Sweet Jesus +_+. I got a bit carried away writing this, and couldn't really stop until I reached something that I felt was satisfyingly conclusive... You'll see... So yeah, I'm working on the upcoming chapters and shouldn't take too long to update, but looking at my record, who really knows anymore? llOrzlll... On a better note, *happy dance* this was amazingly fun to write, I kept getting all tingly and excited XD, but when I finished I looked at the tab and went 0_o HOLY SHIT 14 PAGES! Yay me :E
I don't think I could thank each of you who review individually or my AN at the beginning would be stupidly long, but to each and every one of you who've been reviewing from the beginning, or reviewed in the past couple days, THANK YOU SO MUCH! It really means a lot to me XP
Now READ!
P.S. Later on, when Axel and Roxas are interacting, I switch back and forth from referring to Roxas as 'he' and 'she'. I revised it several times, hoping it would make sense to people besides me, because I was trying to use the one that properly describes the viewpoint of whoever is thinking/speaking/acting, etc... I'm sure someone will let me know how it worked out, so I apologize in advance if its confusing!
"You did WHAT?" pieces of instant ramen shot from her mouth as she stuttered. It had taken exactly 21 hours for Yuna's account of what had occurred between Axel and 'Namine' in the music room the prior to spread to their entire student populous. She hadn't picked up on the whole 'girl I'm going to marry' thing either, she'd been shock from the view his busted face, but the smack down alone was plenty to ignite a verbal wildfire. Larxene hadn't bothered to mention anything to Roxas for most of the day, knowing the poor boy was being harassed with questions from everyone else in the school already, but upon returning to their dorm and asking for what really happened, she was shocked to have the outlandish rumor confirmed.
Roxas didn't look up from the essay he'd been composing for Lit class as he replied, boredom ringing in his inflection, "Hey, he deserved it. If you want to flirt with someone, flirt. Don't corner them and then make it seem like no isn't an option. It's rude".
Larxene rolled her eyes. As Roxas had so keenly picked up on, Axel had zero tact. Chivalry he had, maybe, when it was convenient or in his best interests; but encounters with Axel were usually lacking in modern day courtesies.
However, Larxene chuckled in response. This persuaded Roxas to lean over the guard on his bunk and look down at the girl beneath him.
"What's so funny?" he asked, clearly missing the joke.
Larxene was grinning as she cackled, "Normally when a guy wants to take a swing at Axel, they end up in the hospital before even getting the chance to lift an arm," Roxas gave her a disapproving look as she started to convulse from holding in the snorts and giggles, "But here you come along, a tiny blond 'girl' that he's trying to ask on a date, and you deck him! This is too great!" Larxene grabbed her sides and giggled hysterically. Roxas' face turned faintly scarlet, wanting desperately to argue against the 'tiny girl' part, but knowing it was as accurate as not to at the moment.
Larxene sighed as she motioned to wipe tears from the corners of her eyes. Roxas mumbled, defiantly, "You're the one who told me to be careful of him." He was starting to feel bad about hitting Axel. Gay or not, he told himself, he was used to behaving like a guy, and guys respond with violence and bravado to being cornered and potentially molested. Especially if said potential molester was legitimately interested in you, which Roxas had found quite obviously in Axel.
Unfortunately, it wasn't anywhere near what Namine would have done in under the circumstances. He'd get chewed out on the phone later by his sister for drawing the attention of what appeared to be every single student in his academy, along with some teachers, to himself over something as petty as a name. On the bright side, it wasn't exactly bad publicity for him, aside from everyone assuming he'd be sleeping with Axel within a week. They'd seen his act in exactly the same light Axel had; surprisingly badass and reckless for a small virgin who happened to be cute, and presumably shy.
As he sat, quietly in thought, he didn't notice Larxene climbing the ladder to his bunk until she put a hand on his shoulder. He looked up in surprise. Her pale green eyes were filled with sincerity as she tried to give a comforting smile, "Roxas, if anything, I think I should be afraid for him now. Sorry, but he's gotten everyone he's ever wanted since junior high and I didn't want things to get… complicated for you".
Roxas smiled back sadly, with only a hint of annoyance in his eyes, "You thought I might fall for him after only just meeting him?" The look on her face alone told him he'd hit the bull's-eye.
Larxene's cheeks flushed briefly, a manifestation of her embarrassment from assuming that he, as a gay male, would react to Axel like any strait girl would. She'd been proven very, very wrong. Roxas smirked contently and turned back to his essay, blonde hair wildly pointing in every direction thanks to his wig, which was hanging off the bedpost at that moment.
The older girl looked at him thoughtfully. On the other hand, maybe it was a little early to scrap her stereotype entirely. The only gay guys she'd known before Roxas were just like ordinary dudes for the most part, but even the ones that had found Narnia they were so deep in the closet had their moments, if far and few, of rainbow fruity glory to distinct themselves from the strait population.
Larxene smiled quietly as she continued to sit with her legs crossed on Roxas' bunk. Thinking on it now, she would be lying to say the boys and she hadn't been pretty good friends before all the... shit happened. Axel, moron though he was, seemed to have gotten over her finally. She mutely wished that she'd see more of them now that Roxas was in the equation, though she'd never admit it aloud.
The lanky girl peered up from her thoughts at the sound of a notebook slapping shut. Roxas was throwing her a satisfied grin.
