Authoress: Moondalian
Editor: ShounenSuki
Summary: AU: When Roxas is left home alone because his parents are away for the weekend, he thinks he has it made. Sadly, his mother's paranoia drives her to get a babysitter for him. Enter Axel, the unwanted and yet irresistible babysitter.
Pairing: Axel x Roxas

Wow… I haven't posted anything in like, a year. I feel very sad now. I fully blame my attempt at writing an actual book which I want to get published. It's been sucking away any and all inspiration. I'm going to try and get back into writing actual fanfiction again though, so who knows.
Either way, I hope everyone enjoys even though this isn't even my regular fandom to write for. R&R folks!

--: Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Hot :--

For as long as he could remember, Roxas had been very independent. He liked to do things on his own rather than having to reply on others. When he'd been younger he'd tried to ditch his parents as much as possible so he could go off on his own. This had of course landed him in trouble more than once. Then again, all that trouble had taught him how to take care of himself even more so he really didn't mind.

School had never been much of a problem for him. He wasn't the most popular person around because he tended to be rather overprotective of his twin brother, Sora, who managed to get himself into trouble every other minute at times. Even so, he had a small group of friends and his overprotectiveness of Sora had started to decrease ever since the brunet had started dating Riku. Naturally Roxas hadn't approved of this at first but he'd grudgingly given up on trying to kill Riku every time the silveret looked at Sora with those hopelessly-in-love eyes. Now Sora had two people beating up bullies for him, which seemed to suit the brunet just fine as long as they didn't go too far.

His parents left him alone for the most part and let him make his own decisions, having learned long ago that trying to stop him from doing something he'd set his mind to was pointless. Not that they let him get away with anything if it really went against what they wanted, but luckily Roxas had gained enough sense by now not to repeat the mistakes of his past. Now, at age 16, he was completely content to – mostly – stay out of trouble.

Thus, when his mother had come home from work on Tuesday to announce that her work was hosting a large event that would last the entire weekend, Roxas had automatically assumed that he'd be left in charge and he and Sora would be able to just sit on the couch and watch TV the entire weekend while eating insane amounts of snack food.

Sadly, his assumption was not correct.

"So since we'll be leaving Friday night and I don't want you to be alone," Roxas' hopes had already started sinking at this point, "a colleague of mine offered that his son could babysit you."

The little hope he'd still had practically shattered. Roxas stared at his mother before snapping out of his shock and instantly starting to protest, "Sora and I don't need a babysitter!"

Sora, standing next to him, shifted nervously from foot to foot and Roxas glanced over to him, his eyes narrowing on the brunet in suspicion.

"Sora will be staying at Riku's house. Such a nice boy." His mother smiled fondly, to this day still not aware of what Sora and Riku's relationship actually was. It wasn't that she wouldn't have approved if she had known, she just tended to be a bit paranoid and usually assumed the worst. If she'd known Sora and Riku were dating she would've never let Sora stay there as much as she did, "Anyway, I don't want to leave you alone the entire weekend. What if something happens?"

Roxas ignored the apologetic look Sora threw at him, for the moment deciding that he hated his brother, "I'll go to the neighbours!"

"What if there's a burglar and he has a gun?"

Roxas rolled his eyes, "I'm pretty sure a babysitter wouldn't be able to stop an armed man either."

"No, but he can take the bullets for you."

The scary thing was, Roxas wasn't entirely sure if his mother was joking or not. He decided not to put too much thought into it and take it as a joke for his own sanity's sake, "The odds of a burglar breaking in exactly when you guys are gone is slim to none." He crossed his arms, glaring at the ground defiantly though it turned out as more of a sulk as he could see that the battle had already been lost.

"There's still a chance, Roxas. And there are a lot of other things that could happen." His mother gave him a stern look that clearly stated that the discussion was over. "Now I don't want to hear another word about this. You're getting a babysitter and that's final."

Roxas pressed his lips together in a hard line as he stopped himself from continuing to argue with his mother. Instead he gave a jerky nod before turning around and walking to his room, Sora not far behind him. He could hear his mother humming happily to herself in the living room, doing whatever it was she was doing. Roxas' annoyance only grew at the cheerful sound.

Resisting the urge to slam the door to his room shut, Roxas suppressed his annoyance as he finally caught a good look at Sora. He sighed at the guilty eyes that looked at him as the brunet passed him and sat down on his desk chair, obviously bracing himself for a lot of yelling. Roxas rolled his eyes and closed the door calmly, crossing his arms and glaring at his brother, "You're going to Riku?"

Sora smiled sheepishly, "I was sitting in the living room with Riku when mom came home and you were still in your room. The moment she said she and dad would be going away for the weekend Riku suggested that I stay over at his place. She hadn't even mentioned a babysitter at that point."

"And of course she accepted immediately because Riku is such a great friend." The sarcasm dripping off every word was rather hard to miss. Roxas rolled his eyes once more and sat down on his bed, continuing to sulk but grudgingly forgiving Sora for deserting him the coming weekend. At least now he could blame Riku for suggesting the idea in the first place, which was far more convenient to him.

There was silence for a moment before Sora gave a curious look, "I wonder what the guy coming over here is like…"

Roxas shrugged, "I don't care, I'm not going to listen to him anyway. I'm plan on spending the weekend doing absolutely nothing but watching TV and eating junk food to try and make the best of it."

Sora smiled, shaking his head slightly, "It's a miracle that you're not fat with the amount of junk food you eat at times."

Roxas chuckled, grinning at the brunet, "Beating up bullies for you is great exercise."

