A/N: Beta'd by Blaqk-Fire-Inside.

I bear a gift for all my little AkuRoku fans. :D

Life's Cheat Code
-Level 14: Begin-

That bastard with the brown hair showed up to school today.

Roxas thought once about following him, and then decided against it. Then he watched as the head of hair bounced off into another hallway and didn't even let Hayner finish his sentence before he trotted off in the same general direction.

He heard the three new buddies call after him as he kept a fixed stare on his destination.

When he got to the corner, Sora was out of sight. Roxas glanced around until the he caught sight of him again, going into one of the trigonometry classrooms.

The blond boy stormed toward the door, half angry, half nervous, and another ungodly half of everything else as he threw the door open, consumed by the quietness of the room.

"-and I was just wondering if I could take the test after school?"

Roxas shut the door and stared at it. He turned and walked briskly back toward the three dumbfounded replacement-friends and shrugged off their questions with a grin.

A plan formulated in his head, and all he could do was grin.

/L-C-C\

Three tests, and a few homework assignments to do over the weekend.

It could have been worse; four tests and a mountain of homework, but it wasn't as bad as he thought. He told the teachers he had caught mono and they bought it nicely. Life was good.

Upon walking into the door of his humble abode, mother at the table asleep with the want ads in her hand, being used as a pillow, the house cold as the arctic, and a few bills scattered on the table, Sora couldn't help but feel his positive turn around begin to falter. He gathered the few letters from the table and headed up to his room, planning for the eventful night ahead.

Walking up the stairs felt different…or maybe sounded different. Music was playing. Probably Mayuka's television buzzing in all it's Court TV glory.

Opening the door to his own room, the sound reached his ears in full blast. And then everything fell to the ground from his hands.

"What are you doing in my room?"

"Who the hell is Blaqk Audio? I've never heard of them." Click, click.

"Static-X, Sick Puppies-" Scroll, scroll. "- Hawthorne Heights. Sora, you didn't."

Sora blinked. "What are you doing here, Roxas?"

It was more of a demand than a question.

Roxas took his eyes off of the screen and fixed them into a glare and aimed at the taller boy. He stood up, pushed the chair in, and crossed his arms.

"What's the matter with you?" He advanced; Sora flinched only slightly.

"Do you have any idea how much you're putting all of us through? Do you have any fucking idea how much not knowing what the hell's the matter with you is killing Riku!? What happened to all your annoying happy music?"

"I deleted it."

"Well, no fucking dur. I mean why did you delete it."

Sora glared. "Because I didn't feel like being happy and annoying."

And a pause.
"And I don't need you to remind me of that. Get out."

Roxas kept his ground, glare still boring holes into the older boy's eyes. After a moment he glanced down at the bills spread across his floor.

"What are these?"

"Fanmail."

Roxas scoffed. He bent over and picked one up, reading it aloud.

"…Water Company." He glanced around the pile, "Electric and rent bills."

Sora kept his eyes off of Roxas.

"How are you paying for all of these?"

No answer.

"You know, if you really wanted me to go, you would have already had me out that door."

"Yeah. I know."

"What's happening with you, Sora?"

Sora looked up at the younger boy. His eyes stung with the threat of tears. He took a deep breath.

"You look good, Rox."

/L-C-C\

In desperate need of a way to steer his best friend away from a meltdown, Axel turned to the only thing he could muster: acquiring a bag of the finest weed money could buy.

This task wasn't easy, and wasn't going to last long very long with Riku's predicament and Axel's need of a fix.

Amongst the chaos of smoke in Riku's room, Axel could not help but feel guilty as fuck.

It wasn't like keeping secrets from Roxas was easy. It wasn't like being dead stoned before Roxas makes plans for that night and trying just to shake it off was easy.

This had to have been the third blunt he was rolling for himself that he gave to Riku. How much longer could he keep it up before he either caved or Roxas found out?

He sighed, and ran his bony fingers through his hair in thought. Riku exhaled lightly, the smoke dancing and fading into the air in the room. Axel began to breathe in, only to exhale it shortly after word.

"Fuck."

It took a few seconds before Riku could reply. "What's the matter? Shouldn't you be smoking this or…something?"

He had to stifle a laugh.

