AuthoursNote:

This is my first fic posted under this username on fanfic. It is a two shot, so before you stop reading the first chapter, it does get less angsty and more sweet.

It is a boy/boy fic so if you don't like it don't read it. It's not my problem if you do and then complain to me about it. It's pointless and just sad overall. Go out get a life.

This fic doesn't have sex in it, but I think some of my other ones will. If you want to check out the up coming stories check out my profile and tell me what you think. If you've got any ideas to add be my guest. I'll see what I can do.

I am not making profit from this or claiming it as my own so you have no grounds to sue me you viscous lawyers you.

Read on! Review please or I wont know if you like it and I will take it down :)

You can hate someone and then you can hate someone. In movies sometimes when two people hate one another through certain circumstances they fall in love. Sometimes best friends fall in love, or sometimes they fall out and into hate. You never really see hate, never really hear hate but dear god you can feel it. Normally a person can only hate one other person for the rest of their lives, because it's such a time and emotion consuming task. Then there are those who hate the world. Isn't it interesting to note, that when you put people who hate the same thing in the same room it breeds fondness. When you put people who hate the world and everything in it in the same room there is only hate. But what happens when you put two people who hate each other together in a room with people who couldn't give a shit about hate or the world? But what if these people were armed and wanted to kill you? It can go one of two ways. You can begin to hate the other person, or you can begin to depend on their company like no one else. That is, if you don't get killed first.

Roxas woke up to the same sound every morning. The same annoying buzz that made his anger instantly erupt. Some time ago Roxas would go to bed calm, happy or sad usually never angry and he would wake up any of the same. But this is the present and not sometime ago and all he did now was sleep on it. Sleep on the same competitive angry detest that settled comfortably in the back of his head. He didn't have any energy to smile or show any emotion any more. He was to busy, watching, waiting, and calculating each move better than him. It was ironic that his enemy lived across the hallway from him. Yes, that's right his enemy. No one had really earned that title until now.

Hitting the alarm of the bedside table Roxas got up and looked out his window onto the street. The black car still sat there, which meant he was still asleep. Even in the early morning light that reminded Roxas normal people were still asleep he felt better. It was five a.m., just like it had been yesterday and the day before. For the past five years since that annoying cretin had come into his life Roxas' day to day schedule changed. Of course no one knew the extent of his hatred, but they knew there was something there. Strong dislike some would say, others would say just rivalry, Kairi the only one who could stand to be around him now would say that it was foolish. She warned him once that he would be consumed by it, obsessing over it day in and out. She said once that if he wasn't careful it would turn into love, but Roxas could not agree with her. Love, he laughed at the idea. There was no way in hell he could love someone who he hated, it just didn't make sense.

So as he went and grabbed a cup of coffee from the kitchen in his flat, he checked the doorway. Looking through the peephole there was no movement. With a slow sigh he returned to his long window and stared at the alleyway again. It had rained last night and his car was wet sitting surrounded by dumpsters and the neon light of the pub next door. Roxas had seen him go in and out of the pub too many times to count, so now he never drank. Not even to be social at parties like his mother had asked, not even when they called for a celebratory toast at his brothers wedding. Roxas was a teetotaller until he was off alcohol. Roxas pushed two of his fingers through the blue blinds to get a better look at the car. With a small smile he thought of his car sitting comfortably in the car park, not a drop of water. Of course the bastard had bought a car that looked similar to Roxas's. It was black just like Roxas's BMW; the black Audi which belonged to him even had a car park near his. Roxas remembered fondly the footage of his hated neighbour trying to get the keypad to work. Having friends in I.T had never been better. After Roxas had gotten a copy of the key tag he had it was as simple as disengaging the recognition code to the lock pad and he was left in the rain.

Roxas let the blinds fold back together with a metal clang and he headed for the bathroom. After a long hot shower he climbed into his suit for the day and had another cup of coffee. Pushing his college books out of the way Roxas sat down with his breakfast and ate. He had fruit and toast in that order and then another cup of coffee. God knows he'd need it after dealing with his father for a whole day.