And so the rest of the evening was spent joking around, mostly at the expense of the babysitter. Plans of revenge that would never be carried out were made and by the time they went to bed, Roxas was barely even annoyed anymore. It was miraculous how fast Sora could cheer him up.

"Have fun, dear!" Roxas watched as his mother waved happily as Sora walked away from the house, Riku at his side. The moment she turned around, Roxas caught a glimpse of Riku grinning and pecking Sora on the cheek. He scowled at the sight as his mother walked back upstairs to finish her make-up and whatever else it was she did in the bathroom when she was getting ready for a social event. Really, Roxas had no intension of ever finding out what exactly woman – or at the very least his mother - did in there for hours on end. Somehow putting on make-up didn't seem all that time-consuming to him.

He walked back into the living room, flopping down onto the couch in boredom and started flipping through the channels, half hoping whoever was coming to babysit would get into an accident and wouldn't be able to come over.

… Well, it was still less bad than his mother suggesting the guy take a bullet for him.

Finding nothing on TV, Roxas switched back to one of the movies he'd seen passing by and put down the remote, not really interested in the movie itself but he needed something to do that didn't involve glaring sulkily at a wall.

It took another hour before his mother came downstairs again, fidgeting with the dress she'd put on for the party that was supposed to take place that evening. She glanced back at the staircase as his father noisily started to drag their suitcases down – really, what had she put into that thing? – before smiling in satisfaction and coming over to him. Roxas had a vague suspicion that he already knew what she was going to say and that he was going to blatantly ignore it the moment she was out of sight.

"Now, Roxas. I want you to listen to Axel when he gets here and don't be a bother. It's very sweet of him to come all the way here to look after you."

His mother was just so predictable at times.

"I know, I know." Roxas didn't even bother looking away from the movie that was in no way interesting anymore but served nicely as a distraction from his mother's ramblings, "Don't make it hard for him, go to bed on time, don't invite masses of friends over to try and overthrow his reign of power, I know."

His mother's eyebrows rose at the last comment before she decided that Roxas was probably joking. Roxas held back a smile at that. In truth he had planned a full-scale attack on this Axel person together with Sora during the week. Not that he was actually going to do anything aside from trying to be as annoying as possible, but the mental images of his babysitter bound and gagged to a chair while he threw a party were still amusing.

"Alright, he should be here soon now." His mother glanced up at the clock as his father managed to finally drag her suitcase down the stairs and into the hall. Roxas eyed the suitcase in disbelief before turning back to his movie. Why his mother had chosen to bring her largest suitcase – and guessing from his father's posture, fill it to the brim with whatever she'd put in there – was beyond him.

"Honey, are you sure you need everything in that suitcase?" his father eyed the suitcase suspiciously. His mother turned to look at him in annoyance, "Yes, I need everything in there. I want to make a good impression and I can't do that without everything that's in there."

Roxas spared a sympathetic glance at his father as the man sighed and started to drag the suitcase out to the car. It wasn't his fault after all that Roxas would be stuck with a babysitter. That was all his mother's fault. He could pity his father.

Another fifteen minutes went by with his mother stressing out over anything that she might've forgotten and checking her watch every ten seconds and asking where the babysitter was. Of course the fact that it was still only a quarter past seven and Axel was supposed to be at their house at half past seven didn't seem to register with her. When the bell rang after those fifteen minutes his mother's anxious face immediately replaced itself with a cheerful expression as she stood up to open the door. Roxas scowled at the TV, pointedly staring at the screen and not looking up to see who exactly was going to be looking after him. He attempted to figure out what was going on in the movie since he'd long stopped paying attention to it, but just like before found it too be too boring to look at longer than a few seconds.

There was some murmuring from the hallway as his mother opened the door and greeted Axel before she cheerfully entered the living room and gave him a a hug.

"Now remember, listen to Axel and don't do anything stupid."

Roxas rolled his eyes, returning the hug only because he knew his mother probably wouldn't let go until he did. "I know, I know. You act like I set the house on fire on a weekly basis."

A chuckle came from his father as the man stood up from his seat, straightening the suit he was wearing, "You did try that once when you were little."

"I was eight and trying to teach myself how to cook." Roxas grumbled. There was a snicker from behind and Roxas assumed it was Axel since he didn't recognize the voice. He scowled even more, adding yet another reason to his list of 'Why-I-hate-the-babysitter'.

His mother's paranoia didn't seem to have left her, her expression still doubtful. Nonetheless she gave him one last hug before standing up, straightening her dress and walking into the hallway to get her coat. His father joined her and after saying goodbye the two left. Any hopes of the babysitter somehow not making it or having to leave the moment he came into the house completely left Roxas and he sulkily continued to stare at the TV, not even bothering to try and get back into the movie but just wanting to have something to stare at other than the babysitter.

The door to the hallway opened and closed and Roxas fully expected his babysitter to demand his attention instantly. Instead there was a moment of silence before he could vaguely hear footsteps approaching. The next thing he knew the remote he'd been holding was fished out of his hands. Roxas stared at his hand for a moment before the channel on the TV was switched and Axel walked past him to sit on the other coach, making himself comfortable there and seemingly ignoring him.

Roxas' mouth fell open before he scowled, "I was watching that!"

Axel turned to him and Roxas got his first good look at him. He had red hair that either defied gravity or must cost a small fortune in hair gel to get it as spiked as it was. He had emerald-green eyes that seemed to burn with an inner fire – since when had he become so poetic? – and had a distinctly playful and mischievous glint to them. He was probably somewhere in his mid-twenties, though with that glint in his eyes Roxas suspected he didn't quite act that age all the time.

