Gives You Hell

By: Tomi Sama

Chapter 1: "Welcome to Hell"

Pairings: Dominate: AkuNo (AkuReno), LeonxCloud, RikuxSora, Zemyx.

Others: Mentions of past AkuRoku, a bit of AkuRiku.

Warnings: Yaoi. Which means boy on boy. There's also a lot of Roxas-hatred. I myself LOVE Roxas, but for some reason I like Axel and Reno, at the current moment, even better. Also, mentions of drug use, vulgar language, um… rock and roll?

Word Count: 12,059, excluding all the warnings and author's note and such. I hope it's not a lot of filler! ;-; Please tell me if it's boring!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything at all. I don't own Kingdom Hearts, or the multiple Final Fantasy characters I mention. I also don't own the songs mentioned in each chapter.

Author's Note: This is going to be so weird. This is a fic, based on a fic I'm writing, but haven't posted anywhere. Basically, the other fic is based on the band Say Anything's four albums. This story would take place after the fourth album, if it ended differently. So it's not necessary to read that to know what's going on, I think I do a good job re-explaining things. However: THIS IS NOT THE SAME FIC. It is just based off of it. So when I do post the other one, don't read that one thinking this is what happens in the future, because none of this will happen. Does that make any sense? I think I just confused myself! ;-; Anyway, I guess you can totally disregard that whole author's note, because it doesn't matter until the other fic comes out. Haha.

PS: This is my last shameless promotion for Say Anything. Get the music, now, fool! XP They're a great band! Also, I'm NOT Jewish. So if anything's wrong with the multiple mentions of the religion, please let me know. Oh, and I will probably call this my "Hell" series, as all the chapters have the word "Hell" in it. Also, the title and very-very-very vague plotline is based on the music video "Gives You Hell" by the All-American Rejects.

PPS: I'm dedicating this fic to all those people who are fans of AkuNo. There are too few of these fics on the internet, so please, go out there and write some great ones! [Or draw pictures! I love AkuNo pictures!]

PPSS: Please Review!

---

Reno had been saving money his entire life.

Most people didn't think he was the "saving" type, he could be found at the local bars with his coworkers after almost every work day, spending his time and money well into the night. He was also an avid gamer. If anyone was man enough to challenge him at nearly any style game, on any platform, Reno would sweep the floor with the unsuspecting victim. Reno was also a music collector. What he didn't spend on alcohol and video games was surely spent by Wednesday night on his favorite artists latest CD. He'd spent a great deal of money on the discontinued songs his favorite band: Got it Memorized?

Luckily, Reno had a pretty cushiony job, working as a Turk (which is a lot faster than saying he worked in the Investigation Sector of the General Affairs Department, in the Department of Public Safety, and a lot nicer than saying he took care of beatings, kidnappings and assassinations of individuals who were "unfriendly" to the ShinRa electric company which employed him). The pay was very good. There were only a handful of fighters skilled enough in the world to do what he did; they were paid almost like international men of mystery. They were given bonuses if they did extra good on a job, but Reno's light attitude and natural clumsiness kept him from getting bonuses often.

Reno was recruited as a Turk right after high school. He didn't have a college education, but he really never did well enough in school to have gotten into any decent college anyway. It was his pranking throughout high school which interested the ShinRa Company in him: he was never caught, at least if he didn't want to be. He was a skilled enough fighter to where he could defeat the football jocks, if needed, but his force was rarely needed. His way with words, though they seemed uneducated and ungraceful, usually humored people enough to realize he was an okay guy, and that they didn't want to fight him. He used his high school tricks, on steroids, at his every day job.

From the first pay check, at age eighteen, he put a third of his money earned into the bank, spending his money only on necessities. At age twenty-five, Reno had quite a bit saved up. And he grew bored of apartment life.

He decided to get a house.

Rude and Elena thought it was stupid of him. What single man, a man almost incapable of having a relationship last more than two weeks, would invest in a house? Reno thought the answer would be obvious: he was never going to have a steady relationship. If he waited to have a relationship to actually settle down in the Suburbs, he would never go.

He'd looked at a few houses, before he found the one he knew he had to have. On a street without a lot of traffic, stood a line of decent-sized houses with back yards bigger than the house themselves. The one which was for sale was brick, as with its neighbor to the left (while facing the front of the house, on the right while in the back yard, facing the street), while the rest were wood.

It wasn't the biggest house he'd looked at, but it felt like home.

"Why doesn't anyone live here?" Reno asked, standing on the back porch, looking around. His brick-house neighbor to the left had an in-ground pool in the yard. It was really close to the house; the occupant might be able to jump out of a window and into the deep end, if he was crazy (or stupid) enough to try it. On the other side of the yard, with maybe fifty yards in between, there stood a deck. There were lights around it, giving it the appearance of a stage. It looked like a party hot-spot, but all was quiet in the suburbs tonight. There was a shed, too, which was double bolted. Maybe there were thieves in the area. (Not that a Turk was afraid of mere thieves).

The realtor smirked. He was pretty young as well, maybe twenty-seven or twenty-eight. He leaned across the railing of Reno's new house (or what would be his new house, once he officially made an offer).

"These houses go pretty fast. There's a college less than five miles that way," he gestured to the right. "But these houses are too expensive for college kids. Usually people buy them who haven't outlived their glory days and don't mind partying college kids wondering around late at night. Oh, and the neighbor there is in a band, he's still on tour, though, until September. He can throw some pretty wild parties."

Reno didn't mind drunken college kids. It wasn't like he was going to be raising a family or anything; he just wanted a bigger place to keep his shit in… a place with a yard and some new chums to challenge him.

"What do I have to sign?"

---

Reno moved in to his new house in the middle of August, the earliest date possible. Within a week he had everything unpacked and had himself a housewarming party with his friends from work. All of his friends showed, but Vincent Valentine who couldn't make it. Honestly, the man was pretty anti-social; he probably preferred to stay home. They had to admit, the neighborhood was nice and Reno decorated the place nicely, considering he had no idea how to properly decorate a house, and no woman to make it look pretty for him. (Elena's words, if Reno had said the same thing, she would have smacked him for being sexist).

Rufus, the president of ShinRa, enjoyed the game room. After a few beers, he lost two-hundred dollars betting against Reno at Guitar Hero.

For two weeks, Reno spent his time off of work in peace in his home. September first, at four o'clock in the morning, he was awoken to the sound of a horn blaring outside of his house. Wondering what was happening, the redhead made his way to the open window, peering out his curtains to the street.

A black van was pulled to the curb at the brick house next to his. Four guys piled out of the van, laughing and yelling at each other. It was dark, and most of them were wearing black, so he couldn't get a good look at them.

"Shut up, assholes! There's a light on in the empty house!" Reno looked at the man who was gesturing to his own house. Reno caught a flash of bright red hair from under a black beanie, pale skin and white smile shone brightly in the darkness.

"Axel, man!" Another man yelled, unnecessarily loud since he was right beside the redhead, who turned to look at his yelling friend. "You got a new neighbor, dude! We were only gone for two months and the house got sold!" This friend was blond, with a mohawk. Or was it a mullet?

"Maybe it's a hot college chick!" A third man, this one with silver hair, elbowed his friend in the ribs. Reno's breath caught in his throat as he glanced around for the EMR he kept in his room, just in case. That was a Jenova experiment. At first, he thought it was Sephiroth himself, but realized the man with his new neighbor was too short, too thin, and had shorter hair, he relaxed.

