Snow

Axel was cold. And wet. And hated both.

But here he was, outside in the snow, getting pelted by snowballs. All because his best friend was adamant about taking advantage of the last three days of winter vacation.

Not that the view wasn't nice. The snow sparkled like glitter in the sunlight, pure and white and nice, and Roxas, face flushed, licking what was quite possibly snow off of the end of his nose, coat wet and clinging to him in ways that should be illegal.

"R-roxy, I'm freezing." He whined, rubbing both his arms, drawing his eyes away from Roxas and his sudden attractiveness. Roxas responded by throwing a snowball at him, hitting his target square in the shoulder. Not expecting it, Axel fell over into the snow and, upon feeling the cold stuff go down the back of his jacket, squirmed, trying to get up. Roxas laughed, trudging through the snow and holding out his hand to Axel, who took it and pulled him down on top of him, laughing. Their eyes locked.

Roxas underneath him, face that same bright shade of red, moaning Axel's name in pleasure as he sucked on his neck-

Axel mentally smacked himself. Bad thoughts, bad thoughts, bad thoughts-

"Hey, Axel, you want to go in now?" Roxas' breath tickled his ear as he relaxed against the older male.

"Gee, I don't know, can we? There might be an inch or two of me that isn't soaked yet-" Axel responded, stroking the blond's hair and sighing. He just wanted to hold Roxas and not let go, maybe kiss the top of his head, then the tip of his nose, then maybe his lips, then maybe-

No. Stopping that right there. He was not going to think about sleeping with his best friend. Nope, not him. Not at all. Not thinking about running his hands down Roxas's sides, kissing down his collarbone-

Fuck.

Roxas laughed again and scrambled up, holding out his hand again. "Come on, Axel!"

Axel stood up and walked after his friend, sighing. This couldn't be good.

He was in love with his best friend. So much that it hurt.


They couldn't really remember being without each other, although they remembered when they first met. Axel had failed kindergarten for "lack of social skills" (which he never understood- have they seem Zexion?), and then failed second grade for some stupid reason involving lighter fluid and the ventilation system (it was only a little fire, and it only took out a bookshelf). Come fourth grade, Axel was the oldest and liked being the big bully. He also wanted to be the only one, however- which was why he couldn't have that blue-haired kid else stealing that blond's lunch money. After saving the twerp from getting his butt kicked, Roxas followed him around, usually silent but sometimes talking quietly about things- himself, his family, his pet goldfish named Santa. At first Axel ignored him, and then eventually decided that the kid couldn't be to bad and started talking to him. Two months later, they were inseparable.
Roxas' parents were away for a couple weeks on a business trip, leaving the house empty and Roxas alone inside of it. After convincing them that Axel wouldn't burn the house down, and it would be better if Roxas wasn't left in the big, empty house alone, he was allowed to stay while they were gone.

Axel had yet to figure out if this was a blessing or a curse.

"Axel?"

"Hm?"

"Well- you've had experience with guys, right?"

"Ye-ah.." Axel cocked an eyebrow, spoonful of cereal almost to his mouth. If this conversation was going where he thought it was going, why on earth were they having it at the breakfast table?

"Well, it's just-" Roxas took a deep breath, twirling his spoon around in the bowl. "I've been looking at this guy since vacation started, and I'm trying to give hints that I'm interested, but I don't think he's getting them."

Axel was proud of himself- he managed to keep a straight face and think semi-clearly enough to give a response.

"Well, are you sure he bats for the same team?"

"Yes." Roxas looked him straight in the eye. "I'm positive."

Axel flinched internally. "Well, then be a tad more direct about it. Try to get him to seem like he's noticing you."

"That's the problem- he notices me all the time."

"Well, then- have you thought about telling the guy?"

"Yeah- well- I'm not really sure how."

"Just suck it up, go up to the guy, and tell him, Rox. How hard can it be?" Axel smirked, knowing that Roxas was too shy to even consider that an option.


Axel had never really understood Roxas. He thought that the kid was puny, weak, and annoying- why else would everyone be trying to get his lunch money? It wasn't until after Roxas started hanging around that Axel realized how- complex Roxas was. The more layers you peeled back, the more confusing it got. When you asked a personal question, all you would get was a riddle in response- it was all one could do to not rip out their hair when talking to the kid. It took a little over a year before Axel realized that, although Roxas was talkative and playful around him, he was quiet and aloof around others.