Roxas swallowed as he took in the other's features, aware that the man sitting before him was probably every woman and gay guy's wet dream come true. He had the distinct feeling that he'd be seeing Axel in his own for a while to come at the very least.

"You seemed to be trying to glare the movie to death so figured I'd do the both of you a favour." An easy grin broke out on the other's face, the tone of his voice reflecting the playful glint in his eyes, "That and the movie seemed boring."

Roxas snapped out of his momentary daze and, despite the truth of the other's words, returned to scowling and telling himself that a babysitter was a ridiculous idea. Sadly, Axel sitting on the other couch looking like that was making it very hard to hate the guy. "Well I want to finish watching the movie so switch it back."

"What was the movie called?"

Roxas blinked in surprise at the question, "What?"

Axel's grin seemed to widen, "What was it about?"

Roxas looked at the other in confusion for a moment before catching on to what Axel was trying to do. He cursed himself for not remembering anything about the movie even though he'd periodically paid attention to a few seconds of it. He wracked his brain for anything that he might've absorbed long enough to still be in there somewhere. Sadly, everything he'd previously taken in had already been erased from his mind because it simply hadn't been interesting enough.

Damn his short attention span.

At the long silence Axel's grin turned into a triumphant smirk before he turned back to the TV and proceeded to flip through the channels in search of anything interesting. Roxas scowled once more before standing up and walking towards his room, "I'm going to my room."

"Just as long as you don't try and cook anything."

Roxas whirled around to see Axel grinning at him, instantly trying to defend himself, "I was eight!" Seeing the grin only growing he resisted the urge to punch the redhead and continued on back to his room.

And still he couldn't bring himself to really hate Axel. How annoying.

To try and get rid of some of his frustration he slammed his door shut and started up his PS2, put in his Tekken game, and proceeded to kick the crap out of anyone the computer pitted him against for the next two hours. At the end of those two hours he'd finally managed to calm down enough to stop picturing Axel as every character he fought and grudgingly admit that as far as babysitters went, Axel wasn't the worst. The redhead had left him alone for the entire evening and he probably would've been gaming all night even if Axel hadn't been sitting downstairs, though maybe a bit less violently.

Naturally Axel decided that moment was the perfect time to enter the room and destroy the plus point he'd only so recently acquired. It was instantly removed from the 'pro list' and Roxas was all-too happy to see it go.

"Your mother said something about you having to go to bed around ten." Axel paused for a moment as his eyes fell on the TV still displaying the Tekken game, "Is that Tekken?"

Roxas raised an eyebrow at him, "What if it is?"

Axel's eyes instantly lit up and the redhead sat down next to him. He grabbed the second controller that was lying around and declared the character he wanted, looking expectantly at Roxas to start up the versus mode. Roxas stared in stunned surprise before snapping out of it and frowning slightly, "Didn't you say something about having to go to bed?"

Axel shrugged, "You don't seem tired yet. Unless you're scared of fighting me…" the redhead's eyes flashed challengingly as he continued to grin. Roxas' eyes narrowed at the challenge and his fingers instantly started pressing buttons to get to the versus mode of the game, "You're on."

And so, for another hour and a half, they kicked each other's asses, becoming more competitive each time one of them was beaten. In the beginning Roxas had kept up with how many times each of them had won but by the end of it all he'd given up and was just enjoying himself. He still wanted to win but that was natural when playing a game like Tekken. After the first half hour of randomly spouting insults at each other when one of them did something stupid or simply lost, they had actually started talking and joking. By the end of the hour and a half of playing Roxas felt more like he was playing a game with a friend than someone who was supposed to be looking after him for the weekend. Besides, Axel seemed to care more about having fun than being a good babysitter and sending him to bed on time.

"So you actually almost set the house on fire when you were little?" Axel glanced aside with a curious though highly amused look as they reselected their characters to start yet another fight. His eyes held an odd spark could almost be described as insane but Roxas couldn't quite place it.

Roxas rolled his eyes at the comment, "I was eight and trying to figure out how to cook. I didn't really know what I was doing and I accidentally set a cutting board on fire. It really didn't do all that much since my dad walked in not two seconds later and managed to put out the flames before anything else caught on fire. He just likes to remind me."

Axel snickered, eyes focussing back on the TV screen as the fight started up and his fingers raced over the buttons, "Your mom must've flipped when she heard about that. My dad says she can be really paranoid at times."

Roxas snorted, "Not just at times, she's like that nonstop. When my dad told her I'd 'almost burned down the house' she didn't let me near anything fire-related for years."

He yawned, silently cursing Sora for waking him up so damned early after getting his hands on some sugar, and was too slow to hit the right controls in time to stop Axel from finishing him off. Roxas fully intended to blame Sora for this later.

Noticing the yawn, Axel threw a brief glance at the clock, blinking in surprise at the time, "I think it's time for bed."

Roxas suppressed another yawn stubbornly, "My bed time was an hour ago. You're really going to try and send me to bed now?"

Axel shrugged at the comment, "I don't really care about your bed time but you look ready to collapse." He put the controller down, leaning back on his arms and ruefully staring at the game, "We can just continue playing tomorrow."

Roxas grudgingly nodded – god he was doing a lot of things grudgingly these days. He needed to stop doing that – and turned off the PS2 and the TV before standing up and stretching, his muscles feeling bunched up after sitting on the ground for an entire evening. "Sure, I'll just beat you some more tomorrow then."

Axel stood up too, smirking as he did so, "We'll see, Roxy. I just haven't played for a while so I need to get back into it."