"I finished my essay!" he announced, beaming.
Larxene glowered and moaned, "I haven't even started that yet."
Roxas stuck his tongue out and tossed the notebook onto his desk below. When nothing was broken in its landing, he turned back towards Larxene and frowned, "By the way, I've been meaning to ask you something."
Larxene raised an eyebrow and waited comfortably for Roxas to ask away. She leaned back, supporting herself by placing her palms on the mattress behind her, briefly raising a hand to tuck a stray strand of platinum hair behind her ear.
Roxas tilted his head curiously as the words started to flow, "What happened between you and Axel? You seem to know him better than everyone else here, but you still don't hang out with him anymore."
When the taller girl didn't respond, Roxas was worried she might not have heard him. "Uhhh, Larxene? Lar? You there?" he leaned forward to wave a hand in front of her face, and she swatted it away promptly, furrowing her brow slightly.
The younger boy sat back and waited patiently for her answer. Larxene leaned forward and sighed. "We've been best friends since kindergarten. I hung out with a lot of boys back in the day, because I liked to play football around the time most girls started doing their makeup and worrying about their wedding dresses or whatever." Roxas was leaning forward, nodding when appropriate. Larxene smiled sweetly at the memories, "I was the only girl he refused to put his moves on. He considered me one of the boys, and I liked it that way. Then, somewhere along the line during junior high, he'd gotten the idea that needed to lose his virginity stuck in his head. Badly. It was almost as if he'd convinced himself that he wouldn't be a real man until he successfully seduced someone. Once he'd lost it he wasn't satisfied, and he's been desperately searching for something ever since. I don't think he even knows what he wants anymore, but he thought girls would give him some sort of answer, and he's been committed to the task ever since."
Larxene suddenly shook her head, as if trying to unscramble her thoughts, "One day it all changed. He stopped talking to me for a few weeks for no apparent reason, and when I finally got pissed off enough to go scream some sense into him, he asked me to be his girlfriend. He'd never had a girlfriend before. I said yes."
Roxas' eyes bugged out, but he didn't say anything. Larxene was looking at him carefully, as if wondering whether this new information would change his thoughts of Axel in any significant way. The smaller blond stared wondrously at her. She'd dated Axel? For real?
After a few seconds had passed, Roxas cleared his throat before asking, "So what? Did he dump you like all the other girls? Were you hurt?"
Larxene smiled, but Roxas didn't feel happy to see it. He suddenly wished he hadn't said anything. She looked like he'd just touched on something that was hard for her to think about, but just before he opened his mouth to take it back she met his eyes and answered calmly, "Not quite; the opposite, actually. He started to get serious about me, but with the feelings came control issues and anxious behavior that I was nowhere near ready to deal with. We were in ninth grade, for Christ's sake!" Larxene threw her hands up for emphasis, sounding exasperated, but okay. Roxas felt his jaw drop, and couldn't stop it, because if Axel hadn't dumped her that meant…
"So I dumped him," she chirped, as if it were as simple as 1+1. "He tried relentlessly to make me 'his' again after that, even going as far as sabotaging my relationships for the next few months. Eventually, I told him I was done putting up with his shit, and that I never wanted to see him again; thus, my transfer to the academy."
Roxas seemed to be in shock. Larxene imagined Vincent Valentine giving him an unsolvable problem and telling him if he didn't get the right answer in ten seconds, the world would explode; because that's what he looked like.
She laughed, and it was a sincere; pleasant like bells ringing and wind whistles and whatnot. Her head flew back and for a moment her bobbed hair seemed to float as gravity temporarily released its hold. Roxas briefly saw a glimpse of what Axel had fallen for in Larxene, but it was gone before anything had really registered in him. She abruptly flopped onto the bed with her fingers laced under her head, and stared at the ceiling, her eyes crinkling warmly. "Don't worry so much, Roxas. Axel's over me. That much was obvious by his ability to ignore me in favor of you when he visited during P.E. class yesterday." Roxas looked uneasily at her, as if he wasn't sure what to do or say to that. She smirked and sat up, bringing herself forward onto all fours until their eyes were only inches apart. The boy swallowed nervously. The corner of the girl's lip twitched upward mischievously as she whispered, "and after your stunt in the music room, I'd bet anything that he's crazy about you now."
Roxas felt his eyes go wide, and he scrambled backwards shuddering, "N-No way! It's not supposed to work like that," he was shaking his head furiously in denial, "You must be joking, because that's not, in any way, what I wanted!"
Larxene guffawed and teased, "Well too bad, because that's exactly what you'll get. Roxas, he's used to women fawning over his whims uncontrollably. You split his lip and made him see stars! He's going to be fucking in love with you before you know it!" she was squealing with laughter as the boy sat pathetically and said nothing.
He frowned slightly, looking almost angry but not, as he reached behind him and hurled his pillow at his roommate's face. She yelped when the mass hit her, but only ended up laughing harder than ever, "Get ready, Roxas. You're about to be ass deep in alligators, and didn't even know you were in the everglades."
Within an hour, Roxas was turning into a chronic yawner. It had been a long day. The tall thin girl, and the short skinny boy sat next to each other with their backs against the wall behind their bunks, content to smile drowsily and look across the room at nothing. Their conversation had quickly descended into random chatter about school and TV and food, until they'd finally run out of things to say and grew comfortably silent.
