AN and disclaimer: Ignore this if you want to get onto the good stuff, but this fucking story took me all of twenty four hours to flesh out. The rest of the time beyond that was just getting my plot down and my characters right. And even then some of this shit doesn't feel fluid with me.

But oh well. I present you with a day's hard work and an end to a long, long, long procrastination period and writer's block.

Everything I own is in here. But the characters. I'm borrowing them for delicious and evil purposes.

Friday night.

After finals.

Parents were gone.

These three sentences automatically morphed into one delicious word that every teenager and young adult alike were fond of and anticipated.

Party.

Both he and Axel were no exception to this particular event.

When they both heard that there would be a small (read: large enough to destroy the house) party at Kairi's, the mayor's daughter's, house, they had called each other immediately and began scheming about how much booze to bring, what they could buy from who, and who was gonna be there.

It was decided that Axel would get the booze because he was twenty and Roxas would get 'everything else' from Hayner. They would crash at Axel's apartment downtown later, and whatever happened from there happened from there.

So, no need for a car and no need for his parents to find out what he had been doing that night.

Fool-proof.

Of course, saying that specific phrase made you a pretty pathetic and stupid fool.

"Hey, Roxas, bu-- drinking to--!"

"Damn it Axel!" Roxas practically screamed his head off into the small phone, walking with his other hand shoved deep in his pocket where a good load of Mary Jane lay. "For the last time, get a new phone! I can't hear shit from you!"

"Would if I cou-- ut I can't, bu--y."

"Whatever. Sooner or later." He narrowed his eyes against the fading sun, looking around for wild red hair and a tall, lanky form. "Where are you anyways?"

Instead of hearing Axel's laugh on the other line, like he was expecting, he heard his laugh somewhere near him.

"Alm-- a- t-e cor--!"

"WHAT?" Roxas screamed again, deciding then and there that if he was ever going to become rich and famous, the first thing he would do with his hard earned money was buy Axel a new phone. One that didn't have him constantly playing the guessing game with the redhead.

"I s--d-"

And, just as Roxas was going to give up understanding Axel and hang up, a hand suddenly appeared out of nowhere and landed on his shoulder.

And, the thing with Roxas? He had a load of illegal stuff in his pocket. And wasn't a very easy-going person by nature.

For the person whose hand had appeared on his shoulder out of fucking nowhere, this was both a very bad thing and a very good thing.

Bad because a jumpy Roxas was a violent Roxas.

Good because, seeing as that person was Axel, he had bribing material for the very unmanly scream that had erupted from his friend's lips.

"You fucking asshole! You know why the fuck you don't sneak up on me like that! Are you fucking stupid!"

Axel couldn't help but snicker at Roxas' annoyed face. Or twitch, because, for being surprised, his little blond friend had quite the right hook. His cheek would either turn a lovely shade of blue tomorrow or later tonight.

"It's just funny, you know. Who ever thought that quiet guy at the back got so surprised from a little touch? But, you know what they say..." The tall redhead put up his hands, palms face up, in a dramatic gesture that just sighed 'What can you do?'. "Watch out for the quiet ones."

"Oh shut up." The blond grumbled, hands slipping back into his pockets. "Did you get any booze?"

Axel feigned hurt for a split second, but couldn't keep his smile from rising. "Yeah, of course. Who do you think I am? Some teenager without a fake ID? Its at my house."

Roxas just grumbled. Fine. Whatever. "What should we do till the party?"

Another, slower grin crept up Axel's face. Which wasn't all that much of a good thing in the first place.

"I say we go to my house and play a round of Guitar Hero."

"No way, dude. I'm shit at that game."

"Loser is the servant of the winner for a week or has to do a favor for the other. You know how you hate math homework and the Friday shifts, Roooooxy."

And Roxas thought. Thought of all the Friday night movies he could have been watching but had been, instead, serving bitchy assholes in a restaurant that was open for twenty-four hours. Thought of all the time he could have been gaining levels on Devil May Cry 3 instead of doing math homework.

And making Axel go and get groceries for him in drag? Priceless.

"You're on." Roxas said with a delicious smirk curling his lips, eyes narrowing. "Prepare for the ass kicking of your life."

So, in the end, Axel had won.

Which was really no surprise because Roxas did fail extremely at that game. The orange button always got him, and his lack of rhythm was why he only played long-range shooter games and RPGS.

Not to mention that every time Axel picked a song, he picked the hardest fucking ones he could. The chords of Rise Against's "Prayer of the Refugee" still hadn't left his head.

Axel had actually won by a mile because of all of these factors. And had said that he should get an extra prize, until Roxas threw the plastic guitar at him.

Which broke the thing in half. Now, among the 'servitude' he was supposed to follow through with, he owed Axel a fake guitar.

And those things were fucking expensive.

"You're still not moping, are you?" Axel said, shifting the backpack full of booze from one shoulder to the other. Axel had bought some Mike's Hard Lemonade (for Roxas) and a twelve back of Bohemian (for Axel). Roxas didn't care if Mike's was a pussy drink, he fucking hated the taste of Boh, and of all beer in general. If he was going to get smashed, he was going to enjoy it.

After a moment's hesitation, he shook his head, blowing a breath up into his hair and making his fringe flop uselessly back to his forehead a second later. "No. I still can't believe I owe you a fucking guitar, though."

The taller redhead snorted. "Dude, you broke it over my neck. I say you owe me a new one."

"I didn't even hit you with the damn thing!" Roxas glared. "...I threw it at you. There's a difference."

Axel just snorted, making a forward motion with his head. "Is that her house? The one with all the cars in front of it and the blaring music?"

Roxas nodded, deciding to let go of the little tiff like Axel had done. "Yeah. That'd be the one."

A grin spread over the older boy's face and he hefted his shoulder up, making the bottles and aluminum cans clink together. "Now, let us go get smashed completely out of our minds."

It was hours after they got there that the party moved down to the basement with fewer numbers, where the oxygen turned to smoke and everyone was lounging around as if this particular spot was declared the Utopia of the Whole Wide Earth.

That was how Roxas felt at the moment, at least. He was enjoying life, lounging on one of those bean chairs from the 80's with Axel leaning against it, his hair brushing his leg every time he deigned to move his head. He was wearing shorts, so every time the fiery red locks shifted against his skin he giggled. Cuz it felt really, really cool. And good. And Axel's hair was really nice...

He enjoyed being high. And slightly smashed. A four pack couldn't do a lot to him, but mixed with the right substances and he was delightfully fucked.

Beside him, Axel slurred away at a story of how, last Thursday, a guy had tried to come rob the store he was working at and how he'd leapt over the counter to fight him and blah blah blah.

Roxas just ignored him, instead letting the story drift to the very intent listener's gathering around them. The blond knew it was a lie. Axel would have told him already. Or, better yet, phoned him from the crime scene on his cell phone.

Axel was just getting into the part about where he had the guy in a sleeper hold when his cousin Sora came and joined them, grinning goofily with his arm around Kairi's shoulders. His eyes were bright and wide, and the blond could tell that he was one pace away from being blacked out smashed.

Which was good. Getting completely fucked was good.