Ignoring the question of how Axel was managing to beat him at Tekken if he hadn't played for a while – really, some of those combos were hell to memorize – Roxas stared at Axel with narrowed eyes. He'd been trying to get everyone to forget that nickname for as long as he could remember. It made him sound like either some girl or just plainly incredibly cute. He was neither, "Roxy?"

Noticing the slightly annoyed undertone and the narrowed eyes, Axel cocked his head in question, "You don't like the nickname?"

"It makes me sound like a little cute girl or something." Roxas scowled, clearly remembering Hayner teasing him for that exact reason.

Axel simply grinned at the comment, his voice turning into a near purr, "But Roxy, you are cute."

Roxas couldn't help the shiver that ran down his spine, nor could he stop the slight blush that crept up his cheeks at the nickname being pronounced in such a way. He averted his eyes, his answer coming out feeble at best, "I'm not cute."

There was a slight pause before Axel stepped closer, lifting Roxas' face back up with his thumb and forefinger so they were looking at each other again. Another shiver ran down Roxas' spine at the teasing yet sultry look on the other's face, "But you are, Roxy. Very cute in fact."

Roxas swallowed and tried very hard not to let his face heat up even more, failing miserably in his attempt. Axel was obviously just going out of his way to say the nickname like that now – the bastard – and apparently the redhead found it highly entertaining how Roxas was responding to it. The worst thing was that it was working like a charm and despite the fact that he'd always hated the nickname with a vengeance, it suddenly had an appealing ring to it. Roxas cursed his hormones and the fact that Axel had somehow managed to actually make him like him. It was so much harder now to ignore how amazing the other looked without any flimsy reasons to dislike the guy.

"Am not." Roxas muttered, not really convinced of his own argument by now. Even to his own ears it plainly sounded like an empty statement.

The mischievous glint in Axel's eyes sparked brighter than ever as he leaned slightly closer, "Do you want me to stop, Roxy?"

It was around that time that his brain practically shut down and Roxas couldn't care less about any silly nickname, "Not really…"

Axel's featured instantly morphed into a victorious grin as he pulled away, letting go of Roxas' face and simply walking towards the door, "Glad we agree on that. Good night, Roxy."

Roxas stared in mild shock as Axel left his room and closed the door behind him. His mind finally caught up to what had just happened and his shock simply turned to disbelief. Whether he couldn't believe what Axel had just done to win their little argument or that he'd fallen for it so easily even he couldn't tell though. Either way, not only did Axel obviously know what kind of effect he had on him, he knew how to use that effect as well and didn't have any problems doing so in the slightest.

Roxas really wanted to blame Axel for all this like he usually found ways to blame others for things, but he just couldn't bring himself to do it. He'd just screwed himself over with this one.

As Roxas woke up the next morning, the first thing he vividly remembered was everything that had happened the previous night. He sighed as he grumbled to himself about hormones and got out of bed, glancing at the clock briefly and noticing that it was already past ten.

Without Sora around it really was much easier to sleep in.

Bracing himself for any further assaults from Axel as he walked down the stairs after he'd gotten dressed, he warily looked into the living room. To his surprise it was completely empty, though the TV was turned on so Axel had to be up already. Slightly confused but shrugging it off for the time being, Roxas went into the kitchen to get himself some breakfast. He was about to grab his box of cereal when he heard some gunshots coming from the house next door. He glanced through the kitchen window, unsurprised. His neighbour to the left – the one his mother always denied existed to stay sane enough to live there – had a problem with anyone coming too close to his house. If anyone ever made it to the front door they were usually yelled at and if they didn't leave they were shot at. Luckily Xigbar had never really hit anyone and quite frankly, it had become quite entertaining to see mailmen running away from the house in terror.

What did surprise Roxas was seeing a wide-eyed Axel running away from the house and rushing back into his own. After last night the sight was beyond comical and although Roxas knew Axel's reaction to Xigbar was completely legitimate, he couldn't help but burst into laughter at the sight.

As Axel slammed the door behind him and walked into the kitchen with a distinctly freaked out look on his face, Roxas managed to calm down to the point where he was only chuckling, "You went over to Xigbar's?"

Axel continued to look at him with that completely freaked out look on his face, "He tried to shoot me!"

Roxas convulsed back into laughter as Axel seemed to regain some of his normal personality and looked at him in disbelief, "I almost got shot and you're laughing about it?"

Roxas took a moment to calm himself down again, wiping the tears from laughing so much from his eyes, "Xigbar does that to everyone who comes near his house. It's part of the day's entertainment around here. He's never actually hit anyone so no one's really worried anymore at this point, it's just funny."

"You live next to a trigger-happy guy who shoots anyone who gets close to his house and your mother is worried about you accidentally burning down the house?" Axel looked at him incredulously.

Roxas shrugged, "She denies that anyone lives in that house. We think her mind refuses to cope with the idea of someone like Xigbar living so close by as paranoid as she is." He glanced out of the window at Xigbar's house again, "She should probably get therapy for that but we don't really want to unleash hell in this house when she realized exactly who's living next to us." He glanced back at Axel, raising his eyebrow curiously at the other, "Why were you even there in the first place?"

Axel seemed to debate what he was going to say before answering, "Your mother left us something for dinner that barely resembles food and I really don't want to know what it is. I figured I'd just order pizza or something and that as long as you weren't up yet, I might as well surprise you with it. After thoroughly searching around and not finding a phonebook of any kind, I decided to go to the neighbours and ask to borrow theirs or something. Then I was shot at."

