Roxas stepped into the shadowy portal, taking a deep breath he appeared in a dimly lit alleyway. He looked down at the bottle of pills, and for the first time in a while, he felt almost hopeful. He opened the bottle and swallowed a pill dry before sliding the bottle into his pocket.

He slid down the brick wall, wiping his eyes with the backs of his hands, Tears? Why am I crying? He sniffled, internally preparing himself for the grueling trek back to his building. Pausing for a moment, he looked down at the alley's pavement, Axel's bag. Where? He pinched the bridge of his nose, annoyed. Sora must have seen me get nabbed. Fuck!

Sora probably would have assembled an entire team to search for him. He avoided the highly populated areas, making sure not to be seen as he easily darted from alleyway to alleyway until he reached the rickety fire escape. He climbed up it, two steps at a time until he reached his bedroom window.

Climbing into the window, he took in the shape of the thin redhead asleep on his bed. Roxas rolled his eyes, Great! Of course, he's sleeping in my bed. He placed the bottle of pills on his bathroom counter. Returning to his room, he threw off his shoes and his clothes and climbed under the covers next to Axel in mearly his boxers. Roxas was out as soon as his spiky hair pressed against Axel's shoulder.

-Sora's apartment-

Sora wasn't sleeping or eating. It had been two long grueling days since his other half had vanished. All he could do was wait. He would just sit in his favorite chair and stare at his phone, waiting for a text or a call. Anything that would tell him Roxas was safe, anything that would ease his mind.

That same phone rang, "Simple and-" he answered, not even bothering to read the ID or the number.

"Roxas?!" He'd ask desperately into the receiver, an automated voice sounded on the other end. Another Robo-call, most days he'd smile and love the attention of the robotic voices. However, today was not one of those days. He pressed the end call button in a haze of emptiness.

Other calls were people asking about him or Roxas. He'd 'mhm' and 'yeah' until the call was over, not really hearing what the voices on the other side were saying, not really caring either.

The phone calls would end, and he'd curl up in the chair, unwilling to leave it. Unwilling to rest until he'd get something, some news, anything. His anxiety had become something akin to desperation.

Riku squeezed Sora's hand, attempting to comfort him, that was all Riku could provide right now, comfort and warmth.

Riku had experienced something similar, although those were fragments of him, they were hardly worthy of his acknowledgment. Riku couldn't imagine how losing more than a fragment would feel. Although Riku doubted this separation would be permanent as his were, Roxas was probably home already. Roxas is just as smart and resourceful as Sora.

All they could do is just wait, wait for any new developments. If nothing came before tomorrow, then they'd go after Xigbar. They'd do whatever it would take to return Roxas to them.

-Roxas' apartment-

Axel awoke to bright sunlight filtering through smogy clouds, the smell of hot pavement, and burning petrol assaulted his nostrils. He opened his eyes and took in the open window before noticing the sleeping Roxas. Axel ran his fingers through Roxas' hair, and his golden brown locks appeared to glow in the soft sunlight.

Axel quickly came to his senses. He threw off the blankets and checked Roxas' exposed skin for any bruises. He felt a soft pang of guilt at the yellowing handprint on Roxas' throat. He felt guilty for assuming Sora had lied about how he got the bruise.

Axel swallowed hard, trying to force the guilt away. Slowly, his eyes raked down Roxas' lithe form, taking in the light muscles of his chest. The hickey he had given Roxas' chest is mostly faded. It was tempting to give the sleeping man another, but he decided against it.

He leaned forward and gave Roxas a soft kiss on the forehead, "I hope you feel better soon, zombie." Axel pulled the covers over Roxas and got out of bed.

A/N: I've been working on his since the last chapter published, I'm on mobile, so if anything looks wrong, that's why.

It feels weird that I actually have readers now. Since I have you guys here, I would like to portray Axel as a trans man. My dms are open, please tell me if you'd be okay/not okay with that!

okay thanks, bye