"Roxas!" The one thing Sora never did was slur. He sounded perfectly normal, even while he was two seconds away from falling over. "Guess what?"

Roxas scrunched his eyes for a moment, remembering their youthful game of Guess-What-Chicken-Butt! and wondering if Sora was just doing it to annoy him. Remembering that they hadn't done that in years, he just shrugged, answering. "What?"

"What if I said that I had a couple of tickets to a certain band that you liked, who are playing soon, but I don't like, and I wasn't going to give them to you..."

Something clicked in his head. A band Sora didn't like, but Roxas did, and was playing soon... The one band he had been trying to get tickets for for weeks...

"OBLIVION? And you're not giving them to me?" He snarled.

Sora quirked his lips up, and Kairi laughed beside him, taking a sip of her Bacardi Breezer. Roxas liked coolers, but he would never be caught drinking Bacardi Breezers. He didn't want to scream out 'fag!' to everyone at the party.

"Without a price."

By this point, everyone had stopped talking. While, not completely, but it was Roxas' paranoid imagination at work. Plus, the way Axel was staring intently at him, as if sober, fed it like wood to a fire.

After a second he swallowed, lifting himself up from the bean bag chair. "What price?"

Sora seemed to pause for a minute, smiling. "Anything for Oblivion tickets?"

"Anything, I swear." He would do anything. He would get down and clean the floors with his tongue. And Sora didn't even like Oblivion. How come he couldn't just give him the goddamn tickets!

His thoughts were interrupted when Sora grinned maliciously.

"OK." Sora grinned mischievously, taking the plastic coke bottle he had in his hand and holding it up. "Whoever this bottle lands on you have to make out with for 10 minutes."

Roxas stared at his cousin silently, and it was in that moment that he wished his cousin would go drown in a pool somewhere. Not die, of course, but get some brain damage. Not that it would make much difference, seeing as what had just come out of Sora's mouth was obviously the product of some mental retardation.

The blond only broke his silence when Sora raised his eyebrow, waving the bottle back and forth lightly.

"I thought you meant I had to do you a favor."

From beside Sora, Kairi spoke up, grinning at Roxas. He had a sense of foreboding when he saw her smile and instantly didn't like her anymore. Before, she was a sweet girl, smart, treated Sora right...

"Well, you said you'd do anything. This is 'anything'."

Yeah. He didn't like her anymore.

He was about to say no when Sora waved the Oblivion tickets he had pulled from his pocket- he swore there was angelic light coming out from behind them, but that might have been the drugs- and immediately changed his mind.

"Whatever. Bottle. Yeah."

From beside him Axel suddenly yelled, breaking his long silence. "Woah, you go Roxas! So, you're taking me, right?"

"Shut up Axel. What do you think? You should be doing the favor if you want them so badly." Here he smirked at his friend. "Then you'd get to have some chick feel you up. You wouldn't mind that, eh Axel?"

"Well!" Axel grinned, waving his right arm around. "I'd be saying the same to you too if I were in your position-"

"Ah, guys?"

Here Roxas looked up, ignoring the red head for a split second.

"Bottle?" Sora's voice was between a squeak, a gasp, and a horrible combination of feeling sorry for his cousin and laughing at him.

So Roxas looked down.

The bottle was….

"Ah… No?"

Axel looked at him with a bit of surprise. At the fact that the bottle had landed on him or the fact that Roxas looked kind of confused and weirded out, he didn't know.

"You realize that Oblivion tickets are at stake? The Oblivion? You know, the guys you practically drooled over every night for the last year and a half?"

"But… Axel?" Here his voice rose a pitch too high, resulting in him being slightly embarrassed and panicked. Axel? His mind kept on repeating. A-X-E-L? That Axel?

Sora's eyes leveled with his slightly bewildered ones. For the next few moments, they stared at each other.

And he didn't know what Sora saw but he smiled.

Which seriously creeped him out because the last time that Sora smiled like that he had ended up with a scolding about stealing a teddy bear from a Value Village store.

"Yep. Axel. Now hurry up or you'll prolong your torture." The brunet chirped.

Oh God, Roxas thought, looking in horror at his cousin and his friend, I'm going to die.

When he turned to face the tall redhead fully, the only things running through his head were When did Sora get so messed up? and Oh God, Axel.

And Axel?

It was either he was trying to hide a grin or had developed a horrible twitch.

As if I want to do this.

He was about to turn around and just pay Sora for the tickets when, out of nowhere, Axel's hand came up and touched the side of his neck gently.

"Let's just get this over with. You so owe me that ticket."

Before Roxas had time to think, word vomit burst out of his mouth, sounding a little more impatient and passionate than it should have. "Shut up and kiss me than!"

He only realized what he had said when Axel smirked, face moving closer. And it was only when their noses touched when he thought that maybe-

"Oh my God! Stop! My video camera isn't working."

"Holy fuck!" Roxas jumped at the high pitched squeal and Axel just twitched back, face distorted in surprised. Both of their heads automatically whipped around to stare at the offender; he didn't want to admit that he was a lot more annoyed than he should have been.

The culprit, Selphie, was ignoring them. He glared at her for a few more seconds, thinking about a painful and easy way she could die, before she looked up, grin sugar-coated with diabetes.

"Ok! Ready! Ah, this is gonna be so hot!"

A few giggles from around the room erupted. Roxas turned his glare unto Sora.

Who grinned at him like a creep again. And waved the tickets.

Ok, that's it.

Axel didn't even have time to say anything before Roxas shot up from his seat on the floor and onto his knees, pressing his lips to Axel's in an odd sort of kiss.

"Mf-"

Two 'Aws' sounded from behind him but he ignored them. Under him, Axel flailed, lips stiff.

Christ, it's like kissing a dead fish. Axel is a big fat fucking liar about all those chicks-

His thoughts were stopped when it seemed like Axel reanimated out of nowhere, and in a two second flash Roxas was on his back, gasping into Axel's open mouth.

Holy shit-

It was reaction that made him wrap his arms around Axel's neck.

Yeah, 'reaction'-

And if this wasn't all but fucking over his thought process, Axel, who had pressed as close to him as he could, had just made a far-too-sexy (what am I thinking!) noise.

Fuck. Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck-

It was when Axel's leg accidentally pressed slightly in between his thighs that Roxas moaned, arching into the other boy.

He didn't hear the snickers and the gasps of "Oh my god, did he just moan!', but he could imagine them. In clear detail. Like it was a movie.

But… Yeah. Kissing. Axel. Good? He didn't know.

Speaking of which…

Axel was running his tongue along Roxas' bottom lip, fingers lightly brushing against the base of his neck as the other hand held his body up.

He should have been paying attention. It looked like Axel was doing all of the work. And, if he knew Sora, he'd be watching, and he would give the tickets to Axel, and Axel would taunt him with the tickets and make him call himself short and… No. He would not be belittled by the freakish, skinny giant.

Finally clearing his head (slightly. Out of the corner of his eye, Sora waved the Oblivion tickets), Roxas lifted his hips slightly to get more comfortable, hands burying in the fiery red hair of his taller friend.

He opened his mouth, pressing his tongue against the seam of Axel's lips, biding them open. The redhead eagerly complied, pressing his tongue against Roxas' and thrusting his hips down at the same time.

