I know this has taken me awhile...I blame TUMBLR!
This chapter requires some warnings. We got us some lemon in here as well as plenty of violence and cursing.
Shit gets real.
Enjoy
"Again!" Came the same barked order I had been listening to for 21 days now. I wiped my hand across my mouth and glanced down to see it smeared with red. I got into attack position as I faced my opponent once again. Variedy was standing off to the side, his eyes glued to me and the man in front of me.
Once again the man came at me, fist flying and body continuously moving forward. I bobbed and weaved through his arms and snaked my way around behind him. I shot out my leg and the bigger man fell to his knees. A solid kick to his upper back had him gagging on his hands and knees.
"Better, but not good." Variedy said and suddenly he was facing me. "Attack me." I took my position and waited just a heart beat before I was attacking, swinging with purpose. I grazed his face with a left hook but he was too fast. His fist took me in the stomach and I was on my knees. "Faster." I was on my feet, my fist raised in a matter of seconds, my eyes glaring at him.
We went round a few more times, each time some part of my body taking a direct hit. I would be sore tomorrow but there wasn't a day anymore when I wasn't both mentally and physically sore.
"Enough." Variedy finally said and I backed off. "You still need to work on your speed." He turned away from me and went over to a small table that was against the far wall. I noticed that the man I had been fighting with was gone. He picked up a small towel and tossed it too me. I quickly wiped at my face and then pulled it away to asses how badly I was bleeding. Pretty bad if the now red towel was anything to go by. "Sit." he said and I collapsed onto the edge of the mat. He knelt in front of me with a cotton ball and a few butterfly band-aids.
"It hardly hurts at all." I said as he swiped the cotton ball over my lip. I registered the stinging sensation from the alcohol but made no outward sign. Outward signs of pain only led to more pain here. Variedy said nothing as he placed one of the bandages on my lip then stood.
"Gym." He said as he turned and headed for the front of the house. I had been here for 21 days, and yes I was keeping count. It wasn't so bad at first, just a lot of working out and practicing fighting but after the first week he started to bring in 'helpers'. Most of them seemed like street thugs that he had picked up and paid to just come and beat the shit out of me on a daily basis. Annoying but a good way to learn fast that size really does matter. Being smaller then most men was not a good advantage when it came down to a fight. I pushed to my feet and started toward the front of the house. I paused at the small hallway that led to Vincent's room and the downstairs bathroom.
I hadn't seen him all that often in the past 21 days. I had come out of my room early one morning to see him and Variedy down stairs doing his physical therapy. I watched for a moment but was afraid of getting caught so I went back into the bathroom. We crossed paths at meal time but we both stuck to the rules and pretended the other wasn't there.
I moved on, afraid that he might come out or that Variedy would come looking for me. I was still waiting for the mental abuse to start up. Don't get me wrong, there was already quite a bit of it but nothing like I had been expecting...not that I'm sure of what I had been expecting. I hesitated at the gym door before pushing it open to find Variedy waiting for me by the bench press. Without a word I went over and set on the bench before laying back. I positioned my hands on the dumb bell and waited.
"Go 50, don't stop." he said as he stood over me, spotting me. I lifted the dumbbell out of its bracket and lowered the weighted bar to my chest and then back up again as Variedy counted out loud. At 30 I could feel the burn in my arms as my muscle started to protest the abuse.
"Keep going, don't stop. Being weak isn't an excuse anymore." Variedy said from over me. I gritted my teeth and pushed through to 50. I put the bar back in its cradle and set up, shaking out my arms. "Next." I stood and moved to the bench press for my legs. We followed the same rotation around the weight room that we always did. After two hours he called it quits.
"Go and get cleaned up. Dinner at same time." He said as he eyed my shaky form.
"Yes sir." I said and turned and left the room. I made quick of my shower and dressed in a pair of sweatpants and a plain white shirt. I made my way back down stairs but paused when I heard the gentle muttering of voices coming from the living room. I entered the hallway but couldn't see anybody in the living room. Dinning room then. As I got closer I could tell that it was Vincent and Variedy talking, couldn't tell what was being said, but it was serious.
I paused for a moment, readying myself to ignore Vincent. I moved into the room, let my eyes go to Variedy who was leaning against the bar but let my eyes go right over Vincent as if he wasn't there (which was easy seeing as he was still in the chair and not at eye level). I raised my eyebrow at Variedy.
