Forgotten - My own prompt, because everyone needs to write an amnesia story at one point or another, it's a good premise, fuck you.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

The steady sound of an IV machine heralded Axel's return to consciousness, his eyes fluttering groggily open to the sight of bright white walls and ceiling. His words were thick and clumsy as he muttered, "The fuck…?"

A gasp caught his attention, seconds before a hand caught his and squeezed it hard. "Axel…?"

He managed to turn his gaze towards the sound, that trembling, unsure voice, and blinked slowly at a blond young man with tear-filled blue eyes. At the sight of him, the blond's pale face broke out into a watery smile. "Oh, thank god – you're okay." His eyes slid shut, the tears slipping free and rolling down his cheeks as he pressed Axel's cool hand to his face.

Bewildered, Axel tried to make sense of what was going on. He managed to croak out, "Where…?"

The blond lowered his hand, but gripped it even more tightly. "You're in the hospital, Axel. You were in an accident."

"Oh, wow, okay," said Axel, uncertainly. "And – who're you?"

The blond froze. His eyes widened in the face of Axel's blank stare, which grew only more confused the longer the silence stretched. Then, the young man smiled thinly, releasing Axel's hand and leaning back. "I'm – a friend of your sister. You remember Kairi, right?" When Axel nodded, he let out a ragged breath and a laugh. "Oh, thank god. You scared me there for a second. She's been distraught, man. I'll – I'll go get her." He quickly stood and hurried away from the bed.

Axel watched him leave the room with consternation, still trying to wrap his head around what was going on. He held up his hand, which was only moments ago being tightly grasped, turning it over and staring at his now-empty palm. Then the door opened sharply, Kairi entering with a worried expression, rushing to his side. Wordlessly, she threw her arms around him in a hug, Axel grunting as pain shot through his body at the hard squeeze. "Kairi – Kairi, hurts…!" She released him, pulling back with tears running down her face, just like the blond guy had been. When Axel glanced past her, said blond was nowhere to be seen.

"You absolute idiot," Kairi wept, dragging her hands under her eyes to try and mop up the mess. "I can't believe you."

"Um. Sorry?" Axel offered. She sniffed loudly. He held his hand out, which she grabbed, a much smaller hand than the last one to fill it. "Kairi, what happened to me?"

"You were driving to the airport," she shakily told him. "You were in a hurry."

Axel felt himself go cold. "Don't tell me I caused an accident…?" To his relief, she shook her head.

"Someone else ran a red light and crashed into you in the intersection. Your – your car was totalled, Axel." Her mouth trembled as she fought to keep her words audible. "You were unconscious for seven hours."

"Seven…!" He gulped, looking around at himself. He had a cast on his right hand, which he lifted to stare at.

"You fractured it," Kairi sniffed. "They said you were actually – really lucky. You got out without much damage other than that. But you – you hit your head on the steering wheel before the airbag could deploy, and…" She squeezed her eyes shut. "Your memory – is your memory okay?"

He thought back to the blond, asking if he remembered his sister. "Well – I remember you okay," he reassured her with a soft smile, giving her hand a light squeeze. She shook her head impatiently.

"No, what about – other things? Other people? Why you were – going to the airport?"

Axel frowned, searching his mind. "Um. Hm. I don't think I remember going to the airport. Or why I would be. Or…" He locked up for a moment, a thrill of fear shooting through his chest. "Oh, shit. Kairi. I can't remember anything. I… I can't remember… anything."

She met his alarmed gaze, her grip on his hand going almost painfully tight. "It's – it's going to be okay. The doctor is coming. They'll be able to figure something out." Axel looked around, heart pounding, wondering how much of his life was missing. "That – that guy before, what about him? Have I forgotten him?"

Kairi hesitated. She bowed her head a little, but said, "No – he's just a friend of mine. He came to support me. He's… nobody."

Relieved, Axel settled back against his pillow. "Oh. Okay. That's good, then."

"…Yeah." Kairi's voice was low. Axel gave her a strained smile.

"Hey. You. It's going to be all right, you'll see."

