Sometimes, people meet through shared interests. Perhaps they meet at the yoga class, or the gym. Perhaps the flower arrangers club. In this way, relationships can blossom.

Sometimes people meet through the internet. They learn about each other through online chats and often discover that the reality is anything but they thought. But not always. Sometimes, love can spark.

Sometimes people meet through friends. Friends often know what you would like in a mate and can introduce you to the one who will fill the need in your life. In this way relationships can grow.

Sometimes people meet through an incredibly bad decision. Usually this results only in lawsuits and occasionally tragedies. But sometimes…

"How the fuck am I supposed to do this?" Roxas examined the situation, trying to find a plausible way he could get his old couch out of his apartment. It was not looking good at all. "Shit!" He reflected ruefully that he'd never anticipated this much trouble when he'd managed to secure an almost new leather couch dirt cheap. Unfortunately, getting the new furniture in meant moving out the old and the delivery guys were not going to do it for him unless he paid an extra fee. That was money Roxas most emphatically did not have. "Maybe I could put it on my credit card." As soon as he said that though he didn't like it. His parents paid off his credit card every month and they would certainly ask what that charge was… then want to know what he needed a new sofa for. "Ugh." Roxas scowled to himself. He didn't want his parents meddling in his affairs anymore than necessary. But how to avoid it? Glancing around, his gaze settled on the balcony. He blinked and looked at the sofa, then at the balcony again. The soft was wide but he thought it would fit. The balcony had two sliding glass doors. "…" A grin crossed his face and he began to drag the sofa over.

Little did the blonde know that fate was walking in the direction of his balcony at that moment.

Sip. Sip. Sluuuuurp. Axel took a long drink of his coffee. By pure chance he walked underneath a tree branch. It screened the redhead just long enough for Roxas to take a good look below and assume the courtyard was empty.

"Look out below!" Axel blinked and glanced up, his eyes widening as he saw a plunging, moth eaten, cat peed sofa heading directly for his head. Fortunately he was very athletic, had excellent reflexes and was good under pressure or the result would have been tragedy and lawsuits. As it was, coffee went flying as the redhead dove for safety with the speed and skill usually associated with professional football tackles.

Roxas looked over the balcony with a grin that melted into horror as he met shocked green eyes.

"Are you insane?!?" Axel demanded and Roxas was tempted to flee into his apartment. But no, that was pointless. The redhead would be able to find out who lived up here easily. "You almost killed me! I could have died! And my coffee!" It had been a raspberry latte from Starbucks. That was a good five dollars down the drain. Roxas winced. "You killed my coffee and it died for nothing!" Axel mourned the sacrificial drink as Roxas tried to think what to do.

"Hang on! I'll be right down." He called and quickly vanished, running down the stairs faster than he had in his life. He was in huge trouble. If this guy reported him to the landlord he was going to get the boot so fast there would be huge dusty footprints on his backside. He'd never be able to explain that to his parents. When he got there the redhead was examining the stuff in his backpack and frowning. "Oh god I'm so sorry." Roxas immediately apologized as the man looked up, his face still tight with anger. Roxas had to swallow then… this guy had tats on his face? "Please, let me buy you a new drink."

"You might want to get this out of here first, or the management is going to be on your ass when they find it." The redhead commented, kicking the sofa and raising a cloud of dust. "Ew, god." He waved a hand in front of his face and coughed. Roxas winced as he caught the odor of stale urine. "What have you been doing to this thing?"

"It used to be my brother's." Roxas grabbed the sofa and began laboriously dragging it across the courtyard. Axel watched him a moment before shaking his head and gripping the other end. Roxas looked up in surprise as the redhead dumped his backpack onto the seat of the sofa and heaved up the end.

"You're going to take all day at that rate." He said briefly and Roxas flushed at the too accurate comment. "I'll help." Between the two of them they soon had the ugly, disgusting sofa onto the curb. Axel picked up his backpack and quickly brushed it off. "Okay. So you're getting me a drink?" The redhead examined the blonde for a moment and was favorably impressed. He was slender and way too pale, as though he rarely saw daylight, but his incredibly blonde, spiky hair and big blue eyes were nice. Axel felt most of his anger draining away. It was a weird and dangerous way to meet a hot guy but what the hell. "My name's Axel. What's yours?"

"Roxas." Roxas smiled tentatively and was relieved when Axel smiled back. He didn't want a guy badass enough to get facial tats pissed off at him. And now that he was a bit less anxious, Roxas was noticing how tall the redhead was and how slender. He also looked slightly tanned, as if he was outdoors a lot. Overall it was a very attractive look, especially with those brilliant green eyes. "The Starbucks is only a few blocks away if you want to go there now?" He wasn't really doing anything but Axel might have plans. The redhead smiled slightly then nodded.

"I'm not doing anything. Sure." And he really did have a hardcore need for some sweet caffeine. It was why he'd stopped at the mermaid place in the first place. Roxas shivered slightly as they walked. He'd forgotten to get his coat and it was a bit nippy outside. "So why were you shoving a couch off your balcony anyway?" The redhead finally asked and Roxas swallowed, trying to think of how to explain.

"It seemed like a good idea." That was lame and Axel didn't look very impressed. "You see, I didn't want to pay the extra to get it carried out when the new one was delivered… I, um, I won a contest so that's free… and I couldn't think of any other way to get it out."

"Hmm." Axel made a non-committal sound. He wasn't sure he thought much of this and not because he'd nearly been squashed. "Don't you have any friends?" Surely the blonde could have found help. Roxas bristled slightly.

"Of course I have friends." Roxas said sharply, then added grudgingly as Axel lifted an eyebrow at him. "…In California."