Roxas burst into laughter again at how sulkily the last comment was spoken and Axel simply full-out sulked at his reaction. When it took too long for Roxas to calm down again this time, Axel huffed and crossed his arms, "I'll make you eat whatever it is that your mother left us for dinner at this rate."

Roxas' laughter abruptly stopped. His mother had created several things that she believed to be 'healthy food' and that he and Sora always threw away as inconspicuously as possible. They'd tried her first creation many years ago to give it the benefit of the doubt and to this day Roxas swore he hadn't recovered from that experience. Whatever his mother had left them was poison that hadn't even bothered to disguise itself properly, yet had somehow managed to fool his mother into thinking it was healthy.

Axel grinned victoriously as he usually did at the sudden lack of laughter, "I thought so." He turned around to go back into the living room, leaving Roxas to sulk in the kitchen.

And yet somehow Roxas had the feeling that he was falling harder and harder for the guy.

And so a day full of video gaming ensued. Roxas, after having his breakfast and managing to convince himself that somehow this whole situation was Axel's fault, was all too happy to start up his Tekken game again to try and beat Axel into next week. Although this worked for a few rounds, Axel's competitive streak reared up and within no time they were both winning and losing once more. After Roxas was done putting all of his frustration into the game, Axel quickly overtook him and ended up winning far more than losing.

And throughout it all when they were talking, Axel seemed to purposefully keep using his nickname as much as possible while purring it in that tone that sent shivers down his spine. The fact that he still couldn't help but blush every time Axel said his nickname like that was seemingly only encouraging Axel.

Although the frustration of this tended to help him win against Axel, Roxas really wished he'd stop doing it. It was obviously very entertaining for Axel to taunt him like this but Roxas was fairly sure that Axel had no real interest in him. Even if he didn't count the fact that Axel probably saw him as a kid, if he'd really been interested he wouldn't have pulled away the previous night. Using him as a source of entertainment like this was just cruel.

After Roxas had been thoroughly beaten at Tekken, Axel noticed that he also had a Wii and after quickly going through his games, decided that they were going to be playing Mario Cart next. Roxas agreed, ignoring the fact that Axel seemed to be deciding a lot for the both of them, and then instantly regretted it as he remembered that he hadn't actually played the game in a while and wasn't quite as good as he'd once been. Axel's madman style of driving seemed to somehow get him around perfectly fine even on the harder courses on the other hand.

Damn Rainbow Road. Damn Axel. Damn his cart for flying off the road constantly.

Axel's cell Phone went off while they were in the middle of a race on Rainbow Road and without even bothering to pause the game or something along those lines Axel picked up, his madman driving style unchanging and his 1st place position only removing itself further and further away from the rest of the group. Roxas scowled as he glanced aside, seeing Axel only half paying attention to the game as he answered the phone.

"Hey Marly! What's up?"

Roxas attempted to close the gap between them now that Axel was distracted, his mind refusing to believe that the redhead would be able to keep driving the way he had now that he was on the phone at the same time.

"Mario Cart. Dad's work has this huge event where they go away for the entire weekend and one of his colleagues needed a babysitter so naturally he thought I should go and do that."

Roxas huffed at the explanation of Axel's situation. Axel threw him an amused grin while listening to the other side of the conversation. Roxas glanced aside for a moment and saw the other's eyes suddenly light up for some reason. The odd spark in his eyes reminded him of when Axel had asked him about the time he'd almost set the house on fire.

"Seriously? Who else is coming?" A pause, "Damn, I wish I could be there."

The race finished with Axel miles ahead somehow and Roxas turned more fully towards the redhead, raising an eyebrow in question as Axel sulked. His eyes seemed dull now, no longer lit up like they had been before.

"What?" Roxas asked, still annoyed that Axel was apparently the best driver in the world when it came to this game but hating the sullen look in his eyes even more. He was quite fond of that playful gleam in the other's eyes by now and he'd gladly get his ass kicked a few more times if it meant cheering the redhead up.

"Wait a sec, Mar-mar." Axel took the phone away from his ear and placed his hand over the speaker, "One of my friends just replaced half his furniture and he's holding a bonfire tonight to get rid of all his old stuff. He wants me to come over but…" he trailed off, the sulky look on his face only increasing.

"Just go then." Roxas rolled his eyes, "I don't actually need a babysit you know, my mom is just paranoid."

Axel tilted his head, considering him for a moment before bringing the phone back to his ear, "Can I bring the kid along?"

Roxas' eyes narrowed, "Kid?"

Axel grinned at him, eyes lighting up once more as he listened to the other side of the conversation, "Deal. Though he's off limits, got it memorized?"

There was another pause before Axel hung up with a chuckle and glanced at the clock, "We're supposed to be there at seven so that gives us more than enough time for pizza."

Roxas glanced at the clock as well, noticing that it was already five and figuring that they'd have to start ordering the pizza if they wanted to get it anywhere near on time. "Sure, I'll order." He stood up and walked to the living room, Axel right behind him, "And why am I going along exactly? I really won't burn down the house in one evening."

Axel shrugged, flopping down on the couch and making himself comfortable, "I'm getting paid for this so I might as well actually try to do what I'm supposed to do."

"By taking me to a bonfire?" Roxas raised an eyebrow as he searched through one of the drawers for the phone number for their pizzas, "Since I'm apparently dangerous while around fire, this probably isn't the smartest plan."

"I never said I was smart." Axel grinned mischievously, "And the only dangerous one around fire here is me."

