HOORAH! ANOTHER CHAPTER! And let me tell you, my friends, I have a feeling that this chapter will not leave you disappointed.

Well, maybe a bit but not too terribly.

Things start to get REALLY interesting in the chapter! I won't say much else.

Please enjoy!

He stood watching him, his slender form curled beautifully in the sheets. Somewhere in his slumber he had discarded his shirt to the floor so his pale flesh was contrasted only by the ivory sheets he was entwined in. It took everything in Axel's power to keep from getting an erection. He could hardly stand it. He allowed himself a few extra moments to stand and stare at the boy before he finally leaned down to Roxas' face and cooed tauntingly in his ear. "Hey Roxy, wakey wakey."

Roxas shot up in a panic and his head collided with something hard. He winced and looked around in the scarce light coming from the hall. His eyes fell on Axel and he looked at the older man in confusion. "Axel?"

"Ah, geeze. You've got to quit doing that." Axel rubbed his skull and smirked down at Roxas. "I let myself in. Your aunt always left a spare key under the mat and you weren't coming when I knocked on the door so I let myself in."

"Oh, she must have left for work." Roxas groaned and ruffled his hair. "So…"

"Santa Monica." Axel grinned and held a hand out for Roxas to grab. When the boy did so he pulled him up and chuckled. "Are you ready for a good time?"

"Yeah, let me just change my clothes." Roxas flipped on the light switch and rummaged through his bag. He found a pair of khaki shorts and another white button up shirt and began stripping down. "The beaches down here are warm, right?"

"Yeah…" Axel watched Roxas strip in an almost hypnotized state. He felt a distinct discomfort in his pants but he couldn't tear his eyes away. "Much warmer than you're used to anyway. Still chilly to us natives when the weather is right."

Roxas shrugged and buttoned his shirt. "I'm sure I'll be fine in this then." He pulled on his socks and then his shoes and started toward the door but he paused to look back at his redheaded companion. "Hey, Axel?"

Axel stopped abruptly. He had been following so close behind Roxas that if he hadn't stopped right as the boy did he would have run him over. "Yeah?"

Roxas smiled up at Axel brightly. "Thanks for inviting me."

Axel blushed but hid it by quickly flicking off the light as he exited the room. "No problem kid." He hurried past Roxas and waited for the boy at the front door. He then showed Roxas where the key was and locked the door for him. In no time at all they were on his motorcycle, rocketing through the city and onto the highway headed south-west for Santa Monica. Feeling Roxas cling tightly to him caused a warm sensation in Axel that he hadn't felt in a long time and he wanted nothing more than to tell Roxas everything and get it all out on the plate. But he knew Demyx wanted to protect the boy and that meant keeping the secret for at least a few more weeks. So he kept in blissful silence the rest of the way to Santa Monica and parked his motorcycle beside Marluxia's turquoise Cadillac. He dismounted and turned to Roxas to see the look on his face. "Pretty fucking awesome looking, isn't it?"

Roxas stared in awe at the lights coming from the pier. "It's amazing! Are we going to go up there?"

"Maybe later but first we're all going to get a little shit faced and sit around on the beach. We do it at least twice a month during summer." Axel shivered lightly and pulled his jacket close around him. "It's cold out here too. Summer is just starting so it's still a bit chilly. You want my coat?"

Roxas looked down at himself and shook his head. "No, actually the weather is perfect." He looked around curiously in hopes of finding the others. It was then that he heard a loud shout and he spotted Marluxia in the distance. "Hey, look! There they are!"

"Yep." Axel chuckled and grabbed Roxas' wrist. "Come on Roxy!"

Roxas rolled his eyes at the nickname but followed Axel none-the-less. He let the man drag him over to where the same group of friends from the night before sat already heavily intoxicated.

"Oh good…" Larxene snickered and motioned to the two. "Fag Man and Christ Lad are here."

Axel flipped Larxene the bird but ignored her for the most part. He looked to Roxas and chuckled lightly. "See, what did I tell you about nicknames?"

"Axel!" Demyx stood and rushed over to the taller man. Initially he was happy to see his friend and he had hoped that they could toss back a few beers and forget about the tension of the past twenty-four hours but upon seeing Roxas all hopes he had of a pleasant evening dissipated. "What are you doing!?"

Axel rolled his eyes and cocked an eyebrow at Demyx. "Listen Dem, don't start."

