Author's Note: I'm starting to really like this whole horror story thing... It's kind of fun to write all the descriptions of these creep-tastic events and monsters and stuff. I apologize in advance for anyone who loses sleep because of this story.

~::~

Fear has a funny way of putting things into perspective. A small detail that might be insignificant one day could become a life-changing piece of information the next, all without any warning. A coffee stain on a table, a receipt left behind in a grocery store parking lot, or maybe even the way the sun shines through the blinds on a window in the morning could hold some unknown meaning behind their simple outwards appearances. Everything has a story, and at some point these stories must all intertwine. The only question is… when?

~::~

Axel woke up screaming for the fifth day in a row. Cold beads of sweat poured down his body, making him shiver involuntarily. The nightmare was the same as the first night, the huge black creature stalking around in the shadows before coming in for the kill. He hadn't told Roxas about it yet because nothing had really changed, other than the fact that he was having the dreams at all.

"Axel," a familiar voice said from the doorway, "I thought I told you to tell me if anything changed."

The redhead winced at the harsh edge in Roxas's voice before realizing that the blonde man was in his apartment, and he didn't have a key. "What the hell? Did Demyx let you in?"

The dirty blonde poked his head through the doorway at the sound of his name. "I did. You've got a lot of explaining to do, mister."

"But I just woke up," Axel whined, trying to crawl further into the tangled mass of bedclothes around him. "Let me go back to sleep. We can talk once I'm coherent."

"Oh, no you don't!" Demyx strode over to the bed and grabbed Axel arms, pulling him back out of the mass of fabric. Axel protested with a loud grunt as he was carried between the two blondes and dumped unceremoniously on his couch.

"Guys, seriously!" Axel stood shakily and pushed past them into the kitchen. "Let me at least get a drink or something to wake me up." Without really looking, Axel reached inside the refrigerator and grabbed the first bottle his hand came in contact with. He gulped down half of it before realizing that it was beer. He shrugged and continued sipping as he returned to the living room.

"Axel, tell me now, how long have you been having the nightmares?" Roxas immediately began interrogating him before Demyx could even open his mouth to speak. "Is it always the same? Do they end the same way? What does the creature look like?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, kid, it's nine in the morning!" Axel's eyes narrowed into a . "Just slow down a second. It's been five days. Yes, it's always the same, ending and all. I told you yesterday, a big, black, wolf-like monster with red eyes that's been in one too many fights."

"You're not taking this seriously, Axel," Roxas snapped, scowling.

"Please explain this to me!" Demyx wailed. "I don't get a thing you're saying!"

The other two men stopped glaring at each other and turned to Demyx. "Long story short," Axel explained, "Roxas here is psychic. I met him five days ago on my way back from that… special request from the auto shop. He thinks my apartment is haunted, and I've been having terrible nightmares for the past five days since I met him. We're gonna try and…. oh, what's the word… exorcise this bitch."

Demyx stared at him for a brief moment before he burst out laughing. When neither of the other men joined him, his mirthful expression faded to fear and disbelief. "You're shitting me. You two are for real?"

Roxas glanced at Axel. "He's almost as bad as you."

Axel scowled at him again. "Oh, shut up. Yes, Demyx, we're serious. Well, Roxas is. I'm still skeptical of the whole thing, but still… he hasn't been wrong about anything yet."

Roxas's eyes suddenly widened and he pointed to the beer bottle in Axel's hand. "A-Axel, what were you drinking? It's… It's turning red!"

Axel looked down and screamed, throwing the bottle away from him as the liquid inside began crawling up the interior of the glass. The bottle shattered against the wall, spewing pieces of glass and droplets of red all over the carpet and the walls. The three men watched in horror as the red began pooling at the base of the wall and then trickled upwards, creating a web of pencil-thin lines crisscrossing the white surface. Suddenly most of the strange red substance disappeared into the walls, leaving a single word behind.

Axel was about to read it when Roxas leapt in front of him and clapped a hand over his mouth. "Don't say it out loud!" he screeched, eyes wide in panic.

Now truly terrified, Axel repeated the name over and over in his mind. Gaez. Gaez. Gaez. Who - or what - the hell is Gaez? "Why not? I don't see why it's so bad to say one little word."

"Saying the name of a spirit," Roxas informed him, voice shaking, "only gives it more power over you. Don't you dare read it out loud. Go get some paper towels and see if we can clean it up."

Axel obeyed automatically, almost unable to tear his gaze away from the red stains on his living room wall. He retrieved a handful of paper towels from the roll next to the kitchen sink and proceeded to wipe the mess up. Too his horror, no amount of rubbing would make it come off. He even got a bottle of cleaner and squirted it a few dozen times, but nothing could make it go away.

