Title: We're Not Done
Author: roxminallo
Disclaimer: I claim no rights in regards to the characters that Disney and Square-Enix own.
Rating: NC-17 with strong language and triggers including but not limited to depression and anxiety.
Pairings: AkuRoku, SoRiku
Category: Alternate Universe, romance, humor, drama, and yaoi.
Date Begun: June 23rd, 2015
Date Edited/Posted: April 29th, 2016
*****Authors Note: To whoever wrote a review as 'Guest' that said this was one of their favorite stories and they were so happy I updated, you made me smile for the first time today. Thank you for that, so much. You really don't know how much I needed it. Also thank you for the new follows, to both Perfect For You and We're Not Done. Thank you for also following me. You guys make me really happy.
Chapter Seven: Operation: Bathroom Smut
"Can you believe they almost didn't let us in?" Kairi asked, sipping the now diluted ice coffee in front of her. "We got there right after he had his stomach pumped, and he was sleeping," she spoke, a slight strain to her voice. This week had taken a toll not only on her mentally, but physically as well. Sleep was an unknown factor to the usually fiery redhead, and with the added stress of dealing with Axel every night, and making sure Roxas passes English, she truly couldn't take it anymore.
"I just never thought he would try something so…."
"Drastic?" Tidus finished for Selphie, earning a slow nod from the bubbly brunette.
"Sora and Riku told me that it wasn't a suicide attempt," Demyx spoke softly, for once, trying to keep the conversation to the small table surrounding them. "They said Rox just wanted to get really drunk and forget, and that the mix of medicines just really messed him up. Riku said that the doctors were unsure if the dosage even would have killed him. Even if Sora didn't find him in the bathroom," he finished.
"If Roxas says it wasn't an attempt, then I believe him," Zexion spoke for the first time all day, downing the rest of his caramel macchiato.
"Suicide attempt, or not, we need to make sure nobody hears about this. Has anybody found out yet?" Demyx spoke, placing his hands on his forehead before sliding them through his dirty blonde hair.
"Not that I know of, and I'd like to keep it that way. He has enough shit on his plate to deal with, and knowing Ayumi, she'll make him go to school Monday," Kairi spoke, earning a muffled giggle from Selphie. She immediately piped down, noting the 'dead behind the eyes' expression that Kairi tossed her.
"This means, we have to just suck it up and deal with whatever he throws at us," Demyx sighed out.
"You're joking, right?" Tidus spoke, deadpan.
"No Tidus, I'm not joking. He's obviously crying out for help, but is too stubborn to admit it. We're his best friends, fuck the past and forget the shit he said to us. If Demyx and I can get over it, you certainly can," Kairi spoke sternly, burrowing a quarter-sized hole straight into Tidus's skull. She kept eye contact, waiting for a verbal agreement.
"Whatever." Tidus spoke. "I'll let you guys handle it."
"How is Ayumi handling it?" Selphie spoke, easing the tension between the two short-circuited friends. Kairi sighed, fiddling mindlessly with the empty coffee cup in front of her.
"How she always handles things," she spoke easily. "With humor, and manipulation. No matter how much she was hurting," she coughed lightly, "she still greeted us with a smile on her face. Her and Axel were talking almost all night."
"Do you think she's on Axel's side?" Tidus spoke, trying his hardest to clear his mind and stay serious.
"There are no sides. There's right and there's wrong," Kairi paused. "Axel didn't cheat on him. Fuck what Vanitas is saying, and fuck the people that believe him," Tidus cowered into his seat before sighing.
"I heard Vanitas talking to Xigbar and Larxene yesterday at the mall," Tidus said, feeling Kairi's expression shift from death, to curious.
"What were they talking about?"
"He was telling them about how he's sorry for not stopping Axel from coming onto him at Xiggy's party. And how sorry he was for hooking up in his bathroom."
"I want to kill him."
"Kairi, are you sure Axel didn't do anything?" Tidus asked carefully in order to keep the redhead calm.
"I'm positive Tidus," she spoke calmly, surprising the entire table. "I… I was unsure at first too. But if Axel is one thing, he's honest," she let go of the empty coffee cup, sighing gently. "You see the way he looks at Roxas… He wouldn't even think of cheating."
"So what do we do then?" Zexion spoke, rubbing his fingertip around the edge of the glass slowly.
"Roxas is too damaged right now to believe that there is good in anything. If he hears that Vanitas is still spreading these lies around, he'll go crazy. We have to prove nothing happened," Demyx spoke, taking a small sip from his water bottle. He wasn't allowed caffeine whenever him and Selphie were in the same room.
