Why hello there readers of this somewhat wonderful story. I, Sunechirei, am back from my one month hiatus with a somewhat new writing style, and a definite new love for this story :D See, last week I had this thing called State Testing, and thanks to the wonderful 30 minutes of nothing to do after all three tests for five days, I had plenty of time to read my own story.
So I'm excited now :D
Now then, let me tell you, I chose the right month to take a break because MAN was I busy. First, I lost all motivation to write my stories, then I had the three show nights of the school musical, plus we started our spring play, then my friend had a seizure, and I spent a few days in LA over Spring Break with no internet access, then I had to take four wonderful days of state testing, plus I found out that I have about 18 different anxiety disorders, including OCD and PTSD, then I had about four mental break downs, seven projects due for school, I almost fainted while getting my blood drawn (which has never happened before) and I got my writing mojo back and started a new story and worked on another one...
Sadly, during this time I only wrote ten pages of my original story... I don't know why, I just can't figure out how to write chapter 2...
But yeah :D
Alrighty, I'd like to thank my wonderful reviewers who kept me wanting to write this story when I lost all motivation to, and my beta who helped me make this chapter better :) (despite the fact that I only got ONE frikin review for the last chapter -_- seriously people... if you want me to continue posting this story, you're going to have to give me feedback)
Also, I want to put out there that I'm taking one shot requests :) If you want me to write something, just let me know.
One more thing; Starting with this chapter, and really continuing through the rest of the story, there are going to be references to very mature things. I don't show anything, because I'm only 16 and too embarrassed to write something like that, but I'm wondering if you guys think I should make this fic rated M. With the cussing, and the content, it's a very tempting thing to do...
So yeah, read, enjoy, review, and I'll see you guys in one weeks time :D
~Sunechirei
Full chapter title: You never know how many inches you'll get, or how long it's gonna last (kudos to withnospaces for the chapter title, and get your dirty minds out of the gutter. I'm talking about snow.) :P
My back was leaned against the side wall of the elevator, and I couldn't help but wonder why in the world my father wished to see me in his office so early in the morning when I was supposed to be doing my work.
I hadn't done anything wrong recently (I think). I was giving Ellie, who was still bed ridden, though no longer in the hospital, daily news on what was going on in the office, and all of my work was actually getting done on time, now that Axel was avoiding me.
Or, I think he was avoiding me. It's hard to tell when you never see someone. But anyway, here I was, listening to crappy elevator music, on my way to the top floor where my dad's office resided.
I decided there was something seriously wrong with this situation. Of course, nothing had really been right since New Years, and that whole deal with Axel (it's weird calling him that... I'm so used to "Red"), and even three weeks after that... um... event, the air between the two of us was so awkward you would have had to cut the air with a butcher's knife just to walk through the room.
Yeah, it's that bad.
Naminé seemed happy though. I'd found her later on New Years, hanging outside the hospital with tear stained eyes, hiccuping from having cried so much, and I didn't have the heart to tell her what Axel had said, nor what he did to me. However, I was extremely happy to say to her that Ellie was awake, and healthy, which cheered my girlfriend up right away. In fact, she was so happy that she jumped me, planting a long kiss on my lips.
For some reason, it didn't bring the same feelings that Axel had...
Back to Naminé.
When work started the next day, she immediately noticed that Axel had been avoiding my floor, staying away from me, and it certainly helped lift her mood. Of course, this just confirmed some of my suspicions, and I felt horrible for being so dense that I didn't notice why Naminé and Axel were fighting in the first place.
When I think back to everything that happened, it was completely obvious that Axel was... you know, flirting with me. I can't believe I didn't notice for seven months, and even then I wasn't one hundred percent sure of this until I talked to Ellie.
Let's just say, I felt really stupid after leaving the hospital last week.
Of course, this whole issue between me and Axel wasn't all fun and games. Naturally, Riku and Sora had picked up on the tension, and for some strange reason, they were convinced my stupid co-worker and I had had sex... How strange is that? Did they really, honestly think I was gay? How stupid can two people get?
