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Chapter Twenty Nine

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"But you've got to believe me! Axel has the evidence!" Roxas struggled as he was forced into a holding cell at the local police station.

"Sir, we'll review all of the evidence when we have the time, but you assaulted a man in public. We're going to have to lock you up for awhile," the police officer told him, looking like he felt a bit bad for doing it. "We've only got two cells, and we're not putting you and Saix together, so meet your cellmate."

Roxas groaned and turned around only to come face to face with a near mirror-image of himself, "Shit, Ventus... What're you doing in jail? ...And why are you covered in blood?"

"I could ask you the same thing, pretty boy. Why're you dressed like a grade-A douchebag?"

"Of course you're high... Why doesn't that surprise me?" he rolled his eyes, sighing as he sat down against the jailcell bars. The musician was so tweaked out that he probably didn't even know where he was.

Ventus just laughed maniacally, "Seriously, you look like a tool. What gives?"

"I beat the shit out of someone. Happy?" Roxas growled. He hated talking to Ventus when he was high. It was like talking to a brick wall.

"Ooh, feisty... Does he look worse than you do?"

"I hope so..." he mumbled, wiping his nose on the back of his hand, "Can I get some medical care here?!" he shouted at nobody in particular, though the guards didn't seem to care too much that he was bleeding out of his face or that his side was killing him.

Ven smirked, "They don't give two shits about delinquents like us. They won't even let you post bail till morning."

"That brings me back to my earlier question... What are you doing here and why are you covered in blood? Did you get into a fight again?"

"Sort of," he shrugged, his eyelids drooping as he laid back on the bench, "I'm taking a nap, try to bleed quietly."

Roxas scowled at him and slumped back, letting himself lower his guard for a few. If he was stuck here all night, he might as well try to sleep. At least he knew Saix was behind bars as well.

...

"Fuck. Fuck! Roxas, wake up!"

The sudden shaking of his shoulders startled Roxas out of a semi-deep sleep, scaring the shit out of him, "What?!"

"Roxas, did I tell you why I was in here?"

"Christ, Ven, how tweaked are you?!" Roxas shoved him away, "You said you got into a fight!"

Ventus sat back down on the bench, pulling his knees up to his chest and starting to rock back and forth, "N...no... Roxas, that's not what happened..."

"Ven... Tell me what happened. Tell me whose blood this is."

"Vanitas..." the dyed-black boy squeaked, tears rushing to his eyes.

Roxas immediately felt his heart fall through his stomach, "What happened?"

"He stopped taking his meds again," Ventus sniffled, painfully sober now that he'd slept off the drugs in his system, "He got really violent with me in bed and I told him to fuck off..."

"Shit..." Roxas sighed, "I should have warned you about that..."

Ven shook his head, "It was fine... I was fine... I took some drugs and tried to forget about it, but then he got pissed at me for that too..."

"Did you two get into a fistfight then? Is he in the other cell?"

"N...no, Rox... I got really mad and I told him that he was fucked up and that I was leaving and he was out of the band and he... he..."

Roxas could've smacked him for hesitating so much, "He what?!"

"I don't even know where he got the gun from, Roxas... He must have had it hidden in the trailer somewhere..."

The blond's heart about stopped as he realized what was coming next, "Ven, what happened...?"

"He fed himself a bullet, Rox... Right in front of me..."

His chest tightened and he started to hyperventilate, stepping away from the sobbing man as he clutched at his chest, "No... No! You're lying! You're still high, and you're making things up!"

"I might have been high at the time, but I know that's what happened. One of the neighbors heard the gunshot and called the cops... They found me sitting on the couch in complete shock covered in his blood and when they saw how strung out I was, they arrested me..."

"But you... You didn't mention it before... When I first got here, you were laughing..." Roxas gasped for air as he tried to collect himself.

Ventus wiped his eyes on his sleeve, "I don't even remember talking to you before, Roxas... I was still in shock. I woke up and it all hit me at once and I saw you sitting over there and..."

"No... Vanitas..." Roxas dropped to his knees as his legs gave out, feeling like his entire world was crashing down around him.

"I'm sorry... I didn't know how to handle him when he stopped taking his meds..." Ventus continued to rock back and forth in the fetal position, his sobriety forcing him to deal with what had happened.

"V...Van..." Roxas could feel his entire body shutting down as a police officer approached the cage.

