Ballad

by skinnedkneedmisfit

All Namine wanted was a cover band for her wedding. All Roxas wanted was to make his fiancee happy. All Axel wanted was to be heard.

11. Why Do Fools Fall In Love?

In this chapter: Roxas goes on a date. Sorry, excuse me, he goes to a mosh-off.

xxxXXXxxx

Ballad
Chapter Eleven
"Why Do Fools Fall In Love?"

xxxXXXxxx

Monday passed with little excitement, save for Roxas' keys mysteriously returning to him via the mailbox. That was weird, but he didn't have time to think about it too hard. Since he had bombed his mid-terms, Roxas decided to focus his attention on classes. He had an essay due at the end of the week and a group project on top of that. There was no time to focus on silly things like bands and annoying front men. He had to focus his attentions on passing classes and his wedding.

Roxas looked at the small band on his left ring finger. He was getting married to the love of his life before New Year's. He would spend the first day of his new year and new life on a cruise ship on its way to the Bahamas. He would spend the first week of the year on a king sized bed with white linen sheets and a sheer canopy wafting in the breeze of the large open bay doors that opened to a patio overlooking the sea.

He told himself he wouldn't have it any other way. The blonde walked down the cold city streets. The sky was bright blue and the sun radiated down on him, but the rays did little to help the bitter chill of autumn.

"Roxas, wear this!" Namine had said happily as she handed over to a black heavy jacket. Roxas looked at it and returned his gaze to his fiancée. He liked his blue windbreaker just fine, but it was getting cooler outside, he had supposed, and she really was just looking out for him. He sighed morosely as his once favorite jacket was stowed on a hanger in the back of her closet, never to see the light of day again.

Now, Roxas slowly walked his way back home on Tuesday evening just after his physics lab. The weight of the world seemed to have rested on him as every student asked him which formula to use to solve for gravity. Gravity is a constant. That wasn't even what they were supposed to be solving for. He was surrounded by idiots. At least this once in a blue moon their professor gave them a worksheet that could be finished relatively early. He removed his hands from the straps of his backpack and stuffed his cold hands into his jacket pockets, feeling something foreign inside. Two silica packets graced each pocket, resting calmly in their little paper pouches. Roxas kept hold of them until he reached the nearest trashcan, which was in front of the coffee house under his apartment complex.

As he tossed the packets away he was lured by the scent of freshly ground coffee. A warm, fresh shot of espresso was sounding really good about now. The bells hanging on the back of the door jingled to announce to the baristas that he had entered, but nobody said anything. The coffee house was crowded for a Tuesday evening, but Roxas assumed it was because of the chill and students studying.

Roxas was used to a line in the morning when he went to classes. A lot of the upper crust students lived in the apartment complex he did, so the line was usually full of students trying to study while waiting for their drinks. This crowd was different. Nobody seemed to be studying, and they were mostly adults in their mid-to-late twenties. They didn't give off that student aura.

The cashier smiled warmly, a little less perky in the cold weather, and asked, "What can I get for yah?"

"Triple latte, small, as little foam as possible."

"Okay, that'll be three-fifty," she replied warmly.

Roxas bit his lip and looked up at her charming hazel eyes. "And maybe some chocolate on top?"

The cashier looked up at him a moment. She was obviously supposed to charge him for the extra flavor, but chose not to. Roxas thanked her and paid for his drink. He had hoped to find somewhere to sit, but the place was packed. There were small crowds of people talking all over the place.

"There sure are a lot of people here for a Tuesday," Roxas mused, turning towards the barista making his drink. "Is this because of the cold front?"

The lady shrugged, turning the steamer on for the milk. It was loud, and reminded Roxas of the sound of a plane taking off. The barista was kind enough not to shout over the noise. Once the milk had been heated she turned the knob back and dumped it into a cardboard cup with his name written on it. As a finishing touch, she grabbed a bottle full of chocolate syrup and looked up at the blonde. "Roxas, right?" He nodded. "Say when."

She started out with a spiral, and when that design was done and Roxas hadn't told her to stop yet she added a star, then a square, then an 'X'. "When." The girl stopped and put a cap on his drink, handing it over to him with a smile.

"There you go, Mr. Roxas!" she chirped. "One mocha-latte!" Roxas nodded towards the barista and gave her a satisfied grin in thanks. He shoved one of his hands back in his pocket as he walked towards the door to leave. He pulled the drink up to take his first sip.

"-as."

Roxas spit the drink out as soon as he realized how scorching hot it was. He had completely forgotten to blow on it before drinking. He quickly stepped outside and breathed in some of the cold fall air as quickly as possible. It helped a little bit. He swirled the drink for a moment and blew through the hole in the lid before continuing with a small preliminary sip.

"Hey, Roxas!"

The blonde turned quickly after hearing his name and his jaw dropped, causing all that lovingly made mocha to dribble down his chin and onto his coat. "Axel?"

There he was, standing at the entrance of the coffee house with his red hair flashing like a beacon in the dying autumn scenery. He wore a black leather jacket, ripped and torn with miscellaneous zippers running up the front and blue jeans with two huge holes in the knees so that Roxas wondered if he was chilled. But more importantly, he wondered what he was doing there. With his Fender acoustic guitar strapped to his back.

"…Hey," Roxas said, feeling the edges of his lips tug up into a smile. It was like he had no control once he got a glimpse of that quirky leading man. "Haven't seen you in just over forty eight hours. Must be some kind of record, huh?" he joked.

Axel nodded, slowly drawing his bottom lip in the nibble on it cautiously. "…Yeah." Yesterday was the longest day of my life. "How're you holding up? Your eye looks better."

Roxas turned his attention to his black eye in the reflection of the window, which was still noticeable, but looked more like a red shadow than anything. "Oh, this is fine. My back is still a little achy and my neck will probably never be the same again, but it's to be expected, right?"

"From someone like you? It's only a wonder why nobody's beat the shit outta you before."

Roxas' eyes widened along with his smile. "Oh, you're a clever one, I see it now. Name the time and place. We're gonna have a mosh-off."

"Really?" Axel chuckled, casually leaning against one of the large glass windows of the coffee house. "And what are the terms?"

"Oh, it's quite simple," Roxas explained, taking a step closer. "We go to a show that isn't 13 Hearts and see who gets knocked out first. And I promise you'll be wanting to play a whole different kind game by the time the night's through."

Axel smiled crookedly, looking like he was biting the skin on the inside of his lip. "Really, now?" he asked. "And what kinda game is that?" The ideas he was coming up with in his head were too hedonistic to say out loud. He figured Roxas wouldn't even want to hear it.

"You're gonna use that thesaurus in your brain to come up with a lot of different ways to say 'you little piece of shit.'" By now Roxas had a confident smirk on his face and looked up at the front man. Axel laughed and glanced up towards the sky.

"Okay, alright, fine. This Saturday I have a show, so how's Friday?"

Roxas perked up. "Do you know any good shows?"

"Roxas," he scoffed. "Look around. There's at least ten good shows going on at any given moment. That's the first thing you gotta learn about living in Bastion. I mean, you missed a helluva show just now."

His attention was brought back to the guitar strapped on his back. "Yeah, what's up with that? Did you just play a show at my coffee house?" He briefly looked over his shoulder and through the windows of the small café. "Where're the others?"

"There aren't others. I do a solo performance here every Tuesday for some extra cash."

"At Twilight Town Café?"

"Every Tuesday."

"And you never thought to tell me? I would've killed to see your show."

The thought made Axel smile. His face was kept forward but his eyes slowly trailed bashfully to the stone gray sidewalk. "I did. Sort-of."

"You walked me to my apartment the other night and didn't think to mention it?" Roxas asked, not buying it. These solo shows were probably different from the regular 13 Hearts performances. Perhaps Axel was still trying to find his groove. Roxas humored himself at the thought that perhaps the musician was being shy. "Too bad I have classes every Tuesday evening. It was a fluke that my professor let us out early tonight."

There was a small silence as Axel's face slowly started to turn down, trying desperately to think of something to say. Roxas seemed to notice less as he turned to reach into the back pocket of his slacks to pull out his cell phone that had started vibrating. The blonde glanced at the face of his phone and sighed. "It's Namine. She probably wants make dinner plans."

The redhead nodded and readjusted the strap of his guitar. "Oh, yeah, yeah, sure. You should be headed back. I didn't mean to keep you."

"Oh, it wasn't trouble, I promise," Roxas laughed nervously, putting the phone back in his pocket and deciding to ignore the call. However, the constant vibrating was like a silent way of nagging him. It reminded him of the talk she and he had last night. "Actually... Friday might be bad..."

"What, wussing out already? You got study buddies going on that night?"

"No, I just..." Roxas found it really hard to hide anything from this man. "She didn't like how I got all roughed up from Halloween. She... thinks it's for the best if I stay away from your shows."

Axel let out a bark of laughter, not missing what the student was implying at all. "It's your own fault, though. Entirely your fault." He snickered and kicked a pebble of black road pavement that had bounced on the sidewalk. "To tell you the truth, I'm not technically supposed to be hanging out with you, either."

"Technically? So, basically, what we're doing right now is illegal. Why aren't you supposed to see me?"

"Luxord said I'm supposed to keep a healthy distance away from our employers."

All the same, Roxas didn't miss what Axel was implying, and because of this his face heated up and he tried to hide it behind his hand. Slowly, he massaged the bridge of his nose to try and dissuade the oncoming headache. Thinking too much into this punk was giving both of them too much credit. So Luxord had seen Axel's lingering touch in the back of the car the other day, but it wasn't like it meant anything. Of course, it meant nothing, and that's what Roxas tried to believe.

