The English language has a sound for everything…except *vibrates tongue, making a farting sound*. They don't have that… This is why you should all speak jibberish. We have that sound… it is called *draws sideways Y* giraffe. Ya…

I walked out of my English class to go to lunch and stood there, holding my books in one hand, running my other through my spiky hair.

"Looking for someone?" A silky smooth voice says from next to me. I look over to see a tall red head boy leaning against the side of the lockers. He smiles at me and I smile back. As he walks over to me I tense up a small amount.

"So what was with this morning? What was going on? You okay?" He says in a voice that says he cares. I don't know what to say to this, but then I remember something that Aerith had said.

"So this is how you are coming out to everyone. Just going out and says that you have a boyfriend. Do you even care about me or am I just a tool.…?" I say, looking at the floor. It was a sad excuse for an excuse, but it was the best that I could think up. After all, Sora was the one that usually covered for me. Where was he anyways…?

"Roxas…" Axel says. "I know you might not understand, but I want people to know, I just never really figured out how to tell them. This way, they will know without me having to say it out loud. I really do like you." He says this in such a sincere way that I can't help but smile at him.

"Well, if we are going to tell them, why not go ahead?" This makes the taller boy smile at me as well and he comes' a step closer to me and wraps a thin, long arm around my too small waist. We begin to walk and I can feel their eyes right away; the criticism that is in their expressions. As if they want to take a knife and drive it through my torn little heart.

People glare at us as we walk into the lunch room. Some girls look at me with jealousy and others look at me with utter hatred. Axel leans in and pushes his face into my hair in a protective fashion. We continue our walk over to the table where the others sat and they look at us; some with happiness, others with surprise; none with hate.

"You finally did it?" Demyx says stating a fact. Zexion looks at me and gives me a knowing look. "Congratulations on coming to terms with yourself, bro." Everyone is smiling at him now and it makes me feel warm inside to know that I am the reason that all of this happens. 'Today must be the day of smiles.' I think to myself.

We both sit down at the table, but I can still feel the eyes on my back, looking at me as if I have committed some horrible crime. A crime such as turning their beloved red head into someone that they didn't think that he was.

I see a girl with long, straight, blonde hair approach our table. I think I recognize her from my Biology class. Vanessa, I believe her name was. She is crying when she arrives at our table and I can feel Axel tense with concern beside me when he sees her.

"Congratulations Roxas, you guys look really good together." She says before running off. I look at the others and I can see that there is some kind of secret about what is going on. I stand up and follow the girl out of the cafeteria.

"Vanessa, Wait up!...What is wrong?" I yell after her. She stops dead run in the middle of the hall way with her back turned to me.

"Last year…he promised that when he was ready to start dating again, I would be the first person that he looked to. I guess that was just a lie though…"

I grind my back teeth. "Damnit….DAMMIT! I really am a screw up aren't I? All I ever do I make things harder for everyone else." I can feel the tears coming now. Those sweet salty things that make you want to hide your face; but I don't. I let them come in rivers down my face.

"Oh, god, Roxas, please don't cry!"

"When, when did it become wrong to love someone? When did it become wrong to want to hug them, and kiss them and hold their hand? When did it become wrong for me to be happy?" I can hear the footsteps of the girl come closer to me and I can feel her arms envelop me in a hug. We stay like this for what seems like forever, both crying in our own despair.

"Look at us. Both wallowing in our own self pity." She says as she pulls away. We both wipe of faces free of tears and smile at each other. "You know, I guess I saw it coming. I mean, what straight guy spends that much time on his hair! So, this means I need to find a new beau doesn't it? What do you think of that Riku kid? Think he is would make good boyfriend material?" I smile and laugh at the girl. At how quickly she got over Axel; something I would never be able to do.

"Well, I think that anyone who makes out with my brother and then disappears for 4 days, prrrooobably isn't straight." I say, in turn making Vanessa laugh.

"Looks like am going to have to go to another table if I want to find hot, straight, single guys, aren't I?" Vanessa says sarcastically.

"Ya…" I respond. "You are kind of SOL when it comes to the straight part." We both stand in silence in the hall way for a moment more before one of us talks.

