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Five

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"So then," Kairi had to take in a deep breath to finish her story, "Marluxia starts chasing the bunny, right? 'Cause it ate one of our most expensive flowers, which is just so irritating. Then he trips over his own feet and goes careening headfirst into the stream behind the shop!"

I only heard about half of her story before my mind started wandering. I stared off into space, wondering if this party would ever actually end. "Hayner, I need some fresh air. Is it cool if I step outside for a few?"

He nodded, sucked into the conversation with Kairi, "Sure, man. We'll be here."

Silently thanking God that I had an out, I pushed my chair back and quickly slipped outside before anybody had a chance to say anything. They were so absorbed in their story telling that they probably would even notice that I wasn't there.

As I walked outside I realized that my black tshirt and jeans weren't going to be warm enough for the cool spring evening, so I turned down the path to the farm to go grab a hoodie from my house. Living within walking distance of all the shops in town definitely had it's perks.

"Charlie? Charlie?!" a familiar voice rang through the darkness as I strolled down the path past Axel's house.

I ignored it, figuring that it was better if I didn't butt in.

"Charlie?!" I heard Axel shout again, but what I didn't expect was to have him slam full force into my side like a fucking locomotive.

"Shit!" I yelped, finding myself laying on my back in the dirt again, "Ow..."

But he was already on his feet again, giving not a single fuck that he'd plowed me over, "Charlie, come here boy! Where are you?!"

"Nice..." I grumbled, pulling myself up into a sitting position and feeling a shooting pain travel down my side, "Fuck!"

Finally he looked down at me as I clutched my side in pain, "Oh..."

"I think I broke a rib..." I cringed, trying to get back on my feet and failing. Every movement felt like somebody was stabbing me with a knife.

"My dog is missing," he almost seemed like he was having a panic attack or something, "I need to find him, he's never done this before."

I huffed from my position on the ground, "Oh sure, don't worry about me... I'll just lay here until Hayner comes home."

"Charlie?!" he screamed, his chest heaving as tears sprung into his eyes.

I somehow managed to get myself off the ground, trying hard not to let the blinding pain in my side bring me back down, "Axel, you need to calm down. He'll come back."

"He's never been away from my side for more than a few minutes at a time," he spun around in circles, eyes scanning the darkness.

"I need you to go get Saix for me..." I mumbled, unable to take a step forward.

Axel ignored me again, "Charlie! C'mere, boy!"

I shuffled over to the fence surrounding his property so that I could lean against it, lifting up my shirt to see if there was a bruise forming. Sure enough, it was already spotting black and blue on my right side over my ribcage. "Axel... Please focus for a second and help me..."

Suddenly he took off running down the path, but not towards town to get help. And then I was alone, unable to walk and in excruciating pain.

"Axel!" I shouted after him, furious that he chose to look for his dog instead of help me.

I stood there for maybe ten minutes before he reappeared, looking about ready to sob his eyes out, "I can't find him... I can't find Charlie. He's gone!"

"Axel, I know you're freaking out about your dog right now, but you need to help me get to the clinic and find Saix at the party."

"...Party? What party?" he snapped back to reality for a moment, finally meeting my eyes.

I wanted to punch him in the face, "Damn it, Axel, really?!"

"Right," he shook his head as if trying to clear his mind, "How do you expect me to help you?"

"You're absolutely useless. I'll just suck it up. Go find your dog," I snapped, pushing away from the fence and starting to walk unsteadily towards town.

I made it about halfway down the path before I was literally swept off my feet. I yelped in surprise, my arms automatically winding around Axel's neck as he started carrying me into town. "I'm sorry..." he said softly, but he refused to make eye contact with me.

About two steps into town we ran into Hayner, who looked like he was about to have a kitten, "What the hell happened, Roxas?!"

"It's a long story. Can you have Saix meet us at the clinic?" I asked him, wondering how Axel was still managing to carry me. I was kind of short, but I definitely weighed enough that not many people would be able to carry me around like that.

He nodded, running back into the Wayfinder as Axel kicked open the front door of the clinic and took me inside. Every time I even thought about moving a new wave of pain rushed through me.

