6. The Light That Betrays Me

Days passed fast since Sora and Roxas had moved to the new city and things seemed to go better for the Strifes. As predicted, Roxas appeared to benefit of the mild weather and the quiet life and consequently all that previous tensions seemed to be vanished... or at least it was lighter. Aerith and Cloud were always very apprehensive and worried, but at the same time, their fights stopped and let Roxas live more freely, knowing that they couldn't segregate him to bed for his entire life. Everything was back to almost a year ago, when things were still good - and that day was the first in a long time that Cloud was able to spend time with his sons.

From his boring lounger, Roxas stole a secret glance of his father and Sora playing basketball and was surprised to see him into the game so much. He loved his father: even if he wasn't always around he didn't blame him because he understood that his father had a lot of duties and responsibilities. But at the same time Roxas knew that his father tried his best to stay with his family when he had a little time.

He settled his gaze on his phone again when he received a new message.

»I'm with Riku at the harbor. I'll come and pick you up around noon?

"Rox, don't get too much sun" Aerith remembered to him for what seemed to be the tenth time in the whole morning. She was sitting at the wooden table under a large, white gazebo and leafing through some magazines. At that comment Roxas sighed and rolled his eyes, then he came back to type on his cell phone.

»The sooner, the better.

A minute passed.

»Can't wait to see me Roxy? ;)

»Please, don't be a fool. Roxas sent the message and pouted in embarrassment.

» :'(

»...and what if I'd miss you?

»I'd be sooo happy

The blonde smiled imagining Axel's face in that moment.

»See you later Ax~

"This time I won't let you win!" shouted Sora, startling Roxas from his occupation, as he jumped to throw the ball in the basket but Cloud blocked it without any efforts and sneered at him. "It's unfair! You're marking me too close"

"It's what I'm supposed to do...besides, you should be more trained than me" Cloud said as he pushed the sweat on his forehead off with his arm.

"You are taller and experienced!"

"Well...in basketball wins who's taller"

"It's not true" the brunette answered back now red in the face because he couldn't stand being teased, he looked the ball rolling away and sat on the ground, leaning on his arms to rest.

"Guys don't be so noisy" Aerith scolded them with a smile on her lips, she didn't even raised her gaze from her magazine.

"But mum, dad is being unfair!" Sora whined tapping his feet.

"Sor you were in the basketball team, you're better than him"

"But he keeps winning"

Aerith raised her gaze and chuckled shifting her stare from Sora to Cloud "Ignore him. He's only frustrated"

Cloud narrowed his eyes and yelled back "What?", but the woman continued to chuckle. He let out a deep sigh and shrugged, in truth she wasn't entirely wrong because it was almost impossible to be totally relaxed with all the work he had.

He turned toward Roxas who was lying on the lounger with a pretty bored expression in his face. He knew that the small blonde couldn't join them playing anymore but it hurt seeing him all alone. "Hey Rox, what do you think about some free throws?"

Said blonde raised his head lazily and then yawned "No, thanks. I'm not in the mood"

"I know why he doesn't want to" Sora jumped on his feet again and placed his hands on his hips "He's too busy texting with his new friend" he grinned mischievously, adding an emphatic tone at the end.

Roxas felt struck to the heart, he blushed lightly and turned fast. "Speaks who disappears even at night to stay with his new friend" he commented naughtily.

Now it was Sora's turn to blush "I-It was a sleepover!"

Aerith shook his head and smiled at the sight of their bickering - she was happy that they already had new friends, especially Roxas that befriended really hardly. But she soon regained her composure when a breathless Leon arrived in the garden and approached Cloud. She noticed that something was up only looking at their faces. "What's wrong?"she heard his husband ask but then they whispered something. She closed her magazine and stand up to meet them.

"Leon, what happened?"

The two men were already on their way but they turned.

"Nothing important, some purchaser wanted to talk" Leon said with his flat tone.

"Can I come with you?"

"Don't worry Honey. I'm sure it won't be a big deal" Cloud smiled and left a cast kiss on her cheek.

"But-"

"Take care of the rest. You were in charge of restyling the restaurant, weren't you?"

Aerith pouted in disappointment and clenched her fists but didn't move while Cloud and Leon surpassed her and entered the house to get out immediately after from the front door.

