This is the longest chapter I'll write for this fanfic . . . maybe. Can't make any promises, but the reason it's so long is because I really wanted to end the club part. It might be a little rushed, but I'm just writing this without a ton of planning before hand.

So, read and review please. Thanks. :)

Roxas pushed through the floor, dodging flailing arms and barely seeing the faces that flew by him. Voices were screaming and yelling at one another, but he imagined that someone was calling out his name just behind him. Hands flew in front of his face, but he tried to brush them away as he dragged himself up and up and up the stairs. People were hanging over the railings as he trudged up them, trying to find the door leading outside. His breath was coming quicker and quicker as the noises droned on around him, his heartbeat quickening along side it. A tall, skanky looking woman made a pass at the blonde as he flew by her, but he brushed her off and looked freaked as his eyes met hers.

"Hey kid, you okay?" The boy didn't answer her, rather he raced on up the stairs and out onto the roof top. She watched after him for a moment before a spiky red head flew by her and followed after the boy. She wondered for a second if she should follow, but her partner returned and they paraded out onto the dance floor.

Axel burst out onto the roof and saw the blonde standing near the edge. His heart leapt into his mouth as he raced over to where the younger boy stood. The blonde looked so odd standing there with his eyes closed, but whatever was racing thru his mind Axel only knew he wanted to stop him from going further. He slowly moved close enough to the blonde that if he wanted to he could reach out and touch him. He almost did as he raised his hand, sneaking closer and closer to the thin arm, but the boy reacted quickly.

"Don't." The boy barked, cracking at the end softly. His fierce blue eyes fixed Axel's green stare and the older male found he couldn't move under the sharp gaze. His hand was poised over the blonde's arm, but he could no longer make it reach out any further even across the few inches that seperated him and his quarry. "Please." Axel looked back up and into the eyes of the blue eyed blonde, noticing something in them screaming out. Fear.

"It's okay." The green eyes seemed to try calming Roxas as he looked into them. The red head was slowly straightening up, holding his hand out palm up. "It's okay Roxas. You can come down now." Roxas closed his eyes, trying to shut out the soft whisper that floated around him. Trying to shut out the green fires that seemed to bore into his own blue waters. "Roxas, look at me. You can come down now." The green fires appeared again and Roxas felt the urge to fight against them, if only for a moment. But they look scared, he thought to himself.

"Why are you afraid?" Roxas asked softly. The green fires shivered and Roxas felt his entire being shiver along with them.

"Because I want you to come down." Axel said, still quiet as if he was trying to coax a wild dog or cat.

"Why are you talking like that?" Roxas turned to face Axel full on, his weight shifting a little as he turned on the edge of the building.

"Because I really want you to come down from the ledge. Please." There it was again, that quiet shiver. Roxas shivered along with the quavering fires, a warm spot rubbing into his stomach.

"Why do you want me to come down?" The pressure he had felt inside the club was falling off him, loosening the heavy pounding in his head.

"Because I don't want you to leave me." Huh?

"Why would I leave you? I've only just met you." Roxas took a small step back, his heel slipping a bit. His eyes widened as his stomach heaved into his throat and he looked at the hand the green eyes held out to him. Axel moved quicker than he thought he'd be able to and grabbed to the boy's hand hard.

"No!" He shouted, pulling on the boy's limb as hard as possible. The boy was lighter than he expected and the force caused Roxas to fly forward, barrelling into Axel's chest. With an 'oof' the two of them fell onto the rooftop and lay there for a moment, breathing as if they'd just run a marathon.

"Thank you." Roxas muttered as he pushed himself up off of the tall red head, his hands on either side of the man's chest. His stomach was still fighting for room in his throat as he looked down at the green fires that stared up at him with a question lurking in them.

"No problem." Axel stared at the blonde and felt his heart pounding against his chest. They laid there for a moment before Roxas' cheeks started coloring and he pushed himself over onto the other side of the red head. A sigh escaped him.

"Why do I keep running into you?" Roxas asked aloud.

"What?" Axel looked over at the blonde who was now staring up into the night sky, the thrum of night life pounding underneath them.

"Well, yesterday, this afternoon in the cafe, and now in the club. It's weird, I keep seeing you everywhere." Roxas turned to look at him with a small pout. That's kinda cute, Axel thought before shaking himself. He thinks you're the root of all evil, remember that!

"You're not stalking me, are you?"

"WHAT? NO! Hell no! Demyx brought me here to cheer me up is all and he heard this place was pretty good. Why are you here?" Axel put his hands behind his head, mirroring Roxas' position, and looked up into the night sky. Roxas turned back to look into the stars, too.

"Tidus, my cousin's friend, wanted to go clubbing. Plus, apparently my cousin's boyfriend's parents own this place."

"Really?" Axel grinned at that thought. Free clubbing, sweet.

"Yeah." Roxas paused before going on again. "Sorry 'bout yesterday."