"Dem, they could solve the Davinci Code faster than we'd be able to convince Roxas," Tidus snorted. "Maybe we should shoot a little lower first…" He finished, wiping his mouth sloppily, the remnants from his hot chocolate disappearing.
"It would be a step up if we could even get Roxy to talk to Axel," Selphie said, half interrupted by the jarring sound of Kairi's ringtone. Kairi jumped slightly, quickly taking it out of her pocket to check the caller ID, when Ayumi's name blinked rapidly. She held her finger up, motioning to the group to hold on.
"Ayumi?" She asked, watching her friend's expressions. Ayumi almost never called any of them, but when she did, it was important.
"Hi sweetie, I'm going to bring Roxas over tonight to apologize to Axel," she spoke calmly, the soft sound of a television show playing in the background.
"How did you get him to agree to that?" Kairi smiled widely, swatting her hand in the direction of Demyx and Selphie who were trying to interject wildly.
"I don't understand how you all underestimate me. It hurts, truthfully," she spoke, dramatics dripping off of her every word.
"Ayumi, what if he doesn't want to see either of us? We didn't necessarily leave on good terms…"
"Sweetie, trust me. You just let me handle it."
"Seriously, how did you get him to agree to this?" Kairi questioned, still baffled by the mothers antics.
"I'll never tell. Spread the word. We're running out of time to fix this," she spoke smoothly. "Now get off of your phone, you're a product of your generation."
Kairi laughed fully, earning very confused expressions from the rest of her table. "You're unbelievable. Bye Ayumi," Kairi finished, hanging up her phone and placing it in her pocket.
"What was that about?" Demyx spoke, all eyes turning to Kairi impatiently.
"Ayumi has everything under control on her end," Kairi smiled. "Don't ask me how, because I actually don't think I want to know. But we have to get started," Kairi paused. "Selphie, it's your job to find a loophole in this shit storm that Vanitas is causing. I don't care what you have to do, just fucking-"
"Already on it," Selphie smiled, nudging Tidus. "Of course though, I need a dashing assistant," she giggled softly, wiggling her eyebrows at the party.
"Uh-uh, no. I'm not getting involved with this-"
"Fuck right you're not. You suck at interrogating. I just need something pretty to look at," Selphie swooned. "And I just really want to use walkie-talkies," Demyx laughed lightly.
"Zexion, I need you to-"
"Make sure Selphie and Tidus stay on track, and use whatever information they find intelligently so we actually get somewhere? Got it," he replied, earning two scoffs from the odd couple in the group.
"Dem, it's up to you and me at all costs to get them together. Talking is the first step, but everything after that relies on us," Kairi spoke, earning a curt nod from Demyx.
"Operation Bathroom Smut is a GO!" Selphie screamed, punching her fist into the air, earning her several glares from the rest of the coffee shop inhabitants.
"No. No- Fuck you, and fuck your code names," Kairi placed her hands on forehead, closing her eyes and shaking her head. A small round of laughter erupted from the round table.
This will work. This has to work.
"This is sick," Roxas spat, staring through the car window, eyes floating at the house at the end of the cul-de-sac. "Sick, and cruel."
"Roxas, you promised me," Ayumi spoke softly as she placed the car in park.
"I promised you that I would talk to him, not spend time with him. You used me when I was weak, and you're still taking advantage of me," he fought.
"First, I didn't use you when you were weak. You're always weak. Second, you're going to see Kairi and patch things up with her as well," she spoke, clearly lying out of her ass, but not bothering to hide it.
"Please, you know both of us are already over whatever happened."
"You're right," she let go of the steering wheel and turned her body towards her son. "I'll get you to realize that he didn't cheat on you if it's the last thing I do."
Roxas turned his head, mouth dropping slightly. How could his mother, of all people, turn against him?
"You believe him too? What the f-"
"You're the only one who doesn't," she reasoned. "Now get the hell out of my car," she spoke, a beautiful smile plastered across her face. Roxas stared straight into her eyes, knowing there was no victory in sight with this battle. He unbuckled his seat belt, and opened the car door.
The passenger side window began to roll down, with his mothers voice echoing out of the car. "I'll be back around nine to pick you up, don't think you can walk home I'm locking you out," she smiled, driving away leaving no room for escape. He turned around, staring at the house that should feel like home to him, before sighing and walking up to the front porch. Before he could even reach the porch, the door swung open to reveal a smiling redhead who looked all too eager to be seeing him.
"Roxas, come in," Kairi smiled, ushering him into the warmth of the hallway quickly. It was all too proper. Usually Roxas just opened the door and walked in. Usually, but not recently.
