Just a friendly sort of oneshot. Meant to make you smile. I hope it does.

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A Friendly Reminder

By Mandi Minamoto

Roxas stared at the computer screen, tapping his fingers against the keyboard gently and thinking. It's just an email, he told himself reassuringly. Just one short letter that could very well determine whether he grew to be a happy, healthy, loving adult or became an emotional, unloved freak who shot himself in the head before he got his drivers license. No big deal, right?

So.

What to write?

After he'd confessed to his older brother his feelings for a certain someone, Sora had immediately pressured Roxas into writing her a letter.

"Use a lot of mushy words," he'd said, shoving his brother into a chair before the computer eagerly, with all the maturity of a fourth grader. "Like, 'my love for you burns with an eternal flame', or something gross like that. And use the word 'love' at least three times." He chuckled. "Girls love that romantic crap."

Roxas smirked at the glowing screen. There was just one problem with that, Sora. Roxas wasn't writing a letter to a girl.

The blond sighed and drooped his head until it hit the monitor with a small thud. Somewhere near his left eye blinked the recipient's email address, which he'd obtained months ago when they'd first met. In a restaurant, as it happened, where Roxas had been waiting for a friend on one of the last days of summer vacation. A waiter with flaming red hair had come out and asked for his order in a bored voice and by the time Hayner had finally arrived (sporting a brilliant black eye and muttering a half-assed apology) Roxas and the waiter were locked in a sort of table tennis using spoons and a flaming chicken nugget.

"Who knew they were flammable?" the man had laughed as he and Roxas exchanged phone numbers and email addresses. The redhead ended up losing his job waiting tables ("Something about taking twenty minutes off to throw chicken nuggets at a customer," he'd said, sounding somewhat offended, as if lighting artificial food products on fire was a perfectly normal thing to do) but it ended up being the start of a long and solid friendship.

Past the jokes and sarcastic comments, Roxas' new friend proved the perfect person to rant to. The usually shy and reserved blond had forced the ex-waiter to suffer through his pre-high school nerves, serve as a consoler for his short infatuation - and even shorter relationship - with the girl from art class, and join in his anger at Seifer and his gang, adding great insults which Roxas recycled at school. In turn, Roxas heard complaints on just about everything from his new friend; his various bosses - all of whom fired him for, as the redhead put it, no apparent reason - his crazy roommate - who found enjoyment in inviting his band over for long and noisy practice sessions and talking to his fish - his inability to win a game of poker when his large group of friends gathered to play every week ("Luxord's cheating. He's gotta be!").

Now, nearly a year later, Roxas trusted the older man more than anyone. He felt, with complete confidence, that he could tell the redhead anything.

So why was it so hard for him to spit out those three words?

"I love you," Roxas told the computer aloud. It blanked out and threw up a screensaver.

Roxas groaned and slammed his head against the keyboard.

"OK," He told himself a bit more quietly, removing his forehead from the keys and preparing himself for the worst. "It's no problem. You can do this, Roxas." He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and typed.

Dear Axel,

There. He'd started it. There was no turning back now. So... what next?

Roxas scratched his head, tapped his toes, wiggled his fingers. He scratched his nose. He bit his lip. At last, he put his fingers against the dreaded keyboard and began typing again.

I know this sounds strange, because, well, you know, you're a guy and I'm a guy too. So it's kind of weird to say this, and

Roxas stopped and reread his work. No, at this rate Axel would lose interest before Roxas even mentioned how he felt. He tapped the Backspace key. Besides, he decided as he chewed the end of a pen he found on the desk, he'd probably ruin any chance he had by mentioning that little tiny detail. Oh, yeah. They were both guys. Well. Hm. Did that make him gay?

"I'm not gay," Roxas informed the monitor. And he wasn't... not really. He didn't carry around purses or talk about shoes in a weird gay voice. And it wasn't like other guys turned him on or anything. It was just... Axel.

He frowned and examined his pen closely. There was another small detail that sort of ruined his plan; a plan which included a lot of Axel and a lot of him, and maybe not quite so much clothing. That small detail was the ridiculous age difference between the two. Roxas would be turning fifteen next month; Axel had turned twenty in April. That would make him (Roxas counted his fingers) five years and two months younger than the redhead. The difference was obvious even in their appearances; Axel stood about a head taller than Roxas. If he slept with Axel, Roxas wondered, would that make Axel a pedophile? The blond blushed a bit at the thought. It would be kind of cool to have sex with Axel, but he figured it wouldn't be so cool if Axel was arrested or something afterwards.

