Roxas parked the car in front of the same one-story house as he had a couple nights ago, only now he eyed it with a heightened sense of scrutiny—now that he knew it was Demyx's house. Something about that blond rubbed Roxas the wrong way. He wondered briefly if Axel had a thing for blonds or something, considering how he apparently loved Demyx so much and how he seemed to be fleetingly interested in Roxas. Something in his chest burned bitterly. He eyed the little house with even more disdain, especially at the thought of Axel soon retreating into that house. Demyx's house. His chest tightening further, he blurted the first thing that he could think to say.
"Hey, uh, Axel. If you ever need a place to crash, you could always stay at my house...I mean, I guess. If you need to."
Axel raised his eyebrows at Roxas.
"In a separate room," he quickly added, realizing the initial implication. His mind flashed back to what Axel had said.
I wouldn't mind crashing on your couch, Rox. Or, you know, in your bed. Whichever is preferable.
He felt himself flush all over again for what felt like the millionth time today. God, what was it about Axel that made him melt into a pathetic puddle of idiocy? Maybe the second-hand smoke really was depleting his brain cells. Pretty soon he probably wouldn't even be able to form coherent sentences. Or maybe that was already happening.
"Aw, Rox. See, I knew you had a soft spot for me somewhere in there," he said, poking Roxas lightly in the ribs. "You know, underneath all your cute little scowls and teenage angst." He placed his hand lightly under Roxas's chin, meeting his eyes. A smile was playing softly at his lips.
Axel's eyes twinkled a little brighter than usual. Staring back into those emerald eyes, Roxas failed to notice that Axel hadn't pulled his hand away, that Axel was still touching him. When he finally realized, he panicked. His hand shot up to push Axel away, landing on Axel's chest. Unfortunately, Roxas apparently really needed to work out, because Axel didn't budge an inch. Instead, it looked like Roxas had merely moved to touch Axel. If anything, Axel appeared as though he'd gotten impossibly closer. Roxas could feel the warmth emanating off of him, could smell the scent of cinnamon and smoke flooding his senses. He could feel Axel's muscles tensing slightly through the fabric of the shirt. This probably didn't look good. Actually, it probably looked like a perfect invitation for Axel. Great. For all he cared, his brain cells could rot away, because clearly their power for decision making was completely shot.
"So, Roxas," Axel continued, seemingly unperturbed by the sheer proximity of the two. "I was thinking—and hear me out for a second. You agreed to this date in the interest of a little 'scientific venture'. You know, to prove that you could trust me, right?" He tilted his head slightly as he spoke.
Roxas gulped, his throat suddenly coming up impossibly dry. He didn't like where this was going, but he couldn't bring himself to speak. He could barely bring himself to move. Still under the influence of the cinnamon and smoke flooding his senses and the twinkling of Axel's impossibly green eyes, he merely nodded slowly in response.
"Well, I was thinking, if we really wanted to be scientific—which, I think we do—we ought to do what any scientist would think to do. I mean, there's no way you could really think to trust me after one date, right Rox?"
Roxas shook his head slowly, his head spinning. He really, really did not like the sound of where this was going.
"So, in the interest of being scientific, I think we should consider doing multiple trials. You know, standard procedure and all that."
Roxas narrowed his eyes. His hand involuntarily clenched a little harder at Axel's shirt. Thinking took way too much effort and his head was starting to hurt.
"Axel, are you...are you saying you want to go on a second date with me?"
"Well, yeah. Duh. But I'm also explaining why I think you should go on a second date with me, that way you really can't say no." His grin widened, then disappeared almost completely. Instead, a look of soft intensity overtook his eyes. He leaned in closer.
Roxas's heart was beating impossibly fast. His mind couldn't move fast enough. He just knew he did not want Axel to go in that house. Demyx's house. He needed to keep Axel here a little longer.
Roxas could feel Axel's eyes on him, could feel the warmth of his breath skating lightly over skin.
And suddenly they were kissing.
Roxas's hand fisted itself in Axel's shirt. Somewhere in the back of his mind he perceived that Axel's lips were on his. Axel's lips. On his. But mostly everything felt like fire. Roxas's skin felt the burning heat everywhere that Axel touched. His chin, his lips, his cheek as Axel's hand moved to cup his face. His mind was inconceivably and impossibly blank. And Roxas reveled in it.
And then it was over. Axel was pulling back. A slight, almost inaudible sound of disappointment, somewhere between a gasp and a sigh, escaped Roxas's lips before he could stop it. His cheeks rouged slightly.
Axel smiled. "I'll take that as a yes?"
"Shut up and kiss me," he breathed, pulling Axel back down again.
Roxas wandered into the house, his hair mussed and wild, heading a little aimlessly towards the kitchen. His mind was in a daze of sorts, still reeling from the events that had transpired less than half an hour ago. He wasn't even sure if that had really happened. He opened the fridge, pulling out a bottle of water and taking a couple of long swigs. As the bottle pressed against his lips, sensations flooded his memory again. The feel of Axel's lips on his, soft and rough at the same time. The feeling of—
"You're home late. What, detention with Strife again?"
The sound of Sora's voice jolted Roxas out of his thoughts. He shut the fridge door, startling a little when Sora appeared right behind it. Roxas tried to appear as disinterested as possible, not wanting to raise any of Sora's suspicion or the weird brotherly concern that went along with it.
"Huh? Oh, uh. Yeah. Yeah, I fell asleep in class and he got pissed," he said, shrugging. Well, it was almost true. At least he had Axel to thank for that excuse, considering he had been worrying about Axel's plans for the date when Strife had almost given him detention.
"I don't know why he has it out for you so much. He was pretty nice to me," Sora added, looking genuinely sympathetic. He moved to pat Roxas on the shoulder.
"Yeah, some mystery there," he replied, the sarcasm dripping from his voice.
Roxas cursed himself for wrapping himself up in the fantasy. It was just so vivid. But, that could still have been a dream, right? Maybe he had gone home after school and taken a long nap, and all this had merely been another one of his strange sensual dreams. Sora's hand on his shoulder pulled his mind to where Axel's hands had been. He could still feel them on his chin, his cheek, in his hair. Nope, he was pretty sure it had happened. What was worse was, he wasn't sure that he minded. Ugh. Focus on the conversation, he told himself. Fantasy is what had gotten him into this mess in the first place.
"Did you fall asleep in detention too? Your hair looks rough." He moved to try to fix Roxas's hair.
Roxas swatted his hand away. "Okay, mom. Quit it."
Sora looked at him quizzically.
This was exactly what he was trying to avoid—Sora's weird brotherly concern. It hardly ever helped. Mostly it just made Roxas feel pathetic, like he was some sort of charity case for Sora. A kicked puppy. He didn't understand Roxas's dopey groundling problems anyway. They were beneath him. He definitely didn't have to deal with things like I just made out with a sort of stranger and now may be questioning my sexuality but I also told my friends I was dating some girl that I haven't talked to in years. Sora would probably just give him one of his mainstay sympathetic looks and then make him breakfast. Like that really helped. Sora just didn't get it. The worst problem Sora ever had to deal with was probably his friends fighting over who got to hang out with him on a Saturday night. Roxas's scowl deepened.
"I'm going to bed, see you in the morning." Roxas said none-too-politely, moving out of the way in a sort of huff.
"But you didn't have dinner!" Sora called after him.
Roxas slammed the door with an audible thud.