A few more tears leaked from her eyes, but she wiped them resolutely away. "Yeah," she said. "Yeah, I'm – I'm sure it will."

.o.O.o.

"It's retrograde amnesia," the doctor said, in a quiet room away from the wards. Kairi and Roxas sat in chairs before the doctor's desk, each of them hitching a small breath at the diagnosis. "It's a result of the head injury Axel sustained. He seems to have lost roughly a year's worth of formed memories." Roxas' head sank low, Kairi laying a hand on his back.

"Will they come back? The memories?" Kairi anxiously asked, giving a quick rub between his shoulder blades.

"They may," the doctor replied, "but considering the span of time the amnesia covers, it would appear that there may be some slight brain damage from the accident."

"Oh, god," Roxas muttered. Kairi's hand had stopped, a handful of his sweater clutched in her fingers.

"Brain damage?" Her voice was almost inaudible.

"It's nothing severe," the doctor hurried to assure her. "He can think, speak, and move just fine, and the tests we performed showed that he has no immediate issues other than those missing memories. However, due to the nature of the injury, it is entirely possible he may never recover those lost months. If he does, it will likely be very slowly."

Outside of the doctor's office, Kairi and Roxas took a moment to collect themselves. Roxas slumped against the wall, staring down at the patterned carpet. "…It's my fault." Kairi tried to shake her head, reaching for him, but he sharply blocked her hand and reiterated, "It is, it's my fault, Kairi. I did this to him."

"Roxas…"

"Think about how much worse it could have been," he hissed. "He could have been killed."

"But, but Roxas," Kairi helplessly said, but again he stopped her.

"No. That's enough. I've… had enough." He let out a long sigh. "Like I told you before, it's better this way. Just don't mention me, and he'll… be better off."

"Roxas, no –"

"I broke up with him, Kairi. It was already over. This way, he doesn't have to go through any more pain."

She stared at him for a long moment, then burst into tears. He wrapped her up in a hug, fighting his own tears. This way, it would be like they'd never met. This way, it would be easier for everyone involved. It was almost a blessing.

Roxas could just stay forgotten.

.o.O.o.

Axel was released from hospital three days later. He'd gone through so many tests they blurred together, but in the end, it seemed like it was just his memories that had been affected, after all. The relief was so immense it was almost dizzying. Upon his discharge, Kairi came to pick him up, and together they went back to his apartment. "Home, sweet home," Axel murmured, stepping through the doorway. He remembered home. He'd been living here for two years, after all, even if he only remembered the first year of it. He was curious to see if anything seemed out of place, but pretty much everything was as he recalled it. However…

"Did I have – a yard sale recently or something?" There was a curious emptiness that hung in the air. There were spaces dotted around that looked like they had up until recently been filled by something no longer there. Some gaps in the bookcase. A couple of empty hooks in the kitchen, where mugs were meant to go. The bed looked like it hadn't been slept in recently at all. A chunk of the CD tower with nothing in it. "I wasn't burgled while I was in hospital, was I?" he wondered, looking around.

Kairi shook her head hesitantly. "This is how it always is. I've been coming here to rest at night, since it's closer to the hospital. Nobody broke in."

Axel paused, looking down at an indentation in the thin carpet. He scuffed it with a toe. It reminded him of the mark a pot plant left behind. He inhaled deeply, and found that there was something a little different in the air, like another person's scent clinging just barely to his own. "A roommate?" he mused out loud.

"No," Kairi told him. "You've been living… alone." She watched him carefully. "Why? Do you remember something?"

Axel glanced over thoughtfully. "Remember? No. Just sort of a feeling I got." He gazed quietly around. "But if you say I've been living lone-wolf style, it must be true. Maybe it's just the difference in my memory coming up against the extra year of living." It was a troubling concept, but one he'd had a few days to start coming to terms with. A year of his life had been lived, but it was like he'd been out to lunch the whole time. Still, according to Kairi, he still had the same job, the same friends, and this was the same apartment as before, so it wasn't like the gap between then and now was overwhelmingly different. Still, it was – uncomfortable. He noticed Kairi looking concerned, and tried to change the sombre mood. "Ahh. That's pretty lame, though. A whole year goes by and I still don't have anyone to kiss me goodnight? I am the terminally single."