The redhead collapsed on his couch, distraught and still not as awake as he wished he could be. His brain was unable to comprehend what had just taken place. Demyx sat down next to him and wrapped a comforting arm around his shoulder. "Hey, Roxas'll take care of this, won't he? I mean, come on, we've seen plenty of horror movies before. This isn't all that different, is it? Most of the time people find a way to exorcise the thing, or force it to go away by other means. There's nothing to worry about."

Roxas chewed on his lip, glancing at the stained wall with a nervous flick of his eyes. "Not to sound like a total pessimist here, but it's not gonna be that easy. Things in movies are always made so much simpler than the actual process is because most average people with little knowledge of the paranormal wouldn't get the rituals and steps involved. Not to mention, this is real-life, where bad things can and will happen to us, whereas movies… well, those are all shot on a set without any real ghosts."

Axel massaged his temples with his fingers, squeezing his eyes shut. "I can't believe this… Look, guys, I've got work in a couple of hours. Roxas… Well, I guess you can stay and inspect the place if you want. Demyx, are you working today?"

The dirty blonde shook his head. "Nobody's got a lesson today. I can stick around to help, although I don't really understand what's going on yet."

"I don't know if anyone needs to stay here right now," Roxas said, staring absentmindedly at the shards of glass still littering the floor under the name written on the wall. "Demyx, help me clean up what's left of the bottle. The last thing we want is for Axel to cut himself walking around his own living room." The dirty blonde man obliged, leaving the redhead to his own thoughts.

Axel was terrified. Downright, shit-your-pants terrified. Just a few days ago he would have denied any sort of paranormal happenings existed, but now he witnessed it with his own eyes, and his brain was unable to process it. He needed information, anything and everything he could get his hands on telling about things like this, hauntings and ghost sightings and everything in between, and he knew just where to get it.

"Demyx," he asked as the two blonde men returned carrying a dustpan, a brush, and the trashcan, "when is Zexion supposed to be back?"

The dirty blonde thought for a moment. "Uh… Tomorrow, I think. Why?"

"Good," Axel replied with a faint smile. "I have great need of his brainpower right now."

~::~

"You're asking me for what?" Zexion, a man who was not easily startled, looked like he had just heard that the world was ending. "Books about paranormal activity and ghost sightings? You can't be serious."

"You want serious? Come over to my apartment and look at the writing on my wall," Axel was exasperated. For such a smart individual, Zexion was having a certain amount of difficulty understanding the whole story with Roxas and the nightmares.

He was seated in one of the chairs in Demyx's apartment, across from Demyx himself, who had pulled Zexion into his lap before the shorter man could escape his clutches.

The steely-haired man cocked an eyebrow. "Writing?"

"Yes, writing. Yesterday, I was drinking something, and it started turning red all of a sudden and started moving. I kinda freaked out and threw it across the room, and then the liquid started going up the wall and then got absorbed or something until only this word - which I apparently am not supposed to say, according to my little psychic friend - was left. We can't figure out what it's written in or how to get it off, though. I couldn't sleep last night. I was so scared by it."

Zexion's jaw dropped. "Good God, you're serious, aren't you?" He stood and immediately headed for the door. "Come on. I have to see this to believe it."

The three men hurried over to Axel's apartment, and the redhead led them into the living room. Zexion stopped in his tracks as soon as he saw the writing. "Sweet Jesus, Axel, why couldn't you just be pulling a prank on me?"

The redhead winced. "I'm sorry. It's not my fault this place is haunted. Look, do you know anything that could help?"

Zexion stared at the red word on the wall for a moment before saying, "Go get me a knife and a small plastic bag. I sure hope you don't particularly mind scratches on your walls, because some of that substance is getting taken to my lab whether you like it or not."

Axel hurried to obey and watched in mild fascination as the shorter man carefully scraped off a few slivers of paints and whatever the red substance was, catching them neatly in the bag. He returned to the kitchen and tossed the knife in the sink before zipping up the plastic bag and pocketing it. "I'll have the results on what this stuff is as soon as I possibly can. In the mean time… don't get your stupid ass killed because of some spirit, all right? Maybe you should talk to Roxas again and see if there's anything more he can do for you."

"Good idea. Thanks for doing this," Axel said, giving the two a small wave before they left. After this, he almost ran to the phone to call Roxas.

"Hey, Axel. What's up?"

Ignoring how weird it was that Roxas knew it was him, the redhead said, "Hey. Zexion, Demyx's scientist boyfriend, was just over here, and he's gonna run some tests on that red stuff on my wall to see what it is. He suggested I speak to you again to see if there's anything else we could do to prevent anything worse from happening."

