"Nothing, just… remembering an old friend," I mumbled, stirring the ice cream with my spoon.

"Well that was pretty random," Axel shrugged, returning to his own treat.

After that, I couldn't stop taking glances at Axel. That last flashback was a lot clearer than the others, and I was able to pick out a lot more details; a few of those details being flaming red hair and piercing green eyes.

Axel had already said I knew him, but didn't remember him. Maybe now, after spending time with him, I was starting to. Even Ventus had said Axel had some secrets. All signs pointed to my idiotic boyfriend! All I seriously needed, though, was a confession.

"Hey, Axel? Can I ask you something?" I said, still playing with the ice cream.

"Sure, what's up?" he asked back.

"I've… been having a lot of dreams lately…"

"That's not a question, Roxy." I glanced up and saw him smiling warmly before it faltered. "What kind of dreams?"

"Well, they're more like… memories, I think…" I started, keeping my eyes on the melting treat in my bowl. "They're usually about… my… my brother…" I glanced up at Axel, who hadn't really made any noise after a few minutes of me tearing up the ice cream. His eyes were wide and he looked like he had seen a ghost. "Axel…?"

"You… you have a brother?" he gulped, his eyes glued to the table and his now slightly trembling hands.

"I… I did… He's dead…" Wow. That… That really hurt to say. We must've been maybe eight when Ventus died. And on top of that, I forgot about him for another eight or so years. And it still hurts…? Were we that close or something? Did I miss him that much, even after all this time?

"Oh…" Axel didn't say much after that. We finished our ice cream in silence before he took me home. For the next few days, Axel zoned out a lot. He didn't seem much like Axel after I told him about Ventus. Could there be a reason for that?

Asking Axel up front would get me nowhere, since there was still little under a week before the month was up. There was no way I could wait that long. Maybe his friends knew? What if I asked Demyx and Zexion knew? Zexion did go back to school and seemed to be doing alright, lately. I seem to be asking a lot of questions lately, don't I? I blame Axel.

After school on Wednesday, I walked over to Demyx's house, intent on getting a few answers. I knocked on the door and, kind of surprisingly, it was Zexion who opened the door. And for some reason, he didn't have a shirt on. "Roxas?"

"Hey, Zexion. Is Demyx here, too?" I asked, standing kind of awkwardly in the doorway.

"Zex, who's at the door?" I heard a voice call from the other side of the house.

"Hey, Demyx!" I called back, startling Zexion a bit. I shot him a quick apology for shouting as Demyx tripped his way into the living room.

"Hey, Roxas, what's up? Shouldn't you be with Axel?" Why he thought I'd like to spend every waking moment with Axel, I'll never know. And he apparently didn't notice the tension Axel and I were having. Just goes to show how oblivious the sitar-player could be sometimes.

"No, I came here to talk to you guys," I smiled. Zexion looked to Demyx, they both shrugged, then Zexion moved aside to let me in before disappearing down the hall – most likely in search of a shirt. Demyx offered me a seat on the couch, which I took, before plopping down next to me.

"So! What does little Roxy want from Demy and Zexy~?" he asked as Zexion walked back in, torso now covered, and lightly smacking Demyx in the back of the head.

"Don't call me that," he stated monotonously, sitting in the chair adjacent from the couch.

"Aww, but you love it when I call you that! Especially when I put my hand down your pants and whisper – "

"So, Roxas, what is it that you want?" Zexion interrupted with a slight blush. I wasn't even going to ask.

"I wanted to ask… about Axel."

"Why, did he do something?" Demyx asked, now concerned about his friend.

"No… at least I don't think so…" I trailed off.

"What do you mean?" Zexion asked.

"I told him something about me… and now he's not acting like himself… and I don't know what I said to trigger that. So I was wondering if you guys would know," I explained.

"Oh, that's nothing to worry about, Roxas. Sometimes Axel overthinks things and just goes off in his own little world for a while," Demyx shrugged.

"Is there any reason for that?"

"Hmm…" Demyx thought for a moment. "I'm not really sure. It could be something from his past. But I've only known him since seventh grade. And even then, when I asked, he just said it was something bad and he didn't like talking about it. At first I thought it was a family death, but then his mom told me that Axel didn't have any attachment to his dead family," Demyx explained, Zexion and I listening intently. Apparently this was Zexion's first time hearing any of this, too.

"Something bad?" Zexion jumped back in.

"Yeah, sorry, that's all I – " Before Demyx could finish his sentence, there was a rather loud buzzing noise. Demyx jumped a bit and pulled his phone out of his back pocket, looking shocked at the name flashing across his screen. "What do you want?" he growled through clench teeth into the receiver.

