7

Hm... don't have much to say about this chapter other than sorry. You'll see why.

Read, enjoy, review, and whenever things are good with my beta's computer and my internet status, I'll get another chapter up.

Thanks for reading!

~Sunechirei

Full Chapter Title: If everything seems to be going according to plan, you've overlooked something

Riku and Sora weren't fighting anymore

Kairi was back to her old self.

According to Olette, she and Hayner were doing well, and Pence decided to move back to Radiant Garden next June.

My parents were no longer fighting.

And Axel had stopped acting like an alien/freak of nature around me. Well... most of the time.

I'd have to say that my life was pretty good.

For the first time since I graduated from high school.

It was kinda a nice feeling to actually have something nice going on in my life. I mean, yeah, being with Naminé was amazing, but Axel was always bugging me, and Sora and Riku were acting like weirdos who were convinced I was sleeping with Axel, so it sort of ruined the whole thing.

Of course, those things haven't really changed, but Axel had a reason to bug me, and the two weirdos were right. So, I really didn't care anymore. Except when Riku and Sora decided it was fun to tease me at work, in front of of my father.

That was really annoying.

But they weren't with me right now. It was just me, and Axel, in his office. It's amazing, actually seeing Axel do his job for once.

"You know, Roxie, you were always getting on my case for not doing work, and now you're the one ditching," Axel teased. I had to roll my eyes. I'd already finished my work for the day, which was why I was in his office in the first place.

"Yeah, I'm totally ditching work," I told him, leaning back in the chair I was sitting in. "Which is why I'm helping you finish your paper work." The look on Axel's face was hilarious. Even though he was a complete genius, the lazy ass refused to do his work without me being there. I think he just wanted to spend time with me, which was weird, because he seemed to be pretty much attached to me.

Every second.

Of every day.

"I never said I needed your help," Axel muttered. He was right, of course. Never once has he told me that he needed my help, but it was implied he wanted me there.

"Sure you did. Just... not out loud." I had to laugh at the disbelieving look on Axel's face. He just shook his head and went back to his work, which was kinda weird. But nice. 'Weird, but nice.' ….Does that even make sense?

"Roxas, do you know why I have my own office?" Axel asked. He put his pen down on his desk, smirking. I had no idea what he was talking about, so I just shook my head. "It's so I can do my work without being distracted."

"Right. That's why you used to stalk me into my office when I first started working here," I countered, still laughing. "You're being a hypocrite." Axel didn't look too happy to hear me call him a hypocrite, but I didn't care. It was true, and he always said I needed to be more honest with him for some odd reason.

"That's different," Axel muttered. "I was actually done with my work. You weren't distracting me at all."

"Yeah, well you were distracting me!" I snapped, suddenly irritated. Axel had a strange tendency to be somewhat selfish, only thinking about how things affected him, and not how I'm affected by the madness that was his nonsense.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to distract you," Axel said with a grin. "I guess I'm just so irresistible that you couldn't take your eyes off me." I raised an eyebrow, completely sickened by that notion. It was easy to take my eyes off Axel, and that's not how he distracted me.

"Uh huh. I was the one with the problem. You totally weren't the one flirting with me, or tackling me to the ground, or pinning me to the wall, or my desk." For some reason, this caused Axel to blush. He seemed embarrassed, but at the same time like he was planning something. He only got that way before something bad happened to me.

….

Yeah... I'll go with bad.

But, Axel didn't say anything else, he just looked back down at my paper work. I became afraid, but at the same time, irritated.

And I don't know why.

So, I decided it was time for me to actually distract Axel. Slowly, I stood up and walked around to the other side of the room, feeling like it was time to get back at Axel for all the times he got me off track for work. There was only one way to do that.

"Roxas, what are you doing?" Axel asked as I slid onto his desk.

"Hm... I don't know. What am I doing?" I honestly had no idea what I was doing. I think I'd gone insane, to tell you the truth. However, Axel seemed to find my flirting amusing. He smirked, putting his hands in his chin and glanced over at me. "Can I help you?"

"That's a very good question," Axel replied. "But it would have just been easier to ask if I was going to do anything to you." The next thing I know, Axel's standing up and grabbing my shoulders. He pushed me down on the desk, spilling a cup of pencils and scattering some of the papers he was working on. I was only somewhat surprised by this.

But I was completely amused.

"Hey, Axel, there's no need for this." Axel's eyes darkened a bit, and he leaned down to whisper in my ear.

"Don't say that. After all, you came onto me." He pulled away, smirking. "Besides, I doubt you actually have a problem with what's going on right now."

"Actually, I do." Even though Axel was right about me coming onto him, I didn't actually want him to do anything. "We're in the office, after all." Of course, if I really didn't want anything to happen, then I would have stayed on the other side of the desk, and kept my mouth shut.

Man, my mind confuses me sometimes.