"Mom, has something happened?" Sora asked under the attentive look of Roxas as he sat on the lounger next to him. They had been silent the whole time.

She closed her eyes and breathed to clear her mind and maintain her composure. He wanted to be more involved in Cloud's working issues since they often worked together, for the same company and...well, they were married. She had to know if something was up. "It's nothing." she muttered as she hurried to collect her magazines and all the stuffs that she had left on the table, it was better for her to keep herself busy to not think and possibly be overwhelmed by anger and frustration. "I-I need to..."

"Mom... keep calm, you work enough during the week. Today it's Saturday, just relax"

"You can go at the club and meet your friends" suggested Roxas in a whisper at the end.

Aerith nodded feebly and smiled "You're right. Are you going to be okay?"

Sora and Roxas nodded and said their goodbye to their mother after that she kissed both their forehead and vanished in the twinkling of an eye.

"You know...I have the feeling that mom wasn't frustrated about the work" Roxas began after a long moment of silence. He leaned again on his back and stared at Sora.

"What do you mean?"

"It's because she's left aside. Dad and Leon always work together but she...it's like she is on her own"

Sora nodded and began to swing his legs. He seemed to have dropped the topic but after a while he raised his head to the blue sky, "Rox... you know what?" he began uncertainly, attracting Roxas' attention "I-I don't know...but some nights ago I saw dad going to Leon. I mean inside his room. But it's not the first time...". He knew it was a silly thing that he was saying, after all Cloud and Leon had been best friends for ages, they worked together and for the moment Leon was living with them, so there was nothing strange with it... but anyway he had a weird feeling.

Roxas listened attentively and seemed to think for a moment, he held his chin between his thumb and his forefinger and nodded "Are you saying that..." but he stopped. Then he began to laugh loud for him and slapped slightly Sora on the back of the neck. "Oh my God Sora! You were so serious that for an instant I was believing that there was a secret affair between dad and Leon. Jesus...you'd be a great actor"

"Y-Yeah" Sora cracked an embarrassed smile at the sight of his brother so amused by by thought. Yes, he had been a fool to draw hasty and pathetic conclusions. After all, Leon and Cloud were best friends.

It took almost a minute for Roxas to regain his composure and then smiled to him.

"What do you think about to take a shower and go at the harbor? Axel is there with Riku"

Sora grinned and nodded. "Why not"

It took Sora almost an hour to get ready so, after having informed Axel about them, Roxas decided to waste his time killing his cerebral cells by playing video games. He was lying on the floor, his head was resting against the sofa when he heard steps in the hallway.

"Oh, you're alive" he teased with a flat tone without taking his eyes off the screen.

"Yes, unfortunately for you" Sora rolled his eyes and joined the blond in the large living room "You got the final level".

The blond continued to keep hi attention to the game and when he managed to defeat the final boss he raised his head to the brunette that had plopped down on the sofa. "Won. Don't you mind, right?"

"Not at all. We need to get new games, though" he saw the blond turn off the play station and rose to get the front door, he followed him "I wonder if Riku will go with me?"

"Doesn't he like video games?" Roxas collected his keys and his cellphone and they got out.

Sora shrugged "Dunno"

"You told me that he's a Star Trek addicted just like you, so I assume that he likes games too"

"Yeah but it's different. I was really surprised when I found it out... he's very serious and doesn't speak so much, I've never thought him to like that kind of things" muttered Sora putting his hands in his pockets. "I was surprised just like when you told me that you where joining the basketball club" he ignored the death glare that the blonde reserved for that comment "Considering that you were the school dorky"

"Thanks for your tact" Roxas hissed but pushed it aside, knowing how naïve and direct his brother could be. "However, never judge a book by its cover" he whispered after a while as they walked down the town.

"Bourgogne or lightblue?"

That simple question came out of nowhere but was able to shake the minds of the three other women in in the large and empty room.

"I vote for lightblue!" exclaimed an enthusiastic Rikku. Well, almost of them where shaken... but beside the blonde, both Tifa and Yuna exchanged a questioning gaze and then turned to see Aerith giving her back and looking out of the large glass wall. Since they had met the woman that morning, she appeared to be down and strangely thoughtful so they silently agreed to keep her company in the hope that she'd vent what was anguishing her. But that question was really, really unexpected because she was so into her work of designer that whenever she walked in an empty room, after a quick look, she always knew how to renew the space. And it meant only one thing: something was up and it was serious.