Roxas pressed his lips against the taller boy's harder, desperately trying to get more contact.

His hands slid down the other's back and teased the end of the shirt he was wearing, scraping his short nails lightly on the skin there. His fingers curled around the edge, and pulled upwards-

Then there was a flash of light and, suddenly, reality bitch-slapped him. The sounds of the low music playing in the background, the bright light from the ceilings, the staring eyes at them.

With one last final gasp he wrenched his self away, eyes wide and dilated, staring at all the girls and guys staring at them.

Silence.

"Wow..." A girl said from somewhere in the room. "Does anyone else think that was, like, super hot?"

He couldn't stop staring at Axel. The redhead was acting normal, laughing and talking with anyone within his range, while Roxas sat beside him, just... staring.

And it wasn't even an angry kind of staring. He was just... He couldn't believe he kissed Axel... Axel...

The redhead turned to look at him, and his breath caught in his throat.

And it seemed that Axel saw something, because his eyes lit up and he smirked.

Roxas smiled. Then they both turned to leave.

They stumbled into the dark room, lips messily sliding over each other and hands catching at clothing. When they hit the bed, their lips separated, and Axel took this time to speak.

"I'm drunk." He breathed, hands clumsily sliding up his side and taking his shirt with it, breath fanning out over his face in a drunken form of romantic foreplay.

"Yeah." Here Roxas gasped, arching slightly so his hips connected with Axel's. "Me too."

And they woke up to one hell of an awkward morning.

Axel was the one to wake up first, actually. His mouth opened to yawn, and as he went to stretch, his bare skin touched someone else's.

Now, Axel wasn't one who was unfamiliar with the feel of skin he couldn't remember touching in the morning. University meant party time for those not academically minded but still in need of a career. So, instead, he just opened his eyes.

And, well, he was better than any alarm clock ever invented when he saw Roxas underneath him.

Alarm clocks were made to wake people up. 'People' was obviously Roxas.

Roxas woke up.

Roxas wiggled about, yawned, stretched, tried going back to sleep for about 2.6 nanoseconds, and then opened his hazy blue eyes.

That was like the alarm clock going off after about five minutes since the person last slammed the 'snooze' button.

Axel counted the seconds that passed by. He counted 204 seconds before Roxas realized how far he had vaulted to the other side of the room in nothing but his boxers plus a blanket and how long he had been staring at the redhead with only said boxers plus blanket on. Which had little ice cream cones on them. Axel still couldn't help but think cute.

It was in record time- 12 seconds, Axel counted- that Roxas grabbed his clothes, threw the blankets he had used to cover himself, and booked it out the door.

The tall redhead sighed.

Shit. He'd have some explaining to do.

"Explain to me why you called me at nine in the fucking morning when you know I get the hangovers from hell?"

"Shut up, Sora! Why the hell did you do that last night?" Ok. Yeah. Roxas was literally freaking out. He had taken the elevator so he had enough time to throw his clothes on, and then booked it out of there as if Axel was chasing him with passionate gestures of love.

"Do what? Drink? It's a part of teenage life, Ro-"

"NO!" The short teen practically screamed. He received a strange look from the lady walking her dog across the street. Then he suddenly realized this was the street he and Axel had met up on with the booze. He dashed across, not even minding that the lady with the dog crossed the street as soon as he got on the other side. "Why in the flying fuck of Oblivion did you have to make me kiss AXEL? A-X-E-L? MY BEST FRIEND? GOT IT MEMORIZED?"

And then Roxas realized he used the redhead's 'catchphrase' of long ago. Back when it was cool to do such a thing.

Sora was silent on the other end while the blond tried valiantly to bite his tongue off after using the stupid catch phrase. And for playing tonsil hockey with Axel. The one guy he thought he would never do that particular sport with.

"Why not?" Was the reply a few minutes later. Roxas gave up on trying to sever his tongue after realizing he didn't like the taste of his own blood. "It's not like you guys are secretly harboring feelings for each other, am I right? It shouldn't be awkward. Hell, I made out with Riku when we were fourteen to see what kissing felt like and we're still best friends."

"... Too much information." Roxas muttered, dragging his hand across his face in tired action. Then he decided he could do without the mental images of the silver-haired 'ladies man' sticking his tongue down his cousin's throat, and went with previous rage.

"Tell me, then..." the blond seethed, visualizing the rock in front of him was actually his cousin's face before viciously kicking it. "Did you end up in his bed, half naked, with what looks like a Picasso painting all over your neck and chest in the morning!"

Silence. And than a soft "Oh." from the other end of the line.

"Yeah," The short teen said finally, breath hissing out from between his teeth. He tasted beer and cinnamon. He viciously bit the inside of his cheek to get rid of the taste of Axel. "It's that fucked up."

Silence reigned from the other end. Christ, this was not helping his feeling of awkwardness and nervousness and just plain weirded-out-ness in general. What was Sora gonna do, hang up and go proclaim to everyone he was a fag now? Shit, even though Sora wasn't the kind of person who would do that, his paranoia was at work. And he was freaking out. He was allowed so lee-way.

Roxas didn't even noticed he was tugging on his hair- a nervous habit from long long ago- until he looked at his clenched fingers, which held a few shining strands in it.

Giving up, he let his hands clench at his hair, still walking. The silence was unbearable on the other end.

"Sora?"

A pause, then "What?"

"... What are you thinking?"

Another pause. What, was Sora broken or something? "I'm actually thinking about why you're calling me at nine in the morning- way to early for anything to be living, never mind awake- and not snuggling in bed with Axel at the moment."

And this? This took twenty- no, thirty- seconds for Roxas to process. Then he probably made his brunet cousin deaf by screeching "WHAT!" in his ear.

Poor Sora.

"What the fuck do you mean by THAT! Am I MISHEARING you, perhaps? Maybe you're still drunk. You know how you are with booze, Sora, you can't hold it worth shit-"

"Ow, fucking ow, Roxas! My ear!" Some shifting from the other end before Sora spoke again, no doubt using his other ear to listen to his blond cousin's crisis. "No, I'm not drunk, hear me out-"

"No, I will not!" The blond took the phone away from his ear, staring at in in aghast before bringing it back up to his ear. "Are you even realizing what you're insinuating! Me and Axel, together? WHAT!"

"Stop fucking screaming like a goddamn drama queen..." was muttered from the other end, but Roxas ignored it. If he had actually processed it, he would have marched over to Sora's house and very well have murdered him in various painful ways.

"No, me and Axel? THE AXEL who self-proclaims himself ruler of all women? The very same one who buys me my booze and beats my ass at guitar hero every night?'

"The one and the same." He heard some muttering on the other end- a girl's voice- before Sora came back, sounding perplexed. "Dude, do you guys even realize how you act around each other?"

Roxas resisted the urge to scream into the phone, just for spite. "Wait, what do you mean 'how we act'?"

He heard a sigh, as if Roxas was a new student under a wise old master and had much to learn. "Dude, you guys act like me and Kairi. Just much more manly and... gay-straight."

