Summary: Axel forgot, and Roxas is forgetting. Now it's up to the redhead to save their relationship, while rediscovering it along the way. Fic for 8/13, actually has to do with the date. AkuRoku. AU.

Disclaimer: Brain is dead. I cannot think of anything witty to put here. I do not own Kingdom Hearts characters.

Warning: Rated T for swearing and perverted humor. But you should expect that of me!

Author's Note: Happy AkuRoku day! I am so proud of myself for FINALLY finishing a freaking oneshot. I thought it would never happen. But I really wanted to get this out for today to show my devotion to the pairing. Since I haven't written anything where they are actually together in a while, this was really fun. Lol, I finished at 8:13 am here too. I just spent the last few hours writing the last 3,000 words of this so, phew, wow. It probably has many, many, many, typos because I suck at catching my own mistakes, so I apologize ahead of time. I didn't want to torture my beta with this sappy story, lol. Feel free to point out anything horrendously wrong though, because I am certain there is some.

Anyway, this was inspired by the book "Boy Meets Boy" by David Levithan, which is a totally cute book about boys in love triangles. I really liked all the methods of apologizing to someone he came up with. Also, inspired by Sowing Poppies on here, because whenever I attempt to write something serious since I've been reading her work, I draw from her style (and fail). Yeah, and I totally fail at thinking of a name for this dumb thing.

Songfics usually annoy me, but this one, I'm sorry to say, has a song in it. Please look up "Blue Eyes" by Cary Brothers on youtube or something. It's a great song, I couldn't resist putting it in here, I think it fits.

I hope you all enjoy this. I'm gonna go read a ton of fics till I burn my eyes out, kthnx bye! Oh, please don't neglect to review as well!

Bringing It Back to Life

Axel was typing fervently on his laptop on his computer desk at a speed akin to light when his boyfriend flopped down on their bed behind him, announcing "I'm home, if you didn't notice."

"I noticed." the redhead drawled with his eyes still focused on the screen. "Welcome home, Rox." He was on a roll with his story, and he was quite excited because he just might get it done on time.

He heard some rustling behind him, indicating that Roxas was not going to be leaving anytime soon. Sighing and running a hand through his hair, Axel took a pause in his writing.

"What is it, Rox?" he asked a little tiredly, turning to see the blond laying on his belly on the bed, hands propped under his chin and swinging his legs in the air idly. "You know better than to bother me while I'm working…"

Roxas looked a little taken aback for some reason. "…yeah, I know…I was just thinking we could go out tonight…"

Axel bit his lip but then turned back to his laptop. "Erm…not tonight. I need to finish this by Saturday. Larxene will murder me if I don't get it done. And she'll show no mercy. I'll be given a slow and painful death. It won't be pretty. Can we some other night?"

There was silence for a few moments before Roxas spoke again. "…I was hoping we could tonight."

His hands twitched in annoyance and he could almost feel a vein pop up on his forehead. What was he just about to type again? "Nah, I really can't."

"…Are you sure?" Roxas asked, voice softening and sounding a little bit off from usual.

"I'm sure." Axel responded automatically, just wanting to be left alone right now.

"But--"

Axel almost grumbled to himself, and interrupted quickly, wondering why his boyfriend was being so distracting and persistent. "What makes tonight so special?"

"…Well, gee, I don't know, Axel." Roxas responded sardonically. "Maybe because tonight's our anniversary?"

Axel's fingers froze on the keyboard.

…what?

His eyes automatically darted down to his open planner with notes and doodles everywhere, seeing the date "8/13" circled in red. Fuck!

Turning slowly in his seat to look at Roxas again, he saw the blond was glaring at him, though there was more hurt than anger on his face.

"Shi-shit…Roxas, I forgot--"

"Obviously." Roxas interrupted, rolling his eyes, then rolling his body off of the bed. He stood, and spoke again before Axel could, "…Though I probably expected that."

The redhead felt color drain from his face at this sudden statement. "What's that supposed to mean?" Tonight had felt like any other night to him…nothing different about it. How could he have forgotten? …Shit, I'm an ass…

Roxas lifted his head to look at him, bangs shrouding his eyes, and he smiled sadly. "You really haven't noticed?"

Eyebrows knitting together, Axel glanced sideways, propping his arm on his chair. "Uh…notice what?"

