Author's Note: Finally! I'm terribly sorry for the ridiculous wait for this chapter. I haven't had much access to the computer lately, so I've done my best to get more written. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed/faved/alerted so far. You all get e-cookies. :D

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Chapter Five: There is a black sheep in every flock.

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The actors' "accommodations," as it turned out, was really a huge, stately white mansion with an almost Olympic-size swimming pool and immaculately kept grounds. Roxas had to squint to be able to even look at the place, rays of late summer California sun reflecting off the numerous windows high above.

"Ah, home sweet home," Axel sighed as they entered. The redhead immediately ran for a door to the left, but Lexaeus grabbed him before he could take two steps. "Aw, come on, Lex, I'm hungry!"

"Hungry?" Roxas exclaimed in bewilderment. "But you just ate like, half the fridge on the plane!"

"So?" The redhead turned to look at him. "In case you didn't notice, I have a very high metabolism." He motioned to his very girlish, curvy hips and thin waist.

Sora suddenly burst out into song, warbling in an off-key falsetto with an accent that made him sound like he was trying to yodel and speak Spanish at the same time. "You know my hips don't lie, and I'm starting to feel it's right…" To make matters even worse, the brunette grabbed Riku and started to tango with him, pulling the mildly surprised silverette along with him.

Axel glared at the two of them and then turned to Roxas again. "It's official. You're the only sane one here."

"Not for long," Roxas muttered under his breath.

After Sora had been calmed down, the four boys headed upstairs to settle into their rooms. Roxas was surprised when he found that the room he'd been given was painted his favorite shade of ocean blue and the bed was covered in huge, fluffy pillows. It was as if the decorating fairy had specially designed the room just for him. The large bay window even had a ledge covered in cushions in front of it, something Roxas had wanted in his room for a long time.

"Sora!" the blonde called as he stuck his head back out into the hallway. "Hey, bro! Come here!"

The brunette's spiky hair popped out of the doorway to his left. "What? I'm trying to unpack."

"Well, okay, but did you tell whoever set up the rooms what my dream bedroom was?"

Sora blinked. "Uh… No. Why?"

Roxas was mildly surprised, but just shook his head. "Just wondering. I really like it."

Sora beamed at him. "Great! Riku said that we'll get to go out and eat in a while, once we're all settled in. I hope we go to the Italian place nearby… It's awesome."

The blonde boy retreated back into his room to unpack the suitcases he brought with him. The closet was spacious, almost twice as large at the one in his room back home. All of the clothes he had brought with him fit easily into one half of it, and the rest of his belongings in the other. After making sure all his things were put away, Roxas explored his room a little more thoroughly, discovering a large, stately bathroom, a small side alcove with a pair of comfy-looking chairs in it, and all of his school books already in a bag next to his bed.

"Hey, Roxas, come here!" Upon hearing his brother's voice, the blonde poked his head out of the door and looked around.

"What?" he responded, a bit miffed at being interrupted.

Sora merely beckoned him with a sharp wave of his hand and then disappeared back into his room. Roxas rolled his eyes in exasperation as his brother's weirdness, but walked down the hall nonetheless.

Much to his surprise, the first thing he saw when he opened the door was Riku lying on the ground, covered in small, furry creatures that appeared to be cats. At least, they meowed like them.

"Uh…" Roxas's face was the epitome of confusion. "What the hell?"

Sora sat down next to his boyfriend and picked up one of the kittens, stroking it behind the ears. "Riku got me an early birthday present! But you can't tell Axel. He hates cats."

"You do realize that he'll see them if they wander around the house, don't you?" Sora blinked up at his brother. "Apparently you didn't. Well, I won't tell him, but don't blame me when he finds out."

Sora seemed to be ignoring Roxas now. Instead, his focus was on the tiny creatures crawling all over the floor and Riku. The brunette picked up a brown one and said, "I'll call this one Sky because she has pretty blue eyes. The silver tabby is Earth because he has green eyes. The ginger one is Flame, because… well, he's ginger, and the female golden tabby is Light for obvious reasons."

"You're so very creative," a voice dripping with disgust snarled. "Now, please enlighten me as to why there are cats in the same house as me?"

"Shit!" Sora squeaked, too terrified to turn around and look at Axel, who was standing in the doorway glaring down at the small animals crawling on Riku. "Roxas, hide me!" The brunette grabbed his brother and spun him around so that his legs were literally standing between the angry redhead and him.

"What-… Hey! Don't use me as a shield!" Roxas exclaimed.

Axel ignored them and continued glaring down at the silverette lying on the floor. "Well, Riku, it looks like you've finally given birth to your kittens. Congratulations. Who's the father? Sora?"

Riku's knuckles went white as his hands curled into tight fists and his jaw clenched in anger. "Sora, get the cats off me now. I don't want to hurt them when I beat the shit out of the redheaded asshole over there."

As if on cue, the kittens all scrambled off him and began rolling around in a pile of pillows on the floor nearby. Riku leapt up and ran at Axel, teeth bared in a feral snarl. However, the redhead merely sidestepped and Riku went barreling into the hallway, almost slamming into the wall opposite the door. Angrily, the silverette turned around and tried to hit him again, but Axel again avoided his outstretched arm and kicked the back of Riku's knees, making him collapse to the floor. Axel dropped to his knees over Riku's torso and pinned the smaller boy to the floor, arms outstretched above his head.