Before the blond could ask what the fuck 'gay-straight' was, he did a double take, looking over Sora's words critically. It took him a full minute before he responded, indignant. "No we don't."

"Yes, actually, you do." A clink of glasses. "You hang out everyday, share everything, and for the past two years I haven't seen you with out seeing him in the immediate vicinity, or you on your way to see him."

"... No we don't." Roxas was more bewildered than ever, vehemently denying it. Him and Axel didn't act like that. They were just... Best friends. Good friends. Nothing more. "... No, we don't."

Another sigh. "Dude, if you and Axel decided to make out during a big event where every one of our friends were there, in front of everyone, no one would be surprised. Tell me, when was the last time you've ever dated someone? Or even had sex? When was the last time Axel was actually dating someone, for that matter?"

This question actually had Roxas pausing. And thinking. And coming to a dreadful realization.

He hadn't had a date in two years. Not since he met Axel. This had meant plenty of lonely nights with Mrs. Palm and her five daughters, but, looking back, Roxas didn't mind the missing female companionship. He had Axel.

And Axel had never dated someone with Roxas in his life. He had just fooled around at a few parties with some chicks. Roxas would be the first one to know if he decided to date someone.

"Just think about it." Sora said abruptly, yawning into the phone. "For now, I'm going to bed. I have a warm body and five hours of sleep to go too."

And then the brunet hung up, leaving Roxas alone.

And with the sudden, fucked up realization that he was dating his best friend.

For the next few weeks, everything changed in Roxas' eyes.

Later in the morning after Roxas and Sora had 'THE TALK' (capitalized for obvious reasons), Axel had phoned Roxas and said sorry multiple times, that they were both drunk and he hadn't meant to do anything that would make him uncomfortable and such. Roxas had said whatever and they resumed their normal activities.

Roxas took this as a boyfriend apologizing to his girlfriend for trying to take it too far last night, and said girlfriend forgiving him and acting all lovey-dovey again.

Then he realized he was the girl in the relationship.

He pushed that thought to the back of his mind before it would physically leave him gasping for breath in a panic attack.

Then, on the weekend after that, he had been running through the mall to meet Axel for lunch, and had run into some of his friends, Hayner, Pence, and Olette. They had tried talking to him but he had awkwardly told them that he was meeting up with someone- they all knew it was Axel- and that he'd talk to them later.

He left them behind with Hayner muttering how he never saw Roxas anymore, and how Axel was taking up all his time. Roxas took this as a girlfriend that never had time for her friends anymore, because she was too busy hanging out with her boyfriend.

He had run into a garbage can after accidental referring to Axel as 'my boyfriend' when mentally ranting about why Hayner, Pence, and Olette were annoyed with him.

Then came the final straw.

Tuesday. At Axel's. Playing Guitar Hero and getting his ass beat again.

During 'Paint it Black'-which was a pretty easy song, even Roxas could do it because of his hardcore practicing as of late- Axel piped up. His hands were easily strumming along with the song, hitting every note perfectly. The blond envied him for being able to talk and play the damn song at the same time. "You know, you still owe me that favor, and/or servitude."

"What?" he said unintelligibly, missing a yellow chord.

"Remember, I kicked your ass before the party-" The party said so casually, but all Roxas thought of was how Axel tasted. "-at Guitar Hero, and we had a bet? Ya know, that one?"

A few seconds as Roxas kept up with the chords. "Yeah, why?"

"You still owe me."

"So?" Shit. Another one missed.

"So, when do you wanna serve it? I'm even being nice, letting it be convenient to you. I'm such a kind soul."

"Kind souls don't-" Kiss their friends and act like nothing happened. "Mock others for not having long fingers. I can't help it if my fingers are too short to reach the fucking orange button."

"Depends on quickness, not stubby hands." Axel piped up. "So?"

The song was drawing to a close, so it was easy to sneak a quick glance at Axel before hitting a blue rift. "Whatever. Why don't we just do a favor?"

"Oh ho ho, but if we do a week long of service, I can make you do my English paper."

Roxas snorted. "That's university stuff Axel. It would take me ages to do that, and even if I managed to write one you'd barely pass."

"But I would pass." Axel said, grinning as the scores lit up on the screen. Roxas was behind by a mile. "And that makes all the difference, my friend."

Roxas snorted again and stretched, raising his arms high and arching his back. "I'm not doing your English essay, Axel."

"If I made you, you would have too." The redhead moved closer, lightly tickling his fingers under Roxas' rib cage. He brang his elbow down hard, glaring at the grinning green eyes.

"Don't."

"But it's so cute-" The blond carefully filed 'cute' under the list of compliments Axel liked giving him. Amongst it were 'kind', 'hot ass', and 'life-saver'. "When you're in such a tizzy because I do this."

Axel reached his fingers around the blond's arm and poked at his stomach. Roxas' arms came up reflexively around his mid-area.

"Don't." He said warningly.

"But it's funny."

"Don't."

"Why not?"

"Don't."

Axel just grinned. And then pounced.

Roxas yelped as the taller boy launched himself at him, reflexively shooting up his arms and gripping Axel's shoulders as he tried to get at Roxas' neck. They rolled, the blond winding up on top and trying to pin the redhead's arms down.

"Don't, Axel!"

"No!" laughed Axel, eyes gleaming. Then he switched them over and it began again.

They tussled for a few minutes, Roxas twisting and squirming and Axel ending up with what was going to be a bruise on his chest in the morning. In the end, Axel had him pinned to the ground with one hand, the other wiggling tantalizing in front of the defeated blond's face.

Roxas glared as best he could. It seemed it was the only thing he could beat Axel at these days. "Don't. You. Dare."

Axel just grinned wider, panting. Roxas couldn't help but notice how flushed he was. And how his shirt rode up. And how he was panting. Rather erotically.

"What will happen if I do dare?"

"I'll kill you." He said simply.

The redhead seemed to think seriously about this. For all of two seconds.

"I guess I do dare then."

And with that, his hand slipped under the blond's shirt and started tickling him, fingers reaching up to his chest and wiggling about.

"AH!" Roxas breathed out. "FUck, STTTooooPpppp!"

He didn't want Axel to stop because it was tickling him. But also because his hand. was up. his shirt.

And, with a sudden realization, Roxas realized he'd get hard if Axel kept it up. The smooth fingers running up is chest, playing with the skin, trying to draw a reaction out of him... Especially with how he looked, panting and sweating all over...

"Say you'll do anything for me!"

Oh, fuck.

"I'LL DO ANYTHING. GET OFF."

With more strength than his little body was used to, he managed to push the red head giant off, get up, and sprint to the bathroom in record time.

Then proceeded to lock the door and stare at himself rather gloomily.

Shit. Not only was he dating his best friend, he actually fucking liked the guy.

"So, don't go totally freaking out on me when I say this, but you just noticed NOW?"

Roxas stared at the ground in sad hope, wishing it would just jump up and ask if he would like to be fried or boiled, because it was going to eat him. It remained still on the ground, apparently not interested in blond haired boys for it's meal.

"Yeah." He said plainly.

Beside him, Olette sighed, licking at her ice cream They were at the park, enjoying some personal one on one time. Since Roxas had been missing that with her lately. Plus he needed another (female) perspective on this whole situation.