He could hear the hesitation in Roxas's voice when the blonde replied. "Well… There is one thing we could try… Only it's not very safe, especially if this thing is malevolent. You remember that ouija board thing I mentioned before? We could use it to try and get in touch with the spirit and see why it did that, what it's doing in your apartment, and things like that."

"I don't care how dangerous it is. Just bring the thing over here. I want answers," Axel demanded.

Roxas heaved a sigh on the other end of the line. "Fine. I'll be there around seven. Make the coffee table in your living room is clean. We're going to need it for this."

The blonde arrived exactly when he said he would later that night. Axel let him in and, without a word, Roxas strode purposefully into the living room carrying a thin, rectangular box and a paper bag. "Okay. Come here," Axel, who was hanging back in the doorway, came and sat down on the opposite side of the table from him. "First, I need you to help me set up these candles and light them."

"Candles?" the redhead asked, puzzled. He pulled out five of the thick, white items from the bag along with stands to put them on.

"Yes, candles. For a protective ring, although I don't know how effective they'll be. Once that's done, I'll show you how to use the board, and then we can start and pray nothing goes wrong."

Axel went back to the kitchen for a moment to get a box of matches out of one of the drawers, which he then gave to Roxas. However, the blonde refused the box, saying, "Will… Will you do it, please? I'm not the biggest fan of fire…"

"Oh. Uh, sure," Axel went about doing his task as Roxas took out a long, flat piece of wood about the same size as the box. The surface was lacquered, the flames of the candles causing small fragments of light to dance on the walls. In the center of the board, the alphabet and the number one to nine and then zero were spread out in three identical arcs, printed in ornate black lettering. The top right corner held a small crescent moon with the word "No" written next to it, and the top left corner held a sun and the word "Yes." At the bottom center of the board the word "Goodbye" was inscribed. "So how the hell do you use one of these things?"

"It's really quite simple. All you do is put your fingers," Roxas held up a small triangular object with a circle of glass embedded near the longer tip, "on this, and ask questions until you contact a spirit. The spirit will then move this thing, called a planchette, around on the board to spell out the answers, if it so wishes."

"You're sure this will work?" Axel asked nervously, unsure if contacting ghosts was really such a good idea.

"I've used them before without incident. I don't see why this would be any different," the blonde man replied, standing up and walking over to the light switch. "I'm turning the lights off, so don't scream or wet yourself."

"I wouldn't dream of it," the redheaded man replied, although his heart did jump a little when the room was plunged into darkness, save for the flickering candles on the table in front of him.

The aforementioned candles cast an eerie glow over Roxas's face as he sat down opposite Axel and instructed, "Okay. I want you to put the tips of your middle and index fingers on the wide end of the planchette. And do not, under any circumstances, take them off until I tell you too. If something weird starts happening, move to goodbye immediately."

"Roxas, I dunno if I should be the one to do this… I mean, I've got no idea what I'm doing, and like you said, you've used one of these boards before."

"Okay, fine," the blonde sighed, handing him a note book and a pen. "Make sure you watch the circle in the planchette carefully and write down the answers as we go."

"Got it. Can we get this over with now, please?"

Roxas closed his eyes as he placed the tips of his fingers on the small plastic pointer. "Is there anyone there who would like to speak with us?"

Axel watched in wide-eyed amazement as the pointer began moving. He could tell that Roxas was barely even touching the surface of it. It was almost as if some invisible being was doing it for him. The planchette slid to the "Yes." Axel scribbled down the question and the answer.

Roxas opened his eyes. "Can you tell us your name?" The pointer moved to the W, the A, and then the L twice. "Is that your name?" The plachette moved to "No."

Axel made note of this and then decided to try asking a question of his own. "Is your name the word on the wall of this room?" The pointer stopped on "Yes."

The two men exchanged a worried glance. "Why are you here?" Roxas asked, trying to quell the fear rising in his chest.

The planchette was still for a moment before it began making a sideways figure-eight on the board, growing faster and faster. Roxas's eyes widened in panic when he realized his fingers felt glued to the plastic. Ignoring his own prior warning against removing one's fingers before closing the board, he tried to wrench them away before the spirit could do any harm to him. He felt a surge of energy wash over the room as his fingers separated from the planchette and it flew across the room, smacking into the wall where it was marred by the name of the spirit. Suddenly a human-like silhouette began pulling itself out of the wall, clawing at the empty air to free itself. Roxas and Axel stood and began backing towards the kitchen doorway, hearts pounding in their chests. The shadowy figure finally pulled itself out and stood there for a few moments before opening its eyes, showing pupil-less white irises that sent chills up the two mens' spines. Without warning, all the lights went out, plunging the whole apartment into total darkness. Even the candle flames were extinguished. Axel grabbed Roxas and hugged the smaller man to his chest, squeezing his eyes shut. A few moments later, the lights flickered back on. Axel opened his eyes… and screamed.