Honestly.
I had a girlfriend, who I loved very much, and I've never, in anyway, ever, been attracted to, or had feelings for, Axel. Well, except when he kissed me, but come one! Anyone would turn red and get knots in their stomach if someone they worked with suddenly showed intense emotion towards them.
Guy or girl.
Right?
This thought remained in my head as I stepped out of the elevator. Much to my surprise, Kairi was missing, and my father's door was wide open; two things that never happened, so of course, I was curious as to what was going on. Slowly, I walked to the door, slightly terrified about what my father wanted with me. I really had a reason to be afraid, but I didn't know that at the time.
"That's an interesting look," Dad commented when he saw me. "Is there a reason for it, or are you just being strange?" I cocked my head, not sure what he was talking about, at least I didn't until I realized he was probably talking about the fact I was scared, so I just shook my head in a reassuring manner.
"It's nothing," I muttered with a shrug. "Just wondering what's going on." Beckoning to the strangeness that was Kairi's empty desk and Dad's open doors, I raised my eyebrows questioningly. My father sighed.
"It's Miss Takedo's day off. She does get those every now and then." That made sense, I guess. Though I'd never seen Kairi take a day off. There must have been something important going on, or she was just tired and wanted to stay home. I wouldn't put that past her...
Satisfied with my father's answer, I finished walking into his office, and sat down in one of the chairs that was placed in front of his desk. Dad was writing something down, so I decided to wait patiently and see what was going to happen.
However, I got bored very quickly (I doubt even five minutes had passed), so I asked, "What exactly did you want from me?" Almost as though I'd broken my father out of a trance, his head snapped up and he blinked, dazed. Needless to say, I was very confused.
"What do I want?" He questioned, almost to himself. "Well, you're going to have to wait for another few minutes before I tell you."
A feeling of dread began bubbling in the pit of my stomach. "Why," I queried, leaning back in my chair. "Do you have some kind of creepy plan for me?" Dad placed his pen on the desk, and he leaned forward, resting his chin in his hands.
"First of all, I'm your boss, but I'm also your father. You don't need to question what I have planned, or my motives. Not until you're older, in any case."
"Oh, great," I muttered, my arms crossing slowly. For all I knew, he could be planning to sell me off to some random guy in the streets, though I don't know how Mom would react to that; she would either celebrate or kill Dad...
We sat in silence for another few minutes, the time ticking by ever so slowly, causing me to go slightly insane. There was only so much of waiting I could take, despite being extremely patient. Finally, I heard rustling outside of the door, so I turned, and you'll never guess who I saw standing in the doorway;
That's right, Axel.
The two of us stared at each other for a minute, an eerie silence falling over the entire room, and I shifted uncomfortably in my seat. After a moment, both Axel and I said at the exact same time, "What the hell is he doing here?" Another silence, before my father chuckled.
"I guess I was right..." he muttered to himself, placing his pen on the table and pushing back in his chair. As he stood up, I was tempted to ask him what he was right about, but I figured it wouldn't end well so I kept my mouth shut.
Axel, on the other hand, wasn't as smart as I was, and he asked the very obvious question, to which my father replied, "Nothing. I just noticed there was something going on with you two, but it's not important." Not important? Sure... if Dad noticed it, then it was obviously important to him.
"So, what are we here for?" Axel's voice was a low hiss, and he stayed in the doorway, though that didn't seem to surprise me for some reason. It might have something to do with the fact that he had been avoiding me completely for the past two weeks, so now that he was here with me, it wasn't exactly fun for him... "Please tell me this isn't-"
"I have a job for you two," Dad began, and I groaned.
The last time I had been told this, I ended up in a car, with Axel, for two hours, on the way to Hallow Bastion, where I ended up dealing with a crazy blue-haired man with a death wish for me. There was no way this could end up well. "Roxas, don't complain, this is very important."
