A/N: Hey party people! That's right, the update is here! Yay! One of the reasons I've been working so hard (I worked really hard on this chap. There were so many feels, and it was hard getting everyone down emotionally) and have wanted to update asap is because NO ONE ELSE IS UPDATING. Seriously. Ever since I first started writing this chapter, not one of the stories I follow have updated, and it made me depressed. So I was all, "I can't be like them, I've got to update!" But of course, something just may be happening in their lives...all at the same time. That they can't work on their stories. But enough jibber jabber, on with TLE!
Minor warning, things are starting to get real. Onward!
Axel's POV
We're all going to the movies this weekend as a big group. Roxas' friends and my friends will meet all together for the first time. And Larxene's been bitchin about not meeting Roxas yet. It's not my fault she conked out Wednesday night and was absent that Thursday I brought him to meet everyone. She was also upset she missed the cafeteria-catastrophe. She hasn't stopped complaining since she returned.
Today marks week four of Roxas and I dating and I'm loving every minute of it. We don't go out every day, but when we do, I have the time of life. Today we're supposed to have lunch together, the two of us. Yuffie complained to me about "stealing their leader" but eventually we complied with sharing him. I get him Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and she gets him Tuesdays and Thursdays. It took a while to agree to that, but I pointed out that she'd have him all day on Thursday because of TLE. Of course, we didn't tell Roxas anything about this, cause he would curse both of us out for treating him like an object. I don't know what he would do to Yuffie, but I know he would personally hand me my ass. And probably not let me touch him for a week.
But I love him regardless of his extremely short temper.
I'm currently waiting for him at the entrance to the forest so we can head to our spot together. He's running late. Which is surprising because he's usually very punctual. I wonder if something happened?
Just as I was thinking this, I see someone walking over towards me. The sun is in my eye, but I can tell whoever it is, is small and has honey-sickle blond hair.
"That you Roxy?"
"Who else would it be?" he ask coming closer. Oh yeah. Definitely Roxas.
I can see him full body now. He has on a red t-shirt that says "You Bred Raptors?" with a picture of dinosaurs and bones under it. That's a…really interesting shirt. It must be of some indie band he listens to. With black skinny jeans and red and black checkered Vans he's looking hot, per usual. "You ready to eat?"
"No, I came all the way over here to tell you that I wasn't ready to eat. I'm actually about to head back into the cafeteria to get food." He brushes past me and starts heading inside the forest. Okay…
"Is something wrong?" I ask. I mean, he's always been sarcastic, but he's not usually mean about it unless he's upset. Ergo, something's wrong.
"Nothing's bothering me," he says loudly.
"You know that's Roxas for 'something's bothering me' right?"
He huffs and doesn't answer me. We walk in silence for a few more minutes until we reach the gazebo. He slumps down onto the bench and stuffs his tuna sandwich in his mouth. He must have a thing for tuna, he's always eating it. "Really Roxy, what's up with you?"
He chews his food before audibly swallowing. Hesitating to take another bite he stares at me for a moment. I raise an eyebrow, and he just shakes his head and continues to eat.
"Roxyyyy."
"Look, it's stupid and petty, and it's not important, so just forget it," he explains.
"Obviously it is important, and I can't just forget it if it's bothering you," I say. His eyebrows scrunch together, and I'm not sure what exactly he's feeling. He seemed angry before, but now I'm not so sure. "Roxy, you know you can tell me anything."
Refusing to look me in the eye, he fiddles with the straw in his water. "…it's stupid."
I chuckle at that. "I doubt it is, but I still wouldn't care. Tell me what's on your mind."
"Well…I really love being with you. When I'm around you I feel like I could be a better person, not that anti-social sarcastic asshole I was before. It's fun whenever we hang out, and I just never want to leave your side. And I know it's crazy, because you're the one who initially pursued me, but…sometimes I feel that I'm the only one that's feeling so…overwhelmed with my feelings."
"How could you even think that?" I blanch. The dude knows I love him more than anything, right?
"Because. It's just…you've never…told me you…love me," he near but whispers.
