(A/N): Guess who's baaaack! I always knew this story would never die. School just got in the way. Since I've been on winter break though (thank the Axel gods) I was able to write! Weee!! I hope you guys missed me because I certainly missed you all!!

So, here it is. Chapter 10. It isn't a very happy chapter...to say the least. It'll probably make you pretty uncomfortable actually...

I don't own...ya...you know...all that stuff.

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Life, Interrupted - Chapter 10

The next few minutes seemed a blur to Roxas. Within seconds, Axel had helped him out of bed and into his clothes. Before he knew it, Axel was leading Roxas through the dark halls, the older boy's grip on his hand so tight that his fingers were going numb.

"Where are we going?" Roxas whispered sharply. "What about Yuffie? Won't she catch us?"

"Don't worry, I took care of her." Axel's short response made Roxas's stomach turn.

As they darted down the hallway towards the back door Axel had once led him through, Roxas could hear Axel's overly-labored breathing. Even for the pace they were going at, he shouldn't have to be working so hard to inhale and exhale.

"Are you okay?" Roxas asked meekly this time, afraid of what Axel would tell him.

The redhead didn't answer this time, but remained completely silent, save for his ragged gasps, until they burst through the door, out into the frigid icy air. Just when Roxas thought they were stopping to rest, he realized Axel was only pausing to make a split-second decision as to the direction they were going to run next. They dashed through the forest surrounding the premises; narrowly avoid the countless trees around them.

After they had been running for what seemed like an eternity to Roxas and he wasn't quite sure if he could go on any longer, Axel came to a sudden halt in a clearing, released Roxas's hand for the first time, and let himself fall on all fours, gasping deeply as painful moans escaped his throat. Roxas knelt by his side and stroked the fallen boy's long mane.

"Axel…?" he asked quietly, feeling his voice shaken with fatigue and worry. He was scared Axel was just going give in and die at any moment. When Axel sat back onto his legs and gazed up wearily at the blonde, Roxas's gasp caught in his throat.

Roxas hadn't quite fathomed just how physically weak and broken Axel was when the older boy had woken him up, but now he could see the circles that surround his eyes were like dark, ugly bruises that contrasted starkly with his pale skin. The red spider webs that sprawled across the whites of his eyes rivaled the vibrant shade of his now limp hair. His collarbone peeked sharply over the thin tank top that was exposed through his open jacket. His breathing was so ragged, it seemed like it was tearing knives in Axel's lungs every time he desperately drew it in.

"Oh my God, Axel," Roxas whispered gently. "You can't go on. You're going to break. We have to get you to a hospital or something."

"Are you fucking kidding me, Roxas?!" Axel half-shouted with what was obviously almost all the strength he had left, for the end of his exclamation turned into a weak wheezing and he lowered his head, wincing in pain and panting heavily.

Roxas knew what he had said was stupid, but he felt guilty making Axel go on in such a state, even if it was the taller boy's idea. He searched desperately for something to say—for any kind of answer.

Axel saved him from his dilemma once his breathing had begun to slow. "I'll be fine," he reassured him weakly, but in a much calmer tone this time. "We're almost out of the woods and there's a diner not to far from here. I just need to sit and rest for a little bit when we get there. Help me up, Roxy. We're gonna make it."

Immediately upon his feet, Roxas knelt down and placed Axel's arm around his shoulders and managed to support most of the larger boy's weight as he helped him to stand.

They walked like this in silence for a good while until finally Roxas could see lights up ahead and could tell they had reached some form of civilization. Stepping out of the woods, they came upon a highway. Glancing in either direction, Roxas discovered there was, in fact, a diner not far off to their right. As they neared it, Roxas could see it was a rather small place that didn't even have a name, just a neon sign at the top that flashed "24 HOUR" obnoxiously. Before they stepped inside, Axel pulled himself away from Roxas's supporting hold and attempted to carry himself on his own so they wouldn't be asked any questions or draw any attention.

The inside of the diner was just what one would expect from a small roadside place. It was tiled with cheap linoleum and had booths lining the perimeter of it, which, for the most part, save for a weird, but quiet character in one corner, were empty. A bar resided in the middle and behind it stood a tall, attractive brunette with long, thick hair. She was wiping down the counter when she glanced up upon their arrival and a wide grin spread across her face.