He'd meant it as a joke, but her expression darkened a little, and she glanced away. "…Well, sit down and try to relax," she said. "I'll make something for lunch."

A little bummed that his attempted joke had fallen flat, Axel sank into the sofa and turned on the TV. Daytime soaps were showing, typical in their melodrama, with storylines he probably could've been watching a year ago and still be up to date with. Hell, there was probably an amnesia plot. He felt so clichéd all of a sudden. He continued to look around, refamiliarising himself with the place, a pile of magazines to his right catching his eye. Reaching across with his left hand, he pulled them onto his lap, idly flipped through them with his cast-bound hand. "Hey, Kairi," he called out. "When did I develop an interest in – Architecture Monthly?" He glanced at the list of contents, none of the headlines making much sense to him.

Kairi stood in the kitchen doorway, wiping a knife on a small towel. "What was the title again?" she asked, sounding almost nervous.

"Architecture Monthly."

"Oh. That. It's not yours, it's, uh, mine. I bought a magazine subscription thinking I'd broaden my horizons, but Olette was complaining about how they were all over the place, so I left it here. There might be others… here and there."

"You're broadening your horizons with – 'The Vital Differences Between A Townhouse and a Condo'?" Axel read, squinting at the article.

"Well… you never know when you might need that kind of information," Kairi lightly replied, then followed quickly with, "Hey, do you want mayo in your sandwich, or…?"

"Mustard me, woman," he answered, continuing to flick through the magazine for a few minutes before setting it aside with a shrug. Kairi brought out the food, and they channel surfed for a while, eating and chatting, Axel trying to figure out which pieces of his mind were blank, and which were basically still intact. "Oh, hey, yeah, I meant to ask you – what was with that guy from the other day?" he suddenly asked. Kairi jumped a little.

"Guy? Which guy?"

"That blond kid. When I woke up, he started crying, I think. He said he was a friend of yours."

"Oh – oh, that was… he was just…" Kairi sounded like she was panicking, Axel turning to her with a wicked little grin.

"Oh? What's this? Is he maybe someone a little bit special to my dearest sister?"

Kairi flushed, stammering, "N-No, Axel, he most definitely is not."

He chuckled, teasing, "Methinks the lady doth protest too much." The mirth froze on his face when he saw that Kairi had gone pale, her expression tight with distress. "Hey – hey, wait, I'm sorry. I stepped on a landmine. I'm so sorry."

"He's just a friend of mine," she stated, her voice firm but small. "That's all."

Awkwardly, Axel nodded, hoping for the pain she was evidently feeling to vanish as quickly as possible. "Right. Of course. I just forgot – you know me, Amnesia Axel. I'm just glad you had a friend with you when it was scary."

She relaxed slightly, nodded falteringly, and continued eating her sandwich. Axel made a mental note to not bring up the topic of the blond guy again. Whoever he was, he just hoped he wasn't making his little sister cry. He'd hate to have to go and teach the kid a lesson or three. Still, if he was there for Kairi when the chips were down, he couldn't have been all bad. He'd even held Axel's hand. Clearly, he was someone who cared a whole lot about Kairi, and that was all that was important. Still, he couldn't help but feel a little wistful at the thought. Here he was, an eternal bachelor, while his sister had some cute kid in the wings who'd cry when her brother woke up after a car crash.

Must be nice.

.o.O.o.

Axel returned to work a week later, with the doctor's blessings, back at the construction firm he did administration for. "Axellll!" A delighted Demyx threw himself bodily at him, Axel yelping, "Ouch!" as his fractured arm was knocked.

"Jesus, would you settle down?" The annoyed voice of Larxene brought Demyx back sheepishly back to Earth, while she tilted her chin up at Axel and said, "'Sup. Heard you nearly died."