"Don't try to start a fight with me, pretty boy," Axel snarled, bringing his face just inches away from Riku's. "You know you're always going to lose." Without another word, the redhead stood and stalked out of the room, slamming the door shut behind him.

Roxas and Sora stared after him in horror and then looked at each other, mouths hanging open in shock. "Don't look so surprised," The brothers looked over at Riku, who was now sitting up and rubbing his lower back, wincing as he did so. "Axel's more dangerous than he looks. Only reason he doesn't do his owns stunts is because Saix thinks that he's too valuable to risk damaging."

Roxas felt his knees grow weak at the notion that Axel being able to overpower him like that if he really wanted too. It was not a pleasant thought.

~::~

As it turned out, nothing the rest of the day ended up being pleasant, except for the food at the five-star Italian restaurant Riku chose to go to. The car ride there was unbearable, not one of the boys saying a word to loosen the tense silence. Lexaeus, their bodyguard/chauffer… Roxas really didn't know what he was, actually, but still, he was stoically silent the entire time. If he knew something was going on, he opted not to comment.

Once inside the Italian restaurant Riku had chosen earlier, Roxas and Sora found themselves sandwiched between Axel and the silverette in one of the half-circle booths, partly to keep them from tearing each other apart, and partly because they were forced to. The four of them looked over their menus, still silent, and then attempted to be cordial when the waiter took their orders. However, things started going downhill the moment their drinks were brought.

"Riku, I believe you have my drink," Axel gritted out from behind a sickeningly sweet fake smile.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," Riku said, coughing for several seconds over the glass of water before handing it to the redhead, who in turn glared at him for a moment before picking up his napkin and flicking it so that the crumbs from the breadstick he'd eaten earlier flew across the table and landed on Riku's expensive dress shirt. The silvertte glared at him, the look in his eyes one of imminent danger.

"Guys, come on," Sora tried to mollify the two fuming men. "Let's just enjoy our dinner. We can sort this out when we get home."

"Easy for you to say," Riku muttered. "You're not the one who got accused of being a female cat."

After a moment of thought, Sora shrugged. "Fair enough."

Axel began reaching for his glass, an impish smirk on his face, but Roxas rapped him on the hand with the flat of his knife. "No. Bad. Play nice until we get home."

"Oh, so I have two mothers now, do?" Axel sneered, slouching down in his seat and crossing his arms over his chest. "Great. Just what I need."

"Yes, it is great," Riku growled. "Maybe this way, we'll actually be able to keep you in line and stamp out all of your douchebaggery."

Axel didn't grace him with a reply due to the fact that their food arrived at that very moment. However, the redhead glared daggers at Riku until the other boy finally got fed up and snapped, "What the hell do you want? Quit staring at me, or I swear to all that is holy, I will-"

"Riku!" Sora hissed, cutting him off abruptly. "We're in public!"

The silverette looked like he was about to say something else, but took a deep breath and sighed instead. "Sorry. It's been a long day." The table lapsed into an uncomfortable silence as the four of them began eating, avoiding all eye contact with one another. Roxas wasn't particularly happy with the fact that Axel was sitting less than four inches away from him, but he bore it stoically, focusing on the mouth-wateringly good lasagna on his plate.

Tap-tap-tap-tap. Roxas looked up from his food to try and find the source of the annoying new noise that had come to his ears. Tap-tap-tap-tap. It wasn't Sora, who looked as confused as he felt. Tap-tap-tap-tap. It certainly wasn't Riku, who had both hands folded perfectly still and motionless on the table in front of his plate, glaring across the table at the only one of them who could the culprit.

"What?" Axel said innocently, tap-tap-tap ping away on the tabletop with his fingertips.

"Axel Sinclair, you're about ten seconds away from being turned into a woman with one of these spoons," Riku growled, holding up said utensils in one hand. "If you value your manhood, stop that now." No end was in sight, judging by the smirk curling the corners of Axel's lips.

Before Roxas could register what was happening, Riku was lunging across the table at the redhead, silverware in hand. Axel grabbed his glass, intending to throw it at the other boy, but Sora grabbed it from him and managed to set it back down on the table and stop Riku in the same movement. Roxas, as soon as he realized that Axel was about to do the same, lashed out an arm and smacked Axel's face straight into his plate of spaghetti.

All movement and sound around the four boys ceased instantly as Roxas stared in horror at what he had just done. The once-spotless white tablecloth was covered in marinara sauce. Axel lifted his head slowly to reveal that not only was it covered in sauce, but it was red with something between rage and embarrassment where the tomato-red had failed to reach. The red-faced redhead opened his mouth like he was about to say something, but suddenly stood up and bolted for the door, leaving a crowd of stunned onlookers in his wake.

~::~

"I'm dead, I'm dead, I'm dead."

"Roxas, shut up!" Sora and Riku exclaimed in unison. The blonde winced at their harsh tone. Sora amended this by saying, "We understand that you're terrified he's going to kill you but, let's face… The three of us combined could overpower Mr. Tomato Face any day."