I raised my eyebrows, showing dad my obvious disapproval of what was going to go down, and I said, "Seriously? Please tell me you're not going to make me drive to Hallow Bastion with him again." I could tell my father wasn't happy with what I'd just said, and neither was Axel, who growled.
"No, I'm not." Breathing a sigh of relief, I sat back in my chair, figuring we just had to do some kind of paperwork, but of course, I relaxed too soon, "I need you two to go to Twilight Town this time." One more long minute of silence, then;
"Oh fucking shit!"
In an instant, I spun around, completely surprised that it was Axel who had spoken, and not me. That seemed to be happening a lot recently. But what was more shocking, was that Axel had actually used profanity.
Never, in my memory, had I ever heard him cuss. My father also seemed surprised by what had just been said, as he had a blank expression on his face. If only I had a video camera.
"Mr. Lea? Is everything alright?"
Axel clenched his teeth, and his fists, but nodded. An obvious lie. My dad took it, however, sighing.
"Well then, I guess you two won't mind the three hour drive, starting in half an hour?" I wanted to kill my father.
He knew, I know he knew, that neither me, nor Axel, wanted to be near each other. I was sure that was why he was forcing us to do this, and it wasn't going to end well... no way in hell would that happen...
Wait; three hours! If I hadn't been sitting in a chair, I probably would have collapsed without another word.
I had to spend three entire hours stuck in a car with Axel, while the two of us were awkwardly avoiding each other. The two of us in a closed distance for a long period of time would probably only aggravate the situation, which I was desperately trying to figure out a way to fix.
"So, if neither of you have any objections-"
"I have an objection to this," I muttered, and then was silenced by Dad.
"I meant, if either of you want to keep your jobs, then take this, and get the hell out of here," Dad told the two of us, holding out a folder that obviously meant we were actually going to do work, not some surprise visit.
I wanted to know what was going on, but when I took the folder from my dad, I was too afraid to open it. As I stood, I slowly became aware of the fuming Axel standing next to me.
When he'd gotten the nerve to move forward and place his hands on the other chair in front of Dad's desk, I probably missed, seeing as I was completely and totally infuriated by what my father was suggesting.
Anyway, back to Axel.
He was leaning forward, his hands on the back of the chair, fists clenched, and he slowly asked my father, "Can't I just go by myself?"
That actually hurt. I mean, sure, he was avoiding me, most likely because he didn't want me to ask him why he'd kissed me, but asking Dad, in front of me, if he could go on this weird mission alone? Well, I felt as though I were getting punched in the stomach.
The feeling was annoying, of course, but for some reason there was more to it than that, almost like something inside of me was being torn apart, and I wanted to cry.
Okay, forget I said that.
I didn't want to cry, I wanted to tear Axel limb from limb for being such an ass by asking that question, but I managed to control myself, somehow, and stood up.
"If you could go alone, I wouldn't be here, now would I?" I pointed out, turning to leave. "Half an hour, right? Well, I'm going to get ready to go." Waving, I added, "See ya," and headed out of the room.
"Wait, what?"
I cringed slightly, realizing that the news of me going on a field trip with Axel, wasn't exactly something I should have told Naminé. The anger flashing in her eyes was absolutely terrifying, and it caused me to nearly wet my pants, though I never would. Slowly, I took a step back from her, laughing.
"Look, it's not that big a deal. Chances are, neither of us will actually talk unless we absolutely need to. Don't worry, nothing's going to happen," I reassured, patting her on the shoulder.
Long hair swished over Naminé's shoulders as she looked down at her feet.
"Nami?" I couldn't understand why she was acting the way she was. Nothing had ever happened between me and Axel, well, except for New Years, but that's a different story, and Naminé knew absolutely nothing about it.
"You don't understand, Roxas," Naminé whispered so quietly I could barely hear her. "Axel... I don't know what's come over him recently, but ever since we started going out, he's been acting like I'm a horrible person-" I couldn't help but think at this point that Naminé hadn't exactly been nice to Axel, but my subconscious pushed it down, which was a good thing, "-and he's been trying to get really close to you... He could use this time to try and break us up-"
"What are you talking about?" I asked, trying to keep the fear in my voice from really showing up. "What could he do to cause me to break up with you?" I laughed, stroking Naminé's cheek. "That's a ridiculous idea." My girlfriend still looked unsure about my commitment, which was somewhat irritating, but I let it go, instead, leaning in to kiss her.