"Roxas Smith, your friend is here to bail you out," he grunted, opening the cell door and waiting.

But Roxas couldn't move. He couldn't speak. He couldn't feel the excruciating pain of his broken ribs as he curled up into a ball on the floor.

Vanitas was dead, and Roxas couldn't figure out how to live in a world without him yet. So he shut down. He stopped.

...

Axel struggled to kick open their bedroom door as he cradeled Roxas in his arms. He could usually pick the small blond up with ease, but he was all dead weight now, his glassy blue eyes staring blankly into nothing.

"Why don't you take a shower, Rox? You're all beat up, it'll feel good..." he suggested, setting the boy down on their bed.

Roxas didn't even blink.

"Okay... You don't need to talk. Just get undressed and I'll run you a bath. Does that sound good?" he asked, getting up and going into their bathroom to warm up the water.

But when he returned, Roxas was in the same position on their bed. He hadn't moved even an inch. Axel wasn't even sure he'd blinked at all since he found out about Vanitas.

"Here, I'll help..." he used a gentle voice as he started to undress him, pulling his shoes and socks off before moving up to remove his vest and white button-down. His fingers fumbled with the buttons, shaking as he tried to keep himself together. "There... Now come on, let's get you to the bath," he said, holding out a hand after completely disrobing the boy.

"You've got to walk, Roxas..." he urged him, "Show me some sign that you're still in there."

But the only response he recieved was the blond turning his glazed over eyes up to give Axel the most devastating, heart-wrenching look he'd ever seen. He was absolutely helpless, and he didn't know how to be a person at the moment.

"Okay... I'll help," Axel assured him, picking Roxas back up and carrying him into the bathroom. He turned off the water faucet and placed the boy into the steaming hot, soapy bath. Roxas cringed a little, but accepted the hot water on his aching muscles as a good thing and didn't fight it.

"Why don't you wash up a little? Get that gel out of your hair?" Axel remained hopeful that his boyfriend would snap out of his fog.

Roxas remained completely unresponsive. Even his mind had started to shut down, trying to shelter him from the fact that somebody he had loved for so, so long was never going to be a part of his life again.

"Okay, baby... I'll do that too," Axel conceded, grabbing the sprayer and wetting down his matted hair. He then moved to gently shampoo it for him, trying not to let himself choke up. He needed to be strong for Roxas...

When Axel had showed up at the police station to bail Roxas out, he'd expected a tazmanian devil sort of reaction where he'd come flying out of the cell all worked up and looking for revenge. When he instead found the boy lying in the fetal position and completely out of it, he'd needed to turn to Ventus for answers. Not that the drug addict was in a much better condition. He was busy bawling his eyes out like a baby.

Eventually he'd gotten the entire story out of not only Ventus, but the police officer standing with them. He had no choice but to carry Roxas out to the car and take him home.

He hadn't had the heart to leave Ventus in jail either, however, which was why he currently had a drug addict showering in the downstairs bathroom while he tried to piece his boyfriend back together. Damn his compulsion to help people...

They would have to worry about Saix later. He could rot in jail for all Axel cared. Right now, he needed to be there for Roxas and help him through this however he could.

"I called Aqua and Terra... They're on their way to come pick me up," Ventus appeared in the doorway of the upstairs bathroom as Axel tried to clean Roxas the best he could manage.

Axel nodded, "You can borrow some of Roxas' clothes... They're in the taller dresser."

"Thanks... And thanks for bailing me out..." Ventus held onto the towel around his waist, his blond starting to show through the fading black dye in his hair.

"You were a fucking mess... I'm pretty sure the police were about to pay me just to get you out of there..." Axel shrugged, lifting Roxas' arm to clean under it.

Ventus leaned against the doorway, "I wish I could have stopped him..."

"I stopped him once. I knocked him out before he could pull the trigger," Axel stated, his voice low and monotone.

"He'd done this before...?"

Axel sighed heavily, "Yeah... Before Rox left him the first time. He shot me in the shoulder."

"Damn it... I never knew about that..."

"Roxas told Aqua. Did she not let you know?"

Ven started to chew on his lip nervously, "I was probably high..."

"Why? How could you do that to yourself?" Axel asked him, turning his eyes up to meet Ven's for a moment.

Ventus just let out a shaky breath, "It's easier than feeling..."

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A/N: Go ahead. I'm prepared for the hate. *sniffles* Poor Vani...

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Simply Rexene