~::~

Demyx looked up from where he was crouched on his bed, pinning Zexion down. "Did you hear something hit the wall where Axel's living room is?"

The shorter man rolled his eyes. "You're paranoid, Demyx. Anyways, we're kind of in the middle of something right now, in case you hadn't noticed."

The dirty blonde man smiled and trailed kisses down his partner's neck. "Don't think I didn't. It's kind of hard not to with you making all those obscene faces at me."

Zexion's cheeks flushed and he turned his head to the side. "I do not make faces."

"Do I need to video tape us to prove it?"

"You wouldn't."

"Oh yes I would," Demyx joked, smiling as he kissed Zexion again. "Tell me if I start going too fast." The dirty blonde was about to resume what he had been doing previously when a loud scream emanated from Axel's apartment. Demyx started and promptly rolled off the bed, scrambling to collect his clothes. "Sorry, Zex, but we're gonna have to continue this later. Whatever that was, it wasn't good!"

Feeling just as scared as his lover looked, Zexion collected his own clothes and barely had time to pull on his underwear and pants before Demyx grabbed his key ring and dragged him out into the hallway and to Axel's door. The dirty blonde fumbled with his keys, muttering curses under his breath as he tried unsuccessfully to unlock the door several times. Zexion finally stepped in, managing to get the door open to find Axel and Roxas lying on the kitchen floor surrounded by large droplets of what look liked blood staining the white tile floor.

"Axel!" Demyx exclaimed, running over to kneel by his friend's side. There were several long scratches on the front of his arms, as if he had been holding them in front of himself for protection. Roxas was unscathed save for a small gash on his lower leg. "What the hell happened?"

The redhead blinked and slowly sat up, wrapping his arms protectively around Roxas. "Where did it go? That… That thing attacked us!"

"What thing? Axel, what happened?" Demyx repeated, a note of panic in his voice.

Roxas began to stir. He winced in pain as he moved his leg. "Shit. I think we just let that demon loose to wreak havoc upon the world."

Zexion came over with a bottle of cleaner and a handful of paper towels to mop up the blood on the floor. "What caused this to happen?"

"We were trying to contact it through a ouija board, but it went wrong, and then this black shadow thing came out of the wall, made the lights go off, and then when they came back on, it was standing right fucking there and attacked us, clawing at us and trying to get to Roxas's throat," Axel explained, voice shaking. "I am seriously fucking scared right now. I don't think I can even stand up."

"This isn't good," Zexion said, confirming everyone's worst fears. If Zexion, the calmest one out of all of them, was worried, then things were seriously wrong.

"Axel, can you let go of me please?" The redhead released Roxas and the blonde stood, limping over to one of the chairs around the kitchen table. "Where's a first aid kit? We'd better get ourselves bandaged up before we do anything else."

"It's in the cabinet under the sink," Axel said, wincing when he saw the cuts on his arms. "Damn. Whatever that thing was, it sure wasn't messing around."

"Hold out your arms for me, Axel," Zexion said as he took the first aid kit from Demyx, trying to keep a note of fear out of his voice. "This may sting a little."

Axel hissed as the steely-haired man dabbed something on the cuts. "That stings like a bitch," he whined, flinching away from Zexion's hands.

"Stay still. It'll go away in a few seconds," Zexion glanced over at Roxas "Will you come and put the bandages on while I hold him still, please?"

Roxas walked over and turned white as a sheet and looked like he was about to throw up the moment he saw the blood on Axel's arms. "I… I c-can't. Get Demyx to do it."

Axel cocked an eyebrow. "What's up with him?" he murmured to Zexion as Roxas went to sit back down at the table, holding his stomach.

"I believe he's hemophobic," the other man replied. When the redhead gave him a questioning look, he clarified, "He's scared of blood."

"Oh," Axel said in surprise. He glanced over at the blonde to see Demyx dabbing at the small cut on his leg with a cotton ball dowsed in whatever Zexion was using to clean his own wounds. The blonde boy's eyes were squeezed shut. "Hey, Dem, come help Zexion for a second. You can get back to him in a second."

"No, I've got it now," Zexion interjected, wrapping the gauze in his hands around Axel's forearms carefully, pulling it tight and then tying it off. "There. These scratches aren't all that deep… Hopefully they'll heal fast enough that you don't need to replace the bandages."