"Couldn't kill me even I was dead," Axel cockily replied, scrubbing Demyx's carefully gelled hair with his free hand until the kid was screeching.

"There's drinks after work to celebrate your continued existence," she told him. "Happy hour at 7th Heaven."

"I can't drink, Larx. I'm on pain killers."

She snorted. "Who said you were invited? This is just an excuse to go get hammered on dollar margheritas."

"Everyone, back to work." Zexion appeared, tugging Demyx from Axel's grip and shoving him and Larxene back in the direction of the office. "Good of you to show up, Axel," he coolly said over his shoulder as he prodded them along. "Your backlog is overflowing after that little vacation."

"I can really feel how much you guys love me," Axel drawled back, slipping behind the front counter and booting up his computer. It was almost scary how little things had changed around here. A whole year of his life unaccounted for, and it was like this place had skipped a year with him. His first week back was only half-days, to give him time to adjust, but it was as busy as ever. The only problem Axel had was signing for deliveries with the wrong year. He kept having to scribble it out and rewrite it, feeling weirdly disconnected each time it happened.

For one of those instances, Demyx was at his elbow, lazing at the corner of his desk during his break. "Ha!" he laughed, when Axel quietly cursed and corrected the error. "Shouldn't have hit your head, dude."

"Your sympathy overwhelms me," Axel sarcastically replied, thanking and waving to the courier as they left.

Demyx glanced after them with a sigh. "It's just not the same since Roxas left. His deliveries were the cutest."

"Whose deliveries?" Axel absently asked, hearing Demyx let out a squeak like he'd been stepped on.

"Nobody's!"

He lifted his head, confused by the sudden about-face. "Huh?"

Demyx had clapped his hands over his mouth, and now shook his head frantically. "Nothing! I didn't say anything!" he insisted, muffled by his own fingers.

Axel scowled, eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Demyyyyx, what were you talking about just then? Cute deliveries? Who is 'Roxas'?"

Demyx rapidly backed away. "He's nobody? Just some guy who used to do deliveries. Anyway, my break is over, I should get back before Zexion notices I'm gone."

"Hey – Demyx, wait a…" He was interrupted by the phone ringing, and in the moment it took to glance back at it, Demyx had scuttled off. "God damn it," Axel muttered. He answered the phone, forcing himself back into business mode, and by the time he was free again Demyx had left the office to go inspect some pipes in a new building the firm was erecting. He didn't get another chance to press him about it that day, or the next, or the next, and before he knew it, the name 'Roxas' was once again gone from his head.

.o.O.o.

A couple of months passed, and by the time Thanksgiving rolled around, Axel's trauma was old news. He had more or less wallpapered the gaps in his memory, none of which had done a good job of fixing themselves over the weeks. Still, the doctor said this was all still within the usual time frame for regaining memories, so Axel hadn't completely given up on that vanished year. Its importance had waned, however, as life trundled along as per usual, and he'd come to the conclusion that at least nothing notable was missing in those cracks.

On a cold November afternoon that he found himself grocery shopping, a list in hand from Kairi for the upcoming Thanksgiving essentials. It was as he was browsing the aisles that he passed a blond head, his hand moving before his brain had caught up, snatching at the elbow of the person who had brushed by. He stared down in surprise at a face he'd only barely recognised, eyebrows high as he said, "Hey! You're – that guy!"

Looking startled, the kid gazed back for a moment, unable to hide the flash of apprehension that crossed his features. As Axel watched, the look flattened grimly out, and, giving absolutely no sign that it had ever occurred, the guy said, "Oh. Hey." He shook Axel's hand off, glancing down and noticing, "Your cast is gone. Seems like you're all better."

Axel laughed a little. "Yeah, man, that thing was a pain in the ass. My wrist was all skinny when it came out, and white enough to direct traffic in a blackout."

The guy smiled tightly, nodded, then said, "Well, anyway, I'd better –"

"Hey, wait," Axel jovially cut in. "It's our long-awaited reunion. I haven't seen you since then, where've you been hiding?"