"Am I on my own for dinner?" I asked. Normally Variedy would already be in the kitchen cooking a very good, very well balanced meal for us. He just shook his head as Vincent turned to face me. I caught the movement out of the corner of my eye but made no motion to acknowledge him.
"Vincent has just informed me of some news." Variedy said. I finally let my eyes go to Vincent and felt myself relax. It was hard to pretend he wasn't there. He was still in the wheelchair but the brace he had once worn on his knee was no longer there. He seemed guarded more then usual and that made me tense again.
"What's happened?" I asked, my face calm, my voice calm but on the inside I was staring to get a little scared.
"Roxas sit down." Vincent said but I just stared at him, keeping my face empty.
"Just tell me." I said and my eyes went to Variedy. I knew he wouldn't be gentle with me. I met calm red and gold eyes, eyes I had come to trust, eyes that would never tell me a lie. No matter how ugly the truth was.
This would be the hardest, ugliest truth I would ever hear.
"The baby is Axel's." Variedy said.
It was as if my whole life I had been a puppet and with those four words Variedy had severed my strings. My knees hit the ground first and Vareidy was there, his hand wrapped around my upper arm, keeping me from falling completely. He was talking to me but I couldn't hear it, everything sounded so far away.
I never realized how much I had trusted Axel when he told me the child wasn't his. He had been so adamant that I had pushed the doubt out of my mind.
I met Vincent's eyes for a moment and I saw the pity there but it barely registered. Had he known the entire time that the child was Axel's?
No, how could he? A little voice in my head asked. I felt myself loosing grip on the world around me. I distantly heard someone talking again but I couldn't really hear it.
I felt myself being lowered the rest of the way to the floor, then I was staring, unblinking into red and gold eyes once again.
Variedy wouldn't need to break me down.
I was already broken.
I awoke in the bed upstairs. My eyes came opened and I set up, my heart racing, the blood pounding in my ears.
The baby is Axel's.
I didn't even have time to prepare myself for the sobs that racked through my body as I curled in on myself. I stayed that way for a while, just trying to wrap my head around it.
I should have seen it coming, I shouldn't have been so blind sided by this but I was and it was doing its best to kill me. I clawed at my chest, trying to reach the pounding organ that was making the blood coarse through my veins, GOD if I could only make it stop!
Never center your entire being around a liar. Your life will come crashing down around you faster then you can imagine.
After a while the sobbing subsided and the tears stopped but in their place was a huge gaping emptiness. I stood from the bed and wiped my face dry before I left the room. The house was dark, the only light coming from the glass wall of the living room. I closed my door silently and proceeded down the stairs. I paused at the bottom and listened for a moment, checking for voices or movement. When none where detected I moved into the hallway and to Vincent's door.
I needed something to fill the void, something to distract me. Anything.
I twisted the door knob and slipped into the room, closing the door as I let my eyes adjust to the dark room. The only light was the soft glow of the moon that filtered through the two windows directly across from the door I had just come through, the bed was positioned between them. Vincent was seated on the bed, his feet on the floor and his eyes on me. Neither of us said anything, just stared.
He was in his silk pajama pants and nothing else, the moon light washed the little bit of color he had out and he looked like a porcelain doll sitting there, with his perfectly smooth skin. Perfectly smooth, until you got to his chest, I could just make out the small scares that decorated his skin and I felt a surge of hatred all over again for the people who had marked him.
"You shouldn't be here." he said, his voice oh so soft. I moved to him then, silent and determined. Without any hesitation I forced myself between his knees, grabbed his face and pressed my lips to his. He was completely still under my forced kiss and I groaned in frustration. I pulled away and glared down at him. His good hand went to my shoulder and tried to push me away. I gazed down into his eyes and tried to communicate without words just how much I needed him but if he understood he didn't show it.
"I need to fill the void." I said, my voice soft and a little rough from crying. He tried to push me away again but I held his face tightly. "If you don't fill the void then Variedy will!" I said, my teeth bared and more tears came. "I have nothing left Vincent, I'll willing give him all of me. Please save me from him." I whispered as I loosened my grip on his face and let my fingers trail down his neck, then the tops of his shoulders. "You were given the option of how much of yourself you were going to give to him, I wasn't." I met his eyes once again as my hands trailed down his arms till I had both of his wrists. "It was taken from me. I want you to help me take the choice back." I raised his arms up and encircled my waist with them, I held them there for a moment as I leaned into his chest. "Help me fill the void." I whispered against his cheek and let go of his arms and they stayed.