This one must be one of the remnants. One of Sephiroth's younger, less successful brothers that were left in his hometown to be raised as normal humans. Poor thing probably was raised with huge abandonment issues.

"After Roxie broke your heart, man, you need a hot chick." The silver-haired man finished.

The fourth member of the band pushed a guitar case and a backpack to the redhead, the other three looking toward Reno's house, into the light in the bathroom window, unknowing that the man was looking out at them in the darkness only two windows over.

"Here, Axel. Get some sleep, okay?" The last man, with long, brown hair said. "You can go introduce yourself to him tomorrow."

"Him?" The silver-haired man said. "Leon, it's gonna be a chick."

"What makes you say that, Riku? Have you met his new neighbor?" The brunet, Leon, countered.

"No, but you don't have to jinx it by saying it's a dude!" Riku yelled back. The other three shushed him.

"Besides, after Roxie, I think it's pretty obvious how much Axel wants a chick." The mullethawk man giggled.

"Whatever, Demyx." Riku shrugged.

Suddenly, the van beeped again, causing the four band members to look at their vehicle. The driver's door of the van opened, and another man stuck his head out. He had spiky blond hair, and he made a 'what-the-fuck-let's-hurry-up-guys-I-wanna-get-home' look to the other members.

"Speaking of Roxie." Riku laughed. "I think you look like your family, Cloud. Both of the twins."

Cloud? Reno thought. The name sounded familiar.

"I know." Cloud, the blond driving, pinched the bridge of his nose, annoyed. "I swear to God you tell me that every time I leave your sight and then you see me again. Can you guys just get in the fucking van? I'm exhausted."

"You're exhausted. You keep us up all night having loud sex, so don't give us that shit, dude!" Demyx yelled, draping his arm over the redhead's shoulders, both of whom giggled.

"Just because your lover isn't around, Demyx, doesn't mean I'm not going to be with mine because he is." Cloud hissed back. "Leon, you coming?"

"As if we hadn't heard that before!" Riku managed to yell out, before doubling over in laughter. Demyx was on the sidewalk, rolling. And Axel high-fived Riku. Cloud got back into the van, slamming the door in annoyance, which made the three other men laugh harder.

Reno was surprised to see that Leon just smirked, not offended in any way by what his bandmates said.

After the laughter died down, Demyx leapt at the Axel, hugging him too tightly to be just friends, they must be blood. Riku lit a cigarette and Leon patted the redhead's shoulder. With their final goodbyes said, the three other boys got into van again, beeping as they drove away. With one more look at his neighbor's house, Axel opened his door and walked inside.

Reno went back to bed, unable to help but think the obvious.

His neighbor looked just like him!

---

Reno was up at seven, but wasn't in the shower until eight. The first hour of every morning, the redhead spent in a daze. He couldn't tell you what he had done if he was tortured. Not that "torture" meant anything to a Turk.

They'd all been tortured by each other, and he didn't mean by Elena's singing (although THAT was more painful than real torture). He meant, well, real torture: with knives and water-boarding and salt to rub in the wounds. The company needed to know how much a candidate can take before they crack before they'll give them the job.

It took a lot for Reno to snap under pressure.

But he hated being up this early, dressed and around by nine, on a Saturday morning, but if he didn't get up early on Saturday, he would stay up late and sleep all day Sunday. Which meant he would sleep through most of Monday. Putting his hair back, he admired his handy work in the mirror. In a red-color that matched his hair, he had drawn lines to the side of each eye. He'd always figured he would get them tattooed (he'd been putting the make-up on since he was sixteen, so it's not like he was worried he wouldn't like them), but he'd just never gotten around to it.

The redhead didn't need to be tortured to admit he looked damn good. Maybe it was his rather-large ego that kept him from holding a girlfriend for more than two weeks. Maybe they just didn't have an ego to match and counter his.

The doorbell rang.

Reno kicked his shoes, both his work-required dress shoes and the converse all-stars he wore on the weekends, to the side of the door before pulling it open, flashing his visitor a lopsided grin. Why wouldn't he? It had to be Rude, making sure he was up (or coming over to play Resident Evil 5 with him, as he had for the past two weekends).

But it wasn't Rude.

If Reno thought his neighbor looked like him last night, he thought he opened the door to look into a mirror this morning. Apparently, the other man thought the same. He all but dropped the plate he'd been holding, mouth opened slightly to gape at the uncanny resemblance they had to one another.

It would be easier to name the differences.

Their hair was the same shade of red, but Reno's was longer. The Turk's hair went to his mid-back, while the Rockstar's hair went to his shoulder blades: maybe a three inch difference. Reno kept his hair pulled back, the top sticking up wildly and uncontrollably. Axel's hair was spiked back, resembling a palm tree: palm fanning, Reno thought it was called.

Reno's eyes were blue; Axel's eyes were emerald.

Reno had red eyeliner to the side of his eyes; Axel had black eyeliner directly under his eyes, in a diamond-shape.

To an extent, they even had similar clothing.

Both had on black pants, ones that would look dressy, if not for their tightness. Axel had a white belt, Reno had a black stud belt. Axel had a tight green shirt on, with a black heart on it, the word Heartless written in beautiful font inside the heart. Over that, he wore a dark-denim colored jacket, slightly too short to be of any practical use. Unless one would consider showing off his thin frame "practical," but to Reno, the word meant that the jacket would be useless to keep the man warm, had it been cold out. The sleeves had been rolled up, just above his elbows.

He had a tattoo on his right forearm. Up the vein, written in small, but beautiful font (like dancing fire), were the words "Born of Fire" Under it, "As the Phoenix." In the corner there was a flame, and from the flame burst a bird. It was all small, lineart. There was no color.

Reno was wearing a black long-sleeved shirt, long enough to be "practical" but slightly too tight to be "comfortable." The shirt was also pushed up, just below his elbows. He had a light blue t-shirt on over it. At first glance, it looked like a white skull with black eyes, nose and mouth. Reno saw Axel's eyebrows furrowed as he concentrated, seeing the true design instead. A girl (the nose), walking across wood planks of a pier (the mouth), to a boy who was sitting down. The girl and the boy were both holding balloons (the eyeballs).

Axel grinned, approving of the shirt. Reno felt accomplishment, for some reason, as if he had made the shirt himself (which he didn't). He bought it off of Threadless, where he got most of his witty non-working torso coverers. This one was called "Bye Bye Apocalypse."

"Holy shit, do we look like brothers, or what?" Reno's neighbor questioned. The shorter redhead wasn't sure if he was being rhetorical or not, so he just laughed.

"Sorry, dude." The slightly taller redhead standing outside brushed his forehead, slightly, as if he were tucking hair behind his ears. However, nothing had been in his face to begin with. Unlike Reno, the other man's bangs stuck upward and back. It must be a self-conscious human habit, deriving from the caveman days when humans needed to show their eyes to communicate. Axel's green eyes grinned sheepishly, as if embarrassed by his own outburst.

"I meant to say, 'Hey, new neighbor, my names Axel, what's yours?' but… damn."

Reno extended his hand, smiling. "Reno."

The other man went to extend his hand in return, only to remember the plate in his hands. In lieu of his hand, he extended the plate. Cookies!

"I baked them this morning."

"Didn't you sleep?" Reno took them, taking one in his hand, instantly bringing it to his mouth. "I saw you get in at four this morning. You'd been gone since I moved in… so how did you even have the ingredients to make cookies?"