"Haven't you decided yet?" Yuna asked walking to the large glass wall. They were in Aerith and Cloud's restaurant, The Strife's, that Aerith was in charge to take care and restyle.

Aerith shook his head without turning towards her friend, now next to her.

"Heeey I suggested lightblueee. Heyyy" Rikku arrived hopping on her feet, doing nothing but shaking her bosom buxom. At that sight Tifa sighed and shook his head, sometimes the blonde seemed such a kid that didn't notice that it wasn't ladylike to move and burst in that way.

At such noise Aerith turned to Rikku and smiled slightly "I'm sorry, I wasn't listening"

"I said that in my opinion you should paint the wall lightblue because it's lighter" she explained widening and waving her arms.

"You mean because the room is bright?" Yuna interjected raising an eyebrow and the blonde nodded.

"Look how it's large and bright and from this wall glass you can see the sea, so I thought that light blue suits better"

"Yeah but it's not the finest color in the evening for a classy restaurant. Think as you sit at the table, and are dining at candlelight, look out the window and the city lights and the moon light up the landscape but then you turn your look inside and you're surrounded by light blue. Bourgogne is the way" the brunette with short hair stated crossing her arms.

"Ohhh shush. Bourgogne is too oppressive at the daylight!"

Aerith stand there between them but seemed to not listen properly.

"What's up?" Tifa approached the brunette in her pink dress and gained her attention. "You're spacing out"

"Am I?" she asked innocently.

The dark haired girl glanced at Yuna and Rikku bickering about the most appropriate color and then she turned to Aerith again, she took her by hand and talked quietly as she led her around the room. "Did something happen? It's not like you being so unsure about work and thoughtful in public"

"That's nothing. I'm only tired, it's all right" Aerith smiled but the other wasn't convinced.

"I'm not buying your story" Tifa stated and then added "Is it Cloud?"

At first Aerith shook her head nervously but the piercing glare of the dark haired woman made her hesitate.

"What's wrong?" she encouraged.

Aerith sighed loudly and dropped into a vacant chair. "I don't know..." she muttered, that got the attention of the two bickering women that immediately come near. "I don't understand why... we've always been on the same wavelength but I don't know when but Cloud has began to push me aside and preferred to work alone with Leon- actually he appears prefer him not only for work. He's always away, at work, abroad...anywhere but home. Even when Roxas was at the hospital he wasn't often there. I'm used to spend my time alone but I'm so tired of it and his constant absences doesn't help. I'm feeling neglected"

Yuna narrowed her eyes, Aerith wasn't the kind of person that complained easily about something.

"How long?"

"I don't know anymore..."

"Do you think he's seeing another girl?" Rikku asked already upset.

"I don't think. He's always with Leon" Aerith lowered her gaze and clasped her hands in her lap "They're always together...actually they seem a married couple more than us" she sniggered sarcastically but at their worried expression she inhaled a deep breath. "Don't worry, it's only me being needy but it's not that serious"

"Aerith it's not okay... he can't treat you like this" Yuna patted her head.

"Yuna's right! There's nothing wrong with your worries, girls need to be spoiled and not neglected. Especially if we're talking about you" Rikku cupped her face in her hands and cutely puffed her cheeks in an attempt of seriousness "Look at yourself- you're smart, young, beautiful, sweet. Only an idiot would let escape a hot chick like you"

The brunette blushed deeply "W-What-"

"Did you talk with Cloud?" Tifa step in and kneeled in front of Aerith.

"Yes...he says that he's busy and it's only my imagination"

"I see...Don't you mind if I have a word with that jerk of my childhood friend?"

Aerith nodded and saw Yuna smiling "Cloud is gonna be scolded and everything will be fine. Now cheer up"

Rikku grinned too "And in case he keeps being a jerk, there's a plan B"

The brunette smiled and nodded as she stand up.

"We are always with you. Everything will change" Tifa assured standing on her feet again and then she turned to look the room "Why don't you start changing the name of the restaurant?"

"Changing the name?" echoed Aerith.

Tifa nodded "You care a lot about this place, even now that you were sad your first thought was to come here – it's like your little paradise." she smiled "People sought places like this. A place where they could be with friends while drinking or eating. A place where you could get over the depression of reality or maybe forget about reality and think of the future. I was thinking that you can name it '7th Heaven' ". She turned again to her and spoke determined "Don't let it get you down, give always your best"

Aerith nodded and smiled sweetly "I'll paint it white"

Roxas wanted to run.