"Um…I should get back. Axel is probably wondering where I am…" I say pointing my thump back the direction that we had come from. I turn and start walking to the door when I am stopped by a voice.

"They don't hate you by the way. They are just jealous. Give them some time." I nod and keep walking to the door. I open and I come face to face with a very relieved red head.

"Thank god! I was beginning to worry." He said. He said… is that all that you ever do; tell people lies that you expects them to believe? It wasn't till the words left my mouth that I realized that I had been saying all of this out loud.

"Roxas…It isn't like th-"

"NO!" I yell. "It is like that! We ARE like that! What, are you afraid to say it! To say what we are! When people ask you if you are really 'like that' are you going to say 'oh, no, it's not like that'?" I realize that I am crying again, but I don't care. "Why are you so afraid to say that you are gay! I don't get it! I risked my ass to be with you last night! And I get nothing but a be- You know what? Talk to me again when you can be yourself…" I look around the crowded cafeteria. Everyone is staring wide eyed at us; not believing what they have just witnessed. I turn and walk back out the doors.

"He hates me. He god damn fuckin' hates me." Axel said. "I doubt he hates anyone as much as he hates me." The boy looked up and saw his brother and his boyfriend exchanging looks. A look that said that there was something that Axel didn't know. Maybe, a secret that Zexion knew that he had told Demyx.

"Don't say that…" Demyx whispered.

Axel looked over to the blonde on the other side of the room. He was working on his chemistry project with a boy named Vexen and the girl, Vanessa. His eyes were still quite a bit red a puffy, but he had stopped sobbing. Now only the occasional, silent tear ran down his cheek.

"Axel, Roxas is having a really hard time right now. He just got back from boarding school and is still not settled in here. You could have been a bit more honest with him. He needs you a lot more than you know." Zexion said, comfortingly.

"How am I supposed to help him when I don't even know what is wrong. But you know, don't you? You know why he is always so sad… Tell me, please…" Zexion shook his head at this request.

"I promised I would not tell you. Though I do understand why he would not want you to know…" The red head hung his head in defeat. It was not like there was anything that he could do to help the situation. If Zexion made up his mind not tell him, Zexion would not budge. "But you can apologize. Talk to him…And this time, no secrets." Axel shook his head.

"No secrets…not anymore. So if that means that he asks…he asks." Zexion and Demyx looked at the boy proudly. Everything would be okay…

The bell rang and all the students took a mad dash for their parent's cars and the buses. Those who walked took no less time. As Roxas walked through the door he felt a hand grab his arm and pull him away.

"Roxas, we need to talk." A smooth voice said. The too small boy looked up at the person. Axle. How much of a fool he had been for believing that Axel would not want him back after all the horrible things that he had said. The taller red head opened the front door to the school and shut it behind them. "

"I know that I have lied in the past, but from now on I am going to be 100% honest with you. I am in love with the idea of being in love, although I don't know what it feels like. All I know is that right now, I feel helpless, and scared and…elated all at the same time. Now, I don't know if this is what love is supposed to feel like, but I sure as hell hope it is. I don't think that I could imagine life without you anymore and the idea of it only makes me want to go crawl in a dingy hole and die. Now, you can ask me anything, ANYTHING, you want and I am going to tell you the truth. No white lies, no hiding big secrets. I want you to know everything about me." He said, rattling off words as they came into his head. One by one, making him feel safe again.

"Now I know that you won't lie and say that you don't hate the world, I am going to ask. Why are you so bitter and cold?" The little blonde said, as shaken up as could be by the situation.

"You picked a big one didn't you…Well; I guess…it is because of Xion."

"Who's Xi-"

"She is the girl that I was telling you about the other day; my ex-girlfriend…and the first person to ever tell me to my face that I was gay. God, seems like it was just yesterday. She told me that when we were going out none the less. Said that she had known after a couple of weeks. And that is when it dawned on me, that I was not in love with her, but in love with the idea of her. Because she was everything that the fairytales had said that she would be. She was beautiful with glossy black hair and big round, blue eyes that were so dark they were almost black…eyes that looked as deep as the ocean floors. And she had angel white skin and a tiny frame and tiny hands Axel looked down at his hands. "Hands that fit so perfectly into mine… She did have one flaw though…She had Cystic Fibrosis…You…probably know what that means… But one day…we had a fight about me coming out…and that is when it happened. She got out of the car and slammed the door and didn't say goodbye didn't look back. The next day on the news, there was a reported suicide on 108 Westbury Lane. You can probably guess where she lived."