"Ah, I see." The eyebrow went back down and Roxas vaguely admired it. He'd always wanted to do that with his eyebrows but simply didn't have the nack. "Newcomer to the city?"

"Not really. I've been here two years. I just keep to myself." Roxas shrugged, a touch uncomfortable. Fortunately they were almost at the Starbucks and Axel didn't press. He didn't like to talk about his non-existent social life.

"You must. I thought I knew everyone in our complex and I've never seen you before." Axel commented as he looked up at the menu. "Could I have a raspberry latte?" Roxas nodded and glanced at the display of food, his stomach rumbling. It was a stretch but maybe…

"Would you like to share a muffin?" He offered and Axel looked a little startled. Then he examined the case for a moment and nodded.

"If you don't mind, a poppyseed one would be nice." He definitely had a liking for poppyseeds. "So, you a uni student?" Axel asked as Roxas placed the order. He got a simple cup of coffee for himself.

"Yes. I'm taking philosophy." Roxas offered. He didn't really want to be social but he really, really needed to be on Axel's good side. It was a powerful motivator to come out of his shell. "Do you go to university too?" Axel looked about the right age. But the redhead shook his head.

"Nah. Got no head for book learnin'. I'm a professional dancer." Axel smiled brightly and his eyes twinkled merrily. Roxas had a strange feeling that he wasn't being told the whole truth. Was this guy a stripper? That would figure. At least he probably wasn't a Hell's Angel or something. "You'll have to come see me sometime. Maybe I can get you some tickets."

"Oh, I couldn't." Roxas said hastily, envisioning some seedy club in the bad part of town. Axel laughed and Roxas was momentarily spellbound by his voice. It was warm and so full of amusement. Then he suddenly found his chin caught in long, strong fingers as Axel smiled knowingly.

"You think I'm a stripper, don't you?" Roxas swallowed convulsively as Axel moved closer, breathing in his ear. "You're wrong." Abruptly the redhead let go of him and picked up his latte. The barista was looking at them like they were a pair of freaks and Roxas managed to get himself together enough to grab his own drink. "Actually, I'm a ballet dancer. Although that's only a secondary thing. Most of all, I'm a figure skater."

"Really?" Roxas stared at Axel, trying to imagine him in a figure skating costume. Yes… yes, he could picture that. Something pure black and maybe cut in a bizarre way to show off tanned skin and hard muscles… Roxas swallowed again and pushed his musings away. He didn't know that Axel had hard muscles, he couldn't see them with his sweater and baggy pants. Although a treacherous part of his mind was informing him they had to be there. "Wow. I never work out at all." He suddenly felt very soft and unathletic beside Axel. Fortunately the redhead only shrugged as he took a seat at a table. Roxas hesitated a moment then sat across from him.

"Most people don't." Axel sipped at his drink. "I imagine you read more books than I do." That was actually a bit of a white lie but Axel found he wanted to put Roxas at ease. He really was very cute in a pale, slightly geeky way. The blonde ventured a shy smile and Axel smiled back warmly, breaking off a piece of the poppyseed muffin. "So you're from California? Why did you come here?" It was a strange thing to do, going halfway across the country to a city that didn't even have a prominent university. Roxas frowned for a moment then shrugged.

"No real reason." That was a bald faced lie but he wasn't going to tell this stranger about his personal life. Not yet anyway. "Have you lived here all your life?" Roxas turned the question around and Axel looked a little startled but went with it.

"Oh yes. My parents run NordaWeave Designs." Roxas looked a touch confused and Axel grinned. "You've probably never heard of it. They're an interior design firm. Mum and dad hoped I'd follow in their footsteps but they had to give it up when they realized I'm colorblind and as tasteful as a rapper looking for bling." Roxas couldn't help but laugh at that. "They support me a little. So what was California like?" That was a safer topic and Roxas found himself telling Axel all about the hot summers and wonderful beaches he'd enjoyed as a child. Axel amused him in return with several stories about ski trips he'd gone on. It made Roxas realize that he'd never tried skiing in the whole time he'd been here. Why not? Downhill was expensive, to be sure, but cross-country skiing was cheap.

"Earth to Roxas?" Roxas blinked, snapped out of her reverie as Axel tapped his hand lightly with one finger. "I'm done and the muffin has vanished. We should probably be getting back before the wind picks up. Here… wear this." Roxas blinked again as Axel shrugged out of his sweater. The redhead was wearing only a short sleeved shirt beneath and Roxas swallowed as he realized he'd been absolutely right about Axel's muscles. The redhead was built like a gymnast, sleek and toned.

"But you need it." Roxas protested weakly and Axel smiled at the blonde before shaking his head.

"I'll be fine. C'mon, let's jog back!" Axel set what to him was a very slow pace but Roxas was panting by the time they made it back to his apartment. It wasn't just that he was out of shape, it was the sheer length of Axel's stride. The taller man was almost impossible to keep up with. "Sorry. Didn't mean to push you too hard." Axel stopped as Roxas regained his breath.

"It's no problem. At least I'm warm." Roxas said with a wry smile. Between the exertion and Axel's sweater he was very warm indeed. A little too warm maybe. Especially when Axel smiled at him again. "Uh… here." Roxas stripped off the sweater and gave it back to the redhead, who draped it over one arm. "Thanks, and I'm really sorry for almost killing you." Axel laughed and shook his head.

"It was nothing. I'm alive and I'll have a story to tell the grandkids." Roxas blushed at the warmth in Axel's voice and quickly retreated into his apartment. Axel carefully noted the number and smiled to himself.

It wouldn't be hard to get a few complimentary tickets to his performances. And he wanted to see Roxas again.