That seemed to be good enough for her. She relaxed in an instant, and even after I broke the kiss, she seemed happier than before, though not by much.
"Okay," Naminé whispered, "I guess there's nothing to be worried about." I grinned, nodding at her before I pulled her into a tight hug.
"Oi, lovebirds, this is work, not a motel. Break it apart," an annoyed voice growled from behind me.
Immediately, I recognized it as Axel, so instead of obliging to his irritated request, I squeezed Naminé tighter for a moment, then kissed her again. Somewhere in the back of my head, I think I did that just to see what Axel's reaction was going to be, but why I would do it for that reason didn't exactly surface, so of course, it got pushed deep into my conscience. There was no way I would care what Axel's reaction would be to me kissing my girlfriend.
Strange...
Suddenly, there's was pressure at the back of my collar, and I was yanked away from Naminé, as Axel hissed somewhat calmly, "We have somewhere to be in three hours. There's no time for you to be lovey dovey."
As I was dragged across the floor towards the front door, I waved goodbye to Nami, who once again had her eyes narrowed and a frown had crossed her face, which I wished wouldn't be there, but what could I do? Axel was a hell of a lot stronger than I was.
Stupid gym which I never go to...
"Hey, is it really necessary to drag me? I'm willing to come by myself." It was only after I said that sentence, that I realized how perverted it sounded. Axel too, noticed this, but his only reaction was a small grin. He certainly didn't act the way I thought he would...
"Don't talk," Axel muttered, though I could tell he was trying not to laugh, "and at that moment, yes, it was." He let go of my collar, and continued towards the parking garage, a light smile on his face, which he obviously attempted to hide. There was something about that smile... it was like a fire was burning inside my chest, almost as though I wanted to-
Never mind that.
"Why can't I talk?" I asked, hoping that maybe, just maybe, I could fix the strange relationship we once had; make it normal again. However, when Axel didn't reply, I pretty much gave up, instead, following him to his car.
Three hours later, and absolutely nothing had been accomplished. As soon as we got into the car, Axel had turned on the radio, made it so the volume was really loud, then began his crazy, random, driving that made me feel sick.
I guess that if I really wanted to, I could have turned off the music, but I feared I would get hit (or hit on) if I tried anything, so I sat there, for three hours, and said nothing as we drove to Twilight Town.
Speaking of Twilight Town, I was pretty sure it would be interesting to see the place where my three best friends were born.
I always found it strange that that was the case. I mean, I first met Hayner in pre-school when he stole my cookies, then Pence in third grade after Hayner poured a bucket of potato salad on him and I ended up helping the poor new guy clean up. After all that, we met Olette three years later, though we only became friends after I decided it wasn't fun anymore to make fun of her.
All three of these people were born in Twilight Town, and moved to Radiant Garden at different times, and I managed to become friends with them. I didn't find that weird at all...
So, when we got to the wonderful seaside city, I was amazed at how beautiful the place was. I think my nose was stuck to the side window as we passed by the small buildings made of golden-orange bricks, water fountains with icy spouts of frozen liquid, the strange tram that still moved, even though there was an inch of snow on the ground, and children running around in the fresh white layer of snow, probably happy to not be in school. It was strange to see such a calm, simple little town, and it was even weirder to know that Hayner was born here.
Of course, the fact that Axel had turned off the music and was now pulling into the parking lot of a small hotel, didn't help at all with how awkward I was feeling at that moment. Three hours we hadn't spoken, and three hours the two of us stayed completely silent, so why he was turning off the music now-
"I need to talk to you," Axel said suddenly, turning off the car. We were alone in the parking, or I thought so anyway. No other cars were anywhere near us, and the hotel seemed completely vacant.