Zexion left Axel to go help Demyx with the cut on Roxas's leg. Axel curled up and leaned back against the cabinet behind him with a sigh. He didn't dare close his eyes; if he did, he'd fall asleep, and if he fell asleep… He didn't dare to think about what his dreams might entail after his brush with death.

"A-Axel?" The redhead looked up to see Roxas limping towards him, a bandage now secured on his leg. The blonde held out a hand to him, and Axel took it without question. The blonde led him into the bedroom and pointed to the bed. "Sleep. I've got to go do some cleansing rituals; otherwise this place will stink of evil for days. I… I'm gonna need some time to figure out a way to fix this. I just hope I can do it before anything bad happens…"

Axel blinked. "Since when were you my mother? I don't need to… sleep…" His words were interrupted by an enormous yawn. "Damn you and your psychic powers."

Roxas gave him a weak smile. "I can't help it. Look, I'm gonna make sure Demyx or Zexion stays here so you can get some rest while I go back to my place and get the things I need for the cleansing. Be good, okay?"

The redheaded man smirked. "When am I not?"

"I'm not even going to grace that with a response," Roxas said, giving him one last smile before he disappeared into the kitchen.

Axel sat down on his bed, letting his shoulders sag. He was so tired he could probably lie down and never get back up again, but he was too scared to fall asleep, even if there was someone else there with him. Much to his surprise, he wanted Roxas there most of all. The redhead lay down and rolled on his side, wincing as one of his wounded arms became trapped beneath his body. He resigned to lying there on his back, staring up at the ceiling. The sun was setting outside, casting a reddish glow through his window.

What seemed like only a few moments later, a hand laid itself on his shoulder. "Axel?" The redhead blinked up at Roxas, who was standing next to his bed, smelling distinctly of sage and candle smoke. "Good. You're not dead this time, either. I swear, you sleep like a log."

"Life is a tiring ordeal," the taller man replied. "Did you do all of the ritual things you talked about already? You smell funny."

Roxas crinkled his nose, and Axel couldn't help but notice how cute he looked like that. "I did. Sage isn't the best smell in the world, but at least this didn't call for something smellier, like wild onions or garlic. Now that would be stinky."

Axel nodded in agreement. "Very true. Are Demyx and Zexion still here?"

The blonde shook his head. "They went back to Demyx's apartment. Something about getting back to unfinished business."

"We probably interrupted them doing something naughty. That would explain why Zexion looked less well-groomed than usual," Axel said, immediately trying to squeeze the images of his best friend and his partner copulating out of his head.

"I'm gonna go take another look at the living room, I think," Roxas turned to go, but Axel managed to grab his arm before he could put any distance between himself and the bed.

"Stay."

Roxas smiled to himself before turning around to show the redhead an expression of grudging agreement. "Oh, all right." He walked around the bed and stretched out next to Axel, letting the redhead scoot over and nuzzle his hair.

"Mmm… Your hair smells like peaches."

The blonde smothered a laugh that bubbled up in his chest. "You sure like smelling me, don't you?"

Axel took a long whiff of the aroma again. "Not my fault your hair smells good enough to eat. And no, I won't actually eat it. I'm pretty sure hair has absolutely no nutritional value."

"Oh, that's a relief. I spend a lot of time on my hair," Roxas replied with a smirk. "It doesn't."

"Hmm…" The redhead appeared to be drifting off again, but his hand found Roxas's arm and slid down to grasp the blonde's much smaller one. "I think I'm gonna fall asleep again…"

"Oh no you're not." Roxas shifted so that Axel fell sideways across his lap, leaving him stunned and vulnerable. The blonde ran a finger down the back of the redhead's neck, eliciting a gasp of surprise. "Aha. So my intuition was right."

"You're evil, you know that?" Axel whined, trying to fend off the other man's hands, but to no avail. Roxas continued assailing the sensitive area on his neck, making him squirm as he tried to escape. "Come on, quit!"

"I don't wanna," Roxas smirked. "You're just so entertaining."

"Yes, and you're incredibly creepy," Axel retorted. "Stop it!"

Roxas stopped abruptly and withdrew his hands, looking hurt. "Well, you didn't have to be so mean about it…"

Axel sat up and turned to face him. "I'm sorry, Roxas. I didn't mean to offend you or anything… I thought you were okay with being called that."

The smile that appeared on the blonde's face confused him. The other man's next action left him totally bewildered. Roxas leaned forwards and captured his lips in a chaste kiss, wrapping his arms around his neck to make him lean down. Axel regained the use of his body after a few seconds of shock and pulled the blonde into his lap, wrapping his arms around the smaller's waist to hold him there. Roxas, however, wasn't protesting as he pulled away from the kiss. "Well, that went better than I expected, considering what you've been through today."