Suddenly, Larxene felt a weight on her shoulder, and turned to see Roxas leaning against her, fighting and to his eyes open and losing. "We should probably sleep soon. It's Tuesday, and we have school tomorrow," she said, unconvincingly. Roxas tried to will himself to nod, but gave up in favor of trying not to fall asleep.
The older girl smiled endearingly at her roommate, wrapping an arm around his surprisingly narrow shoulders, even if they would have been a bit wide for a real girl's. He sighed, and slumped onto her lap, resting his head on her far leg as she absent-mindedly ran her fingers through his choppy boy cut.
After a few minutes of this, Larxene spoke softly, "You know, Rox, the thing about Axel…" she looked down to find that he'd fallen asleep in her lap. His eyelashes were fluttering as he dreamed, and his chest slowly rising and falling with each breath. She sighed disappointedly, but moved her hand carefully to brush some of the stray locks of golden blond hair out of his eyes. "The thing about Axel," she continued whispering to herself, "is that whether he's gay or not doesn't matter." She looked up at the ceiling and rested her head against the wall behind her, "He can be an idiot sometimes, but he has a good heart; and you'll be an even bigger idiot if you don't fall for him in time."
xxx
Over the course of the next three days, interest in the story of Namine's knuckle sandwich had died down to a low simmering. Roxas had only been asked if he was sleeping with Axel, if he planned on sleeping with Axel, or if he'd really punched Axel for trying to ask 'her' to sleep with him two or three times that day. These were comparatively fewer than the initial groups of five or six that would bombard him with questions at every possible opportunity, the first day after it happened. However, this one victory didn't have Roxas at ease over anything.
Wednesday morning, he'd woken up to find a letter shoved under the door. Larxene hadn't seen it before he'd picked it up, so he kept it hidden and left it sealed. On the front he'd read:
"For Namine,
~Axel."
Thursday morning he woke up, and looked to the door without meaning to. Sure enough, there was another letter. This one said:
"Namine, read this. Please.
~Axel."
Roxas had dug up the other one from the place he'd buried it in his desk, and instead placed the two in his school binder, suddenly nervous that Larxene would find them accidentally. He didn't want to know what they said; he wanted Axel to leave him alone! And he could trust that Larxene sure as hell wouldn't go sniffing around his history binder.
Today was Friday, and that morning Roxas had purposefully woken up before Larxene, picked up the letter, and placed it with the other two in his binder. Larxene was just waking up as he left for school, an hour earlier than he usually left. She watched him curiously as he walked out, mumbling an indecipherable "good-bye", but Roxas didn't take the time to make up an excuse. This morning's letter had been addressed as such:
"Hey. Read the damn letter already. And if you've read the other letters and are choosing to ignore it, then keep in mind that I'm not going to give up. This is your last chance to respond to me willingly. My next plan is much less subtle.
You know who it's from.
NOW READ MY GOD DAMN LETTER!"
Roxas went to the school Library. It wasn't nearly as modern a room on the inside as the rest of the school, but it was cozy and relatively near his first class. There were other girls there, most of which were hunched over books, furiously studying for a test or rushing to finish the remainder of the previous night's homework. In the back were some covered desks for people who enjoyed privacy as they worked, and Roxas bee lined for them.
For the remaining 50 minutes until Spanish began, he simply sat there; his history binder on the desk. He was debating internally whether or not to read the letters, and dreading whatever could be inside of them.
Soon enough the warning bell screeched its notice that his time was up, and Roxas begrudgingly put the binder, untouched for the entire 50 minutes, back into his bag.
The faux girl dragged her feet as she walked to class. People recklessly bumped into the small blonde in the hallways, and he let it happen. He couldn't stop thinking. What was he going to do? What could Axel possibly have planned that would be worse than showing up at his Music class?
His memory of Spanish class was foggy. Kairi had thrown him a note once asking if he was feeling alright, but it had hit him in the head when he wasn't looking, and he'd fallen out of his desk in a surprised spasm. Cid had eyed him suspiciously and told him to be more careful, but other than that the period was uneventful.
Kairi had pretty much gotten the message by the time second period was beginning, and left him alone for the most part. On his way from English to History with Rikku, he'd told her simply, "I'm just feeling a little off today."
At lunch, he sat quietly as the other girls chattered around him, Larxene eyeing him suspiciously, but restraining herself from asking him anything around the other girls. Yuna, however, had been the only person at the table (other than Paine, who was absorbed in a new book) who hadn't seen Roxas at all that morning, so she only saw it fit to ask, "Hey, Namine, you on your period or something? You're acting strange."
That woke Roxas up. Blood rushed to his face, and he swallowed nervously as everyone turned to look at him, questioningly. Larxene looked amused.
"W-What? No! I'm just not really on my game today, that's all!" he managed to stammer out, unconvincingly.
Yuna rolled her eyes and turned to dig into her bag. He sat quietly, looking desperately to Larxene for help, but she simply shrugged as if to say, 'unfortunately for you, those who leave the room earlier than Larxene must endure, because they chose the path to not tell Larxene what's wrong. Help you I cannot, young padawan'. Okay, so that line verbatim was a bit of a stretch; but Roxas shifted jaw and glared at her nonetheless, mildly irritated that she was delighting in his suffering. Rikku's cousin sat up and reached toward him, a small yellow wrapper in her manicured hand.