"Sh!" Roxas hissed. "He might hear you!"

Riku glanced over at their car mate, looking skeptical. "Yeah, like that's gonna happen. His music's up so loud, he couldn't hear us if we started screaming bloody murder."

"Oh, that's so reassuring," Roxas sneered. He was not in a good mood. Not only had his dinner been ruined, not only had his day been spent in much too close proximity wit the redhead, but now, Axel was likely to kill and dump his body someplace no one would ever find him.

After Axel's outburst, the three other boys, along with their bodyguard/chauffer (Roxas still didn't know what to call him) Lexaeus, paid for their meal, apologized to the staff, manager, and onlookers, and then made their speedy exit. They found Axel three blocks away at a public restroom washing his face off at one of the grimy sinks. Upon seeing them, he had tried to make another break for it, but Lexaeus caught him and dragged him back to their car.

Upon their arrival at the actors' mansion, Axel fled from the car and ran all the way to his room, where he ended up staying the better part of the night without a word to anyone else. Roxas, still afraid that said redhead might murder him in his sleep, spent the few remaining hours before bed in Sora's room, playing with the kittens while Riku and Sora talked in hushed tones about something he couldn't quite make out.

Finally, curiosity overcame him, and the blonde teen turned to them and asked, "What are you two being so secretive about? Is it something I need to know for my safety, or something personal?"

Sora and Riku exchanged a glance before the silverette answered simply, "Axel."

"Ah. I see."

"No, you don't see," Sora snapped in the most bitter tone Roxas had ever heard his older brother use. The brunette instantly realized how harsh he had sounded and made amends. "Sorry. Look, we really don't want to explain much to you because Axel will kill us too, but… There's a black sheep in every flock, and Axel just happens to be the one in ours."

Roxas stared at his brother in confusion. "But… why? Can't you tell me?"

Riku shook his head with a sigh. "Not unless Axel decides he wants you to know. I can already tell it's going to drive you crazy, but please, don't go asking him about it. Once he thinks he can trust you enough with the information in question, then he'll tell you, one way or another."

The blonde teen sighed and absentmindedly scratched behind one of the kitten's ears, barely registering the engine-like purring the creature emitted. He wanted to know what Axel's deal was quite badly, especially if it meant giving him something to use against the redhead were the situation dire. But, judging by the looks on Sora and Riku's faces, he wasn't going to find out anytime soon.

Resigning himself to this fact, the blonde stretched out on the plush carpet, careful not to squash the tiny animals rolling around near him. As soon as he was horizontal, said small balls of fur leapt on him and settled into a haphazard pile on his stomach. "Um, Sora?"

"What?" The brunette said, turning to look at his brother and stopping midway, his expression changing from a tired half-scowl to a grin that threatened to stick if it stayed like that for too long. Riku turned a few seconds later when Sora burst out laughing at the indignant look on Roxas's face.

"Get the damn kittens off me!" Roxas whined, trying to stay as still as he possibly could, wincing in pain as one of the furry creatures stretched, digging its tiny claws into his stomach. "Please. Like, now. Before they fall asleep and I'm stuck in your room until they wake up."

"Looks like Sora's not the father after all," The three of them turned to see Axel standing in the doorway, arms crossed over his chest.

"What do you want, Axel?" Riku said in a forebodingly calm tone.

"I'm not here to insult you anymore, believe it or not. Saix just called and said that we're all going to the studio tomorrow to get Roxie acquainted with everyone. Just a heads up so you don't stay up too late… if you know what I mean."

"I thought you weren't going to insult them," Roxas retorted, sitting up and causing the kittens on his stomach to roll down the front of his shirt onto the ground, thankfully unharmed. "Go away if you're done telling us what needs to be told."

Axel looked mildly surprised, eyebrows ascending the slightest fraction. "Cool it, kid. Look, as annoyed as I still am, I'm sorry, Riku. It's been a long day. Let's just agree to disagree peacefully from now on. Wouldn't want to bring bad luck upon the movie we're about to film, now do we?"

Riku looked like he was about to say something very unkind, but seemed to decide against it, instead opting for a much less incendiary reply. "Fair enough. I got a look at the script earlier, and I've got high hopes for this one."

The redhead stared at him in shock. "How did you get the script already? You know the Bossman hates doing things off-schedule!"

"Let's just say I slipped a few checks and autographed photos to some important people," the silverette responded with a sly smile. "No big deal. What Saix doesn't know won't hurt him."

"Wait a second," Roxas said, holding up a hand as if he were in class. "Can I ask something?"

"You just did," Axel replied with a smirk. "Go ahead, blondie. Shoot."

"Well, Riku… Since I'm going to be in this film too, can I at least know the title?" Roxas questioned, pointedly ignoring Axel.

Axel and Riku exchanged a glance, and the silverette shrugged. "I guess it can't hurt. The movie we're going to be in is called 'Picture Perfect…'"

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Author's Note: Holy titles, Batman! So, the plot kittens-... I mean, thickens. Hopefully the next chapter will be up much sooner. Ciao for now, darlings!