"You knew this was going to happen, though," Roxas gave Axel a blank look. "Didn't you?"

"No. I expected the total opposite, actually. I thought it would be too soon and you'd run away," the blonde responded.

"And why would I do a silly thing like that?" Axel found that he liked the blush that spread across Roxas's face as they stared at each other, blue eyes locked with green. The redhead almost wanted to laugh out loud at the absurdity of it all, the ghosts, psychic powers, and the possibility that he might just be falling for the blonde man sitting in his lap. "How long has it been since we met? A week? I guess you were right when you said hanging out for that long would change the status quo."

Roxas grinned. "I've been right ninety-eight percent of that time, and still you doubt me?"

"What can I say? I'm a skeptic," The taller man replied, bringing his nose to touch the blonde's. "Hmm. I'm kind of glad you ran into me now."

"More like knocked you down like an over-sized bowling pin."

"True."

The two men fell into a comfortable silence. Roxas shifted positions so that his back rested against Axel's chest and the redhead's arms were around his waist. The minutes ticked by as they sat there, glad to have someone else there to comfort them. Axel's nerves were taxed from the day's ordeals. Roxas was worried about him, unsure if he could hold up much longer if the attacks and nightmares got worse.

Finally, after a while, Roxas extricated himself from Axel's grasp and slid off the bed. "I don't really want to leave now, but I have to. I'm still house-sitting for my brother."

"It's okay," Axel replied, hiding his disappointment with a smile. "I'll call you if anything weird happens, okay?"

Roxas smile back, knowing full well that the redhead was terrified at the thought of being left alone. "Okay. Don't forget, Demyx is right next door. Call him before you call me if anything goes wrong. I'll see you tomorrow. Right?"

"Right."

Axel watched as the blonde disappeared into the kitchen and heard the lock on the apartment door click shut behind him. With a sigh, the redhead lay back against his pillows, too tired to even bother trying to sleep.

~::~

Axel woke up to the sound of his telephone ringing. Groaning, he dragged himself out of bed and picked up the receiver, giving the person on the other end a very tired, disgruntled "Hello?"

"It's Saix. I assume you'll be there tonight?"

The redhead felt the sudden urge to smash his head against the wall. "Yeah. Don't worry. I wouldn't miss it for the world," he said, lacing his tone with a sickly sort of sweetness that he hoped would cover up his outright contempt of the man on the other end of the line.

"Good. I'll see you tonight."

Axel ended the call and then stared down at the phone for a moment, wondering if it was worth it to fling it across his room. He decided that he'd rather not have to buy a new one, so he replaced it and was about to go sprawl out in his bed and try to go back to sleep when the phone began ringing again. The redhead picked it up and snarled into the phone, "Saix, if it's you again, I'm gonna fucking-"

"Um, Axel? I'm pretty sure my name isn't Saix."

The redheaded man suddenly felt very stupid. "Oh, uh, sorry, Roxas. Ignore that. Um, so, what do you need?"

"I wanted to know when you'd be free today. My brother is supposed to get back in town today or tomorrow, so I'll have to be careful when I go out to do stuff. He'll kill me if I'm gone when he comes back," Roxas replied after trying unsuccessfully to mask his laughter with a fit of coughing.

"Um… Well, I've gotta go work at the auto shop from nine to five, but anytime after that is okay. Oh. Although I have another… uh… appointment at ten."

"I understand," the blonde said. "So maybe we could go grab some dinner once you get off work?"

"Are you asking me out on a date?"

Axel was sure that Roxas was blushing, judging by the way he stuttered out his next sentence. "I-I totally didn't mean it like that!" he paused for a moment. "…do you want it to be?"

"Consider it a date," the redhead replied, grinning to himself as he heard the other man heave a relieved sigh. "I'll see you then. Do you want to just meet in the skate park again?"

"That would be fine," Roxas said. "See you later."

"Bye," Axel replaced the receiver and walked over his bed so he could sit down. His heart was fluttering in his chest liked a caged bird for some reason he just couldn't explain. It wasn't even all that unpleasant… just different. He smirked wistfully and shook his head. "This kid's got my heart doing back flips for him. Who would've thought…"

The moment the redhead arrived at the auto shop later that day, Xigbar noticed that differences in his behavior. The graying man scratched his head and sighed as he worked next to Axel on a car. "What's gotten into you, dude? You're acting really funny. Did something happen?"

Axel, without really thinking, replied, "I think I'm in love."

Xigbar, who had just taken a mouthful of water out of a bottle nearby, coughed and sprayed a fine mist of water droplets all over Axel. "You're kidding, right? Man, no wonder you looked so high! So who's the lucky girl?"