Roxas stared at the item blankly, not sure what to do about it.
Yuna leaned across the table with her free hand to grab one of Roxas' and placed the wrapper in his hand, "It's a tampon, dummy. Don't worry, I just got off mine so I had spares."
Roxas didn't move. His face drained of all color. It was like he'd stopped breathing, blinking, and creating or processing thoughts altogether. Everyone waited for him to do something, and when he remained rigid, Larxene decided to throw him a line.
"Oh sweet!" she snatched the tampon from Roxas' still open palm and placed it in her backpack. He glanced up at her, slowly re-booting, and she discretely threw him a sympathetic smile. To the others, she grinned, "I just started mine; you're a life-saver Yu!"
Yuna frowned at the exchange, and Roxas looked very pointedly at his hands. This was foreign water to him, and he didn't want to be in the spotlight under any circumstance.
Larxene responded to the unanswered question amongst the girls, "Oh, you don't have to worry about Namine. She's on birth control, one of those 'once a year period' ones."
Everyone at the table, Paine exempt, collectively 'Oh'd'. Paine was smirking as she read, and Roxas mentally cursed her for knowing why this situation was so damn ironic and wishing her book would spontaneously combust. Kairi was the first to say anything on the matter. She inhaled sharply before crying, "So you AREN'T a virgin! SINCE WHEN?"
Roxas looked at the redhead, eyes wide. "H-huh? Why would you ask me that!" his face was turning pink again from embarrassment, but before Kairi could answer he segued his emotions towards annoyance, "I mean, honestly, does everyone I meet automatically think I'm a virgin? Do I give off a pheromone that tells you guys I've retained my honor or something?"
Larxene cut in before anyone could comment, "She gets bad cramps. Doctor prescribed 'em. Don't worry, she's still a virgin." Larxene winked. The subject had come up between them before, and Roxas had answered, if as awkwardly as walking in on your parent's getting it on, but long story short she had a reliable source, and knew very confidently that her roommate still had his v-card.
Rikku made an outraged noise followed by, "I'm so jealous! One period a year sounds fucking AMAZING!" and thus, the girls were distracted from Roxas.
It wasn't long before the topic changed, and Roxas fell into the conversation normally, having completely forgotten about Axel or his letters. After he'd finished eating, he stood to throw away his trash, and knocked over his bag, which for some reason had ended up next to him on the bench of the table. The top of the bag flew open and the contents were spewed onto the floor in a mess of notebooks and paper. Rikku, who'd been sitting next to him, turned to help gather his belongings. Roxas thanked her for the help, and re-collected everything except for his history binder. Upon noticing the missing contents, he looked up to see Rikku holding the binder in one hand, and Axel's letters in the other. Apparently they'd slipped from their pocket in the binder when they fell. Roxas' mouth went dry.
"Guys, get a load of this!" as she squealed eagerly, Rikku dumped the letters on the table. Even Paine perked up at the mention of Axel's name, and they fell upon them like a pack of hyenas to a carcass. Roxas moved slowly and sat, waiting for the commotion to die down.
Larxene turned to him, discovery glimmering in her eyes, "So these are why you've been acting so weird lately! Why haven't you opened them?"
All eyes were on the small boy. He felt a drop of sweat run down his back and groaned, "Why should I? It's obvious he just wants to sleep with me, and I already know I won't do that. What's the point of reading them?"
Kairi was looking most perplexed of all the girls. She didn't look up as she answered his rhetorical question, "Namine, I'm his sister. I've seen him pick up chicks for sex," her eyes turned up to him now, looking close to haunted, "I've never heard of him writing a girl love letters. He didn't even do that for Larxene."
Rikku, Selphie, and Yuna whispered to each other, murmuring about the strange connection between Namine and Kairi's brother, and what the contents of the letters could be.
Larxene gathered up the remaining two envelopes and handed them to Roxas, who took them, hesitantly. "Read these. Now. You can always say no to him after you read them," she ordered.
Roxas stared at the letters for a moment before nodding silently and tearing open the first one. He unfolded a sheet of paper and read it aloud,
Namine,
I humbly apologize for my behavior yesterday. I was too forward, and obviously upset you.
But you are the most insanely intriguing girl I've ever had the honor of meeting, and I need to see more of you. Hopefully on better terms, but if a punch in the jaw is what it takes to win you over, so be it!
I'll be waiting on the roof of your dorm from eight o'clock on tonight, so grace me with your company whenever it's convenient.
~Axel
Roxas didn't have to be asked to read the next letter, he was rabidly tearing it open as soon as he'd uttered the last syllable of the first one.
Okay, I get it. You're mad. But please, give me a chance to make it up to you! I want to ask you on a date properly.
Come meet me. Tonight. Same time, same place.
I'll be waiting.
~Axel
The small blond hesitated before opening the third envelope. The girls were waiting intently, having read its cover already. What he'd learned thus far was that Axel had spent the past two nights out on the roof of the girl's dorm, waiting for him, and Roxas had never shown up.
The blonde took a deep breath and ripped, retrieving the third letter from it's paper sheath.
I don't know what to do anymore. Tonight's your last chance. I've apologized. Your move.
There's a party at my bud Riku's house. Bring some friends. Larxene knows how to get there, so bring her too, and come get to know us. If you don't I swear to god I won't hesitate to kidnap you from your god damn P.E. class and force you to let me buy you fucking dinner and a movie.
