Author's Note: Hello once again! So, since I've been on break and in a writing mood, this chapter got done very quickly... Consider this my Christmas/Hanukkah/whatever you celebrate present to all of my darling readers out there. I really do appreciate each and every one of you guys. So, without further ado, cue the drama, and have a safe and happy holiday!

Chapter Nine: A chain is no stronger than its weakest link.

~::~

The days passed by quickly as Roxas became more accustomed to his new habitat. He started learning the ropes of the acting business, managed to make it to his first two weeks of college classes without being late once, and just tried not to worry about things in general. After Sora's admonitions, Axel and Riku had ceased fighting as frequently or vehemently, at least when they were within earshot of him. Roxas had even begun to form a tiny bond of friendship with the redhead when he discovered that they shared a strong love of video games.

The first morning of his third week in California, Roxas awoke to the smells of eggs, bacon, and waffles drifting up through the vents from the kitchen. He leapt out of bed and changed as quickly as he could, knowing that if he didn't get downstairs soon, there would be no breakfast left. He'd found this out a few days after his arrival when he slept in and got cold oatmeal as his reward.

"Good morning," Aqua smiled sweetly at him as he skidded across the floor to his seat, hiding her laughter with a short cough.

"Morning," Roxas replied.

The three other boys looked up from their meal and nodded in way of a greeting, mouths too full to allow any reply. Roxas rolled his eyes and thanked Aqua as she set a plate loaded with steaming food in front of him. Soon, he too was ensnared by her excellent cooking, and no further conversation was forthcoming until all of the boys had eaten their fill.

With a happy sigh, Axel reclined back in his chair and said, speaking for all of them, "There's no one in the whole world who can cook like you, Aqua."

"Oh, hush, you awful flatterer," The blue-haired girl blushed the slightest bit. "I'm no culinary expert, but I try my best."

"Aw, come on, you're way better than you give yourself credit for!" Sora chimed in. Riku and Roxas nodded in agreement.

"Oh, stop it! Go on and get ready to go, please. Mr. Clairey called to say that he wants you to get to the studio early today," Aqua turned her back on the group to hide her reddened cheeks. "Hurry up now. You know he hates it when people are late."

Chuckling quietly, Axel led the others out of the kitchen and upstairs to do as Aqua said. Sora pulled Riku up the stairs past him, leaving Roxas and Axel to walk at their own pace.

After a few moments of silence, Roxas glanced up at the taller man and asked, "Hey, I'm curious… Do you have a thing for Aqua, or do you really appreciate what she does that much?"

Axel's eyebrows inched skywards as Roxas spoke. "Well, considering she was one of the first friends I made around here and the fact that she's almost old enough to be my mother, if she'd had a kid young, I'd have to say the answer to that is a resounding no."

"Oh. It just seemed-…"

"Like I was flirting? I know. I'm a little too nice to girls sometimes. You've gotta tread carefully around females… You never know when they'll go bipolar on you," Axel grinned wistfully. "The last girl I dated sure as hell taught me that..."

Roxas desperately wanted to ask about this girl, but Axel was already walking down the hall towards his room. His plans thwarted, Roxas shook his head and went into his own room to gather his things. He grabbed his satchel - an item that Axel refused to believe was anything less than a purse - and stuffed his notebook, a few pencils, and his usual other miscellaneous items inside.

Just as he tried to walk out into the hallway, Sora's kittens bounded across the floor in front of him, followed by Sora himself. "Come back!" he exclaimed. "Really, this isn't funny!" Riku hurried by not three seconds later, rolling his eyes.

Axel was the last to arrive at a more sedate pace. He shook his head, the corners of his lips turned down in the slightest of frowns. "I hate cats. They're too much trouble to be worth having as pets."

"Is that all?" Roxas asked sarcastically.

"Ha, no, but I'm not in the mood to discuss the depth of my hatred for feline creatures," The shorter blinked up at Axel in confusion. "Oh, never mind."

