(A/N): First and foremost and most importantly, THANK YOU SO MUCH to everyone who read, reviewed, favorited, and alerted this story. I ADORE all of you. You are what keeps me and this story going. Everyone had such wonderful things to say and for that, I am truly and utterly grateful.

Which is why I now bring you chapter 2!!! AND it's longer!!! I hope it's not too long, but hey there's lots more Axel in this one. :D It is still following the guidelines of Girl, Interrupted, but its a little more elaborate and different.

Don't own KH or GI. Muah.

I hope you enjoy it and I must WARN YOU, the first half is rather depressing so grab a box of kleenex.

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Life, Interrupted – Chapter 2

"Hey, Demyx," Roxas said aloud after they'd been lying in bed for about five minutes, but not too loud for fear of waking his roommate lest he was asleep. There was a deep intake of breath and Roxas could tell he'd woken Demyx up. "Sorry…"

"No, it's fine," Demyx replied sleepily. "I wasn't asleep, just kinda in the twilight zone, you know? What's up?"

Roxas swallowed hard as he remembered the events that had just occurred. "Who's Sora?"

"Sora was Axel's best friend, he idolized Axel. Sora had been extremely depressed since Axel ran away, and last week he couldn't take it anymore, so he stole a guitar string from the music room and hung himself."

"Oh…" Roxas's heart lurched. The story made him very uneasy. "So why did he call me Sora when he first looked at me?"

Demyx frowned. "'Cause you look a lot like him…with different hair. That's why Zexion and I were ogling you when you first walked in."

A heart-rending scream that ended in a gasping sob echoed through the hallway, making Roxas bolt upright. "What was that?" he asked frantically, already pulling himself out of bed and heading towards the door.

"Roxas, stop!" Demyx whispered sharply, following Roxas. "You'll get in trouble if they catch you in the hall after lights out!"

"Shh!" Roxas silenced him as he pulled their door open slightly to look out. Despite himself, Demyx peered out over Roxas's head as well.

The door diagonally across the hall was half open. Axel was crouched facing the wall clad only in his jeans. His head was bowed down and his arms were against the wall above his head. He was gasping for air between sobs as he tried to dig his nails into the wall. Roxas could see his firm back muscles contract with each sob.

"Why, Sora? Why, Sora, why…why…" he murmured as he rocked back and forth. "Why did you leave me…"

A nurse approached him and bent down to speak to him. "Axel, if you don't remove your trousers yourself, we'll be force to do it for you, and we don't want that now, do we?"

Axel completely ignored the nurse and continued to rock back and forth, crying. When the nurse attempted to touch his shoulder, he immediately whirled around to avoid her touch. "Leave me alone!" he cried.

This was when the nurse noticed the two spectators across the hall. Just before Roxas shut the door, he caught sight of two male nurses, one holding Axel's arms back and the other starting to pull at his pants, while Axel, still sobbing, cried out in protest.

Though this redheaded boy had terrified Roxas earlier, he couldn't help but feel slightly nauseated to see the way they were treating him when he was obviously in a great deal of pain. He looked over at Demyx as they both lay back down in their beds.

A mixture of sadness and frustration was written on Demyx's face. "He's always getting himself into that kind of trouble. I hate seeing him like that, but it's his own damn fault. He was going crazy here, so to speak, and he wanted Sora to run away with him, but Sora was too afraid. That was one of Sora's biggest problems, he was afraid of everything. I guess that's why he was so taken with Axel. Axel's not afraid of anything, to the point of being insane…obviously. He left though, even if Sora was too afraid to, and well…you know the rest."

"Yeah…" was all Roxas could provide as a response. He knew that this ordeal being Axel's fault was the logical and valid argument, but he still couldn't bring himself to blame Axel, not after seeing and hearing the anguish he just did. "Okay, well, 'night, Demyx."

"Night, Roxas." Demyx promptly began to snore.

Roxas yawned and turned on his side. He felt his eyelids become heavy, not realizing how truly tired he was until his cheek touched the cool fabric of the pillow. Soon, even Demyx's nasal symphony faded away and he slipped out of consciousness.

The quintessential shrill ringing of a high school bell filled Roxas's mind. He was sitting in the middle of his twelfth grade English classroom watching as all of his classmates hurriedly gathered their belongings and scurried out the door like field mice. Standing up, Roxas attempted to do the same, but froze when he heard a voice from the front of the room say his name.