"Um… it's a guy," the redheaded man replied sheepishly, keeping his voice low so none of the customers nearby would hear.

"Oh, right. Oopsy-daisy," his boss said with an apologetic look. "I forgot you swung that way. So what's his name?"

"Roxas."

This time, Axel managed to avoid the water that Xigbar spit at him. "You've gotta be shitting me. How do you know my nephew?"

Axel stared at him open-mouthed. "He's your… Shit, no way! That's… That's just weird. He never mentioned you."

"He never was one to talk much about his family," the older man replied with a wistful smile. "I can't blame the kid, though. He always was the strange one, going on about spells and magic and other stuff like that. Not to mention his wardrobe and his behavior… The rest of his family's Christian, wear tasteful clothes that are always in pristine condition, act like perfect angels, and are pretty much perfect examples of what a model citizen should be. Hard to believe they're related."

"Oh really? You're right, though, he never has talked much about them, although we have only known each other for a week…"

"You sure fell for him fast," Axel shrugged. Xigbar waved a hand in dismissal. "Anyways, that's pretty much all you need to know about them apart from names. I'm sure he'd tell you if you asked him, which I think you should do. He'd know if I told you without his permission and curse me or some shit like that."

"He wouldn't curse you!" Axel jumped to Roxas's defense immediately. "Roxas is too nice for that."

The look on Xigbar's face told him otherwise. "You really don't know him that well, then. I'd make sure to start asking the tough questions before he gets away if you really care about him as much as you say you do. There's a reason that kid never stays one place too long. If you're not ready to put in the effort, get ready for disappointment."

Axel walked to the skate park after work that day with a heavy heart. His boss's warning still rang in his ears, echoing another time for every step he took. Roxas wouldn't really desert him for no reason, would he? Sure, the blonde had said something about staying interested before, but he was just joking, right? The redhead just didn't know.

"You look sad," was the first thing Roxas said to Axel when he walked up to the spot where they had been meeting every day for the past week. The redhead climbed the ladder and sat down heavily next to the blonde. "What's up?"

"I found out that my boss is your uncle today," he said bluntly. "Why didn't you ever tell me about your family?"

Roxas stiffened and turned away. "They don't matter. I'm my own person, and nothing anyone else thinks can change that."

Axel flinched at the icy barbs lacing the blonde's tone. "I didn't mean to offend you. I just want to know a little bit more about you so I can make my decision at the end of the month. Remember?"

"Oh," the other man said, staring down at his hands, clasped in his lap. "Okay. I guess I should tell you, then. My dad's name is Cloud. He used to be a high-ranking officer in the military, but retired so he could start a family with my mother, Tifa. Mom used to run a bar around here, but she sold it to a guy so she could raise kids after Cloud asked her to marry him. My oldest sibling is a girl called Namine, who loves art and all things related to it. Then there's me and my twin brother Sora. He's the older one, and he's about as crazy as you can get. The youngest in our little family unit is another girl, Xion. She's the only one of us who looks like Mom at all. Xigbar is my mom's older brother, and he had two kids with a woman named Larxene, Tidus and Wakka. Both of them are married and several years older than me. My Mom's younger brother is Auron, but he never got around to marrying or having kids. Dad's an only child, and all my grandparents are dead, they're all the family I have."

"Well, that's more than I have," Axel commented wryly. "It's only me, my brother Reno, my parents, and two grandparents. We're a lonely little sextet."

Roxas looked up at him in surprise. "That's all?"

"Yep. I don't mind, though. We're really close-knit. I wouldn't give them up for the world."

The blonde man sitting next to Axel was silent for several minutes, his chin resting on his hand, as if he were deep in thought. Suddenly he stood. "I want you to come home with me tonight."

Axel blinked. "Say what?"

"Come home with me tonight," the shorter man repeated. "I've got a lot to tell you, and I would rather do it there than in your haunted apartment or out in the open like this."

"I… um… well… okay, fine," the redhead managed to splutter in response, still stunned by the blonde's frankness.

"Great!" Roxas beamed at him. "We'd better go now, though. My brother never showed up today, so I've got to check up on his place first."

Axel followed him down the ladder and out of the skate park. Once they were on the sidewalk, Roxas took hold of his hand, ignoring the strange looks they got from passersby, and began leading him through the streets of New York, still bright as day even though the sun was beginning to go down. Soon the redhead was unable to recognize where he was, although he knew the area of town they were in was a pretty high-class place. Roxas eventually stopped in front of a building that housed some of the more expensive apartments in the area and swiped a card in a slot on the door so they could get in. Two flights of stairs later, they arrived in front of Sora's apartment.