"Aqua, get them!" Sora's voice echoed up the staircase, followed by a loud crash. Roxas and Axel exchanged a glance and then hurried downstairs. They were both hard put not to burst out laughing when they saw the scene in the kitchen. Riku was wedged into a corner between two cabinets with Sora on top of him, flailing madly. The kittens were climbing all over them, playing with a ball of string that had unraveled across the floor and tied itself around the two boys. Aqua was standing nearby, shaking her head sadly and also trying not to laugh. Upon seeing the two newcomers, the kittens clambered over to them and started mewling, wanting to be petted.

"Guys, get your crap together and let's go before the Boss-man murders us all," Axel chuckled, nudging the kittens away gently with his foot. "Aqua, would you mind taking these troublemakers back up to Sora's room, please?"

"Of course," the housekeeper replied. "Lexaeus is waiting for you in the car out front. Hurry on out."

The boys did as they were told and hastened out to the front of the house, clambering into the waiting car. Sora and Riku took the middle row of seats and Roxas and Axel the back. Roxas, although still not entirely comfortable with prolonged contact with the redhead, found that he was able to sit next to him without fearing for his virginity.

The ride to the studio was mostly uneventful. Sora and Riku talked quietly in the back while the other two boys sat in comfortable silence, staring out the windows of the car. However, as the large building came into sight, a loud siren began blaring behind them. Lexaeus hastily pulled off the road, just avoiding the ambulance that came roaring down the road. The four boys in the car glanced around at one another, eyes wide with fear.

"Stay calm," Lexaeus said as he pulled back onto the road and continued driving. "Maybe it's not going to the studio."

Unfortunately, he was wrong. As they pulled up to the building, a gurney was wheeled out of the front doors by several EMTs. Upon seeing who was on it, the four boys scrambled out of the car and raced towards it. Saix, however, materialized and held them back. "Get back in the car," he barked. "Lexaeus, follow us to the hospital if these four really want to come."

Terrified out of their wits by the anger and pain in Saix's eyes, the four boys retreated and sat in stunned silence all the way to the hospital.

~::~

Not a whisper passed between the four boys as they sat in the stark white waiting room of the hospital, staring down at the floor or their shoes or their tightly clasped hands. Roxas and Sora were terrified, Axel stunned, and Riku borderline hysterical. Sora, despite his obvious shaking, scooted closer to his boyfriend and took his hand. "He'll be okay. It… it didn't look too bad. Maybe he just hit his head or something."

Riku muttered something unintelligible under his breath and then remained silent until, finally, Saix walked into the room, face pale and eyes glinting with fury. "Saix, what ha-…"

"Axel," the other man cut him off sharply, blatantly ignoring his plea for knowledge. "I need you to come with me. Ventus keeps saying your name, and we need you to try and figure out what's going on. He won't respond to anyone else."

The aforementioned man's eyebrows inched skywards. "Me? Huh. Who would've thought. All right, I'm coming." He stood and followed the other man through the doorway.

Riku stared after them, eyes wide in disbelief. "Shit," he breathed. "Oh, fucking hell, this is not good."

The two brothers stared at him in confusion. "Riku, we're aware of the fact that Ven's hurt," Roxas began. "But what else is so horrifically terrifying to you?"

"If he hit his head… Remember that little incident Sora and I told you about? If Ven managed to fall on his stupid head, he might remember what happened to him and Xion. That's the last thing we want to happen. Not with a new production about to be started. Not to mention the trouble it would cause Axel. No one but us and a couple other people at Kingdom know about it. If the media found out… He'd be ruined. Hell, if Saix finds out, we're all dead."

"Oh, shit," Sora gasped.

"That's an understatement," Roxas replied, gulping audibly.

What seemed like an eternity later, Axel returned to the waiting room, white as sheet and on the verge of crying. "Guys, we need to go back home now. Saix says that we won't be working for the next couple of days while Ventus recovers. Actually, we may not be working for a while."