"Hey Ax!" Marluxia waved an empty bottle of vodka at his newly arrived friend. "We're out and Zex is passed out on the ground. How 'bout driving your sober ass to the liquor store and picking up some more vodka and some beers! Take Agent Party Kill with you and work out your little tiff before you get back. And here…" Marluxia fished out his wallet from his back pocket and chucked it at his friends. "I'm buying!"

Axel sighed and picked up the wallet that had fallen just short of his feet. "Come on Dem, we'll talk on the way."

Roxas watched as Axel quickly disappeared with Demyx storming after. He was a bit nervous to be left behind with the others but he took a seat by Marluxia as though they were old friends. "So, how is your head?"

"What?" Marluxia looked at Roxas a moment before remembering the split to his head he had taken the previous night. "Oh yeah, that. It's nothing. Got it stitched up and now I'm as good as new." He unscrewed the lid from the empty vodka bottle and milked it for its last drop. "So what's your cousin's problem anyway? What does he care who Axel sleeps with?"

Roxas cocked an eyebrow at Marluxia in confusion. "I'm sorry, what?"

"Look kid, we all know Axel's type." Larxene rolled onto her stomach and looked Roxas square in the face. "Young, supple body. Blue eyes, blond hair. You were practically tailor made for that fag. Don't try to deny it."

Roxas looked between the two curiously. "No, I'm not trying to deny anything. I just don't understand what you're saying."

Larxene rolled her eyes. "Bull shit, don't give us that crap. So…" She smirked devilishly and winked. "Who is top? Axel, right?"

Marluxia looked from Larxene to Roxas and back again. "You know, I really think he doesn't know." Marluxia chuckled and stared wide eyed at the blond boy before him. "Shit, how could you not know!? Axel's gay! Full out balls to the wall gay! And he's got it bad for you."

"What?" Roxas blinked back and forth between the two he was holding conversation with. "What do you mean, gay?"

There was silence for a moment before Marluxia and his girlfriend both burst into hysterical laughter. Marluxia fell into the sand and continued to laugh. "Y-you have GOT to be kidding me!" He wiped a tear from his eye and sat up. "Axel is into other guys. Like, he wants to be involved romantically and sexually with other men. Not women. Understand?"

"And that's…" Roxas furrowed his brow trying to grasp the concept. He'd never been exposed to romance before. In fact, up until he was about fourteen he believed that people just married for the sole sake of having children. He knew there had to be an element of love to it but he had been practically mortified to discover that not all people had known each other their whole lives before having children like his parents had. Dating was a relatively new concept for him. The fact that it could occur between people of the same gender was just an absolute shock to his system. "That's supposed to be bad somehow?"

"Nah!" Marluxia smiled and shook his head violently. "Not bad. Just different. Something to give Axel shit about, that's all. But Demyx on the other hand…" Marluxia shrugged. "He seems pissed that Axel has taken an interest in you."

"Wait." Roxas stared down at the sand in thought before his eyes shot back to Marluxia. "You're sure Axel is interested in me? Like, romantically?"

Larxene snorted and kicked her feet. "Come on! It's as plain as the tattoos on his face!"

Marluxia nodded in agreement. "Sorry, but yeah. He's head over heals. I've never seen him so flustered as I saw him last night at the show. I saw when he helped you off the floor and carried you away. He's a nice guy and he would have helped anybody up off the floor but most people he would just send off with a pat on the back. But he wanted to make damn sure you were ok. And inviting you tonight just confirms it. We don't let just anybody come here with us. Not even his brother comes. So obviously Axel wanted you here. The only question now is, why is Demyx so pissed?"

Roxas blinked quietly at the ground. His head was swirling now and he already felt dizzy without having one bit of alcohol. He was trying to process all this information but his mind kept going back to the moment on the couch; Axel laying on his chest. Blood rushed instantly to his face and his heart began pounding. But he had little time to ponder all that was flooding his mind because Axel had returned with Demyx brooding at his heels. His train of thought was cut off when Axel handed a beer into his face.

Axel smiled at Roxas. "Here, drink up."

Roxas took the beer with a shaky hand and averted his gaze from Axel. He was unsure how to feel about anything at the moment. Still, his mind kept playing that reel of him waking up to Axel snuggling his chest. And then Axel sat beside him and Roxas could scarcely breathe. He kept his eyes downcast and tinkered with the bottle cap of the beer but to no avail.

"Here, let me help." Axel grabbed the beer and pulled out his bottle opener. He popped the cap off of the beer and handed it back to Roxas. "There you go. Drink up, this is good stuff. Anytime Marluxia buys, we get fancy beer. His dad is rich and pretty boy is spoiled."

