Saving Axel

Chapter 7: The Date: Part One

Roxas's POV

After the art show and clean up, I was home in bed. The note I found that was most definitely from Axel was still fresh in my mind:

You're the best damn artist here, and you better not deny it! Got it memorized?

I thought I had hurt him big time when I didn't respond to his inquiry of if we were friends. I didn't respond, because I honestly didn't know. He's done many questionable things to me in the past that could probably qualify as sexual harassment, but other than that he was an okay guy. Well, he was better than the first time I met him, but thinking of that makes me think of other things. We were never really…formally introduced. I wonder if we could maybe start over at one point. Man, at this rate I'm not going to get any sleep! This is ridiculous~

Clack

Clack

Clack

I thought I heard something like pebbles hitting my window. I got up slowly and approached my window. I gazed to the grass and saw a hooded figure. I stepped away when it looked up and my phone vibrated. I grabbed it off the nightstand and opened the message.

Open the window!

The message was from an unknown number, and I was about ready to find the baseball bat and go beat that person up~

It's Axel! Plz!

I whipped around on my heel and stared out the window noticeably. The person removed their hood and I saw the unmistakable red spikes. I opened the window and Axel put his hood back up and started to climb up the tree that was beside my window.I moved out of the way as Axel put a leg through the window and into my room and pulled himself in, not so gracefully falling onto my floor. Good thing Yuffie and Leon are heavy sleepers …and Sora was just inattentive. You could drop a bomb beside him and he might roll over. I helped him up and his hood fell in the process. He had a black eye and a few more cuts. He smiled sheepishly.

"Sorry, but my parents took my phone so I borrowed one…" he trailed off. I hope it was legally borrowed. "I was wondering if you could be my doctor again?" he asked hesitantly, wincing slightly, and expecting the boot out of the house. I thought about it for a few beats until I decided it couldn't hurt. Maybe I could get some answers about how he ended up like this and maybe some history behind him. In all honesty, this guy has molested meon numerous occasions, and all I know is his name and how old he is. That's about it. Talk about a stranger!

"Sit down." He was about to open his mouth to speak, but I turned sharply toward him. "But keep quiet!" I whispered furiously. "I live with family, smart one," I snorted sarcastically in a whisper. I walked to the bathroom in my room and looked through the medicine cabinet until I found my small first-aid kit and grabbed the box of tissues. I turned off the bathroom lights and walked into my room and flicked on my small, plastic desk light. I kneeled in front of him and went for his face when he shoved his arm out to me and hit my chest to stop my advances. "What?" I asked irritably in a hushed voice. I was tired and wanted to make this quick since we had school the next day. He hesitated and pulled up the sleeve of his black hoodie, and I gasped when I saw the large, bleeding, jagged cut on his forearm. I also got a clear view of the bruising around his wrists. It looked awful and pretty damn painful. It looked deep, too.

"This is all I care about…" Axel said in a dull voice, with a bit of a scared, but nervous, undertone. It was weird to hear him like that.

"Axel… it looks pretty deep, I don't think~" He placed his other hand over my mouth and gave me pleading eyes, and I nodded. I sniffed in and nodded again as I got up quickly since I had no idea what to do with his cut. It looked like it needed stitches, but it may not be that deep. I guess I could just~

"Just wrap it up so it won't get infected until school tomorrow, okay?" he asked quietly as he stared at my white carpet floor. I nodded again and poured some cleaning alcohol onto a tissue and dabbed his cut, wincing when he hissed in pain. I didn't like the silence so I decided to start my 'interrogation'.

"Axel?" He hummed in acknowledgment to my mention of his name as he stared at my hands working on his arm. "How'd you get that cut?" I asked, deciding to be blunt. I wanted my answers, and this was the first one I wanted. He shrugged in response.

"I was cutting veggies in the kitchen and the knife slipped," he practically recited in a bored voice. I stared, shocked, at his face and then down to the cut again. I know a knife could never have done that. I've sliced some skin cutting veggies myself and you don't get that high up on your arm.