Riku leapt up and hurried over to him, eyes wide with fear. "What happened, Axel? Please tell me Ven didn't hit his head or anything like that."

"As a matter of fact, he did, and when I talked to him, he started yelling at me to go away, to leave him and Xion alone. Riku," the redhead gritted out, "is that why you never told me what happened that night? Because I fucking raped them? Look, I didn't need to find that out like this. Now Ventus says he's quitting! Do you realize what's gonna happen if he tells people about this, let alone Xion? Saix is already furious with me! I just… You… I hate you!" Axel burst into tears and ran out of the room, past the startled receptionist and several others.

Though he was unsure why, Roxas was the first to follow, running as fast as he could to keep up with the taller man. As he burst through the hospital doors to see that it was raining and Axel was already a good twenty yards away from him, Roxas suddenly doubled over in laughter, realizing just how stupidly ironic this all was. It was like a sappy chick flick where one of the main characters would go running after the other following some horrible event and then, once they caught to runaway, things would be all better. But this wasn't a movie. No way in hell would that happen.

Axel stopped running at the sound of the other man's wild laughter. He turned around, a puzzled expression on his face. He paused for a moment, debating what he should do. Then, with a barely sigh and a smile, he jammed his fists in his pockets and walked back to the blonde. "You're a good kid," he said, reaching out and ruffling Roxas's hair as he straightened up.

"Wait a second, you came back!"

"Don't sound so surprised. Where do I have to run to? Better face my problems then let them eat me alive, am I right, or am I right?" Axel replied with a pained smirk.

Roxas rolled his eyes, batting away the other's hand. "Given the choices? You're right." The two of them burst out laughing and stayed like that, leaning against each other for support until Sora and Riku caught up. They glanced at each other in confusion when they realized the other two weren't even registering their presence, and headed back inside, knowing smiles on their faces.

~::~

After an extremely awkward exchange with Saix concerning when they would be going back to work, the four boys and Lexaeus rove back to the mansion and remained there the rest of the day. Axel shut himself in his room for the better part of it, only emerging to eat meals and grab snacks from the kitchen. He avoided anyone and everyone, even ignoring Aqua when she tried to talk to him.

Roxas, after a particularly awkward dinner spent sitting across the table from Axel, trying not to stare at the obvious tear tracks etched down his cheeks and tattoos, couldn't take the redhead's moping anymore and decided to confront him. He walked down the hall quietly, pausing by his brother's closed door but hurrying on after he heard a quiet moan come from within. Screwing up his eyes to try and get the pictures that flooded into his mind out, he hurried on and then stopped in front of Axel's door.

The short blonde raised one hand to knock, but paused, unsure if this was really such a good idea. Axel was unpredictable and apparently territorial, seeing as how he never let anyone but Aqua into his room. Wouldn't he just kick Roxas right back out if he came in?

Before he could make a decision, the door opened and Axel's emerald eyes appeared sideways in the crack. Roxas yelped in surprise and jumped backwards, falling and slamming his head onto the wall behind him. Axel opened the door all the way and stared down at him in confusion. "I'm not that scary, am I?"

Roxas, clutching at his heart, gasped, "No, sorry, I just wasn't expecting the door to open… And you were sideways."

"Oh. Um… Sorry. I was about to come find you anyways," Axel paused, as if unsure he should continue. "I'm lonely."

"You're lonely, and you're coming to me for entertainment? Apparently my brother never told you how boring I am," Roxas replied. "Unless, of course, video games are involved."

Axel grinned. "I hope you haven't gone soft on me. I am totally gonna kick your ass!"

Three minutes and two gaming systems later saw the two boys fighting head-to-head, screaming and cursing at each other when things didn't go their way. "You cheater!" Roxas exclaimed, throwing his DS down in frustration. "Pikachu can't even use that move! You used an Action Replay, bitch!"