The blond shook his head and blinked a few times, his mouth twisting in a way that made Axel immediately regret his question. He really should try to remember to think before speaking…And after a moment, his eyes widened a little in understanding. Tonight was supposed to be like usual…Roxas would come home from work…Axel would work on his novel…Roxas would go do…something…they would eat, at different times no less…then just…go to sleep…where was the romance in that?

"That we're barely even a couple anymore?" Roxas said, echoing Axel's thoughts and voice cracking a bit. He began to make his way towards the opposite side of the room while going on, "I've--I've had enough of this..."

Axel got up without hesitation, and tried to cut off the boy's path.

"I'm sorry, Rox." Said blond ignored him and tried to sidestep out of the way. "Rox!" Axel grabbed the shorter boy's shoulders in an effort to get him to stop and pay attention. Roxas looked up at him with wounded eyes shining with disappointment and irritation. The redhead all but winced.

When he was certain Roxas wasn't going to try to get away from him, Axel let out an exasperated breath and let his hands fall to his sides. "I'm sorry." he repeated more quietly and sincerely this time. "I can't believe I let it slip my mind. Let's go, okay? My novel can wait."

"Yeah, well, don't worry, you can forget it again now." Roxas hissed, quickly succeeding in evading him this time and moving over to the dresser before Axel could stop him. "I don't want to go anymore."

"Come on, Rox!" Axel laughed nervously. The boy opened a drawer and started to pull out clothes, and Axel's laughter died away. He felt numb except for a sinking feeling in his stomach. "W-what are you doing?"

"Packing." the blond replied simply.

Axel's mouth dropped open and he couldn't form any words until Roxas opened another drawer. "Wha-what? Roxas, geez, I know I'm a real jerk for forgetting, but honestly, is that any reason to move out?"

"I'm not moving out." Roxas responded coldly, again, not elaborating.

"…Then why are you throwing pairs of your underwear in a pile on the floor?"

Roxas disregarded this and went over to the closet, grabbing a suitcase. He knelt down beside his clothes, beginning to fold them into the bag. "I'm going to go to Hayner's for a week."

Axel found that his body was immobile. This was all so…so…unexpected. "Roxas…I think you're over-reacting…"

"Over-reacting?!" Roxas threw a pair of whitey-tighties down into the suitcase in frustration, and it would have been comical to Axel if the situation wasn't so serious. "I probably should have done this a long time ago."

His stomach was feeling more and more uneasy, so Axel placed a hand on his desk to steady himself. "…Why…?" was all he was able to choke out.

Roxas laughed humorlessly and shook his head as he stood, in turn causing Axel's hands to start shaking. "You won't even notice I'm gone. For the past few months, it's like I don't even exist to you anymore. All it is, is 'writing, writing, writing' with you." Axel watched helplessly as the love of his life walked over to their beside table and grabbed a few of his personal things, tossing them into the suitcase. "Every time you kiss me, it's just routine. I don't feel anything from you anymore. You're always too 'busy' to talk." Roxas paused, crossed his arms, then asked, "Can you even remember the last time we made love?"

"…Uh…that would be…uh…" Axel looked to the ceiling as if it might tell the exact time, date, and area. Hell, he even half-expected to see the scene playing up there on a big screen plasma TV. But no, all he saw was plain, white plaster. "Geez, Rox, I don't keep track of these things…" he snorted, scratching the back of his head.

Roxas looked at him with that perfectly practiced scowl that Axel had resolved to break after they first met. "You shouldn't have to 'keep track'. The way we used to be, it would have been recent enough to remember. But I seem to be able to dig it up out of my memories. It was here, in our bed, last month, and you had just about as much passion as a drugged up sloth."

"…Oh…" Axel tried to ignore the fact that his voice had gotten weaker, and that his brain seemed to be shriveling up, along with his heart. Drugged up…sloth…?

"I was hoping that tonight," Roxas continued, "you could remind me of why I fell in love with you in the first place. Because that little fact I seem to be forgetting lately. But I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up."

"Roxas, come on, you know I love you. We're engaged for fuck's sake!" Axel reasoned frantically, trying, trying so hard to think of something to get Roxas to stay.

Roxas was completely unfazed by this, stooping down to close the suitcase with a few clicks, then rising again with it in hand. "Is this what married life is going to be like? Because if it is, I don't want it."