Axel shrugged. "Mom stopped by yesterday to restock my food. And yes, I did sleep." He put his hands on his hips, leaning forward, almost teasingly. "Why weren't you asleep at such an ungodly hour?"

Reno wanted to answer, but he couldn't help but shove the rest of the cookie in his mouth, purely amazed by the rockstar's baking talents. Axel took note of it with a grin on his face, muttering something about his grandma's famous recipe.

When Reno had swallowed, he grabbed two more cookies before he sat the plate on the railing on his front porch. He offered Axel one, but the redhead stated he had more at his house. Reno was all too happy to eat them both himself.

"I was up at four am, because your bandmate beeped a horn." Reno had to assert a lot of self control to keep him from licking the crumbs from his fingers.

"Sorry we woke you up." Axel sounded sincere, but a smirk formed, unable to deny the fact that he enjoyed the thought of waking up the neighborhood at any chance he had.

"No worries. Window was open. I heard you talking." Realizing how stalkerish and… rude of him this sounded, he added. "I mean, you guys were yelling. So, it's not like I was…" If you have to admit to someone you're not stalking them, you are.

Axel apparently didn't see it that way. Of course, a rockstar like him dealt with stalkers way worse than Reno. "I'll have to yell at them." The taller redhead mused, leaning back against the railing, still grinning. Was he flirting? Reno wondered.

"It's okay. I'm a light sleeper."

Axel winced, looking away, but didn't comment on his thoughts. Instead, he turned back to his host.

"So… you must think we're all idiots then."

Reno wondered, "Why?"

"At four in the morning after spending ten hours in a fucking van with nobody but each other for company, the most intelligent people in the world start talking about anything to keep from boring themselves to death."

Reno shook his head, as if to say no, I didn't hear anything. Of course, he had heard everything. Part of his Turk training meant going a step beyond hearing what other people said, but to truly analyze it. He could tell a lot about each band member, from the five minute encounter he had witnessed in the dark.

Cloud, the driver and Leon, the dark haired guy, are dating. Reno would bet for a long time, though, probably since band was small-time. They're probably not public; gays in a band (especially dating each other) wouldn't do anything to promote sales. For the most part, their stoic nature left them closed to Reno's expertise. But everyone had a weakness, give Reno a month and he'd know what it was.

Demyx, blond mullethawk guy, is Axel's family. Probably cousin, but last night he thought step-brother. Upon Axel saying his mother re-stocked his refrigerator for him, Reno had changed his mind. Only a caring mother would do that (Reno's wouldn't, and he thought she had been caring), which means they put a lot of emphasis on family values. Which means, his parents are likely still together. Demyx doesn't look enough like Axel to be immediate family, but he was too intimate to not be family. Final guess on Demyx: cousin.

Riku, the silver-haired dude, was a Jenova. He was emotionally attached to Cloud. His tone suggested a more brotherly way of mocking him, than a friend would. But he's also attached to Axel, more so than he would be willing to let on. He hoped Reno was a girl, so Axel could get over his last lover, Roxie. As a side note, Reno thought Riku was using drugs. If he wasn't using heroin, he had gotten clean within the last six months, and had been a very active user for a long time before.

He specifically didn't pick up too much on Axel, though he was sure the conversation would have given him enough to know more about him. He hated over-analyzing people who would be more fun to get to know. People like himself, and Rude and Rufus. People like Axel.

"I didn't hear what you were talking about. Just heard yelling. I'm pretty unobservant in the morning."

Axel nodded, that would make sense, after all. After a moment of comfortable silence, in which Reno grabbed yet another cookie, Axel kicked off the railing, unfolding his arms from his chest to extend a hand to Reno.

This time, they shook hands.

"Not to deliver a package and run, but I've gotta get going back home. We're having a 'Welcome Home' party tonight. You're more than welcome to come, by the way, to any of the parties we have going on out in the back. But I gotta make sure everything's around for it." The redhead left his new neighbor's doorstep, before cutting through their yards, jogging up the steps to his own front porch.

"Welcome home." Reno yelled across the lawn.

Opening his door, smiling, Axel yelled back. "Welcome to the neighborhood." Before slamming the door behind him. Reno picked up his plate of cookies, and followed suit into his own house.

---

"It's a boy." Axel said to his cell phone. The cell phone laughed at him.

"Figures, huh?" Another chuckle. "Yazoo, can I have this piece of cake?"

"Focus, Riku." Axel said. "You jinxed me. He's cute. He seems like he's nice, too. And funny."

"Everyone's nice and funny after dating someone like Roxie. Honestly, he's got the personality of a PMSing cat in heat. He makes you fuck him then he fucks with your head. I don't think I've seen him happy in…"

"Years!" A different voice on Riku's side of the phone cut in.

"Years." Riku agreed. "But Sora, you should be nice to your brother."

"I'm nice enough to him. To his face. I was told to pick loyalties, remember, just like Cloud? Blood isn't thicker than money. Cloud stayed with you because he wanted to be famous and I stayed with you because I'm your manager and I want to be rich."

"Aw, Sora. You didn't stay with me because you love me?"

"Can you guys fucking focus for ten seconds? Fuck." Axel rubbed the bridge of his nose, a habit he picked up from Leon. "I invited him to our party tonight. So… act normal, okay?"

"What's normal, Axel? And who the fuck are you to tell us how to act like it in your almighty normalness."

Riku had a good point. Normal had never been a word that accurately described any of them.

"So, he's cute?" Sora said. Chomping could be heard. Cake should not make chomping noise like that. "What's he look like?"

"Aw, never mind about that." Axel rubbed his head, looking out his window, to Reno's house. Any time someone brought Roxas up, the lead singer would get depressed. It was hard for him not to be brought up, though, because he was their bassist and their manager's brother. Not to mention Roxas Strife, a pop icon himself, was a common household name to all teenagers. Not that any of the band members were still teenagers, even the Sora and Roxas (the youngest of their friends) were twenty-one.

It was at the Strife twins' birthday party, three months ago, that Axel last saw his on-again-off-even-more-often boyfriend. They had been broken up for about four months before then, for some stupid-ass reason nobody, including Axel, understood. The party was the first time since their last break up they had spoken to each other. They had sex in a room above the bar. Roxas yelled someone else's name as he came. You know how those things go.

For the first time, it felt like it was really over. It was… refreshing. Axel had all but been forbidden to move on with his life. Every time he started to get a steady boyfriend during an "off" time with Roxas, the blond boy would show back up, surprise!, and they'd be dating again long enough for Axel's heart to be ripped out with Roxas broke it off… again.

Three months ago, as Roxas yelled "Hayner!" as he came (though Axel would bet Roxas knew who he was yelling for, and did it just to piss Axel off), things seemed definitely over. He rarely even thought of the blond… unless he saw Cloud or Sora… or if he played the songs he wrote for the blond. Which meant, he thought about Roxas all the fucking time. The two elder Strife brothers were always around and eighty percent of their songs were about him.

"Don't get like that, Axel. If he's cute, you should make a move."

"Why bother, I mean. Roxas is still on tour for another two weeks, but when he gets done, if he finds out I'm dating someone he'll be right back in my lap again." Axel ran his hand through his hair. "I hate being used by him. I can't fucking say no."

"Fuck that!" Riku yelled. "This semester you're through!" They talked in terms of four semesters a year. They were entering the fall semester now. Demyx and Leon went to the local college. They were given one semester a year for schooling, the other three were left to the band.

