Finally the end of term inched closer and so did the much-anticipated outing. Marluxia wished he could have said that the days flew by, but unfortunately they didn't. A dense, lingering drizzle descended over the school and quite possibly the country, and refused to shift. It did nothing to help the snail pace that the last few weeks of term seemed to be going at.
Their last lesson of Thursday was PE and, whilst most people seemed to hate it to the very core of their beings (excluding possibly Saïx but who ever knew what he was thinking anyway?), Marluxia didn't particularly mind it. He'd never been particularly strong, but he was fast, agile and accurate. Whilst he was rarely the first person to be picked for the team, he was never the last. Particularly not in hockey. Hockey was his game.
He was the third person to be called forwards by captain Axel, the second being Demyx since the pair had been disgustingly glued to the hip ever since they'd gone public (Vexen had been able to reveal that they'd been together a lot longer than even Roxas feared). As other people were picked for teams, he felt his mind wandering away from the lesson and past the astro, past the rugby field, past the line of trees that was the start of the forest. He briefly glanced up to see Vexen hurrying down the steps towards them. What was he doing here? Surely he should have been in a lesson of his own. Vexen spoke hurriedly to the teacher, then wandered in to join the group of people that had yet to be picked. Marluxia made eye contact with him.
Why are you here?
I'll explain later.
Marluxia was barely even surprised that Vexen was the last to be picked for a team. What surprised him more was the fact that Axel was the one to choose him. Their odd looking team huddled together.
"Right." Said Axel. His team speech wasn't particularly inspiring.
"We go false-defensive. This team has a lot of small, fast players so we'll be able to sneak around the slower ones to score before they notice. Axel, Demyx, Leon, you take forward. Play on the offence. Keep the opponent busy. I'll go centre with Roxas. Everybody else stay back and defensive. Lexaeus in goal." Marluxia said, quickly before Axel could interrupt.
"Who asked you?" He snapped, but Demyx stopped him.
"Marluxia's good at hockey. Listen to him." It was the first compliment Marluxia had received from Demyx in a long time. The other was sometime last year when the musician had said Marluxia had nice hair (just after he'd first dyed it pink. He'd never gone back to brown). Axel nodded, annoyed.
"Any objections?" Marluxia asked. They all shook their heads. "Right, the main aim is to stop the other team scoring and hopefully we'll get a couple of goals in too. I shouldn't need to say this, but keep to your positions and keep your eye on the ball. Cover for each other. Okay?"
"Right. Now Marluxia's done playing captain, the real leader has a few words to say," Axel said. "Um. Go out and beat the other guys! They suck!"
---
Marluxia managed to save them from a draw a split second before the last whistle, and he exchanged a rather carried away high five with Roxas in light of their victory. As the other group tried to cheat and score another goal anyway, he ran over to Vexen, having been so busy during the game that he didn't get a chance to talk to him.
"So why are you in this group now?"
Vexen threw his hockey stick onto the pile and they walked up together towards the changing rooms.
"Well they decided that because I was getting trashed by the older kids, I'd be better off doing PE with "friends of my own age," Ha! It's not like I have any," He paused and added something else as an afterthought. "Except you. And maybe Roxas,"
"Roxas likes you," Marluxia assured Vexen. "It's just he doesn't hang around us much because he's got other friends,"
"Are you done talking about me?" A familiar voice said behind them. Marluxia near jumped out his skin in surprise, making Vexen smirk with amusement.
"Roxas!"
The boy had been helping to put the hockey sticks back and was late coming in. They went into the changing rooms together, Marluxia and Roxas chatting eagerly about the game. As Marluxia searched around for his shirt, he noticed Vexen collecting up his stuff.
"Where are you going?" He asked. Vexen gave him a pointed look.
"I have some new bruises I don't want anyone to see," He whispered, and then disappeared off into the toilets to change. Marluxia sighed. He hated this so much, seeing Vexen suffer, but he'd promised not to tell anyone and couldn't bear to betray Vexen's trust any more than see him in pain. Roxas sidled over, already half changed.
"Disappointed that you won't get to see Vexen in his underwear?" He joked.
"Shut up," Marluxia punched him on the shoulder, turning red despite himself.
"How's it going between you two, anyway? Sorry I haven't been around," Roxas said.
"Well..." Marluxia dithered for a minute. "I shouldn't be telling you this, but he's gay,"
"Really?"
"He was really embarrassed about admitting it. Said that he'd never told anyone else. Don't tell him I told you, okay?"