Axel seemed more amused by my obvious statement of where we were than anything else. "You do realize that no one ever comes into this office," he told me. "So you have nothing to worry about." I had to smile at his logic.

"I guess that's true."

"There's no guessing here, Roxie." Without another word, Axel leaned down to press his lips against mine. My hands moved to the back of his head, gladly accepting the fact that he was kissing me.

Well, at first I was glad.

Then someone decided to show up.

"Please you two, save it for some place that isn't here," Ellie said, quite amused. Immediately, Axel moved away from me and I sat up, my face in my hands, completely red. The last thing I'd been expecting was Ellie showing up. Maybe Riku, or Sora, but not Ellie.

"E-Ellie? What are you doing here?" Axel laughed nervously. Out of the corner of my eye I could see his hands wringing like he was nervous. Which was weird. He was normally really confident, no matter what happened.

"Looking for you," Ellie replied. I heard her walk into the room, but I was still too embarrassed to turn around. "I have a very important matter I need to talk to you about."

"Alright, talk away."

There was a moment of silence, and I peeked a glance behind me. Ellie had her arms crossed, and she was glaring at Axel. "Good. Roxas, scram."

"Huh?" I slid off the desk and turned around to face Ellie. She didn't even bother looking at me, still glaring at Axel like he had done the worst thing possible. I really wanted to know what it was about.

"Ellie, if there's something you need to talk to me about," Axel mused, wrapping his arms around my neck and resting his chin on my shoulder, "then you can talk about it in front of Roxas here." I completely agreed with him, but it seems Ellie didn't. She turned slightly, and pointed at the door, her eyes never leaving Axel.

"Roxas, get the fuck out of here before I tell your father what I just saw."

I was by the door in an instant. Yeah, Dad was okay with mine and Axel's relationship. But he had one rule:

No fraternization at work.

I wondered how many times the two of us had broken that rule.

"Hey, Roxas!" I heard Axel call out to me right before I closed the door. I glanced back. He was really pale, like he knew what Ellie wanted to talk to him about, and he wasn't at all happy with the idea. "I'll see you tonight, kay?"

That was curious. Normally Axel just showed up at my apartment randomly, but this time he was telling me he was coming over.

There was something up with Axel.

"See ya."

Axel practically tackled me when he got to my place.

The sad thing is, I didn't even let him in.

Turns out, he'd stolen my key and made a copy of it so he could sneak up at me any time. I wanted to yell at him for doing that, but honestly, I couldn't do it. It made me slightly happy that he wanted to be with me all the time. Which I should have known, as he wanted me to move in with him instead of getting a place on my own.

Sometimes I wonder about that guy.

Only sometimes.

"Hey, Axel, what did Ellie want?" I asked once Axel had let go of me, and we'd moved to the living room. "She seemed really mad about whatever it was. I don't think I've ever seen her like that before."

Axel didn't answer me for a moment, instead just plopping down onto the closest couch to us. Intrigued by his silence, I followed suit, watching his every move. After a while, I asked him the question again. I got a response this time.

"It's nothing, Roxie," he said. "Absolutely nothing."

"Hm..." I didn't believe him, of course. Axel had a tendency to lie to me when he was angry about something. Which was hypocritical, as he never wanted me to lie to him.

"Anyway, I want to do something tonight," Axel said suddenly, grinning over at me.

"What...?" I was hesitant. Axel had a weird view of this world, and there was a huge chance this "something" of his would end up with me either embarrassed, hurt, or...

I am not going to finish that sentence.

"Remember that time you and I got stuck driving down to Hallow Bastion together?" I nodded. "Well, I decided that I don't know enough about you, and you don't know enough about me, so we're going to play that game!"

….

I thought he was kidding at first, so I laughed. But he wasn't joking. He was completely and totally serious about that stupid ten questions game that I vowed never to play again.

Why does the world hate me?

"Look, Axel, there are other ways to learn about each other. We don't need to-"

"Well, it's either that or we can continue where we left off..." Axel moved closer to me, but I was really in no mood to do anything. I think part of me was convinced Ellie would come storming in again. Which was weird.

"Alright, alright. I'll answer your damn ten questions."

"Yay!" Sometimes I think Axel's more of a little kid than a grown man. "Alright! First question!" I groaned, leaning my head back against the couch. This was not going to be any fun for me. "How many girlfriends have you had?"

First question... his first question just had to be an embarrassing one. I blushed and looked down at my hands.

"Does it really matter?"

"Yup."

"Why?"

"Because I want to know how much of a ladies man you were," Axel laughed. He winked at me and I asked him what he meant. "I've seen the way heads turn when you walk around. So many girls seem to be attracted to you, so I'm wondering how many girls have had the guts to ask you out."

I so did not feel comfortable talking to him about this. "Look, Axel, it doesn't matter, okay? I've had a few girlfriends, but all of them were just two or three month things. No big deal." I didn't think my answer was good enough for Axel, but he just continued on anyway.