Roxas gave him a confused look but dropped the subject. Despite the fact that Axel could be incredibly annoying, especially when he used his nickname in that purring tone of voice, Roxas did enjoy being around the other. He might as well enjoy his time with the redhead while he still could since after this weekend he probably wouldn't see him again.

For some reason, that thought hurt more than it probably should.

Axel was insane.

Not just the normal type of insane that Roxas had gotten used to. No, whenever fire was involved the redhead suddenly gained a crazy glint in his eyes that just screamed that he was about to do something insane and possibly dangerous. The statement that Axel was the only dangerous one around fire suddenly made perfect sense.

When they'd arrived everything had been fine. He'd been introduced to the three friends of Axel that had already been there and the statement 'he's off limits' had been explained very quickly. Marluxia, the guy who Axel had been talking to over the phone, had tried to seduce him within the first few seconds of their arrival. Axel had hit him and reminded him that Roxas was off limits but it hadn't stopped Marluxia from continuously making very suggestive comments.

Then there was Luxord. The man had already been drunk by the time Roxas had arrived and he was still drinking more and more. Strangely enough he seemed to make more and more sense the more he drank. To say the least, Roxas wondered if alcohol was really as bad for people as everyone kept saying. It seemed to have a very positive effect on Luxord.

The last of the trio had been the only woman present, Larxene. If any of them had seemed insane at the beginning of the evening it had been her. Aside from acting plainly crazy, she also had a talent for being a bitch. Roxas had decided very soon to avoid her as much as possible.

Then the bonfire had actually started and Axel's insanity had far exceeded Larxene's. While Marluxia had lit the fire, Axel had climbed on top of the pile of furniture with that crazy look in his eyes showing more than ever. The redhead had sat down on one of the chairs at the very top, laughing insanely as the fire had started until he'd finally been forced to get off the burning pile of wood to prevent any burns. Roxas suspected that Axel would've actually kept sitting there if he hadn't pulled the redhead off before anything could happen. Axel had actually pouted at him for spoiling his fun.

Now, with the fire engulfing every bit of wood on the pile, Roxas was sitting at one of the tables while watching Axel laugh and dance around the fire.

He wasn't sure if he was deeply disturbed by the sight or plainly turned on. Axel had a way of mixing two very different emotions and making them work perfectly to describe his behaviour.

"Hey Blondie," Roxas reluctantly tore his eyes away from watching Axel in fascination, glancing at Larxene with even more reluctance. She was sitting at a different table with a still drinking Luxord while Marluxia was getting more to drink. Larxene had by now managed to get her hands on quite some strong alcohol as well and the fact that she was nearing drunkenness had only made her insult him more.

"What?" he asked, a subtle but sharp edge to his own tone. Larxene's eyes narrowed, her near-drunken state apparently doing nothing to keep her from noticing the edge in his tone.

"He's going to notice you staring at him at one point if you keep this up." she sneered. Roxas flushed slightly at the comment but he glared at her nonetheless, refusing to let her have the last word. He was about to open his mouth to retaliate when two arms wrapped around him from behind and someone's head leaned on his. Above him he could hear Axel's voice answering for him, "You're just jealous that I found a cute one, Larx. Go find one of your own."

Larxene rolled her eyes, considerably less bitchy and more mocking when she replied, "We can't all be into pedophilia, Ax. Some of us actually have normal tastes."

Axel snorted, "Right, like thieves that try to rob you, guys that turn out to be gay - though to be fair I think you might've been the one to turn that guy gay - and the many other freaks you've managed to hook up with."

Larxene huffed but didn't seem to have a comeback, instead focusing back on the game of cards she was playing with Luxord. Roxas felt Axel smirking above him before the redhead sat down next to him, one arm staying wrapped around his waist. Roxas tried very hard to ignore the arm so he wouldn't keep turning red like an idiot but he was fairly sure that the heat he felt on his face wasn't from the fire burning not too far away.

"Ignore Larxene, I think she's just PMSing… again." A thoughtful look crossed Axel's face for a moment before he added, "Then again, she seems to PMS nonstop."

Roxas shrugged, "I've heard worse." Not to mention that Larxene would've had a point if Axel hadn't already known that Roxas had a thing for him. "Done dancing around the fire like a maniac?" he tried to distract himself from the arm around his waist by looking into the fire, stubbornly refusing to look the redhead's way.

Axel chuckled, his voice gaining that slightly insane edge that he'd also had when the fire had been lit, "Fire is pretty, I like seeing it burn things."

"Pyromaniac." Roxas muttered, only getting another chuckle in return. Axel shifted behind him to look more directly at the fire, throwing one leg on either side of the bench they were sitting on. Roxas glanced back only to feel Axel's arm tightening around his waist, drawing him closer until his back was flush against Axel's chest. Roxas' eyes widened as he felt Axel's other arm wrap around his waist as well, turning his head to look at the redhead nervously, "A-Axel?"

Axel simply stared at the fire in fascination, probably not even noticing what he'd done from the trance-like look in his eyes. Roxas tried to shift away but Axel's arms only tightened around him, keeping him in place no matter what he did.

Roxas shifted uncomfortably in his seat, glancing around nervously to see Marluxia pouting and glaring at Axel, Larxene rolling her eyes, and Luxord not even noticing as he took another glass of whiskey. Feeling Axel's hands rubbing soothing circles on his sides he subconsciously relaxed into the other's arms, eyes refocusing on the fire in front of him as he tried to ignore everyone around him. He suppressed the urge to try everything in his power to get away despite the knowledge that Axel was probably only doing this for entertainment and wasn't actually interested.

Just for a moment he could pretend, couldn't he?