The guy's eyes flicked off to the side. "I go to school in Boston. So I'm just back for the holidays."

"Oh, yeah? Cool. Why don't you come back to Kairi's with me? I only have to get a few more things. We could grab some beers and kick back."

"No. Thank you." The kid was sounding – terse. Axel wondered if he was being too pushy. Come to think of it, between his behaviour and the way Kairi had acted way back when, maybe Axel was poking some old wounds by bringing her up. "I really should just get going."

"Oh. Well, sure, okay." Axel smiled kindly, trying to show the guy that he didn't hold anything against him. "But hey, maybe next time you're in town, yeah?"

"…Yeah. Maybe." The guy turned away from Axel and started walking away. Axel watched him, feeling – something nagging at him. Something.

"Hey," he called, before the guy could turn the corner. "So, just for personal reference – what's your name?"

The kid gazed back with inscrutable eyes. "…Roxas." Without giving Axel a chance to respond, he was gone. Axel wandered slowly down the aisle after him, peering out, surprised to see that the kid had ditched his basket of groceries and was now leaving.

"Huh." He turned the name over in his mind. Roxas. It rang a bell, but he couldn't figure out where from. It wasn't until he was halfway home that it meant anything – and then, as if he was in the seat next to him, Axel distinctly recalled Demyx, saying, "It's just not the same since Roxas left. His deliveries were the cutest."

Without really knowing why, Axel indicated and pulled up at the side of the road. He thought for a minute, then pulled out his phone, calling Demyx.

"Axellll! What's up? Enjoying the holidays?"

"Demyx, you free to talk?" Axel asked.

"Sure, man, what can I do you for?"

"A while back, after I got back from being hospitalised, you mentioned someone named Roxas being a courier for the company, right?" There was a long pause on the other end. "Demyx?"

"Aw. Uh, nah, man. I was talking about someone called Roxanne."

"Roxanne," Axel flatly repeated.

"Yeah. She was… she was cuuuute."

"Demyx, you know you can't lie for shit, right? What's the deal? I just met that Roxas guy in the grocery store and something felt off with him, too."

"Um. Ah." Axel could just about hear the gears frantically turning in Demyx's head. He was frowning deeply by the time he answered, "Yeah, well, there – there was a guy like that, I guess. Called Roxas. But, uh, you and him didn't really get along, so…"

Axel hesitated, then quietly said, "Oh." He felt – disappointed, oddly enough. He couldn't put his finger on why. "So, that's all it was."

"Yeah!" Demyx sounded relieved. "Yeah, he was always bugging you and you got, you got sick of him."

Curiosity piqued, he asked, "Bugging me? What about?"

"Oh. Like, he wanted to be an architect, so he was always taking up your time asking questions because you know so much about the company and all."

"Huh. That doesn't sound like it would bug… me…" He trailed off.

Demyx, sounding nervous, said, "Axel? Still there?"

"An architect?" he asked.

"What? Uh, yeah, I guess?"

Axel hung up. He started the car up and continued on, making a brief stop at his apartment before returning with the groceries to Kairi's place. Between the two of them, her roommate Olette, Olette's friends, and Kairi's best friends, the tiny place was packed, but Axel managed to force his way to the kitchen, out of breath, to throw his copy of Architecture Monthly onto the kitchen counter and demand, "Who is Roxas, and what is he to you?"

Kairi had been laughing along with Olette at something, but at the mention of Roxas, both girls went abruptly silent. Kairi's eyes darted to the magazine. "I told you, Axel, he's a friend of m-"

"How did you meet him?" Axel stared her down fiercely, Kairi stuttering slightly in response, Axel snapping, "It's not a hard question, is it? How did you meet him?"

She swallowed. "We, we met at a party a while back. And, um…"

"Why can't anyone talk about him without starting to say 'um' all the time?" Axel asked. He switched his gaze to Olette. "Olette, who is Roxas?"

"Roxas – Roxas is a friend of ours," the girl meekly said.

"Okay, fine. So can you tell me why I have a copy of Architecture Monthly in my apartment?" he asked.

