A/N:Hey guys sorry for the 4 month hiatus. I had a death in the family and uh, it's been kinda hard coping. I'd rather not get into it, but I thank whoever is still with me and with this story. This may help:
Previously on TLE...
Roxas and Reno have finally gotten to a point where they are chum as gum, working together during this summer job at the music store in the mall. After closing, they unexpectedly run into Axel, who for some reason recognizes Reno. Could he be one of Axel's past flames? A previous one-night stand coming to take revenge? Probably not, but read to find out!
Roxas POV
"Reno!" Axel exclaimed at the same time Reno yelled Axel's name.
"Wait, you two know each other?" I ask, completely confused about this situation. It would be fucking rich if it turns out they're brothers or something.
"He's…my step-brother."
…well. Fuck.
"Are you kidding?" I don't even know how to properly respond to this. How did one properly respond to finding out one's boyfrend's step-brother was their employee for the summer?
"We have the same dad, fucktard," Reno says. So they were actually half-brothers. "Speaking of, does Dad know about this?" He gestured in my general direction, which made me take slight offense.
"I'm not obligated to tell him every detail of my life. But yes, this particular detail he is aware of," Axel answers calmly, wrapping his arm around my shoulder. He seemed to be the only calm one here, where Reno was all 'what the fuck?!' and I was all 'what the actual fuck'.
"Can't believe he didn't flip shit…" Reno mumbles.
"Why would he?" Axel questions.
"He gets on my ass about everything, yet he's letting you slide, like always."
"Letting me slide? He may be my dad, but he's not my parent. He's not obliged to 'discipline' me, and if he tried, either I or my mom would probably go off on him."
Okay. So. I'm sensing a little tension? Could be me.
"Um…" I mutter. They both look at me, standing there awkwardly, completely unaware of the details of all this. I mean, he told me his parents were divorced, so I'm guessing Reno is the son from another woman. But who knows any more than that? Not this guy. "Should I like…go? Or something?"
"No!" They both shout. Okay. So were their brains linked or something, cause their synch was kind of weird for them only being half related.
"Come on Roxas. We have a date to go on. So," Axel says, grabbing my arm and guiding me away from Reno.
"Hey! We were about to go eat!" Reno says, grabbing my other arm.
We were? "We were?" I repeat out loud.
Reno twiddles his thumbs and looks down at the floor. "Well…I was about to ask you…when we left…if you, wanted ta grab a bite r' sumthin…" His cheeks are starting to turn a light pink.
"Whacha blushin' for?" I tease, going over to him and slinging my arm around his neck, my other hand poking his cheek.
"Ain't nobody blushin!" he protest, trying to twist me around into a headlock and failing.
"Thought I was weak, did you?" I laugh, reverse head-locking him despite our vast difference in height.
We hear a loud grunt, and look over to see Axel looking at us disapprovingly. "Are you done?"
I release Reno who falls and look at the floor guiltily. Was I flirting? Does rough housing with your boyfriend's estranged (or not? Still not sure how close they were) step-brother (or half-brother, because once again. WHO KNOWS?) constitute as flirting?
From the pissed look on Axel's face, I'd say it does.
Shamefully, I trot back over to Axel trying to look as cute as possible so he's less inclined to stay mad at me. Just as predicted, his face softens and he brings me into an embrace. Works every time. Cloud was my number one victim to the puppy dog eyes.
"So?"
"…so?" I respond to Axel.
"Are you coming with me, or are you going with Reno. I know I came unannounced, but…I rarely get to see you these days cause of work."
Damn it, he had hit all of my spots. It was all true though, I was not expecting him, but it was a nice unexpected meeting. And I hadn't seen Axel in well over a week, and damn did I need some Axel time. But Reno and I did sorta have plans already…
"How about we all go out to eat together?" I suggest. They both give me a strange look, but I believe that this is great idea. I can also get the scoop on what's going on between these two, for real.
"Roxas…" Axel starts to protest but I stop him mid-sentence saying I was going to call Cloud to give him the heads up on my change of plans. "Roxas."
"Hush hun. It'll be fine," I say. After clearing with Cloud, we all opt (ie. I decided) to go to the Panera Bread that was down the road. I walk over to a booth by the window, the two red-heads trudging along behind me.
Axel makes it a point to plop down right next to me. Reno glares and sits across from him.
"Ow!" Axel shouts.
"What happened?" I ask, looking at him.
But he doesn't answer, just glowers toward Reno and sighs.
"Hun-"
"Nothing Roxas, I'm fine."
And, sad to say, most of the dinner continued on like that. Glares, sighs, and not much talking.
Well this was fucking unacceptable.
"So, how's your tutoring going with little Amy?" I ask Axel to get the ball rolling.
"Oh…pretty good. She's getting better and better. On the last quiz that I gave her, she scored 47 out of 50," he smiles. I can tell he's bragging.
I chuckle at his enthusiasm. "Well how do we know this is because of your tutoring? Maybe it's her natural talent."
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah, like, it could be her god given talent," I joke.
"Really?" he laughs.
"I'd believe it," Reno mutters, causing Axel to go silent. I sip at my drink, the sound echoing in the silence at our table.
"Okay, that's it."
I've never done well in uncomfortable situations. I usually end up yelling.
"What is going on between you two? You're brothers, right?"
"Step-brothers," Axel emphasizes.
"HALF-BROTHERS," Reno reiterates. "You see, this is why I can't stand you!"
"I never wanted to get along with you!" Axel yells.
"Well good, cause I don't wanna get along with ya either! I'm done!" Reno roughly climbs out of the booth and stomps out of the place. I flinch at the sound of the double doors slamming shut.