…what? That's impossible, of course I told him I…wait. Now that I think about it...really think about it… I don't...think...I've ever actually said it...to ROXAS. Actually, I think I've said it to like, everyone BUT Roxas. Shit. I'm so used to saying it and thinking it all the time, I had just assumed that I had said it to him sometime in our relationship. Crap.
"Roxas." I turn him toward me and stare straight into his ocean-blue eyes. "Roxas, I love you."
After a pause he says "I wasn't fishing for that. If you don't actually feel that way, you don't have to say-"
I crush my lips against his to shut him up. Dazed and with bruised lips, he looks back up at me, flushed.
"Roxas. I'm not just saying that. Seriously. I think about you so much and how I love you, that I never realized I never voiced it to you. I love you Roxas. I love you so much. I love you." I kiss him all over his face. Forehead. Cheek. Nose. Chin. Then I reconnect our lips for a wonderful moment. He wraps his arms around my neck and I grab him by his waist. Our tongues clash and they both push and suck against each other, fighting for dominance. Eventually I win, judging by the moan escaping his throat and him falling into me. I smile against his lips and continue my onslaught. Ever since I stopped smoking, I've been obsessed with kissing Roxas. The taste of his lips and tongue, the sweet smell of him, was enough to get me addicted.
"Okay, okay! I get it!" he giggles as I attack his neck. I pull back slightly and smile as our foreheads connect. "I love you too. Now get off me and let me finish my meal in peace." I just noticed I was laying on top of him on the bench. Well. When did that happen? I sit up and he takes big dramatic breathes, as if I squeezed all the air out his body. I snort and move my fingers in a tickling motion to warn him of what I can do. His face pales making me laugh. Punching me lightly in the arm, we proceed to eat our lunch in peace.
…
Before I know it, it's Friday, and after enjoying another TLE concert (might I add that my blondie was lookin' fine as hell last night in that tight grey shirt and leather jeans. I didn't know if I wanted to do him, or punch the guy next to me in the face for saying what he would like to do to my boyfriend. Either way, I wanted Roxy off that stage) I am pumped for this weekend. We're sitting at my lunch table and are currently in a heated discussion on what movie to watch tomorrow.
"Godzilla! Godzilla!" Demyx chants. "If we're all gonna watch something together, it's gotta be Godzilla!"
Marluxia snorts at that. "You've got to be kidding with that. We are not watching that uncivilized film that's just a cheap knockoff of King Kong."
"Don't insult the Kong," Demyx warns.
"Bite me. If we're going to watch something, it should be The Fault in Our Stars," Marluxia says.
Zexion perked up at that. Well, as much as he can be considered "perky". "I read the book. It was amazing. I would not mind seeing that."
"Awww, but Zexyyy," Demyx whines.
"You heard the man, The Fault in Our Stars it is!" Marly cheers.
"Sorry, but I'm not watching some sappy tragic love slop," Cloud huffs. He's leaning against Leon and looked up from his phone for a moment to voice his opinion.
"It is not sappy, it's a beautiful-"
"What about that new X-men movie? Days of Future Past?" Leon suggest.
"Yeah, that's great for Marvel-nerds and comic geeks," Larxene says snidely, sipping her ice tea.
"Amazing Spider-Man 2?" he offers instead.
"My reasons still stand. Geek."
"Watch it, blondie," Cloud warns.
"Right back at you, Blondie."
Okay, if this didn't stop soon, blood was going to be drawn. And from the size of Cloud's muscles and Larxene's commitment to not doing any form of physical exercise, I don't think she'd come out too good from the fight.
"Okay guys, come on. Why don't we watch a comedy, huh? Everyone likes to laugh, right?" I say.
Everyone simultaneously groans at me and I shrink back. Roxas, whose been by my side silently munching on carrots, pats my back consolingly. "Roxy, what do you want to watch?"
"Hm?" He swallows before saying. "I don't really care?"
"Come on Roxy, you're the mediator between the two groups. I know you like dramas, so whatcha up for?"
He puts another carrot in his mouth while thinking it over. Everyone's gone quite while waiting for his answer. "Well, I have been wanting to see Belle. It just came out."
"Okay," I say.