"I told you –" Kairi said, but he cut her off with a sharp motion of his hand.

"I'm asking Olette."

The girls exchanged wide-eyed glances. "Me?" Olette smiled uncertainly. "Why would I know –?"

"Don't fuck me around, Olette. I found out today that that Roxas guy wanted to be an architect, and when I got back from the hospital, Architecture Monthly was in my apartment. Why?"

"Axel, you're connecting things that aren't there," Kairi desperately said.

"Then why is there this – this itch in my brain, Kairi?" He dragged his hands through his hair, eyes squeezing shut. "He was right there when I woke up after the accident. He was crying." He turned to Olette, holding up the publication. "One more time. Do you recognise this magazine? Why was it in my apartment? Do you know?"

Kairi rapidly said, "Olette, you don't have to answer him." She flinched as he again swiped a hand through the air, cutting her off, never shifting his attention from the girl in his sights.

Olette's mouth worked for several silent seconds. Then, after chewing on her lower lip, she hesitantly said, "It was there because – you bought it? You wanted to know more about architecture?"

Kairi hung her head. Axel gave a hard, triumphant smile. "Thank you." Without looking at her, he said, "Kairi, we need to talk," and left the kitchen. Ignoring the curious stares from the others in the apartment, he went to the small patio and waited for his sister to drag herself after him. As she closed the door behind her, they stood in the frigid breeze, Axel saying, "I forgot him, didn't I?"

"Axel…"

"I forgot him, and everyone was okay with that? You tried – you all tried to cover him up, somehow?" He turned to her, bewildered and hurt. "Why, Kairi?"

She started crying silently, slowly wiping her cheeks just like she had those weeks back in the hospital. "He asked us not to tell you. H-he made me promise. And I, I told everyone else, because I promised I would."

"Roxas did that?" The accusing sharpness was gone from his tone, Axel feeling simply – so confused, as he asked again, "Why?"

"He didn't want… for you to be in pain," she softly said. Looking down at her feet, she asked, "How did you find out about him?"

"I met him. On the grocery run. And then Demyx filled in a couple gaps."

She closed her eyes and nodded. "I'm s-sorry, Axel."

He let out a rough sigh, then pulled her in close for a hug. "Look, I don't blame you. I don't. But I need to know the truth now, okay?"

She hesitated, then shook her head. Before he could argue, however, she said, "You need to hear it… from him." She lifted her tear-soaked face. "I'll tell you where he lives."

.o.O.o.

Roxas was in bed when the doorbell rang. He had climbed numbly in upon getting home from the grocery store, pulled the blankets up high, and done his best to forget the sight of red hair and green eyes piercing into him. It had been too long now. He had to get over this. He couldn't keep torturinghimself like this. It had been difficult enough coming home for the holidays, knowing they were in the same town again, but to end up running into him like that… His luck was the worst.

The doorbell rang a second time, Roxas digging his head deeper into his duvet. Nobody else was home. If he just left it, whoever it was, whatever it was, would go away. He just needed everyone to go away. All of them. The whole goddamn planet. He just wanted to be left alone.

The doorbell rang again, Roxas feeling a twinge of irritation. Then, blessedly, it stopped – to be replaced, much more aggravatingly, by heavy knocking. Lifting his head with a scowl, Roxas listened for several moments to the pounding, before starting to grow concerned. Maybe someone needed help. Maybe it was an emergency. Sighing, he threw back the covers and went downstairs to see what the commotion was about.

He pulled the door open, then, upon seeing who was on the other side, immediately threw his weight into slamming it shut again. Axel moved just as rapidly, however, managing to jam a leg and shoulder through, grunting in pain as the door hit him, refusing to extricate himself even as Roxas pushed against it. "Hey, hey, come on, this is hurrrrtinnnng," his words squeezed breathlessly off as Roxas gave a further shove. He then gave a push of his own, forcing the door back open and sending Roxas staggering.

Breathing hard, Roxas barked, "Get out of here!"