Both were music majors, as Axel had been when he spent a semester there when he was eighteen. They didn't like Axel's music, and the band had gotten signed by the Organization their senior year of high school, so Axel didn't feel the need to change his style for them. Demyx was an orchestra composition major. Leon was a piano performance major. Both had great grades.

"Get a restraining order. Get Cloud and Leon to watch your door so the bitch can't get in. Although, as forethought, don't let them be your guard dogs together, or you might get them having sex on your front porch and Roxie to deal with."

"You caught them having sex once, Riku. Like, a year and a half ago…"

"Yeah, but in my defense, Spiky got old fast. Especially dating you. Then we were thinking of calling Cloud an alcoholic, except that wouldn't be funny… because he really is an alcoholic."

"…They don't even hold hands in public!" Sora didn't mention his brother's alcohol consumption. He'd always been a drinker; he had been since he was a teenager. "Why do you mock them so badly when you've been more public with Axel on stage?"

"Why do you gotta bring up the customary kiss, Sora. The girlies love it when I kiss Axel."

"I know they love it. I enjoy it, too. You're both hot; kissing each other would therefore be hot. Just lay off Cloud and Leon. They're private people."

Axel felt like crying. Figuratively. Sora and Riku weren't really fighting. Fucking God himself shivered in Heaven when Sora was on a rampage, but this polite back and forth bickering like fucking school children (or worse, an old married couple) drove Axel completely insane. Mostly, though, because it meant they had to resolve their problem before they could focus on Axel's again. Nine times out of ten, Axel wouldn't call Riku for advice. He would call Leon. But, this one time, it had been Riku who expressed interest in the matter the night before. That was the only reason he had called.

"Roxas never liked the kissing, Riku. He said if I kissed you I was cheating on him." It was a low tactic he only used in really necessary occasions: bring up Roxas. Roxas was a pity card. Instantly conversation turned back to Axel. 'Aw, poor baby has wasted five years on a fucking bastard, I'm sorry Axel.'

"That's only because the fucking slut was jealous of me. I mean, I'm fucking hot. I wouldn't want my boyfriend kissing me, either." And of course, the pity card didn't ever work with Riku.

"Then I'll stop kissing you."

"Fucking shut your mouth, Sora. Or I'll shut it for you."

"Challenge accepted."

Axel hung up when he heard the sound of kissing from the other end, tossing the cell phone onto the couch. He didn't really need advice, he determined. He just wanted to tell someone about his neighbor. How he looked like a long-lost brother. How it was that Reno guy he'd heard so much about.

His entire life, people had been calling him "Reno," and Axel didn't know why.

Of course, he wouldn't tell Reno he'd wanted to meet him since he was sixteen. The first time he had been mentioned was when he and Riku were going to buy pot on the crappy side of town. (Though Reno would have been eighteen, when Axel was sixteen, so he would have still been in high school, too). The pot dealer thought he was a man named Reno, and gave him a discount. As he grew up, and grew out his hair, people said it more often. On the rare occasion that Axel would bring his brother Vincent something at the SinRa electric company, people always yelled, "Hey, Reno, get back to work!" or if he went to a bar, something he rarely did, he would hear, "What're ordering that for, Reno? That's not your drink."

His entire life, he had been compared to a man he'd never met. A Turk, like his brother. Someone who truly mattered to society. Someone who kept them safe at night, instead of playing loud music, keeping people up.

Did Axel regret being a rockstar? No, he saved the souls of a bunch of people. Saved them from what, (the burning flames of hell or the tedious rays of heaven) he didn't know. But Reno, like his brother Vincent, was a man doing some real good in the world. They were real heroes.

(Vincent might have lied a little bit, when he told his parents and little brother what a Turk does, exactly.)

Just because Axel didn't regret becoming a rockstar, didn't mean he still didn't want to live as a Turk – a hero. With the cranks turning in his pretty head, Axel grinned. Maybe he could kill two birds with one stone: get rid of Roxas and become a Turk. He would just have to get the stone to agree to help the redhead kill the birds.

---

The internet was beyond useful.

When he thought the statement, Reno thought it meant "the internet was so useful, it went to a step beyond useful, meaning… even more useful that the word useful could mean." But as he searched for the information he desired, he realized what that statement actually meant.

The internet was beyond useful. It started out useful. The intent of the internet was to make information gathering easier. As he typed in his neighbor's first name ("Shit, I don't know his last name."), he realized how "useful" the internet was.

…Axel is a Scandinavian and German masculine name…

…the Axel jump is a figure skating move with a forward take-off…

…Crazy Frog – Axel F…

… Porn star Misty Axel's new movie…

There was so much usefulness to the internet, it made it almost useless.

Eventually, Reno switched google web search to google image search. Under "Axel" the man who was his neighbor was the first five pictures, breaking to a picture of a cat for one, then resumed more pictures of the man. Most of them were pictures fans had taken from the crowd. Most of the times, the lead singer was, in fact, singing. In one picture, he had a strange shaped guitar (almost like a Chakram, Reno had some Chakrams in his gaming room. They weren't his weapon of choice, but he preferred them over swords, which he also had in his gaming room).

The picture he clicked on had the entire band. Demyx was laying down in the front, hands on his stomach, rolling onto one side, almost dying with laughter. Axel was sitting with his back against a porch's railing. One leg out in front on him, one knee to his chest, with his arms wrapped around his knee. His head was tossed back, laughing as though he hadn't been ready for the picture at all. Riku was sitting behind Axel, on a railing on the porch they were on. He had one hand on his knee, the other gripping the medal railing as if his life depended on it, as he hunched forward, doubled over in laughter.

Next to Riku stood Leon, who had a smirk on his face, but wasn't the type to laugh like the others. His arms were crossed and his back was leaned against the wall to the house. His foot was up against the wall for balance. He was smirking at Cloud, who was sitting down on a white bench, looking away from all of them, eyes in a glare, hands bunched into fists at his knees. Cloud looked like the type of guy who could kick your ass any day of the week and think nothing of it. He was not the type of guy anyone would pick on who wanted to see tomorrow.

At first, Reno couldn't understand the picture. Why would a band (on their homepage, Reno found out looking at the website he'd just clicked on to) put such a picture on their page? It promoted bullying, at best. It embarrassed a friend. But then he realized; this is what the band is about. They're five friends, who pick on each other and drink beer and play video games, just like him and Rude.

Upon entering the website, he learned the band name.

Got it Memorized?

Reno almost face-palmed. Instead, his jaw dropped and he whipped around in the chair, turning to face Axel's house. Peering out his window, and into his neighbors', he saw the redhead on the phone, facing away from him.

No way. Reno thought. No fucking way did I move into the house next to the lead singer of my favorite band.

In Reno's defense, he was into their music. Their album covers never had pictures of the band, because they were always concept albums and the cover had to do with the concept as well. He had no idea what the lead singer's name is, he'd never seen a picture of him.

All he knew was that Vincent was listening to it one day in the office, a few years ago, and Reno fell in love with the voice and the music.

He was fucking subscribed to their twitter account, for fuck's sake! They were supposed to start recording in January for their new album and Reno was fucking living next door to the band. Reno was not, ever, prone to fangirling. He would never let someone who meant a lot to him let them know how much they mattered.

Instantly, he decided he would not, under any circumstances, become friends with Axel Valentine. The music meant too much to him. Were Axel to turn out to be a total douche bag, Reno would be unable to enjoy his favorite band. And because he was never to become friends with Axel, clearly a friendly guy as he made him cookies, he would never go to one of his parties.