"But," he continues, "I wanted to see that on my own time. For all of us…" he takes a glance around at everyone and shakes his head at all the different interests we have. "How about Maleficent?" Everyone "oohs" lowly, and a few nod their head in agreement. "I'll text Yuff and see what the guys think."
Marluxia suddenly jumps up, startling me and, they'd never admit it, everyone else at the table. "Roxas, could you give them the list of all the movies we just mentioned?"
"Mmhm. Why though, I thought we decided on Maleficent."
"Yes, but I would like to wager a little bet." Everyone leans in, even Zexion and Cloud who were engrossed in their book and phone respectively, ready for Marluxia to set the terms. "Let's see which movie gets the most votes." I guess he was still feeling a little upset that only he and Zexion wanted to see his movie.
"Bring it on. I'm bettin on Roxy's vote," Larxene sneers. I glare at her use of my nickname for Roxas causing her to smirk.
"I'm staying with X-Men," Leon bets.
"Godzilla!" Demyx screams, causing some people from other tables to look over. I smack the back of his head for being loud. "That's how they say it in the movie…" he mumbles.
Cloud votes on The Amazing Spider-Man 2, which makes Leon smile, Zexion surprisingly votes on Maleficent too, Marly goes with The Fault in Our Stars, and I stay with a comedy. He agrees to my broad answer, but says if I win, I only get half the prize. Which is apparently the losers treating the winner (or winners) to the concession at the theatre tomorrow. I really hoped I didn't lose, and I really hoped Larxene didn't win, because popcorn among other things cost a pretty little penny at the theatre, and I knew Larxene would order a bunch of food for no reason but to spite us.
"You getting in on this bet Roxas?" Demyx ask.
"Oh…sure. I go with Maleficent then." He whips out his phone and calls Yuffie instead of text. He list all the movies, and tells the guys to vote from favorite to least favorite.
Was it no wonder Maleficent won?
"Yes, baby! You all will owe me a large popcorn, extra butter, with a cherry ICEE!" Larxene cheers. Son of a bitch…
"Well, I only put in for half the pot, so I'll just pay for Roxy," I declare (what I was going to do anyway).
Roxy shrugs, Larxene complains, and Marluxia allows my decision, making her shut up. No one goes against the word of the Bet Master.
"Okay, so how about we do this: Demyx and Leon will pay for Zexion and Cloud and I will pay for Larxene." Cloud sucks his teeth, but agrees. Like I said. No questions.
"Zexy, why didn't you vote for that movie you wanted to see, what was it? A Fault in the Stars?" Demyx ask.
"Because that wasn't what we were betting. We were betting on the most votes. Logically, The Fault in Our Stars would not win, so I went with the crowd favorite," he explains. Little genius. So with that decided, we ate our lunch in our usual loud and humor-filled manner.
After school, Roxy's waiting for me on the hood of my car. I trot over and plant a kiss on his lips. "Hey gorgeous," I greet.
"Mm." He looks up to my face with a look of disappointment.
"What's wrong?"
Holding up his cellphone, he scowls at it. "Mom says she needs me home early, meaning our coffee-at-cool-jazz-club date is cancelled."
"It's okay Roxy. We can just call a rain check on it. Hey, we can go Sunday? Or maybe Monday after classes?"
He grumbles a bit, but nods. I hug him to my chest and toss my keys in the air, catching them with my other hand. "Come on, I'll still drive you home."
He gets off from the hood and goes to the passenger's seat. Once in, he says "One good thing about having you as a boyfriend, is that you have a car and a license."
"One good thing?" I question as I start it up.
"Of many, love." He kisses me on the cheek before buckling in. I grin and pull out quickly in reverse, causing Roxas to jerk forward in his seat. "Hey!"
"You're the one who said you're glad I can drive," I tease, slowing the car down to pull out of the lot normally.
"I said you had a car and a license. I never said you can drive," he retorts, making me full out laugh. We banter for a minute before a comfortable silence falls over us.
"So, what does your mom need you for?"
"No idea. Just got a voicemail saying 'Hey honey, could you come home early today? It's important' junk, blah, blah, blah. I kinda zoned out after the third time she said 'honey'."
