"Axel, I swear, if you're taking me through this back alley to some sketchy gambling shack or strip club, so help me God I will—"

"Roxas, relax. It's just the back employee entrance. I used to work here so I came out here to smoke all the time."

Used to work here. Still imagining some sketchy strip club, Roxas's imagination quickly conjured up a picture of Axel dressed as an exotic dancer before he could put a stop it. Okay, brain, it's been established that you're unhappy with the current cerebral Roxian government or whatever, but there's no need for complete heresy. For Christ's sake. He needed mental bleach.

He eyed the decrepit alleyway with increasing anxiety but continued to follow close behind, albeit reluctantly. He hung back for a second as Axel opened the door, trying to peer over Axel's shoulder to look for anything sketchy, like a scantily clad body (or a dead one, for that matter) but Axel was too damn tall. Axel held the door open for him and he entered cautiously.

The scent of espresso and spice filled his airspace like a crashing wave.

"You…you brought me to a coffee shop?" He asked in disbelief.

"Kinda lame, I know." He smiled softly, reaching up to tuck one of his red spikes back. It sprang back into place immediately. "I just really like the vibe of this place. It's just…homey, I guess." He shrugged. "Maybe that's just me."

Axel walked past the back pantry, stacked with all the supplies in bulk, turning the corner into the open space of the coffee shop. Roxas followed docilely, feeling a bit like a lost puppy. Yeah, the thought of Axel as his owner. Thanks for that one, too, brain.

Roxas looked around, noticing a mural on one wall and another wall filled with framed pictures of different groups of people. There were only a couple of people here—that aspect calmed Roxas a little. He really didn't want to see anyone he knew. What would he tell them? We're cousins. Yeah, they'd totally buy that. Blond, pale, blue-eyed, shorty Roxas and green-eyed, spikey-haired, redheaded, tan, handsome Axel. Wait, handsome?

Axel nodded at some blond guy behind the counter. The blond teen—who had previously been beating the coffee machine with one hand and attempting to plug the spewing of coffee out of some crevice with the other—shot up with wide eyes. He waved excitedly, taking his hand off the leaking coffee machine. Coffee immediately began spewing out of the machine again into the air, nearly missing the blond's apron. His face took on a look of embarrassment and he moved back to fiddling with the coffee machine to get it to stop.

Axel sighed, shaking his head with a look of amused annoyance on his face. "Ah, hell. One sec, Roxas."

Roxas watched idly as Axel walked up behind the blond and pulled him out of the way by the shirt collar. The blond began to protest, having been placed directly in the caffeinated line of fire. Axel crouched down under the coffee machine and sprung up a second later, the plug in his hand. He waved it in the air victoriously. The coffee machine had abruptly stopped spewing its contents. Axel crouched back down and plugged the cord back in, as evidenced by the return of the low sounding hum of the coffee machine.

"Alright, now that I've effectively saved Demyx's ass, how about some coffee? You know, the non-projectile kind."


"Do you always take your dates to your old places of employment so you can show off? I mean, how do I know you didn't plan for that whole Axel-saves-the-day coffee explosion thing."

Axel laughed. "Do I always take my dates here? Nah. Only the ones I like." He winked, hiding his cocky grin behind his cup of coffee, taking a long sip as he stared at Roxas over the top.

Roxas stared back at him. "You didn't deny setting up the coffee explosion."

He shrugged. "I can always count on Demyx to be doing something stupid."

Roxas nodded, taking a small sip of his coffee. It was something Axel had ordered for him. It tasted more like hot chocolate with a hint of coffee, but he didn't really mind. Plus, if this Demyx guy was as dumb as Axel was implying, he couldn't really knock the place for something Demyx had made him. He looked up and found Axel staring at him with a strangely scrutinizing look on his face.

"What?" Roxas said, wiping at his face, feeling a renewed sense of self-consciousness.

"Nothing. You just look a lot like your brother, you know?"

Roxas narrowed his eyes at him. How did he know Sora? He was getting a sinking feeling in his stomach.

"I—what? How do you know my brother?"

"Sora and I were in the same graduating class," he said quietly, looking away from Roxas for once. His eyes settled out the window but he wore a distracted look on his face.

Roxas looked incredulous. "But, that would make you, like, 21."