My lips found his again but this time he was there as well. I felt his body shudder for a moment and his arms squeezed me against him and then he was there. He picked me up with just his hands on my waist and I straddled him on the bed, my mouth never leaving his. My shirt was gone in a matter of seconds, his hands roaming over me, forcing small gasps out of my lips. I let my hands glide over his chest, stopping every so often to explore a scar. His hands slipped down the back of my pants and I gasped as his cold hands got a firm grip on my ass. His mouth found my neck and I ran my fingers through thick black hair.
"No one can know." He whispered into my ear, his teeth nibbling. I pushed him back onto the bed and slid up a little until I was straddling his waist. I attacked his lips with mine before answering him.
"No one will know." I said against his lips before I moved down, letting my lips travel over his chin and then down his neck. I stopped for a moment to bite down on his pulse and he groaned. I felt a smile pull at my lips as I moved lower, my lips at his collar bone.
"I don't know why I'm allowing this." He said as his hands trailed down my back as I moved down his body. My fingers slipped below the waist band of his silk sleep pants. I tugged them down, inch by inch, my lips following my fingers.
"Don't question it." I said, as my lips caressed his hip bone. He let out another groan and his fingers buried themselves into my hair. I gently took his throbbing erection into my hand and moved to hover over it, my lips parted. I looked up to meet his gaze. For the first time I was able to see something in his eyes; heat, lust, want, need. I lowered myself down and let him slip between my lips. He groaned above me and his fingers tightened in my hair. I kept sliding him into my mouth till his erection hit the back of my throat.
"Christ!" he hissed and he bucked his hips, forcing more of his erection down my throat. I almost gagged but managed to breath around it. I held it for as long as I could, Vincent groaning and cursing before I started to bob up and down. I caressed the bottom of his cock with my tongue as I slid him in and out of my mouth. His fingers in my hair were clutching at my scalp to the point of pain. He used his grip on my hair to pull me away from him and up to his lips.
I whimpered into the forced kiss as his hands worked on removing my shorts. I had to stand up to get the shorts off completely. "Bed side table." he said and I turned to the indicated piece of furniture and opened the drawer to find a bottle of lube. Why he was keeping it here I just didn't want to know.
I opened the bottle as I crawled back over him and paused to pour a good amount in my hand before I reached down and began to massage his very hard erection. He gasped as I rubbed from base to tip and bucked his hips in an attempt to get me to go faster. I just gave him a smirk and he growled at me.
"Patience." I said to which he grabbed me and pulled me up till I was positioned over his now weeping cock.
"No." was all he said. I had just enough time to brace myself for the pain that would come with out the needed preparations before he was forcing his way into me. I threw my head back and bit my arm as his huge length stretched me wide. Once he was completely inside of me I pressed my hands to his chest and tried to catch my breath while he groaned under me. After my body adjusted to having him buried inside me I raised up again, slowly, pulling him out of me and watched as his eyes went wide and his lips parted in a silent moan. I paused for a moment before dropping back down, slamming him back into me with such force that it took my breath away.
"Oh god." I moaned as I continued the motion. Soon enough he had hold of my hips and was meeting me half way, our bodies coming together with the sound of flesh on flesh. I gasped and threw my head back as one of his hands found my erection and began to pump. My motions became erratic as the sweat trailed down my body to fall onto his. My breath was coming in gasps and moans as I watched him below me.
I felt the build up in my abdomen and managed to moan a warning seconds before I released into his hand. I froze in my motions as the orgasm racked threw my body but he had other ideas. He lifted me by my hips so I was slightly raised off of him and he thrust into me a few more times before he too reached his climax.
I pulled myself off of him and collapsed next to him as he groaned, one hand in his hair and one above his head. I let my eyes drift shut for a moment as I collected my thoughts and managed to sit up but couldn't move much further then that at the moment. I glanced down at him to find his eyes on me. I looked away and placed my head in my hands.
"I feel so empty." I said, my breath still coming in short. In fact, it seemed to be coming in shorter and shorter the more I tried to hold back the emotions that where threatening me. I brought my knees up to my chest and hugged them tightly. "Hollow." I said as the tears won and poured down my face. I felt him sit up but he said nothing and made no move to touch me. We set in silence for a while, me crying and him being a silent comfort.