"Hey guys!" she greeted them warmly. "Take a seat anywhere you like. I'll be right with you."

Roxas smiled back and offered her a low "Thank you." He turned to ask Axel where he wanted to sit, but the redhead was already headed for one of the far corner booths. Roxas followed.

They sat at the booth silently for a few minutes, with Axel staring out the window into the night, his brow furrowed, lost in deep thought.

"My name is Tifa and I'll be your server tonight," came a chipper voice from the side of the booth. Roxas looked up to see the waitress from behind the bar standing with pen poised over notepad and an expectant look on her pretty face. "So what can I get you boys?"

"Umm…" Roxas began, glancing at Axel, unsure, but Axel hadn't moved his gaze an inch from the window. "What do you want, Axel?"

Axel finally turned to face Tifa, who was taken aback by the boy's haggard features. "Babe, if it's okay, we would just like some water. We don't really have any money with us. We just need a place to sit down and rest. It won't be long I promise. We'll be gone before you know it. You won't even know we were here."

"Two waters?" Tifa asked, glancing from Axel, who nodded and turned back to the window, to Roxas who was staring up her, feeling slightly embarrassed for some reason. "Alright then, darlings, two waters coming right up."

"We really don't have any money?" Roxas murmured to Axel once Tifa was far from hearing anything they had to say.

Axel was silent for a moment then faced Roxas with a guilty expression. "I'm sorry, Roxy…" He hung his head slightly, fidgeting with his fingers before reaching across the table to place a hand on Roxas's. "But I'll take care of us, I promise. I'll find a way. I always do." Then Axel did something that melted all of Roxas's worries. He gave Roxas his lopsided, irresistible, devilish grin. As he winked, Roxas could see life coming back into his eyes. At that moment, he trusted Axel with his life.

Suddenly, a huge mug of a light brown thick liquid that was topped with frothing foam and sprinkled with what smelled like cinnamon was placed in the middle of the table. "One deluxe hot cocoa…on the house," Tifa's lilting voice rang out before she also placed a tall glass of water in front of each of them.

Roxas's eyes grew wide. "Oh, you didn't have to…" he began before Tifa cut him off.

"I know, but it's our owner, Barrett's, favorite. And he insisted you guys try one. To tell you the truth…" She knelt lower and whispered, "Number one: it is pretty damn fabulous, and number two: I think he'd be vastly offended if you didn't." Tifa straightened back up with a wink and smiled. As she turned to leave, she halted as she saw Axel was still staring out the window. Placing a hand delicately on his shoulder, she asked gently as he turned towards her, "Are you alright, sweetheart?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Axel replied, his voice still weak, but he offered her a faint smile. "Thank you for your kindness. It was very thoughtful. Like I said, don't worry about us, we're already gone."

"Alright, well, enjoy."

They spent the next ten minutes in silence. Axel sipped at his water periodically, his gaze fixed towards the glass. When Roxas had tried to offer the cocoa to him, Axel refused. "You drink it, Roxy, you need it."

He was formulating a plan, Roxas could tell. Soon, Axel was up on his feet and leading Roxas out of the diner into the cold night air once again. They'd slipped out while Tifa had disappeared into the back.

The winter air cut into Roxas's skin as he was lead by the hand towards the road. Axel peered down the road as a black GTO approached them. He raised a hand and it slowed to a stop when it was close. The driver was a hulking sort of guy, his dark dread locks pulled back into a ponytail and thick sideburns extended into his cheeks ending at points near his nose. He eyed Axel with sinister interest.

The man next to him in the passenger seat was now leaning over the driver slightly to catch a glimpse at Axel. White streaks shot through his black ponytail and an eye patch covered his right eye. A long ugly scar cut through his left cheek and ended just under his one exposed acid yellow eye. A hunger took residence in it and an evil little grin settled itself upon his lips as he took in Axel's appearance.

Axel let Roxas's hand go. "I'll be right back, stay here."

"No! Axel, don't!" Roxas whispered sharply. Everything about these guys was making his want to vomit.

"Don't worry. I got it," Axel reassured him, but he didn't look back as he approached the GTO and knelt rather seductively against the sill of the driver's rolled down window. Roxas could see that the hunger in both men's faces only grew as Axel did this. He spoke to them for an agonizing couple of minutes. When he finally turned, both boys in the car were grinning broadly.