Show up.
~Axel
The table was unnaturally void of noise. If a feather had touched the ground, they would have heard it. Rikku attempted to ease the awkward shock by chuckling nervously and saying, "I've heard about this party. It sounds like it's going to be fun; most of the girls I know are going."
Roxas was still staring at the paper. Larxene pursed her lips, as if deciding whether or not to say anything, but she seemed to make up her mind as she suggested, "I think we should go." Kairi glared at her, but the taller girl merely shrugged. "Hey, if you asked me I'd tell you the boy's serious. I've never seen him so…" she stopped, searching for a word that fit.
Kairi filled in the blank, flatly, "Desperate."
Yuna looked from one girl to the next before saying carefully, "So what do we do now?"
Larxene grinned devilishly, "We finish school, and then hit the dorms to change. We're going to have some fun tonight ladies, and I'm going to get shitfaced!"
There was a collective cheer from the others, even Kairi smiled a bit at the prospect of loud music, booze, and somewhere to drag Paine along for a good time. Roxas was the only one who seemed rather unexcited for the event. Rikku looked at him with concern lining her face, "Have you ever been to a party, Namine?"
Roxas folded the letters and stowed them back into his binder with their envelopes. "Once," he recalled, "I got so drunk I couldn't think, let alone remember half of the night when I woke up. I'd fallen asleep with my head in the toilet. Haven't been to one since."
Kairi laughed, "Oh, that's just because it was your first time! Everyone drinks too much at their first party, but you get better at judging your limits with experience," she jerked a thumb at Rikku, "Boobs over here ran around topless at her first party, then passed out on the lawn in her underwear."
Yuna and Larxene sniggered; Rikku groaned. Roxas smirked humorously at the thought. There was always somebody who had it worse, and more often than not it was Rikku 'somebody' in this group.
"So it's settled!" proclaimed Yuna, clapping her hands together. And thus, they began planning for their first party of the year.
xxx
Axel was pacing back and forth, nervously running a hand through his thick spikes of red hair. Riku watched him from a comfortable spot where he was leaning against the wall, red cup in one hand. Sora was off mingling or dancing or something, leaving Riku to babysit Axel.
Ever since getting punched in the face, it was like his friend had broken something in his brain, or maybe in Axel's case fixed something that had been previously dysfunctional. Riku and Demyx found it amusing as hell, but they couldn't leave him alone for fear that he'd make a mad dash to go and snatch Namine up forcibly when no one was looking.
"I still can't believe you'd make me go through the trouble of hosting a party over this," commented Riku dryly, but the implication in his words was a lie. He was thoroughly enjoying Axel's discomfort and anxiety, and even the party wasn't something to complain about.
Axel continued to pace in front of the silver-haired boy as he chattered, "because she didn't respond to my first idea, which was to go to her; so now I'm trying to get her to come to me willingly."
Riku nodded and said thoughtlessly, "Yeah, so throw a party at your own house. Why drag me into this?"
The taller boy stopped pacing for a moment to throw Riku a deadpan look that clearly told him he should know exactly why Axel couldn't throw his own party, and then continued his occupation of walking back and forth.
The party was bustling. Being the first one of the year, nearly everyone who'd caught whiff of it had shown up. Demyx had politely declined the invitation because of his job, and they'd all assured him that was probably a good call. The two boys were in the living room, which had been converted to a dance floor for the occasion. Riku had hooked up his surround sound to some bad pop music on someone's ipod, and the floor was bursting with barely-still-sober teenagers, grinding to the beat.
The music was stupidly loud, and they could feel the bass reverberating in their bones, but Axel refused to relocate because it was the only room with a clear view of the front door. He wasn't planning to move until the person he was waiting for arrived.
Rikku casually glanced at his watch. It was 10:30pm, a little after the time-frame that could have been considered 'fashionably late'. If they didn't show by 11:00, they weren't coming.
Finally, it seemed Axel had had enough. With a frustrated snort, he flung his hands into the air and stormed off to the kitchen to grab something to drink. Riku smirked, knowing Axel was pretty damn close to kicking and screaming over this girl. But ultimately he figured she was just that: a girl. He didn't take Axel's statement that he'd marry her seriously. Axel had found a girl who was on level or higher ground compared to him, and he was caught up in the chase. As far as Riku was concerned, the moment she gave in, he'd get bored and do what he always did with girls; it would just take a bit longer with this one. He still thought it was good for Axel to practice having a real relationship, he just didn't see this one working out in the long run for the time being.
As Riku considered this, the front door opened and in walked six girls. He couldn't help but find it hilariously ironic that Namine had finally arrived, just after Axel had given up on playing watch dog.
He pushed himself off the wall and strode forward, grinning widely at Larxene. "Hey guys, glad you could make it!" he said nicely, hugging Larxene when he was close enough.
"Hey Riku, nice to see you too," replied Larxene, returning the smile. Kairi waved childishly before finding Paine's hand and winding her way through the people to find something to drink, or somewhere to make out. The remainder exchanged their polite hellos, and everyone besides Roxas and Larxene eventually drifted off in different directions to enjoy themselves.