Axel blinked a few times and attempted to tell himself his eyes were watering because of allergies, and not because of Roxas.

"Roxas…I…no, it won't be like this…I…I didn't realize…sh-shit…" his voice was shaking now, and he hated himself for not knowing what to do, what to say, how to get Roxas to know that he loved him no matter what, and if he left, Axel's whole world would leave with him.

"You could have at least remembered our anniversary." Roxas sighed, staring at his feet, and began walking towards the door. "Good luck with your novel, Axel."

The redhead was able to get a hold of himself just in time to catch Roxas by the arm. "Wait." he pleaded, and Roxas paused, but refused to look at him. "Are you seriously…?" Axel swallowed thickly, realizing he didn't have the strength to ask what he was wondering.

"I'm going to stay at Hayner's for a week." Roxas repeated from before, recognizing what Axel was trying to ask, "Then I'll decide what I want to do about…you. I hope you'll figure out what to do by then, too."

Axel's grip on him tightened involuntarily as word after word hit him, hard. Roxas gasped a little in pain, then wrenched himself out of Axel's grip, finally turning to look his long-time boyfriend in the eye. "Look, I love you, I do. But I don't want to be with you right now. I need time."

Axel nodded slowly, it was all he could do. He realized that there was no way he could convince Roxas now, and that he had fucked up majorly. The blond waited generously, to see if the man had anything more to say to him, but Axel had no words to give. So he moved on, leaving his fiancé standing powerlessly, watching his love as he disappeared out the apartment door.

And Axel's whole world, was gone.

Without even looking, his body fell back into his computer chair, completely numb. Turning to blankly study the laptop screen, Axel found that all the letters were like a different language to him now, indecipherable symbols. He couldn't even re-read what he had so far.

It seemed he lost his 'roll'.

Wait. He just let Roxas leave.

Cursing, he got up, hands shaking, wanting to hit something, throw something, to take out his frustration with himself. How could he have just let Roxas walk out? He'd been in so much shock, and he wasn't even able to stop him.

Axel quickly ran over to the window of their apartment, pulling the shades open frantically, only to see Roxas' blond spikes disappearing behind a taxi cab door before it sped off.

"Dammit!" he cried out loud, and stormed over to his bed--no, his and Roxas'-- bed, sitting down and holding his head in his hands.

The past couple months…he had taken Roxas for granted. They were engaged, their future was set, and there was no excitement anymore. He'd been working himself to the bone after his first novel was a success, they'd been able to rent themselves a nice apartment, but then he wanted to save for them, for a home, for their future. So he'd neglected Roxas, immersing himself in writing for hours each day and night, while Roxas worked at the nearby skate shop. His eyes focused on his goal, he'd forgotten the whole reason behind the goal, almost completely. Even though he realized this now…he still couldn't grasp how he'd let it happen.

But Roxas had made up his mind, Axel knew that. Knew him well enough to admit that.

Pitifully crawling up to his pillow, Axel squeezed his eyes shut, willing himself to sleep, not wanting to believe it, not wanting to think about it.

The bed felt foreign and unfamiliar. It was missing something very important. Missing Roxas.

--813--

After about an hour of tossing and turning, Axel accepted the fact that he was not going to be able to sleep in his bed. His cold…empty bed. Their bed.

What the hell was he going to do now?

Groaning, he slowly opened his eyes, and they fell upon a picture on his night stand. It was of him and Roxas of course, but also with his sister Kairi. They were all wearing cheeky, almost painfully wide smiles, modeling for the camera in pirate-y poses from when they vacationed at Port Royal. Propping himself up on an elbow, Axel grabbed the picture, an idea popping up in his mind.

Kairi was the biggest hopeless romantic he knew. God knows how many times he had burst into her room with some kind of sister torturing device in hand (like the one time he and his friends attacked with their arsenal of squirt guns) to find her sitting there going ga-ga over some chick flick. Plus, she'd been in a relationship for a while with her boyfriend, and Axel didn't know of any problems between them. She was one of the few people Axel trusted. If anyone had the ability to help him, it would be her.

Fetching his planner, and feeling a sharp stab in his chest as he read "8/13", looked at the clock, and saw it was over, he opened to his collection of phone numbers. After a moment's hesitation, he dialed his sister's number, hoping to the heavens that she would pick up.