"Sure. Wow. You should make a move,"
"No way! I still don't know if he likes me back,"
"You're both staying for Christmas, right? Ask him then,"
"I don't want to ruin his Christmas,"
"Don't worry, I'll be there to back you up," Roxas assured him.
"You're staying?"
"Yeah. It's just for this year, because there was a fire at our house last week. Nothing too serious but it's not really liveable in right now,"
"I'm sorry to hear that,"
"Nah, it's okay. At least nobody got hurt, right?"
"Yeah. Who else is staying?"
"Thankfully not Demyx and Axel," Roxas glanced up to see the pair getting changed over in the corner. "God, I hate them so much. Anyway, I think Saïx is as well, but I don't talk to him much,"
"What about your other friends?"
Roxas shook his head. "Nope. I guess I'll be hanging around with you during the holiday,"
"Excellent," Vexen had returned, fully changed. He stretched, apparently pleased. "Finally, no more PE for two glorious weeks. Except maybe running away from angry mobs,"
"Heh... I know Marluxia's got a penchant for that,"
"Oh, come one! That was just this one time when- never mind," On the way out of the changing rooms, Marluxia walked straight into Lexaeus, the one who'd been in goal in hockey. "Ow.."
"Sorry," The tall boy rumbled. "Well done in hockey,"
"And you," Marluxia grinned, pleased with the congratulations. "You saved a lot of goals. But thank you,"
"Yeah, you should have seen the look on Axel's face when you went off on your team speech," Roxas added.
"Hrm," Lexaeus nodded and walked off.
"No offence to him, but he scares the hell out of me," Roxas muttered as they walked back through the drizzle to the dorm rooms. About half way there, Vexen peeled away towards the library.
"I have some work to finish, I'll see you later, okay?"
----
Finally, the year was waiting by the coaches to leave for their trip. Everybody had lists of presents and pockets full of money and eager anticipation to leave. Roxas was back with his usual friends, but he made sure to sit across from Vexen and Marluxia on the coach so they could talk. Well, Marluxia and Roxas could. Vexen had been even quieter than usual all day.
"Are you okay?" Marluxia asked as the coach set off with a cheer from most of the students. Vexen sighed.
"Yeah. I... um. I swapped my books for Axel's last night. The ones I could swap, anyway. I burned the other ones and asked for some more from the office,"
"Great!"
"No, what if he tells?"
"You don't know what he's talking about. Anyway, it couldn't have been you. It has stupid comments like "Vexen is a retard" in it, and you would have written "Axel is a retard","
"Yeah. I suppose so,"
---
"Come on, Vexen! You can't leave me!"
It was nearing the end of the day and to be fair, Vexen had dutifully followed Marluxia around the shopping centre all day as he picked off random items from his list. Now Vexen wanted Marluxia to wait for him as he got a present for the pink-haired boy.
"Just wait here. It won't take five minutes,"
Marluxia pouted.
"Fine,"
Vexen drifted off into the crowd and Marluxia swivelled back on the chair. He was in the cafe where everybody was supposed to meet at the end of the day, but of course nobody was here yet. He sighed, drumming his fingers on the table. Slowly as the minutes ticked by, people began to appear. Roxas and his group, laughing and joking. Seifer's gang. Axel and Demyx, flirting incredulously. Larxene and all her friends.
"Hey Mar," Larxene, weighed down with tons of bags, came over, grinning. "Got everything?"
"Pretty much, yeah. You?"
"Yep. Even something for you, and believe me, I dithered about it!"
"You're going to love yours,"
"Can I have it now?"
"No!"
The teachers called everything into order then, and called out the names to check everyone was there before they left.
"Where's Vexen?" Larxene asked.
"I dunno... he just went off to fetch a present for me. He said he'd only be five minutes but that was nearly half an hour ago. He must have been distracted or something."
"Marluxia, we were supposed to go round in pairs at least! You're going to get into trouble for letting him go off by himself. What if something happened to him?"
"He'll be fine," Marluxia mumbled, annoyed that Larxene had reminded him. But everybody else was here, and so should Vexen have been. Where was he?
"Does anybody know where Vexen is?" One of the teachers called over the crowd of chattering students. The ones who heard shook their heads, mumbled confused "No?"s and a few even asked who Vexen was, anyway. The minutes ticked on and a few teachers disappeared off to look for him. Eventually Roxas came over.
"Come on, Marluxia. You were the last person to see Vexen. Let's go find him," Roxas pulled Marluxia up and they ran off before the teachers noticed they were gone.
"Where do you think he's gone? He's never late for anything..."
