Morning came quickly. Roxas found himself wide awake as rays of sunlight peeked into the house. The icepack had long since become a pack of lukewarm water and lay forgotten on the coffee table. His jaw still throbbed, but the swelling had gone down considerably and he found, after whispering to himself, that his words were a lot less slurred. He pulled himself up and took a good look around the room.

It wasn't small, but by no means was it large. The living room was a comfortable size, furnished with the couch he had made his bed and an armchair, both upholstered in red; a mahogany coffee table and an entertainment stand to match, three bookshelves with varying amounts of books, and a tall cabinet near the doorway to the kitchen that was filled with trinkets and knick-knacks that appeared foreign. The TV situated on the entertainment stand was large and flat-screened, but didn't look to be used often. There were no photos on the off-white walls; no hints toward family or friends or anything.

He could have stared at the room all day, could have inspected the trinkets and books, but Roxas realized with sudden urgency that he had to use the restroom. He stumbled off the couch, groaning at the soreness in his chest, and made his way down the hall. He had no idea which door might lead him to a place to relieve his bladder, but Axel didn't seem to be awake yet, so he couldn't ask. He'd just have to check all of the doors.

He turned the knob of the first door he came across, but it turned out to be a study of sorts. A laptop sat open on a desk covered in papers. Soft light from a desk lamp was the only illumination in the room, as the curtains were closed over a small window. More bookshelves lined the walls. Roxas pulled the door closed as silently as he could muster and headed to the next room. He wondered why Axel had left the bathroom door shut, anyway.

He drew in a breath before turning the knob and when he pulled the door open, it came out sharply because there was Professor Axel, sprawled ungracefully across his bed; shirtless and only half covered by his blanket. His face was turned toward Roxas, eyes closed and lips parted slightly as he slept. It wasn't his intention, but he couldn't help but stare and think and bite his lip. When he caught himself, he gasped and closed the door and stood in the hallway for a few moments, stunned.

Because he was just staring at a shirtless Axel. Because he was biting his lip over his teacher. Because his thoughts were racing through his head, few of which were innocent. He stumbled to the next door and was relieved to find it was the restroom. After doing his business, he looked at himself in the mirror and frowned. Dark purple bruising peeked out of the corners of the bandage on his jaw. He took the band-aid off of his lip to find a small scratch that ran from just below his left nostril to his lip. His hair was completely out of sorts and, in general, he looked like shit. Sighing, Roxas turned on the tap and splashed his face with cold water. He didn't look at the mirror again before exiting.

On his way back to the living room, he nearly ran into Axel. "Oh! Professor…"

"Morning." He grumbled, obviously still in the process of waking up, "Sleep well?"

"Yeah." Roxas lied. He hadn't slept at all.

"How about some coffee after I do my business?" He nodded his head toward the restroom. Roxas gave a quick nod. Coffee sounded alright. He made his way back to the living room and sat on the couch until Axel finished.

"Do you like your coffee black or with cream?" The redhead asked, disappearing into the kitchen. This time, Roxas followed. "I've got some Almond Joy creamer if that suits your fancy."

"Sure. That doesn't sound bad at all."

They both sat at the table as their coffee brewed. It was Roxas' fidgeting that pulled Axel's attention to him. "What's up?"

It wasn't necessarily his intention to say anything that morning, but as Axel had slept, his mind had worked tirelessly around ideas and thoughts that were probably better said than kept inside. When he crept to the bathroom earlier, they were locked away at the back of his mind. It had only taken a seat at the kitchen table with the scent of brewing coffee assaulting his nose to bring everything to the front.

"Do you want to know why my mum isn't home?"

Axel's expression was immediately changed to one of utmost interest. "Of course."

"Because…"

For a second, Roxas considered what he was about to say. What he was about to ask. It seemed almost crazy when he remembered his embarrassment earlier. Then again, nothing was crazier than the entire situation he had been thrown into. He tasted the words that sat in his mouth.

They were bitter.

"My dad left when I was ten. He didn't say goodbye. For the longest time, my mum was certain he would come back and she fed me lies about business and extended vacations. I believed her until she finally lost her fucking mind." He lifted his blue eyes to inspect Axel's face. Unchanged. Interested. "I think I must have been thirteen when she started to blame me for the whole thing. She wasn't afraid to grab my shirt and shake me a little while she spat accusations. Of course, after some time, I started to believe her. I tried to stay out of her sights because when she would yell at me, I'd be sicker with myself than anyone."

He paused, more to grasp his bearings than anything. Axel muttered a breathy, "shit…". Roxas continued.

"When I was fifteen, I wizened up a little. I hadn't done anything to push my father away. I hadn't done anything to deserve the shit I received. One night, I yelled at my mum. Told her what I thought. Said that maybe it was her who pushed him to leave. I didn't realize what kind of poison those words could be to a person, which holds a thread of irony because those were exactly the words that I had been suffering through for years. She took up drinking shortly thereafter."

There was a long break from his story as Axel stood to prepare their drinks. Roxas watched as he poured creamer and then coffee into each cup. The house was dead silent. His heart felt like it would explode out of his chest. His mouth was incredibly dry. When the redhead sat, pushing a mug across to Roxas, he continued.

"She would leave early and come home late. When money got tight and she couldn't leave the house, she would just look at me with the most sickened expression, like I did that to her. And maybe I did. But I tried not to think about it. I had to make something of myself if I wanted to get out, and that's what I wanted most of all. I remember having to cook and clean and fend for myself because she wouldn't. I was essentially disowned, but stuck with the person who hated me the most.

"She hit me once. It happened after an especially late night. I was seventeen, Freshman year of college. I was just so sick of what she was doing to herself- what she was doing to me. So I told her. And she just got so angry with me. I could feel the hatred in her eyes. It rolled out of her like some tangible beast. She came at me faster than I could react and slapped me right across the face. And she told me that I wasn't worth the air I breathe. Said she hated me.

"So that was that. She started leaving for days at a time. Sometimes she would leave sticky notes telling me what needed to be done around the house and sometimes those notes would have a possible return date on them. But mostly she left me to myself.

"And you want to know the craziest part? The stupidest motherfucking part of this whole thing is that I have a shred of hope that maybe someday she'll wake up and see that it was neither of us. There's a part of me that loves her because she's my mum. I feel like I shouldn't have that part. I feel like I should give up but I can't."

He didn't realize it immediately, but he was crying. Tears fell in hot streaks down his face.

"I…" Axel whispered, "I don't even know what to say, Roxas."

The blond took a long drink of coffee. "Then don't say anything."

"I'm sorry…"

"For what? You didn't do any of it."

"I don't have to have done anything to be sorry, Roxas. I know it's a little late, but if there's anything I can do to help…"

There it was. Roxas' golden opportunity. He tossed the idea around a little bit before voicing it, trying to consider the actual possibility of a positive answer.

"Do you think, maybe, that I could…" He let out a breathy laugh, "stay here for a while?"

Silence. He didn't even look up at Axel. Instead, he wiped the tears from his face.

"Roxas…" Axel's eyes were bright with excitement, but Roxas didn't notice. "How could I possibly say no?"

"Are…" Roxas paused, "Are you sure?"

"Of course. But you know, if you stay here, it would be best to keep it on the down low. I'm not sure the other students- or the board- would take you living with me so well."

Roxas laughed. "Of course."

Axel said, "We should go get your things, then."

"Yeah."

And so they did.