They spent their days by the lake where the sky was blue, the sun was warm, and the water was red from iron rusting in the dirt under their feet. Roxas fell in and out of awareness. One moment he and Axel would be having a conversation about the interesting variety in the dragonflies that occupied a stand of reeds in the muddy bank that lead into the next door neighbor's yard; the next, they'd be done with the day and hiding underneath the sheets to whisper sweet words to one another. "What was your dad like?" The blond murmured.
"My dad?" Axel inhaled some, "Well he was…He was a great guy. Everyone liked him. They looked at him like he was the sun, and when he left, they took what they could. Moshiva is pretty good at doing that; they turn a profit from anything they can."
Roxas rolled his eyes, "They're a corporation, Axel, of course they do." Moving his hand up the redhead's ribs, he found the skin there warm and smooth, "I love you."
Soft lips connected on and off for a few silent minutes, "I love you too." He turned over to allow the blond to spoon him.
The blond pet Axel for a bit until he was asleep, but instead of following the redhead into slumber, Roxas laid awake pondering the near future. There was so much happening so fast. He was barely back on his feet and life was barreling towards them. Axel's mom (maybe) had a new boyfriend and the redhead was worried about that, his boyfriend had confessed to him about the recent Xion incident, and his dad's work had been busier than ever.
Sighing, he wished that he could get a grip on things or at least catch up. Everything was simply going by so quickly. 'I guess that's what those adults always mean…You need to enjoy the happy moments while they're here before they're simply memories you long for.' Roxas sighed to himself watching the moon reveal itself from outside his window.
Only a few days later were they back home trying to figure out what to do. "Oh!" The younger teen finally remembered, "We should call Sora, Kairi, and Riku!"
The three were scheduled out with family stuff for a while longer, but they all found a day where they could make it to the beach. Of course, Xion, on her first trip ever, accompanied them. Before Axel could even nag her about touching the water, she was off with Roxas and Kairi to scavenge for seashells. Sora and Riku tugged him off to go look for star fish and crabs. "Man, last time, I got pinched when picking one of these things up." Riku grumbled.
"Aren't they cool, though?" The brunet asked, poking a jelly fish that they had found with a stick.
Axel needed clarification, "Pinched or stung? There's a difference. You're lucky you didn't die."
"Oh, stung then." Riku nodded, "And you're right, but I didn't mean too. I was playing blitzball with Sora while barefoot and accidentally stepped on it."
"You should have told me." Sora snorted, "I would have peed on it for you."
The redhead laughed while Riku rolled his eyes, "Not even, you would have whined. 'Riku, I can't just pee on demand.'" He chuckled.
"Oh whatever." The shortest of the three rolled his eyes.
The afternoon passed quickly with complaints of sunburn by Kairi who had wanted to get tan and Roxas being crowned king of the sand castle. "I'm so sleepy." The blond cooed, cuddling up against his boyfriend as they got back in the car, "Xion, are you tired?"
"A bit. My battery is pretty drained." She sighed, "Thank you, Axel!"
"Anything for you, Xi." He pet the blond's hair as he drove them back and dropped Roxas back off at home, "Bye, babe. See ya later."
"You mean like tomorrow?" The blond quirked a brow.
Axel laughed, "Yeah. Like tomorrow."
Or not.
Roxas was understanding when Axel didn't answer the door and then texted him several hours later saying he was busy with research.
And would continue to be.
For five weeks.
"You've lost weight." Roxas noted when he saw his boyfriend again for their first date in over a month. They'd gotten together a few times since then, but their time together was always short and Axel was distracted. "Happy Fourth of July!"
"Happy Fourth of July indeed." He kissed the blond, "I'm sorry I've been a jerk and haven't been around." Handing Roxas some sparklers, he hoped the bouquet of fire sticks would do.
"It's fine. Are you done with researching whatever you're looking at now?" Roxas had a pretty good idea of what his boyfriend was studying behind closed doors, but he made his suspicions a secret to Axel.
The taller teen nodded, "Yeah, I'll have more time for my cute lil' Roxas now." He teased, nuzzling the soft yellow puffs of hair, "Love you, Rox." The redhead sang.
Laughing softly, he tugged him off for fireworks.
The beginning of school approached too quickly for the teens. Roxas complained during back to school shopping, and Axel agreed. "I have Ms. Berkovitz for math."
"Ugh, she's the worse." The redhead huffed, "I wish we still had math together. Why didn't you take AP Chem with me?"
"Because my AP English class is filled to the brim, so I transferred to third period, and that's the only AP Chem they had left." Plus there'd be so much homework, and Roxas abhorred chemistry.
Axel sighed, "That means I only get to see you at lunch and on the bus home." He looked over a couple binders.
"But that's enough, ya know? Like if we had class all day together, we wouldn't have anything to talk about."
"I guess." He pouted.
The sound of a school bell was the most soul crushing sound to Axel by now, his senior year. "Why can't we just graduate yet?" He asked Casey, a girl who sat next to him in English. "Aren't we ready for college yet?"
"Who knows? Don't rush it, Axel." She worked on organizing her papers, "After all, who really wants to be out in the real world yet?"
In a year, there'd be no school, no job, maybe college, and possibly no Roxas. Giving his classmate a weak smile, he agreed with her.
Who really wants to be out in the real world yet?
Soooo it's been a while, but school was starting and stuff? Review! Layla for Beta! If you review, I love you forever~ :3