After a few rings he heard a click and her groggy voice. "…Hello?"

He hesitated for a moment and he realized that again he had done something stupid. He hadn't thought of where to start or what to say. Not to mention he had completely disregarded the time. It was now very early in a new day. His anniversary was over…

"Hey…Kairi…it's me."

"…Who's 'me'?"

Axel chuckled a little sadly. "Your brother." he clarified.

"Nngh…why are you calling so…la-early?" He heard her stifle a yawn over the line.

"I…I need your help. I'm sorry to wake you."

She paused. "It's obviously important if you're calling at this time." Kairi knew her brother well. "What's wrong?"

Taking a deep breath, Axel said, "It's…it's Roxas."

"What?!" Sounding fully awake now, she asked anxiously, "Is he okay? Did something happen to him?"

"He's….fine…" Axel responded, though he figured his boyfriend probably wasn't fine emotionally.

"Phew…you scared me for a moment there." She laughed and Axel felt a tinsy bit better, picturing her smiling face. "Oh! Today-er-yesterday was your anniversary! Congrats! So…what'd you guys do?" she asked suggestively, obviously wanting to know sappy romantic details (that didn't happen), and Axel almost cursed out loud because she had remembered and he hadn't.

"It…um…actually didn't turn out too well…" Without any delay, he dove into the story, pouring his heart out to her, re-telling the whole event, and how he was feeling through a choked and weak voice. Kairi remained silent for most of it, and only offered an 'uh-huh' or 'okay, calm down' every one in a while, but he knew she was listening intently.

"What should I do?" he finished with, and he could hear his phone creak against his ear because he was squeezing it too hard.

"Well…" she breathed into the line, causing static. "Give him what he asked for. And give him what he didn't ask for."

"Huh? What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Axel asked her, wondering if she was still half-asleep.

"Figure it out. Show him you love him, don't just tell him. I know he cares about you so much, and you care about him, despite this falling out you two have had. And I love you two. I…don't want to see you apart. You belong together. Let him think, but don't let him think you forgot him again. I know he'll come back to you, if you care enough to give him a reason."

"Yeah, but, what do I do?!" Why did girls have to speak in riddles? Jesus, this is one of the main reasons he was gay…

"You have to figure it out for yourself. If I tell you what to do, it won't be from you." She paused. "I'm sorry about this, Axel. Listen, I need to get back to bed. If mom catches me on the phone again-" She stopped abruptly and Axel heard her suck in a breath. "Shit!" and Axel was a little shocked to hear his younger sibling swear. "Mom's up!" she whispered hastily. "Goodnight, Axel, I love you, and good luck!"

"Bye little sis…" Axel said, hanging up with a frown and tossing his cell pone dejectedly back onto his night stand. Well, that was a big help…

Noticing that he had neglected to turn off his computer from the glow it emitted throughout the room, the redhead figured that he better go turn it off. For lack of anything better to do with his asshole-boyfriend-self.

Sitting down in the chair, he saved the progress he had made so far and proceeded to shut the laptop down. Blowing out a deep breath, his eyes focused on nothing in particular as he leaned his head into his hand.

"Give him what he asked for. And give him what he didn't ask for."

What the hell, Kairi? If he had wanted to hear something like that, he would have ordered some Chinese food for a fortune cookie. Damn her and her damn romantic whims.

The screen flickered as programs closed and Axel tried to decipher her dumb riddle. Let's see…Roxas asked for time. And he wants us to be passionate again.

A random thought popped into his head, whether it was from exhaustion, depression, or just the fact that he was a pervert, he didn't know.

Give him sex then. Passionate, undrugged up, hot, monkey sex.

No. That's not the kind of passion that Roxas was looking for. Without love, sex was just an act, just for pleasure and no real connection was needed. Axel highly doubted that Roxas would appreciate it if he stormed into Hayner's house and started screwing him against the wall.

He sighed downheartedly, and looked at his desktop background when it was the only thing left before the screen turned to black. It was of Roxas and himself again, arms wrapped around each other like they were sewn together, at the beach. Axel noticed some sunblock lotion that was left flecked on Roxas' check and he chuckled a little to himself as he remembered himself squirting out a large glob and slapping it onto his boyfriend's body before the blond could protest. They had had so much fun that day…

A unexpected idea popped into Axel's head because of this, and although the computer screen went completely blank, his mind didn't.