Kairi led him into the living room, and immediately began to help him take off his coat. "I'm tired, not paraplegic. I can do it," Roxas attempted a joke, eyeing his best friend suspiciously.
"R-Right, sorry! I'll be right back," Kairi scurried off to the kitchen. Sighing, Roxas tossed his coat on the couch, before sitting down and trying to relax. Kairi came out a minute later with two cans of Coca-Cola.
"Um… Could you get me water? I'm not supposed to have that for a little bit longer…" Roxas spoke calmly, actually feeling bad at how awkward she must feel.
"O-Oh, I'm sorry!" Kairi spoke, stuttering as she quickly ran into the kitchen, only to emerge seconds later with a bottle of water. She handed it to Roxas, and smiled lightly as she was greeted with a small 'thanks.'
She sat down at the other end of the couch and focused on her breathing. She didn't even know where to begin, but luckily Roxas helped her with that.
"I'm sorry."
"It's in the past," Kairi spoke immediately, a bright smile on her face that seemed to appear instantaneously.
"No… It's in the present, Kai. I can't believe what I've been doing to you guys," he paused. "I'm honestly surprised none of you hate me."
"We could never hate you Roxas," Kairi spoke smoothly. "Well, Tidus may still be mad, but he's-"
"He's a twat," they spoke at the same time. Laughing lightly, Kairi moved closer to her best friend and gently placed her arms around his neck.
"I'm so sorry Roxas," Kairi squeezed tightly. "I've never given up on you, but this week… Something in me just snapped. And, I promise it won't happen again," she smiled, releasing Roxas from his hug.
"Honestly, I would have done the same thing if I were in your shoes, Kai. You don't need to apologize," he smiled lightly, taking a thankful sip of water.
"Ugh, can we stop talking about this super sappy shit?" Kairi laughed, earning a unanimous nod from her best friend. "Let's talk about our English project," she smiled.
"Kairi, you're ruining the moment," Roxas said with a small laugh.
"No, seriously!" She laughed. "We were assigned Romeo and Juliet, and I think we should re-tell it like they did in West Side Story, but in a completely new way," she paused. "And by that I mean I already did the work, all you have to do is show up. I know you've been stressed, so I wanted to make sure-"
"Kai…"
"I'm sorry, I'll stop-"
"I love you," Roxas smiled, nodding lightly. "Thank you for doing all the work," he paused, earning a grateful smile from his best friend. "Now let's see what you did."
"Kairi, you said you needed me to come home, what's the emergency?" Axel sighed, walking into the entryway of the living room. "Roxas?" Axel spoke shortly. It was clear that he had no idea Roxas was supposed to be here, and by the mischievous smile that was plastered onto his best friends face, he knew that he had walked clear into a trap.
"Damn it, I forgot to call Selphie, she's going to kill me," Kairi spoke, tossing her notebook and pencil onto the coffee table in front of the couch.
"Kairi…" Roxas whispered, face flushing as he slowly stood up from the couch.
"Oh, it'll just take a minute. Stay here and read my notes, I'll be right back," she smiled, placing her hands delicately on Roxas's shoulders, pushing him lightly back to the couch. Roxas watched her walk through the swinging doors leading into the kitchen and sighed lightly. He focused on breathing, and immediately knew that Kairi had another ulterior motive, and he would bet that his mother had something to do with it.
"Hey you," Axel spoke smoothly, almost quiet, standing still in the threshold of the living room. There was an absence of anger within Roxas's core, what was there was filled with pure desire and need. He stared forward, eyes on the notebook that Kairi had quickly placed on the table before choreographically exiting the room.
"How are you feeling?" Axel smiled gently, kicking his shoes off and placing them neatly near the doorframe, never releasing eye contact from Roxas. Stealing glances, Roxas found himself slipping further into discomfort.
"I'm fine," he replied shortly.
"Fine isn't good enough. Can I get you anything? I know you have to be easy on your stomach, I can make you soup if you're hungry? Or do you need more water?" Axel began quickly taking his coat off, abandoning his backpack in order to completely drop everything to help Roxas.
"No, I'm fine," Roxas spoke quickly, but not sternly. He let his eyes rise to meet Axel's, who immediately stood still, and placed a small smile on his face.
"Well… Just don't hesitate to ask. Whatever you need, I can get it for-"
"I'm sorry."
"What's happening?" Selphie screamed into the phone, impatiently awaiting Kairi's answer. Kairi pressed herself against the door that separated the living room and the kitchen, trying to make as little noise as possible so that she could listen in on the others conversation. She moved to the opposite side of the kitchen before speaking.
"Kairi!"
"Shut the fuck up," Kairi whispered. "They're talking right now."