The way to the harbor was downhill so in better times it'd have been fun to challenge Sora in a speed race – they were often very competitive one with another, but now that he couldn't anymore he simply walked a bit faster than the normal, both to not put his body under effort and to not be left behind. He was looking absentmindedly the surrounding when he noticed that the had reached his brother and now he was standing still next to him oh the sidewalk.

"Sor?" he asked perplexed.

"Look over there" the brunette pointed with a finger to the beach on his side and Roxas followed it with his gaze.

"The beach?"

"No, no. Look better" he suggested. Roxas narrowed his eyes but didn't understand what the other wanted to say so he shrugged. Sora raised his eyebrows in bewilderment "Don't you see them? There are three girls sunbathing"

"Umm... so?" now the blond was really perplexed. His brother was talking like one who had never seen a female being on the Earth.

"So what do you think to befriend?" grinned happily the brunette.

Roxas rolled his eyes, if it had been another boy he could swore that he wanted to go there and flirt with the oblivious girls but the tone that Sora used meant that he only wanted to add new people to his happy friendship list. He was too innocent to be that kind of person... and gay. Yes he was gay but he hadn't realized it yet. The blond boy chuckled at that thought.

"What?" now Sora was confused.

"Sor you're the gayest person ever" he continued to chuckled and the other puffed her cheek and pouted.

"Stop talking nonsense, baby brother. You know that it's not true"

"Not 'baby brother' to me" sighed Roxas annoyed. But the fact that the other hadn't never denied meant that he was right. He hadn't never seen his brother hanging out with a girl with that kind of interest. "Anyway we can't go there. Axel and Riku are waiting for us for a long time"

"Riku..." at the name of the silverette boy Sora's eyes brightened, he grabbed Roxas by his wrist and dragged him along since they didn't reach the harbor that wasn't distant from where they had stopped.

When they arrived, Roxas saw a good-looking silver haired boy that was talking with a man on board of a little motorboat – maybe a client that had rent a boat - and, from the impatience that Sora was showing, he had to be the famous-

"Rikuuuu" Sora shouted as the small boat left the docking and the boy was now free. Said boy turned and smiled slightly. The brunette ran and hugged him tight "It's been a long since we last saw" spoke dramatically.

"But we met yesterday" the silverette replied almost chocking and then shrugged him off.

"Don't ruin my moment" he scoffed with a childish tone. "However, Riku meet my brother Roxas. Roxas this is Riku" Sora announced placing between the blond and the silverette.

Roxas looked up at him and felt a bit unsure by his constant and serious stare "Uh...Hi?"

From his part Riku stared smugly, he appeared to study the blond attentively but without interest "Hi" he whispered at the end.

"What an intensive meeting between two sociopaths. Congrats guy, that was so touchy" Sora clapped his hands causing Riku to snort.

Roxas, that apparently was in a good mood to approach new people, tried his best to communicate, since the other seemed reluctant to start a conversation. "Riku...uhm...Sora told me that you're from Iceland. Seems beautiful"

"Iceland?" demanded with a so loud tone that Roxas almost believed to have imagined it. The blond nodded.

"Yep, Iceland"

Riku glared the brunette that was following the discourse "Sora did I told you that you suck in geography?" said boy nodded with a cute but idiotic smile on his lip, meaning that he still hadn't understood. The older sighed and turned again to Roxas "Actually I'm from Ireland... do you know what is it?" he added in the end afraid that just like Sora he didn't knew it.

"Just because my brother is a fool doesn't mean that I'm too" he points out.

Riku smirked "You've a good temper, kiddo"

"I'm not a kid" the blond grimaced.

"Hey" they all turned to the new voice and saw Axel running towards them, and with him there was Yuffie. When he arrived he crushed the little blond in a bear hug "Oh Roxy I'm so happy to see you. Uh- did you met Riku" and then he looked said man "I hope you treated him well"

Meanwhile, Yuffie got closer to Roxas and studied him a long, then she shifted to Sora and then back to Roxas. At the end she smiled "So cute!" she cried just girls can do "I got it! You're the twin brothers that everyone talks about in the city" both boys exchanged a puzzled look but she continued "You're Roxas, right? Sora's brother". As Roxas nodded she extended her hand "I'm the great ninja Yuffie and I work here with Riku"

"A ninja?" muttered quietly Roxas.