"Just…not into it." Axel leaned back onto Riku's bed, breathing in the scent of fresh grass, giving him a short high after every inhale. He then stood up and opened the window, only to have Riku leap up and close it again.

"Do you have any idea what would happen if my parents found out about this?"

"You're nineteen."

"…So?"

"If they throw you out, you might not die. Plus you can take my extra room."

Riku glared, "That's not it, and you know it."

"I bought this for you so you can get so amazingly high you wouldn't even remember your name, and you're still able to walk around the room like you're sober. Get to it, lightweight. I'm taking a piss." Axel went for the door, sweeping his hand through the thick smoke in the air.

"God, what's got your panties in a bunch?"

The door clicked shut, and fresh air rushed into the redhead's lungs. He sighed deeply, shaking his head to keep his consciousness from swimming out of focus.

This. Was. Shit.

Axel headed to the bathroom, and took his leak, always wondering why Riku's parents kept the mirror over the back of the toilet. He glanced up to see his reflection. His eyes were red and puffy. He could have passed it off like he had been crying, but he had trouble deciding if that were better or worse than getting high in Riku's room.

He was washing his hands when the phone in his pocket began to vibrate. Axel had to dry his hands quickly before it had stopped. He looked at the name, and shook his head quickly to focus before answering.

"Roxas, you should be sleeping."

"I know, I know. Um…I was wondering if I could get a ride home…?"

Axel turned the faucet on, soaked his fingers and rubbed his eyes.

"Okay, um…where are – Why are you not home this late?"

"I had some stuff to take care of." He sounded like he was tired.

"Okay. Wh-where are you?"

"I'm, uh…I'm at Sora's place, Axel."

Axel paused.

"Oh really?"

/L-C-C\

"And…he couldn't stop telling me about these crazy things he's been through, and how much he's missed us, even you."

"Oh yeah, I'm so unbelievable to miss, Rox."

Roxas chuckled. He looked out the window of the car.

"He really wants to talk to Riku, he just doesn't know how to do it."

Axel stopped at the red light, stroking his unattended chin hair in thought. Luckily it hadn't seemed like Roxas noticed Axel's state.

"That's a thinker."

Roxas' house came into view and Axel pulled up to the curb. Axel gave himself one more unnoticeable shake of the head.

"What's wrong?" Roxas asked.

"Hmm…tired. Here's your stop, kid."

"Do you want to spend the night?"

"Oh, no, no, it's okay…"

Roxas' hand connected with Axel's on the armrest, making the redhead look at him.

"Please?"

Axel looked at Roxas. There was something different. He hadn't been this smiley, or this nice, or this willing to hang out in a long time. Axel smiled, turning the key to turn off the car and hopping out of the car.

Roxas walked up to the door without a word and opened it, closing it after Axel came in.

"So am I sleeping on the couch, or-"

And it was so unexpected that Roxas was on his toes, pressing his lips heavily onto the redheads, it truly was. And it was so sudden that their tongues were swirling and Axel was on his back on the couch, still trying to focus, but both highs were getting to be a little much, so he gave up and only went with it.

If Roxas did taste the marijuana on his breath, he didn't acknowledge it.

"Come to my room, okay? You're sleeping in there."

Maybe it was a trap.

Axel still followed the blond boy, regardless. They ventured up to his room, and Axel could have sworn he heard the door lock.

Roxas pounced onto the older male, sending them both to the bed. His smaller hands roamed over Axel's torso, and had finally managed to get the elder's shirt off.

Tongues played lazily until Roxas strayed away from his mouth, making a trail of kisses down to Axel's navel.

"What's gotten into you?"

Roxas only glanced, fumbling with Axel's belt buckle. "I dunno."

Axel shot up and grabbed his hands, looking him squarely in the eyes. This wouldn't be right. He could go to jail.

"It's okay." Roxas said, regaining his hands easily and chastely kissing the redheads cheek. Axel then laid back down, keeping his eyes on the blond blur.

"You have to be shirtless too, then."

Both highs would probably be his downfall, but that was hours away.

+Insert Coin To Continue?+

A/N: I am VERY proud of that intro.

I am VERY proud of this chapter. I am VERY proud that this story is semi-coming-to-a-close.

This fic…TOTALLY went a-wall on me, right? And totally went its' own way instead of where I had it going. I'm glad of the outcome. Too bad not everyone who reads it reviews.

You know who you are. :B