He also learned the hard way that Roxas had on hell of a right hook.


Axel stood against the wall in the bathroom, head back against the cool tile. God, why did Roxas have to do this to him? Why? What had he ever done to deserve this- to fall in love with one person he knew inside and out, who was the one person he went to with all his problems, who he had known since grade school. He had no reason to like him that way. Not at all.

Besides, it didn't matter, because there was no way in hell that Roxas liked him back. And it didn't matter that these feelings had been developing for awhile. Roxas would be happy without him. It didn't matter at all. Right?

Right?

Axel looked down, and after seeing his traitorous hand in his pants, realized that it did matter. It mattered a whole lot.


Axel stared at Roxas out of the corner of his eye. The blond's eyes were focused on the television, where some zombie movie was playing. Axel loved watching the expressions on his face as he responded to the movie- wide when someone got their heads cut off, unblinking as the zombies came up behind up on their victims, jaw clenched as the comedic relief characters said something stupid. Normally, Roxas was inexpressive, but when he was wrapped up in something-

Axel hit himself mentally for the thousandth time that day. He was not going to let that train of thought go any further. He did not love his best friend. It wasn't as if he wanted to take his best friend and fuck him into the nearest horizontal surface. Well, maybe he did, but that wasn't the point. It wasn't the point that he wanted to feel Roxas underneath him, breathing into his ear, nibbling his neck-

Fuck. Badthougtsbadthoughtsbadthoughts-

Roxas's hand slid off of his lap and brushed Axel's thigh.

"Axel? You okay?" Roxas looked over at his friend as Axel stood up suddenly.

"Yeah- just going to get more popcorn." Axel grabbed the almost-full bowl and walked out to the kitchen. The walk seemed to take forever, and when he finally made it to the counter, he slammed the bowl on the it, hands gripping the edge and breathing heavily. It just wasn't fair. It was some deity's cruel, twisted idea, to make him fall for his best friend. He grabbed his chest, where his heart was, and dug his fingernails into it in an attempt to stop the pain.

"You sure you're okay?"

Axel looked over to the kitchen door where Roxas was standing in a t-shirt and boxers. The light from the TV behind him flickered, reflecting the concern on his face. "You aren't having a heart attack, are you? How high is your cholesterol?"

Axel forced out a laugh, looking not at Roxas but over his shoulder. "No, just haven't been feeling well. Probably caught a cold from you soaking me yesterday."

Now it was Roxas's turn to laugh. "Yeah, well, it was worth it. I can play nurse tomorrow if you don't feel well."

You can play nurse with me anytime you want-

"In your dreams, kiddo." Axel walked past Roxas into the living room, giving him a friendly ruffle through his hair. What it would be like to twine his fingers through it, pulling Roxas close-

"Hey, Axel?"

"Yeah?" Axel turned around, not meeting his best friend's eyes.

"Do you- nevermind." Roxas walked to the kitchen, shoulders slumped a little, and grabbed the popcorn bowl. "Let's go finish that movie."


Axel would deny that he lost his middle-school ways- granted, he didn't bully anymore, he was a tad less immature, and watching porn had gotten old really quick- but anyone that knew him knew that he had changed. No one really knew why, however.

Roxas knew better. After Axel came out to his friend, he had settled down a lot, finally realizing that he wasn't going to be alone, no matter what he did. He had done various things to piss him off, push him away, and make him leave, but Roxas always came back. He was Axel's rock, and would always be there. That's all there was to it.


It was the last day of winter break. Roxas's parents would be coming home the next day, and Axel and Roxas would be back to school. Ah, the good ol' days.

Not.

"So, Axel, what do you want to do tonight?"

Grab you around the waist, fling you on the bed, kiss you in every way possible- GAHH, bad thoughts again! Bad, bad, badbadbadbadbad-

"Axel?"

"Hmm? Oh, I don't know. Want to watch another zombie movie?"

"They're getting old."

"Yeah, I agree with you there. How about-"

"We could get that homework assignment done." Axel raised and eyebrow.

"Which one? The report for Repins?"

"Nah, the Biology one." Roxas's face was a perfect replica of innocence.

Axel racked his brain, but could not think of what report they had for biology for the life of him. "What one's that?"

