why?

I took that minute of silence to get up and shake my head. "I'm going home." I started walking down the stairs, but I felt something warm grab against my upper arm. What the hell? Getting spun around, I saw Axel stepping close to me. We were just off the steps, and I was shocked out of myself when I felt those lips on mine again. They were just as soft as I remembered them being. He felt so warm against me.

I could feel his hands snake around my waist, keeping me tucked in close. When I pulled away to just look at him, he offered a sad smile, his eyes staring back into mine.

"I didn't know that," he said softly, letting me go to hold my hand. You weren't supposed to. I looked up at him before shrugging a bit. I could remember the way that Axel's father had been, and I knew that he was pretty much in the same boat. What I didn't know was if Axel's dad hit him too, or if it was all verbal abuse. The warm breeze felt nice as it tumbled through my hair, playing with my hair as if it were dating me. We stood there for a long while before the redhead started pulling me down the street toward his house. I stumbled up his front steps, his long legs covering more ground than my own short ones.

Falling into his room, he managed to get me against the back of his door, those lips on mine once again. He felt so soft and smooth, my mind unable to stop doing flips. The butterflies in my stomach were running rampant, making my heart flutter. His hair was quickly wrapped around my fingers, my hands pressing into it. Goodness… I felt as if I couldn't breathe, and in that moment, I couldn't think about anything else. Those warm hands were pressed against my chest, his fingers branching out.

We stumbled forward toward his bed, my body falling under his against the sheets. I could feel his warmth as he pulled away to kiss trails down my neck. His fingers were pressing under my shirt, and it took everything I had not to make noises. Those slim fingers were working their way up my chest, pressing my shirt up.

"Roxas," he whispered, leaning down to kiss against my stomach. The action only made the butterflies worse! His voice was so smooth against my eardrums, my eyes peeling open to look down at the head of red against my torso.

"What?"

"Nothing." I felt his hand sneaking down, his fingers pressing between my legs and against my groin. I let out a soft sound before biting my lip and sinking my fingers into his hair once again. It wasn't long before he was making me moan, my body trembling. "Mnh… Roxas."