"You do realize me and Hayner and Pence though you two were dating and you just didn't want to tell us you were gay, right?"

Roxas stared at her. Then realized (again- he was sick of all these realizations) that he wasn't surprised. Or annoyed. Just... curious. "Really?"

"Yep." She took another lick of her ice cream.

"... Oh. Ok."

He stared miserably at the ground, wondering if it liked brunets instead. Maybe he would dye his hair.

Olette sat still beside him for a moment, than looked at him in affection and slight annoyance. "Ok. Here's what we're going to do, Roxas."

He was wary. Especially since he had deduced that Kairi was a harpy in disguise, and the thought crossed his mind that Olette might be one of the soul sucking demons, too. "What?"

"Oh, relax." She said, dumping the rest of her ice cream in the trash beside them and turning to face him. "I do this with my friends who are wondering if they should get serious with their boyfriend."

"...Ok."

"I'm going to ask a series of questions, and you have to answer them honestly, alright?"

"... Ok."

"Ok. What's his favorite color?"

Oh, that was easy. "Blue. Or red. He likes blue better though."

"What's his favorite band?"

"Radiohead and Sublime."

"What's his favorite class?"

"Biology." Fucking pyro, he thought silently.

"What is his drink of choice?"

"Bohemian. Which is fucking disgusting."

"How much do you stay over at his place?"

"... What am I measuring too?"

"Days a week."

"... Five days, usually."

"Do you guys go everywhere together?"

"Pretty much..."

"Do you get kind of annoyed when he talks about his past girlfriends and lays? And, er, boyfriends?"

Roxas thought over this one. And thought that yeah, he did- he always got annoyed when Axel bragged about his conquests. He just thought that that stuff should be kept in the bedroom. Or so he thought, at the time.

"... Yeah."

"Lastly- and be honest, especially with this one- If you imagine you two together, does it look weird or make you grossed out?"

He closed his eyes for this question. Then thought of him and Axel making out. How the redhead would have his arms caressing his waist and Roxas would have his arms around the redhead...

He came out of his fantasy with a blushing face and his hands tightening in his hair as he groaned. "No. I don't... mind."

When he looked over at Olette after getting over his embarrassment, he saw her smiling. Rather creepily.

"Congratulations," She said sweetly. "You are officially in love with your best friend."

"So..." Axel said, arms folded behind his head as they stared at the clouds overlooking the hill they were resting on. "I've been thinking about that service you owe me still."

Roxas glanced over at him, eyes narrowed against the fading sunlight. "Yeah?"

"Yeah. I think you should do me the week long maid thing. You know, I could make you dress in drag and do my English assignment as well as clean up my apartment. And you make some wicked tacos, my friend. You could make me supper."

He felt like he was the wife of the relationship. Then turned over onto his stomach and buried his head in his arms so he could make faces at the ground for his choice of words.

"The contest was totally rigged, asshole. You specifically picked all the songs I really, really suck at. I say we just go down to a favor."

Like, I could go down on you and-

He bit his cheek. Hard. And spit out blood. He was getting used to the taste now.

Axel snorted. "We had a deal now, Roxas."

"Yeah, but I thought the contest would be fair. Cheater. At least I picked songs you were good with."

"I'm good at all of them, Roxas."

"... Whatever."

Silence reigned over them as the sun set lower into the sky, Axel staring at the clouds while Roxas stared at the ground for any semblance of an idea to get rid of this stupid crush.

After another minute of staring- he could feel the tall teen dozing beside him- he did get an idea. Not one to get rid of the stupid crush and all the images and feelings with it, but he did get an idea.

He decided that if Axel didn't get all the questions he was going to ask right, then he would give up on liking him and any feelings of recuperation- not that he had any hope in the first place- all together.

"Hey, Axel."

A grunt.

"I got an... assignment... from school I gotta try out on a few friends. You're doing it for me."

"Who says?"

"Me. Or I won't buy us coffee after."

"... Fine. Fire away, buddy."

Roxas scrunched his nose at the ground then looked up, moving so that he was held up by his elbows and staring at the redhead.

"Ok... Uh, it's how well you know me and stuff. So, I'm gonna ask you some questions about myself, and you gotta answer them. Blah blah blah. Ready?"

"Yes."

Stupid asshole, Roxas thought, glaring at him.

"Ok. What's my favorite color?"

"Black and white is not a color, but I'll go with that. That's all you told me."

Damn. "It is so a color. OK... Uh... What's my favorite band?"

"Oblivion. Or Hello Operator."

Fuck.

"What's my favorite class?"

"Literature or History."

Shitfuck.

"What is my drink of choice?"

"I'd like to say Bohemian, but you like the pussy drink of Mike's Hard."

Ok, that was an easy one, because Axel bought his alcohol.

"How much do we see each other?"

"... Compared to what?"

"Uh... Days a week."

"Five days, give or take."

How the hell did he get the exact same answer as him? Fuck, Axel was getting everything right.

"Do we... Uh... Do a lot together?"

Axel hmm'ed. "I'd say so. Christ, you call me over to watch the stupid sunset. Which you're not even watching, mind you."

Christ. He wanted to strangle the taller boy so he wouldn't even answer anymore.

The blond fished around his brain for the next question Olette had asked him. Once he found it, he stopped. How the hell was he supposed to ask Axel if he was jealous when he talked about other girls?

... Or guys.

"Uuummm..." He paused, then worded it in a way that didn't sound like he was fishing for details. "When was the last time you... Uhh... Got mad at me?"

Another hmm from Axel as the redhead stared out at the sun setting. Roxas couldn't help but like how the dull rays washed over his face and hair and made him look softer.

"Ah! I know. When you kept on going on and on about that one chick. Nayu? Nicole?"

"Namine?"

"Yeah, her. That was annoying, man. Christ, you acted like you were married already."

Ok. Namine had been a brief crush at the beginning of their friendship that he had totally forgotten about five minutes after meeting the at-the-time eighteen year old.

And if that was the last time Axel was mad at him, he felt guilty.

Plus, with the way it sounded, Axel made it sound like he was... jealous.

Pushing that thought aside for later dissection, he hummed to himself, resting back down on his folded arms.

There was no way he was going to ask the last question Olette had asked him. So he could just ask a stupid one that made no sense.

Roxas grinned, facing his friend. "Am I your best best BEST friend in the whole wide world, cross you heart and hope to die?"

Axel laughed, turning to face him. A smirk adorned his face and he stuck out his tongue. Roxas wanted to touch his face.

"I'd have to say so, my best best best friend in the whole wide world."

Roxas laughed. "Whatever. Dork."

"So? At least I'm an honest dork."

He snorted. "Yeah, whatever."

The red head laughed. It rang in Roxas' ears like music.

"Yeah, whatever. Let's head out. I gotta work at eleven."

So, for weeks and weeks (two, but it still felt long), Roxas was tortured in every way of the word.