"Don't lie to me," I said in a low, tired tone. He didn't respond, and I decided on a better line of questions. Better not piss him off, I guess. "So…"

"Wanna go out with me one of these days?"he asked quickly. I stopped and looked to him curiously. "Like, we were never really formally introduced. It was…" He paused as if he were choosing the right words to say. "…pretty sudden to you." 'Great way to mask the molestation you've been committing, Axel,' I thought sarcastically.

"Sounds… good, I guess," I replied as I finished wrapping the gauze around his forearm. He pulled his arm back and lowered his hoodie sleeve over it and stood up as I righted myself on my feet. He turned to the left about to climb out of the window again, but he paused. He brought his leg back into the room and walked over to my wall of photos and was looking at the newest one I had hung on the wall. I'll just say this much: when he looked at the picture, I wanted to smack my head off the nearest wall.

"You took this?" he asked as he pointed to the picture of himself in the woods from that one day we were out together. I nodded glumly, but mostly embarrassedly. He then looked to the regular white sheets beside it and smiled lightly. "Are you trying to draw this?" he asked, and I nodded again with my eyes glued to the carpet. I heard footsteps and felt Axel's warm hands on my shoulders. I half expected he was going to throw me on my bedand do something to me since I'm not really that close to a wall. He tilted my head up with his right hand and smiled down at me sweetly. Was this really Axel? Where was the cockiness? Or the unsubtle moves of getting a feel? Why was he treating me so… fragilely? I just had to return the smile as he kissed my forehead before he moved me to my bed and laid me down. I didn't move as he pulled the covers over me, or when he moved to leave.

I did, however, finally control my irregular breathing a little bit after he left.

XxXxXxXxXxXxX

I dodged another flying rubber bomb. I hated playing dodge ball because I was always a target for the guys with killer arms. I hated when I would end up being the only player left and about seven big, burly, cannon-armed guys throw a dodge ball at me at once. What's even worse is that Seiferis in my gym class. It sucks. I hate how he, his cronies, and whoever else he brainwashed in my gym class throws dodge balls at me at the same time. I know when they come and am somewhat pretty fast and run out of the way, normally.

"Yo, Roxas!" I turned my headto the sweating Hayner who was also on my team in my gym period. "Good job!" he called with a big goofy grin and proceeded to throw a dodge ball at some unsuspecting person. I turned back to the game and dodged for my life, and in the end our team won. When we were getting ready to play another game I heard someone shout my name. I turned around and was nailed in the face by a dodge balland fell back onto my back and smacked my head off the ground. I knew I'd be feeling that one later…if I stopped feeling this one. Ah… it hurt really badly.

"Seifer, my office, NOW!" barked coach Auron. The tall, black haired male walked over to me and the crowd that had formed around me. His one wrapped up arm was by his side while the other helped me to my feet. I wobbled a little bit and Hayner caught me.

"God, Roxas. You just attract pain, don't you?" he asked curiously, and I laughed lightly as I held my head. It hurt too much to laugh like normal.

"Stilo!" he barked and Hayner straightened up beside me. "Take Strife to the nurse and get back here on the double," he ordered. He nodded as we started walking out of the gym. We walked in silence until we reached the hall before the nurse's office, and I had stumbled quite a few times. A normal five minute trip became a ten minute trip. I stopped him and looked to him.

"Hayner, go back to gym. I got it from here." I smiled, and he looked at me skeptically. I probably wouldn't have believed it either, but he eventually nodded and started to run back to class as I turned to continue to shuffle my way to the nurse. I really wish he hadn't been so close or had that great of an arm. Stupid Seifer! Yuffie's gonna have a heart attack when she hears I got hurt again. God damn Sei~

"…forever, Axel." I heard the nurse sigh. I saw the door was cracked open and saw Axel holding out the same hand I wrapped up.

"It was an accident, I swear," he said as he looked away from the door. I stayed stalk still, because eavesdropping just makes everything better.

"It's becoming more frequent, Axel. If it's anything like five years ago~"

"Nothing's that bad, Aerith!" he practically yelled at her. Why did he call her by her first name? "That won't happen again…ever," he said dejectedly. What was going on? "Or back when I lived with my mom!" he finished quickly as he wrapped his right arm around himself.

"I hope not, for your sake, but let's leave this depressing topic." Aerith smiled and Axel nodded. "Tell me more about you and Roxas." I froze at the mention of my name.