"20, actually," he said, looking at Roxas again. His eyes were flitting around slightly, as if they couldn't settle on a decided part of Roxas's face.

"Axel. I'm 17."

He put on a soft, almost sad smile. "I know."

"And you asked me on a date? Axel, what the hell?" He felt strangely betrayed and he didn't know why. Why hadn't he figured this out earlier? Axel had showed him his driver's license. For God's sake, why didn't he think to look then? Sexual predators 101—don't go on dates with guys who are after minors. Stupid. He moved to stand up, his head spinning dizzily.

Axel put up his hand in protest, reaching for Roxas's arm.

Roxas smacked it away, trying to fumble his way out of the booth.

"Roxas, wait. I told you, you didn't even have to think of this as a date. You said yourself you weren't gay. I just, wanted to hang out, you know. Is that so bad?"

Roxas looked at him. He looked genuinely apologetic. Something in Roxas's chest twinged a little at the look in Axel's eyes. Ugh, okay, heart, you win. He sat back down, staring hard at the table, refusing to look Axel in the eyes. His brain seemed to be breaching over to the rebellious side again. Thoughts like 'hey, you turn 18 in two months anyway, what's the big deal?' were filling his head. You just want to come up with excuses not to like Axel because you're scared of how much you already do. His forehead wrinkled at that. What?

"What are you still doing in Twilight Town, anyway? Aren't you supposed to be away at college or something?"

"Would you hit me again if I said 'waiting for you to turn eighteen'?" He quirked a smile.

Roxas leaned over and frogged Axel in the arm. "Seriously, Axel."

Axel glanced out the window briefly, something changing in his expression. He looked back at Roxas.

"I actually don't—live in Twilight Town, that is. I've only been here for about a week. Back in town for my mom's funeral."

"Oh." Roxas's heart twinged again, making him feel even guiltier for throwing his accusations at Axel a second ago. And for hitting him. Sort of.

"I'm sorry," Roxas said finally.

"Don't be. She smoked. Like mother like son, ya know?" He chuckled darkly. "She knew it was coming. I knew it was coming. It was just a matter of when."

"So, are you staying with your dad while you're in town…or…?"

He responded with a hybrid between a tut and a laugh, but this time it didn't quite reach his eyes. "I might, if I actually knew the guy."

Roxas's heart couldn't take much more of the guilt. Nice—remind Axel of both his dead mom and his deadbeat dad. Good job, Roxas. He squirmed uncomfortably, sipping his more-hot-chocolate-than-coffee again.

A resounding crash came from somewhere behind the counter. "Whoops," Demyx's voice piped up shortly after.

Roxas looked over at Demyx hauling the coffee machine from the floor back onto the counter.

Axel rolled his eyes with a smile. "I don't even know why they let him work here. Don't get me wrong, I love the guy to death, but I sure as hell wouldn't hire him."

Roxas's head was echoing with Axel's words. I love the guy to death. What was that supposed to mean? Something else in his heart twinged uncomfortably. He decided to change the subject. He couldn't take any more heart palpitations.

"So, where are you staying, then? Do you have a place here by yourself?"

"Nah. I probably won't be in town for too much longer, anyway—"

Roxas's face fell. The guy asks me on a date, pulls his fuckin' phone number out of my hair, tells me about his parental trauma, and now he tells me he's just gonna up and leave?

"—Well, unless I find a good reason to stay," he added with a wink, seeming to notice Roxas's reaction. "But right now I'm just kinda bouncing from couch to couch. Demyx usually lets me crash at his place."

Roxas internally groaned. He was trying to get the topic off Demyx. Now Axel was telling him that he practically lived with Demyx? Alone? His chest was growing increasingly tight and uncomfortable, but he couldn't figure out why. He scooted his drink away, his stomach suddenly protesting.

"I wouldn't mind crashing on your couch either, Rox. Or, you know, in your bed. Whichever is preferable." He cracked another one of his signature cocky grins.

Roxas could feel his face heating up to record highs. He couldn't understand it. When Axel was flirting with him, he desperately wanted Axel to stop flirting with him. But when Axel talked so lovingly about Demyx, he kind of wanted to let a coffee machine fall on top of Demyx.