He would never go over to his house.

And he would never, ever, think about Axel. Not while having dinner, not while listening to Got it Memorized? and definitely not while he was jacking off. This time, Reno did face-palm. He then proceeded to smack himself in the head, repeatedly. When a thought like that got into his head, it wouldn't leave.

The redhead thought about calling Rude, maybe get him to lose some bucks betting on a game of pool. Maybe he could get his bald friend to spar with him. In their earlier years, when they had been paired up as partners, they would spend hours beating each other in the ShinRa gym. Once they learned each other's tactics and techniques, training became unnecessary. Well, Rude was always training. As Reno's partner, he must dodge Reno's attacks, while fighting the bad guys. The bald man had taken an EMR to the face one too many times, accidentally, to be funny anymore.

But then he'd have to go outside. Strangely, he wanted to keep Axel a secret. Not that Rude would get all giddy and embarrass him; Rude didn't listen to that kind of music. He just… wanted time to think about what he should do.

Reno decided to lock himself in the house, pulled the shades and try to analyze himself. What the hell should he do?

---

It was a Saturday, so who really cared that it was two in the afternoon when he started drinking? Reno sure as fuck didn't. He was confused. He had never been confused in his entire life! He avoided labels, so he wouldn't have troubles breaking taboos. Because of this, he nearly didn't have a moral conscious. There was no "right" or "wrong" with him. Nothing was philosophy.

Who the fuck cares which came first, the chicken or the egg? As long as Reno had scrambled eggs for breakfast and chicken wings for dinner, Reno couldn't fucking care less which came first.

Usually, alcohol calmed the redhead, but today, it seemed to infuriate him. He'd spent all morning playing guitar hero, working out and playing pool, trying to keep his mind off the other redhead. He wasn't confused about his sexuality. He never had been, he simply ignored that "sexuality" could be an issue. Eventually, it stopped freaking Tseng out when Reno half-heartedly, jokingly flirted with him. Reno had been with a guy before, that wasn't the issue he was having.

But he couldn't deny the confusion.

What the fuck was he feeling?

He was paid to shut himself off. If he was torturing someone, or killing someone, he couldn't think about their feelings. He couldn't admit to himself that the person (often called "the package") had a wife, or a husband, or children. Although Elena and Tseng could have an active social life, and feel when they were off the job, Reno never could.

That's why he couldn't hold down a relationship.

He eventually looked out the window, when he heard yelling from next door.

Reno was a master at hiding in the shadows, peeking out behind curtains and spying. Spying on a bunch of rockstars wasn't hard, especially since most of them didn't seem too bright. He just kept low, letting only his eyes peek out.

His bedroom had a great view of the front yard, but his home office had a great view of the back. With a beer in hand (and occasionally to his lips), Reno watched the rockstars set up for their welcome home fiesta.

Axel had changed his clothes. He had on black basketball shorts and a black beater, making him look ridiculously pale in comparison. The rest of the band dressed similarly. Leon had on leather pants and a white beater. Riku and Cloud both went without shirts. Cloud had on jeans, Riku had on shorts that if a girl had been wearing them, would be Capri's in length. Riku and Leon both had their hair up. Demyx was absent.

Cloud had a tattoo on his back of wings; one an angel's wing, one a demon wing. Reno didn't understand it yet, but the more he thought about it, the more he wanted to know about the quiet blond. He also had a tattoo of a wolf over his left shoulder. Leon had a tattoo of a lion head on his bicep. It was lineart, with no color, but it was beautifully done.

Riku had a small Paopu fruit tattooed over his heart, but Reno was surprised with the lack of tattoos him. Knowing four members of the band had tattoos, the redhead wondered if Demyx did as well. What was it with guys in bands and their need to permanently mark their skin?

"Help me carry this, Leon."

Leon and Riku were setting up a drum set. Cloud was making trips back and forth from the now-unlocked shed, carrying band equipment on stage. Axel had his arms crossed, looking nervous and occasionally barking orders. He had a can of Amp in his hand. At one point, he took a sip too quickly and dumped it on himself. (Riku called him a dumbass). The redhead ignored him and wiped the sticky substance from his face using his shirt. Frustrated, he turned and walked away, giving Reno a nice shot of his bare stomach. The spying redhead (who had gotten binoculars half an hour ago), was quick to look, because the glance didn't last long.

On his right hip, he had a tattoo of a heart. It was a nicely drawn heart style, not boring, the same one as his shirt had been this morning. There were wings coming off the heart, dancing lowly over his hip bone, some feathers hidden by his shorts. It made gave any observer (in this case, Reno), the uncontrollable desire to see the rest of the tattoo: for what was resting on the redhead's slender hips to be forcefully removed. A sex illusion.

Inside the heart, was a Roman-Numeral VIII. Eight must be his favorite number.

"Hey, dudes!"

Four men turned their eyes to Axel's house. Reno quickly and stealthily switched windows, so he had a view of the side of Axel's house and swimming pool. The blond walked out of the back door, sliding the glass shut behind him. He had a violin and a bow tucked under one arm, but when he turned to walk toward his friends, he held the violin by its neck and the bow in the correct way to hold the instrument. In his right hand, he also held a piece of paper.

"I was doing some homework in there, 'cause I didn't do it on tour when I was supposed to from last semester. I had to write a violin solo for a concerto that's based on a Motzart…" seeing the impatient looks on his friends face he added, "… it doesn't matter. So anyway, I was writing this concerto and I thought it sounded really cool and I thought you might want to use it on the next album, Axel." (Reno ran back to the other window, as Demyx moved too far to see from that window.) "I wanted to check before I handed it in, because then I'd get in trouble for plagiarizing my own stuff. I know, it's stupid but my professors made it clear I can't do orchestrated versions of our songs. They say I won't learn that way and…"

Axel took the sheet music out of his hand, reading it in his head.

"Is it in four-four time? Why didn't you write a key?" Axel looked annoyed, shoving the paper back at his cousin.

Demyx took the paper, putting the violin under his arm, taking the paper back. He grabbed the pencil from behind his ear. Axel turned around and using his back, his cousin wrote the time and key. By the time he was done and handed the paper back to Axel, the other three members of the band walked over.

Reno didn't play an instrument; he'd never been creative enough to play something like that. He couldn't create anything of his own. Keeping time hitting his hand against his leg, Axel started thinking the melody in his head. Demyx was grinning, knowing that his cousin would like it (or he wouldn't have brought it to him in the first place.) Leon was reading over Axel's shoulder.

Even the stoic brunet was smiling, slightly, at the tune in his head.

"Play it, Demyx. I can't read sheet music if it's not for the drums. Cloud can't read sheet music at all."

"Fuck off, Riku!" Cloud spat, crossing his arms. "Most people in a band can't read sheet music. You should be fucking grateful I know what the chords are. Remember, I'm just the fucking bassist."

Demyx smiled. "You're our fucking bassist, though, Cloud." The curse sounded foreign on the blond's lips. He brought his violin up to his chin, strumming a chord with his bow before saying. "Hold it up for me, Axe."

Axel held the music up to Demyx, though it seemed pretty obvious he didn't really need it to be able to play the tune.

For a minute and a half, it couldn't have been longer, though it felt like forever, Demyx played his new song on the violin. Without the guitar, drums and singing, Reno wasn't quite to know what to make of it. It sounded like classical music to him. When Riku grabbed Axel's shoulders and shook violently, after the blond returned the instrument under his arm, Reno realized he'd just heard a song on their new album.