Roxas liked sleeping in. Sadly, with Sora for a brother, it didn't happen too often. Sora usually managed to get his hands on something sugary not long after he woke up, became hyperactive, and then proceeded to wake Roxas up. Since the brunet generally woke up pretty early, Roxas did too. Because of this Roxas was always very happy in the morning when Sora was sleeping over somewhere else like he was doing now.

So naturally when his cell phone went off at half past eight in the morning and he saw Sora's number in the display, Roxas was not happy.

"What?!" Roxas snapped as he answered the phone, eyes closing again as his body refused to wake up.

There was a moment of silence before Sora's voice came from the other side, "Did I wake you up?" Sora sounded slightly nervous. Riku had probably kept him away from the sugar because usually the brunet didn't care if he woke Roxas up early.

"It's half past eight, Sora." Roxas grumbled, his eyes opening again as he sighed, "Have I ever woken up before nine without your help?"

Sora laughed nervously and Roxas could picture the sheepish smile his brother was probably wearing, "Sorry, I just wanted to know if the babysitter survived the weekend and if you were doing okay."

Roxas' mind flashed back to Axel and what had happened so far. He resisted the urge to groan and punch a wall as the annoyed feeling that had been growing inside of him came back. He pushed the feeling away for now, focusing back on his conversation and the questions he was supposed to be answering.

When he and Sora had been making revenge plans they'd pictured Axel as incredibly strict and a jerk. Since Axel was anything but strict or a jerk, Roxas was fine as far as their previous fears were concerned. The fact that Axel was hot beyond all belief and was using Roxas' attraction as a source of entertainment made him anything but fine, though.

"He's still alive and I'm mostly fine." Roxas sighed again before forcing himself to sit up, deciding he might as well get out of bed now that Sora had dragged him into the land of the waking.

"Mostly?" Sora sounded confused, "What's he like?"

"He defies logic." Roxas grumbled, "He's actually pretty fun to be around but he keeps teasing me. One moment he actually seems half interes-" Roxas cut himself off before he could finish that statement, cursing himself for having said too much. He tried to change the subject to distract Sora from what he'd been about to say but before he could even open his mouth again, Sora cut in.

"Interested? He likes you?" Sora's voice held a far too excited pitch to it, "Do you like him too?"

Roxas did groan this time, once more cursing himself and the fact that he was still half asleep, "He doesn't like me. He would've done something already if he did." Even though the last part was mumbled under his breath, Sora seemed to easily pick up on it.

"So you like him? Come on, tell me!"

Roxas let himself fall down to the bed again, burying his head in his pillow as he groaned again before answering Sora, "When are you coming home?" he needed to change the subject.

"Late afternoon probably. Why, do you want me to stay away longer so you can have more alone time with Axel?"

"Sora!" Roxas could feel his face heating up and was very thankful that Sora wasn't actually there, "He isn't interested!"

He heard Sora laughing on the other side of the phone and could vaguely distinguish Riku's voice in the background, no doubt asking what was so funny. Roxas buried his head in his pillow once more as he heard Sora explain everything to Riku, intending to smother himself so he'd faint and wouldn't have to listen to his brother rant about how cute the whole situation was anymore.

Before he could properly knock himself out, he heard his door opening and glanced up as Axel entered with a raised eyebrow. The redhead had probably heard him yelling at his phone and was wondering what was going on. Roxas gave up on his effort to suffocate himself since Axel would probably stop him if he continued, sitting up once more as Sora finally finished talking on the other side of the line. He could hear Riku burst out in laughter in the background.

"Sora, I've got to go. Make Riku shut up and tell him I'll kill him when he brings you home."

He ignored the protests coming from his brother and hung up while grumbling darkly to himself about annoying brothers and their soon-to-be dead boyfriends. He head a chuckle coming from the doorway and looked back to see Axel staring at him in amusement.
"It's not funny, he woke me up." Roxas grumbled, putting his phone back on the nightstand.

Axel leaned against the doorframe, still chuckling slightly and grinning like the Cheshire cat, "You just look so adorable when you're angry."

Roxas flushed once more, averting his eyes and refusing to look anywhere close to Axel, "Shut up."

He heard footsteps coming closer and couldn't help but glanced up to see Axel sitting down next to him on the bed, smirk firmly in place as their eyes met. "But Roxy, your cuteness needs to be commented on at any and all possible chances."

Roxas tried to glare at the redhead, tried to ignore the shiver that ran down his spine, and most of all tried to ignore the hormones that responded to how close they were. Sadly, none of these things seemed to work out as Axel's smirk only became larger. He tried to glare harder, resisting the urge to simply give in to the other and do whatever he was told, "I'm not cute."

Axel 'hmm'ed in thought, one hand coming up to cup his face as the redhead leaned closer. Roxas was reminded of what had happened the first night but just like then his brain simply shut down and refused to come up with any coherent thoughts that might help him. Axel's face was mere inched away as the redhead spoke again, "Are you sure? Because personally, I like cute."

Roxas swore Axel could've made him dance the polka if he'd wanted to.

Just as he was about to mumble an only half-coherent reply, a small voice in the back of his mind managed to break through the effects of Axel being so close to remind him of everything that had happened so far. Roxas' fists clenched in his lap as his previous irritation returned, temporarily breaking Axel's hold on him.

"Would you stop doing that?" He shoved Axel away, getting out of bed and heading for the bathroom in an attempt to stay away from Axel as far as possible. Just as the door to safety closed behind him, he caught a glimpse of Axel looking at him in stunned confusion. He ignored the look, locking the door and reminding himself that Axel was going to leave that evening.