His father, that's where this had all started, the new president of Oblivion Incorporated. Mr Daniels, the oh-so-not successor to the old president Mr Nomura. Unfortunately Mr Nomura had trouble with the percentage of shares he had in his company and the shareholders seeing his old age axed him. In came Mr Daniels senior and suddenly the shares were back in his name and the company was secure. Daniels wanted to keep the business in the family and having a son though all his dreams would come true. Except for one small issue, Roxas had not once ounce of interest in being a corporate heir. His father being the opportunist that he is decided the best way to get his then fifteen year old son to play along was some friendly competition. Mr Daniels idea of friendly competition was to adopt a new son and have them play for his affections. Which of course the best route to get to was through becoming the heir for the business. Roxas still had realised his fathers plan too late, he was too far in and he couldn't get out. Hell he wasn't sure if he wanted to. Not when he was still around. It wasn't about his fathers love anymore or the business. Roxas doubted if it was ever about that.

No it was about the competition, and Roxas wanted to win.

When he first met Mr Arnen at the ripe age of fifteen and a half he'd though he was a genetic mistake. Irish or some sort surely but definitely not from his line it was that obvious with Roxas's blonde hair and blue eyes. Arnen had the oddest looking hair and strangest body figure from the start. They were opposites when it came down to the basic formation, no wonder they completely disagreed on everything.

The worst thing was, even though Arnen had been adopted and surely from a less than wholesome upbringing he seemed to be able to match Roxas in everything. It drove him to the brink of madness and back again like a super spastic yo-yo. His father had payed for them both to go to only the best university, they both worked in the firm but somehow Roxas felt that Arnen had been given his fathers attention. His fathers wise words and the upper hands just because Roxas had wanted to follow his own path. Roxas hated his father because of his scheming manipulating ways, he could forgive him for that, secure with the thought that once his father was on his death bed he could whisper the magic words in his ear. The company is bankrupt. Then Roxas would sit back and watch as his father started at his fantastic son, who'd one the challenge and so obviously destroyed the company which he saved just because he could.

But he could forgive his father eventually. He hated himself too, because he'd been weak enough to get caught up in his fathers little game and wasn't strong enough to break out and go it alone. It was too late for that, too late for most things and with his bitter and twisted obsession which Kairi had claimed it he wasn't going to live a happy family lifestyle. He could eventually get to his dream job, eventually after he'd spent his time in his version of prison. And, he could forgive himself for that. Who he couldn't forgive was Arnen. He hated Arnen just because he existed to make Roxas's life hell. Because he could have been happy if Arnen wasn't there, he could have been happy without him existing. Arnen chose to be annoying and so obviously fighting for Roxas's father's attention that it made him sick. It made those around him look down at Roxas and think 'what a fool'. Oh no, for that he could not forgive Arnen. The thing though which annoyed him the most, ignoring the fact that he took pleasure in Roxas's pain when he said he didn't. Ignoring the fact that his first name was Axel, and it was so obviously a joke. Axel Arnen, get real. Ignoring the fact that his presence drove him insane and everyone knew it but Arnen seemed to be oblivious. Ignoring the fact that Arnen seemed to hate Roxas less than he hated him. The thing that pushed Roxas further past hate and into hate was this. He wouldn't fucking give up.

Petty and pathetic but true.

So as he prepared to hear about legal jargon, advertising slogans and economics and the corporate world he spent one more moment looking at his reflection. Roxas froze at the person staring back at him. That man, the thirty year old, could not be his reflection. Roxas was only twenty for Christ's sake. But sure enough, as Roxas moved so did the man. The dark bags under his eyes and grey skin could not be parts of Roxas's face. With a frown and a heavy sigh Roxas pushed it to the back of his mind to worry about later. He wouldn't scream or rage and carry on like he wanted to because he wasn't a child anymore. That and Arnen had done it too many times for Roxas to count and Roxas was not on Arnen's level. With his black briefcase in tow Roxas stepped out of the flat at six and making sure no one else was around he walked to the door across labelled 401.