"Roxas, I need to see you up here when everyone has left," his high school English professor, Mr. Cloud, commanded.

Swallowing, Roxas made the trek to the front of the classroom. The isle the two rows of desks he trudged between created seemed to stretch unbelievably in front of him. Everyone but he and Mr. Cloud had disappeared by the time he reached the front of the room. He came to stand in front of his seated professor's desk without a word.

Mr. Cloud gazed at Roxas over a sheet of paper he held in his hands. He cleared his throat before beginning. "Roxas, you used to be my star pupil, but lately, your grades have been slipping. You know how much that disappoints me." He handed the sheet of paper he was holding over to Roxas.

Most of it seemed blurry to him, but the one thing that jumped out like a beacon was the glaring red capital "F" at the top of the page. "Umm…" Roxas was at a loss for words. Honestly, he didn't give a damn. "I'm…sorry?"

His professor sighed. "I only say this to you because I want to help you, because I…care."

"So…how are you gonna help me?" came Roxas's indifferent reply.

"Well…" his professor began, pausing in order to form him next few words correctly. "I was hoping you could help me help you."

Roxas simply stared at his teacher, his eyes half closed with boredom. He opened his mouth and yawned widely at his professor. "Umm, okay, so how am I supposed to do that?"

Mr. Cloud didn't say anything, but simply sat back in his seat enough for Roxas to see his lap, spread his legs, and undid the buckle of his pants.

It dawned on Roxas what he was supposed to do. He was about to tell his teacher to go fuck himself, but then the his mother's endless litany about Ivy League Colleges and a bright future rang in his head. As much as he'd like to say he didn't give a rat's ass about what his mother wanted, he was in no mood to face the amount of disappointment that would come if he didn't live up to her standards. He walked around the desk towards his eagerly awaiting professor…

Pitch darkness greeted Roxas's sore eyes when he woke up. Peering over at the clock on his nightstand, he saw that he'd only been asleep for an hour or so. The images of his dream, or rather his flashback, came rushing back to him. He didn't really know why he dreamt it; he chalked up sucking his professor off to get an A in English class to something that had to be done. It wasn't something that had traumatized him. And it wasn't really the turning point of his life anyway; it didn't help a damn lick, so to speak. If fact, Mr. Cloud's wife had found out and blamed it all on Roxas, saying he'd seduced her husband. Roxas's was too tired and apathetic to fight back, so he just took it. At least he'd gotten an A.

Sometimes, though, when he thought back on it, he wished he hadn't been such a coward. He wished he didn't care in a way that meant he could be fearless and fight back without being afraid of the consequences. Fearless. Like Axel.

Roxas didn't know why Axel had crept his way into his mind, but he had, and suddenly the pain he'd seen in Axel was all Roxas could think about. Slowly, he rose from his bed and crept to the door, opening it silently for a second time that night.

The door to the room he'd seen Axel in earlier was open halfway like it had been before, and the first thing he saw inside was Axel.

He was sitting in the same spot he'd seen him in an hour ago, except he was facing the door this time. Clad only in a hospital gown that opened in the front, he was sitting with one bare leg out in front of him and the other tucked underneath him. Axel seemed completely out of it as he looked across the room with glassy, unfocused eyes, then down at his hands, which rested in his lap. Tears were still rolling endlessly down his cheeks, except this time, he was silent, save for a quiet moaning that sounded something close to the whining of an injured puppy. He was a far cry from the wild and infuriated Axel he'd encountered earlier.

A nurse with a long braid, which Roxas recognized to be Aerith, came to crouch in front of Axel. She pulled the stethoscope from around her neck and placed it in her ears. After, stroking Axel's tearstained cheek with the back of her hand, she gently pushed open his hospital gown and placed the end of the stethoscope against his chest. All the while, Axel kept his head down, still moaning softly. Even from a distance, Roxas could see that Axel's chest was rising and falling rapidly, almost painfully, as Aerith moved the end of the stethoscope over his chest, which seemed odd compared to his almost catatonic state.

Aerith clicked her tongue once as she replaced the stethoscope around her neck and looked behind her at someone out of view on the other side of the room. "His heart rate is through the roof. I'm worried about him, Yuffie," she murmured, turning back to Axel and attempted to lift his face with her index finger, but he just jerked away from her, his glazed expression unwavering.

Another nurse with short black hair came to stand by Aerith. "He'll calm down soon. It's normal after shocks."