And that was it. Just like that, the little blonde boy had forgiven the red head. Someone who had seen things near as horrid as he had. The suicide of the only person he ever loved, even if it wasn't true love. He jumped forward, embracing the taller boy in a hug. "I'm sorry…I'm so sorry. I should have- I should have just trusted you."

"No." The red head interrupted. "I should not have lied to you in the first place. Roxas…I'm scared…" Axel said. It was true. He had never felt anything like this for another person, not even her.

"Me too…"

The two boys stayed like for who knows how long; standing in front of the school with all of their piers watching. The two just hugging, loving each others company, neither needing nor asking for more.

*HONK!*

Both boys looked to were the sound had come from to see a convertible with a silver haired boy and a brunette in the front and a very short emo looking boy and a blonde in the back.

"You gonna stand there all day or are you coming!" Sora screamed at his brother and his, let's take this slowly, boooyyyyffrrriieennndd. Roxas laughed and ran towards the car and hopped over the edge into his brother's lap.

"And where have you been -just-gonna-disapear-for-3-days-and-not-tell-anyone?" Roxas said accusingly. His brother laughed his light and heart filled laugh.

"Ha-ha it was nothing we just wen-Roxas...there is a bruise on the back of your neck." Roxas's eyes widened and he slapped the back of his neck, a small gasp escaping his lips. "Oh my god…did he…again?"

I roll my eyes. "How naïve are you Sora; Naïve enough to think that just because you don't hear it every time, does not mean that father does not hurt me everyday?" He said in a whisper. He shook the thought away and looked to Riku. "So…what exactly were you guys doing?" He asked.

The silver haired boy laughed and wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. "Well…what ever you think….is wrong. We watched a movie and then fell asleep at my place last night. Durrr! But ya…so anyone here up for ice cream?" He asked. Roxas and Sora both shook their heads.

"Sorry, babe, but we gotta get home. You know…stuff to do." Sora said stiffly. Riku bowed his head, his silver hair hanging in his eyes.

"I understand." He said sadly. Roxas knew that voice. It was the sound of a voice that knew. The silver haired boy looked up to see the blonde boy looking at him but Riku looked away, unable to look at him anymore. "I'll take everyone home."

The twins sat in the front passenger seat, the others in the back. Demyx had his head resting on Zexion's shoulder while Axels' was resting on the front head rest that was behind said twins. No one said anything for the ride, either not sure what to say or too nervous to say anything. As the car slowly pulled up to the front doors of the Strife's house, the two boys got out of the car, waving goodbye to their friends. The brunette boy opened the door slowly to see that the house was completely void of people. He walked in carefully and turned to his brother, who was still standing outside the door, looking at his feet, at the marble threshold that he was about to cross.

"It was pretty bad this time, huh?" He carefully, not wanting to upset his brother, who only nodded.

"How did you know?" Roxas asked. Sora smiled half heartedly.

"You won't come inside. Kind of like you are afraid of what might happen if you do. Maybe…you wanna tell me what was different this time…?" The blonde boy turned back around and sat down on the front steps, watching the fountain that sat in the middle of their drive way. He felt his brothers' presence next to him and buried his head in crossed arms in his lap.

"He…he almost killed me this time. He tried to choke me…he has never done that before…and it was all because I told him that I was with Axel. He told me that I wasn't allowed to see him anymore, and to be honest, I don't want to know what might happen if I break that promise." As he said this, the world around Sora began to slow to a stop. His father had tried to kill his brother.

Sora stood and walked away, having nothing to say; having no comforting words to make him feel better. How could he, when he had almost died.

Roxas sat on the porch, his head still in his arms, listening to the faint island breeze wisp by. As he sat in the calming quiet, he felt a slight, repeated vibration in his right hand pocket.

"Hello" He said barley able to squeeze the words out of his throat.

"Hey it is Axel; I just wanted to know if anything was up. You looked kind of down this afternoon."