"Yup" she nodded "So, so. Tell me dude, are you straight?"

"W-what?!"

"Oi Yuffi, leave him alone" grunted a disappointed redhead, placing an arm around Roxas' shoulders.

"What? Is he busy or just shy?"

"Actually he's busy. With a sexy boy just right here" he pointed himself with his thumb and then he turned his attention to Roxas "Shall we go?" asked sweetly.

The blond, still perplexed, looked at Axel and nodded with a wide smile.

After having said their goodbye to everyone both boys climbed on Julieth and left Sora, Riku and Yuffie on the wharf.

"Are they dating?". The brunette girl grunted, she was really disappointed because she wasn't able to find a fucking man. They were all dating, married or... gay. And she couldn't cope with her lack of fortune. Then she catched a glimpse by Riku that meant something like "You can't flirt with every human being that you find on your way" and then she chuckled because she remembered that she had done the same exact thing with Sora.

"Riku how long your shift still lasts?" Sora asked suddenly as he sat on the edge of the wharf and put his feet in the water.

"Less than an hour" Riku followed his movements and sat on the wharf too, crossing his legs, instead. Yuffie, feeling the third wheel decided to leave and join her boss, Cid, in their office and play cards. "Why do you ask?"

"I should stop at GameStop. Do you want to go with me?"

The silverette threw a pebble in the water and smiled "Sure... why not?"

A delicious smell filled the house and the only sounds you could hear was the crackling oil in the pot and Axel that cut something on the cutting board. Roxas was sitting on the stool at the snack bar table and was looking around. The kitchen was a pretty big room with light steel blue wall and classic white counters that occupied three walls of the room and in the center there was an island that in that moment they were using as table – it wasn't as elegant and precious as his mother's kitchen but it was really nice and neat for being taken care by a boy, and then he thought that maybe Axel used it a lot because it was as almost bigger than the living room and there were a lot of professional utensils. There was a large window that made the kitchen even more luminous and a breathtaking view on the sea, but what hit Roxas the most was the sign of the well-known restaurant EAT. placed on the wall next to the window.

What the hell? He thought, where did he stole it from?
From the kitchen you could see the living room, and that was really... particular. It wasn't very big but large enough for a sofa and two loveseats with a tea table and a big tv screen (with play station, wii and dvd player), hung up at a stone wall – the other three walls, instead, were painted in gray –, in the far side there was a wooden table that seemed to not be never used, since there was a huge pile of books sitting on it. Its peculiarity was a finely decorated ceiling that Axel justified as "It's an ancient apartment, it's normal". Everything was refined in white and the floor was covered in parquet.
However, just by looking around he could understand how rich was Axel (and his family) even if he didn't show it off... and Roxas was happy about it.

"So..." the redhead broke the silence still giving his back to Roxas, they were playing the 20 questions "Your necklace has a particular meaning?"

Without thinking the blond gripped in his hand the pendant of the necklace that he was wearing "It's a gift from a special friend. Is your hair dyed?"

"It's all natural, babe. What do you mean for special friend?" he inquired suspicious as he took a leaf of basil from the little plant in the pot, sitting on the window sill.

"Exactly what I said"

"Roxy you have to be sincere, game rules"

Roxas sighed "A friend who I care a lot"

"...and are you in love with?" Axel turned to face Roxas and leaned on the counter.

"This is my turn Ax" the blond chuckled "Why are you interested in my friend?"

"Just curious. So, are you in love?"

"Well, no. At first I thought that I was... indeed, I hoped so... but in the end none of us was interested in a relationship. We're just friends"

"I see" Axel appeared to revitalize.

"And do you like anyone?" asked Roxas, interest and a bit of hope in his voice.

"Actually- there's a person that I like... a lot"

The smaller held his breath and then darkened "Oh- and did you declared your love?"

"I'd like to, but it's too early. I still haven't figured what this person thinks about me"

Roxas had now lost all hopes of liking to Axel so he sighed "I wish... I wish you to declare as soon as possible. And I'm sure that this person will accept you because you're a good guy" he smiled tightly.