Zexion sighed, standing up and walking over to the kitchen. "You know full-fucking-well why I'm not coming back, so stop calling here!" Demyx shouted, making me jump. He hung up on the call and threw his phone across the room, the device landing in a desk chair. Zexion came back and gave his boyfriend a beer, then choosing to sit next to me.

"What was that all about?" I asked, extremely confused.

Demyx huffed, obviously very pissed, as he started downing the beer. When he finished, he stood up and went to the kitchen, grabbing a few more bottles before coming back and opening another.

"Dem, slow down…" Zexion begged, giving his boyfriend a very sad look. Demyx ignored him, drinking the second beer almost as quickly as he did the first one. Zexion sighed again. He tugged on my sleeve and pointed to the hall, silently telling me to go with him.

I stood up and followed Zexion to the hall. He leaned against the wall, holding his head in his hand. "I don't like it when he drinks…"

I looked back to Demyx, who somehow was already on his third bottle. How was he drinking them so fast? "So why did you give him the beer?" Zexion's logic was making no sense.

"That was probably his father on the phone…" Zexion said, looking back to Demyx with pain in his eyes. I was going to ask what was so bad about that, but I decided to let Zexion tell me when he wanted to. After a few moments, he turned back to me and said, "His father kicked him out a year ago. And now he's trying to get Demyx to go back home. He drinks so that he doesn't do something worse, and it's only when his father's brought up, so I let him." Now the logic was making sense.

"Why did his father kick him out?"

"He found out about his relationship with me…" Zexion said solemnly. "Demyx's grades were dropping a bit when we started going out. He quickly got them back up before report cards, but his father still noticed the failure and blamed me. Demyx fought for us to be together and his father gave him a choice: break up with me and get a girlfriend, or leave."

Oh my god. I never would've imagined Demyx – the kid always making too much noise and smiling like an idiot – would have gone through that. And besides that, what kind of parents kick their son out just because of who they're dating? Parents are supposed to love their children no matter what; not kick them out just because they choose to like the same gender.

"This is his uncle's house. He was the only relative that would take Demyx in that lived in the area. His uncle's never home, but he's not the most… let's say 'caring' person on the planet," Zexion winced. I had a pretty good idea as to what he meant by that… but I didn't want to think about that right now. At least it explains why the house looks trashed all the time.

"So what are you doing here, Zexion? Don't you have your own house?" I didn't see much of a point of Zexion being here, even if it was just for Demyx.

"My parents kicked me out, too. My grades didn't suffer by even a point, and they didn't care I was dating a guy. They just didn't like that that guy was Demyx. They thought he would be a bad influence on me and that I would end up a failure. So they gave me the same choice, which I actually found a tad amusing," Zexion said, not seeming bothered by his past.

"Don't your parents ask you to come back or worry about you? You don't seem too upset," I pointed out, just as a test. I didn't want to bring up something that wasn't my place to.

"I'm with Demyx. That's all I could ever want. I mean, I'd rather we weren't at his uncle's house, but it's what we have, so I don't really mind all too much. And my parents aren't really ones to give a rat's ass about their son. They had my whole life planned out and they saw Demyx as a hindrance to that plan. When they saw how much I wasn't going to give up, they just gave up on me. Honestly, I'm glad I'm away from them. Now I can figure out a life for myself," Zexion said with a small smile.

Wow… They gave up everything they had… Just so they could be together… I wondered… I wondered if I would ever have the guts to do something like that. I wondered if I would ever love someone so much that I would risk everything and everyone just so that I could be with them… Then I wondered… Would that someone be Axel?

No. I seriously need to stop thinking like that. I know I keep going back and forth on this topic, but it's really all I can think about. Do I like Axel truly? Or am I just using him to give me more time? Or am I simply overthinking things?

I don't even know what's going on in my own mind and heart anymore.

"I should probably stop him before he gets too drunk," Zexion said, bringing me out of my thoughts. "You should probably get home, too, Roxas. Unless there was something else you needed?"

"Oh, uh, no. Thanks for everything, Zexion," I forced a small smile. "I'll see you and Demyx at school tomorrow, right?"

"Yeah, I'll make sure Dem doesn't get too bad a hangover." Zexion led me to the door, taking Demyx's beer away as he did so, and we agreed to talk more during lunch.

And with that, I left and walked home.

The next day at school, Axel still acted differently, but at least I now I had a vague idea as to why. Demyx, Zexion, Axel, and I were at lunch, not really talking about anything in particular, when I notice someone approaching our table.

"Well, if it isn't the local fags, all conveniently gathered at one table," Xemnas smirked, Saix and Seifer flagging him on both sides and snickering.