"Show him you love him, don't just tell him".

Suddenly, Kairi's advice made much more sense.

He had a plan.

--813--

Axel spent the day after their wasted anniversary, Thursday, giving Roxas what he asked for: time and space. He didn't bother his boyfriend, didn't try calling him, sobbing on the phone, begging him to come back. He gave himself enough credit to know it wouldn't work with Roxas, plus he had enough self-respect not to do it. So although he left the blond alone, this isn't to say he wasted time.

Axel spent the day printing out pictures from the years they were together from his laptop (that evil device that had caused their demise!). He wasn't much of an artist, but he unburied an empty photo album that he'd been meaning to fill for a while and made a scrapbook. He could have made a slideshow and put it on a disk, but he thought making one with his own hands was much more special. It was kind of sappy, but knowing Roxas, he would secretly go ga-ga over it.

Hopefully.

So Axel gave Roxas time by spending his time uncovering old memories, gluing them onto pages along with sparkles, hearts, and blurbs.

--813--

Friday, Axel called Kairi, and they went shopping. Not for the latest fashions like she would have liked, of course. For Roxas.

Even though Axel had made an album out of their digital photos, he also knew that Roxas liked old fashioned things. Looking back on when Roxas had left (although it was painful) he had seen Roxas pack his old camera. Axel was actually relieved to know this. Roxas had always wanted to keep the traditional way of photography alive, and he would lug the thing around with them whenever they went somewhere unique.

Hayner's family owned a pharmacy, complete with a dark room for development. Seeing as the guy was Roxas' friend since grade school, this is probably where he picked the habit up, and he had always been able to develop his photos there for free.

Axel didn't have artistic vision, but Roxas did. He took the most beautiful photographs, capturing moments that no one else would have seen, and using angles and other techniques to make the picture all the more captivating. Roxas noticed the little things, things Axel never would have appreciated otherwise. They had a collection of these photographs, but Axel hadn't used them for his gift. Slicing them up into fun shapes and lacing them with construction paper would ruin them anyways.

So Axel bought the boy film. One color, one black and white, in hopes that Roxas would use them to catch more beautiful scenes during their time apart.

Kairi delivered the present to Roxas, both knowing that he wasn't ready to see Axel yet.

--813--

On Saturday, as expected, Larxene showed up at their apartment door.

"Got the story?" she demanded, thrusting out a greedy hand. Axel looked down at her fingernails. They were painted red today. He and Roxas always liked to joke about how they made her seem like a witch, all long and pointy. Man, and Roxas wasn't here to see either…

"Uh…no." Axel answered honestly.

Also as expected, his editor's face twisted into one of fury.

"Axel! Late again?! I told the publishers we would have it done in two weeks! Now you're giving me less time to edit! You better get off your lazy ass and-"

"You know what, Larx?" he interrupted in a mockingly polite voice. "I actually am getting off of my ass and doing something."

Larxene paused, mouth open from the words she had just been about to form, then snapped it shut. She let her hand that she had been jabbing at him in accusation fall to her side and her expression softened. "Oh. Well, great then. When can I expect it?"

Axel shrugged. "I don't know. I'll call when it's done. Right now I'm doing something much more important."

"Axel," she warned icily. "Nothing is more important than getting that novel done right now." He could see her blood was beginning to boil again, but he wasn't about to let it get to him. If he had to sacrifice his life for Roxas because she mutilated him, so be it.

"Actually," he replied calmly. "my boyfriend is. See ya, Larx."

Only catching a glimpse of her murderous face as he slammed and locked the door, turning around to set to work.

Grinning as he sat down at his desk, listening to the soothing sounds of her throwing herself against the door, he shoved his laptop aside and tore off a clean sheet of notebook paper.

Time to write.

"Larxene just stopped by to pick up the new novel. Guess who doesn't have it done? She's gonna totally skin me and sell me on the black market, I know it. Though I probably deserve it, huh?

So, that scrapbook wasn't too gay I hope? Too gay for us anyways. I want us to make more memories like that. Just say the word, and I'll whisk you away to wherever you want to go. Look, even if you don't come back, I want to see what pictures you take with that film. You know I love your photography. Almost as much as I love you.