"Must be serious if she left a message."
"Oh, no. Trust me, my mom is notorious for leaving meticulously intricately long, diabetes-sweet messages. If it's not, then you should be worried." He leans his head against the window. "I hope everything's okay."
"Hey, you just said so yourself that this is normal. And look, we're coming up on your block now, so you can go find out." I pull up on his street and park.
"I guess." He sits inside for a minute, peering at his house from the window. "That's odd." Shifting in his seat, he looks at his driveway. "Mom's car is parked outside."
"Now that you mention it, I usually don't see it," I say, looking at the dark blue Honda Civic.
"Cause she parks it in the garage so Dad can come into the driveway later." He's silent for another full minute before unbuckling himself. "I better go see what's up. Thanks Axel."
"Anytime, love." I kiss my fingertips, which is what we decided would be our chaste non-sensual goodbye when we're in front of the Stryker household. He returns the gesture and says he'll call me later, then slips out of the car. I drive off when he gets his door open and take the long drive home.
When I get in, there's a sticky note on the fridge. 'Lasagna in oven. Heat up when hungry. Be back later, love you xoxo'. I smile and open the fridge to grab a water bottle. When I'm about to head upstairs, I hear the door unlock and my mom comes in rushing.
"Huh? Axel, what are you doing here?" she ask while running past me.
"You know, I'm pretty sure I live here."
I can hear her snort from the other room. "I meant, what are you doing back so early? You usually don't get back till late on Fridays." She comes back out and runs to another room.
"I was supposed to hang out with Roxy, but something came up, and we had to postpone it. Anyway, what are you doing back so early? And why are you rushing like a madwoman?"
"Oh, I forgot some documents here, and I need them for the meeting tonight. I'm supposed to be back to the office…" She glances at her watch. "Ten minutes ago. Crap. Anyway, love you dear, see you later tonight unless you're sleeping." She kisses me on the cheek and runs out like a bat outta hell. I shake my head and go upstairs to my room before sending a text to mom saying I'd wait up or her, make sure she gets in safe.
…
Should I be worried? I mean, he didn't call me, but he did send a text. A short, cryptic one that just said that I didn't need to come because Cloud was coming over to pick him up for the movie. I asked if everything was alright yesterday with his mom. He never answered me.
I'm currently waiting for my group, and yes, I am the first one here. We all opted and agreed for the 12:50 showing, so I could actually make it here on time. Its half past noon, and I'm the only one in sight.
"Yo Ax!"
Scratch that, Zexion and Demyx are here. "Hey guys. Second wave, huh?"
"Apparently. And I thought we we're going to be first. You see Zexy, you didn't have to wake me up so early," Demyx whines.
"If I hadn't come to drag you out of bed, we would have been the last ones here," Zexion retorts.
"Well if you hadn't been lookin' all sexy in your glasses, we wouldn't have been caught up in 'getting me out of bed'."
"AND this conversation just became undesirable to listen to. Please spare my virgin ears." I cover my ears and shake my head in disgust.
"Hah. Like anything about you is virgin," Zexion says lowly. I gasp and Demyx breaks into laughter. Bastards. Zexion glances around confused. "Where's Roxas?"
"Yeah didn't you two come together?" Demyx asks.
"No, we didn't." I don't elaborate, causing them to look a bit worried. "Its fine, we're not fighting or anything. Cloud and Leon are picking him up on the way over."
Just as I'm saying this, I can see Marly's deep-violet convertible pulling into the lot. He steps out with a very peppy looking Larxene in tow, and they head over to us.
"What's up party people?" Larxy cheeps.
"What's got you in such a good mood?" I ask.
Marly decides to answer for me. "Apparently, when she went to a party last night, per usual, she met some hot looking dude and his girlfriend who had 'special interest' and they all had a good time."
Everyone looks stunned and says nothing.
"If you don't understand, what he means is-" Larxy starts, but Zexion stops her before she can continue.
"We understand what he means, and we are not interested in your kinky play."
"Be grateful you didn't have to drive her over," Marly growls.