Axel, standing in the open doorway, panting equally hard, replied, "Not a chance."

"How did you find me?" Roxas angrily asked.

"Kairi told me your parents' address." Axel wiped a hand across his forehead, taking a step into the house. Roxas backed up by the same amount.

Fuck. "You need to leave. Now," he said, trying to keep the tremble from his voice. If he could just maintain a show of outrage, he might be able to spook the other guy off. "This is trespassing. I'll call the police."

"Oh, so you're the injured party, Roxas?" Axel demanded, the blond flinching at his name. "The last time I checked, I didn't tell an entire group of people to – to erase your existence from my memories."

"I didn't erase anything!" Roxas' retort hung in the air, Axel taken aback by the taut pain within those words. He blinked at Roxas, who went quiet now, but whose fists were tightly clenched by his sides. "I just told them to leave you be."

Axel closed the door behind him, leaning back against it and folding his arms. "…I need to know why," he said.

Roxas studied him in silence, then asked shortly, "How much do you remember?"

"To be honest, I still don't," Axel told him. "But when I look at you…" He stopped for a moment, then went on, "I guessed a lot, but I don't feel like those correct guesses just came out of nowhere, you know?" Thinking about it, he nodded to himself. "Yeah. I've been feeling it for a while. That things weren't adding up right." Pinning Roxas with his gaze, he said, "So, tell me. Tell me about what's not there."

Roxas struggled within himself. He had been keeping this down for so long, and it had appeared to be working. But… "If Kairi told you where to find me, I suppose there's no point in covering it up anymore," he bitterly said. He then released a slow breath, deflating along with it. "I guess it wasn't fair of me to do that to her in the first place." He sat down on the bottom step of the staircase, rubbing a hand over his face. "I – I knew it wasn't fair. But I asked her to anyway."

Axel simply asked, "Why?"

Covering his mouth with his fingers, Roxas collected his thoughts, then dully explained, "It was my fault you got into the accident. I… You and I… We were…" He searched for the right words, but Axel seemed to have caught up partway already.

"We were… together?" he slowly said.

Roxas closed his eyes and nodded. "We met at your office. I was a courier then, saving money for college. We would talk whenever I brought something for you to sign." He sighed. "You… asked me out one time. And we started dating. And then we moved in together. Or," he amended, "I moved in with you. But it was, you know, a mutual thing." Axel merely nodded his understanding. "But then, I got accepted to a school in Boston," Roxas quietly continued, "and things started to go south. You didn't want me going so far away. I wouldn't budge on it. We started arguing, first over that, then over just little shit. I told you…" He paused, and drew a slightly shaking breath, pressing his thumbs into his brow. "I wanted to break up. I didn't see us working long-distance after all that. But then, when I was due to fly out, you… came after me." He finished the sentence hollowly, Axel figuring out the rest.

"And I got into an accident, and got head trauma that totally wiped out the last year of my life. I.E., you and me."

Roxas nodded. "Right. So I thought… why not just leave it like that?" He shrugged helplessly. "It seemed like I deserved it. If I hadn't been so argumentative about it, maybe we could've made it work. Or if I'd just stopped off to say good-bye to you, you wouldn't have felt the need to come racing after me and got injured. And it also meant that…" He hesitated, then mumbled, "You wouldn't have to go through the breakup. I just didn't want you to feel bad on top of being hurt."

Axel lowered his head, eyes closed as he considered Roxas' words, nodding every now and then as he thought. Then, at last, he asked, "What the fuck is wrong with you?" Roxas blinked, stung. Axel threw his hands up, started pacing back and forth. "Are you some kinda masochist or something? Who the fuck – who the fuck does that to themselves? What a waste of ten goddamn weeks! How much energy did you put into being the only one hurting? Into making sure Kairi didn't let anything slip, and didn't let anyone else let anything slip? All over a breakup?"

"Hey!" Roxas started to fire up, angry at hearing his efforts reduced to some kind of fuck-up.