Yeah, yeah, I know you probably don't want to hear that right now, but it's true. Hard to believe, seeing how much of an asshole I've been. But there's no way I'm giving up on us. I've decided, no more ignoring you for my writing. No ifs ands or buts.

I really am sorry. I mean, what happened to us? We're Axel and Roxas. We brought sexy back. People used to have to pry us off each other. I even got fired from my job because of you. Though that was totally worth it ;)

Anyway, enough of that. I know there's only so much you can stand. But I want us to be like that again, more than anything.

You'll be interested to know that Larxene's nails were red this time. Think she finally stabbed someone in the neck with them? We knew it was bound to happen one day…"

Instead of using the day to write for his novel, like he was obligated to do, he wrote for his Roxas, which he wanted to do. Throughout the day he sat down to talk about things that came to his mind. Simple things. Complicated things. Things that Roxas could care less about and things that he hopefully cared about more than anything. Roxas wasn't into bullshit and flowers and ponies and love poems. So Axel gave him himself, in the form of writing. He didn't hide anything, he didn't lie. No fallacies or poetic lines to confuse and frustrate his fiancé. Just absolute truths.

--813--

Sunday, Axel wrote more for his boyfriend. He decorated scroll with all the words that he loves, ones that make him laugh, and even some words that Roxas had pointed out he uses too much in his writing. The blond was his toughest critic other than himself after all. But he was also Axel's biggest fan.

Some words included:

Homophile: gay (us)

Hirsute: to be hairy or fuzzy

Debauchery: indulgence in sensual pleasures

Azure: sky blue (like your eyes)

Conflagration: The visible signs of combustion.

Jocularity: A state of joyful exuberance

Mastication: (haha, sounds like masturbation) to reduce to a pulp by crushing or kneading, as rubber

Remorseful: Feeling or expressing regret for one's sins or misdeeds.

Beautiful: you

With any luck, Roxas would be pleased with these, and they would mean more than just their definitions to him.

--813--

Monday was nerve racking, to say the least. It was the day Axel was going to deliver the letters to Roxas himself.

"Calm down," Demyx assured him, patting him on the back. "Roxas totally still digs you, he's just being stubborn."

"Yeah…" Axel sighed to try to get his limbs to relax, running a hand through that gravity-defying hair of his. "But are you sure this is going to work? I mean, I can't sing or do anything musical, so it's not really from me."

"He'll know it's from you." the blond man disagreed, propping his guitar on his leg to tune it.

Axel shifted his feet nervously, before throwing a rock at Roxas' window, hoping that the boy was staying in the guest room and was in there at the moment. And that he wouldn't throw the rock back at him.

After a minute, nothing happened and Axel began to feel like this wasn't the best idea. After tossing another stone with no answer, he picked up his things and quickly turned to head home but was caught by his collar by his friend.

"Hey, hey, I don't think so." Demyx scolded, pulling him back into place. Axel looked at him disheartened, thinking if he stuck around he would just end up more depressed, but Demyx only smiled, raising a finger to point at the window without even looking at it. Axel's eyes followed, to see his fiancé for the first time since their anniversary, leaning out the window.

The two said nothing to each other. Roxas wasn't smiling but he didn't look disgusted to see Axel there, which was a relief.

With a nod from the redhead, Demyx began to strum out a chord on his acoustic and broke into song.

"Wish enough, wise man'll tell you a lie
Window broke, torn up screens
Who'd have thought that you'd dream
Of a single tragic scene

I just wanna sing a song with you
I just want to take it off of you

Cause Blue Eyes
You are all that I need
Cause Blue Eyes
You're the sweet to my mean

Fess it up, dot on the palm of your hand
I can help you to stand
Saved it up for this dance
Tell me all the things you can

I just wanna sing a song with you
I just wanna be the one that's true

Cause Blue Eyes
You're the secret I keep
Cause Blue Eyes

All the lights on and you are alive
But you can't point the way to your heart
So sublime, when the stars are aligned
But you don't know
You don't know the greatness you are

Cause Blue Eyes
You are destiny's scene
Cause Blue Eyes
I just wanna be the one

I just wanna sing a song with you
I just wanna get it on with you

Cause Blue Eyes
You're the secret I keep
Cause Blue Eyes
I just wanna sing a song with you…"

Axel watched Roxas' face as Demyx sang. The boy smiled a and blushed a little as it went on, a reaction that was what Axel was looking for. Though when Roxas' gaze traveled down to him, Axel had to look away. He couldn't make eye contact yet. He just hoped that Roxas knew that this was all from him.