"Why?" Axel moved one of his arms so he could look at the blonde again with an arched eyebrow.

"Because I wasn't the only one who lost someone." Roxas looked away from Axel, a little embarrassed. "So . . . sorry."

"Huh. Thanks . . . But, my brother and I had been slipping for a while. Don't get me wrong, it sucks like hell that he's gone, but . . . he hadn't been my brother for a real long time." The red head and blonde stayed like that for a while longer before a loud hooting and hollering could be heard from the party beneath them.

"Hey," Axel said, sitting up from off the ground and grinning over at Roxas, his eyes smiling. "Wanna go down there and dance with me?" Roxas made a face at the red head as he sat up as well.

"What?"

"Dance. With me. You know what that is right?" Axel chuckled as Roxas shoved him in the shoulder a bit. "Come on, you know you want to."

"And why the hell would I dance with you? I hated you yesterday."

"Because," Axel grabbed Roxas arms and pulled him up off the rooftop. "that's exactly why you should dance with me. So we can make a fresh start." The red head pulled the blonde along the way, but Roxas stopped for a moment.

"Axel?" The blue waters met the green fires again, feeling unsure of themselves.

"Yeah kid?" Axel grinned as the blue eyes rolled.

"I wasn't really going to jump or anything. I just wanted to feel the wind." Roxas' cheeks colored a little as the taller male pulled him in for a hug-headlock thing.

"I know Roxas, I know. Now comeon, before we miss something!" The red head flew down the stairs and as soon as Roxas stepped into the stairwell the pressure from before assaulted him to the point of asphixiation. However, Axel's hand was still gripping his own and as the taller male was also stronger, Roxas was pulled into the current and constant beat of the club. People jostled them and pushed them from every direction, making it sort of uncomfortable for Roxas, but Axel kept a strong grip on him so he couldn't escape too easily.

"Come Rox, dance." Axel grinned at the awkward seventeen year old with cat eyes as music was filtered in all around them. Roxas knew the type of dancing that this music meant. Jumping, bumping, and raising a fist in the air. That isn't exactly dancing, he thought to himself as the music started to change a bit. Everything seemed to stop as people wondered where the music had gone.

"Axel, wh-,"

"Wait for it. Wait for it." A guitar was playing over the P.A. softly and everyone started to lower themselves as if they were waiting for something. Then it all snapped. Everyone started jumping up and down and clapping with the music. Axel was laughing just in front of him, but Roxas couldn't hear him over all the noise. When the red head noticed Roxas wasn't enjoying himself he reached over and grabbed the slight wrist, pulling the boy along with him as he started dancing like a loon. Soon, as the song went on and Roxas started getting the beat a bit more he knew when things were going to happen. They kept dancing like that for a while longer, until finally they decided they'd try to find their groups.

Music still played over the P.A. system as the two of them sat down at one of the completely discarded tables at the edge of the room. Roxas flipped open his phone and noticed a ton of texts had come from Sora while he'd run off and the blonde felt sort of bad that he hadn't answered back. The first thing he did was send a reply to one of his cousin's questions of whether he was okay or not and as soon as that was finished he sent another wondering where he and the rest of his friends were. Sora's reply came back quickly.

Sora: WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?

Roxas: i was with Axel, we're up on the top floor. sorry bout earlier . . .

Sora: . . . . s'okay. we're coming up top with you. go towrds the bar. Riku says Terra and Aqua are there.

Roxas: ?

Sora: the bartenders from b4. remember?

Roxas: kay. see you.

Sora: bye.

"So, what do your folks say?" Axel asked, an elbow resting on the table and hand resting under his chin. He was grinning over at Roxas.

"They're gonna meet us over at the bar." Roxas pointed into the thrall of jumping dancers. "A couple of Riku's friends are working there." Roxas looked over at the red head as the green eyes watched his every movement. He rubbed the back of his neck nervously before he unzipped his sweatshirt and tried to breathe a little easier. The green eyes finally stopped watching him and closed as Axel scratched his head and grinned as he looked over out at the dancers.

"You didn't do too bad out there kid. At least," Axel looked over at Roxas mischieviously. "not as bad as I thought you'd do." That comment earned him a swipe at his head.

"Hey, I don't know how to dance to this stuff. Besides," Roxas looked away from the crazy haired red head. "this is the first time I've been to a club." Roxas rolled his eyes as Axel gawked at him over the table.

"Wha? How can you have gone through your entire teenage life and never have gone to a club until tonight? Hey wait a minute there kid!"

"I'm not a kid!" Roxas called back over his shoulder as he made his way over to the bar in the center of the room, jumping and dodging flailing limbs as he felt a familiar presence reach out and grasp him around the wrist.

"Sure you aren't." Axel muttered to himself as he followed the blonde through the mass of bodies. Finally, when they'd arrived at the bar counter he noticed Roxas stride up to the front and call out to someone. A tall brunet looked over at the kid as a slightly shorter, blue haired, woman walked over to where Roxas was leaning.

