Roxas liked being the big spoon. He could tell from the way that Axel pressed his back against his chest and pulled the blond's arm over his waist he enjoyed it too. The redhead never was big on admitting things, but sometimes he needed a bit of protection. From what? He didn't know, but when Roxas was beside him cooing sweet words into his ear, he felt reassured. Tugging at the hem of his boyfriend's shirt, the smaller teen lifted the fabric up and off, so more skin was exposed. Removing his shirt as well, Roxas began pressing soft kisses to the redhead's shoulder. Xion watched them with disdain from the bed.
"Don't mind me. I'll just be majorly third wheeling over here why you guys enjoy getting to second base."
Axel snorted, "Oh hush, the TV's on. It's not like we're doing anything inappropriate."
"I don't know that. Your lower halves are both under the covers, and from what I can see Roxas is definitely enjoying himself." She was being sassy, and Roxas just wanted uninterrupted cuddles.
"You're being annoying." The blond sighed, "Come on, Xion. We hardly ever have time to do stuff like this."
She arched one of her ceramic brows, "Oh? If I'm so annoying, why don't you turn me off?" A challenge.
Axel didn't like how fast this was escalating, "Xion, don't say things like that. Roxas, apologize." Pulling himself away from his boyfriend's reach, he flopped on the other bed where the AI was sitting. "Honestly you two."
Sulking, Roxas couldn't help but think to himself, 'You're honestly going to choose her over me? Come back. Why couldn't you have stayed over here?' "Sorry, Xion." Not sorry at all. She was the one who had started everything. Her opinion shouldn't even matter. She was an AI. Who cared if she saw anything? They could just wipe her memory. They could shut her down.
And now he was angrier because he was being a jerk and he knew it. Rolling onto his side, he stared at the wall while Axel and Xion watched TV. That impending feeling of loneliness was back and was sinking its steak knife teeth into him. Picking his shirt up off the floor, he slid it on, so he could feel shielded from the cool air-conditioning. Back on the bed, his mind began to wonder. He hoped Axel wasn't angry with him.
He couldn't go back to those lonely summers if they broke up.
Summers in the past were spent on the lake where the bugs were thick and the humidity was thicker. Where there were still paperboys, and he felt like cars from the 1950's would come rolling down the fine sticky black asphalt at any moment. It was a land that had escaped time, and people here were living the life their grandparents had lived. Instead of progressing with the rest of the world, some small towns had seemingly gone off the grid. Small towns where 'small town values' and gas stations with glass bottle pop still hung around. Whatever those aforementioned values entailed, Roxas had no idea, but he did know that some of the people there could be very…opinionated.
The first thing Roxas thought about when he remembered school was going to be over in three weeks was if his parents would make him go down there this year. He wasn't too fond of leaving the beach like he was forced to every single May to head back to Lakewood. Maybe since he had a boyfriend now, he would be allowed to stay? What would happen if he got really sick on his trip and Axel didn't know? The idea worried him. Another reason (besides Axel because Axel was pretty much all of his reasons), that he didn't want to go down there was that he would be set up to go to all the youth group events. It's not that he had anything against the youth group; it was just how his elderly grandparents guilt tripped him about it. "Are you sure you don't want to go? Sarah will be so disappointed."
"Tom is going to be there! I know how you two get along!" Bless his grandparents. It wasn't like they weren't trying hard enough to get him out of the house, but contrary to how most people thought him, he wasn't a social person, well, he was and he wasn't. When forced to mingle with others, he was a gregarious teen, but if he had yet to leave the comfort of his private chrysalis and computer, there was no pressing desire in him to be a social butterfly. For a whole two and a half months, he didn't really want to sit around with people who didn't really understand him or want to understand him.
Plus the stigma of a grim reaper loitering behind him was a turn off for anyone who wanted to form a longtime friendship. The usual greeting he got with acquaintances when he went down there was, "Man, glad you made it through another year!" Thanks. Me too.
Studying the ceiling of the hotel room, his eyes bored into it so long, he began finding shapes and faces. Even a giraffe. That's when a hand went over his eyes and made him jerk a little, "Sorry." Axel chuckled, "Xion decided she'd power off to give us time alone together. You must have been so zoned you didn't hear her." In a way, it was her way of apologizing too since she had been challenging the blond. She just wanted her time in the sun. Somehow, Axel's attention was always consumed by Roxas, and she couldn't help feel something dark and gnawing on her heart. "What were you thinking about?"
"Stuff." He mumbled with a frown, "How this summer I'll have to go back to Lakewood." Axel was climbing back into bed, and he got a good view of the redhead's strong arms and shoulders, "I'm sorry for being mean to Xion." He really meant it this time, "I don't know what came over me."
"You're probably just tired; she was being a bit of a jerk." Now it was the taller teen's turn to provide comfort, and Roxas couldn't help but feel his mood slightly improve. "Just apologize to her when she wakes up. What else were you thinking about? Want to tell me about your story?"
"They say that if you tell someone you're going to do something, you're less likely to do it. I already told you that I'm writing a story, so I don't want to double jinx my chances of completion by telling you the plot." The blond leaned back into his boyfriend, "But I will tell you something that I was thinking about putting in it. I was in the shower a couple days ago, and the sudden realization hit me that people are like houses. Houses have all different kind of entryways. Some are small and only welcome on in a few people. Some are big and allow for a lot of people to get in. The kitchen can be large with a huge capacity for a lot of recipes, or it can be a single microwave and a fridge. The living room can have room for an exclusive few. Could not be cozy; could be cozy, and have a lot of room. Houses can have basements full of secrets and junk that people are hiding. Or they can be open and welcoming. Their bedrooms could be large and used often or small and only one person is using it."