Roxas sighed and dropped the pen. It hit the floor with a clack and rolled across his floor and down the heat vent. Roxas wondered if that was supposed to be some sort of an omen. He sure hoped not.

The blond turned back to the computer. He tried again.

Dear Axel,

Roxas blinked. That sounded a bit too formal. Besides, his usual emails had no introduction at all. Still, jumping into the letter without any sort of warning seemed a bit too abrupt, and he didn't - Roxas stopped himself right there. He was thinking about this too much. He deleted the "Dear" and continued.

I've been trying to tell you this forever, but haven't been able to find the right words. Over this past year, I

Roxas stopped again. That sounded kind of corny. Plus, it wasn't really all that true. Roxas had realized his feelings for Axel less than a month ago, when Pence had asked him what he wanted to do this summer and Roxas realized that he wanted to spend every single moment of it with Axel. He hadn't said this of course; he'd mumbled something about pretzels and the beach. Then he'd gone home and sat for hours wondering about his newfound outlook on his best friend. Finally, when he could barely hold a conversation with Axel without blushing and thinking dirty, dirty thoughts, Roxas decided that something had to be done. Going to his immature older brother may not have been the best thing, but it's what he did.

And here he was today. With an annoyed grumbled, Roxas erased his letter again. He took a deep breath, ran his fingers through his messy hair, and let it out loudly.

Axel,

He frowned, thoughtful. At last, his fingers slowly but surely moved across the keys. He stopped, closed his eyes, breathed in, and looked up.

Axel,

I love you.

I love you.

I love you.

There. He'd said it. Plus, he'd said the word 'love' three times, just like Sora had told him too. He got his feelings out, confirmed them, and threw them in Axel's face, all in only ten words. Time was money, after all. Ha.

Roxas frowned, and his finger hovered over the Backspace key. This was much harder than it should be. Really, what was the worst that could happen? Axel could turn him down. They could still be friends, right? Then again, maybe he'd get creeped out that his best friend got horny over him, and wouldn't want to hang out with Roxas anymore. Roxas panicked slightly. That wouldn't be good! If Axel didn't want to hang out with him anymore, Roxas would probably go into some weird state of depression, and then he'd get shipped off to the nut house and live in a little white room and get fruit baskets from Girl Scouts and never-

"Roxas!" A voice from downstairs snapped the blond out of his thoughts, and almost sent him flying out of his chair. Pressing a hand to his chest, he took several deep breaths until he reached an almost-calm state.

"Yes?" He called back shakily.

"Someone's hear to see you," His mother called, and the calm feeling Roxas had worked so hard for exploded into a thousand tiny pieces. He stood up, knocked his chair over, pulled it up again, and started out the door. Then he skidded to a halt and rushed back to his computer.

This was it, he thought as his mouse hovered over the Send button. There was no way he could summon up the courage to send this later. It was now or never. Send it, or don't send it. Tell Axel how he really felt, or-

"Roxas!"

He sent it. He watched the little envelope fly into the mailbox, trying to ignore the butterflies in his stomach, then spun around and stormed down the stairs.

"It's about time!" His mother huffed, crossing her arms. "Don't you know it's rude to-"

"Sorry, Mom," Roxas said in a low voice. He walked to the door and walked past his mother... and the butterflies in his stomach broke into an explosion of cheers and threw a freaking party.

"H-Hi, Axel," He said breathlessly. BOOM went the little butterfly-sized fireworks in his chest.

"H-H-Hi R-Roxas," Axel mocked the shorter boy's stutter and laughed. The butterflies laughed as well, blasting off a few more explosions in the process. Axel, unaware, rested a hand on his hip and spoke again.

"Listen, Demyx gave me s'more tickets to see his stupid band, and he's like, 'You HAVE to come, Axel!'. I mean, they're only opening for someone else. It's not like it really matters. Freak." The man laughed again, and the very sound sent Roxas' nerves in a crazed frenzy to rival the butterflies'. "Anyway," Axel continued. "It'd be lame to go by myself, and you said you had fun last time, so you wanna come?"