"Except bed. He always comes in at about one or two in the morning," Roxas said.
"Yeah. It worries me,"
"Do you think he's getting bullied? I mean, he's so quiet and seems so sad all the time,"
They checked the bookshops first, and asked around to see if anyone had seen a tall boy with long blonde hair, but nobody had.
"I don't know... probably,"
"Did he mention anything to you?" Roxas asked. Marluxia didn't know what to say - betray Vexen's trust, or lie? They went around all the music stores, toy shops, clothes departments, cafes and restaurants, toilets... Vexen was nowhere to be found. "He might be outside. Let's check,"
"In the drizzle? He hates rain,"
"We've looked all over inside the centre," Roxas reasoned. "He has to be somewhere,"
So they slipped outside the huge double doors into the car park, calling Vexen's name.
"Where the hell is he?" Roxas exclaimed angrily when Vexen still didn't show.
"You don't think something happened to him, do you?" Marluxia asked fearfully. "I'll never forgive myself if he's hurt..."
"It wasn't your fault. You didn't know that he'd get lost," Roxas assured him. They'd taken temporary shelter inside the centre again, and were about to leave again when an announcement came up over the intercom.
"Can Vexen Caulfield please report to the reception. Vexen Caulfield. If anybody has seen a teenage boy in school uniform with long blonde hair, can they please inform the desk. That is a teenage school boy with long blonde hair. Please report to the reception, Vexen Caulfield. Thank you for your time,"
"They must not have been able to find him either, then," Roxas muttered. "Come on. We have a lot of ground to cover," And they dashed out into the rain again.
"Oh God! What if he's been abducted?" Marluxia exclaimed suddenly as they ran down the steps into the lower levels of the car park.
"I'm sure he's just lost," Roxas replied, but he sounded like he was beginning to panic as well.
"You don't think Axel and Demyx-" Marluxia stopped himself.
"What about Axel and Demyx?"
"Never mind,"
"No, what were you going to say?" Roxas stopped running, concerned.
"I said it was nothing. Just a stray thought," Marluxia carried on walking. Or at least, he tried. Roxas ran in front and grabbed his shoulders.
"Why did you bring Axel and Demyx up? Did they do something?"
"I promised Vexen I wouldn't tell," Marluxia finally said, staring at the floor.
"Tell who what?"
"Anybody. I promised,"
"You can tell me," Roxas said.
"I can't," Marluxia replied, refusing to look Roxas in the eye.
"Damnit, Marluxia! Vexen's my friend too! What did Axel and Demyx do?!"
"They... They've been bullying him. A lot. And-"
"Why the hell didn't you tell anyone?" Roxas demanded.
"I promised I wouldn't-"
"So you just sat back and let him get hurt?!"
"I-"
"Sorry. That was harsh. Look, if Axel and Demyx really did beat him up, we need to find him,"
"Y-yeah," Marluxia followed Roxas again, silently. What the short boy had said had really struck a nerve somewhere. How could he have just stood by all those times when Vexen came limping in with new bruises, or a black eye? He wanted to laugh. Claiming to love Vexen but never helping him.
"If you were Axel or Demyx, where would you take Vexen?" Roxas asked as they checked the last car park level.
"I don't know. They're pretty unoriginal so by the dustbins?"
"It's worth checking," And they broke into a run again, calling out Vexen's name. "Hopefully he'll be okay, but..." They ran around the side of the building into an alleyway filled with huge bins.
"Vexen?" Marluxia called out into the rain.
"Y-yeah?" The was a weak reply from behind one of the bins and Marluxia followed the voice. Vexen was propped up against the wall, bent over and bleeding.
"Oh my God. Oh God." Roxas was mumbling behind them. Marluxia knelt down and clutched Vexen's shaking hand.
"It's okay. Help is on the way. You'll be alright. What happened?"
Vexen smiled through his tears and it was sad, relieved, pained and bitter all in one expression.
"Guess who I met," He mumbled, and his words were slightly slurred.
"Who?"
Vexen grimaced.
"Reno,"
"Axel's brother Reno?"
"Y-yeah-" Vexen said, but he was cut off by a violent bout of coughing. Marluxia leaned over him, trying to get him into a more comfortable position, but Vexen kept falling limply back over onto his shoulder.
"Oh my God," Roxas said again.
"Roxas, go get one of the teachers. I'll stay with Vexen. Vexen?"
"I'm here..." Vexen mumbled, barely audible as Roxas dashed off.