"Hey! My car's still in the shop!" she yells. Everyone shakes their head, remembering when she totaled her car in a drunken stupor a while ago.
"Okay, so we're waiting for Cleon, Roxas, and his friends now," Demyx says. We agree to wait for them inside and buy the tickets now, before they get sold out. A few minutes later, Yuffie, Riku and Sora waltz in and I wave them over.
"Hey! What's up party people?" Yuffie cheers loudly. Larxene nods approvingly while I just chuckle at the similarity.
"Hey everyone. This is Yuffie, Riku, and Roxas' twin, Sora. Guys, this is Demyx, his boyfriend Zexion, Marluxia and Larxene. The other two aren't here yet."
"Can't wait to meet them!" Yuffie says smiling, which I return. It's good to know she's so pumped for this. Speaking of…
"Sora, where's your brother?" Marly ask, beating me to it. He looks up but then back down glumly. Riku grabs Sora's hand gently, and whispers something to him. Okay, what the hell is going on?
"Is Roxas okay? He's not hurt, is he?" I ask kinda panicky.
Sora's head shoots up. "No, no, he's fine! Well, he's not hurt or sick or anything." He tries to give me a smile to reassure me but it just looks rueful.
"You two live in the same house, right? Why didn't you come together then?" Demyx ask carefully.
"Well…" Sora starts.
"It's really, really complicated," Riku finishes plainly. Now I knew something was up. I think it might have to do with what his mom wanted him home early for.
"Axel, you're his boyfriend. Just call and ask where he is, jeesh. Movie starts in five. And we haven't bought any popcorn!" Larxene whines.
If he would answer his phone, I would have done that already! "You guys go ahead, I'll wait here at the entrance for them."
"I'll wait too. Riku, you go with Yuffie," Sora says.
"You sure Sor?" he ask softly.
"Mm." Riku squeezes his hand reassuringly before going off with a slightly worried looking Yuffie. They join the rest of the group at the concession stand while Sora and I walk closer to the entrance.
"What's going on? What happened?" I ask him. All of this is really getting to me.
He looks at me then back down again, like earlier. I sigh and lean against the glass window. "Something I can't know?"
"It's not like that Axel. It's just…not my business to tell, per say. But I will say this, Roxas is not doing so good since last night, and he could really use this, so please make him feel better. I've been trying, but nothing is pulling him out of his slump."
I nod my head in slight understanding. So whatever happened yesterday is making him depressed. "So why is he riding with Cloud and Leon? Why wouldn't he let me pick him up?"
Sora suddenly gets a panicked look. "Axel no! That would have made things like, a thousand times worse!"
"Why?" I ask, taken aback.
He sighs in frustration. I can tell he wants to say it, but he can't. "Look, just…take my word for it. Make him happy again. Can I count on you?"
I'm not sure I can fix something that I don't know, but one thing I do know is how to make Roxas happy. A crowd suddenly enters the theatre, and at the back of it is Cloud, Leon…and Roxas. His face is completely blank like usually, but I can see it. The underlying tone of sadness.
"Axel. Sora. Hey you guys. Where's everyone else?" Leon ask.
"Inside the movie or at the concession stand. But Leon I didn't know you knew Sora already." He explains that Cloud had talked about and shown pictures of his cousins to him before. I look over at the two, who are looking pretty somber. "Hey love." I walk over to them and pull Roxas' hand into mine.
He looks up to me and stares. "Hey Ax," he says after a moment. I want to kiss him, but I'm pretty sure Roxas is not big on PDA. So I kiss my fingertips.
He cracks a small smile and brings his other hand to my cheek. "Thank you, Axel. I really needed that."
"Anytime love." I wink and pull him over to the concession stand. Sora says he's going in to find Riku, and Cloud and Leon follow after us.
"Roxas," Cloud whispers after getting in line behind us. "Are you going to be okay?"
He turns back to look at his older, caring cousin. "I'll be alright. I'm already feeling better. I think nachos will help too." Cloud shakes his head, but smiles none the less.
"Did I hear you wanted nachos? Extra cheese, love?"
"Most appreciated. Share an ICEE?"
"Wouldn't have it any other way."