"Ohh Roxy you're so cuteee"

The blond rolled his eyes and sighed "Who's next turn?"

"Me!" the man exults "Uhm... your favorite color?"

Roxas took a piece of bread and had a mouthful "Checked"
"That's not even a color!"

"Yes it is. And yours?"

"Blue"

"I'd never have said"

"Neither me" the blond looked genuinely surprised, Axel instead seemed dreaming while staring Roxas' blue eyes. "By the way, do you want cheese on your pasta?"

"You're the chef, I entrust myself to you"

The soft giggle of the little boy made his heart explode in love. Axel smiled wide as he placed two plates on the table "Gnocchi with tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese for my favorite cute guest"

Axel had insisted so much to invite the blond boy for lunch, he wanted to cook something special for him. So as first course Gnocchi alla Sorrentina, a tipical local dish,and then grilled salmon with soy sauce. And Roxas couldn't prepare a hard boiled egg.

"Smells great" announced the blond while blowing to cool it down, and Axel muttered a pleasant thanks "So... do you study or work?"

"Hey it was my turn!"

Roxas laughed "You already asked if I wanted cheese or not"

"But-" he tried but sighed from his nose "Okay. Both of them"

"Really?"

Axel nodded. "When I moved my father gave me two condition: I had to continue my studies and I had to find a job... any kind of work was okay. You know it's not for money but to make me become responsible"

"He's right" the other agreed "And what do you study?"

"Law. But I'm not into that, it's my father's will... he wants me to continue what he does"

"Well- law is interesting"

"But not my ambition... and it's hard"

Roxas nodded and after his first mouthful looked Axel in ecstasy "You cook really well. I-it's delicious!"

"Thank you, blondie" the redhead chuckled "But I need to practice a lot more"

"Why?" asked the blond lowering his gaze to the plate and eating.

You know, I work in the most renowned restaurant in the whole coast, The Strife's"

"Really?" Roxas was astonished and then grinned "Cool, my father works there too"

"Yeah? We might be colleagues" Axel smiled after he swallowed but he was cut by Roxas giggle.

"Definitely. He's the owner!"

"Tha'ts grea- what?" Axel exclaims suddenly "What? Your father is..."

"Cloud Strife" now Roxas was perplexed. If they both worked there, they definitely knew each other, but what was with that snap?

"Holy shit" he slapped his forehead and began to laugh hysterically "I can't believe that the world is so small". Roxas looked puzzled and smiled unsure "Rox you don't get... you can't understand- oh crap!" Axel was almost hyperventilating and that made the blond worry.

"Calm down Axel, what's up?"

Axel regained his composure but was still visibly shaken and gripped his arms on Roxas' shoulders "Rox, did you noticed how much I love cooking?" the blond, taken aback, wanted to reply "Well, it's impossible to not notice" but his thought was cut from Axel "I attended cooking lessons, I practice a lot, I study receipts and food matches... I put all myself in it, but there's a problem" he stopped his hectic vent and took a breath "I'm not a cook. I want to be one, though. The greatest chef in the world"
Roxas frowned.

"... I work in the most famous restaurant of the coast but I'm not a cook"

"Why not?" Roxas was startled and upset, as it was a personal affair.

"Who knows... perhaps I'm not that sympathetic to my boss" the redhead was visibly down but he sat again and then whispered "But there's something you can do"

"Don't worry Ax, I'll take care of you. When I'll see dad I'm going to tell him about you and how great are your skills"

Axel smiles tenderly at Roxas' determination "Roxy you really are a good boy. God I love you so much" but then he frozen for what he had said.

Roxas on his hand grinned and hugged him"Anytime Axel. I love you too" he replied.

Axel took a deep sigh of relief, from his innocent tone he deduced that the other had understood I love you in a friendly way.

They start eating again in silence for long minutes but then Roxas spoke again "Why the cook? Among all the things, why cook?"

Axel was silent. He placed his fork in the plate and inhaled deeply. "Roxy, Roxy... you know, when do you think that your life is over, you just have to find something that's worth for it. I did a lot of mistakes in my life, I fucked up" and at that point Roxas stole a glance of the hollows of his arms, remembering of the fixes that he had seen. It was obvious that Axel was referring that he had fucked his life with drugs, but had it been that serious? They hadn't never spoke about it. "Cooking for me was a real therapy, because it's not just about cooking, it's about enjoying life - we can say that when I fell for cooking, I fell for life too. When you cook, you don't cook for yourself but for others. When you cook you're responsible of your beloved's happiness, this is why you put always your entire being in preparing a dish, do all your best to get better. One thing is for sure: cooking make you feel better and in peace with the world"

Axel looked so happy and at ease as he spoke, that caused a slight blush on Roxas' cheek, who could not do anything but listen fascinated.