Roxas swallowed in an attempt to dislodge his heart from his throat. "Um, OK." His voice squeaked. Holy fucking shit, his voice fucking squeaked. Axel grinned. Roxas turned away to find his shoes and to hide the blush that had pretty much taken over his entire face.

"Oh, yeah..." the blond blinked and stood up. "Mom, can I go?"

Axel sniggered. His younger friend's protective parents had always been a spot of amusement with him. Bastard.

"Be back before midnight," she called. "Do you need money?"

"I got it," Axel said with a wave of his hand. Roxas wanted nothing more than to snog him right there. He resisted.

"C'mon," the older said eagerly after the door slammed shut behind them. He grabbed Roxas' wrist and pulled him down the driveway. After he was quite certain that Roxas was following him, Axel released the blond and shoved his hands into his pockets, wearing his typical Cheshire smile. Roxas tried not to show his disappointment. He turned away a bit in order to watch a squirrel scurry past. Several minutes passed in silence, broken only by the sound of sneakers hitting the concrete.

"So," Roxas finally spoke. "Are we taking the bus again, or what?"

"Nah, Demyx is getting a ride off'a Xigbar, so we're gonna mooch off them." Axel grinned. Roxas couldn't help but notice that the redhead was a bit too excited for simply going to see Demyx's "stupid band". He also couldn't help but notice every other detail concerning Axel, from his wild spiked back hair to the dark tattoos beneath his amazing green eyes to his narrow waist to his- Roxas mentally shook himself out of his daze. Had he been staring?

It was right about then when a thought thrust itself through the Axel-obsessing haze and made itself apparent.

"Hey, why didn't you call me before you came?" Roxas asked, a bit out of breath from trying to match Axel's long stride. "I could've gotten my mom to drive me or something."

"It's not that far to walk," Axel said defensively, gesturing ahead to where the suburban neighborhood melded into several apartment buildings to prove his point. He glanced at his younger friend, and this time Roxas was certain that he caught a nervous glint in the man's narrow eyes. He frowned. "Um, listen... Roxas?"

"Yeah?"

"I... eh..." Axel struggled over the words for a moment. At last, he sighed and turned away. "Nothing. Never mind."

Roxas gave him a questioning look, but didn't say anything. They fell back into an awkward silence, each locked in their own thoughts. Roxas' mind drifted back to the email he'd sent. It was strange, now that it was done, he didn't feel nervous about it anymore. It was like he'd accepted it, and whatever happened would happen. Tonight, after he got home, or maybe tomorrow, Axel would read it. He would know why Roxas stuttered when he saw him standing in his doorway, why his voice squeaked when he spoke, why his every thought revolved around Axel, Axel, Axel.

"Hey, Roxas...?" Axel stopped, and Roxas turned around to face him again. The redhead thrust his hands into his pockets, and Roxas knew he was fumbling with the lighter he held there, like he always did when he was nervous.

"What's up?" Roxas asked, hoping he sounded concerned and not desperate. Or love struck. That would suck, big time.

Axel frowned, his lips drawn down at the corners. Roxas watched them move as he spoke, mystified. And the way his eyes caught the sinking sun perfectly, and the way his hair bounced slightly as he rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet.

"Listen, Roxas... I've been thinking-"

Axel didn't get a chance to reveal what he was thinking, or anything else for that matter, because at that moment Roxas' self-control snapped. He practically tackled Axel, standing as tall as he could to press his lips against the taller man's. His face banged against Axel's rather painfully, and the kiss landed a bit lower than he had intended, but he hardly noticed. All he knew was Axel; the taste of Axel's lips, the feel of Axel's breath against his skin, the wonderful bliss of Axel's hands against his chest...

And then the painful shock of Axel pushing him away. Roxas fell back, breathing heavily as if he had just run a mile, and suddenly his common sense came crashing back like a sack of bricks. He just kissed Axel. He just fucking kissed Axel.

"I-I'm so sorry! I shouldn't have... I-I didn't mean to-" Roxas gushed apologies, his face brick red and suddenly painfully aware of how tall Axel really was. He stared down at him, a surprised look on his beautiful face. "I'm so sorr-"

He broke off when Axel gently pressed a finger against his lips. He bent down until his green eyes were level with Roxas' blue ones and glared at him. Roxas let his eyes drop to the ground.

"You jerk," Axel said, and Roxas stared a hole in his sneaker miserably. "I was supposed to kiss you first. You beat me to it, meanie."