But Axel was making this extremely difficult. As Roxas was pressing his fingers against his face and covering his eyes, he felt Axel touch his hand, pulling it away from his face. The blonde's eyes broke open and he glanced up at the punk between his fingers. Axel seemed just as confused as he was, but continued to look unwavering into Roxas' eyes. Axel opened his mouth three times, trying to say something but starting to look more like a gaping fish. He glanced towards the window, starting to wonder if people were watching him from inside.

Axel gripped Roxas' hand tighter, walking away from the window and towards the entrance of the apartment's parking garage next to the café. Roxas followed without a second thought. "Listen, Roxas, I still really want to hang out with you, y'know? But the band can't know about this." He spoke incredibly quickly, but Roxas was hanging on every word. "They're ticked enough as it is. But I can't..."

His voice faded away and sounded broken. Roxas noticed that Axel's hand still hadn't unclenched his own, and almost by instinct he tightened his grip. Was this the sort of hold the musician held on him? Roxas looked down at their hands held close together, and once his grip had tightened, subsequently so did Axel's. The blonde instantly realized what the nagging fear in the back of his mind was trying to tell him. This wasn't what friends do with each other. This wasn't how friends were supposed to feel. He clenched his eyes closed when Axel started stroking his palm with his thumb. "Axel..."

"I still want to hang out with you on Friday. Do you want to?"

Namine's words from last Saturday afternoon echoed strongly in Roxas' mind. "I'm not saying Axel's a bad person, however I think the people he hangs out with might be a bad influence on him, and in return he may be becoming a bad influence on you. Riku's a manipulative person, and I don't really want you hanging around friends of his."

Roxas opened his eyes and looked at Axel. It was everything about him that screamed incompatible. The dyed cherry red hair, the torn up jeans, the bondage zippered jacket, that damned lip ring... all the way to his sharply angled jaw, the five o'clock shadow, the harsh calluses on his fingertips, the dark rings around his eyes, and the teeny tattoos on his bottom eyelids that looked like tears.

"Of course." Roxas was sure of it. No fiancée and no bassist were going to stop him from enjoying this. Even if it was terribly, terribly wrong. Roxas smirked, still insanely unsure of himself but it gave him confidence, and that was all Axel needed. The redhead smiled back, chuckling nervously. Hesitantly, he look a step closer and held Roxas' hand between them. Roxas could feel the shockwaves sent out from the pounding of the guitarist's heartbeat. He looked up at Axel's venomous green eyes and realized that it was too late. He had already been poisoned. "…Why wouldn't I?"

"…Rox, I-"

"Axel Rose!"

Roxas set a world record for a ten-meter dash. In less than a second he pushed himself as far away from Axel as physically possible. The redhead seemed physically disappointed, but answered his name anyway. Turning around, there were some people who had come by to see the show standing in a group of at least seven at the entrance of the garage.

"Awesome set, brah!" one of the guys said happily, wrapping his arm around a girl, Roxas assumed a girlfriend, and pulling her closer. "We're heading out to a bar at the Warehouse District, wanna come with?"

Axel scratched the back of his head, taking a step forward. "Ah, I dunno guys. Not tonight…"

"You said the same thing last time," the man said with a pout. His girlfriend giggled and playfully socked him on the shoulder. "What's the harm? Hey, invite your friend there, too!"

Axel turned and looked at Roxas, who wasn't even twenty-one yet. The blonde shrugged from his shadow in the garage, thankful that the heavy darkness eclipsed his burning face. "N-no, Axel, it's cool. You probably wanna hang out with them."

"But-"

"It's cool," Roxas repeated. Axel calmed down when he could hear the smile in his voice. "And I'll see you on Friday, okay?" Without another word, he turned and walked into the garage, Axel assumed to go to his apartment from there. The redhead sighed and turned to the gang, who seemed to be visually anticipating a night of hard partying with a local legend. Axel turned on his token grin and walked towards the group.

"Okay, guys. Lemme grab my case from inside real quick…"

The words were echoed from throughout the garage as Roxas stood with his back pressed against the nearest wall out of sight. He could barely make out one of the girls saying, "Hey, Axel, who's that cutie you were with?"

"I know, totally! Why wouldn't he party with us?"

"Don't worry about him," he heard Axel say. "He's… taken."

The girl clicked her tongue. "Whatever. He looked like a total buzz kill anyway. Let's go."

Their words drifted off as they followed Axel back to the café. Roxas would have liked to stay and mope longer, but Namine wanted dinner and he didn't want her to worry. He rushed back to the apartment almost as quickly as he had pushed himself away from Axel.

oooOOOoooOOOoooOOOoooOOOoooOOOooo

Alone, Roxas sat idly on the sofa in the living room as the television played commercials in the background. He couldn't focus on the images in front of him, just the cell phone twirling in his fingers. Lately, he'd been having a difficult time being still. When he tried to sleep, he tossed and turned restlessly to the point of even waking Namine up with his misery. In classes he would just look at the clock like he was an elementary student on the last day of school; precariously counting down every last second that would slowly lead him to today.

Friday. Finally.

However, after watching Axel disappear with his scene friends after his show at the café, he hadn't heard so much as a peep. Not an annoying text message or even a late-night phone call. He had subconsciously been keeping his phone on his person at all times. Even when it was on the charger, he made sure to turn the volume up on the ringer and not to stray far from the outlet.

He wasn't expecting during a short, silent break between commercials for his phone to start quaking in his hands and his the new song he set as his ringer to nearly shatter his hearing. Today, I woke up alone wishing you were here with me. I want us to be something that we'd probably never be. Today you called me up and said you'd see me at the show, but now I'm stuck debating if I even want to go. The phone fell to the hardwood floors with a loud smack. Roxas panicked, fearing the worst. After a quick check-up, the phone seemed unscathed and the screen was fine, but it wasn't flashing the name he had hoped for. Oh Whitney don't you understand that what I said was true? I just want you to know I have a major crush on- "Hello?"

"Roxas! It's been too long," Hayner said in his own special way that screamed 'You and me are getting SO hammered tonight.' "Any amazing plans for the evening?" Roxas declared himself a psychic genius.

"Maybe, possibly," the blonde drawled out, standing up and walking around the apartment. "What's up with you?"

"Just scored a bottle and wanted to know if you were up for a little fun tonight. Just one more week before we can party, right buddy?" Roxas glanced across the living room to the kitchen entrance where the calendar hung on the wall. It was a different picture for November, but it didn't look any less different than the last picture. A forest with a babbling brook, perhaps with more dead trees and a bluer sky than last time. Roxas decided that he really didn't like that calendar. "Got any ideas on what you want to do?"

Roxas was pulled from his critique of the calendar picture back to making plans. He hadn't given any serious consideration on what to do for his birthday, other than flash his ID to a couple of bouncers and have some free birthday shots. As long as he got absolutely tanked there really wasn't any need to have a plan. While he was making arguments to himself, he almost missed Hayner continued talking. "…town and he said that he wanted to-"

"Sorry, what?" Roxas asked, his voice sounding distant.

"Pence," Hayner replied flatly. "He's coming into town next weekend to celebrate with you and he said that there was the karaoke bar that he thought would be cool."

Roxas stopped making laps around the coffee table and paused. "Karaoke?"

"I know one near campus that a lot of college kids go to, so it won't be a big room filled with a bunch of creepy forty-year-olds hoping to get laid, trust me."

Roxas nodded along, starting to get his nervous pace back up enough to start walking around the living room. "I dunno. Getting embarrassed in front of a crowd wasn't really what I was planning on for my birthday. You know how I get…"

Hayner laughed at him. "Yeah, I know. But I think they have those little personal rooms you can check out if you don't feel like making an ass of yourself on your birthday. What do you say?" he asked. "I'll have to make a reservation soon. I know Sora would want to be there." Roxas shook his head, even though Hayner couldn't tell. There was no way in hell Sora was going to be at his birthday party. "Were you planning on inviting Namine?"

The blonde bit his lip and stared past the door to the empty bedroom he shared with her. Namine was staying late at the studio, as was her usual Friday night custom. "Probably not," he mumbled. "She doesn't like it when I drink."

"Then it'll be a boy's night!" Hayner said, somewhat satisfied with this outcome. "Is there anyone else you know who can come?"

"…Axel."

"Huh?" Hayner replied. Roxas bit his lip even harder and winced, mentally cursing at himself. He stumbled over his words for a moment and tried to come up with a better idea, but Hayner had already continued. "Oh! The guy from that band? Are you still keeping up with them?" At least he sounded happy. "Do you remember that chick from that show a month ago? What was her name? Fuu?"

Roxas' shin collided with the corner of the coffee table while making his rounds and he cursed loudly. "Yeah," he strained, "that's her."

"Cool. Very cool…" his friend mumbled in the way that announced broadly he was planning something. "Well, sure. Invite Axel. Hell, invite the whole band! I'm sure they'd be great at karaoke."

"I'll… uh… I'll see," Roxas choked. He never would have thought that talking about the redhead would be so unbelievably awkward.

Hayner seemed to catch on quick. "Dude, is everything okay? You sound like you're choking on spit."

"Am not!" He totally was. Roxas swallowed for a moment and tried to think. He wanted to talk to Hayner earlier about something but couldn't think of a way to easily change the topic. "Um, hey, I was wondering if you could do me a favor," he started, feeling the beginnings of sweat forming on his brow and lip. His stomach was even beginning to feel sick. Roxas couldn't even begin to fathom why he was getting so worked up. It wasn't like he was doing anything wrong. "Do you think, maybe, if anyone asks, you could say I was at your place tonight?"

There was a short pause, and Roxas couldn't even hear him breathe. He hoped for a moment that there was a dropped call and Hayner didn't hear his stupid request and he could pretend it never happened. Fate was less kind. "…So I guess this means you won't be coming over tonight," he said slowly, if a bit miffed.