Kairi had come to their dorm room earlier that evening help Namine dress and do makeup. Roxas thought she'd done an outstanding job, and he felt hot; which was odd, considering he was disguised as his sister. He figured as long as he tried not to think on it too much, it wouldn't bother him. All the other girls had looked pretty damn good themselves, but he supposed that was the norm for parties; dressing up and all.
"So, you decided to give in to Axel's demands after all?" coaxed Riku teasingly, taking a sip of his beer.
Roxas' face grew annoyed as he replied, flatly, "I came because he threatened to kidnap me from gym class if I didn't show up."
Riku laughed, "Yeah that sounds more like him. I was wondering what he was thinking, writing letters and all that. He's never been particularly good at the mushy stuff."
Larxene rolled her eyes, "Tell me about it," after a pause to scan the room, she looked at Riku, questioningly, "By the way, where is he? Shouldn't he be gloating over his victory by now?"
Riku glanced over his shoulder, then back at the girls as he answered her, "Oh, he went to the back to get something to drink. He's been pacing over there by the sound system for the past hour and a half or so, and I think he finally decided to give up on waiting for you."
Roxas blinked dumbly. He couldn't come up with an intelligent thing to say, so he kept his mouth shut. Larxene shook her head, "That kid; what a complete moron."
Riku excused himself to go find Sora and make sure he wasn't getting into trouble, so Larxene took the liberty of dragging Roxas through the dance floor and towards the kitchen to grab some beer. Axel had come and gone, so they didn't see him by the drinks, but Roxas wouldn't have wanted it any other way.
Larxene chose two plastic cups and handed one to Roxas, "Here," she chirped happily. Roxas took the cup and looked up at her expectantly. "It will help you relax, and give you something to blame if you end up sending him to the floor again," she joked. He felt a small smile tugging his lips as he raised the cup to his mouth and downed the whole thing in one large gulp. Chugging; it really was the only proper way to drink beer.
xxx
Thirty minutes and several plastic cups later, Roxas came waddling out of the kitchen onto the dance floor. He swayed distantly to the music and closed his eyes, moving by the feel from the other intoxicated bodies around him. He stayed that way for a few songs until he felt someone come up behind him, and two hands found their way to his waist.
Kairi had ended up dressing him in a tight, sleeveless top with a relatively modest but stylish neckline, and a black miniskirt. Larxene had given him a crash-course on miniskirts, because he had known absolutely nothing about wearing them. The basics: don't sit, don't run, don't do anything that requires too much movement, otherwise it would ride up like a bitch and show the world whatever was hiding underneath. Luckily, the skirt was tight enough that his drunken swaying barely altered its length. Nonetheless he'd never let Namine see what he wore that night.
On his feet he had a pair of wedges that Rikku had lent him for the evening. Heels were hard enough for him, but these shoes added weight to the messed up balance heels already dealt out, making it very hard for him to stay vertical; thus, swaying. No dancing.
The hands that had found his waist were sliding forward and around him. He didn't really notice; he was listening to the music, so he kept on swaying, and leaned back against the body behind him to ease some of the weight on his feet. The mystery person behind him took this as an invitation to go for the kill, and Roxas was soon shocked to find a bulge near his rear, hands on his lower hips, and a broad chest against his back. That was enough to get him to turn around.
The guy, fortunately, was not Axel. It was a complete stranger Roxas had never met before. He'd stopped swaying to look up at the boy, and found that he was fairly attractive, and had the body of someone who played a lot of sports. Sober Roxas would have politely excused himself and walked away. Drunk Roxas, however, stepped forward and started grinding with the boy he'd never met. The stranger was pleased, and picked up where he'd left off, letting his hands roam down Roxas' back and near his ass, pressing his torso against Roxas', and using a leg between the smaller 'girl's' thighs to lead the churning motion, gyrating to the booming bass of a nameless song.
This only lasted about five seconds, though, before a firm hand was pulling Roxas off the other boy and dragging him through the crowd towards the next room over, where a game of beer pong was going on. Roxas looked up, vision a bit blurry, to see who he could only guess was Axel leading him by the hand. At this point, Roxas didn't really care. Hell, he might even say he was happy to see Axel. He giggled at the thought of that.
Axel finally stopped when they'd found a less-traveled place in the house to stand freely. He down looked at the small girl before him and watched as she giggled, noticing how her blue eyes sparkled like a fucking ocean. He'd had a few beers, but not enough to keep him from thinking strait. Only enough to make him prone to distraction; and Namine, from his point of view, was one hell of a distraction.
The taller boy felt his eyes drift down and couldn't really tell you how long he was staring at her legs when he heard a sigh. His eyes found their way back to Roxas' face, and 'she' was staring at him, a drunken smile smeared across her face.
"Axel?" the petite 'girl' asked.
Axel blinked, "Yes?"
Roxas leaned back on the balls of his feet, rocked forward and breathed into his ear, "You have really pretty eyes, did you know that?"
Axel blinked again. If it hadn't occurred to him before, he got it now. This chick was smashed. Seriously. "How much have you had to drink?" he asked her, carefully.
Roxas rolled his eyes upward as he thought. At first, he seemed to be using his fingers to count, but after some time Axel realized the fingers were random and had nothing to do with counting at all. Roxas eventually lulled his head forward and answered, "4 cups in the kitchen with Larxene, 6 playing beer pong, another two after beer pong before dancing."
Axel's eyes widened, impressed, as he chuckled, "Holy shit! I would've pinned you as a lightweight, but apparently not."