"No it's not! Not almost an hour afterwards!" Aerith hissed at her. "They used too high a voltage! It makes his vitals go haywire!"

"But they used the same settings on Lexaeus yesterday…" Yuffie tried weakly.

"Look at him! Does he look like his body could withstand the same amount of electricity at Lexaeus? Sure Axel's tall, but he's so thin, and he's even thinner now then he was when he ran away. I swear these shocks are going to kill the poor boy one day." Yuffie didn't have an argument this time.

Directing her attention to the boy in front of her once more, Aerith spoke softly. "Axel, honey, will you look at me just for a few moments, I need to examine your pupils. It won't hurt, I promise." She made an effort at lifting his face again, more gently this time. He didn't react either way, simply allowed her to do with him what she wanted. She moved a tiny light from one eye to the other, when suddenly he hissed and cowered away from her, jamming his palms against his eyeballs. Aerith caressed Axel hair as he moaned loudly for a moment. "I'm sorry it hurts, sweetheart. It'll pass."

Roxas suddenly realized that he'd stepped out of his bedroom while watching Axel and quickly backed up until he hit the wall with a thud. The sound seemed to resonate throughout the entire hallway. He froze when he saw that Aerith and Axel, who had lifted his head from his hands, were staring at him. Roxas's breath caught in his throat as he prepared himself to be thrown up against the wall a second time. But it never came. Instead, Axel cocked his head to one side and smiled ever so slightly through his tears, whispering just one word. "Sora…"

Aerith stood and walked out of the room, closing the door on Axel behind her. When she approach Roxas, before she even opened her mouth to speak, he immediately began to apologize. "I'm so sorry, Aerith! I didn't mean to be outside my room after lights out. I heard him yell earlier, and I just woke up so I wanted to see if he was okay. He doesn't look so good. Is he going to be okay?"

Though she placed her hands on her hips in an authoritative manner, worry was written on her face. "He'll be fine," she answered him, sounding very unconvincing. "But, only if nothing further agitates him, meaning you, young man, need to go back to bed."

"I'm sorry," Roxas apologized again, sincerely, looking down at his bare feet.

Sighing, Aerith laid a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry," she soothed, her tone softening. "I'm sure by tomorrow, he'll be causing havoc around the ward like he always does. He's been here a long time and faced this before and worse. He always becomes himself again."

Roxas glanced up at Aerith who smiled at him reassuringly, but he remained silent.

"Goodnight, Roxas. Sweet dreams."

"'Night…" Roxas heard her return to the room across the hall as he opened his bedroom door.

"Sora?" came Axel's barely audible question for her.

"No, honey…Sora's gone."

--

It was about an hour after lunch the next day in the recreation room, and Roxas was seated on the couch writing in his journal after being informed he had his appointment with Dr. Vexen in half an hour. He has begun to write his thoughts on the people he'd met at Twilight Hill; what he heard them say, their supposed diagnosis, and what he thought of them. A cigarette was glued between his index and middle finger as he scribbled. It was a habit he'd picked up from the "bad kids" in high school that he just couldn't drop.

Demyx and Zexion were sitting next to him, or rather, Zexion was sitting next to him, while Demyx was again balled up in his lap, holding a keychain of a guitar and explaining something to Zexion about it in a very hushed voice. Never once did the mute boy look down at the charm, but instead stared at Demyx's face the entire time. Though they were an odd pair, it almost seemed kind of cute to Roxas. Maybe there was a connection between them, and Demyx wasn't just pulling things out of his ass.

Luxord, of course, was busying himself with his cards at the small round table. He was painstakingly building a house of cards while hurriedly talking to himself. Marluxia was lazily reclined in one of the armchairs, sensually stroking his own long rose-colored mane. Saix still sat glaring, but this time he was seated in a chair next to the couch that held Roxas and his companions.

For the past hour, Xemnas had been rushing frantically between his room, which was the first door on the left just into the hallway, and the bathroom, which was directly across from his room. All the while, he carried something small between both hands that he seemed fascinated with, but which Roxas could not see. Then suddenly, he stopped midway back to his room and turned to scuttle into the rec room. No one noticed him, apparently used to Xemnas's antics, except for Roxas of course, who looked up at Xemnas with fear in his wide eyes.

Being as Roxas was his only audience, Xemnas directed his exclamation towards him. "They won't shine bright enough!!"