"These guys are gonna get us outta here," Axel explained.

"Hope in, little one!" the one behind the wheel called out to Roxas in a gruff voice.

Roxas hesitated from a moment, but allowed himself to be led when Axel took his hand.

They climbed into the back seat of the car and the engine revved. As the car took off, the eye-patched guy turned around to face them. He looked at Roxas and grinned, making the blonde want to upchuck the lovely milkshake he'd just had all over the pirate-wannabe's face. "So, we know your buddy here's Axel. What's your name, dude?" His surfer accent only made Roxas want to vomit on him even more.

"What's yours, DUDE?" Roxas spit back mockingly. He was still fuming Axel had decided to go with these shady guys.

Axel put a hand down on Roxas's knee. "Be nice, Roxas," he scolded lightly. "Xaldin…" he motioned to the hulking driver, "…and Xigbar…" his hand shifted to the guy they were now talking to, "…are going to get us where we want to go."

"You're forgetting part of the deal there, Axel," Xaldin mentioned, his rough, yet smooth voice sending shivers down Roxas's spine. He didn't want to hear what was coming next. "We're going to a party first. Before you get where you want to go, you have to go where we want to go."

Roxas was speechless. His eyes widened and he stared at Axel incredulously, as if to say, 'Are you fucking kidding me?'

"Come on, Roxy, it's gonna be okay, really. It'll be a quick pit stop then we'll be on our way," Axel tried to assure him, but Roxas was highly annoyed. This was not what he wanted to be doing. Who knew what kind of trouble they could get into with these sleazy guys! He gave Axel a dirty look and slid as far as he could away from him, fixing his gaze out the window. Axel kept trying to get Roxas's attention, but eventually gave up when Roxas remained stone still and played deaf.

All four boys sat in silence for the remainder of the car ride. At one point, Roxas snuck a glance over at Axel and found the redhead curled up against the window like a little boy. Roxas could tell he was exhausted. Though he was fast asleep, his body was still tensed, and his breathing uneven and ragged. Roxas felt a pang of guilt for ignoring him, but he was still extremely pissed off about Axel's stupid decision to hop on board the douche-bag mobile.

Axel finally stirred when the car pulled into the driveway of a rather large two-story house. 'Great,' Roxas thought sarcastically. 'A house party. My favorite.'

Music thumped dully from somewhere in the house when they stepped in, greeted at the door by a spiky-haired blonde wearing camouflage pants, whose named was apparently Hayner. Roxas gazed around the living room. The room was dark for the most part. There were couples making out all over, while other people were passing around a joint and Roxas could tell they were high beyond consciousness. In one corner of the room, there was a table with numerous large glass bottles of what looked like hard alcohol.

"Roxas—" Roxas felt Axel place a hand on his shoulder from behind, but he shook it away and cut him off.

"I'm getting a drink," he stated flatly without looking back and headed for the table. Once a big glass of Jack and Coke was in his hand, Roxas turned to find Axel and their two carmates had disappeared somewhere in the house. He rolled his eyes and went to sit on the couch.

Not long after, a girl about his age plopped down next to him. She smiled at him, a joint in her hand. She was cute. "I'm Olette…" she slurred, her light green eyes half closed. "What's your name?"

"Roxas," Roxas replied, uninterested.

As she began to blabber about nothing, Roxas took a big gulp of his drink, wincing as it cascaded down his throat like fire. Olette's talking, or maybe it was the hard liquor, was beginning to lull him into a stupor. But Axel was still clearly etched in his mind.

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Axel tried to keep from stumbling as Xaldin pushed him roughly into one of the bedrooms upstairs with Xigbar following close behind.

"Remember guys, I am the play thing. And a toy does not play back." Axel reminded them arrogantly, turning to face them and crossing his arms. "So. 300 dollars each, up front. Fork it over. Now."

Both boys handed over the money and Axel rolled it up, placing it in the back pocket of his jeans.

"This better be worth it, dude," Xigbar drawled.

Axel raised one amused eyebrow and unfolded his arms, holding them out, palms up, placing his lithe, hard body on display for them. "Gentlemen, look at me. I'm worth more than that."