"What are they saying?" Selphie pressed. "Kairi!"
"I'm not going to listen in on them. Axel will tell me everything later," she sighed, knowing she would be getting a solid earful from both Selphie, and Roxas. "My job is done for now."
"How can so much evil, be packed into such a small frame?" Selphie spoke, the smile evident in her tone.
"Can it Nancy Drew," Kairi spoke quickly. "What have you found?" She asked, earning a small scoff on the other end of the phone.
"Nothing! Can you believe it? His record is actually clean. He's never even had detention," she scoffed.
"So he's just a normal asshole?"
"It would appear so, Master," Selphie spoke sagely.
"No…" Kairi paused. "No there has to be something we can use," Kairi paced the kitchen, the cold tile chilling the bottom of her feet.
"I'll keep looking Kai, but I don't know-"
"Who is he friends with?"
"Well, he used to date Ventus. They're civil now, but I don't know how much I'll be able to get out of him. But then there's Xigbar, and Aqua. I don't know why Aqua is friends with him, because she's actually harmless, and kind at times," Selphie reasoned. "Oh! And he's basically bff's with that twatress Larxene. I won't even try to get information out of her," Selphie choked.
"That bitch…" Kairi whispered, craning her neck towards the door to listen briefly.
"I'll fill Zexy in and see if he's found anything. But maybe I can try to get something out of Ventus… That's our best bet now. I'm sure he still has hard feelings about the breakup," Selphie spoke.
"Just try to be as cool, and nice, as possible," Kairi cooed.
"Kairi, do you know who you're talking to?" Selphie spoke, mock offended.
"Yeah. That's why I fucking said it."
"You have… Nothing to apologize for Roxas," Axel spoke, trying to keep his body in place instead of moving closer to Roxas.
"Do you hear yourself Axel?" Roxas spat, finally raising his head high enough to maintain a solid eye contact. "I hit you. And you're telling me I have nothing to apologize for?"
"I cornered you at school Roxas," Axel sighed. "Yeah, I was surprised and hurt at first, but looking back on it, I was pushing you too hard."
"You weren't pushing hard, Axel. I just… I just needed time to adjust," Roxas spoke softly, allowing his body to relax. He swallowed hard, cringing lightly from the light soreness that still plagued his throat.
Axel slowly moved over to the couch, allowing himself to finally sit on the opposite end. He desperately wanted to move closer, but he didn't dare test his luck.
"Adjust…?" Axel questioned, unsure of what exactly Roxas was referring to.
"Um… To um, everything?" He paused. "Us, not being together…" Roxas stuttered, eyes shifting to his hands that were fumbling together in distracting movements. Axel sighed, and moved a little bit closer towards the middle of the couch and smiled lightly.
"I just want everything back to normal, Rox. I miss you," Axel smiled, looking down at Roxas's hands. "I miss us."
"Axel…" Roxas warned. "I'm sorry for what I did, but… That doesn't mean I forgive you."
"We have almost two weeks till Winter Formal. Do you think that we'll have enough time?" Kairi asked, not entirely sure if they'd be able to get enough information to even try to solve this mess.
"I'm not dedicating any time to finals, so yes. Plenty," Selphie spoke, reassuringly. Kairi laughed lightly, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear.
"You're the best, Selph," Kairi smiled, walking closer to the living room entrance.
"I know," Selphie cackled, and hung up the phone abruptly. Kairi shook her head, and placed her phone on the kitchen counter, allowing the smile on her face to follow her back into the living room.
"Roxas, why won't you just listen to me?" Axel choked, visibly holding back tears. Kairi stared across the living room towards the front hallway, watching Roxas slip his shoes and coat back on.
"I came here to apologize to the two of you. I didn't come here to mend our relationship Axel," Roxas said quickly. "I need to move on, and so do you. It's hurting both of us, and I'm sorry Axel, but it's toxic," he spoke, seeming unsure of the words that came out of his mouth.
"Roxas please don't leave. Let's all sit down and talk about this," Kairi offered, stepping further into the living room.
"Kai, I'm sorry, but we can talk over the phone about this project, and we'll be fine. I have your notebook in my backpack; I'll go over it tonight. I'm sorry, but I have to go," he spoke quickly, opening the front door allowing the cold air to beat him across the face. He began the short walk back to his house, hoping and praying that his bedroom door window was still unlocked.
Once again, thank you guys so much for following, and reviewing. It means the world to me, and it makes me just want to write more for you. Again, review, review, review. Even if you hated it, let me know what to do. From here on out, the story is really going to pick up, and I am happy to say that it is going to be fourteen chapters, with an epilogue. Halfway posted!
Thanks again guys,
Rox.