Roxas seemed to have spaced out, but eventually wrinkled his nose and made a confused expression, "I don't know where Larxene went. I was dancing. When did I stop dancing?"
Axel face palmed. Lightweight or not, she was pretty plastered. He tried offering her an explanation, "I ran into Larxene about five minutes ago out on the deck, she told me you'd gone to play some pong last she saw, so I went past the tables when you weren't there and found you dancing."
Roxas squinted, eyes a bit foggy from the booze, "Do you want to dance with me?" he asked, simply.
The redhead hadn't really thought about that. He grinned at the question, taking her hand once more, and replying, "Great idea!"
They swam back into the living room through a sea of people. Axel saw Sora across the crowd, trashed and getting very frisky with an entranced Riku. He smirked at the sight. They were so perfect for each other that sometimes it was creepy, but he could appreciate the cuteness of the moment.
Axel turned back to the girl before him to find her reaching up and wrapping her arms around his neck, grabbing fistfuls of hair, digging her pelvis into his groin and beginning to knead her body into his with the song. He felt his eyes grow dark with anticipation. His reply started gently, slowly running his hands down her back; tracing her narrow waist and hips along the way, feeling past the curve of her ass, groping for a reaction as his hips pushed and pulled with the rhythm.
Roxas had stopped thinking. He'd lost his sense of reality; acting on pure whim and driven by immediate gratification. Shortly after the second song began, Roxas had begun to let his own hands explore, also looking to draw reactions from Axel. Rather than light and sensual, his hands were grabby as he explored the curve of the taller boy's back, the lean muscle on his shoulders and arms, the subtle but strong core of his torso, and firm chest.
Axel felt his breath grow ragged as the music went on. His lids were half closed, and he couldn't help but growl throatily when the occasional moan or whimper escaped the girl that who's body was melting into his.
The small blond felt warm, even hot, and better than he had in years; but amidst the suffocating pleasure of acting from sheer lust, he made the mistake of looking up. Axel's eyes were dizzyingly green, and the hungry look in them pulled him deeper and deeper until he was getting lost in pools of emerald.
Neither of them was sure exactly when they'd stopped dancing, but it wasn't until they'd been standing in the middle of the dance floor, staring at each other for several long seconds, that Axel looked up and around, as if waking up from a trance. Roxas leaned against him hopelessly and whined at the lack of attention.
Suddenly, the two were jolted, and Roxas would have fallen backwards if Axel's arm hadn't been around his waist to pull him back up. Some people turned to look, and Roxas too tried to peer around the taller boy and see what happened. A girl, one Roxas recognized from school, but was too drunk to remember the name of, had spilled some fruity drink all over the back of Axel's shirt.
"I'm so sorry!" she wailed, using the napkin she had with her to try and blot some of the excess up.
Axel grinned kindly and waved his hand, "Don't worry, it's no problem at all." The girl looked unsure, but after some coaxing Axel convinced her that he wasn't mad, and that he'd have no problem taking care of it himself.
The girl gone, and everyone else back to what they'd been doing, the redhead turned to Roxas and explained, "I'm soaked. I'd ask you to wait here for me to go borrow a shirt from Riku, but I don't want you to get taken advantage of by any of the other deuchbags here, so you're going to have to come with me."
Roxas nodded numbly, not really understanding what Axel was trying to say. Rather than grabbing his hand, Axel simply wrapped an arm around him and half-carried him up a staircase between the living room and the kitchen.
Along the way, they passed countless couples in various stages of indecency, Kairi and Paine surely amongst them, all which were sucking face too intensely to breathe properly or practically having sex standing up; but Roxas didn't really see them. He was busy being consumed with fascination for the glowing warmth he felt radiating off of Axel. The taller boy, very and not unlike Larxene, but undeniably toned, felt like the sun to Roxas, and he wished at that moment that he could lay in a pool of Axel and soak it in.
After walking halfway down the hallway and turning left at a three way intersection of corridors, Axel stopped in front of a door. He fished a key from his pocket with one hand, fitting it in the knob and turning, giving a light shove to free the door, and led the two of them into Riku's room.
Roxas had been placed on the bed, so he watched. Axel turned away from him to face the closet, fingering the hem of his fitted t-shirt, then lifting it with his arms up and over his head. And so, Roxas thoroughly enjoyed watching the redhead's naked back, from the muscles creeping beneath his skin, to the dimples just above the hem of his jeans, until it was finally hidden from him by the replacement shirt. He frowned his disapproval.
Axel turned to the girl on the bed, and laughed at the look he received. "You know, you punched me only a few days ago for trying to find out your name. I was beginning to think you didn't like me much," he kidded.
Roxas shook his head, sputtering slightly when wig hairs flew into his mouth, "I don't like you," he eventually managed to get out.
It was Axel's turn to frown. He closed the few feet between him and the blond on the bed easily with two long strides, and leaned over her.
Roxas fell back onto the bed, and Axel leaned over him, looking down at his face, brows furrowed in frustrated attraction. The blonde simply lifted his chin defiantly, playfully goading the redhead to take what he wanted, because Roxas sure as hell wasn't going to just give it to him. Then he waited, unfazed by the closeness.
Axel started to close the gap, but froze just before touching the girl beneath him. Her blue eyes stared back at him with raw indifference, as if even though she'd said she didn't like him, she'd let him do whatever he wanted.