Roxas made a face, and suddenly felt very silly for acting so theatrical even though there was nobody there to see him. "No! No, never mind, it's cool. I can hang out with you tonight."

"Wait a second, hold your horses there, buddy," Hayner said coolly. Roxas pinched his eyes shut at that 'curiouser-and-curiouser' tone he was using. "What exactly is going on that you'd need me as an alibi?" For a brief moment Roxas swore his friend was enjoying himself far too much.

"No big deal. I just wanted to go out with some friends and Namine would probably feel a little bit better if she thought I was with you."

"Is this because of the Halloween Incident?"

Yes, that's what they were calling it now. Namine had told practically the entire campus about Roxas' little escapade at a club that got him a black eye. She made Roxas out to be some sort of hero standing up against a wicked creature. "Did you see his precious face? Somebody punched him in the eye! My baby is so strong to stand up to those… people."

"Sort of," Roxas bit out. "I mean, I'm supposed to be going out tonight. I don't have any solid plans yet, so don't go telling stories if nobody asks."

"Cool," Hayner replied, sounding as chill as the word. This wasn't the response Roxas had been expecting, but it was better than him throwing around accusations. Not that he expected Hayner, of all people, to make him feel guilty for wanting a night of fun without his fiancée. "Don't worry about it. Your secret's safe. Am I allowed to ask what's up?"

"You are," Roxas sighed, "but I can't guarantee a response."

"What's her name?"

"What?"

Hayner sighed on his end Roxas could tell he was probably rolling his eyes. "Look, it's okay if you're ditching Namine to hang out with some cute chick. Some of my friends in committed relationships get that itch every once in a while." Roxas couldn't think of a better way to describe Axel. He was an itch. An annoying, biting, painful itch that would only go away if scratched.

"It isn't like that," Roxas assured Hayner and himself. "I'm just going to a show with Axel, and ever since last Saturday Namine gets terrified if I spend any time away from the apartment except for classes…"

Hayner made the sound of a cracking whip. "Somebody's chain is too tight."

"Well, I want her to be happy, so what else can I do?" Roxas shrugged.

"Giving up your own happiness for someone else's happiness isn't happiness." His friend made a noncommittal grunt. "Don't sweat it, though. Your secret's safe with me. Just don't get too rowdy because I won't be able to justify another black eye."

"I'm not-" Roxas stopped talking when a beep came through his end of the call. He pulled away from his phone and saw that a text message had arrived. "I have to go. I'll call you back tomorrow."

"Alright, buddy, I'm holding you to it. I wanna know all about your little night of debauchery."

Roxas chose not to comment as he said goodbye and ended his call. Continuing laps around the living room, he opened the text that was sent to him. He stopped walking when he saw who it was from.

'Meet me in fifteen minutes.'

Attached was a picture of the Twilight Town Café. Roxas focused on the clock across the room on the DVD player. It was only five-thirty. Worst of all, even though the café was right downstairs and would take no time to get there, it only left him with fifteen minutes to get ready. He turned his glare to the open bedroom door where his open closet door revealed that he had absolutely nothing to wear. He marched to the closet in hopes of finding some sort of miracle. All of his shirts were Ralph Lauren polos with that god-forsaken horse on the breast. Roxas definitely didn't want to get singled out as an outsider, but all of his tee shirts were plain white undershirts he used for exercising, and they were all sweaty and wadded up in the hamper.

While frantically shifting through his hangers to find a decent shirt to wear, a pair of slacks fell off and onto the closet floor. Frustrated, Roxas bent down to pick it up and found the clothes he had borrowed from Axel that he had hidden behind the skull print. Granted, he hadn't had a chance to clean them just yet, but he had practically only worn the shirt to sleep in and the pants on the short journey from Axel's apartment to his own.

Hoping that it wouldn't be too disconcerting to the redhead to see Roxas in his clothes, he quickly dismissed the lewd thought away and pulled the front man's clothes out from the floor of the closet. Axel would probably enjoy Roxas' company even if he wasn't wearing anything at all. The blonde paused on his way to the bathroom and shook the mental imagery out of his head. In the bathroom he washed up and quickly put Axel's clothes on. The pants were still a bit loose, but at least he looked like he was going to a venue instead of a country club.

Roxas ran his fingers through his hair and debated whether or not to use gel to make it stand up the way he liked it. As he reached down to his drawer where his hair product was, he notice Namine's makeup drawer was left open just the slightest bit. That little push was all Roxas need to pull the drawer open just a bit more and take out the eyeliner. He wouldn't put a noticeable amount on, but just enough to make his eyes seem darker, more menacing.

After many rounds of trials and errors, Roxas realized that he greatly squandered his fifteen-minute budget. He cursed and threw the liner back into the drawer and slammed it shut, taking his hair cream out and twisting it into his hair quickly. He left the apartment with his jacket, wallet, and phone and locking the door after him.

Entering the café, Axel was leaning against the counter as if he had been waiting forever. Roxas felt guilty when he saw what he was wearing. Axel was wearing black slacks, something that he would have never believed the redhead owned in his entire closet. And to make his outfit all the more unfathomable, he wore a white long-sleeved button up shirt with a black knit sweater vest. He was lucky that Axel had his distinguishable red mop or else the thick framed glasses he was wearing would have pulled a Clark Kent effect. He appeared very nerd-chic, but totally not like the redheaded punk he knew.

"Axel?"

His green eyes were glued to the cement floor of the café, but once his name was stated from across the room they shot up and met with blue. Axel smiled crookedly, his lower jaw sticking out jauntily, as he glanced up and down Roxas' body. "Heh. Wow, familiar."

Roxas glanced down at his clothes, the ones he had borrowed from Axel. "Oh. Right. I wasn't exactly sure what to expect from tonight." He made a point to look obviously down at the man's slacks. "We are going to a show, right? Not study buddies at the library?"

"Ouch. No, I… thought I'd go for something a little," he paused and slowly shook his head from side to side, "different." He didn't say another word and turned to the counter behind him. He had in his hands a cup of coffee and a cup of caramocha covered in whipped cream with chocolate sprinkles. He handed the horrendously sugary caffeinated drink to Roxas. "Took the liberty of ordering for you."

Roxas took the drink, very visibly surprised. "Well, thank you. But this isn't my usual order," he said with a smirk, taking a long sip from the mocha. He was usually a chocolate-person, but caramel could be nice in the right context. The drink was delicious and he decided to throw all caution in the wind and just enjoy himself. "So what's the damage?"

"There is none. On the house. I get free drinks here," he said, turning on a big, thankful grin and toasting goodbye to the baristas as he started towards the exit.

"You know you look like a student dressed like that. And with coffee."

"And I'd say you look like you could be in a band, but, well, you know." Axel stepped outside quickly and turned to hold the door open for Roxas. "Eyeliner, again? Really?"

"I was trying to look like some of the people at the shows we go to," Roxas conceded, using his straw as a spoon to eat the whipped cream on top. "So where exactly are we going? Because I was under the impression that shows didn't start until at least nine."

"The first rule, Roxas: at any given moment there is always a good show happening in Bastion. Come on, we have to hoof it to the theatre."

"The what?"

Axel explained how the Drafthouse had a special on the first Friday of every month. They would play an hour's worth of music videos spanning from the sixties to present, starting at the six o'clock matinee. Roxas had only gone to the Drafthouse with Sora and his silly creature double features. They entered the building, and Axel already had his tickets on hand so they simply breezed past the line and went into the very last theatre in the row.

Roxas had never seen so many people in such a small theatre. He was pretty positive that the Drafthouse might have oversold a few seats and were breaking a few fire codes. There were people roaming everywhere amongst the seats, nobody really planning sitting anyway, and there was a stage set up at the front where most of them congregated. Axel simply laughed at all the commotion.

"Come on, we probably won't find any seats," he told Roxas, who was scanning the theatre for at least one empty chair. "We can sit on the stage. That's where all the fun is."

The lights started to dim, and the crowd started to chatter. A video started up with the rules of the night, and there were only two: Sing as loud as you want, and don't step on any toes.

A black and white video started with a man introducing a musical act for his show. He spoke with the singers, and had a short conversation with the lead singer Frankie. The music started with a jump kick with a heavy and bouncy brass section. The kids on the screen started walking around and singing before centering together and the young boy in the middle started belting out the lyrics. "Why do fools fall in love? Why do birds sing so gay? And lovers await the break of day! Why do they fall in love?"

The response from the crowd was amazing. The kids around them were dancing with each other in a good spirited way that represented the upbeat song. Roxas smiled and happily bounced his head from side to side. He hadn't heard a good old-fashioned oldies song in years. His mp3s had killed the radio for him and he hadn't listened to the oldies station since he was in elementary school.

"Love is a losing game! Love can be a shame! I know of a fool, you see, for that fool is me!"

Roxas glanced briefly to Axel, who was still sitting on the stage next to him. He was vaguely lip syncing along with the music. The song ended and instantly the new video popped up. It was obvious who it was: The King. Mister Presley walked around a small square stage surrounded by the audience, and this was the first time Roxas got a good look at some archival footage. Despite all the negative imagery depicting Elvis as an obese, gaudy hick, he was actually very handsome in his youth. His voice was soothing and didn't depict any signs of rock and roll hip thrusts.

"Wise men say only fools rush in, but I can't help falling in love with you. Shall I stay, would it be a sin, if I can't help falling in love with you."

Roxas looked over his shoulder momentarily and noticed couples starting to gather and dance on the floor between the seats and the stage. When he turned his eyes back to the screen he realized that Axel had been looking at the lovers dancing as well, and their eyes met. Roxas pretended he didn't notice, but he felt Axel's pinky softly make contact with his own, and his face flared.