"Fucking be careful!" I barked as he haphazardly put me down on one of the hospital cots. I squirmed around until I found a position that didn't hurt quite as bad just as Saix rushed in with Aerith, Hayner and Olette close on his heels.

"What happened?" Saix asked, throwing on his white doctor's coat and sitting down beside me.

I glared over at Axel, who had retreated to the corner of the room silently, "I was walking home to get a jacket when Axel plowed into me while looking for his dog. I think he might have broken one of my ribs with his elbow or something."

Saix lifted up my shirt, "Damn, he really got you good... What's your pain on a level of one to ten?"

"Ten, damn it!" I growled as he poked at my side.

"You definitely broke a rib, but it's nothing that requires surgery," he told me, "I'll bandage you up nice and tight and give you some pain meds, but it's all that I can do."

I sighed heavily, "This is just perfect. My first night here and Mr. Town Asshole here decides to maim me..."

"Right. If any of you find Charlie, please send him my way," Axel mumbled, turning and walking out the door.

"Don't let the door hit you on your way out," I grumbled, salty about his attitude.

Saix chuckled, "All right, it's time to get you pumped full of painkillers before you murder someone."

"Please and thank you," I nodded, ready to be done with this excruciating pain.

Aerith came over to the side of the cot with a glass of water and a couple of pills, "Take these, and I'll get you some to take home."

"Thanks," I smiled at her, throwing back the pills and taking a gulp of water.

A few minutes later Saix was binding my side with a couple rolls of ace bandage, "You'll need someone to help you rewrap it after showers."

Hayner raised his hand, "I'm just a holler away, Rox."

Olette and Hayner helped me home later that night, and I wanted nothing more than to crawl into bed and forget about everything that happened. But fate seemed to have a different plan for me, because the second I walked into my bedroom and flipped my lights on, I found a large Saint Bernard laying on my bed casually like he'd lived there all his life.

"Uhm... Charlie, right? What're you doing here, boy?" I asked awkwardly, unsure of what to do.

He barked and stood up, his tail wagging happily as he climbed down off my bed and proceeded to shove his nose in my hand. I laughed a little and pet him a few times before testing him to see if he'd follow me, "C'mon boy..." I coaxed him, walking out of my bedroom into the hallway.

Thankfully he followed right behind me as I led him out of my house and over to Axel's. He sat down on the porch wagging his tail happily as I knocked on the door loudly. "C'mon... Answer your door, you jerk."

A couple minutes later, a very disheveled looking Axel came to the door wearing only boxer shorts. "What the hell are you doing here?" he snapped, sneering at me.

I motioned down to Charlie, "I came home and he was laying in my bed. I wasn't sure how he got in, but then I remembered that there's a dog door on the kitchen entrance. He must have been there all evening."

"Charlie!" he cried happily, bending down to hug the fluffy beast. I had to admit, Charlie was pretty damned cute. I wouldn't mind having my own dog someday. "Why would you run away like that, buddy?"

"Goodnight..." I grumbled, wondering why I even expected an apology. I turned around gingerly, stepping down off the porch carefully and heading back across the path to my house.

I didn't get very far before a hand clamped down on my wrist and stopped me in my tracks, "Hey, wait."

"What do you want, Axel?" I turned to face him, snatching my arm away and then cringing in pain.

"I'm sorry I broke your rib. I really didn't mean to hurt you," he apologized, actually sounding genuine this time, "When Charlie went missing it was like I had blinders on. I couldn't think about anything but losing my best friend and it made me go a little nuts."

I sighed, running a hand through my sandy blond hair, "Just watch where you're going next time."

He was determined not to let me turn around and leave. As I moved again, he body blocked me, backing me up against the fence, "Thank you for bringing Charlie back. I don't know why he wanted in your house so bad."

"Look, I really need to go to bed..." I mumbled, trying to scoot away from him.

"Right... I'm sorry," he sighed, moving aside.

I hesitated for a moment, but I wasn't sure why. "I'm sorry we didn't invite you to the party," I finally said before walking down the path to get some well needed sleep.

...

A/N: Aww! They're sort of connecting, kind of maybe. Still, Axel is definitely a piece of work, right?

So I made a Tumblr account to kind of keep everyone updated on where I am in stories or what's going on with me. It's under simplyrexene so be sure to check it out!

Simply Rexene