"This can either break you or make you." he finally said. I looked over at him to find him staring straight ahead his eyes blank once again. "Either an end, or a beginning." He turned his head slightly and our eyes met.
There was something in them, not an emotion but...something. For the first time since our encounter in the hallway on my first visit to the manor, I knew that he saw me. Not in a literal sense but that he was acknowledging me, acknowledging my existence in his world, on his level. That I was a person and I was worth his notice, almost as if up to this point I had just been an annoyance that he was made to put up with but now...now I was someone.
I stood from the bed, a bit shaky at first. He grabbed my arm to steady me and I pulled away gently when I felt I could stand on my own. I grabbed my shorts from the floor and pulled them on before I started to look around for my shirt.
"Here." He said and I turned to find him holding out my shirt.
"Thanks." I said as I took it from him and pulled it on. I turned to him and was once again completely taken with his beauty as he set on the edge of the bed still completely nude. "Thank you." He gave me a raised eyebrow in question and I gave a tired smile. "For everything. For putting up with me, for allowing that." I gestured to the bed. He just stared at me and I shifted uncomfortably "Uh, well I should be off to bed..." I said and paused again to meet staring red eyes. "Uhh...night." I turned for the door but was stopped by a hand snatching my wrist. I stayed turned away as I felt him stand from the bed.
"Roxas." he said as I tried to pull away. He tugged on my wrist and suddenly I was staring at a bare chest. I let my forehead fall against his chest as his hand stayed around my wrist. His free hand came up to rest at the base of my skull and I lost it. My sobs were silent as I pressed my balled fist into his chest. He said nothing as I cried, just a silent wall to cry on.
"Sorry" I said after I finally managed to pull myself together and pull out of his grip. I gave a shaky smile as he just watched me. "I'm gonna head off to bed now...well shower first, then bed." He gave a nod of his head and I turned for the door. I paused before opening the door and looked back to find him in the same place, just watching me.
"Till tomorrow." he said and I nodded. I closed the door silently behind me and pressed my back to it for a moment. I took a deep breath before I started back to the stairs.
Tomorrow I would deal with this. Tomorrow I would figure out what was happening, what would happen to me now...Tomorrow...
The alarm on my bed side table had me sitting bolt upright, my eyes darting around the room. I finally reached over and shut up the contraption before pulling myself from my bed and quickly getting dressed. I by passed the mirror on the wall, not wanting to see what I looked like. I headed down stairs and quickly made my way to the dinning table where my breakfast was waiting just as it always was.
"Good morning." Came Variedy's voice from the kitchen. I gave a small nod before I dug into my toast and fruit. Variedy appeared at the table and took the seat across from me, his eyes on me as he sipped at his mug of black coffee. He waited until I was finished and sipping at my tea before he started in on me.
"Are you willing to continue?" He asked and I looked up at him, my eyes meeting his. For once his blank stare didn't seem so alien to me, more of something to strive for (even more now). I never wanted anyone to see the massive amount of pain that was now radiating from the center of my being.
"I have to continue." I said "This is all I have now." He stared at me for a moment as I continued to drink my tea.
"You'll have to speak with him." He said. My eyes shot up to him, glaring, but he just glared right back. "He has already come here once and he will try again. When he comes back it will be your responsibility to send him away." I felt the panic start to rise in my chest but could only nod. "Good." He said before he stood and swept up my empty plate and mug. "Into the living room."
I pushed away from the table and stood up as Vareidy moved into the kitchen. I turned to head into the living room but froze. Vincent was standing in the doorway, clearly just coming in for breakfast but the sight of him on his feet, walking on his own, had a foreign emotion rising in my chest. I started to say something but closed my mouth, I wasn't sure if I was still suppose to be pretending he didn't exist. Though after last night that was going to become increasingly difficult.
"Good morning Vincent. Sleep well?" Vareidy said and I stepped out of the way as Vincent moved into the room. I noticed that he wasn't with out a limp but it wouldn't be long before he was back to his graceful self, sneaking up on people and scaring the shit out of them. I didn't wait to hear the reply and instead moved into the living room to began my warm up stretches. I was joined shortly by Variedy.
"Alright." He said as I finished the last of my stretches. "Lets go a few rounds, if you can knock me down I'll lift the 'Vincent doesn't exist' rule." I raised an eye brow at that before letting my eyes shoot over to the raven haired man leaning in the door way, watching, a mug in his hands. I looked back to Variedy and I may have had a rather feral grin on my face as we started to circle. Probably not the right response but I'd explain it later.
