"Four weeks left…" I glanced up from the sketch I was doing in my journal. Axel had moved his position on his bed for about the hundredth time causing me to restart my drawing for about the hundredth time as well. I let out a quiet, frustrated breath, even though Axel had absolutely no idea that I was drawing him. And he never would. I flipped my page, studying Axel's new position which consisted of him hanging his head upside down off of the edge of his bed. I lowered my vision back to my paper and started anew.

There were indeed four weeks left and Axel made sure to announce that fact every few minutes. It was obvious he was getting restless with this place, we all were, but Axel especially seemed to have a vendetta against it. I had eased up around him practically right after I showed him how "not boring" I was - I had to. The thought of him holding his victory of proving me wrong was worse than putting up with him. Besides, as I said, his company had its perks and, god help me, he wasn't bad to look at either. So his weird little issue against the place and how bothered he was by it kept me a little on edge. He was the closest I had to a friend in this clinic, so it was a little nerve wracking not knowing whether or not he was going to have a stress related breakdown.

He was still an ass, though.

"I know," I finally responded, feeling his eyes on me as I normally did. My face heated up, as it was starting to do every time he stared at me now. His stare was so intense, I highly doubted he had the ability to sneak up on anyone. You could feel it from a mile away. "You said this already." Axel scoffed and sat up, laying down on his side to look at me a bit better. Sigh. Scrap sketch. Start over.

"I just can't wait to finally wave goodbye to this shit hole once and for all." I snorted at that before I had a chance to stop myself. Axel was growing on me, sure, but I still didn't see this relationship extending too far out of rehab. I definitely didn't want him to get hooked on drugs again, but with the fact that he was spending his fifth time in the clinic was hanging over his head. Statistically, the odds were against him. "You don't think I can do it?" He asked, eyebrows raised. His voice wasn't hurt, shocked, or anything like that. He seemed genuinely curious about my opinion. I shrugged.

"The five times are playing against you, but anything's possible I guess." Axel sat up again after a moment. Scrap. Start over.

"Man, I'm fuckin' serious. I am never coming back here. I hate it," his voice dropped a little as he played with his fingers in his lap distractedly. "Don't really care if I become an addict again, I'm not coming back." I rolled my eyes at his pessimistic and stubborn attitude, drawing his eyes again which were now downcast.

"Maybe if you cooperated…"

"Maybe if they listened," Axel retorted, reaching up to pinch the bridge of his nose stressfully. He waved me off when I looked up at him quizzically. "They do it for the money, Rox. Not to help. They butt into people's lives to fuck shit up and create a vicious cycle that keeps bringing them back. I'd rather be surrounded by a bunch of addicts who accept me for who I am than a bunch of judgemental fucks who see me as a pay check."

"Axel," I mumbled after a few moments of silence, trying to select my words carefully. I was seriously considering that this was another one of his weird conspiracy theories brought on by the paranoia from the years of drug abuse. "What on earth are you talking about? They fuck what up?" Axel seemed to snap out of his thoughts and looked up at me with almost a stunned expression. Almost like he hadn't realized he was speaking or that he had voiced his opinion. It was almost concerning.

"Nothing…" He reached over a flicked off his lamp, laying down again to roll over. "Cunt's going to come in in a few seconds." I nodded my head in understanding, shutting my journal and putting it between the wall and my bed, flicking my lamp off as well. Just as Axel had said, Mrs. Hunt opened the door and poked her head in to check on us. Once she was satisfied, she closed the door and Axel flicked the lamp back on. "What are you doing when you get out of here…?" He asked me softly and I had a feeling it wasn't because of the fact that Mrs. Hunt was just down the hall. Axel had an arm tucked under his head and was staring at the ground, facing towards me, but not looking up at me. There was some kind of emotion bubbling just beneath the surface, but I wasn't able to place my finger on it.

I shrugged my shoulders slowly and mimicked his position. "I dunno," I paused in thought. I honestly didn't know what I was going to do once I was out of here. I hadn't really had any contact with Aerith or my parents since I went into the clinic, so my fate was sort of in their hands at the moment. "I won't have my job and my mom was saying how she wanted me to put off getting another one so I can get my life 'back on track.' Of course, she also wants me to live at home while I do that too. That'll be great…" Axel smirked a little at me, finally looking up.

"I knew you had daddy issues or some shit like that, but is it really that bad?" I scoffed and rolled onto my back and outstretched my arms to the sides.

"Worse. When they're not breathing down my neck about a career path, preferably theirs, they're breathing down my neck about school. Or work. Or friends. Or… Or anything! I know they mean well, but every conversation somehow winds up being about me and how I'm doing something wrong," I frowned and narrowed my eyes at the ceiling above me. I knew I wasn't the only one in the world with this problem, but sometimes it felt like it. Honestly, it was nice to vent to someone who wasn't a therapist. To someone who wasn't going to give me some logical advice. Someone to just sit and listen to me and my pity party for at least a few moments. "Sometimes I just want to disappear… Even when I lived on my own they still had ways to contact me, to check in…"

"They just care about you." I couldn't help, but roll my eyes at that blatantly obvious statement. If I had a nickel for every time I heard that one…

"Not to mention it's kind of degrading to be living on your own and having to move back home because you couldn't manage." That statement was far from true. My whole situation wasn't based around drug addiction, but the outside world didn't and never would know that. So, regardless of what the truth was, it looked like I needed to crawl back to mommy and daddy for help. That was something I couldn't live with. "I hope Aerith convinced them to let me keep my place…" I trailed off in thought, seriously wishing that Aerith had actually managed to convince my parents to do such a thing. The woman was a pain in my ass sometimes, but for the most part she was a saint. "What about you?"

"Well," Axel stretched his arms above his head before continuing, "before here I was couch surfing and when the couches ran out, park benches worked just fine." Shit. Here I was bitching about having a place to stay - a well off place to stay, at that - and Axel was talking about sleeping on fucking park benches. He must've caught onto my guilt and the uncomfortable silence because he looked back over at me with his trademark grin. "I'd take a bench over these beds, though, any day." I briefly smiled back at him, feeling it fall off of my face just as quick.

"I'm sorry…" Axel's smile dropped as well and just merely shrugged his shoulders, looking towards the ground again. "How… How long were you homeless for?"

"Not a big deal. I was used to it," He paused again and I could already feel the air growing slightly uncomfortable as if he didn't know what to tell me or what he wanted to tell me. "Uhm… technically since I was about fifteen. I mean, I've had places to stay and shit, but not really a home." We fell back into silence. I watched him swallow, unsure if he was going to continue, unsure if I should speak. Axel licked his lips, breaking himself from his thoughts and smiled up at me again. "Anyways. The clinic has a program I thought I'd try this time. They hook you up with a place and job to help you get back on your feet. So, that's good I guess…" I nodded my head in agreement, trying to adjust my eyes when the room suddenly plunged into darkness from Axel turning off the lamp. "I'm going to sleep."

Why did I care so much suddenly?

A/N: Hey guys! I wanted this chapted to be short, like really short. In fact, I wanted it to just be pretty much a blurb, but I kept writing so now it looks like an awkward short chapterr that... just... ugh. I don't know! Just wanted to leave this note so that the shortness was intentional! Thanks for all the reviews, faves, and follows, guys! I really appreciate it and I love hearing from you! 3