Roxas jumped back slightly, unable to provide an articulate answer for the anxious silver-haired boy in front of him. Demyx finally glanced over to see what was going on. He and Roxas both watched as Xemnas gave them a frustrated exhale for not supplying a solution, and then stalked off to his bedroom, slamming the door hard behind him.

Knowing he didn't even have to ask for one aloud, Roxas looked to Demyx for an explanation. Demyx realized immediately this was his cue to spill.

"Xemnas collects, or more like hoards, porcelain and crystal heart-shaped statues, trinkets, things…whatever. He's always obsessing over how clean and shiny they are. You should see his room; it's like an emporium in there, although he hates it when anyone goes in there. He's so afraid they're going to knock one down or out of place. It's really the only thing he can control, and he even has trouble doing that." Demyx rolled his eyes and settled deeper into Zexion's lap.

Roxas tried to keep from laughing. "Demyx, can I ask you a question?"

"Shoot."

"How in the world do you know everything about everyone?"

Demyx chuckled and then gave Zexion a look. "Well, you know there's nothing interesting to do around here. So, Zexion and I are always playing detective. Zexion's the one who finds out most of this shit."

Zexion turned to Roxas and after a long moment, he winked. Or at least Roxas was pretty sure he winked, he couldn't tell if it was a wink or a blink since he could only see one of Zexion's eyes, but it seemed like the appropriate moment for a wink.

Roxas smiled and returned his attention to his journal, finishing off his sketch of Axel's intense and angry eyes, an image that was now burned into his mind. Though Axel had scared the life out of Roxas when he'd thrown him against the wall and his face had been mere inches from his own, he found his eyes to be strangely enticing. And anything was easier to look at than the catatonic Axel he'd seen late last night. It was just so…sad. Though Aerith said he'd be okay, Roxas hadn't seen Axel all day, and there was an odd feeling of worry in the pit of his stomach.

As if on cue, a familiar click of boots echoed through the hallway, becoming louder as the owner grew closer. Axel swaggered into view at the head of the hallway, dressed entirely in black—undershirt, skinny jeans, and boots. It contrasted starkly with his pale skin. The only color was in his wild, blood red hair. He stopped and faced Xemnas's room. Twisting sideways, he kicked open the door and screamed, "CRASH!"

The door swung open and Roxas saw Xemnas spring from a kneeling position in from of a shelf laden with glittering knick-knacks. "Get out Axel, you ASSHOLE!!" Xemnas shrieked, slamming the door shut as Axel cackled loudly.

"Love you too, Xemmy…" he cooed into the door before entered the recreation room.

Roxas's heart jumped, but Axel seemed to completely ignore his staring as he sashayed towards Marluxia and kissing the rosy-haired boy's hand in a very knightly manner. "Mmm, my lady, might I say you are looking simply effervescent this fine afternoon." He gave Marluxia a devilish grin.

Marluxia giggled, genuinely enjoying Axel's compliment as the redhead fell lightly into his lap. His beautiful and feminine hands massaged Axel's lean back. Axel arched, his eyes closing, and the purr that escaped his throat was surprisingly extremely feline. "Mari-baby, you really know how to please a man…" As Axel rose, Marluxia giggled for a second time.

He grabbed a chair from the round table, making Luxord jump to protect his precious card house, and dragged it to a backwards position in front of the couch Roxas, Demyx, and Zexion occupied. "Can I bum one?" he asked, straddling the chair, and lifting an eyebrow at Roxas.

"Oh! Yeah, sure." Roxas fumbled for the box of cigarettes in his pocket and held it open as Axel's nimble finger drew one out.

"Thanks," he replied when Roxas held out his lighter.

After taking a long drag from his cigarette, Axel directed a question to Demyx, but keeping his gaze on Roxas all the while. The small diamond-shaped tattoos at the center under each eye made his emerald stare that much more intimidating to Roxas. "Hey, Demy, you miss me?" Axel blew rings of smoke expertly from his lips.

"Who wouldn't miss you, Axel?" Demyx replied half playfully, half sarcastically. "You enjoy your little vacation?"