"Alright, question two: What's your favorite color?"

An annoyingly embarrassing question followed by an easy one he should know. "Blue."

"Favorite food?"

"I don't really care. Axel what kinds of questions are these? I mean, you just asked me-"

"Did you ever have sex with Naminé?"

"Axel!"

"What? It's a legitimate question?"

"Yeah, one I'm not going to answer." It was none of his business if I'd slept with Naminé. Besides, it was weird that he was asking me stupid, simple questions, then moved onto something really weird. I think this guy was screwing with me. "I'll give that question back to you. Seven left."

"Fine, fine. Do you have any musical talent other than singing?"

"Um... no."

"Did you play any sports?"

"I used to play soccer, then I took up fencing for a little while, but that's it."

"How did you and Hayner become friends?"

I groaned. I didn't want to think about Hayner, much less tell Axel how the two of us became friends. The son of a bitch still wasn't talking to me. Olette said he just needed time, but I doubted he would ever have another conversation with me again.

"I'm waiting, Roxie."

Rolling my eyes, I answered, "On the first day of pre-school, Hayner and I were sitting next to each other at lunch, and he tried to eat my cookies. I punched him in the face for it, the pushed him off his chair. After getting in a lot of trouble, Hayner said I was awesome and we should be friends." Lame storybook story, I know. But, that's what happened. "Four more."

Axel seemed to be frantically thinking of questions to ask me. I didn't doubt that this whole ten question thing had been a spur of the moment ordeal because he wanted to change the subject.

"How well did you do in school?" He finally asked.

"Um... I was in the middle of my class," I muttered, feeling embarrassed. Here Axel was, a genius who took his G.E.D test when he was fifteen and passed after being home schooled, and I was too stupid to even be in the top one hundred of my class.

"Really? Oh." He seemed amused by my answer. It pissed me off. "Next question! What was your New Year's resolution?" Of course he had to ask about that.

"I wanted to figure out what was going on in your head, and why you kissed me," I answered truthfully. There was no point in hiding it.

"Something that was answered quite quickly after that? Interesting..." Axel mused. I wanted to punch him for making fun of me. Or, what I thought was making fun of me. Suddenly, he smirked. "What was your first impression of me in front of the elevator that fateful day in May?" Another question that was easy to answer.

I laughed. "I thought you were a freak of nature. One more question."

"Excellent." This could not be good. "How did you feel after I kissed you for the first time?"

I think my blush was answer enough for him. He laughed and patted me on the top of my head before kissing me on the forehead. This gesture just made my face even redder, but I honestly didn't mind.

"My turn," I muttered, wondering how I could get back at Axel for embarrassing me a couple of time. Nothing really came to mind. "How long were you home schooled for?" That was my first question.

Axel didn't seem to want to answer at first. "I actually wasn't home schooled for very long," he eventually said. "Really, from the time I was eight to when I was eleven, then I was sent to a high school to finish my education. I graduated when I was fifteen." So he lied to me the first time... wonderful.

"Why did you tell me that you took your G.E.D then?"

"Because people tend to make fun of me when I tell them I was in high school as an eleven year old." He sounded pissed for some reason. "Eight more questions."

Damn. I couldn't think of eight more questions to ask him! I could barely think of one more. Actually, I could only think of one more question to ask him. So I did.

"Hey, Axel?"

"Hm?"
"What happened to your real parents?"

Axel was about as white as he had been in the office earlier with Ellie. For quite a while, he said nothing, just sitting there, but eventually, he stood up and turned to face me.

"It's not important, Roxas." He reached down and grabbed my wrists. "It's not important at all." I was suddenly yanked from the couch and into a warm embrace.

"Axel?"

The bright light from my window woke me up the next morning. It was somewhat headache inducing, especially since Axel had kept me up really late the night before. But it wasn't a bad thing. Axel had been so gentle and sweet during the night. It was different than how he normally was.

"I love you, Roxas." He'd muttered that to me so many times, I'd lost count. Just the thought made me flush.

Slowly, I turned over, expecting to see Axel sleeping next to me, but he wasn't there. Confused, I sat up and glanced around. There was no sign of him.

"Axel?" I called out, slipping out of bed. "Axel, where are you?" There was no reply. It wasn't like Axel to do this.

I became afraid.

"Axel!" Bursting into the main part of my apartment, I looked around. He wasn't there. However, there was a strange piece of paper sitting on the table. I hadn't seen it there the night before. Next to it, was the dove necklace I'd given to Axel.

Hesitantly, I stumbled over to it and picked up the paper. It wasn't in my hands for long, as I dropped it to run and find my phone so I could call Ellie. For, what was written on the paper was shocking, and disturbing.

I have something to do. I don't know when I'll be back. Don't come looking for me. I love you. ~Axel