The apartment complex was set out so that two families could live on one floor in the four quarters. The four quarters were South, North, West and East and in total there were eight floors in each section. Roxas lived in the West section which his father had told him had the best views. That and it was away from the screeching families and little children. His flat was modern, as modern as it could get without being impractical for what Roxas used it for and looked like it did the day he first entered. Roxas could change the décor if he wanted to, but he didn't see any point.

He pressed his cheek gently against the cold wood of the doorframes and listened for movement. Hearing nothing he quickly hurried to the window and sure enough the car was still there. With one last attempt at looking through the peephole to no avail Roxas marched down the hallway to the elevator. The 'ding' echoed through out the hallway and as Roxas went to step into the metal contraption he halted. There in jeans and a black sweatshirt was him. He didn't look tired or grey, sure he was skinny but he was always skinny and he looked healthy. With a frown already on his face Arnen looked up and met Roxas's face.

"Good Morning Roxas. You're off early." Arnen didn't even flinch when Roxas stood there glaring at him. He hoped his eyes could burn black holes through his face so Arnen could stop being so damn happy.

"I'm surprised you're up at all, with all of the heavy drinking you do at night." Arnen broke the gaze between them when he blinked and looked down.

"Yes, well maybe I'm getting better at it."

"Habit will do that to you." Roxas held the doors open and lifted an eyebrow when Arnen didn't move. "Are you planning to ride the elevator for the rest of the day or are you getting out?" Arnen looked at him again for a moment and his eyes were puzzled and calculating. Roxas stood firm and cold, his eyes bored, his face unamused. Arnen sighed and walked towards him and down the hallway without a word. When Roxas turned around from where he was in the elevator he could see Arnen leaning against the door to his flat watching Roxas as the doors closed. His face flashed surprise before he schooled it back into a scowl.

The doors closed on Arnen and with a long sigh the tension eased out of Roxas's shoulders. He rode to the basement with no one getting on or off. He walked the distance to his car and faltered in his stride when he saw the state of it. Picking up his suitcase from the floor which he assumed he'd dropped he walked slowly towards it, hoping that someone would jump out and yell surprise. But no one did and when he touched the stripes of white spray paint he became enraged. Punching the car he looked over at the worlds scribbled across it. Bastard and Criminal, wuss, daddy's boy, there was only one person who could have done this. And he was upstairs laughing it off in the shower. With a grunt of disgust Roxas walked across the hallway to the garbage bin. Just as he'd suspected in there were various bottles of empty spray-paint cans. Steaming Roxas walked out towards the alleyway and got out his car keys. With it poised between his forefinger and thumb he ran it down the shiny exterior, across the roof, over the back and began to write "Fuck you" on the hood when he heard a voice.

"You'll destroy your key's doing that." Roxas turned with a glared full of his hatred and fired it at the man in the window.

"I have no fucking use for them now after you destroyed my car!" Arnen watched him from the hallway window, with a stone cold expression on his face.

"It's only a car Roxas, just like that's only a car. I'm not going to get revenge on you for this. I only do the things I do because it's petty but you fall for it. I'll stop when you stop."

"Go fuck yourself Arnen. Its all about revenge, you and me both know it." With a shake of his head and a sigh Roxas became even angrier if that was possible. "Am I boring you? Maybe you should call father and he can entertain you, after all that's all he ever does!" With a gasp of breath Roxas turned to march off down the alleyway with a now angry Arnen frowning at his back.

By the time Roxas had reached the bus stop he was still clenching his teeth. Today he didn't feel like catching a cab, it would take too long and the bus was already there. Plus the more people Roxas had around him now, probably the better. He sat on the bus near the back and waited for it to get into the city where he would have to walk. Roxas didn't care, it would probably make him feel better, probably not make him feel like he needed to throttle something. Namine his assistant would probably find that suited her just fine. She had been too many times on the end of Roxas's now short temper. With a silent sigh Roxas looked up at the grey building before him. It was taller than most of the ones around and by far the most spectacular. Of course that's what Oblivion Inc. was intending to do. It brought the word multitalented into action. Aside from owning a large portion of the media and advertising, it owned all of the public facilities not only in this town but in others as well. It was the daddy corporation to Twilight Inc. that specialised in the hospitality industries.