The blonde boy shook his head and sighed. "Axel, I want you to know that-." He stopped mid sentence as he saw a black sports car begin to make its way up their drive. The small blonde boy bit his lip and tears began to spring to his eyes as he ran into the house. He was sure that his father must be following him, as he must have seen him run into the house.

"Axel." He said breathing harshly through his tears. "My dad…He just got home…I have to-." Someone grabbed the phone from behind and pressed the off button, throwing the phone across the room.

"WHAT DID I TELL YOU BOY! WHAT DID I TELL YOU ABOUT TALKING TO THAT BOY!" Cloud grabbed his son around the shoulders and shoved him onto the ground. "I thought that maybe you had learned your lesson, BUT I GUESS I WAS WRONG!" The man had his son pinned to the ground, standing with one boot clad foot on Roxas's arm.

Roxas let a gasp escape his lip as his father ground his already swelling arm into the wood floors. A scream ripped through the house, loud and shrill with fear as another foot came in contact with his side.

"NOW STAND!" He shouted. The small and crippled boy on the floor knew better than to disobey his father, especially seeing how mad he was at the moment. HE slowly by surly pulled himself up, swaying a bit.

The older man grabbed him by the chin, pulling his face forward so that he could feel his breath on his cheeks. There were tears coming in rivers from his eyes. "You best follow my rules, or it will be your life that I take next." His father left it at this as he roughly kicked that frail boy in the groin area, leaving him on the floor by the door.

"Oh, and clean yourself up. Your brother will be staying with us for some time."

"But he is already-."

His father laughed. "Your…other…brother."

The line went dead before Roxas could finish his sentence. Axel slowly pressed the end button as the beeping in the background started. He sat down on his bed and sighed. "Something is wrong..." He said to himself, seeing as his brother and Demyx were not in the room at the moment. He stood, making his way to his fathers' office down the hall. He knocked, not knowing what to expect upon opening it.

"Dad?" He said warily. The raven haired man at the desk looked up to his son and sighed, standing and walking to the couch on the other side of the room, sitting and patting the spot next to him.

"Spill." He said, as if he already knew that there was something that was bothering his son. Axel too crossed the room and took the open seat, spreading his legs in front of himself.

"There is something wrong with Roxas and no one will tell me! And I know that they know what it is. Riku and Sora and Demyx and Zexion…they all know! But none of them will fucking tell me." He groaned at the end, letting his feelings out in a rampage of angry words. Vincent put his hand on his sons shoulder.

"I can see that you have great feelings for the Strife boy, but tell me, what makes you worry?" He asked. Of course, he already knew, he just wanted a bit of insight in what was really going on in the seemingly perfect household.

"Well, today he was mad at me and he said something about risking his ass to be with me last night. Oh, and I just got off the phone with him cause I was kind of worried about him cause he seemed really down on the way home, you know? And when I called he was going to tell me something, but then he stopped mid sentence and then I heard all kinds of noise, and then when he stared to talk again, I could tell the he was crying and maybe even running. He said something about his dad being home and then the phone just went dead…"

"Is that it?"

"Well…" The red head boy said, thinking about weather or not the following information was of any relevance to the situation. "I didn't tell him, I guess he probably already knew, but he had a huge bruise on the back of his neck today." Vincent's eyes widened. A bruise…neck…Choking? If this was the magnitude of the situation, then things were going from bad to dangerous very quickly. But he had promised not to meddle…

"You should not worry about it. Roxas is fine, there is nothing going on that you need to concern yourself with."

Axel watched as his father stood and crossed the room, looking to the side in a paranoid manner. Axel gasped loudly.

"YOU KNOW! YOU FUCKING KNOW AND YOU AREN'T TELLING ME! YOU ARE UST LIKE ALL OF THEM! SELFISH!" He shouted at his father, standing and storming out of the office. Vincent looked after his son as he pulled the phone closer to his ear. Tiffa, get Aerith, Cid, Yuffie, everyone, at work. We need to have a meeting."

"Why?"

"Cloud tried to kill Roxas."

Wow...ya...we realize that it took us a little while to update, but that is because we have marching band everyday till 7 and then dance or someother crack thing to do. So, sorrrryyy!