"Roxas is getting help. You'll be okay. Nobody's going to hurt you anymore,"
"Mn..." Vexen breathing was rugged and he was wheezing.
"Just hold on, okay?"
"Y-...Hn..." Vexen coughed again and suddenly Marluxia's shoulder felt warm and wet. He glanced down. Blood. "I... I think h-he cracked one of... My ribs," Vexen whispered through painful gasps of air.
"Do you know where he went?" Come on, where are the others?
"...No... He just ran..." Vexen's words trailed off into inaudible mumbling.
"Hang on. You'll be okay," Marluxia pulled his damp blazer off and wrapped it around his shivering friend, to try and keep him warm. He drew him closer to his body, listening to the quiet sound of Vexen's shallow breathing.
"M-Marluxia?"
"Shhh, Vexen. Don't worry. Roxas'll be here soon,"
Vexen nodded weakly.
"I... I've had worse,"
"I don't want to think about that,"
Suddenly Roxas careered around the corner, panting.
"I found one of the teachers... And Lexaeus.... They're... calling an... ambulance,"
"Okay. Thanks."
"How is he?"
"I'm fine," Vexen tried to insist.
"He'll be okay. But he's cold and wet... we need to move him somewhere else," Marluxia told Roxas.
"I'm not sure we'll be able to without hurting him,"
"I can stand," Vexen said, trying to get up. Marluxia pushed him back down as gently as he could.
"No. You stay there. Help is on its way,"
"I know how injured I am!" Vexen exclaimed, struggling. "I can't let the teacher find me... What if they think I got into a fight? Let me go!" He pushed Marluxia out of the way and attempted to get onto his feet but stumbled and would have fallen if Roxas wasn't there to catch him.
"I think he's twisted his ankle or something," Marluxia said. "Where are the others?"
"They're on their way," Roxas replied. "It'll be okay," He helped to get Vexen sitting back on the floor, but the tall boy didn't seem to want to stay. "Vexen, stop struggling! Help is coming... Calm down! Don't panic,"
Vexen was shaking as tears streamed down his face. He was mumbling incoherently, staring wide-eyed at something only he could see.
"What's going on?" Roxas waved a hand in front of Vexen's face, to no response. "He's like... having a fit or something. Vexen? Vexen!!"
"Where is he?" Someone with a deep voice said from the mouth of the alley.
"Lexaeus! Finally! Where have you been?"
Lexaeus came over and knelt down by Vexen.
"What's he doing?"
"I don't know... He suddenly just starting shaking and staring and I don't know why... I'm scared," Marluxia admitted as Roxas tried to bring the panicked boy to his senses. "He wasn't like this before, it was so sudden..."
"We need to get him somewhere where the ambulance can reach him," Lexaeus said.
"Is it here?"
"It's on its way. I can lift him,"
"Not in the state he's in," Marluxia remarked. "Vexen? Vexen! Listen to me!" He made Vexen turn to face him. "Vexen! Snap out of it!" It seemed like Vexen was focusing on something behind Marluxia, but nobody was there. "Vexen! Get a grip, Goddamn it! You're not making this any easier for yourself!"
Vexen gasped, mouth hanging open in a silent scream. Tears mingled with the blood oozing from a cut on his cheek.
"It's like he's in a nightmare," Roxas whispered. There was fear in his voice.
"Wake up!" Marluxia yelled, shaking Vexen, trying to get him out. "Vexen!! Look at me! Please!"
"Mar... Marluxia?"
"Yeah, it's me. Calm down. You can do it,"
"Where are you?"
"I'm right here. Right in front of you,"
"I can't see... I can't see you. Where are you?"
"I'm here," Marluxia repeated, grabbing Vexen's hands and holding them tightly. "I'm not going to leave, okay?"
"Marluxia... I...." Vexen suddenly snapped back to reality, staring at Marluxia for a moment but then he slumped forwards, unconscious.
"Is he okay?" Roxas asked.
"I don't know," Marluxia replied, only now noticing that there were tears on his face. "Where are the teachers?"
"I can hear the sound of sirens in the distance. Come on, we need to move him,"
They managed to wrap Marluxia's blazer around Vexen's shoulders and Lexaeus picked him up and carried him out into the open, just as the teachers and a few of the centre assistants appeared. The sound of the sirens grew closer. Everything was a blur.
Vexen was loaded onto the ambulance as soon as it arrived, and Marluxia went on with him.
"Is he going to be okay?" Was the only thing he remembered asking. They told him he'd be fine but then they took him away in the hospital somewhere where Marluxia wasn't allowed to go.