Then he swallowed and walked in away from the grey clouds that were now hovering over the roof. The white and the cold hit him like they normally did every morning. Hard and unrelenting. Blinking fast to steady his vision he looked around the expansive room of white marble and nodded a greeting to the three receptionists all clad in monochromatic attire. They blinked in unison and smiled like baby-dolls on show. Roxas headed for the elevator and was not harassed by anyone on the way there for once. Straight into his office which was again across from Arnen's he slammed the door and slumped into his chair. He buzzed Namine and ordered a straight black coffee. His day was just starting and he was already tired. When he opened his e-mail there were already a hundred new e-mails just waiting to be opened. Roxas was still undecided whether or not e-mail was a good thing.

Namine finally came in and gave him his cup of coffee. Handing him his memos she smiled and came around the back of his chair to massage his shoulders.

"You do know that this tension can't be good for you." Her hands pressed into the sore spots in the back of his neck that had become a recurring problem. It should have made things better but it didn't. Shrugging her off Roxas lent forward.

"Has Peterson passed on the new reports?"

"They've been faxed to the Operations Office and Bernard has given his approval. Diana and her team have presented the new slogan to the Chief of Advertising and he likes it. Ronald has drawn up the budget for the festival but with all of the things Mr Daniels wants included it's not going to come cheap." Roxas let out a sigh.

"I'm sure the man has plenty of money to splurge on events that will grant publicity like this. That and I'll remind him how much money he has so he needn't worry about this amount. Thanks Namine, you can return to you desk."

"Yes Mr Henry." Roxas sighed at that. His father had insisted seeing as it would be unfair in the face of the company to have his biological son have his last name when his adoptive son couldn't. Of course the only reason Arnen couldn't was because Daniels' wouldn't allow it. So from the moment he started work in Oblivion he used his mother's maiden name. She wasn't alive right now but God only knows what she'd say about the state of things. Namine dressed in her black high waisted skirt and white shirt gave a red mouthed smiled and tottered away on her high heels. It was hard standing near the woman when she was in heels because she was taller than him. Roxas was short in build and only came up to five foot seven. Arnen of course towered over him at six two, and that wasn't including the hair.

There was a knock on his door at ten and his father had barged in. "Are you prepared to present to the board."

"Yes Mr Daniels." His father gave him that cool glance like he knew all. Standing just under Roxas five foot seven with darker blonde hair the only resemblance was the cheeks and the eyes. Thank god that was the only resemblance Roxas prayed. So off he went to the blue green board room that looked like a bad lawn and gave his speech. He was silently aware that Arnen was present sitting to the left of Daniels and didn't even look up when he entered the room. Roxas finished his speech on a less that high note and took his seat across from Arnen, to his fathers right.

A woman called Suzanne gave the stats of the last public survey and Roxas could only frown when Arnen's eyes drifted to his and stayed planted. They watched each other from across the table one glaring the other calculating and it wouldn't be hard to guess which belonged to whom. Arnen stood up then when his father called for him to and walked to the front. The projected came to life and Arnen stood in a glow of blue until the screen flickered black. Then he spoke, he talked about the festival and his take on things and how he could get it all for relatively cheap with it still being good quality. He had pictures of those who had volunteered their services performing tricks, even video recordings of up and coming talent. Arnen's speech was flashy and he presented it as if it was the most interesting thing. The board who he knew preferred Arnen to Roxas was enraptured, the others held with a mild interest. Flash was good, solid truth and nothing extravagant was better. It made people think you weren't hiding something or trying to impress anyone. Roxas was doing his job, he didn't have anyone to flatter and it looked exactly like that. Exactly how he'd intended it to.

