Chapter 1

"Questions"

Today seemed like any other. Roxas was spending the day with his best friend, Axel. Every day, after they were finally released from high school, the two would walk

back to Axel's house. They were such close friends. It wasn't surprising, seeing as they had been friends practically since birth. They knew everything about each

other. Or so they thought.

"Hey Axel?" The younger blond called from the couch. The older peeked his head from the kitchen. "What's up Rox?" The blond sat for a moment without responding.

The redhead cocked an eyebrow and questioned the boy. "Something on your mind?" The boy just sat with his eyes fixed on his small pair of feet. "Uhh aha nothing's

wrong. Just uh, no crust please." That clearly wasn't what he was originally going to say… It seemed strange for Roxas to hold back from Axel. They never kept

secrets from each other. They told the other anything and everything; no matter how embarrassing or terrible it may be. Axel felt a bit hurt that Roxas could be

keeping a secret from him. But he respected his friend's decision and dropped the conversation.

"You want jelly on your crustless sandwich?" Axel called from the kitchen, returning to his work. The younger giggled a bit "Ew, no" Axel once again peeked from the

kitchen returning a giggle "What do you mean 'ew'?!" Axel emerged from the kitchen and handed Roxas the freshly made peanut butter sandwich, taking a large bite

out of his own. Axel collapsed onto the couch cushion beside Roxas, resting his head on his spindly fingers. "You actually eat that shit? Its the worst! Everything, the

texture, the taste…" With his mouth full of the sticky substance, Axel tried his best to speak. "Well next time, I'll make sure you get extra jelly." Axel winked at Roxas

who responded with a roll of his eyes, an annoyed shake of the head and a slight smile.

The day carried on as usual; simply spending time together. One would think they would get sick of each other given how much they were around one another. But it

was quite the opposite. It seemed like they couldn't get enough of each other. As if the time they spent with one another wasn't enough…and they spent a lot of time

together.

It was around seven o'clock when the summer sky began to shift to an evening red. With the impending night approaching, Roxas knew it was about time to head

home. As much as he hated leaving Axel all alone in that empty house, he knew that his twin brother Sora was waiting for his arrival. Axel realized it was about that

time when Roxas usually left. "Hey, you wanna spend the night? I mean, its a Friday, so its not like we gotta go to school tomorrow." Roxas liked that idea. It wasn't

like his mom would care, she was always too drunk to care about anything. Including her own children. "Yeah, sure. I should probably tell Sora though. Can I use the

phone?" "Rox, You don't have to ask permission to use the phone… Mi casa es su casa." With Axel's remark, Roxas let out a chuckle and grabbed the phone.

The call was short, but all was well. Sora didn't plan on staying at the house anyway. He decided to stay over at his friend Riku's again. Roxas was pretty sure their

relationship was a bit more than platonic. But he never had the guts to ask him about it.

Night was quickly approaching as Axel and Roxas sat on the couch playing poker. "Hey I'm gonna go get changed. You coming?" Axel asked as he stood up and

stretched his long limbs. "Uh, yeah. But I don't have any clothes with me." The blond looked down at the tight 'My Chemical Romance' shirt and jeans he had worn to

school that day. "So you can borrow some of mine! No biggie!" The redhead smiled at the smaller boy. He grabbed Roxas by the forearm and led him to his bedroom.

"They'll probably be a bit big on you since you're so tiny." Axel teased. Roxas folded him arms and gave him a glare, but couldn't contain the smile that pulled at the

corners of his mouth. The older pawed through his clothes and pulled out a pair of plaid sweatpants paired with a black hoodie with chains where the strings ought to

be. "Here you can wear these." Axel stated as he tossed the clothes to Roxas. As Axel rummaged through his clothes to find some pajamas of his own, Roxas got right

to changing. He had no problem changing in front of Axel. They were best friends after all.

Axel soon slipped into his comfier clothes as well. However, as usual, he was going shirtless. Roxas had seen Axel shirtless countless times. But recently, he'd get this

odd feeling in his stomach whenever the man happened to be without a shirt. It was strange, these feelings he started to notice. For some reason, Roxas felt nervous

around him. Was he crushing on Axel?! No. There was no way. Roxas wasn't gay. Or… at least he didn't think he was.

Axel noticed that Roxas didn't quite seem like himself lately. He seemed to be hiding things from Axel. While Roxas was entitled to his privacy, Axel couldn't help but

feel a little pain. But lately, it seemed like Axel might be holding things in from Roxas too. Maybe they were drifting apart? Or maybe they were just too embarrassed

to confess to each other their feelings for one another…

The two sat on Axel's bed. Roxas was sitting at the end with his legs tucked under him, while Axel leaned back against his arms in a casual, relaxed way. It was silent.

Not quite awkward, just a bit uncomfortable. And it stayed that way until Axel finally broke the silence. "Hey Rox?" The blond shot him a questioning glance. "Do you

still like Naminé? I mean, you don't really act like it." Well that was unexpected… Roxas got over the initial shock of the random question and gave the redhead an

answer. "Uh, no. I don't think I really ever did to be honest." The older looked surprised by this. Roxas never really seemed to take a romantic interest in anyone.

Maybe he was just asexual?

"Do you like anyone?" Roxas was once againsurprised. Where was all this coming from? Why the sudden interest? "…Well, yeah sorta." The redhead was taken aback

by this. Roxas had a crush on someone and he didn't tell him?! What the hell? "What?! Who?" The eagerness in Axel's voice hadn't even been tried to be veiled. The

redhead leaned forward to the blond with his jaw slightly ajar. By now, Roxas's eyes had grown unbelievably wide and his cheeks immensely red. He managed to

stutter out a simple "W-Wha…Why?" Axel's emerald eyes studied the younger's face in utter confusion. "I'm your best friend, duh. C'mon Rox!"

Roxas felt like he was going to throw up. How the hell could he tell his guy best friend that he had fallen in love with him?! He valued their friendship, he didn't know

what he'd do if they ever stopped being friends. Roxas struggled with his words. He sat in silence, but Axel had to get answers. "Aw, c'mon Rox! Okay fine, do I know

them?" The blond looked at the man and nodded. "Alright, do they go to our school?" Another nod. "Hmm… Are they a female?" Oh god, that question he was

dreading. Roxas swallowed hard, shifted his glance from Axel's piercing green eyes, and shook his head. "Ah, really? Didn't know you swung that way." Axel chuckled,

but Roxas felt he was on the verge of tears. "Just one more question. Kay?" Roxas continued to avoid Axel's eyes as the next question was asked. There was a brief

pause, and complete silence filled the room for what seemed like an eternity. "Is it me?"