"Like a river flows surely to the sea, darling so it goes, some things are meant to be. Take my hand, take my whole life, too. For I can't help falling in love with you."

The audience in the theatre cheered and clapped their hands happily at the end. Roxas pulled away from his scandalous pinky-touch to applaud with the rest of them. Axel followed suit a moment later. The blonde decided to draw his legs up and wrap his arms around them, letting his chin rest on his knees. The video faded into the next.

A brass section through the speakers started playing La Marseillaise, and Roxas instantly knew what song it was. In his excitement he stood up and watched as the video faded in from black to a small orchestra, before there was a boom sweep craning over a small crowd to The Beatles.

"There's nothing you can do that can't be done. Nothing you can sing that can't be sung. Nothing you can say but you can learn how to play the game. It's easy."

Roxas turned to Axel with a large, heart-felt grin. "I love this song," he shouted over the speakers.

"You do?" Axel replied, standing and smiling for the sake of Roxas being happy. That was what tonight was all about, of course.

Roxas started to sing along with the music. "There's nothing you can make that can't be made. No one you can save that can't be saved. Nothing you can do but you can learn how to be in time. It's easy." Axel couldn't take his eyes off of him. The blond was dressed in black, his messy hair covering up his darkened eyes, and he looked like he should be a regular street punk, but he was singing one of the world's anthems on love. There was something surprising and amazing about that.

Axel smiled, barely able to contain the thumping in his chest as he sang along. "All you need is love… All you need is love… All you need is love, love. Love is all you need."

The song cross-faded into the next video. The image was a simple red rose lying on a white background. A man started speaking, "Is she really going out with him?"

Instantly a deep drumbeat started to kick in, and the image switched from a pretty rose to a grungy drummer with a cigarette dangling in his lips whaling on his drums. The guitar kicked in, and almost as expected, Roxas glanced over to Axel and saw him bobbing his head and shifting side to side to the beat.

"I got a feeling inside of me! It's kind of strange like a stormy sea… I don't know why, I don't know why! I guess these things have got to be!"

Roxas could hear Axel singing, even over the speakers and over the chorus of rowdy kids who decided that the dance floor would be better spent thrashing. The song continued, and Roxas just laughed, joining Axel in simply jumping to the music. It was a nice break from the slow songs they had been listening to.

"I never thought this could happen to me! This is strange why should it be! I don't deserve somebody this great! I'd better go or it'll be too late!"

The next music video didn't need an introduction. A drop-dead blonde bombshell with a painted black mask and the hottest little black dress of the century. Roxas' jaw dropped and was quickly replaced with a large, enthusiastic smile. "Holy fucking shit! Axel, it's-"

"When love breaks up. When the dawn light wakes up. A new life is born! Somehow I have to make this final breakthrough… NOW!"

The synth music was to die for. Roxas started to dance along, perhaps more enthusiastically than he should have been. Axel seemed to feed off of his energy and turned towards him, dancing along. It was Queen on a mother fucking train.

"I wake up, feel just fine. Your face fills my mind. I get religion quick, 'cause you're looking divine. Honey you're touching something, you're touching me. I'm under your thumb, under your spell, can't you see?"

At this point Roxas and Axel were singing along, with the help of the entire chorus of the audience backing them up. Roxas could just hear Axel's voice over Freddie Mercury's and everyone else, and it really was absolutely stunning how great the redhead could sing.

"If I could only reach you! If I could make you smile! If I could only reach you, that would really be a breakthru!"

Roxas loved Axel's voice. It was like he was singing just for him. The musician's eyes remained locked on Roxas', even though the young man got embarrassed and turned away. He could still feel Axel's gaze on him. It was overpowering and this time there wasn't a place to hide. Axel wasn't going anywhere this time, and there weren't any shadows to cover him. The reflection from the projector shined brightly on his face and showed just how bright red Roxas' entire face truly was.

The blonde could almost feel his eyes water up at the humiliation of being caught. This was Axel Rose he was thinking about. The seemingly most popular guy in the whole city! He would never want to have anything to do with such a square prep like him. However, what should Roxas want to do with a rambunctious rock band punk like Axel? He was like an attention-seeking missile and was extroverted enough to make pals with entire crowds of people. Roxas desperately wanted to know why Axel was honing in on him. He also wanted to understand why he was reciprocating and trying go out of his way to obtain this sort of attention.

In a twisted sense of irony, if it weren't for Namine telling him to, he would have never gone to see 13 Hearts in the first place. For some reason he could couldn't get the band or its once-enigmatic lead singer out of his mind. Roxas was not naïve about his emotions, and he knew what he was feeling. It didn't take an idiot to realize how extremely dangerous this was.

"Make my feelings known towards you. Turn my heart inside and out for you, now. Somehow I have to make this final breakthru, now!"

When Axel sang just for him, he felt special. He felt proud to simply be able to share the same room with someone so talented, and blessed that this person was willing to turn his attention to him alone. Namine wouldn't even let him see her paintings, and she would constantly go out of her way to make sure her work life and her home life were kept separate. He had never even been to one of her galleries before, even if he had said he wished he could support her. He liked Axel in that he would let him see his performances, let him see the creation process. Hell, he even let him create something for them. Not many people in general would want that, but Axel did. He only truly wanted Roxas in his life, if only Roxas was willing to return to favor. The musician had been waiting with bated breath for weeks, if only Roxas noticed earlier.

"Your smile speaks books to me. I break up with each and every one of your looks at me. Honey you're starting something deep inside of me. Honey you're sparking something, this fire in me! I'm outta control, I wanna rush headlong into this ecstasy!"

By this point Axel had stopped singing, as if simply staring at Roxas was distracting enough. The infatuation was there, now. In the eyes it was noticeable, the way they were dilated even in the bright light of the projection. In the lips, the way they curved into a soft, pleasantly crooked smirk whenever Roxas was around. The eyebrows that would raise just a few millimeters above normal, as if just being nearby was enough to warrant such exuberance. While Roxas was well aware of his own feelings, he had completely neglected those of the patient front man who waited by the sidelines. Like a child watching someone take what he wanted right before his eyes.

Roxas wasn't above himself to completely ignore the facts presented to him, because it wasn't as if this horror story wasn't told to every bride and in every tabloid. Axel was, he could very safely guarantee after the Halloween Incident, a man. He wondered desperately how exactly this sort of relationship would work, because he was fairly sure that Axel had a crush on him, in the same way teenage girls have crushes on the football jocks on the opposite end of the cafeteria. Roxas felt like he was throwing a wrench into the plans when he humored the thought of returning the feelings.

By now the song was over and the kids were cheering for the next song, but all of that was drowned under Axel's gaze. When the screen lit up again with the next video, the bright cartoonish shapes pulled Roxas' thoughts away. It was a clouded, moonlit sky with rain falling, a sad girl riding in the backseat of a car. Within moments a simmered, jazzy beat filled the room. There was electricity in the crowd, and if the couples weren't already made clear they were certainly apparent now. Everyone around them started pairing up and dancing as the soft vocals trickled in.

"It might not be the right time. I might not be the right one, but there's something about us I want to say. 'Cause there's something between us anyway…"

Axel had given up on looking towards Roxas and had turned his face to the ground. Even with the sound of the music filling the air, it seemed deathly quiet. Roxas had never wanted to leave so much right then.

"…Roxas," Axel whispered, but the blonde could hear him loud and clear. "I'm not the best at these sorts of things…"

"I might not be the right one. It might not be the right time, but there's something about us I've got to do. Some kind of secret I will share with you."

The tension was killing him. Roxas couldn't live like this. If he ran away he would just make himself feel sick. "If you have something to say, just say it," Roxas demanded, in typical Roxas-fashion.

Axel didn't smile the way he normally would have. Roxas could just make out a thin sheen of sweat starting to form on the redhead's brow and lips. Axel was seriously nervous about this. He opened his mouth to speak.

"I need you more than anything in my life. I want you more than anything in my life. I'll miss you more than anyone in my life. I love you more than anyone in my life."

"I'm hungry."

Roxas blinked.

"What?"

"I kinda skipped lunch today and I'm starving," he stated, laughing nervously, and perhaps too loudly. He briefly walked past Roxas towards the stairs that would lead them off the stage. "Sorry, but it seemed like you were enjoying yourself. This was just a warm-up, though. The night's still young."

Well, it was good to know that the night wasn't going to end early on a mortifyingly uncomfortable note. Axel laughed and jumped off the stage, but Roxas chose to take the stairs. Did something just happen? Was it something he said? Axel seemed very silent all of a sudden. Nothing really happened from what Roxas could tell. They were just a couple of friends out watching some music videos at the theatre. Of course, absolutely nothing happened. He followed Axel out of the theatre and out of the building onto the street before he said anything. "So, what's next?"

"Next we have reservations to this restaurant downtown." He paused by a tram stop and looked down the road to see if it was in sight.

"Reservations? What kind of fancy restaurant are we going to?" Roxas asked. He never went to a restaurant that needed a reservation before outside of really special occasions.

Axel smiled when the tram pulled around the corner towards the stop. "It's a Friday night so everything's busy," he explained as the tram slowed down in front of them. Axel stepped on first, flashing a card from his wallet that Roxas assumed was some sort of tram driver's ID, and turned to the blonde and nodded for him to follow.

The tram ride was a short ten minutes long. Roxas spent most of his time looking outside the large windows. After daylight savings time, the night started to creep up earlier and earlier, to the point that it was near seven in the evening and the stars were already starting to come out.

At their stop, Axel motioned for Roxas to follow. Right as they jumped off the tram, he pointed to a restaurant across the street. "There she is! Mudka's Taqueria."