"Very nice Axel. I will have to discuss it with the board for a moment in private but I think it's clear which option we should go with." Daniels looked at Roxas as he said the last and then tilted his head towards the door, indicating that both boys should exit out of it.

Roxas walked out first and didn't bother to hold the door when Arnen followed through. He went and sat in the conference room and Arnen followed. Arnen sat across from him and watched him like he had in the board room. The red haired male opened his mouth to speak but was cut off by his phone ringing. He answered it after the third ring and stood and walked out the door. Roxas watched Arnen through the glass panels on either side of the door. His red hair had somehow been managed back into a low ponytail and his black suit wasn't wrinkled as it normally was. His white shirt stood out because he didn't have a tie but in here it looked out of place. Arnen's game was slipping, that's all it could have been to Roxas. Oh no, he wouldn't let the bastard trick him into a false sense of security. With his grey suit and red tie Roxas adjusted himself in the chair and spun so that he could look out the window. He shouldn't watch Arnen anyway. God knows the bastard gets enough attention.

He heard the door open and Arnen shuffled in and sat down. Roxas refused to turn in his chair to acknowledge the bastard. With a sigh he could feel Arnen's eye pressing into his chair. It bugged him more than it should have. He wanted to turn and scream at him, but at work they had an unspoken agreement to be civil at least. Roxas was sure he didn't want his father finding out about how badly affected this little competition had gotten. Arnen began tapping something on the wood table top, something which Roxas presumed to be a plastic pen. The steady tap, tap, tap began to make his eye twitch and then Roxas spun. With a glare Arnen froze mid motion and then after looking down at the pen briefly he continued to tap. Tap, tap, tap, went the pen and goodbye went Roxas's patience.

"Stop that."

"So you can talk outside of our fathers influence and yelling." Arnen gave him that same calculating once over and Roxas glared.

"I only talk to you when I am forced to. Don't think this is anything other than civility, or getting what I want done."

"You're a manipulator." For a moment Roxas was too stunned to speak "So he has corrupted you further than I thought." The smart remark that was on Roxas's tongue died.

"Corrupted? I am not corrupted. I am many things but corrupt is not one of them. You on the other hand, I have yet to see any evidence to suggest otherwise."

"How can you say that? I have been nothing but kind to you." His comment brought back the anger that was simmering below Roxas's surface.

"If this is your version of kindness it is severely warped. I dread to see your actions of hate."

"I don't hate you." The statement was quiet and soft, the kind that would have seemed genuine coming from anyone's mouth but Arnen's. But now it only seemed rehearsed and a lie. Feeling annoyed and hurt Roxas responded the only way he could think of.

"Yes but I hate you." Arnen didn't move for a moment.

"Why?"

"Your existence is nothing more to me than a plague on my life, a tumour eating away at everything that I've ever wanted. Everyday I wake up knowing that you're the black mark in my life, the one who has made me who I am today. Are you proud knowing what you've killed in me? Yet you have the balls to pretend as if we could be friends. Do you know how condescending and patronising that is? Do you Arnen? You come into my life all intrigue and attention. The media love you, the staff love just because you're different but you know what you really are? A freak which doesn't belong. Everyone knows you aren't part of the family and you still pretend. Do you know how foolish you look? I bet you do, because it's all part of your plan."

There were hot tears sitting on the edges of Roxas eye lids, the tears burned along with his anger. Roxas knew there was no going back. "I hate you for what you do, who you are and because you simply exist." Roxas refused to blink and Arnen refused to look at him. Holding the tears dangling on his eyelids Roxas stood there and let his words wash back over him. A cold sense of unease hit his stomach and made it sink. Arnen still didn't move, his hands were clenched shut but other than that he was still. Roxas tried to prepare himself for some scathing remark or a come back, but he wasn't prepared for this.

"Even after all that you've said to me. I still can't hate you." Arnen lifted his head and Roxas froze. His voice came out soft but pained and his eyes were hard with emotion.