"Um... okay," I muttered as I unbuckled my seat belt. "But, we kinda need to go in there right now, so why couldn't you have said anything during the car ride? We had three hours you know." Waiting for a reply seemed boring, so instead, I opened the door and slid out of the car, not really wanting to hear a response to that. Well, more like I was scared. Scared that Axel would say something I wasn't expecting, which was obviously what was going to happen.
So, I began walking towards the building, but had to stop when a warm hand wrapped around my arm, yanking me around so I face Axel. I hadn't even noticed Axel getting out of the car, so I was very surprised when I was suddenly only inches away from the tall, red-haired man who'd kissed me not long ago.
Naturally, my face turned pink.
"I said," Axel whispered, "I need to talk to you."
It took all of my will power to pull away from Axel, but I managed it, and replied to him with, "And I said, you should have done it earlier." As I walked away, I muttered, "If you really want to talk, wait until we're heading home." He said nothing else, leaving me to head to the building without another word. My stomach was turning from the close contact, but I tried to ignore it as we had another issue to deal with.
The entire reason why my father had sent us down here was because someone was stealing from this hotel. Riku had noticed this somewhere along the way, and he reported it to Dad.
I supposed that normally this would be Ellie's job, but seeing as she's still bed-ridden, I wasn't surprised it got passed down to me, and Axel. Then again, Riku should really be the one who should have come down, but...
Axel mentioned nothing else about needing to talk to me as we talked to the random guy running the front desk of the hotel. Turns out, we got nothing done the entire time we were there because no one wanted to talk to us.
Worst, five hours of my life.
That's right. We spent two hours trying to get answers out of the strange, creepy man who seemed terrified of Axel, and kept giving me these weird demonic looks. I think he wanted to kill me.
Luckily, the fear that he got from Axel kept him from doing anything to me, though it did cause me to wonder why someone had a death wish for me...
"This is pointless. Let's go." Axel stood, beckoning for me to follow. I nodded and followed suit, nodding at the guy, despite the evil look I was being given.
"Thank you for your tim-"
"You're really bad at listening, aren't you?" Again, my arm was grabbed, and Axel dragged me out of the hotel. It was much colder when we walked outside to the parking lot, and snow had begun to fall in sheets. Axel looked absolutely furious. "Fuck!"
Man, Axel was just cussing his brains out! It was so weird.
I snorted at Axel's strangeness, and I asked, "What's wrong? Don't like snow?"
"Nope. Don't like rain, don't like snow..."
"So, why do you live in Radiant Garden?" The answer to that question was left unsaid, and Axel turned sharply to head back into the lobby area. "Hey," I called after him, "where are you going?"
"There's no way I'm driving in this weather, and don't even think about saying you'll drive, so I'm going to get some place to stay for tonight. Got a problem with that, Blondie?"
I wanted to say yes, but he was kinda right. I couldn't even see two feet in front of me as I stared out at what once was a beautiful city evening, plus, it was already past seven, and a three hour car ride back didn't really sound like fun, especially since Axel said he wanted to talk to me.
So, in the end, I decided to follow Axel's idea, and I walked into the lobby of the hotel. When I got in there, I saw Axel, talking to the guy who looked as though he wanted to kill me, and the guy had an expression of pure fear on his face.
It was kinda entertaining, I had to admit. After arguing with him for a while, Axel said an irritated thank you, and then spun around to head out of the building.
"Oi, Roxie," Axel called out as he walked towards me, "call your dad and tell him that we're not going to be able to come back. Got it memorized." The last sentence caused me to flush as I remembered New Year's Eve again, but I nodded anyway, hoping Axel didn't notice my strange embarrassment.
Walking out of the building, I pulled out my phone and dialed my father's number, not really wanting to, but I knew that terrible things would happen if my parents didn't know where I was, especially since my mom was weird and seemed to be completely convinced that I was going to die or something. I never really got my family.