"Hey Roxas. You look pretty happier." Aqua smiled at the boy who reminded her of her friend as he grinned up at her.

"Hey Aqua, right?" Roxas smiled up at the blunette.

"Yeah, what can I do ya for?" She asked, pulling out a little pad of paper and a pen.

"I'll have a sprite?"

"Sure thing."

"Oh, and, Aqua," Roxas called out to the bartender before she could go off to the next person. "Uh, my friend Axel'll have-" That was when Aqua noticed the tall, green eyed red head that was standing just to the side of Roxas. Hmm, friend indeed, Aqua thought to herself, but she smiled at the man anyway.

"I'll have a Michelob Ultra."

"Traditional man, okay then, coming right up. Hey Terra, here's the next one. It'll be right up." Aqua smiled down at Roxas one last time before moving onto the next yammering customer. Axel moved up to the right side of the blonde and leaned against the counter, looking out into the swarm.

"So, how long do you think we have before our pals show up?"

"Well, with Sora I figure we've got a couple seconds before he comes barreling at us." Roxas side glanced at Axel and grinned back at him as Terra put their drinks on the counter and quickly moved on. Axel moved in a little closer as if he was about to say something, but Roxas had been spot on as a speeding bullet crashed into him.

"JEEZUS ROXY! DON'T DO THAT TO ME!" The brunet bullet yelled into his cousin's shoulder. Roxas looked down at the seventeen year old and felt a small seed of guilt plant itself in his gut.

"Sorry Sora. I . . . I was feeling suffocated so I really needed some air." Roxas looked away from the huge, worried eyes that looked directly at him.

"Is that really all it was?" Sora asked, his face set in a semi-stern glare. Roxas let his gaze flicker behind the brunet, taking in the group that had arrived with him. The guy who'd spoken to Zexion walked up to Axel with a worried expression similiar to Sora's, but Roxas couldn't hear what he said to Axel.

"Roxas!" The blonde looked back at his cousin's blue eyes guiltily.

"Uh, yeah, that was all Sora." Roxas muttered as Riku and Zexion came up as well. "Where's Tidus?"

"He found some brunette that was singing and dancing. She actually agreed to dance with him when he asked her." Zexion said, keeping a blank face the entire time.

"They're still swinging around one another a couple floors down." Riku continued, smiling a little at Roxas. Guess he's trying to be supportive or something, Roxas thought to himself grudgingly. He knew he'd have to make it up to Sora some how, but that could wait till tomorrow.

"So, where's the rest of them Dem?" Axel asked his friend.

"Oh, Luxord and Larxene are crashing some where a few floors down and Marluxia's watching out for them. You know, make sure they don't pass out or whatever. And Saix and Xemnas were last seen dancing somewhere, either that or drinking their weight at the bar. Take your pick." Demyx was still smiling, despite the loss of companions.

"I see you're still hanging with the kid's group." Axel raised an eyebrow at the mullet head.

"Huh, yeah. Zexy's pretty cool, though he doesn't say much. I've gotten his favorite music and where he likes to go during his free time out of him. Rock and metal and he likes going to his room, but he begrudged me and said the beach was all right sometimes." Demyx smiled up at the red head as the guy chuckled.

"So you like him huh?"

"Mmm, not bad, but yeah, I 'like' him." The two twenty year olds knocked their elbows together and looked over at the pack of teens. "So, what's next?"

"There's supposed to be some big party going on up here, but a few of us have to get back home. You comin' or stayin' Zex?" The silver haired one nodded at the blue haired one, 'Zexy' as Demyx called him, and the boy replied softly.

"I'll stay a little longer, see if Tidus is gonna give me a ride home or not. Don't worry though, I'll just get a cab if need be."

"Huh? No way man, I can bring you home. I've been told I'm a great driver." Demyx offered sincerely, but Axel cracked up right beside him so his act demolished. "Hey! I have been told I'm a great driver!"

"For a two year old maybe!" Axel laughed to himself as Demyx huffed and hit him on the shoulder.

"Whatever, any way Zexy, what'd'ya say?" Demyx moved over to where the one-eyed eighteen year old stood and started talking on and on.

"So, I guess I'll see you later then. Bye." Riku and Sora were already moving thru the crowd, but Roxas hung back for a second with a little wave for the red head.

"Hold on there shortie." Axel reached an arm out and grabbed Roxas before he could move away. The guy took a pen out of somewhere and spread Roxas' hand flat, scrawling something onto it. "You wouldn't be able to see me later if you didn't have this." The green fires laughed into Roxas face as he looked at his palm. Axel's number was scribbled onto it haphazardly. "See ya kid."

Roxas smiled over his shoulder at the green eyes one last time before he moved into the jumping crowd and disappeared from sight. Hopefully not for good, Axel thought, turning around and noticing his beer and the forgotten water for the first time.