Roxas' eyes shot back up, wide and surprised. Axel smiled a lopsided grin that made Roxas' heart do back flips. Then, he lowered his lips to Roxas' and kissed him, gently, much more gently than Roxas had.

Roxas stood in shock for a second. Then, he kissed Axel back, slowly like his friend had, raising to his tiptoes and wrapping his arms around the taller man's neck. He was distantly aware of Axel's hands inching around his waist, pulling him closer. They held the kiss for as long as they dared, before they finally broke apart for air.

"Wow," Roxas said breathlessly, gazing up into Axel's eyes with a glazed over expression.

"Yeah." Axel nodded, his arms still around Roxas. They stared at each other for a while, unaware of time passing around them.

"GET A ROOM, LOVEBIRDS!!"

The boys broke out of their embrace quickly, their eyes wide. Across the street, they saw with absolute horror, stood a flock of girls, no older than ten, sporting variously colored birthday hats, and giggling loudly. Suddenly, the pair remembered exactly where it was they had been kissing.

"IF YOU LOVE HER SO MUCH, WHY DON'T YOU MAR-RY HE-ER?"

"ORANG-Y AND BLON-DIE, SITTIN' IN A TREE!"

Roxas stared with a detached sort of shock as the girls, laughing and shrieking, joined in the chorus. He glanced at Axel, who looked back with a similar look of horror. It wasn't until the children's voices attracted several mothers attention did the boys run for it, fingers intertwined and feet pounding the street.

It took Roxas several minutes to realize that, between gasps for air, Axel was laughing. And the blond couldn't blame him. No matter how you looked at it, this was a pretty ridiculous situation they'd found themselves in. They ran, panting and laughing all at once, until they were quite certain that they'd left any curious eyes far behind.

They slowed to a halt, finally, beneath a maple tree and about a block from Axel's apartment. For a few minutes, the pair didn't say anything, as they were too occupied with trying to catch their breath and laugh at the same time to do anything except give strangled sorts of gasps. Roxas noticed that his hand was still clenched in Axel's, and this time the man seemed to have no intention of letting go.

"Jeez, Roxas," Axel finally said, straightening. "Can't you get any privacy around here?"

"No." Roxas said, shaking his head with a quiet chuckle. "None at all."

Axel grinned his lopsided smile again, elbowing the younger boy playfully. "Y'know, they were calling you the girl back there."

"They were not!" Roxas snapped, glaring. "They were totally talking about you, mister hair-past-his-shoulders."

Axel pouted. "C'mon, Roxas, we both know you're the girly one here." He laughed loudly when Roxas let go of his hand to punch the man in the arm. The blond crossed his arms and continued to glare. Axel frowned.

"Wait..." He reached for Roxas' hand again. "Don't let go..."

Roxas raised an eyebrow. "You're sounding pretty clingy, Axel. Very feminine, if you ask me."

Axel blinked and let his hand drop. "Oh..."

Silence.

Sigh. Roxas shook his head, letting a tiny smile play across his lips. "I love you," He informed Axel, reaching to lace his fingers between the redhead's.

At the sight of Roxas smiling, Axel beamed. He tugged the blond down the street again.

"I love you, too. Even if you are girly."

And so the peaceful moment was once again shattered. The boys continued down the street, arguing and laughing. It was then, after he'd elbowed Axel again and received a kiss in return, that Roxas decided that after all this, nothing had really changed. After all his worrying and nerves, he felt as though his relationship with the redhead hadn't changed a bit. Well, except perhaps for the gracious kissing, but that was a positive change, after all.

As the pair stepped into Axel's apartment room, fingers intertwined, Roxas wondered vaguely about his tiny love letter, sitting innocently in Axel's computer and waiting to be read. He wondered whether it had been a waste of time after all. But, he decided, as he leaned gently against Axel's warm body and earned a slew of giggles from Demyx, perhaps writing had been the tiny push that had given him the courage to finally act on his feelings.

And so, he dubbed the letter nothing more than a friendly reminder to Axel tomorrow, after Roxas had gone home and he was left with only thoughts of his new relationship.

The next day, Roxas a bit surprised to find a short yet sweet reminder of his own on his monitor.

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I hope you guys remember, now, that the middle of the street in the suburbs is not a good place to make-out. I SHARE MY WISDOM WITH ALL.

Reviews are read with love and a face kind of like this: D