After that they continued their usual chit-chat and in the mid-afternoon Sora and Riku busted into the apartment and joined them on the sofa after the excited announcement that Sora had bought new games, so they inevitably ended up playing Resident Evil.

It was early evening when Demyx called in announcing that he and Zexion were on their way to the apartment, and imagine his joy when he learned that Roxas and Sora were there.

"OH MY GOD" cried the blond, he had literally slammed the front door and now he was standing in the doorway that led to the living room "You're Axel's and Riku's sexies!" he threw himself on the two poor boys and squeezed them tight "You're so cute, sooo cutee"

"Release them" Riku run to detach them and help the two brothers that were on the verge of suffocating, while Zexion held the older blond.

"Please let me cuddle them, please, pleaseee" he complained shaking into Zexion arms.

"Stop it Dem, you're scaring them" he spoke with a low but firm voice. "If you keep so, they won't come next to you anymore"

Roxas was shocked. It seemed a dad scolding his son about not bothering pets. Sora instead looked amused.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Axel asked annoyed as he rubbed his little blond's back.

"We had an aperitif hereabout with some friends" the apparent mad-man seemed now to be calm, he released to the grip of the slate haired boy and walked to the loveseat. But he was still pouting. Then he turned his attention to Zexion who was giving a glare that meant "Introduce yourself and be a good boy", so he moved his look to Sora and Roxas "I'm sorry for before... I was just to pumped up to meet you. I'm Demyx, Axel's childhood friend, and that little emo-boy over there is my lovely boyfriend, Zexy"

"I'm Zexion" corrected the other.

They were really weird, thought Roxas. Starting from their hairstyles, the one who responded to the name of Demyx showed off a retro blond mullhawk, that remembered him of some sort of singer of the early 90s – the other, the quieter one, had an emo haircut with part of hair that covered one eye... and with his hair-color he seemed almost old! The blond was taller than him, louder, had a showy and outrageous stylish appearance... every cells of his being screamed 'GAY'. The shorter one was just... apathetic. Roxas didn't know what to think about him but he seemed okay. They were an interesting couple.

"So, so, what's your name?"

"I'm Sora Strife" the brunette started and rested an arm around his brother's shoulders "And this is my little brother, Roxas"

"Not too little because we're twins" the other added as he shrugged his brother off.

"Woah! Just like Cloud Strife!"

"Yes, he's our father!"

"Cool. Axe did you know it?" Demyx chirped but the redhead only snorted.

"Riku told that you moved recently from New York" whispered Zexion behind them, making them startle.

Sora nodded with a grin "Precisely, but it's not sure how long we're going to stay"

"Speaking of restaurant, Ax! I'm hungry. What did you cooked?" moaned the mullet man from the sofa, wasn't listening to the two others.

"Nothing. I already had lunch with Roxy" the man crossed his arms.

"But weren't you the local greatest chef?"

"Dem, fuck you" grunted the redhead knowing that his friend was just mocking him.

"We're staying over AND you two have guests so you have to feed us" the blond grinned and patted the loveseat implying for Zexion to go and sit with him. "Lets see... pizza and movie suits for a lazy Saturday night!"

Riku sighed and Axel rolled his eyes "Are you two okay with pizza?" he asked Roxas and Sora, who nodded. "Okay. What do you want?"

"The usual for me and Zexy!" intruded Demyx that now was sitting in Zexion lap.

Axel tenderly ignored his friend and was looking the two small boys.

"Pepperoni!" cheered Sora but Riku placed a hand on his shoulder, sorry to give him a bad news. The brunette had already talked a lot how bad he loved pepperoni pizza.

"I'm sorry but no pepperoni pizza"

"What?" looked like he was about to cry at any moment. "Why no pepperoni?"