"And this," Roxas said as he opened the door, "is where my brother lives."

The apartment was spotless, much to Axel's surprise. He had been expecting a messy bachelor's pad, not a pristine apartment that looked right out of a picture from a magazine. The walls were painted a creamy beige that complimented the dark brown and blue furniture perfectly. Several pieces of modern art were arranged skillfully on the walls, further complimenting the color scheme of the room with a myriad of pastel blues and pale yellows.

"What the hell is this?" Axel asked in confusion. "No way in heck can a guy's home be this clean. It's not right."

"Sora's boyfriend Riku is a total neat freak," Roxas giggled, something Axel had never heard him do before. "Seriously, it's almost scary. If he gets one tiny little drop on a shirt, he sends it right to the cleaners. Although, he can afford to be like this… he's the son of a high-grossing movie director."

"…creepy," Axel replied absentmindedly as he walked further into what he took to be the living room. The small piece of the kitchen he could see through a nearby doorway was no different, although it was red and purple rather than blue and brown. "Hey, Roxas, is it safe to sit down on anything in here, or will Riku throw a hissy-fit if I desecrate any of his sacred furniture?"

Roxas couldn't reply for laughing so hard. Finally, he said, "Just come sit on the couch, you dumbass. I can tell him that it was me. He knows I'm a slob."

"You're not a slob," Axel responded. "Actually, I think you clean up rather nicely."

"Well, thank you," The blonde man smiled as he patted the sofa cushion next to him, indicating where Axel should sit. The redhead did, and Roxas immediately changed subjects. "So, about this stuff I've got to tell you… Some of it isn't pretty, okay? Don't blame me if something I tell you really irks you or makes you sick. I gave you fair warning."

The look of pain and discomfort Roxas gave Axel then was too much for the redhead. He pulled him into his lap and kissed him, wanting to make all of the hurt go away. Roxas kissed him back without really thinking, wrapping his arms around his neck to make Axel lean down so that it was more comfortable. Unfortunately, the redhead lost his balance and toppled forwards, landing with his knees on either side of Roxas's abdomen and his hands on both sides of his head, their lips still sealed together in a kiss.

About three seconds later, the door burst open and a brunette man carrying a bright green umbrella came marching in, yelling, "Roxas, I'm ho-… Holy shit!" He ran forwards and began smacking Axel with his umbrella. "Get off my brother, you creep!"

Another man, much calmer and with silver hair, entered the apartment and grabbed the brunette, pulling him away from the redhead. "Sora, stop it! What are you trying to do, kill him?"

"B-but I thought he was some crazy rapist serial killer guy trying to hurt my brother!" Sora whimpered, making a puppy dog face at his boyfriend. "I was just trying to protect Roxas."

Riku rolled his eyes as Axel right himself and sat down on the couch, pulling Roxas up as well. "Wow, Sora. Way to jump to conclusions. However, I would like to know why they're doing that here, of all places."

Roxas scowled at him. "We were about to leave, if you hadn't come running in here unannounced."

"Like he said!" Axel agreed. "I just fell over on top of him."

"Whatever," Riku said coldly. "But if you got anything on my furniture, I'm going to sue your ass for every penny you own."

Axel wasn't sure which scared him more, the look on Riku's face or the fact that he was probably serious. "Geez, I'm sorry for existing. Are you PMSing or something?"

"Axel!" Roxas hissed. "Be polite!"

"Sorry," The redhead winced. "Um… yeah, we were just going. Come on." He grabbed Roxas's hand and dragged the blonde out of the apartment before he could even register what was happening.

"What are you doing?" Roxas wrenched his arm free of the redhead's grasp once they were out on the street again. "What's gotten into you?"

"I wanted to be away from there, obviously, but…" the taller man replied, not looking at Roxas. "Look, I just remembered that I have that… appointment later and I can't stay much longer unless I want to miss it."

"Oh," The blonde's voice was emotionless. "Well, fine then. I guess we can do it tomorrow, then." He brushed past Axel and began heading for home, staring down at the pavement beneath his feet.

"Um, Roxas?"

"What?" The blonde heaved an exasperated sigh as he turned to look at the redhead man.

"I don't know how to get home from here. You'll have to take me," Axel said, scratching the back of his head and looking sheepish.

Roxas stood still for a moment, and then held out a hand to him. "Oh, all right. Come on."

~::~

Author's Note: I really, really hope I can stick to my schedule. So far so good, but life has a way of... well, getting in the way when things need to be done. So tell me, was this chapter scary enough, too scary, or do I need to step things up a bit? I'm still undecided as to how detailed I'm gonna get when describing stuff... Reviews are like cookies. They make the world go 'round.