Marluxia batted his eyes and laughed. "You're just jealous." He reached for the new bottle of vodka he had been presented and tore open the lid. "So Ax, how about we get a fire started? I'm freezing!"

"Yeah, just let me pull the wood out of my ass." Axel scowled at Marluxia before the teen could take his comment and run with it. "Not a word."

"I wasn't going to say nothin'." Marluxia laughed and stood on wobbly legs. "But I brought wood and some kerosene. It's in my trunk." He chuckled and grabbed Demyx's arm. "Help me get it all over here while Roxas and Axel dig a pit."

Axel watched Marluxia stumble away before turning his gaze to Roxas. He smiled softly and nudged him. "Help me?"

Roxas nodded hesitantly and sat his beer to the side. He started to push off the ground but froze as Axel scooped up his hand and pulled him up. His eyes met with the redhead's and his heart pounded even faster. He let Axel lead him a few feet away where the older man dropped to his knees and began digging a hole. Roxas followed suit, kneeling down across from Axel. He couldn't bring himself to look at the man. "Are bonfires legal here? You don't have to have a permit or anything, do you?"

"Who knows?" Axel smiled devilishly at Roxas. "Who cares?" He reached out to grab another handful of dirt and his hand collided with Roxas'. The two froze, both staring at each other in silence. Axel wanted nothing more than to lean in and kiss those beautiful lips, still slightly damaged as they were. He wanted to feel Roxas' hand caressing his own. But how could he explain to the boy the very situation he was in, let alone how he had begun to feel after one very short day? To break the awkward silence he forced a chuckle and continued digging. "So, Demyx isn't mad about me bringing you."

Roxas looked from Axel to the sand and back again. "He isn't?"

"Nah, I think he's glad." Axel smiled softly. "He knows you're cool."

"Axel, why…" Roxas paused as his mouth spoke before his brain could tell it not to. There was no stopping it now, he'd already begun. "Why is it that you invited me here and yet your brother isn't even allowed to be here?"

Axel stared at Roxas open mouthed. He was unsure of how to truly answer that question without asking another question. "Marluxia said something, didn't he?"

"Yeah." Roxas swallowed hard and looked away from Axel. "He said a lot of things, actually. About you being gay, whatever that is. And that you're interested in me."

Axel cringed and ran a hand through his hair also avoiding the other's gaze. "Look, about that…"

"Is it true?" Roxas looked to Axel who still avoided eye contact. "Are you interested in me? Romantically?"

"Roxas, listen." Axel looked at the boy and sighed. "I promised Demyx that I wouldn't make any advances on you until you were eighteen. He thinks that your parents would freak if they found out about anything they didn't approve of. That's why I haven't said anything to you before now. And I'm sure you're probably mortified and you don't understand about my situation but…"

"You're right. I don't understand. Anything." Roxas furrowed his brow and stared at Axel. "For one, what business is it of Demyx's how you feel about me? I'm sure he has the best intentions but its really not his place to act how he is acting. I also don't understand why you are so interested in me so soon. We hardly know each other. It's true, I like you a lot. I think you're really cool and you're nicer than most people would probably assume you are. I'm really glad I'm getting to know you. But you hardly know anything about me right now. How can you say for sure how you feel about me?"

Axel smiled feeling very relieved. He had expected Roxas to panic and freak out on him. But it seemed that because the boy was so sheltered, he had no sense of right or wrong when it came to what society deemed a normal, healthy relationship. It was likely that his parents never once told him about the lifestyles of others. That there were gay and lesbian people in the world and that their lives were just a bit different from what Roxas had grown up around. This was all actually very beneficial to Axel because now he could continue his friendship with Roxas. The boy found nothing odd about his situation because as far as he knew, it was a completely normal and socially acceptable issue. "You're right. I can't say anything for sure. All I know is you're an interesting kid. You're smart and in your own quirky little way you're funny too. And I know that I want to get to know you Roxas. I want to get to know you really well."

Roxas smiled. "I'd like that Axel. I'd like that a lot." He returned to digging out a pit for their fire but every so often his eyes would flicker back up to the redhead and that image of them on the couch would cause his heart to skip a beat. Finally Demyx returned with and armful of wood. Marluxia was jumping up and down and waving the kerosene like it was a golden ticket. Roxas watched as Axel instantly went to work building a fire. He then took the kerosene from Marluxia's drunken hands and administered it to the wood. Roxas couldn't bring himself to stop watching Axel even long enough to grab his beer until the fire was already lit and Axel had gone to reclaim his own bottle. He stared at the older man in awe. "You did that really fast."