"Barf. Get from in front of me with that please," Cloud complains.
"Oh, like I didn't want to regurgitate watching you flirt with Leon at lunch yesterday," Roxy retorts. Cloud blanches and Leon blushes. Roxas sticks closer to my side and kisses my hand. "This is payback." I burst out laughing. Cloud angrily ushers me forward in line to get our food.
We head over to the movie when we're done. I can see our group sitting in the back seats on the first level. As we go in the seats they saved for us, Roxas shoots Sora a smile and mouths something to him. Sora perks up and smiles back. Well, it's good to see they're in a better mood. Sora shoots me a thumbs up and I chuckle. How could he doubt what I'm good at?
The previews have been playing for a while, and we chat during the last one, saying which movie we're going to see next time, making bets. The "please turn off all electronical devices" part comes up, and we all take out our phones. I see Roxas stares at his screen for a second before sighing.
"What is it?" I ask softly.
He turns to me and shakes his head. "Nothing. I'll be right back. Don't eat my nachos."
"Can't make any promises," I say as he goes out. We're sitting on the end so he doesn't have to squeeze by anyone but me.
"Where's he going?" Cloud whispers from the seat next to his.
"Don't know. Make a phone call maybe." I thought I could see Cloud's face pale, but it must have just been the lighting change.
The movie starts, but I can't really focus. I keep glancing at Roxas' seat. He's been gone for 15 minutes. What's going on? Maybe I should go check on him.
"Axel, move your legs." I look up to see Cloud trying to get by.
"Where are you going?" I whisper.
"To check on Roxas." These people keep beating me to these things.
"Alright, but I'm going with you," I respond, standing up.
"You guys, I really just think you should wait for him to come back," Leon whispers to the both of us.
We look at each other for a moment before someone in the back yells at us to sit down. Before we can make a move (or Cloud can flip them off) we see Roxas come back in. Cloud goes to sit back down and I stay standing until Roxas gets by. He's looking down the whole time and grabs my hand as he passes me and sits, pulling me down with him. I look at him but his bangs are covering his eyes and it's too dark to see anything. I rub soothing circles on the back of his hand with my thumb. After a while he leans on my shoulder. I pull my arm up to put around him. Cloud looks over with his eyebrow raised, but I just shake my head. I'm not sure what's wrong and I just wish I could make it better. An hour and twenty minutes later, the movie finishes. I was only half paying attention, and I think so were a lot of us. Cloud, Sora and I kept glancing at Roxas who seemingly slept through the whole thing. Leon was worried about Cloud and Riku was worried about Sora. So a good chunk of the movie went unnoticed.
"Roxas, did you sleep through the whole movie?" Yuffie questions as we leave the theatre.
"No," he answers. He has my hand in a death grip. I don't mind. "I finished my nachos. Can't eat nachos in my sleep." It's true, he was eating them for a while, but then didn't move after that.
"What'd you think of it?" Riku asked. He merely hums in some form of agreement.
"I thought it was awesome!" Larxene interjects.
"Yes, it actually was pretty good. Almost worth the eleven bucks I spent on your popcorn," Marly says to Larxene who smirks. "Oh, speaking of, Cloud, you owe me for half of Larxene's pay." He grunts and gives him a ten. "And Leon, you owe Demyx."
"It's okay. Zexy didn't order that much," Demyx says smiling.
"No, a bet's a bet." He hands him a five.
"Okay, now that you've all got that sorted out, why don't we all head out?" Yuffie says to the group. While everyone makes separate plans, I go over to Roxas and asked him if he wants to do anything right now. He's staring off into space.
"Roxy?"
Jumping at his name, he turns towards me with a questioning look. "Did you say something?"
I sigh sadly and rub his head. "Are you feeling alright? You've been down and out of it all day, you know?"
"Sorry," he apologizes so sadly, that my heart wrenches. He looks like he's on the verge of tears.
Sora looks over and notices. While he's rushing over, Roxy pulls me to him and buries his face in my chest. I wrap my arms around his thin shoulders.
"Rox?" Sora ask when he reaches us. He merely shakes his head, face still buried in me. Sora looks sad again. Great, now he looks like he's about to cry.