Examples.

a) Axel running towards him, smiling, silhouetted against the sunset. It looked fucking romantic and Roxas wanted to curse the world for doing this to him.

b) Walking in on Axel watching porn. This used to be a normal occurrence, and he'd just throw his bag at the taller teen, but after watching him watch it for the few minutes after Roxas had walked in (out of the corner of his eye, of course- he was enjoying a sandwich at the atrocity Axel called a table), he walked to the bathroom and tried to remain as quiet as possible while jerking himself off. It wasn't the first time, and it wouldn't be the last.

c) Axel reaching over the table and sucking from his straw. This was normal too, until a few weeks ago. Now, watching Axel go down on his straw as if it was the very thing keeping him alive (it was a milk shake, so hard to draw out) had him a stuttering mess before the end of it. He had booked it to the bathroom and pulled out handfuls of hair trying to calm down. It was the mall bathroom, for fuck's sake, he wasn't going to jerk off in the stall.

And, lastly.

d) Watching Axel walk out of the shower with nothing but a towel on. Which was undeniably sexy. And he was glistening. And flushed. And his chest was showing. And his hips. And there was a line of red hair trailing down from his belly button that Roxas wanted to lick. It was further torture because Axel sat like that, spread out, throughout the entire movie. Which was a comedy about gay guys. That had Roxas laughing weakly as he tried to hide his boner.

Pure, unadulterated torture.

Then another party- this time, at Riku's house- came around the bend.

That was when Roxas was purely and thoroughly fucked.

Axel had disappeared an hour ago.

This didn't really bother him... Ok, it bugged the hell out of him, but what bugged him more was the fact that he had last seen his best friend talking to some brunette with big tits, snuggling up close enough to make anyone uncomfortable.

Axel obviously hadn't been. Neither had the brunette.

It wasn't like he was a loser, standing alone in the corner and watching everyone having fun. No, he knew almost half the people there- the other half he knew their names but hadn't ever met them- so he was just chatting pleasantly with the others, taking a few sips from his bottle of coke every now and than.

He also fucking hated being DD.

It was when he was talking to Sora, who was thoroughly enjoying being shit-faced, that he reached his breaking point. He had been day dreaming about going home- with Axel, actually- when the brunet had snapped his fingers in front of his face and he had practically bit them off.

So, yeah, break time. And he needed to piss like a race horse.

Walking to the stairs and avoiding all the couples making out, he made his way up, putting his mind on the task of pissing. Because he really needed to go. Three hours of drinking nothing but coke did that to you.

Pushing open the door, he had one finger on his zipper and one on the knob before he looked up.

He stopped in shock at the scene in front of him, staring at the equally surprised eyes of his friend.

The scene in front of him as was:

Axel, with his hands holding his hard dick,one hand holding up the skirt of the tits brunette he had been practically sucking the soul out of before. Titsy brunette, leaning against the mirror, sitting on the counter and panting, eyes hazy and wide.

Now, scene, as was, with Roxas:

Not there. He had booked it from the scene within ten seconds of seeing the crime being acted out.

He rushed down the stairs, weaving through people and drunks and objects as if he had been trained to perfect this exact moment. No one came after him or got in his way, thank God, but a sumo wrestler could have stood in his path and he would have bowled him over with ease.

Because, despite the fact that Axel was a grown boy and could handle himself, Roxas could not.

He was seeing red, mixed with blue, and pink, and a bunch of different colors that all meant a bunch of different emotions he couldn't guess. In the end, it was all a murky haze.

He didn't even bother going for his car. Turning sharply on the side walk, he headed west.

It wasn't like it was a warm night, either. The wind was gusting, and it was giving him goose bumps. Thank God he wore a hoodie, or he'd be freezing to death, and he didn't want to get a cold-

Roxas grit his teeth as his throat welled up with tears, trying to distract himself with more meaningless conversation.

Axel was an asshole. Axel was selfish. He always did what he wanted too, and even if he said he'd be sober with Roxas tonight, he had been feeling up a chick as if he was at a drunken frat party and Roxas wasn't there.

Axel...

Roxas grit his teeth, then gave up trying to hold down any emotion and howled, whirling around and punching the innocent fence next to him as hard as he could.

He heard a crack. It was his knuckle, for sure, but the fence had a dent in it too. That gave him a little lick of satisfaction before he returned to being pissed off.

"Fucking ASSHOLE!" He screamed, clenching his other fist. He was lucky he was in a particularly sparse neighborhood. At least he could enjoy screaming and punching fences.

Again, he noticed it was the street he and Axel usually met up to go to parties.

He therefore named it the street of despair and heart break. Because, from this moment on, he and Axel were done.

He didn't care that they hadn't even been really dating in the first place, or that they hadn't even had sex or a lover's tiff. It still felt like he had caught Axel cheating on him.

And it really hurt.

Roxas started ticking off the negative factors of Axel's personality, just to make himself feel a little better.

Axel was an asshole.

Axel made fun of him alot.

Axel knew everything a- No, Axel was selfish.

Axel was too impulsive.

Axel was a dead beat.

Axel always knew what to d- No. Axel was conceited.

Axel had pyromaniac tendencies that scared him sometimes.

Axel was immature.

Axel always said the right thin- FUCK, no, Axel always thought of himself first.

Axel...

Had just jumped over the fence he had been walking along and stumbled, giving Roxas good reason to scream and punch him in the face.

The tall red head swore as he hit the ground, hand automatically coming up to press at his cheek. He swore again when he pressed it too hard, glaring at the blond who stood two feet away from him.

Getting up, he eyed him critically, hand still petting at his sore cheek. "What the hell, Roxas, you're the DD for like, half the people there, why- Shit, dude, are you crying?"

So, he was crying.

It wasn't like he meant to suddenly break the dam and let the water works flow. It's just that, when he saw Axel, he just couldn't help himself.

Because, all in all, he fucking liked Axel. Fuck, he almost loved Axel.

It was only his masculine pride that kept him from saying that he loved Axel. But he knew he did nonetheless.

And that hurt even more because, even if the cheating red head was in front of him, glaring at him, he knew he'd just forgive him in the morning and continue torturing himself.

So, ignoring his fractured knuckles in his left hand, he swung at the red head and landed another punch.

"You fucking... Cheating... Asshole!" He screamed. A hiccup erupted before he could say more, and the redhead fell again, swearing. "You... You... Fucker!"

"The hell, Roxas!" Axel spit out angrily, again getting up. Roxas just wanted to punch him back down. "What was that for!"

"Fucker!" He seethed, his left hand screaming in pain. He'd have to get that looked at. "Why do you have the fucking right... To... FUCK!"

"What the hell are you trying to fucking say!"

"FUCK!" He screamed again, uselessly.

He honestly didn't know what to say.

Didn't know what to tell Axel. That he felt like he was cheating on him with some brunette slut that probably had more STDs than a health clinic? That he was upset Axel had been kissing someone other than him? That he loved him?

Roxas spluttered again, face scrunched up and tears trailing down his face.

That was probably when Axel finally realized something was wrong.

The red head's face melted to resemble a concerned look, and he stepped forward, hands reaching out to place themselves on Roxas' shoulders.

"Roxas, buddy, what's wrong? Why are you crying?"

Roxas sobbed. Then decided to hell with fucking speaking and, grabbing Axel's shirt and not caring about the consequences (they couldn't get any worse than a punch in the face, and Axel had already done that to him unknowingly, what'd be the difference if it was physically?), he pulled the taller teen forward and smashed their lips together.