He attacked first, coming at me with that damned speed of his. All I could do was dodge and duck, he managed to sweep my feet out from under me and I tucked and rolled, coming back to my feet with some distance between us. We circled again.
"Attack me Roxas." he said, taunting me. I bared my teeth at him and lashed out, he dodged my few punches but I caught his shoulder with a hard kick. I brought my leg back down and pivoted, bringing my left leg up for another kick but his hands had hold of my leg before I could do anything. He twisted my leg and I flipped over backwards, a small noise slipping out as my hands caught me, keeping my face from the mat. "Still not good enough." He said, still holding my leg. I jerked it out of his grip and stood once again. My blood was pounding in my veins as my anger began to surface. "Again."
He started to back up to circle me once again but I lashed out, my right hand shot out and took his shoulder, jerking him forward, my knee came up and took him hard in the gut. He gasped as he breath was knocked from him. I let him go but he stayed doubled over, I crouched and swept my leg out, taking his feet out form under him. He started to fall but quickly twisted himself into a graceful roll and was on his feet again in no time, his red and gold eyes locked on me.
"Better." he said and then he was on me again, his right fist took me in my lower abdomen and the pain was almost enough to knock me to me knees. I grabbed his left arm and sidestepped his attack and he stumbled past me. I bent his arm and pressed it into his back as I placed my knee on the center of his back. I jerked his arm higher up his back and I heard him make some kind of noise but I ignored it.
Suddenly his footing became more secure, he reached around with his right arm and grabbed my right arm. He jerked my right arm over his shoulder and I felt his body weight shift and I knew I was in trouble. I managed to let go of his left arm at the same moment that he bent forward just slightly and flipped me over his shoulder. For one second I was suspended in the air and had that one second to try and flip myself around so I wouldn't land on my back. Thankful Variedy released my arm and I managed but not completely, my arms took most of the impact and then my knees.
"Fuck." I hissed but I was forced to roll to the right, narrowly avoiding a kick to the chest. I got to my feet but only barley. He shot out his right foot and caught me in the center of my chest. My breath was knocked out of me, sending me flying backwards. This time my back hit the mat, hard, taking what little air I had left in my lungs away. I rolled to my knees once again as I coughed and wheezed, trying to get the air back into my lungs. I looked up and was shocked to see a panting, sweating Variedy. I don't thing I had ever made him break a sweat in one of our fighting sessions. I felt a little pride at that but quickly squashed it down.
"Vincent, make sure he's not broken anything. Our guest is here." he said before turning and walking away. I stared after him in shock. A soft chuckle had me pulling my gaze back to Vincent who was now standing much closer to where I was still on my knees. I gave him a questioning look as I was still not able to speak.
"No one's ever gotten that close to taking him down." He said with a smirk and maybe a bit of pride behind his eyes. I shook my head and let it drop down. "Can you stand?" He asked, and I nodded. He offered me a hand and I took it. He helped pull me to my feet and I stumbled a bit but managed to stay standing. I straighten up and groaned at the pain still radiating from my lower abdomen. "Anything feel broken?" He asked. I shook my head.
"I think he might have rupture a kidney or whatever the hell is right here." I said as I poked at my abdomen.
"Let me see." he said and his hands removed mine and lifted my shirt. He began to poke and prod and I flinched slightly but made no other sign of the pain. I watched his face as he examined me but he didn't seem to find anything to worrying. "You'll be alright though it's going to hurt for a while." he said as he pulled away and let my shirt fall back down. We both paused then, staring at each other for a moment.
"I'm glad to see your recovering well." I said as I shifted my footing a bit. His eyes locked with mine and I wanted to close the distance between us so bad.
"A few more weeks and everything will be good as new." he said. Suddenly I could hear voices coming down the hallway. I turned my attention to the hall way and crossed my arms, wondering who Variedy would be making me fight today. Variedy came into view first, his eyes locked on me.
"Roxas, I believe you know our guest today." he said just as a tall red head stepped into the living room. I felt my stomach clench up and my heart rate spiked. I wasn't ready for the flood of emotions that came flooding in at the sight of my ex lovers brother.
"Reno." I said as I took a step back. He had paused in the door way to examine the room but was now moving toward me, his cocky grin in place.