Roxas was stunned. He had made a few stints downtown before, but it was usually to stop by the big post office to drop off a parcel or to go to the bank to make a deposit. Out of all the visually stunning restaurants he had seen on the strip, the last he would have expected was a taco shack on the side of the road. He trusted Axel's judgment, as unconventional as that was, and followed him as he sprinted across the middle the street.

Upon entering the little restaurant, Roxas could instantly see why it struck so much charm with Axel. Playful and whimsical decorations hung from the ceiling. The atmosphere was very dark, but it still held the usual noise and smells of greasy chili. Axel stopped by the front counter and started speaking with the hostess. She grinned and took two menus, telling Axel to follow. Roxas tailed behind and they were set in a small, secluded booth next to a stage.

The stage had a small man rushing back and forth making sure everything was plugged in and the guitars weren't falling out of their stands. Axel smiled and turned to Roxas. "We're just in time." He then turned towards the stage and cupped his hands around his mouth. "YO, ZELL!"

The man onstage perked up from behind the floor speakers like a meerkat and started glancing around the restaurant trying to find who shouted at him. Once his eyes landed on Axel's table he let out a big grin. "Axel fucking Rose!" He jumped over the speaker and rushed to the table. He seemed so eager and like an old friend, but it reminded Roxas of something that had been nagging him... "I haven't seen you in months! How's it been?"

"You understand. Busy like a fucking bitch, man," he laughed. "Where're the guys? Are we in for some mighty fine mariachi music tonight?"

"Ha, ha," the boy laughed sarcastically, rolling his eyes to have them land on Roxas. "Well, who's this?"

"This here," Axel said proudly, "is Roxas. Roxas, this is Zell Dincht. He used to be in this crazy heavy metal band with Squall back at the harbor, but now he plays pop at taquerias."

Zell held out his hand and Roxas shook it. The man had bleached blonde hair that was mostly shaved, save for his bangs that he let dangle over his face. He had large gauged plugs in his ears and a tongue ring. The man had a really harsh grip and Roxas tried his hardest not to wince. "You know, you look really familiar. Have we met?"

"Doubtful," Roxas assured. He was positive he'd never met anybody Axel associated with, but there was a chance maybe they shared a class together at one point. "Name's Roxas Strife."

"Strife," Zell mumbled, seriously thinking to death. He wanted to assure the man that it was okay, and he didn't have to think so hard, but his blue eyes widened with a snap of the fingers.

"That's it!" he shouted, turning back to Roxas. "Your brother was Sora, right?" Roxas didn't answer, and instead kept his mouth shut. He refused to justify the question with a response, but Zell didn't seem to notice. "Yeah, cool! I heard about you." And that was all Zell had to say about it. The older rocker looked behind him and noticed a free chair at an occupied table. Without asking he snatched it away and dragged it over to their booth, facing it backwards and straddling it. He focused his attention back on Axel. "So how are things going? I spoke with Squall not too long ago and he said you guys were doing pretty alright for yourselves."

"You did?" Axel asked, glancing towards Roxas. "Well, you know, just in case you happen to talk with him again, there's no real reason you'd have to tell him that I was here…"

Zell glanced over to Roxas and seemed to catching on. "Gotcha," he said with a wink.

Axel continued, "But yeah, we still have our regular gig at the Organization. The kids can't get enough, you know? But we're thinking about taking the act on the road." Roxas' ears perked up at this.

"Really?" Zell asked, stunned. "Well it's about damn time! You know the south isn't big enough for you guys. So what's the plan?"

Axel waved his head from side to side, his upper lip curling in an unsure manner. "It's not all ironed out yet. You know Magic Pulse?"

"Yeah, the drummer's brother is the bassist for Twisted Hours. I think I met the keyboard player at the Stratosphere's show once."

"Yeah, them. The lead singer has a side project called Wayfinder and he wants to introduce it to the east coast college kids. He's already got Ramuh's Judgement to open, they just need another opening band to play after."

Zell let out a low whistled. "You mean R.J. would be opening for you? Now you know you've made it…" He and Axel continued to throw band names at each other back and forth at a rate where Roxas couldn't keep up. The blonde punk kept bringing up names and asking how people were doing and Axel would reply quickly with exactly was going on in that person's life. Who hooked up with who, who's pregnant, who's catching, who's married. Roxas felt sad, knowing that he didn't even know a drop in the bucket of how many people Axel knew.

A man with long, auburn hair tied behind his head walked up and tapped on Zell's back, whispering in his ear. "Oh, crap," Zell sighed. "Sorry, guys. We're on!" He got up from the chair and pushed it back towards the other table. "It was nice meeting you, Roxas. Hope you enjoy the show!"

The man that had spoken to Zell was already onstage, pulling off the band holding his hair up and letting it fall over his shoulders. Zell strapped on a guitar and another man, tall and dark, sat behind the drum set. Roxas perked up at the sight of the drummer.

"I know him!" he stated.

Axel glanced to where Roxas was pointing. "You do?"

"Yeah. He was hanging out at the Organization once. He was with Fuu."

"Oh, yeah, that's Raijin. He's kind of stupid. He was the drummer for Seifer's old band, too. Rai left for college with Fuu, but the idiot dropped out his second semester. He pretty much just plays shows and mooches off of Fuu for a living. Zell left the band because he couldn't handle the tension."

"I can imagine." Roxas remembered how humorless Seifer was during the Halloween show, and couldn't picture how annoying it would be having to put up with him all the time as the leader of a band.

"You can?" Axel asked with a grin. "I find that hard to believe."

"…Well, why did they leave?"

"Well, let's just say a certain drummer found a certain lead singer and a certain bassist fucking on his only drum kit."

Roxas' face paled. "Oh my God. You aren't saying… Squall and Seifer…"

He nodded. "A-huh."

"Seriously?"

"Like bunnies."

Roxas looked towards Raijin, who was testing his kick drum out for the sound guy. "Poor guy. That's not the same drumset, is it?" Before he could ask any more questions a waitress came by and took their orders. Axel ordered a burrito while Roxas stuck with a nice, safe chicken salad. The front man for Zell's band approached the microphone.

"Testing, testing," he mumbled into the mic as he strapped on a bass guitar. "Good? Okay. Hello, everyone!" Nobody seemed to turn to see the band except for the ones sitting right around the stage. "We're Demolition Ammunition, and our first song is from our second album. This song is called My Final Heaven. Zell, start us off, please."

Without wasting a moment, Zell starting playing the most distorted, fastest, mind-numbing guitar solo Roxas had ever heard. He didn't want to go out on a limb and say that he was better than Xigbar, but there was definitely some talent there that he had never seen. The way Zell's fingers flashed across the strings, the way his pick would pluck different strings faster than the blink of an eye, the way his whole body jolted further down the neck he got. It was phenomenal, like a total religious experience, and definitely not the type of music he expected from a taqueria.

Raijin started drumming for good measure, keeping up the bleeding pace that Zell had set for them. Eventually the guitar and the drums stopped and the front man screamed into the mic. "The ransom of death is too sweet of an ending for us!" His voice was sick deep. When he spoke up earlier he sounded like a normal guy, but this sounded like he had a baby alien growing in his diaphragm that was spitting out acid in the form of words. Roxas could barely understand what he was saying. "You promised us mercy and your final courtesy was a knife!"

So this was Roxas' first metal concert. He had never thought it would be celebrated in a taco shack, but somehow he wouldn't want it any other way. Axel was tapping his fingers on the table in almost the exact pattern of Zell's fingers on the neck of the guitar. The music was lightning fast with a voice like thunder. "I thought you said they were pop!" Roxas shouted to Axel.

"Well, they are, compared to what they sounded like before." Roxas couldn't believe his ears when the song ended almost as soon as it began.

The crowd clapped sporadically, and it wasn't an iota of the response 13 Hearts usually got from their rabid student crowd. "Thanks, fellas," the singer said with a nod, taking a swig of water and swishing it around his mouth before swallowing. "On drums we got Raijin. Zell on guitar." There was an unmistakable southern twang in his voice. "I'm Irvine. Thank you for being here tonight." He didn't sound extremely excited to be there. "Alright, this next one is titled Burning Rave."

During the second song their food was delivered. Roxas' salad bowl shook on the table under the heavy bass of this particular ditty. "Killing you softly with my song! Killing the whole world!"

"They're amazing!" Roxas shouted. Axel laughed at how loud Roxas was yelling to make sure that his words were heard over the band. "How does he get his voice to sound like that?" Axel held up a finger signaling for the blonde to wait a moment. In just ten seconds 'Burning Rave' was finished, and the restaurant was filled with mediocre applause again.

"It's this trick that you can do with your vocal chords. You kinda…" He had trouble finding his words, hoping that softly punching his chest with his fist would get the idea across. "It's hard to explain. I'll teach you later."

It was just a dropped statement, and Roxas was sure Axel put little thought into it, but something about the word 'later' made him happy. The thought that tonight wasn't just a passing encounter, and there was hope that they would be able to see each other again. Roxas felt lame feeling excited about sneaking out behind his fiancée's back just to hang out with Axel, but… just staring at him from across the table, banging his head to the beat with a grin plastered on his face, was enough to make him want to stay. He silently mulled over the possibilities of what this meant while picking at his chicken and sorting the leaves into different shades of green.

"Oh, that can't be healthy," he heard Axel comment before the sneaky redhead snatched a purple onion from the pile. "What's up? Do you normally sort your food before you eat it?."

"Is that weird?" Crap. Maybe Axel was starting to notice everything. He didn't think the silences were awkward, but usually he was better at filling the void. He didn't exactly know what to say, though. Could it be that he enjoyed Axel's company so much that there weren't any words that needed to be said, just companionable silence? But Roxas looked at Axel and watched as he observed him and realized that it wasn't that simple. There was a connection here that Roxas was terrified to explore. What would happen to him if he followed these feelings? What would happen to Namine, Sora, or his parents? Slowly, he started picking at a leaf of lettuce and tearing it into little shreds.