Afterwards, as Demyx was packing up his guitar, Roxas came out of the house. Axel smiled at him, shoving his hands in his pockets sheepishly.

"Hey." he said.

"Hey." Roxas said back.

"You know, that song didn't really fit." the blond pointed out, and Axel's smile dropped.

"Oh. Um. Why?"

"If you wanted to 'sing a song' with me," Roxas explained, referring to the lyrics, "you should have invited me down and sang with me, not have had Demyx sing." He flashed a grin over to the older blond, who grinned back from his kneeling position beside his guitar case.

Axel laughed a little, relieved that Roxas was joking. "You know I can't sing."

"I know. But that was really nice of you." Finally their eyes met, and the blue eyes that had inspired Axel's song choice shimmered, making it all so, so worth it.

Reaching into his back pocket, Axel pulled out all the letters and words that he had written to Roxas the days before.

He handed them over, and Roxas said, "You don't have to do this."

"I'm showing you." Axel replied.

"Okay."

--813--

Tuesday, Axel was freaking out because:

1. He didn't have anything planned for the day

2. Tomorrow, it would be a week since Roxas walked out, and he had the boy's decision to anticipate and wanted to plan something extra special.

But to his utter and delighted surprise, Roxas actually called him, telling Axel to meet him in the park near their apartment.

When Axel spotted the back of Roxas' spiky head sitting on a park bench, he took a deep breath, stepping forward and placing a hand on the boy's shoulder.

"Hi, Rox." he greeted genuinely, leaning over to see that gorgeous face he loved so much.

Roxas jumped a little in surprise but the way he beamed up at Axel was absolutely gratifying. "Oh! H-hi, Axel."

The redhead's throat closed up on him for a moment as he walked around to sit down next to Roxas, so nervous he didn't even know what to do with his hands. So he ended up just folding them between his knees.

"Thank you for all those letters. And all those words. I read them all…I don't even know how many times." Roxas said to him, biting his lip cutely.

"You don't have to thank me." Axel said, wishing he could make the slight awkwardness between them disappear. Before he could stop himself, he ended up blurting out, "Will you meet me tomorrow at the old Oathkeeper shop?"

Roxas heard him, but pursed his lips and pulled up his black and white checkered backpack into his lap silently. The blond pulled out what looked like a photo album, and he offered it over.

Axel took it, holding it gently like it might shatter like glass if he dropped it. Upon opening it, there were three pictures that greeted him.

"I"

"Miss"

"You"

These words were what were visible on the different photographs, and Axel recognized them from various signs around town.

Axel felt joy well up inside him, but didn't want to get his hopes up yet. On the next page, there was a picture of himself and Roxas at a recent concert, that the boy had taken himself, which would be obvious to any viewer considering that Axel's eyes were cut off.

"Those were from the roll I had left in my camera…" Roxas explained.

There were a few more pictures of them together, and then various locations, random snapshots of strangers and scenery.

"And those are from the film you gave me…" he elaborated again.

"Wow…" Axel breathed, holding the album up close to his face so he could see the details even better. "…Roxas…this is….this is great. But I don't deserve it."

The blond shrugged. "Instinct told me to do it."

Axel had a feeling it was more than just that.

After hesitating for a moment, he asked, "What does instinct tell you to do now?"

Roxas shook his bangs out of his eyes and said, "To meet you tomorrow."

"You gonna listen to it?" Axel asked, grin slowly forming on his face.

"Yeah." Roxas stated, gaze flitting up to meet his for a shy second.

Axel didn't risk asking if Roxas was going to move back in tomorrow. They just stayed on the park bench for a while, the redhead complimenting the blond on his photography skills, before they parted ways until the next day.

--813--

Kairi placed her hands over Axel's firmly to stop them from shaking. "It's gonna be fine. He's going to totally come back to you. I mean, wow, I wish my boyfriend had done stuff like this for me."

Axel blew out a breath. "Yeah, but you want him to ignore you for months? This isn't nearly enough to make up for that."

"Stop it." his sister reprimanded, giving his hands a quick slap. "Every couple has their ups and downs. Roxas is smart enough to know that. He just wanted to see if you were willing to pick it up again. Which you definitely did."