Anyway, as the phone rang, I observed the area around me, noting how this hotel was much different than the others my dad owned. This was mainly because all of the rooms led outdoors, like some kind of motel, but there was also this odd air hanging around the place, like no one really ever came here, and I became convinced there had been a murder sometime.
This, of course, wasn't actually true, but hey, I was bored, slightly terrified, and embarrassed for reasons I couldn't understand; I had a right to come up with weird things about the place I was staying for the night.
"Is there a problem, Roxas?"
My dad always seemed to answer the phone with the strangest things. Well, when he answered the phone. He was so bad at it that Mom had declared when I was little, that if Dad didn't answer, and he didn't have a good excuse, there would be consequences. Of course, as I was little, I had no idea what the consequences were, but as I got older….
"Um… well, there's this huge snow storm down here and-"
"Mr. Lea won't drive back?" On the other side of the phone, I heard my father sigh, "I should have guessed this would happen. Alright. I understand."
For an anti-social, messed up, business owner, my dad was certainly observant and sympathetic. Before I could say another word, he hung up, leaving me to hear just a dial tone. Another thing he was bad at; saying goodbyes….
With a shake of my head, I turned around to see Axel standing there, holding out a card key for me. As I took it, he withdrew his hand quickly, not even letting it brush against mine, which was weird in its own terrifying way.
"Thanks?" Whatever happened to him needing to talk to me? And why was he being so reserved? Was he plotting something?
I certainly thought he was, because after that I took off in a hurry, leaving Axel staring silently after me.
Three hours of sitting in a room, by yourself, with nothing to do, does strange things to a person. I almost wished I'd forced Axel to drive us back to Radiant Garden, but there was no way I could do that without sounding like a complete idiot. However, one good thing it does, it make you think, so I got a lot of thinking done; about my life, about Axel, about my parents, my friends.
Let's just say by the time it was nine, I wanted to kill myself I was so bored.
As I lay sprawled out on the single bed, a knock resonated from the door, sending me flying up, confused. Who the hell could that be? I wondered, standing up slowly. I opened the door a crack, and lucky me, Axel was standing there, shivering, a classic winter landscape spread out behind him.
"Oi, let me in. It's fucking cold out here!"
I was extremely tempted to ignore his request and just slam the door in his face, but I had a feeling bad things would happen if I did that. Horrible events tended to occur when I messed with Axel. Like him kissing me; though that wasn't completely horrible. So, I opened the door for him, shuddering at the gust of cold wind that blasted into my room.
"Can I help you?" I asked as Axel came barreling into the warm room, rubbing his arms to try and heat them up.
White flakes speckled his hair, which made me wonder exactly where his room was. It couldn't have been close, otherwise there wouldn't be snow on him, nor would he be shivering.
Slowly, I closed the door behind Axel, ignoring the slight "poomph" that sounded outside my room, writing it off as just some snow falling off the awning over my door. No big deal.
"I don't know, Roxie," Axel snorted, "can you help me?" There was some kind of innuendo there, but I really couldn't tell what it was. I guess I was just too tired to really think about it.
"I'm being serious," I told him, watching his every move. "What do you want?"
Axel turned to face me, a completely serious look on his face.
"I said I needed to talk to you, so that's why I'm doing," he said, and my stomach dropped about twenty miles. I was not only looking forward to this moment, but also dreading it with a burning passion. "Are you going to actually listen to me?"
I was really, really tempted to tell him no, that I didn't care what he was going to say, and that we were perfectly fine the way were.
So I did.
It wasn't true, of course. I just wanted to gauge Axel's reaction to me being defiant, especially now when everything was so awkward between us. The red-head's eyes narrowed dangerously, and he asked, "Why?" Like hell I was going to say the truth.
"Look," I told him, "if you really want to talk to me, then you can wait till we get home." I took a deep breath, hoping I wouldn't regret this later. "This isn't exactly the best time for us to be talking abou-"
"Your father sent us down here so we could talk," Axel interrupted, rolling his eyes. "There isn't actually a problem down here." My eyes closed, head turning slightly to the side. I had no idea what he was talking about. There was absolutely no way my dad could be that conniving, though when I actually took the time to think about it...