Axel nodded, grinning.

"Fucking good, Demyx. Don't turn it in as homework, I want that to myself."

Demyx beamed. Apparently, Axel didn't praise his band mates for their work unless it was a damn good job.

Axel crossed his arms, smirking as if he himself had written the music. "What time is it?"

"Three in the afternoon." Leon checked his watch.

"Party starts at seven?"

"Yup."

"How long will it take you to get around?" Axel asked, though it seemed he was directing it at Riku.

"It always takes you longer to get around for a show than it does us." Riku said, running his hand through his hair. "Are you around? I see you have the utmost fashion sense in the current moment. You look like a baller."

Demyx giggled, it was frightening. "You looked good this morning, Axel. Before you changed. Why don't you wear that?" Reno agreed, although he had to admit that he hadn't witnessed anyone rock the 'working bum' look as well as Axel was.

"I probably will." Axel seemed uninterested in any talk of 'This Morning.' Riku, Leon and Cloud already tried to get the redhead to speak of it. "And my hair's already done. It shouldn't take me more than an hour."

Leon checked his watch again. "We have to eat, too. We can spare two hours to play with the song."

Riku reached into his back pocket, grabbing drumsticks. Reno hadn't even seen them before. The silver-haired man started drumming against Cloud's arm. The blond decided if he ignored it, it would go away faster than if he yelled. "Let's go to the studio!"

Within seconds the band was inside, and Reno was left with no entertainment. He lifted his bottle to his lips, almost whimpering pathetically.

He was out of beer, too.

---

At six-ten, Reno heard the sound of feedback from speakers. He grabbed a new beer and ran up to his favorite window in his home office, the one overlooking his neighbor's back yard. They were apparently all "dressed" and around. Axel was wearing the same outfit from before. Riku had on faded, ripped jeans and a yellow, sleeveless vest, with a black X over his chest. Leon only threw on a leather jacket, but kept the same clothes as earlier. Cloud put on black pants and a zip-up, sleeveless navy vest. Demyx had on black pants with blue shirt. It was cute, it was a rain cloud crying.

"Is the Mic on?" Axel said into the microphone. It was. He was drinking water now. The sugar, Reno knew from singing on Guitar Hero: World Tour, made it hard to sing. Reno couldn't drink any caffeinated, sugary drink (Moutnain Dew products were the worst), before singing, or his voice stuck and broke. Axel grabbed the mic off the stand and sang, "Riku likes to have sex with little boys."

"Fuck you, dude. I'm younger than you and Roxie is younger than Sora. That means you have sex with even younger children. You pervert." Riku checked out his drums, hitting at them to make sure they sounded alright. "How's it sound out, there, Sora?"

Reno hadn't seen the brunet walk up. Pretty short, especially in comparison to Axel, spiky brown hair. He had on a black hoody and khaki shorts. He gave the drummer a thumbs up.

Axel hopped around a bit, almost as if he was testing the stability of the stage. He marched over to Demyx and sang, "Demyx hasn't ever had sex."

The blond played a short riff on the guitar, looking down at his fingers while he played. He looked up at Sora, who gave Demyx a thumbs up as well. He leaned forward, into the microphone set up before him and said: "No comment." Sora laughed.

The redhead jumped onto an amp, apparently testing his own agility. "Leon tops Cloud."

Cloud yelled into his microphone, "That one fucking time! Would you be giving him shit of you found us having sex and he was bottoming?"

"That's disgusting." Sora said, shivering. "To think that my big brother takes it up the ass."

"You fucking take it up the ass, too, Sora." Cloud spat back. Riku giggled.

"Can you please just check your amp, Cloud? Although I was clearly giving Leon the go-ahead; if you're going to be anal about the order, you can just go first. Fuck."

The blond plucked a few notes, trying his damn hardest to not attack somebody, whether Axel or Sora, Reno wasn't sure. When Cloud's test had finished, Axel held the microphone to his mouth, to give Leon his go-ahead.

Leon leaned into the microphone and cut Axel off before the redhead could say anything. "Can you not make a joke about me and Cloud having sex when you tell me its okay to check my equipment, Axel? I mean, I understand it's funny for you guys, but it's not for me and Cloud."

Cloud gave the rest of the band a self-satisfied smirk.

"Especially me. It's really affecting my sex life. He feels he has to over-compensate. I'm not saying he's raping me, but my ass can't take another turn on the bottom without a roll on the top."

Cloud looked horrified. The youngest three members of the band were rolling on the ground with laughter. Sora looked as if he was going to be sick and kept mumbling between giggles about his brother being a rapist.

After almost ten minutes of laughing (in which time, Leon checked his guitar, his keyboard, his trumpet and his microphone to make sure they were all working properly, and he and Cloud had a hushed conversation the other four men couldn't hear over their own laughing), they were all on their feet again.

Axel said, "We need an anthem, a slow song and one of our own. Pick."

"Sex on Fire." Leon said. "Kings of Leon, man. Awesome band name. I wish we'd picked it first."

"Slow jam?"

"Can we do Durch den Monsun?" Demyx asked, almost shyly. "Then you can work on your German, too. In case you want to do Schrei tonight. Or something by Rammstein."

Axel gave him an angry look. "There's nothing wrong with my German, Saukerl. I was raised on it just like you and the Aryan Brotherhood that is the Strife family."

"Arschgesicht." Cloud muttered. "Just because two-thirds of us have blond hair and all three of us have blue eyes doesn't mean we're in the Aryan Brotherhood. All the German I know I learned from the two of you."

"And they're all curse words." Leon joked.

Cloud gave him a serious look, "They only ever swear at me."

Axel dismissed the conversation with a wave of his hand. "One of our songs. Cloud or Riku. Pick."

"Sorry, Dudes. My Bad." Both said at the same time. All of the members of the band were vocal on that song, so it seemed it was the unanimous favorite song.

The redhead nodded. "Remember the playlist. Blend it together, no stopping. Go."

It started with Demyx playing the guitar riff. Leon came in with supporting at the same time that Cloud and Riku came in as well. It took a couple of seconds for them to get into it, but when Sora flipped a switch, turning the lights on, so the band couldn't see off the stage, all five members were into the music.

"Lay where you're laying, don't make a sound
I know they're watching, they're watching
All the commotion, the kiddie like play
Has people talking, talking"

Although Axel's normal singing voice wasn't anything like the singer from Kings of Leon. Axel stayed low, surprising Reno with the man's ability to mimic the other singer's style. From the first word, Reno had goosebumps. He'd been listening to this band for years, and he was watching them perform, he was living next door to the lead singer. A man he'd come to idolize for all his struggles, for his addictions and his problems, a man he'd never looked at. A man who could be his younger brother, his fucking twin, if you wanted to look at it like that.

Although Reno doubted he could ever get on stage and walk around, so confident in himself and his friends, singing his heart out, he could probably fool a handful of fans. They could probably switch places.

The thought of being a rockstar was exhilarating. He could only imagine what being loved and adored for a living must feel like, as opposed to being a paid, government-legalized criminal.

"You, your sex is on fire."

Axel had a strong voice. The voice alone had never done this, while listening to the CD. Watching Axel spread his arms, only to bring them close to his body again and run his hand down his torso, seductively, hand barely touching his lap as he leaned forward, sticking his butt out a little bit. Reno was angry to realize the effect it had on him so suddenly. He put his hand on his own lap, annoyed.