"Hey, hey," Axel called out. "What did the lettuce ever do to you?" He paused for a moment and glanced down at his half-eaten burrito. "Do you want to talk or something?"

Half his sentence was drowned out when the next song started. His attention momentarily turned back to the band to give Roxas some privacy as he waged a battle against his emotions. It wasn't epic by any means, but it could be the skirmish that won the war.

For once in your life
Just pretend
That nobody exists
Except for you
And the person who makes you happy

Roxas looked towards the band. Was this a thought or a song? Both appeared to be weaving together seamlessly over the past few weeks. Roxas used to be a quick thinker. He would go about his day logically and choose the path easiest for himself. He would stay at home and be with Namine, and that would always be enough. And now he had Axel, and suddenly it wasn't enough. He needed the music. He needed him, but he only wished that the front man felt the same. Did Axel depend on Roxas at all? Of course not. Axel had hundreds of friends, and Roxas was just the little kid who thought Axel was the coolest kid in the neighborhood. That's all Axel saw, Roxas murmured, just a child.

When the song ended, Axel leaned forward on the table and looked at Roxas. "Okay. You suddenly got really depressed-looking." Before Roxas could say anything, Axel shoved the last half of his burrito in his mouth all in one go. There was something impressive about the feat, and Roxas just stared, mouth slightly agape. The black beans and rice escaping Axel's lips and dribbling down his chin was just so hot. Roxas started to reevaluate everything, opening his mouth as if to say something then promptly closing it. The redhead held his finger up, as if telling Roxas to hold his thoughts until he was finished eating. Axel was certainly a riddle wrapped in an enigma shoved in a conundrum. Roxas wasn't sure what to make of him as he wiped the majority of his food off his face and dared to swallow. Finally washing it down with a few gulps of complimentary water, Axel cleared his throat and readied himself to start talking again.

"Alright, so I realize that sitting down isn't exactly the best environment for a metal show. That was my bad," he conceded, although that wasn't what was on Roxas' mind at all. "Finish eating your little salad and then we'll move on to the next part."

Roxas had made a move to fork a leaf of lettuce and then paused, fork balancing precariously in front of his lips. "…There's more?"

"Fuck yeah there's more!" he said with a large grin. Roxas wondered if he should tell him that he had black bean skin in his teeth. "I got us two tickets to one of the hottest bands in town. Have you ever heard of Howling Moon?" Roxas searched the deepest recesses of his brain for the name of this band. They certainly sounded familiar. "You probably heard them on the radio," Axel answered. "They sang that one song with the guitar that went like-" He started air guitar and mimicking a solo that appeared in the song, even singing the lyrics that went with it. "One last stand with you would be all I need to know everything we knew was through! That one?"

Roxas widened his eyes, remembering hearing that song playing on the radio while out shopping, and seeing them on covers of music rags at the corner store. "Them! Yeah, I know who you're talking about now." He started eating just a little bit faster. "I didn't even know they were in town."

Axel grinned and simply slapped twenty dollars on the table at the start of the next song, taking Roxas' hand and leading him towards the exit. He actually just took his wrist, and that was only long enough for Roxas to know to follow him before Axel dropped it and continued to walk quickly towards the door. "And conveniently, the show is at The Ritz." He pointed down the street to an old-fashioned theatre sign that flashed the name in blinking lights reminiscent of Broadway. There was already a long line outside of kids waiting to get in. Roxas was ready to settle in the back of the line until he noticed Axel continuing a brisk pace to the front.

Of course, Roxas told himself, the tickets are on will-call and he has to pick them up. However Axel reached into his coat pocket and pulled out not only tickets, but badges: the holy grail of tickets. Roxas' jaw dropped when the redhead casually handed him one. "Here, clip this on your collar where they can see it." Roxas quickly took the badge and snapped it onto the collar of the Iron Maiden tee. Instead of having to wait they bypassed everyone and were allowed an early entrance.

Inside the Ritz, there was a similar crowd of the people that arrived before doors opening at the Organization. Mostly older men and women chatting in corners or waiting in line for drinks. "And this," Axel announced, walking onto the large, wood paneled house floor, "is where the mosh-off will take place."

Roxas wrinkled his nose. "You're still gonna hold me to that, huh?"

"Oh, chyeah. Bragging rights!" He turned to the stage that was being set up for the show. The roadies were testing the equipment for the sound crew. Axel approached the stage and waved down the guy thumbing at the bass. "Hey, Beast. BEAST."

The man stopped playing and glanced down, almost having to perform a double-take. "Axel Rose!" he cried, quickly handing off the guitar to someone else to finish. He hopped off the stage and gave Axel a swift embrace. "Dude. What the hell are you doing in Bastion? Last I heard you were never coming back…"

"I live here now," Axel answered with a hesitant laugh. Roxas glanced to Axel, unsure of what to say. He had never told him that he had reservations about living in Bastion. "The band all moved up from the harbor so we could be closer to the scene." The man that they were talking to was huge, probably the tallest and largest person Roxas had ever met. He had a mane of mussy brown dreadlocks and a large beard that covered most of his face in fuzz. Roxas noticed as the man turned his attention to him that underneath the bushy eyebrows were the softest, most pure blue eyes he was certain he had ever seen.

"Who's this, then?" he asked, already holding out his hand and expecting an answer from Roxas. The blonde took the older man's hand and tried not to cry as his fingers were crushed in a vice-like grip.

"Roxas," he hissed, noticing an apparent hitch in his breath once Beast released his hand. He rubbed it softly, hoping nothing was broken, but the others didn't seem to notice. "Roxas," he repeated, this time louder and less like a whiney fifth-grader. "I'm a friend of Axel's."

"Well, my real name's Adam, but most people just call me Beast," he said with a childish smile. "I think it sounds more intimidating, right?"

"Oh, totally," Roxas agreed. "So where did you and Axel meet?"

"In Vegas," Axel answered happily. "During the fateful trip where 13 Hearts eventually found its bassist. Howling Moon was playing a show there. It wasn't the main reason why we took the trip, but it was a definite perk." He turned to Beast and gave him a playful wink. The man laughed and smacked Axel good-heartedly on the back.

"I still remember that show! You left such an impression on lil' Davie! He asks about you every time we play in Vegas." He started imitating whom Roxas assumed was Davie. "'Where's Axel Rose? I need to chill with Axel Rose! Axel Rose is the shit!'" Beast let out a thunderous laughter once again. "Although he remembers your green hair. What happened to the green hair? Then the blue! Now red? Your hair will fall off!" Roxas couldn't trace it, but there was a distinctive accent to the man's voice.

"I like to keep 'em guessing. But I like the red. I think the red's gonna stay."

"Just as long as you don't bleach it all the time like your friend. Where is he, anyway?" Beast looked up and scanned the floor for another person. "Could Riku not make it?"

Axel quickly shook his head. "Um… No, actually. He's still back at the harbor."

Beast looked like he was a little disappointed, if not curious. "He makes such a long drive to be here? How stupid! With gas prices…"

"Well, he's not exactly in the band," Axel confessed, glancing nervously towards Roxas. "He, ah, quit a couple of summers ago."

The grizzly man took a step back and sighed. "You are serious? Who sings, now? He had such a unique voice."

"I do, actually," Axel replied. "But everything else is still the same. Xig, Lux, and Marly are all part of the set."

"At least it's good to know some things never change!" he said with a genuine smile. A walkie-talkie that was strapped to his belt made a loud beep and stereo feedback sound, followed by a static-ridden message. Beast must have understood most of it, because he quickly snatched the radio off his belt and barked an order in a different language.

"Non, débile! Ne touchez rien!" He laughed hesitantly and lowered the radio from his face. "There's trouble with the lights, I need to see what's wrong. Have fun at the show, guys. I'll be sure to let Davie and the others know you are here!" He waved as he stomped off, and Roxas was almost certain he felt the floor quake under every step.

"Is he French?" Roxas asked as soon as they were alone again.

"Yeah. Howling Moon's from Paris. Beast's been their tour manager for years. He's the best kind of guy there is."

"If they're from France then why do they have an English song playing on American radios?" Roxas asked.

"Some foreign bands will do that. Since English is pretty universal they make a couple English songs and send it off. Howling Moon got lucky, I guess."

"But if it's really a good song, there's no luck to it, is there?"

Axel smiled at him, throwing in a quick wink "A little luck never hurts."

Not much later, the doors were opened and a steady flow of patrons started filling the music hall. This was the first time Roxas had ever been in such a nice venue. The Ritz had a large, raised ceiling with rich, historic paintings and sculpture around the border of the stage. It was built in the early 1900s and was a historical landmark in Bastion, but somewhere along the years titles were swapped and deeds expired and the building was passed down to the eclectic son of the title owner. The son had the theatre chairs taken out, replaced the flooring, and soon the Ritz became known as one of the most prestigious and well known music venues in the city. Namine had never expressed a desire to see a live show before, so Roxas had never been.

Not wanted to get crushed at the front of the audience, Axel and Roxas kept their places in the middle of the floor and continued to wait patiently. The house lights dimmed and everyone cheered insanely loud. Roxas had never been in an audience this large before. Four smoke machines set upstage behind the instruments started leaking across and down towards the pit. Blue laser lights started flashing in a circular pattern, and out from the shadows of the stage wings came the band.

Roxas had never given the group any serious thought or research, so he had never seen them before, but the rest of the audience screamed their devotion to their favorite musicians.

"I love you Davie!"

"Richard! Jerry!"

"Marry me, Paige!"