Again, he tasted blood, but this time it wasn't his own.

He stood there for a few seconds, lips hard against Axel's, hands clenched in his shirt as if it was the very thing keeping him anchored to sanity, and then let go.

He didn't even bother looking into Axel's face before he punched him in the stomach with his right hand and ran as fast as he damn well could.

A full week.

It was a full week since the second party incident, where he had kissed Axel voluntarily and thus gave his feelings away, and he still hadn't talked to the red head.

It's not like they weren't trying to reach each other. Or, rather, that Axel wasn't trying to reach him. Roxas had just been ignoring all his phone calls, text messages, and visits.

The closest time had been, when he had been going home, the taller boy had been sitting on his front porch. One more step and he would have been seen, but the loud swear that had admitted from the boy on his doorstep alerted him. Axel was probably losing at Grand Theft Auto on his PSP.

So he had climbed the tree to his room and thanked himself for never locking the window. In the process, he found out he was a lot more flexible than he originally thought.

But, still. A whole week without seeing the redhead.

Roxas could have been pulling his hair out, or scribbling all over his homework, or doing something equally unproductive like he had been doing the last few days. But tonight?

Tonight was Oblivion. Which he had totally forgotten about because of all the events happening in the past month, but had been blissfully reminded by the ticket that had slipped out of his pocket as he was preparing to go for a walk to the ice cream parlor.

As soon as he had seen the plain blue and white ticket with 'OBLIVION' stamped across it in bold black letters, he had dropped the jacket, slipped the ticket in his jean pocket, and bolted up the stairs, intent on grabbing new clothes, some eyeliner, and a few accessories so he could be there three hours early.

And here he was. Standing in line with emos, metal heads, and secret lovers of punk-metal alike, alone while the others congregated around them, talking excitedly.

He kind of felt lonely.

Pushing the feeling aside, he focused on the people in front of him and behind him. Then decided to do a little experiment.

He scouted out people for this experiment, and picked people he felt attracted too. Then he imagined them with him.

Guy with the slicked back silver hair and flamboyant clothing? Yeah. He could imagine fucking him (his face grew red at the thought), but that's it.

The girl with the black hair that framed her face and wore slightly skimpy clothing? Hot. But all he could imagine was dating her.

The blond with the scar on his face? He'd probably bow down to that body, but no dating.

The guy with the dark purple fringe hanging over his eye, puffing on a cigarette? He could imagine making out with him, at most?

He did this experiment a couple more times, each time finding that he couldn't imagine dating them or having sex with them at the same time. It would be either a one night stand or a two week production.

Then he imagined Axel in his head, and a burst of color invaded him- red, green, white, black, anything that reminded him of the older teen. He could imagine dating Axel (because he had been before, but without realizing it, really), and he could imagine having sex with Axel.

He didn't imagine that for long. He didn't want to get a boner.

Before he could think of anything else to bother himself about, the crowd surged forward and a loud scream of excitement erupted from multiple mouths.

Roxas grinned.

Show time.

He had somehow snuck into the mosh pit and was standing at the railing, screaming as Oblivion played 'Voodoo You Do' and getting smushed against the railing.

It was only when, two and a half hours into the show and one 'wall of death' later that anything actually happened.

He had been forced out of the mosh pit by none other than his bladder, cursing the fact that it was so small and that, even if the last thing he had to drink was a can of coke five hours ago, it only hit him now. Right in the middle of his favorite song 'If it Burns (Drink it Fast)'.

Fuck's sake.

Hurrying towards the bathroom and convinced he would have to flirt with the security guard at the mosh pit entrance (the guy had commented about how the eye liner had bought out the electricity of his eyes), he whipped around the corner.

And stopped dead in his tracks.

Because, of course, karma was a bitch, and who else would be standing at the mirror, fixing a lip ring (in the back of his mind, the blond started freaking out because Axel got a piercing, holy shit) with another hoop.

And, of course, since the red head was staring into the mirror, his eyes caught the movement in the corner and, of course, saw Roxas.

He fucking hated karma. He would kill it dead. A hundred times over, if he could.

Deciding that he should not stay frozen in the entrance of the bathroom, his mind made him do a very stupid move.

A smart move would have been to run out the door as fast as he could and get lost in the crowds.

A stupid move, which he followed, would be to run into the bathroom, lock himself in the biggest stall, and hope to God that Axel decided not to pursue him.

Then again, he thought dryly, this was Axel. And this Axel was currently pounding on the bathroom door as if God was in here with him and was willing to give out the answer to all his problems if he managed to break through the flimsy metal.

His problems, it seems, were Roxas.

"Roxas? Let me in, dude, seriously!"

He stayed silent, hoping the redhead would leave.

"I'll kick this fucking door down!" And, to emphasize this, the blond heard his spiked metal boots collide with the door. If that was a person, the person would be dead.

Still hoping.

Silence.

Hhhhhhooooppppiiinnngggg...

And then Axel did this weird thing where he hoisted himself up and flipped over backwards, almost slicing Roxas' face open.

He had to admit, that was pretty cool. But his hope was dead now. Dead and gone and...

Fuck. He probably looked like a wide-eyed raccoon right about now. Or something equally scared and panicked.

Before he could say anything, or try and do some freaky shit that would get him out of there, Axel did some freaky shit that had him pinned up against the wall, eyes drilling into his.

A moment of silence. Somewhere out there he could hear the bass being played, booming out pleasantly.

"What. The. Fuck." He started, almost snarling but not quite. " Was that all about last week?"

Roxas didn't know what to say. Again.

So his mind made him do another stupid move.

Roxas head butted him in the mouth.

Seeing his chance to escape once Axel let go, he turned around, getting close to the door. He could taste freedom-

Then lost his breath when Axel slammed him into the flimsy thing. He briefly wondered if anyone was in the bathroom with them, and what they thought they were doing.

"I'm not letting you go." The taller boy said, pressing his shoulder to Roxas' head so he couldn't head butt him again. He damned the boy for being such a giant. "Until you tell me why you've been so fucking weird these past few weeks!"

"I'm secretly in love with you and feel like you've cheated on me with a brunette slut because I'm not good enough." He said plainly, because, in reality, he didn't know what else to tell him. 'Oh, actually Axel, I'm in love with you and seeing you a thrust away from fucking some whore really upsets me because I realize we've been dating for, what, the past two years?'. That'd go over perfectly well. Or not.

Then he couldn't help himself because, one, it was funny as hell what he was going to say, and two, he didn't want Axel actually believing him. He hadn't meant to blurt it out like that. "I'm also pregnant with your child, or what I believe is your child, because I slept with your secret, evil twin brother whose name is Lea."

There was silence behind him. Roxas struggled a bit more, just for something to do.

The whole fucking mood had changed from bad to worse.

Instead of being angry and in need of killing fuzzy little animals because he was missing the concert and he still didn't want to talk to Axel, he just felt exasperated because, even if the world depended on him on telling Axel how he felt, he couldn't do it in any way he felt comfortable. And even if Axel had been spiteful and angry before, he was just confused as hell- probably because of his weird mood.