"I look at you and no matter the mean and cruel things you say to me, I can't hate you. I should, but I can't. Everything you say are lies and it hurts to know that you hate me just because you can, but I still can't hate you."

Roxas then blinked and the angry tears slipped out. Arnen's face didn't change and he didn't look away even when Roxas broke eye contact and wiped his eyes.

"Why?" was the weak and angry reply. But Arnen didn't answer even when he had the time to as Suzanne came to collect them. She could sense the tension between them but said nothing. They walked back into the conference room, each others words replaying in their minds. Sitting across from each other had never been as uncomfortable. Roxas felt small and cold like he was suffering from guilt. He tried to be angry at himself, at Arnen, even his father but there was nothing there but stone cold embarrassment. He looked up twice quickly and noted that Arnen didn't seem to even care about anything around him, and Roxas's cold feeling began to burn from the guilt.

"So with that in mind, it is my pleasure to tell you that we will be going with Roxas's idea." Daniels finished and Roxas didn't even feel the slightest amount of glee as the members of the board smiled at him. As soon as the meeting had finished Arnen was out of there as quick as humanly possible and Roxas followed shortly after. They each went into their offices, although Roxas felt as though he could feel the other mans presence through the walls.

The rest of the day went by in a blur but Roxas never changed how he was feeling. Through all of the mean and nasty things they had done to each other he still couldn't shake the feeling. Then night came and Roxas was slightly better but he didn't rush home. That night as he climbed into bed he stared at the ceiling for some time before he began to laugh. His laugh didn't sound like his own it was hollow and empty and as soon as he realised this it became hysterical and then turned into sobs. Here was Roxas a twenty year old corporate heir sobbing in his bed because he'd told his adoptive step brother he hated him. No not just hated, but hated him and had given him reasons. He wasn't crying because he'd felt free but because he was guilty. It was ironic, he'd gotten it all out in the open and he'd hurt himself in the process.

So as he lay in his white walled room and wondered if he was having a mid life crisis at the age of twenty Roxas wondered what Arnen was doing now. Then he heard a thump from across the hallway and some hushed whispers followed by some drunken moans. Getting up he slunk to the door with his sobs stuck in his throat and looked out of his peephole. It was only then that his brain registered both of the shapes to be male. One was Arnen and the other a tall brunette who had him pinned against the wall. Arnen slurred something and then the brunette was kissing him. Arnen a man was allowing himself to be kissed by another man. As Arnen groaned and flung himself backwards against the wall the other man fumbled for the keys. After some stumbling and breaks for heavy panting they fell through the doorway. Roxas wasn't sure what his face looked like when he watched the whole thing. He wasn't sure what he looked like sliding to the floor aided by his door. He was sure of one thing, Arnen was gay.

That night Roxas sat against the door as the moon faded and eventually fell asleep on the marble floor. He dreamt of red and faces blurring but the next morning he couldn't think of anything but Arnen.

He made his way to work slowly and by nine he was there. Namine asked him why he was late to which he gave no reply. He had no meetings and spent most of his day inside the office answering e-mails but doing little else. He hadn't seen Arnen enter or leave his office either and remembered the man was flying out to a conference and would be back in the afternoon. Roxas wondered if he'd managed to get on the five a.m. plane flight after the night he'd had and then repressed the images of Arnen thrown back against the wall moaning. His father didn't bother him today for once and so Roxas went home early a thing he rarely did. He excused himself under the pretence that he was sick and needed some bed rest. Namine let him go with home remedies on how to get better yelled after him. Roxas didn't hear a word.

As he got home Roxas walked slowly down the corridor and lingered outside his door. When he walked in to his flat there was a message on his machine. It was Kairi saying there'd be a get together tonight in a club downtown and Roxas was invited. Kairi had finished the message with threats of what was to come if he didn't show. Roxas didn't really pay attention.