Angry and annoyed, but excited and impressed.

Demyx double strummed the ending of the song. The switch happened so fast, Reno wouldn't have been sure it happened at all if Riku hadn't dampened the cymbals before changing pace entirely. The new song had a totally different feel to it, it was slower, and while Axel wasn't singing, he turned around to face the band, open his mouth and wipe it (most likely cracking his jaw, a horrible habit that would probably result in a lot of expensive dental work), then turn around to face the non-existent crowd.

"Das fenster öffnet sich nicht mehr
Hier drin' ist es voll von dir - und leer"

Reno never took a foreign language in high school, and with a gun pointed at their head, everyone he needed to communicate with understood the English he was saying. However, he had heard Hitler's speeches in school, he'd heard German words being spat at a crowd, compelled by the orator, but the language itself sound dirty. Well, before he'd heard Axel speak it.

If he'd known German was the language of angels, he would have learned it sooner.

What surprised Reno the most about the slow song, was how Axel changed completely while singing it. Before, his denim jacket looked badass. Axel could kick your ass, but still look sexy while doing it. It made the "Born of Fire" tattoo make sense. The redhead was a rock god.

Reno had been surprised by the heart tattoo, on Axel's hip, but suddenly, that made sense, too.

Axel never really looked at the crowd. He was always fully into his performance. Has hand would rise to the sky, he'd hold it to his heart, leaning forward, singing to someone he loved who might not even been in the crowd. Instead of badass, he looked sensual, almost girly.

He looked thinner. His eyeliner (on his eyes, not on his cheeks) looked as if it were a stage decoration on the first song. Now it looked fitting; it looked like he had more on. He looked like he was looking higher. Reno knew the lights would be too much to see through, but he felt the piercing emerald gaze on him. As if he knew Reno was watching, and he was going to shamelessly flirt with him all night, knowing that it meant nothing. Axel was a performer. Everyone in the crowd (or in the crowd that would be there tonight), felt the same thing.

It made Reno's heart ache.

"Durch den monsun
Dann wird alles gut"

The last few notes of the song, Axel made air guitar motions. He looked like he was ready to clap, be excited about the song; he apparently thought they did really well. But with a tap on the snare and a few guitar notes, Axel was already into a third persona. This one was the one he was most comfortable with. This one was himself.

"It's too much to do on my own
My friends I need you now."

He gestured outward. His friends. His band. He kept time with his foot, on the same beat as Riku's snare hits. He didn't look girly anymore. He didn't look badass. He just looked like the guy who'd given him cookies earlier, the one who joked with his friends, the one who got excited at the new material.

The younger redhead could imamate the best of them, but he was the best as himself.

Axel sat down on the amp, looking defeated, dejected. The redhead looked at Demyx when his cousin began speaking to him.

"Dude, I know you've got your problems, we all do.
I'm here with you, man. We've been this band forever.
Don't let it go, man."

Axel smiled a little bit, then looked at Riku when he started talking.

"Axe, I will sell you this Xanax for five dollars.
And then we can go to the waffle house and talk about aliens.
It'll be chronic!"

The redhead looked even more cheerful, he stood up, turning around to face Cloud.

"Cause if you want it, then come and get it.
We're all with you now. We're all with you now."

Their voices were pretty similar, but Leon cut in.

"Cause if you think it, than you can make it.
We're all with you now. We're all with you."

When Leon had said "think it," he tapped his pointer finger to the side of his head. It was the trademark Got it Memorized? hand gesture. Axel started singing again, his thank you to his friends.

He started with Riku, standing at the three feet away, from the drum set.

"Forever yours, I am.
Like the ocean to the sand."

Axel gestured to himself when he said "Ocean" and to Riku when he said "Sand" (Reno looked it up, "Riku" was Japanese for "land"). He walked to Demyx, to the right.

"Forever in debt to my band,
I'm in the palm of your hand."

He held out his hands in a gesture of giving, as if offering something to his cousin. He crossed to Leon and Cloud.

"Forever wondering why,
Like a skeptic to the sky."

Holding his hand out to Leon when he said "skeptic" and to Cloud when he said "sky." Axel walked to the middle of the stage, feet shoulder width apart.

"Forever yours, and yours,
And yours, and yours, I am.
Goodbye."

At each "yours" he gestured to another member of the band. When he said goodbye, he bowed.

When the song ended, thirty seconds later, the band was in high spirits. Sora shut the lights off, and the five men on stage rubbed their eyes, jumping to ground level. Riku pulled Sora into a noogie. Leon patted Cloud on the shoulder (the first physical contact Reno had seen the two share). Axel and Demyx pounded fists.

"Oh yeah. We're going to rock the stage tonight. It's good to be home."

Reno had to agree with his doppelganger.

---

And rock the stage, they did. Reno watched from the safety of his home as the crowd rolled in. The band had gone inside, but the fans weren't allowed in. It was structured a lot like a concert. If the fans flashed the proper ID, their name on the guest list, they could go inside.

Reno wouldn't ever know it, but his name was on the list of "Friends of the Band."

There weren't a lot of people there, for a concert. Maybe one-hundred bodies, packed together at the front of the stage or swimming in the pool. There wasn't a keg, and Reno couldn't find a cooler or a fridge in the yard, but everyone had the same brand of beer. It had to have been supplied here.

Sora, the manager, Reno learned from more google searches, introduced the band at eight. They all excitedly took the stage and started with the first song on their first album.

From eight until eleven, the band played a bunch of songs. Most were their songs, some were covers. (Their cover of "When I Grow Up" by the Pussycat Dolls would have made Reno laugh, if it hadn't been done so well.)

Between every two or three songs, Axel stopped to talk to the crowd. At one point, he looked over at Demyx and then said. "Hey Sora, if you're out there, Dem's going to break his high "e" string in the next song, so while we're playing this next one, go into the studio and get him a new one. Oh, and if you can get three beers, a coffee and a Gatorade, that would be just swell too."

"A purple G-2." Demyx said, patting his stomach. "Gotta watch those calories, man."

Three-quarters of the way through the song (even with Demyx being careful, now that he was warned), Demyx broke his high e string and said, "Shit, sorry guys" into the microphone. Sora was there, climbing on stage to give Demyx the new string and a Gatorade, Riku, Axel and Cloud beers, and Leon a coffee.

While Demyx changed the string, Axel picked up his own guitar and said, "Who wants to hear our manager sing?" Apparently he and his twin brother had been in a boy-band together when they were younger. Sora would deny it, even under torture. The brunet tried to get out of it, but couldn't, the band played whether or not he would sing. By the time that song was done, Demyx was ready to go and the concert continued.

Reno had forgotten he wasn't going over, because from the second floor window, with binoculars, watching Axel show-boat on stage, dancing and singing with his friends, Reno realized he had the best seat in the house.

The redhead hadn't been counting the beers he'd been drinking. But because he started early, he knew he'd had a lot. When the concert ended with an encore performance (the band did Alive with the Glory of Love, which Reno felt was being sung directly to him), Reno stumbled his way to his bedroom.

He enjoyed the concert too much to watch his redheaded neighbor flirt and dance with the crowd. It didn't take Reno long to pass out on his bed, to dream dreams of Axel serenading him.

---

Socializing came after the concert. For Axel, anyway. The redhead knew he'd put on one of the best performances of his life, he was proud. He wanted to impress Reno, and after that stunning display of talent, how could the other redhead not be impressed.