But I had to ask, "Why would you think that?" Did Dad tell him this? If so, they were certainly both really good actors, having fooled me into thinking there was something seriously wrong down here, and that Axel actually didn't want to be near me in anyway.
If this was the case, then I would want to murder them both for being such jerks about the whole thing. My dad could have just told me.
Right?
So I asked him if he knew because my father told him, but he shook his head, which was a big relief to me.
"I was looking over the information your dad gave us, and when I added everything up, there was absolutely nothing wrong."
To be a genius- must be really nice... There would be no way I could do something like that and understand what was going on. When I took that accounting class in high school, I nearly failed because I had no idea what was going on.
"Now," Axel continued before I could say anything, "either Riku's an idiot and made a mistake, which he isn't, and didn't, or Mr. Boss-man faked this information to get us down here so we could talk."
It's amazing the things you learn about your parents when you worked for them.
"I highly doubt that," I said, laughing. Deep down, I knew Axel was right, but I just couldn't accept it. Axel said nothing else, just staring at me with cold, green eyes. "Alrighty then," I laughed, "if that's all you want, then you can leave now."
My hand found the door knob, and I flung open the door, waiting for Axel to leave, but instead, I watched as his expression turned into one of utter shock.
What is he looking at, I wondered, glancing out the door. My jaw dropped.
A huge wall of snow had fallen, covering the exit in a mocking way. I couldn't believe this was happening to me.
"I am not going through that," Axel stuttered, stepping away from the door. It was the stuttering that caught my attention, so I turned to face him, and was extremely surprised to see that he was nearly white. I knew he didn't like snow, but this made him seem like he was absolutely terrified of it.
Could it be that scary?
"You okay?" I asked, trying not to laugh.
"It's not funny, Roxie," Axel hissed back at me with a glare. "Snow is not something to be trifled with." It wasn't something to be trifled with? This guy had to be insane. Snow is an inanimate object; it's not like it could hurt you or something.
"Seriously? What makes you think that?" A small burst of laughter escaped, but I silenced myself as quickly as I could before Axel came over and murdered me. This was just great. Finally, I could get back at him for all the times he'd embarrassed me.
"Shut up," he growled, taking a step towards me, "I almost died in a snow storm. This isn't funny at all." Oh. I didn't know that. I suddenly felt really bad.
"I-I'm sorry. I didn't know-"
"Yeah, yeah. Whatever." Without another word, I closed the door, eyes cast down at my feet. Axel's fear... well, I understood, so I guessed I could survive one night in the same room as Axel, even if it did mean I had to talk to him. Fear sent a chill down my spine, and I shuddered, looking up at him only to see that he was sitting on the corner of my bed, looking less pale than before, but still...
Walking over, I sat on the other side of the bed, my back facing his, and said, "You know, if you really wanted to talk to me, you should have done it in the car when we were heading down. Instead, you just listened to your music."
I was genuinely curious about this fact, though I'd never let Axel know. He probably thought I was just asking to be polite, which only kinda made sense, but it's Axel. Nothing makes sense with that guy.
"I... I wanted..." Axel sighed, "I needed to figure out what I was going to say to you...," he eventually muttered.
I twisted my torso to face him, though I only saw his back. What had happened to the 'cocky, never wrong or unsure about anything' Axel that I'd come to know? Was he actually embarrassed, or was this just an act? I couldn't really tell.
"What do you mean?" He didn't reply, just shaking his head. Silence fell over us, and I continued to watch Axel's back, feeling completely calm. There was something strange about me tonight, like I'd been possessed or something along those lines. I especially wondered if that was true when I asked, "Why did you kiss me?"
Shit! Did I really just ask that?
Flushing, I turned away from Axel, clenching my teeth in anger.
Why the hell did I just ask that?
As I worried about whether or not I should kill my conscience, the weight on the other side of the bed disappeared, and I vaguely heard Axel stepping lightly across the carpet, obviously walking over to me.