"Bitch yourself, you have a full team of Snorlaxs! I'll never beat you at this rate!" Axel threw his own DS down and crossed his arms over his chest, pouting.

Roxas blinked. "Wait a second, are we really fighting over this?" He met Axel's eyes, and the two practically fell on top of each other, they laughed so hard. The redhead eventually managed to get both of them sobered up by retrieving both their DS's and playing on Roxas's. "Hey, give it back!"

Axel scooted backwards, holding it over his head, out of the blonde's reach. "Uh-uh, what're the magic words?"

"Fuck you!" Roxas replied angrily, crawling along on his hands and knees to try and get his game back. "Come on, really!"

It was then things took a turn for the awkward. Roxas, intent on getting his beloved DS back, stood up and lunged for Axel's outstretched hand, but tripped on the redhead's foot, sending him off-balance. He landed smack dab in the middle of Axel's chest with the redhead's knee in the one place he'd hoped none of Axel would ever touch. Roxas gasped in terror as he felt Axel's arms wrap around him, but, to his great surprise, he was gently picked up and set down on a pile of pillows nearby. Axel handed his DS back and scratched the back of his head, not looking at the other boy.

"I'm sorry, kid. Didn't mean to do that."

Roxas curled in on himself, willing the strange feeling in his gut to go away. It felt like there was a miniature army doing gymnastics in his stomach, an unusual but not unpleasant sensation. He just sat there, staring at Axel, until the other man looked up and waved a hand in front of his face. "Kid? You okay? Don't go all spacey on me, we still have to finish our battle, in case you forgot."

"I don't wanna," Roxas replied quietly. "Just turn our DS's off. I need to go to sleep now, I think. Today was exhausting."

He made a move to get up, but Axel leaned over and gently pushed him back down. "Hey, what's wrong? It's not about the whole Ven and Xion thing, is it? Because I'd never do that again, sober or not. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link, and I won't be that link."

"But how do you know-…" Roxas stopped abruptly as Axel put a finger to his lips.

"Sora let it slip that he and Riku told you about everything. Well, everything they knew about, at least. Nothing your brother finds out stays secret for long, judging by how things have gone since I first met him," Axel explained, smirking. "And since honesty seems to be the best policy with you, it wasn't just loneliness that made me come and find you. I need to talk to you."

Roxas's heart skipped a beat as he registered this. Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck. "About?" he managed to choke out, barely feeling the pressure of the other's finger against his lips.

Axel withdrew his hand and scratched the back of his head. "Look, kid, I'm not sure how to go about saying this… You remember how I acted when we first met, I assume? Well, not all of it was said and done lightheartedly. The sentiments were true. I…" Roxas felt his chest constrict in some unknown emotion, most likely fear or apprehension. The redhead continued after a few moments, emerald eyes locked with Roxas's. "Please don't laugh at me or run away, but I'm starting to think I'm in goddamn love with you."

The last things on Roxas's mind were laughing or running away. He merely sat there, staring at Axel in slack-jawed silence as the other man's green irises bored into his own blue ones, searching for any hint that his feelings were reciprocated. Finally, after several attempts, Roxas spluttered, "A-Axel, I'm not gay. I'm just… not. I'm sorry. You're a great guy, but… I don't love you. Not like that."

The flicker of hope in Axel's eyes was blown out instantly, like a candle flame being snuffed. The redhead turned away, his voice cracking with thinly-veiled pain. "I thought so. Well, that's okay. I'll get over you. Besides, Saix would kill me ever more gruesomely if he found out I was dating one of my co-workers. You can go to sleep now."

Knowing when he was dismissed, Roxas stood and turned to go, clutching his DS so hard his knuckles were white and bloodless. As he stepped into the hall and walked slowly towards his room, he could have sworn he heard the quiet sound of someone sobbing.

~::~

Author's Note: Tell me you didn't see that coming. So, now that some interesting information has been divulged, you'll have to wait until the next chapter to see what the gang does about their little dilemma...