"More than you know," Axel answered, waggling his eyebrows at Roxas who squirmed uncomfortably in his seat. "But I just couldn't stay away." He paused here for a moment to take another long drag and then proceeded to lean over and blow smoke in Saix's angry, unchanging face. He waited a few seconds as the smoke cleared up, but there was no reaction. He shrugged and returned to stare Roxas down again. "I just had to come back to see what was going on, if anything had changed. And apparently, quite a bit has…"

Roxas tensed as Axel grew quiet and continued to stare at him for a few moments. Then, a smirking grin spread across his face. He held out his hand to Roxas, his cigarette resting between his lips. After hesitating for a second, Roxas did the same. Axel's grip was strong. Though Roxas's hand wasn't exactly tiny, Axel's long fingers wrapped around it in a capturing manner.

"Name's Axel," the redhead introduced himself. "What about you, squirt?"

Roxas was surprised, first that Axel was completely different that the previous night, and also that he was behaving as if it hadn't happened. "My name's Roxas."

"Well, Roxas, what's your diag-nonsense?" Axel questioned playfully, an odd eastern-European accent creeping into his voice on the last word, making him sound like a crazed old psychiatrist, which was obviously the point.

"They think I tried to kill myself," Roxas answered.

"Hey kid, haven't we all tried to off ourselves at some point." Axel's eyes softened slightly as he peered at Roxas.

"You have weird tattoos," Roxas blurted out, changing the subject. He hasn't meant for it to just come out like that, but it had.

Axel chuckled. "I got those in prison," he teased, wiggling his eyebrows again. When he saw Roxas's reaction, he cracked up. "If I could be in prison right now, you think they'd send me here? I'm too bonkers to go to prison. Nah, my girlfriend in high school once told me my eyes scared her, so I tattooed these to scare her even more. Needless to say, we broke up. But not before one last great fuck." With the last word, he thrust his narrow hips erotically again the chair. "I guess I am psycho."

"I don't think your eyes are scary, they're…" Roxas blushed and looked down, unable to finish.

"Well, thanks kid," Axel replied, concentrating on Roxas as if trying to figure out something. In the silence that ensued, the only thing that could be heard was Luxord's frantic muttering. Even Demyx had quieted down and was now resting his head on Zexion's shoulder. This drew Axel's attention to Luxord. "Hey Roxy, watch this…" he whispered, getting Roxas to lift his head and watch as Axel arose and crept lightly towards Luxord.

Upon reaching a position just behind the frosty blonde, Axel turned to give Roxas a sensationally evil grin and then knelt so his mouth was just by Luxord's right ear. "Hey Ace, what's up?"

Luxord immediately jumped in his seat before beginning to talk faster than his lips could move. "Ace? Ace?! Which ace?? There are four suits in the deck which mean four aces so I don't know which ace you're talking about but I hope you're talking about the hearts because I like the hearts the most even though the spades are consideredthemostpowerfulandstrongestsuitinthedeckbutIjustfindthemboringand…OHMYGOD!!"

At some point during Luxord's sermon, he'd gotten so excited and his gesticulation had gotten so wild that he had utterly demolished his beloved house of cards. And now, as he stood gazing at the rubble and debris in horror, Axel was doubled over with laughter, keeping one hand on the table for support so he wouldn't fall over.

"Every damn time," he choked out between peals of giggles, making Roxas and the other occupants of the room snicker as well, for most of them had watched the entire scene unfold. "It never fails."

Amidst the chaos, Aerith entered the room and Axel noticed her. "Hey Aerith baby, when the fuck is my check up?" he asked her playfully as he stood, and in almost one swift movement, placed his right hand around her hips and took her right hand with his left to sweep her into a dancing position.

She couldn't help but laugh, as she disentangled herself from him, but only Roxas could sense the relief on her face that Axel was back to normal, or as normal as Axel could be. "It's now, Axel. Let's go, I'll take you," she told him, a smile still on her face.

"Bye Roxy," Axel said, his voice lilting as he strutted after Aerith down the hallway. Before he disappeared, he glanced back one last time, giving Roxas a wink that strangely made his stomach flip.

After meeting Axel, Roxas could at least be sure of one thing, his stay at Twilight Hill was going to be interesting.

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(A/N): I tried to write the second half with a little more comic relief, being as the first half was SO damn sad. I mean, I CRIED writing it. Again, please tell me what you think in a review. Reviews are the fuel to my writing. ;) I'll try to have chapter 3 up ASAP.

And again, if you would like me to review your story, don't hesitate to let me know.

Until next time...

LOVE YOU ALL SOOOO MUCH.

xoxo

P.S. - Thanks to my ever lovely beta, Jess. You're fab. :)