A woman waved happily towards the audience and strapped on the bass guitar. A tall, lanky, bean-pole of a man grabbed one of the electric guitars and strummed it twice, causing the crowd to cheer. Next, a man roughly the size of a barge took a seat behind the drums and started stomping on the bass drum in a beating heart pattern. Lastly, the lead singer ran onstage and the crowd went nuts. Roxas was shocked to see him turn out to be a short, pudgy little man. He quickly strapped on the last guitar and turned to the man behind the drums, making brief eye contact before the guitarist started strumming slowly.

"Et si tu aimais vraiment autant que tu le voulais et si la réalité allait là-bas jusqu'à l'ouest si jamais sur la mer j'avais du succès oh du success je le saurais en lisant en lisant le Télégramme de Brest oh yeah!"

The kids in the audience roared, slowly starting to sway to the steady rhythm. Roxas laughed and turned to Axel. "I have no idea what they're saying."

"I don't think anybody here does."

It didn't really seem to matter. Roxas wondered what that must feel like for a band, to have such an impact on so many people, even if they didn't understand the language of the lyrics. The language of the music itself was universal. Eventually the drums kicked in and the bass joined. The crowd closer to the front of the stage shouted and held their hands out, hoping that Davie would touch them. The singer seemed to be focused singing towards the whole crowd instead.

"So you're really friends with him?" Roxas asked, having to shout over the speakers. Davie started strumming a catchy melody while Paige and Jerry started whooping into their mics.

"Acquaintances, probably. Although it's cool that he's still talking about me, right?"

"Was your hair really blue?" Roxas asked, not sure if he could imagine it.

Axel shrugged and didn't reply. The song had ended and Davie was waving towards the audience. "Bienvenue tout le monde! Silence s'il vous plait, maintenant! Nous n'avons jamais auparavant visité à Bastion et je veux faire une pause pour prendre une photo." With a grin he took a cell phone out of his back pocket and started to take pictures of the crowd. "Thank you, everyone!" he shouted in English. "You people are the best! Such an amazing crowd already and we haven't started our second song even, right?"

The audience cheered and Roxas joined them. Howling Moon started playing the hit song on the radio that really got the kid's blood pumping. Everyone had their hands raised and shouting their throats hoarse.

"Love! That which was mine! What I hoped was yours! But you never cared? How could you! Oh! Oh! Oh!"

Everyone was singing along, and even Roxas tried where his mind could remember the lyrics from the few times he listened to it on the radio.

"Little Patty was a publicist, sweet Clara was a clerk, noble Sophia was a secretary all until they met me! Now their living in the guh-tah oh-so-happily! One last stand with you would be all I need to know everything we knew was through!"

The band played two more songs before the lead guitarist seemed to be throwing a fit. Jerry took his mic and started talking to Davie. "Tous ces chansons sont trop ennuyeuses. Let's give them something to dance for, okay?"

"Did you hear that, Rox?" Axel asked with a wicked smile. "It's a dance song. Are you gonna dance with me?"

A simple guitar riff started, a few notes at a time in quick succession. Axel made the first move by playfully bouncing against Roxas' shoulder. Roxas laughed and surprised Axel by pushing back with more force that expected to send the redhead spiraling into a young girl wearing a miniskirt.

"Hey!" she cried, nearly toppling over into some other bouncing teens. They helped her keep her balance and then jokingly pushed her back into Axel. "That's not funny you guys!" she shouted towards her friends, turning towards Axel and frowning. "I'm sorry, my boyfriend's an idiot."

Axel smiled and patted the short girl on the head. "Think nothing of it." He turned to Roxas and smiled sweetly. "What a cute girl." Roxas looked over his shoulder to the young lady who started smacking her boyfriend on the shoulder. He rolled his eyes and looked back to Axel.

"She's pretty, I guess."

"You guess?" Axel followed Roxas' eyes back towards the girl who was trying to get back into the swing of the music. Her boyfriend had taken a spot directly behind her and was stroking her thighs up past the miniskirt. No matter how many times she smacked his drifting hands away, he kept coming back for more. She had her brows creased and her lips pressed to a grim line. Every time he tried to touch her or raise her skirt up she stopped him, but he always returned to try again. "She's a princess. We have to rescue her."

Roxas stared blankly at the girl until he soaked up what Axel just said, then he turned to his idiotic friend. "What? Axel, she can make her own choices, just enjoy the-" Axel took a mad sprint towards the boyfriend and tackled him to the ground. "Axel!" The girl turned behind her and covered her mouth in shock. Surrounding patrons helped Axel to his feet and tried to keep the boyfriend from tearing his head off.

"You can do better," he told the girl, still shocked. Axel smiled, saluted, and quickly fought his way through the crowds back to Roxas. Once he found the blonde, he could hear the sounds of the boyfriend threatening the people holding him back even over the music. He grabbed the blonde's hand and started dragging him to the back of the dance hall. "Run!"

"AXEL!" Roxas hollered, but followed him anyway. Now that he was seen with the eccentric redhead he probably had a price on his head from the maniac boyfriend. Once they were away from the speakers and a threat from being castrated, Roxas pulled back on his hand and motioned for Axel to slow down. "What the fuck was that? Why did you knock that guy down?" he panted.

"The guy was a jerk, she couldn't possibly have been happy with him," he answered, teetering his head back and forth. "I am kind of a catalyst for change…"

"You're a catalyst for something, alright," Roxas griped, looking over to the stage as the show was continuing on without any idea of little tiff that had just occurred. Davie was jumping up and down and the crowd was following suit, shouting their praise to the band. "We not going to see the end of this set, are we?" Roxas was called back to attention by the hand that Axel had placed around his to escape the rabid bully when it squeezed his gently.

"Only if you want to."

Roxas turned back to the band as they continued to sing. "Méfie-toi des anges! Surtout s'ils ont les yeux bleus! C'est un drôle de jeu!" He really wished he knew more about the music he was listening to.

"What are they saying?" he asked.

Axel never yielded his grip, even when having to recall all those years in French class he squandered passing notes with Riku instead of paying attention. "Um… I don't know. Something about blue-eyed angels and strange games. It kinda sounds like a threat…" Roxas still had his head turned towards the stage, but Axel needed to know. He reached out with his free hand and captured his chin, turning him so he could look into those midnight eyes. "Should I be worried about you?" he asked with that smirk.

At that one crucial moment the spotlights that had been focused on the band started roaming the crowd between songs while the band swapped instruments. A light flashed at the back of Roxas' head and remained, making his blonde hair the perfect ethereal halo and his eyes become a blazing cyan. Those fiery orbs never blinked as the light reflected off of Axel's face, washing out all of his brilliant color and masking personality and leaving nothing but the terrified boy underneath it all. The fact of seeing Axel quite literally scared to death was enough to shake Roxas' thoughts out of the moment.

What was he doing here? What would Namine say if she found out? These feelings in the pit of his stomach… they weren't supposed to be here. Roxas knew that if he thought about it, he'd realize that whatever was going on was just a fluke. That this person, this musician that wore several hats, was just an anomaly and maybe Namine and Luxord were right.

"I have to go home." His voice was short and hushed, but it was heard above the silent stint between songs and the murmur of the audience.

He snapped his hand viciously from Axel's hold and walked quickly towards the exit. "Roxas, wait," Axel stated, his voice starting to shake. The sound of his speech seemed to set off a trigger in Roxas and the blonde set off in a sprint. "Roxas!" He followed the nimble man through the double door exit, trying not to run into more patrons that had left the scene for fresh air. Roxas was smaller and was able to cut through the crowds easier, leaving Axel behind apologizing to everyone he brushed against in his hurry to catch up. "Roxas!"

Finally free of the herds at the entrance, Axel had free reign to catch up to Roxas easily. The blonde may have been built for agility, but Axel's long legs gifted him with speed. Roxas never had a chance.

He reached out and grabbed Roxas' shoulder, making the younger man stumble and fall into his arms. The panicked man stood still for a moment, pressed up against the redhead's chest. He could feel Axel's coarse breathing across his cheek and the volatile rhythm of his heart. "Axel…" he said softly. Roxas forcefully broke free of Axel's grasp and turned, holding his hands out to stop him from coming any closer. "No. Stop."

Axel didn't say a word. He stared at Roxas evenly with a heart-wrenching expression on his face, nibbling his lip slightly. "Fuck," Axel mumbled, putting his hand to the side of his head to think and only succeeding in pulling out chunks of hair. He started to rant while pacing across the empty sidewalk. Roxas had no choice but to watch. "This always happens, doesn't it? This must be some sort of… fucking curse!" As he spat out the word he smacked the flat of his head against a tram stop signpost. The blonde expected Axel to say more, but the punk just stood with his back facing him, shoulders hunched in thought. "I'm sorry," he said finally, turning back to Roxas. His face was calm and collected, exactly what Roxas was used to seeing, but he was still obviously upset. "I'll take you home. Namine's probably worried." Roxas' eyes hollowed, glancing down from Axel's carefully calm appearance to the cracked pavement.

It was time for Roxas to acknowledge what was going on here. "So… you have a curse?" he prompted.

"Something like that." Axel took a step closer, probably the most serious Roxas had ever seen him, and looked the boy straight into his blue eyes. "Something bad always seems to happen to guys like me who flirt with guys like you."

"Flirting," Roxas echoed to himself. So this was really happening. Axel had feelings for Roxas, and Roxas… had feelings he'd never thought possible, and all because of the man standing before him. Axel showed him a world he'd never knew existed, where everyone was accepted, where everyone just wanted to have fun and be good to people. Nobody like that had existed in his world, not his brother, Kairi, or Namine.

The taller man took in a deep, shaky breath and sighed. "C'mon, let's get you back to Namine-"

"Screw Namine."