"Hey, Sora. I'm gonna take Roxy for a drive. I think he just needs a change of scenery. I'll bring him back home."
"No!" They scream at the same time. I look wide-eyed at the both of them before putting my hands up in surrender.
"Okay, okay. I'll keep him out."
Sora sighs in relief. "That would be for the best. Feel better Rox, okay? I wish there was something more I could do for you." He places his hand on Roxy's shoulder, who finally detaches himself from my chest to look at his twin.
"Sora, you've done plenty. Really, thank you so much," he says softly. They both smile, Roxy weakly, before he walks over to Cloud. I pull Roxas outside and we get in my car. I ask if there's any place he wants to go but he just shrugs. So I decide to drive around for a while.
"You wanna talk?" I ask after about fifteen minutes. I give a glance over at him and see he's leaning against the window.
"Axel…I-"
His phone goes off, interrupting what he was saying. He ignores it, and continues anyway. "Axel, there's something you have to know about me…about…my past." What? About his past? I nod and wait for him to continue. "A long time ago-" His phone rings again before he can finish and Roxas sighs, pulling it from his pocket. He stares at the screen silently for a while. "Axel. Could you do me a favor?"
"Yeah, anything," I say.
"Could you drive me to Maple street and third?" he ask. I look over quickly but I can't read his expression.
"Sure. Any reason?" It's in town, and if I'm remembering correctly, there's a bridge a street or two down that goes over the river.
He doesn't answer my question, but I turn the car around anyway. We drive in silence until we arrive 10 minutes later. As soon as I stop the car at the corner, he undoes his seatbelt and gets out. I'm a little hurt and a lotta confused about what's going on. I thought he was walking away, but he goes around to my side of the car. I bring the window down so I can hear him. "Axel, thank you for driving me and not asking any questions. I promise, I'll tell you everything soon. Just trust me, okay?"
Even though I wanted to know what was happening, and why Roxas was so sad, and did it have anything to do with yesterday and his mom, I bite my tongue. I already trusted him, probably too much for my own good, so if my Roxas wanted, needed me to wait, then I would.
"Okay. If it gets to be too much, let me know. I'll be there in a heartbeat with a pack of Kleenex and a grande caramel cappuccino." This makes him laugh, and I'm glad. He's the only one who laughs at my stupid jokes genuinely.
"I'll keep that in mind." Sticking his head in, he grabs me by the collar and kisses me so passionately, I see stars.
I swear to baby Jesus.
"I love you." The words fall from his mouth like a velvety chocolate fountain.
"I love you too." With that, we part ways, and I drive home in a daze. Which is not a good combination for driving.
When I get in, my mom is sitting on the couch watching TV. I go over and plop down next to her.
"Hi dear, how was the movie?" she ask.
"Huh? What movie?" I blink a few times.
"The movie you said you were going to see with your friends today. Is that not where you guys went?"
My hand connects to my face in my own stupidity. "Oh yeah. No, we did see a movie. A lot just happened today, I just forgot about it."
"Must not have been a very memorable movie then," she points out.
"Nah, I think it was good."
"You think?"
"…you know what?" I stand up and stretch. "I'm kinda brain-dead right now. I think I'm gonna go take a nap."
"Sounds good, dear. You look like you could use it. Maybe you can sleep away some of your worries," she says patting my hand. How did she know I was worried about anything? Moms. Psychic majestic beings.
"My worries, huh? I really wish I could sleep them away."
…
Okay, so the "sleeping away the worries" thing? Did not happen. And I know this because I've slept quite a lot since that nap, seeing as how it's MONDAY AFTERNOON. And if you were wondering, no, Roxas has not contacted me since I drove him into town on Saturday. SATURDAY. It's been TWO DAYS since I've talked, or seen Roxas.
But I'm not freaking out. Roxas told me to trust him. And I do. He told me to wait. Which I'm trying to do. But dammit, if I don't even get a text from him before the day is over, I'm going to lose my mind. I am not known for my patience.
Demyx has been reassuring me all day that everything's probably fine, that if they weren't he would have called me to let me know. "No news is good news" concept.