"I scored a date with him. Maybe he won't hate me as much then." I don't hate you, I found myself thinking. "I just lose a lot of self control around him. He just~"

"Roxas?" Aerith called, confused, as I had burst through her door, holding my now bruising head. Axel stood up quickly, almost knocking over the chair he was in. I felt woozy again. Before I could catch myself on the wall, he caught me. He smelled like Axe,and that smell alone mode me kind of tired.

"What happened?" Aerith asked nervously. She was actually friends with Yuffie so it was a little more personal. Axel picked me up and set me down in his chair and removed my hand to look at my head.

"Seifer nailed me close range with a dodge ball," I sighed and closed my eyes. I felt hands lightly slapping my cheeks, and I opened them again.

"No sleeping until we make sure there isn't a concussion," Axel ordered, and I nodded tiredly while Aerith held the flashlight to shine in my eyes. "I swear, kid, you're gonna get brain damage with all these blows to the head." He laughed lightly. Aerith nodded and got up to go to her freezer. Axel helped me to one of the beds where I collapsed, and he righted me on the bed. I felt his warm hand in my own cold one which was so very comfortable. I had my eyes closed when I felt a sudden coldness on the point of impact. I knew it was an icepack, but I wasn't holding it in place. It wasn't hard to guess that Axel was still there holding it for me. I had about one more period left in the day and was out for the count.

"Roxas," Axel whispered lightly. "I'll bring your stuff here and tell Sora where to find you. Get some rest," he ordered in a hushed voice. I felt his hand disappear, and I gave into the sleepy feeling.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

Let me ask you a question, okay?I was hit in the head with a dodge ball, right? Close range, cheap shot by Seifer, correct?So why was I sitting on my couch at noon on a Wednesday, two days later, mind you, because Yuffie was worried I was still hurt?This is what we call over-reacting (by Yuffie), and it sucks. It's somewhat okay because Sephiroth's here, but it doesn't help because he's about as crazy and paranoid as she is. I was busy watching the news because I was that bored with my life. I was in the middle of mentally making fun of the broadcaster's clothing choicewhen Sephiroth walked in with lunch. I sat up and took the plate, not caring what was on it, and shoveled it into my mouth. It tasted like something very familiar to me, but not something anyone else knows about. I slowed down eating my sandwich and noticed Sephiroth's eyes glued to me.

"Is it good?" he asked, and I nodded sheepishly. "Yuffie claimed a good friend of yours made this sandwich. Apparently he's twenty-five, correct?"I absently chewed on my sandwich when the door bell became my saving grace. He got up. "We aren't finished here," he said as he pointed to me, and I sighed. He disappeared behind the wall separating the door to the living room.

Sephiroth's POV

I was disappointed Roxas would do something so dangerous. He's a minor befriending an adult. Whoever this man is, I'll have to work my personal charmto make him understand what he can and can't do for my nephew. I opened the door and if it weren't for the extensive years of emotional training I went through, my jaw would have dropped to the floor. The man in front of me had chocolate brown hair, beautiful blue eyes, a big smile, and was dressed in tight jeans and a black T-shirt. He was holding a bag in his right hand while the other was concealed in his pocket. Basically, he was drop dead gorgeous.

"Hello, sir. I was wondering if Mrs. Leonhart was in?" he asked, and I shook my head. I always knew what to say and do. Why was this person making it hard to do what I do best? Act cold! I told myself. He shifted of his feet and held out the bag.

"Thank you," I said in an even voice. That was harder than I would have thought possible. Still, the man didn't leave.

"I heard Rox got hurt, just uh…" He hesitated and shifted the weight on his feet for a little bit. "…just tell him Zack hopes he gets better soon~"

"Zack Fair?" I asked suddenly in a shocked voice. Where did the years of training go? I thought. He nodded slowly. I almost smacked my head off the nearest wall. God damn it! The guy I was going to threaten was freaking sex on legs!"Um… I'll tell him for you, Zack."

"Excuse me for asking, but how did you know my name?" he asked, and I froze. Oh, really great, Sephiroth! Dug yourself a very nice hole, you dick! I said to myself.