It was obvious he'd upped the hard-on of both men as they advanced on him and pushed him to sit on the bed, seating themselves on either side of him. Xigbar began nuzzling at his neck roughly, opening his mouth and allowing his teeth to sink into the taut, pale skin of Axel's neck.

Meanwhile, Xaldin's large coarse hands were hungrily exploring Axel's torso. He forced his hands under Axel's tank top. His nails scraped brutally against Axel's abs and pecs, causing Axel to arch every time the larger man's hand grazed over his nipples. The other hand pressed firmly against Axel's spine when he arched so the thinner boy's arches would be deeper.

As Axel moaned emptily for Xigbar and clutched at Xaldin's voracious hands, he felt dirty. The guilt was pounding him. If Roxas were to see this, he wouldn't know what to do. But the guilt he'd felt in the diner when Roxas had given him that look when he'd said they had no money absolutely killed him. He'd said he would take care of Roxas—that he would get them money, and that was exactly what he was doing now, with the only thing he had to offer: himself.

"Alright, enough foreplay," Xaldin stated impatiently. "Time for some real action."

Xaldin stood up in front of Axel while Xigbar rounded behind him on the bed. Xaldin roughly pushed Axel down into a lying position and then he and his comrade proceeded to undress Axel like he was their little ragdoll. Xigbar lifted Axel's tank top off over his head, while Xaldin yanked off Axel's jeans.

As Xigbar held Axel's arms down and out from his body in a spread eagle fashion, Xaldin stood back and took into every inch of Axel's naked body in front of him eagerly with his narrowed eyes. "Mmm…good enough to FUCK."

With that, they tore Axel from the bed. Xaldin held him tightly from behind by the waist as he unzipped his own pants with one hand. Xigbar leaned against the wall and pulled both boys towards him, Axel facing him. Xaldin rammed his thick erection into Axel's tight hole and at the same time, Xigbar grabbed a tight hold of Axel's shaft.

This immediately caused Axel to slam his palms against the wall on either side of Xigbar's head to brace himself as a sharp, deep gasp ripped out of him. Xaldin continued to pound into him, grunting like a beast with each push. His friend Xigbar was repeatedly rubbing his palm, which was now slick with Axel's precum, up and down Axel's manhood.

It hurt and the same time he couldn't help that his body was reacting to the physical stimulation. But inside, Axel was dying. He was becoming more and more disgusted with himself with each passing second. Suddenly, the tears were falling, and he could not keep them in.

Xigbar noticed. "Why are you crying, beautiful?"

"What's wrong?" Xaldin added between thrusts upon hearing his friend's inquiry.

"Nothing," Axel managed through gritted teeth. "Keep going. Keep rubbing me. Keep fucking me. You know you like it."

It was at that moment that Axel heard the door swing open and the voice of the last person he wanted to see this situation met his ears.

"Axel, I—"

All three boys turned to look at Roxas, who stood at the doorway frozen in utter shock.

Xaldin pulled out of Axel and turned to grin menacingly at the small blonde. "Well look who we have here…come to join the party, little one?"

If Roxas had wanted to throw up in the car, he could actually feel the bile rising in his throat now as both boys stepped away from Axel and the redhead fell to floor on his knees, beyond exhaustion.

Roxas tried to find his voice in between waves of nausea. "Axel how could you? Fuck…how could you?"

Axel whimpered, his head bowed down in a mixture of shame and sheer fatigue. "Roxas, please…I…had to…" he breathed, finally lifting his face, his eyes drowning in glassy tears.

"Had to?!" Roxas repeated. "Oh my God…" He couldn't take it anymore. He turned and raced out of the room, down the stairs, and out of the house, finally coming to a stop at the edge of the driveway. He fell to his knees.

And there in the cold night air, as it began to snow onto his curled up form, Roxas began to sob.

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(A/N): Oh snap. Axel, why you always causing problems? But we all knew the happiness of their relationship couldn't last forever. I mean this IS a dark fic. I'm gonna try my damn best to get you guys chapter 11 before school starts again. I have a week. Wish me luck!!

LOVE YOU ALL!!!

P.S. - As always, thank you to the ever lovely Jess, my fab fab fab beta. Muah. Love you.