Jumping off the stage, Axel was handed another bottle of beer, which he put to his forehead, feeling the coolness on his skull before opening it. The crowd went away from the stage, just randomly hanging out in the back yard, and Axel shifted through them.

Leon and Cloud went inside. Neither of them were ever really into the after-party scene. They were probably making some food for later, when Axel and Riku came in so trashed they needed to be spoon-fed and taken care of. If nothing else, Axel admired Cloud's ability to hold his alcohol. They could be drinking drink for drink, and the blond wouldn't be acting strange at all, when the redhead would be nearly vomiting.

Of course, Axel wasn't planning on drinking himself into oblivion tonight. Roxas was in the north-east, as far away as possible from Radiant Garden, California and Axel as he could be while still being in the United States. That meant he wasn't around to cock-block or seduce him or anything. For two fucking weeks, Axel would be free to do whatever the fuck he wanted, until Roxas came back and made it harder to do anything.

Axel wanted to at least be friends with Reno, before the blond showed up.

But he couldn't find the redhead anywhere; inside or out.

He found Sora and Riku dancing, both with bottles in their hand (it was strange to think that Sora was drinking legally at their parties now, the thought made Axel feel old), to the music pouring over the crowd from the DJ on stage. Demyx and Zexion, a depressing bookworm of a human being, were sitting on the front porch, both drinking fucking tea.

Leon and Cloud weren't in the kitchen when Axel went to find something to eat, which meant they'd moved into their honorary bedroom on the second floor. Fuck.

It had been a long time since Axel attended an after-show party without company. Usually Zexion wasn't around (he was a senior at the college down the street), so he and Demyx would hang out. Most of the time Sora wasn't either, he was usually off managing the band, so he'd have Riku to drink with. And when he and Roxas were on good-terms, and on the same side of the country, the two of them would be drinking and dancing or fucking in the bedroom.

The redhead found a shot of something in the kitchen and took it without thinking. Riku would have something, he'd just have to ask. Bitterly, he looked out the window. Three of Reno's lights were on, he was definitely home, he just hadn't come out to play. It had been a long, long time since Axel was stood up by anyone. Including Roxas. Even the fucking whore came when he was called.

Fine. Axel though, grabbing another beer as he fought his way back to Sora and Riku. Riku recognized the look on his friends face, and he pulled himself away from his boyfriend. He tapped Sora on the back and the brunet yelled, "I'm gonna get another drink, want one, Riku?"

Riku nodded. He waited until the brunet left before he asked, "What's wrong, Axel?"

I don't need you to be happy.

"I need something, Kuey." Axel slipped his hand around Riku's waste, kissing him briefly on the lips as he slipped his hands into his friend's back pockets. As always, a baggie was in one of them. Axel pulled it out, removing himself from his friend as he looked into it. Five white pills.

"What is it?" Axel asked, unnecessarily.

The silver-haired man pulled Axel's hips against his own. He pushed his nose into the redhead's mane, kissing his neck softly, quoting one of their own songs: "This is fucking ecstasy."

"Want one?" Axel asked, opening the bag, reaching his hand in.

"Will you not do one?" Riku asked back, forcing his friend to hold his gaze. "Tell me what's wrong. Nobody has a good high if they're trying to hide from being pissed or depressed."

"I want one."

"Then you're paying." Riku snatched the bag back from his friend. "If I take one Sora won't sleep with me tonight. And if I do, we'll end up messing around and that never turns out good for either or us. I can't believe you're making me the responsible one. I'm the fucking addict."

Axel forced his lips against his friend's mouth again. "Please." He mumbled against them.

Riku took him by the shoulders and moved him back, pocketing the ecstasy, before reaching into his front pocket. There were pills in a baggy there, too, maybe ten of them, they were blue. Riku opened the bag.

"You never get like this when Roxas is away. What the fuck is wrong with you?"

Axel gripped the front of the silver-haired man's shirt, pulling them closer. "He didn't come. I invited the new neighbor tonight, but he never showed."

Riku rolled his eyes. "You were stood up by some loser and you're having a panic attack? How fucking lame are you?"

"He's not a loser." Was all Axel could manage before Riku held up a pill, showing it to the redhead. Eagerly, not sure exactly what the pill was, but not caring either, he stuck out his tongue. Riku put the pill on the singer's mouth, wiping his hand on his pants before closing the bag and re-pocketing the drugs.

Axel washed it down with beer.

The silver-haired man grinned at him, pecking his frontman on the lips once before removing himself completely. "Go in and get some sleep, Axel, we'll turn the music down. There's no real reason to stay up, right?"

"I guess not."

Suddenly Sora was by Riku's side again, pushing the cold beer into his boyfriend's hand. There was no way he didn't see the kiss. That was what Axel liked about Sora. The redhead put his hand in the brown spikes, rubbing his head as the brunet smiled at him. Roxas always got pissed when he and Riku even looked at each other in a suggestive manner. Sora was fine with it; he understood the boys' closeness to one another. It was something they'd done since they were young.

Riku was lucky to have Sora. If only Roxas could be more like his twin, Axel would be happy.

"Night, guys."

"Night, Axel." Sora said, touching his bare arm affectionately.

"Hey, Axel." Riku questioned. "You don't need to self-medicate when you have medication from doctors. You made it through the tour, man. I'm proud of you. This should be easy, in comparison. No stress, okay. Don't shut down on us because of some dick you don't even know."

Axel nodded. It was starting to kick in, and he felt drowsy.

"Night, Riku."

"Goodnight."

The redhead walked into the back door, and the couple saw him put his half-full bottle of beer on the counter next to the refrigerator. He peeled off his jacket, and it looked like he really was going to bed.

"What did you give him?" Sora asked. "I've seen him on ecstasy, and that's not it."

Riku shook his head, taking a sip of his drink. "Nah, I gave him a Xanax. He's freaking because the neighbor stood him up, I guess. Leon watched him take his meds the entire tour, to make sure he was taking them. I guess he figured he'd take them when he was home."

"You don't think he did?"

Riku shook his head.

"And not only did you keep him from taking a dangerous drug while he was already intoxicated, you kept yourself from taking it." Sora smiled. "I'm proud of you."

"I only didn't because you don't have sex with me when I'm high." Riku admitted, slipping his free hand under Sora's shirt, outlining the muscles with his fingertips.

The brunet took his boyfriend's hand. "Well, you're not high, so let's get started."

All concern about the redhead left Riku's eyes as he happily followed his boyfriend into the band's house, leaving Demyx to be the responsible adult and keep an eye on the intoxicated guests. Lord help us all.

---

The songs the band plays as a warm up:

1. "Sex on Fire" by Kings of Leon
2. "Durch Den Monsun" by Tokio Hotel
3. "Sorry, Dudes. My Bad" by Say Anything

---

Scene from the next Gives Me Hell:

Axel's blush had gone away, instead, he just smirked. He held the cards again. "Zieh er." Demyx looked surprised, looking at Reno's extended hand, then back at Axel. "Go on, go to him."

Demyx smiled and nodded, swimming over to the redhead on the side of the pool.

"Um… Reno?" Rude's eyes flashed from Axel's self-satisfactory smirk to Demyx's playful smile. It didn't help that the man knew German and the redhead had not told his cousin to go to him.

Reno waved his hand, dismissively, cockily. "Later, Rude. It doesn't matter."

Rude shrugged, he'd tried. Axel looked like a cat, the bird all but landing in his mouth.