"Well, Roxas has told me a little bit about you~"

"So, you're his uncle then!" he called out suddenly, and it was my turn to be confused. Apparently Roxas had a large mouth. "It's nice to meet you Mister…"

"Sephiroth. Just Sephiroth, Mr. Fair."

"Zack, please. Mr. Fair makes me feel really old." He laughed sheepishly, and I cracked a small grin which was strange for me. "I'll just get going. I have to get back to the drug store~"

"You have two jobs then?" I asked, suddenly curious about Zack. I guess this is the ex-soldier in me always hunting for information.

"I actually have four: the grocery store, drug store, flower shop, and the pizza shop as a delivery boy. Gotta pay for college somehow, right? Look, I gotta go, but maybe we could talk later. Bye!" he called as he ran down the driveway and down the street. He is an interesting character. Roxas sure does know how to pick 'em. Maybe I won't yell at him.

Roxas's POV

Hearing that whole conversation was super shocking, and I almost gagged at the dreamy look in Sephiroth's eyes. Great. Sephiroth was hitting on Zack, and Zack let him. Ugh.

XxXxXxXxXxX

I stared at my bed where there were several different outfits left out on the bed. I didn't know where Axel and I were going or what I should wear~ Wait! Why do I care? This is just a way of getting to know Axel better…right? God, he makes my head a total mess. That dick! Maybe I'll just wear~ no, that's stupid, maybe I'll~ well…God Damnit, why is this so hard? I was mentally telling myself.

"Hey, Rox?" I turned around and removed my hands from my hair. I had been this close to ripping it out. Sora smiled sheepishly as he handed me a small box. I took it, confused.

"What's this? I thought the doctor was fixing my glasses?" I asked. I had been using my previously broken pair that was missing one lens.

"Well, they won't be done until tomorrow, so Yuffie got you contact lenses." He smiled sheepishly, ready to hide behind a door in case I got violent. I hated contacts. I calmed down and looked back to the outfits. Sora walked out, but before the door closed he called out, "Middle one, cuz!" I picked up the middle one and sighed. I hoped Axel liked the color green. I pulled on the tight black skinny jeans (Sora forced me to wear them with all the outfits) and put on the green shirt with black lettering spelling out Heartless and sat on my bed with the open box of lenses.

I picked one up with my index finger and used my other hand to hold my eye open. I may hate them, but Yuffie made me listen to how to wear them. I placed it in my eye and let go of my eye lids and tried to get use to the feeling. It felt weird, but I put the other in and left my eyes closed for a long time. I heard the door open and close and knew Axel must have walked into my living room down stairs. I opened my eyes and could see like I could with my glasses. I just hoped I would last. I walked to the mirror and fixed my hair and marveled at the ability to see my face without the frames on them. I grabbed my black jacket and closed my bedroom door and started down the stairs. I saw Axel laughing and talking with Sora and Yuffie while Leon and Sephiroth stood against the wall inspecting him.

"Hey, Axel!" I called when I reached the bottom. Everyone in the room stared at me shock for several reasons. 1) I wasn't wearing excessive amounts black, 2) I was wearing different pants, and by different, I mean tighter, and my favorite, 3) I wasn't wearing glasses.

"Roxas…" he trailed off with a longing look in his eyes. I guess he liked the outfit, or lack of glasses. He was about to say something when he noticed Leon and Sephiroth's hateful glares. "Let's go." He held out his hand with a smirk, and I nodded and took it. We walked toward the door.

"No later than midnight! No drugs, drinking, smoking, and Roxas will stay in a safe environment!" Axel nodded to Sephiroth and Leon's request as we shut the door behind us. We walked in silence and a good distance apart until we reached the bus stop. When we got there we burst into laughter, and I knew this was going to be a fun night.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

"So, what do you have planned for tonight, Axel?" I asked after he paid for the bus ticket and we were seated. He let me have the window seat without protest, which won him a few approval points. He smiled at me.

"I was thinking pizza and then we'll see where things go from there," Axel informed me, and I sighed while he laughed.

"You had a week to plan, Axel!" I whined as he laughed at me face-palming.

"I know," he admitted. "But it took a whole week to decide on pizza. Not many people know your favorite food!" he defended, and I laughed a little. "I decided on pizza since it's everyone's favorite food!"