"We'll see…" Axel decided was the best response, because if he said anything the slightest bit emo he knew she'd just argue with him again.

Kairi suddenly gasped and Axel almost fell out of his chair, his nerves were so on edge. "He's here!"

Roxas knocked on the door of the shop, and Axel watched as he shaded his eyes and tried to peer inside at the darkness.

Kairi squealed and ran over to the door, opening it and flipping the light switch. Strings of lights flickered to life, white Christmas bulbs hanging along the walls illuminating the room only slightly, the real ceiling lights still turned off.

Roxas' mouth fell open in awe as he looked around at the place, then his eyes fell upon his fiancé who was sitting at a table in the very center of the dim shop.

On the final day, Axel gave Roxas himself.

"How did you do this?" Roxas asked as he sat down across the man.

"I pulled a few strings." Axel told him with a mysterious smile. The look Roxas gave him made him wish he had the boy's camera on him so he could keep it forever.

"Dinner is served, you two love birds!" Kairi exclaimed, setting down a pizza in the center of the table.

"Kairi…" Axel warned. He could have done without the 'love birds' part.

"Okay, okay, I'm leaving, I'm leaving!" She said defensivey, holding up her hands and retreating into the back.

"I haven't been in here since you were fired." Roxas laughed, eyes still studying the place.

"Mmm, I know." Axel hummed, taking a bite of the pizza. "It's such a shame that it went out of business. They seriously had the best food. And I'm not just saying that because I helped make it."

"Yeah, it really was." Roxas agreed, a string of cheese stretching from his piece as he ate it. "I'm gonna miss your sea salt milkshakes so much."

"You were the only one who liked those." Axel chuckled. "But fortunately, I made one for you."

Right on cue, Kairi came sauntering out, carrying the shake on a tray.

"Yes!" Roxas cried, immediately grabbing it and taking a long sip. "I get to have the last one ever!"

"The last Oathkeeper pizza ever, too." Axel pointed out, savoring his piece and Roxas' reaction to this whole thing.

"This is amazing." Roxas said, and Axel could tell that he really meant it. Roxas wasn't into bullshit, he didn't need a fancy dinner or bouquets of flowers. This was a memory brought back to life, of where they met, were they fell in love, and where Roxas had gotten Axel fired when they snuck into a broom closet together. It was a shame that the rival franchise, Kingdom Pies, had just run the place out of business too, only because of their low prices.

"I'm glad you think so." Axel admitted, glancing over and winking at Kairi since he knew she would be spying.

"Yeah, Kingdom Pies sucks balls." Roxas grumbled, digging into his meal.

"Here, here!" the redhead cheered, raising his glass in a mock toast. "So, what'd you do all week without me?"

They gorged themselves on the final dinner served at the pizza place and chatted casually, until there were only crumbs left on the circular tray before them.

Roxas looked at Axel a little expectantly, and the man hesitated for a moment, before he was encouraged to 'go on!' with a fist pump from Kairi mouthing the words.

He stood up and brushed off his pants of crumbs, getting down on one knee beside Roxas and taking his hand in his own. Just like Roxas did when he had proposed to Axel on the clock tower in Twilight Town many months ago.

"Roxas…" Axel said quietly, heart pounding. "I don't know how else to say I'm sorry. You're the best thing that ever happened to me and I-"

"Axel." the boy interrupted quickly. "Shut up."

Axel's jaw dropped and he felt like his whole world was about to crumble all over again like when Roxas left. And that he would fall apart with it. After all this, Roxas still...?

"I always knew you were a sap, Axel, but this is too much." Roxas laughed, and the redhead beamed, unable to believe it.

"Will...will you forgive me?"

Roxas leaned down and kissed him once, just once. "Yes. Just as long as you promise not to act so girly again. Now...let's go home, and you can remind me why I was so eager to move in with you…"

"Ooooooo" came the coos of a group of people, and the two lovers turned to see Kairi and the whole gang of their friends from Oathkeeper Pizza watching them. Sora, Riku, Leon, Cloud, Aerith, and Tifa. The ones who had brought them together, and kicked them out together.

They walked out to call a taxi, holding hands, and Axel realized that there was no possible way he could ever forget this. He could even turn the tale into a new story. But it would come second to Roxas of course.