It was strange but for the first time all Roxas did was flop onto the couch. There was no sudden urge to get changed or shower. He didn't even want to get up and go to the bathroom when the need arose. As he walked out from the luminescent bathroom he noticed how dark his flat was. Roxas went around and turned on the lights but suddenly it felt very empty. There was another phone call, it was Daniels. After the message had finished Roxas was on the floor and wondering how he had gotten there. What disturbed him the most was the message, Arnen had quit the business. Roxas began to breathe quickly and his flat looked more like blocks and he couldn't clearly define anything. He was panicking and he didn't know why. So he curled up in a little ball on the floor and waited for things to sort themselves out.

"Why?" he whispered to himself.

When his phone rang for the third time Roxas didn't even flinch. It was Kairi again just reminding him that it was past the time for fashionably late so he'd better hurry up. With nothing better to do and an increasing dread of doing something stupid in the flat across from Arnen he got dressed to go out. With black jeans and a darker black t-shirt, Roxas sighed and was done. The club Kairi had picked was loud and there were men and women lining up for blocks to get in. Kairi waved him down from the front and he got in without a hitch. Excluding, Kairi's shoulder punch on the way in of course.

The night went by in a blur and all I could remember was Kairi continuously ordering one alcoholic drink or another. Then as he stumbled back to his room he saw a blur coming out from the door that was oh so not on his side. With a half hearted swing at who he assumed to be Arnen he collapsed onto the ground. It was there he assumed he'd spent most of the night but when he felt a soft pillow he woke up to find himself back in his own room. Roxas didn't want to dwell on how he'd gotten there so he didn't.

With a sigh and a stutter as he held a hand against his head Roxas stumbled to the bathroom. After spending a good half hour finding out what he had actually ingested last night Roxas returned to the kitchen. The light came through the slits in the blinds that covered all of the windows he had in the flat. Roxas turned around and then noticed again like he had last night that his apartment was darker than usual. More shadows, no colour and mostly filled with closed walls. So on a whim Roxas drew open every blind in the house and in filed the yellow light. Roxas had a good look at what he was living in, how his life had turned out. There was little sign that someone was living there currently. That's when he saw it. He wouldn't have noticed it if the light hadn't been hitting the glass table but sure enough it was and he did. Sitting on top of the glass was a single red hair.

Last nights memories came in a swarm and tackled Roxas. He remembered swinging and hitting the carpeted floor that smelt like bleach. He remembered the warm hands rolling him over and a deep voice asking him questions. What those questions were Roxas had no clue because he was so far gone but he could assume what they would have been. Then the next part was fuzzy but he was sure that Arnen had carried him into his house and put him in his bed. Roxas went and sat on the couch across from the glass coffee table and the red hair. Sitting there watching as the sun gave the red a gradient Roxas began to slowly realise what his life consisted of. Sure most people don't have mid life epiphanies after seeing a discarded hair of their next door neighbours. Yes, Roxas was too young for a mid-life crisis but what he was; only just realising it now, was stupid. Stupid, petty, obsessive, immature, childish and pathetic could only be a few of the words to describe the way Roxas felt.

"So much of my life is about him." The weight of this statement left Roxas feeling hollow and empty. Not sad or depressed just empty.

His work life revolved around getting his fathers love and beating Arnen. His apartment looked this way because he was sure Arnen would have changed his own apartment. He dressed the way Arnen wouldn't dress. He didn't drink because Arnen did; he didn't go out most nights because Arnen did. Arnen, Arnen, Arnen. It was all about him.

Now that he wouldn't be at work or eligible to win Daniels' affection Roxas didn't feeling the growing sense of victory that he should have. He felt more like someone had taken a hammer and smashed away at the pieces that he revolved around. It really was sad how much Roxas had dictated his life around Arnen. Now that parts of it wouldn't involve him anymore he didn't know what to do with himself. Who he was, was competing against Arnen, besting Arnen. Roxas shook himself from this stupor and got ready to go to university.

From today onwards he would go about getting rid of Arnen in everything about Roxas. He would cleanse himself as daunting as that sounded. With a grunt he pulled on his jeans and slipped a blue shirt over his head. Noticing that he was already late for class, Roxas hurried to the nearest bus stop. His professor would not be pleased today, but who really cares.