"Can we help you with anything, Mansex?" Demyx boldly asked. It was odd for him to have this kind of courage, apparently. But after seeing how he acted with his parents, I wasn't really shocked.

Xemnas's eye twitched in annoyance. "I'm here to settle a score," he simply stated.

"With?" I asked, wishing he would just vanish right off the face of the earth.

"Your fuck-buddy, of course." Axel's eyes widened. What would Xemnas want with him? Unless…

"Oh, this is about me kicking the snot out of you, isn't it?" Axel smirked proudly.

"Actually, it is. I want a rematch," Xemnas demanded. "Right here, right now."

"Are you insane? I'm not going to fight you in the middle of the cafeteria," Axel said, returning to his milk carton.

Xemnas didn't really like how Axel blew him off like that. He stepped up to him and knocked the milk out of Axel's hand, sending it all over his face and shirt. Axel backed up in shock and the rest of us were left with dropped jaws. There was no way Axel was going to take that lightly.

Axel glared at Xemnas, who was smirking with pride and high fived with Seifer and Saix. Axel stood up, crushing the milk carton in his fist. He practically growled at Xemnas as he threw it to the side and threw a punch right in his face. Demyx jumped from his seat, going straight for Axel and holding him back before he could throw another punch. Seifer and Saix did nothing to stop Xemnas as he came back and kneed Axel in the gut before backing up.

Axel broke free from Demyx's hold and went straight for Xemnas, throwing a punch across his cheek. The rest of the cafeteria had noticed what was going on by now and started to form a circle around the two fighting boys. Zexion and I were watching as Demyx tried to pry Xemnas and Axel apart. Seifer and Saix were getting the crowd riled up and jeering them on.

I looked around, seeing several teachers starting to look over at the growing crowd. Oh shit. "Axel! Axel, stop!" I shouted. My voice fell over deaf ears, though, as Axel and Xemnas kept trying to kill each other. Axel had already said that Xemnas wasn't worth getting in trouble over. He managed to keep that up, so I didn't understand what made him snap.

I saw the gym teacher trying to break through the jeering teenagers surrounding Axel and Xemnas and panicked, throwing myself into the fray and attempting to pull Axel out. I wrapped my arms around his waist and held tightly, Axel's elbow went back and hit me in the face, but I held on. Demyx came back and grabbed Axel's arms and together, we pulled Axel out, all the while Xemnas calling Axel a pussy for having to have Demyx and I pull him away. I shouted for Xemnas to shut the fuck up as I pulled Axel out just before the gym teacher came out and grabbed Xemnas' arm.

Axel was clearly disoriented as Demyx and I dragged him away from the cafeteria and out of the school. We brought him to the back, where we knew we wouldn't be disturbed, so Axel could rest in silence. Demyx helped me set Axel down, his back resting against the wall as he held a hand to his probably aching head. His cheek was turning a gross yellow color already and his lip was split. His knuckles had a bit of blood on them, but I wasn't sure if it was Axel's or Xemnas'.

I knelt down in front of Axel, lifting his chin with my forefinger and thumb so I could better assess the damage Xemnas had done to my boyfriend. "God, Ax, you look like shit," I tried to joke, Demyx agreeing.

"Well I sure as hell feel like shit. What the hell was wrong with him, anyway; attacking me like that?" Axel said, his eyes closed as he massaged his temples.

I shrugged. "Sometimes people are just assholes." My head throbbed a bit after I said that. I just brushed it off as a slight headache from Axel accidently elbowing my head.

Axel scoffed. "Yeah, you're right." Axel opened his eyes to look up at me, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion. "Rox, you okay?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Your nose is bleeding." I brought a hand up to my nose and, indeed, there was blood dripping out of it. My head started hurting again and I let out a gasp of pain as my other hand went to my head and tugged my hair. "Rox?"

"Roxas! Help!"

A voice rang in my ears, blocking out Axel's. I couldn't tell what was going on, but I felt myself falling until I was submerged in darkness.

Okay, yes, I know this is LONG overdue and it's short, but I have just been feeling close to no motivation to finish this :I I don't want to abandon it because I really put a lot of thought into it, so I will finish this story no matter what. To make up for this chapter, the next one's gonna be pretty long, so look forward to that c:

Once again, I am oh so very sorry this took too long. A lot of stuff has happened and I just haven't been able to wrap my mind around this story. I'm going to try and get back into it, though, because I think a few of you actually like it.

So there. Review, favorite, follow, all that jiz. Love you guys and thanks for sticking around c:

Beta-d by my lovely Elizabeth-Anne19. Love you, sweetie~