The heat of his body seemed to be radiating off him when he finally came to stand in front of me. I was still looking at my knees, when suddenly, I heard Axel say;
"Hey, look at me, Roxas."
Roxas. He called me Roxas. Not Roxie, not Blondie; but my real name.
My head shot up, eyes wide, and I saw Axel towering over me, a smirk playing at his lips, arms crossed, and green eyes soft.
Damn, did he look really hot.
Before I could really assess what had just gone through my head and deny the fact that I was gay again, Axel leaned down, placing his hands on my shoulders, and he said,
"You want to know why I kissed you? Well, I think that's pretty frikin' obvious." He leaned in closer, his lips reaching my ear, and whispered seductively, "Get this memorized; I'm very much in love with you."
An intense heat coursed through my veins, leaving me burning, even when Axel pulled away. All of my suspicions had been confirmed with that one line, and everything, absolutely everything, made sense.
From the moment I met him in the elevator and he wrapped his arm around me, to all the times he pinned me to the wall, or the floor for that matter, why Riku and Sora were convinced we were dating, Naminé's reactions to me being around him, the reason he licked the blood off my hand, why he didn't answer the question about having a girlfriend (though that one could also be answered by the fact he was gay...), and even why he blushed and told me I looked like a high school girl when he bailed me out of jail.
These things... how could I not have noticed that they were Axel telling me how he felt, and not just him being weird and annoying?
Was I really that stupid?
"I-I... Um... W-Why... how could... when... what..." I stuttered, once again allowing my eyes to travel to my legs. "You... when did this... why are you telling me... wh- what brought this on?" I finally managed to form a complete sentence, blushing furiously. My face was red on New Year's Eve, after Axel had kissed me, but there was no way it was as dark and obvious as that moment, when I got confessed to by the same guy.
Axel snickered at my reaction, and leaned back against the wall in front of me. "I didn't realize you'd be so embarrassed."
Head still bent, I managed to glance up at him, witnessing a blissful look, almost as if he'd gotten some huge weight off his chest, which was absolutely true. I wondered how long he'd liked me.
"I guess..." Axel said, looking away, "I was able to control myself around you for a little while, not really wanting to creep you out, you know?" Well, that didn't work, "But that night, with Ellie in danger of dying, Naminé being... well, Naminé, and you yelling at me, then when you said you didn't know my name..." he trailed off for a second, taking a deep breath. "I just lost it. I- I didn't mean to, and I'm sorry..."
He stopped short when I stood up, probably watching me with anticipation.
"Why me," I asked in a hushed voice, not wanting to face him.
"I don't know." How could he now know? It's his heart! "Why do your parents love each other? Or Ellie and Riku? It's not really like I have a choice who I fall in love with."
It was strange; I'd never thought about it that way. I'd never known a time when Mom and Dad weren't together, so I never questioned why they loved each other. Riku and Ellie... well, they were a different story.
But Axel liking me? That was just... weird. I'd never really been nice to him, and I'd certainly never given him a reason to like me... not to mention the fact I was straight...
Or was I?
This entire deal was making me so confused.
"I-I... How do you want me to respond?" I asked after a time, standing up. Finally, I looked into Axel's eyes, and even though I knew my face was still flushed, I had to see his reaction, what he was doing. It was important to me.
He just smiled. "How do you want to?"
My body reacted on its own. I had no control over what I was doing as my feet shuffled forward, and my hands placed themselves on Axel's shoulders. "Like this," I whispered, leaning up, and kissing him.
This was the weirdest thing I'd ever done, but it felt... right. Like I was supposed to be doing it, and I guessed that's why it happened.
But it couldn't last forever, and when I pulled away, Axel was watching me questioningly, probably wondering if that was a "I love you too," or a "I'm confused, help me figure this out," kinda look. I wanted to answer him, but really, I didn't know what it was either.
Whichever one Axel decided it was, well, that was hard to tell, because him pushing me back on the bed, pressing his lips to mine could be confused as either.
So I just went along with it.