"Hello Roxie." he said "It's been awhile." He got to me and stopped just short of touching distance. "I was honestly shocked when Psycho here called me and told me that your were in his tender care." Other then the jerk of his head when he said Psycho to indicated Vareidy his eyes stayed on me. "Mostly because I couldn't believe Axel let you." I wanted to flinch at the name but stayed still, my face blank.
"What are you doing here?" I asked, my voice normal. Point for me. He smirked again and let his arms drop to his side.
"I'm here to help with your training of course. Variedy here likes to play games." he said, his eyes were sparkling with pent up laughter. "I am today's game." I slid my left foot back slightly, ready. My mind immediately started to take in his weak spots and my advantages. He was tall, very tall at least a head taller then me, easy to avoid attacks. I wasn't sure how good he was at hand to hand fighting. When we were younger Axel was always the better at hand to hand of the two brothers but Reno was a better shooter. He could have gotten better over the years but it was hard to say. Reno still had his eyes glued to me.
"Well, well, well Vareidy. You've turned our little Roxie into a well calculated machine." he said over his shoulder. I glanced around him to find both raven haired men watching from the side lines. I hadn't seen Vincent move away which was bad but I'd worry about that later. I turned my focus back on the man in front of me.
"What are the rules of this game?" I asked loud enough for the other two in the room to hear me.
"Subdue with out injury." Came Vareidy's reply. I gave a small nod and then the red head was attacking.
I quickly learned that his long arms and legs were clearly an advantage, not a disadvantage and had to change up my attack plan almost instantly. I managed to stay out of reaching distance but it put me to far away to attack. I was faster then him and probably the only reason that I was managing to not be caught by one of his very hard swings. He reached for me and I dropped to my knees and rolled toward him, knocking out one of his legs momentarily before coming up behind him. I hooked one of my arms through one of his from behind and tried to get the other but he spun out of my grasp and turned to face me.
We started to circle each other. He was breathing heavy but had a smile on his face as if this was fun for him. I gave him no emotion. He wiped at his face with the back of his hand as we continued to circle.
"Have you heard our good news?" he asked and I felt my blood start to pump.
"Reno." came a warning from Variedy but the red head ignored him.
"I'm going to be an Uncle." he said and I felt something deep inside me break. Reno was happy about it. Other people would be happy about it. Happy about the thing that ruined my life. Before I could even think it through I was attacking Reno. My right fist made contact with the red heads mouth, sending him back a few steps. "What the hell Roxas?" he snarled but my right foot shot out and took him in the chest as Variedy had done to me earlier and he fell backwards. I straddled his chest and wrapped my hands around his throat. He reached up and tried to fight me but to no avail.
"You son of a bitch." I snarled in his face as I squeezed his neck. Then, suddenly I was no longer staring into shocked blue eyes, but instead they were green. I felt tears leaking down my face as I squeezed harder. "You lying son of a bitch." I said and then there were hands on me, pulling me up and away. I fought their hold, trying to get back, had to finish it. He needed to hurt like I hurt.
"LIAR!" I screamed as I fought the hold on my arms. Variedy was kneeling next to Reno and helping him sit up. When I met blue eyes on the red head instead of green, all the fight left my body and I collapsed in the strong arms around me. I could finally hear the words that were being whispered in my ear.
"...bad idea. Roxas, its not him. It's not him." I turned and buried myself in Vincent's chest. I didn't care who was watching. I felt Vincent's arms go around me without any hesitation. "Shhhh." he said and I realized I was sobbing out loud. I squeezed my eyes shut and slowly started to even out my breathing. I pulled my face away and he slid his hands to my upper arms as he searched my face. I wiped my face off with my hands and gave a quick nod to the question on Vincent's face. He let me go and I turned to face the now standing red head.
Vareidy had himself positioned slightly between us, ready to intervene if necessary. Reno wiped at his busted lip, glaring at me.
"I think you lose today's game." the red head said.
"I think you cheated." I said back, trying for joking but it came out more of a snarl. I felt Vincent's hand on my shoulder and I turned my face away from Reno, trying to calm myself. "I apologize for busting your lip. I was caught off guard by your comment about your brothers good news." No one in the room missed my refusal to say his name.
"I'd say I'm sorry but I'm not. I didn't know it was a sore subject for you." He said with a little curiosity in his voice. I just stared at him. How dumb could a person be? Thankfully Vareidy spoke up before I could.