Wow. It was worse than I thought. I wasn't even the one who ended up yelling. "Um…Axel."
"You wanna head back now?" he asks abruptly.
"Uh, yeah. Sure." We get up and silently walk out of Panera, through the lot and to his car. I wonder how Reno got back seeing as how we all drove over here. I do remember him saying something about taking the bus every day. But this probably isn't the best time to voice my concern.
Once were seated inside, I turn to Axel who hasn't looked at me once since Reno stormed out. "Axel." He puts the key in the ignition to start the car. "Axel." Turning back, he makes sure no one is behind him so he can pull out. "AXEL."
Finally, he lets go of the stirring wheel before pulling out and actually looks at me. "Axel, tell me what's going on. Don't shut me out," I nearly cry.
Axel sighs deeply and grabs my hand. "Baby, I didn't mean to shut you out. It's just…" He glances around. "Can we talk when we get back to my place?"
"Sure…" I comply. He swiftly pulls out of the parking spot and makes his way into the street. It's a good 15 minutes before we get to his home. I don't know why I felt like crying. This whole situation was very stressful to me for no reason. It wasn't like I was involved in the family drama.
I don't see his mom's car in the driveway so I assume she's not home. Axel parks and we get out of the car together to head inside. Once in his room, I flounce down on his bed. Axel comes to sit next to me and starts to rub my back slowly. I move his arm away. "Don't do that. You do that when you want to talk about something, but can't get it out. But I've been patient and silent this whole time, giving you time to think about how you wanna go and explain to me what Reno is to you."
Axel runs his hand through his locks, another habit of his. I take his hand and hold it to reassure him that I'm right here.
"My mom…and my dad divorced when I was young. I was maybe 5 or so at the time," he starts. His face is neutral so I can't gauge anything from him. "You see, I don't actually remember him all that much, so I don't miss him. And I don't have a father complex, if that's what you're thinking."
"I wasn't thinking that." Maybe just a little. But I should know better. Axel isn't the type of person to get hung up on these types of things. He'll either do something about it or let it go.
"I'm not upset because my dad isn't in my life anymore." He pauses before continuing. "I'm upset because of what he did to my mom," he says so lowly, it sounds like a whisper.
"What…did he do? He didn't like…abuse her did he? Or you?" Okay, this was starting to get a lot more serious than I thought. I was just expecting some sibling animosity and favoritism, but this is so much more than that.
"No, he wasn't abusive at all. At least not in that since, after all the pain he put my mom through emotionally…" Instead of interrupting again with worse-case-scenario accusations, I let him finish. "He cheated on my mom with the woman he's with now."
My eyes go wide, but I quickly regain my composure. But I can't help the way my face contorts with pain for him and his mom.
"He told her and she was livid about it, but was willing to forgive him, so I could have a father in my life."
"Wow. That's really…big of her. Your mom is amazing."
"I know."
"What happened, then?" Obviously his mom and dad weren't still together, so he must have declined which is a DICK MOVE.
"He said he wanted to be with the other woman, since they had a kid, and my mom was like 'you already have a kid' and then they started arguing, and then he walked out." Axel sighs heavily. "After all the dust and custody settled, he was allowed to keep in contact with me and see me as long as I was okay with it."
"And are you okay with it?" I ask.
"…more or less," he answers simply. I nod, agreeing, thinking over everything he's just told me. Axel has been through a lot more than I once presumed. Maybe it was because of he had been through this that we are able to connect so well.
After dwelling on his douche of a father for a minute, I realize something. "Wait, you said that he was going to be with the other woman because they had a kid."
"Yeah."
"Did that kid happen to be…"
"A whiny country-talking ginger?"
So it was Reno... "Is that why you hate him? Because he's one of the reasons your dad left?"
"I don't hate him," Axel points out. "I just don't like him. My dad left because he was a cheating scumbag, I don't blame Reno for any of it. He just happened to be the outcome."
"He's not all that bad, you know?"
"I'm sure," Axel huffs sarcastically.
I can tell I'm not going to get anywhere further with changing Axel's mind about Reno. For right now, anyway.
Axel sighs more light-heartedly and falls back so he's laying down with his legs off the edge. I take this opportunity to swing one of my legs on the other side of his hips so I'm straddling him.
"I'm sorry, did my story turn you on?" Axel jokes.
"Not in the least," I huff. "But you turn me on," I throw back before I start nibbling is neck. His hands go to my waist and we make out for a good minute before I briefly pull back. "Hey."
"Hey," he says smiling.
"I just want you to know that I'm here for you, if you ever wanna talk. As cheesy as that sounds." It was pretty cheesy.
"Heh. I know, love." Axel's teeth are so nice when he smiles. They're like, the perfect pearly whites.
"I'm sorry I'm not good with this stuff. I feel bad that you are always helping me with my messed up life, but when it's my turn to repay the favor…"
Axel suddenly thrusts his hips upwards, causing me to half gasp and moan.
"There's no 'favor' to be repaid. I love you so I want you to be happy. And if I can make you happy, even just by talking to you then I will."
I can feel my smile stretching my cheeks as far as they can go. "I love you Axel." I really do.
"I love you too Roxy," he responds lovingly.
I decide to stay the night so Axel gives me a shirt and a pair of his shorts to borrow, but I opt out of the shorts again. I make sure to text Cloud before we fall into a deep slumber in each other's arms.
Sorry for the relatively short chapter, and thanks for reading! Reviews are always welcome. Look forward to more!
Loves and stuff~
Chriss-Meister