Axel's shortly lived composure was shattered. "Well… thanks for the invite, but I can't say that I'd enjoy it."

Roxas stood speechless, his recently bruised lower eyelid twitching slightly. He took a step closer and Axel flinched, figuring that Roxas would unleash an unsuspectingly strong punch. "You know what? Even you can't ruin this for me tonight."

Axel wanted to remember everything about that moment. Roxas' steel-toed boots standing on their tip-toes, the ragged jeans that got caught on the back of the tattered rubber of the boots' soles, the incredibly soft feeling of the raggedy tour shirt, the feathery gentle feel of Roxas' hair between his fingers, and most importantly, the feeling of his lips pressed against his. There was a spark there, a sensation that proved to be uncontrollable because even though it hadn't been a second he could feel his head spinning. Axel had to pull away before he asphyxiated. Roxas was equally out of breath, seeming like he had the wind knocked out of him by just a three-second kiss.

And there they stood, each afraid to move forward, neither of them cowardly enough to run away, and both unwilling to break the unshakable eye contact. Roxas went first, taking an anxiously quick glance down to Axel's lips, which were very inappropriately dry from the chasteness of that first kiss, and he felt the need to rectify this. The blonde slowly, agonizingly dragged his tongue across his own lips before reaching forward to press them against Axel's a second time. This time Axel smiled and brought his hand that was hovering nervously around Roxas' midriff down on the small of his back and pulled him closer. The other hand that had traipsed through blonde locks made its way to Roxas' cheek and his thumb slowly started to rub circles on his jaw.

Roxas pulled away at the touch, if only for a moment to catch his breathe once again. Axel followed and gasped softly, not ready for Roxas to jump back into another kiss a third time, a much more sloppy rendition of the former. The blonde let his tongue slip freely into Axel's mouth and the punk allowed him to have free reign. Roxas explored every nook and cranny of Axel's mouth from teeth to gums. The young man paused when he heard Axel moan and felt him use the tip of his tongue to probe against his own. The gauged lip ring started to dig into his chin in a most sensational manner. Roxas kissed his lips again before pulling back, nervously wiping his shining lips on the sleeve of his borrowed shirt.

"I promise I'll clean this," he said with a nervous blush directed to the pavement.

Axel used his hand at Roxas' back to keep him close. "Keep it. You look hot." He curved his neck to give Roxas a small peck on the cheek. When he pushed back to get a better look at Roxas' face, a tram pulled beside the stop they were on and hissed as the doors open. Roxas knew the numbers on that Tram. It was the one that stopped right across the street from his apartment. "I didn't really have anything else planned the rest of the night," Axel admitted. "Let's… get you home, I guess."

The hand that had been planted on the small of Roxas' back moved and took the blonde's hand. They boarded the bus together, Axel flashing a badge for another free ride. He tugged Roxas softly to the back of the bus and allowed the young man the seat closest to the window. They sat side-by-side, hands still being held and hidden from the rest of the world by the seats around them.

Roxas' stomach felt like a hurricane. Everything was spinning and the only thing keeping him grounded was the redheaded man sitting next to him. When did everything start to go wrong? His blue eyes stopped looking outside and started focusing on the dents and scratches that were left on the tram over time. This feeling was something new. He wracked his brain over it and tried to come up with some sort of excuse.

The weather. It was starting to get very, very cold outside at night and Axel was very, very warm. He just saddled up against the punk for warmth, that was all. The lighting. The only source of light was a street lamp that cast most of Axel's features in shadows, so if you sort of squinted he may have seemed more like a lady of the night instead of a punk rocker. That would at least make what just happened okay in that sense, right? Of course, there was the time. Roxas checked his phone, ignoring three missed calls from Namine and taking note that it was past midnight. The blonde was used to being in bed right now, so he must be feeling a little bit dizzy and disoriented right now. But this was impossible, because when Roxas saw the reflection of Axel's face in the window, he couldn't have been more alert.

Axel seemed unaware that Roxas was watching his reflection, so the blonde took the time to study his mirror image. Axel had a small, lazy smile on his face, and Roxas had assumed that the redhead had not yet thought about the consequences of their actions. Even Roxas didn't want to think about them yet. If he was lucky everything would just disappear and he could go back to a time before all these confusing feelings started to arise, but in the pit of his stomach he knew they had always been there. When Roxas turned his attention back to the streets outside, he realized that they were suddenly in a familiar neighborhood. Without notice, he reached up and pulled on the cord that alerted the tram driver to stop.

Axel clutched Roxas' hand a bit tighter and looked at him questioningly. "Rox, what's up?" he mumbled, knowing the routes better than anyone and knowing that their stop wasn't for another eight minutes. The tram started to slow and Roxas motioned for Axel to leave his seat so he could get out.

"I don't want to go home tonight," Roxas said flatly as they exited the tram. Axel looked around at their surroundings, not recognizing where they were outside from the tram stop that he drove by on his shift.

"You can stay with me," Axel suggested, nibbling on his lip nervously. "We can walk to my place if you want…"

Roxas let out a soft laugh and started leading him to an apartment that was next to the stop. "Not on a first date."

Now he was feeding the punk hope. However, in a sense, Roxas was feeding hope to himself. He knew that he wanted to do this again. This night was the most fun of his life. He started walking quickly up the outdoor stairs that led to the second floor of Hayner's apartment complex. It reminded Roxas of so many times when young lovers raced up the stairs in mutual anticipation. Axel followed closely behind and once Roxas reached the top, the blonde turned quickly and grabbed the shoulders of the nerdy sweater vest Axel was wearing and pulled him into another kiss. It seared and threatened to melt Roxas' lips. He swore he had never felt anything like this before. Axel took the last step up and started to lead Roxas backwards until the blonde collided with the wall of the apartments.

"Ow!" Roxas cried, having to break the kiss to compensate for the rough, speckled concrete digging into his spine.

Axel let out a very growling and possessive "Sorry" before kissing the corner of Roxas' lips, moving to his cheek and trailing under his ear to the base of his jaw. Roxas gasped audibly when Axel started leaving soft, supple kisses down his neck and taking a few liberties with gentle nips with his teeth.

"H'okay, Axel, ahh- We need to stop," Roxas said quickly before his voice betrayed him again. Axel managed to pull away for a brief moment to stare into Roxas' hazy blue eyes, like an oasis in the middle of a burning desert. The cold air outside was starting to affect the breath coming out in pants from the two men, turning it white and visible. "My birthday is next weekend," Roxas stated rapidly, repositioning himself so that he wasn't pinned against the wall and was a safe three feet away from Axel's roaming lips. "Do you want to hang out again, maybe? Theresgoingtobekaraoke."

Axel laughed softly at Roxas' face, the young man trying way too hard to keep a cool façade. "I have a show," Axel reminded, and Roxas glanced to the floor remembering that 13 Hearts played almost every Saturday night.

"Oh… That's too bad," he mumbled.

"But I'll see what I can do." Roxas looked up as Axel was slowly walking backwards towards the stairwell. Roxas started doing the same towards Hayner's door, smiling nervously.

"Thanks, Axel… I- I had fun tonight…"

"Me, too. I'll catch you later, okay? I'll call you."

Roxas smiled and nodded. "Okay." God he sounded like a teenage girl. He waved hesitantly as Axel slowly disappeared down the stairs. He could hear the front man whistling a happy tune as he walked back to the tram stop and waited for the next ride. Roxas smiled softly, turning back towards the door and about to reach his arm forward to knock on it when it opened quickly before he hand the chance.

Hayner stood in an undershirt and pajama bottoms, a look of absolute befuddlement and wrath across his brow.

"Roxas, buddy… We need to talk."

xxxXXXxxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

Alright! Eleven chapters in and 95k+ words later and… WE'VE GOT A FIRST KISS! smfh sorry guys I like writing but nobody said I was quick or efficient in how I wrote.

That said, there's still a lot left to go, but I'm a little worried. See, I used to be a film major, and one of the number one most favorite slogans of film majors is "Fix it in post." So when I was doing my first initial re-read of this story, and making minor edits, I would see parts that needed BIG EDITS and I would just shrug and say "eh, fix it in post." But now… we're getting to the point where I'm gonna have to actually POST these chapters in the next few weeks and they need like, entire chunks of story completely rewritten so that it meshes better with the rest of the story. And I'm kinda freaking out because I just don't have that free time. So, and I'm not announcing that this is going to happen, I'm just putting the idea in your head so you won't be emotionally devastated if I have to do this - I might have to postpone some chapters until I'm able to get everything finished. Nothing major, just maybe two weeks between updates instead of once a week. I know, it sucks to hear, but it all depends on how much I can get done (it's beginning to be con/festival season in town which means lots of tourists which means my job gets a lot busier than it already is.) Thanks you guys for understanding!

EDIT - Sorry guys, should've mentioned some notes about this chapter! Howling Moon is the name of Beast's limit attack in KHII. The names of the people in the band are the names of their English voice actors. Mudka's Taqueria is named after Mudka's Meat Hut from Emperor's New Groove. A lot of the time the names of bands/songs are names of attacks in some games. (Originally in Ballad the names of bands were names of comic books that I liked, but I felt like it made more sense to change them to KH attack names, with the exception of Demolition Ammunition, which uses FFVIII attacks names).

Also friendly reminder - I have a tumblr! Working on getting a nice queue ready of stupid KH related junk but in the meantime it's a little lonely. The link to it is in my profile!

AND ONCE MORE - Please leave a review! Seriously, with all the rewrites I'm going to be doing, along with the bonus chapter (which will probably end up being bonus chapters because seriously I'm not quick or efficient with my words at all), all the reviews I get and all the follow/favs help me know that people ARE reading and enjoying this story and that it's all gonna be worth it in the end… If you leave a review, thank you so much! ;_;