Yeah, I don't buy it either. Especially coming from Roxas, the hard-to-read, sometimes-emotionally-inept, and never-lets-you-know-when-he's-sad blondie. Oh god, I needed to find him. He disappeared during lunch, and I haven't seen him in the halls. I asked Yuffie when I saw her while going to my class and she said that he's been MIA. And the two people who actually know what's going on, aka Cloud and Sora, have also been missing. Seems like the Stryker family has decided to take the day off. I know they're here though, because Leon got a text from Cloud saying he was with Sora during lunch. When I went to have a conversation with Hayner to see what he knew, and he asked me what I had to offer him for the information, I bribed(threatened) the Twighlight Bookie, and he said(in fear) he'd spotted Roxas in the honors office earlier in the day. But of course, when I went to drop by, he wasn't there.
So now I'm here, on the front steps waiting for Roxas to come out of the school. I've been worrying about him all day, all weekend, and I at least deserve to know if he's alright. That's all I want to know. To make sure he is okay.
Students are piling out and brushing past me. I think they're used to seeing me waiting on the steps, I'm here so often. After five minutes, I'm thinking he might have went out through a different exit. I hop down the steps and head towards the gate so I can cut through the courtyard, when I see him come out the front doors.
"Roxas!" He turns to see who's calling him. When he sees me, he lights up and jogs over. Okay, at least I know he's not purposely avoiding me.
"Axel, what's up?"
"What's up? Did you forget we were supposed to have lunch together today?"
Realization passes his features and he face palms. "Oh god, Axel, I'm sorry. I honestly forgot."
"And you never called me over the weekend. Or texted." Maybe I was being petty. Or maybe I was being a legit worried boyfriend.
"I'm sorry," he apologizes again, but doesn't explain. I sigh and grab his hands.
"Lot on your mind, love?"
He snorts. "You have no idea."
"Whenever you're ready, I'm here," I encourage him.
Gripping my hands tightly, he seems to come to a resolve. "Axel…"
You know what I just realized? He could be breaking up with me. I mean, it's unlikely, seeing as how he hasn't been emotionally distant, and he just told me the other day he loves me. But it's still a possibility. Oh no.
"Axel, I-"
"Or you know, take your time. Not rushing you or anything," I say quickly, and slightly nervous.
He gives me a questioning glance. I hope he doesn't notice that I'm sweating. Or that I'm not looking him in the eye. Or feel my heart rate pick up. Oh god, I think he's noticed, oh god, oh god-
"Axel, what's wrong? You pretend like I'm about to break up with you." He gives me a worried look and I exhale the breath I hadn't realized I was holding. "Hey! You honestly thought I was about to break up with you? Axel!"
Before I can defend myself I notice some girl who's been lingering near us for a while. I don't know who she is, so she must want to talk to Roxas. She's got a black bob-cut and these dark cerulean blue eyes. She has on a baby-blue cardigan and a white ruffly skirt with knee high socks and ballet flats. She's pretty cute, to be honest. The very picture of a girl.
"Roxas," she calls softly. Wow even her voice is like cotton-candy. Her whole presence screams girly-girl. It's so perfect, it's almost creepy.
Roxas turns pale at the sound of her voice and slowly looks over at her. His eyes go wide and his anger from before dissipates as if it had never been there.
"Xion?"
Yeah. I just dropped that bomb. But what kind of bomb is it? What could Xion possibly have to do with this story? All in due time, my friends. All in due time. Seriously, no worries, the next chap is from Roxy's POV, so you'll know exactly what's going on and what's happened. Okay, so, I don't know if anyone's noticed, but I am big on references. I love to reference other people, I even reference myself. I don't know if anyone caught it, but I dropped some refs in this chapter and the last one. In "Surprise, Surprise", I referenced a couple lines from my akuroku one-shot. I also named the title of my favorite akuroku :D In this chapter, I completely referenced (as in basically copy/pasted) a PM I sent as a review response to one of the readers of this story. I wonder if she'll catch it XD Anyway, enough with my blabber, please look forward to more! (I don't know when that will be, I'm pretty pooped from this chap. But I'll try my best -v-)