Despite his annoyance at Axel's behaviour, that still hurt more than it should.

One shower and two hours of Tekken later, Roxas was getting too hungry to stay in his room much longer. He had been rather thankful when his room had been empty when he'd gotten out of the shower – especially since he hadn't taken any new clothes with him to put on – and had decided he might as well stay in his room as long as possible. It seemed that was coming to an end now.

He reluctantly went down the stairs, stepping into the living room even more apprehensively than n he had the day before. Unlike the day before, Axel was sitting on the couch, watching TV. The redhead glanced over his shoulder as he heard the door open, pausing in his channel flipping. Roxas pointedly ignored the questioning look, going straight into the kitchen to get his breakfast and planning to lock himself in his room again as soon as he was done eating.

"Roxas?"

Or he could spend his time glaring at the redhead and trying to contain his hormones. That was also an option.

Roxas put the box of cereal he'd just grabbed on the counter, turning to the older man and gave him an annoyed look. Axel was standing in the doorway, a slight frown coming onto his face as he saw Roxas' glare. Roxas simply crossed his arms, "What?"

Axel tilted his head to the side slightly, the confusion still not leaving his face, "What's wrong?"

Roxas turned back to the counter, taking a bowl and the milk as he tried to ignore the voice in his head that was telling him how cute Axel looked when he was confused. "Nothing.'

Axel snorted behind him, "So you shoved me away for no reason and you're trying to glare me to death for that same nonexistent reason?"

Roxas pushed past the redhead, sitting down on the couch and stubbornly starting to eat while ignoring Axel's question. He glanced up as Axel as the other sat next to him, a slightly annoyed look now also on his face. "I'm not leaving you alone until you tell me, got it memorized?"

Roxas took another spoonful of his cereal before glaring at the other, "Maybe I got sick and tired of the way you entertain yourself."

Axel frowned once more, "The way I entertain myself?"

Roxas turned fully to Axel, stabbing the spoon at the redhead's chest as his eyes narrowed further, "You know I have a thing for you and you've been using that for your personal entertainment since Friday night. I'm sick of it so just leave me alone until my parents get back." He withdrew the spoon that he had been repeatedly stabbing at Axel and shoved it into his cereal, spilling some of the milk as he took another spoonful.

Axel looked at him with raised eyebrows before he frowned and crossed his arms, "You think I've been doing that for entertainment?"

Roxas snorted and didn't even bother to look up from his cereal, "You would've done something by now if you weren't."

Before he could stab his cereal with his spoon again, the bowl in his hand was taken away and put aside. Roxas eyes snapped back up to the redhead and he was about to protest when he was suddenly pulled forward and found a pair of lips against his. His eyes widened momentarily before forgetting his previous irritation as he felt Axel's tongue asking for entrance. He wrapped his arms around the other's neck, letting Axel in as he pulled himself closer.

Axel pulled away after a few seconds, grinning broadly as Roxas blinked dazedly. It took a moment for Roxas' senses to return but then he frowned slightly, "And you didn't do that the moment you figured out I liked you because…?"

That playful glint that he'd noticed in Axel's eyes from the first moment he'd laid eyes on him shone brighter than ever, "You just looked so cute whenever I started teasing."

Roxas' eyes narrowed, "You were entertaining yourself with that."

"Maybe a little."

Roxas' eyes narrowed further as he tried to punch Axel, the redhead easily catching his fist and simply pulling him into another kiss. Roxas succumbed to the kiss – though only reluctantly, or so he told himself – and pulled himself closer again. At least Axel wasn't teasing anymore.

"Axel, stop cheating!" Roxas twitched as he drove himself off Rainbow Road once more. He glared at the redhead on whose lap he was currently sitting, Axel only half paying attention to the game and paying far more attention to distracting Roxas as much as he could.

Damn Axel's hand for being able to locate every sanative spot on his body without fail.

Roxas glanced behind him as he heard the door to his room open, watching an apprehensive Sora walk in with Riku behind him. No doubt Sora had expected to find a dead babysitter after his yelling just now.

Sora blinked as he took in the view before his apprehensive expression replaced itself with a broad grin, "I knew you liked him!"

Roxas raised an eyebrow before remembering exactly where he was sitting and blushing slightly, "Shut up, he wouldn't let go of me."

Axel simply smirked, the arm around his waist tightening, "You weren't complaining before, Roxy."

Roxas glared at the redhead, not bothering to complain since Axel only became worse whenever he did that. He heard Riku snicker behind him and Sora practically squeal and suppressed a groan.

He was never living this down.

Letting out a groan as Sora seemed to switch into some weird fanboy mode and started to rant to a thoroughly amused-looking Riku about marriage – the hell? – Roxas buried his face in Axel's shoulder, ignoring the redhead's amused chuckles. He had a sneaking suspicion that before this day was over, Hayner would magically know about Axel and would be calling to tease him about it, and by tomorrow the entire school would've found out.

Feeling Axel's lips brushing over his cheek softly, Roxas subconsciously relaxed and smiled slightly, making sure Sora wouldn't see it in case it set off Sora's newfound fanboy side even more. Glancing up, he found Axel smiling down at him as well.

As long as his mother didn't find out, he could ignore everyone else.

Sora is the embodiment of the major AkuRoku fangirls reading this at the end I think XD Not sure how that happened. Anyway, this is definitely the longest oneshot I've ever written °stares in shock° seriously, I'm wondering what I'm on…
Well, I hope everyone enjoyed. Now, push that beautiful button that says 'Review' and make me happy!