"For the record, my favorite food is fettuccine alfredo," I said, and he stared for a moment. "Pizza is my number two, though. Maybe you aren't a complete imbecile," I suggested, and he sent me a playful glare.

"Hardy-har-har, Roxas," he said sarcastically, and I laughed for real. When our stop came, we got off and walked for a little bit until we hit a small, local pizzeria that I had been to only a few times. "Marluxia's father owns this place, and I get discounts," he informed me.I stood beside him as we waited in line.

"Are you okay?" he asked me suddenly. "You're rather quiet. I feel unloved," he said in mock sadness, causing me to laugh.

"Axel, how are you?" We turned to see tall man with white hair and a large smile. His hair looked feathery, like Marluxia's, and they were about the same height. Axel smiled and shook the man's hand politely.

"Hello, Mark. I'm doing great, thanks for asking." He smiled. Mark seemed as friendly as Marluxia when you knew him. "I was wondering if I could get a table for two." He pointed back at me, and I blushed slightly. Mark stood confused for a second, and I was curious as to why, but then it occurred to me that two guys were out in a date-like setting. Most would find that odd, considering his son is straight. Though, all of his son's friends are gay. I think I'm over-thinking everything again I reminded myself.

"Ya' coming?" Axel called to me above the happy buzz of voices in the restaurant. I ran over to him as we were led through the small establishment. It had a decent number of tables and only a few booths. The colors on the wall were a nice shade of blue, the seat and booth covers were a deep red color, and the tables were a light brown color. We were put into a small booth in the back with a few scratches on the wall and table. The menus were placed, and Mark walked away with a smile. I opened the menu and looked to it curiously while Axel laughed. I lowered the menu to look at him reading the scratches on the table. He noticed my curious gaze and pointed to one beside him.

Pizza+Marly=FUN

"We wrote this one after Marly experimented making a pizza a few years ago. He put on the sauce and threw on so much sugar,"he paused to laugh brightly, "we were bouncing off the walls, and Zexion threw a book at Demyx since he was pissed off." I laughed too just picturing Zexion throwing the book at a sugar crazed Demyx out of annoyance. Axel got this distant look in his eyes. "They made those years bearable." I realized I was staring at Axel and hurriedly returned my gaze to the, what seemed like thousands of, different pizzas to get.

"What do you suggest?" I asked, and he snapped out of his gaze and looked at me, confused.

"Huh?" I repeated my question, and he nodded quickly. "I'm just gonna order a cheese pizza. It's really good when Marly's mom makes it. You just wanna share a large pizza?" I nodded, and he put our menus in a pile and the small talk began. We discussed little things like weather and the restaurant at first until we got drinks and our order placed, then I decided to take the plunge.

"So… What about your family?" I asked curiously and hesitantly. He paused for a beat with the darkest look on his face I had ever seen, but was quickly replaced by his usual smile. In actuality, I wondered if I had even seen that dark look at all, but I still had a feeling I was treading on thin ice.

"Well… I've been in foster care since 7th grade, since my parents could no longer care for me. I've had two sets of parents since then and am still with the second set. My foster dad is a car salesman, and my foster mom works as assistant manager in Dream Dresses on 3rd Avenue," he informed me. I nodded knowing that in his mind he had set up blocks around the memories before age thirteen, which made me want to know even more. "What about you?" he asked and a random waiter placed our pizza on our table.

"Oh, well…" I trailed off. What all did I want to tell him? "I spent six years living with my parents all over the world, but always coming back to Hollow Bastion. There, I would stay with my Uncle Sephiroth while they earned money for more travels. Then one day at my cousin's birthday, they announced I would live with my grandparents, and eventually I moved to Twilight Town to live with Sora and his family." I had summarized my life in less than a minute. Wow…my life kind of sucked.

"Here ya' go," Axel said as he placed a slice of cheesy pizza on my plate. I took it nicely and smiled. "Eat up because we have to leave in twenty minutes if we wanna catch Demyx's performance and the after party," Axel finished and began to shovel food into his face. I have a feeling that tonight was gonna get a lot more interesting.

That's never a good thing with Axel.