"You know, the one about reproduction-"

If Axel had been trying out for a play, the director would have given him the part right there. The spit-take he did was timed so perfectly and done so well that he could have been acting. What was better was that he wasn't.

"Ah, yeah, that one." Axel laughed. Roxas blinked.

"What was that about?"

"What? The report?"

"No, the fact that I'm suddenly wearing half of your drink."

"I don't know, Roxy. Maybe you should eat your cereal and stop talking about school on the last day of break."

Roxas laughed. "Fine, you win. But we're doing that report later."

Axel groaned internally.

Roxas was siting on the floor of his room, leaning against his bed. Axel was across from him in the middle of the floor, writing whatever Roxas was saying. As long as he did that, he was guaranteed an A. All he had to do was switch around a word or two here, a sentence or three there, and- viola!

"Reproduction uses the most sensitive parts of the body, the most so being the lips-"

Axel had been trying for the past half hour not to flush during this essay. It didn't help that Roxas was taking large pauses in between sentences, looking at diagrams and reading text.

Not to mention he was also eating a popsicle in ways no person should be allowed. Roxas had an interesting way of eating a popsicle- first he'd suck on it, then lick it, then bit off part of it. Roxas looked at Axel with an eyebrow raised, twirling his tongue around the top of it. Axel jerked his eyes away, feeling his cheeks flush. He kept his eyes firmly on his paper, not looking up until Roxas suddenly threw his pen and popsicle stick across the room with an irritated groan.

"This is so stupid! Why do we have to write a report on reproduction?"

"So we can learn, Roxas. Isn't that the point of reports?" Axel gave Roxas a cocky grin.

"That's not the point!" Roxas exclaimed, waving his hands in front of him. "Can't we just experience it ourselves, without having to be taught about ejaculation and menstruation and god knows what else?"

"Well, it is nice to know about it, just in case-"

"Just in case what?" Roxas snorted. "It's a conspiracy to turn us off of sex is what it is."

This talk was having the complete opposite effect of that on Axel. He was turned on by this conversation. Very much so. So much, in fact, that it took a lot of his self-control to not pounce on Roxas right now and pin his body to the ground.

"But what gets me-" Roxas continued his rant, "Is that we have to know all the sensitive areas of the body. I mean, it's pretty much common sense that if someone comes over and grabs my dick, I'm going to be pretty sensitive there, you know?"

"Yeah, I get it."

"But the lips- my god. How does anybody know that until they've been kissed?"

"No clue." Axel was trying to keep his breathing down, and it was coming out in short spurts.

"And you know what? This entire report is completely bogus." Roxas threw his hands up in the air. "I give up."

"But- but you can't, I haven't finished mine-"

"So do it yourself." Roxas threw the book at Axel. Axel looked down and found it open to a labeled diagram of a penis.

Okay, now his hormones were defiantly in gear. He pressed the book down against his lap.

"Axel, why is your face red?" Roxas asked innocently.

"I-it's not."

"Yes it is. Do you have a fever?" Roxas crawled over to him and placed a hand on his forehead, then his cheek. "You really are hot, you know."

"Really? I- I didn't notice-"

"Of course not. You're dense."

And with that declaration, Roxas tackled Axel to the ground, lips pressed firmly against the others. Axel broke away, in shock. "Roxas? Wha- why-"

Roxas sat up on Axel's waist, straddling him. "Well, you said to be more persistent, so I did. I mean, I didn't want to have to make up a fake report about reproduction, but my god, you are so dense..."

"You mean-"

"Yes, Axel." Roxas looked down at the redhead. "I made up that report. You just don't get a hint, do you? I mean, I gave a blow job to a popsicle, for crying out loud. You think you'd pounce on me then, I know your hormones well enough. Although," he smirked, "They appear to be functioning quite well right now."

Various questions ran through Axel's mind at that moment, including but not limited to 'Why do you look so hot while eating ice cream?' and 'Can I screw you into the mattress now?'

He was to lazy to ask any of these, however, so he just grabbed Roxas by the back of the neck and pulled him down, mashing their lips together.


-Stop-

Well, that's it. I must never think about AkuRoku on the bus again, because this plot bunny wouldn't leave. Not to mention, I kept coming up with little extras to add into it, so I wound up going back to change it. Overall, I have no complaints about it.

Reviews are nice and keep the plotbunnies hoppin'.

Love,

Serexion