"What I'm saying is that houses, in their own weird way, are a fairly easy to compare to people." Roxas finished the thought with a happy sigh.
Axel kissed the patch of skin behind the teen's ear, "What kind of house would you say I am?" He whispered softly.
"Um...two story. Everything about you is pretty simpler in layout, except you have some things you're hiding, so a basement is added. Your bedroom is small because you're not exactly quick to get in anyone's pants. Your kitchen is big because you're surprisingly good at cooking." He smiled at the thought. The redhead cooking for him, although rare, was one of his favorite things to watch, "Your living room area is wide and cozy. Everyone gets their attention from you and feels well liked. And the house is made out of brick or something really strong because you're really supportive."
"Why thank you." He didn't like that bit about a basement, but he supposed it was true.
Roxas rolled over and faced him to begin connecting their lips in soft warm kisses, "I don't want to go to Lakewood this summer. I feel like I'll miss everything if I go." He admitted, nuzzling against the underside of his boyfriend's jaw.
"We can go ask your mom together. I'm sure if you at least make an effort to visit your grandparents, even if it's for two weeks or something, they might call it good. I don't want you to be gone all that long either." The heat from the blond's small body was perfect, and the redhead kissed the top of his head. "What if I don't like my mom's boyfriend?" He asked softly for the other's opinion. "I don't want to be that stereotypical kid from the TV dramas that throws a tantrum because I think he's replacing my dad.
"Do you think he's replacing your dad?"
"No."
"Are you going to make an effort to get along?"
"Yes."
"You'll be fine, Axel." Roxas cooed, "You worry too much."
The redhead laughed a bit, "I guess I do…" Kissing the other softly, he pressed a bit and easily received the French kiss he had been looking for. Cupping the blond's cheek, he was surprised when Roxas began to suck his tongue languidly, "I thought you've never done this before." He snorted when they had broken apart for air.
"Google is a beautiful thing. I think the key words were 'How to French kiss'." He teased, "I'm not just going to sit back and let you do everything."
Axel swallowed thickly, "I- I kind of got a confession about that, Rox… You know how you've kind of been assuming that I've been around the block? Well…"
"Wait? So…virgin?" The blond cocked his head slightly and propped himself up on his elbow, "I thought you'd gone all the way." He could have sworn that Axel has said he'd done the dirty.
"Well, I gave Bobby Hansen oral once, but it was really bad and I gagged." The redhead blushed a bit, "So I mean, I've never like, penetrated or anything. Or been penetrated, because if you want to top that's cool too."
Roxas looked the other over and began to laugh, "You're so fucking perfect." He began to shower his boyfriend with affectionate kisses, "God, I love you. You're so cute, ya know that?"
Axel didn't know what he had said to warrant this sudden outburst of affection, but he accepted it with open arms, "Why's that?"
"Because I had been really scared that you were going to be all experienced, but now that I know that we're both going to be awful, I'm way more relaxed." He hummed against the redhead's collarbone.
"You could never be awful, Rox. I'm sure it's going to be me that's the dork." He couldn't see how anyone as beautiful as Roxas would ever be judged about what they did in bed. It was all about the heart anyways, and the heart of the matter was that he loved Roxas.
The blond purred, "You're precious." He would have kissed the other again, but a yawn interrupted, and Axel let out a laugh.
"Alright, thank you very much. You're adorable and really do need that nap." He persuaded, "Sleep tight, Rox."
"But I'm not even sleepy!" He whined.
Axel snorted, "Uh-huh, shut those pretty eyes of yours and rest. See you in a few hours."
"…Sleep tight, Ax."
When they returned to the competition, Roxas made a formal apology to Xion and gave her a hug, "I'm really sorry. I wasn't thinking and it was rude of me to do that to you. I'll try to give you more time with Axel."
"And I'm sorry too." She frowned, "It wasn't nice of me to react like that, and I should have used my words instead of my temper." Now that they were on good terms again, she let out a sigh of relief, "I'll try to give you more time together as well. I guess we just need to respect one another's boundaries."
"For sure." Roxas nodded as they took their assigned seats in the arena, "Do you have any idea what they're going to make you do?"
"Well it's easy to test percent error and how humanlike my knowledge is, but I think this one has to do with morals and personal choices. Like they pretty much are eliminating by levels in a way. They got rid of some Level 4s and 5s last round. Now they're scrapping the Level 5s and as many 6s as they possibly can for the cream of the crop." Xion offered.
Axel was just about to speak when he got cut off by the holo TV, "Hello everyone for reality composition! Tonight your AI is going to have the unique opportunity of judging the aesthetics portion of this competition! They're going to be issued a score sheet, pencils, and be let loose to choose five aesthetics robots to give a top score! This should over all take about an hour! Please begin to register if you're group 1A through 5A to get your sheet and pencil! This screen will now show what groups are calling! Please wait to be called!"
"I'm beginning to think she's a little too chipper." Axel rolled his eyes as the TV blared 1A through 5A in big neon blue font.
Roxas laughed, "I'd be that pumped if my tiny existence was forty seconds long too, Ax. What's our registration number?"
"C2." Xion showed the two the card on the other side of her competition I.D. that was hanging on a lanyard around her neck.
"Oh, okay, cool. So we've got some time to burn." Axel hummed, "Want to go see if we can find Riku, Sora, and Kairi?"
Xion nodded eagerly, "Yeah, I haven't met them in person yet, and I'd really like to."
"We wouldn't be able to stay that long." Roxas pointed out.
"Still," the AI smiled, "I'd like to meet my aunt and uncles."
Chapter 20! Review and share! Thanks Layla for Beta! Let me know where you think the story is going or if you like it :D