"No, not 'hey'," Axel cut him off. "I may not have my memories, but I know myself enough to know that I wouldn't ever have wanted this. Clearly, we cared about each other, right? You for me, me for you? There's no way –" His voice caught, the man needing a moment to steady himself before continuing, "I'd never want someone I love to be in pain like that. At least – not alone. If we broke up, that's one thing, but you… denied us both the ability to grieve that relationship and move on. And made my sister tip-toe around certain topics so I wouldn't remember anything on my own. Not only that, but you completely nullified the entire point," he was getting loud now, "of having tried to catch you before you left to go to fucking Boston. I got behind the wheel, I got hurt, I had an entire year of my life smashed to pieces, and I obviously did it because I still loved you."

Roxas was stunned by the force behind his words. "You – you don't even remember me, though," he said. "What are you getting so –"

"Just because I don't remember you doesn't mean I stopped loving you," Axel yelled, and in the silence that followed, they stared at one another, angry and in pain. At length, Axel thumped a hand against his chest, and said, "It's all still in here. Whatever I felt for you, it's still gotta all be in here. Memories change, but feelings don't. You don't get to decide that I'm better off never knowing you."

Roxas' mouth trembled. His eyes dropped to the carpet, fingers knotting together. "But I…" His voice was thick. "I just didn't want to hurt you more than I already had."

"You didn't cause the accident, Roxas. Some dickhole running a red light did. Whatever I was doing in that car, I was doing it because I wanted to. Because I cared about you."

Roxas' eyes were stinging, moisture he hadn't wanted to acknowledge brimming. He rubbed at them, heaving a breath inward. "Shit. Ah, shit." Through his teeth, he said, "I'm sorry. I'm – sorry. What the fuck did I do it for? I thought I was helping you, but – I don't know, maybe I was just avoiding the whole thing. If you weren't in pain, then I could pretend I wasn't in pain? Because I'm the one who broke it off? I don't even know anymore." He gripped his head tightly between his palms and brokenly swore, "Axel, I'm sorry."

He heard Axel's long exhale, then his feet approaching. He lifted his head as Axel folded his hands over Roxas' knees, squatting down to look him in the face. "So… this might be really inappropriate, but I feel like the past me wouldn't forgive current me if I didn't ask if I could kiss you right now." In response to Roxas' stunned look, he crookedly grinned and said, "Hey, who knows – maybe it'll jump-start the old memory bank." More soberly, he asked, "Can I?"

Roxas hesitated, then nodded, not trusting himself to speak. Axel leaned in, pressing their lips together for a long, warm moment. It was a sweetness that Roxas had nearly forgotten, wrapped up so tightly inside his own thoughts and regrets. He felt a tear roll its way down his face. When Axel drew back again, he hoarsely asked, "Well? Do you remember me?"

Regretfully, Axel shook his head. He thumbed away the wet trail from Roxas' cheek. "But," he said, "I want to know you. Maybe it can't be what it was, but if that was in trouble anyway…" He cocked his head and gave Roxas a smile, the kind he'd been trying to forget for two and a half months.

"God." Roxas' head fell forward, bumping against Axel's shoulder. He felt the rumble of a chuckle pass through the man. "You're a lot more forgiving about this than I'd have expected."

Axel hummed thoughtfully. "Something about losing my memories has made me appreciate the here and now a lot more than I might have before." He stroked the back of Roxas' head. "And besides, you really are the cutest. Demyx was right."

"I should've known that guy couldn't keep his mouth shut," Roxas muttered. Again, Axel laughed. The sound was shaking free some heavy blocks that Roxas had put around his heart. If only they could have stayed… just like this. Eventually, he pulled away from Axel, though, needing to remind him, "I'm still going to school in Boston. I'll be gone again in a few days. It's not exactly going to be a reconciliation from here."

"That's… okay," Axel told him. "If I'm getting to know you all over again, it can be by text. And email. And video. I'm not in a hurry, here. And maybe if it goes all right, the long-distance thing won't seem so impossible anymore." He seemed to consider something, uncertainty on his face for the first time as he added, "That is, if you want to."

Roxas thought about it. But not for too long.