As he got out of the bus and walked across the open area to the front of the gate. Not many people were out walking around and it was odd that there wasn't any noise from the traffic. Roxas came into his class and sat down for another business lecture from a professor who seemed to find it entertaining to glare at him for the whole hour and a half.

Lunch had come and Roxas took a walk down the street to the shops there. He hadn't seen Arnen in any of the classes they shared. Perhaps Arnen had quit university too or perhaps he was avoiding Roxas. With a quiet gasp which had the lady behind the counter looking at him weird Roxas was hit with another epiphany.

What if Arnen hated him now? It would be just typical for that bastard to do the thing which he constantly assured Roxas he didn't once the blonde had dropped his guards. Because that's what he had done. Roxas now no longer felt that all consuming pull of heat and negativity towards Arnen like he used to. He felt stupid and foolish and guilty for acting that way the whole time, but no, he didn't hate Arnen. Roxas still hated Arnen, but not in the same way as before. This hate he could get over, learn to live with or shrug off. As Roxas walked back over the terracotta pavement he heard a steady rev of a car engine. The sound grew closer and he turned just in time to see a white van pull up and a barrage of black hooded people jump out. They grabbed at Roxas, his burger now thrown on the grown struggled in their hands. There were five of them and all males as far as he could tell. Needless to say they got him in the car fairly easily. Roxas did have enough dignity to admit that he was weaker physically than he would have liked.

He was bound, gagged and blindfolded and then they were moving. Roxas began to panic; wasn't this a scene from crime films? The car engine roared loud, the sound heightened because Roxas couldn't see. There were no other voices in the car aside from a continuous grunting and incoherent yelling sound from beside him. That's when he smelt it, the cologne that he'd purposely not bought, but really liked, because Arnen wore it. Arnen was here too! He tried to squash the building hysteria in the back of his throat and focused on the fact that he wouldn't be alone in what ever this was. Roxas tried to call out his name from behind the gag and the voice stopped for a while. Roxas positioned himself in the direction the voice had come from and kicked out. He heard a grunt and then Roxas began yelling again. They were just incoherent words, calls for help, and sounds of reassurance. Arnen knew he was here as he responded. The people who were sitting in the back did not like the idea of the two boys co-operating together and pulled them apart with grunts and what Roxas assumed looks of annoyance and contempt.

The ride lasted longer than the movies showed and his hysteria only continued to build and settle in the back of his throat. When he was hoisted to his feet suddenly his legs couldn't handle it. He stumbled and fell because his legs were numb. He heard a sound similar to the one he'd made as he hit the ground and assumed Arnen had done the same thing. Strange enough Roxas felt a small sense of victory in that. With some swear words leaking from the mouth of one of their captors Roxas was hoisted again to his feet and shoved through what he assumed to be a doorway.

Through the whole journey, down stairs, along hallways, through circling walkways and even up more stairs nothing was worse than finally being thrown in a room with the door locked. Nothing was worse, than the knowledge that this was just the beginning, there was more to come and no way out that he knew of. Roxas then screamed from behind the gag and kicked and scrambled to his feet. Only to be thrown back on the floor. He hit another body who he assumed to be Arnen who sat there still not moving. His calmness had no effect on Roxas so blind by hysteria that he was. Roxas continued to scream and pull at his restraints until his was kicked in the stomach firmly.

The movies never prepare you for how much a blow to the stomach actually hurts, especially as Roxas assumed, the boots that kicked him were steel capped. Trying to curl into a ball and only just managing to do so from the position of his tied arms Roxas began to whinge softly. No, he couldn't sob just yet, the hysteria was gone but he could whinge at how cruel the world was. Then he stopped slapped his mental self into line and took some deep breaths. Roxas was lifted so he was sitting back against who he assumed to be Arnen and the blindfold was removed, along with the gag. The only person left in the room was covered from head to toe in black and Roxas would have thought them a ninja if he hadn't seen the gun. Then they turned and left with the sound of many locks and deadbolts to keep them company.