"But... be serious?" He could tell the red head wasn't sure what to make of that statement. He obviously knew the last part said wasn't true- that'd be cool and weird if such a thing happened, though. "Are... Or you?"

"No, I'm not." Blandly said.

"You are than."

"Yes."

"No?"

"No."

"Fuck Roxas! Is it the truth or not!"

"What would you do if it was?" He shot back.

The short blond felt more than heard the growl, and then he was suddenly flung back around and, this time, he was the one with hard lips pressed against his and a feeling of 'what the fuck?' on his face.

Axel separated from his unmoving lips after a few seconds of silence, but the only difference between him and Roxas was that he didn't punch the blond and then run away. Instead, serious green eyes stared into bewildered blue ones.

They stared at each other.

And stared.

And stared.

Then Roxas slammed his mouth against Axel's and practically chipped a tooth because Axel had darted forward, too.

The kiss was sloppy and unromantic, but, to date, it was the best fucking kiss Roxas had ever received in his entire seventeen years.

Teeth were mixed into the equation, and Roxas was now sporting a cut on his lip, but they kissed as if competing for it, and Roxas let out all the emotions he had held for the red head for the past month into the kiss. The passion, anger, confusion, hatred, hurt, and love- all mixed in to one kiss.

It was only a minute before they separated, both with equal shocked looks on their faces and bruised lips.

It was Roxas' turn to speak, and when he did, he drew his hand back from where he had tangled it in Axel's hair and touched his bleeding lip.

"What the fuck was that?"

Axel just stared at Roxas. And then, like Roxas' water works a few weeks ago, word vomit spewed out of his mouth unwittingly.

"I was only going to sleep with that chick because I was frustrated about you."

The blond did a double take. Ok, what? "Say that again?"

Axel let him go, growling. At himself or at Roxas' stupidity, he didn't know. "Frustrated. You. Fucking gets rid of frustration and I had too much of it and all that."

Roxas was still playing the stupid game. "Why would you be frustrated because of me?"

OK, he was doing it on purpose. Because if this is where he thought it was going, and judging by the look of disbelief on Axel's face, and...

Hope had risen from the dead. It was now a zombie.

"Does kissing mean something else in your book, because, last time I checked, it means I'm affectionate of you." Axel snarled. "It means I fucking like you, Roxas, more than you think. And if that kiss a week ago was just a way of getting me off track, than you're an asshole and... You're an asshole."

Roxas stared at him. Because risen Hope was not a zombie, it seemed.

It was fucking full-fledged happiness.

"You like me?" He said, mouth twitching.

Axel stared at him in amazement. "Yes, fucktard. Not like a brother or a best friend. More like a person I'd like to kiss and hug and do all that other sick romantic stuff with, if you didn't get it."

"So, you like me?" His mouth twitched again.

"Yes. Get over it, Christ."

"Good. Because I was going fucking crazy."

It was Axel's turn to play dumb as confusion rode across his face. "Why are you crazy? No like it's any difference, but..."

"I was going crazy," Roxas said, letting his mouth turn into the biggest smile he could manage without slicing his head in two. He was that happy. "Because I was wondering how in the hell I could get over this big, fat, gigantic thing I call 'liking my best friend'."

It was Axel's turn to stare at him. And grin. And have the hope-happiness zombie reign supreme within him.

Laughing, Roxas grinned, shoving himself into Axel's arms.

"It might be the crazy talking," The blond said, grinning up at the taller boy wickedly. "But I feel like skipping the rest of the concert and doing whatever comes to mind."

What Roxas was going to do was completely stupid and out of character, but it would be worth it to see the look on Sora's face. And the rest of the people's faces in here, too. It would be worth it a thousand times over.

It was at another party- this time, a small one with most of their close friend's at Axel's place. There was beer and some illegal substances, and there had been some drunk Dance Dance Revolution going on earlier, but it just made it all the better.

He and Axel were both sober, even if they didn't have to be. They had been giving each other glances through out the night, secretly smiling at each other but not going out of their way to socialize. They were each talking to other people.

This, all in all, Roxas saw, was weirding Sora out.

He was right on the dot for guessing how many hours it would take for Sora to bring him into the corner, worry written all across his face. Two hours.

Roxas just acted the part of wondering what was going on, lifting his eyebrow quizzically.

"Any reason why you're isolating me from everyone with that look on your face? You look like someone just ate your dog and told me that I told them too."

Sora just looked at him oddly before the worry took over his face. "No, s'not that. It's just that you and Axel haven't talked all night. Are you guys mad at each other or something? Like, even if you guys invited us all over, it's just weird..."

He saw Axel heading over towards them, and he flicked his gaze over at the red head. He was wearing a smirk of self-satisfaction on his features, and Roxas just grinned back.

He turned back to Sora, his smile widening further when Axel finally arrived and slipped an arm around his waist.

The look beginning to form on Sora's face was priceless enough already. Roxas decided to take it to the next step.

"Oh, it's not that we're mad at each other..." He drawled seductively. "We are just... Well, you know how boyfriends can be."

With that statement, the blond turned his head and engaged in a lip lock with the taller boy, eyes slipping closed after seeing the bug-eyed look that had popped out on Sora's face.

This time, it wasn't Roxas' paranoid imagination when he heard the room go silent. So, with a small sound of satisfaction, he pulled away from the red head, who made a sound of disappointment at the loss of lips.

Then he looked around, eyebrow quirked at the room full of people staring them down.

"What?" He said plainly after a minute of silence.

It was abruptly broken when different reactions exploded around the room.

"They finally admit they're dating!"

"Aw, that was SO cute!"

"The fuck?"

"Oh my God, whatever."

Then, lastly, from Sora:

"Oh for fuck's sake."

His cousin laughed, shaking his head in disbelief at the two of them, who were grinning like mad. "You did that just to spite me, didn't you?"

Roxas lifted his hand and shook it horizontally, grin still not falling off his face. "A little bit of a, a little bit of b. You know."

Sora just shook his head again, trailing off and muttering about stupid cousins and stupid boyfriends.

Axel just laughed after he left, twirling Roxas to face him and nudging him so that they were leaning against the wall, Roxas' arms around Axel's middle and Axel holding himself up. "How'd it feel to get your revenge, huh?"

"Grand. Fucking fantastic."

Axel's grin widened. "Fucking and fantastic sounds about right."

The blond snorted, bringing one of his hands up to whack the redhead on the shoulder. "Damn pervert... But it does sound pretty good, doesn't it?"

Roxas grinned wickedly at Axel's dazed expression, and reached his hand down to pinch Axel's ass. The red head yelped, practically falling over himself to cover his ass from further torture.

The blond chuckled. "C'mon, dumb ass. We have a party to entertain."

Later, when they were alone, Roxas could successfully say that he wasn't drunk and neither was Axel. And he didn't bolt out the door when he woke up in the morning, half-naked, beside the red head. And he didn't have any life threatening realizations either. And no drama.

Which he could do without.

Two years, three parties, a couple months of weird behavior, some violence, and an awesome band was what it took to get them officially dating.

And it was going to be a hell of a fucking lot to tear them apart.