"Go again." he said "But this time follow the rules Roxas." I nodded and the two raven haired men moved off of the mat once again. We faced off and started up again. We went several rounds, me unable to successfully pin him down. It didn't help that he was still peeved about the busted lip, there was a seriousness to his attacks now that had me truly trying to subdue him without hurting him.
"Fuck!" I snarled as I stumbled back from a particularly nasty shot to the stomach. I stayed hunched over and I felt him advance on me. I let him get close, the moment he raised his arm and had all his body weight thrown into the blow he planned to land I dodged under his arm as he came down and hooked his arm with my elbow. I used his own momentum to keep him stumbling forward as I jerked his arm behind his back. I managed to grab his other arm and pulled them both back behind him and shoved my knee into his back. We hit the mat with aloud thud, me on Reno's back and his face pressed into the mat. "Enough!" I snarled as he continued to struggle under me.
"Enough Reno." came Variedy's voice and only then did the red head go still under me. "Let him up Roxas." I released his arms and made sure to dig my knee into his back as I stood. He grunted but said nothing as he rolled over and away from me before getting to his feet. His breathing was heavy and he wiped at his face as he stood.
"That was pretty good." he said with a smirk. I gave a small nod before I turned back to Variedy.
"What next?" I asked, ready to move on and get rid of the red head. Variedy examined me for a moment and then seemed to come to come kind of conclusion.
"We have another guest that you need to deal with. He'll be here in less then ten minutes." he said and I felt my cool facade slip for a moment before I yanked it back into place.
"I don't want to deal with him right now." I said, my arms crossing over my chest.
"You need to. He isn't gong to give up until he speaks with you. He feels he must explain." came the cool response from my truth teller. I glared at him.
"I don't have the patience right now to deal with this." I said between clenched teeth.
"I told you this morning that you would have to speak with him." I felt another slip of my mask and this time it was a little harder to pull it back up.
"Yes but I thought I'd have more time to prepare myself." I said, my voice perfectly calm. Point for me.
"Roxas. This needs to be dealt with swiftly, pull it out by the roots while you can." he said as his eyes kept searching mine. I clenched my teeth again and my hands went into fist.
"Please give me a few days before I have to do this." I said through my teeth, trying to sound polite but it came off as strained.
"No. Today Roxas." he said. My mask fell and this time I didn't bother keeping it up any more.
"I can't do it." I said, my breathing picking up. "I can't do it, don't ask me to do this. I'm not ready for this. I haven't had enough TIME!" I was shaking now, trying to reign in my emotions.
"Roxas..." he started to say but I cut him off.
"NO!" I hissed at him. "I won't do it. I refuse to do it." I took a step back and shook my head.
"I'll handle it." came Vincent's voice. My eyes locked on him where he was standing at the edge of the mat. "I'll send him away this time but you will deal with this soon." he said, his eyes locked on mine. I gave a shaky nod and barely managed not to collapse onto the floor and sob in relief. I clutched at the remains of my mask and tired to pull myself back together.
"Fine." Variedy said but he didn't sound happy about it. "Out side Roxas." I nodded and headed for the dinning room and the backdoor. I paused as I passed Vincent.
"Thank you." I said, making sure to keep my voice soft. I looked up to find him watching me through blank red eyes.
"Don't thank me yet." he said, his voice low. "Things never go as planned when Axel is upset. This is going to get messy." I felt my stomach clench as the guilt settled over me. Something must have shown in my face because Vincent's face went blank. "I can handle him."
"I know you can." I said and I looked away from him. "Just..." I shifted uncomfortably. "Be careful." I said and then proceeded into the dinning room. I paused at the back door, my hand on the door knob.
I suddenly felt like a coward. Was I really going to walk away and let someone else fight my battle for me? I stared out the glass door and into the back yard. I caught Variedy's reflection in the glass and our eyes met.
"It is only one battle. Not the war." he said and I couldn't help the jolt of electricity that ran down my spine. He could still read me like a god damn book. The door bell ringing broke me out of my thoughts. I was out the back door like the house was on fire.
And maybe it was.
So if I could set this whole Fanfiction to just one song...it'd be Halestorms, I Miss the Misery. Ever heard it? No? Go do it.
Also, review please. Reviews are like these little wonderful surprises that invade my email and make me laugh in the middle of a really shitty day.
You all are my sunshine.