Happily Ever After

"ROXAS!" Axel yelled from the laundry room, holding a pair of dirty socks up in disgust. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING TO YOUR SOCKS?"

Roxas, as usual, shuffled down the stairs with his hands in his (black and white checkered) pajama pants pockets and a toothbrush hanging out of his mouth, looking supremely unconcerned with Axel's severe emotional distress. "What are you going on about?" he said, except it came out more like, "Wha ah you goong on bou?" because of the toothbrush in his mouth.

"Dammit, Roxas, you have no respect for me!" Axel said, brandishing the socks in Roxas's face.

Roxas blinked and took a step backward. "Euugh!" he said, covering his nose.

"Yes, Roxas! Yes! Euugh is right! Look at what you're making me do!" Axel cried, getting more and more hysterical as he waved the horribly smelly, brownish green stained socks around, spreading their evil stench through the air to Roxas's dismay. "You don't appreciate a thing I do! I do the laundry, I do the grocery shopping, I wash the dishes, I clean the bathroom, and what do you do? Nothing! You lay around playing video games or sulking in the corner about what exactly I have no idea because you have ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO BE SAD ABOUT because you don't do a damn thing around here!" Axel yelled.

Roxas, looking slightly irritated by this point, took the toothbrush from his mouth. "Axel, it's your house," he said.

"So what?" Axel snapped. "You moved in with me! You should be taking responsibility for some of the chores!"

"You should've just asked me!" Roxas snapped back, his eyes narrowing.

"I shouldn't have to ask!" Axel yelled, throwing his arms up, still clutching the disgusting socks. "Why should I have to clean up after both of us? This should not be something that I have to ask of you!"

"Fine! Fine! I get it, okay?" Roxas growled. "I'm sorry. I'll help you with the chores from now on. Okay?"

There was a silence while Axel merely glared back at Roxas, his arms folded.

"Look," Roxas sighed, "it's just that I'm not used to living like a – like a real person, you know? Doing dishes and laundry and cleaning and stuff. It's weird, having a real home."

Axel continued to stare at him for a moment while Roxas gazed at his feet, scowling, his mouth still slightly foaming with toothpaste.

Suddenly Roxas found his vision obscured by a giant mass of red hair as Axel lunged forward and forced him into a bone crushing hug, dropping the filthy socks on the laundry room floor.

"What the –?" Roxas gasped, attempting to breathe.

Axel released him and leaned back, his hands on Roxas's shoulders, beaming at him with tears brimming in his green eyes. "This is your first real home!" he said. "Oh, Roxas! I'm sorry! I didn't even realize!"

Roxas blinked at him in disbelief for a moment, then scowled again. "Yeah, yeah, okay, it's not that big a deal. You can get off now."

But Axel just hugged him again, tighter this time so that Roxas thought that he was going to die of asphyxiation.

"I'm giving you your first real home!" Axel cried.

"And – murdering – me," Roxas gasped out.

"What? Oh! Oops," Axel said, releasing him.

"If I knew you were going to be so emotional I don't think I would have moved in with you," Roxas muttered, rubbing his arm which was sore from Axel's almost literal death grip.

Axel wasn't listening. He had retrieved the filthy, smelly socks from the ground and was humming happily to himself, even skipping a little as he threw the socks into the trash.

"Wha – hey! Those are my socks!" Roxas protested.

"Aaand they're disgusting," Axel said.

"So wash them!"

"You want them back?" Axel said, narrowing his eyes. "You wash them."

"I – I don't know how to work a washing machine!" Roxas said, blushing slightly.

Axel gave him a Look. "Then figure it out."

"Why can't you just show me?" Roxas snapped.

"Because, Roxas!" Axel said earnestly. "You have to figure out how to do these things by yourself, or you'll never be normal!"

"What?" Roxas cried, outraged.

"You heard me!"

"Forget it!" Roxas threw up his hands in exasperation. "I don't want the damn socks!"

"Fine!" said Axel.

"Fine!" said Roxas.

"FINE!" shouted Axel. There was a glint in his eyes that Roxas immediately recognized and reacted to by jumping about a foot backwards.

Sure enough, the garbage can containing the socks went up in flames.

"DAMMIT, AXEL!" Roxas yelled as the garbage can burnt out. "YOU CAN'T JUST SET THINGS ON FIRE WHEN YOU DISAGREE WITH PEOPLE!"

"I JUST DID!" Axel yelled back.

"I KNOW YOU DID! AND IT'S WRONG!"

Axel just glared at him and Roxas glared back, both breathing heavily.

"Roxas…" Axel said at last, the anger draining from his face to be replaced by a serious expression.

"Yeah?" Roxas replied, waiting for the apology.

"We have to go watch Glee! It's on in one minute!" And with that Axel grabbed Roxas by the hand and bounded up the stairs, dragging Roxas after him.

"Axel," Roxas said as he scrambled to keep up with Axel's mad dash to the living room, "you're not normal either. You know that, right?"

Axel, settling himself on the couch, turned and grinned at Roxas beside him. "Hell yeah. Now shut up, I wanna hear what happens to Kurt."

Roxas sighed, rolling his eyes, and settled in to watch the show, resting his head against Axel's shoulder. After a moment Axel reached over to put his arm around Roxas, and he smiled, snuggling in closer. Maybe they weren't normal, but they were happy, somehow, despite the disgusting socks and the pyromania. And that was all that mattered.

Well, that and Glee.

THE END