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Chapter Seven

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"Axel… what time is it?" Roxas wandered into the living room to find the redhead watching TV.

"It's 3 in the afternoon… I guess we both really needed some sleep, 'cause I only got up a few minutes ago."

Roxas sighed and sat down on the couch next to Axel, "How's your shoulder feeling?"

"It's been fine… Like I said, the bullet barely even grazed me," he shrugged, having almost forgotten about it.

"Thank you again…" the little blond mumbled, squirming around in an attempt to get comfortable on the couch, "Jeez, did you buy a couch or a boulder?"

Axel chuckled, "Yeah, it's not the most comfortable thing in the world, but—" he stopped short when suddenly Roxas' head was laying in his lap.

"That's better…" he sighed contentedly, using the elder as a pillow. "…You don't care, do you?"

"N…no…" Axel swallowed heavily, hoping that Roxas couldn't hear the hitch in his breath.

The smaller man smiled, "I think we could be really good friends, you know. I dunno why, but I really trust you and stuff…"

"Sure, Rox…" he couldn't help but chuckle a little, "I think you definitely need a good friend right now."

"What did Xigbar say when you called him?"

Axel rolled his eyes, "He bitched at me for five minutes straight that I was being a pussy, and that a small fleshwound was nothing to miss work over. …So I told him to suck my dick and hung up."

Roxas sat straight up in alarm, "Jesus, Axel! We're going to get fired!"

But the redhead just settled Roxas back into his lap, "Relax… we're not getting fired. Xigbar might talk a tough game, but he knows he'd be totally helpless without us. I don't think he even knows how to use a coffee-maker."

"I'm worried about Van…" Roxas changed the subject abruptly, seeming a little scatterbrained that afternoon, "Do you think he'll be okay in the hospital? I mean… don't they make movies about how shitty psych wards are?"

"Hush, Roxas… I've personally stayed in that psych ward before, and they treat their patients very well. He's in really good hands… I even had my old doctor assigned to his case. She's amazing."

That startled the blond, "…Axel, why were you in the psych ward?"

"Back when I was in my late 20s I kind of went through this huge period of depression and… it's pretty hard to hide self-harm when you're naked on camera every day… Xigbar was actually the one who had me committed."

Roxas remained silent for a long moment, then looked up at him, "But… you're better now?"

"Of course, dummy… you've seen me ass-naked dozens of times," the actor poked him in the side, chuckling. "It was a stupid thing to do, and… I wish that I could have seen that back then. But like I said, the doctor I had was absolutely amazing. I actually still meet with her every so often to check in."

"Can I be totally honest?" Roxas' deep blue eyes sparkled up at Axel as he turned to lay on his back so they could talk. "I'm kind of glad that Van's in the hospital now… He was really scaring me at home…"

Axel held his gaze, "How exactly did he bruise you like that…? I mean, were you fighting? Did he try to strangle you on purpose…?"

"Actually…" Roxas blushed a little, "It happened during sex… Vani knows that I like for him to get a little rough… but he just took it way over the top. That's the thing… when he's off his meds, he just doesn't know when to stop with things. He had my hands pinned above my head, but it really started to hurt and when I complained about it and asked him to stop, he grabbed me by the throat to shut me up and… I must have blacked out because when I woke up he was sitting on the edge of the bed sobbing and apologizing to me."

It took the elder a moment to process that. "I… Wow…"

"Am I totally stupid for loving him? I mean, I've got to be braindead to keep letting this happen…"

"This has happened more than once?!"

Roxas snorted, "It happens every time he goes off his meds… I mean, not specifically that, but…"

"I'm sorry, Roxas, but how the fuck are you still with him?"

"Is it totally sick that it's because the 25% of the time where he is on his meds, he's the best boyfriend I've ever had?"

Axel frowned, "So… you're so in love with that small part of him that you're willing to put up with the rest of the pure hell he puts you through?"

"I… I guess so…" the blond turned his head away, sighing heavily, "We've been together for 6 years… He's proposed to me three times, but they were all during manic episodes and I couldn't bring myself to say yes."

"Jesus…"

"It's not so bad when he's on tour… but I can tell his bandmates are terrified of him now too. I don't know how much longer they'll be willing to put up with his violent mood swings…"

Axel exhaled slowly, "So then… how long has he been using drugs?"

"I think he started on their first tour… I know that one of his bandmates, Ventus, is a total coke-head… I wouldn't be surprised if that's where he picked it up from."

"Maybe he needs to take a break from the band for awhile, then…"

Roxas shook his head, "They start another tour in a couple weeks. They've already signed all the contracts. I don't think I could convince him not to go."

"Well… that all relies on the hospital discharging him by then too. Dr. Gainsborough is pretty thorough with her work… she won't discharge her patients until she's confident that they can be on their own again."

"Well hell, he might die there in that case," the blond couldn't help but laugh a little, "Everything is amazing for awhile… he's the perfect partner… and then he starts to feel so good that he doesn't think he needs the meds anymore."

"It's like a vicious cycle… Do you think he'll ever break it?"

Roxas looked up at him again, "Honestly? …No. I don't."

"Then why are you still with him?" Axel wasn't trying to get Roxas to leave Vanitas for him. He could care less what the blond thought of him, so long as he stayed in his life. He really just couldn't stand seeing the kid suffer like he was.

"I'm really not sure…" Roxas shrugged and turned onto his side, curling up into a ball and closing his eyes. "…Is it horrible if I'm still really tired?"

"Nah… go ahead and take a nap. I don't mind."

As the small blond fell back asleep, Axel couldn't stop his mind from racing through the information he'd just received. He felt so bad for the poor kid… 22 years old and already dealing with something like this…

He moved an arm to gently rest it around Roxas' shoulders, turning the volume on the TV down and flipping through the stations. He could get used to this… having someone else around this huge house. He just needed to remember not to get too attached… Roxas was off the market, and Axel would not allow him to cheat on Vanitas. No matter how poorly he treated Roxas, he didn't deserve that.

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A/N: Blerg. I didn't mean for this chapter to be so short. But it served it's purpose… THEY'RE BONDING. It's adorable. But sad… Axel isn't going to let himself be the other man. Kudos to him for that. But how hard must all this be on his poor little Axel heart?

Pretty please drop me a review! I know it takes a little extra time, but I really do love the feedback… it's nice to know that people are following the story well and that you're all still enjoying the plot line.

Ta-ta for now!

Simply Rexene