Roxas woke up, pulse thumping aggressively in his head, a feeling and taste in his mouth like something had crawled in there overnight and died. He groaned and felt the bed beside him shift. It caused a sick twist in his stomach and an acidic rolling sensation. "Axe, I'm going to puke," he announced.

He felt a soft hand on his forehead. Two small and cold to belong to Axel. He cracked one eye open, though the light stabbed him directly through the skull, and saw Naminé leaning over him looking concerned.

He roughly jerked away from her, tumbled out of the bed and rushed to the nearest bathroom.

At least he was dressed, he thought, resting his head on cool porcelain ten minutes later. Kairi would rip his dick off he thought he'd had a casual fuck with her precious little sister.

The door cracked open and Naminé stepped in. She was carrying a bottle of water and some toast. "How are you feeling?" She asked in a soft, concerned voice.

"Like hell," he grumbled. He took the water, but ignored the dry plate of toast. "What happened last night?" He groaned, rubbing his stomach as it twisted from the water. "I don't remember."

She gave him a beaming smile. "After we had cake, we all sat around the bonfire. You and me had a really long, all-night conversation. Then when the sun rose, we came up here and fell asleep."

Oh man. Kairi was probably gloating somewhere in the house.

"What time is it?" He asked, instead any of the other fifty questions floating through his head.

"Just after one," she explained. "Drink your water."

After his stomach stopped protesting, and Sora had stuck his head in to tell Naminé to give him an Advil, he headed back downstairs. He was disconcerted to find she was insisting on holding his hand the whole way. Like they were a couple already.

They got to the kitchen, and Roxas's eyes were immediately drawn to Axel. The redhead was dressed comfortably for the day, in another black sweater and a pair of loose sweatpants - he raised his eyebrows pointedly at their clasped hands, but said nothing. The others were sitting around the kitchen island, looking almost as bad as Roxas felt.

There was an almost universal groan of relief as Axel put a large platter of bacon and eggs and hashbrowns down on the countertop. Roxas felt queasy just at the sight of it, but Sora patted his shoulder. "Trust us. You'll want to eat."

Funnily enough, he did after the food had settled comfortably in his stomach. Naminé finally let him go - only after Kairi dragged her with the others to go clean up the house.

Roxas came up behind Axel, who was making coffee. "Hey. You're not mad at me, are you?"

The answer was obviously yes, because Axel continued mixing his drink instead of turning to hug him close. "Why would I be mad at you, Roxas?"

"For drinking last night?" He hinted, looking up at him and getting a faceful of red hair. Already straightened and gelled into place. How long had Axel been awake for already?

"Oh, that." A shoulder rose up and dropped back down. "I mean, I'm not happy about it," he conceded, "but you weren't driving, and it was your eighteenth birthday. No, I'm not mad at you."

Roxas wrinkled his nose slightly. "I was probably super drunk, sorry." He stole the coffee from Axel and took a grateful gulp. "I don't remember what happened last night? Did I… flirt with Naminé?"

The pale jawline clenched, green eyes narrowing as he stole the coffee back without his usual playfulness. "Yeah. It was almost embarrassing the way she was throwing her little heart at you. Thought you weren't interested in her?"

He gave a little shrug. "I don't know. She's kinda cute."

Axel just scoffed and downed the rest of his coffee. "You really don't remember anything about last night?" He asked. There was something intense, expectant in his eyes.

"Uh…" He tried to remember, he really did. "I remember daring Hayner to do a strip tease over Truth or Dare or Shot?" He ventured.

Axel just gave a long tired sigh. "Right." He reached up, rubbing a hand through the hair at the back of his head, avoiding his eyes. "Anyway. You want your birthday present yet?"

Roxas perked up eagerly. "You got me a present?"

"Two, actually," Axel said, shrugging and going to the living room. He unlocked the safe on the desk and handed him a box. "One for now, one for a couple months away."

Curious, Roxas tugged the ribbon off and lifted the lid on its stiff hinges. There was a watch nestled into a white cushion, made of black metal and a fake-leather strap. Then tucked in the lid were two tickets. Concert tickets. "Watery Illusion at the Olympus Coliseum?" He gaped, his jaw dropping. "Axe, this concert's been sold out for months."

The redhead shrugged. "I called in a favour."

Roxas squinted at him. He never knew anything about his best friend's 'favours' or 'connections' or 'contacts' - but he figured they were pretty shady and he didn't ask questions he was afraid of the answers to. He leaned up and hugged Axel tightly, pressing their lips together. He tasted like coffee and bacon.

Axel pulled away and wrinkled his nose a bit. "Maybe brush your teeth before you go around frenching people, hm?" He said playfully.

"Sorry," he said, embarrassed. He took the watch out, but Axel was quickly plucking it from his hands.

His hands were warm as they closed the watch around his wrist, carefully buckling the strap. "Happy birthday, Roxas."

"Thanks, Axel." He smiled up at him, warmth and content spreading through his chest. "I didn't get you anything…" he realised, disappointed.

Axel just shrugged. "You know I don't like presents, Rox." He tucked a bit of blond hair behind the smaller teen's ear.

Before Roxas could do anything more than open his mouth to reply, Kairi and Naminé came back in, carrying bags.

"Our parents are here to pick us up!" Kairi announced. "Enjoy your weekend, boys!" She began to push her little sister out of the house.

Not quick enough. Naminé turned back to beam at Roxas. "See you on Sunday, Roxie! Call me to sort out the details of our date!"

There was a tense atmosphere in the room as Kairi tugged the door shut behind them both.

"...date?"

Roxas turned back to Axel, whose expression was too closed to read. Even his eyes were guarded. "Uh… I don't remember that part either?"

Axel rolled his eyes and yawned. "Well. I'm going to go take a nap. Wake me before Sora starts dinner and sets fire to the kitchen."

"Axe…" Roxas trailed off. Axel didn't stop, walking straight out of the room and going upstairs.

Had he done something wrong?