"You definitely can't sleep in my bed when you were just asking me to drop you off at your boyfriend's house a couple days ago." He spit the word boyfriend out harder than he'd meant to, but it felt right nonetheless. Dead mom or not, Axel was being kind of a douche.

Axel choked on his coffee. "My what?" He looked at Roxas quizzically, his brows furrowed. Then his eyes widened.

"Oh. Oh. You mean Demyx? No. I mean, yes, you dropped me off at Demyx's house, but Demyx is definitely not my boyfriend." Axel was laughing now.

Roxas stared at him, unamused, his chest feeling only slightly lighter. He still didn't really like the sound of Demyx and Axel staying together alone. If anyone set off Roxas's gaydar, it was that dumb, doe-eyed blond, who was now half-singing, half-humming Shakira lyrics behind the counter. Roxas grimaced.

Axel tried to catch his breath, but continued to laugh, rubbing his eyes as they watered. "Roxas, trust me. I stay with Demyx and his boyfriend. Those two keep me up with their weird late night sexcapades. Not the other way around." He made a fake gagging noise, nudging Roxas from across the table.

"Oh, come on, Roxas, smile. I just told you I don't have a boyfriend. That means the position isopen for applicants." He winked. "I could give you a good recommendation and everything."

Roxas rolled his eyes, cracking a smile despite himself. "You're an idiot."

"Aw, see, I knew that would cheer you up."

Roxas narrowed his eyes at Axel, trying to be angry with him. Sometimes it really felt like he was just playing with Roxas, like some kind of little toy. And he was just too damn cocky for his own good. He reached over and punched him in the arm again with all the strength he could muster.

"You know, that would almost be discouraging if those actually hurt," Axel teased.

Determined to wipe that smug smirk off of Axel's face, Roxas resorted to desperate measures. He eyed Axel's coffee before reaching over and putting his hand in Axel's coffee, scooping up the remnants of some whipped cream and lukewarm coffee. He brought his hand up to smear it on the side of Axel's face, all the while smiling as innocently as the babe unborn.

Axel tried to shield his coffee from Roxas's grubby fingers. "—Hey! What are you doi—" he stopped mid-sentence, the damage already done. The side of his face was now smeared with the sticky remnants of whipped cream and coffee.

Roxas simply smiled up at him, blinking innocently. "You were saying something? Oh, by the way, you've got a little something on your face." He pointed to his own cheek for emphasis.

Axel gave him a measured look. "Really?" He slid his hand down his face, scooping up some of it. "Thanks. You know what? You have a little something on your face, too. Here, let me get it for you." Axel reached over with his now whipped-cream covered hand, lunging across the table in an effort of retaliation.

Roxas quickly reeled backwards, Axel's attack only succeeding in smearing the tip of Roxas's nose.

"Damn. For someone with a soft punch, you've got some fast reflexes." Axel wiped the leftover whipped cream off his face, sticking his finger in his mouth shortly afterward, getting rid of the remaining evidence of Roxas's attack.

A laugh escaped Roxas's mouth. He wiped the whipped cream off his own nose. His anxious resolve had dissipated. He actually felt...well, good. He guessed that maybe hanging out with Axel could be just like hanging out with Hayner. That's when he looked up and found Axel staring at him. But not just at him. Roxas could swear Axel was staring solely at his mouth. His cheeks heated and he quickly picked up a drink menu to hide behind. Olette's words were reverberating in his head.

Something...something about staring at my lips. If he stares at my lips...Oh god.

Roxas's head was spinning. Sure, it was supposed to be advice about a girl, but still. Axel wanted to kiss him. Axel was a guy. A twenty year old guy. Roxas felt like he couldn't breathe. He needed to think.

Unfortunately, before he had the time to, Axel's hand was soon pulling the menu out of the way of his face. Now there was no barrier between them, and Axel was looking straight into Roxas's eyes. Roxas caught the edge of a smile on his lips. He sucked in a breath and closed his eyes momentarily.

"Hey, Roxas, come on, let's get out of here. I don't want your parents thinking I kidnapped you... 'or anything'." He winked.

Roxas could tell Axel was making fun of him, but he was just happy to have the attention diverted from his mouth. He'd had enough inner mutiny and mixed signals for one day.