He was startled from his thoughts when the girl groaned with impatience and bucked her hips, rubbing a narrow leg against Axel's groin. Fully alarmed, he flew off the bed, taking a step back as he did so. The small blonde looked confused, and he shook his head grimly, "I can't do this. You're drunk. You don't know what you're doing."
The smaller boy twisted his body so he could see Axel better, but didn't sit up. Later he'd be thankful that Axel's height and his narrow hips could keep the other boy from seeing strait up the skirt. "You're drunk too," he slurred softly, eye lids feeling heavy.
Axel smiled tenderly, then turned and took a step for the door. If he stayed much longer, he wouldn't be able to control himself, and beer combined with natural instinct would take over. Despite his record, he didn't want to take advantage of Namine. Just the thought of that made him feel strangely dirty. As his hand reached for the doorknob, the younger girl called out franticly, "Wait! Don't go!"
The tall boy turned to see his infatuation sit up and carefully push herself off the bed, wobbling as she tried to stand, only to lose her balance with the first step and collapse.
Roxas yelped and squeezed his eyes shut, waiting to feel himself hit the floor, but he never did. Cautiously, he opened his eyes to see that Axel was holding him up, resulting in a repetition of his previous mistake; Meeting Axel's worried gaze with a bewildered one of his own.
He was drowning, once again, in those oceans of fiery green. Axel's eyes were wide with concern, only slightly hazy from the beer. Studying the alluring curves and masculine lines of his rescuer's face, Roxas felt like he was falling down endlessly, so he grasped for something to hold onto. He reached up with one arm and pushed himself forward with the other, letting his eyes flutter shut as he gently pressed his lips to Axel's, hand gently resting on the other boy's cheek.
Then, everything went black. He couldn't remember anything after that. Axel had opened his eyes when he felt the girl slump in his arms, and laughed foolishly at himself when he realized she had blacked out.
He'd laid Roxas' unconscious body on Riku's bed, and left to go tell Larxene. She went without hesitation to help collect her roommate up, but couldn't carry him by herself, so Axel had offered to carry 'Namine' back to the dormitory. He could have driven, but it he was drunk and it was only a few blocks away; besides, he reasoned, he could use the opportunity to catch up with his old friend.
After tucking Roxas into his bunk, and thanking Axel for the help, Larxene watched as the taller boy turned and said one last thing to her before leaving, "Larxene, hear these words and know that I'm not lying: That girl," he pointed towards the top bunk, "won't be mine right now. But I swear on everything there is to swear on, I'm going to be hers and show her why she belongs with me, even if it kills me."
*0* Mission Accomplished. THATS IT, END OF FANFIC. Lol, NAWT. Haha. I got you, didn't I? R&R for Drunk Roxas=Win stickers.
Random Blurb about this chapter:
This chapter was a lot more personal than most though, because I was heavily relying on several memories, more so than usual, to help me try and make the interaction between Axel and Roxas seem realistically intense, without having one of those 'I saw him enter the room, and he was the most beautifully gorgeous creature I'd ever laid my eyes on' bullcrap. TWOO WUBBS, in reality, is messy; it takes time and work to hammer out all the bumps and jagged pieces.
If you read the original fic before I started revising it, you'll recall that this scene used to be relatively simple: the girls had a sleepover, Axel had sent Roxas a final note, telling him to be ready to get picked up that evening and that he wouldn't take no for an answer this time. The girls forgot about the date and begin to party, so Axel shows up to pick up 'Namine' and Roxas, drunk and judgement-impaired, kisses Axel in the doorway of their dorm.
I wrote it... about a year ago? Maybe a little more? Anyway, a few months before this summer I decided to re-write this fic from the beginning. Over the summer however, I did indeed go to a party, have a bit too much to drink, and fooled around with a boy that I've been... not in love with, but insanely attracted to to say the least, for the better part of 6 years. Unfortunately, we actually pretend to hate each other in real life, before and after the party. we almost never talk unless he needs a to borrow a pencil in jazz band/tell me how horribly I suck at life, or I feel like bitching at him for being an all around asshole. But hey, it keeps life interesting.
Point being, the situation I tried to gear it toward was very different to mine, yet similar in the sense that alcohol could create a security blanket broad enough to have Roxas only feeling the good parts, and feeling the good parts twice as strongly as he would sober. His momentary indifference to what Axel does to him is because it doesn't matter that it's Axel, it just matters that there's an attraction, and that he'd decided to spend the evening following his gut and ignoring the potential consequences.
This being said, I was seriously considering re-writing this chapter from scratch and going back to the simpler, safer, cuter version of "Roxas goes gaga for Axel in his drunken stupor and kisses him unexpectedly!" Not that there's anything wrong with that version (if there had been, it wouldn't be an option in the first place :D) but I ended up going with the much longer, much more emotionally vested chapter in hopes that it wouldn't completely clash with the mood of the story until now. So, tell me your thoughts if you wish. If too many people comment and go "I hate this, make it DAI D !" then I'll probably end up just re-writing it and replacing the chapter, but hopefully that isn't the case _'
Moral of the story: UNDERAGE DRINKING, ALCOHOL, BOYS, AND PARTIES ARE BAAAAAAAD. So stay away from all of them. At all times. For the rest of your life.
(or at least don't get caught ;D)
~~Until next time~~~