Axel looked to the fire and shrugged. "Yeah? I guess I'm just good with my hands."

For some reason the image of Axel running his hands up Roxas' bare chest came to the teen's mind. Roxas had to look away for a moment. "Well now it won't be so chilly." He sat in the sand and stared into the fire. He tried to ignore the fact that Axel had sat beside him but he couldn't help but glance over from time to time. Occasionally he would catch those emerald eyes watching him followed by a small guilty smile before Axel all together looked away. They sat listening to Marluxia prattle on and on and soon Roxas had four beers under his belt on an empty stomach. Drunk as he was, he wasn't too drunk to notice that the length of his stares at Axel had grown longer and longer and the same could be said for the man's gazes at him. They were both watching each other while they thought the other wasn't looking. Roxas reached for another beer only to be handed one, already opened, by Axel. He smiled as he took it, his fingers gracing the older man's. It elicited a chill down his spine and a shimmer in Axel's eyes but Roxas had little time to process the feeling before a familiar phrase from some old movie caught his ears.

"Cheese it fellas! It's the fuzz!" Marluxia wailed as two police officers approached swiftly. "Ha ha! I've always wanted to say that! Go, go! I'll hold them off!"

"Eh?" Roxas turned to look behind him but before he could focus on anything he felt himself being yanked up and dragged away. Then he was running with no idea how or why he was doing so. Everything was happening so fast and in his drunken blur he had completely lost track of everything. All he knew now was that he was being led far and fast away from the warm bon fire.

Axel ran laughing as he dragged Roxas along. He'd dared a glance back to see Marluxia cartwheeling along the sand, evading the police officers as they tried to tackle him down. "That crazy son of a bitch! He was always saying he couldn't wait to spend his first night in jail! His daddy ain't gonna be too pleased!" Axel chuckled and shook his head as he led Roxas up onto the pier. If the police had back up and managed to follow them, there was still no way they'd find them in the crowd on the pier. He rushed past the people casting him curious glances and into the building that housed the carousel. There were few people inhabiting the building and even fewer children on the ride. Axel pulled Roxas onto the still moving platform and helped him gain his footing. "Pretty wild night, huh?"

Roxas looked at Axel finally gaining some sense of where he was. Still, he was dizzy drunk and the motion of the carousel was not helping at all. "What happened?"

"Some pussies probably called the cops on us for having a bonfire on the beach. Or maybe it was for the underage kids drinking alcohol. Ha! Who knows?" Axel chuckled and helped level Roxas who was once again about to lose his footing. "Marluxia bought us some time to escape."

"Thank you Axel." Roxas looked up at the redhead and tried to focus on him. "If you hadn't pulled me up and dragged me away I would have got caught too."

Axel smiled and shrugged. "Nah, no biggie."

"No, it is." Roxas stumbled backward as he tried to still stand on the rotating platform. Axel caught his wrist and he let himself be pulled closer to the man. "You're becoming a regular hero of mine. You saved me last night and just now and I've got no way to thank you."

Axel chuckled and shook his head. "Roxas, you don't…" Before Axel could finish his sentence he was cut off by Roxas' mouth over his. His eyes grew wide but they only met with the boy's deep blues staring into him. He melted in that gaze and although he knew it meant a throttling from Demyx later, he couldn't refuse that kiss. He wrapped his arms around the boy as the carousel turned them around and around for the awaiting parents to see. Some woman shrieked and yanked her child off the ride but Axel couldn't even pause long enough to give her the finger. His hands were too busy roaming the back of Roxas; exploring and claiming him, all the while pulling him closer and deeper into that kiss. He forced the boy's mouth open and rampaged the inside with his tongue. If it shocked Roxas, he wasn't showing it. He only mimicked in blind faith which caused Axel to go completely weak to the boy. He let his hands slide down to the front of Roxas' shorts where he tugged eagerly. He pulled his mouth from the boy's and pressed it to his ear. "Come with me Roxas. I wanna…" Again, interrupted. Only this time it wasn't such a pleasant interruption. Roxas spewed vomit all over the front of Axel. Axel cringed and snickered at the same time and pulled Roxas, still heaving fluid, off the carousel. "Come on kid. Let's get you home."