"Shhh. You can taste new flavors" the silverette softened his expression at the sight of that puppy eyes and patted his head "Will you trust me?" Sora nodded "Okay, then I'll suggest you a simple pizza with tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese. This is the best"

Roxas was sure that if he dared to see more of that, he was going to suffer of hyperglycemia. He followed Axel in the kitchen where he was calling for the pizzeria, he had opted for a simple margherita pizza just like Sora.

"Please, save me" he complained and Axel – stuck to the telephone – widened his arm and invited the blond in a tender hug.

When they went back to the living room, they found Sora hanging on Riku on the sofa and Demyx and Zexyon in in a pose anything but demure.

Axel took Roxas by hand and led him to the other loveseat and suggested him to not pay attention to them.

"We agreed on the first season of Beverly Hills 90210"

"Where the fuck it comes out?" asked Axel like he had been insulted.

"I left if here for a long time. Hadn't you noticed?" grinned the mad blond.

"Riku you're disappointing me too much" he sighed in the end catching a disinterested look by the silverette because he was busy with Sora's blabbing.

The night passed pretty well in general. After an hour and a half the six pizzas arrived and for Demyx's displeasure, they paused the episode and started eating and exchanging different flavored slices one another. Sora and Demyx discovered to get along pretty much, mostly because they were always happy and noisy just like kids. Roxas learned that Zexion was a font of knowledge, he loved reading just like him, actually more than him – from what Demyx said Zexion used to retreat in a library and stayed there until late... until the blond pulled him home.

Demyx was a very talkative person, more than Sora and Axel put together - and it shocked Roxas not a little – he told that he played sitar and he wanted to become famous singer, in fact he often sang in clubs - "Perhaps one on these day you can come and see me!" he said to the twins. He told a lot of funny stories about him and Axel since they were kids. That's how Roxas discovered that the redhead had a little sister of their age that now was in town, that he was afraid of thunders, had a little scar on his right knee from an attempt to play soccer and above all he loved milk chocolate and cherry coke. Axel was a sweetheart and it make Roxas smile inside.

By the way the sand blond told also that Riku, despite his cold appearance loved comics and had often cross-dressed at comicons, after that Roxas was sure that Sora fell for the silverette boy.

Now it was almost 11 pm, Beverly Hills marathon blissfully forgotten, and they had discovered that they attended all the same high school in Manhattan, except for Zexion and Riku.
"Axel failed his last year once, so the next year we were together. It was really fun" explained enthusiastically Demyx, but after that he stopped and reflected. "Roxas Strife" he whispered almost imperceptibly "You-you turned blond?"

"What do you mean? My natural color is blond" Roxas raised an eyebrow, he was sitting on the loveseat, leaning with his back on Axel's shoulder and the redhead's arm around his shoulders, but he suddenly felt uncomfortable and he didn't know the reason. "But once I dyed my hair black- why?!"

The sand blond lowered his gaze and clenched his fist in nervousness "I just realized it, when Sora mentioned that we went in the same school but... aren't you the same Strife of the locker room incident, right?"

Axel, Sora and Roxas winced in surprise, while Riku and Zexion listened in silence.

"Locker room-?" whispered the smaller boy.

"I hope that you're the wrong person, otherwise I'm afraid that we already met in the past"

"W-what do you mean?" now Roxas was trembling.

Axel tensed and released the blond, he murmured something unintelligible under his breath.

"Because it's-" but Demyx voice was cut by Axel.

"It's me that beat the shit out of you that morning" he spoke with an unnatural cold tone. Everyone in the room stared at him. "I was the Fury of the Dancing Flames"

Sora gasped.
Roxas had always been a shy and introverted person so he was often targeted by hooligans, but there was a time during his freshman year where Roxas was sent to hospital bruised, swollen and emotionally broken. That time changed his life. And now he was sitting next to who claimed to be his bully.

What was going to happen?

A/N
Originally this chapter had to be longer and with another cliffhanger that had to come after this one, but it really was taking too long.
Why Roxas dyed his hair black? Why did Axel beat him up? Why didn't they recognized before? And which was Demyx's role in this affair? The truth about Axel and Roxas' past is slowly approaching, so keep cheering me up and the next chapter will be up in days – it's all planned, just like the next-next one.
Info: - the chapter title refers to both Aerith and Roxas.
- the three girls that Sora saw were Kairi, Namine and Selphie.

Next:
My reasons.
"I don't want to see you suffer just like I did"